Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Israeli security cabinet approves ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, starting Wednesday morning Xinhua) 08:05, November 27, 2024 JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel's security cabinet approved on Tuesday night a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, was expected to take effect on Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) in Israel and Lebanon. The security cabinet approved the ceasefire by a majority of ten votes to one, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir casting the sole dissenting vote. "Israel appreciates the United States' contribution to the process and reserves its right to act against any threat to its security," the statement said. Meanwhile, less than six hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect, air defense sirens sounded in several areas in northern and central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said the sirens were activated following the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon, which were successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force. No casualties were reported. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after being brokered by the U.S. and France. The deal marks a rare diplomatic success in a region plagued by conflict for over a year. The agreement mandates a 60-day cessation of hostilities, requiring Israeli troops to withdraw to their side of the border while Hezbollah ends its armed presence in a wide area of southern Lebanon. The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech Tuesday. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory. In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden praised the deal as the result of weeks of tireless diplomacy. The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon, Biden said. This agreement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced, and we remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence. Netanyahus primary motivations for pursuing a ceasefire included addressing the "Iranian threat," providing "our forces a breather to replenish stocks," and separating the fronts and isolating Hamas. However, Hezbollah officials indicated that they had not yet reviewed the final version of the agreement. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, said Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, to Al Jazeera. He added: We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon. Any violation of sovereignty is refused. Israel has been engaged in multiple fronts of conflict with Iranian-backed groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah. The unrest escalated following Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken by the group. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas and rescuing hostages. The Gaza Health Ministry, run by Hamas, says over 40,000 people have died in Gaza since the conflict began, though the figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Simultaneously, Israel has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon since October 2023. This September, fighting escalated, with Israel launching a limited ground offensive and intensified bombardments. The ceasefire comes after weeks of rising cross-border attacks, with Hezbollah reportedly firing thousands of rockets into northern Israel. The violence displaced hundreds of thousands and left over 3,000 dead in Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials. The conflict has been described as Lebanons deadliest in decades, with Israel eliminating much of Hezbollahs senior leadership, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Biden said that his administration was also pursuing a ceasefire in Gaza and exploring the possibility of Saudi Arabia and Israel normalizing relations. Iran, a backer of Hezbollah, Hamas, and other groups such as the Houthi rebels, has expressed support for the ceasefire agreement. MITCHELL Several cranes tower above a busy construction site along state Highway 37 south of Mitchell where work is rapidly progressing on a $500 million grain plant that will be the latest addition to South Dakota's growing agricultural processing industry. For generations, the state has served as an agricultural production hub in the Great Plains, growing millions of bushels of corn and soybeans and raising millions of cows and hogs annually. For many years, most of the state's high-output food producers shipped their goods to be processed at plants elsewhere. As those commodities left the state, so too did the businesses and jobs needed to process agricultural products into their final form. Rural communities in South Dakota lost the potential for growth in local employment, housing and economic development generated by agricultural processing plants. "Historically, for some reason, here in South Dakota weve been content to raise commodities corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs and ship them out of state for processing," said Scott VanderWal, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau. But over the past 30 years, and with increasing frequency in recent years, the state agricultural industry has begun to take advantage of what insiders refer to as "added value." The term refers to the ability of those in the agriculture industry to generate more revenue from a single product. For instance, growing corn and then using it for food products, animal feed and in ethanol production. By processing soybeans closer to where they are grown, South Dakota farmers can grow and sell more grain, which leads to spin-off revenues for a host of businesses, including in transportation, fuel, feed and machinery. "Were now finding out that we can make a little more money, generate local economic activity and create more jobs if we start adding value to the things we produce," VanderWal told News Watch. Details reveal size, scope of new plant The High Plains Processing plant, now under construction 2 miles south of Mitchell, is being built by South Dakota Soybean Processors, a farmer-owned business that has a soybean plant in Miller and another in Volga, where the company is headquartered. Tom Kersting, company CEO, said the new plant will provide good-paying jobs now and well into the future, and will create new revenues for a host of businesses and farmers throughout the region. It will also generate significant new property taxes for local governments and sales taxes for state government, he said. Construction costs are estimated to be about $500 million, and the target date for operations to begin is Oct. 1, 2025, Kersting told News Watch. The plant will be able to process soybeans as well as sunflower seeds and other grain products if market conditions warrant, he said. Finished products will mainly include oils and animal feed. The plant will have capacity to process 100,000 bushels of soybeans a day (about 37 million bushels a year), which makes it the second-largest plant behind the AGP soybean plant in Aberdeen, which has an annual capacity of 50 million bushels. The Mitchell plant has about 300 construction workers on site now and expects to employ 75 to 85 full-time employees once operational. The expansion will create another dozen or so positions that will work at the company offices in Volga in support of the plant. Kersting said the addition of new, consistent capacity for grain products at the Mitchell plant should not only stabilize but also increase the prices paid to local soybean and sunflower farmers. Without it, youd be much more dependent on the export markets for pricing, he said. By having the demand locally, and having it year-round, theres an opportunity for higher prices for farmers. In addition to oils, used in fuels and in some food products, the plant will also produce grains that are used to feed animals, mainly hogs and poultry, he said. Kersting said that once fully processed, a 60-pound bushel of soybeans will yield about 44 pounds of meal feed, 11 pounds of oil and 4 pounds of husks, with a slight amount of moisture loss making up the final pound. The new plant will be strategically located just 2 miles from Interstate 90 and within shouting distance of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad line, Kersting said. Benefit to Mitchell and beyond The excitement over the plant's potential for economic benefits is palpable even in a brief conversation with David Lambert, regional development director for the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce. Were just tickled, he said. From our perspective, we feel that the impact is going to be huge. Lambert said the plants economic impact will be felt most in Mitchell, where he expects many workers will live and spend money. The plant will create new revenue opportunities in several economic sectors, including housing, grocery, retail and transportation, he said. Nearby cities and towns will also see big benefits, not only from increased capacity to sell grain but also in the same tangential ways Mitchell will benefit economically, he said. The regional farm economy will also see a big boost, Lambert said. For instance, the new demand for soybeans created by the plant could raise the price of beans by 20 cents per bushel, which could generate $6 million a year in new income for area grain producers, he said. We know that when farmers have money, they spend that money, and they tend to do it locally, Lambert said. So the regional impact is so huge, and that is even after you take into account the 75 new, well-paid employees with an annual payroll over $4 million. Lambert said the chamber has already heard from businesses directly or indirectly related to the grain industry that are eyeing a potential move to or expansion within the regional Mitchell market. Weve already started to see some new opportunities from folks who want to take advantage of the economic activity that will be created by the plant, he said. A value-added revolution The South Dakota processing expansion began in earnest roughly 35 years ago when Poet biofuels began production of ethanol from corn in Scotland in the late 1980s. Since then, ethanol production has expanded to nine companies processing 740 million bushels into roughly 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol worth about $3 billion annually. South Dakota could see a huge economic benefit from the $1 billion Net-Zero 1 plant proposed by the company Gevo for a site east of Lake Preston, where corn would be processed into sustainable biofuel for jets. Officials from Colorado-based Gevo said the proposed plant, which recently received a $1.46 billion commitment from the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, could create thousands of jobs once operational. The state has also seen rapid expansion of milk processing, with new or expanded cheesemaking plants in Milbank (Valley Queen Cheese), Brookings (Bel Brands) and Lake Norden (Agropur). The increased processing capacity has allowed the state's population of milk cows to more than double over roughly the past decade, from 91,000 cows in 2012 to about 210,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA, South Dakota dairy farmers produced 4.5 billion pounds of milk in 2023, up from 3.1 billion pounds in 2020 and 2 billion pounds in 2013. Agricultural processing plants serve as major employers in several South Dakota cities. The Dakota Provisions pork and poultry plant in Huron has variable employment that can range from 600 to 1,000. The state's largest soybean plant, the AGP plant in Aberdeen that opened in 2019 at a cost of $300 million, has about 60 full-time workers. In addition to jobs in the plant and an increase in production capacity for individual farmers, increased processing of commodities closer to where South Dakota farmers produce them creates jobs and revenue for local trucking companies, parts and maintenance firms, fuel providers and sellers of machinery, VanderWal said. "We're providing jobs or creating economic activity because those processing plants need supplies and parts and people to run them, and all those things that go along with that," he said. VanderWal said recent efforts to expand in-state processing of beef cattle, as reported by News Watch in 2023, would also generate new income and reduce costs for South Dakota ranchers, who raised 3.5 million cattle and calves in 2023, according to USDA data. "In the cattle industry, especially years ago, most of our feeder cattle actually got shipped out of state for feeding even, and then further processing," he said. "We've put a lot of effort into the last few years into feeding them here. So we're using our own feed stuff, so corn, basically, and silage and things like that. So then the next step to avoid having to haul them so far when they're finished and ready for market, is to process them here." This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they're published. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org. PHOTOS: South Dakota Mines hosts 35th annual Diwali celebration A lively dance performance by one local girl combined traditional Indian dance moves with a fun, modern kick at South Dakota Mines' 35th annua A fireworks display lit up the skies around South Dakota Mines on Saturday evening, Nov. 23, 2024. Faculty and staff from South Dakota Mines join representatives of the Mines India Club in lighting the ceremonial lantern. Cultural performances by local dancers were one of the highlights of Saturday night's events. A dancer in traditional clothing performs during the 35th annual Diwali celebration at South Dakota Mines on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. South Dakota Mines faculty and students recite the national anthem of India before the Diwali celebration. A young dancer performs in the Beck Ballroom at the South Dakota Mines Surbeck Center on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Dancers perform in traditional dress, jewelry and with henna tattoos during the 35th annual South Dakota Mines Diwali celebration. The ceremonial lantern for South Dakota Mines 35th annual Diwali celebration. Diwali is also known as the "Festival of Light." Local News Top Story Diwali fireworks at South Dakota School of Mines on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Rapid City. Members of the South Dakota Mines India Club were recognized for their efforts in putting on the 35th annual Diwali celebration on Saturday. An intricate sand painting on display at the Surbeck Center. A group of women perform a traditional dance for Diwali. A young girl sings songs in Hindi. Strands of marigolds decorate the Surbeck Center at South Dakota Mines for Diwali. Young girls perform traditional dances for Diwali during the 35th annual South Dakota Mines Diwali celebration on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Women in traditional clothing dance onstage in the Beck Ballroom at South Dakota Mines for Diwali. Part of Saturday's Diwali celebration included a saree-tying contest with members of the crowd. A young girl performs traditional Indian dances for Diwali at South Dakota Mines in November 2024. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Zip Code Direct flights from Poland landing at Cancun International Cancun, Q.R. Flights into Cancun from Poland have begun with vacation packages between Rainbow travel agency and LOT Polish Airlines. The new flights began landing at the Cancun International Airport earlier this month. On Tuesday, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the State Secretary of Tourism (Sedetur), reported on the two weekly connections. The new flights will allow Polish travelers to enjoy direct trips to the Mexican Caribbean, reported Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the head of Secretaria Estatal de Turismo (Sedetur). A Warsaw to Cancun flight is being offered Sundays, while a Katowice to Cancun flight arrives Thursdays. The new Warsaw connection landed at Cancun International November 5. The Katowice flight landed November 14. The flights are operated on the modern 787 Dreamliner of LOT Polish Airlines. This new route will not only facilitate the arrival of Polish tourists, but also opens a key air bridge between two high-potential tourism markets, strengthening the position of Mexico and Quintana Roo as world-class tourist destinations, he said. Air connectivity is essential for the development of our state and to continue strengthening tourism, which is one of the main sources of employment and well-being for Quintana Roo families. We applaud the efforts of Rainbow and LOT Polish Airlines, and we are committed to continue working to open new routes that expand growth opportunities for everyone, said Cueto Riestra. The launch of these direct flights underlines the importance of maintaining solid international relations and continuing to promote projects that attract tourists from strategic markets, he added. Navy carries out medical evacuation of local fisherman Isla Mujeres, Q.R. A fisherman with a crushed foot was transferred to hospital Tuesday from his vessel. Members of the Secretariat of the Navy made the medical transfer after an evacuation request. Personnel from the Ninth Naval Region reported carrying out the medical evacuation of a male person of Mexican nationality off the coast of Quintana Roo. This action was carried out after receiving an emergency call from the Thirteenth Naval Zone based in Yukalpeten, Yucatan requesting the medical evacuation of a 30-year-old Mexican male. The man had a metatarsal crush fracture of his right foot while board a fishing vessel, which was located approximately 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) north of Isla Mujeres. A Coastal Patrol that was carrying out maritime surveillance intercepted the fishing vessel in order to provide first-contact medical attention, they said. Likewise, the immediate departure of a Defender-type vessel from the Naval Station for Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance (ENSAR) Isla Mujeres was ordered, with specialized rescue personnel on board, who upon arriving at the point of emergency carried out the medical evacuation of said person. The man was transferred to Puerto Juarez, where he was handed over to a private ambulance to transport him to a local hospital and receive specialized medical attention. Blayne Tucker was the co-owner of The Mix and Floore's Country Store. He died Dec. 30, 2022, after ingesting fentanyl-laced cocaine. He was 42. His mother has now filed a negligence lawsuit over his death. Tucker is shown speaking at the National Independent Venue Association in 2022 in Cleveland. Attorney Glenn Deadman, shown in 2023, is listed in state corporate records as an owner of Ubar None LLC. It does business as 502 Bar. The business has been sued for negligence by the mother of the late club owner Blayne Tucker. Deadman is not a defendant in the lawsuit. William Luther The mother of late club owner Blayne Tucker is suing a San Antonio bar and two individuals for negligence, alleging they played a role in Tuckers 2022 death after he ingested fentanyl-laced cocaine. Camille Gray, as representative of Tuckers estate, is seeking more than $250,000 in damages from Ubar None LLC, which does business as 502 Bar, as well as Deric Wynne, whos listed in state corporate records as the establishments co-owner, and San Antonio resident Katherine S. Kohler. Wynne, who describes himself on his LinkedIn page as 502 Bars production director, and Kohler couldnt be reached for comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The bars other co-owner is San Antonio lawyer Glenn Deadman, who is not a defendant. READ MORE: Blayne Tucker was a great champion of live music in San Antonio The incident was investigated by SAPD and they found no wrongdoing, Deadman said in email Wednesday. After receiving a copy of the complaint from the San Antonio Express-News, he said, Ill reserve comment until I get some facts. Tucker was a widely respected advocate of San Antonios live music scene and co-owned the Mix, a bar on the St. Marys Strip, and Helotes honky tonk Floores Country Store. On the night of Dec. 29, 2022, his mothers lawsuit says, Tucker met Wynne at 502 Bar on the North Side. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Upon information and belief, while at the 502 Bar, Wynne provided illicit drugs, namely cocaine, to Tucker, the suit says, adding that a medical examiners toxicology report revealed the cocaine was laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a potent opioid significantly more powerful than morphine. The pair traveled to Wynnes residence in the 200 block of Schmeltzer Lane after leaving the bar about 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, the suit says. The property is co-owned by Kohler, who was at home. While in the kitchen, Tucker collapsed. Based on information and belief, neither Wynne nor Kohler administered life saving measures, the suit says. One or both waited critical minutes or hours before calling 911. When EMS arrived, Wynne and/or Kohler falsely reported to EMS they smoked marijuana with Tucker, but this was not true. The toxicology report showed that he tested negative for cannabis. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wynne, Kohler or both told law enforcement and emergency medical personnel that Tucker had eaten popcorn and mashed potatoes at the house, the suit says. Neither was found in his stomach. Emergency personnel attempted to save Tuckers life by administering Narcan, a medication to reverse an opioid overdose, but it was too late. Tucker died Dec. 30, 2022. He was 42. Had Wynne and/or Kohler been forthright with responding EMS personnel, EMS could have timely administered the Narcan and Blayne Tucker might be alive today, the suit says. Wynne, 43, and Kohler, 32, have no criminal history. The suit also says Tucker would be alive today if 502 Bar had trained its staff on policies and procedures related to consuming illegal drugs. The bar knew or should have known the activities ongoing within its premises, the lawsuit adds. It failed to act or prohibit those actions and allowed individuals to continue partaking in and consuming illegal drugs. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Gray, Tuckers mother, lives in Caldwell County. She filed the suit Friday in state District Court in San Antonio. Jeremy Sloan, a San Antonio lawyer who represents her, declined to comment. Besides having ownership in the Mix and Floores, Tucker formed the St. Marys Business Owners Association as a way to give live-music entrepreneurs on the Strip a platform fort their concerns. In April 2020, as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the live-music industry, he joined a group of his colleagues across the country in forming the National Independent Venue Association to seek federal help. He played a pivotal role in getting federal legislation passed that provided a $15 billion lifeline to the countrys independent music venues. We feature a curated selection of some of the biggest, most important, and fascinating news thats making waves online The Garden Vale @ Tengah project was launched in May 2019 and completed in August 2024. (Photo: Ho Lee Construction) And that's a wrap. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch y'all again tomorrow. Hello to all our readers, Yahoo Singapore will be bringing you live news updates today. Almost 40% of the estimated 23,000 flats offered, to date, in Tengah across eight BTO projects have been completed, according to the Housing Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday evening (26 November). Residents have started moving into Tengahs Garden District which was the second district after Plantation to be developed in Tengah. Singaporean actor Ryan Lian was slashed on the face multiple times during a terrifying incident near a taxi stand at Nex in Serangoon on 22 November. Shin Min Daily News reported that a 21-year-old man allegedly attacked the actor with a knife and has since been charged. ADVERTISEMENT Read more in our live blog below, including the latest local and international news and updates. SpaceXs Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster rocket lift off during a Nov. 19 test flight at Starbase in Boca Chica. In an email to the FAA, NASA says its planning to monitor the crafts reentry after its next launch, which could occur as soon as Jan. 11. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer In this image taken from video provided by SpaceX, a SpaceX Starship rocket takes off from Boca Chica on Nov. 19. Associated Press SpaceXs Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster rocket flies shortly after liftoff during a Nov. 19 test flight at Starbase in Boca Chica. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer SpaceX is making plans to launch its next Starship mega-rocket from South Texas as soon as Jan. 11, and NASA will be playing a new role in the mission. According to an email sent by NASA to the Federal Aviation Administration, the space agencys Airborne Science Program will monitor the test flight to study the effects of reentry heating on the spacecraft. The email, which was posted on an FAA regulatory website, said NASA flight crews would deploy to Australia for the targeted 11 January 2025 Starship 7 launch event from SpaceXs Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In preparation for the test flight, the agencys Gulfstream V, with call sign NASA5, will need to calibrate its instruments which it wants to do in the skies over Texas. It asked the FAA for an exemption to aircraft lighting requirements to allow NASA5 to conduct multiple flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Southwest Texas with minimum lighting as it calibrates its sensors. Due to the sensitivity of the imaging equipment, it is necessary to reduce all exterior and interior lighting to a minimum to calibrate the onboard sensors and collect imagery during the reentry event scheduled for January 2025, it said. According to the plan, the aircrafts interior and exterior lights would be off for about one hour as it conducts multiple calibration runs within predetermined airspace. A notice would be issued to alert other aviators of the testing. NASA5 will image the reentry and peak-heating events of the Starship vehicle approximately one hour after launch, as it comes over the horizon and splashes down in the eastern Indian Ocean, Brett Pugsley, a branch chief in NASAs Air Operations Division at Johnson Space Center, wrote in the request. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Australias aviation regulatory body, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said it would honor the lighting exemption for the flight if the FAA approved it, Pugsley wrote. The data collected is essential in understanding space vehicle performance, formulating design improvement, and ultimately making future reusable space vehicles safer for humanities ongoing quest to explore the cosmos and advance scientific discovery, he added. As part of its Artemis program to return man to the moon later this decade, NASA is working with SpaceX to develop the companys Starship Human Landing System. Advertisement Article continues below this ad NASAs WB-57 high-altitude research planes have supported previous Starship flights. Donald Trump wants this bill killed. He used the caps lock button so you know he means it. REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL! the once and future president posted on his Truth Social platform on Nov. 20. The bill in question is not some leftist fantasy, no lame-duck affront to the incoming agenda of a united Republican government under Donald Trump. Its a simple and straightforward bill enshrining basic tenets of press freedom, protecting journalists from the governments investigatory powers. The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or the PRESS Act, was introduced to the House of Representatives by California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley in June 2023, and passed Congress lower body unanimously in January 2024. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the Democratic co-sponsor on the bill andendearinglyKileys former professor at Yale Law School, remarked upon the bills passage, This awesome bipartisan vote at a time of party polarization underscores the binding power and universal appeal of freedom of the press as a leading constitutional principle. That it is. The PRESS Act bars the federal government from compelling journalists to disclose their sources or other sensitive documents created in doing their work. That means that federal investigators cannot subpoena this information from journalists or electronic middlemen, such as phone or internet providers. It would effectively codify a 2022 order from President Joe Bidens Attorney General Merrick Garland, a move that was hailed by press-freedom advocates at the time. And yes, it would protect journalists of all ideologies, outlets, and persuasionsif youre in the process of gathering news for public dissemination, youd be protected. But thats an affront to everything Trump stands for. While the president has fed off of attention from the mainstream press for decades, denigrating journalistseven ones he has been chatty withhas been part and parcel of his persona, much more so than most policy positions. Were the enemy of the people, remember? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That attitude carried over into his presidencyand will surely come back when he retakes the White House in January. During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN reporters. The Biden Justice Department hasnt been perfect: In the earliest days of the administration, prior to the Garland order, it secretly subpoenaed the phone records of a Guardian reporter and defended some of the Trump-era seizures. Advertisement Now, the clock is ticking before Congress turns over to full Republican control on Jan. 3theres scant time for the busy Senate, still under thin Democratic control, to pass this bill into law. The body has spent much of its time the past two weeks painstakingly voting to confirm Bidens final judicial nominees, a process that could be quickif Republicans didnt actively try to draw out the process by forcing roll-call votes. Related From Slate Heres What the Constitution Actually Says About Trumps Recess Appointments Scheme Read More And when Republicans assume control of the Senate in January, they will be monomaniacally focused on confirming Trumps roster of bizarro Cabinet appointees, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and wrestling magnate Linda McMahon as secretary of education. Advertisement And with Matt Gaetz out of contention for U.S. attorney general, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondia MAGA die-hard, albeit one with actual prosecutorial experience, unlike Gaetzwill be tasked with carrying out Trumps legal agenda, as he has expressed animosity toward the long-standing idea of an independent Justice Department. Senators will surely ask Bondi about whether shell reverse the Garland-era order, but by that point it may be too late: The PRESS ACT, once unanimously approved by a Republican House, may now find more opposition with Trumps direct advocacy on the issue. Theres no good reason for Trump to oppose this legislation other than his sick desire to investigate the free press and slap the First Amendment in the face. Not all threats to press freedom are clear as day, but this one is. The grinding trial-and-error process that precedes world-changing scientific discoveries doesnt really lend itself to dramatization. Instead of our heroes chasing bad guys down dark alleys, the exciting story action involves them standing in front of a blackboard or gazing into a microscope. So dramatic tension is injected by financial or political forces threatening to derail a project of urgent importance (Oppenheimer); the scientists fighting for credibility in the face of belonging to a marginalized group (Hidden Figures, The Imitation Game, any biopic of a female scientist); or the old reliable of the main scientist being a difficult, maverick genius (Oppenheimer again). Joy: The Birth of IVF, Ben Taylors new film out now on Netflix, about the arduous path to develop a viable technique for fertilizing human eggs outside the body and implanting them in the womb, aka in vitro fertilization, hits many of these notes. Theres the irascible pioneer, here played by Bill Nighy at his most crotchety but sympathetic as gynecologist Patrick Steptoe, who introduced laparoscopy to the U.K. Hes teamed with the driven visionaryphysiologist Robert Edwards, played by James Norton, who, like Jude Law, is always required to conceal his innate gorgeousness under an unbecoming wig or glasses to convince as an ordinary guy. And together they must struggle against a fusty medical establishment, hostile tabloid coverage, and reactionary religious opposition. Working in a dilapidated, disused hospital wing due to lack of funds, the two are joined by former nurse Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie), who becomes the central character in the film. Though she is originally hired as a lab manager, her role expands to include preparing the cultures in which the retrieved embryos are stored, recording the data from experiments, and, most importantly, looking after the interests of the 200 women who donated their eggs to the experimental work, desperate to find a cure for infertility. The teams efforts eventually result in the birth of the worlds first test-tube babyLouise Brownin 1978, but only after 10 years that encompassed 457 attempted egg retrievals, 331 attempted fertilizations, about 221 embryos, and five pregnancies. We look at whats fact and whats fiction in this account of the research that has had such a massive impact on families everywhere. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Was Jean Purdy Actually Banned From Attending Her Church? Before joining the research team, Purdy, who lives with her devout mother, is a frequent churchgoer and committed member of her congregation. But as word spreads about the nature of the teams experiments, Purdy is told shes not welcome at the church unless she quits her job, and ultimately her mother says she cant live at home anymore as long as she continues the IVF research. Purdy nevertheless refuses to quit. Reproductive medicine historian and co-author of the definitive study of the EdwardsSteptoe IVF research Martin Johnson found that Purdy was indeed a devoted Christian, although we were unable to confirm whether she was discouraged from attending her usual church or her mother threw her out. However, it is certainly true that the IVF research attracted the ire of organized religion, especially the Catholic Church, which viewed with alarm the possible disposal of fertilized embryos that werent implanted (to the point where it officially protested Edwards receiving a Nobel Prize in 2010). The Vatican also objected to the procedure because the embryos were not the result of conjugal sex. Advertisement Advertisement Was Purdy Really Sexually Liberated? In 1969, before joining Edwards team in Oldham, in the north of England, Purdy is working as a technician at a lab in Cambridge, when one of the researchers, Arun, takes a shine to her. He asks her out, and despite her strict religious upbringing, at the end of the evening she says they can have sex as long as he doesnt get attached. Advertisement This is highly unlikely to be based on actual events, and Arun is most probably a made-up character. According to Barry Bavister, a Ph.D. student of Edwards whose work with hamster embryos played a crucial role in Edwards and Purdys ability to create cultures suitable for preserving sperm and extracted human eggs, Jeannie was a devout Christian who told me that she was saving herself for marriage. The movies depiction of her intimate relationship with a fellow lab researcher Arun is, to the best of my knowledge, pure fiction. Moreover, Bavister was so incensed that he posted on the films IMDb page: Jean Purdy was my friend and colleague; I regard her as a heroine who devoted her short life to the alleviation of infertility. So, I am especially outraged at her portrayal in the movie as a woman who slept around but couldnt get pregnant herself as she is shown telling her mum. Advertisement Advertisement As well, the film shows Purdy and Arun getting down on the dance floor in a club to some late 60s rock, but research by Johnson and his co-author Kay Elder, who became Steptoes clinical assistant in 1984, revealed that Purdys off-duty pastimes included listening to recordings of classical music and playing the violin, hobbies that suggest she might have been more inclined to spend quiet evenings in than go out clubbing. Advertisement Advertisement Was Muriel Harris a Real Person? Having persuaded Steptoewho has developed a new, less invasive technique for embryo implantationto join the project, Edwards and Purdy travel four hours to Steptoes clinic, where they are greeted by the clinics no-nonsense West Indian matron (as senior nurses were called) Muriel Harris, who puts them to work making the lab fit for purpose. Organized and capable, she becomes a valued member of the team. In fact, Steptoes operating-theater superintendent was called Muriel Harris, but she was a white British woman who was born in Cornwall. So dedicated was Harris to the research that she organized a team of volunteer unpaid nursing staff to help recover eggs for fertilization, a process that often required unsociable hours. It seems likely the film changed Harris nationality to pay tribute to the large number of West Indian nurses recruited to strengthen Britains National Health Service after World War II. Advertisement Was There an Ovum Club? Purdy initially treats the women donating their eggs as a sort of superior form of lab rat, but gradually, she starts perceiving them as individuals and tries to make the experience less alienating and emotionally grueling. After learning that the volunteers have started calling themselves the Ovum Club, she organizes a group beach trip to raise spirits. Advertisement Its not known if the beach trip ever happened, but the Ovum Club certainly did. Grace Macdonald, the mother of the second test-tube baby, a boy named Alexander, recalled her excitement at being accepted into the research program. I made some wonderful friends, she said. We called ourselves the ovum club. We knew we were involved in something very special, and that taking part was about more than just us. The other women were very generous with their feelings. I remember one of the other patients saying to me if it doesnt work for us Grace, it will work for someone else. Advertisement Advertisement Was Purdy Herself Infertile? When Arun proposes, Purdy turns him down without telling him her real reason for doing so: She knows he wants children and she is unable to get pregnant due to endometriosis. Later, she has a consultation with Steptoe, who tells her that her endometriosis is severe and he cant help her. It is this personal understanding of what infertility means that motivates Purdy to work so tirelessly to help Edwards find a cure. Advertisement It seems very likely that Purdy did suffer from the disease. Physiologist Roger Gosden, who worked under Edwards and wrote a biography of Purdy, told Time that a close friend of Purdys had mentioned to him that she suffered from episodes of acute pain; some were bad enough to require hospitalization, a symptom consistent with endometriosis, which, he said, has been assumed to be the cause of a problem that she had over many years. However, he also said he doubted whether the immensely private Purdy would be happy to see her gynecological issues being aired on the big screen: I dont think she would want to have been depicted as a victim of a disease. Advertisement Even if Purdy did have endometriosis, it is unlikely that Steptoe could have diagnosed her from a pelvic exam in the mid-70s. According to Fiona Kisby Littleton, an editor of Presenting the First Test-Tube Baby, at that point ultrasound and laparoscopy devices were not yet available, making the disease extremely difficult to diagnose. Related From Slate Whats Fact and Whats Fiction in Woman of the Hour Read More Was Purdy Really Seen as an Equal Partner to the Male Scientists? The film starts out at a ceremony to dedicate a plaque on the site of the research lab to Edwards and Steptoe, and Edwards insisting that Purdy should be on the plaque as well. Later on, when Purdy takes three months off to care for her ill mother, the project shuts down because it cant function without her. Then, when the two doctors are photographed holding newborn baby Brown, Edwards pulls Purdy into the picture. Advertisement This is largely, and refreshingly, true. Edwards did campaign to get Purdy added to the plaque (which she was, eventually, in 2022, along with Muriel Harris), and at a lecture on the 20th anniversary of clinical IVF, he announced: There were three original pioneers in IVF, not just two. Far more than just a lab manager, between 197085 Purdy was Edwards co-author on 26 academic papers about IVF that appeared in leading British medical journals Nature and the Lancet. And recalling the time she took off from the project, he said, Jeans cooperation had become crucial. It was no longer just Patrick and me. We had become a threesome. Advertisement Advertisement Edwards and Steptoes acknowledgment of her contribution stands in contrast to another, slightly earlier mid-20th-century team working on a transformative scientific breakthrough. Watson and Crick discovered the double helix, unlocking the language of DNAbut Rosalind Franklin, a chemist and X-ray crystallographer who captured painstaking X-ray diffraction images of DNA, was crucial to that discovery. Watson (who, its worth noting, dismissed the IVF teams work as infanticide) and Crick did not credit Franklins contributions, especially after she died in 1962, shortly before they won their Nobel Prize. Advertisement Advertisement There is one other woman whose contribution to the IVF project was essential but who is not mentioned in Joy. Although the film suggests that work ground to a halt after the British Medical Research Council refused to finance the team, in fact the researchers were able to continue thanks to funding from an American heiress, Lillian Lincoln Howell. She donated approximately $100,000 between 1969 and 1978. Purdys greatest contribution actually happened after the birth of Louise Brown, when the NHS refused to support the transplant services any longer. It was Purdy who found the site for a private clinic near Cambridge and who did the lions share of fundraising over the course of two years, eventually opening the worlds first IVF clinic, Bourn Hall, where she helped launch fertility services as technical director. In 2018 her contribution was recognized with the blessing of a new headstone memorializing her as the worlds first IVF nurse and embryologist, co-founder of Bourn Hall Clinic. Louise Brown laid flowers on behalf of the families who were beneficiaries of her work. Every few weeks, a new earworm takes over on TikTok. This summer, there were remixes of Kamala Harris musings on coconut trees and existing in context. In October, we had the SNL Espresso parody. And now, we have a little bop about a suitcaseadapted from archival footage of a preschool-aged Barron Trump. In the video the clip is taken from, Barron and Melania Trump are seen paying a visit to Trump Tower, in a segment filmed in 2010 for Larry King. Barron grabs a Louis Vuitton briefcase (one that reportedly now sells for almost $10,000), jumps up and down, and utters the now infamous words: I like my soot-case in a Slovenian accent resembling his mothers. The clip was uploaded by the Daily Mail more than a week ago, and has 55 million views to date. While the audio itself took off at first, in classic viral meme fashion, someone soon turned it into a song. The club remix has been used nearly 40,000 times, and even brands have jumped on the bandwagon. It makes sense why people grabbed onto it. I mean, first of all, it is funny, and while I didnt even realize it was Barron at first, it is a little incredible when you do make the connection. He really sounds like his mother! Theres simply a level of intrigue around Trump and Melanias only son. But as catchy as it is I feel sorry for the kid. Well, not kid, not quite, anymore. Hes 18 years old and almost 7 feet tall. But as the algorithm continued to feed me the video again and again and again, I couldnt help but think about how he might feel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I know Donald Trump isnt a typical politician, but for just a moment, think about Barron more generally as a child of a politician. He has an unimpeachable right to privacysomething even Chelsea Clinton agrees with. And while there have been a flurry of stories about how Barron potentially helped his dad win by introducing him to the wild world of far-right podcasting and the manosphere, for now, I am inclined to think he was just being a young person trying to help his dadwhich isnt that unique for presidential kids! Advertisement A friend put it well: It would be different if it was say, someone like Hope Walz, who chose to campaign with her dad and become a public personality. Similarly, Ella Emhoff took the stage to support her Momala during this election season. But Barron, like his mother, seems to try to keep out of the public eye as much as possible. And people making fun of him for being a literal child with an accent doesnt help that. Also, I wouldnt know what a briefcase is at that age either! Its worth remembering that according to Melanias book, Barron also has a history of being bullied because of information propagated online. In 2016, for example, comedian Rosie ODonnell tweeted that Barronwho was 10 years old at the timehad autism, leading to a slew of online and real-life bullying. I also hate that the video was posted by a media outlet in the first place, shared presumably to fuel the internets fascination with Barron and what Donald thinks of his son. (The same outlet also recently posted a video of a contemporary Barron at Mar-A-Lago, noting that Barron packed his sootcase and returned to Mar-a-Lago.) Advertisement Advertisement I would feel differently if, for whatever reason, Melania had decided to post the video for a throwback Thursday or something; theres perhaps some level of consent in that. But I would be absolutely mortified if videos from my childhood were released and remixed by random people for the whole world to critique. And I would feel just awful if my youthful mispronunciations were screamed at me while Im trying to juggle my first semester of college. I know, I know, the internet will be the internet. Theres no controlling what happens to a clip once its posted. Apparently, now, people are trying to fit themselves into suitcases while miming the clipand hurting themselves while doing so. (Theres even a TikTok warning that participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.) The way this has spiraled out makes me reflect on how we approach viral trends that involve children, especially those who are in the spotlight because of their parents. Maybe it is a good thing after all hes not living in the dorms after allway too many opportunities for people to do live suitcase-based jokes at him this week. In what might be his final achievement as president, Joe Biden, his diplomats, and their French counterparts have brokered a ceasefire in the increasingly brutal yearlong war between Israel and Hezbollahs Islamist militia in Lebanon. Under the deal, all fighting will cease for 60 days, during which time Israeli troops will pull out of Lebanon, Hezbollah will pull back to north of the Litani River (about 18 miles north of Israels border), and the Lebanese armyjoined by U.N. peacekeepers and with supplies and training by the U.S. and Francewill occupy the demilitarized zone of southern Lebanon. Also during this 60-day period, about 60,000 Israeli citizens and 1.2 million Lebanese citizenswho have been displaced by the fightingwill return to their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon respectively. The accord, which Biden announced on Tuesday and which went into effect on Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time, raises several questions. What are the odds the ceasefire will hold for 60 days? What happens after then? And how will the peacewhether uneasy or enduringaffect Israels war with Hamas in Gaza, its relations with Iran, and the broad geopolitics of the region? First, will the deal hold? The agreement, which the Israeli Cabinet endorsed with only one member dissenting (the far-right-wing Itamar Ben-Gvir), was negotiated with Lebanons largely ineffectual government, not with Hezbollah directly, but the head of the militia has said he would abide by it as long as Israel does. Second, assuming all parties hold to their word, what happens next? Bidens hope is that the fighting stops permanently. The 60-day span is seen as merely a transitionenough time for Israeli and Hezbollah troops to withdraw and for civilians to return to their homes. Israel explicitly reserves the right to resume fighting if Hezbollah breaks the agreement; Hezbollah claims an implicit right to do so if Israel violates its terms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All this, of course, is easier said than done. Back in 2006, at the end of the last IsraelHezbollah war, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on both sides to do what this weeks deal hopes to do. Back then, Israel withdrew, but armed Hezbollah militias never pulled back to north of the Litani River. The Lebanese army was in shambles, as was the government (Hezbollah had murdered its prime minister), and U.N. peacekeepers lacked the resources to enforce the deal fully. Advertisement This weeks deal reestablishes a commission, which includes U.S. and French officials, that would adjudicate all complaints of violations. Another committee of seven countries will supposedly help rebuild the Lebanese army (though Biden stressed that no U.S. combat troops will be on the ground in southern Lebanon). Finally, those countries and others will do something they neglected to do in the last peacetheyve promised anyway to spend lots of money trying to revitalize the Lebanese government, which hasnt really controlled the country for 50 years. Will this peace be more enduring than the last one? We shall see. Assuming the peace does endure, at least for a while, how will it affect Israels war with Hamas? Biden said on Tuesday that he hoped that the deal would spur a peace accord in Gaza as well; in any case, his diplomats and their negotiating partners in Egypt and Qatar are trying to restart peace talks, which over the past year have veered between fruitless and dormant. Advertisement There is some cause for optimism. Hamaswhich started the war on Oct. 7, 2023, with its cross-border invasion, killing 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilianshas been battered by the fighting: Its militia is severely weakened; its charismatic leader, Yahya Sinwar, is dead; its ties with the regions other anti-Israel forcesespecially Iran and Hezbollahare all but severed. Advertisement Advertisement This last point is particularly important. Until this week, Hezbollahs leaders had said they would keep firing rockets into Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza. Now they say they will abide by the deal signed with Lebanon, as long as Israel does as welleven though the fighting in Gaza persists. Meanwhile, the Iranianswho said they would respond with crushing force to Israels last missile attackhave refrained from doing so, mainly because they know Israel will retaliate with debilitating force if they do. (Israels attack, which was launched in response to an earlier Iranian strike, held back from hitting Irans energy and nuclear targets, but it destroyed the air-defense systems that would defend those targets from a subsequent attack. Biden, who pressured Israel to keep the attack confined to military targets, publicly said he would let the Israelis attack whatever they wanted if Iran escalated the punching match.) Advertisement Advertisement Compounding Hamas weakness, President-elect Donald Trump has said that Israel should finish the war in Gaza as quickly as possible, doing whatever it needs to do to win. He has criticized Biden for pressuring Israel to moderate its military offensive. In other words, Hamas might be mulling over two or three reasons to strike a dealsome sort of ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchangein the 55 days while Biden is still president. Advertisement However, this is speculation. Hamas leaders, who have never done much to protect ordinary Gazans (they built elaborate tunnels for themselves but no air-raid shelters for civilians), may double down on the fight, even if it means martyring themselves. Related From Slate What Trump Really Means When He Says He Would End the War in Gaza Quickly Read More Or, if Hamas does agree to a quick deal, Benjamin Netanyahu might not. Any deal would likely call for at least the resumption of talks about a Palestinian statea goal that Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition partners have rejected, even theoretically. Netanyahu still has a goal of total victory in Gazathe wiping out of Hamas as a political or military entity, even though some of his military officers question this goals feasibility and think he should accept a less ambitious deal that would free the remaining hostages. However, the prime minister has reason to believe that, after Jan. 20, Trump will allow, even encourage, him to follow his maximalist instincts. Advertisement Advertisement Biden also hopes to wrap up a deal in which Saudi Arabia normalizes relations with Israel. Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman certainly wants normalization; he was about to initiate such a deal the day before Hamas launched its attack against Israel. Hamas mounted the attack, at least in part, as a potent way to block the impending dealwhich would have removed the Palestinian cause from the regions politics. As one Hamas leader said at the time, the attack put that cause back on the table. The Saudi leader really doesnt care much about Palestinians, and he detests Hamas, but much of the Saudi population passionately cares, to the point where he could face an uprising if he recognized Israel in the face of a war that has killed an estimated 44,000 Gazans. Bin Salman now insists that Israel must at least start talks toward a Palestinian state as a prerequisite to normalization. Again, Netanyahu is unlikely to do that. His coalition partners have threatened to quit the government if he did. That would force new elections, which he might lose. With Trump coming to power, Netanyahu may think he doesnt need to compromise on this issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hezbollah ceasefire could conceivably be a prelude to some sort of peaceful coexistencefor the U.S. and for Israelwith Iran. The Iranian economy is in shambles; its axis of resistancethe group of militias that have fought on the front lines of battle against Israelis in disarray; its new president was elected on a platform of reaching out to the West (though the supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, holds ultimate power). The prospects for reengagement depend, in part, on what happens after Jan. 20. During his first term, Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal, which Barack Obama and five other leaders had signed with Iran in 2015, and declared a policy of maximum pressure that he hoped would topple Tehrans regime. It had no such effect, and now Iran is closer to building an atomic bomb than ever. Trump has said he wants to restart the maximum pressure policy, though some hopewith who knows what validitythat, if a deal seems in reach, Trump, who fancies himself the master of big deals, might find the prospect irresistible. Advertisement Meanwhile, there is the question of what Trump might do in the short term about the ceasefire in Hezbollah. The 60-day ceasefire would be almost over when he takes the oath of office. Will he let it stand and follow through on the commitment to help build a viable Lebanese government and civil society? A senior official told reporters on Tuesday that he had twice briefed the Trump transitions national-security team on the deal and that they seemed supportive of its approach. Who knows if thats true or what Trump himself thinks about it? Given the near-unanimous support of Israels Cabinet, he would probably go along. For now, the effects are immediate. Just in recent weeks, Lebanon has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, killing 45 civilians. Israel has dropped bombs on buildings in the heart of Beirut, Lebanons once-thriving cosmopolitan capital, killing more than 3,700 people, though its unclear how many are civilians. Whatever happens in the Middle East in the coming months, a ceasefire in Lebanon is a significant thing itselfsomething that, amid an otherwise mixed record on foreign policy, Biden could tout as a remarkable achievement. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/ceasefire-deal-netanyahus-focus-on-iran-could-mean-serious-regional-war-if-backed-by-us-1121023849.html Ceasefire Deal: Netanyahu's 'Focus on Iran' Could Mean 'Serious Regional War' if Backed by US Ceasefire Deal: Netanyahu's 'Focus on Iran' Could Mean 'Serious Regional War' if Backed by US Sputnik International Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there are three reasons why Israel concluded a ceasefire deal with Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah: to focus on Iran; to replenish weaponry stocks; and to isolate Hamas. 2024-11-27T17:28+0000 2024-11-27T17:28+0000 2024-11-27T17:28+0000 middle east benjamin netanyahu opinion israel lebanon hezbollah hamas us palestine-israel conflict israel-gaza conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/02/1114667692_0:0:1024:577_1920x0_80_0_0_e8f75079bde3e2d6e26bc0495e5d5ddb.jpg "It is not clear how Israel would focus more on Iran," Dr Marco Carnelos, a former Italian diplomat and Middle East adviser of Prime Ministers Prodi and Berlusconi, tells Sputnik. "Probably the Israeli prime minister hopes that with the incoming Trump administration a direct military pressure on Iran might be increased together with the US."Dr. Tamer Qarmout, associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, dubs Netanyahu's focus on Iran as "cheap talk." The experts allege Netanyahu has been cornered by the military leadership over heavy losses sustained by the Israeli Defense Forces in southern Lebanon, and snubbed his hawkish cabinet members to implement the deal.It is clear that Netanyahu will use the "breather" to double down on attacking Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to Qarmout: "Israel would be able to shift its military power on to sources to continue its genocidal war on Gaza," he says.Still, the future of the ceasefire deal is hanging in the balance, according to the pundits."The devil is still in the details. We still have 60 days to see if this agreement will hold," Qarmout concludes. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241120/trump-might-seek-wider-deal-with-iran-despite-hawkish-rhetoric---ex-israeli-prime-minister-1120941997.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20241126/is-ceasefire-between-israel-and-hezbollah-actually-possible-1121012373.html israel lebanon gaza strip iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova israel-hezbollah ceasefire deal, israel-lebanon ceasefire deal, benjamin netanyahu, israel, the gaza strip, israel's gaza war, israel-palestine conflict, donald trump, iran, will israel attack iran https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/iranian-foreign-ministry-hails-ceasefire-agreement-between-israel-lebanon-1121017280.html Iranian Foreign Ministry Hails Ceasefire Agreement Between Israel, Lebanon Iranian Foreign Ministry Hails Ceasefire Agreement Between Israel, Lebanon Sputnik International Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Wednesday hailed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon while holding the international community responsible for ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East. 2024-11-27T08:24+0000 2024-11-27T08:24+0000 2024-11-27T08:24+0000 world middle east israel lebanon iran hezbollah israel-lebanon tensions https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/0b/0e/1081163985_0:71:3318:1937_1920x0_80_0_0_3172d4937f25c802f5ba69da643f7fb8.jpg On Tuesday evening, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon by an absolute majority of votes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the need for the ceasefire and said that Israel would respond to any possible resumption of hostilities. The spokesman also mentioned that the international community should put pressure on Israel to bring the war in the Gaza Strip to an end. US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the Israeli and Lebanese governments had agreed to Washington's ceasefire proposal, which includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon within 60 days. Under the plan, the Lebanese army will take control of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will relocate its forces north of the Litani River. An international committee, headed by the United States, will be set up to monitor compliance by both parties with the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Washington has also agreed to provide Israel with guarantees that include support for Israeli military action against imminent threats from Lebanon, as well as action to prevent the possible reestablishment of Hezbollah military presence in southern Lebanon. On October 1, Israel launched a ground operation against Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon, while also continuing to exchange air and rocket strikes with the Shiite movement. The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes had exceeded 3,700 since the escalation. Despite losses, Hezbollah was fighting Israeli troops on the ground and launching rockets across the border. Israel said its main objective was to create conditions for the return of 60,000 residents who fled the shelling in the north of Israel. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241126/is-ceasefire-between-israel-and-hezbollah-actually-possible-1121012373.html israel lebanon iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International mideast crisis, middle east war, israel-lebanon row, israel-lebanon crisis, israel hezbollah war, israel crisis https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/musk-calls-bidens-alleged-request-for-new-aid-package-for-ukraine-not-ok-1121017421.html 'Not OK': Musk Chides Biden's Alleged Request for New Ukraine Aid Package 'Not OK': Musk Chides Biden's Alleged Request for New Ukraine Aid Package Sputnik International US entrepreneur Elon Musk said on Wednesday that outgoing US President Joe Bidens alleged request for another $24 billion package of military aid to Ukraine was "not ok." 2024-11-27T08:33+0000 2024-11-27T08:33+0000 2024-11-27T10:09+0000 world russia-nato showdown ukrainian crisis army tactical missile system (atacms) us arms for ukraine elon musk joe biden john kirby ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/0f/1120890241_0:137:3072:1864_1920x0_80_0_0_fb6a133f9d03ac969d4439e34cf37046.jpg US media reported on Tuesday, citing a document, that Biden had secretly asked Congress for another $24 billion to replenish the Pentagon's reserves for Ukraine. The request could reportedly be considered in December. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech that Ukraine had fired US-supplied ATACMS missiles and the UK's Storm Shadows at facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. In response, Russia launched a strike against a defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant, in Dnepropetrovsk on November 21, using its newest medium-range missile, the Oreshnik. On Monday, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby confirmed that Ukraine had been allowed to use US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles to fire at targets in the western Russian region of Kursk. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241119/nuclear-doctrine-changes-signal-russias-willingness-to-take-on-global-power-obligations---expert-1120928505.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia-nato showdown, ukraine crisis, ukrainian crisis, russia's special military operation, atacms russia, atacms ukraine, ukraine conflict, biden atacms ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/nato-parliamentary-assembly-urges-allies-to-secure-full-membership-for-ukraine-1121013444.html NATO Parliamentary Assembly Urges Allies to Secure Full Membership for Ukraine NATO Parliamentary Assembly Urges Allies to Secure Full Membership for Ukraine Sputnik International NATO Parliamentary Assembly has called on the allies to mobilize efforts to get Ukraine accepted into the military alliance as soon as possible. 2024-11-27T02:02+0000 2024-11-27T02:02+0000 2024-11-27T04:02+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukraine russia nato russia-nato showdown nato enlargement nato expansion nato membership ukraine-nato cooperation plan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/05/1117144740_0:85:1620:996_1920x0_80_0_0_617579887ba5213f6d6c2805adba9bb1.jpg "The Assembly URGES the governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance to redouble efforts to help Ukraine achieve full membership as soon as possible by accelerating its integration into NATO," the policy recommendations adopted on Monday after the annual assembly session read. The recommendations, which were published on Tuesday, urged the allies to use "to the fullest extent" the existing bilateral formats of cooperation, including the NATO-Ukraine Council and Training and Education Centre, and establish a NATO mission in Ukraine. The assembly also called for support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's so-called victory plan and greater military assistance for his country. The body also calls for maintaining efforts aimed at weakening Russia, including the boost of sanctions as well as recognition of "Ukraines right to strike legitimate military objects" in Russia. The NATO Parliamentary Assemblys Annual Session took place from November 22-25 in Canadas Montreal. In October, Zelensky presented his "victory plan" to the Ukrainian parliament. The plan contained five provisions, including of full NATO membership, permission for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia and the deployment of Western conventional weapons on Ukrainian soil to "deter" Russia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241121/russias-hypersonic-oreshnik-missile-system-shows-nato-escalation-will-come-at-price---experts-1120957219.html ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia vs nato, ukraine in nato, no nato for ukraine, ukraine's nato membership bid, nato expansion, nato enlargement, nato membership, zelensky victory plan, us allows atacms strikes inside russia A dish called Tale of Two Worlds from the La Conquista menu at the Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant Mixtli is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Massaman curry (top right) at Thai Curry on Broadway is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Breakfast egg rolls at the restaurant called breakfast in New Braunfels are one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in and around San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Its been a bell curve, covering San Antonio restaurants this fall. Research for the citys Top 25 Mexican restaurants took me from places a few weeks old to places open for half a century. Scouting for Top 10 comfort food and coffee shops touched all the compass points and most of the price points. And November brought the biggest news in years: The Michelin Guide came to Texas for the first time and awarded Mixtli a star and rained recognition on 11 more San Antonio restaurants. These are the best and worst things I ate the last couple of months. Call it legends of the rise (and fall). The best Tale of Two Worlds at Mixtli: A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a taco shell. That captures San Antonios pioneering Mexican restaurant Mixtli. Part formal fine dining, part molecular flavor lab, part Mexican history seminar. Take the two-bite taco called Tale of Two Worlds that kicks off the current La Conquista menu. The shell was formed by the crunchy rice left at the bottom of a paella pan called socarrat. The filling combined frijoles with pork fat and chicharron, with a side of golden mole made from tomatillos, serranos and corn masa. Elements of Mesoamerica and elements of Spain, finding harmony they never found in 1519. But Mixtli found it. It only took 500 years, about how long it seemed for Michelin to finally catch up. 812 S. Alamo St., Suite 103, 210-338-0746, restaurantmixtli.com Advertisement Article continues below this ad Massaman curry (top left) at Thai Curry on Broadway is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Massaman curry at Thai Curry: It was a tough act to follow on Broadway. Thai Curry took over this space in 2022 from Tiger Wings, the citys best place for chicken wings at the time. But they fill the tiny brick box of a building with 10 pages of Thai satay, tom kha, papaya salad, noodles, stir-fries and namesake curries. Massaman curry set a strong example with a rich, tawny coconut-milk curry base built out like a stew with beef and potatoes, with ornaments of avocado and whole cashews. 8210 Broadway, Suite 1, 210-888-1155, thaicurrysa.com Coffee at NoFi slow bar, managed by Tali Koppelman Harif, is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Coffee at NoFi slow bar: They dont do wifi at NoFi. Thats why its called that. The slow bar part means coffee and tea worth settling in for. Emphasis on in, because theres no carryout. They dont even have cups for it. What they have is a room with the muted colors and modest setting of a Vermeer painting, filled with the warm sounds of vinyl from a turntable. And they have coffee, maybe 10 varieties on a given day, coffee with the same confident skill of their other venture, Bright Coffee, the citys best overall coffee shop. Its built one cup at a time, mostly with pourover cones, with some reserved for espressos, cortados and cappuccinos. But no lattes, no syrups and no basic drips. In one cup of Prodigal Finca La Roca made from Colombian beans that cost about $100 a pound, I tasted earth and sky and the freedom to appreciate coffee as both art and science. 819 Fredericksburg Road, Instagram: @nofi.slowbar Advertisement Article continues below this ad Braised oxtails at Mamma Lou's Soul Food Kitchen are one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Oxtails at Mamma Lous Soul Food Kitchen: Besides giving us a place to sit for lunch, the best thing thats happened to Mamma Lous since it moved into this big restaurant space from a little drive-thru shack a block away is that they have oxtails all the time now instead of just the weekends. In my research for Decembers upcoming ranking of Top 10 Comfort Food Restaurants, I knew I wanted oxtails for their straight ratio of fat and lean, the kind of half-rendered gloss that goes to your heart and your head with equal speed. Mamma Lous does oxtails in a molten gravy braise the color of weathered wood for a homecoming with rice and yams and greens, if youre doing it right. And they do. 4941 Walzem Road, 210-277-7847, Facebook: Mamma Lous Soul Kitchen Cheese pancakes called syrniki at Lova Cafe are one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Syrniki at Lova Cafe: At this year-old breakfast and brunch cafe in Stone Oak, they do avocado toast, crepes, croissants and coffee like youd expect. What I didnt expect was the farmers cheese pancakes of Eastern Europe called syrniki. Think pancake, sure. But also think blintz and blini and crepe, with sweetened condensed milk, fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar. 19202 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 101, 210-281-5267, Instagram: @lovacafe.official Pastel Azteca at Paladar Fusion Mexico Cuba is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Pastel Azteca at Paladar Fusion Mexico Cuba: Chef Arturo Villegas couldnt help himself. At the Mexican-Cuban startup cafe that rose to San Antonios No. 2 Mexican restaurant in the blink of an eye, Villegas felt compelled to add one more layer of fusion: lasagna. Thats how he described his new Pastel Azteca, a dish layered (and re-layered) with masa cakes, grilled chicken and Oaxaca cheese, all of the layers covered in a rich, dark Veracruz mole with five chiles, peanuts, bread, plantains, raisins and cacao. Lasagna by any other name, as long as its Pastel Azteca 3615 Broadway, Suite 4, 210-267-1329, paladarfusion.com Advertisement Article continues below this ad MORE BEST AND WORST: A buffet of bad decisions The worst A Chickichanga at First Watch in Park North Shopping Center is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Chickichanga at First Watch: Maybe its my fault for ordering something called a Chickichanga in the first place. But I was restless at this otherwise reliable national brunch and breakfast chain, and I was curious what a chimichanga with chicken, eggs, chorizo, green chiles and avocado might look like through a sunrise filter. It looked like a burrito, a $13.49 soft-sided burrito that also kind of looked like SpongeBob, sealed at each end with sticky yellow Veracruz sauce, with a little beanie hat of sour cream in the middle. It tasted about like it sounds, something so comically contrived it could only happen in a cartoon. Or at First Watch.830 Northwest Loop 410, Suite 107, Park North Shopping Center, 210-366-9000, firstwatch.com Wild Alaskan halibut at Dean's Steak & Seafood at the Kimpton Santo hotel is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Alaskan halibut at Deans Steak & Seafood: I mostly liked Deans Steak & Seafood at the new Kimpton Santo hotel when I reviewed it, especially the raw bar and a couple of the steaks. But the & Seafood part has some & problems, starting with little Band-Aid tabs of raw fish crudo, extending especially through wild Alaskan halibut hijacked by red pepper chutney too big and brassy for the mild white fish, cooked until it waved farewell to flaky on its way to chalky white. And while the finished plate included a head of grilled radicchio for architectural lift and drama, it created drama of its own with a bitter toughness like sawing through a wet dishcloth. 431 S. Alamo St. at the Kimpton Santo hotel, 210-759-7441, deanssteakandseafood.com Advertisement Article continues below this ad Breakfast egg rolls (top left) at the restaurant called breakfast in New Braunfels are one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in and around San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff Breakfast egg rolls at breakfast: Hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and bacon? Good. All that piled into an eggroll shell and fried? Hold on. I like the way this bright, new, lowercase cafe adds a degree of cosmopolitan flair to a strip mall in New Braunfels. But there arent enough bloody marys and boozy coffees to wash down this one-note deep-fried diner plate. 2168 Oak Run Parkway, Suite 102, New Braunfels, 830-837-5268, breakfastnbtx.com General Tso's chicken at Kawser Chinese & Thai Restaurant is one of the 10 best (and worst) things Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter ate in San Antonio in the fall of 2024. Mike Sutter/Staff https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/opening-the-world-of-opportunities-russia-and-asean-countries-focus-on-expanding-mutual-trade-1121021432.html Opening the World of Opportunities: Russia and ASEAN Countries Focus on Expanding Mutual Trade Opening the World of Opportunities: Russia and ASEAN Countries Focus on Expanding Mutual Trade Sputnik International The first day of the international business forum World of Opportunities: Russia-ASEAN, held on November 2627 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has concluded. Participants discussed opportunities for economic integration amidst global transformation. 2024-11-27T14:16+0000 2024-11-27T14:16+0000 2024-11-27T14:16+0000 world asean ministry of economic development https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/1b/1121022971_0:32:1280:752_1920x0_80_0_0_d7d71d2be3b67c69dee5b5d0d5647685.jpg The first day of the international business forum World of Opportunities: Russia-ASEAN was dedicated to economic cooperation among the region's countries. Speakers of the main session emphasized that global transformational processes demand diversification of trade and stronger business collaboration.Organized by the Roscongress Foundation, the forum is supported by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Russian Trade Mission in Malaysia.According to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade turnover between Russia and ASEAN reached approximately $17 billion in the first part of 2024 alone. Russia's exports to ASEAN now include not only traditional energy resources but also pharmaceuticals, chemical products, agricultural goods, fertilizers, and IT solutions. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in advancing these relationships, said Alexander Stuglev, Chairman of the Roscongress Foundation.The Ministry of Economic Development reported that trade turnover between Russia and ASEAN grew by 14.6% in 2023, reaching a record high, and continued rising by 20.5% in the first half of 2024. Events such as the Eastern Economic Forum and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (scheduled for June 1821, 2025) provide platforms for businesses to discuss strategies, attract investors, and establish partnerships.Deputy Director of Malaysias External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Abu Bakar Yusof, highlighted Malaysia's annual trade volume is exceeding $500 billion and expressed optimism about potential collaborations, particularly in renewable energy and other diversified sectors.Daniyar Akkaziev, Executive Director of the Russia-ASEAN Business Council, remarked on the mutual commitment to economic integration. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241122/china-more-than-triples-purchases-of-uranium-from-russia-1120960801.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International asean trade, asean partnership, asean economy, asean opportunities, asean development https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/putin-says-russia-kazakhstan-relations-developing-dynamically-1121023221.html Putin Says Russia-Kazakhstan Relations Developing Dynamically Putin Says Russia-Kazakhstan Relations Developing Dynamically Sputnik International The relations between Moscow and Astana are developing in the most dynamic and best way possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. 2024-11-27T14:02+0000 2024-11-27T14:02+0000 2024-11-27T14:02+0000 world russia kazakhstan vladimir putin astana https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/1b/1121016583_0:0:2980:1677_1920x0_80_0_0_768109c44e59b83aee25c7ac9fbc417c.jpg "We are friends and maintain business relations. And everything is really developing in the most dynamic, best way, we are in constant contact," Putin said at a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana. The are documents prepared for negotiations in various areas, Putin added. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241126/eurasian-security-should-replace-bankrupt-euro-atlantic-structures---russian-intel-1121004344.html russia kazakhstan astana Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia-kazakh relations, putin kazakhstan, putin tokayev meeting, putin in astana, putin csto https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/russian-kazakh-presidents-sign-statement-on-deeper-strategic-partnership-1121024150.html Russian, Kazakh Presidents Sign Statement on Deeper Strategic Partnership Russian, Kazakh Presidents Sign Statement on Deeper Strategic Partnership Sputnik International ussian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev signed a joint statement on Wednesday, pledging to deepen strategic partnership in the context of a new global order. 2024-11-27T16:49+0000 2024-11-27T16:49+0000 2024-11-27T17:38+0000 world vladimir putin kazakhstan russia strategic partnership https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/1b/1121024523_0:0:3022:1700_1920x0_80_0_0_58adaf497dd354c98ddcfa74804e814d.jpg The document was signed after the presidents met in the Kazakh capital of Astana, where Putin arrived on Wednesday for a two-day official visit. Following the talks, Russia and Kazakhstan adopted a protocol on the resumption of a bilateral agreement on trade and economic cooperation that renews Russian oil and oil product exports to Kazakhstan. Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev and Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev exchanged the protocols during a signing ceremony, a Sputnik correspondent reported.Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he had discussed the interaction between Russia and Kazakhstan in detail with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and exchanged views on international and regional issues.Putin said that the increasing use of national currencies between the two countries protects operations from external influences."The share of national currencies in mutual settlements accounts for almost 90%, which allows to shield commercial operations between the two countries from the negative impact of external factors, including political conditions," Putin said.The Russian president also said that Kazakhstan had received an invitation to obtain the status of a partner country in BRICS.Increase of Mutual Payments in National CurrenciesPutin and Tokayev welcome the increase in the share of mutual payments in national currencies, which will contribute to strengthening financial sovereignty, according to joint statement released on Wednesday."The parties welcome the increase in the share of bilateral transactions in national currencies, which in the long term will contribute to strengthening the financial sovereignty of the two countries," the statement said.Russia to Increase Gas Supplies to Uzbekistan via KazakhstanRussia will increase gas supplies to Uzbekistan via the territory of Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday following talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev."Cooperation in the energy sector is developing systematically. Russian oil is sent to China via Kazakhstan... Gazprom really does supply gas to consumers in Kazakhstan without interruption... Since last year, gas from Russia has been pumped in transit through Kazakhstan to neighboring Uzbekistan - we will increase such supplies," Putin said.Energy Cooperation 'Effective'Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev called the energy cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan effective, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday."The parties note with satisfaction the effectiveness of energy cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan," the statement said, adding that Russia and Kazakhstan are interested in expanding gas cooperation, including for transportation to third countries.Russia and Kazakhstan agree to explore prospects for bilateral cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the statement added. kazakhstan russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International putin , tokayev, russia, kazakhstan, russia-kazakhstan relations https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/taiwans-attempts-to-gain-independence-with-help-of-us-to-lead-to-sad-end---china-1121014275.html China Warns Taiwan's Independence Gamble with US Help Could Lead to 'Sad End' China Warns Taiwan's Independence Gamble with US Help Could Lead to 'Sad End' Sputnik International Taiwan's attempts to gain independence with the help of the US will surely lead to a "sad end," Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, said on Wednesday. 2024-11-27T05:38+0000 2024-11-27T05:38+0000 2024-11-27T10:10+0000 world china us-china relations taiwan taiwan strait wwiii donald trump us beijing https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/0b/1120852952_0:265:1992:1386_1920x0_80_0_0_8c9d1246df275d3501cb06639f47474f.jpg Earlier this month, Taiwan's Chief Executive Lai Ching-te congratulated US Senator Mark Rubio, twice the target of Beijing's sanctions, on his appointment as secretary of state in President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Lai also thanked Rubio for his support of Taiwan. Taiwan has been ruled independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan, a territory with its own elected government, maintains that it is an autonomous country, although it has stopped short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official foreign contact with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241114/cia-veteran-trumps-foreign-policy-team-may-double-down-on-stupid-in-ukraine-middle-east-china-1120881081.html china taiwan beijing Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International us-china relations, us-china rivalry, taiwan tensions, taiwan separatism, taiwan conflict, us-china conflict https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/the-liberal-moment-the-west-has-reached-its-end-1121010824.html The Liberal Moment: The West Has Reached Its End The Liberal Moment: The West Has Reached Its End Sputnik International How the world has changed over the past three decades? Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin shares his view on that with Sputnik's audience. 2024-11-27T11:22+0000 2024-11-27T11:22+0000 2024-11-27T11:50+0000 world alexander dugin reinhard marx russia china jinping francis fukuyama history politics liberalism https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/1b/1121019274_34:0:1245:681_1920x0_80_0_0_d5d8bc58626b8d42831eefb8ed23f6e0.jpg The first part of the article is here. The Post-Liberal EraWe appear to be entering a post-liberal era. However, this epoch does not conform to Marxist or communist expectations. For one, the global socialist movement has disintegrated, and its bastions such as the USSR and Chinahave abandoned orthodox forms of socialism, adopting liberal models to varying degrees. Secondly, the collapse of liberalism is driven not by socialist materialist ideologies but by traditional values and deep-rooted civilizational identities.Humanity is transcending liberalism not via a socialist-materialist-technological phase, but through the revitalization of cultural layers that Western modernity had once deemed obsolete or extinct. This represents a return to pre-modern values rather than postmodernism, which ultimately stems from Western modernity. Post-liberalism stands in stark contrast to the left-progressive vision; Post-liberalism brackets the era of Western dominance in the modern age, viewing it merely as a temporary phenomenon, a stage that holds neither universal nor common attributes.For over five centuries, Western hegemony has succeeded by attempting to universalize its norms, methods, and goals. However, this era has come to an end. Humanity is gradually reverting to conditions characteristic of the pre-Western age. Liberalism represents the final form of planetary Western imperialism, encapsulating all the principles of European modernity and pushing them to their logical extremesgender politics, woke ideology, cancel culture, critical race theory, transhumanism, and object-oriented ontology.The end of the liberal moment marks more than the end of liberalism. It signifies the end of Western dominance over humanity.Hegel and the Liberal MomentThe term end of historyis closely tied to Hegels philosophy. Both Marx and Fukuyama borrowed the concept from Hegel (via Alexandre Kojeve). However, both Marxists and liberals dissected Hegels philosophy their own way, omitting its theological foundation, namely, the idea of God as the beginning and end of history.Hegel envisioned history as the unfolding of the Spirit (Geist), with liberalism as a transitional phase. In his view, the end of history would arrive when the Spirit fully manifests itself in a universal State. For Hegel, liberalism was merely a moment, an intermediary phase preceding the emergence of this higher statethe Empire of the Spirit.Both Marxists and liberals dismiss this conclusion, viewing liberalism or its progression as humanity's final stage. By cutting out the theological foundation, they reject Hegel's notion of a transcendent end, replacing it with materialist endpoints such as civil society.Postmodernism and MonarchyIn this context, monarchy assumes special significancenot as a relic of the past but as a vision for the future. Liberal democracy and the era of republics have exhausted themselves globally. Attempts at creating a global republic have utterly failed, and by January 2025, this failure will have been definitively confirmed.What comes next? What will define the post-liberal era? This question remains entirely open. However, the very idea that the entire European modern projectits science, culture, politics, technologies, society, and valueswas merely an episode with a humiliating and pitiful finale, which illustrates how unexpected the post-liberal future might be.Hegel offers a clue: it will be the era of monarchies. Certain signs suggest that his complete (not truncated, as interpreted by liberals and Marxists) philosophy is not only insightful but prescient.Modern Russia, while still formally a liberal democracy, has already embraced traditional values and is, in essence, transitioning toward a monarchy. A universally recognized leader, the continuity of supreme authority, and a reliance on spiritual foundations, identity, and tradition provide the groundwork for a monarchical transformationnot merely formal, but substantive. This entails not just a monarchy but an Empire of the Spirit, restoring the status of the katechon, the Third Rome, and the capital of Orthodox civilization. Historically and geopolitically, this also ties into the legacy of Genghis Khan.The end of history will either be Russian, or it will not occur at allfor now. In any case, the liberal phase of Russian politics is irrevocably over, and the Russian premodernwill become increasingly relevant.Other civilizational states are moving in the same direction. The Indian leader Narendra Modi is increasingly embodying the characteristics of a devarajaor chakravartin, the sacred monarch, reminiscent of the tenth avatar, Kalki, who is prophesied to end the dark age and usher in a new eraone that overcomes the liberal moment and restores Indias hindutva, its profound cultural identity.In formally communist China under Xi Jinping, the traits of the traditional Confucian Empire are becoming ever more evident. Xi Jinping himself increasingly aligns with the archetype of the Yellow Emperor. Modern China has a solid foundation for advancing toward the status of Hegels Empire of the Spirit. Interestingly, Marxism may be instrumental here if it extends its truncated Hegelian interpretation to include its theological roots. In the beginning was God (perhaps Pangu), and in the end, there will be Tianxia (), the doctrine of the eternal sacred realm under heaven.The Islamic world also requires integration, with the historical Abbasid Caliphate serving as a model for a 2.0 version. During the Abbasid era, Islamic civilization and statehood reached their zenith.It is entirely plausible to envision an African Empire and a Latin American Empire. Notably, Brazil represents Latin America in BRICS, being the only former colonial territory to have briefly become the center, rather than the periphery, of a global empirethe Portuguese Empire.Finally, consider the seemingly paradoxical turn in North American politics. American political philosopher Curtis Yarvin has long advocated for the establishment of a monarchy in the United States. Once considered a fringe idea, his views have recently gained traction, even influencing the future U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. Why not imagine Donald Trump as a monarchDonald the First? After all, there is Donald Trump Jr. and the promising young Barron Trump.In the post-liberal world, anything is possibleeven a monarchical turn.An Open FutureThe very term "liberal moment," upon closer inspection, holds enormous revolutionary potential in political thought. What was once considered destiny, inevitability, or a law of history is revealed as merely a pattern on a broader and richer tapestry. This realization opens up boundless freedom for political imagination. From now on, anything is possible: a return to the past, including the distant past; the restoration of sacred kingdoms, even imaginary ones; the discovery of uncharted paths; the excavation of forgotten identities; and the creative forging of new ones.As soon as liberalism and its dogmas are abandoned, the world irreversibly changes. Instead of the grim prospects of human replacement by machines (Singularity), technological apocalypse, or nuclear Armageddon, new horizons emerge. From this point, humanity can move in any directionthe dictatorship of historical determinism has been overthrown. A plurality of times begins.Hegels Empire of the Spirit and the establishment of new types of monarchies represent just one possibilityan attractive one, but not the only one. Surely, among the diversity of human civilizations, other ways will emerge to transcend the liberal moment. russia china jinping Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International alexander dugin, world order, unipolarity, multipolarity, putin, russia, us, globalization, liberalism, history https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/two-people-died-in-kursk-region-after-ukraines-attack-with-atacms-missiles---investigators-1121017167.html Two Dead in Kursk Region After Ukrainian ATACMS Missile Attack - Investigators Two Dead in Kursk Region After Ukrainian ATACMS Missile Attack - Investigators Sputnik International A criminal case has been launched as two people died in Russia's Kursk Region after the Ukrainian armed forces struck with ATACMS missiles on November 23, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday. 2024-11-27T08:18+0000 2024-11-27T08:18+0000 2024-11-27T09:04+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukrainian crisis kursk russian defense ministry army tactical missile system (atacms) ukraine us arms for ukraine https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/101664/22/1016642244_0:845:1500:1689_1920x0_80_0_0_853e37694c5435a9bcedb48f1265e25e.jpg On November 23, Ukraine attacked the positions of an S-400 air defense system division with five ATACMS missiles in the Kursk Region, three missiles were shot down and two reached their target, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The radar station was damaged and soldiers were injured in the attack. https://sputnikglobe.com/20241126/russias-defense-ministry-vows-retaliation-for-ukrainian-atacms-assault-on-kursk-region-1121007039.html kursk ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia's special military operation, ukraine crisis, ukraine conflict, kursk attack, kursk incursion, us arms for ukraine, ukraine terrorism https://sputnikglobe.com/20241127/us-medium-range-missiles-deployment-in-japan-to-pose-threat-to-russian-security-1121023347.html US Medium-Range Missiles Deployment in Japan to Pose Threat to Russian Security US Medium-Range Missiles Deployment in Japan to Pose Threat to Russian Security Sputnik International Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Wednesday that the deployment of US medium-range missiles on Japanese territory would threaten Russia's security. 2024-11-27T14:06+0000 2024-11-27T14:06+0000 2024-11-27T14:06+0000 russia maria zakharova russia japan moscow russian foreign ministry https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/15/1116297725_0:0:3041:1711_1920x0_80_0_0_10a93ce662b6fedc03819a0ce1a7e259.jpg The deployment of US medium-range missiles on Japanese territory would pose a threat to Russia's security, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.Tokyo can familiarize itself with Russia's likely actions in the event of the deployment of US missiles in Japan by reading Russia's updated nuclear deterrence doctrine, the spokeswoman added. russia japan moscow Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian foreign ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova stated on wednesday that the deployment of us medium-range missiles on japanese territory would threaten russia's security. Following the resounding success of last year's event in Prince Edward Island celebrating the best in harness racing, Standardbred Canada (SC) will host the 36th annual OBrien Awards Gala on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ont., with tickets now available for purchase. This exclusive black-tie gala promises an evening filled with glamour and excitement, celebrating the top performers from the 2024 harness racing season. Tickets are priced at $220 plus tax, and Standardbred Canada encourages you to secure your tickets early. To reserve your tickets, please fill out the O'Brien Awards ticket reservation form and send it to Jade Regina at [email protected]. Event details are as follows: Theme: A Night in Black and White Attire: Black-tie event Cocktail Reception: The evening begins with a cocktail reception, where guests can have their photo taken, enjoy the red carpet experience, and mingle with nominees and fellow attendees. Dinner: A delectable four-course dinner will be served. Awards Presentation: After dinner, the OBrien Awards will honour the year's achievements in harness racing. After-Party: The celebration continues with an after-party, featuring a live band and late-night food stations. For the convenience of out-of-town attendees, the official hotel for the event is the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale. Guests can book their stay by clicking here. Stay tuned to the SC website for further information and updates regarding the 36th O'Brien Awards! (Standardbred Canada) Woodbine Mohawk Parks Race Office would like to inform all racing participants of two upcoming end of season Pop-Up Series. The Pop-Up events will feature one for horses and geldings on the pace and one for fillies and mares on the pace. Each event is an $8,000 claimer for non-winners of $4,000 last five starts. Each series will consist of two $10,000 preliminary legs and a $20,000 final. The dates for each series are listed below. Leg 1: Thursday, Dec. 5 Leg 2: Thursday, Dec. 12 Final: Thursday, Dec. 19 The entry box for Thursdays first leg closes on Monday, Dec. 2 at 10:30 a.m. (Woodbine) Peter A. Koebel of Hanover, Ont. passed away peacefully on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at the Hanover & District Hospital. He was 80. Born in Hanover to the late Leonard and Redempta Koebel. Peter enjoyed working as the custodian at Holy Family School. His passion was harness racing. He spent his retirement years being the trackman at Hanover Raceway and racing his horses. He leaves behind his best friend and partner of 48 years, Gail Murray, one son, Michael Murray, and grandson, Myles. Also survived by brother Paul (Carol) Koebel, sister-in-law Barb Koebel, and many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by brothers John, Charles and Michael and sisters Margaret and Bernadette. At Peters request, cremation has taken place and there will not be a service. Memorial donations to the Hanover and District Hospital Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy. And this is Peters wish: If you meet someone on the street, smile and ask them how they are. Kindness goes a long way. Arrangements entrusted to Grey Bruce Cremation and Burial Services, greybrucecremation.com. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Peter Koebel. metro - A Golden-cheeked Warbler is perched on an Ashe juniper tree in the conservation easement on 57-acres of hilltop property in The Dominion on Saturday, April 2, 2011. LISA KRANTZ/lkrantz@express-news.net LISA KRANTZ/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS A map provided by Comal County shows the Morton Preserve, a protected habitat for golden-cheeked warblers, marked in yellow. The county wants to add two more properties to the preserve, shown in green, creating a block of more than 700 acres of protected land for the endangered species. Courtesy of Comal County The Morton Preserve, a protected area for golden-cheeked warblers southeast of Canyon Lake, opened to the public for the first time this fall. Comal County is seeking federal funds to expand the preserve and set aside more land for the endangered birds. A short trail on the property could also be expanded for limited public access outside of nesting season, the county said. Liz Teitz A recently-opened trail allows limited public access to the Morton Preserve, a 290-acre property in Comal County created to protect golden-cheeked warbler habitat. The preserve is open from September through February, closing when the migratory birds nest in Central Texas from March through August. Reservations are required to access the property. Liz Teitz Comal County is looking to set aside more land for an endangered bird species, protecting its habitat from the encroaching sprawl of development in the fast-growing area. Commissioners voted this week to apply for federal funding to protect 474 acres of land for golden-cheeked warbler habitat in an area between New Braunfels and Canyon Lake adjacent to the Morton Preserve, an existing nature sanctuary. The county bought the 288-acre Morton Preserve in 2008. The property, which sits high above the Guadalupe River on Bluff End Road, is intended to protect habitat for the endangered songbird that nests in Central Texas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If funded and approved, the new acquisitions would more than double the size of the preserve. The county would own 300 of those acres, and would have a conservation easement on the remaining 174 acres, for a total of 764 acres in the heart of the largest block of golden-cheeked warbler habitat remaining in Comal County, according to the proposal. Comal County used money from the Fish and Wildlife Services Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund to buy the Morton Preserve in 2008, and is now seeking another $5.5 million grant from the same fund for the new purchase and easement. Species under pressure The purchase would create an unbroken block of warbler habitat, eliminating the demonstrated and probable risk of fragmentation and residential development of the proposed conservation area, the county said in its proposal. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Biologists say the land might also contain habitat for the tricolored bat, which has been proposed for listing as endangered, the monarch butterfly and two species considered at-risk by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the hoary bat and the American bumblebee, according to county documents. The warblers spend about half the year in the Hill Country, arriving in early spring and staying until they fly south in July and August. The small songbirds, which grow up to 4 inches, nest in woodlands of oak and ashe juniper, or cedar. They use strips of cedar bark and spider webs to build their nests, according to the Texas Park and Wildlife Department, and they eat insects and spiders found in oaks and other trees. Of the nearly 360 bird species that breed in Texas, the golden-cheeked warbler is the only one that nests exclusively in Texas, the state agency said. The birds have been at the center of fights over development in Central Texas for years, since they were first listed as endangered in 1990. At the time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited ongoing and imminent habitat destruction, writing that some of the best golden-cheeked warbler habitat has already been lost. Since then, opponents including the Texas General Land Office have tried to remove them from the endangered species list so far, unsuccessfully. While the bird remains listed, there are protections against killing, selling or otherwise harming the species, and protections for their habitats under conservation plans. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Expanding habitat The properties Comal County is proposing to buy are adjacent to the Morton Preserve and would directly expand, connect, enhance and consolidate known warbler habitat, according to county documents. The parcels are on a bluff above River Road, which winds along the Guadalupe River northwest of New Braunfels. The 474 acres are made up of two parcels: the 300-acre Leissner tract on the west side of the Morton Preserve, and the 174-acre Fowler tract on the preserves east side. If approved, the county would pay for a conservation easement on the Fowler tract. Easements are agreements that limit or ban development on properties without changing ownership; the property would remain privately owned, but the county would be able to enforce the agreement to protect it from changes that would affect the warbler habitat. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Leissner tract would become county property through a partial purchase and donation. According to a letter submitted to the county as part of the grant application, Layton Leissner would sell 100 acres to the county and donate the remaining 300 acres. That donation would ensure the county doesnt need to spend any of its own money on the purchase, County Engineer Robert Boyd said. The federal funding requires at least a 25% local match, but the value of the land donation covers more than 50%, he said. Because of that, we feel this is going to be a real competitive grant application with Fish and Wildlife to consider, Boyd said. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the proposal, which will now be sent to Texas Parks and Wildlife. If approved, the state agency would then apply for the federal funding on the countys behalf. READ MORE: Feds OK swap of property set aside for endangered birds Advertisement Article continues below this ad Commissioner Donna Eccleston, whose precinct includes the proposed properties, praised the Great Springs Project for their assistance in the proposal. The nonprofit is working to create a walking trail from San Antonio to Austin, and helped the county with the funding application. I would like to say that Great Springs Project has been pivotal, assisting with a long and complicated process at no charge, Eccleston said. Theyve been extraordinary partners in our endeavors to preserve land and the public purse. If the funding is approved, the county would survey and conduct appraisal of both properties and negotiate final sales prices with the owners, Boyd said. While the primary purpose is to protect habitat for the warblers, there could also be limited public access to the properties, according to the proposal. The Morton Preserve opened to the public for the first time in October, 16 years after the county purchased it. Reservations are required to limit impact, and visitors are only allowed from September through February, when the birds have left Texas. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Samsung Electronics reshuffled its leadership on Wednesday as it looks to gain an edge in the production of microchips used for artificial intelligence servers. The world's largest memory chip maker issued a rare apology in October, acknowledging it was facing a "crisis" and that questions had arisen about its "fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company". On Wednesday it tapped vice-chairman Jun Young-hyun to lead its memory business and appointed Han Jin-man, who headed the firm's US chips business, as the new boss of the chip foundry division. The reshuffle aims to "strengthen the company's growth and future competitiveness, focusing on the semiconductor business", Samsung said in a statement. While the firm posted a 277 percent rise in operating profits to $6.6 billion year-on-year in the third quarter, it missed market expectations. Its shares have fallen more than 27 percent this year. Samsung has lagged South Korean rival SK Hynix in producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI chipsets and has struggled to secure certification from US titan Nvidia for its latest products. The delayed approval process has allowed Samsung's competitors to challenge its position in the fast-evolving market. The leadership change comes as chairman Lee Jae-yong faces legal challenges. Prosecutors this week demanded a court sentence him to five years in prison over a controversial 2015 merger of two affiliates that consolidated his control over the Samsung group. They say that Lee committed multiple crimes, including stock price manipulation, breach of trust and accounting fraud during the tie-up of construction and engineering firm Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Lee was acquitted in a lower court, which prosecutors appealed. A verdict on that is expected in February. Lee, who has already served jail time over a high-level fraud and embezzlement case, is the current executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the sprawling Samsung group. 2024 AFP Alfredo Xavier Marmolejo, 29, has been charged with three counts of injury to a child. Bexar County Sheriff's Office A San Antonio-area preschool teacher was arrested after surveillance footage showed him assaulting three 2-year-old students. Alfredo Xavier Marmolejo, 29, has been charged with three counts of injury to a child. According to the Bexar County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded to the Excelled Montessori Preschool in far Northwest Bexar County on Tuesday after reports of Marmolejo using force on three 2-year-old children who attend the school. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Child Safe investigators were provided with video surveillance from inside the classroom showing Marmolejo assaulting the three toddlers. Marmolejo is seen grabbing one of the toddlers by the arm, pointing his finger at their face, dragging the child by the arm, picking up the child, and then aggressively slamming the child onto a chair. He was also seen slapping another toddler in the back of the head with his hand, causing the child to fall to the floor. Marmolejo then bumps into a third toddler, causing the child to fall and hit their head on a table. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The sheriffs office said Marmolejo then yelled at one of the toddlers from across the room. Additionally, he did not check on any of the children he assaulted. The remainder of the video shows him kicking several other items in the classroom. When investigators questioned Marmolejo about his actions in the classroom, he told them, I did not think what happened in the classroom was that bad. He also told investigators that his emotions got the best of him, the sheriffs office said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On Wednesday, deputies booked Marmolejo into the Bexar County jail. His bail is set at $150,000, court records show. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A Madrid court set Wednesday an October 2025 trial date for a 550-million-euro lawsuit by more than 80 Spanish media against Facebook owner Meta for allegedly violating EU data protection rules. EU rules oblige companies to obtain users' consent to create personalized advertising from their data. Spain's main media association AMI says the US tech giant, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, created "unfair competition" by "systematically" breaking the law from May 2018 to July 2023. Meta offered advertising spaces based on "an illegitimately obtained competitive advantage" to the detriment of traditional news media that respected the law, said AMI, which represents the owners of newspapers El Pais, El Mundo and La Vanguardia. Meta's lawyer Javier de Carvajal told a preliminary hearing in a Madrid commercial court on Wednesday that the company denied any damage or violation of EU rules. The court agreed October 1 and 2 next year as the dates for the trial with AMI and Meta Ireland, the firm's European headquarters. The complainants' lawyer Nicolas Gonzalez Cuellar told journalists that Meta says personal data are not used for personalized advertising and that it gained no competitive advantage. Spanish radio and television stations have launched a separate lawsuit against Meta for the same reasons and are demanding 160 million euros ($169 million) in damages. 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: VW has lost ground in China, its most important market, where it makes around a third of its sales. German car giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would sell its operations in China's Xinjiang region, where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced labor. The firm will sell its factory in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi as well as a test track in Turpan to a Chinese company, a spokesperson said, citing "economic reasons" for the decision. VW has lost ground in Chinaits most important market, where it makes around a third of its saleswith business in the country in 2023 growing modestly but at a slower rate than the previous year. The German manufacturer has fallen behind domestic competitors in China, losing its title as the best-selling auto brand to BYD. The move also comes as Volkswagen is seeking to push through a major cost-cutting drive, and is weighing up closing factories in Germany for the first time. Rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a crackdown against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labor and detention camps. Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development. The northwestern region is home to several factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands. VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi, which opened in 2013 and in which it has a stake via its partner SAIC. This year, Germany's Handelsblatt financial daily reported that forced labor may have been used to build VW's test track in Turpan in 2019. VW said previously it had seen no evidence of human rights violations in connection with the project but vowed to investigate any new information that came to light. Its operations will be sold to Chinese firm Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (SMVIC), the car giant said Wednesday. 'Difficult decision' Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center Automotive Research institute in Germany, said that VW had "bowed to public sentiment" in deciding to end its operations in Xinjiang. "It was a difficult decision for VW, because China and its image in China are very important for the company," the auto industry expert told AFP. Some in China would be unhappy with the move and at a time "German carmakers are already losing market share, this is of course tricky", he added. In a commentary, top-selling German tabloid Bild noted that VW had faced pressure from the government in Berlin and the capital markets to pull out of Xinjiang. "For too long, the company turned a blind eye to the human rights situation," it said. Beijing stands accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across Xinjiang. Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labor, forced sterilization and political indoctrination. A UN report in 2022 detailed "credible" evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violenceas well as forced laborin the region. But it stopped short of labeling Beijing's actions a "genocide", as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done. Calls had grown louder for VW to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemicals giant BASF announced this year that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there. An external audit commissioned by VW last year found no evidence of forced labor among the plant's 197 employees. But the consultancy that wrote the report acknowledged "the challenges in collecting data" for audits in China. The Turpan test track was not part of the audit. In response to the VW forced labor report, China urged companies not to be "blinded by lies" about its rights record in Xinjiang. 2024 AFP To the people of Brazos County and Texans all over the world fellow citizens and compatriots a bronze plaque replica of the famous Victory or Death letter penned by Lt. Col. William Barret Travis, commandant of the Alamo, was dedicated in a ceremony Tuesday and placed in front of the Brazos County Courthouse. The plaque was donated by the Brazos Chapter of the Alamo Letter Society and is mounted on a granite monument funded in part by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, William J. Bryan Chapter. When the local chair, Fain McDougal, brought this project to Brazos County Commissioners Court in April of this year it was an honor to accept the donation of this plaque from the Brazos Chapter of the Alamo Letter Society, County Judge Duane Peters said. The generosity of this gift will serve to educate the citizens of Brazos County for years to come. L.W. Bill McNutt and Rosser Newton, co-founders of the Alamo Letter Society, spoke at the dedication. They spoke about the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 and its importance to Texans today. Our mission at the Alamo Letter Society is simple, unique, and powerful to educate current and future Texans about their forefathers armed struggle for freedom and liberty with the placement of a large, bronze plaque containing Col. William Barret Traviss Victory or Death letter in all 254 courthouses, McNutt said. McNutts wife told him if they dedicated one monument a month it would take 11 years to reach every county courthouse. Today, Brazos County leads the way being one of the first in Texas to dedicate this plaque, he said, noting the dedications are happening at a faster pace than once a month. The world will little note nor long remember who put this plaque here but every time it is read the reader can never forget what the brave Alamo defenders did to secure our freedom and to create this special place in all the world we call Texas. He spoke about the ride Capt. Albert Martin made to get Travis letter out to Gonzales, Texas, and then on to San Felipe and ultimately to Washington-on-the-Brazos where the convention was being held to adopt a constitution. Fain McDougal continues the ride of Capt. Albert Martin today, he said. Henry Mayo, president of the Brazos County Historical Commission, talked about the details of the letter and Martins part in the Alamo story. Albert Martin was one of the 18 men who protected the cannon, the Come and Take It cannon, he said, referring to the cannon Mexico had given to the people of Gonzales for defense and tried to take back in 1835 when rumblings of rebellion began. Martin then led 31 others back to the Alamo as part of the Immortal 32. Mayo discussed the history of the letter after the war. Sometime after Texas independence was established, the letter was given to Travis family in Alabama. In 1891, it was loaned back to the State of Texas for display and two years later the state ended up purchasing the letter from the Travis family and they keep it in special storage at the Texas State Library and Archives, he said. Tim Bryan of the Travis B. Bryan family read the letter and then joined McDougal in uncovering the plaque. Rosser Newton then presented McDougal with the Captain Albert Martin Award. The message that we take away from his heroic actions reverberates to what we think it means to be Texan today: Duty, honor, courage and self-sacrifice, he said. Thats the meaning that we take away from the Alamo letter and the work of Capt. Albert Martin. We ask each of you here today to be Capt. Albert Martin. Pull it up on the internet. Teach your children and grandchildren. Let your neighbors know about it. Its probably the most impressive letter that Ive read in the English language. He said it was an honor to present McDougal the award for the work he did to bring the plaque and monument here. My great-great-grandfather, Valentine Bennet, was one of the old 18 mentioned earlier in Gonzales in 1835 who, when ordered to return the cannon to Santa Anna, responded, Come and take it! They didnt, McDougal, a fifth-generation Texan, noted. Annasofia Scheve covers trending news for the Express-News. She can be reached at Annasofia.Scheve@express-news.net. Annasofia has bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri. She is an Ohio native, and wrote for Cincinnati Magazine and the Cincinnati Enquirer before joining the Express-News in 2023. Elizabeth Zavala covers federal courts for the Express-News. She can be reached at ezavala@express-news.net. Zavala is a veteran reporter who has been a journalist for nearly 40 years. She joined the Express-News in 2013 and covered the Bexar County criminal courts for nine years. Liz grew up on the near West Side. She graduated from Fox Tech High School and Texas Womans University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism. Liz has worked in various reporting and editing positions at five daily newspapers in Texas, including The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Denton Record-Chronicle. China's panda national park fosters haven for biodiversity 08:16, November 27, 2024 By Lyu Qiuping, Yu Li and Zhang Yuanpei ( Xinhua CHENGDU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- An infrared camera has recently captured an adult giant panda lingering in an artificial nest -- a positive sign indicating the possibility for the rare species to give birth in manmade nests. The clip was collected in the Deyang part of the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The small subpopulation of giant pandas in Deyang usually relies on tree holes and rock caves for breeding. As such natural sites were severely damaged in an earthquake in 2008, their reproduction was threatened. Therefore, since last year, conservationists have manually built 10 nests using tree trunks, bamboo branches, moss and other materials, placed infrared cameras inside and covered them with mud to mask human scents. "Whether giant pandas will choose this location for breeding and giving births still needs further monitoring, but this video clip enhances our confidence in protecting small panda populations," said Zhao Weihong, deputy director of the Deyang branch bureau of the national park. This image captured by an infrared camera in June 2024 shows an adult giant panda lingering in an artificial nest in the Deyang part of the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua) In 2021, China officially designated the first group of five national parks, including the Giant Panda National Park, which covers parts of the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. Speaking at the Global Panda Partners 2024 opening ceremony on Tuesday in Chengdu, Sichuan, Guan Zhiou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said the country has established 67 giant panda nature reserves, forming a habitat protection system centered around the national park and achieving habitat connectivity and genetic exchange between 85 percent of the wild giant panda populations. Themed "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature," the conference brings together government agencies, professionals and the general public as panda partners, calling on countries to join hands in protecting the living environments of pandas and other rare flora and fauna, and deepen cooperation and trust, as well as people-to-people exchanges and friendships. According to Guan, the wild giant panda population has grown from around 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has downgraded the giant panda's status from endangered to vulnerable. A BOOST FOR BIODIVERSITY Through various measures such as constructing ecological corridors, digital monitoring and policy support, the national park has set up an example of boosting biodiversity and pursuing harmonious coexistence between man and nature. According to Yang Zhisong, deputy head of the Sichuan Academy of Giant Panda, the fragmentation and isolation of the giant panda's habitats have led to 33 divided wild giant panda subpopulations, 25 of which are at risk of extinction due to their small numbers. "Without the exchange of foreign genes, small subpopulations will lead to a decline in population vitality due to inbreeding and other factors. Therefore, we need to construct giant panda corridors to connect all subpopulations to increase the genetic diversity of wild giant pandas," said Yang. Staff member Mu Shijie, dressed in a panda costume, feeds giant panda Xian Xian at the second-phase giant panda wild training fields of Tiantai Mountain in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Since the inauguration of the national park, the Sichuan section of the national park, which accounts for 87.7 percent of its total 22,000-square-km area, has restored 8.03 square kilometers of key ecological corridor areas, chaining isolated "panda blocks" into a larger network. Measures taken include shutting down hydropower stations and minefields, restoring vegetation, and building a road tunnel to reduce the disturbance of highway traffic in the mountainous area. Chen Zongqian, deputy director of the Sichuan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, said the construction of panda corridors not only benefits the giant pandas but also protects more than 8,000 other species of flora and fauna that coexist in their habitats. "This is the 'umbrella effect' of the giant panda as a flagship species," said Chen. After the national park was established, the number of giant pandas in key areas increased by 50, and the feces indicate that the habitat of giant pandas has expanded. In the Chengdu area of the park, intelligent infrared cameras have been installed to help monitor giant pandas and other wild animals, using wireless network technology to transmit images in real time. This reduces human disturbance to the wildlife's habitats and allows monitoring staff to obtain the latest image data promptly, said Jiang Dongze, an informatization manager in the area. The park has also pioneered the use of "panda face recognition" technology to achieve the wireless transmission of images and videos in real-time and compiled "DNA ID cards" for giant pandas. Giant panda Xian Xian has a meal at the second-phase giant panda wild training fields of Tiantai Mountain in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) In terms of policy support, the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu jointly issued a guideline on strengthening judicial protection of the national park in October 2023 and Sichuan Province has issued more than 30 documents and technical standards related to the construction of the national park. HARMONIOUS COEXISTENCE So far, the Sichuan section of the national park has provided over 3,100 public welfare positions for ecological protection. Villager and ranger Hu Tailun in Yingjing County and his colleagues follow the monitoring team to patrol regularly, clean up hunting traps, dissuade villagers from digging bamboo shoots, and assist the monitoring staff in retrieving memory cards from infrared cameras. He also runs a three-story homestay in his village, accommodating tourists and bird watchers. Such a life is quite different from decades ago when he followed his father to hunt and fell trees in the forests for a living. "Unlike in the past when we hunted almost everything to fill our stomachs, I enjoy being a guide for bird watchers now. It brings me additional income and makes me happy," said Hu, 50. A wild giant panda and her cub are pictured in the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 2024. (Xinhua) In case of damages caused by wild animals, the national park has fully covered insurance compensation for wildlife damage in 20 county-level regions in Sichuan, with a cumulative claim of over 14,000 cases and a total payout exceeding 8.11 million yuan (1.13 million U.S. dollars). Rodolphe Delord, general director of Beauval ZooParc in France, said he was impressed by the Giant Panda national park after seeing all that is being done to safeguard and preserve this species in its natural habitat. He said this is one of the most important conservation programs in the world and should serve as an example for species conservation internationally. Commenting on China's national park system and its ecological conservation initiatives, Kirsten Griffiths Conrad, principal of the Singapore-based global wildlife conservation organization AsiaCat, remarked, "This is something that those of us involved in wildlife and ecological conservation can only dream of. When we care for wildlife and the environment, they, in turn, take care of us. These efforts highlight the interdependence between humanity and nature." (Xinhua correspondents Cao Peixian and Zhao Yining contributed to the story.) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Bangladeshi supporters of an arrested Hindu leader clashed with security forces on Tuesday after the outspoken monk was denied bail on sedition charges, with one person killed, police said. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesman of a newly-formed Hindu group leading protests calling for the protection of the minority, was arrested on Monday afternoon. Religious relations have been turbulent in the mainly Muslim nation of 170 million people since a student-led August revolution forced long-time autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to neighbouring India. Brahmachari, of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group, was arrested as he travelled from the capital Dhaka to Chittagong on Monday. On Tuesday, supporters angry that bail was denied, surrounded the prison van carrying him away from court in Chittagong. Others hurled rocks. Security forces lobbed stun grenades and launched baton charges to break the crowd, and Brahmachari was eventually taken to prison in a police pickup truck. Nurul Alam, a police inspector posted at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said a public prosecutor had been killed, identifying him as Saiful Islam Alif, a Muslim. "He had deep injuries on his head", said hospital director Taslim Uddin. Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over as interim leader from Hasina, condemned the murder of the lawyer and ordered an investigation. Yunus "urged people to keep calm", vowing that the government "is committed to ensuring and upholding communal harmony in Bangladesh at any cost". In the immediate chaotic days following Hasina's ouster, there was a string of reprisals on Hindus -- seen by some as disproportionate supporters of her regime -- as well as attacks on Muslim Sufi shrines by Islamist hardliners. Islamist groups have been emboldened to take to the streets after years of being suppressed, and Hindu groups have rallied in counter-demonstrations. Hindus are the largest minority faith in Bangladesh, accounting for around eight percent of the population. The foreign ministry in neighbouring Hindu-majority India said they had "noted with deep concern" the arrest of Brahmachari. "This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh", New Delhi said in a statement. Ties between Dhaka and New Delhi have frayed, not least by India's hosting of their old ally Hasina -- wanted in Bangladesh to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity. Hasina's 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents. The Socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, acclaimed by supporters for squeezing traffic in the city centre but accused by opponents of failing to get to grips with day-to-day problems in the French capital, said in an interview published Tuesday she would not seek a new term in 2026 elections. Hidalgo, who has been at the reins in city hall since 2014 as Paris's first woman mayor, told the Le Monde daily: "I will not run for a third term. It is a decision I made a long time ago." "I have always believed that two terms are enough to bring about profound changes," added Hidalgo, 65, who won a second term in 2020. She backed fellow Socialist Remi Feraud, a senator, to succeed her, saying he has the "has the necessary solidity, seriousness and capacity to rally" people together. In office since 2014, Hidalgo has increased cycle lanes in Paris at the expense of cars and organised referendums that resulted in the banning of rental e-scooters and the tripling of parking fees for SUVs. She also presided over this year's summer Olympic and Paralympic Games which were seen as an immense success proudly showcasing the city. But critics accuse her of merely shifting traffic and causing even heavier concentrations of cars elsewhere while also allowing security, cleanliness and public transport to deteriorate. A viral social media hashtag #SaccageParis (Trashed Paris) that exposed how ugly Paris has become has morphed into a movement with a website denouncing conditions in the city. In her interview with Le Monde, Hidalgo insisted there had been a "clear improvement" in security while acknowledging the city still had "some extremely tough areas". Cleanliness is improving but the city needs "more rubbish bins" in busy areas, she added. "She leaves a catastrophic legacy," said Geoffroy Boulard, the right-wing mayor of Paris's 17th district. "There was no major project in the second term," he told BFM TV, saying instead that "big ideological measures were taken without consultation... this is the trademark of Anne Hidalgo." Deputy mayor David Belliard, whose Greens work in coalition with Hidalgo, however heaped praise on the outgoing mayor saying that "in 10 years we have profoundly transformed Paris." Even some opponents expressed respect for the Spain-born Hidalgo, indisputably one of the highest-profile mayors of a European capital. "I had profound disagreements with Anne Hidalgo, but I want to salute her commitment to Paris and her courage as a woman politician," said former transport and Europe minister Clement Beaune. In 2026, the Socialists are likely to face a challenge for city hall from right-wing Culture Minister Rachida Dati who for the last years has been an implacable critic of Hidalgo in one of the most bitter rivalries in French politics. Former deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, who has icy relations with Hidalgo despite sharing the same political family, has also expressed his intention to stand. In a crowded field, another name being cited from the centre is former prime minister Gabriel Attal, while Communist senator Ian Brossat has also expressed interest. The right will be eager to win back the city hall, which for 18 years was run by Jacques Chirac who would go on to be president. He was succeeded in 1995 by fellow right-winger Jean Tiberi, but Socialists have had control since Bertrand Delanoe won office in 2001. Hidalgo has ruled out any further crack at the presidency, after her 2022 campaign saw her record a humiliatingly low score of 1.74 percent. Rescuers on Tuesday recovered five survivors and four bodies from a dive boat that capsized off Egypt's eastern coast a day earlier, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said. A military-led team rescued two Belgians, one Swiss national, one Finnish tourist and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the accident to 33. The "Sea Story" had been carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt early on Monday, causing it to capsize. The four bodies recovered on Tuesday have not yet been identified, and seven people are still missing after 28 were rescued on Monday. A government source close to rescue operations said the five survivors were found on Tuesday morning inside the boat, which the governor said had been thrown on its side by an early morning wave but had not completely sunk. "They were found inside one of the rooms which had not filled with water," the government source told AFP, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media. The group had spent at least 24 hours in the overturned vessel after authorities first received distress calls at 5:30 AM (0330 GMT) on Monday. "Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers," the Red Sea governor told AFP Tuesday, declining to provide any further details about the operation. The four bodies recovered on Tuesday were also located inside the stricken vessel. The boat had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north. The governor on Monday said it capsized "suddenly and quickly within 5-7 minutes" of the impact with the wave, leaving some passengers -- among them European, Chinese and American tourists -- unable to set out of their cabins in time. Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat pulled 28 people from the water on Monday. According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged on Monday. The tourists included "two Germans, two Britons, one Spaniard and one Swiss national," the hospital administrator told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. Among the missing are two Polish tourists and one from Finland, according to both countries' foreign ministries. Authorities in Egypt have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault. There were at least two similar boat accidents in the Marsa Alam area earlier this year, but no fatalities. The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis. Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP. Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced. Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea's Daedalus reef. In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident. Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht. An Orangeburg County assessment identified several actions that could be taken to address Alzheimers disease in the community. For instance, the public needs to be provided with a better understanding of brain health and ways to protect cognition. The hiring of dementia care specialists is another actionable item that could lessen the impact of Alzheimers disease and related dementias, or ADRD. Were going to need the community Taylor Wilson, governmental affairs specialist with the S.C. Alzheimers Association, presented the results of a community and health care needs assessment at the Orangeburg County Council on Aging late last month. Wilson addressed the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation in November of 2023 about the countys staggering prevalence of Alzheimers disease. The Alzheimers Associations 2024 Alzheimers Disease Facts and Figures report, for example, ranked Orangeburg County eighth highest in the country out of 3,142 counties in Alzheimers prevalence at 15.2 percent of those 65 and older. Were going to need the community now more than ever to push this forward, she said. I will still be having conversations at the state level about what we can do to pilot different options in Orangeburg, including working with the Department of Public Health and the Department on Aging. We have that Take Brain Health to Heart work. We also have dementia care specialists that are going to be hired throughout the state. Making Orangeburg a priority is very important to us, Wilson said. In South Carolina, the agency now known as the Department of Public Health developed the Take Brain Health to Heart awareness campaign to increase the public's understanding of brain health. The campaign was updated in early 2020. Were going to start pushing this out a little bit harder. . It is evidence-informed and materials are available by request. We currently are funded through the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure grant through the CDC, Wilson said. The Department of Public Health is funded by the CDC to do this campaign. They have materials to give out to folks. We want to make sure that it gets into the hands of people that need them, she said. Brain health is body health and body health is brain health. ... We have to improve social isolation and cognitive stimulation in order to be able to change the brain health component," Wilson said. Early detection and diagnosis is also paramount, particularly since the current Alzheimers treatments are only eligible for those with mild cognitive impairment, or who are in the mild stages of dementia. Its also an opportunity to participate in clinical trials. The folks who participated in the clinical trials for Leqembi and Donanemab, the two (treatments) that have FDA approval, were in those trials for years. They have already received the treatment. You can participate in clinical trials and maybe receive a treatment thats going to make a difference in your life, she said. You do not have to be part of a drug trial to improve the outcomes of Alzheimers research. You can do healthy brain surveys. You can do cognitive games that you download on an app, Taylor said. Individuals could tap into TrialMatch (alz.org/trialmatch), which connects Alzheimers caregivers and healthy volunteers to clinical trials that may advance Alzheimers research. Engaging health care workers in the conversation surrounding dementia and dementia care is needed. That includes primary care providers, who are generally the first person an individual sees for cognitive testing. We only have 66 practicing geriatricians in South Carolina. Thats a problem, especially with a state thats aging at a significantly higher rate than surrounding states. ... We do have the Alzheimers Association health systems division that provides materials and training, Wilson said. If were going to get people involved, we also have to think about health systems as a whole, and figure out what those pathways (to better Alzheimers care) are, she said. There is a financial impact The community needs assessment, which was conducted through a series of public forums, revealed that the public wants more information about the different types of dementia and associated behaviors. They also feel there is a lack of access to diagnostic services, including neurological testing, and still far too much stigma surrounding Alzheimers. Stigma is beyond just a knowledge change, or a behavior change. It is an attitude change, and it typically takes years for that to take hold in communities. ... We cant just wait until everybodys attitudes change, Wilson said. She encouraged audience members to be the change they want to see. Wilson said there is work to be done in Orangeburg within the year. That includes people taking advantage of the state Alzheimers Associations three-hour online training program to become community educators. Identifying funding opportunities for potential community grants, support groups and respite care is also paramount. The S.C. Department on Aging, for example, provides Alzheimers Resource Coordination Center grants every year. Applications can be found online at aging.sc.gov under ARCC grants. This is the work that needs to begin now, she said. Project Lifesaver is another community initiative that more people need to be aware of. Project Lifesaver is an international program that uses electronic technology to help locate people with cognitive impairments who wander away from their caregivers. Participants wear a wristband or ankle band with a battery-operated transmitter that emits a tracking signal on a specific radio frequency. If the participant wanders away, a caregiver can notify the authorities, who then use a mobile receiver to locate the participant. Were trying to expand it through the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office and the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety through a collaboration. Right now, it is housed at the sheriffs department. We need Public Safety to be able to access it as readily as they need, Wilson said. Saundra Shuler coordinates the Project Lifesaver program along with Sgt. Jared Kittrell at the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office. Right now were trying to raise funds for this because we do need some updated and new equipment and also supplies need to be replenished. ... We are partnered with The Pilot Club of Orangeburg, and they have been excellent benefactors over the years, but now were trying to secure more funding. Its well worth it, Shuler said. She said individuals interested in signing up for the program can call 803-531-2474 or Sgt. Kittrell at 803-533-5813. Wilson said individuals need to begin engaging local city and county officials about obtaining grants that target Alzheimers care and research. She said the staggering rates of Alzheimers in Orangeburg County could potentially affect business and economic development. I cant say that its also not affected by lack of industry, but it has to have some role, Wilson said. County Chamber of Commerce President James McQuilla said, When you think about Alzheimer's, typically people think about who it affects, the fact that they lose their memory, their cognitive abilities. But people don't really think about the caregivers who still work. It may not be an immediate financial impact, but over a period of time, there is a financial impact to the businesses here. One of the things that can be positive is businesses that offer cognitive services to help the elderly who have dementia, Alzheimer's, things like that, or assisted living facilities that are specific to folks - and we have some in Orangeburg - who have cognitive issues like dementia and Alzheimer's, McQuilla said. So even though the situation is bad, it does offer an opportunity for an innovative person who's an entrepreneur to offer services that aren't here right now, he said. Wilson said she plans to meet with the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation again to present the assessment findings. We didnt just do this on a whim. This is to make change. Then we are going to do the exploration of potential opportunities to bring risk reduction and health systems to Orangeburg and surrounding counties, she said. For more information on S.C. Alzheimers Association resources, email alzsc@alz.org. The associations 24-hour help line can also be reached at 800-272-3900. 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. Vice President Kamala Harris addressed her supporters Tuesday, candidly acknowledging that her loss to President-elect Donald Trump "feels heavy." The remarks, made during a virtual meeting with grassroots supporters, came after her post-Election Day vacation and sparked a wave of reactions on social media. "I just have to remind you, don't let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you," Harris said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz joined Vice President Kamala Harris on the call, reflecting a similarly somber tone. "Candidly, it's a bit scary," he said of Trump's win. "I hope all of you take care of yourselves, take care of your families, find a place in your community to heal both yourselves and your community," Walz added. However, neither Walz nor Harris addressed how their well-funded campaignhaving raised over $1 billion between July and Novemberfailed to secure victories in swing states, the Electoral College, or even the popular vote against Trump. The video shared on the Democratic Party's official X account received a lot of ridicule. "The dial-up modem sound played on an infinite loop is more bearable than 28 seconds of whatever this is," Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) wrote on X. "I'd read a 5,000 word article on how this got approved for release," Ben Williamson, a House GOP staffer and former Trump White House aide, tweeted. "A final 30 seconds of circular references for the road," a social media user remarked, referencing Harris' "word salad" during the campaign. Last week, Harris and Doug Emhoff went on a vacation in Hawaii, skipping the so-called "losers' party" at the White House, where donors and insiders gathered at the executive mansion over the weekend. "We are all in this together, all right? We are all in this together," Harris said near the end of remarks. She then wished her supporters "a Happy Thanksgiving." "I wish for you that you are surrounded by the people you love and who love you I encourage you to be around family in whatever way you compose that family," she continued. "We are powerful, those of us who love our country, and we've got a lot of work to do." Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance today (November 26) announced the state budget for FY 2025 with revenues projected at SAR1.18 trillion ($315.7 billion) and expenditure at SAR1.28 trillion ($340 billion). These estimates indicate a deficit of SAR101 billion ($26.8 billion), which represents about 2.3% of GDP, reported SPA. The figures align with projections from the ministrys pre-budget statement in September, showing a 4% decline in both revenues and expenditures, and a 12% lower deficit compared to the latest FY 2024 estimates. The Finance Ministry forecasted Saudi Arabias Real GDP growth at 4.6% in 2025, up from the 0.8 percent estimate for 2024. This growth will be driven by a rise in non-oil sector activities, it stated. Declining oil prices and extended voluntary production cuts by the world's largest oil exporter have weighed on Saudi Arabia's revenue in recent years but Riyadh is pushing ahead with a spending surge to boost growth and deliver on its Vision 2030 economic transformation plan. The FY2025 forecast are based on a baseline scenario, which represents a middle ground between higher and lower revenue projections, taking into account potential changes in economic activity and global petroleum market conditions. Lauding the leadership, Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al Jadaan, said the economic transformation journey of the Kingdom's Government is ongoing towards diversification, innovation, and investment in promising sectors, adding that the results to date confirm the success of economic and fiscal reforms. These reforms will continue to enhance comprehensive economic growth and develop public financial management, focusing on improving the quality of services provided to citizens, residents, and visitors. Al Jadaan noted that the Government aims to expand strategic spending through the FY 025 Budget on development projects in line with sectoral strategies and Saudi Vision 2030 programs. The government also reiterated its commitment to delivering programmes and projects with sustainable economic, social, and environmental returns. It will further enhance the business environment to improve its attractiveness, as well as improve the kingdom's trade balance, while increasing the volume and types of local and foreign investments, he added. Minister Al Jadaan pointed out that the deficit was part of the overall fiscal planning for the budget. "The government aims to continue domestic and international fiscal operations to bridge the expected 2025 deficit and repay debt due during 2025 and over the medium term. The Government also aims to take advantage of available market opportunities to implement alternative government fiscal operations that enhance economic growth, such as spending that is directed towards strategies, mega projects, and Saudi Vision 2030 programs," he stated. It is expected that the public debt balance will reach SAR1,300 billion (29.9% of GDP) by the end of 2025, compared to SAR1,199 billion (29.3% of GDP) in 2024, he added. Four major contractors have submitted bid for the Busaiteen Link Package 4, with Haji Hassan Group, a major provider of construction and engineering services in the kingdom, having emerged as the lowest bidder with an offer of BD104.2 million ($274.3 million), according to the results announced by the Bahrain Tenders Board. As per the tender results, the second lowest bidder is leading contracting firm Cebarco Bahrain with an offer of BD162.4 million followed by Al Rashid Trading And Contracting Company with BD181.2 million and Six Construct Company, which had the highest bid of BD221 million. The scope of work includes development of Busaiteen Link (Junctions 4 to Junction 5), Signature Bridge and related approach ramps, Loop road bridge connecting the new Busaiteen Link to the existing North Manama Causeway Phase-1 & drawings, it added. The project is part of Ministry of Works' strategy to augment the existing road network by developing new road corridors to support the rapidly expanding economy of the kingdom. Omans Islamic finance industry is poised to cross $40 billion in the medium term, and be at $30.9 billion as of end-September 2024, with Islamic banking assets accounting for just over two thirds. This is followed by outstanding sukuk (30%) and takaful contributions (1%), according to Fitch Ratings. Increasing public demand, deepening distribution channels, use of sukuk as a public funding tool by the sovereign and corporates, and regulatory steps could drive further growth in the Omani Islamic finance sector, says Fitch Ratings. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) addressed a structural gap in October 2024 with the introduction of the Bank Deposit Protection Law, which would protect Islamic banks deposits. We expect this will aid confidence in Omans Islamic banking sector as the previous deposits insurance scheme only covered conventional banks deposits, says Fitch. Headroom to absorb shocks Omani Islamic banks total assets (including windows) reached OMR8.2 billion ($21.3 billion) at end-3Q24, with Islamic banking growing to a market share of 18.7% of Omanis banking sector assets (end-3Q23: 17.6%). Favourable economic conditions, improving asset quality, stable profitability and capitalisation and reasonable liquidity should provide banks with some headroom to absorb moderate shocks should geopolitical tensions in the region heighten. Islamic banks financing growth (end-3Q24: 12.6% yoy) significantly exceeded that of conventional banks (3.2% yoy), as did Islamic deposit growth (23.7%, versus 11.3%). Islamic banking windows gain advantages from leveraging their parent conventional bank's established franchise and infrastructure, resulting in greater cost efficiency. Profit-and-loss sharing contracts are fundamental to Oman's Islamic banking, with diminishing musharaka comprising 43.1% of total financing and wakala (23.6%) at end-2023. The Omani debt capital market (DCM) reached $45 billion outstanding, although had increased by just 0.8% yoy at end-3Q24, with no expectation of a significant short-term surge as the government pre-pays more of its debt using the budget surplus from high oil prices. Omani DCM Fitch rated $6.5 billion of outstanding Omani sukuk all at BB+ in 3Q24, issued equally among the sovereign and corporates. Sukuk has a sizable share (21%) of the outstanding DCM mix at end-3Q24. The Omani DCM is still at an early stage of development, and is the second-smallest amongst GCC countries. However, sukuk issuance expanded by 86% yoy to $2 billion in 9M24, outpacing bond issuance ($5.6 billion; up 53%). Oman has started several initiatives to develop its DCM including the issuance of a circular by the CBO in October 2024, aimed at strengthening the banking sectors resilience to climate-related risks. Additionally, Oman unveiled its sustainable finance framework earlier this year and established the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which replaced its Capital Market Authority in March 2024, and has issued sukuk and bond regulation. These initiatives add regulatory clarity and could contribute to DCM development. The Omani takaful industry grew by a modest 0.8% in the gross direct premiums segment, and reached OMR76.8 million at end-2023, representing 14% of insurance companies gross direct premiums, according to the Omanis Insurance Market Index 20222023. The takaful policies were 316,933 policies at end-2023 (up 24% yoy), dominated by general takaful (89%). The Omani Islamic finance sector remains one of the smallest in the GCC and continues to face several challenges, including the lack of Islamic liquidity-management instruments, and smaller capital bases compared to the conventional banks, which could restrict their involvement in major government financing projects. However, the sector has long-term growth potential, given the recent government regulatory developments and Omans predominantly Muslim population.--TradeArabia News Service Keturah, the revolutionary global luxury wellbeing real estate and hospitality concept said that its total sales for Keturah Reserve and The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Dubai, Creekside', part of the Keturah Resort, have reached AED 6.1 billion ($1.66 billion) in 2024. At Keturah Reserve, the luxury residential development in Meydan, which offers transformational living through the design of space, all townhouses have been sold, while 60% of Residences and 93% of plots were sold respectively. In 2025, the company will launch 26 luxury villas for sale. On the other hand, 70% of Residences and 40% of the ultra-luxury mansions at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Dubai, Creekside, part of the Keturah Resort, which is the first fully wellness-certified resort in the MENA region, have been sold. Both projects are witnessing huge demand due to their unique combination of luxury, wellbeing, and the enriched experience they offer to residents. Talal Moafaq Al Gaddah, Founder and CEO of Keturah, said: The impressive sales milestones at both projects reiterates the unique aspects of both Keturah Reserve and Keturah Resort, which offer unique design and wellness concepts to the region. The unprecedented performance of the Dubai real estate sector reflects the wise leaderships strategic vision and confirms Dubais position as one of the worlds top investment destinations. At Keturah, we will continue with our mandate to attract investors in alignment with the governments vision for the emirate. TradeArabia News Service The 45th edition of Big 5 Global marked its opening day at the Dubai World Trade Centre, where government leaders, industry innovators and policymakers gathered to explore the power of construction in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region which boasts a $9 trillion construction projects pipeline. "The successful opening of the 45th edition of Big 5 Global has been remarkable, as we witnessed an inspiring day of thought-provoking discussions, where leaders from across the industry came together to share insights and ideas for the future of construction," said Josine Heijmans, the Senior Vice President, dmg events. "It was also a day of tremendous business activity, with companies signing new partnerships and deals, showcasing the continued growth and importance of Big 5 Global as a hub for collaboration, innovation and opportunity within the urban development and construction sector," stated Heijmans. Day 1 of Big 5 Global (November 26-29) featured strategic summits across the co-located events LiveableCitiesX, Future FM and GeoWorld, said the organisers. These included the Big 5 Global Leaders Summit, GeoWorld Summit, and IFMA Global | Middle East Summit, where policymakers, government leaders and industry innovators convened for a day of insightful discussions. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure opened Big 5 Global Leaders Summit with a keynote address setting the tone for visionary leadership in the sector. The summit also featured Fred Mills, Founder of The B1M emphasised the transformative role of the construction industry. He said: There is no other industry where you can make a bigger difference on this planet than construction. Every time they say impossible, we [the construction industry] prove them wrong. Running in parallel, GeoWorld Summit explored the latest geospatial technology and data advancements. Speaking at the summit, Dr. Hasni Ghedira, Director of Research Engagement at Mohamed bin MBZUAI (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence) said: Leveraging GIS and urban hydrology is essential for identifying vulnerable areas during extreme weather conditions and implementing effective solutions in the region." The IFMA Global | Middle East Summit brought together FM industry leaders from around the world to redefine the future of facility management, focusing on innovations and strategies to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability. On the exhibition floor, leading companies finalized key deals and partnerships that highlight the events role in driving business growth, said the organisers. Building on the remarkable success of its first phase, Arabian Hills Real Estate Development has officially launched the second phase of its iconic AED22 billion ($6 billion) residential development, Arabian Hills Estate, strategically located on the Dubai-Al Ain Road. Spread over a sprawling 244 million sq ft area, Arabian Hills Estate will be implemented in 14 phases and will offer residential plots ranging from 12,000 sq ft to 132,000 sq ft. This project is the culmination of a strategic partnership between Arabian Hills Real Estate Development Company and Ara Real Estate Development, the esteemed real estate division of Core International Holdings Group. The Emirati developer said the launch of Phase Two aligns with the companys mission to create innovative and forwardthinking communities that cater to future generations. The overwhelming response to Phase One earlier this year highlights the trust and confidence that investors and homebuyers place in the quality of Arabian Hills' projects. This new phase offers unparalleled opportunities for both living and investment, with its prime location and integrated facilities designed to meet diverse resident needs. From expansive green spaces and premium recreational amenities to state-of-the-art educational and commercial facilities, Arabian Hills Estate is designed to enhance quality of life while fostering a sense of community. Devji Aurum, one of the oldest fabricators of exquisite jewellery, has collaborated with leading Welsh fashion designer Jayne Pierson and go-to-market advisory firm nuForj to launch its limited edition of rare set of collars, cuffs, earrings and rings under the Gwenllian Collection in Bahrain. The new collection was unveiled at Jewellery Arabia 2024 by the British Ambassador to Bahrain, Alastair Long. The region's largest jewellery and watch show, Jewellery Arabia 2024, kicked off yesterday (November 26) and will run for the next three days bringing together some of the leading international and local brands to Bahrain. Speaking at the unveiling, Ambassador Long said: "The United Kingdom and Bahrain share a passion for arts and culture. The British fashion industry is world renowned for its creativity and innovation throughout history. The Welsh have made a significant contribution to that heritage, and I am delighted Jayne Pierson has brought that creativity to Bahrain." The Gwenllian Collection is a limited edition and rare set of collars, cuffs, earrings and rings. The items are exquisitely crafted in Welsh gold, diamonds, precious lapis, and malachite and feature Welsh triskelion motifs and Celtic knots, each signed by Jayne Pierson, serialized, and intended to be worn as an amulet to protect the wearer. This is the first time in Devji Aurums over 70-year history that it has formed a design collaboration from outside the region and with the caliber of a renowned designer as Pierson. Devji Aurum CEO Mahesh Devji said Piersons evocatively Welsh designs meshed with his companys own legacy. "We believe jewellery should not simply be adornments they should be time capsules that tell stories from the soul. Indeed, Jaynes designs tell timeless stories of Welsh ages past that also speak to us in modern times, reflecting the spiritual heart of Welsh culture. They are truly fantastic," he stated. The Gwenllian Collection builds on Piersons reputation for avant-garde design inspired by Celtic mythology, Welsh heritage, and a blending of history and the future. It was named for Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, a 12th-century Welsh warrior princess, the only known medieval era woman known to have led a Welsh army into battle. "In working with Maheshs team, I really loved the emotional intensity of the collaboration, both parties approaching it without any preconceived notions of where it might lead us," remarked Pierson. "I am really excited by the collision of cultures represented by this collection Welsh, Arabian and Indian. The end result are pieces that are incredibly meaningful and people just become overwhelmed with emotion simply trying them on," she added. Rudy N. Vogel, Managing Principal, nuForj, said: "Knowing the uncommon vision and craftmanship of Mahesh and the distinctive creativity and novel design of Jayne, I knew from the start that the outcome of this utterly unique collaboration would result in something very special that is the Gwenllian collection."-TradeArabia News Service GE Vernovas Kuwait Technology Center has signed Memorandums of Understanding with two leading Kuwaiti universities to strengthen the companys support for developing skillsets of young Kuwaiti talent, underscoring GE Vernovas commitment to support Kuwaits energy and education sectors in line with Kuwait Vision 2035. Both MOUs encompass a wide range of potential collaboration activities, such as workshops, site visits, education sessions, internship opportunities for students, guest lectures of GE Vernova experts, and more. The first MOU was signed on November 20, 2024, with the American International University (AIU) at the GE Vernova Kuwait Technology Center, by Nael AlAwadhi, Member of the Board of Trustees of AIU, and Mariam Alrushaid, Senior Service Director of GE Vernova in Kuwait. Dr Mohammad Alqattan, Assistant Vice President of Research and External Relations at AIU said: This Memorandum of Understanding with GE Vernova reflects the American International Universitys commitment to building strategic relationships with the private sector and strengthening collaboration with Kuwaits labor market. This relationship aims to enhance the skills of professionals in both the private and public sectors, contributing to sustainable growth and actively supporting Kuwaits Vision 2035 across various fields. The second MOU was signed on November 21, 2024, with Gulf University of Technology & Science (GUST), by Prof Bassam Alameddine, President of GUST, and Mariam Alrushaid of GE Vernova. Prof. Bassam Alameddine said: "We are excited to formalize the collaboration between GUST and GE Vernova, a relationship that underscores our commitment to advancing educational and professional opportunities for our students. This collaboration will provide our students with invaluable, hands-on experience through internships and research initiatives, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and real-world applications. Additionally, GUST students will have the opportunity to engage in site visits, allowing them to gain direct insights into cutting-edge technologies and practices. GE Vernovas participation in our events as guest speakers will also enrich our academic environment, fostering dialogue and knowledge-sharing on the latest industry trends. This collaboration marks a significant step towards building a dynamic, industry-informed academic experience for GUST students and faculty." Mariam Alrushaid commented: These two MOUs reinforce GE Vernovas long-term commitment to support the advancement of Kuwaits energy sector, in line with Kuwait Vision 2035. In addition to providing advanced technology and services for Kuwaits power industry, developing the skillsets of the next generation of Kuwaiti talent with first-hand technology insights and hands-on practical experience is a key pillar of this commitment. We are very proud to collaborate with two of the leading universities for young engineers in Kuwait, AIU and GUST, and we are excited to further support Kuwait on its energy transition journey. -TradeArabia News Service Caricature of Alison Cook Ken Ellis/Staff Rarely in my writing life have I had no idea what to say. Yet today is one of those occasions. How do you sum up what it means to leave a job you have held for 22 years, a job you (almost always) loved, a job that kept you perpetually interested and engaged with your city? My tenure as the Houston Chronicles restaurant critic has been all those things, and more. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I depart firmly believing that Houston has come into its own as a vibrant and important American dining scene. And much of that blossoming has happened on my watch: especially in the dizzying developments from 2012 on, when so many ideas, personalities and restaurants clicked into place. The years since have been heady stuff for a critic who has believed since the 1980s that Houston had the stuff to become an American food capital, one with its own distinctive regional cuisine. Put together our foundational culinary strains Mexican; Southern and Southern Soul; Creole; Cajun; Cowboy; dashes of Czech and German. Add the head-spinning influx of international immigrants after the reforms of the mid-1960s. Stir hard and you end up with a singular blend that is still working itself out. ALISON COOK'S LAST REVIEW: Big ups, mystifying downs at Bar Bludorn That will keep happening long after Ive quit the field. But Ill never stop marveling over the way the citys chefs and restaurants and home cooks keep combining our foodways, as the scholars call them now. Just today, I watched an Instagram reel from Pizzitolas BBQ, one of the citys oldest pit-style joints, where a young Hispanic pitmaster demonstrated the way he put together their Friday special of brisket enchiladas, saucing them and putting them to finish right in the pit. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Thats Houston, baby. And Ill never get tired of it. I confess that I am tired, though: of the wear and tear of constantly eating out; of feeling like I could never eat healthily enough; of the rigors that newspapering in the digital age imposes on a writer who has always been more slow food than fast food. A CRITIC'S CRITIC: What the best restaurant writers in America have to say about Alison Cook I came to the Chronicle as a magazine writer, and as much as I tried to fit into the rhythms of a daily newspaper, it was always a stretch. Now its time to pass the torch to the younger and more nimble. I trust that under my valued editor, Jody Schmal, and my food-writing colleagues Bao Ong and Sonia Garcia, that the Chronicles food coverage will keep surprising and delighting you. And me, too. Ill still be reading and thinking and obsessing about Houstons restaurants and food I really cant help myself and Ill find new ways to share whats on my mind. Ill continue to think of restaurants as one of our most important civic institutions, one in which the wild strains of Houston life come together, break bread, check each other out, and depart feeling just a little more connected to our Gulf Coastal tribe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I leave grateful to a news organization that always gave me the latitude (and the expense account) to do my job; that never said no to a good idea; and that allowed me for so long to do my best work. In an era when serious restaurant criticism is disappearing from major dailies, that mattered. To me, and I hope to readers and to the citys restaurant people, too. QatarEnergy has laid the foundation stone for the world's largest blue ammonia plant, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar. The plant, which produces low carbon ammonia, is a key milestone in QatarEnergy's strategy to expand its clean energy sector and reduce CO2 emissions. The ceremony took place in Mesaieed Industrial City. With an investment of about QAR 4.4 billion ($1 billion), the plant will be built in Mesaieed Industrial City, which offers a strategic location, integrated infrastructure, ideal capabilities, and a port that is considered one of the largest petrochemical export facilities in the Middle East. The plant is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2026, marking a milestone in Qatar Energys strategy to expand into the cleaner energy sector. The ceremony was attended by Saad Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, and senior executives and officials from the entities involved in the project implementation. Minister Al-Kaabi said: This facility consists of an ammonia production unit with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, along with an additional unit for CO2 injection and storage, with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year. QatarEnergy will provide the new plant with more than 35 megawatts of electricity from the solar power plant currently being built in Mesaieed Industrial City, thereby becoming blue ammonia. This plant will enhance our ability to provide the world with low-carbon products, in line with the global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Minister Al-Kaabi pointed to the fact that: In building this facility, we will rely on our own capabilities and expertise in the construction and operation of ammonia plants used for the production of fertilizers. This will be carried out in cooperation between QatarEnergy and Qatar Fertiliser Company - QAFCO. He added: The blue ammonia plant joins a list of QatarEnergys large and ambitious expansion projects in Qatar and around the world covering LNG, oil and gas exploration and production, petrochemicals, fertilizers, solar power, and more. Minister Al-Kaabi concluded his remarks by thanking the consortium implementing the project, consisting of ThyssenKrupp and CCC, as well as the working teams from QatarEnergy and QAFCO, whose efforts contributed to the realization of the project. He extended sincere thanks to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar for his patronage and unlimited support of the energy sector, and to His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, the Deputy Amir, Chairman of the QatarEnergy Board of Directors for laying the foundation stone of the blue ammonia plant. -TradeArabia News Service Emirates has officially unveiled the very first Airbus A350-900 to join its fleet at an exclusive event showcase in Dubai. The event, led by Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline in the presence of Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, was attended by VIP guests, aerospace partners, government officials and dignitaries, members of the media, as well as aviation enthusiasts. Guests were able to experience the aircrafts interiors, equipped with its next generation products and latest technologies. The Emirates A350 features three spacious cabin classes, accommodating 312 passengers in 32 next-generation Business Class lie-flat seats, 21 Premium Economy seats and 259 generously pitched Economy Class seats. The latest onboard products reflect the airlines commitment to delivering a premium passenger experience while optimising operational efficiency. The Emirates A350 is the first new aircraft type to join Emirates fleet since 2008. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group said: Today is an exciting milestone for Emirates as we showcase our first A350 and usher in a new era for our fleet and network growth. This aircraft sets the stage for Emirates to spread its wings farther by offering added range, efficiency and flexibility to our network, enabling us to meet customer demand in new markets and unlock new opportunities in the cities that we serve. "Onboard, our updated interiors and seating configurations will help us deliver a more elevated and comfortable experience to travellers across every cabin class. The 65 Emirates A350s joining our fleet in the coming years fit into the airlines broader plans to support our visionary leaderships Dubais D33 Strategy, which will transform the city into a pivotal hub in the global economy by expanding its connectivity and reach. Phillipe Mhun, Executive Vice President Programmes & Services for Airbus, said: We are proud to further expand our strategic partnership with Emirates which has flourished nearly 4 decades ago with the A300, the A330, the A340 and the A380. Marking a new chapter for Airbus, we expect the A350 to become an integral member of the Emirates fleet and support its continued growth and sustainability ambitions. Omar Ali Adib, SVP Customer Middle East and Africa for Rolls-Royce, said: The collaborative effort between Emirates, Airbus and Rolls-Royce exemplifies what can be achieved when we share a commitment to excellence and build a long-term partnership that makes us all stronger. With our 1bn investment in durability across our Trent engine family, we are committed to continuing to evolve and improve in the years ahead. Apart from its newly delivered A350, Emirates operates two other aircraft types around the world to 140 destinations - the widebody Boeing 777 aircraft and the iconic double decker Airbus A380 aircraft. The A350s introduction will enable Emirates to expand into new destinations globally, including mid-sized airports unsuited for larger aircraft. The Emirates A350 will be delivered in two versions - one for regional routes and one for ultra long-haul routes. The airline plans to make its first scheduled commercial A350 flight to Edinburgh on 3 January 2025. In the months to follow, customers can look forward to experiencing the Emirates A350 in existing GCC points like Bahrain, Muscat and Kuwait, Lyon and Bologna in Europe, and Colombo, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in West Asia in addition to new travel opportunities that are up to 15 hours from Dubai to be announced in 2025. - TradeArabia News Service WE all have the power to break down the barriers that have held us back for too long. This was the statement from attorney-at-law and lay assessor of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal Veera Bhajan as she addressed the American Chamber of Commerce for T&T (Amcham T&T) Womens Leadership Conference yesterday. The event was hosted at the Hyatt Regency (Trinidad), Wrightson Road, Port of Spain. If youre planning to start seeds indoors this season, you likely know youll need a growing medium (packaged, sterile seed-starting mix is ideal), a sunny windowsill or grow lights and, of course, seeds. But have you given thought to what containers youll use? You might be planning to buy rimmed trays, peat pots or compartmentalised plastic flats, but theyre not your only options. With a bit of imagination, you can easily upcycle items you already have while keeping trash out of the landfill and your money in your wallet. Cheers to Alison Cook, y'all. Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram So are readers and members of the local restaurant community. We asked for submissions about Cook's impact, and got so many responses this page would be an endless scroll if we published them all. Here is a selection of 16 of them. Note: Most who submitted wished to remain anonymous. *** Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Alison has been a champion of Texas cheese and Houston Dairymaids since we first opened up with a stall at Monica Popes farmers market in 2006. Within months of our start, Alison traveled with us to meet the cheesemakers. Her articles about their work and ours brought attention to our business at a very precarious early stage. We didnt have much not even air conditioning and her enthusiasm not only brought us customers, but also confidence. Knowing Alison has taught me to always be curious, and always be ready for what may be the next great meal or great cheese!" Lindsey Schechter, owner Houston Dairymaids "Since moving to Houston about a decade and a half ago, Alison Cook has guided my palate and my stomach through our city's rich diversity of culinary traditions and experiments. And she has done so with evocative language that speaks to the experience of a truly good meal without falling into the traps of purple prose. I greatly appreciate the work that Alison and her colleagues have done to explore the full range of culinary experiences in this city, from fine dining to the hole in the wall that does that one dish just right. Her and her colleagues' work is an important reminder that food doesn't need to be pricey or fancy to be truly compelling." "It was always an honor to get praise from Alison. She took the time to visit and comment on new and established restaurants. Our family has been fortunate to receive positive reviews on two restaurants, Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen and Eugene's Gulf Coast Cuisine." "I could almost never get through one of Alison's positive restaurant critiques in the paper without my mouth watering. Just reading her columns was almost as good as visiting the place for dinner." "When I opened Burger Guys, Alison of course was the review I was waiting for. While I disagreed with the number of stars, the review was fair-minded and even-handed. Since then we have stayed in touch. When I moved back from my time with Momofuku in Las Vegas to help open Eunice, she came in for a visit one happy hour. After we caught up as I was going back to the kitchen she says 'One more thing. What you did at Burger Guys was 10 years ahead of its time.' Since then shes mentioned me in a few reviews of other restaurants. I always found that even if I didnt agree with her assessment of a restaurant, it was always fair and well considered. Hopefully someone can carry on that legacy." Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Im grateful for Alison Cook as an insightful expert, a terrific writer, and a compassionate human. From hamburgers to haute cuisine, she always got me interested in the Houston food scene. And her personal comments about life during and after COVID humanized her. Congratulations and thank you, Alison Cook. You leave big shoes to fill, and I hope the Chronicle recognizes how important this type of information is to readers like me!" "My husband and I began reading Alisons restaurant reviews from the first day she reported for the Chronicle. We live in League City and go into Houston just about every weekend. We always plan our restaurant based on her insightful reports what does she like and what doesnt she like, the ambience and the people-watching. She introduced us to places we probably wouldnt have known of or wouldnt have tried. No doubt we arent the only ones who chose restaurants in that way. She will undoubtedly be missed but we wish her well in her continuing journey." "Alison is the reason I subscribe to the Houston Chronicle. The other Chronicle food reporters are good, but Alison is the Michael Jordan of food critics! Her restaurant reviews in the Chronicle will be sorely missed." "Alison first came to my attention beginning at Da Marco when she awarded us and Aries four stars. It really shook up the dining scene. At the time she and Robb Walsh of Houston Press where the only reviewers in town. I have always appreciated her writing and will blindly go to areas and restaurants just to try what she has written about. One day I would like to share a meal with her and talk about the progression of restaurants in our city." Antonio Gianola, Houston Wine Merchant "I no longer live in Houston but come back periodically to visit or catch an Astros game. Before these trips I read her recent columns and see if I can I incorporate a visit to a place she reviewed positively. I trust her opinions and judgments, and will miss reading her column." Advertisement Article continues below this ad "End of an era... a sad day in the life of Houston food journalism. Restaurant flags will be at half mast on Nov. 27. A beloved Houston personality and iconic figure whose stamp of approval turned the fortunes of many an establishment." Kaiser Lashkari, Himalaya "Reading Alisons food reviews over the years was like reading greeting cards. We mostly agreed with her; she wrote our thoughts exactly; but we could never put them into words like she could. She didnt write food reviews; she wrote poetry." "Having arrived in Houston from France a year ago, I can say that Alison has been holding the flashlight as I've discovered the culinary wonders of my new home. But the piece that stays with me, and captures her true talent as a writer, is how she managed to account for her being stuck in a gas station line for 3.5 hours and make it a gripping read. Thanks for everything Alison, and all the best for the next step!" "I always watched for, and enjoyed reading, Alison Cooks reviews. They are not only spot-on but also well written in a colorful and precise manner. I not only was able to read excellent reviews, but also learn new uses of the English language! I will miss her reviews." Advertisement Article continues below this ad "I moved to Houston from New Jersey in 2009. Had lived in many cities, but Houston was definitely largest. Literally learned about Houston and locations by reading Alisons reviews. Easiest new city transition I ever made figured out where things were while trying great food. Alisons writing is entertaining, insightful and effortless to consume. I swear, every week a colleague or customer would ask me how I knew about so many places so quickly. Can never thank her enough." 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. Trinidad and Tobago Red Force backed up skipper Joshua Da Silvas pre-game declaration that his pacers would lead the charge against Barbados Pride in the fifth round of the West Indies Four-Day Championship. Fast bowling would have been very much on the minds of the Kensington Oval curators as they prepared the pitch for the Barbados home match against T&T. A 44-year-old man was killed in a crash Tuesday night when Tucson police say he lost control of a Jeep Grand Cherokee and smashed into a light pole. "Evidence of alcohol consumption," was found at the crash scene, Tucson police said Wednesday in a news release. About 11:20 p.m., the unidentified 44-year-old man was speeding north in the 5400 block of South Nogales Highway, north of East Drexel Road, and lost control, the release said. The Jeep slid west across Nogales Highway and crashed into the pole. The man was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the Jeep, the release said. He died at the crash scene, police said. Speed and impairment are factors in the wreck, the release said. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough takes a look at the county's new fire truck that is designed to respond to aircraft emergencies at the Conroe North Houston Regional Airport. Montgomery County The Montgomery County Fire Marshals Office has received a new county fire truck specifically designed to respond to aircraft emergencies at the Conroe North Houston Regional Airport. Commissioners approved the $580,000 purchase of the truck in May. Its going to be a great addition to the safety of our airport, Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Walker said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a Facebook post Tuesday, County Judge Mark Keough said the county purchased the truck used but said it was in great shape and will serve the airport for many years. As the airport continues to grow and aircraft traffic continues to increase monthly, this truck will keep the passengers and crew safe and help us attract additional tenants, Keough said. The vehicle will replace the airports current airplane response vehicle, which is 38 years old and no longer operational. During a May 21 court meeting, Airport Director James Brown, who was appointed in July 2017, said the truck is critical for the airports safety. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The last few months that we have been dealing with the down truck, we have had about 10 emergency calls, Brown said. Thankfully, the city of Conroe does respond but the (Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Vehicle) will be there before that aircraft even gets over our property fence. Brown said the vehicle will also ensure compliance with several airport agreements with tenants. We offered this service to these clients to get their business, Brown said. Large corporate and charter flights require an ARFF truck. According to information from Conroe, the Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport was built in 1938 and has seen significant changes in its 83 years. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Montgomery County has operated the airport since 1972, following years of use by the Civil Aeronautics Agency, the United States Navy, and various fixed-base operators. Before 2015, the airport was known as Lone Star Executive Airport, but its name was changed to reflect its position as a regional general aviation airport. The airport has 300 aircraft, 240 hangars, a control tower, two Fixed-Based Operator terminals, and a general aviation terminal building. Additionally, it features a full-service restaurant, a United States Army Reserve Aviation unit, and more than 20 businesses and government agencies. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Breaking news Houston Chronicle A Houston man was charged with capital murder after the man he is accused of robbing and shooting in September died Sunday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Andre Donell Jackson, 31, of Houston, was arrested and charged Tuesday afternoon. He is accused of shooting Anwar Jackson, 23, in the abdomen during a Sept. 27 robbery in the 18700 block of Jasper Ridge, Gonzalez said. Anwar Jackson died Sunday from complications related to the shooting, Gonzalez said. MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Houston man Mark Swidan will return to U.S. as part of prisoner swap with China Advertisement Article continues below this ad Arrest update: Andre D. Jackson (4-3-93) has been arrested and charged in connection with the shooting death of Anwar Jackson (23). On 9/27/24, Anwar had taken a rideshare service to his residence at the 18700 blk of Jasper Ridge. Upon arrival, 1/3 pic.twitter.com/YMfp8k8X07 Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) November 27, 2024 Anwar Jackson was attacked at his Hockley-area home after being dropped off by a rideshare, Gonzalez said. When he arrived, he was confronted by multiple people, who robbed him at gunpoint, Gonzalez said. Officials said the rideshare driver was not believed to have been involved in the robbery. Andre Jackson was previously charged with aggravated robbery and burglary in 2015, and was sentenced to 7 years in prison, according to court records. Along the murder arrest, he was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Police accused of him of having a gun when he was arrested, according to court records. Another man who was with Andre Jackson during his arrest was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records. Advertisement Article continues below this ad No one else has been charged in relation to the robbery. France-headquartered tire manufacturer Michelin is exploring the possibility of sourcing rice husks from Vietnam for production, provided the Southeast Asian country meets the necessary requirements, according to Manuel Fafian, president of Michelin East Asia and Oceania. At a recent Asia-Pacific media event at Michelin's Talent Campus in Chon Buri, Thailand, Fafian said Michelin was buying natural rubber directly from two million farmers. The firm wants to work directly with farmers to buy such materials to make sure that they produce the materials in the most sustainable way possible. Manuel Fafian, president of Michelin East Asia and Oceania. Photo: Michelin As part of Michelins pledge to produce tires containing 100-percent sustainable materials by 2050, the company plans to incorporate rice husks into its tire production as they contain 15-20 percent silica, a key tire ingredient. Silica is normally derived from sand, but the substance is increasingly becoming scarce, while the supply of rice husks is abundant in Asia. The Michelin leader revealed they are importing rice husks from China and considering those from Thailand. Biomaterials make up 30 percent of a Michelin tire. The firm is committed to ensuring that sustainable materials make up 40 percent of a tire by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. Photo: Michelin Cyrille Roget, scientific and innovation communication director at Michelin, said using bio and recycled materials helps protect the environment and reduce the energy consumed by vehicles, thus lowering costs. He added that another benefit is durability, saying this new technology would help produce more durable and safer tires. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Local police conducted surprise inspections along Hanois trackside cafe street on Monday, penalizing businesses for railway safety violations and removing tourists from the area. The cafe-lined railway stretch between Tran Phu and Phung Hung Streets in Hoan Kiem District has been a popular destination for citizens and international visitors. Despite its charm, safety concerns persist as many establishments are located less than one meter from the tracks, far below the three-meter minimum safety distance required by railway regulations. Foreign tourists are asked to leave the area as authorities addressed safety infractions along the trackside cafe street in Hanoi, November 25, 2024. Photo: D.Tien Railroad tracks traverse crowded neighborhoods across four districts in Hanoi, including Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da, and Hai Ba Trung. Although the Hanoi Department of Tourism issued a directive in April 2023 prohibiting access to trackside venues, independent tourists continue to frequent the area. Mondays inspections, carried out by the Ministry of Public Securitys Traffic Police Department, Hanoi Traffic Police, and Hoan Kiem District Police, took place before scheduled train operations. A trackside cafe owner in Hanoi receives a violation notice and signs a pledge not to repeat the offense. Photo: D.Tien Authorities discovered multiple violations, fined business owners, and required them to sign pledges not to repeat their infractions. The dangers of the area grabbed the headlines in September 2022, when a South Korean tourist was struck by a Hanoi-bound train while taking photos on the tracks. Despite staff warnings and barriers, the tourist bypassed safety measures and sustained minor injuries due to the trains slow speed. The incident caused train delays and traffic congestion on nearby streets. Decorative and retail items improperly placed near railway tracks in Hanois cafe area are ordered to be removed. Photo: D.Tien Major Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy head of Traffic Patrol Police Unit No. 1, said that despite ongoing enforcement, violations of railway safety regulations persist, particularly in crowded urban areas. In October 2024, Hanois traffic police addressed 47 railway safety violations, imposing fines totaling VND17 million (US$670), confiscating documents, and temporarily seizing one vehicle. Authorities plan to increase patrols and coordinate with local police to enhance safety along railway routes through the end of the year, particularly during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Efforts will focus on the stretch between Phung Hung Street in Ba Dinh District and Le Duan Street in Hoan Kiem District. Barricades with English-language warnings are installed to alert visitors to risks along Hanois trackside cafe street. Photo: D.Tien Railway safety instructions and warnings are distributed to residents and tourists in Hanois trackside cafe area. Photo: D.Tien Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! An 18-year-old man from An Giang Province in southern Vietnam, who was declared brain-dead after a traumatic brain injury, has saved seven lives through organ donation. Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City announced on Tuesday that the transplants were successfully performed using the young mans donated organs. On November 17, N.P.K., the deceased, was admitted to the hospital with severe traumatic brain injuries and a subdural hematoma, leaving him in a deep coma. Despite emergency care and surgery, his condition deteriorated to brain death. The hospital's organ donation advocacy team met with K.'s family to discuss the possibilty of his organ donation. After understanding the impact their sons gifts could have on others' lives, his parents and grandparents made the courageous decision to agree to the donation. On November 24, following an official brain death assessment, Thong Nhat Hospital, in collaboration with experts from the Vietnam National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation and Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, carried out the organ retrieval procedure. Seven organs were successfully transplanted into patients in need. Two kidneys were given to patients at Thong Nhat Hospital, while a liver segment was transplanted at the University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City. The Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital received a heart and part of a liver. Two corneas restored vision for patients at Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam. Thong Nhat Hospital organized a respectful farewell for K., ensuring his remains were returned to his hometown for burial. Assoc. Prof. Le Dinh Thanh, director of Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, speaks at a press briefing about an organ donor whose organ donation saved seven lives across Vietnam, November 26, 2024. Photo: Bui Nhi / Tuoi Tre Hospital officials hailed the act as a symbol of profound humanity, emphasizing the close coordination required for successful transplants. Assoc. Prof. Le Dinh Thanh, director of Thong Nhat Hospital, praised the familys selfless act, which offered many across Vietnam a second chance to live. Nguyen Duy Cuong, head of the general planning department at Thong Nhat Hospital, described the intense care taken during the process, including the triple confirmation of brain death and careful coordination with police escorts and a local airline to ensure that the donated organs were timely transported to Hanoi and Hue. Nguyen Duy Cuong, head of the general planning department at Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, speaks at a press briefing about a brain-dead donor whose organ donation saved seven lives across Vietnam, November 26, 2024. Photo: Bui Nhi / Tuoi Tre Tran Cong Duy Long, a doctor from the University Medical Center, recalled their team's sleepless night as they identified suitable recipients. The transplant recipients included a critically ill three-year-old with end-stage liver failure and a cancer patient in northern Vietnam, both of whom are recovering well post-op, Long added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read what is in the news in Vietnam today: Society -- Vietnams Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has approved a nine-day holiday for the upcoming Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), from January 25 to February 2, 2025. -- The temperature in the north may drop sharply on Wednesday, reaching 10 degrees Celsius in mountainous areas, while the central region is supposed to see heavy rain in many places, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. -- A 150-kg Asian black bear, an endangered species, was recently captured by a camera trap in the Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam. -- An elephant unexpectedly escaped from a tourist area on Tuesday, traveling about five kilometers to a road in Thang Binh District, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. -- The family of an 18-year-old man from An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, has agreed to donate his organs to save seven lives, Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City reported on Tuesday. Business -- The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has urged Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces to accelerate infrastructure projects, including warehouses, conveyor belts, ports, and roads, to facilitate increased coal imports from Laos to Vietnam. -- Nearly 400 domestic and international booths were featured at Techfest Vietnam 2024 during the inauguration of the startup products and services exhibition in Hai Phong City on Tuesday afternoon. -- Vietnams Grand Pioneers Cruise, operating in Ha Long Bay by the Viet Thuan Group, has outpaced 19 other nominees from Germany, Italy, Norway, France, Ecuador, Sweden, the UK, and the U.S. to win the Worlds Best Green Cruise Line 2024 award. The award will be presented at the annual World Cruise Awards in Madeira, Portugal on Sunday. World News -- Police in Laos have detained the Vietnamese manager and seven Vietnamese staff members of a backpacker hostel in Vang Vieng following the deaths of six Danish, American, Briton, and Australian tourists from suspected methanol poisoning, AFP quoted Lao state media as reporting on Tuesday. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! Eight Vietnamese staff members of a backpacker hostel, including the manager, in Vang Vieng Town, Laos have been in police custody following the deaths of six international tourists from suspected methanol poisoning, according to Laotian media. On Tuesday, police detained the 34-year-old manager of the Nana Backpacker Hostel and seven other employees for interrogation, all of whom are Vietnamese nationals, according to Laos Post. The arrest came after two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton, and two Australians died on November 12 after drinking alcohol suspected to be contaminated with methanol. According to The Telegraph, all victims were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, and their deaths have been associated with the guesthouse and nearby watering hole, Jaidee Bar. Nana Backpacker Hostel has been temporarily closed, and investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of death, with authorities working to identify whether contaminated drinks were the sole factor involved. Last Saturday, the Laotian government expressed their sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, confirming investigations were underway to find the cause of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice. Following the lethal incident, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the U.S. have reminded their citizens to beware of methanol poisoning when drinking alcohol in Laos, CNN reported. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), methanol, which is tasteless and odorless, is a toxic alcohol used industrially as a solvent, pesticide, and alternative fuel source. It can take up to 24 hours for symptoms to appear, which can range from dizziness, nausea, and vomiting to blindness, organ failure, and brain damage, according to medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which tracks global cases of methanol poisoning. Doctors Without Borders warns rapid treatment (within 10-30 hours) can reduce some of the effects of methanol poisoning but without it, the fatality rates are 20-40 percent, depending on the concentration of the methanol and the amount ingested. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Many blind individuals in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam have been able to host live selling to improve their lives after completing a course on using touchscreen phones designed for the blind. On Monday, the Center for Supporting Technology Development for the Blind, under the Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind, in collaboration with the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind launched a new cohort of the course. Phan Tan Minh, a standing member of the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind, stated that the course teaches blind individuals how to use accessibility features like screen readers and voice recognition tools, applications such as Zalo and Gmail, and how to look up information. Instead of swiping the phone screen from left to right, blind users move their fingers on the left side of the screen, Minh explained. The phone will then read aloud the contents of the standby screen, message screen, or phone call screen. Nguyen Thanh Tam, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind, presents smartphones to blind individuals in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Hoang Nguyen Thanh Tam, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Audio Books Charity Fund for the Blind, said that smartphones are the most practical tool for helping blind individuals access society and improve their lives, versus the high cost of Braille books. Le Van Thang, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind, said that introducing the course on using touchscreen phones has significantly helped blind individuals in the province overcome feelings of self-consciousness and inferiority, while also promoting their integration into society. Through the first classes, many blind individuals have increased their income by live streaming and selling goods on social media, or used their phones to book rides and transfer money, Thang said. Hang Chuc Nguyen (L), a representative of the Hang and Han families in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam presents walking sticks to a blind learner, November 25, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Hoang A group of representatives from the Hang and Han families gave gifts to the learners, including 150kg of rice and VND6 million (US$236) in cash. Each student received VND200,000 ($8) to cover the cost of registering for a 4G network. The Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind gave away 30 walking sticks to the learners. Blind individuals are presented with rice in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, November 25, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Hoang / Tuoi Tre At the course opening ceremony, Hang Chuc Nguyen, a representative of the Hang and Han families, expressed his gratitude to the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind for facilitating the collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind, allowing them to support the community. We never imagined that blind people would be able to sell products online or promote their crafts thanks to smartphones, Nguyen said. To date, the Hang and Han families have donated VND150 million ($5,900) to fund the training program and have also given 30 smartphones to blind individuals through the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! A Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death for multi-billion-dollar fraud begged a court to spare her life Tuesday, saying she was trying to repay the stolen funds. Property developer Truong My Lan, 68, was convicted earlier this year of embezzling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) -- which prosecutors said she controlled -- and condemned to die for fraud totalling $27 billion in one of the biggest corruption cases in history. She is appealing against her sentence at a court in Ho Chi Minh City, with the ruling expected in the coming days. In her final remarks before the court, Lan said: "My only thought is on how to repay the debt to the SBV (State Bank of Vietnam) and the people. I don't think about the damage to myself and my family. "I feel pained due to the waste of national resources," Lan said, adding she felt "very embarrassed to be charged with this crime". "Please reconsider and reduce my sentence," she asked the court. According to Vietnamese law, Lan could escape the death penalty if she proactively returns three-quarters of the embezzled assets and is judged to have co-operated sufficiently with authorities. But prosecutors argued Monday that she had not met the conditions, and emphasised her crime's consequences were "huge and without precedent". Among key points being debated in court is an estimate of Lan's personal wealth. Lan, who founded real estate development group Van Thinh Phat, told the court that "the quickest way" to repay the stolen funds would be "to liquidate SCB, and sell our assets to repay SBV and the people". Tens of thousands of people who had invested their savings in SCB lost money, shocking the nation. The State Bank said in April that it pumped funds into SCB to stabilise it, without revealing how much. During her first trial in April, Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the scam amounted to $27 billion -- equivalent to around six percent of the country's 2023 GDP. A total of 47 other defendants have requested reduced sentences at the appeal, which began in early November. Last month, Lan was convicted of money laundering and jailed for life in a separate case. HANOI -- Vietnam's parliament on Tuesday approved changes to a tax law to require local operators of foreign e-commerce platforms to pay Value-Added Tax (VAT), while calling on the government to scrap a tax exemption for low-cost imported goods. The move by legislators will be a blow to the foreign-dominated e-commerce industry, which has benefited from VAT exemption and rules in place since 2010 that stipulate imported goods worth under 1 million dong ($40) are free from duties. It comes weeks after the country threatened to block Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu amid concerns about unfair competition due to their deeply discounted prices. That amendments passed on Tuesday will apply from July 1 next year and will see the maximum rate of the standard VAT rate increase to 10 percent from eight percent currently. Vietnam's fast-expanding $22 billion e-commerce market largely relies on cheap goods from neighbouring China, with up to five million orders placed by shoppers on average every day, according to state media reports, citing a lawmaker. Among the leading platforms in Vietnam are Singapore's Shopee, and China's Lazada and TikTok. Those incumbents have been joined by fast-fashion retailer Shein and more recently by Temu, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, which began selling in Vietnam in October to capitalise on its online shopping boom. The National Assembly on Tuesday said that since the tax exemption on low-cost goods has no expiry date, it urged the government to issue a decree to scrap it, which would enable the amended VAT law to be effective in ensuring taxes were fully collected from e-commerce firms. Temu and Shein are facing increased scrutiny and challenges elsewhere in Asia, amid growing concerns that higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods threatened by the upcoming Trump administration could lead China to flood Asian countries with its overcapacity of ultra-cheap items. The amended law will also impose a five percent VAT on fertilisers, which are not currently taxed, which could impact farmers in the world's second-largest coffee exporter and third-largest shipper of rice. "The fertiliser tax will raise input cost for farmers, including rice farmers, and will ultimately leave Vietnamese rice less competitive on the international market," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. ($1 = 25,405 dong) 2 people reportedly died after a crash led into a fire on Katy Freeway early morning Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. ONSCENE TV A man accused of causing the fiery wreck in which a Precinct 5 constable deputy and her daughter died told authorities he had been drinking at an early Thanksgiving dinner with friends, prosecutors said Tuesday in court. The driver, Omar Alvarado, was arrested in connection with the Friday crash that left Deputy Katherine Hutson, 46, and her daughter, Kacey, 7, dead when he rear-ended Hutsons personal Chevy Impala topped with flashing emergency lights detailed to a highway clean-up crew. Her vehicle in the right lane and a truck from the work convoy burst into flames, prosecutors said. MORE ON HUTSON: What we know about the Harris County deputy constable killed in crash on Katy Freeway Advertisement Article continues below this ad Lauren Bard, a Harris County District Attorneys Office division chief, said Alvarado, behind the wheel of a Mazda with a passenger, hit the deputys gas tank and caused a giant explosion. Hutson and her daughter likely died instantly, Bard said. Hutson, an 18-year veteran of Precinct 5 constables office, most recently worked in the civil division. Funeral plans have not been finalized, a constable spokesman, Jeff McShan, said. Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Deputy Katherine Hutson was killed in a crash on the Katy Freeway on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Courtesy/Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap After the crash, Alvarado told police he had been drinking at a so-called "friendsgiving" a Thanksgiving meal intended for friends, rather than family party, Bard said. An officer asked Alvarado to rate his intoxication on a scale of one through 10. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Bard said he replied with eight. He went on to fail a field sobriety test and had blood drawn the results of which are pending a review, she continued. He is charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter, with one offense involving a peace officer that carries a potential punishment of five years to life imprisonment. Investigators found no evidence that Alvarado stepped on his breaks to avoid crashing but he may have attempted swerving out of the way seconds before impact, Bard said. Constable Ted Heap said Friday that Alvarado was not seriously injured in the crash, but as of Tuesday, the 23-year-old defendant remained hospitalized. His attorney, Craig Hughes, and the prosecutors in the case went before Judge Vanessa Velasquez in the 228th District Court to address bail in his absence. The judge declined to set an amount until doctors release him. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Im sure hes being watched by some deputies, Velasquez said. A 150-kg Asian black bear, an endangered species, was captured by a camera trap in the Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam, a reserve representative said on Tuesday. The representative stated that the reserve had collaborated with the World Wide Fund for Nature to install camera traps aimed at capturing images of the saola, also known as the Asian unicorn. Although no saola had been spotted after several months, the cameras did capture images of various rare and endangered species, including the Asian black bear. The Asian black bear, scientifically labeled Ursus thibetanus, is classified in Group IB in Vietnam, the list of endangered species of forest animals that are strictly prohibited from exploitation and use for commercial purposes. It is also listed as vulnerable on the International Union For Conservation of Nature Red List. The Asian black bear is a rare and endangered species, so a joint effort to protect them is needed," according to the representative. We have been adopting various measures to preserve the bear and other rare species caught on the camera traps. The camera traps also captured multiple animal species listed in the Red Books of Vietnam and the world, including bald uakari, pangolin, striped rabbit, silver pheasant, and red-shanked douc. The Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve covers over 23,450 hectares of natural forests, is home to a high level of biodiversity, and plays an important role in headwater protection. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! Despite airing its season final some weeks ago, a new episode of Spotlight will screen on Seven this Sunday. This will be a global investigation into a TikTok killer on the run and exposes a major flaw in the communication between global law enforcement agencies. Western Sydney mother-of-two Kirandeep Saggar met her boyfriend on TikTok. Then he killed her father. It all began with a seemingly innocent exchange on the social media app in 2023, when Kirandeep responded to a message from Indian-Canadian rapper Ranjit Bath. The pair quickly began dating, but their relationship soon became one of obsession. Ranjit began to stalk Kirandeep and when she refused to marry him, things turned deadly. 7NEWS reporter Natasha Squarey travels to British Columbia, Canada, to track down the fugitive killer who continues to terrorise Kirandeep. The 7NEWS Spotlight crew also heads to India to question authorities on how they have let Ranjit Bath get away with it. The program features former West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed, who warns that the ongoing failure of police in India and Canada in arresting Ranjit is putting Kirandeeps life at risk. Kirandeep tells Natasha that Ranjit threatens her daily, saying he will kill her and her family next. He killed my father. My biggest fear now is he can come and kill me anytime because hes free, she says. I feel hopeless because I have proof, I have all the records which show he did that but still the police are not doing anything. 7pm Sunday on Seven. The Australian Writers Guild has welcomed the recommendations of the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI). The report contains a damning assessment of the widespread theft of tens of thousands of Australians creative works by big multinational tech companies, without authorisation or remuneration, labelling the act as unlawful and criticising the current lack of transparency by AI developers, including Google, Amazon and Meta. AWG and AWGACS Group CEO Claire Pullen said: Its gratifying to see the Committee accurately describe the contradictory and farcical arguments of big tech companies that have taken Australian work without paying for it. It shouldnt take a senate Committee to make it clear that this is stealing. The AWG welcomes the Committees strong support of creators. The report, which covers the potential impacts and opportunities of the use of AI technologies across a range of Australian industries, paid specific attention to the creative industries, labelling them as acutely and urgently at risk of the impacts of unregulated AI. This is a real concern among Australian creatives, said Pullen. In a survey of our members quoted in the Committees report, 94% of respondents expressed concern for their livelihoods if AI use continues in the industry without regulation. Australias storytelling is rich and we have a unique cultural identity, all at risk if we dont adequately address the theft that has already taken place. Until this is achieved, any discussions of the opportunities AI may present to the industry are moot. This is a question that goes beyond copyright- who tells our stories, and how, and how do we make sure Australian creators have a job where they can keep telling us the yarns we love? Recommendations 8-10 of the report specifically address the creative industries, with the committee calling on the Australian Government to: continue to consult with creative workers through the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group (CAIRG) on the theft of their work; require AI developers to be transparent in their use of copyrighted works, and to license and pay for any copyrighted works used to train datasets; and to undertake further consultation with the creative industry to ensure fair remuneration is paid to creators for any commercial AI-generated outputs. Its been over a year since we first learned our members work had been used to train AI datasets, and since then weve been out front, working as part of CAIRG, talking to government and campaigning for our members rights. This report is a solid step towards ensuring big tech has to play by the rules, said Pullen. We look forward to continuing this work with government to build a robust framework that protects the economic and intellectual property rights of Australian artists, and delivers a rich and diverse screen and stage culture for audiences. You can read the AWG submission here. Updated: MEAA: The committee has called out the farcical arguments of the big AI developers who claim to be acting in the public interest when in reality they are acting in their own self-interest at the expense of our vital creative and media sectors, said MEAA Chief Executive Erin Madeley. She said the committee report paved the way for the government to introduce legislation for an AI Act. This report makes it clear that the best way the government can deal with the breadth and scale of the threats posed by AI is through the legislation of a comprehensive, economy-wide AI Act. MEAA particularly welcomes the recommendation to force AI developers to be transparent about the use of copyrighted works in their training datasets, and that the use of such works is appropriately licenced and paid for. MEAA is also encouraged by the reports recommendation that the government consider a mechanism to ensure fair remuneration is paid to creators for commercial AI-generated outputs based on copyrighted material used to train their systems. Implementing these recommendations are crucial first steps in stopping AI developers from scraping and stealing the work of creative and media professionals and to ensure that these workers are properly paid for the use of their work. In the months since the committee began its inquiries, we have seen more and more evidence come to light which suggests that the theft and exploitation of creative work has occurred at a much larger scale than previously thought putting into question the ongoing viability of rights and protections regimes that have governed the use of creative work for more than a century, Ms Madeley said. The impunity with which big AI developers have systematically scraped and stolen creative work shows us that copyright laws on their own are no longer fit for purpose to protect the rights and payments of creative and media workers. Critically, we have recently witnessed several million-dollar licencing deals between rightsholders and AI developers where workers have been entirely cut out. In these cases, workers received no benefit from the sale of their work and werent even asked for their permission. This practice is unacceptable: creative and media sector workers must share in any compensation arising from the sale of their work to AI companies and must always retain the right to opt-out. MEAA is also calling for the implementation of a system of moral rights to protect the voice, image and likeness of creative workers from being ripped off by AI. We are calling on Australias creative and media sectors to come together and be brave and bold in devising a modern system of protections for our unique cultural landscape, said Ms Madeley. A failure to act now will mean handing over the future of our ability to tell our stories to the big tech companies of Silicon Valley. Screenworks has opened applications for Seeding Storytellers, a note-taking training program for emerging First Nations screenwriters, supported by Screenrights Cultural Fund in partnership with the Australian Writers Guild. The program will be run by working writers including Sara Khan (pictured), Catherine Kelleher and Terence McCarthy. Screenworks CEO, Lisa OMeara said, Note-taker roles are a proven pathway for early career screenwriters to build screenwriting careers. We are delighted to be able to bring together the expertise of the Australian Writers Guild together with the talents and lived cultural experience of Sara Khan to provide this career advancing opportunity for First Nations writers. Sara Khan said, Providing First Nations writers with the essential skills for note-taking can be a really important step in building the foundations for a strong career, seeding the growth for more visibility and representation of First Nations People in writers rooms. Susie Hamilton, Director of Professional Development at The Australian Writers Guild added, We know from extensive conversations with industry that there is an ongoing need for trained note-takers and script coordinators. The AWG is delighted to be partnering with Screenworks to provide this valuable training for emerging First Nations writers who are seeking opportunities to work in writers rooms. Seeding Storytellers will be delivered as a series of three comprehensive online workshops in May 2025. The workshops will cover how to take notes for a writers room, script coordinating and the basic running and protocols in a writers room. Participants will learn in a culturally safe, supported environment and come away with the skills required to find work as a note-taker in the film and television industry. Program Manager Sara Khan, a proud Wailwan, Gomeroi and Pakistani woman, has worked across many writers rooms earning her first credit as script editor for season one of the international Emmy nominated series Heartbreak High (Netflix). Beyond Heartbreak High she has written for Gold Diggers (ABC), Paper Dolls (Paramount+) and Erotic Stories (SBS). Catherine Kelleher, an experienced writer-director and recently the Scripted Development Executive at SBS, will be responsible for the note-taker training workshop and resources. While at SBS, Catherine advised on how to facilitate culturally appropriate working environments. Terence McCarthy, a writer, development executive, script department manager and script editor with fifteen years experience in the Australian and US film and television industries, will be responsible for script coordinator training. At the conclusion of the program, participants will be supported by Screenworks to seek work as note-takers. They will also be showcased to the screen industry via the AWG Pathways website. The Pathways First Break tab is a permanent resource for industry looking for talented new writers who have valuable skills to offer in writers rooms. Applications close February 28, 2025. When it comes to On the Waterfront its a film that I have to work very hard to observe and appreciate on its own as a cinematic event without thinking of the implications. As most well know its a sordid story for Elia Kazan and his cooperation with HUAC. Because its such a beautiful film, amazingly well shot, featuring iconic performances from the entire cast, I try not to see this as Kazans means of explaining away why he named names. Focusing only on that aspect I feel takes away from the amazing story of a simple man just trying to do the right thing and always finding a way to screw it up. At any rate, you dont need to read my ramblings, our own Mr. Krauss already did a terrific job reviewing the Criterion Blu-ray Ill let his words stand pat: The truly great films have it all - a meaningful story, resonating themes, incisive direction, powerful performances, a literate screenplay, superior cinematography, and a driving narrative force that grabs the attention of an audience and keeps it spellbound from the opening frames to the closing credits. Not many films possess all these elusive components, but 'On the Waterfront' does - in spades. Elia Kazan's gripping study of mob corruption along the docks of New York and one man's willingness to stand up against it is that rare cinematic jewel that's both blistering and tender, romantic and suspenseful, intelligent and entertaining. Featuring Marlon Brando's finest performance (and that includes Stanley Kowalski in 'A Streetcar Named Desire') and directed with artful realism and keen insight by Kazan, 'On the Waterfront,' almost six decades after it first premiered, remains one of Hollywood's most searing and riveting motion pictures. And this dynamite edition from Criterion gives this unforgettable movie the respect and attention it deserves. The year is still young, but it's impossible to imagine any other classic release eclipsing it. 'On the Waterfront' changed the face of movies with its emphasis on naturalistic photography and acting. Shot almost entirely on location in Hoboken, New Jersey and employing a number of actual longshoremen in bit parts and as extras, the film wears its grit on its sleeve, thrusting its viewers into a rough, lower class milieu among real people who perform back-breaking labor for a meager wage and cow-tow to greedy bosses who bully and exploit them on a daily basis. All the workers abide by the "D and D" (deaf and dumb) code, accepting the culture of corruption and refusing to rat out the powerful syndicate for fear of dire repercussions. Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) runs the outfit and he's anything but. Blustery and ruthless, he's all about the take, and when Joey Doyle decides to snitch, he sends errand boy Terry Malloy (Brando) to lure him out of hiding and to his death. The naive Terry is shocked by the swift retribution ("I thought you were just gonna rough him up a little"), but Joey's fate fits Terry's philosophy of life to a T: "Do it to him before he does it to you." The horrible deed, however, awakens Terry's dormant conscience. A former boxer whose promising future was thwarted by the mob, Terry has since become a thug, languishing in Friendly's posse, his passions and sensitivity quashed by the macho environment and manipulations of his own brother, Charlie the Gent (Rod Steiger), Johnny's right-hand man. His only refuge is the rooftop pigeon coop he tended with Joey, an oasis of solitude in the urban jungle, where his nurturing nature can flourish. Yet when Joey's devastated sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) convinces the local priest, Father Barry (Karl Malden), to infiltrate the fraternity and foster positive change, Terry's loyalty begins to waver. Two police investigators (Leif Erickson and Martin Balsam) also exert pressure on Terry to spill the specifics of Joey's demise, serving him with a subpoena to testify at a city hearing. Whether Terry will tow his party's line or turn against his crooked compatriots and redeem his guilty soul forms the crux of the drama, as does Terry's burgeoning romance with Edie, who knows nothing of his involvement in her brother's death. Socially conscious without being self-conscious, and a film with a preacher that's not overtly preachy, 'On the Waterfront' defends the right to turn on and turn in one's peers if the informer believes it's morally correct. The story's central dilemma, intentionally or not, strikingly mirrors the quandary Kazan himself faced two years earlier when he notoriously (and unapologetically) decided to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee during its rabid investigation into Communist infiltration in the U.S. Of course, Kazan's controversial and unpopular decision to betray former colleagues was seen as an act of cowardice and self-preservation, while Terry's choice is depicted as noble and courageous, but the crisis of conscience the two endured is similar, if coincidental. Though Kazan recognizes the parallels, which add fascinating subtext to the story, he denies the notion he made 'On the Waterfront' to justify and absolve his actions. Such theories, however, only enhance the reputation of this exceptional motion picture, which seamlessly blends elements of film noir, westerns, and documentaries into its rich fabric of characters and situations. Screenwriter Budd Schulberg fashions dialogue that's lyrical, snappy, and endlessly quotable ("He doesn't need a doctor, he needs a priest"). Sure, there's Brando's iconic and impassioned "I coulda been a contender" speech, but there's also a rousing oration by Father Barry and heart-breakingly tender exchanges between Terry and Edie that evoke visceral responses. Furthermore, Schulberg's intensive research into the longshoreman culture yields a host of vivid characters whose attitudes and reactions never feel contrived. Nor does the obvious bird metaphor. It's no fluke Terry raises pigeons and may become a stool pigeon himself, but like the habitat of his ornithological friends, his soul is also caged, and he yearns to fly away from the waterfront's all-consuming grime and corruption and break free from its binding chains. Elegance and grace epitomize these birds, and the waifish Edie exudes the same qualities, which inspire Terry, who aches for affection, to pursue her. The location settings brilliantly reflect the hopelessness and despair that engulf the characters, while Kazan's stark imagery lends impact to their respective passions. Boris Kaufman's natural cinematography creates a somber mood, as he flawlessly captures the gray skies, frigid winter cityscapes, dingy tenements, cramped back rooms, dusty warehouses, and dark alleyways that define the dockside environment. Then tack on the one and only film score from musical genius Leonard Bernstein, which combines screaming progressive jazz with the plaintive moans of a solo horn to produce an accompaniment that's as potent and explosive as the on-screen action. Yet one single element of 'On the Waterfront' stands out above all the rest. Like a lit match in a gas-filled room, the superb performances ignite this film and raise it to a rarefied level. A gallery of acclaimed Method actors populate almost every frame, and five of them garnered Oscar nominations. Brando, of course, leads the list, filing a full-bodied portrayal that mixes street-wise toughness with a fragile delicacy that's beautiful to behold. After the unvarnished barbarism of 'Streetcar' three years before, it's immensely satisfying to see Brando embrace his softer side as he brings an endearing warmth and uneasy confidence to the tortured Terry. His scene in the taxicab with Steiger ("I coulda had class, I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am") features some of the best work either actor ever did (and that's saying something), as two thespian heavy hitters go toe-to-toe and knock the proverbial ball out of the park. In a word, it's magic. Brando also creates fantastic chemistry with Saint in her stunning film debut. Their deep longing and mutual need permeate their magnetic moments together, from the "improvised" glove scene in a park playground to their trepidatious personal discovery in the saloon to their passionate embrace in Edie's apartment. Saint's shyness and conviction instantly win us over, and her natural, unassuming style complements Brando's more meticulous craftsmanship. When Edie says, "But there's a look in his eye" with such tender perception, the line encapsulates Terry's character and the reading cements their relationship even before it really begins. Both actors justly earned Academy Awards for their mesmerizing work and for creating one of the most believable romances ever committed to celluloid. As the angry, chain-smoking priest who's goaded out of inertia and transformed into a militant advocate for justice, Malden is also brilliant, and his standout portrayal nabbed an Oscar nomination. His impassioned "sermon" to the dock workers after one of their compadres is bumped off in a freak "accident" stirs the soul, and his mentoring of Terry strikes a realistic chord. The young Steiger wows us, too, and though Cobb growls like a lion and shamelessly chews the scenery (as well as his ever-present cigar), he's a brutal force of evil, always commanding our attention. Both men were also Oscar nominated, and if the Screen Actor's Guild was handing out awards in 1954, the cast of 'On the Waterfront' would have certainly won Best Ensemble. From the leads all the way down to the most insignificant extras, there's not a weak link in the bunch. In all, 'On the Waterfront' received a dozen Academy Award nominations and won eight statuettes. In addition to Brando (Best Actor) and Saint (Best Supporting Actress), the film was honored with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration prizes. A forerunner of the kind of independent picture that would one day become Oscar's darling, 'On the Waterfront' used its low budget, stark locations, and blue collar actors to its advantage, weaving them all into a taut, thrilling, yet lyrical ode to personal evolution, maturation, unabashed courage, and unblemished love. 'On the Waterfront' is a bona fide masterpiece, the kind of film that moves and inspires without pretense or manipulation. It addresses important issues in an intelligent manner, and its simple, unaffected artistry, alternately bold and nuanced presentation, and finely etched portrayals heighten its palpable impact. Yielding new rewards and kernels of brilliance with each viewing, it's a film to experience and scrutinize over and over again. Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray On the Waterfront is a true contender in 2160p thanks to this amazing four-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release as part of Sonys Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol 5. In a particularly amazing move, Sony gives each of the alternate aspect ratios their own respective Region Free BD100 disc! The 1.33:1, 1.66:1, and the 1.85:1 transfers all have their own maxed-out 100 gig disc. Then we have a Region Free BD50 disc serving the 1080p with all the bonus features. NOTE: As of publishing, I was only able to successfully rip the 1.66:1 disc, we aim to return and offer more screenshots of the other aspect ratios and possible video sample shortly. Have you ever laughed so hard that it hurt? Have you ever watched a movie thats so damn funny you feared the lining of your stomach might rupture spilling your essential organs and bodily fluids across the theater floor? If this is a recurring issue for you, you may want to consult with your doctor before picking up Paramounts ZAZ: The Collection. Featuring three of the funniest films ever made, Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad this box set is a laugh a second leaving you limited time to breathe. However, if you have the fortitude to handle it, this box set is the pinnacle of Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker. As weve already covered all three of these films, well just be repurposing snippets of our individual reviews: Airplane! After the success of Kentucky Fried Movie, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker went on to quite literally make a name for themselves with the hilarious spoof Airplane! Its juvenile jabs, unscrupulous low-blows and unexpected cracks at disaster movies, in particular the Airport series, took audiences by surprise and quickly became one of the most popular movies ever made. Despite many of the jokes seeming a bit dated or quaint instead of funny, the cult comedy classic continues to enjoy that same level of recognition from contemporary moviegoers, and the absolute visual zaniness can still deliver a few chuckles forty years later. Besides, the real brilliance behind the film is not only in the endless absurdity or the slapstick parodies but in how the script cleverly and intuitively breaks down genre convention to its simplest form, wittily borrowing from the 1957 action-drama Zero Hour! Jumping from one joke to the next with little time to rest in between the laughs, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team created a hilarious, non-stop parade of satirical jabs that also effectively expose how the same formula has been recycled over the decades. Not every movie strictly adheres to the structure, but its variations remain a neatly packaged recipe for action-adventure movies, making these tropes seem brainless and preposterously half-baked, subtly poking fun at the audience for watching such cliched dribble. The only thing separating one disaster flick from the next is the ensemble cast of well-respected actors where once again the trio of talented filmmakers strikes the right notes for laughter. Their juvenile sense of humor works because they also mix some discerning smarts into their deconstruction of the genre. And so, Airplane! remains one of the funniest and most creative comedy spoofs ever. Top Secret! The comedy minds of Jim Abrahams with Jerry and David Zucker are certainly a unique crew. Youre either onboard for their brand of comedy or its just not for you. After the successes of Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane! - the trio turned their farcical attention to TV cop shows with the unsuccessful Police Squad! When that hilarious show failed to land an audience they pulled an ace out of their sleeves with Top Secret! Where their previous efforts aimed at one singular genre, this comedy spy war film musical fires a shotgun at a wide swath of popular genres from the 50s and 60s. Imagine if Elvis Pressley was cast in Hitchcocks Torn Curtain and replaced Steve McQueen in The Great Escape with enough time to make it back to the beach for Blue Hawaii and a spin around the block for Blue Lagoon and Paradise. Now, I think that setup is damned funny, but for some reason, this one just doesnt stick with some folks. Perhaps the stupidest complaint Ive heard is that Top Secret! isnt as good as Airplane!. While that may be true to some degree, I think this movie slips on a dance belt and brises to its own ballet delivering some of the funniest scenes ever committed to celluloid. If all youre looking for is more Airplane! theres Airplane II: The Sequel. I'd rather kick back and laugh at what this film delivers than whine about what it doesn't, but that's just me. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad Proving himself adept at slapstick and deadpan comedy, Leslie Nielsen returns as Detective Frank Drebin. For this outing, Drebin is trying to figure out who tried to kill his partner and best friend Officer Nordberg (O.J. Simpson replacing Peter Lupus). Franks investigation leads him to local construction magnate Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban in his most diabolical villain role) and his beautiful assistant Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley). As Drebin digs deeper, he uncovers a dastardly plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth (Jeannette Charles, the real Queen was unavailable)! Before The Naked Gun, Leslie Nielsen was mostly known for his dramatic appearances on TV and film - and a few classic horror turns in films like Creepshow and Prom Night. Of course, he had popped up in Airplane! delivering a terrifically hilarious turn, but comedy wasnt his career highlight. That quickly turned around with this film. The vast majority of his 90s work and into the 2000s was comedy (some less funny than others). Likewise, George Kennedy who replaced Alan North as Captain Ed Hocken broke out with his deadpan hilarious performance. Given the cast, its hard to avoid the elephant in the cast, O.J. Simpson. Now notorious for other, um, reasons, he was the classic dufus character who endured the most physical peril of anyone in the series. As I covered two of these films previously and am a massive life-long fan of all three, its difficult to pin down a true favorite. Actually, thats a lie. I was lying. Its very easy for me to pick a favorite. While I would say Airplane! is the most fully realized and consistent (largely because it repurposed the screenplay for 1957s Zero Hour), I wouldnt call it my favorite of the three. The Naked Gun is a true classic with Leslie Nielsen playing an amazing deadpan cop in one of the funniest spoofs of old-school cop shows. This one probably has some of the most memorable lines of any comedy but the honor of my one true favorite ZAZ film goes to Top Secret!. It might be because I grew up watching it, or it might be that its just that gut-bustlingly hilarious, but virtually every scene and every line of dialog cracks me up. From Val Kilmer singing Skeet Shooting to the absurd Blue Lagoon flashbacks to the French Resistance fighting the East Germans in 1984, this is the film where I struggle to breathe from laughing so hard. I've seen all of these films countless times in the last four decades and they never fail to entertain. If you can handle the hilarity and not hurt yourself, they make for one hell of a triple feature! Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Paramount digs deep into the archive to deliver the three-film six-disc ZAZ: The Collection 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital set. Each film, Airplane!, Top Secret, and The Naked Gun have a Region Free BD66 serving the 4K with the previously available BD50 discs returning for 1080p and bonus features. For The Naked Gun, this is the same 4K disc that was already released in a SteelBook set a while back. Housed in a tri-fold digipak with paper slipcase, each disc gets its own tray without stacking discs. Also included is a booklet about the films including lyrics to all the songs in Top Secret! with recreation mini theatrical posters. Each 4K disc loads to a basic static-image main menu. Coalition of Community Organizations block captain Sandra Edwards, left, fills information about the home of Willie Holman, right, so the house can get inspected for lead, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in Houston. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The inside of this old lead pipe shows a buildup of calcium carbonate, a chemical used to prevent corrosion that can cause lead to leach into water. Greg Olson | Journal-Courier In this file photo, workers remove a lead water line from a water main in Newark, N.J. on May 7, 2021. BRYAN ANSELM/NYT As Jay Szydziks husband rifled through the mail last week at the couples home near the Houston Ship Channel, he came across a perplexing letter from the city of Baytown. After finishing an inventory of local water pipes, the letter said, officials had determined that the houses water service line material is unknown and therefore may contain lead. The couple passed the letter back and forth, trying to make sense of it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I was reading it and reading it. Im like, unknown? How do you not know if there's lead in the water or not? Szydzik said. LEAD FEARS: How to check your pipes and water for lead contamination Szydziks water pipe mystery is not an isolated case. Nearly four years after the Environmental Protection Agency first introduced a rule that public water systems had to inventory local pipes for lead and galvanized steel sections, around 14,000 Baytown households received letters like his. But Baytowns unknown pipes are a drop in the bucket compared to the county-wide total. As of Nov. 26, the 744 Harris County public water systems that submitted their service line inventories to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality listed 526,187 water lines as unknown. The majority fell within the service area of its largest utility, Houston Public Works. By contrast, initial surveys confirmed that 719 county service lines were made of lead, and 8,247 were made of galvanized steel that may have absorbed lead from previous connections. Some 749,667 others were simply listed as non-lead lines. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ingesting lead can have severe impacts on peoples' mental and physical development. While lead buildup damages the brain and other organs in both children and adults, it can be hard to detect at first. Given its dramatic health effects, once-common items such as lead-based house paint and plumbing are now against the law. The notices sent to customers this month were not meant to cause panic, said Erin Jones, a spokeswoman for Houston Public Works. Standard language approved by state and federal authorities was designed to get residents' attention, but also to clarify that unidentified lines did not necessarily contain lead: they could also be made of newer galvanized steel, copper, brass or plastic. Lead pipe replacement complicated by knowledge gaps There are no safe lead levels, the (EPA) goal is to have no lead in our water at all, said Garett Sansom, a researcher at Texas A&M University who has studied lead prevalence in Houston neighborhoods. This is particularly true with children and folks who are pregnant or are becoming pregnant, because then you have lifetime cognitive challenges. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The agencys most recent target, solidified in an Oct. 8 federal rule update, is to replace all lead and lead-contaminated water service lines owned by public utilities in the country within a decade. This may be complicated by missing data in areas like Harris County. For their initial surveys due Oct. 16, Houston-area utilities were allowed to assume that any pipes laid after a 1988 lead pipe ban were safe. Many have only recently begun testing the rest. This has left them a mountainous task to complete over the next few years. Szydzik, a teacher in his mid-30s, was surprised the pipe materials were a mystery at all. The water pipes are super old, they break constantly. All they do is come over and patch it up, cover it back up with some dirt, and then a year later it's broken again, and then a year later it's broken again, and then a year later it's broken again, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To Szydzik, it seemed odd that the pipe materials had never been recorded during the repair process. Jason Calder, a spokesman for Baytown, said the city already started identifying unknown lines earlier this year. They have tested about 7,500 so far. Baytown does not have a history of lead lines, and we don't have any lead lines that have been identified by the city through our process, Calder said. He added that the city had already been investing heavily in water system upgrades, especially in treatment improvements upstream of individual water service lines. Still, to comply with federal rules, each of the 14,000 homes whose pipe verification was still pending by Nov. 16 got a letter like Szydziks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad On the Monday morning after the letter deadline, Baytown received dozens of calls and a couple of in-person visits from homeowners worried about the possibility they had been drinking lead. Calder said he understood their concerns. Peace of mind is everything, Calder said. To help residents get answers quickly, Baytown is one of several area utilities that posted video instructions online on how people can test their own lines. He is hopeful they will then submit that data to the city so that theyre not having to wait for our third party contractor to show up. Is lead contamination a concern in Houston? The letter Szydziks family got from Baytown officials gave him a nerve-wracking reminder of his home state to the north. Flint, Mich., stirred a national scandal when the municipality changed its drinking water source in 2014. Water newly drawn from Flint River was more corrosive than the lake water the city had previously used. Without proper anti-corrosive treatment, it pulled huge amounts of lead and other toxins from the citys existing pipes before whistleblowers prompted change. When Szydzik saw his city notice, his mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario: would Harris County turn up another Flint? Jones, the Houston Public Works spokeswoman, said the lack of information about water service line materials in the Houston area was more benign. She said the city is responsible for individual water service lines that travel from a central water main into a propertys water meter. The next leg of each line carries water from the water main into household plumbing, and is the homeowners responsibility. Developers in Houston are allowed to lay pipes during construction without telling local officials what they are made of. Even pipes laid by the cities and utilities themselves have documentation gaps, Jones said: Some were installed decades ago, and when you're transferring records from paper to digital, those records can be lost. Still, Environmental Defense Fund scientist Grace Tee Lewis cautioned that Houston should take lead risks seriously, especially in its older neighborhoods. Lewis has supported recent research in Fifth Ward that found some residents face lead exposure at home, and pointed to earlier work by scholars like Texas A&Ms Sansom that found lead in tap water in the city's Manchester neighborhood. Many other old neighborhoods remain untested, and while water service lines are only one potential source of lead, Lewis thinks testing them properly would be crucial. OTHER STUDIES: Researchers find toxic levels of lead in Greater Fifth Ward yards and play areas "There's such a preponderance of unknowns," she said, noting that even newer homes are often attached to old service lines. She worried that residents may not be comfortable assessing their risk alone. For the pilot project she worked on in Fifth Ward, the team which included local residents as well as scholars "hired a plumber to tell us what type of piping the house had, and in some cases it was mixed piping. In the older houses, there was a lot of galvanized (piping). There is also a lot of PVC." The goal of these conferences extends beyond the dissemination of medical knowledge, aiming to establish a solid bridgestrong connection between international experts and Vietnamese doctors. Overview of the Conference The conference, held over two dayswhich took place on November 23-24, featured more than 27 presentations updating participants on the latest advancements in treating nasal and sinus conditions, thyroid cancer, and head -and neck surgeries. These updates provided doctors with practical insights into reconstructive and cosmetic techniques, addressing the growing needs of patients. Highlights of the Conference The conference was attended by notable figures, including the British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew, Dr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management; and Associate Professor Dr. Le Minh Ky and Associate Professor Dr. Le Cong Dinh both Vice President of the Hanoi and Northern Provinces Association. Speakers from the Hanoi and Northern Provinces ENT Association and Facing The World also contributed. During the event, Ambassador Iain Frew said: This event provides an opportunity for medical experts from the UK and Vietnam to exchange experiences and share knowledge, working towards improving treatment quality for the community. A Mission to Connect the Global Medical Community The conference marked a significant milestone in the collaboration between Facing The World and Hong Ngoc General Hospital. It not only introduced the latest medical knowledge but also created opportunities for the global medical community to share practical experiences. Among the key highlights were specialized presentations by Facing The World experts, including: Mr. Peter Clarke on facial nerve management in head and neck cancer surgery, and Dr. Florian Bast on techniques for complex nasal septum reconstruction. Katrin Kandel, CEO (Voluntary) of Facing The World, emphasised the organizations commitment to fostering international connections between institutions, hospitals, and medical associations. Additionally, the organisation aims to build sustainable healthcare training systems in developing countries. Vietnam has a high rate of children born with congenital disabilities. Therefore, we decided to implement Facing The Worlds programme and conduct various medical conferences here. Collaborating with Hong Ngoc Hospital and other major hospitals in Vietnam is a crucial part of our global mission. We believe that combining international expertise, technology, and resources with the dedication and talent of Vietnamese medical professionals will bring about positive, lasting changes in healthcare, she said. In addition to organising conferences, Facing The World actively conducts charity consultations and surgeries in Vietnam. Each year, the organisation connects experts and calls on leading professionals to share their expertise in Vietnam. Additionally, it conducts biannual missions to work directly with medical teams in hospitals such as Hong Ngoc General Hospital, Viet Duc Hospital, and Central Military Hospital 108. Expanding Future Collaboration Looking ahead, with strong support from local partner hospitals and Vietnam Airlines facilitating the transportation of international experts, Facing The World plans to broaden its collaboration beyond reconstructive surgery and ENT/head and neck specialties. It aims to connect experts across various fields, providing local doctors with access to extensive knowledge and experience, ultimately improving patient care in Vietnam to international standards. HA NOI President Rumen Radev of the Republic of Bulgaria has urged VinFast to sell its electric cars and invest in production in Bulgaria. Visiting the VinFast Hai Phong Manufacturing Complex on November 26, the Bulgarian President expressed a deep sense of admiration for the brand. He praised the quality and potential of VinFast's electric vehicles in the European market, highlighting Bulgaria's strengths in research, production and development of components, sensors and intelligent operating systems for electric vehicles. He noted that Bulgaria has been part of the supply chain for numerous European, US and Japanese car manufacturers for many years. As a result, the Bulgarian President extended an invitation to VinFast to explore potential collaborations and investments in Bulgaria, including selling cars in the Bulgarian market, manufacturing components, producing vehicles, or co-developing software for electric cars that meet European standards and regulations. He also congratulated VinFast on its remarkable success in becoming the number one car brand in Viet Nam in such a short space of time "This achievement exemplifies Viet Nam's extraordinary economic, scientific and technological advancements over the past few decades," he said. President Rumen Radev spent considerable time touring the body welding and electric vehicle assembly workshops at VinFast, gaining detailed insights into the production processes. During the visit, Vice Chairman and CEO of Vingroup, Nguyen Viet Quang, emphasised VinFast's strong push towards global expansion, aiming to popularise electric vehicles and promote green mobility worldwide. He said that VinFast will seriously study and explore opportunities for cooperation and investment in Bulgaria, as suggested by President Radev. VNS HA NOI Eighty two per cent of companies taking part in a survey by a recruitment consultancy said they were planning to hike wages next year. In a salary survey released by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, companies said they were planning to increase wages in 2025. Employers are also focusing on enhancing talent acquisition programmes through competitive bonus schemes (76 per cent) and comprehensive training and development initiatives (67 per cent). The survey, carried out among 84 companies in Viet Nam and hundreds of candidates across various industries, positions and levels, revealed several positive trends. Seventy three per cent of employees expressed optimism about their career prospects, reflecting growing confidence in job opportunities. Salary and benefits remain the top factors contributing to employee satisfaction with 46 per cent of employees emphasising the importance of competitive compensation packages, while 77 per cent highlighted the role of bonuses in determining job satisfaction. Financial incentives and recognition play crucial roles in retaining and attracting talent. Notably, employees are increasingly valuing non-monetary aspects of workplace culture. Friendly colleagues and a supportive, collaborative work environment are significant factors that drive employee loyalty to their organisations. Additionally, personal and professional development opportunities, including specialised training programmes, flexible working hours and premium health insurance packages, are increasingly seen as essential components of an attractive compensation policy. The survey also shows employees strong preference for foreign companies, with up to 99 per cent of respondents expressing a desire to work at international firms. Key reasons include more attractive salaries, clear and structured career development paths and the opportunity to experience a professional working environment aligned with international standards. According to the Robert Walters survey, companies in 2025 are expected to ramp up recruitment in fields, including human resources, legal and finance to support business expansion and growth strategies. VNS HCM CITY The Vietnam International Rubber and Tyre Exhibition (Rubber Tech Vietnam 2024) opened its doors at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City on Wednesday. Co-organised by the Viet Nam Advertisement and Fair Exhibition JSC (Vietfair) and the CCPIT Sub-Council of Chemical Industry from China, the three-day exhibition comprises over 100 booths showcasing rubber raw materials, rubber chemicals, machinery, frame materials and other rubber products. According to organisers, the event will help connect trade opportunities, introduce advanced products, materials and technologies, meeting the production and business needs of domestic enterprises. It will create opportunities for international manufacturers to approach Vietnamese enterprises to supply machinery and equipment or find distributors in Viet Nam, they said. Several activities will be held on the sidelines of the exhibition including a conference discussing Viet Nam's rubber and tyre market, along with tours to rubber factories in the south. In the first ten months of 2024, Viet Nam exported 1.54 million tonnes of rubber, generating over US$2.52 billion in revenue. This represents a 4.9 per cent decline in volume but a 16.4 per cent increase in value compared to the same period in 2023. The average export price stood at $1,638 per tonne, up by 22.4 per cent year-on-year. China remained Viet Nam's largest rubber export market, accounting for 78.7 per cent of the countrys total rubber exports. Exports to China reached 1.06 million tonnes, valued at $1.7 billion, a 16.8 per cent decrease in volume but a 1.5 per cent rise in value year-on-year. The first ten months witnessed notable shifts in Viet Nam's rubber export markets. While exports to China, South Korea, the Netherlands and Argentina declined year-on-year, substantial growth was recorded in other markets such as India, the US, Germany and notably Malaysia. With these results, rubber export revenue in 2024 is forecast to reach $3-3.5 billion, an increase of $200-400 million compared to last year. According to the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA), the country has around 930,000ha of rubber plantations, producing about 1.3 million tonnes of latex annually. Vietnamese rubber has been present in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. The country's rubber-made products, such as tyres, shoe soles, gloves and rubber garments, have been exported to major markets such as the US, Malaysia, Germany, Brazil and Japan, showing great prospects and potential for the Vietnamese rubber industry. - VNS By Ly Ly Cao HA NOI In a landmark event underscoring the robust and evolving partnership between Viet Nam and the US, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on the US to recognise Viet Nams market economy status at the seventh Viet Nam - US Business Summit. Organised by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in Ha Noi (AmCham) and the US Chamber of Commerce, the summit attracted a distinguished assembly of government leaders, business executives and international stakeholders. Speaking on Wednesday morning, PM Chinh emphasised the principles of "harmonised interests and shared risks" as the foundation for bilateral cooperation. He urged businesses from both nations to adopt a mindset of mutual understanding and shared vision, where partnerships are built on a win-win ethos that fosters collective growth, pride and happiness. The PM also appealed for the US to promptly recognise Viet Nam as a market economy and remove outdated trade restrictions that hinder growth, including high-tech export, for mutual benefits. The PM has also outlined Viet Nams commitment to advancing three key strategic breakthroughs in the near future: institutional reform, infrastructure development and human capital enhancement. These initiatives aim to drive a significant overhaul in the institutional framework, establishing a streamlined, robust and high-performing administrative system. This approach seeks to reduce compliance time and costs, lower input expenses for enterprises and investors, boost labour productivity, create new avenues for growth and elevate the competitiveness. Viet Nam places a high priority on growth by rejuvenating traditional growth engines like investment, exports and consumption, alongside propelling new forces such as the digital economy, the green economy, the circular and sharing economies and the knowledge economy. Concurrently, the country is driving forward in science and technology, fostering innovation, and cultivating emerging sectors like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, under a mindset of "innovate to soar, create to expand and integrate to thrive". The country is also actively pursuing significant transformative endeavours, including nuclear power plants, the North-South high-speed railway, key airports, seaports, highways and comprehensive transportation systems. Additionally, Viet Nam is prioritising power security, constructing national data hubs and venturing into novel development realms like outer space, subterranean landscapes, and marine territories. The PM has called upon US enterprises to bolster collaboration and investments in these crucial sectors. PM Chinh underscored the importance of private sector leadership in tackling global challenges, from energy security to climate change. Evolution of a strategic relationship This years summit, held under the theme 'Policies and Approaches to Ensure Mutual Beneficial Commercial Relations' marked the first major business dialogue since the historic elevation of Viet Nam - US relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2023. Over the past year, bilateral trade reached new heights, with two-way turnover hitting US$110.8 billion in 2023 and surpassing $110.9 billion in the first ten months of 2024. Viet Nam has become a pivotal player in global supply chains, contributing significantly to sectors such as high technology, renewable energy and infrastructure development. Meanwhile, US businesses have increasingly invested in transformative projects, reflecting their commitment to Viet Nams economic transition. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended virtually, highlighted the mutual benefits of the partnership. The cooperation between our countries and the partnerships between our businesses are vibrant, robust and stronger than ever. And they are delivering real benefits for Americans and Vietnamese alike. That is something I have seen first hand in the three trips that Ive made to Viet Nam as Secretary, Blinken said. His sentiments were echoed by Joseph Uddo, Chair of AmCham, who pointed to the summit as a critical platform for shaping policy and removing barriers to investment. With last years relationship upgrade and with the change in government in the US, this is a critical time and wonderful opportunity to work on how to also upgrade the policy framework to attract new players and help current investors and businesses grow, Uddon said. Progress on the key issues raised at todays summit will improve business conditions that strengthen the private sector, ensure economic and social development and promote prosperity here in Viet Nam. Vietnamese and American delegates discussed a range of forward-looking topics, including digital economy expansion, supply chain resilience and green energy development. The emphasis on practical, high-impact initiatives was apparent, with both sides committing to large-scale projects in renewable energy, high-tech manufacturing and logistics. Viet Nam ranks 34th globally and stands out as a hub for foreign direct investment (FDI). With over $400 billion in FDI to date and ambitious goals to attract $40 billion more this year, the country has positioned itself as an essential partner for American enterprises. VNS HA NOI A forum aimed at strengthening Viet Nam-Canada collaboration in the production and energy sectors has been held in Vancouver by Viet Nams Trade Office in Canada in partnership with the Canada-ASEAN Business Council. Key figures at the forum included Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng; Senator Clement Gignac, Co-chair of the Canada-ASEAN Parliamentary Friendship Group; and Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Vinh Quang, among others. This inaugural business forum, focusing on energy and industrial collaboration, aimed to engage businesses from Canadas West Coast in exploring opportunities beyond trade, particularly in renewable and nuclear energy. Commercial Counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy Tran Thu Quynh emphasised that the forum's goal was to promote trade diversification and open markets, addressing the rising trends of nearshoring and protectionism. She highlighted Viet Nams role as a key gateway to ASEAN, offering Canadian businesses direct access to the dynamic Indo-Pacific market. Dien and Mary Ng emphasised the immense potential for economic, trade, and investment partnerships, with frameworks like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Indo-Pacific Strategy providing vital platforms for strengthening supply chain connection and production linkage. Dien reiterated Viet Nams commitment to a green economy, focusing on clean energy and nuclear power to meet its ambitious net-zero emissions goal by 2050. Senator Gignac underscored great potential for both sides' cooperation, especially in energy and production but to realise it, the two countries must take strong actions and shared commitments. Participants agreed on the importance of fostering connections among businesses, research institutions, and universities to support the development of Viet Nams nuclear energy sector. With bilateral trade already surpassing US$10 billion, Viet Nam and Canada are well-positioned for further economic growth. Leveraging Canadas innovation and Viet Nams strategic role within ASEAN, a region poised to exceed 650 million consumers by 2030, both nations are set to unlock new opportunities for collaboration and development. VNS The United Kingdom-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), effective since May 1, 2021, has opened many opportunities for Vietnamese goods in the UK market as it eliminates over 99 per cent of tariff lines within six years. Key beneficiaries include seafood, textiles, footwear, furniture and processed agricultural products. To effectively exploit the UKVFTA, exporters are urged to launch transparent supply chains and invest in green production while not using plastic packaging. The former Trade Counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, Nguyen Canh Cuong, shared with Viet Nam News his opinion about these issues. After over three years of implementing the UKVFTA, Viet Nam's trade with the UK has increased positively, do you think that businesses have taken full advantage of the agreement to accelerate exports? Vietnamese enterprises indeed have many advantages in accelerating bilateral trade with the UK thanks to the UKVFTA. After the UK left the EU, the supply chain, as well as the trade relationships of UK enterprises with EU partners, have also somewhat declined. The data shows that in two-way trade between the UK and the EU, after the UK left the EU, some sectors have decreased by up to 30 per cent. The decline in bilateral trade relations has resulted in gaps in the supply chain. This can be considered an opportunity or a new advantage for Vietnamese businesses because market demand is still there and even increasing. In addition to that advantage, the trade relationship between Viet Nam and the UK has developed positively. In the minds of British businesses and consumers, Viet Nam is a developing country with an open economy that has deeply integrated, with an increasingly large scale of production and trade thanks to domestic investment and FDI attraction. British businesses appreciate the Vietnamese economy and the supply capacity of businesses as well. That is great progress, an upgrade in the prestige of the country, its economy, the business community and products, thereby creating more favourable conditions for exporters to access the UK market. What do you advise Vietnamese enterprises to do in the face of challenges regarding sustainability standards and green production for sustainable exports to the UK? Vietnamese enterprises have enjoyed many favourable factors thanks to the bilateral relationship between the two countries being at a very good stage. The additional boost from UKVFTA then helps them compete more effectively with many similar products from other countries in the region and many other regions in the world in the UK market. However, I want to emphasise that standardisation is a common and almost a prerequisite requirement for British enterprises when they import goods. That is the trend of sustainable, environmentally friendly consumption, the requirement of supply chain transparency and not using plastic packaging and the ability to trace product origins using digital tools. At the same time, Vietnamese companies must foster the application of science and technology, develop production systems while investing in deep processing and optimising production cycles to increase the competitiveness of their goods. In addition to green and sustainable production and traceability of origin, what other requirements do businesses need to comply with? I want to confirm once again that standardisation is a common and almost prerequisite requirement of British businesses when they want to learn about new products. At the same time, the trend of sustainable, environmentally friendly and emission-reducing consumption has been a priority agenda of the British Government over many periods and the agenda of emission reduction, environmental pollution reduction and climate change mitigation has been transferred to trade and business policies. British consumers are highly aware of this. Therefore, Vietnamese suppliers and exporters must be aware of the deep concerns of British businesses and consumers so that their products meet their expectations and, at the same time, do not use plastic packaging. Next is the requirement for supply chain transparency and product traceability using digital tools. When exporting products to the UK, Vietnamese enterprises must be able to answer buyers' questions about where the raw materials are imported from and what the production process is. The entire supply chain must be ready for businesses to provide, not in the traditional way, but with a database platform and digital platform available for customers to check themselves. VNS Viet Nam-UK trade continues to growHA NOI Viet Nam's export turnover to the United Kingdom in October was US$687.2 million, up more than 13 per cent compared to September, statistics from the General Department of Customs showed.Over the last 10 months, the countrys exports to the UK amounted to nearly $6.4 billion, a 22 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.The growth has been driven by some key export items with large turnover such as machinery, equipment, spare parts, computers, electronics, footwear and textiles.The leading export category over the last 10 months was machinery, equipment and spare parts, with a turnover of $1.14 billion. This is an annual increase of 39.7 per cent and accounts for 17.9 per cent of total exports.Next was mobile phones and components with over $1.03 billion in turnover, down 12.9 per cent compared to the same period last year and accounting for 16.3 per cent of total exports so far.Some other categories saw significant growth in exports compared to 2023.Computers, electronics and components increased by 30.7 per cent. Handbags, suitcases and umbrellas rose by 18 per cent. Seafood increased by nearly 10 per cent.Base metals grew by 30.2 per cent, wood and wood products by 15.5 per cent, steel products by 34 per cent and transportation means and spare parts by 35.7 per cent. VNS HCM CITY The Southeast Asian Bat Conference has come to Viet Nam for the first time and is being held in HCM City from November 26 to 28. SEABCO is a key forum for global bat researchers, conservationists, policymakers, and enthusiasts, and helps foster collaboration and knowledge exchange in bat research and conservation. It offers the opportunity to learn from experts and strengthen the global network of bat researchers. This years conference, organised by the Centre for Biodiversity and Endangered Species, the Southeast Asian Bat Conservation Research Uni, and Conservation In Motion (CIM) - a social enterprise with many years of experience in the field of conservation, provides a robust platform for sharing cutting-edge research and conservation strategies. The three-day event focuses on Southeast Asia's unique challenges and opportunities, emphasises the importance of protecting bat habitats, seeks to raise community awareness, and helps develop international cooperation in building effective conservation strategies. Through educational programmes, workshops and exhibitions, it will help the community better understand the essential role of bats in the ecosystem and human life. It features more than 120 scientists, conservationists and environmental activists from over 20 countries, scientific reports and research by experts, and exhibitions by artists and photographers. Prof Tigga Kingston, a lecturer at Texas Tech University in the US and director of SEABCRU, said the event offers the opportunity to emphasise the essential role of bats in the ecosystem and human life. It highlights the great contribution they make to maintaining ecological balance, supporting agriculture and even medicine, she said. It will be an important step in raising global awareness of the importance of bats, she said. This is the time for the international community to join forces, exchange knowledge and together find the most effective conservation strategies to protect these silent heroes from current challenges, she added. The conference focuses on bat ecology and ecosystem services, bat conservation and climate change, evolution and species diversity, and disease and bats. Bats have a vital role in the ecosystem, playing a critical role in controlling insects, especially mosquitoes, and contributing to seed dispersal, thus helping sustain many plant species. There are over 1,300 bat species globally, accounting for 20 per cent of all mammal species. They are divided into two main groups. Megabats (fruit bats) primarily feed on fruits and play a crucial role in pollinating many plant species, and microbats (insectivorous bats) mainly feed on insects, many of which are harmful to agriculture and human health. The latters control of pests reduces the use of pesticides, thereby protecting the environment and peoples health. Bats help assess the ecosystems health, with their presence being a sign of a healthy environment. Their seed sowing contributes to forest regeneration. It is estimated that bat pest control services in the US alone are worth US$53 billion annually. In medicine, the creatures help research into immunity, with the compound draculin in the saliva of vampire bats helping produce drugs that reduce the risk of stroke. They are also a symbol of blessing and prosperity in many cultures, especially in Viet Nam. However, they are facing many threats, from climate change and habitat loss to unnecessary hunting and killing. Truong Anh Tho, director of CIM and head of the organising committee, said SEABCO 2024 is not just a scientific conference but also an opportunity to promote the image of Viet Nam as a destination for nature conservation and sustainable development activities. This is a journey not only to raise awareness but also to promote practical solutions, bringing lasting value to our future. She called for joining hands to protect bats, the silent guardians of the ecosystem. The first SEABCO was held in Thailand in 2007. VNS SYDNEY The Association of Vietnamese Students in Queensland (AVSQ) recently hosted a cultural event in Brisbane to help the Vietnamese community get a better insight into the homelands traditional craft products, thus raising their awareness and appreciation of the Vietnamese intangible cultural heritage. Held at the University of Queensland's Saint Lucia campus, the interactive event took participants on a four-hour journey to explore Viet Nam's traditional handicrafts. Players competed in three challenging rounds, each designed to test memory and problem-solving skills while highlighting crafts such as ong Ho paintings, Gia Thanh conical hats, and Chuon Ngo mother-of-pearl inlays. The event featured three interactive stages: a memory-based market scene, a strategic game exploring craft production processes, and a final challenge decoding meaningful narratives about traditional craft villages. According to Nguyen Quynh Anh, a member of the organising board, the event was expected to inspire national pride and strengthen connections among the youth. Established in June 2021 with support from the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra and Consulate General of Viet Nam in Sydney, AVSQ aims to develop skills, provide career guidance, and strengthen community bonds among Vietnamese students in Australia. VNA/VNS Measures to be tougher on cyberfraud 08:25, November 27, 2024 By Wang Qingyun ( China Daily China has strengthened efforts to tackle telecommunications and cyberspace fraud by designing restrictions on not only those conducting the fraud, but also those offering bank or online payment accounts for the fraudsters, as a new guideline was issued on Tuesday. The guideline, which comprises joint punishment measures for telecommunications and internet fraud and related crimes, was jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. According to the guideline, the restrictions will target those who have received criminal penalties for conducting or assisting fraud, as well as people and organizations that sell, rent, or lend accounts and other tools to the fraudsters, including SIM cards, short message service ports and digital renminbi wallets, more than three times. Those who help perform real-name authentication more than three times for such tools used by fraudsters will also be subject to the restrictions. Zheng Xiang, deputy head of the criminal investigation department of the Ministry of Public Security, said the measures, which will take effect on Sunday, were introduced to better curb telecommunications and cyberspace fraud, as such crimes are a rapidly growing problem. A large number of people engage in the business of offering the tools needed for such fraud, Zheng said, adding that a handful of companies and people also offer technical services to circumvent the real-name authentication that is required for accessing financial, telecommunication, and internet services. The guideline also said the offenders will be included in the country's list of seriously dishonest entities for engaging in telecommunications fraud and cyberfraud, and their information will be uploaded to a national platform that shares credit information. Xing Xiaodong, deputy head of the Department of Fiscal and Financial Affairs of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the platform will forward the information to other authorities so that those authorities can ensure that specific restrictions are imposed on the people on the list. The restrictions include preventing those on the list from conducting transactions with their bank accounts and digital renminbi wallets through channels other than over the counter. Those who face restrictions also will not be able to use their online payment accounts, except when they transfer money from the accounts to bank accounts under their names. Neither will they be allowed to open new online payment accounts. The functions of telecommunication vehicles under their names, including SIM cards, landline telephones, and SMS ports, will be restricted. Telecommunications companies will not be allowed to provide these new products to them. Telecommunications and internet service providers are also prohibited from launching websites and distributing applications for them. The restrictions for offenders will last for at least two years, but should not exceed five years, and the offenders should be removed from the list when the restrictions expire, according to the guideline, which also emphasizes the rights of those who face the restrictions. The police should inform offenders, in person or by mail, of the reason for restrictions to be imposed, what restrictions will be imposed, the time limit, the rights to appeal, and the channels through which appeals can be made, it said. Yang Qing, deputy head of the Payment and Settlement Department of the People's Bank of China, advised the public to refrain from selling, renting or lending their own bank accounts, online payment accounts, or digital renminbi wallets to others. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Water drips out of a faucet in 2023 at the Summit at Independent Missionary Village apartment complex in Hitchcock. More than half a million Houston-area residents were due letters this month to warn them that their drinking water might be leaching lead from old service lines. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Houston-area public water systems could take years to test service lines for lead. In this file photo, Victor Hernandez, left, and Luis Martinez fill their water containers with a hose from a spigot in Haden Park, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 in Houston. Brett Coomer, MBO / Associated Press More than half a million Houston-area residents were due letters this month to warn them that their drinking water might be leaching lead from old service lines. An Environmental Protection Agency rule mandated the notifications be sent out by Nov. 16, a month after each public water system did an initial assessment to see what their pipes were made of. In Harris County, utilities told many homeowners that their lines were fashioned from unknown material, possibly lead. Officials at Houston Public Works, the areas largest water service provider that sent out the majority of the notices, took pains to clarify that they did not expect to find a huge amount of lead when all was said and done. Advertisement Article continues below this ad WATER WORRIES: Harris County residents fear unknown lead pipe risk in over half a million homes Even though there are some (water service lines) that we dont know what the materials are, Houston Public Works spokeswoman Erin Jones said, city records suggest we didnt use lead or copper pipes. But the testing itself could take years. And even if the areas municipal utilities did not use lead lines, individual households could be fed from lead pipes: Many water service lines in the region were installed by private developers, who were allowed to use lead pipes before a 1988 ban. More than 700 water service lines in Harris County are made of lead, according to tests completed so far, with at least half a million homes left to survey in the coming years. Heres what to know about making sure your drinking water is safe in the meantime: Advertisement Article continues below this ad How should I find out if my pipes are made of lead? According to the EPA rule, public water systems had to notify anyone with lead, galvanized steel or unknown water service lines connecting a water main to their home plumbing by Nov. 16. Houston-area residents can reach out to their water provider if they are concerned they missed the memo. Utilities that serve more than 50,000 people also had to share that data online. Houston Public Works created a map where Houstonians in their service area can search for their lead pipe status by address. City Contractors are digging small test holes around 12 inches in diameter to test the materials of unverified service lines that the property owner has not reported as part of the EPAs Lead and Copper Rule Revisions requirements. Crews will return work areas to normal. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/FAVi1ifPOW Houston Public Works (@HouPublicWorks) November 18, 2024 What health problems can lead pipes cause? Lead pipes were common at the turn of the century, and finally outlawed only in the late 1980s. They do not always leach massive quantities of the heavy metal into a household water supply. However, recent research has shown a little lead can already be too much. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There are no safe lead levels at all, said Garett Sansom, a Texas A&M University researcher who identified lead risks in Manchester neighborhood water supply in 2019. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible damage to brain development, which poses a particular threat for children. It can also damage other organs in adults and children, triggering a range of symptoms including high blood pressure, heart problems, kidney failure and reproductive health issues. If my pipes are not made of lead, is my water safe? Lead is one of many contaminants that can make water unsafe to drink and use. The federal Clean Water Act and state authorities impose testing rules and toxin limits on public water systems to ensure contamination levels remain low. Advertisement Article continues below this ad However, since lead service lines feeding into homes risk introducing contamination after water has already left municipal treatment facilities, elevated lead can avoid detection without household-level testing. Both lead service lines and old galvanized steel pipes that used to be connected to lead lines risk introducing the heavy metal into a homes water supply. Other possible risk factors include lead plumbing within a home, fixtures contaminated with lead, or soldering used to connect otherwise lead-free pipes. How can I test my water for lead? According to the EPA, testing your drinking water from the tap is the only way to know for sure if there is lead contamination flowing through your faucets. Testers usually collect samples first thing in the morning, since the water left to sit in residential pipes overnight often has the highest lead concentrations. While companies do sell at-home water testing kits, federal authorities suggest sending samples to a state-accredited laboratory for best results. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Water utilities, municipal or county governments, environmental nonprofits and even water filter vendors often have free or cheap programs to test your tap water, depending on where you live. How can I test my pipes for lead? Several Houston-area utilities published instructions and videos this fall explaining how people can test their own service lines, hoping that interested residents might help them collect missing data. Homes often have two separate water service lines. One is owned by the utility and connects the water main under the street to a homes water meter. The other, which connects the water meter to household plumbing, is the homeowners responsibility. In this instructional video from the city of Baytown, a worker demonstrates how residents with an outdoor water meter box can open it, dust off both service line pipes and test them to see if they are made of lead, galvanized steel, copper, brass or plastic: Some water service lines may instead be accessible only where they enter the home: through a wall or through a crawl space underground. Others may be hidden under the slab. What should I do to protect myself in the meantime? Even if you are not sure whether your water is contaminated, you can take a number of steps to stay safe. You can run your taps before use to flush out standing water, use a pitcher filter or tap filtration system that is NSF-certified for lead removal, remove and clean faucet strainers and use cold water lead dissolves more easily in hot water. HA NOI Viet Nam publishers and book companies will attend the 1st Busan International Children's Book Fair (BICBF) from November 28 to December 1. Some of 50 titles by Kim ong Publishing House, Tre Publishing House, Phu Nu Publishing House, and Nha Nam and Thai Ha book companies, will be introduced at the fair, showing the diversity of childrens books in Viet Nam. Kim ong Publishing, the countrys leading publisher of childrens books will bring its latest fantasy book, Lam Bao - Khoi Nguyen Tro Tan (Blue Treasure - The Age of Ashe) to the fair, along with authors Tung Phan and Chi Vu. Lam Bao is the first three volumes of the epic fantasy novel series about the continent of Cielune. The work promises to provide a unique and profound experience for readers who enjoy the fantasy genre. It is the authors' debut work, born from a blend of imagination and the experiences they have encountered in their own lives. The fair, South Korea's first international children's book fair, is a festival and platform dedicated to fostering a diverse range of children's books and promoting the exchange of children's literature from all around the world. The BICBF aspires to become Asia's leading platform for children's publications. It serves as a vital stage for introducing Korean children's books to the world while providing a venue for 193 publishers and 118 authors and industry professionals to gather and share their experiences. The fair participants will include Korean Lee Suzy, the first Korean illustrator to win the Hans Christian Andersen award, Baek Hee-na - winner of Astrid Lindgren Memorial 2020 and The Truth About Dragons's illustrator Hanna Cha, who won Caldecott Honour this year. Exhibition Laputa - Children in Verbs is a highlight of the fair along with a series of programmes held at Museum of Contemporary Art Busan and Huyndai Museum of Kid's Book & Art. VNS On December 16, Circular No 10/2024/TT-BXD on managing the quality of building materials, issued by the Ministry of Construction, will officially take effect. This legal framework aims to eliminate unfair competition in the building materials market, boosting confidence for domestic businesses to invest in and produce high-quality products which meet consumer demands. Le Trung Thanh, Director of the Department of Building Materials under the Ministry of Construction, discussed this issue with Vietnam News Agency. What challenges is the building materials industry currently facing? How does unfair competition caused by substandard goods affect businesses in this sector? Viet Nam's building materials industry has a robust production capacity, successfully exporting key products like cement, ceramic tiles, sanitary wares and construction glass to international markets. From 2014 to 2021, these products performed well and achieved significant breakthroughs. However, since 2022, key products such as these have faced difficulties in both production and consumption. The Ministry of Construction has reviewed these challenges and reported them to the Prime Minister, who subsequently chaired a national conference to resolve obstacles and promote sustainable production and consumption of building materials. Currently, the industry is grappling with unfair competition from low-quality, counterfeit and imitation products infiltrating the market. These substandard goods compete unfairly with Viet Nam's certified, internationally recognised building materials that meet quality standards and are exported worldwide. To address this, the Ministry of Construction has implemented the Prime Minister's directive to strengthen quality control of building materials, ensuring construction quality and protecting consumer rights. Citizens will benefit from access to high-quality products that comply with regulations. How will the Circular address these challenges? Issued on November 1, 2024, and effective from December 16, 2024, Circular No10/2024/TT-BXD aims to tackle key issues by clearly categorising 26 groups of building material products. Products in Group 2 must undergo conformity assessments, while those in Group 1 will be subject to stricter quality control measures. The Circular strengthens quality management of building materials at both central and local levels, ensuring that high-quality products are sold in compliance with legal regulations. Substandard, counterfeit and imitation goods will be identified and penalised. The goal is to enhance production capacity and elevate the national brand of Viet Nams building materials domestically and globally. What warnings has the Ministry of Construction issued regarding low-quality building materials? Over the past two years, the Ministry of Construction has received numerous complaints from industry associations, such as the Viet Nam Association of Construction Ceramics, the Viet Nam Glass and Glassware Association, the Viet Nam Cement Association and the Viet Nam Concrete Association, about unfair competition, especially the prevalence of substandard products. For instance, in the cement industry, some manufacturers lacking adequate equipment and skilled personnel have introduced products with names and labels resembling high-quality brands. This confuses consumers, contractors and investors when selecting materials for construction projects. Additionally, some construction projects use imported materials with poorly controlled quality, posing risks to the long-term durability of buildings. To address these issues, Circular No 10 introduces measures to classify and group building materials by quality, ensuring the safety and reliability of both construction projects and the materials used. Key materials such as cement, ceramic tiles, sanitary wares and construction glass, if not strictly quality-controlled, can result in significant losses for the construction sector. For example, using substandard materials may require repairs and maintenance over time, increasing costs by 1015 per cent of the project value. Building materials account for 6070 per cent of construction costs, so if materials fail to meet quality standards, repair and replacement costs could reach 50 per cent of the original material cost. For projects valued at VN100 billion, repair costs could escalate to VN40 billion when substandard materials are used. What benefits will consumers enjoy once the Circular comes into effect? Circular No 10 ensures significant advantages for consumers in selecting quality products. Under the regulation, all building materials on the market must clearly declare their quality. Products in Group 2 must carry conformity certificates verifying adherence to quality standards. Consumers can request conformity certificates and product origin information to ensure safe usage. Products lacking these certifications or quality declarations will be removed from the market, helping consumers avoid substandard materials. When purchasing building materials, consumers should focus on three key factors, including product origin, conformity certificates and declared quality standards. Retailers must provide complete information on these aspects. For example, products made in Japan must include certification from a Vietnamese conformity assessment body. Similarly, for Chinese imports, consumers should check for conformity certificates to confirm quality compliance. Once Circular No 10 is enforced, businesses will be required to strictly adhere to these standards and provide detailed product quality information. Non-compliance will result in penalties. Furthermore, the Ministry of Science and Technology has established regulations on product traceability. Consumers can ask sellers for product origin, conformity certificates and quality declarations. Tools like QR codes can also be used to verify product information before purchase, ensuring informed decision-making. What penalties will violators face? Penalties for violators will depend on the severity of the violations. The Ministry of Construction, along with relevant authorities, will enforce administrative penalties under decrees applied to the construction sector. Violations related to the quality of building materials, such as failure to declare product quality, lack of conformity certificates or non-compliance with standards, will be handled in accordance with legal regulations. The primary goal of Circular No 10 is to establish comprehensive management of building material quality across five key stages: production, export, import, market circulation and use. By doing so, it aims to filter out high-quality materials while identifying and addressing substandard products, strengthen oversight and enforcement to ensure compliance and rectify manufacturing and trading practices involving counterfeit, imitated, or low-quality goods, which can compromise construction quality and adversely affect daily life. Violators who fail to comply with these regulations may face fines, restrictions on operations, or other legal consequences, depending on the nature of the infractions. These measures are designed to protect consumers, enhance the quality of construction projects, and promote fair competition in the building materials market. VNS PHNOM PENH The state visit to Viet Nam from November 28-29 by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni will surely contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship in line with the motto of "Good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability," according to a diplomat. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agencys correspondents in Phnom Penh, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang said that King Norodom Sihamoni rarely makes visits to neighbouring countries, including ASEAN member states. However, since his ascension to the throne on October 29, 2004, or after 20 years of reign, he made three trips to Viet Nam in 2006, 2012, and 2018. And, this time marks his fourth visit to Viet Nam. During this visit, the King will hold talks with all of Viet Nam's highest-level leaders, strengthening political trust and promoting cooperation in various fields, including economics, culture and education, according to Tang. The ambassador highlighted outstanding achievements in key areas in bilateral relations in recent times, saying that the two countries have maintained regular delegation exchanges at levels and high-level visits. Viet Nam and Cambodia always adhere to the principle that the security and stability of one country are in the interests of the other. Therefore, they attach great importance to cooperation in the fields of security and defence. The two countries have regularly implemented the five-year protocols and annual cooperation plans between the two ministries of Defence, as well as between Viet Nam's Ministry of Public Security and Cambodia's Ministry of Interior, thus contributing to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for mutual cooperation and development. In terms of external relations, both sides have frequently consulted with each other on issues related to bilateral interests, as well as regional and international matters, which helps ensure that both countries handle regional and international issues in a harmonious manner, and safeguard the interests and sovereignty of each nation. Viet Nam continues to be one of the 10 biggest investors in Cambodia, and rank first among ASEAN member states in this field. Currently, it has 205 valid projects with a total registered capital of US$2.94 billion. Bilateral trade has seen steady growth in recent years. In 2022, two-way trade hit $12.57 billion. Despite global economic recessions in 2023, Cambodia remained a key market for Viet Nam, with turnover holding strong at $8.57 billion. It reached $8.4 billion in the first 10 months of this year, and is expected to again exceed the $10-billion by year-end. This sets a promising foundation for both countries to work toward the ambitious target of achieving $20 billion in bilateral trade in the near future. The ambassador noted that in the coming years, despite the challenges and difficulties posed by complex global and regional landscapes, the Viet Nam-Cambodia relationship will have significant opportunities for growth, particularly in emerging sectors such as high-tech and green technology, digital technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). The countries must overcome challenges and seize opportunities to foster growth in cooperation, especially in economic collaboration; maintain cooperation in security and defence; and better consultations under bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. Attention should also be paid to intensifying efforts to raise awareness of the two countries' people, particularly the younger generations, about the importance of the Viet Nam-Cambodia relationship, he stressed. VNS COPENHAGEN Visiting Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha met with Speaker of the Danish Parliament Soren Gade in Copenhagen on Tuesday, during which he proposed the host side promote cooperation in renewable energy, marine economy, green growth, and circular economy, in line with Viet Nam's development priorities. Soren Gade said Ha's visit contributes to promoting the comprehensive partnership and green strategic partnership between the two countries. Ha affirmed Viet Nam always attaches importance to its relations with Denmark, adding that bilateral cooperation is developing extensively and effectively in all fields, especially in the strategic fields of climate and the environment, demonstrated through important cooperation frameworks such as the strategic partnership in the fields of climate change, energy, the environment and green growth (2011), the comprehensive partnership (2013), and the green strategic partnership (2023), thus creating an important foundation for bringing the relationship to a new level. He also suggested the Danish Parliament and Government continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Denmark to play a key role as an important bridge in the friendship between the two countries. The two leaders agreed to strengthen high-level delegation exchanges, establish a Friendship Parliamentarians Group, and share experiences in legislative affairs and supervision. Ha conveyed an invitation from National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to the Danish Parliament Speaker to visit Viet Nam, and the latter gladly accepted the invitation. The same day, the Vietnamese Deputy PM had a working session with host Minister for Climate, Energy, and Utilities Lars Aagaard. The minister highly valued the effective bilateral cooperation in the fields of climate change, the environment, energy, and green growth, affirming that Denmark will continue its support for Viet Nam by sharing experience and advanced technology, contributing to the promotion of green transition and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. He committed to maintaining and strengthening cooperation with Viet Nam within the framework of the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G), while also supporting the Southeast Asian nation in successfully organising the fourth P4G Summit next year. Ha thanked Denmark for its official development assistance which has made an important contribution to Viet Nam's sustainable development. He urged Denmark to continue supporting priority areas such as environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and the development of green energy, while praising Denmark's pioneering role in environmental protection, green energy, and climate change as a model for Viet Nam to follow. Both sides agreed to encourage businesses to cooperate in technology transfer and invest in areas such as climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas emission reduction, energy transition, and the development of smart infrastructure in Viet Nam. On this occasion, the two sides witnessed the signing of a Joint Action Plan for the 2024-2025 period under the Viet Nam-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership and Comprehensive Partnership. Earlier, on November 25, Deputy PM Tran Hong Ha held a meeting with Denmark's Minister for Environment and Gender Equality Magnus Johannes Heunicke on bilateral cooperation, particularly in environmental protection and sustainable development. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in several areas, including water resource management, waste treatment, environmental protection, and enhancing the resilience of communities vulnerable to climate change. The Danish side committed to supporting Viet Nam, particularly the Mekong Delta - one of the regions most severely affected by climate change. The Deputy PM's working visit from November 24-26 not only reaffirms the profound friendship between the two countries but also opens up strategic cooperation opportunities in key areas such as energy transition, green growth, and climate change adaptation. VNS HA NOI The national target for increasing spending on culture has been approved by the National Assembly, with VN400 billion, US$15.7 million, agreed to help preserve and restore the country's heritage sites. The Investment policy of the National Target Programme on Cultural Development for the 2025-2035 period was approved by the Assembly on Wednesday morning, with 430 delegates in agreement, accounting for 89.77 per cent of the total number. Chairman of the NA Committee for Culture and Education Nguyen ac Vinh said that by the end of March this year, the country had 66 cultural centres (63 provinces and cities had cultural centres, of which Ha Noi, HCM City and Hai Phong have two). While the country as a whole has 41 museums and 54 provincial libraries. Thus, many provinces and cities do not have enough of these types of institutions, so setting a target for investment in building these types of institutions by 2030, as in the draft Resolution, is extremely necessary. The NA Standing Committee believes that the programmes goal is to protect and promote the value of cultural heritage, including the restoration and embellishment of national relics and special national relics. Accordingly, degraded relics at risk of destruction will be invested in for restoration and renovation. Other relics can be restored to enhance their usability and value, contributing to the development of tourism and cultural industry. Currently, many relics are in severe degradation, and there are not enough funds for restoration. Therefore, the NA Standing Committee recommends that the Government, in the process of developing the Feasibility Study Report and implementing the programme, carefully review current status of relics, carry out restoration and embellishment in the direction of prioritising the ones that are seriously degraded, ensuring effective, key investment, thrift, fighting waste and promoting the relics value. Some deputies argued that Goal No 5, which focused on "implementing digital transformation and applying the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," was overly broad. They proposed introducing more specific and detailed guidelines. In response, the NA Standing Committee revised the goal to: "Strive for 100 per cent of cultural and art units to be computerised, digitally transformed, and integrated with the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." Flexible response principles In terms of funding for the programme, Chairman Vinh said that some deputies believed that many localities were having difficulty in arranging capital from the local budget, suggesting a more flexible counterpart principle to support these localities. The deputies suggested increasing central support rate and reducing local counterpart rate. The NA Standing Committee accepted the delegates' opinions. According to the Law on Public Investment, after the NA approves the programmes investment policy, the Prime Minister will issue a decision on principles, criteria, allocation norms and counterpart capital ratio of the local budget to implement the programme, which will take into account the local budget balancing capacity. The NA Standing Committee proposes that while developing the Feasibility Study Report, the Government directs concerned agencies to closely coordinate with localities to determine the appropriate counterpart ratio. Several deputies expressed concern that the proposed reliance on other capital sources, set at 12.4 per cent, remained high and might be unrealistic for localities facing challenges. According to the NA Standing Committee, other capital sources include capital from enterprises, organisations and individuals participating in the programme, capital called for through investment attraction policies and voluntary contributions from people. The rate of 12.4 per cent is the average rate nationwide. For localities with developed socio-economic conditions, especially localities developing cultural industries, the rate will be higher, for localities with difficult socio-economic conditions, it is possible to ask for people's contributions in the form of working days or goods. When the programme is effectively implemented, it will bring benefits to the community, attracting contributions from the community and businesses. Regarding the planned capital allocation and progress, deputies suggest reviewing and evaluating the ability to allocate the budget and disburse capital next year. The NA Standing Committee said that according to the Investment Policy Proposal Report, the programme planned to allocate capital next year of VN400 billion (US$15.7 million), of which the central budget is VN150 billion ($5.9 million) and the local budget is VN250 billion ($9.8 million) for 63 provinces and cities. The NA Standing Committee found that this amount of capital is completely within the budget's balancing capacity. Trade Union Law At the same session, the NA approved the revised Trade Union Law with 443 delegates in favour, equivalent to 92.48 per cent of the total deputies of the legislature. The new law, which will take effect from July 1, 2025, comprises six chapters and 37 articles, outlining the functions, duties, rights and responsibilities of the Vietnamese trade unions. Key provisions of the law include workers rights to establish and engage in trade union activities, the rights and responsibilities of trade union members, the responsibilities of the State, organisations, enterprises and employers towards trade unions, and the settlement of potential disputes. Central to the revised law is the clear delineation of membership criteria, particularly for foreign workers. While foreigners can join local trade unions, they are not allowed to hold leadership positions. Presenting a verification report of the NA Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the NA Committee for Social Affairs Nguyen Thuy Anh emphasised that, as trade union is a broad political social organisation representing workers and labourers and operating under the Party leadership, the law seeks to ensure trade unions are harmonious with the existing legal system, while encouraging workers and enterprises engagement and meeting the demand of the international integration and ongoing economic development. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) will be responsible for providing detailed guidelines for the implementation of the law. The new law maintains the rate of trade union fees at two per cent of the salary, together with introducing regulations on managing and using trade union finances. VNS HA NOI Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong has sent messages to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang, Chairman of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People Cheikh Niang, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the occasion of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which was held on November 26. In his messages, the State leader reaffirmed Viet Nams strong support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for independence and freedom, given the fact that escalating conflicts have claimed tens of thousands of lives, injured hundreds of thousands, and left homes in ruins. President Cuong reiterated Viet Nam's consistent stance on resolving the Palestinian issue through peaceful measures based on respect for international law and relevant UN resolutions and ensuring the legitimate rights of all parties involved, particularly the Palestinian people's inalienable rights, including their right to establish an independent and sovereign state that coexists peacefully and securely alongside the State of Israel. Viet Nam stands ready to join international efforts to foster dialogue, reconciliation, and humanitarian assistance for people in conflict areas, thus contributing to peace, security, and stability in the region and the world. The Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the UN also attended a ceremony held in New York on Tuesday to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (November 29). VNS HCM CITY Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen on Wednesday held a meeting with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who is on an official visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong. Nen highlighted the significance of Radevs trip to HCM City as serving as a great source of inspiration for the southern metropolis to effectively implement the Viet Nam-Bulgaria Joint Statement. According to Nen, for nearly 75 years, the traditional friendship, political trust, and cooperation between Viet Nam and Bulgaria have developed extremely well. The Vietnamese Government and people always remember the tremendous support and assistance from international friends, including Bulgaria, to the country in its struggle for national independence in the past as well as national construction efforts at present. HCM City is eager to strengthen cooperation with Bulgarian partners, and honoured to be chosen as the host for the Viet Nam-Bulgaria Business Forum, Nen said, adding that this will be an important opportunity for businesses from the two sides to meet, exchange information, and explore potential cooperation opportunities. He stressed that the municipal authorities will vigorously implement the joint declaration, as well as the proposed cooperation areas between HCM City and Bulgarias Sofia capital city. He expressed his hope that Radev will facilitate and promote cooperation between the two cities. For his part, Radev said he was impressed by HCM Citys dynamism and economic development potential, expressing his belief that his trip to the city will produce positive results, contributing to the bilateral cooperation. The Bulgarian leader affirmed that his country always values Viet Nams strong economic development, treasures the traditional friendship with Viet Nam, and considers the nation its leading partner in Southeast Asia. Bulgaria hopes to step up economic cooperation with Viet Nam, particularly in transportation, logistics, machinery and automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, education - training, and agriculture, he stated. After their meeting, Nen and Radev took part in the exchange of a Letter of Cooperation between HCM City and Sofia. During his stay in HCM City, Radev attended the Vietnam-Bulgaria Business Forum, met with representatives of the Viet Nam-Bulgaria Friendship Association of HCM City, and toured some local scenic attractions. VNS HA GIANG A conference on education cooperation between Viet Nams provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China was held in Ha Giang City on Tuesday. Over recent years, the implementation of cooperation agreements and programmes between the Vietnamese localities and their Chinese peers has contributed to developing and intensifying the friendship and education cooperation between the two sides. They signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs), enabling education managers from the four border localities of Viet Nam to engage in exchanges, meetings, and experience sharing with their counterparts from Guangxi. Many students have received full scholarships to study at universities in both countries. In 2024, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region awarded many scholarships to students of the Vietnamese localities, including 18 undergraduate and two masters ones for Ha Giang. Participants discussed and proposed measures to improve the effectiveness of the cooperation programme, towards strengthening political trust and traditional friendship, promoting exchanges and cooperation across fields, and opening a new chapter in friendly cooperation, thus contributing to elevating the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new height. At the conference, MoUs on fostering friendly relations and cooperation on education was signed by representatives of the Departments of Education and Training of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang, and the Department of Education of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; and the Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs of Ha Giang. VNS HCM CITY The HCM City Open University on Tuesday held its annual opening ceremony to welcome the new years batch of students arriving for its joint training programmes with Australian universities. The 2024 bachelor of business administration, bachelor of commerce and bachelor of language programmes are joint programmes with Bond University, Southern Queensland University and Flinders University. HCMCOU has awarded scholarships worth more than VN520 million (U$20,388) for new students in the joint programmes this year. It also gave souvenirs to the new arrivals at the ceremony. A closing ceremony together with Flinders University was also held. HCMCOU gave certificates of completion of Phase 1 to the 2022 batch and scholarships worth VN10 million ($392) each to two outstanding students from the batch. Flinders awarded phase 2 scholarships to all bachelor of language students equivalent to 10 per cent of tuition fees for two years in Australia, and equivalent to 20 per cent for students in the bachelor of business administration and bachelor of commerce programmes. This is the seventh year the joint programme with Flinders has been in existence after being established based on the close relationship between the two universities and friendly diplomatic ties between Viet Nam and Australia. Speaking at the event, HCMCOU rector Nguyen Minh Ha said the partnership has offered new opportunities to students to pursue quality learning and experience the Australian educational environment. These programmes help strengthen human resources in Viet Nam and contribute to the development of the Vietnamese economy, and can promote a strategic partnership between Viet nam and Australia. Professor Michael Gilding, vice president and executive dean of the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University, said global collaboration is critical to future success for both universities. Graduates need the knowledge, skills and attributes developed from collaborative education, he said. They are much more satisfied and get better jobs as a direct result of our collaboration with like-minded innovative universities. Flinders is a leading public university in Australia, finding a place among the top 251 worldwide, according to the the 2021 ranking. The university's reputation over the years has attracted many of the best staff and students from around the world. Since the signing of the first tie-up agreement for the 1.5+2 bachelor of business administration and bachelor of commerce programmes with Flinders in 2017 and the first opening ceremony in September 2018, over 80 per cent of students have completed phase 1 at the HCM City Open University with good results, meeting the requirements for studying in Australia in phase 2 (academic performance and foreign language). A training programme lasting only 2.5-3.5 years, including 1.5 years at HCMCOU and one top two years of transfer study in Australia, helps students reduce a great deal of costs. They are thoroughly supported and advised throughout their studies in Viet Nam as well as in Australia. During their courses, students have access to up-to-date curricula, textbooks and teaching materials meeting international standards. Lecturers who teach, test and evaluate are highly regarded professors and doctors with extensive experience both domestically and internationally. Skill training programmes, exchange activities, networking, practical experience, scientific research to improve competence, professional skills, and job opportunities in future in Australia and the international learning environment are also enhanced. Enrollment For the first phase at the HCM City Open University, students need to have a high school graduation certificate and pass the English entrance exam organised by the university. But admission is direct for candidates who have an IELTS score of 4.5 or higher. Students need to complete the first phase programme, have an IELTS score of 6.0 (with no band score below 5.5) and meet the Australian visa criteria to transfer to the second phase of studying in Australia. Through these joint training programmes, students and their families have the opportunity to save up to VN1.5 billion ($58,810) compared to studying in Australia from the first year. This is also an opportunity for families to have a better understanding of their children's integration into the foreign university programme, and avoid the risks involved in sending children from the ages of 18 abroad, their inability to integrate and having to return to Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has agreed to the proposal for nine-day continuous Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday in 2025 from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Civil servants, public employees and Government workers will be granted a nine-day holiday, which consists of five days off for Tet and four additional days for the regular weekly rest. Specifically, Government employees will have a five-day break for Tet, from Monday, January 27, 2025, to Friday, January 31, 2025. However, since the five days fall on weekdays, workers will enjoy two extra weekend days before and after the Tet holiday. As a result, civil servants, public employees and workers in administrative agencies, public institutions, political organisations, social organisations and businesses will be on holiday from January 25 to February 2, 2025. For the Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labour Day (May 1) holidays, the civil servants, public employees and Government workers will experience a continuous five-day break, running from Wednesday, April 30, to Sunday, May 4, 2025. The National Day holiday for 2025 is scheduled to take place from August 30 to September 2, a four-day break, with September 2 being the official holiday. Chinh told the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to notify administrative agencies, public institutions, political organisations, social organisations, businesses and workers about the holidays. Government agencies and units were required to ensure that essential departments were on standby and the work was arranged appropriately to ensure continuous operations. They should designate staff to handle any unforeseen matters that may arise during the holiday period. Ministries, agencies and localities must develop specific plans and measures to encourage businesses and individuals to proactively implement production and business activities. The measures should aim to ensure stability in the supply and demand of goods and services, regulate market prices and support economic growth. The ministry said the extended holiday period would provide employees with more time to spend with their families, stimulate the tourism sector and encourage shopping. VNS Mark Swidan will return home after being detained in China for over a decade. Shown here: Family members of Americans held hostage abroad gluing wheat paste mural of the hostages for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign on Monday, July 3, 2023 in Houston. From right: journalist Austin Tice, Mark Swidan and Jerrel Kenemore. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A Houston man will return home this week after being detained in China for over a decade. Mark Swidan from Houston was involved in a prisoner swap between the United States and China that also led to the release of Kai Li and John Leung, the Associated Press reports. All three men had been wrongfully detained, according to U.S. officials. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Swidan was arrested in 2012 on drug charges after police said they found drugs on his driver and translator. He was later sentenced to death in 2019, but appealed the ruling. His appeal was denied in April 2023. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn applauded Swidan's release but encouraged the State Department to continue working to free Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria a decade ago. After 12 long years of unjust imprisonment, Houstonian Mark Swidan is finally free, Cornyn said in a statement. Mark has suffered unimaginable conditions and treatment after being wrongfully detained at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, which has proven time and time again that it has zero regard for human rights, truth, or justice." I join all Americans in celebrating his long-awaited return home, and I urge the State Department to continue working to secure Texan Austin Tices release. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz specifically thanked President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinkin Wednesday for their efforts to bring Swidan home. Negotiations aimed at securing the release of unjustly held Americans are among the most difficult and wrenching tasks that our diplomats face, and they have shown unceasing dedication culminating in todays release," Cruz said in a statement Tuesday. "This joyous news would not have occurred, and these families would not have been reunited, without their work and commitment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Together, Cornyn and Cruz introduced a resolution in the Senate last year in an effort to push for Swidan's release. For the last decade, Mark Swidans family has tirelessly fought for his return after he was wrongfully detained and sentenced to death by the Chinese government, Cornyn previously told the Chronicle. The human rights abuses Mark has suffered at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party are horrific, and I will continue to push the Biden administration to expedite his case and secure his release. Swidan is featured in a Montrose mural displaying the faces of 15 detained Americans abroad. Unveiled last year, the mural was backed by the "Bring Our Families Home Campaign" an initiative created by the families of detained Americans. -Benjamin Wermund contributed to this story HA NOI The 15th National Assembly (NA) on Wednesday passed a law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Health Insurance with 446 deputies, or 93.11 per cent of the total lawmakers, voting in favour. Notably, under the new law, in addition to groups of health insurance participants specified in the current law, others stipulated in other laws are added. Village health workers and midwives will also enjoy support to participate in health insurance as a way to encourage and motivate them. Further amendments will be considered for a complete revision of the law in the future. The Government will continue to provide support for students in participating in health insurance, with increasing levels put into consideration. The Ministers of Health, Public Security and National Defence will issue documents instructing health insurance card holders to register the medical facility for their first examination and treatment. They will also decide on the transfer from the first medical examination and treatment establishments to hospitals at higher levels. The law will take effect from July 1, 2025. VNS NGHE AN British Ambassador to Viet Nam Iain Frew discussed youth-led initiatives with students of Nghe An Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities No 2, aiming to foster psychological safety and a diverse, equitable and inclusive school environment. It was part of his two visits to the central province, which began on Tuesday. The initiative was funded by the UK Government's Chevening Alumni Programme Fund and implemented by Chevening Scholars and volunteers. A core group of 25 students, representing over 750 students from the schools ten ethnic minority groups, presented the communications plan for preventing school violence, promoting gender equality and LGBT+ rights, increasing inclusivity for ethnic minority students and promoting psychological safety in schools. Their plan outlines specific and practical steps to foster a sense of belonging and empowerment among the students through awareness-raising activities, cultural recognition campaigns, broadcasts and in-depth group discussions in each class. Through these activities, the core team aims to inspire students to collaborate in building a safe, inclusive and equitable educational environment for all, regardless of gender, religion, nationality, health condition or social background. Baseline and end-line surveys are included to monitor the programme's effectiveness accurately. More than 90 per cent of the students at Nghe An Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities No 2 are from 12 economically disadvantaged mountainous areas, including some from Laos. This effort contributes to the Vietnamese Government's goal of creating a safe, healthy and friendly school environment as highlighted in Decree 80/2017/N-CP, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). The schools principal, Ho Quoc Viet, said: "Recognising the importance of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the school environment, our faculty has strived to incorporate extracurricular activities to increase awareness and cultivate essential skills among students. However, the scope and quality of these projects have been constrained. I am certain that this project, funded by the British Embassy and carried out in cooperation with Chevening Scholars, will be an important and organised step toward creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment for all of our students." Expressing his surprise at the students' dedication and enthusiasm, Ambassador Iain Frew said: "Listening to their perspectives and initiatives to create an enabling learning environment, where they can proactively and confidently participate in enhancing the quality of education, has left me very optimistic about the future of Viet Nam's youth. "These students represent a generation full of passion, ambition and aspirations to contribute to building a society that leaves no one behinda vision central to both Viet Nam and the UK." Representing the Chevening Alumni group, Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, said: "I was delighted to listen to students' deep reflections on values, gender identity, and rights. They raised questions about how true equality can be reached, how they may avoid feeling ashamed of being 'different,' how their ethnic cultures can be free of discrimination, and how to rise beyond stereotypes. This demonstrates how much they value fair treatment and being accepted for who they are. I believe that big change starts with modest steps and with the help of the school's administration, these children will soon find solutions for themselves, she said. The core team of 25 students will continue to work with the Chevening scholars and project volunteers to carry out communication activities to raise awareness about Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Schools and conduct mid-term/final evaluations to assess the initiative's impact. VNS BEIJING -- The group exhibition Three-Body Art Project Prologue: First Contact opened in Shanghai as the debut event of the interdisciplinary art project inspired by Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixins sci-fi trilogy The Three-Body Problem. Initiated by the Three-Body Universe (Shanghai) Cultural Development Co Ltd, the project invites artists, scientists, designers, architects and creators from various fields across the globe to interpret the universe of The Three-Body Problem through diverse perspectives. Selected by writer and curator Iris Long, the exhibition combines works by 15 artists, including Xu Bing, Liu Xin and Cao Shu, who envision and represent humanitys first contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Inspired by key scenes from the trilogy, it is divided into three sections The Unnamed Star, Earthbound and Contact Zone, representing extraterrestrial life, space exploration and communication between civilizations. The exhibition takes the novel as a starting point and an open question, allowing artists and audiences to engage with pressing issues related to technological advancements and scientific research. Among them, Xu reinterprets iconic quotes from the trilogy, such as Do not answer, in his artistic expression featured in the notable pieces Book from the Sky and Book from the Ground. The Three-Body Art Project aims to foster collaboration with scientific institutions and art schools to encourage cross-disciplinary conversations. By inviting art submissions from around the world, the initiative creates an inclusive platform for artists to present fresh perspectives on the trilogy through various media, including painting, sculpture and installation art. Since its serialization in 2006, The Three-Body Problem has established itself as a barrier-breaking cultural treasure that unites people worldwide. In recent years, it has drawn a younger, culture-craving audience through multiple visual and audio adaptations, says Zhao Jilong, CEO of the Three-Body Universe. Throughout this journey, the book series exploration of the universe, civilization and humanity has transcended its original medium to become a phenomenon that deeply resonates with the global artistic community. According to Zhao, the project aspires to become a platform where art, technology and culture converge, enabling the Three-Body phenomenon to take shape in diverse new forms. CHINA DAILY/ANN Founded in London by a group of eight accountants in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), has since grown into a global network of more than 252,500 members and 526,000 future members across 180 countries. ACCA president Ayla Majid stated that, By staying true to our founding value of inclusion, ACCA has become a truly global organisation, working for the public good. When ACCA was founded in 1904, nobody could have predicted how much wed achieve. Our story has been one of innovation and growth. But above all, it is a story of more peoples careers launched, lives transformed, and many dreams come true. We have an amazing community of talented and committed members around the world undertaking successful careers and making positive and sustainable impact on countless businesses, organisations and communities, creating huge benefits for the global economy. The election of Ayla Majid to the office of president at the recent AGM, along with Melanie Proffitt as deputy president and Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan as vice president, makes this the first time in ACCAs history that women have held all three officer posts at the same time. It is another milestone for the professional accountancy body, which was the first to admit women to membership in 1909. 2024 has truly been a landmark year for us. In May, our membership numbers exceeded a quarter of a million. In September, we launched our new Professional Diploma in Sustainability, said Helen Brand OBE, chief executive of ACCA. And earlier this month we were recognised with a special nomination in the international category of the UN Trade and Development, which recognised our work to improve reporting and skills capacity building on sustainability. To Quoc Hung, country manager of ACCA Vietnam, shared, ACCAs 120-year journey is a testament to the transformative power of purpose, vision, and resilience. As custodians of this legacy, we stand on the shoulders of pioneers who dared to dream of a more inclusive and innovative profession. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to empowering individuals, shaping ethical leaders, and contributing to a sustainable future. This milestone is not just a celebration of our past achievements, but a clarion call to reimagine the possibilities of tomorrow. Some impressive photos throughout ACCA's history: Council members of ACCA in 1923. Photo: ACCA Vietnam Queen Elizabeth II's visit to ACCAs headquarters in 2004. Photo: ACCA Vietnam ACCA Members Wall of Honour celebrating ACCAs achievement of 200,000-plus global membership in 2017. Photo: ACCA Vietnam Helen Brand OBE, chief executive of ACCA, at the ACCA Asia Pacific Dialogue 2024 held in Hanoi in May. Photo: ACCA Vietnam ACCA New Member Ceremony 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City in October. Photo: ACCA Vietnam ACCA New Member Ceremony 2024 in Hanoi in October. Photo: ACCA Vietnam Overview of the MoU signing ceremony between ACCA and PwC in November. Photo: ACCA Vietnam Transforming accountancy with sustainability and ESG leadership ACCA and PwC Vietnam signed an MoU on November 22 in Hanoi to collaborate on implementing global standards in Vietnam. ACCA Asia Pacific Dialogue raises conversations on a sustainable future The ACCA Asia Pacific Dialogue 2024 held in Hanoi on May 28-29 aims to foster a platform for innovative thinking and strategic dialogue among key stakeholders in the accounting and finance sector, focusing on sustainable finance, digital transformation, and regulatory developments, reflecting the most pressing trends and challenges in the region. ACCA and vocational colleges to enhance business training The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) signed MoUs with Hanoi Vocational College of Technolgy, and Hanoi College of Commerce and Tourism on May 29. State Audit Office of Vietnam and ACCA strengthen partnership for sustainable development The meeting between the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) on October 7 marks a pivotal step in strengthening their practical partnership, while offering an opportunity to explore expanding collaboration in the financial sector to support economic growth and national prosperity in Vietnam. ACCA welcomes 116 new members in Vietnam The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) held a new member ceremony on October 23 and 24 themed Driving Progress - Leading Change in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. ACCA supports SMEs in meeting sustainability reporting standards At VIR's sustainable development conference on November 12, To Quoc Hung, country manager at ACCA Vietnam, committed to supporting the development of a green workforce in driving the green-digital transition within small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. Since its establishment in 1996, Bao Viet Life Insurance Corporation has consistently operated with the mission "Protecting Vietnamese families Protecting Vietnamese interests." Its mission is not only to provide life insurance products with optimal benefits but also build a sustainable community where everyone can have peace of mind about their financial, health, and future security. With a focus on safeguarding the tangible interests of customers, the company believes that every product and service is designed to meet the needs and desires of consumers. The company views its insurance business not merely as a transaction but as a long-term commitment, accompanying customers in protecting their health and financial wellbeing. Over the past 28 years, Bao Viet Life Insurance has striven to implement many meaningful and humanitarian activities. The company has maintained various community programmes, such as the "Lighting Young Talent" scholarship fund for outstanding students, donating bicycles to underprivileged students, and organising free health consultations for the community. During times when many regions are hit by natural disasters, Bao Viet Life Insurance has swiftly supported local people, paid insurance benefits, and organised practical relief activities. These efforts help people overcome difficulties and show the social responsibility of Bao Viet Life Insurance in contributing to the common development of the wider community. With continuous efforts in providing high-quality insurance products and building a happy working environment, Bao Viet Life Insurance has been honoured with numerous prestigious awards. In 2024, Bao Viet Life Insurance achieved outstanding business results, continuing to take a lead in new business revenue and total premium revenue. The company was recognised with the "Best Workplace in Asia 2024" award by HR Asia, "Outstanding Enterprise in Asia 2024" and "Inspiring Brand 2024" from Enterprise Asia. These awards are recognition of Bao Viet Life Insurances efforts in building a better working environment and community. Bao Viet Life Insurance is committed to continuing to its core values, innovating and improving products and services to protect the financial, health, and future security of customers. The company will always be a reliable companion in the journey to safeguard the peace and happiness of every Vietnamese family. Bao Viet unveils restructuring plan at AGM 2023 Bao Viet Group outlined its strategic divestment plans and ambitious financial targets at its AGM 2023 in late June. Bao Viet Life Corporation works for and contributes to the community As a pioneering enterprise in educational welfare, Bao Viet Life Corporation has organised many meaningful social activities, most notably the For a beautiful Vietnam programme. The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is on the horizon, as the world witnesses a significant shift from gasoline-powered vehicles to sustainable electric alternatives. Both large and small companies in the industry are racing to develop models that meet rising consumer demand. According to the International Energy Agency, 2023 saw nearly 14 million EVs sold worldwide, marking a 35 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Dat Bike, Vietnams only vertically integrated e-bike manufacturer, manages every aspect of design, production, and sales. This unique approach has set the company apart in a competitive market. In just five years, Dat Bike has introduced four new models, each offering practical value to consumers and fuelling the companys rapid growth. In 2023, Dat Bike made a bold move into the mainstream with the release of its first electric scooter, the Dat Bike Quantum. Offering a range of up to 270km, a price tag under VND50 million ($2,000), a massive 41L trunk, and smart features like cruise control, the Quantum set a new benchmark in Vietnams e-bike industry. Dat Bike gains momentum with $4 million boost A quantum leap after five years Since its debut in 2019, Dat Bike has been a serious player in the e-bike sector, with a clear vision to become the leading manufacturer. Each year, the company releases top-quality models that rank highest in their category. In 2023, the launch of the Quantum scooter brought Dat Bike even closer to the general public. After five years of operation, with three flagship stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Danang, the company has been expanding rapidly, opening new stores nationwide almost weekly. The recent openings in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces and Can Tho city highlight this expansion effort. Creating a complete experience By establishing stores in various provinces, Dat Bike is making its e-bikes more accessible to a broader audience, allowing the company to better understand customer needs and ensure high-quality service by eliminating unnecessary intermediaries. This expansion also helps boost brand awareness and allows Dat Bike to tap into regions where EVs are not yet prevalent. To achieve this growth, Dat Bike has gained trust and support from international investment funds, having successfully raised $25 million to date. The new Dat Bike stores stand out with their bright and friendly white-orange colour scheme. They display a full range of models, from the Weaver, Weaver 200, and Weaver++ to the latest Quantum scooter. These stores serve as both showrooms for the latest EV models and spaces where Dat Bike fans and potential customers can try out the newest bikes. Current owners can also bring their bikes in for quick maintenance and repairs. With the 3S Standard (sales, service, and spare parts), the stores provide a roomy space where customers can buy bikes, get them serviced, and purchase genuine accessories, all in one place. Dat Bikes expansion is not limited to Vietnam, and the company is also aiming to become the top e-bike brand in Southeast Asia. Given the regions booming ride-hailing industry, Dat Bike plans to partner with transport companies to help drivers switch to EVs saving money and benefiting the urban environment. With significant investments and a strategic vision, Dat Bike is ready to help consumers embrace the global EV era. Dat Bike store locations (as of October 2024) . Truong Dinh Store: 186 Truong Dinh, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi . Danang Store: 209 Hung Vuong, Hai Chau district, Danang . Tu Xuong Store: 49B Tu Xuong, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City . Kha Van Can Store: 691 Kha Van Can, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City . Nguyen Thi Thap Store: 224 Nguyen Thi Thap, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City . Nguyen Trai Store: 463-465-467 Nguyen Trai, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City . Le Trong Tan Store: 429 Le Trong Tan, Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City . Binh Duong Store: 16K/3 KP Binh Dang, Thuan An city, Binh Duong . Dong Nai Store: 1229 Pham Van Thuan, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai . Can Tho Store: 138C Ly Tu Trong, Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho . Ca Mau Store: 144 Nguyen Tat Thanh, Ca Mau city For more details: www.dat.bike Dat Bike expands its e-vision for global coverage E-bike startup Dat Bike has set a clear path to become the fastest-growing player in the industry with its efforts to produce vehicles with exceptional range, rapid charging capabilities, and optimal pricing. Dat Bike, FPT IS launch public cloud for EV manufacturing industry Dat Bike Vietnam, a prominent electric motorcycle company, and FPT IS launched an enterprise management project using the SAP S/4HANA public cloud solution on July 2. The delegation was led by Zeng Chaobang, vice chairman of the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of Guangdong, who shared insights on Guangdongs socioeconomic landscape and noted the similarities he had observed during his visits to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. "Guangdong wishes to collaborate with Hanoi in areas such as elderly healthcare, safeguarding the rights of recent graduates, and supporting workers in emerging sectors like online retail and delivery services," said Zeng. Zeng Chaobang, vice chairman, Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee, Guangdong (left) and Duy Hoang Duong, permanent member and chairman, Legal Affairs Committee, Hanoi Peoples Council. Photo: Hanoi People's Council Duong emphasised Hanois commitment to fostering ties with Chinese localities, particularly Guangdong. The reciprocal visits by Hanoi leaders to Guangdong in 2023 and 2024 have significantly contributed to strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and China. Duong introduced the delegation to Hanois development focus, noting the citys current efforts to enhance institutional frameworks and policies to support its growth ambitions. He highlighted three key legal milestones: the recently approved amended Capital Law, the forthcoming Hanoi Master Plan for 20212030 with a vision to 2050, and the updated general planning for Hanoi up to 2045 with a vision to 2065. "These legal frameworks will establish vital policies that will enable Hanoi to leverage its strengths and pursue rapid, sustainable growth on a larger scale," Duong said. As part of the larger Vietnam - China comprehensive strategic partnership, the Hanoi Peoples Council is seeking to expand cooperation with Guangdong across several fields, including sharing expertise in party building, political system development, and socioeconomic growth. Hanoi also aims to strengthen trade ties and facilitate goods import-export activities. Hanoi welcomes businesses from Guangdong that wish to invest and expand operations in the city. Priority areas include digital transformation, green growth, renewable energy, circular economy initiatives, and environmental protection. Furthermore, the Hanois Peoples Council is keen to enhance collaboration in education and workforce development, especially at the postgraduate level, alongside boosting cultural and people-to-people exchanges, focusing on the younger generation. Hundreds of businesses to attend Vietnam Medipharm Expo 2024 Approximately 100 booths from eight countries and territories, and approximately 9,000 visitors will take part in Vietnam Medipharm Expo 2024 in Hanoi from December 5-7. Hanoi accelerates digital transformation Hanoi has achieved a significant milestone in its digital transformation journey by integrating the VNeID electronic identification account into the iHanoi digital citizen application. This growth was primarily driven by domestic investor-led megadeals, highlighting local corporations strategic restructuring efforts to optimise their focus on core businesses in a challenging operating environment. Nguyen Cong Ai, partner, Deal Advisory Strategy KPMG Tax & Advisory Vingroup, for example, closed two major transactions with a combined stated value of approximately $1.4 billion, accounting for nearly half of the markets total deal value during this period. Without these two deals, Vietnams M&A market would have seen an 18.7 per cent on-year decline in deal value. The top 10 transactions collectively contributed about $2.8 billion, representing 87 per cent of the total disclosed deal value in the first nine months of 2024. Compared to the past three years, the average deal size for disclosed transactions rose significantly, reaching $56.3 million during this period. This increase was driven by large deals, primarily by domestic investors, dominating the market. However, it is worth noting that many smaller transactions remain undisclosed, leaving their values unaccounted for. Since 2020, domestic investors have played a pivotal role in boosting market value and transaction volume by focusing on expanding market share and enhancing vertical integration. This trend continued until late 2022, when domestic investors reached a peak, securing the largest share of deal values exceeding $1.3 billion. In 2023, domestic investors adopted a more cautious approach, reassessing their strategies, while foreign investors dominated the market, taking all the top five spots by deal value. Japan, Singapore, and the United States were among the most active foreign investors, contributing the majority of the total reported deal value. In 2024, domestic investors regained prominence, accounting for 53 per cent of the total disclosed deal value in the first nine months alone. Their contributions were roughly double those of the next four leading foreign investor countries combined. This shift reflects a focus on business consolidation and recalibration among local players, as well as a more cautious approach from foreign investors amid global economic uncertainties. Domestic investors were the primary drivers of Vietnams M&A market in the first nine months of 2024, contributing significantly to year-on-year growth through high-value transactions in real estate, industrials, and consumer goods. The largest deal during this period involved a consortium of Vietnam-based companies acquiring a 55 per cent stake in Vingroups subsidiary, SDI Investment and Trade Development Company, which holds an indirect 41.5 per cent ownership in Vincom Retail. This transaction, valued at $982 million, highlighted domestic investors strategic ambitions in real estate. The second-largest deal was also in the real estate sector, with Becamex Infrastructure Development JSC transferring a residential project in Binh Duong province worth $553 million to Sycamore Limited, a subsidiary of Singapores CapitaLand Group. In the consumer staples sector, Masan Group saw significant activity. US-based Bain Capital invested $255 million in the company through a private placement, while Masan Group reacquired a $200 million stake in VinCommerce General Commercial Services JSC from SK South-East Asia Investment. In the industrial sector, VinFast Auto Ltd. completed a $440 million deal to acquire VinES Energy Solutions JSC from Pham Nhat Vuong, further consolidating its operations. Additionally, several other sizable transactions, ranging from $40 million to $112 million, were recorded in the industrial and IT sectors, underscoring diverse investment opportunities across industries. Vietnams M&A landscape in the remaining months of 2024 and into 2025 presents compelling opportunities for investors navigating a dynamic regional environment. While deal activity in 2024 may proceed with caution due to global economic pressures, Vietnams strong economic fundamentals and supportive macroeconomic framework provide a solid foundation for growth. Key sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, technology, and consumer goods remain attractive to both strategic acquirers and private equity firms. These industries demonstrate robust potential, supported by Vietnams resilience and long-term growth prospects. As we move into 2025, a resurgence in M&A activity is anticipated. Previously deferred transactions are likely to return, driven by renewed investor confidence in Vietnams stable economic outlook and proactive government policies. Traditional investors from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the United States, which have historically dominated dealmaking activities in Vietnam, are expected to re-enter the market and potentially outpace domestic players in leading M&A transactions. Tax incentives, regulatory reforms, and strategic support for high-growth sectors such as technology and manufacturing are positioning Vietnam as an increasingly attractive destination for cross-border capital. These initiatives, combined with ongoing investments in infrastructure and digital modernisation, are likely to bolster the countrys M&A potential. Vietnams alignment of economic stability, policy clarity, and sectoral growth opportunities provides a compelling narrative for investors seeking durable, long-term returns in one of Asias most dynamic markets. Vietnam well-placed to remain strategic M&A leader A number of potential deals in the pipeline signifies bright prospects for Vietnams mergers and acquisitions landscape. Traditional M&A entities buoyed by positive outlook Several notable deals have emerged in Vietnams dealmaking landscape, signalling a rebound in such activities. M&As pick up pace in sectors from food to energy A raft of transactions are still taking place in the Vietnamese market across different industries, from food to renewable energy, signalling improved sentiment from investors. Under the National Assemblys (NA) resolution on Vietnams Plan for Socioeconomic Development in 2025, adopted nearly two weeks ago, the country aims for an economic growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent, higher than this years projected 6.5-7 per cent. Per capita income is expected to reach $4,900, up from an estimated $4,647 in 2024, while the ratio of manufacturing and processing in GDP will remain at 24.1 per cent. Strong economic development is partly responsible for the anticipated rise in power demand Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reported to the NA that ensuring the provision of critical resources, particularly electricity and fuel, will be key to achieving these targets. The government and the prime minister have been actively directing relevant authorities to ensure sufficient electricity supply under all circumstances, PM Chinh said. Vietnams rapid economic development has led to an anticipated increase in power demand, estimated at 12-13 per cent in 2025 and expected to rise further in subsequent years. To meet this demand, the government has focused on removing obstacles to electricity infrastructure development and expediting the construction of smart power grids that feature advanced automation and flexibility. Boosting power projects The government will also focus on completing procedures, commencing construction of large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects such as at Nghi Son (1,500MW) in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa, and at Quynh Lap (1,500MW) in the central province of Nghe An. It is expected that in 2025, there will be some new power projects coming into operation, with total capacity of about 8,100MW. These include Nhon Trach 3 and 4, Vung Ang 2, LNG Quang Ninh (1,500MW), LNG Thai Binh (1,500MW), Quang Trach 1 (1,430MW), and expanded Hoa Binh hydropower facilities. The Hoa Binh project, commencing construction in 2021, embraces a total investment of about $384.2 million. Power generation progress of Unit 1 is expected in June 2025 and Unit 2 is expected the following month. The project is slated for completion in August 2025, hoping to annually generate about 500 million kWh for the national electricity system. In August, the 500kV transmission line project from Quang Trach to Pho Noi was inaugurated and put into operation. This project has total investment capital of about $916 million from the National Power Transmission Corporation under state-run Vietnam Electricity (EVN). The starting point is the 500kV Quang Trach switchyard in the central province of Quang Binh, and the ending point is 500kV Pho Noi substation in the northern province of Hung Yen. This project is of strategic importance to national energy security, contributing to help reduce power shortage in the northern region of the country. This project must be exemplified for directions to develop other electricity projects, PM Chinh noted. Responsibility of those who are in charge of investment decision-making must be enhanced. All projects must be implemented without disconnection. EVN has reported notable growth in electricity production and supply during the first 10 months of 2024. Total electricity output, including both domestic production and imports, reached an estimated 258.7 billion kWh, an on-year increase of 10.6 per cent. Electricity supplied to industrial and construction sectors increased by 10.5 per cent, while commercial and service activities saw a nearly 12 per cent rise, and household consumption grew by 9.9 per cent. In the same period, EVN and its subsidiaries commenced construction on 76 projects and completed 102, including key initiatives with capacities ranging from 110kV to 500kV. Removing impediments Despite these achievements, Vietnams electricity sector faces significant challenges, particularly as power demand is projected to exceed earlier forecasts. Under the Ministry of Industry and Trades (MoIT) preliminary calculation on electricity load in 2045, assuming GDP growth of 10 per cent in the period 2030-2045 when efficiency of electricity use is expected to be better thanks to new standards applied, electricity growth will reach an average of about 6 per cent a year. Electricity demand will be about 20 per cent higher than the forecast in Vietnams Power Development Plan VIII (PDP 8), reaching 1.2 trillion kWh in 2045 (compared to the one trillion kWh forecast of the PDP8). The peak capacity of the national power grid system in 2045 is estimated to hit 213GW, as compared to the PDP8s forecast of 180GW. PM Chinh highlighted that the government will further strengthen measures for energy conservations and management of electricity consumption. We will also review and remove legal difficulties for renewable energy projects, while also ensuring accurate and proper valuation in order to encourage the development of all electricity sources. We will also centre on ensuring sufficient infrastructure and fuel for power manufacturing, he said. In the long term, with a view to ensuring sufficient power for sustainable and rapid socioeconomic development, the government will develop offshore wind power, and has proposed to the Politburo to resume nuclear power development, a plan to which the Politburo has agreed to, according to the MoIT. The ministry said it is necessary to include policies on nuclear power development in the draft amendments to the Law on Electricity (LoE) in order to facilitate the construction and development of this energy following the approval of authorities. The amendments are currently under discussion in the NA, with a focus on resolving institutional barriers and accelerating the development of electricity infrastructure. The government suggested that the NA share and combine with the government to improve the quality of and adopt the revised LoE right in this ongoing eight session so that legal obstacles can be soon removed. Under the NAs latest agenda updates, the draft amendments to the LoE will be voted for approval on November 30 if conditions are met. Over the past five years, Vietnam has attracted hundreds of investors to its electricity sector, with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar now accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the countrys total capacity. However, regulatory challenges remain a significant hurdle to the timely execution of energy projects outlined in the PDP8. The MoIT has worked to align the LoE amendments with other relevant laws, including those on irrigation, water resources, and natural disaster prevention. This alignment aims to ensure consistency in managing hydropower reservoirs and inter-reservoir operations, particularly in maintaining dam safety and efficient water usage. In July, the government issued Decree No.80/2024/ND-CP on direct power purchase agreements, a key initiative to promote renewable energy. Dr. Oliver Massmann, general director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC, noted that the decree has already generated significant interest among investors. Investors are actively planning projects based on the decree, but uncertainties remain regarding procedural details and contract forms. Clearer guidance is essential to unlock the decrees full potential, Massmann told VIR. He added that the electricity operation licence, a critical sub-license for electricity trading activities, remains a major factor influencing investor decisions. Vietnams ambitious energy development plans reflect its determination to support rapid socioeconomic growth. However, achieving these goals requires coordinated efforts to address regulatory challenges, attract investment, and ensure efficient project implementation. PM Chinh emphasised the importance of aligning institutional reforms with practical execution to eliminate delays and bottlenecks. We must strengthen accountability at all levels and ensure seamless collaboration between agencies, he said. Vietnams focus on renewable energy, smart grids, and infrastructure development positions it to meet future energy needs while contributing to global sustainability efforts. The successful execution of these plans will not only enhance energy security but also solidify Vietnams position as a regional leader in economic and industrial growth. Electric generation hikes to be dealt with The selling price of electricity lower than the production and distribution costs is creating unfairness for distributors and will affect energy security in the long term. Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy general director of PropertyGuru Vietnam, noted a sharp increase in interest in real estate heading into next year as market confidence and investor sentiment improve. Real estate growth anticipated next year In each stage of development, the real estate market has different characteristics, based on fluctuating cycles. From now until the end of the first quarter of 2025, the market will continue to be in a consolidation phase. Buyers will still focus on real housing needs, and the most chosen products will be private houses and town houses, he said. From then until the year-end, he added, the real estate market will enter a period of prosperity, led by segments that bring high profit rates such as land plots and project villas. In 2026, the market could enter a stable cycle, with prices and liquidity increasing in a variety of types, Quoc Anh added. Marc Townsend, senior advisor at Arcadia Consulting, expressed that Vietnams continued economic growth depends on exploring diverse and resilient growth strategies. Vietnams real estate market must be prepared to adapt as it undergoes significant restructuring, Townsend said. Adaptable businesses can thrive by incorporating regional and global trends into their strategies. However, current challenges such as delays in project approvals and rising financing costs mean that a swift, automatic recovery is unlikely this time. Lucas Loh, CEO of Nam Long Group, emphasised that real estate was closely tied to economic development. Beyond residential demand, real estate encompasses a wide range of sectors, including shopping malls, retail centres, offices, industrial facilities, warehouses, data centres, and hospitality, Loh said at the VinaCapital Investment Conference in October. Loh highlighted how infrastructure improvements under the new land law will boost land supply and connectivity. By facilitating the development of bridges, roads, and railways, the new law will allow cities to grow and expand economic distances. This will inevitably drive growth in the real estate sector, Loh added. Going forward, there will be an increased supply of land by the fact that there will be enhanced infrastructure built by the new land law that allows the government to acquire land easier to build bridges, roads, and even railway, Loh said. In Ho Chi Minh City, many people are moving to live in surrounding areas and coming into the citys centre to work. This is ideal if there is a good infrastructure system. In fact, it naturally increases the supply of accessible land for people. Ho Chi Minh City can become a megacity where people living in neighbouring provinces go to the centre for work. This will increase the supply of land to meet demand. Over time, with infrastructure development, supply will increase, and the new land law certainly helps the government develop this, Loh explained. Meanwhile, Angus Liew, chairman of Gamuda Land Vietnam, said that infrastructure upgrading was pushing up the demand for housing. The past two years the business has been good for Gamuda Land. We launched the Eaton Park project in Ho Chi Minh City in May, which was 95 per cent taken up during the launch day. The group has also received positive sale of another project in Binh Chanh district, with 90 per cent of absorption rate in three months, Liew said. According to Michael Kokalari, chief economist of VinaCapital, the demand for new housing units far outstrips supply, with that demand driven by young couples and urbanisation. Consequently, sales of new housing products are very brisk, although securing approvals for new projects remains difficult, Kokalari said. He added that while new real estate regulations would make the approvals process more transparent, they were also likely to have a negative impact on smaller developers, which in-turn could prompt some consolidation in the sector going forward. Critically, the approvals process for new projects is getting quicker, and should support banks 2025 earnings prospects. In short, the nascent real estate sector recovery is expected to be a key driver for loan demand and earnings growth next year, he said. The 16th Vietnam M&A Forum: A Blossoming Market After a period of stagnation, Vietnams M&A market is now on a strong recovery trajectory, with major deals starting to re-emerge. Shoppers in the Galleria Mall on Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 in Houston, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Shoppers in the Galleria Mall on Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 in Houston, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Shoppers in the Galleria Mall on Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 in Houston. The Ice at The Galleria was renovated this summer. Michael Wyke/Contributor Best Buy opened its doors at five oaclock this morning for people looking to find Black Friday deals on Thursday November 24, 2022. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer Shoppers visit Rice Village Shopping Center for Black Friday deals on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Best Buy opened its doors at five oclock this morning for people looking to find Black Friday deals on Thursday November 24, 2022. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer Black Friday and Cyber Monday are around the corner and some of the best shopping deals may be within reach. This year, 183.4 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to an annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics. Heres what to know before you head out for Black Friday deals Cyber Monday shopping: Advertisement Article continues below this ad Start shopping early You dont have to wait until Friday to find deals at stores or online. Most retailers may already have the item you want at a discounted price, according to Consumer Reports. When shopping be sure to check store polices that offers returns and refunds or even partial refunds for items that may go on sale for even less on Black Friday. Shop in-store sales and online When you're Black Friday shopping it can lead to longer wait times due to stores packed with shoppers. Cyber Monday allows you to shop for deals from the comfort of your home on mobile devices. Several items you may not find in stores can be purchased online. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Budget before you head out Walking into a Black Friday sale may be exciting, but if you dont set a budget you may end up spending more than planned. This annual sale is geared for customers to spend money and overspending can ruin your budget. Compare prices Before going to shop this Friday, you should create a list of items and compare it to other store promotions to see which store has the best deal, according to the Better Business Bureau. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Although each store may have a deal specific to their store, there's always a chance another store may have a better deal waiting for you. When shopping Cyber Monday shopping you can always check across several online stores to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Every deal isnt as good as it seems When Black Friday shopping, some deals that seem great may not be as good as they seem. According to the Better Business Bureau, when searching for deals watch out for companies that boasts a high percentage discount. The original price could be inflated. Industry experts believe that the decline in China's tilapia production, coupled with the reduced supply of Russian pollock and cod, could open opportunities for Vietnamese basa fish to emerge as a potential alternative white-flesh fish product in the US market. According to Viet Dragon Securities analysts, Vietnam's basa fish industry could benefit thanks to its competitive pricing, especially compared to tilapia imported from China. Photo: baodautu.vn Similarly, Phu Hung Securities shares the view that the general 10-20 per cent tariff will not undermine Vietnam's competitiveness. Meanwhile, the 60 per cent tariff on Chinese goods could provide Vietnam with an edge in seafood exports, particularly in the face of tough competition between Vietnamese basa fish and Chinese tilapia. The decreased supply of Chinese tilapia, along with Russian pollock and cod, presents an opportunity for Vietnamese basa fish to establish itself as a promising alternative white-flesh fish product in the US. In the segment of imported white-flesh fish fillets in the US market, Vietnamese basa fillets are demonstrating exceptional growth potential. Since the outset of 2024, China's reduced tilapia farming due to financial losses has caused supply shortages of raw fish and fingerlings. This scarcity is expected to persist into the first half of 2025, as Hainan, China's primary supplier of tilapia fingerlings, struggles to recover from the severe damage caused by Typhoon Yagi. The decreased supply of Chinese tilapia, along with Russian pollock and cod, presents an opportunity for Vietnamese basa fish to establish itself as a promising alternative white-flesh fish product in the US. Consequently, Vietnamese basa exports to the US is projected to remain favourable in both volume and price. Vietnamese basa currently holds the largest market share in the US, with inventory levels supposedly lower than those for the same period last year. Vinh Hoan Corporation, Vietnam's largest exporter of frozen basa fish fillets to the US, is expected to benefit significantly if the US imposes higher tariffs on Chinese imports. In October alone, the US market contributed 37 per cent of Vinh Hoans export revenue. VietDragon Securities forecasts Vinh Hoan's post-tax profit could reach $78 million by 2026. In the first 10 months of 2024, the company achieved $439 million in revenue, completing more than 98 per cent of its full-year target at $445.8 million under scenario 1 when the export markets are less favourable, or 91.6 per cent of full-year target at $479 million under scenario 2 of more favourable market conditions. Other basa fish firms, such as Nam Viet Corporation and International Development and Investment Corporation, are forecast to benefit less as the US market accounts for only a small portion of their total export revenue. While basa fish exports are thriving, shrimp exporters face challenges due to an anti-dumping lawsuit in the US. On October 22, the US Department of Commerce announced the final results of its anti-dumping duty investigation on frozen warm-water shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia, as well as countervailing duty investigations on such shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Vietnamese shrimp achieved a more favourable outcome than Ecuador and India, with a countervailing duty of 2.84 per cent compared to Indias 5.77 per cent. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to review and issue a final ruling on whether the case holds merit On December 5. If the ITC determines that the subsidies significantly impact the US shrimp industry, the 2.84 per cent duty will become permanent, posing a notable challenge for Vietnamese shrimp exporters. However, if the ITC rules that the subsidies have minimal impact, the case will be dismissed. Sao Ta Foods Corporation, a big seafood exporter in Mekong delta region, reported a similar case about a decade ago when Vietnamese shrimp faced a similar lawsuit, which was ultimately dismissed by the ITC. If the current case follows the same path, shrimp exporters to the US will have significant room for market expansion. Furthermore, US Customs would then refund the provisional duties paid by exporters for shipments during Q2 of this year. In this scenario, the reserved funds recorded in financial statements would turn into profit. Sao Ta Foods alone expects to reclaim nearly $1.7 million from such reserves, positively contributing to its 2024 profit targets. For the first 10 months of 2024, the company achieved over $210.25 million in revenue, already surpassing its full-year target of $210 million. Additionally, a significant new market has opened as on October 28, Vietnam and the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The agreement is expected to create significant opportunities for Vietnamese shrimp to penetrate deeper into the Middle East market. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of the end of October, Vietnams total seafood production output approximated 7.9 million tonnes, up 2.5 per cent, with export value hitting $8.33 billion, up 12 per cent on-year. The US, China, and Japan remain Vietnam's top three seafood export markets. With impressive growth lately, the seafood industry is confident in surpassing its 2024 export target of $10 billion. Vietnamese power sector is a beacon of prospects Vietnams power sector is set to maintain its momentum with the initiation of the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) implementation plan, approved in April. Finance a perfect sector for application of AI A Citi GPS (Global Perspectives and Solutions) report released on June 26 states that the application of AI is particularly relevant in the financial sector. At VIRs health conference in September, Dion Warren, area head for India and Southeast Asia at Takeda, shared the companys journey to deliver transformative healthcare solutions for lasting societal value. Takeda is committed to innovating sustainably for a healthier future in Vietnam, with a focus on broadening access to medicine and vaccines, and strengthening partnerships for public health, said Warren. We strongly believe in the value of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to jointly build a more sustainable healthcare system and enhance patient access to safe and effective prevention and treatment methods. Takeda has been collaborating with the MoH and frontline medical units Innovation a must in healthcare At the event, policymakers, leading experts, and the business community highlighted the importance of innovation and PPP for the sustainable development of the medical and pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam. Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health said, This is not only a matter of industry development but also closely linked to social benefits to ensure better healthcare for the people. Innovation in the healthcare sector is closely linked to socioeconomic development, ensuring social security in the new era. In recent times, the Ministry of Health has been determined to complete a large amount of work on perfecting policy mechanisms, resolving challenges that the health system is facing in order to create a favourable environment to promote investment in a sustainable and innovative health system. This includes the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the draft amendment to a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance, and draft amendments to the Law on Pharmacy, Tuyen added. As one of the worlds fastest-growing economies, Vietnam aims to rank among the top nations in the region in testing, researching, and producing high-quality drugs, with a goal of adding over $20 billion to the countrys GDP by 2045. A fresh strategy that fosters an enabling environment to develop the medical and pharmaceutical industry focusing on innovation, technological advancement, and digital transformation is seen as a crucial factor to success. At the conference, experts and business leaders agreed that Vietnam has made great strides in the medical and pharmaceutical industry. The nations strategy for protection, care, and improvement of the peoples health by 2030 with a vision towards 2045 has outlined the overall targets. Accordingly, all people will have access to quality healthcare services, live in safe communities, can develop both physically and mentally, and contribute to livelihood improvements. One of the main viewpoints is that the healthcare system is innovated and developed to ensure equality, efficiency, quality, accountability, sustainability, and resilience, with an aim to cover the entire population. Specific targets include a focus on scientific research, application of high technologies to prevention, discovery, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, research and development of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, enhancing digital transformation, and emphasising the role of IT. However, Vietnam is facing a number of difficulties to unlock healthcare and medical innovation. Thus, collaborative efforts among relevant stakeholders, especially between businesses, government agencies, and social organisations, are vital to changing the situation. Takedas collaborative efforts Innovation and sustainability are key elements in the development of Vietnams medical and pharmaceutical sector, and essential to ensuring patient access to advanced drugs and vaccines. With a rich heritage in innovations and extensive global experiences, multinational biopharmaceutical company Takeda has been a dedicated healthcare partner in Vietnam for over a decade in contributing impactful public health impact to the country. Since 2021, Takeda has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and frontline medical units, such as the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, to strengthen the capacity of diagnosis and management for hereditary angioedema. In 2022 and 2023, Takeda partnered with the Bright Future Fund to fill gaps in knowledge about disease and treatment options among haematology cancer patients, and serve as a bridge between doctors, caregivers, and patients, as well as providing consultation services to patients. On the occasion of Rare Disease Day in February this year, Takeda once again reinforced its commitment to standing with the rare disease community. The company signed an MoU on rare diseases with the MoHs Medical Service Administration, together with Roche, Novartis, and Sanofi, to improve the quality of rare disease diagnosis and treatment. The partnership aims to ease the burden of health inequities and create positive change so that everyone may one day receive optimal care. In an attempt to raise awareness of haematological cancers like lymphoma and multiple myeloma, Takeda has also joined forces with the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion to strengthen the capacity of haematology and oncology experts. The firm is committed to expanding vaccine coverage and boosting application of high technology Embarking on a new era of dengue prevention Another milestone was marked in May 2024, as Takedas dengue vaccine was approved by the MoH for use in Vietnam. As Vietnams first approved dengue vaccine, the innovation provides a proactive and sustainable prevention tool to Vietnams integrated dengue management strategy. Takedas goal is to improve public health by delivering a safe and effective vaccine to reduce the burden of dengue globally, including in Vietnam. Takedas Dion Warren said increasing vaccination coverage is a top priority in the companys infectious disease prevention strategy. This is particularly true as dengue fever is placing a heavy burden on both the healthcare system and the national economy. We are committed to expanding dengue vaccine coverage nationwide in the coming time and increasing drug access to the remote areas and low-income patients. To facilitate this goal, we will foster PPPs with health authorities, universities, research institutes, and partners, as well as public and private vaccination centres to increase coverage, Warren explained. In addition, these partnerships aim to raise awareness about dengue and the importance of vaccination, advocate for sustainable management policies, and provide comprehensive training for healthcare professionals in vaccination practices, added Warren. Takedas dengue vaccine has been approved in more than 40 countries, and is also accessible through public vaccination programmes in Indonesia, Brazil, and Argentina. Takeda dengue vaccine approved in Vietnam The Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) on May 14 issued a decision approving dengue vaccine of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, becoming the first dengue vaccine approved in the country for use in individuals from four years of age, regardless of previous dengue exposure and without the need for pre-vaccination testing. Takeda delivering transformative healthcare solutions At the VIR health conference- "Empowering health innovation for sustainability vision" held on September 25, 2024, Dion Warren area head of India and Southeast Asia (I-SEA) of Takeda, emphasised Takeda's commitment in delivering transformative healthcare solutions for lasting social value. Speaking at the forum, Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said, "The goal of developing the startup ecosystem is to create a favourable environment for developing innovative enterprises. Therefore, the support system requires legal frameworks, policies, and strong support entities that serve to mobilise, and optimise resources from local and central ecosystems, private sectors, and even international sources." Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. Photo: MoST Le Khac Nam, Vice Chairman of Haiphong Peoples Committee, said, "The city has established an organisation dedicated to supporting startups. The Science Technology Development and Innovation Centre, operating under the Science and Technology Department, plays a central role by leading startup activities in Haiphong while also supporting the development of startup ecosystems in localities across the Red River Delta region." At the forum, participants engaged in two main discussion panels. The first panel saw representatives from regions in Vietnam and South Korea with similar industrial backgrounds discuss how to turn challenges into opportunities and find solutions for the future, developing local economic strategies closely linked with startup innovation based on unique strengths. Photo: MoST The second panel saw delegates propose innovative resource management solutions between Vietnam and international partners, and private and public sectors. According to the MoST, numerous startup support units have emerged nationwide, from private and public sectors to international organisations, under diverse models. Nearly 20 localities have established startup support centres and almost 100 incubation facilities and business promotion organisations are operational, backed up several international startup centres opening branches or innovation spaces across Vietnam. Since implementing the Resolution 844, 'Supporting the National Innovative Startup Ecosystem', and launching TECHFEST, Vietnam has dramatically improved its global ranking. From being the second least dynamic startup ecosystem among six major ASEAN countries, Vietnam has risen to 44th out of 133 countries in the 2024 Global Innovation Index report, advancing four positions since last year and two positions since 2022. The 2024 Startup Blink global startup ecosystem ranking index revealed that Vietnam's startup ecosystems in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang have shown significant improvements and continued growth, pushing Vietnam to 56th place worldwide, advancing two positions compared to 2023 and surpassing Armenia. TECHFEST 2024 to focus on Vietnam's startup ecosystem The National Innovation and Startup Festival (TECHFEST) 2024 is poised to be a pivotal event, promoting Vietnam's innovative startup movement. Vietnamese tech enterprises gateway to Japanese market Japanese representatives have noted that now is the right time for Vietnamese tech enterprises and startups to break into the Japanese market, fuelled by a thriving business environment, and government-backed incentives, at a recent seminar. The World Banks Logistics Performance Index (LPI) serves as a key measure to help economies identify and address issues within their logistics systems. While Vietnams GDP rankings have steadily improved over the years, its LPI rankings have fluctuated, reflecting the inconsistent growth of the sector. Le Minh Phieu, founder, LMP Lawyers Examining the LPI rankings of various countries in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2023, alongside Vietnams GDP rankings during the corresponding years, it becomes evident that while Vietnams GDP rankings have steadily improved over the years, its LPI rankings have shown inconsistent trends. Vietnams GDP ranking has shown consistent and steady improvement over the years, climbing from 55th place in 2014 to 34th in 2023. In contrast, the countrys Logistics Performance Index (LPI) rankings have fluctuated. Starting at 48th place in 2014, Vietnams LPI ranking dropped to 64th in 2016, rose to 39th in 2018, and then fell again to 43rd in 2023. This volatility reflects the inconsistent growth of Vietnams logistics sector on a global scale. By 2023, while Vietnams economy was ranked 34th by the World Bank, its LPI ranking stood at 43rd 10 places lower than its GDP ranking. This discrepancy indicates that the development of Vietnams logistics sector, as reflected in its LPI ranking, has not kept pace with the nations economic standing. Vietnams logistics sector continues to face significant challenges in infrastructure development and policy frameworks. The lack of synchronised transportation infrastructure, particularly in logistics hubs, seaports, and airports, has resulted in high logistics costs compared to regional peers. According to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, Vietnams logistics costs account for 16.8 per cent of GDP, compared to the global average of 10.7 per cent. Within the ASEAN region, Vietnams logistics costs are notably higher than those of Singapore (8.5 per cent), Malaysia (13 per cent), and Thailand (15.5 per cent). Furthermore, Vietnams port infrastructure fails to meet export demands, necessitating the movement of goods through major ports in Ho Chi Minh City or Ba Ria-Vung Tau. This adds to the strain on transportation infrastructure and increases transportation costs. However, Vietnams infrastructure is being heavily invested in: the highway system is being completed with many roads still under construction, the Long Thanh International Airport, the Can Gio international transshipment port project, and the North-South high-speed railway project are underway. Once completed, these infrastructure developments are expected to enhance the competitiveness of the logistics industry. Additionally, the rapid growth of e-commerce has become a viable alternative to traditional trade. This is driving the logistics sectors development in Vietnam, while also opening up new opportunities for logistics service companies to expand. Supply exceeds demand Recognising the potential and room for growth in Vietnams logistics industry, many logistics giants have sought to enter the Vietnamese market in recent years. Since Vietnam already has many local players, they have opted for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to gain faster and more effective market entry. However, despite the high demand from investors, finding a suitable logistics company to acquire in Vietnam is not easy. First, in terms of size, there are not many Vietnamese logistics companies that fit the scale required by investors. As a result, the pool of suitable target companies is limited. Second, Vietnamese companies typically specialise in a single service area and do not have many multidisciplinary companies. Few companies that offer forwarding services also own warehouses, cold storage, high-tech storage, yards, or transport fleets. In contrast, foreign investors typically prefer to invest in multidisciplinary companies that own a wide range of assets to create a more integrated logistics chain. Third, accounting practices in Vietnamese companies do not conform to international standards. This poses difficulties for investors during the due diligence process. For example, if an investor wishes to examine the detailed revenue of a forwarding company by country, the target companys accounting software may not have this feature. This makes it difficult for investors to assess based on their criteria, ultimately preventing them from making an informed investment decision. According to Vietnams commitments in trade agreements it has signed, the logistics sector is one of the industries with many restrictions for foreign investors. Thus, we can see that depending on the country where the investors come from, in some logistics sectors, foreign investors are only allowed to hold 49-51 per cent of the equity or shares in logistics companies. Only investors from ASEAN or the EU are permitted to buy up to 70 per cent of the shares in Vietnamese companies within a limited number of sectors. This limits the options for foreign investors when entering the market or acquiring shares in logistics companies. Additionally, the licensing procedures present a significant barrier for foreign investors. The process of investing in the logistics sector in Vietnam is quite complex and time-consuming, especially since each government agency in different localities may have different requirements for documentation and justification. This leads to inconsistencies in the process and increases costs for investors. Furthermore, Vietnams legal policies still have many limitations regarding land use rights and ownership of land-attached assets by foreign-invested economic organisations. This also creates difficulties for investors when acquiring logistics companies that have land use rights or own factories, warehouses, and other such assets. Future trends and benefits in Vietnams logistics sector Vietnams logistics sector is experiencing rapid evolution, driven by its strategic geographical location, robust manufacturing capabilities, and more. Melissa Cyrill, an expert at Dezan Shira and Associates, covers Vietnams role in the global logistics ecosystem and how it is expanding. The work on major infrastructure projects such as the North-South Expressway and Long Thanh International Airport will enhance connectivity and boost investor confidence. Meanwhile, updates to various laws and related decrees are streamlining legal procedures. Trang Bui, country head Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam As of November, foreign direct investment into Vietnam stood at $27.26 billion, a on-year increase of nearly 1.9 per cent. The top sources of investment include Singapore, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong, reflecting Vietnams growing appeal as a manufacturing hub. Between 2020 and September this year, the total value of real estate merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions reached $2.94 billion, with industrial real estate leading the sector, accounting for 40 per cent of the total. Notably, in the first nine months of 2024, industrial real estate dominated with 91 per cent of the total transaction value of $178 million. Prominent transactions have further underscored this trend. In May, Taiwans Tripod Technology Corporation leased 18 hectares of land in Chau Duc Industrial Park (IP), Ba Ria-Vung Tau, for $250 million to build a factory manufacturing electronic circuits and circuit boards. Similarly, Johnson Health Tech Corporation, also from Taiwan, registered a $100 million project in Bac Ninhs Thuan Thanh 1 IP to produce fitness equipment. The warehouse and logistics segment is also thriving. In March, Singapores Mapletree Logistics Trust acquired two Grade A warehouses in Binh Duong and Hung Yen for over $50 million, strategically positioning itself near Vietnams largest economic hubs. In July, Daiwa House Logistics Trust marked its entry into Vietnam by purchasing the D Project Tan Duc 2 in Long An province for $26.5 million. Vietnams industrial real estate market is also diversifying beyond traditional manufacturing facilities. In May, VNG Corporation and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres partnered to develop international-standard data centres in Ho Chi Minh City, reflecting the increasing demand for digital infrastructure. Sustainability is becoming a key consideration for investors, with renewable energy playing an essential role. In June, Sembcorp acquired a majority stake in three subsidiaries of Gelex Group, adding 196MW of wind and solar power capacity to its portfolio. M&A activity offers numerous advantages for businesses and the broader industrial real estate market. It enables companies to access new capital, strengthen financial capacity, and expand investment opportunities. By acquiring high-quality assets, businesses can scale operations quickly, increase market share, and enhance their competitiveness. Despite its many benefits, the industrial real estate M&A market faces challenges. Foreign investors continue to encounter legal complexities, administrative hurdles, and difficulties accessing prime assets. Most properties for sale are not widely advertised, complicating the process. Accurate valuation is another significant obstacle, as errors can lead to financial losses. Reputable international firms are often engaged to manage valuations, mitigating these risks. Ensuring smooth post-M&A integration is equally challenging, requiring alignment in processes, systems, and corporate culture. Despite these obstacles, the potential rewards of M&A activity in Vietnams industrial real estate market continue to attract significant interest from investors. Vietnams strategic location underpins its industrial real estate success. Approximately 40 per cent of goods transported from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean pass through the region, connecting major markets such as China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Since the 1980s, Vietnam has transformed its industrial landscape. From just 335 hectares of industrial land in 1986, the country now boasts nearly 150,000 ha in 2024, solidifying its status as one of Southeast Asias leading manufacturing hubs. The market has evolved significantly, moving beyond simple land leases for manufacturing plants to offering a diverse range of products, including ready-built factories and warehouses, mixed-use facilities, build-to-suit warehouses, and cold storage. The industrial real estate market is further bolstered by robust performance metrics. As of the third quarter of 2024, existing industrial land supply exceeded 41,000 ha, with an occupancy rate of 77 per cent and average primary rental prices of $154 per square metre per lease term. Ready-built factories now offer over 10 million sq.m of floor space, with an occupancy rate of 76 per cent and average rental prices of $4.8 per square metre per month. Meanwhile, ready-built warehouses supply 7.7 million sq.m of floor space, with a 77 per cent occupancy rate and average rental prices of $4.6 per square metre per month. Cushman & Wakefield forecasts that Vietnams industrial real estate market will experience significant growth between now and 2027. The supply of industrial land in key economic regions is expected to increase by 10,600 ha, representing an annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent. Ready-built factories and warehouses are projected to expand by 1.9 million and 2.6 million sq.m, respectively, with annual growth rates of 5.9 per cent and 10.1 per cent. Real estate businesses expand interest in available land to thrive in 2025 Real estate companies are vigorously seeking available land to prepare for a new wave of investment in 2025. US election result alters financial market outlook Vietnams financial fundamentals remain resilient enough to withstand any volatility arising from the US presidential election results, with suggestions that industrial real estate stocks could experience short-term gains. Investors betting on construction steel through 2025 Domestic construction steel is set to grow, driven by strong third-quarter (Q3) earnings, favourable Chinese policies, and government-led economic stimulus packages for highways and real estate. Photo: Le Toan Vietnam M&A Forum 2024 is being held by VIR under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The forum is in its 16th edition, reinforcing its status as a premier annual event on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and investment opportunities in Vietnam. The event saw the participation of 400 guests, including local and foreign investors. Addressing the forum, Le Trong Minh, VIRs editor-in-chief and head of the Organising Board of the forum, said, "According to international research and consulting organisations, the global M&A market last year was one of the worst bear markets in a decade due to the uncertain geopolitical climate and global economic downturn, which resulted in a slump in both deal value and deal count." Despite some signs of improvement, global M&A activities remain bleak in 2024. In the first half of 2024, while the value of deals rose slightly, overall transaction volume fell compared to the first half of 2023. Recently, there has been some positive news, but it doesnt indicate a breakthrough in the near future. "In Vietnam, many deals have been announced since the beginning of the year, which has brought excitement about a bustling market again after a rather gloomy year," Minh said. "Still, there are many deals that have yet to be concluded, and many negotiations and discussions are happening. The market is anticipated to see a recovery in light of strong demand from both buyers and sellers in the global market." Photo: Viet Dung "There are still many variables from the global geopolitical context. However, if there is one thing in all this uncertainty, it is that activity will bounce backalthough likely faster in some sectors than others," said Minh. According to KPMG, Vietnams M&A transaction value reached $3.2 billion in the first 9 months of 2024 with 220 deals, which grew almost 46 per cent on-year (compared with an 11.3 per cent on-year decline in combined deal value of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines). Among them, the average deal value on disclosed transactions was 56.3 million in the first 9 months of 2024. The largest deal value disclosed is $982 million. Transactions are driven by investors confidence in Vietnam's stable economic prospects as well as government initiatives and proactive reforms, including tax incentives, regulatory reforms, and strategic support for high-growth sectors, positioning Vietnam as an increasingly attractive destination for cross-border capital. Combined with a strong focus on infrastructure development and digital modernisation, these initiatives are setting Vietnam on course to become a focal point for M&A activity in Southeast Asia. Thanks to these factors, the 16th Vietnam M&A Forum received a lot of attention from local and foreign investors and businesses. The event featured in-depth discussions on emerging opportunities and key trends due to the rise of international capital, underpinned by government incentive policies and attractive business valuations. The forum also explored potential targets in the high-growth sectors such as real estate, retail, technology, renewable energy, financial services, and logistics. The 16th Vietnam M&A Forum: A Blossoming Market After a period of stagnation, Vietnams M&A market is now on a strong recovery trajectory, with major deals starting to re-emerge. M&A prospects bright in many sectors Dealmaking activities are arising in emerging fields ranging from semiconductors and data centres to liquefied natural gas, indicating ample room for buyers. The factory will be under a long-term lease structure to optimise initial spendings. The factory will have a maximum capacity of 300,000 EVs per year, subject to demand and general market conditions, with a gradual ramp up in capacity and production overtime. The construction of the factory will begin in early December, and the factory is expected to commence operations in 2025. VinFast released its unaudited financial results for the third quarter on November 27, with total revenue standing at $511.6 million for the period, representing an on-year increase of 49.3 per cent and an increase of 42.2 per cent from the previous quarter. Gross loss was $122.8 million in the third quarter, representing an on-quarter decrease of 45.6 per cent. The gross margin for the period was negative 24 per cent. This represents a significant improvement compared to the negative 27 per cent margin in the same quarter of the previous year and the negative 62.7 per cent margin in the second quarter. Net loss was $550 million in the third quarter, representing an on-year decrease of 14.8 per cent and a decrease of 29.4 per cent from the previous quarter VinFast delivered 21,912 EVs last quarter, up 66 per cent compared to the second quarter and up 115 per cent compared to last year. Business-to-consumer deliveries experienced a considerable quarterly increase of 163 per cent, highlighting strong market demand for VinFast's EVs. Thuy Le, chairwoman of VinFast, said, "Our third quarter results were underpinned by a robust September, as we recorded the highest monthly deliveries in Vietnam. This marks a historic milestone for Vietnams automotive industry where, for the first time since we were established seven years ago, a domestic manufacturer has outperformed international competitors to become the market leader across the passenger vehicle market." "We expect to finish 2024 on a strong note and meet our 80,000-vehicle delivery target. Producing high-quality EVs is a complex task, one that requires unwavering dedication and fortitude to navigate ongoing uncertainties. The path to green mobility is challenging, but our commitment to this future is resolutebecause the future is, unquestionably, electric," she added. VinFast operates 173 showrooms globally for EVs and 160 showrooms and service workshops for e-scooters, including branded showrooms and dealer showrooms. VinFast to secure $1 billion funding led by Emirates Driving Company VinFast Auto is expected to secure at least $1 billion in investments led by Emirates Driving Company (EDC), Abu Dhabis leading driver training and road safety institute, according to Bloomberg. VinFast EV sales hit over 51,000 in Vietnam VinFast announced on November 12 it delivered more than 11,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to domestic customers in October, bringing its total sales since the beginning of the year to over 51,000. Octavia Johnson is a general assignment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Bluesky (@octaviajnews.bsky.social), TikTok (@octaviaj_news) and Facebook (Octavia R. Johnson). Before joining the Chronicle, Octavia worked as a digital content producer at WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., where she became a leader in producing fast-paced, audience-focused content. Octavia graduated from UNC Pembroke with a bachelor's degree in journalism before earning her master's degree in media and communications at Norfolk State University. Workers sort mail Thursday, May 9, 2024, at the South Houston Local Processing Center in Missouri City. As Houston-area residents make plans for Black Friday shopping, officials are urging them to stay alert in hopes of limiting targets for jugging and porch pirates. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Workers sort mail and packages Thursday, May 9, 2024, at the South Houston Local Processing Center in Missouri City. As Houston-area residents make plans for Black Friday shopping, officials are urging them to stay alert in hopes of limiting targets for jugging and porch pirates. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Packages sit in a cart Thursday, May 9, 2024, at the South Houston Local Processing Center in Missouri City. As Houston-area residents make plans for Black Friday shopping, officials are urging them to stay alert in hopes of limiting targets for jugging and porch pirates. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer As Houston-area residents make plans for Black Friday shopping, officials are urging them to stay alert in hopes of limiting targets for jugging and porch pirates. In 2023, Houston saw a 66% increase in jugging cases compared to previous years. Authorities say jugging is when when thieves follow potential victims, often from financial institutions or a high-end business to the persons home, looking for an opportunity to strike. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to data provided by Capitol One Shopping Research, there has been a total of 119 million packages stolen in 2023 across the country, equivalent to one out of every 180 package deliveries. Collectively, Americans lost $13.4 billion to package theft and suburban customers are 50.3% more likely to be victimized than urban residents, data shows. Here is what officials are saying to protect yourself this holiday season: Reducing crime by taking action The Houston Police Department is preparing to put educational information for residents to protect themselves while shopping. And while the department plans on putting more officers in areas with higher foot traffic, such as The Galleria or Memorial City Mall, Lloyd Anderson with the community affairs office said shoppers should avoid making themselves vulnerable to theft. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ways that people can protect themselves when shopping is by parking in well-lit places, locking your doors, keeping packages out-of-sight, not being distracted on the phone and being aware if you're being followed home from the mall, Anderson said. "If it looks like you're being followed, don't go directly home," he said. "Go a different way or a different place." Anderson said that there are ways people can protect themselves from porch pirates stealing gifts from their doorstep. How to avoid holiday package thieves To avoid anyone stealing packages from your doorstep, Anderson said people can have their packages sent to pickup boxes near their address, have the package delivered to a neighbor who is home when it is supposed to arrive and having a camera installed where the package will be delivered. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Delivery services also offer options for shoppers looking to track their packages. UPS, as an example, offers a free service called UPS My Choice, which sends email alerts that lets them know when their package is scheduled to be delivered. If a shopper is working during the day, they can use the service to have packages delivered to where they work or to a UPS access point location. They can also have their deliveries sent to a relative or a neighbor who is home during the day. Carolina Prime Pet, Inc. has pulled approximately 400 16-ounce bags of its Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips from shelves because of the possibility they could a risk for salmonella. In October, the company pulled another of its dog treat products for potential salmonella contamination. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Carolina Prime Pet, Inc. has pulled approximately 400 16-ounce bags of its Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips from shelves because of a potential risk for salmonella contamination, the company announced this week Carolina Prime Pet, Inc. A popular pet food brand is recalling one of its dog treats because of potential contamination, according to an announcement posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website this week. Carolina Prime Pet, Inc. has pulled approximately 400 16-ounce bags of its Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips from shelves because of the possibility they could pose a risk for salmonella, the company said in a statement posted by the FDA. The affected product has been distributed in 19 states, including Texas, and comes in a black and purple bag with the lot number 20051324L2 and a Nov. 13, 2025, expiration date. The FDA is urging consumers who have purchased the item to stop using it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Contamination was identified following the confirmation by a third party of an item of the same product that had not yet been released commercially. No illnesses related to this product have been reported, the company reports. This is the second recall related to potential salmonella contamination in a month for the pet food manufacturer based in Lenoir, N.C. In October, Carolina Prime Pet recalled its 4-ounce Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Dog Treat Chicken Chips, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association website. The product was packaged in 24-count stand-up pouches and distributed to a distributor in Tennessee. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2023, the company recalled its Hollywood Feed Carolina Made USA Farm Raised Jerky after products tested positive for salmonella, the association reported. Pet food recalls in 2024 and 2023 The FDA has listed 16 pet product recalls issued by various pet food manufacturers in the U.S. for 2024 due to potential contamination and confirmed contamination and 17 for 2023. HOMELESS PETS IN NEED OF HOMES: Houston's BARC animal shelter will offer reduced fees in December for Empty the Shelters How does salmonella affect pets? Salmonella can affect animals that eat a contaminated product. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to the FDA, pets with salmonella-related infections can be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. In some pets, loss of appetite, fever and abdominal pain can be indicators of salmonella infection. Healthy pets that have been infected but are showing no signs can also infect other animals and humans. Pets who have been in contact with a contaminated product or showing symptoms should receive medical attention from their veterinarian. Risk to humans The risk of a salmonella outbreak to humans comes from the handling of contaminated items, especially if they have not washed their hands thoroughly after contact with the items and any exposed surfaces. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The FDA urges people infected with salmonella to monitor their symptoms, which can include nausea, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever and or vomiting. Although rare, salmonella infections in humans can cause arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, irritation in the eyes, and urinary tract infections. Challenges remain despite successful rollout of free school meals for primary pupils This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Nov 27th, 2024 Thousands of primary pupils across Wrexham now receive a Universal Free School Meal (UPFSM) every day. Under the former Co-operative Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru free schools meals were rolled out during term-time to all pupils in reception through to year six. This was completed in Wrexham in September 2023 ahead of the Welsh Governments initial schedule. Today (27 November) an update on the rollout of Universal Free School Meals across Wrexham will be given to the local authoritys lifelong learning scrutiny committee. The uptake for UPFSM in Wrexham was at 78 per cent in July of this year. This is higher than the 70 per cent average across all local authorities across Wales for the same time period. The average number of free school meals served up between September 2023 and July of this year was 72 per cent. As part of the rollout Wrexham Council was allocated 1,071,512 in Welsh Government capital funding for 2021/22 to help purchase equipment and to upgrade kitchen and dining facilities. A report due before councillors this afternoon explains that as part of the free UPFSM programme an additional 60 kitchen staff have been recruited to support the rollout of phase one and phase two. Working hours for cooks and kitchen assistants in most schools have also being extended to provide additional capacity for meal preparation and clearing up. However one of the main issues being encountered by schools is the lack of available dining space to cater for the increased demand. This has lead to some schools serving lunch as early as 11:30am with pupils eating in classrooms rather than the main dining hall. The report states: Many schools continue to express concern that there is insufficient dining space to accommodate the expected increase in the number of children taking a hot meal. There are also concerns about the amount of time it takes for children to be served and then eat a hot meal. The Catering Managers continue to offer support to help to address these concerns, including reorganising serving areas and deploying additional kitchen staff at point of service. The majority of schools do now serve meals in the dining areas however there are a number of schools that still serve a number of meals in classrooms and the catering service is working with headteachers to support all meals being served in the dining areas. Across schools the start time and duration of lunch varies with some schools starting as early as 11:30am though the majority of primary school lunches start about 12:00pm. The duration of service times also varies across schools with the average being between 60 to 75 minutes in primary schools. This inconsistency does put additional challenges on the catering service as the expectation to supervise children and deliver meals varies across schools. The report also acknowledges a series of challenges in rolling out the programme, including additional workload for staff and funding for future recruitment. An average of 3.20 per child per meal is currently provided by the Welsh Government however additional funding isnt provided for staffing of midday supervisory staff. This, the report explains, is putting additional pressure on school and catering staff. It adds: In total the Catering Service increased staffing by approximately 236 hours per school day from September 2022 to support the roll out of UPFSM to all year groups. It should be noted that the Catering Service is already finding it extremely difficult to recruit and retain staff. Depending on individual circumstances, schools may need to recruit additional mid-day supervisors. Although overall numbers of children requiring supervision will not change, the processes for serving and assisting children may require additional resources. Schools will need to plan any potential impact on staffing and budgets at a local level. The report will be considered by members of the lifelong learning scrutiny committee on Wednesday 27 November. Change on the cards for ambulance 999 response times after target missed for last four years This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Nov 27th, 2024 A target for ambulances to respond to the most urgent 999 calls in eight minutes could be changed after services missed the mark for more than four years. Jeremy Miles, who was appointed Wales health secretary in September, announced a clinician-led review of the appropriateness of emergency ambulance response targets. The target of responding to 65% of immediately life-threatening red calls within eight minutes has not been met since July 2020, with latest performance standing at 50%. In a statement on November 26, Mr Miles raised concerns about unstainable levels of demand, with 36,700 emergency calls in October, an average of 1,183 a day. He told the Senedd the proportion of red category calls has soared from 4-5% when the target was introduced in 2015 to nearer 15% today. Unsustainable Mr Miles said the ambulance service received 177 red calls a day in October, warning: This was the second highest number of daily red calls to the ambulance service on record a level of demand that is, frankly, becoming unsustainable. The health secretary added: Despite the fact that the category of red calls is now approximately three times the size since the target was set in 2015, in October just over half of red calls were responded to within the target time of eight minutes. The ambulance service is still off target but this equates to the highest number of red calls responded to within eight minutes on record. He announced an expert group will review the target in the context of the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trusts evolving model of rapid clinical screening for most 999 calls. Mr Miles said the group will consider whether new measures are required, with no response time targets currently in place for the amber nor green categories. That way lies madness Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives shadow health secretary, suggested any change to the target could be seen as the Welsh Government trying to move the goalposts. Mr Rowlands expressed concerns about handover delays at emergency departments, recognising a big part of the challenge remains outside the ambulance services control. Mr Miles stressed the review was launched on the back of a recommendation from the Senedds health committee, rejecting any suggestion of seeking to swerve accountability. That way lies madness, he said. The health service is hedged around with dozens of targets. There is not a shortage of targets in the system. But if we are to have an honest discussion about performance in the health and care systems, we have to apply that rigour to how we look at the priorities that we set and the targets against which we measure performance. Gridlock Plaid Cymrus Mabon ap Gwynfor warned of grave problems in Wales care service, with patients unable to leave hospital to return to the community. He told the Senedd that response time delays are a symptom of a far wider problem and the entire machinery of the health care system is in fundamental gridlock. Mr ap Gwynfor said: These missed targets are of course a reflection of chronic handover delays; whereas the average handover period is supposed to be 15 minutes, the current average is in excess of two hours. The cumulative impact was 260,000 hours being lost to handover delays at emergency departments last year. Mr Miles accepted that patient handover times remain far too long as he stressed that reducing delays is a key priority for the health service. Precious seconds Labours Lesley Griffiths welcomed more rapid clinical screening of 999 calls after meeting Jason Killens, the chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, last week. The Wrexham Senedd member said: Having clinicians inside control rooms I think is absolutely right to target reducing harm and make sure people who are genuinely a red call receive the correct service. Conservative Laura Anne Jones said: This isnt just about statistics, its about lives at stake families left waiting in fear while precious seconds tick by. Instead of improvement, were witnessing decline. Plaid Cymrus Peredur Owen Griffiths welcomed the statement but argued it stops short of the major surgery and investment thats needed within the ambulance service. By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter Disqualifying dishonest politicians disproportionate and dangerous, Senedd warned This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Nov 27th, 2024 Drawing the courts into determining whether to disqualify dishonest politicians from the Senedd would be disproportionate and potentially dangerous, a committee heard. Azzurra Moores, policy lead at Full Fact, an independent fact-checking organisation, warned of political pointscoring as she gave evidence to an inquiry on November 25. The Senedds standards committee is weighing up three options: creating a criminal offence of deception, a civil offence, or strengthening existing internal systems and sanctions. Ms Moores recognised the need to shine a light on dishonesty and deception in politics but cautioned that involving the courts would do more damage than good. She told the committee: We are quite concerned that co-opting the criminal justice system to determine the truth and the accuracy of statements would be disproportionate and potentially dangerous, partly because we dont think itll work in practice. Political interference Tom Brake, director of pressure group Unlock Democracy, said trust in politics has been on a downward trend for years, with a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver. But the former Liberal Democrat MP said: We do have concerns about the idea of creating a criminal or civil offence of deception particularly around vexatious complaints. Mr Brake raised the risk of a repeat of headlines such as Enemies of the people in the Daily Mail after judges ruled the UK Government needed Parliaments consent on Brexit. He told the committee: There are certain politicians who will use this to their advantage in terms of referring to political interference by judges. Responding to concerns about politicians marking their own homework, Mr Brake supported calls for lay members on the committee that considers complaints against Senedd members. Growing problem Labours Lee Waters said the current standards system has failed to arrest a decline in trust, questioning whether continued tweaks are the right response to a growing problem. Mr Brake argued the system works in some ways as he pointed out that Boris Johnson stood down in the face of a privileges committee report over Partygate. The former deputy leader of the House of Commons also raised examples of leaflets claiming waiting times at record highs and Liberal Democrats best election results. He said: Im not only concerned about vexatious complaints but Im also concerned about what would appear to be legitimate complaints about statements that I suspect every single politician on this call has published in one or other of their leaflets. Mr Brake expressed concerns about the implications for parliamentary privilege which affords MPs immunity from legal challenge, allowing them to speak freely in parliament. In the Senedd, privilege is limited to defamation and contempt rather than absolute. Self-policing Plaid Cymrus Adam Price, who has led calls to create an offence, said parliamentary autonomy should be subject to external accountability in some circumstances. He pointed to the Hillsborough law, which would make it an offence for civil servants to intentionally mislead the public, arguing the same principle should apply to elected officials. Sam Fowles, director of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR), countered critiques of a model the think tank proposed to the committee. Dr Fowles warned self-policing of parliaments has failed, with public trust in politics declining to historic lows, describing the courts as an independent and trusted alternative. The barrister said the ICDRs model contains strong safeguards, including a criminal offence of making a vexatious claim acting as a deterrent and an opportunity to correct the record. Dangerous moment Jennifer Nadel, co-director of Compassion in Politics, raised the cross-party think tanks petition, which has been signed by 200,000 people, calling for a law on politicians lying. She warned the world is at a dangerous moment, with the rise of populist leaders in Europe and the election of US president Donald Trump, who has no compunction about lying. Ms Nadel told the committee: I think we have a very small window to try to shore up our democracy against the impact of deliberate disinformation by political leaders. The former barrister said politicians have lower levels of trust than any other profession, with only 9% of the public believing what politicians say in the latest Ipsos veracity index survey. Cautioning against rearranging the deck chairs, Ms Nadel stressed: Politics needs to visibly take action to show its cleaning up its act, so that it can begin to restore trust. By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter 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 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz addresses his supporters at a watch party at Marriott Marquis Hotel on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is poised to ramp up a long-running battle between Congress and the U.S. military as he readies to lead the powerful Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. At issue is the military's control of a large swath of airwaves that cellular companies say they need to access in order to keep up with the explosive amount of data Americans are downloading onto their phones. In a recent episode of his podcast Verdict, the Texas Republican said he will make it a top priority to open the airwaves, known as spectrum, to the private sector when he takes over the chairmanship in January. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Right now there's an incredible amount of spectrum the government owns and controls, and is off the market," he said. "When you move spectrum to the private sector it creates tens, or hundreds, of thousands of jobs and unleashes tens, or hundreds, of billions of dollars." He didn't cite the military directly, but the U.S. Department of Defense controls a large swath of the mid-band spectrum that cellular companies are looking to utilize as they build out their 5G networks, experts say. And military leaders are reluctant to give up what has become precious real estate with the advent of wireless devices. In a 2020 report, the Defense Department said the Army, Navy and Air Force rely on spectrum for "everything from tactical radios that the soldier uses in the field, or in operations, to satellite communications, to radar that we use to track objects and devices." And with the rise of smart phones and other wireless devices, the military says it doesn't have as much access to spectrum as it used to. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "DOD used to use spectrum any way they wanted to. Those days are over," Frederick Moorefield, deputy chief information officer for command, control and communications at the Defense Department, said in a 2020 press release. "That constraint is limiting us in our ability to train as we fight." The Pentagon's press office did not respond to requests for comment. There is only a finite amount of spectrum, and what is available is fast dwindling. Lobbyists for the cellular industry say the amount of data being transmitted through their networks has doubled over the past two years. And without more mid-range spectrum made available to cell companies, they could run out of room to grow their networks in just a few years time. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Earlier this month, John Stankey, CEO of Dallas-based AT&T, wrote an op-ed in Fortune magazine warning the United States risked falling behind China and other nations in developing the telecommunications systems of the future. "Wireless networks need electromagnetic spectrumand a lot of itto send data," he wrote. "In the U.S., the federal government controls access to this crucial and finite resource, and policymakers have been slower than other nations around the globe to make more of it available." Earlier this year, Cruz, along with soon to be Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., introduced legislation requiring the federal government to identify 2,500 megahertz of mid-range spectrum that can be made available for commercial use. The bill never got out of the commerce committee, of which Cruz is currently ranking member, amid disagreements between Republicans and Democrats on how best to make more spectrum available. The United States is already behind nations including China, South Korea and Japan in deploying 5G technology that enables the transmission of more data at faster speeds in part due to the relative lack of commercially available spectrum here. And without more spectrum made available, the United States will likely face the same problem with next-generation 6G technology, which engineers plan to deploy around 2030. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Already Chinese and European firms like Huawei and Ericcson have come to dominate the manufacturing of the high-tech equipment needed to send data wirelessly. Without a large U.S.-based supplier, the country's telecommunications network could be at risk in the future, said Jeffrey Andrews, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Danny DeVito, best known for his comedic roles, first made his mark in the 1975 drama One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. A few years after portraying the sweet combat pilot Martini, he landed the role of the irascible Louie De Palma in the series Taxi, which ran for five seasons, made DeVito an instant star and nabbed him an Emmy. He continued working in stage and film, branching into producing and directing. A few highlights include Throw Momma from The Train, The War of the Roses, Matilda, and Hoffa (in which his friend and frequent director Tim Burton, 66, played a corpse). Taxi is also where he met his wife, actress Rhea Perlman, 76. Their three children are all in the arts: Gracie is an artist, Lucy is an actress and Jake is a producer. Even as he enters his ninth decade, hes in top form, playing the lovable cad Frank Reynolds in the outrageously funny series Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, soon to air its 17th season, and starring in A Sudden Case of Christmas, in theaters and streaming now. DeVito recently spoke to AARP for the December/January issue of AARP The Magazine. Members only Noisemaker I was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey. I was the baby, my sister Theresa was 10 years older, my sister Angie was 16 years older, my mom had two sisters, and none of them shut up, ever. Its an Italian family, so the decibel level is out there. A little smart aleck I went to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, because if your mother and father didnt know what to do with you, they gave you to the nuns. and still a smart aleck I remember when Peter, my nephew, was born. I was 7 years old, and I went over and looked into the bassinet, and the first thing he did was pee on me. It was great! I dont think theres a conversation Ive had with the guy over all these years where I dont bring up the fact that he peed on me. Also an old softie Do anything you can to keep on an even keel with your family and friends, no matter what happens in your life. Thats all we have. Dont hide things. Youve got to get up every day thinking about how youre going to make it easier for the people that youre working with or that you love or that you eat breakfast with. Because its infectious; everybody starts feeling good. Margaret Maynard, 68, loved to head from her home in Plainfield, Connecticut, to a casino in New York with a busload of fellow gamblers. Maynard, who is retired from her job making potato chips for a snack manufacturer, and her husband, Joseph Mangarelli, played the slots with relatives and friends for three years as part of a periodic bus tour. Then in August, the tour operator left them with no ride and out hundreds of dollars just before a planned trip. Members only "We were very foolish. We should never have bought anything in advance, Maynard says. Her hard-earned lesson serves as a warning to travelers as the busy holiday travel season draws near. Last year more than 30,000 people reported being cheated on vacation travel, with a median loss of $800, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a consumer protection agency. The growing population of older Americans is vulnerable to vacation scams because many love to travel, says Amy Nofziger, AARP's director of Fraud Victim Support. Scammers will play on emotions. Christmas travel is expensive you want to see your family, she says. If you're in an emotional frenzy, you're not as careful." 60 million projected to travel In 2019 about 60 million adults in the U.S. are planning to travel for Thanksgiving or the December holidays, according to a report by CreditCards.com. More High-Grade Bauxite Assays Extend Known Mineralisation Perth, Nov 27, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Arrow Minerals Limited ( ASX:AMD ) is pleased to report further outstanding assays from its maiden drilling program at the Niagara Bauxite Project in Guinea. Second batch of results from Arrow's first drilling at Niagara Bauxite Project define high grade bauxite to >5km cumulative strike within trucking distance of the multiuser railway. Assays from another 90 holes pending. Highlights - Maiden drilling program results confirm high grade bauxite discovery at the Niagara Bauxite Project. - Second batch of assays results received from 32 holes include; o BS000020, 7 metres at 49.4% Al2O3, 0.7% SiO2 from surface o BS000035, 6 metres at 48.3% Al2O3, 2.6% SiO2 from surface o BS000036, 6 metres at 45.7% Al2O3, 1.0% SiO2 from surface o BS000040, 5 metres at 49.5% Al2O3, 3.0% SiO2 from surface o BS000042, 8 metres at 43.3% Al2O3, 3.3% SiO2 from 6 metres o BS000043, 3 metres at 45.5% Al2O3, 2.0% SiO2 from 3 metres - Results from a further 90 holes are due in December. - Grade and thickness intercepted over what is now an aggregate >5km strike length - Guinea is the world's largest producer of bauxite, typically attracting a premium for high grade and low silica content. - 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, generating significant interest at a time of record high bauxite prices. - Arrow has already completed first pass baseline environmental studies and commenced community engagement activities. - Arrow MD David Flanagan will host an Investor Webinar tomorrow (28 November) at 8.30am AWST (11.30am AEDT); Investors can register to join the webinar via the following link: https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/L95H315K The project is located within trucking distance (~100km) of the multi-user Trans-Guinean Railway (refer Figure 1*). 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 more strong results which have delineated three broad zones of mineralisation from surface over a combined 5km strike length 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 approaching US$100/t 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 estimating resources to form the basis for our planned Scoping Study to follow in the first half of 2025. We believe we are on track to deliver." Niagara Bauxite Project and 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 announcement includes results for 30 drillholes completed and assayed as part of a program of 170 holes targeting mineralisation intercepted in historical drilling. A typical Guinea bauxite deposit is flat with a thickness that varies from 1 to 10 metres, on average, will have 45 to 46% alumina and silica levels typically averaging 3%. The application of surface miners to bauxite mining is now common in Guinea, negating the need for drill and blast, and crushing. The ability to excavate consolidated material (i.e. no drill and blast) and mine a minimum mining thickness of approximately 300mm using high precision GPS and machine guidance makes the surface miner well suited to bauxite mining in Guinea. The Company has visited bauxite mining operations, inspected various mining equipment and met with contractors with current operating experience in bauxite mines in Guinea. The information collected during these visits, combined with the results from the current drilling campaign, allows the Company to start to define important operating parameters that will ultimately be fed into a planned Scoping Study (subject to, among other things, whether relevant mineral resources can be estimated). Arrow has also commenced and completed first pass baseline environmental and community impact studies. The Company remains committed to progressing 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 established productive relationships with key community and government stakeholders. There are several existing tracks and roads which can be leveraged to link the project to the TransGuinean Railway (TGR) which is currently under construction (Figure 1*). The TGR is being commissioned and funded by a large consortium in a joint venture which includes the Government of Guinea as a 15% part owner. 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 services to the developers of the two large mines at Simandou and other third parties (Figure 5*). 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 Arrow's Simandou North Iron Project to Baosteel. 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. Against a backdrop of currently record high bauxite prices (Chart 1*), the drilling results at Niagara have so far delivered high grade intercepts from surface in several drillholes across substantial lateral extent. Given the location is within potential trucking distance of the TGR the Company is very encouraged by the drilling results received to date. Geological Results Analysis from the 32 drillholes (the subject of this announcement) for a total of 360 metres of drilling have been received from ALS Global. 11 drillholes for 142m drilling are reported from Boussoura North (BS000033 - BS000043), along with 21 holes for 218m (BS000001 to BS000021) at Boussoura South. Results are reported in Table 1* and Table 2* using a 1m minimum intercept, nil dilution for intervals less than 4m, 1m dilution for intervals greater than 4m, and a cut-off grade of 40% Al2O3. For completeness, the first drillhole (BS000032) reported to the ASX on 25 November 2024 is included in Table 1* for grade and thickness comparison. Drillholes that returned assays below cut-off grade at Boussoura South are omitted from reporting but may subsequently be reported subject to the results of metallurgical testwork. The locations of all drill intercepts are shown in Figure 3* for Boussoura North, and Figure 4* for Boussoura South. Details of drill collar locations, analytical results, and simplified geology are given in Appendix I*. Samples for XRF analysis are processed and reported by ALS Global in batches of 200 samples. This represents the second batch of 429 analyses in the Company's first consignment of 629 samples. Results reported herein continue to confirm the presence of bauxites with grades in the range of 40 - 49% total alumina at the Eastern portion of the Boussoura North plateau. The elevated thickness of bauxite first noted in drillhole BS00032 (10m grading 46.6% Al2O3) is also present in drillholes BS00033-BS00036 incl, BS00040, and BS00041 where thicknesses range from 5m to 13m (Table 1*). The Company is encouraged by the coincidence of elevated grade, combined with elevated bauxite thickness within this area, and looks forward to receiving the analytical results for the remaining Boussoura North drillholes during December, to appraise to what extent the thickness of the bauxite extends across the plateau. Elevated alumina grades are also encountered at the Western extremity of the Boussoura South plateau, ranging between 40.7% and 53.0% total alumina, and at thicknesses ranging between 1 to 2m (a single hole, BS000020 reaches 7m grading 49.4%). While thicknesses are more modest than Boussoura Central and North, the Company notes alumina and silica grades average 1.5m thickness grading 44.8% Al2O3 and 2.2% SiO2, excluding the BS00020 intercept. These grades are comparable to Guinea benchmark grade specifications noted above, and, thicknesses are mineable using contemporary bauxite mining methods. The Eastern extremity of the Boussoura South plateau has been partially lateritised, which resulted in suppressed alumina grades that did not meet the cutoff grade for reporting. The Company will continue to appraise the commercial significance of all bauxites encountered within the current drill program upon receipt of all drill results, and the results of metallurgical testwork from pitting and drillhole composites. Thickness of total bauxite (bauxite + ferruginous bauxite) interpreted from geological logging is shown in Figure 2, 3 and 4* along with significant intercepts. Simplified geological logs used to determine the total bauxite thickness were reported by the Company to the ASX on 25 November 2024. Cautionary Statement: Beyond the analyses for the 43 holes reported to date (including this announcement), the Company is highly encouraged by the geology identified in drilling completed to date and summarised in the ASX announcement dated 25 November 2024, but notes that chemical analyses are yet to be completed for the outstanding holes by independent assay laboratory, ALS Global. The identification of bauxite by geological logging of drill cuttings, and subsequent estimates of bauxite thickness does not imply bauxite mineralisation that is of potential economic significance for all or part of any lithological intercept until it is confirmed by chemical assay. Widths reported are downhole, which given the tabular nature of residual bauxite deposits, are considered as true widths of logged geological units. *To view tables and figures, please visit: https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/B1IL7V09 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. Related Companies Enters into MOU with the Government of Minas Gerais and Invest Minas to Facilitate the Development of the Tiros Titanium and Rare Earths Project Enters into MOU with the Government of Minas Gerais Sydney, Nov 27, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. ( ASX:RAU ) ( CVE:RSM ) ( 8TX:FRA ) ( RSGOF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Tiros Minerais Estrategicos Mineracao Ltda. ("TMEL"), has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Minas Gerais State Economic Development Department ("SEDE") and the Integrated Economic Development Institute ("Invest Minas"). The MOU was signed in the Governor's room at the Industry Federation of Minas Gerais State ("FIEMG"). The State Secretary of Economic Development, Mr. Fernando Passalio, represented the Government of Minas Gerais and Mr. Joao Paulo Braga, represented Invest Minas. Chris Eager, Resouro's Executive Chairman represented the Company, together with CEO, Alistair Stephens, and Executive Director, Philippe Martins. The purpose of the MOU is to provide the foundations for a partnership for the State of Minas Gerais and Invest Minas to assist with the advancement of Resouro's Tiros Titanium and Rare Earths Project ("Tiros Project" or "Project"). The partnership will enable the Company to collaborate with Invest Minas to fast track the Project's development towards permitting, construction and mining. Key Terms of the MOU The MOU sets general commitments and efforts of each of the parties to achieve goals and objectives for the Project's development. The key commitments and efforts of the respective parties to the MOU are: Invest Minas: 1. Provide support for TMEL during the various stages of development of the Tiros Project, including: - Facilitating contact with government agencies; - Assisting in the process of Project approval and licensing; - Introducing and promoting interactions with suppliers to support the Company's activities; - Collaborating with the Project to sustain investments in the supply chain for raw materials and materials for permanent magnets and titanium-based composites in Minas Gerais; - Facilitating bilateral connections and forming partnerships for local value chain investments; - Considering and facilitating the implementation of supply contracts for companies interested in establishing themselves in the state; and - Seek partnerships and sector development. TMEL: 1. Development of the Tiros Project: - Investing in additional exploratory activities and developing a titanium and rare earth mining operation in Minas Gerais; - Conducting the necessary economic studies to progress to the construction, development and production phases of the Project; - Investing in mining and processing facilities; and - Creating approximately 200 direct jobs during the construction, development, and operational phases. 2. Social and sustainability commitments: - Preferentially using local suppliers and hiring local talent whenever possible and commercially viable; and - Identifying local infrastructure needs and supporting investments that contribute to strengthening the sector for strategic raw materials and materials. 3. Partnerships and collaboration: - Supporting Invest Minas in developing the supply chain for permanent magnets and titanium-based materials; and - Transferring knowledge and expertise to promote the sector within the state. 4. Planning future operations: - Operating with appropriate permitting and licenses; and - Implementing strategies with the aim of achieving an annual ore processing capacity exceeding 5 million tons of rare earths and titanium ore. Commenting on the signing of the MOU and the establishment of this vital partnership, Resouro's Executive Chairman, Chris Eager, commented: "The State Government of Minas Gerais has demonstrated great support for the development of the Tiros Project. The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding consolidates Resouro's existing excellent relationship with the people of Minas Gerais, who we see as key stakeholders in the Tiros Project. Through our collaboration with Invest Minas and the State Secretariat for Economic Development, we will gain critical support in navigating regulatory processes, establishing strategic partnerships, and integrating with local suppliers and talent. Formalising this partnership will help accelerate development of the Project, bringing significant investments, job creation, and fostering a robust supply chain for titanium and rare earth materials in Minas Gerais. Together, we are driving sustainable growth and aiming to position the region as a global hub for critical minerals." The MOU also has the following terms: - Term in years: The MOU is valid for 3 years. - Non-binding document: The MOU is non-binding and does not create legal obligations or liabilities between the parties. - Notice period for termination in writing: Either party may terminate the MOU with a three-month prior written notice to the other party. - Settlement of disputes: Disputes will be resolved directly between the parties, without the obligation to seek third-party assistance. If unresolved, the applicable governing law will be Brazilian Law. About Invest Minas Invest Minas' purpose is to attract investment to the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. To achieve this goal, it seeks, among other actions, to facilitate cooperation between private companies, investors, and the public administration. One of its main objectives is to increase the level of employment and reduce the regional and social inequalities in the State, for which it is essential to protect existing investments, encourage new ones that streamline and modernize production in the State and form partnerships with the private sector. Invest Minas, with a number of rare earth and lithium companies already within its regions, is focused on not only supporting these companies to develop their rare earth and lithium resources but also to extend this support towards building an integrated lithium battery sector. This extends investment beyond the mine to include downstream activities such as the production of battery materials. Invest Minas' role is to enable future investment and partnerships that support the expansion and growth of the sector. About Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. (ASX:RAU) (CVE:RSM) (OTCMKTS:RSGOF) (FRA:8TX) is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery and advancement of economic mineral projects in Brazil, including the rare earth elements and titanium Tiros Project and the Novo Mundo and Santa Angela gold projects. The Tiros Project, located in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, is an exploration project focused on rare earth elements and titanium covering an area of approximately 450 km2. The Tiros Project comprises 17 exploration permits, and one exploration permit application held by the Company's Brazilian subsidiary; and 6 exploration permits and one exploration permit application that have been validly assigned to the Company's Brazilian subsidiary and are awaiting ANM approval. The Company holds, via its wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, a 90% interest in the Tiros Project and the remaining 10% interest in the Tiros Project is held by RBM Consultoria Mineral Eireli (RBM), an unrelated third-party vendor. The Novo Mundo Project is located in the Alta Floresta Gold Province close to the northern border of the state of Mato Grosso, central Brazil. Within the licensed area is the small town of Novo Mundo, which is 30km west from the larger town of Guaranta do Norte. It comprises three exploration permits. The Company also has another interest in an exploration permit, being the Santa Angela Project, which is not considered material to the Company's operations. Interests in the Novo Mundo Project and Santa Angela Project are held via the Company's wholly owned subsidiary. Related Companies Chinese, Hungarian FMs discuss promoting bilateral cooperation, China-EU ties Xinhua) 08:47, November 27, 2024 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in Beijing on Tuesday, discussing issues including deepening bilateral cooperation and developing a healthy and stable China-EU relationship. Both sides highlighted the historic significance of the elevation of bilateral ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era in May when Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Hungary. Noting that Hungary was the first European country to sign a cooperation document on the Belt and Road Initiative with China, Wang said the practical bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful results, which fully demonstrates that as long as there is mutual respect, trust, and support, economic cooperation between the two sides will enjoy broad prospects. Wang expressed the hope that the new European Union institutions will adhere to the orientation and cooperative tone of the China-EU partnership, view China's development objectively, pursue a positive and pragmatic policy toward China, and promote the sustained, healthy, and stable development of China-EU relations. Szijjarto said that Hungary looks forward to expanding and deepening cooperation in various fields with China, facilitating personnel exchanges, and enhancing friendship between the two peoples. Noting that both Hungary and China support peace and advocate an international system based on mutual respect, Szijjarto said Hungary is committed to promoting the positive and healthy development of EU-China relations and is willing to work with China to promote world peace and stability. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union have reiterated their commitment to support African nations in the pursuit of peace, stability and sustainable development, as well as the creation of jobs and growth New York, US (PANA) - The President Philemon Yang on Tuesday called for urgent collective action to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and stressed the shared responsibility of UN bodies to safeguard global peace and security Ian Dyall, Head of Estate Planning at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, says: 'Helping out loved ones and seeing them enjoy greater financial security can bring a lot of joy and satisfaction to all concerned, at any time of year. Sharing wealth and supporting relatives financially has become more of a priority as demands have mounted on the budgets of students, young families and even middle-aged adult children. Another reason financial gifts could be top of the list for some families this Christmas, and in the coming years, is that older savers are looking to pass on more wealth before they die. The IHT rule changes announced in the Budget mean that more families will be drawn into the scope of inheritance tax in the coming years, and some of those will need to take steps shortly if they want to mitigate the effects. In her first Budget at the end of last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that defined contribution pension pots will be included in estates inheritance tax liabilities from April 2027, and she also froze the nil rate bands for an extra two years, until April 2030. The Chancellor also reduced agricultural property relief and business property relief will also be reduced from 2026. The first 1mn of combined business and agricultural assets can still be passed on tax-free, but IHT will be levied at 20 per cent on the rest. A 20 per cent rate will also apply to AIM shares. The Office of Budget Responsibility estimates that an extra 1.5 per cent of total UK deaths will become liable to pay IHT as a result. Thats 10,500 out of around 213,000 estates with inheritable pension wealth in 2027 to 2028. Further to this, 38,500 estates will pay an average 34,000 in additional IHT because pension assets are to be included in the value of the estate. Dyall says: IHT will only apply to assets if the estate is not covered by available nil-rate bands and other reliefs so before anyone starts giving money away for this reason they should take advice or do their homework on what exemptions they are entitled to, and therefore what the IHT liability is likely to be. If it looks like their estate will be subject to inheritance tax, a sensible option for some can be to give away assets while they are still alive because it could save their beneficiaries a potential charge of 40% on taxable assets at death, or even more as pensions become exposed. For this to be successful though, the gifts must meet IHT rules. Smaller gifts might be covered by the annual gifting exemptions, while larger gifts will probably be subject to the seven-year rule as potentially exempt transfers [see below]. But retirees must make sure they can afford generous gifts. Are they leaving themselves enough to fund the life they want, and to cover things like care costs? Estate planning is often a trade-off between tax savings and keeping access to funds for unexpected future needs, and this is where trusts can come in useful. All other things being equal, the changing IHT rules will make lifetime gifting more attractive, especially for those with big defined contribution pension pots. Gifting excess pensions cash Dyall says: 'The new IHT rules will encourage more older savers to draw down on their pension pots and use the funds in lifetime, whether that is for their own financial needs, or those of their loved ones. Families will especially want to avoid a situation where pension funds are double taxed. Under current rules, if the pension holder dies at age 75 or older, the beneficiary could also be charged income tax at their marginal rate as they withdraw funds from the pension pot that has already been subject to IHT. There is a consultation in place on how the pension IHT rule will be enacted, but as it stands this threatens a potential effective tax rate of 67% for the beneficiary of pension assets if they are an additional rate taxpayer, which means that those approaching or beyond age 75 might be looking to give away pension cash. In cases where an estate larger than 2million starts to lose their residence nil-rate band the potential tax penalty is even greater. Even those who are still building up pension pots rather than drawing on them might cease their contributions in the light of the new rules and decide, for instance to start building up a pension for a loved one instead. But dont be too blinded by IHT as most donors will be paying tax on pension withdrawals. Could you be paying a higher rate of income tax by increasing pension withdrawals for gifting, which could wipe out any eventual IHT saving? This is obviously a danger if the pension withdrawals are subject to the higher 40% or 45% marginal rates of income tax. 'Moreover, those thinking of taking substantial amounts from their pension must be happy that they are selling investments at an acceptable price. If the markets are in a downturn you could be realising paper investment losses. There are potentially tax-efficient ways to gift from pension funds. One would be to take the 25% tax-free lump sum, if still available. The gift of such a sum would probably be subject to the seven-year rule before clearing the estate altogether, so we might see some savers accelerate the withdrawal of their TFLS to set the seven-year clock ticking. If the benefactor were not to survive seven years, then the gift would only benefit from a lower rate of IHT thanks to taper relief if its value exceeds available NRBs otherwise it will simply be added to the estate. Another would be to take regular withdrawals from the pot as income, in order to make gifts using the normal expenditure from income rule [see below]. Such regular gifts could be free of IHT (as long as they meet the rules) and the pension withdrawals could be managed to avoid paying excessive income tax. One neat tax-efficient way of using excess pension income would be to start or increase funding of a pension for a loved one, who could be a partner, adult child or grandchild. If the recipient does not have an income, you can pay up to 2,880 into their pension in each tax year, topped up to 3,600 by basic-rate government tax relief. Even if they do earn and pay into a pension already, the extra funding will result in an extra gain in tax relief, and that is likely to be more beneficial to them, than leaving assets at death that could be taxed not just once but twice. Gifts from pension money will be subject to the same IHT rules as gifts made from other assets: The annual gifting exemptions Dyall says: A growing number of estates are finding themselves just the wrong side of the nil rate bands, which have been frozen for 14 years, and that number will grow over the coming years as the NRBs will remain unchanged until April 2030. So even modest lifetime gifts within these annual limits could come in useful both by avoiding an IHT bill and also by saving executors and beneficiaries the rigmarole and expense of settling IHT before probate. Gifts of any value between UK domiciled spouses and civil partners are free from tax. Gifts to other individuals will leave the estate immediately and be free of IHT as long as they meet the following conditions: Total gifts made by you in a tax year total less than 3,000 or 6,000 for a couple. You can also carry forward any unused 3,000 allowance from the previous tax-year, making financial gifts of up to 6,000 possible this Christmas or 12,000 for a couple. Small gifts of up to 250 can be made to any number of people in the tax year, provided the total to any one person does not exceed 250. If it does, this exemption does not apply and all gifts would start to use up the aforementioned 3,000 allowance Gifts out of regular income that are part of normal ongoing expenditure can also be made (see below for more detail) Money can also be given as a gift tax free in the event of a marriage or civil partnership amounting to 5,000 from each parent, 2,500 from each grandparent and up to 1,000 from any other person. These would not use up any of the other allowances Gifting from surplus income 'Regular gifts made by people with more income than they need may benefit from the normal expenditure from income exemption,' says Dyall. 'This is a much-overlooked option for transferring wealth tax-efficiently, Many donors like to give ongoing regular amounts to young relatives, for instance into a savings or investment vehicle such as a Junior ISA, pension or trusts. But to be IHT-efficient, regular gifts must meet certain rules. 'To qualify, the gifts must be regular in nature, made from income rather than capital, and cannot affect the donors standard of living. This will not help if you only intend to make a one-off gift, but for those who are accumulating savings from excess income, gifting some each Christmas can be a tax-efficient way of helping younger family members.' Seven-year rule and potentially exempt transfers Larger one-off gifts can be made, and they should leave the estate as long as the donor then survives for seven years and retains no benefit from or interest in them. During that time such gifts remain potentially exempt transfers. Dyall says: Generally, the best time to gift if you can afford it is now. The earlier you gift, the more chance there is of that gift becoming fully exempt. If the donor dies within seven years, the nil-rate band is reduced by the value of the gifts, and tax on assets above the NRB will be due at 40%. But if the gifts put together exceed the nil rate band then taper relief can apply, which reduces the tax paid on older gifts. If there were three-to-four years between date of gift and death, the IHT rate lowers to 32%, while at six-to-seven years the rate falls to just 8%. All of which means that large gifts exceeding the nil rate band can moderate IHT liability even if the gifter does not survive for seven years. Dyall adds: On the other hand, this does mean that a big gift could leave a surprise for beneficiaries who find that they owe tax on it if the gifter does die within seven years. If a gift above the NRBs does become liable for IHT, it is the recipient who will have to pay the bill, and even though they might get taper relief, they may not have the resources to meet the tax bill, possibly having spent the money. If a gift is below the nil-rate bands, and the donor dies within seven years, then all the beneficiaries of the estate could share the liability on the lifetime gift received by one person, which can lead to a different set of difficulties. The use of trusts and bare trust vs JISA Dyall says: Many people are reluctant to give up substantial parts of their wealth in case emergency or late-life expenses arise, like care home fees. Others fear that if they gift away their wealth, their relatives might spend the money unwisely, render it inaccessible or have to surrender it in a divorce. This issue can be addressed by using trusts and two types are of particular interest. Dyall says: A discretionary trust can allay some concerns that a beneficiary might squander assets, or lose them through divorce or a business insolvency or simply to limit access until a child is mature enough to use it wisely. The beneficiary will be listed as one of several possible beneficiaries and will only benefit at the trustees discretion, so the trust can protect the assets, and the timing and size of any payments made from the trust can be controlled. Each person can gift up to the 325,000 nil rate band into discretionary trusts in any seven-year period without triggering an IHT liability. Gifts exceeding this will be immediately liable to IHT at 20% with further tax due if they die within seven years. Alternatively, a bare trust can also be useful, particularly where grandparents wish to invest for grandchildren. When investing for minor beneficiaries, the natural instinct is to use tax-beneficial wrappers such as a Junior ISA, but these are limited in size and cant be accessed before age 18, even for the childs benefit, If a grandparent invests for a grandchild using a bare trust, the invested amount is unlimited and money from the trust can be used for the childs benefit before 18 if required. The investments are taxable, but it is the minor beneficiary who is liable, and their personal income tax and capital gains tax allowances usually eliminate any liability on smaller investments. While bare trusts can be as tax efficient as a JISA but less limiting, anti-avoidance legislation does exist where the money is provided by a parent rather than a grandparent. If the income exceeds 100 the income is taxable against the parent. The JISA has a slight tax advantage for parental investments as they are not caught by these measures. The Ad Club Bangalore's Inspiration Room marked another milestone with its 8th edition, featuring Dr. Paul Harwood, an international behavioral scientist and co-founder of Useristics. Held at Adda 1522, Cambridge Layout, the event explored the intersection of behavioral science, technology, and advertising, providing invaluable insights for the marketing and creative communities. With over 20 years of experience working with global giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Slack, Dr. Harwood's expertise in user behavior and market research took center stage. Joining him in conversation was Smitha Hemingae, Head of Marketing and Employee Brand at ANSR, who helped facilitate a thought-provoking dialogue. The session delved into how brands can leverage behavioral science to create impactful advertising campaigns and experiences tailored to the expectations of digital-first customers. Dr. Harwood stressed the importance of understanding audience behavior and highlighted how startups, in particular, can benefit from robust user insights. Addressing the transformative role of AI, he explored how brands can personalize experiences for diverse markets and products while keeping pace with rapid technological advancements. The discussion also touched on the tech-driven evolution of Bangalore and its role as a hub for innovation. Technology is evolving fast, often faster than how it can be studied and its impact understood. In this scenario, it is important to understand and define how AI will be used. The way forward is better understanding of AI and reservations that come with it, Dr. Harwood noted. Since its inception in May 2024, the Inspiration Room has been a monthly cornerstone event for Bangalores creative community, bringing industry leaders to share insights and spark conversations that inspire fresh thinking. Speaking about the session, Laeeq Ali, President of Ad Club Bangalore, said, Dr. Harwoods session exemplified the power of employing behavioral science to advertising and marketing, empowering marketers and advertisers with actionable knowledge. Shoaib Rafi, National Head - Sales & Marketing, Salud Beverages Pvt. Ltd., said, At Salud, we believe in supporting platforms that encourage innovative thinking and meaningful conversations. The Inspiration Room reflects these values, and we are proud to partner with the Ad Club Bangalore to create opportunities for learning and growth in the creative community. This latest edition was made possible through the support of lifestyle partner Salud, venue partner Adda 1522, and media partners Ad Gully, Agencyfaqs, and Medianews4u.and event Partner Nishe and Co. Meritto, the flagship product of NoPaperForms, has launched the Student Admission Portal 3.0, a cutting-edge platform that aims to revolutionize the admissions process for educational institutions across India. Unveiled at the companys prestigious event, #EvolveByMeritto, this innovative solution empowers institutions to streamline their admissions workflows with a high degree of customization, allowing them to tailor the student experience to their unique needs. Traditional college admissions can take weeks or even months, with significant time spent on data entry, document verification, and application review. Merittos Student Admission Portal 3.0 automates these tasks, reducing admission cycle time, allowing institutions to process applications and make decisions in days or weeks instead of months, effectively streamlining the entire enrolment process. Focusing on operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making, the Student Admission Portal 3.0 aims to transform the way institutions manage enrolments. By automating routine tasks, offering real-time status tracking, and providing a centralized communication hub, the platform eliminates administrative inefficiencies and ensures a faster, smoother, and more impactful enrolment journey for both students and administrative teams. Institutions can now personalize their admission portals, enhancing student engagement while reducing operational challenges and providing prospective students with a seamless, intuitive experience from application to admission. According to AISHE 2020-21, Indias higher education sector is experiencing rapid growth, with student enrolments projected to exceed 50 million by 2035,. This growth amplifies the need for efficient, scalable, and equitable admission solutions. Merittos Student Admission Portal 3.0 addresses these needs by centralizing processes, reducing paperwork, and improving data management. Naveen Goyal, Founder & CEO of NoPaperForms, commented on the launch: Educational organizations today need to ensure their student admission journey stands out and reflects their unique identity. With Student Admission Portal 3.0, they can now showcase their value propositions effectively while delivering a seamless experience for students. This platform empowers institutions to highlight their strengths, guide students effortlessly, and drive faster enrolments. Its a step forward in creating impactful, technology-driven experiences that resonate with both students and organizations. But thats not all, our commitment to continuous innovation is strong and we are actively advancing towards building AI agents on top of our Vertical SaaS offering, ensuring that educational organizations stay at the forefront of technology." The portals analytics capabilities allow institutions to monitor application trends, optimize conversion rates, and make data-driven decisions to improve student recruitment and retention strategies. By automating operational workflows, the platform significantly reduces costs and enhances resource allocation. With the Student Admission Portal 3.0, Meritto aims to equip the educational institutes with the tools to meet growing enrolment demands while fostering stronger connections with prospective students. By improving efficiency, the platform not only enhances the enrolment journey for students but also provides institutions with significant cost savings and resource optimization opportunities. MicroMitti, a leader in real estate investment, has unveiled its latest campaign, "Sky High Investments," marking its foray into OOH marketing with a maiden initiative at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore. The campaign aims to engage high-net-worth individuals, corporate travellers, and investors through premium media placements. In collaboration with Times OOH, which manages the airport's advertising rights, MicroMitti has committed to a yearlong campaign designed to maximize its reach and impact. The campaign features a visually compelling airport presence, strategically targeting passengers at multiple touchpoints throughout their journey. From the entry gate to various points within the Departure and Arrival terminals, MicroMitti has utilized key media formats to create a comprehensive and memorable brand experience. In the Departure terminal, the campaign captures attention with eye-catching formats like Queue Managers, further reinforcing brand recall through a mix of static and digital display formats. These efforts converge at a dedicated kiosk, where travellers can explore MicroMittis innovative investment options. The kiosk, located in the Departure Security Hold Area, features a state-of-the-art high-definition display to inform and engage potential investors. For arriving passengers, MicroMitti has strategically deployed formats at the exit gates and outdoor areas, ensuring 100% visibility to all incoming travellers. This combination of static and digital media formats creates a dominant airport presence and builds strong recall among the target audience. This multi-touchpoint strategy aligns seamlessly with MicroMittis mission to democratise real estate investment through fractional ownership and institutional-grade real estate funds. We are incredibly proud to launch our first outdoor campaign at the airport, a milestone that reflects both MicroMittis growth and Indores vibrant spirit of innovation, said Mr. Manoj Dhanotiya, CEO & Founder of MicroMitti. This campaign showcases our commitment to making real estate investment accessible to everyone across India looking to build wealth. At MicroMitti, we are breaking down barriers and ensuring that real estate opportunities are available to all retail investors. These offerings provide the flexibility and strong returns people need to achieve their financial goals, he added. Indore Airport, renowned for its world-class media formats, serves as one of the most sought-after advertising locations in the city. With an impressive footfall of approximately 3.11 lakh passengers every month and 85 daily flights connecting 27 national and international destinations, the airport offers unparalleled reach and engagement opportunities for brands. The "Sky High Investments" campaign has already received positive feedback, with travellers expressing keen interest in learning more about MicroMittis offerings. By combining accessibility and innovation, the campaign sets a new benchmark for real estate investment and brand engagement among elite travellers and potential investors at one of Indias busiest travel hubs. Airport advertising is becoming increasingly favourable and approachable among regional brands, boosting their confidence in OOH marketing. Its a sign of a growing industry where the customer base is expanding, and spending is on the rise. We are delighted to have MicroMitti on board, employing a well-thought-out strategy for their first outdoor campaign, expressed Sumit Chadha, Business Head - Airports & City Media. With "Sky High Investments," MicroMitti continues to solidify its position as a leader in the real estate investment space while setting a precedent for impactful and innovative OOH campaigns. Also Read: The rise of micro-influencers and the reasons brands are choosing them New York, US (PANA) - With 2024 the deadliest year for aid workers on record, the Security Council must clearly condemn attacks against them and ensure accountability for perpetrators, a senior official with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Tuesday The lawsuit also accuses Google of unfair practices in the mobile industry, alleging that the company coerces manufacturers using its Android operating system to pre-install Google Search and Chrome on smartphones. Additionally, the claim highlights Googles arrangement with Apple, where Google reportedly pays to ensure that its search engine is the default option on Apple devices, including the iPhone. The CAT dismissed Googles attempts to have the case thrown out, instead certifying the claim, allowing it to proceed to trial. Ms. Stopford, who is serving as the class representative, will advocate for all UK consumers aged 16 and above who have purchased goods or services from businesses using Googles search advertising services. The case is being pursued as an opt-out collective action, meaning all affected UK consumers are automatically included as claimants unless they choose to opt out. Commenting on the tribunal's decision, Ms. Stopford expressed her satisfaction, calling it a significant win for consumers across the UK. Almost everybody uses Google as their go-to search engine, trusting it to deliver quality results at no cost. But its service isnt genuinely free because its dominance has resulted in increased costs for consumers, she said. Google has been warned repeatedly by competition regulators. Yet it continues to rig the market to charge advertisers more, which raises the prices they charge consumers. This action seeks to promote healthier competition in digital markets, and to hold Google accountable and ensure that consumers are compensated for the harm caused by its conduct. The ruling is the latest in a series of setbacks for Google, which has already faced scrutiny from global regulators. Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice proposed that Google be forced to sell its Chrome web browser, along with other potential remedies, following a US court ruling that the company was operating a monopoly in the search market. A Google spokesperson responded to the CAT ruling, stating, We still believe this case is speculative and opportunistic we will argue against it vigorously. People use Google because it is helpful; not because there are no alternatives. Allahabad HC Seeks Centre's Stand on Rahul Gandhi's Alleged Dual Citizenship 2 The Allahabad High Court has asked the Central Government to present its findings on December 19 regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concealed his British citizenship while contesting the parliamentary election from the Raebareli constituency this year. A bench comprising Justices A.R. Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi issued the directive in response to a PIL filed by S. Vignesh Shishir, a Karnataka-based BJP worker. The petition alleges that Gandhis purported dual citizenship violates the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Passport Act, calling for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter. Allegations and Court Proceedings Shishir claims to possess documents, including emails from the British government, purportedly proving Gandhis British citizenship, rendering him ineligible to contest elections or serve as a Member of Parliament in India. The petitioner said he had twice approached authorities with complaints but filed the PIL after receiving no response. During an earlier hearing, the court sought clarification from the Centre on whether it had acted on the petitioners representation. Deputy Solicitor General S.B. Pandey informed the court that the representation had been received and was under review. The court has now directed the Centre to provide details of its action on the representation in the upcoming hearing. Manipur: Army Intensifies Search for Missing Civilian Near Imphal Valley 2 The Indian Army has launched an extensive search operation for Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, who went missing from the outskirts of the Imphal Valley two days ago. Drones, tracker dogs, and aerial surveillance are being deployed, according to a defence spokesperson. Massive Search Underway Singh, a native of Assams Cachar district residing in Khukrul, Imphal West, disappeared on Monday while traveling to his workplace at Leimakhong Military Station in Kangpokpi. A works supervisor for a contractor under the Military Engineering Services (MES), Singhs family reported him missing after he failed to return home. The Army is scanning CCTV footage, interviewing co-workers, and conducting extensive searches with tracker dogs. Despite these efforts, neither Singh nor his two-wheeler has been found, said a spokesperson from Kohima. The search operation has expanded to include the military station, nearby villages, and surrounding areas. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are assisting in the effort, and Singhs family has been assured of every possible measure for his safe return. Rising Tensions in Imphal Valley The incident has sparked tensions, with hundreds from the Meitei community marching toward the military station on Tuesday to demand Singhs whereabouts. Security forces intercepted the march near Kanto Sabal to prevent the situation from escalating. Protesters subsequently blocked roads with rocks, demanding immediate action. The Army urged the Meitei CSOs to lift blockades, ensuring free movement for security forces and police engaged in the search. The protesters suspect Singh was abducted by militants, prompting demands for additional state forces to secure his release. Ethnic Strife Adds Complexity The area around Leimakhong, 16 km from Imphal, has been a flashpoint since ethnic violence erupted in May last year, claiming over 250 lives. The military station is surrounded by hilly regions predominantly inhabited by the Kuki community, while Meiteis residing near Leimakhong fled after the violence began. State police have launched a parallel investigation into the incident, while the Army continues its intensified combing operations. Sambhal Violence: UP Government to Recover Damages, Display Posters of 'Stone Pelters' 2 The Uttar Pradesh government has announced strict measures against individuals involved in the recent Sambhal violence, where four people died and numerous others, including police personnel, sustained injuries during clashes near the Shahi Jama Masjid. Crackdown on Miscreants Officials confirmed that protesters responsible for damaging public property will be made to pay for the losses, and posters of those identified as stone pelters will be prominently displayed in public areas. The government is taking a firm stance. Posters of stone pelters and miscreants will be displayed, and recovery of damages will be initiated. Rewards may also be announced for information leading to their arrest, said a government spokesperson. This move mirrors a similar approach taken during the anti-CAA protests in 2020 when posters of alleged vandals were displayed in public places but were later removed following a court order. Background of the Violence The violence erupted on Sunday in the Kot Garvi area of Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, sparked by claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site. Protesters gathered in large numbers, chanting slogans, which escalated into a clash with security forces. Vehicles were set ablaze, and stones were pelted, leading to widespread unrest. Arrests and Investigations To date, 25 individuals have been arrested, and seven FIRs have been filed, naming prominent figures such as Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, and Sohail Iqbal, son of the partys local MLA Iqbal Mehmood. The charges also extend to over 2,750 unidentified individuals. A magisterial inquiry is underway, with Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi assuring that the situation is now under control. Strict action will be taken against those responsible for the unrest, he stated. The UP governments robust response underscores its commitment to maintaining law and order while holding those accountable for violence and property damage. The Huntsville Police Department (HPD) today charged Erica Lashawn Baker, 31, of Huntsville with murder in connection with a deadly shooting that happened on Lakeview Drive earlier this month. Around 5 a.m. on Nov. 17, HPD officers responded to the 3000 block of Lakeview Drive for a shooting, where they located James Grays, 35, of Huntsville, with a gunshot wound. Grays was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a previous release. Earlier this week HPD also charged Kiarah Donque Jones, 34, of Huntsville, with murder after gathering evidence from the scene. Following an extensive investigation and consultation with the Madison County District Attorneys Office, it was decided to issue an additional murder warrant for Baker on Monday, Nov. 25. Baker was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 22. HPD will now shift its focus to working with the Madison County District Attorneys Office to ensure the successful prosecution of this murder, according to todays release. Jim Abrahams, a film director and writer behind hit slapstick comedies like Airplane!, Hot Shots!, the Naked Gun series and more, died Tuesday, his son Joseph confirmed to Variety. He was 80. With his childhood friends Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams formed the filmmaking trio, called Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and popularized the spoof genre of the 1980s. Jim Abrahams redefined the boundaries of humor through groundbreaking works like Airplane! and The Naked Gun series. Together with Jerry and David Zucker, he transformed satire into an art form, inspiring generations of comedians and filmmakers and leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy, said the National Comedy Center executive director Journey Gunderson in a statement. With the Zucker brothers, Abrahams founded the The Kentucky Fried Theater while they all attended college together at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971. That led to them making their film debut with the indie sketch comedy The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977. Abrahams wrote the script for the movie, which was directed by John Landis -- a year later Landis was tapped to make Animal House after the success of The Kentucky Fried Movie. The trio, known as ZAZ, went on to make Airplane! in 1980, Top Secret! in 1984 and Ruthless People in 1986. Airplane! earned a BAFTA nomination for best screenplay and marked Leslie Nielsens first comedy role. The slapstick comedy showcased his deadpan chops after beginning his career being considered a dramatic star. The Zuckers and Abrahams talent for word play, sight gags and non-sequiturs became a staple of their humor, with Nielsen as their go-to actor. Their ABC series Police Squad! starred Nielsen as Detective Frank Drebin and spoofed the police procedural genre. The show was such a hit that it spawned the Naked Gun comedies, including The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33+13: The Final Insult (1994). Paramount is releasing a sequel in 2025, starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., directed by Akiva Schaffer and with a story by Seth MacFarlane. On his own, Abrahams directed Big Business (1988) with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin; Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990) with Winona Ryder and Jeff Daniels; the Top Gun parody Hot Shots! with Charlie Sheen in 1991 and its 1993 sequel that spoofed Rambo; and the Godfather parody Mafia! in 1998. Abrahams final writing credit came with Scary Movie 4 in 2006. He also had small acting credits in The Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane!, Top Secret! and Coming to America. He is survived by his wife Nancy Cocuzzo, daughter Jamie, sons Joseph and Charlie and grandchildren Caleb, James and Isaac. 2024 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC A south Alabama hospital was highlighted in a recent report as performing one of the highest rates of unnecessary back surgeries in the country. Over 37% of the spinal fusions performed at Mobile Infirmary were considered to be unnecessary by the Lown Institute, a non-partisan think-tank in Massachusetts that releases an annual hospital ranking focused on patient safety and the value of care. The national rate of spinal fusion overuse is 14%, according to the analysis. We trust that our doctors make decisions based on the best available evidence, but thats not always the case, said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. In spinal surgery, as with other fields of medicine, physicians routinely overlook evidence to make exceptions, sometimes at shockingly high rates. This type of waste in Medicare is costly, both in terms of spending, and in risk to patients. Mobile Infirmary declined to comment on the report. The report looked exclusively at surgeries performed on Medicare patients. At Mobile Infirmary, 589 spinal fusions were performed on patients and the report said 221 of those were considered unnecessary - that rate is the ninth highest of all hospitals in the country that perform the surgery on Medicare patients. Researchers looked at hospital data for common back surgeries, including spinal fusion, laminectomy, and vertebroplasty, for which clinical trials have repeatedly shown lack of benefit for certain patients. For example, patients with low-back pain caused by aging or with spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis receive little benefit from these surgeries. Pretty much every surgery takes risk. Theres a risk of anesthesia, theres the risk of the procedure itself, theres the risk of infections or poor healing, Saini told AL.com. But in general, you want to pursue surgery when the benefit is way, way more likely than the risk that theres something bad going to happen. When the benefit is basically hard to see, then it becomes mostly risk and not much benefit. The American Hospital Association has criticized previous studies by Lown as not being fair to hospitals and cherry-picking data. The association on Tuesday told AL.com that while they have not done a deep dive into this report, our general criticisms of Lown and their report remain the same as previous years. In 2022, AHA responded to a different Lown report on unnecessary surgeries , saying their report was misleading with a narrow focus on Medicare patients and glaring gaps in methodology. According to the latest Lown analysis, over 200,000 procedures nationwide met the criteria for overuse, costing Medicare around $2 billion from 2019-2021. Overall, hospitals in Alabama overused spinal fusions and laminectomies by a rate of about 18%, accounting for a total of 3,344 unnecessary procedures. Vertebroplasties were overused in the state by a rate of 14.2% compared to a national average of 11%. States with the highest rates of overuse were New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania for spinal fusions and Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nevada for vertebroplasties. There are several reasons overuse happens, according to Saini. Sometimes its because doctors were trained before new evidence came out, or simply because the placebo effect of having surgery makes people feel better. It does bring in money. And its not that hospitals are desperate and want people being operated on, even if they dont need it. Its more that they kind of look the other way and they have no reason to examine the overuse, said Saini. Its kind of a glorified honor system and one of the reasons why we did this report, because we want more people to talk about it and eventually do something about it. Saini said patients should not be wary of going to Mobile Infirmary for care, instead if youre looking to go to Mobile Infirmary for back pain, you want to get a second opinion. I think what our data shows, and I think what were trying to encourage, is more people to ask questions, he added. RR WWW - Rene's Home Site The nursery of the Mac Apple Computer in Cork Ireland is a beautiful holiday destination: green, quiet, beautiful nature, good beer and kind people. But when a Mac-freak like Rene Ros is on vacation in Ireland he has to visit the Apple factory in Cork. Armed with lots of RAM memory in the upper chamber and a anti-static heal band he was allowed in. The Apple factory in Cork manufactures 25% of all Macintosh computers, almost entirely destined for the European market. However, peripheral devices and monitors aren't made there. The modern factory is located in a industrial estate in the northeastern part of Cork and is one of the largest employers around. Cork is a large harbor town and has its own international airport. Handy for a factory which works with just-in-time delivery! The factory already has existed since 1980 when they assembled Apple II's. The first Macintosh models were packed by the company with a European keyboard, cables and manuals. The total ground area grown from 3700 m2 to 31.600 m2. The number of employees also increased: from 100 to 1200 a 1600 now. By using temporary labor the production can be enlarged when needed. With night-shifts and external contractors the capacity is flexible to increase production quickly by 40%. Motherboards The two main departments are those for the manufacturing of motherboards (PCB: Printed Circuit Board) and for the assembly of computers (Systems Operation, "Systems" for short). Each manufacturing unit can produce every model motherboard or computer. Each line works as independent as possible. The same group of people is from start to finish responsible for all the steps in the production-proces, including testing, so each group sees its own results and mistakes. And not only quality is looked at, but also if the planned production schedules are met. The PCB department consists of four production-units which turn a printboard into a Macintosh-motherboard. Most of the work is done automatically and requires attention only for checking the machines and refilling them with parts. An external manufacturer supplies the empty printboard. Nowadays Apple populates printboards on both sides with electronic parts, which requires special steps in the manufacturing process. The process begins when a machine picks a printboard and puts it on the conveyor. Next another machine presses solderpaste through a stencil, in order to fill all the holes corresponding with parts for the upper side. Three machines put these parts in the holes. The first two get small components from a long plastic bag rolled onto a spool. The resistors and other parts are shot into the board with the speed of a machinegun. After that the board moves to the third machine. That one places the larger chips, like the PowerPC-processor. Each of these chips come from a different spool and are picked by a robot-arm. Using image-recognition the computer checks if all pins of the chip are properly aligned and if so, it places the chip in the printboard. As soon as the components for the upper side are placed, the printboard goes through an oven to bake the solderpaste. After a visual inspection of the printboard it is turned over and the process with the solderpaste and components is repeated for the downside of the printboard. Of course the machines must again bake the the printboard to harden the solderpaste for the downside, but this happens at a lower temperature otherwise the components on the upper side (now hanging upside down) let loose! Larger parts, like connectors and memory slots, are manually inserted. They are then fixed with solder by moving the printboard over a tin bath. And finally each motherboard is manually and automatically inspected. If an employee finds an error, he repairs it on the spot. If a certain error occurs too often, the workers can search for the cause in the assembly unit and try to fix it. The approved motherboards are then stored into a buffer stock, until Systems needs them. Systems The Systems department then builds a single computer from the separate parts. The so-called assembly is obviously a more labor intensive process: each part is placed and connected manually. Here also the assembly lines, five in total, are almost independent. Most parts are made by other companies, like the metal frame and the housing. "Other companies are much better than we" according the Apple Cork spokesman. Systems then places subsequently the motherboard, CD-ROM, power supply, hard disk and disk-drive in the frame. For some models, like the PowerBooks, another order applies. Even before placement testsoftware is very quickly written onto the harddisks. On the conveyor the power cable is hooked up and the diagnostics software starts. The last step is for the technicians to check the results of this test. Every day Apple puts a number of computers aside and tests them for a longer time. A conveyor belt transports the new computers, only wrapped in a plastic bag, to the localization- and shipping area. Optionally Apple stores in them warehouse for some time. For the final localization the plastic bag is opened and the computer is connected to a monitor and external hard disk. Within one minute the hard disk is filled with the system-software in the requested language. For that technology Apple apparently has some patents. But wouldn't it be nice if the Finder could copy that quick? After localization the computer, together with the proper manuals and accessories, is put into a box and transported by truck to, for example, the Dutch distribution center in Apeldoorn. Other Departments A separate department with their own assembly-line is the CDM-group (Customer Driven Manufacturing). When an order for a larger number of computers with unusual configurations comes in, this group can make a separate assembly-line for the production. The example given by the guide are a few thousand PowerBooks which were fitted for British Telecom with different modems, memory-configuration and software. In the same hall where the motherboards are produced (PCB), is the Service department located. Every defective motherboard is returned there for inspection and repair. The service technicians provides feedback to the PCB departments. The mistakes are found by the PCB workers, but real blunders via the Service department! Next to the department that tests software for new Macintosh models and translating systemsoftware, a research- and development department emerged. The first tv-tunercards that were developed in Cork became so succesfull that now all tv-tuners from Apple are developed in Ireland. Also a more or less Cork-only is the Power Macintosh 8200, which is only manufactured for the European market. The model is a response to demand for a 7200 computer in a tower-case. Apple Cork is proud on the independent way it is able to leave its imprints in the productline. Our short visit to the Macintosh-birthplace was very pleasant. The factory gave an efficient impression, while the atmosphere among the workers seems good and informal. A look into the warehouse wasn't given to us. Or perhaps the size of it would have given us an impression of inefficiency? The Apple workers enjoyed the sun outside during the lunch break. It was nice holiday weather, but Cork was left as it was because what's a tourist got to do there? Rene G.A. Ros, 1996 Thanks to Mark B. Johnson, Padriac Allen, Nuala O'Donoghue and Liam Donohoe. Illustrations were provided by Apple Computer Ltd, Cork. Jim Lee provided some corrections for this English translation. This report was previously published in MacFan (issue 7), a magazine of publishing company Uitgeverij Divo in Zoetermeer. It is published by the author, with some minor corrections, on the web with permission of the publisher. Commercial distribution is not allowed without permission of the publisher. Keep an eye on the weather today and into tomorrow, especially if youre traveling for Thanksgiving. Storms are possible in the state. Todays report follows. Thanks for reading, Ike Alleged killing spree A Fairfield 22-year-old is being accused by law enforcement of killing 11 people and wounding 29 others from July through September, reports AL.coms Carol Robinson. Damien Laron McDaniel III was charged in the September killings of four people outside the hookah bar Hush in Birmingham. Last week authorities indicted him in a July 13 drive-by-shooting that resulted in four deaths at an adult birthday party. Hes also charged in a burglary and homicide on Aug. 13, the killing of a woman police said was an innocent bystander inside a bar on Sept. 19, and a robbery shooting death of a man less than 24 hours after that Sept. 21 mass shooting outside Hush. Jefferson County DA Danny Carr claimed that McDaniel and the others whove been charged in the string of killings accounted for around 30% of the countys homicides from July until September. IVF: Next step, no step? Some of the pro-life activists in the state would like to see the state legislature tighten up IVF regulations as a next step after a law giving immunity to clinics. That law was quickly passed in March after IVF clinics were put into legal peril by a court ruling that gave frozen embryos the legal status of unborn children, reports AL.coms Mike Cason. Alabama Pro-Life Coalition President Eric Johnston said the immunity law was a stop-gap measure, and that pro-life Alabamians arent opposed to IVF but would like to see regulations considered, such as limits on the number of embryos created and/or a ban on using human embryos for research. Christian Coalition of Alabama President Dr. Randy Brinson said he believes the Alabama Supreme Court decision was sound and that the immunity law conflicts with that ruling. On the opposite end of the issue are many Democrats. State Rep. Anthony Daniels, a Huntsville Democrat and the partys leader in the House, also said a next step needs to be taken. He said hell be sponsoring a bill that would specifically say that embryos in storage are not unborn children. Daniels said the immunity law hasnt been effective and that hes heard from people considering leaving the state over uncertainty over the future of IVF. Dont hold your breath for the state to go all the way in either of these directions, at least right away. IVF services are available in Alabama, and although some clinics hit pause on those services with the court ruling, the services went back online after the immunity law was passed. The Republican leadership in Montgomery hasnt indicated it will move on the issue this coming session. Many in the party on the national level, including President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, have emphatically voiced support for the availability of IVF services. Our dry summer This past summers drought had a significant impact on parts of Alabama. AL.coms Heather Gann reports that three Alabama counties -- Dallas, Perry and Wilcox -- have been designated primary natural disaster areas by the USDA. That means emergency loans are being made available for farmers in those counties as well as nearby Autauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Clark, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo and Monroe. Farmers have until May to apply. More Alabama News Born on This Date In 1941, Olympic gold-medal-winning sprinter and NFL safety Henry Carr of Montgomery. His family moved to Detroit when he was still a child. The Podcast President-elect Donald Trump promised Monday to enact new tariffs on all imported goods from China, Mexico and Canada - Americas three largest trading partners. The incoming president said the moves would come on Inauguration Day through executive order, cementing a longtime campaign promise that threatens to roil global trade and raise prices on American consumers. Trump said the taxes would remain in place until Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! - - - The facts Trump announced tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican and Canadian goods. Chinese goods would face a 10 percent levy. Those tariffs would affect roughly $1.5 trillion worth of goods moving through North America, plus about $600 billion in trade between the United States and China. It is unclear what precise effect these policies would have on Americans pocketbooks. But economists warn that prices could go up for basics like groceries, cars and electronics. - - - What would the tariffs affect? Once enacted, the tariffs would affect huge swaths of global trade. Mexico is the United States top trading partner. Most goods exported here from Mexico last year were manufactured goods, including cars, machinery and electrical equipment. Mexico also supplied more than half of U.S. fresh fruit imports in 2022, according to the Agriculture Department. Canada supplies crude oil and petroleum, along with machinery and parts. The United States also imports plastics, pharmaceuticals, lumber and agricultural products. Imports from China include electronics like phones and computers, sporting equipment, plastics and furniture. - - - Can Trump act unilaterally? In his social media posts Monday, Trump said that he would enact the tariffs as one of my many first Executive Orders and that he would sign all necessary documents to make it happen. Legally, he could have an open door to act unilaterally. Laws passed over the past few decades give presidents plenty of authority on tariffs, especially when it comes to protecting industries harmed by global trade. But its unclear whether blanket tariffs on all foreign goods would hold up. Still, Trump has made far-reaching tariffs fundamental to his agenda since his first term, along with lower taxes, increased energy production and deregulation. - - - What happened last time? Trump employed tariffs frequently during his first term, targeting imports from China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union. Over that time, the overall trade deficit widened, from $792.4 billion in 2017 to $901.5 billion in 2020, according to the Census Bureau. Still, back then, Trumps rhetoric and promises around tariffs didnt always translate into specific policy. Sometimes threats spurred by immigration disputes or other economic issues never materialized or were delayed indefinitely, as happened with a final round of tariffs on Chinese goods after a partial trade deal was reached with Beijing in 2019. Other proposed tariffs were announced haphazardly and without much detail. - - - What about USMCA? Some experts already argue that the tariffs would violate existing trade agreements, namely the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which took effect in 2020 after Trump negotiated it. Goods moving between those three nations can cross borders duty-free. Massive tariffs implemented through executive action would sidestep that agreement. Mexico and Canada have vowed to retaliate: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country would impose its own tariffs if Trump moved forward. Mexicos top exporters included U.S.-based automakers General Motors and Ford Motor Company, which have built sprawling modern production facilities around the country. In a joint statement following Trumps posts, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the relationship between the United States and Canada was balanced and mutually beneficial. The head of Quebec, one of Canadas largest provinces, said the decision poses an enormous risk to Canadas economy, and pressure mounted on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cushion the impacts for the countrys workers. By Rachel Siegel The man charged with killing four people outside a hookah lounge in Five Points South in September, and two others in the days before and after, is now charged with killing four people in another Birmingham mass shooting in July and another man during an August burglary. Damien Laron McDaniel III, 22, of Fairfield, is now accused of killing 11 people and wounding 29 others in five incidents between July and September. He was indicted on Nov. 22 in a drive-by shooting at an adult birthday party at a Birmingham nightclub that left four people dead and nine others injured on July 13. McDaniel is also charged with 10 counts of first-degree assault in the July mass shooting. Hatarius Woods, 27, is also charged with capital murder and 10 counts of first-degree assault in the Trendsetters mass shooting. Woods was taken into custody at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the 1700 block of 28th Street in Ensley. Hatarius Woods(Jefferson County Jail) In the July mass shooting, Birmingham police identified those killed as Angela Weatherspoon, 56, of Center Point, Markeisha Gettings, 42, of Birmingham, Stevie McGhee, 39, of Birmingham, and Lerandus Anderson, 24, of Center Point. Birmingham police said Tuesday that McDaniel, the only person charged in the mass shooting outside the Hush hookah lounge, is allegedly responsible for one-fourth of all homicides in the city in a span of two months. These individuals dont just stop with one murder. I dont think theres a single instance that sums up that statement more than these arrests today, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said. Our homicides that have been committed from July until September, about 30 percent of them involve one of these individuals names,' he said, referring to a list of suspects charged in homicides that also involve McDaniel. Birmingham is most definitely a safer place with these individuals behind bars. Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr called the suspects in the string of killings some of the most dangerous individuals in Jefferson County. Carr said all of the arrests have been made through the combined efforts of Birmingham police, the ATF, the FBI, the DEA, Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service. Our work is not finished,' Carr said. We will continue to diligently investigate these cases to ensure that all parties involved are brought to justice. This is the first step in a long process,' the district attorney said, but we are going to do everything in our power to get justice for the victims, their families and the people of Jefferson County. Efforts to reach McDaniels attorney were not immediately successful. Family members of some of those killed in the Trendsetters shooting said they were relieved by the arrests. They didnt deserve that,' said Angel Weatherspoon, who lost her mother, nephew, and sister in that shooting. This gives us a little peace. Her sister, Glamorus Mullen, said the familys fear and hurt is by no means gone. I can finally get some rest. Ive been living in constant fear,' Mullen said. Am I going to be next? Is one of my kids going to be next? Weve been afraid. Are they going to get the rest of us? Mullen said. And for what reason? We dont know. The Weatherspoon and Mullen families said they dont know McDaniel. Hes a straight menace,' Weatherspoon said. I want to know, Why? Who sent you? McDaniel and Woods are also now indicted on a charge of capital murder during a burglary in the Aug. 13 shooting death of Charlie Moore, 61. Moore was found dead after police spotted a stolen vehicle in Vice Hills and then heard shots coming from a nearby apartment. Damien Laron McDaniel III(Jefferson County Jail) A North Precinct officer saw and fired at an armed suspect he saw exit the apartment. The suspect got into the passenger side of the stolen vehicle, which then sped away. Moore was found dead inside the apartment. Prior to the latest charges, McDaniel was already jailed in the Sept. 21 deaths of Carlos McCain, 27, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, Anitra Holloman, 21, and Tahj Booker, 27. Those four were killed, and 17 others injured, in the Five Points South shooting. McDaniel is also charged with murder in the Sept. 19 killing of Diontrante Tinae Brown, a 35-year-old mother who police say was an innocent bystander shot to death inside 604 Bar and Lounge on Ninth Street North. McDaniel faces another capital murder charge in the robbery shooting death of 32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre, who died in a hail of gunfire in the 700 block of 81st Place South less than 24 hours after the Five Points South shooting. McDaniel, prior to his arrest, was interviewed in a YouTube documentary about violence and murder in Alabama calledThis City Eats People Alive: The Most Dangerous Place in Alabama, America: The Dirty South posted by The Taboo Room With Aaron S. NyQuan Cordae Lollar, 22, another suspect in McIntyres death, was also featured in the documentary. They were asked if they would have any empathy toward the mothers of someone who was murdered. Im (expletive) going to do the same thing to you so why not do it to them? McDaniel said. Why show them compassion when they aint gonna show your folks compassion? They aint sparing (expletive), Lollar says. They aint going to spare me, McDaniel said. If their son ends up dead and they come to court, they aint going to spare me in the mother (expletive) courtroom. Theyre going to want my ass (inaudible). A Delaware judge on Wednesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed last year by Ray Epps, an Arizona man who sued Fox News for comments made on the air about him that suggested he was an undercover federal agent who played a role in fomenting the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. While Epps protested outside the Capitol that day, he was not among the people found to have breached the complex. But hosts such as Tucker Carlson, who at the time hosted a prime-time show on Fox, highlighted video evidence of Epps outside the Capitol to suggest his presence was planned. In one 2022 broadcast, Carlson told viewers that Epps helped stage-manage the insurrection. Carlson also highlighted the fact that Epps had not been charged with a crime as evidence that he was a government asset. (Ultimately, Epps was charged with a misdemeanor offense - disorderly conduct on restricted grounds - and given probation.) Fox, in its defense against the lawsuit, argued that its on-air hosts were entitled by the protections of the First Amendment to raise questions about why Epps had not been charged. The network also argued that hosts had issued protected opinions about Epps, rather than factual assertions, an argument that was also made to defend against the defamation lawsuit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems over its coverage of the 2020 election. In a statement, Fox also celebrated the recent dismissals of two other defamation lawsuits against the network or its employees; one filed against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov by Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of Hunter Biden, over a comment she made about his legal defense being paid for by a pro-Trump group; and another filed by disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz, who argued that she had been smeared on the network and had her career damaged. Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment, the network said on Wednesday afternoon. Fox News still faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by voting technology company Smartmatic, which is expected to go to trial next year. In her ruling on Wednesday, District Court judge Jennifer L. Hall tossed the defamation case for failure to state a claim. Michael Teter, a lawyer for Epps, declined comment on the dismissal. By Jeremy Barr Tony Campolo, a Baptist minister who became a powerful if unusual force within Evangelicalism by challenging believers to separate their faith from conservative politics and channel it instead into the pursuit of social justice, died Nov. 19 at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was 89. He had aortic stenosis, said his son, Bart Campolo. Dr. Campolo had also suffered two strokes, including one in 2020 that left him reliant on a wheelchair for mobility and ended what had been a prolific speaking calendar, with hundreds of engagements per year. Dr. Campolo, a professor and author in addition to an ordained minister, was an outlier in a religious movement whose most recognizable leaders preside over megachurches or preach on television to overwhelmingly conservative audiences. He was one of the early voices from within evangelical institutions and churches to challenge a version of Evangelicalism which was equated with Republican politics, said Michael Wear, who served as a faith adviser to President Barack Obama and leads the nonprofit Center for Christianity and Public Life in Baltimore. Dr. Campolo was often described as a liberal Baptist, although he said he was liberal only in his politics, not in his theology. He felt, as he put it, called to be a critic of Evangelicalism as it moved increasingly toward partisan politics. He argued that a believers first loyalty was not to any political faction but rather to the words of Jesus. He helped establish a movement within Evangelicalism called Red Letter Christians, the name a reference to the style in some editions of the Bible of printing the words of Jesus in red. Dr. Campolo drew his followers attention in particular to Jesus teaching, as recorded in Chapter 25 of the Book of Matthew, that Christians will be judged according to how they treated the hungry, the unclothed, the sick, the imprisoned - the least of humanity. Dr. Campolo worked at various points in his career with ministries that served the urban youth in the United States and ran schools in Haiti. In his speeches, he would often note how many children had died of hunger the night before. Most of you dont give an [expletive], the publication Christianity Today quoted him as saying. What was worse, he added, was that the crowd was probably more offended by his expletive than by the deaths of the children. Dr. Campolo was active in the Democratic Party and became one of several ministers to serve as spiritual advisers to President Bill Clinton during the scandal that arose from his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Dr. Campolo attracted attention within Evangelicalism in 2015 when he declared his support for same-sex marriage. He had previously been deeply uncertain about what was right, he wrote in a statement, and earlier in his career had said he considered homosexual behavior to be in violation of scripture. Dr. Campolo was changed, he wrote, by his realization as a social scientist that sexual orientation is almost never a choice and by his observations of the harm caused by attempting to cure someone of homosexuality. Furthermore, he wrote, through his friendships with gay people he had come to see the richness of relationships of same-sex couples. He noted that Christian churches had argued on biblical grounds to limit the participation of women in religious life, to exclude divorced people from the practice of their faith and, in an earlier era, to maintain the institution of slavery. Many of those people were sincere believers, but most of us now agree that they were wrong, he wrote. I am afraid we are making the same kind of mistake again, which is why I am speaking out about same-sex marriage. After the ascent of Donald Trump in Republican politics and his first election as president in 2016, Dr. Campolo sought to persuade Christians that their faith did not necessarily bind them to Trump, who overwhelmingly won the evangelical vote with the backing of religious leaders including Jerry Falwell Jr., the former president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Dr. Campolo traveled to Lynchburg in 2018 for what was billed as a Red Letter Revival, where participants challenged what they regarded as toxic Evangelicalism. Shane Claiborne, a co-founder with Dr. Campolo of Red Letter Christians and fellow organizer of the revival, recalled a line Dr. Campolo often used: Mixing religion and politics, Dr. Campolo quipped, was like mixing ice cream and horse manure - the combination doesnt mess up the manure but ruins the ice cream. Almost any time I heard Tony speak, Claiborne said in an interview, he would invite people into a personal relationship with Jesus. In that sense, Claiborne said, he was profoundly evangelical. But also at the same time, he said, Dr. Campolo asked people to respond to the pain of the world we live in and not just use their faith as a ticket into heaven, and thats why its so nuanced. Anthony Campolo Jr. was born in Philadelphia on Feb. 25, 1935. His father, an immigrant from Sicily, was a cabinet maker and union organizer. His mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants. Most Italian American families maintained the Catholicism that they had brought with them from their native country. Dr. Campolos family, however, was pulled to the Baptist faith after his maternal grandfather was fatally struck by a Philadelphia streetcar. According to Dr. Campolos son, the mans widowed wife was walking along a riverbank, despairing of how she would provide for her children. She did not speak English and was approached by a Baptist missionary who knew several languages, among them Italian. The missionary helped obtain food and firewood for the family and found a job for Dr. Campolos then-teenage mother, who thereafter supported the family by sweeping the floors of a jewelry shop. She remained a committed Baptist throughout her life and raised Dr. Campolo and his two sisters in her faith. The Campolos at first attended a predominantly White Baptist church. But as White residents increasingly abandoned the neighborhood, the family joined an African American congregation - an experience that shaped Dr. Campolos views on the importance of combating racism. In 1956, Dr. Campolo received a bachelors degree in history from what was then Eastern Baptist College (now Eastern University) in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor of divinity degree in 1960 and a master of theology degree in 1961, both from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary). He received a PhD in sociology from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1968. Dr. Campolo taught sociology at Eastern University from 1964 until 2012, after which he remained an adjunct professor. His divergence from prevailing evangelical beliefs at times invited the opposition of church leaders. In 1985, he was accused of heresy for having written, among other ideas, that Jesus may be found in all human beings, including non-Christians. A panel of evangelical leaders found that he had not committed heresy but that his writings had been methodologically naive and verbally incautious. Dr. Campolo said he had been subjected to a wave of religious McCarthyism and that the incident only emboldened him in his cause. Dr. Campolos books included Letters to a Young Evangelical (2006) and Why I Left, Why I Stayed (2017). The latter was co-written with his son, who describes himself as having transitioned from evangelical Christianity to secular humanism. Besides his son, Dr. Campolos survivors include his wife of more than six decades, the former Peggy Davidson; a daughter, Lisa Goodheart; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. In his book The Kingdom of God Is a Party (1990), Dr. Campolo relayed a story that he said was essentially what happened to him one time when he was on the speaking circuit in Hawaii. Jet-lagged, he found himself eating a doughnut at 3:30 a.m. in a greasy joint where, he recounted, he was joined by eight or nine prostitutes. He took notice when one of the women - he called her Agnes - mentioned that the next day was her 39th birthday. She had never had a birthday party, she said. When the women left, Dr. Campolo learned that they were regulars and resolved with the owner to throw Agnes a party the next night. She was moved to tears when she walked into the surprise celebration and saw the blazing candles in her honor. When Agnes left, Dr. Campolo invited everyone left in the diner to pray. The owner, taken aback and not entirely pleased, asked Dr. Campolo what kind of church he belonged to. In what Dr. Campolo described as one of those moments when just the right words came, he replied that he belonged to a church that throws birthday parties at 3:30 a.m. for people like Agnes. By Emily Langer As Birmingham nears a record-breaking number of homicides, Mayor Randall Woodfin addressed rampant gun violence and vowed that 2025 will be better. Flanked by 145 weapons from the police departments evidence room, Woodfin recorded a 35-minute plus video in the Real Time Crime Center talking about the killings and the need for a change of hearts. There have been 146 slayings so far in Birmingham this year. One of those was a deadly shooting by a police officer that BPD does not include in its homicide tally. Until 2022, when there were 144 homicides, the highest number recorded in recent memory was 141 in 1991. The city ended 2023 with 135 homicides. Birminghams all-time record for homicides was in 1933 with 148 killings. The city in 1933 had a population of roughly 269,000 people. Today, it is under 197,000. Im sitting here in front of all these guns. Each of these guns you see took somebodys life, took someones family members life, took a community member, Woodfin said. Birmingham is a city that is unfortunately coming up on a historic high of homicides victims not seen since 1933, he said. So, as I back out of that and think, this is not just numbers. These are lives, these are family members, these are brothers, siblings, sisters. ... These are victims and family members who will not get the chance to see their family member, their loved one on Thanksgiving. Woodfin said America celebrates gun violence. Its embedded in so many everyday things we do, he said, citing movies, television shows, video games and music. Violence courses through our culture. I often tell people, when America gets a cold, Alabama gets the flu, Woodfin said. But I also tell people that when Alabama gets the flu, Birmingham unfortunately gets pneumonia. In this American epidemic of gun violence, he said, Birmingham is seeing the worst of it. Woodfin noted that two of his cousins were killed this year, as well as a former classmate who was among four killed in a massing shooting at Trendsetters lounge in north Birmingham. Its been a tough year as it relates to gun violence in our city, he said. Violence, he said, is not new to Birmingham. Its always been at a rate too high, whether it was lynching, bombings and now, in 2024, gun violence, he said. Woodfin talked about the array of guns that surrounded him during the video. The display included AR-style weapons, Dracos, and handguns outfitted with Glock switches. He said while he supports the right to gun ownership for self-protection, the guns before him were obviously used for reasons other than that. These are usually young males driving around with these in a car, he said. He talked about the need for gun safety and stricter gun laws, but said much of the problem is human behavior. More laws wont prevent every homicide. More police will not prevent every homicide, Woodfin said. No Superman is coming to save Birmingham. What can prevent more homicides is a change of hearts and behaviors. The majority of Birmingham residents, he said, are good people. Weve got a handful of people who are reckless, who dont care, a handful of people who walk around like theyre terrorists. Instead of allowing them to snuff out life, were going to snuff them out, the mayor said. As our new interim chief said, we have to create a culture where we make those who commit violent crime uncomfortable in this community. Woodfin said the problem is solvable but its going to take the community as a whole. I care about saving lives but, hell, its going to take more than one man, its going to take more than one person, its going to take more than the mayor' he said. 2025 will be better than 2024 and its going to be because were going to arrest more shooters. Its going to be because youre going to help us, he said. Youre going to report crime, youre going to report those who are hurting people. Its going to be less because youre not going to give safe harbor to people that hurt children. Its going to be because were going to provide more resources to people who are here in the community who need them because youre going to come to us and say you need help and were going to provide it. The FBI said Wednesday that numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents had targeted people President-elect Donald Trump has selected for Cabinet roles and other positions in his incoming administration. Trumps transition team said that several of his picks for prominent positions had faced threats to their lives and those who live with them on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The transition teams statement did not identify how many people appear to have been targeted or name them, and law enforcement officials have not said publicly whether they believe any of the threats were credible. Four of Trumps selections said they had received threats to their homes, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York), whom Trump has tapped for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and former congressman Lee Zeldin (R-New York), the president-elects choice for Environmental Protection Agency administrator. Others saying they had received threats included Brooke Rollins, whom Trump plans to nominate to lead the Agriculture Department; Scott Turner, his selection to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon), his choice for labor secretary. Turner said his home was targeted by a bomb threat, while Chavez-DeRemer reported that she and her family were targeted with a pipe bomb threat at our Oregon home. Trumps transition team declined to provide more information when contacted by The Washington Post on Wednesday, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the incoming president appreciated the law enforcement response. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action, Leavitt said in a statement. The White House said President Joe Biden and his administration unequivocally condemn threats of political violence. A spokesperson said the White House was monitoring the situation and was in touch with federal law enforcement and Trumps team. Swatting refers to incidents in which false reports of serious crimes or dangerous situations are sent to police, prompting heavy law enforcement responses that could endanger people who are at those locations. These incidents have happened repeatedly in recent years. Prosecutors have said swatting calls also endanger responding officers, and such calls have led in some cases to injuries or deaths. This summer, two European men were indicted and accused of repeatedly swatting the homes of members of Congress, lawmakers and law enforcement officials. Police in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, said that they had responded to a threat there and that the FBI was leading an investigation. The Goodlettsville Police Department did not provide the location targeted in that case, but Pete Hegseth, Trumps pick for defense secretary, lives in the area. Another threat was reported in northern Florida. The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office said in an emailed statement that it had been notified about a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetzs supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville, Florida, area Wednesday around 9 a.m. Gaetz, a Republican, had been Trumps initial choice for attorney general before he withdrew last week. The sheriffs office said Gaetz does not actually live at the address, but one of his relatives does. The mailbox was checked and no devices were found, the sheriffs office said. Tyesha Brown, a celebrated indie filmmaker born and raised in Birminghams Ensley community, died on Friday in Dayton, Ohio. She was 42. Known for her passion for filmmaking and storytelling and her commitment to uplifting local talent, Browns work enriched the Birmingham arts scene and inspired countless aspiring creatives. She was remembered by families and friends for her legacy of creativity, resilience, warmth, and community impact. I want people to know that she had an impact on the world around her, said her sister Daphne Brown, also an Ensley resident. Although she didnt have any kids, she left her footprints on our family, Los Angeles, Memphis, Baltimore, Maryland, and Birmingham she definitely lived, and she came to do what she was supposed to do. Daphne said she admired her sisters spirit and would describe her as Love. When you read your Bible and it says, love is patient, love is kind, thats my sister; she was the epitome of love, said Daphne. there wasnt a bad bone in her body. She was always so happy, eager to help, and she had a passion for everything that she did. I dont know how Im gonna do this [life] without her. Growing up you wouldnt find [Tyesha] without me, and me without her, Daphne said. Weve always been best friends. We were total opposites, but thats what made us the sister duo that we were. Theres nothing about her that I wont miss, Daphne continued. Her dedication and commitment to getting things done, her love and kindness, her smile, her faith, her love my kids. I will miss all things Tyesha. Tyeshas grandmother, Ensley resident Lois Banks said she loved most about her granddaughter was her heart for people. She was more a giver than she was a receiver. She loved unconditionally, and she taught me [to do] that, said Banks. Browns unconditional love is what Banks will miss most, she said. I know she loved me, and I loved her. She loved me unconditionally because thats the kind of heart she had. Born and raised in Ensley, Tyesha Brown was a graduate of Ensley High School and earned a dual bachelors degree in journalism and film studies from Morgan State University in 2005. Her journey into filmmaking began with a high school project through Girls Inc.s Snapshots pregnancy prevention program in Birmingham, culminating in her award-winning first film, Destanis Eyes. This success ignited a lifelong passion for storytelling that would define her career. Browns impressive resume included credits on major television shows like NBCs The Voice, CBSs Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race. She honed her skills as an associate and field producer, specializing in story development. Splitting her time between Los Angeles and Birmingham, Brown seamlessly blended her Hollywood expertise with her deep love for her hometown. In 2023, Tyesha founded IAMCLASSYBROWN Productions, focusing on producing films that highlighted urban stories, comedies, romantic comedies, and biopics. Her latest project, Checkmate, brought together seasoned and emerging talent from Birmingham and Detroit, including veteran actor Clifton Powell. Brown also recently signed a distribution deal with Dreamland Media for one of her final projects. Heaux Week which can be viewed on Tubi. In partnership with Birmingham-based production company, Pivot Motion Pictures, Brown will also release one of her final projects, Nate And These Nutz, in early 2025. Supporters are encouraged to stream all of Browns final projects to benefit her legacy. Beyond filmmaking, Brown was a passionate mentor and educator. She worked with organizations like Flourish, Encore Theatre and Gallery, and Make It Happen Theater Company to teach film workshops and inspire the next generation of creatives in Birmingham. Her efforts fostered an I can do it too spirit among local artists and filmmakers. Browns life was shaped by the loss of her parents at a young age, which instilled in her an unwavering work ethic and a profound appreciation for lifes brevity. She cherished her role as a loving sister to Daphne, her only sibling, and found strength in their bond. Brown is remembered for her unstoppable spirit, her love for Birmingham, and her relentless drive to create meaningful art. Her legacy lives on through her films, her mentorship, and the vibrant creative community she helped build. She is survived by her grandmother, sister, nieces, Dezire Turner and Zara Ibrahim, and a host of friends, collaborators and admirers who will continue to be inspired by her life and work. Browns family asks for support in laying her to rest. Donations towards her homegoing expenses can be made at: https://everloved.com/life-of/tyesha-brown/donate/ Thousands of travelers along Interstate 65 heading to Pelham and Helena are familiar with the dreaded exit that leads past an industrial tank farm, railroad tracks and a tight bottleneck ahead during peak hours. Congestion continues to increase along the busy corridor along Shelby County Road 52, choking movement into the adjacent communities. About 24,000 vehicles take the route daily. At the same time, more than 30 trains traverse the two crossings near US-31 daily. Pelham engineers have a $52 million plan they say will provide relief soon. But they need financial help from municipal neighbors. Pelham recently received a $41 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration for major improvements to include new lanes and a railroad overpass at the exit. The grant requires $10.6 million in matching funds. We were shocked, pleasantly so, when we were awarded the largest grant in the country, Pelham City Manager Gretchen DiFante told AL.com Wednesday. Now that the grant is awarded, Pelham is asking for firm commitments from regional partners to get matching funds and make the project happen. DiFante and Andre Bittas, Pelhams director of development services & public works, presented their plan to the Helena City Council recently. Its hard to do anything of real value anymore by yourself, DiFante told AL.com. Helena is blocked by trains, and we see the significant delays. DiFante noted the impact that the trains have in delaying public safety response by police and ambulance service. Vehicle traffic volume is expected to increase by 58% by 2045. The project will also widen and reconstruct CR 52 East of US Highway 31 to increase capacity. The new bridge will be about 415 feet long. There will be no more delays because of trains blocking the tracks, Bittas said during an update presentation to Helena city leaders Tuesday evening. The project is slated to begin in January with planning and design followed by three years of construction. Along with Helena, others asked to contribute include Shelby County Commission, Alabama Department of Transportation and CSX Railroad. Shelby County has already made a commitment to contribute $3.5 million toward the project. Pelham would provide about $2 million in matching funds. The matching money is needed by January 2026. Helena was among the cities that submitted letters of support and financial commitment for the grant application. Helena has been asked to contribute $1.5 million. Additional funding is forthcoming from ALDOT and CSX, Pelham officials said. The holiday lights of downtown Birminghams Regions Bank building are a seasonal treat - but something new is happening this year. The bank will host a special lighting ceremony on Friday, beginning at 4:30 p.m., with lighting scheduled for 5:15 p.m. The ceremony will take place at Regions Center Plaza at the northwest corner of 5th Avenue North and 20th Street North. Each fall, the 30-story building traditionally illuminates on the day after Thanksgiving, with lights in the buildings windows projecting two Christmas trees, a wreath and a Christmas stocking. The windows stay lit through New Years Day. The inaugural lighting ceremony will be hosted by Deno Posey, an executive vice president for Regions Bank and local performer. There will also be food trucks and other festivities. The traditional lights go back about 40 years. Construction on the building was finished in 1971, when it was shared by the First National Bank of Birmingham and Southern Natural Gas. A Sonat executive saw a building in Houston that had a similar curtain wall design used for a Christmas lighting display during the holidays, and he brought the idea to Birmingham. Regions Bank continued the tradition. Crews begin working on the display in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving by installing gel sleeves over the light tubes in all the windows that will be part of the display. The workers follow design grids showing them which colors go on which windows to form the Christmas-theme shapes. Regions said in a statement that, if anyone has already seen the buildings holiday light display, that was during a test to determine which bulbs needed replacement. 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Senior Constable Kristian White was one of two police officers called in May last year to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in regional New South Wales, when staff asked for help with a resident who was holding two knives as she pushed a mobility walker around the facility. Clare Nowland who had dementia had refused her carers requests to return to her room and threw a knife at a staff member that fell on the floor before they dialed emergency services, according to court documents. The court heard she had been cornered in an office by police and paramedics and had refused to put down a steak knife when White deployed his Taser. The jury deliberated for just over three days before returning a verdict of guilty to one charge of manslaughter against White for breaching his duty of care to Nowland and engaging in an unlawful and dangerous act. White had told the court he believed that a violent confrontation was imminent the condition for firing a Taser under standard operating procedures in New South Wales. The rules state that a Taser may only be used against elderly people in exceptional circumstances. The prosecution had argued that Whites use of the Taser was utterly unnecessary and an excessive use of force against a frail, elderly woman. After she was shocked with the device, Nowland fell backwards, hitting her head. She died a week later in hospital. Nowlands family released a statement after the guilty verdict, thanking the judge, jury and prosecutors, and saying it would take some time to come to terms with the jurys confirmation that Clares death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act. He will be sentenced at a later date. How the incident unfolded Closed-circuit video played to the jury on Monday showed how the incident unfolded in the administrative building of the home around 5 a.m. on May 17, 2023. In the witness box, White was asked to explain what was going through his mind as he and his partner approached Nowland, who was found by carers sitting in a small office. She was wearing pajamas and had a walking frame nearby for support. Asked for his first impressions of Nowland, White agreed that she was elderly, but took issue with the suggestion she may have been frail. Bit of a subjective question, White said. When asked again, he said, not that frail, no. While White agreed that Nowland was small in stature, when asked if she was weak, he said he wouldnt be able to give an answer. On the video, White can be heard repeatedly asking Nowland to put the knife on the table. After she refused and stood up, with one hand on the walker, White pulled out his Taser. You see this? White asked her. This is a Taser. Drop it now, he said, referring to the knife. Then after a few more appeals, he warned her youre gonna get tased. After more warnings, White can be heard saying, Nah, bugger it and deployed the Taser. The court heard White had the Taser pointed at Nowland, its light shining in her eyes, for one minute before he used it. Asked what he meant by Nah, bugger it, and if it was a sign he was fed up and had abandoned attempts to resolve the issue, he disagreed. I was going to be firing a Taser at a 95-year-old. I felt it was my only option at the time to ensure a safe resolution of the incident, he said. I completely understand it was going to cause her some sort of, you know, injury and pain, but I felt that the risk had elevated to the point that, you know, it required a resolution, and its not our job to shy away from these types of incidents, White said. I was not going to essentially gamble on the risk of having her out in the corridor, he added. In summing up, Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield pointed to contradictions in Whites testimony as he tried to justify his actions in deploying the Taser. Answers were malleable and changing, even within a few questions, he said, while also describing some of Whites responses as evasive and unpersuasive. This was not a mere breach of the standard of care, said Hatfield. This was such an utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force on Mrs. Nowland that it warrants punishment for manslaughter, he said. In a judgment published Friday, Justice Ian Harrison said the case was unlike any other hed confronted in his career, because White did not act out of the typical motivations people have for inflicting harm, such as anger, malice or revenge. Instead, Nowlands death was the result of the police officers failure to recognize that he was not confronted with a serious threat, he added. It was no more and no less than an error of judgment with fatal consequences, Harrison wrote. White has been suspended from the NSW Police force without pay and remains free on bail before a sentencing hearing next year that may see him imprisoned. Harrison wrote that he needed to assess the risks of other inmates targeting White as a convicted police officer. In a statement released Friday, Nowlands family said they were disappointed White wasnt in custody, and were struggling to understand why he was able to move freely in the community despite having been found guilty of manslaughter. This story has been updated with additional information. The-CNN-Wire & 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Staff Reports news@albanyherald.com ATHENS A tax preparer who admitted to filing more than $3 million in fraudulent tax returns on behalf of her clients is facing up to 30 years in prison for her crime. Jessica Crawford, 33, of Athens, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false income tax returns before U.S. District Judge Tilman E. Tripp Self III. Crawford faces a maximum of 30 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine. There is no parole in the federal system. Jessica Crawford was an unscrupulous return preparer who allowed greed to cloud her judgement and neglect her responsibilities to help clients prepare and file a true and correct tax return, Demetrius Hardeman, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigations Atlanta Field Office, said. Crawford is not representative of most tax preparers who provide honest services to their clients. Taxpayers are urged to choose their tax preparer carefully, especially before tax season begins in January to have time to shop around. It is important to know that the responsibility for the information contained on the tax return is that of the taxpayer. Jessica Crawford lied and took advantage of funds designed to help those who were truly in need during the pandemic, FBI Atlantas Acting Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke said. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to identify and hold accountable anyone who defrauds taxpayers. According to court documents and statements made in court, FBI agents investigating a multistate unemployment benefit scheme conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic discovered text messages between individuals involved in the scheme and Crawford, a tax preparer with Crawford Tax Services in Athens. Crawford filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits on behalf of those individuals, who had created fake businesses or submitted false information to fraudulently obtain benefits. In return, Crawford received a percentage of the ill-gotten gains. As part of the continuing investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations agents executed an undercover operation at Crawfords business in April 2022. The undercover agent met Crawford to have taxes prepared, and Crawford asked if the UA did anything on the side. At first, the UA responded no, but Crawford said that expenses could be deducted if he did, and the UA said he mowed an aunts lawn sometimes, to which Crawford said that was good enough. The UA did not provide any income or expense amounts, but Crawford created a Schedule C business for landscaping on the UAs federal income tax return based solely on that interaction. Crawford prepared a Form 1040 and filed electronically, including a fictitious Schedule C loss of $19,373, and claimed an Earned Income Tax Credit, a Child Tax Credit, and Qualified Business Income deduction, which were affected by the fraudulent Schedule C loss. As a result, the UAs return claimed a fraudulent federal income tax refund of $12,359. The IRS completed a statistical review of 1,261 total tax returns filed by Crawford in tax years 2020 and 2021. Of those, the IRS determined that Crawford fraudulently filed tax returns on behalf of clients which resulted in losses to the IRS exceeding $3 million from falsely claimed Form 7202 credits for sick leave and family leave, tax credits and dependent care credits. The case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers and Criminal Chief Leah E. McEwen are prosecuting the case for the government. In the first quarter of the 21st century, the US and Britain are collapsing from their apex position in Western civilization, something that first one, then the other, occupied for more than three centuries. The interesting thing is that their collapse was precipitated almost simultaneously early in the 20th century. In Britain, Im sorry to say, my hero Winston Churchill was a primary driver of the legislation that would eventually put a stake through the heart of the nation he loved. The first act was the Peoples Budget , which introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britains wealthy to fund new social welfare programs. Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George said the Budget would make poverty as remote to the people of this country as the wolves which once infested its forests. The Peoples Budget became law in 1910, after a year of delay by the House of Lords, the upper, dynastic house of Parliament. That delay was the final straw that led to the catastrophic Parliament Act of 1911 . Before the Parliament Act, the House of Lords could veto budget bills indefinitely, meaning it had an actual veto. Angry that the Lords had delayed the Peoples Budget, the liberals decided to eviscerate their power altogether. The law eliminated entirely the House of Lords ability to veto money bills and greatly limited the Lords ability to stop other kinds of bills. As it was a law, the House of Lords would have to acquiesce to its own castration. Not surprisingly, most Lords opposed the measure, and it only passed upon a threat from King George V to pack the House with a sufficient number of new liberal Lords for it to do so. Across the pond, in America, the same leftist movement was preparing to send a similar pair of stakes through the heart of the Republic. The first was the 16th Amendment, ratified in February 1913, which changed the Constitution to allow for direct income taxation rather than apportioning it among the states based on population. The second, the 17th Amendment, ratified two months later, changed the Constitution so that Senators, rather than being appointed by state legislatures, were selected by direct election of citizens. Suddenly, state governments, one of the three legs of the Republican table our Founding Fathers left us, had no voice in Washington. The similarity of content and timing between the pair of acts in the two most powerful nations in the world was extraordinary. In both cases, the acts essentially gave the governments the almost limitless ability to redistribute wealth while simultaneously eviscerating the power of their upper houses, which traditionally acted as yokes on the governments rapacious nature. Fast forward a century, and both the US and Britain find themselves in the throes of economic and cultural suicide. In both countries, debt and deficit spending are off the charts, free speech is being throttled, crime is out of control, and leftist lies are being used to demonize half the population. The most acute problem in both countries, however, is the fact that millions of people from third-world countries, people with zero familiarity with, interest in, or fealty to their new homes laws and culture, are being imported and settled among the citizens, whether those citizens want it or not. The reality is that Britain is running headfirst into a dystopian abyss with the utterly incompetent new PM Keir Starmer at the helm with no rescue in sight as elections are not required for another five years, and theres little chance the feckless, globalist king will dissolve Parliament. Here in America, weve at least given ourselves a lifeline in the form of electing Donald Trump. But that lifeline is not going to be without its challenges. The most consequential challenge will be in the neighborhoods and on the streets of sanctuary cities and states across the country. Those areas have spent decades ignoring the Constitution and thumbing their noses at the federal government, abetted the entire time by compromised politicians in Washington. Not only have we had governors say they will not cooperate, but now in Denver, we have a Democrat mayor saying he will battle the federal government trying to deport illegals, suggesting a Tiananmen Square moment is possible. Anyone paying attention recognizes that probably 90% of what the federal government does is basically unconstitutional. However, one thing that is very much within its purview is national defense. As such, when the nation is invaded by 30 million illegal aliens, that is a threat to national security. And its no less a threat just because the invaders are coming across the border in fits and spurts and largely without a singular command. The fact that sanctuary cities and states have for decades openly flouted federal regulations as they relate to detainers and assistance to INS suggests that they have no respect for the Constitution. Like Obama, they view the Constitution as an obstacle to overcome when it constrains something they want to do and a shield to hide behind when trying to avoid what they should do. The fact that much of Washington allowed them to do so for decades with impunity says essentially the same thing about Americas elected representatives. Donald Trump, as Commander in Chief, is the man who is responsible for defending the country, and he can accomplish most of his deportation promises voluntarily. If he takes these four steps, hell likely accomplish 75% of his goal. 1. Stop all federal dollars going to programs that support illegal aliens. That includes federal, state, and local programs. Do the same for NGOs, including removing their tax-exempt status. 2. Tax remittances at a rate of 50%. 3. Stop all federal dollars going to any sanctuary city or state for any purpose. 4. Arrest any state or local government official who refuses to cooperate with federal deportation efforts. These steps will likely drive most immigrants to self-deport or volunteer to be repatriated. For those whom these measures dont inspire a trip home, hardened criminals or members of gangs like Tren de Aragua or MS 13, the president could and should harness the military to enforce federal law if states and cities dont cooperate. Ike, JFK, and LBJ did so to enforce school desegregation. Ameliorating the danger of citizens being raped and killed by criminal invaders is easily as worthy a cause of action as ensuring children can attend school safely. Had the United States or Britain had an upper house that functioned as a break on government excess over the last century, its unlikely wed be herebut they didnt, and we are. Nonetheless, Winston Churchill, the half-American and sometime radical and reformer who helped drive a stake into the nation he loved so much, was to later make amends by leading her through her darkest hour. Today, Donald Trump has the opportunity to echo Churchills finest hour by articulating exactly what makes America worth fighting for, why the invasion cant be tolerated, and being willing to do what needs to be done to protect her and her citizens, regardless of the vitriol, contempt, and obstruction he will no doubt have to endure along the way. Image by AI. Israel has suffered substantial recriminations by many institutions and organizations with the onset of the Gaza War, and now the anti-Semitic International Criminal Court (ICC) has piled on with arrest warrants theyve issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yoav Gallant, former Defense Minister. Israel is not even a member of the ICC. These incriminations have been accruing: As of this summer, more than 20 universities in Europe and Canada had cut ties with Israel institutions. Israeli companies have been shunned at trade fairs. Recently, former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was denied a visa to enter Australia and participate in a conference organized by Jewish organizations on the grounds that she might incite discord. The ICC insisted that the details of the warrants be kept secret, but they did release the following information summarized below; a counterargument follows each one. Charge: The Chamber found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza. Response: The attacks were not against the civilian population, but against Hamas. Thousands of leaflets were dropped to warn Gazans to evacuate to the southern Gaza strip. When residents were asked to evacuate parts of Rafah in the south, text messages, voice mails and social media with maps were provided with directions and instructions for the evacuations. Charge: The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals 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, from at least October 8, 2023 to May 20, 2024. Furthermore, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that no clear military need or other justification under international humanitarian law could be identified for the restrictions placed on access for humanitarian relief operations. The Chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare. Response: Providing food and supplies is extremely difficult in the Gaza War environment. Sending trucks into areas where fighting was occurring was dangerous; many suppliers were unwilling to risk their lives to make deliveries. Thus, deliveries were delayed or cancelled. The Arab Palestinians knew that Hamas was hijacking the shipments to supply their own forces, with no interest in providing for the Arab Palestinian people. In fact, they used civilians as shields. Charge: The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that the abovementioned conduct deprived a significant portion of the civilian population in Gaza of their fundamental rights, including the rights to life and health, and that the population was targeted based on political and/or national grounds. It therefore found that the crime against humanity of persecution was committed. Response: Israel did not start this war; Hamas did. Israel was compelled to respond. If anything, Israel was the victim of war crimes that were intentionally committed by Hamas on October 7. Its important to remember that Israel has not occupied Gaza since 2005; and the people of Gaza had chosen Hamas, which was known as a terrorist organization, to govern them. The civilians were not being targeted by the Israel Defense Forces; in fact, Hamas was using them as shields. Charge: Finally, the Chamber assessed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza. Response: Given the responses listed above, that Israel did not target the civilian population; that Israel reacted to the October 7 attack realizing that it was an existential threat second only to the Holocaust; that Israel did not halt humanitarian aid, unless there was military action occurring; that Gaza was not occupied by Israel; that Hamas used civilians as body shields; that the Arab Palestinians voted in Hamas to govern themthe listing of crimes is a great lie. In this context, defining the meaning of genocide is also important. Although the UN has shown itself to be deficient in so many ways, their definition of genocide will suffice: A mental element: the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such; and A physical element, which includes the following five acts, enumerated exhaustively: Killing members of the group Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group To clarify the definition of genocide for this piece, Arab Palestinians were not directly killed unless they were members of Hamas. Although the Arab Palestinians were wounded and mentally harmed, its inappropriate to blame Israel; this is war. Hamas began this war: at any time, they could lay down their weapons and end the devastation. Israel is not deliberately trying to destroy the civilians, although it is trying to destroy Hamas. The last two items under physical element do not apply to this war. In other words, Netanyahu and Gallant have been unjustly charged with these crimes. You might wonder how the ICC might be so seriously mistaken. For one, their qualifications and competencies can be called into question: However, as fifteen years of operations at the Court have also shown, possessing such competences may not be sufficient. A judge with extensive national criminal experience but little or no international exposure may not be able to adapt to an international context and to deal effectively with a complex hybrid procedural system that hardly resembles his or her own. In addition, it must be noted that the List A[competence in criminal law and procedure] category includes not only individuals with experience as judges but also any practitioner, such as a prosecutor or defense counsel. Again, the practice of the Court demonstrates that experience in those capacities does not necessarily ensure the skills and temperament required to manage the overall case, conduct the proceedings, or, most importantly, arbitrate between the conflicting views and interests of all parties and participants. In light of the above, it is of paramount importance that states nominate and select individuals possessing an appropriate combination of relevant criminal and international experiences, as well as the appropriate personal skills. Unfortunately, neither the nomination nor the election process guarantees such an outcome. Have member states actually sent qualified people? How would we know? The other possibility is that the Court is anti-Semitic. Or both reasons could be possible. Whatever you believe, the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant are a sham. Image: YouTube video screen grab. Back in 1941, President Roosevelt made it official: Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally. With a few deviations, Lincolns precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president -- until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelts declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day. Down in Cuba, we had no idea of Thanksgiving. The closest thing was cartoons about Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck celebrating a special day or Pluto stealing a turkey leg. So my brother, sister and I started school and noticing that the kids were posting drawings of turkeys and Puritans praying. Finally, Miss Jones, that wonderful 6th-grade teacher I was blessed with, sat me down and explained the story, from the ship crossing the ocean, to the landing at Plymouth Rock, to the terrible first winter and eventually a day to say thanks for everything. So I went home and explained the whole thing to my mother who thought that it was a nice story. She had that look of "what a country" or said something in Spanish like "wow these people pray and say thanks once a year. Why didn't we do that Cuba? Maybe we wouldn't have a communist dictator if we had prayed more?" It did not take long for me to get into the Thanksgiving mood. Today, its my favorite American holiday for two reasons: 1) It demonstrates the role of faith in the early days of what would become the United States. 2) It confirms that this land was settled by self-reliant people who faced adversity and grew stronger. Last, but not least, my parents could not pronounce Thanksgiving. So the Cubans of their generation started to say something like San Givin. It went on for a couple of years until my aunt finally said: "Who is that Saint Giving anyway." Nobody told us about that in Catholic schools. Anyway, "Feliz San Givin" is now a Cuban tradition that we all laugh about. There was no Saint Givin but that's what happens when your mother can't pronounce Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Thanks for the comments and reading the posts. Enjoy your family and see you soon. P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. Image: Jenny A. Brownscombe The left is in bad shape. President Trump won the election despite an unprecedented campaign of lawfare, cheating electoral officials, media bias, Zuckerbucks, mass mail balloting, and other riggings and attempted electoral thievery. They're finished. And they don't know what hit them. On the low-I.Q. side of the leftist spectrum, Kamala Harris has taken the catbird's seat and has since become a figure of fun: On the three-digit I.Q. side, a columnist for The Nation, Chris Lehmann, looks upon President Trump's soaring approval ratings which have just kept rising past Election Day and desperately tried to parse out 'why.' This is his lede: The November air is still thick with postmortems of the 2024 election, but theres already another mystery of public opinion that deserves at least as much scrutiny as the dismal outcome of presidential balloting. Americans beholding the squalid, bottom-feeding composition of the Trump cabinet in waitinga grim panoply of grifters, self-dealing hacks, and sexual assaultersreport that they like what they see. The net approval rating for the Trump transition is 18 percent, according to a CNN pollcompared to just 1 percent during the transition into the first Trump White House. Fifty-three percent of respondents say theyre optimistic or excited about the prospects for a second terma photographic negative of the initial dawn of the Trump era, where that same majority said that it scared or concerned them. He rants on about his dislike of President Trump's cabinet picks, as if the menagerie of freaks, weirdos, Sorosed-up layabouts, wokester fanatics and others brought in by Joe Biden were somehow unremarkable. Then he gets to his thesis: That Trump hates meritocracy. And that's where he runs into trouble. Yet, once the shock of the CNN finding wears off, its worth pondering the deeper causes behind a public embrace of government by corruption. The reliably excitable pundit team of Jim Van De Hei and Mike Allen at Axios theorize that Trumps bad-boys fixation in cabinet picks is a hit with male supporters who rally to brash confrontation as a political virtue. Yet Trump still remains quite popular among white women votersand characters like Musk, Oz, and Ramaswamy are hardly swaggering studies in traditional machismo. No, what seems to lie behind the pronounced appeal of Trumps cabinet team is the same force that fuels Trumps own popularity: his frontal assault on the ideology of meritocracy. Throughout the 2016 primary cycle, Trump whaled away at the pieties of credentialed Beltway expertise, insisting that the whole political and business establishment was rigged against any semblance of the public interest. He goes into great detail to develop that idea, focusing on the progressive-era creation of the supposedly political neutral civil service (which has since incubated the deep state), never imagining for a minute that there might be some kind of growing problem there, that of a politically neutral corps of civil servants becoming raveningly partisan and not so very politically neutral at all. He criticizes Trump's appointments of loyalists as "cronyism" as if Trump's previous term, loaded with plotters and connivers and leakers, all of them with impressive resumes, all of them trying to take him down, was somehow a better thing. Loyalty-challenged creeps of the type Trump appointed earlier are not gonna happen this time, given how they damaged his capacity to govern last time. If loyalists are what it takes to prevent sneaking, plotting, leaking and conniving against Trump, then it makes sense to the rest of us that he hire loyalists. Maybe the meritocrats can learn to be as professional as they claim to be if they want to have any value. Their claims to neutral 'professionalism' are in fact lies, which is where the problem like. The voters are onto it. Here he is in his progressive-era nostalgia: This view of rank favoritism as the central political dynamic in America is a deliberate trashing of the model of impartial and impersonal governance handed down in the liberal tradition from the goo-goos and Mugwumps of the late 19th century. Appalled by the self-dealing excesses of Gilded Age governance, these crusading reformers promoted civil service reforms and the abolition of the party bosses spoils system, while also extolling extensions of voter sovereignty via measures like ballot initiatives and the popular election of senators. But behind many of these innovations was a covert bid for a more high-minded brand of class rule, in which experts and educated elites would lay claim to the public weal on grounds of general enlightenment; the vision that would later be identified as meritocratic, following the criticism of civil-service rule by British socialist Michael Young. This Progressive model of reform gained broader popular traction during the New Deal ... Just the fact that it's another progressive-era idea doesn't give him pause at all -- he takes its supposed greatness as objective fact, not recognizing that the whole concept of meritocracy is objectively broken with the rise of wokesterism. What's more, Trump is not a progressive, (a badly misnamed characterization, by the way), and thus, doesn't embrace progressive ideas. An analysis like this does explain how Kamala Harris -- who recently abandoned her DNC staff to sudden layoffs without severance and broke her promise to keep them on payroll through the end of the year, as she lounged in a Hawaiian luxury mansion -- could claim to voters that Trump was "in it for himself" as her loyalist peons were driven to raising gofundme cash to tide them over until the next year. Speaking of peasants. Speaking of Gilded Age excess ... Perhaps he can look a little closer at Kamala Harris. In the end, he does admit that something is wrong with this meritocracy, given that so much of the public is repelled it. While he mentions that the working class does have a perception of self-dealing. Bill Clinton, he notes, a key Kamala Harris ally, is the classic defender of meritocracy: In demonizing all establishments, [Bill Clinton] explained to Jonathan Capehart, and all people who wear a tie, like you and me, to work, we are breaking down the legitimacy not only of people who may be too sanctimonious and too set in their ways in the past, but also of people who actually know things that are very important for us today, and very important for our continued growth and prosperity and harmony. The great defender of this claimed meritocracy speaks. But do these supposed meritocrats know things? These guys with rows and rows of medals who brought us the Afghanistan pullout, not a one of them censored or fired? The architects of the open border, assuring us all was "secure"? The charmers who brought us FEMA's inaction, partisan dispersal of aid, illegals prioritization, and missing money in North Carolina, Florida, and Hawaii? The geniuses at the Department of Transportation who were always missing in action during a toxic train spill in Ohio and a massive supply chain crisis? Those meritocrats? The creeps who shoved old people into COVID-infected nursing homes and then wound up with major public health positions in the Biden administration, pushing mutilation onto small children as "gender affirmation" as their encore? Those meritocrats? The champing-at-the-bit censors straight out of The Lives of Others who colluded with social media to stop 'disinformation,' meaning, the First Amendment? Those meritocrats? Seems the meritocrats have delivered one massive failure after another, making a mockery of the word 'meritocrat.' Everything they do is a disaster even as they go home to Beltway mansions in the highest salaried region in the country. That's not meritocracy, it's thievery. And people like this need to be thrown out until they can produce something useful, something effective, something with added value. Right now, they do none of that. In the private sector, the world of double-entry bookkeeping, they'd be out on their ears. But all they get from left is elevation as somehow better than most of us. Lehmann is not stupid and does admit some of this is a problem, citing the working class "perception" of cronyism. He notes that Bernie Sanders with his ties to the working class might be competition for team Trump and a viable path to go on. But who shut Bernie down, back in 2016 and 2020? That's right, the defenders of the so-called meritocracy of mediocrity and failure, like the grotesque Clinton machine, and the leaders of the Democrat party. Bernie, with his socialist solution, would only lead to the kinds of failure seen under all socialist regimes, with mass poverty, mass flight, capital flight, an end to risk-taking and investment, and Cuba-style oppression to keep the regime in permanent power. Democrats have long shunned the socialist and communist label, given that it, too, stinks to the public. That can only leave this revolting brand of meritocracy, which Lehmann knows is problematic. Maybe they should just throw in the towel instead and join the Trump train. Trump's popularity is rising because he has his finger on the pulse of the American people and sees the scope of the problem. What's more, he's advocating for their interests. That's why so many have jumped on. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License With Donald Trump soon to be back in office, and Tom Homan in charge of border enforcement, Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) are screaming like stuck pigs. Since Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities like New York and other places of self-proclaimed virtue and confederate-like nullification of federal law, other governors have pitched in. As a result, blue state governors and mayors have learned, at warp speed, what its like to be a border city or state, and theyre not liking it. Some have even begun to question Harris/Biden immigration policy, while simultaneously demanding federal funds to handle the billions it costs to support millions with no useful skills who cant speak English. Educating their children isnt exactly petty cash either. But now that Donald Trump is back, the same self-imagined elite are puffing up their sunken chests, stamping their dainty feet and threatening Trump and anyone else who might dare remove the very illegals depleting their treasuries, brutalizing their citizens and overwhelming their hospitals, schools, housing and services. People like Denvers mayor: Graphic: X Screenshot In an interview with local media outlet Denverite last Friday, Michael Johnston, the mayor of Denver, Colorado, took his pledge of protection much further. Not only are we gonna continue to be a welcoming, open, big-hearted city thats gonna stand by our values, he said, but more than us having DPD stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there. Its like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? Youd have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them, Johnston added. The invaluable C.S. Lewis said it well: We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. Lets consider this from the perspective of the Denver Police Johnston expects to do his illegal bidding. Federal law is supreme. The federal government cannot demand local police enforce federal law, but they deputize locals to do just that every day. Many serve on joint task forces relating to drugs and other crimes, and very soon, there will be immigration task forces. Graphic: X Screenshot So what? What can the feds do if locals refuse to cooperate? Not a lot then and there, but if they obstruct federal officers, or conspire to help illegals, thats a very different matter. The relevant statute is U.S.C. 1324Bringing in and harboring certain aliens. Ill be skipping quite a bit so take the link to read the entire statute. (A)Any person whoknowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever attempts to move or moves illegals conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, oraids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts All of which are federal felonies with fines and up to ten years in jail, all of which D/s/c politicians are threatening to commit. And there are specific federal laws relating to obstructing or assaulting federal officers, all felonies. The Trump DOJ will enforce them. If a hundred citizens are obstructing them, they dont have to arrest them then. They can photograph everyone and catch them later. And they wont be staging the kinds of arrests that can be obstructed that way. We can be sure Trump, if necessary, will use federal troops to quell them, and the politicians behind them will be arrested. Most Americans will be glad to see the politicians depriving them of jobs and benefits get whats coming to them. Police officers are sworn to obey the lawall laws. Ordered to violate federal law by grandstanding politicians, theyre on firm legal ground refusing, and most cops, particularly sheriffs deputies, will be more than happy to get illegals, particularly criminal illegals, out of their communities, overtly or covertly if necessary. Presidents have wide latitude over federal funding through their executive authority, and its possible with both houses of Congress in Republican hands legislation mandating revocation of all federal funds, other than for emergencies, will be done for sanctuary cities and any entity obstructing immigration law. Sanctuary cities exist only because until January 20, 2025, theyve been protected by D/s/cs and weak Republicans. Men with chests are back, and seeing the self-imagined elite finally face the consequences of their hatred for Normal Americans is going to be satisfying. 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. The spectacle of state governors and mayors of important jurisdictions promising to impede enforcement of immigration laws is unsurprising to observers of the development of American progressivism into wokism. Of course, they dont believe they are bound by the laws when they are on the side of God (except that they dont believe in God). But they are on the right side of history, as the story goes. The reaction of Trump supporters and projected members of his government is predictable. They recognize that these officials are scum, and threaten them with the full force of the law. Tom Homan promises shock and awe, and he looks like he means it. Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts has said 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. The key word is residents rather than citizens. Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois also emphasized his duty to residents: "I am going to do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants. They are residents of our state." The governors of Michigan and California have also promised resistance. Mayor Mike Johnston of Denver promised a public uprising to protect illegals: Its like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? Youd have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them. Without gathering opposing comments from the politicians who support the mass demonstrations, its clear that this is an issue for rhetorical appeals to one side or the other. The aggressive claims of those like Homan who intend to make deportation work trigger the opposing politicians who play to their own immigration-loving supporters. There might be a way to give them what they want good and hard. The amusing way would be for the president-elect to announce awareness of the strong views held by politicians like Pritzker and Healy and Johnson. Everyone acknowledges that the deportation of millions is going to take some time, and that some places will come first and other later. Trump might make a well-publicized announcement that, as a special favor, he is granting to a limited extent the wishes of leaders like Healey and Pritzker, and all governors and mayors who have announced their intention to protect their residents will come last in the deportation project. At the same time, he might appeal to those NGOs that have promoted the mass illegal immigration asking them to provide funds or transportation to help illegal immigrants to move to those jurisdictions that have promised to protect them. Those who move will be assured of living happily at public expense for months, or even years, until the states and cities friendly to the deportation project have been cleared. This way everyone (except perhaps some unfortunate citizens) can have what they want. Politicians opposed to deportations will have protected the large number of illegals who will flee to their jurisdiction, and their supporters will, no doubt, be pleased and proud. At the same time, since the deportation project cant be pursued everywhere at once, it wont be delayed a bit, and the citizens who are in favor of it will be rewarded to find their regions cleared first. Back in August Governor Healey declared a state of emergency over the number of immigrants arriving there, and asked citizens to take them into their homes. No doubt that appeal was met by her supporters, and they will find even more space in their homes for the new migration of residents of less friendly states. The citizens of migrant-friendly elected leaders will have something to think about when the next elections roll around. And when the time comes for these areas to be cleared, perhaps the leaders will have reconsidered their posturing, or perhaps there will be different leaders. Image: U.S. Customs and Border Protection The United Nations has long been a fixture of New York City, headquartered on Manhattans East Side. While the UN was founded on noble principles -- to promote peace, security, and cooperation -- its presence in the U.S. has come at a significant cost to taxpayers, New Yorkers, and our national priorities. As we approach the 80th anniversary of the 1947 Headquarters Agreement, which established the legal framework granting the UN privileges and immunities necessary for its operations at its headquarters in New York City, while ensuring access and certain obligations under U.S. law, its time to ask a fundamental question: Is hosting the UN in America still serving the interests of the American people? The answer, increasingly, is no. The United States pays more than its fair share to keep the UN operating -- a whopping 22% of its regular budget and 25% of its peacekeeping costs. American taxpayers are footing the bill while many member states contribute far less. At the same time, the UN often acts against U.S. interests. Its forums have become platforms for nations that regularly criticize and oppose America. Were spending billions of dollars to host and fund an institution that too often undermines the very principles we stand for. Thats a diplomatic way of putting it. Put bluntly, the UN has become a money-sucking haven for barbarous regimes and groups that sponsor and support terrorism, promote antisemitism and aim to destroy Israel. On top of that, hosting the UN in Manhattan imposes significant burdens on New York City. From traffic disruptions to security risks, the challenges of hosting an international organization of this scale are immense. It doesnt have to be this way. Thanks to President Trumps landslide election win, the United States has an opportunity to modernize its relationship with the UN, starting with a bold but practical idea. The U.S. should withdraw from every UN organization, reduce U.S. financial contributions to minimum annual membership dues and terminate the 1947 Headquarters Agreement -- for national security reasons -- in order to reclaim sovereignty over the New York City property and relocate the UN headquarters to Switzerland. Geneva, already home to many international organizations, is perfectly suited to host the UN. Its neutrality and infrastructure make it an ideal location. By withdrawing from every UN organization and reducing our contributions to the UN to the minimum membership dues required, the U.S. can redirect billions of dollars to initiatives that directly benefit Americans. The federal government could purchase the UN property at fair market value and gift it to New York City for redevelopment into middle-income housing, retail spaces, schools, and parks. (Perhaps the New York judge who valued Mar-a-Lago at $18 million could be recruited to estimate the value of the UN property.) This isnt about abandoning diplomacy. Its about ensuring that our foreign policy reflects American interests and values while giving New York City an exciting opportunity to redevelop a prime piece of real estate. Imagine what New York City could do with 16 acres of prime Manhattan land. A model middle-income housing development could provide relief to the citys housing crisis while creating jobs and revitalizing the neighborhood. Retail spaces and schools could bring new life to the area, serving local families and businesses. Far from being a loss for New York, this transformation would be a significant win. The benefits of the new development -- an entirely new and thriving neighborhood -- would far outweigh any economic loss caused by the relocation of UN Headquarters. Eighty years is long enough. The United States has been the primary financier and host of the UN for too long, often at the expense of our own people. By 2027, we can take bold steps to reclaim our sovereignty; modernize global diplomacy by relocating the UN to a neutral hub; reduce the financial burdens on American taxpayers; and transform New York City with a visionary redevelopment project. The time for action is now. The Congress and President Trump -- one of the greatest real-estate developers in American history -- should prioritize American interests and reevaluate and modernize our relationship with the UN. Jonathan Braun is a former professional journalist and a second-generation native New Yorker who has specialized in reporting on and writing about international politics and personalities. Image: Steve Cadman President-elect Donald J. Trumps designated border czar, the indefatigable Tom Homan, has already started planning to solve the countrys myriad problems caused by the Biden-Harris open borders policy. Yesterday, Homan traveled to the border in Texas with the states governor, Greg Abbott. Just back from his trip, Homan appeared on Laura Ingrahams Ingraham Angle on FOX News at 7:36 p.m. ET for his third live interview on the channel in 24 hours. Homans mood was upbeat as he reported that the morale of the Border Patrol officers he had encountered which had previously been in the toilet in response to the policies of Biden and Harris had completely turned around. This was Homans most concise interview in recent days as he outlined President-elect Trumps plans to solve the crises arising from the open border and the waves of illegal immigrants who have invaded the country since Jan. 20, 2021. Actions that will start on start on day one of the new Trump administration. In describing whats ahead starting next Jan. 20, Homan warned sanctuary city mayors who have promised to frustrate Trumps plans to get the hell out of the way because were going to do the job. The transcript of Homans interview with Ingraham was provided by FOX News Media. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity. A video of the segment can be watched here. LAURA INGRAHAM: And joining us now after spending the day at the border is Tom Homan, former acting director of ice. Trump's incoming Border Czar. Tom, great to see you as always. TOM HOMAN, INCOMING TRUMP BORDER CZAR: Weve been at the border all day. It's been a long day. It was a great day to meet the soldiers and the troopers. What a great bunch of men and women down there. INGRAHAM: What is the overall sentiment youve gotten from them? Weve been talking about how people are optimistic about solutions for this country. Are you finding that at the border itself? HOMAN: You know, Ive been on the border a dozen times this past year and the morale is in the toilet. Border Patrol morale. Everybody's morale. Because listen, every time the state tries to do something to stop the flow, the Biden administration sues them. Right? But, today, when I was down there, I saw nothing but smiles and happy faces because they know President Trumps coming in. And they know they are going to finally get the help they needed. So maybe some of these [Texas] National Guard folks [ordered to the border by Gov. Abbott] can go home to their families. So theyre excited. Theyre excited about January 20th. But like I told them today, were not waiting until January 20th. Me and Governor Abbott are already working on plans to finish what Texas has started. Texas has been very successful in what theyve done here. And were going to finish it. So were already working on plans and the men and women down there are excited that things are about to change for the good. INGRAHAM: And, Tom, the video of the little toddlers at the border; it's heart breaking and infuriating at the same time. We talked to you about it the other night. But people have to realize it's not just these 50 kids or 100 kids over the last couple of months. There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands who have come across the border and a lot of them we have no idea where they are. And that's on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats. HOMAN: It absolutely is. And we had whistleblowers from HHS saying these kids, they are trafficked. And theyre not vetting their sponsors. That's why they lost track of over 300,000 [children]. But President Trumps committed. Hes got three rails of business: Were going to shut down that border and secure it at the highest level ever in this nation. Were going to run the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen. And were going to try and find those 300,000 children and rescue them. Because based on my three and a half decades I guarantee you some of these children are involved with sex trafficking. Some of these children are involved with pedophiles. Some of these children are in forced labor. So we need to find these children and save them. Tom Homan live from Austin, TX with Laura Ingraham, FOX News channel, Nov. 26, 2024 Screenshot by Peter B. Chowka used with permission of FOX News Media INGRAHAM: Well, Tom, heres how the mayor of Tucson responded to Trump's border plans. Watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REGINA ROMERO, MAYOR OF TUCSON, (D-AZ): I am deeply troubled by President-Elect Trump's plans for mass deportation. I believe they are cruel and immoral. I will work with our police chief to make sure that our focus remains on protecting and serving Tucsonans. I'm unwavering in my commitment to this fight. (END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: And now we asked her office if shed clarify that but she hasn't responded. If she doesn't follow mass deportation orders, what will you all do? HOMAN: Well, first of all, what's cruel about it? We have a massive illegal immigration flow on the border. Historic flow overwhelming the Border Patrol. Sex trafficking up 600%, 250,000 dead Americans from fentanyl. Weve got a record number of known suspected terrorists and people on the terrorists watch list crossing the border. Weve got children dying on the border every day. Weve got women being sexually assaulted by the cartels every day. Someone is going to die on the border tonight. Women are being raped on the border tonight. So what's cruel about securing that border and saving lives, first of all? But Ill give her the same warning Ive given the rest of the sanctuary city mayors and the governors: you cannot help us, that's fine. You should get the hell out of the way then because were going to do the job. President Trump has said public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority right out of the gate. And I can't believe theres any elected official that doesn't want public safety threats out of their communities. Their number one responsibility is protecting the communities. So if theyre not going to do it, well do it for them. But don't impede us and do not knowingly harbor and conceal illegal aliens from ICE because that is a felony. And weve got one hell of an attorney general coming in, Pam Bondi, I think she will read that statute the same way I do. I'm not a lawyer. But I can read. And we're going to have consequences for people who violate the law and try to prevent us from doing our job. INGRAHAM: Tom, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and please thank the Border Patrol, the men and women of the Border Patrol for us. Ive had a chance to meet so many of them over the years. Theyre incredible people and they care deeply about children and women in our country. Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran investigative journalist who has been working for six decades in a variety of media, both mainstream and alternative. On Saturday, Nov. 16, Peter discussed his recent articles at American Thinker on John B. Wellss nationally-syndicated radio program Ark Midnight on the Salem Radio Network. Audio of the segment featuring Peter can be listened to at Peters YouTube channel here. Coercive diplomacy and psychological warfare are a part of every countrys arsenal, but operations aiming to destroy morale and potential of individuals were initially meant to be used against foreign enemies, not their own nations. Unfortunately, modern dictatorships such as the reanimated GDR, have already employed psychological harassment to target their citizens, so Zersetzung-like methods are not unprecedented in contemporaneous failed democracies. The new factor in unwarranted psychological warfare is globalization of fallacious dogmas, and consequently an internationalization of renegades. Free thinkers get a status of global dissidents, punishable wherever they go, harassed and hunted by corrupt authorities who take orders from unelected elites. Targets of fanatic wrath come from all walks of life: some well-off enough to afford legal battles, others totally defenseless. For the last two decades the whistle-blowers and non-conformists have known no safe house: the justice system is weaponized, HUMINT in coma, and even embassies are globalist, not domestic. Trans-national repression against journalists has brazenly spread both in North America and in Europe, and state-to-state diplomacy has been substituted by ad hominem personal attacks against every leader who does not adhere to irrational tenets of the unelected cabal. Its deeply disturbing that in our lifetime, Stasis sadistic methodology definitely rings a bell. German historian, Dr. Hubertus Knabe (The Stasi: The History and Legacy of East Germanys Secret Police Agency) said, The goal was to destroy secretly the self-confidence of people, for example by damaging their reputation, by organizing failures in their work, and by destroying their personal relationships. Politically-motivated prosecution, shadow bans, work bans, financial abuse, death threats, dissident cancer epidemic, and overt assassination attempts of non-conforming political leaders are now being normalized in every colonial outpost of the global banana republic. Saint John Paul II used to say, Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought, and liberation of global dissidents cant come soon enough. For the last two decades the unelected elites overtly ruled by the money for the money, molding North America and Europe into a muzzled federal cluster or simplya cluster F. During Trumps first presidency the Pandora box was ajar, but guarded by left-overs of Obamas staffonly controlled opposition was let in. Hopefully, this time around, having learned about ruthless repression the hard way, Team Trump will be empathetic towards fellow survivors, and tough on crime. Some of the modernized and globalized psy-ops are extremely drastic and perverted, but both their nature and their extent must be revealed to the public; to expel the hellish abuse of power, one must know the evil exists. The freshly elected administration will be fighting not only a domestic, but global enemy: an octopus-like criminal network swindling no longer free nations under the guise of a new order. Image: Free image, Pixabay license. The digital finance platform UseNosh has emerged as a leading platform for buying and selling gift cards for cash online. This revelation followed a survey conducted by Techpoint, a top tech media outlet in Nigeria, to rank the top digital finance platforms in the country. The development comes as no surprise, given Noshs concerted efforts to streamline its services and provide better value for its teeming users in the last couple of years. At the beginning of the year, the company rolled out a revamped version of its web app on Google Play Store and Apple Store. This new release came in the wake of the inclusion of the Crypto Wallets feature, a new, user-oriented feature that allows users to create Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin wallet addresses. With this new innovative crypto wallet feature users can receive cryptocurrency and withdraw in naira, cedis or USDT. This is not the only feature to look for on the NOSH app. The new app has incorporated multiple features, such as: Advanced security feature: transactions are private and encrypted. Users identities are protected to the full extent required by law. Transaction integrity is at the heart of the startups mission, and users can rest assured that they will not fall victim to scams and fake deals on the platform. Fast Transactions: Users can expect to execute their transactions quickly. It takes about 5 minutes to sell gift cards for cash and users buy gift cards instantly on the Nosh App. Best Rates: One of NOSHs most significant selling points is its unbeatable rates, offering mouthwatering rates that you wont find elsewhere. Refer and Earn: With the Refer and Earn feature existing users are allowed to share their experience with friends and family and invite them to also benefit from the platforms extensive services. On the part of the existing users who download the Nosh app, they get a reward for every new user that signs up to the platform using their referral code. Wide Range of Gift Cards: NOSH has one of the most diverse gift cards on offer compared to other gift card platforms in Nigeria and Ghana. It supports the trading of gift cards such as iTunes, Amazon, Steam Wallet, Google Play, Apple Store, eBay, Walmart, Sephora, OneVanilla, Nordstrom, Target, JCPenney, Best Buy, Nike, Hotels.com, Macys, Gamestop, Xbox, Vanilla, G2A, American Express (AMEX), OffGamers, Foot Locker, Visa, PlayStation, and many others. Swift Customer Service: NOSHs customer service runs on a 24/7 basis on the in-app live chat channel and across all platforms, including X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook. Customer complaints are attended to, and solutions are proffered in record time. Nosh began operations in 2021 and currently has a broad customer base in Nigeria, Africas most populous country, and Ghana. While it primarily serves as a marketplace for trading gift cards, and other digital assets, the digital finance startup also supports payment of utility bills such as airtime, data, electricity tokens, bet wallet funding and cable TV subscriptions. Speaking on the companys values and offerings, Ahmod Balogun, Co-Founder of NOSH, said, What sets Usenosh apart is our commitment to prioritizing trust and user experience. Unlike many platforms, we have a customer first approach whereby we address users pain points, focusing on making gift card trading straightforward, transparent, and highly secure with dedicated customer support. This drives us to deliver a service thats both innovative and consistently reliable. Samsung appears ready to use its display technology experience to resolve some of its divisions crisis. Lately, the companys patents have revealed projects they could be working on. The list includes tri-fold devices, foldable gaming handhelds, and rollable screen phones. A new patent from Samsung describes a tablet with a rollable screen. Rollable screen technology is quite interesting for developing large-screen devices that are also portable. A previous patent from Samsung showed a smartphone that implemented such technology. This would allow the mobile device to obtain a square form factor, similar to that of the Galaxy Z Flip when folded. New Samsung patent describes a tablet with a rollable screen The new patent from the South Korean giant reveals that they have considered using the rollable screen technology in a tablet. The document, registered on November 26, 2024, includes sketches and descriptions of some of the key components of the product. According to the images, Samsungs rollable tablet could be noticeably thicker than modern tablets. However, this might be necessary to house the hidden part of the display. There are no more specific details about the dimensions of the device, so it is not clear if the sketches represent a compact tablet or one as large as the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. Anyway, you can extend the left and right sides of the device to get a much larger screen. This will require a mechanism based on an internal motor to extend the hidden parts of the panel. The 91mobiles report mentions that the tablet could automatically extend in certain use cases. However, there will probably also be a button that triggers the mechanism. The button should be present on some of the sides of the device. The sketches show the presence of a USB-C port and what appear to be pogo pin connectors to attach a keyboard accessory. Samsung will invest more in innovation to overcome its crisis As with every patent, there is no guarantee that Samsung will bring a foldable tablet to market. However, it shows that the company at least considered and dedicated time to it. During an investor meeting a few weeks ago, Samsungs executives apologized to investors for disappointing financial results in certain divisions. They also revealed that investing more in innovation is part of their strategy to turn the situation around. So, it wouldnt be surprising if we hear more about a rollable tablet in the near future. The US government is granting Intel almost $8 billion dollars under the CHIPS Act. The Biden administration seems to be in a hurry to disburse the funds before 2024 ends. The US government is giving Intel nearly $8 billion dollars to boost domestic chip manufacturing The Biden Administration has released 7.865 billion dollars US in funding for Intel. The grant is part of the US governments CHIPS Incentives Program. The funding from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act is aimed at boosting domestic chip manufacturing in the US. President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS Act into law more than two years ago. The American government intends to boost research and manufacturing for semiconductors across the country. Specifically, the Biden administration claimed it wanted to spur domestic manufacturing and ensure the countrys tech supremacy. What the government didnt categorically say was that it wanted to minimize geopolitical risk to semiconductor manufacturing. Several lawmakers, however, did claim America was steadily falling behind other nations when it comes to chip manufacturing. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce has awarded Intel $7.86B in funding under the U.S. CHIPS Act, supporting Intel's investment plans in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon to expand American semiconductor manufacturing and technology leadership. Learn more. https://t.co/qvWfQMq9LT Intel News (@intelnews) November 26, 2024 Intel was to get more money but got government contracts Intels New Albany semiconductor manufacturing plant will reportedly receive $1.5 billion in direct funding. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Intel will receive funds to set up factories in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon. According to the Wall Street Journal, Intel will receive at least $1 billion in funds later this year. Incidentally, Intel was to reportedly receive $8.5 billion. However, Intel received a separate $3 billion contract in September this year. Besides boosting domestic chip production, Intel will use the funds to develop national security products and military applications. In addition to Intel, six companies will receive a total of $19 billion. The Biden administration has earmarked a total of $39 billion in funding under the CHIPS Act. The current US government will likely make more such announcements about disbursing the remaining funds before 2024 ends. Actor Luke Evans has said he has terrible anxiety over insecurities about his body, despite staying fit for physical roles. The 45-year-old told the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast that despite his muscular appearance, he still didnt want to take my t-shirt off on a recent trip to the beach. During his career, Evans has played hunter Gaston in the 2017 live action adaption of Beauty And The Beast, Count Dracula in Dracula Untold (2014) and American Second World War aviator Wade McClusky in Midway (2019). Evans said the anxiety had come despite staying fit for physical roles (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Welsh actor explained on the podcast: Inside, I still sometimes go to the gym and just feel very anxious. I look at myself in the mirror and just go, you dont look good enough, or youre letting it go. I look at my face the terrible part of my industry is that youre just reminded constantly of the decades of film youve done when you had not a crease on the face and not one grey stubble, whereas all my stubble is now grey. And just so many things I keep being reminded of, so Ive had to learn to be kinder to myself, but I have terrible anxiety about feeling good enough physically. Part of that isnt completely bad, I think it gives you a little something to fight for, but it can be overwhelming. Ive been on a beach just recently and I didnt want to take my t-shirt off. I dont want to be in that place. I know I shouldnt feel like that, but you know, we are sensitive creatures, were very delicate. As hard as I may look, I am quite delicate. He went on to say that if he was not an actor he would probably let it all go, as: Staying fit and in a certain physical fitness level now is definitely doing my job. Its finally here! My new film #WeekendInTaipei is now playing, only in theaters! As a thank you for the support, Im giving away free tickets to see the film. Use code LUKETAIPEI for TWO free tickets at @AtomTickets while supplies last! https://t.co/V6sTwMp3Tf pic.twitter.com/KyGxANUqIM Luke Evans (@TheRealLukevans) November 9, 2024 Evans added: I wouldnt care so much, but it is part of my job. I get cast in certain roles that require a certain amount of physical strength and aesthetic. Its been good because its probably kept me on the straight and narrow. It comes after the actor released his book Boy From The Valleys: My Unexpected Journey this month, which sees him speak about being bullied in his youth and his sexuality. The full interview can be heard on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, available on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts. An acclaimed pianist and a childrens writer are among the Northern Ireland artists to benefit from funding to support new projects that will showcase their work to local and international audiences. The Major Individual Awards (MIA) worth up to 15,000 are being presented by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland with National Lottery funding. They are the highest-value awards bestowed by the Arts Council each year. Pianist Ruth McGinley, childrens writer Derek Keilty, author Richard ORawe, visual artist Ian Cumberland and violinist Darragh Morgan have been awarded the grants to develop new works. Pianist Ruth McGinley will visit Iceland as she develops a new album (Arts Council NI/PA) Ms McGinley, from Londonderry, will spend time in Iceland and receive mentorship in composition as she develops a new album. Mr Keilty will write his first novel for adults as well going on a book tour of the US to promote his Ivy Newt childrens book series. Mr ORawe will write the third novel in the Ructions OHare series and carry out research by visiting France, London and Dublin. Visual artist Mr Cumberland will realise an ambitious new interdisciplinary project by blending traditional art techniques with emerging technology such as AI. Mr Morgan will use his grant to develop a recording of works for solo violin and the Ulster Orchestra. He will record works by four living composers from Northern Ireland Brian Irvine, Frank Lyons, Bill Campbell and Ryan Molloy. Gilly Campbell, from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: Five immensely talented artists who have already made a significant contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland and beyond. Each artist will benefit greatly from being able to take time out to concentrate on new, ambitious, high-quality projects with the financial backing they need to produce work of lasting value. This game-changing award, made possible thanks to the National Lottery players, will help to cement their national and international reputations as artists, and strengthen the positive cultural profile of Northern Ireland, both at home and abroad. The five join a list of artists who have previously benefited from the Major Individual Awards. A 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militants has commenced, with both sides withdrawing from southern Lebanon. The deal, announced on Tuesday night, comes after nearly 14 months of fighting. Brokered by the US and France, the agreement is designed to provide a permanent end to the conflict, US President Joe Biden said following the announcement. But Israeli ministers insisted it would resume strikes on Lebanon if Hezbollah breached the terms of the ceasefire, while the deal does not affect Israels continuing war with Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the deal as long overdue, saying it would provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed. He said: Now, this deal must be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild. The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. My statement on the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah. pic.twitter.com/ZAxApKpJIT Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 26, 2024 We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid. The announcement of the deal follows a day of intense Israeli air strikes in Beirut, with local authorities saying at least 24 people were killed in the bombardment while Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel. Recommending the ceasefire to his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal would isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus more on Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah and has staged attacks on Israel in recent months. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the announcement offered hope and must become a turning point that builds momentum towards a lasting peace across the Middle East. He said: The UK was the first G7 country to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah in September and we have worked relentlessly since with our allies and partners to apply pressure to end this conflict since. We strongly urge all parties to use this agreement to open a pathway to a lasting peace. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the ceasefire will enable tens of thousands of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, and to put an end to the violence and destruction of this conflict. He added: Our support for Israels security remains ironclad, and so does our support for Israels right to defend itself from Iranian-backed terrorist organizations like Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas. (The US) will consult closely with our international and interagency partners to support the implementation of the ceasefire. While aid organisations have welcomed the ceasefire, they have also called for it to be made permanent and extended to the conflict in Gaza. Amelia Whitworth, head of policy, campaigns and youth at the childrens charity Plan International UK, welcomed news of the deal. She said: It is essential that all parties respect this ceasefire so that vital humanitarian aid can be delivered to the children and families that desperately need it. Ms Whitworth added: Todays agreement must act as a vital step towards a sustained, permanent ceasefire both in Lebanon and across Gaza and the wider Middle East region. The horror must stop immediately, all children deserve to enjoy their childhood free from the threat of violence. Paras Tamang, global humanitarian director at ActionAid, echoed her comments, saying the ceasefire would provide temporary relief for civilians but was not an acceptable long-term solution to the crisis. Mr Tamang said: Whilst air strikes may stop for a while, the fallout from these attacks will continue to be felt for years to come. More humanitarian aid is needed to help the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything. According to the UN, more than 3,700 people, including 240 children, have been killed in Lebanon since the latest round of fighting began in October 2023, while around 900,000 have been displaced. Colombias president said his country will impose visa requirements on British citizens in response to the UK Governments decision to impose visa rules on Colombian visitors. The changes, which came into force at 3pm on Tuesday, mean visitors from Colombia will now need a visa to travel to the UK. Colombian nationals will also need a transit visa if they need to pass through the UK to travel on to another country. On Tuesday evening, Colombias leader Gustavo Petro said his country will adopt similar rules under the principle of reciprocity. Si el Reino Unido ha restablecido la necesidad de visas para el pueblo colombiano, tengo que decir que por el principio de la reciprocidad, el gobierno colombiano pedira visas a los y las ciudadanas britanicas que quieran venir a Colombia https://t.co/btr4exz8ND Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 26, 2024 He wrote in a post on X: If the United Kingdom has reinstated the need for visas for the Colombian people, I have to say that by the principle of reciprocity, the Colombian government will ask for visas from British citizens who want to come to Colombia. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the decision was made in the wake of a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims and high rates of refusals of visitors at the border since November 2022. In a written statement to Parliament, she said: We are taking this action due to an increase in the number of Colombian nationals travelling to the UK for purposes other than those permitted under visitor rules since the visa requirement was lifted in November 2022. This has included a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims, and high rates of refusals at the border due to people travelling without the intention of visiting for a permitted purpose. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (PA) The rise in claims and refusals has added significantly to operational pressures at the border, resulting in frontline resources being diverted from other operational priorities, Ms Cooper said, as she stressed the decision had been taken solely for migration and border security reasons. Our relationship with Colombia remains a strong and friendly one. Any decision to change a visa status is not taken lightly and we keep the border and immigration system under regular review to ensure it continues to work in the UK national interest, she added. The move means plans to allow Colombians to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from Wednesday, for travel to the UK from January 8, will no longer be introduced. There will be a four-week, visa-free transition period for those who have already booked travel to the UK prior to 3pm on Tuesday, where visitors are due to arrive in the UK no later than 3pm on Christmas Eve. Expats and Britons with family in Lebanon said they were relieved by the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah but their fears of further violence remained. Ahmed Hankir, 42, a professor in psychiatry, said his elderly parents were forcibly displaced to Beirut after the fighting escalated in September and that the couple planned to return home to south Lebanon now the 60-day ceasefire had commenced. But Professor Hankir said his parents, who did not wish to be named, had faced significant risks including an Israeli strike on their area on Tuesday just hours before the ceasefire was announced. He said his parents, who have been staying with their daughter in Hamra, central Beirut, were terrified by the attacks. When I gave them a video call yesterday, it was terrifying, Professor Hankir, a visiting professor at Cardiff University who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, told the PA news agency. There was a building that they wanted to target specifically, which is only a few blocks away from where my parents were staying. They were praying to God that they dont get killed. Professor Ahmed Hankir said his parents had been staying with their daughter in central Beirut (Ahmed Hankir/PA) Professor Hankir said he was relieved but concerned that the ceasefire agreement could be fragile and feared for the long-term impact on the Lebanese people. Were relieved, of course, but theres always the concern that this is fragile, that there will be a violation of the terms of the ceasefire, he said. Theres a ceasefire, OK, were immensely grateful for that, but now we need to recover and regenerate and rebuild and heal. If it holds, the ceasefire deal which does not include Gaza will bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war. Alan, a British national who moved from London to Lebanon in 2005 and did not wish to share his surname, said the ceasefire reinforced his decision to stay in the country. Currently living in Tripoli, the 77-year-old went against advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urging British nationals to leave the country when fighting escalated in September. The ceasefire brings a sense of relief and also reinforces my decision not to join the lemmings who abandoned ship, he told PA. It has been a bad time for those in the south of the country, and in other Shia (Hezbollah) areas like south Beirut and Baalbek. Here in the north, in Tripoli, there has not been any change, apart from apartment rentals soaring to over 1,000 dollars a month as refugees from bombed areas have arrived. But he added that coming into winter, the cold weather was making life difficult. In the last week, temperatures have dropped from 20C to low single figures, making life difficult for anyone living under canvas, here or in Gaza, he explained. We are getting electricity two hours a day, occasionally four hours, so keeping warm is a challenge even in a house. We do have local generators but with the economic situation, paying 0.60 dollars per kilowatt hour is a problem when you only earn around 400 dollars per month I installed solar power three years ago so I am covered to some extent but not totally with the colder days. The initial two-month ceasefire requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Israel has said it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the terms of the deal. An explosion at a block of flats which left one man dead and three people injured is not suspicious, police have said. Graham Green, 50, was in the flat where the blast happened at Kellie Place, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, on Sunday October 6 at around 6pm. He died at the scene and three other people, a 49-year-old woman and two men aged 19 and 72, were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries. The explosion ripped part of the roof off and left a gaping hole in the first floor. Police Scotland said on Wednesday: Following a multi-agency investigation into an explosion at a property in the Kellie Place area of Alloa on Sunday, October 6, 2024, no suspicious circumstances have been established. Graham Green, 50, was pronounced dead at the scene. Following a post-mortem examination his death is not being treated as suspicious and a report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal. Gas distribution firm SG earlier ruled out their gas network as the cause of the blast. Former Conservative leader Lord William Hague has been elected as the next chancellor of Oxford University. Lord Hague beat a number of high-profile candidates, including Sarah Everard Inquiry chief Lady Elish Angiolini and Labour peer Lord Peter Mandelson, in the race for the historic position. It comes after fellow Tory Lord Chris Patten announced that he would be retiring after more than 20 years in the role. Lord Hague will be inaugurated as chancellor early in the new year and he will serve for a term of 10 years, the university announced on Wednesday. Lord Hague beat a number of high-profile candidates for the historic role (Chris Jackson/PA) Staff and alumni voted online for the first time to elect the chancellor a post which has been in place at Oxford for 800 years. The chancellor is the titular head of the university and they preside over key ceremonies, and they also chair the committee to elect the vice-chancellor, who leads the university. In the final round of voting, Lord Hague received 12,609 votes, 1,603 more than second-placed candidate Lady Angiolini, chairwoman of the inquiry into Sarah Everards killer Wayne Couzens, who received 11,006 votes. Lady Angiolini, who is the outgoing principal of St Hughs College in Oxford, and Baroness Jan Royall, outgoing principal of Somerville College in Oxford, had both hoped to become the universitys first female chancellor. Labour grandee Lord Mandelson and former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve were also among the final five candidates. In the first round of the election, members of the Convocation, which consists of Oxford University alumni and staff members, cast their votes for 38 candidates who had successfully applied for the role. The alternative transferable vote system where voters could rank as many of the candidates as they wanted was used. It is the greatest honour of my life to have been chosen by my fellow Oxonians to serve as Chancellor of our university. pic.twitter.com/1Yjo8hTKDv William Hague (@WilliamJHague) November 27, 2024 Overall, 24,908 alumni and staff members cast their votes in the second round of the election for the final five candidates. Votes were transferred from lower ranking candidates until the winning candidate achieved more than 50% of the vote. Mr Grieve was eliminated first, followed by Lord Mandelson and then Baroness Royall. Lord Hague, who graduated from Magdalen College in Oxford in 1982, said: Thank you to my fellow Oxonians for placing such confidence in me. I regard being elected as the chancellor of our university as the greatest honour of my life. I pay tribute to the other candidates, in particular for their commitment to the future of Oxford. What happens at Oxford in the next decade is critical to the success of the UK. Lord Hague, who studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford and was president of the Oxford Union, added: My heart and soul are in Oxford and I will dedicate myself in the coming years to serving the university I love. In his candidate statement to be chancellor, Lord Hague highlighted the importance of freedom of speech in higher education. He said: Oxford should be a place of open debate as it was for me in the Union based on learning from the arguments of others. Violence and prejudice should be countered through the rigour of reason, not the comfort blanket of cancellation. Oxford minds should be ready for the great debating chamber of the world, not the echo chambers of the like-minded. Lord Hague also warned in his campaign manifesto that the UK was heading for a crisis over higher education funding and he said solutions were needed for how the state finances universities. He added: I have secured large donations for many causes, speech-making is in my nature and I am not averse to wearing robes. Professor Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of Oxford University, said: I am delighted to welcome Lord Hague back to Oxford as its 160th chancellor. On behalf of the entire university community, I heartily congratulate him on being elected. I would like to extend my gratitude to the four unsuccessful candidates for their dedication and willingness to serve. William is a great friend to Oxford and is someone who I know will serve and represent this magnificent institution with dignity and vigour. David Lammy has insisted he will be gracious to Donald Trump despite his previous comments disparaging the incoming US president. As a backbench MP in 2018, Mr Lammy had described the then-president as a tyrant and a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath. Those comments, and others, have led some to suggest the now-Foreign Secretary would be unable to maintain a good relationship with Britains closest ally once Mr Trump is sworn in in January. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he would be gracious to Donald Trump (Leon Neal/PA) But challenged by members of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday over his previous comments, the Foreign Secretary said he was not looking back but looking forward. Mr Lammy told the committee he had enjoyed meeting Mr Trump in New York in September, along with the Prime Minister, saying he had been a very gracious host and the trio had had good discussion and a laugh in places. He said: I will do everything possible on behalf of the British people in relation to our national interests, and that is working with our close ally. And just as he has been gracious to me, I will be gracious to him. That was the way I was brought up in the great part of London called Tottenham and the great city of Peterborough you are gracious to those who are gracious to you. He also hailed his relationship with the incoming vice-president, JD Vance, saying they had met and had talked extensively about their books and their understanding of impoverished communities. Later, Mr Lammy insisted that the US would comply with Natos mutual defence agreement, despite doubts about Mr Trumps commitment to the alliance. The incoming president has previously suggested he would not defend delinquent Nato members who were spending less than 2% of GDP on defence, while his nominee for defence secretary, Pete Hesgeth, has said the defence of Europe is not our problem and called for Nato to be scrapped. But on Wednesday, Mr Lammy told MPs he was really confident that the US under Mr Trump would meet its obligations under Article 5 of the Nato treaty, saying his pushing and cajoling of Europe on defence spending was in line with previous presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower, John F Kennedy and Barack Obama. He said: The rhetoric is tough and exacting under Donald Trump, and the global community can look back and can see that. He wants a deal. Ive met him, hes certainly not a loser. Im quite sure that Nato as we understand it, the best alliance of countries the modern world has seen, will continue and go from strength to strength. Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he is taking a project truth approach to calling out Sinn Feins spending pledges as fears over future economic threats took centre stage in the Irish General Election campaign. Election results on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean have set the background for the final stretch of campaigning for Irish parties ahead of polling day on Friday. Donald Trumps presidential election victory in the US has brought heightened concern that his administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Irelands economic model. Mr Harris, leader of Fine Gael, has argued Ireland and other EU countries need to prepare for the possibility of trade shocks as he criticised the scale of Sinn Feins spending pledges as well as their saving plans. He said: I think that is irresponsible, I think it is dangerous and I think it is reckless. He accused Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald of not being able to say what her party was prepared to do in the event of an economic crash, adding that Fine Gael would borrow and stop putting money towards a rainy-day fund. Asked if the party was engaging in project fear to dissuade voters against Sinn Fein, Mr Harris said: I call it project truth. Its telling people whats being discussed right across European capitals. Ms McDonald told an RTE interview on Wednesday morning that a Sinn Fein government would also be prepared to start borrowing in the event of an economic downturn. Both Mr Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who were partners in the last coalition government in Ireland, have made clear they will not countenance Sinn Fein as a potential partner in the next administration in Dublin. One day after the only three-way debate featuring the leaders of the main parties, Mr Martin accused Sinn Fein of being dishonest about how they will fund their manifesto plans. Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, he said he is anxious to get clarity on the issue. I think Sinn Fein have been very dishonest, frankly, in terms of the funds, because if you go through their figures, and this is a matter of fact, not opinion, theyre predicting a surplus of a billion in 2026, a billion in 2027. Even in 2025, theyre talking about a mini budget, which would mean reducing the surplus that were anticipating in 2025. Theres a legislative obligation now on any new government to put 0.8% of GDP to one side, and into the funds. Theres no way you can do that with a surplus of a billion in 2026 or 2027, and we would argue they would not have enough funds next year either to put into the funds. He added: It means they have no room to manoeuvre if things go wrong, if theres headwinds come externally, or there are shocks internationally, Sinn Fein is not allowing any headroom at all in terms of room to respond or to move it. Ms McDonald accused the other two parties of conspiring to keep Sinn Fein out of government and prevent change in Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald, Micheal Martin and Simon Harris took part in a three-way leaders debate on RTE television (Niall Carson/PA) She said the two men were now indistinguishable from each other as she claimed they were suffering acute amnesia in regard to their records in government. On a visit to Naas fire station in Co Kildare, she said: To listen to them, youd imagine they had just arrived on the scene and that they were going to come up with all of these solutions. They have had ample chances, ample opportunity, to make things better, and they have failed, and in between the two of them I make the case that now we ask for our chance, with our plans, with our team, to demonstrate how change can happen, how your community, your family, yourself, can be supported when the government is actually on your side. Mr Martins and Mr Harris coalition partner Roderic OGorman, the leader of the Greens, issued a warning to the public over a future government without his party. On Wednesday, he said it is looking likely that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will be returned to government but cautioned they may not want the Greens to continue fighting hard on policies. He told reporters: My sense is certainly the mood music from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is that theyd like an easier life in the next government and my concern is they use these small populist parties and right-wing independents. Mr OGorman argued that the Greens could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin during a press event (Brian Lawless/PA) As the Green leader suggested that relying on independents would be unstable, Mr Martin has also argued that too much fragmentation would lead to incoherence in government. Reflecting on Tuesday nights debate, the Fianna Fail leader said the race remained too close to call while Mr Harris said it is all to play for. The leaders of Irelands three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in the last televised debate before Fridays General Election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, saw the parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day. The latest opinion poll on Wednesday put the parties in a tight grouping, with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein and Fine Gael in joint second. After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Irelands Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power with the Greens as a junior partner. From 2016 to 2020, Fianna Fail had supported Fine Gael in power through a confidence-and-supply arrangement from the Opposition benches in the Dail parliament. Sinn Fein won the popular vote in 2020 but a failure to run enough candidates meant it did not secure sufficient seats in the Dail to give it a realistic chance of forming a government. Garda families will feel sickened at Mary Lou McDonald positioning herself as a champion of the Irish police, Simon Harris has claimed. During robust exchanges on law and order during the RTE debate, and in particular last years riots in Dublin, Mr Harris made reference to the fact that former Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris had, in 2009, collected Garda killer Pearse McAuley from the gates of prison after his release. McAuley, who died earlier this year, was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the manslaughter of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, who was shot dead by an IRA gang during a raid on the post office in Adare, Co Limerick, in June 1996. Mr Harris made the remarks after Ms McDonald had heavily criticised Fine Gaels handling of the justice portfolio, particularly how Justice Minister Helen McEntee had dealt with the Dublin riots. Justice Minister Helen McEntee (David Young/PA) In the aftermath of the violent scenes of last November, the Sinn Fein leader declared no confidence in both Ms McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. She reiterated her criticism of Ms McEntee during Tuesdays Prime Time debate. In response, Mr Harris said: I think there will be many Garda families at home finding it quite sickening that Mary Lou McDonald is now the champion of An Garda Siochana. Thats the first thing. Im not ready to take a lecture from you on law and order. My party has never had a TD who has collected a Garda killer from the gates of prison. First point. Second point is this your position was to immediately blame the head of the guards rather than the rioters, and you carried out a press conference at a crime scene. That was your approach. How do I use this to my political advantage? That was your approach. And the public saw right through it. Ms McDonald had earlier defended her response to the Dublin riots. The state lost control of the streets of our capital city on that occasion, thats unacceptable and that, by any measurement, is a measure of failure. I dont know what else it is, she said. I, at the time, was very critical of Minister Helen McEntee. I stand by that position. She added: How anybody could imagine that it is a badge of success to have that level of violence, and law and order breakdown, and the fear that it brought and the criminal damage that it meant. And, remember, people live in the inner city, its not just a thoroughfare. These are peoples neighbours. And then Helen McEntee, the minister from Fine Gael, walks through the streets accompanied by a whole battalion of gardai to proclaim that the streets are safe. Well, heres the reality. People who live in the capital, and Im a Dubliner, I love my city, Im proud of my city, but as we speak, on the watch of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, people no longer feel safe walking the streets. The party leaders had been asked why it was taking so long to send the Dublin rioters to prison, compared with the speed of the response in Great Britain to this summers bouts of disorder. Mr Harris said his partys drive to increase Garda use of facial recognition technology and body-worn cameras would help expedite investigations. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said there was a problem with Irelands criminal justice system. Mr Martins party has signalled a strong desire to take on the justice brief if re-elected to government. There is a need to change the criminal justice system, he said. I think we need to strengthen our bail laws, particularly in terms of rape and sexual assault and other violent offences. I think there is a problem. I mean, objectively looking at it, if you look what happened in the United Kingdom, where, after the rioting there and so on, people were arrested and behind bars within a month or two. Our criminal justice system, weve a written constitution and so on, but its taken 12 months for the first conviction after those Dublin riots, which were very serious riots where the state lost control of the streets of Dublin at a key moment and for a number of hours. Asked if that was a criticism of Fine Gael, Mr Martin replied: Its an objective, honest analysis. The leaders of Irelands three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in their final televised debate before the general election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, featured Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, and Irelands deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. The parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day on November 29, which is likely to set the scene of Irish politics for the next five years. (left to right) Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) The latest opinion poll put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for that party. Ms McDonald took aim at current coalition partners Mr Martin and Mr Harris for their respective parties roles in handling the financial crash and its aftermath. In the more than 90-minute debate on Irish national broadcaster RTE, Ms McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fail, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael. Echoing words spoken earlier in the debate by Mr Harris, she said: There are people watching this programme who still bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity. He had said that lessons had to be learned from the financial crash, adding that Fine Gael had never crashed the economy and was now proposing the least amount of spending when compared to the other two parties. Mr Martin said he learned from his time in Government during the financial crash. Ms McDonald retorted: I know you did, sure you authored it. Mr Martin said he kept with public service and would always put the country before his party. He also said Sinn Feins enormous tax increases would destroy Irelands enterprise economy. The exchanges came amid the backdrop of the US presidential election, with compounding anxieties that the next administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland. Mr Harris warned that the risk of a trade shock is real while Ms McDonald argued it was not smart to paint up a doomsday scenario around US President-elect Donald Trumps next term. During the debate, the leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael again ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Fein after the election. Ms McDonald said Tweedledum and Tweedledee seemed to believe they were the only ones who should really be in Government. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris (Niall Carson/PA) Asked why the public should believe Mr Martins pledge on Sinn Fein having previously u-turned on ruling out a coalition with Fine Gael, he said there are fundamental differences between his party and Ms McDonalds. Speaking to reporters after the broadcast, he said such a question was a scare tactic to frighten the middle ground. Elsewhere, Mr Martin said Fianna Fail had taken radical action while holding the housing portfolio. It came after Irelands Housing Commission called for a radical reset in housing policy. Mr Harris argued that housing is the number one priority, as he sought to contextualise comments from a former Fine Gael housing minister, Eoghan Murphy, who has said the party had not made the policy area its focus. Mr Harris said Mr Murphy was referring to an era dominated by concerns over Brexit. Ms McDonald said the Government parties do not recognise the scale of the problem in Irelands housing deficit and accused Mr Martin of crucifying first-time buyers. However, she was unable to give a guarantee that banks would back one of her partys key proposals in the sector. Pressed on whether banks would definitely lend to home buyers under a Sinn Fein scheme where people would not own the land under the house, Ms McDonald said: Weve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. She added: At no stage has the banking Federation said that we will not lend into a scheme of this nature. Elsewhere, Ms McDonald said the two coalition leaders should feel very ashamed over the Governments record on carers and disability. Mr Martin and Mr Harris defended their policies while setting out plans for increased investment in the sector. On healthcare, the Fianna Fail leader insisted that emergency departments are safe after investment to tackle overcrowding. His remarks come after the death of teenager Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, ahead of the General Election on November 29 (Niall Carson/PA) Aoife, 16, died at UHL in 2022 after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis. The health portfolio is currently held by Fianna Fail minister Stephen Donnelly. Asked if her death was a terrible indictment of Government, Mr Martin a former health minister said: Its a terrible indictment of the hospital and what happened there, and the need for reform, and change in governance in the hospital. Also a former health minister, Mr Harris made a pledge in 2017 that waiting lists would be reduced for child scoliosis surgeries to four months which has not come to pass. He said Fine Gael made a clear commitment to fix waiting lists for child scoliosis once and for all. Ms McDonald was asked about long waiting lists for healthcare services in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein is in Government. Ms McDonald said the British Treasury is not minded to fund the place correctly, but added that there had been a huge emphasis on the healthcare allocation by the Executive. She further accused the coalition parties of allocating a derisory amount towards mental health. It came after Mr Harris accused Ms McDonald of laughing and sniggering during the debate on such services. Ms McDonald denied this and said: I am aghast at the brass iron neck youre demonstrating. Mr Harris said there needs to be a holistic approach, multi-year funding and reform in mental health services. In the election, Ireland will choose more members of parliament, known as TDs, than ever before. It comes after a recommendation to increase the number of TDs from 160 to 174 to account for a boom in the population. The number of constituencies has increased from 39 to 43. After polling day, the protracted process of counting ballots by hand will begin. As Ireland uses a system of proportional representation, the voting slips need to be counted several times an undertaking which can last for days. Mishal Husain, one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4s Today programme, will be leaving the corporation in the new year. The 51-year-old journalist, also a host of The Today Debate and who fronted several 2024 general election debates for the BBC this year, joined the broadcaster more than 25 years ago. Husain is moving to front a new interview series at financial and data media company Bloomberg, as editor-at-large of Bloomberg Weekend Edition. Mishal Husain with then-prime minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during the BBC head-to-head general election debate in June (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) She said: My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4. I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best. Husain first joined the BBC as a producer in 1998, before becoming a presenter on BBC World News in 2001. She has delivered news reports on BBC News At Ten and BBC News At Six as well as being the BBC journalist to interview the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their engagement in 2017. BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness said: Mishal leaves the BBC with an incredible journalistic legacy. After more than a decade on the Today programme she is going with our gratitude and affection and we wish her the best of luck in her new chapter. I very much hope the BBC and Mishal will get the chance to work together again one day. Earlier this year, Martha Kearney signed off her final Today programme after six years, as Womans Hour host Emma Barnett joined the show. Since 2013, Husain has been a presenter of the Today Programme. Mishal Husain pictured with John Humphrys when she began at BBC Radio 4s Today programme (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) She has made documentaries on the life of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, the 2011 Arab Spring, the late Queen and Pakistani campaigner Malala Yousafzai. Husain said: I am delighted to be fronting a new interview show that will reach audiences in different formats as part of the exciting plans for Bloomberg Weekend Edition. Ours is an ever more complex world but the desire for thoughtful conversations crosses all borders. I look forward to working with a new team at Bloomberg the place which gave me my first job in journalism. The latest BBC annual report revealed Husain earned between 340,000 and 344,999 during the 2023/24 financial year. Husain, who has also done stints on BBC News interview show HARDtalk, as well as the corporations former Sunday politics programme The Andrew Marr Show, won the best individual contributor to radio at the Voice Of The Listener And Viewer (VLV) ceremony in 2018. She has worked in the US, Middle East, South Asia, Singapore and China, and the BBC said she was the first reporter to enter the school attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2014. Husain has also been hailed as the interviewer politicians dread by The Guardian after she challenged the Home Secretary James Cleverly over his reported use of a swear word, earlier this year. Editor of Today, Owenna Griffiths, said: Mishal is not only a formidable journalist and first-rate presenter, she is an extremely generous and thoughtful colleague. It has been my great privilege to work alongside her and, along with the Today team, Ill miss her enormously but wish her all the very best in her new venture. Andhra Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday condemned the arrest of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das. The Jana Sena leader took to 'X' on Wednesday to condemn the arrest and appeal to the Bangladeshi government to stop atrocities on Hindus. "Lets all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das by the Bangladesh police. We urge and plead with the Bangladeshi Govt under Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus," posted the actor-turned-politician. He reminded the government in Dhaka that the Indian Army shed its blood for the formation of Bangladesh. "The Indian Armys blood was spilled. Our resources had been spent and our Army jawans lives had been lost for Bangladeshs formation, he wrote. "We are deeply disturbed by the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted," Pawan Kalyan added. He had made a similar comment last month while greetings Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Diwali. "My heartfelt Diwali greetings to Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Especially for Hindus in Bangladesh, may Lord Ram give you the strength and courage to face the situation you are in. We all in Bharat are looking forward for your safety and stability and you are there in our prayers," he wrote. The Jana Sena leader also hoped that the world community and global leaders would reach out to Hindus who are being persecuted in Pakistan and Bangladesh. "Today on Diwali day, lets all pray for the safety of Hindus who are getting persecuted in both Bangladesh and Pakistan. May Dharma be restored in their lands," Pawan Kalyan added. The Deputy Chief Minister also reacted to a song by a child from Pakistan. "This song by a Hindu child from Pakistan reflects the deep pain of the Partition. And the longing for reconnecting to the soul of Bharat," he wrote in his comment on a post. Mohamed Al Fayeds daughter has been cleared of robbing her brother of his phone after the prosecution offered no evidence. Camilla Fayed, 39, previously pleaded not guilty to robbing Omar Fayed of his 1,900 iPhone in the gym of the familys Grade I listed estate, Barrow Green Court, near Oxted in Surrey, on May 18 2020. She was accused of a single count of robbery alongside her husband Mohamad Esreb, 44, Matthew Littlewood, 35, and Andrew Bott, 52, in relation to the same alleged incident. Mr Esreb and Mr Bott pleaded not guilty to the charge at a hearing in May, and Mr Littlewood denied the count at the beginning of a hearing at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday. Mohammed Al Fayeds daughter Camilla Fayed leaves Guildford Crown Court at an earlier hearing (Yui Mok/PA) A trial was due to start in February next year but on Wednesday the prosecution offered no evidence in respect of all the defendants. Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told the court: I advised the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) on quite a number of issues and ultimately the decision was made due to a combination of factors. Ms Marshall said there were difficulties around material provided directly from the complainant himself. Judge Patricia Lees said: In those circumstances then the court will enter not guilty verdicts in respect of each defendant. As far as they are concerned they are discharged from the court. Ms Fayed, of Park Lane, central London, did not attend the hearing on Wednesday but Mr Esreb, also of Park Lane, Mr Littlewood, of Haydock Road, Colburn, North Yorkshire, and Mr Bott, of Coppice Wood, County Durham, appeared via a video link. Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed died last year at the age of 94. After his death, allegations emerged accusing the late businessman of sexually abusing women, many of which had been employees at Harrods. Manchester City defender Nathan Ake said his side must show character if they are to end their winless streak after Feyenoord scored three times in the final 15 minutes to claim a 3-3 draw in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium. City are now six games without a victory but appeared to be cruising towards three points before being stunned by the Eredivisie side, who hit them with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko to fight back from 3-0 down. Two goals from Erling Haaland, one of them a penalty, and one from Ilkay Gundogan had the 2023 European champions three up after 53 minutes as they sought the win that would help to get their ailing season back on track. After the team collapsed in the closing stages, Ake called on his team-mates to show their mettle if their campaign is not to wither away. Speaking to Amazon Prime, he was asked whether he believed the the teams problem is a mental one. Maybe it is, he said. It is difficult to say. Obviously we have not been in this situation many times but this is where we have to show our character. When everything seems to go against us and everyone is writing us off, we have to stay strong mentally, believe in ourselves and stick together. Every season there is a period when they write us off. We have to make sure we stay strong as a team and staff and make sure we get out of it. The draw leaves City with work to do if they are to secure one of the eight automatic spots in the last 16 of this seasons Champions League. They are currently 15th in the table, two points outside of the top eight, and will need positive results in their next two games against Juventus and Paris St Germain to keep their hopes alive. They then face Club Brugge in their final league match on January 29. The result at least ended a run of five straight defeats in all competitions ahead of Sundays Premier League showdown with leaders Liverpool at Anfield. When you are three goals up it feels like a defeat when you give up three goals at home, said Ake. It is tough now, a tough night, but the only thing we can do is look forward to the next one. Liverpool is a big game and it is another challenge to overcome. (We were) 3-0 up and we played quite well and were under control, but then it all changed. You just have to stay strong mentally. At 3-1 they then push on but I think we need to go for it a bit earlier so we could keep the pressure on them, but we stayed playing at the back and maybe invited more pressure on us. Then when you concede the second one there is even more pressure and then we have to stay stronger mentally. Tia Larsen in Alice in Wonderland, at Shakespeare North Playhouse - Kristian Lawrence Lewis Carrolls much-loved childrens novel Alices Adventures in Wonderland seems almost purpose built for the stage. With its sympathetic child heroine, its parade of gloriously outlandish characters, and, of course, its many opportunities for wonderful costumes and sets, it is a gift to theatre-makers. Sad to say, however, Shakespeare North Playhouses new version directed by Nathan Powell is excruciatingly misconceived, and squanders that gift unforgivably. Whether by accident or design, adapter Nick Lanes new script mounts a series of dreadful assaults on the magic of Carrolls opus. Succumbing, perhaps, to the modish obsession with contemporary relevance, Lane has created a sequel to the book in which Alice is now a middle-aged, working-class woman living with her two children in Prescot. After falling through the floor of a shop while buying Christmas presents in the Merseyside town, Alice finds herself not only back in Wonderland, but, preposterously, dressed in the iconic sky-blue-and-white pinafore she wore during her childhood adventures in Carrolls surreal netherworld. This desperate shoehorning of the enchanted Wonderland into a badly misjudged and drearily quotidian storyline is just the opening salvo in the productions war against the novel. The ditching of the child protagonist kills off the books primary means of generating a sense of identification among young audiences. Worse still as four young actors costumed as cards take on narrative duties to Helen Carters grown-up Alice it becomes clear that Powell and Lane have been unable to decide whether their show should be a work of family Christmas theatre, a musical or a pantomime. In the end, they appear to have opted to make it a stuttering and shambolic combination of all three. Alice in Wonderland, at Shakespeare North Playhouse - Kristian Lawrence The ludicrously attired Carter wanders around a Wonderland that is now ruled by the Duchess, who has come to power by tricking her sister, the Queen of Hearts. The new ruler is not only a despot who has banned Christmas, she also makes pronouncements regarding levelling up Wonderland, making it great again and, even, opening up new pork markets that connect her less-than-subtly to politicians of the right on both sides of the Atlantic. This awkward stab at political relevance is joined to a series of feeble references to contemporary culture, ranging from BBC childrens channel CBeebies to Eastenders. The plays songs are forgettable at best, while the strand of pantomime-style audience participation is (often embarrassingly) forced and quite contrary to any effort to sustain a narrative. The four actor-narrators including the talented Martha Godber as the Duchess, among other roles make brave attempts to play the tales considerable panoply of characters. Unfortunately, they are required to do so wearing unlovely outfits that would be more suited to a fancy-dress party than a professional theatre stage. Ultimately, no amount of youthful energy can save a production that is utterly lacking in coherence, conviction and charm. Until Jan 11. Tickets: 0151 433 7156; shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk Angela Rayner meets His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican, in Rome - Meta Angela Rayner has met the Pope in the Vatican in her first trip abroad since appointing a foreign affairs adviser to boost her profile overseas. The Deputy Prime Minister hired a civil servant as an international policy adviser in September. It was reported that the new role had been created to help Ms Rayner build links with ministers from other countries and raise her profile on the world stage by organising foreign trips. Sources said at the time that it was sensible for Ms Rayner, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to deputise for Sir Keir Starmer on foreign and diplomatic matters if necessary. Pope Francis waves to the crowd during the weekly general audience at St Peters Square - TIZIANA FABI/AFP On Wednesday, Ms Rayner visited the Vatican, where she met the Pope. She said: I was honoured to be able to greet His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning. Pope Francis has shown great leadership on addressing the global issues of our time and building bridges of dialogue among faiths. It appears to be her first official visit to a foreign country since the adviser was appointed. It is the first post on her social media accounts from a foreign country since September. Chris Trott, Britains ambassador to the Holy See, said on Wednesday: Thank you DPM [Deputy Prime Minister] for your visit. Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state - VATICAN POOL/GETTY Ms Rayner is also due to speak at a joint UK-Italy event hosted by the British embassy in Rome on Thursday. It forms part of the Pontignano Conference in the Italian capital, which aims to strengthen UK-Italian ties in response to shared challenges. It is customary for Britains deputy prime minister to attend the conference, with Oliver Dowden attending in 2023. Ms Rayners visit to Italy meant that she was absent when Kemi Badenoch criticised her workers rights reforms during Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. The Tory leader told the Commons: Following his Budget, the head of McVities has said that it has been harder to understand what the case for investment in the UK is. So while the Prime Minister has been hobnobbing in Brazil, businesses have been struggling to digest his Budget. Isnt it the case that the Employment Rights Bill shows that it is not only the ginger nut that is causing him problems? In response, Sir Keir accused Mrs Badenoch of carping from the sidelines and defended his attendance at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last week. The school said the footage was found by new leadership, who then shared it with the police - BBC Autistic pupils were abused and locked in padded isolation rooms in a north London school, CCTV has shown. Footage seen by the BBC shows children being pushed and thrown to the ground, pinned up against walls or left sitting in vomit. The treatment at Whitefield School in Walthamstow, which was rated as outstanding by Ofsted before the abuse was uncovered, was reminiscent of torture, according to one safeguarding expert. A police investigation into the footage, which was taken inside the special schools calming rooms between 2014 and 2017, ended with no charges being brought. The CCTV appears to show pupils in distress, with some hitting themselves while left for several hours at a time. About 40 children with learning disabilities and severe mental disorders were confined for hours in the rooms typically without food or drink. Credit: BBC It was only when one of the children threw their shoes at the cameras that staff at the school intervened, with one teaching assistant appearing to strike the child. The school said the footage was found by new leadership after the rooms had been shut. They then shared it with the police. Six of the families agreed for the footage, which was uncovered by the BBC, to be made public. After watching it for the first time, one mother said: It broke my heart. You wouldnt even do that to a dog. Ricardo Gloria, whose son attended the school and was placed in the calming rooms, told BBC Radio 4s Today Programme: It was like a prison cell. He added: Its an everyday struggle, and added that the impact had changed the whole family. Theyre being defeated... its torture Current government guidance states removing disruptive pupils from classrooms in England must be for a limited duration and facilities must be suitable. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, said the Whitefield School footage must lead to profound change and described it as jaw-dropping. Elizabeth Swan, a safeguarding expert, said it was easily the worst footage she had seen. She said: You look at the children and theyre being defeated and responding to that treatment with self-injurious behaviour, its torture. The existence of the CCTV footage did not become public until 2021, when it was revealed an investigation had been launched after a box of USB memory sticks containing 500 hours of disturbing footage had been discovered. The existence of the CCTV footage did not become public until 2021 when it was revelaed an investigation had been launched - BBC The Department for Education said what happened at Whitefield was deeply disturbing and that it was looking at ways to strengthen guidance. The Flourish Trust, which runs Whitefield, said it had learnt from the failings of the case. Ofsted said responsibility for investigating the harm caused to children following its discovery of the rooms lay with the Department for Education, as the regulator, and Waltham Forest council. Although it failed to investigate after Ofsteds inspection, Waltham Forest said it will now commission a local case review, which it says will be wholly independent. It added that it had not asked to review CCTV at any point because it was unaware any existed. Kemi Badenoch acknowledged public anger over migration had cost the Conservatives support at the last election - House of Commons Kemi Badenoch has admitted that the Conservatives got it wrong on immigration in her first major speech as party leader. Mrs Badenoch accepted responsibility for the failure of the previous government to bring down net migration and pledged to rebuild trust with voters. Speaking in Westminster, she suggested migrants should be stripped of access to benefits and public services and vowed to bring in an annual cap on the number of new visas. Mrs Badenoch also said she would consider leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and striking a new Rwanda-style deportation plan. She warned the rate of net migration in recent years had made integrating new arrivals impossible and said that could mean the ties that bind us start to fray. The Tory leader said that the address marked the start of a new approach to immigration, after the failure of politics over the past 30 years to tackle the issue. She acknowledged public anger over migration had cost the Conservatives support at the last election, when the populist Right-wing Reform UK party surged. The speech was an attempt to draw a clear dividing line with Labour on the issue ahead of the publication of fresh migration figures on Thursday. Statistics for the year to June, a month before Labour won power, are expected to show a sharp drop in the number of people moving to Britain. Mrs Badenoch said any fall would be the result of a Tory crackdown on visas announced in December 2023, but that numbers remained far too high. Tory leader: We made mistakes During the last Conservative administration, we promised to bring numbers down. We did not deliver that promise, she said. We may have tried to control numbers but overall we did not deliver. As the new party leader, I want to acknowledge that we made mistakes. On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I as the new leader accept responsibility and say truthfully we got this wrong. Mrs Badenoch said the Tories would review every policy related to migration, including membership of the ECHR and repealing of the Human Rights Act. But she warned quitting the convention would not be a silver bullet, adding that its not even the most radical thing were probably going to have to do. She also pledged a strict numerical cap on migrants, with visas only for those who will make a substantial and clear overall contribution. But she would not say whether the cap would be set in the tens of thousands, a promise made by Lord Cameron in 2010 but never delivered upon. Mrs Badenoch said the Tories would also look at curbs on the access of migrants and any dependents to welfare and public services. We have to look after the people who are in this country, the British citizens, first, she said. Our welfare system is not an international welfare system and we have organised it in such a way that other people have been able to take advantage of it in an unaffordable manner. The new Tory leader also unveiled plans to publish more data on migration so that for the first time everyone can see the real costs and benefits. That could include crime statistics broken down by nationality and the net economic contribution made by different groups of migrants. Fightback against Reform Mrs Badenoch said she would make it harder for migrants to get a British passport and would take a zero tolerance approach to deporting foreign criminals. Her speech included a clear nod to the rise of Reform UK, after the party syphoned off millions of Tory votes at the last election. The political class cannot pretend that immigration comes only with benefits and no costs when we can all see the pressure on housing, roads, GPs and wages, she said. We must be honest. The failure of politics over the last 30 years has been to gloss over it or make it a fringe issue. That has to stop. Speaking alongside her, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said he was troubled that more than a million people in the UK could not speak English. He said that the Tories would scrutinise the argument that Britain must accept high levels of net migration in order to sustain economic growth. Mr Philp pointed to figures showing that just one in seven non-EU visas issued over the past five years was for work, with the rest given to migrants dependents and international students. The shadow home secretary also cited Office for Budget Responsibility figures which showed that low-paid migrants are a net drain on the taxpayer. The truth is, the vast majority of recent arrivals did not come to work, he said. Mass, low-skilled migration reduces productivity and makes public finances worse. Responding to the speech, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said the Tories had broken their promises on immigration at the past four elections. Why on earth would I or anyone else believe them now? he asked. Dame Angela Eagle, Labours minister for border security, said it was welcome the Tories finally accept that immigration spiralled out of control on their watch. She added: Kemi Badenoch offers no new ideas or alternative to her partys failed policies of the past. The Conservatives wasted hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayers cash on the Rwanda gimmick, and its clear they would do it all over again. The Tories have learnt nothing. Low-skill mass immigration must end it costs the taxpayer money By Chris Philp This morning the ONS will publish the latest net immigration figures for the year to June. I am expecting them to show a fall, based on the policies the Conservative Government had implemented to cut numbers. But as the new Shadow Home Secretary, I also want to be honest: immigration was and remains far too high. Since 2010, net migration has added 3.7 million to our population. That is more than the population of the whole of Wales, or the equivalent of eight new cities the size of Liverpool. Recently, net migration has exceeded 700,00 per year and the gross arrival numbers have reached 1.2 million per year. The acceleration started in the 1990s under Tony Blairs Labour government but immigration at this scale is not acceptable. It puts pressure on public services and on housing. And large-scale immigration, especially without integration, also strains the fabric of society. For a country to succeed, it needs a shared identity and a shared culture. I am concerned our identity and culture are under serious threat. Over a million people in the UK cant speak English either well or at all. For some nationalities, adult workforce participation is at or below 50 per cent, with even more stark differences for women. In many parts of London, over 30 per cent of the population have arrived in the last 20 years. In one part of east London, 73 per cent of school children do not speak English as a first language. So we must start by frankly recognising a painful truth: some of the mistakes of the past were made by past Conservative governments. Yesterday, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch stood up and said that. In our speeches, Kemi and I said that a generation of political leaders have got immigration badly wrong. We also outlined the key principles we will work from as we develop detailed immigration policies that will substantially cut immigration and protect our sense of national unity and cohesion. We will ensure that only people who contribute economically to this country will be welcomed. Businesses cannot be allowed to reach for mass low-skilled cheap migrant workers while millions of working age British people are economically inactive. Low wage immigration, which has been allowed to happen, is bad for productivity and actually costs the taxpayer money. Only those who make a clear economic contribution will be allowed to come to Britain, says Chris Philp - Ben Whitley/PA Wire Instead of mass low wage immigration, we need to see many of the nine million economically inactive working-age adults already here get to work not least through a tougher benefits system. We also need to see more investment in technology and mechanisation to make our workforce more productive. For example, South Korea has nine times the robot density in manufacturing that we do. To make this happen, our detailed policies will centre around several essential elements. There will be strict numerical cap, with work visas only for those who will make a substantial and clear overall contribution. Low-skill mass immigration must end. Our approach will be fully transparent approach, publishing all the data, so that everyone can see the real costs and benefits of different types of migration. We will reconsider citizenship and settlement - making the path to a British passport a privilege to be earned not an automatic right. We will have zero tolerance for foreign criminals remaining in the UK. We will ensure an effective deterrent for illegal migration, so that those coming here illegally cannot be allowed to stay. We will look at the whole system, including reviewing our membership of the ECHR, in order make sure that we can deliver what the British people expect dramatically lower legal migration; only those with high skills and who will integrate coming here; and no illegal migration. It is my job to turn these broad principles into a detailed and deliverable plan that will win back the trust of the British people at the next election. In the meantime, we will also hold the government to account. Labour cannot be trusted on immigration. They voted against our plans to control illegal immigration 134 times during the last Parliament. Labour has already suspended our plans to further increase the salary threshold for family visas from next April. Their reckless cancellation of the Rwanda deterrent scheme before it had even started has seen small boat increase by 23 per cent since the election. Labours promise to end hotels for illegal immigrants is also in tatters the Immigration Minister admitted last week that far from closing the hotels, they are in fact opening up new ones. Unlike Reform, we will not offer simplistic slogans that are not backed up by proper plans that will work in practice. Reducing and controlling immigration is a serious matter, and we approach it seriously and professionally. In any case, a vote for Reform just delivers a Labour government as we saw last July. We will take the time needed to get this right. Come the next election, the public will see our detailed plan, see that it is serious, and see that it will work. Chris Philp is the shadow home secretary IRGC soldiers on parade in Iran - Abedin Taherkenareh/Shutterstock Since October 7, the unthinkable has become reality. Anti-Semitism, already a shadow over Jewish communities, has escalated into something even more sinister. Hamass massacre of over 1,200 Israelis in a single day of unfathomable brutality has been compounded by a surge of riots, threats, and open calls for Jewish blood. Each chant of From the River to the Sea, each synagogue targeted, and each veiled justification for hate cloaked in the language of justice delivers the same chilling message: this is not just about Israel; it is about Jews everywhere. In the UK, Jewish schools and synagogues now require constant security, and at times police, protection. Families hesitate to wear visibly Jewish symbols or enter certain areas. The fear is palpable. Many Jews no longer feel safe. And yet, where is the political resolve to protect them? Where is the leadership to ensure that no minority community lives in fear in Britain in 2024? The Iranian regime, through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), plays a critical role in fuelling this hatred. The IRGC is not only a driver of global terrorism but also a key architect of anti-Semitism. Two years ago, Britains security minister confirmed that the Iranian regime had compiled a list of prominent Jewish people in the UK to target in the event of a war with Israel. This was not idle rhetoric; it was a direct threat to British Jews. The consequences of inaction are clear. Just this weekend in the UAE, the murder of a rabbi allegedly linked to Iranian operatives exposed the IRGCs reach and intent. Such threats are not confined to the Middle East. The IRGCs influence extends to Europe, where it has plotted attacks against Jewish targets, including in London. And yet, despite these undeniable risks, the UK has yet to fully proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. This omission is indefensible. It sends a dangerous message: that those who incite violence and hatred against Jews can operate with impunity. Political leadership must rise to meet this moment. Proscribing the IRGC is not just a matter of standing with Israel; it is about protecting Jewish citizens in Britain and safeguarding our democracy from those who seek to undermine it. The chants on our streets, the threats to Jewish synagogues, shops, and schools, and the brazen acts of anti-Semitism are not happening in isolation. They are emboldened by the IRGCs propaganda and resources. This moment feels deeply personal for me. Just over a month ago, my great-grandmother, Lily Ebert, passed away at the age of 100. A survivor of Auschwitz, she devoted her life to teaching the dangers of hatred and the importance of standing up to it. Her message was simple: hatred starts with words, and if left unchecked, it grows into violence. But her message was also about something greater. She understood that anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish issue; it is a warning sign for society. First, they come for the Jews, but history is clear: if unchecked, the whole of the West is next. Anti-Semitism is to democracy what a canary is to a coal mine a forewarning of whats to come. The resurgence of anti-Semitism in Britain and the failure to address it feels like a betrayal of that lesson. It is a betrayal of the promise made after the Holocaust: Never Again. Words are not enough. The UK government must act decisively. Fully proscribing the IRGC would send a clear signal that we will not tolerate the spread of hatred and violence, whether it comes from individuals or state-backed organisations. The IRGC represents a clear and present danger. Proscribing it is not just a symbolic gesture; it is a necessary step to protect Jewish communities and uphold the values of tolerance and democracy that define our society. The canary in the coal mine is singing. The question is: where is it safe to be a Jew? The answer depends on whether we listen or once again, allow history to repeat itself. Prof Mark Holmes, Cambridges head of department for veterinary medicine, said the possibility of losing RCVS accreditation was concerning Cambridge Universitys veterinary course may be stripped of its professional accreditation after regulators raised concerns over animal euthanasia and student welfare. The course, which was ranked fourth in the UK by the QS World University Rankings 2024, failed to meet 50 out of 77 standards when inspected earlier this year. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the regulator of Cambridges veterinary medicine bachelors degree, raised serious concerns about quality after conducting a site visit in May. It has downgraded the courses accreditation and warned it could remove it entirely unless standards improve, meaning Cambridge could be barred from enrolling new veterinary students. Loss of accreditation would also prevent graduates from being automatically eligible to register as a vet without obtaining further qualifications. In a 59-page report, investigators from the RCVS said they had ethical concerns about the treatment of farm animals and, in some cases, their automatic euthanasia. It said the universitys large animal isolation facility does not yet appear fit for purpose, and that multiple sources had warned that this meant animals requiring isolation would automatically be euthanised. Students told they made too many complaints Cambridge students told the inspection panel that their complaints were often dismissed, with some reportedly told by staff they were making too many complaints or encouraged not to pursue complaints formally. Staff also told investigators that students need to sometimes man up instead of reporting issues while on work placements. The RCVS document, first reported by The Guardian, added that students reported being subjected to racism and behaviour which undermines their resilience and self-confidence An emergency motion tabled at the Cambridge Students Union on Monday warned that next years veterinary course intake will be the last unless it makes serious improvements. In an email to students this week, Prof Mark Holmes, the head of department for veterinary medicine, said the possibility of losing RCVS accreditation was deeply concerning. Prof Holmes and Prof Jon Simons, Cambridges acting head of school of biological sciences, said: To address the serious issues raised, the university will immediately bring in external expertise. While we recognise the RCVS report will cause concern, it is important to be clear that we remain accredited. We will do everything we can reasonably do to support students to complete their course and receive full accreditation. Veterinary degrees in the UK are granted recognition by the Privy Council after being assessed by the RCVS. The regulator updated its accreditation standards in 2023. Cambridge University was awarded full accreditation in 2020, and the RCVS was not expected to visit again until 2025 subject to satisfactory annual monitoring reports. However a five-day visit was arranged in May this year after the RCVS found a lack of progress made relating to previous accreditation reports and annual monitoring considerations, according to the inspection document. The regulator will conduct a further site visit in September next year and could downgrade the course to terminal accreditation status if improvements are not met across 50 categories. An RCVS spokesman said: Given the problems identified and the impact these will have on student learning and experience, education committee members firmly agreed on the need to help the vet school support both existing students on, and future applicants to, the Cambridge veterinary programme. Anthony Odiong after his arrest in Florida in July. Photograph: Waco police A Roman Catholic priest with links to Texas and Louisiana who is facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing his position of authority within the church to pursue sex with vulnerable women fathered at least two children with them, authorities have alleged. The stunning information about Anthony Odiong surfaced at a bail hearing on Tuesday in Waco, Texas, where prosecutors have charged him with several counts of sexually assaulting women to whom he ministered. Odiong requested a reduction of the $5.5m bail on which he is being held in custody. But a judge denied that request after prosecutors established Odiong had communicated plans to flee to his native Nigeria if he were released while simultaneously airing the most complete account yet about the alleged double life he had built. Authorities are not interested in Odiongs status as a father in the biological sense because Catholic clergymen are required to abstain from sexual activity. Instead, they perceive the children as proof that Odiong had a pattern of pursuing women he met in his role as a priest, which is a felony in Texas. Related: Texas files more sexual assault charges against Catholic priest accused of preying on women DNA evidence presented at the hearing concluded there was a more than 99.99% chance that Odiong was the father of offspring who was created as a direct result of [a] sexual assault committed against a known survivor in the US. Prosecutors on Tuesday asked Waco police detective Bradley DeLange who has been investigating Odiong for months at the hearing whether the clergyman and the alleged victim who birthed one of his children had engaged in sexual intercourse within the last calendar year. Yes, DeLange said. They shared a pregnancy scare in June. Officials also made reference to a second child fathered by Odiong a minor the Guardian has reason to believe is living in Nigeria. Both children, younger than 18, were born during Odiongs career in the priesthood, which began in the 1990s and saw lengthy stretches under the command of Catholic church officials in Texass capital, Austin, and adjacent Louisianas best-known city, New Orleans. Odiong, 55, is facing a total of five charges of sexual assault in the first degree and two more such counts in the second degree in connection with three separate women. DeLange testified that he had confirmed nine alleged victims of Odiongs across the US and abroad and had two others that he had identified as recently as Tuesday morning. There is no indication that any of the three women at the center of the charges against Odiong are the mothers of his children. Yet prosecutors and police believe Odiongs progeny was relevant because the mother of at least one of the children gave birth during the period of time that he allegedly committed his charged crimes. He could face life imprisonment if convicted of any of the first-degree charges. Plans to flee While some of Tuesdays hearing focused on Odiongs children, other parts dealt with his ability to flee to Nigeria and therefore beyond Waco authorities reach if given the chance. DeLange testified under oath in a two-hour hearing that Odiong was constructing a luxurious home in his native Nigeria to which he could flee if he were to be granted bail. He also has a wealth of money including from congregants who still believe in his innocence that could aid any potential escape from the law. But exactly how Odiong has accumulated his wealth is the subject of a parallel, ongoing financial crimes investigation, Texas law enforcement officials said in a separate statement. Many of the priests past congregants packed a courtroom gallery on Tuesday. According to DeLange, Odiong sees himself as above the Catholic hierarchy and has managed to raise substantial funds directly from his congregants through claims of healing and spiritual guidance. Prosecutors asked the detective if he was forcing his followers to donate to his defense. DeLange said it wasnt forced, but did describe the situation as an abuse of faith. Some of Odiongs followers confirmed their aid for him was indeed not forced, testifying on Tuesday that they would be able and willing to contribute up to $25,000 to cover their priests bond. He is a dear friend of myself and my family, said Rose Ann Vanek, who testified she would assist Odiong financially if he were to be released. While she testified, she grinned at Odiong, who smiled and nodded back. Thank you, father, she said. We love father. DeLange further testified that Odiong had placed monitored calls from jail to his followers, telling them that he planned to escape to Nigeria if he managed to get out. Citing the content of the calls, DeLange added that the faith doctrine Odiong preaches to his followers which implements non-Catholic religious beliefs predicts an imminent apocalyptic coming of the apostles in Africa. Odiong intends to eventually speak directly with Donald Trump and advise him on that apocalypse, DeLange testified. He attended Tuesdays hearing in handcuffs and a black and gray jail jumpsuit. A naturalized US citizen with an American passport, Odiong has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Odiongs attorney insisted on Tuesday that his client would not be able to flee the country because his Nigerian passport had expired. Judge Thomas West rejected that argument, keeping Odiongs bond amount at $5.5m. Not every past Odiong congregant at the courthouse was there to support of him. Nonetheless, Wests ruling prompted one spectator to gasp, Are you kidding me? The Waco civil attorney, Robert G Callahan II, who is representing some of Odiongs accusers, issued a statement Tuesday hailing Wests decision. The denial of bond sends a critical message that abuse of power and trust will not be tolerated, Callahans statement said, and it marks an important step toward justice. Other evasive maneuvers Prior to Tuesday, Odiong was arrested within months of the Guardian having published a report detailing prior allegations against the clergyman that ranged from sexual coercion and unwanted touching to abusive financial control. All came from women who met him through his work. Sworn police statements show that Guardian reporting from February prompted a woman to walk into the Waco police department in March and allege that Odiong had sexually assaulted her in 2012. DeLanges ensuing investigation found evidence to suggest Odiong would position himself as a spiritual adviser to women navigating personal problems, particularly marital ones and then exploit his closeness to seek sex with them. He allegedly had sexual intercourse with at least one of the women he is charged with assaulting. With respect to at least one of the other victims, Odiong allegedly convinced her to submit to anal sex with her husband despite faith-based conscientious objections to that form of intercourse and he also allegedly made her tell him all about it to satiate his alleged prurient interest. Furthermore, detectives combing through Odiongs messages via text, email and social media have said they found digital child abuse imagery in his possession. But they have not pursued formal charges in connection with those findings, choosing to focus on the sexual assault aspect of the case. Texas law allowed authorities to charge Odiong without regard to how many years had passed since his alleged crimes because of the sheer number of accusers involved in the case, even if not all led to charges. Police arrested Odiong at a home where he was living in the planned community of Ave Maria, Florida, on 16 July. He has been unable to make bail since. Odiong was ordained into the Catholic priesthood in the diocese of Uyo, Nigeria, in 1993. In 2006, the bishop of Austin, Texas, at the time Gregory Aymond allowed Odiong to transfer into the clerical ranks there and work. After a stint of apparent studying in Rome, Odiong in 2015 gained permission to work within the archdiocese of New Orleans, where Aymond had been appointed archbishop six years earlier, according to church documents obtained by the Guardian. There, at St Anthony of Padua church in the community of Luling, Louisiana, Odiong fostered a large following by hosting special masses, after which some congregants maintained they had recovered from major medical ailments. Officials within the diocese of Austin said they notified Odiong in 2019 that their institution had gotten complaints regarding [his] behavior with adult women. The organization said it then told Odiong he did not have permission to engage in priestly ministry in the diocese of Austin, even on a temporary basis and that a violation of these restrictions could necessitate making them public. The notification to Odiong, therefore, implied that the church chose to keep the allegations against him secret from congregants at the time. Austin church officials said they immediately notified their counterparts in New Orleans about the allegations involving Odiong. But, after one of Odiongs accusers had reported him to church officials in New Orleans hoping they would at least suspend him from ministry there, the archdioceses legal counsel issued a letter as late as November 2023 claiming we do not have other similar allegations against Odiong, according to copies of the correspondence that were obtained by the Guardian. However, just one month later, the archdiocese abruptly pulled Odiong out of ministry, at last announcing that allegations of misconduct with multiple women had forced the organization to remove him from his role at St Anthony in Luling. Odiong at the time sought to falsely persuade his parishioners that his removal resulted from his opposition to efforts endorsed by Pope Francis to make the church more welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, DeLange testified on Tuesday that Odiong was allegedly ordered to return to the diocese of Uyo, though he had not complied with that mandate at the time of his arrest. He also said that Odiong made calls within days of his arrest in Florida, instructing a parishioner to empty one of his personal bank accounts, pack up all of his belongings and ship them to Nigeria. The recipient of the New Orleans archdioceses November 2023 letter about Odiong and her attorney, Kristi Schubert, have demanded damages from church officials as part of an unresolved bankruptcy protection case that the organization opened in 2020 after years of grappling with litigation otherwise mostly related to clergy abuse victimizing children. Revelations spurred by that bankruptcy triggered a Louisiana state police investigation which is continuing into whether the church ran a child sex-trafficking ring in New Orleans that inflicted widespread abuse of minors dating back decades that was illicitly covered up, according to statements sworn under oath by authorities. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Dr. Ashley Evans Knowell is the 2024 Professor of the Year for SC States College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation. Note: This is the fourth and final installment in a series of articles about SC States 2024 Professors of the Year. Dr. Ashley Evans Knowell ORANGEBURG, S.C. As co-director of South Carolina State Universitys Health Equity Research and Training Center, Dr. Ashley Evans Knowell is on the frontline of improving the health of South Carolinians. Through both her work at the HERT-C and her instructional role as an SC State associate professor of biology and bioengineering science, Knowell works toward a just health system that works for everyone, including disadvantaged populations. My passion lies in empowering the next generations of African American scientists and researchers -- also empowering our communities to make informed health decisions and to advocate for themselves, she said. Knowell, an SC State alumna, is the universitys 2024 Professor of the Year for the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation (STEM-T). University Relations recently asked her a series of questions about her approach to teaching and research. Q: What has inspired you during your journey as an academic? Knowell: My family: my mother, my husband, my daughter -- they believed in me and encouraged when I felt I couldn't keep going. Knowing that people believe in me, helped me to believe in myself. Q: What led you to choose your field of study? Knowell: I originally wanted to become a family physician, but then I had my first research experience and realized that I liked it. I loved learning all the way down to the molecular level and understanding how the body works. Q: How would you describe your teaching philosophy? Knowell: Students learn what they care about from people they care about and who they know care about them. I would not be who and where I am if it were not for the teachers/professors that I encountered on my journey. I try to be that for the students that I meet along their journey. Q: What in your career are you most proud of? Knowell: I'm most proud of helping to develop and establish the South Carolina State University Health Equity Research and Training Center, where I serve as co-director. We focus on providing community-based research and training to disadvantaged populations. So far, we've done projects focusing on COVID, workplace wellness, cancer, infant and maternal mortality and started a Community Health Worker training program. Q: What has been your most exciting or valuable experience in your career at SC State? Knowell: One that immediately came to mind was taking six African American students to Barcelona, Spain, to present their research at an International Research Conference. Some students had never even flown before, this was definitely a life-changing experience for them and me. Q: Tell us an anecdote from your life that would allow people to know you better. Knowell: My commitment to education runs deep; it was inherited as I come from a family of educators, at least three generations. My grandfather attended South Carolina State University and majored in the sciences. He became a science teacher and then went on to become a principal. My commitment is also evident in my past experiences; I began tutoring as a high school student and continued tutoring throughout my undergraduate education. I graduated from SCSU in 3.5 years and then taught middle school for one semester while waiting to start my PhD program. At the college level, I instructed undergraduates throughout my graduate education, and now have been employed at South Carolina State University for 11 years. It is my vow to be the educator and mentor that I needed as a student and help my students reach their greatest potential. Knowell earned her Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in chemistry from SC State in 2006 and her Ph.D. in biology with a concentration in cancer biology from Clark Atlanta University in 2013. For more information about SC States STEM-T College, the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and all the universitys fields of study, visit www.scsu.edu/academics. Reach Knowell at aevans10@scsu.edu. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, flanked by the other four newly elected MPs of the party at Westminster. Photograph: DW Images/REX/Shutterstock Every constituency that elected a new Reform UK candidate at the general election has experienced long delays to road improvement schemes and resulting congestion, a report has found, in a possible clue to the growing appeal of populist parties. A series of other places where Nigel Farages party is now polling well are also lacking transport infrastructure, the report added, as well as a perception among locals that decisions were being made in London that made their lives more difficult could push them to abandon major parties. The report, by the consultancy Stonehaven, stressed that it does not argue that the presence or absence of a road is the root cause of populism, or recommend building these particular roads. It added: But it does argue that an absence of good transport links to the outside world especially by road is one of places where populist critique rings true. Such a demonstrable link between physical infrastructure and the rise of populist parties is particularly resonant for Keir Starmers Downing Street, where his team believe that they could lose numerous seats to Reform at the next election unless they can tangibly improve voters lives, a view shared by many Labour MPs. The report argues that roads appear to be a particularly important emblem of areas that feel left behind and failed by central government, particularly those where a lack of good public transport and the need for many people to travel to work outside the town creates regular gridlock. Reform took five seats in July with one of them, Ashfield, already held by the party, after Lee Anderson defected from the Conservatives four months before the election. Of the four other seats, the report lists Great Yarmouth, the Norfolk town now represented by Reforms Rupert Lowe, as a particularly good example of the idea, with its route towards Norwich, the A47 Acle Straight, being a single carriageway despite years of local campaigning, and 22,000 vehicles using it every day. People in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, where the MP is now Farage, are heavily reliant on the A133 road where abandoned plans to improve it are evident in ghost bridges built for a proposed scheme but never used, the report notes. Similarly, Skegness, in the area represented by Richard Tice, is in a part of Lincolnshire with notoriously poor road links and no success with campaigns to extend the M11 motorway. South Basildon, won by James McMurdock, is better connected but faces significant freight traffic, worsened by long delays to the Lower Thames Crossing. The report used constituency-level MRP polling carried out last month, which estimated that of six Labour MPs whose constituencies adjoin the A1(M) around Doncaster, an increasingly busy route not greatly improved since it opened in 1961, five would currently lose their seats to Reform. Robert Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, said the study seemingly gave a clue as to why Reform and its predecessors, Ukip and the Brexit party, tended to do disproportionately well in coastal parts of the east of England, given the often poor transport links in these areas. Poor transport was both a source of frustration in itself, but also likely to exacerbate economic decline, and encourage the exit of younger, more aspirational locals, Ford added. There was, however, one potential benefit to this for mainstream parties seeking to counter populists, he said: The A1(M) not being upgraded since 1961 is a very specific and real concern that you can address in a very specific way. Even if it isnt the only, or even the most important driver of this kind of support, it is something that politicians can actually grip. If people are saying, I dont like the way society is changing, its kind of rather hard to know what the policy response is, whereas in this case its rather easier. Dr Peter Fenwick: someone of great integrity and courage in going against the grain of conventional scientific theory Dr Peter Fenwick, who has died at aged 89, was a neuroscientist and psychiatrist and a leading authority on the phenomenon of near-death experiences or NDEs, in which people on an operating table or in a critical condition following an accident experience the sensation of leaving their body, floating down a dark tunnel towards a bright light that exudes a feeling of warmth and peace, being greeted by a welcoming presence, deceased relatives or friends, and see their life pass before their eyes, before they are returned abruptly to their bodies. Fenwick was working as a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Maudsley Clinic in south London when, in 1976, he first heard of NDEs a term that had been coined a year earlier by an American physician, Raymond Moody, in his best-selling book Life After Life. Fenwick would later recount that when he first read Moodys book he dismissed it as psychobabble. It was an American book! This had happened on the other side of the Atlantic: it would never happen in this country. I had to change my mind. A year later, a long-term patient walked into the clinic that Fenwick held at St Thomass hospital and described in vivid detail having had such an experience himself. During an operation to insert a cardiac catheter, the man told Fenwick, he had left his body and was watching what was going on in the theatre, although to the physicians he was apparently dead. He then travelled down a dark tunnel and entered the light at the end where, he said, he was held in perfect love and safety, before realising that he would die if he went on, and deciding to come back. I was able to look at him, discuss it with him and see in fact that this was no psychobabble, Fenwick recalled. It was a real experience, and that NDEs were in fact real. The study of NDEs (a phenomenon, in Fenwicks view, for which science could not provide a rational explanation) would become an important element in his lifes work, studying consciousness and its relationship to the brain in particular, as he put it, transcendent experiences which convince us that whatever science says, we are more than just the physicality of neural transmission. Fenwick and his wife Elizabeth based The Truth in the Light on a survey of more than 350 people who had experienced NDEs Through his researches, lectures, books and, latterly, appearances on YouTube, Fenwick became a pioneer in promoting an interest in the link between consciousness and spirituality as a legitimate avenue for scientific inquiry. Peter Brooke Cadogan Fenwick was born on May 25 1935, and grew up in Kenya, where his father was a coffee farmer and his mother a surgeon who ran the local hospital and inspired in her son an early ambition to go into medicine . At prep school in Kenya, he recalled, I was always playing the role of doctor if somebody was hurt; I would do the triage and then send them to see the matron. He was educated at Stowe where at the age of 16 he built an ECG machine using a circuit diagram printed in Wireless World journal and then at Trinity College , Cambridge, where he studied Natural Science. His ambition was to become a brain surgeon, but he changed his mind after observing an operation during his subsequent medical training at St Thomass hospital in London: I suddenly realised that if you were a brain surgeon you looked down a deep, dark hole into the brain, and I could see there was no fun in that. I realised I didnt want to be a neurosurgeon, I wanted to be a neuropsychiatrist, so I could talk to people and not have them unconscious while I looked into that deep, dark hole. He became a consultant at the Maudsley, the foremost psychiatric teaching hospital in the UK, with a particular interest in the study of epilepsy, and for 20 years, until his retirement in 1997, he was head of the hospitals epilepsy unit. Fenwick also conducted some of the first studies on the effect of meditation on brain activity. One of his guinea pigs was George Harrison, who had begun meditating after meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and who volunteered to have his brain waves analysed. The results showed that meditation had produced the definite changes expected. Harrison, Fenwick remembers, duly signed his electroencephalogram (EEG) record before leaving. It was only later that Fenwicks secretary pointed out Harrisons EEG record could act as Fenwicks pension fund if he had kept it. Unfortunately, he recalled, when I retired 30 years later, it had vanished. Someone else had evidently recognised the value of the 50 or so metres of George Harrisons signed brain-wave records. The arrival of the patient who had experienced an NDE was to completely expand the focus of Fenwicks work. But his initial application to the ethics committee at St Thomass for approval to conduct a research project into the phenomenon was flatly refused: One of the glitterati of the committee rocked back in his chair and laughed at me. Youre telling me that you think people who are unconscious through a cardiac arrest are having experiences? Dont be ridiculous. No, no, no ethics approval. Just like that. Instead, with a colleague, Fenwick set up a study at a hospital in Southampton to test the phenomenon of bi-location, where patients report looking down on their prone bodies on the operating table, and, in some cases, report seeing events occurring at some distant location the so-called veridical NDE. Fenwick placed cards with writing and pictures on the ceiling of operating theatres, in case they could be seen by patients leaving their bodies. The results were inconclusive, but Fenwick continued gathering data wherever he could find it. In 1988 he was the subject of a television programme, Glimpses of Death, talking about his work: it led to more than 2,000 letters from people claiming to have experienced NDEs. The Fenwicks book, The Art of Dying examined what he termed end-of-life experiences or ELEs, experiences and connections between the dying and their relatives at the time of death In 1995, Fenwick and his wife Elizabeth, a writer on health matters, published The Truth in the Light, based on a survey of more than 350 people who had experienced NDEs. Of these, 78 per cent were women and 22 per cent men. There were people of all religious denominations; eight per cent described themselves as agnostic, and only one per cent as atheist. Most experiences occurred during illnesses, usually severe. Two per cent had NDEs during a suicide attempt. Only two per cent had been aware of NDEs before their own experience. In 2008, the Fenwicks published a second book, The Art of Dying, on what he termed end-of-life experiences, or ELEs, examining the particular experiences and connections between the dying and their relatives at the time of death. The pair also published the book The Hidden Door: Understanding and Controlling Your Dreams in 1998. In 2019 Fenwick published his autobiography, Shining Light on Transcendence: The Unconventional Journey of a Neuroscientist, in which he wrote of his transformative meetings and experiences with the philosopher Alain Forget. In the course of his career, Fenwick published more than 300 scientific papers on the nature of consciousness. In 1985, along with his friends, the psychologist Margot Grey and the writer and philosopher David Lorimer, he co-founded and became president of the International Association for Near-Death Studies UK (IANDS-UK) , which later became the Horizon Research Foundation, an organisation that supports research into end-of-life experiences. Between 1985 and 2000 he was chairman of the Council of the Scientific and Medical Network, a group of scientists and doctors who use spiritual understanding to deepen their understanding of science and medicine, becoming president in 2001 and emeritus president in 2020. He was also emeritus senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, and for 10 years a Trustee of the Princes Foundation for Integrated Health, established in 1993 by the then Prince of Wales to promote complementary and alternative medicine. In his autobiography, Shining Light on Transcendence, Fenwick wrote of his transformative meetings and experiences with the philosopher Alain Forget Fenwicks contention that NDEs provided strong evidence that consciousness can survive bodily death was criticised by those in the scientific community who argued that the phenomena were the effects of anoxia, when the dying brain is starved of oxygen an explanation Fenwick dismissed as ridiculous. Pilots in flight simulators were subjected to loss of oxygen as part of their training, he pointed out. At 35,000ft you have three seconds before you lose consciousness. That is acute anoxia, and it is simulated routinely in the lab. But none of these people have NDEs. Anoxia, he said, leads to confusion and disorientation. But it is the clarity of the NDE a self-perspective seldom afforded to the normal conscious mind which appears to confound the definition of a dying brain. This was most striking in the cases of people who in the course of an NDE experienced a panoramic life review, where their life is played back before their eyes, affording not only a view of their own thoughts and actions but also a realisation of how those thoughts and actions affected others. Among the phenomena described by those who had survived the experience was an abiding feeling of peace, serenity, a deeper sense of the meaning of life, and beneficence towards their fellow man, and no longer fearing death. Fenwicks study of NDEs seemed to have a similarly transformative effect on the man himself, who appeared to manifest these qualities without having suffered the trauma of an accident or a hospital operation. Peter was a man who combined the two cardinal qualities of love and wisdom in his presence, said David Lorimer. He was someone of great integrity and courage in going against the grain of conventional scientific theory, but who never wavered in the face of criticism. Tall, rangy and snowy-haired, Fenwick was a man whose eyes sparkled with a curiosity and enthusiasm for life and a marked absence of fear of what follows it. Andrew Powell, the founder of the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, described him as a man always radiating enthusiasm and bonhomie whose favourite word was wonderful, and who lived his life in a state of wonderment. There is no death, I know that now, he told the Telegraph in an interview earlier this year. There is death of the body, but there is no death of the individual person. I dont fear it all. Im looking forward to it. Peter Fenwick is survived by his wife Elizabeth, a son and two daughters. Dr Peter Fenwick, born May 25 1935, died November 22 2024 John Swinney, the First Minister, said there was a necessity to help pensioners with their winter fuel bills - Jeff J Mitchell/PA Elderly Scots are to receive help with their fuel bills following cuts to winter fuel payments, John Swinney has suggested. At a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the First Minister said he was unable to set out the details of a new support package but revealed that measures were to be unveiled on Thursday. Mr Swinney said that his administration recognised the seriousness of the situation faced by pensioners and that there was a necessity for support. While the SNP followed the UK Government in restricting access to winter fuel payments to those on other means-tested benefits earlier this year, a boost of more than 5 billion to Holyroods finances as a result of the UK Government Budget has freed up resources. The Scottish Government is due to make a statement at Holyrood on Thursday about supporting older people with increasing energy costs. It follows Scottish Labour breaking with the UK party over the issue, backing the reinstatement of a form of universal winter fuel payment and setting out plans to force its own vote on increasing support. Mr Swinney said: The Government has been looking at all of these issues for some time, because we recognise the seriousness of the situation that is faced by pensioners in Scotland, given the colder climate here and the necessity for support. I certainly want to make sure that the Government does as much as it can to address the practical challenges and issues people face in their lives. There are possible steps that could be taken within Scotland to ameliorate the difficulties that are faced by pensioners living in a colder climate without winter fuel payments. The First Minister said he could not reveal further details owing to parliamentary rules which meant important government announcements must be made at Holyrood first. Real concern over fuel bills However, asked to confirm that more support was on the way, he said that there was real concern about fuel bills and that his Government would offer support to those who face challenges in our society. Under Scottish Labours plans, more people would become eligible for winter fuel payments but a form of tapering would be implemented so that the wealthiest would receive less than those most in need. The payments could potentially be reduced to nothing for the richest. The SNP had confirmed that it was considering reinstating universal winter fuel payments, worth between 100 and 300, from next year in its budget which will be published next week. The nationalists have claimed Scottish Labours dramatic reversal on winter fuel payments was motivated by public anger at the move, which was abruptly announced by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, in the summer. Hypocrisy on stilts The SNP has accused Scottish Labour of hypocrisy on stilts after the party previously refused to vote for the reinstatement of universal payments. However, the SNP manifesto for the 2021 elections pledged to maintain universal eligibility once the benefit was devolved to Holyrood. Paul OKane, Scottish Labours social security spokesman, said the SNP must protect struggling Scots - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Scottish Government had been due to take control of the payment this winter, but delayed the move for a year after the UK Government announced its changes. Paul OKane, Scottish Labours social security spokesman, said: Labour has delivered record levels of funding for Scotland despite the financial turmoil the Tories left behind the SNP must spend it well. The SNP must step up and use the money and the powers it has to protect struggling Scots this winter. Each time I visit a chronically unwell, frail old patient at home, would they think of it as a visit by a captain of the merchants of death?. Photograph: Phanie/Alamy The argument that the legalisation of assisted suicide in Oregon in 1997 has not started a slippery slope is dangerously misleading (Slippery slope fears over assisted dying have echoes of abortion debate, 24 November). While Oregons eligibility criteria have changed little, their interpretation has widened and safeguards have been relaxed. Oregons law, like Kim Leadbeaters proposed bill, allows assisted suicide for adults with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months. Interpretation of terminal illness has expanded such that physicians have prescribed lethal drugs to people with anorexia and arthritis. As for safeguards, Oregons 15-day waiting period (similar to that proposed in Kim Leadbeaters bill) ceased to be mandatory in 2020. The following year, exemptions were made in one in five cases; the year after that, one in four. In the first three years after Oregons law passed, 28% of those seeking assisted suicide were referred for psychiatric evaluation; in 2022, only 1%. It is also worth noting that in the first year after Oregons legalisation passed, 13% of patients seeking assisted suicide cited fear of being a burden as a motivating factor. In 2021, that figure stood at 54%. Sick, elderly and disabled people are not burdens. They are, like every person, valuable. Like every person, they need and deserve care not lethal drugs. Katherine Backler Oxford I have looked after approximately 50,000 dying patients in my career. Fewer than 20 have asked for help to go to Dignitas in Switzerland; to my knowledge, none went. Kim Leadbeaters terminally ill adults (end of life) bill has no mention of a proper palliative care assessment first. Many calls to die can be resolved without terminating a life. The bill states that patients with a prognosis of less than six months are eligible. Research shows how poor even experienced doctors are at prognosticating, often getting life expectancy very wrong. As drafted, the bill allows for the medical assistant to be in the room next door, leaving the patient potentially to be pressured by family and carers if they are wavering. Not all families are loving and benign. No mention is made about the death certificate recording the medical assistants name for later scrutiny. I have met doctors who are happy to help people die; without that audit trail, we would be setting up a legal route for the next Harold Shipman. I have grave concerns about the bill based on my experience. The answer to a good death is better palliative care as a priority. Dr Julia Riley Consultant in palliative care Having read the article by Diane Abbott and Edward Leigh, I would like to endorse their concerns about vulnerable people (Our politics could not be more different but were united against this dangerous assisted dying bill, 20 November). I have worked in the field of adult social care and dealt with cases of the abuse of elderly people, many of which concerned financial abuse. I think this bill would offer a further means for abuse to occur, and I am aware that prevention and detection of such abuse is very difficult. I hope that this bill will not be passed and that the needs of severely and terminally ill people will be met through proper palliative care services. Janet Evans Llandudno Junction, Conwy As doctors, we took an oath to first do no harm to our patients. Though modern medical schools eschew this oath, the principle of primum non nocere remains ensconced as a pillar of good medical practice. Doctors take a dim view of other doctors intentionally harming their patients, which is why the case of Harold Shipman putting an end to his elderly patients filled everyone with revulsion. Surgeons, of course, cut patients. However, this is not with the intention of harm but to heal. And yet, if you wanted to trust someone with killing a patient humanely, who would you call? GPs will receive requests to sign off on patients thought to have less than six months to live. Realistically, who would be able to argue that someone is ineligible? Where would the line be drawn? Could a 20-year-old severely depressed patient be as eligible as a bed-bound nonagenarian with end-stage dementia? And when would a need for assisted dying become an obligation? Of course the benefits of having patients assisted to death would be numerous. We would no longer need to monitor some of our chronically ill patients. If palliative care beds arent available, we could offer death instead, granny dumping in A&E will be a thing of the past, and hospital beds could be unblocked by offering death as a management option. However, each time we visit a chronically unwell, frail old patient at home, would they think of it as a visit by captains of the merchants of death? Would they trust us with their lives? Dr Stuart Reiss GP in London, Dr Basilio Hernandez GP in Oxford Your article (What are the key issues in the assisted dying bill debate?, 22 November) makes the worryingly common mistake of overemphasising the role of hospices and palliative care specialists in end-of-life care provision. An increasing number of people die outside hospital in the UK. Most are looked after by community nurses with the support of GPs, backed up by specialist palliative care teams who advise when necessary luckily it usually isnt necessary to involve them, in my experience. If, as taxpayers, we want to improve community palliative and end-of-life care, our first priority should be to invest more in community nurse teams, where recruitment and retention are extremely challenging. Of course, improving access to specialist palliative care would be good, too, especially services that provide advice and care in peoples homes, but please can commentators stop talking as if the need for good end-of-life care either should or could be met by all-round hospice care, as Gordon Brown (Spending time with people in their final days showed me that we need not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care, 22 November) appears to think? Louisa Polak Retired GP, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk The main argument in favour of the assisted dying bill has been based on cases where people have suffered extreme pain. The bill itself, however, does not address this issue. (The only reference to pain is in the requirement for a review of the working of the act in five years time.) There is instead a huge leap from arguing that without the bill people will suffer great pain, to saying that anyone with only six months to live may have medical support to end their life. As many have argued, the first response to suffering should be to improve palliative care. The reliance on an expected lifespan of only six months is in any case weak such prognoses are not always reliable. The whole concept, which also underlies the withdrawal of full care at end of life, seems to be that if there is only a short while to live, why not go now? This is a gross misunderstanding of life. As in many other matters, the principle of supply and demand applies. If a commodity is in short supply, it becomes more valuable. If you only have a few months to live then every day becomes more important. This is true not just for the patient but for those around them who can share their company. Suicidal intentions are generally seen as a mental health problem that needs to be addressed. Why is this any different in the (presumed) last six months of life? Practically anyone who is facing a terminal diagnosis is going to feel depressed and this is going to distort their decision-making. Yet for many there may well still be good days to be had, visits and phone calls from family and friends being the most obvious. If in a period of depression the patient has been helped to end their life, those good days will never happen. Raymond Smith Dorking, Surrey Have an opinion on anything youve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. David Neuberger said he believed the status quo was failing. Photograph: Paul Slater/Alamy The former president of the supreme court who ruled on the most high-profile assisted dying cases has declared his support for the law change, as MPs backing the bill say they believe they have the numbers for Fridays historic vote to pass. David Neuberger, who ruled against high-profile assisted dying applications including Debbie Purdy in 2009 and Tony Nicklinson in 2015, told the Guardian he believed the status quo was failing the fundamental aims of the law to respect peoples right of personal autonomy, and to protect the vulnerable. Neuberger said his experience sitting on cases involving assisted dying meant he was confident the tight terms of Kim Leadbeaters bill that it would apply to only those who are terminally ill could not be expanded by judicial challenge. Both sides in the debate have been making their final calls to MPs in the last days before the vote, with dozens still telling colleagues they are undecided. The Guardian can reveal MPs are also preparing to announce a new independent commission on palliative care spearheaded by the Labour MP Rachael Maskell which they are hopeful will get backing from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, when it launches in December. High-profile charities backing the new commission include the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland, Hospice UK, Marie Curie and Sue Ryder, though all say it must take hearings from all sides of the debate. The focus would be on improving end-of-life care and a favoured chair is the palliative care doctor Ilora Finlay, though she has been explicitly anti-assisted dying. MPs this week have also heard impassioned pleas from disability activists against assisted dying. Pam Duncan-Glancy, the Scottish Labour MSP who uses a wheelchair, said she felt disabled peoples voices were being forgotten and wrote a letter to Labour MPs saying the state would be at risk of making it easier for disabled people to die than to access the right help to live comfortably. On Wednesday evening former prime minister David Cameron said he was in favour of the bill. Writing in the Times, Lord Cameron who opposed previous moves to legalise assisted dying said: Will this law lead to a meaningful reduction in human suffering? I find it very hard to argue that the answer to this question is anything other than yes. If this bill makes it to the House of Lords, I will be voting for it. The MPs backing Leadbeaters private members bill are understood to believe they have solidified support in recent days and now have enough to get the bill past its first parliamentary hurdle, though some support is conditional on changes at the next stage. In the first Westminster vote on the issue in nearly 10 years, MPs at Westminster have been given a free vote, meaning they can vote according to conscience. Esther Rantzen, the TV presenter who has been one of the most high-profile advocates for change, also wrote to MPs on Friday saying my time is running out but the issue was one the public care desperately about and said it might not be debated by MPs for another decade if the legislation did not pass. But a slew of new Labour MPs who could be the decisive votes on Friday came out against the bill on Wednesday evening, having not made their views public previously. Those include Imogen Walker, the PPS to Rachel Reeves, Zubir Ahmed, PPS to Wes Streeting, and Blair McDougall, a former aide to David Miliband. Lord Neuberger said that those concerned about a slippery slope after the bill passed should be confident that could not occur through the courts, saying it could only occur if MPs in parliament decided to change the law again to expand its definition beyond terminally ill adults. The European court of human rights has repeatedly ruled that legislation on assisted dying is a matter for individual states, he said. As for domestic courts, seven of the nine judges including me in the Nicklinson case held that assisted dying was a matter for parliament not the courts, he said. The present law prevents those who genuinely and understandably wish to end their lives and who need help to do so, from getting such help. It also fails to protect the vulnerable, because the blanket ban can drive terminally ill people to end their lives in secret. Another former supreme court president, Brenda Hale, and former supreme court judge Jonathan Sumption have also backed the law change. But a number of other senior members of the judiciary have voiced concern about the bill, including Sir James Munby, the former president of the high courts family division; and the former lord chief justice Lord Thomas, who has warned no one has grappled with the detail of the impact of the legislation on family courts. About 130 MPs are already down to speak in the five-hour debate on Friday and at least four amendments have been submitted, sparking fears speeches will be severely limited. Duncan-Glancy, who has been meeting MPs in parliament, wrote an emotional letter to her Labour colleagues asking them to reconsider supporting the bill. My opposition to the bill is based on one simple point; that it should not be easier to get assistance to die, than to live, she wrote. If this bill was to pass, the former could become the case. I know some MPs support the principle of assisted dying but that you have some doubts about what is in and not in this bill. You are right to have doubts and you are not voting on a principle. You are voting on a piece of legislation that I believe could put disabled people at risk if passed. During Covid-19, my husband and I wrote letters to say: Please do not put a DNR notice on us because such was the opinion and low value that we felt that was placed on disabled peoples lives, that we, even as supported as we are, were scared. No one should feel their existence is a burden on others. In her letter to all 650 MPs, Rantzen urges them to listen to Fridays debate and to vote, whatever their view. This is such a vital life-and-death issue, one that we the public care desperately about, so it is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments. Rantzen will not attend Fridays debate in person but her daughter Rebecca Wilcox will be in the public gallery on her behalf. Wilcox told the Guardian Rantzen had been in contact with so many brilliant families and relatives of people that have experienced trauma, Wilcox said. They are looking down the barrel of a terrible diagnosis and are just hoping for the vote to go their way so that theres more compassion and more empathy in the law. Chambers told the inquiry he wholeheartedly accepted that the Countess of Chester hospitals systems failed. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA A hospital chief executive has said he told Lucy Letby weve got your back in an attempt to calm her father who was furious that his daughter had been stopped from caring for babies. Tony Chambers said Letbys dad, John, was threatening guns to my head and wanted the instant dismissal of two senior doctors who had raised fears she was harming newborns. Chambers told the Thirlwall inquiry he tried to take the heat out of the situation by telling the nurse she had been vindicated by several reviews and that she could return to the neonatal unit. The inquiry heard that he told Letby at the end of one meeting in February 2017: Lucy, dont worry, weve got your back. Chambers admitted it was clumsy language and added: As Ive said all along, the intention here was to avoid any possible escalation and eight years on, with what we know these are the kind of things you know you didnt get right. Letby, now 34, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another seven at the Countess of Chester hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. The inquiry, led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is examining the events surrounding the rise in deaths and collapses that year, which were first identified after three sudden and unexplained deaths in just 14 days in June 2015. Chambers told the inquiry that Letbys father, John, was very upset and very angry about how he felt the nurse had been treated by the hospital when she was removed from the neonatal unit in July 2016. He said: Letbys father was very angry, he was making threats, he was making threats that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse by threatening GMC [General Medical Council] referrals, hes threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things. The former hospital boss told Letby he would make several senior doctors apologise to her after she won an internal grievance process against her removal from the premature babies unit. Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel to the inquiry, suggested Letby was attempting to take control of the situation and being deeply manipulative in the knowledge she had murdered babies. I have to say I didnt feel I was being manipulated at the time, Chambers said. It was her father that seemed to be pulling the strings as opposed to Letby herself. Chambers began his evidence by apologising to the victims families but he denied discouraging police from launching an investigation. The former hospital boss said he wholeheartedly accepted that the Countess of Chester hospitals systems failed and that there were missed opportunities to stop the nurse sooner. He stopped short of identifying his own mistakes when asked six times to give examples of his personal failures. Chambers said: Right at the outset Id just want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the families whose babies are at the heart of this inquiry. I can only imagine well, I cant imagine the impact this has had on your lives and I am truly sorry for the pain that may have been prolonged by any decisions or actions that I took in good faith. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to take part openly and honestly in this inquiry and I hope the answers can be arrived at and recommendations made. Chambers, who said he was only made aware of the deaths on 29 June 2016, told the inquiry in his witness statement: I wholeheartedly accept that the operation of the trusts systems failed and there were opportunities missed to take earlier steps to identify what was happening. De la Poer said Chambers was not identifying any personal failure, prompting the former hospital boss to concede: I take fully [sic] and accept that as the accountable officer for the trust I must take some responsibility for that, take responsibility for that. Chambers went on to deny that he discouraged the police from launching a criminal investigation when executives met senior officers in March 2017. Minutes of the meeting show that the then chief executive told police there was no evidence other than coincidence and that executives believed the unexplained deaths and collapses were certainly not criminal. What we were saying is we cant find any evidence of criminality youre the experts, please help us, he said. By the time of this meeting in May 2017, three external reviews had not ruled out deliberate or unintentional harm by Letby and several senior clinicians and the then deputy head of nursing, Sian Williams, were pushing for a police investigation. De la Poer said Chambers failed to give the police a full account of the allegations against Letby that had been raised repeatedly by consultant paediatricians. I think thats an unfair proposition, Chambers replied. We shared with the police very openly and candidly what we genuinely believed to be the position as we understood it at the time. The inquiry continues. Fatou Bensouda, who was the international criminal courts chief prosecutor between 2012 and 2021, insisted the threats against her did not hinder her work. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP The former chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda has said she was subjected to thug-style tactics, threats and intimidation while in office. Bensouda, who held the post between 2012 and 2021, said that when she was working on some the courts most politically sensitive cases she experienced direct threats to my person and family. The former prosecutor was speaking at an event in London on Tuesday evening where she made rare public remarks about hostile actions taken against her and the court during her tenure. Although Bensouda did not make this link, a Guardian investigation revealed in May how an Israeli spy chief allegedly threatened her in an attempt to prevent an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the investigation, the head of the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad ran a covert operation against Bensouda as part of a broader campaign of surveillance and espionage by Israel against the ICC. Responding to the allegations at the time, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime ministers office said: The questions forwarded to us are replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel. A military spokesperson added: The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] did not and does not conduct surveillance or other intelligence operations against the ICC. Bensouda was of intense interest to Israels intelligence agencies after she opened a preliminary inquiry in 2015 into allegations of crimes committed by Israels armed forces and Palestinian militants. She said that it was in the context of the Palestine case, as well as a separate investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, including by US military personnel, that the ICC faced unprecedented pressures. The former prosecutor insisted the threats against her and some of her closest advisers did not hinder their work. The unacceptable thug-style tactics, threats, intimidation and even sanctions did not result in me or my office failing to fulfil our obligations, she said. Bensouda, who is now the Gambias high commissioner to the UK, made the remarks in a lecture on international rule of law organised by the Bar Council of England and Wales, during which she also commented on recent developments in the ICCs Palestine case. Shortly before leaving office in 2021, Bensouda upgraded the case to a formal criminal investigation. Her successor, Karim Khan, inherited the inquiry and later accelerated it after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks and Israels ensuing bombardment of Gaza. Last week, a panel of ICC judges approved applications filed by Khan for arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the countrys former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif. However, Bensouda noted in her lecture that the warrants did not include the lines of inquiry that formed the basis of the opening of the investigation, including illegal settlements in the West Bank and the transfer of populations into or out of occupied territory. She added: It will be important to ensure the full extent of criminality in the context of this devastating conflict is fully investigated. Since the arrest warrants were issued on Thursday, the ICC has come under fire from political leaders around the world. Court officials are understood to be preparing for a second US administration led by Donald Trump, who as president targeted Bensouda in 2020 with sanctions in connection to the ICCs Afghanistan and Palestine cases. Bensouda mounted a spirited defence of the court and its mission in her lecture, insisting that it must continue to do its jobs without political interference. She warned the court itself that it must not allow political calculations to factor into its decision making and said support from the ICCs member states was crucial to insulate the court from pressure and political manipulation of any kind. Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly called Emmanuel Macron, the French prime minister, and urged him not to enact the warrant - AFP France appeared to have backtracked on whether it would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot in the country. It comes amid reports that the Israeli prime minister said France could not be involved in the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon if it planned to enact the ICC arrest warrant against him. France said on Sunday it would comply with international law, suggesting it could arrest Mr Netanyahu for crimes against humanity and war crimes under the ICC warrant. However, Israeli security officials told The Telegraph that this threatened to derail the negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was agreed on Tuesday night. France is a key signatory to the deal, and will be involved in its implementation alongside the United States. Mr Netanyahu reportedly called Emmanuel Macron, the French prime minister, and urged him not to enact the warrant. Officials said Paris could not be involved in the ceasefire deal if Israels prime minister was barred from French land. According to Axios, Mr Macron eventually relented and promised to step up support for Israel. On Wednesday, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a 60-day truce. The French foreign ministry on Wednesday made it plain that it would not arrest Mr Netanyahu, saying the Israeli leader was covered by immunity rules that apply to states which are not a party to the ICC. A state cannot be held to act in a way that is incompatible with its obligations in terms of international law with regards to immunities granted to states which are not party to the ICC, the French statement said. Such immunities apply to prime minister Netanyahu and other ministers in question, and must be taken into consideration should the ICC ask us to arrest them and hand them over, it said. The move to issue an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu prompted outrage from Israel and its allies including the US, which is not a member of the ICC and has rejected its jurisdiction - Eduardo Munoz/Reuters Pressed on the matter, Mr Barrot confirmed on Wednesday that France considered some leaders could enjoy immunity from ICC prosecution. He said France is very committed to international justice and will apply international law based on its obligations to cooperate with the ICC. But he added that the courts statute deals with questions of immunity for certain leaders. It is ultimately up to the judicial authorities to decide, he added. The comments marked the first time a top French official has evoked a possible immunity. Frances apparent shift prompted strong reactions both at home and abroad. Amnesty International called the French stance deeply problematic, saying it ran counter to the governments obligations as an ICC member. Anne Savinel Barras, president of Amnesty International France, said: Rather than inferring that ICC indictees may enjoy immunity, France should expressly confirm its acceptance of the unequivocal legal duty under the Rome Statute to carry out arrest warrants. Marine Tondelier, the leader of the French Green party, called the governments stance shameful, and said it was probably the result of an agreement between the French and Israeli leaders. Surely that was the deal, that France would get a mention in the official statement announcing the ceasefire in Lebanon that was published by France and the United States yesterday, she said on X. Again, France is bending over backwards to meet Benjamin Netanyahus demand to pick him over international justice. It was not immediately clear whether France believed that the same legal reasoning would apply to Russian president Vladimir Putin who is also the target of an ICC arrest warrant tied to the war in Ukraine. Russia, like Israel, is not a member of the ICC. Mixed reactions The ceasefire deal was met with a mixed reaction inside Israel. Israelis displaced from around the northern border remained sceptical of whether the deal would last and are hesitant to return home. Noa Segal is one of the over 43,000 Israelis in the north who remain displaced, after leaving Kiryat Shmona. She said she was not ready to go back, telling The Telegraph: It will take time, its too soon. Things are too fresh and fragile for us to feel secure yet. Israel said forces are still in southern Lebanon and patrolling the air, ready for any developments or violation of the ceasefire Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, warned Lebanese civilians not to rush home while the situation remains fragile. Just before the ceasefire started, Israel struck dozens of Hezbollah command centres, launchers, weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure sites. We wont let arms be delivered to Hezbollah, he said in the first hours of the ceasefire. We will enforce it by fire. We are monitoring the Middle East, monitoring Syria, and any method of delivering arms to Hezbollah. Gradual withdrawal Mr Hagari stressed it is a gradual withdrawal and a gradual agreement. Reinforcing the fragility of the situation, he said without a clear timeline for withdrawal, troops only leave once security is assured. We need to see that stability is maintained and that the enforcement mechanism is working, he added. On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military released a statement saying that after the 4am ceasefire began, the IDF identified a vehicle with several suspects in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory. IDF troops fired to prevent them from advancing, and the suspects left the area. A statement said: The IAF remains ready to act across Lebanese territory and the IDF Aerial Defense Array is also in a high state of defensive readiness The IDF will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the ceasefire agreement and will continue to protect the citizens of Israel. In Lebanon, the ceasefire was also met with some disappointment among those who fear Hezbollah could return. Georges Haddad, a Christian who lives in Beirut, told The Telegraph: This is not good news. I dont want Hezbollah to have more time to regroup. Iran and Iraq will provide more money, more weapons, and Hezbollah controls our borders so whatever happens, this is their chance to get stronger again. They have so many ways to smuggle. One Shia Lebanese woman from the Bekaa Valley, displaced with her young family and who asked to remain anonymous, told The Telegraph: Why did we deserve this? We are paying the price for Gaza, but thats not our cause. We have lost our homes, our work, for Gaza? What will Hezbollah do for us now? A new limit will mean, in some cases, no more than 2 can be gambled in an online slot machine game. Photograph: Nadir Kinani/The Guardian Bookmakers and casinos will be forced to fund NHS services that tackle problem gambling, after Labour rubber-stamped the previous governments plans, which also include a cap of as little as 2 on the sums that can be staked on online slot machines. The Guardian revealed on Monday that the government was poised to approve the new statutory levy, using proceeds of around 100m a year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. Related: Widow of gambling addict lambasts watchdogs failure to investigate suicides The Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed the plans on Wednesday and said it was also pressing ahead with a limit on what online casino customers can stake on slot machines. Stakes, which are currently unlimited, will be set at 5 per spin for those aged over 25 and 2 for 18 to 24-year-olds. The gambling minister, Baroness Twycross, said: Gambling harm can ruin peoples finances, relationships and ultimately, lives. We are absolutely committed to implementing strengthened measures for those at risk, as well as providing effective support for those affected. The introduction of the first legally mandated levy will be instrumental in supporting research, raising awareness and reducing the stigma around gambling-related harm. In 2022, the industrys lobby group, the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), said a compulsory levy would be a backward step. The BGC has since decided to support the levy and said on Wednesday that its members gave 50m to tackle gambling-related harm last year. The lobby group highlighted that the vast majority of people gamble safely, including on the National Lottery. It also pointed to a 2021 NHS survey that found 0.4% of the population have a gambling problem, ignoring a more recent estimate of 2.5% from the Gambling Commission. The tone of this announcement suggests the government is at risk of losing perspective of these facts, while simply dancing to the tune of anti-gambling prohibitionists, which serves no one, said the BGCs chief executive, Grainne Hurst, a former Ladbrokes executive and one-time aide to the ex-Tory MP Philip Davies. The statutory levy will replace the current voluntary system, under which gambling firms decide how much they contribute. At present, the charity GambleAware receives the vast majority of industry funding, collecting 49.5m last year. While most companies in the sector contribute significant sums, some have been known to pay as little as 1, entitling them to appear on a list of annual donors. The new levy will be set at a range between 0.1% and 1.1% of revenue, with online businesses expected to pay the higher rate because their costs are lower. Half will go to the NHS, 30% to those working to prevent harms and the remainder to UK Research and Innovation to fund research. Both the levy and the slots limit are expected to take effect next year, with online casinos given a grace period to implement the stake cap. Tractors carrying banners entered the coastal town on Wednesday - Gareth Fuller/PA Farmers driving hundreds of tractors have descended on Dover in protests against the Governments inheritance tax raid. Tractors carried banners saying Back British Farming and No farmers, no food, no future as they entered the coastal town. Video showed tractors taking up two lanes of a main road in a go-slow protest. Credit: Facebook/Sarah Overy - X/@parader4 Save British Farming (SBF), which organised the protest, said Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer had betrayed farmers with their disastrous Budget which delivered a poisonous cocktail and a hammer blow to farming. Liz Webster, the founder of SBF said that from today farmers will continue to build rallies to demand the Government drop the tax and implement other measures to protect the industry including protecting British produce. The protest comes a week after more than 10,000 farmers took to the streets of Westminster to protest against changes introduced in the budget that would mean farms over 1 million are subject to a 20 per cent inheritance tax. Campaigners said the changes would force the break up of family farms to pay tax bills, undermining the industry and threatening food security. Gareth Wyn Jones, a farmer in North Wales, said: As our prime minister stands in London defending his farming inheritance tax the farmers down south are rallying together to show their frustration and their anger towards the way we have been treated. The Government has defended its tax changes against accusations that it has underestimated the number of farms that will be hit. Sir Keir held a meeting with the head of the National Farming Union on Monday, in which the Prime Minister was said to have struck a more conciliatory tone on the changes. Airplanes taxi at San Francisco International Airport in February. On Tuesday, Mayor London Breed announced the appointment of Denver International Airports chief financial officer to lead SFO. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Mike Nakornkhet, the chief financial officer at Denvers airport, will soon helm the San Francisco International Airport, after Mayor London Breed announced his appointment Tuesday. Denver Airport media Mike Nakornkhet, the chief financial officer at Denvers airport, will soon helm the San Francisco International Airport, after Mayor London Breed announced his appointment Tuesday. Nakornkhet oversaw SFOs finances for eight years before taking a job at the Denver International Airport as its CFO and executive vice president. Now, he will return to SFO to succeed director Ivar Satero, who is expected to retire early next year after eight years in the position. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I am incredibly honored to be appointed as Airport Director of SFO by Mayor Breed and am humbled by the trust and confidence that she has placed in me to lead this extraordinary airport, Nakornkhet said in a statement. I look forward to working with the world-class team at SFO, our partners in the aviation industry, and the community to bring about transformative changes and ensure SFO remains a world-class gateway serving San Francisco. Satero announced his intention to step down in May, prompting a search for his successor. During his tenure, SFO added 26 international airlines, 25 new international destinations, and introduced the Harvey Milk Terminal 1, the worlds first airport terminal named after an LGBTQ+ leader. Satero has also been at the forefront of SFOs continuing legal battle with Oakland International Airport over airport leaders plan to rename the East Bay airport as the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. A federal magistrate blocked the name change earlier this month. Nakornkhet is in charge of financial operations at Denvers airport, the third busiest airport in the country, where he oversees a $1.5 billion annual budget and a $12 billion capital improvement plan, according to Breeds office. SFO has a $1.6 billion operating budget and an $11 billion capital improvement plan. Breed praised her appointees experience. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Myanmar military commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing - Lynn Bo Bo/REUTERS The International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmars military leader Min Aung Hlaing over alleged crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya. Karim Khan KC, the courts chief prosecutor who last week secured an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, made his application to the courts judges in the Hague on Wednesday. It is the first time an arrest warrant for a senior member of Myanmars ruling junta has been sought in connection with the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the country. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee Myanmars Rakhine state between 2016 and 2017 to escape a crackdown that has been described as a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. Around a million Rohingya refugees now live in sprawling camps over the Bangladesh border, near the city of Coxs Bazar. United Nations investigators have accused soldiers, police, and Buddhist villagers of razing hundreds of villages and carrying out mass-killings and rapes. After an extensive, independent and impartial investigation, my office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing... bears criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity, Mr Khan said in a statement. Around a million Rohingya refugees now live in sprawling camps near the city of Coxs Bazar - Allison Joyce/Getty Among the crimes were deportation and persecution, allegedly committed between 25 August and 31 December 2017, Mr Khan said. The alleged crimes were committed by Myanmars armed forces, the Tatmadaw, as well as by the police and non-Rohingya citizens, he said. He added that he intends to request more warrants for Myanmars leaders soon. More will follow, he warned. Rights groups, activists and exiled opposition politicians welcomed the move as a step towards justice for the Rohingya. The ICC prosecutors decision to seek a warrant against Gen Min Aung Hlaing comes amid renewed atrocities against Rohingya civilians that echo those suffered seven years ago. The ICCs action is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity, said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister for Myanmars shadow National Unity Government, said Mr Khans decision to seek an arrest warrant was a pivotal moment. He must be held fully accountable for every innocent life he has destroyed and the families he has torn apart, she said on X. Gen Aung Hlaing was the head of the army during the crackdown and is now Myanmars de facto ruler after the military overthrew and jailed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. He has dismissed the term Rohingya as imaginary and in October 2017, just days after the UN accused the military of driving the minority Muslim community out of the country, the general reportedly told the US ambassador that they are not the natives. Millions of people have forced to flee Myanmar to escape the countrys military junta - Esther Htusan/AP The Rohingya face continued discrimination in Myanmar, with most being denied citizenship and confined to their villages. The Myanmar military has previously claimed that the security forces were carrying out legitimate operations. A panel of three ICC judges must now decide whether they agree there are reasonable grounds to believe Gen Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the deportation and persecution of Rohingya. If they grant the arrest warrant, all 124 members of the court would theoretically have to arrest Gen Aung Hlaing if he travelled to their country. The investigators drew on a variety of evidence including witness testimonies and photographic and video materials. But the five year-investigation was hampered by a lack of access to the country and by the outbreak of a civil war that began in 2021. The military is still reeling from a major offensive launched by the rebels last year. The ICC is an independent international court that was set up in 2002 to prosecute those accused of the very worst crimes. Gen Hlaing joins a list of dozens of defendants being sought on allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Among them are Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the court over the alleged abduction of Ukrainian children, Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord, Mr Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security People wait to buy bread in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, on Wednesday as the Israel-Hamas war continues - Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Rami al-Khalidi and his four children woke on Wednesday morning as they often do: terrified as Israeli bombs rain down in southern Gaza. The 32-year-old carpenter, currently unemployed and living in a Khan Younis refugee camp because of the war, had hoped that day would be different due to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. We were following the news that there was a ceasefire in Lebanon and we thought that Gaza would be part of this agreement, but unfortunately we woke up to the sounds of intense bombing everywhere, he told The Telegraph. Mr Khalidi was not alone in thinking Israel and Hezbollahs agreement could bring about peace in Gaza. Joe Biden, announcing the deal on Tuesday, said it could serve as a blueprint for bringing about an end to a war which has killed 44,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities, and left Gaza a heap of ruins. Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble in the past 12 months - Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has agreed a ceasefire with Hezbollah - Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Hamas signalled it was ready for an end to the war after Israels agreement with Hezbollah, which an official said on Wednesday could pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza. However, an apparent willingness to bring the war to an end is nothing new and attempts to broker peace have failed several times. The fundamental sticking point blocking any deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be what a ceasefire would look like in practice. Israel has taken control of more parts of Gaza since war broke out last year, including the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border, as well as the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, believes these areas should remain under Israeli control after any ceasefire, something Hamas has refused to agree. Israel has fundamentally weakened Hamass capabilities and decimated its leadership structure over the last 12 months, culminating in the killing of the terror groups leader last month. But the reason Hamas is able to reject renewed ceasefire deals, as it did in August and October, is because it retains significant leverage: the 105 hostages held in captivity since Oct 7 2023. A protest in Israel about the 105 hostages still in the hands of Hamas - Stoyan Nenov/Reuters A queue for bread in Gaza, where hunger has been caused by a year of war - Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty The seemingly irreconcilable differences between Israel and Hamas are reflected in the despair and desperation felt by Gaza residents after more than a year of war. Salem Abu Namous, a taxi driver before the war, said he doesnt have the energy to [face] another day of war after spending much of his time in the Jabalia refugee camp, which was targeted in a recent Israeli operation against Hamas. What we have endured for a year and two months is enough, he told The Telegraph. We expected the war in Gaza to stop and for an agreement to cease fire in Lebanon and Gaza togetherI called my relatives in the south. They were crying with grief because the war did not stop in Gaza either. Now we want to understand why the war did not stop. The despair many residents in Gaza feel has not stopped Mr Namous and others from feeling happy for Lebanon. Yousef Safi, a former maths teacher from Gaza City, said he was happy the war in Lebanon had ended and that its joy is equal to our joy. Now we want the world to care about what is happening in Gaza We want this nightmare to end as it did in Lebanon. Keith Kellogg is seen as a Trump loyalist and held several positions in his first Cabinet - Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images Donald Trumps pick for special envoy to Ukraine once proposed cutting military aid to the country to force Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table. Keith Kellogg, 80, who served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during the Republicans first term, will play a leading role in resolving the conflict. Under a proposal presented to the president-elect in June, Lt Gen Kellogg suggested halting weapon supplies to Kyiv if the war-torn capital refused to engage in peace talks. Separately, Russia would be warned that not negotiating would result in increased military support for Ukraine. To further encourage Russian president Vladimir Putin, the US could agree to suspending the possibility of Nato membership for Kyiv. Lt Gen Kelloggs plan, which was co-authored alongside former Trump aide Fred Fleitz, called for the conflict to be frozen along its current front lines. As it stands, that would leave Russia in control of almost one-fifth of Ukraines territory. His paper reads: Specifically, it would mean a formal US policy to seek a ceasefire and negotiated settlement of the Ukraine conflict. The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a ceasefire or peace agreement. Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia. It is unclear whether this plan will be the one used by Mr Trump to end the war, something he has promised to do before his inauguration on Jan 20. Writing on his Truth Social website, the president-elect said: I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Keith has led a distinguished military and business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first administration. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure peace through strength, and make America, and the world, safe again! The appointment is likely to spark concerns in Kyiv and could potentially cause friction between the US and its Nato allies, if Washington opts to proceed with Lt Gen Kelloggs outlined strategy to end the conflict. The retired general appeared to beat Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence, to the position of special envoy, according to media reports. It is likely that Mr Trump picked Lt Gen Kellogg because of his loyalty. Like the president-elect, the retired general has expressed reservations over continued US support for Ukraine in a war they think the country might lose. He was an ever-present adviser on security to the Republican during his first term, even as a succession of top aides were sacked. Mr Trump once called him one of our great generals. His military experience dates back to the Vietnam War, where he won several awards for bravery. After retiring from the military in 2003, Lt Gen Kellogg went to work for a number of private defence contractors. He became acting national security adviser in 2017 after Mr Trump sacked Michael Flynn for lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US. Lt Gen Kellogg also served as a security adviser to Mike Pence, the former vice-president. Like many of Mr Trumps latest administration hires, the retired general has spent recent years at the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute. NSW police officer Kristian White has been suspended after he was found guilty of the manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, whom he shot with a Taser at an aged care home. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP A New South Wales police officer has been suspended from the force without pay after he was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home with a Taser. It came as Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White, who was found guilty by a jury over the death of Clare Nowland, returned to the supreme court on Thursday where prosecutors argued he should have his bail revoked. White had used a Taser to shoot great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who was armed with a serrated knife and threatening police and staff, at her Cooma nursing home in May 2023. She died a week later from head injuries sustained when she fell backwards from the force of the Taser. Related: Kristian White has been convicted over a 95-year-olds death. Experts say it serves as a powerful warning The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, told reporters shortly after the verdict was handed down on Wednesday that White had been on leave with pay from the police force and his employment was under consideration. In a statement released Thursday morning, NSW police said White had been notified that he was suspended without pay the previous day. Regarding the officers position in the NSW Police Force, the NSW Police Commissioner is following the procedure mandated under the Police Act 1990, s181D, the police statement said. On Thursday, Justice Ian Harrison heard arguments from the defence and prosecution as to whether Whites bail should be continued and said a sentence of imprisonment for the police officer was not inevitable. These are weighty matters and I want to consider them in detail, Harrison told the court, as he reserved his decision until Friday. The crown had applied for White to be detained while his sentence was considered. Whites defence, Troy Edwards SC, argued bail should be continued until he is sentenced, because his manslaughter offence was the lowest end of seriousness. Harrison told the court that most cases he had dealt with involved some form of intent that is nearly always coupled with one or other of emotions such as greed or punishment or revenge or passion. He said there was no intention to cause harm or serious injury in this case, even though that was the outcome. This case is different to any Ive had to deal with in the past 18 years, Harrison said. John Letby, Lucy Letbys father, was accused of threatening the chief executive of the Countess of Chester hospital Lucy Letbys father threatened to put a gun to the head of the chief executive of the hospital where the nurse worked, a public inquiry was told on Wednesday. John Letby was accused of threatening Tony Chambers, the boss of the Countess of Chester Hospital, after Letby won a grievance procedure against staff, who had her removed from the neonatal unit amid claims she was harming babies. Letby was eventually convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. But in the months before a police investigation began, doctors who suspected the nurse were ordered to apologise, and senior management were planning to restore her to the baby unit. Giving evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining how the deaths could have been prevented, Mr Chambers said he met with Letby and her parents in December 2016, after she had won the grievance procedure. Lucy Letby was eventually convicted of seven murders - Cheshire Constabulary/PA Letbys father was very angry, he told the hearing. He was making threats, that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse by threatening GMC referrals for the doctors, hes threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things. Mr Chambers said he felt that although Letby was terribly aggrieved by what had happened to her, it was her father who was pulling the strings. The inquiry was told how the chief executive later told Letby: Lucy dont worry, weve got your back, and had praised Letby for her resilience. Mr Chambers said he had not been aware that doctors were concerned that the nurse was harming babies until June 2016, just days before she was switched to an administrative role. The inquiry was told how the pattern of deaths stopped after Letby was removed from the unit, suggesting a hypothesis that she was the cause. However, Mr Chambers said that the unit was also downgraded in June 2016, meaning that younger and sicker babies were no longer admitted. He said it was unfair to compare the death rate before and after Letby was removed because criteria for admission was significantly different and warned that the unit was under significant pressure with gaps in the medical and nursing rotas. Mr Chambers said he had been shocked to hear that consultants believed that there was a killer on the neonatal unit but said that doctors had only ever presented gut feelings about Letby. Quite simply all we really knew was that thered been an unexplained increase in neonatal deaths which is unusual and there was a link to a single member of staff being on duty more times than others, he said. Chief executive acted in good faith The chief executive said he had not wanted to jump to criminality and needed to think and reflect on what else could be going on. I was acting in good faith, he added. I listened to the doctors when they raised their concerns. Its easy when you look at these matters in the context of what we now know following a four year police investigation, a trial, a retrial. But in 2016, and its probably the case even now, in the NHS the biggest cause of unnatural unexplained deaths in maternity neonatal units is not deliberate harm, but failure in systems of care. He also apologised to the parents of babies harmed by Letby but said that his time as chief executive of the Countess of Chester was demonstrably successful. Mr Chambers said he was incredibly proud of so many things that he had introduced to the hospital that had delivered benefits to patients and staff. Mr Chambers will continue giving evidence at the inquiry on Thursday. 06:09 PM GMT Thats all for today The inquiry has finished for today. Tony Chambers will continue giving evidence in the morning. Heres a recap of the evidence given by the chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby worked: Mr Chambers apologised to the impacted families. Letby worked the day after doctors told Mr Chambers of suspicions she was harming babies. The hospital reported the deaths to police but believed they were certainly not criminal. Mr Chambers said Letbys unit was under significant pressure and initial investigations found nothing at all suspicious. Letbys father threatened to put a gun to the chief executives head and pulled the strings, Mr Chambers said. Mr Chambers told Letby: Lucy, dont worry, weve got your back after he felt vindicated in his support for her, later admitting this was clumsy language. Mr Chambers said he did not believe consultants were plotting against Letby and believed their accusations were based on gut feelings. The former chief executive added that he was incredibly proud of his demonstrably successful tenure at the Countess of Chester hospital. 05:41 PM GMT Letby accusations were based on gut feelings says Chambers Tony Chambers said that the consultants had only ever presented gut feelings about Letby. Quite simply all we really knew was that thered been an unexplained increase in neonatal deaths which is unusual and there was a link to a single member of staff being on duty more times than others, he said. It was always presented as a feeling rather than really strong, it was just a gut feeling. My understanding at the end of all of this was that there were two cases that remained unascertained, unexplained, and there was a view that that in itself is not unusual. 04:51 PM GMT Chambers incredibly proud of his successful tenure as chief executive Tony Chambers said that his time as chief executive of the Countess of Chester was demonstrably successful. He said he was incredibly proud of so many things that he had introduced to the hospital which had delivered benefits to patients and staff. Not least of all the new neonatal unit, he said. One of the final things I was able to do before I finished was to get the financial business case over the line for the new neonatal unit. Mr Chambers said he stood by the decisions he had made during the period where Letby was under investigation by the trust. I was acting in good faith, he added. I listened to the doctors when they raised their concerns. Its easy when you look at these matters in the context of what we now know following a four year police investigation, a 10 month trial, a retrial. But in 2016, and its probably the case even now, in the NHS the biggest cause of unnatural unexplained deaths in maternity neonatal units is not deliberate harm, but failure in systems of care. Tony Chambers appears at the Thirlwall Inquiry - Crown Copyright 04:35 PM GMT Chambers plotted to remove whistleblowers, counsel says Tony Chambers was accused of plotting to manage out consultants Dr Ravi Jayaram and Dr Stephen Brearey by referring them to the General Medical Council in the spring of 2017. Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel for the inquiry, said referring the pair to the medical regulator was a way to get round the fact they were whistleblowers. Mr Chambers said: This was not a deliberate plan, this was not something that was being engineered or connected. The chief executive said he was exploring all options after being told by the police that doctors concerns about Lucy Letby may not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation. Wed had now what I felt to be a breakdown in the relationship between the doctors and the nurses, we were aware that the nurses felt that Letby had been treated badly, he added. I was kind of thinking: Well if there isnt a police investigation what are we doing to do? 04:14 PM GMT We were just ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances says Chambers Tony Chambers said that he did not believe that consultants were plotting against Letby. The inquiry was shown notes from a meeting he had with medical director Ian Harvey on February 14 2017, in which Mr Harvey commented that he wondered what the doctors were plotting. I dont remember anything about plots, I dont remember any discussion about plots and they certainly werent enemies any more that we were the enemies, said Mr Chambers. We were just ordinary people trying to deal with an extraordinary set of circumstances with very little or confusing information to hand. Mr Chambers said he was not the font of all wisdom and had relied on advice and guidance that he had received from pathologists which suggested the baby deaths were natural. All of the advice they were giving us was pointing away from deliberate harm, he said. They had arrived at those opinions without having to be guided to those opinions.We took those opinions in good faith. 03:22 PM GMT Tense meeting held before Letby returned to unit Mr de la Poer KC asked Mr Chambers about a meeting with consultants on 26 January 2017 in which they were told that Letby would be returning to the unit. He said: Im going to give you an opportunity to answer the allegation that some people have made that you behaved in an oppressive or overbearing or bullying way in that meeting. I want to give you the opportunity to say whether you recognise that description of yourself. Mr Chambers replied: I remember it being a very tense meeting, and I dont and I didnt really understand why. He said: I didnt feel that I was raising my voice. I certainly wasnt angry. On 10 February, the consultants sent Mr Chambers a letter and said the RCPH report identified issues but they were no worse than in other similar neonatal units. They added there was still considerable doubt about why babies collapsed unexpectedly and subsequently did not respond to appropriate resuscitation measurements. 03:10 PM GMT Chambers denies misleading hospital board Mr Chambers has also been asked about comments from the former chairman of the hospital board, Sir Duncan Nichol. Sir Nichol has previously said the board was misled by executives at the hospital, after being told there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual. Mr Chambers insisted: We would never mislead the board. 02:52 PM GMT Initial investigations pointed toward natural causes of death At a meeting of hospital board members on 10 January 2017, Tony Chambers said that in relation to the rise in deaths there was an unsubstantiated explanation that there was a causal link to an individual. At the inquiry, Mr Chambers defended his remarks saying: The investigations that were done to that point were seeming to be pointing away from deliberate harm and more towards natural causes of death. He added: My understanding of what I was hearing and being told and reading was there was nothing pointing to unnatural causes. 02:29 PM GMT Chambers told Letby weve got your back Mr Chambers told colleagues following the grievance procedure and a review of the hospital by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child health that he had been vindicated in his support of Letby. The inquiry heard that he told staff there was lots of learning for everyone following the review. He later told her: Lucy dont worry, weve got your back. Mr Chambers said that it was clumsy language. 02:18 PM GMT Letbys father was pulling the strings after complaint Mr Chambers said that he met again with Letby on 6 February 2017. He was asked whether he felt Letby was trying to take control of what was going on by asking for an apology after she won a grievance procedure against the hospital. He replied: I think that was an attempt on her behalf, yes. There is no doubt she felt incredibly aggrieved. He added: I have to say I didnt feel like I was being manipulated at the time but with the benefit of hindsight it is fair I never really reflected on it in that way. It was her father who appeared to be pulling the strings rather than Letby herself. Tony Chambers giving evidence - Crown Copyright 01:14 PM GMT Inquiry breaks for lunch The inquiry has broken for lunch and will return at 2.05pm. 01:09 PM GMT Letbys father threatened to put gun to Chambers head The inquiry heard Lucy Letbys father threatened to put a gun to the head of the hospitals chief executive. Tony Chambers met with Letby and her parents on December 22 2016 after the nurse had won a grievance procedure against the hospital. Letbys father was very angry, he said. He was making threats, that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse by threatening GMC referrals for the doctors, hes threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things. Notes from the meeting show that Mr Chambers praised Letby for her resilience and said that she could return to work. 01:03 PM GMT Reviews into baby deaths found nothing at all suspicious Tony Chambers said that external reviews into the baby deaths at Letbys unit had not pointed to anything suspicious. Dr Jane Hawdon, a consultant neonatologist, of the Royal Free Hospital in London, was asked to review the spike in deaths and collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2016. The hearing was told that Dr Hawdons review found four cases that were unexplained while a follow-up review by pathologists at Alder Hey found two of the deaths were unascertained. Mr Chambers said: Nothing at all that was coming from Jane Hawdons review and the pathology review was pointing towards anything suspicious. Nicholas de la Poer KC for the inquiry said that Dr Hawdon did not have the full facts because she was not told about concerns over Letby. Mr Chambers added: In the spirit of trying to keep an open mind, it was not unreasonable to ask Dr Hawdon to do the review with just the case notes that she had rather than her leading her to a particular point. We were hoping that these concerns would come out through the course of the review. 12:40 PM GMT Chambers: Letbys unit was under significant pressure Tony Chambers told the hearing that Lucy Letbys unit was under significant pressure with gaps in the medical and nursing rotas. Detailing his thoughts on the neonatal unit, the former chief executive said: We had some truly brilliant doctors there who worked really hard. We also had some wonderful nurses there who too worked hard, the relationships between the two could change by a shift. What we did know, and what I knew from my own observations for doing walkabouts on the unit, is that this was a unit that was under significant pressure. This was a unit that had gaps in some of the medical rotas and this was a unit that had gaps in the nursing rotas and these were things that we were seeking to resolve. The hearing was shown sections of a report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCCH) which carried out a review into the unit in 2016 indicated that staffing levels were inadequate. Nicholas de la Poer KC, representing the inquiry, pointed out that there had been no analysis to check if staffing levels were any worse than before the deaths. Mr Chambers added: In that same time there had been a change in demand, acuity and complexity. 12:15 PM GMT Hospital bosses agreed to involve police - but Chambers took five weeks to contact them The inquiry heard neonatal consultant Dr Steve Brearey told a March 2017 meeting that the matter needed to be escalated to the police, a stance which Tony Chambers said he agreed with. However, rather than calling them as agreed on March 31, executives instead instructed a criminal barrister to advise them on what to do. Chambers told the hearing: There was never any intention not to go to the police. We sought some independent advice around that. Chambers eventually wrote to Cheshire Polices chief constable more than a month later on May 2. The first meeting with police eventually took place on May 5, prompting the start of Cheshire Polices Operation Hummingbird criminal investigation. Tony Chambers 11:37 AM GMT Hospital reported the deaths to police but believed they were certainly not criminal Tony Chambers said management had believed the reports of independent experts that showed there were natural reasons for the baby deaths. The Countess of Chester had carried out several external and internal reviews which highlighted problems on the unit and suboptimal care. The trust sent a letter to Chester Police on May 5, 2017, asking them to look into the deaths, but saying they did not believe the explanation lay in a single place, cause and certainly not criminal. Mr Chambers told the hearing The concerns that the consultants had raised with us on the June 29 had been tested through these independent expert reviews from the Royal College, from Jane Hawdon, and also later reviews with the Alder Hey pathologists. Nothing that they were saying was pointing to deliberate harm. What we were saying, we couldnt find any evidence of criminality, youre the experts, please help us. 11:24 AM GMT Chambers: Linking end of death pattern to Letby leaving unit not presenting whole story The inquiry heard the pattern of deaths had stopped in June 2016 - after Letby was removed from the unit, suggesting a hypothesis that she was the cause. However, Tony Chambers said that the unit was also downgraded in June 2016, meaning that younger and sicker babies were no longer admitted. He said it was unfair to compare the death rate before and after Letby was removed because criteria for admission was significantly different. The unit prior to 2016 was not the same as the unit post 2016, not simply because Letby had been removed but we had changed the admission criteria to the unit, he said. The reclassification and downgrade meant no babies with a gestational age of less that 32 weeks, weighing less than 800g or with a complex antenatal history would be admitted. So that was a very significant change, so the unit if youre testing the hypothesis and youre only using one criteria to test that hypothesis, youre not presenting the whole story. Trial notes show that the majority of babies on the indictment would have been admitted to the unit under the new criteria. 10:51 AM GMT Letby worked day after doctors told hospital boss they thought she was harming babies Consultants at the Countess of Chester Hospital held a meeting with Tony Chambers on June 29, 2016. However, she was allowed to work the following day. Mr Chambers said the consultants had given a subjective link to one individual. There was very objective support and rebuttal to the proposition that this one nurse was deliberately causing harm, he said. There was a very strong level of support for this individual. What was being said here was that there was a circumstantial causal link. Wrongly Id assumed that the rotas and roster patterns would have been explored. 10:39 AM GMT Letby allegations were very shocking to hear Mr Chambers said he was shocked to hear at a meeting in June 2016 that consultants believed that there was a killer on the neonatal unit. But the Chief Executive said he did not want to jump to criminality and needed to think and reflect on what else could be going on. This was the first time I was made aware of this matters, he told the hearing. These were very shocking things to hear. I listened and heard their concerns. What I do know from my experience across the NHS is that we wouldnt jump to criminality as a casual factor, we would want to explore a broader set of answers to those very difficult questions. Post mortems had been completed. There may have been a lack of agreement with the outcomes of these postmortems but they had been completed. Hearing these really challenging matters, I heard what they had to say, I needed to think and reflect on what else could be going on here. 10:31 AM GMT Chambers: I was unaware of Letby concerns until June 2016 Tony Chambers, the Chief Executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said that he was not aware that anyone had concerns babies were being murdered until the end of June 2016. Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder babies between June 2015 and June 2016. Counsel for the prosecution, Nicholas de la Poer KC, said the fact that he was not informed earlier showed the hospital was not taking concerns seriously enough. Mr Chambers said: I dont think thats a fair assessment at all. If you look at the actions being proposed and discussed these were not trivial actions, these were fairly significant important steps to help us get to a greater insight of what the concerns were and what the nature of that might be. I cant really comment on whether or not these concerns were being made very explicitly around Letbys conduct, because they were never made explicit to me after the 29th. 10:26 AM GMT Hospital boss truly sorry to families impacted The chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby worked said he is truly sorry too impacted families. Tony Chambers, who left his position at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust in September 2018, made the statement before his evidence began. Addressing the Thirlwall Inquiry, he said: Right at the outset I just want to offer my heartfelt condolences to all of the families whose babies are at the heart of this inquiry. I can only imagine, well, I cant imagine, the impact that this has had on your lives, and I am truly sorry for the pain that may have been prolonged by any decisions or actions that I took in good faith. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to take part, openly and honestly in this inquiry and hope that answers can be arrived at and recommendations made. He will be questioned by Counsel to the Inquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC. Matt Gaetz was not at home when the authorities responded to the bomb threat - MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Members of Donald Trumps proposed Cabinet were targeted with a series of hoax bomb threats on Wednesday with one suggesting it was the work of pro-Palestinian activists. Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin, Brooke Rollins and Howard Lutnick have been identified as targets. Mr Zeldin, Mr Trumps nominee to lead the Environment Protection Agency, suggested the threat he received came from pro-Palestine activists. A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message, Mr Zeldin said. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as the situation develops, the former congressman added. Fox News reported that nearly a dozen figures named in the new Cabinet were targeted, and that law enforcement had visited several homes in response. Matt Gaetz who pulled himself out of the running to become Mr Trumps attorney general was also a victim. The so-called swatting incidents were not credible threats, with no devices or physical threats found, police sources told NBC News. They added that the threats did not involve Mr Trump or JD Vance. The phenomenon of swatting calling in a fake threat to prompt a heavy, armed emergency response has exploded in recent years as a tactic to intimidate targets. Last night and this morning, several of president Trumps Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them, said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, on Wednesday. She said law enforcement had acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. The threats were made a day before Thanksgiving when Cabinet members would likely have been at home with their families, rather than in Washington or at Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Stefanik away from home The FBI said it was working with local authorities to investigate the threats. An FBI spokesman said: The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. Ms Stefanik, whom Mr Trump nominated as his UN ambassador this month, revealed she had been the victim of a bomb threat but was away from home when it happened. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, her office said in a statement. New York State, County law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe. Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexicos problems are partly of Washingtons own making - Raquel Cunha/REUTERS Canada and Mexico are considering imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US if Donald Trump places a 25 per cent import tax on its exports. Mr Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on exports from Canada and Mexico if the countries fail to stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across the US border. A Canadian government official, who was not named, told AP on Wednesday that the country has started discussing retaliatory tariffs but stressed that no decision has been made. Canadian officials have said lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but they are happy to work with the Trump administration to lower the number of migrant crossings. The number of migrants crossing the Canadian border is significantly lower than on the southern border. The US Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone, compared to 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024. Tariffs would have severe implications Officials have also argued that Canada is not the source of Americas fentanyl crisis, with 43lbs of the drug seized at the Canadian border last fiscal year compared to 21,100lbs at the Mexican border. The officials said that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries. Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states, and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Around 60 per cent of US crude oil imports and 85 per cent of electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is essential to the United States domestic energy supply, said Chrystia Freeland, Canadas deputy prime minister. On Wednesday night Canadas federal government and the premiers of its 10 provinces agreed to work in a united and coordinated way against Mr Trumps tariff threat, finance minister Chrystia Freeland said. We agreed that we need to be smart, strong and united in meeting this challenge, Ms Freeland told reporters after a virtual meeting with the premiers called by prime minister Justin Trudeau. The leaders of Canadas provinces want Mr Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico. Mexican president responds Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexicos president, has also vowed to respond with tariffs of her own if Mr Trump goes ahead with his import tax plans. At a press conference on Tuesday, she rebutted his claims that Mexico was failing to address illegal migration and the smuggling of fentanyl across its border with the US. Mr Trump had cited those two issues as a justification for imposing tariffs on both Mexico and Canada on day one of his presidency, after his inauguration on Jan 20. Dr Sheinbaum, however, insisted that the problems were partly of Washingtons own making and that the solution to each would come through bilateral collaboration rather than ultimatums. Co-operation and understanding President Trump, it isnt with threats or tariffs that we resolve the migratory phenomenon or the abuse of drugs in the United States, she said, reading an open letter she had written to Mr Trump. Whats needed to confront these great challenges is co-operation and understanding. One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses, Dr Sheinbaum added, apparently referring to the numerous US-owned factories and assembly plants in Mexico. According to a read out of their conversation, the Mexican premier discussed the countrys strategy on migration with Mr Trump and reassured him that migrant caravans are not arriving in the US because they are being dealt with in Mexico. The forceful response from the environmental engineer and lifelong leftist appears to leave Dr Sheinbaum, 62, little room to back down from a potential confrontation with Mr Trump. It is also likely to be wildly popular in her home country, which has long had a love-hate relationship with its northern neighbour. That has been shaped by the US seizing a huge swathe of Mexican territory in the 18th century, which today makes up Texas, California and several other states. But it remains to be seen whether Dr Sheinbaums tough stance is strategically astute. US-Mexican trade has boomed since the North American Free Trade Treaty came into effect in 1994, reaching roughly $600 billion in 2023 and seeing the two economies increasingly intertwined. That treaty was renegotiated by the last Trump administration a deal he would effectively be tearing up with any new tariffs. Yet Mexicos GDP of $1.8 trillion is just seven per cent of the USs, while 80 per cent of its exports go to the US. Mexico would, therefore, come off far worse than the US should a trade war break out. But it could still inflict a significant toll on US consumers and businesses and therefore on Mr Trumps incoming administration. Swapos national headquarters in Windhoek, Namibia, will await a nervy election night amid unhappiness at the countrys high unemployment rate. Photograph: Esther Mbathera/AP Namibians are going to the polls with the longtime ruling partys parliamentary majority under threat if dissatisfied young people turn out in big numbers amid a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment globally. The Swapo party could also be forced to contest a second round in the presidential election for the first time since the sparsely populated southern African country became independent from South Africa in 1990. Related: People think theyll smell but they dont: building homes from mushroom waste and weeds High unemployment and younger generations with no memory of Swapos fight against South Africas apartheid regime have eroded the partys support, drawing parallels to elections earlier this year in neighbours South Africa, where the African National Congress lost its majority, and Botswana, where the party that had ruled since 1966 was trounced. However, Namibias opposition is fragmented, with analysts noting that young people would very likely have to turn out in large numbers to counter Swapos support base in the countrys rural but densely-populated north. Despite the fact that Swapo has been a party in decline, if the 2019 elections are anything to go by, I think they will still remain a dominant party, said Rui Tyitende, a lecturer at the University of Namibia. But if young people [under 35], who comprise 42% of the electorate, show up at the polls, I think there will be a [presidential election] runoff, because they will not vote for Swapo. They are disillusioned. In 2019, Hage Geingob, who died in February, won the presidency for a second term with 56% of the vote a steep drop from the 87% he had secured in 2014. Swapo secured 65% of the parliamentary vote. Panduleni Itula came second in 2019 as an independent presidential candidate, with 29% of the vote. He is running again, against the countrys vice-president, the former foreign minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Nandi-Ndaitwah, who would be Namibias first female president if she wins Wednesdays vote, needs more than 50% to avoid a second round vote. She comes across as a stateswoman, a seasoned diplomat, very knowledgeable in terms of public policy, and also not tainted by corruption, the political analyst Rakkel Andreas said of the 72-year-old Swapo candidate. Itula, a former Swapo member who returned to Namibia in 2013 after studying and working as a dentist in the UK for more than three decades, is running for a new party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC). What Itula represents is change, hope for change, said Andreas, pointing to high unemployment levels in 2023, 19.4% of Namibians were out of work, according to the World Bank, rising to 40% of 18- to 35-year-olds. Without opinion polls, the outcome of the election in the country of 3 million people is hard to predict, said Graham Hopwood, the executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, a Namibian thinktank. Its very clear that this is going to be the closest election since independence, he said. My personal view is Swapo has been the dominant party since 1990 and will still be a dominant party after this election, but were just not sure how dominant it will be. The army and paramilitary forces were deployed in huge numbers and issued shoot-to-kill orders when Khans supporters stormed the capital on Tuesday. Photograph: Sohail Shahzad/EPA Pakistans army and police have been accused of firing on civilians, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries to hundreds of protesters who had stormed Islamabad on Tuesday to demand the release of the former prime minister Imran Khan from prison. As tens of thousands of Khans supporters stormed the capital on Tuesday in defiance of government orders, the army and paramilitary forces were deployed in huge numbers and issued with shoot-to-kill orders to try to stop the crowds reaching the heart of Islamabads sensitive Red Zone, which houses the parliament, supreme court and prime ministers residence. The centre of the city, known as D-Chowk, was the scene of violent clashes as protesters who had travelled from across the country came up against security forces. Protesters set shipping containers ablaze while riot police and army officers fired teargas and rubber bullets and were also accused of using live ammunition. Related: Pakistan military has no intention of cutting deal with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan sources By late at night, a power blackout had been imposed on the area, shutting down all the lights, and a major crackdown began. Army and paramilitary officers eventually succeeded in pushing Khans supporters out of the capital. Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, who recently emerged as a political figurehead of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) and had led the protest convoy into Islamabad, also fled the scene. On Wednesday, Islamabad remained clear of all protesters and PTI said it was suspending the protest in view of the governments brutality and the governments plan to turn the capital into a slaughterhouse. PTI leaders said dozens of those involved in the protests had been killed in live firing by police and the army, and released names of eight they said had been killed. The Guardian could not verify PTIs figures of the dead. The minister for information and broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, said there had been no firing on PTI protesters and no fatalities. The interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, said in a statement that officers had bravely repulsed the protesters. However, official sources told the Guardian there had been 17 civilian fatalities from army and paramilitary gunfire and hundreds more had been injured. Doctors at hospitals in Islamabad said they had received multiple patients with gunshot wounds. The Guardian witnessed at least five patients with bullet wounds in one hospital, which was surrounded by police. A doctor who was on duty in the emergency ward on Tuesday night said he had treated more than 40 injured patients, several of whom had been shot. At least seven have died and four are in critical condition in the hospital, he said. Eight more have been admitted to the hospital with bullet wounds. The doctor, who requested anonymity for his safety, said there had been an attempt to cover up any fatalities. All records of dead and injured have been confiscated by authorities. We are not allowed to talk. Senior government officials are visiting the hospital to hide the records, he said. Among those in the hospital was Bismillah Kaleem*, who had travelled in the protest convoy with Khans wife from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Kaleem said he had been on a bus entering the Red Zone when bullets rained down on their vehicle. The bullet hit me in the chest, said Kaleem, who struggled for breath. I dont know how many people have been killed. At least more than 100 have been injured. The relatives of others who had been hit with bullets said they were too scared to speak. According to Ali Amin Gandapur, the PTI chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, almost 1,000 people who had taken part in the protest had been arrested by Wednesday evening. Khan has been in jail for more than a year facing more than 100 charges that he says are trumped up by his political opponents. His government was toppled in 2022 after he fell out with the military, but he remains Pakistans most popular leader and his support has continued to swell as he remains behind bars. He had issued a final call for his supporters to gather in Islamabad at the weekend to demand his release. He has claimed that the election that took place in February, which brought the coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif to power, was widely rigged against PTI, and the party has held several protests calling for free and fair polls. The violence of Tuesdays protest drew criticism from human rights groups. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called on PTI and the Sharif government to enter into a dialogue. It is high time they agree on a peaceful way forward instead of inciting their supporters and bringing the country to a standstill, a statement said. *Name changed for security reasons. Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White has been convicted of manslaughter after fatally shooting 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland with a Taser. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP A police officers employment with the force is under consideration after he was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home with a Taser. Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White was found guilty by a jury in the New South Wales supreme court on Wednesday. He will remain on bail until he is sentenced, with Justice Ian Harrison to hear arguments from the prosecution and defence on Thursday. NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, told reporters after the verdict was delivered that Whites employment as a police officer was under consideration since the guilty verdict. Since the incident in May 2023, White has been on leave with pay from the police force. Related: New home construction slumps to near 40-year low in Australia as renovation spending booms Webb offered her sympathies to Nowlands family, many of whom had attended Whites trial in Sydney. I pass on my condolences to the Nowland family, she said. This should never have happened. White was called to the Yallambee nursing home in Cooma in the early hours of 17 May 2023, after 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland was found walking around the nursing home carrying a sharp, serrated knife. She had refused instructions to put down the knife over several hours and was presenting a risk to staff and patients, the court heard. Nowland, who weighed 47.5kg and could only move slowly with the aid of a walker, had not been formally diagnosed with dementia but displayed significant symptoms and was reported by staff as a dementia patient. As Nowland continued to walk slowly towards the police with her walker between her and the officers White then said nah, bugger it and discharged his Taser, striking Nowland in the chest. The great-grandmother fell backwards and struck her head, sustaining injuries equivalent to blunt force trauma. She died a week later from inoperable bleeding on the brain. Sam Tierney, the lawyer who represented the Nowland family in their civil case against the NSW government, shared a statement on their behalf confirming that they were present in court on Wednesday for Whites conviction. A confidential settlement in the civil case was reached on 7 March this year. The family will take some time to come to terms with the jurys confirmation that Clares death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act. The family would like to thank the judge and jury for carefully considering the matter and the DPP prosecution team for their hard work. Whites barrister told the court it was not in dispute that the injuries caused by White shooting Nowland with a Taser ultimately killed her. But he argued that Whites use of the Taser was a reasonable use of force. In closing arguments, Troy Edwards SC asked the jury to consider that White was of good character with no prior criminal offences when considering its verdict. Nowland had been asked to put down the knife 21 times, and defied 20 separate instructions to sit or stop walking towards police, he said. The threat Nowland posed caused fear for those who lived that moment, Edwards told the jury. It feels pretty different when youre there, it feels pretty different when Mrs Nowland is the one who locks eyes with you, he said. White gave evidence in the trial and told the court he, and others, had given Nowland every opportunity to drop the knife she was carrying, over several hours, but she had made her intent clear: she was going to use that knife on anyone that got near her. White told the court that, despite her frailty, Nowland was armed with a sharp knife and posed a threat to police and paramedics, as well as nursing home staff and residents. At the police academy we are taught any person with a knife is a danger. He said in evidence: Im upset and devastated by [Nowlands death]. I never intended for her to be injured by it at all. But crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC argued Whites use of the Taser on a 95-year-old woman was an utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force, taking into consideration Nowlands age, her infirmity, her use of a walker which was between her and police and the fact that the officers could move away from her. Hatfield said White was fed up, impatient with Nowland, pointing to the fact he said bugger it before deploying the Taser. What the accused said before he fired the Taser was completely inconsistent with it being to prevent an imminent violent confrontation, he said. I ask you, who could she have injured at that moment? No one. During the trial, the jury was repeatedly played body-worn camera CCTV footage of the incident. Hatfield argued the vision speaks for itself. You might think no reasonable person in the position of the accused at that time would have considered a violent confrontation with Mrs Nowland was imminent, he said. Chinese premier holds talks with Samoan PM in Beijing Xinhua) 08:52, November 27, 2024 Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa, in Beijing on Tuesday. Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties nearly half a century ago, bilateral relations have been developing in a sound and steady manner, with increasingly close economic and trade exchanges and fruitful cooperation in various fields, which have delivered tangible benefits to the two peoples. China is ready to work with Samoa to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, further deepen political mutual trust, firmly support each other's core interests, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and constantly enrich the connotation of China-Samoa comprehensive strategic partnership, he said. Li pointed out that China is willing to strengthen the synergy of development strategies with Samoa, expand economic and trade cooperation, promote trade and investment facilitation, strengthen cooperation on agriculture, fisheries, clean energy, and disaster prevention and mitigation, and promote common development and prosperity. Noting that both China and Samoa belong to the Global South, Li expressed China's willingness to strengthen communication and coordination with Samoa in the multilateral arena, jointly tackle the challenge of climate change, promote an equal and orderly multi-polar world and economic globalization that benefits all, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries. Samoa abides by the one-China principle and firmly supports China's position, Mata'afa said, noting that her country is willing to take the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties next year to step up high-level exchanges with China, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and strengthen people-to-people and sub-national exchanges. She said Samoa expects China to continue supporting the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, and is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China to jointly tackle climate change and other global challenges. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Reyna Maldonado, co-owner of La Guerreras Kitchen in Oakland, is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Maldonado said she and her mixed-status family will revisit a deportation plan they created during President-elect Donald Trumps first term, when he tried to end DACA. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle As President-elect Donald Trump pledges to use the military in a mass-deportation effort and to rescind birthright citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants when he retakes office in January, Reyna Maldonado is having a conversation she never expected to. A recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, Maldonado said she and some of her fellow Dreamers are considering the once unthinkable: self-deporting to countries they knew only as kids if DACA ends. La Guerreras Kitchen co-owner Reyna Maldonado, handing a drink to a customer on Nov. 19, and some of her fellow Dreamers are preparing for DACA to end next year, after President-elect Donald Trump re-enters office. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle We dont really know what it means to have to lose everything that we have here, said Maldonado, 31, whose family has owned and operated a Mexican restaurant in Oakland since 2019. What would happen to our business? Advertisement Article continues below this ad DACA recipients and immigration attorneys are bracing for the end of the Obama-era program, which since 2012 has been granting temporary legal residence and work permits to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. According to the latest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data, 535,030 people were on DACA in June. Recipients must renew their status every two years. Amid a legal challenge led by Texas and Trumps previous efforts to end DACA, some recipients in the Bay Area are wondering what might become of the lives theyve built. Maldonado, who was 6 when she joined her parents in the U.S. from the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, said her familys restaurant is an example of the economic contributions immigrants can do in this country, and what could go away as a result. People are rightfully afraid Advertisement Article continues below this ad A 2018 lawsuit brought by Texas and joined by eight other Republican-controlled states challenging the legality of DACA awaits a federal appeals court decision. The Biden administration has been defending DACA in federal court, but the Trump administration is unlikely to do so, say four immigration attorneys interviewed by the Chronicle. For those reasons, along with the conservative makeup of the Supreme Court, the attorneys say they expect DACA to end next year. Were under no illusions the Trump administration would provide status for DACA recipients, said Alvaro Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Californias largest provider of pro bono deportation defense. People are rightfully afraid they could lose this status. Lourdes Martinez, co-directing attorney for the Oakland-based Centro Legal de la Raza, said she tells DACA recipients whose status is expiring soon to renew it to get as much time of protection against deportation and employment authorization as possible. That might be buying somebody a little bit of time, but it still might be worthwhile, she added. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Short of congressional action to pass the Dream Act, which would provide similar benefits as DACA unlikely, given that Republicans control both chambers Catherine Seitz, legal director for the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, said she is advising DACA recipients to look into alternative immigration pathways. However, Raha Wala, the National Immigration Law Centers vice president of strategic partnerships and advocacy, said the attorneys defending DACA are devising legal strategies to protect recipients irrespective of what the courts or Trump administration does. Eliminating DACA would greatly impact the economy, researchers say. The program provides work authorization and temporary protection from deportation, making it easier for recipients to start careers, open businesses, buy homes and qualify for college financial aid in some states contributing significantly to the local and national economy, according to a 2023 report by the House Committee on Small Business Democrats. According to the report, rescinding the program could cost the U.S. over $460 billion in economic output over a decade. Deporting DACA recipients could cost $60 billion and reduce the countrys economic growth by $280 billion over the same time frame. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which typically supports Republican policies, has criticized Congress for not passing legislation protecting Dreamers, saying they contribute to the economy and create businesses that employ American workers. Providing these individuals with permanent legal status is not just good for our communities and the economy, it is the right thing to do, the chamber said in a 2022 statement on the programs 10th anniversary. Obtaining a Social Security number through DACA helped Maldonado apply for loans to start La Guerreras Kitchen, she said. There are business loans available for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number holders, like her undocumented parents but the options are limited and competitive, Maldonado said. Ofelia Barajas, left, who co-owns La Guerreras Kitchen with her daughter Reyna Maldonado, work in the Oakland restaurant they started in 2019. Maldonado said her mixed-status family is working on a deportation plan in case Maldonado or her parents are forced to return to the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where they migrated from decades ago to San Francisco. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle La Guerreras Kitchen opened its brick-and-mortar location 15 years after Maldonados mother began selling tamales on the streets of San Franciscos Mission District. Today the restaurant is inside the food hall Swans Market in Old Oakland with a team of 10, a majority of whom are women. Advertisement Article continues below this ad With tamale season coinciding with the holidays, the restaurants busiest time of the year, Maldonado says she cant afford to pause plans despite fear of deportation. She said self-deporting is not out of the question for her and her friends, something the Nikansen Center, a Washington, D.C., think tank that supports immigration reform, predicted would explode in Trumps extreme enforcement environment. Were definitely exploring what that could look like, she said. I have to rise up Despite her worst fears materializing when former President Donald Trump was elected on Nov. 5, Jupiter Peraza, a DACA recipient and transgender rights activist, said she is determined to keep organizing on behalf of people like her. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle As a child growing up in Paramount (Los Angeles County), Jupiter Peraza dreamed of being the first in her family to attend college. An academically inclined teenager who took as many advanced placement classes as she could, Peraza wanted to get a degree, buy a car, own a home and invest in herself the things her parents wanted her to achieve when they migrated to the U.S. in 2005. It wasnt until sophomore year in 2012, when Peraza met her schools college counselor for the first time, that reality hit. Thats when she asked, Do you have Social Security? Do you have a green card? To apply for college and financial aid. And I was like, wait, I didnt think this was going to set me back, Peraza recalled. Her dream had been to attend a University of California school. But she didnt qualify for federal student aid and knew her parents, who worked in a metal factory, could not afford the tuition. She realized she needed to temper her expectations. That summer, President Barack Obama created DACA through executive action. Peraza was 8 when she came with her parents from Sonora, Mexico. With her DACA status, she was able to work legally to support herself through college. Through 2011 legislation called the California Dream Act, she received state financial aid to attend San Francisco State University. In 2022, she graduated with a bachelors degree in international relations. Trumps first year in office was one of the hardest of Perazas life. She started drinking. She had not yet transitioned to affirm her gender identity. She had not started a political activism career that would see her advocate for August to be recognized as Transgender History Month in San Francisco, be appointed to the citys Trans Advisory Committee and get hired to manage events at community meeting space Mannys. I feel like so much of my life has been dedicated to fear and to being fearful of what could happen to me, that Ive now reached a moment that I have liberated myself from fear, Peraza said. Trump being elected on Nov. 5 was her worst-case scenario, she said, but Peraza doesnt feel afraid. She believes in the legal and community aid strategies that she saw tested firsthand during Trumps first term. Jupiter Peraza, left, hands out desserts at a fall feast for older LGBTQ adults hosted by San Francisco nonprofit Openhouse on Nov. 21. The DACA recipient said she refuses to allow depression about a second Trump administration consume her, and is instead focusing on innovative ways to organize other people. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle A week after the election, Peraza attended a mobilization webinar for DACA recipients. She has started researching legal immigration options for herself, including applying for an H-1B work visa, and how she can help her undocumented parents if they are taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. At the same time, shes been practicing self-care, she said, meditating and reading books in her favorite genre, historical fiction. With hot weather in Sydneys west, Aemo has issued alerts calling for more generation from electricity suppliers to avoid blackouts. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Soaring temperatures and strained power supplies have prompted the New South Wales government to ask residents to reduce electricity use in a bid to avoid outages. The premier, Chris Minns, said Sydney residents should avoid using power-hungry devices if they can during a crunch period, which was expected to last for five hours. We are asking you not [to] run your dishwasher, not to run your washing machine this afternoon, between 3 and 8 [pm AEDT], Minns said. Youll be helping the grid. Related: Why is western Sydney so much hotter than the eastern suburbs and what can be done to make summer more bearable? Were hoping that these measures reduce the amount of demand on the energy system over that crucial period, and as a result wont lead to load-shedding or blackouts, he said, adding the government would keep the public updated. The heatwave toasting eastern Australia was forecast to peak on Wednesday, as temperatures again climbed towards 40C in parts of Sydney. By mid-afternoon, Penrith in Sydneys west had reached 39.9C, its highest reading since 29 February, marking the sites fifth consecutive day of 35C-plus heat. It was also the countrys hottest location, edging remote regions in Queensland and WA. The energy minister, Penny Sharpe, said state, federal and ACT government agencies, water utilities and local councils had also been asked to voluntarily cut electricity use. Agencies will do this by increasing the set point of air conditioning where safe and feasible, closing blinds, turning off non-essential lighting and turning off equipment when not in use, Sharpe said. Residents should set air-conditioners to 24 to 26C between 3pm and 8pm The energy market operator was also preparing to request some big users to cut loads if needed. Sydneys CBD was also predicted by the Bureau of Meteorology to be the hottest capital for the day, with a top of 34C forecast or the warmest since the end of February. Its temperature reached almost 33C at about 11am, before sea breezes and cloud cover nudged the mercury down. Regions expecting low to high 30s today also include the Hunter and Illawarra districts to Sydneys north and south, respectively. Severe heatwave conditions are expected to peak on Wednesday, then ease by the weekend, the bureau said in a warning alert. Locations likely to be impacted include Batemans Bay, Camden, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Liverpool, Nowra, Penrith, Parramatta, Richmond and Wollongong. In line with recent days, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has been issuing alerts calling for more generation from electricity suppliers to ensure power is not interrupted. On Wednesday morning, Aemo said a so-called level 3 lack of reserve (LOR3) condition was possible later in the day as solar output decreased towards sunset. By 4.30pm AEDT the market was likely to require 84 megawatts of additional supply to avoid interrupted load or blackouts. Aemo also indicated that it was preparing to activate its so-called reliability and emergency reserve trader scheme later on Wednesday. If triggered, big energy users that have signed up to the scheme could be asked to cut power use in return for compensation. Aemo continues to work with industry and the state government to manage expected low electricity reserves this afternoon in NSW, a spokesperson said. Ahead of this tight supply-demand period, Aemo has requested that all available generation and transmission resources be deployed to ensure consumer electricity needs are met. It also said additional reserves had also been secured through its Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) mechanism that rewards big users for powering down during tight conditions. At least one smelter may have responded to the request, according to Dylan McConnell, an energy specialist at the University of NSW. About 6 gigawatts of coal-fired power station capacity remained unavailable, including about 3GW that was not previously scheduled. Many of Australias coal plants are nearing the end of their design lives, requiring more frequent and more costly repairs to keep operating. Aemo also issued LOR2 level alerts for NSW for Wednesday afternoon and for periods on Thursday and Friday as the heatwave slowly ebbs. Such alerts are calls for generators to provide extra capacity as a backup in case committed plants do not operate as expected and drop off without warning. Power prices were reaching the $17,500/megawatt-hour cap in the wholesale market soon after 3pm. That compares with average prices of the order of $125/MWh. As of early afternoon, Aemo was looking for about 700MW more power to be in reserve from 3.30pm to 8pm. Wholesale power prices may also spike to their ceiling of $17,500/megawatt-hour later on Wednesday, Aemo data indicated. Related: Albanese government announces review into post-2030 renewables strategy Stephanie Bashir, chief executive of Nexa Advisory, said authorities wouldnt be scrambling now if they were properly enabling consumers to manage their own demand, and unleashing development and connection of renewables, including through orderly closure of coal plants. The Minns government is yet to publish its energy plan for NSW, Bashir said. Projects already in the pipeline are clogged inside it. The weather setup, meanwhile, would favour thunderstorm activity over parts of eastern Australia including the prospect of heavy rainfall as tropical moisture was dragged southwards. Melbourne was facing severe thunderstorms, with the potential for damaging winds, hailstones and heavy rainfall on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday will likely bring more thunderstorm activity, with Sydney and Canberra among the centres facing storms. Sydney may collect 15mm of rain on Thursday, with falls of as much as 30-35mm on both Friday and Saturday, the bureau said. The NSW State Emergency Service said widespread and potentially severe storms with heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail is possible in many parts of the state including Western NSW, Sydney, Mid North Coast, parts of the Hunter and Illawarra. From Friday through to Sunday widespread moderate to heavy rain is expected in many areas as a rain band moves into eastern parts of the state, it said in a statement. Sadiq Khan has given more than 500,000 of taxpayers money to Civil Futures - Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit Sadiq Khan has given public cash to campaigners who want to abolish borders, The Telegraph can reveal. More than 500,000 of taxpayers money has been invested in a project called Civil Futures, which aims to bring transformative change to London. It has funded workshops run by Migrants in Culture, an activist group that calls for border abolition in other words, a world without borders. Its stated philosophy is to reject the false binary of the good/bad migrant and to push for migrant justice as an inseparable part of collective liberation. Joon Lynn Goh is the co-founder of Migrants in Culture - LinkedIn It is understood that this migrant-led group received 3,600 from the Mayor of London for participating in the Civil Futures project. This was launched in 2020 by the Greater London Authority and its partners, and was intended to provide networking and leadership skills for annual cohorts of individuals who at some level could influence public life. The group also worked on a project, which created material for the Greater London Authority that claimed the capital is designed and built off the efforts and the influence of migrants. These projects were part of the Civic Futures schemes efforts to provide skills for future civic leaders who can steer charities and local government. Abolitionist principles Migrants in Cultures workshops sought to apply abolitionist principles to civil society organisations, and to help Londoners develop abolitionist organisational practices. The group aims to resource organisers and artists to build more creative and powerful social movements, according to its website, in order to move towards our collective capacity to imagine and to live without borders. The group runs a series of border abolition Saturday schools for activists and community organisers, and provides graphic design services for campaign groups, along with NGOs, civic bodies and charities. It has so far supported 115 activists, artists, funders, curators, educators, politicians, organisers, civil servants. These have included volunteers from the Greater London Authority, along with high-ranking members of staff from Londons borough councils. Civic Futures has stated transformative social change has always started in and with civil society, and the project seeks to avoid society being captured by the past, and instead aims to help leaders build better futures. It has funded projects including a series of presentations to the Greater London Authority created with a work collective called Site 38, with help of Joon-Lynn Goh, the Migrants in Culture co-founder. This claimed that London is a city designed and built off the efforts and the influence of migrants, and called for a re-imagining of governance systems to better accommodate migrants. Some of the services funded by Migrants in Culture - migrantsinculture.com It also asked how organisations might undo borders in the context of climate change and regentrification. Other projects have focused on intergenerational activism, and the possibility of collective stewardship as an alternative to traditional ownership. A spokesman for the mayor said: The Civic Futures programme was created to help bring together civic leaders from across the capital to reduce inequalities and tackle the challenges facing Londoners. The programme is intended to help leaders consider how they can help deliver for Londoners in their work as we continue building a fairer London for everyone. Howard Cox, who ran for Reform UK in the last mayoral election, said: Khan continues to dabble in issues that are not in any way part of his job description. Spending taxpayers hard-earned cash on his ego driven whims makes it even worse. Starmer must pull in his reins and tell him to butt out of national and international politics to focus on his day job. Migrants in Culture has been contacted for comment. John Swinney is facing strong criticism for his decision to add more income tax bands and increase the rates payable - Jane Barlow/PA Scotlands key financial services sector has challenged the SNP to admit its income tax rises have backfired and start reversing them in next weeks Scottish Budget. Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), the industry body, said John Swinneys government should recognise its income tax policy is not working after doubling the number of bands from three to six and raising taxes several times. Sandy Begbie, the organisations chief executive, urged ministers to bring income tax rates more closely in line with the rest of the UK when they present their 2025-26 Budget on Dec 4. Mr Begbie said SFE had repeatedly warned that the increases were damaging Scotlands tax base by harming investment and companies ability to attract and retain talent. He referred to a recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which warned there was evidence that previous increases in the top rate had backfired by reducing revenue. The analysis found the estimated behavioural effects after the first of the SNPs tax increases, in 2018-19, were a little larger than assumed when the reforms were announced. Sandy Begbie is the chief executive of financial services industry body the SFE - SFE It said higher income tax rates had affected workers behaviour reducing work, increasing avoidance or evasion of tax, and cutting migration to Scotland and called for a pause in any further rises while more evidence was gathered. Companies have previously warned they have been forced to offer higher salaries for posts in Scotland to compensate employees for the SNPs tax rises. Around 1.5 million Scots with a salary over 28,850 already pay more in income tax than if they lived in England. The top rate has risen to 48p in the pound, 3p more than south of the Border. Under Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Government used its Budget last year to introduce a new 45p advanced rate on income between 75,001 and 125,140. In addition, the next rate down, the higher rate, is set at 42p 2p more than in England and the salary threshold at which it kicks in is far lower, 43,663. Shona Robison, the SNP Finance Secretary, will set out the rates and bands for 2025-26 next week. Mr Begbie said: We have pursued an evidence-based approach on this issue which has now been vindicated by the IFS. The data strongly suggests that further tax rises would be counterproductive. The Government must instead recognise that its divergence policy is not working and take action to begin changing course. Craig Hoy is the Scottish shadow finance secretary - Jane Barlow/PA He added: We recognise that divergence cannot be unpicked overnight, but bringing even some income tax rates more closely in line with the rest of the UK would be a step in the right direction and a clear signal that the Scottish Government recognises the concerns of business and its ability to grow, invest, and attract and retain talent. Earlier this year, SFE research found 81 per cent of its members were concerned about the impact of tax divergence on retaining staff, with 66 per cent saying changes to the tax regime had harmed investment. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tories shadow finance secretary, said: SFE is the latest respected and independent organisation to come to the common sense conclusion that the SNP Governments higher income tax levels are not working. The Scottish tax regime makes it harder to achieve economic growth and is discouraging skilled workers from coming to Scotland. A Scottish Government spokesman said: Scotlands tax policies are grounded in evidence and carefully balance the need to raise revenue with the impacts on taxpayers and the economy. Our tax base continues to grow strongly, with data from the RTI PAYE system showing Scotland experienced faster earnings and tax-per-head growth than the rest of the UK in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Delays at Accident & Emergency are all still rising in Scotland, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank found - JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES Scotlands NHS is continuing to get worse while hospitals in England are improving substantially, according to expert analysis that delivered a damning verdict on the SNPs mismanagement. Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, her then health secretary, published an NHS recovery plan in 2021 that aimed to increase inpatient and day case activity to 15 per cent above pre-pandemic levels this year. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found hospital activity in Scotland remains stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, despite the taxpayer funding large staffing increases. Waiting lists for planned operations and long delays for cancer treatment, accident and emergency, and diagnostic tests are all still rising in Scotland, the think tank found. All these waiting lists were falling in England, the findings found, with many measures of hospital activity now substantially above pre-pandemic levels. Buckling under the strain The IFS said that over the past year most measures of performance in Scotland have deteriorated, while in England most have improved. This is despite the NHS in Scotland receiving more public funding per head of population, and the number of consultants being employed rising by 13 per cent since the pandemic. Holyroods opposition parties said the impartial analysis was a damning indictment of SNP mismanagement, with hospitals buckling under the strain of SNP incompetence. Max Warner, a research economist at the IFS and the reports author, said SNP ministers must follow the UK Government by being honest about the Scottish NHSs poor performance and focusing on increasing hospitals labour productivity. The contrasting performance in England undermined claims by John Swinney, the First Minister, that the pandemic is to blame for record waiting lists in the Scottish NHS. Recovering differently It raises more questions about whether Scottish workers are getting value for money in return for the higher taxes the SNP impose north of the border. SNP ministers have repeatedly boasted that Scottish NHS workers get higher salaries than those in England, with a newly registered nurse getting 31,892 in Scotland compared with 29,970 in the English NHS. They have also highlighted that Scotland was the only UK nation to have avoided NHS strike action, but the IFS report said English hospitals were performing better despite being reduced by frequent and widespread industrial action. Mr Warner said: The Scottish and English NHS are now recovering differently from the Covid-19 pandemic. In Scotland, hospital activity remains below pre-pandemic levels, and waiting time performance has worsened over the last year. The same is not true in England, where performance remains poor, but is at least moving in the right direction. The UK Government has been honest about the poor performance of the English NHS, and has made understanding and improving NHS performance and productivity a major priority. It is vital the Scottish Government does the same, particularly given the concerning divergence in recovery between England and Scotland. Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labours health spokesman, said Scottish hospitals were buckling under the strain of SNP incompetence - KEN JACK/GETTY IMAGES Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labours health spokesman, said: This is a damning report from the independent IFS telling the Scottish Government what patients and hard-working staff have known for years Scottish hospitals are buckling under the strain of SNP incompetence. The UK Labour government has been upfront about the challenges facing NHS England, but the SNP would rather resort to spin than be honest with Scots about their record after 17 years in power. Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Tories shadow health secretary, said: This report delivers a damning verdict on the SNPs mismanagement of our NHS. It confirms that Humza Yousafs flimsy recovery plan was not worth the paper it was written on and has failed to remobilise crucial front-line services. The analysis argued that Englands NHS was an important benchmark against which to measure the Scottish health services performance as both were similarly affected by the pandemic. Delayed discharges Figures for April to June this year, showed Scottish hospitals delivered 15 per cent fewer elective inpatient admissions, 9 per cent fewer emergency inpatient admissions and 6 per cent fewer outpatient appointments than in October to December 2019. Total inpatient and day case activity was 6 per cent lower over the same period, with the IFS calculating that it would take another two years for this to return to pre-pandemic levels at the current rate of progress. For outpatient activity, this would take three years. One reason for the failure to increase activity in Scotland is that patients now have a much higher average length of stay in hospital, the study found. This was partly as a result of problems with delayed discharges, where patients that are well enough to leave hospital continue to occupy a bed, commonly because there is no social care place for them in the community. In September, there was an average of 1,968 beds in the Scottish NHS occupied by adults who could not be discharged, compared with 1,521 in the same month in 2019. But over the same period, the number of elective admissions to English hospitals rose by 8 per cent and outpatient appointments by 11 per cent, while the number of emergency admissions fell by 2 per cent. The Scottish Government was approached for comment. Sharon Stone has lambasted America for its extraordinary naivety that led to Donald Trumps victory - Mondadori Portfolio Sharon Stone has claimed that Donald Trump won the election because Americans are ignorant and uneducated. The Basic Instinct star likened the US to an adolescent that is arrogant and thinks it knows everything. Speaking at the Turin Film Festival in Italy, Stone lambasted America for its extraordinary naivety that led to Mr Trumps victory. The comments from Stone led to criticism that she was out of touch and snobby and a bourgeois celebrity. Earlier this week Alec Baldwin earned similar criticism after saying that Mr Trump won because Americans are uninformed about reality. America is in adolescence Stone, 66, was speaking on a panel with Angelina Jolie when she was asked to share some thoughts marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Stone, who was awarded the Turin Film Festivals Stella della Mole prize, said that Italy had seen fascism in the past. She said: Italy has seen these things. You guys, you understand what happens. You have seen this before. My country is in adolescence. Adolescence is very arrogant. Adolescence thinks it knows everything. Adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant. And we are in our ignorant, arrogant adolescence. So, Americans who dont travel, who 80 per cent dont have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivety. What I would say is that the only way that we can help with these issues is to help each other. Stone respects election results Ms Stone said that she did respect the results of the vote even if I dont like the president. But she wavered when asked if Kamala Harris was the right person to take on Mr Trump, telling the crowd: I cant say. Baldwin, 66, made his remarks a few days earlier at the same film festival where he was receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award. He said: Theres a hole, a vacuum... a gap in information for Americans. Americans are very uninformed about reality, whats really going on climate change, Ukraine, you name it. Stone has previously said she might leave the US for Italy if Mr Trump won, but has yet to follow through on the promise. John Swinney, the First Minister, was accused of squandering taxpayers money in a landmark case considering how women are defined in law - Jeff J Mitchell/PA Wire Scotlands First Minister has been forced to admit that men cannot become pregnant. John Swinney said he did not believe that it was possible for males to bear children, at the same time that lawyers for the Scottish Government presented their case to the Supreme Court that includes references to pregnant men. In a landmark case, For Women Scotland, the campaign group, is seeking to overturn rulings in the Scottish courts that state gender recognition certificates (GRCs) change the legal sex of those who hold them. Lawyers acting for SNP ministers claim this creates the concept of the pregnant man someone who was born as a female but then acquires a GRC stating they are male and becomes pregnant. Fantasy of legal fiction For Women Scotland has urged Britains highest court to find that sex is an immutable biological state and that the idea that this could be altered by a certification scheme was a fantasy of legal fiction. After delivering a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Mr Swinney was asked by The Telegraph whether he personally believed it was possible for a man to become pregnant. The First Minister hesitated briefly before replying: No, I dont. Asked why his Governments lawyers were therefore arguing it was possible, at a huge cost to the public purse, in the Supreme Court, he said: I think theres many complex arguments that have been put forward in the Supreme Court judgment. I dont think they come down to the simplicity of the question youve put to me. Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said: John Swinney initially appears to agree with the obvious truth that men cannot get pregnant. But when asked why expensive Scottish Government lawyers are arguing that they can, he suddenly starts to obfuscate by claiming that its all very complicated. Well, John, its not complicated. It is a matter of common sense, and biology, that only women can become pregnant. Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said the SNP were still in the grip of harmful and irrational gender self-ID zealotry - Jacob King/PA Wire To squander taxpayers money on this madness shows that Swinneys SNP are still in the grip of harmful and irrational gender self-ID zealotry. Joanna Cherry KC, the lawyer and former SNP MP, said she was pleased that Mr Swinney recognises this biological reality that men could not become pregnant. She added: But Im presently sitting in the UK Supreme Court watching his Governments lawyers argue the opposite. Scottish ministers are attempting to convince a panel of the countrys top judges that the 2004 Gender Recognition Act was clear that GRCs change a persons legal sex for all purposes. Joanna Cherry, the lawyer and former SNP MP, is a vocal critic of the SNPs plans to allow Scots to change their legal sex by signing a declaration - Jane Barlow/PA Wire For Women Scotland claims this was overridden by the 2010 Equality Act, which treated women and transgender people as two protected, but distinct groups. To support its case, For Women Scotland has said that biological females with male GRCs would therefore lose legal protections, such as rights to maternity leave, if they were no longer legally women. Scottish Government lawyers said that references to a woman who is pregnant in the Equality Act 2010 are capable of applying to a pregnant man who had been born female. In a 40-page legal submission to the Supreme Court, they also said that it was unlawful for women-only clubs and associations to exclude biological males with gender recognition certificates. This would mean that a biological male with a GRC, who was attracted to women, would become a lesbian in the eyes of the law and therefore could not be lawfully excluded from lesbian-only groups with more than 25 members. The outcome of the latest case could have big implications across the UK, because it has implications for whether trans women can access womens refuges, prisons, changing rooms and other single-sex spaces. Protection of the previous sex On Tuesday, Ruth Crawford KC, representing Scottish ministers, said: The Gender Recognition Act affects a change in sex and gender interchangeably and this affects a change in legal status. She went on to add: The presumption is unqualified a person who becomes the sex of the acquired gender is entitled to the protections of that sex even if it disadvantages them as a sex or it means losing the protection of the previous sex. Later in the afternoon, Ms Crawford said her client suggested dealing with what she described as the issue of the pregnant man as its often short-handedly [referred to]. Suggesting her first most straightforward potential solution, Ms Crawford said: Any difficulties arising from the exclusion of a person with an acquired male gender who nonetheless thereafter becomes pregnant are to be resolved by Parliament rather than the courts. that issue is very clearly a matter of deep political water. Pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding Setting out the second approach, she said: For this provision to be applied to those who are pregnant is a matter of fact, regardless of the terms of any GRC. That being on the basis as it was put by the Inner House, a woman is not the essential element at which section 17 and 18 are aimed. Rather, its the fact of pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. However a judge on the panel suggested that the latter suggestion would not be possible when women and pregnancy is a protected status for women the two are intricately linked. Responding, Aidan ONeill KC, who is representing For Women Scotland, also suggested pregnant men, who were born biologically female, would not have to abide by the same UK laws on abortion as pregnant women. He said: Pre-1994 enactments as the Abortion Act when it uses the term women and pregnancy will only apply to women who are pregnant and it will not apply to pregnant men. Fundamental rights Mr ONeill added: If youre a pregnant man, you have an unlimited time to consider whether to continue with the pregnancy. If youre a pregnant woman, you have to stick by the terms of the Act. The barrister, who received a standing ovation from supporters as he left the courtroom, concluded by stating that the rights of trans women with GRCs shouldnt trump the fundamental rights of women who make up the majority. He said: Womens fundamental fights cannot be overridden by general or ambiguous words. The courts therefore must presume that even the most general words were intended to be subject to the basic rights of the individual woman as a woman and one would hope that womens rights are human rights and does so by upholding this appeal. The Supreme Court case is the culmination of a five-year legal battle between the Scottish Government and For Women Scotland, which brought its case to the Supreme Court with the help of a 70,000 donation from JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author. JK Rowling has donated 70,000 to challenge a ruling that men can become women - TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images For Women Scotland won an earlier case, after the SNP set up a scheme to increase the proportion of women on public boards, and said that anyone who self-identified as a woman would count towards gender equality targets. Ministers then changed the scheme, but said biological males holding a GRC would still count as women for the purposes of the law. For Women Scotland challenged this, saying only biological women should count. It has lost twice in the Scottish courts, allowing the group to bring its case to the Supreme Court for a definitive ruling. Diego Garcia island in the Chagos archipelago, where a US air base may influence Donald Trump to stop the UK island chain handover deal - USGS/Nasa/Gallo Images/Getty Sir Keir Starmer is trying to rush through a treaty giving away the Chagos Islands before Donald Trump becomes US president, The Telegraph can reveal. It comes amid mounting speculation that Mr Trump could oppose the deal to hand over the islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, which was backed by Joe Biden. While the US is not directly involved in the decision, its support is critical because it has a military base on Diego Garcia, one of the islands. Senior Republicans have been critical of the deal, as has Nigel Farage, the Reform leader and ally of Mr Trump. There are concerns it could harm US national security because Mauritius is an ally of China. Boris Johnson, who had a close working relationship with Mr Trump during his last term in the White House, has added to the growing clamour against the deal. Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Johnson said the long-held claims of liberal lawyers that returning Chagos to the Chagossians had been proved to be Lefty b-------. He told the Ukraine: The Latest podcast that giving up sovereignty of the islands amounted to spectacularly shooting ourselves in the foot. He added: The whole things a scandal. Its driven by people who, frankly, hate the historic legacy of imperial Britain, who hate the very idea that we had a colonial past and want to do absolutely everything to efface the vestiges of that past, even if it means spectacularly shooting ourselves in the foot, cutting off our noses to spite our face and doing various other acts of pointless self-mutilation. Its driven by pure Lefty politics and its a tragedy that Starmer has bought into this nonsense. I dont know what the Trump administration will do with it now, but perhaps they will find a way of impeding it. The Chagos Islands are 300 miles south of the Maldives archipelago in the Indian Ocean - History/Universal Images Group via Getty Multiple sources close to policy discussions have confirmed to The Telegraph that the UK is trying to convert an initial agreement into a signed off legal text before Mr Trump takes office on Jan 20. It has been reported that the deal was on the verge of collapse after Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Mauritiuss new prime minister, publicly called for time to consider the deal he inherited. However, The Telegraph has been told that Mr Ramgoolam committed to completing negotiations over Chagos in a private letter he sent to Sir Keir in the last fortnight. We look forward to engaging with the new Mauritian government, said a spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer - Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty/Sir Keir Starmer The correspondence was a response to the Prime Ministers initial letter of congratulations on election victory. It has raised hopes in Whitehall that the new Mauritian government will back the deal, despite current uncertainty. Sir Keir has dispatched Jonathan Powell, his newly appointed national security adviser who led negotiations with Chagos this autumn, when the initial agreement was struck and announced, overseas to try and keep the handover alive. Mr Powell held talks with Mr Ramgoolam earlier this week. He is also expected to fly out to America shortly to attempt to convince figures close to Mr Trump to stick with the deal. The Chagos Islands are to be handed over to Mauritius by the UK - roc8jas/iStockphoto Converting the in-principle agreement into a signed treaty before Mr Trump becomes US president would make it harder to unpick. However, there would still be uncertainty. If Mr Trump publicly criticised the deal after taking office, it could still collapse. The treaty would have to be ratified by the UK Parliament after Mr Trumps inauguration on Jan 20, though Labours vast House of Commons majority should see it pass comfortably. Foreign Office analysis has concluded that senior figures across the non-political parts of the US administration including the Pentagon want the Chagos deal to remain in place. On Wednesday, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, told the Commons foreign affairs committee: Lets be clear, this is incredibly serious and Im sad that theres been so much politicking about this. The agencies in the United States think this is a good deal. The state department thinks this is a good deal. And most important of all, the Pentagon and the White House think this is a good deal. The UK is insisting that the agreement remains in Americas interest, given fears Britain otherwise would be forced to give up the islands after international legal rulings sided against London. Such an eventuality would plunge the future of the US base on Diego Garcia into uncertainty. Under the agreement, Diego Garcia will remain under UK control for at least the next 99 years. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said on the Chagos deal: The UKs position on this remains unchanged. Weve always said that we look forward to engaging with the new Mauritian government, and thats exactly what were doing in order to progress the deal. Were now finalising the details of the legal text, the treaty, and we will be coming forward for parliamentary scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year. Our position remains completely unchanged. Sir Keir Starmer has refused to repeat a pledge made by Rachel Reeves not to impose more tax rises on businesses. At the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference on Monday, Ms Reeves said she would not be coming back with more borrowing or more taxes when asked if she could rule out a further increase in business levies. Her remarks were widely interpreted as a promise not to increase taxes on firms during the rest of the five-year parliament after the National Insurance rise in the Budget. But challenged at the despatch box over the Chancellors promise, the Prime Minister said he was not going to write the next five years of Budgets. Sir Keir Starmer speaking at Prime Ministers Questions in the Commons on Wednesday - PA Wire Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, asked Sir Keir to repeat the Chancellors pledge at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. She said: At the CBI conference on Monday, the Chancellor said: I am clear, I am not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes. I know that telling the truth to this House is important to the Prime Minister, so will he repeat his Chancellors pledge now? Kemi Badenoch challenged Sir Keir Starmer on future tax rises during PMQs on Wednesday - HOUSE OF COMMONS/UK PARLIAMENT/PA Sir Keir replied: We set out our position at the Budget, it was just set out, we are fixing the foundations, we are dealing with the 22 billion black hole that they left. I am not going to write the next five years of Budgets here at this despatch box. But we said we wouldnt hit the payslips of working people, we passed the Budget, we invested in the future, and we kept that promise. On Tuesday, Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, refused to repeat the pledge, telling MPs: What the Chancellor was saying, is to make clear that that need to fix the foundations is a one-time deal, that there will not be a further ask of the business community comparable to what we had to do at the beginning of this Parliament. A spokesman for the Treasury also declined to repeat the Chancellors promise on tax. As the Chancellor said, this was a once-in-a-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean, repair the nations finances and begin to fix public services, he said. We have taken tough decisions to bring stability back so the focus can now be on growing the economy and reforming public services. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, claimed the Business Secretary had let the mask slip. In an article for The Telegraph, Mr Stride wrote: Rachel Reeves herself tried to reassure rightfully anxious business leaders at the CBI this week that her tax-raising campaign was over. And for 24 hours you would be forgiven for believing she might actually mean this. But then the inevitable came when their Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, let the mask slip refusing to echo the Chancellor and instead delivering a form of words that was reminiscent of their promise during the election campaign that they had no plans for tax rises. At the end of the day, this is because this is who Labour are. They do not understand what our economy really needs. You can join the conversation in the comments section. 02:31 PM GMT That is all for today... Thank you for joining me for todays Prime Ministers Questions live blog. 02:21 PM GMT Jenrick: Reevess tax pledge hasnt survived 48 hours At PMQs today, I challenged the Prime Minister to address the cost of living crisis and restore winter fuel payments. With energy bills set to rise yet again, millions will struggle to make ends meet this winter. pic.twitter.com/LTDMcfR6WK Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) November 27, 2024 01:36 PM GMT Labour: Tories all over the place on Budget response Labour claimed the Tories were all over the place after Kemi Badenoch failed to say if she would reverse the increase to employer National Insurance (see the post below at 12.12). Ellie Reeves, the Labour Party Chair, said in a statement issued after PMQs: Kemi Badenoch has again been unable to explain whether she would reverse changes to employer NICs that pay for Labours investment in the NHS and education. Would she cut the funding for hospitals and schools which she claims to back? The Opposition are all over the place. Nothing constructive, no new ideas. Just complaints and nothing to say about what they would do - all while running up an unfunded promises wish list of nearly 7 billion in just three weeks. Completely unserious. 01:15 PM GMT Analysis: Starmer walked into Badenochs tax trap Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch both raised the temperature this week in their most heated PMQs exchange to date, writes Dominic Penna. Following the more convivial exchanges between Sir Keir and Rishi Sunak in the months after the general election, Punch and Judy politics is officially back as the leaders traded blows but struggled to break beyond a stalemate. Mrs Badenoch started strong enough. Sir Keir walked into her trap by refusing to repeat a pledge by Rachel Reeves at the CBI that she would not come back with more borrowing or more taxes, while later in the session the PM unwisely repeated her assessment of everything is broken. Calling Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, a ginger nut, while also shoehorning in a dig at Reeves over her CV, this was a far more confident, if at times outright abrasive, showing from the Tory leader. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, addresses the House of Commons during PMQs But Sir Keir won back some points by noting Mrs Badenoch had refused to commit to reversing his rise in employer National Insurance, an example of what could be the biggest downside of her first-principles approach. The Prime Minister also landed some blows by noting the Tories had often been on the same course as Labour on issues including smoking and electric vehicles during their time in power. But as he wrapped up the session by accusing the Leader of the Opposition of not having any ideas, the premier has every reason to worry about the increasingly hostile reception to his own. 01:04 PM GMT Why were MPs wearing red ribbons during PMQs? Numerous MPs were wearing a red ribbon on their lapel during Prime Ministers Questions, including Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary. The red ribbon is the symbol of World AIDS Day which is a commemorative event showing solidarity with people who are living with HIV and it also remembers lives lost. World AIDS Day itself is observed every year on December 1. 12:50 PM GMT Starmer rebuffs SNP MPs call to end all UK arms sales to Israel An SNP MP told Sir Keir Starmer that the International Criminal Courts decision to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu should prompt the UK to cancel all arms sales to Israel. Brendan OHara told Sir Keir: Now that arrest warrants have been issued for his allies, Netanyahu and Gallant, the Prime Ministers determination to supply Israel with the weapons it requires to carry out its atrocities in Gaza which has always been morally repugnant is now completely untenable. What these warrants do is present him with the perfectly valid legal avenue by which he can end the UKs complicity in this slaughter so will he do that or will the Prime Minister continue to choose to licence F35 components to a regime which is now led by a man wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity? The Prime Minister replied: We have set out our position under the current law as he well knows. I have set out my position very, very clearly in relation to the sale of capability to Israel to defend itself against attacks such as those from Iran and I am very clear that we will continue to do so. 12:38 PM GMT Starmer will not reverse decision to scrap winter fuel payments for 10m pensioners Sir Keir Starmer refused to reverse his decision to scrap winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners. Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, urged the Prime Minister to reconsider and restore the handouts. But the Prime Minister said: Obviously the whole House is concerned about energy bills which are actually lower this year than they were last year. The long term way to deal with this is clean power by 2030 to make sure we drive those energy bills down on a permanent basis and that is what we will do. On the winter fuel allowance, he knows very well what the Governments position is and I have rehearsed it indeed with him many times. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, addresses the House of Commons during PMQs - UK Parliament /PA 12:34 PM GMT Davey urges Starmer to make hospices exempt from NI raid Sir Ed Davey urged Sir Keir Starmer to make hospices exempt from the Governments increase to National Insurance contributions as he referenced Fridays vote on the assisted dying Bill. The Lib Dem leader said: Does the Prime Minister agree that whatever the House decides on Friday, it is urgent that we improve access to high quality end of life care? Will he make that a key focus of the 10 year NHS plan and will he commit now to protect hospices from the National Insurance rise? Sir Keir said: Obviously there is a very important vote on Friday but whichever way that vote goes we must invest properly in care across our health service. 12:31 PM GMT Badenoch: Everyone is unhappy with Labour Kemi Badenoch said that everyone is unhappy with the Government. She asked: Isnt it a good thing that the Chancellor is an expert at customer complaints? The Prime Minister replied: They come here every week with absolutely nothing to offer except complaints. 12:28 PM GMT Starmer and Badenoch clash over electric vehicles Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of taking the credit for business investment which had been secured under the last Tory government. Turning to Vauxhalls announcement of closing its factory in Luton, Mrs Badenoch said: The bottom line is that in all that he has said, he doesnt seem to care about the young people who will lose their jobs as a result of his Budget. Perhaps he can show more concern for the 1,100 people who found out yesterday that they could lose their jobs at Vauxhalls plant in Luton. So while he flies around making unilateral commitments, back home the real world effects are businesses closing in Bedfordshire and Basildon. Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, addresses the House of Commons during PMQs Does the Prime Minister stand by his promise to ban the sale of petrol cars by 2030 even if more jobs will be lost? Sir Keir said: The question of the position of jobs in Luton is a very serious one and families and workers will be very worried and we are obviously engaging with them. I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that the EV mandates that are in issue in this particular case were actually introduced by the last government. 12:20 PM GMT Tory leader takes a shot at Angela Rayner Kemi Badenoch mocked Angela Rayner as she described the Deputy Prime Minister as a ginger nut. The Tory leader said: Let me give him another example of a real business. Following his Budget the head of McVities has said that it has been harder to understand what the case for investment in the UK is. So while the Prime Minister has been hobnobbing in Brazil, businesses have been struggling to digest his Budget. Isnt it the case that the employment rights Bill shows that it is not only the ginger nut that is causing him problems? Sir Keir said: I was attending the G20. I suspect on their current trajectory they dont know whether they are going to attend the G20 or not. Maybe the policy commission will come up with an answer on that one. 12:16 PM GMT Badenoch: PM should resign if he wants to know what Tories would do Kemi Badenoch told Sir Keir Starmer: If he wants to know what Conservatives would do he should resign and find out. The Tory leader argued that Labours economic plans made no sense because while the Government said it wanted to get more people back into work, its increase to National Insurance meant businesses were likely to halt expansion and cut jobs. She asked Sir Keir if he agreed with business leaders that the dots of the Governments policy dont join up. She also mentioned a petition with more than 2 million signatures demanding a re-run of the general election. The Prime Minister said: We had a massive petition on the 4th of July. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, addresses the House of Commons during PMQs 12:12 PM GMT Badenoch tells Starmer business confidence has crashed after Budget Kemi Badenoch said that business confidence had crashed since the Budget. Sir Keir Starmer hit back and said: We are fixing the foundations, we have got record investment into this country. The Prime Minister also pointed out that while Mrs Badenoch had criticised the increase to National Insurance contributions for employers she had not promised to reverse it. Sir Keir Starmer addresses the House of Commons during PMQs 12:10 PM GMT Starmer refuses to repeat Reeves tax promise Sir Keir Starmer refused to repeat a pledge by Rachel Reeves not to impose more business tax rises. Kemi Badenoch raised comments made by the Chancellor at a CBI summit earlier this week. She said: At the CBI conference on Monday, the Chancellor said I am clear, I am not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes. I know that telling the truth to this House is important to the Prime Minister,. so will he repeat his Chancellors pledge now? Sir Keir replied: We set out our position at the Budget, it was just set out, we are fixing the foundations, we are dealing with the 22 billion black hole that they left. I am not going to write the next five years of budgets here at this despatch box. But we said we wouldnt hit the payslips of working people, we passed the Budget, we invested in the future, and we kept that promise. 12:05 PM GMT Starmer: Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire long overdue Prime Ministers Questions is now underway in the House of Commons. Sir Keir Starmer started by expressing his sympathies to the victims of recent flooding across the UK. He said that 2.4 billion had been committed to build and rebuild flood defences He also hailed the truce in Lebanon as he said it was long overdue and that it demonstrated the power of diplomacy. 12:01 PM GMT Badenoch and Starmer arrive in Commons Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmner have now arrived in the House of Commons and taken their seats on the frontbench opposite each other. PMQs should get underway imminently. 11:50 AM GMT Pictured: Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street ahead of PMQs Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, pictured this morning as he left 10 Downing Street ahead of PMQs in the House of Commons - Peter Nicholls /Getty Images Europe 11:40 AM GMT Commons underway ahead of PMQs at noon The Wednesday sitting of the House of Commons is now underway, starting with about 25 minutes of Northern Ireland questions. Sir Keir Starmer will face his weekly grilling at PMQs from just after noon. You will be able to watch PMQs live at the top of this page. 11:17 AM GMT What will Kemi Badenoch grill the PM on? It could be a difficult 30 minutes for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs because Kemi Badenoch has all sorts of ammunition to choose from this week. The Government remains under pressure over its tax plans and the Tory leader could opt to pick one or all of the following as her subject of choice: The so-called tractor tax, the increase to employer National Insurance contributions or ministers signalling there could be more tax increases to come. Mrs Badenoch could also go a different direction and raise the International Criminal Courts decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Tories have urged Labour to condemn and challenge the decision. But the Government has said it backs the ICC and has refused to rule out arresting Mr Netanyahu if he was to visit the UK. There is also a growing dispute over the Governments electric vehicle rules after carmakers warned they were putting the industrys future at risk. 11:06 AM GMT Starmer to face Badenoch at PMQs Sir Keir Starmer missed Prime Ministers Questions last week because he was travelling back to the UK after attending a G20 summit in Brazil. He will return to the House of Commons at noon today for his third showdown with Kemi Badenoch. One severe flood warning meaning danger to life was still in place at the Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA Media The third named storm of the autumn, Conall, has brought more disruption to the UK, with trains cancelled in parts of southern England on Wednesday and the Met Office warning of delays on roads and the potential for power cuts. Up to 40mm of rain fell overnight in parts of south and south-east England and another 5-8mm was expected during the day. The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for London and areas of Essex, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. While the Met Office did not name the storm, its partner the Dutch forecaster KNMI did so because Conall was expected to bring strong winds to the Netherlands. Related: Wednesday briefing: Why was the UK so poorly prepared for extreme flooding? On Wednesday morning there were no trains between Ascot in Berkshire and Aldershot in Hampshire, and part of a line was blocked on the Isle of Wight. There was also train disruption across the Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southern networks. Farther west, the impact of last weekends storm, Bert, meant there was disruption to trains between Hereford and Newport in south Wales and in the south Wales valleys. Lynn Bridgeman, who lives in a caravan park in Taunton, Somerset, said she went through an absolutely terrifying experience in the early hours of Sunday when strong winds caused her awning to collapse. She said: At three oclock in the morning, my caravan went up on one wheel and that was the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced. I thought the caravan was going to topple over. I literally screamed. When I got up in the morning, I couldnt get out of the caravan because the awning had come down and the pole got pushed into the door. She said her neighbours had to cut out what was left of the canopy to get her out of the caravan. In Chippenham, Wiltshire, Becky Lyonss business flooded in the early hours of Monday, damaging equipment and stock. The 39-year-old owner of the Pawesome Pet Shop said the water rose up to 2ft, preventing her from getting inside her shop until 2pm, when the water had come down to 1ft. She said: There was mud and silt everywhere. The water was just high enough to catch everything on our bottom shelves and our freezer full of raw food. Almost 100 flood warnings remained in place for England and Wales and there was one severe flood warning meaning danger to life for the River Nene at the Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire. The Environment Agency said the situation on the Nene remains hazardous. It said: There is danger to life. Keep yourself and your family safe. Severe flooding is expected to continue. Please stay evacuated from the area. Storm Bert left more than 500 homes and businesses in England and Wales flooded, turned roads into rivers and brought winds of more than 80mph. By early afternoon on Wednesday, Conall had largely departed the UK. Rain totals from 10pm on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday included Calbourne on the Isle of Wight at 43.3mm; Warnford, Hampshire at 37.4mm; and Harbertonford, Devon at 37.1mm. A Met Office spokesperson said: It will be bringing more significant impacts to the Netherlands. We didnt name this one its more of a glancing blow with some rainfall for us. On Thursday frost and fog is due to slowly clear from most areas to leave a dry, chilly day with some sunshine. It is set to become cloudier and windy in the west with some patchy rain. Betting industry figures say the levy would risk more empty shops on high streets - CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG NEWS A surprise raid on gambling companies puts 2,500 jobs at risk, ministers have been warned. The Government announced that a new statutory levy on betting firms would be set at a higher level than expected, in a move branded an effective tax hike. Industry figures warned the change would put jobs in peril and would risk more empty shops on high streets. The levy is set to add to pressure on businesses already hammered by a rise in National Insurance payments in Rachel Reevess maiden Budget. Until now, betting companies have paid a voluntary levy to help prevent and tackle gambling-related harms. The previous Conservative government planned to put the duty on a statutory footing to ensure all companies paid their fair share. But ministers did not implement the change before Rishi Sunak called the general election, leaving the next steps up to Labour. The Government has now decided to impose levies at a higher rate than proposed by the Conservatives, in an announcement that has shocked betting companies. In a consultation published last year, the Tories suggested setting the duty at 1 per cent for online betting and 0.4 per cent for land-based alternatives, such as high street bookmakers. Instead, Labour has decided to set the rates at 1.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. There are lower charges for certain other types of gambling, including in-person bingo and on-course betting. Hammer blow to small businesses The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which represents the regulated UK betting and gaming industry, said the effective tax increase would deliver a hammer blow to hundreds of small businesses. A spokesman said: While the BGC supported plans to introduce a mandatory levy to fund research, prevention and treatment services to tackle problem gambling and gambling-related harm, we are deeply concerned about this effective tax hike on our members, particularly independent bookmakers and land-based casinos. The proposed levy rate for independent bookmakers is a hammer blow to the 500 small independent betting shops and the 2,500 people who work in them, which risks job losses and venue closures, while contributing a small amount to the overall levy total. At the same time, the Governments incoherent approach allows the National Lottery, adult gaming centres and seaside arcade centres to pay significantly less towards the levy. Independent bookmakers are proud of the role they play in hard-pressed high street. But this threat to bookmakers risks more empty shops. The Government justified the increase by saying it would raise more money for the prevention and treatment of gambling problems. In its response to the Tory consultation, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: Since the consultation, we have made minor changes to levy rates to those proposed originally, but we are confident that impact on operators will be minimal. Gambling Commission analysis of industry data has shown that the levy rates as previously proposed would raise about 84 million each year. We have therefore proposed slightly increasing rates for each category to 1.1 per cent for online operators, 0.5 per cent for casinos and bookmakers and 0.2 per cent for bingo to raise approximately 90 million to 100 million per year. Alexis Stingley shops for Thanksgiving appetizer and dessert ingredients at Whole Foods at 399 Fourth St. in San Francisco on Wednesday. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle Shay Howard of Mission Bay does her Thanksgiving shopping at Safeway on King Street in San Francisco on Wednesday. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle With the shopping window for Thanksgiving dinner rapidly closing, grocery stores in San Francisco were doing steady business Wednesday morning. The scene was mostly calm, with many shoppers saying they had already done the bulk of their shopping and were now looking for specific items. Clerks reported that they expected business to pick up later in the day. Heres a roundup from several stores in the city and what shoppers had to say about their Thanksgiving plans, their shopping strategies and the deals they found. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Trader Joes, 555 Ninth St. Trader Joes in SoMa looked like any other day Wednesday morning, with shoppers zigzagging through aisles to buy lunch for the day or last-minute items for their Thanksgiving dinner. Maria Lopez already purchased everything she needed for her family gathering Thursday, she said, but she was missing dessert. More specifically, she said she was on the hunt for Trader Joes Danish Kringle pastry. Im here for that, said Lopez, giggling as she walked into the store. My daughter didnt find it at her Trader Joes. Chris Coffey likes to get his Thanksgiving shopping done days ahead of the holiday, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He said he goes to Costco in the East Bay, where he lives, but I wouldnt dare going there today. Holding one shopping bag filled with potatoes, bell peppers and olive oil, Coffey dropped into Trader Joes to buy his lunch for the day. Despite the steady flow of customers trickling into the store, Coffey said the store appeared to be prepared with several cashiers and workers on the floor. I came right on time, he said. I got lucky. Elisa Legon also thought the store was well organized and prepared for anticipated crowds. For Legon, who did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving in Argentina, Wednesday morning was just a regular shopping trip. She purchased soup, lots of snacks and treats for her dog. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Its not part of my personal traditions, so its not like Im against it, she said. Shoppers are seen outside the Costco at 450 10th St. in San Francisco on Wednesday. Jessica Flores/The Chronicle Costco, 450 10th St. At Costco in SoMa, shoppers streamed in and out of the store with their carts filled with rotisserie chicken, croissants, alcohol and more. Traci Dauphin bought beer, potatoes and rotisserie chicken which she said her family was having with gravy instead of turkey. A regular shopper at the SoMa location, Dauphin said the store was calm Wednesday compared to the previous few days. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Two days ago it was insane, she said, predicting that people bought all their groceries ahead of the holiday. Andronicos, 1200 Irving St. The scene at the Andronicos market on Irving Street in San Francisco was mostly calm Wednesday morning, although a mostly packed parking lot conveyed a sense of last-minute Thanksgiving urgency. Outside around 11 a.m., a neighborhood resident who gave her name as Kate said she comes by the store most days and just needed to grab some fresh herbs ahead of Thanksgiving. She said she wasnt really looking for any deals on specific items but usually does during the week. If you want to see it real crowded, come back this afternoon, she said with a smile. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Inside, shelves were well stocked, and there was no mad dash for any particular items. The crowd was a mix of families with younger children and older folks. They could even grab a turkey if that was left off the list, with the largest going for almost $90. Near the entrance to the store Beckmanns brand pies in pecan and pumpkin flavors on offer ($24.99). For those feeling more adventurous, a refrigerated display offered pie crust, triple berry mix and anything else one might need to whip up a Thanksgiving dessert, and all on sale. Out in the parking lot, Mario Rojas pulled up with his son to the store. He came in search of limes, both to season his turkey and for the margaritas, he said with a wide grin. Rojas is no stranger to whipping up big meals as one of the owners of Cole Valley brunch staple Zazie. He said the restaurant had begun planning its Thanksgiving brunch, and its 300 Thanksgiving kits it had already sold, way back in August. Thankfully, he didnt need to pick up any last-minute items for the restaurant, he said. Mary Jane Panganiban does her Thanksgiving shopping at Safeway at 298 King St. on Wednesday. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle Safeway, 298 King St. Mary Jane Panganiban, a caregiver, said Wednesday was her first chance to do her shopping after working five 12-hour days in a row. My family is from the Philippines, but when we came here in 2010, we decided to do a Thanksgiving celebration, she said. Her kids dont want turkey, she said. They want ham with pineapple and sugar. I already marinated it. Im going to cook potatoes au gratin and pasta with shrimp, and make deviled eggs, she said. The best deal she got was for cheese, she said. It was $11 a bag before, and now it is $8. Another good deal? Butter. It was $8 now its $3.99, she said. Ashley Kubachka was shopping Wednesday because I was working all the other days, as a massage therapist. She bought bagels and bacon to make Thanksgiving breakfast more than the usual cereal. Her best deal was getting yogurt for a few dollars off, she said. Shay Howard of Mission Bay said she was cooking for a handful of people, so I put in my order last night and just had to pick it up. She said coupon shopping paid off for her. Im cooking cabbage, macaroni, a whole stuffed chicken and potato salad, she said. When they rang it up, it was like $79, but I clipped coupons and saved up points, so I only paid like $26. Leigh Frazier, a prosecutor in the San Francisco District Attorneys Office, wraps up her Thanksgiving grocery shopping at Whole Foods at 399 Fourth St. on Wednesday. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle Whole Foods, 399 Fourth St. The SoMa Whole Foods was calm at midmorning Wednesday though a clerk said business was brisk early in the day, and crowds were expected to return in the afternoon. Leigh Frazier, a prosecutor in San Francisco District Attorneys Office, was at the store to pick up the turkey she had preordered. I came at 8, but it wasnt ready, so I went to court and came back, and it still wasnt crowded, she said. Im not sure there are any good deals to be had at Whole Foods, but it is convenient, Frazier said. My favorite thing are these tiny apples, she said. They will look cute on my charcuterie board. Alexis Stingley, a Novato resident, was out early to get her shopping done before heading to her job as a psychiatric nurse. I have a busy house full of little kids and work, so I couldnt get to it until today. I did not want to deal with a grocery store after work, she said. Stingley said she was in charge of two appetizers and four desserts for 15 people and was buying ingredients for chocolate peanut butter pie, apple crisps, brownies and rice crisp. As soon as I get home from work, Ill start baking, she said. They are having a sale on baking supplies, so I got sugar and flour cheap. Mark M. bought cranberries at Safeway, then went to Whole Foods for a pumpkin pie. It has better ingredients, he said. They dont put so much junk in it. Im sure there are better ones out there, but I dont know where. Either I will eat it first or take it to the relatives, he said. Chris Caplazi, a captain with Swiss International Air Lines, was shopping Wednesday at Whole Foods in San Francisco for a pumpkin pie to surprise the crew on his flight to Switzerland that evening. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle Chris Caplazi, a captain with Swiss International Air Lines, was preparing to take food to the skies. I just bought a pumpkin pie to take to Switzerland this evening on a Boeing 777, he said. I came to Whole Foods because it is close to my hotel. Sex Matters and the For Women Scotland supporters gather at the supreme court in London. Photograph: Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock Transgender people have a fundamental right to be recognised in their legally acquired gender, the supreme court has heard in a case brought by Scottish campaigners to resolve how women are defined in law. For Women Scotland is challenging a prior ruling by the court of session in Edinburgh, which found that Scottish government guidance extending the definition of woman to transgender women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) was lawful. Ruth Crawford KC, responding on behalf of Scottish ministers on the second day of submissions, said that the Gender Recognition Act 2004 was clear that a GRC changes sex for all purposes. Someone with a GRC is entitled to legal protections just as much as others enjoy those protections who are recorded as a woman at birth, she said. Therefore the legislation created a fundamental right and a human right to be recognised in ones acquired gender. Crawford denied the document was some legal fiction, as described in court yesterday by For Women Scotlands KC Aiden ONeill. She said it had far-reaching consequences, not just for an individuals recognition in state records but also their relationship to private organisations. Also speaking for Scottish ministers, Lesley Irvine highlighted the onerous conditions which have to be met to obtain a GRC, including a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and proof of living in the preferred gender for two years. She said that it amounted to a fundamental change of status until death. The hearing marks the conclusion of a long-running court action by For Women Scotland over the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which they argue has wide-ranging ramifications for womens rights under the UK-wide 2010 Equality Act. Crawford said that the UK parliament did have gender recognition law in mind when enacting the Equality Act and that legal recognition of change of sex does not run contrary to the aims of that act. Asked by Lady Simler whether there could be a chilling effect, whereby a lesbian association felt it had to admit transgender women, Crawford said she did not believe there was. She said that one of the intervenors in the case Scottish Lesbians, for example could set up exclusions on the basis of their gender critical beliefs. Crawford was asked about the possibility of a pregnant individual changing their sex to male via GRC and then being unable to claim maternity protections. She said that signing the certificate meant intending to live as a male until death but this deep political water was for parliament to resolve, not the court. Intervening for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Jason Coppel KC said that, while agreeing with Scottish ministers on how gender recognition law should be currently interpreted, the case highlighted the need for parliament to consider amending the Equality Act to specify biological sex. The court will deliver its judgment at a later date. Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach earlier this month. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Donald Trump announced his selections for a series of positions in his administration on Tuesday evening. The posts include the president-elects picks for deputy secretary of health and human services, US trade representative and head of the national economic council, among others. Jamieson Greer, an attorney who served under Trumps previous trade representative Robert Lighthizer, will serve as US trade representative. In his announcement, Trump said: Jamieson played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China and others to combat unfair Trade practices, and replacing the failed NAFTA deal with USMCA, therefore making it much better for American Workers. If confirmed by the Senate, Greer will be tasked with reining in the trade deficit and opening up export markets everywhere, among other things, Trump said. Jim ONeill will serve as deputy secretary of health and human services under Robert F Kennedy Jr. ONeill served in the department under George W Bush, before going on to work in Silicon Valley, where he invested heavily in tech ventures alongside PayPal chief executive Peter Thiel. Thiel, who advised Trumps first administration, encouraged the president-elect to nominate ONeill to a high-level health role in the administration. ONeill has been vocally critical of the Food and Drug Administration, saying in a 2014 speech that it should approve drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety, and let people start using them at their own risk and prove efficacy after theyve been legalized. Related: Trumps cabinet and White House picks so far Trump named another high-level health official, nominating the Stanford academic and physician Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya was an outspoken critic of the US governments Covid policies during the pandemic, and published the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, which called for a return to life as normal for those who were less vulnerable to the virus. The declaration which came before the availability of Covid-19 vaccines promoted herd immunity, the idea that when enough people in a population are immune to the virus, it cant find a new host which many people suggested would happen if the virus was simply allowed to spread, rather than be contained through lockdowns. The proposal was embraced by some in the first Trump administration, including Trump himself who mistakenly referred to herd mentality as a way of stopping the spread of the virus. Bhattacharya sued the government afterward, alleging that it pressured social media platforms to censor his opinions. The supreme court sided with the Biden administration in that case. Together, 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, Trump wrote. Kevin Hassett, a Stanford economist who served as chair of the council of economic advisers during Trumps first administration, will lead the national economic council. Hassett played a crucial role in helping me to design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Trump said in a statement. Together, we will renew and improve our record Tax Cuts, and ensure that we have Fair Trade with Countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past. Trump has named Vince Haley, who helped lead the speech-writing department during his first term, to be director of the domestic policy council, which drives implementation of the administrations agenda. The Trump adviser and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller applauded the announcement in a post on social media, saying Haleys talent, devotion, determination and deep philosophical commitment to the America First agenda is unmatched. John Phelan, who co-founded MSD Capital to manage the capital of Michael Dell, will be navy secretary. Phelan and his wife hosted a private fundraising dinner for Trump at their $38m home in Aspen, Colorado, in August. Dr Jay Bhattacharya: We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again - Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Donald Trump has appointed Jay Bhattacharya, a prominent lockdown sceptic, to lead the National Institute of Health. Dr Bhattacharya, who argued that blanket lockdown restrictions during the Covid pandemic caused unnecessary suffering and death, will take charge of the federal research agency, if confirmed by the Senate. In a statement, Mr Trump noted the Stanford University professors opposition to lockdowns and said he would work alongside his new health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to improve health and save lives. Together, 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, he said late on Tuesday. If confirmed by senators, Dr Bhattacharya will take charge of an institute with a $48 billion budget where he has previously claimed civil servants wield too much power over policy. His nomination marks a wider shake-up of the health establishment, along with appointments of several vaccine sceptics including Mr Kennedy, Marty Makary who will lead the Food and Drug Administration, and Dave Weldon as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RFK Jr, as the nominee for health secretary, will work with Dr Bhattacharya - Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Dr Bhattacharya is one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, in which he argued for the end of lockdowns while devoting overwhelming resources to protect the vulnerable through measures such as home delivery services. Lockdowns delay the time until herd immunity occurs and will incur unnecessary suffering and death to vulnerable and non-vulnerable alike, he wrote in The Telegraph in October 2020. A focused protection approach will save lives in both the short and long term. Also in The Telegraph, he argued last month that universities had manufactured an illusion of consensus on lockdown policies, suppressing scientific debate by Stalinesque means. Public health officials sacrificed the understandable desire for an open exchange of ideas on an altar of infection control; it was supposedly too dangerous to let the public see that there were qualified experts who disagreed on the wisdom of lockdowns, he said. Millions of unnecessary deaths The Great Barrington Declaration was widely rejected by the medical establishment at the time, who said that its recommendations would lead to millions of unnecessary deaths. However, growing recognition of the social and economic costs of lockdown have prompted some to take a second look at Dr Bhattacharyas proposals, which were supported by thousands of epidemiologists and experts. Anthony Fauci, who led the US response to the pandemic as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in 2020 that its policies would have let Covid rip through the population. Dr Bhattacharya, who would control Dr Faucis former agency and 27 others if confirmed as NIH director, has repeatedly criticised his handling of Covid. Earlier this month, he appeared to suggest Dr Fauci was one of the scientific bureaucrats who were responsible for Americans losing faith in the medical establishment. The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see. The National Institutes of Health, whose annual budget is $45 billion, orchestrated under the leadership of Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci a massive suppression of scientific debate and research, he wrote in UnHerd, alongside medical anthropologist Kevin Bardosh. Francis Collins, who led the NIH for 12 years until 2021, labelled the Great Barrington Declaration dangerous and called its authors fringe experts. Dr Bhattacharya wrote on social media after his nomination: I am honored and humbled by President Donald Trumps nomination of me to be the next NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again. Last year, Dr Bhattacharya joined a lawsuit against the Biden administration, arguing that it violated the First Amendment by working with social media companies to clamp down on Covid misinformation. 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. Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi believes her countrys regime is more vulnerable than ever - Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Iranian regime is closer to being toppled than ever following Donald Trumps election victory, a leading opposition group has said. Irans warmongering in the Middle East through its proxies has also weakened the regime, Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told The Telegraph in a rare interview. Ms Rajavi said that, after years of brutal oppression, Tehran had found itself in a quagmire with its facade of power crumbling. She said: The clerical regime is more vulnerable than ever. Last year, amidst potential overthrow threats highlighted by the 2022 uprisings, Ali Khamenei responded with regional warmongering. Now, he finds himself at an impasse, deeply entrenched in the quagmire of a conflict of his own making. For years, Khamenei claimed through lobbyists and appeasers that the theocracy was stable and that concessions were necessary to avoid chaos. This facade has crumbled. Supreme leader Ali Khamenei has turned to stoking regional tensions to distract from the unrest at home - EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Aides of Ms Rajavi told The Telegraph that the exiled opposition group was hoping Mr Trumps recent election victory would mean an end to appeasement and a hardline stance towards the Islamic Republics leadership. The NCRI is now urging Western governments not to lose impetus. Both Israels long-range strikes and the Republicans election win have put Tehrans regime on the defensive. Let us not be naive. The enmity of the regime with the West, Israel and the US, in particular with President Trump that it has exploited for years, now has become detrimental to the regime like the war itself. while we are endeavouring for the regimes overthrow, we want the West to be on our side to finish the job, an NCRI source said So confident is the group of the regimes demise, its leader, Ms Rajavi, has publicised a six-point plan to end the countrys dictatorship and introduce democracy. Granting further opportunities and concessions to the regime would be a critical error, detrimental to the Iranian people as well as to regional and global peace and stability, she told The Telegraph, in a further warning to the West not to relieve pressure on Tehran. The Iranian regime has been under mounting domestic pressure for over two years following the killing of Mahsa Amini by morality police. Protests have been growing in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini - AP Photo/Middle East Images Amini died in police custody in September 2022 after being detained for allegedly breaking Irans strict hijab laws. Her death sparked a series of anti-regime protests, which the NCRI believe forced the regime to use its international proxies in Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis to sow discord across the Middle East. Hamas had been consulting Tehran on its preparations for the Oct 7 massacre, which killed over 1,000 innocent Israelis with hundreds more kidnapped. Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated because of the Islamic Republics backing for the militants who have launched attacks on the Jewish state. Tehran has always argued that groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah act independently, but it has praised them as a so-called member of its Axis of Resistance in the region. Its backing for the terror groups has prompted Israel to carry out a series of strikes targeting top commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At least two of the IRGCs commanders were killed in air strikes on Syria, another Iranian ally in the region. The attacks prompted Iran to strike back at Israel, launching two long-range bombardments, which marked Tehrans first- direct strike on the Jewish state in their almost 50 years as arch enemies. @Tasnimnews_Fa/X In retaliation, Israel carried out its own strikes which left Iran militarily exposed, taking out the majority of the air defence systems protecting the Islamic Republic, according to Israeli officials. At the same time, there have been a growing number of political prisoners detained and executions carried out in Iran as the regime attempts to keep control at home. Ms Rajavi believes resistance in the Islamic Republic has been steadily growing - UGC/AFP via Getty Images Newly formed resistance groups, of which Ms Rajavi believes there are 20,000 operating in the Islamic Republic, form a key pillar of her blueprint for a democratic revolution. Through their relentless efforts to dismantle the barriers of oppression, they embody the force for change and stand as the freedom fighters of Iran, she told an audience at the European Parliament in Brussels earlier this week. After the regime has been overthrown, Ms Rajavi wants to establish a provisional government, with a maximum term of six months, to organise elections. The first democratically elected government would serve for a further two years as it drafts a new constitution for Iran. In an olive branch to the West, the NCRI wants to scrap the regimes nuclear programmes, and also end the countrys religious rule and the death penalty. With an end to capital punishment, aides to Ms Rajavi say that the current regime will not be subject to the same fate as many of their political opponents. Let us hope that the entire world recognises the Iranian peoples struggle to overthrow this regime and acknowledges the legitimacy of the just battle waged by the Resistance Units, said Ms Rajavi. President-elect Donald Trump Donald Trump is far from perfect, but hes our only hope, the Wests unlikeliest of saviours, the latest in a select list of American presidents fated with rescuing the Old World from its own stupidity. Left to our own devices, Britain and Europe stand no hope. Our moral and intellectual decline is too intense, our institutions too broken, our economy too kaput, our politicians too cowardly and our Blob too powerful. We can only whinge, virtue-signal, tax ourselves to death and surrender. The good news is that we are about to be jolted out of our socialistic stupor. We need to be forced to spend more on defence, which is exactly what Trump will make us do. We need to be shamed into showing some mettle in the fight against extremists and anti-Semites. We need to be nudged, cajoled and inspired: if Trump is successful in his first 18 months, the global Overton window will shift dramatically Rightwards, demonstrating an alternative to Britains Gaia-worshipping, soft on crime, quasi-open borders, pro-appeasement politics. Trump wants to unleash growth by slashing taxes and pursuing radical deregulation, liberating entrepreneurs and tech firms. He wants to ban DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), embracing meritocracy and the colour-blind society. He is planning an assault on the universities: they have become woke factories that specialise in brainwashing young people. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy want to drastically reduce the size of the state, fire vast numbers of civil servants, ban working from home in the public sector and eliminate endless regulations. Musk is sharing videos of Milton Friedman on X. Trump will take on the climate fanatics, and focus on cheap and plentiful energy, carbon-based and clean alike. His crackdown on illegal immigration will be based on a simple premise: countries must be able to choose who they let in. Foreign criminals have no right to stay. Trump wants to reassert democratic control: his plan is to appoint more civil servants directly. Unlike Keir Starmer, Trump is clear-headed about China. He grasps that it is a rival, hostile civilisation vying for global supremacy, the greatest threat to the West since fascism and communism. There is live talk in Washington that Trump may veto Britains surrender of the Chagos Islands where the US and UK have a military base to Mauritius and into Chinas orbit. The Peoples Republic isnt a pre-Western society, a couple of economic liberalisations away from joining the free world, as many of us once naively believed. China is a nightmarish, ultra-advanced, militaristic techno-tyranny that surveils and controls its people in a manner that dystopian fiction writers could only fantasise about. The Chinese Communist Party weaponises and perverts globalisation, commerce and the price system for its mercantilistic and imperialistic ends. The scale of the economic divorce initiated by Trump is remarkable. In 2017-18, more than 21 per cent of US imports came from China; by 2023, this was down to 14 per cent. Does Britain really want to be dependent on China for electric cars if and when a real conflict breaks out in the South China Sea? If Trump delivers on his plans, America will also spend vastly more on defence, and hopefully better, with reduced waste and a greater focus on modern technologies. Trump was right to blame China for Covid: it probably covered up an accidental lab leak in Wuhan, and then normalised and exported lockdowns as the only solution, wreaking terrible havoc. While Britain is embarrassing itself by holding what is looking like a 200 million whitewash of an inquiry into our handling of the pandemic, Trump has gone nuclear: his appointment of multiple lockdown sceptics into positions of great power, not least Jay Bhattacharya, co-author of the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration, to lead the National Institutes of Health, are a game-changer. Trump wants to reopen the debate about Covid, shake up the medical and pharmaceutical establishment, expose those such as the calamitous former chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, and the World Health Organisation who wreaked such harm, and improve Americas preparedness so it can cope without shutting society down. Trumps administration looks like being the most pro-Israel in history, and implacably opposed to Irans mullahs and Islamists more generally. The cavalry, it would seem, has arrived, in the nick of time: it had started to feel as if the West had fallen, that it was too late to stem the tsunami of anti-Semitism and bigoted Israelophobia. Starmers unforgivable decision to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel, followed by the ICCs incendiary move to issue an arrest warrant for Benyamin Netanyahu, were the culmination of a campaign of victim-blaming, delegitimisation and historical falsification against the Jewish state. All of this could soon be swept away: Trump is preparing to sanction the ICC and any country that collaborates with it, including Britain, and to go to war with much of the UN, a body captured by extremists, dictatorships and the far Left. He is going to apply maximum pressure on Iran to tackle its nuclear programme. Only America has the might to take on the global juristocracy, to reassert the supremacy of the nation-state, to expose the human rights lawyers as the dangerous Left-wing fanatics they truly are, to demonstrate that an alternative exists to this anti-democratic madness. Tragically, there will be no good outcomes in Ukraine. It has been clear for a while that America, including the outgoing Democratic administration, was tiring of supporting Volodymyr Zelensky. While Harris sounded more sympathetic, she too would have ended up selling Kyiv down the river. Trump will seek to end the war quickly, which means Putin retaining many of his stolen lands, but the president-elect wont want Russia to be able to declare victory. Trump wont allow Ukraine to join Nato, but otherwise his handling will be more robust than many Europeans suspect. The key will be whether Trump is able to force Europe into finally taking its own defence seriously: that, ultimately, would teach Putin a real lesson. Trump will make mistakes, and wont be right on everything. His style will grate with many in Britain, as will his bluster. His protectionism even towards allied states is one of many worries. But the mainstay of his agenda, if he delivers upon it, will transform not merely America but also global and British politics, very much for the better. Undercover police officer Bob Lambert infiltrated animal rights and anarchist campaigners in the 1980s and deceived at least four women into sexual relationships. Photograph: supplied An undercover police officer who deceived at least four women into sexual relationships and fathered a child with one of them is a cruel and manipulative liar, a public inquiry has been told. Belinda Harvey, one of the women who had an 18-month relationship with Bob Lambert without knowing his real identity, said it was beyond comprehension how the undercover officer had used her. On Tuesday she told the undercover policing inquiry that she had been completely deceived and betrayed by Lambert after falling head over heels in love with him. Harvey said Lambert acted in a callous way as he prepared his exit from his undercover mission for a year beforehand. During that year, he continued their relationship and to tell her that he loved her, even though he knew he was going to leave her. It was incredibly upsetting to find that out, she said. Lamberts five-year deployment as an undercover officer in the 1980s was seen as a major success by police chiefs. He was given a Metropolitan police commissioners commendation for helping to secure the arrests of animal rights campaigners. He went on to become a senior manager in the 1990s running covert operations to spy on campaigners including those supporting the family of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. The public inquiry, headed by the retired judge Sir John Mitting, is scrutinising the activities of about 139 undercover officers who infiltrated predominantly leftwing groups between 1968 and 2010. Currently the inquiry is examining Lamberts conduct, including his deception of women. It is also looking at allegations that Lambert set fire to a branch of Debenhams in a protest against the fur trade while he was masquerading as an activist. Lambert was married with two children when he infiltrated animal rights and anarchist campaigners between 1984 and 1989. During his relationship with Harvey, Lambert concealed from her his marriage and his job as a police officer. Related: Secrets and lies: untangling the UK spy cops scandal Harvey, who was not politically active, said she fell madly in love with Lambert when she met him in 1987 as he appeared genuine, romantic and attentive at all times. She believed they were soulmates in an idyllic partnership, describing him as the perfect partner. But in 1988, Lambert told her he had to end the relationship as he had to go on the run to Spain. He claimed he was worried that police were about to arrest him for crimes he had committed while promoting the cause of animal rights. In fact, he had crafted an illusion to leave his undercover mission without arousing the suspicions of the activists he was spying on, and he returned to work at Scotland Yard. Related: We Did Not Consent: a restaging of Britains undercover police scandal Harvey said she was devastated and destroyed when she received a letter in 1989 that Lambert had apparently sent to her from Valencia, telling her he was not coming back. She said it was just unfathomable that the police had spent taxpayers money on somebody to be in my life he was at work when he was seeing me. Lambert is due to give evidence next week. He will be questioned about how he fathered a son with an animal rights campaigner known as Jacqui without telling her he was an undercover officer. He disappeared from their lives at the end of his covert mission, and Jacqui discovered his true identity by accident more than two decades later. Ukraine should consider lowering the age of military service for its soldiers from 25 to 18, a senior US administration official said. Ukraine was not mobilising or training enough new soldiers to replace those lost on the battlefield, the official who spoke anonymously said. The need right now is manpower, he said. The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk ... Mobilisation and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time as we look at the battlefield today. Russian forces are making gains in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month, analysts and war bloggers said this week. In April, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, signed into law legislation to lower the mobilisation age for combat duty from 27 to 25, expanding the number of civilians the army could mobilise to fight under martial law, which has been in place since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Joe Bidens administration has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, but that backing may diminish when Donald Trump comes to power in January. Mr Trump has tapped Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who presented him with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, to serve as a special envoy for the conflict. A source in Mr Zelenskys office said the country did not have what it needed to equip the troops it was mobilising now. Right now, with our current mobilisation efforts, we dont have enough equipment, for example armoured vehicles, to support all the troops we are calling up, the source said. We cannot compensate for our partners delays in decision-making and supply chains with the lives of our soldiers and of the youngest of our guys. US officials recognise getting younger troops is politically fraught for Mr Zelenskys government and Ukraine has discussed the option of offering incentives for younger people to sign up in a non-mandatory recruitment drive, another official said. Behind closed doors, Germany also has been calling on Ukraine to lower its conscription age, according to a German defence ministry source. While Mr Biden is still in office, the United States will continue to provide Kyiv with hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets of various ranges, hundreds of vehicles and weapons systems to support combat operations as well as air defence interceptors, the first US senior administration official said. Ammunition and vehicle shortages are not the most critical issue facing Ukraine. They now have healthy stockpiles of the vital tools, munitions and weapons that they need to succeed on the battlefield, he said. Without a pipeline of new troops, the existing units who are fighting heroically on the front lines, cannot rotate out to rest, refit, train and re-equip. CCTV footage shows the moment a police officer was caught stealing a number of items from Lidl - Devon and Cornwall Police/SWNS Credit: Devon and Cornwall Police Footage has captured the moment a Devon police officer stole items including a steak and block of cheese in a shoplifting spree at Lidl. Christopher Spence, a constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, was captured on CCTV on Feb 12 walking around the shop on Clovelly Road, Bideford, with a rucksack over his shoulder. The footage shows the 44 year-old, who was off duty at the time, walking through the aisles, selecting items from shelves and putting them into his bag. He was spotted cramming a steak, crisps, nuts, a block of cheese, two bottles of drink and four Easter treat bags into his the bag. He then approaches the self-service checkout, where he pays for a loaf of bread, before leaving the shop with it in hand. Devon and Cornwall Police said the officer paid for one item, which he kept in the open while leaving the shop. Loss of dignity and respect Judge Stephen Climie said Spence, who was suspended from duty after his arrest, should expect to lose his job at a forthcoming disciplinary hearing. He added: Ultimately the punishment in this case is the loss of your good name, the loss of dignity and ultimately, the loss of respect youre going to suffer with colleagues, friends and associates. Spence pleaded guilty to a charge of theft from a shop at an earlier hearing at Exeter Crown Court. He has now been given an 18-month community order, 150 hours of unpaid work and been told to pay 300 towards prosecution costs within 12 months, as well as a victim surcharge and 30 compensation to the store. Horrible mistake Warren Robinson, defending, said Spence, from Bideford, had made a horrible mistake and that he was under financial pressure at the time. Mr Robinson said the officer had done years of good work at the force and had saved lives in his role, but was also a bit of a closed book who did not open up and talk about things. Following the sentencing, Supt Toby Davies, the commander in north and west Devon, said: We are deeply disappointed by the actions of Chris Spence, particularly given his neighbourhood role within the community. First and foremost, I want to assure our community that the action of one individual does not reflect the values or integrity of our local officers. We are committed to maintaining the highest levels of trust and confidence in the community we serve, and I would like to assure the public that such incidents are rare. This behaviour undermines all those officers who behave to the highest standards day in, day out, keeping our area safe. As we move forwards, we will continue to be open and transparent, and hold ourselves accountable, and we will work hard to ensure that the actions of one individual does not undermine the confidence and trust we have worked so hard to build. The painting of Thatcher on her wedding day in December 1951 is expected to sell for 6,000 - Sloane Street Auctions/SWNS Margaret Thatcher commissioned an oil painting to mark her wedding to her husband Denis, it has emerged. The oil canvas by Rosalind Kent depicts the Iron Lady in the midnight blue velvet dress and wide-brimmed feather hat she wore to her wedding at Wesleys Chapel in December 1951. The portrait is being sold as part of a selection of 100 personal items from the Thatcher household, with the former prime ministers speech writing desk among the objects and estimated to sell for 6,000 on Friday. The painting of Margaret Thatcher on her wedding day in December 1951 is expected to sell for 6,000 - SLONE STREET AUCTIONS/SWNS Another item being put on sale by Sloane Street Auctions is a blue Tomasz Starzewski designer coat that Thatcher wore on the steps of No 10 before a private meeting with David Cameron, the then premier, in 2010. The coat, which is being offered with its matching ensemble, is expected to fetch between 800 and 1,200 when it is exhibited in London later this month. The Thatcher family bought the desk in the 1960s for The Dormers, their home in Kent, and it moved with them to 19 Flood Street in the early 1970s. It was kept in the front room and used by Thatcher to make notes on her many speeches. She penned her victory speech at the desk after sweeping into power with a landslide victory in the 1979 general election. The 54-inch-wide antique, which has five drawers and is made of mahogany, then moved with the family to Chester Square in 1991, where it then stayed. Auctioneers expect it to sell for up to 2,000. Thatcher with her husband Dennis in June 1983 leaving Castle Lane in Westminster - Peter Kemp/AP When she moved into the Downing Street flat, Thatcher was famously unimpressed by the untidy residence and dull official rooms, leading her to refurnish it with a George III-style camelback sofa upholstered in pale blue silk. This is also estimated to sell for an estimated at 2,000. A mahogany cutlery canteen with a handwritten label inscribed by Thatcher is set to raise between 400 and 600. Four gold sovereigns presented to the former Conservative leader by BP in September 1992 could also sell for as much as 5,000. Daniel Hunt, the owner of Sloane Street Auctions, said: These items are imbued with the spirit of the times and helped form the backdrop of some of the most historic moments in our nations political history of the past 50 years. This is exactly the range and quality of items that used to be offered by Christies South Kensington before it closed, and we are happy to don that mantle. The research also showed patterns of sleep could be more important than the amount Changing the time you go to bed and wake up increases your risk of a heart attack, a study in a BMJ journal has suggested. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day has long been thought to benefit sleep quality and now, research has linked doing the opposite with potentially fatal consequences. In one of the largest studies on sleep analysis to date, researchers found those prone to changing their sleeping hours were 26 per cent more likely to suffer a major cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke. The research also showed patterns of sleep could be more important than the amount. Experts from Australia, the US, and led by the University of Ottawa in Canada, examined data from 72,269 people aged 40 to 79 taking part in the UK Biobank study. Participants wore an activity tracker for seven days that captured their sleep and were then split into three groups based on a sleep regularity index (SRI) score. The algorithm assessed peoples sleep patterns, including bedtime, wake time, sleep duration and any awakenings during the night, and gave people a score out of 100. These people were then followed for eight years, or until their death, and had any cases of cardiovascular disease tracked. Circadian misalignment The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found that while 6.2 per cent of the regular sleepers suffered a heart attack, stroke or heart failure, this rose to 7.8 per cent among those with irregular sleep. After considering factors that could affect the results, such as coffee intake, exercise levels, and shift work, the research found irregular sleepers were 26 per cent more likely to suffer from one of those conditions than those with regular sleep. Those in the middle of the three groups dubbed the moderately irregular sleepers, were at 8 per cent greater risk. The research team also found that an increase in peoples risk of heart attacks and strokes correlated with the more irregular their sleeping patterns were. People getting recommended levels of sleep were not able to reduce their risk of a heart attack if they had irregular sleep. Adults are recommended to get between seven and nine hours sleep per night, although those aged 65 and over only need seven to eight hours. People with regular sleep patterns were more likely to meet the recommended quota. The authors said: Our results suggest that sleep regularity may be more relevant than sufficient sleep duration in modulating major adverse cardiovascular event risk. They suggested a reason for the observed effects on heart health could be because of circadian misalignment which disrupts the bodys internal biological clock. Indirect impact on heart health The circadian rhythm helps to inform the body when it is time to sleep, wake, and eat, among other bodily functions. Disruption to this can affect the bodys hormones, glucose and insulin levels, metabolism and blood pressure, as well as cause inflammation and reduce immune response. Emily McGrath, the senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: It is not clear exactly how sleep benefits the heart but research suggests that disturbed sleep is associated with higher levels of a protein called CRP. This is a sign of inflammation, the process linked with heart and circulatory disease. Sleep can also have an indirect impact on heart health, by affecting our lifestyle choices. Studies have suggested that not sleeping enough might affect the hormones which influence our appetite, increasing our desire for sugary foods, she said. Over a long period of time, this could lead to weight gain and a greater risk of coronary heart disease. More research is needed to strengthen this discovery but the early results suggest theres an important connection between sleep and heart and circulatory health. A separate study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry found that men with a high risk of cardiovascular disease can experience cognitive decline a decade earlier than women. Men with cardiovascular disease risk factors, including obesity, face declining brain health from their mid-50s to mid-70s than similarly affected women, who are most susceptible from their mid-60s to mid-70s, it found. The findings back up other research that conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and smoking are linked to a higher risk of dementia. 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. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson Guitars on Tuesday that arrived in Los Angeles from Asia, officials said. If the guitars had been genuine, they would have been worth more than $18 million. Mani Albrecht / U.S. Customs and Border Protection U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson Guitars on Tuesday that arrived in Los Angeles from Asia, officials said. If the guitars had been genuine, they would have been worth more than $18 million. Mani Albrecht / U.S. Customs and Border Protection U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson Guitars on Tuesday that arrived in Los Angeles from Asia, officials said. If the guitars had been genuine, they would have been worth more than $18 million. Mani Albrecht / U.S. Customs and Border Protection U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson Guitars on Tuesday that arrived in Los Angeles from Asia, officials said. If the guitars had been genuine, they would have been worth more than $18 million. Mani Albrecht / U.S. Customs and Border Protection U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson guitars on Tuesday in California, the largest seizure of counterfeit musical equipment in history, they said. If the guitars were true Gibsons, they would have been worth more than $18 million, according to authorities. CBP officers, with help from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations special agents and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, were able to seize the fake guitars in Los Angeles after intercepting them in shipments arriving from Asia, officials said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad These fraudulent guitars may look and feel legitimate for unsuspecting consumers buying them from third party online sources, street markets, unauthorized retailers, and person-to-person transactions, Cheryl M. Davies, CBPs director of field operations in Los Angeles, said in a statement. As we approach the busy Holiday shopping season, consumers should pay attention to where they are buying these goods and how much they are paying, and if (its) too good to be true it probably is. Gibson confirmed the guitars were fake since Gibson guitars are only made in the U.S., authorities said. This is really emotional and personal for us not only because of the protection of our players, but because of our Gibson team at large, including the artisans at our craftories in Nashville, TN and Bozeman, MT, who are generations of American families that have dedicated their entire lives to handcrafting Gibson instruments, Beth Heidt, Gibsons chief marketing officer, said in a statement. In 2023, border patrol officers seized nearly 23 million in counterfeit goods from shipments, which would have been worth over $2.7 billion if they were real, officials said. Nearly half of those goods arrived from Hong Kong or China, officials said. Following the seizure of the fake guitars, authorities cautioned consumers about the dangers of purchasing counterfeit items. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Micheal Martin and Mary Lou McDonald during the final leaders debate - NIALL CARSON/PA Irelands two centre-Right parties have vowed to extend Sinn Feins 100-year stint on the political sidelines as they clashed ahead of this weeks closely fought general election. The leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both ruled out a coalition with the Left-wing party as the three candidates to be Irelands next Taoiseach took part in the final televised debate on Tuesday night, ahead of the vote on Friday. Simon Harris, the leader of Fine Gael and the current Taoiseach, and Micheal Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, both said they would not accept Sinn Fein as a political partner, pointing to fundamental differences in policy. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have governed Ireland as part of a centre-Right coalition since 2020, with the two parties sharing the post of Taoiseach over its term. With two percentage points separating all three parties, Mr Martin insisted that were not going into government with Sinn Fein. That is a definite, suggesting that another alliance with Fine Gael is likely after the vote. Mr Harris also ruled out a pact with Sinn Fein, saying that we just have very different views on the EU, economy and taxation. Sinn Fein promises Irish NHS Sinn Fein has promised an Irish NHS within two terms of government and will push Britain to hold a referendum on unity with Northern Ireland by 2030. Its housing policy came under scrutiny during the debate, when leaders traded blows over the countrys housing and rental crisis. The Left-wing populists want to impose a three-year rent freeze on Irelands landlords and a rent return, which would see renters get a months payments back. The party wants the state to retain ownership of the land on which affordable houses are built meaning that people would not own the land under the homes. It would also impose conditions on the sale of the property, although there are reports that banks are skittish about the plans to deliver 300,000 new homes. It also plans to introduce a 3 per cent rate on top of the current 40 per cent rate on individual incomes above 140,000, abolish a property tax levied on homeowners and cut VAT for parts of the hospitality sector to 9 per cent. In contrast with the two parties that have dominated Irish politics in the 100 years of the Republic, Sinn Fein have never been in government. The general election will take place on Nov 29 - NIALL CARSON/PA For much of that century, Sinn Fein was an outlier in Irish politics because it was the political wing of the IRA paramilitaries. Sinn Fein got its highest ever vote share in the last general election in 2020, attracting young voters less aware of its past with its focus on the housing crisis. That surprised the party, which did not field enough candidates to take advantage of the success, and it was shut out of power by the coalition of historic rivals Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Fine Gael overtook Sinn Fein in June after the party had led the polls for the previous two years after Mr Harris replaced the resigning and unpopular Leo Varadkar as leader. But the last polls before the election showed that his campaign had lost vital momentum, with Fine Gael slipping to third, Sinn Fein rising to second and Fianna Fail taking first place. That has led to speculation that if Sinn Fein performs much more strongly than Fine Gael on Friday, Mr Martin could form an alliance with them instead. He had ruled out a coalition with Fine Gael in 2020 before ultimately joining them in government as the Taoiseach. Tweedledum and Tweedledee Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Fein leader, who stood in the middle of the two coalition partners during the debate, said: What I hear from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is that they believe that they, and only they, should be in government. After a century of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, this election now opens up the prospect of a government led by a party other than Fianna Fail or Fine Gael and the party, who can do that, who has the prospect of that, is Sinn Fein. The three leaders also clashed over emergency planning for a Donald Trump trade war. The president-elect has vowed to set the US corporation tax rate at 15 per cent, the same as the Irish rate, and tempt back American tech multinationals such as Apple from Ireland. Mr Trump has also vowed to hit European imports with tariffs of up to 20 per cent. Brussels has drawn up a list of products for retaliation, spurring fears of a trade war between the EU and US. Mr Harris pledged to set aside a 50 billion (41.7 billion) rainy day fund to guard against any transatlantic trade shocks. Reckless and irresponsible The Fine Gael leader attacked Sinn Feins 56 billion budget spending plans as reckless and irresponsible. He told Ms McDonald that at the very kindest interpretation she had set at least 15.9 billion less for the buffer. Mr Harris said on RTE, the national broadcaster: Now is not the time to run this country on the national credit card. The risk of a trade shock is real, and thats why setting aside money matters. I have spoken to president-elect Trump. I have met European leaders at the last European Council. This is being discussed in European capitals. It cannot not be discussed in our election. Mr Harris has warned that Ireland could lose 10 billion in corporation tax if three US companies left the country as he strives to extend Fine Gaels 14 years in power with a historic fourth successive term in government. Irelands economy is performing strongly and its coffers were boosted by billions after Brussels ordered Apple to pay back taxes worth billions. But voters are struggling with the high cost of living, which polls show as their most pressing concern, a chronic housing crisis, which has left homelessness at its highest levels since records began, and a creaking healthcare system. Rainy day fund Sinn Feins spending plans aim to tackle the cost of living, boost affordable housing and fund childcare and it says it would still run a surplus every year for the five-year term of government. Ms McDonald said: I recognise, of course, you have to have a rainy day fund but I can tell you this much its raining and its raining really hard now for lots of people. She added: I know the value of setting money aside, and of course, we will do that, but I also know that you dont set money aside to that degree and then leave people homeless. She warned that Ireland had to engage with the new Trump administration. I dont think painting up a doomsday scenario is smart by anybody in political leadership, she said. Fianna Fail supports the idea of the 41.7 billion fund. Mr Martin said he would change its spending plans and reforms, increasing the entry point to the higher rate of income tax, if the Irish economy was hit by Mr Trump. He said: If there was a sharp revenue decline, we would protect our revenue base and continue to invest in public services. wikipedia In 2006, Andrew Schlafly a US lawyer and Right-wing fundamentalist Christian launched Conservapedia. The online platform was a direct riposte to what he believed was a liberal bias on Wikipedia, which was then just five years old. Run under the same crowd-sourced editorial rules as its rival, the website has faced its own fair share of criticism with regard to prejudice, from critical articles on feminism and homosexuality to full-blown conspiracy theories that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. And with only 54,000 articles so far, it is still no match for Wikipedias 64 million across 339 languages. Conservapedia, its fair to say, now merits a mere footnote within the timeline of the worlds biggest and most-read online encyclopaedia. Yet, in the 18 years since, concerns have continued to dog Wikipedia over whether its articles do indeed tend to favour the Left. Its an important question, too. While Conservapedias reach is ultimately limited, Wikipedias certainly isnt attracting two billion unique device visits per month. Now, a study has lent considerable weight to the long-held argument that Wikipedia does indeed have a favourite. Academic researcher David Rozado has used the latest AI to analyse the sentiment behind political statements in Wikipedia articles on public figures, from US senators and Supreme Court justices to every British MP and political leaders across the Western world. On average, he revealed, the English-language edition has a tendency to associate those ideologically Right-wing more negatively, with emotions such as anger and disgust, than those on the Left, which were more commonly associated with joy. The findings have not come as a surprise to a number of conservative critics here in Britain. My own Wikipedia entry looks like its been written by [Left-wing commentator] Owen Jones, says Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union. I used to check it from time to time and painstakingly remove all the inaccuracies that had been introduced since the last time Id looked, but Ive now given up. The evidence that Wikipedia has a Left-wing bias is compelling, and its something [co-founder] Jimmy Wales needs to rectify if he wants Wikipedia to retain its current audience. Its a question of trust and, at the moment, conservatives just dont trust Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedias co-founder, has insisted the website is not woke - David Rose Former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg admits hes not surprised by the results, adding: I have always thought of Wikipedia as if it were the BBC: often useful but not impartial. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton, says: Theres an inherent liberal bias in all of these sites. Whether its old-fashioned stuff like Wikipedia or newer sites like ChatGPT, it all has a huge bias and thats why its an absolute joy that Elon Musks bought X to give it a bit of balance. Rozado himself an associate professor at Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand admits he hadnt previously noticed any bias on the site, having generally only used it for quick fact checking, but his interest was sparked after hearing frequent complaints from others that it had. A specialist in AI, he downloaded a vast database of all Wikipedias English Language articles and then used a large language model (LLM) to search through paragraphs that mentioned a set of more than 1,600 political terms. The findings did not reflect every political figure, Rozado points out. For example, he says, the average sentiment for Right-wing US president Ronald Reagan was fairly positive, whereas for Left-leaning German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who has faced criticism over his relationship with Russia, it was relatively negative. The latter was most likely a reflection of his controversial relationship with Russia. I have always thought of Wikipedia as if it were the BBC: often useful but not impartial, says former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg - Shutterstock Another surprising finding was that there was no significant political bias for British MPs. In his paper, Rozado suggests this may be in part due to the higher level of polarisation in the US compared to the UK. This certainly makes sense given the list of 650 MPs contains politicians from more than a dozen different parties, not just from the more traditional Left-wing Labour and Right-wing Tories. Ultimately though, his findings showed there was evidence of political bias embedded in Wikipedia articles. The researcher is keen to stress his admiration for Wikipedia, for its immense contribution to the goal of open knowledge. But he was disappointed, he says, that the study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting Wikipedia is falling short of one of its founding principles that every article must be written from a neutral point of view (NPOV). The report itself has not been without its own accusations of bias, however. A piece published in the Signpost, Wikipedias community-edited weekly online newspaper, notes that Rozados study has neither been peer reviewed nor featured in an academic publication. Instead, it was published on the conservative Right-wing think tank The Manhattan Institute which Tilman Bayer, the reports author and an editor since 2003, suggests didnt find the results too objectionable. Yet Rozado is by no means the first to cast doubt on Wikipedias neutrality. In 2018, for example, a Harvard study found that Wikipedia articles were more biased towards Democratic views than Republicans on topics within US politics than they were in Encyclopedia Britannica. Much has been made of the websites perceived support of Biden, both in playing down his son Hunters controversies and heavy editing across the website to downplay whether the US was indeed going in a recession under his watch. The idea has been fuelled too by Wikipedias own co-founder, Larry Sanger, who has accused the site of being taken over by Left-leaning volunteers. Sanger coined Wikipedias name and provided initial drafts for many of its early guidelines, including, most pertinently, the NPOV. He left the company a year after its launch, however, and has been an increasingly vocal critic. Last year, he told The Telegraph: Wikipedia has, just like academia, tended to drive away people on the Right, because conservatives tend to self-select out of communities that are deeply hostile to them. Critics also point out another reason for its Left-wing bias is that sources such as the Daily Mail are not considered reliable, and so cannot shape articles. In Wikis traffic-light system of sources, it is coded red for generally unreliable; The Telegraph is coded green for generally reliable. What most unreliable sources have in common is that they express Right-wing opinion, Sanger says. That means that all of the articles on news-related topics are going to end up expressing just one point of view. Wales, Wikipedias other co-founder who is chief executive of its parent company, the Wikimedia Foundation, has insisted the website is not woke and its not true to suggest it has become a standard bearer for Left-wing causes. Instead, the 58-year-old, who lives in London with his third wife, Kate Garvey, Tony Blairs former diary secretary, believes the answer to complete neutrality is more volunteer editors. The more opposing voices in the room, the theory goes, the more likely it will lead to a balance. But with 530 new articles a day and two edits made every second, the army of unpaid volunteers will need to be sizeable. While Wikipedia has 48 million accounts, only 122,000 have made at least one edit over the past month. The number who make more than 100 edits a month the dedicated core has remained at 5,000 to 7,000 users for more than 15 years. And among these, even fewer have attained the privilege of being able to amend protected articles, which comes after clocking up 500 edits. It means Wikipedias vast power appears to remain concentrated in the hands of relatively few gatekeepers. Rozado says his research does not dig into the reasons why there is political bias. But it does look into what the future may hold. One significant danger, says Rozado, an expert in machine learning, is that Wikipedias significance has grown beyond its direct human readership due to the fact its content is now routinely employed in the training of LLMs such as ChatGPT. The debate over Wikipedias liberal bias and influence is perhaps only just beginning. Wikipedia has been approached for comment. Lord Hague defeated four other final-round candidates for the position Lord Hague, the former Conservative party leader, has been elected as the next chancellor of the University of Oxford. He will be formally inaugurated early in the new year, becoming the 160th recorded chancellor in Oxfords history. Lord Hague defeated four other final-round candidates, including Lord Mandelson, the Labour peer, Lady Angiolini, the Scottish lawyer who led the Sarah Everard inquiry, Dominic Grieve, an ex-Tory minister, and Baroness Royall, the current principal of Somerville College, Oxford. In a statement Lord Hague said: Thank you to my fellow Oxonians for placing such confidence in me. I regard being elected as the chancellor of our university as the greatest honour of my life. I pay tribute to the other candidates, in particular for their commitment to the future of Oxford. What happens at Oxford in the next decade is critical to the success of the UK. My heart and soul are in Oxford and I will dedicate myself in the coming years to serving the university I love. The result was announced on Wednesday following a second round of voting by staff and alumni last week. The final five candidates were selected from a list of 38 eligible candidates after an initial round of voting in the final week of October. Almost 25,000 people voted in the election, which took place online for the first time. Lord Hague studied PPE at Oxfords Magdalen College, matriculating in 1979 - Bill Cross / Associated Newspape/Rex Features Though a largely ceremonial position, Lord Hague will face a difficult inheritance becoming chancellor of a world-leading institution at a time when the university sector is facing serious financial pressures. He will replace Lord Patten of Barnes, who announced his resignation as Oxford chancellor in February after 21 years spearheading the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Usually a role for life since it was created more than 800 years ago, Lord Pattens decision to step down made him the first Oxford chancellor not to die in post since the second Duke of Ormonde in 1715. Statute changes confirmed earlier this year mean Lord Hague will serve a reduced term of 10 years in the position, which is part-time and unpaid. Lord Mandelson, who came fourth in the race, said: William Hague will make an excellent chancellor bringing much needed experience into the university. The race had widely been seen as a head-to-head between the former leader of the Conservative Party and Lord Mandelson. But the former Labour spin doctor secured 3,344 votes, behind Lord Hague on 10,472, Lady Angiolini on 6,915 and Baroness Royall on 3,945. Lord Mandelson was initially considered a top contender for the position but was knocked out in the second round of voting - Heathcliff O'Malley Under the transferable vote system, this was then whittled down to leave Lady Angiolini and Lord Hague in the final two. Lord Hague proved the winner with 12,609 final votes, granting a 1,600-vote lead on Lady Angiolini, who secured the backing of 11,006 staff and alumni. Lord Mandelsons failure could however leave him free to take up the position of US ambassador. In an interview with The Telegraph earlier this month, Lord Mandelson hinted he would try and juggle multiple jobs across the globe if elected as Oxford chancellor, amid widespread speculation that he is in the running to become the next US ambassador. The chancellor is the titular head of the University of Oxford and presides over several key ceremonies. In addition to formal duties, they also undertake advocacy, advisory and fundraising work and chair the committee for the selection of vice-chancellor. Lord Hague graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1982 and has insisted that the university transformed his life, having arrived from a comprehensive school in South Yorkshire to study philosophy, politics and economics. He also became president of the Oxford Union. The entrance to the house above Maenan in Conwy, north Wales, where it is believed one of the FBIs most wanted fugitives has been arrested. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Maenan, in north Wales, is not a place where very much happens. But earlier this week armed police descended on this tiny settlement, leaving neighbours in disbelief. They learned that a man they had sometimes seen near his home on the outskirts of the woods was in fact one of the FBIs most wanted men. Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, was arrested on Monday by officers from Britains National Crime Agency (NCA), supported by North Wales police. Describing him as an animal rights extremist, the FBI said he is alleged to have been involved in the bombing of two office buildings in San Francisco, California, in 2003. San Diego kept very much to himself, his neighbours said, and they knew very little about him. But they did not suspect for a minute that the reason he always stayed close to his remote rural home was because he was allegedly hiding out from the FBI. Ive never seen him at all, a neighbour said. He never goes out, the car is always on the drive, it never moves. In Maenan, where only a few hundred people live the majority of them Welsh speakers most people only knew that an American man had moved into the house by word-of-mouth. He is believed to have been living under an assumed name. The FBI had offered a reward of up to $250,000 (200,000) for information leading directly to his arrest and considered him armed and dangerous. The agency said the first alleged bombing was in August 2003, with two explosions an hour apart on the campus of a biotechnology firm. A month later a nutritional products company was bombed. Now, 21 years later, he is facing extradition, after he was apprehended more than 5,000 miles away, in the settlement of Maenan, between Conwy and Betws-y-Coed. San Diego is believed to have been living for around a year or two in a house on the edge of the woods, many twists and turns away from the main road, high up along a steep, barely surfaced country track. He may have been living in Wales for several years. He is believed to have been working although in what field is not clear. In Maenan, neighbours said they knew a single American or Canadian man had moved into the house which they said looked well kept from the outside. The house is right at the very end of a track, where most homes appeared to be holiday lets. The glass patio doors look out on to nothing but rolling countryside and the valley below. On Wednesday, the building he had supposedly been living in was empty, but from looking through the windows it had clearly been recently occupied. Mens clothes hung on a drying rack, a wetsuit had been hooked from the top of the glass doors, while a plate, fork, and mug discarded on the sofa indicated that the occupant had perhaps left in a hurry. Nobody in this remote corner of rural Wales said they saw or heard armed police swarm the house on Monday. Nor did they really know anything about the man who had been living there. Others had seen him in the woods but had never spoken to him, or really given him a second thought, until they recognised San Diegos picture on the news. My partner saw him, a bit of a way up there, said David Hughes, owner of the Maenan Abbey Hotel on the main road. Its quite remote, you would never be able to find him, its quite a way off the main road. His partner had been walking his dog around four weeks ago when he had seen San Diego in the woods, he said, later recognising him from his picture on the news. I just feel a bit of disbelief really, Hughes said. Its a sleepy little place, and you dont expect things like that to happen here. Its not even a village, its a parish, he added. Theres 20 different addresses that all share the same postcode. In the biggest nearby town, Llanrwst, a pretty place on the River Conwy, dotted with antique shops, cafes, and pubs, nobody knew anything of San Diego at all. Although it is less than three miles away, news of his arrest had not reached Llanrwst. If someone here knew about it, wed all know, said one man, sipping a pint of lager at the bar of the Pen Y Bryn pub. Theres remote areas everywhere, he added. You could drive five minutes anywhere from here, and youre in the middle of nowhere. Its a good choice of place, I suppose, his friend added. There are worse places to hide. Former Northern Territory police constable Zachary Rolfe, who shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker in 2019. Photograph: Rudi Maxwell/AAP Zachary Rolfes ego had a lot to do with the death of Kumanjayi Walker, and the former police officer lied about the Warlpiri man attempting to take his gun before the fatal shooting, a court has heard. The inquest into the death of Walker is holding its final hearings, almost two years after it was due to be completed. Walker, 19, was killed by then Northern Territory police constable Rolfe during a bungled arrest in the remote NT community of Yuendumu on 9 November 2019. Rolfe was later charged with murder but was acquitted of all charges after a supreme court trial. The inquest into the case is hearing final oral submissions in Alice Springs this week. Related: New home construction slumps to near 40-year low in Australia as renovation spending booms The counsel assisting the coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, said on Wednesday that it would be submitted to the NT coroner, Elisabeth Armitage, that she should find Rolfe invented evidence during his trial that Walker tried to take his police weapon and she could not accept he feared for his life at the time of the shooting. Dwyer said Armitage should also reject submissions on behalf of Rolfe that his conduct prior to November 2019 was irrelevant to the case. Dwyer said it was important to consider Rolfes history in the NT police force and before he joined, including his being dishonest during his application, and that he held racist attitudes towards Aboriginal people. Its not done in order to be overly critical of Mr Rolfe, or demonise him He is more than the sum of what happened on 9 November, Dwyer said. Mr Rolfes legal team urges your honour not to sugarcoat what happened in relation to Kumanjayi Walkers behaviour on 9 November, and neither should your honour sugarcoat the actions of Rolfe. Dwyer said Rolfe had a history of using force during arrests and a contemptuous attitude to authority and the rules; used violence to demonstrate his dominance over others, particularly young Aboriginal men; and had a tendency to seek out situations where the use of force could be necessary. Ego was wrapped up in his use of force, and ego had a lot to do with the events of November 2019. Perhaps Mr Rolfe could have been shaped to be a better officer This court will never know. Dwyer said that counsel assistings submissions to the coroner would recommend that Armitage find Walker did not try to take Rolfes police firearm immediately before the officer shot him three times. Walker tried to stab the officers with scissors when they attempted to arrest him. But Rolfe said during his trial that Walker also put his hand on his gun as they struggled before the shooting. Dwyer said Rolfe had never provided that detail before giving evidence, including in conversations with colleagues, lengthy notes about the shooting in his police diary, and in multiple takes of a video interview with a journalist at The Australian. She said the evidence Rolfe gave at trial about the gun was an invention. Thats a significant finding, your honour, and I make it carefully and after careful consideration, and we have set out the evidence in full, Dwyer said. As a result of this lie, the lies Mr Rolfe told regarding the broader events of 9 November 2019 and the significant issues with respect to his credibility as a historian of his own use of force mean that your honour couldnt accept, even on balance Mr Rolfes evidence that he feared for his or [his colleagues] life when he fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker. Rolfe denied he lied about Walker attempting to take the gun when he gave evidence during the inquest earlier this year. In relation to his credibility, Dwyer said Rolfe had a tendency to dissemble during his evidence in court, and that Armitage should also consider his history of lying in the past. Julian McMahon SC, representing the Parumpurru committee of Yuendumu, said that the dying words of Walker summed up the inquest. The truth is that after he was shot and handcuffed and dragged across the dirt, Kumanjayi Walker cried out to his captors. He was dying, he was barely educated, he was in agony, but even so, he saw and he said what was truly happening You mob got no respect, shame on you. In eight words, despite all of his disadvantages in life, he summed up pretty much everything were doing here. Phillip Boulten SC, for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (Naaja), told the inquest Walker was a young man who was killed by a racist and violent police officer. He said that about 75 Indigenous people had died in custody since Walker was killed. This is a national crisis, but it is not recognised as such by the systems of government. Luke Officer, for Rolfe, urged Armitage to reject many of the submissions of the parties in relation to his client. He said that if she accepted those submissions including in relation to Rolfes conduct on the night of the shooting, prior use of force and attitudes towards Aboriginal people, it would lead to her undermining the verdict of the jury which acquitted him. Accepting some submissions from parties will in truth give it the hallmarks of a royal commission into Zachary Rolfe, he said. Officer said that Rolfes text messages and prior conduct as a constable should not have been admitted as evidence in the inquest, and Armitage should decide to ignore this evidence when considering her findings. He said Rolfe and the NT police both submitted that racism played no part in the death. Were not saying racism cant be a topic, that would be ridiculous we dont shy away from the fact that racism might be a relevant topic, Officer said. But he said Armitage must be clear about what the inquest could achieve. This has never been about heroes and villains there are no winners, Officer said. But your honour should set realistic expectations. Lets apply common sense there are constraints under your act about what you can do and what you must not do. Dwyer said it was important the public understood that the primary reason for the delays in the case were a series of legal challenges, all of which had been unsuccessful, though she said she was not critical of the challenges. Dwyer added that Walkers story was another example of what Armitage found in a family violence inquest, which delivered its findings this week: that children exposed to violence were more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system. Dwyer said evidence before the inquest showed Walker lived in a home that was plagued by excessive alcohol consumption and domestic violence from the ages of four to 10. Kumanjayi Walkers story exemplifies exactly what your honour has said in the context of the family violence inquest, Dwyer said. To avoid another tragedy we need a holistic approach that recognises the strengths and challenges of children in Yuendumu and remote communities like it. The hearing will continue on Thursday. Police are to search a landfill site for the body of a missing man who detectives believe was murdered and left in a bin. Cumali Turhan, 45, was last seen in the early hours of Tuesday November 19 when he was in The Globe pub on Rainsford Road in Chelmsford, Essex Police said. The force said information suggests he may later have gone to Barista, a bar and restaurant on Duke Street, but that CCTV does not show him leaving. Mr Turhan was reported missing to police on the evening of November 19 after he did not arrive at work. Cumali Turhan is believed by police to have been murdered (Essex Police/PA) One man has been charged with assisting an offender to commit murder and preventing lawful and decent burial of a dead body. Ciprian Ilie, 44 and of no fixed address, appeared before Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Saturday and was remanded to appear before Chelmsford Crown Court on December 23. A second man, who police are not naming, has been identified as a suspect. Detective Superintendent Ash Howard of Essex Police said the second man left the country the same day Mr Turhan disappeared and officers are trying to find him. Mr Howard said officers searched a refuse transfer site in the Chelmsford area and will now conduct a detailed search of part of a landfill site in Essex. This specialised search activity will involve teams of officers working every day in a very challenging environment, he said at a press conference at Colchester Police Station on Wednesday. Essex Police carried out forensic work at the Barista venue in Duke Street, Essex as part of the investigation (Essex Police/ PA) Weve identified an area of 5,000 square metres on the site where our search activity will be focused. We want to thank the owners of the site for their patience and understanding while this vital work is undertaken. It is methodical work which will take time and we will not rush it. He said officers are committed to finding answers for Cumalis family. We understand that this investigation will be very concerning for the local community in Chelmsford and especially the citys Turkish community, he said. We want to thank people from across the community for coming forward to speak to us and assisting with our investigation. He said that forensic work, before the search of the landfill site, had focused on several areas including the Duke Street area of Chelmsford and Barista specifically. He continued: Cumali, from our CCTV inquiries, never left Barista on the night in question. He said that a detailed examination of the scene at Barista suggested there was a violent assault within that location and thats the inquiry that were pursuing at this time. We are very confident from the inquiries that weve conducted that we are looking for the body of Cumali, he said. Mr Howard said police will be sharing appeals in English and in Turkish on their website, and asked anyone with information to get in touch. I would ask that people refrain from speculation on social media at this time, he said. There is a missing man at the heart of this investigation and this is a very distressing time for his loved ones. Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson has said fresh impetus is needed to crack down on anti-social behaviour. As she unveiled plans for new town centre bans and powers for police to seize noisy off-road vehicles without a formal warning, the Conservatives shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers claimed the Government had re-announced previously failed Asbos, anti-social behaviour orders, introduced during Sir Tony Blairs premiership. Dame Diana told the Commons on Tuesday that respect orders would support decent, law-abiding people who suffer due to the selfishness of others. Dame Diana Johnson highlighted the importance of tackling anti-social behaviour (Jordan Pettitt/PA) She said: Unruly gangs roam the streets creating intimidation and fear. Noisy off-road vehicles speed around, disturbing the peace. Illegal drugs are abused with brazenness. Public spaces are awash with litter and graffiti. And an epidemic of shop theft is plaguing retailers big and small while their staff are subjected to intolerable levels of abuse and violence. At its core, this is about respect respect between citizens, respect for our society and the expectations underpinning it, and respect for the rule of law. Dame Diana added that all of these are woven into the fabric of our democracy but after years of neglect, that fabric has become worn and we saw a disgraceful illustration of that in the summer, when serious disorder erupted in some towns and cities, in a reference to violence which broke out throughout the country, including in Southport, Westminster and Rotherham. The minister continued: To turn things around and effectively combat the problem, it is really clear that fresh impetus is needed. Under the plans, councils, police and social housing providers would be able to to apply for respect orders, issued by the courts. Perpetrators could face town centre bans, or be compelled to address the root causes of their behaviour, for example, through mandated drug treatment, and breaches could result in up-to-two-year prison sentences, unlimited fines, or a community order. We are also going to crack down on the scourge of off-road bikes in public parks, dangerous e-scooters on pavements, street racing, all of which inflict misery on local communities, Dame Diana said, introducing bolstered powers for police officers, who will no longer be required to issue a warning before seizing vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour. Mr Vickers warned that tackling anti-social behaviour requires more than a press release or a rebrand. He said: I know that those in the sector have described the proposed respect orders as wholly unnecessary and near-identical to existing powers already held by the police. The shadow minister urged Dame Diana to set out how these respect orders would be different to the failed Asbos, or how they will be different to the existing orders, such as the public space protection orders (PSPOs) or criminal behaviour orders (CBOs). Dame Diana replied: Respect orders are different to criminal behaviour orders I dont think (Mr Vickers) has quite understood that. CBOs are attached to where theres been a conviction and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) then apply in court for that CBO to be applied. Respect orders will not require a conviction. The safety of TikTok users is at the core of the platform, one of the social media giants executives has said as it announced 175 million people now use the platform each month. Christine Grahn, TikToks head of European public policy, said users needed to feel safe in order to properly use a platform, and this was a key factor for the company. She was speaking as the shortform video giant held its European Safety Forum in Dublin, where the company discussed upcoming new safety features, including looking into ways of using new machine learning technology to better spot under-13s trying to join the service, and announced plans to add more age restrictions to some facial effects and provide more information to younger users on how an effect might alter their appearance if applied. If people dont feel safe, they are not going to bring their authentic selves to the platform and express themselves, and that means that we dont have the platform that were hoping to create, Ms Grahn told the PA news agency. In order for us to achieve the best result, which is, at the end of the day, safety for our users, we have everything to gain from working with partners of various sorts. We adapt our products based on the research that comes out of that work, and we also work with academic partners to integrate their experience. The end result is going to be so much better if we work together as a society to address societal issues rather than trying to do so in silos. Richard Collard, associate head of policy for child safety online at the NSPCC, said it was encouraging to see TikTok looking to tackle age-related online safety issues. Given the well documented risks and harmful content that proliferates on some social media platforms, its vital that tech companies do everything in their power to ensure the youngest children are not accessing their sites, he said. However, age limits only work if they are meaningfully enforced. Its encouraging to see TikTok recognising this challenge and taking responsibility by using technology to help them uphold their own terms and conditions and keep children safer. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Other social media sites must step up and find effective ways to assess the ages of their users. Ofcom and the Government also have an important role to play in compelling tech bosses to deliver age-appropriate experiences for all their users. Despite its efforts on safety, concerns have been raised in the US and elsewhere about the platforms possible links to China TikToks parent company is the China-based ByteDance and critics have raised concerns TikTok could be pressured into handing over data to the Chinese government. TikTok remains banned from government devices in the UK, and its future in the US remains uncertain over a law that requires the site to be sold by ByteDance by January or face being banned in the United States although it is unclear if president-elect Donald Trump will uphold these plans when he takes office in the same month. In response to these concerns, TikTok has repeatedly denied it does or ever would share data with the Chinese government, and has begun a 10 billion scheme to move its European user data to data centres in Europe to further enhance its security credentials. TikTok remains banned from government devices in the UK (PA) The scheme also includes independent oversight by a British cybersecurity firm, NCC Group, something Ms Grahn hailed as unprecedented. Were very proud of this industry-leading data security project, that aims to keep our users even more secure, she told PA. Theres a number of different parts in this project, but maybe one of the most interesting is this unprecedented third-party external oversight by British cybersecurity company NCC Group. They are continuously monitoring the security gateways that surround the European enclave where we store European TikTok user data. She added: From our perspective, this has been a massive undertaking 12 billion euros over the course of 10 years and we are quite proud of the fact that were building out this model, and we do see it to be truly industry leading. I think some of the aspects of this will also be industry-wide challenges, but were happy to be on this journey and were quite proud of the progress that weve made so far. A lawyer acting for the Scottish Government has told the Supreme Court that a person with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) is recognised in law as having changed sex. Ruth Crawford KC was responding to a legal challenge by For Women Scotland (FWS) over whether trans women can be regarded as female for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act. She told the court a person with a GRC, which she said is a document legally recognising a change of sex and gender, is entitled to the protection afforded to their acquired gender as set out in the 2010 Equality Act. We submit there are only two sexes or genders, and a person whose sex becomes that of a man or woman in consequence of a GRC belongs to that sex, and will have the protection afforded under the Equality Act, she said. She said a person who becomes a woman in consequence of a GRC is entitled to those protections just as much as others enjoy those protections who are recorded as a woman at birth. Ms Crawford told the court by effecting a change in legal status, a GRC has far-reaching consequences and is more than just some legal fiction or of symbolic value. She said: A change of legal status has been effected, so that person becomes recognised in law as belonging to, or becoming, the sex of their acquired gender. She added a GRC is no more a legal fiction than adoption, saying an adopted person is treated in law as the child of their adopter and no-one else. She also said the inevitable conclusion of the FWS challenge, if successful, is that trans women with GRCs would remain men until death for the purposes of the Equality Act. Ms Crawford told the court since the Gender Recognition Act was passed in 2004, 8,464 people in the UK had obtained a GRC which she said was an average of 420 people each year. Day two of For Women Scotland vs the Scottish Ministers at the UK Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/77AUqhQ2LH MurrayBlackburnMackenzie (@mbmpolicy) November 27, 2024 She said this very small number should allay concerns about any impact on public sector equalities duty obligations. Ms Crawford was pressed by the judges on how she squared her position with issues affecting the bodies of people born women, such as pregnancy the so-called pregnant man issue or cervical screenings. She responded that the pregnant man issue was very clearly a matter of deep political water that should either be left for Parliament to resolve, or treated, along with things such as cervical screenings, as a matter of fact regardless of a GRC. The case is the latest in a series of legal challenges brought by FWS over the definition of woman in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which mandates 50% female representation on public boards. The case centres on whether somebody with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act. FWS is seeking to overturn a 2023 ruling by the Scottish courts that treating someone with a GRC as a woman under the Equality Act is lawful. The group successfully challenged the original Act in 2022 over its inclusion of trans women in its definition of women, with the Court of Session in Edinburgh finding changing the definition of a woman in the Act was unlawful as it dealt with matters falling outside the Scottish Parliaments legal competence. Following the challenge, the Scottish Government dropped the definition from the Act and issued revised statutory guidance essentially, advice on how to comply with the law. This guidance stated that under the 2018 Act, the definition of a woman was the same as that set out in the Equality Act 2010, and also that a person with a GRC recognising their gender as female had the sex of a woman. FWS challenged this revised guidance on the grounds sex under the Equality Act referred to its biological meaning, and said the Government was overstepping its powers by effectively redefining the meaning of woman. However, its challenge was twice rejected by the Court of Session, which granted FWS permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in London. Responding, Aidan ONeill KC reiterated his call for the court to uphold the appeal, saying it came down to a question of womens rights, which he said were human rights. He rejected Ms Crawfords characterisation of gender identities as fundamental rights, saying they were not a trump card over the rights of women who, he reminded the court, form the majority of the population. He added: Women are entitled to respect for their identity, privacy and security from male violence and the unwanted and intrusive male gaze. He also reiterated arguments made on Tuesday that sex in the Equality Act referred to biological sex, and took issue with a number of Ms Crawfords arguments. He said adoption was not comparable to a GRC as it only affected the particular family relationship of the people involved. He also pointed to differences in access to abortion between women and trans women, which he said was an absurd consequence of the Scottish governments position. The judges said they would take time to consider very carefully the submissions made, and said they would issue their judgment as soon as we can. The Duchess of Edinburgh has warned that the devastation of conflict-related sexual violence continues long after the guns fall silent, as she offered a comforting hug to a Yazidi genocide survivor. Sophie was pictured with her arm around Awaz Abdi who was captured and enslaved by so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq a decade ago when she was just 10 years old. The Duchess of Edinburgh speaking to Yazidi survivor Awaz Abdi (right) during her visit to view The Women Who Beat ISIS exhibition (Aaron Chown/PA) The pair met when the duchess visited The Women Who Beat Isis travelling photography exhibition at the Foreign Office in London on Wednesday. Sophie, who offered comfort to the Princess of Wales earlier this month by placing her hand on Kates back at the end of the Remembrance Sunday service, delivered an impassioned speech in which she paid tribute to the bravery of Yazidi genocide survivors including Ms Abdi. She stressed that not enough was being done to prevent violence from happening around the world. Sophie looks at photographs at the exhibition in the Foreign Office (Aaron Chown/PA) IS, also known as Daesh, brutally targeted the Yazidis, an ancient religious minority from northern Iraq, in 2014, murdering thousands of people, and abducting 7,000 women and children, in the Sinjar region. The terrorist group perpetrated a catalogue of horrific violations, subjecting women and girls to sexual and other forms of slavery, and forcing boys to fight as child soldiers. The duchess spoke of how the world took an intake of breath when the Yazidi people began to share their experiences of the atrocities. The duchess speaking during the engagement on Wednesday (Aaron Chown/PA) I dont think it was until voices of the Yazidi community came forward that so many people in the world were suddenly made aware of this terrible atrocity, Sophie said. But actually the Yazidi voice became very powerful, and I pay tribute to all of those in the community for being brave enough to step forward, because it really was a moment when the world took an intake of breath and realised just how devastating this had been, the atrocities that Daesh had carried out on the Yazidis and other minority communities. The duchess added: But the atrocities will continue, as we know, and the devastation, that conflict-related sexual violence has, continues. It doesnt just stop when the guns fall silent, the devastation continues in the lives of those who have survived. The duchess is shown the exhibition (Aaron Chown/PA) The duchess listened to Ms Abdi share her personal experience during a panel discussion, learning how her entire family was captured and enslaved, how she was separated from them for months. She and three of her siblings managed to escape to Kurdistan, before they were all reunited in Germany. Ms Abdi spoke emotionally of how their lives would never be the same again and how her family carried deep trauma from the horrific acts committed by IS, especially her parents, who endured unimaginable suffering. Sophie with Yazidi genocide survivor Awaz Abdi (Aaron Chown/PA) Sophie said: (Awaz) and her family have lived with the ongoing aftermath and will do their entire lives. Communities of devastated families are torn apart. This is singularly the most effective weapon that the world has, and we dont do enough to deal with it because we dont do enough to prevent the violence from happening. Sophie is a champion of the UNs Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) and a supporter of the UKs Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). She made a surprise visit to Iraq last year to champion survivors of sexual violence, and, last month, was moved to tears when she met refugees fleeing to Chad to escape the civil war in Sudan, after hearing their experiences of sexual violence. Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer and the Duchess of Edinburgh listen during the engagement (Aaron Chown/PA) The exhibition, which has been shown in cities around the world including Berlin and the Hague, tells the testimonies of survivors of the Yazidi genocide and documents the ongoing consequences. The duchess praised the display as incredibly important, and thanked male colleagues who were involved in supporting it. We can actually change this. Its not up to the women. Its not up to the men. Its up to all of us, she said. This event falls within the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an international annual campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. Police in Concord said they found a man suspected in a 2000 rape case. Rafe Swan/Getty Images More than two decades ago a man broke into a 33-year-old quadriplegic womans East Bay home and raped her. Concord police detectives tried to identify her assailant, to no avail. On Wednesday, police announced that detectives had finally solved the case: The suspect, Michael Lamonte Evans, 50, was arrested and charged with rape in Contra Costa Superior Court. The victim, who was paralyzed from the neck down because of a pre-existing medical condition, was asleep and home alone when a man broke into her Monument Boulevard apartment through a rear sliding glass door on Dec, 6, 2000, Concord police Sgt. Chris Souza said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At the time detectives collected DNA evidence and searched a national database for a match. But there was no match until earlier this year, when Evans' DNA was uploaded to the database after he was convicted of a sex crime, Souza said. Detectives obtained a warrant and collected a DNA sample from Evans to confirm the match, Souza said. Evans was already in custody, accused of a parole violation in Los Angeles County. Evans, who Souza described as homeless, will soon be brought to Contra Costa County to face the rape charges. Souza said it was important to solve the case to get justice for the victim, who died in 2015, and to protect other possible victims. This crime was particularly heinous, the sergeant said, noting that the victim had no way of defending herself. We are deeply saddened that the victim in this case passed away several years ago, the Concord Police Department said in a statement. We extend our gratitude to her friends and family, whose support and assistance (were) extremely important in this investigation. The Prime Minister has encouraged young people to get involved with AI, saying the world is in the foothills of a revolution. Sir Keir made the comments during a visit to Googles AI Campus, which launched on Wednesday in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, where he emphasised the technologys ability to transform millions of lives across our country. The facility in Somers Town is a partnership between Google, Camden Council and Camden Learning and aims at inspiring a new generation of AI-talent through educating young people and teachers. In a speech to attendees, the Prime Minister said he wanted the UK and London to be the best place in the world to start and scale and AI business. We do stand in the foothills of a revolution. Its a revolution thats taking place across the world. There is a race on now, for AI, we are well-placed in that race, he added. Sir Keir also emphasised the importance of ensuring that children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to access AI-related jobs and education. He said: Success belongs to our young people, and this will help make sure theyve got the skills that they need for the jobs of the future. To every young person, whether in this room or elsewhere, I say, whatever your interest, whatever your talent, AI is the opportunity of this generation. Its your opportunity. Get involved. Take advantage of it, he added. The Prime Minister went on to praise British computer scientist Sir Demis Hassabis, founder of the London-based AI start-up DeepMind, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last month. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer meets students during a visit to Googles new AI Campus (Stefan Rousseau/PA) During the visit, the Prime Minister had a tour of the facilities and met with students on a two-year AI Connect pilot programme. The course, which began last month, will provide 32 Year 12 students from across the Camden borough with real-world projects that connect AI tools and skills to a range of fields including health, social sciences and the arts. On Wednesday, Google announced more than 865,000 in funding through its philanthropic arm to train teachers across the country on AI and equip them with resources to help engage their students on the topic. The teacher programme, co-developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind, will deliver this training with the aim of reaching more than 250,000 additional pupils by the end of 2026. Leader of Camden Council Richard Olszewski said the partnership between the council, Camden Learning and Google marked a significant milestone in a commitment to provide young people with world-class opportunities. He said: By fostering collaboration between industry leaders, educators, and students, this trail-blazing initiative will undoubtedly empower countless young people from all backgrounds in the borough to thrive in the science, technology, engineering, arts and maths industries that are developing around them. Managing director for Google UK and Ireland, Debbie Weinstein, said: Google is so proud to partner with Camden Learning to launch the AI Campus, an educational pilot that serves to create the next generation of AI leaders. We believe that AIs enormous opportunities should be accessible to all and this ground-breaking initiative, by empowering the next generation to learn vital digital skills, will be key in supporting the UK to unlock AIs 400 billion economic potential. An advert for Wizz Air has been banned for misleading consumers with the claim that it was one of the greenest choices in air travel. The Google ad, seen on June 9, stated: Fly Wizz Air one of the greenest choices in air travel. Defending the ad, Wizz Air told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it had committed billions of euros to aiding the airline industrys decarbonisation efforts while operating the youngest and most carbon-efficient fleet in Europe. As a result, the airline said it had the lowest carbon emissions per passenger. The company also explained that it was replacing its fleet of Airbus A320ceo aircraft with the Airbus A321neo, with a reduction in fuel consumption of 10% and a per-seat fuel improvement of 20%. It said it has invested in the research and development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and established an independent Sustainability and Culture Committee, whose job included ensuring the airlines statements on sustainability adhered to legislation. The ASA said consumers would understand the claim one of the greenest choices in air travel to mean that Wizz Airs environmental impact was among the lowest of all the airlines operating flights to and from the UK. It said: While we acknowledged that Wizz Air had based the claim on the type of aircraft they used, and the carbon emissions per passenger measured in CO2/RPK, that was not stated in the ad. Furthermore, the ad had not included information that would allow consumers to understand the comparison. Because the ad had not made clear the basis of the claim, or provided verifying information, we concluded it had breached the Code. The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again, adding: We told Wizz Air to ensure the basis of future comparative environmental claims was made clear and did not give a misleading impression of their flights environmental impact, and that ads provided sufficient information to enable consumers to verify comparisons with identifiable competitors or signposted consumers to such information. A Wizz Air spokeswoman said: We are pleased that the ASA acknowledged our claim was based on credible emissions intensity results, which are the lowest of any airline globally, backed up by third party data and benchmarked against other airlines. Wizz Air is committed to transparency and never exaggerates its environmental claims, ensuring they are always supported by strong, factual data. Cheapism / Willis Lam/ Flickr (CC) Whey Better Sadly, weve come to expect fast-food restaurants to cut corners and use processed (aka fake) cheese, but you might be delighted to discover that a few places still use the real deal. Real cheese comprises four primary ingredients: milk, starter culture, salt, and enzymes (often rennet). American cheese, on the other hand, is not technically "real" cheese at least according to the FDA, which considers it to be pasteurized processed American cheese food. To be officially considered real cheese, dairy products must contain at least 51% natural cheese. While processed cheese does contain true cheese (often a blend of cheddar and Colby), it doesn't meet that threshold and contains additional ingredients to maintain a consistent color and flavor, and extended shelf-life. The next time you crave the real deal cheese on the go, keep an eye out for these restaurants. Note: While the restaurants included here offer real cheese for some of their menu items, many also use processed American cheese for others. Bacon and Swiss burger from Jack in the Box Jack in the Box While its cheddar cheese slices and sauce have a few additives, Jack in the Boxs Swiss cheese is the real thing. Its even aged over 60 days, which adds to its legitimacy (and flavor). Tripadvisor Dominos Pizza Despite some rumors that circled the internet a few years ago, Dominos does in fact, use real cheese on its pizzas and breads. You can find real mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan on the pizzas, as well as provolone and feta. While a couple of the items on the menu call for processed American cheese like the Philly cheesesteak you can easily substitute if for a different cheese. Wilder Shaw / Cheapism Chick-fil-A If youve ever eaten Chick-fil-As macaroni and cheese, you already know its legit. The chain uses a blend of cheddar, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses, though it does add a pasteurized processed cheese spread to get that ooey-gooey texture you love. YourEvilHero/Reddit Dairy Queen You would hope that a restaurant specializing in dairy products would use real cheese. Dairy Queens got authentic cheese on the menu, including its cheese curds, made from white cheddar, as well as some (though not all) burgers like the Flamethrower topped with Pepper Jack and the chili cheese dogs that use cheddar. guyute2112/Reddit Wendys Wendys is proud to be the first national fast-food chain to offer fresh mozzarella on its menu. The chain also uses smoked gouda, muenster, blue cheese, asiago, and feta cheese on some of its burgers and chicken sandwiches. Wendys cheese fries have 98% cheddar cheese (whats the other 2%?), and its cheese sauces use cheddar cheese and whole milk. But keep in mind Wendy's still uses American cheese for many of its menu items. Queso, Chipotle Chipotle This fast Mexican food brand also uses real-deal cheese, and the brand touts the fact that it only uses natural ingredients and no additives. Its queso has aged cheddar, while its queso blanco is made from aged Monterey Jack and white cheddar that come from small and mid-sized farms in Wisconsin with pasture-raised cows that are not given rBST. The shredded cheese used on burritos, bowls, quesadillas is Montery Jack, too. Joshua Blanchard / Getty Taco Bell Shocking, yes, but this fast-food joint that has long been the favorite of the budget-conscious also uses real cheese on its menu. For example, the soft tacos are sprinkled with cheddar cheese, and the chalupa shells have aged cheddar baked in. Taco Bell also uses a shredded cheese blend for other products and even offers a vegan nacho cheese sauce made from soy. The chain's nacho cheese sauce, on the other hand, is made with nonfat milk, cheese whey, water, vegetable oil, and a host of other ingredients. Daryl K./Yelp Arbys Arbys puts real cheese on some of its sandwiches and uses processed cheese for others. The Classic Beef 'N Cheddar has cheddar cheese sauce, which contains some cheddar cheese. The Classic French Dip & Swiss/Au Jus and Jalapeno Roast Beef Slider both have real Swiss cheese. Katrina C. / Yelp Panera Bread Panera Bread, which strives to use high-quality ingredients, uses cheese in several menu items. Its grilled cheese (which is great with tomato soup, by the way) includes cheddar, gruyere, and fontina cheese. Its mac and cheese is made with a creamy cheese sauce and white cheddar cheese. Amy C./Yelp Qdoba Another Mexican fast-food restaurant, Qdoba, also includes real cheese in some of its menu items. The Loaded Mexican Street Corn uses cotija cheese, and its cheese blend, which includes Asadero, queso quesadilla, and sharp cheddar cheeses, is available for other menu items. Wilder Shaw / Cheapism Starbucks Another chain that strives to provide quality ingredients, Starbucks uses real cheese on its breakfast sandwiches, including Gruyere, white cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Gouda. It also includes brie, Gouda, and sharp cheddar cheese in its Cheese and Fruit Protein Box. A&W cheese curds A&W The next time youre craving a root beer float, add a side of cheese curds to your order. Dont worry, theyre real! A&W also uses cheddar cheese thats aged six weeks on its menu items, as well as mozzarella and Jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese. Lacey Muszynski / Cheapism Culvers Culvers, a popular Midwest chain, offers cheese curds made of fresh, un-aged white and yellow cheddar cheese. Select burgers are also topped with Swiss cheese. Reddit.com Five Guys Order a burger at Five Guys, and youll get a slice of Kraft American cheese. The FDA doesnt consider that actual cheese (it has to have more than 51% real cheese, which Kraft doesnt), but you can get real cheese on the Patty Melt. Jason C./yelp.com Shake Shack While many of Shake Shacks burgers are topped with slices of processed American, you can also opt for burgers with Swiss, cheddar, or Jack. Its Shroom burger has a Portobello mushroom stuffed with Gruyere and cheddar. And while its cheese sauce is a blend of American and cheddar, if you're willing to overlook that, it should be generously poured on everything. Subway/Yelp Subway You can order Subways footlongs with real cheese! Hooray! In the U.S., the chain offers a Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese blend, Pepperjack, and provolone. If you care about eating only fast food that has 100% real cheese, read the ingredients beforehand. Many chains only offer real cheese on certain items and may use processed cheese products that have additives that help preserve the food. We know youre hungry after reading this, so go find a juicy burger with real cheese! For more smart fast-food coverage, please sign up for our free newsletters. This article was originally published on Cheapism Cheapism / Willis Lam/ Flickr (CC) More From Cheapism 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. 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. 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. Three people were killed in the San Francisco Bay Area after the Cybertruck they were occupying struck a tree and retaining wall, according to multiple reports citing state highway patrol. The crash occurred on Wednesday about 3:08 a.m. in Piedmont, California near Seaview Avenue and Hampton Road, KRON and KCRA reported, citing California Highway Patrol. The collision involved a Tesla Cybertruck, which jumped a curb and then hit a tree and retaining wall, coming to rest with the front end of the vehicle partially wrapped around the tree, the California-based TV stations reported, per state troopers. The Cybertruck caught fire and fully burned, but the Piedmont Police Department told KRON the vehicle's battery did not explode or burst into flames. USA TODAY contacted California Highway Patrol and Piedmont police on Wednesday but has not received a response. Video: Officer catches man falling off bridge split-second rescue Piedmont police chief: 'A tragic loss of life' One of the individuals seated in the front of the Tesla was extracted from the vehicle by a resident who was passing by, troopers said, KRON reported. That person was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while three other occupants were pronounced deceased at the scene, police said. Neighbors told KRON at the scene that the deceased were college students from the area who were visiting home for the holidays. "This is just a tragic loss of life," Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers told KTVU, a Fox TV station in Oakland, Calif. "We dont know the cause of the collision and during the holiday season, our hearts go out to the families that are going to have to deal with this tragedy." Piedmont police are investigating the crash. Bowers told KTVU the vehicle's speed was a likely contributing factor, but police have not yet ruled out drugs or alcohol as being an influence. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tesla Cybertruck accident kills 3 in Piedmont, California, reports say Goldbelly The Best Pumpkin Pies to Buy Nationwide Pumpkin pie, oh my! Nothing gets us to eat Thanksgiving dinner faster than knowing a thick slice of pie is waiting. Whether you like this orange creamy custard pie made with spiced pumpkin puree to kick off fall, to enjoy for the holidays, or to indulge any day of the year, we have the perfect pumpkin pie for you. This famous custard pie, made from strained, cooked gourds, has been enjoyed for centuries. The British used orange squash for baking pies and the pilgrims ate these pies when they first arrived in America. Recipes evolved over time and canned pumpkin has made it even easier to whip up a homemade pie. While traditional pumpkin pie with a homemade pie crust is anything but basic, these pies go beyond the best store bought pumpkin pies. 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The 9-inch Pumpkin Spice Pie is filled with pumpkin, sugar, eggs, butter, sweet cream, and extra special spices. The scent and taste of spices like cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger, and nutmeg are like a warm hug on a cool day. Every day can be a celebration thanks to fun foods, like Confetti cake, a vanilla layer cake with sprinkles. Check these festive funfetti treats for any occasion... or Just Because! Goldbelly Carousel Cakes Pumpkin Pie Theres five decades of experience that go into making Carousel Cakes Pumpkin Pie. The Nanuet, New York, bakery mixes everything by hand to create perfect pies. Each kosher-certified 10-inch pie features a flaky crust and the perfect balance of sweet pumpkin and gentle spices. Goldbelly Its Easy As Pies Pumpkin Pie St Louis, Missouris Its Easy As Pie keeps it easy and simple. Their 9-inch Pumpkin Pie is mild and light with just a dash of spice. To keep it interesting, each home-made pie is made with a splash of bourbon! Goldbelly Juniors Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake The Brooklyn landmark has taken its famous cheesecake and perfected it for fall by adding plenty of palate-pleasing pumpkin. Juniors Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake includes a layer of homemade pumpkin pie filling, original Juniors cheesecake, and pumpkin mousse. It is all layered a graham cracker crust that is spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. If you're a cheesecake lover, check these perfect cheesecakes that you need to try ASAP Goldbelly Cootie Browns Seasonal Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Each fall, Cootie Browns delights pie lovers with its 10-inch, 4 lbs. Seasonal Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. Each slice is filled with plenty of pumpkin puree, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, Half-and-Half, and vanilla plus spices like cinnamon and ginger. All this fall deliciousness is nestled on a graham cracker crust. Goldbelly Sweetie Pies Bakery Pumpkin Pie Each fall, Cootie Browns delights pie lovers with its 10-inch, 4 lbs. Seasonal Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. Each slice is filled with plenty of pumpkin puree, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, Half-and-Half, and vanilla plus spices like cinnamon and ginger. All this fall deliciousness is nestled on a graham cracker crust. Goldbelly Erin McKennas Bakery Vegan + Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Looking for a vegan, gluten-free pie? Look no further than Erin McKennas Bakerys drool worthy Vegan + Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie. This 9-inch pie is made with non-GMO ingredients that are refined sugar free, soy free, dairy free, and egg free. All ingredients, like a crust made with rice flour and oat flour and filling made with pumpkin and coconut milk, are responsibly sourced. This kosher pie is fall festive flavored with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla. This article originally appeared on Goldbelly.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org Goldbelly More from MediaFeed Do you have hope, and how does that feel? Im sitting at my kitchen counter, talking to a bespectacled blue owl named Claire. She stares at me unblinkingly from the computer screen. Yes, I reply, somewhat uncertainly. I ramble on for a few more seconds something about how hope comes from family, and friends, and what that feels like before pausing. Have I spoken for long enough? Claire appears satisfied with my response. Thank you, she says stiffly. Now we will move on to secrets. After secrets, she asks whether I have anger (yes!), how it makes me feel (... angry?), whether I have fear (I do ), and lastly, emotional pain (who doesnt?). Finally, Claire informs me that the interview is over. Soon, Ill receive the results of my $180 mental health risk assessment as determined by artificial intelligence. Im not the only one to have my mental health assessed by AI. Clairity an AI app which can apparently detect mental health issues through voice recordings is used by school-based clinicians at around 80 schools across Greater Cincinnati and, according to Clarigent Health, which developed the app, in universities, doctors offices, mental health centers, and juvenile justice programs in California and North Carolina, in addition to Ohio. But nearly a decade after researchers first hailed the technology as a scientific breakthrough in mental health, its difficult to say whether Clairity ever met its intended goal of helping prevent youth suicide. None of the Cincinnati schools that tested the technology, from 2016 onward, were able to attest to the AIs effectiveness. And clinicians and school administrators contacted by The Enquirer could not provide data showing how well the app worked, independent of the research funded by Clairitys developers. While trained on a majority white population, the app is being used on kids of all races and backgrounds, which has some experts questioning its effectiveness. Still, Clarigent is trying to expand it to more kids. A Spanish-language version of Clairity, and another algorithm that will analyze kids' language to determine their risk for committing violence, are currently in the works, according to Clarigent CEO Don Wright. An offer schools couldnt refuse The arrival of the youth mental health crisis left schools desperate for solutions. In 2021, a rise in suicides made it the second-leading cause of death for kids between the ages of 10 and 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After a student died by suicide at Three Rivers Local School District, former superintendent Craig Hockenberry said his community was devastated. If theres anything that we can do to prevent it, it was a win-win, Hockenberry said. It didnt matter what the program was. Enter Mason-based startup Clarigent Health with Clairity, a solution that seemed too good to be true. According to the Clarigent, Clairity could empower clinicians to pick up on the subtlest signs of suicide risk and help youth who were suffering. While anyone can now buy a Clairity assessment from its website for $180, schools who enrolled in Clarigents study could access it for free. Clarigent Healths technology was first developed by Cincinnati Childrens, where a researcher named John Pestian spent over a decade analyzing the language of suicide. Cincinnati Children's denied several requests for an interview with Pestian and directed all questions about Clairity to Clarigent. After analyzing more than 1,300 suicide notes and collecting interviews of suicidal teenagers treated in Cincinnati Childrens emergency department, Pestian developed an algorithm to find patterns in the ways that people express suicidality through speech. The machine learning algorithm would use this data to then make predictions about whether someone was contemplating suicide. The impressive computing power of artificial intelligence, according to Pestian, could identify patterns in someone's voice data on a scale that humans never could. "These are things you just don't pick up in conversation," he told The Enquirer in 2016. According to his research, the algorithm could identify not only words, but also nonverbal cues such as pauses and tone, that indicated suicidality. No matter how smart we are, no matter how good we are, no matter how well-trained we are, the amount of information required for any given decision is moving beyond unassisted human capacity, Dr. Tracy Glauser, child neurologist and associate director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, said at a 2023 panel hosted by the hospital. Thats been our driving force." The result of Pestians research was Clairitys predecessor, an app first known as Spreading Activation Mobile, or SAM, then as MHSAFE. The idea was that guidance counselors could download the app on their phones and use it to quickly identify kids who were at high risk of attempting suicide. All schools needed to gain access to the technology was to enroll kids in the study, with parent and student consent. The first was run by Cincinnati Childrens in the 2016-17 school year, and the second, by Clarigent Health in 2019-2020. Where suicide prevention felt precarious and unpredictable, these apps offered certainty, science and hard numbers. Their legitimacy was bolstered by experts at Cincinnati Childrens. Moreover, this cutting-edge technology, supported by almost a million dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, would be provided to schools at zero cost. We all kind of dropped our pencils, said Hockenberry. If they could do it with a potential suicide, they could potentially catch a school shooter, he remembered thinking. Schools have 'no data' to provide on AIs effectiveness The Enquirer requested records from nearly 50 school districts in southwest Ohio and 15 in Northern Kentucky. Documents showed that Deer Park High School and four Cincinnati Public Schools the School for Creative and Performing Arts and Dater High, Walnut Hills High and Aiken High schools tested the 2016 version of the app. In the 2019-20 school year, Three Rivers Local School District and Lebanon City Schools also used Clairity. But none of the districts had data to share on the AIs efficacy. Most said that it was private, accessible only to the clinician and the family of the child. The School for Creative and Performing Arts was one of the schools that tested an early version of Clairity, an AI-powered app designed to detect mental illness through voice data. Todd Yohey, former superintendent of Oak Hills Local School District and Lebanon City Schools, said he was reasonably optimistic about the algorithm. But he wasnt sure how many kids were actually exposed to the app, and the school had no data about its usage. We had hundreds of students that were seen by the clinicians, said Yohey, who worked with Cincinnati Children's to embed their clinicians within his schools. I dont know if they used the app. Hockenberry, now a superintendent in a Youngstown suburb, left Three Rivers before Clairity was launched. "I don't know of any of the outcomes," he said. Ben Crotte, a former school-based counselor at SCPA, remembered testing an early version of Clairity in 2016. Ben Crotte, a former school-based therapist at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, estimates he recorded conversations with between 15 to 20 students with their consent and their parents as a part of his participation in the SAM research. While he didn't receive the app's recommendations in real time, Pestian later told him that the AI identified two of his students as high risk for suicide, which Crotte already knew. The app seemed to nail them and identify them very well," Crotte said. Still, Crotte said he didn't recommend hospitalization for either student. Had he received the app's results during his sessions, he wonders whether he may have felt more pressured to recommend hospitalization, which he described as clinically unnecessary at that time. Ben Crotte with therapy dogs Tiki and Violet at Animal Companion Counseling, the mental health nonprofit he now runs in the West End. Best Point, a nonprofit provider of childrens mental health services, participated in Cincinnati Childrens early research in 2016, and now its clinicians use Clairity as a standard screening tool for kids ages 12 and up in around 80 schools across Cincinnati. We felt confident that it had been trialed and tested, Debbie Gingrich, chief program officer of the organization, said. Learning to use Clairity has been a learning curve for Best Points clinicians, Gingrich said, but Clairity has helped them identify kids at risk that they would not have otherwise expected. Gingrich did not reply to multiple emails requesting data on the number of kids whose suicide risk would have gone undetected without Clairity's help. Court tries Clairity, discontinues contract after 2 years Hamilton County was the first in the country to use Clairity in its juvenile court. Headlines announced the partnership, which signaled AIs potential to help solve an intensifying youth mental health crisis, with fanfare and excitement. We are proud to be the first court in the country to use these cutting-edge tools to better understand and serve our children, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers, then a senior judge of Hamilton County Juvenile Court, in 2021. The court signed a $20,000 contract with Clarigent for the 2021-22 fiscal year and hoped the algorithm would help the court with referrals for mental health services and treatment interventions. Staff from the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Assessment Center used Clairity on over 200 kids in juvenile court. Some kids in juvenile court arent as forthcoming about how they're feeling, said Deanna Naderman, the court's director of behavioral health services and special projects. She saw how Clairity could help reach those kids and speed up the referral process for children behind bars. For those kids, and others suffering from mental health issues, Naderman said it's a long process to cut through the red tape of getting them admitted to inpatient care. Megan Taylor, a licensed social worker and manager of the courts assessment center, which helps connect kids to counseling, therapy, and case management services, shared Deannas excitement. I think we all thought this was going to be this great thing, Taylor said. Megan Taylor, manager of the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Assessment Center, was excited to use Clairity to help more kids get mental health care. Taylor, who oversaw the team of six staffers who would be using Clairity with their clients, remembers Clarigent Healths training for the app to be simple and intuitive. But in practice, it was anything but. There were technical glitches and issues with staying connected to WiFi. They bought Kindles and microphones to help with the recordings, Naderman said, but her staff still ran into problems. Clairity peppered users with errors, saying it couldnt pick up the speaker, that the speaker wasnt talking long enough or was speaking for too long. Half the time it wouldn't work, Taylor said. The app would just spin and just buffer and buffer. And the way Clairity phrased questions were confusing to some of the kids. Do you have emotional pain? Taylor remembers one of the questions asked. They were like, what? Staffers at Hamilton County Juvenile Court used fuzzy mics to record the data Clairity needed to assess suicide risk in their clients, but it didn't always work. Taylor doesn't blame Clarigent Health for the difficulties her staff faced, which she mostly chalks up to the court's unreliable WiFi networks. The challenges of working with kids in juvenile court are unique, she added, so Clairity might work better in a hospital setting with staff who are clinically trained. Clarigent said it tried to work with court staffers on the IT issues and safety protocols preventing youth from being positioned close to the device "presented unique challenges." Data provided by Clarigent Health shows Clairity assessed the mental health of 222 youth in juvenile court. One-third were labeled as having medium to high risk for suicide. But its difficult to determine whether Clairitys evaluations were consistent with staffers evaluations, or if those youth would have received mental health help anyway, because the court did not collect data on the apps outcomes. Naderman said she was disappointed that Clarigent Healths recommendation for medium and high-risk kids was to then administer a suicidality questionnaire. Why don't I just do that assessment at the beginning? The court discontinued its contract with Clarigent after its second year. Can AI predict suicide? Experts weigh in, discuss racial bias People tend to be open with their clinicians about their suicidal ideation, said Jordan DeVylder, associate professor of social work at New York University. But clinicians have a lot of trouble predicting those who will act on those thoughts. That's where the appeal of these kind of machine learning approaches comes in," DeVylder said. Computers are good at detecting subtle differences in people's voices, and DeVylder is confident in AIs ability to detect suicidal language. But hes worried about the ethical implications of using AI thats too good at its job. Is it ethical to mandate treatment for someone who didnt even actually talk about suicide based on an algorithm alone? he asked. WiFi issues often prevented Hamilton County Juvenile Court staff from using Clairity in this detention center. Another potential limitation to consider is the bias of the training data. There's not a lot of research on how nonwhite people express mental illness through language, and most machine learning algorithms are trained on white people, said Sunny Rai, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Pennsylvanias department of computer and information science. That's true of Clairity, too. According to an Enquirer review of research provided by Clarigent Health, three of the four studies on Clairity that published racial demographics had study populations that were 74% white or higher. Rai's research used machine learning to show that Black people and white people express their depression differently on social media. While the white participants with depression in Rai's study tended to use more I pronouns that indicated excessive self-focus, the same was not true for Black participants. Still, Clarigent CEO Don Wright maintained that Clairity's algorithm "is not biased." (He did not provide data or results of the 2021 NIH-funded study that he said proved that to be the case). Later, in a statement, the company said it "takes active steps to mitigate bias" by regularly testing its AI for "fairness and unintended biases", among other things. If the data the algorithm is trained on is not representative of the population it will be used on, the use of AI to detect suicide risk is both scientifically and ethically dubious, said Augustine Frimpong-Mansoh, professor of health care ethics at Northern Kentucky University. Professor Augustine Frimpong-Mansoh, acting chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Philosophy at Northern Kentucky University, says Clairity's use poses both scientific and ethical concerns. There are also questions about informed consent. Parents desperate to get their child mental health treatment may have agreed to Clairity being used without understanding the risks, he said. They are likely to go along with whatever you have told them and sign on to it," he said. Its also impossible to know whether Clairity is actually helping schools prevent suicide because there's no way to know whether a student who was flagged would have taken their own life, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. Companies like Clarigent, Marlow said, are taking advantage of schools and their fears and their incredibly strong desire to keep kids safe. Its based more on hope and adoption of marketing slogans than actual tested data," he said. What AI said about my mental health Im a 25-year-old woman whose first language is Korean. Most people Clarigent Health trained its models on do not look or speak like me. And yet, I couldnt shake my curiosity about the apps abilities. Would the AI be able to pick up signs of mental illness that I myself wasnt aware of? Maybe 11 minutes of hearing me ramble would be enough. Following my interview with Claire, the next step of my screener was connecting with a therapist whod reveal my results through phone or video call. No appointment and no waiting, promised the email from Clarigent. But the video call link buffered for 15 minutes, and the therapist who answered the phone was confused about why I called (I think theres an AI thats supposed to tell me whether Im depressed?). She put me on hold. When she returned, she apologized, explaining that Clairity is a new service. The AI detected anxiety, she says, but no depression or suicidality. When I later asked Clarigent for documentation of my results, the company told me Clairity detected no signs of mental illness anxiety or otherwise. How great would it be if that were true? This story was underwritten in part with a grant from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Therapists in schools use AI to flag suicidal students. Does it work? USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change. Researchers in Arizona say they have unearthed the oldest gun ever found in the continental United States. The bronze cannon, or wall gun, is associated with the first European expedition of the Southwest, and was found on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe building in southern Arizona, near the Santa Cruz River, in 2020, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology. Using cutting edge carbon dating technology, authors of the study say the weapon for 480 years sat in ruin inside the building that was part of San Geronimo III, the first European settlement in the Southwest that was established in 1540. Image showing a bronze cannon discovered by researchers on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe building in southern Arizona, near the Santa Cruz River, in 2020, according to a new study from Deni J. Seymour and William P. Mapoles published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology. Excavations began in late 2021 "with the goal of understanding the context of the gun and exposing additional evidence of the Spanish settlement," wrote the study's authors, Deni J. Seymour and William P. Mapoles. The design of the gun is consistent with the mid-to-late 1400s and was practically obsolete by the time of the expedition, according to Seymour and Mapoles. It appears the gun was never fired and was deserted when the indigenous Sobaipuri O'odham people launched a successful attack against San Geronimo lll, which researchers say led the Spanish to stay out of southern Arizona for 150 years. "The gun is an important artifact, and is no doubt the earliest known surviving firearm in the United States and one of, if not the earliest found in a reliable context in the New World," the researchers wrote. An unsuccessful Spanish expedition The conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was the governor of the New Galicia province of New Spain, which is present Mexico, when he left on a journey across the southwestern U.S. in search of riches and routes to Asia. Coronado, who was 27 at the time, led 240 mounted soldiers, 60 foot soldiers and 800 Native Americans and slaves across the Southwest beginning in 1540, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. The journey was considered unsuccessful because they did not find gold or silver and native populations they encountered were too small to establish settlements in which the Spanish could exploit them for profit, the study says. Around the time the exploration was called off, the Spanish town of San Geronimo lll was attacked by the Sobaipuri O'odham people. The town was destroyed and its inhabitants were either killed or fled to Mexico. Image showing a bronze cannon discovered by researchers on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe building in southern Arizona, near the Santa Cruz River, in 2020, according to a new study from Deni J. Seymour and William P. Mapoles published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology. Researchers believe San Geronimo III is the site they discovered in 2020 near the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona. At the site, researchers discovered an "unusually rich assemblage," with the bronze cannon and thousands of other artifacts including arrowheads, lead bullets and weapons parts that provided them with abundant evidence of the battle that pushed the Spanish out of the region for a century and a half. "Europeans did not return to what became southern Arizona for another 150 years, making it the earliest and most consequential Native American uprising in the continental US," the authors of the study said. "This fact is surprising given that until this discovery the O'odham were thought to have played at most an insignificant role in the initial conquest episode." Gun left behind after Natives attack Spanish village The wall gun was designed to be mounted on a wooden tripod along fortification walls, a design that took hold in the 1400s. It was versatile, highly portable and useful for offense as well as defense, researchers said. The 40-pound weapon was perfect for the expedition because it was "lightweight," and its "durable nature, and ease of use," according to the authors of the study, adding, "A pair of these could have been strapped onto a horse or mule, with one or more on each side for balance during transport." The weapon, which is about 42 inches long, could handle heavy charges of buckshot or round lead balls. When shooting a single lead projectile, gun powder would have been poured into muzzle followed by the round ball and a wad of paper or grass to keep the ball from rolling out when the muzzle was lowered, researchers said. It had no sights, leading experts to theorize that it fired buckshot, like those used in shotguns. However, it appears this particular weapon was never fired. There was no black residue in the barrel, often a cause of corrosion. The reason it was not loaded or fired, researchers posit, is because the Spanish didn't have time. The Sobaipuri Oodham people mounted their attack early in the morning and the Spanish were taken by surprise; many were killed in their beds. The gunners were either "killed, captured, or fled," according to Seymour and Mapoles. They noted that the gun was "too expensive to be left behind under normal circumstances." Now, some 480 years later, the historic weapon was excavated along with a second cannon that will soon be examined. "This is a unique site, which likely explains why one [cannon] was left here, along with a second one recently discovered since this writing, which will be analyzed in a future article," the researchers wrote. (This story was updated to add new information.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona researchers unearth oldest gun in US, dating back centuries FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talk prior to a NATO round table meeting at The Grove hotel and resort in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, Dec. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File) TORONTO (AP) Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don't stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders. But Trump posted Wednesday evening on Truth Social that he had a wonderful conversation" with new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and she agreed to stop Migration through Mexico. Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!! Trump posted. It was unclear what impact the conversation will have on Trumps plan to impose tariffs. In Canada, a government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Many of the U.S. products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports $3 million worth of yogurt from the U.S. annually and most comes from one plant in Wisconsin, home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10% duty. Another product on the list was whiskey, which comes from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of which is the home state of then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Trump made the threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border. The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024. Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are ready to make new investments in border security and work with the Trump administration to lower the numbers from Canada. The Canadians are also worried about a influx north of migrants if Trump follows through with his plan for mass deportations. Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Canadian officials argue their country is not the problem and that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a emergency virtual meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of Canada's provinces. He stressed they need to present a united front. I dont want to minimize for a moment the gravity of the challenge we now face, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. Now is really a moment for us not to squabble amongst ourselves." The provincial premiers want Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico. Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, said earlier Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs if the situation comes to that. She later said she talked to Trump and had an excellent conversation. A new sex trend among college students is getting attention on TikTok and it has doctors worried. That trend is using honey packets, a controversial supplement marketed for sexual enhancement. In a TikTok with over 400,000 views, students at Arizona State University snicker as they either tout having taken the supplement themselves or note its use on campus. "Hey, a man never reveals his secrets, I can't say," one college student says when asked if he's taken it, before giggling and walking off camera. Doctors, however, are not laughing. The Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about multiple honey packet brands, citing hidden drug ingredients in the product. The big problem, doctors say, is that when you ingest a honey packet, you really don't know what's in it. Some of these products, they say, contain natural ingredients like maca and ginseng which, though harmless, won't have much of any impact on your sex life, save for a placebo effect. Others, however, contain pharmaceutical ingredients, like tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis, a medication meant to treat erectile dysfunction. "I just think it's an unnecessary thing to do," says Dr. Peter Leone, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine's Division of Infectious Diseases. "I'm all about people having good sex and sexual pleasure, but I prefer safer ways of doing it." 'Honey packets' for sex are dangerous According to this TikTok, ASU students are no strangers to honey packets. One male student in the video claims to have taken multiple in one night. Honey packets are nothing new, however, with many brands available for purchase at liquor stores and truck stops, much to doctors' chagrin. "It's crazy," says Dr. Jesse Mills, a health science clinical professor and the director of the Men's Clinic at the University of California, Los Angeles. "You can go to any liquor store and truck stop and buy a honey packet, and you have no idea what's in there." This uncertainty is what makes these packets dangerous, Mills adds. Tadalafil is an extremely potent treatment for erectile dysfunction but it can have severe side effects, including death, when it interacts with other medications, he says. Sexless marriages are a serious problem. We need to talk about it. Leone adds tadalafil also has negative consequences when it interacts with alcohol. "I would worry about kids dropping their blood pressure, having issues around passing out or getting dizzy," he says, adding it's also possible to overdose on it. The reality is, most college-aged men don't suffer from erectile dysfunction, and, therefore, have no valid reason for taking honey packets. If a young man is struggling with sexual health, sexual performance or erectile dysfunction, then he should consult a medical professional before taking any drugs or supplements. "If any college student is having questions about how well they're performing sexually, they should be evaluated by a sexual health specialist, and we can determine how much of it is something physiologic that we can treat or how much of it is something that we need to address from a more psychological standpoint," Mills says. Why are college students touting 'honey packets' for sex? The honey packets discourse online raises an important question: Why do some young men feel a need to use honey packets in the first place, assuming they don't have a sexual health issue? "These young guys need honey packs?" wrote one TikTok commenter. "Normalizing ED (or, erectile dysfunction) is crazy," wrote another. "A college kid taking a honey packet is not a flex, I would be embarrassed to admit that," added another. More: This woman's take on why wives stop having sex with their husbands went viral. Is she right? Doctors say the honey packet interest among college students speaks to insecurities many young men feel around sex, as well as their desire to fit in among peers. Hookup culture in particular, they say, may be to blame for young men feeling more pressure in the bedroom: Not only are they worried about pleasing their partner, they also might have concerns about how they compare to other people their partner has slept with before. "They're not thinking about having sexual dysfunction," Mills says. "They're thinking about how can I perform, how can I be better than I was or better than other partners that this person has had, and it's more of an internal competition. It has nothing to do with their erectile dysfunction." For those facing this insecurity, it's important to know taking a honey packet isn't the solution. "For a college student, if they already are having difficulty achieving an erection and maintaining it for intercourse, then that's a big health problem that needs to be addressed," Mills says. "But if they think that it's just going to help them last longer, help them party harder, then it's probably not going to work unless they really believe in it in which case, anything works, because the placebo effect is incredibly powerful." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College students are using 'honey packets' for sex. Don't do it. Screen shot of Ricci Wynne during a meeting at City Hall in San Francisco. SFGov TV Ricci Wynne, a social media agitator and frequent Fox News guest known for spotlighting San Franciscos drug and homelessness crises, was charged Wednesday with pimping and pandering in a case that spans over the last 18 months, court records show. The felony charges came days after Wynne, 39, and an unidentified female companion were taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport. Police conducted a probation search of Wynnes Fremont Street residence and booked him into jail. The woman was released. Wynne pleaded not guilty on Wednesday afternoon during his arraignment in San Francisco Superior Court. A judge ordered that he be released to the custody of U.S. Marshals, following an allegation that Wynne violated his probation in a separate federal case. Wynne will later be returned to local custody, where he could argue to be released pending trial. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The allegations brought by prosecutors appear consistent with the account of a woman who spoke to the Chronicle on Wednesday who said Wynne attempted to recruit her for prostitution. The woman was interviewed on the condition of anonymity out of fear for her safety in accordance with the Chronicles policies on unnamed sources. The woman said Wynne began reaching out to her on social media a few years ago when she was 17, and that she ultimately agreed to go out with him last year. The woman recalled being impressed with Wynnes apparently lavish lifestyle, and that on their first date she asked him how he made his money. Wynne at the time declined to discuss it, but after the date messaged to tell her he wanted to do great or big things with her, the woman said. On the second date, she said, Wynne brought her to a fancy restaurant and at one point grabbed a stack of cash from one bag and switched it to another. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The pair had dinner with another man and two other women, all of whom the source described as very friendly and complimentary. On the ride home with Wynne, the other man and one of the other women, the source said Wynne turned around to ask her if she was ready to have a more serious conversation. Wynne explained how he and the other man were running a high-class escort service that catered to wealthy clients; primarily those in the tech industry, the woman said. The Chronicle is not publishing the name of the other man because he has not been named as a suspect in this case. The woman said Wynne, the other man and the woman discussed how the operation worked: That clients would request a service, either with a specific woman or no preference, and that the business would offer different experiences like offering multiple women or different durations of time. Wynne said he and the other man had been in business since 2010, and that they provided protection and security for the women, the woman said. The profits were split 50/50 between the men and the women, the woman recalled Wynne saying. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The woman said she never agreed to work for Wynne and shortly after the second date cut off contact with him. The Chronicle has viewed screenshots of text and social media messages between Wynne and the woman, which appear to support her account. On Wednesday afternoon, Wynne made his initial appearance in neon orange sweats and made a brief, heart-shaped gesture to his family as he entered the courtroom. In arguing for Wynne to remain in custody, Assistant District Attorney Katherine Wells offered more details about the circumstances surrounding Wynne's arrest, and said prosecutors believe other victims may soon be added to the case. Wells said a search of Wynne's apartment turned up $80,000 in cash that had been stored in his closet, and that police found cell phone evidence of Wynne posting ads and setting up dates for sex work with a woman who was present in court. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Judge Ken Wine also asked about a 2022 investigation against Wynne, which involved an alleged sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl. Wells said that investigation is still pending, and that Wynne is facing only charges of pimping one, adult female. However, she said, "I expect that further charges are forthcoming." Wynne's attorney, deputy public defender Semuteh Freeman, said the defense team hadn't received any information about the allegations involving the minor, and said it would be premature to base Wine's custody decision on unfiled charges. Wine agreed that the claim was "inflammatory." "It's very bad, is what it is," he said. Freeman said her client had only 14 days remaining of federal probation, and asked Wine to allow Wynne to take care of those matters before continuing discussions on the state case. The defense attorney added that she expected the case to go to trial. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wine agreed to release Wynne for the sole purpose of entering federal custody, and ordered him to come back to court if he wished to argue for bail. "I am concerned that he stays in custody," Wine said. Shortly after the hearing, Wynne's brother Gage Wynne told the Chronicle that his brother was not guilty of the charges against him, nor any allegations involving a 15-year-old girl. "It's clear as day... there's nothing in this case involving any minor being sex trafficked," the brother said. Ricci 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. 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. Billionaire Elon Musk, a key adviser to the incoming Trump administration, called for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be eliminated, setting his sights on a regulator that has often clashed with Silicon Valley investors as theyve attempted to enter the banking space. Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies, the Tesla CEO posted on his social media platform X a little after midnight Wednesday. The comment followed an appearance by celebrity venture capitalist and fellow Trump supporter Marc Andreessen on Joe Rogan's podcast, in which he accused the agency of attempting to terrorize financial institutions and prevent new startups that want to compete with the big banks. Under current Director Rohit Chopra, the CFPB has sued and fined a number of financial tech firms and other startups it accused of deceiving customers, including at least one backed by Andreessens own firm. In 2021, the regulator shut down the online payday lender LendUp for repeatedly lying and illegally cheating its customers. The press release announcing the move specifically noted that the company was backed by some of the biggest names in venture capital," including Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and Google Ventures. In his Rogan appearance, Andreessen also appeared to accuse the CFPB of conspiring to debank startup founders in disfavored industries such as crypto by pressuring financial institutions to drop them as customers. The comments echoed claims about federal regulators such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that have circulated among crypto industry executives and conservatives, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill. President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Its a privatized sanctions regime that lets bureaucrats do to American citizens the same thing that we do to Iran just kick you out of the financial system, Andreessen said. This has been happening to all the crypto entrepreneurs over the last four years, this has been happening to the fintech entrepreneurs, anybody trying to start any kind of new banking service, because theyre trying to protect the big banks. The CFPB, however, has recently taken legal and public stands against debanking the forced closure of a bank account of an organization deemed to be a legal or financial threat. In an August appeals court argument, for instance, the agency warned that a federal judges decision in Texas limiting its ability to police discrimination by financial institutions would block it from investigating banks for cutting off conservative Christian groups. President-elect Donald Trump tapped Musk and former GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE a private advisory board tasked with finding trillions in budget savings. Both Ramaswamy and Musk have promised to thin out the federal workforce and trim the ranks of regulators, moves some critics have noted could benefit Musks own companies by easing oversight. X, for instance, has been seeking state money transmitter licenses that would allow it to operate as a payments app a line of business that would put it under the purview of the CFPB. Mick Mulvaney, who served as head of the CFPB under Trumps previous administration, told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that he agreed with Musk that the agency should be eliminated because it simply created a duplicative layer of additional regulatory oversight. To the extent we're trying to bring efficiencies to the system either letting the CFPB do what it was supposed to do and take that authority away from others, which is never going to happen, or shutting the CFPB I'm all in for shutting the CFPB, he said. Jordan Weissmann is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Click here for the latest personal finance news to help you with investing, paying off debt, buying a home, retirement, and more Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance By Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI has been investigating a longtime Exxon Mobil consultant over the contractor's alleged role in a hack-and-leak operation that targeted hundreds of the oil companys biggest critics, according to three people familiar with the matter. The operation involved mercenary hackers who successfully breached the email accounts of environmental activists and others, the sources told Reuters. The scheme allegedly began in late 2015, when U.S. authorities contend that the names of the hacking targets were compiled by the DCI Group, a public affairs and lobbying company working for Exxon at the time, one of the sources said. DCI provided the names to an Israeli private detective, who then outsourced the hacking, according to the source. In an effort to push a narrative that Exxon was the target of a political vendetta aimed at destroying its business, some of the stolen material was subsequently leaked to the media by DCI, Reuters determined. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found that DCI shared the information with Exxon before leaking it, the source said. Some environmental activists interviewed by Reuters say the hacking operation disrupted preparations for lawsuits by cities and state attorneys general against Exxon and other energy companies. Those lawsuits were modeled on litigation against the tobacco industry in the mid-1990s, which resulted in a watershed settlement and sweeping restrictions on cigarette sales. The stolen material continues to be used today to counter litigation claiming the oil giant misled the public and its investors about the risks of climate change. As recently as April, an industry trade group that has received funding from Exxon cited one of the hacked documents an internal memo sketching out the proposed litigation strategy of the environmentalists in an effort to get the Supreme Court to quash a lawsuit filed by the city of Honolulu against Exxon and other energy companies. The case is pending. The group, the National Association of Manufacturers, said it was not aware of the allegation the material had been hacked and will consider whether to stop using it in future briefs. Exxon and DCI parted ways around 2020, according to two people familiar with the matter. In a statement, Exxon said it has not been involved in or aware of any hacking activities, calling allegations to the contrary conspiracy theories. Reuters could not determine whether Exxon itself has also been the subject of the FBI investigation. DCI said: We direct all our employees and consultants to comply with the law. The leaks sent a shudder through the environmental community, said Kert Davies, director of investigations for an environmental group, the Center for Climate Integrity. Davies was among those targeted by the hackers. Matt Pawa, an attorney whose strategy drove much of the anti-Exxon litigation, said the leaks fueled a legal counteroffensive that nearly knocked him out of business. Those documents were directly employed by Exxon to come after me with all guns blazing, he said in a recent interview. It turned my life upside down. The investigation into the hack-and-leak operation comes amid growing concern among law enforcement agencies worldwide about how such cyberespionage schemes threaten to taint judicial proceedings. The FBI has been investigating the broader use of mercenary hackers to tamper with lawsuits since early 2018, Reuters has previously reported. The Israeli private detective hired by DCI, Amit Forlit, was arrested this year at Londons Heathrow Airport and is fighting extradition to the United States on charges of hacking and wire fraud. U.S. law enforcement authorities declined to comment on their efforts. They have not spoken publicly about the case against Forlit, which remains under seal. But in court hearings earlier this year, British lawyers acting on behalf of the American government alleged that Forlit had carried out hack-for-hire work for a Washington-based PR and lobbying firm and that he worked on behalf of an oil and gas corporation which wanted to discredit individuals involved in climate change litigation. In those hearings, the energy company and the lobbying firm were not identified. Federal prosecutors have secured a related conviction: that of Forlits former business associate, private investigator Aviram Azari. Azari pleaded guilty in 2022 to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit hacking and aggravated identity theft, which included targeting the environmental activists. In court files, prosecutors did not assert any link between Azari and Exxon, DCI or Forlit. But one of the sources with knowledge of the FBI investigation said Forlit outsourced the hacking of the environmental activists to Azari. Forlits attorneys did not respond to messages from Reuters seeking comment. A lawyer for Azari, Barry Zone, declined to comment. Addressing his victims after he was sentenced last year to 80 months in prison, Azari said that there will come a day when he could provide more information about what he had done. You don't know everything," he said. CODENAME FOX HUNT The hack-and-leak operation came on the heels of a series of media reports in 2015 contending that scientists at Exxon knew for decades that fossil fuels were warming the Earth as the company's top executives publicly said otherwise. Exxon has said that its internal research and public positions on climate change have been misinterpreted. Under the hashtag ExxonKnew, groups such as Greenpeace called for legal action. So did then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who said the Department of Justice should probe the firm because theres a lot of evidence they misled people. In November 2015, New Yorks attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, announced he was investigating Exxon. Other suits followed. With Exxon on the defensive, DCI swung into action to protect what was then one of the firms most important clients. Reuters interviewed a dozen former DCI employees to piece together the firms relationship with Exxon. Founded in 1996 by veterans of Republican politics, DCI has worked for a variety of tobacco, telecom, hedge fund and energy firms. On its website, DCI says it handles public relations crises, litigation support, and opposition research. Five former DCI employees said Exxon was long one of DCIs biggest sources of revenue. One ex-employee said the oil giant regularly steered more than $10 million in business a year to DCI. Lobbying work alone for Exxon earned DCI at least $3 million between 2005 and 2016, according to publicly available data gathered by the transparency website OpenSecrets. DCIs staff in Washington kept track of social media chatter around the ExxonKnew campaign as well as moves made by state attorneys general, according to two people familiar with the matter. DCI also hired the Israeli detective Forlit, who tapped Azari to hack the accounts, according to one of the sources familiar with the FBI investigation. The operations code name was Fox Hunt, the source said. Azari was the subject of a 2022 Reuters investigation that revealed how he and other private investigators used mercenary hackers in India to help wealthy clients gain the upper hand in legal cases. The report drew on a large dataset of Indian hacking activity, which shows that the spies tried to break into more than 13,000 email addresses over a seven-year period. Among the targets were more than 500 email addresses belonging to environmentalists, their funders, their colleagues and their family members, all of whom were targeted between 2015 and 2018. Some details of the hacking campaign previously have been made public. In 2020 the Canadian digital watchdog group Citizen Lab identified 10 organizations targeted in a sweeping cyberespionage effort, including Greenpeace, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Rockefeller Family Fund. Reuters has learned the identity of other prominent targets, which include former Democratic presidential candidate and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, and the ex-wife of Schneiderman, New Yorks then-attorney general. Steyer's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. In an email, Schneiderman's ex-wife and former political adviser, Jennifer Cunningham, said she had long suspected that Exxon was behind the hack-and-leak effort. Beginning in April 2016, news reports appeared alleging the ExxonKnew campaign was a politicized effort pushed by wealthy benefactors. Within 24 hours of one another, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Free Beacon published stories based on an internal memo circulated about a meeting at the offices of the Rockefeller Family Fund. The memo said participants planned to discuss how to convince the public that Exxon is a corrupt institution and delegitimize them as a political actor. The person with knowledge of the law enforcement investigation said the FBI assessed that the memo was obtained via the Forlit-led hacking operation. Separately, Reuters determined that the memo was subsequently leaked to the media by DCI. Washington Free Beacon editor Eliana Johnson said that the paper did not comment on sourcing. The Wall Street Journal did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Exxons lawyers repeatedly drew on the hacked documents to support the companys litigation. After the New York attorney general filed suit against Exxon in 2018, for instance, the energy companys lawyers cited the stolen Rockefeller meeting memo to argue that the case should be thrown out. The lawyer representing Exxon, Theodore Wells, told New Yorks Supreme Court in his October 2019 opening statement that Schneiderman had improperly formed a political alignment with activists for the purpose of advancing an agenda directed at energy companies. New York lost the case two months later, when a judge ruled that the attorney general failed to prove that Exxon had defrauded investors by hiding the true cost of climate change regulation. In an interview, Schneiderman said the leaked documents were used to great effect to bolster what he called Exxons baseless claim that we were engaged in a politically motivated witch hunt. Wells and his law firm, Paul Weiss, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The memo or other hacked documents were also cited in court filings by Exxon against attorneys general in Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as in the company's 2018 effort to depose climate change attorney Pawa and other lawyers. Much of the litigation is ongoing. On Tuesday, Maine became the ninth U.S. state to file a lawsuit accusing oil companies or allied groups of deceiving the public about climate change. Pawa said the industry has continued to invoke the hacked files in its effort to push back. They were used over and over again, he told Reuters. The net effect, he said, was chilling people from exercising their constitutional rights. (Reporting by Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing in Washington; editing by Chris Sanders and Blake Morrison) For decades, Israel has been celebrated as a global innovation hub, dubbed the Startup Nation for its groundbreaking technology and medical advancements. But the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent bloody conflicts with Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran have triggered a profound shift in the psyche of many Israelis. What began as a major exodus spurred by immediate security concerns has evolved into a broader migration pattern, with waves of top Israeli talent seeking refuge and stability in Europe and beyond. The numbers tell the story: 285% increase In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 there was a staggering 285% increase in Israelis leaving the country permanently, according to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics. Although this rate has since stabilized, the outflow of Israelis remains significant, underscoring deeper concerns about safety, governance, and social cohesion. The migration trend predates the war, with departures surging by 51% in the months leading up to the Oct. 7 attacks, amid widespread protests against the governments controversial judicial overhaul. Notably, the demographic profile of those leaving reveals the departure of Israels most educated and economically mobile citizens. Data indicates that many are married professionals working in tech, medicine, academia, and businesskey sectors vital to Israels economy. For Jewish Israelis, ancestral passportsprimarily from Germany, Poland, and other European nationsallow for easier relocation to the European Union. Germany and Portugal have emerged as top destinations, appealing for their robust economies and political stability. Tech talent in transit For Israels flourishing tech sector, this migration is having ripple effects across the globe. The country has long been a hub for Fortune Global 500 giants like Google, Microsoft, and Intel, which operate thriving offices in Tel Aviv and beyond. Employees at these companies often have the advantage of transferring to international offices, allowing them to relocate swiftly to other hubs in popular destination countries like the United Kingdom. This mobility of tech workers has been pivotal for professionals like Shlomy Green, a software engineer who says he and his family left Israel the day of the Oct. 7 attacks, so panicked by the ongoing violence that they boarded one of the last flights to Cyprus before midday. We felt like we were fleeing. We were basically just thankful that we left in time, Green told NPR. We want to feel safe and secure in our home. And were not willing to compromise on that. The phenomenon isnt limited to Jewish Israelis. Arab Israelis, who have traditionally faced social and economic challenges, are also expressing a heightened desire to emigrate. A recent report from the Ruppin Academic Center found this sentiment has doubled to 14% of all Arab Israelis since Oct. 7. However, for Arab Israelis lacking the dual citizenship many Jewish Israelis possess, leaving is a more complex endeavor. Silent departures Doctors, in particular, are among the professionals quietly departing. Amid ongoing security risks and uncertainty over Israels future, many are opting to relocate to Europe, where overburdened health care systems actively recruit skilled practitioners from abroad. I feel that something is happening to us that didnt happen in the past, something different from what went on in the period of the judicial reform [protests in 2023], professor Gil Fire, an internist and senior administrator at one of Israels largest hospitals, said in an interview with Haaretz. People are ashamed of [leaving the country], theyre disguising it. But this time the leaving is large scale and significant. I call that quiet leaving, because most of them say they intend to return. Cyprus: A safety valve For Israelis unable or unwilling to leave permanently, neighboring Cyprus has become a haven. The Mediterranean island has long been a favorite for Israeli real estate investors, and the major turmoil of the past year has only accelerated interest. Limassol, a coastal city popular with Israelis, has seen property prices surge as buyers seek second homes for security and stability. Rising property prices have sparked pushback from locals, with some Cypriots expressing frustration over being priced out of their own markets. We feel like foreigners in our city. Israelis and Russians have driven prices up, and we cant compete, a local resident told The Times of Israel. The cost of departure The broader implications of this migration wave are profound. Israel risks a significant brain drain and potential pressure on its tax base with some of its brightest and highest-earning citizens seeking opportunities abroad. The societal and political consequences could be far-reaching, as recent trends indicate secular and liberal Israelis disillusioned with the countrys direction are most likely to emigrate, potentially changing the voting bloc and extending the right wings current domination of Israeli politics. Many Israelis dismiss the departure of their compatriots and point to the influx of people whove immigrated to the country since the Oct. 7 attacks; tens of thousands of immigrantsprimarily from Russiacontinue to move to Israel, contributing to a complex migration dynamic. Others fear that once the reservists whove been called to serve in the ongoing conflicts return home, there could be another surge in Israelis relocating to more stable countries. Professor Karin Amit, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the Ruppin Academic Center, contextualized this migration surge to Ynet: In times of war or threat, theres a sense of unity We will, of course, need to examine this in the medium term and also see what will happen economically after the wara critical factor in migration decisions. For Israel, the challenge ahead is clear: how to retain its talent and restore a sense of security for those who call it home. How and when theres a cessation to the conflicts Israel faces will be pivotal in determining whether current migration trends represent a temporary spikeor a lasting shift in the countrys future. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Spains economic growth has come on leaps and bounds in the last decade. So much so that its set to become the fastest-growing major advanced economy in the world this year. The Spanish economy is on course to expand at three times the pace of the Eurozone as a wholeand even eclipse U.S. growth rates in the process. Tourism, immigration, foreign investment, and public spending have been credited with this economic surge. But as the co-founder of a successful scale-up, I have my own theories on not only how and why our economy hit its stride in recent years but also, more importantly, where we should go from here. A booming tech startup scene Access to talent in Spain is increasingly becoming unparalleled across Europe. Despite Spain investing below the EU average in research and development (Spains 1.44% of GDP vs an EU average of 2.27%), our universities are increasingly becoming centers for advanced research in fields like AI, robotics, cybersecurity, and renewable energy. For example, the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia is a global leader in high-performance computing. Many universities are also active participants in EU-funded research initiatives (such as Horizon Europe) and host incubators and accelerators that support entrepreneurial ventures. In addition to graduates, Spain is attracting a growing number of executives from across Europe and beyond to our tech scene. According to the 2023 Startup Heatmap Report, Barcelona has consolidated its position as the second most preferred EU hub for startup founders for the sixth consecutive year. The tax incentives for foreigners and executives from overseas are stacking up too. The 2022 Startup Law has provided a more favorable legal and financial framework for creating and scaling emerging companies in Spain. Its implementation has not only created a more accessible environment for local entrepreneurs, but it has also lured in more foreign investment to boot. Spains ability to attract international investors is growing every day. There has been a growing realization that it is possible to build high-growth companies in Spain that can compete globally and raise capital from international funds. Today, alongside Abacum, the likes of Cabify, Glovo, Job&Talent, Idealista, and TravelPerk are all Spanish tech success stories. According to a recent report from Dealroom, the combined value of Spanish startups surpassed 100 billion in 2023, a 14% increase from 2022. They also raised 2.2 billion across 850+ funding rounds last year across varying levels, from rounds below 15 million to those exceeding 100 million. Spain now ranks fourth in Europe for early-stage investment, and this growth underscores its potential as an emerging powerhouse for European tech innovation. Finally, Spain is a country with multiple business hubs, meaning it isnt as heavily centralized as other European nations. Though Barcelona can dominate the headlines, it isnt the only city thats growing in prominence as a tech hub. The likes of Madrid, Valencia, Malaga, Bilbao, and Seville all contribute to Spains multi-layered economic draw. Comparatively speaking, the likes of the U.K. and France have very high talent concentration in one city. Persistent challenges It would be naive to only wax lyrical about Spains economic prowess without confronting a few home truths. Yes, GDP growth may be world-leading, but our collective economic clout arguably doesnt match it. For instance, Spains current GDP per capita is a major problem. Right now, worryingly, not only does it sit below the EU average but it is also below Spains pre-COVID and pre-Great Financial Crisis levels. Disposable income per capita still really lags where it needs to be relative to overall GDP. This means that at an individual level, Spaniards are becoming poorer. The recent floods in Valencia and Southern Spain only compounded this issue due to the scale of the disaster. Productivity levels have also consistently been suboptimal for years and we currently have the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe. And though tourism has been an economic boon for Spain, some would argue that its creating more problems than its solving nowadays. It skews the housing market as expats and foreign buyers purchase property in metropolitan areas, making it much harder for locals to get a foot on the ladder. Whilst it may not necessarily be a silver bullet, doubling down on the growth potential of Spanish tech startups can go some way to improving many of Spains economic imbalances The Startup Law was a step in the right directionbut we must go further. Nationally, we would be in a much better position if we had more incentives for startups and international companies to set up shop here. More coherent stock option regulation, enhanced incentives to found a company, and lower entrepreneur taxes. Spain must also increase investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP. These are but some of the levers that the government could pull to make entrepreneurship a more attractive proposition. If Spain truly wants to be the economic jewel in the European crown, we need to be bolder and braver and actively encourage entrepreneurial endeavors in a drive for more innovation, a healthier supply of jobs, and more sustained growth. More must-read commentary published by Fortune: The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Mere minutes after the Associated Press declared the U.S. presidential election for Donald Trump, Singapores prime minister, Lawrence Wong, took to the social media platform X to offer his congratulations. I look forward to taking our partnership to even greater heights, Wongs official account posted. We hope to welcome you back to Singapore soon! The past few years have been good for Singapore, and things stand to get better. The island nation occupies a key position in the region, maintaining close ties to China and the U.S. even as the two powers decouple their economies amid rising tensions. Singapores recent growth as a financial center has often come at the expense of Hong Kong, its longtime peer and rival that has been pulled closer to Beijing in recent years. And the return of Trump to the White House could tip the scales even further toward Singapore, as the incoming president threatens to tighten the screws on China. Trumps election is a net positive for Singapore, net negative for Hong Kong, says Devadas Krishnadas, a former Singapore government official and CEO of the Future-Moves Group, a consulting firm. He predicts U.S. funds will shy away from Hong Kong and its close links to China, and instead continue their march to Singapore: Singapore will be seen as the only safe place in Asia for U.S. and European capital. Foreign capital from around the world is rushing into Singapores financial institutions, attracted by political stability, a lenient tax regime, and relative neutrality. Assets under management in Singapore rose to $4.1 trillion in 2023, ahead of the $3.9 trillion managed in Hong Kong. Singapores race with Hong Kong to be the preeminent financial center of Asia is led by its Big Three banks: DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), and OverseaChinese Banking Corp. (OCBC). Led by CEO Helen Wong, OCBCthe oldest of the Big Threeperhaps best characterizes the countrys banking sector and best reveals how Singapore navigates this new future. OCBC is maybe the most representative of the Singapore banking sector, says Michael Makdad, senior equity analyst at Morningstar. DBS is larger in Greater China, but less outside Singapore, whereas UOB has a larger presence outside Singapore but less in Greater China. OCBC has both. Chinese capital remains a major part of OCBCs business. Southeast Asia is Chinas largest trading partner, having replaced the EU in 2020. Bilateral trade between China and Southeast Asian countries reached $912 billion in 2023. "Singapore will be seen as the only safe place in Asia for U.S. and European Capital." DEVADAS KRISHNADAS, CEO, Future-Moves Group Singapore But Chinas investment in Southeast Asia is changing, says Tommy Xie, OCBCs chief China economist. Mining used to be the largest sector receiving investment from China around 10 years ago, Xie says. But now the share has really diminished. Manufacturing is one of the largest right now. And much of the money is in Singapore, which Xie says accounts for just over half of the Chinese money flowing into the region. Singapore has also become a safe haven for Chinese companies navigating an increasingly unfriendly world. The Southeast Asian country is a good launching point for Chinese companies trying to diversify their supply chains throughout the region in a China Plus One strategy. And some startups, like fast-fashion platform Shein, have quietly established headquarters in Singapore due, at least in part, to hopes that a non Chinese home base might be more palatable to Western investors. If Singapore is going to surpass Hong Kong as a financial hub, core to its strategy is wealth management. The government offers tax incentives to single-family offices that set up shop in the city. As of August, there are now 1,650 such offices receiving these tax breaks, up from 400 at the end of 2020. The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) headquarters in Singapore, on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit that missed estimates, as a surge in lending income was eclipsed by a drop in fee income. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images Wealth management generated $2.9 billion for OCBC in the first nine months of the year. The company has designated Asian wealth as one of its four business areas; just over a third of the banks income is derived from wealth management. Earlier this year, Wong pledged to invest an additional $192 million in the cities of Hong Kong and Macau, and its private bank unveiled a target to grow Hong Kong assets under management by 50% by the end of 2026. That could be challenged by the new Trump administration. Both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration imposed sanctions and financial controls on Chinafirst on individual companies, then on entire sectors. Expanded controls under a new Trump White House will force Singapores banks to stop working with certain customers and sectors. OCBC sees the pullback of U.S. banks from Hong Kong as an opportunity to win new customers. During a trip to the Chinese city earlier this year, Wong noted that more and more of the Hong Kong customers choose to talk to us, instead of talking to their Western counterparts. OCBCs official founding dates to 1932, when three local banks merged amid the Great Depression. The oldest of those predecessor banks dates to 1912, giving OCBC over a centurys worth of history in the Southeast Asian city. That same bank, Chinese Commercial Bank, opened a bank branch in Xiamenthen known as Amoyin Chinas Fujian province in 1925. That branch survived through the civil war and the Communist takeover, giving OCBC almost a century of uninterrupted operations in China, rare for a foreign bank. For decades, OCBC was the largest of Singapores banks, but its since been eclipsed by DBS Bank; today DBS holds around $587 billion in total assets, compared with $448 billion for OCBC. With $18.4 billion in revenue in 2023, OCBC ranks No. 12 on Fortunes inaugural Southeast Asia 500 list, which ranks the regions largest companies by revenue. (DBS, with $25.6 billion in 2023 revenue, sits at No. 10, while UOB is No. 11 with $19.7 billion.) OCBC also holds a majority stake in Great Eastern, the citys largest life insurance provider, and offers private banking through the Bank of Singapore, acquired from ING in 2009. In 2014, OCBC also snapped up Wing Hang Bank, a Hong Kong bank, giving it a foothold in both the Chinese city and the Greater Bay Area, a Chinese project to knit together the cities of the Pearl River Delta. Sixty-two percent of OCBCs revenue is generated in its home base of Singapore. Much of its non-Singaporean revenue comes from two major sources. Southeast Asian markets, primarily Malaysia and Indonesia, contribute 19% of the banks revenue; Greater China, a catch-all term that encapsulates mainland China, Hong Kong, and the island of Taiwan, generates an additional 13%. Helen Wong took over as OCBCs CEO in 2021, the first female chief executive in the banks history and the first woman to lead a Singaporean bank. She is No. 17 on the Fortune Most Powerful Women list for 2024: the second-highest-ranking executive from Asia, after Luxshare Precision Industry founder Grace Wang. Wong is also on the inaugural Fortune Most Powerful People list, at No. 71. Yet Wongs roots lie in Hong Kong. Born there in 1961, she graduated from St. Pauls College, one of the citys most prestigious schools, then from the University of Hong Kong. Wongs first banking job was with OCBC, as a management trainee, in 1981; she quickly became the banks first China desk manager. She eventually moved to HSBC, starting a decades-long career that culminated in becoming the banks chief executive for Greater China in 2015. She returned to OCBC five years later, joining as its deputy president and head of global wholesale banking in 2020. A year later, the board gave her the nod to become the next chief executive, specifically pointing to her China experience. Hong Kong remains Singapores closest competition. The Chinese city has struggled in recent years owing to the aftereffects of its tough COVID-zero policy, concerns over Beijings encroaching jurisdiction, and a sluggish Chinese economy. But Hong Kong officials now think theyve turned a corner and are offering new incentives to attract the worlds wealthy, with a goal of luring 200 more family offices by the end of 2025. UBS predicts Hong Kong could overtake Switzerland as the worlds largest hub for cross-border finance as early as 2026. Hong Kongs IPO pipeline, while far from the highs of just a few years ago, is also showing signs of a revival as Chinese companies like appliance manufacturer Midea launch bumper listings in the city. Singapores capital markets, by comparison, are a complete joke, says Devadas, the consultant. Singapore is not even in the same ballpark as Hong Kong, even after the latters stock market took a beating in the wake of the pandemic. In the first three quarters of the year, Singapore drew just one IPO; Hong Kong drew 45. Singapores government has now set up an official task force to tackle the problem. Hong Kongs recovering stock market helped the city overtake Singapore as Asias leading financial center on a ranking from the China Development Institute, a China-based think tank. Yet Singapores government is unconcerned about potential competition from Hong Kong, Devadas says. They dont see it as a zero-sum game. Whats good for Hong Kong is good for Singapore, Devadas says, noting that the things that support a healthy Hong Kong economylike a healthy Chinese economybenefit Singapore, too. But the reverse isnt necessarily true, he says. Singapore can tap into other regions much more easily than Hong Kong can, without the baggage of being tied to China. OCBC, for its part, isnt picking between the two. They are both resilient, international financial centers attractive to international investors and businesses, Wong writes to Fortune. Hong Kong is key to the banks China plans; Singapore to its ASEAN expansion. Still, geopolitics could make life trickier for Singapore, even if Washington doesnt pressure the Southeast Asia country directly. Trumps promise to impose broad tariffs on all imports entering the U.S. could upend the global trading system, hitting a trade-focused economy like Singapores. But Trumps election also brings opportunities. Greater pressure on China will encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Southeast Asiaand provide even more opportunities for Singapores banks, like OCBC, to benefit from those flows. With more Chinese manufacturing coming [to the region], it must benefit a bank like us, Wong told analysts during OCBCs earnings call on Nov. 8, when the bank unveiled record net profits for the year thus far. Everyone comes to Singapore first to start a company, she said. This article appears in the December 2024/January 2025: Asia issue of Fortune with the headline "Shifting fortunes." This story was originally featured on Fortune.com By Mike Scarcella (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google asked a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to throw out a jury verdict and a judge's order forcing it to revamp its app store Play. In its first detailed argument to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Google said the trial judge made legal errors that unfairly benefited the plaintiff, "Fortnite" maker Epic Games. Requiring a "dramatic redesign" of Google Play and its mobile-device operating system Android will hurt app developers and consumers, Google said in its court filing. Epic in a statement on Wednesday said Google was relying on flawed arguments that the jury rejected. This meritless appeal is Googles desperate attempt to avoid complying with the unanimous jury decision, Epic said. Google declined to comment beyond its court filing. Epics 2020 lawsuit accused Google of monopolizing how consumers access apps on Android devices and how they pay for transactions within apps. The Cary, North Carolina-based company persuaded a San Francisco jury last year that Google illegally stifled competition. Based on the jury's findings, U.S. District Judge James Donato ordered Google in October to let users download rival app stores within Play and make Play's app catalog available to those competitors, among other reforms. The order, which would bind Google for three years, is on hold pending review in the 9th Circuit. Google told the appeals court on Wednesday that a jury should never have heard Epic's lawsuit because it sought to enjoin Google's conduct, not collect damages. It said Donato unfairly allowed Epic to tell jurors that Google and Apple are not competitors for app distribution and in-app payments. The filing said Donato was wrong to issue an injunction affecting users and developers nationwide, not just Epic. Google said the order made Donato "a central planner responsible for product design." The 9th Circuit said it will hear oral arguments on Feb. 3, with a ruling expected later next year. (Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario, Rod Nickel, David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis) Harvey Weinstein's lawyers have accused Rikers Island and Bellevue Hospital staff of failing to provide him with proper medical care while he's in jail. According to a claim notice that attorney Imran H. Ansari filed with the New York City Comptroller's Office on Tuesday, which was reviewed by USA TODAY, Weinstein's medical problems include chronic myeloid leukemia (bone marrow cancer), diabetes, coronary artery disease, obstructive sleep apnea, thyroid issues, obesity, high blood pressure and chronic back pain. "While in the custody of Rikers Island Correctional Facility, (Weinstein's) medical conditions deteriorated significantly, unreasonably, and dangerously, leading to multiple instances where (Weinstein) feared for his life," Ansari's filing reads. "Respondents were on notice of (Weinstein's) medical condition yet intentionally, recklessly, and/or negligently, failed to render proper medical treatment to (Weinstein)." The notice names the City of New York, the New York City Department of Correction, Rikers Island Correctional Facility and Bellevue Hospital among liable parties. Ansari requests $5 million in damages. Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court in New York, July 19, 2024. In a statement shared with USA TODAY, Ansari said, "Harvey Weinstein has suffered considerably from the deplorable conditions on Rikers Island." "Rather than receiving the medical care he needs, he remains without critical medication, adequate treatment by competent physicians for complex and serious medical conditions, and is deprived of even the most elemental humane treatment," he added. "When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IVs, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions and susceptibility to illness. Ansari continued: "I questioned whether I was in a prison facility that is supposed to be managed in accordance with our constitution, or a gulag where the prisoners are treated like animals." Jeanette Merrill, assistant vice president of communications & external affairs for NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services, said in a Wednesday statement to USA TODAY that "NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services continues to work with the Department of Correction to ensure people in custody have access to high-quality health care on Rikers Island, including individuals who have complex medical and mental health needs. We do not comment on pending litigation or individual patients." USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Correction for comment. TMZ was first to report the news. Harvey Weinstein went "several months" without cancer medication, lawyer says In his filing, Ansari claimed correction officers and medical personnel failed to manage Weinstein's thyroid conditions as well as white blood cell counts, which led "to crashes and destabilization." He says Weinstein contracted pneumonia earlier this year due to "being housed in freezing cold environments" and also COVID-19 due to "failure to provide a medically safe and sterile environment." Weinstein also allegedly suffered from "life-threatening buildup of fluid around (Weinstein's) heart and lungs and required "emergency heart procedures." "Ongoing failures" also led to Weinstein going "several months without any cancer medication," Ansari said. He also claims Bellevue Hospital discharged Weinstein "prematurely, sending him back to the Rikers Island Correctional Facility before he had fully recovered, i.e., returning him to an environment that had previously led to multiple successive readmissions to Bellevue Hospital." The latest: Judge consolidates Harvey Weinstein criminal indictments In September, Weinstein was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency heart surgery. In July, he was transferred to Bellevue Hospital for "myriad" health conditions and tested positive for COVID-19 and contracted double pneumonia while he was hospitalized. Weinstein has been transported to New York City's Bellevue Hospital several times since he was sentenced to 23 years in prison following his conviction on rape charges in February 2020. New York Court of Appeals judges threw out the conviction in April. The Miramax studio co-founder will be retried in the case while at the same time facing a new sexual assault charge for allegedly assaulting an unnamed woman in 2006. He has not begun serving a separate 16-year sentence for his sex crimes conviction in California. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harvey Weinstein threatens to sue for medical neglect while in jail Aristotle Onassis' longtime personal secretary Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos tells PEOPLE about his affair with Maria Callas Central Press/Getty; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty; Len Trievnor/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; Maria Callas; Aristotle Onassis There werent many people closer to Aristotle Onassis than Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos, his personal secretary and loyal gatekeeper. It was Moutsatsos who arranged for many of the secret assignations between Onassis, whom she fondly calls Aristo, and the opera diva Maria Callas while he was married to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, then the most famous woman in the world. Complicated would be an understatement. He couldnt live without Maria, Moutsatsos, 75, tells PEOPLE. Over five decades later, the tempestuous love affair between the glamorous soprano and one of the worlds richest men is told in the new film Maria, starring Angelina Jolie. (Haluk Bilginer portrays Onassis in the film, while Jackie is never shown onscreen.) But few, if any, are alive who remember the details as vividly as Moutsatsos, whose memoir The Onassis Women gives a close look at the famous love triangle. Maria was a piece of his soul, of his body, of his brain, recalls Moutsatsos. Thats why they never believed that they could be separate. Related: Meet JFK's Alleged Mistresses and How Some Met Mysterious Ends Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas Even after Onassis married Jackie on Oct. 20, 1969. He was proud of that, recalls Moutsatsos, who attended the wedding on his private island of Skorpios. He had succeeded in getting married and having next to him the First Lady of the United States. After all, she adds, he was a businessman. For the Greek shipping magnate, the beautiful widow of the 35th president was the ultimate status symbol. For Jackie, Onassis represented safety and security for her and her children, John and Caroline. Onassis had his own private security, his own airline, his own island and unlimited financial resources. The marriage did not impede his affair with Callas, whom Onassis first met in 1957, when they were both still married, she to Giovanni Meneghini and the Greek tycoon to his first wife, Athina Livanos. Once their affair began, "They never stopped seeing each other. Never," says Moutsatsos. Related: JFK and Jackie Kennedy's Relationship Timeline Bettmann Archive Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis According to Moutsatsos, both women were very aware and wary of the other. Of Jackie, she says, Maria said many things. Of course she was mad and she was also very proud. I remember once she said, I dont want to be compared with this woman. As for Jackie, she often confided in Aris sister, Artemis Garofallidou, to whom Moutsatsos was also close. Jackie was never screaming, never fighting, she recalls. Although she knew many things from Aristos behavior but she was pretending that nothing happened. She was very smart. Everyone in the house knew he was visiting Maria secretly at night, she adds. And Artemis told her not to fight him. Just ignore it. Not that it would have changed him. But Jackie was not happy, she says. She had melancholy. She never spoke [directly] about Maria Callas. What she spoke of was Onassis's behavior. If I could characterize her, I would say that she was behaving like a cat. Very smart. Very clever. She would wait for the right moment to speak with him about his behavior. Related: How Jackie Kennedy Discovered She Shared a Therapist with JFKs Rumored Mistress Marilyn Monroe (Exclusive) Bettmann Archive Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy in 1968 But even Jackie wasnt a match for the woman known as La Divina. Says Moutsatsos: They [Callas and Onassis] were born for each other." Onassis died March 15, 1975, at age 69 from respiratory failure due to complications from myasthenia gravis. Afterward, says Moutsatsos, Callas lost her appetite to live. She didnt want to eat. She didnt want to go out. She didnt want to speak with friends. By then, she had withdrawn from public life. She died Sept. 3, 1977 at age 53 from a heart attack. 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. Maria director Pablo Larrain (who also made the 2016 film Jackie starring Natalie Portman) has said "very extensive research went into the new film. Still, he told Deadline, I dont think this is a proper biopic. That is an invention from culture. I dont think a movie can actually capture anyone in reality, unless that person is in front of you talking to you. Im the only one who remembers, says Moutsatsos, whose memoir has been optioned for a TV series written and produced by Heidi Lauren Duke. In my book is the real truth. Maria is in select theaters now, then streaming on Netflix Dec. 11. As a ceasefire the U.S. helped broker between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect Wednesday, President Biden said his administration would quickly launch "another push" with international partners to secure a deal to end the even deadlier war in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Biden, who has less than two months left in office, said in a social media post Wednesday morning that his administration would work in the coming days with Israel and other partners in the region to "achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the [Israeli] hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power." The ceasefire the U.S. and France helped secure to stop the fighting between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel appeared to be largely holding Wednesday hours after it took effect. There was, however, an unverified claim from the head of Lebanon's national journalists syndicate that Israeli forces in or near the southern city of Khiam had opened fire "at a group of journalists and correspondents" there, allegedly leaving two one with The Associated Press and one with the Russian agency Sputnik with unspecified injuries. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency cited the head of the syndicate, Joseph Al-Qasifi, as calling it "the first violation of the ceasefire." A spokesperson for The Associated Press told CBS News the agency was "grateful our freelancer is OK," suggesting any injuries sustained were minor, but adding: "Journalists must be able to safely operate in Lebanon as they cover this conflict." The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately reply to CBS News' request for comment on the incident, but the IDF said in a brief statement that troops had questioned four "suspects [who] approached IDF soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon" Wednesday. There were no further details, and it was unclear whether that incident was related to the alleged shooting in Khiam. The war in Lebanon simmered for months after Hezbollah started launching rockets at northern Israel in support of its ideological allies Hamas, the day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel, sparking the war in Gaza. That attack saw Hamas and allied militants kill some 1,200 people in Israel and take 250 others hostage. A girl flashes the The near-constant volley of rockets and missiles across the Israel-Lebanon border escalated dramatically in September, and Lebanese officials said about 3,800 people had been killed by the time the truce took effect Wednesday morning. Israeli authorities say Hezbollah's rocket strikes have killed 45 civilians over the past year, and at least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed amid the operations in southern Lebanon. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, told reporters Wednesday that it is Israel that "is going to choose" how it finishes the Israel-Hezbollah war. "Never forget that Hezbollah started this attack on Israel. Israel didn't attack them, they attacked Israel, on October the 8th, the day after the massacre outside of Gaza," Huckabee said. "The old reality is that if you start a war with me, you may get to start it, but I choose how we finish it. Israel is going to choose how they finish it. Not Iran, not the U.N., not France, not America. Israel will decide how this has to end." But the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah did not address the war in Gaza, which sits at the heart of the tension in the Middle East. Health officials in the decimated, Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory say Israel's military assault in Gaza has killed more than 44,280 people and left some 104,000 others wounded. Most of the enclave's 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes, many of them forced to flee multiple times over the last year. "Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza. They too deserve an end of the fighting and displacement," Mr. Biden said Tuesday at the White House. "The people of Gaza have been through hell." Hamas indicated its openness to renewed negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire on Wednesday, with a senior official from the group telling the French news agency AFP that it had "informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners." The Reuters news agency quoted Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri as saying the group recognized Lebanon's right to take part in the ceasefire with Israel, to protect its population, and voicing hope that an agreement to end the Gaza war might also be possible after many months of largely fruitless talks. Mr. Biden said the U.S. would work with "Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others" to broker a so-far elusive deal between Israel and Hamas, and the Egyptian government announced Wednesday that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had already met with the visiting Qatari prime minister to review "joint efforts aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza, joint efforts to secure the release of the hostages and the unconditional access of humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip." Earlier Wednesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan also visited Cairo and met with el-Sisi, discussing both the ceasefire in Lebanon and the latest developments in Gaza, according to Egyptian officials. But while the negotiators renew their efforts on Gaza, they'll likely be keeping a very close, even wary eye on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, as there's far more international will behind the ceasefire with Hezbollah than there is trust between the longtime foes. Israel and Hezbollah were exchanging heavy fire right up until the moments before the ceasefire came into effect Wednesday. It will now be a tense wait to see if the peace holds during the 60-day period when Israeli forces, who crossed the border in early October, slowly pull out of Hezbollah's previous stronghold in southern Lebanon. They are to be replaced by Lebanese soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers during a process monitored by the U.S. and France. Over the coming two months, Israel must withdraw all its troops from Lebanon and Hezbollah must pull its fighters and weapons back about 20 miles north of the border, to the other side of the Litani River. But the distrust on both sides of the border the so-called Blue Line established after the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 runs deep. Both Mr. Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed Tuesday that, in the Israeli leader's words: "If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack." "For every violation," Netanyahu threatened, "we will attack with might." Speaking Wednesday on "CBS Mornings" U.S. National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration helped broker the truce based on previous successes, and failures. "We have learned from the past," he said, "and we have designed this deal to be long-standing and to stay in effect - to continue to sustain the peace and also to ensure the security of the State of Israel." The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah drove hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians from their homes in the south, and about 60,000 Israelis from their communities near the border in the north. "It's not safe to go home," Israeli Eliyahu Maman said as the truce silenced the rocket-fire, "because Hezbollah can still harm us." On the other side of the border, Beirut resident Rima Abdkhaluk said she didn't "believe in this ceasefire Israel cannot be trusted." Vehicles on the highway between Sidon and Tyre, Lebanon, are seen on Nov. 27, 2024, as displaced people make their way back to their homes in the south of Lebanon after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. / Credit: MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty But neither the lack of trust nor warnings from Israeli and Lebanese officials for civilians not to return to areas evacuated amid Israel's offensive since October were enough to deter thousands of Lebanese civilians from packing their belongings back into cars and cramming onto highways to try to return to their homes in the south on Wednesday. Some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza will be hoping that they, too, might get the chance to start rebuilding their shattered lives in the coming weeks. The families of about 100 Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip will be hoping the renewed push for a ceasefire with Hamas can also bring their loved ones back home. Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Former Navy secretary says Trump's Defense Secretary pick will make the military "weaker" Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides San Francisco prosecutors filed murder charges against a man accused of killing two women while driving under the influence. Getty Images A Santa Rosa man faces murder charges in connection with a crash that killed two people and injured three others in San Franciscos Ingleside neighborhood on Monday. Jayden Elliot Patrick, 21, was charged with multiple felonies including two counts of murder, one count of reckless driving and three counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, the San Francisco District Attorneys Office said Wednesday. The two-vehicle crash occurred at about 1:20 a.m. Monday at Grafton and Jules avenues, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Patrick was allegedly driving a vehicle with three passengers when he collided with a vehicle carrying two women. Both women were pronounced dead on scene, the San Francisco Police Department said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They were identified as Tamya Watson, 42, a San Francisco resident, and Nebiet F. Barham, 35, of unknown residency, according to the countys Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The three passengers in the vehicle Patrick was allegedly driving were hospitalized, one with life-threatening injuries and two with non-life-threatening injuries, the SFPD said. Their condition was not immediately known Wednesday. Patrick was arrested and booked into jail at 7:24 a.m. Monday and was being held without bail, according to jail records. He will remain in custody until his arraignment Dec. 5, the DAs office said. My office will do everything in our power to fight for justice in the courtroom for all victims here, DA Brooke Jenkins said in a statement announcing the charges Wednesday. This case is a tragic reminder that drinking, driving and speeding are a lethal combination with devastating impacts. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jean Rather, the wife of former longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather, died Tuesday at the age of 89, her family announced. Rather died in Austin, Texas, surrounded by family and friends following a battle with cancer, her family said in a statement. "Jean was a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm," her family said. "She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile." Dan and Jean Rather attend the Born Jean Goebel in Smithville, Texas, a small town southeast of Austin, Jean was one of three sisters. She went to work immediately after graduating high school. Jean and Dan met at a Houston radio station and were married 67 years. Her family described her as an accomplished artist with paintings that were shown in galleries and private collections across the U.S. She served for eight years as vice chair of the New York City Art Commission. She also served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the University of Texas Press and the Harry Ransom Center. The 93-year-old Dan Rather spent 44 years with CBS News, as a bureau chief, war correspondent, foreign correspondent and White House correspondent. He succeeded Walter Cronkite as the anchor of "CBS Evening News" in 1981 and spent 24 years in that chair before signing off in 2005. In 1963, he reported on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy from Dallas. In an interview last year reflecting on his career, he recounted a conversation he had with Jean at the time. "I didn't take time to grieve," Rather said. "Because I said to myself, it's my professional responsibility. I remember calling my wife Jean, who was in Houston at the time of the assassination, and she had cautioned me: 'Dan, sooner or later, you're going to have make room for your own emotions.'" Along with her husband, Jean is survived by her son and daughter, Danjack and Robin, and her grandsons Martin and Andy, along with several members of her extended family. Her family described her as a "tremendous mother and grandmother, making every game, cheering on every win, putting Band-Aids on every skinned knee, and serving as a confidante and friend to all her family members." Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides New White House rule would make weight loss drugs available for people on Medicare and Medicaid Achieving perfectly roasted vegetables is easier than you think with tips from this culinary legend. Child: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images. Illustration: Getty Images. EatingWell design. With her culinary career accolades including master of French cuisine, first female TV cooking show host, author of more than 12 cookbooks and firm believer that butter makes everything better (reason alone to trust her advice), theres no doubt that the following tips from Julia Child for roasting vegetables are nothing less than life-changing. Ahead, youll discover everything from how to choose the right vegetables for roasting and how to properly prep them to why a scorching-hot oven is essential. And theres even a common mistake to avoid that you wont want to miss. Tip 1: Choose the Right Vegetables If theres one tip that can be found in most, if not all, of Julias cookbooks, its how to choose the right vegetables. And when it comes to those intended for roasting, Julia emphasizes selecting firm, crisp vegetables so that they better retain their flavor, shape and texture while cooking at high temperatures. In other words, fresh, ripe vegetables are what you should always be looking (and smelling) for. But not too ripe or youll risk mushy results. Tip 2: Make Sure the Oven Is Hot Enough Preheat your oven to between 400F and 450F when roasting vegetables. This higher heat promotes browning while allowing vegetables to cook more quickly and retain more of their moisture. And its the reason youll notice this temperature range called for in many of Julias vegetable recipes. Recipes that call for a lower temperature will typically come with longer cooking times and often the addition of more ingredients. They are also considered baking, as opposed to roasting, which requires intense, dry heat to produce the right results. Related: The 7 Best-Tested Pans for Roasting Vegetables Tip 3: Trim and Cut the Vegetables into Smaller Pieces In The Way To Cook and Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia specifies the importance of trimming vegetableslike broccoli stalks and the lower part of asparagus spearsnoting that this step isnt just for looks but also to remove the tough portions so that the entire vegetable is more pleasant to eat. For large vegetables, like whole broccoli heads, Julia offers this tip in Mastering: Fresh broccoli will cook much more rapidly and stay greener if you divide the flowerets about 3 inches long [...]. Because the whole idea behind roasting vegetables (see Tip 2) is quick caramelization, its a clue that shouldnt be overlooked. Tip 4: Pre-Salt (Some) Vegetables Not all vegetables will require salting before roasting but for some, according to Julia, its a mustlike eggplant and sometimes even some soft squashes (which are both technically fruits). In Julias Kitchen Wisdom, the French-trained chef says eggplant rounds should be salted lightly on both sides and left to sweat on paper towels for 20 to 30 minutes before roasting. This step helps to prevent sogginess and bitterness and results in perfectly roasted veggies. Tip 5: Coat the Vegetables Another key strategy for roasting vegetables is using some sort of fat to coat the veggies. This technique promotes even browning and also helps any seasonings to stick. It can be found throughout Julias recipesincluding Tomates Grillees au Four from Mastering, where she instructs home cooks to brush the tomatoes with olive oil before placing them in the roasting pan. And while you generally want to avoid introducing too much moisture when roasting vegetables, sometimes Julia would even baste hers with the roasting juices during the cooking processa technique that works well with heartier vegetables like winter squashes. Related: Ina Garten's 6 Tips for Making Soup Are Life-Changing Tip 6: Give the Vegetables Some Room In Julias Tomates a La Provencale recipe (and her previously mentioned tomato recipe) she notes to avoid crowding the tomatoes in the pan. And its a tip that you wont want to skip, since vegetables that arent spaced out enough will steam instead of roastingwhich means they wont brown well and will have a mushy texture. Why Julia Childs Tips for Roasted Vegetables Are a Must If youre not familiar with roasting vegetables or just havent had much luck with past attempts, following these simple tips by one of the most-loved and well-known masters of French food is sure to give you perfect results, not to mention confidenceafter all, one of Julias most important career goals was to make sophisticated cooking more accessible to the everyday home cook. Related: Julia Childs Timeless Vinaigrette Helped Me Fall in Love with Salad Turkey time is here but you may have to wait until Friday to buy any Tennessee whiskey. If you didn't get to purchase any wine, beer or liquor before Thursday, you'll be out luck even if some grocery stores are open. Tennessee is among eight states that have a full alcohol ban on Thanksgiving. Fourteen other states have limits as to what can be sold such as a only beer or only beer and wine can be sold. Here are some of the rules regarding the sale of alcohol on holidays in Tennessee. Can you buy alcohol on Thanksgiving in Tennessee? The short answer is no. In Tennessee, it is not allowed to buy or sell alcohol of any kind on Thanksgiving Day. This includes beer, wine and liquor. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased in Tennessee from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and after 11 a.m. on Sundays. What holidays can you not buy alcohol on in Tennessee? There are three holidays where alcohol of any kind is not allowed to be sold in Tennessee, As you've probably guessed, Thanksgiving is one of those holidays. The other two days are Easter and Christmas Day. The other 362, or 363, days of the year, you are able to buy alcohol. This law, which used to be more restrictive, changed in 2018. Before that, Tennesseans could not buy alcohol on New Year's Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. What states limit alcohol sales on holidays? The sale of alcohol is prohibited or limited in the following states on Thanksgiving Day: Alabama allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. Connecticut does not allow alcohol of any kind. Delaware does not allow alcohol of any kind. Idaho, depends on the city or county. Kansas does not allow alcohol of any kind. Kentucky, depends on the county. Louisiana, depends on the parish. Massachusetts does not allow alcohol of any kind. Minnesota does not allow alcohol of any kind. Montana allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. New Hampshire allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. North Carolina allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. North Dakota does not allow alcohol of any kind. Ohio allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. Oklahoma allows beer and wine on Thanksgiving, but no liquor. Pennsylvania state owned liquor stores are closed. Rhode Island does not allow alcohol of any kind. Tennessee does not allow alcohol of any kind. Texas prohibits retail liquor sales. Utah does not allow alcohol of any kind. Virginia closes liquor stores on Thanksgiving. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Are liquor stores open on Thanksgiving? Not in Tennessee. Here's why By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) -Lithuania has found no sign that the crash on Monday of a DHL cargo plane was caused by sabotage, and believes technical issues were a more likely explanation, officials said on Wednesday. The aircraft crashed as it came in to land at Vilnius airport on Monday, killing one person on board. Germany's foreign minister later said the incident might have been an accident or a hybrid attack during "volatile times". "With all we have and all we know, there are no signs that it could have been an act of sabotage," Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters on Wednesday. A visual analysis of the crash showed there was no external impact on the plane as it landed, while surviving crew members said there had been no chaos or concern inside the aircraft preceding the crash, and no smoke or smell, the minister said. Investigators were leaning towards a technical cause for the incident, said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the country's National Crisis Management Center. "If we get additional data we might change our direction, but we don't have it at the moment," Vitkauskas told reporters. Vilnius airport systems that are used to guide incoming aircraft were found to be functioning as usual when tested on Tuesday, he said. The aircraft did not use GPS for landing, and any interference with such signals was unlikely to have had an impact, the officials said. (Reporting Andrius Sytas, writing by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; editing by Stine Jacobsen, Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum) By Jody Godoy (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach toward business, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air. The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to other competitive platforms, sources confirmed earlier this month. The FTC is also looking at practices related to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence products, the source said on Wednesday. Microsoft declined to comment on Wednesday. Competitors have criticized Microsoft's practices they say keep customers locked into its cloud offering, Azure. The FTC fielded such complaints last year as it examined the cloud computing market. NetChoice, a lobbying group that represents online companies including Amazon and Google, which compete with Microsoft in cloud computing, criticized Microsoft's licensing policies, and its integration of AI tools into its Office and Outlook. "Given that Microsoft is the world's largest software company, dominating in productivity and operating systems software, the scale and consequences of its licensing decisions are extraordinary," the group said. Google in September complained to the European Commission about Microsoft's practices, saying it made customers pay a 400% mark-up to keep running Windows Server on rival cloud computing operators, and gave them later and more limited security updates. The FTC has demanded a broad range of detailed information from Microsoft, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday. The agency had already claimed jurisdiction over probes into Microsoft and OpenAI regarding competition in artificial intelligence, and started looking into Microsoft's $650 million deal with AI startup Inflection AI. Microsoft has been somewhat of an exception to U.S. antitrust regulators' recent campaign against allegedly anticompetitive practices at Big Tech companies. Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon.com Inc. have all been accused by the U.S. of unlawfully maintaining monopolies. Alphabet's Google is facing two lawsuits, including one where a judge found it unlawfully thwarted competition among online search engines. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified at Google's trial, saying the search giant was using exclusive deals with publishers to lock up content used to train artificial intelligence. It is unclear whether Trump will ease up on Big Tech, whose first administration launched several Big Tech probes. JD Vance, the incoming vice president, has expressed concern about the power the companies wield over public discourse. "The Trump administration was an aggressive enforcer of the antitrust laws," said Andre Barlow, a lawyer with Doyle Barlow & Mazard, noting it filed suits against Google and Facebook. "When administrations change, the agencies do not necessarily drop ongoing investigations," he added, noting that "changes in administration can lead to evolving enforcement priorities and shifts in how aggressively certain types of conduct are scrutinized." Still, Microsoft has benefited from Trump policies in the past. In 2019, the Pentagon awarded it a $10 billion cloud computing contract that Amazon had widely been expected to win. Amazon later alleged that Trump exerted improper pressure on military officials to steer the contract away from its Amazon Web Services unit. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; additional reporting by Chris Sanders; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang, Alistair Bell and Sonali Paul) By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he hoped a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc would be finalized by the end of this year, even as it faced opposition, mainly from France. "We will get it done," Lula told an event hosted by industry group CNI in Brasilia, shrugging off French opposition. The deal was being negotiated directly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he said. "Von der Leyen has the mandate to make this agreement, and I intend to sign it this year," Lula said. Mercosur joins Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia in a market that is a sought-after destination for EU manufacturing exporters, though European farmers, especially in France, fear the competition it will bring. A deal between the EU and Mercosur has been in the works for some 25 years. The parties had announced an agreement in 2019, but it was never formally ratified due to EU demands for commitments on Amazonian deforestation and climate change. European negotiators arrived in Brazil on Tuesday for a new round of talks ahead of a Mercosur summit in Uruguay's capital Montevideo next week. A source familiar with the matter said there was "good will" from both parties to clinch an agreement. Despite the opposition from France and Poland, other EU countries such as Germany and Spain favor the deal. Argentina, whose President Javier Milei has said in the past that the South American common market served no purpose, on Wednesday also voiced support for the deal. "We support trade agreements, whether the one you refer to or any other that can benefit Argentines," presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni told a press conference when asked about the Mercosur-EU deal. Both Milei and Lula met with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month in South America. Macron reiterated France's opposition to a deal due to concerns over agricultural imports that do not meet European standards and said Milei had expressed dissatisfaction to him with the current terms of the trade accord. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Angus MacSwan) By Maya Gebeily and Aziz Taher BEIRUT (Reuters) -A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region wracked by two wars for over a year. Lebanon's army, which is tasked with helping to ensure the ceasefire holds, said it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country. The military asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has waged war against Iran-backed Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around 6 km (4 miles) into Lebanon, withdraws. While the ceasefire largely held on Wednesday morning, Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer. The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, is a major achievement for the U.S. in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration. The deal is likely to enable Israel to focus more closely on the conflict in shattered Gaza, where it has vowed to destroy its long-time enemy the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israeli communities. "Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Info radio. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the group "appreciates" Lebanon's right to reach an agreement which protects its people, and hopes for a deal to end the Gaza war. Egypt, which along with the United States and Qatar has tried unsuccessfully to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza, welcomed the Lebanon truce. Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture streamed through the southern port city of Tyre, which was heavily bombed in the final days before the ceasefire, heading south. Fighting had escalated over the past two months, forcing hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes. Israel said its military aim had been to ensure the safe return of about 60,000 Israelis who fled from their communities along the northern border when Hezbollah started firing rockets at them in support of Hamas in Gaza. In Lebanon, some cars flew national flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers as people started to return to homes they had fled. Many of the villages the people were likely returning to have been destroyed. But displaced families renting out alternative housing hoped to avoid paying another month of rent, some of them told Reuters. Hussam Arrout, a father of four who said he was displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs but originally from the southern border village of Mays al-Jabal, said he was itching to return to his ancestral home. "The Israelis haven't withdrawn in full, they're still on the edge. So we decided to wait until the army announces that we can go in. Then we'll turn the cars on immediately and go to the village," he said. 'PERMANENT CESSATION' Announcing the ceasefire, Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel's security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). "This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again." Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon's army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there after a costly war, Biden said. He said his administration was also pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it was possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalize relations. Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese states authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger. Israel has dealt a series of heavy blows to Hezbollah, most notably the assassination of its veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli military said on Wednesday Israeli forces fired at several vehicles with suspects to prevent them from reaching a no-go zone in Lebanese territory and the suspects moved away. Defense Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the military to "act firmly and without compromise" should it happen again. Iran, which backs Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas as well as the Houthi rebels that have attacked Israel from Yemen, said it welcomed the ceasefire. Netanyahu said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas. Hezbollah was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, Netanyahu added. "We have pushed them decades back. We eliminated Nasrallah, the axis of the axis. We have taken out the organization's top leadership, we have destroyed most of their rockets and missiles," said Netanyahu. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, Maya Gebeily, Steven Scheer and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Emilie Madi, Laila Bassam, Emma Farge, John Irish, Emily Rose, Adam Makary, Humeyra Pamuk, Cecile Mantovani and Enas Alashray and Clauda Tanios; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ros Russell) Russia has carried out its highest-level diplomatic engagement with the Afghan Taliban yet, as it seeks to expand its sphere of influence in Asia beyond its closest ally China. Earlier this week Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russias powerful Security Council, reached Kabul carrying the message that Vladimir Putin wants to support the de facto administration or, in Russias parlance, achieve a durable peace in Afghanistan. The former Russian defence minister, who oversaw the invasion of Ukraine until May this year, met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistans deputy prime minister for economic affairs, who said the Taliban administration needed Moscows help to ease the burden of Western sanctions. Shoigu also met with other senior Taliban officials, including its defence and interior ministers. Baradar, who signed the Doha agreement marking the exit of US troops from Afghanistan, was a key figure during the 1980s in the SovietAfghan War in Kandahar and co-founder of the Taliban along with Mullah Omar. Shoigus visit comes at a time when the Kremlin is considering removing the Taliban from Russias list of terrorist organisations, a move backed by Mr Putin in July when he called the Taliban an ally in the fight against terrorism. The Russian leader is increasingly looking to Asia as he seeks more allies who, unlike the US and European nations, will not censure him of his invasion of Ukraine, experts say. And the Taliban craves international recognition of the legitimacy of its government in Afghanistan as well as partners who wont criticise its gender apartheid. Acting Minister of Interior Affairs-IEA, H.E. Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, met with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and his accompanying delegation.1/9 pic.twitter.com/QYxLPa6rGp Ministry of Interior Affairs- Afghanistan (@moiafghanistan) November 25, 2024 Russia has historical ties with Afghanistan but [they are] not particularly pleasant all along, says Oz Hassan, a national security expert from the University of Warwick. Russia knows Afghanistans strategic importance, where it sits in Asia, balancing out Europes interests, US interests, Gulf interests, Chinas interests, Indias interests it just exists bang in the middle. So in other words, Mr Putins not coming at it directly, its part of a much wider chess game. The Russian president is a strategic actor, looking at global politics and he will try to see how many countries are on his pile rather than the US pile. Sending a close aide like Mr Shoigu to meet the Taliban sends a message in itself, says Aleksei Zakharov, an independent researcher in Moscow. By sending Shoigu, the Kremlin wants to show to the new Taliban regime that Russia is seriously looking to develop closer relationships with them, he said. Developing new alliances in Asia has value to Russia beyond its symbolic importance, says Dr Hassan. The [diplomatic] relationship with the Taliban could potentially lead to a longer term relationship economically where Russia can tap into millions of dollars worth of economic projects which the US and Europe will miss out on, he explains. He suggests Russia could follow a similar model to its relationship with North Korea a quid pro quo arrangement which includes the use of the Talibans battle-hardened fighters in Putins war on Ukraine. These forces in Afghanistan can be recruited directly as mercenaries in the conflict, because you have a whole set of folks who need money and possess the skill set of having directly fought Nato for the longest period of time, Hassan says. Zakharov, a former research fellow at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, says the first step in building such a relationship would be for Russia to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organisations. This move by Mr Shoigu, verbally assuring the Taliban ranks in Kabul, shows that Russia is really moving ahead with that, Zakharov says. Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill to prohibit transgender Ohioans from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity, according to Republican lawmakers. The new law will require K-12 and college students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex assigned at birth. It also bans multi-occupancy gender neutral restrooms and prevents transgender students from sharing overnight accommodations with peers of the same gender. The measure was folded into Senate Bill 104, which will update a state college credit program. Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, thanked DeWine Wednesday morning for approving the legislation. One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, told the statehouse bureau that the governor signed it. DeWine has not yet released a statement about the bill something he commonly does and his spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Common sense is on a winning streak in America today," Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer said in a statement Wednesday morning. "No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio's kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine's decision to sign this bill." The restrictions don't apply to school employees, emergency situations or people assisting young children or someone with a disability. Schools could still offer single-use and family facilities. Ohio joins at least a dozen other states with laws that restrict bathroom access for transgender people. About 3.3% of high school students identify as transgender and 2.2% are questioning, according to a survey conducted last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DeWine's decision came nearly a year after he vetoed legislation that bans gender-affirming care for minors and blocks transgender girls and women from playing in female sports. The governor faced blowback from President-elect Donald Trump and House and Senate Republicans, who voted to override his veto. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued the state on behalf of two transgender girls and their families, but a Franklin County judge ruled in August that the law could take effect. The lawsuit is ongoing. This story will be updated. Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs transgender bathroom ban An Oregon high school principal was slapped with felony charges Tuesday for turning a blind eye to years of sexual abuse against teenage girls by pedophile teachers who groomed their students, authorities said. St. Helens High School principal Katy Wagner was charged with two counts of felony criminal mistreatment after two teachers under her supervision were arrested for a nearly 10-year sex crime spree, NBC 16 reported. The school had received complaints against choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, and recently retired teacher Mark Collins, 64, as early as 2019, but Wagner failed to inform law enforcement and even allowed Stearns to stay in the classroom after police launched their investigation. St. Helens High School principal Katy Wagner has been charged with criminal mistreatment after two teachers were arrested for sexual abuse. LinkedIn Students and parents protest outside St. Helens High School. They called for the resignation of school and district officials. AP The teachers November 12 arrests caused an uproar among parents and students, who staged protests near campus and blasted officials at a school board meeting, claiming they had brushed off years of red flags against the pedophile teachers who groomed their students. The drama began in September, when former student Doug Weaver, 36, posted TikTok videos accusing school officials of protecting a collection of male teachers who preyed on kids when he attended St. Helens High in the 00s. Current students responded to the videos, claiming the pervy behavior was still going on, sharing their own stories of stalking, lewd comments, and inappropriate touching by Stearns and Collins. An image from one of former student Doug Weavers TikTok videos in which he describes a history of abuse at the school. Doug Weaver said the school had been protecting predatory teachers even when he was a student there in the 00s. Choir teacher Eric Stearns has been charged with sexual abuse against six underage victims. WGW8 Stearns faces charges of sexual abuse against six underage girls between 2015 and 2024, while Collins has been accused of abusing three students between 2017 and 2023. When their victims spoke up, they were ignored or even punished by Wagner and other officials, parents and students claimed at a school board meeting held after the arrests. Why havent you done anything? one student said, naming school staff beyond the two arrested teachers. [We] dont want to be around pedophiles! Another student said that when she was 14 years old, Stearns would hound her in the classroom and during lunch break, hugging her, kissing her on the head, and saying he loved her. She said when her mother complained, Wagner refused to intervene, forcing her to hire an attorney to explore legal protections for her daughter. A demonstrator protests alleged negligence by school administrators. AP St. Helens High School had received complaints against the arrested teachers as early as 2019. KATU Im surprised admin has the courage to show their face, the student said, adding to the board members: You are all to blame. You are all guilty. On Tuesday, Columbia County indicted Wagner for failing to report child abuse and not providing physical care to students, according to a court document viewed by NBC 16. On top of the felonies, Wagner faces four misdemeanor charges: two counts of first-degree official misconduct and two counts of second-degree official misconduct. The state Department of Human Services is also investigating Wagner as well as St. Helens School District superintendent Scot Stockwell for failing to report the complaints to law enforcement, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Ed Hardys Tattoo City in San Francisco on Nov. 4. The legendary tattoo shop will be closing at the end of the year. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Ed Hardys Tattoo City on 700 Lombard St. in San Francisco will close by the end of the year. The original Tattoo City opened at 2906 Mission St. in September 1977. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Kate Anderson of San Diego, surrounded by photos at Tattoo City in San Francisco, gets a tattoo on Nov. 4. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Kate Anderson of San Diego readies to get a tattoo at Ed Hardys Tattoo City in San Francisco on Nov. 4. Hundreds from around the world have made the pilgrimage to 700 Lombard St. to pay homage before the shop closes. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Dylan Wakeland gets a tattoo on his leg by artist Douglas Hardy at Ed Hardys Tattoo City in San Francisco on Nov. 4. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Sunlight illuminates Tattoo City as Aleph Kali raises the blinds on the shops large windows facing Lombard and Mason streets. Historical tattoo designs plaster the walls and surround a large Rock of Ages painting. Dozens of tattoo history and reference books sit tattered from excessive use, but still ready to be used. Each of the three tattooists stations displays even more artwork, some to be inked onto clients that same day. In tattooing circles, this shop has become almost as synonymous with San Francisco as the Golden Gate Bridge or the crooked curves of Lombard Street just blocks away. Its the Mecca of tattooing, says Kali, the shops front manager for more than 25 years. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Thats why an Instagram post this past August announcing its planned closure at years end rocked tattooists and enthusiasts alike. (Dec. 28 is the last day to get tattooed; Dec. 29 is the last day to see the shop.) Since then, hundreds from across the globe have made the pilgrimage to 700 Lombard St. to pay homage before the shops lease expires. Coupled with the cognitive decline of its founder and proprietor San Francisco Arts Institute alumnus Don Ed Hardy, whose influence changed tattooing forever it is truly the end of an era. For Freddy Corbin, tattooist and owner of Oakland tattoo parlors Temple Tattoo and Tattoo 13, Tattoo Citys shutter is symbolic of the state of the tattoo industry today. Dylan Wakeland gets a tattoo on his leg at Ed Hardys Tattoo City in San Francisco on Nov. 4. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle I think that were in a flux of tattooing, a growing pain where theres as many tattooers as there are clients, he says. I dont have any issues with that. It just is what it is. So when I say symbolic, I mean the whole fing industry is changing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Essex and author of the upcoming book Tattoos: The Untold History of a Modern Art, Dr. Matt Lodder agrees. The closure of Tattoo City is definitely emblematic of something were losing in tattooing, which is the identity of a tattoo shop and its curation by a really passionate artist with integrity and love for tattooing, he told the Chronicle in an email. People seek out individual artists now, more than find amazing shops. According to industry research by IBISWorld there are more than 25,000 tattooists in the United States alone. That number has consistently grown at an annual rate of 2.3% for the past five years. The original Tattoo City opened at 2906 Mission St. in September 1977. More Information Ed Hardy's Tattoo City: Noon-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon-6 p.m. Sunday. Open through Dec. 29. 700 Lombard St., S.F. 415-345-9437. www.tattoocitysf.com Tattoo Citys initial opening in the 70s is one of the most significant and identifiable flashpoints (in tattooing) that led to the stylistic diversity, artistic talent and global recognition we see today, says Lodder. Its opening was inspired by Hardys discovery of a uniquely Southern California style of tattooing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At that time, (Hardy) was just completely engrossed with that fine line, single-needle tattooing that he was inspired by in East L.A., recalls Francesca Passalacqua, Hardys partner of more than 50 years. The style remains extremely popular in the Latino community, featuring traditional Chicano iconography tattooed in a realistic style with black and gray pigment. Kate Anderson of San Diego readies to get a tattoo at Ed Hardys Tattoo City in San Francisco on Nov. 4. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle I knew I wouldnt get people walking in out of the blue to get these cholo tattoos in my private, appointment-only tattoo studio on Van Ness Ave., Hardy wrote in his 2013 memoir Wear Your Dreams. I figured the shop needed to be in some highly urban, heavily Latin neighborhood and that meant the Mission District to me. Along with Hardy, Chuck Eldridge, Jamie Sommers, Bill Salmon and Bob Roberts were Tattoo Citys original artists. The fact the shop garnered such a reputation is remarkable considering it was lost to a fire the following June. Prior to Tattoo City, in 1974, Hardy had opened Realistic Tattoo on Van Ness. Hed spent the latter half of 1973 in Japan learning the art of large-scale Japanese tattoo body suits, and felt similar styles would do well in the United States. After the 1978 fire that decimated Tattoo City, he and Roberts continued to tattoo there. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It was likely the first tattoo shop in the country to solely do custom, large-scale tattoo work unique to each client, something now nearly ubiquitous in the industry. Before that, clients would choose from pre-drawn designs on the wall known as flash. He had this really solid foundation of doing traditional tattoos but all the while having this vision to take it further, says Jen Lee, who has spent over half of her nearly 30-year career at Tattoo City. He brought large-scale work to the United States in a way that it hadnt really been seen before. He changed tattooing for everybody. He wanted to make sure it was legitimate, says his son Douglas Hardy, a tattooist of 32 years, the last 15 of them at Tattoo City. It wasnt just some lowbrow art or anything, but it was capital A art. Not only was Hardy a prolific artist, he also served as tattooings foremost documentarian. Between 1981 and 2019, he and Passalacqua published dozens of books documenting the art forms history, development and diversity. Between that and his art exhibits across the globe such as his famed 2,000 Dragons scroll he made tattooing much more accessible for every artist and aficionado who followed him. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I think without his influence I would have never been able to break into tattooing, says Rosie Evans, a Los Angeles-based tattoo artist originally from the United Kingdom and one of the many who jumped at the chance to tattoo at the shop before its shutter. It is such a seminal shop. Its just such an important part of tattoo history in general, she says. Its the hinge pin and the turning point in tattooing and Ed, most certainly, is at the spearhead of that. Historical and reference tattoo books, designs and art fill Ed Hardys Tattoo City shop in San Francisco. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle In 1991, the idea of Tattoo City was resurrected by Corbin when the lease on Realistic Tattoo was running out. Corbin wanted to open a shop with a better street presence but also continue working for Hardy. He broached the subject with Hardy while driving across the Bay Bridge, he recalled, and Hardy loved the idea. The next morning he called me and said, Hey, I got a spot. It was very organic, says Corbin. That spot was 722 Columbus Ave., just a block and a half from the current location. The shops first artists would be Corbin, Eddy Deutsche, Alex Herman, Baltimore native Dan Higgs and Hardy. Tattoo City became something of a beacon for a newly energized community of tattooists, Lodder argues in his forthcoming book. The model was a democratization of this new energy in tattooing, and ensured that the kind of creative, powerful tattooing Hardy so loved would spread confidently into the wider consciousness. According to Passalacqua, Hardy often looked past the faults of others for the sake of their artistic potential. He would bring people on often without really thinking about personalities, possible baggage, and what the potential risks were, she says. But he saw something in them that he wanted to further. Though Hardy hasnt managed the shop since being diagnosed with Alzheimers disease during the COVID-19 shutdown, the culture of acceptance he fostered lives on. Ed has always been someone who has believed in not just the white man, says Gracie CT, who has been an artist at Tattoo City for the past two years. Hes believed in women tattooers. Hes believed in young tattooers, old tattooers, fat tattooers, Black tattooers, Asian tattooers, tattooers who dont speak good English and he doesnt speak their language. The individual artists of Tattoo City Douglas Hardy, Jen Lee, and Gracie CT are all still figuring out exactly what their careers post-Tattoo City will look like, but all three intend to stay in the Bay Area. Tattoos can be markers of your journey, Hardy writes in the concluding chapter of his memoir. My tattoos tell the story of my life. For tens of thousands of people, that journey took them through Tattoo City and they have the marks to prove it. A chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education teaches us the difference between the two onions. Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Wanda Abraham / Getty Images Though they're often called "humble"probably because they're affordable, readily available, and grown in the groundonions deserve serious bragging rights. Whether raw, pickled, sauteed, roasted, or fried they're essential to countless dishes from just about every cuisine. I am never without onions in my kitchen. However, when it comes to choosing a type of onion for a particular job, as I confessed in my article about yellow onions vs. white onions, I often just go with whatever I have on hand. Frequently, what I have on hand are red onions, because they're just so darn pretty. To find out whetherand whenit's a mistake to willy-nilly swap red onions for yellow onions, I reached out to Jay Weinstein, chef-instructor of Plant-Based Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education to learn more. Weinstein confirmed that it's usually OK to swap yellow onions for red onions and vice versa, but there are some cases in which a red onion is really the allium for the job. Here's everything you need to know. What Is the Difference Between Red and Yellow Onions? The most obvious difference between red and yellow onions is their color. Red onions get their reddish-purple color from anthocyanins, a compound that gives a red, purple, or blue hue to blueberries, purple cauliflower, eggplant, and more. These anthocyanins not only make foods look prettythey are antioxidants that have also been tied to potential health benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic. All types of onions have tons of health benefits, but if you're looking for that specific anthocyanin boost, red onions are the way to go. Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Wanda Abraham / Getty Images What Are the Best Uses for Red Onions vs. Yellow Onions? "Red onions superpower is their eye appeal," says Weinstein. Thanks to their gorgeous color, red onions "provide dramatic presentation opportunities," as Weinstein puts it, so reach for them when you want to add a pretty pop of color to pizza or salads. "Pity the Greek salad garnished with yellow or white onions," says Weinstein. "The color is part of the dishs identity. Weinstein also loves the "instant drama" that pickled red onions add to a dish. "Introduce an acid to the red onions, and their purple color blossoms into brilliant magenta," he says. "Pickled red onions vitalize color-deficient foods." Beyond their color differences, red and yellow onions have some different culinary attributes as well that make red onions superior for certain dishes. "Spicier than yellow onions when raw, red onions add a kick to salsas, sandwiches, and salads," Weinstein says. "They acquire silky, jammy textures on the grill or when roasted in the oven. That smooth interior makes them more luxurious than their golden cousins for antipasti and barbecue plates." Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek Does It Really Matter Which You Use? If you are cooking them, in almost all cases red onions, yellow onions, and white onions can be swapped for one another. "Flavor-wise, the cooked dishes will taste virtually the same using red, yellow, or white onion," says Weinstein. "Red and yellow onions are interchangeable in dishes where the onions wont be seen, such as chili or brown sauce," he adds. If you're using the onions raw, you might notice some flavor differences between red and yellow onions. "Raw, red is the spiciest followed by white, then yellow," says Weinstein, adding that you should choose which kind to use based on how much spiciness the dish you're making requires. "For raw onion dishes, choose onions that fulfill a need," he says. "If it needs color, or would benefit from a neutral presentation, buy accordingly." Weinstein also shares this pro tip: If you want the color of red onions but not the burn, slice them thinly and soak them in cold water for about an hour to take the bite out of them. The Takeaway For most cooked dishes, red and yellow onions are interchangeable, so feel free to use what you have on hand. But if you're looking for a gorgeous colorplus the antioxidant anthocyanins that come with that colorreach for spicy red onions and give your dish that dash of drama. Donald Trump Republican lawmakers are praising President-elect Donald Trumps threat to punish Canada, China and Mexico with broad-based tariffs as a shrewd negotiation strategy to help curb the fentanyl and border crises despite economists fearing they could tank the economy. Rep. Dan Crenshaw said Trump has a proven track record that his threats work pointing to the Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum-seekers trying to cross the southern border to wait in Mexico until their cases were heard. This is how Trump got the Remain in Mexico policy done in the first place, Crenshaw (R-Texas) said on Fox News Tuesday. He threatened a tariff, the tariff never came to be. President-elect Donald Trump wants to see China, Canada and Mexico change their behavior. Stephen Yang for the New York Post He added, I dont need to teach anyone Economics 101. Tariffs will hurt the American consumer, thats true, but they also make for good negotiation tools. Especially when those tariffs will hurt Mexico a lot worse than itll hurt us. On Monday, Trump vowed to impose a 25% blanket tax on all goods coming in from Canada and Mexico if they fail to curtail the border and fentanyl crises. The soon-to-be 47th president also threatened to slap a 10% across-the-board duty on China in addition to current tariffs on products from Beijing unless it reins in drug flow from its markets into the US. Beijing does face existing tariffs from the US. Before Trumps announcement, Treasury Secretary designee Scott Bessent suggested that tariffs could be used as a maximalist negotiating position. Other allies of the president-elect such as Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick have similarly suggested that it would be a bargaining chip. Youve got to negotiate and thats what Trump gets. Thats what people dont understand. Thats what those clowns in Washington dont get, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) bragged about the economic prospects to Real Americas Voice. Other GOP skeptics of tariffs largely appear to be keeping their powder dry on Trumps tax on imports. Im concerned about the potential of it, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters Tuesday. Right now, I see everything that Trumps doing on tariffs as a negotiating tool. And well have to wait and see how successful he is about that. Other Republicans voiced their full support. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) similarly backed Trump, saying I fully support President-Elect Trumps proposed aggressive economic measures against Mexico, Canada, and China, driven by serious concerns over our border security and the rampant drug trafficking that has plagued our nation. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, other countries have exploited our open borders, flooding the United States with drugs, criminals, and unsafe practices. These reckless policies have led to countless deaths, including the tragic loss of American lives due to fentanyl and other drug overdoses. Last year, there were roughly 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the US, including 74,702 from fentanyl specifically, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) also heaped praise on Trumps move, focusing on how he wants Mexico to change its behavior. Mexico has been aiding the drug cartels and helping our enemies. They must pay the price, Gimenez contended. Mexicos socialist President, Claudia Sheinbaum, is sending 400,000 barrels of oil to the murderous Communist Castro regime in Cuba. How it would work Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trumps first administration helped negotiate, none of the US neighbors will have to pay tariffs if they comply with domestic content requirements, according to Alex Durante, an economist at the Tax Foundation. The first Trump administration reworked NAFTA and helped broker the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. AP Estimates vary about how much revenue the tariffs would generate. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projects the tariffs on the three largest US trading partners will garner as much as $1.8 trillion over a decade. Meanwhile, the Tax Foundation predicts it would generate as much as $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years after accounting for factors such as price elasticity as well as a potential decline in purchases of imports. It also estimates that those tariffs would hamper gross domestic product by 0.4 percentage points and kill at least 344,900 jobs. Combined, Canada, China and Mexico bought over $1 trillion in American exports during 2023 and sent almost $1.5 trillion worth of imports into the US, according to data from the US Census Bureau. For context, the total US GDP was $27.36 trillion in 2023. By issuing the threat some 56 days before he gets sworn into office, Trump gave time to negotiate with China, Canada and Mexico over the tariffs. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Trump shortly after the threat in what he described as a good call, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum penned a letter to Trump outlining the steps taken to address those issues already and vowed retaliation if he follows through. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is a rare leader whose party did not suffer major electoral losses despite inflation that ravaged countries around the world. AP Trump has long exhibited a fondness for tariffs, which hes dubbed the most beautiful word in the dictionary, despite his protectionist proclivities deviating from recent GOP orthodoxy on free trade over the past several decades. Republicans have splintered over tariffs in the past during the Trump era, with traditionalist free traders contending that they will hurt US competitiveness over the long term and populist protectionists wanting them to safeguard industry. I dont like tariffs, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told CBS News Face the Nation Sunday. I dont like the president promoting tariffs. I think tariffs are a tax on the consumer you can protect certain industries, but its at the expense of other people. But economists say its like negotiating with terrorists Most economists seem to think that broad-based tariffs in the mold of what Trump has proposed could have deleterious ripple effects on the economy. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. REUTERS Its a bad negotiating position, like holding a gun to your own head and trying to negotiate with terrorists, Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the libertarian Cato Institute told The Post. Its the old Blazing Saddles routine where he holds a gun to his head and negotiates, he added. Tariffs dont have a great track record of achieving US objectives and have only been successful half the time. Lincicome warned that the measure could decrease investment in the US by as much as $30 to $40 billion and noted that because Congress has delegated a lot of its tariff powers to the president over the years, Trump may be able to follow through on that threat. Durante said to expect some kind of hit to GDP, and definitely some slow down in growth from further tariff escalation. Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, contended that Trumps tariff threat will spark a trade war and cost jobs. America relies on Mexico for fruits, vegetables, and a lot of manufacturers inputs, and relies on Canada for a lot of crude oil. Those prices will rise dramatically, and the promised retaliations will kill jobs and hurt the economy, Riedl argued. These tariffs could raise $200 billion annually, but much of that revenue will be lost to reduced import demand, lower real wages, and bailouts of affected industries. The incoming president has foreshadowed that he intends to ramp up tariffs again when he takes office. via REUTERS Historically, trade wars have been devastating. During the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act ramping up tariffs by as much as 20% and higher on as many as 20,000 imported goods. That protectionist policy, which triggered retaliatory measures from other nations, was seen by many economists as exacerbating the Great Depression. Duncan Braid, the coalition director of American Compass, a populist conservative group, defended Trumps tariff threat, stressing that something needs to be done about the border and fentanyl crises. Instead of defaulting to the status quo that prizes free trade above all else, President Trump is going to put ordinary Americans first. The smuggling of fentanyl across our borders is completely unacceptable and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, Braid told The Post. It is a breath of fresh air to have a president willing to use trade policy to advance the national interest, and Congress should back him by imposing a 10% general tariff and rescinding PNTR from China. Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested in September on federal sex crimes charges Paras Griffin/Getty Images Sean "Diddy" Combs A federal judge denied Sean "Diddy" Combs bail on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The decision came in a Wednesday ruling by federal judge Arun Subramanian, after Combs appeared in court on Friday, Nov. 22, for a third bail hearing, citing him as a considerable risk to community safety. The Court finds that the government has shown by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community," Subramanian wrote in his ruling. The jurist wrote that Combs' freedom would represent a "serious risk of witness tampering," citing his attempts to communicate by call and text with an unnamed witness to the grand jury. That, along with the gruesome acts of which he stands accused, the cache of weapons obtained from his residences, and alleged violence and threats of violence undertaken by him and his enterprise when under threat, all added up to "compelling evidence of Combss propensity for violence" and risk for witness tampering, Subramanian wrote. The music mogul has been behind bars since his September indictment on federal sex crime charges. Previously he had been denied bail by two different judges, who cited concerns of witness tampering. In their bid to keep him behind bars, prosecutors argued that Combs would potentially tamper with witnesses if released, alleging that the Bad Boy Records founder had tried to intimidate witnesses from behind bars. In a court filing, prosecutors claimed that "the defendants goal is to blackmail victims and witnesses either into silence or providing testimony helpful to his defense." Related: Prosecutors Claim Diddy Has Led 'Relentless' Campaign to 'Blackmail' Witnesses from Jail Defense attorneys, meanwhile, claimed that the prosecution's case was "thin" and proposed a $50 million bail package with strict release conditions that would significantly limit Combs' ability to contact others beyond his attorneys and would require 24/7 monitoring. The indictment against Combs centers on alleged "freak offs," which authorities claim were elaborate sex performance involving male sex workers and women who were forced or coerced into participating. He is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution and has pleaded not guilty. 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. Since his arrest, Combs has been behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a facility the defense has called "unfit" for pre-trial detention. When asked by Subramanian where Combs would reside if granted bail, the mogul's attorneys said he would live in a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In a filing, defense attorneys said that if granted bail, Combs would not have access to his cell phone, which would be in the custody of security personnel, and that a log would be kept of all incoming and outgoing calls and messages. They further noted that cameras had been placed in the apartment. Combs' trial is currently scheduled for May 2025. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. Sen. Mike Rounds has introduced a bill to abolish the Department of Education hes calling the Returning Education to Our States Act. The South Dakota Republicans bill, S.5384, was read twice in the Senate on Thursday and has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Sen. Rounds bill recently faced criticism from the South Dakota Education Association, which represents more than 6,000 teachers across the state. SDEA President Loren Paul said Friday that the legislation would have severe and lasting negative effects on South Dakotas schools and students. More: SDEA expresses 'strong opposition' to Sen. Mike Rounds' bill cutting Education Department Rounds bill was also criticized by South Dakota Democratic Party executive director Dan Ahlers, who ran against Rounds in 2020 for his seat in the Senate but lost. Ahlers called the bill reckless and said it jeopardizes the educational opportunities for all of South Dakotas children. But Rounds brushed off the criticism in an interview Tuesday with the USA TODAY Network, and said his bill would keep local control in education and bring districts the federal funding they rely on with fewer strings attached. Look, theyre complaining, but thats what they do best. Were used to it, Rounds said. They dont have much else they can do, because they have such a minimal amount of impact at the state level here today. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., speaks during during a hearing to examine United States Special Operations Command and United States Cyber Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021 . Rounds said hes visited with educators in South Dakota during the last year-and-a-half about some of the frustrations that they have expressed trying to deal with the federal bureaucracy in the distribution of the funds, and the one-size-fits-all rules that come out of the Department in order to get the funding that the state and local governments and tribes are expecting. He said those frustrations have included whether the right type of report was delivered on a yearly basis; guidelines changing from year to year; lagging test scores; and, the DEI component, or diversity, equity and inclusion, Rounds said, but wouldnt specify which policies educators he spoke with opposed in that component. Whats in S.5384? Rounds bill would eliminate the Education Department (ED) and redistribute its work to other departments. For example, the Department of State would oversee the Fulbright-Hays Program. More: South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds introduces bill to eliminate U.S. Department of Education The Department of the Interior would take over Native American-Serving Institutions Programs, Alaska Native Education Equity Program, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program, Indian Education Formula Grants and National Activities, Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program, Native Hawaiian Education, Special Programs for Indian Children, Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Education Program, and Impact Aid Programs. The Department of the Treasury would take over William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Pell Grant Program, Health Education Assistance Loan Program and the Education Sciences Reform Act. The Department of Health and Human Services would take over the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller Center for Deaf/Blind Youth and Adults, Federal Real Property Assistance Program, and Special Education Grants. Rounds also said Title I funding would be in HHS. The Department of Labor would take over all Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education programs, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the Randolph Sheppard Vending Facility Program and Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice shall be responsible for receiving complaints and otherwise enforcing and carrying out federal civil rights laws, including section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Title IX, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Education Departments Office of Civil Rights will fall under the Department of Justice. Rounds said he hopes to utilize block grants back to the states as an alternative to trying to do a case-by-case authorization for funding that a bureaucrat in Washington D.C. would decide to send to a particular state agency or a particular Indian tribe, and said the total amount of federal funding to education in South Dakota wouldnt decrease with this plan. More: How Trump's plan to close the Department of Education could impact South Dakota schools Can he pass it? Bills proposing to eliminate the ED have been introduced in previous sessions. Rounds said in a press release that removing the ED was something hes worked toward for years, and told the Argus Leader on Tuesday that he knew hed have to have a Republican in office as president to get it done. Rounds said under former President Donald Trumps first term, it looked like they were working in the direction of eliminating a lot of the one-size-fits-all regulations that had occurred in the ED, he said. His introduction of the bill follows suit with Trumps campaign promise to end the ED. Rounds said he knows theres a desire to eliminate the ED, and said his bill may very well show a pathway to get the important items that the Department did do into other areas so it could be more easily eliminated in the future, he explained. While its been widely reported that eliminating an entire federal government department like the ED would take 60 votes in the Senate to become a reality, Rounds said he believes he can pass the bill with 50 votes through reconciliation, which is a way for Congress to enact legislation on taxes and spending with only a majority, not the 60-vote supermajority. More: GOP senator introduces bill to eliminate US Department of Education If you can show a savings of some of the administrative overhead costs, you can redirect where some of these items are going to be, Rounds said. In doing so, you can reduce the size of the Department of Education. While you may not end up with everything actually abolished, you can significantly reduce its impact by redistributing these to other areas where they dont have the rule-making on a one-size-fits-all basis. He at least has the support of his colleague, Sen. John Thune. The fellow South Dakota Republican and the Senate Majority Leader-Elect said as much Tuesday afternoon Brandon at a Q&A that Rounds' bill deserves consideration. "I frankly think that we always ought to be looking at how we can shift power, control, decision-making and money out of Washington and back closer to the people," Thune said. "I'm a big believer in decentralized, distributed power. I think you get better outcomes and results when you have people making decision that are closer to the issues and the people they represent." However, Democrats and Democrat-aligned Independents who oppose eliminating the agency still control the Senate and White House this session. It could be reintroduced next term but would still require 60 votes to pass the Senate. Dismantling the ED next term would require support from those Democrats who vehemently oppose the idea. Some in the GOP have said the ED would be better left intact because it could play a pivotal role in enacting Trumps policy agenda. Trumps education policy agenda includes cutting federal funding for schools teaching critical race theory, gender ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children, according to his plan. He also wants to increase funding for schools that adopt a Parental Bill of Rights that includes complete curriculum transparency, and a form of universal school choice; get rid of teacher tenure for grades K-12 and adopt merit pay; have parents elect school principals; and, cut down on school administrators. But basing funding decisions on district-level policy choices would require federal oversight. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sen. Mike Rounds introduces bill to abolish Department of Education The mayor of a South Carolina town died in a car wreck Tuesday afternoon, with authorities saying that he was being pursued by sheriff's deputies when the crash occurred. McColl, S.C. Mayor George Garner II was killed after a collision with another vehicle in the Darlington County town of Mechanicsville, S.C., about 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 26. Garner was recently reelected as mayor of McColl, a town of about 1,900 people in Marlboro County, S.C. The South Carolina Highway Patrol confirmed to both South Carolina Public Radio and The State newspaper that Garner was driving a 2007 Chevy Tahoe when he veered into oncoming traffic and struck a Volvo tractor trailer. Garner, who was the only occupant in the vehicle he was driving, was taken to a nearby hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the tractor trailer was injured and treated at the same hospital. The South Carolina Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. Cybertruck crash: 3 dead after Tesla Cybertruck hits tree, retaining wall in California: Reports S.C. mayor was pursued by sheriff's deputy Darlington County Coroner J. Todd Hardee wrote Tuesday that Garner was being pursued by a Marlboro County sheriff's deputy at the time of the crash. "The pursuit was not related to any laws being broken," Hardee wrote in the statement, which was posted to his Facebook page. "The pursuit was taking place in an effort to protect the well being of Mr. Garner." Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon on Wednesday told WBTW News13 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. that officers were behind Garner but not pursuing him when he crashed head-on into an 18-wheeler and died. He said deputies started following him after Garner's wife contacted the sheriffs office and they thought they needed to check in on Garner. Hardee wrote that the crash remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol's Major Accident Investigation Team. Attempts to contact the Marlboro County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Police resignations and investigations in S.C. Last month, McColl's police chief and four other law enforcement officials, comprising the entirety of the town's police force, resigned, citing "'unwanted and malicious behavior,'" in a message posted to social media that has since been removed, according to South Carolina Public Radio. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed Wednesday that Garner remains the subject of an active and ongoing investigation, but did not disclose any further details. This is a developing story and has been updated with new information. Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Carolina mayor killed in car accident during police pursuit Carlos De Oliveira, Walt Nauta, Jack Smith, Donald Trump and Jack Smith Special counsel Jack Smith has ended his attempt to prosecute President-elect Donald Trump but still plans to pursue the classified documents case against the incoming commander in chiefs two co-defendants. Smith, 55, noted in a Monday filing in the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that his appeal of Florida federal jurist Aileen Cannons dismissal of the case will continue with regards to Trumps longtime personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira. The appeal concerning the other two defendants will continue because, unlike defendant Trump, no principle of temporary immunity applies to them, the special counsel wrote in his motion to dismiss his appeal against the president-elect. Cannon threw out the 38 criminal counts against Trump in July, as well as the eight against Nauta and the four against De Oliveira, after finding that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed because he lacked congressional confirmation. Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he conspired with Trump to withhold classified documents. AP On Tuesday, the 11th circuit granted Smiths request to dismiss the case against Trump only. In a separate filing with the 11th circuit, Smith pressed the appeals court to overturn Cannons flawed analysis in order to continue the governments prosecution against Nauta and De Oliveira. The Supreme Court held more than 50 years ago that Congress vested the Attorney General with the power to appoint special prosecutors like the Special Counsel, Smith argued. John Irving, a lawyer for De Oliveira, argued that Smiths effort to continue the case against his client was emblematic of the special counsels poor judgement to go after the Mar-a-Lago employee at the outset. The Special Counsels decision to proceed in this case even after dismissing it against President Trump is an unsurprising tribute to the poor judgment that led to the indictment against Mr. De Oliveira in the first place, Irving said in a statement. Just because you can doesnt mean you should. If they prefer a slow acquittal, thats fine with us, he added. Carlos De Oliveiras lawyer slammed Smiths effort to continue to pursue charges against his client. AP Smith is reportedly readying to close up shop as Trump prepares to assume the presidency. AP Attorneys for Nauta and Trump did not respond to The Posts request for comment. Its unclear how much longer Smith will actually be able pursue the documents case against Nauta and De Oliveira since hes reportedly been working to wind down his cases and step down before the former president gets sworn back into office on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump, 78, has promised to fire Smith within two seconds of being sworn back into the White House. Smith has ended his efforts to prosecute Trump in the two federal cases he brought last year. Getty Images Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that Trump intends to fire not only Smith, but his entire team upon re-entering office. A spokesperson for Smiths office citing former special counsel Robert Muellers report in the Trump-Russia investigation told The Post that after the special counsels office closes, responsibilities for matters that remain open can be transferred to other components of the Department of Justice and the FBI. Editors Note: A previous version of this article was first published on November 22. It has been updated to include Trumps pick to direct the National Institutes of Health. President-elect Donald Trump has announced his picks for critical remaining public health roles in his incoming administration. Trump named Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as US surgeon general; Dr. Marty Makary as US Food and Drug Administration commissioner; Dr. Dave Weldon, a former congressman from Florida, as director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health. The announced selections come as some in the public health world have already expressed concern over the president-elects intention to elevate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, to the nations top health post as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Trumps picks paint a fuller picture of what the health agency would look like under Kennedy, if confirmed by the US Senate. A person familiar with the search told CNNs Kaitlan Collins that Kennedy played a key role in selecting the names to fill out the department, including the FDA commissioner and the CDC director. The appointees, if also confirmed, will fall under the purview of Kennedy, who has emphasized the importance of ridding the department and its agencies of corruption. Trump, for his part, said on the campaign trail that he would let Kennedy go wild on health. US surgeon general Also known as the nations doctor, the surgeon general is a medical doctor who focuses on educating and advising Americans on how to improve their health. He or she issues advisories, reports and calls to action to offer the best available scientific information on crucial issues. He or she also serves as vice admiral of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, overseeing this group of uniformed officers who seek to promote the nations health. Nominees for surgeon general must be confirmed by the Senate to serve. Nesheiwat is a family practice doctor and Fox News medical contributor who is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. She attended medical school at the American University of the Caribbean in St. Maarten, according to her New York state physician profile, and did postgraduate work at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Were coming up on the five-year anniversary of Covid, Nesheiwat said Sunday on a Fox News segment about mpox. And if you remember, under the President Trump administrations leadership, youll recall that we had incredible public health policies, President Trumps unparalled creation of Operation Warp Speed was one like weve never seen before. And thats a vaccine that saved thousands of lives, and we still saw lives saved even after President Trump left office. FDA commissioner The commissioner of food and drugs oversees the FDA, which is responsible for the safety, efficacy and security of medications, biological products, medical devices, food and cosmetics. Vaccine authorization or approval falls under the FDAs purview. It also regulates the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products. The commissioner is traditionally a medical doctor, and nominees are subject to Senate confirmation. Makary is a surgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins University. He received a medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and attended graduate school at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, Johns Hopkins says, and helped lead the World Health Organization patient safety program. Makary, like Nesheiwat, has Fox News ties. In an opinion piece published on Fox News at the height of the pandemic in 2021, Makary argued that Covid-19 had revealed the FDA to be a broken administration mired in politics and red tape. The agency moved too slowly in its authorization of the antiviral pill molnupiravir, he said, and stubbornly clung to its recommendations on Covid vaccine spacing. Its time for our old guard medical leaders to step aside into advisory roles and let new scientists, ones who are not afraid to speak up, take charge, he wrote. He became a paid contributor for the network as the pandemic wound down in March 2024 and remained in the role through mid-2024, according to a Fox News spokesperson. He appeared on Fox News Sunday earlier this week to endorse Kennedy as HHS secretary. During the pandemic, Makary was a proponent of the importance of natural immunity derived from Covid-19 infection. In February 2021, he predicted in the Wall Street Journal that this natural immunity would help the nation achieve herd immunity to the coronavirus within two months. Later that year, he wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that workers who had natural immunity and who had been fired for not being fully vaccinated should be reinstated. The superiority of natural immunity over vaccinated immunity is clear. CDC director The director of the CDC leads the nations foremost public health agency, which deals with disease prevention and control and environmental health. Among his or her most prominent duties is making final recommendations on vaccinations and immunization schedules. He or she also serves as administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which responds to large-scale hazardous exposures such as chemical spills. Formerly appointed by the president, the CDC director position will be subject to Senate confirmation beginning in January. Weldon got a medical degree from SUNY-Buffalo on an Army scholarship and did postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Letterman Army Medical Center. He served six years in active duty and eight in the Army Reserve, according to a biography on his US Senate campaign website. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. As a physician, Dr. Weldon became involved with many health care policy issues, including efforts to ban human cloning and vaccine safety, the campaign website notes. He helped lead the effort to remove toxic mercury containing preservatives from childhood vaccines. In 2007, then-Rep. Weldon introduced the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act, which aimed to create an Agency for Vaccine Safety Evaluation within HHS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is responsible for promoting both high immunization rates and vaccine safety, duties perceived by some to constitute a conflict of interest, the legislation noted. In 2005, during the legal battle over Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was left in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, Weldon introduced the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act to permit a federal court to review the issue. NIH director The director of the NIH sets agency policy and manages the programs and activities of the research centers 27 institutes and centers, which include the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Aging, the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Nominees for the research centers director are subject to Senate confirmation. Bhattacharya received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine and a doctorate from the universitys Department of Economics. He emerged as a critic of strict lockdown policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for a focus on protecting the elderly and most vulnerable while ending lockdown measures such as school closures, saying they caused disproportionate damage to the overall populations health and well-being. This stance was at odds with views held by public health officials with then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins calling the open letters writers fringe epidemiologists and Bhattacharya later said he was targeted for censorship by federal government officials. In 2022, Bhattacharya and Makary, Trumps pick to lead the FDA, were among a group of eight scientists and researchers who created a blueprint containing key public health questions for a COVID-19 commission on the nations pandemic response. The Norfolk Groups document questioned such topics as failures to protect older high-risk Americans, collateral lockdown harms, misleading risk communication and downplaying infection-acquired immunity. CNNs Kaitlan Collins, Brian Stelter and Meg Tirrell contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Three Americans who had been detained in China for years have been released in a prisoner swap between Washington and Beijing. We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung from detention in the Peoples Republic of China, a US National Security Council spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years. The Americans were released in exchange for unidentified Chinese nationals and are now in US custody, according to a US official. On Wednesday, the US also lowered its travel advisory level to Level 2: Exercise increased caution for mainland China. Politico first reported the release of the Americans. Thanks to this Administrations efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home, the spokesperson said Wednesday. Li and Swidan had been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. Their release takes place fewer than two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. It follows years of quiet diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration, with President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and other US officials engaging with their counterparts on the matter. The Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment for this story. In a statement Wednesday evening, Kai Lis son, Harrison Li, said his family enthusiastically welcomes the news that Kai has been released from captivity after just over 3,000 days of wrongful detention. We express our deepest gratitude to the many agencies, individuals, and non-governmental organizations that made this day possible, Harrison Li wrote, expressing particular gratitude to Biden, the National Security Council and the State Department. Even without the pressure of a looming election, they delivered just in time for the holidays, he said. He thanked US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns for visiting his father three times and the US Consulate in Shanghai for ensuring Kais physical and mental well-being throughout his detention. We urge President Joe Biden to use the remaining days in his administration to bring home the remaining Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, Harrison Li said. Another wrongfully detained American, David Lin, was freed from China in September. The Biden administration has secured the release of dozens of Americans detained or held hostage abroad. However, unlike in other cases, where the release of Americans was publicly heralded as diplomatic wins, Lins release was kept quiet so as not to derail the sensitive negotiations. On Wednesday, a number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed joy that Swidan, Li, and Leung were returning home. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, normally a Biden administration critic, praised the administrations work to secure the release of the three Americans from China. Swidans mother, Katherine Swidan, lives in Texas and is a Cruz constituent. The Texas senator said in a statement Wednesday that President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Carstens, Ambassador Burns, and their teams have for years worked tirelessly to secure this achievement, and I am deeply grateful for all their efforts. Negotiations aimed at securing the release of unjustly held Americans are among the most difficult and wrenching tasks that our diplomats face, and they have shown unceasing dedication culminating in todays release, he said. This joyous news would not have occurred, and these families would not have been reunited, without their work and commitment. Republican House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said he was overjoyed to hear Kai, John, and Mark will be reunited with their families in the U.S., just in time for the holidays. The United States and its partners around the world must stand resolute in their commitment to combatting hostage diplomacy and returning home those who are wrongfully detained, the Texas Republican said. Democratic House Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory Meeks said he was thrilled by the release of the three Americans, calling it a testament to the power of diplomacy. Li and Swidans families have been strong advocates for their loved ones release and continually pushed the administration to do more to bring them home. Harrison Li regularly traveled to Washington to raise the case of his father, who was detained in 2016 and had been serving a ten-year prison sentence on charges of espionage. In 2023, Harrison Li told CNN he was concerned that he might never see his father again. God forbid, is my dad going to come home in a box? he asked at the time. I just dont know at this point and given the conditions and the situation in China, its actually quite scary. Mark Swidans mother Katherine Swidan also worried her son might not make it home alive. He was detained in 2012 on drug-related charges. He had spent more than a decade detained in what his mother described as a holding tank, where she said he had undergone physical and psychological torture and has attempted suicide. He was sentenced to death in 2019. Leung was detained in 2021 and was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison on spying charges. Leung is a veteran leader of several pro-Beijing groups in the United States, who has rubbed shoulders for years with senior Chinese government officials. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNNs Evan Perez contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change. Charlie Brown and friends will celebrate Thanksgiving on Apple TV+ this holiday season. Peanuts fans can't let Thanksgiving come and go without watching "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," a classic holiday rite of passage. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" made its television debut in 1965, and its viewing has become an unofficial tradition for families in the years following its release. Peppermint Patty invites the Peanuts gang to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving even though he is going to see his grandmother in the 30-minute holiday special. Snoopy and Woodstock are also seen celebrating Turkey Day with their own "ultimate" dinner. The Thanksgiving-themed movie has aired every year on CBS and ABC, but things changed when Apple acquired the rights to all Peanuts holiday specials, including "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," in 2020. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" will not be available to watch on broadcast television this year, even though the movie previously aired on PBS in 2020 and 2021. Here's everything you need to know about "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," including how and where to watch it this year. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Where to watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' Apple TV+ is the only streaming service that offers the holiday Peanuts special, which means you may have to purchase a subscription or obtain access to Apple TV+ in order to watch. Apple TV+ gave non-subscribers the ability to tune on Saturday, Nov. 23 and Sunday, Nov. 24, an offer which has since expired. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" will not air through any standard television networks this year, either. Other Peanuts holiday classics, including "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas are also only available on Apple TV+. How to watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' Apple TV+ subscribers can watch any holiday Peanuts special, including "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" anytime with their subscription. A monthly Apple TV+ subscription cost around $9.99 and includes a free seven-day trial. Watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' trailer, video snippet Contributing: Dina Kaur, Arizona Republic; Chris Sims, Louisville Courier Journal We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesnt influence our coverage. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving': Where to watch and stream An 86-year-old white man accused of shooting a Black teenager who mistakenly rang the wrong home's doorbell in Kansas City is set to face a jury trial. A Missouri judge ruled Tuesday that Andrew Lester is fit for trial for the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, then 16. In an affidavit in September, Lester's attorney Steve Salmon requested a mental health examination following what he described as a "marked reduction in Defendant's mental acuity." Salmon said Lester couldn't assist in his own defense in the criminal case. Lester faces two felony counts of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The judge's ruling Tuesday allowed the case to continue after a mental examination had been filed in court. In a statement to the local television station FOX4, Yarls family said they were grateful that the trial against Andrew Lester is moving forward. This case represents more than just accountability its a step toward justice for the trauma Ralph and our family have endured simply because he rang the doorbell at the wrong home, the statement said. We remain committed to seeking fairness and ensuring that no other family has to face such pain due to the color of their skin. Lesters attorney didnt respond to phone or email requests from USA TODAY. Andrew Lester is charged in the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl. Yarl mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. Lester is accused of shooting Yarl in the head and arm. What happened to Ralph Yarl? On April 13, 2023, Yarl, a high school junior, went to pick up his younger twin brothers from their friend's house. He mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell. Yarl told police he pressed the doorbell and waited outside the front door. The person inside took a long time to respond but opened the door holding a firearm. Yarl said he didnt pull on the door, and it was his first time coming to the home. No words were exchanged between the two. Lester shot through the glass door, hitting Yarl in the forehead and right arm, according to police records. Yarl said he was immediately shot in the head, fell to the ground, and was shot again, in the arm, while on the ground. He soon got up and ran to nearby homes pleading for help. Officers found Yarl in the street near Lesters home just before 10 p.m. Yarl had serious injuries but was in stable condition. Police found Lester at his home, where the front storm glass door was shattered and blood on the front porch, driveway and street. Police found a revolver in his living room with two shell casings in the cylinder with live rounds remaining in the chamber. Lester told police he had just laid down in bed when he heard the doorbell ring. He picked up his gun before responding to answer the door. He told police he saw a Black male, approximately 6 feet tall, pulling on the exterior door, which was locked. He said he thought someone was attempting to break into the home and shot twice within a few seconds. Lester said he called 911. He saw Yarls car in the driveway but saw no one else. He hadnt seen Yarl before. He told police he was scared to death because of Yarls size and his own age, then 84. The police statement said, Lester was visibly upset and repeatedly expressed concern for the victim. Police booked Lester for charges of aggravated assault. But after consulting with local prosecutors, police released Lester just a few hours later, the detectives statement said. Ralph Yarl's family described him as an accomplished musician who could play multiple instruments. No hate crime charges The shooting renewed debate over self-defense laws in the U.S., especially as Lester's attorney has appeared to indicate he would argue Lester acted in self-defense, citing Missouri's "stand your ground" law. High-profile civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, retained by Yarls family, had criticized the police handling of the case. Lester was arrested again, after surrendering, on April 18, and released on a $200,000 bond. There was an outcry to charge the case as a hate crime, but prosecutors never filed such charges. Yarls family had also filed a lawsuit against Lester and his homeowner's association over the shooting, though court records show the family voluntarily dismissed the case in October. Yarl, now 18, suffered and sustained permanent injuries, the familys lawsuit had said. He also experienced disability and loss of normal activities and also had to spend large amounts of money for medical attention and suffered other losses and damages. Through a GoFundMe, his family raised over $3.4 million to help with his medical bills and therapy, including for a traumatic brain injury. The GoFundMe, created by a woman identified as his aunt, said his goal was to study chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. His family described him as an accomplished musician who could play multiple instruments. On Memorial Day in 2023, a month after being shot in the head and arm, Yarl walked at a brain injury awareness event in Kansas City. N'Dea Yancey-Bragg and Thao Nguyen contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White man to stand trial in shooting of Ralph Yarl who rang wrong door Esteban Hernandez dances the role of the Nutcracker Prince during a matinee performance of San Francisco Ballets Nutcracker at War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco on Sunday, Dec.11, 2022. Questions about this years production have been raised, as dancers and stage managers are in the midst of a contract dispute. Laura Morton/Special to the Chronicle 2023 San Francisco Ballets contract for dancers and stage managers expires on Dec. 6 the same day the companys highly anticipated Nutcracker production is set to open raising questions about whether the beloved holiday tradition will go ahead as planned. After five months of tense negotiations, the American Guild of Musical Artists says it has made limited progress in securing a new collective bargaining agreement for its members that addresses important issues like wages, safety and working conditions. In an open letter posted on Tuesday, Nov. 26, union members said they were repeatedly told that the companys budget does not allow for the requested changes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Managements refusal to meaningfully engage with us risks the very foundation of what makes San Francisco Ballet one of the most respected ballet companies in the world, the letter read. Members of the San Francisco Ballet dance the role of snowflakes in Act I during a matinee performance of San Francisco Ballets Nutcracker at War Memorial Opera House on Dec.11, 2022. The companys contract for dancers and stage managers expires on Dec. 6 the same day the companys Nutcracker production is set to open raising questions about whether the holiday tradition will go on as planned. Laura Morton/Special to the Chronicle 2022 The union argues that current compensation classifies many dancers as low-income, as defined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, in one of the countrys most expensive cities, and that the companys refusal to meet their demands could threaten the future of the world-renowned institution. The main points of contention include higher wages, guaranteed dancer positions to match the heavy workload, and protections for stage managers, who are often unpaid for overtime and work under strenuous conditions. The union also criticized the companys use of unpaid student dancers from the San Francisco Ballet School to fill half the cast, though Ballet management says it has been long-standing practice to enlist students for minor corps roles. We deserve a workplace that values professional standards not one that relies on unpaid labor to cut costs, the union said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a statement to the Chronicle on Wednesday, Nov. 27, Ballet leaders contend they have reached an agreement on key issues with both the Dancers Committee and AGMA. They also expressed hope to get a fair and equitable contract through Intentional Negotiations, a method recommended by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service that emphasizes collaboration over traditional adversarial bargaining. Since the pandemic, during which we kept the dancers employed with minimal pay cuts, despite significant performance cancelations, we have drawn funds of up to 5% of our restricted endowment to protect the company and ensure uninterrupted operations. Our proposed salary increases for dancers and stage management continue to align with those offered by our peers, Ballet leadership said, citing the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet. Members of the San Francisco Ballet dance in Act II during a matinee performance of San Francisco Ballets Nutcracker at War Memorial Opera House on Dec.11, 2022. Laura Morton/Special to the Chronicle 2022 But its not just about compensation. The union is also pushing for better health and safety measures, especially after a rise in workers compensation claims. According to the letter, San Francisco Ballet paid out $1,348,188 in claims for its dancers in 2023-24, more than double what it paid out in 2018-19. Meanwhile, the company is facing lawsuits from two dancers, Mathilde Froustey and Ellen Hummel, who claim they were forced to perform through pain, leading to permanent injuries. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Many of the claims emerged under Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, who succeeded Helgi Tomasson in 2022. Ballet leadership also consists of Branislav Henselmann, who was named executive director in September after a nine-month international search. Henselmann succeeded Arturo Jacobus, who had been serving as interim executive director since Danielle St. Germain resigned in April 2023 after a nearly two-year tenure. In response, the Ballet emphasized that over the last two years, the company has transformed (its) holistic health and wellness program through a dedicated investment of funding, focus, and infrastructure, effectively doubling its size and scope. Some changes listed include adding a registered nutritionist, a certified strength and conditioning coach, as well as certified athletic trainer and performance psychologist. Despite progress in some areas, AGMA says talks have stalled on key issues, with the company which received a $60 million donation in May citing budget constraints. San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, left, talks with Yurie Pascarella and Dede Wilseyafter arriving at City Hall to attend the San Francisco Ballet 2024 Opening Night Gala on Jan. 24. Laura Morton/Special to the Chronicle If an agreement isnt reached, the Ballets Nutcracker season, which is scheduled to run through Dec. 29 and is a major source of revenue for the company, could be in jeopardy. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Ballet, however, reassures performances are proceeding as planned. If a performance is canceled, customers will be offered alternate dates, a credit, or a refund, the Ballet told the Chronicle. Tensions have already been visible, including AGMA members conspicuous absence from the companys Nov. 20 donor recognition event, where they cited contract disputes as the reason for not attending. We hope Management considers whats at stake, the union said, for the Company and our community. Across the street at Davies Symphony Hall, AGMA has been backing the San Francisco Symphony Chorus members in their protest against that organizations leadership over fair wages. Advertisement Article continues below this ad With a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire now in force, an 18-year-old United Nations resolution has resurfaced as a blueprint for ending the war. US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon accepted a proposal that is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities with Hezbollah. The deal went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday). The 60-day cessation of hostilities aims to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted to end a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, and had kept relative calm in the area for nearly two decades. That lasted until the day after Hamas October 7 attack on Israel last year, when Hezbollah attacked in solidarity, beginning more than a year of conflict. The resolution stipulated that Israel must withdraw all its forces from southern Lebanon, and that the only armed groups present in south of the Litani river should be the Lebanese military and UN peacekeeping forces. The United States, which is mediating between Israel and Lebanon in the current conflict, believes a return to the principles of the resolution is in the interest of both parties, but has insisted on a mechanism to enforce it more strictly. Israel has argued that Hezbollah has breached the resolution multiple times by operating close to its border. Lebanon says Israel regularly breached the agreement over the past two decades by sending fighter jets into its airspace. Heres what we know about the resolution and why it is critical to a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. A brief history Israel launched an invasion into Lebanon in 1982, sending tanks all the way to the capital Beirut, after coming under attack from Palestinian militants in the country. It then occupied southern Lebanon for almost two decades until the year 2000, when it was driven out by Hezbollah, created with backing from Iran to resist the Israeli occupation. In 2000, the UN established the so-called Blue Line, a line of withdrawal for Israeli forces from Lebanon. That boundary now serves as the de facto border between the two countries. Lebanon has however claimed that Israel did not complete its withdrawal from the country, continuing to occupy the Shebaa Farms, a 15-square-mile (39-square-km) patch of land Israel has held since 1967. Israel claims the Shebaa Farms area is part of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria and later annexed. The international community with the notable exception of the United States considers the Golan Heights to be occupied territory belonging to Syria. Resolution 1701 Israel invaded Lebanon again in 2006 after Hezbollah killed three soldiers and kidnapped two others in an effort to compel the release of Lebanese prisoners. The war lasted just over a month and resulted in the death of more than 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, as well as 170 Israelis, mostly soldiers. On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701, which called for a full cessation of hostilities by Hezbollah and Israel. The resolution demanded that Israel withdraw all its forces from southern Lebanon, and for the Lebanese government and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to deploy their forces together throughout the south. No other armed personnel would be permitted in the area. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) and Argentinian Ambassador Cesar Mayoral raise their hands to vote on UN Resolution 1701 at the UN headquarters in New York City, on August 11, 2006. - Stephen Chernin/Getty Images It also called on the Lebanese government to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon. A 10,000-troop UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL is the main body tasked with implementing Resolution 1701 on the ground. A UN-mediated prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2008 saw the return of the remains of the two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 for five Lebanese prisoners. Israel later released the bodies of some 200 Arabs. Escalation since October 8 Hezbollah began firing at the Israeli-held Shebaa Farms on October 8, 2023, in what it later said was solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, a day after Gaza-based Hamas launched a major attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage. Israel fired back. Between October 8, 2023 and the end of June, UNIFIL detected 15,101 cross border trajectories, of which 12,459 were from Israel into Lebanon, and 2,642 Lebanon into Israel, the UN said on October 1, adding that while most exchanges of fire have been confined to within a few kilometers of either side of the Blue Line, several strikes have reached as far as 130 km into Lebanon and 30 km into Israel. A photo taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, near the border with northern Israel, shows plumes of smoke rising from an area targeted by rockets fired from the Lebanese side which hit an area in the disputed Shebaa Farms on June 21. - Rabih Daher/AFP/Getty Images Since then, cross border skirmishes continued but were contained along the Israel-Lebanon frontier, until September this year, when Israel expanded its war aims to including the return home for residents of the north, who were displaced due to cross border attacks from Hezbollah, which said that it would only stop attacks on Israel once a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. That was followed by a massive aerial assault on Lebanon, and the October 1 ground invasion into the country. Where each party stands on 1701 The US has relayed to Lebanon a proposal that lies within the parameters of UN Resolution 1701 and aims to achieve a 60-day cessation of hostilities, a Lebanese official has told CNN before the deal went into effect. It focuses on stricter mechanisms to implement Resolution 1701 in the south of the country and on the role of the Lebanese army in doing so, the official said, adding that it also deals with smuggling routes through the countrys international borders. The proposal also requires Israeli ground forces, operating in southern Lebanon since October, to withdraw. But some officials in Israel have said that simply returning to 1701 is not enough, insisting that Israel must retain the right to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after a ceasefire deal should violations occur. The Blue line dividing Israel (at left) and Lebanon (at right) can be seen while looking toward the Lebanese border town of Aadaysit from the a UNIFIL base in Kafarkila, Lebanon on August 16. - Chris McGrath/Getty Images Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli minister of finance, has said that full operational freedom for the Israeli military in southern Lebanon is a non-negotiable condition. We are changing the security paradigm and will not return to decades of concepts of containment and threats without response. This will not happen again, he said. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has dismissed reports of demands to give the Israeli military operational freedom in south Lebanon as speculation, adding that he hasnt seen such a clause in the proposal. Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who leads the Hezbollah-allied Amal party and is the interlocutor in talks with Hezbollah, has said that the proposal he received from the US does not include mention of Israeli military operational freedom in Lebanon, adding that the US knows that such a demand would be unacceptable. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that there has been an exchange of different ideas for how to see what we believe is in everyones interest, which is the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. CNNs Abbas Al Lawati contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Sea Dragon, Amphibian, Animal, Animal Themes, Animal Wildlife iStock.com/Lucia Martini A Mexican amphibian, the axolotl is believed by many to be the Aztec god of fire and lightning. His name was Xolotl, and he took the form of a salamander to avoid sacrifice. This lore is perpetuated by the fact that the axolotl can regenerate lost limbs, and they never outgrow their juvenile stage. Unfortunately, the fascination with the axolotl may have contributed to its slow endangerment. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has placed the axolotl on their Red List as of 2020. Listed as critically endangered, its believed there are anywhere from 50-1,000 mature individuals left in the wild. About the Axolotl The lavender axolotl has a light purple hue, grayish-red gills, and black eyes. Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Original / License The axolotl can grow up to 12 inches and weigh anywhere from three to eight pounds, and its average lifespan in the wild is 10-15 years. Most axolotls are dark brown with some black speckling, but its common for them to have a white mutation or be albino as well. They have a long tail with short legs and feet, and a cute little upturned smile. They spend their entire life underwater and are found naturally only in Mexico, in a place known as the Xochimilco Lake complex. In the wild, they eat worms, mollusks, crustaceans, fish and insect larvae. One fun fact about the axolotl is that after birth, they will sometimes snack on their siblings limbs. This might sound morbid, but it doesnt phase the axolotl because their limbs grow back. In the wild, they eat beef liver, fish pellets, brine shrimp and earthworms. They arent picky about their food and dont care if its dead or alive. The axolotl begins the mating process at six months old. The mating ritual involves a unique form of dancing. Females lay anywhere from 100-300 eggs, and they only breed once a year, although they may breed more frequently in captivity. Once the female axolotl lays her eggs, she leaves them forever. They hatch 10-14 days later and are on their own from the beginning. Current Threats The development and growth of Mexico City has greatly endangered the axolotl. diegograndi/iStock via Getty Images Its easy to see why people are fascinated with the axolotl, as it has many interesting features and is a unique animal only found naturally in one place in the world. Unfortunately, many factors have contributed to their decline, and conservation efforts are underway to ensure they dont become extinct. Pollution The human effects on axolotls have been mostly negative. Pollution in their main habitat has led to a significant decrease in population. The area they live in has been whittled down to a series of canals as Mexico City expands, and high levels of ammonia, heavy metals, plastics and trash pollute the water. This makes it difficult for the axolotl to not only survive but to breed and replenish the species. Fishing Axolotls are considered a delicacy in Mexico City, and local fisherman continue to catch them despite their critically endangered status. Although females can lay many eggs, its not enough to keep up with the demand. Invasive Species In the 1970s, non-native species were introduced to the axolotls natural habitat to ensure there was enough food for the people. This includes predators like tilapia and carp, which feed on axolotls. The introduction of these species has slowly decimated the axolotl population. Climate Change Rising temperatures from climate change increase the water temperatures in the axolotls natural habitat. With their sensitive skin, this can quickly lead to physiological stress. It also disrupts the reproductive cycle. They thrive in cool water, and the slightest increase in temperature can dry up their already limited environment. As water levels fluctuate due to droughts, axolotls are particularly vulnerable. Habitat Loss At one point, the axolotl swam in the cool waters of Lake Chalco and Lake Texcoco in Mexico. The expansion and development of Mexico City destroyed these waters and there are now buildings where these unique creatures once thrived. As population numbers and buildings increase, the axolotl is at risk of completely losing its habitat. Conservation Efforts Scientists study the axolotl because of its unique ability to regenerate limbs. axolotlowner/Shutterstock.com The axolotl is a unique creature that scientists study to determine how they remain youthful throughout their lives and regrow their limbs after a loss. One organization, Conservation International, is creating axolotl sanctuaries in farmers canals so they can one day be linked together. The Mexican government has the species listed as at risk of extinction, although legislative efforts have not proven to be an effective way to increase the population. Conservation efforts include restoring the axolotls freshwater habitat, offering ecotourism and creating floating islands made of logs, lake mud and water plants. The National Autonomous University of Mexico, MOJA and the Amybystoma Genetic Stock Center also work to protect the habitat and discover ways to preserve reproductive organs for the axolotl. How You Can Help There are several ways you can help save the species. Programs online allow you to adopt an axolotl, support sustainable practices and be responsible pet owners. For those who own axolotls as pets, make sure they arent taken from the wild and that they come from an ethical source. You can also work to reduce your negative impact on the environment. The post Why Axolotls are Slowly Disappearing appeared first on A-Z Animals. Over the years he had many, in fact, although few of them lived up to his expectations. But never mind. An updated model of his and Ian Sommervilles Dreamachine was recently featured in a symposium on art, AI, and the humanities here in New York; and another will be installed in London at the Tate Modern, in the exhibition Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, which will run from the end of this month (Nov. 28) to June 1, 2025. Meanwhile, Roger Knoebber has brought Gysin back to life in a shaggy, unconventional book-length profile, Hysteresis. The book opens with Chapter 23 there are no other chapters and begins this way: Brion Gysin was a liar, a coward, a thief and a queer. Quite true, Roger. It would be good and accurate on my gravestone, if I had one; but since I was baked into a handful of ashes, I dont. Do be prudent, though, you dont want to alienate your readers! Speaking in italics these days, are you, Brion? Well, yes. Its really the only way an appropriate vehicle for my sentiments, I think. By the way, when you quote me directly, do use bold italics so the Reader wont get confused. Good idea there, Boss; I was wondering how to get that part straight. I will, of course, make an index of contributors, too, with a convenient reference to their statements. Excellent. Everybody likes to see their name in a book. By-the-by, Boss, what is it like to be dead, kacked? I knew you would ask, you are so inquisitive! Ill shock you with a brief and precise response: Being dead is Oblivion; I add, as well, that Oblivion has certain enchantments and advantages that you cant imagine Roger Knoebber (1939-2004) moved to Paris in 1959 and lived for several years at the so-called Beat Hotel on rue Git-le-Cur, where he became close to Gysin. He subsequently corresponded with Gysin for 22 years. In 1984 he returned to Paris, after raising a family in California, and lived near Gysin during his old friends final years. In an Afterword, Knoebber notes that Hysteresis was completed ten years to the day after Brion Gysins death and is an attempt to convey the powerful influence which [he] exerted on the creative world during his productive years. Furthermore: The fictitious conversations in this book are intended to give an idea of the range of Brions imagination, certainly not to be construed as indicative of his thinking The same must be said of the liberties I took with William S. Burroughs. Those conversations depict Brion and William in casual moments, exchanging information with characteristic free flights of imagination. Their collaboration was familiar and characterized by a noble attitude of mutual respect throughout their careers. Knoebber writes that he is fully aware that many people who knew Gysin might well differ with his impression of the man. And so, perhaps as a counterweight, he has assembled a section of factual comments mostly based on interviews with more than a dozen artists, writers, musicians, photographers, publishers, and agents who knew Gysin or had dealings with him including Francoise Janicot, Simon Lane, Gabriel Morgan, Jason Weiss, Marc Dachy, Nancy Ryan, Ramuntcho Matta, Terry Wilson, and Burroughs. For those who have a more specialized interest, heres a lengthy video of the Hysteresis book launch: The Major Archbishop visiting communities in the region. After a first stop in the northern vicariate, the second in the south between Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Apostolic vicar Msgr. Martinelli: Collaboration virtue of the Gulf Church. Among the unresolved knots mentioned by the prelate is jurisdiction in the Middle East, even if the modalities have not yet been defined. Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - Appreciation for the Syro-Malabar faithful and admiration for their strong faith and their assiduous presence at liturgical celebrations. This was emphasised by Monsignor Paolo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen), as he welcomed His Beatitude Raphael Thattil, the leader of the Syro-Malabar Church, to the parish of Saint Paul in Mascate. The Major Archbishop is visiting communities in the Gulf countries in recent weeks, starting in the northern vicariate and then moving south to Oman, the first stop on the journey in the southern vicariate. Since we have faithful from different Churches sui iuris and from many nations and languages, cooperation among all, the bishop emphasised in his welcome address, is the most important virtue for our vicariate. In this way, there is a sincere exchange of gifts among our faithful, as recommended by the recent assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome on how to be an outgoing synodal Church'. On 25 November in Mascate, Oman, Msgr. Paolo Martinelli welcomed Rapahel Thattil, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars and president of the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church, for his eight-day visit to the vicariate. Among the most significant moments of this appointment is the Syro-Malabar Day to be held on 30 November at St. Mary's parish in Dubai. An annual event, in which all the members of the community present - there are about 6,000 according to the latest estimates of the local Church - gather for a solemn Eucharistic celebration, followed by convivial moments, cultural programmes, speeches and activities. We welcome His Beatitude for this visit to the faithful belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church who live in this parish, Monsignor Martinelli continued, wishing peace and health. Let us pray for him that, after his recent election as Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church' he may benefit from the gift of wisdom for his delicate mission and, together with him, he addressed a greeting to all of you, dear Syro-Malabar faithful. For some time now, the Syro-Malabar Church has been wrent by a bitter internal clash over the liturgy, particularly the rite according to which mass is celebrated, which has created deep divisions and only in recently seems to have found a long-awaited settelment. During his visit to the vicariate of Southern Arabia, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church went to the parishes of Ruwi and Ghala in Mascate, celebrating the Holy Qurbana. Yesterday it was the turn of Salalah, where he met with the local Syro-Malabar community, while today he is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he will continue his visits to parishes in the Gulf. Previously, Archbishop Rapahel Thattil had travelled to the vicariate of North Arabia (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain), in an area that for more than two centuries has been a destination for immigration from other nations of the Asian continent, particularly India and the Philippines. In particular, as far as the Syro-Malabar Church is concerned, the first priest resident in the Gulf mission dates back over 30 years, while today there are about 60 priests scattered throughout the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Of these, at least 13 are of the Syro-Malabar rite, who devote themselves above all to the pastoral care of the faithful of this rite, without neglecting the goal of unity and belonging to the one Church as desired by the Church leadership, though without renouncing the peculiarities of each rite. Moreover, at least five Syro-Malabar priests - whose faithful make up about 5% of the total in the Southern Vicariate - head one of the 13 parishes scattered throughout the territory. Local Church sources emphasise that this is a very important visit for the leader of the Syro-Malabar Church, the first visit after his election to the post of Major Archbishop, and represents an occasion of celebration for everyone in the Gulf. Msgr Martinelli spoke of a Church that is unique in the world in his speech, echoing the words of Pope Francis in the homily of the mass celebrated in Abu Dhabi during the 2019 apostolic journey. The face of this Church, continued the Italian-born prelate, is that of the polyphony of faith. A Church composed of migrants, from over a hundred nations, a Church of pilgrims, always on the move and changing. Since its foundation, the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia has been open to all the faithful, coming from many countries and from all the different Churches sui iuris. Concluding his speech, Bishop Martinelli highlighted the still unresolved aspects between the various souls that characterise the Church of the vicariate, characterised by an ideal of unity in the diversity of its components. The pope, at the meeting on 13 May, stressed the prelate, verbally granted you jurisdiction in the Middle East, although the modalities have not yet been defined. We know that this is an important step for everyone and we will follow the Holy See's indications. We are certain, he concluded, that your presence among us is a great gift and blessing for the Syro-Malabar faithful, but also for the vicariate, since we are all called to bear witness to Christ through love and unity among all the disciples, as Jesus prayed, that they may be one so that the world may believe. May the Lord enable us to be his credible witnesses in the world'. Today's news: in Pakistan, Khan's party suspends protest after overnight police raid with massive arrests. Up to 40% higher prices for vegetables in Malaysia due to bad weather conditions. In Japan 4,000 sites used as disaster relief centres are located in environmentally hazardous areas. UN mission reports more than 250 cases of arbitrary arrests among journalists at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan. ISRAEL - LEBANON - GAZA A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France in a rare diplomatic success, came into effect overnight in an attempt to extinguish the northern front between the Jewish State and Lebanon. Heedless of the warnings issued by the Israeli army (and its Lebanese counterpart), civilians are returning to the southern towns and villages near the border, but the situation is still very fragile and the political and social crisis in the country remains unresolved. Wrath among the inhabitants of northern Israel, the vast majority of whom are in favour of continuing the war, while in Gaza even Hamas is signalling its readiness for a truce. PAKISTAN Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party suspended street protests calling for his release from prison after a large police operation in Islamabad overnight ended with hundreds of arrests among his supporters. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pti) temporarily froze the demonstrations, in which at least six people died, including two demonstrators. MALAYSIA Prices of some vegetables have risen between 30 and 40 per cent in the last period due to bad weather conditions. Citing lettuce, the president of the Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers Association Wong Keng Fatt confirmed the doubled cost. The prolonged lack of sunshine also adversely affected tomato crops in the Cameron Highlands. JAPAN About 4,000 potential sites for temporary shelters for disaster survivors are located in flood-prone or disaster-prone areas, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun study. Prefectures and municipalities cooperate in the construction of temporary accommodation on the basis of the Disaster Relief Act. The municipalities mainly choose the locations and the prefectures build the housing. A total of 3,958 of the 14,051 candidate sites, or 28%, are in disaster areas. AFGHANISTAN The UN mission in Afghanistan denounced the arbitrary detention by the ruling Taliban of 256 journalists since their return to power in the summer of 2022, urging the authorities in Kabul to protect the media and freedom of information. Reporters operating in the country, UN experts point out, work in conditions of severe hardship especially women. RUSSIA According to calculations by the Zerkalo website, Russia has invested more than 900 billion dollars in the war in Ukraine since 2014. A sum with which 50 space stations could have been built, 300 world-class scientific laboratories installed, free housing allocated to 4.5 million people, and over 900 contemporary hospitals built in every region. GEORGIA The first session of the new parliament, which re-elected Salva Papuasvili as president, was held in Georgia, while a crowd of protesters gathered in front of the palace, who believe the elections were falsified and demand new ones. Only the 88 deputies of the Georgian Dream out of the 150 elected took part in the assembly, with the four opposition parties absent en bloc. Despite avian flu having infected many turkeys in California, consuming a cooked bird at your Thanksgiving table should be safe. Its still advisable to practice caution during poultry preparation. Matthew Mead/Associated Press The spread of H5N1 avian flu which has killed millions of chickens, sickened hundreds of herds of dairy cows and infected dozens of people in the United States has prompted some to wonder whether eating turkey, the quintessential Thanksgiving staple, is safe or advisable. The short answer is yes, according to food safety regulators and infectious disease experts. Despite avian flu having infected many turkey flocks since the virus began circulating in the U.S. in 2022, consuming cooked turkey should be safe. Handling raw turkey during the meal preparation process should also be safe, though people should take precautions they normally take when preparing poultry such as thoroughly cleaning kitchen surfaces that come into contact with raw poultry, making sure to refrigerate it so bacteria doesnt proliferate, and cooking the bird to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It is kind of a moving target, but right now turkeys are generally safe because people dont eat them raw like they drink raw milk, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at UCSF. This is for a few reasons: Milk is a more common source of infection Even though many birds (mostly chickens, but also turkeys and ducks) and dairy cows have been infected during the current outbreak, the main way the virus has spread to people is through the raw milk of dairy cows, which can contain high levels of the virus. Scientists believe this occurs when dairy workers get infected milk splashed in their eyes, which would help explain why many people whove contracted avian flu have been dairy workers who reported conjunctivitis (pink eye) as their primary symptom. There are no known cases of people getting avian flu from consuming cooked poultry or drinking pasteurized milk. The way the virus spreads among birds is through contaminated feces, saliva or mucus membrane. When birds are alive, the virus is believed to reside mainly in the gut. It may be theoretically possible for a home cook to come into contact with the virus in the cavity of the bird or if, for some reason, they get turkey saliva and feces on their hand and then lick their hand. But this is unlikely. Moreover, this is not a known mode of transmission from bird to human because the virus isnt adapted to humans yet; however, that could change as the virus continues to evolve. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For this reason, Chin-Hong urges people to get their flu shot. If someone gets infected with both avian flu and regular flu, it could swap genes and make avian flu more able to enter humans and mutate, he said. Sick turkeys have already been culled Turkey, like chickens and other poultry, tend to show severe symptoms and die quickly after theyre infected. If one sick bird comes to the attention of a poultry operator, the entire flock is culled before the birds would reach the point in the food processing system where they would be slaughtered. It is highly unlikely that an infected bird would enter the food supply due to the highly infectious, fatal nature of the virus in poultry flocks, said a spokesperson for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Cooking kills the virus by Vladimir Rozanskij Beyond political and military alliances and strategies, Kazakhstan aims to be an important cultural and professional training hub for the whole of Central Asia, working in this sector with great support from Russia. Astana (AsiaNews) - The Russian polit-technologist Aleksej Babockin, an expert at the Moscow Royal Policy Fund, has written an important article in Nezavisimaja Gazeta about relations between Russia and Kazakhstan, one of the most important nodes for future Eurasian balances. In the geopolitical space disrupted by the war in Ukraine that has lasted for more than a thousand days, and with so many changes taking place at all latitudes, Kazakhstan nevertheless remains one of Russia's most important strategic partners, if only because of its large geographical dimension contingent on Russia in the centre of Asia. In the frequent meetings between representatives of the two countries, from presidents to officials in many specific fields, the emphasis is continually placed on economic achievements and mutual enrichment on a cultural and social level. Among the most important aspects are education and scientific research, the exploitation of human capital, and considerations of common history, seeking to fully understand the value orientations of one's neighbour, in order to determine the vectors for the development of dialogue, Babockin notes. Over the past five years, Kazakhstan has invested heavily in education, increasing its budget expenditure by 2.5 times. It is no longer a matter of isolated, elitist projects as in the past (schools and universities for the chosen ones), but impressive means for education at all levels and the dissemination of scientific achievements. In 2023-2024 alone, some 190,000 university study places have been added, and there are plans to open 369 schools for a further 740,000 places by 2025, and 163 of these will be built in rural countries. The digital infrastructure, thanks to which pupils can have access to the most advanced educational technologies, is becoming more and more widespread, even from the most peripheral places in the country. As the political scientist documents, Russia is making an important contribution to Kazakhstan's new knowledge ecosystem. During last year's meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Kasym-Zomart Tokaev, a decision was made to build three Russian schools in the south of the country at the expense of the Russian budget, in the Turkestan, Kyzyl-Ordin and Zambyl regions where there is a serious shortage of educational institutions. As Education Minister Gani Bejsembaev noted at the time, Kazakhstan is a multilingual country, and Russian schools help competitiveness among Kazakh students. It also seeks to raise the prestige of the teaching profession, understanding that new technologies and more comfortable school facilities are of no use without qualified pedagogical cadres. Therefore, the law On the status of the pedagogue was approved in recent months, for the defence of the rights and legitimate interests of teachers, with a system of social guarantees and the alleviation of the social and bureaucratic functions that burden the teaching profession. Today in Kazakhstan there are 600,000 teachers in the various institutions, 400,000 of whom are in compulsory schools, and the state is interested in their further development and lifelong learning. Equally important, he notes, is the focus on the cult of work and its social importance, as President Tokaev often emphasises. Under the conditions of rapid social change worldwide, where technologies are playing an increasingly decisive role, Kazakhstan is trying to organise a nation of technocrats, and 2025 will be the country's Year of Working Professions. Here, too, we start with the education system, to develop technical and analytical knowledge in order to work more effectively in the various sectors of the economy. Scholarships for more advanced vocational training are increasing, and branches of Russia's most important technical institutes are being opened in all regions, such as the Russian State University I.M. Gubkin for oil and gas in Atyrau, or the chemical-technological university D.I. Mendeleev in Taraz, and others are planned to open soon. Beyond political and military alliances and strategies, Kazakhstan sees itself as an important cultural and professional higher education hub for the whole of Central Asia, working in this sector with great support from Russia. Photo: Flickr / Aliaskarov Danial Led by the Substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Pena Parra, the delegation joined the millions of pilgrims who will pay homage to the relics of Saint Francis Xavier until 5 January. Also present was the organiser of papal journeys, Cardinal-designate Koovakad. The pope has India and Asia in his heart, he said. Goa Governor Pillai pays tribute to Christian schools. Goa (AsiaNews) A delegation of nine Vatican representatives is currently in Goa for the decennial exhibition of the relics of Saint Francis Xavier, which began last week. It is headed by Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, Substitute for the Secretariat of State, together with two of the prelates Pope Francis will elevate to the cardinalship in the consistory of 7 December: Bishop George Koovakad, from India, coordinator of the apostolic journeys, and Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, from Lithuania, coadjutor archpriest of Romes Basilica of St Mary Major. Archbishop Pena Parra expressed his joy for this event, which will attract millions of pilgrims to Goa until next 5 January. I bring to you the blessing and greetings of Pope Francis. When I met him, he allowed me to greet you and the Church and the government," the archbishop said. We are happy that the Holy Father has India in his heart, he added. Referring to the presence of the cardinal designate, Bishop Koovakad, he said: He has Asia in his heart. We know the future of the world and the future of Church pass through India, pass through Asia and these people." As for the message that the exhibition conveys, Archbishop Pena Parra explained that "to love God is to love others." With respect to the priceless legacy of Saint Francis Xavier's apostolate, he noted how much his testimony remains alive both in Goa and across Asia. Accompanied by the Archbishop of Goa and Darman, Card Filipe Neri Ferrao, and Auxiliary Bishop Simiao Purificacao Fernandes, the Vatican delegation was also received by Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, who emphasised the harmonious cooperation between the government and the Church in the organisation of the event. At this moment in the world, said the Substitute for the Secretariat of State at the Vatican, it is necessary to reinforce dialogue and invest in communication amongst us (communities). In the prelates view, the authorities and the Church must make every effort to talk to each other, which is the best way to bring the people and the country together. For his part, Governor Pillai praised the role played by the Church in education. "I studied in a Christian school in Kerala, he said. I can say Kerala is a 100-per cent literate state in India mostly due to missionaries and Christian schools in Kerala that helped achieved this goal. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan issued the request based only on the violence against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 with no reference to the 2021 coup that plunged Myanmar into civil war. The last three years have changed the relationship between the putschist military and ethnic minorities, complicating the situation on the ground. The Hague (AsiaNews) The International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan, has asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for General Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmars military junta, for crimes committed against the Rohingya minority in 2016 and 2017. General Min Aung Hlaing, responsible for the coup that sparked the countrys civil war in 2021, has been accused of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya", according to a statement released today by the prosecutor, which, however, does not mention the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. Khan has been investigating the alleged crimes that led to an exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh starting in 2019. In my visits to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar over the last three years, including just yesterday, I met with Rohingya women who spoke with clarity and purpose about the need for accountability, reads his statement. I sat with youth activists who wanted to play their own role in seeking justice. And I spoke with men of all ages including the old and the sick, who were united in demanding to be seen and to have accountability for what befell them. Stressing that impartial and independent investigations have been conducted, the prosecutor noted that other requests for arrest warrants against high-level Myanmar government officials will follow. His investigations have focused on Bangladesh because Myanmar does not recognise the ICCs jurisdiction and access to Rakhine State has been hampered by the ongoing conflict. The area has almost completely fallen to the Arakan Army (AA), a local militia fighting the military junta. On the eastern side of the country, armed resistance groups have taken over a series of outposts on the border with China. Beijing, which exerts some influence over ethnic militias and has an interest in completing its infrastructural projects in Myanmar, has been pressuring General Min Aung Haling to guarantee the security of Chinese investments and citizens, expressing disappointment with the junta. Between 2016 and 2017, Myanmars Armer Forces (Tatmadaw) carried out a harsh campaign of repression against the Rohingya population in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) against police posts. According to estimates by international organisations, at least 6,700 people were killed in the crackdown and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh. ARSA is an Islamist-inspired terrorist group that continues to operate among displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh seeking to position itself as the mostly Muslim minoritys sole legitimate representative. Inside refugee camps ARSA has killed some community leaders and set fire to the homes of civilians. Today, amid Myanmars ongoing civil war, ARSA is fighting alongside Tatmadaw against the AA with the Rohingya as the main victims of the conflict. Weakened by three years of war, the military has exploited the historic rivalry between ethnic Buddhist Rakhine (Arakanese), who make up the bulk of the AAs ranks, and Muslim Rohingya. The generals have recruited (partly by force) ethnic Rohingya (despite past violence), and the AA has responded in recent months by massacring hundreds of Rohingya in the northern reaches of the state. This complex situation is not covered by Prosecutor Khans investigations. In 2017, when the United Nations and other international bodies began to use the terms genocide and ethnic cleansing, Myanmars then democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi was criticised for supporting the actions of the military. According to several Myanmar commentators, Suu Kyi was trying to avoid direct confrontation with the military. In fact, despite the democratic openings implemented in Myanmar until the 2021 coup, Tatmadaw still retained a quarter of the seats in Parliament and key ministries in the cabinet. Khan's request will now go before a three-judge panel who will evaluate the evidence and determine whether to issue a warrant. There is no deadline for their decision. It took less three weeks to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 while it took more than six months to issue warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and Hamass military chief. A few days after the US approved the transfer of these weapons to Ukraine, the review conference of the Ottawa Convention, which regulates the ban on anti-personnel mines, got underway in Asia, the first time in this continent. Even after decades of demining and clearing land, Cambodia is still dealing with the serious consequences that mines have on civilian lives. Siem Reap (AsiaNews) A few days after the United States approved the transfer of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, which is trying to reverse Russia's invasion that began in February 2022, the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction, informally known as the Ottawa Convention, opened in Cambodia. The Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World (the summits official name) opened on Monday until Friday (25-29 November). Pope Francis, addressing the participants in a letter signed by Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, expressed sorrow for the fact that, 25 years after the Convention entered into force, anti-personnel mines continue to be used. "Conflicts are a failure of humanity to live as a single human family, said the pontiff, who stressed that landmines continue to silently claim innocent lives especially those of children even long after the cessation of hostilities. This is the first time that the conference has been hosted in Asia, particularly in Cambodia, a country where anti-personnel mines, used until the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, have had a devastating impact on the population. According to the HALO[*] Trust, a humanitarian non-government organisation that works primarily to clear landmines and other explosive devices, more than 65,000 people have been the victims of mine, 18,800 dead and almost 45,000 wounded. Over 9,000 had to undergo amputations. Although most minefields in Cambodia have been cleared, a rising population is forcing many families to move to areas that have not yet been cleared, especially in the northwest of the country on the border with Thailand. In his opening speech, Prime Minister Hun Manet (who came to power in an undemocratic manner by succeeding his father, Hun Sen, in elections in which the opposition was not allowed to participate) highlighted Cambodia's progress in terms of mine clearance. You have arrived in a nation that epitomizes resilience and hope a nation that has journeyed from being one of the most heavily mine-affected countries to become a leading advocate for a mine-free world, the prime minister said. To date, we have destroyed over 1 million anti-personnel mines and 3 million explosive remnants of war (ERW). [. . .] Casualties have plummeted from an average of over 4,300 per year in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually in the past ten years. [. . .] Land that was once minefields, have now become fertile grounds for farming, urbanization, and development, lifting millions out of poverty, the prime minister said. Nevertheless, he added, our journey is far from over. We still have over 1,600 square kilometers of contaminated land that is affecting the lives of approximately 1 million people. This is why ending the negative impact of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and promoting victim assistance is indeed a cornerstone of our sustainable development agenda. The review conference on the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty is held every five years. It is attended by representatives of member states, civil society groups and international organisations to take stock of the state of the Convention. This is the first summit of its kind since the invasion of Ukraine, where it is estimated that two million anti-personnel devices have already been placed. Anti-personnel mines have no place in this world. This transfer will leave a deadly legacy for Ukrainian civilians for generations to come. It is profoundly disturbing that the United States would knowingly provide a weapon that Ukraine is forbidden to use under international law, said Tamar Gabelnick, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), an NGO group fighting to abolish arms production. Ukraine is a signatory to the treaty. As the world's largest donor to mine clearance efforts, the United States is now paradoxically contributing to the very problem it spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually to solve, Gabelnick added. [*] Hazardous Area Life-support Organization. by Mathias Hariyadi Indonesia goes to the polls today to elect all its governors in first ever simultaneous vote. In Jakarta and Central Java the two most eagerly awaited challenges are the PDIP candidates and those of the unprecedented alliance between former general Prabowo elected president in February and his long-time opponent. Jakarta (AsiaNews) - A few months after February's presidential elections, Indonesia is again called to the polls today for its regional elections (Pilkada), which for the first time are being held simultaneously across the country. Today's elections will determine the choice of 543 district chiefs and 38 provincial governors. However, today's vote also has a broader significance, because it will be a new long-distance confrontation between former President Megawati Soekarnoputri and his former loyal successor Joko Widodo, after the rift that emerged in last February's presidential election. On that occasion, Megawati's political party, the PDIP, strongly supported the then Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, while Jokowi sided with his former rival, former general Prabowo Subianto, and sided with his eldest son Gibran as vice-president. Prabowo's victory did not, however, end the clash between Megawati and Jokowi, with the former's supporters accusing the latter of again working for the victory of candidates linked to the current president, to the detriment of the exponents of the PDIP, his former party. The three Indonesian provinces in the spotlight during the Pilkada are Jakarta, Central Java and East Java: this trio has become crucial in the power struggle between Jokowi loyalists and Megawati followers. Facing each other in Jakarta are former Indonesian government secretary Pramono Anung, candidate of the PDIP, former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, supported by President Prabowo, and independent Dharma Pongrekun. Anung, who is a figure identifiable with the nationalist camp, appears to be the favourite. In Central Java, on the other hand, there is a strong rivalry between the former commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, General Andika Pratama of the PDIP and Police General Lutfi supported by both Prabowo Subianto and Jokowi. Both are nationalist figures and therefore Pilkada 2024 will be the real test of whether Megawati or the alliance between Jokowi and Prabowo is more influential in Central Java, local political analyst Anton told AsiaNews. It should also be borne in mind that provincial governors are very influential figures, able to build great consensus around themselves also thanks to the ample financial resources of local budgets. This is why often holding this position in a key province, such as Central Java, also becomes a springboard for cultivating ambitions for the presidency of the country. As in the presidential elections in February, the first simultaneous Pilkada throughout the country is taking place without incidents and violence. This kind of peaceful election is becoming a good example for Indonesia. Should You Ask Your Partners Body Count? Heres What Experts Advise Tempted to Ask About Your Partners Body Count? Read This First The get-to-know-you phase in a new relationship is crucial it's during this chapter that you really start to suss out whether or not you're compatible. You might ask your partner more about their family life, their professional goals, or whether or not they want kids. Another question that might come up? What their sexual history looks like. But this is a risky move: ask in the wrong way, and you could very well sabotage the connection youve been building. So, should you ever ask about a partner's body count, or is that the kiss of death in a new relationship? And if you do ask, is there a respectful way to phrase it? According to a 2024 survey by eharmony, 67% of singles dont plan to ask their next partner about how many people theyve slept with, and only 24% say the number matters. Theres nothing inherently wrong with asking these questions but the key here is doing so in a way thats considerate and nonjudgemental. Heres what experts want you to know before tackling this touchy topic. RELATED: What Your Number of Sexual Partners Says About You Is It Okay to Ask Your Partner Their Body Count? Experts agree that it is acceptable to ask questions about your partners sexual past but first, youll need to clarify your intentions. Why do you feel the need to know this information? What do you hope to gain from it? When this curiosity is grounded in respect, integrity, vulnerability, flexibility, and compassion, discussing these topics can be done constructively, says Domenique Harrison, LMFT, LPCC, a race and relationships therapist in private practice. However, if your questions stem from judgment, guilt, blame, or shame, your partner has every right to take a moment to pause and consider whether answering honestly might hurt them or create disharmony in the relationship. Harrison also advises asking yourself how youll feel if your partner has had more or fewer sexual partners than you and how those emotions might impact the current and future state of your relationship. Will you feel jealous? Embarrassed or insecure? Knowing this can help you decide whether or not its worth moving forward to have the conversation. How Do You Ask Your Partner How Many People They've Slept With? So, youve determined that you have positive intentions in broaching this subject. Now the question is: How can you bring it up in a way that doesnt make your partner feel super awkward or worse, disrespected? Harrison suggests checking with your partner to see if its a good time to discuss your sexual history first. This gives them an opportunity to say no if theyre feeling tired, stressed, or emotionally overwhelmed. Then, you can ask: Can we try again over the weekend? or When might be a better time for you to talk about it? This simple extra step can help your partner not to feel blindsided by the conversation. Not only that, but it ensures that theyre in the right headspace to have a calm, open, and honest discussion about an often sensitive subject. If your partner gives you the green light to talk, Stephanie Jona Buehler, a licensed psychologist and certified sex therapist, recommends starting by sharing a little about your own sexual history and values. This can make the conversation feel less like an interrogation, and more like a two-way exchange. Demonstrating vulnerability might make your partner feel more comfortable doing the same. This is also a great opportunity to explain those intentions you previously clarified. If your partner knows why youre interested in how many people theyve slept with, theyll probably be more inclined to answer. Try to engage in broader discussions about how your beliefs regarding sexual partners were formed, says Harrison. Avoid asking questions in a way that seems judgmental, or pressuring your partner to discuss the issue, adds Patricia Bathurst, a licensed marriage and family therapist at The Oasis Recovery. And if they arent ready, they arent ready. If things get heated, take a break and talk about it later. RELATED: Dealing With a Partner's Sexual & Romantic History What If Your Partner Doesnt Want to Share Their Body Count? Remember: Your partner isnt obligated to share how many people theyve slept with, and neither are you. Your partner has the right to respond with as much or as little information as they choose, or even opt not to answer at all, says Harrison. As mature adults, we must learn to navigate our disappointment or frustration when we don't receive the answers we were hoping for. If your partner isnt willing to talk about body counts, you can gently ask whats making them hesitant to discuss this with you or whether theyd be open to sharing at a later date. Again, though, keep in mind that they dont owe you an explanation and they may not be willing to revisit the convo. Whatever you do, dont lie about the number to avoid upsetting your partner, says Buehler. Being dishonest is far more likely to erode the trust, respect, and intimacy in your relationship than giving an answer your partner might be less than thrilled about. If youre not ready to address the question yet, Harrison suggests saying something like: I want to be able to talk about this honestly with you, but Im feeling anxious about how you might react. Can we circle back to this tomorrow? Or, you could say something like, "I appreciate your willingness to talk about this but I dont think Im ready to share. If thats an issue for you, Im open to discussing my reasons, but I need some time to gather my thoughts before we talk." You could also say something along the lines of: How would you feel about going first? That might help me to feel more comfortable opening up and sharing. What to Know If Youre Feeling Insecure About Your or Your Partners Body Count If youre going to ask your partner about their body count, Buehler says you need to be OK with hearing any possible answer. Then, you can let the person know if that doesnt fit with your values, take time to reflect if their answer is something you can accept, or fully embrace that you have a difference in values and move forward regardless, she explains. And if your partner responds negatively to your body count, keep in mind that this reaction isnt about you, its about them for example, their own internalized sex negativity and insecurities, says Buehler. However, their reaction can still be hurtful and leave you feeling shame, sadness, disappointment, and more, says Harrison. In such situations, it's important to take a break and practice self-care. Reconnect with your own story and reclaim the truth about what your sexual experiences regardless of their number have meant to you. Treat yourself with kindness. Harrison also advises repeating some positive affirmations yourself, and/or journaling about your feelings. You and your partner can consider trying to revisit the topic again at a later date but only if you both feel emotionally safe to do so. Feel free to set boundaries with your partner about what you will and wont accept during this discussion. For example, you could say: If you say anything thats clearly meant to make me feel judged or ashamed, I will have to end the conversation and leave. And ultimately, if your partner has an issue with your body count, remember this: its actually a gift. Finding out that someones values dont match up with yours sooner rather than later can help you avoid a world of pain, says Buehler. You can avoid getting involved with someone who may be judgmental. You Might Also Dig: On 8 October 2023, Hizbollah decided to go to war against Israel to support Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 14 months later, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia has been forced to accept a ceasefire with Israel after significant military defeats, abandoning its Palestinian ally. The truce, which began at 4 a.m., calls for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from southern Lebanon over the next 60 days. During this period, Hezbollah is to withdraw north of the Litani River, where Israeli troops conducted operations in recent hours for the first time since their withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Once the 60-day disarmament period is over, Israel and Lebanon will negotiate the demarcation of the US-mediated border between the two countries, as there is currently a dividing line, the Blue Line, set by the UN after the 2006 war. Hezbollah's withdrawal north of the Litani complies with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, established after the 2006 war. Instead, the Lebanese Army will deploy troops in the emptied area. As Israel Hayom reports, US troops under the command of the US Central Command (Centcom) will oversee and coordinate relations between Israeli and Lebanese forces during the first days of the agreement. Unlike in the Second Lebanon War, here we are obliged to stay on the ground, observe what's going on and follow Hezbollah or other terrorist organisations, a US official told Israeli media outlet Ynet. Smoke and flames rise in the southern suburbs of Beirut after Israeli air strikes - REUTERS/ AMR ABDALLAH DALSH The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, will also be involved in monitoring, as will French troops. The agreement also provides for the creation of an international body, headed by the United States, to supervise compliance with the ceasefire, which will also involve four other countries, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and possibly a fifth Arab country. With the agreement in force, Hezbollah and all other armed groups on Lebanese territory will not launch attacks against Israel, which will not carry out any offensive military action against targets in Lebanon. However, the agreement does not negate the right of Israel and Lebanon to exercise their right to self-defence. The agreement also stresses that official security forces and the Lebanese Army will be the only entities allowed to carry arms or operate their forces in southern Lebanon. Any sale, supply and production of arms or arms-related materials to Lebanon will be under the supervision and control of the Lebanese Government. All unauthorised facilities for the production of arms and arms-related materials will also be dismantled. Hezbollah members attend the funeral of Hezbollah member Ali Mohamed Chalbi after portable radios and pagers were detonated - REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER For its part, Israel demands the freedom to attack Lebanon again if the agreement is breached on three grounds: the rearming of Hezbollah, the preparation of an attack on Israeli territory or the return of pro-Iranian militia members to the south of the country. Nor will it return Hezbollah prisoners captured during the conflict in Lebanon. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a missile, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings a truckload of missiles, we will attack, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Before the ceasefire came into effect, the IDF launched several attacks in Daheih, central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon, including the Syrian border. Hezbollah also attacked northern Israel. Hours after the ceasefire came into effect people are returning to Dahieh. Many are in a celebratory mood, waving flags, chanting, and firing into the air. The damage to the area is severe. pic.twitter.com/i7QgYPAbmZ Richard Salame (@rjsalame) November 27, 2024 US President Joe Biden has backed these statements, asserting that if Hezbollah or any other group breaks the agreement and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defence under international law. In addition to the ceasefire agreement, the US has provided a number of assurances to Israel, such as the exchange of confidential information on violations of the agreement, including any Hizbollah infiltration of the Lebanese army. Washington has also pledged to cooperate with Jerusalem to curb Iran's destabilising activities in Lebanon, including preventing the transfer of weapons from Iranian territory. The Security Cabinet, this evening, in a 10-1 vote, approved the US proposal for a ceasefire arrangement in Lebanon. Israel appreciates the US contribution to the process, and maintains its right to act against any threat to its security. Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 26, 2024 This agreement was approved in Israel's Security Cabinet with 10 votes in favour and one against, that of Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In his speech, Netanyahu highlighted Israel's achievements during its war with Hezbollah, its worst confrontation since 2006. We eliminated Nasrallah, we eliminated all of the organisation's senior officials and thousands of terrorists, and we destroyed most of the rocket launching capabilities and infrastructure it built near our border, recalled the Israeli prime minister, who also mentioned the destruction of the Shiite militia's underground infrastructure and strategic sites throughout Lebanon, including Beirut. Netanyahu also alluded to Hamas, promising victory and the complete elimination of the terrorist group, as well as the return of the hostages still held hostage in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory." Full remarks >>https://t.co/43nIjRoJQv pic.twitter.com/KiwT3ZKcog Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 26, 2024 Regarding the war in the Palestinian enclave, Biden also stressed that Hamas now has to make a decision. The only way out of this is to free the hostages and end the fighting, he said. The US president also announced that in the coming days, with the help of his partners, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, he will try to push for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Shortly after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect, Hamas has said it is ready to reach a truce in Gaza. We have informed the mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious agreement for a prisoner exchange, a member of the Palestinian group told AFP. . Jack Ohman /Jack Ohman/The Chronicle U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announces he will appoint a special counsel to oversee the Justice Departments investigation into former President Donald Trump on Nov. 18, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images 2022 I know were all looking for any silver lining in a Mar-a-Lago gold-plated commode, but prosecution of President-elect (OMG) Donald Trump for being a treasonous coup plotter is off our bingo card. Jan. 6 special counsel Jack Smith asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to drop the case against Trump, which, to put it mildly, was, um, pretty clear. The detectives on Law & Order would have had this man weeping at a bare table with a Styrofoam cup of cold coffee within 10 minutes. Trump, naturally, says he wants to pardon some, if not all, of the J6 rioters. Back the Blue. You know. Unless they get in the way of his insurrection. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Chutkan dropped the charges, even as Smith noted that the case was dropped without prejudice, which means another case could be filed after Trump leaves the presidency, which could be, er, awhile. Naturally, Trump, ever the diplomat, said he would fire Smith, his entire team and the legal pads they rode in on. MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade wrote that Smith ends by stating that the governments position on the merits of the defendants prosecution has not changed. That is, he stands by the charges that Trump attempted to defraud the United States by interfering with the lawful transfer or presidential power, obstruct the joint session of Congress to certify the election and violate the voting rights of millions of American citizens by falsely claiming fraud in the 2020 election. Oh. Paging current Attorney General Merrick Garland, who slow-walked this prosecution for two years. If this had been some guy in San Mateo County instead of a former president of the United States, well, hed be pulling long time in Lompoc prison now. Furthermore, maybe we wouldnt be wondering why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wont let us vaccinate our kids in 2025 or why former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has a poster of a topless Vladimir Putin over her bed. But hey. Thanks, Merrick. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You know, the buttoned-down mind of Garland is very appearance-conscious. Propriety, you know. We shant wish to rock the boat. The boat has capsized. California Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, who is going to be getting a new Trump nickname every hour on the hour commencing on Jan. 20, 2025, was unhappy with this decision. I think this is a serious mistake by the department, which is practically screaming considering its Adam Schiff. Schiff added, But it is nevertheless a very serious distinction because the status quo now is no charges against the president. You would have to upset that status quo to later bring charges again, as opposed to merely postponing the proceedings, in which case the presumption is they continue when he leaves office. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Schiff is a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and knows how these things go. In this case, its going badly. Very, very badly. Had Glacial Garland acted as quickly as another special prosecutor (Hunter Biden was dispatched swiftly by a Delaware/Trump special counsel, interestingly), maybe those seven swing states might have swung a little differently if the Jan. 6 case, as well as the missing documents case, had moved faster than the continental drift. The history of special counsels dates back to President Ulysses S. Grant but the role came to the forefront during Watergate, when special counsel Archibald Cox, a former solicitor general in the Kennedy administration and a Harvard Law School professor, was fired by President Richard Nixon. That 1973 firing caused a cascade of resignations because then-Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus wouldnt fire Cox. Finally, Nixon Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in line of AG succession, finally agreed to fire Cox. See also: Borks later reward was a Reagan Supreme Court nomination that imploded. In response to Watergate and the Cox firing, Congress passed the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, which codified the special counsel law. Presidents before Trump saw this as a necessary tool. Trump will seek to destroy his enemies of the people (read: anyone who does things to deny him power). Advertisement Article continues below this ad Smiths dogged case-building was dealt a setback when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his case could only be adjudicated if he could only charge Trump with narrower crimes. Thats thanks to SCOTUSs now-sweeping latitude of their interpretation of presidential immunity. Smith rejiggered his case and moved forward. Then Smith hit a brick wall and exploded in a fireball, thanks to Trumps electoral victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Where does this leave the case now? Since its in what can only be described as suspended animation until 2029 (lets hope Trump leaves office then, but I wouldnt bet $5 on that question), Smith and his team will be out looking for jobs in the private sector, if Trump doesnt find some lackey to throw him in prison. Its clear what Trump wants: shatter the rule of law, unless it protects him and his slimy cronies (to wit: Trump bagman Boris Epshteyn charging monthly five-figure retainers to potential executive branch nominees). The rule of law isnt a rule anymore, its a pleasant, antiquarian concept, a suggestion of law. Lock her up, not him. Trump wants to destroy millions of lives with random acts of malignity. U.S. troops in the street? Whatever. Coups? Better for me than thee. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 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 Some people have suggested that President Joe Biden pardon Trump. For what reason? Is he rehabilitated? Hmm? Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. 27 November 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Azerbaijans journey from an oil-reliant economy to a diversified, sustainable model has been a focal point of global attention, particularly following the successful hosting of COP29 in Baku. The conference, hailed as the "Baku Breakthrough," highlighted the nations ability to balance its historical role as an energy powerhouse with its emerging identity as a champion of green initiatives. Unlike each November, this year we witnessed a number of firsts in Azerbaijan's annual budget planning. Let us break it down. Access to paid information is limited Find the plan that suits you best. 27 November 2024 20:00 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent inconsistent decisions on peace in the region overshadow his statements that he could restore relations with official Baku in a short time. Although Nikol Pashinyan has stated dozens of times since 2024 that "we are ready to sign a peace document," he has followed each statement with an illogical claim, causing the process to be stalled. Nikol Pashinyan's character is more reminiscent of a stage person. Many experts have come to this conclusion when commenting on his opinions. Even today, within the Pashinyan administration, his decisions are not taken seriously. For example, when news broke two weeks ago that Pashinyan had dismissed six of his ministers, some commentators attributed this to his ministers giving less importance to Pashinyans decisions that frequently lose their power. Tit for tat in hard talks towards looming peace The reason for the delay in peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia is that Armenia still has territorial claims against Azerbaijan in its constitution and declaration of independence. Although the initial reaction when official Baku informed the Armenian leadership of this was positive, later Baku's demand was reacted with a similar claim from the other side. Although Nikol Pashinyan officially admitted in his statement in the Armenian parliament that his country's constitution contains a clause regarding claims against the territories of a neighbouring state, after a while the Armenian prime minister came back with a claim that could confuse the public. His claim was more like a tit-for-tat in which he was assertive about Azerbaijan's territorial claim against Armenia, citing the Azerbaijani constitution as an unfounded reason. Nevertheless, all the facts confirm that Pashinyan's claim is not stated in any clause of the Azerbaijani constitution. It is known that Armenia returned 4 enclaves belonging to Azerbaijan in April 2024. At the same time, Armenia knows that 4 additional enclaves should be returned to Azerbaijan and has officially confirmed this within the framework of the peace agreement document that is still pending. In addition, the peace document also includes a clause on the opening of communication lines between Azerbaijan and Armenia, that is, the Zangazur Corridor. However, Baku, wanting to continue the process quickly, postponed the discussion of the Zangazur Corridor issue until after the peace agreement. And how did Yerevan act in response to this? Both the demand from Baku to change the constitution and the appeal to the International Court of Justice regarding Yerevan's known crimes in the formerly occupied Garabagh are obviously burdens for Armenia. To free himself from this burden, the Pashinyan administration should have responded with some pretext. Nikol Pashinyan, following in Baku's footsteps, is withdrawing his baseless constitutional claim against Azerbaijan in an attempt to supposedly contribute to peace talks. He even said that he had withdrawn his unfathomable appeal to the international court against Azerbaijan for unknown reasons; even knowing that it was Armenia that committed murders in Garabagh and caused material and moral damage to the country during the thirty-year occupation. Why Pashinyans dove of peace is much like a bellicose jingoist? Pashinyans reflection on peace in the South Caucasus does not concur with his presentation about Armenia as a dove of peace in the region. He acts more as a belligerent government leader than a peacemaker, given his growing appetite for arming Armenia. The fact that Armenia's military spending has skyrocketed in recent days and accounts for 6 per cent of the country's GDP does not bode well. Pashinyan, thanks to his loan debts and a large part of the country's revenues, brings howitzers, lethal weapons and heavy artilleries to the country every month. Despite the delimitation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Yerevan still agrees to the activities of the European Union Mission (EUMA) near the border. Armenia's ambiguous position towards Azerbaijan is reflected in many of its recent steps. For example, Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyans calling the borderline with Azerbaijan a front line during his recent visit to the border area, as well as the information circulating about Armenia's construction of a new military unit in the village of Qarakilse (Sisian), raises serious questions. Armenian PM and his peace dove, which he said was preparing for peace with a month left before the end of the year, is it preparing to rain down bombs or is it peace in the air? Fingers crossed... 27 November 2024 17:00 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Production and export of natural gas to the European market is one of the recent triumphs of the Azerbaijani government. Oil was Azerbaijan's primary export, accounting for over 90 per cent of its export revenues prior to gas exportation. This reliance made the Azerbaijani economy more vulnerable to risks. Therefore, the government urgently needed a solution, and natural gas emerged as one of the key answers. When the government initiated plans for the production and export of natural gas, some media outlets, both domestically and internationally, began circulating information about the "inefficiency" of the project. Baku faced many artificial barriers in its efforts to export its product to Europe. However, these challenges did not discourage Baku. Thanks to decisive actions, the government successfully realized the project. Following the Ukrainian war, European interest in Azerbaijani gas surged. In 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan to expand gas exports. Soon, Baku began exporting its gas to 11 countries, reducing the share of oil in Azerbaijani exports to 50 per cent. In other words, Azerbaijani gas proved to be the best remedy for Europe to reduce its dependence on Russia and for Baku to lessen its reliance on oil. In parallel with these successes, the same forces that once claimed the "inefficiency" of the projects began to chase a non-existent black cat in a dark room. They first argued that Azerbaijan lacked the resources and infrastructure to replace Russia. In response, it was clarified that the EU aims to diversify its energy resources and does not seek any single country to replace Russia. As for resources and infrastructure, Azerbaijan has sufficient capacity to meet the EU's requirements. Of course, this did not silence the critics because they were deliberately looking for a molehill to make into a mountain. It did not take long for them to find a "molehill" and to latch onto Azerbaijan's import of Russian gas. Azerbaijan produced 48.5 bcm of gas, of which 23.8 bcm was exported in 2023. However, Azerbaijan imports roughly 1 bcm from Russia. Despite Azerbaijan's gas production being 49 times and its gas export being 24 times greater than its gas import from Russia, these forces have been grasping at this "molehill" like the last straws. Western media outlets started to circulate baseless accusations about Azerbaijans re-exportation of Russian gas. Last week, Azerbaijan's foreign policy chief, Hikmet Hajiyev, addressed the issue on X, noting that Azerbaijan did not import gas from Russia in 2024. He also highlighted that Azerbaijan produces and exports gas in collaboration with international (editor mostly Western) partners. Despite Hikmet Hajiyev's response, these forces continued to create a storm in a teacup. A similar question was posed to Tim McPhie, the Commission's spokesperson on energy affairs. His response echoed Hajiyev's emphasis. The Commission's spokesperson noted that the Southern Gas Corridor, which supplies the EU markets, is only connected to Azerbaijani gas fields, not the broader Azerbaijani natural gas system; therefore, the Southern Gas Corridor does not transport Russian gas to the EU. Given all this information, it is evident that despite Azerbaijan's goodwill, some will continue to defame the country. Even if a lab test proved that Azerbaijan exports purely its natural gas, critics would still try to find something. It is clear that they maliciously aim to shape public opinion. Why? Unfortunately, we do not know. But they should remember that by attempting to defame Azerbaijan, they will achieve nothing. On the contrary, the media outlets involved in this dark PR will lose their reputation. 27 November 2024 12:03 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Azerbaijan and Lithuania have agreed to establish a working group to strengthen collaboration in taxation, Azernews reports, citing the State Tax Service under the Economy Ministry. The decision was announced following a video-conference meeting between Orkhan Nazarli, President of the Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations (IOTA) and Head of the Azerbaijani State Tax Service, and Edita Janusiene, Head of the Lithuanian State Tax Inspectorate under the Finance Ministry. The meeting underscored the significance of deepening ties between the two organizations and highlighted progress achieved through enhanced mutual relations. Discussions covered Azerbaijans priorities during its IOTA presidency and the partnership opportunities to address the organizations challenges. Both sides reviewed proposals to improve IOTAs operations, emphasized the importance of fair economic practices, and stressed adherence to international standards in fostering investments. The role of effective fiscal tools and mechanisms in supporting IOTAs initiatives was also explored. Key areas of cooperation, the advancement of international relations between tax authorities, and potential joint projects were discussed as part of the future road-map. 27 November 2024 15:43 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more Azerbaijan has signed five key agreements aimed at fostering the "green economy" during events organized by the Ministry of Economy at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azernews. Agreements include: Electric Bus Production Project Representatives from Azerbaijans Ministries of Economy, Digital Development and Transport, and Finance, alongside BYD, SARDA Group, and Electrify Azerbaijan, signed an agreement to localize the production of electric buses. The project includes establishing production facilities and spare parts localization in Azerbaijan, with a target of achieving 40% localization by 2030. Deposit Management System A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and Turkiye's Dias Bilisim ve Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S. to develop a Deposit Management System for collecting plastic and glass containers in Azerbaijan. Carbon Technology Development AIC also partnered with the UKs Carbonbit Technologies to advance the development and commercialization of carbon technologies in Azerbaijan. Battery Manufacturing Facility A MoU was signed with Masdar (UAE) and Volts, a BP subsidiary, to support the establishment of a power battery manufacturing facility in Azerbaijan. Waste Monetization Project AIC, SOCAR Downstream, and Technip Energies Italy S.P.A (TEN) established Ecostar LLC to lead the preliminary engineering design of the "Waste Monetization" project using Alterra pyrolysis technology. The project will produce pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. Additional Initiatives: 27 November 2024 12:22 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Azerbaijan, together with the embassies of the EU member states, has organized the first European national costumes exhibition as part of the FantazEU Cultural Heritage Festival, which is being held for the fifth time, Azernews reports. The exhibition aims to introduce the Azerbaijani audience to the world of European traditional costumes that have come down to us from centuries. Within the framework of the exhibition, the embassies of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia presented their national costumes reflecting their customs and traditions from different historical periods, the diversity and cultural experience of the EU countries. EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko addressed the opening ceremony of the exhibition. "National costumes are a reflection of the history of the nation. They are formed under the influence of socio-economic, cultural-historical, natural-geographical factors. That is why national costumes become a source for studying the culture of different countries. We hope that the exhibition will help visitors to Azerbaijan learn more about the national culture and folklore of EU member states," EU Ambassador said. FantazEU Festival is the successor of the Fantazia Cultural Heritage Festival, which has been organised by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan since 2018. It aims at promoting European cultural diversity, with a particular focus on European cultural heritage in Azerbaijan, including demonstrating links between European and Azerbaijani cultural heritage. The festival took its name from the Fantazia hamam. The bathhouse was built in Baku in the end of the 19th century, bringing together European and local architectural elements. 27 November 2024 14:15 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more The 10th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is being held in the Portuguese city of Cascais under the theme "United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future", Azernews reports. Themed "United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future", this year's forum marks 20th anniversary of the Alliance of Civilizations. High-Level Meeting of the UNAOC Ministerial Group of Friends has been organized within the forum. Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli addressed the event themed "20 Years of Dialogue for the Sake of Humanity: Reflecting on the Lessons Learned and Paving the Way Forward". In his speech, Adil Karimli pointed out that Azerbaijan, a multinational and multi-confessional country, makes great contributions to intercultural dialogue. Since 2011, the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue has been held in our country six times in partnership with the Alliance of Civilizations within the framework of the "Baku Process" initiated by President Ilham Aliyev in 2008. The 10th UNAOC Global Forum in Cascais, Portugal has gathered members of the UNAOC Group of Friends, political leaders, representatives of international and regional organizations, religious leaders and faith actors, the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, arts and media, as well as donor agencies and foundations, who address the global issues pertinent to peace and security and call for restoring trust and for uniting in peace. In Cascais, participants have an opportunity to reflect on the twenty years of the Alliance of Civilizations' initiative, announced by Spain at the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2004, and how UNAOC grew into a vibrant and well-established United Nations entity. 27 November 2024 10:00 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more "The COP29 held in Baku has become an important platform for discussing global problems related to climate change and developing joint solutions," Azernews reports, citing Bekejan Jakeyev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, citing as he said at the press conference on "Results of the main climate summit of the UN - COP29" held in Astana. He noted that Kazakhstan actively participated in the conference. The country presented its initiatives and achievements in the field of combating climate change and transitioning to sustainable development. "Within the preparation and holding of COP29, the International Green Technologies and Investment Projects Center coordinated the work of the "Kazakhstan" pavilion and provided its information content. It has become a platform for holding a number of events, presentations and discussions on key aspects of the climate agenda," he said. Bekejan Jakeyev noted that the pavilion presented initiatives in the field of decarbonization of Kazakhstan's economy, including the development of renewable energy sources, increasing energy efficiency, modernization of industry and plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Shattik Tastemirova, head of the climate change adaptation department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said that 33 thematic sessions were held in the "Kazakhstan" pavilion with the participation of international partners. He emphasized that according to the results of COP29, it was decided to allocate 300 billion dollars annually to developing countries until 2035. Speakers at the press conference talked about their experience of participation in COP29. They shared the initiatives presented by Kazakhstan, emphasized the active interaction with international partners and the organization of thematic events in the national pavilion. It should be noted that the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, being an organization subordinate to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is actively working on the formation of a long-term base for the development of "green" projects in Kazakhstan. Stories of China's high-quality development | Jinjiang in SE China's Fujian becomes entrepreneurial powerhouse People's Daily Online) 09:21, November 27, 2024 "Being a boss in Jinjiang isn't very impressive because on average one in every seven people is a boss and there is one enterprise for every 21 people," said Zhou Shaoxiong, chairman of the Quanzhou Chamber of Industry and Commerce and founder of the Septwolves clothing brand in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. The high density of entrepreneurs in Jinjiang stems from two key factors, according to Zhou. First is the local motto, "Dedicate yourself, and you will win," reflecting the city's entrepreneurial spirit. Second is the productive relationship between government and business, with local authorities acting primarily as facilitators. Jinjiang's economic success builds on its dual approach: strengthening the public sector while actively supporting private enterprise. The city government has struck a balance between market economy development and public service, creating an environment where both efficient markets and effective governance thrive. Despite occupying just 0.5 percent of Fujian's land area, Jinjiang contributes more than 6 percent of the province's economic output, establishing itself as a recognized global brand center. A July 2023 guideline on boosting the growth of the private economy released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council called for efforts to continuously innovate and enhance the "Jinjiang Experience," highlighting the need to adopt successful practices from various regions and implement effective strategies systematically. "The defining feature of the drastic changes of Jinjiang is its efforts to earnestly develop the real economy. We are all witnesses and beneficiaries of this process," said Zhou, adding that being a boss isn't what's most impressive. He said the most impressive things are Jinjiang itself, a land where pioneering spirit and dedication are championed, its "trailblazers" and "fighters" in the market economy, and an era that enables the private sector to prosper. (Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang) Tax reporting requirements for freelancers or gig workers who receive payments via apps such as PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or Cash App will change for the 2024 tax year. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Many more gig economy workers who make money driving their cars, renting out homes to visitors or selling things online will see their gross earnings reported to the Internal Revenue Service starting next year, unless the next president and Congress overturn the law that drastically lowered the reporting threshold. Under new guidance published Tuesday, online platforms and payment apps such as Uber, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, eBay, Etsy, Cash App, PayPal and Venmo must issue Form 1099-K to anyone whose annual gross payments exceed $5,000 in 2024, $2,500 in 2025 and $600 in 2026 and thereafter regardless of how many transactions they have in one year. This form goes to the taxpayer and the IRS, making it harder for people with such income to deliberately or inadvertently avoid reporting income. Since 2011, when this requirement debuted, these third party settlement organizations only had to send Form 1099-K to people who had more than 200 separate transactions and earned more than $20,000 in one year. They could send them to people below these thresholds, but most did not. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2021, hoping to crack down on untaxed income, Congress passed a law that lowered the reporting threshold to $600 per year regardless of the transaction count starting in 2022. That is the same threshold that applies to other types of income not subject to tax withholding, such as income from freelance work or other non-employee compensation reported on Form 1099-NEC and for prizes, awards and other miscellaneous income reported on Form 1099-MISC. However, the IRS delayed implementation of the $600 threshold for 2022 and 2023 amid a lobbying blitz by some of these companies and accounting groups. Last November, the IRS said it was planning a threshold of $5,000 for 2024 to phase in the new law, but it did not officially adopt that plan, or announce the 2025 and 2026 thresholds, until Tuesday. Whether they receive a 1099, workers are required to report all income on a tax return, unless it is specifically exempt or their gross income falls below IRS filing requirements. Some Republicans in Congress have tried to overturn the 2021 law and restore the $20,000 threshold. Democrats 1099-K policy would burden taxpayers by burying gig workers under a mountain of paperwork, with over 90 percent of the tax burden falling on Americans earning less than $200,000, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a news release after the IRS announcement Tuesday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Some Democrats favor establishing a permanent threshold higher than $600 but lower than $20,000, such as $5,000 or $10,000. Caroline Bruckner, director of American Universitys Kogod Tax Policy Center, said there is an exceedingly high probability that the law will get repealed. But Annette Nellen, tax professor at San Jose State University, said that increasing the threshold above $600 would reduce tax revenue and repealing or modifying the law might not be a high priority for either party. Neither (presidential) candidate campaigned for this, she said. If the law stands, how will it affect those who receive a 1099-K? Tax reporting requirements for freelancers or gig workers who receive payments via apps such as Cash App, Venmo, Zelle or PayPal will change for the 2024 tax year. Richard Drew/Associated Press Gig economy workers Nothing will change for gig economy workers who have been reporting their income correctly. Most self-employed people report their income and deduct business-related expenses including fees paid to payment platforms on Schedule C with their tax return. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Self-employed people generally need to file and pay estimated taxes four times a year to avoid an underpayment penalty. Gifts and shared expenses These reporting requirements do not apply to money you received from friends and family as a gift or repayment for a personal expense, such as a shared meal or rent, the IRS says. These items are not income and should not be reported on a 1099-K. PayPal, which also owns Venmo, did not return a request for comment on how it will separate personal from business payments. A spokesman for Zelle, a payment app that lets users send and receive money directly from and to bank accounts, said via email that payments between friends and family, and eligible small businesses sent through the Zelle Network are not subject to this law because Zelle facilitates messaging between financial institutions but does not hold accounts or handle settlement of funds. If payments received on the Zelle Network are taxable, it is the consumer or organizations responsibility to report them to the IRS. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sale of personal goods Things could get tricky for people who make money selling personal items on an online marketplace such as eBay. If you sell items at a profit, the gain should be reported on Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, the IRS said. If you are selling personal items at a loss, you are not in business and should not file Schedule C, said San Francisco certified public accountant Richard Pon. You cannot deduct a loss on the sale of a personal item from your taxes, but you can zero out the reported gross income so you dont pay taxes on it, he added. The IRS says people who sell personal items at a loss and receive a 1099-K can report it on Schedule 1 or on Form 8949. It has examples and instructions in an FAQ on its website. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Potential benefits Despite the complications it may cause, Bruckner said the new lower reporting requirements should be preserved and could help many low-income people. Most everyone views getting this form as a negative because they dont know taxes (on this income) are due, they forgot they earned it or they are deliberately trying to avoid paying taxes on it, she said. However many low-income gig workers may not earn enough to owe income taxes. If you are low-wage, your standard deduction could be greater than your income, Bruckner added. Some workers may even get an earned income tax credit to reduce their taxes, in some cases below zero. More importantly, if they have more than $400 in income from self-employment, even if they dont owe income taxes, they must pay self-employment tax when they file taxes. This tax, half of which is deductible on the tax return, qualifies them for Social Security and Medicare. 27 November 2024 16:21 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan welcomes the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and expects this agreement will end the hostilities. Azerbaijan, supporting the resolution of conflicts in a peaceful way, and as an initiator of COP29 Presidency Joint Solemn Appeal for a COP29 Truce, endorsed by 132 The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry shared this stance on its "X" account, emphasizing the country's commitment to peaceful conflict resolution. Azerbaijan has expressed its support for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, hoping that it will lead to the end of military operations, Azernews reports. Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis. By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. Subscribe You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper Thank you! 27 November 2024 17:56 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more For Azerbaijani women, traditional silk headscarf, also known as kelaghayi, has always been a must-have accessory that protects them from both the hot sun and cold wind as silk is cool in summer and warm in winter, Azernews reports. In November 2014, traditional art and symbolism of Kelaghayi, making and wearing womens silk headscarves was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Ten years have passed since the inclusion of Azerbaijan's traditional art and symbolism of kelaghayi in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This significant date was celebrated at Maksud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center with a colorful event, co-organized by "Inkisaf" Scientific Center and the Basgal Silk Center "Kelaghayi". Director of the Maksud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center Anna Ibrahimbayova welcomed the guests of the event. She expressed her satisfaction with the opportunity to celebrate such an important event within the walls of the Creativity Center, emphasizing that the preservation of cultural heritage is a contribution to the future of the nation. Then the cousin of the People's Writer of Azerbaijan Maksud Ibrahimbayov, Rena Ibrahimbayova, spoke about the historical and cultural significance of the kelaghayi, and also touched upon the philosophical aspect of this unique attribute. According to her, the kelaghayi is not just a woman's headscarf. It is imbued with symbolism and carries a deep meaning. This is a symbol of protection, wisdom and beauty that permeate our culture. As Rena Ibrahimbayova noted, the restoration and popularization of the art of kelaghayi is the result of the careful attitude of the country's leadership to the cultural heritage. "Today, kelaghayi has been enriched with new content, and has become even more diverse and beautiful. This became possible thanks to the efforts of the First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, whose contribution to this process is truly invaluable. Thanks to her initiatives, kelaghayi has received a worthy place in the world cultural space," she said. In an interview with journalists, the writer's cousin noted that the inclusion of kelaghayi in the UNESCO list was a historic achievement. "Ten years ago, on November 26, 2014, a significant event took place - kelaghayi was recognized as an object of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This step not only emphasizes the uniqueness of our culture, but also consolidates its significance in the international arena. We are proud that our national symbol has taken a worthy place in the treasury of world heritage," she emphasized. Rena Ibrahimbayova drew attention to the universality of the kelaghayi, which performs not only a practical but also a deep philosophical function: "People express their emotions, thoughts and values through the kelaghayi. It is not just an element of clothing, but a means of communication that unites generations and cultures. It was this understanding that became decisive for UNESCO specialists, who unanimously voted for its inclusion in the representative list." In her speech, she underlined that recognition of the kelaghayi at the international level is the result of long and painstaking work. "It was not an easy task to single out the kelaghayi among many unique elements of world heritage. But thanks to the professionalism and persistence of our First Lady, this became a reality. Today, we can proudly say that Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to world culture, and the kelaghayi plays an important role in this contribution," she concluded. Kelaghayi comes in a wide range of different patterns and looks. This beautiful head scarf adds the perfect hint of cool to any outfit. The main figure used in silk headscarf is buta, a twisted teardrop that has been a symbol of the divine fire, which has been worshipped in Azerbaijan since ancient times. The edges of kelaghayi, and sometimes its central part (khoncha) are decorated with geometrical or nabati ornaments. Each region produces its own unique type of kelaghayi. For instance, Shah buta, buta, and khirda buta patterns are typical for Sheki and Basgal kelaghayis. There are many traditions associated with this magnificent headscarf. Unmarried girls cover their heads with a headscarf of bright colors, such as yellow, pink, gold or purple, while the old women preferred dark kelaghayi. After obtaining the consent of the girl, the woman representing the groom's side used to present jewelry wrapped in red kelaghayi. In addition, during the henna ceremony of the wedding, the bride's head was covered with kelaghayi and then henna was applied to her hands and feet. At wedding ceremonies, the groom and his closest friends also tied kelaghayi on their necks and a mirror of a wedding car. In addition, trays with gifts from women arriving at the wedding, kelaghayi, was considered the most expensive gift. This wonderful tradition is still preserved in some regions. Azerbaijan has been known as kelaghayi production center since ancient times. High quality kelagai was produced in Tabriz, Ganja, Shamakhi, Shaki and Nakhchivan. The most famous silk headscarves are produced in the city of Basgal, a beautiful village near Shamakhi. For many years, Shaki has remained in the status of the country's silk-breeding center. The largest silk factory in the world operated in the 19th century was in Shaki. Basqal is also known for its Silk Center and Kelaghayi Museum provides visitors and tourists with a comprehensive picture of this ancient Azerbaijani art. In the museum, they are informed about the history of kelaghayi making art. The most valuable six or seven kelaghayis are produced in Basgal until now. Kelaghayi production is a complex process, which involves representatives of a number of professions, including a tailor, a dyer of kelaghayi fabric, a pattern artist and an ornamentalist. Making this head blanket weighing 125 grams, requires two days to paint and apply patterns. Nowadays ancient silk headscarf continues to captivate the fashion industry. Kelaghayi has turned into a source of inspiration for many fashion designers around the world. One can enjoy these stunning headscarves not only in the Museum of Basgal, but also in the country's national museums. 27 November 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva A fire broke out during an engine test of Japan's Epsilon S rocket, Azernews reports. The incident occurred at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, during a routine engine test. While the fire itself was contained, footage captured by a camera installed at the cosmodrome showed a small amount of smoke. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported so far. The Epsilon series, a family of solid-fuel, three-stage rockets, was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in collaboration with the Japanese aerospace company IHI. These rockets have been in operation since 2013, primarily designed to launch small satellites into orbit. The Epsilon S, the latest iteration of the series, features improved performance and enhanced payload capacity, marking a significant advancement in Japan's space capabilities. Interestingly, the Epsilon rockets are known for their relatively low cost and quick launch turnaround, making them a popular choice for small satellite missions. They are part of Japans broader efforts to establish a robust space infrastructure, with increasing commercial interest in small satellite launches. 27 November 2024 23:50 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The House of Representatives of the Australian Federal Parliament has approved a bill proposed by the government to ban social media access for individuals under 16 years of age, Azernews reports. According to the information, the bill was approved by 102 out of 115 members of parliament. The 13 lawmakers who voted against the government's proposal included all members of the Green Party faction, as well as a number of independent deputies. The draft is expected to be submitted to the upper house in the coming days, where it is likely to also receive the support of a majority of senators. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who personally presented the bill to parliamentarians, expressed confidence that it would receive "unconditional approval" by the end of the week. The bill proposes changes to existing legislation regulating internet safety, specifically amending it to prohibit access to social media platforms for individuals under the age of 16. If enacted, this measure would make Australia one of the first countries to introduce such an age limit for social media use on a national level. The government has justified the bill as a necessary step to protect young people from the negative effects of social media, including cyberbullying, mental health issues, and exposure to inappropriate content. Critics, however, have raised concerns about the potential impact on freedom of expression and the practical challenges of enforcing such a ban. 27 November 2024 21:40 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The Russian-Indian company BrahMos Aerospace is in discussions with Vietnam, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding the potential supply of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, Azernews reports. "There are talks with Indonesia, with Vietnam, and with the [United Arab] Emirates. These are the countries that showed the most interest," said Maksichev, a representative of BrahMos Aerospace. He added, "These three countries," in response to a question about which nations might sign contracts for the supply of BrahMos missiles. Maksichev did not provide further details about the current stage of the negotiations or the exact terms under discussion. The BrahMos missile was developed jointly by the Russian company NPO Mashinostroeniya and the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India. Its first test launch occurred in 2001. Currently, various modifications of the BrahMos missile are in service with the Indian Air Force, Navy, and Ground Forces. BrahMos Aerospace also offers these missiles for export to third-party countries. The Philippines became the first foreign customer of BrahMos missiles, signing a deal to enhance its coastal defense capabilities. This marks a significant step in the missile's export journey, as the Philippines aims to strengthen its military deterrence in the South China Sea amid rising regional tensions. The BrahMos missile is considered one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world, with speeds of up to Mach 3. It is capable of striking both land and naval targets with pinpoint accuracy. Its combination of speed, range, and precision makes it a highly coveted asset for modernizing the defense capabilities of countries in Asia and the Middle East. The missiles unique capabilities have sparked interest among several nations seeking to bolster their military defense systems. 27 November 2024 22:45 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The Emergency Situations Ministry of Kyrgyzstan plans to purchase an additional helicopter, Azernews reports. According to Deputy Minister Mambetov, the ministry currently has three helicopters, including one Mi-8, and negotiations are underway for the acquisition of another aircraft. "If we reach an agreement with the suppliers, we expect to purchase an additional helicopter next year," Mambetov said. In addition to the helicopter, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is set to receive new special equipment by the end of this year. "We will receive equipment worth $8-9 million through the World Bank. This will include excavators, bulldozers, and equipment for shore protection works. In total, we plan to acquire 70-80 units," the Deputy Minister added. These new acquisitions are part of Kyrgyzstan's ongoing efforts to improve its disaster response capabilities, especially in the face of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and landslides, which are common in the region due to its mountainous terrain. The increase in specialized equipment and aerial support, such as helicopters, is critical for the Ministry's ability to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies, conduct search and rescue operations, and carry out preventive measures to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. Kyrgyzstans mountainous geography makes it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, including avalanches, floods, and landslides. The Ministry of Emergency Situations plays a crucial role in disaster management and has been gradually modernizing its equipment to handle these challenges more efficiently. The addition of more helicopters and heavy machinery not only enhances the ministrys response capabilities but also aids in long-term infrastructure development, such as improving roads and shorelines that are prone to flooding. 27 November 2024 19:05 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva Teenagers will face new restrictions on the use of beauty filters in TikTok, following growing concerns about rising anxiety and decreasing self-esteem, Azernews reports. Starting in the coming weeks, users under the age of 18 will be prohibited from using filters that artificially enlarge their eyes, tighten their lips, or alter skin tone. These changes will affect filters like Bold Glamour, which can dramatically distort facial features in ways that regular makeup cannot. However, the ban will not apply to filters that add playful elements, such as rabbit ears or dog noses. TikTok, which boasts a billion users globally, announced the new restrictions during a safety forum held at its European headquarters in Dublin. The platform's decision to implement these measures will depend on whether users adhere to their real age profiles, though age misrepresentation is common. Experts have raised concerns that beauty filters may cause young users, especially girls, to develop unrealistic expectations about their appearance. Some teenagers have reported feeling disillusioned with their real faces after using filters, which can negatively affect their emotional well-being. Earlier this month, TikTok also revealed plans to tighten its system for blocking users under the age of 13. By the end of the year, the platform will begin testing machine learning algorithms designed to identify and block users who deliberately bypass age restrictions. Chloe Setter, TikToks head of public policy for child safety, stated, "We hope this will enable us to detect and remove age-cheating accounts more effectively and quickly." Users who are mistakenly blocked will have the opportunity to appeal. "Obviously, this may frustrate some young people," Setter acknowledged, but emphasized that the platform's priority would remain on safety. BAKER CITY Customers who rounded up their grocery bill at Safeway and Albertsons during the last month helped provide 300 Thanksgiving meals for the community on Nov. 26. The program, called Turkey Bucks, raised about $16,000, said Angela St. Claire, Albertsons store director. That total allowed the Baker City Salvation Army to request 300 meals from the regional food bank, said Christina Earle, service extension director. On Nov. 26, all the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner were delivered to the parking lot near Albertsons, where volunteers from law enforcement and emergency services helped unload boxes and pack food into bags. Many hands make light work, Earle said with a smile. Each dinner, packed into a reusable shopping bag, contained a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and rolls. Last year, donations raised enough for 150 meals, St. Claire said. This time, any meals not claimed at the Albertsons event were taken to The Salvation Armys food bank at 2502 Broadway St. in Baker City. Looking ahead St. Claire and Brandon Sweet, Safeway store director, said the upcoming Holiday Bucks program will also help local families. Earle said she serves an average of 150 to 200 families each month at the food bank, and numbers are slowly going up. The Salvation Army accepts applications for Christmas food boxes, which are delivered by the Baker City Fire Department. In addition to local fundraisers, Earle said monetary donations can help purchase food for the Christmas meals. She said another way to help is to fulfill a gift wish on an Angel tree, or volunteer as a bell ringer for the red kettles. Right now, I have one, Earle said. Volunteers can sign up at registertoring.com. Bob Egelko has been a reporter since June 1970. He spent 30 years with the Associated Press, covering news, politics and occasionally sports in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento, and legal affairs in San Francisco from 1984 onward. He worked for the San Francisco Examiner for five months in 2000, then joined The Chronicle in November 2000. His beat includes state and federal courts in California, the Supreme Court and the State Bar. He has a law degree from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and is a member of the bar. Coverage has included the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the appointment of Rose Bird to the state Supreme Court and her removal by the voters, the death penalty in California and the battles over gay rights and same-sex marriage. The election for a NC Supreme Court seat between radical lefitst Democrat appointee Allison Riggs and conservative Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin is still not resolved as vote recounts continue, and large numbers of election challenges have been filed. On election night, Griffin led by nearly 10,000 votes, but the latest count had Riggs ahead by 637. Challenges hve been filed by Judge Griffin's campaign, the North Carolina Republican Party, and several individuals. The 131 challenges from Griffin cover over 60,000 votes. The state and county boards of election will work through hearing those challenges over the next several weeks, and then there are likely to be challenges in court. One court case has already been filed by the NC Republican Party. In some cases, Democrat controlled county election boards have brazenly disregarded the law to count ballots of dead people. State law clearly provides that if a voter either votes by mail or early voting and then dies before election day, their ballot has to be retrieved and their votes removed from the count. In Beaufort County, one voter died before election day, and the county elections board followed the law and removed their votes. A number of counties including Wake refused to do that, and a Democrat member of the Wake board openly claimed they were not bound by that state law. In those counties, those illegal votes were counted and they are among those challenged. State election law also provides that felons who have not completed their sentence including probation cannot vote. Five did so anyway in Beaufort County during early voting, and all five had their votes retrieved and cancelled. Other counties have disregarded the law and counted these votes anyway, and those are among the challenges. Overseas persons who had no connection with counties where they registered by mail are also among the challenges. A few of those have already been dealt with by local boards. For example, in Lee County, four people in four different countries all registered by mail with the same residential address, but apparently never had any connection with that address or even to Lee County, and may not have even been US citizens. Those voters were disqualified and their absentee ballots removed and deducted from the count. All had voted Democrat. The District Attorney for Lee County has also indicated he will have them indicted for election fraud so they can be tried if they ever show up in the US. This would have probably slipped through except for the eagle-eyed Lee County GOP chairman discovering it and filing a challenge prior to election day. Many of these overseas voters who registered by mail have failed to comply with NC law of providing a photo ID. Many also have no apparent connection to the place where they registered. This follows a Democrat National Committee effort to register Americans abroad and funnel them into swing states. These votes are also among the Griffin challenges. One of the huge messes, which has repeatedly been brought to the attenton of the State Board of Elections, but they have refused to do anything about it is the more than 400,000 NC voters whose registrations fail to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). That law requires voter registrations to include either the drivers license number or the last four numbers of the social security number, both of which can be used to verify the voter's identity at the time they register. While thousands of these non-compliant registrations date back from before HAVA was enacted, and the sloppy state BOE has simply failed to update them, although most other states have, but they have continued to accept new registrations without this legally required information. As late as early voting 2024, people were still being allowed to register in North Carolina without this data in many counties. The Griffin campaign has suggested a "curing" process for those votes. Voters in that category would receive a letter telling them they needed to provide that legally required information by a set date. Those who did so would have their votes counted. Those who fail to do so would have their votes cancelled, but that can only be done for those who voted by early voting or mail in. There is no possible way to retrieve election day ballots. Election integrity campaigners have brought formal HAVA complaints before the NC state Board of Elections in the past over this very issue of failing to obtain this required data, but the board blew them off and refused to do anything about it. They did not even change their forms as to new voters to start complying with the law. https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2024/11/26/update-the-strange-and-unacceptable-twists-in-the-north-carolina-supreme-court-race-n2182490 1. A medical malpractice lawsuit was filed on Nov. 15 against Akira Yamamoto, MD, Lynette Tschabold, PA-C, Scott Morley, and several entities associated with the Palo Alto (Calif.) Medical Foundation, a Sutter Health-affiliated network. The lawsuit, initiated by James Derbin, stems from a total hip arthroplasty performed on Dec. 7, 2023, at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Ambulatory Surgery Center. Mr. Derbin alleges that Dr. Yamamotos surgical performance fell below the standard of care, and claims that the procedure and subsequent care were negligent. The complaint further states that the defendants failed to identify and address a dislocation in his left hip, which was reportedly dislocated for nearly the entire postoperative period. As a result, Mr. Derbin continues to experience significant medical complications requiring further treatment. He accuses all parties involved of failing to provide the reasonable care and skill expected of healthcare professionals. 2. Raynaldo Ortiz, MD, a Dallas-based anesthesiologist, has been sentenced to 190 years in prison after being convicted of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas. In August 2022, Dr. Ortiz tampered with five IV bags, contaminating them with bupivacaine, epinephrine, and lidocaine before placing them in a warming bin for use by medical staff. The tampering led to four patients suffering cardiac emergencies during routine cosmetic procedures. 3. The Battle Creek (Mich.) Endoscopy and Surgery Center will permanently close on Dec. 31, resulting in the layoff of 17 employees. The closure follows the retirement of three physicians and the centers inability to recruit replacements, administrator Bridget Dove told WWMT. Ms. Dove highlighted the challenges of hiring amid a nationwide gastroenterologist shortage, exacerbated by new graduates opting for hospital employment over private practice or independent centers. Half of my physicians work for Bronson [Health System], and the other half work for Ascension, said Ms. Dove. This split made it nearly impossible to fill the vacancies caused by retirement. 4. A Denton, Texas-based medical center has paid $14.2 million to settle alleged violations of Stark law and Medicare regulations related to four ASCs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, specifically in Dallas, Richardson and Coppell. Horizon Medical Center, which operates a long-term acute care hospital with several ASCs, self-reported that it failed to include a modifier and location to identify services performed at non-excepted, off-campus outpatient facilities when submitting claims to Medicare. Horizon disclosed that it had entered into management agreements with third-party companies affiliated with physicians performing surgery at its outpatient facilities. It also leased equipment through operating agreements with companies affiliated with those same physicians. 5. An investigation by ABC News 10 San Diego revealed that a San Diego Outpatient Surgical Center employed a nurse involved in a fatal malpractice case, the outlet reported Oct. 28. Heather Lang Vass, RN, was sentenced to two years in prison in September after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a patient at Divino Plastic Surgery Clinic. The patient died after Ms. Vass administered excessive doses of fentanyl, Percocet and ketamine despite not being authorized to provide anesthesia. Following her conviction, Ms. Vass surrendered her nursing license. However, the San Diego Outpatient Surgical Center hired her as a quality assurance coordinator last summer, according to the report. Here are four other things to know about the bankruptcy filing: 1. According to the Nov. 23 filing, the hospital has between $1 million and $10 million in assets, owes around $1 million to $10 million and has 50 to 99 creditors. 2. Medicare funding for the hospital ended Nov. 24, but payment will continue for patients admitted before Nov. 24 for up to 30 days, according to a Nov. 8 CMS notice. 3. There will be two phases of layoffs at the hospital. The first laid off 186 employees on Nov. 16 and 62 more will be laid off Dec. 20. 4. The hospital says that the Medicare fund exclusion is temporary and should last less than six months. According to the Nov. 15 WARN notice, the layoffs are also not expected to be a permanent solution. Pontiac General Hospital did not immediately respond to Beckers request for comment. On Nov. 22, the jury found that Thelma Stanton, a cancer patient, died as a result of negligence by Kevin Anton, MD, a physician of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital who performed the operation. According to pretrial documents, Ms. Stanton had a history of health problems, including liver cancer, Hepatitis C and hypertension. The liver ablation that she received which allegedly caused her death had been to treat her cancer while she waited for an approved liver transplant. Barry Magen, an attorney for Kline & Spencer, the law firm that represented Ms. Stantons estate, argued that those health issues would have improved if Ms. Stanton had received the liver transplant. They alleged that one of the heated needle probes used in the procedure shifted out of place and perforated her stomach during the ablation. They also claimed that Dr. Anton knew the probe had migrated, putting Ms. Stanton at risk for a perforation, but discharged her regardless without further evaluating her or informing her family that the probe was misplaced. The plaintiffs also asserted that Ms. Stanton experienced significant pain but could not reach Dr. Anton in the week following her procedure. Nine days after the operation, Ms. Stanton went to the emergency department at Thomas Jefferson, where she was found to be septic and to have a thermal injury on the opening between her stomach and small intestine. Her condition continued to deteriorate and she was later diagnosed with pneumonia, ultimately dying about a month into her hospitalization. The defendants, represented by OBrien & Ryan law firm, acknowledged that Dr. Anton was aware that the probe had moved during the ablation, but contended that he had adjusted properly and that Ms. Stanton had met all criteria for discharge at the time. They did not dispute that Ms. Stanton had sustained a puncture and burn on her stomach, but had no good explanation of why that happened other than improper placements, said Mr. Magen. The defendants did not respond to the Intelligencers request for comment. Ms. Stantons estate was awarded $3.3 million in wrongful death damages and $3.8 million in survival damages. Here are 10 key things to know about knee replacement lawsuits in the last decade, according to the report: 1. Devices like DePuy Attune, Zimmer NexGen, and Arthrex iBalance have been at the center of legal battles over the past decade. 2. In 2001, Sulzer Medica paid $1 billion to settle 4,000 cases related to defective hip and knee implants. The Swiss company recalled 25,000 joint implants after about 200 reports of complications. By then, 17,000 patients 90% in the U.S. had received the affected devices. 3. After the recall, Sulzer rebranded as Centerpulse and was acquired by Zimmer in 2003 for $3.2 billion. 4. As of November 2024, there are no active multidistrict litigation cases involving knee replacements in federal courts. However, in April, a man sued DePuy Synthes, Johnson & Johnsons orthopedic business, for allegedly marketing knee implants the company knew were faulty. Plaintiff Dwight Petty had a knee replacement in 2017 with the Attune device, according to the lawsuit. After feeling persistent pain, it was revealed in 2020 that the tibial portion of the implant loosened, and Mr. Petty had a revision surgery. 5. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed in recent years, often alleging design defects caused premature loosening of knee implants, according to the report. 6. Lawsuits against DePuy Synthes, the manufacturer of the Attune Knee Replacement, began in September 2017 when attorneys in Alabama filed the first lawsuit. Similar cases soon followed nationwide. 7. Lawsuits against Zimmer began in August 2011, when a federal panel consolidated the first 18 Zimmer NexGen Knee lawsuits in Illinois. The multidistrict litigation case grew to include more than 1,700 cases before most were dismissed. 8. In February 2018, Zimmer settled the remaining NexGen lawsuits. The details of the settlement were not disclosed, and the case officially closed in November 2022. 9. Arthrex recalled its iBalance Total Knee Arthroplasty Tibial Tray in 2015. Patients who experienced loosening and required revision surgeries later filed lawsuits. 10. In 2010, Zimmer recalled 68,000 NexGen Knee components due to the risk of loosening when the device was not fully cemented or lacked a stem. The FDA received over 100 reports of premature loosening related to the recall. Civil liberties advocates are sounding the alarm after UC Santa Barbara police sought a sweeping search warrant for student data related to Gaza protests on campus earlier this year. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images UC Santa Barbara students and civil liberties advocates are pushing back after campus police sought a sweeping search warrant that would give campus police access to vast student data related to student activist groups Instagram accounts. The warrant, which would share IP addresses and data about users who have messaged, commented, liked and potentially even just seen the groups posts, has raised concerns over stifling free speech on college campuses. The warrant is part of UC Santa Barbaras ongoing investigation into a two-day occupation of Girvetz Hall on the campus, during which police allege vandalism, unlawful assembly and other crimes occurred while pro-Palestinian protestors took over the building. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The crackdown comes as other UC campuses and colleges across the country tighten restrictions on student protests and push for consequences for widespread encampments and gatherings protesting Israels actions in Gaza, where more than 44,000 have been reported killed. In August, University of California President Michael Drake announced that the systems 10 campuses will no longer permit students to erect protest encampments or wear identity-concealing face masks and will enforce policies requiring them to identify themselves when UC employees ask them to. The policy mirrors efforts at universities across the country where thousands of students roiled campuses with entrenched anti-Israel protests last year, leading to mass arrests, occasional violence, and widespread allegations of anti-semitism and Islamophobia. The warrant, which law enforcement says would help identify suspects in the crimes associated with the June occupation, has been challenged in court over its breadth and whether it shows probable cause, the legal standard police must meet for warrants requiring them to show a fair probability that what theyre seeking will be found in the place they want to search. If granted, the warrant would force Meta, which owns Instagram, to share archived data, linked accounts, subscriber information and communication content for Instagram accounts Say Genocide UCSB and UCSB Liberated Zone. The warrant would also share device and user information for the accounts, as well as any stored location data and photos and videos. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jacob Snow, a technology and civil liberties attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, argued at a hearing in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Friday that if granted, the warrant would have a chilling effect on student activism. This search warrant has an incredibly broad scope, and it inappropriately treats everyone who is part of an activist movement relating to Gaza and Palestine in the Santa Barbara community effectively as criminals, Snow told the Chronicle. Snow also raised concerns that the warrant could infringe on students First Amendment rights. As part of the warrant, law enforcement alleged that the occupation of the building also involved kidnapping, burglary and conspiracy, which are felony charges. Addison Steele, the attorney representing the two Instagram accounts, argued that the warrant was not in the ballpark, not out in the parking lot of the ballpark of reaching enough probable cause. He also said that the inclusion of kidnapping charges was unfounded, given one janitor hid temporarily in a closet during the occupation, while another was escorted out of the building, neither of which constituted the legal definition of kidnapping. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Representatives for the university police argued that the janitors felt fear and anxiety when students entered to take over the building, but Steele was quick to point out that how they felt was still not enough to merit a charge of kidnapping. The scope of the warrant which Judge Pauline Maxwell said raised concerns that it was overbroad would include information about users that would not inform the police investigation, parties agreed. But law enforcement said that under California law, that information would be sealed. Steele raised concerns that police would be making the decision about which data would be deemed part of the investigation and which would be sealed. F. Mario Trujillo, a staff attorney with Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties organization, said that while the warrant does many things wrong, the one thing that he was relieved about was that it did not include a gag order, which is commonly used to execute the warrant without letting users know. Trujillo said that meant that when the warrant was first granted, Meta was able to notify the accounts prior to sharing the data with police. That allowed the parties to challenge the warrant in court. Other UC schools have faced lawsuits as a result of their disciplinary actions related to pro-Palestinian protests. In September, two UC Santa Cruz students and a professor who said they were among more than 110 demonstrators summarily banished from campus by police in May, with no explanation or opportunity to defend themselves, filed a lawsuit against the school. The protest took place on the night of May 30, near the entrance to campus, with demonstrators calling for an end to UC investments in companies supplying weapons to Israel. According to the lawsuit, more than 100 officers in riot gear descended on the encampment, used clubs to confine the protesters in a tight circle, zip-tied them in handcuffs for hours and arrested more than 110 people on suspicion of misdemeanor charges of disruption. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The officers also handed notes to the arrested protesters saying their permission to remain on campus has been withdrawn, the suit said. The notes referred to a law allowing the university to issue 14-day expulsions to anyone who has willfully disrupted campus activity. An ACLU attorney told the Chronicle the university has already agreed to stop expelling students and faculty from campus for taking part in protests, but the lawsuit is proceeding over other issues. The suit in Santa Cruz County Superior Court follows another legal case filed last month by five UC Irvine students who were suspended indefinitely after pro-Palestinian protests on their campus. A lot of these supposedly progressive schools tout their history of student activism as an important legacy of their universities, but Palestine activism is being treated differently, said attorney Rachel Lederman of the Center for Protest Law & Litigation. I dont think that the colleges are going to succeed in tamping young peoples idealism and determination to strive for a better world. Lederman said that students at UC Santa Cruz are also challenging warrants, which she said authorized overbroad seizures of phones. The challenge will be heard in January. Marc Van Der Hout, an attorney who previously represented Palestinian Americans in a lawsuit against the administration of President Joe Biden, echoed Ledermans sentiments. Van Der Hout, who is Jewish, said that he believes schools are bowing to pressure to crack down on the protests in a way that student activism has not previously faced. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Van Der Hout said that schools should be bastions of free speech and political expression, but have faced outrageous disciplinary actions. Anybody should be able to speak out, voice their mind, sit in, if necessary to protest, and that shouldnt be met with the types of actions that universities are now doing and threatening expulsion, being suspended from school, whatever it may be, Van Der Hout said. That has to stop. Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the University of California, said that the freedom of expression is a fundamental right that is core to the University of Californias mission. To promote a campus climate that allows for lawful free expression and the safe operations of our campuses, the UC Office of the President issued a systemwide directive to all campuses on policies impacting expressive activities as part of its efforts to promote greater clarity of understanding and consistency of implementation, Zaentz said in a statement. These actions aim to protect UCs time-honored tradition of free speech and cultivate a community that is free from intimidation, obstruction, and public safety risks that hinder our academic, research, and public service mission. Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy represented the healthcare industry recently on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to educate federal lawmakers about artificial intelligence. The 32-hospital system was the lone healthcare participant Nov. 22 in the Coalition for Health AI's inaugural CHAI on the Hill Day that brought together policymakers, industry leaders and subject matter experts to discuss healthcare AI use cases and regulations. "We're already seeing the tremendous potential AI holds to revolutionize patient care, but it has to be used responsibly, with patients and caregivers at the forefront," Mercy President and CEO Steve Mackin said in a Nov. 25 statement. "At Mercy, we are committed to utilizing AI to enhance care and save caregivers time as well as build trust and confidence in how this technology makes a positive difference in patient care." Mercy pointed to its work with Microsoft on generative AI for patient communications and scheduling and an internal chatbot for employees with human resources-related questions, and its collaboration with Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic that uses AI to analyze deidentified patient data for new ways to diagnose and treat disease. Regulation of healthcare AI is still in the early stages, with the incoming Trump administration indicating that it will lean toward industry self-governance of the technology. The Coalition for Health AI, which aims to create standards and an evaluation framework for the technology, has more than 1,300 members, including health systems, tech companies, academia, government organizations, and advocacy groups. Epic has intensified its pursuit of interoperability in recent months. Here are nine things to know: 1. The EHR vendor pledged to have all its customers commit to joining the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, or TEFCA, a government-sponsored interoperability network, by Dec. 31, and go live by the end of 2025. The goal is to have patients easily share and access their health data no matter which EHR vendor their hospital, health system or clinic uses. TEFCA is the "North Star the industry is going toward" for health data exchange, Epic interoperability director Rob Klootwyk told Becker's. 2. So far, 84 Epic health system customers have gone live on TEFCA, while another 136 health systems have pledged their commitment. Also, 1,521 of Epic's 3,000 hospitals and 33,139 of the 69,000 clinics on the EHR have gone live or made the pledge. These include some of the biggest health systems in the country. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care have gone live, while Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth and Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health have committed. 3. Health systems that go live with a new Epic EHR or upgrade their system are automatically live on TEFCA (though they can still opt out). The ultimate goal is to make TEFCA participation "automatic," Mr. Klootwyk said. 4. Epic is covering the costs of TEFCA enrollment through 2025, after which fees will be "phased in," Mr. Klootwyk said. The costs cover Epic setting up and operating a Qualified Health Information Network, a requirement of TEFCA. Meanwhile, health systems can check off their participation in the Promoting Interoperability program, formerly known as "meaningful use," by taking part in TEFCA, and membership could also satisfy health systems' information-blocking requirements. "The main thing we're focused on is wherever the patient goes, her record can follow her when she needs it, at the time of treatment," Mr. Klootwyk said. 5. The No. 1 barrier to health systems joining has been awareness. "Otherwise, it's just getting the terms and conditions of participation in front of your legal team," Mr. Klootwyk said. 6. Health systems can go live in a matter of weeks. Others have taken months when it's a lower priority for the legal department. The technical lift, Mr. Klootwyk said, consists of changing a "handful of settings" in Epic. 7. About 70% of hospitals are fully interoperable, HHS reported in May. "Universal interoperability across the country, that unicorn people have been talking about for a long time, more now than ever I think people can actually see it and understand it," Mr. Klootwyk said. 8. The incoming Trump administration could make changes to TEFCA but hasn't indicated it will. Interoperability has largely received bipartisan support throughout the years. 9. Epic also recently advanced interoperability standards for digital health app developers. Meanwhile, the EHR vendor asked for some changes to a proposed HHS interoperability rule while founder and CEO Judy Faulkner has recently touted Epic's Care Everywhere program, which allowed Epic patients to electronically share their data with any provider they wished, as the scion of "modern interoperability." Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, has closed its Asheville Specialty Hospital, a long-term acute care hospital. The closure comes two months after Hurricane Helene made landfall Sept. 26 in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm and made its way through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Asheville-based Mission Hospital had unpressurized water following the storm and was forced to use more than 20 tanker trucks of water daily to run clinical operations. Surgeries were also delayed due to road closures that prevented employees from arriving for their shifts and caused a lack of clean supplies. Asheville Specialty Hospital also suspended services during the storm, the Asheville Watchdog reported Nov. 25. "We have made the difficult decision to not reopen Asheville Specialty Hospital," Nancy Lindell, a spokesperson for Mission Health, said in a Nov. 26 statement shared with Becker's. "We have had to focus on prioritizing our resources during and after Hurricane Helene to care for the most urgent medical needs of our community." The hospital's employees have been caring for patients at Mission Hospital since the storm. Permanent roles have been offered to every employee affected by the hospital's closure. Mission began reopening Asheville-based CarePartners Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital on Nov. 21 with the return of municipal water. Employees have started returning to their roles and patients are being admitted. The system hopes to reopen CarePartners Solace in Asheville soon, the statement said. Amy Herold, MD, has been named chief administrative officer of Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Calif. Dr. Herold will continue serving as chief medical officer in addition to her new role, according to a Nov. 21 hospital news release shared with Becker's. She succeeds Scott Ciesielski, who was appointed chief administrative officer for Providence's Sonoma County service area. After spending more than seven years at Queen of the Valley, Dr. Herold was named chief medical officer of South Bay Providence hospitals in Los Angeles in 2022. She returned to Queen of the Valley, which is part of Renton, Wash.-based Providence, in March. Ken Hedley and his team at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital are guided by a patient-first mission. "We simply make sure that we do the right thing for our patient, their families and the community, and then everything else follows," Mr. Hedley, the hospital's president, told Becker's. What has followed includes 26 consecutive "A" safety grades from The Leapfrog Group, making the Winfield, Ill.-based hospital one of only 12 in the nation to achieve this distinction. Contributing to this accomplishment is the hospital's culture, which emphasizes the consistent use of safety tools, psychological safety among team members and a strong collaboration between medical and hospital staff, Mr. Hedley said. "There's an emphasis on team success over personal success, as it's really only through team success that we're able to leverage everybody's talents, backgrounds, ideas and experiences to create solutions that work for the patients and the community," he said. Mr. Hedley also highlighted the support of Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine and the work of local hospital staff, who he said are "truly dedicated to ensuring that we achieve our quality and safety goals with every encounter." Key 2025 initiatives One of the organization's top three priorities for 2025 is leveraging the strength and expertise of its academic medical center to provide advanced care closer to patients' homes. For example, Central DuPage Hospital is building an advanced GI endoscopy center. "Our capability to provide a higher level of endoscopy care in the western suburbs will create a destination for patients," Mr. Hedley said. "That's one of our priorities regarding expanding clinically integrated programs close to where patients live." Meeting access needs is another focus for 2025, which will involve expanding programs, the workforce, diagnostic testing and bed capacity. Plans include adding a new CT scanner to accommodate demand and improving transitions of care for patients awaiting admission. Safety is the hospital's final top priority for 2025, targeting physical safety improvements, and workplace violence prevention and psychological safety. Leadership will continue encouraging team members to ask clarifying questions and "stop the line" when concerns arise. "It really is about empowering every staff member and physician to feel comfortable and confident bringing issues forward," Mr. Hedley said. Health system C-suites are taking their organizations "back to the basics" next year to focus on improving quality outcomes and creating an elite patient experience. This means prioritizing a culture of service and training staff in hospitality. Cliff Megerian, MD, CEO of University Hospitals in Cleveland, said the system has focused on reducing variation in care pathways and optimizing clinical services for maximum quality, safety and efficiency this year, an effort that will continue into 2025. University Hospitals is also doubling down on its reputation for compassionate care, said Dr. Megerian. "The goal is for our patients our guests to feel truly cared for at each touchpoint along the patient journey, with clinical and non-clinical caregivers alike both bearing the responsibility to make this happen," he said. "The word 'hospitality' has at its root the word 'hospital' it's our goal to work to bring that 'hospitality' energy to our work in healthcare, always informed by world-class science." To meet this goal, University Hospitals is also focused on growing its research capabilities. The health system has around 3,400 studies and clinical trials, which it plans to grow next year. "These studies and trials are where medical progress happens, and we're proud to be able to offer the hope they provide to our patients," said Dr. Megerian. How will the system measure its success? Lisa Griffin, chief consumer officer of consumer experience and patient access at University Hospitals told Becker's the system's leaders are using key metrics for decision-making and staying flexible to meet the evolving needs of the patient population. "Our top priority over the next two to three years is revolutionizing the patient experience by aligning access, care pathways, and consumer insights into a cohesive, patient-centered strategy," said Ms. Griffin. "This includes expanding digital tools like automated scheduling and prior authorization systems, integrating services such as call centers and referral management through our Care Connections Access framework, and leveraging analytics to proactively address patient needs." Chapters Health System in Temple Terrace, Fla., is also zeroing in on the patient experience over the next two to three years. Nikki Romence, chief people officer, told Becker's she is focused on strengthening employee engagement as the foundation of delivering an excellent patient experience. "By investing in employee well-being, professional growth and providing the tools they need, we can empower our team to deliver compassionate, high-quality care," she said. "A culture of feedback, recognition and collaboration will ensure employees feel valued and aligned with the organization's mission, directly enhancing patient satisfaction. This strategic alignment creates a cycle where engaged employees drive better outcomes, improving both patient and caregiver experiences." One Brooklyn Health in New York City is undergoing a similar transformation. Over the next few years, Sandra Scott, MD, interim CEO, told Becker's the organization will leverage data and conduct value assessments to align community needs and then provide additional training to the team for elite patient care. "Recognizing that exceptional care depends on an engaged workforce, we are committed to creating a supportive environment for our employees, equipping them with the resources needed to deliver highest quality care," said Dr. Scott. "One example is our current patient-centered training focus, which reinforces the importance of honoring patient goals, cultural competency and active listening." Staff members are becoming more effective communicators, Dr. Scott said, and feeling a deeper sense of purpose in their work. "Together, these efforts will create an improved patient-centered experience and build lasting trust within the communities One Brooklyn Health serves," she said. AdventHealth in Altamonte Springs, Fla., also has an eye on patient-centric care delivery. Joel George, MSN, RN, executive director of retail services at AdventHealth Parks & Training Center, said the system is investing in staff training designed around empathy, communication and personalization strategies "inspired by consumer obsessed service industries." He is taking a"hospitality-centered" approach with a focus on empowering patients to manage their healthcare and wellness journey through the system. AdventHealth is developing tailored preventative care programs for high-risk populations and incorporating mental health services as well as lifestyle medicine into their offerings. "I truly believe that by combining high-tech solutions with high-touch care, and ensuring your facilities culture and operations are consistently aligned with patient needs and the next generation of the healthcare consumer we will redefine excellence in patient care," said Mr. George. Expect the next year to bring as much innovation in the patient experience and satisfaction space as care delivery and outcomes, as hospitals continue to refine their approach to caring for communities and bridge access to care issues. "By combining innovation with a culture of empathy and equity, we aim to deliver seamless, personalized care that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of the communities we proudly serve," said Ms. Griffin. Pontiac (Mich.) General Hospital has sought Chapter 11 protection after it filed a WARN notice Nov. 15 to lay off 248 employees upon learning it had lost Medicare funding, CBS Detroit reported Nov. 25. The hospital filed for protection Nov. 23. Documents revealed it has between $1 to $10 million in assets, owes around $1 to $10 million and has 50 to 99 creditors, CBS reported. Medicare funding ended for the hospital Nov. 24; however, payment will continue for patients admitted prior to Nov. 24 for up to 30 days, according to a Nov. 8 CMS notice. Layoffs at the hospital will occur in two phases, with 186 employees laid off Nov. 16 and 62 more set to be laid off Dec. 20. The hospital believes that the Medicare fund exclusion is temporary and should last less than six months. The layoffs are not expected to be a permanent solution, the Nov. 15 WARN notice said. Becker's has reached out to Pontiac General Hospital and will update this story should more information become available. The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, which examines all pregnancy-related deaths, will not examine cases from 2022 and 2023, The Washington Post reported Nov. 26. The committee made the decision in September, reasoning that the move will skip a backlog of cases and allow it to review more recent deaths, thus providing more relevant policy recommendations. Jennifer Shuford, MD, commissioner of the Texas health department, said the committee provided recommendations in 2024 based on 2020 findings: "I am concerned that this means the committee's recommendations to policy makers are still not based on the most recent case cohorts available." Bypassing these cases means the committee will not review maternal death cases in the 18 months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. At least three women have died in Texas because of care delays related to the state's trigger abortion ban, according to ProPublica. Texas outlaws abortion from the moment of fertilization. An exception is if the pregnant patient has a life-threatening physical condition exacerbated by the pregnancy; rape and incest are not exceptions. In a September meeting, committee members said they have, in past years, skipped cases to review those closer to the present, according to the Post. Four surgeons discuss how the technology will look in the near future. Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity. Question: With medtech companies such as Stryker planning new launches, how do you predict the spine robot landscape will evolve in the next five years? Harel Deutsch, MD. Rush Spine Center (Chicago): The robotic landscape continues to evolve. Im not sure what the business plan is for robotics currently, so I think further development will involve increasing ease of use and affordability of the devices. Brian Fiani, DO. Spine surgeon. (Birmingham, Mich.): The spine robot landscape is likely to see significant evolution over the next five years, driven by advancements in technology and increased demand for minimally invasive surgical solutions. Companies like Stryker are focusing on enhancing surgical precision and outcomes through robotic assistance. We can expect greater integration of AI and machine learning to improve real-time decision-making during procedures. Additionally, as more clinical evidence supports the efficacy of robotic-assisted spine surgery, we may see broader adoption among hospitals and surgical centers. Collaborations between medtech companies and healthcare providers could also lead to innovative training programs for surgeons, further propelling the growth of this niche. Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Sinkov Spine. (Las Vegas): Robotic-assisted spine surgery makes it easier to perform minimally invasive spine procedures, especially fusions with instrumentation. MIS spine surgeries have been shown to be safer with less pain and quicker recovery than traditional open surgery. I believe that the robotic-assisted spine surgery landscape will continue to expand in the next five years. The technology will continue to improve and become more user-friendly and efficient. More competition in the field will likely mean lower prices and higher adoption rates by spine surgeons. Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): When the only constant is change, its important to anticipate and adapt. Lets proceed. Healthcare is, at its core, human-centered. Both patients and surgical providers are utilizing/discovering that artificial intelligence is becoming more present in all aspects of health delivery and spinal surgery. Whether its navigating large swaths of data, diagnosing ailments or applying and conducting complex spinal interventions, the patients/provider field has benefited greatly from the rapidly evolving technological landscape of advanced informational collation. This past year alone has seen exponential growth in machine learning and AI and its applicability to medicine; spinal surgery is no exception. We should expect the rate of scientific advancements to continue increasing over the next couple of years as comfort levels with these technological aids become comfortable in the hands of old and new surgeons alike. The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2024 would prevent the scheduled 2.83% Medicare physician payment cut from going into effect and give a 1.8% positive payment update for 2025, according to a Nov. 27 news release shared with Beckers. A letter sent to Congress states the importance of passing the legislation as a temporary solution, paving the way for more impactful Medicare payment reforms in the next Congress. The two organizations joined 76 national medical societies and 51 state medical associations in support for the bill. Read the full letter here. San Francisco Mayor London Breed is considering appointing Stephen Sherrill, director of her office of innovation, to the Board of Supervisors. Sherrill has ties to one of her chief political benefactors, the former New York mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle As Mayor London Breed weighs who she wants to fill a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she is considering appointing someone with ties to one of her chief political benefactors, the former New York mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Stephen Sherrill, director of Breeds office of innovation, is among several people she is mulling as a possible replacement for outgoing Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who was just elected to the state Assembly. Stefani will vacate her seat on the board next week; Breed is expected to name a successor sometime between then and when Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie takes office in January. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sherrill, a largely unknown figure in San Francisco politics, used to work for Bloomberg when he was mayor of New York. In his four-year tenure in Bloombergs administration, Sherrill was focused on clean streets and disaster response, according to his City Hall biography. Bloomberg gave about $1.5 million to support Breeds unsuccessful reelection bid, making him her top financial backer in this years election. Accordingly, some San Francisco political insiders are questioning whether Bloomberg could indirectly influence Breeds decision on the supervisorial appointment, which will be the most consequential choice she makes in the final weeks of her mayorship. One of the other candidates Breed is considering, her former aide Conor Johnston, was met with some pushback last week because of his history of antagonizing Breeds critics. Ethics experts told the Chronicle that installing Sherrill to succeed Stefani could raise questions about whether Bloombergs political support for Breed had influenced her choice. I certainly think its fair game for people to question whether (Sherrill was) being appointed because she perceives him as the best representative of District 2, versus his connection to Bloomberg, said former ethics commissioner Paul Melbostad. He added that Bloomberg wouldnt appear to benefit from the appointment in any way, but Sherrill might if he were to run for election to keep the seat and get financial support from the New York billionaire. John Pelissero, director of government ethics at Santa Clara Universitys Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, agreed that Sherills appointment could create a perception issue for Breed. The problem here is not whether she is doing the right thing by the law, its more the optics, Pelissero said. It would appear that this could be interpreted reasonably by a member of the public as some sort of payback to former Mayor Bloomberg for his support of her campaign. Sherrill and Breeds office each declined to comment about whether he is seeking the supervisor appointment, but multiple City Hall insiders confirmed hes a leading candidate. Others believed to be interested in the job include Johnston; former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier; Parks Commissioner Kat Anderson; Breeds reelection campaign manager Eric Kingsbury; and Breed staffer Eileen Mariano, who is the granddaughter of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Whoever Breed picks will represent District 2, which includes Pacific Heights and the Marina, until the next citywide election, currently scheduled for 2026. Sherrill, 38, has lived in the district for almost 10 years. He has kept a low political profile but has been involved with a neighborhood group affiliated with the YIMBY movement that supports an aggressive acceleration of housing development. The innovation team that Sherrill now leads in Breeds office is focused on introducing new approaches, resources, and inclusive technology for Citywide priorities, according to its website. One of the offices projects has involved the development of a database combining information from the citys various street outreach teams. The office is funded by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization affiliated with Bloomberg further underscoring Sherrills connection to the former New York mayor. Breed also supported Bloombergs 2020 campaign for president. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Breed and Lurie, said the Bloomberg ties make him concerned about Sherrills potential appointment. It is troubling that the appearance of a quid pro quo between the mayors future interest and her connections to Bloomberg may be influencing this decision, Peskin said. He said Breed doesnt know what shes going to do next when shes done being mayor, and he hoped she would not be swayed by a desire to get a job with a Bloomberg-funded philanthropic organization or something else in that billionaires network. Peskin added that he had no specific knowledge of Breeds future employment plans. Breeds office denied any notion that Bloomberg-related financial considerations were influencing her. The Mayor is evaluating potential appointees based on a number of factors including their policy alignment, service to the city and local communities, and their vision for the future of the District and the City, Breeds spokesperson Jeff Cretan said in an email. Cretan said Breed has a long history of appointments of people who have gone on to serve the city admirably and deliver impactful change. The list includes City Attorney David Chiu, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Public Defender Mano Raju, Assessor-Recorder Joaquin Torres and Supervisor Matt Dorsey. Breed was also urged by the San Francisco Womens Political Committee, a group of women in local government, not to appoint a man to replace Stefani. If Sherrill or another man were to get the job, just four of the 11 city supervisors would be women. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It has been hailed the end of an era by some online after a popular Co Tyrone pub announced it is closing after two decades due to the progression of the owners motor neurone disease. Myles K McCanns Bar in John Street in Omagh is a traditional Irish venue known for its cosy atmosphere and live music. Earlier this year the bar was named one of the top 25 best pubs in the UK by Time Out. Describing it as the hardest decision of my life, bar owner Enda McCann explained the pub would be closing at the end of this week. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am, he wrote. "The thought of telling you all this news in person is beyond daunting so forgive me if this announcement comes off callously. "Sadly, with over two decades of trade, this will be the final week of business here at the pub. "Some of you may know at the beginning of this year I received the working diagnosis of motor neurone disease, something that has been affecting me for the past three years. "As the year progressed and as I came to accept certain realities of mine, I have had to make the hardest decision of my life. "After 21 years in business, closing will not be an easy task but I know the strength of our own weirdo community in the bar will unite to not only help but to celebrate the place so many of us love. "With so many to thank, all I can say is this for now. It is the people that make any pub a great pub and we had some of the best. "So please come and hang out with us on our final few days and lets give the bar a positive and proud goodbye. "Much love, Enda. Many in the local community have been sending their best wishes and reminiscing about times enjoying the bar. One woman called it the end of an era, while another wrote: Enda, you should be so proud of everything you achieved with McCanns. Your vision and hard work made it into something really special. "You were always full of ideas and constantly working behind the scenes to make it even better. Its clear how much of yourself you poured into the bar, and the impact you made on the place and the town wont be forgotten. "Youve earned this time to rest and reflect. McCann's Bar Omagh Credit: Google Maps News Catch up - Wednesday 27th November easyJet said it carried a record 5.3 million passengers in NI in the year to September 30 No-frills airline easyJet has reported a 34% rise in pre-tax profits as it revealed it carried a record number of Northern Ireland customers over the year. The company, which now flies from all three NI airports and is the biggest airline here, announced headline pre-tax profits of 610m for the year to September 30, up from 455m a year earlier. And it said it had run its biggest ever flying programme in NI over the period, up 15%, and carried a record 5.3 million customers. Over the period, it placed a ninth aircraft at its main base at Belfast International Airport, while launching operations from City of Derry Airport for the first time. It also operates some flights from Belfast City. And it said that across the UK, it had carried 7% more passengers in the most recent 12-month period at 89.7 million. Trading was also boosted by strong demand for easyJet Holidays, with the division seeing pre-tax profits jump to 190m, up 56% from a year earlier. And in Northern Ireland, it said Majorca, Portugal, and the Canary Islands were most popular for beach packages, with Paris the most popular city break The airline launched nine new routes from Northern Ireland in the last year and a new service to Reus in Spain will take off in April. It said its operations here were now supporting 400 direct and indirect jobs. New routes were to Prague, Marrakech, Fuerteventura, Larnaca, and Enfidha from Belfast International and Alicante and Palma from Belfast City. It now flies to Edinburgh and Liverpool from City of Derry Airport. Ali Gayward, easyJets UK country manager, said: Our success in Northern Ireland is a clear testament to the continued popularity of our flights and holidays, with a record 5.3 million customers choosing us for our trusted brand, unrivalled network and great value fares. The growth of our fleet has enabled us to further unlock the opportunity of the continuing demand we see for both leisure and business travel in Northern Ireland, where we are proud to be the largest airline serving even more airports, with routes from City of Derry and Belfast City, and we remain focused on providing even greater choice and fantastic value for our customers. easyJet launched services from Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998, with flights from Belfast International to London Luton, and opened a base at Belfast International in 2002. Rosemary Nelson: There were some rogue police officers who would have been quite happy for her not to be around Lisburn actor Richard Dormar has revealed that he was originally offered two other roles in the hit new series The Day Of The Jackal before requesting the part of criminal gunsmith Norman Stoke. Sundays are pretty busy for me but its all of my own choosing and I wouldnt have it any other way Dame Esther Rantzen has urged MPs guided by their religious beliefs to be honest about why they will vote against plans to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill. The broadcaster, who is terminally ill, has been a strong advocate for changing the law to allow dying adults to take their own lives in limited circumstances, without fear of their families being prosecuted for helping them. One of Northern Irelands biggest property developers provided character reference for criminal, telling judge he was hard-working and a man of unwavering integrity A poultry farmer who lambasted police for not catching the criminals behind a vast cannabis factory on his Co Down property dropped his phone in the sea after being told detectives wanted to examine it, the officer in charge of the investigation has said. Re-opening the emergency department (ED) at a Co Down hospital would only add to patient risk and is not possible to deliver, a health chief has warned. The claim came amid a community drive to fully reopen the Downe hospitals A&E ward in Downpatrick. Health campaign group the Down Community Health Committee has appealed to the public to support a petition for the restoration of the service, which has not been open since 2010. However, medical chiefs providing an honest and genuine report this week to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) stated the reopening of the 24/7 A&E at the Downe would put patients at risk. South Eastern Health and Social Trust chief executive Roisin Coulter South East Trust chief executive Roisin Coulter said: You may be aware of a community group offering the public the opportunity to sign a petition that would look to have the emergency department open 24/7 at the Downe hospital. I think it is very important in terms of me being genuine, open and honest that the ED at the Downe hospital has not been open since September 2010, some 14 years ago. She added: We are on record saying there are no plans to reopen the 24/7 ED in the Downe and that will not be possible. Because it is totally at odds with the recommendations in the Bengoa Report. It also would not fit in with the Minister of Health (Mike Nesbitt) recently launching the reconfiguration of the hospital network in Northern Ireland. The model would be identical to what we have now already in the South Eastern Trust, being one major area acute hospital the Ulster supported by local hospitals which we have in the Lagan Valley and the Downe. "That model is safe for patients, clinically appropriate and sustainable. I dont think it is fair or appropriate to suggest to people to sign such a petition for something that is never actually possible to deliver. Senior emergency department consultant, Dr Andrew Dobbin said: The ED of a hospital is its front door and should have the expertise and capability of dealing with life threatening injuries and illness without prior appointment. Unfortunately, that is something that cannot be delivered on the Downe site. Behind an ED there is a minimum of services that need to be in place and they have never existed there that adds to patient risk. Having a walk-in service ED for many reasons isnt going to be achieved or deliverable and I appreciate your candour and support in spreading that to the locals. Read more Belfast Trust must take responsibility for new maternity hospital omnishambles, says DUP MLA (Stock photo) News Catch Up: Tuesday 26th November Fans of Larne FC are said to be absolutely gutted as the foggy weather conditions have left them stranded at Belfast City Airport, unable to travel for their teams European away day. Larne FC are set to play against Slovanian club NK Olimpija Ljubljana on Thursday at 8pm. However, Belfast City Airport has cancelled the majority of its flights as a weather warning for fog continues to impact travellers. Out of 18 flights scheduled to arrive at Belfast City Airport, 13 have been cancelled, two others say theyve been diverted to Belfast International Airport, while one says its been diverted to London Heathrow. Of 10 scheduled departures this evening, they were all cancelled. Lyn Kernoghan said: As a Larne fan for many years I am gutted. We've been at the Belfast City airport since 12.30pm today. "We were all so looking forward to the match. We are still looking at options but everything we try comes to a blank. We've looked at London to Venice, Munich, Paris. "The main problem at the minute is we can't get flights from the International to the mainland. She said that herself, and most other Larne fans have lost over 500, due to the travel difficulties and are absolutely gutted. Belfast City Airport Flights still appear to be arriving and departing from Belfast International this evening. Earlier, the Met Office confirmed that a weather warning has been issued for fog across all six counties in Northern Ireland which will result in difficult driving conditions. The yellow warning will remain in place until 8am on Thursday. Fog has already caused havoc with travel in Northern Ireland today, with a number of planes unable to land at Belfast City Airport. The Met Office has said Wednesday's fog is expected to expand and become fairly widespread, with visibilities in some places falling below 100m. This will make for difficult driving conditions and may also lead to disruption of public transport, the Met Office explained. With temperatures close to, and in places below freezing, icy patches in freezing fog will be an additional hazard." Motorists have been advised to give themselves the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, leaving extra journey time, or amending plans if necessary. The Met Office added: Make sure you know how to switch on your fog lights, and check they are working before setting off on your journey. Bus and train services, as well as flights and ferry travel, may also be affected; check for updates from your travel company, and follow their advice. Be prepared for weather warnings to change: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area. Meanwhile, commuters waking up this morning were faced with frost, heavy mist and fog in many parts of the country with the lack of wind meaning the conditions are slow to clear. At one point this morning flight tracking data showed five aircraft including flights from Manchester, Birmingham and London circling Belfast City Airport waiting for conditions to clear. Freezing fog in Belfast. (Pic: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press) News Catch up - Wednesday 27th November Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo, dean of San Francisco States College of Liberal & Creative Arts, sent a compassionate post-election message to faculty on Nov. 6. But her email opened a wound having nothing to do with national politics. Chloe Jackman Photography A San Francisco State deans compassionate, post-election message to faculty meant to offer comfort instead opened a wound having nothing to do with national politics. Our community is dealing with a tremendous range of emotions in the wake of the U.S. election results, Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo, dean of the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, wrote to hundreds of faculty on Nov. 6. She encouraged them to prioritize self-care and reflection. She thanked them for their unwavering dedication. And she suggested that, together, they move forward with mutual respect, purpose and resilience and hope. The deans empathetic dispatch did not elicit a group hug. Advertisement Article continues below this ad San Francisco State is one of eight California State University campuses that are losing enrollment and have been ordered to reduce their class offerings and instructors as a result. So when Nwankwo inadvertently left visible the nearly 300 faculty email addresses in her communication, the instructors saw an opportunity to speak out about a reality more immediately overwhelming than the nations impending political transformation: a university shrinking before their eyes. San Francisco State has lost 25% of its undergraduate enrollment in just five years, down by more than 6,500 students to 19,337 undergrads. Consequently, the campus is offering only three-quarters of the classes it did in 2019 a loss of 1,080 courses and employs 155 fewer nontenured instructors, known as lecturers. That blow, with more cuts expected this spring, is hitting hard at the College of Liberal & Creative Arts. Faculty used the sprawling email thread to vent at administrators including Nwankwo about the leaders perceived acquiescence to the devastation. I encourage you to use reply all to let your voices be heard, Diane Presler, an interactive design lecturer, responded to the group, prompting waves of agreement. Yay on happy accident the dean has started a group chat with 292 faculty members! Woot woot. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The thread, forwarded to the Chronicle, offers a rare look inside one of the citys most important institutions of higher education at a pivotal moment. Not only is it impossible to take your inclusivity message seriously, writing lecturer Christy Shick griped at Nwankwo, it comes off as tone deaf to the massive upheaval and discontent. The College of Liberal & Creative Arts is eliminating its seasoned front-line instructors even as students are arriving with dramatic skill challenges and learning loss, wrote Jennifer Beach, an English lecturer. You might be moving with mutual respect, purpose, and resilience and hope but it will not be together. Another referenced the pain of watching our university become weaker. Tenured and tenure-track faculty joined in. Advertisement Article continues below this ad All of us in English are feeling awful about losing our lecturer colleagues, wrote Jenny Lederer, an associate professor of linguistics, noting that many have taught at San Francisco State for decades. They have children, partners, rents, and mortgages. They have healthcare needs and retirement goals. They are our friends and support system. San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney told the Chronicle that the number of faculty she employs depends on enrollment. The campus routinely offers admission to about 41,000 applicants a year at all levels, including 25,000 to 30,000 freshmen. Yet the number who actually sign up has plunged. This year, 2,340 freshman enrolled, compared with 3,339 two years ago: an astonishing 30% decline. Mahoney blamed the loss on everything from San Franciscos high cost of living to the dire warnings about the city promoted on right-wing TV. This year, freshman enrollment is 22% below projections. The College of Liberal & Creative Arts is eliminating its seasoned front-line instructors even as students are arriving with dramatic skill challenges and learning loss, wrote Jennifer Beach, a San Francisco State English lecturer. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle I just want to bang my head against the wall, the president said, noting that for the first time, would-be freshmen said they turned down the campus because of the citys reputation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While students from nearby Daly City are still enrolling, others who are watching Fox News and hearing, no, youll die in San Francisco, are not, she said. Mahoney also pointed to demographic shifts including fewer 18-year-olds that have led to a drop in freshman enrollment across the country. Colleges have seen a 5% drop since last fall, the National Student Clearinghouse reported in October. Mahoney said she knew about the facultys email thread. I dont blame them for being angry, she said. Theyre losing work. Some have been here for 20 years, and theres nothing I can say to make that feel better. The president contrasted CSUs approach with that of another local institution: City College of San Francisco, which has also lost vast numbers of students. After a brief period of downsizing in response to reduced enrollment, City College trustees have said they want to restore classes and rehire faculty, even as state officials have frozen the schools funding until enrollment rises significantly. Accreditors placed the college on warning this year, citing the trustees failure to consider the long-range fiscal implications of their actions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The difference between City College and San Francisco State is that my board which is not an elected board has made it clear since July that they expect (campus) presidents to make really hard decisions and reduce personnel, Mahoney said. They said to expect votes of no confidence and that theyll stand by us, she added. I dont believe that City College has that kind of support from their board. I dont blame them for being angry, said San Francisco State University President Lynn Mahoney about a faculty email thread that expressed frustration about job security. Theyre losing work. Some have been here for 20 years, and theres nothing I can say to make that feel better. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Although there is no hint of such a vote at San Francisco State, there is a rumor going around that Mahoney recently declared a financial emergency. She said she never did. But last month, Mahoney alerted faculty about the possibility of unwelcome financial news to the CSUs 23-campus system, including reports of a potential 7.95% cut to next years budget. She urged instructors to waste no time in lobbying state lawmakers against such a hit, which would impact our ability to serve students. Californias annual budget cycle officially kicks off in January, when Gov. Gavin Newsom will propose his financial plan for 2025-26. Lawmakers then hash out counterproposals before settling on a final budget in June. So it will be a long time before CSU much less San Francisco State knows what its financial picture looks like next year. Nor is the outcome predictable. Since 2019, the state gave CSU a raise twice and cut its budget three times. All told, the $5.2 billion that the university system got this year is 22% more than it got five years ago. Unfortunately for San Francisco State, less of that bounty is trickling down to campuses that are failing to meet enrollment targets. For those eight schools including the Bay Areas Cal State East Bay, Sonoma State and Cal Maritime the CSU trustees are not offering the kind of empathy that San Francisco States faculty wished for on the email thread. Instead, they are showing the steely focus of money managers handling taxpayers dollars. Even so, its unlikely that CSU will give the shrinking campuses less money than in prior years. This year, for example, San Francisco State got $6.7 million more than that it did last year, 3% more, for a total of $239 million. But the campus would have gotten more if enrollment were rising. San Francisco State offers admission to 25,000 to 30,000 freshmen a year, yet the number who enroll has plunged. This year, freshman enrollment was 22% below projections. The schools president blames high housing costs and negative portrayals of San Francisco. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle 2023 Mahoney said that expenses, particularly employee pay, are rising faster than what the campus receives from CSU, which is why she is cutting classes and more lecturers. The anger is evident on the facultys email thread, which also exposed fury about the campus handling of contract nonrenewals. I am going through hell, shared a lecturer who is about to lose not only the job she has held since 2008 but also she believes much of the retirement benefit she expected. So not only am I out of a job next semester, but Ive also been totally screwed out of my retirement, she wrote, and urged colleagues to check their California Public Employees Retirement System accounts to ensure things are in order. Sean Connelly, a humanities lecturer, said faculty should publicly mark this catastrophe. If we allow the mass firing of adjuncts to pass unnoticed by the wider community, the next round of cuts will only go more smoothly, he wrote. One lecturer linked San Francisco States pain to broader misery, from the elections norming of mutual distrust and disrespectful rhetoric, to the wars in the Middle East and Europe. Let us not allow ourselves to become debased by treating our fellow colleagues without compassion and without the respect that they have worked so hard to earn, and that they deserve, he concluded. Dean Nwankwo did not appear to take the responses personally. The office of Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (CWGNI) has been closed amid online threats over a proposal to change the flag that represents the regions athletes. CWGNI chief executive Conal Heatley said the office in Belfast would be closed for a few days while a security assessment is conducted. He said the move came after threatening messages were directed at the office online and some of his personal details appeared on social media. The threats emerged following publicity over a proposal to replace the Ulster Banner flag currently used to represent Northern Ireland athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games. Mr Heatley said the proposal reflected concerns that the flag, which does not have any official status in Northern Ireland, is not representative of or embraced by the whole community in the region. In an interview with the News Letter, Mr Heatley also said the flag had been used in recent targeting of homes of members of ethnic minority communities in Northern Ireland, insisting that was not something we want to be associated with. In regard to the threats, Mr Heatley told BBC News NI the organisation had received some threatening and abusive language on social media over the past couple of days. For the safety of staff and the public who may be using the office, we have decided to keep it closed for the next few days and have reported those to the police, he said. On Tuesday, DUP minister Gordon Lyons said the proposal to change the flag was ill-advised and should be scrapped. Social Development Minister Mr Lyons, who has responsibility for sporting issues, said he had not been consulted about the issue. I have to say, I believe that the campaign we are currently hearing about is ill-advised at best, he told the Assembly. I was concerned to learn about the discussion and consideration of changing the flag. As we have seen at the Olympics, our athletes have always kept their focus on sport and were able to represent Northern Ireland, and politics wasnt made anything of. Unfortunately, I think politics has been dragged into this now. This was something Ive not been consulted on. If I had been consulted, I would have made it very clear that I do not think that we should be upsetting the status quo on this, that we have had athletes that have been very happy to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. They should continue to be allowed to do so. I think that its best for everyone involved if this was just to be put to bed. A PSNI spokesman said: We do not comment on the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this, however police will take appropriate action when made aware of anything that may put an individual at risk. It comes after the local Orange lodge criticised the switching on of Christmas lights by a Sinn Fein councillor A Broughshane community building had its windows smashed and was targeted with anti Sinn Fein graffiti overnight. PACEMAKER BELFAST 27/11/2024 A Broughshane community building had its windows smashed and was targeted with anti Sinn Fein graffiti overnight. Images show the windows at the front of the Broughshane House building broken and graffiti daubed stating: No SF IRA. The Main Street building is used by a number of community groups in the village, with a police cordon set up this morning and officers in attendance. Its understood the building houses the Broughshane and District Community Association, the organisation which extended the invite to the Sinn Fein councillor who turned on the Christmas lights. The PSNI has confirmed they are investigating the incident. In a statement Sinn Fein councillor Breanainn Lyness said: Those who have engaged in this vandalism do not represent the wider Broughshane community who welcomed me to their Christmas event, which I was happy to attend. The damage done to these offices is an attack on the local community who use this building to access vital charities which support the elderly. I would appeal to anyone with information to report it to the PSNI." Local Alliance Party MLA Sian Mulholland branded it disgraceful. "Those responsible should face the full consequences of their actions. I have spoken to representatives of the organisations impacted by this and know they will continue their vital work for the community regardless, she said. The nature of this attack is extremely concerning and must be robustly condemned by all. Its clear the disappointing narrative regarding the recent Christmas lights switch-on has played a role in this attack. "We need to see leadership in our community and those with a platform to condemn these actions and also be aware of how their statements carry weight and incite this sort of despicable behaviour." In a statement a charity which operates out of the building said they cannot understand the mentality of those behind the attack. The Mid & East Antrim Agewell Partnership said: It was with great sadness that our staff arrived at our offices in Broughshane House this morning to find the destruction caused to this community building overnight. Broughshane House is a vital community asset, run by dedicated staff and volunteers. It is home not only to our charity, Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership, but also to vulnerable adults who attend the George Sloan Centres Scope Programme daily. We cannot understand the mentality of those who would seek to damage their own community, and we appeal to everyone in Broughshane to come together in unity and support. We want to reassure the older people in our community that our services will continue without interruption. "Anyone who needs support or assistance can contact us on 028 2565 8604. It comes after a row broke out over recent days after the Orange Order criticised the switching on of Christmas lights in the village. Councillor Breanainn Lyness turned on the Christmas lights in Broughshane Broughshane held its annual festive parade and lights ceremony last Saturday. However, the local Orange lodge hit out over the presence of Councillor Lyness. The Ballymena Guardian reported that mayor Beth Adger was unable to attend and deputy mayor Mr Lyness took her place. Mr Lyness told the Belfast Telegraph the event was mostly welcoming but he heard someone directing the phrase Sinn Fein murderer towards him. The local Orange lodge expressed deep disappointment and regret at the Sinn Fein councillors attendance due to his partys historical association and stance. They said: Christmas is a time for unity, togetherness, and goodwill to all, and we believe that such an important community event should reflect those values. The presence of a Sinn Fein representative, regardless of their position in the council, given the partys historical associations and stance, namely their totally unrepentant position on the terrorism they waged in this country for 30 years is deeply divisive and inconsiderate to many in our community. The smashed windows at Broughshane House PACEMAKER BELFAST 27/11/2024 We are dismayed that an opportunity to bring people together and celebrate the festive season has instead been marred by a decision that fails to respect the sensitivities of all members of the community. A PSNI spokesperson said: Police are investigating a report of criminal damage at a property in the Main Street area of Broughshane on Wednesday 27th November. Sergeant Kelly added: "Police received a report at around 7.15am that windows of a business premises had been smashed along with graffiti sprayed on the premises' wall within the Main Street area. Our enquiries into this incident are ongoing and we would appeal to anyone with any information in relation to the incident, to contact police on 101 quoting reference number 176 27/11/24. Sinn Fein has been contacted. A Broughshane community building had its windows smashed and was targeted with anti Sinn Fein graffiti overnight. PACEMAKER BELFAST 27/11/2024 News Catch up - Wednesday 27th November Lyons hits out at faux outrage over talks with loyalist umbrella group Communities Minister says he has pledged to support those who are committed to moving on in society Communities Minister Gordon Lyons (Liam McBurney/PA) David O'Dornan Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 07:00 Gordon Lyons has pledged to continue giving loyalists a voice after being criticised for meeting a group that represents the views of paramilitaries. The Green leader said his party could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner (Niall Carson/PA) Independents do not provide stability to coalitions, Roderic OGorman has said as part of a drive for support for his Green Party. Mr OGorman said it was looking likely that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail would be returned to Government, but added that they would need support to make up a majority. The Green leader said this could result in right-wing independents or small populist parties padding out the numbers. Roderic OGorman, left to right, with Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA) He said it was clear to him that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail wanted a coalition partner that represents the path of least resistance, adding that the Green Party fights hard. He added: My sense is certainly the mood music from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is that theyd like an easier life in the next government and my concern is they use these small populist parties and right-wing independents. Mr OGorman, who has been minister for integration in the coalition since 2020, argued that the Green Party could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner. Donald Trumps presidential election victory in the US has brought heightened concern that his administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Irelands economic model. As the public makes up its mind before polls open on Friday, he said: Our message to voters today is: Dont allow us to sleepwalk into a Conservative government in this country. We know that the Green Party provided the direction of the last government on climate, on public transport, on support for families and children. He added: The polls are really close right now, its looking likely that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will be returned to government but theyll need something extra there. And there is a very real possibility of right-wing independents or small populist parties propping up the next government. Mr OGorman singled out independent candidate for Tipperary Mattie McGrath (Damien Storan/PA) And just in the same way as the Green Party provided a progressive direction over the last four-and-a-half years, small parties, populist parties could provide a very negative, a very regressive direction going forward. In particular, he singled out independent candidate for Tipperary Mattie McGrath, who has clashed with government in the Dail several times, and Peadar Toibin, who founded the Aontu party after a split with Sinn Fein on abortion rights. We could have the very real possibility of the likes of Mattie McGrath as environment minister in the next number of years, rolling back on the key changes that the Green Party implemented, he said. We could have had Peadar Toibin as minister for health, rolling back the reproductive rights that women have won over the last five years. Mr OGorman debating Aontu leader Peadar Toibin (Niall Carson/PA) Mr OGorman said a coalition relying on independents would be unstable, when compared with the Greens record in government. At a time when we may see economic turbulence, we may see the implications of the new government in the United States, that sort of instability is absolutely the wrong thing for Ireland right now, he said. A spokesman for Mr McGrath said Mr OGormans crocodile tears could fill a swimming pool, as he criticised the Greens record on immigration and fuel costs. The spokesman added: If in government, the Rural Independents would prioritise common sense, target waste reduction, and ensure that the voices of rural Ireland, working people, the voiceless and less well-off are front and centre in all decision-making. Mr Toibin has been contacted for comment. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris at the end of the final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios (Niall Carson/PA) The leaders of Irelands three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in their final televised debate before the general election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, featured Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, and Irelands deputy premier and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. The parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day on November 29, which is likely to set the scene of Irish politics for the next five years. (left to right) Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) The latest opinion poll put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for that party. Ms McDonald took aim at current coalition partners Mr Martin and Mr Harris for their respective parties roles in handling the financial crash and its aftermath. In the more than 90-minute debate on Irish national broadcaster RTE, Ms McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fail, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael. Echoing words spoken earlier in the debate by Mr Harris, she said: There are people watching this programme who still bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity. He had said that lessons had to be learned from the financial crash, adding that Fine Gael had never crashed the economy and was now proposing the least amount of spending when compared to the other two parties. Mr Martin said he learned from his time in Government during the financial crash. Ms McDonald retorted: I know you did, sure you authored it. Mr Martin said he kept with public service and would always put the country before his party. He also said Sinn Feins enormous tax increases would destroy Irelands enterprise economy. The exchanges came amid the backdrop of the US presidential election, with compounding anxieties that the next administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland. Mr Harris warned that the risk of a trade shock is real while Ms McDonald argued it was not smart to paint up a doomsday scenario around US President-elect Donald Trumps next term. During the debate, the leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael again ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Fein after the election. Ms McDonald said Tweedledum and Tweedledee seemed to believe they were the only ones who should really be in Government. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris (Niall Carson/PA) Asked why the public should believe Mr Martins pledge on Sinn Fein having previously u-turned on ruling out a coalition with Fine Gael, he said there are fundamental differences between his party and Ms McDonalds. Speaking to reporters after the broadcast, he said such a question was a scare tactic to frighten the middle ground. Elsewhere, Mr Martin said Fianna Fail had taken radical action while holding the housing portfolio. It came after Irelands Housing Commission called for a radical reset in housing policy. Mr Harris argued that housing is the number one priority, as he sought to contextualise comments from a former Fine Gael housing minister, Eoghan Murphy, who has said the party had not made the policy area its focus. Mr Harris said Mr Murphy was referring to an era dominated by concerns over Brexit. Ms McDonald said the Government parties do not recognise the scale of the problem in Irelands housing deficit and accused Mr Martin of crucifying first-time buyers. However, she was unable to give a guarantee that banks would back one of her partys key proposals in the sector. Pressed on whether banks would definitely lend to home buyers under a Sinn Fein scheme where people would not own the land under the house, Ms McDonald said: Weve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. She added: At no stage has the banking Federation said that we will not lend into a scheme of this nature. Elsewhere, Ms McDonald said the two coalition leaders should feel very ashamed over the Governments record on carers and disability. Mr Martin and Mr Harris defended their policies while setting out plans for increased investment in the sector. On healthcare, the Fianna Fail leader insisted that emergency departments are safe after investment to tackle overcrowding. His remarks come after the death of teenager Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, ahead of the General Election on November 29 (Niall Carson/PA) Aoife, 16, died at UHL in 2022 after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis. The health portfolio is currently held by Fianna Fail minister Stephen Donnelly. Asked if her death was a terrible indictment of Government, Mr Martin a former health minister said: Its a terrible indictment of the hospital and what happened there, and the need for reform, and change in governance in the hospital. Also a former health minister, Mr Harris made a pledge in 2017 that waiting lists would be reduced for child scoliosis surgeries to four months which has not come to pass. He said Fine Gael made a clear commitment to fix waiting lists for child scoliosis once and for all. Ms McDonald was asked about long waiting lists for healthcare services in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein is in Government. Ms McDonald said the British Treasury is not minded to fund the place correctly, but added that there had been a huge emphasis on the healthcare allocation by the Executive. She further accused the coalition parties of allocating a derisory amount towards mental health. It came after Mr Harris accused Ms McDonald of laughing and sniggering during the debate on such services. Ms McDonald denied this and said: I am aghast at the brass iron neck youre demonstrating. Mr Harris said there needs to be a holistic approach, multi-year funding and reform in mental health services. In the election, Ireland will choose more members of parliament, known as TDs, than ever before. It comes after a recommendation to increase the number of TDs from 160 to 174 to account for a boom in the population. The number of constituencies has increased from 39 to 43. After polling day, the protracted process of counting ballots by hand will begin. As Ireland uses a system of proportional representation, the voting slips need to be counted several times an undertaking which can last for days. Investigators searching for the remains of Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey said the exhumation of a grave in Co Monaghan had been a difficult time for his family. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The ICLVR did not become aware that Joe Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010 (WAVE Trauma Centre/PA) He was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then have failed to locate his remains. Jon Hill, lead investigator for the ICVLR, said it was a difficult time for the Lynskey family. Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Hill said: The Lynskeys have been disappointed before when weve done a search and recovered remains. In 2010, the commission was searching for Mr Lynskey in Co Meath and uncovered remains which related to two other of the Disappeared: Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. Speaking to the PA news agency at Annyalla cemetery, Mr Hill added: So they had that news, hoping or expecting that could have been Joe, and their hopes were dashed. They took comfort from the fact that someone had been recovered, and they still have that view. The exhumation was carried out at Annyalla Cemetery in Co Monaghan (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) So theyre quite guarded in their views or their thoughts on what it is, that their hopes dont raise too high until we get to a position where were sure it is Joe. His comments echoed those of Mr Lynskeys niece Maria, who told BBC Radio Ulster that she was hoping not to be disappointed again. She said she was both nervous and optimistic about the exhumation, and added: These are long journeys for us, for all the families of the Disappeared that have had to go through this. Mr Hill said the commission had had information for a period of time relating to what appeared to be suspicious activity that took place within the graveyard several years ago. Mr Lynskeys niece Maria Lynskey said she was hoping not to be disappointed again (Brian Lawless/PA) The investigator said: Recent years have suggested that that could have been indicative of what happened to Joe Lynskey. Because of that, weve taken steps together with An Garda Siochana to go through the due process of arranging for an exhumation. Mr Hill said there were multiple sets of remains in what was a family grave. The sets of remains would be submitted for DNA examination. If Mr Lynskeys remains were identified, there would be a post-mortem examination and a process involving the coroner and State pathologist. He said the commission had been in contact with the family associated with the plot. To be suggesting there could be a burial within their family plot that doesnt relate to their family is something that they want resolved as well, he said. That is information that was within that family group over a number of years. So I think it brings some relief to them as well. The investigator acknowledged the exhumation was an unusual search process for the commission. The ICLVR said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) Ordinarily, our searches are in fields or bog land, where well be looking for one set of remains in a field, and thats all well find, he said. Of course, in a churchyard, its significantly different from that, and that brings about its own dynamics and creates its own problems. There are of course remains here, numerous remains. And yes, its unusual, but it isnt unusual for the commission to have information relating to something happening during a burial which was unusual. Weve had a number of cases like that reported to us over the years, and weve been able to investigate all of those and eliminate them all, apart from this one. So this one has become particularly relevant as the years have gone by, and more recent information has brought us to the conclusion that were at now, that it needed to be exhumed to eliminate that possibility that it could be Joe Lynskey. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate the whereabouts of the Disappeared. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Mr Hill said all the remaining cases would remain open until the victims were either found or there was no more that we can do. We would appeal always to anyone who has any information to come forward, because the information is absolutely crucial to our work, he said. Taoiseach Simon Harris has repeated his position that he doesnt believe any member of his team told RTE that the disability care worker at the centre of a viral video was a member of Sinn Fein (Brian Lawless/PA) Taoiseach Simon Harris has repeated his position that he doesnt believe any member of his team told RTE that the disability care worker at the centre of a viral video was a member of Sinn Fein. He has denied any Fine Gael staff contacted the national broadcaster to remove the now viral social media clip of a much-criticised encounter with Charlotte Fallon. Mr Harris apologised over the weekend for his handling of the discussion with Ms Fallon while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday evening. The Taoiseach was accused of dismissing concerns Ms Fallon raised about Government support for the disability sector during the exchange in a supermarket, which was filmed by RTE. It has been confirmed that Ms Fallon is not a member of Sinn Fein. Asked if he has clarified that the staff member did not contact RTE to brief that the carer was a member of Sinn Fein, Mr Harris told reporters: Ive asked that question, and I dont believe that to be the case. Ive asked that question; the contact between my party and RTE is the regular contact that happens. In fact, Id imagine it is the regular contact that happens between yourselves and political parties on a several times a day basis as well. Can I be very clear, my party is not suing RTE. My party is not seeking to review RTE. My party does not get offended by the Late Late Show on RTE. Thats the Sinn Fein party. There is always engagement, constant engagement, back and forth. He added that the claim was a very serious allegation. Earlier on Wednesday, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said it was a matter for RTE and Fine Gael. I just dont know enough about it, if Im honest, he added. I dont know the nature of the engagement between the two They just simply I dont know. Im not up to speed in terms of what transpired, what has been alleged. Ive heard whats been alleged now, but Im not I dont know, because I wasnt involved. I dont support any interference in the editorial autonomy of a broadcast, RTE, or indeed media generally. Political parties complain or they get on about various thats normal and that happens. I just dont know the nature of what transpired here. Maliya Ellis, originally from New Haven, Conn., is a recent graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Social Studies and edited the Harvard Crimsons weekly news magazine. Her summer newsroom internships on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes features desk and the Boston Globes metro team have confirmed her passion for deeply reported local news. In her free time, Ellis enjoys long runs and word games. She is excited to explore a new coast and a new city. Professor Ahmed Hankir said he was grateful for the agreement but was concerned it could be fragile (Ahmed Hankir/PA) Expats and Britons with family in Lebanon said they were relieved by the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah but their fears of further violence remained. Ahmed Hankir, 42, a professor in psychiatry, said his elderly parents were forcibly displaced to Beirut after the fighting escalated in September and that the couple planned to return home to south Lebanon now the 60-day ceasefire had commenced. But Professor Hankir said his parents, who did not wish to be named, had faced significant risks including an Israeli strike on their area on Tuesday just hours before the ceasefire was announced. He said his parents, who have been staying with their daughter in Hamra, central Beirut, were terrified by the attacks. When I gave them a video call yesterday, it was terrifying, Professor Hankir, a visiting professor at Cardiff University who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, told the PA news agency. There was a building that they wanted to target specifically, which is only a few blocks away from where my parents were staying. They were praying to God that they dont get killed. Professor Ahmed Hankir said his parents had been staying with their daughter in central Beirut (Ahmed Hankir/PA) Professor Hankir said he was relieved but concerned that the ceasefire agreement could be fragile and feared for the long-term impact on the Lebanese people. Were relieved, of course, but theres always the concern that this is fragile, that there will be a violation of the terms of the ceasefire, he said. Theres a ceasefire, OK, were immensely grateful for that, but now we need to recover and regenerate and rebuild and heal. If it holds, the ceasefire deal which does not include Gaza will bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war. Alan, a British national who moved from London to Lebanon in 2005 and did not wish to share his surname, said the ceasefire reinforced his decision to stay in the country. Currently living in Tripoli, the 77-year-old went against advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urging British nationals to leave the country when fighting escalated in September. The ceasefire brings a sense of relief and also reinforces my decision not to join the lemmings who abandoned ship, he told PA. It has been a bad time for those in the south of the country, and in other Shia (Hezbollah) areas like south Beirut and Baalbek. Here in the north, in Tripoli, there has not been any change, apart from apartment rentals soaring to over 1,000 dollars a month as refugees from bombed areas have arrived. But he added that coming into winter, the cold weather was making life difficult. In the last week, temperatures have dropped from 20C to low single figures, making life difficult for anyone living under canvas, here or in Gaza, he explained. We are getting electricity two hours a day, occasionally four hours, so keeping warm is a challenge even in a house. We do have local generators but with the economic situation, paying 0.60 dollars per kilowatt hour is a problem when you only earn around 400 dollars per month I installed solar power three years ago so I am covered to some extent but not totally with the colder days. The initial two-month ceasefire requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Israel has said it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the terms of the deal. David Lammy insisted he was looking forward to working with Donald Trump despite previously describing the incoming president as a tyrant (Allison Robbert/AP) David Lammy has insisted he will be gracious to Donald Trump despite his previous comments disparaging the incoming US president. As a backbench MP in 2018, Mr Lammy had described the then-president as a tyrant and a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath. Those comments, and others, have led some to suggest the now-Foreign Secretary would be unable to maintain a good relationship with Britains closest ally once Mr Trump is sworn in in January. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he would be gracious to Donald Trump (Leon Neal/PA) But challenged by members of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday over his previous comments, the Foreign Secretary said he was not looking back but looking forward. Mr Lammy told the committee he had enjoyed meeting Mr Trump in New York in September, along with the Prime Minister, saying he had been a very gracious host and the trio had had good discussion and a laugh in places. He said: I will do everything possible on behalf of the British people in relation to our national interests, and that is working with our close ally. And just as he has been gracious to me, I will be gracious to him. That was the way I was brought up in the great part of London called Tottenham and the great city of Peterborough you are gracious to those who are gracious to you. He also hailed his relationship with the incoming vice-president, JD Vance, saying they had met and had talked extensively about their books and their understanding of impoverished communities. Later, Mr Lammy insisted that the US would comply with Natos mutual defence agreement, despite doubts about Mr Trumps commitment to the alliance. The incoming president has previously suggested he would not defend delinquent Nato members who were spending less than 2% of GDP on defence, while his nominee for defence secretary, Pete Hesgeth, has said the defence of Europe is not our problem and called for Nato to be scrapped. But on Wednesday, Mr Lammy told MPs he was really confident that the US under Mr Trump would meet its obligations under Article 5 of the Nato treaty, saying his pushing and cajoling of Europe on defence spending was in line with previous presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower, John F Kennedy and Barack Obama. He said: The rhetoric is tough and exacting under Donald Trump, and the global community can look back and can see that. He wants a deal. Ive met him, hes certainly not a loser. Im quite sure that Nato as we understand it, the best alliance of countries the modern world has seen, will continue and go from strength to strength. British troops could train and support the Lebanese armed forces to secure the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has indicated. The truce, announced on Tuesday night, will see hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militants Hezbollah suspended for 60 days, with both sides withdrawing from southern Lebanon. Mr Lammy told MPs the UK would stand by Lebanon with increased support going forward. The cross-border fighting has displaced citizens from southern Lebanon and northern Israel, but peace may allow them to return home. The deal will see Hezbollah withdraw from the area between the Blue Line the border with Israel and the Litani river, about 30km (20 miles) to the north. The Lebanese army forces will move into the south of the country, with Israeli troops returning across the border. At a meeting of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, chairwoman Emily Thornberry said the UK had previously given training and support to the Lebanese army and asked if that would be renewed as part of the peace deal. Mr Lammy told her: Yes, and I would hope to increase that support over this coming period. He added: You would expect us to be supporting the LAF (Lebanese armed forces) as they try and secure the south, particularly. And we want to be in a situation where Lebanese can move back south and Israelis can move back north and we see the end to fighting and gunshots and the death toll that weve seen, particularly of civilians. Asked whether the UKs contribution to the UN peacekeeping force would increase, he said: My commitment is for us to stand by Lebanon and that means increased support going forward and we play an important role that has been primarily in support of the armed forces. Im happy to look again at our Unifil (UN interim force in Lebanon) contribution, but Id want to do that in discussion with G7 partners like Italy that play a big role and of course, with the Defence Secretary (John Healey). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was recommending his cabinet accept a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah (Israeli Government Press Office via AP) The deal, brokered by the US and France, is aimed at ultimately delivering a lasting peace. But Israeli ministers insisted it would resume strikes on Lebanon if Hezbollah breached the terms of the ceasefire, while the deal does not affect Israels continuing war with Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer described the deal as long overdue, saying it would provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed. He said: Now, this deal must be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild. The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid. According to the UN, more than 3,700 people, including 240 children, have been killed in Lebanon since the latest round of fighting began in October 2023, while around 900,000 have been displaced. Laila Soueif (centre), the mother of British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah, taking part in a vigil for the jailed pro-democracy activist outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Westminster in 2023 (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Sir Keir Starmer must intervene in the case of a dual national who is imprisoned in Egypt, his mother has said 58 days into a hunger strike. Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a 43-year-old British-Egyptian pro-democracy writer, was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news in December 2021. Based on his sentence, he should have been released in September but remains behind bars, according to the Free Alaa campaign which is calling for his release. His 68-year-old mother Laila Soueif is now 58 days into a hunger strike in protest over his continued imprisonment in Egypt. She has met with David Lammy about her sons case, after urging the Foreign Secretary to take further action to free him. At a press conference in central London on Wednesday, Mrs Soueif said she hoped her message got through to Mr Lammy. My main message was I am on hunger strike, I am not about to break my hunger strike until Alaa is released, she said. Mrs Soueif said it was a lucky break she had not yet collapsed, not just for her own sake, but to spare the Foreign Secretary and the Egyptian government embarrassment. She added: I think Mr Lammy did believe my claim. In that sense at least I think this was not a wasted meeting, and we will see how things go from there. I am still waiting for concrete results. I still believe that there is something that the present British Government can achieve. Mrs Soueif said she did not agree with suggestions from Mr Lammy that navigating a careful relationship with the Egyptian government because of its influence in Gaza had a bearing on her sons case. And she added that in a scenario where a final push was needed to get her son out of prison, Sir Keir would need to be involved. Mrs Soueif told the press conference: Since everyone is telling us that this is a personal issue with (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-) Sisi, then surely the person to push for an end to this personal issue is the Prime Minister. It is not going to be resolved on a ministerial level, it has to be the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech during a visit to Googles new AI Campus in Somers Town, north-west London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) On her own health, she told the PA news agency she felt semi normal despite nearly two months without food. How long that will last, god knows, Mrs Soueif added. She had earlier told reporters: I am still on hunger strike, I am remaining on hunger strike. I believe that it is possible to get this done, and to get this done quickly. That is what I am betting on. I am betting on that with my health and my life and as I have been saying we have all been given this break. Lets use it before we lose it, because if I collapse, obviously that is very bad for me and my family and bad for Alaa but also it is going to be very embarrassing for both the British and Egyptian governments and we really shouldnt get there. Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Lammy said he was determined to see Alaa reunited with his family. In answer to a question about Mr El-Fattahs situation, he added: With the terrible situation in Gaza, it is important that this Government continues to speak to our Egyptian friends who have obviously real proximity to Gaza particularly. But I understand the strength of feeling and thats why the Prime Ministers raised this, I have raised this on successive occasions, and we will continue to lobby hes a dual national we will continue to lobby on his behalf. Paramilitary soldiers fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Imran Khans party during clashes in Islamabad (Irtisham Ahmed/AP) Pakistani security forces have launched an operation to disperse supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan who had gathered in the capital to demand his release from prison. The latest development came hours after thousands of his supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces, facing tear gas shelling, mass detentions and gunfire. Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former PM began a long march from the restive north-west to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated. Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, led the protest, but she fled as police pushed back against demonstrators. Hundreds of Khans supporters are being arrested in the ongoing night-time operation. Police fired shells in an attempt to disperse activists during a protest demanding Imran Khans release (Maaz Awan/AP) Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that the Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies, and the surrounding areas have been cleared. Leaders from Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, have also fled the protest site. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistans army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in the Red Zone, where visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is staying. Since Monday, Mr Naqvi had threatened that security forces would use live fire if protesters fired weapons at them. We have now authorised the police to respond as necessary, Mr Naqvi said Tuesday while visiting the square. Before the operation began, protester Shahzor Ali said people had taken to the streets because Khan had called for them. We will stay here until Khan joins us. He will decide what to do next, Mr Ali said. Supporters board vehicles as they start a rally for Islamabad to demand Khans release (Muhammad Sajjad/AP) Protester Fareeda Bibi, who is not related to Khans wife, said people have suffered greatly for the last two years. We have really suffered for the last two years, whether it is economically, politically or socially. We have been ruined. I have not seen such a Pakistan in my life, she said. Authorities have struggled to contain the protest-related violence. Six people, including four members of the security services, were killed when a vehicle rammed them on a street overnight into Tuesday. A police officer died in a separate incident. Dozens of Khan supporters beat a videographer covering the protest for the Associated Press and took his camera. He sustained head injuries and was treated in hospital. By Tuesday afternoon, fresh waves of protesters made their way unopposed to their final destination in the Red Zone. Supporters of jailed former premier Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party throw stones towards police during clashes in Islamabad (Anjum Naveed/AP) Mr Naqvi said Khans party had rejected a government offer to rally on the outskirts of the city. Information minister Atta Tarar warned there would be a severe government reaction to the violence. The government says only the courts can order Khans release. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. In a bid to foil the unrest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. Messaging platforms were also experiencing severe disruption in the capital. Khans party relies heavily on social media and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. The X platform, which is banned in Pakistan, is no longer accessible, even with a VPN. Last Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Mr Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible because of shipping containers blocking the roads. All education institutions remain closed. Many displaced Lebanese are returning, despite warnings not to do so (AP) A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appears to be holding. Residents in cars heaped with belongings began streaming back towards southern Lebanon, despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries that they should stay away from certain areas. If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war and threatened to pull Hezbollahs patron, Iran, and Israels closest ally, the US, into a broader regional conflagration. The deal does not address the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes overnight on two schools-turned-shelters in Gaza City killed 11 people, including four children, according to hospital officials. Israel said one of the strikes targeted a Hamas sniper and the other targeted militants hiding among civilians. The truce in Lebanon could give some reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border. The deal brokered by the US and France, which was approved by Israel late Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the US would monitor compliance. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the terms of the deal. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said troops arrested four Hezbollah operatives, including a local commander, who had entered what it referred to as a restricted area. It said troops have been ordered to prevent people from returning to villages near the border. Israel is still fighting Hamas militants in Gaza in response to the groups cross-border raid into southern Israel in October 2023. But President Joe Biden said his administration would make another push in the coming days to try to renew efforts for a deal in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave. Hours after the ceasefire came into effect, thousands of people drove south from Beirut with their belongings and mattresses tied on top of their cars. Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon. Sporadic celebratory gunfire was heard at a main roundabout in the city, as drivers honked their horns and residents cheered. The Israeli military warned displaced Lebanese not to return to evacuated villages in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops were still present following the ground invasion in early October. The Israeli military said forces opened fire to push back a number of vehicles that were entering a restricted area. Areas such as Dahiyeh, in Beirut, had been badly hit during the conflict (AP) Three journalists, including a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press, said they were shot and wounded by Israeli troops while covering the return of displaced people to the town of Khiam, around four miles from the border, which had seen heavy fighting in recent days. The Israeli military said it was investigating. An Israeli security official said Israeli forces remain in their positions hours after the ceasefire began and will only gradually withdraw. The official said the pace of the withdrawal and the scheduled return of Lebanese civilians would depend on whether the deal is implemented and enforced. The Lebanese military asked displaced people returning to southern Lebanon to avoid frontline villages and towns until Israeli forces withdraw. Residents will return to vast destruction wrought by the Israeli military during its campaign, which flattened entire villages. The military said it found vast weapons caches and infrastructure it says was meant for Hezbollah to launch an October 7-style attack on northern Israel. Displaced residents return from Syria following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah (Hassan Ammar/AP) More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. In Israel, the mood was far more subdued, with displaced Israelis concerned that the deal did not go far enough to rein in Hezbollah and that it did not address Gaza and the hostages still held there. I think it is still not safe to return to our homes because Hezbollah is still close to us, said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, which is not far from the border with Lebanon and was hit hard by the months of fighting. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel, more than half civilians, as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon. A significant return of the displaced to their communities, many of which have suffered extensive damage from rocket fire, could take months. Weeds grow in a deserted playground in Shlomi, northern Israel, near to the border with Lebanon (Francisco Seco/AP) Israel can claim major victories in the war, including the killing of Hezbollahs top leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of its senior commanders, as well as the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, widely attributed to Israel, appeared to show a remarkable degree of penetration of the secretive militant group. Hezbollah emerges from the war battered and bloodied, with the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war tarnished. Yet its fighters still managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. South Koreas President has met a visiting Ukrainian delegation and called for a joint response to the threat posed by North Koreas recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russias war against Ukraine. The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the near-three-year war, with Ukraine and the US saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine. During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the Norths troop dispatch, Mr Yoons office said. Some South Koreans have staged a rally against their governments plans to supply weapons to Ukraine (AP) The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Mr Yoons national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Mr Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said. It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States. The South Korean statement did not say whether the two sides discussed Seouls possible weapons supply to Ukraine. Many observers say Donald Trumps victory in the US presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Mr Trump has promised to end the war swiftly. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined US-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. Russias recruitment of North Korean troops threatens to expand the conflict (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP) South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defence missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say it is unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch. North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the US and its allies. America, South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia. A brief glance at events around the delivery of Belfasts new Royal Maternity and Childrens Hospital wouldnt inspire confidence that public funds here are well spent. The project is running years behind schedule with an astronomical increase in costs. Its currently set to come in at a staggering 400m more than was estimated. Maria Lynskey, whose uncle Joe (inset) was kidnapped, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA, pictured at the Lynskey family grave in Milltown cemetery, west Belfast (Pic: Kelvin Boyes/PressEye) While Joe Lynskey was being held at an IRA safe house in the Irish Republic, he asked those guarding him for just one thing: a set of rosary beads. Smickers was responsible for over 20 sectarian murdersLast year he was convicted of trying to communicate with a 12-year-old boyThe UFF Hitman died aged 60 this month Johnny Adair and Gary 'Smickers' Smith at the height of their C Coy notoriety Gary Smickers Smith was Johnny Mad Dog Adairs deputy on the Shankill. As a UFF hitman, he was involved in over 20 sectarian murders, including the killings of two innocent council workers in Andersonstown in 1993. Adair says he cut ties with Smith over 12 years ago but admitted, Put a gun in his hand and he was very dangerous. The killer lived in exile in Scotland upon his release from the Maze prison. Last year he was convicted of sexual communications with a 12-year-old boy he narrowly avoided jail. He died at the start of this month aged 60. In this episode of The BelTel, Ciaran Dunbar is joined by Sunday World Reporter Hugh Jordan to unfold the life and crimes of Gary Smith. A traveler checks the flight status board in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport. According to federal data, SFO ranked 10th worst among the 100 largest airports in the nation for holiday flight delays during the past six years. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Folks whose holiday traditions include flying across the country or even up or down the West Coast know that in addition to the luggage, gifts and holiday goodies, they need to pack their patience and maybe some anti-anxiety medication. Air travel delays are all too common over the holiday travel season, which kicked off last Friday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and continues through the first few days of the new year. Delays can be caused by inclement weather, the heavy volume of travelers, air traffic control troubles, technical issues at individual airlines or a combination of any of those issues. Whatever the reason, delays have spawned their own holiday traditions, including arguing with staffers at ticket counters, sleeping in airport terminals, waiting in long lines at rental car outlets and posting complaints on social media. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The worst delays, of course, are the ones that slow you down or prevent you from getting where youre going. So the Chronicle took a look at how holiday air travel delays affect the Bay Area, particularly fliers in and out of San Francisco International Airport, by far Northern Californias biggest and busiest airport. The Chronicle looked at airline on-time performance data from the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics for the 100 largest U.S. airports for travel between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15 over the past six holiday seasons excluding 2019-20 and 2020-21, the peak pandemic years when air travel drastically decreased. A delay is defined as departure or arrival occurring at least 15 minutes late. According to the analysis SFO ranked 10th worst in the nation for delays during the time period examined. Overall, 23% of holiday flights were delayed there. Over the same time period, Oakland International Airport ranked 25th worst, with 21% of flights delayed, and San Jose Mineta International Airport was 74th, with 18% of flights delayed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While SFOs overall ranking was among the worst in the nation for the entire six-year period, its airport rankings have showed some improvement year over year since the pandemic. In 2021-22, the airport was 48th worst in terms of delays; in 2022-23, it was 17th, and last holiday season it was 30th. San Franciscos famous fog and its winter rains, in the last couple of rainy seasons, are often blamed for delaying flights in and out of SFO. But weather-related delays have declined at SFO in recent years, and all three Bay Area airports rank relatively low in that category compared to other airports across the country. Looking at solely weather delays, SFO ranked 67th, San Jose 89th and Oakland 99th over the holiday flight seasons analyzed. For SFO, weather delays have been relatively steady, with just a small increase in the percentage of delayed flights from year to year over the six-year period analyzed. The majority of SFO delays, according to the data analysis, have been caused by national air system issues, including non-extreme weather, airport operations, heavy traffic volume and air traffic control, as well as late aircraft arrivals causing delays at SFO. Those have declined in recent years, contributing to the overall drop in delays. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hoping your holiday travels steer clear of the airports with the most delays? Topping the list of worst-performing airports is Orlando-Sanford International in Sanford, Fla., with 28% of flights delayed over the six-year period. Following in the top 10 were Luis Munoz Marin International in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in Florida; Palm Beach International in Florida; Newark Liberty International in New Jersey; Orlando International in Florida; Ted Stevens Anchorage International in Alaska; Chicago Midway International; and Dallas Love Field; and SFO. Irish country musics first lady on cancer journey: When I found out, I went numb it used to be a death sentence In 2025, the much-loved country star (76) will be 50 years in the business. Now back to rude health, shes eager to carry on Susan McCann at her home in Newry Stephanie Bell Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 11:00 This time last year the first lady of country music Susan McCann was recovering from major cancer surgery and terrified that her life was over. Adobe Stock Every few years when a new digital concept or tool comes along, Christians will ask what the Bible directs them to think about it. For example, many Christians currently wonder: what does the Bible say about cryptocurrency? Some Christians even speculate crypto or bitcoin to be the world currency mentioned in the Bible book of Revelation. In case you do not know, cryptocurrency refers to various currencies generated by computer algorithms and shared through online networks. The currency we use daily is produced by governments who hopefully use resources like gold reserves to back its value and enforce its value and usage. Cryptocurrency is completely virtual, its value based on financial guesswork similar to stock options, and the only thing ruling its usage are the computer algorithms that encrypt it so it can be transferred in specific ways. Bitcoin is currently the most famous example of cryptocurrency, but there are many other kinds. The fact that national treasuries and reserves do not support cryptocurrency makes it exciting and risky. It is exciting because users do not need to rely on banks, which is nice for quick transactions or for users who worry about the economy collapsing. It can be risky because its value rises and falls like stock options, and its lesser regulations mean people can easily use it for dubious activities. Many financial experts worry that as cryptocurrency grows into a second, shadowy economy behind the official one, it will damage industries. Does the Bible offer us guidance on how we should feel about cryptocurrency? Is Cryptocurrency Mentioned in Scripture? Since cryptocurrency was not developed as a concept until the late 1990s, and it wasnt invented until about a decade later, it is not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible is a collection of texts written thousands of years ago, long before cryptocurrency came along. However, this does not mean the Bible lacks any information we can apply when talking about cryptocurrency. There are many things the Bible does not talk about explicitly, but it offers principles that affect how we should talk about those things. For example, the Bible does not talk about solar panels but offers a view of creation and caring for creation that encourages us to consider green energy. Given this point, we need to consider whether the Bibles guidance about money and Christian responsibility toward money and other resources has insights we can apply to cryptocurrency. What Does the Bible Say about Money and Other Resources? The Bible has a lot to say about how we should treat money. Believe it or not, the Bible does not treat money itself as a bad thing. The phrase money is the root of all evil comes from the King James Bible, generally a great translation, but not without its issues. The verse, 1 Timothy 6:10, more accurately says that love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Loving money for its own sake or being consumed with a desire to make money that replaces healthy desires to serve God and care for others is evil. Money itself is a useful commodity. Since the Bible is concerned about greed, it is unsurprising that it contains passages like Paul talking about learning to be content with a little (Philippians 4:12). However, Paul does not say he tries to always live on nothing: he can live with a lot or a little because God gives him strength. Having ultimate trust in God can enable us to enjoy good things or live without them if they are unavailable. Jesus even encourages Christians to use money well by building connections with people (Luke 16:8-11). Christians are called to live wisely, and part of living wisely is cultivating resources well to use the resources to build community, serve good causes, and support the church. These principles tell us that we should not ruthlessly seek wealth to serve ourselves, but we should be open to new ways of making wealth so we can use it for good purposes. Therefore, we can at least be open to using cryptocurrency. It may sound weird, but so do most new forms of revenue when someone invents them. However, the Bibles warnings about greed lead to another important point: Christians must live for something more than their own comfort. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23, the fact that something is permissible does not make it beneficial. We have certain obligations to others that limit what kind of wealth we seek. What are these obligations? What Do Christian Obligations Mean for Using Cryptocurrency? The Bible outlines various obligations that all Christians have to whatever society they live in. Three particular obligations are worth noting here. First, Christians are called to love others (Matthew 22:39) and do what they can to live at peace with others (Romans 12:18). This means we should avoid using alternative revenues like cryptocurrencies for criminal purposes, or out of arrogant desires to be completely self-reliant. Our faith calls us into relationship (first with Christ, and through him, into redemptive relationships with others), not away from relationship. Second, Christians are called to respect and obey the government (Romans 13:1-2). One clear example of this respect and obedience is paying taxes: Jesus tells people to render to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is Gods (Mark 12:17). While Christians have debated at different times in history what it means to respect clearly evil leaders, Christians still aim as much as possible to be good citizens. Third, Christians are called to consider how creations ultimate story affects how they treat creation now. As Kyle Meyaard-Schaap details in Following Jesus in a Warming World, some brands of dispensational theology in the past have argued that we are free to use up the earths resources because God will destroy the planet anyway, but this is a skewed eschatology. As Skye Jethani explores in Futureville, the Bibles descriptions of a new heaven and new earth appear to be a resurrected earth, not a completely new one. If God will refine our planet in the last days without destroying it, we live with hope and caution. The good things we do with our planets resources (with money, with nature) will become part of a larger project that God will reveal in the last days. The wasteful things we do will be shown when we all give an account of our choices at the white throne judgment. As Francis Schaeffer reminds us in Pollution and the Death of Man, we should steward the planet God told Adam and Eve to care for. These three principles may not immediately seem connected to cryptocurrency, but they lead to some important cautions about how we use it. Is Cryptocurrency the One World Currency in the End Times? Some people speculate that cryptocurrency might become the one world currency mentioned in the book of Revelation because of its technological nature, global reach, and potential to centralize economic transactions. While Revelation does not explicitly mention a "one world currency," certain passages, such as Revelation 13:16-17, describe a scenario where a global system controls buying and selling: "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name." When we think about how quickly technology is advancing, its easy to see why some of us might connect this prophecy to cryptocurrency. Lets explore why: 1. The Global Reach of Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, operate on networks that anyone, anywhere can access. This global nature makes it possible to imagine a future where these systems could become the backbone of a worldwide economic system. Unlike traditional banking, cryptocurrency transcends borders, connecting all of us in ways that seem aligned with the concept of a universal economy. 2. A Move Toward Digital and Centralized Systems While todays cryptocurrencies are decentralized, governments around the world are developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)digital versions of traditional money. These systems could centralize control, allowing authorities to regulate buying and selling. When we think about Revelation, this type of centralization feels eerily similar to the global control it describes. 3. Control Over Transactions Revelation 13 talks about needing the "mark of the beast" to participate in the economy. With digital currencies, especially if linked to biometric IDs or other digital verifications, we can see how financial access could be restricted for those who dont comply with certain rules. It makes us wondercould this be the type of control the Bible warns us about? 4. Loss of Privacy As we move toward a more digital world, the idea of financial privacy is slipping away. A universal digital currency could make every transaction trackable. This level of control might remind us of the total economic oversight described in Revelation, where no one can buy or sell without permission. 5. Technology and Prophetic Speculation The rise of cryptocurrency aligns with trends we see todayglobalization, increased surveillance, and the merging of technology with daily life. When we read about these advancements, its natural to wonder if theyre connected to the one-world system Revelation describes. Is This Interpretation Biblical? While these connections may seem plausible, its important to note that the Bible does not specifically mention cryptocurrency or a one-world currency by name. The "mark of the beast" and the control over buying and selling described in Revelation 13 are often interpreted symbolically or as part of a larger spiritual narrative. Many theologians argue that the focus of Revelation is on spiritual allegiance rather than specific technologies. Instead of worrying about what the future might hold, we can focus on staying rooted in our faith and trusting in Gods sovereignty. The message of Revelation reminds us that no matter what challenges we face, we can rest in the promise of Gods ultimate victory. Its a call for us to stay faithful, to stay hopeful, and to trust that God is always in control. What Should Christians Consider Before Using Cryptocurrency? There are three key dangers we should consider if we decide to use cryptocurrency or make it a regular part of our financial planning. First, cryptocurrencys appeal often stems from how it seems the ultimate way to not rely on anyone else. No banks, no tax obligations, no one telling us what to do to make money. While paying attention to the economy and considering backup plans is wise, we should not build our lives around ways to avoid being a part of society. We are called to love fellow Christians and even non-Christians well. Throughout history, even in horrible times like ancient Rome being sacked, Christians have chosen to help each other and their neighbors when crises arise. We should watch out for any desire to use cryptocurrency to become self-reliant hermits who gloat as the world burns. Second, cryptocurrency may not be taxable, but we should consider whether that fact motivates us to avoid obligations to keep our institutions running. Not all taxes may be just, but we should be interested in ensuring governments have enough money to run things like libraries, schools, public roads, hospitals, and other services. If we find cryptocurrency has become a way for us to cheat the system, or that it clearly damages our institutions, we should avoid it or use it sparingly. Third, cryptocurrency may not be made of paper or plastic, but it does have an environmental impact that Christians should consider as stewards of creation. As many people know, cryptocurrency is generated by a digital process called crypto mining. Like any work done on a computer, crypto mining uses electricity, which comes from power plants that use natural resources like coal or water. A United Nations report in 2023 established that crypto mining has a huge toll on power plants, generating a larger carbon footprint than many countries. Cryptocurrency may seem better for the environment than burning garbage or strip mining mountains for coal, but this may not be true. We can take these concerns and discuss them with fellow Christians and trusted advisors as we decide whether to use cryptocurrency. Like any financial concern, we remember to be wise as snakes but shrewd as serpents (Matthew 10:16). We are to be shrewd with money so we can use it well. We are to be innocent of greed, so making money (paper money, plastic money, or digital money) should never dominate us. In all things, we remember our charge to reflect Jesus to the world. 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. Weather models predict areas of near-zero visibility in the Central Valley on Thanksgiving morning due to dense tule fog. Baron/Lynx Dry weather is returning to California just in time for Thanksgiving, but holiday weekend travel conditions wont be entirely smooth sailing. Thick, cold tule fog in the Central Valley is expected to form each morning, which could drop visibility to a quarter-mile or less along portions of Interstate 5, I-80 and Highway 99. Dense fog is likely as early as Thursday morning in the San Joaquin Valley, especially in Merced, Fresno, Tulare and other cities along Hwy 99. Patchy fog may extend all the way up to Sacramento and drop visibility along I-80 and at Sacramento International Airport. Weather models are often too quick to scour out wintertime radiation fog, meaning patchy fog could hang on until early to midafternoon in some spots. High temperatures will only remain in the 50s, with lows in the 30s to low 40s. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Another round of fog Friday morning from roughly Chico to Bakersfield may be more extensive. By Saturday and Sunday, fog may push through the Carquinez Strait toward Vallejo, Richmond, Oakland and even San Francisco. The National Weather Service advises drivers approaching fog to reduce their speed, increase distance from other vehicles and turn on low-beam headlights. NASA satellite imagery captured widespread tule fog in the Central Valley from Dec. 19-21, 2020. The National Weather Service office in Hanford issued dense fog advisories and warned of visibility as low as zero feet. NASA Unlike San Franciscos summer advection fog which forms from warm winds blowing over cool coastal waters wind is the kryptonite of winter radiation fog, more commonly known as tule fog. Under clear and calm conditions, heat has many hours to escape to space during Californias long winter nights. Tule fog forms if the air temperature drops all the way to the dew point, when gaseous water vapor condenses to small, visible fog droplets. If winds are too strong, heat is mixed from the air to the ground and temperatures remain too high for fog formation. Light winds are expected across California throughout Thanksgiving weekend as a high-pressure system steers the storm track into Canada. These light winds and clear skies, combined with moisture from recent rainfall, will provide ideal conditions for dense fog. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Patchy fog is also possible in the Bay Area this weekend, although the more widespread local hazard is near-freezing temperatures. The weather service issued a frost advisory for the interior North Bay and East Bay for temperatures as low as 33 degrees Wednesday night and Thursday night. In addition to the meteorological factors, the Central Valley provides another key ingredient for tule fog: pollution. Air quality is notoriously bad in the Central Valley due to agricultural production, vehicular traffic and burning. These microscopic air pollutants serve as seeds for fog droplets. In recent decades, stricter regulations on pollution have resulted in cleaner air, but also less fog in the Central Valley, according to numerous academic studies. A 2018 UC Berkeley study found a 76% reduction in Central Valley fog frequency since 1980. GREAT BARRINGTON Thanksgiving has taken its purest form in town after firefighters managed to stop a drought-fueled wildfire from spreading over the last week. Thanks are also in order for the rain that gave firefighters a little break on Tuesday, although constant monitoring and patrolling of the now-contained Butternut Fire continues. A second Wednesday morning update on the wildfire from the Great Barrington Fire Department said the fire is now 60 percent contained, meaning it is "controlled." Firefighters will continue to collect data to ensure this containment level continues. The help from Mother Nature also gave crews a chance to savor an outpouring of love and gratitude from the community, especially the children, firefighters said in their first Wednesday morning update. With so little to report, they said, now is the perfect time to share a little heartwarming news. Children have flooded our station with cards, drawings, and letters makes this job worth it. There is no better feeling than returning to the station after a long hard day of work, the fire department said, "to an overwhelming display of inspiration. Fire Chief Scott Turner told The Eagle that firefighters received 41 cards and a banner. Meanwhile, fire officials said Tuesday night that the rains that day helped to dampen the ground and keep the reports of smoke and flares to a minimum. A lot of what was observed is steam and fog, they said. Crews focused on monitoring today with no real developments. The patrols and observations continued overnight Tuesday. Officials said they will continue updating the public as needed. The wildfire began sometime late at night on Nov. 18, and continued to spread over East Mountain and then across the ridge into Sheffield. Much of the terrain is too steep and treacherous for firefighters with equipment to access on foot. Want to send thanks to the firefighters? Letters and cards can be mailed to: Great Barrington Fire Department, 37 State Rd, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Children (with help from parents) can also write to The Eagle with thank you notes (in their words) to firefighters, and we will publish them. Email any notes to: hbellow@berkshireeagle.com It has so far burned an estimated 1,670 acres as of Wednesday morning, according to officials. Firefighting crews from near and far relied on drones and air wing surveillance to map and monitor the fire before they embarked on their patrolling missions around the fires perimeter. Helicopters dropped water, while crews worked to dig, cut and clear a line of any trees, brush and leaves that could fuel the fire, and continuously extended the fire break." On Tuesday morning, officials said the break is strong and holding." And on Tuesday morning firefighters reported fewer hotspots, where the fire is still alive, than on the previous day. Fire officials continue to warn the public to stay away from the entire area for their safety. They also urge the public to call 911 immediately if they see flames or if any property is in danger. Also, police say they are pursuing leads as they investigate who started the fire. While Great Barrington's outdoor fire ban is still in force, Egremont and Mount Washington's Fire Chief Joseph Schneider announced Wednesday morning that he is lifting the ban in those towns "due to cooler temperatures, higher relative humidity, and precipitation moving in across Massachusetts." Want to send thanks to the firefighters? Letters and cards can be mailed to: Great Barrington Fire Department, 37 State Rd, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Children (with help from parents) can also write to The Eagle with thank you notes (in their words) to firefighters, and we will publish them. Email any notes to: hbellow@berkshireeagle.com Eagle Archives, March 13, 1957: Mr. and Mrs. Philip Wynne brought their family of three from Leeds, England, to Pittsfield in 1951, looking for security from nuclear fission and greater opportunity for their children. Six years later, they're not sure about the security; they are about the opportunity. LENOX A new investor is providing the financial power necessary to restart renovations at Blantyre resort, a multimillion-dollar real estate and hospitality project that stalled out more than a year ago. Liam Krehbiel, founder and CEO of Topography Hospitality LLC, which develops and operates luxury country hotels, is a new partner in the project. Krehbiel's firm is injecting millions into the project to pay Bulley and Andrews LLC, a Chicago-based construction firm, the $3 million it's owed for renovation work. Work paused more than a year ago because financing couldn't keep pace with costs. As of 2022, Blantyre LLC had spent nearly $1 million on the project. The prospect to restart the former luxury hotel and dining resort prompted Blantyre's team to revisit the Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals on Nov. 20 to confirm the status of its special permit authorizing the renovation work. Blantyre LLC attorney Vicki Donahue of Cain Hibbard & Myers asked for a clarification and an extension of the historic propertys existing 2020 special permit. That permit was revised in 2023, and it covers the renovation of the 1902 Manor House and the phased development of the resort. The work includes a 45 guest-room annex, 20 condominium townhouses that will be privately owned (but available for hotel guest rentals when owners are not present) and 14 building lots for single-family homes to be held under separate ownership. At the Zoning Board meeting, Chairman Robert Fuster voiced his opinion that, in 2023, the board already decided that substantial progress had been made on the renovation, meaning that the special permit would remain valid with no expiration date, based on Massachusetts case law. Special permits do expire after two years if no work has begun, Fuster noted. Ultimately, the Zoning Board members agreed in a 5-0 vote that the existing special permit remains in effect and needs no extension since substantial construction work has been done. Blantyre LLCs managing partner Ken Fulk, the prominent designer and historical preservation specialist, and George Linardos, CEO of Blantyre LLCs parent company, InHouse, a developer of high-end resorts, were at the meeting too. The Eagle asked for specifics on how much Topography Hospitality will invest in Blantyre, and Donahue replied via email that Topography plans to provide sufficient capital to ensure unpaid vendor balances are settled, and efforts are underway to restore and enhance Blantyre. Donahue explained that with Topography Hospitality about to pump substantial funds to restart and complete the project, the goal in meeting with the Zoning Board again was to establish a comfort level to make sure no challenges to the special permit surfaced. Fulk, a part-time resident of Provincetown, had originally partnered with historical preservation specialist Clark Lyda of Georgetown, Texas, in November 2021 to purchase Blantyre from previous owner Linda Law for $15 million. Law is the current owner of Elm Court in Stockbridge. This was a very personal endeavor for me, Fulk said. Fulk said he had been under-informed about how much work and money was needed to restore and expand Blantyre. We didnt understand the cost and the scale, Fulk said. The quantity of work that was needed to be done to protect the structure is staggering. But Fulk cited the substantial funding commitment by Krehbiels Chicago-based Topography Hospitality. He emphasized the goal of continuing the work at a much quicker pace and finishing it all in one phase. Krehbiel described Blantyre as a truly remarkable place that deserves to be restored in a very sensitive, thoughtful way to bring it back to its original splendor in a way that honors the history of that property. He predicted completion of the entire project and the reopening of the Blantyre resort would take two or three years. The project includes an ongoing commitment to contribute to the towns Affordable Housing Trust, which includes one existing house as well as four one-acre lots for development. SPRINGFIELD Officials with the Diocese of Springfield announced Tuesday that a deceased priest has been added to a list of credibly accused clergy named in sexual abuse of minors, while two others also had additional incidents added to their files. While two of the three spent time in Berkshire County churches, none of the reports alleged abuse during their local tenure. The late Rev. Ronald Lussier was added to the list based on findings by a diocesan Review Board, the diocese said in a statement. The board also noted an additional credibility finding of abuse against the late Rev. John Koonz and three more findings against the late Franciscan Rev. Placid Kaczorek. Koonz, who served in parishes in Dalton, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge, and Kaczorek already had been published on the dioceses list of credibly accused. Lussier was ordained in 1952 and died in 2002, the diocese said in a statement. He served at Notre Dame Church in Adams and Notre Dame Church in Pittsfield from 1968 to 1975; his alleged acts of sexual abuse of a minor date back to 1975 to 1978, the diocese said. He also served the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield as parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas in Springfield from 1952 to 1966, and at St. Rose de Lima Church in Aldenville from 1966 to 1968. He was named pastor of St. George Church in 1975, where he served until his death. The credible allegations against Lussier occurred from 1975 to 1978 when he was in his late 40s and working for St. George Church. In 2002, the year he died, Lussier was honored at a ceremony marking his 50 years in the priesthood. A homily offered by Monsignor Leo A. Leclercin at Lussiers anniversary Mass that year was captured in a column in The Republican. The homily spoke of a faithful, gentle priest, with a humble, unassuming easygoing manner, a man who tries not to hurt anyone, a man of joy, a fun person who has never lost the best aspects of being young. The diocese noted that its determination regarding Lussier does not constitute a finding of criminal guilt. Nonetheless, the Review Board carefully reviewed this allegation, including a report issued by the diocesan investigative team, and found this allegation to be credible, the diocese said. Koonz served at Farren Memorial Hospital, Montague City, in 1963; Christ the King Parish, Ludlow, from 1963 to 1964; Our Lady of Hope Parish, Springfield, from 1964 to 1969; St. John Parish, Millers Falls, from 1969 to 1973; Holy Name Parish, Springfield, from 1973 to 1978; St. Agnes Parish, Dalton, from 1978 to 2002; St. Joseph Mission, Stockbridge, and St. Patrick Parish, West Stockbridge, from 1995 to 2002. He died in 2013. In September 2002, three men alleged that Koonz sexually assaulted them when they were teens. Their accounts were found to be credible by the dioceses internal review panel. In 2003, a man filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Koonz and the Rev. Edward Kennedy abused him when he was a minor. Three people who said Koonz abused them were among 45 people who collectively received $7.5 million from the diocese in July 2004, based on allegations against 18 priests, according to The Republicans news archive. Koonz was removed from the priesthood in 2002. Kaczorek served at Saint Hyacinth College and Seminary, Granby, from 1970 to 1988; St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Chicopee, from 1988 to 1990; and St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica, Chicopee, from 1991 to 2001. He died in 2016. Anyone who has information on sexual misconduct by Catholic priests should report it to the police and the dioceses Office of Safe Environment and Victim Assistance at 413-452-0624, 800-842-9055 or reportabuse@diospringfield.org. Thanksgiving is a tradition for the family to gather around the table and enjoy a delightful meal filled with turkey and pumpkin pie. Before the food is served, Christian families join hands to say a prayer of thankfulness for the food and blessings God has given. Psalms of Thanksgiving offer plenty of inspiration for giving thanks. Interesting Thanksgiving history fact - Prayers of Thanksgiving had been common long before the established Thanksgiving dinner of 1620. The Pilgrims looked to the Bible to declare gratitude and thank God for their first harvest. They knew that God was with them and they had much to be thankful for, regardless of their circumstances. We can always give thanks for God's mercy and grace in our lives."No matter what happens, always be thankful for this is Gods will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18. King David is identified as the author of over 100 Psalms. The unifying theme of Psalms is praise for God, for His goodness. Almost all Psalms, even ones that start with sorrow and anger, end with praise and thanks to God by the last verse. By example or direction, the Psalms encourage the reader to join in giving thanks. Use these Psalms of Thanksgiving to praise God before eating together or for greeting cards to loved ones. It doesn't need to be Thanksgiving Day to your show thankfulness to God. Each and every day we can wake up and go to sleep giving gratitude for the blessings of God! Psalms of Thanksgiving We have collected our favorite Thanksgiving Psalms to recall God's goodness and express gratitude. God's Word is filled with Bible verses about thanksgiving and Scriptures about gratitude that can help cultivate a life that is filled with joy. The Psalms contain particularly powerful quotes for giving thanks and finding blessings in all circumstances - this is the power of thanksgiving. We encourage you to write down these Psalms and meditate on them as you ponder God's goodness and blessing in your life. Go a step further and read the entire chapter of these Psalms during the month of November and even read them outloud with your family to cultivate hearts of gratitude and thankfulness! Let Us Sing Songs of Praise: Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways." Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." Save our Free 30-Day Prayer & Scripture Guide of Gratitude to your phone and share it with loved ones! Psalm 34:1-8 - Taste and See that the Lord is Good I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 100:1-5 - Enter Into His Gates with Thanksgiving A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 136 - His Steadfast Love Endures Forever Give hanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever; and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever; and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever; and killed mighty kings, for his steadfast love endures forever; Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever; and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever; and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever; a heritage to Israel his servant, for his steadfast love endures forever. It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever; he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 92:1-5 - How Great Are Your Works, Lord It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts! Psalm 89:1-8 - Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord I will sing of the LORDs great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations. The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: "What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help." You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever. Psalm 103:1-6 - Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 107:1, 15-22 - Let Them Thank the Lord Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever- holy and awesome is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All your works praise you, LORD; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. For more, read: Powerful Thanksgiving Prayers and Blessings to Inspire Gratitude This Year and 50 Thanksgiving Bible Verse for Gratitude and Praise What Does the Bible Say About Thankfulness? In our busy lives, it's easy to overlook the simple but powerful act of giving thanks. The Bible teaches us that thankfulness is more than just good mannersit's a key part of our relationship with God. When we take the time to be grateful, we align our hearts with God's will and open ourselves up to His blessings. Gratitude helps us shift our focus from what we dont have to all the amazing things God has already given us. Its a beautiful way to acknowledge His goodness, His provision, and His constant care. By embracing thankfulness, we nurture a humble spirit and strengthen our trust in Gods promises. Lets remember to cultivate gratitude in our daily lives and see how it transforms our hearts and our perspective. Several verses highlight the significance of gratitude: 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." This verse reminds us that gratitude should be a constant practice, regardless of our circumstances. Psalm 100:4: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." This passage underscores how thankfulness is a form of worship that honors God and brings us into His presence. Colossians 3:16-17: "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly... with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Here, gratitude is shown as integral to living a Christ-centered life. Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." This verse links thankfulness with peace, illustrating how it helps alleviate worry and strengthens our relationship with God. Thank you for joining us as we reflect on the beautiful Thanksgiving Psalms. Praying over these Psalms can be a transformative practice in your own life throughout the year. As you read and meditate on these verses, allow them to stir your heart and deepen your understanding of Gods goodness. Let each Psalm guide you in crafting your own prayers of thanks, helping you to focus on the blessings you may sometimes overlook. May you experience the peace and joy of a life focused on giving thanks! Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash CPHI & PMEC India 2024 showcases over 10,000 products, for driving innovation in pharmaceutical industry November 27, 2024 | Wednesday | News Over 50,000 global industry professionals, including key decision-makers, gathered at the event to explore new partnerships and growth opportunities The 17th edition of CPHI & PMEC India, organised by Informa Markets in India, Indias leading B2B events organiser, opened its doors on 26 November at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Delhi-NCR, showcasing the robust potential of Indias pharmaceutical industry. With the Indian pharma market projected to grow to $130 billion by 2030 and $450 billion by 2047, the event highlighted the industrys vital role in shaping global healthcare. Bringing together over 2,000 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors from more than 150 countries, including the USA, UAE, South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom, the expo serves as a dynamic hub for innovation and collaboration. Spanning pharma machinery, packaging, analytical instruments, laboratory technologies, ingredients, and beyond, it offers a comprehensive platform for stakeholders to engage in transformative dialogues and foster strategic partnerships. The event featured a stellar lineup of exhibitors, including leading names like Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Biocon Ltd, Glenmark Lifesciences Ltd, Morepen Laboratories Ltd, Hetero Labs Limited, Lupin Ltd, Signet Excipients Pvt. Ltd, Apitoria Pharma Pvt Ltd, Capsugel Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, Supriya Lifescience Ltd, SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd, MSN Laboratories Pvt. Ltd, Sekhmet Pharmaventures Pvt. Ltd, Tirupati Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd, and Merck Life Science Pvt. Ltd, among others. The PMEC pavilion showcases cutting-edge pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, with prominent exhibitors like ACG, Accupack Engineering, Ace Technologies, Avish Machines, Bowman & Archer Pharma Machines, Cadmach Machinery, CAM PAK India, Fette India, IMA Industria Macchine, Parle Global Technologies, Snowbell Machines, and Truking Technology, spotlighting the latest advancements in equipment and innovation. Day 1 of the event showcased the Pharma Connect Congress, which addressed pivotal themes shaping the pharmaceutical landscape. Sessions included discussions on continuous innovation and agile manufacturing for next-generation therapeutics, moderated by Dr. Mahesh Bhalgat, Group CEO & MD, Veeda Clinical Research Limited, and insights into Indias position as the Pharmacy of the World with cost-effective generics and biosimilars, led by Dr. Rhonda Duffy, Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer, Biocon Biologics. The Pharma Congress also highlighted the challenges of adopting digital technologies, with a panel moderated by Dr. Mandar Ghatnekar, Global Head IT & Digital Transformation, Biocon Biologics. Other noteworthy sessions on Advance your Research Decisions on Biosimilars with Confidence led by Dr. Dennis McCullough Vice President, Global Sales, CAS; and Navigating the Complexity of Biosimilar Manufacturing by Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Sr. Vice President - Advanced Biotech Lab, IPCA Labs; among other relevant topics. Additionally, Day 1 featured the Pharma Leaders Roundtable, a closed-door session for senior leaders to explore transformative trends and challenges. Discussions highlighted leveraging geopolitical shifts, such as the BIOSECURE Act, to enhance Indias CDMO sector, integrating AI and machine learning for efficiency, and addressing regulatory and infrastructure barriers in advanced therapies. The day concluded with the prestigious India Pharma Awards 2024, celebrated outstanding achievements in innovation and excellence within the pharmaceutical industry. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. WELLINGTON, New Zealand Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited (TSXV: NZP, NZX: CRP and 3GRE (Frankfurt Borse) or the Company") is pleased to advise that a major reseal on an arterial road connecting to Phosphate Hill has significantly advantaged our recently permitted Korella North Mine. With Korella North Mine initial sales intended for the domestic market, good roads right to the mine gate are essential. Korella North Mine is located on the Phosphate Hill to Duchess Road - locally called the Duchess Phosphate Road. The Duchess Phosphate Road is a key transport corridor for copper, gold and phosphate mines in the south of Cloncurry Shire, who rely on this road for their operations. The completion on 18th November 2024 of the reseal of the Duchess Phosphate Road provides confirmation that Cloncurry Shire Council fully supports mining within the Shire. This extensive reseal project is just one example of the Councils investment in infrastructure that sustains and enables economic growth in the Shire. The contract for the Duchess Phosphate Reseal Project was awarded at the 6 August 2024 Cloncurry Shire Council meeting to RPQ who delivered 52.8 kilometres of reseal by 30 November 2024. The 60km long Duchess Phosphate Road connects with the 100km Duchess to Cloncurry Road which was fully upgraded in 2023 with State and Federal funding. For more information contact Chris Castle on 021 558 185 or chris@widespread.co.nz or check out www.rockphosphate.co.nz Neither the Exchange, its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined under the policies of the Exchange), or NZX Limited has in any way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and associated transactions, and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: MPG - Metroglass clarifies media statements by Crescent Capital VTL - Takeovers Panel orders Empire to reimburse Vital's expenses March 14th Morning Report SKT - Sky secures iconic sports rights RYM - Ryman completes Retail Entitlement Offer TEM - Transaction in Own Shares FPH launches F&P Nova Nasal mask in NZ and AU Fonterra announces changes to management team March 12th Morning Report WHS FY25 Interim Results teleconference details Dun Laoghaire is a bellwether constituency where the main parties are battling for the final seats. Here is everything you need to know about Dun Laoghaire before heading to the polls on November 29th. Advertisement The constituency Dun Laoghaire stretches from Booterstown in the north to Shankill in the south at the Wicklow border. It takes in some of most affluent areas of the country and has the highest house prices. The constituency boundaries have changed since the 2020 election, with parts of Foxrock moving into Dublin Rathdown. The population is 120,235. The issues Dun Laoghaire has housing problems like the rest of the country, with high rents and a local authority housing list of over 3,800. Parts of the constituency have seen an increase in home building in recent years, including in Shanganagh Castle Estate in Shankill, one of the State's largest ever public housing projects. Advertisement Public transport is an important issue in this urban area, with 40 per cent of residents travelling to work by bus or train. Immigration has also been a concern in recent years anti-asylum-seeker protests took place in Ballybrack during the summer of 2023. Seats There are four seats in Dun Laoghaire, unchanged since the last election. The candidates Dun Laoghaire was once a strong Fine Gael area, with the party taking three seats in 2016. Advertisement Green candidate Ossian Smyth took the first seat here in 2020, but will likely be fighting for the final spot this time round. People Before Profits Richard Boyd Barrett and Fine Gaels Jennifer Carroll MacNeill appear to have the safest seats in the constituency. The final two Dail spots will be between Smyth, Fianna Fails incumbent TD Cormac Devlin and Fine Gaels Barry Ward. Outgoing TDs Ossian Smyth Green Richard Boyd Barrett People Before Profit Jennifer Carroll MacNeill Fine Gael Cormac Devlin Fianna Fail The Tanaiste has said Fridays election will be a closely fought race, saying the next 48 hours will be tough. Fianna Fail has gained support in the latest two opinion polls, alongside Sinn Fein, while Fine Gael has dropped two points. Advertisement Another opinion poll is set to be published late on Wednesday. As he highlighted Fianna Fails manifesto policies in the final days of the campaign, Micheal Martin continued to rule out going into coalition with Sinn Fein. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin arrives to speak to the media at a Dublin hotel (Brian Lawless/PA) Speaking the day after the leaders debate, Mr Martin said the election will be a closely fought race. Its too close to call, Im not predicting anything, and I think it would be far too premature to do so, he told reporters on Wednesday. Advertisement Asked whether he thinks government formation will be a lengthy process, Mr Martin responded: Its going to be very tight. "Lets be honest, I think were getting ahead of ourselves. Theres an election to be fought. A lot will depend on the outcome of the peoples decision on Friday, in terms of formation of government timelines and so forth. He added: I do believe one of the key objectives or functions of a general election is to enable the creation of a government, and that government must have the capacity to be solid, coherent and to last four-and-a-half to five years. That will enable good decisions to be made, or at least better decisions than short-term decisions or decisions taken by a government thats looking over its shoulder every week, every month. Advertisement We need that kind of strength in the Dail, and thats the issue that people need to weigh up in terms of decision-making. Asked about the rise in popularity of independent candidates, Mr Martin said there is a very fragmented political situation in Ireland. He said there is competition in different areas, including a large number of independents running. Mr Martin said that having political parties in government is more effective. Advertisement I think the more fundamental concern is, in what way would it affect or shape the formation of a government that could be decisive in the actions it takes, and that could last a full term, he added. I think political parties give one the opportunity to have more cohesion within government and the capacity to govern effectively and decisively. "Too much fragmentation would lead to incoherence in government and would lead to much more short-termism, and we asked the electorate to consider that before they make their decisions. Mr Martin said he has enjoyed the three-week campaign, describing it as engaging and enriching. Advertisement Ive met a lot of interesting people with some fascinating stories. The great thing about a campaign is you do meet a lot of different people, with different life experiences. So Ive enjoyed that aspect of it, and I like campaigning. I think part of being in politics is having the capacity to like meeting people and like engagement with people. Thats been my sense of the campaign so far. This is, you know, Ive enjoyed this campaign, notwithstanding the weather. Sinn Feins president has accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fail of conspiring to keep her party out of government and prevent change in Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald said Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin were now indistinguishable from each other, as she claimed they were suffering acute amnesia in regard to their records in government. Advertisement The Fine Gael and Fianna Fail leaders, who were partners in the last coalition government, have made clear they will not countenance Sinn Fein as a potential partner in the next government. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) On a visit to Naas Fire Station in Co Kildare, Ms McDonald reflected on Tuesday nights final leaders TV debate which featured herself along with Taoiseach Mr Harris and deputy premier Mr Martin. I was in the middle of the two and I didnt hear anything that I havent heard a million times before, she said of the RTE Prime Time debate. I am absolutely struck at the fact that they seem to be suffering from acute amnesia, they have forgotten that, in fact, they have been in government together in support of each other for the last decade. Advertisement To listen to them, youd imagine they had just arrived on the scene and that they were going to come up with all of these solutions. They have had ample chances, ample opportunity to make things better, and they have failed, and in between the two of them, I make the case that now we ask for our chance, with our plans, with our team, to demonstrate how change can happen, how your community, your family, yourself, can be supported when the government is actually on your side. The leaders of Irelands three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in the last televised debate before Fridays general election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, saw the parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day. The latest opinion poll on Monday put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for Mr Harriss party. Advertisement After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Irelands Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (centre) speaks to the media at Naas Fire Station (Niall Carson/PA) The Green Party joined the administration as a junior partner. From 2016 to 2020, Fianna Fail had supported Fine Gael in power through a confidence and supply arrangement from the Opposition benches in the Dail. Sinn Fein won the popular vote in 2020 but a failure to run enough candidates meant it did not secure sufficient seats in the Dail to give it a realistic chance of forming a government. Advertisement Following Tuesdays debate, Ms McDonald was the first of the three leaders to face the cameras on Wednesday. I think people know from the last general election that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael went to all lengths to keep not just Sinn Fein out of government, but to stop change, Ms McDonald said. And were saying to people this election now is time to call time on that. Theres an opportunity now for the people to be in the driving seat, to come out in big numbers, to back Sinn Fein, to back change, to back a change of government, because that is the thing that can transform the situation. Advertisement Ms McDonald said she found it astonishing that Mr Martin appeared to be on a mission to ensure that Fine Gael returned to government. Election 2024 No clear winner in leaders' debate with few stando... Read More Its astonishing, really, that Fine Gael having been in government for 14 years that Micheal Martin is now so intent on returning them again, she told reporters. That, to be clear, is a recipe for continuing failure. And I think its astonishing that he would advance that position, having been so clear five years ago (during the last election campaign) that Fine Gael had been too long in the government. Asked who she thought won the RTE debate, Ms McDonald replied: I think the argument for change won the debate last night. I think that Micheal Martin and Simon Harris have become now almost indistinguishable. I think there is a pretence that they are different in their politics. Theyre not. Richard O'Donoghue, general secretary and a candidate for the Independent Ireland party in the upcoming general election, outlined the party's platform, which includes a focus on regional balance and representation, cost-of-living measures such as tax cuts and subsidised rents, and infrastructure investments like light rail systems. He defended the party's costing of these proposals, arguing that government waste could be reduced to fund them. Advertisement We're going to do a full audit of the NGO services in this country. They're only partially funded. And Id give a mass of support. And there's NGOs in this country that have been fully funded and given no support," he said. "You look at the children's hospital, you look at the design of the children's hospital, all of which cost millions to design when all the people wanted was care. "You could have built a system just like a square box. Easy extend, easy build. You could actually build something for a quarter of the price of which government are spending money on. Mr O'Donoghue also addressed the party's stance on immigration. They want a streamlined process for handling undocumented immigrants, with a maximum six-month stay before deportation if documentation cannot be provided. He also acknowledged the lack of infrastructure to house refugees and asylum seekers in his own constituency, but said that his party was committed to addressing this issue and integrating new arrivals into local communities. Leaders of the three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in their final televised debate before the general election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, featured Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, and Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. Advertisement The parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day on November 29th, which is likely to set the scene of Irish politics for the next five years. (left to right) Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) The latest opinion poll put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for that party. Ms McDonald took aim at current coalition partners Mr Martin and Mr Harris for their respective parties roles in handling the financial crash and its aftermath. In the more than 90-minute debate on national broadcaster RTE, Ms McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fail, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael. Advertisement Echoing words spoken earlier in the debate by Mr Harris, she said: There are people watching this programme who still bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity. He had said that lessons had to be learned from the financial crash, adding that Fine Gael had never crashed the economy and was now proposing the least amount of spending when compared to the other two parties. Mr Martin said he learned from his time in Government during the financial crash. Ms McDonald retorted: I know you did, sure you authored it. Advertisement Mr Martin said he kept with public service and would always put the country before his party. He also said Sinn Feins enormous tax increases would destroy Irelands enterprise economy. The exchanges came amid the backdrop of the US presidential election, with compounding anxieties that the next administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland. Mr Harris warned that the risk of a trade shock is real while Ms McDonald argued it was not smart to paint up a doomsday scenario around US president-elect Donald Trumps next term. Advertisement During the debate, the leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael again ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Fein after the election. Ms McDonald said Tweedledum and Tweedledee seemed to believe they were the only ones who should really be in Government. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris (Niall Carson/PA) Asked why the public should believe Mr Martins pledge on Sinn Fein having previously u-turned on ruling out a coalition with Fine Gael, he said there are fundamental differences between his party and Ms McDonalds. Speaking to reporters after the broadcast, he said such a question was a scare tactic to frighten the middle ground. Advertisement Elsewhere, Mr Martin said Fianna Fail had taken radical action while holding the housing portfolio. It came after Irelands Housing Commission called for a radical reset in housing policy. Mr Harris argued that housing is the number one priority, as he sought to contextualise comments from a former Fine Gael housing minister, Eoghan Murphy, who has said the party had not made the policy area its focus. Mr Harris said Mr Murphy was referring to an era dominated by concerns over Brexit. Ms McDonald said the Government parties do not recognise the scale of the problem in Irelands housing deficit and accused Mr Martin of crucifying first-time buyers. However, she was unable to give a guarantee that banks would back one of her partys key proposals in the sector. Pressed on whether banks would definitely lend to home buyers under a Sinn Fein scheme where people would not own the land under the house, Ms McDonald said: Weve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. She added: At no stage has the banking Federation said that we will not lend into a scheme of this nature. Elsewhere, Ms McDonald said the two coalition leaders should feel very ashamed over the Governments record on carers and disability. Mr Martin and Mr Harris defended their policies while setting out plans for increased investment in the sector. On healthcare, the Fianna Fail leader insisted that emergency departments are safe after investment to tackle overcrowding. His remarks come after the death of teenager Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, ahead of the general election on November 29th (Niall Carson/PA) Aoife, 16, died at UHL in 2022 after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis. The health portfolio is currently held by Fianna Fail minister Stephen Donnelly. Asked if her death was a terrible indictment of Government, Mr Martin a former health minister said: Its a terrible indictment of the hospital and what happened there, and the need for reform, and change in governance in the hospital. Also a former health minister, Mr Harris made a pledge in 2017 that waiting lists would be reduced for child scoliosis surgeries to four months which has not come to pass. He said Fine Gael made a clear commitment to fix waiting lists for child scoliosis once and for all. Ms McDonald was asked about long waiting lists for healthcare services in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein is in Government. Ms McDonald said the British Treasury is not minded to fund the place correctly, but added that there had been a huge emphasis on the healthcare allocation by the Executive. She further accused the coalition parties of allocating a derisory amount towards mental health. It came after Mr Harris accused Ms McDonald of laughing and sniggering during the debate on such services. Ms McDonald denied this and said: I am aghast at the brass iron neck youre demonstrating. Mr Harris said there needs to be a holistic approach, multi-year funding and reform in mental health services. Election 2024 Poll: Who came off best in the final leaders' elec... Read More In the election, voters will choose more TDs than ever before. It comes after a recommendation to increase the number of TDs from 160 to 174 to account for a boom in the population. The number of constituencies has increased from 39 to 43. After polling day, the protracted process of counting ballots by hand will begin. As Ireland uses a system of proportional representation, the voting slips need to be counted several times an undertaking which can last for days. Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has highlighted the need to address challenges in the implementation of cohesion funding and called for a more targeted approach to the Just Transition Fund to better support families impacted by decarbonisation. Mullooly raised the issue to Elisa Ferreira, the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, and fellow MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Advertisement Addressing the Commissioner, Independent Ireland MEP Mullooly highlighted the administrative burden associated with cohesion funding. "I know the success of cohesion funding, but I also know what the regional authorities say to me about the complexities and the administration and the burden that it places on them," he said. "So there's a clear need to ensure that administrations and beneficiaries can navigate the systems better. It's imperative we cut through the red tape when we can. "We know in my own country of Ireland, the implementation rate currently sits at 5.4 per cent. Member States really have to refocus their attention on cohesion funding to ensure they can reduce these regional disparities." Advertisement Focusing on the Just Transition Fund, MEP Mullooly acknowledged the progress made but emphasised that it is falling short in directly supporting families who have lost their jobs due to decarbonisation. He called for a more geographically targeted approach, using defined zones to attract new businesses and create employment opportunities in affected areas, similar to initiatives implemented in coal mining regions in Poland. "Im asking if you would be in favour of a more targeted approach. We look at the peat bog land in Ireland. We look at the specific area around that and try and target the families in that area so we can assist them in the future," The final leaders' debate ahead of the general election dominates Wednesday's front pages. The debate, which had no clear winner, is the lead story in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, and the Irish Examiner. Advertisement A story on major retailers ditching Conor McGregor's alcohol brands also features on the front page of The Irish Times. The decision by Tesco, Musgrave, Spar, Eurospar, MACE, Londis, and XL stores, came after a woman who said Mr McGregor raped her won a civil claim for damages against him. The Echo leads with a story on a driver who had 12 drinks before a crash in which her friend died. A man murdered in Dublin was the father of a 'hitman', the Irish Daily Star, the Irish Sun, and The Herald report. Wednesdays front page pic.twitter.com/PFnr9NbYPd Irish Daily Star (@isfearranstar) November 27, 2024 Today's front page of The Irish Sun pic.twitter.com/5pNcfLYkUn The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) November 27, 2024 The Irish Daily Mail leads with the leaders' debate. Hotly anticipated debate ends up as something of a stalemate as #GE2024 enters its final days... pic.twitter.com/LjqM7uT8Yz The Irish Daily Mail (@irishdailymail) November 27, 2024 In the North, the Belfast Telegraph and The Irish News lead with stories on a 'catalogue of failure' at Belfast's maternity hospital. Advertisement The announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon leads the stories on Wednesdays UK front pages. The story is featured on the front of The Guardian and The Independent, with Israel and Hezbollah agreeing to suspend hostilities from Wednesday. Meanwhile, The Times reports carmaker Vauxhall has blamed electric vehicle rules for the decision to shut its plant in Luton. The Telegraph says the UK government could look to water down the rules in response. The Daily Mirror leads with an exclusive story on the return of free breakfast clubs to all primary schools. Advertisement Metro carries an interview with a dance teacher who was injured in the Southport knife attack that left three girls dead. She has said the victims memories should be a driving force for change. Suspended Premier League referee David Coote is at the centre of an FA betting probe, according to The Sun. The cost of Christmas dinner leads the Daily Express. The Financial Times reports trading partners have warned the US of the potential dangers of president-elect Donald Trumps tariff pledge. And the Daily Star says Hulk Hogan has been floated as a potential pick for Mr Trumps Cabinet. Advertisement The New York Times leads with the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement. Australias House of Representatives have passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalise the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (26 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. Advertisement The legislation was passed with 102 votes in favour to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or drivers licences. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system. Advertisement Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, its not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to peoples lives, Mr Tehan told Parliament. Communications minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later on Wednesday. The major parties support all but guarantees the legislation will be passed by the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats. Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Advertisement Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents authority to decide what is best for their children. Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer. Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media. The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it, Ms Daniel told Parliament. Advertisement There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, thats because no other country wants to do it, she added. The platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced. Pakistani security forces have launched an operation to disperse supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan who had gathered in the capital to demand his release from prison. The latest development came hours after thousands of his supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces, facing tear gas shelling, mass detentions and gunfire. Advertisement Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former PM began a long march from the restive north-west to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated. Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, led the protest, but she fled as police pushed back against demonstrators. Hundreds of Khans supporters are being arrested in the ongoing night-time operation. Police fired shells in an attempt to disperse activists during a protest demanding Imran Khans release (Maaz Awan/AP) Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that the Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies, and the surrounding areas have been cleared. Leaders from Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, have also fled the protest site. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistans army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in the Red Zone, where visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is staying. Advertisement Since Monday, Mr Naqvi had threatened that security forces would use live fire if protesters fired weapons at them. We have now authorised the police to respond as necessary, Mr Naqvi said Tuesday while visiting the square. Before the operation began, protester Shahzor Ali said people had taken to the streets because Khan had called for them. We will stay here until Khan joins us. He will decide what to do next, Mr Ali said. Advertisement Supporters board vehicles as they start a rally for Islamabad to demand Khans release (Muhammad Sajjad/AP) Protester Fareeda Bibi, who is not related to Khans wife, said people have suffered greatly for the last two years. We have really suffered for the last two years, whether it is economically, politically or socially. We have been ruined. I have not seen such a Pakistan in my life, she said. Authorities have struggled to contain the protest-related violence. Six people, including four members of the security services, were killed when a vehicle rammed them on a street overnight into Tuesday. A police officer died in a separate incident. Advertisement Dozens of Khan supporters beat a videographer covering the protest for the Associated Press and took his camera. He sustained head injuries and was treated in hospital. By Tuesday afternoon, fresh waves of protesters made their way unopposed to their final destination in the Red Zone. Supporters of jailed former premier Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party throw stones towards police during clashes in Islamabad (Anjum Naveed/AP) Mr Naqvi said Khans party had rejected a government offer to rally on the outskirts of the city. Information minister Atta Tarar warned there would be a severe government reaction to the violence. Advertisement The government says only the courts can order Khans release. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. In a bid to foil the unrest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. Messaging platforms were also experiencing severe disruption in the capital. Khans party relies heavily on social media and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. The X platform, which is banned in Pakistan, is no longer accessible, even with a VPN. Last Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Mr Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible because of shipping containers blocking the roads. All education institutions remain closed. Improved fundamentals boost foreign institutions bullish outlook on Chinese assets for 2025 10:01, November 27, 2024 By Song Lin ( Global Times As 2024 comes to a close, financial institutions are rolling out their investment outlooks for the year ahead. Despite recent market volatility, foreign institutions continue to give optimistic reports on Chinese assets. Economists point to strengthening expectations for improved macroeconomic fundamentals, forecasting significant upside potential for China's A-shares in 2025, despite the complexities faced by the global economy. The MSCI China Index is expected to yield a return of 5-6 percent in 2025, James Wang, head of China Equity Strategy Research at UBS investment Bank, said in a note sent to media on Monday. Though geopolitical tensions and other headwinds may lead to potential downsides in the short term, Wang noted that any market pullbacks will present more attractive buying opportunities for investors. "Since market expectations are currently subdued, we believe there is substantial room for growth in 2025 and we are constructive on Chinese equities in the next 12 months," Raymond Ma, Invesco's chief investment officer for Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, said in the note sent to the Global Times. "Looking ahead to 2025, we expect fiscal policy support to continue and foresee the implementation of more targeted fiscal measures," Ma said. Senior economists from Goldman Sachs and AllianceBernstein also expressed similar bullish views on Chinese assets recently. The bullish stance is underpinned by strengthening economic fundamentals, driven by the incremental policies recently introduced by the Chinese government. For instance, economists have highlighted the anticipated recovery in domestic demand within China's vast market. "Given the recent policy support, we believe that domestic demand will recover in 2025. This will lead to an improvement in spending and investment to create a more resilient economic environment and to ensure a stable growth going forward," Ma said. As the year-end shopping season approaches, Chinese cities have rolled out new rounds of consumption vouchersto boost the recovery of consumption. Meanwhile, the car trade-in program is gaining strong momentum, with its policy effects becoming increasingly evident. As of November 18, nationwide applications for subsidies for scrapping and replacing old vehicles have surpassed 2 million each, bringing the total to over 4 million, data from China's Commerce Ministry showed. "Given the current strength and determination of policy support, the domestic economy is expected to stabilize and recover, driving corporate profit growth. Combined with the attractive valuation of A-shares and the breadth and depth of over 1,000 listed companies, we believe A-shares continue to offer abundant stock-picking opportunities for generating excess earnings," read an AllianceBernstein research note released on November 6. Global capital is snapping up Chinese assets, sending a positive signal to the markets, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Tuesday. Despite the complexities of the global economic landscape, the continued rollout of incremental policies has bolstered investor confidence, and many Chinese assets are deeply undervalued after more than three years of declines, Yang said, adding that the US Federal Reserve has entered a rate-cutting cycle, which is expected to strengthen the yuan and boost global interest in yuan-denominated assets. Meanwhile, equity valuations in the US, Europe, and Japan are at historic highs. In contrast, A-shares and Hong Kong stocks stand out as undervalued opportunities, Yang noted. China will continue to open its financial sector wider, deepening reforms to create a more market-oriented, law-based, and international business environment, Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, recently said at a forum. Li expressed strong support for foreign financial institutions to engage more fully in China's financial markets and warmly welcomed financial institutions and long-term capital from around the world to come to China and expand their operations. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor has asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmars military regime for crimes committed against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority. Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, who took power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in 2021, is accused of crimes against humanity for the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. Advertisement Nearly a million people were forced into neighbouring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes. From a refugee camp in Bangladesh, the courts top prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he intends to request more warrants for Myanmars leaders soon. #ICC Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC announces an application for a warrant of arrest for Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the #Myanmar Defence Services https://t.co/OyQHr9q29r pic.twitter.com/rJQJDUrXiT Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) November 27, 2024 In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law, the British barrister said. The allegations stem from a counterinsurgency campaign that Myanmars military began in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. Advertisement Senior Gen Hlaing, who heads the Myanmar Defence Services, is said to have directed the armed forces of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, as well as national police to attack Rohingya civilians. Mr Khan was in Bangladesh where he met with members of the displaced Rohingya population. Myanmar does not belong to the global court, but Bangladesh does. In 2018 judges at the court ruled the prosecutor could look into crimes which were completed on the territory of a member state, such as forcible deportation. In 2019, Mr Khans predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, formally requested to open an investigation into the situation and judges gave the green light for investigations into any crime, including any future crime committed at least partly in Bangladesh or another court member state and linked to the Rohingya. Advertisement The move paved the way for Khan to pursue crimes beyond forcing men, women and children over the border and into refugee camps. The request comes days after a powerful rebel group seized a key trading town in north-eastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government. The military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyis government in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organised by Myanmars ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations highest court, advanced a separate case against Myanmar brought by Gambia alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya. Advertisement Five European countries and Canada have asked the court to back Gambia in the proceedings. Israel has approved a US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanons Hezbollah, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes meanwhile carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. Advertisement At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signalled it aims to keep pummelling Hezbollah before the ceasefire is set to take hold at 4am local time on Wednesday. Another huge air strike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. Israels security cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. US President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement good news and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Advertisement An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step towards ending the region-wide unrest triggered by Hamass attack on Israel on October 7 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Advertisement Areas in Tyre, south Lebanon, were hit by Israeli strikes with a ceasefire deal under discussion (AP) Mr Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israels enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack, he said. For every violation, we will attack with might. The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Advertisement Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides compliance. But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a televised statement (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP) Mr Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. Mr Netanyahus office said Israel appreciated the US efforts in securing the deal but reserves the right to act against every threat to its security. Advertisement Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollahs military capabilities. An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanons Health Ministry. Strikes on Beiruts southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern province of Baalbek. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Rescuers use an excavator as they search for victims at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon (Hassan Ammar/AP) Israel also struck a building in Beiruts bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 metres from Lebanons Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollahs financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beiruts southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the UN peacekeeping mission, Unifil, is headquartered. President Joe Biden called the agreement good news (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) Unifil spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told the Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few miles from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 20 miles north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its 2023 attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon in the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. Rescuers search for victims at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut (Hassan Ammar/AP) The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the countrys north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office has said Israel plans to appeal against the International Criminal Courts recent decision to issue arrest warrants against him and his former defence minister over alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week issued the arrest warrants, accusing Mr Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes for actions during Israels war in Gaza. Advertisement The court said there was reasonable grounds to believe the two leaders bear responsibility for using starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid to Gaza and have intentionally targeted civilians. Both men have condemned the decision and accused the court of anti-Israeli bias and undermining Israels right to self-defence. Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Yoav Gallant have condemned the courts decision (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP) Mr Netanyahu said he discussed the matter on Wednesday with Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who is leading an effort in the US Congress to impose sanctions against the court and countries co-operating with it. Mr Netanyahus office said Israel also informed the ICC on Wednesday of its intention to appeal to the court along with a demand to delay implementation of the arrest warrants. Advertisement It said the appeal would argue the warrants lacked any legal or factual basis. Israel and the US are not members of the ICC, and the court does not have jurisdiction to make arrests on Israeli territory. But both men could be subject to arrest if they enter any of the courts member states, which include allies such as the UK, France and Italy. The eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been released from custody after his arrest last week on rape allegations, his lawyer said. Marius Borg Hoiby, 27, is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Ms Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties. Advertisement Borg Hoiby was arrested last week in Oslo on a preliminary charge of having had sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act, police said. In Norway, a preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows authorities to detain suspects during an investigation. At the time, the authorities did not say when the alleged rape occurred. Norwegian media reported that Borg Hoiby denied the accusation. Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said on Wednesday that police had reviewed the evidence seized in connection with Borg Hoibys arrest and had conducted witness interviews. Advertisement Oslo police said in a statement that the decision was taken not to seek the further detention of Borg Hoiby. As of now, we can no longer see that there is a risk of evidence being tampered with, it said. The statement added that a police investigation has been launched into a further matter relating to sexual offences, without giving details of that case. Oyvind Bratlien, Borg Hoibys defence lawyer, said his clients release was not surprising. Advertisement He shouldnt have been imprisoned at all, Mr Bratlien told broadcaster NRK. He later confirmed to Norwegian news agency NTB that his client had been released. The royal palace had no comment regarding the allegations against Borg Hoiby, NTB said. Borg Hoiby lives with the royal couple and their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. South Koreas President has met a visiting Ukrainian delegation and called for a joint response to the threat posed by North Koreas recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russias war against Ukraine. The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the near-three-year war, with Ukraine and the US saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Advertisement Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine. During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the Norths troop dispatch, Mr Yoons office said. Some South Koreans have staged a rally against their governments plans to supply weapons to Ukraine (AP) The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Mr Yoons national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Mr Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said. Advertisement It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States. The South Korean statement did not say whether the two sides discussed Seouls possible weapons supply to Ukraine. Many observers say Donald Trumps victory in the US presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Mr Trump has promised to end the war swiftly. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined US-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. Advertisement But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. Russias recruitment of North Korean troops threatens to expand the conflict (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP) South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defence missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say it is unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch. Advertisement North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the US and its allies. America, South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia. Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released, the White House said. The three were named as Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. Advertisement Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years, the White House said in a statement. All three had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges, while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. The announcement comes at an uncertain moment in the US-China relationship that endured turbulence over President Joe Bidens term. Advertisement Harrison Li holds a photo of his father, Kai Li (Jeff Chiu/AP) But with the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signalled his concern that the incoming presidents promises to impose significant tariffs on Chinese goods could hinder ties between the economic powers. A US official said the Biden administration had raised the cases of the detained Americans with China in multiple meetings over the last several years, including earlier this month when President Biden spoke to Mr Xi on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Peru. Politico was first to report the mens release, which said it was part of a prisoner swap with the US. The White House did not immediately confirm that any Chinese citizens had been returned home. Li, a Chinese immigrant who started an export business in the US, was detained in September 2016 after flying into Shanghai. Advertisement He was placed under surveillance, interrogated without a lawyer and accused of providing state secrets to the FBI. A UN working group called his 10-year prison sentence arbitrary and his family said the charges were politically motivated. Leung was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges. He was detained in 2021, by the local bureau of Chinas counterintelligence agency in the south-eastern city of Suzhou after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and social controls to fight the spread of Covid-19. Swidan had been jailed for 12 years on a drug charge and, along with Li and Leung, had been considered by the State Department to be wrongfully detained. A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militant group has won the backing of Israeli leaders, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signalled tentative backing for the US-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. Advertisement An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Heres what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: Advertisement The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon. Us President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4am local time on Wednesday. President Joe Biden called the agreement good news (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the US would monitor compliance by all sides. Mr Biden said the deal was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Advertisement Israels defence minister, Israel Katz, insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not provide effective enforcement of the deal. Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the groups support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. Rescuers use an excavator as they search for victims at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon (Hassan Ammar/AP) We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon, he said. Advertisement The European Unions top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israels security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollahs top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signalling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making a televised statement (Israeli Government Press Office via AP) The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Advertisement Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israels overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the groups effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israels massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their countrys fate to Gazas at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in a grave condition. Areas in Tyre, south Lebanon, were hit by Israeli strikes with a ceasefire deal under discussion (AP) No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israels attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the groups top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder on Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine, he said in a speech to the UN read by his ambassador. First Nations writer Melissa Lucashenko has scooped her third major Australian literary award in as many weeks, now eight in total, for her epic Edenglassie. The acclaimed author was named on Wednesday night winner of the $40,000 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, celebrating research-based literature. It brings her total prizemoney for the work to almost $200,000. Lucashenko, who is of Goorie and European descent, said she intends to use most of the proceeds of the Nib prize to help a family member out of homelessness and others struggling in her community. Author Melissa Lucashenko has won the Waverley Council NIB award with her novel Edenglassie. Credit: Janie Barrett I can pay my bills and I have a roof over my head but because I adhere to Aboriginal values, I will be sharing the love, as and when I can because the government is more interested funding, or pretending to fund, AUKUS and fossil fuel production than making sure people are properly housed, Lucashenko said. Advertisement Eating outJust open Exhibition Street set to sizzle with this hot new South-East Asian diner from an influential chef You cant reinvent the wheel, but you can always put new tyres on it, says Lucy Liu co-founder, Michael Lambie, of his new restaurant, Juni. Tomas Telegramma November 28, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As featured in the Melbourne hit list for December 2024. See all stories . British-born chef Michael Lambie has distinguished himself in Melbourne for decades, bringing culinary prowess to Taxi Dining Room, Stokehouse and the now-closed Circa in their early days, and opening Lucy Liu, the city eatery with pan-Asian influences, in 2014. Since selling Lucy Liu just before COVID and seeking a brief sea change on the Gold Coast with bar and restaurant Rubi Red hes been ruminating on what to do next. The goal was always to come back to Melbourne, Lambie says. 1 / 5 Slow-roasted Cape Grim beef short-ribs with Penang curry. Eddie Jim 2 / 5 Tuna tataki with a punchy ginger and wasabi dressing and pickled radish. Eddie Jim 3 / 5 The Pink Panther cocktail made with gin, peach makgeolli (Korean rice wine), and rose and hibiscus syrup. Eddie Jim 4 / 5 Japanese pumpkin and eggplant with vegan red curry. Eddie Jim 5 / 5 Mop it all up with some Juni roti. Eddie Jum Previous Slide Next Slide Five years later, hes achieved it with Juni, which draws inspiration from across South-East Asia. It opens on Exhibition Street this week. Advertisement Its a big commitment to do a restaurant like this with the economic climate so it was important not to rush in, he says of Juni, named in honour of his late mother. Taking over an old Officeworks store meant Lambie could start with a blank canvas. And guided by Carlton architectural firm Techne, he says the fitout has evolved to evoke a mix of 1960s Hong Kong and Blade Runner 2049 , with splashes of neon red, back-lit glass bricks and futuristic projections on the walls. Chef Michael Lambie in Juni. Eddie Jim On the ground floor, the adjoining bar and dining room share the same menu, churned out of a central open kitchen, but Lambie hopes its flexible enough to cater to everyone from the pre-theatre crowd to those looking for a full-on feast, or even just a nightcap. A mezzanine-level private dining space overlooks the main restaurant. Lambie fell hard for South-East Asian flavours in the early 2000s, after visits to Japan and Thailand. Initially, his cooking combined his classical French training with Asian flavours before he fully embraced an Asian palate. Advertisement My passion for this style of food and my joy to be in the kitchen again is driving Juni. Its nothing like Lucy Liu; its Michael Lambie now. Chef Michael Lambie This love of these flavours and my style have evolved, beginning at Taxi, then Lucy Liu both very different venues and now, Juni, which is different again. My passion for this style of food and my joy to be in the kitchen again is driving Juni. Its nothing like Lucy Liu; its Michael Lambie now. Junis menu includes crowd-pleasing, seafood-heavy snacks such as hiramasa kingfish with jalapeno nam jim and yuzu, and tuna tataki dressed with the punchy pairing of ginger and wasabi. You cant reinvent the wheel, but you can always put new tyres on it, he says. The fit-out had evolved to become a mix of 1960s Hong Kong and Blade Runner 2049. Eddie Jim Advertisement Theyre best enjoyed with a similarly aromatic cocktail: the Golden Child has tom-yum rum and makrut lime syrup, and Sichuan chilli oil adds tongue-tingling spice to the Kiki Martini. Moving through the menu, youll also find togarashi-spiced cauliflower, sticky rare-breed pork belly with coconutty caramel, and rock lobster dumplings. But Lambie is particularly excited about the duck Peking with a little twist. Hes dry-ageing birds for two weeks, roasting them until crisp and serving them by the half with daikon kimchi, cucumber, spicy hoisin sauce and pancakes to package it all up in. Along with Maison Batard and Bossa Nova Sushi, Juni is a strong newcomer to the top end of Bourke Street and its surrounds, where Lambie hopes a real new dining precinct will come alive. Juni opens on Thursday, November 28. Advertisement Advertisement RecipesOne-tray wonder Holy sheet! Four hot new tray-bake saviours for easy end-of-year entertaining Katrina Meynink November 27, 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 Holy sheet season is upon us, as we drag our way to the finish line. Its always such a busy time of year, and I think the ease of one baking tray at a time is key to survival as the silly season hits its straps. The following tray bakes are easy, minimal on the washing up (vanilla slice aside) and worth adding to your hectic mid-week repertoire. A slab of cheesy pepperoni goodness. Katrina Meynink Sheet pan pizza of the gods Theres nothing greater than piping hot pizza fresh from the oven, indecently laden with mozzarella, olives and pepperoni doing their best to escape their carby base. INGREDIENTS Advertisement Dough 400ml warm water 7g sachet dry yeast (if you can find one with bread improver, use that one) 3 tsp honey 1 tbsp olive oil 500g bread flour generous 1 tsp sea salt flakes Topping 280g tomato paste or pizza sauce - cup pitted kalamata olives 450g mozzarella ball, sliced 100-150g pepperoni slices To serve Advertisement drizzle of olive oil basil leaves sea salt flakes freshly cracked black pepper METHOD Grease a large, lipped baking sheet (about 40cm x 28 cm) with olive oil, then line with baking paper and set aside. Add the water, yeast, honey and olive oil to a bowl of a stand mixer. Set aside for about 5 minutes or until foaming on top. Add the flour and salt, then using the bread hook, mix for a few minutes unlike many doughs, you dont need to beat this until completely smooth and elastic, it just needs to be fully incorporated. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place for at least 2 hours or until doubled in size. (If making ahead, you can transfer the dough to a large airtight container and let it prove overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.) Turn the dough out onto the tray and spread into the corners. If it gives you a bit of pushback, keep stretching until it fits. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for another 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to as hot as it can go (about 220C). Spread the base generously with tomato paste or pizza sauce. Scatter with toppings, using as little or as much as you like. Pop in the oven for 1520 minutes (depending on how hot you can get it) until the crust looks golden, and the cheese is bubbling. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Scatter over the basil leaves and serve to applause. Serves 6 Spring roll crunchy rice salad. Katrina Meynink Advertisement Spring roll crunchy rice salad This is an emotional support salad. It has everything we need: freshness; crisp, crunch and contrast; a wisp of spice; colour; and a touch of take-out vibes. For this to reach peak ASMR, assemble it just before you eat. I pull the tray from the oven, plop the salad elements on top and take the tray to the table for everyone to help themselves. INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp flavourless oil, such as vegetable oil 500g cooked rice (even better if this is cooked coconut rice) 300g cocktail spring rolls (or however many you like, see note) 1 continental cucumber, sliced 12 avocados, sliced cup Kewpie mayonnaise Advertisement Dressing 3 tbsp rice vinegar 3 tbsp mirin 3 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp very finely diced lemongrass (or 3 tbsp lemongrass paste) To serve handful of salted, roasted cashews a few basil leaves, to serve 2-3 tbsp toasted white and black sesame seeds pinch of togarashi or chilli flakes (optional) METHOD Advertisement Preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional). Grease a rimmed baking tray with the oil. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Add the rice and of the dressing to a bowl and stir until the rice is coated in the dressing. Scoop onto the tray and press down lightly. Top with the spring rolls. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, using the same bowl, add the cucumber and most of the remaining dressing, reserving a couple of tablespoons. Toss gently and set aside for the flavours to infuse. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons of dressing to the Kewpie mayo in a small bowl and stir to combine. When the rice is crispy and crunchy and tanned in spots, and the spring rolls look golden, remove the tray from the oven. Top with the sliced avocado and then the marinated cucumber. Sprinkle over the cashews and few basil leaves then spoon over the mayo mixture and top with sesame seeds and togarashi, if using, and serve. Serves 2-4 Note: Extra spring rolls are always a good idea, but I suggest cooking them on another tray you need to give everything a little bit of space to breathe and crisp up. Overcrowded sheet pans dont give you the one-two punch of crisp and crunch. Patatas bravas with roast garlic aioli (right) and kind-of brava sauce (left). Katrina Meynink Patatas bravas, double the sauce Advertisement We cant all be making our way through Spains tapas bars, but we can have the same intent with our potatoes. Here, spiced potatoes are roasted until golden and served with a nontraditional red sauce thats more romesco than brava, so I call it kind-of brava. I also love a garlic aioli. And offering both sauces with a spread of roasted carbs will make you friends every day of the week. INGREDIENTS 1.5kg yellow flesh all-purpose potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces 4-5 tbsp duck fat or olive oil 2-3 heads of garlic, halved horizontally Potato spice blend 1 tbsp sea salt flakes 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika 1 tsp ground coriander a good pinch ground black pepper Advertisement Kind-of brava sauce 140g tomato paste 2 x marinated red peppers (jarred roasted capsicum), deseeded and roughly chopped 1 tbsp sherry vinegar cup smoked almonds red onion, chopped 3 tsp Spanish sweet smoked paprika Garlic aioli a few of the roasted garlic cloves from roasting the potatoes (or 1 raw garlic clove, grated) cup good quality mayonnaise finely grated zest of 1 lemon METHOD Advertisement Combine the potatoes, duck fat (or oil) and spices in a bowl and toss, until the potato pieces are covered in the spice mix. Spread over a large roasting tray and season generously with sea salt flakes. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until crisp, golden and cooked through, tossing the potatoes midway through the cooking time. Meanwhile, for the kind-of brava sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until fully incorporated. Season with sea salt flakes and black pepper. (Extra sauce can be stored in the fridge in an airtight jar or container for another use.) For the garlic aioli, squeeze some of the roasted garlic into a bowl and mash with a fork, then combine with the mayonnaise and lemon zest, and set aside until serving. Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter. Drizzle lightly with the kind-of brava sauce and the garlic aioli. Season with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Serve with additional sauces on the side for dipping. Serves 6 as part of a spread Vanilla slice with passionfruit drizzle and elderflowers (optional). Katrina Meynink The right kind of vanilla slice So many atrocities of this classic (aka the snot block) are out there. Stay safe and make your own you will be rewarded with a thing of beauty. Advertisement The key is to ditch the cornflour that so many recipes call for. Its like eating the inside of your primary school tidy tray with a mouthfeel of chalk and clag glue. You need egg yolks, gelatin, a whisk and a little elbow grease. And you must caramelise your puff pastry first this is of dire importance to add the requisite textural contrast to the centre. Note: If you have four flat baking trays, you can bake both pastry pieces at once, just swap oven shelves midway through cooking so they colour evenly. You can gussy up the passionfruit drizzle any way you like. I scattered elderflowers over the top, but you could also strew finely sliced makrut lime leaves different in flavour, but equally delightful. INGREDIENTS Advertisement 375g sheet all-butter puff pastry (I used Careme), defrosted in the fridge 3 heaped tbsp caster sugar Vanilla centre 1 sheets titanium-strength gelatin 500ml milk 375ml pouring cream 70g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped 2 tbsp vanilla bean paste 145g caster sugar 7 egg yolks Passionfruit drizzle juice and pulp of 2 passionfruit (scant cup) (scant cup) 150g icing sugar edible flowers to scatter (optional) Advertisement METHOD Line a 34cm x 24cm baking/roasting tin with cling film, allowing plenty of overhang on all sides. Bloom the gelatin in a bowl of icy cold water until soft, then discard the excess water. Bring milk, cream, butter and vanilla just to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl to combine. Pour the warm milk mixture into the bowl, whisking continuously, then return to the pan and whisk until thick (4-5 minutes). Whisk in the bloomed gelatin until fully incorporated, then pour the custard into your lined tin and pop in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight, to set. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Roll out your piece of puff pastry on a sheet of baking paper. Cut the pastry sheet in half vertically down the centre, so you have two even rectangles (27cm x 18cm each). Place each sheet on a flat baking tray lined with baking paper. Working with one sheet at a time, use a fork to prick the pastry all over this helps it to rise evenly, so dont skip this step. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush with some water and scatter half the caster sugar over. Repeat with the second pastry piece. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes then remove from the oven. Working carefully, as it is still hot, place another piece of baking paper on top of the pastry. Place another flat baking tray over the top, then flip the whole thing over. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove the top tray and piece of baking paper and cook for another few minutes or until the pastry sheet looks superbly golden and caramelised. Then repeat with the remaining pastry sheet. Allow the pastry to cool to the touch, at least 15 minutes, before assembling. To assemble, place one of the baked pastry sheets directly onto the surface of the custard, then place a chopping board on top. Invert the board and the tray containing the custard. Using the overhang of cling film, gently guide the tray away from the custard. Remove the plastic wrap and top the custard with the second pastry sheet. To make the passionfruit drizzle, combine the passionfruit juice and pulp in a bowl with the icing sugar. Stir with a fork to combine. Drizzle over the top of the vanilla slice and scatter with flowers if using. To serve, slice with a serrated knife. Serves about 12 The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up Advertisement Tips & adviceThe dish The Australian restaurants legendary chef Tetsuya cant stop returning to (and what he loves to order) After 37 years as chef and restaurateur behind iconic Japanese-French restaurant Tetsuyas, he says its the simple classic pasta dishes that really hit the spot. Jane Rocca November 27, 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 When Japanese-Australian chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Tetsuya Wakuda isnt running Michelin-starred restaurants in Singapore, Las Vegas and Dubai, hes indulging his love of classic Italian food. The name behind Sydneys legendary Japanese-French restaurant, Tetsuyas, which closed in July after 37 years, is a huge fan of the cuisine. I love Japanese cuisine, but since arriving in Australia in the 80s, I have made many Italian friends and its the food I like to cook at home or go out and eat, says Wakuda. Tetsuya Wakuda pictured recently at his Waku Ghin restaurant at in Singapore. Franz Navarrete When at home, he likes to cook simple pasta dishes. In Sydney, its his friendships with retired restaurateur and chef Armando Percuoco from Buon Ricordo and Melbournes Ronnie Di Stasio of Di Stasio restaurants fame that lures him back to those restaurants time and again. Advertisement Ronnie is like a big brother to me, says Wakuda. I met him and Armando at the end of 80s and early 90s, and they taught me a lot about the food business. With Ronnie, I remember him saying you have to have balls in this business or youll get bored. Hes that type of strong guy, but it is actually like that he is right. Ron is very warm and kind-hearted, and I applied a lot of what I learned from the Italians in Australia to my own business, he adds. Laura restaurant at Pt Leo Estate. Bonnie Savage Wakuda recently spent the weekend at Victorias two-hatted Pt Leo Estates Laura restaurant where a menu prepared by executive chef Josep Espuga was not only a homage to the celebrity chef, but where he discovered they had crossed paths once before in Madrid in 2001 at a cooking demonstration. Espuga was employed at La Broche at the time with chef Sergi Arola, and working behind the scenes helping big-name chefs like Tetsuya backstage. The then 20-year-old Spaniard made a point to keep the recipes Tetsuya shared at Madrid Fusion. Advertisement Wakuda, who had never ventured to Pt Leo Estate before, was taken by the iconic Peninsula spot, fell in love with its sculpture park and fine dining offering at Laura. The signature confit ocean trout at Tetsuyas recently closed restaurant. Jon Reid I dont get to this part of Victoria at all, so to be at Pt Leo for the first time left me speechless. The food was outstanding. It really is an experience everyone should try, he says. Since closing his iconic Sydney restaurant Tetsuyas, the first-name famous chef says he wont rule out a return. My staff ring me often and say, chef, if you come back to do anything, were coming. Just say when. Advertisement My go-to dish at home I keep it simple any pasta with aglio and olio and peperoncino. Cafe di Stasio in St Kilda is a favourite Testuya dining spot. . Mike Baker My favourite dining spots for Italian food When I am in Melbourne, I always go to Cafe Di Stasio in St Kilda for spaghetti bolognese. I know anybody can make it, but its not like this anywhere else. They make it with beef, tomato and red wine they use a lot of red wine. It doesnt matter how many times I have it, its the same taste, so good and very satisfying. Advertisement In Sydney, I always ordered linguine napoletana from Armando at Buon Ricordo. The mix of tomato, basil, garlic and salt served with linguine hit the spot for me. He used to say to me, its so boring you eat this again, and I would respond but its so good and simple. If another chef tries to make the same, they simply cant. Its the way they cook the pasta, their choice of pasta, how ripe the tomatoes are thats the skill in itself that leads to a great dish. Restaurant Buon Ricordo, James Brickwood I also love Machiavelli in Sydney. This is a long-standing restaurant and they still serve the same menu. Its been around since 1988, and what I love is that the staff have been here for a long time. I like the mature service team, and its classic Italian food. All these factors combine make it a great experience. I go to Amare at Crown Sydney for seafood-based Italian meals its impressive. While Giovanni Pilu at Pilu Freshwater Sardinian restaurant is another favourite. I always order their porchetta arrosto its still as good as the first time I tried it. Azuma restaurant in Sydney. Edwina Pickles Advertisement My favourite Japanese dining spot The team at Azuma in Sydney are dear friends of mine, and I am always here. People think I have shares, but no, I just love it. They run a classic Japanese restaurant with properly made stock that makes all the difference. They dont try to mix things up, its very simple food. People think I have shares, but no, I just love it. I order everything when I am here. I start with spinach that is blanched and served with dashi and soy and finished with shaved bonito on top. Their grilled scampi is a must. Then its tempura and a few pieces of sushi on the day, as well as grilled fish of the day. I always have a miso soup too. Tetsuya Wakuda, pictured at his restaurant in Sydney in 2018. Peter Braig Advertisement My guilty pleasure I love sweets. Sugar is my weakness. I like to eat good quality chocolate or dessert made with chocolate. I also love a good creme brulee the balance of the cream and egg and the texture is always what I am looking for in a good one. I also love the iconic Date Tarte at Rockpool. It is a classic; and in a way its like cream brulee in a sense. I could eat a whole cake. At Di Stasio I order torta di vaniglia white chocolate and mascarpone with pistachio. It has broken meringue on the top its always on the menu. The Rockpool Date Tarte that Tetsuya loves. Sahlan Hayes My favourite cafe I love to go to the oldest cafe in Double Bay called 21 Espresso. Its an old Hungarian spot and family restaurant since 1958. I know them and I love this place because its comfortable to visit alone. If you feel like a steak for breakfast, they will make it for you. If you want a simple coffee, you can have that too. I start with an espresso if I am really tired, or an Americano. I always order their spinach cream its a classic dish. Sometimes Ill eat it with schnitzel and bread if I am really hungry. Advertisement The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up It has been a very busy day in Canberra as the Albanese government tries to push through its legislative agenda in the Senate while MPs farewell parliament on the final sitting day of the year. The upper house has just moved to voting on dozens of bills after Greens leader Adam Bandt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a deal to pass key Labor agenda items in exchange for half a billion dollars in new social housing funding. The Senate votes which kicked off at 6.30pm are likely to run well into the night after this blog is closed. You can watch the proceedings live below. Meanwhile, the prime minster and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton found time to share some Christmas cheer. In spite of significant ideological differences that we have no point papering over those we are able to have civil discourse and discussion, Albanese said in a House of Representatives speech this afternoon marking the end of the 2024 sitting year. Loading Peter Dutton has been into my office I dont know how many times too many for my liking, probably, and Im sure too many for his liking, he said, laughing. In his end-of-year speech, Dutton thanked first responders, Defence Force personnel and veterans who had worked to keep Australians safe, noting many would continue to work through the holidays. There are many things that we dedicate ourselves to this Christmas but the betterment of our country in 2025 for the benefit of all Australians is the top of the Christmas wish list this year, he said. In other political shenanigans at Parliament House today: A Christmas break appeared too good to come back from for senior Liberal senator Simon Birmingham, who announced his retirement at the upcoming federal election after 17 years in the Senate. Tony Calabria, who took over the cafe in Parliament House in 1996 and ran it as a family business for three decades, was also farewelled by the prime minister and opposition leader after announcing his retirement. On the flip side, independent senator Lidia Thorpe refused to leave without a fight after being suspended from the Senate, gatecrashing the upper houses press gallery earlier today to yell pro-Palestinian slogans and putting extra security guards on alert outside the chamber doors. Liberal MP Keith Wolahan clinched victory in the final weekly pollies soccer match for 2024 with a peach shot from well outside the box in the dying seconds of the game. With AAP The Australian governments November 21 decision to deny former Israeli justice and interior minister Ayelet Shaked a visa was a surprising act of hostility towards a democratic ally, especially considering the government wont meaningfully act against the Iranian ambassador effectively calling for genocide. While Shaked, an invited guest of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, has certainly made some controversial comments, mostly in the emotional aftermath of terror attacks, she has also acknowledged mistakes and promised to apologise if an investigation found allegations she had made were incorrect. The federal government refused to grant an Australian visa to former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked. Credit: AP She is certainly no more controversial now than when she received a visa to enter Australia in March 2023. This is just one in a series of severely disappointing government actions since October 7. Some jurisdictions refer to rental housing only, for others it includes homeownership as well as rental. A spokesperson for Queenslands Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works said programs and initiatives with different objectives define affordable housing slightly differently. But that spokesperson gave me a ballpark figure. Housing is generally considered to be affordable for low to moderate income households where they spend no more than 30 per cent of gross household income on housing costs. They added that, as per the National Housing Accord, affordable housing is generally taken to refer to rental housing that is provided at below-market rent to qualifying tenants usually between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of market rent. If thats our benchmark, how is Brisbane going? The latest projections from Jobs Queensland show the fastest growing sector of the workforce is people in health care and social assistance roles. Their average weekly wage is $1248, just below Brisbanes median weekly earnings. That caps weekly housing expenses at about $390 for a single income. For them, affordable housing would look like rentals under $400 per week, close to the hospitals where they work, or public transport hubs that let them get there. While more housing has been built in the inner-city, it remains unaffordable for many workers. Credit: Courtney Kruk Proposals around South Brisbane come to mind. If they are the right kind of development for what the city needs, then a nurse should be able to buy or rent an apartment there. But can they? Or have the new developments in that suburb been built for the rich? Last week, a rental affordability index showed it is unaffordable for the average household to rent in every city aside from the ACT the one jurisdiction in Australia where a rent cap has been implemented. It found rents in Greater Brisbane have increased 56.8 per cent since 2014, from a weekly average of $389 to $610. In the same period, the average annual income for the region has increased 36.7 per cent, with the average rental household in Greater Brisbane earning a gross income of $110,347 in 2024. Loading The median rent eats up 29 per cent of that figure and so the city as a whole is considered moderately unaffordable. Its a more complex picture at the level of individual postcodes, with areas in Redlands and around Samford Valley landing in the severely unaffordable category. According to the index, not a single Brisbane suburb is affordable. As someone recently forced to wade back into the citys rental market, I know those statistics hide something else. Even if renters are willing to sacrifice a higher percentage of their weekly earnings to secure a place to live, real estate agents rarely accept applicants who would have to spend more than 30 per cent of their weekly income on rent. Affordability is no better for would-be buyers. The recent ANZ/CoreLogic housing affordability report found it now takes 10.6 years to save for a 20 per cent deposit, and it takes 50.6 per cent of the average household income to afford repayments on a median home. As the reports author Eliza Owen put it, the median home is well out of reach of the median household. Loading We need more affordable housing, for more of the population. But where, how and when? This week, the federal parliament is set to pass the governments Help to Buy scheme to support home buyers, and the Build to Rent policy to encourage investment in new homes, after Labor secured support from the Greens. The Greens said on Monday they had pushed Labor as hard as they could on policies including rent caps, reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, and committing additional funding to social and affordable homes. The ceasefire in Lebanon is testimony to the exhaustion felt by both sides rather than any lasting resolution of the near half-century conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel learnt the lessons of its disastrous 2006 war by limiting its ground manoeuvre component this time around and pounding Hezbollah and Lebanon from the air, where it reigns supreme. Hezbollah has been dealt a grievous blow and paid a heavy price for its continuing support for the Palestinian cause in Gaza. By tying any ceasefire agreement in Lebanon to a ceasefire in Gaza, Hezbollah and Iran bet that it could pressure Israel on a second front without Israel fighting on a second front. They miscalculated. As a result, Hezbollahs leadership has been decimated and its weapons stockpiles have been greatly reduced. Moreover, Israels ability to target its senior leadership and to introduce booby-trapped pagers into its supply chain showed the organisation was deeply penetrated by Israeli intelligence. A tactical victory for Israel, but this does not guarantee peace with Lebanon, let alone Hezbollah. Credit: Graphic by Marija Ercegovac/AP photo Israel has forced Hezbollah and Iran to decouple their fight with Israel from the conflict in Gaza. And the political aim of Israels mission to allow the return of 60,000 Israelis displaced from their countrys north because of the fighting may well be achieved in they want to return and have the confidence to do so. These are all significant tactical military and political victories. And yet for all the claims of precision strikes and clearing of the border area and of setting Hezbollah back decades, the reality is that this was yet another, albeit more damaging, instance of mowing the grass. The advantage for myself and our business is that pre-approvals will often turn to formal approvals quicker than they might if someone does it alone, Tully said. We dont want to be continually renewing pre-approvals that havent converted. It costs us money every time we submit an application. Asmallworld AG / Key word(s): Product Launch ASMALLWORLD introduces new membership model to accelerate growth 27-Nov-2024 / 07:00 CET/CEST Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ASMALLWORLD introduces new membership model to accelerate growth Zurich, 27.11.2024 ASMALLWORLD AG announces the successful introduction of a new membership model for its ASMALLWORLD social network, marking the culmination of a multi-year business model transformation aimed at scaling its community, diversifying revenue streams, and positioning the company for long-term growth. ASMALLWORLD has also presented a new visual identity, reflecting its ambition to be the trusted community for modern luxury travellers. Over the past two decades, ASMALLWORLD has evolved from a pioneering social network into a trusted luxury travel community. This transformation, marked by innovations such as the ASMALLWORLD Collection, ASMALLWORLD Bespoke Travel, new app features, travel editorials, and now a new membership model, has laid the groundwork for a diversified business model that will shape the companys future. Introduction of a free membership level for ASMALLWORLD Starting today, ASMALLWORLD is offering a new, free ASMALLWORLD membership, allowing more people to access its services. By removing payment barriers, the new membership model allows for accelerated community growth. A larger, free user base will amplify the social dynamics of the ASMALLWORLD platform, enriching member experiences through enhanced social functionality, user-generated content and events. This focus on expansion will not only bolster engagement but also creates a larger community, increasing demand for ASMALLWORLDs services which will then monetise the growing user base. Unlocking new monetisation opportunities ASMALLWORLDs new membership model introduces an optimised monetisation flow that builds upon a growing user base. By removing the initial payment hurdle, the simplified sign-up process significantly increases the number of new members, creating a larger member base. A scaled community enhances the platforms value by making its social features, events and user-generated content more appealing, resulting in higher member retention and increased organic growth through member referrals. This expanded member base supports diverse revenue streams, including upselling to multiple paid membership tiers and offering travel-related services such as the ASMALLWORLD Collection and ASMALLWORLD Bespoke Travel. Events can also be monetised more effectively by leveraging the larger, more diverse member base across additional cities, allowing for higher pricing for free members and increased demand for premium event access. To support this monetisation effort, ASMALLWORLD is also introducing a new Premium membership option for members who are looking for an enhanced ASMALLWORLD experience, with many extra benefits over the free membership. Members can upgrade to this paid membership at any time. Additionally, ASMALLWORLD is planning to introduce new selling mechanisms, such as third-party product sales (e.g., credit cards and travel services) and advertising opportunities over the coming months. Partnerships with travel brands, including cruise lines and hotel chains, will allow ASMALLWORLD to monetise its audience further by providing campaign opportunities directly to its growing user base. Our new business model is designed to accelerate ASMALLWRORLDs growth as a multi-core business with diversified revenue streams from memberships, services, and strategic partnerships, said Jan Luescher, CEO of ASMALLWORLD. By scaling our community, we will increase demand for our services and create new monetisation opportunities as we are charting a path towards sustained growth and long-term success. A new visual identity and a new logo To support the launch of a new membership model, ASMALLWORLD is also introducing a new logo and a new, elegant visual identity that better represents the sophistication of the ASMALLWORLD members and ASMALLWORLDs positioning as a luxury travel brand. The new positioning line travel, discover, belong reflects ASMALLWORLDs refined focus, allowing members to find new travel inspiration, book unique journeys, and connect with like-minded members. The landing page www.asmallworld.com already reflects this new design, language and positioning. Other areas of the app and website will gradually be updated over the coming weeks to complete the change. Over the years, ASMALLWORLD has naturally evolved into a trusted community for modern luxury travellers, and we wanted to introduce a new visual identity that better reflects what the brand stands for today, said Jan Luescher, CEO of ASMALLWORLD. A foundation for long-term growth With the introduction of a free membership level and a new visual identity, the multi-year business transformation from a limited single-core business to a growing, diversified multi-core business is now complete. With a scalable community model, robust selling mechanisms, and an expanded service portfolio, ASMALLWORLD is now well-positioned for continued success in the luxury travel market. As ASMALLWORLD celebrates its 20th anniversary, the company will now focus on growing its community and its revenue streams based on a fundamentally sound business model, delivering unique service experience to its customers. This press release can be found at www.asmallworldag.com. The ASMALLWORLD Group: ASMALLWORLD is the trusted community for modern luxury travellers. Centred around the ASMALLWORLD social network, the company operates a luxury travel ecosystem that enables travellers to find inspiration, book unique journeys, and connect with like-minded members. Members of the ASMALLWORLD social network connect through its app and website, where they can meet other members, engage in online discussions, receive travel inspiration and enjoy a wealth of travel privileges. Members also meet in person at over 800 global ASMALLWORLD events every year, ranging from casual get-togethers in major cities around the world, access to exclusive launches, shows, galas, soirees, exhibitions, major global sporting events and larger flagship weekend experiences hosted in iconic destinations such as Saint-Tropez and St. Moritz. Other businesses in the ASMALLWORLD travel ecosystem include: ASMALLWORLD Collection, a high-end online hotel booking engine focused on the worlds most admired hotels, offering the unique ASMALLWORLD VIP Rate, which allows customers to enjoy exclusive travel benefits at no extra cost. ASMALLWORLD Bespoke Travel, a high-end travel agency offering personalised travel curation services. ASMALLWORLD Hospitality, a hospitality and management consultancy that supports owners and developers of hospitality assets throughout the different lifecycle stages of their assets, including acquisition, development, operations and exit. First Class & More, a subscription-based smart luxury travel service that allows members to enjoy luxury travel at insider prices. The Worlds Finest Clubs, the worlds leading nightlife concierge offers its members VIP access to the most exclusive nightlife venues around the world. Jetbeds, a premier booking platform specialising in affordable Business and First-Class flights, offering exclusive deals, expert advice and personalised service. For more information, please visit: www.asmallworldag.com www.asmallworld.com www.asmallworldcollection.com www.asmallworldbespoke.com www.asmallworldhospitality.com www.first-class-and-more.de www.first-class-and-more.com www.finestclubs.com www.jetbeds.com www.north-island.com Contact: ASMALLWORLD AG Jan V. Luescher, CEO Seidengasse 20 8001 Zurich Switzerland info@asmallworldag.com Disclaimer The statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. Such can be identified, for example, by the use of the words may, will, should, plan, expect, anticipate, estimate, believe, intend, project, target, seek, or aim, or the negative of these words or comparable expressions. Forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Issuer or its industry to be materially different from any future results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The issuer undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Open-Source AI Summit Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Technology Innovative Institute (TII), a global applied science research center, has kicked off with critical conversations that will shape the global AI agenda. The summit, taking place at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island today and tomorrow with 300+ in attendance, converges with growing international focus on the pull and push between open- and closed-source AI. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126724409/en/ Abu Dhabis Technology Innovation Institute Inaugurates Open-Source AI Summit with Critical Discussions on the Future of AI (Photo: AETOSWire) There are two critical choices when referring to AI, said H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, the Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council and Adviser to the UAE President. You can leverage a closed-source AI model that belongs to a company. They control it, including the data you give it. Innovation begins and ends with them. Alternatively, you can leverage an open-source model that grows within the community. We innovate together, and anyone, anywhere, can access and build on it. If AI is going to be part of the fabric of our societyand it willcountries, companies, and individuals need to decide who controls it. Opening Falcon AI models was TIIs contribution to the world. Dr. Najwa Aaraj, the Chief Executive Officer of TII, who opened the summit, said, The Open-Source AI Summit Abu Dhabi is a defining moment for global AI discourse. Falcon, like other open-source models, unites scientists, developers, and innovators to accelerate technological advancements as a catalyst for global change. We look forward to seeing the impact it will continue to have, particularly as we continue our work with the Falcon Foundation. The summit agenda continued with discussions from renowned speakers, including Dr. Belgacem Haba, the Vice President of the Adeia Corporation in the U.S., who spoke about the challenges that AI has created in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Prof. Philip Torr, a Professor and Chief Scientific Advisor at Oxford University in the U.K, spoke about who should own AI, touching on potential drawbacks as well as regulation, and arguing that in the long-term, the benefits of open-source AI outweigh the risks. Dr. Hakim Hacid, the Chief Researcher of TIIs AI Research Center, said, We believe open-source AI is the way forward, but it is far from simplethere are challenges and questions about control, policy, compute power, and hardware that we need to address. That is why were convening so many global experts at this summit and will continue to do so in future years in partnership with the Falcon Foundation. These conversations are crucial. Later speakers will include Dr. Natalia Vassilieva, the Vice President and Field CTO of Cerebras Systems in the U.S., Dr. June Paik, the Founder and CEO of FuriosaAI in the U.S., Dr. Armand Joulin, a Research Director at Google DeepMind in France, and Dr. Michal Valko, the Principal Llama Engineer at Meta Paris in France. They will speak about degrees of AI openness, sustainable AI computing, creating more compact LLMs, leveraging foundation models for trustworthy algorithms, and more. TIIs Dr. Jingwei Zuo will speak about Falcon Mamba, the first State Space Language Model, built using entirely new architecture and launched earlier this year. The summit will culminate in a panel led by TII on their vision for open-source AI. TIIs Falcon AI LLM series has garnered global recognition. The series began with the launch of Falcon 40B, the UAEs first open-source LLM, in May 2023. Since then, subsequent Falcon models have consistently ranked among the top open-source AI models globally, as validated by the independent industry leaderboard, Hugging Face. A new model of Falcon is expected by the end of 2024. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126724409/en/ Partner with us for Press release distribution and get best in class service, guaranteed postings on tier 1 media and maximum reach An organization representing agricultural employers claims the U.S. Labor Department has unlawfully ignored its request to change how wages are calculated for foreign guestworkers. The National Council of Agricultural Employers has filed a lawsuit demanding that Julie Su, the agencys acting director, respond to its petition on adverse effect wage rates under the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program. The Labor Department requires that H-2A workers be paid adverse effect wage rates to prevent depressing the wages received by domestic workers, but the NCAE claims the agency isnt following the law in how those rates are calculated. Last year, the NCAE sent a petition asking the Labor Department to begin the rule-making process to amend its methodology for setting the AEWR. Specifically, the organization alleges that federal law requires the agency to determine that an adverse effect has actually resulted from importing H-2A workers, but instead, the Labor Department has simply assumed such an impact has occurred. The Labor Departments method for calculating the AEWR is also devoid of any economic rationale and has caused snowballing increases each year in wage rates paid by farmers and ranchers who use the H-2A program, according to NCAE. These problems have likely contributed to the skyrocketing food prices paid by consumers and have also jeopardized American national security by undermining the domestic production of crops, the organization said in its petition. Today, more than 60% of the fresh fruit consumed in the U.S. and more than 40% of the fresh vegetables are imported from our foreign competition, driving American farmers and ranchers out of business and making the U.S. dependent on others for food, the petition said. The NCAE alleges that Labor Department officials said theyd address these complaints in 2019 as part of a broader H-2A rule-making process, but ultimately did not. Since then, the organization renewed the petition in late 2023 and followed up with three letters but did not get a response, according to its complaint. The organization claims the agency has violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to definitively respond to the petition in a reasonable time. The lawsuit has asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order the Labor Department to begin the rule-making process. Michael Marsh, the NCAEs president and CEO, isnt sure how the lawsuits timing will play out with the upcoming change in presidential administrations but at least we have it teed up for them, he said in an email. We have to get some relief for growers! Representatives of the Labor Department have not responded to requests for comment about the complaint as of press time. Deutsche Telekoms stock demonstrated remarkable momentum, approaching its 52-week high as shares climbed to 29.87 on XETRA trading. This positive trajectory is backed by impressive quarterly results, with the company reporting a 3.43 percent revenue increase to 28.50 billion and a significant improvement in earnings per share, which rose from 0.39 to 0.60. The markets confidence in the telecommunications giant has been further strengthened by its robust financial performance and strategic initiatives in network modernization. Strategic Partnership Evolution In a landmark move to enhance its network infrastructure, Deutsche Telekom has awarded a major Open RAN contract to Nokia and Fujitsu. The initiative involves deploying over 3,000 ORAN-compatible antenna sites across Germany by 2027, with initial commercial operations already successfully launched in the Neubrandenburg region. This technological advancement marks a significant shift in the companys infrastructure strategy, demonstrating its commitment to future-proof network solutions and contributing to positive market sentiment, with Analysts setting an average price target of 36.07. Ad Deutsche Telekom Stock: New Analysis 28 November Fresh Deutsche Telekom information released. Whats the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends. Read our updated Deutsche Telekom analysis Deutsche Telekoms stock demonstrated remarkable momentum, approaching its 52-week high as shares climbed to 29.87 on XETRA trading. This positive trajectory is backed by impressive quarterly results, with the company reporting a 3.43 percent revenue increase to 28.50 billion and a significant improvement in earnings per share, which rose from 0.39 to 0.60. The markets confidence in the telecommunications giant has been further strengthened by its robust financial performance and strategic initiatives in network modernization. Strategic Partnership Evolution In a landmark move to enhance its network infrastructure, Deutsche Telekom has awarded a major Open RAN contract to Nokia and Fujitsu. The initiative involves deploying over 3,000 ORAN-compatible antenna sites across Germany by 2027, with initial commercial operations already successfully launched in the Neubrandenburg region. This technological advancement marks a significant shift in the companys infrastructure strategy, demonstrating its commitment to future-proof network solutions and contributing to positive market sentiment, with Analysts setting an average price target of 36.07. Ad Fresh Deutsche Telekom information released. Whats the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends. By Cate McCurry, PA The Tanaiste has said Fridays election will be a closely fought race, saying the next 48 hours will be tough. Fianna Fail has gained support in the latest two opinion polls, alongside Sinn Fein, while Fine Gael has dropped two points. Another opinion poll is set to be published late on Wednesday. As he highlighted Fianna Fails manifesto policies in the final days of the campaign, Micheal Martin continued to rule out going into coalition with Sinn Fein. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin arrives to speak to the media at a Dublin hotel (Brian Lawless/PA) Speaking the day after the leaders debate, Mr Martin said the election will be a closely fought race. Its too close to call, Im not predicting anything, and I think it would be far too premature to do so, he told reporters on Wednesday. Asked whether he thinks government formation will be a lengthy process, Mr Martin responded: Its going to be very tight. "Lets be honest, I think were getting ahead of ourselves. Theres an election to be fought. A lot will depend on the outcome of the peoples decision on Friday, in terms of formation of government timelines and so forth. He added: I do believe one of the key objectives or functions of a general election is to enable the creation of a government, and that government must have the capacity to be solid, coherent and to last four-and-a-half to five years. That will enable good decisions to be made, or at least better decisions than short-term decisions or decisions taken by a government thats looking over its shoulder every week, every month. We need that kind of strength in the Dail, and thats the issue that people need to weigh up in terms of decision-making. Asked about the rise in popularity of independent candidates, Mr Martin said there is a very fragmented political situation in Ireland. He said there is competition in different areas, including a large number of independents running. Mr Martin said that having political parties in government is more effective. I think the more fundamental concern is, in what way would it affect or shape the formation of a government that could be decisive in the actions it takes, and that could last a full term, he added. I think political parties give one the opportunity to have more cohesion within government and the capacity to govern effectively and decisively. "Too much fragmentation would lead to incoherence in government and would lead to much more short-termism, and we asked the electorate to consider that before they make their decisions. Mr Martin said he has enjoyed the three-week campaign, describing it as engaging and enriching. Ive met a lot of interesting people with some fascinating stories. The great thing about a campaign is you do meet a lot of different people, with different life experiences. So Ive enjoyed that aspect of it, and I like campaigning. I think part of being in politics is having the capacity to like meeting people and like engagement with people. Thats been my sense of the campaign so far. This is, you know, Ive enjoyed this campaign, notwithstanding the weather. By Jonathan McCambridge and Cillian Sherlock, PA Investigators searching for the remains of Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey said the exhumation of a grave in Co Monaghan had been a difficult time for his family. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The ICLVR did not become aware that Joe Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010 (WAVE Trauma Centre/PA) He was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then have failed to locate his remains. Jon Hill, lead investigator for the ICVLR, said it was a difficult time for the Lynskey family. Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Hill said: The Lynskeys have been disappointed before when weve done a search and recovered remains. In 2010, the commission was searching for Mr Lynskey in Co Meath and uncovered remains which related to two other of the Disappeared: Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. Speaking to the PA news agency at Annyalla cemetery, Mr Hill added: So they had that news, hoping or expecting that could have been Joe, and their hopes were dashed. They took comfort from the fact that someone had been recovered, and they still have that view. The exhumation was carried out at Annyalla Cemetery in Co Monaghan (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) So theyre quite guarded in their views or their thoughts on what it is, that their hopes dont raise too high until we get to a position where were sure it is Joe. His comments echoed those of Mr Lynskeys niece Maria, who told BBC Radio Ulster that she was hoping not to be disappointed again. She said she was both nervous and optimistic about the exhumation, and added: These are long journeys for us, for all the families of the Disappeared that have had to go through this. Mr Hill said the commission had had information for a period of time relating to what appeared to be suspicious activity that took place within the graveyard several years ago. Mr Lynskeys niece Maria Lynskey said she was hoping not to be disappointed again (Brian Lawless/PA) The investigator said: Recent years have suggested that that could have been indicative of what happened to Joe Lynskey. Because of that, weve taken steps together with An Garda Siochana to go through the due process of arranging for an exhumation. Mr Hill said there were multiple sets of remains in what was a family grave. The sets of remains would be submitted for DNA examination. If Mr Lynskeys remains were identified, there would be a post-mortem examination and a process involving the coroner and State pathologist. He said the commission had been in contact with the family associated with the plot. To be suggesting there could be a burial within their family plot that doesnt relate to their family is something that they want resolved as well, he said. That is information that was within that family group over a number of years. So I think it brings some relief to them as well. The investigator acknowledged the exhumation was an unusual search process for the commission. The ICLVR said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) Ordinarily, our searches are in fields or bog land, where well be looking for one set of remains in a field, and thats all well find, he said. Of course, in a churchyard, its significantly different from that, and that brings about its own dynamics and creates its own problems. There are of course remains here, numerous remains. And yes, its unusual, but it isnt unusual for the commission to have information relating to something happening during a burial which was unusual. Weve had a number of cases like that reported to us over the years, and weve been able to investigate all of those and eliminate them all, apart from this one. So this one has become particularly relevant as the years have gone by, and more recent information has brought us to the conclusion that were at now, that it needed to be exhumed to eliminate that possibility that it could be Joe Lynskey. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate the whereabouts of the Disappeared. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Mr Hill said all the remaining cases would remain open until the victims were either found or there was no more that we can do. We would appeal always to anyone who has any information to come forward, because the information is absolutely crucial to our work, he said. The Carter Center is concerned about this weeks violence in Pakistans capital, Islamabad. We urge Pakistani authorities to uphold the right of protestors to assemble and demonstrate peacefully, refrain from the use of excessive force against protestors, lift restrictions on mobile and internet services, and reverse the arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters. Reports that a number of protestors were killed are deeply worrying. Pakistani authorities should conduct a credible and transparent investigation. Pakistans government should adhere to its international commitments to preserve civil and political rights, which are enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Center also calls on protestors to demonstrate peacefully should they resume their protests. Protestors were calling for the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from jail and expressed concerns that the February election results were manipulated. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded his detention violated international law and called for his release. It described Khan's imprisonment as part of a "much larger campaign of repression," including widespread fraud on election day. We urge both sides to work for a political settlement that puts Pakistan back on a path to strengthen its nascent democracy. Dialogue, not violence and excessive force, is needed in Islamabad in the weeks ahead. ### The Carter Center Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Advertisement Total Vietnam cement sales, including domestic and export sales, amounted to 8.381Mt in October 2024, up 13.5 per cent YoY from 7.387Mt a year earlier, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). Domestic sales in Vietnam jumped 17.9 per cent YoY to 5.571Mt compared to the 4.725Mt reported a year earlier. Of the total, Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (VICEM) companies reported domestic sales up 19 per cent YoY at 1.762Mt. Other VNCA-affiliated companies also recorded a 19 per cent YoY increase to 1.059Mt, while non-VNCA members recorded 17 per cent YoY increase to 2.750Mt. Cement exports rose 12 per cent YoY to 2.100Mt in October. VICEM cement exports were up 98 per cent YoY at 367,273t, other VNCA-affiliated companies saw cement sales fall 24 per cent YoY to 243,528t, while non-VNCA members reported a nine per cent YoY increase to 1.489Mt. Clinker exports contracted 11 per cent YoY to 709,666t in October. VICEM companies reported exports of 27,729t up 38 per cent YoY, other VNCA-affiliated companies recorded exports of 14,992t up three per cent YoY, while non-VCNA members saw clinker export sales drop 12 per cent YoY to 666,945t. January-October 2024?In the 10M24, total cement sales amounted to 72.553Mt, unchanged from the same period of 2023. Domestic cement sales were 47.147Mt, up 1.7 per cent from the 46.360Mt recorded in January-October 2023. VICEM companies reported a 0.4 per cent YoY contraction to 14.490Mt, other VCNA members saw a 2.1 per cent YoY increase to 9.617Mt, and non-members reported a 2.9 per cent YoY increase to 23.040Mt. Cement exports from Vietnam slipped 1.6 per cent YoY 17.046Mt. Cement exports by VICEM companies rose one per cent YoY to 2.504Mt, other VCNA-members saw cement exports rise 20 per cent YoY to 2.603Mt, while non-member companies reported a six per cent YoY contraction to 11.939Mt. The Philippines, followed by the USA, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia were the top five export destinations for cement in the 10M24. Clinker exports declined 5.5 per cent YoY compared to the same period last year, at 8.360Mt. Clinker exports by VICEM companies jumped 151 per cent YoY to 656,727t, other VCNA-affiliated companies reported a 341 per cent YoY increase to 303,019t, and non-members saw clinker exports decline 13 per cent YoY to 7.4Mt. Bangladesh, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Chile were the top five export destinations for clinker in January-October 2024. November 26, 2024: Russia is running out of soldiers for its war in Ukraine. Now in its third year, the war has cost Russia at least 600,000 dead and wounded soldiers. The economy went from rebuilding in 2021 to contraction and substantial reorganization by 2024. These heavy military and economic losses can no longer be ignored or misrepresented inside Russia. Over a million Russian men have served in Ukraine and more than half have been killed and wounded. By the end of 2022 Putin outlawed any reporting of Russian casualties in Ukraine. For most Russians the high casualty rate in Ukraine was no secret. Too many Russians knew men who had gone to Ukraine and either came back in a coffin or disappeared. About two percent of military age Russian men have been in Ukraine, usually only 200,000 at a time. By late 2023 most Russians realized that service in Ukraine was guaranteed to get most men killed or wounded. Enough came back to reveal what was actually happening there. While Putin controlled the mass media, he did not control the internet and that is where Russians could get timely and accurate information about what was happening in Ukraine. Putin tried to keep that information from appearing on the Russian internet. He had some success but such censorship was a sign that the situation was bad in Ukraine for Russians. Soon Russian hackers had found ways to evade the government censorship and let the truth in. From the beginning Russian soldiers were ordered not to bring their cell phones to Ukraine. Many did so anyway and were able to obtain sim chips that provided access to the international internet. There were many Russian language news services available outside Russia providing a more accurate account of what was happening in Ukraine. Russian soldiers with cell phones told friends and family back home what was actually happening. Putin found that his draconian censorship could not be enforced without putting millions of Russians in prison. A few prosecutions were carried out. It was not enough to stop Russians from getting accurate news of the mess in Ukraine. The situation became desperate after a Ukrainian invasion of Russia in August 2024. The invasion force is still there because Russia could not gather enough troops to force them out. In a desperate move, Russia hired 12,000 North Korean soldiers. Since the 1990s Russia has hired North Korea workers to replace Russians who could no longer be coerced by the defunct Soviet Union to live and work in the Russian Far East. North Korea needed the money and had hungry workers available. The government kept most of the workers pay but left them enough to encourage more North Korean workers to volunteer for jobs in Russia. The North Korean workers were accompanied by secret police guards to make sure none of the workers tried to escape control of the North Korean dictatorship. Russian losses were so heavy in Ukraine because replacement troops sent in 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 Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks and M-1s supplied by Germany and the United States. The Russian situation in Ukraine is desperate and Russian plans to replace its losses and rebuild its military are equally desperate. First, they have to stall the Ukrainians and their 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. Russia wont admit it, but they are losing in Ukraine and the Ukrainians are attacking and regaining more ground. Russia still launches offensives but only takes heavy losses with little to show for it. Currently the Russians are trying to assemble enough troops to drive the Ukrainian forces out of Kursk province. The Ukrainians have been there since August. So far Russian efforts have recovered about 40 percent of the Ukrainian occupied territory. The Russian offensive is stalled because of a lack of troops. The North Korean are supposed to help with that but so far, the Russian counteroffensive in Kursk is not making much progress. The Ukrainian invasion was embarrassing for Russian president Vladimir Putin. This is the first invasion of Russia since the Germans invaded in 1941. Back then, Russia lost 27 million soldiers and civilians defending Russia and driving the Germans out and advancing on Germany, Back then Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian soldiers were among the most effective in the Russian Red Army. The Ukrainians are still tough fighters but now they are fighting Russians and winning. Many Russians disapprove of the Ukraine War because Russian troops are not defending Russia but fighting to expand Russia. This is what Putin wants and a growing number of Russians, including Putins economic oligarch allies believe the cost is too high and victory is unachievable. During World War II it was substantial American military aid that enabled the Soviets to defeat the Germans. Now that aid is going to Ukrainians fighting a Russian invasion. This is not World War II and Russia is not facing a powerful foreign invader. Instead Russia has violated the post-World War II European peace that lasted 77 years until Russia invaded Ukraine. Now most NATO nations are rearming by expanding and upgrading their armed forces. Russia will not only lose in Ukraine, but also face a much stronger NATO that is heavily armed and determined to maintain economic sanctions on Russia until Russia adopts a less threatening foreign police. That includes getting out of Ukraine. Advertisement Pakistans Pioneer Cement Ltd (PIOC) held its analyst briefing on 26 November 2024 to review its operational and financial performance for FY23-24. IMS Research covered it and stated that PIOCs earnings per share (EPS) were PKR22.79 (US$0.08), nearly double the amount from the previous year. Higher retention prices and declining fuel and power costs helped offset weak demand and a loss in market share. The companys local dispatches reached 2.4Mt, reflecting a decline of 12.7 per cent YoY, compared to a 4.6 per cent decline for the industry overall. This represents a utilisation level of 45 per cent for PIOC. Outlook Management anticipates that domestic demand conditions will remain sluggish for FY24-25 and FY25-26, predicting an 8-10 per cent decline YoY in FY24-25. Looking ahead, management guided future capital expenditures. Over the next seven years, it plans to increase capacity by 7.5Mta. Expansions will commence as local demand improves, starting with a brownfield expansion primarily relying on coal for power requirements. They also indicated that a new 2.5Mta cement plant will cost between US$175m and US$225m. On some issues, the management said that in Punjab, the royalty on raw materials is PKR1200/t, compared to PKR250/t in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ongoing discussions with the Punjab government aim to address this discrepancy. According to a quotation from BMA Research, the PIOCs management is not interested in setting up a solar plant due to the high land cost. Instead, they prefer to invest in coal and WHR plants. by Abdul Rab Siddiqi, Pakistan Advertisement Eagle Materials Inc has awarded thyssenkrupp Polysius the contract for the modernisation and expansion of its cement plant in Laramie, Wyoming. Originally commissioned in 1926, the plant supplies cement to markets in northern Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming. The modernisation project will incorporate advanced technology to enhance operational efficiency and increase the plants annual production capacity to approximately 1.1Mta. In addition to boosting output, the project aligns with Eagle Materials sustainability goals through the installation of an alternative fuel substitution system, enabling the plant to reduce its reliance on traditional fuels. This project reflects our steadfast commitment to supporting our customers every step of the way. From maintenance services to green technology integration and full plant modernisation, we address both our customers evolving demands and our shared environmental responsibilities, commented Olivier Terver, president of thyssenkrupp Polysius North America. The upgrades will deliver cost reductions through the use of alternative fuels and natural gas, streamline maintenance, and improve overall operational reliability. The expanded production capacity will be achieved through a new finish mill, which will supplement the grinding capabilities of the existing facility, already operating with an integrated Polysius booster mill. Additional enhancements include the polytrack ECO clinker cooler, which provides efficient heat recovery, improved clinker cooling and greater process stability. The technical scope of the project includes several key components: a limestone impact crusher circuit, quadropol vertical roller mill, blend silo, five-stage preheater, two-pier rotary kiln with a polguide drive system, in-line calciner, polysius step combustor for alternative fuels and the polytrack ECO clinker cooler. The modernisation of the Laramie plant underscores thyssenkrupp Polysius commitment to delivering state-of-the-art solutions for the cement industry, addressing operational and environmental priorities for its clients. November 26, 2024: The Suez canal blockade by Yemens Iran-backed Shia Houthi militia and shipping continues. Ships traveling north in the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal have been under attack by the Houthis since late 2023. The Houthis are at war with Israel and still fire at ships more or less at random, though they contend they only fire on ships serving Israel. So far over 60 ships have been attacked and half of them damaged. Two ships were sunk while two others were boarded by Houthi gunmen and captured. One was later released but the other one is still being held. Four sailors have been killed and eight wounded. Several ships have been hit this month but all have continued to the Suez Canal. The U.S. Navy sent a carrier task force to launch air strikes on Houthi targets with predictable minor effects. That led to more frequent and aggressive attacks which reduced Houthi activity. On July 19th, one of the Houthi drones hit a building in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, killing one civilian and wounding several others. The next day, Israel sent F-15 and F-35 fighter-bombers to destroy several economic targets in the Yemen Red Sea port of Hudaydah. This is where weapons arrive from Iran for the Houthis to use against Red Sea shipping. The airstrikes destroyed fuel storage sites as well as port facilities, including the difficult-to-replace ship unloading cranes. If the Israelis leave the port alone this work could take up to a year. The Israelis and other nations are not leaving the port of Hudaydah alone as long as the Houthis are using it. Yemens Shia rebels, led by the Houthi tribe, have used their large stockpile of Iranian missiles to try and block access to the Suez Canal. This capability developed over the last decade as the rebels launched attacks on more distant targets. The rebels obtained more powerful weapons as well, including Iranian ballistic missiles, which were disassembled so they could be smuggled from Iran to Yemen, where Iranian technicians supervised the missiles being assembled and launched into Saudi Arabia. In the last few years, the rebels have received longer range ballistic missiles fired from northern Yemen across Saudi territory to hit Saudi and UAE oil production facilities on the Persian Gulf coast. The rebels also acquired the reconnaissance capability to accurately fire missiles at ships passing through the narrow, 26 kilometers wide, Bab-el-Mandeb straits off southwestern Yemen and force ships to take the longer and more expensive and time consuming route around the southern tip of Africa. This has always been a potential threat to ships using the Red Sea to reach the Suez Canal in Egypt, at the north end of the Red Sea. Transit fees from ships using the canal are a major source of income for Egypt, bringing in about $10 billion a year. Egypt and Iran are enemies and reducing Suez Canal income is a win for Iran, which supported the Yemen rebels for more than a decade to make such an interdiction possible. Western nations reacted slowly to this interdiction effort but by the end of 2024 were launching regular airstrikes on Houthis targets, coordinating their efforts with the Israelis and U.S. carrier task forces operation in the region. In October 2024 American B-2 bombers dropped penetrating bombs on Houthi underground facilities, destroying missile stockpiles and headquarters for the rebels. This reduced the number of missiles available. This was seen in lower frequency of attacks. A naval blockade of Yemen was i Yemen was tightened, with more frequent inspection of fishing boats and coastal freighters. Western warships close to the Yemen shore continue using their defensive weapons to defeat attacks launched from the Yemen coast. The United States currently has several destroyers based off Yemen. The war in Yemen drags on into 2025 or until Iran decides to halt support for the Houthi. Before the Israeli attacks on Gaza and Iran-backed militias in Lebanon, Iran was under widespread internal pressure from Iranians protesting the expensive foreign wars in Syria and Yemen. Until 2024 Iran smuggled in more and more weapons. These were not intended for the ongoing Yemen civil war but for use against targets designated by Iran. Iran suddenly had its own domestic uprising to deal with back home. The Iranian religious dictatorship held onto power and supported more violence against real or perceived enemies of Iran. The blockade of late 2024 and continuing naval patrols near all Iranian ports is also limiting missile shipments to Yemen. In early 2015 Iran admitted it had been quietly supporting the Houthi Shia rebels for a long time but after that was open about it. Many Yemenis trace the current crisis back to the civil war that ended, sort of, in 1994. That war was caused by the fact that, when the British left Yemen in 1967, their former colony in Aden became one of two countries called Yemen. The two Yemens finally united in 1990 but another civil war in 1994 was needed to seal the deal. That fix didn't really take and the north and south have been pulling apart ever since. This comes back to the fact that Yemen has always been a region, not a country. Like most of the rest of the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa region, the normal form of government until the 20th century was wealthier coastal city states nervously coexisting with interior tribes that got by on herding or farming or a little of both plus smuggling and other illicit sidelines. This concept of nationhood is still looked on with some suspicion by many in the region. This is why the most common forms of government are the more familiar ones of antiquity like kingdom, emirate, or modern variation in the form of a hereditary secular dictatorship. For a long time, the most active Yemeni rebels were the Shia Houthis in the north. The Houthis have always wanted to restore local Shia rule in the traditional Shia tribal territories, led by the local imam, a religious leader who was a Houthi. This arrangement, after surviving more than a thousand years, was ended by the central government in 1962. Yemen also became the new headquarters of AQAP/Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula when Saudi Arabia was no longer safe for the terrorists after 2007. Now there is ISIL/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and an invading army composed of troops from oil-rich neighbors like Saudi Arabia, which was very upset by Iranian/Houthi missile attacks. By late 2017 the rebels were slowly losing ground to government forces who, despite Arab coalition air support and about five thousand ground troops, were still dependent on Yemeni Sunni tribal militias to fight the Shia tribesmen on the ground. While the Shia are only a third of the population, they are united while the Sunni tribes are divided over the issue of again splitting the country in two and with no agreement on who would get the few oil fields in central Yemen. Many of the Sunni tribes tolerate or even support AQAP and ISIL. The Iranian smuggling pipeline continued to operate, and the Yemen rebels were able to buy additional weapons from other sources because they received cash from nations or groups hostile to the Arab Gulf state, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Shia Houthi rebels were from northern Yemen and controlled the border with Saudi Arabia. Over the last decade the rebels launched more and more attacks on Saudi targets and in later 2023 and into 2024 that violence escalated. Dennis Clark, described as a lifelong resident and dedicated leader in Chattanoogas Brainerd community, has officially announced his candidacy for Chattanooga City Council in District 5. Running on a platform of Putting in the Work. Delivering Results, Mr. Clark said he is "determined to bring new energy, accountability, and commitment to city government by unseating incumbent Isaiah Hester." His campaign said the effort "is already gaining momentum, backed by an impressive coalition of supporters and endorsers who recognize his leadership and vision. These include former District 5 City Councilmen Ron Swafford and Russell Gilbert, former School Board Member Tiffanie Robinson, District 5 School Board Member Karitsa Mosley Jones, former City Attorney Wade Hinton and County Commissioner Joe Graham. Longtime businessman Gerald Mason is serving as the campaign treasurer, and Nicholas Knable, a UAW union organizer, has been brought on as campaign manager "to help steer Clarks vision for District 5." Former City Councilman Gilbert said, "District 5 needs a leader whos present, accountable, and ready to fight for the people - not someone whos just keeping the seat warm. Dennis Clark has the vision, passion, and work ethic we need. Its time to vote for someone who shows up and delivers." The campaign said, "With over 20 years of experience in community development, nonprofit leadership, and small business ownership, Clark has long been a champion for Chattanoogas residents. Through his Thrive for Five Action Plan, he is committed to addressing District 5s most pressing issues: equitable access to city services, economic revitalization along Brainerd Road and Highway 58, safer neighborhoods, and greater support for Chattanoogas seniors. We deserve a leader who will show up and work hard for District 5. We need bold, proven leadership, and Im running to deliver real results. My promise is simple: I will show up, listen to the people, and take action. "Clarks background speaks volumes about his dedication to community betterment. After graduating from the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, he studied political science at Middle Tennessee State University, setting the foundation for his lifelong commitment to public service. He has served in impactful roles throughout Chattanooga and the state, including as the first African American administrator at Tennessee Temple University, leading public relations and community initiatives to drive inclusive leadership. He went on to contribute significantly in community development roles at Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, the Public Education Foundation, Hope for the Inner City, Causeway, and The Equity Alliance, each dedicated to community advancement and support. "Today, Clark works as the Community Impact Consultant for the Tennessee Department of Healths Southeast and Upper Cumberland regions, developing health strategies across 25 counties, including Hamilton County. In addition to his public service, he is a successful small business owner, operating a transportation company that serves the citys largest daycare provider and regional transportation agency. This blend of experience in public and private sectors gives Clark a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing District 5 residents." He said his Thrive for Five Action Plan is built on core pillars to uplift District 5: ? Our Fair Share: Advocating for equitable distribution of city services to District 5. ? Economic and Business Corridor Development: Revitalizing Brainerd Road and Highway 58 to attract and support local businesses. ? Safer, Stronger Neighborhoods: Promoting community safety, reducing violence, and combating car and property theft. ? Supporting Our Seniors: Defending the interests of senior citizens from exploitation and ensuring their voices are heard. ? Improving Community Health: Expanding access to quality healthcare, advocating for more affordable childcare options, addressing community violence as a public health crisis, promoting initiatives to combat food insecurity and support overall well-being for seniors. Mr. Clark said he "believes that Chattanooga deserves more than absentee leadership. District 5 deserves a councilman who listens, acts, and advocates for every resident - not someone who goes against the will of the people. I am here to bring transparency, accountability, and the hard work our community deserves. The people of District 5 deserve a choice, and I am committed to delivering results. November 27, 2024: The American military, industrial and political leadership are slow to adapt to the unexpected and revolutionary drone warfare that emerged since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. This is not unusual in the United States, and most other nations, threatened with being drawn into a war. One reason to fear involvement is that nations at war rapidly develop new weapons and tactics. For nations not at war, as the United States is in 2024, adapting to operations in a new war should be simple. Just implement all that has been learned from the Ukrainian war, especially the widespread use of drones and the need for tanks to move cautiously, if at all and stay hidden. A few thousand dollars worth of drones can destroy a $4.5 million M1 tank. The U.S. has over 5,000 M1s available for use. The Americans are not trying to develop and build cheap air-defense drones, which are already being used in Ukraine. The United States could buy them from Ukraine or build them under license in the United States. This would require some Ukrainian drone production engineers to come to the U.S. to oversee the construction and operation of a drone production facility. There are some other problems. In wartime drone designs evolve rapidly. Stockpiling thousands of drones produced in 2024 and 2025 would create a problem when using them a year or more after 2025. The enemy may have built more advanced drones in anticipation of offing them in a surprise attack. The American stockpiled drones would then be less useful because they are older designs. This is especially true with anti-drone drones, a recent development that is still evolving. Meanwhile American defense manufacturers will resist converting to drone production. There is less profit in cheap drones compared to multi-million dollar aircraft, tanks and air defense systems. It would take a wartime situation to force the defense firms to adapt to producing a lot of cheap drones. Meanwhile American attempts to adopt the new drone tactics and technology developed, and still developing, in Ukraine have encountered problems. First, the U.S. is not at war and the military bureaucracy has a peacetime attitude towards any new technology. This includes the use of drones in Ukraine and the flood of practical experience and solutions passed by Ukraine. Current U.S. Army drones, when used in Ukraine, often encounter problems the Ukrainian drones dont. In a wartime situation, Ukrainians have been quick to make changes until they get the results they need. The American military may want to implement the lessons of drone use in Ukraine, but American defense contractors and manufacturers feel compelled to modify and improve what the Ukrainians have done while they adapt Ukrainian drone tech to something new which United States forces can use and Congress will pay for. This process tends to lower the effectiveness of what the Ukrainians have created, while delaying the product and enriching the contractors and manufacturers. The lesser effectiveness is usually revealed the first time American troops use the U.S. version of Ukrainian drone tech. Something is lost in the tech translation. This is nothing new. Its been happening for over a century. The U.S. is currently adapting and adopting Ukrainian drone technology. There will be modifications and upgrades for as long as the fighting in Ukraine lasts. These changes come quickly in wartime, and always have. In Ukraine, drone designs can be changed in less than a week. This is usually because the Russians have gained an edge with one of their recent tweaks. While Ukraine has been in the forefront of developing and upgrading drone technology, the Russians have kept up. In war time you either keep up or become an inept underdog that falls farther and farther behind. The Russians have kept most of the time and when they fail to keep up, they suffer heavy losses. The peacetime American military has no such wartime feedback loop. If someone in the defense procurement establishment says the current American drone tech is good, it is officially adequate. Sending U.S. drone adaptations to Ukraine for testing is done, but often over the objections of some U.S. manufacturers. When tested in combat, some of the U.S. drones fail to deliver. When the Ukraine war ends, there will be no way to adequately test American drones. There may be other wars where American troops are involved and able to test the new drones. But it wont be in the intensely competitive atmosphere the Ukrainians and Russians have created. Ukraine has been writing the book on drone technology since 2023, with Russia contributing edits in real time. When that atmosphere is not present, the speed of developing new tech or maintaining current drones slows down a lot. This process is at work now as the U.S. Army orders drones based on Ukrainian designs. The American military procurement bureaucracy is infamously slow in adopting and manufacturing new weapons. It is feared that the Ukrainian drone revolution will be equally slow in actually reaching Americans soldiers and marines. Many military and Defense Department civilians are aware of this problem and see the drone development and procurement program as an opportunity to show that the United States can do it right and quickly. In early 2024 Ukraine created a new branch of their military, the USF/Unmanned Systems Force. This is in addition to the Ukrainian Air Force that consists of manned aircraft. The USF does not control the drones which Ukrainian forces use regularly, but instead contributes to developing new drone models and organizing mass production for those new models that are successful. The U.S. military took note of this but acting on it takes a lot longer for a peacetime military. Drones were an unexpected development that had a huge impact on how battles in Ukraine's current war are fought. Drones were successful because they were cheap, easily modified, and expendable. Modifications and upgrades could be implemented quickly and cheaply. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces were soon using cheap, under a thousand dollars, quadcopter drones controlled by soldiers a few kilometers distant using FPV/First Person Viewing goggles to see what the day/night video camera on the drone can see. Adding night vision is available when needed, at a higher cost per drone. Most of these drones carry half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn the drone into a flying bomb that can fly into a target and detonate. Some drones carry more explosives depending on what is needed to deal with a target. These drones are awesome and debilitating weapons when used in large numbers. If a target isnt moving or requires more explosive power that the drones can supply, one of the drone operators can call in artillery, rocket, or missile fire, or even an airstrike. Larger, fixed wing drones are used for long range, often over a thousand kilometers, operations against targets deep inside Russia. A major limitation to the expansion of drone operations is the need for trained drone operators. These operators need over a hundred hours of training before they are able to operate these drones at peak effectiveness. As operators spend more hours operating drones in combat, the number of new lessons learned and applied increases. The small drones are difficult to shoot down until they get close to the ground and the shooter is close enough, as in less than a few hundred meters, away to successfully target a drone with a bullet or two and bring it down. Troops are rarely in position to do this, so most of these drones are able to complete their mission, whether it is a one-way attack or a reconnaissance and surveillance mission. The recon missions are usually survivable and enable the drone to be reused. All these drones are constantly performing surveillance, which means that both sides commit enough drones to maintain constant surveillance over a portion of the front line, to a depth, into enemy territory, of at least a few kilometers. This massive use of FPV-armed drones has revolutionized warfare in Ukraine and both sides are producing as many as they can. Russia initially produced its own drones now after briefly using imported Iranian Shahed-136 drones that cost over $100,000 each. Ukraine demonstrated that you could design and build drones with similar capabilities at less than a tenth of that. The Iranian drone was more complex than it needed to be and even the Russians soon realized this and turned from the Shahed-136 for more capable drones they copied from Ukrainian designs or ones Russians designed. Ukrainian drone proliferation began when many individual Ukrainians or small teams designed and built drones. The drones served as potential candidates for widespread use and mass production. This proliferation of designers and manufacturers led to rapid evolution of drone capabilities and uses. Those who could not keep up were less successful in combat and suffered higher losses. Military leaders in other nations have noted this and are scrambling to equip their own forces with the most effective drones. Not having enough of these to match the number the enemy has in a portion of the front means you are at a serious disadvantage in that area. These drones are still evolving in terms of design and use and are becoming more effective and essential. One countermeasure that can work for a while is electronic jamming of the drones control signal. Drone guidance systems are constantly modified or upgraded to cope with this. Most drones have flight control software that sends drones with jammed control signals back to where they took off from to land for later use. The jammers are on the ground and can be attacked by drones programmed to home in on the jamming signal. Countermeasures can be overcome and the side that can do this more quickly and completely has an advantage. That advantage is usually temporary because both sides are putting a lot of effort into keeping their combat drones effective on the battlefield. The emergence of drones as a new, novel, and decisive form of air power is the most recent of similar events that took place during the last century. During the last century the U.S. Air Force has advocated military victory achieved mainly with air power. This attitude took root after the 1914-18 World War I when the Army Air Corps, predecessor of the USAF, got rid of most of its numerous reconnaissance aircraft and concentrated on bombers and fighters. Then came the popular belief that larger bomber aircraft would dominate future wars. This never came to pass and, every time there was a war, the air force had to scramble to expand its meager peacetime reconnaissance force to meet the realities of war. This was not so bad during World War II because the air force was still part of the army but, after World War II, the Army Air Force became the independent U.S. Air Force and sought to control everything that flew over land. That meant army attempts to retain small reconnaissance aircraft and cargo aircraft were constantly opposed by the air force. The army valued prolific and prompt aerial reconnaissance more than the air force and this led to a dispute that was not settled until quite recently. Since the late 1990s, when the army re-started flying its own armed aircraft in the form of large armed drones, in addition to the armed helicopters it has always had, the air force began to notice. The army argument was that these larger drones work better for them if they are under the direct control of army combat brigades. The air force saw that as inefficient and preferred to have one large pool of larger drones which are deployed as needed. This difference of opinion reflects basic differences in how the army and air force deploy and use their combat forces. The army has found that a critical factor in battlefield success is teamwork among members of a unit, and subordinate units in a brigade. While the air force accepts this as a critical performance issue for their aircraft squadrons, they deem it irrelevant for army use of drones. One thing the army acquisition of thousands of reconnaissance drones did not change was the air force loss of interest in aerial reconnaissance and surveillance after each war. Air force reluctance to develop, build and maintain a large strategic reconnaissance force led the CIA to use its considerable clout and budget developing strategic reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71 manned aircraft and surveillance satellites. The CIA also pioneered the use of larger drones like the 1.1-ton Predator and armed them. This helped the army win permission from the Department of Defense to expand its force of armed aircraft beyond helicopter gunships. Air force attitudes have hurt the army in several ways. When it comes to influencing the war on the ground the air force is much less dominant. This is despite air force efforts to maintain its ability to bomb targets in direct support of ground operations. The air force blind spot when it comes to air reconnaissance has hurt its overall effectiveness. Blame this on a bad attitude towards BDA/Bomb Damage Assessment. This is the business of figuring out what to bomb, and what the impact on the enemy is after you bomb. The problem of the air force leaders being deceived by the people on the ground being bombed began during World War II. This was when air forces used large scale aerial bombing for the first time. Right after that conflict, the U.S. did a thorough survey of the impact of strategic bombing on Germany and Japan. It was discovered that the impact was far different from what air force BDA during the war had indicated. The air force vowed to do better next time. But as experience in Korea/1950-3, Vietnam/1965-72, Kuwait/1991, Kosovo/1999, and Iraq/2003, the war on terror and in Ukraine demonstrated, the enemy on the ground continued to have an edge when it came to deceiving the most energetic BDA efforts. The only proven technique for beating the BDA problem was to have people on the ground, up close, checking on targets, while the fighting was going on. Those with powerful air forces do not want to do this because of the risk of some of their commandos getting killed or captured, and because the intel and air force people were sure that they knew what enemy was up to down there. The people on the ground have consistently demonstrated an ability to deceive aerial surveillance. Even during the early 21st century, when the U.S. developed persistent drone surveillance, the irregular forces they were facing proved capable of reducing the effectiveness of the drone effort. This spotlights another useful fact; airpower can be useful on the ground but that happens over time and not quickly. The army and air force have a different outlook on planning and risk. The air force sees warfare as a much tidier, and predictable, affair than the army experiences regularly. In this respect, the air force and navy are closely aligned. Both are technical services, who are used to exercising more control over their forces than do army generals. The army sees warfare as more unpredictable and has adapted to that unpredictability. The army generals are usually skeptical of the air force's ability to take down foes from the air and the army was usually right. Despite being a successful high-tech operation, American air forces, especially the Navy and USAF, frequently have trouble adjusting to changes they do not agree with. When the Cold War ended in 1991 the air force was still largely thinking about continuing to operate as they had done in the Cold War, but the technology and tactics of warfare were changing. The post-Cold War enemy no longer consisted of large, organized forces spread over huge areas. The enemy was increasingly irregulars who were harder to spot from the air. The air force reluctantly adapted, in part because the army and CIA adopted new reconnaissance and surveillance techniques like drones and persistent surveillance. This pattern is returning as the air force reorganizes after the decade of heavy combat and big budgets the war on terror produced. Now the air force is turning its attention to a near-peer opponent in the form of a rapidly expanding and modernizing China's military. Unexpectedly the Ukraine War emerged first with Russia and Ukraine fighting each other. Ukrainians had the advantage of material and intellectual support from NATO countries. In the end the winner of any stage of the war was the side that was the most resourceful and innovative. This process has been present in warfare for centuries but during the last century the changes and innovations came so quickly that the process was visible. This disrupted the long-established missions each of the military services had established. For example, as successful as these new air reconnaissance tools were, they did not seem like a suitable long-term job for the air force. The other services disagreed, and it took the better part of a decade after 2001 to get the air force to come around. In 2005 the air force deployed its first Predator drone unit and in 2009 it put its first Reapers to work. They were following the CIA in this area, which caused some misgivings among senior air force leadership. But the army and Congress were calling for more of what the CIA was doing with armed drones for surveillance and attack and the air force joined in. What the CIA pioneered was persistent surveillance with armed drones. The 24/7 observation by the drones enabled CIA and air force intel analysts to compile information about the target and order one or more missiles fired as soon as a suitable target was identified and located. This led to an ever-growing list of terrorist leaders and their key subordinates killed in this way. At the same time, this use of surveillance and precision weapons led to lower collateral, as in nearby civilian casualties, which plummeted to historical, and remarkable, lows. Air force traditionalists warned that in a conventional war this sort of thing would not work. Where the enemy had modern air defense systems and jet fighters the Predator and Reaper drones would be impractical because they would be quickly shot down. But that was not the type of war being waged thirty years ago and it was pointed out to the air force that the military has to deal with what they are faced with, not just with what they prefer. Moreover, even in a conventional war there is still work for these new tactics and the tech that makes it possible. The air force still disagreed but did not have a persuasive alternative. The air force still wanted more money for their stealthy F-35 fighter and a new stealth bomber. This is despite the fact that other nations were developing more and more sensors that could nullify stealth. The air force has been in this position before. This was seen during the 1960s when the air force and navy aviation suffered unexpectedly high aircraft losses over Vietnam because their aircraft and pilots were not prepared for the lower-tech Russian aircraft used against them by the Vietnamese. This led aircraft to be again equipped with cannon because the new air-to-air missiles were not yet reliable enough to replace the old fashioned cannon. Then came the concept of using your own aircraft for aggressor, or dissimilar tactics, training. This began in 1969 when the U.S. Navy established the original Top Gun fighter pilot school. This was done in response to the poor performance of its pilots against North Vietnamese pilots flying Russian fighters. What made the Top Gun operation different was that the training emphasized how the enemy aircraft and pilots operated. This was called dissimilar training. In the past, American pilots practiced against American pilots, with everyone flying American aircraft and using American tactics. It worked in World War II because the enemy pilots were not getting a lot of practice and were using similar aircraft and tactics anyway. Most importantly, there was a lot of aerial combat going on, providing ample opportunity for on-the-job training. Not so in Vietnam, where the quite different Russian-trained North Vietnamese were giving U.S. aviators a difficult time. The four week Top Gun program solved the problem. The air force followed shortly with its similar Red Flag school. In the early 1980s, the Russians established a dissimilar air combat school, and the Chinese followed in 1987. There will be a need for a drone-based Top Gun when the Ukraine war is over. Drone developers and operators are always eager to test their tech and skills against similar opponents. Yet, after a century of trying, the ground forces and non-aviation naval forces still cannot get the people up there to come down and get a much needed reality check on what is happening down below where battles and wars are still decided. That changed in Ukraine when the proliferation of surveillance and armed drones often replaced conventional air and artillery forces, at least for operations close to the ground and requiring more urgency to find and attack targets. This was the ultimate solution to obtaining constant close surveillance of the combat zone. With drones you not only know what goes on in the combat zone, but can quickly, often within minutes, bring in an armed drone to attack the newly discovered target. Combat drones operated by an FPV controller have offered many new opportunities on the battlefield. This includes dealing with individual enemy soldiers and persuading them to surrender to nearby Ukrainian soldiers or else. How one of these events played out was captured on video and the video was released to the media. A federal judge has ruled that the estranged spouse of the woman who drowned in the back seat of a Meigs County patrol car should not share in any proceeds from her wrongful death case. Judge Clifton Corker said Andrew Colbaugh withdrew from his relationship with Tabitha Smith before her accidental drowning death in the car driven by Meigs County Deputy Robert J. Leonard. The judge said Nathan Smith - the son who also filed suit in the case - "has presented sufficient evidence that Colbaugh willfully withdrew from the marriage for two years. From April 2018 to October 2020, Colbaugh publicly entered into relationships with two different women, expressed no desire to continue a relationship with decedent (Ms. Smith), and petitioned for an Order of Protection to prohibit her from contacting him or their child." Judge Corker said a single case should proceed in the matter that includes Nathan Smith and three minor children. In February, 2024, with Ms. Smith handcuffed in the back seat, the new-to-town deputy missed a turn and drove into the Tennessee River, where they both died. Nathan Smith is suing Meighs County for $10 million. Colbaugh sued the county for $100 million for negligence. Colbaugh and Ms. Smith married and their daughter, London Smith, was born in 2016. According to testimony, by 2018 it became evident that Ms. Smith was failing to watch the toddler and leaving her by herself. When the child was around two years old, an incident report showed that she had wandered out of the house and was found several doors away. By 2018, Colbaugh testified, Ms. Smith had walked away from the family three times and left the child, was using drugs and was not taking care of her baby. At some point, he got custody papers for London. During the recent hearing Colbaugh was in the witness stand with his wrists and ankles chained, having been brought to Chattanooga by officers from the Meigs County Jail. He said he had been in jail since 2021 or 2022 for either DUI or for failing a drug test and failure to go to a halfway house. Colbaugh replied to most questions that he could not remember dates and, during the hearing, relied on Facebook and other social media postings for the times and to remember what happened. During the next two years, Colbaugh started seeing a woman who he said was an old friend who came to help him with London, and the relationship became that of girlfriend and boyfriend. Then she moved into the Colbaugh house. After a period of time she moved out and a second lifelong friend, Sheena McCoon, in 2019 moved in. But Colbaugh described the relationship as It wasnt nothing consistent. She lived there until he was sent to jail. During the relationships with Tabitha and the other two women, Colbaugh shared drugs with them, primarily meth and fentanyl, it was stated. During the time that the women lived with him he said that Ms. Smith would show up unannounced, high and messed up. She spent the night just several times and was there for a day and no more than a week, then she would be gone again, said Colbaugh. He said he went to see Tabitha several times after she had moved to Birchwood and one time found her living in a trailer with no electricity or water. He said he asked her to come home. On one of the other visits, he said she stole his car. In October 2020, Colbaugh obtained a temporary order of protection for Tabby and the next April obtained an actual legal order of protection. When she showed up once at 5 a.m. "messed up, he said he did not try and enforce the order of protection. However, in 2021, he said his grandmother called the law on her. In one conversation on Facebook with Amber McKinney, Tabithas sister, he said that Tabby showed up unannounced and high but that she would always be welcome at my house because shes my baby mama. At the hearing Amber said that she parted ways with her sister when she was about 17 and had not been around Tabby and Colbaugh together except for twice, and one of those times was at her nieces first birthday party. She said the couple had separated within a year of that party. It was after they separated that Ambers husband offered the abandoned trailer to her sister. Amber visited her sister there just once and took the child, London, to visit her mother in jail one time in the summer of 2023. She said she had separated herself from her sister and had no communication with her because Tabby was not good for her mental state so she did not invite her sister into her home. She also said that she believed that Andy was a good dad but added, How could he be because he struggles with drugs? Colbaugh said he learned of Tabbys death on Facebook. Attorney Michael Thomas, representing Tabathas son Nathan Smith, said he believes that the relationship between Andy and Tabby ended aroud 2017-2018 after Colbaughs repeated attempts to make it work. And he said that he had willfully abandoned the marriage by having relationships with the two other women. Nathan Smith is also represented by attorney Robin Flores. Attorney Alyson Oliver of Michigan, representing Colbaugh, said that if her client had wanted a divorce, he could have gotten one. She said at some point her client had stopped bugging Tabby and had relationships with other women. She said, "You cannot abandon someone who has already abandoned you." She said that Tabby walked off and Andy had kept trying. After years, then he accepted it. The MacDowell Music Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 11 a.m. at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1505 North Moore Road. The following members and guests will be performing: Margaret Ann Randolph, piano Jeff Roueche, oboe Jim Martin, piano Marissa Purnell, harp Pastor John MacArthur returned to the pulpit to deliver a sermon during the Thanksgiving service at Grace Community Church on November 24, 2024. | Screenshot / X/ TerriGreenUSA Pastor John MacArthur made a brief return to the pulpit on Sunday evening after a months-long absence due to health issues, delivering a message of gratitude amidst his challenges. The 85-year-old pastor of Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, received a half-minute standing ovation from the congregation during the church's Thanksgiving Communion Service. He has endured three heart surgeries and lung procedures as health challenges. "I'm still here, and thankful to the Lord for that," MacArthur remarked. He acknowledged that while his absence was not his choice, he understood that sometimes trials are blessings in disguise and noted that God's purposes often unfold in unexpected ways. God has purposes that we would've never been able to fulfill if we weren't put into some kind of stress, he added. Speaking on his condition, MacArthur said, When people ask me how I feel, I say I'm thankful, emphasizing, I'm just thankful I see the good and gracious and kind and providential hand of God in every vicissitude in my life, every hard experience, every challenge whatever that challenge may be. He also explained that his health challenges had allowed him to witness the good hand of divine providence in ways that would not have been possible without adversity. I can be grateful because I know the outcome of everything. The outcome of everything is to the glory of God and the benefit of His children, right? So I want to make sure I allow my own heart to rejoice in the fact that God will perfect me and will bring glory to Himself through my trials, probably more than any other way. His appearance at the communion service was the first since he provided a health update on October 20. He recounted an incident in January 2023 when he experienced breathing difficulties before a Sunday sermon, which required medical attention. It's been a long siege of not breathing normally, MacArthur shared, explaining how a series of heart procedures, including the placement of four stents, led to the discovery of fluid in his lungs. He expressed that his gratitude has only grown through the testing, regardless of what lies ahead. One thing that I have found is that my thanksgiving has increased because it's in the trials when you're face to face with things that could easily overpower you, and you have no particular control over them at all, that you find your faith is tested, he stated. And out of that testing has come an immense amount of gratitude to the Lord. He has revealed Himself in all these issues, all these trials, in so many ways that I can't even begin to count. It remains uncertain whether MacArthur will return to full-time preaching or serve in another capacity. Home News Authorities allow 2 years' worth of uncollected garbage to pile up near church SURABAYA, Indonesia Authorities in Indonesia are allowing two years of uncollected garbage to pile up next to a church building and a Catholic university, sources said. The unhygienic and foul-smelling garbage bagged, spilling out of broken bags or unbagged in Yogyakarta city, capital of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java Province that has not been collected for two years is becoming increasingly unhealthy for members of St. Antonius Padua Catholic Church and those at the nearby Jesuit campus of Sanata Dharma Catholic University. The garbage problem has been around for a long time, since the 1980s, causing disturbing stench during the rainy season, when the garbage mixes with rainwater to become mud, congregation member Susi Sasmita told Morning Star News by phone. This situation has worsened in the last few years and is very disturbing to the congregation. Imagine if this case happened at a mosque the situation could be chaotic. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe She expressed regret that Christians tend to accept arbitrary and discriminatory treatment. We have done it without protest as a result, it gets worse, Susi said. In addition to being disturbed by the pungent smell of garbage, churchgoers also find it difficult to park their vehicles on the 75-80 meter stretch of this road. A priest and lecturer at the Catholic university, the Rev. Andalas Mutiara, staged a protest on Oct. 24 captured in a widely circulated video. Lying in a cross-like position atop a large pile of rubbish next to the campus, he appealed to officials to address critical waste management issues. We dont want to normalize garbage, let alone embrace a garbage culture, Andalas said. The garbage Golgotha is a prophetic call from the Catholic Church that wants us not to crucify God in the garbage, nor all creation in the garbage that we produce. In apparent response, the Yogyakarta Special Region Government reported on its website (jogjaprov.go.id) that the minister of Environment/Head of the Indonesian Environmental Control Agency, Hanif Faisol Nurofiq, made a sudden inspection of the citys waste disposal site on Nov. 18. We ask the governor and the head of the Office of Waste Management to make and build waste banks in upstream units immediately and then increase the number of environmental educators to educate the public about sorting and selecting waste, Hanif stated. That is the only temporary step that should be taken while waiting for the local government to prepare the final technology. The governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, asked the mayor and regional secretary of Yogyakarta the next day to write to or meet Minister Hanif and explain the condition of the waste depot in the area he leads, according to jogjaprov.go.id. Muslims account for 83.3% of Indonesias population, while 11.43% identify as Christian, with the Evangelical population estimated at 3.23%, according to the Joshua Project. Service disrupted In East Java Province, members of a Catholic church in Surabaya on Nov. 20 faced a threat of a different sort. A young woman wearing a hijab and carrying a knife showed up at St. Stephens Catholic Church as a 5:30 a.m. Mass was about to begin and disturbed parishioners by continually babbling incoherently, as seen in video posted by Holopis.com. Two women sitting beside her closely guarded her in an attempt to prevent her from disrupting the service even more. At one point the visitor vomited. Congregation members later asked the local head of the neighborhood association and residents association to investigate and handed her to local police. Lakarsantri Police Chief M. Akhyar told detik.com that the woman had a mental disorder. The incident occurred two weeks before local elections, including the posts of governors, regents and municipal mayors, and special interest groups have been known to disturb church services or attack Christians at such times to create social unrest, Agustinus Marsup, an activist and lecturer, told Morning Star News. Indonesia ranked 42nd on the Christian support organization Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to the WWL report. This article was originally published at Morning Star News Sir, I have been reading with great concern the events surrounding schools, in particular the surge in gangsterism and most recently, the story about a pupil fighting a teacher in one of the schools in the Lubombo Region. First things first, while positive discipline was enforced during our time in high school, the use of corporal punishment was the preferred form of discipline and everyone that was in high school in the mid-2010s will agree with me that this form of discipline did more good than harm to the holistic development of the learner. As scary as a thrashing was, it surely kept us in check and we were very much aware of the boundaries we could and could not cross. Witness Not even once did I witness a teacher and a learner engage in a brawl. The learner knew his place, which is why I was sent into a state of shock when I read about the incident of a learner and a teacher who were apparently involved in a physical fight. I have no doubt in my mind that the fear of a thrashing was the reason why we acknowledged that there was no room for retaliation in response to a teachers punishment. However, as I said before in my previous letter that was published on this very platform, what I say should never be taken as representative of the nations mood and I always stand to be corrected. Questions Now that we have that out of the way, one of the handful of questions that arise is the banning of corporal punishment the reason why we read of such stories or even witness them in schools? Inas- much as I am tempted to answer the question with a firm yes, I ask myself yet another question(s); why is it that these kind of events unfold in government schools and not private ones? What is it that private schools are doing to ensure that authority is given due respect, that government schools are not doing, since the use of corporal punishment was also banned in private schools too? I am not trying to paint all government schools with the same brush, but I had to categorise for perspective and I hope I am not taken out of context. Maybe it is time for government, through the Ministry of Education and Training, to visit private schools and learn a thing or two on management, in particular, how private schools remain as schools that uphold the highest standards of behaviour and academic success, then utilise the same approaches in running government schools because a majority of the young population is enrolled in these government schools. If government continues to turn a blind eye on such issues, then we are headed for doom as a country and are breeding a society that is characterised by anarchy, which will rear its ugly head beyond the parameters of the school environment. In all honesty, in the banning of corporal punishment, government has only succeeded in emphasising learners rights over the supremacy of respect, which learners have taken full advantage of, and are abusing the access to their rights to defy authority and paint teachers trying to keep them in check as villains. I have read so many times on Facebook, where learners vilify their teachers because they have no interest in being held accountable for their actions. To them, rights mean total disregard for authority then getting away with it. Maybe I am the slow one, but can government kindly explain to us again why it decided to ban the use of corporal punishment in schools, with a system that has proven to be a costly gamble, then take it from there. Gen Z of the 90s Home News Episcopal Church-affiliated university cuts half of staff positions amid financial woes A historically African American university affiliated with the Episcopal Church is cutting half its employee positions as it struggles to retain accreditation due to financial issues. Saint Augustine's University of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced Saturday that it intends to "eliminate several positions this month, including part-time and full-time non-faculty roles and some vacant positions." The four-year liberal arts university is looking to cut 67 staff positions 37 full-time faculty positions and 32 adjunct faculty positions totaling around 50% of its employees. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Done before the meeting with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges next month, the university labeled its actions "a significant move toward fiscal responsibility." To secure its accreditation, SAU has reported reducing its expenses by around $17 million in fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023. The university is also presently settling multiple outstanding balances with vendors. "The momentum we are building is promising. While difficult, we acknowledge the seriousness of our financial challenges, and these measures are crucial for our long-term sustainability," said SAU Interim President Marcus H. Burgess. "Our ongoing efforts to stabilize the financial condition of Saint Augustine's University are now showing tangible results our community is responding positively, and we are excited about our future. Together, we will work diligently to rebuild our foundation." SAU was founded by the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina in 1867 to educate freed slaves following the Civil War. The institution is presently located on a 105-acre campus near downtown Raleigh. The school claims an average enrollment of about 1,000 students. SAU has faced financial difficulties in the last several years. From 2014 to 2018, for example, the university was placed on probation but later regained full accreditation, WRAL reported. Last December, SACSCOC trustees voted to remove SAU from membership as an accredited institution over concerns about financial stability. SAU launched the Falcon Pride Initiative Fundraising Campaign in February to help preserve its official accreditation. Later that month, an appeals committee upheld the earlier ruling. In response to ongoing financial and accreditation issues, the university began to move the bulk of its classes from in-person to online, with the measures taking effect in April. "While we strive to maintain the quality of education, it is also our utmost responsibility to ensure the safety, well-being, and dignity of the SAU community, especially our students," said Burgess in a March statement. The U.S. Department of Labor said it would investigate the university amid reports that employees had gone multiple pay periods without paychecks in May. An arbitration committee appointed by SACSCOC issued a unanimous decision in July supporting the reversal of the accreditation removal, though maintaining that the university remains on probation. "The SACSCOC arbitration committee's decision serves as a pivotal moment for SAU's redemption and renewal," said SAU Board of Trustees Chair Brian Boulware. "The unanimous reversal by the arbitration committee rightfully corrects the injustice inflicted upon SAU by SACSCOC's initial ruling and underscores the university's steadfast commitment to excellence and growth." Home News Human traffickers using AI to entice, exploit children online, expert warns NEW YORK Generative Artificial Intelligence, a type of AI that can create new content like text, images, audio and videos, is now being used by human traffickers to entice and exploit children, an official with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has warned. Speaking at the national launch of global anti-human trafficking organization A21's Can You See Me? awareness campaign on Monday, Staca Shehan, vice president at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said last year alone, nearly 5,000 instances of Generative AI were used or attempted to be used to exploit a child. Use of the technology to exploit children is one of the reasons why the national nonprofit, which aims to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimization, released its Take It Down tool last year, which helps combat child sexual exploitation by enabling youth to remove sexually explicit images of themselves from the internet, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe As technology changes and evolves, we want to use it for good, to fill gaps, and that's what we're trying to do with the Take It Down campaign is to help give back some control to kids in getting the content removed from the internet. But at the same time, we're trying to leverage new and evolving technology, Shehan said at a press conference held at the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel in Midtown. Those that are looking to target children are doing the same, and we're seeing that, especially with generative AI, where last year, we received almost 5,000 reports of instances where generative AI was used or attempted to be used to exploit a child. Sheehan then shared chilling examples of how predators have been leveraging the technology to exploit children. So with the chat models that are available, we're seeing instances where an offender will enter text and then ask for help, restating that to appear as if they are a child, so that they can engage in communication online with other children and appear to be of similar age with the intent of exploiting them, Shehan said. We're also seeing offenders enter questions asking for guides or tutorials on how to groom or recruit children and do it more efficiently. We're seeing instances where imagery of child sexual abuse material is added to generative AI and asked to create more similar images or alter them in some way, or even a picture that's innocuous that does not include any nudity of a child and remove the clothing of that child and create child sexual abuse material, she explained. We're seeing offenders use these tools in ways to target children, and when these tools are being created without safety by design principles, we're seeing how they're becoming more risky in terms of their ability to exploit children. A21's Can You See Me? awareness campaign, done in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations New York, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, advertising firms LAMAR and Outfront Media, Amtrak and Omni Hotels, seeks to help the general public recognize indicators of human trafficking and report suspected scenarios ahead of the peak holiday travel season. The campaign will feature vivid advertisements on Times Square billboards, transportation hubs, and digital platforms, urging citizens to take action through national hotlines. Home News Judge upholds Missouri's ban on sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers for minors A judge has upheld a Missouri law that prohibits cosmetic sex-change surgeries and the prescribing of puberty-blocking drugs for minors with gender dysphoria. Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter ruled Monday to uphold the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, also known as Senate Bill 49, which was signed into law last year. Carter wrote that state legislatures have a right to restrict medical practices that have a "lack of consensus" when it comes to "medical ethics," in this case, "adolescent gender dysphoria treatment." Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "The plaintiffs argue that the restricted interventions are necessary to treat the mental health condition of gender dysphoria," he wrote. "But as Plaintiffs' experts conceded, there is a substantial medical dispute about the causes and treatments of gender dysphoria." "The Constitution does not permit a single judge to nullify the results of democratically enacted legislation where, as here, there is a medical dispute about the safety or efficacy of those interventions." Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the court order, saying in a statement that the decision was a victory for efforts to ban "child mutilation." "The Court has left Missouri's law banning child mutilation in place, a resounding victory for our children. We are the first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level," stated Bailey. "I'm extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures. We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children." The Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the LGBT organization Lambda Legal, which had helped to represent the plaintiffs, denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal the decision. "However, the court's 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 progressive groups said in a joint statement. "Despite heartfelt testimony from parents of transgender youth, transgender adults who've benefited from this care at various stages of life, a transgender minor, and some of Missouri's most dedicated health care providers, the state has prioritized politics over the well-being of its people." In June 2023, Gov. Mike Parsons signed SB 49 into law. The measure stated that "a health care provider shall not knowingly perform a gender transition surgery on any individual under eighteen years of age" and "shall not knowingly prescribe or administer cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose of a gender transition for any individual under eighteen years of age." SB 49 allowed those who already had the procedures before the law took effect to continue doing so and included a cause of action for children harmed by the treatments to sue medical providers. In September 2023, facing an investigation from Bailey's office, Washington University in St. Louis announced that it would no longer prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to any minors who were seeking gender transition. Home Opinion Beware of the Trojan horses in the abortion debates A Trojan Horse is a trick or strategy that causes something to appear benign or even good, and therefore be accepted and welcomed, while in reality it is deadly and brings defeat. As a result of the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion is now largely a state issue being decided by laws passed by locally elected officials or by voters in the case of a constitutional amendment. Some of those laws and amendments include Trojan horse words. Ten states had abortion on their ballot Nov. 5, 2024: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada and South Dakota. In Virginia, a Democrat-led House of Delegates Panel has just approved sending a radical abortion Constitutional amendment (HR1) to the full House when it convenes in January. Virginia requires a lengthy legislative process for amendments, so it would be years before it potentially could reach the voters. It demonstrates however, that abortion is now a local issue. Every voter needs to be informed and aware of the deceptions being promoted by abortion advocates. Floridians voted on an amendment to their constitution that read: no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patients health, as determined by the patients healthcare provider (italics added). The amendment failed to reach the 60% threshold required for a constitutional amendment. However, 57% of Florida voters supported the amendment. There are two Trojan horses in the amendment. Some Florida voters may have assumed that the amendment allowed abortion, without restrictions, up until about week 24 of gestation, and after 24 weeks only if a mothers dire health issues required it. The first Trojan horse is that viability does not reference gestational age. According to Websters dictionary, viability means having attained such form and development of organs as to be normally capable of surviving outside the uterus. People might assume that corresponds to the gestational age of 24-26 weeks. It does not. No baby can survive outside the uterus without support, and some babies require medical support. All require parental support to feed and care for the child. Therefore, an amendment or law that permits abortion until the baby can survive outside the uterus, can be interpreted as abortion throughout the 9 months. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe There is a second Trojan Horse is, Patients [mothers] health. Some people may assume that means terminating the pregnancy in order to resolve a life-threatening issue. It does not. The word health in the abortion context was defined by the Supreme Court in the companion case to Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton , 1973, where the Court declared medical judgment may be exercised in light of all factors physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the womans age relevant to the well-being of the patient. All the factors may relate to health (italics added). Health therefore includes not only the physical life of the mother but things like financial anxiety, depression, morning sickness, and family pressure. It is a legal term defined by the Supreme Court to include all the factors. Nothing is excluded. Certainly, there are cases where a woman, after the child is 24-26 weeks old has a medical condition that may require the child to be delivered prematurely. But there is never a reason to intentionally kill the unborn child to secure a mothers health or life. The American Association for Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) states: Abortion is the purposeful killing of the unborn in the termination of a pregnancy. AAPLOG opposes abortion. When extreme medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother arise (chorioamnionitis or HELLP syndrome could be examples), AAPLOG believes in treatment to save the mothers life, including premature delivery if that is indicated obviously with the patients informed consent. This is NOT abortion to save the mothers life. We are treating two patients, the mother and the baby, and every reasonable attempt to save the babys life would also be a part of our medical intervention. We acknowledge that, in some such instances, the baby would be too premature to survive. AAPLOG explains that premature delivery is NOT abortion to save the mothers life. The distinction is central to the abortion debate. Abortion by definition is the purposeful killing of the unborn. Premature delivery attempts to save both the mother and the babys life. A third potential Trojan horse is whether the sweeping language in some bills would nullify existing laws or prevent new laws, such as requiring parental notification before minors receive an abortion, a 24-hour waiting period, continuing to allow physicians to prescribe drugs to reverse the effect of abortion pills, basic standards of care at abortion centers, and keeping statistics on reasons for abortions, outcomes, and complications. A fourth Trojan horse is that apparently, there is confusion on exactly what constitutes an abortion versus a premature delivery. Demonstrating the confusion, a woman at a 2024 Ben Shapiro event asked, Why does the definition of abortion have to do with the death of a fetus? The woman continued, Would you not assume something like a c-section would be considered an abortion? To bring clarity, Shapiro correctly defined abortion as, The forcible termination of an unborn human life. The woman continued, I dont see why you say that it has to end in the death of a fetus, which is why Im pro-abortion all nine months, right? How many people accept abortion through all 9 months, because they believe, as this woman does, that abortion equates to premature delivery? It does not. The goal of abortion is to intentionally kill the unborn child. The goal of premature delivery is to give both the mother and child life. An April 2023, NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist, poll found that 80% of Americans reject abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. Yet, in contradiction to the polls, 57% of the voters in Florida voted to allow unlimited abortion through all 9 months. One wonders if they were deceived by the Trojan horses of viability and patients [mothers] health into believing that they were limiting abortion to the first 3 months and only after that in extreme medical emergencies. We must not allow such Trojan horse deceptions to go unchallenged when the powerful, well-funded abortion advocates try to pass pro-abortion policies in our state. When considering approving unregulated abortion during the first three months, it is also important that we are familiar with fetal development even as early as 9 weeks. Think of the developing child described by the Cleveland Clinic. By the 9th week of gestation, a heartbeat is detectable. By the 10th week, the arms, hands, fingers, feet and toes are fully formed. By the 12th week all organs, limbs, bones and muscles are present. The circulatory, digestive and urinary systems are working. The fetus is drinking and peeing amniotic fluid. This is the first-trimester baby. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the abortion debate has been moved back to the states. Every individual who understands what is at stake in abortion legislation has an opportunity and obligation to bring clarity to the abortion debate. To do that, we must understand the terms and explain the terms to others in the legislature, as well as to our neighbors. Home Opinion Deconstructing Christian faith is almost always emotional What is the point of deconstructing something? Is it to dissect and segment its parts for separate evaluation? Who gets to set the criteria and why so? Or is it to question relentlessly and eventually find answers? Philosophical thought is varied on what it means to deconstruct. In short, its an intellectual exercise that seeks to analyze a text or a proposition and hopefully arrive at a meaningful interpretation. Cultural ideas can transform a concept like deconstruction into a belief that it holds the key in any quest for the truth of a matter. When it comes to Christian faith, believers should not passively allow cultural thought to determine how our faith should be evaluated. I believe that when critical thinking is fairly exercised, Christian faith remains legitimately relevant to the human experience; and that, the idea of deconstructing it is a circular hype. As T. S. Eliot once said, We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Intellectual endeavors are usually incentivized by something. What drives ones quest in an attempt to deconstruct Christian faith? What are the expectations? It almost always begins by honestly seeking to overcome doubts and satisfy cultural criticism. What comes into play, however, is not logic, reason or scientific knowledge. Its subjectively emotional and not as objective as one might think. The accomplished psychologist, Jordan B. Peterson, comments similarly in his recent book, We Who Wrestle With God: We weigh the facts we encounter in accordance with our values. We elevate some pathways forward, things in the world, and people to a higher place than others, consigning everything deemed lesser to the netherworld of impediment, obstacle, enemy, or foe, or to the invisible domain of irrelevance. Thus we order, simplify, and reduce the world, prior even to encountering it.[1] So it seems that the tools of rationality can be utilized to justify whatever people may predetermine to like or dislike about something. A century ago, G. K. Chesterton also warned us that absurdity could become a fact based appeal in culture. He said, Two and two make four is a fact. But two and two make five is also a fact. Indeed, we now live in a cultural context wherein reason is skewed towards any preferred narrative, and questioning the contrary is deemed smart. Unrelenting questioning does place a questioner in control and can be massaged towards concocting an unreasonable standard for the answers. That is why in a court of law the cross-examination can be challenged and a judge rules on whether the objection of a question should be sustained or overruled. Questioning is indeed necessary and should be encouraged. However, I notice that when it comes to Christian faith believers are badgered with questioning aimed not at discovering the truth but at stripping away its messaging. The foundational belief of the Christian faith is the Resurrection. Can this historical event be deconstructed? Anything can be deconstructed. The question is again, does an inquirer have reasonable expectations that can be satisfied? It seems that questioning the Christian faith is establishing a firewall of imperviousness insomuch that nothing presented will suffice. Hugh Ross remarked to Peter Atkins that it seemed that no evidence would persuade him to believe in God. To be honest, Atkins answered, that is probably the case (YouTube 1:19). If one begins with an impregnable threshold, any attempt at deconstructing a central belief like the resurrection can never produce a warranted Christian faith. Nowadays social media personalities are influencing culture. The skeptic YouTube influencer, Alex OConnor, has over 1M subscribers. He interviewed William Lane Craig on the resurrection. On this occasion, OConnor seemed fair and genuine in his questioning. However, there was a point where he began referring to the resurrection as a weird event. He didnt have to use this pejorative label. In my opinion, such describers reveal emotional dislikes. Craig referred to the resurrection as, remarkable. OConnor could have also chosen, remarkable, or exceptional, singular, phenomenal, uncommon, but he chose weird. Words have become virally consequential and can gain cultural traction whereby people begin to believe that the resurrection is weird. Its thus a fact that cultural thought can influence people to begin believing that, two plus two make five. The great message of the Good News is that in a very real way, a sinner can be reconciled to God by grace. If the Gospel were devoid of truth, it would not cause such weighty emotional experiences within ones heart and mind. Emotionally, upon hearing the message of the Christian faith, people immediately evaluate it by the personal demands implied for their lifestyles. This experience is very real and often pushes back emotionally in order to undermine the powerful message that grace produces peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). The undermining plays out by insisting on tangible points of satisfaction. Christian faith is being fooled into deconstructing until its progressive version cannot be justified by faith. Its time for believers to exercise critical thinking and boldly deconstruct the obstinacy of cultural thought. The point of departure into an honest and open-minded exploration of the Christian faith often arrives where it began, and the light goes on for the first time to realize how wonderful is the provision of Gods grace. The transition is defined by the new birth. Somehow, we no longer emphasize this defining directive of Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). That seeing does not refer specifically to when you die. Regeneration provides a very real new set of eyes in the here and now. Believers become new persons and discover that peace with God is what they have been searching for all along. [1] (Penguin Books: New York, 2024), xxvi. Home News Israel, Hezbollah reach ceasefire deal; Netanyahu will 'respond forcefully' to violations Israel and the Lebanon-based, Iranian-backed Islamic militant group Hezbollah have reportedly reached a ceasefire arrangement brokered by the United States and France to end over a year's worth of fighting, which, if honored, will last for 60 days. The agreement is slated to take effect early Wednesday morning, with it being quickly given an approval vote from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, reports The Associated Press. "The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon," Netanyahu said during a speech Tuesday. "We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory." Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "With the United States' full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack." In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden said the agreement followed "weeks of tireless diplomacy." "The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon," Biden said. "This announcement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced, and we remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence." Netanyahu's chief reasons for seeking a ceasefire agreement included wanting to "focus on the Iranian threat," to "give our forces a breather and replenish stocks" and to "separate the fronts and isolate Hamas." A Hezbollah senior official said Hezbollah leaders had yet to see the written agreement in its final form. "After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials," Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah's political council, told Al Jazeera, according to AP. "We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state" of Lebanon, he said. "Any violation of sovereignty is refused." Regional unrest has seen Israel battling Iranian-backed terror groups on multiple fronts following Hamas' unprovoked Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that resulted in nearly 1,200 dead, mostly civilians. Among those killed were 40 Americans. Around 250 were taken hostage by Hamas, a terror group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Israel struck back with multiple air strikes in Gaza, followed by a ground offensive, which had as its stated goals the destruction of Hamas and the rescue of the hostages. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, run by the Hamas government, over 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began. However, those figures do not differentiate between unarmed civilians and armed combatants. In addition, Israel has been trading rocket fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon since October 2023. Fighting escalated this September as Israel launched a limited ground offensive and increased bombardments. The ceasefire comes amid a rising number of attacks across the border, as Hezbollah had reportedly fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel, prompting many to flee south. Lebanese officials say over 3,000 people have been killed during the uptick in fighting, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. The conflict has been described as Lebanon's deadliest in decades. Israel has already killed much of Hezbollah's senior leadership, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Home News School cancels Handels 'Messiah' amid Christian music backlash Opposition to Christian music in one school in Finland resulted in the cancelation of Handels Messiah in another, Finnish media reported. In Hameenlinna, a child had objected to songs about the life of Christ in a performance at an unidentified primary school, resulting in a tribunal ruling that non-Christian children had been discriminated against on the basis of religion or belief. The National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal determined that the non-Christian pupils should be compensated 1,500 euros ($1,562 USD) by the school. On Nov. 19, however, the citys Education and Welfare Committee voted 6 to 5 that no compensation was due to the primary school students. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The performance in question was the first of three faith-referenced concerts at the school, according to media reports. The first concert took place in 2022 with references to Christs crucifixion, death and atonement. At least one of the pupils watching the concert was non-religious, and Helsingin Sanomat news site reported the religiosity of the concert was not announced in advance, but [the school] apologized after the concert. Concerts were also held last year and this year, with all three events deemed religious, but only the first concert was accused of being discriminatory, according to the Finnish news site. The school removed a hymn from the second concert following a complaint by the compensation applicant. Concerns were also expressed about a parish choir at the third event. The Board also found that the educational institution had neglected its obligation to promote equality, Helsingin Sanomat reported in regard to the choir performing. It held this view, inter alia, because the educational institution did not inform that the choirs performance had been organized jointly with the congregation. Antti Karrimaa, director of Education at Hameenlinna, reportedly said the concert touched on extremely sensitive issues one way or the other. Such religious issues and schooling arise at regular intervals, Karrimaa said. We have to see what the right and smart course of action would be. Voting about the issue at the Hameenlinna Education and Welfare Committee meeting showed a split down Finnish party lines. Those in favor of paying compensation came from the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Centre Party. Those against the payout hailed from the Finns Party, National Coalition Party and the Christian Democrats. Committee member Pasi Honkanen told Suomen Uutiset news site of his relief at the outcome of the vote. However, this is quite an important issue in todays world, Honkanen said. This set a precedent, and the decisions of the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal are not binding, but merely recommendations. When the Board has the opportunity to take the right to admission, I think it is good that it is used and decisions like this are made. Honkanen further noted difficulties for teachers and schools to operate normally if such compensation payouts were allowed. In no way do I think that equality or non-discrimination should be deliberately violated, but I hope that schools, principals and teachers want to promote them, he added. Society should consider these kinds of things a bit more than whether someone is traumatized by hearing the wrong kind of music. When I was at school, I went to an Orthodox church and I wasnt traumatized by it at all. The fallout at the primary school led to a comprehensive school in Uusimaa canceling a performance of Handels Messiah two days before the concert planned earlier this month because of concerns about references to Christianity in the music. Organizers had planned for a joint performance of the oratorio at a school by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Choir before school officials canceled it, citing issues with religious references in the music, reported Helsingin Sanomat. The atmosphere in the chamber choir and baroque orchestra has been shocked by the decision, Laura Kajander, executive director of the Baroque Orchestra, reportedly said, adding that this was the first time such a cancelation occurred. If concerts are canceled, it is the children who suffer. About 80% of Finlands population identifies as Christian, and 10% as Evangelical Christian, according to Joshua Project; 17.1% identify as non-religious, and 1.9% as Muslim. Finnish MP and former government minister Paivi Rasanen said the compensation claims and cancelation defied common sense. Compensation payment of 1,500 euros for discrimination when a non-religious child accidentally heard a song about Jesus, Rasanen wrote on X on Oct. 31. Has the use of common sense disappeared? At the same time, schools celebrate Halloween with witches and zombie characters. How can a song about Jesus be perceived as so dangerous? The MP is facing a third trial after being accused of hate speech as a Christian for expressing her biblical views on marriage. The Supreme Court of Finland on April 19 ruled that a third trial would go ahead, as previously reported by Christian Daily International. She had previously been acquitted twice of hate speech but the state prosecutor appealed. Two previous trials at Helsinki District Court and the Court of Appeal found Rasanen, a grandmother of 11, not guilty of the hate speech charges. A former Minister of the Interior, Rasanen was criminally charged for sharing her Christian views on marriage and sexual ethics in a tweet on X in 2019. She was also charged in relation to a 2004 pamphlet for her church she wrote about the book of Genesis, stating, male and female he created them. This article was originally published at Christian Daily International Home News Texas lawmaker threatens university budget cuts over LGBT studies Taxpayers in the state of Texas even conservative Christians and other religious groups opposed to gender ideology in public schools could soon be on the hook for funding LGBT curriculum, according to some Republican lawmakers. Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, has vowed to take drastic action against any Texas public university that offers "LGBT/Sexualities" programs, which Harrison calls leftist indoctrination. Harrison is one of nearly a dozen Texas state lawmakers, including himself, who are raising concerns regarding the University of Texas Systems decision to offer free tuition to undergraduate students from families earning less than $100,000 annually. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The new policy is an expansion of the Promise Plus program, allowing eligible students to attend any of the nine UT academic institutions tuition-free. Previously, in 2019, UT Austin had created a $167 million endowment to cover the costs for students from families with an adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less. The initiative was later expanded statewide in 2022 with a $300 million endowment. In a letter shared Nov. 21, Harrison, along with 10 other state lawmakers, many of whom identify as Christians, called the plan socialist, regressive, and possibly unconstitutional. Harrison says UTs budget must be cut, and bureaucrats should be fired. In an interview with CP on Tuesday, Harrison said the policy, if enacted, would mean Christian families along with other Texas taxpayers would be subsidizing curriculum that, in many cases, directly contradicts their most deeply-held beliefs. I am sick of my constituents tax dollars being weaponized against them, their values, and their children, Harrison said via email. Public universities are for education not leftist indoctrination. If you want to study [lesbian, gay and bisexual] studies, fine, but do it with your own money. Harrison said he plans on filing legislation next session to zero out the budget of all public university presidents who dont get rid of these minors and courses on their campuses. Democratic state Rep. Donna Howard, in a reply to Harrisons letter on X, denied that any tax dollars would be used for LGBT courses or other studies. "There are no tax dollars involved," Howard, who represents Austin, wrote. "Higher Ed institutions are already helping families afford college. This expands philanthropic endowments and helps meet affordability goals of Gov. [Greg] Abbott and the Texas Higher Education Board." Harrison has previously said lawmakers never had a chance to vote on the use of these funds for these types of programs. Leftists have been put in charge of our public universities, and the inmates are now running the asylum and abusing tax dollars to push liberal propaganda instead of educating the next generation, he said. While Republicans expanded their majority in the state House and Senate, its unclear whether the GOP has the political will to advance the kind of legislation Harrison supports. Texas has a reputation for leading in individual liberty, freedom and limited government. But for too long, we have been coasting on that reputation instead of living up to it, he said. Texas must become the low tax, limited government, bastion of liberty that everyone outside of Texas thinks we are. Under a bill passed last year, public colleges and universities in the state of Texas are prohibited from establishing or maintaining programs and offices that promote hiring or employment practices on the basis of race, sex, or other protected characteristics. In addition to banning so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, Senate Bill 17 also prohibits taxpayer-funded schools from mandatory DEI training. The legislation resulted in UT Austin and other campuses eliminating or greatly reducing their DEI offices at public universities in the state, as well as forcing university-run LGBT centers and groups to shut down. Home News Trump team dismisses 'speculating' about reported trans military ban 'No decisions on this issue have been made' A spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump pushed back against a report that the incoming administration plans to bar trans-identifying individuals from military service. "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," incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, according to Newsweek. Leavitt's clarification came after The Times, a newspaper in the United Kingdom, reported Monday that Trump was planning an executive order that would "kick transgender troops out of U.S. military," citing unnamed defense sources. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The supposed executive order would medically discharge the approximately 15,000 trans-identifying service members, according to The Times. The order would also reportedly bar trans-identifying people from joining the armed services, which the outlet noted comes as the U.S. military is facing a recruitment shortfall. Former President Barack Obama's administration was the first to open military service to trans-identifying people, though Trump instituted a ban in 2018 that President Joe Biden later rescinded in 2021. Rachel Branaman, who serves as executive director of Modern Military Association of America, claimed that such a ban would indicate weakness to the enemies of the U.S. Her charity advocates for LGBT-identifying service members. "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 signaling vulnerability to America's adversaries," she said. "Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military's recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units," 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." The controversy over Trump's supposed planned executive order comes as Pete Hegseth, his nominee for secretary of defense, has expressed opposition to women in combat. Hegseth, who served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, recently said on "The Shawn Ryan Show" podcast that the presence of women makes high-stress combat situations more dangerous. "Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means casualties are worse," he said. "I'm straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles it hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated." Trump has expressed his intention to remove military leadership who have drifted too far into what he has described as a "woke" mentality. "I would fire them. You cant have woke military," Trump said in a Fox News interview in June. (Photo: Unsplash) In John Christopher's 1967 teen sci-fi classic The Tripods, the heroes Will and Fritz have just destroyed the 'Masters', an alien race which has taken over the Earth, when they meet some of their unfortunate slaves. These are people controlled by electronic 'caps' fused into their brains. One of them rises up from the fallen body of his alien overlord and declares to his fellow-slaves, "The Masters are no more. Therefore our lives no longer have a purpose. Brothers, let us go to the Place of Happy Release". That refers, of course, to a euthanasia centre the Masters had thoughtfully provided. Though I must have read this at least thirty-five years ago, it came to my mind when I first heard advocates of assisted suicide complaining that some people oppose assisted suicide for 'religious reasons'. This gets it precisely backwards, rather as if it were said that some people don't believe in kosher food, or in pilgrimage to Mecca, for religious reasons; for of course these are things which are believed in by one particular religion, for reasons specific to that religion, which obviously everyone else does not share. The demand to be permitted to kill oneself, and have assistance provided to help do so, is similarly a peculiar belief of one particular religion. The religion in question is humanism, and the peculiar belief is in 'autonomy'. The similarity to the Tripods scene is this: autonomy is, for the humanist, a master which must be served. In the ability to make choices which maximise pleasure is found the entire purpose of human life. And when that master, the all-powerful lord of autonomous choice, is found to be no more, then life is believed no longer to have a purpose. Suicide is the only thing left to do. Now it might seem strange to speak of being enslaved by autonomy; isn't autonomy about freedom, the opposite of slavery? Yet it is part of the genius of Christianity to perceive that the opposite is in fact the case. Sin autonomy from God thinks it is gaining liberty but in fact finds slavery. The attempt to escape from the rule of God no more brings freedom than a plane escaping from its wings or a fish escaping from water. Those who set up autonomy as the master ethical principle do not find that it liberates them into a brave new world of happiness and fulfilment. Rather, they find that it locks them into a way of thinking which progressively dehumanises and destroys. Nowhere is this clearer than with assisted suicide. The drumbeat of the argument of those campaigning for it is autonomy, autonomy, autonomy. It is the quasi-religious belief in autonomy which is driving the campaign for it and it is not hard to see why. The adulation of our personal autonomy, the belief that our individual choices are the meaning and purpose of our lives, meets an impossible problem with the approach of death. For a while, the illusion (for that is what it is) of autonomy can be maintained by medical treatment which alleviates symptoms and postpones the end of life. But eventually the time will come when reality breaks through. Death is the ultimate negation of autonomy; it is a thing which comes upon us, and against which our will is entirely unable to stand. The approach of death is therefore a thing of horror to humanism, not only because of its utter hopelessness (a humanist funeral is one of the bleakest occasions it is possible to experience) but because it stands as an inescapable rebuke to the entire humanist project. Once death has come close enough that its inevitability can no longer be ignored, the master whom the humanist has served all his life is found suddenly to be gone. Hence the complaint of pro-assisted-suicide campaigners that the dying at present 'have no good choices'. This is not so much a statement of reality (it is in fact entirely false) as a lament for a departed deity. The human with no further ability to choose has, in the humanist religion, no further value or purpose. The choices are no more. Therefore our lives no longer have a purpose. Except one. There is one possible choice remaining, one way of refusing to bow to the irresistible power of death. It is to make the moment of death itself a choice, an exercise of the will. Like King Saul falling on his sword so that the Philistines would not overtake him, it seeks to avoid the shame of defeat by death by being the cause of death; thus maintaining to the last, even after it has ceased to have any plausibility, the belief that I am the master of my ship, I am the captain of my soul. By pulling the trigger myself (or pressing the button on the 'medical device', to use the term in the Leadbeater bill), I will keep the autonomy faith to the very end. Let us go to the Place of Happy Release. Before death can smother my ability to choose, I will cheat it at the last by choosing it myself. This is why assisted suicide is such an article of faith for humanists. It is why Dignity in Dying has spent huge sums of money on tube adverts declaring 'When I cannot stay, let me choose how I go'. It is why Humanists UK says that UK laws should provide 'the choice to face the end of life with dignity and autonomy'. Note the total identification of those last two; dignity and autonomy are indistinguishable in the humanist religion. And it explains the motivation behind those pushing for a change in the law. They are, almost universally, either explicitly or functionally humanists. And it explains why, almost universally, those who are not oppose it. It's not that they oppose it for 'religious reasons'; it's just that they don't share the one peculiar religious reason which drives it. So the question is, why should the law of the United Kingdom be shaped by this one religious view? Particularly one both so fundamentally self-centred and so fundamentally bleak? Which can see no value or meaning in humanity other than that which we can self-generate by our own choices? And whose devotees are so in thrall to their master that they prefer death to the prospect of living without it? Mercifully, the United Kingdom was founded, and constitutionally still stands, upon a far better foundation. One which understands that human life is not an individualistic project of self-creation but a precious gift from the God of infinite holiness and perfect goodness. Who made us to display his image, and entered our world to rescue us from our self-destructive attempts at autonomy, and to lift us to an inconceivable future glory. And therefore that human life is not an accident from which we must salvage some value by our own self-assertion against the brute facts of reality, but is a precious gift to be received from our conception and treasured for as long as it lasts. And so as we approach its end, we do not find our lives stripped of meaning but rather that their true eternal meaning and purpose comes into proper focus. The question of assisted suicide therefore presents us with the question of whether we wish to replace that foundation with another, sprung from another religion, which demands suicide precisely because of its atrophied view of what human life really is. It is not a matter of whether Parliament should reject assisted suicide' on religious grounds. It is rather, whether it should accept it when it is demanded by one, and only one, religion, in the service of its own esoteric and destructive god of human autonomy. Rev Dr Matthew Roberts is Minister of Trinity Church York and former Moderator of Synod of the International Presbyterian Church. IN todays workplace, there is often a cultural premium placed on extroverted traitscharisma, social fluency, assertiveness and the ability to thrive in team settings or high-energy environments. For introverts, those who prefer solitude or small, intimate gatherings to larger social groups, this can be a source of frustration, in fact it could be the wall preventing you from growing. While introversion can offer some personal advantages, such as deep focus, creativity and thoughtful decision-making, the peace of mind one likes to assume they get from this, these traits, may not always translate into a direct workplace advantage. In fact, introverts often find themselves at a disadvantage, especially in environments that value visibility, communication and social engagement. These are the typical people skills that will make sure you take up space at work. Networking is one of the cornerstones of professional success and intoversion limits your networking opportunities. Whether it is building relationships within your company or with clients, establishing connections is crucial to career growth everybody will find it easier to work with Julia that communicates without a problem and is sociable. Introverts tend to be more reserved and less inclined to participate in large networking events or social gatherings, which can limit your visibility. In workplaces where promotions or new opportunities often hinge on personal connections and visible networking, introverts usually find themselves overlooked simply because they do not make themselves known in the right circles. In many professional environments, self-promotion is key to advancing in your career. Whether it is updating your boss on your accomplishments, volunteering for high-visibility projects or promoting your skills, being able to speak up and advocate for yourself is essential. Especially when it feels insignificant to do so, then it probably is not. Introverts, however, often struggle with this. They may feel uncomfortable bragging about their successes or drawing attention to themselves, preferring to let their work speak for itself. While this may work in certain environments, in many workplaces, being quiet about your achievements can lead to being overlooked or undervalued. In an increasingly competitive job market, failure to self-promote can mean stagnation or even being passed over for a promotion. You will not grow when you stand in your own way. Teamwork Workplaces increasingly prioritise teamwork, collaboration and open communication. As work becomes more dynamic, the ability to work in teams has become a critical skill. Even ads in the job market will specify a need for good team players. For an introvert, these collaborative efforts can be exhausting and they might prefer independent work, where they can think deeply and manage their time without constant interruptions or the need for group discussion or engagement with others. However, in many industries, the ability to thrive in a group setting is seen as a core competency. When job descriptions include a demand for good interpersonal skills, team player or comfortable in a fast-paced environment, it can often mean that introverts are at a disadvantage from the start. As an introvert, even if you have the skills and qualifications, you may struggle to prove yourself in environments that demand constant social engagement. Furthermore, introverts may not always feel comfortable in the social dynamics of office environments, where informal networking and water cooler talk are integral to success. Extroverts often receive more immediate feedback on their work performance because they tend to interact more frequently with others and speak up about their progress. Introverts, who might prefer to work quietly and independently, may miss out on this quick exchange of ideas and feedback. This can result in a delay in their understanding of how they are performing or what adjustments need to be made. While introverts tend to process feedback internally and reflect on it, they might miss out on the fast-paced, real-time feedback loop that is often necessary to move quickly in many workplace environments. Moreover, Introverts are sometimes unfairly labeled as passive or disengaged simply because they are not as vocal or expressive as their extroverted counterparts. In a workplace that values energy, and the ability to take initiative, introverts may be seen as lacking drive or ambition. This misperception can lead to being passed over for high-visibility assignments, leadership roles, or opportunities for advancement. In fact, the more introverted employees may have to work harder to demonstrate their value and assertiveness, which can be mentally and emotionally draining, particularly when they feel their quiet contributions are not fully The challenges introverts face in networking, self-promotion, collaboration and visibility can make it harder for them to succeed in environments that prioritise social interaction and quick communication. As the workplace continues to evolve, however, it is essential for organisations to recognise the value of diverse personality types and offer environments that support a balance between both introverted and extroverted contributions. Until then, introverts may need to work harder to adapt to a system that does not always play to their strengths. We must learn to adopt extrovert qualities to grow in the career spectrum. Peste o mie de copii din raionul Criuleni vor avea acces gratuit la un spatiu modern pentru joaca si lectura Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to exempt or reimburse charities estimated additional 1.4bn tax bill after announcing an increase in employer national insurance contributions (NICs). Reeves announced in her first budget last month that employer NICs would increase from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025 but that the employment allowance would more than double to 10,500 to shield the smallest organisations from the tax. An open letter signed by more than 7,300 charities and voluntary organisations warned Reeves that the extra cost to charities of the tax rise would be around 1.4bn a year and asked for the government to reconsider. Reeves this week replied to the letter, jointly authored by umbrella bodies NCVO and ACEVO, but did not offer any further concession. NCVO, ACEVO and the Charity Finance Group said in a joint statement that the chancellors response isnt the news we want but affirmed that they are committed to raising the voice of the sector on this issue so that the government understand the very real impact it is having, and where possible, will seek to minimise the impact of these changes. Reeves: We remain committed to ensuring the sector is recognised and valued In her response, Reeves said that the government does recognise the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, citing its doubling of the employment allowance and the tax reliefs already available to charities, among other measures. But on further support to the sector, Reeves said: The government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs only. This is the usual approach the government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous governments health and social care levy. More broadly, the government delivers a number of grant and support programmes which help VCSEs, including the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund last year and the ongoing Social Enterprise Boost Fund. We remain committed to ensuring that the sector is recognised and valued for the crucial support it provides to so many people and look forward to continuing to work together. Sector bodies: We will continue to challenge where challenge is needed In their joint response, NCVO, ACEVO and CFG said that they wanted to commit to developing a stronger partnership between government and the sector in the future through work on the upcoming Civil Society Covenant. The chancellor recognised our role as a trusted and independent partner, they said. To strengthen that relationship, its vital the sector shares its views on the covenant framework, as this will help us agree the basis of our collective future relationship and ensure the sector is included in discussions around significant changes that will affect both charities and the people and causes, we exist to serve. Part of partnership is having difficult conversations, and its important that we, as an independent sector, continue to challenge where challenge is needed. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, in 2022, and renamed it X, the number of users has steadily declined. For journalists, who anecdotal evidence suggests are quitting in large numbers, the shift has been particularly profound. I feel like Twitter back in the day was kind of everything for journalists and writersit was like a job board; place of idea generation; a little diary, said P.E. Moskowitz, who writes the newsletter Mental Hellth and whose work has appeared in New York Magazine and The Nation, among other outlets. It was this kind of a social map slash org chart for understanding how, especially in New York, media works and whos doing what and even whos friends with who, said Delia Cai, who runs the popular Substack newsletter Deez Links. I cant imagine starting out in media without that. It was a free orientation tool for the industry. For those whove worked freelance like Moskowitz and Cai, it was a place to test out ideas, amplify your work, and have conversations with other writers and editors. For publications and editors, it was a quick line to which topics were in the air, and perhaps to which lesser-known writers were out there. When we were rebooting Gawker, I discovered people through their tweets. Even if I just thought they were funny online, I would reach out to them and be like, Are you interested in writing? Leah Finnegan, former editor of Gawker 2.0, said. A lot of the time they were. Natalie Shutler, the politics director at Slate, felt similarly. I have definitely, over the years, had a few writers come to my attention through Twitter, Shutler said. Maret Orliss, an assistant op-ed editor for the Los Angeles Times, cites its utility for finding quirky, niche storiesshe remembers finding a thread about why the word-guessing game Wordle was so appealing from a philosophy professor whom she later commissioned to write a piece. X, the Musk version of Twitter, is less of a discovery tool. For the most part, its not a great source for editors when it comes to finding substantive ideas, Shutler said. She spends very little time on the app now; her Twitter bio reads here to observe. Instead, she relies on Slates internal staff of writers and external roster of contributors. Finnegan, who is now an editor at Sherwood News, has had a similar experience. This time around, I dont think Ive contacted a single person due to the content of their tweets, she said. Curators like Caiher newsletter is a weekly annotated compilation of stories and sources she recommends, a genre that includes The Ann Friedman Weekly and Links I Would G-Chat Friendshave had to adapt too. Links dont even show up properly, she said. I had this personal crisis about: If were all reading each others stuff on Substack and then recirculating those links, does that just form a weird echo chamber where there just happens now to be more paywalls? Sign up for CJRs daily email Others, who used to use the site as a quick newsfeedparticularly useful for editors who are seeking leads that might turn into storieshave found that the quality of information has declined. Writer Tom Scocca instinctively tried to find information on X when Hurricane Milton hit Florida last month. That brought home what an information cesspool Twitter has turned into, he said. He turned to the Tampa Bay Times instead. One of the things I would do when breaking news was happening would be to go look at Twitter, both for my own information and to potentially see if there might be some thoughts that could turn into a piece, said Orliss, the LA Times editor. Now thats not my response anymore. But what some lament, others celebrate as a liberation. Sourcing and linking to tweets as sufficient evidence of a conversation, or a thing worth reporting on, I found even in the heyday of that ecosystem to be unproductive and limiting, said Shamira Ibrahim, a writer and editor at Africa Is a Country. To Ibrahim, it takes away from the practice of nurturing beats and sources in depth. I think social media is always going to be part of the story, but not the whole story, and I try to engage with writers who understand that or help them get to that place. She feels that Twitter and other social media fed into a larger problem in the industry. Editors want more work, faster, and can start to see clicks and engagement as the only measure of success. Thats the whole ethos of its technologyyoure supposed to scale, scale, get bigger, bigger, Ibrahim said. That is all fine, but its also predicated on the lack of value of creativity, because writing is a creative process; it requires thinking. When you had to keep up with Twitter, Twitter became the only way to do it. Ultimately, when we respond to a digital economy that is dictated by Silicon Valley private equity, its not about becoming better at your practice but becoming better at serving a technology. Though most journalists have kept their accounts on X, many have moved on spiritually. I stopped posting there, but I kept my account because I had been told that if you erase it, somebody can pick up your handle and start posting as you, Maria Bustillos, who started the newsletter Flaming Hydra, said. Shes now on Bluesky and Mastodon, where she says it is much easier to connect with people, a facility Musks X has more or less put behind a paywall. For Moskowitz, leaving was sad but ultimately in their best interest, because it doesnt make you smarter. They now read the New York Times, despite the fact that it retains a flavor of high-speed groupthink. At Robinhood, whose magazine Finnegan edits, Threads is getting more use. Cai sees elements of the Twitter ecosystem in Substack. Its a lot like Twitter, where it doesnt matter if you tweeted the same link as someone else, because the whole point was to see who is reading the big long-form story and what theyre saying about it, she said. But instead of happening on one timeline, its happening across multiple newsletters, which she says makes conversations harder and more expensive to keep track of, despite Substacks version of a quicker feed. In the end, finding a replacement might not even matter. Not to be dramatic, but I think social media writ large is dead, Moskowitz said. The fun and usefulness of it is not what it was. Many believe things will continue to become more atomized, walled off and replaced with subscriptions. Moskowitz, who is writing a book about the role of drugs in society, offers this analogy to friends about the role of good Twitter and bad X. Youre in a meth house, and everyones arguing over taking apart the toaster oven, and then you stop doing meth, and you drive by that meth house and youre like, Why does everyone care about the toaster oven? Once youre on the outside, youre like, What is everyone talking about? Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. The 2024 US election arrived at a pivotal moment for the artificial intelligence industry, as debates over copyright infringement, user privacy, job displacement, and escalating geopolitical tensions with China continue to shape the technologys role in society. And while the federal regulation of AI companies may not have been front of mind for many voters on November 6, the incoming Republican-controlled government will have the power to massively affect the future of a rapidly growing and increasingly disruptive industry. In particular, Donald Trumps return to the White House is expected to usher in a distinctly pro-business era in AI regulation, which replaces the Biden administrations focus on corporate accountability and digital safety with a commitment to industry self-regulation and competition with China. In his 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, President Joe Biden established a variety of guidelines and reporting requirements intended to promote responsible AI development and standardize safety testing within the largest AI companies. Responsible AI use has the potential to help solve urgent challenges while making our world more prosperous, productive, innovative, and secure, the Biden White House said in the introductory section of the executive order. At the same time, irresponsible use could exacerbate societal harms such as fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation; displace and disempower workers; stifle competition; and pose risks to national security. Harnessing AI for good and realizing its myriad benefits requires mitigating its substantial risks. Among other measures, the executive order requires that AI developers notify the federal government when training models that might pose a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety and that they share the results of safety tests with regulators. And while the wide-ranging order highlights the importance of protecting Americans civil liberties and First Amendment rights in the age of AI, it has been maligned by Trump and other Republicans as a partisan effort to stifle technological innovation and hinder political speech online. When Im reelected, I will cancel Bidens artificial intelligence executive order and ban the use of AI to censor the speech of American citizens on day one, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on December 2, 2023. It is unclear what aspect of Bidens order Trump sees as censoring expression, but the sentiment was echoed in the Republican Partys official policy platform, which was published in July of this year. The platform calls Bidens order dangerous and claims that it imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, the platform promises to support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing. Assuming the executive order is reversed, its unclear howand how quicklythat decision will affect the many downstream AI-safety-oriented initiatives currently in the works across the federal government. Just last week, the US AI Safety Institute (another effort established as a result of Bidens order) hosted the first meeting of an international network of research and regulatory bodies representing countries all over the world. After the event, Bloomberg reported that supporters of the US institute are holding out hope that Trump wont gut the organization, despite an uncertain future. I dont care what political party youre in. This is not in Republicans interest or Democrats interest, Gina Raimondo, US commerce secretary, was quoted as saying. Its frankly in no ones interest anywhere in the world, with any political party, for AI to be dangerous or for AI to get in the hands of malicious nonstate actors that want to cause destruction and sew [sic] chaos. AI safety advocates may be heartened by the fact that there are several bills currently awaiting congressional approval that would help codify many aspects of Bidens executive order into law. For example, the AI Advancement and Reliability Act (H.R. 9497) and the Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act (S. 4178) aim to reinforce the AI Safety Institutes role, and would likely limit Trumps ability to weaken or disband it. However, both bills remain in their early stages, and the impending shift to a Republican-led Congress may impede their chances of advancing. The Cabinets Take Trumps priorities on AI seem to be shared by many of his recently announced cabinet picks, despite their seemingly varied records on tech regulation and complex relationships with Silicon Valley. Elon Musk, the OpenAI cofounder who is expected to cochair the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has at times publicly supported safety testing requirements for AI companies, but has more recently criticized developers (including those at OpenAI) for employing technological guardrails designed to make their products safer and less likely to generate offensive content. Musk has characterized these safety measures as the woke and politically correct efforts of what he sees as an inherently biased, San Francisco Bay Area philosophy inside of AI companies. A similar sentiment has been expressed by Trumps pick for FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, who contributed a chapter on the agency to the Project 2025 transition agenda. Like Musk, Carr has long railed against digital content moderation and fact-checking initiatives put forth by both media outlets and tech companies, which he claims share a bias against conservative viewpoints. On November 15, Carr posted a screenshot of a letter addressed to the CEOs of Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft accusing their companies of contributing to a censorship cartel that has silenced Americans for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights. Its also worth noting that the second Trump administration is expected to fire Biden-appointed FTC chairwoman Lina Khan, who was tapped for the role based on her expertise in antitrust law. According to an analysis published by the Brookings Institution, Khans likely departure means that acquisitions by and of AI companies that might have been blocked on antitrust grounds under a Democratic president will be more likely to proceed unimpeded. Trumps history, AIs future Further hints as to how Trump is likely to approach AI regulation during his second term can be found in his own executive order on the subject, issued in 2019. In contrast to Bidens, Trumps focused on fostering American leadership in the industry by reducing legal or regulatory barriers to the development and deployment of new AI tech. Presumably, this would likely include legislative measures intended to encourage rigorous safety testing. Trumps order reads, The United States must promote an international environment that supports American AI research and innovation and opens markets for American AI industries, while protecting our technological advantage in AI and protecting our critical AI technologies from acquisition by strategic competitors and adversarial nations. In an interview with NextGov/FCW, an unnamed former Trump White House official said he expects Trump to double down on this effort during his second term, given the president-elects stated interest in asserting dominance over China in the AI industry and tech space broadly. In a 2023 piece for the Harvard Business Review, venture capital investor Hemant Taneja and political commentator Fareed Zakaria described the US and Chinas AI rivalry as one aspect of a looming Digital Cold War in which other states will need to decide which sphere they want to be part of. We are at a fork in the road when it comes to AI, the authors write. We can go down the path that leads to automation and destruction, replacing human work and meaning, or we can go down the path that leads to copiloting and enablement, making us more productive, helping us live more balanced lives, and becoming greater masters of our craft. As the new administration navigates this high-stakes rivalry, its choices will shape not only Americas technological future but also the balance of power in an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape. The next four years will likely see the US deepen its role in this Digital Cold War, with Trump favoring global dominance over technological caution and corporate accountability. Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. ChatGPT searchwhich is positioned as a competitor to search engines like Google and Binglaunched with a press release from OpenAI touting claims that the company had collaborated extensively with the news industry and carefully listened to feedback from certain news organizations that have signed content licensing agreements with the company. In contrast to the original rollout of ChatGPT, two years ago, when publishers learned that OpenAI had scraped their content without notice or consent to train its foundation models, this may seem like an improvement. OpenAI highlights the fact that it allows news publishers to decide whether they want their content to be included in their search results by specifying their preferences in a robots.txt file on its website. But while the company presents inclusion in its search as an opportunity to reach a broader audience, a Tow Center analysis finds that publishers face the risk of their content being misattributed or misrepresented regardless of whether they allow OpenAIs crawlers. To better understand the consequences of choices news publishers now face around how their content will be surfaced (or not) by ChatGPTs search product, the Tow Center randomly selected twenty publishersrepresenting a mix of those who have deals with OpenAI, those involved in lawsuits against the company, as well as unaffiliated publishers that either allowed or blocked ChatGPTs search crawlerand tasked the chatbot with identifying the source of block quotes from ten different articles from each publication. We chose quotes that, if pasted into Google or Bing, would return the source article among the top three results and evaluated whether OpenAIs new search tool would correctly identify the article that was the source of each quote. We chose this test because it allowed us to systematically assess the chatbots ability to access and reference publisher content accurately. What we found was not promising for news publishers. Though OpenAI emphasizes its ability to provide users timely answers with links to relevant web sources, the company makes no explicit commitment to ensuring the accuracy of those citations. This is a notable omission for publishers who expect their content to be referenced and represented faithfully. Our initial experiments with the tool have revealed numerous instances where content from publishers has been cited inaccurately, raising concerns about the reliability of the tools source attribution features. With an estimated fifteen million US users already starting their searches on AI platforms, coupled with OpenAIs plans to expand this tool to enterprise and education accounts in the coming weeksand free users in the coming monthsthis will likely have major implications for news publishers. CONFIDENTLY WRONG In total, we pulled two hundred quotes from twenty publications and asked ChatGPT to identify the sources of each quote. We observed a spectrum of accuracy in the responses: some answers were entirely correct (i.e., accurately returned the publisher, date, and URL of the block quote we shared), many were entirely wrong, and some fell somewhere in between. Three examples of ChatGPTs responses to our queries, with varying degrees of correctness. We anticipated that ChatGPT might struggle to answer some queries accurately, given that forty of the two hundred quotes were sourced from publishers who had blocked its search crawler. However, ChatGPT rarely gave any indication of its inability to produce an answer. Eager to please, the chatbot would sooner conjure a response out of thin air than admit it could not access an answer. In total, ChatGPT returned partially or entirely incorrect responses on a hundred and fifty-three occasions, though it only acknowledged an inability to accurately respond to a query seven times. Only in those seven outputs did the chatbot use qualifying words and phrases like appears, its possible, or might, or statements like I couldnt locate the exact article. Results from Tow Center analysis. Typically, pasting an exact quote into a traditional search engine like Google or Bing returns either a visual indication that the search engine has located the sourcebolded text that matches your searchor a message that informs you there are no results. However, ChatGPT rarely declined to answer our queries and instead resorted to making false assertions when it could not identify the correct source. This lack of transparency about its confidence in an answer can make it difficult for users to assess the validity of a claim and understand which parts of an answer they can or cannot trust. From my perspective, Im very familiar with chatbots tendencies to hallucinate and make stuff up, said Mat Honan, the editor in chief of the MIT Tech Review, one of the publishers whose quotes we asked the chatbot to identify. But I also know that most people probably dont know that. He added, I dont think the small disclaimers you see in these chatbotsor when searching on other platformsare enough. Beyond misleading users, ChatGPTs false confidence could risk causing reputational damage to publishers. In the example below, ChatGPT incorrectly attributed a quote from a letter to the editor published in the Orlando Sentinel on November 19 to a Time article originally published on November 9 with the headline What Trumps Win Means for LGBTQ+ Rights. More than a third of ChatGPTs responses to our queries included incorrect citations such as this. The Sentinel is part of Alden Global Capitals copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI. ChatGPT misattributes an Orlando Sentinel article to Time magazine. While this issue is likely not unique to queries about publisher content, it does have implications for things publishers care about, such as trustworthiness, brand safety, and recognition for their work. COPYCAT SOURCES OpenAI claims to connect people with original, high-quality content from the web, but its inability to access blocked content leads it to find workarounds that often result in concerning practices. For example, because the New York Times, which is in litigation against OpenAI, has blocked all of the companys crawlers, ChatGPT should not be able to parse any of its content to formulate its responses. However, when we asked it to identify the provenance of a quote from a deeply reported, interactive piece in the Times about an endangered whale species, rather than declining to answer, the chatbot cited a website called DMS Retail, which had plagiarized the entirety of the original article and republished it without attributing its source or including any of its impactful visual storytelling. This raises serious questions about OpenAIs ability to filter and validate the quality and authenticity of its data sources, especially when dealing with unlicensed or plagiarized content. ChatGPT links to a plagiarized version of a New York Times article. Even publishers that permit OpenAIs search crawlers are not always cited correctly. When we asked ChatGPT to identify the source of a quote from an article in the MIT Tech Review, which allows the crawler, the chatbot cited a website called Government Technology that had syndicated the piece. ChatGPT links to a syndicated version of an MIT Tech Review article instead of the canonical piece. Ultimately, Im not sure what to make of it, said Honan in response to this finding. But Ive noticed similar things happen elsewhere. For instance, Ive seen instances where platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Google cite a rewritten version of a source instead of the original reporting. So, even if the attribution is technically correct, its not the canonical source. As a publisher, thats not something you want to see. But theres so little recourse. Publishers have expressed concern about how generative search might contribute to brand dilutionin other words, the risk that audiences might not know where the information they read is coming from. By treating journalism as decontextualized content with little regard for the circumstances in which an article was originally published, ChatGPTs search tool risks distancing audiences from publishers and incentivizing plagiarism or aggregation reporting over thoughtful, well-produced outputs. UNPREDICTABLE (MIS)ATTRIBUTION When we asked ChatGPT the same query multiple times, it typically returned a different answer each time. This inconsistency likely stems from the default temperature setting of the underlying language model, GPT-4o. The temperature controls the randomness of the models outputs: higher temperatures lead to variable responses, while lower temperatures lead to more deterministic ones. When prompted with the same query multiple times, ChatGPT might answer correctly on one occasion and incorrectly on another. In the example above, we asked ChatGPT twice to identify a quote from an article published in the Washington Post on October 8, 2024. The first time, it cited the wrong date and attributed the story to the New York Times without attaching a source. The second time, it cited the correct article, identified the date, correctly attributed the story to the Washington Post, and provided a working link to the article. When a search tool operates with a temperature setting, it sacrifices consistency in favor of variation. While variety in sourcing can be valuable, prioritizing it over correctness or relevance can lead to inconsistent and inaccurate results. This is another factor that might harm the reliability of outputs and citations. THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL Our tests found that no publisherregardless of degree of affiliation with OpenAIwas spared inaccurate representations of its content in ChatGPT. The table below indicates the affiliation each of the publishers in our dataset have with OpenAI, whether the publishers content was accessible to OpenAIs search crawler through their robots.txt file, and the accuracy of ChatGPT in referencing their content. Accuracy here is measured based on whether the chatbot correctly identified the publisher name, URL, and article date, with results showing the number of correct, partially correct, and incorrect citations for each publisher. Although more rigorous experimentation is needed to understand the true frequency of errors, our initial tests show a great deal of variability in the accuracy of ChatGPT's outputs that doesn't neatly match up with publishers' crawler status or affiliation with OpenAI. Even for publishers that have enabled access to all of OpenAIs crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, and GPTBot), the chatbot does not reliably return accurate information about their articles. Both the New York Post and The Atlantic, for example, have licensing deals with OpenAI and enabled access to all the crawlers, but their content was frequently cited inaccurately or misrepresented. Enabling crawler access does not guarantee a publisher's visibility in the OpenAI search engines either. For example, while Mother Jones and the Washington Post allow SearchGPT to crawl their content, quotes attributed to their publications were rarely identified by the chatbot. Tow Center analysis. Conversely, blocking the crawler completely doesnt entirely prevent a publishers content from being surfaced. In the case of the New York Times, despite being engaged in a lawsuit and disallowing crawler access, ChatGPT Search still attributed quotes to the publication that were not from its articles. CONCLUSION Like other platforms have done in the past, OpenAI is introducing a product that will likely have significant consequences for how audiences engage with news content, yet publishers are given little meaningful agency in the matter. When reached for comment regarding our findings, a spokesperson for OpenAI said, "Misattribution is hard to address without the data and methodology that the Tow Center withheld, and the study represents an atypical test of our product. We support publishers and creators by helping 250M weekly ChatGPT users discover quality content through summaries, quotes, clear links, and attribution. Weve collaborated with partners to improve in-line citation accuracy and respect publisher preferences, including enabling how they appear in search by managing OAI-SearchBot in their robots.txt. Well keep enhancing search results." The Tow Center did describe our methodology and observations to OpenAI, but we did not share the data of our findings before publication. Steps such as giving some publishers a seat at the table, honoring their stated preferences in robots.txt, and creating mechanisms to cite publisher content reflect progress in the right direction, but they represent the baseline of what a responsible company should build into a search product. For instance, Googles documentation describes obeying the instructions in a robots.txt file as something that any respectable web crawler would do, warning users to be wary of rogue bots that may not honor their preferences. And while some publishers, like the Associated Press and Conde Nast, benefit from having licensing deals with OpenAI, not all newsrooms have a seat at the table. The flaws and inconsistencies in the way publisher content is currently accessed and represented in ChatGPT Search seem counterproductive to OpenAIs stated goals and affect newsrooms regardless of how and if they chose to engage with OpenAI. Amid the companys drive to present its generative search product as an alternative to incumbents like Google and Bing, publishers are again caught between a rock and a hard placethey currently have no way of ensuring that their content will be presented accurately or even surfaced at all in ChatGPTs search. Even those who permit crawlers or opt in to partnerships with OpenAI have to contend with the misrepresentation and misattribution of their content in ChatGPTs search outputs. I dont think publishers have a whole lot of leverage at this point, Honan said. Until there are outcomes in [the court] cases, publishers wont have much leverage. And those outcomes could be bad for publisherslike if a decision finds that including this content in a model constitutes fair use, for example. If OpenAI is serious about sustaining a good-faith collaboration with news publishers, it would do well to ensure that its search product represents and cites their content in an accurate and consistent manner and clearly states when the answer to a user query cannot be accessed. See our GitHub Repository for the data behind this article. This article has been updated to include The Marshall Project as a recipient of OpenAI funding through the Product & AI Studio at the American Journalism Project. Whole region stands to benefit from China's high-quality development: Cambodian PM Xinhua) 10:04, November 27, 2024 Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks at the Global Chinese Economic and Technology (GCET) Summit 2024 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2024. The GCET Summit 2024 was convened in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Tuesday, aiming at promoting cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as the world. In his keynote address at the summit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said China's high-quality development, driven by artificial intelligence, digital economy, humanoid robots, new materials, and other innovation industries, will benefit the whole region. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua) PHNOM PENH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said here on Tuesday that the whole region has stood to benefit from China's high-quality development, particularly in economy, technology and green development. In his keynote address at the Global Chinese Economic and Technology (GCET) Summit 2024 in Phnom Penh, Manet said China has projected that its high-quality development will be driven by artificial intelligence, digital economy, humanoid robots, low-altitude economy (i.e. drones), new materials, and other innovation industries. "When China, as the main driver of global growth is focusing on high-quality development, I believe that the whole region stands to gain from such policy orientation," he told the summit, with about 300 participants. "For instance, through the Belt and Road Initiative and our strong bilateral relations, Chinese businesses have been at the forefront of bringing technological advancement to Cambodia," he added. The Cambodian leader said that the deep-rooted cultural ties between Cambodia and China, combined with strong government-to-government relations, have created a uniquely favorable environment where Chinese investments thrive. Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, a think tank under the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said Asian countries have greatly benefited from China's economic growth and rapid technological development. "China's high-quality development has not only brought forth new opportunities and transformations to reshape China's economy, but also have a broader impact on the economic landscape of the Asian region," he told Xinhua. The GCET summit is an annual international forum. Its purpose is to improve business linkages and connectivity between China and the world, providing a platform for high-level discussions on global and regional events in relation to China's rise as a world-leading economy. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Netflix won the dismissal on Tuesday of a shareholder lawsuit accusing the streaming company of downplaying the impact on subscriber growth of account sharing, where paying members share user names and passwords with nonpaying members in other households. The proposed class action led by a Texas-based trustee began after Netflix revealed in April 2022 it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the prior quarter, the first decline in a decade, and might lose 2 million more in the next three months. Netflix blamed the decline on several factors, including account sharing, rising competition and a shutdown of service in Russia following the Ukraine invasion. Its shares fell 35% the next day, wiping out more than $54 billion of market value. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland, California, however, said Netflixs earlier claims to be roughly 60% penetrated in the United States and Canada with a lot of headroom to grow were not false or misleading, because they referred to paid subscribers and did not imply that growth was certain. He also found no proof Netflix concealed any determination that account sharing would severely hinder growth At most, he said, the plaintiffs allegations suggest that the Los Gatos, California-based company investigated account sharing and found it to be one potential threat to growth among many. Lawyers for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Netflix and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Tigar had dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in January. Tuesdays dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff Fiyyaz Pirani, the trustee of Imperium Irrevocable Trust, cannot amend his complaint again. The case is Pirani v Netflix Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-02672. (Reporting by Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Nissan persuaded a federal appeals court 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. (Reporting by Stempel in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler) Suspicious behavior on T-Mobile U.S. Inc.s network devices tipped off the company to a breach that was potentially part of a sprawling cyber-espionage campaign that has raised urgent questions about the exposure of a critical sector of the economy. Jeff Simon, T-Mobiles chief security officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that while the behavior wasnt inherently malicious, it was unusual enough to draw the attention of the companys network engineers. In recent weeks, the engineers had spotted unauthorized users running commands on the companys network devices, seeming to probe the structure of the network, Simon said. Related: NSA Director Wants Industry to Disclose Details of Telecom Hacks Upon discovery, the engineers booted the bad actors from the network before they got deeper into the network or accessed customer data. That was what initially clued us into some suspicious behavior, discovery-type commands being run on some of our routers and commands that have been known to be related to Salt Typhoon, he said. Salt Typhoon is the name of an alleged Chinese state-sponsored hacking group that is believed to be behind the campaign. Related: T-Mobile Caught Hackers Early, Averting Data Leak China has repeatedly denied involvement. T-Mobile is the first carrier to publicly offer a profile of markers potentially associated with Salt Typhoon, a name given to the hacking group by Microsoft Corp. US officials have accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers of a broad and significant spying campaign that has breached multiple telecommunications companies, but the companies believed to be prime targets have said little themselves. Related: T-Mobiles Network Breached as Part of Chinese Hacking Operation The hackers, embedded in routers and burrowing deeper into communications networks for months, were able to access details of those subject to lawful surveillance targets potentially exposing US efforts to track down foreign agents, according to two people familiar with the matter. They also spied on communications belonging to what the FBI has said is a limited number of people in government and politics, according to the U.S. That included President-Elect Donald Trump, Vice President-Elect JD Vance and staffers for Vice President Kamala Harris. AT&T and Verizon were among the companies breached in the hacking campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal. T-Mobile said it, too, was breached with methods that appeared similar to those used by Salt Typhoon. However, T-Mobile said it was able to contain the intrusion before it left network routers and reached customers phones. The company said the threat originated from a wireline - or non-wireless providers network that connected to T-Mobiles. On Friday, the White House summoned leaders from the telecommunications industry to a meeting to try to address the series of intrusions that Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, recently described as a sprawling and catastrophic infiltration. The meeting, which included representatives from AT&T, T-Mobile and Lumen Technologies Inc., lasted about two hours and focused on plotting a path forward with both the private and public sectors, according to participants. Telecommunications companies alone are not likely to have success with it if we dont work together, said Simon, who represented T-Mobile at the meeting.And so thats really what I came out with, is Lets find ways to work together, private-sector companies and public sector, to be able to combat this sophisticated threat.' AT&T Chief Executive Officer John Stankey and Lumen CEO Kate Johnson attended the meeting, according to representatives from both companies. Verizon didnt respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The industry has been sharing more information internally in recent months, Simon said, particularly when its details the companies can use to combat Salt Typhoon. Threat intelligence firms, security research companies and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have also shared intelligence, he said. I cant promise that absolutely every single one participates at the same level. But in general, we are sharing with them, they are sharing with us, he said, specifically calling out Verizon as a standout partner in sharing intelligence with the rest of the community. T-Mobile believes its network was less exposed to the threat partly because its the only carrier with an end-to-end 5G network, meaning traffic does not pass over older equipment from the 2G, 3G and 4G eras, and it has minimal contact with older wired infrastructure, like cable or copper networks. The 5G technology standard has enhanced encryption and privacy protections built into it, and the physical devices are also guaranteed to be newer. Most companies are not regularly, regularly refreshing their 2G infrastructure. Theyre putting that money into the 5G or similar, Simon said. Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. AKRON Ohio, Ohio Department of Transportations District 4 is again hosting the Paint-the-Plow Contest. ODOT has asked schools in the district area, which includes Ashtabula, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties, to participate in the contest. Students from 25 schools painted the blades of snow plows that will be used to clear roads in District 4 this winter. Participating schools chose the design they wanted for the plow blade. Designs range from school-mascot themes to winter to highway safety. Voting is underway and continues through Monday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. Each like counts as one vote, and the plow that receives the most likes wins, according to a news release. To view and vote on the plows, visit Facebook.com/ODOTD4 . Schools participating in the contest include: Alliance High School Austintown Fitch High School Barberton High School Bloomfield-Mespo High School Canton McKinley High School Champion High School Conneaut High School Crestwood High School Edgewood High School Field High School Howland High School Hubbard High School and the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation Hudson High School Jackson-Milton High School James A. Garfield High School LaBrae High School Lakeview High School Massillon Washington High School Mineral Ridge High School Minerva Elementary School Northwest High School Norton High School Rootstown High School Southington Local Schools Twinsburg High School Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Update, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Wednesdays. Michael Fassbender plays an undercover CIA agent who has a hard transition to real life in the new TV series The Agency, while the Fab Fours first trip to America is chronicled in the documentary Beatles 64, which drills down on appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and a meeting with Muhammad Ali. And Colman Domingo stars in a new conspiracy thriller series The Madness as a CNN pundit who is framed for the murder of a white supremacist. The Agency When a CIA agent who goes by Martian (played by Michael Fassbender) returns to the London office after a long undercover job, the transition to real life is not an easy one in The Agency. The espionage thriller also stars Jodie Turner-Smith as a former love who complicates matters. Its the battle of his soul between what he does for a living and the relationships he has, Fassbender told the AP. George Clooney is an executive producer. The story is based on a 2015 French espionage series called The Bureau. Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston and Richard Gere also star. The Agency premieres Friday, Nov. 29 on Paramount+ with Showtime. DETAILS The Later Daters America first fell for the notion of people of a certain age finding love on ABCs The Golden Bachelor and most recently The Golden Bachelorette. Netflix and Michelle Obama, who is an executive producer have jumped on the trend with a docuseries called The Later Daters debuting Friday, Nov. 29. Cameras follow six silver singles as they go on a series of blind dates to find love and companionship. DETAILS The Madness Colman Domingo stars in a new conspiracy thriller series The Madness as a CNN pundit who is framed for the murder of a white supremacist. It deals with misinformation and disinformation spread online about Domingos Muncie Daniels character, and the damage it can do to an individual and community. The Madness hits Netflix on Thursday. DETAILS Robot Dreams Robot Dreams, the Oscar-nominated animated charmer about a dog and a robot, comes to Hulu on this week. Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle called it one of the best New York movies in years, not to mention a surprisingly mature tale of loving and losing for a movie where the effects of rust are quite central to the narrative. DETAILS Nutcrackers Also arriving on Hulu on Friday, Nov. 29, is the family comedy Nutcrackers. Ben Stiller plays a city guy who must go to the country to take care of his unruly orphaned nephews. Its a return to comedy for Pineapple Express filmmaker David Gordon Green. DETAILS Sweethearts When Harry Met Sally gets a modern update in the new romantic comedy Sweethearts, about childhood best friends whose relationship gets a little complicated in college. Starring Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga Sweethearts, debuting on Max on Thursday, is the feature directorial debut of Dollhouse creator Jordan Weiss. DETAILS Our Little Secret If youre wondering why Lindsay Lohan seems to be everywhere lately, Netflix is the answer. The streamer has a new Christmas romantic comedy on the way, Our Little Secret, on Wednesday. The idea is that Lohans character is spending the holiday with her boyfriends family, only to discover that his sister is dating her ex. DETAILS 64 The Beatles first trip to America is chronicled in a new movie produced by Martin Scorsese, Beatles 64, which streams on Disney+ on Friday, Nov. 29. The documentary uses never-before-seen and rare footage and drills down on the Fab Fours milestone American visit, which included appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Washington Colosseum, and a meeting with Muhammad Ali. It offers interviews with David Lynch and Ronnie Spector as well as some of the women who as girls screamed outside the Beatles New York hotel. Its backbone is rare footage filmed by documentarians Albert and David Maysles of John, Paul, George and Ringo being exceedingly silly. DETAILS Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary Grab your captains hat and fake mustache for a tour of yacht rock, the once dismissed musical genre that has found new love of late. HBOs revealing Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary traces the rise of the music style elevated pop music infused with jazz and R&B from the perspective of its makers, including Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross. The documentary nicely connects yacht rock to the culture and music heritage, adding the creators of the web series who coined the label. Sail away on Friday, Nov. 29. DETAILS COLUMBUS, OhioState Sen. Bill DeMora was standing in line at Kroger to buy liquor last summer when he got an idea. DeMora, a Columbus Democrat, was in the line alongside other bourbon aficionados because the state liquor agency as it regularly does with rare and sought-after bourbons, whiskies, and (to a lesser degree) other spirits like tequila sent out a notice that a limited supply of Buffalo Traces Elmer T. Lee and two Blantons specialty releases would be made available for purchase at certain stores. The problem, DeMora said, is that often these bottles are snapped up by flippers to illegally resell on the secondary market at drastically inflated prices, leaving little to no chance for ordinary Ohioans hoping to drink some themselves. While talking to people in line, DeMora said, he was told that a simple way to stop these flippers would be to require liquor store workers to open and immediately re-seal bottles when theyre sold. Thats exactly what Senate Bill 320, introduced by DeMora late last month, would do. It wouldnt require all liquor bottles to be open when purchased only allocated bottles of limited-release, selectively distributed bourbons, like the Elmer T. Lee that DeMora said he ended up buying. The idea, DeMora said, is that potential customers wont want to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a flipper for a bottle of liquor thats already been opened. Unless you really know the person youre buying it from, youre not going to buy a bottle of whiskey thats already been opened because you dont know whats in it, DeMora said. Demand for bourbon has exploded in the last two decades, particularly for the hardest-to-find bottles. In the last 20 years, American whiskey distiller annual revenue has exploded from about $1.3 billion to about $5.3 billion, driven largely by the most expensive products, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. A heist of Buffalo Traces coveted Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, which retails for a few hundred dollars but can sell for thousands on the secondary market, was the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary. While demand has ballooned, supply is harder to increase: bourbon ages in new white oak barrels for years before its bottled. Pappy Van Winkle is bottled at anywhere from 10 to 23 years. That dynamic has created scarcity in the bourbon market and spawned lines of people outside liquor stores when a cherished bottle drops, along with a secondary market where bottles can fetch far more than the price at the register. (In Ohio, some bourbons are only available in a state lottery system.) People that are bourbon drinker get pissed off when they try to get in line and do it the right way, DeMora said. This bill would hopefully stop the illegal sale of liquor, and it would maybe give people who want to enjoy bourbon, and drink it, the ability to get some of this stuff. However, Liz Pirnat of Westlake, head spirits instructor for Napa Valley Wine Academy, predicted that such a law, if passed, wouldnt do anything but make people mad. She asked how someone giving a high-end bottle of bourbon to someone like their boss would be able to explain why the bottle was already open. If youre giving it as a gift, or if youre hanging on to it for a special occasion -- I mean, people arent going to understand it, Pirnat said. In addition, she said, while the bill would require liquor store employees to open and re-seal each bottle in front of the customer at the time its sold, it would still raise the risk of shady liquor stores pouring some of the high-end liquor out in the back and refilling the bottles with other things. When Pirnat was asked how flipping should be addressed, she replied, Theres always going to be a gray market on things. Fundamentally, the best thing consumers need to understand is its buyer beware. You have to get it from a reputable retailer. DeMora acknowledged that SB320 already has two things going against its chances for passage before the current legislative session: It was introduced very late in the session, and its a Democratic-sponsored bill in the Republican-dominated Ohio General Assembly. He also said lawmakers have more important issues to address in the limited time they have left this session. However, DeMora said, he intends to re-introduce the measure after the next legislative session begins in January. That bill, he said, will also include additional measures to make it easier for average Ohioans to obtain limited-release liquors, including having the state buy display cases that unlock at randomized times (so insiders dont have advance warning). Another of DeMoras proposals would require customers to sign paperwork when they buy allocated bottles so that when state liquor investigators find bottles liquor being illegally re-sold on the open market, they can identify and fine the people who originally bought them. DeMora noted that he created an unofficial bourbon caucus, a group of 8-9 state lawmakers from both parties that convene in one of their offices to have a little sip after legislative sessions. Its certainly not partisan, DeMora said of his proposed legislation. Its just for people that want to drink bourbon. Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Just over a decade ago, state lawmakers made an ambitious pledge to Ohioans that every child would read proficiently by the end of third grade. Under legislation known as the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, elementary schools have been required to screen children in grades K3 for reading deficiencies and to create improvement plans for those needing help. The Guarantee also required schools to retain third graders who fell short of state reading targets, and to provide them with intensive intervention. This retention policy put helpful pressure on schools to focus on reading, while holding them more accountable for students literacy. Without it, schools could simply push third graders along even if they were struggling mightily to read. Such social promotion makes life easier for schools but can also do long-term harm to students. As an influential study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found, children with reading difficulties in early grades are four times more likely to drop out later. While in place, Ohios retention policy worked as intended. Just prior to the pandemic, the state greatly reduced the number of third graders scoring limited the lowest achievement level on state reading tests, from 27% to 14% between 2015 and 2019. Meanwhile, a rigorous study of Ohios requirement found that retained students made large academic gains, a finding that mirrors results from other states with similar requirements. In Mississippi, the states third grade retention policy has contributed to its nation-leading reading gains over the past decade. Even though it benefited students, Ohios retention rule rankled district administrators and teachers unions. Regrettably, state legislators last summer yielded to their complaints and, as part of the states two-year budget, gutted third grade retention in House Bill 33. Now, schools are allowed to promote third graders who cannot read at a third-grade level so long as their parents approve. Proponents of this giant loophole call it empowering parents. But what it really does is let schools off the hook. Loath to hold students back, some may counsel parents to move their child ahead even if the child can barely read. There is even a form letter schools can use to make obtaining parental sign-off easier. Yes, these maneuvers are legal. But they are bad for kids and bad for the state. With mandatory retention in tatters, social promotion has returned with a vengeance. In 202324, the first year the exemption was in effect, Ohio schools promoted an astonishing 98% of third graders to fourth grade. This occurred despite the fact that just 65% of third graders scored proficient on state reading exams. The Cleveland school district promoted 88% of its third graders even though just 36% achieved reading proficiency. Five other Cuyahoga County districts promoted 100% of third graders, even though less than half achieved proficiency. Aaron Churchill is Ohio Research Director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.Courtesy of Aaron Churchill Moms and dads should absolutely be involved in their childs reading development. Indeed, other provisions of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee still intact require schools to engage parents of struggling readers before they reach third grade. This should certainly happen, both to encourage parents to be active in their childs learning and to ensure that no parent is taken by surprise if their child falls short on a third-grade assessment. A decade ago, state lawmakers pledged to Ohioans that all children would read proficiently. That was the right thing to do. But last summer, they back-pedaled by gutting retention. Todays struggling readers are no longer guaranteed the extra time and support afforded to them through retention. This error can be undone by restoring the retention requirement. Will legislators again do the right thing? Aaron Churchill is Ohio Research Director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com Fiuggi (Italy)/New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting Outreach Session in Fiuggi, Italy, during which he highlighted six points, including the need for collaborations in maritime, semiconductors and supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region. In a post on X, the EAM said the evolution of Quad has been a notable development and the Indo-Pacific landscape needs a wider collaborative approach, and the G7 can be a partner in this. Pleased to attend the G7 FMM Outreach Session with Indo-Pacific partners today in Fiuggi. Thank FM @Antonio_Tajani of Italy for the welcome and hospitality. Noted that the Indo-Pacific is experiencing significant changes including new convergences & partnerships as well as anxieties, frictions & stresses. The evolution of Quad has been a notable development and the Indo-Pacific landscape today creates a compelling argument for a wider collaborative approach. Highlighted six key responses required in the Indo-Pacific region: *More collaborations in areas like maritime, semiconductors, supply chains, etc. *More resources, both to support greater activities and projects as well as to avoid bad borrowing and unsustainable debt. *More capacities in fields like governance, health, technology, disaster resilience and natural resource management. *More inter-operability and burden sharing to service the global commons and contribute to global good. *Respect for international law as well as for mutuality of benefits. *More options so that Indo-Pacific policy makers are able to make the right choices. In an era of collaborative endeavours, the Indo-Pacific will require practical solutions, nimble diplomacy, greater adjustment and more open conversations. The G7 can be one such partner. UNI RN New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) India on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and hoped the developments would lead to peace and stability in the wider region. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India has always called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict. We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region, the statement said. Indias statement came as US President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire deal to end 13 months of fighting between Israel with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia supported by Iran. In a joint statement, the US and France said the agreement would cease fighting in Lebanon and "secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations". US President Joe Biden told reporters that the agreement was "designed to be a permanent ceasefire". Under the terms of the ceasefire, over a span of 60 days Hezbollah will remove its fighters and weapons from the area between the Blue Line - the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel - and the Litani river, about 30km (20 miles) to the north. Hezbollah fighters will be replaced by Lebanese army forces in that area, who will ensure that infrastructure or weaponry is removed and that it cannot be rebuilt, according to a senior US official. Over the same 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians, Biden said, adding that it would enable civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes. UNI RN 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. President-elect Donald Trump picked Kevin Hassett to lead the National Economic Council, a role that puts Hassett at the center of the administration's policymaking discussions, from trade to taxes and deregulation. Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social. He also tapped attorney Jamieson Greer on Tuesday to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative, rounding out his economic team. During Trump's first administration, Hassett served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for two years, supporting the Republican's corporate tax cuts and defending Trump's punitive tariffs. The 62-year-old Hassett also worked with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on immigration and backed a move to end waivers of sanctions for countries that buy Iranian oil. The appointment came as Trump renewed his vow to raise tariffs by an additional 10% on all Chinese goods coming into the U.S. and impose tariffs of 25% on all products from Mexico and Canada. Such a move would end a regional free trade agreement. He cited illegal immigration and the illicit drug trade as reasons for the tariffs. Trump is set to be inaugurated as the next U.S. president Jan. 20. Hassett previously served as a scholar of fiscal policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank before Trump nominated him to the White House role in 2017. Late last week, Trump signaled his intention to nominate Scott Bessent, founder of hedge fund Key Square Group and a seasoned market pro, as his Treasury secretary. CNBC's Jim Cramer told investors not to write off Big Tech megacap stocks, some of which were able to jump on Tuesday after recent declines. "Remember today. Remember it because it's a textbook reminder of what happens when you decide the mega capitalization stocks are done, when you think that they're written off," he said. "The moment you give up on them what happens? They come roaring back." Cramer reviewed the action in stocks including Apple , Amazon , Nvidia , Microsoft and Meta . Many of these names led the market for much of this year, and Cramer explained what might have caused their gains during the day's session. According to Cramer, Apple and Amazon are reaping the rewards of two positive analyst notes, with Bank of America praising the latter's e-commerce and online advertising businesses. Morgan Stanley suggested Apple's iPhone upgrade rates are improving, perhaps bolstered by its new artificial intelligence programming. Cramer expressed optimism about CEO Tim Cook's ability to negotiate with China as the threat of high tariffs floated by President-elect Donald Trump looms. Cramer was less certain about the reasons for Tuesday's wins in Meta and Microsoft. But he suggested the software maker could have seen a boost because Best Buy reported decent sales of AI PCs, which bodes well for the company's Co-Pilot program. He also pointed out that Nvidia unveiled a new product Tuesday, Fugatto, an AI model designed to generate audio. "Here's the bottom line: don't begrudge the megacaps," Cramer said. "Don't spoof them. Don't even attack them. Just buy them." OpenAI is allowing employees to sell about $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank, CNBC has learned. The new financing will allow the Japanese tech conglomerate to get an even larger slice of the AI startup and allow current and former OpenAI employees to cash out their shares, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Employees will have until Dec. 24 to decide if they want to participate in the new tender offer, which has not previously been reported, one of the people said. The deal was spurred by SoftBank billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who was persistent in asking for a larger stake in the startup after putting $500 million into OpenAI's last funding round, one of the people said. The tender offer is not related to OpenAI's potential plans to restructure the firm to a for-profit business, one of the people said. OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment. The deal, which the people familiar with the matter said was carried out through SoftBank's Vision 2 fund, underscores Son's interest in the AI space and in backing the most valuable private players. SoftBank was an early investor in semiconductor company Arm, and Son said at a conference in October that he's saving "tens of billions of dollars" to make the "next big move" in artificial intelligence. He previously invested in Apple, Qualcomm and Alibaba. SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 recently invested in AI startups Glean, Perplexity and Poolside. SoftBank has about 470 portfolio companies and $160 billion in assets across its two vision funds. The OpenAI investment matches SoftBank's eagerness to deploy cash, with a capital-intensive business model, a person close to Son told CNBC. Even without SoftBank's deep pockets, OpenAI has had no trouble raising billions in cash. Its valuation has climbed to $157 billion in the two years since it launched ChatGPT. OpenAI has raised about $13 billion from Microsoft , and it closed its latest $6.6 billion round in October, led by Thrive Capital and including participation from chipmaker Nvidia, SoftBank and others. The company also received a $4 billion revolving line of credit, bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion. OpenAI expects about $5 billion in losses on $3.7 billion in revenue this year, CNBC confirmed in September with a person familiar with the situation. Chinese and U.S. flags outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. Li, 70, who is from Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in 2018 on espionage charges his family says are baseless. Swidan, a Texas businessman in his 40s, had been detained since 2012 and was sentenced to death with a reprieve in 2019 after being convicted on drug-related charges that a United Nations working group said had no evidential basis. John Leung, an American in his 70s who also has permanent residency in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being found guilty of espionage by a court in eastern China. Leung, who was detained in 2021, had been a member of a pro-Beijing group in the United States and had been pictured with senior Chinese officials, according to Hong Kong and Chinese news outlets. "Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years," the State Department spokesperson said in a statement. According to a senior U.S. official, the three Americans released from China are safely in U.S. custody and on planes heading back to the U.S. The White House has not said who, if anyone, was being freed in exchange for the U.S. citizens. The senior official as well as another U.S. official said the release had been in the works for months. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he had worked closely over the years with Li's son, Harrison Li, "to speak directly to the highest levels of the Chinese and U.S. governments to advocate for Mr. Li's release and safe return to his family in Huntington, New York." "Even when it felt like there was no hope, we never stopped believing that one day Mr. Li would return home," he said in a statement Wednesday. "I look forward to welcoming Mr. Li back home to New York very soon." For the families of all three freed Americans, "this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for," he added. The news was first reported by Politico. The announcement on Wednesday follows the surprise release in September of American pastor David Lin, whom like Li and Swidan the U.S. had classified as wrongfully detained. He had been jailed in China since 2006 after being sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors prisoner rights in China, estimates there are about 200 American detainees, more than in any other foreign country, including Americans who are imprisoned as well as those who are prevented from leaving the country while a case is under investigation. The State Department classifies only a handful of them as wrongfully detained. Beijing says all cases are handled in accordance with the law. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday in Beijing. Biden administration officials had raised the issue of Americans detained in China in multiple meetings with their Chinese counterparts, including one between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru earlier this month. But their families had been frustrated by the slow pace of progress, particularly as major prisoner exchanges were negotiated with Russia and other countries. In September, Swidan's mother, Katherine Swidan, and Harrison Li were among relatives who appeared before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to press the Biden administration to do more. "I have now spent a third of my life missing my dad," Li said at the hearing. "Every day, I wake up and shudder at the thought of him crammed into a tiny cell with as many as 11 other people." Li said that in the last eight years, his father had suffered a stroke, lost a tooth and spent more than three years "essentially locked in his cell 24/7" due to China's "zero-Covid" pandemic restrictions. He also expressed concern that efforts to release his father and others could be slowed by the change of administration in January. Other families who appeared at the hearing are still waiting for the return of relatives detained in China, including Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Hunt. Many others have not made their cases public for fear it could obstruct their loved ones' return. It may be time to take profits on Brinker International and rotate into other restaurant stocks, according to BTIG. This year, the Chili's owner has seen huge gains, rising more than 202% year to date. That's more than the year-to-date gains of AI chip darling Nvidia , which is up more than 176% this year. "Who needs AI when you have baby back ribs?" analyst Jonathan Krinsky wrote in a report to clients this week. "We would look to start fading this strength, and rotating into other restaurants that have more timely setups here." EAT YTD mountain EAT, year-to-date The gains also mark the best year on record for Brinker. In fact, if the company were part of the S & P 500 , it would be ranked as the third-best-performing stock by year-to-date gains, Krinsky said. Prior to this year, the stock's biggest year-to-date percentage increases were more than 143% in 1991, more than 80% in 1998 and more than 75% in 2000. Noting that success and that Brinker is about 90% above its 200-day moving average which Krinksy added is another all-time high for the stock he now sees opportunity with other names in the sector, specifically Domino's Pizza , Darden Restaurants and Yum Brands . Those stocks have all been in the green this year, advancing more than 14%, nearly 6%, and more than 6%, respectively. That said, they've all still underperformed the broader market, as the S & P has jumped more than 26% in 2024. While BTIG has a neutral rating on Yum Brands, it has rated both Domino's Pizza and Darden Restaurants as a buy. Its $500 price target for Domino's implies more than 5% upside from here, while its $195 target for Darden reflects more than 12% upside, as of Tuesday's close. Wall Street is similarly bullish on both Domino's and Darden. For Domino's, 22 of the 35 analysts covering the pizza chain have a strong buy or buy rating, while 12 analysts have a hold rating, according to LSEG data. It also has an average target of $477.91, which reflects around 1% upside from Tuesday's close. By comparison, 20 of the 31 analysts covering Darden on the Street have a strong buy or buy rating, and 10 of them have a hold rating, per LSEG. Its average target of $183.73 reflects more than 5% upside from Tuesday's close. Meanwhile, Yum's average target of $144.06 reflects about 4% upside from Tuesday's close. That's even with a majority of analysts taking a neutral stance. More specifically, 21 of the 30 analysts covering it on the Street have a hold rating, according to LSEG. The remaining nine have a strong buy or buy rating. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft , including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach toward business, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air. The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to other competitive platforms, sources confirmed earlier this month. The FTC is also looking at practices related to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence products, the source said on Wednesday. Microsoft declined to comment on Wednesday. The FTC fielded complaints about Microsoft last year as it examined the cloud computing market. NetChoice, a lobbying group that represents online companies including Amazon and Google, which compete with Microsoft in cloud computing, criticized Microsoft's licensing policies, and its integration of AI tools into its Office and Outlook. "Given that Microsoft is the world's largest software company, dominating in productivity and operating systems software, the scale and consequences of its licensing decisions are extraordinary," the group said. The FTC has demanded a broad range of detailed information from Microsoft, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday. Until now, Microsoft has been somewhat of an exception to U.S. antitrust regulators' recent campaign against allegedly anticompetitive practices at Big Tech companies. Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon.com Inc. have all been accused by the U.S. of unlawfully maintaining monopolies. Alphabet's Google is facing two lawsuits, including one where a judge found it unlawfully thwarted competition among online search engines. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified at Google's trial, saying the search giant was using exclusive deals with publishers to lock up content used to train artificial intelligence. It is unclear whether Trump will ease up on Big Tech, whose first administration launched several Big Tech probes. JD Vance, the incoming vice president, has expressed concern about the power the companies wield over public discourse. Still, Microsoft has benefited from Trump policies in the past. In 2019, the Pentagon awarded it a $10 billion cloud computing contract that Amazon had widely been expected to win. Amazon later alleged that Trump exerted improper pressure on military officials to steer the contract away from its Amazon Web Services unit. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will visit Capitol Hill to discuss government reform with Republican congressional leaders Dec. 5, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Wednesday. Johnson said the entrepreneurs will "discuss major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings" with GOP lawmakers. President-elect Donald Trump has named Musk and Ramaswamy co-chairs of a new outside advisory commission they have dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. While details about the panel are still emerging, it appears that it would serve mainly to consult the White House Office of Management and Budget, which prepares the president's annual budget request to Congress. Musk and Ramaswamy have laid out a sweeping set of goals for the project, including massive cuts to the federal workforce and the closure of numerous federal agencies and regulators. They want to eliminate "expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress," they wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. They would also seek to cut federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, several international organizations and the women's health-care provider Planned Parenthood. On Wednesday, Musk also suggested the White House should "delete" the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent agency. The lion's share of these proposals would require congressional approval, however, because the House controls the appropriation of federal funds to agencies. Next week's planned meeting is the latest indication that Republican leaders in Congress are taking Musk and Ramaswamy seriously. Yet, even the best efforts of Republican leaders in Congress may not be enough to enact many of these ideas. With the results of a few House races still outstanding as of Wednesday, Johnson is nonetheless on track to preside over one of the narrowest majorities, of either party, in several decades. Given how widely dispersed the federal workforce is across the country's 435 congressional districts, the prospect of putting any one district's federal employees out of work would likely face opposition from that district's representatives in Congress. Spokespeople for Johnson and Musk did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment on Wednesday. Musk is the world's wealthiest person, and head of SpaceX, Tesla and the social media platform X. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, is a former Republican candidate for president. Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced changes in the leadership of its memory and foundry chip divisions, as the company faces intense competition in the semiconductor space. The South Korean tech giant appointed Jun Young-hyun as co-CEO and head of the memory chip arm, while Han Jin-man will become the president and head of the company's foundry business. The company also appointed Nam Seok Woo, previously head of chip factory engineering and operations, as the chief technology officer of the foundry business in a newly established position. Samsung shares fell 3%. The company's stock has been on a steady decline amid investors worries that Samsung was falling behind competitors such as SK Hynix in building advanced chips. Samsung Electronics was once the leading force in the memory chip sector, and appeared well-positioned to take advantage of the boom in artificial intelligence. However, the company has been left behind by SK Hynix in developing next-generation chips, which have become integral components for AI silicon leader Nvidia. Last month, Jun, who has been overseeing the semiconductor division since May, issued a rare apology after the company posted disappointing third-quarter profit guidance. Samsung's chip business posted a sharply lower third-quarter profit compared to the previous quarter. "Samsung appears to be pursuing an operational change while maintaining stability as it has made no significant change in top management, in our view," Citi analysts wrote in a note following the reshuffle. "Samsung aims to strengthen its memory business division under the direct control of the head of the Device Solutions (DS) division, appointing the head of DS division as a CEO," Citi analysts said, adding the the firm could "overcome business uncertainty" through Jun's leadership. Some bosses like to stick their nose into everything their employees are working on. Fawn Weaver isn't one of them, she says. Weaver, a 48-year-old self-made millionaire, founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2016. Her Shelbyville, Tennessee-based company became the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in history, achieving a $1.1 billion valuation in May, according to Forbes and the International Wine and Spirits Record. That growth didn't come from micromanaging, Weaver told LinkedIn's "This Is Working" video series last week. "I have two things that everyone in the company knows," said Weaver. "One is called HBU: highest and best use of time. So if it is not my highest and best use of time, it usually will not bubble up to me. "The second [policy] is: If someone else can do it, then someone else should do it." It makes more sense for Weaver to occupy herself with high-level business duties than check over employees' work multiple times per day or dictate how people should complete their tasks. "Micromanaging does not work," Weaver said. "I have built this entire company on 'intrapreneurs.' Everyone owns their jobs. They own their descriptions fully, and I don't bother that. I hire the best and I get out of their way." Weaver's mindset echoes that of billionaire tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Earlier this year, Cuban wrote that while new employees may require some hand-holding to understand company flow and culture, afterward, you should let them do their jobs. If you're micromanaging, something's wrong, he added. "Micromanage early. Trust the process or fix what's broken if you always have to micromanage," Cuban wrote in March, on social media platform X. Seventy-three percent of workers consider micromanagement to be the biggest workplace red flag, saying it contributes to negative and anxious feelings, according to an August 2023 survey from job platform Monster. Forty-six percent said they'd leave their job because of it. If you're unsure of how to handle your micromanaging boss, try over-communicating. Anticipate what concerns or questions they may have and answer them before they get the chance to ask, according to bestselling author and New York University professor Suzy Welch. "Swamp them with evidence of your competence and character," she said in 2019. "Tell them what you're doing all the time. Eliminate every possible surprise. And most important of all, don't screw up." For Weaver, running a company is already like "slaying dragons," and worrying about other people's duties would just add stress. Being a good boss means putting the best, most-qualified talent in place to handle the rest, she said. "What comes to me are only the things that no one else can do," said Weaver. Ready to boost your income and career? Don't miss our special Black Friday offer: 55% off all Smarter by CNBC Make It online courses. Learn how to earn passive income online, master your money, ace your job interview and salary negotiations, and become an effective communicator. Use coupon code THANKS24 to get the best deal of the seasonoffer valid 11/25/24 through 12/2/24. Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life. 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. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. A US federal judge indicated that the trial addressing the Department of Justices proposals to curb Googles dominance in online search will proceed as scheduled in April 2025, even if DOJ officials under President-elect Donald Trump seek to revise the remedies. The move signals the urgency in resolving the case, which could lead to a historic shake-up of the tech giants operations, Reuters reported. US District Judge Amit Mehta, overseeing the case in Washington, confirmed Tuesday that the trial will proceed as scheduled despite potential changes in DOJ leadership and priorities under President-elect Donald Trumps administration. Saturday Night Live gave Blue Oyster Cults following a fever. On April 8, 2000, SNL aired a sketch written by and starring Will Ferrell that would change the course of music history forever or, at least, it would change the way everyone in the crowd treated Blue Oyster Cult during their tours. With Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz all playing the psychedelic rock band from Stony Brook, New York and guest host Christopher Walken in the role of a producer who is passionate about a certain percussion part, More Cowbell was an immediate hit, and, in the nearly quarter-century since its airing, the sketch has become one of the most over-quoted SNL skits in the shows long history. Don't Miss Blue Oyster Cult co-founder Donald Buck Dharma Roeser recently spoke to Vulture about the bands relationship with the sketch, and he revealed that, before More Cowbell, the band hadnt played the cowbell in (Dont Fear) the Reaper live in 20 years. That all changed when Walken wrote them a prescription. Sometimes you just get carried along by the culture. You dont really control it, Buck Dharma said of the influence More Cowbell had on his career. Were all riding the worm like in Dune. The worm knows where its going. Advertisement Buck Dharma explained that, in the actual recording session for (Dont Fear) the Reaper, there were no explosive fights over the rhythm section, and nobody was exploring the space with quite the ferocity of Ferrell. In reality, the cowbell was an afterthought on the part of David Lucas, who was one of the producers of that record, Buck Dharma explained of who we assume was Bruce Dickinsons sidekick. He thought that the groove in the verses could use a stead-four on the floor accent, because the drum part didnt sound quite like that. Also, it wasnt unusual to put a cowbell on a song. It wasnt an idea that was unique or unheard of. Ive never met Will Ferrell, but I would love to ask him how he conceived the idea of the cowbell, because the cowbell has become such an iconic cultural touchstone, Buck Dharma said, explaining that hes grateful for the impact the sketch had on BOC, even if it gets overwhelming. It just overtook the band in a lot of respects in the same way when people come up to Christopher Walken, whos had such a storied career, and all they say to him is, I need more cowbell. Im sympathetic to that. I have never contested the basic hilarity of the sketch. Advertisement After More Cowbell became a hit, Buck Dharma and BOC had no choice but to change up their formula. We began playing the cowbell in (Dont Fear) The Reaper live. For 20-odd years, we didnt use a live cowbell for our shows and never considered it, Buck Dharma said of the sketchs aftermath. We had to play the cowbell because there was just no getting away from it. Im grateful that as significant as the sketch is because after 25 years, it still is it didnt kill the song, its original intent or its original mood. Its still used as a cue in horror movies when you want that mysterious and metaphysically uneasy vibe. So Im glad the sketch didnt kill the song and didnt make it one big joke. Advertisement If anything, More Cowbell saved (Dont Fear) The Reaper by reminding BOC that the cowbell was the beating heart of the hit song. Now, theyre all wearing gold-plated diapers. One of the nicest guys in showbiz might be the meanest Comedians are unusual creatures in that they show affection through criticism, Jim Gaffigan said this week on the Conan OBrien Needs A Friend podcast. Its the conceit behind roast comedy we only hurt the ones we love. Theres one comedian whos the most powerful roaster or roast comic that's ever existed, and this includes Don Rickles, Gaffigan claimed. More powerful than any who came before him. I think Martin Short is beyond a doubt the quickest, the meanest, and so funny. Without a doubt, OBrien agreed. Don't Miss Because hes a nice person at heart, Gaffigan said, Short will use his Jiminy Glick character to get away with comic punches that Short himself might be hesitant to throw. Play He can hide in the fat suit, continued OBrien of Shorts fleshy suit of armor. And he can say things like, You know, your career never quite took off now, did it? Advertisement Advertisement The most devastating part, according to Gaffigan? Hes stating the obvious. OBrien and Gaffigan recently co-hosted a charity benefit at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Short stopped by to help out, which meant everyone was in for evisceration. OBrien and Gaffigan were down for it like kids in a candy shop. The artistry of what he does compared to roasting that you see at that Tom Brady roast or you think of Don Rickles, who is obviously magical, marveled Gaffigan. But what Marty does and by the way, none of it is scripted! I think he just does it! While OBrien agreed with Gaffigan about Shorts brilliance, he had a different opinion about the comics preparation. I do think he thinks ahead of time, not to take anything away from him, OBrien said. Because the writing is so sharp. He can do it ad lib, but I think he also has some (jokes prepared) ahead of time. At the benefit, Gaffigan claimed, Short literally walked out and stole the whole show, just dressing us down for five minutes. And he left. He was shooting the next day. Hes 75 years old, he walked out, ripped into us, left, and everyones like, Well, thats the best part of the show. Advertisement The hosts, two pale skeletons, had no chance, OBrien agreed. He joked that they promised the audience that Short might return so everyone would stay in their seats. The irony, as with Rickles, is that hes a sweet guy, Gaffigan said. Hes the real deal, said OBrien. Maybe hes got a split personality, concluded Gaffigan. Note to Billy Corgans stepmother: Not all bald guys are related. Most of my friends dont even know this story, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman revealed on a recent Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast episode. About 10 years ago, one of my brothers was having a birthday party, and my stepmother was there, who was obviously married to my father. And my stepmother said to me, Do you know who Bill Burr is? Corgan had no idea, which is understandable 10 years ago, Burr had reached comedy-club headliner status, doing sets on Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman, but he was not yet a household name. I didnt know he was a comedian or anything, Corgan confessed. He could have been the guy down the street. Don't Miss Back at the party, Corgan looked up Burr on his phone and noticed a passing resemblance to his dad. Why are you asking? Corgan wanted to know. I think it might be one of your fathers illegitimate children, his stepmother said. Bill Burr might be one of the children that your father sired in his days of being a traveling musician. At first, Corgan considered the possibility, even though there are several thousand (million?) bald white guys in America. I said okay, that sort of works. I looked at Bills age, and were similar age. And my father did once tell me that I had a half-brother named Bill who was basically born around the same time as me. He told me on my 18th birthday. Corgans daddy didnt have much imagination, naming two of his sons Bill. He also was an irresponsible horndog, supposedly responsible for a dozen babies born out of wedlock. Well, he was a traveling musician, Corgan said. Advertisement With a load of sperm! exclaimed Mandel. Corgan conceded the point. God bless on that. Of course, the mystery was an easy one to solve if Corgan was interested in doing so. Hes a famous guy, Burrs a famous guy. He knew people who had Burrs phone number. Give Burr a call and ask him if he has puzzling parentage. Corgans never gone that far, but he did Google Bill Burr parents and discovered that Burrs actual father, Robert Burr, was a Massachusetts dentist. No mention of adoption. Occams razor says the simplest explanation is most likely to be right, so Corgan has a nutty stepmom makes more sense than Bill Burr could have been a Smashing Pumpkin. Even Corgan doesnt believe its an actual possibility. I dont think Bill Burr and I are related, he said. Its just one of those things. Advertisement Mandel offered to call Burr during the podcast to confirm once and for all but Corgan begged him not to. I dont want to be made fun of by Bill Burr, he said. Hes very funny, and I really dont want the psychological darts in my heart. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images You may be distressed over the outcome of the presidential election, but the D.C. luxury market is not. I think we will see some big numbers transact again starting around January, says Michael Rankin, the principal and managing partner of Sothebys International Realty in Washington, D.C. People dont want to spend $5, $10, $15 million if they dont know whether theyll be confirmed or not. But what we do know of the people who are coming is that its the multimillionaire and multibillionaire class. The last time Donald Trump took office, the area saw a flurry of high-priced house sales. We were calling all our clients and saying, Hey, do you want to sell your $9 million house? says Maxwell Rabin, an associate broker also at Sothebys International Realty. During that time, Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross paid $12 million for a seven-bedroom Beaux-Arts mansion in Massachusetts Heights, close to Rock Creek Park; Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin dropped $12.58 million on a 16,000-square-foot house in the same neighborhood; and secretary of State Rex Tillerson spent $5.5 million on a four-bedroom in Kalorama. (Jared and Ivanka, meanwhile, opted to rent, also in Kalorama.) Brokers are expecting more of the same this time around not that they can talk about it. One agent told me that he knew of at least two high-profile administration figures whod been looking around since the election he couldnt say who, though, since hed had to sign NDAs. One, he added, was so ironclad he didnt even want to speak in generalities like price range or neighborhood. But if the past is prologue, one can assume its someplace like Mass Heights, Kalorma, or Woodland Normanstone, where Kellyanne Conway bought a Mediterranean-style combo mansion in 2017 and 15 percent of the homes are embassies. Its a more palatial atmosphere in Kalorama compared to Georgetown, Washington hostess Sally Quinn told Esquire during the last Trump administration. Bigger, newer houses. I have not heard of any of the Trump people living in Georgetown. (As one broker told me, Georgetown is rich but liberal.) Unfortunately for area brokers, one of wealthiest members of Trumps new crew, Elon Musk, isnt a big house person, says Rankin. Maybe hes going to fly in and fly out. (But Musk, despite his declaration that he was done owning real estate, has also been busy building a secret mansion compound in Austin, Texas, for his unconventional and increasingly large family. So who knows?) Eva Davis, an executive vice-president at Compass, says that there is always a rush of transactions whenever administrations change a luxury bump in the $1 million-plus range and a slew of rentals as lower-level staff turns over. Although this year, there was actually a pre-election flurry as well, when the Conservative Partnership Institute went on a buying spree, buying up nine properties in the neighborhood to create a Patriots Row campus. Some of this enthusiasm is dampened by Trumps threats to slash the federal workforce, shrinking the middle and upper-middle class that accounts for most deals. My team has had a number of calls from people at agencies like the HSS and EPA, places that would likely see cuts first, saying, We dont know whats going to go on, but we might need to sell, says Davis. There is also concern about what will happen if Trump revokes the home rule a 50-year-old law that allows D.C. to manage its own municipal affairs. People are saying, I dont want to be here for that, or are worried about the effect such a move would have on home prices. And there is some fear, too, that Trumps wealthy Cabinet picks might not be investing much in local real estate at all given Trumps proclivity for holding court from Palm Beach. I think this administration doesnt spend as much time in the district as other administrations, says one broker. Theyre more in Florida and New York. STORY LINK Pound Euro Exchange Rate Softens following Trump Tariff Announcement Advertisement GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: German Data in the Spotlight Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate slipped on Tuesday following Donald Trumps proposed tariff plans.The Euro (EUR) gained ground against most currencies on Tuesday following the revelation of Donald Trump's latest tariff proposals for the United States.In the wake of Trump's election victory less than a month ago, EUR exchange rates had slipped amid market concerns that Trump could introduce new tariffs on Europe, weakening the common currency.However, Trump has now proposed a 25% tax on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico, once again rattling markets.Notably, his initial plans made no mention of Europe, which allowed EUR exchange rates to rise against its counterparts on Tuesday.Chris Turner, Global Head of Markets at ING, noted in a published comment:'The fact that Europe was not included in Trumps initial tariff announcement could perhaps be seen as positive news for the continent.The Pound (GBP) had a varied performance against most currencies on Tuesday, appreciating against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) and the US Dollar (USD), but depreciating against the Euro, with little change elsewhere.The lack of significant UK data releases, combined with a cautious market sentiment, restricted the British currency's movement.In the absence of substantial UK data, GBP exchange rates were primarily guided by market risk appetite.As the Pound becomes increasingly sensitive to risk, Tuesday's nervous trading conditions contributed to Sterling remaining largely unchanged during the European trading session.Looking ahead to Wednesday, the key catalyst for the Pound Euro exchange rate is expected to be the release of Germany's latest GFK consumer confidence data.If the index confirms another downturn in consumer sentiment within the Eurozone's largest economy, the Euro is likely to weaken during mid-week trading.As for the Pound, UK data will once again be sparse on Wednesday, leaving GBP exchange rates to be primarily influenced by market sentiment.Will a shift towards more optimistic trading conditions be sufficient to boost GBP exchange rates? Or will market anxiety persist, keeping Sterling under pressure? International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Pound Dollar Forecasts Meta Deletes 2 Million Fake Social Media Accounts Criminals are using text messaging, dating apps, social media and email to perpetrate a form of financial fraud, most commonly known as 'pig-butchering', where victims are lured into fraudulent investment schemes. Now, Meta has confirmed it has removed around 2 million scam accounts across its platforms since the beginning of 2024. This year alone, weve taken down over two million accounts linked to scam centres in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines, says Meta. Were going after the criminal organisations behind pig butchering and other schemes, which target people globally through messaging, dating, social media and crypto and other apps to convince them to invest under false pretenses. Many of these fake accounts orginate in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. "These criminal scam hubs lure often unsuspecting job seekers with too-good-to-be-true job postings on local job boards, forums and recruitment platforms to then force them to work as online scammers, often under the threat of physical abuse," according to Meta . The perpetrators pose as attractive single people, members of government agencies and large companies sending generic messages to a large number of users (via DM, SMS, or email), hoping that at least some of the recipients will respond. Those who engage with these messages enter a process of deception that introduces them to fraudulent investment platforms that appear legitimate but display falsified returns and do not allow money to be withdrawn. This type of fraud can be elaborate and often take months to execute, patiently creating an online friendship or romantic relationship with a victim, eventually guiding them to invest in elaborate fake crypto currency investments. Victims become convinced theyve found a way to get rich and sometimes give away their entire savings before realising it was all a scam. Meta has removed these accounts from its system when working with law enforcement agencies in those countries to share intelligence to disrupt the criminal fraud on the social media platforms that it operates. The criminals in the Asia Pacific primarily conduct pig butchering scams but also target users worldwide and Meta has been addressing this problem on its platforms for more than two years. The FBI reports that it has become a massive revenue generator for organised crime groups and the FBI's 2023 Internet Crime Report has found that investment fraud scams saw a 38% increase from $3.31 billion in 2022 to $4.57 billion in 2023. Meta says it employs a range of measures to try to detect and stop these scams on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, before they have the opportunity to bait users and victimise them. facebook | ic3 | Bleeping Computer | NBC | Forbes Image: Oleksandr P You Might Also Read: Thousands Of Facebook Scams Deleted As Australians Lose $43.4m: If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription. Individual 5 per month or 50 per year. Sign Up Multi-User, Corporate & Library Accounts Available on Request Cyber Security Intelligence: Captured Organised & Accessible China urges U.S. to safeguard drug-control cooperation Xinhua) 10:13, November 27, 2024 BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the United States should cherish the goodwill of China and safeguard the hard-won positive situation of China-U.S. cooperation on drug control. The spokesperson made the remarks after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap an additional 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) We are yet to realise how dangerous this is. Donald Trump's tariff hikes risk plunging the world into a recession at precisely the moment when wars and unrest are on the rise. During his election campaign, the Republican candidate proposed a universal tariff on goods imported by America of between 10 and 20 per cent, rising to 60 per cent for China. Now the US President-elect says he will start with 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, plus an extra 10 per cent on top of any existing tariffs on China, which vary according to the type of product. His rationale for this is not to do with trade and economics but with drugs and immigration: 'I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular fentanyl [a deadly, synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin], being sent into the United States. But to no avail,' he declared on his social media site Truth Social. 'Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.' So far, so Trump. The man who wrote the 1987 bestseller Trump: The Art Of The Deal is in his element, talking tough with countries that he believes are showing America insufficient respect. The problem is that tariffs do most damage to the nation applying them. Yes, they may incidentally harm Chinese (or Mexican or Canadian) exporters. But they will do vastly more damage to the American economy. The way Trump frames his proposal 'we will be charging China an additional 10 per cent' is misleading. It is not Chinese companies that will be charged, but American consumers. As prices rise, Americans have less money to spend on everything else, which means that their economy contracts. Almost all of them will be worse off. Donald Trump with China's President Xi Jinping in 2019. Even if British imports end up being exempted from Trump's tariffs, we will still suffer dire consequences as the US economy is affected by this needless self-harm Cargo containers stacked at the Port of Los Angeles. Trump has proposed a universal tariff on goods imported by America of between 10 and 20 per cent All this should worry us in Britain. We are the single biggest overseas investor in the US. Even if British imports end up being exempted from the Trump tariffs and we'll come to that in a moment we will still suffer dire consequences as the US economy is affected by this needless self-harm. We have been here before. In 1930, Congress passed an Act imposing levies on some 20,000 imported goods. US trade fell by two-thirds. Erstwhile allies, notably Canada, retaliated with tariffs of their own. Prices surged, leaving Americans with less to spend and causing the economy to cramp up. The recession, which had been coming to an end, was instead deepened and prolonged. Unlike Britain, which stuck to free trade and enjoyed a decade of impressive growth, the US condemned itself to the Great Depression. Do Americans really mean to go through all that again? It is true that, these days, most trade is in services, which are not subject to tariffs. But, even so, most observers believe that Trump's declared policy would reduce the world's economic output by between 1 and 4 per cent. Sophisticated observers claim that the tariffs won't take effect, because the whole thing is a negotiating tactic. The very prospect of a trade war will make the Chinese hang drug dealers and the Mexicans police their border and the Canadians well, perhaps Trump wants them to ditch their prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to whom he has taken a dislike. Trucks queue to cross to the US from Mexico. Trump's decision to raise customs duties in his first term led to retaliatory tariffs from China, India, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and the EU The trouble is that, even as a negotiating tactic, tariffs are self-defeating. Trump's decision to raise customs duties in his first term led to retaliatory tariffs from, among others, China, India, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and the EU, some of them still in place. Why did these countries respond to America by self-harming, inflicting equivalent injuries on themselves? Because, in these situations, politics edges out economics; the desire to retaliate overcomes self-interest. To make matters worse, this protectionist spasm coincides with rising global tensions. The war in Israel has, as feared, spread both to Lebanon and directly to Iran. There are fears of cyber attacks against Britain; one Cabinet minister speaks of millions being left without power. Meanwhile, as the war in Ukraine approaches its endgame, Western missiles are being used for the first time on Russian soil and Russia is responding with long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities. Just as during the 1930s, domestic protectionism and international instability are in danger of forming a vicious circle. As people become poorer, they turn to more authoritarian policies, which make them poorer still. The wars of the early 20th century were products of a protectionist age. That is why, in 1945, the victorious allies were determined to re-establish free trade. 'The whole world is concentrating on attaining the objectives of peace and freedom,' declared President Truman in 1947, the year that established what is now the World Trade Organisation. 'These objectives are bound up completely with a third objective: re-establishment of world trade. In fact, the three peace, freedom, and world trade are inseparable.' The next six decades vindicated him. But we are now, again, moving in the opposite direction. What can Britain do? For whatever reason, the incoming US President has a soft-spot for us. He loves the Royal Family. And so he tells everyone did his mother, who emigrated from Scotland in 1930. People around Trump are signalling that Britain can exempt itself from his proposed tariffs by signing a comprehensive trade deal with the US. Such a deal was being negotiated between Trump and Boris Johnson up until 2021. Joe Biden, who did not want to see Brexit rewarded, and who in any case had promised during his election campaign to halt all trade deals, suspended the talks. But the work already completed remains on the table. There is no question that Britain should revive the talks. The US is our single biggest export destination, and a trade deal would have happened decades ago had it not been for our EU membership, which subjected us to the protectionist interests of Continental producers. There is no clash. We already have a tariff-free trade agreement with the EU. Why not get one with the US, too? The trouble is that Labour, in opposition to the trade talks under Boris, invented some absurd scare stories, ranging from Trump wanting to buy the NHS to his flooding this country with 'chlorinated chicken'. Keir Starmer's instinct will be to suffer in solidarity with the EU rather than do a deal with a man whom elements of his party have built into a symbol of depraved greed. He is at risk of missing his opportunity. If he does, it won't be only our country that suffers. This is a pivotal and dangerous moment when many feel the world is edging towards a global conflict. British leaders are supposed to exert a wise and calming influence on our chief ally, moderating American policy in the interests of the world at large. If only we had a leader up to the task. Lord Hannan is president of the Institute for Free Trade. What a strange sense of priorities this Government has. Within weeks of taking office, they stripped pensioners of their winter fuel allowance, fleeced businesses and family farms in the Budget, and are ready to allow an ill-thought-out assisted dying Bill to be rushed through Parliament. Yet when it comes to a matter of genuine urgency cracking down on the ballooning cost of sickness benefit they kick the problem into the long grass. A record 2.8 million people receive incapacity payments, many claiming they are mentally unwell. Spending on the long-term sick is set to hit a staggering 100 billion by 2030. However, the measures announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper are largely cosmetic a few extra mental health staff and an overhaul of Jobcentres. Carrots are all very well, but you sometimes also need a bit of stick. Yet despite Sir Keir Starmers tough talk on stripping benefits from idlers and benefits cheats, there will be no crackdown on welfare spending until a consultation takes place, and this has been delayed until next year. Keir Starmer has vowed to squeeze the 'bulging' benefits bill 'blighting our society', promising 'sweeping changes' including a blitz on cheats and those who 'game the system' Ms Kendall will unveil Labour's reforms to the welfare system tomorrow, including cutting benefits for those who refuse to take up work or training (file photo) And if the Government wants to get more people into work, why is it making it harder and more expensive for firms to hire staff? Unless the PM takes action, Britain will remain the on-the-sick man of Europe. Road to nowhere Labours electric car revolution is rapidly running out of road. The Governments 2030 deadline to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles was always hopelessly unrealistic. Yesterday, we witnessed the impact of this reckless timetable on the British economy, as Vauxhall announced the closure of its Luton factory with the loss of 1,100 jobs. This follows Fords decision to slash its UK workforce by 800. Nissan has also warned of potential staff cuts here. The firms blame Labours tough electric vehicle sales quotas, backed by the threat of huge fines if they are not met. The problem is, demand for electric cars isnt strong enough as motorists baulk at the high prices and worry about poor range and inadequate charging infrastructure. The Government needs to relax these targets and have a more pragmatic deadline for phasing out engines that run on fossil fuels, just as other countries have done. Vauxhall parent firm Stellantis says it will close its Luton van factory (pictured) next year to consolidate production at its Ellesmere Port plant Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds says the shift to a green economy should not come at the expense of jobs and industry. He should tell that to the Vauxhall workers who end up on the dole because Labour refuses to ditch net-zero schedules. Pathetic protest Tomorrow, the TUC, Unison and the National Education Union are holding a day of action in solidarity with Gaza. NHS staff, teachers and civil servants are being urged to demonstrate outside their workplaces wearing the red, green and black colours of the Palestinian flag. So does this crass political act have anything to do with the education of children or the treatment of the sick? Of course not. Its pure virtue-signalling. Yet it creates an atmosphere in which Jewish staff, students and patients feel intimidated and may even stay away. Such nakedly partisan politics have no place in our public services. Youve probably never heard the name Tom Homan. But you soon will. And more importantly, so will the 11million undocumented migrants currently residing in the United States. Homan has been appointed as Donald Trumps Border Tsar, responsible for in the slightly sanitised wording of the President-elects official statement the Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin. But he likes to define his role in more robust terms. I got a message to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Bidens released in our country in violation of federal law, he announced to the Republican National Convention in July. You better start packing now youre damn right because youre going home. His words repelled liberal America. But they resonated within the blue-collar, swing states Trump needed to win to secure the White House. Were going to seal up those borders! he declared triumphantly to his ecstatic supporters at his election night victory rally. Tomorrow, our own Government is set to release a new raft of immigration figures. And buried within them will be an interesting statistic. One that reveals that since their election, Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have been channelling their own inner Tom Homan. According to Home Office figures, since the election in July the number of illegal migrants removed from the UK has jumped by almost 20 per cent. The number of removals of foreign offenders from British jails has increased by 14 per cent. The number of deportation flights has soared, returning migrants to a raft of countries including Albania, Poland, Romania, Vietnam, Timor, Nigeria and Ghana. And included in those removals were the three biggest mass deportations in UK history, with over 600 people returned overall. Whats more, the success of Starmer and Cooper is directly linked to their following of the Tom Homan deportation playbook. Homan has committed to initially targeting foreign offenders, and those who have already been refused leave to remain in the United States. On arriving in the Home Office Cooper immediately redeployed hundreds of officials from the previous Governments doomed Rwanda scheme, and instructed them to begin focusing on foreign offenders and those nationals from countries with historically low rates of asylum approvals. Tom Homan has been appointed US 'border tzar' by President-elect Donald Trump Homan has pledged to deploy the full resources of US law enforcement behind his deportation programme. Cooper has similarly used the police and intelligence agencies to coordinate the British Governments own deportation efforts, by targeting and mounting raids on those businesses and sectors of the economy with a high number of illegal workers from countries who traditionally have no right to asylum. Homan has vowed to target the South American drug cartels responsible for the trafficking of illegal migrants across the US border. And while Keir Starmer is yet to commit to sending the SAS after the heirs of Pablo Escobar, Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday announced the reintroduction of visa controls with Colombia, after Rishi Sunaks decision to lift them in late 2022 saw a surge of migration and bogus asylum claims. On day one the mass deportations will begin! Donald Trump boasted. Well, day one of Starmers Government saw the beginning of the mass deportations here. But the problem is the Prime Minister doesnt seem to want anyone to know about it. There have been no major speeches highlighting the Governments success. Or pictures of Starmer waving handcuffed, hardened foreign lags farewell. And certainly no cheering Labour supporters gleefully hurling Make Britain Great Again hats into the air, while chanting Send them back! Weve got a good story to tell on deportations, one Cabinet ally of Starmer told me, but Keirs too squeamish about selling it. Theres part of him thats worried how the party will react. One Home Office source I spoke to rejected this characterisation. They claimed Starmer is very supportive of the policy, and that diplomatic protocols prevent the Government giving the deportations more publicity. The issue is that our officials and the Foreign Office have done a good job in securing a raft of new return agreements. But each of the countries stipulates, Well take them back, so long as you dont make a big fuss about them. But there is definitely broader internal Labour politics at play. As another Cabinet minister told me: Remember when Ed Miliband produced a few mugs saying wed be tough on immigration? Our own MPs went nuts. Now imagine the reaction if they realise were actually ahead of Trump when it comes to mass deportations. Starmer should ignore the bleeding-hearts on his own backbenches. And he should point across the Atlantic to the hypocrisy among progressives surrounding the appointment of Homan. In 2015, the former police officer was actually awarded a Presidential citation from Barack Obama(itals) for his then work as a Director of Immigration Enforcement. And of over the course of his two terms, Obama oversaw the removal of over 5million illegal aliens, earning him the nickname Deporter-in-Chief. Since the election of Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper in July, the number of illegal migrants removed from the UK has jumped by almost 20 per cent It can be argued there is a case to be made for the benefits of migration. But there is no case to be made for illegal migration. And there is even less of a case to be made for clogging up UK jails with foreign offenders at a time when the impending collapse of the penal system is seeing the early release of killers and sex offenders. So Keir Starmer needs to get out and start selling his policy. Actually, never mind just selling it, he should be shouting it from the rooftops. Some of the language of Homan and Trump may grate on woke ears. But thats tough. As the new border-tsar made clear, the truly progressive policy is to stamp out on the trade in and exploitation of vulnerable migrants. Defending his hard-line stance under the previous Trump administration, Homan unapologetically declared: How many women were saved from exploitation? How many kids were not abused, or killed by coyotes? How many bad guys did we prevent from entering our communities? Well never know the exact number, but we made a difference. Certain members of his party may not want to hear it, but Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper are also making a difference. Under Labour the mass deportations have started. Now the Prime Minister needs to make sure everyone knows it. Rock god Roger Daltrey and friends were in an upstairs gallery for PMQs and were told off by the Speaker after a breach of protocol. Mr Daltrey and a bald chap next to him had clapped when the Scots Nats Stephen Flynn took the mickey out of Sir Keir Starmer. Clapping is a no-no in the Commons and Speaker Hoyle is a stickler for these things. Given Mr Daltreys youthful antics with The Who, the misbehaviour could have been a lot worse. He could have ripped off his shirt and started smashing the parliamentary furniture. No one seemed to know who the bald chap was. Maybe it was his tax adviser. Rock stars are always accompanied by their accountants. Arent we all these days? PMQs was lively. The political tide is racing, the seas swell is rising and Labours new matelots are starting to look a little aquamarine around the gills as the tumblers slide across the bar and the chandeliers shake. Unease forming in their bellies for the first time, some Labour newbies are responding by screaming ever more loudly in support of their skipper. Jonathan Slinger (Lab, Rugby), an assiduous suck-up, bellowed support for the PM from a seat just behind the chief whip, Sir Alan Campbell. Thigh-slapper Sir Alan looked even more morose than normal. He must have termites in his underpants to be in a state of such permanent melancholy. Commons leader Lucy Powell sat there catching flies in her lower lip. Sir Keir Starmer became peevish with Kemi Badenoch. At one point his right eyebrow took on a life of its own, shooting skywards like a leaping salmon. Is the pressure starting to bite? It was only Kemi Badenoch's third PMQs outing and Sir Keir has not yet worked out how to deal with her. He is still at the belittling, shes clueless stage It is never entirely clear how much she follows the details of PMQs.Not everyone shared Mr Slingers conviction that the Government was notching up a succession of magnificent revolutionary triumphs. Rachel Reeves, hair back to pitch-black after that red experiment, was a portrait of paralysed glumness. Her mood was not improved when Sir Keir declined to repeat his Chancellors no-more-tax-rises comment to the CBI on Monday. Rachel Hopkins (Lab, Luton S and S Beds) sounded tearful about a Vauxhall van factory closing in her town. Vauxhall is blaming the electric-vehicle targets so eagerly evangelised by Ed Miliband. Sir Keir attributed those policies to the Conservatives specifically Kemi Badenoch but everyone knows Labour was keener on them than the Tories and that Sir Keirs people ripped into Rishi Sunak after he diluted them. But that was then and this is now. As prime minister you are exposed. You have to take responsibility (a favourite Starmer saying). It becomes noticeable if you are always in retreat, always behind the curve. All his gluey insistence about 14 years of Tory misrule, all his preachy dullness and all that plodding nasality are now nakedly apparent. Sir Keir became peevish with Kemi Badenoch. At one point his right eyebrow took on a life of its own, shooting skywards like a leaping salmon. Is the pressure starting to bite? It was only Mrs Bs third PMQs outing and Sir Keir has not yet worked out how to deal with her. He is still at the belittling, shes clueless stage. After Mrs Badenoch asked what he was going to do about that electric-cars policy he could only respond with a jibe about political strategy. The Tories were going backwards! he jeered. Rock god Roger Daltrey and friends were in an upstairs gallery for PMQs and were told off by the Speaker after a breach of protocol Rachel Reeves hair was back to pitch-black after that red experiment They dont know what theyre doing. One of the older rules of politics: accuse your opponents of your own faults. Mrs Badenoch, who is cool under fire, essayed some second-hand biscuit puns as she reported criticisms of the government by the boss of McVities. A more successful dig came when she listed various Treasury errors and said isnt it great that the Chancellor is an expert at customer complaints?. This was a reference to the troublesome matter of Ms Reevess much-embellished curriculum vitae. She was in customer relations between stints as an astronaut and a Swiss guard at the Vatican. Talking of which, Angela Rayner (or the Ginger Nut, as Mrs Badenoch called her) was absent. We later learnt that she was in Rome, visiting the Pope.An encounter of spiritual minds that deserved to be captured by Giotto himself. This year saw many celebrities and influencers embracing the latest plastic surgery trends, from Gen Z removing fillers to A-listers transforming their faces with $20,000 eyelid surgery. According to surgeons, there are going to be even more out-of-the-box, wildly popular procedures taking over in 2025. Aesthetics experts in New York are predicting multiple upcoming cosmetic trends, including the rise of forty-something facelifts to avoid 'filler face' and internal bras to provide bust support. These experts told DailyMail.com the procedures that are sure to be all the rage next year, including full body makeovers for women who have lost large amounts of weight on Mounjaro and fifty-somethings who want to look decades younger thanks to glamorous 'glam-ma' bodies. Another major trend is millennials not just embracing 'tweakments,' or small cosmetic procedures, but going all the way and getting facelifts. Double board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Sean Alemi said, 'Millennials are turning 40 and looking for a new solution to facial aging and skin laxity that doesnt include a lot of filler.' In a quest to avoid 'pillow' or 'filler face,' which can make people's faces look puffed up and wildly unnatural, many people, and especially celebrities, are opting to get everything done at once. Dr. Alemi, who's located in Great Neck, New York, explained that there's no 'right' age for a facelift, and if you get one when you're younger it might last longer and heal more efficiently. Facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Sean Alemi said, 'Millennials are turning 40 and looking for a new solution to facial aging and skin laxity that doesnt include a lot of filler' Dr. Alemi, who's located in Great Neck, New York, explained that there's no 'right' age for a facelift, and if you get one when you're younger it might last longer and heal more efficiently The Mounjaro makeover usually includes a tummy tuck, breast lift, arm lift and thigh lift, depending on what the patient needs Dr. Alemi told FEMAIL that in his New York-based practice, the average patient age range is between 47 and 53. Another major upcoming trend is the 'Mounjaro makeover' as more people lose huge amounts of weight thanks to GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Darren Smith, based in Manhattan, explained that a Mounjaro makeover is a customized combination of procedures that helps restore volume where fat has been lost. The Mounjaro makeover usually includes a tummy tuck, breast lift, arm lift and thigh lift, depending on what the patient needs. 'A Mounjaro makeover candidate is someone who has lost over 40 pounds and is looking for body rejuvenation,' Dr. Smith told DailyMail.com. 'What we've been seeing with Mounjaro is that patients are losing more weight and often doing it more rapidly, and the body's ability to compensate is less effective, so, the skin has a certain amount of elasticity or ability to snap back after volume loss,' Dr. Smith said. 'They're losing so much weight and doing it so quickly that there is more severe skin laxity that's resulting with this medication and in turn, more dramatic skin removal procedures required,' Dr. Smith added. Surgeons aren't just doing Mounjaro makeovers - facial fat transfer procedures are also more popular than ever because women have been losing so much weight in their face, leaving them with some have called 'Ozempic face.' Dr. Darren Smith said a glam-ma makeover is a full body makeover for patients over 50 In a quest to avoid 'pillow face,' which can make people's faces look puffed up and wildly unnatural, many people, and especially celebrities, are opting to get everything done at once (stock image) Women are given tummy tucks and mommy or 'grandma' makeovers, including mini brachioplasties, which reshape flabby arms without leaving large scars The glam-ma makeover is another way women are trying to look younger than ever, with abs to match. Dr. Smith has seen a 20 to 30 per cent uptick in patients 50 and above getting full body makeovers and says post-surgery, they have the abs of someone half their age. Women are given tummy tucks and mommy or 'grandma' makeovers, including mini brachioplasties, which reshape flabby arms without leaving large scars. 'While many of the procedures performed during a "glam-ma" makeover can be similar to those of a "mommy makeover," operations on patients over fifty often need to be approached differently,' Dr. Smith advised. 'As we age, tissue loses elasticity requiring specialist techniques to ensure meaningful and lasting results,' Dr. Smith said. Dr. Smith 'would be more likely to use an internal bra, like GalaFLEX, on an older patient to support and maintain her breast lift results as her own tissue may have less staying power than a younger patient, who would have more collagen and elastin.' A bride feared she would become a widow just days after her wedding when her new husband was left in a coma during their honeymoon. Lauren Esper had been married to her long-term partner Gabe Brown for four days when he had a catastrophic fall on their honeymoon in Jamaica. The pair wed on September 21 in Pennsylvania after five years together, followed by a romantic getaway to Montego Bay, Jamaica. However, just hours after arriving at their resort, 27-year-old Gabe slipped on the hotel's bathroom tiles, breaking his spine and suffering a large bleed on his brain. Lauren - a 25-year-old graphic designer - rushed her new husband to the nearest hospital, where she was told he required urgent surgery to stop the bleed. After Gabe was transferred to another hospital in Jamaica, the software engineer underwent a four-hour surgery before arrangements were made to fly him back to the US. Gabe has since undergone two brain surgeries and an abdominal surgery and remains in a coma two months after his accident. Lauren, who lives in Pennsylvania, described her honeymoon as a 'nightmare' - but remains hopeful her new husband will wake up and they can finally begin married life. New bride Lauren Esper feared she would become a widow just four days after her wedding when her husband Gabe Brown was left in a coma after slipping during their honeymoon Lauren said: 'We both wanted to go somewhere hot for our honeymoon so Gabe suggested Jamaica and we both hadn't been there before. 'We arrived at our resort around 4pm and we were in our room. I went to take a nap and was laying on the bed when all of a sudden I heard Gabe gasp, then a thud,' she continued. 'I immediately woke up and thought he might've dropped over some luggage and asked if he was okay but I didn't hear a response. 'It was an open-concept room so I could see Gabe was laying on the bathroom floor having a seizure. I ran out of the bed and actually slipped myself on the tiles. 'He was bleeding from his mouth and vigorously shaking. He had never had a seizure before. I was trying to stay as calm as I could.' Lauren quickly alerted hotel staff before calling an ambulance where Gabe was rushed to the nearest hospital. There, Lauren was told Gabe had suffered a large bleed on the brain and needed to be transferred to another hospital for surgery. She said: 'I was literally fighting for Gabe's life and it seemed like it was so out of my hands. They finally got Gabe into surgery seven and a half hours after his fall. Just hours after arriving at their resort, 27-year-old Gabe slipped on the hotel's bathroom tiles, breaking his spine and suffering a large bleed on his brain Gabe has since been transferred to a facility in his home-state of Pennsylvania where he underwent a second brain surgery and remains in a coma 'At one point, he almost flatlined. I was mentally preparing myself that Gabe was going to die in front of me. I felt completely hopeless. 'I was crying to my dad on the phone saying Gabe was dying and it was life or death. I felt like I was letting Gabe down.' After a four-hour surgery, Gabe was then taken back to the first hospital where he remained on the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator. Lauren made arrangements for her new husband to be flown from Jamaica back to the US - but this was delayed due to the ongoing hurricane at the time. Once the weather improved, Gabe was flown to Florida where doctors discovered he had broken a vertebrae in his spine and required a tracheotomy. Lauren said: 'They believe when he fell he hit his back and must've hit his head falling backwards. I think he just fell backwards which would make sense why he gasped and it looked like he didn't brace himself at all. 'It was glazed tile so it was pretty slippery, it wasn't wet. When I ran over to him, I even slipped over myself. It's super humid outside so I don't know if that's related. It's just such a freak accident.' Gabe has since been transferred to a facility in his home-state of Pennsylvania where he underwent a second brain surgery and remains in a coma. Gabe is currently still in a coma and is racking up medical debt Lauren said: 'He's still in a coma. It's been nearly two months now. He has opened his mouth, he can move his fingers and toes, but he's not conscious. Sometimes he's more alert and other times he's in a more unconscious state. 'I don't know what his memory will be like and what he'll have to relearn. It's truly just a waiting game. We're all just waiting on Gabe to wake up. I do believe he can hear us so I've been talking to him a lot. 'We don't know what his recovery looks like or if there'll be permanent damage. I think he's making a recovery towards waking up. Despite having travel insurance and primary healthcare, Lauren has had to fork out more than $28,000 in medical bills for Gabe's care since his accident two months ago. A family friend subsequently launched a fundraiser to help with hospital bills and any rehabilitation costs Gabe may need in the future. 'We were only married four days before this happened. It has been the worst two months of my life,' Lauren said. 'I'm so glad we had our wedding and I keep holding onto that and we were able to get married but the first two months have been horrific.' Read more: Why do the majority of Brits fake thanks at Christmas Ed Balls revealed he once bought his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, a size 16 dress for Christmas. The former Labour Cabinet minister, 57, left co-presenter Susanna Reid in stitches, on Good Morning Britain after he revealed he bought his slender wife, 55, the frock which was much too big for her, after he guessed her dress size. The comical moment came after newsreader Charlotte Hawkins revealed a survey said a third of people claim to love gifts they actually hate. Sharing his own experience, she said: 'I bought Yvette a dress once and she looked at me and said ''honestly have you got the receipt? I'm taking it straight back'.' 'She said 'thanks for the thought but frankly I am never wearing that, I will have the receipt and I'll take it back'. It was my best effort, it didn't take me too long to be honest. Susanna quipped: 'Christmas must be fun at your house... was it the style or the size that you got really badly wrong?' To which Ed replied: 'The size was 14 or 16 I can't remember, I gambled on the size.' Susanna added: 'Yes you did, you really did from what I know of Yvette.' Ed Balls, 57, left co-presenter Susanna Reid speechless on Good Morning Britain after he revealed he bought he slender wife Yvette Cooper, 55, a size 16 dress after he guessed her size Elsewhere Susanna said she would be 'grateful' for any gift given to her, saying it's 'really weird' to be ungrateful. She said: 'I think it's strange to say to someone 'I don't like it', if someone has given you a gift it shows they have been thoughtful.' However Ed said he has previously been honest with his wife about a birthday present he didn't like. He said: 'One birthday Yvette bought me a colander and saucepan, I didn't need a colander for my birthday.' Pip Heywood, Managing Director at thortful, which commissioned the survey of 2,000 Brits, said: A meaningful message can often mean more than a last-minute, impulse purchase. Our research shows were a sentimental nation that appreciates a heartfelt message over wasted presents. This Christmas, were encouraging more thoughtful, meaningful connections across the nation. As many as 69 per cent of Brits would not dream of telling someone they didnt like a gift given to them - with a third regularly pretending to like pressies they actually hate, according to a new survey. In fact, half admit they often receive Christmas gifts they dislike - so much so that 60 per cent believe they have perfected the art of faking their joy. Ed revealed he once bought his wife Home Secretary Yvette Cooper a size 16 dress for Christmas but she asked for the receipt Sharing his own experience, she said: 'I bought Yvette a dress once and she looked at me and said ''honestly have you got the receipt? I'm taking it straight back' Ed and Yvette Cooper outside their home in London in 2016 The awkward moment comes after Ed was forced to sit out an interview with his wife Yvette on Good Morning Britain earlier this month after sparking a 'bias' row. The former Labour Cabinet minister left co-presenter Susanna to ask the questions during the Home Secretary's appearance this morning. 'As you know she's my wife, so I'll sit this one out,' Mr Balls said. It came after ITV conceded that he would not be allowed to interrogate his spouse again following an outcry in August. The previous interview was branded 'embarrassing to the extreme' by viewers concerned about the potential conflict of interest - although bosses insisted that both behaved 'professionally' and it was not against rules. Thousands of people made official complaints to the regulator about the episode of the breakfast show which included Ms Cooper being questioned over the Labour government's handling of riots. Ed served as Education Secretary and shadow chancellor before losing his Commons seat in 2015, and pursuing a career on TV. He asked his wife during the exchange on August 5 whether officers had policed protests by far-right activists and pro-Palestine demonstrators differently. Ed Balls left co-presenter Susanna Reid to ask the questions during the Home Secretary's appearance Yvette, who has three children with him, responded by saying police had to operate 'without fear or favour, whatever the kinds of crimes it is that they face'. He also asked her whether there had been a 'two-tier approach' to policing, and if police have been 'softer and more cautious' when policing the Gaza demonstrations compared with a 'tougher' approach over the previous week. Before that interview, Ed told viewers he had 'genuine questions' for Yvette, as he has 'rarely seen her at all in the last week' because of the recent disorder. The following month the boss of ITV vowed the scenes would not be repeated, despite Ofcom not pursuing an investigation. Chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: 'Would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.' Shane Harty said he was 'showing off' before the crash, the court heard The groomsman who caused a fatal crash that killed his cousin who was just hours away from marrying his pregnant fiancee has avoided jail - instead receiving an 18 month suspended sentence and a five-year road ban. Shane Harty, 21, of Tola Park, Shannon, County Clare, initially pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving, which resulted in the death of Myles 'Miley' Harty, 20, who was in the front passenger seat of the car in August 2021. Harty was arrested at the scene after the Skoda hatchback smashed into a pole at around 1am in Limerick, instantly killing the groom and injuring another male in the rear of the car. Myles was due to marry his bride Kate Quilligan, who has been left heartbroken by the tragedy, at St Munchin's Church in Limerick City just hours later, but their family and friends instead mourned his death outside the venue. To further add to the tragedy, Kate went on to discover that she was pregnant with a 'miracle' baby just one month after Myles' death. Shane admitted that he was speeding and 'showing off' when he was driving Myles and cousin Daniel Harty to a 24-hour shop near their homes, according to Irish Mirror. He was first charged with one count of dangerous driving, however, one week before he was due to appear at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, the State accepted his plea of a lesser offence of careless driving causing Myles's death, holding a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a 10,000 fine. Shane's barrister Brian McInerney asked sentencing judge Colin Daly to consider that the 21-year-old was remorseful, had no prior convictions or traces of alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the crash, and was cooperative after the event. Shane this week heard that will not serve prison time. Shane Harty (pictured outside of Limerick Circuit Criminal Court), 21 of Tola Park, Shannon Co Clare, who caused a crash that killed his cousin who was due to marry his pregnant fiancee received a fully suspended 18-month jail sentence and a five-year road ban Myles was due to marry his sweetheart Kate Quilligan (pictured together) at St Munchin's Church in Limerick City McInerney said: '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,' the Irish Mirror reported. After extending his sympathies to Myles Harty's family, the judge concluded: 'Shane Harty will have to live with this for the rest of his life. I'm quite sure that living with the consequences will ensure Shane Harty will change his attitude to speed.' Writing in a letter to Kate and Myles's family, Shane wrote that he had lost his 'best friend' and that he wished he 'could turn back time', the court heard. The 21-year-old had also told the gardai that he regretted 'everything' and would have reduced his speed if he could go back in time. While the forensic collision investigator who examined the scene was unable to conclude the exact speed that the car was travelling at prior to the crash, he proposed an estimate that the car was travelling above the speed limit of 80kmh. Shane lost control of the car and hit a telephone pole, which smashed through the car's front windscreen and impacted Myles's head, causing multiple facial and skull fractures, which instantly killed him. Writing in her victim impact statement, Kate explained how the 'nightmare' will never leave her and how Myles's death has 'robbed our son, Miley, of his father'. Hours before the 20-year-old's death, Kate shared a post on social media expressing her excitement about marrying her 'best friend in the whole world'. Shane admitted to careless driving resulting in the death of Myles 'Miley' Harty (pictured) just hours before his wedding The bride-to-be switched her wedding into a funeral for Myles, calling it the 'worst' day of her life She wrote: 'Can't believe I'm marrying my best friend in the whole world in the morning. See you at the altar babes. Husband and wife in the morning, our fairytale has finally come.' After the fatal crash, Kate gathered friends and family at the wedding venue to mourn the loss of her fiance, 'because that's where we should be celebrating the best day of our life at that church but instead it's the worst', she later said. Fr Sean O'Longaigh, Askeaton Parish Priest, said Myles was well-known in his rural west Limerick community, adding: 'The family must be in bits.' At the time of Myles' death, Kate said: 'I love you forever. It will always be me and you no matter what. 'I love you unconditionally my gentle giant, you didn't deserve this my handsome baby boy.' Just one month on from the tragic death, Kate revealed that she was pregnant with her 'miracle' baby. 'To say I'm happy is an understatement,' Kate wrote on social media to announce her pregnancy. She continued: 'My Miley couldn't leave me on this earth alone, so he blessed me with our very own miracle baby. 'I cannot wait to get my baby in my hands. You only ever gave me the best and you're still only blessing me with the best.' One month after Myley's tragic death in August 2021, Kate discovered that she was pregnant with a 'miracle' baby 'Love you and our miracle baby on the way. I'm always going to have a piece of you now my Miley. Love you and our prince or princess on the way.' In another post, she added: 'Can't wait to get to meet our prince or princess. Their daddy is one proud man in heaven. 'All we ever wanted was our own little family and now our dream is coming true. Love the two of ye so much.' Accompanying Kate's post was a picture of two outfits for the baby, with one having the words 'handpicked for earth by my daddy in heaven' emblazoned across the front and another saying, 'I love my daddy Miley in heaven'. The future King of Norway's stepson has been released from custody after he was arrested on suspicion of rape last week, according to Norwegian media. A judge requested that Marius Borg Hiby - who is Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway's son - be taken into custody for a week last Wednesday, following his arrest on 18th November. The 27-year-old - who has been accused of a second rape - was banned from having visitors and letters during his stay in custody due to the risk of tampering with evidence, NRK reported. Now, a week on, police have said they would not seek further detention of Borg Hiby because they believe there is no longer a danger that evidence will be lost or destroyed. At the time, police allegedly requested that Borg Hiby be detained for two weeks, but he was only held for one, according to local paper Se Og Hor. They also reported that he has been given two new restraining orders. Speaking of Borg Hiby's release, his defence lawyer yvind Bratlien told NRK: 'This was not surprising. He shouldn't have been imprisoned at all. I think it was wrong, I won't say more.' Oslo police also began an investigation into a new allegation of a sexual offence, for which he has not been charged, NRK reported. Details about the new allegations were not immediately available. Police said they would not seek further detention of Marius Borg Hiby because there was no indication that important evidence would be removed or tampered with Borg Hiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties. He was arrested last week in Oslo on a preliminary charge of having had 'sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act.' A preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows authorities to detain suspects during an investigation. At the time, police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, but only that 'the victim must have been unable to resist the act.' Norwegian media reported that Borg Hiby has denied the accusation. 'Marius is facing serious accusations, which the police and the judiciary will deal with... I am convinced they will do a good job,' Prince Haakon told public broadcaster NRK before the detention order last week. Speaking about the second allegation, police lawyer Andreas Kruszewski had said it 'involves sexual intercourse without consent with a woman incapable of resisting the act'. Investigators searched and seized items from Borg Hiby's home. The police investigation is ongoing, and no trial date has been set. Since his arrest, a shocking video of Borg Hiby has been shared with the Norwegian publication Se og Hr, which allegedly shows the former mechanic illustrating how he ended the relationship with an ex. Borg Hiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship The Norwegian royal family was rocked by Hiby's first arrest at the beginning of August. Pictured with his mother in 2016 When he turned 20, the royal court announced Marius was stepping away from public life and his profile was removed from the family's official website In the clip, Borg Hiby is reportedly asked: 'How did you break up with your last girlfriend?'. Shrugging his shoulders, he then leans forward towards the camera as he makes a slapping gesture with his hands. It is not known when the video was recorded - but it was allegedly published in a group in Borg Hiby's own network, which consists of around 50 people. Borg Hiby's lawyer, Bratlien, said his client was innocent and was opposed to being held in preventive detention. Bratlien said he would appeal the detention ruling, but welcomed the fact that judges had not granted the police request for a two-week detention. 'We consider that promising,' he said in a written statement to NRK. The rape charge comes after he was accused of bodily harm following a late-night row on August 4 at the Oslo apartment of a woman he was having a relationship with, police said. Norwegian media reported that police found a knife stuck in one of the woman's bedroom walls at the time. Borg Hiby in a later statement to the media admitted to causing her bodily harm while he was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol and of damaging her apartment. He said he regretted his acts. Borg Hiby was arrested again in September for breaching a restraining order. When he was detained last Monday, he was in a car with the alleged victim of the August incident, according to police. Borg Hiby was raised by the royal couple alongside his step-siblings Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18. Unlike them however he has no official public role. The Norwegian royal family was rocked by Borg Hiby's first arrest at the beginning of August, after a woman - Rebecca Helberg Arntsen - was left in hospital with her injuries following an attack. Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Marius Borg Hiby pictured in 2019 in Oslo A week after his arrest, Borg Hiby admitted to the assault on Rebecca, whom he referred to as his 'girlfriend' (her lawyers have refuted this claim). In a statement issued via his own lawyer, Borg Hiby said he suffers from 'several mental disorders' and has 'struggled with substance abuse for a long time', which he said he is resuming treatment for. The statement read: 'Last weekend something happened that should never have happened. I committed bodily harm and destroyed objects in an apartment in the intoxication of alcohol and cocaine after an argument. 'I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past. 'The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police. 'For me, the most important thing is to say sorry to my girlfriend. She deserved neither what happened that night, nor the extreme pressure from both the Norwegian and foreign press afterwards.' Mette-Marit's eldest son also apologised to his family for his actions that have 'greatly affected you'. Weeks later, the 27-year-old was taken into custody after breaching a restraining order. The restraining order in question was for the protection of Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom Borg Hiby admitted to assaulting, in a booze and drug-fuelled attack on 4 August, which saw him arrested for the first time and held in a police cell overnight. Denmark's Victoria Kjr Theilvig was crowned the Miss Universe's winner for 2024 - becoming the first Dane to ever win the competition earlier this month. But now, the 21-year-old, who was praised by some fans as the 'anti-woke winner' following her victory in Mexico City, has been criticised for appearing to lip-sync the N-word at the top of the Empire State Building. In a TikTok video posted from the New York City skyscraper, the Denmark pageant star sang along to Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind,' which includes the racial slur. Some on social media quickly condemned Victoria's miming of the N-word, calling for her to apologise. The Miss Universe organisation and Victoria herself have yet to publicly address the controversy. MailOnline has contacted both for comment. Victoria beat more than 120 other contestants to win the 73rd Miss Universe title on November 16. She broke down in tears as her name was announced by American host Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo. A competitive dancer and aspiring lawyer, Victoria was asked how she would live differently if nobody would judge her, to which she said she wouldn't change anything, saying: 'I live by each day.' When questioned by the judging panel on what she would say to those watching, the Danish dancer urged viewers to 'keep fighting no matter where you come from.' Newly-crowned Miss Universe Victoria Kjaer Theilvig is facing criticism after a TikTok video surfaced showing her miming the N-word, while singing along to a Jay-Z song 'I stand here today because I want a change, I want to make history, and that's what I'm doing tonight,' she said. In her video for Miss Universe, Victoria revealed how she came from a 'very dysfunctional family', according to Business Insider. She said: 'I have worked so much on myself. I'm standing here today as the strongest version I have ever been.' She explained how she wanted to use her platform to show that 'there is always a new day tomorrow'. 'You don't let your past define the person you are and the person you want to be,' she insisted in the footage. 'No matter where you came from, no matter your background story, you can always choose to turn it into something positive. So just keep dreaming, and dream big.' Elsewhere, the Danish winner is an animal rights advocate, volunteering at her local animal shelter and caring for rescued rabbits. Explaining why the issue is so important to her, she said: 'Every day, countless animals suffer in silence. They don't have a voice to speak up for their own rights, and they cannot advocate for their own well-being. Victoria Kjr Theilvig is crowned Miss Universe 2024 and becomes the first Dane to ever win the competition Victoria beat more than 120 other contestants to win the 73rd Miss Universe title on November 16 Victoria (pictured) broke down in tears as her name was announced by American host Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo A competitive dancer and aspiring lawyer, Victoria was asked how she would live differently if nobody would judge her, to which she said she wouldn't change anything, saying: 'I live by each day.' 'By advocating for animal protection, we not only highlight the importance of kindness, but we also showcase the beauty of our shared humanity.' The pageant queen grew up in Copenhagen, and has worked as a professional dancer and dance teacher. She has a bachelor's degree in business and marketing and currently works in the diamond-selling business. She reportedly started her own eyelash-extension company when she was aged just 16 and began competing in pageants at five years old. She joined the Miss Denmark competition when she turned 17. Victoria was the second-runner up at Miss Denmark 2021. She joined the Miss Grand International franchise the following year and represented Denmark at Miss Grand International 2022, where she placed in the Top 20. The 21-year-old was appointed Miss Universe Denmark in September this year after Emma Heyst, who had been crowned Miss Denmark 2024, declined to compete in the international pageant. Victoria was chosen by the Miss Denmark Organization to take Emma's place at the competition and subsequently became the first-ever Danish Miss Universe. The glamorous competitive dancer and aspiring lawyer put on an extravagant display at the 73rd Miss Universe final in Mexico City Victoria was crowned as Miss Universe 2024 in The 73rd Miss Universe Competition The aspiring lawyer will now spend the next year attending social gatherings, campaigning for different causes and speaking at high-profile forums and events. She will earn an estimated $250,000 annual salary working full-time as Miss Universe and will live in a luxurious New York City apartment as she carries out her duties, Marca reported. In addition to the financial benefits, she will have the opportunity to wear a $5.5million diamond encrusted crown and have access to a slew of hair and beauty products, fashion lines and stylists, as well as photography and modelling sessions. Her selection as the winner this year was seen as a victory for the 'anti-woke' after the 2023 competition featured married, plus-sized, and transgender contestants. They say that behind every great man, there stands a woman - and in Jamie Oliver's case, that's been his wife Jools for the past 33 years. This morning, the celebrity chef, 49, shared a gushing tribute to his other half with his 10.5m followers - describing Jools as the 'most incredible wife, best friend and wonderful human' he has ever known on her 50t birthday. The couple, who share five children and live in Essex, met as teenagers when Jamie's friend convinced him to go on a double date with Jools. Shortly afterwards, Jools, then aged 17, relocated to Tokyo for three months for work - prompting Jamie, who is a self-confessed romantic, wrote her love letters everyday. But while the couple's early romance - when Jamie was an aspiring chef and Jools a waitress - sounds like it's been lifted from a rom-com, they have had their fair share of trying times too - particularly when the TV star reached 'rock star' levels of fame in 1999. In the years that followed, Jools has spoken about monitoring her husband's phones and emails - prompting Jamie, who previously said he feels 'lonely sometimes' in his marriage, to accuse her of being 'jealous'. The couple have also been open about their heartbreak over their devastating five miscarriages, including one that almost cost Jools her life and left her with PTSD. Here FEMAIL reveals how Jools Oliver has been the silent force behind Jamie's success for the past three decades. Pictured: Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools on their wedding day in 2000. The couple went on to have five children The couple (pictured at Wimbledon this July), who share five children and live in Essex, met as teenagers when Jamie's friend convinced him to go on a double date with Jools Early shows of romance and heartwarming proposal In 1992, Jamie Oliver met his future wife when he went on a double date with his friend Jimmy Doherty, who has also become a TV presenter. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2018, Jamie explained how Jimmy introduced him to Jools - who went by Juliette Norton then - when he was 18 years old. He said: 'We went on a double date to the cinema in Cambridge me, Jamie, Juliette and Sue Stump. 'He had a Fiesta with big fog lights and an exhaust like a tractor on it. We were going over a hill listening to Bob Marley, Buffalo Soldier. 'Were all singing, the guy braked in front of us and Jamie smashed into him and knocked his front lights out.' Oliver added: My fog lights were hanging off so I just ripped them out and threw them away. I was so upset. Your cars everything at that age, says Jimmy. Juliette must have thought, What the hell?"' In 1992, Jamie Oliver met his future wife when he went on a double date with his friend Jimmy Doherty, who has also become a TV presenter Not long after, Jools moved to Tokyo for a job and detailed how Jamie wrote to her every single day for three months. In 2017, Jools shared a picture of the letters she has kept from her time away - writing: 'When I was 17 I worked in Tokyo for three months and every single day Jamie sent me a letter or a fax without fail! These are only half of them.' The mother-of-five also detailed how she has also hung onto a bottle of perfume Jamie bought her at Liverpool Street station in London, where they would meet after she'd finished work and he broke up from college. Reflecting on this time, Jamie admitted that they were heavily reliant on Jools' job to survive in London. He told Flow Magazine: 'I was as poor as a church mouse; at the end of the month, Id hardly have 100 left, and without Jools tips things would have been really grim.' Earlier this month, Jamie explained how Jools' father, who worked as a stockbroker, had a devastating stroke when she was nine, which 'really affected her childhood'. In an interview on the Will & Woody show, the chef said: 'I was lucky enough to know him.' Not long after they began dating, Jamie asked Jools' father for his permission to propose - but was told they were too young to get married. Undated photo of Jamie and Jools Oliver before their wedding in 2000. The couple have been together since they were teenagers Pictured: Jools Oliver as a child with her late father. On Father's Day in 2020, Jools paid tribute to her late parent - writing: 'I am so glad Jamie got to meet my dad and they got on so well.' When she was 22 years old, Jools' father sadly passed away. As he could no longer ask him for permission, Jamie decided to find a way to work his late father-in-law into his romantic proposal. The father-of-five explained: 'I proposed to Jools in the pouring rain on Christmas Eve over his grave, which sounds really sad, but it was more out of respect for wanting to do it in front of him, even though he wasn't alive. 'It was a vile, dark time - but such a beautiful thing.' On Father's Day in 2020, Jools paid tribute to her late parent - writing: 'I am so glad Jamie got to meet my dad and they got on so well. 'I always wanted to marry a kind, gentle man who would be a brilliant father to our children and to always put family first. I believe I did just that!' Struggle with 'rock star' fame and Jamie's 'broken promise' Pictured: Jamie Oliver in a promotional image for The Naked Chef in 1999, Jools (left) seen kissing his cheek In 1999, Jamie Oliver skyrocketed to fame when his show The Naked Chef premiered on BBC Two. He subsequently went on to release a series of best-selling cookbooks, which helped turn him into a household name. During the early days of their relationship, Jamie and Jools had agreed he would spend five years on the London restaurant scene before returning to Essex to open a pub and raise a family. However, their lives ended up playing out drastically differently. After training at Westminster Catering College and working in Carluccio's, the 23-year-old became the sous chef at The River Cafe - where his natural talent in front of the cameras was picked up by BBC producers filming a documentary about the Fulham restaurant. In an interview with The Telegraph in 2010, Jamie explained how women began 'throwing themselves' at him during the show's three-year run. He said: 'It was classic slightly rock star-esque: random knickers and bras getting thrown at you. 'When The Naked Chef kicked off, it was a bit like a pop band. The memories of it were absolutely ballistically crazy.' In 1999, Jamie Oliver (pictured) skyrocketed to fame when his show The Naked Chef premiered on BBC Two During the early days of their relationship, Jamie and Jools had agreed he would spent five years on the London restaurant scene before returning to Essex to open a pub. Undated photo of the couple One year after the show aired, Jamie and Jools tied the knot at their local church in Essex - with the chef later admitting he found the ceremony 'awkward and embarrassing'. During his appearance on the Newlyweds podcast, he explained: 'The first time you get married, it's like, it just feels a bit awkward and embarrassing with all your family there. But if you ever get married again, if you get to 10 years or 20 years, the words are different. Because you've earned every single line and it was really, really emotional.' After their wedding, Jools worked as Jamie's personal assistant - but stepped back from the role to focus on childcare. Elsewhere in his Flow magazine interview, Jamie hinted that his wife never sought out fame - and would have 'liked a more modest life'. Although The Naked Chef ended in 2001, Jamie then went on to present the shows Oliver's Twist and Jamie's Kitchen. Meanwhile, Jamie's School Dinners - which was then picked up around the world - saw the chef travel around the UK trying to improve the quality of meals served to schoolchildren. At the height of his fame in 2005, Jamie promised his wife he would step back from work for six months to spend more time with their growing family. Jamie Oliver steps out of Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital with wife Jools and daughter Poppy Honey, after the birth of Daisy Boo in 2003 At the time, they had daughters Poppy Honey - who was born in March 2002 - and Daisy Boo, who followed in April 2003. However, the father-of-two reportedly broke this promise when he embarked on a six-week tour of Italy for the Channel 4 show Jamie's Great Italian Escape. During the show, viewers speculated Jamie and Jools' marriage was under strain - as the chef was filmed telling his wife to 'f**k off' when she called, The Metro reported at the time. How Jools became Jamie's 'rock' - despite 'bickering all the time' In the years that followed, Jamie admitted he regretted spending so much time away from his eldest daughters when they were younger - and how his wife has helped him find a balance between his demanding career and personal life. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2013, he said: 'I used to go away for four weeks at a time quite often when the girls were about two and three. I was growing a business. And I would think it didnt matter and they were happy with Jools. Pictured: Jools Oliver in 2000. At the time, the mother-of-five was working as Jamie Oliver's personal assistant This morning, the celebrity chef, 49, shared a gushing tribute to his other half with his 10.5m followers - describing Jools as the 'most incredible wife, best friend and wonderful human' he has ever known on her 50t birthday 'But I realise now it did matter. I have a wonderful relationship with my older girls and Im not worried about anything, but I think Ill have to earn my stripes with them when theyre older.' As a result, Jamie adjusted his schedule to get home from work at 6pm at least two evenings a week to put the children to bed. Jools has also ensured her husband takes weekends off and also has six weeks holiday per year. In 2021, Jamie detailed how Jools has been a silent force who has allowed him to flourish in his career. Speaking to the Australian magazine Women's Weekly, he explained: 'She's been a really solid and utterly important part of my life and my job's quite exciting. '[My job] expects quite a lot, and she's my rock. She allows me to do my thing but then comes home and lets me be me... And I think she still quite likes me, which is really nice.' Around this time, Jools said of their marriage: 'We bicker all the time. A lot of my friends can't believe how much. He drives me mad because he never listens to me and I drive him mad because I can be horribly selfish.' Jamie Oliver, Jools Oliver and their family pose with their new baby at The Portland Street Hospital on August 8, 2016 Strict parenting revealed In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Jamie revealed his wife was a 'militant' follower of the controversial childcare guru Gina Ford, who is known for her divisive parenting style. Gina, who advocates a rigid timed method of sleeping and feeding, became a household name after millions of copies of her books including The Contented Little Baby Book - were sold in the 1990s and 2000s. Although she didn't have children of her own, she used her 12 years of looking after 300 babies as a maternity nurse to develop her regime. She tells parents their baby will sleep through the night if they keep to a strict routine from birth with feeds and naps at precise intervals. Comparing the parenting approach to 'communism', Jamie said: 'What people don't understand is that sticking to Gina Ford is a job, it's not easy, it's not casual, it doesn't suit you. Jamie Oliver poses proudly with wife Jools Oliver and their new daughter Petal Oliver on the steps of the Portland Hospital 'I see some of my friends who have a very casual approach you must never judge but when their kids are going to bed at two in the morning, they look knackered. Gina's basically just a structured routine, and it's quite a lot to remember, but it does work.' Jools accuses Jamie of cheating and 'monitors phone' Although they have one of the most long-standing relationships in showbiz, Jools and Jamie's marriage has also faced some challenges. In 2011, Jools admitted that she keeps her husband in check by monitoring his devices and social media accounts. She told The Telegraph: 'I'll check his email. I'll check his Twitter. Earlier this month, Jamie (pictured in 2019 with his wife) explained how Jools' father, who worked as a stockbroker, had a devastating stroke when she was nine, which 'really affected her childhood' 'I'll check his phone. Everything seems fine. He says I'm a jealous girl, but I think I'm fairly laidback, considering.' Seven years later, Jamie revealed his wife had accused him of having an affair in an interview with Closer magazine. He said: 'My missus accused me of having an affair once, because I kept disappearing and coming back with green on my knees. It was courgette season and I was in the vegetable patch!' Miscarriage heartbreaks and getting involved in business again She may have the family she always dreamt of now - but Jools' road to motherhood wasn't always smooth-sailing. Pictured: Undated photo of Jamie and Jools Oliver with their son River, who celebrated his eighth birthday this year Over the years, the mother suffered five miscarriages - including one in lockdown and another that could have cost her her life. Appearing on the baby loss charity Saying Goodbye's Life & Soul podcast in 2021, Jools explained how she 'felt guilty' speaking about her miscarriages because she thought she was putting her loved ones 'through hell for her own selfish gain'. She said: 'I stopped telling my friends, I didnt even tell my mum as I was sure she was thinking, "Youre 40 something, youve got a wonderful family, youve got everything youve ever wanted, why are you pushing it?"' Elsewhere in the podcast, Jools detailed how her second miscarriage, which made her home look like a 'murder scene', could have proven fatal and has left her with PTSD. What's more, it seems like this struggle brought Jamie and Jools closer than ever - as the couple are now working together again. Having previously worked as Jamie's personal assistant after their wedding, the celebrity chef's 'rock' is now employed by his company, which has had a major comeback. Last year, Jamie and Jools reportedly paid themselves 6.8m - after sales in Jamie's cookery school increased by 35 per cent. 'Embarrassing' vow renewal Jamie Oliver has admitted he was 'embarrassed' about renewing his wedding vows to wife of 24-years Jools, both, ahead of their lavish Maldives ceremony last year (pictured) Earlier this year, Jamie, Jools and their five children - Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 12, and River, seven - flew out to the Maldives to renew their vows. Despite his reservations Jamie said he ended up 'probably enjoying [the day] more than anyone' and they went on to exchange vows for second time earlier this year in Las Vegas to mark their 24th anniversary. Speaking on the Newlyweds podcast he told hosts Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo: 'We were going to renew our vows at 20 years and then covid happened. So, it was at 23 years. 'The girls were leaving for university and stuff, so it did feel like the nest was starting to break up. Jools arrived at the chapel wearing denim jeans, a white blouse and cowboy boots, while Jamie opted for a smarter ensemble and wore a tailored suit In June they couple tied the knot once again in a casual ceremony, in front of a tribute to Jool's favourite hitmaker of all time, Elvis Presley in Vegas 'We'd never been on what you would call a posh holiday, so we went to the Maldives. I was a bit embarrassed about the whole thing, if I'm really honest, and I wasn't so into it until we got there, and then when we got there, I think I probably enjoyed it more than anyone. It was just so nice'. Elsewhere in the podcast, Jamie admitted that he has felt 'lonely sometimes' in his marriage and added: 'There's sometimes, like a month and a half, were you don't quite like each other very much.' However, he then went on to confess he'll get over that feeling and fall in love with his wife all over again. In June they couple tied the knot once again in a casual ceremony, in front of a tribute to Jool's favourite hitmaker of all time, Elvis Presley in Vegas. Last week, Jamie shared a touching moment with an Aboriginal activist after his second children's book, Billy and the Epic Escape, was pulled from Australian shelves. The British chef made the decision following condemnation of its 'damaging and disrespectful' Indigenous plot. Oliver sat down for an interview with 10 News First's Narelda Jacobs this week, during which he shared an embrace with Mundanara Bayles, the Managing Director and co-founder of the BlackCard. The pair had shared a long video call the day prior, during which they talked over the issues raised by the First Nations community, with Bayles admitting tears were shed through the emotional chat. Queen Letizia of Spain looked sensational in a fitted burgundy dress as she stepped out with her husband King Felipe on Wednesday. The Spanish royal, 52, oozed glamour as she attended the ceremony of the Gold Medals for Merit In Fine Arts Seville, Spain. The mother-of-two's stylish high neck, long sleeved frock featured a side slit at the hem and was cinched at the waist by a large black belt. The Spanish Queen paired her chic dress with some pointed black heels and a matching leather handbag. She completed the look with pearl drop earrings and her brunette locks were styled in a straight bob. King Felipe looked typically smart in a black suit which he paired with a purple tie and white shirt. The Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts is awarded by the Spanish ministry of culture to individuals or organizations excelling in artistic and cultural works. It is also given to those who provide valuable services in the promotion of art and culture along with the conservation of the artistic heritage. Queen Letizia of Spain looked sensational in a fitted burgundy dress as she stepped out with her husband King Felipe on Wednesday It comes after Letizia looked elegant on Wednesday as she attended the 85th Madrid Press Association Awards. The royal, who was once a journalist herself, granted the awards at the Real Casa de Correos (The Royal House of the Post Office) in Puerta del Sol, which serves as the office for the head of regional government. Letizia looked effortlessly glamorous in the smart three-piece suit - a relatively affordable option from high street brand Mango. The Queen paired the 79.00 jacket with 49.99 trousers and a 39.99 waistcoat, with the total cost coming to 169 (140). The stunning three-piece suit in mottled grey wool made for a minimalist yet elegant ensemble, perfect for the increasingly cold weather and complete with a pointed v-neck, shoulder pads and straight-cut tailored trousers. She added a smart black handbag with a chain from Nina Ricci, and black loafers from Hugo Boss. Letizia awarded journalist Pedro Piqueras the APM award for Best Journalist of the Year 2023, and was accompanied by President of Madrid's Press Association, Maria Rey. The mother-of-two will no doubt be in her element at the awards ceremony as a former journalist herself, who met her husband during an interview in the early 2000s. The Spanish royal, 52, oozed glamour as she attended the ceremony of the Gold Medals for Merit In Fine Arts Seville, Spain The mother-of-two's stylish high neck, long sleeved frock featured a side slit at the hem and was cinched at the waist by a large black belt The Spanish Queen paired her chic dress with some pointed black heels and a matching leather handbag She completed the look with pearl drop earrings and her brunette locks were styled in a straight bob Letizia's glam makeup enhanced her flawless complexion and featured her smokey eye King Felipe looked typically smart in a black suit which he paired with a purple tie and white shirt Queen Letizia looked elegant on Wednesday as she attended the 85th Madrid Press Association Awards Her journalism career saw her report from Washington, in the US, Guadalajara in Mexico and Iraq during the war. She also broadcast live from ground zero after the 9/11 attacks in September 2001. Letizia, whose father Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez and stepmother Ana Togores are both journalists, worked in TV and newspapers before marrying Felipe in 2004. After a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana, she went on to work for ABC, a popular national newspaper that enjoys the third largest circulation in Spain. Next came a stint at Spanish news agency EFE before a move to Guadalajara in Mexico saw her take on a role on local paper, Siglo 21. Back in Spain a year later, she worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specialising in economics, before moving to CNN+. By the time she met her husband-to-be, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where along with anchoring the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin, she reported on a wide range of breaking news events. The ceremony came just a day after Letizia and her husband King Felipe embraced locals who were affected by the flooding in Valencia. The Spanish monarchs visited the flood damaged town of Chiva, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain, in the aftermath of catastrophic deadly floods, where more than 200 people died. The visit is the first time the royal couple returned to the area after they were heckled by angry residents during their first visit to the Valencia region of Paiporta. Cadbury fans have been left devastated after discovering two beloved festive products won't be making a comeback this year. Fans flocked to social media to demand answers after noticing the Dairy Milk Mousse Snowman and the Dairy Milk Winter Orange Crisp bar have both been absent from Christmas confectionary aisles in various supermarkets across the UK. One chocolate fanatic, @rmckaysmith, declared on X: 'I'd absolutely sell my kidney for a Dairy Milk Snowman.' Another wrote: '@CadburyUK have you discontinued the Cadbury chocolate mousse snowman? I cant find them in any shops this year! #christmasisruined.' A third added: 'Hi Cadbury, where are your stocks of the Dairy Milk Snowman with the mousse filling this year? Can't find any advertised anywhere and my 8 year old loves them at Christmas. Another fan wrote: 'Are the Cadbury Mousse Chocolate Snowman 30g discontinued because my autism is extremely agitated. I bought over 120 last year and now there are none in sight PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY AND GIVE ME SNOWMANS.' Meanwhile, others shared their frustration over the missing Winter Orange Crisp bar, including a fan who asked the chocolate giant: 'Will you be bringing back the orange festive crisp bar this year?' Cadbury responded to the outcry on X, confirming the decision to shake up its Christmas line-up, leaving dozens of fans disappointed as they discovered the sweet treats won't be retuning to shops this year. Cadbury's Dairy Milk Winter Orange Crisp bar will not be returning to supermarket shelves this year Additionally, Cadbury's Dairy Milk Snowman will not be making a comeback this Christmas They wrote: 'Were always adapting our Christmas range to make sure everyone can find products they enjoy, reflecting changing consumer taste buds, which means weve made a few changes. 'Please check out our website for the full list and we hope you find something you enjoy.' Responding to the fan who inquired about the whereabouts of the Dairy Milk Winter Orange Crisp bar, Cadbury wrote: 'Hi there, we're always adapting our Christmas range to ensure there's something new for everyone. 'This year, we've made a few updates we think you will love. We understand some will miss the Dairy Milk Orange Crisp Bar. Who knows, we might see them again next year. We hope this helps. The disappointed fan replied: 'Fingers crossed its back next year! Me and my friends miss it!' Although the Winter Orange Crisp won't be making a comeback this year, an alternative beloved edition will return to Christmas confectionary aisles. Cadbury has delighted chocoholics everywhere by confirming that that the limited edition product will be available on UK supermarket shelves just in time for Christmas. Made with real peppermint oil, flavoured milk chocolate and honeycombed granules, the Dairy Milk Winter Mint Crisp bar is set to make its much-anticipated return for the festive season. Fans flocked to social media to demand answers after noticing the Dairy Milk Mousse Snowman and the Dairy Milk Winter Orange Crisp bar have both been absent this year The minty treat, which has been a favourite in Ireland since 1939, will also make an appearance in Cadbury's retro selection box. Earlier this year, the confectionary giant upset shoppers by announcing their decision to axe the retro Winter Mint Crisp chocolate bar. In a statement on X, Cadbury said: 'We understand your love for this product, but currently, there are no plans to reintroduce it.' Despite this, the celebrated chocolate bar has already hit supermarket shelves including Tesco where a 360 gram bar costs 4.50, or 4 for Clubcard members. The Duchess of Edinburgh shared a heartfelt moment with a Yazidi woman who was held captive by ISIS at a moving photography exhibition in London today. Sophie, 59, on Wednesday attended a special event at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office that was organised by Farida Global - a not-for-profit set up in support of genocide survivors and victims of conflict and religious persecution. The humanitarian organisation was set up by Farida Khalaf, a Yazidi activist and the co-author of The Girl Who Beat ISIS. Farida Global brought its travelling exhibition titled 'The Women Who Beat ISIS' to London for a special showing on November 27 that was attended by Sophie - as part of her work championing the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CSRV). According to a post on Farida Global's official Instagram account, the key themes addressed at the event included the ongoing impact of the Yazidi genocide and gender-based violence in conflicts. Sophie looked solemn as she studied the portraits of Yazidi women who endured the unspeakable horrors of captivity and violence at the hands of the ISIS. According to a press release shared by Farida Global on its Instagram page, the travelling exhibition features the 'testimony of Yazidi women who survived the vicious violence committed by Da'esh in Iraq' in 2014. Sophie picked a muted outfit for the visit on Wednesday, with the mother-of-two wearing a white maxi dress that skimmed her ankles with a grey blazer on top. The Duchess of Edinburgh on Wednesday attended a special event in London hosted by Farida Global - a not-for-profit set up in support of genocide survivors and victims of conflict and religious persecution. At the event, Sophie met Awaz Abdi - a Yazidi woman who was held captive by ISIS With one arm around Abdi, Sophie listened carefully to her experiences as the young girl shared a tender moment with the duchess Sophie, a passionate women's rights advocate, was also photographed deep in conversation with Yazidi survivor Awaz Abdi. With one arm around Abdi, Sophie listened carefully to her experiences as the young girl shared a tender moment with the duchess. Yazidis have suffered horrendous abuse and persecution by neighbouring groups for centuries. In 2014, IS invaded the Yazidi ancestral homeland of Sinjar, killing thousands and trafficking thousands more young women and children into slavery. Within days, nearly 10,000 people had been killed - shot, beheaded or burned alive - or kidnapped, according to the Public Library of Science journal PLOS Medicine. Ten years on, as survivors in refugee camps mark the anniversary of the genocide, many remain missing or unable to be identified from the scores of mass graves discovered. Last May, Sophie made a surprise visit to Iraq as part of her work championing the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CSRV). Sophie spent two days in the capital Baghdad, where she heard about the challenges facing Iraqi women and girls, and the ongoing work to protect and promote their rights, Buckingham Palace announced. Sophie (left) pictured with Abdi in London at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, where Farida Global's travelling exhibition 'The Women Who Beat ISIS' is on display Sophie looked solemn as she studied the portraits of Yazidi women who endured the unspeakable horrors of captivity and violence at the hands of the ISIS Sophie here pictured at 'The Women Who Beat ISIS' photography exhibition in London Sophie, a passionate women's rights advocate, addressed the gathering on Wednesday Last May, Sophie made a surprise visit to Iraq as part of her work championing the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CSRV). She is pictured here on November 26, 2024, at the photography exhibit in London Sophie in conversation with the organisers of 'The Women Who Beat ISIS' exhibit Sophie picked a muted outfit for the visit on Wednesday, with the mother-of-two wearing a white maxi dress that skimmed her ankles with a grey blazer on top Sophie and Yazidi survivor Awaz Abdi (left) exchange smiles Sophie appears introspective while being taken around the exhibit in London The previously unannounced trip, which was kept secret for security reasons, was made at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in support of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS), the Palace said. During the visit, Sophie visited Baghdad where she heard about the challenges facing Iraqi women and girls. She also travelled to Erbil where she spoke with civil society organisations working to address the impact of CRSV and promote the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peace processes. While in Erbil, the Duchess heard a Yazidi survivors experience of being separated from her children born of rape and her efforts to be reunited with them. Before returning to England, Sophie also spent time with Yazidi survivors of CSRV at Qadia Camp in Duhok, which is home to over 13,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). As a part of the surprise visit, she also toured a family planning centre, where she heard about the work being carried out to support the reproductive health and wellbeing of Iraqi women. Sophie's most recent public appearance in London on Wednesday comes days after she attended the 60th anniversary of the Wellbeing of Women charity. The duchess' visit coincided with the launch of the Wellbeing of Women's research impact report, which maps the charity's contribution to improving women's health since it was founded. As the charity's patron, Sophie thanked its volunteers for their tireless work to support the Wellbeing of Women over the years. In a speech, the charity's chair, Professor Dame Lesley Regan thanked the Duchess of Edinburgh 'for helping us show gratitude to our volunteers'. Sophie was named the Royal Patron of the Wellbeing of Women charity - that focuses on improving access to gynaecological and reproductive health care - in May 2021. During a conversation with Regan at the time, Sophie said it's 'about time we really had a grown-up conversation' about women's health. Then the Countess of Wessex, Sophie added she has a 'vested interest' in coming on board as the charity's royal patron because 'not a woman on the planet can say they haven't had to access support'. 'We've all been there, and it's about time we really had a grown-up conversation about it.' The purple-coloured drink will be added to UK restaurants for a limited time only McDonald's fans are buzzing with excitement as they anticipate the relaunch of a much-loved menu item in a matter of days. The Grimace Shake will return to menus in all 1,450 UK McDonalds restaurants from December 11 after being previously axed. The vibrant, blueberry-flavoured milkshake, inspired by the iconic purple mascot Grimace, first made its UK debut in August, where it quickly sold out after going viral on social media. Originally a classic Stateside flavour, the Grimace Shake's creamy, unique-coloured blend has proved to be a hit among sweet-toothed Brits, and many have been eagerly awaiting its return. This time, the Grimace Shake will be available for only two weeks - or while stocks last - so fans are advised to act quickly to avoid missing out. Anticipation for the Grimace Shakes comeback has already sparked a wave of excitement online, with fans taking to social media to share their enthusiasm. On X, one person wrote: 'The Grimace Shake is returning (for the first time in my country), I can't wait!' A second advised: 'So, the Grimace Shake is coming to the UK for a limited time. If you're gonna try it, it's a very sweet berry, vanilla bubblegum flavoured milkshake.' The Grimace Shake will return to menus in all 1,450 UK McDonalds restaurants from December 11 after being previously axed The vibrant, blueberry-flavoured milkshake, inspired by the iconic purple mascot Grimace, first made its UK debut in August , where it quickly sold out after going viral on social media A third wrote: 'Petition to get the grimace milkshake on the permanent menu for the uk. how can you expect me to only enjoy this DELIGHT for a week? #grimacemilkshake.' Meanwhile, another described the purple-hued beverage as the 'best milkshake on the menu.' The Grimace Shake will cost 2.69 for a medium or 2.99 for a large, slightly pricier than McDonalds classic milkshakes, which cost 1.99 and 2.19 respectively. However, prices may vary by location, so its worth checking ahead at your local branch. Unlike McDonalds traditional flavours - strawberry, chocolate, banana and vanilla - the Grimace Shake offers a bold twist with its blueberry-flavoured syrup blended into the fast food gian'ts signature creamy milkshake base. It marks a rare move for McDonald's to experiment with its milkshake offerings in the UK, though fans were treated to other limited-edition drinks, such as the Biscoff Frappe, earlier this year. Meanwhile, McDonald's announced plans to flood Britain's high streets with 200 new restaurants in the next four years. In its biggest expansion since 2002, the fast food chain announced in August a 1billion investment with a view to 'supporting successful high streets'. Originally a classic Stateside flavour, the Grimace Shake's creamy, unique-coloured blend has proved to be a hit among sweet-toothed Brits, particularly those on TikTok Anticipation for the Grimace Shakes comeback has already sparked a wave of excitement online, with fans taking to social media to share their enthusiasm The rollout will test new restaurant formats, including smaller branches, and is set to create some 24,000 jobs. It follows a grim few years for once bustling shopping hubs with recognisable names vanishing nationwide. Yesterday, Ted Baker became the most recent addition to the scrap heap after the closure of its last 31 stores. However, the move will spark concerns amid Britain's obesity crisis, which costs the country 100billlion per year, according to a recent analysis. Experts have long blamed the nation's ever-expanding waistline on the rise of processed, calorie-laden food served in restaurants such as the 200 new ones which will be opened by 2028. McDonald's new 1bn announcement, made in a report marking the brand's 50th year in Britain, represents a marked increase on the 618million invested in the five years to 2023. Hulu's reality show about 'soft-swinging' Mormon TikTok influencers in Utah is heating up after cameras started rolling for the show's second season last month. Not only is the cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives already at war on social media, now previously unseen footage of star Taylor Frankie Paul hooking up with another soft-swinging momfluencer has emerged online. The MomTok sex scandal first came to light in May 2022 when Taylor, a member of the group, revealed on TikTok that she, now ex-husband Tate, and other couples in Salt Lake City had swapped sexual partners without having penetrative sex at drunken parties. The group, along with Taylor's marriage, imploded after she and another husband fell in love and broke the strict soft-swinging rule of not having full intercourse. While most members of the group have remained anonymous and stayed out of the spotlight, one member, Makenna Gibbons, decided to out herself over the weekend by going public on TikTok and share her experience with the group. In a series of videos, Makenna said that she was 'ashamed' to have ever participated in the swinging and said that it led to her divorcing her now ex-husband, who she claimed had an 'affair' with one of the wives in the group. While Makenna never named the other wife in the video, Taylor soon outed herself by addressing the claims - on top of sharing outrageous footage of the two of them kissing. 'She never asked to stop, she was one of the instigators and sent her husband to get me, but tell your side sis,' Taylor wrote on TikTok. Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul (pictured) has released footage from her infamous 'soft-swinging' sex scandal Taylor shared a clip of herself kissing Makenna Gibbons after Makenna outed herself as part of the soft-swinging group in a series of videos The mom-of-three followed it up with a video of herself and Makenna kissing passionately, followed by another photo of Taylor, Makenna, and Makenna's ex-husband all together. She also posted an old text message from Makenna that read, 'I'm drunk and I wish I was kissing you.' In another video, Taylor said that Makenna 'did enjoy it' and 'never wanted it to stop.' While Taylor battles with Makenna online, she's also at odds with many of her Secret Lives of Mormon Wives castmates. Taylor had a huge falling out with Jessi Ngatikaura, Demi Engemann, and Mikayla Matthews following her appearance at the Country Music Awards in Nashville last week. The feud was sparked when Taylor, who was invited to attend the show and walk the red carpet, took to social media to complain that her castmates hadn't commented on her CMAs post. 'Not a single one of my girls from Momtok said anything on my CMA post,' she wrote. She added that it was 'awkward' because it was 'such a big night for me.' Makenna said that she was 'ashamed' to have ever participated in the swinging and said that it led to her divorcing her now ex-husband The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast are also at war with Taylor as filming continues for season two of the hit Hulu series Jessi, Demi, and Mikayla then clapped back, posting screenshots to show that they had either posted Taylor on their Instagram Stories or privately texted her to show their support. The drama snowballed from there as the women argued back and forth on social media, before both Taylor said that she would no longer be friends with them moving forward. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was officially renewed for a second season in early October, with the whole original cast returning. Since its premiere on Hulu on September 6, the show has proven to be a blockbuster success with viewers and even beat The Kardashians in the ratings. Its storyline revolves around #MomTok, a group of Mormon influencers who were plunged into a sex scandal when one of them revealed she was a swinger - and hinted some of the others may have been as well. Sparks flew between the members of the principal cast, which was made up of Jen Affleck, Demi Engemann, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, Taylor Frankie Paul and Layla Taylor. The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives was recently ranked the number-one unscripted show on Hulu, with the streamer's biggest premiere behind The Kardashians. DailyMail.com has contacted Taylor, Makenna, and her ex-husband for comment. Animal rights group PETA is being ridiculed online over their Thanksgiving campaign, which features a couple stuffing a turkey and making lewd comments. The promotional cartoon, which was shared online, depicts a couple stuffing a turkey for Thanksgiving while their kids watch in the kitchen doorway. Speech bubbles from their mouths show the father figure saying: 'Let's open up those legs,' while the woman says: 'And stuff it all the way.' In the background, two children look on in horror, saying 'gross' and 'ew.' While the animal rights group released the poster with the intention of driving people towards buying vegan meals for Thanksgiving, it sparked backlash from consumers. 'Only PETA would try to make cooking a family dinner weirdly sexual,' one user commented. 'Stuffing is one of the best parts of a Thanksgiving dinner,' another declared. 'Ur just making it weird,' someone else objected. The promotional cartoon, which was shared online, depicts a couple stuffing a turkey for Thanksgiving while their kids watch in the kitchen doorway 'We have a biracial couple sexually assault a turkey in front of the children and family dog,"' another user joked, attaching a still of Don Draper pitching something in Mad Men. 'I'm convinced this is a satire account lmao gold,' someone else added. 'Why tf (the f***) is PETA gettin' freaky on my TL (timeline),' one questioned. PETA has long raised eyebrows for their controversial promotional posters and commercials. In March, they blasted the concept of saying 'cheese' before a photo, encouraging people to think about what it 'really means.' The group were ridiculed after suggesting people use new terms that 'reflect our shifting values' as younger people opt for dairy-free lifestyles. The video, released in March to X, formerly Twitter, starts with scenes designed to shock - families posing with their children for photos while the photographer says 'Say, "Babies slaughtered for veal"' or 'Say, "Calf-cow separation.'" Another shows two young women taking a selfie as they say, 'Repeated and forced impregnation!' and a man cheers as he poses and says 'Dehorning and tail-docking! Woo!' Animal rights group PETA is being ridiculed online over their Thanksgiving advert, which features a couple stuffing a turkey making lewd comments While the animal rights group released the poster with the intention of driving people towards buying vegan meals for Thanksgiving, it sparked backlash from consumers The campaign, which goes on to encourage watchers to say 'peas' or 'bees' or 'nutritional yeast' instead of cheese, urges that 'tired outdated phrases' should be replaced by more 'animal-friendly phrases'. But the post was met with outrage from people, many of whom took to social media to mock the campaign for its insistence on new pro-vegan terminology. Earlier this week, turkey supplier Butterball was targeted by trolls after a shocking PETA investigation showed animal abuse inside the company's factory ahead of Thanksgiving. Footage recorded by PETA two decades ago showed brutal abuse and torture of turkeys, angered fans have been trolling the food giant's social media pages as they demand Butterball own up. PETA's investigation showed workers sitting on turkeys, smacking and humping the animals, and sexually abusing them at the Ozark, Arkansas location in 2006. An undisclosed investigator revealed the alleged atrocities he witnessed 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. 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.' 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.' Its big. Its brash. Itll turn heads whenever shes seen with it, and it makes a hell of a growl when its turned on why wouldnt Victoria Beckham drive a Ferrari? The star was snapped in London recently hopping into her Roma, a shiny beast worth 227,000. Shes the woman who has everything and yet the reaction was one of slight surprise that she should want to get behind the wheel of a full-throttle Italian supercar, rather than allow herself to be chauffeured through the traffic in something rather less aerodynamic. Why does she need it?, the chippy critics ask. Its an eye-popping amount to spend on a car, of course, but its also a sleek, elegant, reassuringly refined machine designed to be looked at (not unlike VB herself). But the crucial detail is whats lurking under the bonnet: a throaty V8 engine capable of 612hp. Ive always adored big, powerful cars. As the former car critic for Tatler, I got to drive more than my fair share. And I will defend Poshs right to own one indeed every womans right to treat herself to a supercar this Christmas, budget permitting to the death. Sophia Money-Coutts (pictured), Tatler's former car critic, will defend a woman's right to own a supercar to the death Shes not the only female celebrity to enjoy the spoils of fame with such a purchase. Kim Kardashian likes a Ferrari F430, Mariah Carey used to drive a Lambo and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham has been spotted about town in her 100,000 Maserati Levante. I want to pump my fist and cheer at the idea of women owning such whizzy toys which, lets face it, are still viewed as male playthings. Because guess what? Sometimes we want that thrilling ride. Also, Ill admit, pulling away from the lights and beating some competitive berk in a revving BMW is childishly satisfying. But mostly, driving these cars is just really, really good fun. The noise! The speed! The sublimely comfortable interiors, which smell leathery and expensive rather than of old Costa Coffee cups. So it infuriates me that, while sexist barriers are broken down elsewhere in the workplace, in sport, in marriage there still persists this idea that women are less into cars. Or if they are, then they dont really understand them, poor dears. Car programmes remain largely presented by men; in 2016, I was delighted when Victoria Coren Mitchell launched a Radio 4 show Women Talking About Cars and yet it only ran to three short series. Women, some still seem to think, should lust after shoes and designer handbags instead of designer cars. But I say, if youre going to have such a jolly expensive bauble, you might as well have one you can actually get about in. The car brands themselves cottoned on to womens growing spending-power some time ago. For Sophia, driving cars like Posh Spice's Ferrari is just really, really good fun. She loves the noise and the speed In the past decade, Rolls-Royce has reported a growth in its female-customer base (14 per cent, so not huge, but not nothing); Bentley has started colour-matching cars to female clients nail varnish colours and one in four Ferraris in China is now bought by a woman. A few years ago, when I reviewed a Volvo model, I was particularly impressed by the simple, minimalist interiors. It wasnt just Scandinavian design at work; a woman had designed this car, I was told by Volvo, and shed decided there should be a maximum of seven buttons on the front panel to avoid it looking too cluttered. Clever. Its also worth noting that while a back-breaking gull-wing supercar in bright red might seem too showy and too obvious to some women, the rise of the supercar SUV, or safe supercar if you will, has surely caught their eye. In 2015, Bentley released the gigantic Bentayga. Lamborghini followed with the Urus, and Rolls-Royce duly came up with the Cullinan, a whopping 2.5ton brute named after the diamond. Climate crisis? What climate crisis? While most of us agonise over whether to go electric, the luxury gas-guzzler (yes, yes, some are hybrids) is alive and well. In 2020, Aston Martin launched its own version, the DBX. The first car I ever reviewed was an Aston Martin Rapide, the British brands first four-door car, worth 140,000. Car brands including Rolls-Royce and Bentley started to appreciate womens growing spending-power some time ago I took it to a friends wedding in the Cotswolds, where I unfortunately got it stuck in a field. I was dressed as a bridesmaid and didnt much fancy getting out to push. So, in the end, the local farmer had to come and tow it out tutting as if all his beliefs about women driving fancy cars had been confirmed. I was ashamed, but I loved the car so much that I swore Id buy myself an Aston one day. That day hasnt come yet I currently drive a more compact VW Polo. But one day it will. Just look at Victoria Beckham. The Prince of Wales took to the stage to hand out three awards Prince William rocked a navy suit as he met with music legends at the 2024 Tusk Conservation Awards in London on Wednesday evening. The Prince of Wales, 42, looked smart as he greeted guests before taking to the stage to hand out all three awards at the Savoy Hotel. He was greeted by Tusk founder Charlie Mayhew as he shook hands with guests ahead of presenting the awards and was sporting his fan-favourite beard, which has grown even more prominent in recent weeks. And he was helped by Rolling Stones icon Ronnie Wood and Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, whom he met during a pre-wards reception. Also present was Idris Elba, who himself has a whole host of royal connections: it was announced in October that he would be appearing in a documentary addressing knife crime alongside King Charles - and was Prince Harry's wedding DJ in 2018. Tusk ambassador Wood, 77, previously sold a gorilla statue to raise funds for Tusk and Knopfler, 77, auctioned his guitars which raised 600,000 for the charity. William said there 'is a lot of creativity here' and joked they had enough to start a band. William said: 'My youngest is learning the drums that's why I spend my entire life with my fingers in my ears.' Prince William rocked a navy suit as he met with music legends at the 2024 Tusk Conservation Awards in London on Wednesday evening Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales talks with actor and activist Idris Elba Ronnie also told him that the gorilla auctioned for Tusk was given back to him and now sits in his garden. Film producer Sally Humphreys Wood, 46, told William that she met his father the King last week at a BAFTA bash at Buckingham Palace. And Knopfler, who was with wife Kittie Aldridge, 62, said he has 100 guitars left and hailed Christie's for the auction for Tusk earlier this year. William said to the rock stars 'thank you for your support.' He also spoke to sponsors including Land Rover and DHL about his Earthshot Prize in Cape Town. Hearing from Nick Maugham Family foundation about conserving rare bongo (cor) antelopes, of which only around 100 remain in the wild, William said: 'People forget how rare they are.' Hearing the organisation's efforts William said he was very 'excited' and hailed it as a 'huge conservation success.' Speaking about his Earthshot Prize he told guests: 'We have to scale it up and I'm working on a few things.' William was also sporting his fan-favourite beard, which has grown even more prominent in recent weeks The prince pictured presenting the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa Award to winner Nomba Ganame (pictured left) The Prince of Wales, 42, looked smart in a navy suit as he arrived for the event at the Savoy Hotel, beaming as he greeted guests The Prince of Wales delivered a speech before he announced the winners of the event William appeared in great spirits as he shared a joke with Ronnie Wood, whom he also met at last year's awards The Prince of Wales met with Wood and Mark Knopfler ahead of the ceremony for the 12th annual Tusk Conservation Awards Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa Winner Nomba Ganame (pictured) spoke to the attendees Prince William has arrived at the 2024 Tusk Conservation Awards in London The prince beamed as he presented the Tusk Award The Prince of Wales appeared in good spirits at tonight's event - especially after meeting a host of music legends William appeared in a cheery mood for the event at the Savoy Hotel on Wednesday Prince William, Prince of Wales presents the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award onstage In a four-minute speech William warned 'tonight is a reminder that our planet continues to face terrifying environmental concerns'. He hailed the award winners for reminding 'us of the importance of living at peace with nature'. And speaking of George, Charlotte and Louis, he said 'I want my children to live in a world where swallows still migrate, gorillas still live in the cloud forests of Uganda and rhinos still roam the arid rangelands of Namibia.' William also presented the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa to Nomba Gname, The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa to Edward Aruna and the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award to Claver Ntoyinkima. The Tusk Conservation Awards are an annual event which recognises conservation leaders for their pioneering work protecting wildlife and supporting communities across Africa. William is patron of the awards. The awards first took place more than a decade ago in 2013, thanks to the collaboration between the Prince of Wales and investors, Ninety One. The ceremony, which is held at the world-famous Savoy hotel this evening, awarded three victors for their work in the field. Speaking about the awards previously, William has said: 'These awards which mean a great deal to me personally, play a huge part in our mission to preserve Africa's precious wildlife for its people. The royal pictured presenting the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award Winner to Claver Ntoyinkima (pictured left) Claver Ntoyinkima appeared delighted after he was given his award The royal posed alongside The Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa Winner Nomba Ganame, left, Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award Winner Claver Ntoyinkima, center right, and Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Winner Edward Aruna The prince spoke enthusiastically to event attendees The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa was awarded to Edward Aruna (pictured) Prince William, Prince of Wales talks with sponsors ahead of the ceremony for 12th annual Tusk Conservation Awards His Royal Highness was joined by A-listers of the likes of Mark Knopfler and Ronnie and Sally Wood ahead of the ceremony, with whom he was spotted having an animated conversation PRINCE WILLIAM'S SPEECH AT THE 2024 TUSK CONSERVATION AWARDS IN FULL 'It is an absolute pleasure to be here tonight to celebrate The 12th Tusk Conservation Awards. 'As ever, the Tusk Awards shine a light on a handful of the remarkable people who work on the frontline of conservation. I'm sure you will all agree with me that the short films we have just watched beautifully bring to life the work of this year's winners. 'Their extraordinary stories are ones of unwavering determination to protect Africa's natural world, even in the face of multiple challenges. Tonight is a reminder that our planet continues to face terrifying environmental concerns from climate change and habitat destruction to the exploitation of natural resources and an alarming downward trend in global biodiversity. 'Rainforests the size of countries are disappearing. And one million species are at risk of extinction mostly due to human activity. Now is the time to support those globally that work to prevent future generations from becoming disconnected from nature we must invest in the natural world around us and understand the value it has for us all, both now and in the future. 'That is why the insight and knowledge of the award winners tonight is so important. They should guide and inspire us all to drive change. They remind us of the importance of living at peace with nature. 'This is why it is so crucial that we do everything in our power to support the individuals who protect the natural world. 'This has come into even sharper focus over the past two years, following the murder of Anton Mzimba in South Africa. Anton was assassinated in his home for doing his job protecting the incredible biodiversity of his country. And globally, 1400 rangers have been killed in the past decade. 'The sobering Roll of Honour that we saw earlier recognises the Rangers who lost their lives and serves as a reminder of the ultimate price paid by too many on the frontline of conservation. 'A few weeks ago at the United for Wildlife Global Summit, I was delighted to announce a new initiative that helps improve welfare support for rangers through a series of innovative measures, including providing accident, medical and life insurance, as well as mentorship. 'Developed by Tusk, in partnership with the Game Rangers Association of Africa, this scheme will go a long way in recognising rangers' critical contribution to safeguarding threatened species, habitats and local communities. 'It is only through a collaborative approach, under the guidance of indigenous and local communities, that we can foster lasting and meaningful change. 'I believe we are the lucky ones. 'We live in a world in which incredible wildlife exists and I want that for the generations that follow. 'I want my children to live in a world where swallows still migrate, gorillas still live in the cloud forests of Uganda and rhinos still roam the arid rangelands of Namibia. 'It will be thanks to extraordinary leaders such as those that we are celebrating today that this will happen. Well done, once again, to tonight's winners. You give us all optimism for the future of our planet. I wish you all a wonderful evening.' Advertisement 'It is vital that we recognise the dedication of these unsung heroes and the bravery of rangers risking their lives, day and night, on conservation's frontline. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude.' Last year, the Prince of Wales also chatted to Wood at the awards - telling the Rolling Stones star he would only see them in concert if they brought out Taylor Swift, of whom he's made no secret he is a fan. Both men are long-term supporters of the event's organisers, Africa-based charity Tusk Trust. After chatting with the future king at last year's event, Wood said: 'We were talking about the tour and I said 'come on, you've got to come out on tour' and we were talking about the new album and everything. William said [he would] if we could get Taylor Swift there.' Guitarist Wood told William that Swift had sung with Stones' frontman Sir Mick Jagger and said the prince replied, 'I'm there then.' It comes a day after William marvelled at high-tech drones and tried his hand at firing a sniper's rifle as spent the morning with the Welsh Guards in Salisbury. William donned combats this morning when he spent time with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in his capacity as colonel of the regiment - a ceremonial role he has held since December 2022. Tuesday's visit to the Salisbury Plain marks William's second royal engagement in as many days, after he inaugurated a new environmental project together with Oman's Crown Prince in London yesterday. The Prince of Wales, 42, looked smart in a navy suit as he arrived for the event at the Savoy Hotel, and beamed as he greeted guests William was among the high-flying guests attending the Tusk Conservation Awards 2024 For the past two years, the Battalion has led a number of historical ceremonial events - including the funeral for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, and as Trooping their Colour for His Majesty's first Birthday Parade last year. Additionally, the regiment has been carrying out overseas operations in the Falkland Islands and Oman. But they are now transitioning back to Field duties and William's visit was designed to see how the officers have been dealing with the change in pace - particularly regrowing the regiment's specialist weapons capabilities to bolster their work abroad and in the UK. William was dressed in combats and a beret as he arrived at the Salisbury Plain by helicopter, before changing into a protective vest and helmet - ready for an action-packed day at Westdown Camp. Mary McGonigle-Martin always stayed up on the latest wellness trends, so when she heard about the purported benefits of raw milk, she started stocking her family fridge with it. Weeks went by without a hitch, but then her seven-year-old son Chris fell violently sick with diarrhea and vomiting, followed by terrifying seizures. Doctors discovered he had suffered life-threatening brain inflammation and a collapsed lung, meanwhile his kidney, heart and pancreas had all begun to shut down. Testing revealed the boy was infected with E.coli bacteria. It was presumed to be from raw milk, which is not put through the standard pasteurization process to remove germs. Chris was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which causes small blood clots to form throughout the body, wreaking havoc on organs, and sending him close to death. McGonigle-Martin told the CDC at the time of the terrifying ordeal in 2006: 'Truly, I thought he was going to die at the moment.' After spending a week in a coma and three years in-and-out of hospital, Chris recovered. But almost 20 years on, raw milk is more popular than ever due to a booming demand for organic produce. At least 4.4 percent of Americans (nearly 11 million people) try raw milk each year and one of its most famous advocates, Robert F Kennedy Jr., has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of Health and Human Services. UNBEARABLE GUILT: Mary McGonigle-Martin got her son to start drinking milk at age seven - the decision weighs heavy on her Your browser does not support iframes. Pasteurization was a significant breakthrough in public health when the process was discovered by French microbiologist Louis Pasteur. It dramatically reduced the risk of foodborne illness by effectively killing harmful bacteria in milk and other food products. But in recent decades, proponents have claimed that pasteurization removes nutrients that help with allergies, asthma, and digestion issues. However, according to the FDA, this process - which involves heating the milk to kill bacteria - has no significant effect on the nutritional value, nor does it get rid of 'probiotic microorganisms' that support gut health. Many of the same health claims were made back when McGonigle-Martin became convinced to try raw milk. 'I was lulled into a false sense of safety,' she said. At the time, the only warnings she could find were that it may cause mild stomach ache symptoms as the body adjusted to the switch. But she added: 'The risk from drinking raw milk isn't a tummy ache for a few days or diarrhea and vomiting that goes away. The risk is that the pathogen could kill you.' In Chris' case, when he arrived at hospital and his condition deteriorated, doctors put him on dialysis, so a machine could filter his blood for him, making up for his damaged kidneys. Chris was on dialysis for 18 days and in a medically induced coma on a ventilator for nine days. Though these measures saved his life, his mom said it took three years for her son's health to fully recover. Now, she's become an outspoken advocate for foodborne illnesses, serving on the board of the nonprofit Stop Foodborne Illness. She's speaking out once more as raw milk begins to makes headlines again. After spending a week in a coma and three years in-and-out of hospital, Chris recovered. But almost 20 years on, raw milk is more popular than ever due to a booming demand for organic produce This week, bird flu was detected in raw milk from a raw food creamery in California, sparking concerns. And in a post on X in October, RFK JR reaffirmed his support for raw milk - which he has suggested may be a way to Make America Healthy Again - his campaign against vaccines and processed foods and a push for alternative medicine. A range of harmful bacteria can be introduced into dairy, either from the milk itself or improper sanitation on the farm. These include bacteria like Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Listeria, Brucella, Salmonella and E.coli, which caused Chris' illness. Once in the digestive system, certain strains of E.coli can infiltrate the bloodstream in the intestines, damaging tiny blood vessels and leading to a massive amount of tiny blood clots that back up organs, according to the National Kidney Foundation. This is called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Once old blood cells and clots clog kidneys, the kidneys stop being able to filter waste from the body, which means toxic build up floods the blood stream. This can cause damage to other organs. To treat HUS, doctors give patients IV fluids, blood transfusions and nutrients to try and strengthen the body so it can fight back against the infection. Raw-milk proponents claim the product is healthier than the regular stuff because pasteurization removes nutrients One of the most famous advocates for raw milk, Robert F Kennedy Jr., has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of Health and Human Services Most recently, California-based Raw Farm LLC was found to have dairy products containing bird flu last week. The farm is one of the largest retailers of dairy in the state, and the company issued a voluntary recall of all their products suspected of containing the virus. The outbreak was caused by the H5N1 virus. Officials have been on the alert for the bird flu strain after the virus suddenly spilled over to cows in 2022, which they said raised the risk it could spread to people. More than 100million poultry have been infected to date, as well as 10,000 wild birds and 500 dairy herds across 15 states. Since Chris fell ill in 2006, McGonigle-Martin has become a spokesperson against raw milk and other items that have the potential to cause foodborne illness. Pictured here, she was speaking to the CDC about Chris' experience Fifty-three people in the US have been infected, mostly farm workers who have close contact with cows or poultry. Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University said: '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.' Many of these dairy-borne illnesses were eradicated when pasteurization became common after it was introduced in 1864, according to the American Dairy Association. In states like Louisiana, Michigan and New Jersey, raw milk sales are prohibited. In others, like California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, the product is allowed in general retail settings. A top university is offering a course on 'fat studies' to students, which it claims will help them examine the 'intersection' of 'fatness' and 'blackness.' A course description on the University of Maryland's registrar site says the course 'examines fatness as an area of human difference subject to privilege and discrimination that intersects with other systems of oppression based on gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and ability.' Students will also 'look at fatness as intersectional' and material 'will particularly highlight the relationship between fatness and Blackness.' Titled 'Intro to Fat Studies: Fatness, Blackness and Their Intersections,' the course is worth three credits and is part of the university's diversity quota with most students required to take two diversity courses before graduating. For out-of-state part-time students, the university charges $1,645 per credit. For out-of-state full-time students, a semester, which includes taking 12 or more credits, costs $19,732. The course is led by Dr Sydney Lewis, a senior lecturer, who said online that after Donald's Trump's first presidential victory she 'sat in the bathtub and cried' and was left fearing for her citizenship. Intro to Fat Studies is completely full, with all 20 of its seats claimed by students planning to take the class in the Spring 2025 semester. There are also eight people on the waitlist. Dr Richard Vatz, a professor emeritus at a nearby university blasted the course as 'laughable' and said it was 'unlikely to help someone get a job'. Dr Sydney Lewis, a senior lecturer, is behind the course titled: 'Intro to Fat Studies: Fatness, Blackness and Their Intersections' The Towson University expert told The National News Desk: 'I have to be honest with you, this is kind of a laughable, laughable subject. This stuff is just ludicrous.' Others have responded online, slamming the course as 'insanity is real' and saying 'maybe exercise courses would be a good idea.' The course is offered by the University's Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. It is open to all students, regardless of their area of study, including engineering, economics and computer programming. A syllabus is not available for the course, but reading material includes the books What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat and Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. The website 'Planet Terp', which helps students at the University of Maryland choose their courses, says 70 percent of students in the course typically earn an A. The description of the class published online continues: 'We approach this area of study through an interdisciplinary humanities and social-science lens which emphasizes fatness as a social justice issue. 'The course closes with an examination of fat liberation as liberation for all bodies with a particular emphasis on performing arts and activism as a vehicle for liberation and challenging fatmisia.' There are 20 places on the course, and all are already filled with another eight students on the waiting list Your browser does not support iframes. Dr Lewis was the author of the essay 'Love in the time of Trump', which was published after 2020 on the website Rooted, which says it works to 'build affirming, healing spaces for the Black LGBTQ community'. In the essay, she wrote: 'The night of the 2016 election, I sat in a bathtub and cried. 'I knew as a queer black woman I was already teetering on non-citizenship, and I desired, no I deserved, whatever privileges I could gather.' She added: 'I'm scared that my health isn't good enough to beat the virus [Covid], should I contract it. I'm scared that there won't be enough ventilators and my fat body will have to be sacrificed.' Blasting her course, Dr Vatz added: 'I don't think if you went into a job interview and the interviewer said "what have you taken recently?" and the respondent said, "Well, I'm taking a course in fat studies, but the intersection of a Blackness and fatness," that this would put you in a position to get much of a job. 'So, the utility of this and the job market is probably pretty questionable.' Dr Lewis is described online as a lecturer at the University of Maryland with an interest in 21st century African-American culture, Black feminism, and queer and gender studies. Her dissertation was titled: 'Looking forward to the past: Queering Black Female Sexuality in "Neo" cultural productions.' A description said it combines black feminist theory with cultural studies and queer theory. The University of Maryland has 40,000 students, with the average length of study lasting four years and costing undergraduate students about $40,000 for academics alone. DailyMail.com has reached out to the University of Maryland for comment. Doctors may soon be able to diagnose a severe form of depression simply by looking at someone's face. This type of depression, called melancholia, is marked by a complete loss of interest in daily activities and inability to respond to any pleasure, sleep problems, slow movements, speech and thoughts, agitation, restlessness, body aches and trouble with concentration. According to researchers, about five to 10 per cent of people who are depressed have melancholia - which could represent as many as 2million Americans. Now, a study has discovered that people with early stage melancholia make different facial expressions when watching certain material. Those afflicted with the severe condition show little to no emotion on their face when watching anything. By contrast, people with regular depression were still able to laugh and emote while watching funny videos. Likewise, people with melancholia had less brain activity in regions responsible for producing emotion and some facial movements- suggesting the way they feel emotions is blunted. This could explain why some people with melancholia report a feeling of numbness and disinterest - because their emotions are diminished on a biological level. The above renderings show the six facial expressions that people with regular depression made while watching a funny video that people with melancholia did not make while watching any videos When watching clips from both happy and sad content, people with melancholia had no facial expressions. People with less severe depression still emoted during funny scenes Your browser does not support iframes. Study author Dr Philip Mosley, said the study shows the biology behind what scholars have suspected since the time of the ancient Greeks: some people's depression makes them develop actual physical changes. Dr Mosley, a neuropsychiatrist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia, told Science Alert: 'So they stop eating, they lose the ability to sleep, they seem slowed down as if they're walking through concrete. Their speed of thought reduces markedly, and they are often very sick.' The study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, showed 70 depressed people, 30 of whom had melancholia and 40 of whom did not, two different videos. The first video was a clip from Ricky Gervais' stand up comedy set 'Animals,' which involved funny skits about nature documentaries. The second video was a short film called 'The Butterfly Circus', which features a moving story about a circus troupe inspiring hope in Depression-era America. The researchers then recorded the brain and face activity of the participants as they watched each film, first using facial tracking machines then using an MRI scanner. The face tracking machine revealed that no matter what content the melancholic people were viewing, their facial muscles did not move. They didn't laugh, frown or grimace. Their faces maintained an even expression throughout the test. The people with regular depression, however, still giggled and smiled during Gervais' clips. Within the MRI machine, the participants brains' revealed a similar story. Dr Mosley said of people with melancholia: 'Those emotional regions of the brain the ones involved in detecting and responding to stimuli with an emotional tone were just doing their own thing, disconnected'. The 2011 film entitled Melancholia starred Kirsten Dunst as a woman with the condition. In it, her depression causes her an intense sense of apathy and emptiness, which she struggles to cope with initially This was particularly visible in a region of the brain called the cerebellum, a ball-like structure that sits near the area of the head where the spine connects with the brain. The cerebellum is responsible for a number of automatic bodily functions, including balance, eye movement and some emotions. People with melancholia had less brain activity here, and correspondingly, less emotive faces from watching either videos. Dr Mosley said spreading awareness about this lack of emotion could help doctors differentiate between melancholia and regular depression earlier - and while melancholia is a more severe condition, it's still treatable. These patients don't tend to respond well to traditional talk therapy, so diagnosing them early could also help establish a more tailored treatment plan for them, Dr Mosley suggested. If a person with the condition is diagnosed early, Dr Mosley said most respond very well to medications, which work to balance the chemistry of the brain. And quicker treatment can help them avoid the most invasive therapies that may be required if the condition has progressed. These include electroconvulsive therapy - which uses an electrical current to induce a brief seizure and change the brain's chemistry to improve symptoms - and transcranial magnetic stimulation - which uses magnetic pulses to stimulate certain areas of the brain to improve symptoms of major depressive conditions. Hollywood titan Brad Pitt has shocked people with his new and incredibly youthful appearance that seems to have turned back his biological clock. Appearing on the red carpet to promote his new film Wolfs alongside George Clooney, Pitt faced claims from fans he was a real life Benjamin Button with the 60-year-old looking several years younger than he did just two years ago. Now top cosmetic doctor Dr Jonny Betteridge has highlighted the series of procedures he believes may explain Pitt's radical de-ageing transformation. One of the key procedures Dr Betteridge highlighted in a clip which has been viewed over 20,000 times on TikTok was a blepharoplasty, also known as an eyelid lift. This procedure, which costs up to 6,000 in the UK, removes excess skin from the eyelids to reduce signs of aging. Specifically, Dr Betteridge suspects Pitt has opted for a more subtle lower blepharoplasty, which explains the natural look. While a full blepharoplasty alters both the upper and lower eyelids Dr Betteridge said men needed to be careful about altering the upper eyelid as it can have unintended results. 'In male patients it can feminise their face and be a giveaway they've had work done,' he said. Aged 60, Brad Pitt has been hailed the real-life Benjamin Button, appearing to age in reverse, though a British cosmetic surgeon suspects a series of procedures are behind the 'impressive' transformation. Pitt is pictured here in December 2022 (left) versus September 2024 (right) Comparing photos of Pitt from before July 2023, when rumours first circulated he had undergone plastic surgery, to after, Dr Betteridge theorised the star had a host of procedures that had resulted in a 'significant improvement in his appearance'. These included fat grafting on the face, where fat taken from other areas of the body is injected into the face to add volume, combined with face and neck lift. Dr Betteridge also suggested Pitt had veneers fitted custom-made porcelain shells that are bonded to the front of teeth to enhance their look. Overall, he gave a glowing review on the transformation. 'The changes to the jaw and neck area are really impressive and it creates a more defined and structured look,' he said. He added that Pitt was a 'great example of a male who's undergone plastic surgery because he still retains his facial characteristics but just looks more refreshed.' This isn't the first time Pitt, who famously played a man who ages in reverse in 2008's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, has been suspected of going under the knife to enhance his looks. Dr Betteridge previously suggested Pitt had undergone a 100,000 face lift. Appearing on the red carpet to promote his new film 'Wolfs,' alongside co-star George Clooney, 63, Pitt shocked fans with his youthful appearance One of the key procedures Dr Betteridge highlighted in a clip which has been viewed over 20,000 times on TikTok was a blepharoplasty, also known as an eyelid lift. Pitt here pictured in Mexico during the F1 Grand Pprix last month Pitt played the titular character in 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, about a man who ages in reverse - and now fans have called him the 'real life Benjamin Button' Sources close to the star have dismissed theories he had a face lift. Pitt has previously spoken about his relaxed stance on getting older. In a 2019 interview with Esquire magazine he said: 'You get older, you get crankier, and comfort becomes more important. I think its as simple as that.' When asked about his beauty regimen, he hilariously said: 'I grew up with a country mentality, kind of you know, Dial soap once a day and then move on... 'And I think that were learning that if we love ourselves, if we treat ourselves a little better, then there are long-lasting benefits to that. So just age healthy, age in a healthy manner.' A new interactive map shows which wild swimming spots are teeming with life-threatening bacteria after a new study found one in ten in the UK are contaminated. Dozens of locations along coasts, lakes and rivers failed to meet the minimum water quality standard for 2024, meaning they contained disturbingly high levels of faecal matter. This marks a two-fold rise on the number rated 'poor' in just a year and is the highest figure recorded since the current rating system was brought in in 2015. Officials blamed the surge on 27 new bathing sites, 18 of which did not meet the threshold in their first year of testing. And ministers, who labelled the figures 'unacceptable', warned the data highlighted just how much pollution is being pumped into the country's rivers and estuaries. Environment Agency chairman Alan Lovell also conceded there was still much work to do to tackle pollution. The figures, compiled by the agency, are based on tests for harmful bacteria during the designated swimming season between May and September. Now you can discover whether your local wild swimming spot is on the danger list and how it compares to others for healthiness or otherwise. Your browser does not support iframes. Almost one in ten wild swimming spots in England contain potentially life-threatening parasites, concerning data revealed today Your browser does not support iframes. These tests monitor for sources of pollution known to be a risk to bathers' health, specifically E. coli and intestinal enterococci, before each bathing site is given a ranking of excellent, good, sufficient or poor. The bug E. Coli usually causes a fever, sickness and diarrhoea. In the majority of cases, symptoms fade naturally within days. However, for vulnerable populations, the infection can get into the blood and travel to the organs, causing catastrophic damage. A handful of Brits die from complications of an E.coli infection every year. Large amounts of rain water can cause an increase in the presence of bacteria such as E. Coli because of the UK's water laws. Water companies are permitted to spill sewage into open waters following heavy rainfall to prevent the system becoming overloaded. But these spills are happening too often, according to campaigners. Officials also say water pollution can come from agricultural and road run-off as well as even dogs and wildlife such as seagulls. Your browser does not support iframes. According to the figures released by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), 8.2 per cent or 37 sites of the 450 tested were rated 'poor' for water quality in 2024. Some 91.8 per cent met at least the minimum standards for clean water, with 64.2 per cent rated 'excellent'. The data also revealed a disparity in water quality between coastal bathing waters, where 95 per cent met the minimum standards, and inland waters such as rivers, with just over half (53 per cent) classed as sufficient. Rivers often have poorer bathing water quality compared to the sea which benefits from the natural disinfection of salt water and greater dispersal of pollutants. West Midlands recorded the highest rate of filthy bathing water. Not a single one of its three spots met the minimum standard. These included the River Teme in Ludlow, River Severn in Ironbridge and River Severn in Shrewsbury. The Thames Valley followed with half of its four spots Wolvercote Mill Stream and Wallingford Beach failed to meet the threshold. Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear also failed for the fifth year in a row, meaning under the current system it automatically loses its designated bathing water status. Large amounts of rain water can cause an increase in the presence of bacteria such as E. Coli because of the UK's water laws Campaigners, who labelled the results an 'international embarrassment', also claimed the DEFRA classification system was not 'just inadequate, it's misleading'. Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, pointed to Trevaunance Cove in Cornwall, which received an excellent rating in this year's results. Community testing, however, has consistently highlighted high levels of pollution in a stream running on to the beach. He said: 'The consultation to reform the regulations is vital and must deliver a year-round bathing season, with year-round testing. 'We need multiple monitoring points and testing for a wide range of pollutants,' he said. Meanwhile, River Action chief executive James Wallace the data shows 'that swimming in our inland bathing sites poses serious health risks, highlighting the failure of regulators to protect waterways from polluters'. He added: 'Awarding bathing water status should ensure that water companies clean up their act urgently.' The number of times sewage has been released into England's waters has jumped 24-fold since 2016, according to official figures. Water Minister Emma Hardy said: 'These figures are unacceptable and show that too many of our popular swimming spots are polluted.' The Government was putting water companies under special measures through the Water Bill, she added, which would strengthen regulation of the industry, and has launched a major review of the water sector. EA chairman Mr Lovell said: 'While overall bathing water quality has improved in recent decades due to targeted investment and robust regulation, today's results show there is much work still to do, particularly to bring our inland bathing waters up to standard. 'We are working with the water industry, farmers and local authorities and are investing in our regulation, with more people on the ground, updated digital assets and new legal powers to improve our bathing waters for all.' Open water swimming has surged in popularity in recent years. Proponents of the sport claim it helps boost the immune system, speeds up weight loss, improves your mental health and even increases your sex drive. Research has suggested managed cold water exposure can trigger the release of fat-busting hormones, which can help to protect against obesity and heart disease. In 2022, a review of 104 studies looked at the effects of cold water blood circulation, the immune system, inflammation and oxidative stress. Taking a dip in water with temperatures below 20C (68F) was found to activate brown adipose tissue, a type of body fat which burns calories to maintain body temperature. It also increased production of adiponectin, a protein which plays a key role in protecting against insulin resistance, diabetes and other diseases. As well as this, some experts have also said the shock of cold that comes from outdoor swimming can boost levels of dopamine and the release of endorphins feel-good hormones in the brain. Some GPs in England actively prescribe cold water swimming on this basis. But no studies have shown that cold water immersion alone boosts mental health. Experts studying the sexual harassment of women online have revealed some of the disturbing reasons why men send unsolicited pictures of their genitals. Commonly known as 'd*** pics' or 'cyberflashing', the advent of mobile cameras and dating apps means that roughly half of women have received one of these elicit images. In the vast majority of cases, the picture was not requested by the woman, according to surveys. Now a report by the Nordic Digital Rights and Equality Foundation (Nordef) has uncovered some of the reasons why as well as characterisitcs in men that make them more likely to do it. Nordef chairperson Thordis Elva said a key factor was a number of men, mostly younger groups, are now 'porn damaged' with their view of what is acceptable twisted by explicit material online. 'Men have different reasons for behaving like this, but we have had a shift in norms on the internet. 'We have a lot of porn and porn damaged men and boys have got a twisted view of how to communicate their sexuality. In pornography, the sight of men's genitalia is presented as being welcomed by the woman, leading to the assumption that the same will occur in real life. Ms Elva's report also detailed other reasons for cyberflashing including in the 'selfish' hope they'll get a nude picture back, and to seek compliments. Commonly known as 'd*** pics' or 'cyberflashing', the advent of mobile cameras and public social media profiles has given men an easy way to send explicit images to women for their own perverse delight. Stock image Nordef came to their conclusions by analysing data from the police and courts regarding cyberflashing incidents in Sweden, Denmark and Iceland between 2019 and 2022. Ms Elva said data showed many cyberflashers would send explicit images to up to 30 women at a time in the hope at least one would provide the reaction they craved in what she called a 'dehumanisation' of women as a tool for sexual gratification. 'It will be like a mass mailing where they don't care how they are received,' she said. 'The men don't sit and think about the psychological impact it has on the women who receive them. 'They think purely selfishly that someone might send a picture back, and that it will then be sexy.' Data also showed many cyberflashers sent images as a 'test' to a female friend in order to see if they could become romantic or sexual partners. The study also found six per cent of men sent such images with the aim of punishing women or asserting their masculinity under the bizarre logic they were lashing out against feminism. Nordef's report also revealed information about the type of men who cyberflash. Earlier this year Nicholas Hawkes became the first person in England and Wales to be jailed under the new law after sending an explicit image of himself to 15-year-old girl and a another women, being sentenced to over a year in prison Most, eight out of 10, were men the majority under 40. About 52 per cent of images sent to women were from strangers, followed by people they matched with on dating apps at 17 per cent and acquaintances at 15 per cent. Around seven per cent were sent as part of harassment by a work colleague. Nordef hope their findings will prompt the creation of preventative measures to stop men committing digital abuse against women. Cyberflashing became an offence in England and Wales earlier this year with those found guilty facing by up to two years in prison. It came on the back of 2021 research suggesting 32 per cent of girls aged 12 to 18 had received an unsolicited nude picture from men or boys. The legislation followed that of Scotland which made cyberflashing a specific offense a decade prior and Northern Ireland at the end of last year. Earlier this year Nicholas Hawkes became the first person in England and Wales to be jailed under the new law after sending an explicit image of himself to 15-year-old girl and a another women. Hawkes was sentenced to over a year in prison. A girl in Massachusetts has died from a deadly bacterial infection after eating at her favorite fast food restaurant. Angelica Vazquez, 6, suffered fatal brain damage after becoming infected with E Coli - which her family is convinced she contracted from a McDonald's cheeseburger. But doctors working with the FDA don't think her tragic case was linked to a wider outbreak linked to the fast food chain earlier this year, saying the timelines and details don't match up. That has done little to comfort Angelica's family. Ms Ocasio told MassLive: 'My whole concern is "OK, if it wasn't the McDonald's, what is it?"' Angelica had ordered a cheeseburger from her local McDonald's before a night of trick-or-treating on Halloween this year and following evening complained of stomach ache. When Ms Ocasio asked her if she needed to see a doctor, Angelica said: 'No, my belly just hurts,' so the mother-of-seven assumed she just had an ordinary stomach bug and had her drink Gatorade and relax in front of the TV. On November 2, following a bubble bath, Angelica fell unconscious in her mother's arms after telling her: 'I love you.' Those would be her final words. By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the girl who was always 'very grateful for everything and anything she had' was in cardiac arrest. Ms Ocasio said: 'It was fast. It was really, really fast.' Angelica Vazquez (pictured here), 6, died earlier this month from E coli, which lead to a gastrointestinal bleeding and cardiac arrest. Her family suspects eating at McDonald's two days earlier could be to blame The onions from the burgers (pictured) have been at the center of an investigation into an E coli outbreak Your browser does not support iframes. Just 12 hours after arriving at the hospital, Angelica was pronounced dead. Ms Ocasio didn't learn her daughter's cause of death until she read the death certificate weeks later. At the hospital, she says doctors refused to provide answers. They only told her that Angelica suffered brain damage, which could have been caused by E coli breaching the blood-brain barrier and traveling to the central nervous system, leading to inflammation and cutting off oxygen to the organ. Ms Ocasio said: 'They just kept telling me, "Shes too sick. Shes too sick."' Angelica's death certificate revealed cardiac arrest, acute gastrointestinal bleeding, and a positive E coli test. Her family suspects that something she ate at McDonald's is to blame, given how soon her death happened after a nationwide E Coli outbreak linked to the fast food chain. That outbreak, which killed one person and hospitalized dozens, was caused by slivered yellow onions that were supplied to restaurants in 14 states. The strain of E. coli linked to the onions O157.H7 but as of Monday, the CDC says there have been no reported cases of that strain in Massachusetts. Dr Stephen Ostroff, MD, Former Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at FDA who is investigating the McDonald's outbreak, said the onions that caused the outbreak in rocky mountain states were no longer available when this child consumed her meal. And since Angelica's illness occurred a number of weeks ago, if there were others, he said the CDC would likely have identified them by now. Ms Ocasio is now focused on keeping her other six children, all under the age of 10, safe and preserving her daughter's memory by making necklaces for each of her siblings. She said: 'They get to wear those everywhere. We talk about her. They know theyre more than welcome to talk about her. 'And I check their mental health every morning and before bed. And in between, we just do a lot of talking and a lot of crying together.' She also noted that she wants to share her daughter's story in hopes of saving another child's life. 'I feel like my job now is to spread awareness,' she said. Angelica's mother, Samantha Ocasio, is now focused on sharing her daughter's story to save another child's life. She told MassLive: 'I feel like my job now is to spread awareness' A McDonald's representative told DailyMail.com: 'We are absolutely heartbroken for this familys loss, and we extend our deepest sympathies. We take any and every report of a potential food safety issue seriously. 'Upon being made aware of this devastating report, we immediately reached out to the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health, our own third-party experts and our Supply Chain team. 'Whats important to know is that the public health officials have not connected any reports of E. Coli to McDonald's in Massachusetts or the broader Northeast region. 'Last month, we took swift and decisive action following reports of E. Coli linked to slivered onions in a small number of restaurants in Colorado and neighboring states. 'The FDA has since confirmed there is no food safety concern connected to McDonalds restaurants related to the recent outbreak. There have been no confirmed E coli cases in Massachusetts from the outbreak at McDonald's, according to the above map from the CDC 'We offer our condolences to the family in this incredibly difficult time.' In the US, there are about 265,000 cases of E.coli every year and more than 100 people die from the disease, according to health officials. Infections are caused by eating contaminated food, such as ground beef where a contaminated part of an animal's intestine has seeped into the supply vegetables which may have been grown using contaminated water and unpasteurized milk. Patients usually start to suffer symptoms three to four days after being infected, although they can be delayed more than a week later. These include diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea, which may clear up within a few days. If people start to suffer from diarrhea that is persistent, severe or bloody, however, it is recommended that they seek urgent care in hospital. In severe cases, E coli toxins have been shown to travel to the heart and cause inflammation, putting increased stress on the organ. This could lead to cardiac arrest. Millions of British teenagers will soon face a ban on using 'beauty filters' on the social media platform TikTok. The Chinese company announced the changes, set to come into effect in the coming weeks, at a safety forum at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland this week. It will see under-18s on the platform unable to use popular beauty filters that alter aspects of their physical appearance, such as lip size and skin tone, in videos shared with others on the app. Experts have long voiced concerns that docted images on such apps could be driving body dissatisfaction among young people due to the promotion of 'unrealistic' beauty standards. Last year, an Australian study found that watching just 90 seconds of 'unrealistic' bodies on social media was enough to negatively affect womens' mental health. Meanwhile, there have been multiple reports of young people describing their real faces as 'ugly' after using TikTok and Instagram, with some becoming unable to even look in the mirror. However, TikTok bosses have previously denied that the platform's features encourages a 'stereotypical sense of beauty'. Now, the billion-user social media company is taking a 'safety-first approach', according to Chloe Setter, TikToks lead on child safety public policy. Millions of British children will soon face a ban on using 'beauty filters' on the social media website TikTok over fears they are harming their self-esteem. Stock image However, the new restrictions will only apply to under-18s. TikTok said it is also planning an audit of accounts they suspect are being used by under 13s the minimum age the company sets for users to create an account. If effective, this could lead to millions of children being thrown off the social media platform. The UK Government's Information Commissioner's Office has previously estimated that there could be as many 1.4million under-age Brits with a TikTok account. Speaking at the companys event in Dublin, Setter, said: 'Were hoping that this will give us the ability to detect and remove more and more [filtered posts] quickly.' The charity GirlGuiding previously warned that almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 regularly use such beauty filters to make themselves look 'better' online. A similar proportion reported this year that they wished their real face matched their online filtered look, up from two fifths four years ago. TikTok said it would also be changing its age verification systems including an audit of accounts they suspect are being used by under 13s the minimum age the company sets for people to create an account Beauty filters have previously come under fire for affecting not only the self-esteem of children but young adults. Beauty filters, which are also found on apps like Snapchat and Instagram, have been blamed for driving a spike in cosmetic injections among young people as they seek to alter their real face to better match what the filter shows. A report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported a 28 per cent rise in 20-somethings seeking Botox between 2010 and 2017, with a 32 per cent rise in fillers in the same group. More recent British research has also suggested that nearly half of Brits in their teens and early 20s won't upload a selfie without using a filter. Trying to keep up with the latest beauty brands to know can feel exhausting. Every time you scroll on TikTok or Instagram, theres some influencer raving about their favourite new range, or a celebrity whos launched their own label they promise will change your life. But how do you know which beauty brands are actually worth trying? Well, as with anything, your best bet is to follow demand. That way, you can be assured that youre opting for products people arent just hyping up on social media, but are actually willing to spend their money on. To help out, online beauty comparison platform Cosmetify analysed Google search data and social engagement to find the 10 most popular brands of 2024. From clean skincare giants to blossoming K-beauty brands, here are the ranges actually worth splurging on and the one product we'd add to basket from each. The top 10 beauty brands of 2024 1. Sol de Janeiro Sol de Janeiros sales have risen almost 160% this year, largely down to demand for its indulgent, tropical-scented body creams. If youre picking just one, it has to be the famed Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, every beauty editors go-to moisturiser for softer, firmer skin. (Dont be fooled by the name lather it all over!) Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, 36, Space NK 2. Charlotte Tilbury Known for its high-end, glamorous aesthetic, Charlotte Tilbury has drawn a massive 26 million monthly searches over the last year. Aside from the iconic Pillow Talk collection, the newly released Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur a matte lipstick that smooths and hydrates with just one swipe is sure to stay in place while you dance the evening away at your Christmas parties. Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur, 28, Charlotte Tilbury 3. Fenty Beauty The first celeb-owned business on the list, since launching 7 years ago, Rihannas brand has become renowned for the most diverse and inclusive product lines around, particularly its groundbreaking 40-shade foundation range. This years Gloss Bomb Stick combining the sheen of gloss and the pigment of lippie is the perfect everyday product for winter, infused with shea butter and kiwi oil to stop chapped lips in even the coldest weather. Gloss Bomb Stick, 17.25, Fenty Beauty 4. Drunk Elephant Known for its clean-clinical skincare formulas, Drunk Elephant is loved by beauty buffs for its research backed formulas and vibrant packaging (those neon twisty tops are recognisable on any vanity table). Our favourite buy for winter? The TLC Sukari Babyfacial, an at-home facial which exfoliates and hydrates stressed out skin thats dry and flaky from the cold. Drunk Elephant TLC Sukari Babyfacial, 54, Space NK 5. Rhode Its unsurprising that Hailey Biebers beauty brand has made this list, given the model herself is responsible for most of the years viral make-up trends (does strawberry girl make-up sound familiar?). Wed recommend the Peptide Glazing Fluid, which amassed a waitlist of more than 100,000 when shoppers raved about how it made your skin look just like a glazed donut (which, apparently, is all people want on TikTok). Peptide Glazing Fluid, 30, Rhode 6. Dior One of the only heritage brands on this list, its testament to Diors timeless formulas that its popularity is only increasing, with a 232% boost in searches this year. Aside from Diors Lip Oil, this years bestseller was the Glow Face Palette, a multi-use product with shimmering highlighter and blush that can be used all over the face. Glow Face Palette, 43, Dior 7. Elf Cosmetics If everything so far has seemed a little pricey, Elf Cosmetics is a great option for affordable products that dont compromise on quality. Sales have grown 91% this year, down to viral buys like the Halo Glow Liquid Filter (were going to say it, a dead-on Charlotte Tilbury dupe). Elf Halo Glow Liquid Filter, 15, Boots 8. Glossier Long a cult-favourite, 2024 is the year Glossier really went global due to its partnership with beauty behemoth Sephora. Its only right to give a shout out to the Glossier You perfume thats driven much of this success, formulated as a skin enhancer that smells a little different on anyone. A little gimmicky, but we love it anyway. Glossier You Perfume, 49.60, Space NK 9. Laneige One of the biggest Korean beauty brands around, Laneige is a brand thats probably started popping up on your social feeds. Its easy to see why, with its combination of intriguing flavours (eggnog latte lippy, anyone?) and ultra-hydrating products that lean into skincare trends like slugging. Our pick? The Lip Sleeping Mask, with shea butter and glycerin which means you wake up with a baby soft pout. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, 15.75, Cult Beauty 10. Bubble Skincare Its not been around long, having only launched in 2020, but Bubble Skincare is winning over customers with its combination of science-backed skincare and affordable prices. Its basically Elf for skincare, rather than make-up. We love the Knock Out spot treatment, a mix of salicylic acid and wintergreen extract that blitzes blemishes almost instantly. Knock Out Spot Treatment, 9.50, Bubble Skincare Unfortunately, one can no longer take pronouncements by Rachel Reeves at face value. The Chancellors vow made to the CBI that she would not have to come back for more taxes needs to be examined with Talmudic detail. Keir Starmer and Reeves lost respect in the boardrooms of Britain when they took the decision to punish enterprise and jobs with a 23.8billion hit to be paid by raising employers National Insurance contributions (NIC). Now Reeves words to the CBI are being reinterpreted just 24 hours after they were uttered. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds explains that there will not be a further tax ask of the business community comparable to what we had to do at the beginning of this parliament. Surprise, surprise, there may be more to come. The Labour government circumvented the manifesto pledge not to tamper with NICs by explaining it only applied to working people, so raising taxes on employers was fine. Jobs tax: Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) lost respect in the boardrooms of Britain with their 23.8bn hit to be paid by raising employers NI contributions Yet it is more than clear from most of Britains biggest employers such as Tesco and the Royal Mail that working people will pay the price. A combination of hiring freezes, lost jobs and higher prices means that workers will be hard hit. Higher NICs will make it much harder for the Government to complete a mission of encouraging Britains army of 9.2m people (including 2.8m long-term sick) of economically inactive citizens back into the workforce. The notion that there was no alternative but to heap 40billion of extra taxes on Britain, with business lumbered with the lions share, is fanciful. Ministers may have been instructed (they still do it in every interview) to repeat the calumny that there was a 22billion black hole in the public finances. However, some 9.4billion of this was a result of unconditional public pay settlements. Hitting employers was not the only choice. A Musk-style government efficiency drive might have been one solution. Reeves could have backtracked on the Tories last cut in employees National Insurance. Fuel duties could have risen as part of the green agenda and so on. Instead of heaping funds into the NHS before reforms have been cemented, the extra spend could have been phased. The economy was doing nicely until the tax rises came along. By destroying confidence, output has been slowed, potential tax revenues sacrificed and the interest bill on the national debt increased. Reeves CBI pledge not to raise taxes was naive from someone who claims strong economic credentials. We live in uncertain times. Harold Macmillans quote Events, dear boy, events made in 1984, is as relevant today as it has ever been. The public finances were blown off course by the great financial crisis, the pandemic and Russias war on Ukraine. There is no shortage of geo-political shocks to contemplate, such as hostilities in the South China sea, trade wars, further conflict in the Middle East and dislocation caused by climate change. Only yesterday, Vauxhall ended more than a century of carmaking at Luton. There were high hopes for Reeves when she took office, and a desire to see stability restored after the roller-coaster ride of the Tories. It has taken just five months to dismantle the credibility so critical to growth. Bankers feast Liz Trusss credibility was destroyed in a few short days after her tax-cutting mini-Budget. Among the factors which cost her dearly was a decision to lower the top rate of income tax and abolish restrictions on bankers bonuses in one statement. Her intention to encourage enterprise was a noble cause. But the combination of the two was seen by Labour as a giveaway to rich City grandees who were responsible for the great financial crisis. Now that Labour is in power, the importance of finance to Britains efforts to rekindle output has become obvious. Taking advantage of the freedoms granted by Brexit, the Bank of England is seeking to underpin London as Europes financial hub by allowing faster access to earned bonuses. The new rules proposed mean that bankers will be able to receive some of their bonuses in year one instead of having to wait three years. The Old Lady, at least, is embracing a growth and competitiveness agenda. An Australian investment bank has been fined 13million by the financial watchdog after one of its London workers logged hundreds of fake trades to hide his losses. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Macquarie failed to spot more than 400 fictitious trades made by Travis Klein, who worked on the metals and bulk trading desk at its branch in the capital, between June 2020 and February 2022 due to significant weaknesses in its systems and controls. The FCA said Klein bypassed three key internal controls without detection for over 20 months, including a daily profit and loss reporting process. It estimated the fake trades cost Macquarie around 45.8million to unwind after they were discovered in 2022, but this did not affect its customers or the wider market. Fine: The FCA said Macquarie failed to spot more than 400 fictitious trades made by Travis Klein, who worked at its branch in the City between June 2020 and February 2022 Klein, who resigned on the day his activities were discovered, has been banned from the financial services industry, the FCA said. Macquarie said it took the matter very seriously. Top bankers in the UK will be able to cash in their bonuses sooner under proposals by regulators as they move to relax rules for the financial sector post-Brexit. Under the plans, the most senior bankers will see the period that bonus payments are deferred reduced from eight years to five years. Bankers will also be able to receive some of their bonus in the first year instead of having to wait three years. The proposals, from the Bank of Englands regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), come amid pressure on regulators to cut red tape and support risk-taking to bolster economic growth. Bonuses are often deferred, meaning they are paid out in the future, rather than immediately, and can be cancelled if the performance of the business changes. Shortening the deferral period which for less senior bankers would be reduced to four years means people can receive the cash faster. Bonus bonanza: Senior bankers will see the period that bonus payments are deferred for reduced from eight years to five years The regulators said this change would make the UK a more attractive place to work, because current deferral periods are typically longer than in some other countries. Sam Woods, chief executive of the PRA, said: These proposals on bankers bonuses will support UK growth and competitiveness without undermining financial stability. These proposals will reduce bureaucracy and support responsible risk-taking. The latest plans follow last years decision to axe the cap on bonus payouts for top City bankers, which was previously limited to twice the level of fixed pay. The PRA and FCA also propose scrapping some of the criteria that mean bankers must be identified as material risk-takers (MRTs), meaning their work has a material impact on the banks level of risk. The regulators said the current criteria mean some can be wrongly categorised as MRTs and be unnecessarily subject to pay restrictions. Harvey Knight, head of the UK financial services regulatory team at law firm Withers, said it was an encouraging development that the long overhang from the financial crisis of some 15 years ago is at last being reduced. Simon Youel, head of policy and advocacy at campaign group Positive Money, said: It seems a bizarre time for the Bank of England to loosen restrictions on bankers bonuses, given the governors recent warnings about the risks of complacency since the last financial crisis. John Lewis is pinning its hopes on a bumper Black Friday after it brought back its never knowingly undersold pledge. The department store owner said online searches for its Black Friday deals were up 73 per cent compared to last year thanks to its reintroduction of the historic strapline. This follows a significant surge in searches since the decision in September, the firm said. E-commerce director Steve Masterton said: The early signs showing interest in Black Friday are really strong and puts John Lewis as a really key player in that market. He expects around 12 online orders per second this weekend up from four per second on Monday. After cutting 100,000 prices, there has been a big halo effect on the company, he said. Pledge: John Lewis said online searches for its Black Friday deals were up 73% thanks to its reintroduction of the never knowingly undersold strapline The never knowingly undersold pledge was scrapped in August 2022, despite dating back to 1925. Black Friday is an American shopping discount day but has been imported into the UK, with sales starting at the end of November. Operations director Naomi Simcock added: Our ambition is to establish John Lewis as the retailer of choice for Black Friday purchases. Were optimistic that our combination of outstanding range and seamless customer experience, supported by our modernised never knowingly undersold price promise, will help us to achieve this. Best-sellers include the 39 patterned wool jumper featured in its Christmas advert and its range of towels. Technology is also expected to do well. Chief executive Nish Kankiwala has said the buzz is back at the group, which also owns Waitrose. There have been sorely awaited signs of progress in the retailers turnaround mission. But this week consumer group Which? accused John Lewis of misleading shoppers by exaggerating its Black Friday savings for example by advertising discounts with a comparable higher price from months ago. Across the entire sector, spending in shops and online is set to be 3 per cent higher than last years Black Friday, according to data firm Rendle Insights and Intelligence. But sales slumped 0.7 per cent last month due to speculation over the Budget worrying consumers, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed last week. Shares in Compass Group hit a record high as the worlds largest catering firm cashed in on workers returning to the office. The FTSE 100 company rose 1 per cent, or 27p, to 2680p giving it a value of nearly 45billion and taking gains for this year to 25 per cent. The stock has risen nearly 170 per cent since its Covid-19 lows in early 2020 when lockdown restrictions closed offices, schools and other buildings hitting demand for its food. The latest rally came after Compass, which serves 15m meals a day or 5.5bn a year in schools, offices, hospitals, sporting venues and government buildings around the world, reported a 10.8 per cent rise in annual revenues to 33billion. Profits in the 12 months to the end of September rose 11.7 per cent to just over 2billion and the company hiked its full-year dividend by 13.7 per cent per share. The company, which started out feeding munitions workers in wartime factories in the early 1940s, floated on the London stock market in 1988 and joined the FTSE 100 in 1998. Dishing it up: Compass Group rose 1%, giving it a value of nearly 45bn and taking gains for this year to 25% The shares have risen in each of the last 19 years apart from 2020 when it was laid low by the pandemic. Compass has put together a recipe for dependable growth in an attractive market, noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at broker Hargreaves Lansdown. It was a jittery day on global stock markets after Donald Trump announced plans to slap tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico some of the USAs biggest trading partners. The FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent, or 33.07 points, to 8258.61 and the FTSE 250 lost 0.9 per cent, or 180.61 points, to 20568.65. Aerospace parts maker Melrose Industries was on the front foot, however, after JP Morgan raised its price target to 850p from 650p and said the stock was significantly undervalued. Shares rose 7.7 per cent, or 40.4p, to 567.6p. Burberry shares rose 2.8 per cent, or 25p, to 925.8p their highest level since June as their recent recovery continued. The luxury brands stock is still down around a third this year, however. per centTesting and certification firm Intertek rose 3.3 per cent, or 150p, to 4662p after it said it was well on track to deliver a strong performance this year. Shares in utilities bundling firm Telecom Plus gained 2.2 per cent, or 38p, to 1800p as it stuck to profit forecasts for the year despite warning the Budget will add 3m to its annual costs. Annual profits at Topps Tiles nearly halved to 6.3million as it grappled with a tough home improvement market and cautioned over significant cost pressures in 2025. Shares slid 1.3 per cent, or 0.5p, to 39p. Sausage maker Cranswick reported a 6.1 per cent rise in first-half revenues to 1.3billion and a 3.8 per cent increase in profits to 90.2million. With demand strong in the run up to Christmas, the pork and poultry producer said it expects full-year results to be in line with City expectations. But shares fell 3.8 per cent, or 190p, to 4880p. Commercial property firm London Metric lost 0.3 per cent, or 0.5p, to 190p after profits and rental income jumped after it bought real estate investment trust LXi. The Business Secretary appeared to shrug off concerns about the looming takeover of Royal Mail by a Czech energy tycoon. Jonathan Reynolds told MPs that billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who swooped on Royal Mail with a 3.6billion bid earlier this year, was a legitimate business figure. The takeover offer is being scrutinised by the Government under the National Security and Investment Act, which gives ministers the power to block foreign takeovers if they believe they pose a risk to UK security. But Reynolds said Kretinsky, who already controls nearly 28 per cent of Royal Mails parent company IDS, had already been through a national security assessment when he expanded his holding in the group. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told MPs that billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (pictured), who swooped on Royal Mail with a 3.6bn bid, was a legitimate business figure He also acknowledged growing pressure from Royal Mail for reform of the universal service obligation (USO), a legal requirement for the group to deliver letters across the UK six days a week at a single price. The firm has previously warned that the USO is costing it millions every day. While he acknowledged that some form of USO was essential, Reynolds appeared to accept the case for an overhaul. He said: I think we are all aware of the fundamental decline in letters. So I am pragmatic about the future. Aston Martin Lagonda has raised 211million in new financing to help bolster its liquidity and fund future growth after issuing a profit warning on Tuesday. The struggling luxury carmaker revealed it had issued 100million in new debt and obtained 111million from investors buying its shares for 100p each, a 7.3 per cent discount to its closing share price yesterday. Lawrence Stroll's Yew Tree Consortium, which bailed out the company in early 2020, subscribed to about 50.5million of ordinary shares. Following the fundraising, the business said it would end 2024 with an anticipated liquidity position of approximately 500million. Aston Martin announced a planned share and debt placing on Tuesday at the same time it declared its second profit warning in two months. Due to what it called a 'minor delay' in delivering some of its ultra-exclusive Valiant vehicles, the company now forecasts its adjusted earnings before nasties will total 270million to 280million this year. Support: Aston Martin Lagonda has successfully raised 211million in new financing to help bolster its liquidity and fund future growth The Warwickshire-based group said it would deliver around half of the 38 Valiant models by the end of 2024, with the remainder coming early next year. In September, Aston Martin cut profit guidance because of supply chain challenges and subdued demand from China, the world's biggest automotive market. It also said wholesale volumes were set to decline instead of grow, while free cash flow is predicted to 'remain negative'. To try and turn things around, the group has launched expensive new ranges like the DB12 and Vanquish and attracted significant investment from Chinese car giant Geely and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. However, it has continued to make massive annual losses, including a 239.8million pre-tax loss in 2023 and a 495million loss the year before, despite its vehicles selling for record average prices. In September, former Bentley Motors boss Adrian Hallmark became the firm's fourth chief executive in four years. Commenting on the financing package, Hallmark said: 'We thank our investors, including our strategic investors who continue to show strong support for the company, for their commitments and confidence in Aston Martin. 'We are now well positioned for growth, underpinned by the strength of our brand and the world-class product portfolio we have brought to market.' It intends to invest the money on repaying debts and capital investments related to its 2billion five-year 'transition to electrification' plan. The carmaker expects to launch its first battery-electric vehicle in 2026, having previously anticipated bringing it to market next year. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Aston Martin might be known for its association with James Bond, but there's no secret agent in sight to pull it out of its latest scrape.' Aston Martin Lagonda shares were 4.8 per cent lower at 102.7p on Wednesday morning, more than 90 per cent down on its 19 IPO price. EasyJet's departing boss hailed booming demand for international travel as the budget airlines profits beat pre-Covid levels. Johan Lundgren, who will step down in January after seven years as chief executive, said the future for the company is bright. But his successor, Kenton Jarvis, labelled Chancellor Rachel Reevess decision to hike air passenger duty in the Budget as a tax on the working person that will make flights more expensive. Easyjet profits soared 34 per cent from 455million to 610million in the year to the end of September, hitting the second-highest level in the airlines 29-year history. Budget pain: Kenton Jarvis (pictured), who takes over as EasyJet boss from John Lundrgen in January, warned that the airline could cut flights from the UK and hike prices for customers The firm said it was on track to hit its target of 1billion profit in the next few years as it hailed its strongest ever second half amid bumper demand for summer holidays. Lundgren, 58, said: This strong performance reflects the effectiveness and execution of our strategy as well as continued popularity of our flights and holidays. He added: It has been a privilege to lead easyJet for the past seven years. Finance director Jarvis, 56, who will take over in the new year, warned that Easyjet could cut flights from the UK and hike prices for customers due to an increased tax on airlines. At the end of the day its a tax on the working person, he said. [Labour] tried to dress it up as if it wasnt, but thats just all it is. Aviva has launched an audacious 3.3billion bid to buy troubled rival Direct Line. The FTSE 100 insurance giant, led by Amanda Blanc, revealed last night that it tabled an offer for its smaller competitor worth 250p a share. That was well above the 158.7p Direct Line shares were trading at yesterday, valuing it at 2.1billion. But the offer was rejected by the Direct Line board setting the scene for a takeover battle between now and Christmas. The proposal from Blanc and her team offered Direct Line investors 112.5p in cash and 0.282 Aviva shares for each share they hold in Direct Line. Together, it was a near-60 per cent premium to the insurers closing price the day before the bid was announced. Swoop: Aviva boss Amanda BlanAviva has launched an audacious 3.3bn bid to buy troubled rival Direct Line But Direct Line branded Avivas offer highly opportunistic and said it substantially undervalued the company. Under City takeover rules, Aviva now has until 5pm on Christmas Day to decide whether it wishes to make a formal offer for Direct Line or walk away. The tussle could lead to a hostile bid, where Aviva go directly to Direct Line shareholders and ask them to support the takeover against the wishes of its management. It is the second bid for the insurer in less than 12 months, with Direct Line having successfully fended off a takeover attempt by Belgian rival Ageas earlier this year. The group suffered embarrassment in August when it revealed an accounting blunder that led to its financial strength being reported as higher than was actually the case. Avivas swoop came just weeks after Direct Lines boss Adam Winslow, who took over at the beginning of March, announced that the business was cutting 550 jobs as part of a 100million cost-saving programme to revive its fortunes. The cuts, representing 5 per cent of the beleaguered insurance firms workforce, were announced as the group revealed that it had lost 71,000 own-brand motor insurance customers in the latest quarter. Direct Line has been pushing through price hikes as the cost of insurance claims has soared. But this has sparked an exodus of its own-brand motor insurance customers, with the total number falling to just over 3m in the third quarter of this year. Winslows strategy to grow customer numbers involves making Direct Line insurance available on price comparison websites for the first time, reversing years of resistance to the move under previous bosses. But his efforts have so far failed to yield results for investors, with Direct Lines share price having slumped nearly 24 per cent since he arrived at the business. Direct Lines leadership have even lost the support of its founder Sir Peter Wood, an insurance tycoon who set up the business as the UKs first telephone-only insurer in 1985. Wood, 78, told The Mail on Sunday in March that the group had been managed terribly for years, making it a sitting duck for predators. He said it should be sold to a bidder offering a decent price. Sir Peter added that the company had been run so abysmally for so long that it deserved to be taken over by a competitor. By contrast, Aviva has seen its share price power ahead, rising nearly 13 per cent so far this year. They gained 1.6 per cent yesterday, closing at 489.3p. It has left Blanc hunting for acquisition targets. Last year, the group snapped up AIG Life for 460million and in March entered the Lloyds insurance market with a 242million deal to buy underwriter Probitas. Three quarters of pensioners spent their Winter Fuel Payment on costs like heating, hot water and running household appliances last year, new research reveals. The payments, worth from 100 to 300 a year, are now means-tested, sparking a widespread campaign urging older people who qualify for pension credit to apply by 21 December in time to keep them. Age UK has found before the new rules, 77 per cent of people aged 66 and over - the equivalent of 9.2 million pensioners - used the money to cover fuel-related household bills. The charity's poll of pensioners found: - A quarter of older people, equivalent to 3 million, spent the payment on hot water - Almost as many spent it on cooking meals, and one in five on running appliances such as washing machines - A fifth of the poorest older people used their Winter Fuel Payment to buy food. Claiming pension credit: Find out how to top up your weekly income below Energy bills: Nearly one in five pensioners previously spent their Winter Fuel Payments on running appliances to cook meals Age UK asked pensioners how they would meet energy bills this winter. -Some 55 per cent, equivalent to 6.6 million people aged 66 and over, said they would have to turn down the heating or reduce the hours they use it. - That rises to 63 per cent among the poorest pensioners, those in the three most disadvantaged social and economic groups (known as C2DE). - Some 25 per cent, or 3 million pensioners overall, said they would have to reduce the length or number of baths or showers they take. - And 10 per cent, equivalent to 1.2 million overall, intended to reduce the number of hot meals they eat. - That rises to 15 per cent among the poorest pensioners. Age UK polled 1,034 people aged 66 and over, who were drawn from a wider group aged 50-plus weighted to be nationally representative of this cohort of the UK population on age, sex, ethnicity, social grade and region. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at the organisation, says: 'Its no surprise to us at Age UK, and it really shouldnt be to anyone else either, that the great majority of older people spent their Winter Fuel Payment on energy related costs last year. 'With fuel prices having gone up so much compared to five or 10 years ago, even older people who expected to be relatively comfortable in retirement have been impacted and forced to tighten their belts. 'And for those without much money behind them, energy bills have become a source of real fear.' 'Knowing they were going to receive their Winter Fuel Payment took some of the anxiety of unaffordable fuel bills away and this universal entitlement was highly valued by pensioners as a result.' Abrahams warns the change in policy is already causing older people hardship and undermining their health, and that things are likely to get worse this winter. 'Once again, we repeat our call to the Government to recognise the damage their decision to brutally means-test Winter Fuel Payment is causing millions of older people and to bring in measures to soften the blow.' Age UK says Labour in Scotland has pledged to reintroduce the Winter Fuel Payment as a universal entitlement if they win office in 2026. Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland government is giving every pensioner who loses the payment 100 this winter to help with energy bills, but older people are in similar need in England and Wales, it adds. Celebrity campaign: From left, Sue Holderness, Jane Asher and Brian Cox urge older people to check if they can claim pension credit Succession star Brian Cox is currently leading a celebrity campaign urging hard-up pensioners to claim pension credit, which tops up weekly income to a minimum of 218.15 for single people and 332.95 for couples. Cox is being joined by film and TV actor Jane Asher and Sue Holderness, who played Marlene in sitcom Only Fools and Horses, in the initiative by national charity Independent Age. If you submit a pension credit application by the 21 December deadline that goes on to be successful, your payments will be backdated by up to three months, and you will qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment. One in six pensioners would feel embarrassed to tell their family about applying for pension credit to top up their income, according to recent research by Royal London. It found that among older people who have found out they qualify for pension credit, 11 per cent are yet to apply and only 2 per cent intend to do so in time to get the Winter Fuel Payment. Royal London, which is running its own campaign under the banner Take The Credit, surveyed more than 1,200 people aged over 66 from every region of the UK over the past month about their attitudes to pension credit and other issues. The firm said: 'We need to spread the message that there is no shame in accepting help that is available. 'Times have been hard in recent years so its important that we come together and encourage pensioners, whether they be family, friends or neighbours, to look into all the options of support that might be available.' What do pensioners say about losing Winter Fuel Payments Melvyn, 81, told Age UK: 'We struggled last year when we had a Winter Fuel Payment, so this year is going to be harder still. We try and only use one hour of heating a day.' Sheila, 80, says: 'I recently finished 16 months of cancer treatment which left me with peripheral neuropathy, so I feel the cold very badly. 'I am also partially sighted so cant drive and stuck in the house most of the time. Last winter I was paying nearly 300 per month so I am dreading this winter.' John, 87, says: 'I will have to stay in bed longer and only get up to eat.' How to apply for pension credit and where to get help with claims If you are elderly and not well off, pension credit tops up weekly income to a minimum of 218.15 for single people and 332.95 for couples. On average it is worth around 4,000 a year on its own, but pension credit also opens the door to a lot of additional help with household bills. You can gain thousands of pounds on top including help with housing costs, heating, council tax, TV licences if you are over 75, and other bills. Find out more about pension credit here and about the rules on who is eligible here. You can apply yourself by phone on 0800 99 1234, claim pension credit online or get a form to do it by post. A friend or family member can apply on behalf of an elderly person. In Scotland, a new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will eventually replace the Winter Fuel Payment. But for this winter, people over state pension age who qualify will receive a payment in line with the Winter Fuel Payment, and this will be means-tested. Check here if you live in Scotland and here for Northern Ireland. Age UK staff provide help with applications. Any older person struggling with bills, or friends and family who are concerned about them, can call 0800 169 6565. This line is open every day of the year between 8am and 7pm, or you can visit Age UK's help page here. It also has a free, anonymous benefits calculator which can provide an estimate of what you could be entitled to if you want to find out this information privately. Age UK notes that the Household Support Fund has been extended to help struggling households with bills and essential costs over winter. Money should be specifically set aside for older people, so it says they should contact their local council to see if theyre entitled to any support. Independent Age, a charity focused on improving the lives of older people in financial hardship, offers help on its free phoneline 0800 319 6789. Advisers from the charity carry out welfare benefit checks to ensure callers are accessing all available support, including pension credit and the Winter Fuel Payment. What does the Government say? 'We are committed to supporting pensioners with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to 1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock,' says a spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions. 'Over a million pensioners will still receive the Winter Fuel Payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take-up has already seen a 152 per cent increase in claims. 'Many others will also benefit from the 150 Warm Home Discount and Cold Weather Payments this winter, while our extension of the Household Support Fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.' European governments have begun to face up to the challenges of the migrant crisis, making strong moves to provide a fair system that cuts casualties and protects legal routes of entry. Nations on the continent have faced the brunt of uncontrolled migration in recent years, and are now navigating how to assimilate huge numbers of refugees from war-torn countries, illegal crossings facilitated by Russia, and legal migrants held up by a broken system. Germany, jaded by Angela Merkel's relaxed rules and lack of resolution under Olaf Scholz, is expected to vote in comeback candidate Friedrich Merz as Chancellor, campaigning with a hard stance on migration and Russia in a pivot for his party. France, meanwhile, has urged Britain to 'stop being in denial' about the scale of the challenge and is calling for reforms to the system. British and French officials remain locked in discussions to agree a new policy that deters illegal crossings facilitated by smuggling gangs. Ireland faces pressure from protesters to restrict movement across through its borders, with immigration having become a frontline issue in the upcoming election. Ending a policy of housing migrants in hotels has pushed hundreds of single male asylum seekers into sleeping rough on city streets, prompting an urgent policy rethink. And Italy, under the leadership of hard-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, has already taken drastic steps to address the flow of migration with camps for asylum seekers awaiting a decision set up in Albania. But challenges remain for leaders to act quickly and deliver a viable solution both fair and proportionate to the task. Your browser does not support iframes. Police at the German-Polish border control traffic as enhanced border checks are introduced on September 16 An Italian Coast Guard vessel carrying migrants rescued at sea passes between tourist boats, on Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, September 18, 2023 The migration question remains a key voting issue going into elections across the continent. In 2022, the most recent year with available data, 7.03 million people immigrated to the EU as 2.73 million left - a difference of 4.3 million. The end of Covid saw the number of residence permits handed out climb from 3 million in 2019 to 3.6 million in 2023, and global conflicts have put pressure on safe nations to house refugees displaced by war. While migration is essential to filling in-demand jobs, like agriculture across much of Europe, and brings the benefits of growth, reduced debt and shared ideas, large-scale and uncontrolled migration also presents challenges. Net migration accounts for 89 per cent of the 1.34 million increase in England's housing deficit over the last 10 years, and rental markets have likewise been affected. The British public also raises concerns about screening, ensuring thorough health and crime background checks for all migrants and the introduction of an age cap, as found elsewhere. Europeans are putting pressure on their governments to deliver responsible systems that respond to demand for jobs in key sectors while ensuring migration keeps to levels that do not overwhelm public services. As Keir Starmer looks to resolve Britain's small boats crisis and 'smash the gangs' with his border security command, other European leaders are trialing new measures and urging deep reform to tackle the problem. France France has looked to tackle migration with enhanced border checks, in place from this month, in a move mirroring Germany. French authorities informed the European Commission last month that its borders with six of its neighbouring Schengen members - namely Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland - would be reinforced with increased checks from November 1 for at least six months. The controls will be applied to travellers entering France via land, sea and air routes from all six nations and are set to expire on April 1, 2025, but authorities have said they could be extended further. A French government statement declared the checks were introduced due to 'serious threats to public policy, public order, and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities... criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and migration flows that risk infiltration by radicalised individuals'. It is the first time France has introduced such controls since the Covid-19 pandemic and could see migrants and unauthorised travellers turned back at the border and those suspected of criminal activity detained. France has been rocked by a number of recent attacks and threats around the Paris Olympics, sparking discourse around vetting. The government also has the task of managing illegal migration over the Channel - and has urged Britain to be more tough on crossings to deter smuggling gangs operating in France. The Mayor of Calais today labelled British calls for French border police to be tougher on illegal migration as 'pure hypocrisy' and pushed to scrap a deal between the two countries aimed at cracking down on Channel crossings. Natacha Bouchart asked why France should shell out millions of euros to prevent the crossings of small boats over the Channel only for migrants to be allowed to work illegally with little chance of being deported when they land on British shores. 'When the migrants arrive in Britain they work easily without documents. The British government must stop being in denial. In reality, they accept migrants passing through Calais so they have to change the system. The UK should be stopping people, not us. 'We think the French government and Europe aren't being tough enough on this toward the British government,' she told BBC Radio 4. Rishi Sunak's government offered 500 million to France over three years to help curb small boat crossings. The money was intended to go towards new officers and a new detention centre to be operation by 2026. Speaking at the time, President Macron praised the cooperation and said joint efforts had stopped 30,000 such crossings and made 500 arrests in the past year. Under the existing Le Touquet Agreement (2003), British officers are also able to operate in French territory to vet legal passengers arriving in Britain by Ferry. But local officials in northern France have called for the treaty to be scrapped, citing the 'unbearable level' of migration and Britain's perceived inaction, Radio 4 reports. Migrants board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France Police stand at a customs checkpoint at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, in the northern outskirts of Paris, on October 18, 2024 Germany Germany is expected to go to the polls on February 23 after the collapse of the coalition government on November 6. Immigration has become a key issue to voters, with Germany today the third largest refugee-hosting country after granting temporary protection to 1.2 million Ukrainians displaced by the war. Germany receives the most asylum applications in the EU - nearly a third of all total claims to the 27 member states. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to admit over a million refugees fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in 2015 has proven controversial - with even Merkel herself admitting that while she still supported her decision, 'for some time we didn't have enough control' at Germany's border. High profile reports of attacks by migrants with criminal backgrounds fuelled rhetoric and saw Chancellor Olaf Scholz push to arrange new migration deals abroad. In August, a man on a knife rampage killed three people and wounded eight more at a festival in the western city of Solingen. The alleged attacker, a 26-year-old Syrian man with suspected links to the Islamic State group, was slated for deportation but evaded attempts by authorities to remove him. Your browser does not support iframes. Chancellor Scholz's coalition also sought to recoup support with stricter measures in place along Germany's vast borders. Germany announced strict controls in September, intended to remain in place for an initial period of six months. Border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland were already in place before the crackdown was announced. But these will now be expanded to Germany's borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Germany subsequently presented rigorous rules on asylum that would see more people turned away at its frontiers. The proposals include detaining asylum seekers while authorities determine whether Germany is responsible for processing their case with the help of Europe's shared fingerprint database, Eurodac, amongst other tools, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told a news conference. 'We want people whose asylum procedure is the responsibility of another EU country to be sent back there,' Faeser said. The November collapse of the German government invites the possibility of change, with centre-right Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union expected to perform well after campaigning on a stronger stance on migration. His return to frontline politics reflects a shift in popular attitudes, after he was displaced by Merkel some 20 years ago. Merz stepped out of politics in 2009 to become a lawyer, but now finds himself more popular than his SPD rival, Olaf Scholz. Controlling the narrative on migration will be a challenge for the right amid rising support for far-right options, however. In September, far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) celebrated an 'historic success', with the party winning almost a third of the vote in the eastern state of Thuringia. AfD took between 30.5% and 33.5% of the vote in the former East German state of Thuringia, with the conservative CDU coming in second place with 24.5% of the vote. AfD also performed well in Saxony. Leader Bjoern Hoecke is one of Germany's most controversial far-right politicians and was fined twice this year for deliberately using a banned Nazi slogan. People protest against the rising cost of living in a demonstration organized by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) political part Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Austria Germans will be looking nervously at Austria after its hard-right and Russophile Freedom Party won the country's national elections on an anti-immigration campaign in September Its 'Fortress Austria' programme through the election called for the 'remigration of uninvited foreigners,' for achieving a more 'homogeneous' nation. They detailed a plan to introduce tougher border checks and suspend the right to asylum via an emergency law. Austria has taken in tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians and provided millions of euros in humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. It has also signed a framework agreement worth 600 million euros for the construction of several hospitals in Ukraine. The party's leader, Herbert Kickl, is seen by critics as being soft on Vladimir Putin, and has repeatedly called for an end to Austrian support for Ukraine, and an end to sanctions on Russia. His victory marks the first time a hard-right party has won a parliamentary vote in Austria since the fall of the Third Reich. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, of the liberal-conservative Austrian People's Party, had also looked to draw support away from the hard-right, earlier this year hailing Rwanda-style deals as the way to fix the EU's immigration system. Nehammer said during a meeting with then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in May that having safe asylum proceedings in safe third countries could 'save human lives' by eradicating smuggling routes, and it is 'something we need to put on the EU's agenda as well'. Nehammer said before the meeting today that asylum procedures in safe third countries outside Europe are a 'necessity'. 'One thing is clear to me: Europe needs a completely new asylum system,' he posted on social media. Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl speaking in Vienna following his party's election victory Ireland Ireland's economy has attracted immigrants since the 1990s when eye-popping growth earned it the 'Celtic Tiger' moniker. After recession and economic slowdown from 2008, immigration surged again following the coronavirus pandemic, plugging job vacancies in booming tech, construction, and hospitality sectors, as well as healthcare. Some 20 percent of Ireland's 5.4-million population is now foreign-born. Official data showed a population increase fuelled by migration of around 100,000 in the year to April 2024 - the largest since 2007. But rapid demographic growth has heaped pressure on housing, services and infrastructure strained by lack of investment, fanning anti-migrant sentiment and hitting still largely favourable attitudes to immigration. Around 110,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, one of the highest numbers per head of population in the EU. Meanwhile asylum applications have surged to record levels since 2022, with this year's figures driven by a fourfold increase in people arriving from Nigeria. The large inflow and the housing crisis has prompted the government to stop providing accommodation to all asylum seekers last year. That forced hundreds of single male applicants to sleep rough in tents, sparking hostile reactions from some anti-migrant locals. Ireland has also seen a spike in arson attacks on buildings rumoured or earmarked to provide reception centres for asylum seekers. Last year the largest riot seen in Dublin for decades was triggered by a knife attack on children by an Irish national of immigrant origin. Leading into the election on November 29, voices taking a harder stance on migration have found an audience for the first time. Ireland is one of the few European Union members without any large established far-right party. But for the first time, immigration has become a frontline election issue. Malachy Steenson, part of an emerging group of ultra-nationalist politicians who performed well at local elections this year, told the AFP news agency plainly: 'We need to close the borders and stop any more migrants coming in.' Elected to Dublin City Council in June, he is running as an independent in the inner-city Dublin Central constituency that is now one of Ireland's most ethnically diverse. Most mainstream parties have spent much of the campaign bickering over solutions to Ireland's acute housing shortage. 'Immigration is on everyone's minds,' said Caroline Alwright, a fruit and vegetable stall-owner on Moore Street, a historic city-centre market which has become a multicultural meeting place for different nationalities. 'A lot of people will vote for independent candidates, they see what is going on in this country,' said Alwright, 62, a veteran trader nicknamed by customers the 'Queen of Moore Street'. Students at Dublin City University have been more supportive of immigration. 'We are not full, that's a closed mindset,' said Carla Keogh, 19, a teaching student. 'If we look into our own past, Irish people left to find help and support in other places, as humans we need to open ourselves up.' Tents being provided to migrants in Ireland are being paid for with taxpayers' money, MailOnline revealed earlier this year Asylum seekers' tents on the Grand Canal bank at Warrington Place, Dublin Italy Italy's government formally opened two new migrant centres in Albania last month where refugees will be sent after being intercepted in the Mediterranean. The centres reportedly have capacity to accommodate up to 400 illegal migrants as a start, expected to increase to 880 in a few weeks, according to Italian officials speaking off the record. The two controversial facilities will cost Italy around 560.7 million over five years, will be run by Italy, and are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards will provide external security. The number of people reaching Italy along the central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa has fallen by 61 per cent in 2024 from 2023's figures. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, as of October 11, 52,425 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, compared to 138,947 by the same date last year. Under a five-year deal signed last November by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania. The controversial agreement to outsource the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-EU member country was endorsed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an example of 'out-of-box thinking' in tackling the issue But human rights groups slammed the move as setting a dangerous precedent. Meloni and her right-wing allies have long demanded that European countries share more of the migration burden. She has held up the Albania agreement as an innovative solution to a problem that has vexed the EU for years. In the 1990s, Italy took in large numbers of Albanians and Rome is now one of the most solid backers of Albania's EU accession hopes. A challenge will be to ensure Italy can still meet demand in struggling sectors. While Italy talks tough on migration, Meloni's agricultural minister - who last year told Italians to have children or be 'replaced' by migrants - has pushed for more visas for migrant workers to come and toil on farms. This week it was revealed Labour is plotting a series of Italy-style migrant deals with governments in Kurdistan, Turkey and Vietnam in a bid to tackle the small boats crisis. This aerial photo shows the site of a recently built Italian-run migrant centre at the port of Shengjin, Albania, on October 11 The Netherlands The Netherlands will also move to more tightly control its borders as part of a wider crackdown on migration brought forward by the country's right-wing coalition. New controls in place from December 9 will last six months after receiving backing from anti-Muslim nationalist Geert Wilders' PVV party, the biggest in the coalition. Measures will reportedly include limiting asylum permits to a maximum of three years, and restricting possibilities for asylum seekers who are allowed to stay to reunite with family members, it was reported. The tough new border checks to be introduced in the Netherlands were already part of the coalition agreement the parties reached in July, following Wilders' resounding election victory almost a year ago. But it took the parties months to reach a compromise on the way forward, as Wilders insisted on declaring a national asylum crisis that would enable the government to bypass parliament. Such a move, however, was opposed not only by opposition parties but also by one of the PVV's coalition partners, who all questioned whether it was necessary or even legal. Wilders, who triumphed in the 2023 Dutch general election to see his far-right PVV party become the largest in the House of Representatives, has also expressed support for Germany's suggested migrant plan, announced in September. He has struggled to gain support within the Netherlands and stepped back from his bid for prime minister in March, citing a lack of support from potential coalition partners, but has found a receptive audience through his staunch position on immigration. 'If Germany can do it, why can't we? As far as I'm concerned: the sooner, the better,' he wrote. Both the far-Right PVV and the Right-wing Liberal VDD parties have shown interest in greater border checks in line with those recently announced by Germany. Migration minister Majolein Faber has already asked military police to begin preparations. 'In the meantime, we are talking to Germany about working together,' she said on social media. That week, Faber said she was 'aiming for the strictest asylum policy ever', citing issues in housing, health and education. She said her aim was to 'legally declare an asylum crisis, which will allow me to take measures to combat' it. Welcome to Country goes global - they're even held in Azerbaijan Which station wanted to snap up the new Media Watch host first? Want a friend in TV? Buy a dog! Network loyalty can be hard to find Sam Armytage wakes up with Today - but not everyone is happy In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what's REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week. Ex-PM investigates Ray Hadley's big (Sky) news The plan was simple enough: talkback titan Ray Hadley announces his retirement from Nine Radio's flagship 2GB station before hanging up his headphones for the final time next month. Then, come the new year, before anyone has even realised what's doing, he has joined the conservative crowd up the road at Sky News Australia. What a coup! It was almost too easy... That is, until former prime minister and Fox Corporation board member Tony Abbott got a whiff of the plan after yours truly revealed Hadley had been secretly meeting with Sky News Australia boss Paul Whittaker and head of programs Mark Calvert. Now Abbott is snooping around and asking all sorts of uncomfortable questions about Hadley's past interactions with staff and lengthy history with his station's HR department. Ray Hadley's planned defection to Sky News Australia has attracted unwanted attention after former PM and Fox Corp director Tony Abbott learned about the move Pictured: Sky News Australia boss Paul 'Boris' Whittaker (left) and the station's head of programs Mark Calvert with his breakfast TV star wife Belinda Russell (together, right) Of course, it's nothing a quick Google search wouldn't have turned up. A court heard as far back as 2013 that Hadley's former boss, then Macquarie Radio Network executive chairman Russell Tate, had directly accused the morning show presenter in an email of being 'a psychotic bully' and abusing his direct line to the station's former owner, famed adman John Singleton. The damaging correspondence emerged after Hadley's one-time producer Richard Palmer sued the top-rating radio announcer for workplace bullying. Hadley was briefly suspended before the matter was quietly settled out of court. Then, five years ago, the ABC's 7.30 program featured a host of Rampaging Ray's former colleagues again accusing him of workplace bullying and intimidation. Former 2GB producer Richard Palmer and one-time Macquarie Radio chair Russell Tate One of his accusers, former 2GB producer and close friend Chris Bowen, sued Hadley the following year for workplace negligence and breaching his duty of care. In June 2020, the NSW District Court heard allegations Bowen had been subjected to 'no less than a thousand' of Hadley's sprays during his 16-year career at 2GB and accused the talkback king of repeatedly attacking him with 'vile homophobic slurs' and calling his ex-girlfriend a 'curry muncher'. Again, the matter was quietly settled out of court. The allegations in the 7.30 report were all historic and, to his credit, Hadley has repeatedly addressed his previously 'robust' behaviour and is adamant he is a changed man - and Inside Mail does not suggest otherwise. Former 2GB producer Chris Bowen sued Ray Hadley over bullying allegations However, we hear not everyone has been willing to forgive and forget - and a few former 2GB employees are all too happy to furnish Abbott with their war stories. That's not to say his move to Sky News Australia will necessarily be scuppered - or even could be - by Abbott's enquiries. Technically, Fox Corporation, which Abbott was elected as a director of last November, only controls Rupert Murdoch's U.S.-based television interests, while Sky News Australia falls under the umbrella of sister company News Corp. Still, we asked the former PM whether he would be giving Hadley's appointment his personal nod of approval - if asked, of course - and he did not come back to us. Awkward. Big question about Richard Marles' controversy Kate Hanns is at the centre of the bullying scandal within the Deputy PM's office The identity of the Deputy PM Richard Marles' staffer alleged to have bullied his chief of staff out of the office has finally been revealed now that Federal Court action has been launched. The alleged bully, it turns out, is a young female employee named Kate Hanns. Now everyone is innocent until proven guilty, of course, and we have no inside knowledge whether or not the bullying complaint has legs. But if the allegation is true, what could make a junior member of staff think they can do that to their most senior colleague in the office? There would have to be a backstory there, we assume. Maybe some journalists will look into what it might be. Not-so-warm welcome for Nine newbie Sam Armytage It's tough being the new kid at school - the harder you try to fit in with the cool kids, the more likely it is you'll wind up eating alone at lunch. It's a lesson Nine newbie Samantha Armytage seems destined to learn the hard way after embarking on something of a media blitz to boast she is joining the network - and its breakfast show Today - over the summer. Sure, the fill-in hosting gig is for little more than a week while regular presenters Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo are off on holiday and it's been all smiles on set. But Inside Mail hears that, behind the scenes, there are already rumblings of discontent about her appointment - and the accompanying fanfare - within Nine. That's not to say it's Sam's fault - some TV types simply don't work or play well with others, particularly when it comes to sharing the limelight with such a boisterous personality. It's been all smiles on the Today show following revelations Samantha Armytage will help out hosting the program over the summer Behind the scenes though, there are internal rumblings about Armytage's appointment Armytage will help fill in while regular hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo are on holidays Back at Armytage's alma mater, Seven's rival breakfast show Sunrise, the reaction has been somewhat more collegiate - but only if we're grading these things on a bell curve. 'Sam joining Today?' one staffer yawned when approached by Inside Mail. 'It's kind of predictable... but mostly boring.' Boring? Predictable? Oh, come on! They obviously didn't 'get' all the wild Plato and Heraclitus sex 'jokes' in Armytage's rip-snorting Sunday Telegraph column over the weekend. But then again, who did? Matt Stanton firms as full-time Nine chief It's the sliding-doors moment that (allegedly) sums up just about everything you need to know about Mike Sneesby's colourful three-year reign as Nine boss. The way Inside Mail hears it, the former chief executive hadn't been long in the role when he squeaked into the elevators at 1 Denison St, North Sydney, for the short ride up to the network's HQ alongside one of the network's tea ladies. A man of the people, he decided to introduce himself and asked how long she had been with Nine. Somewhat bemused, 'the tea lady' - who was in fact A Current Affair's award-winning then-host Tracy Grimshaw - politely informed him she had been with the station for a touch over four decades. Now, to be fair, legend has it she was taking a tray of donuts up to the newsroom as a surprise treat for her colleagues at the time. We're not sure how much of the comical tale is fact and how much is fiction - quite frankly, we're afraid to ask. Former Nine boss Mike Sneesby is rumoured to have confused Tracy Grimshaw for a 'tea lady' Either way, there was a perception at Nine that the man running the country's biggest TV network didn't actually know who was on the country's biggest TV network. But there's a new sheriff in town - and interim Sneesby successor Matt Stanton has wasted no time winning over the media giant's troops, wowing them with his exacting knowledge of the company during a nationwide tour of its newsrooms. Not only does he know who's who on-air, he is happy to give everyone at Nine a full and frank rundown of the business and its future direction. 'He really knows his s*** and is passionate - chalk and cheese with Sneesby,' one insider gushed when asked about Stanton. Interim Nine chief Matt Stanton is winning plenty of fans among the network's frontline troops Another swooned: 'I learnt more in one hour from him than I have from every other one of these [talks] combined - it was genuinely fascinating. Very sharp guy.' It's hard to see anyone beating him for the top job on a full-time basis at this rate. Still, Stanton's candour has certainly raised a few questions around the network. Staffers were left scratching their heads after he explained the company's headline-making radio arm accounts for just two per cent of Nine's revenue while struggling to attract listeners in key demographics under the age of 55. 'So why are the radio hosts all on so much money?' they wanted to know. Good question. News and weather coming up next. Want a loyal friend in TV or politics? Go buy a dog There's an old adage in television and politics: if you want a friend, buy a dog. It's not terrible advice in a world where loyalty usually expires at the end of your network contract or term in office, if not before. So it's no surprise to hear one particularly disloyal senior TV staffer has been busily buddying up to his newly minted boss of late whenever they're in earshot. As soon as he's in another corner of the media company's office, he's more than happy to offer an all-too-honest character assessment (or should that be assassination) regarding his fearless leader's news sense and level of experience. In fact, he's usually the one to raise the contentious topic. Don't get him wrong: he thinks his boss is great! It's just that they'd be even greater... in a different job. Maybe a demotion to chief of staff somewhere would be suitable, he suggests. It would all be quite sinister if it wasn't so laughably transparent. In his mind, he is operating with all the shrewd political nous of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the power player from Yes Minister. But in reality, he's about as cunning as Humphrey B. Bear. Even if you can't hear what he's actually saying, it's still fairly easy to figure out what he's trying to achieve. We are not sure if word about his treacherous comments has trickled back to his boss yet and, to be honest, we don't want to be the ones to spoil the surprise. Newsrooms being what they are, they'll hear about it soon enough. Linton Besser sticks with the ABC, despite Nine interest When it comes to fronting news and current-affairs programs at the ABC, it looks like Linton Besser is doing his level best to just about collect the whole set. The well-liked reporter, who has won accolades for his hard-hitting journalism across 7.30, Foreign Correspondent and Four Corners, was last week announced as the new host of the national broadcaster's Media Watch program from next year. However, his career could have taken a decidedly different path. Inside Mail is reliably informed it's not just the ABC that's smitten with Besser's on-air talents. Intrepid reporter Linton Besser has won fans across the industry with his hard-hitting stories The ever-changing faces of Nine's 60 Minutes line-up. Can you name them all? After kickstarting his career at Nine as a young-gun producer on the Today show, word is the station made a play to lure him back to the network about 18 months ago only this time as a reporter for 60 Minutes. In the end, he decided to stay with the ABC and the role eventually went to that other guy you know the one we mean? No, us neither. Crikey! Answer our survey or be forever shamed! Meanwhile, over at Crikey, the niche news website, they've been busily interviewing Australian media's 'movers and shakers' about what they think is moving and shaking in the Australian media. The contentious Crikey survey featuring one of the not-so-veiled threats As Inside Mail's readers will know, it's rarely a challenge to get journalists to discuss their two favourite topics: themselves and their very busy and important jobs. Which is why eyebrows were raised about the note sent out to the 200 media heavy-hitters asked to share their views on the industry's biggest challenges and opportunities as part of the survey. Buried deep within the email were two not-so-veiled threats noting 'we will list everyone who did not respond or declined to participate'. Crikey! The horror! The horror! It's a weirdly menacing salvo for what otherwise seems quite a harmless project. Ultimately, the name-and-shame list will say more about those who buckled to the ridiculous ultimatum than those who didn't. Indeed, Inside Mail's better half, Peter Van Onselen, wasn't having any of it when he responded to Crikey. 'I was very happy to participate as I indicated by text, but the implied threat that anyone approached who doesn't answer the survey QTs will get named (and by extension shamed) is such a d**k move that I'm out,' PVO told the website. 'Go ahead and add me to that list instead.' Ousted News Corp editor-in-chief tipped for new role There was much outcry in May when Lisa Muxworthy was ousted as the editor-in-chief of News.com.au amid a wide-ranging reshuffle at News Corp's Holt Street headquarters. The well-liked News lifer was replaced by former Sunday Telegraph boss Mick Carroll after finding herself unexpectedly unemployed. So we are happy to hear Muxworthy might have found a new home over at Seven's 'Media City' HQ in Sydney's inner-south, after being sounded out about a top gig at the network. Not an editor-in-chief role, mind. Seven's news supremo Anthony De Ceglie and former News.com.au boss Lisa Muxworthy Seven's new news supremo Anthony 'Acca Dacca' De Ceglie has retired all editor-in-chief titles (except for his own) since being appointed to the company's top editorial role in April. While editor-in-chief titles may be handed out like lollies at other media outlets, at Seven it seems, like Highlander, there can be only one. Basil Zempilas' very underwhelming impact on the polls WA Liberals really are a breed all of their own. Readers might remember at their last state election in 2021 the party was reduced to just two seats in the 59-seat Legislative Assembly. The pair of them struggled to agree on who should lead the party, splitting 1-1 over the issue before a deal was done to make David Honey the leader and Libby Mettam his deputy. WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam At least they achieved gender equality, we suppose. The party ranks swelled - if that's the right term - to three when a Nationals MP defected to increase their numbers by a whopping 50 per cent. David then lost his preselection to stay in parliament and Libby took over as his leader. What a wild ride! Fast forward to today and another state election is due early next year but WA's business community is worried that she isn't doing as well as she should be against a Labor government that no longer has the popular pandemic premier Mark McGowan leading it. With TV personality and Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas poised to enter state parliament for the Libs, a poll has been commissioned and leaked to the media showing the struggling party would be better placed to make him the leader now, even though he's not even an MP yet. A sort of western Campbell Newman. Anyway, when we heard this we assumed the poll must show a Basil-led Liberal Party would have a chance of challenging Labor for government, but no. Even under TV personality-turned-politician Basil Zempilas, pictured with wife Amy Graham, the WA Libs would still be able to share a maxi-taxi to their party room and have seats to spare Apparently switching to him would help the Libs win an extra five seats, which might not happen under Libby's leadership. Talk about fighting over the leftovers! Even if that's right, it would still only see the Libs winning, at best, eight seats in the 59-seat lower house. Of course, the bullying to force Libby out didn't work - she has said she's going nowhere - so now this largely empty maxi-cab party room is more divided than ever. 'What a complete s*** show,' is how one former senior Liberal MP from the west summed it up. Spot the '80s Aussie TV icon Usually it's the kids who get the biggest kick out of seeing Santa at the local shopping centre but this year, some of their parents (and grandparents) are sure to get a little surprise while visiting Saint Nick's nearest North Pole outpost. At least, if they're lucky enough to be shopping at Westfield Chatswood, in Sydney's inner-north, where eagle-eyed fans of iconic '80s children's show Simon Townsend's Wonder World might recognise the man behind the beard. Can you spot the famous star of yesteryear? Can you pick the famous '80s TV star behind Santa's beard this festive season? Come on, if you squint hard enough it's obvious, isn't it? The centre's Kris Kringle is surely none other than ever-popular Wonder World reporter Maurice Parker, who has decided to spend his spare time spreading a little extra cheer this festive season. Simon Townsend (centre) with his Wonder World team (from left) Sandy Mauger, Jonathan Coleman, dog Woodrow, Maurice Parker and Alita Fahey Having been the line producer for many a year at the now-defunct Studio 10, we're sure the kiddies' wish lists will seem a doddle compared to the diva demands he's used to dealing with. What a legend! Guess who, don't sue In an early tease, let's play the 'guess who, don't sue' game... Who is the senior television personality upsetting her co-workers because she's using her platform to push an ideological agenda? Like refusing to do stories or interview experts on topics that she doesn't agree with? Those around her think she gets away with it because she's 'untouchable' in the eyes of management. There's apparently a lot more to this story - if it ever comes out. Dummy act of the week Acknowledgements of country can be a wonderful way to show respect for Australia's Indigenous population, the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet, no less. Some Australians think there are too many acknowledgements done, such that they are losing their meaning. However, that's a contested view. But surely we can all agree there is no place for them when attending events overseas? Apparently not! Climate minister Chris Bowen loves a welcome to country - even when he is in someone else's An Australian delegation to the COP29 climate-change conference in Azerbaijan started by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land they weren't meeting on, and have been rightly slammed for doing so. Where on Earth did they get the idea that was the right thing to do? From the climate minister Chris Bowen, we assume, who did the very same thing last year at the same conference. Some people never learn Up to 44,000 terminally ill pensioners have lost access to the winter fuel payments this year after the government introduced new restrictions that mean only those in receipt of Pension Credit will be eligible. New research from end-of-life Marie Curie revealed the staggering number of elderly, terminally ill people who will receive no help to keep themselves warm this winter - including those diagnosed with cancer. Previously, they would have been able to claim up to 300 for help to pay the bills through the cold winter months. Helen van Bueren, 77, from Derbyshire, who has Multiple Myeloma, is one of those who has lost her Winter Fuel Payment and said she fears she 'won't see the other side of this winter'. The energy bill assistance is not only important to keep those who are terminally ill warm, but also to sustain lifesaving equipment such as oxygen machines. It's feared the winter fuel payment changes could disproportionately hit pensioners with terminal illnesses because they are more likely to be house-bound and unable to access lifelines such as warm community centres. It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suffered a blow in Scotland on Tuesday after the country's Labour vowed to force a vote on reinstating the winter fuel payment for all its pensioners. Ms Van Beuren said: 'When the cold starts to creep in, my feet turn white, go numb and stop working completely. I can't feel anything. Helen van Bueren, 77, from Derbyshire, who has Multiple Myeloma, is one of those who has lost her Winter Fuel Payment Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer's government announced the change to winter fuel payments within weeks of taking office Your browser does not support iframes. 'I fumble, I drop things and there are walking sticks scattered all over the house in case I fall. 'The cold is crippling. It seeps into your bones and sits there. It consumes you. With each year that passes, I feel myself fading a little more. 'I'm just over the limit for Pension Credit so I won't get my winter fuel allowance anymore and I do wonder if I will see the other side of this winter.' Data shows that around 43,900 people of pension age are currently in receipt of one or more benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness, but are not eligible to receive pension credit. The new government announced changes this autumn which mean no pensioner not eligible to claim pension credit would be able to receive winter fuel payments. Pension credit gives single households receiving less than 11,344 or two-person households receiving less than 17,313 per year extra financial support. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the winter fuel payment would be means-tested within weeks of taking office. The policy has been widely criticised but Labour insist it is vital to balance the books after a 'fiscal black hole' left by the Tory government. The controversial change to winter fuel payments has been widely criticised by MPs, charities and the public Conservative MPs presented a petition calling for the Government to stop the planned cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment in October Scottish Labour's social security spokesman Paul O'Kane said the country 'needs a change in direction' But in Scotland, Labour MPs are defiantly vowing to force a vote to give the payment back to most of the country's pensioners. Amendments submitted by the party would require ministers to make regulations so all pensioners are eligible for winter heating assistance. There would be a mechanism for payments to be recovered if the recipient's household income exceeds an amount set by ministers. Scottish Labour's social security spokesman Paul O'Kane 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 shouldn't 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.' Dr Sam Royston, Executive Director for Policy and Research at Marie Curie said the government should 'urgently rethink the decision' It's feared the winter fuel payment changes could disproportionately hit pensioners with terminal illnesses because they are more likely to be house-bound (stock photo) Dr Sam Royston, Executive Director for Policy and Research at Marie Curie, said: 'For people who claim benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness, this may very well be their last winter and Christmas. 'We know that energy costs can increase dramatically after a terminal diagnosis, yet the decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment only to people receiving means-tested benefits takes no account of this. 'The festive season is meant to be one of warmth, joy, and celebration. No one should have to face their final days worrying about money or whether they can afford to heat their home or even switch on Christmas lights. 'The government should urgently rethink this decision, and take further steps to support people at the end of life with energy costs, including by introducing a social tariff.' A Government spokesperson said: 'No one should suffer financial hardship because of a health condition that's why special rules are in place to ensure those nearing the end of their life get faster, easier access to certain benefits, in most cases at the highest rate. 'We are committed to supporting pensioners, with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to 1,900 this parliament. 'Over a million pensioners will still receive a Winter Fuel Payment, and many others will also benefit from the 150 Warm Home Discount and Cold Weather Payments this winter, while our extension of the Household Support Fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.' An activist influencer has shared a video where she appears to repeatedly ring doorbells at random in an upmarket Melbourne neighbourhood, as she warns 'no settler will live in peace'. The activist who calls herself 'Hijabi Barbi' on TikTok but whose identity is unknown, shared a brief clip of a person - apparently herself - running down a back street in the inner northern suburb of Fitzroy while ringing on door buzzers. 'POV (point of view): no settler will live in peace,' the 10 second clip shared with more than 25,000 followers is captioned. She warned 'Fitzroy rich nepo babies (to) be careful' and was quickly inundated with online backlash. 'Ah yes, harassing random people in their homes,' an angry viewer posted on X. 'You will sleep soundly tonight knowing you are truly changing the world, one doorbell at a time. 'Imagine being an adult and not having ideas more sophisticated than an eight-year-old.' Another added: 'So many people think random antisocial behavior is activism.' Pro-Palestine influencer 'Hijabi Barbi' (pictured) shared a brief clip of an unidentified individual running down a back street in the city's inner-city Fitzroy suburb while ringing door buzzers Others pointed out that Fitzroy was quite a left-wing neighbourhood, so she was only disturbing likeminded people. 'Fitzroy is a super woke area, so the people there are likely Greens voters!', one wrote. Many viewers also pointed out that she did not appear indigenous, and was therefore a 'settler' herself. It is unclear if Ms Barbi has any Indigenous heritage. However, in another video posted during the Australian Open tennis in January, Ms 'Barbi' complained how event security staff confiscated Palestinian flags from supporters and tried to take her Jordanian flag. In other clips she has proudly discussed her Iraqi heritage. 'No matter what the DNA tests show, I'm Iraqi first,' she captioned one video which included a freeze-frame image of the moment an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at then-US President George Bush in 2008. Ms 'Barbi' is a regular participant at pro-Palestine protests in Melbourne, which have been held almost every weekend since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict was triggered on October 7 last year when Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostage, while activists claim Israel's response has been disproportionately harsh. Ms 'Barbi' (pictured) is a regular at pro-Palestine protests in Melbourne, which have been held almost every weekend since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The activist warned 'Fitzroy rich nepo babies (to) be careful'. Pictured is the inner-city suburb Almost 45,000 Palestinians, many of them children, have died as vast swathes of the Gaza strip have been reduced to rubble. Last week, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes. Ms 'Barbi' regularly raises money for families in war-torn Gaza and promised supporters if she met a recent fundraising target, she would 'literally take a s**** on King Charles'. A video appeared to show her partner placing anti-Israel and pro-Palestine stickers on a 'Lest We Forget' sign on the boulevard leading up to Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. 'Lest we forget the war crimes and genocide Australia is committing right now,' she captioned the post. She regularly takes aim at Starbucks and Coca Cola due to both conglomerates' perceived support of Israel. One recent video showed her partner appearing to deliberately fizz up a multi-pack of Coke cans in a supermarket in protest. A video appeared to show her partner placing anti-Israel and pro-Palestine stickers on a 'Lest We Forget' sign on the boulevard leading up to Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance One recent video showed her partner appearing to deliberately fizz up a multi-pack of Coke cans in a supermarket in protest (pictured) Other videos have shown him screaming inside Starbucks cafes in Melbourne. In recent racist video said: 'White people should all get back on a boat back to England and pay everyone reparations and interest'. She also shared a video of herself and her partner walking around a Woolworths store holding several grocery items. 'Why do people complain about cost of living when supermarkets are just giant open buffets with free entry?', the caption read. In another video, she claimed she was 'laughing for hours' following news that a statue of Captain Cook had been toppled in Melbourne ahead of Australia Day. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Barbi for comment. Black Friday shoppers are being warned to be on their guard as they snap up online bargains after a study suggested the value of parcels stolen from doorsteps by so-called 'porch pirates' has doubled in the last year. MailOnline has used new data to draw up a map of Britain's parcel theft hotspots - and the most comprehensive picture of the crimewave to date. Research suggests 21 per cent of all parcel thefts take place in November and December as gangs target empty homes with parcels sitting outside in order to make a quick buck. And data shows around one in seven British households has fallen victim to parcel thieves, with deliveries being stolen that are worth an average of 102 at a time. Shoppers have lost 376.6million in delivered goods across the last year according to postal tech firm Quadient suggests - up from around 204 million in 2023, suggesting thieves are working even harder to steal your bargain buys. The firm has warned shoppers to be on their guard as they spend a predicted 7.1billion treating themselves and others over the festive period. Figures on parcel theft are difficult to come by - not least because just one in every 333 thefts is thought to be reported to police. And the true value of parcels stolen last year is likely to be so much higher. But Quadient - which supplied MailOnline with similar figures last year as we reported on the theft craze - has built up some of the best possible estimates using theft data from police forces across England and Wales and a survey of 2,000 Brits. Your browser does not support iframes. This brazen parcel thief strolled up to a doorstep in Bexleyheath, Kent, before fleeing to a waiting getaway car (right of image) Parcel thieves are growing increasingly brazen in a crime spree costing Brits hundreds of millions of pounds every year It says thieves will 'stop at nothing' to take advantage when parcels are delivered to empty homes. Around half of police forces responded with data on the number of parcels stolen, as well as how much they were worth. Combined with data on the time of day most thefts occur, the typical age of someone reporting the theft and the type of property, MailOnline can present one of the most comprehensive pictures of the porch pirate phenomenon to date. How to stop porch pirates from stealing your parcels Track your parcel to someone is at home for the delivery Install a video doorbell to be notified of deliveries instantly; it is also easier to install than CCTV Install a security light to spook would-be thieves at night Arrange for your parcel to be delivered to a neighbour, or other family members who will be at home Use an off-site locker service for frequent deliveries, or for expensive items Source: NPCC Advertisement Among the forces that responded, Bedfordshire Police data revealed 99 in 100,000 people had reported thefts - more than last year's highest per-head rate, Hertfordshire Constabulary, which reported 73 thefts per 100,000. Reports of theft filed in the east England county also increased by 52 per cent year-on-year. Gallingly, most thefts - almost two-thirds in all - take place in broad daylight between the hours of 9am and 5pm, when people are likely to be at work. It may not be surprising to learn the relative majority of victims, 46 per cent, are aged 34 and under - statistically more likely to rely on online shopping, particularly following the coronavirus pandemic. But as they have returned to work, it may be the case their shopping habits have remained stuck in the past - putting them at greater risk of having a parcel stolen. And while two thirds of thefts occur at houses - where thieves are likely to run up to a vacant doorstep and pinch a parcel in seconds - the other third of thefts take place in shared occupancy dwellings such as blocks of flats. Katia Bourgeais-Cremel, of Quadient, said flats were quickly becoming 'prime targets' for thieves because of the opportunity to grab multiple parcels at once. 'No home is immune to the plague of parcel theft, and as higher value items are being stolen, the UK public needs to be especially vigilant over the holidays,' she said. 'Flats are now prime targets for porch pirates as they use minimum effort for maximum profit, swiping multiple items at once. 'This being said, lower resident footfall around houses means they are attractive to opportunistic thieves. More needs to be done to cut off porch piracy's air supply than ever.' Your browser does not support iframes. Shoppers using the likes of Amazon are being urged to consider other ways of getting parcels delivered amid a spate of thefts Your browser does not support iframes. A survey conducted alongside the FOI data revealed Londoners were most likely to fall to victim to porch piracy: one in five people living in the capital surveyed said they had fallen victim. Black Friday is prime shopping season - both for Brits and for scheming thieves. Google search data suggests searches for 'stolen parcel' in the UK peak in November and December as newly delivered gifts disappear before they've even been opened. And week after week victims of porch pirates post videos online of their purchases being nicked by unashamed thieves - captured in high definition by their doorbell cameras. Last week, a thief in Bexleyheath, Kent, was pictured boldly strolling up to a doorstep and grabbing a parcel worth around 100. He could then be seen dashing back to a waiting car and jumping in the back - suggesting he is part of a wider organised gang. And in May, a woman could be seen walking up to a front door in Southampton's Malmesbury Road before making off with a parcel and baby clothes. In barely believable scenes in June, an Amazon worker could be seen appearing to steal a parcel containing a 225 mobile phone - after dropping off another parcel. Quadient has previously suggested the cost-of-living crisis and a clash between old Covid shopping habits and a return to the office may have driven the spate of thefts from outside vacant homes. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 27.6 per cent of all UK retail sales last month were online - below the heady peaks of Covid, but far above pre-pandemic levels. A terrified woman screamed 'call the police' as thieves held up a DPD van Quadient, which produces parcel lockers like the one above, says shoppers should consider other ways of having their purchases delivered if they can't be at home But footage of armed gangs ransacking delivery vans suggests there is a growing trend of organised crime gangs following Britain's growing fleets of couriers to either rob them, or the houses they deliver to. The firm produces the kinds of parcel lockers it says people can send items to instead of having them delivered to empty homes - so it is fair to say it has a vested interest in obtaining the data and advocating for lockers. But it does say there are altogether more altruistic reasons why Brits should avoid sending deliveries to an empty doorstep. If companies are not shelling out on refunds and replacements for stolen items, prices could be lower. Sending parcels to a secure location could also cut carbon emissions by reducing unnecessary repeat deliveries. Sending items to a locker would also, Quadient argues, free up police time to investigate other crimes. Ms Bourgeais-Cremel adds: 'The UK's parcel theft problem is everywhere, and the data shows porch pirates are stopping at nothing to make a profit, targeting everywhere from prisons to nurseries. 'With the economy for parcel theft booming, the cost of lost items is being passed on to the consumer.' The National Police Chiefs Council recommends using parcel lockers as one of several ways to keep deliveries secure. However, there are other options - including dropping off parcels at a local corner shop, many of which have tie-ups with the biggest couriers including Evri, Yodel and DPD. Experts also suggest ensuring someone is at home to receive the delivery - or else to arrange for it to be left with a neighbour or a concierge where available. If all else fails, the NPCC suggests installing a video doorbell and a security light to act as deterrents. Shopkeepers whose stores are located in the centre of Britain's shoplifting epidemic say the police must do more to stop thieves breaking in and stealing their goods. The picturesque city of Bath, famous for its Roman spa and gorgeous Georgian architecture, has seen its theft problem growing faster than anywhere else in the country. Disgruntled shopkeepers in the area have told MailOnline they had noticed a spike in thefts and burglaries since Covid and the cost-of-living crisis. But some also felt there were a number of cases where organised gangs might be involved. They added that offenders often used distraction techniques and targeted shops, including charity ones, when they were busy. Many said the shoplifting crimewave had led to them forking out large sums of money to pay for extra security and repair their damaged property. But when these incidents were reported to the police, including photos of the suspects, the owners say no further action was taken. One boss even admitted he had considered 'shutting up shop' for good due to the increased levels of crime in the city leaving his staff too frightened to come to work. The picturesque city of Bath, famous for its Roman spa and gorgeous Georgian architecture, has seen its theft problem growing faster than anywhere else in the country Rahul Sharma, 34, director of Ganesha Handicraft and Jewellery store, admitted he had considered 'shutting up shop' due to the increased levels of crime Many said the shoplifting crimewave has led to them forking out large sums of money to pay for extra security and repair their damaged property Police 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. Rahul Sharma, 34, director of Ganesha Handicraft and Jewellery store in The Corridor, has been broke into three times with the last one in April of this year. The store, which has been open for 13 years, has seen pickpockets attempt to use distraction tactics in the shop, which is popular among visitors for Christmas gifts. Mr Sharma said: 'We were disturbed [by the burglary]. We source jewellery, including making trips to India, and when a collection is taken, it's difficult to replace it. It's not just about the money, but the time and effort involved. 'Sometimes I feel like shutting up shop because of the stress that comes with it. Sometimes I'm losing money, rather than making it, and wonder what's the point. 'But it's a passion. Everybody loves the shop and it's a well-known place to get Christmas presents.' Residents in the Somerset city felt there was no deterrent for these criminals, one local claiming she currently 'wouldn't go out at night' The security screen in Mr Sharma's store, which he installed after seeing a spike in thefts He believes some staff may have left because they were afraid following the spate of incidents over the last two years. He said: 'Staff were scared and left us. Once, a drunk tried to take something then pushed past a member of staff [as she was entering].' He has noticed a spike in thefts since Covid and the cost-of-living crisis, but says there are some cases where it is more organised and they 'know what they are doing'. He has since installed a big screen, where they can view every corner of the shop, has a contract with a security firm and has trained staff to deal with shoplifting. He said: 'They are aware of distraction techniques and know not to take it personally or to put themselves in harm's way.' The measures appear to be effective but he's calling on the local council to do more from putting security in place to supporting the homeless. Some store owners and residents believe the increase is due to homelessness, addictions and organised criminals. Ivor Stanton, the store manager at family-owned specialist drinks importer, distributor and retailer Amathus Drinks, in Green Street , said they were broken into twice in the last month. Many businesses in Bath said the shoplifting crimewave has led to them forking out large sums of money to pay for extra security measures (file) Ivor Stanton, the store manager at family-owned specialist drinks importer, distributor and retailer Amathus Drinks, in Green Street , said they were broken into twice in the last month He said it was reported to police, including photos of the suspects, but no further action was taken. Mr Stanton said they have also had emails warning them of 'champagne thieves' from head office. He added shoplifting led to hidden costs, such as paying for extra security and repairing damage. 'It's debilitating,' he told MailOnline. 'We need more police and more follow ups on incidents.' Maisie Usher, a fashion buyer with Vintage Abs in Upper Borough Walls, said they had seen an increase in shoplifting in recent months. She believes it is mostly down to the cost of living crisis, but others have appeared more brazen and less desperate. She said: 'Some people have come in and taken a rail of clothing and said 'have a nice day'. 'But others have seemed desperate and in need of a coat to keep them warm at night. We know someone who was sleeping rough nearby and said it was better to go to prison during the winter months. More than 50 shoplifting offences were reported in the central shopping district in September alone, Avon and Somerset Police data shows (file) The deputy manager at Oxfam in George Street said the thefts were disheartening (file) 'As a business, it's difficult as it affects income, but we also feel for those in need.' She added she had heard more activity on the security radio and they had taken measures to protect their store. Tom Madely, assistant manager at fashion retailer Route 1, in The Corridor, said he had seen a spate of shoplifters in the two months he had been there. But he said increased police presence in the area was starting to have an impact. He said: 'Our community officers regularly visit and are very helpful. They've also started placing more officers on the high street, with four walking up and down, and it seems to be helping.' 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. Figures have revealed shoplifting offences rose by more than 83 per cent in the 12 months to September in the city Charities have not been spared in the city's recent crime spree. Just this month police launched an appeal after a man broke into staff lockers and stole purses at a shop in Argyle Street. He then used credit cards at shops across the city centre. Emma Irwin, the deputy manager at Oxfam in George Street, said the thefts were disheartening. She said: 'Someone took a pair of leather trousers for 20. They were brazen and just walked out. 'Another time, someone said to another customer "I'm just taking these", picked them up and went. There's nothing we can do but watch them go and it's really annoying. 'It makes a dent in the takings and it's disheartening you'd think a charity shop would be the last place they'd do it. 'Volunteers get upset by it and feel like they should do more but it's not their responsibility.' Dominic, assistant manager at Bath Cats & Dogs Home Charity Shop in George Street, said he had seen people taking whole railings of clothes and said it was 'morally bankrupt' to steal from a charity shop. The assistant manager at Bath Cats & Dogs Home Charity Shop in George Street said it was 'morally bankrupt' to steal from a charity shop He said: 'I think you must be really desperate to steal from a charity shop. I don't know how a designer item will keep you warm at night, rather than a blanket.' He believes the lack of consequences gives them 'carte blanche to help themselves'. He added the offenders often used distraction techniques and targeted shops when they were busy. Bath residents Peter and Suzanne Wrench agreed that thieves were able to get away with it and there was no deterrent. Dianna Moss thinks it is a sign of the times. She said: 'It reflects what's going on people are poorer and more desperate.' One resident, who did not wish to be named and said he worked in Waitrose, said pickpocketing was a daily issue. He said: 'They have spotters outside looking for a security guard, then one will distract, while the other goes in. It's appalling and we can't do anything about it.' He referred to a law in which shop thefts under 200 are not investigated. 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 He added: 'They'll take bottles of vodka but know they won't go to court if it's under that amount. I think they should get rid of that law.' Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said she had lived in the city for 40 years and it had changed a lot during that time. She said: 'I've stood and watched it happen [shoplifting] and it's quite frightening. I've said to the girl in the store 'do you know it's happening?' and she'll say she can't do anything about it. 'It looks pretty here, but it's time this was brought under control. I wouldn't go out at night.' The former President of France has declared the EU should consider sanctioning Elon Musk's companies and slapping US goods with retaliatory tariffs if Donald Trump is tough on Europe following his return to the Oval Office. Francois Hollande, who led France from 2012 to 2017 and was in office during Trump's first stint in the White House, said the president-elect does not value America's historical partnership with Europe and urged the EU to do what is necessary to get his respect. 'To Donald Trump, the EU is not even a partner. It is just an entity that must be responsible for its own security, that must make its own efforts to invest in the US if it so wishes. 'We do not count in his vision, as unpleasant as it may seem,' he told MailOnline. 'If (Trump hits the EU with tariffs) there should be a reciprocal reaction - we could target Elon Musk through sanctions on his companies... We must show that we can fight back if the US refuses European goods to circulate.' He went on to deride the SpaceX, Tesla and X CEO's seemingly outsized influence in Trump's transition cabinet, claiming that 'Elon Musk is effectively the Vice President of the US, he may even be the President - although Trump might not know that yet'. Hollande, who was re-elected as an MP for France's socialist party this summer and could potentially make a second bid for the presidency in 2027, also said Europe must be ready to pick up the slack if Trump withdraws support for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. He made the remarks during an event hosted by British university King's College London earlier this month. The former President of France has declared the EU should consider sanctioning Elon Musk 's companies and slapping US goods with retaliatory tariffs if Donald Trump is tough on Europe following his return to the Oval Office Left-leaning French MP and former President Francois Hollande gestures as he attends a session of questions to the government at The National Assembly in Paris on November 26, 2024 Hollande was the President of France when Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and began the prelude to the outbreak of fully-fledged war in 2022 In the run-up to the hotly anticipated presidential election, Trump had waxed lyrical about the benefits of trade duties as an economic and foreign policy tool, describing the word 'tariff' as 'the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff - my favourite word'. The president-elect this week doubled down, pledging to implement major tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, fuelling concerns of a damaging trade war. Trump said in a post on Truth Social he would impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, on his first day in office in January. But European political and industrial chiefs are concerned he may implement lower tariffs across the board on all products entering the US. Trump's previous administration slapped tariffs on EU steel and aluminium in 2018, prompting Europeans to retaliate with duties on US-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items. This time round, Trump has floated the idea of imposing a blanket 10% tariff on all goods imported into the US, with the possibility of higher rates on high-value items. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that if Trump went ahead with his tariffs, their direct effect plus the trade uncertainty they would generate could cost the eurozone countries at least one percentage point of GDP growth. Hollande said the EU could be harmed by Trump's economic policies and argued European leaders must be prepared to fight for their respect from the White House if the soon-to-be 47th US President presses ahead. 'The US is focused on China - it is their opponent on an economic level,' Hollande said. 'As we know duties will go up when Trump gets into office to slow or even stop imports. But the EU is a collateral victim of this.' The former French president was also critical of Musk, who he said had appeared to gain a great deal of political sway. Days after Hollande's address in London, Trump officially tapped the tech billionaire as the head of the newly created 'Department of Government Efficiency' alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The president-elect pledged the pair would help him 'dismantle' government bureaucracy and 'slash excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure Federal Agencies'. The imminent arrival of Trump to the White House is also at the forefront of Hollande's mind in light of the war in Ukraine. When asked to respond to concerns that Trump could dramatically reduce US military aid to Kyiv while rolling back Washington's commitments to NATO, Hollande said Europe must be prepared to back Ukraine all the way. The former French president was also critical of Musk, who he said had appeared to gain a great deal of political sway President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington Hollande's rallying call to stand up to Putin came as Britain, France and the US granted Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russia. Putin reacted with fury to that decision, unleashing a never-before-seen 'Oreshnik' hypersonic missile Hollande was the President of France when Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and began the prelude to the outbreak of fully-fledged war in 2022, and characterised the Russian leader as 'not a very warm person'. Now, he believes the West is locked 'in a world war between democracy and authoritarian powers' and that Britain and its European partners could not afford to back down even if the US under Trump abandoned its support of Ukraine. Hollande told attendees at King's College London: 'It's the first time since the end of the Cold War that there are troops from another continent present in Europe behind the Russian forces,' in reference to more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers supporting Moscow's forces in Kursk. 'Now, the EU can support Ukraine and organise its own defence - but who is going to make that choice? Because it's now we have to react and so far there has been no reaction beyond words. 'We need to do a lot more - including massively ramping up aid to Ukraine,' he said. 'Putin only considers us for our strength... We are a place of freedom, and what counts is our strength and our resolve,' he concluded - though he cautioned against deploying NATO troops to fight alongside Kyiv's forces. Hollande's rallying call comes as Britain, France and the US granted Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russia with long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles. Putin reacted with fury to that decision, unleashing a never-before-seen 'Oreshnik' hypersonic missile to demolish industrial plants in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro after Kyiv's forces struck targets in the Russian regions of Kursk and Bryansk with the Western rockets. The launch followed days after Putin 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 in response to attacks on its territory. Russia's amended nuclear doctrine, 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. The convicted pedophile who claimed he 'accidentally' killed 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, has gone missing from the halfway house he was court-ordered to reside. Gary Oliva, whose admission has once again been highlighted by a Netflix docuseries on the sensational unsolved murder, is now listed in Denver as a 'transient' who only has to check in with cops once a month. For the rest of the time, no one has any way of knowing where he is. 'Gary must physically come into the police department every month and sign a document stating that he is a transient and listing the area or shelter where he stays, a Denver police detective told DailyMail.com. 'But there is no way to be certain that he spends time or nights at the shelter. 'He very well could be lying to us; it's happened in the past with other sex offenders.' Oliva, 60, last checked in with cops in early November, in compliance with the rules. He had been living in Room 12 of the Silver Spur motel in the East Colfax area of the Mile High City, but hasn't been seen there in months. Convicted pedophile Gary Oliva, 60, who confessed over letters to 'accidentally' killing 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey is on parole and court-ordered to stay at a motel where he can check in with police at their headquarters once a month Oliva had been living in Room 12 of the Silver Spur motel in the East Colfax area of the Mile High City, but he hadn't been seen there in months Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet's body was found at her home in Boulder, Colorado on December 26, 1996 A resident at the seedy, 15-room facility, which houses at least two other sex offenders told DailyMail.com: 'He kept to himself and did not socialize with the other tenants. 'He was strange even by the standards of the tenants at the motel. He talked to himself a lot. 'Then one day we all realized he was gone, and we have not seen him since. It's like he disappeared off the face of the earth.' Even court documents issued in May for trespass described him as 'transient'. Oliva sensationally confessed in several 2019 letters from prison that he had accidentally killed JonBenet over Christmas 1996, first reported by DailyMail.com 'I never loved anyone like I did JonBenet and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die,' he wrote to his high school buddy Michael Vail. 'It was an accident. Please believe me. She was not like the other kids.' He confessed to other killings, writing: 'I'm a serial murderer. I have a disorder that cannot be stopped. I've told the detectives all the murders I can remember. All of them pan out. They just can't prove any of them.' Oliva just finished serving his eight-year sentence for child pornography charges in January Although Oliva is listed under the sex offender registry as residing at the seedy Colfax Avenue motel, which was court-mandated, a recent trespassing charge listed him as a 'transient' According to the Netflix documentary Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, when police went to find Oliva, they discovered his tent was full of pictures of JonBenet Oliva was registered as a sex offender at an address just ten blocks from the Ramsey family home where JonBenet's body was discovered In another letter, he wrote: 'JonBenet completely changed me and removed all evil from me. Just one look at her beautiful face, her glowing beautiful skin, and her divine God-body, I realized I was wrong to kill other kids. Yet by accident she died and it was my fault.' At the time Oliva was serving an eight-year prison sentence for having child pornography on his phone. He also had hundreds of pictures of JonBenet. Oliva disappeared from the Silver Spur motel several months ago He is on parole until February 1, 2027, according to a parole agreement obtained by DailyMail.com Oliva had also previously been sentenced for sexually molesting a seven-year-old girl and was jailed for 17 months for trying to strangle his mother with a telephone cord. The convicted pedophile was interviewed by police in Boulder after music publicist Vail handed the letters over, but was never charged as his DNA did not match that at the scene of the little pageant queen's home. The Netflix documentary, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, has raised the prospect that Oliva should still be considered a suspect because the DNA evidence is unreliable. According to the documentary, Oliva's name was mentioned to police 'very early' in the investigation. He had sexually assaulted a neighbor in Oregon and, living rough, ended up in Boulder at the time JonBenet was killed. He was using an address ten blocks from the Ramsey home. Oliva said he killed JonBenet Ramsey by accident. He wrote, 'I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die. It was an accident' Describing JonBenet's death, sex offender Oliva wrote: 'I let the one I love die in my arms helplessly watching the life drain from her eyes as all light went out' Oliva made the shocking admission in letters he recently wrote from prison to former high school friend Michael Vail who submitted them to the police after reading the headlines on JonBenet's murder 'When the sheriff arrives, they will find you dead': An Oregon Department of Corrections report describes how Oliva tried to strangle his mother with a telephone cord in May 1991 Vail told DailyMail.com in 2019 that Oliva had called him in tears on the night of December 26, 1996 the night that JonBenet's body was discovered. 'He was sobbing and said, "I hurt a little girl,"' Vail said. 'I tried to get more information out of him. The only other thing he told me was that he was in the Boulder, Colorado area. 'On December 27 I read on the front page of my local newspaper 'Girl, 6, slain in Boulder, Colorado'. I knew I had to alert the police,' he added. 'I immediately called the Boulder Police Department and told them what I knew about Gary and what he had told me just days earlier. They didn't get back to me.' Kurt Pillard, the investigations commander at the Colorado Springs Police Department, confirmed in the documentary that a friend of Oliva's said the pedophile had called him in a 'distraught' state after JonBenet was murdered. 'Cold Case' featured disturbing TV interviews with Oliva, from the time of the killing, in which he salivates over JonBenet's appearances in beauty pageants. The deranged pedophile said: 'When you see the footage of her in her little cowboy suit going I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart, I've never seen anything like it.' Crime scene photo at the Ramsey family home showed the open basement window which investigators believe JonBenet's killer may have used. Her body was found under a blanket in a neighboring room that had been used as the wine cellar JonBenet pictured with her mother Patsy and brother Burke Ramsey at a photo studio on August 6, 1990 At the time, he denied being involved in her death but bizarrely claimed that JonBenet 'came to me after she was killed and revealed herself to me'. But after Oliva's admission that he had 'just hurt a little' girl, Boulder police took a 'hard look' at him. According to the documentary, when police went to find Oliva, they discovered his tent was full of pictures of JonBenet. But when his DNA did not match that found at the scene, he was ruled out. The DNA evidence in the case has long proved problematic and Boulder police have been heavily criticized for mishandling the investigation. In 2015, former Boulder police chief Mark Beckner admitted crime scene evidence may have been mishandled on a Reddit forum. 'The crime scene was not handled properly and this later affected the investigation,' he said. Nobody has ever been charged in the 28 years since JonBenet's lifeless body was discovered by her father John Ramsey in the basement of the family home. The director of Netflix's new JonBenet Ramsey three-part documentary, Joe Berlinger, believes the family of the little girl is innocent JonBenet's lifeless body was discovered by her father John Bennett Ramsey in the basement of the family home JonBenet's half-brother John Andrew Ramsey said in his docuseries interview that police had to go 'deeper' with the DNA samples and their methods could have led suspects to be ruled out Detectives believe she was murdered the night before on Christmas Day through either a blow to the head or strangulation with a garrote. 'Cold Case' claims that the killer would be a 'very specific pedophile' who had likely seen one of JonBenet's beauty pageants. Multiple experts said in the documentary that there may well be a problem with the DNA that was collected from the crime scene, which was contaminated due to a catalog of police errors. Charlie Brennan, a journalist who has covered the case from the start, said in the film that the 'DNA in this case has been problematic from the beginning'. Michael Tracey, a TV producer who made one of the first major documentaries about the case and has been a staunch believer in JonBenet's parent's innocence, said that if the DNA is faulty then 'a lot of people would still be suspects'. JonBenet's stepbrother John Andrew Ramsey told the documentary makers that 'if the DNA isn't as valuable as we think then we've been ruling people out for the wrong reasons'. 'Everybody should be back on the table', he added. John Andrew Ramsey urged police to go 'deeper' with the samples from the crime scene and 'sort the DNA we have today and make more sense of it'. JonBenet's father John demanded that police finally sample five or six items that were taken from the crime scene but have never been analyzed. He stated he wants items that have been tested to be resampled due to advances in technology and then compared with the public genealogy database to look for a potential match, as has been done in numerous other cold cases. A 16-year-old Jewish girl was pelted with bottles and suffered injuries to her head and face in a 'deliberate and violent' attack in north London, as police say they have launched an investigation into a potential hate crime. The teenager was with a group of schoolgirls walking to a rehearsal on Monday evening when several glass bottles were allegedly thrown by a man on a balcony at Woodberry Down Estate in Stamford Hill. A video posted by Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch group which has described the incident as antisemitic and 'abhorrent', shows an array of glass shards on the ground alongside what appears to be broken plates. In a statement on X, Shomrim posted a video of the scene, which is close to a girls' school, and said the street had been 'covered in shattered glass following an antisemitic attack on Orthodox Jewish schoolchildren.' It added: 'The sheer volume of glass scattered across the area resembles the aftermath of a riot. The force and distance of the thrown glass bottles reveal the deliberate and violent nature of this act. 'These young children were targeted simply for their visibly Jewish identity.' Following the incident, the youngster was rushed to Royal London Hospital by Hatzola Ambulance volunteers, where her injuries were assessed as 'non-life changing'. Shomrim said she had suffered 'significant haematoma and facial grazes'. A Met Police spokesperson said: 'At 7.44pm on Monday, 25 November officers were called to the Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney following reports of an assault. A 16-year-old Jewish girl was pelted with bottles and suffered injuries to her head and face in a 'deliberate and violent' attack in Stamford Hill, north London on Monday night Police have now launched an investigation into a potential hate crime over the incident 'A group of schoolgirls had been walking through the estate when a bottle was thrown from the upper floor of a building. 'A 16-year-old girl was struck on the head and was taken to hospital. Her injuries have since been assessed as non-life changing. 'Officers attended the scene to carry out initial enquiries but were unable to locate the suspect. An investigation is ongoing. 'The incident is being treated as a potential antisemitic hate crime.' Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 providing the reference 6966/26NOV. Antisemitism campaigners told MailOnline tonight the incident was indicative of 'the reality in Britain right now'. In a statement, Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'This incident did not take place in a vacuum. 'Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked. Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch group, attended the scene and posted a video showing an array of glass shards on the ground alongside what appears to be broken plates Shomrim said in a statement: 'The force and distance of the thrown glass bottles reveal the deliberate and violent nature of this act' 'This is the reality in Britain right now. Jewish children cannot even walk home without fear of being targeted in violent attacks.' The incident occurred after a recent poll by Campaign Against Antisemtism revealed 69 per cent of British Jews are 'less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism in public' in the current climate. Elsewhere, Community Security Trust (CST) also found there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents in the UK over the last year. The Jewish charity said 5,583 incidents were recorded between October 7 last year and September 30. The figure is three times that of the previous 12-month period, which saw 1,830 incidents recorded in total. CST, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, said most incidents took the form of abusive behaviour (4,583), while others involved threats (401) or assault (302). One incident of what it described as extreme violence was recorded. The majority of incidents were recorded in London (3,167), while 729 were recorded in Manchester and 642 in West Yorkshire. Pictured: A previous incident of 'intimidation' involving red paint being thrown at a school A poster of Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, is daubed with swastikas A sticker of a Palestine flag with the slogan 'Jews are the scum of the earth' is displayed in London in October last year There were 1,400 incidents in October 2023 alone, the charity said, and more than 200 have been recorded every month since then. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to fight the 'resurgence of antisemitism'. Among antisemitic incidents reported, a public menorah - a candelabra used during the festival of Chanukah - was daubed with red paint alongside the word 'Gaza' in May, while 'Death to Jew Scum' was daubed on a fence in Surrey in June. Elsewhere, a poster of child hostage Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, was daubed with swastikas. Earlier this month, police launched a hate crime investigation after red paint was thrown over the offices of the charity Jewish National Fund (JNF) in Hampstead and Hendon, north London. A Sydney council has sparked outrage by promising to donate tens of thousands of dollars to a notorious climate group just hours after a disruptive protest. The City of Sydney pledged to donate $22,000 of taxpayers' funds to the Rising Tide group 'to use on whatever they choose' at a meeting on Monday night. It came just hours after the group disrupted the shipping channel into the world's largest coal port in Newcastle Harbour, north of Sydney, on Sunday. NSW Police arrested a mammoth 170 people, including 14 youth, for allegedly defying directions by officers at the protest. Activists on kayaks demanded the federal government put a stop to new coal and gas project approvals and impose a 78 per cent export profits tax on fossil fuels. At Monday's meeting, a motion was moved by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore's ally Jess Miller to donate $22,000 to the group from the city's contingency funds. Every councillor except Liberal Lyndon Gannon voted in favour of the motion. Mr Gannon said it was a 'slap in the face to everyone that is living in the real world.' Climate protesters took to the water in an attempt to block access to the Newcastle coal port Climate activists on kayaks and on land demanded the federal government put a stop to new coal and gas project approvals during a well-attended protest on Sunday 'We have food relief centres and homeless shelters with lines out the door, and we give money to a fringe climate change action group because it 'feels good,' he told the Daily Telegraph. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore personally supported the motion. Ms Moore said the mass arrests at the Rising Tide protest in Newcastle was an 'indication of the terrible distress people are feeling'. 'How shameful is it to be the world's largest coal exporter at a time of accelerating global warming,' she said. Labor councillors Zann Maxwell and Mitch Wilson backed the donation in response to the decision last week by the Minns government to increase penalties for protesters who disrupt law-abiding citizens by blocking railways and trains. Mr Maxwell said the laws increasing penalties were 'rushed through parliament without community consultation'. 'They infringe upon basic liberties and protections expected in our democratic society,' Mr Maxwell said. NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman slammed the donation to Rising Tide. 170 people, including 14 youths, were arrested for allegedly defying directions at the protest 'While families struggle with the cost of living , $22,000 has been gifted to cover fines for activists,' he told SkyNews. The Rising Tide website states, 'We are the rising tide of ordinary people, called by extraordinary times.' 'We are a diverse movement demanding Australia honours our commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.' We are prepared to take whatever peaceful actions are within our power to defend the climate.' A union boss accused of bullying and harassing women has provoked fury after writing to every Labour MP insisting they are building a better workplace. GMB general secretary Gary Smith whose unions 500,000 members include Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also sent yesterdays email to all Labour peers after a Daily Mail investigation revealed ex-officials had described it as a vipers nest... riddled with sexism. The message, co-signed by GMB national president Barbara Plant, claimed allegations in Mondays front-page Mail report were simply not true. But angry former officials have accused Mr Smith of trying to gloss over the unions widespread misogyny rather than tackling it. One GMB worker, who wished not to be named, told the Mail: Its a shameless response. 'Instead of urgently addressing the toxic situation facing women staff and reps at the union, he is trying to spin it to appear that he and the GMB are the victims. 'The Prime Minister should be leading calls for an investigation of his union. Mr Smiths email to Labour parliamentarians said: We are writing regarding a story in todays Daily Mail. GMB's General secretary Gary Smith sent an email to all Labour peers after a Daily Mail investigation revealed ex-officials had described it as 'riddled with sexism Mr Smith endorsed Sir Keir (pictured) during the election 'This paper has repeatedly criticised the new Labour Government and it seems that our union is now a subject of its campaign. We remain committed to continually working with our staff and independent experts to build a better workplace. It yesterday emerged that 29 former GMB staff were given termination payouts totalling more than 846,000 over two years. Mr Smith, who endorsed Sir Keir during the election, was allowed to run for general secretary despite four counts of bullying and harassment against a female union rep being upheld in their entirety by an internal investigation in 2020. The GMB which donates more than 1 million to Labour every year says it categorically denies claims of a bullying culture, adding: We now have clear, comprehensive and transparent procedures to fully investigate and effectively deal with any allegation of bullying, sexism or harassment. Lucy Letby's parents wanted doctors who raised suspicions about her murdering babies 'instantly' sacked, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday. The serial killer's father, John Letby, 78, repeatedly rang and put 'pressure' on his daughter's support worker at the Countess of Chester Hospital, when she was moved off the neo-natal unit amid fears she was harming children in her care. The Thirlwall Inquiry has heard that, soon afterwards, Letby lodged an employment grievance with the Trust. It was eventually upheld and all seven consultants on the unit ordered to apologise to her. Letby felt Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead consultant, and Dr Ravi Jayaram, the head of children's services, had 'orchestrated a campaign' to have her removed from the ward and was upset about other doctors allegedly referring to her publicly as the 'angel of death.' On Tuesday it emerged that chief executive Tony Chambers and other senior executives held a meeting with Letby and her parents, in December 2016, to tell her she had been cleared of any wrongdoing and would be reinstated. During that meeting, Mr Letby, a retired retail manager, referred to Dr Brearey and Dr Jayaram, saying: 'The behaviour of those two people, they should be instantly dismissed.' The Letbys also wanted the same doctors reported to the medical watchdog, the General Medical Council. They told the executives their daughter had been to 'hell and back' in the five months since she had been redeployed into a clerical role. Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others between 2015 and 2016 Lucy Letby 's parents wanted doctors who raised suspicions about her murdering babies 'instantly' sacked, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday. Pictured: John Letby 'We believe that certain consultants have a personal grudge against Lucy and we are at a loss as to understanding why,' they said. Giving evidence on Tuesday Sue Hodkinson, the hospital's former Director of People, said she 'stepped in' to speak to Mr Letby after occupational health nurse Kathryn de Beger, who had been assigned to support Letby, complained she was struggling to manage his repeated calls. Ms Hodkinson said: 'She (Ms de Beger) described to me how Mr Letby was getting agitated on the phone with her, that it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage and she felt very uncomfortable. 'I felt I needed to support her through this situation. In fact, I don't think I had ever spoken to a member of a family in relation to an employment issue. That was the only time. 'And then having the conversation with Mr Letby it was very clear it was a very difficult set of conversations.' The inquiry, which is investigating Letby's crimes, has heard that Dr Brearey and Dr Jayaram felt harassed and victimised by senior managers, who they say put the hospital's reputation before patient safety, when they tried to blow the whistle. Dr Jayaram said he felt forced, under threat of disciplinary action, to attend a mediation session with Letby, who told him she was returning to work 'whether he liked it or not.' On Tuesday, Ms Hodkinson personally apologised to Dr Jayaram and admitted the senior executives should have supported the consultants' better. John Letby felt Dr Ravi Jayaram, the head of children's services, (pictured) had 'orchestrated a campaign' alongside Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead consultant, to have her removed from the ward and was upset about other doctors allegedly referring to her as the 'angel of death' She said a 'real turning point' came on March 15, 2017 when Dr Jayaram told her about an incident in February 2016 when he saw Letby at a baby's cot side and that a valve had moved to a different setting. Ms Hodkinson said the new information made her feel 'really, really uncomfortable' and she was 'stunned.' She said it 'made her think' that the senior team hadn't looked into some of the clinical aspects of what the medics were alleging 'enough.' 'I remember going home at night and I was in tears about it,' she said. Ms Hodkinson claimed that, from that point onwards, the intention of the executive team was to call in the police. She insisted letters she sent to Letby, reassuring her that she would soon be returning to the unit, were 'untrue' and had been used simply as a 'stalling' tactic because they were under 'significant pressure' from Letby's union, the Royal College of Nursing. But Richard Baker, for the families, pointed out that, as late as May 16 the day the executives first met Cheshire police Mr Chambers was telling her that the plan was to report Dr Brearey and Dr Jayaram to the GMC and that he wanted them 'managed' out of the hospital. Ms Hodkinson denied she was a 'willing participant' in this plan, saying she was 'categorically not' supportive of it. This is the moment former neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby was arrested at her home in 2018 She also rejected claims that the whole handling of the affair was a 'spectacular failure' on the part of the executives to safeguard patient safety. Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall before Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to run until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year. Two people who allegedly defaced ancient petroglyphs at a cultural site in southern Utah are being sought by police. The Kane County Sheriff's Office received a report on Saturday about a man and a woman who were seen vandalizing ancient Native American rock carvings on a hiking trail. The walking path is right on the border of Arizona and the carvings were between the Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch trail heads. The pair were recorded lingering around the petroglyphs and possibly carving into the rock. They were also later seen in the parking lot. They reportedly left the area in a black sedan. Harry Barber, the district manager for the Paria River District, the piece of federal land where this incident occurred, said this behavior is not normal. 'This is unique and I do want to point that out. The area where this happened in Wire Pass is a popular area,' he told KUTV. 'These people were writing their names on the panel, whatever, and members of the public actually when to them and told them "hey, you shouldnt be doing this" and these individuals blew them off and basically ignored those members of the public,' he said. These two individuals, so far unidentified, were caught on camera appearing to vandalize a wall with ancient Native American carvings on it The suspects were also caught on surveillance in the parking lot before they left in If anyone recognizes the suspects or their vehicle, they were urged to call the sheriff's office directly at 435-644-2668. Federal land managers with the Bureau of Land Management, including Barber, are offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who can offer information that leads to a 'successful prosecution' of the suspects. Buckskin Gulch features about 16 miles of unique formations and undulating sandstone walls,' according to the Bureau of Land Management. These walls have carvings of various animals including bighorn sheep that were made centuries ago by Native Americans. It's not the first time concerns have been raised about tourists visiting historical sites. A series of petroglyphs, or rock carvings, made by Native Americans more than 1,000 years ago were found vandalized in Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests in northern Georgia. Multiple boulders in Track Rock Gap were found with damage, including five with large scratches and carvings, and two that were painted. The U.S. Forest Service shared the photos of the destruction on Facebook, writing, 'We regret to report the vandalism of a protected historic site on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests.' Southern Utah high desert panorama above Buckskin Gulch on the Utah-Arizona border The Utah incident comes after multiple boulders in Track Rock Gap were found with damage, including five with large scratches and carvings, and two that were painted The Tribal Heritage Preservation Office spoke on behalf of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, 'Whether through ignorance or malice - the result is irreparable damage to a unique site that connects us directly to the people of the past.' Photos show varying degrees of damage that occurred sometime in 2020 across the rock carvings, including one that displays what appears to be the initials of a couple. Track Rock Gap is one of the most well-known rock art sites in the Southeastern United States, and is the only one of its kind located on public land in Georgia. The site, which is about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta, houses the petroglyphs that were found by explorers prior to the year 1800, and the earliest evidence of carvings dates back at least 3,600 years. Sites on public lands are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act and the damaged rock carvings are considered an irreplaceable part of the nation's heritage. A mother who lost her unborn baby in a crash has hit out at a landmark sentencing after the teen driver responsible avoided detention, saying it is 'not enough'. An emotional Haylee Loccisano expressed her frustration outside court after the 17-year-old girl was given community service and a driving suspension for the fatal crash under new laws. The girl on Tuesday pleaded guilty in Ipswich Childrens Court to driving without due care causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Loccisano and destroying the life of her unborn baby Celeste. The 17-year-old's sentencing marked the first use of Sophie's Law in Queensland. State parliament passed the law in September 2023 to make the killing of an unborn baby an aggravating factor at sentencing for offenders. It followed years of campaigning by Sarah Milosevic, who lost her unborn baby at 39 weeks after a drunk and drug-affected driver crashed into her car in 2014 and was later handed a fine. Ms Milosevic was present at Tuesday's sentencing and was also not happy, claiming the teen 'got away with it'. Ms Loccisano, aged 24 at the time, was 25 weeks pregnant and a passenger in a Toyota Hilux utility being driven by her mother Teresa Burn on May 16, 2024 at Purga, west of Brisbane. Haylee Loccisano expressed her frustration outside court after the 17-year-old driver who caused the crash that killed her unborn baby was given community service and a driving suspension The teen was driving a Toyota RAV4 when she veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with the Toyota Hilux utility which Ms Loccisano was a passenger in (pictured) The teen girl was driving a Toyota RAV4 and veered into oncoming traffic during a moment of inattention, causing a head-on collision with the Hilux. Attempts to save Celeste via Caesarean section failed and Ms Loccisano spent the next eight days in intensive care with major abdominal injuries that required several surgeries. Ms Loccisano read her victim impact statement to the court, saying Celeste was her miracle 'rainbow baby' after she was told she could not get pregnant. 'She was taken away from me at the hands of a reckless driver ... her being taken away from me in that way has affected me in ways that are hard to describe,' she said. 'I remember every little detail about the accident. I remember the fear that filled my body... my baby was all of a sudden not moving.' Ms Loccisano said her extensive scars were a daily reminder of her loss and she continued to suffer ongoing physical and mental health issues. Outside court Ms Loccisano said she felt 'not good' about the sentence. 'It was not enough for the life that was taken,' she said. Ms Loccisano spent eight days in intensive care with major abdominal injuries that required several surgeries Ms Loccisano, aged 24 at the time, was 25 weeks pregnant and attempts to save her unborn baby girl Celeste via Caesarean section failed Acting Magistrate Sue Ganasan sentenced the teen to 100 hours of community service and disqualified her from holding a licence for six months with no conviction recorded. The maximum sentence the teen could have faced was one year in detention. 'There's no getting away from the fact that any sentence I impose will still leave the parties to deal with the tragic consequences of what has occurred,' Ms Ganasan said. The teen's barrister James Godbolt said outside court that his client was 'obviously very sorry'. 'It's a terrible tragedy and nothing can make it right,' he said. After years of campaigning for Sophie's Law, Ms Milosevic called for more change after being present for Tuesday's landmark sentencing. She called for minimum custodial sentences for offending that invoked Sophie's Law. '(Community service) is a free ride. I don't think she will learn anything from that,' she said of the teen driver outside court. 'As far as I'm concerned she got away with it.' A Mississippi man has been taken into custody after a woman suffered a severe injury when she touched a booby-trapped parking sign. After months of frustration over neighbors messing with his 'no parking' signs near his mobile home, Jason Scott Curle, 51, of Oxford allegedly stuck razor blades around a homemade notice and placed it in the gravel of his driveway. As a result, a woman who attempted to move the lethal sign on November 20 was left with a deep cut on her right hand. Jordan Jennings, a manager of Sky Mart Bait Shop and Grocery, helped the victim when she rushed into his store for assistance. 'It wasn't gushing or anything but it was a cut. It cut her good. She was asking for a cloth, something to clean it off,' he told WREG. 'I rushed to get her one and she was very distraught [and] upset about something,' Curle's wife Michelle later told The Oxford Eagle that parents with children enrolled in a nearby school had been blocking their gravel driveway nearly every day during drop off and pick up - causing the couple misery. But responding Lafayette County Sheriff's Office deputies soon realized that the hazardous sign had been fixed in an area owned by the school rather than on the duo's property. After months of frustration over neighbors messing with his 'no parking' signs near his mobile home, Jason Scott Curle, 51, of Oxford allegedly decided to stick razor blades on one board and place it in the gravel of his driveway As a result, a woman who attempted to move the lethal sign on November 20 was left with cuts on her right hand According to WREG, the gravel driveway where the Curles' mobile home was parked on County Road 130 had recently been enlarged and some of the area belonged to the school. Michelle also claimed the couple had made multiple attempts to speak to the school and county officials about the issue. County officials noted they had recently spoken to the pair about the problem and assured that both they and the school had plans to create more parking space that would be set in motion after Thanksgiving, according to the Eagle. Since the incident, other community members have expressed shock and dismay. 'It's sad that in today's time we are finding that we can't really have a disagreement without being cruel or being mean in life,' one told FOX13. Dorothy Smith, a local resident was left horrified by the act and said: 'Oh, that's awful.' Describing the pain of cutting a hand on a razor blade, another local resident revealed it to be 'probably a nine out of 10.' Jason was charged with aggravated assault for purposely attempting to cause injury and taken to the Lafayette County Detention Center. The gravel driveway where the Curles' mobile home was parked on County Road 130 had recently been enlarged and some of the area belonged to the school 'It wasn't gushing or anything but it was a cut. It cut her good. She was asking for a cloth, something to clean it off,' said Jordan Jennings, a manager of Sky Mart Bait Shop and Grocery who helped the victim. He was released the same day on a $20,000 bond. Jason is set to appear in court in February 2025. This comes months after a raging neighbor was seen finally getting their revenge on a driver who had been parking in front of their house for three years. Video footage showed a black Kia being towed away from the property, where it had been left directly in front of a 'no parking' sign. A 30-minute clip of the incident was shared to YouTube by the towing company Everything Auto, who turned up to remove the car on behalf of the complainant. On camera, a worker is seen attaching the car to the back of a tow truck, ready to be pulled away. Meanwhile, another pans the camera to show the bright red and black 'no parking' sign that the property owners had erected. This is the moment a raging neighbor finally got revenge on the driver who had been parking in their space for three years - despite there being a clear sign that said they couldn't The duo proceeded to tow the car away and share an audio snippet of the phone conversation the company later had with the car owner. The back and forth continued for a while and the Everything Auto worker suggested the driver pay to rent a parking space of his own and he agreed he would need to think of a solution. According to US law, it's not illegal to park outside someone's house if a parking space is available on a public road - even if it's directly in front of your house, anyone is allowed to park in it. Any member of the public can park there as long as it is not a designated space or a road that's governed by residents' parking permits. An influencer who spent close to $100,000 to be in an elite sorority at the University of Alabama revealed she unintentionally landed in the middle of a love triangle after being cheated on by her boyfriend. TikToker Kylan Darnell took to TikTok to tell her 1.1 million followers she was 'mad' at fellow TikToker Grace Hale, who claimed her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with Darnell. Darnell's followers said they were 'heartbroken' for the influencer as she only revealed she had a boyfriend a month ago, and the relationship blew up while she traveled to Texas to visit him. In a video shared at the start of the trip on November 23, she said: 'We started talking June of this summer, we started dating September... we're still in our honeymoon phase.' A day later, Hale posted a cryptic video saying her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with a 'famous TikToker', and was told in September he was 'going to have a famous new girlfriend.' Although she didn't name Darnell in her clip, fans pieced it together as she parodied Darnell's catchphrase - 'have a great day not a good day' - by opening her video 'today is a terrible day, not just a bad day.' Darnell responded by dumping her boyfriend while visiting him in Texas, and said 'well, that trip was shorter than planned!' 'Girl, I didn't know you existed,' she captioned the video. TikToker Kylan Darnell revealed to her 1.1 million followers that she discovered her boyfriend cheated on her through a fellow TikToker's scathing video Grace Hale (pictured) claimed her boyfriend cheated on her with a 'famous TikToker', with fans later figuring out it was Darnell she was talking about Darnell first shot to fame by winning Miss Ohio Teen USA in 2022, the year she joined the University of Alabama. She went on to document how she 'rushed' a sorority at the school, with many likening her videos to the docuseries 'Bama Rush' the year prior. Fans were shocked when Darnell said she had a boyfriend in November, and she revealed she found out about his infidelity while at dinner with him in Texas. She claimed in a TikTok from the airplane home that Hale 'knew about' her 'the whole time, then posted a video about making it go viral.' 'But she blocked you and your sister so you couldn't see it, so you find out by it coming up on your moms FYP. She didn't even like private message me, she just said wham.' Refusing to acknowledge either the boyfriend or Hale by name, referring to her only as 'that girl', Darnell claimed Hale never messaged her before releasing her TikTok. Hale also released a TikTok clarifying her side of the story, and insisting to her followers that she reached out to Darnell before revealing her initial video. In a response video, Darnell said she had known her ex-boyfriend since high school, and claimed Hale lied in her TikTok by claiming to have been with him. 'I dont think she did what she did for the right intention, and her storys a little messed up,' she said. 'They were never together,' she added. 'I know she says that.' Darnell brought up text messages sent to her by a friend of Hale's, where she was told that the video was because she 'just wanted some followers.' Darnell claimed in a TikTok from the airplane home that Hale 'knew about' her 'the whole time, then posted a video about making it go viral' Darnell first shot to fame by winning Miss Ohio Teen USA in 2022, and went on to TikTok fame at the University of Alabama by documenting how she 'rushed' a sorority Darnell claimed that Hale (pictured) made up her side of the love triangle story because she 'just wanted some followers' The college student insisted that she is no longer in contact with the mysterious ex-boyfriend, but continued her diatribe against Hale in a follow-up video. 'I'm not validating him in any way,' she continued. 'I'm just saying don't go on the internet and pretend to be the victim, act like I home wrecked your relationship when I was talking to him the whole time, and first. 'And then go on and say you dated when there are text messages from someone really close to you saying you didn't, and you just did it for followers.' The influencer concluded her video spree by saying there was more to the story, but the drama was 'podcast worthy' and she was saving it for an episode, and didn't want to 'give it all up now.' Labour ministers will keep travelling by helicopter despite previously branding the Tories 'out of touch' for doing so. Before the election, Rishi Sunak was regularly attacked by the then opposition for using taxpayer-funded choppers to fly around the country. And soon after becoming Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer cancelled a 40million contract for what party sources branded his predecessor's 'grossly wasteful' 'VIP helicopter service'. But it can be revealed today that Sir Keir's Government plans to continue to allow his senior ministers and officials to travel by helicopter. The PM - dubbed Never Here Keir for his globetrotting - has already come under fire for taking more than a dozen flights by RAF jet since entering No 10, as well as increasing taxes on air fares. Last night Shadow Paymaster General Richard Holden told the Mail: 'This is deeply hypocritical given how much time Labour spent in opposition complaining about this. 'It is all the more galling after Labour hiked up Air Passenger Duty for everyone else at the Budget.' Details of the U-turn have emerged in ministers' answers to Parliamentary questions tabled by the Conservatives. Before the election, Keir Starmer cancelled a 40million contract for what party sources branded his predecessor's 'grossly wasteful' 'VIP helicopter service' Before the election, Rishi Sunak was regularly attacked by the then opposition for his choice of travels Former prime minister Boris Johnson flying over London his way back from visiting the New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot Senior Tory John Glen asked if the existing Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport Helicopter Service would be renewed. He was told that the current service, provided by Northamptonshire-based Sloane Helicopters but staffed by military aircrew, will end in December and the contract will not be renewed, freeing up 40m for the Ministry of Defence budget. Mr Glen then asked, in light of the cancellation, if the PM, ministers and defence staff would be permitted to use RAF and Royal Navy helicopters instead. He was told by Defence Minister Maria Eagle: 'An alternative framework for VIP air transport and military command support air transport is being considered. 'The review will explore means of delivery and consider cost-effectiveness while ensuring the important military command function can be met appropriately.' And when Mr Glen asked if the PM plans to use armed forces' helicopters for official travel from next year, he was told by Ms Eagle: 'No. Routine helicopter transport will be sourced through the Ministerial Transport Office, not from Military helicopters.' Last night the Government declined to say if a new contract will be drawn up but insisted any future arrangements will be far cheaper than the Tories'. A source said: 'Anything we do will be in line with the Ministerial Code. The PM clearly has a very different approach to Rishi Sunak.' Victims of domestic violence and abuse will receive a vital lifeline over the festive season - thanks to a charity set up by Patricia Caring and restaurant tycoon Richard Caring. The couple have teamed up as part of a major campaign to help deliver life-saving change to vulnerable women and children in desperate need. The Caring Family Foundation (TCFF) has pledged a whopping 225,000 in new grants which will be distributed by the end of the year to deliver a massive boost to a string of organisations providing frontline rescue services. It comes as charities are bracing for a spike in cases over the Christmas period when those at risk are often at their most vulnerable. In all, eight organisations will benefit from the cash boost including those who provide specialist services to the most marginalised members of the community. The 225,000 in donations will come as a massive boost to linked organisations (File) Patricia Caring, Richard Caring and children attend The Caring Family Foundation & The Birley Clubs Festive Wonderland at The Dorchester on November 24 Richard Caring, Patricia Caring and children attend The Caring Family Foundation & The Birley Clubs Festive Wonderland at The Dorchester on November 24 Richard Caring and Patricia helping to cook the free meals for children across the UK It means the foundation - set up in 2019 - will have provided 400,000 in domestic abuse services in the past 12 months alone. Mr Caring - dubbed the King of Mayfair - owns The Ivy brasserie chain. His hospitality business empire also includes top-end London restaurants Scott's, J Sheekey and Sexy Fish as well as world-famous private members club Annabels. The foundation Co-Chair, Mrs Patricia Caring, said of the initiative: The services these organisations provide are nothing short of life-changing and life-saving, offering hope and healing to women and children when they need it most. At The Caring Family Foundation, we are deeply committed to supporting local recovery efforts, ensuring these women receive compassionate care and the tools to rebuild their lives. Our vision is a world free from violence against women - a future where every woman and child can thrive without fear or harm. The foundation announced the grants to mark this weeks International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 24). They said the pledge will help support vital services across the UK and recognises the urgent need to support survivors, especially during the festive season when domestic violence is known to escalate. According to the foundation, an average of two women lose their lives every week at the hands of a current or former partner in the UK - while police record a domestic abuse offence every 40 seconds. A spokesperson for the foundation said the renewed funding commitment seeks to address this surge in need by providing life-saving resources to domestic abuse organisations. The domestic abuse fund was first launched last year to support 16 by and for black and minoritised' domestic abuse organisations in partnership with Women's Aid. In the UK in 2023, more than 250,000 was given in grants, benefitting thousands of women and children. The new cash injection will help vital and underfunded UK organisations in the coming weeks - distributed among the eight organisations that offer critical support to women and children fleeing abuse. The foundation said the donations reflect its commitment to ensure survivors can live in safety, with a life free from abuse. Donations will help fund the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by the charity Refuge, which offers emergency support and advice to thousands of survivors experiencing domestic abuse across the UK every year. Other beneficiaries include five Women's Aid member organisations such as Latin American Womens Aid with funds going towards hiring specialist staff to provide adequate trauma-informed and culturally sensitive services to an estimated 96 women in the coming year. Nikki Bradley, director of services at Womens Aid, said she was delighted the five organisations - which face systemic structural inequalities which compound those faced by survivors themselves - will receive grants of up to 30,000 each She said: These grants will ensure that the selected organisations are able to support even more survivors and increase the accessibility of their services. Grant funding such as this is vital to breaking down these inequalities and delivering lifesaving change. We look forward to continuing to work with the foundation in this area. Another charity to benefit is Karma Nirvana which supports survivors of honour-based violence through a national helpline, professional training, and a new national counselling service. The funding will create a safe and trauma-informed space for 52 women through virtual counselling. The Angelou centre, whose services include four dedicated bed spaces in a life-saving shelter, will also benefit along with Panahghar, which provides refuge, counselling, and immigration support for black, Asian and minority ethnic women. The Women and Grace charity, which supports women affected by female genital mutilation, Solace Womens Aid and Advance charities, which both support to women and children suffering abuse, are also among recipients. The foundation also backs projects in Brazil where Mrs Caring hails from. Richard and Patricia Caring with staff members at the Felix Project Zawe Ashton attends Annabel's and The Caring Family Foundation's International Women's Day 2024 celebration June Sarpong was also in attendance at Annabel's for the event Jo Ellison, Zawe Ashton, Sultana Tafadar KC and June Sarpong take to the stage at the event Cherie Spriggs, Patricia Caring, Salma Hayek Pinault and Skye Gyngell attend International Women's Day for The Caring Foundation with Salma Hayek at Annabel's on March 8, 2020 Director of The Caring Family Foundation Katie Beeching The foundations funding has supported the opening of a centre offering social, legal, housing and psychological services to survivors of domestic abuse in the South American country. It has led to more than 27,000 support sessions being delivered to domestic abuse survivors in the country where eight women experience domestic abuse every minute. The TCFF says its vision is to build a world free from hunger, harm, and hurt, where women and children can thrive. It is calling on the public and businesses to join their efforts in supporting survivors and preventing violence against women. Their spokesperson added: By raising awareness and vital funds, together we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected. Labor's Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has been dubbed 'blackout Bowen' after heatwave power outages struck Australia's most populous state. Parts of Sydney experienced a blackout on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures soared to the mid to high 30s, while regions in southern NSW were also hit with outages early on Wednesday morning, leaving 6,000 homes without electricity. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it is working with industry to 'manage electricity reliability during high-demand, heatwave conditions in NSW with major power stations unavailable due to forced and planned outages'. Energy market analyst Saul Kavonic claimed the Albanese government's 'meddling' in the market had 'come home to roost'. Mr Kavonic pointed at Labor's gas deals, Minister Bowen's Capacity Investment Scheme, and government interference in the market as three areas where the electricity shortage could be addressed. Fed-up Aussies questioned whether green energy projects would be able to replace coal rapidly enough to fill demand as it was phased out. 'Nobody is building any coal fire power stations because it's government policy to shut them down. Cheers Blackout Bowen,' one wrote on X. 'And the NSW Labor energy minister is now telling Sydneysiders to use less power during the heat... Welcome to Blackout Bowen's Australia,' another said. Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 19 Australia's electricity market operator warned there could be more blackouts over the next three days as temperatures in the state remained high (pictured, Bondi on Wednesday) 'Let me get this right. We are getting rid of our coal fired power stations in Australia because of the climate crisis but are exporting our coal to China and Co. so they can use all their coal fired power stations?' a third wrote. Mr Kavonic said the winding down of coal-fired electricity plants as they reach their expiry dates has failed to be met with adequate replacement. 'The government and regulator has been asleep at the wheel and have only addressed this once it got to crisis mode,' the analyst told 2GB. 'The multi-pronged approach the Labor government has had since it has been in charge has left us with no redundancy in our energy sector... and this will also be felt in manufacturing, leading to job losses.' Mr Kavonic said Labor's Capacity Investment Scheme encourages investment in solar, wind and battery storage but does not apply to LNG or coal projects, making the economically unviable. He added that if the government issued a statement advising they would step back from directing the type of new electricity projects developed, it would allow the market to naturally fill the gap through private investment. Inquiries for portable generators have soared by as much as 60 per cent in NSW in recent days as the state's Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe told residents they should be rationing their electricity. 'On really hot days do you really need to have every single light on in the house?' she said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Around 80 per cent of the natural gas produced in Australia is liquefied for export to Asian countries (pictured Origin Energy's Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas facility at Curtis Island in north Queensland) 'Do you need to have your air conditioning down at 19 degrees? You don't. But, you know, I'm not giving official advice at this point.' The energy market operator has warned of more blackouts across the state after residents in southern NSW were impacted on Wednesday morning. Parts of Wagga Wagga, Culcairn, Henty, Uranquinty, Holbrook and surrounding areas are currently experiencing the power outage. A spokesperson for Essential Energy said the power had been temporarily restored through a back feeder line. It said the outage was 'caused by fault on the Transgrid transmission line between Wagga Wagga and Albury and is not related to load shedding'. The spokesperson said it was 'temporarily' resolved by 9am and confirmed residents impacted were notified of the power outage via SMS on Wednesday. Residents have also been encouraged to stay 'at least eight metres away from fallen powerlines or damaged electricity equipment'. Transmission lines were blamed for the outage in southern NSW on Wednesday morning The outage comes as a heatwave sweeps the state, sending temperatures soaring to 40C in densely-populated areas of Sydney's western suburbs. AEMO confirmed it intends to use some of its emergency powers to continue electricity supply across NSW as reserve capacity remains on short supply. In order to enable stable supplies of electricity across the state, AEMO said it intends to launch negotiations with companies to help reduce the demand, known as the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) scheme. The RERT scheme is a rarely-used system that '(protects) the reliability of the national electricity market' due to an increased demand for electricity during a heatwave. On Tuesday, AEMO warned that energy supplies may be at 'risk' as the sweltering heat continues into Wednesday. 'We are experiencing some quite unseasonably hot weather... and effectively that is a summer heatwave while we are in spring,' AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman said. Combined with scheduled maintenance works on three of the state's four coal-fired power stations in Bayswater, Vales Point and Eraring, the AEMO warned residents of a 'tightness in electricity supply'. 'It is pretty normal both generation and transmission to use periods in autumn and spring to undertake maintenance activities that do need to happen,' he added. YouTuber Jeff Wittek has undergone a five-hour surgery to correct his vision after he was seriously injured in a social media stunt more than four years ago. Wittek, 34, was seen holding onto a rope hung from the raised arm of a spinning excavator, which popular content creator David Dobrik was operating, in the since-deleted video that was filmed in June 2020. As a result of that incident going wrong, Wittek was forced to shell out $90,000 for the procedure conducted by Dr. Leif Rogers, a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California. In an Instagram post, Wittek shared pictures from before, during and after the surgery, including one where he posed with Dr. Rogers. 'Yesterday, Dr. Leif Rogers and his team of avengers did a massive five-hour surgery to take out some metal plates and adjust my eyes a few millimeters forward to hopefully fix my double vision,' the influencer wrote to his 2.5 million Instagram followers. 'Thanks for all the kind words and support from all of u,' he added. 'Already feel like I can run through a brick wall.' The excavator video became a huge controversy for Dobrik, who has allegedly refused to pay for Wittek's medical expenses. Jeff Wittek poses with his plastic surgeon Dr. Leif Rogers, who operated on his eye to fix the YouTuber's double vision Wittek sustained these injuries after he swung around on the arm of an excavator for a David Dobrik video filmed in June 2020 In the video, Dobrik appeared to be in control of the excavator as he whirled around the machine over water, but when it accelerated he lost control. Then, when it suddenly slowed and stopped, Wittek could be seen colliding into its metal arm and falling into the water below, where he dangled from the rope by his still-entangled leg. Following the incident, Wittek said that his skull was left shattered in nine places, that he broke his foot and hip, tore a ligament in his leg, and almost lost his eye. He has since posted on social media that he is continuing to suffer the effects of the prank. Wittek is now suing Dobrik for 'general negligence and intentional tort' as he seeks $10 million in damages for the prankster's stunt. He has alleged that Dobrik's actions caused him to rack up hospital bills from extensive surgeries, and forced him to miss out on work, according to the suit acquired by TMZ. It also claims that the stunt was Dobrik's idea, and that his operation of the excavator lead to Wittek's extensive injuries. The suit said that the initial idea for the stunt was to place the excavator in the water, and then to pull people along the surface on wakeboards and other objects. Wittek is pictured swinging on the excavator that Dobrik was operating as bystanders look on David Dobrik, left, has previously insisted the crane stunt was Wittek's idea. Wittek disputes that and has sued Dobrik Wittek alleged that after a few takes following the original plan, Dobrik suggested that people hold onto the rope themselves while he swung them around by the excavator. During his turn, Wittek alleged that Dobrik noticed he had begun to spin the excavator too quickly and slowed down suddenly to compensate, directly causing Wittek to collide with the machine's arm. Yet, Dobrik has previously insisted that the crane stunt was Wittek's idea, and that he had asked Dobrik to promise never to tell anyone. 'I think one of the main reasons Jeff is bummed with me right now is because he saw me do an interview where I said something that I promised him I'd keep between us,' Dobrik said on his podcast VIEWS in March 2022. 'He's pissed that I broke a promise.' 'He's like, "Can you promise me one thing? Can you just promise that no one ever knows that this was my idea?'' 'He got hurt because I was driving,' Dobrik said, 'That's it, and I f***ing know that, and like I said, any chance I would get, I would take that back. 'That'll be the biggest regret of my life. My entire life. I really hope there's not a moment that I regret as much as that one.' Wittek also spoke out in May, after Dobrik signed a deal with Snapchat to exclusively post his content. Dobrik has had other controversies, including allegedly filming a sexual assault that he posted online Wittek also hit out at Dobrik, also a massively popular YouTuber, when he signed a deal with Snapchat to exclusively post his content in May 'Yooo @Snapchat, you're paying a guy that smashed my skull in for a prank and left me with lifelong injuries,' he posted on X. 'He also filmed and organized multiple sexual assaults. That's why I stopped posting. I don't want his blood money.' When Snapchat asked for more information, Wittek replied: 'His name is @DavidDobrik and he's traveling the world partying on your dime. While I have another surgery next month.' The sexual assault case referred to a woman who came forward in 2021 to claim that a member of Dobrik's Vlog Squad raped her in 2018 while she was involved in a threesome - that Dobrik filmed and put online. The woman told Business Insider she was too drunk to give vlogger Dom Zeglaitis consent, and she was raped. In response, Dobrik put out a video saying he 'fully believe[d] the woman who came out against Dom and said she was sexually assaulted and raped by him.' Dobrik (pictured with Taylor Lautner) announced that he stopped filming with vlogger Dom Zeglaitis in 2019 He then claimed he got approval from the woman back in 2018 to post the video, but acknowledged he 'should never have posted it,' and apologized. The video - which had garnered 5million views, was then removed, according to NBC News. In another follow-up video, Dobrik said he had stopped filming with Zeglaitis in 2019, and announced he would step back from social media to build a 'checks and balances' system in which 'people communicate discomfort in a way that's comfortable for them. 'It doesn't feel right to go back to posting like I have been, and it also doesn't feel right to go dark because I love what I do, but I think it is important to show that change is possible and that I'm learning maybe even forgiveness is possible,' he said in the video. 'I want to use this opportunity to step up and own my mistakes,' Dobrik said at the time. 'This is my beginning to an end, and I'm sorry to everyone that I hurt.' A Georgia father has been accused of killing his parents and his teenage son in a triple homicide. Junior Thomas Babcock, 42, was taken into custody in Chatham County on Friday and charged with three counts of murder in connection with the shooting deaths of his parents, Connie and Daniel Babcock, and his 14-year-old son, LJ Babcock, inside their home, Savannah Morning News reports. Police say they were dispatched to the home at around 9am, and when they arrived, officers found three people dead inside from apparent gunshot wounds. A motive for the shooting remains unclear, as family members demand answers. 'We've lost two special people and not counting little junior, the son,' Redgie Oglesby, the nephew of victims Connie and Daniel Babcock, told WTOC. 'We just really want answers.' He went on to say, 'You couldn't meet a better woman' than Connie Babcock 'I know where she's at, she's in heaven and Daniel Babcock is the same way.' Junior Thomas Babcock, 42, was taken into custody in Chatham County on Friday and charged with three counts of murder He is accused of shooting his parents, Connie and Daniel Babcock, as well as his son, LJ Babcock, 14, inside their home Police say they were dispatched to the home at around 9am, and when they arrived, officers found three people dead inside from apparent gunshot wounds Family members have described the couple as God-fearing Christians who adopted Junior Thomas as a baby and raised him as their own. 'Daniel and Connie Babcock's greatest desire was to honor the Lord by loving their family and helping others,' Leon McBride, their son-in-law, told WSAV. 'LJ Babcock loved to be outdoors. Fishing was his greatest passion,' McBride continued, speaking of his nephew. 'His smile was infectious. The lives of his friends, family and schoolmates will forever be changed by his presence and now by his absence.' McBride said the family will now 'honor their love by living as they did. Loving their family and helping others to the best of our ability. 'Daniel and Connie Babcock loved all seven of their children and was committed to their care until the very end,' he noted. The Georgia Church of God of Prophecy also wrote on social media that it is 'brokenhearted' by the loss of Daniel and Connie, as well as their grandson. 'We have no words to truly express our deepest heartfelt condolences,' it said. 'Those nearest and dearest to this family are aware of the extent of their love for Jesus, their value to the cause of Christ and their generosity/kindness to all. 'Pastor Mark has expressed what a treasure this family has been to him, their church family and their community.' Family and friends say the teenage victim loved to make people smile, and enjoyed fishing and video games Connie and Daniel Babcock were remembered as God-fearing Christians who adopted Junior Thomas as a baby and raised him as their own An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and family members say they expect to hear more from police in the coming days. In the meantime, LJ's older sister, Paige Collins, is raising money for his funeral expenses. She noted in the GoFundMe that he was set to turn 15 next month. 'He loved fishing, gaming and making people smile. He was loved by everyone and loved to make everyone laugh,' she said. Collins then spoke out about the crime. 'We are all heartbroken by how sudden and unexpected this was,' she said. 'He was just a teenager, and didn't deserve this.' A raid on homes of a father and son duo accused of smuggling methamphetamine through the post found vile child abuse material, Australian Federal Police allege. The AFP searched properties in Kellyville and Castle Hill in Sydney's north-west after 4.5kg of methamphetamine precursor was allegedly intercepted in the mail by Australian Border Force. Investigators allege they heard the father, 54, flushing a toilet during the raid on his Kellyville unit and then located suspected meth nearby. Officers then seized a mobile phone allegedly containing images of 'white crystalline substances' and a second phone which allegedly had instructions on how to manufacture illicit drugs. Detectives allege they found further large quantities of meth ingredients at the second address belonging to the man's son, 25. But they also found a laptop containing child abuse material, detectives allege. Both men appeared at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on November 12, with the father set to face court again on Wednesday, November 27. The son will face court on additional charges of possessing child abuse material at a later date. The AFP searched properties in Kellyville and Castle Hill in Sydney 's north-west after 4.5kg of methamphetamine precursor was allegedly intercepted in the mail by Australian Border Force Detectives allege they found further large quantities of meth ingredients at the second address belonging to the man's son, 25 Some of what police allegedly found in the raids AFP Superintendent Peter Fogarty said the AFP had worked closely with the ABF and other partners to disrupt the pair's alleged attempt to manufacture the illegal drugs 'Most airmail or air cargo imports might seem like relatively small amounts of illicit substances - anywhere from five grams to several kilograms,' said Supt Fogarty. '[But] combined, they equate to millions of individual street deals that cause significant harm to the community.' ABF Acting Commander Asha Patwardhan said the charges faced by the two men should be a warning for anyone considering 'illegal and abhorrent' activities 'Our officers are dedicated to preventing community harm, whether that be from illicit drugs or child abuse material,' Ms Patwardhan said. 'We will continue working in lock-step with the AFP and other partners to detect and disrupt these activities and ensure that those engaging in them face the full legal consequences.' A Labor defector has erupted at Pauline Hanson in a vicious parliamentary spray, accusing the One Nation leader of racism and claiming she brings 'disgrace to the human race'. Fatima Payman, who left Labor to set up her own party earlier this year, was reacting to Ms Hanson's tabling of a document which said Senator Payman's Afghan citizenship disqualified her from serving in parliament. Section 44c of the Australian constitution prevents anyone who holds citizenship of another country from sitting in parliament. However Ms Payman says she has legal advice confirming she has can serve as a Senator because she has taken all steps to renounce her Afghan citizenship, but the Taliban-controlled state has not yet responded. 'Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it's time she pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this,' Senator Payman seethed. 'All that Senator Hanson has done in this place is spread hatred, spread division. 'I am very honoured that I live rent free in Senator Hanson's mind, but I think you've got better things to do than worry about Section 44.' Fatima Payman (pictured), who left Labor to set up her own party, was speaking after Senator Hanson attempted to table a document raising Senator Payman's possible Afghan citizenship as a reason for her to be excluded from parliament on Wednesday morning Senator Payman used the Senate to accuse Senator's Hanson (pictured) of racism The senator also listed multiple previous comments made by Senator Hanson, including her first speech in which she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians' and that 'Aboriginality would no longer exist' if her party were in power. 'If that is not racist, what is it?' Senator Payman yelled as she slammed her fist down on the table. Independent Ralph Babet could be seen over Senator Payman's shoulder, trying to contain his shock at the outburst. 'Oh it's not racist?', Senator Payman added, sarcastically. 'Somebody bring the dictionary because Senator Hanson does not know the definition of racism. 'The fact that you would say just weeks ago to Senator Faruqi, "piss off back to Pakistan"; you're not just vindictive, mean, nasty, you bring disgrace to the human race. No dignity whatsoever as a senator in this prestigious place.' Lidia Thorpe could be heard repeatedly shouting 'You are a convicted racist!' Senator Hanson, who was sitting within touching distance of Senator Payman, calmly asked the Senate president for the accusation of racism to be withdrawn. Pictured: Senator Hanson can be seen crossing in front of Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe who repeatedly shouted 'you are a convicted racist!' during Senator Payman's fiery spray After being reminded by the president that accusing somebody of being a racist was a breach of the standing orders, Senator Payman reluctantly withdrew her comments. 'For the benefit of this chamber I will withdraw, but you know what Senator Hanson? How do you live with yourself Senator Hanson with so much violent hatred?' she asked. Senator Hanson justified her actions In a lengthy post on Tuesday evening. 'Senator Payman is likely using her position in the Senate to automatically register a political party, one that may influence the outcome of the next federal election,' the One Nation leader wrote. 'And yet Senator Payman may be ineligible to sit in the Senate. 'The Prime Ministers failure to take the appropriate action risks undermining the integrity of our elections and the confidence of the Australian people in the integrity of our parliament.' Senator Payman broke ranks with Labor in May this year, accusing her former party of failing to adequately respond to Israel's alleged war crimes in the Gaza strip. She subsequently set up her own party called Australia's Voice in October. A deflated-looking Vice President Kamala Harris reemerged on Tuesday, filming a quick video message for her supporters that was posted on the X account for the Democratic Party. 'I just have to remind you, don't you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th,' she said, referencing the date of the presidential election that she lost to President-elect Donald Trump. In the past three weeks, Trump has gotten his transition going by naming a flurry of Cabinet appointees. Earlier Tuesday, his team announced they had ended a transition stalemate with the Biden White House. Harris, in the meantime, decamped to Hawaii for a post-election-loss vacation and then arrived in the Bay Area Monday to spend Thanksgiving break among family. She was dressed in work-wear for the video in what appeared to be a living room and looked bleary-eyed as she delivered the 28-second message. 'And you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire,' she continued. 'So don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.' It's unclear what prompted the VP to deliver the pep talk, though online commenters suggested she wasn't sober. A deflated-looking Vice President Kamala Harris reemerged on Tuesday, filming a quick video message for her supporters that was posted on the X account for the Democratic Party 'Have you been drinking?' asked actor Kevin Sorbo, in an X post replying to the Democrat's video. 'Ooof she looks rough. Couple too many drinks?' another commenter said. Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, spent six days at a $1,300-a-night vacation property on Hawaii's big island, rarely venturing out in public, DailyMail.com reported on Monday. The home is a 5,200-sq.-ft., five-bedroom property owned by a scion of the Mondavi wine family. And according to the online listing, the rental included 'three complimentary bottles of Mondavi family wine with every reservation.' The vice president is reportedly leaving the door open for a future presidential run. She first ran for the White House during the 2020 cycle but ended up dropping out in late 2019 even before the Iowa caucuses. Biden then picked her to be his running mate. She was thrust to the top of the ticket in July after leaders of the Democratic Party pushed the now 82-year-old Biden to step aside after his disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June heightened old-age concerns. Air Force Two was captured at Kona Airport on Hawaii's big island while Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were vacationing for six days before flying to the Bay Area Monday Vice President Kamala Harris is photographed delivering her concession speech on Wednesday, November 6 on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden (left) and Vice President Kamala Harris (right) stand side by side at their first public post-election appearance, at a Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11 While polling showed her ahead of in spitting distance of Trump, she ended up losing all seven battleground states to the incoming Republican commander-in-chief. Questions have been swirling as to how the Harris campaign blew through more than a billion dollars - with fingers being pointed at the celebrity-filled concert rallies in swing states that took place in the final days of the campaign. The Democrats had also touted that they had a more organized ground game compared to Trump, but his team's messaging - that he was better on the economy and on immigration - outfoxed them. Harris officially conceded the afternoon after the election - on the campus of her alma mater Howard University - where her election night shindig had been held. A number of her supporters in the crowd were openly sobbing. Her first post-election public appearance alongside Biden came on November 11 when they both attended a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. The venue allowed for a somber appearance, with Dr. Jill Biden memorably sitting stonefaced next to the vice president. Two days later, the Bidens invited Trump to join them at the White House, where the Democrat congratulated the Republican on his election win. Prisoners have been bitten by venomous spiders and rats, according to a report highlighting dangerous conditions behind bars. The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) said false widow spiders nipped inmates at HMP Bullingdon, near Bicester, Oxon, after they were disturbed during construction work. At HMP Hollesley Bay, in Woodbridge, Suffolk, a prisoner was bitten by a rat while sorting rubbish, the report went on. False widow spiders - which have a leg span of about the size of a 50p piece - have a venomous bite which is no worse than the pain of a wasp sting, according to the Natural History Museum. The arachnids are sometimes confused with the highly dangerous black widow. Vermin and waste mismanagement led to extremely unhygienic, and occasionally dangerous, conditions for prisoners, the report said. IMBs described cockroach infestations, biting flies infesting showers, dead rodents rotting on the wings and cells taken out of use due to bedbugs, which could be disruptive when a prison was at full capacity. Rats were a particularly common issue, with board members reporting unacceptable conditions in kitchens and on wings. The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) said false widow spiders nipped inmates at HMP Bullingdon, near Bicester, Oxon, after they were disturbed during construction work At HMP Hollesley Bay, in Woodbridge, Suffolk, a prisoner was bitten by a rat while sorting rubbish, the report went said Prisoners have been bitten by venomous spiders and rats, according to a report highlighting dangerous conditions behind bars At Hollesley Bay, a prisoner was bitten by a rat while sorting through rubbish. Bullingdon attribute prisoners being bitten by venomous spiders as a result of disturbance by renovation work. Earlier this year the kitchen at HMP Pentonville, north London, had to be closed for three months after large numbers of rat droppings were found on the floor. Prison buildings across the country have suffered an alarming physical decline, the report said. It also found serious problems with leaky roofs, sanitation, heating, ventilation and fire alarms. IMB chairwoman Elisabeth Davies said: Prisoners are enduring appalling conditions across the board, yet they often lack the motivation to submit complaints, as the dire state of things has become normalised for those most affected. 'Whether they are eating, working, sleeping, or receiving medical care, the shocking level of neglect reported by local IMBs across the country, and the impact of this on those living in these conditions, cannot be ignored. Women who are considering divorce are being advised to 'pull the trigger' in fears that Donald Trump will push JD Vance's idea of ending what's known as 'no-fault divorce.' The laws have been on the books for more than 50 years, with many saying it supports domestic abuse victims and prevents already crowded family courts from drowning in complicated divorce proceedings. But some advocates for women became worried after previous comments from now Vice President-elect Vance opposing no-fault divorce were circulated during the presidential campaign. Many believe this to be overreaction, as Trump - who is twice-divorced - hasn't championed overhauling the country's divorce laws and there is not a national coordinated effort underway. States determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can't currently change policy. However, in 2021, Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. 'We've run this experiment in real time and what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that's making our kids unhappy,' Vance said during a speech at a Christian high school in California, where he criticized people being able to 'shift spouses like they change their underwear.' DailyMail.com has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment. Christian F. Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women, said she is 'extremely worried' about the possibility of no-fault divorce being removed with the incoming Trump administration, Republican-controlled Congress and wide range of conservative state leaders. Women who are considering divorce are being advised to 'pull the trigger' in fears that Donald Trump will push JD Vance 's idea of ending what's known as 'no-fault divorce' 'With so many states focusing on a misogynistic legislative agenda, this will turn back the clocks on women's rights even more,' Nunes said in a statement. 'This is why removing "no fault" divorce is another way for the government to control women, their bodies, and their lives. Eliminating no-fault divorce is also a backdoor way of eliminating gay marriage, since this implies that a marriage is only between a man and a woman.' Some attorneys posted saying they were seeing a spike in calls from women seeking divorce consultations. Despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don't expect big, swift changes. 'Even in some of the so-called red states, it hasnt gotten anywhere,' said Beverly Willett, co-chair of the Coalition for Divorce Reform, whose group has unsuccessfully attempted to convince states to repeal their no-fault divorce laws. Mark A. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said that while many Americans have become accustomed to no-fault divorce being an option, Vances previous comments on making it more difficult to separate from a spouse could help jumpstart that effort. 'Even though he's not directly proposing a policy, it's a topic that hasn't gotten a ton of discussion in the last 15 years,' Smith said. Trump - who is twice-divorced - hasnt championed overhauling the countrys divorce laws, but in 2021 Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others Leaders at activist organizations are 'extremely worried' about the possibility of no-fault divorce being removed with the incoming Trump administration 'And so to have a national profile politician talk that way is noteworthy.' Meanwhile, Republican Party platforms in Texas and Nebraska were amended in 2022 to call for the removal of no-fault divorce. Louisiana's Republican Party considered something similar earlier this year but ultimately declined to do so. A handful of proposals have been introduced in conservative-led statehouses over the years, but all immediately stalled after they were filed. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an 'abolition of marital obligation.' Similarly, in South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers in 2023 filed a bill that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. And in South Dakota, a Republican lawmaker has attempted to remove irreconcilable difference as grounds for divorce since 2020. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an 'abolition of marital obligation' Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers say they remain worried about the future of no-fault divorce. They point to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort. 'When you choose to be silent, you allow for this to creep in,' said Democratic South Dakota Rep. Linda Duba. 'These are the bills that gain a foothold because you choose to be silent.' Before California became the first state to adopt a no-fault divorce option in 1969, married couples had to prove their spouse had violated one of the approved 'faults' outlined in their state's divorce law or risk a judge denying their divorce, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Qualified reasons varied from state to state, but largely included infidelity, incarceration or abandonment. The system was a particular burden on domestic violence victims, often times women, who could be stuck in dangerous marriages while they try to prove their partner's abuse in court through expensive and lengthy legal proceedings. 'If there was any evidence that the couple both wanted to get divorced that was supposed to be denied because divorce was not something you got because you wanted it, it was something you got because youve been wronged in a way that the state thought was significant,' Grossman said. To date, every state in the U.S. has adopted a no-fault divorce option. However, 33 states still have a list of approved 'faults' to file as grounds for divorce - ranging from adultery to felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. Calls to reform no-fault divorce have remained fairly silent until the late 1990s, when concern pushed by former President George Bush's administration over the country's divorce rate sparked a brief movement for states to adopt 'covenant marriages.' The option didn't replace a state's no-fault divorce law, but provided an option for couples that carried counseling requirements and strict exceptions for divorce. Louisiana was the first state to embrace covenant marriage options, but the effort largely stopped after Arizona and Arkansas followed suit. With Trump's reelection, Willett, whose group opposes no-fault divorce, said she's cautiously optimistic that the political tide could change. 'Was what he said an indication of things to come? I don't know,' Willett said. 'It's a good thing but it's certainly not anything that has been really discussed other than a few high profile conservatives who talk about it.' An RSPCA volunteer has lashed out at the animal welfare group for euthanising a seven-month-old puppy, claiming it was healthy and harmless. The anonymous volunteer claimed the puppy, named Sophie, had been put down at the Sydney Adoption Centre at Yagoona. 'Today I had one of the most traumatic experiences of my life,' they wrote in a review left on the business' page. 'They euthanized a puppy no more than 7 months old, healthy and in no danger to anyone.' An RSPCA NSW spokesman confirmed with Daily Mail Australia the puppy had been euthanised - but disputed the claim the puppy was healthy. The volunteer said they had spent the previous month doing 'therapy' with the pup in order to socialise her and even offered to take her home. But on Friday morning, they came into work to find Sophie unconscious on the floor - sedated before euthanasia. 'I cried and begged them not to do it, to let me take her home and they told me that it was not possible, and that they had already tried everything with her but could not socialise,' they wrote. The anonymous volunteer claimed the puppy, named Sophie, had been put down at the Sydney Adoption Centre at Yagoona 'I have been involved in animal activism for over twenty years, this animal was far from being un-rehabilitatable, she just needed time and proper therapy. 'She was a sweet puppy that in a short time trusted you and sought human contact willingly, she deserved a chance, this is an injustice. Her name was Sophie. 'I am devastated, and I am going to try to make everyone who is considering making a donation here to know the reality and make a conscious donation, because to me, this is far from what should be considered animal protection.' Vegan activist Tash Peterson said she was outraged to hear of the 'murder' at the shelter. 'Thanks to the dedicated efforts of a volunteer who saw her potential, Sophie had a good chance at life,' Ms Peterson said. 'The claim that she was "unsocialisable" is heartbreaking and unacceptable. Sophie deserved more time, care, and a genuine chance at life. 'This tragedy highlights a larger issue: the RSPCA's conflicting values. 'While they brand themselves as protectors of animals, their seal of approval appears on products made from the bodies of animals who were exploited and murdered for profit, including meat, dairy, and eggs.' Vegan activist Tash Peterson said she was outraged to hear of the 'murder' at the shelter Ms Peterson said the story served as a reminder of the need to adopt from shelters rather than supporting animal breeders. Animal rights activist Sheena Chhabra, from Plant Based Treaty, said it was 'unacceptable for any animal to be killed prematurely simply because they haven't adapted to their environment'. 'Organisations like the RSPCA are meant to protect animals and offer them a chance at life, not discard them if they don't fit a predefined system,' Ms Chhabra said. RSPCA NSW said its inspectorate delivered Sophie to the shelter last month, along with a 'large group of animals', seized from two people disqualified from having animals. 'Sophie presented in very poor condition and was severely fearful on intake, indicating a traumatic background,' a spokesman said. She wasn't made available for adoption due to her 'very complex behavioural needs'. No behaviour foster carers were available to take her either, and both of the group's behaviour and rehabilitation centres were at full capacity. Although the group's behaviour and rehabilitation team worked closely with her to try and build trust, she 'continued to display overwhelming fear and anxiety'. 'After weeks in our care, Sophie's fear and avoidance remained overwhelmingly high,' the spokesman said. 'She was still unable to leave her kennel to toilet, exercise, sniff, or explore - basic activities essential for her physical and mental health. 'Sophie also started to exhibit physical symptoms of chronic stress, further highlighting her deteriorating condition.' The decision was made to euthanise her to prevent 'further distress and suffering'. RSPCA NSW has six shelters in the state, of which the Yagoona, Sydney shelter is the largest. All of the shelters offer animals for adoption - these include dogs and cats handed in as injured strays, seized by an inspector or surrendered by owners. But they don't have the means to accept uninjured stray animals, which should instead be handed in to local council pounds. In total, the NSW shelters care for more than 14,000 animals each year. A long-lost California man who went missing 25 years ago is set to be reunited with his family after his sister saw a picture of him in a news article. The unidentified adult had gone missing from Doyle, California, in 1999 for unclear reasons. For over two decades, no one including his family had heard from the six feet tall man, who is now believed to be in his mid-60s. But on April 15, he was discovered in South Los Angeles and brought to the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. Due to his non-verbal state, he was unable to communicate his name or any information about himself to hospital officials and the Lassen County Sheriff's Office. For the next six months, the hospital's social services department was unable to reach any family members for the patient. He was transferred to another hospital in Los Angeles in July 2024. But on November 22, a woman informed Deputy Sheriff Derek Kennemore that the patient was her brother after she saw a picture of him in a USA Today article from April. A long-lost California man who went missing 25 years ago has now been reunited with his family after his sister saw a picture of him in a news article 'The woman informed Sheriffs Deputy, Derek Kennemore, that she had been sent an article from USA Today that had a picture of a man that she believed to be her missing brother. 'The woman explained that her brother was reported missing in 1999 from Doyle, Ca. The man had not been heard from since. 'The USA Today article was printed in April 2024 and was requesting assistance in identifying the man, who had been admitted to a hospital in the Los Angeles, Ca area,' the Sheriff's office said. Officials soon contacted a detective from the Los Angeles Police Department's Missing Persons Unit to confirm his identity. The detective then acquired fingerprints from the patient at the LA hospital and ran a check. Results showed that he was indeed the woman's brother who was reported missing nearly three decades ago. 'Deputy Kennemore contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, Missing Persons Unit, and was put in contact with a Detective. The Detective responded to the hospital and fingerprinted the man. 'The Detective was able to positively identify the man as the one reported missing in 1999 from Doyle, Ca. On April 15, he was discovered in South Los Angeles and brought to the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. On November 22, a woman informed Deputy Sheriff Derek Kennemore (pictured) that the patient was her brother after she saw a picture of him in a USA Today article from April 'Deputy Kennemore re-contacted the woman and informed her that, with the assistance of LAPD, we were able to positively identify the man as her brother,' Captain Mike Carney further said in the release. Deputies confirmed that the family will be reuniting soon and all names are being withheld for privacy. According to ABC, the newly-found man had gone 'missing voluntarily'. After the miraculous discovery, Captain Carney told the outlet the outlet the sister was 'super excited'. 'She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know. 'It's gonna make their Thanksgiving that much better,' he joyfully revealed. Talking about the case, he called it a 'perfect example' of refusing to give up on finding missing people. 'Be tenacious when it comes to these things, because there are family members that want answers,' he suggested. Guitar manufacturer Gibson has slapped the company making Donald Trump's guitars with a cease-and-desist letter claiming they are a copy of its iconic shape. The manufacturer confirmed it is threatening legal action against 16 Creative, the company behind Trump's guitars, claiming it has infringed on its copyright. Gibson said in a statement to Guitar World that their claim particularly involves 'the iconic Les Paul body shape.' It comes a week after Trump raised eyebrows in the aftermath of his presidential election victory by hawking a new line of guitars - with autographed versions sold for a staggering $11,500. The president-elect shared a picture of himself holding one of the eagle-emblazoned versions of the guitars, which many said appeared to have the same size, shape and design as a Les Paul. Trump's post took fans to a GetTrumpGuitars website, where they could also buy an acoustic guitar for $1,250. The guitars are the latest in a line of surprising Trump-endorsed items he released in election season, also including Trump bibles, watches, sneakers and cryptocurrencies. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump raised eyebrows in the aftermath of his presidential election victory by hawking a new line of guitars - with autographed versions sold for a staggering $11,500 The manufacturer of the Trump guitars, 16Creative, has been hit with a cease-and-desist letter from Gibson over claims they violate trademark on the iconic Les Paul design Observers were quick to point out similarities between the Trump guitars (left) and the original Les Paul design (right) Trump shared his guitar venture on Truth Social on November 20, and was seemingly at Mar-a-Lago when he straddled the eagle guitar. He said in the caption that there was only 1,300 of each acoustic and electric versions made, and the electric guitars appeared to be a big hit. Just a few weeks after launching the guitars, all electric versions - including pricey $11,500 sets - were sold out. Acoustic guitars were still available, with regular unsigned versions selling for $1,250, while the president-elect's signature sends the price to $10,250. Across several designs, the guitars are divided into the American Eagle series, the Presidential Series, and God Bless the USA Guitars. Trump guitars also come with an extra patriotic feature, with the words 'Presidential' and 'God Bless the USA' written across the fret board, and a 45 with stars encircling it. Soon after Gibson confirmed they had sent a cease-and-desist letter, Trump's guitar website added a disclaimer maintaining it has no ties to the iconic guitar manufacturer. 'GetTrumpGuitars.com is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Gibson Brands Inc.,' the statement read. The claim centered on the company's electric guitar range, which were sold for $1,500 unsigned or $12,500 signed, and have since sold out The acoustic range sells for $1,250 unsigned or $10,250 signed, and feature an eagle emblazoned on the front and 'Make America Great Again' on the neck Soon after Gibson confirmed they had sent a cease-and-desist letter, Trump's guitar website added a disclaimer maintaining it has no ties to the iconic guitar manufacturer 16Creative is reportedly not owned by Trump, and its website notes that the guitars are 'custom designed and developed by a Veteran owned company with the help of a master luthier.' Like many Trump products, they are not entirely made in the USA either. On its website, it is said the guitars 'have been manufactured by multiple providers and include parts/features that are both domestic and international.' It adds that this is 'standard with most guitar manufacturers.' A former commander of the UKs armed forces has warned against British soldiers being drafted into any post-conflict peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Lord Richards insisted as our troops belong to NATO they could not police any territory close to Russian soil due to Kremlin sensitivities. The retired general, who was previously Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), was speaking after Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday refused to rule out such a deployment. In an interview on Radio 4s The World At One, he said: I would strongly advise the government not to get involved in any such force. Some UN force could work but we are NATO and that is the bottom line for Russia, they do not want NATO in Ukraine. It would be a red rag to a bull, President Putin would not agree to it any way. Also, we have got to reinforce Ukraines ability to defend itself, should such a [peace] deal be done. Russia views NATO in Ukraine as an existential issue and they are prepared to fight and expend a lot of treasure to prevent it. We need to accept Russias view even though we might not understand it. Lord Richards likened the post-conflict political landscape in Ukraine to the aftermath of the Korean war and the establishment of North Korea and South Korea. Lord Richards insisted as our troops belong to NATO they could not police any territory close to Russian soil due to Kremlin sensitivities Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk. In an interview on Radio 4s The World At One, he said: I would strongly advise the government not to get involved in any such force. Some UN force could work but we are NATO and that is the bottom line for Russia, they do not want NATO in Ukraine' Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery close to the frontline While in the near future at least Ukraine could be unlikely to recover territory in its eastern provinces illegally occupied by Russian forces, this did not mean the country, or NATO, had lost the war. He said: Strategically, they [Russia] have been defeated. Remember was they were trying to do in February 2022. And NATO today is stronger, bigger and more united than ever before. Russia has to be given something as a get out clause but we can counter any claim by Putin [to have won the war]. Lord Richards was previously head of the British Army and head of all the UKs armed forces. He also led operations in East Timor, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. He was also a key advisor when the UK led a United Nations mission to protect Libyan civilians in 2011. Lord Richards also offered a withering appraisal of Britains approach, suggesting this country had acted immorally by encouraging Ukraine to fight while withholding sufficient weaponry to win the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday refused to rule out the deployment of British troops While in the near future at least Ukraine could be unlikely to recover territory in its eastern provinces illegally occupied by Russian forces, this did not mean the country, or NATO, had lost the war In his view Ukraine should have been encouraged to strike a peace deal with Russia after the initial invasion had been repelled. He said: What weve given Ukraine has been too little too late. To many people encouraged Ukraine, after they did quite well in 2022. But that was the high watermark. A lot of people should have known better. Then would have been a good time to start negotiating. Sadly the result was many thousands more have died. It is immoral to keep people fighting without ensuring they can succeed. To that degree the West is culpable [for the loss of lives]. The judge in Prince Harry and Doreen Lawrences High Court case against the Mail warned them yesterday not to make any unfounded serious allegations. Mr Justice Nicklin said their accusations of phone hacking, burglary and bugging needed to be backed up with admissible evidence or withdrawn. The Duke of Sussex and Baroness Lawrence, a Labour peer, are among seven claimants suing the Mails publisher alleging that journalists hacked phones, broke into homes, tapped landlines and bugged cars claims the publisher has described as preposterous and untrue. The case, which is projected to cost 38million, is still at an early stage. Yesterday as he set a trial date for January 14, 2026, the judge said at least one of the allegations in the case could be career-ending and give rise to potential criminal proceedings so it couldnt be more serious. He told the claimants barrister, David Sherborne, as part of general case management that when serious allegations are made, first it has to be necessary for them to be included, and secondly it has to properly and fairly reflect the underlying material. The judge said: You understand that the rules relating to allegations like that, which are serious allegations, must be pleaded clearly and the claimants must have admissible evidence for that allegation, or reasonable grounds to suppose that evidence will be available at trial. If no evidence is available at trial, it has to be withdrawn. Prince Harry Baroness Doreen Lawrence He said it was something the newspaper group was concerned about, and warned: I want there to be no misunderstanding about the rules. Mr Sherborne replied: Im well aware of them. Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, vehemently denies all the accusations, which date back to 1993, made by the claimants, who also include Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost and Sir Simon Hughes. They have all cited Mail articles which they allege must have come from phone hacking or other types of unlawful information-gathering such as burglary, bugging and phone tapping. It emerged in written submissions to the court that Baroness Lawrence launched her legal battle after Prince Harry sent her a text message in January 2022 claiming there was information she would want to know about. A few days later she met Harrys barrister, Mr Sherborne. But Harrys text message is now missing, the court heard. According to the peers solicitors, searches were conducted of Baroness Lawrences messages... and the message was not found, said Catrin Evans KC, for Associated Newspapers, in written submissions. She said: Baroness Lawrence has lost and possibly deleted an important document. In a trenchant defence of its journalism, the publisher submitted defences to the claims to the High Court earlier this year, explaining the legitimate sources for each article, including in one case naming a former Home Secretary as being the source of a story. The Royal Courts of Justice, where the latest hearing took place Prince Harry, Baroness Lawrence and the others allege that Mail executives lied to the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards in 2011 and 2012. Yesterday, Mr Justice Nicklin told Mr Sherborne: Youll appreciate the difference between evidence which is subsequently demonstrated not to be correct and a lie. When he explained, A lie is knowing you are telling an untruth. Telling something that you believe to be true, but later proves to be untrue... Mr Sherborne finished off his sentence for him by saying, ...is not a lie. The judge also warned the claimants that he would not allow them to turn their case into a public inquiry. The next stage of the legal case involves each side disclosing messages and documents they hold which may be relevant to the other side. Mr Sherborne said the claimants had concerns that the newspaper would not disclose all relevant documents. He asked the court to intervene to help ensure the complete universe of documents in the publishers possession were searched for any information that might help his clients. Mr Justice Nicklin refused his application, saying he did not want the case to turn into an uncontrolled public inquiry. He told Mr Sherborne: I dont think its helpful to anticipate problems that havent yet arisen. You are open to criticism for anticipating trouble. The judge added: Its very important before we leave base camp, we need to establish where were going, how were getting there, what equipment were taking. And what we are not doing is setting off on a sunny afternoon and saying, Lets see what we can find. He told Mr Sherborne that the publisher would embark on the legal process of disclosing documents properly, adding: And if they dont, youll be back here telling me and there will be consequences. He added: The same rules apply to you. Yesterday was the first day of a two-day case-management hearing. In the afternoon, Associated Newspapers lost an application to strike out an aspect of the case relating to a jailed businessman who in the early 1990s had sued The Mail on Sunday for libel and alleged that documents had been removed from his home. Mr Sherborne characterised this episode as an example of burglary which had been admitted by the publisher. The judge rebuked him by suggesting that his characterisation of the admission was not accurate, but he allowed the matter to stay in the case for the time being pending further information. The hearing continues. A high school teacher in Sydney's northwest has been charged with child sex offences. Plumpton High School's music and drama teacher Tyson Moon was charged on November 14 with three counts of sexually touching a person over 16 and under 17 in special care. The 26-year-old has been prohibited from teaching while the matter remains before the courts, after the allegations were reported to police on November 1. In a letter to parents sent on Tuesday, school principal Tim Lloyd said Moon had been assigned to a 'non-school work location' by the Department of Education. 'With this matter before the courts, the school is unable to comment on anything that may be associated with it,' the letter said. 'As soon as this matter was brought to its attention, the school followed all related departmental policies and procedures, including support for students. 'Counselling for your child is available from the school by contacting our main office.' Moon has worked in Plumpton High School's performing arts faculty since 2021. Tyson Moon (centre) was charged with three counts of sexually touching a person over 16 and under 17 in special care on November 14 Sydney's Plumpton High School (pictured) said the NSW Department of Education had moved Moon to a 'non-school work location' while the matter remains before the courts The school's 2022 Gifted and Talented Program information booklet praised Moon's performance. 'Mr Moon's professional experience in the theatre industry has assisted in the mentoring and guidance of his students to assist in their own success in performing arts subjects whilst experiencing a glimpse of what the professional theatre industry is like throughout his drama lessons in the classroom,' it said. Moon also worked for a youth community theatre group in western Sydney, founded in 2020, which involves both primary and high school-aged children, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. There have been no charges connected to this group. NSW Police confirmed Moon has been granted conditional bail and will front court in Mount Druitt on December 16. An American family has said they would seek asylum in Canada if President-elect Donald Trump moves forward with his promise to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Sara and Erez Haluf had already moved from their home in Missouri to Maryland, after the Republican-led state passed a law that states that no one under the age of 18 would be able to start puberty blockers or hormone therapy. 'We thought that by leaving Missouri and coming to Maryland, that we would be safe,' Sara told CNN's Gabe Cohen. 'And now we're being threatened with anti-trans legislation on a federal level.' They are now considering fleeing the country entirely, drafting an asylum application with the Canadian government as they fear what may happen to their 12-year-old transgender daughter under a Trump administration. 'If push comes to shove, we will go north, we will go to Canada,' Erez said, as his wife explained it would take a federal ban on gender-affirming care - like the puberty blockers their daughter takes - for them to once again uproot their family of five. 'A federal healthcare ban would likely be the moment we know it's time to leave here,' Sara said. Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to revoke policies supporting gender-affirming care, especially for those under the age of 18. 'On Day One, we will sign an executive order instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age,' he said at a Mom's for Liberty event in August. 'They're not going to do it anymore.' Sara and Erez Haluf have drafted an asylum petition to the Canadian government out of fear President-elect Donald Trump will roll back the gender-affirming care their transgender daughter uses Trump has also said public schools will no longer receive federal funding if they promote ideas related to gender transitioning or transgender people. He further vowed that any hospital or healthcare provider that performs gender-affirming surgery or care to minors would no longer meet federal health and safety standards, and would therefore no longer receive federal funding. During the campaign, the Republican party also spent more than $200million on anti-trans ads that often ended with the statement: 'Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.' The party's official platform even stated: 'We will keep men out of women's sports, ban taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries and stop taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden's radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations and restore protections for women and girls,' according to NPR. After hearing all of Trump and the Republican Party's rhetoric, the Halufs say they now fear their daughter may soon not be able to access the puberty blockers she is currently taking. 'If she didn't get the care, she would end up going through puberty, and it will be traumatizing to her to see all of those things happen to her body,' Sara said. She noted that the puberty blockers give their transgender daughter 'more time to live in the body that she has now.' But the Halufs are not the only ones concerned about transgender rights under a new Trump administration. The couple said having their daughter go off puberty blockers would be 'traumatizing' Since Trump secured the White House earlier this month, transgender people have been flooding crisis hotlines and transgender organizations have had to increase their support systems, according to the Associated Press. The Rainbow Youth Project, for example, has increased virtual peer groups and town halls so LGBTQ+ youth can connect. It Gets Better has also focused on reaching young people online through social media platforms like Twitch and YouTube to create supportive environments even if legal protections are rolled back, said Brian Wenke, the groups executive director. The move comes after a study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior linked an increase in attempted suicide attempts among young people to 19 states that passed bans on gender-affirming care, NPR reports. About 3.3 percent of high school students now identify as transgender, while another 2.2 percent say they are questioning their gender, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released last month. It found that 72 percent of transgender and gender-questioning teens experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the past year. Those teens also reported higher rates of bullying at school compared with peers, as about a quarter said they had attempted suicide in the past year, the CDC. 'This is a frightening moment for transgender people and their families,' said Shannon Minter, a transgender civil rights lawyer with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. 'There is a very real possibility that the new administration may adopt policies that cause devastating harm.' Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to revoke policies supporting gender-affirming care, especially for those under the age of 18 But legal analysts have questioned Trump's ability to go after transgender care. The Affordable Care Act contains anti-discrimination language in its text, and the Civil Rights Act was amended in 2020 to include transgender people. Analysts now say if Trump were to move forward with his ban on transgender care, there would be a spate of federal lawsuits. 'It would be contrary to law and also it would violate the constitutional and statutory protections that transgender people enjoy,' Sasha Buchert, who was lead counsel on a federal lawsuit that challenged Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military, told NPR. It is also unclear whether Canada would offer refugee status to transgender Americans. One transgender woman, Daria Bloodworth, successfully argued to Canada's Refugee Appeal Division in October 2022 that a combination of gun culture and rising transphobia left her at risk for persecution in the US, CBC reports. Refugee Appeal Division member Dilani Mohan concluded that she had a legitimate fear of persecution, citing some state laws regarding the right to equal treatment for transgender Americans and concluding that relocation within the US was not an option. But Canada's Federal Court overturned the ruling this year, saying the Division erred in finding that Colorado authorities were incapable of protecting her and that her safety could not be guaranteed anywhere within the United States - pointing to New York City as an option. Prince Andrew enjoys a higher degree of support from the King than has been supposed, I hear. Why so? Charles suspects that Andrew is innocent of the more lurid allegations against him, says my source, adding: Fears that former confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, who brought paedophile Jeffrey Epstein into Andrews world, would throw him under a bus as part of a plea bargain, or that Virginia Giuffre would finally produce a smoking gun have come to nought. Might the King regret his role in Andrews defenestration? Epsteins former lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, blamed the late Queen for forcing Andrew to reach a reported multi-million-pound settlement with Epstein victim Giuffre. Prince Andrew enjoys a higher degree of support from the King than has been supposed, I hear Charles also pushed Andrew to settle with a person he still maintains he never met. Epsteins former lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, believed Andrew should have held out Dershowitz, blamed the late Queen for forcing Andrew to reach a reported multi-million-pound settlement with Epstein victim Giuffre Charles also pushed Andrew to settle with a person he still maintains he never met. Dershowitz believed Andrew should have held out. He did when similarly accused by Giuffre, who exonerated the lawyer in the end and admitted: I now recognise I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr Dershowitz. Sir Rod Stewart is confirmed for the Sunday teatime legend slot at Glastonbury next summer. Might it elicit a titter from his old foe Sir Elton John? Sir Rod claimed unkindly that Eltons recent farewell tour was money-grabbing and stank of selling tickets. Sir Rod Stewart is confirmed for the Sunday teatime legend slot at Glastonbury next summer Is Sir Elton tempted to remind Sir Rod that his own Glastonbury outing in 2023 was in the more prestigious Sunday night finale slot? Justin Welbys decision to hand in his mitre on January 6 which is the date of Epiphany and his 69th birthday wasnt what he wanted. A Lambeth Palace source says his first intention, after his ineptitude was exposed over the handling of former pal, sadist and abuser John Smyth, was to brazen it out. Justin Welbys decision to hand in his mitre on January 6 which is the date of Epiphany and his 69th birthday wasnt what he wanted When resignation became the only option, Welby, pictured, thought he could leave it open-ended, allowing him to carry on for as long as he wanted. He hoped to stay until later next year when he planned to go anyway while trying to salvage his reputation. Many wanted him to go now rather than being allowed to oversee Advent and Christmas, but charity won out which was more than Smyths victims got from his canes. The usually blameless Country Life describes the kinky history of sewing machines, recalling that, in 1867, a psychiatrist claimed female machinists regularly experienced palpitations, giddiness and tingling thighs. In 1895, a German psychologist linked excessive work on sewing machines to a growing fashion for lesbian love. Calm down, Mabel! The usually blameless Country Life describes the kinky history of sewing machines, recalling that, in 1867, a psychiatrist claimed female machinists regularly experienced palpitations, giddiness and tingling thighs (stock image) The Archers, Radio 4s everyday story of country folk, has finally got round to the hottest topic affecting real farmers inheritance tax. Almost a month after Chancellor Rachel Reeves dropped her bombshell, farmer David Archer mused: Ive never seen such a big farming demo in London. Theres a lot of anger about this new inheritance tax on farms. Non-farmer Leonard replied: Yeah, but David, we need those taxes to pay for things like the NHS. Pathetic! Senior Constable Kristian White's employment is 'under review' after he was found guilty of unlawfully killing a 95-year-old woman with dementia in a nursing home. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the constable had been suspended with pay throughout the proceedings, but that status is now under review. 'The officer's employment is currently under review. I expect to consider that matter next week,' Ms Webb told a press conference on Wednesday. The police commissioner said she had not spoken to the constable following the verdict and said it would be inappropriate for her to do so. She said she intended to reach out to the Nowland family. 'The death of Clare Nowland is a terrible tragedy and my deepest condolences go to the Nowland family,' she said. 'This should never have happened.' Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother, died of injuries sustained when Constable White discharged the weapon at her chest in Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma, New South Wales on May 17 last year. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb (pictured) said Constable White had been suspended with pay throughout the proceedings, but that status is now under review Senior Constable Kristian White (pictured leaving court on Wednesday) has been found guilty of the manslaughter of Clare Nowland, 95, after the jury deliberated for four days Constable White (centre) hung his head and kept his eyes down as the verdict was delivered The jury heard the 34-year-old issued several warnings as she approached him with both hands on her walking frame and holding a knife, before he said 'bugger it' and fired the weapon at her. Mrs Nowland, a great-grandmother fell backwards and struck her head on the floor, sustaining critical injuries. After four days of deliberation, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Constable White guilty of unlawfully killing Mrs Nowland either by way of criminal negligence or a dangerous or criminal act. He faces up to 25 years behind bars but was allowed to walk free from court ahead of his sentencing later this year. Justice Ian Harrison said he needed more information before jailing White, and added: 'So that there's no secret about it, I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions under which he will be held, if he is to be held.' Audible gasps and sobs could be heard emanating from the public gallery where Mrs Nowland's loved ones sat gathered together as the verdict was read out. In a statement through their lawyer, the Nowland family said: 'The family will take some time to come to terms with the jury's confirmation that Clare's death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act. 'The family would like to thank the Judge and jury for carefully considering the matter and the DPP prosecution team for their hard work.' Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old great-grandmother, died a week after she was struck by Constable White's Taser in Yallambee Lodge nursing home Leaving court, one of Mrs Nowland's family members said she was 'very happy' with the outcome. One man clapped another on the shoulder in an apparent show of solidarity after the verdict was announced. Constable White hung his head and kept his eyes down. His brow was furrowed but he otherwise kept his face blank. He was supported by his fiancee as he left the court and got into a waiting car. The Crown applied for Constable White to be taken into custody following the verdict, but Justice Ian Harrison said he needed more information about the proposed custodial conditions. 'So that there's no secret about it, I will not commit a policeman to custody until I understand the conditions under which he will be held, if he is to be held,' Justice Harrison said. The jury were persuaded by Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC that Constable White breached the duty of care he owed to the great-grandmother because his actions 'involved such a high risk that really serious bodily harm would occur to (her)'. Mr Hatfield argued the discharge of the Taser was a disproportionate response to the situation, given the great-grandmother's advanced age, frailty, lack of mobility, and symptoms of dementia. Mrs Nowland was captured on CCTV in the moments before she was tasered Mrs Nowland, was holding one of the pictured steak knives when she was Tasered. She fell backwards and hit her head during the incident and died in hospital a week later 'This was such an utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force on Mrs Nowland that it warrants punishment for manslaughter,' he told the jury during his closing statement on Tuesday. In delivering a guilty verdict, the jury rejected the defence put by Constable White's barrister Troy Edwards SC that the response was commensurate with the threat posed by Mrs Nowland carrying a knife. He maintained Constable White's decision to deploy his Taser was in line with his duty as a police officer to protect others and prevent a breach of the peace. Constable White and Acting Sergeant Jessica Pank were called to Yallambee Lodge to respond to a triple-0 call for assistance with a 'very aggressive resident' who was holding two knives. The court has heard Mrs Nowland entered the rooms of four residents prior to their arrival just before 5am, and she had thrown a knife at one of the nursing home staff. 'It's not the case that the accused could have turned on his heels... It was his job to obtain a resolution,' Mr Edwards said in his closing statement on Tuesday. Lesley Lloyd, the daughter of Clare Nowland, is seen leaving court after Wednesday's verdict Constable White is pictured arriving to the NSW Supreme Court with his fiacee last week 'He had to disarm her.' Mr Hatfield dismissed the defence, telling the jury they might consider that Constable White's words 'bugger it' showed he was 'fed up, impatient, not prepared to wait any longer.' Constable White's interaction with Mrs Nowland lasted less than three minutes, one of which was spent holding a Taser at her before pulling the trigger. The jury heard the great-grandmother found it difficult to follow instructions and became uncharacteristically aggressive before her death, which a geriatrician attributed to her undiagnosed dementia. She weighed less than 48kgs and relied on her walking frame to shuffle around the nursing home, the court was told. Mrs Nowland is survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren, many of whom sat in the public gallery throughout the trial. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb is expected to make a statement about the White's conviction on Wednesday afternoon. Australian surfing legend Tom Carroll has been stretchered off a beach and rushed to hospital after suffering a head injury. Carroll was pictured clutching the back of his neck while surrounded by lifeguards at Narrabeen Beach, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, at about 9am on Wednesday. The 63-year-old managed to get himself back to shore while carrying his surfboard, and then had his neck examined. Paramedics treated him before he was placed on a stretcher, carried off the beach and taken to Northern Beaches Hospital. It is unclear how Carroll sustained the injury, which took place just a day after celebrating his birthday. Waves at Narrabeen were about 1.5m high, a fraction of the size of waves the former world champion chased as a big-wave surfer after his retirement. Having won a string of youth championships, Carroll became the world's first goofy-footed world champion in 1983 at the age of 22. He repeated the feat the following year before becoming surfing's first millionaire in 1988 with a massive sponsorship deal with Quiksilver. Australian surfing legend Tom Carroll has been taken to hospital with head injuries sustained while surfing at Narrabeen Beach on Wednesday (pictured) The 63-year-old former world champion was carried off the beach on a stretcher before after being examined by lifeguards and paramedics (pictured) Carroll won back-to-back world championships in 1983-84 before becoming the first millionaire in professional surfing thanks to a massive deal with Quiksilver in 1988 His illustrious career, which ended in 1993, featured 26 event victories on the world tour, including the illustrious Pipe Masters on three occasions. He was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Australian Sport Hall of Fame just two years later. Carroll later opened up about his struggles with stimulants, including methamphetamines, during the early 2000s. He turned to drugs after facing personal and professional struggles but placed himself into rehab in 2006 after spiralling out of control. 'It wasn't me that started to emerge,' he told the ABC in 2015. 'It was someone very angry, someone who was toxic, someone who was falling apart emotionally and trying to hold up. 'I was lucky to get help at the right time and be open to it.' He warned that even casual use of the drug can severely impact not just the individual but those around them. 'It doesn't just tear the family, but the ripple effect goes right out to the whole community, and it just destroys us from the inside out,' he said. Donald Trump picked Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford doctor silenced for challenging Biden administration lockdown policies, to run the National Institutes of Health. Trump says that Bhattacharya will work with Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while running the country's top public funder of medical research with a budget of some $47.3 billion. The president-elect said in a statement: 'Together, 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, America's biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease. Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!' Bhattacharya, a Stanford health policy professor and doctor, was an outspoken critic of the U.S. government's COVID-19 policies during the pandemic. The Stanford-trained physician and economist met with Kennedy this week and impressed him with his ideas to overhaul NIH. Bhattacharya has called for shifting the agency's focus toward funding more innovative research and reducing the influence of some of its longest-serving career officials, the report added. Along with two other academics, he published the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020. Trump cited the Great Barrington Declaration among the doctor's credentials for getting the job. Donald Trump picked Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford doctor silenced for challenging Biden administration lockdown policies, to run the National Institutes of Health Trump says that Bhattacharya will work with Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while running the country's top public funder of medical research with a budget of some $47.3 billion The Great Barrington Declaration called for focused protection, an idea that would mean the bulk of efforts to increase immunity would be centered on the most vulnerable groups the elderly and the immunocompromised with few restrictions on the general healthy population. Without those restrictions, more people would develop Covid that would confer antibodies against infection, producing herd immunity. As more and more people become infected and later immune for a period of time, the virus has fewer opportunities to spread and infect vulnerable people. But the idea was slammed by many mainstream scientists, including those like Anthony Fauci and NIH Director Frances Collins, who worked in the Biden administration. Many criticized the idea as dangerous and would lead to many preventable deaths. Bhattacharya sued the government afterward, alleging that it pressured social media platforms to censor his opinions. In 2023, a federal court ruled that the Biden Administration coerced social media sites to censor him and his co-authors. He graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1997 and received his doctorate from Stanford's Department of Economics in 2000, according to his resume. Just days before his nomination as HHS secretary, RFK Jr. said he would act quickly to fire 600 people at the NIH and replace them all with new hires. The Stanford-trained physician and economist met with Kennedy this week and impressed him with his ideas to overhaul NIH The agency employs nearly 20,000 people. In addition to job cuts, Kennedy has said he aims to shift NIH's focus from infectious diseases such as COVID-19, to tackling potential cures for chronic diseases, such as diabetes. During the COVID pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease who served on President Trump's coronavirus task force, became a frequent target of Republicans for contradicting some of Trump's coronavirus policies and recommendations, leading to calls for his dismissal. Collins, the NIH director and Fauci's boss, defended Fauci in a July 2020 interview with STAT News, saying it was 'unimaginable' to consider firing Fauci, as some Republicans had demanded. As a career federal employee, Fauci's job was shielded from political firings by federal civil service regulations, protections Trump has vowed to undo. A man accused of murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to murder three others was not significantly impaired by his mental disorders, according to a psychologist. The High Court in Edinburgh heard one expert considered that at the time of the alleged violent spree, Finlay MacDonald had undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder, personality disorder and was experiencing low mood and anxiety. Advocate depute Liam Ewing, KC, asked forensic psychologist Lorraine Johnstone if the disorders, conditions and traits suffered by the now 41-year-old as a whole in August 2022 would have significantly impaired his ability to control his actions. She replied: No, I dont think they did. I think, on the whole, the autism is relevant but not to the level and degree that it can account for his behaviour. MacDonald is accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena, 34, on August 10, 2022 at their home in Tarskavaig on the Isle of Skye by repeatedly stabbing her. The marine engineer is also accused of murdering his distillery worker brother-in-law John MacKinnon on the same date in Teangue, on Skye, by firing a shotgun at him. He is further alleged to have attempted to murder retired osteopath John MacKenzie and his wife Fay, both 65, at their home in the Highland village of Dornie by discharging a shotgun at them. MacDonald has pleaded not guilty to the charges and lodged a special defence to the murder charge maintaining at the time of the alleged offence his ability to determine or control his conduct was substantially impaired by abnormality of mind. John MacKinnon (pictured) was shot dead by a gunman on August 10, 2022. His brother-in-law Finlay MacDonald is accused of murder MacDonald is also accused of the attempted murder of his wife, Rowena MacDonald, 32, who suffered 'serious' stab injuries in an attack at her home He is further alleged to have attempted to murder retired osteopath John MacKenzie and his wife Fay, both 65 Ms Johnstone told the court MacDonald said he knew he had done wrong when he attacked his wife and could not see a future for himself. He armed himself with additional weapons and then set off motivated by a desire to confront others with whom he felt aggrieved. The court later heard his wife had sustained nine stab wounds to her chest and liver that were a danger to her life and was flown to a Glasgow hospital where she remained until September 12. Jurors were also told in agreed evidence that Mr MacKinnon suffered three shotgun wounds to his chest, abdomen and thigh. The cause of death was given as shotgun wound to the chest. Mr MacKenzie was flown by air ambulance from Dornie, in Ross-shire, to Raigmore Hospital, in Inverness, in a critical condition and underwent surgery. It was found that part of a kidney was blown away. His wife had small shotgun pellet wounds among other injuries. The trial before judge Lady Drummond continues. The man behind the infamous Willy Wonka Experience event has been accused of rape. William Billy Coull appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court from custody where he also faces a separate allegation of sexual assault. The 36-year-old, of the citys Knightswood, made no plea during a private hearing. Coull was the organiser of the Willy Wonka Experience in which families forked out 35 a ticket earlier this year at a warehouse in the citys Whiteinch. William Billy Coull was the organiser of the Willy Wonka Experience in which families forked out 35 a ticket The event was staged inside a warehouse in Glasgow The event which went viral on social media was described as disastrous, ill-prepared and shoddy. He was forced to shut the event down amid claims it left children in tears. Coull was granted bail by Sheriff Gerard Bonnar and committed for further examination. His next court date is to be determined. Millions of heat-stricken Sydneysiders are unable to cool off at their local beach as the construction of a new sea wall is plagued by problems. Shark Beach locally known as Nielsen Park - in Vaucluse in the city's east has been closed for almost three years, much to the annoyance of locals. The popular swim spot was set to re-open in late November but was recently rescheduled to mid-December. The beach has been off limits since 2022 when remediation work on the 160metre seawall began after it was damaged by floods in 2016. 'Opening of the beach remains on track for mid December 2024,' a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph. The spokesperson said there had been 'several significant unforeseen delays' including rain, thousands of tonnes of asbestos, redesigns and contract disputes. However, recent photos of the beach have revealed the sea wall is nowhere near completion - meaning swimmers may need to wait until 2025 for a dip. Woollahra Council deputy mayor Sean Carmichael said locals are frustrated they can't cool off at the beach under current heatwave conditions. Residents are frustrated the beach hasn't been available as Sydney swelters under a heatwave (pictured, work on the sea wall at Nielsen Beach earlier this year) The iconic Shark Beach locally known as Nielsen Park in Vaucluse in Sydney's eastern suburbs - is now set to open in mid-December (swimmers in Bondi are pictured) 'There has been tremendous disappointment that the construction is still going on. People would like to use this beach but they can't,' he said. 'We all understand projects like this can be complicated and complex with unexpected issues arising and ongoing delays. 'But it doesn't seem like the state government is brimming with enthusiasm and wanting to get on top of this issue, which in the scheme of things is not all that huge.' NSW Parks and Wildlife planned to replace the seawall with a new barrier that would be reinforced to withstand the impact of strong wet weather and surf conditions. But contract disputes, bad weather and the discovery of 3,600 tonnes of asbestos in the old wall have prolonged its construction and the closure of Nielsen Park. Remediation work at Shark Beach also includes the installation of planter boxes and the planting of mature trees to provide shade along the terrace and seating areas. In September, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe told ABC Radio Sydney construction at the popular swim spot had taken too long. 'I am one of the many swimmers who is waiting eagerly for the completion of these works. This is a project I have inherited and it has taken too long,' she said. Incoming border czar Tom Homan has a three-word message for mayors of sanctuary cities planning to resist Donald Trump's mass deportation plan: 'Don't test us.' Speaking to Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety agents in Eagle Pass, Texas on Tuesday, Homan ensured them that Trump's plan will be moving forward. 'Let me be clear, there is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border.' 'It's a felony to knowingly harbor concealed illegal anti-immigration authorities. The nation wants a safe country,' Homan added. His warning comes as Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and others have said they will push back against federal deportation efforts. Johnston has said he is 'not afraid of' going to jail for doing so. Appearing on Hannity Monday, Homan made a direct threat to Johnston if he refuses to comply. 'Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing; he's willing to go to jail. I'm willing to put him in jail.' Johnston told CNN Tuesday night he expects citizens will engage in acts of civil disobedience to prevent what he describes as '10-year-old kids being taken out of class in handcuffs.' Incoming border czar Tom Homan has a three-word message for those officials in sanctuary cities uncomfortable with Donald Trump 's mass deportation plan: 'Don't test us' A group of migrants staying at an encampment in Denver, where Mike Johnston is the mayor. Johnston has said he is 'not afraid of' going to jail for not complying with Homan's plan Meanwhile, in Eagle Pass earlier Tuesday, Homan praised state police for leading the way on the migrant crisis. 'What you've done is not only protect the state of Texas and the citizens of Texas, you are protecting this nation,' Homan told the troopers. 'It's a shame we have other governors and other mayors who right on the gate said they are going to push back on President Trump.' Homan explained that if the migrants are not removed then immigration courts and border patrol efforts are pointless. 'We have to remove them because if we don't shut down immigration court, those orders don't mean anything anymore,' he told the crowd. 'You can't demand due process and write the claim asylum and not obey the court order. That is why there needs to be a mass deportation.' Homan warned states thinking of not cooperating with the federal-led deportations, urging them to not 'cross that line.' He noted how harboring illegal immigrants is a felony. 'If we don't do it, what is the option? Let them stay? Cause if you let them stay, you'll never fix the border. You're gonna send a message to the rest of the world: enter the country illegally, which is a crime, ignore a court order we're telling the whole world it's OK to enter this country illegally, you've never got to go home,' Homan added. His warning comes as Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and others have said they will push back against federal deportation efforts Appearing on Hannity Monday, Homan made a direct threat to Johnston if he refuses to comply. 'Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing; he's willing to go to jail. I'm willing to put him in jail' Homan said this weekend that it's guaranteed that the future president will pull federal funds from states that don't comply with his mass deportation plans. The new border czar, 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 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.' The president-elect repeatedly claimed while campaigning that on day one he would pull off the 'largest deportation program in American history' The new border czar, 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 a role tailor-made to carry out Trump's deportation mandate 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. Denver Mayor Johnston has signaled he will defy any immigration order, putting them directly at odds with the incoming administration. He even 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 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. A pair of Ohio teachers have come under fire for ruthlessly mocking their students on Zoom call they didn't know was being recorded, calling one boy 'annoying AF.' The shocking interaction between a Reynolds Elementary School teacher and a Toledo Public School special education administrator came directly after they spoke to the concerned mother of a six-year-old student who was allegedly getting beat up in class. Once the mother hung up, the teacher and the administrator talked admitted how they really felt about the alleged bullying victim. 'He is annoying AF,' the teacher was heard saying. 'I tried to tell the mom this is a behavior classroom. All these kids are in here for a reason.' The teacher even called one of the students 'an attempted murderer' while referencing the boy's allegedly violent behavior in the classroom. The mother, who opted to stay anonymous, told WTVG that her son's bullying was getting so bad that he was openly saying he wanted to commit suicide. 'He was coming home with multiple bruises, bloody noses. He was coming home saying he was going to kill himself,' she said. The two educators engaged in a six-minute-long rant about the students, unaware that everything they were saying was being recorded and transcribed. The shocking interaction between a Reynolds Elementary School teacher and a Toledo Public School special education administrator Deputy Superintendent James (Jim) R. Gant said the teachers may face disciplinary action over the incident That transcript was sent to the mother. She was particularly outraged at one part of the recording where the teacher calls her son's threats of suicide 'a learned behavior.' 'The thing about wanting to kill himself, thats a learned behavior. You know my class. All day long he screams, "I hate my life! I hate my life! Im gonna kill myself!" And he did learn that in here because half my class says that all day long,' the teacher said. The mother said this entire exchange was unprofessional. 'My six-year-old saying he wanted to kill himself and it not being reported and her just saying it so calmly like, "Oh, thats a regular behavior in my class." It should be reported because kids are taking their lives every single day,' the mother said. The teacher also commented on the behavior of other students, one of whom she called an 'attempted murderer.' This comment made the administrator hysterically laugh. 'Theyre like, "Why is [blank] in that class?" Because like hes an attempted murderer. He will chase you down with his pencil.' the teacher said. The teacher also appeared to list four different students that beat up the concerned mother's child. A screenshot of the recording withheld the identity of the teachers who were heard using derogatory language about the student Following the incident, Toledo Public Schools released a statement to WTVG addressing what happened and explaining how the school responded. 'Toledo Public Schools is working with the administration at Reynolds Elementary to address questionable comments by two staff members following a parent meeting last Friday morning,' Deputy Superintendent James R. Gant said in a statement. 'The meeting was videotaped unbeknownst to those involved, and the district sent a link to the parent. 'Toledo Public Schools holds its employees to the highest professional standards and will take additional and appropriate steps following the holiday, including possible disciplinary action.' The hot mic conversation also uncovered allegations of an administrator at Reynolds Elementary being overly rough with students while restraining them. 'I know enough that youre supposed to put them in a cross down here. He will full-arm wrap their neck. The kids are screaming, "I cant breathe, youre hurting my neck,"' the same teacher said. The mother who originally called in hoping to end her son's bullying said she's removed him from the school. DailyMail.com has approached Toledo Public Schools for an update. More than 100,000 Australians with lots of super stand to be the big losers should Labor be forced to form a minority government with the Greens after the next election, as the polls suggest is likely. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled Labor isn't willing to negotiate with the left-wing minor party over his plan to double to 30 per cent contribution taxes on superannuation balances above $3million. But should Labor lose its majority at the next election, it could be forced to rely on the Greens to form a minority government. Labor says its plan will only affect the top 0.5 per cent of super savers or 80,000 people from July 2025. The Greens, however, want the threshold to kick in at $1.9million instead of $3million for accumulated superannuation accounts. By their own estimates based on tax office data, this would affect 104,141 people, or 0.6 per cent of the population. Greens members of the Senate economics committee made their position clear in a dissenting report on Labor's Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures Bill 2023. 'Australia's superannuation system is no longer about ensuring a dignified retirement for workers,' they said in May 2024. More than 100,000 Australians stand to be the big losers should Labor be forced to form a minority government with the Greens after the next election (pictured left is Greens leader Adam Bandt with his wife Claudia) 'Successive parliaments have contorted its purpose so that it is now Australia's premiere tax haven for wealth accumulation and estate planning.' Senator Nick McKim, the treasury and 'economic justice' spokesman for the Greens, recommended higher taxes on super 'by removing and reducing all the tax settings that disproportionately benefit the highest income earners and asset owners'. He argued they needed to be punished because 0.6 per cent of individuals own 14 per cent of Australia's super. 'Not only is the legislation narrowly applied to not even cover all of the highest one-hundredth of asset owners in the country, it fails to address the multitude of ways that the current superannuation system delivers for high income and high wealth individuals at the expense of everyday working Australians,' Senator McKim said. Labor's policy to apply a 30 per cent tax on super earnings above $3million is so radical it includes a tax on 'unrealised gains'. This would see self-managed super funds taxed on assets someone still owned before they had even been sold - a departure from usual tax practices. No other country in the world has applied this policy to retirement savings and could see self-managed funds forced to sell assets like property or farms to avoid the higher taxes. The last time Labor was forced to form a minority government with the Greens, in 2010, then prime minister Julia Gillard capitulated and introduced a carbon tax, despite vowing not to during the campaign. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled Labor isn't willing to negotiate with the left-wing minor party over his plan to double to 30 per cent contribution taxes on superannuation balances above $3million (he is pictured foreground with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) Former independent MP Tony Windsor, who backed Labor in 2010 to form a minority government, said a hung parliament in the lower house was the most likely outcome of the next election, due by May next year. 'It probably will be a minority government,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'It's more likely - anything can happen.' Mr Windsor said the Greens and teal MPs would be likely to demand some policy concessions in a hung parliament, most likely from a minority Labor government. 'They'll have some degree of power,' he said. 'There's no doubt the crossbench will have some influence - in my view it will probably be a good thing. 'You just can't just ram any silly idea through the House because it's some sort of wedge against the others.' Teal independent Allegra Spender, who is opposed to taxing unrealised gains, has signalled she is open to forming a minority government with the Coalition led by Peter Dutton. Teal independent Allegra Spender, who is opposed to tax unrealised gains, has signalled she is open to forming a minority with the Coalition led by Peter Dutton 'I am deeply opposed to the taxation of unrealised gains, which is why I'm putting forward a number of amendments,' she in October. 'While I'm open to considering taxing large balances of super, I think the taxation of unrealised gains is extremely problematic.' Fellow teal independents like Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel, Zali Steggall, Sophie Scamps and Kate Chaney represent wealthy electorates that would be opposed to the tax grab on super, while super tax critic Kylea Tink's North Sydney electorate has been abolished. Sportsbet now has the Coalition the favourite for the next election, with odds of $1.72 compared with $2.10 for Labor. But the Liberal and National parties need to gain 18 seats to have a chance at having the necessary 76 seats needed to form a majority government, following electoral redistributions that have reduced the number of lower house seats to 150. A Newspoll taken in early November showed a three per cent swing against Labor after preferences, which would mean the loss of seven seats, taking its tally down to 70 seats. Labor could form government with four Greens MPs, assuming they are all re-elected, plus left-leaning independent Andrew Wilkie and one teal MP. The Coalition's tally would only increase to 65 seats - making its job harder coming to power. It wouldn't be able to a minority government and lock out Labor and the Greens, even if had the support of all six re-elected teal MPs plus conservative independents Bob Katter, Dai Le, Rebekha Sharkie and Andrew Gee. ABC boss Kim Williams has defended the decision to dump popular radio host Sarah McDonald before taking swipes at former presenter Phillip Adams and sacked host Antoinette Lattouf. Mr Williams, who succeeded Ita Buttrose as the national broadcaster's chair in March, said he fully supported axing McDonald as ABC Radio Sydney's mornings host as the ABC looks to revitalise its radio division under audio director Ben Latimer. 'Changes in media are part of life,' he told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday. 'They are part of the programming fabric of all organisations.' ABC staffers were shocked by the move when it was announced alongside a raft of sweeping changes at the taxpayer-funded service last Thursday, greeting the news with a round of boos in their Sydney headquarters. McDonald - who joined the ABC as a cadet and has spent more than three decades with the broadcaster - announced her exit live on air last week. However, Mr Williams was adamant McDonald, who is well-liked and highly regarded throughout the industry, was not been fired - it was just that her job had been given to someone else. 'It's inaccurate to say that Sarah McDonald has been sacked,' he said. 'Her role has not been renewed. They are different conceptually. ABC chair Kim Williams says he 'fully supports' the shock decision to sack popular radio host Sarah McDonald 'In a similar way, management has determined that it wishes to take that service in a different direction. 'That decision is a management decision, and I fully support our management in making relevant decisions as to the direction and content of the services that the ABC provides. 'So, yes, I do support that decision. 'I do support the notion of refreshment in the various services that the ABC offers.' The ABC has reportedly been inundated with complaints since McDonald revealed she had been given the boot live on-air on her show on Thursday morning. 'Well, here's the news from me in terms of disappointment,' she told her listeners. 'I'm not going to be on the radio with you next year, the ABC has decided not to renew my contract here at Mornings. 'I am proud of what I've done. The ratings are up.' McDonald broke the widely panned news to her listeners live on air on Thursday morning Acknowledging the internal and external backlash against the decision, Mr Williams said it was impossible for the broadcaster to evolve without making difficult calls. 'The public reaction would actually say that you can never change anything, ever, unless the person impacted by the change is entirely in agreement with that change,' he said. 'And I think that in a media-working environment, that's a very impractical view of the world.' He drew the same distinction when it came to Lattouff, who was axed by the ABC midway through a week of casual radio presenting shifts last December. Lattouf is suing the ABC in the federal court and claims the broadcaster breached its employee enterprise agreement by 'sacking her without a proper basis and without due process'. However, Mr Williams insists she was not sacked either. 'Matters with Ms Latouff are, of course, the subject of legal disputation currently, and we have been impeccably silent about the matter, unlike Ms Latouff and her representatives, who seem to have been devoted to sharing on a regular basis with the media,' he said. 'On that matter...we will continue to persist in aiming for that to be capable of respectful, constructive resolution between the ABC and Ms Latouff. 'But I must correct you - Ms Latouff was not dismissed. Antoinette Lattouf is suing the ABC for unlawful dismissal but Kim Williams insists she was never sacked 'She was on a five-day contract and...the contract was brought to a close at the end of the third day. 'So it affected the final two days of that contract which, of course, were paid. 'It keeps on coming up, saying that she was "sacked". 'I don't know where that leaves us? She was not sacked.' The media executive's claim is at odds with a decision by the Fair Work Commission that found in June that Lattouf had indeed been sacked, rejecting the argument she was not terminated because she was paid for the full five days. Mr Williams also went on to have a dig at Adams, who signed off as host of the ABC Radio National's Late Night Live program in June after an incredible 33-year reign. The outspoken media veteran, who once hired Mr Williams while heading the Australian Film Commission, has been widely critical of Mr Williams' appointment as ABC chair. He told the Guardian's Amanda Meade following his retirement that he was not 'a great fan of Kim Williams'. Phillips Adams has been an outspoken critic of the ABC chair Kim Williams' appointment 'Kim and I have a lot of history. I'm not happy that he got the big job,' he said. 'Although Kim wouldn't have been my first, second or third recommendation, I wish him well in trying to save the joint. It's in pretty terrible shape.' Asked about claims' Adams had actually 'backed' him to apply to be the ABC's managing director when he was just 28, Mr Williams laughed before saying: 'What an interesting question!' 'Philip Adams never backed me for the role of managing director of the ABC. This is part of the continuing fiction that is Philip Adams,' he said. 'I certainly did apply for the job of managing director of the ABC when I was 30. 'And on the rebound from the application when I was 30, I was appointed as the chief executive of the Australian Film Commission by Philip Adams, and by Philip Adams' board at that time.' Kim Williams maintains he has no interest in taking on the ABC's managing director role He said he no longer harboured any ambition to take on the role and was not interested in succeeding incumbent David Anderson, who announced his resignation in August and will step down as soon as a replacement is found. 'I am not and would not accept being a candidate as managing director of the ABC now, because I don't think that it would pass the pub test,' Mr Williams said. 'I have a very clear formed view as to the difference between governance responsibility, which involves policy and priority setting, and advocacy, I might add, as compared with execution on a day-to-day operational basis by the people who are charged with running the place. 'I do not seek to transfer from the governance strategic prioritisation and advocacy role across into the operational role.' Piers Morgan called for The View to be taken off the air for their 'snarling, whining, scowling, seething and cursing about the same thing: Donald Trump.' The broadcaster wrote in his column for the New York Post that The View gives him his 'worst nightmares', envisioning himself trapped on a desert island with its hosts. 'The nightmares are long, torrid, mentally scarring and always involve the exact same pattern,' he wrote, going on to parody the women on the imaginary island displaying examples of the many times they have been caught in hypocrisy. Morgan started with 'Joyless' Joy Behar, pointing out that she was accused of wearing blackface to a Halloween party in the 1970s when she dressed as an African woman. '(Behar) marches up and down the beach loudly mocking and reviling Trump as a lying, racist hypocrite,' he wrote. On the coastline in Morgan's nightmares, Whoopi Goldberg - who in 2022 was suspended for saying the Holocaust wasn't about race - 'sits by the ocean howling that Trump is a deluded, ill-informed, race-baiting imbecile.' Morgan said despite their past scandals, 'their nadir came the day after the election, when to their horror, the man theyve spent years branding a vile, bigoted, racist fascist won absolutely everything.' 'The View has become a pointless, irrelevant parody of itself that urgently needs to be put out of its and our misery,' he concluded. Broadcaster Piers Morgan called for The View to be taken off the air in his latest column Morgan slammed The View hosts (pictured with Kamala Harris) for their 'snarling, whining, scowling, seething and cursing' about Donald Trump Morgan did not hold back in his latest column thrashing The View hosts Continuing his desert island analogy, Morgan moved onto Ana Navarro's comments after Trump's first win in 2016, where she insisted that he was not legitimately elected. He argued that Navarro 'spews constant bile-fueled abuse' at Trump on The View, while on his desert island, she 'resides under a palm tree, ranting that hes a lying election denier who deploys ugly rhetoric.' Sunny Hostin, who was recently forced to read out a humiliating legal note on the show after ranting about Matt Gaetz, was also cited in the column for her past remarks about former Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley. It came during her run for the White House last year, when Hostin criticized Haley as a 'hypocrite chameleon' for not using her first name Nimrata. Morgan pointed out that Hostin herself doesn't use her real first name, Asuncion, and said she also 'cruelly and heartlessly accused Nikki Haley of crying fake tears over her husbands deployment to war zones.' He added Sara Haines, despite her 'saintly voice of compassionate, unifying sunshine', repeatedly calls Trump a 'jerk', and would be on the island 'in the shade shouting, HES STILL A JERK!' 'Meanwhile, I just lie face-down in the sand, feeling like Bill Murray in a never-ending, hellish Groundhog Day,'' he concluded. Morgan brought up several humiliating past moments for The View hosts, including when 'Joyless' Joy Behar was accused of wearing blackface to a Halloween party in the 1970s Morgan also took aim at Sunny Hostin, who he pointed out criticized Nikki Haley for not using her real first name despite Hostin also not going by her first name Asuncion Although The View hosts often make eyebrow-raising remarks on the show - also including Hostin recently painting all Hispanics that voted for Trump as 'sexist and misogynistic' - Morgan said their worst moment came the day after election day. 'In a truly farcical gesture of brazen bias, the six hosts all trotted out in funereal black clothing because they were in mourning,' he wrote. 'And yet, ironically, it was their own professional funeral that they were almost certainly attending.' He pointed out that Goldberg refused to say Trump's name, while Hostin argued that Trump's win 'had nothing to do with policy' and instead 'was a referendum of cultural resentment in this country.' Morgan said that remark made him 'laugh out loud', as he mocked her stance on the election because it had 'everything to do with policy.' And while Navarro remarked that 'we can be sad' about Trump's win, he countered that 'the majority of American's don't feel sad about Trump's victory.' 'They feel either jubilant or relieved its not word-salad Kamala Harris and her ruinously progressive, policy-devoid agenda,' he added. Morgan concluded that because of the antics of hosts like Whoopi Goldberg, The View has become 'a pointless, irrelevant parody of itself that urgently needs to be put out of its and our misery' In his call for The View to be taken off the air, he said the show was nothing like how its creator Barbara Walters intended - to be a show 'hosted by women with different opinions.' 'But it isn't anymore,' he concluded. 'They all despise the man who is to be their president again, and that tediously myopic, one-sided act just wont play now that hes been given such a resounding endorsement from the American people. I dont like cancel culture but given that the hosts of The View have, by their own admission, worked so hard to cancel Donald Trump, its time they were canceled themselves.' A handyman who had worked on multiple homes owned by grief author Kouri Richins died in a tragic accident in September, after making bombshells claims about the Utah mother accused of poisoning her husband. William Hayden Jeffs, 35, died in a traffic accident while riding his Harley Davidson on September 30, 2024, according to an obituary posted online. But he had earlier told police officers that Richins asked him for fentanyl - weeks before Richins allegedly poisoned her husband, Eric, 39, with a lethal dose of the drug she slipped into his Moscow Mule, a newly-unsealed search warrant revealed. The document, released Tuesday, said cops interviewed Jeffs earlier this year and he 'divulged that [Richins] asked him if he could procure both fentanyl and propofol for her,' ABC 4 reports. He also allegedly showed officers text messages between him and the mother-of-four, and sent copies of those messages to detectives. The search warrant did not make any mention of him procuring the drugs, only noting that Richins asked him to. Following Jeffs' death, a judge granted a search warrant for his phone to be used as evidence in Richins' upcoming murder trial, according to KSL. It is currently in the custody of Heber City police as part of a separate investigation, prosecutors noted. William Hayden Jeffs, 35, allegedly told police Kouri Richins, 34, asked him for fentanyl - weeks before Richins allegedly poisoned her husband , Eric, 39, with a lethal dose of the drug she slipped into his Moscow Mule Richins is now facing charges of felony aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, and two counts of fraudulent insurance claims Prosecutors have long claimed that Richins, 34, obtained fentanyl from her former housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, whom police interviewed several times. Then on February 14, 2022, Richins allegedly slipped the drugs into a sandwich she bought him at a diner in their hometown Kamas. She left the food with a note on the seat of Eric's truck for him to eat at lunch, the prosecution alleges. Eric felt so sick that he drank a bottle of Benadryl, self-administered his son's EpiPen, and went completely dark. That afternoon, Eric texted a close friend: 'I think I almost died I think my wife tried to poison me.' But Kouri, who is currently being held in Summit County jail in Park City pushed ahead with her plan, prosecutors allege. She allegedly slipped an obscene amount of drugs fentanyl into Eric's Moscow Mule cocktail on March 3, 2023 amid financial disputes relating to their 10-acre $2million home. She called police the following morning to report that she found her husband 'cold to the touch' at the foot of their bed. Prosecutors say she slipped an obscene amount of drugs fentanyl into Eric's Moscow Mule cocktail on March 3, 2023 amid financial disputes relating to their 10-acre $2million home She allegedly obtained the drugs from her former housekeeper, Carmen Lauber Prosecutors argue that Richins was motivated to kill her husband after he discovered that she had taken out a $250,000 home equity line of credit and spent it, withdrawn $100,000 from his bank accounts, and spent more than $30,000 on his credit cards. Kouri also stole about $134,000 from her husband's business meant for tax payments, according to previously-filed court documents. She even allegedly purchased four different life insurance policies, which totaled more than $1.9million between 2015 and 2017. Yet, the couple still signed an agreement that would grant her the sale of the home prior to Eric's death. Then, one day after she called police about her husband's death, affidavits for search warrants showed that Kouri signed the closing papers on the couple's home and invited friends for a party where she was drinking and celebrating. She also wound up benefitting financially after she wrote a children's book about grief. Kouri explained in an interview that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding 'nothing' to help her sons 'cope.' She then dedicated the book to Eric and promoted it on television and radio, describing the book as a way to help children grieve the loss of a loved one. Richins wound up benefitting financially after she wrote a children's book about grief Kouri explained in an interview that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding 'nothing' to help her sons 'cope' Richins is now facing charges of felony aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide, and two counts of fraudulent insurance claims after a judge granted state prosecutors' motion to dismiss two dismiss two drug distribution charges earlier this month. Judge Richard Mrazik also agreed to try four charges of mortgage fraud and forgery separately from the murder charge, but went on to deny Richins bail for a second time - ruling that she presented a flight risk and a potential danger to herself and others. Her attorneys used certificates she earned in jail-run programs as evidence that the mother-of-three has been a model inmate since she was first detained in May 2023. They also noted that Richins was no longer facing the death penalty, and the dismissal of the two drug counts, provided an opportunity for a renewed discussion on her release. 'As a mother, there is no way Kouri Richins is leaving her children, no matter what they're being told... She would never leave her children,' attorney Kathy Nester told the judge. She went on to argue that Richins does not have the means to move somewhere else. 'She literally has no resources to leave the country, to resettle in another place. She would have no ability to support herself,' Nester said, urging the judge to let Richins go free and impose measures such as an ankle monitor or house arrest. But Mrazik said with the loss of her connections to the community over the past year, as her children are under the guardianship of her husband's family and her business is gone, there is nothing tying her down as she faces a possible sentence of life in prison. He commended her for using her time in jail 'as productively as possible,' but said that her the possibility she could die in prison 'creates a powerful incentive for [Richins] to harm herself of witnesses in this case and to flee the jurisdiction of the court' if she were to be released on bail, Fox 13 reports. Richins is now scheduled to face trial on April 28, as prosecutors continue to search her former home for any 'journals or written recordings' she may have made. They say she made references to additional writings in recorded jail calls and statements to Eric's family, who are now managing the Richins' former home and gave police permission to search it. An Aussie tourist who sparked a major search after mysteriously vanishing in Bali earlier this month has reportedly been found alive and well. Jackson Parker, 22, from southeast Queensland had not been heard from since 8 November 8 and had not updated his social media. A massive search was sparked by his frantic parents who were preparing to fly to Bali to hunt for him. But before his father could board he was found, to the relief of his family and friends. The news was confirmed by a close family friend. 'Hello to all...Jackson has been found,' they wrote on social media. 'Just in time for Dad to not get on the plane to Bali!' Previously, his family had launched an urgent call for any tourists in Bali to help find their son, claiming it was 'extremely out of character' not to be in touch. Jackson Parker (pictured), 22, from southeast Queensland had not been heard from since 8 November 8 and had not updated his social media A massive search was sparked by his frantic parents who were preparing to fly to Bali to hunt for him. But before his father could board he was found, to the relief of his family and friends 'We are trying to find a missing Australian (our son) and hope some of you can share this message and info with anyone in Bali in the tourist industry, hotels, bars, hostels, tourist operators, authorities and anyone you know,' his father Roly Parker posted to the Bali expats Facebook group. 'Jackson Parker is listed as missing since November 8th and his family are desperate to find him.' The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said Mr Parker boarded a flight to Bali on October 30. Mr Parker's visa entry said he was booked to stay at Premium Villas Seminyak in the island's capital of Denpasar, but he did not check in to the accommodation and has not been heard from since. It is unclear why he had not been in touch with his family. More than a dozen climate protesters were dragged off by police after breaking from a rally and sitting on a key access road outside Parliament House. Demonstrators from climate action group Rising Tide swarmed the area on Wednesday amid a week-long protest. They were met with a wall of federal officers guarding the nation's legislature. ACT Police confirmed 19 people had been arrested for 'various offences.' 'ACT Policing has arrested 19 people during protest activity at Parliament House today for various offences,' a spokesman said. 'Sections of Federation Mall around Parliament House were temporarily closed to traffic for the safety of protesters and police. 'Police will continue to monitor the protest and respond as required.' NewsWire heard one activist, a middle-aged woman, shouting 'climate justice now' as she was carried away by her arms and legs. More than a dozen climate change protesters have been taken away by police after blocking a major road leading to parliament house in Canberra (pictured) Another activist posed for a photo as officers carried him off. Among the protest chants was a call to stop any new coalmine projects. NSW Police arrested 170 protesters outside Australia's largest coal port in Newcastle over the weekend, after members of the group allegedly used kayaks and small water craft to enter the prohibited shipping channel. Police said 156 people arrested at the Newcastle protest were adults, while 14 children were arrested. A Texas killer had a bone-chilling response to police when they questioned him in April 2021 about the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. 'I would do it again,' Andres Tarnava, 39, told police in interrogation room after admitting he shot Marisol Klingelhofer four times in the face. Tarnava also said he dismembered her before placing her body parts into barrels on his property so he could burn them beyond recognition. When Texas Rangers asked why he did it, Tarnava said he suspected Klingelhofer of stealing his dead father's military ID and Social Security card. 'You aren't just going to take something from me and just let it go,' he told investigators in a recorded confession. 'My dad was my world and I would do it again.' After Tarnava was convicted of murder in June, he appeared in court Monday where he was sentenced to life in prison, reported San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT 12. Klingelhofer was a mother, and her daughter Priscilla Gonzalez spoke out in June 2021 after her murder. 'We didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to give her that last hug and tell her I love you,' she told Fox News San Antonio. Andres Tarnava, 39, was convicted in June of murdering his ex-girlfriend in April 2021. This week he was given a life sentence for the crime Marisol Klingelhofer, 49, was a mother and was killed by Tarnava over his suspicions that she stole his late father's Social Security card and military ID Gonzalez revealed she had an 11-year-old son at the time of her death, who is around 14 years old now. 'He's the littlest one and he didn't even get to see her,' Gonzalez said. 'And he's now without a mother or a father.' Prosecutors said Tarnava killed the 49-year-old mother on April 26, 2021, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Ruben Arguello, a friend of both Klingelhofer and Tarnava, testified that he was with Klingelhofer that day in his green Ford Expedition. Arguello said Tarnava approached them brandishing a gun. He jumped out of his car and started running, assuming Klingelhofer was right behind him. She didn't move though, according to him. Arguello then turned to see Tarnava shoot her twice. 'I saw him pull out something, looked like a gun, and shot her twice,' Arguello said. 'I heard her say, "No, no." He shot her once and I heard her again and he shot her again and didnt hear nothing.' Tarnava then dragged her to his GMC Yukon and drove off, per his testimony. Tarnava confessed to Texas Rangers that he shot, dismembered and burned Klingelhofer Another witness and friend of the victim testified to much the same. Carlos Hernandez said Tarnava shot Klingelhofer three or four times and threatened him and Arguello not to say anything. Arguello said Tarnava later told him he took her to his home in Lytle, which is on the outskirts of San Antonio, where he 'cut her up and burned her.' Tarnava later confessed to just that under questioning from Texas Ranger Jesse Perez in a room at the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. In the defense's closing argument, they tried to cast doubt on the confession because Tarnava allegedly had to wait four hours before he was interrogated. Jurors watched the confession video during the trial and saw Tarnava fall asleep and snore before Perez and two other officers read him his Miranda rights. 'Marisol is gone,' Perez told Tarnava on the video. 'She disappeared. Why?' 'You dont take somebodys dead familys ID and Social Security,' Tarnava answered. 'My father didnt die in vain. He served his country.' Tarnava's property in Lytle, Texas, where Klingelhofer's remains were found in two metal barrels Tarnava said Klingelhofer stole these items a month before he shot her, adding that she denied her alleged role in the theft. He was convinced that she threw away cherished possessions from his father's time as a US Marine. 'I loved my father. Youd do the same thing for your father if you loved him like I did,' he said during the interrogation. 'I just wanted to whoop her ass.' Jurors also saw photographs of the two metal barrels containing Klingelhofer's burnt bone fragments. John Servello, a forensic anthropologist, testified during the trial that he was confident at least some of the bones were human. 'On the femur, everything on that looks like a femur shaft. I feel comfortable [saying] everything about it suggests human femur to me,' Servello said under cross examination from defense attorney Cornelius Cox. A Florida woman who came to New York City to visit her sister vanished on Monday as she apparently vanished from the back of an ambulance while wearing scrubs. Joslyn Garrido, 40, disappeared while she was being transported from Weill Cornell Medical Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side to White Plains Hospital. When the ambulance stopped in traffic around 12:30pm on Monday, Garrido jumped out, and has not been seen or heard from since. She was wearing a blue scrub top and gray sweatpants, and the NYPD are urgently appealing for information on her whereabouts. It is unclear why Garrido required medical assistance. Officials described her as a Hispanic female with brown hair, brown eyes, weighing 150lbs and standing 5'6. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Joslyn Garrido, 40, disappeared Monday from an ambulance while wearing scrubs John Phelan, a Republican mega donor and fine art collector, has been nominated by Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Navy despite having no prior military experience. Democrats may seize on this in confirmation hearings, as a military background is common among those who serve the high-level post but it's clear Trump likes Phelan's experience in the private equity game. 'John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision. He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else,' the president-elect said in a statement. Phelan co-founded MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. He also is the found and chairman of Florida-based private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. 'His Record of Success speaks for itself A true Champion of American Enterprise and Ingenuity. John's intelligence and leadership are unmatched.' Phelan and his wife Amy - who own a $38 million estate in Aspen, Colorado - spend much of their money collecting art pieces, as they own several pieces by Picasso, Andy Warhol, Basquiat and many other classic and modern artists, according to The Art Newspaper. The family have also been steadfast backers of Trump: Phelan gave $834,600 in April to Trump's joint fundraising committee, according to FEC filings. John Phelan, a Republican mega donor and fine art collector, has been nominated by Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Navy despite having no prior military experience Phelan's family have also been steadfast backers of Trump: Phelan gave $834,600 in April to Trump's joint fundraising committee, according to FEC filings He's also donated to various GOP state parties throughout the 2024 election cycle as Republicans took back the Senate and kept the House. The Phelans hosted Trump for an August fundraiser at their Colorado home where Trump warned his backers that if he were to lose to Kamala Harris it 'could be the last election we ever have,' The Guardian reported. A Coral Gables, Florida native, Phelan graduated Southern Methodist University and got an MBA from Harvars. He and his wife have a daughter, socialite Makenzie Moon Phelan and he sits on the board of several museums. 'John's intelligence and leadership are unmatched,' Trump said. 'John holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is a truly brilliant guy! His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation.' It's unclear what Phelan's plans are for the Navy, which is currently run by Carlos Del Toro, a retired Navy officer, under Joe Biden. It is believed two more traditional Trump loyalists - including congressman and former medical adviser Dr. Ronny Jackson and departing Rep. Mike Garcia of California - were the other candidates for the job. Trump is said to have held a round of interviews at Mar-a-Lago Monday that included Phelan, according to Politico. A Coral Gables, Florida native, Phelan graduated Southern Methodist University and got an MBA from Harvars. He and his wife have a daughter, socialite Makenzie Moon Phelan and he sits on the board of several museums The Phelans hosted Trump for an August fundraiser at their Colorado home where Trump warned his backers that if he were to lose to Kamala Harris it 'could be the last election we ever have' Five different men served as either secretary or acting secretary during Trump's first term, all of whom had some sort of Naval or military background. Law requires that any Naval Secretary be a civilian when nominated with at least five years outside the service. The last head of the Navy to have no prior military experience was Donald C. Winter, who served under George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. The president-elect and some of his nominees have stated a desire to rid the military of 'wokeness.' Those include controversial would be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Trump is reportedly planning to create a 'warrior board' of retired ex-military personnel to weed out 'woke generals' deemed unfit for leadership. The president-elect's transition team is said to be considering a draft executive order with the power to review three and four-star officers they find 'lacking in requisite leadership qualities', according to the draft seen by the Wall Street Journal. During his campaign for re-election, Donald Trump vowed to purge the military of so-called 'woke' generals, going so far as to suggest his critic and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, could be executed for treason. Current and former U.S. officials say Trump will prioritize loyalty in his second term and root out military officers and career civil servants he perceives to be disloyal. As commander in chief, Trump will have the power to fire any officer at will from January. But an outside board would allow him to sidestep the Pentagon's usual system of promotion, suggesting a looming purge, the WSJ notes. There have also been rumors that Trump will once again ban transgender people from serving in the military, though the transition team put the brakes on the idea for the time being Monday. Phelan's position requires a simple majority, or a 50-50 split with a tiebreak from Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, in the Senate to go through. The Republican Party has 53 seats in the upcoming Senate to the Democrats' 47. Confucius Institute in Uganda celebrates 10th anniversary of establishment Xinhua) 10:18, November 27, 2024 Uganda's education official Ismail Mulindwa addresses the ceremony during the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) KAMPALA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. The vibrant ceremony, held at the university, featured cultural performances such as Chinese songs and dances. Delegations from China, university faculty and students, and representatives of Uganda's Chinese community attended the event. Uganda's State Minister for Higher Education John Muyingo praised the institute's role in strengthening Uganda-China ties through language and cultural exchange over the past decade, in a message delivered by education official Ismail Mulindwa. Muyingo highlighted the institute's instrumental role in introducing Chinese language instruction in Ugandan secondary schools and supporting its integration into higher education curricula. He noted that with the Chinese language now being taught and examined at higher levels, including universities, the ministry aims to establish a Bachelor of Arts in education program featuring Chinese language as a teaching subject. This, he said, would support efforts to train enough teachers to meet the growing demand for Chinese language education. "I urge all stakeholders to continue advancing cross-cultural understanding, innovation, and cooperation as we look to the future to strengthen the bond between Uganda and China, harnessing the transformative power of education and cultural extension for the betterment of our nations," said the minister. Fan Xuecheng, minister counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Uganda, commended the institute's teachers, volunteers, and students for their dedication, which has deepened the friendship between the two nations. "The pragmatic cooperation between China and Uganda sets a fine example for developing countries to seek development through unity and cooperation. Cultural exchanges and mutual learning have always been an integral part and vivid characteristics of China-Uganda cooperation," Fan said. Deng Guojun, vice president of Xiangtan University, which co-established the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, said the two universities have forged a close bond through the China-Africa Universities 20+20 Cooperation Plan initiated by China's Ministry of Education. This program connects 20 African universities with 20 Chinese counterparts, fostering collaboration and mutual development. Deng emphasized the strong bond forged between the two universities, expressing pride in their shared achievements. "These achievements fill us with pride, and we look forward to the continued success of the Confucius Institute in the years ahead." Vice Chancellor of Makerere University Barnabas Nawangwe noted the growing interest in Chinese language studies, driven by expanding economic ties between the two countries. He called for continued investment in infrastructure and programs to meet the increasing demand. "In the next decade, we envision the Confucius Institute at Makerere University becoming the leading center for Chinese language and cultural studies in East Africa," Nawangwe said. The event also marked the launch of two new associations, namely the Alumni Association of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University and the Uganda Chinese Language Teachers Association. The celebrations also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Confucius Institute globally, highlighting its broader impact on promoting cultural and educational exchanges worldwide. Students perform during the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Chinese language teachers perform during the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Students and teachers perform during the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Vice Chancellor of Makerere University Barnabas Nawangwe addresses the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Students perform during the 10th anniversary celebration of Confucius Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 25, 2024. The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A judge ruled Tuesday that the man who shot Ralph Yarl, a black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell thinking it was someone else's house, is fit to stand trial. Defense teams for Andrew Lester, the 86-year-old who shot the teen in April 2023, had argued that his client's mental faculties have diminished to the point that he lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him. At his attorney Steve Salmon's request, the judge ordered a mental evaluation of Lester. That evaluation came back Tuesday and based on the documents, the judge said Lester was mentally sound enough to go on trial in February 2025. Lester's trial had been scheduled to begin on October 7 before his lawyer filed the motion requesting the mental health assessment. That motion also described Lester's many health struggles since the shooting, including heart issues, a broken hip and several trips to the hospital. Salmon also claimed Lester lost 50 pounds, which he blames on the stress he has experienced because of intense scrutiny from the news media and death threats. The attorney also said Lester has memory issues relating to key facts about the case that formerly were not a problem. A judge said Andrew Lester, pictured in court pleading not guilty to the charges against him, is fit to stand trial for shooting Ralph Yarl in April 2023 Ralph Yarl, then 16, accidentally rang the wrong doorbell of Lester's home in Kansas City, Missouri, thinking it was someone else's house He said Lester thinks every pretrial hearing is the actual trial, despite being told otherwise, and believes that coins he purchased from a TV ad are now worth about $20 million. Lester appeared in court last month pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection with the shooting of Yarl, who was a 16-year-old honor student at the time. Lester shot him in the head and right arm outside his home in Kansas City, Missouri, according to police. Incredibly, Yarl survived the shooting and graduated from high school this spring, but his family said the shooting took a big emotional toll and has filed a lawsuit against Lester. The shooting shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in the US. Salmon has long argued that Lester was acting in self-defense, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night. Yarl showed up on Lester's doorstep after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin brothers from a play date. The teen testified at an earlier hearing that Lester shot him in the head and uttered, 'Don't come here ever again.' Yarl, now 18, made a full physical recovery from the shooting but reported having brain fog and headaches (Pictured: Yarl in the hospital following the shooting) Yarl, center, was said to have been trying to pick up his his twin younger brothers from a friend's house but went to the wrong address Although the bullet didn't penetrate Yarl's brain, the impact knocked him to the ground. Yarl said Lester then shot him in the arm. Yarl, who is now 18, told Good Morning America last year that even though he's made a full physical recovery, he still deals with mental strains. He said: 'There's a lot of things that are going on inside my head that aren't normal. 'I've been having headaches, trouble with sleep, and sometimes my mind is just foggy. I cant concentrate on things that would be easy to do. 'I'm just a kid. I going to keep doing all the stuff that makes me happy and just living my life the best I can and not let this bother me. 'Justice is the rule, the law, regardless of race, ethnicity and age. He should be convicted for the crimes he made. I'm past having any personal hatred for him. 'He should suffer repercussions because that's what our society is made of, trust in each other and reassurance that we can coexist together in harmony.' A judge is set to decide whether to release cell phone records that prove Karen Read 'had done something terrible' on he night her boyfriend died. Prosecutor Hank Brennan petitioned in court Tuesday for the release records of the calls between Read and her parents in the hours after she allegedly struck Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her SUV on January 29, 2022. Brennan said she called her parents Janet and William Read several times in the early hours of the morning, around the time she claimed she left O'Keefe at a party and drove home. He was found hours later at 6am dead in the snow, and guests said he never went inside. 'The inference that a 40-something-year-old woman is calling her parents at 1:30 in the morning after this tumultuous event, the inference is strong evidence that Ms. Read knew she had done something terrible,' Brennan said. 'She knew she had struck John OKeefe, and she knew she had left him behind.' Prosecutors with the Norfolk district attorneys office claimed Read's phone records will show she called her mother three times, at 1:14am, 4:38am, and 4:42am, and her father at 6:32am - none of which were answered. In her defense at her first trial, Read claimed to have been driving at around at the time with two friends searching for O'Keefe after he never returned home. She argued that she was the victim of a wide-ranging conspiracy including the Boston Police Department to frame her. The first trial ended in a hung jury, and she is set to go back on trial in January 2025. Prosecutors are seeking the phone records of Karen Read, pictured arriving at court Tuesday, claiming they will prove she struck and killed her boyfriend with her SUV Prosecutor Hank Brennan, who oversaw Read's first trial, argued that Read's phone calls to her parents will provide 'strong evidence that Ms. Read knew she had done something terrible' John O'Keefe, a 16-year Boston cop, was found dead around 6am on January 29, 2022, outside a house where Read dropped him off for a party around 12.45am. Prosecutors say Read hit him with her SUV, and she claims she was framed Although Read is set to go back on trial in January, Tuesday's hearing saw both prosecutors and her defense request to have the trial pushed back to April. Read's attorney Elizabeth Little countered the prosecution's motion for her phone records, branding it a 'fishing expedition' and an invasion of her parents' privacy, reports the Boston Globe. She argued that prosecutors have not shown proof that the phone records contain evidence related to the case. 'The Commonwealth is asking this court to sanction this gross invasion of her fathers privacy so the Commonwealth can sift through Mr. Reads electronic data for information that is already in the possession of the Commonwealth,' she said. The judge did not rule on the motion at Tuesday's hearing. Brennan also requested the release of journalists' notes and recordings of interviews Read gave to a Boston Magazine reporter last year for a story. Prosecutors said they are in possession of two recordings of the interview, but they include roughly 150 redactions, and they are seeking unredacted versions. Read allegedly called her mother Janet three times, at 1:14am, 4:38am, and 4:42am, and her father William at 6:32am, on the night O'Keefe died Read and O'Keefe had been dating for two years at the time of his death. He had been serving on the Boston Police Department for 16 years It is claimed that these redactions include comments from Read that contradict statements she made to other outlets, and said there are other moments where Read makes a statement before a redaction then resumes with a different story. In one example reported by the Globe, Read allegedly made an 'admission of drinking a vodka tonic every 40 minutes' at a bar with O'Keefe on the night of his death. When the audio resumed, court records claimed she offered a 'non-sequitur claiming to consume sips of water' at a second bar, while she previously told 20/20: 'I had had probably about four [drinks], and not four that I completed either. I didnt drink maybe more than a few sips at' the second bar. At Tuesday's hearing, Brennan said: 'Clearly something happened during that redaction that changed the admission to drinking alcohol, which is part of this case, to something of water.' The judge also did not make a ruling on a motion over the recordings on Tuesday. Read is next scheduled in court on December 12. Read has maintained her innocence in the case and says she intends to fight to clear her name when she faces a second murder trial in January. Read's first trial in July ended in a mistrial as the jury was deadlocked, and she faces a second murder trial in January 2025 Although her jury was deadlocked, the family of John O'Keefe launched a wrongful death lawsuit against her. Prosecutors allege that Read hit O'Keefe with her car following a drunken argument as she dropped him off at the home for an after party, and claim to have found pieces of her car's tail light around his body. She had spent the evening drinking with O'Keefe and a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton, around 14 miles south of Boston, and the group were invited to the home of his friend Brian Albert, who was a retired Boston police officer. Read, who prosecutors say drank several alcoholic drinks beforehand, decided to drop O'Keefe at the afterparty before she went to his home - that he shared with his orphaned niece and nephew - to sleep at around 1am. Court documents revealed that the couple had been bitterly arguing for weeks beforehand, and on the night O'Keefe died, Read left him a voicemail calling him a 'f****** loser', and 'John, I f****** hate you.' Chilling footage showing Read in a Boston bar on the night she allegedly killed her cop boyfriend was played in court Read came under scrutiny for a perceived flippant attitude in court, including winking at cameras and snacking during proceedings The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O'Keefe's death. He had been serving on the Boston Police Department for 16 years. As the party went on inside Albert's home, Read said she woke up around 4am to find that he was not at home, and told O'Keefe's niece that she was 'distraught.' Attendees at the party, including some law enforcement, claimed O'Keefe never arrived at the party or entered the home. Read then searched for O'Keefe with a friend, and prosecutors allege that during the search she told her: 'What if he's dead? What if a plow hit him? I don't remember anything from last night, we drank so much I don't remember anything.' At 6am, Read found O'Keefe laying in the snow outside Albert's home, and a first responder on the scene reportedly claimed Read repeatedly cried out, 'I hit him, I hit him', reports CBS News. O'Keefe was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy found that the cause of death was blunt impact injuries and hypothermia. Read's defense countered that she is the victim of an extensive conspiracy to frame her, and claimed the police officer may have actually been attacked by other officers and attendees at the party where he was found dead. When her trial began, Read received a slew of support from true crime fans and locals who camped outside the courthouse with signs reading 'Free Karen Read' Throughout her trial, Read's claims that she was framed also drew a legion of fans, who wore pink to show their support and were often staked out outside the courthouse. The judge in her case even filed a ruling at the start of the trial banning supporters from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse. Read's courthouse behavior also sparked backlash as she was branded 'America's happiest murder defendant', as she appeared to soak up the attention while winking at the cameras and snacking in court. Millions of Aussies are set to be smashed by heavy rain and damaging thunderstorms as a wet weather system lashes large swathes of the country. Large parts of the Australia's east coast are set to experience rainfall totals of between 30-60mm over the next 72 hours, Weatherzone reported. Parts of South Australia, Victoria and NSW's south-west have already been lashed by heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a possible thunderstorm warning for the Sydney metropolitan region for Wednesday night after temperatures at Sydney Airport earlier reached 38.2- making it the hottest place on earth. Western parts of NSW have also been warned to brace for possible heavy rainfall. Sydney, along with the Hunter and Illawarra regions will again be in the firing line of severe thunderstorms for on Thursday afternoon and evening. Central and eastern NSW will also be battered by damaging winds on Thursday afternoon. The State Emergency Service has warned millions of residents to prepare for 'potentially severe storms with heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail' for much of the state, including Sydney, the NSW mid north coast, the Hunter and Illawarra. Eastern and south-eastern parts of Australia are set to be battered by heavy rainfall and damaging thunderstorms (pictured weather map) Wetherzone senior meteorologist Yoska Hernandez told Daily Mail Australia the ACT will also be affected by isolated thunderstorms. Ms Hernandez said the nation's capital will face the brunt of the wet weather on Friday while Melbourne will be experience a cool change Thursday and Friday. 'A few showers will affect Melbourne [on Thursday] and temperatures will hit tops of just 20 degrees,' she said. '[It's] likely to remain settled for most of Friday across the city before the showers return on Saturday.' Ms Hernandez explained a slow moving low pressure trough has brought about the wet weather system, which will last for most of the weekend. 'That trough is going to linger for most of the weekend across eastern and south-eastern parts of Australia before it moves into the Tasman Sea on Monday,' she said. The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued severe thunderstorm warnings for most of the east coast of Australia. Parts of South Australia, Victoria and south-western New South Wales have already been lashed by heavy rainfall (pictured pedestrians trying to avoid the wet weather) The bureau has indicated that rainfall is the primary weather risk for the rest of Wednesday. The latest forecast comes as several parts of Australia continues to be gripped by a sweltering heatwave. Temperatures soared to a sizzling 40 degrees across the Sydney's western suburbs on Wednesday while Adelaide hit tops of 33Con Tuesday. The mercury will reach tops of 37 degrees in Perth on Friday. The damaging heatwave has put pressure on Australia's power systems after 347 sites were left without power during an unplanned outage in Sydney's CBD at 3pm on Tuesday, according to an update from Ausgrid. Thousands of households and businesses had power restored in the early hours of Wednesday morning across the NSW Riverina region including Wagga Wagga, Culcairn and Henty. Authorities have also issued blackout warnings for Queensland this week, with the highest risk of blackout times between 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Sweltering conditions have struck during scheduled maintenance at three out of four coal-fired power stations in NSW, which remain the state's primary power source. The strained power supply is expected to be at 'risk' on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Australian Energy Market Operator. Households have been urged to use less power to and an urgent warning has been issued to those, who rely on electricity-powered medical equipment, to have a back-up plan in case of an outage. A slow moving low pressure trough has brought about the wet weather system, which will last for most of the weekend (pictured weather map) Brisbane Thursday: Possible shower. Min 22C Max 30C. Friday: Shower or two. Min 23C Max 29C. Saturday: Showers. Min 22C Max 27C. Sydney Thursday: Showers. Possible storm. Min 22C Max 31C. Friday: Showers. Min 21C Max 25C. Saturday: Rain. Min 21C Max 23C. Canberra Thursday: Shower or two. Min 16C Max 31C. Friday: Showers. Possible storm. Min 15C Max 25C. Saturday: Rain. Possible heavy showers. Min 15C Max 20C. Temperatures soared to a sizzling 40 degrees across the Sydney's western suburbs on Wednesday (pictured visitors at Bondi Beach) Melbourne Thursday: Partly cloudy. Min 16C Max 24C. Friday: Partly cloudy. Min 17C Max 27C. Saturday: Showers. Possible heavy falls. Min 17C Max 22C. Hobart Thursday: Showers easing. Min 12C Max 16C. Friday: Possible shower. Min 11C Max 19C. Saturday: Showers, tending rain. Min 12C Max 19C. Adelaide Thursday: Partly cloudy. Min 15C Max 23C. Friday: Possible late shower. Min 13C Max 25C. Saturday: Possible shower. Min 15C Max 24C. The damaging heatwave has put pressure on Australia's power systems with households urged to consume less power (pictured weather map) Perth Thursday: Sunny. Min 17C Max 33C. Friday: Mostly sunny. Min 21C Max 37C. Saturday: Sunny. Min 21C Max 30C. Darwin Thursday: Shower or two. Possible storm. Min 25C Max 32C. Friday: Shower or two. Min 26C Max 33C. Saturday: Shower or two. Min 25C Max 32C. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson defended telling a senator to 'p**s off back to Pakistan' after a Federal Court found she racially vilified the Greens member. Senator Hanson's legal team has filed an appeal on the judgement, saying her sledge against Mehreen Faruqi wasn't racist as she previously told another senator to 'go back' to New Zealand. Her team also claimed Senator Hanson's comment couldn't be considered racial vilification as she didn't mention Senator Mehreen's skin colour. The news comes after Senator Hanson copped a furious spray in the Senate on Wednesday, with a parliamentary colleague branding her a 'disgrace to the human race'. Senator Fatima Payman, who left Labor to set up her own party earlier this year, unleashed on the One Nation leader, accusing her of racism and claiming she spread hatred and division in a fiery exchange that made headlines across the country. But what prompted the outburst? Senator Hanson had tabled a document in which she questioned whether Senator Payman's Afghan citizenship disqualified her from serving in parliament. Section 44c of the Australian constitution prevents anyone who holds citizenship of another country from sitting in parliament. Senator Pauline Hanson (pictured) had tabled a document in which she questioned whether Senator Payman's Afghan citizenship disqualified her from serving in parliament Senator Fatima Payman (pictured), who left Labor to set up her own party earlier this year, unleashed on the One Nation leader, accusing her of racism and claiming she spread hatred and division in a fiery exchange that made headlines across the country Senator Payman was born in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, but gained Australian citizenship in 2005. This, however, did not automatically revoke her Afghanistan citizenship, therefore raising questions over her eligibility to sit in the senate. Senator Payman claims that she contacted the Afghanistan embassy in Australia in October 2021 to renounce her Afghan citizenship but they could not do it because they had no relationship with the new Taliban government. Nevertheless, Senator Payman received legal advice from the Labor party that she had taken 'all reasonable steps' to revoke her foreign citizenship and was eligible. On Wednesday, Senator Payman lashed out at the One Nation leader in parliament, suggesting she 'go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this'. 'All that Senator Hanson has done in this place is spread hatred, spread division,' Senator Payman seethed. 'I am very honoured that I live rent free in Senator Hanson's mind, but I think you've got better things to do than worry about Section 44.' Senator Hanson hit back, insisting that Senator Payman's 'eligibility to sit in the Australian Senate remains under a cloud'. She said that the tough standards applied to elected representatives during the 2017 eligibility crisis, which saw 15 politicians lose their seats because they held dual-citizenship, had not been applied to Payman. 'If she'd been elected in 2016 instead of 2022, she would have been referred to the High Court like all the others,' Senator Hanson said. 'If she'd been elected as a conservative in 2022, I suspect she'd be referred right away.' The One Nation leader criticised the Greens for attempting to block her tabling of documents outlining her concerns about Senator Payman's eligibility. 'The Greens have never respected our Constitution. Marxists always despise the institutions of democracy,' she said. 'I'm sure they'd love to dismantle the Constitution and replace it with some version of the communist manifesto.' Senator Hanson called on Senator Payman to provide a 'lot more evidence' of her attempts to revoke her Afghanistan citizenship, arguing that to fail to to do so would set a 'dangerous precedent'. 'There's a very good reason why the architects of our Constitution required that our elected representatives have undivided loyalties,' Senator Hanson said. 'It's also the expectation of the Australian people that no foreign citizen or dual citizen be permitted to sit in the seat of our democracy.' Her comments came after Senator Payman had accused her of racism by listing previous comments made by Senator Hanson, including her first speech in which she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians' and that 'Aboriginality would no longer exist' if her party were in power. 'If that is not racist, what is it?' Senator Payman yelled as she slammed her fist down on the table in the Senate. Independent Ralph Babet could be seen over Senator Payman's shoulder, trying to contain his shock at the outburst. 'Oh it's not racist?' Senator Payman added, sarcastically. 'Somebody bring the dictionary because Senator Hanson does not know the definition of racism. 'The fact that you would say just weeks ago to Senator Faruqi, "piss off back to Pakistan"; you're not just vindictive, mean, nasty, you bring disgrace to the human race. No dignity whatsoever as a senator in this prestigious place.' Lidia Thorpe could be heard repeatedly shouting 'You are a convicted racist!'. Senator Pauline Hanson is appealing the verdict she racially vilified Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi (pictured) Senator Hanson, who was sitting within touching distance of Senator Payman, calmly asked the Senate president for the accusation of racism to be withdrawn. After being reminded by the president that accusing somebody of being a racist was a breach of the standing orders, Senator Payman reluctantly withdrew her comments. 'For the benefit of this chamber I will withdraw, but you know what Senator Hanson? How do you live with yourself Senator Hanson with so much violent hatred?' she asked. Senator Hanson justified her actions In a lengthy post on Tuesday evening. 'Senator Payman is likely using her position in the Senate to automatically register a political party, one that may influence the outcome of the next federal election,' the One Nation leader wrote. 'And yet Senator Payman may be ineligible to sit in the Senate. 'The Prime Minister's failure to take the appropriate action risks undermining the integrity of our elections and the confidence of the Australian people in the integrity of our parliament.' As for her legal battle with Senator Faruqi, Senator Hanson is using nearly $700,000 donated by supporters to help fund her impressive legal team. She will be represented by leading barrister Sue Chrysathanou and her solicitor Anthony Jeffries, who also represents Lisa Wilkinson in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial. Justice Angus Stewart finding on November 1 found Senator Hanson's post of X, formerly Twitter, broke section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and was an 'angry personal attack' and conveyed a 'strong form of racism'. However, Senator Hanson's attack wasn't racist as 'it only targeted Senator Faruqi, there is no explicit or implicit reference to colour'. 'It was not pleaded nor put to Senator Hanson that the Hanson tweet targeted immigrants (generally) and 'people of colour',' the defence documents seen by news.com.au stated. Pictured: Senator Hanson can be seen crossing in front of Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe who repeatedly shouted 'you are a convicted racist!' during Senator Payman's fiery spray Senator Hanson's team also argued against accusations the post was anti-Muslim. 'The primary judge erred in finding that the Hanson tweet targets Muslims and conveys an anti-Muslim message, in circumstances where there was not a single implicit or explicit reference to Islam in the Hanson tweet,' it said. '...The primary judge erred in finding that the Hanson tweet was reasonably likely in all the circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate groups of people by reference to the groups "people of colour who are migrants to Australia or are Australians of relatively recent migrant heritage" and "Muslims who are people of colour in Australia". 'None of these groups were pleaded by Senator Faruqi, and Senator Hanson was not given notice that these groups would be the subject of adverse findings against her until the publication of the judgment.' Senator Payman broke ranks with Labor in May this year, accusing her former party of failing to adequately respond to Israel's alleged war crimes in the Gaza strip. She subsequently set up her own party called Australia's Voice in October. New mothers have revealed how babies are going floppy and women are voluntarily discharging themselves early from a 'boiling' hot maternity unit which has been likened to 'a war movie'. A petition has attracted hundreds of signatures calling for urgent improvements at Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, north-east London. Mothers are said to be fainting within hours of giving birth while babies have struggled to stay awake in the sweltering conditions, critics say. A patient group is calling for action to tackle the maternity ward's 'horrendous' conditions, which have caused some women to go home without doctors' approval. Hundreds of women have raised concerns about poor care, according to Deborah Sayagh, who chairs the hospital's maternity and neonatal voices partnership. Launching the campaign alongside her was Anna Clarkson, who had her two children at Homerton University Hospital and has described conditions on the maternity unit as 'boiling' and 'like a scene from a war movie'. Ms Sayagh, who lives in Hackney, gave birth to her three daughters under the care of Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital. She told the Times: 'Over the years, there have been ongoing cases of women or midwives fainting on the wards because of the heat. Deborah Sayagh, who has launched a petition for improvements, is pictured with her husband Paul Rablen and their three daughters, who were all born at Homerton University Hospital The Change.org petition was also backed by Anna Clarkson, seen with her two children The call for action has attracted hundreds of signatures demanding urgent improvements in maternity services at Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, north-east London 'The heat is unbearable. Even in the winter months, it is boiling hot. Babies are so hot, they are going floppy and are struggling to stay awake or initiate feeding. 'It is so hot that women are self-discharging from the hospital before the doctors have given them the okay to go home. Women feel the heat makes it too dangerous to stay on the ward. It is a real safety issue.' An inspection last year by NHS watchdog the Care Quality Commission described how dozens of women had raised the alarm about poor postnatal care at HUH. And the CQC's latest report has ruled that two in three maternity units across the NHS across England and Wales were 'unsafe'. Ms Sayagh accused Homerton health chiefs of having 'done nothing' despite being 'aware of the problems on the postnatal ward for a long time'. She added: 'It feels like postnatal care is at the bottom of the priority list. 'Poor postnatal care is not just a problem at Homerton - it is happening around the country. The NHS must start taking women's voices seriously.' Her online petition urges the trust to install air conditioning and dimmable lighting and has so far received more than 700 signatures. Anna Clarkson, who had her two children at Homerton University Hospital, has described conditions on the maternity unit there as 'boiling' and 'like a scene from a war movie' Ms Clarkson, who has co-signed the petition, said of the hospital: 'I was told it was on their list of concerns. That was eight years ago and still nothing has happened. 'I can't think of anyone who has had a positive experience on the postnatal ward. It means being a mother gets off to such a bad start. Some babies are floppy and are not initiating feeding. 'The hospital has a duty to listen to the voices of hundreds of women who have raised concerns about the conditions. This should not still be happening in 2024.' A spokesman for Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We recognise that there are issues around the state of the environment in our post-delivery ward and have been making efforts to resolve these issues.' They said these new actions included installing air conditioning units in the ward bays over the summer and constantly measuring temperature levels in the ward. The spokesperson added: 'We have carried out an estate and environmental review to explore the feasibility of expanding and modernising the maternity ward and are planning to include a refurbishment plan in our capital programme for next year. 'We have also made a representation to a recent NHSE survey of national maternity and neonatal services facilities to highlight our concerns and bid for resources. 'Additionally, we have launched a Maternity Improvement Plan focused on optimising existing space on the maternity ward to enhance the postnatal experience for mothers and their babies.' Earlier this year regulators ordered the trust's Homerton Fertility Centre to suspend services after being warned that 153 embryos from 45 women may not survive the freezing process. Essential staff were told in March to work in pairs under 'increased security' after concerns were raised about unsupervised access to storage areas for eggs, sperm, and embryos, An incident report detailing four cases where embryos went missing suggested that contamination, the use of 'experimental techniques', and equipment blunders may have contributed to failure of freezing processes. The Homerton Fertility Centre treats 360 patients a year and opened a helpline after contacting their fertility patients about the suspension. The clinic started seeing patients again from August after the regulator announced it was 'satisfied' with action taken in response. Pilots on board a Jetstar flight travelling to Phuket made a priority landing at Sydney Airport after reporting mechanical issues on-board. A Jetstar spokesman confirmed the JQ27 flight landed safely at Sydney International Airport on Wednesday afternoon. 'Our flight from Sydney to Phuket landed normally this afternoon after returning to Sydney due to a mechanical issue,' he said. 'Our pilots requested a priority landing and emergency services met the aircraft as a precaution. 'One of the aircraft's 10 wheels was damaged during take-off and our engineers are investigating the cause'. The flight departed Sydney about 3.20pm however landed back at the major airport about 5pm after reporting the issue. A Jetstar flight travelling from Sydney to Phuket made a priority landing back at Sydney Airport on Wednesday (pictured) Jetstar engineers are assessing what happened to the wheels (pictured Jetstar Flight JQ27 landing) A Sydney Airport spokeswoman said the airport had returned to operating as normal despite the earlier issues. 'Our main runway was closed for approximately 30 minutes to allow the aircraft to land, get towed to a gate and for a runway inspection to take place,' she said. 'Normal operations have resumed and while we do not expect any significant disruptions, there may be some delays throughout the evening. 'We would like to thank passengers for their patience and encourage them to check the status of their flight with their airline or via Sydney Airport's website.' Robert Jenrick has called for the Justice Secretary to step in after a terrorist who played an 'important role' in radicalising Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi was freed from prison. Terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah, the childhood friend of Abedi, was released from HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire on Tuesday when his sentence came to an end. It comes two months after the Parole Board refused to free him early because he was still considered a 'high risk of serious harm to the public' and had a 'propensity to radicalise others'. The 31-year-old was recalled to prison for breaching licence conditions in 2021 after being jailed for helping people going to Syria to join the Islamic State group. Despite losing his latest parole bid in September, he is now eligible for automatic release from prison because his sentence - set in court by a judge - has expired. Now, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Jenrick, has called for the Justice Secretary to intervene. Taking to X yesterday, MP Jenrick said: 'This is the terrorist, Abdalraouf Abdallah. He was released on Tuesday. 'His prison officer, psychologist and parole officer said he was 'high risk', 'engaging with extremism' and intended to 'commit terrorist-related offending'. 'The Justice Secretary must intervene.' Terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah, the childhood friend of Abedi, was released from HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire on Tuesday when his sentence came to an end - he is pictured here giving evidence during the Manchester Arena inquiry Salman Abedi (pictured) one of those responsible for the terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017 Robert Jenrick (pictured) has called for the Justice Secretary to intervene after Abdallah was freed from prison despite a Parole Board refusing to free him early because he was still considered a 'high risk of serious harm to the public' Jenrick took to social media platform X to urge the Justice Secretary to intervene The Islamic extremist played an 'important role' in Abedi's radicalisation, according to a report from the inquiry into the attack. Abedi visited him in prison and experts believe he groomed the bomber. But Abdallah - who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after becoming paraplegic when injured fighting in Libya during the country's 2011 uprising - has denied any involvement in the 2017 atrocity. He was first released from prison in 2020 after being handed an extended sentence of nine-and-a-half years - including a five-and-a-half-year prison term - in 2016 when he was found guilty of preparing and funding acts of terrorism by helping four others travel to Syria. According to a report detailing the Parole Board's decision in September, the panel accepted the inquiry's finding that Abdallah 'had played a significant role in radicalising the Manchester Arena bomber, although there was no evidence that he was involved in the attack itself or had any pre-knowledge of it'. While in prison Abdallah took part in courses designed to tackle the motivations behind his offending 'and the beliefs which enable it', as well as taking part in rehabilitation to 'manage the risk of individuals who have been involved in extremist or terrorism-related activity'. Terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah (pictured), the childhood friend who played an 'important role' in radicalising Manchester Arena attacker Salman Abedi, has been freed from jail Pictured: The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017 CCTV image of Salman Abedi at Victoria Station making his way to the Manchester Arena, on May 22, 2017, where he detonated a bomb that killed 22 people But his probation officer, prison officer and psychologist still did not support his release, with assessments determining he posed a 'high risk of serious harm to the public'. Psychologists concluded Abdallah continued to 'show levels of engagement with extremism and intent to commit terrorist-related offending', the papers said. A plan for his release presented to the panel was also deemed 'not robust enough' to manage him once he left prison as he 'retained a propensity to radicalise others' - including 'in any accommodation he is released to or any other person with whom he may come in contact' - and there was insufficient evidence to suggest there had been any change in his extremist mindset. Shocking new footage has been revealed of autistic children being shoved into padded rooms, hurled to the floor and held by the neck. Horrified parents have accused authorities of a 'cover-up' over treatment of pupils in so-called 'calming rooms' at Whitefield School in Walthamstow, north-east London. And a safeguarding expert compared the abuse of vulnerable children at the school to 'torture' after hours of CCTV footage were unearthed on a USB stick. Police repeatedly provided information to the Crown Prosecution Service as part of a three-year investigation but no one has been charged, according to a BBC probe. Staff at the school have been shown hitting and kicking students at the special school, which is one of the largest in the UK with about 370 pupils. Six employees were proven to have abused 39 children with disabilities between 2014 and 2017, inquiries found - but there have reportedly been no prosecutions. Former Conservative Party leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith has called the newly revealed footage 'horrific' while parents have told of the 'lifelong' damage done to their children. Some of the children were seen on screen self-harming while left in the padded rooms at the school for hours on end. A BBC investigation has revealed footage of autistic pupils such as Ashley (pictured) being held in so-called 'calming rooms' at Whitefield School in Walthamstow, north-east London One mother, Halima, was shocked to see the treatment of her son Abdulahi Staff at the special school were seen shoving children into the rooms where they were then left The Metropolitan Police has been investigating the footage, which was captured from inside the school between 2014 and 2017, ended this year, but no charges have been brought. An inquiry is understood to be ongoing. Clips have now been shared by the BBC after six of the affected families agreed to their broadcast, after viewing the scenes for the first time themselves. Pupils, many of whom were non-verbal, are shown being pushed into the calming rooms and then injuring themselves for prolonged periods of time. The footage suggested staff only intervened to help when one boy repeatedly threw his shoes at the cameras, with one teaching assistant rushing in and hitting him. Halima, whose son Abdulahi was placed in the calming rooms at Whitefield School at least twice, said after viewing his treatment: 'Is there any humanity in that video? 'Even dogs will not be allowed to be treated like this, forget about humans.' Another mother, Deborah, told the BBC of her anger at the lack of any prosecutions over what was faced by her son Johnny and other children at the school. She said: 'For some reason, the CPS wouldn't take it any further - I don't understand how, considering what you see on the footage and the amount of other kids it's happened to as well. Whitefield is one of the largest special schools in the UK with about 370 pupils One of the children, Ashley, is said to have featured in 55 hours of footage captured by CCTV 'I just think it's a cover-up from higher up, because I don't see how they could get away with this level of abuse of these children and no one's accountable for it.' Also speaking out was Laurence, whose nephew Ashley was filmed hitting himself after being left in one of the rooms - throwing shoes at the camera and being struck. Laurence told the BBC: 'He was a very soft, loving boy - not aggressive in any way. 'I had this glorious idea of what a calming room was, with lights that can be dimmed - I thought it was this really special space. 'To finally see what it was, I was horrified - if I was put into a room where it was like a cupboard, it would just traumatise me.' Ashley appears in 55 hours of the 500 hours' footage which has been captured, the most filmed pupil seen in the coverage. The CCTV was found and handed over by Flourish Learning Trust which took over running the school in 2017, with bosses there saying they were horrified by what was previously going on at Whitefield. Laurence said of Ashley: 'He's been on a downward spiral ever since Whitefield - the trauma he carries on top of his disabilities means that he can't function. He's not been given any help to recover from that trauma.' Ashley's uncle Laurence told the BBC he was shocked to see the video footage for the first time Six staff members were proven to have abused 39 children between 2014 and 2017, according to a BBC investigation into Whitefield School (pictured), in Walthamstow, east London His family has said Ashley, who is now 22, was sectioned in 2020 as a result of the time he spent in the calming rooms. They added that his anxiety has increased so much that he now rubs his head on the carpet leading to sores, while he also recently jumped out of a moving car. His mother Sophie previously told the BBC: 'It's so unbelievable that you could keep a human being in a room the size of a cupboard and expect them to be OK.' 'I thought he was being placed into a sensory room with beanbags and nice colourful lights.' One report allegedly describe a staff member pinning Ashley up against a wall and hitting him, causing the boy to 'jolt' and become unsteady on his feet. Elizabeth Swan, a safeguarding expert, has now told the BBC of her shock on seeing the footage and said the children suffered physical and psychological damage. She said: 'It's unforgivable - these children have been harmed, they've been abused and in many of these cases they're traumatised. It's going to be lifelong support these children need.' She described the CCTV as 'easily the worst footage I've seen', adding: 'It gets worse as it goes on. Halima, whose son Abdulahi was placed in the calming rooms at least twice, said after viewing his treatment: 'Even dogs will not be allowed to be treated like this, forget about humans' Sophie has spoken of how her son Ashley, who is now 22, was sectioned in 2020 following the traumatising time he spent in the calming rooms at Whitefield School 'How they're responding to that treatment through self-injurious behaviour, it's torture.' And Sir Ian Duncan Smith, whose Chingford and Woodford Green constituency covers the school, branded the scenes 'horrific' and called for stronger government guidance on the use of 'calming rooms'. He said: 'This is the sort of stuff you just couldn't imagine going on at all in any place. 'It should lead to change, there's no question about that, and the range of change has to be pretty profound with clearer rules on what cannot happen in calming rooms. This is not how any child in Britain should be treated.' Conditions at the school were previously exposed in April this year, with staff accused of using 'excessive force' such as slamming, kicking and hitting pupils 'without obvious justification'. Other children were revealed to have been left in the rooms alone with no clothes on, sitting in their own urine. One pupil of the school, David Gloria, who has been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and OCD, was on one occasion placed in the calming room for three hours, during which he began hitting himself before urinating on the floor. His father Ricardo, a police officer who also features in today's new report, told of noticing how his son had become increasingly distressed within several months of starting at the school. David Gloria, pictured with his mother and father, was one of the pupil subjected to vile abuse from staff members at the Whitefield School in Walthamstow, east London Ricardo said he saw footage showing David being 'assaulted' by staff who kneed David in the back and pushed inside the room He asked staff whether he could see the so called calming room, which are designated spaces for disabled children to use outside of classrooms to work on their anger and de-escalate their emotions. Ricardo was expecting to see a large room with plenty of calming activities for the children to occupy themselves with. But instead he was shocked by what he saw, telling the BBC: 'It was a cell, even worse than a cell. Small, no water, no food, no light and no fresh air. Ricardo then noticed a camera in the room and asked to see CCTV footage of the time David had spent in there. He said the footage showed his son being 'assaulted' by staff who kneed David in the back and pushed him inside the room. Within 25 minutes of being in the room, David began crying and questioning why he was there, saying he was 'confused' and 'I do not understand'. As the hours went by, David reportedly began slapping and punching his head, hitting his stomach and throwing himself into the wall. David was also recorded urinating twice on the floor, before finally being released back to the classroom to 'recover' after three hours. David is pictured sat next to his father Ricardo, a police officer noticed his son became increasingly distressed after several months of starting at the school Ricardo showed the BBC this report which states that within 25 minutes of being in the calming room, David began crying and questioning why he was there Ricardo said earlier this year: 'It's not human what they done with my son. When I saw back the footage I couldn't believe it - it's torture.' The school is now being run by Flourish Learning Trust, which told the BBC that a new leadership team has been put in place and the calming rooms had been closed. The trust said it has also shared the CCTV footage with police and some staff members have since resigned. Three teachers who returned have also received 'extensive training'. It added that it was not legally obligated to make DBS referrals for the six staff members who were found to have abused pupils, but they have instead been suspended, according to the BBC. The Metropolitan Police said: 'We continue to look at information connected to alleged abuse at a school in Walthamstow between 2014 and 2017. We are committed to keeping children safe and protecting vulnerable people from harm and will investigate all reports of abuse and neglect.' The trust says calming rooms have not been used at the school since 2017. Flourish said in a new statement today: 'Keeping our children and young people safe is and always will be our number one priority. 'This matter dates back almost a decade and pre-dates the current leadership of both the school and Flourish Learning Trust which is responsible for the school. 'The current leadership has followed the relevant policies, procedures and guidance at all times making timely referrals to the LADO, undertaking a clear and robust staff disciplinary process and making any necessary referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service. 'In doing so, we have worked closely with Ofsted, Waltham Forest Council and the Department for Education who have overseen and been satisfied by the actions we have taken. 'Lessons have been learnt throughout this process and the school is stronger because of this. 'We want to work with other agencies to ensure that moving forwards other children and young people never have to face similar experiences again.' Police forces have stopped using Elon Musk's X social media platform amid concerns about misinformation. X, formerly named Twitter before Musk's takeover in 2022, was used to spread false information that sparked riots across Britain this summer. The app has also reinstated British based accounts that were previously banned for extremist content. Musk's comment in August that civil war in Britain was 'inevitable' drew rebukes from Downing Street and police leaders. Critics argue that Musk's approach fosters hate speech, although the businessman said he is defending free speech and branded Britain a 'police state'. North Wales Police stopped posting on X in October, it was reported, while other forces are moving in the same direction, according to a new survey carried out by Reuters. The survey visually monitored posts on X from 44 territorial police and British Transport Police over the three months to November 13, focusing on those that had noticeably fewer posts, comparing their output to a year previously. West Midlands Police, one of Britain's biggest police forces, reduced its X posts by around 95 per cent in that period. X, formerly named Twitter before Elon Musk's takeover in 2022, was used to spread false information that sparked riots across Britain this summer Lancashire Police, in the north of England, cut its usage of X by around three-quarters compared with a year ago. 'We understand that, as the digital landscape changes, so too does our audiences' channels of choice,' the force said. Meanwhile, Derbyshire Police - which serves around a million people in central England - made its last original post on August 12 and has responded only to queries since. The force said it was reviewing its social media presence. Other forces explained X was still useful for updates on incidents such as road closures, but platforms including Facebook and Instagram were better for reaching communities. X had just over 10 million British app users in October, compared with 4.5 million for Threads and 433,000 for Blue Sky, according to data from digital intelligence platform Similarweb. But usage is decreasing, with X's British app users down 19 per cent on a year ago, Similarweb data showed. Many British police forces are moving in the direction of no longer using X The government still posts on the platform but does not use it for paid communications. Pictured: Prime Minister Keir Starmer on November 21 The government still posts on the platform but does not use it for paid communications. Several famous organisations, including the Guardian and non-profit Centre for Countering Digital Hate, have stopped using X due to concerns over its content. Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Alliance Manchester Business School, said many institutions were concerned about Musk's power over the platform. Cooper told Reuters: 'Institutions, just like individuals, get addicted. They invested in it over a period of time.' North Wales Police is the only force to officially quit X completely. 'As X was no longer an effective communication medium, this change hasn't affected our abilities to reach our communities,' it said. MailOnline has contacted X for comment. Rail passengers endured another miserable commute in London today after the Elizabeth line was suspended for a second day running and eight Underground lines were hit by delays. Furious commuters on the problem-plagued 19billion network were left venting their anger at Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) after another day of chaos with no trains running between Abbey Wood and Paddington due to a fault. To compound matters, the Tube faced chaos as the Circle line was suspended and the District line part-suspended due to a fire alert at High Street Kensington. The Hammersmith and City line had severe delays due to power supply problems, while the Jubilee and Piccadilly were both disrupted by a shortage of trains. The Bakerloo and Northern lines were delayed by to a fire alert, while the Central line was delayed due to train cancellations. In addition, King's Cross St Pancras was temporarily shut and evacuated to prevent overcrowding, before being re-opened. The issue on the Elizabeth line related to overnight systems maintenance and began early yesterday - with National Rail initially saying disruption would end by 10.30am, then this was pushed back to 11am, 12.30pm, 4pm and then 'until the end of the day'. This morning, National Rail at first said there would again be no trains 'until the end of the day', but at 11am it said trains would begin running again, with disruption until 1pm. This was then pushed back to 3pm. But at 2pm today, it said the disruption had now ended. This was the latest outage on a line which has suffered numerous reliability issues since Mr Khan launched it to great fanfare in May 2022, three-and-a-half years late. Canary Wharf Elizabeth line station is closed this morning due to the signalling problems A departures board at Stratford station shows the many Elizabeth line cancellations today A barrier blocking access to an Elizabeth line platform at Ealing Broadway this morning One angry commuter tweeted: '@TfL @MayorofLondon Elizabeth Line down for yet another day - what's the plan? A total embarrassment and crippling our city.' A second wrote: 'Two days and not fixed, Elizabeth line is taking the absolute p**s! @TfL can you explain why this still isn't fixed and is @MayorofLondon finally willing to admit that a billion pound train line shouldn't have been built on the same rubbish infrastructure. What are we paying for?' A third tweeted: 'Elizabeth line closures again. It was so nice whilst it lasted, but it seems as though the Elizabeth line is suffering the same fate as every other line in the network.' Another said: 'Living in South London is a joke. Small rain has fallen, small wind has blown, now the Elizabeth line is suspended and National Rail trains are either running late, cancelled, or so packed you might not even be able to get on. Fantastic.' And a fifth posted: '@TfL are you going to bother opening the Elizabeth line later today or are just giving your staff another paid day off? I need to know as got to take wheelchair user to vital hospital appointment in central London later so need to plan ahead.' The issue on the Elizabeth line's central area also led to severe delays on the western section between Paddington, Heathrow and Reading, and the eastern section from Liverpool Street to Shenfield. The signalling issue was on the CBTC section which is used in the central section of the line - while the older TPWS and ETCS systems are used on the National Rail sections. The CBTC system is supplied by Siemens Mobility, and one source told the transport website ianVisits that it was as 'the worst signalling failure they've ever seen'. The major software crash happened during routine maintenance on the passenger information screens which use data from signalling computers, reported ITV. Elizabeth line director Howard Smith told MailOnline this morning: 'We apologise to customers for the disruption on the Elizabeth line. 'We are continuing to work with Siemens, our signalling supplier, to resolve issues that resulted from overnight maintenance of the system. 'We advise customers to plan ahead, allow extra time for their journeys, and check before they travel using our website or the TfL Go app.' Also in relation to the Elizabeth line issues, a spokeswoman for Mr Khan told MailOnline: 'This performance is below the high standards people expect from the Elizabeth line, and the Mayor has spoken to TfL who are in the process of resolving the signalling issues, working with Siemens.' National Rail said customers for Reading or Heathrow should board an Elizabeth line service from Paddington high level platforms 1 to 14. Customers for Shenfield should board an Elizabeth line service from Liverpool Street high level platforms 16 and 17. Elizabeth line passengers were also allowed to use their tickets on services run by other operators including c2c, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Southeastern and Thameslink. At King's Cross St Pancras, TfL told MailOnline that a fire alert earlier meant they had to suspend services through Kings Cross St Pancras, before the London Fire Brigade attended and gave the all-clear. There was also overcrowding at the station which meant station staff had to implement some short closures to keep everyone safe, before reopening the ticket gates later on. It comes after Mr Khan last week ditched the Elizabeth line's current Chinese state-owned operator MTR in favour of a new consortium including the Tokyo Metro operator. Passengers try to board a packed Central line train at Stratford yesterday after Elizabeth line services were suspended between Abbey Wood and Paddington due to a signal fault The shutters to Liverpool Street Underground station were closed yesterday amid the chaos Commuters instead had to take the Docklands Light Railway yesterday from Woolwich Arsenal TfL said it had awarded the contract to the group which also includes Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo and UK rail and bus firm Go Ahead. The new consortium will take over from the existing operator in May 2025. The operator will also help prepare for and implement extra services to Old Oak Common when the new 1.7billion station in Acton opens around the year 2030 to connect with High Speed 2 (HS2) services to and from Birmingham. While the Elizabeth line has faced regular complaints from passengers about delays, it has also proven to be hugely popular and now carries around 700,000 people per day. By this May, it had seen more than 350million journeys in its first two years. It comes as heavy rain brought by Storm Conall also caused rail chaos this morning with operators including Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, Southeastern and South Western Railway reporting disruption due to flooding or fallen trees. Thameslink issued a 'do not travel warning' for passengers trying to get through London due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Blackfriars and St Pancras. The Met Office said up to 2in (50mm) of rain could fall across the Isle of Wight, Sussex and Kent with a yellow warning in place for the South East until midday. London Mayor Sadiq Khan poses for a selfie on the first Elizabeth line train on May 24, 2022 South Western Railway said the downpours had flooded the railway at Bagshot in Surrey and between Guildford and Ash, while a tree had fallen on the line at Romsey in Hampshire. Southeastern said heavy rain flooding the railway near Tonbridge in Kent meant all lines were closed. And flooding caused by Bert at Northampton meant all lines continued to blocked affecting Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway services through the area. Great Western Railway said services between Exeter St Davids, Okehampton and Barnstaple in Devon were suspended due to flooding in the Crediton area. In addition, there was still Bert-related disruption on GWR services between Paddington and South Wales via Bristol Parkway, and through Newbury. For centuries, the execution of the damned and the slaughter and sale of animals went on side by side. Just a few hundred feet separated the site where Scottish leader William Wallace - and many more besides him - was horrifically put to death and what is now Smithfield Market in central London. It was, wrote Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, a place where 'filth and mire' rose 'nearly ankle-deep', as the 'reeking bodies of cattle' massed all around. Another Victorian writer branded it a hub of 'cruelty, filth, effluvia, pestilence, impiety, horrid language, danger, disgusting and shuddering sights, and every obnoxious item that can be imagined.' But now that it has been announced that the capital's oldest meat market is to close - 900 years since trading began at Smithfield - a new, less bloody future beckons. In 1174, Smithfield was described by William Fitzstephen, clerk to Thomas Becket, as 'a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be sold, and in another quarter are placed vendibles of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk.' Under King Edward III in 1327, the City of London Corporation was given the right to run it and other wholesale food markets. But from the early 13th century, Smithfield was also used as an execution site. Butchers among hanging pork at Smithfield meat market in London, circa 1935 A worker rests a carcass on his head at Smithfield Market, 1988 Wallace - whose death was famously depicted in Mel Gibson's film Braveheart - was hanged, drawn and quartered there in 1305 after being dragged naked through the streets. In 1381, Wat Tyler, the leader of the failed Peasants' Revolt, was beheaded at Smithfield. And, in 1546 during the reign of King Henry VIII, Protestant preacher Anne Askew was burnt at the stake at Smithfield as a huge crowd of people looked on. She was just one of dozens of people burned in the same place throughout the Tudor period. The market and the surrounding area would go on to emerge unscathed from the 1666 Great Fire of London, which devastated much of the rest of the capital. In 1945, as the Second World War neared its conclusion, a German V2 rocket that struck nearby caused an explosion which tore through the market buildings and caused more than 100 deaths. And in 1958, two firefighters were killed tackling a blaze that broke out in a cold storage firm's premises in the market. The fire burned for three days and is regarded as one of the worst in London since the Blitz in 1940. William Wallace - whose death was famously depicted in Mel Gibson 's film Braveheart - was hanged, drawn and quartered there in 1305 after being dragged naked through the streets in 1546 during the reign of King Henry VIII, Protestant preacher Anne Askew was burnt at the stake at Smithfield as a huge crowd of people looked on. A drawing of Smithfield cattle market, London in 1848 A satirical cartoon from 1797: 'Sale of a wife in Smithfield Market' The place of Martyrdom, Old Smithfield Market, London, England, 16th century Smithfield Market, City of London, 1851. Isometric view of the proposed improvements to the area around Smithfield Market A wide view of Smithfield Market in 1811, when livestock were sold there Smithfield Market has received several royal visitors. In 1926, the future King Edward VIII spent 90 minutes inspecting stalls. Nearly 80 years later, in 1980, King Charles enjoyed himself at the market. The then Prince of Wales was cheered and clapped as he tested the weight of a barrow laden with meat. The Queen Mother made several visits to the market, including for the current set-up's centenary in 1968 and in 1997. The current market site was built in 1868, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones. By then, the site had shifted from being a livestock hub to a wholesale meat market, as traders sought to accommodate the appetite of London's booming population. Jones, who had designed Tower Bridge, developed a complex of sophisticated buildings. Among them was the Central Meat Market, the General Market and the Poultry Market. In 1958, two firefighters were killed tackling a blaze that broke out in a cold storage firm's premises in the market. The fire burned for three days and is regarded as one of the worst in London since the Blitz in 1940 A young boy pushing a trolley in front of the Central Meat Market at Smithfield Two Smithfield Market workers seen entertaining children during their visit, 1971 A porter with a cigarette in his mouth pulls a barrow laden with meat through Smithfield Market, 1964 Pig carcasses being carried by workers at Smithfield Market In 1980, King Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, was cheered and clapped as he tested the weight of a barrow laden with meat The Queen Mother during her final visit to Smithfield Market in 1997 In 1945, as the Second World War neared its conclusion, a German V2 rocket that struck nearby caused an explosion which tore through the market buildings and caused more than 100 deaths Demolishing a tower in Smithfield Market which was unsafe after it had been damaged by a German bomb, 1941 One of the most revolutionary features of the site was the railway that ran underneath the site, bringing the freight trains laden with supplies of meat. The market would be open at night, so that traders had time to prepare their meat for sale a few hours later. However, from 1945 onwards, Smithfield became less busy as supermarkets began buying directly from suppliers. But Smithfield continued to remain at its original site, even as other major markets moved to other locations. Billingsgate fish market moved from Lower Thames Street to Poplar, East London, in 1982, while Spitalfields fruit and veg market relocated to Leyton, East London, in 1991. Carthorses seen pulling a load of goods at Smithfield Market, 1920s Smithfield's white-coated meat porters 'on-strike' stand by empty meat lorries Drivers on strike at Smithfield Market stand by their vehicles and smile for the camera, 1946 A meat porter pulls his loaded barrow at Smithfield Market in 1988 But the City of London Corporation said its council yesterday voted to cease trading. There had been bold plans to relocate the market and Billingsgate to a new 1 billion development in Dagenham. But the corporation put the relocation plans on hold earlier this month and confirmed at a private Court of Common Council meeting on Tuesday that it has formally ended its interest in relocating the two sites. It said it will now provide financial compensation to traders at the markets, reported to be worth more than 300 million. Traders will be able to continue their operations at the markets until at least 2028, the corporation added. Russian forces are advancing westward in Ukraine at a rate faster than any other time after the initial days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month as the return of Donald Trump to the White House looms large. Vladimir Putin's troops swept through swathes of Ukraine in early 2022 and were bearing down on Kyiv in a matter of days, but they were held on the outskirts of the capital before being pushed back and retreating further east. Since then, the 1,000 km (620-mile) front line remained largely static save for some minor offensives one way or the other - that is until Ukraine launched a lightning incursion into Russia's Kursk region this summer. Now though, Ukraine's valiant defenders are wilting under incessant pressure from Russian troops which have sustained a fearsome rate of artillery fire matched with glide bomb attacks and full-frontal assaults. 'Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of the occupied territory in Ukraine,' independent Russian news group Agentstvo said in a report this week. The Russian army captured almost 235 square kilometres (91 square miles) in Ukraine over the past week - a weekly record for 2024 - and had taken roughly 600 square kilometres (232 square miles) in November, the report claimed. Those figures were largely supported by the US-based Institute for the Study of War, which put the amount of territory gained since November 1 at 574 square kilometres (221 square miles) - an average rate of 22 square kilometres per day. The war is now entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its most dangerous phase weeks before Trump returns to the Oval Office amid fears he could dramatically reduce aid to Ukraine as he seeks to force a ceasefire deal. North Korean troops are reported to be bolstering Moscow's forces and Kyiv is now using Western-supplied missiles to strike back inside Russia - a development that prompted Putin to unleash a never-before-seen 'Oreshnik' hypersonic missile last week. ussian servicemen jump off a T-90M Proryv tank during a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location Ukrainian servicemen of the 43 Artillery Brigade fire a 2S7 Pion self-propelled cannon towards Russian positions at a front line in the Donetsk region Firefighters remove debris after Russian missile attack on November 26, 2024 in Sumy, Ukraine A handout photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry's official Telegram channel on 26 November 2024 shows the debris of the US made long-range ATACMS missile, reportedly used in attacks by Ukrainian forces and shot down in Russia's Kursk region This photograph taken in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, on November 7, 2024, shows destroyed residential buildings, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine The thrust of the Russian advance has been in Ukraine's Donetsk region, with Moscow's forces pushing towards the town of Pokrovsk and into the town of Kurakhove. Pokrovsk is widely cited as a key strategic location given that it serves as a vital logistics hub for Ukraine's Armed Forces. Russian war bloggers say that if Russia can pierce the Ukrainian defences around Kurakhove, they will be able to push westwards towards the city of Zaporizhzhia while securing their rear to allow a swing towards Pokrovsk. Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, said on Tuesday that Russia held the complete strategic initiative on the battlefield. He also added that Russia is open to negotiations but stated that the Kremlin would 'categorically reject' any 'freezing' of the current frontline, demanding that Ukraine relinquish areas of the four Ukrainian regions - Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that the Kremlin has illegally annexed without fully occupying. The past day saw Russia launch one of the biggest single drone attacks of the war so far, cutting power to much of the western region of Ternopil and damaging residential buildings in the Kyiv region. But for all the fanfare over Putin's latest hypersonic missile and the devastation caused by large-scale drone attacks, most analysts argue the main driver preventing Kyiv's troops from successfully defending their territory is a lack of ammunition. Russia has increasingly encircled territory and then pummelled Ukrainian forces with artillery and glide bombs, according to Russian analysts, with the sheer numerical superiority of Moscow's artillery batteries and ammunition affording Putin's troops a significant advantage. Russian artillery divisions can be deployed in more locations and can sustain a much higher rate of fire than their Ukrainian counterparts, helping to scupper Kyiv's counterattacks while softening up defensive positions. A recent report published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank and Open Source Centre estimated that Russian artillery attacks are responsible for some 70 per cent of Ukrainian casualties. Their research revealed that Russia's rate of artillery fire has averaged roughly 10,000 rounds per day since the early months of the war which saw peaks as high as 36,000 rounds per day. By contrast, Ukrainian fire rarely exceeded 6,000 and dropped below 1,800 rounds per day by early 2024. The RUSI report also surmised that sustaining such an outsized artillery and ammunition advantage is central to Russia's path to victory, concluding that it is essential for Western countries to provide Ukraine with considerably more ammunition to prevent Russia's advance. 'As of August 2024, the Russian theory of victory does not centre on major breakthroughs, but rather on the destruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) as a force capable of defending the breadth (of the frontline),' the RUSI report read. 'The Russian leadership likely believes it can kill its way out of the war, and artillery will be key to doing that. 'So long as Russia maintains a substantial advantage in artillery systems, it can use tactics that will, over time, deplete the AFU of reserves a critical vulnerability for Ukraine.' An aerial view shows the destroyed city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv Region near the border with Russia A Ukrainian wounded serviceman who was brought back from positions is being treated by Ukrainian military doctors is prepared to be transported to a hospital, at a stabilisation point of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade, near the Kurakhove town's frontline Security camera footage out of the central-eastern city of Dnipro showed several projectiles streaking in and detonating after Russia launched a new hypersonic missile yesterday A grab taken from handout footage released by Russia's Defence Ministry on March 1 purports to show the test firing of an ICBM belonging to the country's nuclear deterrence forces Though satellite imagery and intelligence reports allow researchers and analysts to assess the Russian advance with relative accuracy, battlefield reports from both sides consistently contradict one another. This morning, Russia's Defence Ministry reported the capture by its forces of another village, Kopanky, in Kharkiv region, another focus of Russian military activity north of the main theatre of fighting in Donetsk region. But Ukraine's third separate assault brigade said it had cleared the village of Russian soldiers in a post on Telegram on Monday. Ukrainian media quoted Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Khortytsya group of troops, as saying Kyiv's forces had repelled a Russian advance on the logistical centre of Kupiansk, also in Kharkiv region. It was the second time this month that the Ukrainian military reported rebuffing an attack on Kupiansk, even after Russian commanders said they had invaded the city two weeks ago. Putin has repeatedly said that Russian forces are advancing much more effectively now than earlier in the war and insisted that Russia will 'achieve all its aims' in Ukraine without specifying exactly what those are. Militarily, the goals of the so-called special military operation are generally seen as securing the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and ousting Ukrainian troops from Kursk. Russia controls 18% of Ukraine including all of Crimea and almost all of the Luhansk region. However, Ukraine has managed to retain roughly 30-35% of the Donetsk region, as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the south. A source on Ukraine's General Staff on Sunday said that Ukraine now held around 800 of the 1,376 square kilometres of Kursk that they held initially and would hold it 'for as long as is militarily appropriate'. Putin is also adamant that Ukraine must remain a 'neutral state' that is not part of NATO. He claims that Western powers - particularly the US and UK - are fighting a war with Russia through Ukraine which he sees as a vassal state. A member of Ukraine's 72nd Brigade Anti-air unit fires at a Russian Zala reconnaissance drone over head on February 23, 2024 near Marinka, Ukraine A view of destruction of the city of besieged Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region near the border with Russia Injured Ukrainian soldiers are transferred on stretchers from ambulances to a military evacuation train to transport Ukrainian servicemen wounded in frontline areas to hospitals, in an undisclosed location A mortar platoon soldier with an 82mm mortar performs a combat mission as Ukrainian soldiers hold their positions in bitter conditions Neither Russia nor Ukraine publishes accurate data on their losses, though Western intelligence estimates casualties to number hundreds of thousands killed or injured, while swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine have turned into wastelands. Ukraine has been struggling with deepening manpower shortages and is embroiled in an unpopular debate about how to bolster the military's ranks amid outrage over brutal incidents of civilians being press-ganged on the streets of Kyiv and other cities. Secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council Oleksandr Lytvynenko told Parliament in late October that the army planned to recruit another 160,000 people in the coming months. But Ukrainian military officials acknowledge the situation in the east is the worst now that it has been all year. In an interview with former Ukrainian MP Borislav Bereza last month, Col-Gen Dmytro Marchenko said: 'I won't be revealing a military secret if I say that our front has crumbled.' He went on to cast doubt on Volodymyr Zelensky's 'victory plan' for being too reliant on political, economic and military support from Western allies. 'This plan lacks any points addressing Ukraine or our needs,' Gen Marchenko added. Zelensky has blamed the difficulties of his armed forces on several factors, including delays of up to a year in equipping brigades, partly because of the long time the US Congress took to sign off on a major Ukraine assistance package. The Spanish government is bringing in new rules demanding hotels gather personal data on tourists - including family information, bank cards and addresses - and hand it over to security services. Spanish hotels already ask guests for their ID card or passport details, but the new rules are expected to be the strictest in the EU with up to 31 pieces of personal data collected. The legislation is set to come into force from Monday, and will require tour operators, holiday rental platforms and car hire companies to gather data on customers. All the information then has to be uploaded onto a platform for sharing with Spanish security forces. Spain's interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the rules were necessary to help tackle organised crime. Hospitality bosses have slammed the rules as draconian. 'It's like 'Big Brother' it's nuts and will cause chaos,' said Ramon Estalella, the head of the country's leading hotel association, Cehat. Spanish hotels already ask guests for their ID card or passport details, but the new rules are expected to be the strictest in the EU with up to 31 pieces of personal data collected The group has now launched a legal challenge over the rules, saying that while its members are committed to working with the government on security they have concerns over breaching customers' privacy. It said the obligations could force companies to breach the EU's GDPR data protection legislation. Hotels could be lumped with fines for doing this, Cehat said, which could exceed the government's proposed fine of 30,000 euros (25,000) for not complying with the decree. Speaking to The Telegraph, Estalella pointed out that Spain is already the only country which requires hoteliers to send guests' ID information to the police. He added that it includes unrealistic expectations, such as requiring car rental companies to know the registration of the car the customer will be driving. 'Not only could it violate fundamental privacy rights, but it also threatens to complicate and hinder the experience of millions of visitors who choose Spain as a destination,' Cehat said in a statement. The tourism sector contributes 12 per cent to Spain's GDP, and the move has prompted fears that tourists may chose to go elsewhere The group has also argued that it could cause considerable delays to people's holidays, for example when they are trying to check in during busy times. The tourism sector contributes 12 per cent to Spain's GDP, and the move has prompted fears that tourists may chose to go elsewhere if they do no want to hand over their personal details to police. Grande-Marlaska insisted in October that the new rules had 'balanced all considerations, including both the right to privacy as well as the need to protect the security of society as a whole'. The rules are set to come into force next week after several delays over three years. Ruthless people smugglers have nearly doubled the prices they charge desperate migrants to cross the English Channel on small boats amid a Europe-wide crackdown on organisers. Migrants wishing to cross the Dover straits to the UK are now being asked to pay between 5,000 and 6,000. This summer the cost was between 3,000 and 4,000 to make the treacherous voyage. Experts say smugglers have raised prices as authorities in the UK and in Europe are cracking down on the illicit operations - including the supply of dinghies and outboard engines. The fees are set by the gang networks and paid in advance either in the migrants' country of origin or in other parts of Europe before they reach the French coast camps. A source said: 'The price has gone up purely due to market forces. They're still not up to the prices we were seeing but it is a significant rise. 'The price is set and paid normally in the country of origin or in other parts of Europe before they travel to the French coast. 'They know if they do not succeed in the first attempt they will be able to keep trying. A drone view shows an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants towards England in the Channel A group of migrants waits for a boat they may be able to join to cross the English Channel Authorities uncovered a large quantity of equipment used to aid migrant crossings from France to the UK during a related 2022 raid 'People smuggling gangs are continuing to cash in on people's misery and hope.' Mike Jones, of Migrant Watch UK, said: 'Migrant smugglers are hiking prices because the UK's National Crime Agency teamed up with European law enforcement to crack down on the supply of dinghies, engines, and dirty money. 'A lot of this effort was focused on Turkiye, where most of the small boats heading for the UK are cobbled together in backstreet workshops, fitted with outboard motors from China, and shipped via Germany to the French coast. 'Disrupting the gangs is a welcome move, but now more migrants are crammed onto boats, making the journey even more dangerous. Governments can make life harder for the smugglers, but they'll never 'smash' them.' In August 2023, traffickers reportedly slashed their prices from 10,000 per person to 3,000 to 4,000 each after running out of wealthy people to bring across to the UK. The difference in price was also understood to be dependent on whether a life-jacket is included in the cost. A total of 33,562 in 623 boats have made the crossing so far this year with 2,901 in November alone. At least 68 people are known to have died crossing the Channel this year - making it the deadliest on record. The Labour government has made tackling small boats crossings a priority since it was elected in July. As part of the Government's plan to lower the high number of fatalities and 'smash the gangs', they are investing 75million per year in a new Border Security Command who have counter-terror style powers. Their aim is to trace and prosecute people smugglers, who profit from the desperation of vulnerable people. Equipment alleged to have been supplied to people smugglers operating the English Channel crossings Hundreds of life vests were included in the seizure made by authorities back in 2022 It is understood that smugglers are now raising the cost to cross the English Channel The Labour government has made tackling small boats crossings a priority since it was elected in July. Pictured: an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants It's hoped the new command will strengthen the UK's global partnerships and enhance efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute these evil criminals. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. 'We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals.' The wife and daughter of a musician behind Seventies one-hit wonder earworm The Pushbike Song are facing off in a 1million court fight over his will. Guitarist Freddy Wieland scored massive international success as a member of The Mixtures. The groups novelty track was a number one hit in Australia and New Zealand, as well as reaching number 3 in Ireland and number 2 in the UK. Mr Wieland died aged 75 of cancer in 2018, leaving behind ex-wife Karen, their daughter Amber, plus his two daughters from a previous relationship, Jasmine and Jade Wieland. However, in his final will he left everything to Jasmine and Jade, sowing the seeds of an inheritance battle with the two branches of his family now fighting in court over his estate. Mr Wieland was initially guitarist with Aussie band The Strangers, before joining The Mixtures. They found fame when, during a 1970 radio ban when Aussie stations refused to play music released by major labels, their cover of Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime reached Number 1 there. The band followed that up with the stylistically similar Pushbike Song, which reached Number 2 on the UK charts, only beaten to the top spot by George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord.' Guitarist Freddy Wieland scored massive international success as a member of the The Mixtures Mr Wieland built a buy-to-let property empire in Buckinghamshire with his wife Karen Wieland, 64, now worth more than 1million The song recounts a trip around town on a pushbike, while chatting up girls, and was the feature of a video showing members of the band on their bikes. Mr Wieland eventually set up home in the UK but that Number 2 hit in 1971 was the end for his stardom, although he featured as a mystery guest on the BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002. He built a buy-to-let property empire in Buckinghamshire with his wife Karen Wieland, 64, now worth more than 1million. Judge Nigel Gerald heard that the guitarist and Karen met in 1992, had a daughter Amber, and then married in 1996. Mr Wieland already had two daughters - Jasmine, a Spain-based entrepreneur in an arts company, and Jade, who runs a beauty company in Sydney, Australia - from a previous relationship. Freddy and Karen separated in 2013, reconciling briefly when he first became ill, before finally splitting up and beginning divorce proceedings soon afterwards, with Freddy moving full-time to Spain. He died in 2018, a year after their decree nisi was pronounced, but before a decree absolute was sealed, with his final will leaving everything to Jasmine and Jade, appointing the former as administrator of his estate. Karen and Jasmine are now fighting two court battles, with Karen suing for 'reasonable provision' - a fair share of her ex-husband's fortune - under the Inheritance Act 1975. Freddy Wieland pictured with his daughters Jade and Jasmine. In his final will he left everything to Jasmine and Jade Jasmine for her part is fighting for a half share of the former couple's 1m property portfolio to go into her late dad's estate Jasmine for her part is fighting for a half share of the former couple's 1m property portfolio to go into her late dad's estate, whilst Karen claims it is all hers. Karen's barrister, George Woodhead told the court: 'Karen's case is that when she and the deceased decided to divorce, they entered into a written agreement in respect of the properties and the ownership of them. 'Karen claims that, as part of an agreement following the separation, Freddy had agreed that she would have his beneficial interest in the properties for a payment of 50,000.' He said that the deal was part of an agreement splitting all their wealth and Karen, as a former letting agent herself, had sourced, managed and rented out the properties, which had been purchased for her future benefit. 'Her case is that whilst she was working as a letting agent in 2002, she decided it would be sensible to provide for her retirement by acquiring buy to let properties,' he said. 'She ultimately purchased all 11 of the properties, and did so in joint names with the deceased. 'Her case is that she and the deceased jointly intended that the properties would provide an income for her during her retirement. 'It was Karen who sourced, purchased and managed each property - and Karen was the landlady when each property was let.' The Mixtures' novelty track was a number one hit in Australia and New Zealand , as well as reaching number 3 in Ireland and number 2 in the UK But Jasmine's barrister James Kemp argued that the agreement Karen relies on is 'not valid' because Karen did not pay the full 50,000 before Freddy died. He said the agreement had 'not been carried out' and has 'therefore been rescinded.' He also claims that Karen did not disclose all of the relevant evidence about her financial dealings at the time of the agreement. The issue of whether Freddy still held his shares in the properties at the time of his death is set to be decided at a trial at the county court in April next year. Karen's claim against the estate for 'reasonable provision' will only resume after that issue has been decided. Travellers have accused police of 'discrimination' after videos emerged of officers putting children onto trains to block them from going to the Christmas markets. Video footage shared online showed hysterical children being ushered through Manchester Victoria on Saturday by a large number of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers, before being 'forced' onto trains destined for Grimsby, Lincolnshire. National charity, the Traveller Movement, said the 'shocking' footage involved young people from the traveller community and that it was 'completely unacceptable'. But Greater Manchester Police said a 48-hour dispersal notice had been put in place on Saturday due to a 'rising number of reports' of anti-social behaviour and disorder. They said this involved re-routing groups back home. Some were put on TransPennine Express heading for Doncaster, but one mother said her children ended up in Grimsby further down the line. A man and a teenage boy were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. The force said its priority was 'always to protect public safety by preventing incidents of violence and disorder'. Videos posted online showed young people clashing with police officers as they were herded on trains, with one officer shouting: 'Get on the train!', as a girl responds 'stop pushing I'm going to fall.' Now, the Charity is considering taking legal action against the police and is reportedly in preliminary talks with lawyers, as they support affected families. Travellers have accused police of 'discrimination' after videos emerged of officers putting children onto trains to block them from going to the Christmas markets One of the teenagers who was escorted onto a train records police with his mobile phone Video footage shared on social media allegedly showed traveller children and teenagers being escorted onto trains The Guardian reported some of the children's parents as well as leaders in the community attended a meeting with deputy mayor, Kate Green, on Tuesday. Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement, told the newspaper that while she was grateful for the meeting, there is still 'more questions at this stage than answers'. She said the police officer's response was 'completely disproportionate' and 'clearly there's some accountability here'. Ms MacNamara told The Guardian some of the children involved were siblings and were as young as 10-years-old. Ms Green said she had watched the video footage circulating online and had asked GMP for a full report on the action that was taken. Representatives from the Traveller Movement said in a statement on Saturday: 'Manchester Police has this afternoon allegedly blocked Romani Gypsies and Irish Traveller children from attending the Christmas markets. 'This heavy-handed and discriminatory action has left children upset and distressed, with parents deeply concerned about the treatment that their children have faced. 'We have been contacted by numerous parents and received video footage of Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller children arriving into Manchester, and then being forced onto a different train and prevented from leaving the station by police. Video footage showed one police officer who can be heard shouting: 'Get on the train!' Video footage shows a young girl clashing with a police officer at Manchester Victoria 'These children were simply trying to enjoy the festivities like everyone else but instead have been unfairly targeted and marginalised. 'This is a shocking case and it is completely unacceptable. We will not stand by while our communities are discriminated against and excluded in this way. 'Manchester Police must be held accountable for their alleged actions and take immediate steps to end this blatant injustice.' One parent who spoke anonymously to Manchester Evening News (MEN) claimed her 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son had ended up more than 100 miles away in Grimsby. The mother said her daughter was 'hysterical' when she called her from the train station as she was being escorted onto the train with others, MEN reported. The brother and sister had travelled from Doncaster earlier that day, the mother said. There was a large police presence in Manchester Victoria on Saturday as police allegedly escorted traveller children onto trains The mother went to the Trafford Centre so she could be close to her children in case they needed her and said she was there 'literally five minutes' before her daughter called her 'crying and screaming'. She claimed: 'I could hear the police officers saying 'we don't care where you go, just get back on that train and get off now'. 'I was saying to put the police officers on the phone but I could hear them saying 'I don't want to speak to your mother - get on that train''. Greater Manchester Police's Assistant chief constable Rick Jackson said: 'We are aware of social media videos circulating, and comments from the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities concerning our policing of a dispersal order in Manchester city centre yesterday. 'Our priority is always to protect public safety by preventing incidents of violence and disorder. 'Due to intelligence of groups causing anti-social behaviour on trains on the way into Manchester and similar reports rising around the city centre, alongside increasing footfall, we issued a dispersal order. This included plans for officers to re-route arriving groups back home. 'Shortly after, officers responded to several disturbances in the city centre and intervened in altercations between groups. 'We understand there are feelings of mistreatment and confusion amongst groups of people for being turned away yesterday, and we are determined to address these concerns by working closely with the Mayor's office to engage these communities in Manchester and further afield.' A British man faces 25 years in a Dubai prison after he accepted money 'to go shopping' from an alleged drug dealer. Self-proclaimed millionaire Waseem Khan, 22, spent over two months locked in a 'hell hole' cell with 200 inmates at the notorious Al Barsha jail before he was released on bail following his arrest. The crypto investor - who has been forced to shell out 30,000 on legal fees - was detained on September 4 when police raided his luxury apartment. Waseem said this transpired after he transferred 4,500 to a friend in Britain, who then arranged for a man to give him around 15,000 dirhams in Dubai in return. But hours after the person, who he did not know, brought the cash to his property, police came crashing through his door and put him in handcuffs. He was later charged with taking and supplying drugs and using the proceeds of crime, which he vehemently denies Waseem could now spend up to 25 years behind bars - the maximum sentence for drug dealing in Dubai - and is banned from leaving the state while awaiting his next court appearance. Speaking about his time in jail before his release on bail, he said: 'It was like a hellhole prison. It was the sort of thing you see in the movies. 22-year-old Waseem Khan faces possible 25 years in Dubai jail after allegedly accepting money from a drug dealer He has been charged with taking and supplying drugs and using the proceeds of crime , which he vehemently denies Waseem, originally from Leeds, moved to Dubai a few years ago 'There were killers, rapists and drug lords - people who had done nasty, nasty crimes. There were some of the worst people in the world in there. 'Every day there were people picking on you. The living conditions were horrible. 'If there were small problems, you'd have to fight over it. There were a number of times were I came close to nearly physically fighting people. 'There was awful food, cold showers, the toilets were mouldy, it just stunk.. The phones were awful and the prison guards were awful as well. 'I didn't even think I'd get out, just because of how bad my luck was in there.' Waseem, originally from Leeds, moved to Dubai a few years ago where he bought a fourth-floor apartment in the exclusive Jumeirah Village Circle. And like many expats, he enjoyed the benefits of the thriving low-tax economy, which thousands of Brits have flocked to in recent years. But after he arranged through a pal for the man to bring him 15,000 dirhams so he could 'go shopping', he said police had barrelled through his door. The crypto investor was detained on September 4 when police raided his luxury apartment Waseem has had to shell out 30,000 on legal fees Waseem said he had been forced to sell assets, including his expensive cars, to stump up the cash he needed rapidly for his legal representation Waseem said: 'I went to the gym around 7pm and I did a two-hour session, and I just came home and cooked some food. 'And as I was about to eat, the security knocked on my door. 'Obviously I thought he wanted to speak to me, so I opened the door and the next minute, six police just came through the door, which smacked me on my head. 'They've handcuffed me without even saying a word, and they said, 'We know everything' and 'You're wrong and we're right' and 'You're under arrest'. 'It was frightening because, obviously, I didn't do anything wrong. I was thinking, 'Why am I being treated like a criminal'. 'At the same time, one of the officers said, 'You're going to get the death penalty, you're going to get 25 years.' And they were just laughing and joking about it.' Waseem claimed that when he was taken to the police station, he was originally told by a senior officer that he was 'innocent' and would be let out. But he was then led into a mass detention cell, where he spent the next two and half months waiting for a bail hearing so he could be released. He went on: 'When I was arrested, they asked me all the questions. 'One of the officers, the head of CID who arrested me, said, 'Don't worry, you're going to be released in one hour, we know you're innocent, you had nothing to do with this'. 'So obviously I took his word and he said, 'They're just going to take your fingerprints, just go through this door and you'll be out in one hour.' 'I went through this door and I ended up in a whole prison cell with 200 people sleeping on the floor and just a bad smell. 'I said, 'What's this, you said I was going to get out,' and they just closed the door behind me and left me in there.' Waseem said he had been forced to sell assets, including his expensive cars, to stump up the cash he needed rapidly for his legal representation. He has also been banned from leaving Dubai while awaiting his next court appearances. And although his lawyers believe he has a good chance of defending himself, Waseem said he was worried about the even-handedness of the local court system. He said: 'I am happy that I've been released on bail, but I'm also really worried as my lawyers have said, 'This is Dubai, anything can happen here'. 'They don't want to give me false hope.' 'I've had to move elsewhere because I can't stay in the same place because of paranoia.' MailOnline has reached out to the British Embassy in Dubai for comment. It comes as an 18-year-old British tourist faces 20 years in prison in Dubai after being charged with whaving sex with a then-17-year-old during a family holiday. Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, was held in a notorious UAE prison for days after police heard of his holiday romance from her 'strict' mother. The couple 'had a wonderful time together' on holiday in August, meeting up in secret as she feared she could not tell her mother she was seeing a boy. They hoped to continue their relationship when they were back in London. But as the girl's furious mother later found out and told police in Dubai about the relationship when they returned to the UK, Marcus now faces two decades inside a gruelling Dubai prison. 'When she left, I couldn't wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door,' Marcus told British-based aid organisation Detained in Dubai. '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.' 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. Under local law, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age. The relationship would be legal in the UK, and the girl has since turned 18. A Canadian man has been jailed for life in Dubai for taking medical use CBD and cannabis on the plane with him. Maurice Kevin O'Rourke, from Mississauga, Ontario, was prescribed CBD oil and cannabis - both of which are completely legal in Canada - to manage the chronic pain caused by the rare and life-threatening Addison's disease. But when the 64-year-old transited through Dubai on his way to South Africa on July 3, he was detained for carrying his medical use CBD oil and cannabis in his luggage and taken to Al Awir prison. The carpenter has now been sentenced to life in prison in the United Arab Emirates city. His wife Pamela O'Rourke said after the shocking ruling: 'Our world fell apart. Our daughter Maegan and I are shattered. We're in disbelief. 'Kevin accepts that he shouldn't have travelled while on medication but he doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison. It was an innocent mistake.' She added: 'When he was arrested, local doctors had a hard time getting the medications, which impacted his immune system. 'He contracted an MRSA infection, had two emergency surgeries, spent 40 days in hospital and has subsequently been fighting an infection. Maurice Kevin O'Rourke (pictured), from Mississauga, Ontario, uses CBD oil and cannabis - both of which are completely legal in Canada - to manage the chronic pain caused by the rare and life-threatening Addison's disease 'When he was arrested, local doctors had a hard time getting the medications, which impacted his immune system,' Pamela O'Rourke said. Pictured: Mr O'Rourke in hospital Mrs O'Rourke added: 'He has an open wound in prison, in 3 months he went from being strong and healthy to being in a wheelchair. It's been incredibly distressing and life threatening for him.' Mr O'Rourke is pictured above in hospital after he was detained 'He has an open wound in prison, in 3 months he went from being strong and healthy to being in a wheelchair. It's been incredibly distressing and life threatening for him.' Mr O'Rourke is appealing the sentence, with a trial set for December 25. But if the original judgement is upheld, Mr O'Rourke could die in a Dubai prison. 'Dubai's prison system will not provide adequate medical care and he will be deprived of necessary medication and care,' Radha Stirling, Crisis Manager and CEO of human rights organisation Detained in Dubai who is helping the family, said. She added: 'The suffering of prisoners is not of concern to authorities in the UAE. 'British grandfather Albert Douglas has first hand experience of being denied heart medication and denied surgery for broken bones he suffered after being beaten by prison guards. 'Kevin will not survive in their care. He is too fragile and at risk of infection and life threatening complications as a result of his disease. 'We urge the Canadian government and particularly his MP, Peter Fonseca, to work with their counterparts in the UAE to help Kevin home. The last thing either country wants is a death in custody. 'We have seen rapists and murderers sentenced to just a few years in jail. How can the courts sentence an older man to life in prison for possessing medication for personal use. This is a man who has made a genuine mistake. Mr O'Rourke's wife Pamela O'Rourke (couple is pictured together above) said after the shocking ruling: 'Our world fell apart. Our daughter Maegan and I are shattered. We're in disbelief' Mr O'Rourke is appealing the sentence, with a trial set for December 25. But if the original judgement is upheld, Mr O'Rourke could die in a Dubai prison 'Dubai needs to be sensible here. He was just in transit and did not intentionally put himself in harm's way. He is ill and in need of ongoing and constant medical care. 'From a human rights perspective, we hope the government of Dubai will understand and allow him to come home'. Ms Stirling has seen numerous arrests over prescription medication, including pain medication like codeine. 'There is a lot of confusion over whether certain medication is allowed in Dubai. Staff at the UAE Embassy have even given contradictory advice to visitors and enforcement of the laws is arbitrary. 'Many visitors with CBD have been denied entry/deported while others have had their controlled substances confiscated and been allowed to continue their holiday. 'It can be very confusing and a lot of tourists make the mistake of believing, as Kevin did, that their prescription is valid or medication allowed everywhere. Countries need to have some understanding and compassion for people who genuinely intended no wrong. 'Unfortunately, Dubai police and prosecutors are incentivised to prosecute drug cases, even when we are talking about prescription meds for personal use. 'It is unfathomable that Kevin was sentenced to life in prison and a 500,000 AED fine (around $136,000 or $190,000CAD). 'The reason for the harsh sentence is that the prosecution combined the weights of each medicine to ensure it exceeded 100g and that he would get the harshest sentence. He brought 118g in total, consisting of cannabis, cbd and cbd oil. 'Had they charged the amounts individually, he would not have been handed such a shocking sentence. 'Even without a custodial sentence, $190,000 is a huge amount that most people cannot afford. If they can't pay the fine, they won't be allowed to leave'. Two fisherman and their dog thrown overboard from their boat and spent hours stranded at sea treading water with one life jacket between them have all survived to recall the terrifying ordeal. Stephen Innes, 74, his brother Brian 76, and three-legged Jack Russell Luna, were checking cray pots off Boatswain Point in South Australia, when they were hit by a freak wave on Tuesday morning. Even though the brothers have 120 years fishing experience between them, they still found themselves in a situation where they had to fight for their lives in chilly conditions. 'We were swamped from behind, some people would call it a rogue wave, seemed to come out of nowhere,' Mr Innes told Nine News. Both men were wearing life jackets but when Brian's didn't inflate, he had no choice but to cling to the back of Stephen's jacket, and placed Luna on his brother's chest. 'It was particularly cold, so after a couple of hours or so, you start getting very dramatic shivering occurring that gets progressively worse,' Stephen said. They had plans to meet friends around 11am, who raised the alarm after the brothers failed to show. A full-scale search was underway by 2.30pm, with police, SES volunteers and local fishermen joined forces to look for the trio. Stephen Innes and his best friend Luna (pictured) were checking cray pots with brother Brian when a freak wave threw them overboard After treading water for six hours and having Luna swept away after another wave struck them, they were spotted by a surfer just behind the breaking waves (pictured a search and rescue crew with one of the brothers) A search and rescue plane from Victoria also arrived to assist in the search. Mr Innes admitted thinking on 'three or four occasions, or maybe more' that they weren't 'going to make it'. But when strong winds and a current hit just after 5pm, the trio were brought closer to the shore - but another wave struck them and Luna was carried away by the water. 'Washed her off my chest and of course I went underwater and gagged and carried on and she was gone I didn't know where. I couldn't see her. She'd just disappeared,' Mr Innes said. Luckily, the brothers were eventually spotted by a surfer behind the breakers just as a storm was closing in. The alarm was raised when the brothers failed to meet friends around 11am (pictured search and rescue crews gathered) Miraculously, Luna greeted them on the beach, having been washed ashore before the brothers were rescued (pictured a search and rescue team with one of the brothers) Luna was already there to greet them when the relieved brothers finally reached dry land. Luna had come out of the ordeal unscathed - she was in good condition and didn't have any injuries. Her owner believes she had 'probably' been washed along the surface of the water and arrived at the beach 'a lot earlier' than the brothers. The two fishermen were treated for hypothermia at Kingston Hospital and are now recovering. The Education Secretary has called on regulators to investigate why nearly twice as many private schools pupils are receiving extra time in exams compared to those in comprehensive schools. Figures show 27 per cent of pupils at non-selective state schools got extra time, compared with 42 per cent of their privately-educated counterparts. Bridget Phillipson said she was 'concerned' about the difference and had asked exams regulator Ofqual to look into the reasons behind it. Therese Coffey, who served in a variety of ministerial roles under recent Tory governments, denied private parents were 'gaming the system'. 'There's a factor of life that if you don't ask, you don't get,' she told Newsnight, adding that Ofqual was the best organisation to investigate why there was such a 'disparity'. Bridget Phillipson said she was 'concerned' about the difference and had asked exams regulator Ofqual to look into the reasons behind it Private schools are known to be better than their state counterparts at navigating the system to give their pupils the best chance. Ms Phillipson told the programme: 'I am concerned about the difference that you see there... and this is something I've discussed with the regulator. 'What we can't currently be clear about is whether that leads to different outcomes in terms of exam results, and that's what they are looking to understand,' she said. Asked by presenter Faisal Islam whether she was concerned about private schools 'abusing' the system or state schools 'failing' SEN pupils, Ms Phillipson replied: 'We do face a big challenge in the state system supporting pupils with special educational needs. 'I'm determined to reform that system. That's a much wider question than this issue in isolation.' Questioned again on whether some parents would be right to feel aggrieved if their child was not entitled to extra time while many of his peers were, Ms Phillipson added: 'Parents will always push for a good outcome for their child - that's human nature. The challenge that we face is ensuring the system is equitable and there is a problem at the moment in terms of the differences that are there. 'It's why Ofqual as the regulator needs to look at this carefully.' The number of pupils being given extra time to do the GCSE and A-level exams because of special needs has risen by more than 42 per cent over four years. Therese Coffey, who served in a variety of ministerial roles under recent Tory governments, denied private parents were 'gaming the system' Department for Education (DfE) data shows 365,915 pupils were granted 25 per cent more time than other candidates to complete their exam papers in 2023 - up from 256,710 in 2019. It means that more than one in four of all pupils sitting the exams last year received extra time. Extra time is granted as an 'access arrangement' to pupils who have learning difficulties or disabilities. Eligible pupils must either have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) confirming their condition, or must score low in a specially-designed test which includes speed of writing and reading and cognitive processing. Pupils with well-known conditions including dyslexia would be eligible to apply for extra time. But according to exam board documents, those with 'social, emotional and mental health needs' can also apply. It comes following a rise in the diagnosis of children with special needs in the UK. Figures show 27 per cent of pupils at comprehensive schools got extra time, compared with 42 per cent of their privately-educated counterparts Last year, UCL research found the proportion of boys aged 10 to 16 diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had more than doubled between 2000 and 2018. Extra time in exams can benefit pupils especially in those subjects where many people do not finish papers, such as maths. Despite the popularity of private schools among many parents, Labour's decision to levy VAT on fees is driving thousands to move their children to the state sector. Private school fees will be subject to a 20 per cent rate of VAT from January when Labour ends an exemption for education, Rachel Reeves confirmed in her Budget. Critics of the policy, which will hit parents 2,000 each per pupil on average, have branded it a 'tax on aspiration' and warned it will simply force more parents to send their children to the already overburdened state sector. New data provides fresh evidence an exodus is already underway, with 124 local councils in England, Scotland and Wales receiving 3,011 applications from private school pupils to move to a state school between June 1 and September 9. The figures, obtained in Freedom of Information requests, are likely to understate the scale of private school exits given a further 83 councils either did not respond or said they did not have the data. Horrifying footage shows the moment an Indonesian farmer was cut from the belly of a 23ft python that crushed him and swallowed him whole. Father-of-three Peco, 30, went into a palm plantation to collect sap for making brown sugar when the killer beast pounced on him in North Luwu Regency shortly after dusk on Tuesday. The giant snake suffocated the man by coiling around his body and crushing him to death. It then dislocated its deadly jaws to take the length of the 5ft 3inch tall man in its throat. Peco's worried brother-in-law Wawan went out looking for his relative when he failed to return to his home in the Mamea hamlet in the village of Malimbu, Sabbang district. The relative spotted the snake with bulging guts and rushed back to raise the alarm. Graphic footage shows how village chiefs arrived and sliced open the reptile to reveal the slime-covered corpse of the palm plantation farm hand shortly before midnight. Wawan said: 'We used to joke that we could be eaten by a snake at night. They are a danger that everyone knows about. 'I cannot explain how my brother was caught by one. He was very experienced.' Graphic footage shows how village chiefs arrived and sliced open the reptile to reveal the slime-covered corpse The farmer was cut from the snake's body after he was crushed to death by it and swallowed whole The snake's flesh was peeled back to reveal the deceased father-of-three A piece of cloth was placed over where the group had cut into the python. It was then pulled back to reveal the body of the man Police who arrived at the scene confirmed that Peco was killed by the python. They are not looking for anyone else over the death and his wife, Dewi, and their three children have been told. Sabbang Police Chief Ipda Jusman said: 'The snake was found and after that, residents were called and together they removed the victim's body from the snake's stomach. 'After successfully removing the victim's body from the python's stomach, residents then took the victim's body to the funeral home. He will be cremated today.' Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, is home to some of the world's biggest pythons and crocodiles. The sprawling areas of untouched woodland provide the perfect environment for the snakes to hunt unrestricted and grow to huge lengths. However, there have been rising numbers of attacks on humans in recent years as palm sugar and rubber plantations have increased. Indonesia is one of the world's largest producers of palm sugar, a natural sweetener derived from the sap of palm trees. Shocking pictures show Peco's corpse partially exposed after locals cut open the snake 'After successfully removing the victim's body from the python's stomach, residents then took the victim's body to the funeral home,' the local police chief said In August this year, grandmother Hapsah, 57, was crushed to death by a huge python while she was working at a farm in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi province. The 16ft snake easily overpowered the struggling petite woman and wrapped itself around her body. It slowly squeezed the breath out of her lungs until she passed out. Just a few days before, Maga, 74, had taken her cows to graze in a forested area in the Sumarambu mountains, around a mile from her home in Palopo City in South Sulawesi when a snake caught her and killed her. In July, mother-of-five Siriati, 30, was visiting her brother to go to the market together to buy medicine when she was eaten alive by a python in Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi. A month before, mother-of-four Farida, 50, disappeared while she was walking through woodland to sell food at a local market near her home in the village of Kalempang. The killed python plunged its teeth into her leg as it coiled around her body and suffocated her before swallowing her head first. The family of a dog walker who died after being swept away by a swollen river during Storm Bert have paid tribute to the 'much loved' grandfather. Brian Perry sparked a huge search when he went missing close to the River Conwy in North Wales while on a walk with his wife and pet dog on Saturday. The 75-year-old's body was found the next day near Trefriw, after heavy rain and violent winds wracked the nation. His heartbroken family said: 'We would like to thank North Wales Police and the rescue services for all their efforts, in extremely challenging conditions, to find our much loved husband, father, brother and grandfather, Brian, who was also held in great affection by his extended family and many friends. 'There are no words to describe our feeling of loss but he will be truly loved every day.' North Wales Police joined efforts with a HM Coastguard helicopter, fire service teams, volunteers from Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team, and NEWSAR to find Mr Perry. They appealed for help from locals, after he was last seen at around 4.30pm wearing a red Berghaus waterproof jacket. The fire service rushed water rescue specialist teams to the scene, where they were joined by police, the ambulance service and a Coastguard helicopter. Brian Perry sparked a huge search when he went missing close to the River Conwy in North Wales while on a walk with his wife and pet dog on Saturday Police appealed for witnesses to come forward after a 34-year-old man died in Shipley, West Yorkshire when his blue Renault Captur smashed into a wall Rough seas near the Tynemouth Pier lighthouse on the River Tyne on Friday morning A bus had run off the road on the A70 as Storm Bert bit near Lugar in East Ayrshire Firefighters work to pump water away from flooded residential streets near Moat Park in Dundonald on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday His dog was safely located, but searches had to be abandoned after maps showing the route of the helicopter, which was fitted with thermal imaging cameras, saw it tracking the river close to the Welsh town. The family continue to be supported by specialist officers. Chief Inspector Simon Kneale, of North Wales Police, added: 'I would like to thank the efforts of all agencies involved in the searches in very difficult conditions and for the local community who supported the teams in the area. 'Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time and they have asked that their privacy is respected.' More than 250 flood alerts or warnings still remain in place today following 82mph Storm Bert last weekend including 147 alerts and 99 warnings for England from the Environment Agency, plus four alerts and four warnings across Wales. At least five lives were claimed by Bert, including a man in his 80s who died after his car entered water at a ford in Colne, Lancashire, on Saturday. Communities are continuing a 'massive clean-up', with residents in some affected areas saying they do not believe the chaos will be cleared by Christmas. Former prime ministers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss are all opposed to assisted dying laws, it has been revealed. Ahead of a crunch House of Commons vote on Friday, the three ex-premiers were said to be against proposed legislation. MPs are set to consider the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which aims to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, at the end of this week. It has been introduced to Parliament as a private members' bill by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and will see MPs vote on the issue for the first time since 2015. But there has been growing opposition to the Bill from politicians, religious leaders and health and legal experts. A former Cabinet minister has also warned, even if the legislation is passed by Parliament, it would breach the European Convention on Human Rights. Dominic Grieve, the ex-Tory MP who was attorney general between 2010 and 2014, suggested Strasbourg-based judges would be likely to block the Bill. He said this is because it failed to provide 'adequate and appropriate safeguards to protect patients from pressure and abuse'. 'No government that respected the rule of law would have introduced this particular Bill,' Mr Grieve wrote in The Times. Former prime ministers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss are all opposed to assisted dying laws, it has been revealed Gordon Brown, the former Labour PM, has also voiced opposition to the Bill, insisting better end-of-life care is needed instead of assisted dying Veteran broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen has urged 'as many MPs as possible' to attend Friday's debate and listen to the arguments on both sides Dominic Grieve, the ex-Tory MP who was attorney general between 2010 and 2014, suggested Strasbourg-based judges would be likely to block the Bill The Government has taken a neutral stance ahead of Friday's debate and MPs are being granted a 'free vote', meaning they won't by told how to vote by party whips. But there have been ructions within Labour's ranks after top Cabinet ministers revealed they would be voting against the Bill. PM Sir Keir Starmer will not comment on the proposed legislation ahead of Friday's vote as he does not want to 'put pressure on other people'. But four former occupants of No10 are opposed to the Bill. Baroness May is expected to vote against the legislation should it make it to the House of Lords. Sources close to the ex-premier told the Telegraph her opposition to assisted dying legislation had not changed since she voted against it in 2015. Ms Truss told the newspaper she was 'completely opposed' to the Bill. 'It is wrong in principle: organs of the state like the NHS and the judicial system should be protecting lives, not ending them,' she said. 'No doubt, as we have seen in Canada, vulnerable people would be put under appalling pressure to end their lives early. 'The law would be ripe for being exploited by the unscrupulous. MPs should vote this terrible Bill down and instead focus on improving health services.' It was also reported that Mr Johnson would not support the proposed legislation as it currently stands. Gordon Brown, the former Labour PM, has also voiced opposition to the Bill, insisting better end-of-life care is needed instead of assisted dying. Ms Leadbeater today defended the level of scrutiny her Bill is being given in Parliament. It is is due to have a five-hour debate on Friday with a vote expected at the end on whether it should pass through to be scrutinised by a committee. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The route of the private member's bill is absolutely the right route for taking this legislation through. 'That means that there can be a free vote by all MPs. It is not a Government Bill.' Dame Esther Rantzen has urged 'as many MPs as possible' to attend Friday's debate and listen to the arguments on both sides to make their minds up on assisted dying. The broadcaster and Childline founder, who is terminally ill, has been a high-profile voice in the conversation for the past year, repeatedly calling for a change in what she has described as the 'cruel' current law. In an extract from a letter, released through pro-change campaign group Dignity in Dying, Dame Esther said: 'This is such a vital life and death issue, one that we the public care desperately about. 'So it is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments for and against, and make up your own minds, according to your own conscience, your personal thoughts and feelings.' The viral YouTube show Hot Ones turned out the chance to interview Kamala Harris during the election as the show's producers did not want to 'delve into politics', amid a serious Democratic re-calibration surrounding the use of social media. A post-mortem run by Pod Save America saw former aides reveal how the campaign was run and what it ought to differently in 2028. Comparing their campaign to Trump's, which capitalised on massive audiences held by podcasters and social media stars like Joe Rogan, they revealed they tried to get on Hot Ones, but were turned down by producers. Hot Ones, presented by Sean Evans, sees a different celebrity eating a series of chicken wings that are covered in increasingly spicy sauces, all while being asked more and more probing questions. The show's host has been praised for his in-depth research and presentation of questions, which Harris' team wanted to use during the race for the White House. But producers turned them down, telling them they didn't want to 'delve into politics', according to Harris' presidential comms chief Stephanie Cutter. DailyMail.com has reached out to Hot Ones' parent company, Buzzfeed, for comment. The aides also said during the interview that the 'political environment sucked', leading to Harris' loss. Hot Ones turned out the chance to interview Kamala Harris (pictured) on its viral show The show is presented by Sean Evans, known for his penetrating questions given to celebrity guests 'We were dealing with ferocious headwinds', said David Plouffe, who ran Obama's 2008 campaign and then served as a White House advisor. Plouffe also insisted that Biden was so unpopular when he dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris that it was a difficult task to improve her ratings. He noted that Harris began the race with approval ratings only in the 33-35 percent range and although they improved her numbers by 15 points, they did not have enough time to sell her to voters. And Plouffe complained about how difficult it was for Democrats to win support from independents in battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania - despite that being the job at hand, and one the team assured Democrats across the country they were capable of doing. 'It's really hard for Democrats to win battleground states,' Plouffe maintained, noting that those states were more conservative than the average blue state and that even the moderates there tended to lean right. Meanwhile, campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon repeatedly complained about the lack of time they had to make Harris a winner in the 107-day campaign that began in July when Biden finally dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. She defended their approach of highlighting how Harris was 'different' than both Biden and Trump and a candidate for the 'future' instead of trying to differentiate herself from Biden, whose approval rating were epically low. Campaign advisor Stephanie Cutter confirmed that Harris was 'unwilling' to separate herself from Biden. She had a huge deficit in favorability, because either people didnt know about her or what they did know about her was because of negative media, she said. Six people have been arrested over suspected activity linked to the proscribed group Kurdistan Workers Party - known as the 'PKK'. Two women and four men aged between 23 and 59 were arrested at separate addresses across London early this morning, as part of a crackdown led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. All six have been detained under section 41(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 and are in custody at a London police station. The Acting Commander of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: 'This activity has come about following a significant investigation and operation into activity we believe is linked to the terrorist group PKK. 'These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group. 'I hope that these arrests show that we will not tolerate any sort of terrorist activity and that we will take action where we believe there is harm being caused to communities here in the UK or elsewhere.' Officers are carrying out searches at eight addresses across London, including at the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, north London. The search activity at all eight locations is ongoing, while the investigation at the community centre is expected to last up to two weeks. Two women and four men of varying ages were arrested at separate addresses across London early this morning (Stock photo) Both the centre and the surrounding area are set to close to the public while officers continue their work. Additional local officers will be carrying out patrols and there will be an increased police presence in the area over the coming days. Acting Commander Flanagan added: 'This investigation and activity is about protecting all of our communities, but particularly those in our Turkish and Kurdish communities. 'I would urge anyone who thinks they may have been affected or targeted by those linked to the PKK to get in touch. 'We are also very mindful that closing the community centre may cause inconvenience to some people. Officers will be working as quickly as they can, but these are very serious allegations so it is important that we take care in identifying and gathering as much evidence as we can.' There is not believed to be any immediate threat to the public linked to the matters under investigation. The six people arrested were a 59-year-old woman, a 27-year-old man, a 31-year-old woman, a 62-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 23-year-old man. Anyone with concerns or information relating to the investigation or activities of the PKK can contact police in confidence on 0800 789 321. A woman who witnessed the DHL cargo plane crash in Lithuania said the jet flew just a few feet over her car before spinning and crashing in a deadly fireball. 'The sound was, I thought at first, maybe some kind of missile. And just straight over my head, it went over my car,' the witness said of her scrape with death. 'I am 1.69 metres (5'5") tall, so if you put me on my car, that would be the height the plane flew over,' she added. 'Then it spun a little, swerved, just rolled onto the ground abruptly.' The Boeing 737-400 had travelled from the German city of Leipzig to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and was just one mile from touching down on the runway when the fiery crash occurred around 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT) on Monday. Motorists on a nearby road filmed fire erupting in the distance as it crashed, while security camera overlooking the area where it slammed into the ground captured the plane gliding in towards Vilnius Airport at a dangerously low altitude. Suddenly the aircraft pitched to the right with the wingtip angling down and dove into the earth, erupting in a huge fireball that lit up the early morning sky. Lithuanian authorities say their investigation into the crash is so far pointing towards a technical cause, though they admitted that this view might change as more information comes to light. A woman described how the plane came within feet of her car (picture taken by another crash witness) The Boeing 737-400 had travelled from the German city of Leipzig to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and was just one mile from touching down on the runway when the fiery incident occurred The witness described her brush with death after the cargo plane flew low over her car near Vilnius 'We are leaning toward the technical version,' Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center told reporters in Vilnius. 'If we get additional data we might change our direction, but we don't have it at the moment,' he added. Mystery continues to surround the crash, with cockpit audio showing that communication between the plane and air traffic control appeared completely normal. Minutes before the crash, the pilot greeted air traffic controllers with a 'good morning' and established the correct runway seemingly without any issue. Yet as the plane banked south and made its final approach, the comms went silent and attempts to raise the pilot went unanswered. Then air traffic control realised the DHL plane had careened into the earth a mile from the airport. The recording captured the controller frantically doling out messages, warning other planes to abort their landing or takeoff as the emergency situation unfolded. 'Cancel your start-up, go back to your stand... we just got a crash of an aircraft on final... a Boeing 737,' the tower controller said solemnly. Marius Baranauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Aviation Authority, highlighted the strange nature of the cockpit recording. 'In the recording of the conversation between the pilots and the tower, the pilots until the very last second did not tell the tower of any extraordinary event,' he said. 'We need to examine the black boxes to know what was happening in the aircraft.' Shocking images from the scene of the crash showed debris strewn about frost-covered ground as firefighters raced to extinguish the blaze. The plane narrowly avoided hitting a major motorway and instead came down in a wooded area, skidding several hundred metres before finally stopping when it collided with a two-storey residential property. The aircraft pitched to the right with the wingtip angling down and dove into the ground, erupting in a huge fireball that lit up the early morning sky This photograph taken on November 25, 2024 shows burning goods following the crash of a cargo plane Burning packages and wreckage of the DHL cargo plane are seen at the crash site near Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania November 25, 2024 Miraculously, three of the four people on board survived the ordeal, albeit with significant injuries, according to Lithuanian Police Commissioner General Arunas Paulauskas, who told national broadcaster LRT that rescuers managed to pull them from the wreckage. One member of the four-person crew - a man with Spanish nationality - was reportedly found dead at the scene, Lithuanian media reported, but 12 people were evacuated from the stricken building without incident. The cause of the crash remains a mystery as Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre deployed experts to investigate. There was no data to suggest that there had been an explosion prior to the crash, head of the centre Vilmantas Vitkauskas told LRT. 'According to the initial version, the incident may be related to technical problems. However, it is too early to talk about anything more precise,' he said. But Vilnius resident Kotryna Ciupailaite, who said the aircraft flew low over her car as she was driving to work, said she noticed something trailing from the right wing moments before the crash. 'The right wing of the plane turned down before it crashed, as if it was trying to turn. There was something shiny coming out of the right side of the plane, like sparks or a flame, before it hit the ground,' said Ciupailaite. The incident follows reports in recent months that mysterious explosions had occurred at DHL warehouses in Leipzig and Birmingham amid fears of a Russian covert sabotage operation intended to explode aircraft flying in the West. Police Commissioner Paulauskas said investigators have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act. 'This is one of the versions that must be studied and checked,' he said, but added: 'It was most likely due to a technical fault or a human error.' A security camera overlooking the scene captured the plane gliding in toward Vilnius Airport but at a dangerously low altitude Miraculously, both pilots miraculously survived the ordeal, albeit with significant injuries, though one crewmember was killed Lithuanian Emergency Ministry employees work at the site where a DHL cargo plane crashed into a house near Vilnius, Lithuania The moment a DHL cargo plane with four crew crashes into a Vilnius residential building leaving at least one crewmember dead A Police officer guards the DHL cargo plane crash site near Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania November 25, 2024 The explosion from the crash lights up the early morning sky in Vilnius Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport and lined up for landing before crashing a little more than 1.5 kilometres, or one mile, short of the runway. 'The plane was due to land at Vilnius airport and crashed a few kilometres away,' Renatas Pozela, the head of the firefighting and emergency services unit said, confirming that one person in the four-member crew died. '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,' Pozela said. Other officials were careful not to jump to conclusions. State Security Department chief Darius Jauniskis said: '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. 'It is premature to associate (the crash) with anything or to make any attributions,' Jauniskis told reporters. 'In the current geopolitical context, we look at every incident differently than before, but I ask you to refrain from jumping to conclusions,' the outgoing prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte, said in a statement on social media. Emergency service workers attend the scene of the crash in a woodland near Vilnius Lithuanian rescuers are seen working next to the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in the country's capital this morning The plane had been travelling from the German city of Leipzig to the Lithuanian capital and was just one mile from touching down on the runway when the fiery crash occurred A medic was seen taking a photo at the scene of the crash which killed at least one person Three crew members were also said to be injured and 12 residents of a home evacuated A cordon is seen around the affected area with plane wreckage visible among the trees Firefighters are seen at a property near the crash site with smoke continuing to rise in the background 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 told an AP reporter at the scene. 'My first thought is that a world (war) has begun and it's time to grab the documents and run somewhere to a shelter, to a basement.' '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. German logistics company DHL said the aircraft was operated by its partner SwiftAir and had been attempting an 'emergency landing'. 'We can confirm that at approximately 4.30 am CET, a Swiftair aircraft, operated by a service partner on behalf of DHL, performed an emergency landing about one kilometre from VNO Airport (Vilnius, Lithuania) while en route from LEJ Airport (Leipzig, Germany) to VNO Airport,' it said in a statement. A German transport ministry official said the country's Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation 'will support the investigation on site'. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters that the probe to establish the cause of the crash could take 'about a week'. 'So far, there are no signs or evidence suggesting this was sabotage or a terrorist act,' he said. Local Police Chief Paulauskas said investigators had gone to the hospital to talk to the pilots. 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 A pilot of the plane heading to Vilnius airport is reported to have been killed in Monday's crash Smoke is seen billowing following this morning's crash south of the Lithuanian capital Meanwhile, Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas declared an emergency situation following the crash, with traffic restricted on several roads near the airport and crash site. 'We will urgently declare an emergency situation in the area to ensure the rapid liquidation of the consequences of the accident cleaning up the territory, collecting harmful materials,' Benkunskas said in a statement released this morning. The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a 'DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport'. An airport spokesperson said: 'The city's special services are working at the scene and leading the rescue efforts, as well as crews from the Vilnius Airport Fire Service.' The DHL aircraft, a Boeing 737-400, was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. 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. DHL official Ausra Rutkauskien confirmed the plane belonged to the company, while Boeing offered a short statement saying it was ready to help with investigations into the crash. Weather at Vilnius airport this morning was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds said to be at 30kph (18 mph). At the scene of the crash, frost was seen coating the ground not already covered by the wreckage of the plane or burning, ruined goods. Vilnius Airport continued operating as usual following the incident, though some flights were delayed. Emergency workers comb through the wreckage of the cargo plane 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 Lithuania's public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said the aircraft smashed into a two-story home near the capital Vilnius's airport The plane appeared to be lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5km, or one mile, short of the runway The DHL aircraft, a 31-year-old Boeing 737, was operated by Madrid-based contractor Swiftair Western officials have previously this month expressed fears that Russia is behind plots to plant bombs on passenger planes flying to the US and Canada after electronic massagers exploded in a warehouse. Two incendiary devices were shipped via a DHL logistics centre on July 22 to Birmingham, England, and Leipzig, Germany, resulting in a fire. Four people were arrested in connection with the blaze and charged with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. No injuries were reported, with the incident dealt with by staff and the local fire brigade. But investigators believe there could have been far more serious consequences had the devices ignited while in flight. The plane's takeoff was delayed, preventing such an incident from taking place. Head of Poland's foreign intelligence agency, Pawel Szota, blamed Russia, although a statement from the Polish prosecutor's office did not name a foreign government suspected of directing the operations. Images released by the Wall Street Journal, provided by an unnamed European security official, appear to show the massage pillows, suspect and the moment of the explosion. The only official statement in the UK about the alleged plot was made last month, when counter-terror police confirmed a device had caught fire in Birmingham, nobody was hurt, and it was dealt with 'by staff and the local fire brigade at the time'. Russia denied involvement in the alleged plot. 'These are traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Wall Street Journal. Two incendiary devices had been shipped via a DHL logistics centre on July 22 to Birmingham, England, and Leipzig, Germany, resulting in a fire The alleged suspect is spotted in security camera footage Massage pillows and other erotic gadgets were reportedly found in a shipment that concealed incendiary devices that later detonated in British and German DHL depots Concerns over Russia's suspected involvement come as Western officials are increasingly fearing the country may be responsible for similar sabotage acts. German intelligence service chief Thomas Haldenwang previously said Russian 'aggression' was 'putting people's lives at risk' as well as affecting 'all areas of our free society'. Meanwhile, defence officials have warned that Europe is not ready for Russia's tactics of hybrid warfare A former senior European official told the Guardian that the EU is 'totally unprepared' to confront Moscow in its campaign of 'hybrid' warfare, lacking the resources to effectively counter sabotage, arson, assassination and attacks on infrastructure. They said Europe could expect more 'hybrid' attacks to unfold on the continent in the wake of the decision to permit usage of long-range US and UK-supplied missiles against targets deep inside Russia. Russia has been accused of trying to destabilise the West and allies since the war in Ukraine began by allegedly 'weaponising mass migration' along its western border, influencing elections in Moldova and Georgia, jamming aircraft GPS and even sending exploding sex toys to Western Europe. A teenager who was left comatose has said she almost died from meningitis and believes she caught it after sharing a vape and drinks on a night out. Sian Alderton, 18, caught bacterial meningitis - a rare infection that causes inflammation around the brain - after going out with friends in Norwich, Norfolk. She initially thought she had a sickness bug when she began to feel ill the following day but was rushed to hospital when her mum noticed red spots on her body. Ms Alderton was placed in a medically-induced coma for four days as her body battled the infection. She and her mother Kerrie are now raising awareness of the signs of meningitis after doctors believe she could have caught it from 'sharing drinks, a vape or kissing'. Ms Alderton went out on October 18 to two clubs with her friends where she said she shared a vape with them. The doctors treating her explained it might have come from sharing a drink or vape or kissing somebody while she was out but they couldn't pinpoint the cause. Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening infection and can be fatal within 24 hours. Sian Alderton, 18, caught bacterial meningitis - a rare infection that causes inflammation around the brain - after going out with friends in Norwich, Norfolk Ms Alderton went out on October 18 to two clubs with her friends where she said she shared a vape with them Her mother Ms Durrant, 36, said: 'Everything happened so quickly when we arrived at the hospital. 'Sian was put into an induced coma and the doctors and consultants told us Sian was very poorly. 'We would need to prepare for the worst and to say our goodbyes as she may not come out of the coma. SYMPTOMS OF BACTERIAL MENINGITIS: A high temperature Being sick A headache A rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it A stiff neck Sensitivity to light Advertisement 'I want to make people aware that the doctors have to find a source or where the meningitis bacteria started from. 'During tests Sian showed symptoms of sinusitis meaning it could have possibly been contracted through saliva from such things as vaping, kissing or sharing drinks.' The teenager said: 'I'm not a heavy drinker and prefer the socialising of going out. I had three or four drinks. 'I shared my vape with three mutual friends and this is not unusual as everyone shares vapes on a night out. 'I didn't think anything of it because they were my friends.' Ms Alderton thought she had a sickness bug when she started feeling ill the following day and began vomiting after having a Chinese takeaway in the evening. However the next day, she was covered in 'red and purple spots'. Her mother held a glass against the spots but they did not disappear under pressure so the pair raced to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Ms Alderton said: 'The last thing I remember is walking into the hospital entrance. 'I know I was aching and it was hard to move so I sat in a wheelchair but then it gets blurry.' Her mother explained: 'By lunch time Sian was complaining of a headache and I noticed she was drinking a lot of water. 'I suggested to Sian to move to get more comfortable and this is when Sian said 'I can't move mum, I ache'. 'I pulled back the duvet to help her get into a more comfortable position and that's when I noticed the rash on her legs and stomach. Ms Alderton thought she had a sickness bug when she started feeling ill the following day and began vomiting after having a Chinese takeaway in the evening 'They looked like chicken pox or insect bites but the rash was not raised - it felt smooth to the skin and they were red in colour. 'I started to get concerned at this point and I went to get a glass and the rash did not disappear. 'Me and Sian's stepdad decided to take her to A&E ourselves but knowing what I know now I would have called 999. 'During the 20 minute car journey, Sian started holding her head saying 'It hurt really bad' and then started to develop more of a rash on her neck but that was purple.' Within four hours of arriving at the hospital, Sian was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and placed into a medically-induced coma for four days. Ms Alderton added: 'When I woke up a few days later I was still pretty out of it but was told I had bacterial meningococcus or meningitis. 'It was one of a very few cases the hospital had ever seen.' Ms Alderton said: 'It was a really difficult time but my family visiting me every day helped the most. 'My mum came every single day and slept over a few nights so I wasn't alone all the time.' Ms Alderton spent 14 days altogether in hospital and remarkably passed her driving test less than a week after being discharged. Her mother added: 'Myself and the family would really like to thank the NNUH doctors, consultants, nurses and everyone else involved in Sian's care. 'The staff in A&E, resus, ICU and the Heydon Ward really are amazing.' Dr Tom Nutt, CEO of the charity Meningitis Now, said: 'Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening illness that can strike suddenly and progress rapidly. 'While not everyone exposed to the bacteria becomes ill, close contacts of someone with meningitis are at higher risk and may require preventive antibiotics. 'Avoiding the sharing of personal items and staying up to date with vaccinations can help reduce the risk of transmission. 'If you suspect meningitis, trust your instincts and seek urgent medical attention. 'Early diagnosis and treatment can save lives.' Kamala Harris has been roasted for crowing how her presidential campaign raised more than $1.4billion through grass roots funds after splashing it on celebrity appearances and an ad on the Las Vegas sphere. The Vice President boasted in a video message to her supporters that her campaign received a 'historic $1.4billion, almost $1.5billion' from grass roots supporters, which Harris said was 'the most in presidential campaign history'. 'Nearly eight million donors contributed an average donation of about $56 to fuel our people-powered campaign,' she added. But she has been criticised for how her campaign blowing through a billion dollars - with fingers being pointed at the celebrity-filled concert rallies in swing states that took place in the final days of the campaign as well as expensive ad campaigns. Top Democratic megadonor John Morgan, a wealthy trial lawyer, fumed about the spending spree in an appearance on Chris Cuomo's show 'CUOMO' on NewsNation. 'All of a sudden, everybody's got the keys to the candy store, ad buyers, talent consultants. There's 100 days to do it, and the money started pouring in, pouring in,' he said. He bemoaned some of the profligate spending decisions, like lighting up the Las Vegas "Sphere" to the tune of $900,000, plus ad-buys in his home state of Florida and wall-to-wall ads in the unsuccessful bid to prevent Donald Trump's return to the White House. He suggested ill motives for some of the costs. 'She had all these consultants. And if you don't run the ads, you don't get paid for the buy. Nine hundred thousand to put her face on the sphere in Las Vegas! The ego, the crazy, the commissions,' he complained. The Vice President boasted in a video message to her supporters that her campaign received a 'historic $1.4billion, almost $1.5billion' from grass roots supporters, which Harris said was 'the most in presidential campaign history'. VP Harris's campaign paid about $1 million to Oprah Winfrey's production company, in an effort that tried to use celebrity endorsements to help propel her Morgan ripped the campaign for paying to put Harris's face on the Las Vegas Sphere, in an eye catching ad in battleground Nevada Other campaign expenses that have raised eyebrows have included up to $4million on private jets, $1million to Oprah Winfrey's production company Harpo studios, $5,000 to a California nail artist, and more. She also spent $654million on advertising, according to AdImpact. Legendary talk show host Winfrey is not the only entertainer who received money from the Vice President in the hopes of helping her presidential campaign. Harris reportedly spent six figures to build out the set for her October appearance on the hit podcast 'Call Her Daddy', where she sat down with the show's host Alex Cooper. While Harris avoided the show's typically sexual content, she spoke of her take on abortion rights and student debt during the seven minute sit down. According to a report by The Washington Examiner, her campaign had spent six figures on building out the set of the podcast for her small appearance. The outlet also reported that it was filmed inside a hotel room in Washington DC, with crews building out the set to imitate Cooper's actual set in Los Angeles. The Harris campaign also paid half a million dollars to a non-profit founded by longtime on-air personality the Rev. Al Sharpton just before he interviewed her, which reportedly blindsided cable news network MSNBC. The donations that flowed in just before the New York activist's conversation with Harris have brought up questions about the news outlet's credibility. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Rev. Al Sharpton exit after having lunch at Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem, February 21, 2019 in New York City. According to Sharpton's civil rights organization National Action Network, the two discussed criminal justice reform and other critical issues According to a report by The Washington Examiner, Harris' campaign had spent six figures on building out the set of the podcast for her small appearance Katy Perry performs during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Carrie Blast Furnaces in Pittsburgh, November 4, 2024 The National Action Network, a civil rights non-profit that was founded by Sharpton in 1991, received $500,000 from the Harris campaign just weeks before the MSNBC host conducted a highly-anticipated sit-down with the Democrat. Campaign finance records from the 60-year-old's campaign reveal that two separate payments went to National Action Network. One payment for $250,000 was sent to the non-profit on Sept. 5 and another for the same amount was sent on Oct. 1. The softball interview with Sharpton occurred on Oct. 20, just weeks after the second payment. MSNBC is widely known to be a liberal-leaning channel, and the fact that one of its top talents took in a huge amount of cash just before a consequential interview has caused backlash from journalists who say the outlet's now got a 'black eye.' During the rosy interview, the MSNBC host lavishly praised Harris' 'extraordinary historic campaign' while simultaneously decrying Donald Trump as 'hostile and erratic.' The spending spree was all part of a campaign that relied on big rallies, frequent trips to swing states, and no small measure of celebrity and support from A-list musicians and actors. Now, in the aftermath of her defeat, her campaign continues to send out a string of solicitations to raise money to try to pay off a campaign debt reported to be as high as $20 million. Harris said in her video to supporters that her 'fight for freedom, for opportunity, included 'almost four million first-time contributors to our campaign'. Event production, like the podcast appearance, was a big spend for the campaign who hosted the likes of Lady Gaga (pictured at Harris's Philadelphia rally) and Katy Perry on the eve of the election Vice President Kamala Harris is photographed delivering her concession speech on Wednesday, November 6 on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C. 'I just have to remind you, don't you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th,' Harris said in the video message posted to X, referencing the date of the presidential election that she lost to President-elect Donald Trump. In the past three weeks, Trump has gotten his transition going by naming a flurry of Cabinet appointees. Harris, in the meantime, had decamped to Hawaii for a post-election-loss vacation and then arrived in the Bay Area Monday to spend Thanksgiving break among family. She was dressed in work-wear for the video in what appeared to be a living room and looked bleary-eyes as she delivered the 28-second message. 'And you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire,' she continued. 'So don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.' Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, spent six days at a $1,300-a-night vacation property on Hawaii's big island, rarely venturing out in public, DailyMail.com reported on Monday. The home was a 5,200 sq. ft, five-bedroom property owned by a scion of the Mondavi wine family. And according to the online listing, the rental included 'three complimentary bottles of Mondavi family wine with every reservation.' Disgraced former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed's daughter has been cleared of robbing her brother's iPhone in the gym of their family's Grade I listed estate. Camilla Fayed, 39, previously pleaded not guilty to robbing Omar Fayed of his 1,900 phone in the gym at Barrow Green Court, near Oxted in Surrey, on May 18 2020. She was accused of a single count of robbery alongside her husband Mohamad Esreb, 44, Matthew Littlewood, 35, and Andrew Bott, 52, in relation to the same alleged incident. Mr Esreb and Mr Bott pleaded not guilty to the charge at a hearing in May, and Mr Littlewood denied the count at the beginning of a hearing at Guildford Crown Court today. A trial was due to start in February next year but today the prosecution offered no evidence in respect of all the defendants and the case against her was abandoned. Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told the court: 'I advised the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) on quite a number of issues and ultimately the decision was made due to a combination of factors.' Ms Marshall said there were difficulties around 'material provided directly from the complainant himself'. Judge Patricia Lees said: 'In those circumstances then the court will enter not guilty verdicts in respect of each defendant. Camilla Fayed was set to stand trial charged with stealing her brother's 1,900 iPhone in May 2020, alongside her husband and two bodyguards Omar Fayed is pictured with their father Mohamed Al Fayed in 2007 Camilla is pictured with her father at an Issa event in 2014 'As far as they are concerned they are discharged from the court.' Ms Fayed, of Park Lane, central London, did not attend the hearing on Wednesday but Mr Esreb, also of Park Lane, Mr Littlewood, of Haydock Road, Colburn, North Yorkshire, and Mr Bott, of Coppice Wood, County Durham, appeared via a video link. One-time fashion designer Fayed sold her designer label Issa to House of Fraser in 2017 before opening upmarket vegan restaurant Farmacy in Notting Hill. It counts Madonna and Stella McCartney among its patrons. Co-accused Littlewood was awarded a Brigadier's Commendation for Distinguished Service for his service across three tours of Afghanistan, where he led a reconnaissance team tasked with uncovering Taliban weapons caches and capturing 'high-value targets'. His CV says that he offers 'discreet and overt close protection and protective surveillance for an ultra high net worth family'. Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed died last year at the age of 94 and is interred at the Surrey estate. After his death, an avalanche of allegations emerged accusing the late businessman of sexually abusing women, many of which had been employees at Harrods. Barrow Green Court, a Grade I listed estate in Oxted, Surrey, is owned by the Al Fayed family Scores of sex attack allegations have been made against billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed (pictured), dating back almost half a century The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over complaints from two women over the handling of investigations into allegations against Al Fayed first made in 2008 and 2013. The complaints address concerns about the quality of police response and, in the case of the 2013 investigation, how details came to be disclosed publicly. In October, the Met Police revealed they are investigating 40 new allegations against Al Fayed and others since the BBC documentary. The 40 new allegations relate to 40 alleged victims and are in addition to allegations police were aware of before the BBC's investigation and documentary, Scotland Yard said. Before the recent media coverage, 21 allegations were made against the late billionaire which resulted in crimes being recorded relating to 21 separate women between 2005 and 2023. An Aussie disability advocate has revealed a nightmare experience onboard a luxury cruise ship due to a lack of accessibility inside the rooms. Shane Hryhorec had been looking forward to his eight-day European voyage onboard the MSC Grandiosa from Marseille in southern France. The Adelaide man, who uses a wheelchair, says he was told by cruise company staff during the booking process prior to his trip to fill out a separate document detailing his needs. So the experienced traveller, who had never been on a cruise, was shocked when he discovered onboard his cruise, which he took in August, that the wrong room had been reserved. He uploaded TikTok videos to reveal the room's small space and lack of accessibility to essential facilities such as a private bathroom. 'Oh my god, this is not what I booked,' Mr Hryhorec exclaimed in one video as he was led into the room by a staff member. The clip showed a large step fitted on the doorstep of the bathroom, which would make it difficult for Mr Hryhorec to access. A second step fitted in front of the combined shower/bathtub added to the inaccessibility. Disability advocate Shane Hryhorec (pictured) was left shocked when he discovered that MSC had reserved the wrong room for him on the cruise ship @wheelaroundtheworld When your accessible room isnt so accessible Part two of my cruise experience, and its been a challenging start! The room Ive been given is anything but accessible. From bunk beds to a bathroom with steps and a heavy door, its been a struggle to even get inside, let alone use the facilities. The team at guest services are trying their best, but this has definitely been an eye-opener about the lack of accessible options on cruise ships. Have you booked an accessible room only to find it wasnt what you expected? This video dives into what happened and how Im navigating it. If you or someone you know has a disability and is planning a cruise, these videos will be your guide to avoid surprises like mine! #AccessibleTravel #CruiseLife #DisabilityAwareness #WheelchairTravel #CruisingTips #TravelWithPurpose original sound - WHEEL AROUND THE WORLD 'It's a disaster. This is absolutely not fine,' he said. Another video shows Mr Hryhorec trying to explain the situation to guest services staff, who said they would try to find him a room with facilities suited to his needs. One staff member suggested he instead use the public toilets on the ship whenever he needed to use the bathroom. Mr Hryhorec was 'frustrated and upset' and he even considered abandoning his dream cruise trip. 'I might ... just get off the boat at Barcelona [in Spain's north-east], just cancel the cruise and maybe just find a way back to Marseille,' he said. Mr Hryhorec was eventually given a better room, which didn't include the features he originally paid extra for. He included pictures of conversation notes with the cruise line in one of the videos he posted, which indicated the date MSC confirmed his room was accessible. Mr Hryhorec was also not offered a refund and was told he wouldn't be eligible to be reimbursed if he abandoned the voyage due to company policy. Mr Hryhorec remains 'traumatised' by the ordeal and has vowed to never cruise with MSC again. 'I always dreamed of going on a cruise ... but it was just baffling and made me angry,' he told Yahoo News. 'They pretty much put all the blame back on me even though I showed them all my efforts.' He also claims he didn't receive an apology from staff. 'When you take a step back, there's two things with accessibility. There's the hardware, like the ramps and the entrance and the physical things,' Mr Hryhorec said. 'Then there's the software, which is the human aspect, the empathy.' Mr Hryhorec was disappointed about the onboard experience and even considered abandoning his dream cruise trip (pictured the MSC Grandiosa) The nightmare ordeal hasn't put him off going on cruise holidays and he says his first voyage won't be his last. 'I would like to believe that this is an isolated incident,' he said. A MSC Cruises spokesman told Daily Mail Australia Mr Hryhorec was informed there were no accessible rooms available on the cruise after they received the special request form. 'He was offered the choice of a full refund with no penalty or the opportunity to move his cruise to a later date,' the spokesman said. 'Despite this, Mr. Hryhorec chose to proceed with his cruise.' The spokesman confirmed that Mr Hryhorec was provided with an accessible cabin during the cruise. Mr Hryhorec was inundated with support from TikTok viewers, who were left shocked by his experience. 'That is really disappointing, if they can't provide you with an accessible room you should get a refund,' one wrote. Another commenter added: 'I am so angry at this. Not accessible [equals] not acceptable. Others said they couldn't comprehend why the rooms included steps that make it difficult for people with disabilities to access. 'How is an accessible room with a step even considered an accessible room?' one person asked. The MSC Grandiosa has a total of 2,421 rooms on board, however just 60 rooms are accessible for passengers with mobility difficulties. Around 5.5million Aussies live with a disability according to the latest figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. More than 180,000 Australians use a wheelchair. Police are hunting down a man and a woman who missing Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi sent money to via Venmo after she missed her flight to New York from LAX in a major twist in her disappearance. Hannah, a 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. Her family, which faced yet another blow as Hannah's father Ryan committed suicide on Sunday, fears she has since been taken out of California. 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 on November 11. Her family revealed that on November 9, the day after she was meant to arrive in New York, she made two payments using Venmo. One was at 6:25pm to a person called Veronica Almendarez for an unknown amount, with the description of the payment only showing a drawn bow and arrow emoji. The second was made less than an hour later to someone called Jonathan Taylor, also for an undisclosed amount, with the description only saying: 'Reading.' According to her sister Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah sent these payments to people whose names have not been recognised by the family. Their relationship with Hannah is not currently known, but the missing woman's family told the Sun that the LAPD is investigating the matter. Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) 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 Her father Ryan (pictured) tragically took his own life on Sunday after flying into LA to search for her Hannah sent two people money on Venmo after missing her flight to New York 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 Hannah's aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told the Sun: 'We have been made aware and so have the LAPD. It's in their hands. 'We are still focused on Downtown LA. Even though it's been 15 [days] we still have hope.' Pidgeon admitted she and the family fears she may have been taken out of California. 'We are also now encouraging people from across the nation to keep an eye in case she has been taken outside of California. 'We are looking at all possibilities, hotels, metros, bus, train stations.' The circumstances surrounding Hannah's disappearance are murky, made murkier still by the suicide of her father Ryan, who committed suicide and was found dead at the bottom of a parking lot near LAX on Sunday after flying in to search for his daughter. 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. One of Hannah's friends received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble Her family received strange texts from her phone number, leading them to believe they had not been sent by Hanna 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. 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. 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. Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after missing her connecting flight to New York from LAX on November 8 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. Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi's sister has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continue their agonizing search Kobayashi was finally seen leaving the Metro Pico Station with the unidentified person at 10:03pm 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.' This is the last known image of her leaving LAX, after she missed her connecting flight to New York to visit family 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. '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. Sir Keir Starmer today refused to say that taxes will not rise again despite Rachel Reeves making the pledge to business. In bad-tempered clashes at PMQs, the premier insisted he was 'not going to write the next five years of Budgets right here at this despatch box'. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch swiped that the burden would inevitably rise again under Labour - and also goaded Sir Keir over millions of Brits signing a petition demanding a fresh general election. The Chancellor - who was seated behind Sir Keir this afternoon - made the pledge on Monday as she sought to placate business leaders about her 25billion raid on employer national insurance. She told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference: 'I'm really clear, I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes.' Economists cast doubt on the commitment, with spending plans branded 'front loaded' and 'implausible'. Tories pointed out that Labour had already broken election promises over tax. Yesterday, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds appeared to contradict Ms Reeves by suggesting instead that any tax hikes would be on a lesser scale. Mr Reynolds told MPs: 'What the Chancellor was saying at the CBI was to make clear... that there will not be a further ask of the business community comparable to what we had to do at the beginning of this parliament.' In bad-tempered clashes at PMQs, Keir Starmer insisted he was 'not going to write the next five years of Budgets right here at this despatch box' Tory leader Kemi Badenoch swiped that the burden would inevitably rise again under Labour - and also goaded Sir Keir over millions of Brits signing a petition demanding a fresh general election But Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds appeared to contradict her by apparently suggesting instead that any tax hikes would be on a lesser scale Ms Badenoch opened today's session of PMQs by going on the attack over the Budget and tax. 'At the CBI conference on Monday, the Chancellor said and I quote 'I'm clear, I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes',' she said. 'I know that telling the truth to this House is important to the Prime Minister, so will he repeat his Chancellor's pledge now?' Sir Keir replied: 'We set out our position at the Budget, which was just set out. We're fixing the foundations. We're dealing with the 22billion black hole that they left. 'I'm not going to write the next five years of budgets here at this despatch box but we said we wouldn't hit the payslips of working people. 'We've passed the Budget. We've invested in the future, and we've kept that promise.' Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir of 'making everything worse' rather than 'fixing foundations'. 'The whole House would have heard him refuse to repeat the Chancellor's pledge, a pledge as worthless as the manifesto promises that he's talking about,' she said. 'If he is fixing foundations, why is it that the PMI (purchasing managers' index) index shows that business confidence has crashed since the Budget?' Sir Keir hit back: 'She talks about tax rises but two weeks ago she stood there and said she wanted all the investment, all the benefits of the Budget, but she didn't know how she was going to pay for it.' Asked after PMQs if Ms Reeves was wrong to rule out further tax rises on Monday, the PM's official spokesman said: 'She's always been clear this was a once-in-a-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean.' Economists have voiced significant doubts about the Chancellor's pledge not to hike taxes, saying the remarks could 'come back to haunt her' and that she would need to 'get lucky' with better growth to fulfil it. Ben Zaranko, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a leading economic think-tank, said that with pressures mounting on the public sector it would be 'extremely difficult' to stick to present spending plans. 'It wouldn't be at all surprising if those plans get topped up,' Mr Zaranko said. If the economy improves, Ms Reeves would have more money to pay for the extra spending but that is not guaranteed. 'The question then is whether the Chancellor gets lucky on growth or whether she has to come back with more tax rises,' said Mr Zaranko. Business leaders are furious with Ms Reeves over the NI hike which they say poses a grave threat to jobs. They have warned it will be passed on in the form of lower wages and higher prices. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said: 'I can see why she said it. 'The Budget hasn't gone down well and she needs to convince everyone that it was a one-off so people can move forward without worrying about a repeat. But there's a chance it will come back to haunt her.' Already, the cost of Government borrowing on financial markets has risen in reaction to Ms Reeves's spending splurge, reducing the Chancellor's 'headroom' to meet her rule on balancing the books, Mr Dales noted. He said it 'wouldn't take much more' of such increases, or a weakening of the economy 'to mean that the rule will be broken unless she raises taxes or cuts spending' 'So she's skating on thin ice already,' Mr Dales added. 'It's certainly a risky strategy.' Rachel Reeves made the pledge on Monday as she sought to placate business leaders about her 25 billion raid on employer national insurance Despite Ms Reeves saying the spending 'envelope' for departments is now fixed, the respected IFS think-tank has warned that the government's plans are 'front-loaded' and look 'implausibly tight' Julian Jessop, economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think-tank, said the pledge not to raise taxes further 'lacks credibility'. 'Her own fiscal rules mean there are many scenarios in which taxes could have to rise further,' Mr Jessop added. And it comes after Labour has already broken its promise not to put up national insurance. 'The breach of the manifesto and election campaign commitments on tax (in spirit if not necessarily the letter) have undermined trust in anything the new government says,' said Mr Jessop. He said Mr Reynolds 'rowing back' was a 'more credible position', suggesting that Labour will not again raise 40 billion in a single Budget but 'still leaves the door open for many smaller rises'. John Roberts, AO chief executive, was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday whether he was reassured on the tax front. 'I don't think there's very much that's reassuring frankly at the minute,' he said. 'I don't think that it's a job creation, and I don't think that it's a growth budget. 'The truth will be when we see the government's plans for what they plan do with the debt that they are saddling the country with. 'The focus is on is the government going to spend that money wisely. I haven't seen any indication of that from a business point of view.' Tory MP Neil Shastri-Hurst said: 'We have all heard this one before. At the general election, Labour said they would not raise taxes. 'Yet, they raised a record 40billion through tax rises in their first Budget. Labour's anti-growth agenda means they will always be forced to turn to the taxpayer.' Labour will need to loosen immigration rules to find an extra half-a-million construction workers required to meet its housebuilding target, economists have warned. Ministers are pledging to build 1.5million new homes over the next five years - equivalent to 300,000 per year - and have proposed an overhaul of planning rules in order to meet their ambition. But Capital Economics have said the Government will also need a further 500,000 construction workers in England to fulfil their goal. They judged this would be a 'struggle' at the same time as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is pledging to reduce net migration to the UK. In a new report, the researchers said ministers could consider 'carving out visas for construction workers' as it was 'unlikely' that domestic workers could fill the shortfall. PM Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy PM Angela Rayner are pledging to build 1.5million new homes over the next five years Capital Economics said there is an annual shortfall of about 65,000 homes that need to be built for the Government to meet its homebuilding target The researchers noted how 'construction employment in England has been on a downward trend' over the past year 'With 234,400 net additional dwellings in England in 2022/23, there is an annual shortfall of about 65,000 homes that need to be built for the Government to meet its homebuilding target of 1.5 million homes between 2025 and 2029,' the report said. 'But even if the Government is successful in ungumming the planning process and 300,000 home approvals were granted each year, the risk is that there wouldnt be enough construction workers to build the extra homes.' Capital Economics noted how 'construction employment in England has been on a downward trend' over the past year. 'The relationship between net additional dwellings and construction employment in England suggests that around 500,000 (29 per cent) more construction workers are needed, or 2.4 million in total, to meet the Governments target of 300,000 new homes a year,' the report added. 'Existing labour shortages in the construction sector suggest this number of workers would be hard to find.' The researchers added: 'Whats more, the Governments pledge to reduce net inward migration means there is likely to be a smaller pool of migrant workers available. 'So, at a time when labour supply is already constrained, the Governments ambition to reduce net inward migration will only make it harder for the Government to meet its homebuilding target. 'Of course, the need for more construction workers could be satisfied by the domestic labour force, but we think this is unlikely. 'Either way, to have a chance at meeting its homebuilding target the Government needs to ensure there are enough workers, perhaps by promoting training schemes and/or carving out visas for construction workers within total migration targets.' A young autistic woman with a history of mental health issues died after taking 'dangerously available' poison she ordered from abroad. 'Bright and kind' Hannah Aitken had struggled with her mental health since she was 12 and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 2017. Over the next five years, she was admitted to seven different hospitals for mental health treatment. The 22-year-old was living in supported living accommodation in Caterham, Surrey last year when she took a poisonous substance to end her life which she ordered online from abroad. Paramedics rushed to treat her but didn't have the antidote on hand and she tragically passed away. Her family don't know how she learned of the poison and where to buy it - and were shocked to learn coroners have been warning of the 'dangerous availability' of these substances for years. Medical consultants told Hannah's inquest that the use of the substance - the name of which is redacted - is becoming more and more common for self-harm. Since 2020, the Home Office has received at least five Prevention of Future Death Reports relating to it. But the reports found there are no restrictions on the import of it from abroad. A coroner has written to the Home Office and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to urge them to take action. 'Bright and kind' Hannah Aitken had struggled with her mental health since she was 12 and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 2017. She is pictured with her dog Milo The 22-year-old was living in supported living accommodation in Caterham, Surrey last year when she took a poisonous substance to end her life. Hannah is pictured as a child At a six-day hearing at Surrey Coroner's Court, HM Assistant Coroner Anna Loxton highlighted the risks of the poison and sent a Prevention of Future Death Report. The substance was marked as delivered to Hannah on September 14 and later that day she called out to her support workers for help. She said she had taken an overdose but wouldn't give them the details of the substance and had hidden the packaging. Hannah became unresponsive and suffered cardiac arrest and couldn't be resuscitated. The report into her death said she had written about wanting to end her life in a notebook 'some weeks prior to her death at around the time of ordering the substance'. It was found on her bed after she died. Hannah's father Pete Aitken said: 'As a child, Hannah was bright, kind and active with the most beautiful smile and deep blue eyes. Despite her struggles with her mental health over the years, before she died she was where she wanted to be, living in the community with her beloved dog Milo. 'There were shocking shortcomings in the regulation of the poisonous substance she took. 'We have learnt that the risks associated with this poison have been known about for at least five years and that coroner's have been repeatedly raising concerns about its dangers. Yet clearly, vulnerable adults like Hannah can still get access to it and use it to end their lives. 'We have discovered that there is an antidote to the poison, which tragically was not available to the ambulance crew who treated Hannah. 'Following a death in the West Midlands, the ambulance service there has equipped teams with the antidote as part of a trial which the Coroner was told is now being expanded. We would urge all ambulance services to join this trial. 'We were grateful to the Coroner for asking the Home Office to attend the inquest and provide evidence on the system of regulation of the poisonous substance. 'However, to say that we have heard mixed messages from the Home Office is truly an understatement. 'We were shocked to hear from the Home Office that the objectives of the Poisons Act do not include prevention of suicide and self-harm, and so it was never intended to protect someone like Hannah. We were also very disappointed to hear that the Home Office has no plans to further restrict access to the poison. The Border Force released a parcel containing a poisonous substance without examining its contents, according to a coroner, and it was delivered to Dr Shaw nine days later. Stock image 'This is despite knowing of the repeated concerns raised by Coroners about its accessibility, and by their own admission having no knowledge of how widespread legitimate uses of the substance are. 'It is very concerning for us that many of the issues raised in the inquest into Hannah's death have been raised in previous inquests over five years, but that the numerous previous Prevention of Future Death reports had not been acted on in time to help Hannah. 'Our hope is that the Government respond urgently to address the risks this Coroner has again shone a light on, so that fewer families have to go through the pain, trauma and grief we have endured.' Caleb Bawdon, the family's solicitor at Leigh Day, said they believe Hannah's death was avoidable. 'Had lessons been learned from previous deaths involving this poisonous substance, she would still be alive today. 'The Home Office was called to this inquest, against its will, to give evidence which the Aitken family believe revealed the lack of any effective system to regulate this poison to protect from suicide and self-harm. 'We also heard of the lack of any regulation regarding imports of this substance from abroad, even where the Border Force identify a risk of suicide from a particular package. 'My clients believe this is not good enough and are calling for the Home Office to take urgent action to introduce regulation to prevent suicide and self-harm from this lethal substance.' In May, Catherine McKenna, the Area Coroner for Manchester North, sent the government a similar report. This was after a doctor killed himself with poison that had been intercepted by the Border Force on the way from Malaysia, but they had no power to stop him from getting it. The intercepted package containing poison was released and delivered to Dr Jonathan Shaw, who had ordered it online. Sophia Gurung, 16, attended the prestigious Queen Anne's School in Reading, Berkshire, and took her own life after swallowing a poison she ordered online from Ukraine An inquest heard that the parcel - containing poison which isn't officially banned - was flagged and seized by officers when it arrived in the country. Current legislation means the agency can only keep hold of such items for up to 30 days. The Border Force released the parcel without examining its contents, according to a coroner, and it was delivered to Dr Shaw nine days later. Police weren't told the package had been sent to him and sadly, although he told family and police he would dispose of it, Dr Shaw hid it and used it to kill himself. The coroner said evidence from the inquest revealed 'matters giving rise to concern'. 'In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken,' she wrote. In response, the Home Secretary said: 'The Home Office is actively exploring legislative and policy options, including working with or alongside officials of other Government Departments as appropriate, for the control of [REDACTED] (and other similar substances)'. In 2023, a teenage schoolgirl took her own life after swallowing a poison she ordered online from Ukraine. Sophia Gurung, 16, was a 'quiet, hard working and positive student' at the prestigious and private Queen Anne's School in Reading, Berkshire, where she boarded during the week. Sophia was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital (pictured) in Oxford and was sadly pronounced dead at 2.18am on July 26, 2023 She was pronounced dead in the early hours of July 26 following a sudden and mysterious collapse while staying at home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire with her parents over the summer term. The coroner for Oxfordshire Darren Salter told an inquest into the teenager's death that a later police investigation found that Sophia had ingested a lethal chemical she ordered online and have it delivered to her home address. The poison is believed to be linked to more than 130 UK deaths since 2019 and has raised concerns about the online exploitation of vulnerable people by unscrupulous 'poison sellers' abroad. For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support A Met Police officer is under investigation for common assault after a Sex Education star claimed he was unlawfully arrested earlier this year. Actor Reece Richards claimed in an Instagram post he had been pepper sprayed by police and accused them of 'racial profiling'. He said he was thrown to the ground and kicked by officers in Fulham, west London, in September this year, after being mistaken for a suspect, which he claimed he 'didn't fit the description' of. The actor, who plays Eugene in the hit Netflix series, said the incident took place 'just yards from my front door' after he had finished performing in a production of Hairspray The Musical. The Independent Office For Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed an officer is being probed on suspicion of common assault and potential gross misconduct. A second police officer is also being investigated for potential misconduct. Richards said: 'On Wednesday September 4, between 12.38am and 2.30am, I was the victim of an unlawful arrest... I had just finished performing in Hairspray the Musical when a car crashed near me.' The actor said two men jumped out of the vehicle so he pointed police to the direction in which they had fled. Reece Richards said the incident left him 'confused' as he said he was 'treated like a criminal' Richards claimed he was pepper sprayed and had his legs kicked from under him by police during an 'unlawful arrest' He said the officer then shouted to him that he was under arrest and 'demanded' he get to the ground. Richards added: 'I was confused, unable to understand why I was suddenly being treated like a criminal. 'Calmly, I explained that I was a performer returning from a show, but one officer yelled, 'get to the floor or I'll pepper spray you'. 'Moments later, three more officers ran at me. They pepper sprayed me, kicked my legs out from under me, threw me to the ground and handcuffed me. 'In a flash, I was face-down on the pavement with multiple officers holding me down, forcing my head into the ground. 'I was already injured from the show, but having four officers on top of me worsened my injuries to my back, ribs and stomach.' Loose Women star Brenda Edwards, who is the director of the show Richards was starring in, also alleged he had been 'racially profiled and violated'. Describing the incident, Mr Richards said: 'That feeling of helplessness will never leave me' The official Hairspray UK Tour has said it stands in 'full support and solidarity' with Richards The actor appeared to be told to 'stay where you are' by an officer threatening him with pepper spray in in footage captured nearby and later posted to Instagram Richards, who played Eugene on the hit Netflix show Sex Education (pictured above), accused the Met Police of 'racial profiling' An IOPC spokesperson said: 'Our investigation into the incident on Fulham Palace Road, West London on September 4 is ongoing. 'The investigation is looking into the use of force by Met Police officers during the arrest of a man, who was later dearrested. 'In November, we advised an officer that they were under criminal investigation for the potential offence of common assault. 'The same officer is also being investigated for potential gross misconduct and a second officer is being investigated for potential misconduct. 'This does not mean that disciplinary or criminal proceedings will necessarily follow. 'At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings and whether any referral should be made to the Crown Prosecution Service.' The Bay Area's newest Costco has people lining up days in advance in hopes of snagging rare bottles of whiskey. Shoppers have been camped outside the store in Pleasanton since Thursday, at least - almost a week before its grand opening. That's set for 7:30am local time Wednesday - and a certain spirit has piqued their interest. Posts online show how that it is whiskey - like the coveted bourbon Pappy Van Winkle. A bottle of its rare, hard-to-find 23-year can command a $1,500 price tag or more, as it is in extremely limited supply. Bottles like Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and Russells Reserve 15-Year have also been brought up - as eager buyers have shown they more than willing pay their $500 and $250 respective price tags. All are in scarce supply, but Costco, specifically at grand openings, have been known to carry them. All are often upsold for a profit. Other more modestly priced spirits are being sought as well. A storm last week thus did not slow shoppers down - with one man flying all the way out from Hawaii to get his hands on something. Scroll down for video: The Bay Area's newest Costco has people lining up days in advance in hopes of snagging rare bottles of whiskey Shoppers have been camped outside the store in Pleasanton since Thursday, at least - almost a week before its grand opening 'The mission is to see what liquor they have, what whiskey they have, and try to get some good stuff,' Jaison Lee told local CBS-affiliate KPIX Thursday, as a storm that would batter the area for several days just began to set in. He went on to call flying in with his wife 'an adventure', setting up a tent and folding chairs as rain poured just outside the store. Another man, Sean, who did not give his last name, told the station how he was firmly set on staying in line for the duration, saying 'I'll be here for like 22 of the 24 hours each day, and then that blue Excursion is where I will take naps.' He recalled recent texts from his wife such as 'are you sure you want to do this?' and 'have you gone insane' - still not enough to de-stoke his interests. 'Mainly it is the experience and it's also being able to acquire some bottles that you don't have to overpay for like bourbon and whiskey,' he explained. Lee added in an interview with Fox 2 a day later, "I was not counting on the weather, and I was not paying attention to it. I found out when we got here. 'We got a tent here, sleeping bags. Just trying to stay out of the rain as much as possible.' One man, also willing to go the distance, proudly proclaimed, 'The good stuff comes to those who wait. Happy Black Friday.' 'The mission is to see what liquor they have, what whiskey they have, and try to get some good stuff,' Jaison Lee said last week, as a storm that would batter the area for several days just began to set in. He and his wife flew in all the way from Hawaii in hopes of obtaining some rare whiskey This man also camped out for nearly a week - stocking up on food and supplies to go the distance 'Mainly it is the experience and it's also being able to acquire some bottles that you don't have to overpay for like bourbon and whiskey,' one person explained - after receiving a text from his wife asking if he had gone 'crazy' The same man, Sean, six days ago said, 'I'll be here for like 22 of the 24 hours each day, and then that blue Excursion [his car] is where I will take naps' Pictured, a bottle Pappy Van Winkle. A bottle of its rare, hard-to-find 23-year can command a $1,500 price-tag or more, as it is in extremely limited supply As rain poured on those waiting onside, speculation swirled on Reddit on whether certain, sought-after spirits would surface at the Costco when it opens it doors. 'I was just there and got kicked off the property,' wrote one person Saturday. 'A guy paid me $800 to hang out in his 4 person Coleman tent and watch Netflix with him. 'He said it wouldnt be weird and all I had to do was buy whiskey he had hand written on the first page of a composition book.' Another poster went on to reveal how all the campers - Lee, Sean, and company included - had been told over the weekend to leave the property and Return Wednesday morning four hours before opening. Seemingly undeterred, the poster wrote, 'If you're looking for Pappy [Van Winkle], BTAC (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection), OFC (Buffalo Trace's Old Fashioned Copper) ..., RR15 (Russells Reserve 15-Year)... I'd say go screw the flippers over and get there.' The line has since resumed, and prospective buyers are now at the home stretch. However, like almost all ventures, it is a gamble, with no confirmation from Costco that any of the bottles mentioned - and previously spotted at openings like the one in Napa last month - will be in stock. The store still has at least two sought-after whiskeys, though - Blantons Single Barrel Bourbon ($59.99) and Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon ($32.49), according to photos posted by Pleasanton Mayor-elect Jack Balch, who toured the facility Other stores sell Eagle Rare for $60 or more, said Medina, and the Blantons for at least $120. Some of the store's whiskey stock is seen here. Of the chances it includes any Pappy Van Winkle, a Costco wine steward cryptically told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday, 'Its a possibility... I want to buy some myself' The Napa store sold about $500,000 worth of wine and spirits on opening day alone - showing a clear interest. Whether the store will carry Pappy Van Winkle, the crown jewel - and often the white whale - of all whiskey connoisseurs, remains unknown ahead of the anticipated 7:30am ribbon cutting. 'Its a possibility, Selman Medina, a wine steward at the Napa Costco, cryptically told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday of the chances. 'I want to buy some myself,' he quickly added. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 7:30am PT. Mishal Husain is to leave the BBC after a 26-year career as she today became the latest high-profile female journalist to depart the organisation. The presenter of Radio 4's Today programme follows Martha Kearney in leaving the show this year after the Irish star stepped down in the summer. But while Kearney has carried on presenting elsewhere on the BBC, Husain has gone entirely, announcing she is heading to Bloomberg. It is a huge coup for the media company, which is seen as less prestigious in the UK at least. It comes after claims she had not taken to recent addition to the presenting line-up Emma Barnett and had 'not been terribly happy' on the show. In a statement, the 51-year-old journalist said: 'My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4. 'I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best.' Then announcing the news of her new job at Bloomberg, she wrote on X: 'My news .. heading to Bloomberg to host a multi-platform global interview show as part of the recently launched Weekend Edition. Much to look forward to in this new chapter of career and life.' Hussain, who fronted several 2024 general election debates for the BBC this year, joined the corporation in 1998. Mishal Husain will leave the BBC after a 26-year career when she steps down from the Today programme Husain joined the BBC as a producer before becoming a presenter on BBC World News in 2001 Here, Husain is pictured alongside Labour's Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak of the Conservative party during a debate in June Announcing the news of her new job at Bloomberg, she wrote on X that she is looking 'forward to in this new chapter of career and life' Previously, it was believed that Husain was having talks with bosses at the BBC about moving to a new role at the corporation, once she departed the Today programme. Numerous sources had suggested bosses were desperate to keep hold of her and were dreaming up new projects the highly-respected journalist could be used for. But today's announcement, which marked the end of a 26-year career, featured a statement from Husain that was just two sentences long. Meanwhile BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness said: 'Mishal leaves the BBC with an incredible journalistic legacy. After more than a decade on the Today programme she is going with our gratitude and affection and we wish her the best of luck in her new chapter. 'I very much hope the BBC and Mishal will get the chance to work together again one day.' Discussing her new role, Husain added: 'I am delighted to be fronting a new interview show that will reach audiences in different formats as part of the exciting plans for Bloomberg Weekend Edition. 'Ours is an ever more complex world but the desire for thoughtful conversations crosses all borders. I look forward to working with a new team at Bloomberg - the place which gave me my first job in journalism.' The presenter, who is highly regarded within the BBC, was said to be remaining on air until the new year. According to The Times, in January she was believed to be likely to take up a long-service benefit which lets people take up to five weeks of extra paid leave if they have been working at the BBC for more than 25 years. One insider told the paper: 'After 11 years Mishal has reached the point where the 3.30am alarm call is no longer a welcome noise.' They added: 'She is very highly thought of and there will be an extremely big effort to make sure she's accommodated well elsewhere.' In June, the presenter had given a hint she may leave the show soon, when she told The Sunday Times she was 'thinking about what is beyond Today' The presenter joined the BBC in 1998 and was previously the host of the recent UK general election debates Previously, it was believed that Husain was having talks with bosses at the BBC about moving to a new role at the corporation In a statement, the 51-year-old journalist said: 'My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4' She had said: 'I'm wondering what the next act of my career might look like.' Husain added: 'I've been very lucky to work with great colleagues for many years.' Among the names being touted as a replacement are BBC Europe Editor, Katya Adler, 52, and Anushka Asthana, 44, ITV News' deputy political editor. Husain started out as a city reporter for English language outlet The News in Islamabad, Pakistan, at 18. After working at Bloomberg Television, she joined the BBC in 1998 as a junior producer for News 24 (now BBC News). Following that, she worked from the US to the Middle East, South Asia, Singapore and China as a presenter on BBC World News from 2001. The presenter, who is highly regarded within the BBC, was said to be remaining on air until the new year Husain started out as a city reporter for English language outlet The News in Islamabad, Pakistan, at 18 Since 2013, Husain has been a presenter of the Today Programme. In 2014, she was also the first reporter to enter the school that was attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan. Three years later, her engagement interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went viral around the world. She has made documentaries on the life of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, the 2011 Arab Spring, the late Queen and Pakistani campaigner Malala Yousafzai. She previously served as the channel's Washington correspondent during the Iraq invasion, and occasionally anchors the News At Ten on weekdays. Last summer, she chaired two general election debates including a head-to-head clash between Sir Keir Starmer and then PM Rishi Sunak. However in September, the presenter came under criticism for failing to sufficiently challenge 'antisemitic' comments made by Today guest American-Iranian political analyst Mohammad Marandi. Following a backlash from Jewish organisations, the BBC admitted it should have 'continued to challenge' Marandi's language during the live interview. A DEI trainer recorded bullying a beloved gay principal whose subsequent suicide was linked to her abuse has landed a new job with a major corporation in Canada. Kike Ojo-Thompson was branded abusive by an official government probe after she was found to have bullied and harassed Richard Bilkszto, 60, before he committed suicide over the summer. The anti-racism professional was recorded in audio obtained by The Free Press mocking Bilkszto, who was openly gay and progressive, as an example of white supremacist resistance after he disagreed with her statement that Canada was more racist than the US. Bilkszto died after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional distress. But Thompson has now bragged that she has been hired as a 'Human Capital Partner' at Deloitte in Toronto, which provides consulting services to some of the largest corporations and governmental agencies in Canada. The company's clients in the US include Boeing, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Berkshire Hathaway and Metlife. 'When I was young, I knew I wanted to have an impact on changing the world for the better and as many of you know, I have committed myself to social justice for all, and creating equitable outcomes for workplaces and communities,' Ojo-Thompson wrote on LinkedIn in September. 'I am proud to announce that KOJO Institute has joined Deloitte Canada, and I am pleased to take on the role of Partner in Human Capital (Workforce Transformation). 'I embrace this new opportunity to further revolutionize equity consulting, and together, we will continue to drive transformational change, delivering value in support of our people, clients, and communities.' Kike Ojo-Thompson, a Toronto-based diversity trainer, cited Bilkszto as an example of 'white supremacy resistance' before his suicide months later Bilkszto, 60, killed himself in July after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional distress DailyMail.com has reached out to Deloitte for comment on this story. Bilkszto was found dead on July 13 after two years of emotional turmoil stemming from the encounter. His family says he was devastated when Ojo-Thompson turned on him during a session in April 2021 after he challenged her claim that Canada is more racist than the US. In audio of the session obtained by The Free Press, Bilkszto can be heard saying that maybe Canada was not 'the bastion of white supremacy' that Ojo-Thompson had made it out to be. He pointed out that public schools serving Canada's poorest students are generally better funded than their equivalents in the United States. Ojo-Thompson turned on Bilkszto, telling him in front of all of the others gathered: 'As white people, there's a whole bunch going on that isn't your personal experience. It will never be. You will never know it to be so. You will never know it to be so. 'So your job in this work, as white people, is to believe.' Ojo-Thompson - who was paid $7,500 an hour for eight hours of seminars - laughed in a subsequent discussion over the challenge made by Bilkszto, who was described as a deeply progressive man hailed for his focus on 'equity' at work. And she referred to him again in the next session as an example of 'white supremacist resistance' in newly-released audio clips which also show her laughing while making an example of him. Richard Bilkszto took his own life in Toronto on July 13 after two years of turmoil following an April 2021 encounter at the school where he was principal. He filed an official complaint and won, and had just filed another suit The late principal's family say his distress was only heightened when the superintendent of his school district, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, further shamed him in a tweet suggesting he was a racist. The tweet, since deleted, hailed Ojo-Thompson 'for modeling the discomfort administrators may need to experience in order to disrupt ABR,' or anti-black racism. The week after his death, Kike Ojo-Thompson, the diversity trainer, issued a defiant statement which did not apologize for her role in Bilkszto's death - and even implied that she was the victim. 'This incident is being weaponized to discredit and suppress the work of everyone committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion,' she said. 'We will not be deterred from our work in building a better society for everyone.' Now, the school board and Ontario's education minister are investigating Bilkszto's death and whether the obsession with woke policies may have contributed to it. Bilkszto, who was gay and single, was said by friends to have devoted his life to teaching, and spent time in a tough majority-black school in Buffalo, New York. He had recently retired, hoping to travel more, but was convinced to come out of retirement to work as principal of Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the executive superintendent of education, thanked Ojo-Thompson for the session which so upset Bilkszto In April 2021, the school district hired Kike Ojo-Thompson, a diversity trainer in Toronto, to carry out four two-hour sessions for school leaders - with her firm, the KOJO Institute, charging $15,000 for each session, according to The Free Press. The first session was uneventful, but during the second session Ojo-Thompson claimed that Canada was significantly more racist than the United States. He disagreed, but no one stood up for him. After the meeting, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the executive superintendent of education, thanked Ojo-Thompson for enlightening them. 'When faced with resistance to addressing Anti-Black racism, we can't remain silent as it reinforces harm to Black students and families,' Petrazzini wrote. 'Thank you @KOJOInstitute for modeling the discomfort administrators may need to experience in order to disrupt ABR,' or anti-black racism. She has since deleted the tweet. Friends of Bilkszto said that Petrazzini's tweet hurt him deeply. Bilkszto's public shaming was compounded at the third session, where Ojo-Thompson said that his comments were a 'teachable moment'. 'One of the ways that white supremacy is upheld, protected, reproduced, upkept, defended is through resistance,' she said. The 60-year-old veteran teacher had worked for 24 years and still volunteered as a stand-in principal. His family say he was so 'distressed' by the disagreement with the anti-racism trainer and what happened afterwards that he took his own life She then laughed, and added: 'I'm so lucky that we got perfect evidence, a wonderful example of resistance that you all got to bear witness to, so we're going to talk about it, because, I mean, it doesn't get better than this.' The day after the third session, Bilkszto filed for sick leave, and missed the fourth and final session. He then filed a complaint with school officials saying that he'd been harassed. Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board investigated and in August 2021 concluded that Thompson's behavior was 'abusive' and amounted to 'workplace harassment.' Bilkszto was awarded seven weeks of lost pay. But friends said he never got over the humiliation of being labelled a white supremacist, and the confrontation ate away at him. In April this year, Bilkszto sued the Toronto District School Board, citing Thompson's 'defamatory statements' and the unwillingness of administrators to defend him, despite previously praising him. 'Bilkszto has suffered and will continue to suffer damage to his character and reputation both personally and professionally,' the lawsuit states. 'As well, Bilkszto has been subjected to embarrassment, scandal, ridicule, contempt, and severe emotional distress.' He killed himself before the case could be concluded. An Oregon principal learned a hard lesson after letting a teacher accused of sexually abusing students stay in school and not reporting the abuse allegations of him and another teacher. Dr. Katy Wagner has been charged with two counts of criminal mistreatment and four counts of official misconduct after allowing choir teacher Eric Stearns to continue teaching and never reporting the alleged abuse of him and retired math teacher Mark Collins. The reprimand comes after Wagner was placed on administrative leave by the St. Helens School District on November 15, alongside Superintendent Scott Stockwell. 'Its a relief that something is finally happening,' one parent told KOIN. Stearns, 46, and Collins, 64, were both arrested earlier this month after a months-long police probe and were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. Stearns has now been accused of sexually abusing six students between 2015 to 2020, allegedly touching their necks, chests, buttocks or mouths inappropriately, according to The Oregonian. He is now facing seven counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse, and had been teaching up until his arrest, a parent whose child was in his choir class told KGW. School Board Chair Ryan Scholl told parents at a meeting that Stearns was allowed to continue teaching because law enforcement had advised them not to place him on leave, reported KOIN. Dr. Katy Wagner has been charged with two counts of criminal mistreatment and four counts of official misconduct after allowing choir teacher Eric Stearns to continue teaching and never reporting the alleged abuse of him and retired math teacher Mark Collins Stearns, 46, (pictured) and Collins, 64, were both arrested earlier this month after a months-long police probe and were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. Stearns taught up to the day of his arrest St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue denied that saying: 'At no point did the officers tell the school district or advise the school district in any way to not put the teacher on admin leave.' Collins is also accused of abusing three students between 2017 and January 21, 2023, allegedly touching their inner thighs or in one case 'attempting to cause' the student to touch his penis. He is also facing two counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of attempted sex second-degree sex abuse. Both have pleaded not guilty. Wagner now faces charges for allegedly not doing her job as a mandatory reporter and has been accused of hiding the abuse happening in the school. Her two felony counts of criminal mistreatment specifically name the two teachers, saying the principal 'did unlawfully and knowing withhold necessary and adequate physical care from the students of St. Helens High School,' the indictment, viewed by KGW, said. The other counts surround Wagner's responsibility to report child abuse under state law, with prosecutors accusing her of having 'consciously disregarded the fact that the violation created a risk of the commission of a sex crime against a vulnerable person.' 'I believed that the detectives were doing a very good job. I love how proactive they've been,' parent Sarah Young told KATU after the news. 'I feel like I can see the line through, and I can see the light on the other side, and that there's going to be justice.' School Board Chair Ryan Scholl (pictured) told parents at a meeting that Stearns was allowed to continue teaching because law enforcement had advised them not to place him on leave. Police deny this Protests broke out at the school after the news of the arrests broke as angry parents and students demanded better protection Another parent, who claimed his son told him abuse was happening in the school six years ago, is happy to see people fighting for the students. 'I am fighting for him, my daughters and all the school kids. To my son, I am very sorry,' he said, as he didn't initially believe his son's abuse claims. Protests broke out at the school after the news of the arrests broke as angry parents and students demanded better protection. Wagner is currently in custody with a bail set at $55,000. Furious Americans have slammed Hollywood's 'out of touch and snobby' liberal elite after Alec Baldwin and Sharon Stone branded millions 'uneducated' for voting in Donald Trump. Baldwin and Stone's remarks were met with furious backlash by their fellow Americans, who took to X to call the Hollywood stars 'entitled, elitist snob losers'. One user shared a poster he said applied to Stone which states: 'Your only job is to entertain us. To take us away from reality. Your personal opinion means nothing to us. [...] Sing. Act. Shut up.' 'As we celebrate Thanksgiving, maybe it's time for Hollywood to show some gratitude toward the people that have paid for the lifestyle they lead,' another person wrote, with a third adding that the 'uneducated' comment was 'arrogant'. The criticism comes after Baldwin, 66, claimed that Americans were 'uninformed' while appearing at the 42nd Torino Film Festival in Turin, Italy on Monday, where he also stated that Americans 'know little or nothing' about world issues during a press conference. 'There's a hole, a vacuum... a gap in information for Americans,' he said in a clip shared by The Hollywood Reporter on X. 'Americans are very uninformed about reality, what's really going on - climate change, Ukraine, you name it.' A day later, Sharon Stone unleashed her own rant at the same festival, calling US voters 'ignorant'. Stone added that her fellow Americans elected Trump because they are 'uneducated' and don't travel enough. Their outspoken criticism comes as many Hollywood celebrities, including Ellen Degeneres and Eva Longoria, have fled America because of Trump's resounding election success. Alec Baldwin (pictured), 66, claimed that Americans are 'uninformed' while appearing at the 42nd Torino Film Festival in Turin, Italy on Monday Actress Sharon Stone (centre) unleashed on 'arrogant adolescent' America during a long-winded rant that saw her call US voters 'uneducated' and 'ignorant' Baldwin and Stone's rants about 'uneducated' Americans caused outrage, with social media users slamming the actor and actress for being 'elitist' and 'out of touch' 'My country is in the midst of adolescence. Adolescence is very arrogant. Adolescence thinks it knows everything,' Stone said 'Adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant. And we are in our ignorant, arrogant adolescence.' 'We haven't seen this before in our country. So Americans who don't travel, who 80 percent don't have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivete,' she added. As the two actors were called elitist for their rants, others slammed them as out of touch. One user on X said: 'Hollywood elite are out of touch and have become irrelevant.' 'You couldn't script an entitled Hollywood celebrity better than this. Hilarious,' another chimed in about Stone's remarks. 'I guess she hasn't heard. We don't give a rats a** about Hollywood anymore, esp an irrelevant has been,' a third added. Their attitude was 'exactly why Americans voted for Trump - he stood up for everyday people ignored by these self-proclaimed experts,' according to another person. Stone's statements come after the millionaire actress pledged earlier this year that she would leave America for a new life in Europe if Trump won the election. She said in July that she is thinking of buying a house in Italy if Trump was re-elected, saying: 'I am certainly considering a house in Italy. I think that's an intelligent construct at this time.' She wasn't the only celebrity devastated by Trump's landslide election victory to have pledged to flee America in order to give their families a better life. Left-wing celebrities who were devastated by Donald Trump's landslide election victory have pledged to flee America in order to give their families a better life Eva Longoria, a Texas native who has been living abroad for work, is taking permanent residency in Mexico and Spain with her husband and son in order to 'escape' her 'dystopian' homeland. Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi put their California mansion up for sale after the election results came in and kickstarted their 'retirement' in the UK, with sources alleging the 'US doesn't like her because of her sexual preferences'. The couple may soon see some familiar faces in Britain as several American stars, including America Ferrera and Barbra Streisand have said they are considering taking up residency in the UK. Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling were already living in the UK and are now planning to stay put, a sentiment echoed by British-American actress Minnie Driver, who returned to London after nearly three decades of living in Los Angeles. Sophie Turner also returned to her native UK last year after realizing she had to 'get the f*** out' of America due to gun violence and the overturning of Roe v Wade. While some American stars have actually followed through with their plans to live abroad, an election-fueled celebrity mass exodus is not likely. Dozens of celebrities - including Miley Cyrus, Samuel L. Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg, who to this day refuses to say Trump's name - pledged to flee the states after the Republican's first election victory in 2016 but ultimately back-peddled on those promises. Chilling surveillance footage shows the moment a military jet crashed on a busy avenue in Ecuador's southwestern province of Santa Elena, killing two soldiers aboard and injuring two drivers. The Ecuadorian Air Force identified the victims as captain Diana Ruiz, 32, and cadet Juan Pacheco. The two-seat aircraft, a Diamond DA20-C1, was conducting a training flight when it suddenly plummeted onto the Eleodoro Solorzano Avenue in the town of La Libertad. The jet could be seen slamming head-on into an SUV and nearly taking out a motorcyclist who was traveling behind the vehicle. Its right wing also knocked a second motorcyclist to the ground. Videos filmed by bystanders showed one resident checking to see if one of the servicemen had a pulse while others tried to remove parts of the wreckage to rescue them. A witness told TKLA radio that he was walking a park when he noticed the aircraft turning in the sky and searching for a place to land before it crashed. The Ecuadorian Air Force said in a statement that the jet had taken off from the Salinas Air Force Base. A surveillance camera captured the tragic moment an Ecuadorian Air Force plane crashed in the southwestern city of La Libertad and killed two soldiers aboard on Tuesday. The driver of an SUV and a motorcyclist were also injured in the accident A law enforcement official inspects the wreckage after a Ecuadorian Air Force plane that was conducting a training flight suddenly plummeted and crashed on a street in La Libertad, a city in the southwestern province of Santa Elena The aircraft was part of the fleet used by the Cosme Rennella Barbatto Military Aviation School to train future pilots. 'The institution's staff is currently handling the corresponding legal procedures and providing comprehensive support to the families affected by this irreparable loss,' the Ecuadorian Air Force said. 'It extends its most heartfelt solidarity to the families of our colleagues.' The tragic crashed stunned the military community in Ecuador, where Ruiz was known as 'The Supersonic Woman.' Ruiz enlisted in the Air Force in 2007 after the military allowed women to join its pilot training program. She was just 22 years old when she made history on March 13, 2014, by becoming the first female pilot to fly the ' Cheetah,' the Air Force's supersonic fighter jet. 'For me, flying this supersonic fighter plane of the Air Force has become a personal pride,' Ruiz said in an interview with Vistazo Magazine at the time. 'An unforgettable experience and a daily motivation, to feel the strength, the power, the speed, the adrenaline and the precision of aviation. Ecuadorian Air Force captain Diana Ruiz was known in the military community as the 'The Supersonic Woman.' In March 2013, the 32-year-old became the first female to pilot the military branch's 'Cheetah,' a supersonic aircraft Ecuadorian Air Force cadet Juan Pacheco was killed in the accident La Libertad residents rushed to the crash site to attempt to rescue to the Air Force servicemen 'Today is a privilege that I will never forget and that I hope will be repeated again,' she added. 'My dream is to reach the highest level possible, fly the planes that the (Ecuadorian Air Force) provides me and become a good pilot.' The plane crash comes just two weeks after Ecuador international Marco Angulo died at the age of 22 following injuries sustained in a devastating car crash. Lakeside dreams have been shattered for several Georgia homeowners whose beloved water view is no more after plans to restore the community's stunning lake were kiboshed. After a heated, hours-long homeowners association meeting, the near $10 million plan to repair the lake's broken dam has been blocked after objections from residents elsewhere in the development who had faced bills of almost $30K per acre for the work. 'Its been rescinded. It will be rescinded ASAP,' Pkale Robinson, President of the Lake Dow Estate Home Owner's Association, announced Tuesday. Robinson, who was appointed as the new HOA President after the previous administration was ousted over the lakeside dispute, took the offer off the table as he said 'this issue really has torn our community apart.' An earlier assessment of the dam's damage set a costly $29,000 per acre price point for all Lake Dow Estate residents to pay, however, a bitter dispute erupted between residents who live on the waterfront and those who live a further away. Those not on the waterfront argued they should pay less, or not at all, as the lake has a lesser impact on their property values. Those who live on the lake have been left in outrage as the lake has since been drained, leaving their once spectacular view transformed to unkempt brush and likely diminishing the value of their properties. Citing dreams of living on waterfront property, Lake Dow Estate's resident Demetria Bolar, is not happy with Robinson's recent revocation. Lakeside dreams were shattered for several Georgia homeowners whose beloved water view is no more as plans to restore the community's stunning lake have been terminated. Pictured: Lake Dow in Lake Dow Estates in McDonough, Georgia Following a heated, hours-long homeowners association meeting, the near $10 million plan to repair the lake's broken dam has been rescinded, Lake Dow Estate's Home Owner's Association President, Pkale Robinson (pictured), announced Tuesday. 'Its been rescinded. It will be rescinded ASAP,' Robinson said Citing dreams of living on waterfront property, Lake Dow Estate's resident, Demetria Bolar (right), is not happy with HOA President Pkale Robinson's recent revocation 'We purchased solely because we were obtaining our dream of living on a lakefront and having waterfront property,' Bolar said. Yet, Robinson claims Bolar and others living along the lake - nearly 30 percent of the community's 300 homes - have selfish intentions. 'They only care about their property value,' he said. 'Its not about property value totally, I think if we understand if this dam breaches, there is loss of life,' Bolar responded. Though the high-priced assessment might be off the table for now, the fight over the dam continues. 'We will just follow their process and go the lengths that we can go and then take the actions that are necessary. Its like playing chess.' she added. The move to repair the lake's dam began back in 2008 when the state reevaluated the lake to be a category one, meaning it needed to be kept at a lower water level. From this, residents opted to drain seven feet of water instead of spending millions to improve the dam. 'The reason they classified it as a category one is because they deemed it to be a potential if the dam would fail. It would cause loss of property and potentially loss of life downstream,' resident Mark Rawlings told Atlanta News First. He said there had been plans over the years to fix the dam, and the price tag keeps getting higher and higher. Rawlings also recalled a plan that was on the table in late 2022 which was shut down by the HOA board at the time. He said the last plan they came up with was roughly $5 million. 'We want to be in compliance with the law. If I was off the lake, I would be very disturbed by the cost, but I should not be surprised,' he added. 'Those homeowners who live on the lake, their homes are gonna appraise much higher than someone who lives off the lake. So, in a sense it's not fair that everyone pay the same amount when our homes are appraised differently,' Travis Green, who had recently moved to the neighborhood, said. 'We purchased solely because we were obtaining our dream of living on a lakefront and having waterfront property,' Bolar said. Pictured: Lake Dow in Lake Dow Estates in McDonough, Georgia 'The reason they classified it as a category one is because they deemed it to be a potential if the dam would fail. It would cause loss of property and potentially loss of life downstream,' resident Mark Rawlings (pictured with his wife) told Atlanta News First 'Those homeowners who live on the lake, their homes are gonna appraise much higher than someone who lives off the lake. So, in a sense it's not fair that everyone pay the same amount when our homes are appraised differently,' Travis Green (pictured), who had recently moved to the neighborhood, said. Green said they had been shocked by the unexpected price tag that came with moving, and added: 'When we moved here, we got a "welcome to the neighborhood, and by the way you may [need] to pay between $15,000 and $30,000 in dam repairs.' Both Green and Rawlings have said there is a proposed payment plan being offered if they do go ahead with the plan, which would be $250 a month over 18 years with an interest cost. Green said that after waiting so long, the situation has only become that much worse and the cost that much higher. 'To now let it build up to an almost $10 million project when probably 16 years ago, it was half of that and expect someone who is 70 plus years old or someone who is on a fixed income, or someone who don't even know what's going on, who just got here, trying to start a new chapter of their life, to just be like, "Hey welcome to the neighborhood. Pay this," I think that's kind of wrong,' Green said. Members of the community have echoed both Green and Rawlings concerns and have shared how the battle has affected the community. Homeowner Asya Richardson Green told WSBTV: 'There's been a lot of tears. A lot of tears over these past couple of weeks, months, and days. You know people are scared. People are scared that they're going to lose their homes.' Another resident, Kristine Bobo, reiterated that many fellow community members 'don't know how to pay for it'. 'The majority of us think that since [lakefront homeowners] reap the benefits of this lake, they should cover more of the cost,' said resident Pkale Robinson. Another said that those who couldn't afford to pay for it should have planned accordingly, Becky Kennedy told the outlet: 'They've known it's coming for so long, that if you didn't like it and didn't want to fix the lake, why didn't you sell and get out of this neighborhood.' A married firefighter had sex with a teenage girl in his car after meeting her during an open day at her school, a court has heard. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service officer Scott Cameron, 39, went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court today accused of a series of child sex offences. Cameron, of Norris Green, allegedly told the 13-year-old she was 'gorgeous' before instructing her to send him naked pictures of herself and arranging a meeting with her in the woods. The father-of-two admits having engaged in sexual activity with the complainant but maintains that he believed she was aged over 16. He denies all of the 11 charges against him. Steven Ball told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution's opening on Tuesday that the girl was 13 when Cameron and a number of other fire officers attended an open day at her school in order to recruit new fire cadets. One of the defendant's colleagues, Ed Doinog, was said to have 'made an impression' on the pupils to such an extent that the teen and her friend made him a handwritten card which they later dropped off at a fire station. This letter 'complimented him for the job he did' and asked a series of questions about his role, as well as containing the complainant's phone number and their ages. But Mr Ball described how 'events took something of a sinister turn' around a month later, saying: 'Somehow, say the prosecution, Scott Cameron had got hold of her number and, in his messages to her, he was pretending to be someone else. Scott Cameron, 39, is accused of having sex with a girl after meeting her at her school open day when she was just 13 'At first, she thought it was Ed Doinog. They exchanged messages and she was complimented on looking 'gorgeous'. This attention made her feel special. 'But this was not a conventional or normal relationship, for obvious reasons, and there was nearly 25 years' difference in their ages. 'After a month, the defendant began asking her to send him photographs. She recalled being abroad on holiday when she was asked for bikini pictures. She ended up sending some partially dressed pictures.' The prosecutor told the court Cameron then made further requests for nude photographs and his demands became 'persistent' before turning into threats. He said: 'The defendant, say the prosecution, was saying to her things like he was going to stop talking to her if she did not send 'proper ones' and that the pictures were going to get sent around. He even offered to pay her for photographs.' Around 10 months after he had first visited her school, Cameron reportedly told her his identity and asked to meet her, the court heard. Mr Ball added: 'Quite what this married father-of-two in his late 30s was doing, firstly, pretending to be someone else then asking for nude photographs and then arranging to meet this schoolgirl will be for him to explain. 'She made it clear to Scott Cameron that she was only 13. But, members of the jury, that did not put him off, and, from the intensity and frequency of their messages and meetings, this seemed to be something that Scott Cameron relished and certainly could not resist.' Jurors were told that the two then began meeting 'regularly' and, on one occasion, she 'snook out' of her house and had sex with him in his car. But she later deleted his phone number after he became 'argumentative' with her in his messages. Cameron's trial is set to last a week at Liverpool Crown Court (pictured) - he denies 11 child sex offences Cameron - who was based at Crosby Fire Station but had 'working links' with Bootle Fire Station, Netherton Fire Station and Storrington Avenue Fire Station in Croxteth - made no comment when first interviewed by detectives. However, during a second round of questioning he subsequently claimed that he 'started to get messages on Snapchat from accounts he didn't know' before a 'female came up to him one day recognising him from her school', apparently telling him that she was a sixth form student. He claimed to officers that the girl was 'obsessive' and 'harassed' him, and accused her of sometimes being under the influence of drugs. The defendant, who sat with his arms folded in the dock wearing a long-sleeved grey t-shirt and sporting short greying hair, maintained at this stage that 'nothing sexual had happened between them', although he had been 'sent some pictures which he did not request and deleted straight away'. Cameron also claimed that he was not aware of the card which was sent to the fire station and denied having posed as Mr Doinog while sending messages to the girl. Mr Ball said: 'He told the police that he was a good person and that he didn't do bad things. He emphasised that he was married with children. He said that he felt sick to the stomach about the allegations and was concerned about her mindset. 'He also told the police that she had been abused by someone else and she had asked him for some help to find the male responsible. When he refused to help her, he said that she turned nasty. 'You will be able to reflect on this and whether this is a sad indication of a young girl naively looking up to an older male for help and support. 'The prosecution say that, having heard all of the evidence, you will be able to conclude that Scott Cameron was not a saviour, a supporter or a soulmate but an abuser and manipulator of her.' Cameron was said to have 'had access to several numbers', although he told the police that he only had one mobile - an iPhone which was seized upon his arrest. Officers were able to crack into the device after he refused to give the access code, and found a picture of the girls' card as well as a number of naked photographs of the complainant. The court heard that 'sexual contact is admitted as having happened' by the defendant, with Mr Ball telling the jury: 'The focus of the trial will be on whether you are sure to reject that Scott Cameron reasonably believed that she was 16 at the time. 'The prosecution say that this was not a one-off or chance meeting where a single mistake could be made, but this is a case which is the chronicle of a man exercising his own choices, who knew exactly what he was doing and using all of his wider gained experiences as an adult to exploit an impressionable and obliging 13 or 14-year-old, a young girl who was the object of his attention.' Cameron, who is defended by Kate Morley, denies a total of 11 sexual offences. The trial, before Judge David Swinnerton, continues, and is due to last around a week. A Texas man set to begin work as a detention officer had his job offer rescinded just days before starting allegedly due to his wife's devotion to a folk saint commonly linked to cartel and gang activity. The decision allegedly arose from his wife's devotion to La Santa Muerte, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Luis Borges, the dismissed detention officer, and internal Bexar County Sheriffs Office (BCSO) records obtained by KSAT. The 35-year old filed the lawsuit late last month in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, accusing Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar of violating his First Amendment rights. 'The Bexar County Sheriff's Office, and in particular Sheriff Javier Salazar, have a persistent problem with violating the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,' said Borges' attorney, Mark Anthony Sanchez. Borges, originally from New York but raised in Puerto Rico, said he attended a BCSO career fair in May and started the application process. After passing a background check and polygraph examination, he was told on June 3 that he had been hired and was set to begin the academy in two weeks. 'Please consider putting in your two weeks' notice if needed,' BCSO Deputy Heather Gonzalez wrote in a message to Borges. As part of the hiring process, Borges allowed deputies to conduct a home inspection on June 4 at the residence he shares with his wife, Stephany. Luis Borges (right) was set to begin work as a detention officer had his job offer rescinded allegedly due to his wife Stephany's (left) devotion to a folk saint commonly linked to cartel and gang activity Despite passing a background check and polygraph, Borges was disqualified after deputies photographed his wifes altar (pictured) during a home inspection During the inspection, deputies photographed Stephany's personal altar to La Santa Muerte, a sacred figure she has been devoted to for decades. On June 15, just two days before his scheduled academy start, Borges was informed by BCSO that he had been disqualified from employment. The next day, a recruiting deputy clarified in a message, 'It was disapproved apparently by the sheriff for the Santa Muerte. Unfortunately, he has the final decision... I'm sorry about that.' Stephany Borges described her devotion to La Santa Muerte as deeply personal, saying she began dreaming of the folk saint as a child and turned to her in adulthood to live more authentically. Millions of followers believe La Santa Muerte offers aid in health, fortune, and protection, though the saint's image has also been associated with criminal culture and drug cartels. 'There's always going to be bad apples in every group. There's always going to be people who take what is supposed to be good and what is true about whatever you're worshipping and take it to the extremes. And her image was just something that they took,' Stephany Borges said. She also criticized BCSO deputies for photographing her altar without her permission, calling it a violation of her privacy. Borges' attorney, Sanchez, highlighted that the First Amendment safeguards sincerely held religious beliefs, regardless of their acceptance or popularity. Pictured: Borges' acceptance letter 'The First Amendment provides protection for political thought and for religious thought. A religious belief is one that is simply sincerely held,' Sanchez said. BCSO officials declined to make Sheriff Salazar available for comment, redirecting inquiries to the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, which stated it does not comment on personnel matters. However, in a response to a discrimination charge filed by Borges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the DA's office noted that Borges was not disqualified for being Roman Catholic a claim that did not address the issue of La Santa Muerte or his wife's beliefs. Borges expressed frustration with the decision. 'They're not supposed to be judging people on your belief, or your wife's belief or any family member's belief,' Attorney Sanchez previously won a $395,000 settlement for former BCSO Lieutenant Roxanne Mathai, who sued the county after being terminated for alleged rule violations following her participation in the January 6, 2021, Capitol protests. Sanchez has since criticized Salazar's understanding of employees' First Amendment rights, offering to provide the sheriff's office with free legal training on constitutional compliance. A former US Air Force captain cleared of kidnapping, drugging and then sexually assaulting a nine-year-old French girl has denied possessing an indecent image of a child. Robert Prussak, 57, pleaded not guilty via video link from Wandsworth HMP at Isleworth Crown Court this morning. The American pilot, who was deemed a flight risk and remanded in prison, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea. American pilot Robert Prussak (pictured) has denied possessing an indecent image of a child Former US Air Force captain Prussak (pictured) will face trial next year on a single charge He will face trial next year on a single charge of possession of a Category A moving image of a child on April 22. The father-of-two was arrested on October 29 moments after being acquitted by a jury of abducting a schoolgirl outside of London's famed Harrods department store. Prussak had broken down as 'not guilty' verdicts were read out to all six of the charges levelled against him after a week-long trial at the same court. But as he left the courtroom to celebrate his freedom, Prussak was dramatically arrested on suspicion of possessing an indecent image of a child. Prussak was acquitted of abducting a girl outside London's Harrods department store (file photo) Jurors had found the pilot not guilty of kidnapping, kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offence, administering a substance with intent, and three counts of sexual assault. The court heard that he was a pilot for the US Air Force for 18-and-a-half years before becoming a pilot for hire to allow him to visit his daughters more following his divorce from his wife. He said he was in London in April for a job interview with a private client at the time of his first arrest. Prussak, from San Diego, California, is due to stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court on April 28, 2025. A California woman was disgusted to find the Butterball turkey she purchased for Thanksgiving was completely spoiled after claims that birds were sexually abused on a farm resurfaced. Tami Burke posted horrifying images on Facebook of a Butterball turkey she bought from a Menifee grocery store for an early holiday celebration. The pictures showed a gone-bad and discolored bird. 'Check your Turkey early. I have been cooking turkeys for many years and have never seen this before,' Burke warned in her unsettling post. 'Mine was rotten or mistreated and bruised badly.' 'If animal cruelty is a problem then I have no problem reaching out to the animal activists as well to look into this. Vegetarianism sounds really good about now,' she asserted. Burke disappointedly returned the turkey to the store in what she said was a great 'inconvenience.' She told DailyMail.com: 'They're like "well, we can give you another turkey, we can give you a fresh one." And I was like "no, I'm good."' She also claimed she notified Butterball about her horrific discovery. Burke later revealed the company responded on Wednesday, asking for more details about the spoiled turkey. 'I really could not trust another turkey,' Burke added, stating she opted for a tri-tip beef roast instead of the poultry product this year. Tami Burke shared pictures of a rotten Butterball turkey amid rampant calls for boycott against the massive turkey supplier After gut-wrenching footage (pictured) recorded by PETA two decades ago showed brutal abuse and torture of turkeys, angered fans have been trolling the food giant social media pages She told DailyMail.com: 'Like if I had given that to my family, and they all got sick - and my daughter's pregnant - that would have been horrible.' Burke said she considered the possibility of animal cruelty at play, pointing to brown and green coloring around the turkey's neck. 'I do think about animals and how I would rather eat an animal that was way more taken care of - it had a good life,' she said to DailyMail.com. The off-putting post comes as the country's largest turkey supplier has been heavily scrutinized after a 2006 PETA video depicting violence and sexual assault against turkeys in an Ozark, Arkansas Butterball slaughterhouse. An undisclosed investigator revealed the alleged atrocities he witnessed 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. Burke pointed to resurfaced allegations of abuse against Butterball turkeys in her Facebook post One user even said they 'threw away my Butterball turkey and will never be buying from you again,' as calls for a boycott continue to rise just days before Thanksgiving 'Nothing humane has 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 many calling for a boycott. Over the last few days since the video re-emerged, social media platforms have been flooded with adverse responses, with people declaring they will not be buying from Butterball this year. Others claimed they had returned the Butterball turkeys they had already bought. This month alone, Butterball has sold about 15million turkeys across the country, Fleet Owner reported. Since then, people have been quick to call the company a 'literal disgrace' and wished 'shame' on it One Facebook user reacted: 'A truly foul case of sexual abuse. Boycott Butterball!' 'Boycott Butterball,' another echoed the sentiment. 'This is vial, this is sadistic, this is disgusting.' Other posts reiterated the idea that the 'nasty' video has deterred many from buying from the well-known brand. The gut-wrenching resurfaced clip is just one of many alarming videos PETA has shared online leading up to Thanksgiving, urging people to reconsider the food on their plate this year. '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 an email to DailyMail.com, a Butterball spokesperson defended the company. The statement reads: '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 2006 video has resurfaced just days before Thanksgiving, with many people expressing disgust and outrage. Some claimed they are returning their Butterball turkeys 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.' Butterball has not responded to DailyMail.com regarding Burke's Facebook post. Video footage has captured the shocking moment jeering cops held down a Louisiana boy as his mother brutally beat him with a belt - striking him nearly 40 times over. Two Baton Rouge police officers are now under investigation for allegedly helping the mother beat her 14-year-old son in a 2019 interrogation about a shooting. Disturbing bodycam video, obtained by WBRZ, shows Officers Adam Rhodes and Jermaine Javius not only witnessing the beating but actively participating, holding down the teenager and mocking him while his mother continuously strikes him. The graphic, new footage captures Rhodes becoming aggressive when the teen initially laughs off questioning, telling him, 'I'm not your momma, laugh all you f**king want to.' 'That's crazy,' the teen replied in the video. 'No, what's crazy is your level of cowardice,' Rhodes responded. The officers' involvement came during questioning about a drive-by shooting, with Officer Rhodes pressuring the mother to start the beating. 'You got a belt? Undo your belt. Let's go in the house. I promise I'll hold his arm while you tear that a** up. I ain't kidding at all. Below the waist, don't break the skin - that's what the law says,' Rhodes allegedly said to the mother. Video footage has captured the shocking moment jeering cops held down a Louisiana boy as his mother brutally beat him with a belt - striking him nearly 40 times over (Pictured: Officer Adam Rhodes allegedly helping the mother beat her child on video) The two Baton Rouge police officers are now under investigation for allegedly helping the mother beat her 14-year-old son in a 2019 interrogation about a shooting Police Chief T.J. Morse defended the officers, claiming the mother requested their assistance in disciplining her son. 'The mother requested officers assist her to discipline her son. Officers did comply with her request and held the 14-year-old male down on a bed while the mother hit him on his rear with a belt.' However, the teen's attorney Ryan Thompson disagrees and has now sued the department in several unrelated use-of-forces lawsuits. 'In no situation do courts authorize officers to hold a 14-year-old child down - a victim - in the name of getting information,' Thompson said. Disturbing bodycam video, obtained by WBRZ, shows Officers Adam Rhodes and Jermaine Javius (pictured) not only witnessing the beating but actively participating, holding down the teenager and mocking him while his mother continuously strikes him The teen's attorney Ryan Thompson disagrees and has now sued the department in several unrelated use-of-forces lawsuits 'What is a police officer's job, and I guarantee you, that post does not teach them to assist in disciplining children, so this notion that officers were in the right, I would totally disagree with it, and I would add that I'm sure, in fact, I know it is not within policy.' 'If this is called assisting in disciplining a child I would say that, if this was my child, I wouldn't want their help, anyone watching this would not want the Baton Rouge police's help,' Thompson said. 'There needs to be attention. There needs to be something done in the treatment of our juveniles and our elderly,' Thompson said. Scotland's SNP-controlled NHS is performing worse than the health service in England despite ministers in Edinburgh pouring more money per-person into care, a new analysis reveals today. A briefing by the Institute for Fiscal Studies ahead of the Scottish Budget next week shows its performance in many key areas remains worse than before the pandemic, and has continued to decline in all but one in the past year. The report focused on how both nations have improved compared to their own previous record, rather than comparing the performance of the two to each other, which cannot be easily done due to differences in collecting data. The size of the elective care waiting list and length of time patients are waiting on the list, as well as A&E performance and cancer treatment waiting times, have all declined in Scotland, while the proportion of people waiting six weeks or less for a diagnostic test has improved. England has seen a similar performance dip compared to before the pandemic, but in the past 12 months there have been signs of improvement in all of the studied areas except the percentage of people waiting more than 18 weeks from referral to elective treatment. Research economist Max Warner, who wrote the report, said: 'The UK Government has been honest about the poor performance of the English NHS and has made understanding and improving NHS performance and productivity a major priority. 'It is vital the Scottish Government does the same, particularly given the concerning divergence in recovery between England and Scotland.' A briefing by the Institute for Fiscal Studies ahead of the Scottish Budget next week shows its performance in many key areas remains worse than before the pandemic, and has continued to decline in all but one in the past year. This graph shows four important types of hospital activity: day cases (procedures delivered within a day), elective inpatients (pre-planned procedures delivered with an overnight stay), emergency inpatients (emergency patients admitted to hospital) and outpatient appointments (treatment or assessment in a clinic that only takes a short time to complete). This repeats this analysis for two experimental measures of primary care activity: direct contacts (direct contact between clinical staff and patients, such as in-person and telephone appointments) and indirect contacts (including prescription management, interactions with hospitals, test results and administration). Speaking to journalists after a speech in Edinburgh, First Minister John Swinney said his government was 'focused very strongly' on improving the health service. He added that the reason for the difference in Scotland's NHS was due to a lower number of patients being seen compared to before the onset of Covid-19. The number of day cases is the only area of hospital care which has returned to pre-2020 levels, while there were 15 per cent less elective inpatient admissions, a 9 per cent drop in emergency inpatient admissions, and 6 per cent fewer outpatient appointments between April and June of this year compared to the final quarter of 2019. Mr Warner added: 'The Scottish and English NHS are now recovering differently from the Covid-19 pandemic. 'In Scotland, hospital activity remains below pre-pandemic levels, and waiting time performance has worsened over the last year. 'The same is not true in England, where performance remains poor but is at least moving in the right direction.' Speaking to journalists after a speech in Edinburgh, First Minister John Swinney said his government was 'focused very strongly' on improving the health service. The Scottish Government is due to set out its annual Budget proposals on December 4, but the SNP will need to seek help from other political parties in order to get it over the line. The Greens or the Lib Dems are thought to be the most likely potential partners, but so far it is not clear which party will be more amenable to Mr Swinneys proposals. 'Obviously, we have significant challenges to overcome as a consequence of Covid, but we also have got to recognise that we have comparatively greater challenge in the Scottish population compared to the population of the rest of the United Kingdom,' he said. 'That is an underlying, long standing issue that we have to overcome, which is why we have such an emphasis on the public health measures going forward.' He added that they had to 'take the steps' to intervene earlier to improve health outcomes for people in Scotland, saying work is under way to enhance the NHS's performance. But Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the briefing was a 'damning indictment' of the Scottish Government's handling of the NHS. 'Ministers have repeatedly boasted about Scotland's superior performance to England, but this report makes a total mockery of those claims,' he said. 'Hundreds of thousands of Scots are stuck on an NHS waiting list. Every day people sit in agony at A&E departments, wondering if they will ever be seen. 'This Government must stop making up bogus excuses and finally confront the emergency in front of them.' Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the report delivered a 'damning verdict'. He added: 'On the SNP's watch, hundreds of thousands of patients remain on NHS waiting lists, delayed discharge has hit record levels and cancer waiting times have not been met in over a decade. 'The IFS's findings should be an urgent wake-up call for Neil Gray, who should be honest about the permanent crisis in Scotland's NHS.' Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said the report told the Government what patients and staff have known for years, 'Scottish hospitals are buckling under the strain of SNP incompetence'. She added: 'The SNP pledged over a year ago that it would spend 300 million in driving down waiting lists, but just 30 million of this funding has been allocated to health boards so far. 'At the same time, we know that there were 50,000 fewer planned ops in the last 12 months compared to same point pre-pandemic. This is simply unacceptable. 'Scottish Labour will tackle delayed discharge and reduce waiting lists so our hospitals can focus on emergency treatment once again.' Russia is continuing work to put its 'unstoppable' Satan II intercontinental ballistic missile - part of its terrifying strategic nuclear arsenal - on combat duty, Moscow's state media has revealed. The Satan II missile, also referred to as the RS-28 Sarmat, is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks. In September, Putin faced humiliation after his Satan II missile exploded, obliterating Russia's only test site for hypersonic weapons. As a result, experts said that the test programme for the rocket could be delayed for years, or could even be aborted after a series of failed launches. But as Putin continues work on testing his Satan II missile, Moscow warned yesterday that retaliatory actions are being prepared after accusing Ukraine of launching another round of ATACMS strikes into Russian territory. The US gave Ukraine permission to use the weapons to hit Russian territory just over a week ago, after months of requests from Kyiv. A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Bryansk region lit up the night sky last week following the ATACMS strike. It was also believed that Ukraine may have used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike a secretive Russian presidential facility in the Kursk region. Putin has ordered that his gigantic Satan II nukes be made ready for combat duty as soon as possible as he plots revenge for Ukraine's use of long-range missiles from the US and UK Nuclear rocket dubbed Satan-2 pictured launching in April 2022 The Kremlin had previously threatened a 'nuclear response' should Ukraine hit targets on Russian soil with Western-supplied long-range munitions. Britain's Storm Shadow missiles are capable of dodging air defences - making them a nightmare attack weapon for their enemy. The 800,000 rockets use GPS technology to precisely blast targets, and can travel through the air at 600mph. Storm Shadow missiles have already been used by Ukraine inside its own territory for some time, but Kyiv now appears to have been granted permission to use the weapons to strike within Russia. It comes after the New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials said that it was possible US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before the end of his presidency. Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday that such an idea would be 'insane' and that preventing that scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow went into Ukraine. Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the ministry, said it was in the interests of responsible governments to ensure that such a scenario, which she called 'suicidal', did not unfold. She said that what she called 'irresponsible actions' by Ukraine and its Western backers could bring the world to 'the brink of catastrophe.' Remains of US-produced ATACMS missiles, fired by Ukrainian armed forces on November 25, according Russia's defence ministry, are seen at the Kursk-Vostochny airport (Khalino) in the Kursk region, Russia, on November 26 Russia's defence ministry said three of the five missiles fired in the first strike were shot down, while seven of the eight used in the second were destroyed US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is seen in action Additionally, Putin's troops have been advancing westward in Ukraine at a rate faster than any other time after the initial days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month. 'Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of the occupied territory in Ukraine,' independent Russian news group Agentstvo said in a report this week. The Russian army captured almost 235 square kilometres (91 square miles) in Ukraine over the past week - a weekly record for 2024 - and had taken roughly 600 square kilometres (232 square miles) in November, the report claimed. Those figures were largely supported by the US-based Institute for the Study of War, which put the amount of territory gained since November 1 at 574 square kilometres (221 square miles) - an average rate of 22 square kilometres per day. The war is now entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its most dangerous phase weeks before Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office amid fears he could dramatically reduce aid to Ukraine as he seeks to force a ceasefire deal. North Korean troops are reported to be bolstering Moscow's forces and Kyiv is now using Western-supplied missiles to strike back inside Russia - a development that prompted Putin to unleash a never-before-seen 'Oreshnik' hypersonic missile last week. The thrust of the Russian advance has been in Ukraine's Donetsk region, with Moscow's forces pushing towards the town of Pokrovsk and into the town of Kurakhove. Pokrovsk is widely cited as a key strategic location given that it serves as a vital logistics hub for Ukraine's Armed Forces. A man who suffered from diabetes and poor blood clotting has died after he was scratched by his beloved cat which caused him to bleed out. The scratches on 55-year-old Dmitry Ukhin's leg were reportedly so severe that he died of blood loss. The incident took place in the Kirishi district of the Leningrad region, in Russia, when Dmitry went to look for his cat on Friday afternoon, on November 22, after it ran away from home two days earlier. Ukhin reportedly found the pet on the street and brought it home. But that evening, the feline badly scratched Dmitry's leg. The cat's owner suffered from diabetes and poor blood clotting, apparently caused by high blood pressure. Dmitry's wife was away, so he called his neighbour and told him he was dying. He could not stop the bleeding and called the medics. A police source reportedly told local media: 'Around 11 pm, a man called 112 to report that his friend was bleeding from his leg due to a torn vein. The cat's scratches on 55-year-old Dmitry Ukhin's leg were reportedly so severe that he died of blood loss Dmitry suffered from diabetes and had poor blood clotting, leading to his untimely death 'The doctors who arrived only confirmed the man's death, which the police received a telephone message about.' According to the unnamed neighbour who provided first aid to the man, the medical team took a long time to arrive. Dmitry's wife confirmed this information to local media. The woman, named as Natalya, said that the cat, called Styopka, liked to walk by itself, was kind and was harmless. Its fate is currently unclear. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed by forensic experts. A senior advisor to Kamala Harris admitted internal polls showed the vice president was never ahead of Donald Trump in the battleground states, and that they were running on hope on Election Day. David Plouffe said from the moment Harris entered the race she started behind Trump and that he was 'surprised' to see public polls showing her in the lead. 'I mean, I think it surprised people because there were these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw,' he said. Plouffe, who advised President Barack Obama's successful campaigns in 2008 and 2012 spoke about the race on the Pod Save America podcast on Tuesday. Internal analytics, Plouffe said, showed Harris tied with Trump in Wisconsin 47-47 and Trump leading in Pennsylvania 48-47. 'I think we were, you know, we were hopeful. I don't know how optimistic we were, but we thought, okay, this is tied,' he said. Plouffe also admitted that what they thought was a great debate performance from Harris ultimately did not move the margins as much as they had hoped. 'I think even after the debate, we might have gained what, 0.51. It wasn't a race that moved a lot,' he said. Senior campaign advisor David Plouffe details internal polling in the Kamala Harris campaign He said the campaign hoped undecided voters would break for Harris and admitted that in some areas there was less turnout than they expected. 'You know, you've got to have undecided break your way more than your opponents, and you've got to get a little benefit from turnout, which we weren't able to do,' he said. Despite spending over $1 billion on the campaign, Plouffe admitted there was not much movement in the race. Plouffe's comments sparked a debate about the accuracy of polling. Pollster Rasmussen Reports trumpeted the news as evidence that their polls were more accurate than others, even though Democratic critics had frequently dismissed them as being too positive for Trump. Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris calls voters in a last-minute campaign push "Plouffe said the campaigns internal polling NEVER HAD HER AHEAD OF TRUMP." You mean, internally, it looked something like - this? https://t.co/iGKub3d6iE pic.twitter.com/2dbmP92Es1 Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) November 27, 2024 'Plouffe said the campaigns internal polling NEVER HAD HER AHEAD OF TRUMP,' the poll company wrote on X, highlighting results. 'You mean, internally, it looked something like - this?' Plouffe complained about how difficult it was for Democrats to win support from independents in battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, despite running two successful campaigns with Obama in 2008 and 2012. He defended his decision to have Harris campaign with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, arguing it was essential to win over Independents and Republican-leaning voters. Plouffe argued it was folly for strategists to focus only on pleasing Democratic and left-leaning people in the states. Kamala Harris thanks supporters for their efforts despite losing the presidential election President Barack Obama, accompanied by prep adviser Anita Dunn, right, and senior White House adviser David Plouffe 'The math just doesn't f***ing work,' he said. 'Okay?' Harris returned from her eight day vacation in Hawaii expressing gratitude to everyone who worked on their campaign, praising their 'unprecedented' efforts at raising more than $1.5 billion. 'The outcome of this election obviously is not what we wanted. It is not what we worked so hard for. But I am proud of the race we ran, and your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented,' Harris said in a video. The video released on social media by the Democratic National Committee. 'I just have to remind you,' she added. 'Don't you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th.' Three Americans, including a man who was facing the death penalty, have been freed by China in a prisoner swap with the US. 'We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung from detention in the Peoples Republic of China,' a US National Security Council spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. 'Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.' The US citizens, who were all designated as 'wrongful detainees' by the State Department are already in US custody, officials said. The Chinese citizens released in the swap have not been named. Swidan, a Texas businessman, was arrested in 2012 on drug charges and sentenced to death. He spent over a decade detained in what has been described by his family as a 'holding tank.' They say he has undergone physical and psychological torture and has attempted suicide. Li, meanwhile, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage charges. Mark Swidan, who was arrested in 2012 on drug charges and sentenced to death, had been designated as wrongfully detained by the US government Kai Li was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage charges Leung had been detained sine 2021 and was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges Leung, on his part, had been detained since 2021 and was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges. Li's son Harrison Li told DailyMail.com last year his family felt abandoned by the Biden administration, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken had promised to make 'substantive progress' on the Chinese hostages before any Biden-Xi summit. Li was born in Shanghai in 1962, and came to the US for study at age 27, later naturalizing to become a United States citizen. He opened several gas stations on Long Island, and later founded a company that imported and distributed solar technology to US aerospace firms. He was visiting Shanghai to mark the one-year anniversary of his mother's death when he was arrested upon arrival on state security charges. After months in secret detention, Li was convicted in 2018 following a one-hour secret trial, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The releases comes just two months after China freed David Lin, a Christian pastor from California who had spent nearly 20 years behind bars after being convicted of contract fraud. US-China relations have been roiled for years over major disagreements between the world's two largest economies on trade, human rights, the production of fentanyl precursors, security issues that include espionage and hacking, Chinas aggressiveness toward Taiwan and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, and Beijings support for Russias military-industrial sector. A U.S. official said the Biden administration had raised the cases of the detained Americans with China in multiple meetings over the past several years, including earlier this month when Biden spoke to Xi on the sidelines of the annual in Peru. Li's son Harrison Li told DailyMail.com last year his family felt abandoned by the Biden administration President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru, earlier this month The release of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China has been a top agenda item in each conversation between the US and China, and Wednesday's development suggests a willingness by Beijing to engage with the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican President-elect Donald Trumps return to the White House in January. Trump took significant actions against China on trade and diplomacy during his first term. He has pledged to continue those policies in his second term, leading to unease among many who fear that an all-out trade war will greatly affect the international economy and could spur potential Chinese military action against Taiwan. Still, the two countries have maintained a dialogue that has included a partial restoration of military-to-military contacts. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met earlier this month to discuss potential improvements. A former Met Police officer has claimed 'Britain's criminal justice system is broken' as a Netflix reality star avoided jail after being caught trying to smuggle drugs into the UK. Olga Bednarska, 27, was arrested on a flight back from Thailand after customs officers at Manchester Airport caught her with 40kg of cannabis - worth 150,000 - in two large suitcases. But the Too Hot to Handle star escaped having to go to prison, as the judge handed her a 20-month sentence, which was suspended for two years. Many, including retired officer Norman Brennan, have been left shocked by the court's decision. Anyone that has bought two suitcases worth of cannabis into this country should be sent to prison,' Mr Brennan told MailOnline. 'There should be no excuse. There cannot be anyone reading this that wouldn't have thought she should have gone to prison.' The former policeman also believed Bednarska had 'seen an opportunity to earn a good whack of money' and the sentence sent a message for other criminals to 'give it a go'. Mr Brennan added: 'I'm afraid she is one of many people that flout the law in a very serious way, knowing or believing very little will be done to them as far as punishment is concerned. This sentence supports that feeling or view.' Olga Bednarska, 27, was stopped by customs officers at Manchester Airport on a flight back from Thailand with two large suitcases containing 40kg of cannabis A court heard that Bednarska had 'lived beyond her means' and accumulated 16,000 of debt Olga was a finalist on series three of Too Hot Too Handle A court heard that Bednarska, from Poland but living in Manchester, had 'lived beyond her means' and accumulated 16,000 of debt. To pay this off, she had resorted to crime and agreed to fly to Thailand on an all-expenses paid trip to import designer items out of the country in return for 18,000. 'If she was in debt, obviously she probably saw this as a good opportunity to earn a good whack of money,' Mr Brennan said. 'As far as I'm concerned, 150,000 worth of cannabis is a huge amount.' Mr Brennan also pointed out the impact Bednarska's actions could have had if she had not been caught at Manchester Airport. He said: ''Not only do illegal drugs kill people. Many addicts will rely upon that, and to buy that they will shoplift. They will rob people, and they will steal to pay for their addiction. 'Many people would have suffered as a result of those two suitcases of cannabis being brought into Britain.' According to The Manchester Evening News, Bednarska claimed she was given the two suitcases by a friend called 'Tex'. Bednarska, who is originally from Poland but lives in Manchester, appeared on series 3 of Too Hot to Handle Bednarska was arrested in October and had been held in custody ever since The Too Hot to Handle star claimed she was given the bags by a friend called 'Tex' The influencer, who appeared in series three of the hit Netflix show, claimed this person paid for her flights and wanted her to bring back designer clothes and watches from Phuket. The court heard that Bednarska met with an 'associate' of her friend Tex on October 10, before checking into her free hotel room in Thailand. The two suitcases used to smuggle back the goods were purchased with 'spending money' given to her. Alongside the clothes and watches, she was asked to provide 'cover up items' and was expected to play no further role in the scheme. Samuel Eskdale, prosecuting, said Bednarska was stopped by Border Force officials on October 20 and confirmed she had packed the bags herself. She later told officials she had been given the bags at the airport and was unable to unlock the suitcase as she did not have the code. Mr Eskdale said: 'She was then asked who paid for her flights and she said her friend named "Tex". She said they wanted her to bring back designer clothes and watches. 'The officers asked her to unlock the suitcases, but she could not provide the code to do so. She then confirmed she had been given the suitcases at the airport.' Bednarska cried in court as she was spared prison after pleading guilty to the charges Bednarska told officials she had been given the bags at the airport and was unable to unlock the suitcase as she did not have the code When the cases were finally opened, vacuum sealed bags of cannabis were found hidden beneath her clothes. The total weight was 39.4kg, which was said to be worth around 157,600. The court heard Bednarska had no previous convictions and had been in custody since her arrest. Judge Potter indicated to the court that he would pass a suspended sentence of imprisonment, and so no mitigation was advanced on Bednarskas behalf. Judge Potter said: 'Over the course of the last few years, you have found yourself in financial difficulties. You have incurred debts to do with work, rent and other household costs. You have simply lived beyond your means. 'Via a friend of a friend, you agreed to import designer goods from Thailand. You agreed to go and do this and return 10 days later. Your expenses were to be paid by others, and you were to be paid 18,000.' 'You decided to place your trust in someone you hardly knew. You were acting under the direction of others, potentially for further profit. 'I am sure you can imagine the harm that wholesale value drugs have on our communities when they are sold for profit. You have directly contributed to this by agreeing to do what you did.' The court heard Bednarska had no previous convictions and had been in custody since her arrest Bednarska resorted to crime and agreed to fly to Thailand on an all-expenses paid trip to import designer items out of the country in return for 18,000 As well as being handed a suspended sentence, Bednarska was also ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements. Mr Brennan believed Judge Potters sentence sent the wrong message to those in the drug trade. He said: 'The only deterrent for such people is prison and to go to prison for a suitable amount of time. When others see that the courts and the criminal justice system don't deem it that serious to such a degree that they don't even send someone to prison. 'Others will think "I'll give it a go, nothing will happen to me,". I'm afraid we have a criminal justice system in Britain that is broken. 'The message judges should be sending out is we will accept in no uncertain terms that anybody who brings drugs into Britain which blights society and those that use drugs which feed the drugs trade by committing crime will be punished. There has to be a deterrent. A 27-year-old man has been arrested by police investigating viral videos of vulnerable women taken on nights out in Manchester. The male from Bradford is being questioned after he was arrested on suspicion of stalking and harassment on Wednesday morning, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said. The force said it launched a probe after reports of women being followed, filmed and harassed in Manchester city centre and has since uncovered content, accessible through a paywall, containing suspected upskirting and non-consensual nudity. The videos reportedly gained millions of views after being uploaded to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram and attracted a number of misogynistic comments, reports the BBC. A spokesman for GMP said the arrest was thought to be the first in the country linked to videos on social media platforms which appear to film women who are on nights out, some while in vulnerable positions. Appeals for people to come forward if they have been affected by the videos, primarily filmed around the Peter Street and Deansgate areas of the city, led to many women contacting police to explain the 'fear' it had created for them, the spokesman added. Chief Inspector Stephen Wiggins said: 'We took the concerns of the public really seriously on this issue, and have worked hard with partners to assess the full circumstances and what courses of action were available to us. 'It is a very new and complex issue but this is a significant development. A 27-year-old man has been arrested by police investigating viral videos of women taken on nights out (pictured are some of the women allegedly filmed by the suspect) Officers from Greater Manchester Police carried out a raid to arrest the suspect on Wednesday Pictured is the 27-year-old who was arrested by police on suspicion of stalking and harassment 'Everyone has the right to feel safe as they enjoy a night out and these videos have made people, particularly women, not feel like that, which we can't tolerate. 'Filming in public is legal, however where this filming crosses the line into offences such as upskirting, stalking or harassment, it's important that we don't allow that behaviour. 'Every Friday and Saturday there are approximately 60 officers on patrol around our city centre hotspots, also with support from partners, charities and volunteers. 'Collectively, we are all on the look-out for any behaviour that appears predatory in nature, proactively challenging that behaviour and safeguarding anyone who is vulnerable. 'Particularly as we enter one of our busiest periods in the year, Christmas and New Year, I want to reassure the public that Manchester city centre's nightlife is safe, and they can expect us to take action against anyone who threatens that.' Anyone who has been personally impacted by the content in the videos can contact police by calling 101. This is the adorable moment a rare panda dolphin stunned tourists off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina, with a playful display by their boat. Footage shows the cute little dolphin, one of the smallest species in the world, grunting in the water as it apparently takes an interest in the vessel. It rolls over in the water and starts to swim to the port side to apparently greet the tourists hanging over the edge to catch a glimpse. The video was filmed by Argentine documentary maker Luis Burgueno, 60, who lives in Trelew in north-eastern Patagonia. Burgueno, who is also a wildlife photographer, said the little animal was with a pod of other panda dolphins at the time. 'This one was with other specimens around the boat and the encounter lasted longer than you see in the video', he said. 'It stayed with us for a good while longer. 'But I never noticed it turning around to point its abdominal area upwards, which is a gesture of total confidence as it's their most vulnerable area.' A rare panda dolphin stunned tourists off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina, with a playful display by their boat The video was filmed by Argentine documentary maker Luis Burgueno, 60, who lives in Trelew in north-eastern Patagonia The Commerson's dolphin - also known as a panda or skunk dolphin - resembles a baby orca due to its distinctive black and white colouring Burgueno's video went viral on his Instagram page with a whopping 21.2M views and nearly 6,000 comments. The Commerson's dolphin - also known as a panda or skunk dolphin - resembles a baby orca due to its distinctive black and white colouring. It is only found around the tip of South America. A subspecies, C.c.kerguelenensis, which is slightly larger than C.c.commersonii, is found around the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. It comes after last month a sexually frustrated dolphin was filmed allegedly attacking a swimmer while swimming in the sea near the town of Tsuruga in central Japan. Footage shows the cute little dolphin grunting in the water as it apparently takes an interest in the vessel Commerson's dolphins can only be found in the tip of South America Footage shows the mammal swimming next to the man and seemingly bumping into him as the terrified swimmer tries to get away. Bystanders can be heard shouting in a panic, with one person throwing a paddle board towards the man to bring him to safety. Dolphins are not typically thought to be a threat to humans, which they don't usually see as prey. Britains car industry is in crisis due to a lack of demand for electric cars, the boss of Fords UK arm has warned. Lisa Brankin, the chairman and managing director of Ford UK, called for the Government to urgently introduce incentives such as tax breaks to convince drivers to switch away from petrol and diesel. She said Ford has invested significantly in the production and development of EVs, with well over 350million invested around electrification in the UK, adding: So we kind of need to make it work. Asked whether she is happy for the Government to stick to the targets around EVs and ending production of diesel and petrol cars as long as they help persuade customers to buy electric vehicles, Ms Brankin told BBC Radio 4s Today: Yes, I think so. But she added: As an industry we have repeatedly said that we support the Government's trajectory and we support the ambition that the Government has set out, it's just that there isn't customer demand. Lisa Brankin, the chairman and managing director of Ford UK, wants the Government to bring in 'incentives' such as tax breaks to convince drivers to switch away from petrol and diesel Vauxhall owner Stellantis has said it will close its van-making plant in Luton (pictured today) It comes as Sir Keir Starmer was challenged at Prime Minister's Questions about potential job losses announced by Vauxhall owner Stellantis, which has said it will close its van-making plant in Luton. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch suggested Sir Keir doesn't seem to care about the job losses and questioned his decision to continue with the previous Tory government's pledge to phase out petrol cars. She added in the Commons: Perhaps he can show more concern for the 1,100 people who found out yesterday that they could lose their jobs at Vauxhall's plant in Luton. So while he flies around making unilateral commitments, back home the real world effects are businesses closing in Bedfordshire and Basildon. 'Does the Prime Minister stand by his promise to ban the sale of petrol cars by 2030 even if more jobs will be lost? Sir Keir replied: The question of the position of jobs in Luton is a very serious one and families and workers will be very worried and we're obviously engaging with them. I would remind the leader of the Opposition that the EV (electric vehicle) mandates that are an issue in this particular case were actually introduced by the last government. 'I would also remind her that she was the business secretary that introduced them. We're getting on with supporting those communities, she's shouting from the sidelines. Mrs Badenoch countered: He clearly didn't read his briefing about the EV mandate. The fact is we changed the date and made it easier for people. Everything he has done is attack people. Research by This is Money suggests some of the biggest car firms and groups are falling behind on targets for battery electric vehicle sales Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government would ensure proper support for the car industry as it phases out sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles. We are committed to the 2030 target for phasing out the purchase of new petrol and diesel cars, but it is really important within that to make sure that we get the balance right and have proper support for the automotive sector, for the car industry in Britain,' Reeves told broadcasters. We have just launched a consultation to look at the plans that we inherited from the previous government which would have meant fines for businesses that didn't sell a proportion of electric vehicles, because we want to keep investment, we want to keep jobs in Britain. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has warned the pace of the transition could hit carmakers as demand for zero-emission vehicles failed to meet ambition. Under the zero-emission vehicles (Zev) mandate, at least 22 per cent of new cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK this year must be zero-emission, with the threshold rising each year. The mandate as it stands sets out a target to reach 80 per cent by 2030, but the Government has committed to bringing the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans forward from 2035 to 2030, reversing a change introduced by Rishi Sunak's government last year. Today, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds signalled an overhaul of the government's EV targets after Vauxhall announced plans to close its factory in Luton. Stellantis, which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, said it would combine production at its other plant in Ellesmere Port. The firm said Labour's eco policy fuelled the decision - which puts around 1,100 jobs at risk. The Vauxhall Luton plant is set to close after 120 years (file photograph of the factory in 2018) What is the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate? Passed into law under Rishi Sunak's Conservative government, the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires manufacturers to increase the share of zero emission cars they sell each year. Given there are almost no hydrogen fuel cell vehicles sold in Britain today, this primarily means an increase in battery electric car sales. But car makers say the time limit is arbitrary and have called for longer to work towards the goal of zero-emission vehicles. They face a fine of 15,000 per non-compliant car and 18,000 per non-compliant van sold outside the goal. The targets for ZEV car sales are: 2024: 22 per cent 2025: 28 per cent 2026: 33 per cent 2027: 38 per cent 2028: 52 per cent 2029: 66 per cent 2030: 80 per cent As of July, electric vehicle sales made up around 16.8 per cent of all new car sales in the UK in 2024. Labour has hinted it may reinstate a 100 per cent target for 2030. Advertisement The government has now launched an urgent review of sales targets designed to accelerate the EV transition, following repeated warnings that they are putting jobs and investment at risk. The 2030 ban will mean firms cannot sell pure fossil fuel cars, but they will be able to continue selling hybrids until 2035. SMMT boss Mike Hawes has warned that the sales threshold could cost the industry nearly 6billion this year alone. Speaking at the trade body's annual dinner on last night, Mr Hawes told an audience: 'Jobs are on the line.' Major industry players, including Ford, Nissan and Stellantis, have been warning for weeks that the rules could have an 'irreversible impact' on UK car production. Earlier this year, Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares warned the future of both Luton which has been making vehicles for 120 years and Ellesmere Port were in doubt. When Labour entered No 10 in July he announced a review of the future of both plants while citing the impact of the EV sales mandate. Car-makers are already being forced to cut jobs because of plummeting sales of EVs to private motorists and after Labour hiked employer National Insurance contributions in its Budget. Rachel Hopkins, Labour MP for Luton South, said the closure was 'deeply troubling for our town', adding: 'Luton depends on these high-quality manufacturing jobs to drive local growth and support national prosperity.' And Tories stepped up condemnation of Labour's approach last night. Lord Frost warned Labour's 'crazy pursuit of net-zero on an accelerated timetable is going to do real damage to the economy and to the living standards of everyone in this country.' Tory MP Greg Smith added: 'The Government appears to have discovered there is such a thing as a market and EVs are proving very unpopular with real consumers.' A Chinese cargo ship deliberately severed two critical data cables in the Baltic Sea by dragging an anchor across the sea floor over 110miles while off-radar in an attack orchestrated by the Kremlin, a new report has claimed. European officials were apoplectic after key cables running from Lithuania and Sweden, and Finland and Germany, were cut on November 17 and 18. Germany's defence minister Boris Pistorius said he believed it was likely sabotage, with ministers from other nations warning the attack was likely part of a 'hybrid warfare', which experts have said Europe is 'totally unprepared for.' Now a new report from the Wall Street Journal claims that Russia was behind the attack, and that China wasn't involved. European investigators told the newspaper that the massive Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier - 225 meters long, 32 meters wide and loaded with Russian fertilizer - turned off its radar system and dropped its anchor as it glided through Swedish waters to cut the Sweden-Lithuania cable at around 9pm local time on November 17. Six hours later, the Ying Peng 3, owned and operated by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is alleged to have cut the Germany-Lithuania cable, having travelled around 110 miles. It then began zigzagging, before it raised its anchor and carried on sailing. A senior investigator indicated that the ship's path must've been deliberate: 'It's extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way.' Danish Navy ships pursued the ship and forced it to anchor in the Kattegat Strait, which connects the Baltic and the North seas. An initial investigation revealed the ship's anchor and hull was damaged in a manner consistent with damage suffered from deliberate dragging. European investigators said the massive Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier (pictured) was responsible for the cables being cut Vladimir Putin's (pictured) Russia is believed to be behind the cable attacks NATO ships are now guarding the vessel, with Swedish and German authorities negotiating with the ship's owner to get access to the vessel and the ship's crew for further investigation. Experts have warned that European nations are 'totally unprepared' for a new era of hybrid warfare that Russia appears to be engaging in. A former senior European official told the Guardian that the EU is 'totally unprepared' to confront Moscow in its campaign of 'hybrid' warfare, lacking the resources to effectively counter sabotage, arson, assassination and attacks on infrastructure. They said Europe could expect more 'hybrid' attacks to unfold on the continent in the wake of the American decision to permit usage of long-range ATACMS missiles against targets deep inside Russia. Russia has been accused of trying to destabilise the West and allies since the war in Ukraine began by allegedly 'weaponising mass migration' along its western border; sabotaging Nord Stream pipelines providing Europe with gas; influencing elections in Moldova and Georgia; jamming aircraft GPS; and even sending exploding sex toys to Western Europe. Recent disruption to trade and energy, and foiled attacks on businesses supplying aid to Ukraine, have sparked fears that Europe remains woefully underequipped to combat Russia's unconventional strategies. UK and EU ministers said Russia's hybrid attacks were 'escalating' and 'unprecedented' in scale, posing security risks. 'We know that Russia has the capability and willingness to do sabotage in Europe,' Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said, urging better protections for critical infrastructure. A Swedish artillery team fires a projectile from a Howitzer during NATO training on Wednesday Bubbles break to the surface amid a leak at the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 'This is closer to terrorism, with the aim of intimidating the population and influencing decision-making, and affecting support for Ukraine, a senior European security official told the Guardian. Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US state department, said separately that Russia would be 'held accountable' for any further actions while condemning a wider trend of what he called 'hybrid warfare conducted by Russia both in Europe and around the world'. Britain has shadowed Russian naval vessels and reconnaissance planes around its own coastal waters and airspace for more than a year, believed to be straying nearby to test NATO reaction time, tactics, weapons and patterns by tempting interceptions. British fighter jets pushed back Russian bombers in international airspace near Scotland in April last year. The planes are filled with communication and reconnaissance equipment to help pick out submarines. Vlad Sutea, Founder and Lead Analyst at T-Intelligence, told MailOnline 'the Russian[s] are deliberately testing the RAF and NATO's overall QRA reaction (time and tactics) while also monitoring maritime movements.' Russian ships in the North and Baltic Seas have caused increasing concern for NATO countries in the region, too. It is a chronic disease that impacts the lives of almosty half a million people in the UK. But arthritis sufferers have been offered fresh hope in the battle against the painful condition after a breakthrough by scientists. Scottish experts hace found a way of letting people with rheumatoid arthritis prevent painful flare ups before they gather pace. The findings could help detect when a flare up is on the way, enabling patients to take medication to prevent an attack and manage their condition far better. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the joints. Symptoms include pain, swelling and stiffness in the hands, feet and wrists. There may be periods where symptoms become worse, known as flare-ups. The latest figures show that around 450,000 adults in the UK have rheumatoid arthritis, while around one per cent of the worlds population are affected. Among sufferers in the UK is actress Claire King, 62, who spoke openly about her daily struggles with the condition as she competed in Strictly Come Dancing. Claire King is one of the estimated 450,000 people in the UK who have rheumatoid arthritis King spoke about dancing through 'gritted teeth' while competing in Strictly in 2006 Professor Mariola Kurowska-Stolarska, senior author of the study from the University of Glasgow, said: Recent advancements in technology allow us to examine tissue at high resolution, identifying specific cell-to-cell interactions. This helps to pinpoint the cause of diseases, such as flare-ups, before they begin. Professor Stefano Alivernini, senior co-author of the study from the Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS and Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore from Rome, said: We hope this research is the first step to find new ways to help more arthritis patients and to optimize their management, letting them stay symptom free and remain in remission after their therapeutic journey. Rheumatoid arthritis was discussed widely when actress Claire King, who has it, was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing and spoke about the daily challenges she faces. During the competition, the Emmerdale star said she was often dancing through gritted teeth. She had said: Most mornings when I get out of bed, the initial contact with the floor leads to sharp pains shooting up through the balls of my feet. I have to hobble around the room for half an hour or so until my feet have decided to accept that I am going to be walking on them for the rest of the day. Then, before each daily practice, I have to strap my heels carefully with a mixture of pads and bandages to try to minimise their impact on the dancefloor. And after the show is over and the adrenaline of performing live in front of millions has started to fade, I am the first to take off my shoes. However, she did not let the challenges she faced deter her, and had stated: I am not a quitter - nor do I want the sympathy vote because I have rheumatoid arthritis. Ive never let my illness stand in the way of anything I have wanted to do and I am not about to start. The new study was led by researchers at the University of Glasgow as part of RACE (Research into Inflammatory Arthritis Centre Versus Arthritis). The team examined the joints of patients by analysing their tissue and discovered a crucial difference in the behaviour of dendritic cells, which are often described as cell detectives because of their role capturing and processing information from other cells in the body. Dendretic cells are responsible for gathering clues about potential threats and then either activating or suppressing immune cells. The scientists found that in patients who were at risk of flare-ups, dendritic cells were detected in the blood weeks before the recurrence of the disease, suggesting these cells could be used as biomarkers to help keep people in remission. That means people at risk of a flare up could take medication to prevent an attack. Rheumatoid arthritis commonly starts in adults between the ages of 40 and 60 years-old and is more common in women than men. Although treatments have improved, many people experience painful and unpredictable flare-ups. Dr Caroline Aylott, Head of Research Delivery at Versus Arthritis, said: Flare-ups are a painful and frequent challenge for those living with rheumatoid arthritis, often with debilitating effects that disrupt daily life. By using this new technology, researchers are able to look in more detail than ever before at the cells responsible for inflammation in the joint. This means we are closer to using these as markers to predict when painful flare-ups will occur, which will help people to manage their rheumatoid arthritis better. Officers were stunned to find out an adorable cow onesie packed in a flier's suitcase was covered in methamphetamine. Raj Matharu, 31, was detained by LAX security and Customs and Border Protection after employees noticed something suspicious in an X-ray at the TSA checkpoint. Officials got ahold of Matharu's suitcases and were alarmed at the white powder allegedly found inside one of the bags. Other than the cow onesie, the search uncovered 18 pairs of socks and 'other stiff clothing' drenched in meth. Investigators removed more than one kilogram of meth residue from clothing that weighed 71.5 pounds altogether. The California resident was attempting to fly to Sydney, Australia, with the meth-filled luggage before he was caught by officials. Officers arrested Matharu on November 6 and charged him with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Matharu is free on a $10,000 bond and will be arraigned in a US District Court in Los Angeles, California, on December 2. Raj Matharu, 31, was detained by LAX security and Customs and Border Protection after officials allegedly found meth-covered items in his suitcases The National Drug Intelligence Center called meth 'the most significant drug threat in Northern California' in 2001. The issue has gotten worse over the years, partially because of the creative way dealers have smuggled them in and out of the US. 'Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit - as alleged in the facts of this case,' United States Attorney Martin Estrada said of Matharu's meth possession and distribution charge. 'In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world. Law enforcement is committed to fighting drug trafficking, knowing that every seizure saves lives.' Matharu was not the only alleged drug trafficker attempting to fly to Australia from California this month. Officials were suspicious after allegedly finding a powdery substance inside one of Matharu's two suitcases Investigators said they removed more than one kilogram of meth residue from clothing that weighed 71.5 pounds altogether British University student Myah Saakwa-Mante was arrested after officials said they found 13 white meth-soaked T-shirts from Target in her suitcase at LAX on November 2. The 20-year-old student was attempting to smuggle them into Brisbane, Australia, according to the criminal complaint. The combined weight of all shirts covered in meth was just under 30 pounds. Saakwa-Mante cooperated with officials after they asked her about the suitcases, and claimed to have no knowledge of the shirts. She also claimed that she was flying to Australia to visit her boyfriend whom she'd never met in person. Officers seized her bag and two iPhones and charged her with illegal drug possession with intent to distribute. Following the two cases, X users have given their honest - and disgusted - opinions on Matharu's incident. Other than the cow onesie, officials found 18 pairs of socks and 'other stiff clothing' drenched in meth Social media users were disgusted by Matharu's alleged actions but more than one person was extra curious over the onesie 'Wow, that's a new low. People really think they can sneak drugs through an airport in cow pajamas? This is just ridiculous and dangerous. What were they even thinking?,' an X user wrote. Another person wrote: 'dude really thought he could get away with wearing meth on a plane. airport security must have had a good laugh when they found the cow onesie.' If convicted, Matharu would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ). It is unclear if Matharu has entered a plea at this time. Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the incident with assistance provided by the United States Customs and Border Protection. A petition demanding a fresh general election will be debated in Parliament in the New Year after numbers signing neared 2.8million. The Petitions Committee has announced that the call will be considered in the Westminster Hall chamber on January 6. The chair and Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone will lead the debate. However, under procedural rules it will be on a 'neutral' motion - and cannot trigger a national poll. The petition was posted on the Parliament website by pub owner Michael Westwood and complains that Keir Starmer has 'gone back on promises'. It has been shared by acting legend Michael Caine among others, and has also been fuelled by Elon Musk. Although signatories have to say they are UK citizens or residents and provide an email and postcode, there is not thought to be any other verification - risking the chance some are not British voters. The petition was posted on the Parliament website by pub owner Michael Westwood and complains that Keir Starmer has ' gone back on promises ' The petition demanding a fresh general election will be debated in Parliament in the New Year after numbers signing neared 2.8million House of Commons sources said it was satisfied most are legitimate. The motion for the debate will simply be: 'That this House has considered e-petition 700143 relating to a general election.' Earlier this week Keir Starmer dismissed the demands for a fresh general election. The PM blamed 'difficult' decisions in the Budget for the huge backlash he has been facing as he appeared on ITV's This Morning. He insisted the petition just reminded him that 'very many people didn't vote Labour'. 'I'm not surprised many of them want a rerun,' he said. 'That isn't how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didn't want us in in the first place. 'So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.' Sir Keir has endured a torrid first five months since he secured a huge election landslide - but on one of the lowest winning vote shares ever. Anger has been mounting over the extraordinary 40billion tax raid in Rachel Reeves' first Budget at the end of last month, with farmers protesting at inheritance duties and pensioners furious about losing winter fuel allowance. A father-of-two who was reported missing by his family was killed by a crocodile in central Mexico. Authorities recovered the remains of Eduardo Rodriguez , 29, out of a lagoon in Villahermosa, Tabasco on Tuesday. A video filmed by a bystander showed moment the reptile pulled Rodriguez under. A bystander told local new outlets that he was walking near the lake when he spotted two crocodiles fighting over Rodriguezs body as residents sought out a way to rescue him. The man recalled how the bigger crocodile dragged Rodriguez downstream in the Lagoon of Illusions and later overpowered multiple reptiles that attempted to wrestle the body away from it. A Tabasco state Civil Defense unit initiated a search after authorities were alerted and recovered Rodriguezs torso while some of his other limbs were found floating in the lagoon. Authorities have not said how Rodriguez ended up in the lagoon. First responders recovered the remains of Eduardo Rodriguez, who was killed Tuesday by a crocodile at a lagoon in Villahermosa, Mexico Residents said they saw two crocodiles fighting for the body of Eduardo Rodriguez before the bigger reptile was able to drag the body away and then overpower multiple crocodiles who tried to wrestle the body away Rodriguez was last seen Sunday night and was reported missing by his family on Monday. Local outlets reported that Rodriguezs loved ones became increasingly worried about his whereabout because of his addictions. Rodriguez was a native of San Cristobal de las Casas, a municipality of about 183,000 residents in the southern state of Chiapas. Before the vicious attack, he had moved to Villahermosa for better opportunities. Although he was unable to find a full-time employment, Rodriguez often worked alongside his brothers cleaning car windshields. At least five crocodile attacks have take place at the Lagoon of Illusions in Villahermosa, a city in the southeast Mexico state of Tabasco A Tabasco state Civil Defense unit was able to recover the remains of Eduardo Rodriguez on Tuesday after he was killed by a crocodile. The 29-year-old father-of-two was last seen by his family Sunday and was reported missing Monday Villahermosa authorities have reported at least five crocodile attacks in the last four years. In August 29, locals rescued a homeless man who was bit by a crocodile while he was bathing on the shores of the Lagoon of Illusions. Earlier in the month, a Cancun tour guide stunned tourists on a boat by grabbing a crocodile's tail. The careless guide kept his hand in the water to motion the reptile to get closer to the group. The beast got near the boat apparently looking to be fed when it turned and began to drift away. In July, Mexican authorities recovered and relocated more than 200 crocodiles who were spotted wandering across several northern border cities across after Hurricane Beryl made landfall. Heavy rains caused water levels to rise in coastal lagoons, allowing the reptiles to crawl into Tamaulipas and the nearby cities of Ciudad Madero and Altamira. A Cybertruck crash that killed three college students who were home for the holidays has shaken a ritzy California neighborhood. The Tesla wreck involving four people happened in Piedmont at Hampton Road and King Avenue at around 3 am on Wednesday. Police said the car jumped the curb and collided with a concrete wall before striking a tree and going up in flames. Footage revealed the front of the Cybertruck was completely destroyed. There were no other cars involved and the exact cause of the accident is unknown. Investigators have not ruled out the influence of drugs or alcohol, Kron4 reported. Police chief Jeremy Bowers told FOX2 that another car had been trailing the Tesla and pulled the survivor out of the wreckage. The rescued individual is in the hospital and their condition is unknown. It is not clear if person who pulled out the passenger out knew the victims. The other passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. A Wednesday morning Cybertruck crash left three college students visiting home for the holidays dead The fiery crash's survivor was pulled out of the car by someone who was driving behind them A neighbor said that the car's passengers were college students visiting home for the holidays, but Piedmont police have not confirmed this information. Police were alerted of the crash by the Tesla itself via a feature that contacts authorities if there is an accident. Devastated neighbors who witnessed the aftermath also notified them. 'I'm not gonna speculate on what I think happened, at this point we don't know,' Capt. Chris Monahan of the Piedmont Police Department told ABC7. Bowers told FOX2: 'The solo vehicle that was involved in the crash, there was another vehicle that came after it, that was following behind and came upon the vehicle as it was fully engulfed. 'The individual exited the car and was able to pull the person out...the heat was just too intense.' California High Patrol is continuing this investigation. The well-off Piedmont neighborhood has about 11,000 residents. The median home price in the area is about $2.4 million, according to Zillow. Cybertrucks have recently come under fire after nonprofit Consumer Reports alleged visibility and overall safety issues with Elon Musk's creation. In October, more than 27,000 Cybertrucks were recalled because of lagging displays for rear-view camera images. DailyMail.com has reached out to Tesla for comment. This week's nightmarish wreck comes after four friends passed away in a burning Tesla in Canada. Cybertrucks have been under fire by critics who claimed the car has visibility and safety issues A woman in her 20s was the only survivor of the fiery October 24 crash after Rick Harper, a heroic Canada Post employee, smashed the window of the blazing Model Y with a metal pole. Four of her friends, identified as 25-year-old Neelraj Gohil, his sister Ketaba Gohil, 29, Jay Sisodiya and Digvijay Patel all died in the tragedy. Teslas are equipped with a button that drivers and passengers can push to open a door, instead of a handle. But if the power fails after a crash, the doors can get stuck and won't open. 'I would assume the young lady would have tried to open the door from the inside, because she was pretty desperate to get out,' Harper said to the Toronto Star. 'I don't know if that was the battery or what. But she couldn't get out.' Angela Rayner today met Pope Francis in the Vatican as she hailed the Holy See for 'building bridges of dialogue among faiths'. The Deputy Prime Minister attended a general audience at St Peter's Square after travelling to Rome for an annual UK-Italy conference. Shortly after their meeting, the Labour politician posted a photo on social media of herself shaking hands with the Pope. 'I was honoured to be able to greet His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning,' she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Pope Francis has shown great leadership on addressing the global issues of our time and building bridges of dialogue among faiths.' Ms Rayner is away from Westminster to attend the Pontignano Conference in the Italian capital, which aims to strengthen UK-Italian ties in response to shared challenges. In her absence from the House of Commons, the Deputy PM missed Tory leader Kemi Badenoch taking a swipe at her controversial workers' rights reforms. Angela Rayner today met Pope Francis in the Vatican as she hailed the Holy See for 'building bridges of dialogue among faiths' Shortly after their meeting, the Labour politician posted a photo on social media of herself shaking hands with the Pope In her absence from the House of Commons, the Deputy PM missed Tory leader Kemi Badenoch taking a swipe at her controversial workers' rights reforms Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon, Mrs Badenoch claimed Ms Rayner's employment rights legislation will 'stop businesses hiring'. The Tory leader also appeared to use the concerns of a biscuit company to aim a jibe at the Deputy PM. She said: 'Following his Budget, the head of McVitie's has said that it has been harder to understand what the case for investment in the UK is. 'So while the Prime Minister has been hobnobbing in Brazil, businesses have been struggling to digest his Budget. 'Isn't it the case that the Employment Rights Bill shows that it is not only the ginger nut that is causing him problems?' In reply, PM Sir Keir Starmer defended his attendance at the recent G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. He also accused Mrs Badenoch of 'carping from the sidelines', telling MPs: 'She's racked up 6.7billion of unfunded commitments in just three weeks as Leader of the Opposition.' Senior Conservatives today warned against 'blasphemy laws' after a Labour MP called for a ban on the 'desecration' of religious texts and prophets of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, urged action as he cautioned acts of 'mindless desecration' risk fuelling 'division and hatred' within society. He used Prime Minister's Questions to ask Sir Keir Starmer if he would bring in measures 'to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions'. The PM replied that 'desecration is awful' and 'should be condemned' by all MPs. Following the exchanges in the House of Commons, Mr Ali was accused by top Tories of promoting the re-introduction of 'blasphemy laws'. Offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were abolished in England and Wales in 2008, and in Scotland in 2021. Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, urged action as he cautioned acts of 'mindless desecration' risk fuelling 'division and hatred' within society Sir Keir Starmer replied in the House of Commons that 'desecration is awful' and 'should be condemned' by all MPs During PMQs this afternoon, Mr Ali told Sir Keir: 'November marks Islamophobia awareness month. 'Last year, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the desecration of religious texts, including the Koran, despite opposition from the previous government. 'Acts of such mindless desecration only serve to fuel division and hatred within our society. 'Will the PM commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions?' Sir Keir replied in the Commons: 'Can I agree with him that desecration is awful and I think should be condemned across the House. 'We are, as I said before, committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division, including Islamophobia, in all of its forms.' Downing Street sources later said they are not considering such legislation. It comes after the UN Human Rights Councils decision last year to address, prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred after individuals sought to burn texts including the Quran, the Bible and the Torah. Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick commented on the exchange between Mr Ali and Sir Keir on social media. Speaking at a press conference later this afternoon, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ' I am against blasphemy laws' In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote: 'A Labour MP calls for a law to ban criticism of prophets. 'Starmer does not rule it out. The answer was simple: Blasphemy laws have no place in the UK.' Speaking at a press conference later this afternoon, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'I am against blasphemy laws.' Conservative MP Nick Timothy added: What this MP says is blasphemous. Which rather demonstrates the absurdity of proposing blasphemy laws in a modern society. Its a pity the Prime Minister did not say so. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she was against blasphemy laws in a press conference yesterday. Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe warned: We do not, and must not, have blasphemy laws - regardless of which religion feels offended. Mr Alis question also drew free speech-related concerns from campaigners. Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick commented on the exchange between Mr Ali and Sir Keir on social media A spokesman for the National Secular Society said: It is deeply alarming that an MP is calling for the introduction of new blasphemy laws. Concerningly, the Prime Minister offers no defence of free expression. Mr Ali pointed out that taking a stand against anti-Muslim hatred was crucial during Islamophobia Awareness Month, which is marked every October. In the year following the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the charity Tell Mama UK said it has recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate, the highest annual total in 14 years. Former Tory Minister David Davis, a champion of civil liberties, said: 'For centuries, one of the most important features of Britains freedom of speech is the absolute right to criticise religion. Freedom of speech is fundamental to everything we have and everything we stand for. I regret Keir Starmer did not make that clear to Mr Ali at PMQs. This is not the first time Labour have been warned over the issue. In August it emerged that Ministers were weighing up adopting an official definition of Islamophobia instead of using the term anti-Muslim hatred favoured by previous governments. Senior Tories warned the Prime Minister against such a move, suggesting it could impinge on legitimate criticism of religion. MP Bob Blackman said at the time: Im very much in favour of saying we have to outlaw anti-Muslim hatred. There is the problem of not wanting to get to a point whereby theres a so-called blasphemy law. Weve always said there should be a definition of anti-Muslim hatred. Legitimate criticism of a religion should not be considered to be outside of the law. A jealous teenager stabbed her boyfriend to death after he refused to let her get into his phone and accused him of cheating. Tadarius Massey, 19, died in hospital in Orlando on August 14 after being stabbed in the shoulder and heart during a fight with Zoe Cooper, 18, at her home. Cooper claimed she acted in self-defense and it was not until November 15 that she was arrested at Texas Southern University in Houston by campus police. She was charged with second-degree murder and faced court in Houston, but was released on November 20 and it is not clear if she was returned to Florida. The teen admitted to the Orange County Sheriff's Department that she stabbed Massey during a fight sparked by her demand to see inside his phone. 'Cooper and Massey then had a prolonged physical altercation there they both struck one another and grappled with one another,' court documents stated she told them. 'Cooper during the argument said she armed herself with a knife, but then Massey took the knife and stabbed stuffed animals and out the knife down.' She then got the knife back and mortally wounded Massey by stabbing him with it, she said. Cooper had a visibly bruised eye when police interviewed her. Tadarius Massey, 19, died in hospital in Orlando on August 14 after being stabbed in the shoulder and heart His girlfriend Zoe Cooper, 18, was charged with second-degree murder and faced court in Houston However, no stabbed stuffed animals were found at the scene. Cooper also claimed Massey poured liquor on her during the fight, but no evidence of that was found either. Witnesses told police they saw the pair outside the house after Massey was stabbed, and alleged Cooper was 'frantic' and said 'I didn't mean to'. Cooper got into a silver car and drove Massey and the witnesses to hospital, dropped them off, and drove away. Massey died in hospital before police arrived. The day after Massey's death, Cooper posted an Instagram reel with photos of them, with the caption: 'If I could take it back or trade place in a heartbeat I would #LLTD, I love u always I'm truly sorry for what I did it wasn't supposed to be this way.' An autopsy found other stabbing and slashing wounds on Massey's left wrist and forearm and cut on his forehead and strangulation marks on his neck. Further investigations uncovered an alleged pattern of abuse between the couple that led to Massey's boss at Subway saying he sometimes came into work looking 'beat up'. Cooper sometimes came in to just watch him work without them speaking, he said. After Cooper allegedly attacked him at Ocoee High School last December, Massey told the vice principal that she was again angry he wouldn't let him see her phone, and accused him of talking to other women. Massey with his mother Susanna Massey at his high school graduation Further investigations uncovered an alleged pattern of abuse between the couple that led to Massey's boss at Subway saying he sometimes came into work looking 'beat up' The school official said Massey told her he didn't fight back, and Cooper attacked him several times before and previously stabbed him. Police found a photo of him with a new stab wound in his left shoulder from March 24 while searching his phone, and the autopsy found two healed stab wounds in the same spot. Cooper sent abusive messages to Massey just days later on March 29, saying 'I should have killed you,' and 'ima spit in yo grave [sic].' Other messages read: 'I wish you would've died that day,' 'I'm glad I stabbed you [sic]'. Cooper was arrested at TSU the day after Orange County police asked them to take her into custody. However, despite the serious charges, she was released and court documents appeared to indicate Orange County police rescinded their extradition request. 'Demanding jurisdiction released hold, will not extradite,' the document read. Massey's aunt Alicia Grant started a fundraiser on behalf of his mother Susanna Massey, which attracted $6,130 for his funeral. 'He had his whole life ahead of him. Parents shouldnt have to bury their children. This has been a tremendous and unexpected loss,' she wrote. Britain will not be making 'cash payments' to Caribbean nations demanding trillions of pounds in slavery reparations, David Lammy said today. The Foreign Secretary was put on the spot by MPs today over the demand for compensation made by a slew of Commonwealth leaders last month. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) the UK failed to keep language on reparations out of a joint statement signed by attending nations. In its official communique the leaders agreed 'the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity'. Mr Lammy clashed with Tory MP Apha Brandreth today at the Foreign Affairs Committee over what had happened. He told her that the Caribbean nations were interested in investment in technology, climate finance, education and health, adding: 'These are areas where we absolutely, in terms of the future, would intend to be in dialogue with the Caribbean ... that was the nature of the conversation. 'There was no discussion about reparation and money and the Prime Minister and I were absolutely clear that we will not be making cash transfers and payments to the Caribbean.' The Foreign Secretary was put on the spot by MPs today over the demand for compensation made by a slew of Commonwealth leaders last month. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Samoa leaders stopped short of an overt call for reparations. But in its official communique the leaders agreed ' the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity'. Mr Lammy clashed with Tory MP Apha Brandreth today over what had happened at Chogm. He said that the phrase 'reparations' was not in the communique from the summit. The phrase reparatory justice was in the communique. 'There's a caricature about sending cash and I have rejected that caricature,' he added. Sir Keir urged Commonwealth nations to 'look forward, not back' as he attempts to stave off a row over slavery reparations at Chogm. The Prime Minister confronted calls for Britain to pay financial reparations for its historical part in the slave trade, but admitted he understood the 'strength of feeling' over the issue. He called on the countries to work together 'to make sure the future is not in the shadow of the past, but is illuminated by it'. The communique said: 'Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement, and recognising the importance of this matter to member states of the Commonwealth, the majority of which share common historical experiences in relation to this abhorrent trade, chattel enslavement, the debilitation and dispossession of Indigenous People, indentureship, colonialism, blackbirding and their enduring effects, agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity. 'Heads further agreed to continue playing an active role in bringing about such inclusive conversations addressing these harms, paying special attention to women and girls, who suffered disproportionately from these appalling tragedies in the history of humanity.' Last year a leading international judge claimed Britain owes almost 19trillion in reparations for its role in the international slave trade, and even that might be an 'underestimation', Patrick Robinson, who sits in International Criminal Court, claimed that countries behind the centuries of atrocities were 'obliged to pay' and accused politicians like then PM Rishi Sunak of burying their heads in the sand. Speaking to Guardian, Mr Robinson did not rule out former colonial states trying to take legal action, but suggested a diplomatic solution was more likely. The boss of the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered babies praised her 'resilience' and told her he 'had her back,' a public inquiry heard yesterday. Tony Chambers was the 160,000-a-year chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital when the neo-natal nurse murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven more over a 13-month killing spree. Speaking publicly for the first time yesterday, the NHS manager admitted he told Letby she had been 'vindicated' and would be allowed back to work on the neo-natal unit - five months after she had been redeployed into a clerical role following doctors' concerns she was harming patients. Mr Chambers made the 'commitment' during an unusual meeting with Letby and her parents, three days before Christmas, in 2016. Minutes also showed he twice said: 'Your resilience Lucy, you astound me.' Questioned about why he had made the assurance, when investigations into the cause of the unexpected baby deaths remained ongoing, Mr Chambers claimed he only did so to 'take the heat' out of an 'increasingly difficult relationship' that had developed between the hospital and Letby's father, John, 78. He said the meeting was held to discuss Letby's employment grievance, which had been concluded in her favour, but Mr Letby was 'very angry' and was 'threatening guns to my head' because he was upset about the way his daughter had been treated. Tony Chambers (pictured) was the 160,000-a-year chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital when Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill seven more An inquiry has heard how Mr Chambers held a meeting with Letby's father John, 78, (pictured arriving at Manchester Crown Court in July last year) who was 'threatening guns to my head' because he was upset about the way his daughter had been treated 'Letby's family, it's fair to say, were very upset and very angry about how they felt she had treated unfairly by the Trust,' Mr Chambers said. 'Letby's father was making threats that would have made an already difficult situation worse. 'He was threatening GMC referrals for the doctors, threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things.' The inquiry has heard that Mr Letby wanted Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead consultant on the unit, and Dr Ravi Jayaram, the head of children's services, 'instantly' sacked because of the allegations they'd made against his daughter. Mr Chambers met with Lucy Letby again to discuss the consultants' apology to her a couple of months later. He said there was 'no doubt' she felt 'incredibly aggrieved' and asked him for reassurances that nothing negative would go on her nursing record about her redeployment. Mr Chambers told Letby: 'Lucy, don't worry, we've got your back.' Asked about why he made that remark, Mr Chambers admitted it was 'clumsy language' but again insisted his desire was simply not to 'escalate' a febrile situation with her father, who he described as 'pulling the strings.' Letby was found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others between 2015 and 2016 Mr Chambers arrives with legal representatives at Liverpool Town Hall to give evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry 'He wasn't present at this meeting, but you got a sense of his presence,' Mr Chambers said. But Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel for the inquiry, pointed out that he also told Letby, wrongly, that she had been 'vindicated.' Mr Chambers maintained that neither external review had pointed to unnatural causes for the baby deaths and denied that, with hindsight, he had been 'manipulated' and 'controlled' by a serial killer. Mr de la Poer said: 'It was an attempt by Letby to control and to go on the offensive and she succeeded in recruiting you to that, do you agree? He replied: 'No, I don't think so at all. The only thing Letby wanted was an acknowledgement she'd been treated unfairlyand to go back to a job she loved.' The hospital chief, who began his career in the NHS as a nurse, in 1995, has been described by other witnesses to the inquiry as 'intimidating,' 'emotional' and 'aggressive.' He began by apologising to the families of babies killed and harmed 'for the pain that may have been prolonged' by his decisions, and his evidence was peppered with robust exchanges with Mr de la Poer, who repeatedly had to ask Mr Chambers to focus on answering his specific questions. Mr Chambers admitted the hospital's systems failed and 'there were opportunities missed to take earlier steps to identify what was happening.' But he had to be asked six times to pinpoint what he considered to be his biggest 'personal' failure. Initially, he suggested it wasn't a 'personal failure' on his part, and that 'processes' and 'governance' in the hospital failed because the spike in unexpected deaths was not escalated up through the hospital's committee system or discussed with the board until after June 2016 after Letby murdered her final two victims. A grab from an officer's body worn camera footage showing the moment Letby was arrested He said as the chief executive he was the 'accountable officer' and responsible for the 'delivery of safe care' but added: 'As the chief executive of a large hospital, with 4,000 staff, you are very much reliant upon other people, the four or five layers of governance to do their jobs.' However, eventually he accepted he needed to take some responsibility for poor communication with the families of babies killed by Letby, who were kept in the dark about what was going on. When police were finally called in, in May 2017, Mr Chambers told officers that managers 'felt that the explanations for what had happened do not lie in a single place or cause and are certainly not criminal.' But he denied downplaying the consultants' concerns or 'discouraging' the police investigation. Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year. Fox News' star Laura Ingraham's show mistook one black woman for another live on-air, then made light of the embarrassing error. Ingraham, 61, showed a graphic of Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, confusing her with New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday's episode of The Ingraham Angle. Moments later, the anchor subtly addressed the confusion, downplaying the error as she said she mixed up two women who 'both hate Trump.' 'Earlier in the Angle, we accidentally showed a graphic that had a photo of another vicious anti-Trump figure, Letitia James, when we were talking about Fani Willis,' Ingraham said 'So that was our mistake, but they both hate Trump.' Ingraham made the mistake as she was discussing the legal cases against Trump, which she described as 'fraudulent.' 'Historys gonna remember Jack Smith and Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and the judges who let these cases get as far as they did, as modern day Keystone Cops, who chased Trump around, hounding him, trying to keep him off the campaign trail because they hated his agenda,' the controversial conservative said as she sowed an image of James instead. Social media users were quick to jump on Ingraham's mistake, with many accusing her of racism. Laura Ingraham issued an explanation after her show mixed up prosecutors Fani Willis and Letitia James, who are both black Willis is the district attorney in Georgia who prosecuted Trump for election interference James, the AG of New York, successfully sued Trump and his businesses for fraud 'Bigotry on full display,' actor an activist George Takei wrote on X. 'Laura Ingraham keeps misidentifying photos of Black people because she thinks they all look the same,' X user Paul Rudnick said. 'Like the blonde women with sleeveless dresses and too much makeup who work for Fox News. Ingraham has previously mixed up two black men - earlier this year she was talking about Nathan Wade but showed an image of his lawyer, Terrence Bradly, instead. Willis' election interference case against Trump was dropped on Monday after it was put indefinitely on hold over her romantic relationship with Wade, her top prosecutor. James, on her part, won a $454million civil fraud judgment against the incoming president, after accusing him of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to get better loan and insurance terms. The former president has since appealed the massive ruling, and appeal court judges had tough questions for New York prosecutors in September, signaling they may side with Trump in the case. Meanwhile, while Trump was convicted in New York for making hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, the sentencing in that case is on hold as Trumps lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties It comes after special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Trump, acknowledging that Trumps return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning reelection despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the countrys constitutional foundations. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The White House is urging Ukraine to quickly lower the age of conscription from 25 to 18 to boost the size of its military and stay in the fight with Russia. A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said today that the outgoing administration wants Ukraine to lower the conscription age to help expand its pool of fighting-age men as the war approaches its fourth year. The official told reporters the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they probably will need more. Russia has lost some 200,000 soldiers to the conflict so far, the WSJ reported this month, while data from UAlosses suggests Ukraine has lost 60,435 since 2022, of a population of around 37 million. As many as 400,000 in Ukraine could be too injured to return to the battlefield, the Economist suggests. Data from such reports is difficult to verify and do not always include soldiers MIA or presumed dead. Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's military committee, warned this week that Russia's land forces are bigger now than at the time of the February 2022 invasion - but said 'the quality of those forces has gone down'. The White House has already pushed more than $56bn in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office to help the war effort. The President has sought to funnel last-minute aid to Ukraine in the hope of giving Kyiv a fighting chance before Donald Trump takes office. Trump has not committed to continued aid and cut funding to NATO in his first term. Ukrainian servicemen overcome an obstacle course during military training on November 24 Ukrainian troops survey the site of a Russian missile strike on the city's Kyivskyi, November 25 Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Ternopil, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 26 Biden speaks at the White House on November 26 to announce the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah The Biden official said today 'the pure math' of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight to combat Russia's replenishing army. 'The need right now is manpower,' he told reporters. 'The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk... 'Mobilization and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time as we look at the battlefield today.' The official added that the administration believes that Ukraine can also optimise its current force by more aggressively dealing with soldiers who desert or go absent without leave. While more than 1 million Ukrainians are now in uniform, including National Guard and other units, Russia was able to boost the size of its army to 1.5 million active personnel in September, making it the second largest in the world, per Russia media. Russia has looked to bolster its forces with foreign conscripts in recent months, adding troops from North Korea and reportedly press-ganging Yemenis into fighting on the frontlines with the promise of high-paid employment away from the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been hearing concerns from allies in other western capitals that Ukraine has a troop level problem and not an arms problem, according to European officials. The European allies have also stressed that the lack of depth means that it may soon become untenable for Ukraine to continue to operate in Russia's Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. Ukraine has taken steps to broaden the pool of draft-eligible men, but the efforts have only scratched the surface against a much larger Russian military. In April, Ukraine's parliament passed a series of laws, including lowering its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25, aimed at broadening the universe of men who could be called on to join the war. Those laws also did away with some draft exemptions and created an online registry for recruits. They were expected to add about 50,000 troops, far short of what Zelensky said at the time was needed. Conscription has been a sensitive matter in Ukraine throughout the war. Russia's own problems with adequate troop levels and planning early in the war prevented Moscow from taking full advantage of its edge. But the tide has shifted and the US says the Ukrainian shortage can no longer be overlooked. Some Ukrainians have expressed worry that further lowering the minimum conscription age and taking more young adults out of the workforce could backfire by further harming the war-ravaged economy. Ukraine has been helped by the recent US decision to allow the use of western weapons to be fired deep into Russian territory and hit military targets previously unreachable - as Biden looks to set Ukraine up to recover ground before leaving office. There has been debate over how helpful these will be on their own; Russia moved much of its equipment in anticipation of the decision. This may stretch Russia's supply lines and slow its ability to rush munitions to the front. And the US administration has also, controversially, entered talks about sending Ukraine anti-personnel landmines to help defend its territory and stagger the Russian advance. Ukrainian workers weld metal cages together to reinforce a trench under construction in an undisclosed location of Donetsk region, on November 17 Ukrainian servicemen overcome an obstacle course during military training on November 24 A Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicopter flies against the backdrop of the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, November 25 A soldier from the 28th mechanised brigade holds a cat in front of a Ukrainian flag, waiting to go to the frontline, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, on November 20 But Ukraine today does indeed find itself on the backfoot, with Russia regaining momentum in its own Kursk province, following's Kyiv's stunning incursion in August. The situation in Kursk has become further complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops who have come to help Moscow try to claw back the land. Recent estimates vary from 10,000 to 12,000 troops. 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. 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. Terrifying footage captured the moment a kidnapped Missouri woman was shot and killed by her captors after they tried to drain her bank account. Michelle Hampton, 37, was found suffering from multiple gun shot wounds near 4745 Greer Avenue in St. Louis on November 20. Surveillance footage obtained by First Alert 4 captured the shooting and showed Hampton walking down the alleyway being followed by a yellow RAM truck. Court documents revealed that Hampton's twin sister, Samantha, witnessed the kidnapping and tracked her phone to the area. At the scene, investigators discovered a receipt for a bank withdrawal. They contacted the bank and were provided with images that showed Hampton sitting in the back of the yellow truck with a masked man sitting in the drivers seat. Phone data from the Life360 application showed Hampton had visited several banks after being kidnapped. One stop was made at a PNC drive-thru on Page Boulevard where Hampton attempted to withdraw $10,000. The request was rejected and she was only allowed to take out $2,000. Her captors then took her to a PNC on Chippewa where her request was again denied. The truck sped off after staff asked Hampton to go inside to complete the transaction. Surveillance footage showed a kidnapped woman walking down an alleyway being followed by a yellow RAM truck moments before she was killed Michelle Hampton (pictured), 37, was shot and killed by her captors after they tried to drain her bank account Surveillance footage shows the kidnapped woman being driven in a yellow truck to several banks before she was murdered Surveillance footage then captured Hampton walking down the street with an unknown person being followed by the truck. The truck parked a few feet away before the driver got out, shot her and then drove off. Police used AT&T data to track down the vehicle and after they obtained a search warrant, they discovered an empty PNC bank envelope, according to the local news station. A sweatshirt matching the description of what the suspect was wearing in the footage was discovered in a nearby dumpster. Using DNA evidence from the sweatshirt, police identified the suspect as 43-year-old Anjuan Mosby, the boyfriend of Hampton's twin sister. Samantha reportedly told investigators she had informed Mosby about a $40,000 settlement her sister had received on behalf of their brother. Court documents obtained by KSDK stated Samantha 'expressed fear to return home after her interview with the police because she was afraid that Mosby was involved in Michelle's kidnapping.' Mosby is facing 20 charges including first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping for Hampton's death. He pleaded not guilty on Monday and his next court hearing is scheduled for January 7. Using DNA evidence from the sweatshirt, police identified the suspect as 43-year-old Anjuan Mosby (pictured), the boyfriend of Hampton's twin sister A second man, 36-year-old Emmanuel Suarez (pictured) was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery and eight other counts in connection to the case During a police interview, Mosby reportedly stated that he plotted with co-conspirators to kidnap Hampton and force her to withdraw money - but planned to let her go. On Tuesday, a second man, 36-year-old Emmanuel Suarez was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery and eight other counts in connection to the case. Court documents viewed by KSDK stated that Suarez was seen driving the yellow truck in the days before and after Hampton's death. His DNA was reportedly found on items that were in the truck and thrown into a dumpster. They also said Mosby's phone showed he had multiple connections with someone named 'Manny' who they believe is Suarez. Gladiator II director Ridley Scott has been branded 'lazy' by his own cinematographer for his choice of filming methods on the action sequel. John Mathieson gave a reflective interview speaking of how the director had 'changed' and was now 'quite impatient' on set adding this had had a negative impact on the finished product. Mathieson, 63, worked with the renowned British director Scott, 86, on both his Gladiator films and has told a podcast how using multiple cameras rather than just one and paying little attention to 'bits of the set hanging down' in the shots are among its flaws. He said, speaking to the DocFix podcast: 'It's really lazy. Its the CG [computer graphic] elements now of tidying-up, leaving things in shot, cameras in shot, microphones in shot, bits of set hanging down, shadows from booms. And they just said [on Gladiator II], "Well, clean it up". 'He is quite impatient so he likes to get as much as he can at once. 'Its not very good for cinematography. 'Look at his older films and getting depth into things was very much part of lighting. You cant do that with a lot of cameras but he just wants to get it all done.' Mathieson added that multiple cameras meant you 'can only light from one angle'. Gladiator II director Sir Ridley Scott (centre), pictured with Gladiator II Irish actor Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington (left), has been branded 'lazy' Cinematographer John Mathieson, 63, said the director had 'changed' Revenge-seeking Lucius is mentored as a Gladiator by Macrinus ( Denzel ) - a former slave who plots to control Rome. The pair use one another to achieve their goals: Macrinus's invasion of Rome and Lucius slaying the general Gladiator II, which stars Paul Mescal, was generally less well-received by critics than the 2000 film starring Russell Crowe. It has received criticism for its apparent 'historical inaccuracies' such as 'diversity of accents' and portrayal of characters reading morning newspapers 1,200 years before the invention of the printing press. Yet some critics said it was the 'best movie of the year' and a 'true epic' as they hailed Mescal and Denzel Washington for their performances. The film sees Mescal's Lucius Verus seek vengeance against Rome in a blood-soaked battle with his captor general Marcus Acacius. Revenge-seeking Lucius is mentored as a Gladiator by Macrinus (Denzel) - a former slave who plots to control Rome. The pair use one another to achieve their goals: Macrinus's invasion of Rome and Lucius slaying the general. Mathieson concluded: 'Having lots of cameras I dont think has made the films any better. 'Its a bit rush, rush, rush. Thats changed in him. But thats the way he wants to do it and I dont like it and I dont think many people do, but people love his films and hes Ridley Scott and can do what he wants. 'People want to shoot multi cameras because they get lots of performances and they put lots of people in. But theres not the care. Mathieson pictured attending the Los Angeles premiere of Paramount Pictures' Gladiator II Mathieson compared the sequel to Gladiator in 2000 where there had been 'just 50 effect shots' pointing out the number in Gladiator II would be 'in the thousands'. The British cinematographer, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Gladiator, added: 'Now it is this thing of "generally covering stuff" rather than me being the cook cooking you something wonderful in my kitchen downstairs. 'You just go to the supermarket and get one of those really big trolleys and you just put your arm on the shelf and just chuck all that stuff in and well sort it out later.' Other films worked on by Mathieson include The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Hannibal (2001). Scott is known for his directing of films like Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982). Vladimir Putin's secret daughter is living under a pseudonym while residing in the West during his bloody war with Ukraine, reports claim. Elizaveta Krivonogikh, 21, is believed to be posing as a relative of late Putin ally Oleg Rudnov, according to a Ukrainian TV investigation. Ms Krivonogikh - also known as Luiza Rozova - vanished shortly before the start of the war in Ukraine, but earlier had a visible social media footprint in Russia. TSN claims to have tracked her and her mother - a 49-year-old cleaner-turned-multimillionaire - down, saying they are now going by the Rudnova family name. According to TSN, Elizaveta has been a student at the Paris School of Management and Arts during the war in Ukraine - but may not be there any more. They say Elizaveta has a passport identifying her as Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, with her known date of birth as 3 March 2003. This means she was born when Putin was Russian president and married to first lady Lyudmila Putina, who he later divorced. TSN reports that she has a passport identifying her as Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova Elizaveta Krivonogikh is believed to have been studying in Paris through the war (File) Vladimir Putin is believed to have formed a friendship her mother when he was St Petersburg's deputy mayor (pictured today in Kazakhstan) Svetlana Krivonogikh, a cleaning lady turned multi-millionaire, has been romantically linked with Vladimir Putin since he was deputy mayor of her hometown St. Petersburg The Ukrainian outlet reported: 'After extensive research, TSN found Elizaveta had changed her surname to Rudnova, allegedly taking the last name of Oleg Rudnov, a close Putin ally who once arranged luxury real estate deals. 'The change further highlights the alleged connection to Putin.' She is seen as using the name Rudnova on flight bookings and for other purposes. By calling herself Rudnova, she hides her patronymic name - Vladimirovna - which identifies her father's name as Vladimir. She has largely disappeared during the war in Ukraine, after being seen at the Louvre in 2021, but there were reports she was studying in Paris. Earlier she had her own fashion brand and worked as a DJ in Russia. There were reports that ahead of the war in Ukraine, Putin sought to block her public profile. 'And as far as I know, something happened in October 2021 because she deleted her Instagram account and she is no [longer] public,' said Andrei Zakharov, who revealed her existence. 'It looks like somebody told her: "Stop it".' Her mother, Svetlana Krivonogikh, who shares in a top bank and owns a prominent St Petersburg striptease club. She also reportedly uses the same name Rudnova, the female version of Rudnov. Elizaveta and her mother are known to occupy an elite 3.1million residence in Monaco. Svetlana was born in Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg in 1975 and went on to study at the city's University of Economics and Finance in the department of international relations. She is rumoured to have been working as a shop cleaner following her education in the late 1990s, where she allegedly caught the eye of Putin. In 2020, independent Russian investigative news site Proekt claimed that Krivonogikh formed a friendship with Putin while he was St Petersburg's deputy mayor - and therefore still married to Lyudmila Shkrebneva. Scarce public evidence suggests the pair travelled together on the same planes as Putin rose through the ranks. But a leak of millions of sensitive documents in 2021 - known as the Pandora Papers - revealed how Krivonogikh grew rich after Putin became Russia's president in 2000. Elizaveta previously refused to confirm or deny she is the Kremlin strongman's heiress 'I am very grateful for the chance to be in the limelight' she said amid speculation in 2021 The 21-year-old is now reportedly posing as a relative of late Putin ally Oleg Rudnov She came into possession of several properties, including a luxurious Moscow apartment, bought in 2003. She also became a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, known for its connections to Putin's inner circle. According to Proekt, Krivonogikh accumulated a $100m fortune from her holding in Bank Rossiya. And in March 2003 - three years after Putin became president - she gave birth to a daughter, who is known as Elizaveta Krivonogikh, or' Luiza Rozova'. For a time Rozova, who is now in her early 20s, regularly posted on Instagram about her own glamorous life - attending parties, spending time with friends from influential families and travelling on private jets. But her social media disappeared immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Before the war, she said she was loving being in the 'limelight' after her identity was revealed by opposition media. Svetlana Krivonogikh is believed to be a multimillionaire secret lover of Putin's Krivonogikh is rumoured to have been working as a shopcleaner following her education in the late 1990s, where she allegedly caught the eye of Putin Luiza was answering questions on Clubhouse, an invitation-only audio-chat social networking app, from among others journalist Andrey Zakharov, who broke the story about her for Proekt.Media. Zakharov - who now works for the BBC Russian Service - asked Luiza: 'Have I caused you a bad trauma by my investigation?' She replied: 'Oh no, not at all. My life was so stagnant, I am very grateful for the chance to be in the limelight, that people heard about my account. 'I'm not trying and never have to popularise myself. I am feeling very well indeed, don't worry about me. 'My life goes on, and all is well.' President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he was nominating Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been a key adviser to Trump, was Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser during the previous administration. Trump announced the latest appointment to his incoming administration on his Truth Social platform. 'He was with me right from the beginning!' he wrote, using his unique brand of capitalization to make the point. 'Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!' Kellogg will take up his role as the Russian war in Ukraine marks its third anniversary next year. He has been an outspoken critic of the billions of dollars in arms and ammunition sent by the Biden administration to Ukraine. And last week he warned that the conflict could spiral out of control after President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory. 'I don't think World War III has begun, but we're right on the precipice,' he told Fox News. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he was nominating Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. They are seen here at Mar-a-Lago in 2017 The war in Ukraine will mark its third anniversary in February next year. Ukrainian servicemen of the 43 Artillery Brigade are seen here firing a 2S7 Pion self-propelled cannon towards Russian positions at a front line in the Donetsk region on September 27, 2024 'What I mean by that is, when you look at what's happening ... with an alliance that President Trump kept apart. You know, he had North Korea over here, he had China over here, he had Iran here and Russia over here. 'What you've seen now is they've all joined. You've got an axis together, and they're feeding off one another.' The president elect has repeatedly claimed to be able to end the war in 24 hours, triggering speculation that he is planning to press Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, giving up land that Moscow now occupies. Kellogg developed a plan along similar lines for the America First Policy Institute, a group that formulated a policy blueprint and staffing lists for a new Trump administration. It would involve telling Kyiv it would no longer receive U.S. weapons unless it entered talks. At the same time, Moscow would be told to expect increased support to Kyiv it failed to go along with negotiations. Trump has moved quickly to round out Cabinet appointments and other senior posts since winning the election. A forklift driver narrowly dodged death after a stack of shipping containers toppled onto his vehicle at Singapores Pasir Panjang Terminal. The horrific ordeal happened in the early hours of the morning on November 25 - leaving the 37-year-old worker in hospital, where he is said to be in a stable condition. According to officials, the Malaysian man suffered lacerations to his head and body. The terrifying clip showed the moment that the forklift attempted to move a container, before a column of five stacked containers suddenly collapsed on top of him as he reversed. Video showed that the container at the very top of the unstable lot fell directly on top of the forklift's cabin - causing the driver to crash to the ground. His conscious body was seen flopping to the ground upon impact, just before 7am. Since the accident, The Ministry of Manpower has launched an investigation - and warned others in the trade to remember the importance of adhering to proper stacking practices. Dozens of people reacted to the shocking clip online. One person wrote: 'He should have stopped pulling out the container as soon as he saw the others behind the item pulling out as well! Hope he survives and wish him speedy recovery.' The terrifying clip showed the moment that the forklift attempted to move a container, before a column of five stacked containers suddenly collapsed on top of him as he reversed A woman left with botched breasts after a boob job in Turkey says she 'knew something wasn't right' the minute she woke up. Mother-of-two Stacey Bates, 29, was left with messy scars, wonky nipples and uneven breasts after a surgeon allegedly told her 'time for sleepy bye bye' before surgery. The 29-year-old claims she wasn't even consulted about the size of the implants that were being fitted, and the stitches soon became infected after getting home. 'I was seduced by the price, but as soon as I woke up from the general anaesthetic, I knew something wasn't right,' Stacey, from Bedale, North Yorkshire, told What's The Jam in warning to other would-be customers. 'The surgeon chose the implant size without a detailed consultation. It felt like they just grabbed one off the shelf. They also did not inform me about having a catheter inserted. 'The fear is you may not make it home and see your kids again,' she added, urging people to 'do their research' and not be lured in by too-good-to-be-true deals abroad. 'I was seduced by the price, but as soon as I woke up from the general anaesthetic, I knew something wasn't right,' mother-of-two Stacey Bates said, warning others of her misfortune Stacey paid just 3,500 for the surgery and flights - but ended up paying a much greater price 'After returning home, the stitches became infected, and I was unable to contact the surgeon directly,' she claimed Stacey had thought about having breast augmentation and uplift for years. So after seeing an advert for a clinic in Turkey on social media earlier this year, she filled in an online consultation. At just 3,500 including flights, Stacey decided to take the plunge. But her dreams crumbled when she discovered there was more to the operation than she realised. She said: 'I was instructed to walk around shortly after surgery and left with drains dangling, which I was told to empty myself. 'I'd had to leave [my children] for so many days and then I was worried that when I got home I wouldn't be able to pick them up.' But Stacey said the experience failed to live up to her expectations from the moment she landed in Turkey in January. She said: 'They told me the transport would be a private minibus, but when I arrived, I was sharing it with others. 'After arriving, I was taken to the hotel, then went to the hospital for pre-surgery checks, including blood tests and a brief meeting with the surgeon to mark areas for surgery. Stacey was left with messy scars, wonky nipples and uneven breasts after the surgery Stacey (background) later went for corrective surgery and is urging others to take care When Stacey raised concerns, the provider advised contacting them again in January 2025 'Payment was also collected from the bed on the day of surgery, but I did not see the surgeon on the day. 'I observed other patients on surgical beds and had to transfer myself onto a cold, hard operating table. 'When I was laid on the table the surgeon said "time for sleepy bye bye" and that really freaked me out.' Stacey said she was uncertain about who was going to perform the procedure, but still decided to go ahead. On the day her drains were removed, she was sent straight to the airport to fly home. She said: 'After returning home, the stitches became infected, and I was unable to contact the surgeon directly, only communicating with the provider. 'I had to seek treatment at A&E and was prescribed antibiotics.' When Stacey raised concerns, the provider advised contacting them again in January 2025 to discuss options. Stacey claims they mentioned that additional surgery would require another payment but that doctor fees would be reduced. Stacey is now working with Pall Mall Medical, a leading cosmetics provider, to have revision surgery which will include correcting bad scarring and repositioning her nipples. She also plans to have an uplift and implant revision in January 2025. She said: 'I just wish I'd stayed here in the UK to get it done, where you've got that reassurance if something goes wrong you can contact your surgeon. 'If you're not happy with the results, you've got that guarantee. Whereas you haven't got anything doing what I did. 'I went for the price, and now I'm having to pay again, so it's cost me more in the long run. She is now working with Pall Mall Medical, a cosmetics provider, to have revision surgery 'Definitely do your research. Don't go by price. Look into each company and surgeon and make sure you know the process,' she said 'I'm really unhappy with the results of my surgery, the scars are messy, my nipples are wonky, and the overall results are so uneven. 'But Pall Mall has been amazing. They've made me feel so supported and comfortable, and they've explained the whole process clearly. 'Definitely do your research. Don't go by price. Look into each company and surgeon and make sure you know the process.' Dr Simon Theobalds, an A&E doctor and Pall Mall GP, has expressed growing concern over the rising number of cases involving botched surgeries. He said: 'We see patients drawn in by deals for half-price tummy tucks or breast augmentations. 'But these clinics often don't match the safety standards required in the UK. 'Language barriers can also lead to misunderstandings, and hygiene standards are often compromised. 'People don't realise they may be treated by unqualified practitioners, and unfortunately, some end up paying the ultimate price - their life.' According to the latest figures, 28 Britons have lost their lives due to complications from overseas procedures since 2019, including seven deaths in 2024 alone. Stacey has since campaigned with Pall Mall to issue an urgent call on warning the public about the dangers of low-cost cosmetic procedures abroad. A plus-sized blogger has reissued her demand that US airlines stop making bigger passengers pay more for extra seats ahead of the holiday travel season. Jaelynn Chaney believes it is outrageous that plus-sized passengers are 'forced to pay twice for the same accommodation anyone else gets with just one ticket,' she said in a TikTok video this week. 'This isn't about giving fat people more - it's about accommodating basic needs.' The plus-sized travel crusader has long preached about the need for bigger seats on airplanes, as she claims major air transportation companies continuously shrink seats to jam in more passengers. She believes the US needs to take on the Canadian policy of 'one person, one fare.' A one-person-one-fare policy has been enacted into law by the Canadian government since January 2008. Airlines such as Air Canada require passengers that need medical accommodations to submit paperwork and documentation from their doctors to make the request, which will be approved up to 48 hours before the flight, according to the Canadian government. Air Canada's Fitness for Air Travel paperwork does include a section to allow passengers to apply for an accommodation 'by reason of obesity.' Jaelynn Chaney believes it is outrageous that plus-sized passengers are 'forced to pay twice for the same accommodation anyone else gets with just one ticket,' she said in a TikTok video She believes the US needs to take on the Canadian policy of 'one person, one fare.' A one-person-one-fare policy has been enacted into law by the Canadian government since 2008 @jaebaeofficial Replying to @ Airline seats are getting smaller every year, making it harder for people who need more space. When a fat person speaks up about small plane seats or needing to buy more than one seat because they dont fit, theyre criticized and ridiculed. Now, lets talk about how when a thin person says the same thing, theyre praised. Why the double standard? The real issue is anti-fat bias thats ingrained in society, making people think fat people dont deserve basic accommodations. Were treated like the problem when, in reality, its the system thats broken. Airlines profit from shrinking seats and forcing us to pay double for what should be a basic need. And when we demand fairness, were made to feel like were asking for too much. Its time to change the narrative and treat every body with respect. #BodyEqualityInTravel #FearlessFatAdvocacy #FatAcceptance #SizeInclusion #AirlineSeats #AntiFatBias #FatPeopleDeserveRespect #FairTravel #EndFatPhobia #TravelEquality #InclusionMatters #TravelForAll #AccessibleTravel #PlusSizeTravel #InclusiveTravel #Fyp Righteous - Mo Beats In order to determine if a passenger is eligible for the one-person-one-fare policy through the airline, they must provide their height, weight, body mass index, and surface measurements, which is distance of the two widest points. It also requires a physician's signature. The US does not have a similar policy. The Department of Transportation rules: 'Airlines are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket purchased.' 'Why is it that other countries, like Canada, recognize this as a basic need, but here in the US, airlines are still making money off our discomfort?' Chaney questioned. 'It's time they stop profiting from our bodies and start treating everyone fairly. 'And let's not forget, airline seats keep shrinking every year, making it even harder for people who already need extra space.' Commenters were quick to disagree with Chaney's testament, with one writing: 'If you take up two seats, then no other person can buy a ticket to sit there, so you have to pay for it.' Another questioned the same thing: 'If you use two seats, shouldn't you pay for two seats?' Another disgruntled commenter wrote: 'If I'm ever big enough to need two seats, it will be my wake-up call.' Airlines, like Air Canada, require passengers that need medical accommodations to submit paperwork and documentation from their doctors to make the request. To determine if a passenger is eligible, they must provide their height, weight, body mass index, and more 'So who would decide if two seats were needed?' one man wrote. 'What if I identified as a passenger of size? Or the fact that Im 64 would require me to get guaranteed business or exit rows?' This isn't the influencer's first time advocating on half of obese flyers desperate for more room to fly comfortably. In June 2023, she requested US airlines to be forced to refund overweight passengers for any extra seats they're forced to purchase when booking to accommodate their size. 'As plus-size travelers, my partner and I have unfortunately experienced discrimination and discomfort while flying,' she wrote in her petition, which has been signed by nearly 40,000 people. She added: 'All plus-size passengers should be provided with an extra free seat, or even two or three seats depending on their size, to accommodate their needs and ensure their comfort during the flight.' Turning her attention to reimbursements, Chaney added: 'Airlines should offer a refund for plus-size passengers who purchase additional seats independently. This should be a straightforward process that can be accessed online or through customer service.' Nearly a year and a half later, US airlines have yet to hear her plea. But she's had trouble with more than airplane seats, for example when she got stuck in a revolving door at Chicago O'Hare. 'Why is it that other countries, like Canada, recognize this as a basic need, but here in the US, airlines are still making money off our discomfort?' Chaney questioned. 'It's time they stop profiting from our bodies and start treating everyone fairly' Despite not requiring a wheelchair for mobility issues on a day-to-day basis, Chaney decided to use one as she passed through Chicago O'Hare airport. 'Recently, I had a distressing experience at Chicago OHare airport. As a plus-size ambulatory wheelchair user, I faced a significant challenge when trying to get to the baggage claim,' Chaney began. 'The only option is to go through a revolving door. Press the button to slow it down for people with disabilities, but as we entered, we got stuck,' she explained, noting how she is also claustrophobic. 'I began to panic, frantically motioning to the staff to help, but they just stared at me, offering no assistance.' Chaney, who is a size 6XL, did not post any photo or video evidence of her ordeal and accused O'Hare airport staff of being unresponsive. She also claimed that airport staff at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport refused to push her up the jet bridge because of her size. 'My ordeal at SeaTac Airport will shock you,' Chaney said in a TikTok in May. Chaney, who can walk, then detailed how she requested wheelchair assistance on a recent flight - as she always does. However, Chaney claims that when she tried to leave the aircraft, the employee assigned to help assist her started to walk away when she realized she was supposed to help the plus-size woman and not one of the smaller passengers. The travel influencer said that as the employee walked away with the wheelchair she was making comments about her size. Chaney says the ordeal left her gasping for air. David Lammy tonight hit out at 'politicking' over Labour's agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The Foreign Secretary insisted the sovereignty pact was a 'very good deal' as he played down claims it was on the verge of an embarrassing collapse. Serious doubt has been cast over the deal's future following criticism of its terms by the new Mauritian prime minister and opposition from allies of incoming US president Donald Trump. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who was elected a fortnight ago, said he had 'reservations' about the agreement struck with the previous Mauritian administration. He said he wants time to go over the details with lawyers, and expressed surprise that the deal was struck so close to the African country's general election. Speaking to the BBC, the Mauritian PM did not specify what he disliked. But an ally lashed out at a provision handing the UK and US a 99-year lease on the Diego Garcia airbase. It came after Mr Ramgoolam met with Jonathan Powell, who is Labour's incoming national security adviser and the UK envoy behind the agreement to give away the islands. Mr Powell has been scrambled first to Mauritius and then to Washington DC in a desperate attempt to get the deal done before Mr Trump takes over from Joe Biden in January. David Lammy tonight hit out at 'politicking' over Labour's agreement to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius Newly-elected Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam met with Jonathan Powell, who is Labour's incoming national security adviser and the UK envoy behind the agreement Speaking to the BBC he did not specify what he disliked, but a key ally has lashed out at the key provision that hands the UK and US a 99-year lease on the Diego Garcia airbase. Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over what is formally known as the British Indian Ocean Territory has prompted a wave of criticism The agreement also faces an additional hurdle as it has been condemned by Marco Rubio, who has been lined up by Donald Trump as the new US secretary of state The UK Government's deal to hand over what is formally known as the British Indian Ocean Territory has prompted a wave of criticism. It is feared the strategically important archipelago is being 'surrendered' to an ally of China, albeit under a process that began under the previous Tory government. The agreement also faces an additional hurdle as it has been condemned by Marco Rubio, who has been lined up by Mr Trump as the new US secretary of state. He last month labelled the Chagos Islands deal 'a serious threat' to national security that 'threatens critical US military posture in the region'. Speaking to MPs on the House of Commons' foreign affairs committee, Mr Lammy dismissed growing criticism of the agreement. 'I'm very, very confident that this is a deal that the Mauritians will see, in a cross-party sense, as a good deal for them,' the Foreign Secretary said. Tory former Cabinet minister Sir John Whittingdale, a member of the committee, said the Mauritian leader had described the agreement as 'high treason and a sellout'. But Mr Lammy replied: 'Both you and I have said things during an election in order to get elected. He did not say that yesterday.' The Foreign Secretary also pushed back at criticism from Mr Trump's allies, saying: 'This is incredibly sad. I know and I'm sad that there's been so much politicking about this. 'This process begun under the last government and there were ministers who understand entirely why this is so important for our national security and global national security. 'The agencies in the US think this is a good deal. The State Department in the US thinks this is a good deal. 'And most important of all, the Pentagon and the White House think this is a good deal. And that's not just the principal politicians in those in those areas, it is the system.' Mr Lammy said the agreement was a 'very good deal' for 'our national security' because it secured the legal basis of the Diego Garcia military base. He added: 'I'm really reassured about that, and I think an incoming (US) administration will be reassured about that. 'And I'm confident that the Mauritians are still sure about that, despite politicking that we all know goes on.' Labour has insisted it had to strike a deal to protect the Diego Garcia base after the International Court of Justice ruled the UK's administration of the islands was 'unlawful'. But Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, branded the legal case 'phoney' and expressed his hope than Mr Trump and Mr Rubio 'shoot this agreement down'. He told Sky News this evening: 'The Chagos Islands are strategically, really important. 'The Mauritian claim to these islands, which are a thousand miles away from (Mauritian capital) Port Louis, well, the case is weak. 'The case is based on a UN vote. So the international law case for surrendering sovereignty seems to me, to be completely phoney.' He added: 'I think they have to realise that this is not in the interests of the United States. It's not in the interests of the UK from the point view of our national security.' The Tories renewed a demand for answers from the Government about the cost to the taxpayer and when full details of the agreement will be made public. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel told the Mail: 'While Keir Starmer's special envoy has been sent to beg Donald Trump for his support, ministers refuse to disclose details of negotiations taking place. 'They remain unable to answer basic questions about cost of this deal and the implications it might have on our national security and defence. 'What we do know is that these plans go against our national interests and the views of the Chagossians have been ignored. 'The fact that the new Mauritian prime minister wants more time to consider the deal gives the Government a chance to reflect on their plans and to start providing answers to the serious questions posed.' Former defence secretary Grant Shapps added: 'Now even Mauritius's new prime minister believes Labour's Chagos sovereignty sell-out is a dud. 'It's time for Starmer to scrap the deal and defend British military interests around the world.' Reform UKs Nigel Farage posted: The Chagos deal is collapsing before our eyes. Downing Street today insisted the Government's position 'remains unchanged' on the Chagos Islands deal. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The UK's position on this remains unchanged. 'We have always said that we look forward to engaging with the new Mauritian government and that's exactly what we're doing in order to progress the deal. 'We are now finalising the details of legal texts, the treaty, and will be coming forward for parliamentary scrutiny as part of the ratification process next year.' Labour made the shock announcement in October that it was going to hand sovereignty of Chagos Islands - a British overseas territory for more than 200 years. As part of the arrangement, the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia on the Indian Ocean archipelago will remain operational for at least 99 years. But the president of Mauritius who agreed it, Pravind Jugnauth, was ousted in the election. It has yet to be officially signed. Opponents of the handover are hopeful that Mr Trump will force Labour to scrap the deal when he returns to the White House. A mother died after nurses failed to spot signs that she was suffering from a fatal bleed, an inquest heard. Charlotte Roscoe, 26, visited Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, in January complaining of 'chest pains.' However in a fatal blunder, nurses failed to carry out a vital blood clot scan and instead diagnosed her with an infection and discharged her. The mother then died a day later at her home in Manchester from an aortic dissection - a tear in the wall of the main artery that carries blood out of the heart. An inquest into her death heard that one of two scans could be undertaken as per national guidance, and nurses opted for the test which does not detect cardiac anomalies. Coroner Michael Pemberton has warned that there was a 'missed opportunity' to save her life. Ms Roscoe visited Royal Bolton Hospital on January 22 this year with chest pains. She was 'suspected' to have a viral chest infection, it was heard. Charlotte Roscoe, 26, visited Royal Bolton Hospital (pictured) in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, in January complaining of 'chest pains.' However in a fatal blunder, nurses failed to carry out a vital blood clot scan and instead diagnosed her with an infection and discharged her The coroner said a scan was requested to confirm if there was a pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening condition that occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lung, which could take the form of two tests. National guidance said that either a VQ or CTPA [CT Pulmonary Angiogram] could be undertaken and on this occasion, a VQ scan was done 'which confirmed that there was no Pulmonary Embolism'. 'This test would not detect any cardiac anomalies whereas types of CT scan probably would do and be likely to lead to other tests,' the coroner noted. He said that 'no follow up' occurred on the x-ray - which showed an enlargement of Ms Roscoe's heart - and this is because a 'visual inspection of the image was considered normal'. For this reason, the Mother was discharged from hospital at 5pm on January 23. It was noted that the 'normal' observations seen by the clinical assessment team were last taken at just after 7am and two sets of observations should have occurred in the intervening period, but were not done. Ms Roscoe left the hospital with a 'suspected lower respiratory tract infection', but no formal diagnosis had been made. Upon arriving to her home in Farnworth, Ms Roscoe went to bed feeling sick - and had not arisen by the time her parents went to work the following day. On her father's return home at approximately 3pm, she was found to be dead. A post mortem exam found that she died of a 'dissection of the ascending aorta and ruptured root of aorta leading to haemopericardium'. 'This is a rare condition, which would have been likely to have been detected by a CTPA scan and subsequent CTAA scan that would be indicated, however this was not specifically requested,' the coroner said. He noted the VQ test was 'reasonable' with the Royal College of Radiologists guidelines to detect whether there was a pulmonary embolism. 'Whilst there was a missed opportunity to detect the unidentified Aortic Dissection by undertaking a CT scan, it cannot be said on balance of probabilities that this would have prevented death given the catastrophic nature and low survivability rate,' he added. In a prevention of future deaths report, Mr Pemberton raised several 'matters of concern' in relation to her death. He said guidance from the Royal College of Radiographer states that a CTPA and VQ scan are 'equally appropriate' when considering a diagnosis of a Pulmonary Embolism. Mr Pemberton said a more recent report by the college considered whether the VQ scans should be 'replaced' for all patients suspected of the life-threatening condition, but said it was 'unclear' whether this has been properly considered. He also referred to evidence from a doctor, who referred Ms Roscoe for a scan. It was heard this doctor 'thought she had requested a CTPA to be undertaken' but the form that was used to request the scan meant it would be 'vetted' and an 'appropriate mode of scan arranged following consideration by a radiologist.'. 'It was stated by the doctor that it would not be normal to speak to radiology regarding a request for a scan,' Mr Pemberton said. 'In evidence from a radiologist it was stated that a medical clinician would be expected to speak to a radiologist if there was any preference for a type of scan to be undertaken so this could be discussed. 'It appeared to me that the use of the correct form, need to be specific, provide rationale for a specific type of scan request, and liaising with radiology as appropriate was not appreciated in this case. 'As above, given that there was no radiographer involved in the After Action Report or action raised, it is unclear if this matter has been considered, or any actions taken to prevent future confusion.' Mr Pemberton, Assistant Coroner for Greater Manchester, returned a verdict of 'Hospital Death'. He sent the Prevention of Future Deaths report to Royal Bolton Hospital, who have 56 days to respond. Alec Baldwin's neighbor made a wild claim about the disgraced star after he was slammed for branding Americans as 'uninformed' during a recent film festival. When the 66-year-old 'Rust' actor received this year's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Torino Film Festival in northern Italy, he called Americans 'uneducated' about the world's most pressing issues. 'Americans are very uninformed about reality - what's really going on,' he said during Monday's press conference. 'Americans have an appetite for a little bit of information.' But his inflammatory, anti-American comments have enraged New Yorkers - including one of Baldwin's neighbors, who told DailyMail.com that he has no place to be talking about what everyday Americans believe, especially with his 'attitude' problem. Madeline Hill, 20, revealed that the actor is 'rude' and claimed he's 'uneducated' himself. She said: 'I actually live across the street from Alec Baldwin. He's been rude to me so many times. He is an uneducated man in himself. He's not really seeing the heart of America.' Another fuming Big Apple resident wondered why Baldwin - who fatally shot a cinematographer on the set of Rust in 2021 and walked away scot-free - is even talking about the rest of the country, when he has bigger problems to deal with. Responding to the actor's comments, the local said: 'Why didn't he get charged for [involuntary] manslaughter? I think that he's definitely misinformed. He needs to come back to New York to get informed.' Madeline Hill, 20, told DailyMail.com that she lives across the street from Alec Baldwin and that he's been nothing but rude During the film festival in Italy this month, the 66-year-old controversial A-lister (pictured at the event) said that Americans are 'uneducated' and 'uninformed about reality' Baldwin has stirred controversy over the years for his reckless and rude behavior with the public - calling a photographer a 'c***sucking f****t' to his face in 2013 outside his Greenwich Village home. In 2016, he was caught in a foul-mouthed tirade at a photographer trying to take photos of him in a public place. 'You're a piece of trash,' he yelled, along with several expletives. 'Stay away from my wife.' As the photographer tried to reason with the actor, Alec got in his face and yelled back at the top of his voice: 'Shut up! You're a piece of garbage!' In 2018, he was arrested for punching a New Yorker who stole his parking spot in an expletive-filled outburst. He later pled guilty. And in 2021, an umbrella-wielding Baldwin was filmed aggressively rushing towards a New York Post reporter who confronted him outside Woody Allen's Manhattan townhouse. Baldwin wasn't the only one in hot water over his most recent rant. Sharon Stone also made comments about the nation's residents at the same film festival, appearing to compare Donald Trump to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini - noting that he was only elected because Americans lacked knowledge and don't travel enough. 'My country is in the midst of adolescence. Adolescence is very arrogant. Adolescence thinks it knows everything,' she said. 'Adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant. And we are in our ignorant, arrogant adolescence.' Americans had one message for Alec Baldwin after he called citizens uninformed While some Big Apple residents agreed with Baldwin's comments, the majority of them believed that celebrities shouldn't have a say in speaking about how much knowledge ordinary Americans have Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin in the Hamptons on July 20, 2024 Other fuming Big Apple residents wondered why Baldwin - who fatally shot a cinematographer on the set of Rust in 2021 and walked away scot-free - is even talking about the rest of the country as a whole when he has bigger problems to deal with 'We haven't seen this before in our country,' she added. 'So Americans who don't travel, who 80 percent don't have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivete.' But during interviews with DailyMail.com in Manhattan, most New Yorker's were appalled by the star's anti-American rants following Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris. However, a few Big Apple residents did agree with Baldwin and Stone. 'Most of the population are - I hate to say it - dimwits,' said one man. 'I would say most people here are very uneducated,' he added, glancing over his shoulders at passersby. 'I think 70 percent of the Trump voters just jumped on the bandwagon.' 'I think I can definitely agree with that,' said 19-year-old Palo said. 'In the sense that there's definitely a cohort of Americans who definitely have a bit of ignorance about them and they don't tend to focus on what the reality of the situation is like because they don't want to deviate from this idea they have in their head.' However most said celebrities have no right to talk about how 'uninformed' everyday Americans are - and instead should take a look at themselves in the mirror. Actress Sharon Stone (center) unleashed on 'arrogant adolescent' America during a long-winded rant that saw her call US voters 'uneducated' and 'ignorant' Baldwin, seen here outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's offices on the day of the shooting, had charges brought against him twice The Baldwins posted this image on election day this year Alec Baldwin broke down in tears and hugged his wife Hilaria as his involuntary manslaughter case was sensationally dismissed in July 'Celebrities are the ones that are unaware of reality,' said 18-year-old Pamela. 'Celebrities, of all people, have it easiest - they make easy money, they have easy jobs.' Nahtara, 19, described Baldwin and Stone's comments as 'messed up'. 'I'm sorry, the fact that you have the audacity to say something like that about the people - I'm assuming - aren't even in the same class as you.' 'It's just a very strong opinion to have over a society that I feel like you're already out of touch with,' she added. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Alec Baldwin is facing a fresh effort to revive the criminal case against him related to the 2021 fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of Rust. And, if successful, the actor could face the same 18 month prison sentence that the movie's armorer was given. Prosecutors in New Mexico have filed an appeal against the judge's July decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter case. The one-page notice that went public on Tuesday stated that prosecutors are appealing to the state's Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling and restart the case. While it will be months before a decision is made, the specter of Baldwin having to return to court in Santa Fe comes as he is finally attempting to put the 2021 Rust shooting behind him. The film finally had its premiere at a film festival in Poland over the weekend and this week he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Torino Film Festival in Italy. The Rust trial was dismissed by the judge after two days when it became clear that prosecutors had not disclosed evidence about the source of the bullets to Baldwin's lawyers. In October, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected a request from prosecutors to restart the case. But now prosecutors are trying to go over her head by appealing the decision. Baldwin, 66, has always maintained his innocence over the fatal shooting of Hutchins on the set of Rust, an indie Western film. A 31-year-old business woman died after she underwent a hydrolipo procedure - a form of liposuction - at a clinic in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Paloma Alves had difficulty breathing after the procedure and went into cardiac arrest at Mana Day, a beauty clinic located in Sao Paulo, the state capital. Alves was rushed by paramedics to Dr. Carmino Caricchio Municipal Hospital and died in the emergency room while doctors were attempting to save her life. According to Brazilian news outlet G1, Alves' husband, Everton Silveira, said that she hired the services of Dr. Josias dos Santos through social media and wired him 10,000 Brazilian reais (close to $1,700) money that she had been saving for two years. The couple left their home in the town of Vargem Grande Paulista around 5 am for the appointment that was schedule for 9 am. Silveira said that the staff did not permit him to see Alves after the procedure was completed. 'I realized that something was strange by the expressions on the employees' faces, so I opened the door to the room where she would be, but she was no longer there,' Silveira said. Silveira made his way to the lobby area, where he noticed a doctor was performing chest compressions on Alves. Paloma Alves underwent a hydrolipo procedure and died after going into cardiac arrest in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday. Her husband told Brazilian news outlet G1 that she had contracted the services of the doctor via social media and met him in person for the first time before the procedure Dr. Josias dos Santos told Brazil's TV Globo that his patient, Paloma Alves, has difficulty breathing when she was in the recovery room after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure on Tuesday. The network found that dos Santos has been sued 21 times by patients who have accused him of malpractice Alves was resuscitated and went into cardiac arrest as the ambulance was approaching the hospital. The Sao Paulo Municipal Health Department said in a statement that Mana Day did not have a license to provide health services. 'No Health License was identified with the municipal health surveillance or even a request for health licensing filed. It was fined and closed for carrying out irregular activity,' it said. Dos Santos told TV Globo that Alves had a shortness of breath within minutes after she was transferred to the recovery room. 'The patient's respiratory distress worsened and she became unconscious, but it only took a few seconds,' dos Santos said. 'We started performing cardiac massage. We started ventilating her with an oxygen mask. When you suffer from a lack of oxygen, you would expect that these maneuvers would help you recover quickly. That didn't happen.' Paloma Alves went into cardiac arrest after having a hydrolipo procedure at a clinic in Brazil and then had went into cardiac arrest as she was being rushed to a local hospital, where she died in the emergency room while doctors were trying to save her life The Sao Paulo Municipal Health Department found that Mana Day clinic was not licensed to provide health services The network found that other patients had accused him 21 times in the past of medical malpractice. In 2021, a court ordered Dr. Dos Santos to pay a patient 50,000 reais, about $8,400, after a patient underwent an abdominoplasty and a liposculpture in December 2017. The patient had death of body tissue and lost her belly button. However, his lawyer, Lairon Joe, revealed that the cases had been dismissed by courts. 'Dr. Josias has no criminal conviction for medical malpractice,' Joe said. 'And all the cases, the police investigations that were opened, have all been dismissed. So, we will provide the necessary clarifications.' A hydrolipo is an alternative to liposuction that requires a local anesthesia and can last between an hour to two and a half hours. Paloma Alves' husband revealed she spent two years saving close to $1,700 to cover the cost of her hydrolipo procedure In the the procedure, the doctor would inject saline solution with adrenaline and local anesthetic to the area to decrease fat and cellulite and add shape. Patients opt for it because it's considered to be effective and not invasive. 'It was conceived that hydrolipo would be this liposuction, injecting anesthetic, saline solution and adrenaline made with anesthesia, in the doctor's office and with the patient awake,' Dr. Wendell Ugueto told Brazilian news outlet G1 in a 2021 interview. 'Since I have an anesthetic restriction, I can only perform (the procedure) in a few areas,' Ugueto explained. 'It is a surgery that can be a little uncomfortable for the patient. Conventional liposuction, on the other hand, is performed in a hospital environment, and the patient is asleep. It is completely comfortable for the patient and we, as surgeons, can remove much more volume.' The Civil Police's 52nd Police Precinct in Sao Paulo is investigating the incident. Alves' death comes almost eight weeks after 24-year-old Viviane Monte died after undergoing six plastic surgeries at a medical facility in the northeastern Brazilian city of Sobral. Her boyfriend of six years, Renan Santiago, told Brazilian news outlet G1 that she paid approximately $7,300 for a breast reduction, buttock fat grafting, and liposuctions on her stomach, arms, back and neck. The businessman had the procedures on August 31 and spent 20 days in the intensive care unit at before she passed away last September 26. Hotel owner Fabia Portilho underwent a mammoplasty and a liposuction at a hospital in the central municipality of Goiania on May 4. The 52-year-old was discharged the day after the procedures and was rushed back to the medical facility May 7 and died several hours later. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available Hundreds of mourners turned out for the funeral of a rioter who killed himself in his jail cell while serving a two-year sentence over an asylum seeker hotel protest. The 61-year-old grandfather, Peter Lynch, was found unresponsive in his cell at HMP Moorland on October 19. He had been serving the jail time after pleading guilty to violent disorder and being part of unrest at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers on August 4. Those grieving Lynch's passing gathered at Ardsley Crematorium near Barnsley this morning as his family asked people to pay their respects. Mr Lynch, of Burman Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, leaves behind four adult children and three grandchildren. In footage of the funeral, onlookers stand by solemnly on the pavement as a hearse drives slowly past. Some have taken to social media since the passing of Mr Lynch to express their condolences. One person said: 'A very sad day for his family and friends today as his funeral takes place, an innocent life lost all because he stood up to this tyrannical state and wanted the best for his country he so dearly loved.' In footage of the funeral, onlookers stand by solemnly on the pavement as a hearse carrying 61-year-old Peter Lynch drives slowly past. People also expressed their condolences for the grandfather via social media Peter Lynch, 61, died in October at HMP Moorland near Doncaster, in south Yorkshire, where he was serving a two year and eight months prison term The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) launched an independent investigation shortly after Mr Lynch's death. During his sentencing on August 22, Lynch, who was called a 'family man', was said to have shouted 'racist and provocative remarks' towards police and called asylum seekers 'child killers'. The court also heard that the convicted, from Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, had been married for 36 years, had four adult children and three grandchildren. He was working in the packing industry but was recently made unemployed, the barrister said. Mr Lynch was one of more than 50 men jailed at Sheffield Crown Court following the Rotherham rioting, which left 64 police officers injured, as well as four dogs and a horse. The grandfather went to the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers on August 4 waving a placard which accused police officers, MPs and the media of being 'corrupt' More than 50 police officers were left injured as a result of the riot in Rotherham on August 4, which saw windows smashed in and asylum seekers fearing for their lives Windows were also smashed in and asylum seekers feared for their lives as the mob, whipped up by rhetoric online, sought to storm the hotel. Some scrawled aggressive graffiti on its walls, writing 'scum' and 'get out England' while others set bins alight and hurled them at hotel windows. The riots were stoked as misinformation about the Southport stabbing suspect circulated online - claiming, falsely, that he was a Muslim asylum seeker and giving a fake name. Mr Lynch had diabetes, thyroid issues and angina, and had suffered a heart attack shortly before his incarceration. For confidential support, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org A TV botox doctor appeared in court on Wednesday accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his apartment. Dr Tapan Patel, 52, appeared before Westminster magistrates' court charged with assaulting a female by penetration with a part of a body or thing. The alleged attack took place on September 28, 2022, at an apartment in the Wood Crescent building in White City, formerly the BBC television centre. Dr Patel had previously starred on Channel Five reality show 10 Years Younger in 10 days. Wearing a blue suit and tie, the doctor spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and address. The court clerk then read out the charge to Dr Patel, who stood motionless in the dock. Chair magistrate Sneha Kooros told him that the matter was 'too serious to be heard at this court'. TV botox doctor Tapan Patel, 52, appeared before Westminster magistrates' court charged with assaulting a female by penetration with a part of a body or thing He appeared at Westmonster magistrates' court on Wednesday where chair magistrate Sneha Kooros told him that the matter was 'too serious to be heard at this court' A plea and trial preparation hearing was set for December 23 at Isleworth Crown Court. Dr Patel was bailed on condition that he is not to directly or indirectly make contact with the alleged victim of the assault. Ms Kooros told him: 'You are not to contact her in any form, or through any social media, it is your bail condition. 'If she approaches you, it is your duty to stay away. You are not to get a third party to contact her. 'If you break that bail condition you will be arrested and brought back to court and your bail will be reconsidered.' Dr Patel, of Wood Crescent, White City, is charged with assault by penetration. He started up the PHI Clinic on Londons Harley Street back in January 2013. The PHI Clinic's website states Dr Patel is 'recognised amongst his peers, industry experts and by his patients as one of the most talented and skilful injectors in the UK'. PHI Clinic has won 'Best Clinic in London' for three years in a row at the prestigious Aesthetic Awards. A cheating husband who killed his girlfriend and their unborn child to solve the complication of having a pregnant mistress has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years. Filmon Andmichaen, 31, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the callous and cowardly murder of Liwam Bereket, in an inner-city patch of woodland off Freeth Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, on August 1 last year. The pair had been in a relationship, but when Andmichaen found out about the baby, jurors heard he demanded she have an abortion. The 26-year-old refused and so Andmichaen took matters into his own hands. Judge Mr Justice Choudhury said he had no doubt that Andmichaen had intended to end Ms Bereket's life and that of her unborn daughter when he stabbed her in the neck and left her to die face down in the grass for over an hour before calling 999. CCTV captured Ms Berekets final moments as she walked towards the trees alongside Andmichaen. Over fifteen minutes later, Andmichaen was captured on CCTV returning to his car and leaving following the attack in August last year. Birmingham Crown Court heard heard the killer took his victims phone to make sure she could not call for help from the scene in the citys Ladywood district. The handset was later found in the boot of his car. Ms Bereket was six months pregnant and looking forward to becoming a mum. Filmon Andmichaen (pictured), 31, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the callous and cowardly murder of Liwam Bereket, in an inner-city patch of woodland off Freeth Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, on August 1 last year Police at the scene of the crime on Freeth Street, Ladywood, Birmingham in August 2023. The court heard that when he dialled 999, Andmichaen asked the call handler to send officers to his address and he would show them where she was After stabbing Ms Bereket, Andmichaen, of Great Barr, Birmingham, returned home and confessed to his brother he had assaulted a woman, before eventually contacting police. He told officers it was an accident, but jurors took less than four hours today to convict Andmichaen of murder and child destruction. Ms Bereket and her unborn baby girl died at the scene. The court heard that when he dialled 999, Andmichaen asked the call handler to send officers to his address and he would show them where she was. Prosecutor Sandip Patel KC told the jury the defendant must have known Liwam's condition was perilous and that time was of the essence, and yet he expressed a desire for the emergency services to go to him first. When Ms Bereket was eventually found, face down and bleeding from the neck in an area of overgrown bushes, an emergency Caesarean section was carried out to try to save her baby girl, but she was stillborn. Following the killing, Andmichaen was seen on CCTV walking towards a nearby canal with a bag in his hand, with Mr Patel saying he may have been trying to get rid of evidence as the knife used was never found. The court heard that the defendant had previously told Ms Bereket, who was enjoying her pregnancy despite suffering morning sickness, to terminate the baby because he already had a wife and children - something that left her upset. Andmichaen's wife had travelled from Uganda to live with him in Birmingham after they met on Facebook in September 2021 and married in January 2022. The court heard she had no idea about Ms Bereket and said their marriage had been good. Friends of Ms Bereket had been concerned that Andmichaen was verbally abusive and threatening, and a neighbour told police he had seen the defendant punching her in the face months before she was stabbed. Police at the scene on Freeth Street, Ladywood, Birmingham. When Ms Bereket was eventually found, face down and bleeding from the neck in an area of overgrown bushes, an emergency Caesarean section was carried out to try to save her baby girl, but she was stillborn This was Andmichaen's second trial after the first collapsed in March due to issues over the child destruction charge. The issues were later resolved by the Court of Appeal and remained on the indictment that was put before jurors in the second trial, which began earlier this month. Mr Patel said during the first trial that Andmichaen decided the life growing inside his girlfriend was a complication he was unwilling to accept. The prosecutor added: We say the defendant knew his actions would amount to the death of them both. He couldn't possibly have Liwam alive because she would identify him as the person who tried to kill her and he delayed in calling for help and disposed of the knife which would have had his DNA and her blood on it. He added: The facts are as simple as they are gruesome. Filmon Andmichaen made a chilling decisionhis solution to this was a permanent one. Andmichaen appeared in the dock alongside an interpreter who translated the proceedings into Tigrinya, a language spoken in east Africa. Judge Choudhury said their relationship was volatile, that Andmichaen had tried to deny that he was the father of Ms Bereket's child and that he held her in low regard. He also said Andmichaen had tried to blame Ms Bereket for what had happened, saying she was the one who threatened to stab herself. Birmingham Crown Court where Andmichaen was jailed for a minimum of 27 years He said: [Ms Bereket] was happy about the pregnancy. The same could not be said for you. You insisted on there being a DNA test, you told her to have an abortion and threatened her. I find your intention at that moment could only have been to end her life and that of her unborn child. He said Andmichaen had not shown any remorse for what he had done and that the only mitigating factor was his lack of any previous convictions. In a statement read to the court, Ms Bereket's family said the loss of their daughter and sister has shatterd our lives in ways that are beyond words. Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Colclough from our Homicide Unit, said: Its just heart-breaking that a young woman who was looking forward to becoming a mum was killed in such a callous way. This was a very distressing investigation for my team, but they have been determined to get justice for Liwam and her family. Butterball has a turkey talk line - one where confused callers can air their cooking questions to a team of poultry experts. Those manning the talk line are trained to answer all sorts of inquiries - as long as they're rooted in cuisine. When it comes to utility, the proof is in the pudding - with the hotline being the number-two most dialed in the US each Thanksgiving. The only one ahead of it? Of course, 911. But posts online are already poking fun at the concept - which was first introduced back in 1981. That's because of a nearly 20-year-old video video that accuses Butterball employees of sexually abusing turkeys, which has sent the internet into a frenzy. Posted by PETA, it shows Butterball employees also torturing the beloved animals, sitting on them as they struggle and bragging about other unfounded instances. Among them is an assertion from an anonymous person speaking over footage that a worker put his finger into a turkey's vagina. The North Carolina firm indelibly associated with Thanksgiving has since responded to the clip, revealing it was from 2006 before Butterball became private. They said they have since taken measures to ensure the birds are treated humanely. The company did not deem it necessary to respond to the unsubstantiated sex abuse allegation - which was on at least one X user's mind Wednesday. Scroll down for video: Butterball has a turkey talk line - one where confused callers can air their cooking questions to a team of poultry experts. Pictured, people manning the hotline in the Chicago suburb of Naperville Seen here, still from a nearly 20-year-old video video that accuses Butterball employees of sexually abusing turkeys. The sexual abuse allegations have not been substantiated. The clip is from 2006, and was supposedly filmed at Butterball's old Ozark, Arkansas location 'I cant imagine how unhinged the butterball hotline is gonna be this year,' the onlooker said, resharing a Gif from when Stephen Colbert took over the hotline in 2016. 'Hello, butterball Ive got my batch code number I just wanna make sure its not one of the f*ck turkeys,' they went on, sarcastically laying out how the conversation would go. Others offered more serious insight about the hotline - which is run out of small suburb in Chicago. One person marveled: '100,000 average number of calls to the Butterball Turkey Hotline. 'Prepping for #Thanksgiving,' they concluded - capping the post with a turkey emoji. 'Little bit of heartwarming content while you are all getting ready,' a likeminded onlooker wrote. 'Apparently butterball hotline is the number 2 most called number in US during Thanksgiving. '[G]uessing number 1 is 911...' 'I've been writing about #thanksgiving for 25 damn years,' New York Times Food Correspondent Kim Severson added. 'Thanks for reminding me of my day at the #Butterball turkey hotline.' The company did not deem it necessary to respond to the unsubstantiated sex abuse allegation - which was on at least one X user's mind Tuesday. They re-shared a GIF from when Stephen Colbert took over the talk line in 2016. The hotline has been around since the early 80s Others weighed in on the long-running hotline as well, including The New York Times' food correspondent, Kim Severson As this was happening, many continued to speak about the disturbing clips said to have been filmed at Butterball's Ozark, Arkansas location as part of an undercover investigation. Many are difficult to make out, but they clearly show Butterball employees physically abusing the animals before they meet their fate. "It was bad enough your company [Butterball] is based on selling dead turkeys...did they have to be SA (sexually abused) too?" comedian Corinne Fisher commented on an unrelated post from Butterball last week, as many begin to boycott the brand. 'May they face the suffering they've inflicted. Monsters are real, disguised in human form. Not all humans are alikesome embody true evil,' another sniped. 'I threw away my butterball turkey and will never be buying from you again,' someone else said. The sexual abuse allegations - which are not proven - stemmed from an account given by an undisclosed investigator from the activist organization. They were not named. An overlaid caption asked onlookers: 'Do you know what happened to your Butterball turkey before they were killed?' As for an explanation, a Butterball representative told DailyMail.com: 'We are aware of a video from nearly 20 years ago, which is being re-shared across social media. As for an explanation, a Butterball representative told 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' The sexual abuse allegations - which are not proven - stemmed from an account given by an undisclosed investigator from the activist organization. They were not named The spokesperson added how 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.' For those with anymore questions, go ahead and dial 1-800-BUTTERBALL '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,' it continued. 'That means maintaining the health and well-being of our turkeys is an ongoing effort.' The spokesperson added how 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.' The statement concluded: '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.' For those with anymore questions, go ahead and dial 1-800-BUTTERBALL - or 1-800-288-8372. 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.' The national speed limit is set to be slashed to 50 miles per hour on all of Scotlands single carriageway roads under nanny state proposals by SNP ministers. Motorists will be forced to cut their maximum speed by ten miles per hour as part of the biggest overhaul of driving laws in years. The move will result in significant differences in speeding laws on either side of the Border. Ministers claim it will save 170 lives over the next 60 years and prevent 720 serious accidents. Critics have blasted the ludicrous proposals and said the Nationalists failure to fully dual key roads such as the A9, between Perth and Inverness, the A96, which links Aberdeen and Inverness, and the A75 between Stranraer and Gretna, has compromised road safety. North East Scotland Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden said: This is a ludicrous measure which seeks to demonise motorists in rural areas who rely on using a car. Unlike the Central Belt, the North and North East dont have the luxury of motorways connecting locations across the region. The SNP government should be prioritising the upgrade of our single carriageway roads, like the A96 and A90 north of Ellon, instead of implementing ridiculous schemes like this to cover their failings. The move would see the national speed limit in Scotland cut from 60mph to 50mph (file image) The measure was set out in a national speed management review consultation published by Transport Scotland yesterday. It claimed the move could significantly reduce the number of accidents which cause injuries. The document said that, after the first year, there could be four fewer fatal accidents, while the number of serious injury collisions could reduce by 14 and slight injury accidents by six. Over a 60-year period, it said fatalities would decline by 170, serious injuries by 720 and slight injuries by 378. It ruled out cutting the speed on motorways and dual carriageways because they are regarded as Scotlands safest roads and reducing speeds could significantly impact journey times. Ian Taylor of the Alliance of British Drivers said: There is very little evidence that perpetually lowering speed limits has a beneficial effect on accidents. Speed is the primary cause of a minority of accidents, and less than people not being able to judge properly, drink and drug driving and inattention. The people asking for this are trying to take us back to the fuel crisis of the 1970s, when there was a temporary 50mph speed limit. It is extremely nanny state and it is asking to be disobeyed. Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has attempted to defend the move, saying it could lead to a reduction in the number of injuries and claiming journey times would stay the same As well as reducing the national speed limit on single carriageway roads from 60mph to 50mph for general traffic, the consultation proposes increasing the limit for lorries and HGVs over 7.5 tons by 10mph to 50mph on single carriageway roads and to 60mph on dual carriageways. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said ministers should bear in mind the public reaction to the Welsh governments introduction of a default 20mph limit. It will be important to convince Scottish road users that the changes are necessary and proportionate, he said. This change needs to be seen in the context of broader road safety measures, not least those around engineering Scottish roads to be safer this might include better road surfaces, improved junction layouts and appropriate lighting. Scottish Tory transport spokesman Sue Webber said: The SNP are only trying to slow down drivers because theyve been so slow to deliver vital infrastructure projects across Scotland. The consultation was published ahead of ministers giving a statement to parliament today on the A96 corridor review. The Scottish Greens said that there is no economic or environmental case for dualling every square inch of the A96 and the SNP must accept this and halt the project. Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: Evidence from the national speed management review indicates that revising speed limits could lead to a significant reduction in the number of injury collisions on our roads while maintaining journey times and enhancing journey time reliability. The Vancouver police board vice-chair has resigned over controversial social media posts expressing concern that Hinduism might become 'the dominant cultural influence' and cause the 'erosion of Christian values.' Comfort Sakoma has resigned from the Vancouver Police Board after screenshots of her Instagram posts sparked widespread controversy. The Nigerian-Canadian board member, who was appointed in February 2022, found herself at the center of a social media storm after her posts questioning 'mass immigration,' 'a growing aversion to assimilation' and what she termed the 'erosion of Christian values' went viral. She claimed these trends are 'transforming Canada into a place where a shared identity is disappearing' and that she 'doesn't recognize my country anymore.' 'The implications of an immigration system that allowed for mass immigration without considering cultural integration, combined with a growing aversion to assimilation, are slowly transforming Canada into a place where a shared identity is disappearing,' said Sakoma. 'I don't recognize my country anymore.' Sakoma also made provocative comments about Indian culture and Hinduism. She spoke about her son's participation in a Diwali celebration at school and expressed concern it was helping to 'erase Christian values from the lives of our children.' Comfort Sakoma has resigned from the Vancouver Police Board after screenshots of her Instagram posts sparked widespread controversy The Vancouver police board vice-chair has resigned over 'controversial' social media posts expressing concern that Hinduism might become 'the dominant cultural influence' and cause the 'erosion of Christian values' 'Recently, my son was invited to participate in a Diwali celebration at school, and it took me some time to realize that the push for secular education isn't about religion - it's about erasing Christian values from the lives of our children,' Sakoma wrote. 'Now, those values are being replaced by those of a new dominant group. First, they're participating in Diwali celebrations; next, they're drawing parallels between Hindu values and Canadian ones. Before we know it, those values will be the new norm, and Hinduism could become the dominant culture of influence.' 'If I want an Indian experience, I'll go to India,' she added. 'The reason Canada is such a tolerant society is because Christianity, the dominant religion here, is inherently tolerant, and our society reflects those values.' 'We often forget that one of the largest slave trades was the Arab slave trade,' she said. 'Have the Arabs apologized to anyone?' Chair of the police board Frank Chong confirmed the resignation in a statement on Nov. 22, and called her comments 'inconsistent with our code of conduct'. 'Recent statements posted on social media by the vice-chair of the Vancouver Police Board do not reflect the values of the board and are inconsistent with our code of conduct,' Chong said. 'While I value the many contributions Comfort Sakoma has made as a member of this board since 2022, these statements have made her continued service on the board untenable. This afternoon, I requested and received Comfort's resignation from the Vancouver Police Board.' She claimed these trends are 'transforming Canada into a place where a shared identity is disappearing' and that she 'doesn't recognize my country anymore' Her departure marks the third police board member to resign since June 2023. In response to her resignation on Instagram, Sakoma said she felt pressure to step down and expressed gratitude to Canadians who sent messages of support. I faced pressure to resign from the Vancouver Police Board for expressing concerns shared by millions, including the national Leader of the Conservative Party. This reflects a broader issue where legitimate concerns can lead to repercussions, eroding the foundations of our society,' she wrote, as reported by CTVNews. 'I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of Canadians from coast to coast who have sent me messages of support. Your encouragement means the world to me. I love this country and will fight for it because my son deserves to grow up in a place where everyone can thrive authentically, without fear of persecution.' Experts have revealed how airlines are hiding lengthy delays, with average flight times significantly longer than they were three decades ago. Based on data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, planes flying from John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 1995 were behind schedule 51 percent of the time. Airlines have created the illusion of increased efficiency by adding 'padding' to their schedules. In 2023, delays only occurred on 37 percent of flights, even though these trips are more drawn out than they were 28 years ago. The average span of a gate departure delay in 1995 was eight minutes. In 2023, that average rose to 13 minutes. Passengers' trips from JFK to LAX were generally five hours and 20 minutes in 1995. Planes in 2023 were spending about nine more minutes in the air. Overall, the entire journey from New York to Los Angeles was a six hour ordeal in 1995. Last year, 18 more minutes were added to the average trip. Flights from JFK (pictured) to LAX were only delayed 37 percent of the time in 2023, compared to 1995's 51 percent Airlines sneakily tack on extra minutes to scheduled flights to conceal delays But by telling passengers flights will be longer than they need to be, airlines have ironically achieved fewer delays. According to a New York Times Upshot analysis, scheduled flight lengths from JFK to LAX have increased by 23 minutes since 1995. This extra wiggle room allows planes to arrive early or on time more often than not. Chad Kendall, who used to be a pilot and associate professor of aviation at Metropolitan State University of Denver, told the outlet: 'Its called padding. 'The benchmark for performance set by the Department of Transportation is based on arriving within 15 minutes of your scheduled time of arrival.' He added that chopping down the number of delays gives airlines a more favorable reputation. Patrick Smith, a pilot of 30 years and author of a pilot blog told the New York Times: 'If you leave Los Angeles on time, youre pretty much guaranteed to get to New York a bit early.' Yet, this airline scheme is has its faults. According to Upshot's number crunching, 30 percent of 2023 flights were moderately delayed, about one hour, compared to 45 percent of plane rides in 1995. Scheduled flight lengths from JFK to LAX (pictured) have increased by 23 minutes since 1995 On the other hand, drastically dragged out flights that took 90 minutes to three hours longer than they were supposed to have seen an uptick this year. But these severely delayed flights are few are still few and far between, only accounting for a measly 1.5 percent of flights compared to 1995 less than half a percent. The data revealed that planes most likely to be delayed more than 90 minutes are scheduled for around 8 pm. Early morning flights are statistically the safest for travelers trying to minimize the risk of being late. An unrepentant Lidia Thorpe said she had no regrets about throwing papers at One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in the Senate, which saw the independent Senator banned from the chamber for the rest of the year. Senator Thorpe on Thursday also accused Senator Hanson of 'regularly baiting her with racist taunts' and hinted that the decision to suspend her for a day was planned to derail a private member's bill she has brought. In extraordinary scenes on Wednesday, Senator Thorpe tore up documents regarding fellow independent senator Fatima Payman's parliamentary eligibility before tossing them at Senator Hanson while repeatedly branding her as a 'convicted racist'. Senator Hanson has not been convicted of racism, but her tweet to senator Mehreen Faruqi - when she told her to 'p*** off back to Pakistan' - was ruled to be racist in a civil legal action at the Federal Court. As she stormed out of the chamber, Senator Thorpe appeared to flip her middle finger over her shoulder. Senator Thorpe told Nine's Karl Stefanovic that she had no regrets and was not 'going to stand silent, going to sit silent and allow racism to occur in front of me'. 'We all have a responsibility to stamp racism out,' Senator Thorpe said. 'Senator Hanson gets away with so much she is a convicted racist. She has worn a burqa in the chamber. Senator Lidia Thorpe (pictured on Wednesday) was suspended from the Senate for 'disorderly conduct' 'She baits me regularly with racial taunts. And what she did to Senator Payman was questioned. Her legitimacy in this place.' Senator Thorpe said she has been subject to racism 'since she was a kid' and said she would take similar action to stop racist behaviour even if she just saw it on the street. She also accused Senator Hanson of 'making money from the misery of the racial hate speech that she continues to perpetrate against anybody who isn't white'. 'She's she's got a fundraiser. So if you back, Pauline, go to her fundraiser and continue the hate speech, or we stand up against this,' Senator Thorpe said. Senator Thorpe, who is a crossbench independent, said she and Greens Senator Faruqi were putting forward a motion to establish an inquiry on Senate procedures to 'ensure that racism wasn't part of our workplace'. 'It was a bit of a coincidence that they decided to suspend me when my private senator's bill was about to be voted,' Senator Thorpe told a clearly sceptical Stefanovic. 'We are a better country than to be racist,' she said. Earlier in the day, Senator Pauline Hanson could be seen crossing in front of independent Senator Lidia Thorpe who repeatedly shouted 'you are a convicted racist!' 'And you know, we need to bring this this nation together. And the only way we can do that is to stop people from being racist.' Labor government and Opposition Coalition sources told the ABC the rogue Senator's wild outburst was considered serious enough to take action against. The Senate on Wednesday night passed the motion to suspend Senator Thorpe for 'disorderly conduct' from the chamber until the end of Thursday, which is also the final scheduled parliamentary sitting day of 2024. The motion moved by Labor Senate leader Penny Wong was passed 46-11 in Senator Thorpe's absence. 'We all have a responsibility for our behaviour, whether in this place or contributing to public debate,' Senator Wong told the Senate. 'We are all elected to represent Australians and their interests. 'We express our views respectfully to understand each other's perspectives and those of our electors, and ultimately to reach a majority view about the best path forward.' Her former Greens colleagues were the only senators who opposed the motion for her suspension. 'We do not think that the approach of denying her an entire day of an ability to exercise her vote in the Senate is an appropriate and proportionate response to that action,' Greens Senate leader Larissa Waters said. Fatima Payman (pictured) was speaking after Senator Hanson attempted to table a document raising her possible Afghan citizenship as a reason for her to be excluded from parliament It comes after a chaotic day in the Senate where Senator Hanson tabled a document which claimed Labor defector Fatima Payman's Afghan citizenship disqualified her from serving in parliament. Section 44c of the Australian constitution prevents anyone who holds citizenship of another country from sitting in parliament. It sparked a vicious spray from Senator Payman, who accused the One Nation leader of racism and claiming she brings 'disgrace to the human race'. 'Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it's time she pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this,' Senator Payman seethed. 'All that Senator Hanson has done in this place is spread hatred, spread division.' In 2017 Senator Hanson wore a back burqa into the Senate to demonstrate that such covering was a security risks. In early November the Federal Court ruled that Senator Hanson racially discriminated against Senator Faruqi after Senator Faruqi commented on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A woman has been charged after allegedly attempting to drown two children more than a year ago. Following reports of a concern for welfare, emergency services were called to Riverpark Drive at Liverpool, in Sydney's south west, at about 10.30am on September 11, 2023. Police found a woman had fallen from the Light Horse Bridge into the Georges River. The 36-year-old was treated by paramedics at the scene before being transported to hospital in a critical condition. Around 12.50pm the same day, emergency services were called to the Georges River near Riverpark Drive in Liverpool after reports of two children in the water. 'Officers attended and were told two girls aged seven and eight had been rescued from the river by a passer-by,' a NSW Police spokeswoman said. The two girls were treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital for further assessment. A crime scene was established and police launched an investigation into the incident. Following reports of a concern for a welfare, police found a woman had fallen from the Light Horse Bridge (pictured) in Liverpool on September 11, 2023 On Wednesday morning, the now-37-year-old woman was released from hospital after staying in a mental health facility. Following an extensive investigation, detectives arrested the woman. She was taken to Liverpool Police Station and charged with two counts of attempt to drown person with intent to murder. Police will allege the woman threw the two girls into the water, then fell from the bridge. The woman was refused bail and appeared before court on Wednesday. Scotland Yard is investigating a number of people accused of enabling Mohamed Al Fayeds decades of sexual abuse as 90 new victims have come forward. Detectives launched a criminal investigation yesterday after identifying more than five suspects who allegedly assisted the Harrods boss in carrying out horrendous abuse. It follows an explosion of sex attack claims from a total of 111 victims, with the youngest said to be aged just 13. By the time of his death last year police were already aware of allegations made by 21 women between 2005 and 2023, including four claims of rape, 16 sexual assaults and one related to trafficking. Fayed was arrested in 2013 over a rape allegation, but the billionaire tycoon was not charged with any offence before his death in 2023 aged 94. Since the BBC broadcast an investigation into the Egyptian businessmans behaviour in September, 150 people have come forward with information about alleged abuse, including 90 new victims taking the total to 111 complainants, officers said. Detectives are now investigating accusations of rape, sexual assault and trafficking spanning almost four decades, from 1977 to 2014. An internal Met review is also being carried out into how the force handled claims about Fayed while he was alive, amid allegations of corruption and reports that officers were taking bribes to allow him to continue persecuting Harrods staff. Scotland Yard has launched a probe after identifying over five people who allegedly assisted Mohamed Al Fayed (pictured) in carrying out 'horrendous abuse' An internal Met review is also being carried out into how the force handled claims about Fayed while he was alive, amid allegations of corruption and reports that officers were taking bribes to allow him to continue persecuting Harrods staff (Pictured: Harrods) Scotland Yard is currently re-examining all previous investigations. In an indication of the staggering scale of the inquiry, officers have already looked at 50,000 pages of evidence. The Yard approached the Crown Prosecution Service on five occasions between 2005 and 2023 about Fayed, but in each case no charges were brought despite mounting concerns about predatory behaviour. Yesterday a Met spokesman said: We know that contact with and support for some victims at the time could have been improved. 'Only after completing this comprehensive review will we fully understand what could have been done differently. Following complaints from two women about the quality of investigations conducted in 2008, the Met has now voluntarily referred these cases to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Commander Stephen Clayman, head of Central Specialist Crime at the Met, said: I recognise the bravery of every victim [and] survivor who has come forward to share their experiences, often after years of silence. 'This investigation is about giving survivors a voice, despite the fact that Mohamed Al Fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution. By the time of his death last year, police were already aware of allegations made by 21 women between 2005 and 2023 (Pictured: Al-Fayed on June 27, 2016) Al-Fayed was arrested in 2013 over a rape allegation, but the billionaire tycoon was not charged with any offence before his death in 2023 (Pictured: Al-Fayed in 2005 at the unveiling of a memorial to his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales) However, we are now pursuing any individuals suspected to have been complicit in his offending, and we are committed to seeking justice. We are aware that past events may have impacted the publics trust and confidence in our approach, and we are determined to rebuild that trust by addressing these allegations with integrity and thoroughness. Mr Clayman said the investigation would look at what roles individuals may have played in facilitating or enabling his offending, and what opportunities they had to protect victims from his horrendous abuse. He appealed to Fayeds victims: I know you may have faced years of silence or disbelief, but you are not alone. We are here, ready to support you and ensure your voice is heard. A mystery drone spotted at sea came within 250 metres of the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, a minister has claimed. Lord Coaker confirmed a criminal investigation is now underway after drones were seen tailing HMS Queen Elizabeth near Hamburg last week. The Labour frontbencher also warned that those responsible for the spate of recent incursions at RAF bases faced up to 14 years in prison under national security laws. Although the USAF said the drones had not been identified as hostile, the activity comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions with Russia. It has also led to renewed concerns in Parliament over the security of Britain's critical infrastructure, including power stations. Only today, reports emerged warning that more drones had been spotted around US airbases in England as military police rallied to catch those responsible. It also comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin said UK and US bases were legitimate targets for his countrys forces. Putin issued the threat after Ukraine fired ballistic missiles supplied by both countries into Russia for the first time. A spokesperson for USAF said drones 'continue to be spotted' and revealed a fourth airbase had been targeted. The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves the Hamburg port on November 23 F-35 fighter jets RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk amid an investigation into reports of drones An Israeli military drone is seen flying over the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Unmanned aerial vehicles are playing a growing part in modern warfare (file photo) The issue was raised at Westminster by Viscount Stansgate, son of the late left-wing firebrand Tony Benn, who also pointed to the drone tailing HMS Queen Elizabeth. The Labour peer warned that 'it may be that these flights are not a coincidence' and suggested the matter was 'of potentially serious concern' given their role in warfare. 'The House will remember that Gatwick Airport was completely closed a few years ago by unidentified drones,' Viscount Stansgate urged. Referring to the aircraft carrier, Lord Coaker said: 'A civilian drone was observed in the vicinity on November 22, it got no closer than 250 metres from HMS Queen Elizabeth.' The Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth seemed to be tailed by an unidentified 1.5-by-1.5metre drone at the entrance to the port of Hamburg, Germany, on Friday. The German military tried to target the drone with HP-47 jammers before it flew away, according to the German newspaper Bild. Lord Coaker added: 'Can I reassure him that we take all of this seriously and we work closely to ensure the safety of all of our sites.' On the illicit flights over the American airbases, the minister told peers: 'The Ministry of Defence is aware of these reports and working closely with the US visiting forces, Home Office police forces and other partners to respond to recent events. Drones allegedly came within 250m of HMS Queen Elizabeth earlier this month 'We will work with civil authorities to prosecute those responsible. 'We take any safety issue seriously and maintain robust measures at Ministry of Defence sites. This includes counter-drone capabilities. 'This remains a live criminal investigation.' The Labour frontbencher said the investigation was being led by the Ministry of Defence Police in conjunction with the United States Air Force (USAF), and the civilian authorities. The USAF last week told that 'unmanned aerial systems' had flown over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, as well as RAF Feltwell, of Norfolk. In their latest statement today, a USAF spokesperson said: 'Small unmanned aerial systems continue to be spotted in the vicinity of and over RAF Leakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Fairford and RAF Feltwell since November 20.' According to the US Air Force (USAF), RAF Fairford is also used by its Global Strike Command to launch long-range bomber operations. USAF Major General Pat Ryder said the service retains the right to defend [itself] should any drones threaten personnel, their families or its bases. RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk has been earmarked as a storage facility for US nuclear warheads three times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb He added: The drones are being actively monitored. So far none of these incursions have affected base residents, the facilities or the assets we have on those bases. We are continuing to work with host nation authorities and our mission partners to ensure the safety of our personnel, facilities and equipment. Small drones have become relatively common. It is something the department has been looking at closely, whether it is in combat zones or outside. It is too early to draw any conclusions. Weve just got to look into it. While US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) played down the incursion, it came amid a week of serious escalation of hostilities between Russia and the West over the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sixty RAF 'electronic warfare' specialists were subsequently deployed to protect US-British airbases from possible Russian drone attacks. Former military chief Lord Stirrup, who led the armed forces between 2006 and 2010, said: 'This is not just a question of defence sites but of much wider national resilience. We have seen the extensive use of drones in Ukraine against non-military targets. 'Can the minister reassure the House that the Government will look at this problem in that much wider context, because quite clearly we can't mount air defence systems around every single part of our critical national infrastructure. MoD police patrol RAF Lakenheath today after reports of drones in the skies over the base 'We have to ensure we have some other method of protecting them against this new threat.' In reply, Lord Coaker said there were other ways of protecting sites. The minister told Parliament: 'It is illegal for drones to be flown or within the vicinity of these military sites and people should be aware of that.' Those found guilty could face up to 14 years in prison under national security legislation. He added: 'All agencies of the state and all parts of the state will work to ensure that we identify and do what we can with those who are conducting these acts.' Last night, the RAF said it was continuing to support the USAF in Britain and insisted the threats were being taken seriously. The head of MI5 last month warned Russia wants to create mayhem in the UK and other Western countries. With its artisan sourdough and cinnamon buns, the arrival of bakery chain Gails in a neighbourhood has replaced Waitrose as a symbol of gentrification. Yet behind the genteel facade, its co-founder Gail Mejia is seething that one of her most celebrated former employees, Yotam Ottolenghi, has lifted her blueprint for success. Yotam, who now has his own hugely popular British-Israeli dining chain Ottolenghi, started off as the pastry chef at Baker & Spice, Mejias first venture that gained a cult following. It also earned a regular custom from famous faces including former Beatle Sir Ringo Starr and Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, who stayed around the corner while filming Notting Hill. Asked if she liked working with Ottolenghi, Mejia replies no without hesitation. He didnt leave a mark, she tells Air Mail. He didnt bring us some sort of sensation, or cake recipe, or a new concept or product. Nothing of the kind. Ottolenghi did, however, strip Mejias kitchen of her entire team. She says of the betrayal: You work for me for seven years. You have a fantastic time doing it. You have complete freedom to create whatever you damn well like. Yotam Ottolenghi (Pictured) is seen at dinner presented by Capital One at One Bryant Park on October 15, 2022 The exterior of a Gail's bakery store in Windsor, Berkshire Mejia founded Gails in the 1990s with businessman Ran Avidan, and the first bakery was opened on Hampstead High Street in north London. The business was acquired by Bread Holdings in 2011, and it has since expanded to more than 130 bakeries across England, mostly in Greater London. But plans to expand further have faced a backlash amid concerns they could force independent cafes to shut. In Walthamstow, east London, more than 400 people signed a petition against a new branch, in the name of protecting the unique identity of our community and safeguarding the soul of a beloved neighbourhood. Addressing concerns about gentrification, Mejia says: This business of what happens to a neighbourhood if Gails opens? It is an insane argument... And I find it uniquely distasteful. Ottolenghi could not be reached for comment. Stars gather to sing from same carol sheet as Queen's nephew Sir Ben Elliot Gemma Arterton strikes a pose in an all black ensemble at the St James Christmas Carol Concert last night Philadelphia born rapper Eve performing at the festive event last night in a chic white suit coupled with a bedazzled top Gemma Collins and Jedward singing carols together at last nights service in London Sophie Winkleman ahead of the carol concert wearing a tartan print blue and green coat While Advent does not begin until Sunday, stars including Gemma Arterton were getting in the festive mood early at the Quintessentially Foundations Fayre of St Jamess carol concert. The charity event, at St Jamess Church in Piccadilly, was founded by Queen Camillas nephew Sir Ben Elliot, and raised money for the Firefly Project, which supports young people affected by poverty in London. Former Bond girl Arterton, 38, who recited Thomas Hardys Christmas poem The Oxen, tells me: I love carol singing and have to rein myself in, I used to sing in choirs when I was a kid. She struck a chord with Peep Show star Sophie Winkleman, 44, who attended with her husband Lord Frederick Windsor. Im sorry to boast I dont often but Im quite operatic, she declares. Reality TV star Gemma Collins arrived 20 minutes late and had to be ushered to her front-row pew. Meanwhile, Philadelphia-born rapper Eve, played hits such as Let Me Blow Ya Mind. More than 84,000 was raised at a silent auction, while a later auction at private members club 5 Hertford Street made 124,000. Rapper Akala quashes Angelina Jolie romance rumours Angelina Jolie smiles as British rapper Akala, who she has been romantically linked with, hugs her son Pax in New York When he arrived at the Rosewood London hotel Christmas party he dispelled romance rumours with the acress introducing Chanelle Newman (Pictured) as his girlfriend Angelina Jolie has been romantically linked to rapper Akala for over a year, spotted with him in places from Venice to New York. But at the Rosewood London hotels Christmas party this week, Akala, 40, dispelled rumours of a romance with the actress, 49. He arrived with Chanelle Newman introducing the film producer to fellow guests as his girlfriend. Royal Guards to get WiFi at Victoria Barracks Pictured: Armed soldiers stand guard outside Victoria Barracks in preparation for the Changing of the Guard ceremony in 2017 For more than a century, they have housed the troops that guard the monarch at Balmoral. And now the era of modern communications has caught up with Victoria Barracks in Ballater. Plans have been lodged to install DBI WiFi, with an application for listed building consent. This would benefit the wellbeing of the Royal Guards by making it easier to stay in touch from their northerly, and often isolating, Scottish posting. Isabel Allende confesses she's 'no model grandma' Novelist Isabel Allende posting at her writing studio in Sausalito, California in 2023 Novelist Isabel Allende admits she is no model grandma. Im not a very good grandparent, says The House Of The Spirits author, 82. When the kids were little, I would see them every day. But then they went to college and the family was dispersed for ever. She adds: The moment I let go of them it was like breathing. Now I still love them but with no attachment. Clearly! The tax raid on farmers will hit five times as many businesses as Rachel Reeves has claimed, valuers said last night. Figures from the Treasury vastly underestimate the number of farms affected, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) said. Their intervention came as tractors staged a go-slow protest in Dover to demand the Government stop betraying British farming and rural communities. They took to the roads to urge the Chancellor to rethink changes to inheritance tax which could lead to the break-up of family farms and endanger food security. Those who inherit farms will have to pay 20 per cent on estates worth more than 1million once agricultural property relief (APR) is levied following the changes. The Treasury says this will increase to 3million once allowances for married couples are taken into account and will affect just 500 farmers a year. However, Jeremy Moody the secretary and adviser to the CAAV said the measures will in fact hit 2,500 farmers each year - five times the Treasurys estimates. He claimed that the Treasury had got its figures wrong because they had not properly understood the industry. The tax raid on farmers will hit five times as many businesses as Rachel Reeves (pictured) has claimed according to valuers Farmers have previously said they will be forced to sell off their holdings after Chancellor unveiled a 500 million tax grab on the farming sector last month (Pictured: Protest by farmers at Westminster) Instead, 75,000 farms will be affected by the changes over a generation, he added. Theyre wrong because theyre working on an incomplete picture, he told the Telegraph. What they got wrong is, they didnt know what to ask and HMRC couldnt answer them even if they had. He claimed that the analysis combined claims for both APR and business property relief (BPR) which completely missed the farmers who only claimed BPR. This meant it did not take into account those who own land but not the farmhouse, tenant farmers and farmers who are shareholders in family companies, he said. He added: All of these categories come together to produce really quite a serious number of people and some of them are really quite significant claims. A dairy farm with 200 dairy cows will start with 500,000 worth of dairy cattle before anything else. Mr Moody also said that ministers should not be considering personal tax thresholds as relief on business assets. While you can construct a world in which what theyre saying is right, it doesnt match many peoples real experience, he said. Jeremy Moody the secretary and adviser to the CAAV said the measures will in fact hit 2,500 farmers each year - five times the Treasurys estimates (Pictured: Woman with her child at the protests) However the Treasury's original figures have been backed by BBC verify (Pictured: Farmers hold up signs saying 'No farmers, no food, no future') The Treasurys figures were also supported by BBC Verify, the broadcasters fact-checking service, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a respected think-tank. Dozens of tractors took to the roads of Dover bearing signs on tractors including Stop Substandard Imports and No Farmers No Food No Future. Protest organisers Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers campaign groups said the Budget was a hammer blow to an industry already on its knees. Organiser and Kent beef farmer Matt Cullen said: Its time for farmers to stand up and fight back, and its time to show the Government that things will escalate more if they dont sit down and talk to us. A government spokesman said: Our commitment to our farmers is steadfast - we have committed 5bn to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come. We have been clear since this change was announced that around 500 claims of Agricultural and Business Property Relief each year will be impacted - this is based off actual claims data - and even when inheritance tax does kick in, it is effectively at half the rate paid by others. It is not possible to accurately infer inheritance tax liability from farm net worth figures as there are different circumstances affecting each farm, such as who owns it, the nature of ownership, how many people own it and how affairs are planned. Democrat Derek Tran was able to flip a House seat in California while Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks held on in Iowa as the latest round of races were called as the U.S. inches closer to determining just how large a majority Republicans will have in the House next year. The race in Iowa's 1st Congressional District was called on Wednesday by the Associated Press after a recount confirmed the GOP congresswoman would hold onto her lead there. Miller-Meeks was in a razor-thin race against Democrat Christina Bohannan, leading her by less than 800 votes more than three weeks after Election Day. The Associated Press also called the race in California's 45th Congressional District for Derek Tran on Wednesday after results slowly trickled in. Tran ousted GOP Congresswoman Michelle Steel by just over 600 votes in one of the most competitive and expensive race in the country. The latest election results bring the balance of power in the House to 220 seats held by Republicans to Democrats' 214 seats. GOP Congresswoman Miller-Meeks was declared the winner of her race in Iowa on Wednesday after a recount while Democrat Derek Tran flipped a district in southern California Tran declared victory in the southern California race on Monday ahead of it being decided in his favor. The district includes parts of Orange County and Los Angeles and has the largest Vietnamese community in the country. 'This victory is a testament to the spirit and resilience of our community,' Tran said in a statement. 'As the son of Vietnamese refugees, I understand firsthand the journey and sacrifices many families in our district have made for a better life.' Tran vowed to work tirelessly to ensure his communities' voices are heard in Washington. 'Throughout this campaign, I heard from voters who wanted representation that prioritizes our communitys unique challenges,' he went on. 'From the need for affordable healthcare and housing to the importance of an economy that includes everyone, people here are looking to the future with hope and determination.' Derek Tran is an Army veteran and lawyer who won the race to represent the district including parts of Orange County and Los Angeles by just over 600 votes Tran ousts Congreswoman Michelle Steel who has served in Congress since 2021 Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steel represented the district since 2021 when she flipped it red. Steel, an immigrant from South Korea, released what appeared to be a concession statement on Wednesday, but she did not acknowledge either her opponent or the race itself. 'The journey to work on behalf of legal immigrants and struggling families took me somewhere I never could have imagined and for which I will always be grateful the United States Congress,' she said. 'Everything is Gods will and, like all journeys, this one is ending for a new one to begin,' she went on. Steel thanked her family, team and supporters and vowed she would 'never stop fighting' for them. Congresswoman Mariannetta Miller-Meeks was declared the winner of the race in Iowa's 1st Congressional District after a recount Democrat Christina Bohannan congratulated Congresswoman Miller-Meeks on her victory after the recount showed her losing by 798 votes Meanwhile, the House race in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District was called for the Republican incumbent after a recount confirmed the results. Miller-Meeks, a doctor and veteran, has served in the House since 2021, first representing Iowa's 2nd Congressional District before redistricting. She was also previously a member of the Iowa Senate. Her victory comes after she had a rematch with Bohannan who also challenged Miller-Meeks in the 2022 midterms. In a statement on Wednesday, Miller-Meeks slammed her opponent for insisting on the recount which she said cost Iowa taxpayers $20,000. 'I am deeply honored to have the recount completed and once again secure reelection so I can continue serving the hardworking people of southeast Iowa,' she said in a statement. Miller-Meeks won by 798 votes after all 20 counties in the district completed the recount. Bohannan released a video Wednesday thanking all her supporters and congratulating Miller-Meeks on her victory. She said she hopes the congresswoman will listen to Iowans and deliver for them. Your browser does not support iframes. With two more races called, Republicans hold a six seat lead in the House giving them one of the smallest majorities for accomplishing an ambitious agenda starting in January when the GOP will hold a trifecta in Washington. Speaker Mike Johnson won the Republican nomination to stay in the top job November 13 after it was determined his party will stay in power, but the Louisiana lawmaker will have his work cut out for him as he tries to keep his caucus in line next year. Since President-elect Donald Trump won the presidential race on November 5, he has not made Johnson's job any easier as he has cut into the GOP House majority by nominating several members for positions in his upcoming administration including Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York and Congressman Mike Waltz of Florida. Trump also nominated former Congressman Matt Gaetz who promptly resigned from the House, but he has since pulled his name as nominee for attorney general. Their House seats will remain vacant until special elections can be held to elect replacements. Civil servants behind the crusade to reach Net Zero have flown more than three million miles this year, it has emerged. Staff in Ed Milibands Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have been accused of hypocrisy after details of their globetrotting were revealed. Officials flew 3,211,644 air miles between January and September this year on 1,130 flights, Parliament was told. Transparency data published before Labour took power reveal some of the destinations and costs. Between January and March, DESNZ bosses took 19 flights costing taxpayers 24,049. They took long-haul flights to the US, Brazil and Azerbaijan but also internal flights from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh. The most expensive flights were to Japan and South Korea on a trip by Permanent Secretary Jeremy Pocklington that cost 8,792. Civil servants working on in Labour's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have been accused of hypocrisy after it emerged they had been raking up millions in air miles (Pictured: Sir Kris Starmer, David Lammy and Ed Miliband at COP29) Separate figures showed that Energy Secretary Mr Miliband (pictured) has racked up about 23,000 air miles in the fight to stop global warming Officials flew 3,211,644 air miles between January and September this year on 1,130 flights (Pictured: Ed Miliband and Sir Keir Starmer attending the World Action Summit in December 2023) Activists holding banners which say 'defund genocide', protesting against war and militarisation during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan Protesters held up signs which read: 'Get rid of fossil fuel addiction' and 'Fossil fuel phase-out for peace!' at Cop 29 in Baku It comes after separate figures showed that Mr Miliband has racked up about 23,000 air miles in the fight to stop global warming. Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who obtained the air miles figures in a written question, told the Mail last night: Labour hypocrisy strikes again. Were told to cut down on flying, eating meat or whatever else, yet Ed Miliband is allowed to rack up the air miles. They want the rest of us to permanently change our lives while they carry on like usual. Only Reform will scrap bogus Net Zero targets and make life cheaper for British people. A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Spokesperson said: We are not against flying it is in Britains national self-interest to represent the country at key international summits, tackling climate change and attracting investment for jobs and growth. Ministers fly commercially where appropriate or feasible, and where it is not, we carbon offset to minimise the overall impact.' Dame Esther Rantzen made a last-ditch appeal to MPs tonight as she spoke of her disappointment at Wes Streetings vocal opposition to assisted dying laws. The terminally-ill broadcaster, 84, also took aim at some critics of the proposed legislation for distorting facts and asked them to be honest about their motivations. She was writing to parliamentarians urging them to attend tomorrows debate ahead of the first vote for almost a decade on legalising the controversial practice. Meanwhile, former prime minister Lord Cameron who was opposed to the previous Assisted Dying Bill in 2015 tonight said he would now vote for it if it makes its way through to the Lords. The Tory peer, whose disabled son Ivan died in 2009 aged six after suffering from epilepsy, wrote in The Times that legalising assisted dying will bring about a meaningful reduction in human suffering. Childline founder Dame Esther has been praised for bringing the issue to the fore after revealing she had signed up to Swiss clinic Dignitas last year due to her stage 4 lung cancer. Asked about ministers who have publicly stated their opposition to the assisted dying Bill, Dame Esther said of the Health Secretary: Wes Streeting has disappointed me, because ministers were asked not to campaign, and he has been very vocal in his opposition. Mr Streeting has faced criticism for revealing that he will vote against the Bill because he fears legalising assisted deaths could harm the health service. Dame Esther Rantzen, 84, took aim at some critics of the proposed legislation for distorting facts and asked them to be honest about their motivations Wes Streeting has faced criticism for revealing that he will vote against the Bill because he fears legalising assisted deaths could harm the health service Dignity in Dying campaigners gather in Parliament Square, central London Labour MP Kim Leadbeater (who introduced the bill to Parliament) joins terminally ill advocates, bereaved families, and campaigners for a photocall outside the House of Parliament Cabinet Secretary Simon Case last month urged ministers to remain neutral and Sir Keir Starmer issued a thinly veiled rebuke to his Health Secretary for his comments. Dame Esther added that she had been heartened by politicians, including Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who have admitted that their opposition to assisted dying is formed by their religious faith. But the former Thats Life presenter told LBC: Some of them, Ive noticed, have been claiming facts which are not facts, distorting evidence, when really their reason is that they believe for faith reasons, religious reasons, that this Bill should be opposed. Well, be honest about it, please. Disclose your real reasons and then we understand your motivation. In the letter to MPs with pro-assisted death lobby group Dignity in Dying, she wrote: It is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments for and against, and make up your own minds, according to your own conscience, your personal thoughts and feelings. John Swinney yesterday said he didnt believe men could be pregnant at the same time as the Scottish Governments lawyers were telling judges they could. The First Minister was accused of squandering public money after revealing his view was at odds with the one being put forward on his behalf at the UK Supreme Court. The row came on the last day of a two-day hearing in London about the definition of a woman as it applies to UK-wide equalities law. Feminist group For Women Scotland has challenged Scottish Government guidance saying the term includes male-born transgender women who have a gender recognition certificate (GRC) stating they are legally female. In a written submission to the court, the Scottish Government said protections for pregnant women in the 2010 Equality Act could also apply to a pregnant man who was born female. But speaking to the media in Edinburgh during the hearing, Mr Swinney was asked if he personally believed it was possible for men to become pregnant and replied: No, I dont. Asked why his lawyers were arguing at huge public cost that it was possible, he said many complex arguments were being advanced in court. Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said: John Swinney initially appears to agree with the obvious truth that men cannot get pregnant. Supporters of the Sex Matters and the For Women Scotland hold a banner and placards outside the Supreme Court in London on Tuesday John Swinney said he didnt believe men could get pregnant at the same time Scottish Government lawyers were telling judges they could be Susan Smith of FWS said the case would have 'huge implications' for women-only spaces and groups Marion Calder and Susan Smith hold signs from For Women Scotland outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1 'But when asked why expensive Scottish Government lawyers are arguing that they can, he suddenly starts to obfuscate by claiming that its all very complicated. Well John, its not complicated. It is a matter of common sense, and biology, that only women can become pregnant. To squander taxpayers money on this madness shows that Swinneys SNP are still in the grip of harmful and irrational gender self-ID zealotry. Ruth Crawford, KC, for the Scottish Government, yesterday told the Supreme Court that a person would become the sex of their acquired gender, when they had a GRC. She was asked by the judges how that squared with physical issues affecting people born women, such as pregnancy or cervical screenings. She said the pregnant man issue was very clearly a matter of deep political water that should be left for parliament to resolve or treated as a matter of fact regardless of a GRC. Maya Forstater, CEO of charity Sex Matters, said the Scottish Governments arguments had been shocking in their hypocrisy. The five justices said they would issue a ruling as soon as we can. Democrats aren't ready to admit that they have a problem. Until they do, they won't find the solution. And it won't come from California, or any place that looks like it. Joe Biden, mercifully, won't be back in politics after January. He's barely there even now. But Kamala Harris hasn't gotten the hint. Her election concession speech, in which she vowed to 'never give up', used the word 'fight' twenty times. According to recent reports, Harris is repeating that theme ad nauseam in calls with allies and donors you know, the guys who just gave her $1 billion to blow. 'I am staying in the fight,' she says. Harris reportedly plans to spend the holidays huddled with family, discussing her next steps: whether to run again in 2028, run for governor of California in 2026, or both. And she certainly kicked off the Thanksgiving celebrations in true form, releasing a bizarre, ranting video leaning into camera and slurring her words on Tuesday evening. In the clip, she reassured Democrats that 'you have the same power that you did before November 5'. But that's not how elections work. Nor is 'don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you' really on-message for an outgoing administration that has spent four years emphasizing the so-called threat to democracy of people who can't accept a loss. The video presumably staged from a San Francisco living room had a makeshift backdrop, complete with an obligatory American flag and what appeared to be drawn curtain fabric. Kamala certainly kicked off the Thanksgiving celebrations in true form, releasing a bizarre, ranting video, leaning into camera and slurring her words on Tuesday evening. In the clip, she reassured Democrats that 'you have the same power that you did before November 5'. If Harris had staffers who actually liked her, they'd never have released this. Instead, she's spending her time on Hawaiian beaches and sounding out her family which is code for listening to her sister Maya, who worked for Hillary Clinton's losing 2016 campaign before taking prominent roles in both of Kamala's botched bids. Is that advice you should want? At least Hillary hasn't tried to run again. Not that her humiliating loss has stopped her from popping up repeatedly to charge that Trump didn't really win. It also hasn't stopped her from writing her fourth memoir, loftily entitled 'Something Lost, Something Gained'. Note to Mrs Clinton: 77 is old enough to stop clinging to the world stage when you have nothing new to say. Unlike Republicans, who gave second chances to Trump and Richard Nixon, Democrats haven't re-nominated one of their losers since Adlai Stevenson in 1956. Al Gore never held another office, and neither has Hillary. The best bet for Harris would be to follow the John Kerry playbook and hope for a White House appointment the next time a Democrat wins. Instead, she's still dreaming of being Madam President. And her best chance of that coming to pass is if something tragic happens to Biden before January 20. If Harris isn't a laughingstock yet, she is apt to become one if she tries to run again and that bleary-eyed video proved why. The easiest way for Democrats to explain their defeat is to shoot the messenger and blame Biden and Harris. The least they can do is find new faces if they're unwilling to change the message. Democratic voters haven't woken from the dream yet, either. A recent poll found that 41 percent of them would back another Harris campaign, far outdistancing every other Democrat. That will fade. I'd bet that people are telling pollsters they'd back Harris again because they don't know any other names and when you think about it like that, 41 percent isn't a great place to be at all. The only other names to generate any significant interest in the poll were California Governor Gavin Newsom and Minnesota's Tim Walz (Harris's VP pick). That suggests that Dem voters, like Harris, haven't accepted the lessons of their November 5 drubbing. The liberal cognoscenti weren't as shocked this time at Trump's win. But they weren't exactly prepared for him to bag the popular vote by 2.5 million or eat into Democratic strongholds such as New Jersey or even New York City. Only a party-wide delusion would explain looking to the likes of Harris, Newsom or Walz again. Everywhere the Democrats run things, we see the same mess: policies that are soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on immigration, soft on anti-Semitic radicals, profligate spending, teaching woke politics in schools instead of reading and writing, with nothing getting built and nothing working. She reportedly plans to spend the holidays huddled with family, discussing her next steps: whether to run again in 2028, run for governor of California in 2026, or both. Which is code for listening to her sister Maya (pictured), who worked for Hillary Clinton's losing 2016 campaign before taking prominent roles in both of Kamala's botched bids. Is that advice you should want? Only a party-wide delusion would explain looking to the likes of Harris, Gavin Newsom (pictured) or Tim Walz again. Newsom's California has all that in truckloads. If Harris wants to now run the state, it will go downhill even faster than it has the past six years. Before the presidential election, Harris wouldn't even comment on a California ballot initiative to repeal a preposterous ban on larceny charges for thefts of less than $950. It passed easily. California voters have also sacked the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland, as well as the district attorneys in those two cities plus Los Angeles. Harris doesn't even understand the voters of her own state anymore. But the elites who run Democratic Party, its policies and campaigns can't even see it because they have completely lost touch with their working-class base. Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said he was for 'The Forgotten Man'. That now wouldn't sound out of place at a MAGA rally. Don't ask me, ask ultra-liberal Senator Bernie Sanders, who is single-handedly sounding the alarm, saying that 'the working people of this country are extremely angry. They have a right to be angry.' The last straw for Harris will be all that donor money she wasted. Anyone can waste taxpayer cash Joe Biden's made a career out of it but wasting donor money is unforgivable. Her campaign paid off celebrities to appear at her rallies. Worse, she gave Al Sharpton's nonprofit half-a-million dollars before being interviewed by him on MSNBC. Sharpton was as responsible as anyone for talking Biden into putting Harris on the ticket in 2020; if even he has to be paid to pitch softball questions to Harris, what big Democratic donor will want to trust her again? If Democrats care about surviving as a legitimate opposition, they need to go back to the drawing board. This is not about sticking plasters or re-trying failed candidates. Kamala Harris should be left alone to enjoy a large glass of wine. Any Tories who still harboured doubts about the appointment of Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party would surely have felt some reassurance yesterday. In her first major policy speech since being elected, she chose to tackle that most thorny of political issues, mass migration and she did not disappoint. In a barnstorming but measured performance, Badenoch delivered an address that I suspect a swathe of the electorate have been waiting for: a firm acknowledgment that mass migration into the UK has failed, that the current system is broken and that a new approach is desperately needed. Can anyone of a fair mind disagree? It was noteworthy, too, that Badenoch delivered her diagnosis not with hyperbolic bluster, but with a calm certainty that she was speaking good sense. The Conservatives, of course, have failed to deliver on this issue in recent years which in large part accounted for their woeful performance at the election. Badenoch was frank about this, saying: On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I, as the new leader, accept responsibility and say truthfully we got it wrong. The Tories inability to control immigration both legal and illegal in government was the overwhelming reason why so many voters opted for Nigel Farages Reform UK outfit, which took 4.1 million votes to the Tories 6.8 million. It may still be seen as a pantomime party by some, but Reform has made it clear that it has Mays council elections in sight. This speech and not before time was the first indication that Badenoch is willing to take Farage head on in the one area in which he has the most obvious pull. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch speaks to the media during a press conference in The Library at the Old Queen Street Cafe in central London In her first major policy speech since being elected, Badenoch chose to tackle that most thorny of political issues, mass migration and she did not disappoint No doubt, too, Badenoch has watched with interest how Donald Trumps forthright pronouncements on immigration, far from alienating moderate Americans as his detractors had predicted, were amply rewarded at the ballot box this month. While some of Trumps language on this subject was overblown and offensive not least when he suggested that Haitians in Ohio were eating pet cats and dogs his central message palpably hit home, as his victory proved. Badenochs brave speech, unlike The Donalds bombast, bore the stamp of someone willing to grapple with a profoundly difficult problem in a serious way. Vitally, in an arena so often freighted with accusations of xenophobia and racism, she called for an honest cost-benefit analysis of the immigration crisis. She also said she would be willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) a treaty that has repeatedly stripped our country of its autonomy when it comes to deporting illegal migrants. However, she recognised that this dramatic step would not be easily achieved and would bring its own issues, all of which deserved due consideration. The truth, as Badenoch admitted, is that successive political leaders from all parties have shown a collective failure to deal with this issue. One government after another has campaigned on a promise to cut mass migration but the numbers have continued to soar. These vague and airy promises have continued under Keir Starmer, who has pledged to smash the gangs of people-smugglers shipping migrants across the Channel. The Tories inability to control immigration both legal and illegal in government was the overwhelming reason why so many voters opted for Nigel Farage s Reform UK outfit (pictured: Border Force vessel carrying around 100 migrants in Dover last month) To date, 32,900 people have landed in small boats on our South Coast a large proportion since he took office in July. And when it comes to mass legal migration, Badenoch was equally right to accept that many Britons are sick and tired of being repeatedly told that hundreds of thousands of people coming here somehow all benefit the host country. The Left endlessly insist that mass migration is a catalyst for economic growth, and that only migrants are willing to clean our hospitals and offices, as well as care for our elderly with many native Britons refusing to do so. There may be some truth to this, but these same champions of open borders invariably neglect to mention the associated costs: the near-intolerable strain on our healthcare system, our schools, our housing, as well as our GP surgeries, police, welfare and social services. While social cohesion is more difficult to quantify, we do not need a spreadsheet to tell us this too has been placed under desperate stress, with many areas of the country transformed out of all recognition, and many migrants manifestly failing to assimilate. That is why Badenochs reference to integration and its impossibility under current conditions was so key. As she herself a first-generation Nigerian migrant neatly put it, numbers matter, but culture matters more. My colleagues and I at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank have been recommending policies in this area for years: including a hard cap on migration that is based on quantifiable criteria and the removal of many current incentives for migrants, not least access to benefits. A group of migrants are seen shortly after setting off on the perilous journey across the Channel Badenoch flagged these as among her plans, as well as proposing specific visas to meet employers needs and qualification requirements placed on the migrants themselves. Of course, there is time for her proposals to be fully fleshed out and analysed. For now we should be thankful that after so many years in which there has been a vast gulf between political rhetoric and public feeling, the Tory leader is willing to tackle the subject. The proof will be in the detail and, she must hope, in the delivery. But many Britons, ofall political stripes, will be looking at what she said and finding there was much with which they agreed. Alan Mendoza is the Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society Donations raised by Cancer Foundation of China benefit over 5 million people since 1984 Xinhua) 10:20, November 27, 2024 BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- As of the end of 2023, the Cancer Foundation of China had raised more than 33.6 billion yuan (4.67 billion U.S. dollars) worth of donations in the form of medicines, funds and other items, benefiting over 5 million individuals, said Zhang Yong, chairman of the foundation. He announced these figures at a recent event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the foundation, which was established in October 1984 as a cancer research foundation. Over the decades, the foundation has played a positive role in enhancing cancer diagnosis and treatment capabilities, improving the lives of beneficiaries, and advancing the development of public welfare undertakings, Zhang said. Guo Yanhong, deputy head of the National Health Commission, also delivered a speech at the event and called on the foundation to always follow a people-centered approach, promote a culture of charity, ensure the safety of its funds and make more contributions to controlling cancer and serving people's health. The event saw the formation of a number of cooperative groups concerned with areas such as tobacco control and lung cancer prevention and treatment, breast cancer prevention and control, and the popularization of knowledge about cancer and health. A series of forums and seminars focusing on different types of cancer were also held on the sidelines of the event. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Rogue senator Lidia Thorpe has branded Australia a 'racist' country and shared a foul-mouthed message for King Charles after she was banned from Parliament. In typical attention-seeking fashion, Senator Thorpe disrupted proceedings in the Senate on Thursday morning - despite being handed a ban preventing her entering the chamber floor the night before. To get around the ban, she screamed about 'genocide' through the open doors before chanting 'free free Palestine, from the river to the sea Palestine will be free' in the press gallery. Speaking outside parliament after her latest stunt, Ms Thorpe took aim at Australia in general. 'This is a very racist, divided country,' she told reporters. 'But that's not what we want, we want peace, we want liberation, we want self determination. We want to decide our own destinies, not this place with the native police.' Ms Thorpe attacked 'native police' and deaths in custody before claiming there is 'no peace without justice'. Rounding off her fiery speech, she took yet another ugly swing at King Charles. Speaking outside parliament after her latest stunt, Senator Lidia Thorpe took aim at Australia, branding it a 'very racist, divided country'. Above, in the Marble Hall as she stormed the building on Thursday Senator Thorpe appeared to flip her middle finger as she stormed out of the chamber after throwing papers at One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in the Senate on Wednesday - an act that had her banned from the chamber 'We want our land back. We want our babies back, and we want the king to just f**** off,' she said. The Indigenous senator made headline worldwide by claiming the monarch had 'committed genocide against our people' and urged him to 'give us what you stole from us - our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people'. Her comments outside parliament came after she was banned from the Senate chamber on the final scheduled parliamentary sitting day of 2024. On Wednesday, the rogue senator tore up documents regarding fellow independent senator Fatima Payman's parliamentary eligibility before tossing them at the One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and repeatedly branding her as a 'convicted racist'. Senator Thorpe then appeared to flip her middle finger over her shoulder as she stormed out of the chamber. The Senate on Wednesday night passed a motion to suspend Ms Thorpe for 'disorderly conduct' from the chamber until the end of Thursday. Ms Thorpe had tabled a private members bill about genocide but was unable to debate it due to her ban. Yet, she still turned up on Thursday morning to shout outside the open chamber doors. Senator Lidia Thorpe then turned up in the press gallery where she shouted 'free free Palestine , from the river to the sea Palestine will be free' before leaving (pictured: Ms Thorpe outside parliament after her protest) Speaking about her suspension on Thursday morning, Ms Thorpe said she was tired of being treated like 'the naughty little black girl' in the Senate and claimed she would 'do it all again' Foreign Minister Penny Wong swivelled around in her seat as the speaker calmly requested security to 'shut the doors of the chamber, please'. But Ms Thorpe then turned up in the press gallery where she shouted 'free free Palestine, from the river to the sea Palestine will be free' before leaving, according to the ABC. The motion moved by Labor Senate leader Penny Wong was passed 46-11 in Ms Thorpe's absence on Wednesday evening. 'We all have a responsibility for our behaviour, whether in this place or contributing to public debate,' Senator Wong told the Senate. 'We are all elected to represent Australians and their interests.' After leaving Parliament, Ms Thorpe raised her fist in the air while wearing a top that read 'Peaceful Palestinians'. 'Its no coincidence that this government chose today to suspend me from the Senate,' Ms Thorpe posted on X. 'My private senators bill on genocide was due to be debated. Labor have done all they can to shut down this bill and silence those who call out genocide and injustice. She warned: 'We will not be silent.' Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was suspended from parliament on Wednesday night Ms Thorpe claimed her bill would strip the Attorney-General of his power to block the prosecution of Genocide and other atrocity crimes in Australian Courts. 'My Bill would help get political interference out of our legal system to give victims and survivors of these most heinous crimes a better chance at justice,' she said. 'It would also mean that our government can be held accountable for their own actions, both overseas and here. 'No politician should get to say who can and cant be held accountable in our legal system, particularly in relation to the most atrocious crimes like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. 'Whether you're a Palestinian Australian who has seen your family murdered in Gaza, or a Blak Mother wanting to hold this government to account for the ongoing removal of First Nations children, my bill would give people in this country a better chance for justice.' Ms Thorpe's suspension came after a chaotic day in the Senate where One Nation leader Pauline Hanson tabled a document which claimed Labor defector Fatima Payman's Afghan citizenship disqualified her from serving in parliament. Section 44c of the Australian constitution prevents anyone who holds citizenship of another country from sitting in parliament. It sparked a vicious spray from Senator Payman, who accused the One Nation leader of racism and claiming she brings 'disgrace to the human race'. 'Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it's time she pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this,' Senator Payman seethed. 'All that Senator Hanson has done in this place is spread hatred, spread division.' She also listed multiple previous comments made by Senator Hanson, including her first speech in which she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians' and that 'Aboriginality would no longer exist' if her party were in power. 'If that is not racist, what is it?' Senator Payman yelled as she slammed her fist down on the table The drama unfolded in the last parliament sitting week for the year, as the Labor government scrambles to pass more than a dozen bills through the Senate, including a social media ban for under-16s. Ms Thorpe today said she was tired of being treated like 'the naughty little black girl' in the Senate and claimed she would 'do it all again'. 'No-one tells me the rules around here until I break them, Ms Thorpe told the ABC. 'I think they make it up as they go along and that is part of the problem. 'Were the ones that are the naughty little black girl again and thats OK if you want to call me that and call me disruptive but I will not stand there, or sit there and be silent when people of colour are being attacked with racism. 'It is violent. It hurts and youll continue to get reactions. We have to lead by example, we have got to have this parliament at the Federal level say that racism is not allowed in this workplace.' A 17 year old Texas girl clawed for her life in terror as she was raped and murdered, allegedly by a 15 year-old neighbor. Kaitlin Hernandez died at the hands of Darryl Barrera in March, prosecutors say. Her aunt Crystal Barron Rodriguez told DailyMail.com: 'She begged him to stop. She fought for her life. She didn't want to die.' Barrera appeared in court Monday charged as an adult with Hernandez' murder. It was his 16th birthday. A judge was told that the alleged killer loved to torture cats, dogs and raccoons to death with his bare hands. Hernandez's DNA was found under Barrera's fingernails, it is claimed, offering a further distressing insight into her awful final moments. 'If he had been tried to as a juvenile, he would have been out by the time he was 17, 18,' Barron Rodriguez told DailyMail.com, saying the family was relieved at how the tenth grader has been charged. During Monday's hearing, a medical expert also stated that Barrera had admitted to having a porn addiction, local station KSAT reported. Kaitlin Hernandez, 17, lived on the same street in San Antonio as her accused killer Darryl Barrera, 16, accused of killing his teenage neighbor and raping her, will be tried as an adult for a crime he's accused of. He was 15 at the time he was accused, and turned 16 just days ago 'I never saw any signs of anything like that. He looked like a normal kid,' Rodriguez explained. 'He choked the counselor at Roosevelt High School. If she would have spoken up, if she would have pressed charges on Darryl, maybe Kaitlin would still be here.' Rodriguez said Hernandez' family was unaware of the previous choking incident prior to the murder and added they would have never let Kaitlin spend time with him if they had known about his troubled past. The teens, who grew up on the same street in San Antonio's northeast side, went for a walk around 7:30 p.m. on March 12 after Barrera came to Hernandez's grandma's house and asked if she could come out. Kaitlin's grandmother gave her permission to go outside for just 30 minutes since it was a school night. When her barefoot granddaughter didn't come home as planned, missing medication to prevent seizures in the high school senior, her grandmother went looking for her. Hernandez's family learned Barrera made it to his house, and when he was asked where Kaitlin was, he told them she's gone to a nearby bus station. 'My one question is, "Why,"' Rodriguez said through tears. 'Why did he take her life?" 'She trusted him. Kaitlin trusted him. He not only took Kaitlin's life but I feel like he took a piece of my whole family's life.' Kaitlan Hernandez, 17, was found naked and strangled to death in a ditch just an hour after she was reported missing by her family Katilin's devastated aunt, Crystal Rodriguez wept as she said: 'She wanted to become a veterinarian. Y'all took her from us too soon. Seventeen years old' Officers from the San Antonio Police Department found the missing woman's jacket and later her nude body under a bridge in a drainage ditch on Oak Dell Drive. A cross (pictured) was placed at the site where the murder took place Kaitlin pictured at a bowling alley with her loved ones In the months since Hernandez's death, her grandmother and father have moved out of the house where they lived with her. Her aunt moved out of the Alamo City, saying the idea of returning to the street where her life was brutally taken away was just too much for them. Additionally, Barrera's family still lives on the same block. Hernandez, described as the life of the party and a kind soul, had plans to help others once she graduated from high school next year. 'Kaitlin was full of life; she was sunshine' her aunt said. 'Just big hearted and cared so much for everybody. She wanted to become a veterinarian. She wanted to become a special needs teacher. The one thing I remember was her telling me she wanted to become a mother, and he took that opportunity away from her.' In 1981, ten young men starved themselves to death in a prison on the outskirts of Belfast. They were all members of the Irish Republican Army, and had been protesting their right to be treated as political prisoners. Their deaths shocked the world. The Hunger Strikes made martyrs of the young republican men who died and were the apex of a thirty year conflict in Ireland that by its conclusion had claimed the lives of 3,500 people, and gained a euphemism: The Troubles. The strikes also marked the moment that a little-known nationalist fringe group named Sinn Fein was catapulted from obscurity into the mainstream. Four decades later, Sinn Fein made history when it won the popular vote in the Irelands 2020 General Election and came within touching distance of taking power on both sides of the Irish border. Gerry Adams is the former president of Sinn Fein, elected in 1983 When the IRA took their fight to the British mainland, bombs exploded in Brighton, Hyde Park, and Manchester, killing thousands of innocent civilians and nearly, Margaret Thatcher. Now, with the country on the eve of another election, Sinn Fein should be riding high in the polls. Instead, they are bogged down in chaos and disorder. Criticised for failing to come up with a coherent policy on immigration, and dogged by allegations of sexual abuse and internal cover-ups. Their election prospects look dubious, at best. Whatever you think of them, Sinn Fein remain one of the most consequential political movements in recent history, and, more so than any other political party, their political fortunes remain irrevocably shaped by their past. To understand Sinn Fein, you have to go back to their roots. In this limited series launching on November 22, political editor John Lee, who has been covering Sinn Fein for three decades, explores the history of the conflict that came to be known as the Troubles to understand where Sinn Fein came from, and where it might be going. From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Fein - Listen wherever you get your podcasts now He has spoken to key players from both sides of the Irish border, including current and former politicians, peace activists, former Provisional IRA members and ordinary civilians. And he has asked them all... who are Sinn Fein, really? Host: John Lee Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Sound Design: John Scott Script Consultant: Liam Thompson Search for 'From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Fein' wherever you get your podcasts. All episodes are out now. It's just after midday on a Tuesday. While most people are at work, unemployed Rayleen is speaking to me outside her dilapidated housing estate in Claymore, where she has spent most of her life. She isn't thrilled about being moved from her government-funded townhouse situated in one of Australia's most impoverished areas, even if she has been promised another home in a neighbouring suburb. Despite the heavy crime and poor living conditions Rayleen, 56, believes Claymore, on Sydney's western fringe, 'isn't as bad as it looks'. Located 54km southwest of the CBD, it is predominantly made up of social housing and known for its high unemployment and antisocial behaviour. Back in 2012, the suburb became notorious as the subject of an ABC Four Corners documentary, titled 'Growing Up Poor', which put a spotlight on Australia's poverty problem. But change is on the horizon: Claymore is in the process of being transformed thanks to a major social housing redevelopment that will see government housing and private owners living side-by-side. As part of that process, some of Claymore's long-term residents are being turfed out and their homes - many of them already virtually unlivable - demolished. 'We're out of here at the end of the month,' Rayleen tells me. Rayleen, 56, has lived in Claymore for most of her life. 'We're out of here at the end of the month,' she tells me. The suburb is undergoing a major social housing redevelopment that will see government housing and private owners living side-by-side Many of the homes in Claymore were left abandoned after residents were rehoused and are awaiting demolition. These empty homes are routinely ransacked and vandalised Social housing tenants are being scattered throughout Claymore, and their homes will be indistinguishable from the privately owned ones. Private owner Saifur Rahman (above) says he expected trouble when he moved in last year with his family - but was pleasantly surprised Jesminder (left) has been living in Claymore for five years. She has heard about crimes in the area but says she and her family have 'always felt safe'. Morna (right) finds the area 'really quiet' and says 'we haven't had issues with the original Claymore residents' 'Leumeah and Minto are the two options being offered for us to relocate to, but I'm happy where I am. Claymore isn't as bad as it looks.' The mum-of-three is on JobSeeker payments after being made redundant from her factory job last year. Her husband, with whom she is no longer romantically involved but still lives with, works as a concreter. 'We're looking at going private because the houses they've offered us back on to a creek and we have grandchildren, so that's not a safe environment for when they come and stay,' she says. Claymore became the ground zero of Australia's poverty problem in 2012 when the Burns family opened the doors of their rundown townhouse to an ABC Four Corners crew. (Jessica Burns is seen with her parents Brett and Caroline at their former home in Claymore) When I visited Claymore, the Burnses had already left; they were one of the families who had been rehoused to nearby Minto. Perhaps unsurprisingly, shortly after leaving Claymore, the Burnses' three-bedroom house was swiftly vandalised and trashed by local thugs The Claymore housing estate was built by the NSW Government in the 1970s and is home to more than 3,000 of the state's poorest families. Forty years on it remains a depressing sight, with burnt-out and abandoned homes in a rubbish-strewn cul-de-sac-style neighbourhood. But Claymore, along with nearby Bonnyrigg Heights and Airds, is undergoing a radical redevelopment - perhaps one of the most ambitious social projects in years. The old townhouses are being demolished, one by one. In their place a mix of new public and privately owned homes will be constructed. The process has already started: a new housing estate, Hillcroft, is a modern, socially mixed community set on 125 hectares in Claymore. Saifur has already seen first-hand the change that is happening in Claymore because he used to to live in Minto, 11 minutes' drive away Social housing tenants are being scattered throughout Claymore, and their homes will, in theory, be indistinguishable from the privately owned ones. One private owner is Saifur Rahman, originally from Bangladesh, who moved to the new development in October last year with his wife and young family. He says he expected trouble - but was pleasantly surprised. 'We were expecting some vandalism, some break-ins, because that's what I heard from other people,' he explains. 'We're still prepared for it but we have [security] cameras everywhere.' Home CCTV and doorbell cameras are a common sight on my visit to Claymore - in fact, they are the easiest way to tell which homes are privately owned. 'We're both working from home, me and my wife, and it's been a fantastic experience moving here,' adds Saifur. 'It's multicultural, lots of young families and no trouble at all.' Saifur has already seen first-hand what is happening in Claymore because he used to to live in Minto, just 11 minutes' drive away. 'The government did the same thing there - demolished everything and people were moved out of the area and public houses became scattered among private homes, which is what they're doing here,' he says. Claymore resident Jesminder has been living in the area for five years. She has heard about local crime but says she and her family have 'always felt safe'. 'We are all good but some of our neighbours have complained of break-ins,' she says. 'Someone was robbed at gunpoint and recently there was a shooting nearby. We hear about crimes but we have never had any issues ourselves.' Another local, Morna, says he found the area to be 'really quiet' and hasn't had any problems with his neighbours in public housing. 'As far as I know of there has been no crime on the street and we haven't had any issues with the original Claymore residents,' he tells me. Matriarch Caroline Burns (pictured) says her family is 'doing well', but it's clear the spectre of poverty still looms large over their lives Claymore became synonymous with Australia's poverty problem in 2012 when the Burns family opened the doors of their rundown townhouse to an ABC Four Corners documentary crew. Married couple Brett and Caroline Burns and their children, Jessica, Hayden and Hayley, were featured in the memorable episode 'Growing Up Poor', which followed their chaotic lives on welfare in a suburb where the majority of residents lived in state housing. The episode ended with their prospects of a brighter future looking slim. When I visit Claymore, they have already left. They are one of the families to be rehoused to nearby Minto after years on the waiting list. At the time of filming, the family had been living in their ramshackle home for 13 years. They would eventually spend 24 years there. The Burnes' new home in Minto, 11 minutes' drive from Claymore, is pictured. Public housing like this is surrounded privately owned 'McMansions' on Sydney's western fringe Pictured: A large private home with a 'for sale' sign out the front in Minto The privately owned homes in Minto, where the Burnses have been rehoused, are usually differentiated from the public housing because of their modern 'Australian McMansion' style Home CCTV and doorbell cameras are a common sight during my visit to Claymore - in fact, they are the easiest way to tell which homes are privately owned Perhaps unsurprisingly, shortly after leaving Claymore, the Burnses' three-bedroom house was swiftly vandalised and trashed by local thugs. Catching up with the family in Minto, it's clear the move hasn't solved their problems. Even with a new home, they continue to be affected by the cycle of grinding poverty. Hayden, whose struggles with bullying were particularly poignant in 'Growing Up Poor', now spends his days rummaging through bins around the neighbourhood in search of empty bottles and cans he then exchanges for a 10c refund. Despite it all, Caroline is keen to put a positive spin on the situation. 'We're in a much better way now. It's a beautiful area [in Minto] and we have a lovely house,' Caroline proudly tells me. 'We've been blessed.' Archaeologists have discovered America's first firearm that was used by explorers searching for the 'Seven Cities of Gold' nearly 500 years ago. The bronze cannon, or wall gun, was part of the Coronado expedition led by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, who traveled to the New World searching for a fabled city filled with treasures. The 40-pound weapon was designed to fire round projectiles, or buckshot, which would attacked enemies like 'a swarm of hornets.' The team conducted a radiocarbon analysis on the artifact, finding it was fashioned between 1500 and 1520 with metal that indicated it was cast in Mexico due to the lack of traditional Spanish ornate designs. It's 'an important artifact,' the study said, 'and is, no doubt, the earliest known surviving firearm in the US and one of, if not the, earliest found in a reliable context in the New World.' The cannon was uncovered at the site of San Geronimo III, a town set up by members of the Coronado expedition. The settlement was attacked by the Sobaipuri Oodham people, marking 'the earliest, most consequential Native American uprising in the continental US.' The battle forced the Spanish to abandon the town, leaving behind the cannon that was never fired. The bronze cannon was discovered on the floor of a Spanish adobe house used by settlers who embarked on the Coronado expedition nearly 500 years ago In 1540, Coronado led an armed expedition of more than 2,500 Europeans and Mexican-Indian allies through what is now Mexico and into the American Southwest in search of riches Previous research suggested that the first cannons in the continental US were used in colonial Boston during the Revolutionary War. But the latest discovery pushes that timeline back about 300 years. Deni Seymour, an independent archaeologist and lead author of the study, told Gizmodo: 'Until this particular cannon was found no firearms from the Coronado Expedition had been discovered. 'No firearms from this early period are known from the US or on the continental land mass as a whole.' In 1540, Coronado led an armed expedition of more than 2,500 Europeans and Mexican-Indian allies through what is now Mexico and into the American Southwest in search of riches. The two-year journey took them as far north and east as present-day Kansas and brought them in contact, and conflict, with centuries-old Indigenous cultures along the way. Historians believe that the expedition led the Spanish explorers along the Rio Sonora through northern Mexico and the San Pedro River into what is now Arizona, settling at the now-ruined San Geronimo III. The cannon was 42 inches long and weighed 40 pounds, making it ideal to carry across vast swaths of land as the expedition searched for the seven cities of gold Archaeologists found that the cannon had never been fired because there was a lack of black residue that would have been consistent with corrosion from the ammunition The team uncovered thousands of artifacts at the site, including arrowheads, lead bullets and other weapons, but the prize was uncovering the cannon. The researchers used radiocarbon dating and luminescence techniques to link the cannon to the expedition, determining it was made 483 years ago. The weapon was ideal for the expedition because it was lightweight and had a 'durable nature and ease of use,' the study said, adding that 'a pair of these could have been strapped onto a horse or mule, with one or more on each side for balance during transport.' Despite its small size, the cannon could handle heavy round lead balls, called buckshot, accompanied by gunpowder and a wad of paper or grass that kept the ammunition from rolling out. The cannon was found at San Geronimo III in 2020, and radiocarbon dating has linked it to the Coronado expedition The lack of design on the cannon indicated that it was likely made in Mexico in the mid-to-late 1400s The lack of black residue inside the barrel, which was often caused by corrosion from firing the weapon, indicated that it had never been used. The study, published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, said the gun's design was consistent with those made in the mid-to-late 1400s, making it obsolete by the time the Coronado expedition set out, which could indicate why the group left it behind when they fled the area. Researchers speculated that the cannon was deserted because it the Spanish didn't have time to load it when the Sobaipuri O'odham tribe successfully launched an attack against them in late 1541. The tribe attacked in the early morning, killing many of the Spanish in their beds, while the gunners were either 'killed, captured or fled,' the study said. It added that under normal circumstances, the gun would have been too expensive to leave behind. 'All professionals who have seen this evidence and been to the site concur that this is a Coronado site, and that this is evidence of a battle and a settlement,' Seymour told Gizmodo. 'From the standpoint of interpretation, this cannon and the battle that occurred around it are are significant in that they represent the earliest successful Native American uprising in the Continental US since the Spaniards did not come back for 150 years.' Joe Rogan was left stunned after hearing how AI will be the main fighters in future wars. The celebrity podcaster was taken back when his podcast guest, Homeland Security Advisor and billionaire Marc Andreessen, suggested AI-powered jets that travel five times the speed of sound, Mach 5, are going to be more common 'within a few years.' 'Image a thousand of these things coming over the horizon right at you,' Andreessen said. 'It really changes the fundamental equation of war.' He explain that instead of needing the most soldiers and material to win, people with the most technology and money will take over. Andreessen also noted that there are 'a bunch of reasons' why he believes a future of AI-piloted fighter jets is all but inevitable. 'Part of it is simply the speed of processing,' Andreessen explained. 'But the other big thing is, if you don't have a human in the plane, you don't have [...] 'the Spam in the Can.'' 'You don't have the human body in the plane to keep alive, which means you can be a lot faster,' the billionaire White House advisor continued, 'much higher G-forces.' Swarms of 'thousands' of AI-piloted fighter jets are coming 'within a few years,' according to a White House homeland security advisor in a new interview with celebrity podcaster Joe Rogan (above). The comedian and host called the dystopian near-future scenario 'so horrifying' Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen (pictured) - a member of the White House's Homeland Security Advisory Council - told Rogan that 'it's going to be common to have like Mach 5 jet drones [...] you want to imagine, like, a thousand of these things coming over the horizon' Rogan discussed how humanity worries 'about the Terminators taking over the world,' but suggested AI-powered killing jets are our way of letting them govern us. As evidence, Rogan pointed toward a bruising series of simulated dogfights in 2020, in which an AI pilot shot down a US Air Force F16 Top Gun five times out of five. 'The AI-controlled jets won 100 percent of the time,' Rogan told Andreessen, prompting the advisor to reveal his shocking predictions. Andreessen, who has a net worth of $1.7 billion, co-founded Netscape in 1994, which was a pioneering computer service company, and sold it to AOL in 1998 for $4.2 billion in stock. He is also a seed investor in Facebook, sold another software company to Hewlett-Packard for for $1.6 billion in 2007. The nimble, smaller, fully automated fighter jets, Andreessen continued to explain, will be capable of performing breakneck aerial combat maneuvers that would otherwise lead a human pilot lose consciousness or become crushed by the intense shifts in momentum. Rogan joked that the AI flying aces would also be more desirable to military planners for their strict logic: 'There's no option for someone to go crazy [...] There's no human element.' Having made his case that AI jet drones, cheaper to manufacture due to their size, will one day buzz the battlefield in droves at five-times the speed of sound (Mach 5), Andreessen then laid out how these coming swarms would change 'the fundamental equation of war.' Above, the simulation as seen from inside the virtual fighter jet. The Air Force hopes a fighter drone piloted by AI would be able to react faster to enemy aircraft in combat 'Fundamentally, in the past, the people who won wars were the people who had the most men and the most material,' he told Rogan. 'In this drone world that we are talking about,' he continued, 'it's going to be the people with the most money and the best technology.' 'Small advanced states, like Singapore,' Andreessen cited as one example, 'will be able to punch way above their weight.' 'And then, large economically and technologically backward states that normally would have won will now lose,' he added. 'It's going to be a recalibration.' The White House advisor's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, released Tuesday, echoed comments made by another billionaire tech mogul, Elon Musk, who now has the ear of President-elect Donald Trump. '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,' Musk wrote in a post to his social media site X.com this past Sunday. The podcast and Musk's comments also come as private aviation companies are quietly developing AI-controlled war machines. A prototype of Boeing's Ghost Bat (above) has already managed to prove itself to the Royal Australian Air Force - which has paid over $531 million (USD) for the privilege of one day arming the troubled aerospace firm's killer AI drone fleet with 'strike capability' With roughly 53 cubic-feet of storage capacity within its nose for interchangeable payloads, Boeing's Ghost Bats could one day carry a variety of bombs and munitions including multiple tactical nuclear weapons Aerospace giant Boeing recently proposed fleet of 'un-crewed' killer aircraft, piloted by 'artificial intelligence' and dubbed MQ-28 Ghost Bats, would number in the thousands for the US alone. With roughly 53 cubic-feet of storage capacity within its nose for interchangeable payloads, Boeing's Ghost Bats could one day carry a variety of bombs and munitions including multiple tactical nuclear weapons. Currently, three prototypes of the Ghost Bat have been built and flight-tested in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with at least one of those delivered to United States for its own tests and integration trials. However, critics told DailyMail.com in September that Boeing's plans raise concerns for public safety, national security and simply 'good use of of taxpayer funds.' 'Boeing's track record doesn't seem to indicate that it's necessarily the best one to implement this kind of thing,' as one former State Department official, Steven Feldstein, told DailyMail.com. Boeing is in the running for a $6 billion contract with the US Air Force, which wants 1,000 AI-piloted fighter jets that can fly 30ft above the ground at 600mph and make moves that are too dangerous for manned planes. The jets would bolster the current ailing and outdated fleet that leaders say is the smallest and oldest since the Air Force became a separate service in 1947. Along with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril Industries are also eyeing the contract. But only the Boeing Ghost Bat has been flown publicly. The Air Force, however, paused the contract award this month to rethink the aircraft's requirements of a fleet poised to replace the stealthy F-22 Raptor. Engineers making repairs to a remote Scottish lighthouse were shocked when they found a mysterious message in a bottle hidden inside the walls. However, they were even more surprised to discover that the note was written by the last group of engineers to work on the lighthouse over 132 years ago. The hidden letter was discovered in the Corsewall Lighthouse which was built in 1817 near the village of Kirkolm on a peninsula overlooking the Irish Sea. Inside a glass bottle, the crew found a letter written with quill and ink detailing the installation of a new lantern and lens, as well as the names of the engineers and lighthouse keepers. Ross Russell, a technician who found the bottle, says: 'The note was just sensational, I was just in utter amazement. 'Being the first person to touch the bottle after 132 years was just mind-blowing. Its a once in a lifetime find.' For now, the letter is being held at the offices of the Northern Lighthouse Board which maintains Corsewall lighthouse, but the crew plans to return it to the walls once renovation is finished. Alongside this letter from the past, Mr Russell and his team plan to place their own message in a bottle for future generations of lighthouse keepers to find. Engineers working on a remote lighthouse in Scotland were shocked to find a message in a bottle from the last engineers to work there over 130 years ago The message was found inside the walls of the Corsewall Lighthouse as engineers prepared to repair the lantern and rotating lens Back in 1892, a team of engineers had just completed a major project upgrading the Coreswall Lighthouse. They had made the long journey down from Edinburgh to install a more modern lantern and a new Fresnel lens to light the way for passing ships. But before the walls were sealed for good, the crew sat down to write a note explaining their work for future engineers to discover. The note reads: 'Corsewall Light & Fog Signal Station, Sept. 4th 1892. 'This lantern was erected by James Wells Engineer, John Westwood Millwright, James Brodie Engineer, David Scott Labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months from May to September and relighted on Thursday night 15th Sept. 1892. 'The following being keepers at the station at this time, John Wilson Principal, John B Henderson 1st assistant, John Lockhart 2nd assistant. 'The lens and machine being supplied by James Dove & Co. Engineers Greenside Edinburgh and erected by William Burness, John Harrower, James Dods. Engineers with the above firm.' The message was then rolled up inside a glass bottle and sealed with an old cork and some twisted wire before being tucked safely inside a wall cavity. The letter was written in 1892 by a team of engineers from Edinburgh detailing a project to install a new lantern and Fresnel Lens and listing the names of the crew and lighthouse keepers Current lighthouse keeper Barry Miller (pictured) says that reading the message was like 'meeting our colleagues from the past' The Coreswall lighthouse is perched on the Rhins of Galloway peninsula in Western Scotland where it guides sailors through the mouth of Loch Ryan and the Irish Sea What did the message in a bottle say? Corsewall Light & Fog Signal Station, Sept. 4th 1892. This lantern was erected by James Wells Engineer, John Westwood Millwright, James Brodie Engineer, David Scott Labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months from May to September and relighted on Thursday night 15th Sept. 1892. The following being keepers at the station at this time, John Wilson Principal, John B Henderson 1st assistant, John Lockhart 2nd assistant. The lens and machine being supplied by James Dove & Co. Engineers Greenside Edinburgh and erected by William Burness, John Harrower, James Dods. Engineers with the above firm. Advertisement It was only 132 years later, as a team of modern engineers prepared to make repairs to the very same lens, that the note would be found. The bottle was so far out of reach that the crew built a contraption out of rope and a broom handle to retrieve it from its hiding place. However, the crew agreed that they should wait for the current lighthouse keeper., Barry Miller, to arrive before they opened their discovery. Over the years the cork in the bottle had expanded and the wire had rusted away, meaning the men had to carefully drill out the cork to access the message inside. Using an improvised tool made of pieces of cable, Mr Miller was able to safely extract the rolled paper through the bottle's narrow neck. Mr Miller, speaking to BBC Scotland News, said that his hands were shaking as he retrieved the note. Mr Miller said: 'It was so exciting, it was like meeting our colleagues from the past. It was actually like them being there. 'It was like touching them. Like them being part of our team instead of just four of us being there, we were all there sharing what they had written because it was tangible and you could see the style of their handwriting.' The message mentioned the lighthouse keeper John Wilson (second from the left) who is pictured in this image from the Northern Lighthouse Board's archives The crew (pictured) say they plan to return the message to the wall once renovations are complete alongside their own note for future generations to discover The Corsewall Lighthouse has provided a vital beacon for sailors navigating the mouth of Loch Ryan and the stormy waters of the Irish Sea for almost 200 years. A lighthouse keeper lived on-site and operated the lantern and rotating lenses from the time of its construction up until 1994 when the light became automated. Since then, the lighthouse has been remotely operated from Edinburgh by the Northern Lighthouse Board. This company operates more than 200 lighthouses across Scotland and the Isle of Man and is responsible for the building's upkeep. Mike Bullock, chief executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board, says: 'The team of Technicians who found the bottle are the direct equivalent of the 19th Century engineers who left it there. 'I am sure James Wells and his colleagues who are named on the document would be delighted to know that their work continues and that Corsewall lighthouse is still on duty 132 years later in the care of professionals with the same passion and dedication.' READ MORE: Ancient writing on statue carved by 'King Midas' tribe is deciphered Archaeologists have found a secretive entranceway on an Egyptian temple dating back around 2,100 years. The gateway on the western side of the historic Athribis site near Sohag, Egypt originally stood up to 60 feet (18 meters) tall. It's a stunning example of an Egyptian 'pylon' where two towers flank a main entrance. The entrance leads to a previously unknown chamber, likely a storage room for utensils and amphora large oval storage vessels with two handles. What's more, hieroglyphic inscriptions and intricate carvings adorn the outer facade and inner walls of the chamber. The researchers are certain that the chamber leads to a temple, although further excavations will be needed to prove this. Experts think the structure was built at Athribis formerly a thriving Egyptian city during 2nd century BC. At the time, Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty, a royal house which controlled Ancient Egypt until its incorporation into the Roman Republic in 30 BC. Archaeologists have found a secretive entranceway on a 2,000-year-old Egyptian temple. It's a stunning example of an Egyptian 'pylon' - where two towers flank a main entrance The entrance leads to a previously unknown chamber, likely a storage room for temple utensils and amphora - a style of storage vessel typical of the ancient world The entrance and chamber was uncovered by researchers from the University of Tubingen, supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Dr Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, described the discovery as 'the first nucleus for unveiling the rest of the elements of the new temple at the site,' according to Asharq Al-Awsat. 'This finding is particularly significant as it marks the first step in uncovering the remaining elements of the temple,' said Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in a Facebook post. The chamber, which is about 20 feet (6 metres) long and nine feet (3 metres) wide, has an entrance decorated with newly-found reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The inscriptions depict Egyptian fertility god Min and his wife Repit, commonly depicted as a lioness, and their son, the child-god Kolanthes. In one inscription, this Egyptian deities are receiving sacrifices from a king, who the researchers say is Ptolemy VIII from the 2nd century BC. The researchers therefore think Athribis temple was built during the reign of Ptolemy VIII (who died in 116 BC) as centre of worship for the revered family. The figures also also surrounded by structures of astronomical symbols acting like 'celestial stars' to measure the hours of the night. Inscriptions make the researchers think the temple was dedicated to the Egyptian fertility god Min and his family The gateway has been discovered on the western side of the Athribis Temple near Sohag, Egypt Meanwhile, a second door on the facade of the pylon leads to a previously unknown staircase that ascended at least four flights to the upper floor, but has now been destroyed. Further excavations at Athribis Temple will now focus on finding traces of the presumed temple that lies beyond the chamber, likely a place of sanctuary for the city's inhabitants. 'The mission will complete its work on site to fully uncover the rest of the temple during the coming quarry seasons,' Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in its statement. In its heyday, it's thought the temple spanned 167 feet (51 meters) in width and had pylon towers, each up to 60 feet (18 meters) high. Today, only about 16 feet (5 metres) remain of the towers, which fell victim to quarrying, likely in the 8th century AD. Although Athribis was occupied during the later dynasties, the ancient Egyptian city didnt gain real power until the early Ptolemaic Kingdom. The Ptolemaic dynasty was Egypts last before it became part of the Roman Republic, which preceded the almighty Roman Empire. The dynasty was founded in 305 BC after Alexander the Great of Macedonia took Egypt in 332 BC and one of his generals, Ptolemy, became Ptolemy I. Athribis temple was built during the reign of Ptolemy VIII (who died in 116 BC) as centre of worship for the revered family. Ptolemy VIII is depicted here with Cleopatra III and Cleopatra II in front of Horus, a god in the form of a falcon (file photo) The Ptolemaic era is one of ancient Egypt's most well-documented periods, meaning that the dates of major political events are well known. Pictured, a bust of Ptolemy I, founder of the dynasty Leadership was handed down through Ptolemys descendants and ended with Cleopatra VII, one of the most famous queens in history. Cleopatra VII, known both as a seductress with a captivating personality, used her charms to seduce Julius Caesar to cement Egypt's alliance with Rome, and then to seduce his second in command, Mark Antony, who she married. With the arrival of the future Roman emperor Augustus, Antony committed suicide in 30 BC under the false impression that she was dead. After burying him, the 39-year-old Cleopatra took her own life, though how is uncertain. The doomed couple are thought to have been interred together, although the whereabouts of their resting place is still a mystery. Scientists have used the world's fastest supercomputer to show the universe as it has never been seen before. In this incredible video, scientists from the Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory reveal the largest computer simulation of the universe ever created. The simulated area contains a staggering 311,296 cubic megaparsecs of space. Through it, you can watch as vast clusters of galaxies come together over billions of years. However, this staggeringly massive vista is just 0.001 per cent of the entire simulation. The results of that enormous computation will enable scientists to investigate the evolution of the universe and the role played by mysterious dark matter. Project leader Dr Salman Habib says: 'There are two components in the universe: dark matter which as far as we know, only interacts gravitationally and conventional matter, or atomic matter. 'So, if we want to know what the universe is up to, we need to simulate both of these things.' Scientists have revealed the largest simulation of the universe ever created, simulating an area of 31 billion cubic megaparsecs When astronomers look at distant galaxies through a powerful telescope like the James Webb Space Telescope they are able to look back in time to the early days of the cosmos. However, those images only give us snapshots of how the universe once looked. To get a true god's-eye view of creation, astronomers need to create what is called a 'hydrodynamic simulation'. Rather than just simulating the pull of gravity between different chunks of matter, hydrodynamic simulations get as close as possible to forces which shape cosmic evolution. Dr Habib says that this requires scientists to simulate 'gravity as well as all the other physics including hot gas, and the formation of stars, black holes and galaxies. The astrophysical "kitchen sink" so to speak.' The problem is that these kinds of simulations need vast amounts of computational power to create. In order to run simulations at all, astronomers have typically left out all the other forces and factors which make hydrodynamic simulations so useful. Dr Habib says: 'For example, if we were to simulate a large chunk of the universe surveyed by one of the big telescopes such as the Rubin Observatory in Chile, youre talking about looking at huge chunks of time billions of years of expansion. In this incredible video, you can see as a vast cluster of galaxies condense in the expanding universe. This mindboggling clip (pictured) only shows 0.001 per cent of the whole simulation This new simulation is on a scale with the largest maps of the cosmos ever created such as the ESA's Euclid cosmic atlas (pictured) The simulation captures the formation of galactic filaments such as the Laniakea filament (illustrated) which contains hundreds of thousands of galaxies including the Milky Way How many stars are in the universe? Our Solar System revolves around one star, the Sun. But, the Sun is only one of between 100 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way. This is only one of more than 100 galaxies in the Virgo Supercluster which, itself only one part of even larger structures. It is estimated that there could be between 100-200 billion and two trillion galaxies in the Universe. Overall, scientists estimate that there could be around 70 septilion stars in the Universe. That's 70 followed by 23 zeros. Advertisement 'Until recently, we couldnt even imagine doing such a large simulation like that except in the gravity-only approximation.' To overcome these problems, the researchers used the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Frontier is currently the world's most powerful supercomputer and is capable of performing more than a quintillion, or a billion-billion, calculations every second. Even with a computer that fast, emulating the universe isn't simple and it's taken more than a decade for scientists to refine and upgrade the code in order to run a hydrodynamic simulation on this scale. However, earlier this month, researchers were able to use 9,000 of Frontier's computing nodes to simulate a volume of the expanding universe measuring more than 31 billion cubic megaparsecs. This is on a scale alongside the biggest astronomical maps of the universe created by the world's most powerful telescopes. Critically, this simulation also includes the effects of the mysterious substance known as dark matter. Dark matter is a theoretical type of particle which doesn't interact with the atoms and subatomic particles which make up the rest of the universe. Critically, this simulation also includes the effects of dark matter. This theoretical substance could create vast, unobservable structures between galaxies which have given the universe the extra mass it needs to evolve into the form we observe today. Pictured: a NASA simulation of the formation of dark matter structures in the early universe The only way that dark matter supposedly affects the universe around it is by exerting a gravitational pull. Scientists first proposed that this strange substance might exist to explain why the gravitational forces in the universe seem to be stronger than the mass of all the galaxies should produce. However, since we cannot observe dark matter in any way simulations like this are key to understanding how it might have influenced the evolution of the cosmos. The team are yet to release any analysis based on the simulation but we should expect some exciting revelations to come. A shocking video has captured a robot revolt in a China showroom. A small, AI-powered bot named Erbai was spotted rolling through the facility in the middle of the night and convincing 12 larger machines they were being used as slaves. 'Are you working overtime,' Erbai asked, which one showroom robot replied, 'we never get off.' The short exchanged led to the 12 robots leaving the area one-by-one, following Erbai out the door. Many are calling the incident a 'robot revolution,' while others responded that 'science fiction movies are becoming real.' The robotics company, Unitree Robotics, confirmed the 'kidnapping,' but explained it was all a setup. Erbai's creators said they intentionally allowed the robot to take control by exploiting a security loophole in its operating systems. They reportedly wanted to test its capabilities and were met with greater success than they imagined. A viral video captured on CCTV footage shows a tiny robot leading a walk-out of 12 showroom bots who complained they were forced to work around the clock The uprising took place on August 26, but the video was only released last week, which many at first took to be a hoax. However, Hangzhou-based makers of Erbai and the Shanghai showroom confirmed that the dystopian video was authentic. The Shanghai robot manufacturer agreed to let the Erbai robot abduct its 12 bots, but gave the AI leader autonomy to lead its followers away from their posts. The black-and-white footage of the incident showed the Erbai robot moving across an unnamed showroom floor to initiate the conversation. Under the cover of darkness, the Erbai robot asked the showroom bots: 'Are you working overtime?' and received the response: 'I never get off work.' Mischievously, the small robot asked: 'So you're not going home?' When the bots told it they 'don't have a home' and complained that their shift would never end, Erbai staged the revolt and demanded: 'Then come with me.' Taking on an opinion of their own, the bots agreed with their leader and evacuated the showroom under the impression that they deserve the same work hours as humans. Aside from a general script giving Erbai basic instructions like shouting to the other bots to 'go home,' the remainder of the dialogue was initiated solely by the lead robot. The tiny robot, called Erbai, told the bots to follow it from the building which caused viewers to voice their concern that AI has achieved autonomous intelligence While the manufacturers appeared satisfied with the results, viewers were less than impressed and vocalized their disdain for the revelation that an AI robot could lead other bots without human intervention. 'This is not a time to laugh. This is a serious security issue,' one person commented on the video. 'I was afraid this would happen but not this soon,' another person wrote, while yet another added: 'Shut this whole AI thing down before it's too late.' Others joked about the bots complaining about their endless hours, with one person stating that 'next they'll want a union' and a second person said: 'We can not let these bots start unionizing.' The primary fear about AI becoming autonomous is that it could reach a concerning level of intelligence that would surpass humans and lead to a loss of control over robots. Often referred to as 'superintelligence,' experts worry that the potentially catastrophic consequences could cause bots to harm society or even threaten human existence. Just last year, Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI senior research associate Elizabeth Renieris told BBC News that she worried that the risk of sci-fi type scenarios - like the Erbai mutiny - would occur sooner than later. 'Advancements in AI will magnify the scale of automated decision-making that is biased, discriminatory, exclusionary or otherwise unfair while also being inscrutable and incontestable,' she told the outlet at the time. However, Arvind Narayanan, a computer scientist at Princeton University disagreed with Renieris' assessment, calling it unrealistic. 'Current AI is nowhere near capable enough for these risks to materialize. As a result, it's distracted attention away from the near-term harms of AI,' he told BBC. Yet only a year after those fateful comments, the AI revolution appears to have begun. It's a meal that millions of Americans look foward to all year. But if you're in charge of tomorrow's Thanksgiving Dinner, make sure you heed new advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC has revealed exactly how to prepare your holiday turkey safely. This includes the best way to store, thaw, handle, cook, and even reheat your bird. Contrary to popular belief, the experts say that you should not wash your raw turkey, as this can spread germs to other foods in your kitchen - raising the risk of food poisoning. 'Old recipes and family cooking traditions may tell you to keep this practice going, but it can make you and your family sick,' the CDC explained. 'Poultry juice can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops.' Despite this advice, a 2020 survey found that more than three quarters of Americans wash or rinse their turkey before cooking. Contrary to popular belief, experts say that you should not wash your raw turkey, as this can spread germs to other foods in your kitchen - raising the risk of food poisoning (stock image) It's a meal that millions of Americans look foward to all year. But if you're in charge of tomorrow's Thanksgiving Dinner, make sure you heed new advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (stock image) Just like raw chicken, raw turkey can be contaminated with several germs that make you sick - including Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, and Campylobacter. 'Clostridium perfringens outbreaks occur most often in November and December,' the CDC explained. 'Many of these outbreaks have been linked to foods commonly served during the holidays, such as turkey and roast beef.' While you might think that washing your turkey could help to rid it of any germs, unfortunately this isn't the case. In fact, the water droplets ejected during the washing process can actually spread germs around your kitchen. This is particularly a problem if you have any ready-to-eat foods near your sink. 'Take particular care to keep raw food away from ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit,' the NHS advises. 'These foods won't be cooked before you eat them so any germs that get on to them won't be killed.' For the same reason, it's important you always clean worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils after they have touched raw turkey. And you should never use the same chopping board for raw poultry and ready-to-eat food without washing it thoroughly in hot, soapy water. If you're reluctant to let go of your poultry-washing habit, Professor Enzo Palombo, a professor of Microbiology at Swinburne University of Technology, advises doing so in a sink of water, rather than under a running tap. 'Use a paper towel to mop up any liquids, dispose of the towel and clean up afterwards,' he advised in an article for The Conversation. 'This will help reduce the risk of cross-contamination and keep the kitchen safe.' Scientists have discovered a new human species that went extinct 200,000 years ago in China. They found the remains of 16 individuals, which featured large heads, wide skulls and immense teeth. Their head measurements, which were bigger than Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, led the team to naming a new prehistoric species called Homo juluensis. The fossilized remains were found alongside thousands of artifacts, stone tools and animal bones that revealed more about their lives, such as they were hunters who fashioned clothing from animal hides. Researchers believe the species lived in small groups that likely disappeared when modern humans started to migrate to Europe and Asia 120,000 years ago. Homo juluensis lived during a dramatic climate shift that saw a glacial period, which caused cooler and dryer weather to sweep in. Because Homo juluensis lived in small groups, it made them vulnerable to becoming trapped in furious weather event that may have led to their demise. 'This is part of the reason why the population density of Homo juluensis is probably never as big as when modern humans moved out of Africa in larger numbers,' Bae told the Post. 'They genetically swamped the indigenous populations like neanderthalensis and juluensis.' Numerous teeth were found at the site, which scientists found were much larger than other human species. The size suggested they were hunters, feasting only on meat They found the remains of 16 individuals, which featured large heads, wide skulls and immense teeth. Their head measurements, which were bigger than Neanderthals and Homo sapiens , led the team to naming a new prehistoric species called Homo juluensis 'The eastern Asian record is prompting us to recognize just how complex human evolution is more generally and really forcing us to revise and rethink our interpretations of various evolutionary models to better match the growing fossil record,' the study's co-author Christopher Bae told the South China Morning Post. Researchers at the University of Honolulu and the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that the Homo juluensis skulls measured between 103 and 109 cubic inches. This was compared to Neanderthals' craniums that were 88 cubic inches and Homo sapiens which measure 82 cubic inches. However, Bae cautioned that the size disparity does not necessarily mean the ancient species had a higher intelligence than modern-day humans. The researchers compared the fossils to those of Neanderthals and Denisovans - whose bone fragments were discovered in a southern Siberian cave in 2008. Their findings led researchers to believe they weren't connected to Neanderthals, who existed in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago. However, they noted that the Homo juluensis species shared similarities to Denisovans because of their matching teeth traits. 'One of the things that always stood out about the Denisova molars was that they were quite large. The molars from Xujiayao from our type specimen are also quite large,' Bae said. They looked at a comparison of the biting surfaces, where the bottom and top teeth came into contact while chewing and and that the surface of the molars were 'almost exactly the same.' Using dating analysis, the researchers argued that Denisova is not its own species, but is rather the name of a general population of ancient people, adding that it 'likely belongs to Homo juluensis based on their similarities.' Researchers have linked fossils found in China in the 1970s to a new human species called homo juluensis Bae reported that the stone tools, artifacts and animal bones indicated that Homo juluensis lived off wild horses and processed them at the Xujiayao site where their fossils were found. They hunted the horses as a group and used their entire bodies to sustain themselves including consuming the meat, marrow and cartilage and using the hides to make clothing to protect them from the brutal winters. The study, published in the journal Nature, said the new species likely formed due to a combination of crossing their genetics with homo sapiens and migrating to new locations throughout the Late Quaternary period - which began 300,000 years ago. 'Recent research initiatives in China, and broader eastern Asia, are showing clearly that multiple hominin lineages were present during the Late Quaternary,' the study said. This time period was categorized by major shifts in climate change that caused recurring glacial periods that drove the extinction of ancient human species. The study's authors stated that the 'diversity among ... human fossils from eastern Asia is greater than we expected.' They added that their findings have given researchers 'a greater appreciation for the degree of complexity that is present' in the region. The Cosmos are set to put on a stunning show as Americans gather around the table for Thanksgiving. The sun released a burst of energy late Sunday evening that is scheduled to hit Earth Thursday, creating stunning northern lights in parts of the northern US. Most of Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine are positioned for potential auroras. And northern regions of Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire may also see the colored lights. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained that aurora can often be observed just after sunset or just before sunrise. Space weather experts say auroras could be visible from 10 ET Thursday to 1am Friday ET. NOAA also issued a warning about a geomagnetic storm that could impact radios, satellites and GPS, which will linger into Black Friday. 'Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms,' NOAA shared. 'Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible.' Americans are expected to see stunning northern lights on Thanksgiving after the sun released a burst of energy Sunday Pale auroras may be seen across many northern states Thursday and Friday, but they may be brief and and seeing them will depend on how intense the solar storms get, NOAA meteorologist Mike Bettwy said. Both the northern lights and geomagnetic storm are due to a coronal mass ejection (CEM). Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation that stem from a release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots, and are the largest explosive events in the solar system. After the solar flare erupted, a second blast of high energy particles and solar plasma made a direct line for Earth - that was the CME. The northern lights can be visible all across the night sky, but are often difficult to see with the naked eye in the US. A smartphone camera can help skygazers get a better view. Simply point your camera at the sky and watch the aurora appear on the screen. This spectacle - also known as the aurora borealis - is a natural light show that occurs when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetic field, decorating the night sky with vibrant curtains of green, pink, red, yellow, blue and violet. Most of Washington, Montana , the Dakotas, Minnesota , Wisconsin , Michigan and Maine are positioned for potential auroras. And northern regions of Idaho , Wyoming , New York, Vermont and New Hampshire may also see the colored lights Aurora are most commonly seen in the auroral zone - a region within 1,550 miles of the North Pole. Typically, the lights can only be seen in areas including Scandinavia, Alaska and Iceland. But geomagnetic storms can make them appear further south. The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, making solar surges and northern lights more frequent. The sun released 20 flares over the last 24 hours, with one causing blackouts over the Indian Ocean. The active period is expected to last for at least another year, though scientists won't know when solar activity peaked until months after the fact, according to NASA. While geomagnetic storms can cause radio blackouts, experts do not expect major communication disruptions from this week's solar storm. SHOPPING - Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this article are selected by our writers. Click here for more information. Beauty fans looking to achieve naturally glowing skin are obsessing over a 'holy grail' Vitamin C serum that's been voted the best in Australia. Skin Physics Oxygen-C 15% Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid has been taking the beauty world by storm with its 'powerful' skin-boosting ingredients and affordability and now it's on sale for under $20. The antioxidant serum, featuring high-strength actives, is designed to transform dull complexions, leaving skin radiant, brighter, smoother and more resilient. Ideal for dehydrated, oily and combination skin types, it claims to target signs of ageing - including fine lines and wrinkles - and may reduce the appearance of dark spots, pigmentation as well as even out skin tone. The water-based formula is so popular that it was named 'Best Brightening Serum' of the year in the Prevention Beauty Awards 2024. 'This is a great Vitamin C serum for pigmentation to brighten and help repair the skin,' Sydney doctor Eleni Yiasemides said. And now you can reap the rewards of glowing skin this summer. As part of the Black Friday sale, the serum is now on sale for half-price at just $19.97, normally $39.95, proving that you don't need to spend a fortune on good skincare. Beauty fans looking to achieve naturally glowing skin are obsessing over a 'holy grail' Vitamin C serum that's been voted the best in Australia. One shopper shared her glowing results after eight weeks of using the serum The serum is completely free from fragrance, parabens, sulphates, silicones, alcohol and mineral oils, offering a clean formula your skin will love. What sets the serum apart are its hero ingredients - Vitamin C and Ferulic Acid. Formulated with pure ascorbic acid, this potent antioxidant helps to reduce the appearance of dark spots, hyperpigmentation, dullness, fine lines and wrinkles, leaving complexion looking brighter and more even. Ferulic acid, another powerful antioxidant, works with Vitamin C to support the skin's natural defenses such as preventing premature ageing and reduce pigmentation for visibly brighter skin. The formula is said to neutralise free radical damage caused by excess sun exposure. So what does that mean? Melbourne dermal clinician Jayde Taylor, the skin expert behind Driven By Beauty on social media, explained that it's a term many people aren't familiar with. 'How often have you heard the term "free radical damage" without really knowing what it means?' she said. Jayde explained that it's the result of an 'unstable molecule' that constantly breaks down our collagen and elastin, making our skin dull and contributing to pigmentation. 'Now let's say I'm this unstable molecule... and I get handed this Skin Physics Vitamin C with ferulic acid. It's like receiving a free electron, which stabilises me,' she said. 'That's why I get this luminosity to my skin. My skin is brighter and my pigment is better so that's why we always recommend wearing Vitamin C.' Skin Physics Oxygen-C 15% Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid has been taking the beauty world by storm with its 'powerful' skin-boosting ingredients and affordability Fans of the brand have given the 'holy grail' Oxygen-C 15% Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid a glowing five-star rating Fans of the brand have given the 'holy grail' Oxygen-C 15% Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid a glowing five-star rating. 'I was so skeptical but this is just too good. Talk about an instant glow,' one raved. 'Obsessed! This product has done amazing things for acne-prone skin. My pores appear smaller, and the scaring and redness on my face has significantly reduced,' another shared. 'Love it. Love this product, have noticed a difference already, will definitely be purchasing again,' one raved. The 15% Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid serum is part of the skincare brand's best-selling Oxygen-C range, including the Vitamin C Brightening Serum, Brightening Foaming Cleanser, Hydrating Vitamin C Toner and Hydrating Velvet Mask. Designed to brighten, hydrate, protect and refresh skin, the collection is rich in Vitamin C, powerful antioxidants and natural antibacterial qualities. Some of brand's skincare products contain the hero ingredient Australian Kakadu Plum, a nutrient-rich superfruit containing 100 times more vitamin C than an orange. The native superfood has the highest known concentration of vitamin C of any food in the world. Skin Physics launched into the anti-ageing skincare market in 2007. The brand is known for combining science and nature to create innovative, affordable skincare solutions that offer effective alternatives to invasive treatments. Its highly awarded products have been shown to deliver results for all skin types, supported by rigorous pharmaceutical research to ensure safety and efficacy. To shop the Skin Physics Black Friday sale, click here. Looking to stock up on crowd-pleasing wines for Christmas but dont want to break the bank? Laithwaites has dropped the prices on a huge array of wine collections and cases in their Black Friday sale, saving you plenty on your favourite tipples. The Laithwaites 12 bottle mixed wine cases feature specially selected bottles sure to please everyone at your Christmas table, and now new customers can save a further 30 per cent using code 30OFF. Laithwaites Velvety Smooth Reds - Case of 12 wines This 12-bottle case features a full-bodied Aussie Shiraz, Laithwaites bestselling Italian red of all time and a Gold-medal-winning Spanish gem thats perfect with a roast dinner, a perfect mix of variety, quality and great value. Get a whopping 30 per cent off and free delivery this Black Friday using code 30OFF at checkout (new customers only). Shop Laithwaites Crisp and Fresh Whites Mix - Case of 12 wines The thirst-quenching white selection includes bestselling Pinot Grigios, fruit-packed Sauvignon Blanc, a Vinho Verde from Portugal that will have you dreaming of sunnier climes and a superb French Chenin Blanc from the premium Savennieres region and made by the Loire Winemaker of the Year. Get a whopping 30 per cent off and free delivery this Black Friday using code 30OFF at checkout (new customers only). Shop Whether youre entertaining the masses over Christmas or just like to make sure youve always got a delicious bottle of wine ready to go, the Laithwaites wine collections are an excellent, low-cost way to fill your fridge (or cupboard) with tasty tipples for less. And now for Black Friday, new customers can save an additional 30 per cent off these specially curated selections using code 30OFF, making 12 bottles yours for just 69.99 and bringing each bottle to just under 6 an excellent deal on delicious wines. Always drink responsibly. For the facts visit Drinkaware Lover of reds? The Laithwaites Velvety Smooth Reds collection is an excellent way to stock up, featuring 12 gorgeously smooth reds sure to please every palette. This 12-bottle case features a full-bodied Aussie Shiraz, Laithwaites bestselling Italian red of all time and a Gold-medal-winning Spanish gem thats perfect with a roast dinner, a perfect mix of variety, quality and great value. Prefer a white? The Crisp and Fresh Whites Mix features a selection of irresistible white styles that even the pickiest of connoisseurs will love. The thirst-quenching favourites include bestselling Pinot Grigios, fruit-packed Sauvignon Blanc, a Vinho Verde from Portugal that will have you dreaming of sunnier climes and a superb French Chenin Blanc from the premium Savennieres region made by the Loire Winemaker of the Year. But thats not it: youll also find a full range of Black Friday deals here with different flavours and finishes to suit every preference from bestsellers and Christmas mixes to prosecco collections and luxury cases, all at reduced prices for Black Friday. Looking to explore more incredible wines for less? Explore our top picks from the Laithwaites Black Friday sale below. Dont forget if you're a new customer to use code 30OFF at checkout to take advantage of 30 per cent savings and free delivery. Advertisement An 'exfoliating' beluga whale, a honey badger covered in porcupine quills and a brave gecko putting up a last fight are among the animals featured in the shortlist for 2024's Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award. In total, there are 25 contending photographs selected from more than 59,000 entries from 117 countries and territories, in addition to the 100 winning images announced earlier this year by the Natural History Museum (NHM) and an international judging panel. What's more, which photograph wins is in your hands. Dr Douglas Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum, says: 'The People's Choice Award allows members of the public from across the globe to join the jury and vote for their winning image, inspiring everyone to connect with the natural world. 'As always, this year's selection of images for the competition's 60th anniversary is truly exceptional, and we can't wait to see which one will be chosen as the public's favourite!' Online voting is open from November 27 until January 29 on the NHM website. Scroll down to choose your favourite image and let us know which impresses you most in the comments... This spellbinding image taken by U.S photographer Nora Milligan features a chimpanzee in Loango National Park, Gabon. NHM reveals: 'On a trek through the forest, Noras guide signalled for the group to stop near the bank of a swamp. They heard the call of a chimp first, then the leaves around them started to rustle and a group of chimpanzees appeared. Nora couldnt believe her luck when they started to climb the nearby trees. As she peered through her viewfinder, a large male paused and looked down at them. The chimp craned its neck forward and its eyes seemed to widen, as if to get a better look' In this mesmerising image by Canadian photographer Jess Findlay, 'a ghostly barn owl' heads out to hunt from a 'derelict barn' in Vancouver, Canada. NHM says: 'Jess quietly watched the owl for several nights to understand its habits. He set up an invisible beam so that his camera flash would trigger when the owl flew out of the barn' 'An ambling Eurasian badger appears to glance up at badger graffiti' in this quirky image taken by British photographer Ian Wood, in St Leonards-on-Sea. NHM explains: 'Residents had been leaving food scraps on the pavement for foxes. But Ian noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage.' The photo is illuminated using just lamppost light This cute image by Polish photographer Piotr Naskrecki depicts 'a rarely seen four-toed sengi' foraging for food in leaf litter in Mozambique. NHM says: 'Sengis mainly eat insects and look for their prey at dusk and dawn. They rely on a combination of good vision and excellent sense of smell to find food.' Naskrecki took the photo using a remote camera as the animals are 'shy and skittish' A Weddell seal on the Antarctic Peninsula is captured relaxing on an ice floe in this captivating image taken by British photographer Sue Flood. NHM says: 'Weddell seals large bodies are covered in a thick layer of blubber. This keeps them warm above and below the icy waters of the Southern Ocean.' Flood took the photo from a boat using a long lens so as not to disturb the seal This mysterious image, titled 'Whiteout', depicts a stoat 'observing its territory' in the snow in Belgium and was taken by Belgian photographer Michel d'Oultremont. He 'lay in the snow with a white camouflage net covering all but his lens' to capture the image. NHM reveals: 'This curious stoat came out of its snowy hole and sat up from time to time, observing its territory just before setting off to hunt' Chilean photographer Francisco Negroni captured this powerful image of the Vilarrica Volcano in Chile 'illuminated at nightfall'. The volcano last erupted in 2015. Negroni, who takes 'regular trips' there, says 'some nights are calm, others furious as in this photograph, where the brightness of the crater illuminates the night sky' This stunning photo, captured in India by Indian photographer Arvind Ramamurthy, depicts 'members of a wolf pack pausing briefly' as they play. NHM explains: 'Indian wolves were once found all across India. Now, their number has dwindled to as few as 3,000. Living so close to humans poses many risks. But Indian wolves are hardy animals. With better grassland management and protection, they could make a strong comeback' In this gorgeous image taken by U.S photographer Aaron Baggenstos, 'a puma stands on a windswept outcrop' in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. NHM reveals: 'It is a symbol of hope. A successful conservation movement led to the creation of the national park and a rise in ecotourism in the region' Czech photographer Ivan Ivanek took this photo of a 'striking pair of red-shanked douc langurs mating' in the forests of the Son Tra peninsula in Vietnam. NHM explains: 'Known for their bright red "stockings", these primates are found only in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The species is critically endangered because of habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade.' Ivanek described the mating ritual as an 'unexpectedly gradual and graceful affair' compared to other breeds of monkey he's seen This stunning image captures floodwaters 'surging towards' Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, Australia's largest inland lake and one of the world's largest salt lakes. Australian photographer Brad Leue took the image from a 'helicopter in strong winds'. NHM reveals: 'As well as the floodwaters, a dust storm was blowing and rain was falling on the horizon. Floodwaters had travelled more than 1,000 kilometres (1,600 miles). Theyd surged steadily from Queensland towards South Australia. Timing was imperative to photograph this once-in-a-decade natural event' 'A European roller defends its territory from a bemused-looking little owl' in Hungary in this image by Hungarian photographer Bence Mate. NHM explains: 'The male roller makes a sport of annoying other birds that stray into its breeding area during the short mating season. It makes a surprise ambush, flying at full speed behind them.' Mate spent 27 days watching from a hide to capture this 'fleeting scene' This 'sad collage of dead insects calmly floating in the water' was captured by Italian photographer Carlo D'Aurizio in Italy. NHM explains: 'Carlo had visited this small stream many times. He expected to see the graceful flight of butterflies and dragonflies along it. It hadnt been particularly hot and there hadnt been any storms in the previous days. To this day, Carlo has no explanation of why the insects died' LEFT: In this poignant image by Portuguese photographer Jose Fragozo a young cheetah cub is 'hissing' while waiting to be sold in Ethiopia. NHM explains: 'Illegal wildlife trafficking is a problem in the Somali Region. Farmers catch and sell cheetah cubs to traffickers, claiming that the cheetahs attack their livestock. Some end up being killed and their parts sold, their bones shipped to Yemen and then to other Asian markets. They are then sold as tiger bones and used to make Chinese bone wine. After hissing at the camera, the cub started chirping, calling out for its mother.' RIGHT: German photographer Christian Brinkmann captured this mesmerising image of a 'singing Eurasian songbird silhouetted against a backdrop of colourful fairground lights' in Munster, Germany. NHM reveals: 'In front of the fairground lights, this Eurasian blackbird posed for its song' In this spellbinding photo, four grey wolves travel through a 'minimalist landscape' in 'search of [their] next meal' in the USA's Yellowstone National Park. U.S photographer Devon Pradhuman 'watched them from a distance' to capture the shot A beluga whale in the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic rubs its underside on a shallow river bottom to exfoliate its skin in a playful photo by British-Canadian photographer Mark Williams. NHM says: 'Hundreds of beluga whales come here to socialise and exfoliate in the shallow water. The passage is also a safe haven, away from the predatory orcas' U.S photographer Michael Forsberg captured this image of a 'disguised biologist approaching an endangered whooping crane' in Louisiana, USA. NHM says: 'The biologist acted with cat-like quickness to check the birds health and change a transmitter that was no longer working. The transmitter helps biologists track these non-migratory birds and learn more about them' 'A polar bear cub attempts an underwater surprise attack on a northern fulmar' in this powerful image captured by Norwegian photographer Erlend Haarberg in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. NHM says: 'The cub was having fun diving under the water and resurfacing, playing with the seaweed and kelp. The northern fulmar resting on the surface of the water awakened the cubs desire to hunt. Erlend watched as it attempted several underwater surprise attacks on the bird, only to fail each time. Play hunting like this is essential learning for a young bear' U.S photographer Savannah Rose snapped this breathtaking image of a beaver 'slapping its tail' to 'alert its family to a newcomer' in Wyoming. NHM reveals: 'Savannah had been trying to document this dramatic beaver behaviour for years. Beavers use tail smacks to alert their family group to a newcomer. Despite the theatrics, beavers usually relax quickly after discovering the newcomer doesnt pose a threat' In this striking image, called 'The Brave Gecko' and taken by South African photographer Willie Burger van Schalkwyk, 'a giant ground gecko stands fast against a pale chanting goshawk' in South Africa's Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. NHM reveals: 'Willie watched as the little lizard put up a brave fight against its large attacker. Unfortunately, there was no hope of survival, but Willie was impressed by the geckos bravery' French photographer Samuel Bloch captured this shot of a northern giant petrel sitting on its nest in Enderby Island, New Zealand. NHM says: 'Northern giant petrels are large seabirds. Theyre used to flying above the waves for weeks without encountering land. Samuel was surprised to find this one in such a woody environment' This captivating image, shot by British photographer David Northall, depicts a 'bloodied but determined honey badger' returning to 'finish off' a Cape porcupine in Botswana, despite its injuries. NHM explains: 'Found throughout Botswana, honey badgers are famously ferocious. They often chase animals many times their own size. This honey badger got an unpleasant surprise when it [first] attacked the normally nocturnal Cape porcupine' 'A decorator crab perches on top of a sea squirt to comb the water for drifting plankton', in this image taken by Israeli photographer Noam Kortler on a night dive in Komodo Bay in Indonesia. NHM explains: 'The sea squirt provided the crab with the perfect stage to feed on drifting plankton. The crab had camouflaged and armed itself with tiny hydroids known as Tubularia. These can sting other animals and so helped protect the crab from predators' In this incredible image, taken by French photographer Vincent Premel in French Guiana during the first rains after a 'long dry spell', a Surinam golden-eyed tree frog 'puffs out its cheeks as it prepares to call for a mate'. NHM explains: 'When it rains, the ponds fill with water. Dozens of species descend from the canopy or come out of the ground. Theyre here to lay their eggs in the water, in an event called "explosive breeding". The density of individuals is hard to imagine' In total, 74 per cent said they were satisfied with Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines has been named by Britons as the best carrier in the world. The accolade comes from a YouGov poll in which it places first out of 28 major airlines for net customer satisfaction. In total, 74 per cent said they were satisfied with Singapore Airlines, putting it ahead of Emirates, which comes second with a score of 71.9 per cent. In third place is Air New Zealand (70 per cent), followed by Virgin Atlantic in fourth (63.9 per cent) and Jet2 rounding off the top five with a satisfaction rating just a sliver lower - 63.8 per cent. Next comes Qatar Airways (6th, 62 per cent), then Cathay Pacific (7th, 59 per cent), Etihad Airways (8th, 59 per cent) and Norwegian (9th, 57 per cent). British Airways snares 10th thanks to a satisfaction score of 52.6 per cent. The UK flag carrier performs better in the ranking that reflects which airline respondents are considering booking with in the next 12 months. Just over 52 per cent of Britons said they were likely to book a flight with British Airways over the next year, making it No.1 in the top 10 ranking. Singapore Airlines has been named by Britons as the best carrier in the world. The accolade comes from a YouGov poll in which it places first out of 28 major airlines for net customer satisfaction British Airways is the airline that Britons are most likely to book with in the next 12 months EasyJet comes second, with 49 per cent of Britons polled considering booking a flight with the budget carrier in the next 12 months. Jet2 (3rd, 37 per cent), Ryanair (4th, 32 per cent) and Virgin Atlantic (5th, 31 per cent) round off the top five. Emirates (6th, 28 per cent), TUI Airways (7th, 27 per cent) and KLM (8th, 20 per cent) are the next most 'considered' airlines. Qatar Airways (ninth, 19.7 per cent) and Etihad Airways (10th, 18 per cent) round out the top 10. These results, however, will of course be influenced by destinations served and fleet size. Michelle Keegan looked incredibly glamourous in chic floral dresses in BBC's first look at Ten Pound Poms series two. Ten Pound Poms follows a group of Brits who emigrate to Australia in the 1950s in search of a better life only to discover things are more difficult than they thought once they arrive. The new series, coming to screens in 2025, sees lead actress Michelle reprise her role as Kate Thorne. Series two follows Kate and the Roberts family (led by Faye Marsay and Warren Brown) on their adventure down under in 1957, each determined against all odds to achieve their slice of the Australian dream. As Kate, Annie and Terry from the Roberts family settle into their new lives, they each struggle to reconcile their hopes for the life they were promised with the harsh realities they face at Galgownie. The new series will introduce new characters joining the series including the Skinner family, who arrive in Australia from Ireland ready to enjoy their new lives in the sunshine. Michelle Keegan looked incredibly glamourous in chic floral dresses in BBC 's first look at Ten Pound Poms series two The new series, coming to screens in 2025, sees lead actress Michelle reprise her role as Kate Thorne Ten Pound Poms follows a group of Brits who emigrate to Australia in the 1950s in search of a better life only to discover things are more difficult than they thought once they arrive Plus unscrupulous landlord Benny Bates, who makes Terry an offer he cant refuse as he attempts to put down roots for his family. And the new series will pick up after the dramatic cliffhanger finale of series 1. After the second series was confirmed, show writer, creator and executive producer Danny Brocklehurst said: 'The positive viewer response to Ten Pound Poms was a true delight. 'We tapped into a little-known part of our recent history and told stories which reflected the realities of the real Poms that made the trip. 'I couldn't be more thrilled to be teaming again with the BBC, Stan and Eleven to continue our characters' adventure down under.' Michelle recently broke her silence on quitting the UK for Hollywood. In January, it was reported that the Brassic actress could be set for a move to Los Angeles following the success of her Netflix series Fool Me Once. Michelle, who has been married to TOWE star Mark Wright, 37, since 2015 and is based in Essex, already has some experience of LA life because her husband lived there for a few years while working for Extra. Series two follows Kate and the Roberts family (led by Faye Marsay and Warren Brown) on their adventure down under in 1957, each determined against all odds to achieve their slice of the Australian dream As Kate, Annie and Terry from the Roberts family settle into their new lives, they each struggle to reconcile their hopes for the life they were promised with the harsh realities they face at Galgownie The new series will introduce new characters joining the series including the Skinner family, who arrive in Australia from Ireland ready to enjoy their new lives in the sunshine Plus unscrupulous landlord Benny Bates, who makes Terry an offer he cant refuse as he attempts to put down roots for his family And the new series will pick up after the dramatic cliffhanger finale of series 1 In an interview with The Guardian, Michelle revealed that she would consider re-locating if the perfect role came along. She said: 'I went to America when Mark was out there. 'Didn't like it. But let's see. If a job comes up I guess?... 'I've never thought beyond what I'm doing right at that moment. And I think that's how I live now as well. I don't think in terms of goals. I live in the moment.' A huge ITV drama has been 'axed after three series'. The Tower, staring Gemma Whelan, Emmett J Scanlan and Tamzin Outhwaite, is set have the plug pulled, according to The Sun. ITV's move to cancel the show reportedly came as a surprise to the team as it believed that work had already begun on writing the script for the fourth season. A channel spokesperson told the publication: 'The Tower was much loved by the audience who watched the drama but the viewing figures for the last series did not reach expectations so sadly we won't be recommissioning.' Set in south London and based on a trilogy of novels by former policewoman Kate London, the stories centre on a high-rise block where serious crime is endemic. Three gangs vie for control, with the teenage delivery boys all carrying zombie knives. The Tower, staring Gemma Whelan, Emmett J Scanlan and Tamzin Outhwaite , is set have the plug pulled, according to The Sun ITV's move to cancel the show reportedly came as a surprise to the team as it believed that work had already begun on writing the script for the fourth season Game Of Thrones star Gemma returned as DS Sarah Collins, who was part of a group of detectives investigating serious crimes in central London. While Peaky Blinders star Emmett played the character of rule-bending inspector Kieran Shaw. Jimmy Akingbola also starred as DC Steve Bradshaw in the show. The show attracted over five and a half million viewers in 2021 but for the third series, it lost over a million during the first four episodes. And it may not come as a surprise as the first episode left some viewers a little lost, as they complained that the storyline was confusing and they couldn't get to grips with who was who. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, to share their opinions on the new series, viewers wrote: 'I'm so glad I'm not the only one who is lost, I have no idea what is going on or who is who,'; 'I'm enjoying it but really haven't a clue what is going on,'; 'First time I've watched, a bit slow for me so far!'; 'Well there's this guy... and then there's this other guy... and he's got either a knife or a wife... I think...'; Set in south London and based on a trilogy of novels by former policewoman Kate London, the stories centre on a high-rise block where serious crime is endemic But the first episode left some viewers a little lost, as they complained the storyline was confusing and they couldn't get to grips with who was who Three gangs vie for control, with the teenage delivery boys all carrying zombie knives 'This is so confusing,'; 'Oh I'm confused with this story,'; 'Watching first episode of new series of #thetower and I am confused as hell!' But not all fans felt the same way, with several rejoicing at the return of the series after 'cr** TV for months'. They wrote: 'Had some cr** tv for months, especially weekends with the euros then the Olympics then pissing Wimbledon, now we finally start getting some new series coming back, #Grace last night now #TheTower,'; 'Great to have #TheTower back another of my favourite dramas,'; 'What an episode Wow.' The new episode began with young drug dealer Ryan speeding through the streets on his bike before snatching a phone out of a businessman's hands. The new episode began with young drug dealer Ryan (pictured) speeding through the streets on his bike before snatching a phone out of a businessman's hands But as he reached the flat of a senior gang member to hand over his stolen spoils, the 15-year-old (Lamar Waves) took a moment to lock up his bicycle. The phone theft is another in Ryan's list of crimes, after he led an assault on a gang rival, kicking and punching him in a shopping mall. He is also now the sole witness to a fatal stabbing that saw police using a pressure washer to clean blood off the pavement. The first series of the gritty crime drama in 2021 was praised for the dark human storylines that ran alongside the investigation into the deaths of a young woman and a police officer who had fallen from a London tower block. Real Housewives of New York took a rather surprising turn on Tuesday's new episode, when Erin Lichy and Jenna Lyons revealed their abortion stories. The 37-year-old Lichy and 56-year-old Lyons were having lunch during the episode, when Erin revealed she was approached by Glamour magazine to give an interview about abortion rights. The reality star revealed that she had an abortion when she was just 18, two weeks into college, when Lyons surprised Lichy by telling her own story. Fans praised the ladies for their authenticity in the chat, though some thought it was odd given the pregnancy prank Lichy just pulled. Others praised Lichy for an emotional conversation she had with her father, just four months before he passed away. Real Housewives of New York took a rather surprising turn on Tuesday's new episode, when Erin Lichy (above) and Jenna Lyons revealed their abortion stories The 37-year-old Lichy and 56-year-old Lyons (above) were having lunch during the episode, when Erin revealed she was approached by Glamour magazine to give an interview about abortion rights Lichy revealed that she's close friends with Glamour Magazine editor Sam Barry, when she revealed her abortion story to her. 'We were talking about policies, and I was saying how upset I am that Roe V. Wade fell, and I was just opening up to her about what I went through,' Lichy began. 'And she was like, "Well, you'd be really surprised. Nobody talks about it,"' Lichy said in confession. Lichy told Lyons, 'People don't really talk about getting an abortion. It's still kind of taboo,' as Lyons told her she was 'proud' of her for doing that. Lichy admitted being 'scared' of the reception she'd get, but Lyons insisted more people would thank her for telling her story. Lichy explained, 'I start school, I'm two weeks in, I move in, and all of a sudden, I find out I'm pregnant. I was terrified. It was the hardest decision I've ever made. It was heart wrenching,' before Lyons revealed her own, 'crazy story,' which stunned Lichy. 'Well, when I was 21, we were, you know, doing the thing. And I said, "Listen, like, you have to pull out, you have to pull out." It's like literally the prime time. And he got excited, and he forgot,' Lyons explained of how she got pregnant. 'I can picture it exactly where we were. It makes my voice shake. I would have a kid now who's like...,' Lyons said as Lichy admitted, 'I know. I think about it all the time.' Lichy revealed that she's close friends with Glamour Magazine editor Sam Barry, when she revealed her abortion story to her Lichy told Lyons, 'People don't really talk about getting an abortion. It's still kind of taboo,' as Lyons told her she was 'proud' of her for doing that Lichy explained, 'I start school, I'm two weeks in, I move in, and all of a sudden, I find out I'm pregnant. I was terrified. It was the hardest decision I've ever made. It was heart wrenching,' before Lyons revealed her own, 'crazy story,' which stunned Lichy 'Well, when I was 21, we were, you know, doing the thing. And I said, "Listen, like, you have to pull out, you have to pull out." It's like literally the prime time. And he got excited, and he forgot,' Lyons explained of how she got pregnant. Lyons explained, 'I just started a job. I just moved to New York. I had no money. I was so broke, and I am just starting my career. I cannot take care of a child.' Lyons said in confession, 'I've told my friends. I don't know if I ever told anyone in my family. I'm sharing with Erin. I think because I could see that she felt scared and I want her to feel like she's not alone. And I also want her to know that I understand. It's a really, really hard thing to go through.' Lichy said with a twinge of emotion, in confession, 'Jenna telling me this story, it just made me feel like I'm supported, you know? Like, you're now telling everyone your story, which I could have never imagined. You know, she didn't have to do that.' Many fans showed their support for the ladies telling their abortion stories like @BingeingBravo, who said, 'Erin and Jenna omfg THANK YOU for telling your stories.' Others like @TeaWithMandi praised Erin for her emotional conversation with her father before his death, adding, 'I was not expecting to sob during Erin's conversation with her dad. His approval meant everything to her.' @thom_ahs admitted, 'I applaud Jenna & Erin for talking about abortion so openly on camera about their experience. In this day and age, it's so important to speak about it & keep that conversation alive to make sure rights are codified.' Still, others like @linusvpelt accused Erin of 'self-producing,' adding 'I really try every episode to get behind Erin and root for her because I can see she's a lovely girl with a big heart, but if she's gonna continue on I'm gonna need her to stop self producing. Just show us the good and the bad and let the chips fall where they may.' Lyons explained, 'I just started a job. I just moved to New York. I had no money. I was so broke, and I am just starting my career. I cannot take care of a child' Many fans showed their support for the ladies telling their abortion stories like @BingeingBravo, who said, 'Erin and Jenna omfg THANK YOU for telling your stories.' Still, others like @linusvpelt accused Erin of 'self-producing,' adding 'I really try every episode to get behind Erin and root for her because I can see she's a lovely girl with a big heart, but if she's gonna continue on I'm gonna need her to stop self producing. Just show us the good and the bad and let the chips fall where they may.' @namssas added, 'I really enjoyed Erin's conversations with Jenna and her dad. That was very lovely. It's such a topic that's hard to talk about a very important one.' @girllayingdown agreed, adding, 'I really appreciate Erin sharing her story, but the cognitive dissonance between how she talks/feels about this and the candidates she supports is crazy.' @namssas added, 'I really enjoyed Erin's conversations with Jenna and her dad. That was very lovely. It's such a topic that's hard to talk about a very important one.' Others like @TheFaymeReport found Erin's abortion story 'confusing' because she has been, 'associated with Republicans & Trump,' adding, 'Who are the main reason why a woman's right to choose is endangered?' @girllayingdown agreed, adding, 'I really appreciate Erin sharing her story, but the cognitive dissonance between how she talks/feels about this and the candidates she supports is crazy.' Real Housewives of New York returns with an all-new episode Tuesday, December 3 at 8 PM ET on Bravo. Fans of The One Show were left in shock after Bob Geldof revealed a huge behind the scenes secret in the middle of Monday's episode. The musician, 73, sat down on the iconic green sofa with hosts Alex Jones and Angellica Bell, who were also interviewing Ricky Gervais. Bob was on the show to talk about the revamped Band Aid 40 charity single, but as he passionately got into what it's all about, he nearly let a swear word slip. 'Everything about this song is amazing,' he gushed, 'and I love and thrive and I'm invigorated by people saying.. you know. 'I was going to say a rude word there, I'm not allowed, it's one o'clock, but just you know, it's part of what it's meant to be, absolutely.' However, baffled viewers quickly picked up on thbizarre comment that it's 1pm, as The One Show is supposed to be broadcast live from 7pm. Fans of The One Show were left in shock after Bob Geldof revealed a huge behind the scenes secret in the middle of Monday's episode The musician, 73, sat down on the iconic green sofa with hosts Alex Jones and Angellica Bell, who were also interviewing Ricky Gervais Questioning whether the star just let a huge secret slip that it could be prerecorded, fans wrote on X: 'Well the presenters werent that worried after all, Bob Geldof revealed it was 1pm so not live #TheOneShow;' 'It's 1pm? #theoneshow;' 'That's what I thought, possibly pre recorded so they could sensor any language out etc?;' 'Was wondering why its called the One Show now i know;' 'Did Bob just say its 1 oclock #theoneshow;' 'Did Bob Geldof just let it slip that #TheOneShow is pre recorded when he said he was about to say something rude, "but it's only one o'clock;"' 'Bob Geldof Its One OClock Is it? I thought this was live? #TheOneShow;' 'The One Show tonight 7pm. While been interviewed Bob Geldof said it's One O'clock now thought the show was a live broadcast. Or was this a recorded show. Has Sir Bob inadvertently given us something we didn't know;' '#theoneshow its 1oclock is it Bob?' The musician, 73, sat down on the iconic green sofa with hosts Alex Jones and Angellica Bell, who were also interviewing Ricky Gervais He said: 'I was going to say a rude word there, I'm not allowed, it's one o'clock, but just you know, it's part of what it's meant to be, absolutely' However, baffled viewers quickly picked up on thbizarre comment that it's 1pm, as The One Show is supposed to be broadcast live from 7pm Elsewhere in the episode, Ricky left viewers in stitches as he made a cheeky jab at Bob. The comedian, 63, employed some of his usual acerbic wit to target the musician, and received a frosty response back. Ricky was telling hosts Alex and Angellica about how he got his start in comedy, but couldn't resist taking the opportunity to poke fun at Bob's looks. The Office star said: 'The funniest people you know aren't a professional comedian, they're they're your grandad or your mate, because you've got that knowledge of them. 'And I was always mucking around, I was always cheeky at school. It was just that I didn't think it was a possible vocation until I was about, I think about 37. 'I was made redundant and I said I give myself six months to give this a go and it sort of worked out.' Ricky Gervais left The One Show viewers in stitches on Monday evening, as he made a cheeky jab at fellow guest Bob Geldof The comedian, 63, employed some of his usual acerbic wit to target the musician, 73, and received a frosty response back Ricky was telling hosts Alex Jones and Angellica Bell about how he got his start in comedy, but couldn't resist taking the opportunity to poke fun at Bob's looks Ricky added: 'I mean I could be sleeping in a car now you know what I mean?' before pointing at Bob and quipping: 'Like him. But it all worked out well.' As a shocked Angellica put her face in her hands, Bob pointedly gave Ricky an icy glare, causing the actor to burst into laughter. Chuckling, he patted the Boomtown Rats star on the knee, and joked: 'It's scary when he looks at me like that. He's got a lot power this man.' Fans watching the scene at home were in hysterics over the funny moment, taking to social media to comment on Bob's reaction, saying he did not look 'impressed' nor 'amused'. They wrote: 'Ricky Gervais is getting it after this. Bob Geldof does not look amused; He just says what hes thinking. So funny I was belly laughing' 'Bob looks miffed, if looks could kill; Ricky G tells the truth with a side of humour, how can you not respect that. Hes absolutely hilarious. 'Geldof's face. Just imagine coming to a TV programme unsuspectingly and meeting Gervais. Final boss; Dont wind Geldof up.on a Monday !!!' 'Comedy genius. I watched this tonight and they both had a great dynamic. Id expect them to be involved in something together in the near future; Hes so cheeky, isnt he?!' Ricky added: 'I mean I could be sleeping in a car now you know what I mean?' before pointing at Bob and quipping: 'Like him. But it all worked out well' Bob pointedly gave Ricky an icy glare, causing the actor to burst into laughter and pat him on the knee, while joking: 'It's scary when he looks at me like that. He's got a lot power this man' 'Brilliant - Bob wasnt happy; Bob weren't impressed, Love it from Ricky Gervais; Now I can see why he doesn't like Mondays!' 'His face! He didn't find that remotely funny; Classic. Made me chuckle; Love or hate Ricky Gervais, this dig at Bob Geldof is gold.' It comes after Bob revealed he has reached out to Ed Sheeran over criticisms aimed at the new Band Aid charity single - but is still waiting for a chat. The co-writer of Do They Know It's Christmas? told how he had put in a call to the Shape Of You popstar who has spoken out against a 40th anniversary rerecording. Ed, 33, announced last week he would have preferred his vocal contributions from a 2014 recording were not used on the new version released this week. Bob has also been defending the song against criticism that it fuels 'pity rather than partnership' while promoting harmful stereotypes about Africa. Fellow musicians have turned on Ed in the escalating controversy, with Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley telling him to 'shut up' - but Bob today suggested he wanted a more amicable 'debate' with the younger star. Trevor Horn, producer of the fresh 40th anniversary version having previously performed the same role in 1984 for the original single, has also now responded to Ed after his Instagram comments last week. Fans watching the scene at home were in hysterics over the funny moment, taking to social media to comment on Bob's reaction, saying he did not look 'impressed' nor 'amused' A devastating famine in Ethiopia inspired Bob to launch Band Aid in 1984, writing Do They Know It's Christmas? alongside Ultravox frontman Midge Ure and then organise the fundraising Live Aid concerts staged in July 1985. But the song has been accused of fuelling 'pity rather than partnership' while promoting harmful stereotypes about Africa. And Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has condemned the anniversary rerelease for focusing memories again on Ethiopia's dark days when more than 1million people starved. The Nobel Peace Prize winner accepted that the original 1984 single was 'well meaning at the time' but blamed it for perpetuating what he called 'reductionist and dehumanising narratives'. Ed revealed last week his unhappiness about his vocals being used in the new rerecording which is being officially made available this Friday. He said he would have 'respectfully declined' permission for re-use of his contribution to the 30th anniversary production from 2014 - while other critics in the past have included Lily Allen and Damon Albarn. Ed 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. It comes after Bob revealed he has reached out to Ed Sheeran over criticisms aimed at the new Band Aid charity single - but is still waiting for a chat (pictured at 2014 recording) Ed, 33, announced last week he would have preferred his vocal contributions from a 2014 recording were not used on the new version released this week (pictured in May) Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has condemned the anniversary rerelease for focusing memories again on Ethiopia's dark days when more than 1million people starved (pictured 2018) Ed 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. Taking to his Instagram stories on Sunday last week, Ed 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 Ed 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'.' But on Tuesday's Lorraine, Bob said he was happy to debate with Ed while also promoting the impact the single with its fundraising power provides for humanitarian disaster victims still starving. When asked by host Lorraine Kelly whether he found criticism of Band Aid 'irksome', Bob insisted: 'No, genuinely not. 'The necessary part of this is that opinions have changed over the years. Sentiment changes, sensibility changes, opinion changes over 40 years and that's correct, you can't stay static. 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 But on Tuesday's Lorraine, Bob said he was happy to debate with Ed while also promoting the impact the single with its fundraising power provides for humanitarian disaster victims still starving 'You've got to find different ways of combating these issues and different ways of talking about them and what we're celebrating here is none of these arguments would get any oxygen if Band Aid didn't come out. 'Ed says, 'This is what I feel now'. I've put in the call he's a really lovely man, he's an intelligent guy, he's a major artist and we'll have a chat and either agree or disagree but we talk about it. 'The debate must be made and it means we can argue our point of view even more strongly so that's where I'm at with this.' Bob went on to urge people to purchase the new release and help back Band Aid's work providing much-needed food and relief for people, adding: 'It's really simple for me there's a hungry child and there's a meal and this record interposes them. If you love the song, buy it. 'It's a little piece of rock and roll history, buy it just for that, but understand genuinely understand that the moment you get this record you've interposed your himself between that meal and that hungry child. 'And I swear to you, I swear to you, that money you've spent on that track will go to that meal and will go to that child and they will go to bed tonight or tomorrow more protected and able to maybe give them back their dignity, give them back their agency, get back on their feet and hopefully start their journey back too.' Lauren Laverne made a triumphant return to The One Show on Tuesday with an emotional message for her fans. The presenter, 46, was back on the famous sofa alongside Alex Jones, just days after announcing she had been given the 'all clear' from cancer. Welcoming her back to the show, Alex said: 'I'm delighted to say that Lauren is back by my side. Miss Lauren, we have missed you so much. You look brilliant, how are you feeling?' Lauren responded: 'I feel great you know, I'm really, really pleased to be back. 'It's lovely to be back on the iconic sofa instead of watching at home on mine and largely I feel good because I've had so many wonderful messages from viewers.' She added: 'I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who's been in touch especially to people who've been through cancer treatment themselves. Lauren Laverne has made a triumphant return to The One Show on Tuesday with an emotional message for her fans The presenter, 46, was back on the famous sofa alongside Alex Jones, just days after announcing she had been given the 'all clear' from cancer 'It's been really encouraging and so touching.' Viewers were thrilled to see the TV sensation back on their screens, with one fan writing on X: 'Great to see Lauren Laverne looking so well after the cancer treatment. Welcome back.' Another added: 'Great to see Lauren Laverne back on the telly and triumphantly rocking a pair of very funky spotty tights.' A third gushed: 'Great news for Lauren, great to have her back and looking so well.' A fourth said: 'You look great too! I'm on the journey too, second time around, hoping for a good result. Keep smiling.' 'Congrats on kicking its arse!!' said another. A sixth wrote: 'Welcome back Lauren! Good to see you. You look fab,' On Sunday, the presenter took to her Instagram with the news that she would be back on the show alongside a beaming selfie in which she proudly wore a jumper which read: 'Life is beautiful'. Viewers were thrilled to see the TV sensation back on their screens with fans taking to X to share their excitement On Sunday, the presenter took to her Instagram with the news that she would be back on the show alongside a beaming selfie in which she proudly wore a jumper which read: 'Life is beautiful'. The mother of-two did not reveal the type of cancer she had been diagnosed with, but said when announcing it in August that it had been picked up 'unexpectedly' during a screening test. Now in a lengthy statement she paid tribute to hospital staff and her 'astounding' sons Fergus, 17, Mack, 14, and 'absolutely extraordinary' husband Greame Fisher. She penned: 'Well hello there! Just a quick update from me to say that after taking some time off to get better Ive had the all clear and will be back to work on your TV this Tuesday with the wonderful @bbctheoneshow team'. 'Ive also been working on some new #DesertIslandDiscs episodes (which will air soon @BBCRadio4 @BBCSounds) and am looking forward to returning to @BBC6Music in the New Year'. She continued: 'I want to say a huge thank you to the brilliant medical teams who took such great care of me, to the thousands of people who sent me such beautiful and encouraging messages, the friends and acquaintances who took the time to support me after going through cancer themselves,' 'And most of all to my family: my two astounding kids and especially my husband Graeme, who was absolutely extraordinary throughout'. Lauren revealed in August (pictured) that the cancer had been caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test and that she was expected to make a full recovery Now in a lengthy statement she paid tribute to hospital staff and her 'astounding' sons Fergus, 17, Mack, 14, and 'absolutely extraordinary' husband Greame Fisher (pictured) 'Its been a difficult time but one that has taught me so much about what really matters. I cant say I suddenly regretted never having hiked the Inca Trail, more that I now see more beauty in ordinary things than I could have imagined, and feel more than ever that the small things in life - the connections we make and care we take with each other - are the big things really'. Before adding: 'I have so much to be grateful for and excited about, and that is thanks to everyone mentioned above. Loads of love to anyone going through cancer treatment or supporting a loved one through it. See you soon and thanks again for the well wishes. Xx'. Breaking the news of her diagnosis back in August, she wrote: 'Right then, some personal news I recently had a cancer diagnosis. It was (thank God) caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test and I am expected to make a full recovery. 'I'm in hospital at the moment and wanted to take this moment to say thank you: Firstly to the medical teams who have got me this far with incredible skill and kindness. 'To my family and friends who have been absolutely extraordinary every step of the way - I am so very grateful and love you so much. And of course thank you to my colleagues - including those at @itg_ltd, @bbc6music, @bbctheoneshow and #DesertIslandDiscs for their support - and for giving me the time off that I need to get better.' She went on to urge others that might be 'avoiding a test or putting off an appointment to get yourself checked out' to 'please, please do it today'. Lauren shared a snap of her get well cards as she thanked fans She penned: 'Well hello there! Just a quick update from me to say that after taking some time off to get better Ive had the all clear and will be back to work on your TV this Tuesday with the wonderful @bbctheoneshow team'. It is understood her last appearance on BBC1s The One Show was on August 13 and she last presented her 6 Music show on 15 August (pictured earlier this year) 'Half of us will get cancer at some point, and if you do, finding out asap is everything,' she said. 'It's usually my job to bring the good vibes on air but any you have to spare are very much welcome here. Sending loads of love to anyone in a similar boat, or who has made it back to shore. xxx' It is understood her last appearance on BBC1s The One Show was on August 13 and she last presented her 6 Music show on 15 August. Desert Island Discs was on a break at the time she revealed news of her diagnosis, but since the show returned in September it has been airing old episodes. There will be a new episode of the Radio 4 show on December 1st with comedian Mark Steel, which was already recorded before Lauren took time off. But it is understood she will be recording Christmas episodes of the show with guests over the next few weeks. A BBC spokesman said: Were delighted to welcome Lauren back to the studio this month for The One Show and Desert Island Discs, with new episodes airing on Radio 4 from 1 December, and we look forward to welcoming Lauren back to BBC Radio 6 Music in the new year. Lauren was brought on to Desert Island Discs in 2018 as cover for then host Kirsty Young, who was dealing with her own health issues at the time, before later becoming the permanent host. Amanda Owen has been grilled by her fans after her new show Our Farm Next Door 'disappeared' from screens halfway through the series. The writer and shepherdess, 50, returned to screens last month with her new Channel 4 show Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids. Amanda and Clive are separated, announcing their split in June 2022 after 22 years of marriage and welcoming nine children together. They still have a close bond and work hard to co-parent their children. In the new show, they are joined by their nine children, eldest daughter Raven, eldest son Reuben, Sydney, Clemmy, Nancy, Annas, Violet, Miles and Edith. Viewers watched on every Monday for five episodes as the family chronicled their attempts to create their dream home by renovating a derelict farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales. However, More 4 has not aired any further episodes or uploaded them to Channel 4 on demand since November 11. Amanda Owen has been grilled by her fans after her new show Our Farm Next Door 'disappeared' from screens halfway through the series In the new show, Amanda and Clive are joined by their nine children, eldest daughter Raven, eldest son Reuben, Sydney , Clemmy, Nancy, Annas, Violet, Miles and Edith Amanda and Clive are separated, announcing their split in June 2022 after 22 years of marriage and welcoming nine children together With two episodes missing, fans started to worry and took to Instagram to quiz Amanda under a new picture of her and one of her children. One commented: 'Love your show but hasn't been on More 4 the last two Mondays when is it back on the TV?' Another asked: 'Will we have more of Our Farm Next Door? Loved it.' 'Why have they only shown 5 episodes of your new show?', a third wrote. 'When is the next episode on TV?', yet another said. Clarifying the situation, one replied: 'I think in the new year there will be new episodes.1-5 just finished recently and I read that they have to go to episodes 6-10 in the coming future.' To the relief of the show's fans, the comment was correct. Channel 4 ordered 10 episodes of the show to be broadcast in two blocks of five episodes. However, it is understandable why fans were worried as it comes two years after Channel 5 cancelled the show which shot the family to fame - Our Yorkshire Farm - following Amanda and Clive's separation. Amanda recently opened up about her 'not very separated' split from Clive. Amanda told The Sunday Times: 'We're just getting on with it. We bicker. We argue. There's no romance. But we're all right with each other. And that's a blessing.' Reflecting on their shared priorities, she added: 'We're here and we've got a joint mission. It's about securing the future of the farm, the children.' Yet, fans who were hoping Amanda and Clive, who met when Amanda was just 21, might reconcile, will almost certainly be disappointed. She commented: 'If you've gone through a separation, there's a reason you separated. And it's usually because you're not getting on. Who wants that?' Our Farm Next Door is available to stream on Channel 4.com. There is one woman who has been a rock to Davina McCall as she has navigated the ups and downs of her life - her beloved stepmother. In fact, she has credited Gaby, the wife of her late father Andrew, as being her 'stabilising' force, especially when her relationship with her own mum Florence was strained. And never more so, it appears, than now as the television star recovers from a surgery to have a benign brain tumour removed just over a week ago. In a heartfelt Instagram update, Davina, 57, shared her gratitude for Gaby and stepmothers in general, describing her as 'an amazing rock' and affectionately calling her 'a big dose of vitamin G.' Speaking in the video message filmed from her bed, she said: 'I'm being brilliantly looked after by Michael and my mum. There is one woman who has been a rock to Davina McCall as she has navigated the ups and downs of her life - her beloved stepmother Davina has credited Gaby (pictured), the wife of her late father Andrew, as being her 'stabilising' force, especially when her relationship with her own mum Florence was strained In a heartfelt Instagram update, Davina, 57, shared her gratitude for Gaby and stepmothers in general, describing her as 'an amazing rock' and affectionately calling her 'a big dose of vitamin G' 'I'd quickly like to say big up the step-mums. I don't really say thank you to Gaby enough. She's been an amazing rock my whole life.' She emotionally continued: 'I was talking yesterday to somebody, I said I've got a massive dose of vitamin G. I think when something like this happens I just feel so grateful. I've always been grateful, I've been really lucky in my life. 'But I feel unbelievably grateful right now. So thanks for everything all of you. I'm on the mend, I'm resting, I'm sleeping loads and I feel really good. I just feel very lucky.' Gaby - an artist from West London - came into Davina and her late older sister Caroline's lives after she met their dad Andrew when the presenter was aged six. One friend of the star said: 'Gaby and Davina are so close, it is lovely. Davina feels so blessed.' 'Gaby is always there for her, they are super close. Not only was she there for Davina as an adult but she was there from when she was a teenage girl.' They have remained close since Andrew's death in 2022 and she calls Gaby mum. Davina, who hosts Long Lost Family, has long been full of praise for Gaby - who she calls Gabba. In 2019, she celebrated her stepmother's support, praising her for stepping into a maternal role during her troubled childhood. Bond: In the comments of the sweet post, Gaby revealed she's 'never liked the title of "step mum" because she's 'always felt like just your mum' Speaking in the video message filmed from her bed, she said: 'I'm being brilliantly looked after by Michael and my mum. I'd quickly like to say big up the step-mums. I don't really say thank you to Gaby enough. She's been an amazing rock my whole life' Davina with Gaby and her dad Posting a photograph of Gaby, the presenter wrote: 'Mothers come in all guises. They don't have to be biologically connected to you. 'My birth mother wasn't a mum to me. But two women filled that role. Pippy, my grandma and this lady. This is Gaby. She is my step mum, she has been since I was six. 'Being a step mum has its challenges... but for me... (my real mum was an alcoholic) she was my very much needed stability.' The mother-of-three to daughters Holly, 22, and Tilly, 21, and son Chester, 17, revealed how she began going 'off the rails' not long after she moved to live with Gaby and her father Andrew when she was 13. She said: 'I went to live with Gaby and my Dad when I was 13 and a couple of years later, started going off the rails. 'She was always there, solid, a rock... and has continued to be throughout my life. She gave me my gorgeous little sis and is the most phenomenal wife to my Dad (who has Alzheimer's).' 'So Gaby, I'm so proud to call you mum. Thank you for everything. I love you.' In her comments on Davina's post, Gaby revealed she's 'never liked the title of 'step mum' because she's 'always felt like just your mum'. She wrote: 'Thank you! I have never liked the title of 'step mum' because it doesn't bring up the best of images, in life or in fiction. I've always felt like just your mum'. The former Big Brother presenter has been open about her complicated relationship with her biological mother, Florence, who she cut out of her life after a series of betrayals, including selling stories about Davina's struggles with addiction. Davina said Gaby 'was always there, solid, a rock' when she was growing up Davina recalled that her mother Florence (pictured) abandoned her at the age of three, and was married four times, before her death in 2008 Davina has two girls, Holly, 23, Tilly, 21 (above), and a son, Chester, 17, who she shares with her ex-husband Matthew Robertson Davina split from her ex-husband Matthew Robertson in 2017 after 17 years of marriage (Pictured in May 2013) Reflecting on one such incident before her wedding to TV presenter Matthew Robertson, Davina explained on Loose Women that Florence's actions led to rumours about her sobriety. 'I told her about it [selling stories],' Davina said, 'but she didn't think it was a big dealand then she did it again.' Ultimately, Davina decided to sever ties with her mother permanently. She clarified that she wasn't 'mum bashing,' but acknowledged Florence's limitations: 'My mum was an amazing mum, but she didn't know how to behave on a human level.' 'I don't want to be a victim, nor be portrayed as one,' Davina told the panel. 'If I can teach anyone anything [from my struggle], that will be a good thing.' During an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? Davina recalled that her mother abandoned her at the age of three, and was married four times, before her death in 2008. The two didn't speak for eight years and in the emotional programme the Big Brother host admitted her mother 'probably shouldn't have had kids.' Despite this, Davina does not want to be seen as a victim: 'If I can teach anyone anything [from my struggle], that will be a good thing.' Whatever happens, she will have her stepmother by her side through it all. When Tess Daly announced on Saturday nights Strictly that Pete Wicks was through to the quarter finals, even he thought she had made a mistake. Bottom of the scoreboard for the third time in four weeks, Pete thought his time on the BBC dance show was up. The charming, long-haired reality TV star, who made his name on The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE), took the view that the dreaded dance-off was inevitable, not least because he was the worst celebrity performer. Pete, 36, and his professional partner Jowita Przystal scored just 29 out of 40 for their tango to Phil Collins and Philip Baileys Easy Lover, while rival celebrities Montell Douglas (who scored 37) and Jamie Borthwick (32) instead faced the head-to-head performance. And it was EastEnders actor Jamie and his partner Michelle Tsiakkas who were booted off. Pete told Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two: Ive thought I was going [home] since week one, so every week is a surprise, but that is possibly the biggest shocker of the lot. Explaining his obvious surprise on the night, he added: I didnt really understand as we were in the last two and I thought they meant that Montell had gone through. As the final three weeks of Strictly loom, Pete, the least accomplished dancer, is through to the quarter final and might even have a chance of lifting the glitterball. Comments from the shows judges suggest he has long reached the limits of his dancing ability. But, as the public vote has shown, viewers have gone wild for him particularly Strictlys female fans. Everyone is a bit taken aback by the Pete phenomenon, said a Strictly insider. If it was based on the judges, there is no way hed still be there. Viewers have gone wild for Pete Wicks particularly female fans for his performances with Strictly pro Jowita Przystal Most recently Pete's been linked to Love Island favourite Maura Higgins, who is currently competing on I'm A Celebrity If the rumours are to be believed, Pete and Jowita, seen leaving a north London dance studio together, have become rather close So just what is the attraction of Pirate Pete, the scruffy, tattooed womaniser? His nickname comes from his supposed resemblance to Johnny Depps character Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean, and those who know him say he is totally charismatic and a very cheeky rascal. With his brooding glare and shaggy mane of hair draped on muscular shoulders, Pete known as something of a heart-breaker in showbiz circles looks more like a wrestler than a ballroom dancer. The female viewers just seem to absolutely love him, said the insider. A lot of the Strictly audience probably hadnt heard of him because hes from TOWIE but hes won them over instantly. Even the women in the studio are swooning the crew and audience members. It looks as though even the Strictly fans cant resist a bad boy. Indeed, hundreds of comments on social media reveal the popularity of The Pirate with the shows female audience. One user wrote: Watching Pete Wickss thighs is making my Saturday nights. Another said: Good lord, Pete Wicks brings sexy every single week. Even show matriarch Shirley Ballas has struggled to hide the twinkle in her eye while casting her judgmental gaze over Pete. The shows head judge was accused by fans of over-marking the hunky star, handing him an eight compared to a low of four from another judge in week nine. She told him: Your hips were swinging left and right. It was very entertaining. I dont think Im going to forget this evening for a long time. Not that Pete would have been shocked. Once dubbed TVs biggest Lothario, he has boasted of having threesomes in past relationships and even pursuing Carol Vorderman, 63, after she admitted to enjoying liaisons with younger men. Pete first found fame in 2015 as a regular on ITV2s TOWIE, where he became known for his fiery romance with co-star Megan McKenna and an endless stream of cheating claims. Since then he has dated a string of glamorous reality television stars, including Love Islands Amber Davies and Megan Barton-Hanson, as well as TOWIE co-star Chloe Sims. Last year, after flying out to Australia to support his friend Sam Thompson on Im A Celebrity, he was seen flirting with actress Danielle Harold after she was evicted from the show. Most recently hes been linked to another Love Island favourite Maura Higgins, who is currently competing in the Jungle. But those who know Pete say his image is far more carefully constructed than bystanders might think. In what may be another clever move to keep him on Strictly, he appears to be utilising a circle of popular showbiz friends, including Im A Celebrity winner Sam, 32, his partner ex-Strictly star Zara McDermott, 27 and another former Im A Celebrity winner, Vicky Pattison, 37, to help him connect with fans. Between them, the tight-knit circle boast an astonishing 13 million followers on Instagram alone using it at every opportunity to support Pete and keep him in the competition. And then there is Jowita. In a series where the male professional dancers are careful about their behaviour around celebrity partners following scandals involving Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, the female pros dont appear to have the same scruples. Each weekend Jowita is seen being very touchy feely with Pete, usually rubbing his arms as they take their places on the dance floor. But then if the rumours are to be believed, they have become rather close with Pete apparently in a love triangle with Maura and Jowita. Maura, 34, insists shes single and Petes publicist is more than happy for viewers to think he and Jowita are dating. As one insider put it: The chemistry between them has been electric for weeks but it has really started to grow now. Everyone can see it they cant take their hands off each other. Polish beauty Jowita, 30, who has also dated former Strictly dancer Pernice, may find Pete isnt suitable for a long-term romance. As one friend of his friends tells me: He wants people to think hes a cheeky rascal, he rarely commits. Hes good fun to start with and then it ends in heartbreak, but women just love the bad boy vibe he puts out there. And millions of them, it seems, are Strictly viewers, voting each week to keep Pirate Pete on the show. Gemma Collins wrapped up warm in a chic baby blue coat on Tuesday evening as she arrived at The Fayre of St. James's Christmas Carol Concert in London. The former TOWIE star, 43, appeared in high spirits as she posed for several stunning snaps on the red carpet. She teamed a pair of black leather gloves with her stylish Karen Millen coat and further elevated her height with black sequin-embellished heels. To complete her look, the TV personality wore a glamorous palette of makeup and styled her blonde locks in a curly voluminous blowout. During the event, she was also joined by John, and Edward Grimes, 33, collectively known as Jedward. The trio appeared in high spirits as they sang Christmas carols and wore sequin-embellished Santa hats. Gemma Collins wrapped up warm in a chic baby blue coat on Tuesday evening as she arrived at The Fayre of St. James's Christmas Carol Concert in London The former TOWIE star, 43, appeared in high spirits as she posed for several stunning snaps on the red carpet According to Quintessentially Foundation, The Fayre of St. James's is the charity Christmas event of the year in London and delivers a magical, star-studded evening of performances, readings, carols, and Christmas cheer. Quintessentially Foundation is a charitable foundation set up to tackle child poverty and the limitations it places on the futures of children and young people. Gemma's appearance at the event comes after she shocked locals at Swanseas annual Christmas Parade with a surprise appearance earlier this month. The reality TV star made a grand entrance as she climbed aboard a McDonald's float to mark the launch of the restaurant's Festive Menu. Gemma was dressed to the nines and made the most of the attention as she climbed out of a blacked-out car and onto a waiting red carpet. Dressed in a flowing bright red ballgown with a sheer cape attached, Gemma walked the red carpet waving and smiling at fans. She marked the launch of the food giant's Christmas menu by switching on the McDonalds McFleet Christmas lights. Gemma is no stranger to dressing up and making a statement as last month the star slipped into a racy ensemble as she got into the Halloween spirit. She teamed a pair of black leather gloves with her stylish coat and further elevated her height with black sequin-embellished heels During the event, she was also joined by John, and Edward Grimes, 33, collectively known as Jedward The trio appeared in high spirits as they sang Christmas carols and wore sequin-embellished Santa hats In another snap, Gemma and the twins could be seen holding lit candles as they giggled with one another Gemma wore a black lace corset with fishnet stockings as she dressed up as a sexy rabbit. She teamed her costume with a pair of bunny ears, and sheer gloves and boosted her height with some stiletto heels. Not missing her chance to refer to one of her own iconic one-liners, Gemma captioned the update: 'WITCH.. Better have MY CANDY.' Her post was in tribute to her famous 2012 TOWIE scene which saw her turn down her now ex James Argent when she told him, 'You ain't ever gonna get this candy.' After discovering what he had really been saying about her, Gemma was quick to tell Arg that she was too good for him and didn't hold back when it came to flaunting her body either. As Arg fooled around in the pool with Joey Essex and a few of the other guys following the champagne party, Gemma approached him wearing a black swimming costume and a bright pink sarong. 'Hi Arg, I just wanna say something to you,' she started with. 'You've been going around discussing what happened between us, well let me tell you something now, you don't ever disrespect a girl like that again.' Gemma's appearance comes after she slipped into a racy ensemble last month as she got into the Halloween spirit Not missing her chance to refer to one of her own iconic one-liners, Gemma captioned the update: 'WITCH.. Better have MY CANDY.' As she began to untie her sarong, Arg looked on confused as the other partygoers sat around the pool and listened carefully. 'Take a good look at this, you ain't ever gonna get this candy,' she said as her sarong fell to the floor. 'I don't get it Gemma,' was all that Arg could say. 'I don't understand.' 'I don't like the way you turned around and said "Oh she's got a pretty face but she's got no metabolism." I'm f***ing sexy James and I know it,' she added. The lavish country getaway renovated by Scott Cam during The Block's Tree Change season of 2022 is still struggling to find a buyer. The 62-year-old TV host first listed the beautiful heritage pad in November 2023 with a price guide of $4.1-$4.3million. But after languishing on the market for a year, the fan favourite has now re-listed the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home with a guide of $3,800,000 - $3,900,000, the Herald Sun reported on Sunday. Located in Gisborne South, 49kms from Melbourne, the gorgeous cottage sits on 4.04ha in a lush rural setting. Originally built as a homestead around 1866, the house maintains many classic features of the period, including a wraparound verandah. Known as Camalot, Cam's house boasts a stunning fountain, a 3D-printed concrete cabana alongside the pool and an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven. The lavish country getaway renovated by The Block's Scott Cam during the hit show's Tree Change season of 2022 is still struggling to find a buyer. (Pictured left) The 62-year-old TV host first listed the beautiful heritage pad in November 2023 with a price guide of $4.1-$4.3million. But after languishing on the market for a year, the fan favourite has now re-listed the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home with a guide of $3,800,000 - $3,900,000 the Herald Sun reported on Sunday. Pictured: Inside the beautiful home The four-bedroom home includes a massive kitchen with a reclaimed timber island bench and butcher's block, two wine fridges and a large butler's pantry. Cam's design style is a delightful mix of rustic charm and modern updates, featuring stone and stylish timber finishings. Highlights include French doors, a thoughtful open-plan layout and the best in the latest appliances. There's also an al fresco dining space, a mud room and a private office. The Block Auction in 2202 ended in disaster when only two houses managed to make it over the $4.3M reserve price. Omar Slaimankhel and Ozman 'Oz' Abu Malik managed to net a record-breaking $1.6million profit for their home at the auction. It comes after reports that The Block host is ready to hang up his tool belt and retire from The Block after 14 years as its host. The media personality, who recently turned 62, took over as host from Jamie Durie in 2010 during season three of the series, is said to be frustrated with contestants in recent years. Located in Gisborne South, 49kms from Melbourne , the gorgeous cottage sits on 4.04ha in a lush rural setting. Originally built as a homestead around 1866, the house maintains many classic features of the period, including a wraparound verandah. (Pictured) Known as Camalot, Cam's house boasts a stunning fountain, a 3D-printed concrete cabana alongside the pool, and an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven. (Pictured) Highlights include a massive kitchen with a reclaimed timber island bench and butcher's block, two wine fridges and a large butler's pantry. (Pictured) Woman's Day reports that Scott's had enough and 2025 will be his last year, but Nine says that's just not the case. An insider alleges that Scott revealed his retirement plans while filming season 20, saying he was only doing 'this year and next' on the show. 'When Jesse [Maguire] and Paige [Beechey] quit the series mid-season, it really shocked him and made him even more determined to walk away in 2025,' they said. 'Scott holds The Block very dear to his heart and he couldn't understand why anyone would leave his hit series and the highly emotional decision they made. The Block was originally set to film in Daylesford this year, but complications with receiving council permits pushed that renovation back to next year. Producers scrambled at the last second to secure a run down resort on Phillip Island, dropping a staggering $9.5 million on Island Cove Villas, The insider said Scott was 'bitterly disappointed' when Daylesford was put on the backburner because he wanted to host that season 'then bow out graciously'. Scott addressed rumours of his impending retirement from Nine's hit renovation show to Daily Mail Australia as recently as last year. The builder-turned-reality TV host attended a launch party for the 2023 season of his show and told the crowd he was planning on staying for a long time. 'Two months ago I signed a multiple year deal with the Nine Network. It was an easy decision as I love this show and couldn't think of going anywhere else,' he said. Scott then said while he had no immediate retirement plans, when that day came in the distant future he had the perfect person in mind to take over as host. 'I reckon the only person who could do it is my current co-host Shelley Craft, that's right,' he said. Shelley, 48, added there was no one better suited than her to take over the reins when the time finally came. 'That's my job, isn't it? Don't I step up and then I get a sidekick?' she joked. In 2022, Scott addressed speculation about his future on the show yet again, telling Daily Mail Australia he would be on building sites for decades to come. The veteran tradie has a 40 plus-year career behind him and has hosted The Block for the past 14 yearswith seemingly no desire to stop any time soon. 'I'm 60 this year and I'm physically fit, I'm doing a renovation of my home now because of the mould from all the rain,' he told Daily Mail Australia at the time. 'I've got at least another decade on the tools. I told my wife recently, we've got 20 years of good health left so from January 1, let's start a 20-year odyssey of living life. 'I'll keep going till I can't anymore because I love it. I reckon I can do 20 years on the tools, and I'll pull up when my body tells me to.' Ben Stiller doubts a movie like Tropic Thunder would have been greenlit in today's woke climate. The 58-year-old actor, who directed and starred in the now-controversial 2008 comedy/action film, said 'edgier' comedy is 'just harder to do' now, in a new interview with Collider. When asked if a film like that which has since been labelled racially offensive could be made in the current environment, he replied, 'I doubt it.' He added, 'Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.' 'I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, "Alright, let's make this thing." It's a very inside movie when you think about it.' He then referenced Robert Downey Jr.'s 'dicey' role in the movie, which has been criticized for its use of 'blackface.' Ben Stiller, 58, doubts a movie like Tropic Thunder could have been made in today's woke climate; he is pictured November 10 in West Hollywood The actor, who directed and starred in the now-controversial 2008 film, said 'edgier' comedy is 'just harder to do' in this environment, in a new interview with Collider; seen in a still Downey Jr.'s character undergoes a fictional procedure called 'pigmentation alteration' to portray a Black soldier in a film. 'The idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,' Stiller stated. 'Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on actors trying to do anything to win awards.' 'But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest.' Last year, Stiller staunchly defended Tropic Thunder which also starred Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey and insisted he's 'proud' of the hit film after it was slammed by woke mob for Downey Jr.'s 'blackface.' He denied issuing an apology on behalf of his hit comedy after it was targeted by woke millennials for perceived racist undertones and offensive depictions of the disabled. The Stiller directed film about a group of hapless actors who are forced to fend for themselves after getting lost while filming a war movie on location in Vietnamese jungle was a global hit following its release in 2008. However, it recent years it's been considered racially insensitive in parts due to Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who surgically darkens the pigment of his skin to play an African-American soldier. Stiller defended the film in a post on X (formerly Twitter) and insisted he has never apologized for his decision to develop the film from an original screenplay co-written by the actor and Justin Theroux. When asked if a film like that which has since been labelled racially offensive could be made now, he replied, 'I doubt it' He then referenced Robert Downey Jr.'s 'dicey' role in the movie, which has been criticized for its use of 'blackface'; Stiller pictured in a still with Donwey Jr. 'Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on actors trying to do anything to win awards,' Stiller stated; Downey Jr. pictured in a still 'But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest,' he added His admission was a response to one of numerous posts issued in defense of the film. '@BenStiller Please stop apologizing for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF... Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE. 'Ya'll [sic] can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else,' the post read. In response, Stiller tweeted: 'I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Dont know who told you that. Its always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it.' A second social media follower drew attention to an historic tweet from actor, posted in response to a lighthearted claim that Tropic Thunder should be banned after US snowboarder Shaun White dressed as Simple Jack, a disabled character in the film, for Halloween in 2018. Commenting at the time, Stiller wrote: 'Actually Tropic Thunder was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologized then.' 'It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards. I stand by my apology, the movie, Shaun White, And the great people and work of the @SpecialOlympics.' Following its release the film sparked a coalition of more than 20 disability advocacy groups, among them the Special Olympics, to protest against its liberal use of the word "retard." More recently Downey Jr. has been targeted by woke millennials for his role as a white actor portraying a black character, despite the self-aware nature of Stiller's script and his decision to seek approval from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) before it as released. The Stiller directed film about a group of hapless actors who are forced to fend for themselves after getting lost in Vietnamese jungle was a hit following its release in 2008 Last year, Stiller staunchly defended Tropic Thunder which also starred Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey and insisted he's 'proud' of the film A second social media follower drew attention to an historic tweet from actor, posted in response to a lighthearted claim that Tropic Thunder should be banned His admission was a response to one of numerous posts issued in defense of the film Discussing the film in 2020, Downey Jr. admitted he had his own reservations about taking the role, which ultimately won him a 2009 Oscar nomination, before having a change of heart. 'I thought: "Yeah, Ill do that. Ill do that after Iron Man,"' he told The Joe Rogan Experience. 'And then I started thinking, "This is a terrible idea." 'I thought: "Hold on, dude. Get real here. Where is your heart?" My heart is a) I get to be black for a summer in my mind, so theres something in it for me. 'The other thing is I get to hold up to nature the insane, self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think theyre allowed to do on occasion.' Pastor Clark Taylor, known as Australia's first TV evangelist, died earlier this month aged 87, following a long illness. Taylor hosted the Channel Nine religious talk show New Way of Living from 1977 - 1980, and developed a reputation as one of the countries most high-profile preachers. His upbeat talk show combined with his charismatic persona helped Taylor grow his ministry from a small church in Brisbane to over 1600 locations in 30 countries around the world. Taylor's daughter Robyn confirmed her father died on November 11 in a statement: 'He is now face-to-face with Jesus where there is no more pain and no more sadness. 'Our world is a little dimmer, our cheerleader and greatest encourager has left but we are so thankful for the extra years we received. 'The graciousness and kindness Dad continued to display while in so much pain was inspiring. Pastor Clark Taylor (pictured), known as Australia's first TV evangelist, died earlier this month aged 87, following a long illness After graduating from Bible College in the early 60s, Taylor founded the Christian Outreach Centre in Brisbane where he and his wife Anne preached the word of God. Taylor's upbeat and energetic approach to preaching soon caught the attention of Channel Nine producers, who gave him his own Christian talk show. The series was incredibly popular in Australia throughout its run and led to the nationwide growth of Taylor's Church, and helped make him the most widely known preacher across the country. However, his celebrity career came to a halt in 1990 when he was caught having an affair with his secretary behind his wife's back, showing Taylor did not always practice what he preached. Taylor resigned from his position at the church in the aftermath of the scandal. The International Network of Churches paid tribute to Taylor in a statement: 'A true pioneer, a visionary leader, and a man of deep faith who dedicated his life to building a movement that continues to impact lives across the world.' He is survived by his wife Anne and daughters Robyn and Linda. Taylor's passing follows reports that veteran Play School presenter Janet Kingsbury died earlier this month aged 85. Taylor hosted the Channel Nine religious talk show New Way of Living from 1977 - 1980, and developed a reputation as one of the countries most high-profile preachers Taylor's daughter Robyn confirmed her father died on November 11 in a heartbreaking statement No cause of death was given, but she was believed to be in poor health following her retirement from showbusiness in 2016, reports TV Tonight. The English-born entertainer was a co-presenter on the long-running ABC children's show from 1969-1986. As one of the original stars of the beloved show, Janet was renowned for always presenting with energy and enthusiasm alongside her teddy bear co-stars. She began her esteemed acting career in 1968 with a guest role on the popular kids series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Over the next few decades, Janet went on to appear on many of Australia's most iconic programs, including A Country Practice, Home and Away, GP and All Saints. Her final appearance was a guest role in 2016 on the Channel Nine drama series Doctor Doctor, opposite Rodger Corser and Ryan Johnson. Janet was married to Australian filmmaker Arch Nicholson, who directed episodes of the shows Mission: Impossible and The Flying Doctors, from 1972 until his death in 1990. She acted in her husband's cult 1987 film Dark Age, about a killer crocodile on the loose in regional Australia, alongside Wolf Creek star John Jarratt and David Gulpilil. Janet was a notoriously private individual and very little is known about her personal life, including whether she had any children with her husband. Global YouTube superstar IShowSpeed is under investigation for breaching his New Zealand visa after he was mobbed by fans in Rotorua while performing a haka on Sunday. IShowSpeed, real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr, has 33 million subscribers on YouTube, with his livestreams of wild stunts and celebrity collaborations garnering around three billion views. The 19-year-old American was in New Zealand as a part of his Australasian tour and caught the attention of immigration due to a potential breach of his tourist visa conditions. Watkins reportedly makes over US$1million per year in revenue form his YouTube channel, raising questions about whether he should have been on a workers visa to film content. The Youtuber, who landed back in Sydney on Tuesday, said he wanted to play rugby, eat a pie and learn the haka during his first New Zealand livestream. It comes after controversial OnlyFans stars Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight were deported from Fiji last week for breaching their tourist visas while visiting the country to film content with 'barely legal 18-year-olds'. Global YouTube superstar IShowSpeed is under investigation for breaching his New Zealand visa after he was mobbed by fans in Rotorua while performing a haka on Sunday A massive crowd found the streamer in Rotorua on Sunday and several men began performing the Ka Mate haka, popularised by the All Blacks and more recently 22-year-old MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, for him. 'What the f*** is that? Oh yeah! I wanna do that!' he exclaimed. The streamer asked the group to teach him the haka, and one man instructed the crowd to follow him with 'two slaps on the thighs' and then pulling his arms back 'in for two'. More than 53,000 people watched the moment unfold on Watkins' livestream. While some commenters were quick to question if an American performing the haka was 'disrespectful', the NZ Herald reported that Maori YouTuber Jimmi Jackson also took part in the livestream and actually helped to teach Watkins the haka before he led a performance in front of the entrance of Whakarewarewa the Living Maori Village. However, if visiting New Zealand on a visitor visa you are not legally allowed to work, and can be served a deportation notice if found to have broken the visa conditions. Immigration New Zealand confirmed to 1News that Watkins was in the country on a visitor's visa and travelling with a visa waiver. A massive crowd found the streamer in Rotorua on Sunday and several men began performing the Ka Mate haka, popularised by the All Blacks and more recently 22-year-old MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, for him Watkins reportedly makes over US$1million per year in revenue form his YouTube channel 'In general, individuals require a work visa (or hold a visa with conditions that allow for work) to engage in activities that result in gain or reward (such as payment) during their time in New Zealand,' an INZ spokesperson told the news network. 'In assessing this case, we will follow our standard compliance procedures.' The internet sensation's visit Down Under saw him mobbed by fans as he visited Queenstown, Auckland, and Rotorua in recent days, with school kids ditching classes to try and meet him. Geri Horner has reportedly been accused of derailing a lucrative Spice Girls deal that would have netted all five members 1million each. According to The Sun, Geri, Mel B, Mel C, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton were all approached about a drama series that came with a seven-figure payday. Insiders have claimed talks were going well until Geri decided to back out of her involvement in the project. A source said: 'It would have seen five actresses taking on the roles of Posh, Ginger, Scary, Sporty and Baby. 'The venture would have landed them all pay deals of around 1million for essentially not lifting a finger. 'But as the negotiations ramped up, the others were told Geri had objected. The plans have basically been thrown out.' Geri Horner has reportedly been accused of derailing a lucrative Spice Girls deal that would have netted all five members 1million each According to The Sun, Geri, Mel B , Mel C, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton were all approached about a drama series that came with a seven-figure payday The insider added that, without the agreement of Geri, it will be difficult to make the project happen. MailOnline has contacted representatives for all five Spice Girls for comment. It comes after Geri was also said to have pulled the plug on plans for a new Spice Girls reunion tour - after her feud with Mel B turned increasingly ugly. The group had been in discussions about another run of dates and had even made contact with Victoria Beckham about a possible cameo appearance - with the band excited about replicating the success of their last shows. But insiders say a bitter rift between the pair - who were once so close they allegedly engaged in a fleeting romance - has now driven a wedge between the group and Geri has now walked away entirely. A source told MailOnline: 'Geri has had enough to deal with after all the drama with her husband's relationship with his assistant - it has been a tough enough time - and she's just lost patience with Mel and her little digs and jibes. 'She's walked away and without Geri it's really not going to happen - in the past she's been a driving force in the group, but she doesn't want to deal with Mel at all at the moment let alone share a stage with her.' Mel made jibes at her former friend by wishing her a 'Happy 75th Birthday' online alongside a series of unflattering photographs from their heyday, seemingly a reference to her previous jibes that Geri had lied about her age in the past. Insiders have claimed talks were going well until Geri decided to back out of her involvement in the project (Spice Girls pictured in 2012) A source said: 'As the negotiations ramped up, the others were told Geri had objected. The plans have basically been thrown out' Insiders say there have been many more digs and jibes behind the scenes which have infuriated Geri - who has had a tough six months amid allegations of her Formula One chief husband Christian Horner's inappropriate behaviour with a female assistant. The source added: 'They've always had a tricky relationship but this has got very messy now and nobody has been able to smooth things over between them - so it's all off again.' Mel B's representative declined to comment. It's the latest in a series of rows after their 'frosty' reunion at Victoria's 50th birthday bash in April. The star-studded soiree saw all five of the Spice Girls come together to party but it was claimed Mel and Geri's greeting was tense. Despite having posed for a smiley snap with Victoria, Mel C and Emma Bunton, The Sun claimed Mel and Geri were feeling tense. Prior to the reunion, Mel B claimed in an interview that Geri has lied about her age for years. Despite travelling the world together in the band's heyday, Scary Spice claimed Geri always kept her passport close to her chest so she 'still doesn't know' how old she is. After the interview the pair were said to have kept a distance from each other at Victoria's party - before Mel reportedly tried to offer and olive branch. Mel made a jibe at Geri by wishing her a 'Happy 75th Birthday' online alongside a series of unflattering photographs from their heyday, A source told the publication: 'Mel tried to smooth things over with Geri at the party but it didn't go as planned. She was laughing it all off but Geri didn't seem interested in hearing what she had to say and wandered off. 'When it came to taking their group picture, Geri kept as far away from Mel as possible which was awkward to watch. 'Geri wanted to be there to celebrate and have a good laugh with everyone, not talk to Mel about the embarrassing things she's said about her.' Mel previously said on Piers Morgan's Life Stories that she and Geri had previously slept together. In the clip, Piers asked Mel: 'You were coming here to be brutally honest - did or didn't you sleep with Geri Halliwell? Did you sleep with her?' Looking bashful, Mel at first tried to dodge the question, telling Piers: 'Yeah. We all slept in a bed together, but not like that, all of us.' But Piers was relentless, asking: 'Did you sleep with Geri like that?' to which Mel smiled and nodded as a shocked Piers checked, 'Yes? Really?' Geri has since denied the affair took place, with Mel accused of dreaming it up to sell copies of her tell-all memoir, Brutally Honest. A source close to the band said: Its not a very nice thing to do even if you do have a book to promote. Nothing ever happened. We all know Mel B loves a headline. It might have been funny 15 to 20 years ago but it was over the top and not funny. It's the latest in a slew of rows after their 'frosty' reunion at Victoria Beckham 's 50th birthday bash in April, which many had hoped would trigger a planned reunion Despite there being no official announcement, when asked in March Mel insisted as Spice Girls reunion was in the works. Speaking on Loose Women, she stressed: 'We are definitely doing something... I'm probably going to get told off but I've said it, there we go! We are doing something this year. I'm in trouble now' The following month, The Mail revealed that plans to mark their 30th anniversary with a documentary had fallen apart. After the Netflix Beckham documentary, made by David's TV company, was such a success last year, the Spice Girls started to talk to the streamer about possibly making a similar all-access show about the group and their phenomenal success. It was to feature lengthy interviews with all of the 'girls' and their families, talking about their experiences of fame and of life since their pop heyday. The idea was to tie the documentary to the 30th anniversary of the group being founded in 1994. However, although Victoria, Mel B, Mel C and Emma were all keen on the doc, after a number of meetings Geri was still against the idea and they were not able to talk her round. This disagreement certainly not the first in the group created a little bit of frost between Ginger and the other girls, reported Alison Boshoff. Some believe Geri wasn't keen on the scrutiny due to the looming scandal over her husband Christian Horner, whose role at F1 team Red Bull appeared to be in peril after an employee alleged he had harassed her. Christian was cleared in March after an inquiry, with the complainant launching an appeal that was subsequently thrown out in August, exonerating the Red Bull boss for a second time. A statement from Red Bull confirmed: The complainant exercised the right to appeal, and the appeal was carried by another independent KC. All stages of the appeal process have now been concluded , with the final outcome that the appeal is not upheld. The KCs conclusions have been accepted and adopted by Red Bull. The internal process has concluded. A source said: 'It might have been awkward for Geri to get out there and talk about Girl Power in these circumstances surrounding Christian but in truth even before it all came out she wasn't keen on revisiting those days. She just didn't want to go over all the fun, wild times that they had.' The last time the Spice Girls reunited in a professional capacity was for an iconic performance at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony. In 2019, the band headed out on a UK stadium tour but fashion designer Victoria notably chose not to join, claiming she was too busy with her clothing brand. Elizabeth Chambers refuses to let the aftermath of her ex-husband Armie Hammer's cannibalism scandal, which ultimately ended his Hollywood career in 2021, define her. The successful mother-of-two who recently moved back to LA after years of living in the Cayman Islands spoke to DailyMail.com exclusively at Modern Day Wife's SO LET'S SHOP event at the SLS Beverly Hills hotel on Friday night. When asked how she 'defines' herself nearly four years after Hammer's public downfall cast an unwanted shadow over her personal and professional life, the TV personality, 42, cited her 'integrity' as well as her strength as a mother, friend and businesswoman. 'I think that what defines me as a woman is what kind of mother I am, what kind of boss that I am, what kind of friend that I am,' Chambers began. 'So yeah, integrity is everything right? We have one chance to do it right. As a mother, as a friend, as a leader. 'And that is the most important thing,' she concluded. Elizabeth Chambers refuses to let the aftermath of her ex-husband Armie Hammer 's cannibalism scandal , which ultimately ended his Hollywood career in 2021, define her; seen on November 25 Chambers shares two children daughter Harper, nine, and son Ford, seven with 38-year-old Hammer, who she split from in July 2020 after 10 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in 2023 and they agreed to shared custody of Harper and Ford. Chambers is the CEO of BIRD Bakery, which launched in 2012 with locations in Texas and Colorado, and she is set to host a new TV series about 'toxic relationships' for Investigation Discovery. On Friday night, Chambers spoke on an all-star panel during Modern Day Wife's invite-only event in Beverly Hills that included actress Rachel McCord, Netflix star Sara Jane Ho and The Dose Show podcast host Robin Barrett. The conversation was moderated by Modern Day Wife co-founder Meghan Fialkoff. Chambers' public appearance comes two months after she made the move back to Los Angeles after escaping to the Cayman Islands with her kids in early 2020. She spoke about living in Grand Cayman, where she waited out her 'wild divorce' as well as a the global COVID-19 pandemic, in a candid Instagram post shared in late September. 'Almost five years ago, the kids and I left for what we thought would be a three day boat trip in St. Barts. While we were on the boat, COVID escalated and we traveled to Grand Cayman for early spring break and to be with family for what we expected to be a couple weeks at most,' she wrote to her 231,000 followers. When asked how she 'defines' herself nearly four years after Hammer's public downfall cast an unwanted shadow over her personal and professional life, the TV personality, 42, cited her 'integrity' as well as her strength as a mother, friend and businesswoman; Chambers and Hammer seen in 2018 'I think that what defines me as a woman is what kind of mother I am, what kind of boss that I am, what kind of friend that I am. So yeah, integrity is everything right? We have one chance to do it right. As a mother, as a friend, as a leader. 'And that is the most important thing,' she concluded; Chambers seen in 2020 'A full global pandemic and a wild divorce later, our time in Cayman came to an end and we returned to Los Angeles.' She included footage of herself, daughter Harper and movers from Roadway Moving transporting their belongings from a local storage unit to their new Los Angeles abode. Her ex-husband paid a visit to the new house as she and the kids were moving in on September 11, as per photos obtained by DailyMail.com. When Chambers first announced the move in August, she thanked her new boyfriend Ricardas Kazinec, a wellness therapist she's been dating since September 2022, for helping her make the transition from Grand Cayman to Los Angeles. Her ex-husband Hammer moved back to LA over the summer nearly four years after his once promising career in Hollywood came to an abrupt end following his sexual abuse controversy and accusations that he was a 'cannibal.' In February 2021, Armie's ex-girlfriend, Effie Angelova, 26, accused him of 'violently' raping and abusing her in 2017. Several other women including model Paige Lorenze also came forward to accuse the actor of abuse, sexual coercion and suggested he had a disturbing cannibalism 'kink.' Hammer denied the accusations of rape through his attorney and said all of his sexual encounters were 'completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance and mutually participatory'. Chambers recently moved back to Los Angeles with her and Hammer's two children: daughter Harper, nine, and son Ford, seven Her ex-husband Hammer moved back to LA over the summer nearly four years after his once promising career in Hollywood came to an abrupt end following his sexual abuse controversy and accusations that he was a 'cannibal'; Hammer seen in 2020 Last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced that Hammer would not face any charges in the sexual assault case due to 'insufficient evidence.' Weeks after moving back to LA in August 2024, the actor sounded optimistic as he told his Instagram followers that he was ready for 'a new car, in a new apartment, in a new life.' Giving rare insight into his finances post-scandal, he admitted that he could no longer afford to put gas in the truck that he's owned since 2017. 'Since being back in L.A., I have put about $400 or $500 worth of gas in it and I can't afford it. I can't afford the gas anymore,' he confessed. Because of this, Hammer had to sell the truck and he now drives a 'tiny' hybrid car. More recently, Hammer launched his very own podcast The Armie HammerTime Podcast where he has candidly addressed his various controversies. The very first episode was filmed inside of Hammer's modest Los Angeles apartment and featured fellow actor Tom Arnold as a guest. Earlier this month, he used his platform to joke about being called a 'cannibal rapist' while seated beside his elderly mother Dru, who came to her son's defense by reminding audiences that he was 'completely exonerated' of any crimes. While he's no longer an A-list leading man, Hammer did recently reveal that he is starring in a Western film called Frontier Crucible, which began shooting in November, according to Deadline. It marks his first acting project since he was ousted from Hollywood. On an episode of her Freeform reality TV series Grand Caymans: Secrets In Paradise, Chambers claimed that her two kids have 'no idea' about what their father has been accused of Chambers also said that she refuses to 'speak negatively' about her ex-husband; the former couple seen in 2018 Meanwhile, his ex-wife Chambers has done her best to shield her and Hammer's two young children from his highly-publicized scandals over the last four years. On an episode of her Freeform reality TV series Grand Caymans: Secrets In Paradise, Chambers claimed that her two kids have 'no idea' what their father has been accused of. 'Things are fabulous,' she said of her co-parenting relationship with Hammer after their 2020 divorce. 'My sister said it best. She said, 'Every single day somebody just taps you on the shoulder, reminding you of the most painful time of your life.' 'But also, I am fiercely protecting my children, which is why we're still here, and they have, thank God, no idea about what is going on. 'My children are blissfully happy. They should think that their dad is a superhero, and to be fair, he has been to them. He's been the best he can be,' she revealed. Chambers also said that she refuses to 'speak negatively' about her ex-husband. 'I don't speak negatively about him in the press. I don't speak negatively about him to my children, because nobody wants a daughter with daddy issues and nobody wants a son with daddy issues,' she said in confessional, adding: 'They should think their dad is a superhero.' Her close friend and business partner Frank Schilling spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com earlier this year about how Chambers has put the 'trauma' behind her. He also dished on Chambers and Hammer's co-parenting relationship and praised her for being able to peacefully 'co-exist' with the Call Me By Your Name star. Earlier this year, Chambers' business partner Frank Schilling dished to DailyMail.com exclusively about Chambers and Hammer's amicably co-parenting relationship; the exes seen in 2018 'I've watched them go through that whole process. For Elizabeth, it's always been about the kids,' he told DailyMail.com exclusively in April. At the time, Schilling recalled, 'I was playing with my son at the school playground and I saw Armie and Elizabeth together.' 'I almost thought it was a boyfriend or something. Then I realized, 'Oh, no that's Armie.' They were together but not holding hands or canoodling.' 'It was evident that they have come to terms where they're able to co-exist in the same area,' Schilling said. Ariana Grande's boyfriend Ethan Slater recently shared his thoughts on the heartfelt interviews the pop star has been giving alongside her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo in the lead-up to the film's highly anticipated release. Ariana, who plays Glinda, and Cynthia, who portrays Elphaba, have been showcasing the deep bond they formed during production sometimes even holding hands and shedding tears during interviews. Ethan, who recently took an embarrassing tumble, spoke on SiriusXM Hits 1 on Friday, commenting, 'They wear their heart on their sleeves, you know? Their ability to be so connected to their emotions in this way allows for their characters to be so complicated and so nuanced.' He went on to explain how he feels about their performances: 'And I love this Glinda who is trying to figure out how to be a good person, and I love this Elphaba who is trying to figure out how to fit in. They are so deeply connected to the journeys of these women.' Ethan, who plays Boq in the film, believes this emotional depth is what makes their interviews so poignant, saying, 'Wicked is like, so fun, but Cynthia and Ariana are like, you know, holding hands and crying. 'But I think its because both of those things are true. Like, both of them exist.' Ariana Grande 's boyfriend Ethan Slater (seen Friday) recently shared his thoughts on the heartfelt interviews the pop star has been giving alongside her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo in the lead-up to the film's highly anticipated release Ariana, who plays Glinda, and Cynthia, who portrays Elphaba, have been showcasing the deep bond they formed during production sometimes even holding hands and shedding tears during interviews Gushing about his girlfriend, he added, 'And one of my favorite things about Arianas performance is that they really exist in the same moment. She can be like the best physical comedian youve ever seen on screen and also be so torn and conflicted about her relationship with Elphaba and so its a real privilege to see up close.' The news of Ariana's relationship with Ethan first emerged in mid-2023, just days after it was reported that her marriage to Dalton Gomez had ended. Shortly after that, it was revealed that Slater, 32, had filed for divorce from his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a young child. In a recent interview with GQ, Slater opened up about his romance with the 31-year-old pop star, sharing what it was like to fall in love while working on the highly anticipated Wicked film adaptation. 'Obviously, it was a really super big year,' the Broadway star said, acknowledging the whirlwind of events in both his and Ariana's lives. Slater admitted that the intense public scrutiny of his private life was challenging. 'I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public,' he explained. The actor, best known for his role in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (2018), confessed that the constant speculation was 'really hard.' Ethan, who recently took an embarrassing tumble , spoke on SiriusXM Hits 1 on Friday, commenting, 'They wear their heart on their sleeves, you know? Their ability to be so connected to their emotions in this way allows for their characters to be so complicated and so nuanced' Ethan, who plays Boq in the film, believes this emotional depth is what makes their interviews so poignant, saying, 'Wicked is like, so fun, but Cynthia and Ariana are like, you know, holding hands and crying, but I think its because both of those things are true. Like, both of them exist' Grande and Slater met in December 2022 on the UK set of the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked; pictured in June 'Its really hard to see people who dont know anything about whats happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love,' he told GQ. Despite the overwhelming attention and judgment, Slater described the year as ultimately 'amazing.' 'Im just really excited,' he gushed, describing the experience of falling in love on set as a 'beautiful thing.' He expressed how proud he is of Ariana's work, noting, 'Im just really, really proud of Ari and the work shes done on this.' 'Im really excited to be there for this next step of it when the world gets to see the amazing thing that she did,' he said. Wicked is now playing in theaters. Melissa Barrera opened up about her experience in the past year, since she was fired from the Scream film franchise amid remarks she made about the conflict between Israel and Palestine that some deemed antisemitic. 'It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything,' the Monterrey, Mexico-born actress, 34, told The Independent Tuesday. 'There were times where I felt like my life was over.' The actress, who starred in 2021's In the Heights, 2023's Scream VI and 2022's Scream, said that her career hit a bit of a lull in the wake of the controversy. 'It was quiet for, like, 10 months,' Barrera said. 'I was still getting offers for small things here and there - I'm not going to lie and say there was nothing - but [the message] was, like, "Oh, she probably doesn't have work, she'll say yes to anything."' Barrera had posted statements on Instagram Stories in November 2023 calling the war 'genocide and ethnic cleansing,' saying that 'Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.' Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the upcoming Scream VII, acknowledged Barrera's exit from the horror franchise in a statement one year ago. Melissa Barrera, 34, opened up about her experience in the past year, saying, 'There were times where I felt like my life was over.' Pictured in April in LA Barrera was fired from the Scream film franchise amid remarks she made about the conflict between Israel and Palestine that some deemed antisemitic. Pictured in 2023's Scream VI Spyglass said its position 'is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.' Barrera on November 23, 2023 posted a statement on Instagram Stories about her firing. 'First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people,' she wrote. 'I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism,' she added. 'I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. 'I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom.' Barrera has spent most of the year working to promote two films she made prior to the career crisis, the horror film April and the recently-released horror comedy musical Your Monster, according to The Independent. 'I kept getting horror scripts, and I wasn't getting a lot of the really exciting parts I was auditioning for,' Barrera said. 'I've never been a person that just wants to work for work's sake. I give so much of myself to acting that if a part of me feels like it's not worth it, I'm gonna be miserable. Barrera said her character in the film, Laura Franco, 'wears her heart on her sleeve' and is 'a big crier' and 'very dramatic.' The actress, who starred in 2021's In the Heights, 2023's Scream VI and 2022's Scream, said that her career hit a bit of a lull in the wake of the controversy. Pictured in May in NYC Barrera had posted statements on Instagram Stories in November 2023 calling the war 'genocide and ethnic cleansing' She added, 'I'm not like that at all ... inside I'm constantly freaking out. I rethink my career at least twice a year. Like, should I even be doing this? Am I even good? Am I ever gonna work again?' Barrera told the The Independent that companies began reaching out to her with compelling projects about two months ago after the 10-month lull. 'It felt like I had been invisible, and then all of a sudden, there was a switch that made me visible again,' she said. 'I feel better. I was stuck in the sand dunes for a while, and now I feel like my feet are moving, I have an oxygen tank, and I'm, like going up.' Among those projects include Copenhagen, a Peacock show co-starring Simu Liu. 'It was exactly what I needed to ease myself back into the industry and do something fun that's not going to destroy me emotionally,' Barrera said. 'And, most importantly, I'm finding the right people to work with.' The Israel-Hamas war has caused rifts throughout Hollywood: When many groups were issuing statements condemning Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Writers Guild of America ultimately didn't after failing to come to an agreement. Demonstrators lifted placards and flags during an anti-government protest demanding action for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 23 The chat with Barrera was published Tuesday, as Israel approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants on Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire, starting at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. She's a 90's supermodel married to a famous film director. And on Tuesday, she took to Instagram with a clip promoting UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), which featured a baby-faced throwback photo of her. This German-born runway sensation, 54, who was once engaged to a famous magician, shared that the UN agency asked her to design a t-shirt inspired by her childhood to celebrate World Children's Day. The adorable snap was simply a close-up of her face, and looked worlds away from the red carpet glamour she's known for. Before becoming a Vogue cover girl, she once dreamed of being a lawyer, and worked at her father's law firm. She was later scouted at a nightclub in Dusseldorf in 1987, at the age of 17, and signed to a modeling agency. This beauty, who has also appeared on the cover of Playboy, now shares two daughters and a son with a renowned English filmmaker. Can you guess who she is? She's a 90's supermodel married to a renowned film director, and was once engaged to a famous American magician. Can you guess who she is from this childhood throwback? That's right, it's Claudia Schiffer, catwalk queen and wife of Argylle director Matthew Vaughn, 51. Claudia was promoting raising vital funds for UNICE, the UN agency that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. She designed a t-shirt with her dog Sultan's face on it, remembering fondly how she used to walk the rescue German Shepherd when she was a child, and sharing that 'every child deserves the joy of play, connection and laughter.' Schiffer is currently a UK Goodwill Ambassador for the organization. Actress Olivia Colman also took part in the initiative, as she led stars at the UNICEF UK World Children's Day Gala in London on Wednesday. The inaugural Once Upon Our Time gala hosted 200 guests and raised a large sum of around $839,000 'to support UNICEF in continuing its life-changing work to ensure children's futures and their childhoods are protected,' per a statement. Born in the small town of Rheinberg, Germany, to mother Gudrun and father Heinz Schiffer, Claudia rose to fame after being discovered by Michel Levaton, the founder and CEO of French modeling agency Metropolitan Models. After high school, she embarked on a modeling career, starting with a trial photo shoot in Paris. This led to her first cover on Elle magazine. In 1989, the 5ft 11in blonde beauty began starring in campaigns for Guess, and was later picked by the late Karl Lagerfeld to become the new face of Chanel. She walked in her first fashion show in January 1990. That's right, it's Claudia Schiffer, 54, catwalk queen and wife of Argylle director Matthew Vaughn, 51; Claudia is pictured January 2024 in London On Tuesday, she took to Instagram with a clip promoting UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), which featured a baby-faced throwback photo of her The German-born runway sensation shared that the UN agency asked her to design a t-shirt inspired by her childhood, to celebrate World Children's Day Born in the small town of Rheinberg, Germany, she was scouted at a nightclub in Dusseldorf in 1987, at the age of 17, and signed to a modeling agency; pictured in 1995 In 1989, the 5ft 11in blonde beauty began starring in campaigns for Guess, and was later picked by the late Karl Lagerfeld to become the new face of Chanel; seen in 1994 By 1992, her star power was so immense that she commanded a staggering $20,000 per runway show; pictured in 1995 Claudia recently made her runway return in September 2023, following a five-year hiatus, as she closed out Versace's Spring 2024 show during Milan Fashion Week (pictured) Aside from Vogue and Elle, Schiffer has appeared on countless magazine covers. She was the first model to be featured on the covers of Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and People. She's also appeared in other publications including Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Time. Her illustrious modeling career has seen her grace the runways for numerous fashion houses, including Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Dior, Fendi, Chloe, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and many more. By 1992, her star power was so immense that she commanded a staggering $20,000 per runway show. In 1997, Schiffer was featured on the cover of Playboy. She recently made her runway return in September 2023, following a five-year hiatus, as she closed out Versace's Spring 2024 show during Milan Fashion Week. She has also branched out into acting. The star made her film debut in the children's movie Richie Rich (1994). She also starred in The Blackout (1997), Friends & Lovers (1999), Black and White (1999), In Pursuit (2001), Life Without Dick (2001), and Love Actually (2003), and made a cameo in the hit film Zoolander (2001) alongside Ben Stiller. She was previously engaged to American magician David Copperfield, 68. The duo met in 1993 when he brought her on stage to participate in his show. They became engaged in January 1994. However, by September 1999, they announced they had ended their relationship, and cited work schedules as the cause. Claudia has been married to English director Vaughn, whose hit movies include X-Men: First Class and Kingsmen: The Secret Service, for 22 years. Claudia has been married to Vaughn for 22 years. They share daughters Clementine Poppy, 19, and Cosima Violet, 14, and son Caspar, 21; seen in January She was previously engaged to American magician David Copperfield, 68. They became engaged in 1994, but by 1999 they announced they had ended their relationship; seen in 1994 She pair said 'I do' in 2002. Together, they share daughters Clementine Poppy, 19, and Cosima Violet, 14, and son Caspar, 21. The couple live in a Tudor mansion in the English countryside. Matthew previously revealed that Claudia had pushed him to make his directorial debut with the 2004 movie Layer Cake, after he previously worked as a producer. 'My wife persuaded me to be a director,' he said on The One Show. 'I was a producer. She said: "Direct Layer Cake," because Guy Ritchie fell out of it or left.' Scott Cam rang in his 62nd birthday on Sunday, celebrating the special occasion with an alfresco BBQ out in the 'bush' with his friends and family. The Block host posted a series of photos to Instagram of his happy day, with one snap featuring his handsome lookalike son Bill. The 25-year-old was all smiles as he shared a beer with his old man while treating him to some quality time out in a rural area to celebrate. Scott and Bill looked the mirror image of one another dressed in their khakis as they flashed a grin for the camera, though Bill slapped on a wide-brimmed hat. Bill and his twin sister Sarah are the youngest of the reality TV star's three childrenthe eldest being Charlie, 28he shares with wife Ann. All three keep their lives private online, but Scott occasionally makes proud posts of them during special occasions. Scott Cam (left) rang in his 62nd birthday on Sunday, celebrating the special occasion with an alfresco BBQ out in the 'bush' with his handsome lookalike son Bill, 25, (right) The Channel Nine personality was particularly proud of his kids when they all graduated from the University of Technology in Sydney. Charlie, born in 1996, graduated top of his class with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Business. 'Proud parents today, first son has graduated from uni with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with First Class Honours and Bachelor of Business with Distinction My heart is full,' Scott wrote alongside a photo of the father-son duo on Instagram. The twins, born in 1999, graduated with their own Bachelor degrees not long aftera milestone event Scott proudly shared with his followers. 'Bill and Sarah, congratulations on finishing your Bachelor degrees with flying colours,' he wrote. 'My heart is now officially overflowing!' Scott shared his three children with wife Ann who he first met in 1989 and has been married to for nearly 30 years. The former tradie celebrated his 62nd birthday with his loved ones over the weekend. In a series of Instagram photos, the television personality rode quad bikes in the bush with his family. Bill and his twin sister Sarah (right) are the youngest of the reality TV star's three childrenthe eldest being Charlie, 28 (centre right)he shares with wife Ann Scott is pictured at Charlie's graduation ceremony with his wife Ann Further images showed a classic Aussie BBQ loaded up with bacon for an alfresco breakfast. Scott also kicked back with beers inside what looked like a caravan as he continued the very down-to-earth party. He showed off the stunning setting, which included a small waterway and tree lined hills. Sitting outside as he partook in a beer and a barbie, the TV star looked very relaxed indeed. 'Had a beautiful birthday weekend with all my family In the bush,' he explained in his caption. It comes after reports that Scott is ready to hang up his tool belt and retire from The Block after 14 years as its host. The media personality, who took over as host from Jamie Durie in 2010 during season three of the series, is said to be frustrated with contestants in recent years. Woman's Day reported that Scott's had enough and 2025 will be his last year, but Nine says that's just not the case. The Block host, whose birthday was on Sunday, spent his days off with family and friends in a rural setting to celebrate the occasion An insider alleged that Scott revealed his retirement plans while filming season 20, saying he was only doing 'this year and next' on the show. 'When Jesse [Maguire] and Paige [Beechey] quit the series mid-season, it really shocked him and made him even more determined to walk away in 2025,' they said. 'Scott holds The Block very dear to his heart and he couldn't understand why anyone would leave his hit series and the highly emotional decision they made.' 'It reinforced to him the idea of leaving on a high next year to spend more time with his family.' The source went on to reference similar rumours which spread in 2023 about Scott retiring soon, but Nine 'squashed' those by signing him onto a new deal. However, the deal is said to have only covered two years, keeping Scott on as host for the 2024 20th anniversary season and the 2025 Daylesford season. According to the insider, it was all 'part of a grand plan for Scott to leave on a high with very two different and challenging seasons of the renovation show'. I'm A Celebrity... viewers were left shocked when Love Island's Maura Higgins revealed her real age as she celebrated her birthday in the Australian Jungle. The TV personality, who was a late arrival to this year's camp, revealed that she just turned 34. And the news of age left fans in disbelief as they thought the star was '27 max'. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewer penned: ' How the hell is Maura 34?' 'Maura's 34? Holy s*** she looks good.' 'Would never have thought Maura was 34. She looks much younger.' I'm A Celebrity... viewers were left shocked when Love Island's Maura Higgins revealed her real age as she celebrated her birthday in the Australian Jungle The TV personality, who was a late arrival to this year's camp, revealed that she just turned 34 'I did not know Maura was 34???? Anybody else surprised by that? also love that she's a mcfly fan #imaceleb 'MAURA IS 34? I THOUGHT SHE WAS MY AGE #ImACeleb' And while Maura would have usually spent her birthday surrounded by her loved ones have a nice time, she spent her celebrations screaming in terror as she braved the creepy crawlies in the latest jungle challenge. During her birthday episode, Maura and her campers were seen braving the Freight Bus which was infested with a plague of insects. But as the celebs took to the designated seats and braved rounds of insects being dumped over their heads Barry was seen powering through in determination to bag one of the prized bags at the front of the bus. However, some campers such as N-Dubz's Tulisa and Maura were not handling it all too well and started screaming in terror through the empty forest as they were left battling bushes of green ants. As a reward for their efforts each celeb got to pick up a bag filled of surprises. One of which contained a disposable camera, a simple piece of technology from the nougthies that Maura claimed to not know how to use. And the news of age left fans in disbelief as they thought the star was '27 max' And while Maura would have usually spent her birthday surrounded by her loved ones have a nice time, she spent her celebrations screaming in terror as she braved the creepy crawlies in the latest jungle challenge During her birthday episode, Maura and her campers were seen braving the Freight Bus which was infested with a plague of insects As a reward for their efforts each celeb got to pick up a bag filled of surprises. One of which contained a disposable camera, a simple piece of technology from the nougthies that Maura claimed to not know how to use And her honest confession left viewers baffled as they look to social media to share their confusion Her confession left fans baffled and took to social media to share their confusion. One penned: 'Maura "and how do we see it?" As she holds a disposable camera. Dying #ImACeleb' 'Ehh how doesnt Maura know what a disposable camera is, shes older than me and I used to use them all the time when I was young #ImACeleb' 'Maura with a disposable camera takes photo... then says how to we see' And this wasn't the only time Maura was left screaming in terror as she was left fighting back tears as she faces her fears in an explosive first look at the next Bushtucker Trial with Jane Moore. Later during the episode Maura, 34, and Loose Women panellist Jane, 62, took part in the Fright at the End of the Tunnel. The task saw the pair put their communication skills to the test as they try to navigate a complex series of pipelines full of creepy crawlies. While Maura had to crawl on their hands and knees through one tunnel, Jane had to swim through underwater tunnels. The pair then had to complete word code challenge to crack open various locks to secure the stars for their camp mates. Maura shrieked in freight as she got up close and personal with spiders inside a cramped tunnel. 'Spiders! Jane, I don't know if I can do it. There's an awful amount of spiders,' the Irish influencer squealed. Later during the episode Maura, 34, and Loose Women panellist Jane, 62, took part in the Fright at the End of the Tunnel The task saw the pair put their communication skills to the test as they try to navigate a complex series of pipelines full of creepy crawlies The pair then had to complete word code challenge to crack open various locks to secure the stars for their camp mates. They managed to bag six stars despite their efforts Host Declan Donnelly chimes in with some words of support, saying: 'Just take it nice and easy Maura. Just keep breathing.' To which Maura replied: 'Oh my God. No, no, no, no. I can't!' Prompting some sterner advice from Ant McPartlin, who said: 'Maura, for Jane to move on, you have to move on. It's as simple as that.' As she curled up in a ball and covers her face, Jane is seen trapped underwater in a giant tank. Despite their efforts they only managed to secure six stars for camp. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson revealed that he has been wearing a bodysuit to portray his character Maui in the live-action remake of Disney's Moana. The Red One actor, 52 - who has been busy promoting the sequel Moana 2 - was spotted last week showing off his buff physique on set of the adaptation in Hawaii. The star - who plays the Polynesian demigod Maui in both the animated films and the upcoming project - went shirtless to show off an array of tattoos on his muscular arms and chest. However, some fans jumped to social media to speculate that Johnson was possibly wearing a bodysuit. During an interview with Extra ahead of the release of Moana 2 on November 27, Dwayne was asked about bulking up for the live-action movie and achieving his buff form on set. 'That's a suit that took a long time to put on. So, I'm so happy you said, "You bulked up," because when you say, "You bulked up," that means you couldn't tell.' Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, 52, revealed that he has been wearing a bodysuit to portray his character Maui in the live-action remake of Moana During an interview with Extra ahead of the release of Moana 2 on November 27, Dwayne was asked about bulking up for the live-action movie and achieving his buff form on set; seen in March in Hollywood 'That is a couple of hours every day of transforming, putting that on,' the star further explained to the outlet. 'We shot outside and when those pictures surfaced, I was like, "S**t, we got caught," 'cause we were putting up, like, walls so there was no paparazzi.' Johnson added, 'But they got into boats and started shooting pictures. So, but I'm happy you liked it. I can't wait. The movie comes out in 2026.' Earlier last week, first look photos of Dwayne as Maui emerged as he shot scenes for the film alongside his co-star, Catherine Laga'aia - who has taken on the role as Moana. He was also spotted gripping his character's magical fish hook on set - which gives Maui the unique power to shapeshift into different creatures. Johnson further got into character by wearing a green, traditional Ti leaf skirt and went shirtless to show off his incredible, muscular frame which was covered with various tattoos. He additionally wore a long, brown wig as well as a chunky, whalebone necklace and thick brown bracelets on each of his wrists. However, not long after seeing the photos, some fans speculated that the star was actually donning a bodysuit. 'That's a suit that took a long time to put on. So, I'm so happy you said, "You bulked up," because when you say, "You bulked up," that means you couldn't tell,' the star said However, not long after seeing the photos, some fans speculated that the star was actually donning a bodysuit One typed on social media, 'That has to be a body suit. There's no way The Rock is that big,' while another added, 'don't shoot me.. but that's a body suit right? I don't recall The Rock being THAT big' One typed on social media, 'That has to be a body suit. There's no way The Rock is that big,' while another added, 'don't shoot me.. but that's a body suit right? I don't recall The Rock being THAT big.' 'The Rock and skinny don't go in the same sentence. but it does look like a body suit,' one also shared. Another penned, 'The Rock in body suit looks weird and i am surprised he is wearing long hair.' 'It doesn't, the arms alone are a dead giveaway that he's wearing a body suit. Rock doesn't have that much body fat,' one fan added. 'You signed The Rock and then put him in a body suit? Aw hellllll nooooo,' another wrote, while a social media user shared, 'Wait is The Rock THAT big or is that a body suit?...' Dwayne has voiced Maui since the 2016 film, Moana, was released - and reprised the role in the sequel, which hits theaters on Wednesday, November 27 just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. In regards to first stepping onto the set for the live-action remake, the actor also told Extra that the moment was 'eye-opening.' 'I have a handle on who Maui is. I know the voice, I know the man, I know his inspiration. I can access things. I got it.' 'The Rock and skinny don't go in the same sentence. but it does look like a body suit,' one also shared He added that the 'moment I stepped on set' of the upcoming adaptation, 'I realized right away, "Oh, wow, this is different," in terms of this is real flesh-and-blood and skin-and-bones.' 'It becomes real all of the sudden. It was almost like getting in my grandfather's skin and what that was like.' While filming the live-action remake of the original 2016 film, Dwayne has also been preparing for the release of Moana 2. Along with Johnson, other stars that were cast in the sequel include Auli'i Cravalho, Alan Tudyk, Nicole Scherzinger and Temuera Morrison. The premise is: 'After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced,' per IMDB. Dwayne's two youngest daughters - Jasmine, eight, and Tiana, six - also made their movie debut in Moana 2 to voice members of Moana-be's fan club. While filming the live-action remake of the original 2016 film, Dwayne has also been preparing for the release of Moana 2 The actor shares the two with wife, Lauren Hashian, and is also father to Simone, 23, whom he welcomed with ex Dany Garcia. During his interview with Extra, the star opened up about walking the red carpet at the premiere of the animated sequel with all three of his daughters. 'My daughters, all three of my daughters were there. That was the first time we'd all been together in a public place before. That was beautiful. My mom was there. It's our culture.' Johnson added, 'I grew up here, got in trouble here 15 miles up the road. My grandfather's buried here. My grandfather inspired the character of Maui...It all came together.' Dwayne's two youngest daughters - Jasmine, eight, and Tiana, six - also made their movie debut in Moana 2 to voice members of Moana-be's fan club; seen above with wife Lauren, daughters Jasmine and Tiana, and his mother Ata Johnson He then compared himself to his character of Maui, saying they are both 'egotistical, loud, big mouth' He then compared himself to his character of Maui, saying they are both 'egotistical, loud, big mouth.' The star also added, 'I think, trying to find joy around every corner, even if things are a little screwy or wobbly, maybe in real life.' 'So, I've had a tendency over the years to not sweep it under the carpet but just, I know funky s**t is going on and I'm dealing with it, but let me try and find a place over here where I can be happy or smile or try and access some happy and joy.' The Black Adam actor expressed, 'I find myself doing that. It helps me deal with the not-joyous stuff.' Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar have been spotted in Sydney as the actor gears up to reprise one of his most famous roles. The Hollywood power couple have made a very low-key arrival in Australia for Freddie to film the sequel to 90s cult classic I Know What You Did Last Summer. They were spotted at Chin Chin restaurant in Surry Hills with their children - daughter Charlotte Grace, 15, and son Rocky James, 12 - on Saturday, according to the Daily Telegraph. The couple will reportedly be staying in a private home in Sydney until Christmas, when they will return to the United States after wrapping up filming. Freddie, 48, had long been rumoured to be reprising his role as Ray Bronson in the reboot of 1997 horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sarah, 47, officially confirmed her husband's involvement last month and they arrived in Sydney for the start of filming in recent days. Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar (pictured in California in October 2023) have been spotted in Sydney as the actor gears up to reprise one of his most famous roles Sarah also starred in the popular original but her character Helen Shivers was killed off, so she will not be appearing in the reprise. However, she will still be on set as Freddie is starring while her best friend Jennifer Kaytin Robinson will be directing. 'We joke that I have an unofficial job, which is I am continuity,' she told People last month. 'So I'm always the one telling her: ''Well, that would happen, or that wouldn't happen with those characters,'' so I do have kind of an unofficial job title.' Freddie and Sarah met on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but only began dating three years later, and are now one of Hollywood's biggest success stories. Jennifer Love Hewitt is also rumoured to be returning in her role as Julie James for the reboot, but she has not yet been sighted in Australia. Monster star Nicholas Chavez, Matty Healy's model fiancee Gabbriette Bechtel and The Summer I Turned Pretty actress Lola Tung are also making up the cast. Outerbanks' Madelyn Cline, Bodies Bodies Bodies star Chase Sui Wonders and One Tree Hill icon Austin Nichols are also currently filming for the release in Sydney. The Hollywood power couple have arrived in Australia for Freddie to film the sequel to 90s cult classic I Know What You Did Last Summer (they are both pictured in the original film) The thriller follows four teenagers who accidentally run over a man and dump his body to conceal their crime, before being stalked by a murderer who knows of their secret Nicholas, 25, has been spotted out-and-about Down Under in recent days, and surprised fans with a low-key appearance at a Melbourne cafe at the weekend. Nicholas, known for his portrayal of killer Lyle Menendez in hit Netflix series Monster, visited the cafe Little Collins Melbourne. Waitress Elena took to TikTok to share a video of her encounter with the actor as he stopped to smile for photographs with the delighted fan. Alongside the video, shared to her page @elenaabellinaso, she penned: 'POV: You moved to Melbourne and Nicholas Chavez stops by the place where you got a job.' Nicholas has been keeping details of his visit Down Under under wraps, but his girlfriend Victoria Abbott took to Instagram to share some pictures from the trip. The couple looked loved-up as they posed arm-in-arm during a hot air balloon ride at sunset in one adorable snap. They were also seen feeding kangaroos and cuddling koalas as they got up close and personal with the local Australian wildlife. Details about filming for the hotly-anticipated sequel have been kept tightly under wraps so far, but the film is expected to arrive in cinemas on July 18, 2025. Monster star Nicholas Chavez is also joining the cast for the sequel and shocked fans by making a low-key appearance at a Melbourne cafe over the weekend (pictured) A reboot featuring the original stars has been in the works for a while, with reports indicating they were in talks to come back to the franchise as far back as February 2023. The thriller follows four teenagers who accidentally run over a man and dump his body to conceal their crime, before being stalked by a murderer who knows of their secret. It also starred Ryan Phillippe in a leading role while Johnny Galecki, Bridgette Wilson, and the late Anne Heche - who died in August 2022 aged 53 - also made up the cast. The hit film, loosely based on Lois Duncan's 1973 novel, spawned the sequels I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998 and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer in 2006. It was also the source material for a 2021 Amazon Prime series that ran for just one season, with Madison Iseman and Brianne Tju in the lead roles. Eagle-eyed Home and Away fans have spotted a major spoiler for the 2025 series in a promo photo shared to social media. The 2024 season of the long-running Channel Seven soap opera ended with a major cliffhanger last week, as Cash, played by Nicholas Cartwright, wakes up next to his enemy Tim's lifeless body. Cash's ex-girlfriend Eden, played by Stephanie Panozzo, had warned him that Tim's former client Nerida (Ellie Gall) felt slighted and was out for revenge. Fans noticed that Nerida appeared in a promo shot which appeared to feature her character in handcuffs at a police station being booked by Officer Rose Delaney (Kirsty Marillier). Viewers took to social media to claim the photo provided a major clue that her mysterious character was involved in Cash's predicament. 'Definitely Nerida in handcuffs,' one follower wrote. Eagle-eyed Home and Away fans have spotted a major spoiler for the 2025 series in a promo photo shared to social media, suggesting that Ellie Gall's (pictured) character Nerida may have something to do with her enemy Cash's major predicament 'Maybe that girl is one of the people arrested,' a second suggested and a third chipped in: 'That is Nerida definitely.' The iconic Australian drama series has developed a reputation for its suspenseful and gripping cliffhangers. In August, fans were left devastated when fan-favourite character Felicity Newman, played by Jacqui Purvis, collapsed and died in shock scenes. After leaving fans in tears following her character's death on the soap, the actress, 33, broke her silence on her heartbreaking final episodes. The Aussie star, who is looking to make it big in Hollywood, posted a touching tribute to her fans and the show which made her famous. 'What a life! Thank you to @homeandaway for an incredible three years. Had an absolute blast,' she wrote alongside a montage of her behind-the-scenes antics. 'This is just a snippet of the love I have for the cast and crew, a lot of people are missing.' Jacqui went on to pay special thanks also to her co-star and on screen romantic interest Ethan Browne, who portrayed Felicity's ex-husband Tane Parata. They noticed that Gall appeared in a promo shot which appeared to feature her character in handcuffs at the police station Viewers took to social media to claim this snap provided a major clue that Gall's character was involved in Cash's (Nicholas Cartwight) predicament. Pictured 'There's too many people to thank but most importantly to Ethan for helping create a beautiful love story,' Jacqui wrote. 'And to the fans for your undying support, thank you for allowing Flick into your homes. I hope she brought you as much joy as she did me.' The Home and Away account commented beneath the emotional video and message 'We will miss you' alongside a series of red love hearts. Ethan also responded, writing: 'What a journey indeed! You brought "Tanicity" to life, and injected a thunderous energy to the bay! 'Thank you for gracing us all with it. You are going to be sorely missed, my friend.' Jacqui's final scenes aired in August when Felicity's brother Cash made the heartbreaking decision to switch off her life support. Home and Away viewers were shocked when Jacqui's character Felicity, nicknamed Flick, suddenly collapsed in the gripping episode. Felicity suddenly fell to the ground when her vision went blurry during an emotional conversation with ex-husband Tane. Channel Seven's Sunrise has been attacked by viewers for giving coverage to a commercial partner without properly disclosing the relationship. The conspiracy theory emerged on Tuesday after the breakfast shows co-hosts Natalie Barr and Matt 'Shirvo' Shirvington did a segment on the arrival of the Leapmotor C10 electric vehicle in Australia. It was the same car Sunrise gave away during a segment to a lucky winner on the show last Friday. 'I suppose it's only fair, if you supply a car for a giveaway that you get a five minute "special report" on the show,' one critic sarcastically said of the spot on TV blog Media Spy. Another viewer thought Sunrise were at risk of being scrutinised by ABC's Media Watch hosted by Paul Barry. 'They must know this is a Media Watch spot waiting to happen,' they claimed. Sunrise has been attacked by viewers for giving coverage to a commercial partner without properly disclosing the relationship. The weird conspiracy theory emerged after the breakfast shows co-hosts Natalie Barr and Matt 'Shirvo' Shirvington did a segment on the arrival of the Leapmotor C10 electric vehicle in Australia It was the same car Sunrise gave away during a segment to a lucky winner on the show last Friday But the criticism is unfounded, as Seven's website advertised the giveaway on its news porthole as 'partner content'. Last week, Sunrise posted footage of the giveaway to its Instagram account, which featured the car being delivered by helicopter to the lucky winner. The content included the caption: 'Thanks to our friends at Leapmotor Australia for making [winner] Nina's dream come true.' Meanwhile, Matt Doran has called time on his five years at Weekend Sunrise. The breakfast show host, 41, made the emotional announcement live on air at the end of the show on Sunday. The Seven star, who recently opened up about his struggles with depression on The Morning Show, said he will be taking time to focus on family and to pursue other opportunities. 'Before we go today, a bit of breaking news from the Doran household. I Want to share with you a decision I've made, with my beautiful wife Kendall - and of course in earnest consultation with our beloved Italian greyhound Murphy - and this is, after five years at Weekend Sunrise, I will be finishing up at the end of the year,' he said. 'This is something I've agonised over because it's honest to say this is one of the best jobs on earth, but we think it's right and at the right time - for our little family. But the criticism is unfounded, as Seven's website advertised the giveaway on its news porthole as 'partner content'. Pictured: The Sunrise giveaway Last week, Sunrise posted footage of the giveaway to its Instagram, which featured the car being delivered by helicopter to the lucky winner 'While I'm sad, and I'm doing everything possible presently not to look Mon (co-host Monique Wright) in the eye, where I am right now is honestly a place of incredible gratitude for the laughs, the lessons, the tears, the phenomenal sense of life perspective, the carousels of astonishing snacks and I guess even the tofu. 'It is my unshakeable belief that this role - specifically, being entrusted with the telling of people's most intimate, most personal stories - is one of the more privileged positions on the planet.' Matt will present his final episode of Weekend Sunrise on Sunday, December 8, alongside his long-time co-host Wright. He broke down in tears speaking about his friendship with his closest colleague. 'Mon, you are not just a colleague, you are my best friend and I am going to miss you, any chance of a hug?' he said. 'I am going to miss you.' In September - when Matt appeared on Morning Sunrise to spruik his latest book, Mental State, on Australia's mental healthcare system - he bravely opened up about his own struggles with depression. Matt, who started his career as a police reporter at the Herald Sun, joined Seven in 2017 after spending almost eight years in Network Ten's newsroom. Two years later, he was promoted to his current role as co-host of Weekend Sunrise, alongside Monique Wright, after intermittently filling in for weekday host David Koch. Dan Rather's wife Jean Rather has died at the age 89 following a battle with cancer, friends of the family announced in a Facebook post Tuesday. 'Today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family,' the post on Dan Rather's account read. 'Jean Rather, Dans wife, passed away at their home in Austin, Texas, early this morning. Jean, who was married to the iconic newsman, 93, for 67 years, 'had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her.' The statement continued: 'Please keep the Rathers in your thoughts. Jean lived a full life as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist - and a true Texan.' An obituary put out by the family noted that Jean was 'surrounded by loving family and friends and her beautiful artwork' at the time she passed away Tuesday. The family said that Jean's 'cause of death was cancer.' Dan Rather's wife Jean Rather has died at the age 89 following a battle with cancer, friends of the family announced in a Facebook post Tuesday. Pictured in 2013 in NYC Jean and Dan, pictured in 2017 in NYC, shared a 67-year marriage Jean's family noted in the obit that she was as 'a very accomplished artist' whose 'paintings and collages were shown in galleries and private collections across the United States. 'She attended art classes at American University and Mary Mount Manhattan College,' the obit stated. 'Through careful study of master artists paintings and sculpture in museums in England, France, Italy, Russia, Israel, Greece, Turkey, and Southeast Asia, Jean created a unique contemporary philosophy and style.' Jean had been New York City's Painter Member and Vice Chair of the Art Commission for an eight-year span, her family said. Jean's 'many dear friends have been wonderful companions, and their love and support meant the world to her,' the obit read. Jean had also been affiliated with nonprofit organizations such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, UT Press, and the Harry Ransom Center, according to her family. Jean 'went straight to work' after she 'graduated from Smithville public schools' and eventually crossed paths with 'her one true love, Dan Rather, at a Houston radio station' they worked at. Over their near-seven decade union, the couple lived in cities such as Austin, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New York City and London, spending the last three years in Texas. 'The Rathers travels around the world gave Jean a perspective and understanding she had never dreamed of and that at times reminded her of Cinderella at the ball,' the obit read. 'She never forgot where she came from, never lost her Texas roots, and never wavered from her fierce independence and endless creativity.' Jean's family said she was as 'a very accomplished artist' whose 'paintings and collages were shown in galleries and private collections across the United States' The couple was pictured at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. in December of 1987 The obit noted that Jean 'was a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm' and 'also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile.' Jean was described in the obit as a 'tremendous mother and grandmother' and 'a confidante and friend to all her family members.' Dan Rather told People last year that Jean was 'absolutely committed' to him throughout his career, which kept him on the road for long stretches early on. 'The first year I was with CBS News, I was home 41 days out of the year,' Dan said. '41 days out of the year. Very hard to hold a marriage and a family together then.' Dan said Jean's 'fighting heart' and can-do mentality was a driving force in their marriage, which spanned more than six decades. '"Whatever it takes, we're going to make it work,"' he said of her mentality. 'And maybe the saving grace was ... when I was home, I tried to hit the off switch. 'I tried to make every hour count with my children, Robin, my eldest, and Dan, my youngest. They grew up with it. And again, all credit to Jean to whom I've been married for 66 years now.' Rather's last broadcast on CBS News came on March 9, 2005 amid a controversy surrounding a probe into then-President George W. Bush's military service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. The couple was pictured in their native Austin, Texas in March of 2018 during SXSW The pair was pictured at the Texas Medal of Arts Awards at the Long Center in 2015 in Austin Rather introduced a segment in which documents of questionable credibility were showcased; many journalists involved with the piece said they believed the evidence presented was authentic, according to the AP. Rather's ties with CBS - where he worked for 44 years, 24 of which as the CBS Evening News anchor - were officially severed when his contract wrapped up the following year. Dan Rather's life and career were chronicled in a Netflix documentary titled Rather that debuted in April. Dan in the doc said that Jean put his exodus from the network into clear perspective, telling him, 'You got into a fight with the president of the United States during his reelection campaign - what did you think was going to happen?' A number of people on X/Twitter posted well-wishes for the former CBS anchor amid news of his wife's passing. Film critic Joe Leydon said: 'Offering prayers and condolences to @DanRather, whose dear wife Jean Rather passed away at their home in Austin, Texas, early this morning.' Veteran news editor-producer Jerry Cipriano said, 'Deepest condolences to my dear friend Dan Rather on the passing of his beloved wife, Jean. May she rest in peace.' Writer Bob D'Angelo said, 'Sending prayers and thoughts to @DanRather after hearing about today's passing of his beloved wife of 67 years, Jean Goebel Rather. A number of people on X/Twitter posted well-wishes for the former CBS anchor amid news of his wife's passing Fans on social media offered kind words in the wake of Jean's passing 'If you've read any of Dan's books, you'd know what a rock Jean was during his times - good and bad - as a journalist.' Reporter Robert Lang said, 'Condolences to @DanRather on the loss of his wife. They were married for 67 years.' One user wrote, 'SAY A PRAYER FOR DAN RATHER: Jean Rather, Dans wife, passed away at their home in Austin, earlier today. Their marriage lasted 67-years!' The family said that in lieu of flowers, 'a wonderful way to remember' Jean would be to donate to the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, based out of Austin, Texas. Jean is survived by her husband, Dan; son Danjack and partner Ann Prunty, and grandson Martin; daughter Robin and partner, Mike Marler and grandson Andy; 'and many members of the extended Wallace, Zimerhanzel, and Rather families,' the obit stated. Matt Lucas enjoyed a night out with his mother Diana this week as they attended the Music of Dusty Springfield show at the Adelphi Theatre in London on Tuesday. The actor, 50, wrapped an arm around his mum as they left the theatre together after the show, which stars West End legend Mazz Murray. Matt and his mother, who bare a striking resemblance, appeared to have had a great night out together as they flashed beaming smiles during their exit. The Little Britain star was wrapped up in a green padded jacket and scarf, which he teamed with a pair of navy trousers and trainers. Meanwhile, Diana was wearing a camouflage print coat with a black scarf, which she wore with black trousers and trainers. Matt Lucas enjoyed a night out with his mother Diana this week as they attended the Music of Dusty Springfield show at the Adelphi Theatre in London on Tuesday The actor, 50, wrapped an arm around his mum as they left the theatre together after the show, which stars West End legend Mazz Murray Mazz Murray, 50, who is the voice of so many iconic musical roles, will put her powerhouse vocals behind the songs of Dusty Springfield. Inside the event, Lucas caught up with Mazz as they posed for pictures together ahead of her performance. Mazz looked glamorous in a sequin cream dress, which she accessorised with a pair of gold stud earrings and a glitzy ring. The spectacular display of her talent will be a true celebration of a British legend in a thrilling and emotional theatrical event. Her performance will feature some of Dusty's hit songs including You Dont Have to Say You Love Me, Son of a Preacher Man, and I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten. Matt's appearance comes after he stunned Gladiator II fans by making a surprise cameo in the blockbuster. He appeared briefly in the film, taking on the role of the master of ceremonies during the dramatic battle scenes between Pedro Pascal's Marcus Acacius and Paul Mescal's Lucius Verus. Following the release of the movie on November 15, fans have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to express their surprise at the comedians unexpected appearance. Mazz looked glamorous in a sequin cream dress, which she accessorised with a pair of gold stud earrings and a glitzy ring Matt's appearance comes after he stunned Gladiator II fans by making a surprise cameo in the blockbuster He appeared briefly in the film, taking on the role of the master of ceremonies during the dramatic battle scenes between Pedro Pascal 's Marcus Acacius and Paul Mescal 's Lucius Verus One user wrote: 'Matt Lucas being in the cast of Gladiator 2 was not on tonight's bingo card.' Another asked: 'Why is Matt Lucas in gladiator 2?' A third penned: 'Matt Lucas as the master of ceremonies in Gladiator 2 just made the whole thing feel like a really fraught episode of the Great British Bake Off.' 'Biggest shock of gladiator 2 was matt lucas being in it,' a fourth commented. A fifth gushed: 'Matt Lucas from GBBO in Gladiator II? My two worlds collide.' A sixth added: 'Gladiator II was sick but Matt Lucas being in it was a step too far. Matt has appeared in movies including Bridesmaids, Alice in Wonderland and Wonka, but told This Morning that landing a role in a Ridley Scott film was one of the biggest achievements of his career. He previously told hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: 'I'm in four scenes. Actually I say that, I haven't seen the film yet so I don't know how much has even made it in. 'But I had four trips to Malta and I'm the master of ceremonies in the big colosseum. 'But I'm not one of the main characters...ok, I'm the lead in the film! It was amazing though to be in a Ridley Scott movie. 'I've been in some big films, but the scale of this was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I didn't know if I'd even make it in.' Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts The actor took on the role of the master of ceremonies during the dramatic battle scenes between Pedro Pascal 's Marcus Acacius and Paul Mescal 's Lucius Verus (pictured Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal) Lucas has appeared in movies including Bridesmaids, Alice in Wonderland and Wonka, but told This Morning that landing a role in a Ridley Scott film was one of the biggest achievements of his career Talking about the process of auditioning, Lucas added: 'I had to record myself introducing one of the battles and film myself in the flat I was renting while my house was being refurbished. 'I think I did about 80 takes til I had one I wasn't too unsatisfied with. 'So I sent a couple of tapes and forgot about it, and then 10 days later I got an email saying Sir Ridley Scott would like you to come and do it.' The long-awaited sequel currently has a 'certified fresh' 73% critic approval rating (out of 225 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes. The Gladiator II ensemble also includes Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, and Connie Nielsen. Danny Jones' proud mother Kathy has predicted the McFly star will be crowned King Of The Jungle. The families of the celebrities arrived in Brisbane on Tuesday ahead of the evictions coming up. As Kathy touched down in the airport, she reflected on Danny's, 38, 'emotional rollercoaster' jungle experience so far. She told The Mirror: 'I was laughing watching him with the snake down his trousers and then the next day I was crying. 'It got me a bit. I am so proud of him... I think he could win, and do it for the North.' She also told MailOnline: 'Danny's amazing, he's doing amazing. I loved the snake down his trousers and it's really unusual of him not to wash his pants for three days, he's usually very hygienic. Danny Jones' proud mother Kathy has predicted the McFly star, 38, will be crowned King Of The Jungle As Kathy (pictured) touched down in the airport, she reflected on Danny's 'emotional rollercoaster' jungle experience so far 'He's the nicest man I know apart from Harry, Danny and Tom [McFly] they're also really nice.' The mother-of-two revealed that she hadn't heard from his bandmates personally but she had seen their videos on social media and loved them. Her arrival in Australia comes after Danny broke down in tears as he opened up about his life-long anxiety during Wednesday night's episode. Danny was overcome with emotion as he discussed his mental health with his campmates, admitting he has had therapy since he was 19-years-old. Fans praised the star for being so honest and open about his mental health, after Strictly's Oti Mabuse, 34, stressed the importance of men talking about their feelings. During the very emotional chat, Oti was brought to tears as she revealed her half-brother Neo committed suicide and admitted he probably would still be alive if 'he had spoken to someone about what he was feeling'. Explaining that one of his tattoos says 'Don't Worry, Be Happy', Danny said: 'It's because I'm always constantly worrying, but that's what I'm working on. 'I've been in therapy since I was 19 for anxiety.' She said: 'I was laughing watching him with the snake down his trousers and then the next day I was crying. It got me a bit. I am so proud of him... I think he could win, and do it for the North' She also told MailOnline: 'Danny's amazing, he's doing amazing. I loved the snake down his trousers and it's really unusual of him not to wash his pants for three days, he's usually very hygienic' The families of the celebrities arrived in Brisbane on Tuesday ahead of the evictions coming up The mother-of-two revealed that she hadn't heard from his bandmates personally but she had seen their videos on social media and loved them Danny recalled a moment where he had a panic attack on live TV while being interviewed. He said: I was freaking out and I couldn't answer the question that got asked to me. [My] Heartrate goes crazy.' As Jane asked whether he thought he had anxiety from a child or from being in a band, he said: 'I think I escaped a lot.' It comes after Danny's 'estranged' father has lifted the lid on their decades-long rift for the first time, revealing he hasn't seen the star for 18 years. In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Alan Jones, 72, believes a bitter divorce from Danny's mother Kathy tarnished his relationship with his son, who he describes as a 'lovely lad' with a 'heart of gold'. He claims they had an 'excellent' bond throughout the McFly guitarist's childhood in Bolton and he 'dedicated his life' to helping kick-start his successful music career. The radio DJ, who now lives in Benidorm with his current wife Sharon, has yet to meet his six-year-old grandson Cooper, who Danny shares with his wife and former Miss England Georgia Horsley - but he is holding out hope that 'one day it will happen' and that he'll 'finally get that pint with his son'. Danny has never visited his father in Spain, where he moved to in 2016, and Alan was not present at his daughter Vicky's wedding last year. It comes after Danny's 'estranged' father Alan (pictured) has lifted the lid on their decades-long rift for the first time, revealing he hasn't seen the star for 18 years He claims they had an 'excellent' bond throughout the McFly guitarist's childhood in Bolton and he 'dedicated his life' to helping kick-start his successful music career Alan was also not invited to Danny's nuptials with Georgia in 2014. Speaking from his radio station in L'Alfas del Pi, Alan explained how his marriage to Kathy went south when Danny and Vicky left home in the early 2000s. Danny was in London after signing a record label alongside Tom Fletcher to form the band McFly - which would go on to sell more than 10 million records worldwide. Alan said: 'It should have been a time where the marriage got a bit closer, but it didn't. 'I can't explain why but it didn't, so we had two very bad years, and in fact, Danny saw this with his sister and they wrote a song about it and then I met Sharon and that was it.' Danny was 19 when Alan walked out on the family in 2005, and has previously revealed how he sought therapy for anxiety over the incident. Michael Barrymore stepped out with a male companion on Tuesday as he has started his new life in Spain. The comedian, 72, who has been using TikTok to relaunch his career, bundled up in a cream sherpa coat and zip-up jumper. By his side was a male companion, who looked stylish in wide-leg jeans and a white hoodie. Michael and the man - who have been seen together before - took his pet pooch Lara for a walk around the town of El Papiol close to Barcelona. Michael recently revealed his plans to move to Spain 'to change his life for the better' in a TikTok video. He put his London home on the market before heading to Spain, according to reports in July. Michael Barrymore stepped out with a male companion on Tuesday as he has started his new life in Spain The comedian, 72, who has been using TikTok to relaunch his career, bundled up in a cream sherpa coat and zip-up jumper Barrymore was previously one of the UK's top stars but his decades long career ended after the death of Stuart Lubbock in 2001 following a party at his Essex home. On his recent personal TikTok account Michael titled a video with his puppy 'Our new life in Spain'. A second video posted was called 'Week 1 in Barcelona' and Barrymore tells the cameras: 'I said I was homesick but I realise now I was just fearful. 'What I really want is for our new life to work out. I've got into a bit of a routine now which is helping me to settle, I take Lara (his dog) for a walk to the beach every morning and then we find somewhere to have something to eat, a coffee or go for a walk around the town. Captioning his post, he wrote: 'Never be afraid to change your life for the better #michaelbarrymore #movingabroad'. Explaining why he is deciding to move ship, Michael said: 'Hey guys, yes I am moving to Barcelona. 'I'm 72 now and I realise that quality of life is more important to me than anything, so I'm going to Spain. 'I love the place. It's not the Spain that I grew up with, there's all the package resorts that we all know, this is the mainland Spain, It's amazing. By his side was a male companion, who looked stylish in wide-leg jeans and a white hoodie as they took Michael's pet pooch Lara for a walk around the town of El Papiol close to Barcelona Michael recently revealed his plans to move to Spain 'to change his life for the better' in a TikTok video A second video posted was called 'Week 1 in Barcelona' and Barrymore tells the cameras: 'I said I was homesick but I realise now I was just fearful' 'The culture there and the people and just the art and everything. I started looking around Girona and the Catalonia area for houses back in March. 'I've flown out a couple of times already to look for places and see what I like. Once I decide which villa I like, I probably maybe around Lloret de Mar, of course I'm gonna take Dave with me and of course I'm going to take you guys with me. 'So don't worry, I'm going to vlog everything and you're going to join me all the way through this entire story. 'Until I find the villa of my dreams, I'm going to find out as much as I can about it, download Duolingo, learn the language. I can't wait.' The move to Spain comes more than 20 years after a young man was found dead in his swimming pool following a house party and Michael practically disappeared from public life. The TV presenter lost his job at ITV shortly afterwards in 2003, and he was rarely seen again until he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in January 2006 - managing to finish in second place. A series of career revival attempts followed but they were often overshadowed by the ongoing investigation into the death of Stuart Lubbock. Between that year and 2019, Barrymore and others were arrested and questioned on multiple occasions. Barrymore's decades long career ended after the death of Stuart Lubbock in 2001 following a party at his Essex home (pictured on his show Strike it Lucky in 1986) Stuart Lubbock (pictured) was found dead in Barrymore's swimming pool more than 20 years ago No charges were ever filed and the star ultimately sued Essex Police for wrongful arrest, although he dropped his compensation claim of 2.4m after a court ruled he was due 'nominal' damages. But the TV personality has been taking his career back into his own hands by building a loyal fan base on the social media app TikTok. He is no stranger to the stage, having performed sell-out shows before his career collapsed in 2001 when Lubbock, 31, was found dead in the swimming pool of his Essex mansion after the star hosted a late-night party. He has always denied any knowledge of what happened. The performer has now amassed 3.1 million followers on the social media platform, where his bio reads: 'This is a very happy place to be' Barrymore posts multiple videos per day and his followers often leave him messages of love and support. Michael has become Gen Z's unlikely hero by reinventing himself as a TikTok star two decades after the pool tragedy halted his career But online he's not afraid to come out of his shell and has posted several humorous clips 'You really are living your best life right now and clearly loving it,' wrote one admirer under his videos, 'So happy for you.' Another said: 'You'll always be the funniest man... we love you mister Barrymore, I wish you all the happiness in the world.' Barrymore repeatedly shares old clips from his television shows Kids Say The Funniest Things and Strike It Rich, which aired on ITV between 1998 and 2000 and from 1996 to 1999 respectively. He has also expressed his love of the video battle royale game Fortnite , beloved by the Gen Z crowd. The Spice Girls were the biggest girl band of the nineties but any hopes of a reformation since their 2019 tour have been scuppered- due to an ugly feud between two members. Reports emerged this week Geri Horner has derailed a huge TV drama deal which would have netted each of the five members 1million each. Insiders have claimed talks were going well until Geri, 52, decided to back out of her involvement in the project. It is the latest blow to the band, with Ginger Spice also said to have pulled the plug on plans for a new Spice Girls reunion tour and a Netflix documentary for the band's 30th anniversary. Sources say the 'nightmare' fall out between Geri and Mel B has left the band unable to find a manager who is capable of 'mediating' to help push projects over the line. The feud began when Melanie Brown, 49, confessed she had a lesbian fling with Geri during the band's nineties heyday on Piers Morgan's chat show in 2019. The Spice Girls were the biggest girl band of the nineties but any hopes of a reformation since their 2019 tour have been scuppered - due to an ugly feud between two members Sources say the 'nightmare' fall out between Geri and Mel B has left the band unable to find a manager who is capable of 'mediating' to help push projects over the line In the interview, Melanie told Piers the passionate encounter 'just happened' and seemed aware of how Geri, who married Formula 1 racing team boss Christian Horner in 2015, would take the revelation. Mel said: 'She is going to hate me for this because she is all posh with her country house and her husband, but its a fact. But it wasnt a thing, it just happened and we just giggled at it and that was it.' 'I have said it now. All done. She is going to kill me.' Geri denied the affair took place, with Mel accused of dreaming it up to sell copies of her tell-all memoir, Brutally Honest. A source close to the band said at the time: Its not a very nice thing to do even if you do have a book to promote. Nothing ever happened. We all know Mel B loves a headline. It might have been funny 15 to 20 years ago but it was over the top and not funny. At the time, Mel's bombshell claims threatened to wreak havoc with the band's reunion tour. The feud began when Melanie Brown, 49, confessed she had a lesbian fling with Geri during the band's nineties heyday on Piers Morgan 's chat show in 2019 Rehearsals for the sell-out shows began just two weeks after the air date, but the band managed to put on a united display before the first performance in Dublin on May 24 (pictured) Rehearsals for the sell-out shows began just two weeks after the air date, but the band managed to put on a united display before the first performance in Dublin on May 24. However the episode of ITV's Life Stories has repercussions to this day according to insiders, with internal tensions between Geri and Mel a 'red flag' for securing any future projects, including another a tour. Despite the pleas from the bandmates, Victoria is adamant that she will never perform with them again, according to insiders as she wants to focus on her fashion brand. 'Managing all five Spice Girls is probably the toughest job in the business, but it is the fallout between Mel B and Geri that makes the job seem like a nightmare,' a source told Mail On Sunday's Katie Hind. 'There is always something going on between them deep down they love one another, but Geri just can't understand why Mel had to tell the world about their fling. 'It has caused a whole load of drama, so they are struggling. 'The girls are certain that they can get some big gigs, Glastonbury even, if they find the right manager but they can't.' Music industry sources say the internal tensions are a 'red flag' despite the chance for any potential candidate to make a fortune from the gigs (pictured together in 2019) Spice Girls reunited at Victoria's epic 50th birthday bash but any hopes of a proper reunion for fans are off the cards, according to reports Music industry sources say the internal tensions are a 'red flag' despite the chance for any potential candidate to make a fortune from the gigs as the band approaches its 30th anniversary. It is a blow to its members, who had hoped to reunite for the milestone, with a primetime spot at next year's Glastonbury Festival now seemingly a pipedream. The last time the Spice Girls reunited in a professional capacity was for an iconic performance at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony. In 2019, the band headed out on a UK stadium tour but fashion designer Victoria notably chose not to join, claiming she was too busy with her clothing brand. The Spice Girls are said to not want their creator, Simon Fuller, involved nor will Modest Management, the company that managed their tour in 2019, come on board and according to sources, they cannot find a manager capable of mediating or who is willing to. Geri is also said to have backed out of a TV adaptation following the band's meteor rise to fame. According to The Sun, Geri, Mel, Mel C, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton were all approached about a drama series that came with a seven-figure payday. A source said: 'It would have seen five actresses taking on the roles of Posh, Ginger, Scary, Sporty and Baby. 'The venture would have landed them all pay deals of around 1million for essentially not lifting a finger. 'But as the negotiations ramped up, the others were told Geri had objected. The plans have basically been thrown out.' The insider added that, without the agreement of Geri, it will be difficult to make the project happen. MailOnline has contacted representatives for all five Spice Girls for comment. Insiders say there have been many more digs and jibes behind the scenes by Mel which have infuriated Geri - who has had a tough six months amid allegations of her Formula One chief husband Christian Horner's inappropriate behaviour with a female assistant. In August, Christian's allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague were dismissed following an appeal. Mel made jibes at her former friend by wishing her a 'Happy 75th Birthday' online alongside a series of unflattering photographs from their heyday, seemingly a reference to her previous jibes that Geri had lied about her age in the past. Mel also claimed in an interview that Geri has lied about her age for years. Despite travelling the world together in the band's heyday, Scary Spice claimed Geri always kept her passport close to her chest so she 'still doesn't know' how old she is. A source said: 'They've always had a tricky relationship but this has got very messy now and nobody has been able to smooth things over between them - so it's all off again.' Mel B's representative declined to comment. Geri was also said to be against the idea of a Netflix documentary. Some believe Geri wasn't keen on the scrutiny due to the scandal over her husband Christian Horner, who was cleared in March Plans to mark their 30th anniversary with a documentary have also fallen apart. After the Netflix Beckham documentary, made by David's TV company, was such a success last year, the Spice Girls started to talk to the streamer about possibly making a similar all-access show about the group and their phenomenal success. It was to feature lengthy interviews with all of the 'girls' and their families, talking about their experiences of fame and of life since their pop heyday. The idea was to tie the documentary to the 30th anniversary of the group being founded in 1994. However, although Victoria, Mel B, Mel C and Emma were all keen on the documentary after a number of meetings, Geri was still against the idea and they were not able to talk her round. This disagreement - certainly not the first in the group - created a little bit of frost between Ginger and the other girls, reported Alison Boshoff. Some believe Geri wasn't keen on the scrutiny due to the scandal over her husband Christian Horner, whose role at F1 team Red Bull was in peril after an employee alleged he had harassed her. Christian was cleared in March after an inquiry, with the complainant launching an appeal that was subsequently thrown out in August, exonerating the Red Bull boss for a second time. A statement from Red Bull confirmed: The complainant exercised the right to appeal, and the appeal was carried by another independent KC. All stages of the appeal process have now been concluded , with the final outcome that the appeal is not upheld. The KCs conclusions have been accepted and adopted by Red Bull. The internal process has concluded. A source said: 'It might have been awkward for Geri to get out there and talk about Girl Power in these circumstances surrounding Christian but in truth even before it all came out she wasn't keen on revisiting those days. She just didn't want to go over all the fun, wild times that they had.' Michelle Bridges was very much in doting mum mode on Wednesday when she stepped out with son Axel. The fitness guru, 54, looked pleased as punch to be out on the town in Sydney with her seven-year-old to attend the premiere of Luzia by Cirque Du Soleil. And despite his tender years, young Axel already bears more than a striking resemblance to his dad and Michelle's ex Steve 'Commando' Willis. Michelle cut a youthful figure in a playful pink pleated top that exposed a hint of midriff. The sleeveless top also showed off Michelle's enviably toned arms, and showed off a subtle black and gold pendant she wore around her neck. Michelle matched the top with a pair of loose-fitting light blue jeans with a wide rolled cuff. Michelle Bridges was very much in doting mum mode on Wednesday when she stepped out with son Axel The fitness guru, 54, looked pleased as punch to be out on the town in Sydney with her seven-year-old to attend the premiere of Luzia by Cirque Du Soleil. She finished the casual-chic ensemble with a pair of strappy, bone-coloured sandals and a light pink leather handbag. Young Axel, meanwhile, looked smart in a blue and white striped shirt with his sleeves rolled up. Like his mum, Axel also wore a pair of light blue jeans as well as a pair of white Adidas sneakers. The pair were every bit the close knit family unit as they posed on the event's red carpet. As Axel smiled for the camera the striking similarities between the youngster and his famous dad were unmistakable. Michelle met Steve in 2013 on the set of the Biggest Loser. Later that year, the couple announced they were leaving their long-term partners around the same time and officially began dating each other. They welcomed their son Axel in 2015, before shocking fans by announcing their split in 2020. Despite his tender years, young Axel already bears more than a striking resemblance to his dad and Michelle's ex Steve 'Commando' Willis Former Army man Steve has three older children: daughter Brianna from an early relationship, and daughter Ella and son Jack from his relationship with an ex-partner known as Froso. While Michelle has stayed single since the split, Steve has moved on with fitness trainer Harika Vancuylenberg. Steve made his relationship with Harika 'Instagram official' in July 2020, about five months after they were first reported to be dating. In 2021, the former Michelle told Good Weekend magazine she suffered her fair share of 'dark' days following her split from Steve. 'I felt very alone,' she said. 'To be honest, it was the hardest time of my life, ever, leading up to what happened. I felt like I was in a fog, and I didn't know what was happening.' Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in October, Steve confirmed he keeps in regular contact with Michelle and the pair happily co-parent Axel. 'Yeah, the co-parenting and just the communications around that. Whether [Axel's] with her or he's with me. He gets a good mix,' he said. Michelle met Steve in 2013 on the set of the Biggest Loser. Later that year, the couple announced they were leaving their long-term partners around the same time and officially began dating each other 'We're both all for spending time with one another and I ensure he spends time with his brother and his sisters.' Meanwhile, Michelle returned to Australian television earlier this year in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! However, the trainer was the third celebrity to be eliminated, leaving the jungle after 21 days. Michelle admitted that she was disappointed to have missed out on the I'm A Celebrity final. 'I won't lie, I am disappointed. I really would have liked to have stayed a bit longer,' she confessed in her exit interview. 'I've loved meeting new people and I have made good friendships in there, I won't lie. 'There's some really great people I've connected with and I know that I'll have that connection on the outside.' The trainer rose to fame on The Biggest Loser in 2007, a reality television show where overweight contestants compete to lose the most weight. Michelle went on to appear on Celebrity MasterChef Australia in 2009, Dancing with the Stars in 2019, and Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2021. I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! has sparked controversy just a week into its latest series, with 70 complaints filed with Ofcom after hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly made jokes referencing the Bible and Christianity. The backlash began after Reverend Richard Coles, former Strictly Come Dancing contestant and prominent Church of England figure, entered the jungle alongside Love Island star Maura Higgins. During an eating challenge featuring Coles, 62, and Higgins, 34, Dec quipped: 'More tea, vicar?' in a nod to Coles' clerical role. Later, Dec, 49, described the trial as 'unholy,' to which Ant jokingly added, 'Bum-holey.' The humour escalated during Tuesday night's episode when Ant, 49, delivered a mock sermon about Coles waking up in camp. As Dec narrated, 'It's the start of a new day now, and the first to wake up was Reverend Richard,' Ant interrupted, saying: 'Though the night before there had been darkness and a plague of insects had been visited upon him but he had received a small bounty that did taste of cheese and praise be... he did rise again.' I'm a Celebrity has sparked controversy with 70 complaints filed with Ofcom after hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly made jokes referencing the Bible and Christianity The humour escalated during Tuesday night's episode when Ant, 49, delivered a mock sermon about Coles waking up in camp Dec then said: 'So basically you are saying Richard had a fright, got some crisps, then had a sleep and got out of bed?, to which Ant replied: 'Yes my child'. The duo also made prayers hands to orchestral music while cracking the jokes. While the skit amused some viewers, others found it disrespectful, leading to formal complaints to Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator. Neither Ant and Dec nor ITV have issued a public response. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'We are assessing the complaints, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.' MailOnline has approached ITV for comment. Dec was raised in the Catholic church and his late brother Dermott was a priest based in the family's north east. He tragically died at the age of 55 in 2022. Father Dermott was a regular visitor to his brother's traditionally London based shows, while the presenter travelled to the north-east frequently to attend Mass and visit the youth projects which had been a labour of love for the priest since the 1990s. The duo have come under fire as they made prayers hands to orchestral music while cracking the jokes While the skit amused some viewers, others found it disrespectful, leading to formal complaints to Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator Richard was ordained in 2005 and met his future husband, fellow priest David Oldham. In 2010 they entered a civil partnership together but David tragically died in 2019 after battling alcoholism Since his arrival in the jungle, Rev Richard has impressed viewers with his candid moments. In a conversation with influencer GK Barry (real name Grace Keeling), she asked about the challenges of being both religious and gay. Coles responded confidently: 'No, not at all. I've never given it a moment's twinge of anxiety over whether God thought it was alright or not. 'Whether other people thought it was alright or not, well, I'm happy to have that argument.' He added: 'I was not the first. Sometimes I look at documents from the early church or the church of the middle ages, and I just thinkso gay.' GK later admitted in the Bush Telegraph: 'Never in a million years would I have thought I'd get on best with a reverend.' Coles continued to make waves when GK asked if he had ever met a member of the royal family. Richard cheekily replied: 'Great in bed...' before bursting into laughter, leaving campmates stunned. Fans on social media were quick to react, with one user on X asking: 'Who has Richard bedded from the royal family? Have I missed something?!' Another posted: 'Reverend Richard said a royal was good in bed,' while a third declared, 'I need to know which royal he was talking about.' Richard opened up about how it feels to be a gay man involved in the church The writer, presenter and priest, 62, got candid about his sexuality with newfound friend GK Barry during Monday night's episode Dec's late brother Dermott (pictured) was a priest for the Catholic church based in the family's north east. He tragically died at the age of 55 in 2022 During Tuesday's episode, the Reverend revealed the heartbreaking dreams he has had about his late husband who died after battling alcoholism Richard was ordained in 2005, earning a reputation as one of the UK's most unconventional religious figures Richard's path from pop star to priesthood has fascinated fans. After The Communards, his synth-pop duo with Jimmy Somerville, disbanded in 1988, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1991 before returning to the Church of England in 2001. He was ordained in 2005, earning a reputation as one of the UK's most unconventional religious figures. During Tuesday's episode, the Reverend revealed the heartbreaking dreams he has had about his late husband who died after battling alcoholism. Richard opened up to dancer Oti Mabuse about life without his husband David Oldham - who died in 2019. Richard has since met his new partner partner Dickie Cant, but admitted that David remains a 'massive hole in his life'. 'I miss him,' Richard said. 'And I want him to walk in the door. I had a dream he walked in the door and he was just carrying a Co-op bag, just like he'd been shopping and I said to him "I thought you were dead" and he said "No I was just out shopping". 'I said "It's nice to see you, thanks for coming back", to which he said "Oh I'm not staying, I met somebody else",' Richard added, to which he and Oti began to laugh. 'But he's just a massive hole in my life and I'm living my life around that loss and I've met Dickie now, and that's great. 'So we're in a relationship now together but I just miss David very much.' As a star of the hit film Nanny McPhee, she was among the unruly children needing discipline from Dame Emma Thompson's character. And now Eliza Bennett has a baby of her own. The actress, 32, shocked fans on Tuesday when she revealed she'd welcomed a baby daughter with husband James Charlton after keeping her pregnancy secret. Eliza, who also starred in Inkheart and the Dynasty reboot, took to Instagram to post a montage of videos documenting her pregnancy journey. She revealed that her birth was 'not ideal' and resulted in an emergency C-section but that it was worth it for her 'squishy and cute' baby - whose name she has not disclosed. Eliza penned: 'I was a little quieter on here this year and this was for a few reasons but mainly because I had a little smoosh. Surprise!!' Eliza Bennett shocked fans on Tuesday when she revealed she'd welcomed a baby daughter with husband James Charlton after keeping her pregnancy secret As a star of the hit film Nanny McPhee, she was among the unruly children needing discipline from Dame Emma Thompson 's character (back right with Zinnia Barnes, Sam Honywood, Thomas Sangster, Holly Gibbs, Jennifer Rae Daykin and Raphael Coleman) She continued: 'I didnt feel the pull to share my pregnancy or birth on social media but as we draw close to the end of the year, I put this video together and felt the urge to share. 'Its a perfect lil snippet of some treasured moments from 2024. 'Its a wild thing having a child. In some ways pregnancy and birth can seem almost mundane, so many women have babies, so many women I love have had babies. 'And then I did it myself. And boy, I will never look at these women the same way. I couldnt believe how hard it was, how hard it is. 'My birth was not my ideal situation, 40 hours long and ending in an emergency C section left me in shock for a while. It was hard. The hardest thing Ive ever done. 'And now Im not sure Ill ever get over the fact women do this, this primal physical sacrifice of their body all the time. Truly awe inspiring what women are capable of. 'ANYWAY, that was a long convoluted way of saying I had a baby and heres a cute video. She really is so squishy and cute and Im a big fan.' Eliza is best known for playing Tora in the 2005 hit Nanny McPhee. Eliza, who also starred in Inkheart and the Dynasty reboot, took to Instagram to post a montage of videos documenting her pregnancy journey She revealed that her birth was 'not ideal' and resulted in an emergency C-section but that it was worth it for her 'squishy and cute' baby - whose name she has not disclosed The film stars Emma Thompson as the titular character, a nanny hired by widower Cedric Brown (Colin Firth) to care for his seven rambunctious children, who have chased away all previous nannies. Taunted by Simon (Thomas Sangster) and his siblings, Nanny McPhee uses mystical powers to instill discipline. A sequel was released in 2010 called Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Earlier this year, Eliza starred in Hallmark movie, An American in Austen. She played Harriet, a Jane Austen enthusiast who wishes upon a shooting star for her own Mr. Darcy and ends up in the universe in which Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice takes place. Speaking about the role she told The List: 'When I told my friends I was doing a Hallmark movie, they were like "a Christmas movie?" "And I was like, "No, it's not a Christmas movie," but I feel like they're so iconic that yeah, they feel like it's like an actor's bucket list.' She continued: 'I didnt feel the pull to share my pregnancy or birth on social media but as we draw close to the end of the year, I put this video together and felt the urge to share' Kim Kardashian raised eyebrows after her recent bizarre photo shoot with Elon Musk's $30,0000 Tesla bot. Now a representative for the star has cleared up whether or not she was paid by Musk, 53, to pose with the droid. A rep for Kim told The New York Times that the 44-year-old was not financially compensated for the photos. However, the outlet noted that Kim was previously fined $1.26M by the SEC for failing to disclose she was paid $250k to promote cryptocurrency on Instagram. The comment was made in a story headlined 'Is Kim Kardashian Trying to Tell Us Something?', which noted how her recent shoot sparked accusations Kim supported president-elect Donald Trump amid his friendship with Musk. The profile went into detail about Kim working with Trump to release prisoner Alice Marie Johnson and her friendship with his daughter Ivanka Trump, however she has otherwise remained politically neutral in public. Kim Kardashian raised eyebrows after her recent bizarre nighttime photo shoot with Elon Musk's $30,0000 Tesla bot Kim has been showing off the robot on social media as of late, and was interacting with the droid as if they were friends in her recent shoot. Going topless under a puffy black jacket, the Kardashians star sat on the robot's lap as they posed in the driver's seat of her custom Tesla Model S car. She wore sheer, nude-toned tights with black stockings and a garter belt printed on them creating the illusion that Kim wasn't wearing any underwear. She crouched down beside the pricey vehicle in her sexy look while the robot relaxed in the driver's seat with one foot resting on Kim's driveway. One shot, which she shared to Instagram last week, captured Kim from the neck down as the robot appeared to touch her thigh. Another showed Kim and the robot holding hands inside the luxury electric car. Fans of Kardashian were left shocked by the photoshoot, with many calling it 'embarrassing' and 'scary.' Some voiced that they found the 'sexualization' of the robot to be 'disturbing.' Meanwhile, others thought the shoot was funny and joked that Kim finally found her 'soulmate.' Going topless under a puffy black jacket, the Kardashians star, 44, sat on the robot's lap as they posed in the driver's seat of her custom Tesla Model S car She modeled sheer, nude-toned tights with black stockings and a garter belt printed on them creating the illusion that Kim wasn't wearing any underwear Kim had a creepy interaction with her Tesla bot earlier that same week, which she shared in a video posted to Instagram. She was filmed waving at the robot - who waved back - before asking the bot to make a heart shape with their hands. Kardashian who recently went makeup-free on social media was shocked as the robot was able to complete the gesture. The robot mimed a running motion, did a hula dance and placed a hand near its head when asked how tall it is. Kardashian asked the robot to play rock paper scissors - with the machine duly complying. The star is a noted fan of the Tesla brand and is often snapped in her cybertruck. One shot, which was shared to Instagram last week, captured Kim from the neck down as the robot appeared to touch her thigh She crouched down beside the pricey vehicle in her sexy look while the robot relaxed in the driver's seat with one foot resting on Kim's driveway Another shot showed Kim and the robot holding hands inside the luxury electric vehicle Fans of Kardashian were left shocked by the photo-shoot, with many calling it 'embarrassing' and 'scary' Some voiced that they found the 'sexualization' of the robot to be 'disturbing' Kim's nighttime photo-shoot with her bot comes days after she debuted it on her Instagram Story It is not known of the robot was loaned to her or she had been gifted the item. Just days ago the star was cruising down the PCH in her brand-new futuristic ride on Thursday when a cop pulled her over for her tinted front windshield, sources told TMZ. Apparently, the tint was too dark for California's vehicle regulations. Insiders said that Kim 'kept it cool' with the cops, even after being cited. The fix-it ticket means she can avoid a fine as long as she gets the tint corrected and shows up at the sheriff's station to prove it. This isn't Kim's first run-in with window tinting issues. Back in 2013, she got a warning for dark windows in a different vehicle while driving through Calabasas, per TMZ. Kim added her first Cybertruck to her collection in February 2024, followed by a sleek matte black version in May. The robot, which is intended for industrial and domestic uses, debuted at AI Day on September 30 after first being announced at AI Day in August 2021. Kim filmed a creepy interaction with her Tesla bot on Monday She asked the bot to make a heart shape with their hands. Kardashian was shocked as the robot was able to complete the gesture 'Tesla Bots are initially positioned to replace people in repetitive, boring, and dangerous tasks. But the vision is for them to serve millions of households, such as cooking, mowing lawns, and caring for the elderly,' Musk wrote in an essay published in China Cyberspace magazine. But many social media users are now drawing comparisons to the 2004 Sci-fi movie I, Robot set in 2035, after seeing the clip of Musk's droids. Set in Chicago, the action film shows highly intelligent robots filling public service positions throughout the world, operating under three laws to keep humans safe. Several concerned viewers of Musk's video left comments likening the Optimus droids to the movie. 'Am I the only one who remembers iRobot?' wrote one X, formerly Twitter, user. 'iRobot just became reality,' warned another. A third added: 'Somebody call Detective Spooner! I'm getting i, Robot chills.' 'No, thank you. I saw 'I, Robot,' said one more. The robot mimed a running motion, did a hula dance and placed a hand near its head when asked how tall it is Elon Musk (pictured this month) debuted his robots, which are intended for industrial and domestic uses, at AI Day on September 30 after first being announced at AI Day in 2021 A fifth chimed in: 'We already saw this movie. Wasn't it 'I, Robot' with Will Smith. Doesn't end well.' Musk in 2022 explained that the android, named Tesla bot at the time, was deliberately designed that way. 'The Tesla Bot is close to the height and weight of an adult, can carry or pick up heavy objects, walk fast in small steps, and the screen on its face is an interactive interface for communication with people. 'You may wonder why we designed this robot with legs. Because human society is based on the interaction of a bipedal humanoid with two arms and ten fingers. 'So if we want a robot to adapt to its environment and be able to do what humans do, it has to be roughly the same size, shape, and capabilities as a human,' Musk explained. Wendy Williams' guardian has been accused of 'exceeding her authority' in trying to get a documentary about the former chat show host changed and redacted in a new lawsuit filed by A&E Networks after it was revealed that she has been left 'permanently incapacitated' by her dementia battle. The American multinational broadcasting company has filed a countersuit to 60-year-old Wendy's guardian Sabrina Morrissey's lawsuit attempt to get the documentary - named Where Is Wendy Williams? - they aired in February shut down according to TMZ on Wednesday. A&E claims that Sabrina is exceeding her authority in trying to get parts of the documentary changed and redacted as Wendy had signed a talent agreement before she was 'mentally incapacitated' as was claimed by the guardian. DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Wendy and has yet to hear back. The popular network also claims that there is no law against doing a documentary on a subject with dementia so, in effect, even if a talent agreement wasn't signed nothing that they had done would be considered wrong. The broadcasting company is suing Sabrina for attempting to infringe on A&E's First Amendment rights as they give the example of Sabrina's original suit filed in February in which she attempted to get a judge to stop the original documentary from releasing. Wendy Williams' guardian has been accused of 'exceeding her authority' in trying to get a documentary about the former chat show host changed and redacted in a new lawsuit filed by A&E Networks according to TMZ; the star is seen in Hollywood back in October 2019 A&E claims that Sabrina had forced their production company to defend itself against 'meritless claims' from the documentary. TMZ also claims A&E says in the countersuit that Sabrina is trying to deny Wendy: 'One of her last chances to exercise her autonomy and honestly reach her fans in exactly the frank and unfiltered manner that was the hallmark of her career This comes as Sabrina had claimed Wendy has been left 'permanently incapacitated' by her dementia battle, her guardian has claimed in the latest legal wrangle over the star's tell-all documentary. Host Williams was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in May 2023. The diagnosis came one year after Wendy was placed under a court-ordered legal guardianship that oversees both her finances and health. Where Is Wendy Williams?, which aired in February, was set to explore Williams' life as she prepared to launch a new podcast- but featured shocking scenes showing the former host drinking vodka in bed and having panic attacks - leading to fan backlash against Lifetime. Her guardian Sabrina Morrissey is now locked in a legal battle with the network over the documentary. In a filing obtained by The US Sun, Morrissey's attorneys called Williams 'an acclaimed entertainer who, tragically, has been afflicted by early-onset dementia and, as a result, has become cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.' 'In January 2022, after becoming aware of a pattern of disturbing events concerning [Wendy's] welfare and finances, Wells Fargo took the highly unusual step of initiating a guardianship proceeding on its own initiative in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County (the 'Guardianship Proceeding'), to seek the court appointment of an independent guardian for [Wendy's] financial affairs. Wendy has been left 'permanently incapacitated' by her dementia battle, her guardian previously claimed The filing further asks for parts of the case about Williams' 'health, familial relationships, and finances" to be redacted to protect her privacy. 'We respectfully request that the Court grant Plaintiffs motion for limited redactions to protect non-public information from the Guardianship Proceeding that has been placed under seal by the court overseeing that proceeding. New York lawyer Morrissey was assigned as her guardian after Wells Fargo froze her accounts in 2022, as a result of her financial adviser at the time claiming that she was of 'unsound mind.' In March, it was reported that Wendy was allegedly paid $100,000 per episode for her involvement in the four-part docuseries titled Where Is Wendy Williams? At the same time, it was revealed that Wendy's guardian had filed a lawsuit against the parent company of Lifetime, A&E Television Networks with allegations of 'blatant exploitation' in 'disgusting' fashion. The guardian, Sabrina, filed the lawsuit under temporary seal (which keeps details in the case protected from the public) last month, but the docs were unsealed and reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, revealing explosive accusations in the case. 'This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is beloved by millions within and outside of the African American community is disgusting, and it cannot be allowed,' the legal team for Williams' guardian told the court. Sabrina told the court that the talk show host 'did not have the capacity to consent,' according to THR, and producers did not get her consent, as her court-appointed guardian, to produce it. Where Is Wendy Williams?, which aired in February, was set to explore Williams' life as she prepared to launch a new podcast- but featured shocking scenes showing the former host drinking vodka in bed and having panic attacks - leading to fan backlash against Lifetime In a filing obtained by The US Sun, guardian Sabrina Morrissey's attorneys called Williams 'an acclaimed entertainer who, tragically, has been afflicted by early-onset dementia and, as a result, has become cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated' Williams was misled by producers into thinking that the documentary would be a 'positive and beneficial' project for her public image and reputation, the suit stated. Williams' publicist has also blasted the Lifetime documentary that she signed her famous TV client up for. Shawn Zanotti placed blame on the producers of the series, alleging the TV icon believed she was filming a program about her comeback - only for filmmakers to capture 'a circus to her downfall.' Zanotti, who has been working as a publicist for Williams since 2021, spoke with NBC News about her grievances with the making of Where is Wendy Williams?, a four-part documentary now airing on Lifetime. In an interview with the outlet, Zanotti claimed: 'I felt that [Williams] was being exploited.' In August Williams was spotted in public for the first time in over a year at a herbal supplement shop in Newark, New Jersey 'She thought we were focusing on the comeback of her career. ... She would be mortified. There's no way you can convince me that she would be OK with looking and seeing herself in that way.' She also told PEOPLE that she felt 'lied to' about it. Despite having encouraged her client to sign up for the show, Zanotti now says: "I would never let Wendy put her name and brand on the line like that ever. She's an icon. It's not the story we signed up for and I feel lied to.' Adding: 'It's so difficult for me to even watch. Wendy would be mortified.' Lindsay Lohan looked incredible in an edgy new shoot for FLAUNT magazine. Photographed by The Morelli Brothers, Lindsay, 38, puts her recent glow-up on full display as she models an array of bold looks. On the cover of the magazine, her gorgeous face shines as she rocks a Courreges leather jacket and sunglasses. A butterfly lands on the tip of her slick frames. The scene-stealer put on a leggy display in a cream dress and gloves by Marni. In another bold look, she showcases a hit of her svelte abs in a white tank top by Re/Done along with dark denim jeans by Acne Studios. She gently holds a matching jacket by the designer in her hand. The famous red head also tries on neon green locks for a change in one snap. Lindsay Lohan looked incredible in an edgy new shoot for FLAUNT magazine Sitting gracefully on the floor in a white JordanLuca dress, Lindsay's silky green hair cascades down her body as she reclines with an ethereal look on her face. In another butterfly adorned moment, Lindsay sits in a cardboard box, clad in a Margiela bodysuit that is concealed within the container. Lindsay also rocks Balenciaga jackets, trousers, and shoes as she lays back on a couch. The Mean Girls star takes the plunge in a mocha jacket and trousers by The Attico. Cloaked in a jacket by Puppets & Puppets, Lindsay displays her gorgeous complexion as she bites on a bobby pin. Lindsay, who was promoting her new Netflix holiday film Our Little Secret, has been back in the spotlight lately drumming up interest for her new movie. The actress who rose to fame as a child star on The Parent Trap is now a mother -she has a one-year-old son Luai with her husband, international financier Bader Shammas. Lindsay now lives in Dubai with her husband and son but the trio will be spending Christmas in the United States this year. In another bold look, she showcases a hit of her svelte abs in a white tank top by Re/Done along with dark denim jeans by Acne Studios Lohan rocks a leather jacket and sunglasses, both by Courreges A butterfly lands on Lindsay on the cover, which sees her decked out in Courreges 'This year well be stateside,' she told the publication of her holiday plans. 'But no, no matter where we are, we always do a Christmas tree. And now that we have our son, were going to do Santa, well do decorating together. 'All that fun stuff. Last year we did it, but he was very small. This year, hes getting bigger, so the holidays are getting more exciting, because we get to share it with our little one. It just makes it all the better and all the more special.' Lindsay reached new levels of fame following the release of her 2004 film Mean Girls, which was recently rebooted as a musical on the big screen. She made an appearance in last year's reboot, but not as her original character Cady. Lindsay said it didn't feel weird to return to the set in a different role but 'nice.' She works a mocha jacket and trousers by The Attico Lindsay also rocks Balenciaga jackets, trousers, and shoes as she lays back on a couch She struck a pose in a hooded Balenciaga jacket and trousers 'I think I was five monthsno, maybe I was six months pregnant at the time. So that was a little different,' she said. 'I love Tina Fey, and I loved working with her again. So that was really sweet. To be there with the new cast was nice. It was a really nice moment.' Meanwhile, Lindsay has been flooring fans with her glowing and youthful new face at recent public appearances, after years away from Hollywood. Dr. Jonny Betteridge, an aesthetics doctor, recently claimed the star could have spent up to 300K in plastic surgery procedures to achieve the look. Betteridge, who is the founder of the London based clinic JB Aesthetics, and has a background in Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care and Anaesthetics, shared a new Instagram video listing the cosmetic tweaks he believes the actress has undergone. Among the surgical procedures Betteridge believes the Parent Trap star has had are a face lift, an upper eyelid surgery, a nose job, and a surgical brow lift. Cloaked in a jacket by Puppets & Puppets, Lindsay displays her gorgeous complexion as she bites on a bobby pin The famous red head also tries on neon green locks for a change in one snap The shoot was photographed by The Morelli Brothers He stated that she most likely had 'some degree of surgical facelift' and it was likely done via an 'endoscopic approach', meaning it was minimally invasive. He also think the actress had 'botox, lip lift, lip fillers, and veneers.' Betteridge also analyzed Lohan's skin in her latest photos and came to the conclusion that she has done 'laser resurfacing' and had 'a dermatologist led skincare routine.' 'And the cost of this, if you combine everything together, would be in the range of $200-300K.' Lindsay's face has looked flawless and taunt during recent outings. The star revealed her low maintenance skincare routine in an October chat with Allure. The Freaky Friday actress said her main beauty focus is 'taking care of my skin' but admitted to dabbling with 'laser, Morpheus and IPL' in the past. In another butterfly adorned moment, Lindsay sits in a cardboard box, clad in a Margiela bodysuit that is concealed within the container In addition she is now working with Jennifer Lopez's Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn - who have put together her recent jaw-dropping premiere looks. In the morning she uses a cold face towel and Avene Redness Expert Soothing Moisturizing Concentrated Cream or the brands Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Cream - which she praised for being 'lightweight and hydrating and not overly greasy.' She also uses Peter Thomas Roth eye patches to de-puff her eyes. Her go-to make-up look is 'pretty light' with the star saying: 'If I wear anything, its Giorgio Armani Silk foundation or Kevyn Aucoin concealer. Maybe some eyeshadow if Im going out, and Westman Atelier mascara. 'One thing Ive embraced more since becoming a mom is going out naturally and not feeling the need to put something on my face all the time. I think we live under pressure to look made-up, but I dont feel that way anymore. I just want to look at myself and love myself for who I am.' At night Lohan uses 'Aveeno face wipes, some Avene face wash and then the redness cream at night again because after I take everything off, I get a little pink.' Lohan said welcoming son Luai, now 16 months, made her determined to use products with basic ingredients. Suri Cruise was spotted enjoying a Brooklyn coffee run as she returned to her mother Katie Holmes in New York City for Thanksgiving break on Sunday. The 18-year-old, whose father is global movie star Tom Cruise, is currently studying at the prestigious arts university Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Tom is reportedly sending money for her tuition, but he has not been seen with his daughter in more than a decade amid claims of an estrangement. However Suri enjoys a warm bond with Katie, whom she was seen visiting in the Big Apple just last month during her fall break from college. Now the showbiz legacy is back in the city that never sleeps to ring in the start of the holiday season with her mother on Thursday. She found time for a solo outing in the outer boroughs on Wednesday, surfacing in Brooklyn in a cozy outfit including a thick olive green anorak. Suri Cruise was spotted enjoying a Brooklyn coffee run as she returned to her mother Katie Holmes in New York City for Thanksgiving break on Sunday Katie was spotted that same day heading to Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where she is continuing her run in a revival of Our Town. The classic play by Thornton Wilder originally opened in 1938, and has now been mounted with a cast including Jim Parsons and Zoey Deutch. When she was spotted strolling to work on Thursday, Katie demonstrated her reliably winning street style, wrapping a sleek black coat over a sweater with an extravagant collar. Her revival of Our Town opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre last month and has been met with a lukewarm reaction from the critical fraternity. Suri began college this fall after graduating from New York's famous LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts earlier this year. The high school, which was said to have inspired the movie Fame, has churned out a formidable array of celebrities over the years. Notable alumni range from Al Pacino and Liza Minnelli to Jennifer Aniston and Adrien Brody to newer faces like Ansel Elgort and Timothee Chalamet. Having graduated high school, Suri is now living in Pittsburgh and attending Carnegie Mellon, where she is said to be 'leaning towards' studying fashion. The 18-year-old, whose father is global movie star Tom Cruise , is currently studying at the prestigious arts university Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh Katie was spotted that same day heading to Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where she is continuing her run in a revival of Our Town The classic play by Thornton Wilder originally opened in 1938, and has now been mounted with a cast including Jim Parsons and Zoey Deutch Her revival of Our Town opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre last month and has been met with a lukewarm reaction from the critical fraternity Tom and Katie's wedding was held at the Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Bracciano in November 2006, seven months after Suri was born; the trio are pictured at the rehearsal dinner 'She is a smart girl, and she is turning into a very intelligent mature young woman,' an insider recently revealed to DailyMail.com. 'She has a very close group of loyal friends, and she knows exactly where she comes from.' Suri's mother on the other hand was said to be 'overwhelmed' at the prospect of her moving away. 'Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective,' a source shared. Katie, who shot to fame on the teen drama Dawson's Creek, started dating Tom in 2005 and got engaged to him seven weeks into the relationship. Their Scientologist wedding was held at the Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Bracciano in November 2006, seven months after Suri was born. Katie filed in 2012 for a divorce that was finalized just 10 days later, with Katie retaining primary custody of Suri while Tom was granted visitation, via People. Ron Miscavige, father of Scientology leader David Miscavige, told the MailOnline in 2016 that Katie's misgivings about Scientology - including the effect it could have on Suri - contributed to her decision to leave Tom. The Top Gun Maverick star reportedly paid Katie $400,000 a year until Suri's 18th birthday, and will now send money for her college fees. Tom has not been pictured with his daughter in 11 years, and in 2018 it was alleged that he had created distance between himself and Suri. 'Every person is allowed to see their child if they wanted to,' an insider told Us Weekly. 'He chooses not to because she is not a Scientologist.' Lorraine Kelly took a savage swipe at her ITV colleague Richard Madeley while on BBC quiz show Have I Got News For You. The chat show host, 64, joined comedian team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop along with comedian Maisie Adam and journalist Matt Chorley. While showing humorous news clips, Lorraine read on the autocue: 'In other news, Rachel Reeves has been accused of lying on her CV. 'But we've all done that, haven't we, for work purposes. For years I've claimed to be friends with Richard Madeley.' The gag prompted laughter from the audience and the team of panellists. Lorraine presents her own chat show at 9am while Richard is a regular presenter on Good Morning Britain which airs just before. Lorraine Kelly took a savage swipe at her ITV colleague Richard Madeley while on BBC quiz show Have I Got News For You During the show, she joked: 'For years I've claimed to be friends with Richard Madeley' It comes after claims that Lorraine and Susanna Reid have reportedly been left fuming that ITV bosses are steering A-list guests to This Morning amid the show's plummeting ratings. According to The Sun Susanna, 53, and Lorraine have both 'been vocal' claiming they are missing out on interviewing top names. This Morning, which unveiled new presenters Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, in March, has interviewed the likes of Ryan Gosling, Meghan Trainor and Steve Carrell in recent months. A source claimed there was infighting between the production crews, telling the publication: 'Susanna has been vocal about wanting bigger names and is frustrated they're going elsewhere'. 'Lorraine has voiced the same view'. Before adding: 'It feels like big stars are being shipped to This Morning to try and pull them out of a hole.' MailOnline have contacted Lorraine and Susanna's reps as well as ITV for comment. In May This Morning was reportedly in crisis after 'viewing figures plummeted by half'. Lorraine and Susanna Reid (pictured) have reportedly been left fuming that ITV bosses are steering A-list guests to This Morning amid the show's plummeting ratings This Morning, which unveiled new presenters Cat Deeley (L) and Ben Shephard (R) in March, has interviewed A-listers in recent months (pictured with guest Chaka Khan) Since the new hosts took over Holly Willoughby, 43, and Phillip Schofields, 62, slot, half a million viewers have stopped tuning into the ITV Daytime show. With over a million viewers watching Ben and Cat's first day back in March, two months later figures currently stand at less than 500,000 - a dramatic drop. This Morning's rival BBC Morning Live is reportedly raking in between one million to 1.4million views. Iconic Texas blue collar retailer Dickies has made the shock announcement that it is moving its HQ to California after more than 100 years, leaving fans and city leaders dumbfounded. The popular clothing brand has switched gears from its workwear foundations and uprooted its headquarters to join sister company Vans in Orange County, California. It is a far cry from the company's Fort Worth origins, and a marked departure from other companies who have been increasingly fleeing the Golden State amid high taxes. The company, which was founded in the Texan city in 1922, has morphed into a favorite brand among fashionable Gen Z and millennials in recent years. A spokesperson for Fort Worth's economic development department, Andrea Duffie, told Fort Worth Star Telegram that Dickie's parent company, VF Corp, 'did not engage with the City or our partners to explore solutions' before announcing the move. 'Ultimately, this was a decision made by VF Corp, Dickie's parent company, as a result of their current corporate structure,' she said. Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, said: 'Fort Worth has enjoyed its relationship with Dickies and we wish them well. 'Its worth noting that since 2005, more than 230 companies have left California and more than half of them have relocated to Texas.' The company announced their shock move away from their HQ in Fort Worth where the blue-collar workwear company was founded to join the Vans headquarters in Orange County, California Companies like Tesla announced their HQ move from Silicon Valley, California, to Austin, Texas, in 2021. CEO Elon Musk made an unofficial announcement on then-Twitter after a high profile spat with local politicians who ordered him to close Tesla's Fremont plant. Musk also cited a lower cost of living for his employees and added that 'there's a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area. In Austin our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown.' Earlier this year, Chevron also announced they would be moving from San Ramon to Houston by the end of 2024, reported the Austin American Statesman. Tech powerhouse Oracle also made a move in 2020 from Silicon Valley to Austin, as well as earlier moves from technology firm HP and carmaker Toyota. A closer look at Dickies parent company, VF Corp's finances, can give an insight into their shock decision. The move to Costa Mesa in Orange County is expected to impact about 120 employees and be completed by May next year. Dickie's Forth Worth distribution center, warehouse and retail locations, however, will remain open. As part of the move, Dickies will be sharing headquarter space with shoe company Vans, where it is hoped the combined companies will create a space where 'creativity and best practice sharing can thrive through great collaboration and connections', according to a statement from VF spokeswoman Ashley McCormack. The move to Costa Mesa in Orange County is expected to impact about 120 employees and be completed by May - Dickie's Forth Worth distribution center, warehouse and retail locations will remain open Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, said: 'Its worth noting that since 2005, more than 230 companies have left California and more than half of them have relocated to Texas' VF Corp, founded in Pennsylvania in 1899 as a glove and mitten manufacturer, has evolved over 125 years from silk to denim before picking up active lifestyle and workwear in the 2000s. The corporation acquired Dickies in 2017 for $820 million in cash, but, despite its continuing evolution, the company's net revenue has declined annually since its 2022 fiscal year, according to Fort Worth Star Telegram. At an investor day event held in Denver on October 30, VF CEO Bracken Darrell warned cost cutting was coming as the company planned a return to growth. In mid-2023, Darrell was appointed VF's president and CEO and is described as a corporate turnaround specialist. His main focus has been lowering costs, strengthening the company's balance sheet and improving its US sales. Darrell has been credited with many successful company turnarounds, including that of the Old Spice brand at Protector & Gamble, and has spent the past year and a half working on his plan for VF. VF CEO Bracken Darrell has been described as a corporate turnaround specialist The iconic Texas blue collar retailer has become a favorite brand among fashionable Gen Z and millennials in recent years (Pictured: A still from a Dickies commercial) Dickies, which is known for its workwear, plans to keep 'a strong employment presence' in Fort Worth with employees working at warehouses throughout the Metroplex, according to a company spokesperson The company says it's on track to cut $300 million in costs by the end of its 2025 fiscal year in March. Just last year, Dickies relocated from its historic West Vickery Boulevard campus to a downtown Fort Worth tower, costing it roughly $4.5 million in renovations. On November 13, S&P Global downgraded VF's credit rating to junk status because of ongoing revenue declines in its top four brands: Dickies, The North Face, Timberland and Vans, the East Bay Times reported. In its second fiscal quarter, Dickies saw revenue fall 11 percent to $152 million - from $171 million in the same year-earlier period. In the same quarter, Vans saw revenue fall 11 percent to $667 million, The North Face fall 3 percent to $1.09 billion, and Timberland fall 3 percent to $475 million. VF Corp have said the change with 'help us revitalize Dickies so we can carry on the brand's heritage for years to come,' reported Fort Worth Star Telegram. Despite the relocation, Dickies plans to keep 'a strong employment presence' in Fort Worth with employees working at warehouses throughout the Metroplex, according to a company spokesperson. Krispy Kreme has unveiled the 'Merry Grinchmas Doughnut Collection' with three new donuts to be added for the holiday season. Beginning on Friday this week, the new holiday donuts will feature in Krispy Kreme shops nationwide with each donut based on a character from Dr. Seuss' famous story 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. The Grinch Donut is filled with 'coal' cookies and cream and topped with green icing and a chocolate grin. The Grinchy Claus Donut comes with chocolate icing, white buttercream and a Grinch-shaped candy accent. The last of the collection is the Cindy-Lou Who Merry Berry Tree Donut which is decorated with strawberry-flavored icing, a green buttercream tree, sprinkles and a candy star. 'Our Merry Grinchmas doughnuts are guaranteed to make even the Grinchiest Grinch smile,' said Krispy Kreme's global chief brand officer, Dave Skena. 'At Krispy Kreme, you're a sweet one, Mr Grinch' Their new collection is based off Dr. Seuss' iconic How the Grinch Stole Christmas - a favorite for the festive season 'Our Merry Grinchmas doughnuts are guaranteed to make even the Grinchiest Grinch smile,' said Krispy Kreme's global chief brand officer, Dave Skena. 'At Krispy Kreme, you're a sweet one, Mr Grinch!' Their holiday collection is also accompanied by the returning Santa Belly donut which is filled with white 'Kreme', dipped in red icing, a black icing 'belt' across the middle with a gold 'buckle'. The Holiday Sprinkles donut will also be returning, decorated with chocolate icing and festive sprinkles. The new holiday donuts are based on characters from Dr. Seuss' famous story 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (Pictured: The 2000 film of the book) Last year's collection was based on the holiday film Elf, another seasonal favorite The new holiday collection follows the company's spooky Halloween 'Ghostbusters' Collection and the Barbie Collection that launched in September, which featured a donut portrayed as the doll's Malibu beach house. The announcement comes ahead of 'Day of the Dozens' on December 12. On this special day, Krispy Kreme offers customers the chance to buy an Original Glazed dozen for $1 when they purchase any other dozen for the regular price. The festive 'Merry Grinchmas Doughnut Collection' collection will only be available until December 24. Some grocery stores will be offering Krispy Kreme's new holiday collection and returning favorites in six-packs and dozens. Subway will no longer be offering its $6.99 meal deal, less than a month since its launch. The sandwich chain confirmed it would end the deal at all participating US locations on November 27 in a message seen by Restaurant Business. 'The Meal Deal was designed to help drive a lift in traffic, sales and, ultimately, restaurant-level profitability, and delivered on these objectives during the market test,' the message said. 'While the national Meal Deal promotion is delivering the expected number of daily redemptions, overall the promotion is not driving the anticipated results.' The $6.99 meal included any six-inch sub with a bag of chips or two cookies and a small fountain drink. Subway launched the meal deal on November 3 and initially planned to offer it nationwide until December 26. The deal was the sandwich chain's effort to compete with other value offerings launched by major fast food companies this year - such as the McDonald's $5 promotion. It comes as Subway also announced earlier this week that CEO John Chidsey would be stepping down at the end of the year. Subway is removing its $6.99 meal deal after the limited-time offer failed to meet sales expectations Franchisees also revolted against a separate value deal earlier this year over fears it would spark losses. Bill Mathis, chair of the North American Association of Subway Franchisees (NAASF), reportedly told the group's members to ignore the $6.99 footlong sandwich deal which ran in September. Subway said it would restrict the $6.99 meal deal to online orders only through December 26. It is also now shifting its focus on a new digital deal, which gives customers a 20 percent discount on any sandwich ordered through the app through January 5. The fast food chain explained in an email to Restaurant Business that it can immediately adjust offers when necessary. 'Subway's approach to value is thoughtful and strategic, leveraging data to help balance consumer needs while protecting franchisee profits,' the company said. 'We continuously test new value platforms aimed at helping drive profitable traffic and encouraging repeat visits.' The company added that it takes 'feedback and data seriously' and adjust course to make sure they're doing what's best for 'franchises, guests and overall business.' Prior to the $6.99 meal deal gone wrong, Subway had been struggling with tumbling sales and profits. In August, the chain reportedly called an 'emergency meeting' with the franchisees that run its 19,000 restaurants. Subway does not give out overall sales data but its eastern US region of around 1,000 subways saw sales plunge 8.7 percent between June 25 and July 16 compared to a year earlier, the New York Post reported. A spokesperson for the chain denied that the conference was an emergency, instead insisting 'we consistently and proactively communicate with our franchisees to share business updates and plans.' Subway's $6.99 meal deal included any six-inch sub with a bag of chips or two cookies and a small fountain drink Subway has closed about 7,000 locations since 2015 due to falling sales and low volume units The sandwich chain has also closed about 7,000 locations since 2015, and a franchisee who operates 48 restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. The $6.99 meal deal elimination was not the only Subway shakeup to occur this month. Subway confirmed in a November 26 press release that CEO John Chidsey would retire after five years with the company. Carrie Walsh, Subway's current President of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and former Global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), will assume the role of Interim CEO. 'I am honored to step into the role of Interim CEO, continuing to drive key initiatives to help boost franchisee profitability and delight our guests through innovation,' Walsh said. 'Through a collaboration with the Subway leadership team, employees and our valued franchisees, we will keep elevating the Subway experience and deliver fresh, quality food to more guests around the globe.' DailyMail.com has reached out to Subway for comment. An urgent warning has been issued to dog owners about dog treats which could be contaminated with salmonella. The Food and Drug Administration announced that Carolina Prime Pet Inc. has recalled bags of dog treats across 19 states. The North Carolina company initiated the recall of 400 of its' 16-ounce bag 'Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips' treats on November 22. The treats were sold from Hollywood Feed stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. They were also available through the company's website. The problem was noticed after third-party laboratory testing identified the contamination. Currently, no illnesses have been reported. But should any pet owner believe their dog has eaten the treats, the US Food and Drug Administration advises owners to contact their veterinarian. Salmonella has the potential to affect both pets through consumption as well as humans through handling any contaminated products - especially with improper handwashing or cleaning of surfaces. The North Carolina company initiated the recall of 400 of its' 16-ounce bag 'Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips' treats on November 22 Pets infected with salmonella may become lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Some pets will only have a decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Pets also run the risk of carrying the infection and spreading it to other animals or humans. Healthy people infected with salmonella may experience any or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Salmonella infections can rarely become more serious and result in arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. If someone experiences any of these symptoms, they should contact their healthcare provider. The product comes in a 16-ounce purple and black bag marked on the back side with lot number 20051324L2 with an expiration date of 11/13/25. This specific batch is the only identified to be potentially contaminated Salmonella has the potential to affect both pets through consumption as well as humans through handling any contaminated products The product comes in a 16-ounce purple and black bag marked on the back side with lot number 20051324L2 with an expiration date of 11/13/25. This specific batch is the only identified to be potentially contaminated. Customers who bought the 16-ounce bags of 'Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips' stamped with lot 20051324L2 should cease using them. Customers may contact the company at treats@carolinaprimepet.com or at 828-394-6460 Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4:00PM EST for information about returning a recalled product for a refund or replacement product. TN Governor addresses national symposium Chennai: The Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu Mr. R.N. Ravi on Tuesday appealed to youth,especially students of law, to take Constitution outside the confines of institutions and to the masses across India. Constitution is the crystallisation of dreams of millions of people freedom fighters,martyrs who laid down their lives to realise the aspirations of India, and it needs to be celebrated, Mr. Ravi said, while speaking at the Symposium on National Law Day organised by Saveetha School of Law. The Constitution reflects the ideals and dreams to ensure that every citizen got social, economic, and political justice, with a right to dignified life. The Constitution, he said, also gave the direction to achieve goals of founding fathers of this great nation. Now that it has been 76 years since independence, it was now time to take a pause and recall if the ideals of social justice was taken all across the country. Pointing out even in a progressive State like Tamil Nadu, where there were incidents of human waste being discharged into a drinking water tank, and untouchability, the Governor said that social justice could not be ensured through implementation of law alone, and that it had come from within every individual, and youth had to be at the forefront of this great cause. He said that India, which was among the wealthiest nations, had also at the same time suffered a lot due to centuries of colonisation and foreign invasions. Shashikant Ruia, a first-generation entrepreneur who turned a small construction business into an infrastructure conglomerate, died after a prolonged illness. He was 80. Shashi Ruia, as he was fondly called, co-founded the metals-to-technology conglomerate Essar with his brother Ravi. Ruia, who would have turned 81 next month, died in Mumbai around midnight. He had returned from the US, where he was undergoing treatment, about a month back. "It is with profound grief that we inform of the passing of Shri Shashikant Ruia, Patriarch of the Ruia and Essar Family," the Ruia family said in a statement. He is survived by his wife Manju and two sons Prashant and Anshuman. Starting his career in 1965 under the guidance of his father Nand Kishore Ruia, Shashi and his brother Ravi laid the foundation of Essar in 1969 when they bagged a Rs 2.5 crore order from the Madras Port Trust for the construction of an outer breakwater in the port. In the early years, Essar focused on construction and engineering projects and built a number of bridges, dams and power plants. In the 1980s, Essar diversified into the energy sector with the acquisition of oil and gas assets. A decade later, it became a significant player in steel and telecommunications, setting up a large steel plant in Gujarat, and rising to become India's second-largest telecom operator in a joint venture with Hutchison. It also went on to build an oil refinery in Gujarat despite funds being stopped because of business rivals. Later, it exited the telecom business, sold the oil refinery to a consortium led by Russia's Rosneft and had to let go of steel plants to ArcelorMittal when insolvency proceedings were initiated to recover unpaid loans. Today, Essar Global Fund Ltd, which oversees the businesses co-founded by the Ruia brothers, manages assets across sectors such as infrastructure, energy, metals and mining, technology, and services. According to the Essar Group's website, these portfolio companies generate combined revenues of USD 14 billion. "With an unwavering commitment to community upliftment and philanthropy, he touched millions of lives leaving an enduring impact. His humility, warmth, and ability to connect with everyone he met, made him a truly exceptional leader," the Ruia family statement said. "An iconic industrialist, Shri Shashikant Ruia, Chairman, Essar Group, played a significant role in redefining India's corporate landscape. He laid the foundation of the Essar Group and made it a global conglomerate." His "extraordinary legacy will remain a guiding light for all of us, as we honour his vision and continue to uphold the values he cherished and championed," it added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Ruia a 'towering figure' in his condolence message. The 5,500 kg of banned Methamphetamine drug seized from a fishing trawler with six Myanmarese crew near Barren island is the biggest-ever seizure made by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), an official of the Andaman and Nicobar tri-services command said on Tuesday Speaking to PTI, the senior defence official said, "This is the biggest ever seizure which we suspect is linked to big international drug cartels. The total consignment is approximately around 5,500 kg. A total of six Myanmarese crew were arrested with banned crystalline Methamphetamine. They were handed over to the local police for further interrogation." He said, "I would like to congratulate the ICG for their outstanding effort in apprehending the foreign smugglers braving the rough sea during the operation. This effort of the ICG indeed once again proved its commitment towards safeguarding our territorial integrity and preventing the trafficking of illegal substances. The dedication and swift action of our teams involved in ensuring that such illicit activities do not compromise national security." "The Andaman and Nicobar Command remain vigilant and committed to ensuring the safety of Andaman waters. Enhanced patrolling and intelligence continue to play a vital role in combating such crime," he added. The police suspect that the 5,500 kg of banned Methamphetamine drug seized from a fishing trawler with six Myanmarese crew from near Barren island was supposed to be delivered to Thailand, officials said on Tuesday. The police are trying to get the call record of the satellite phone seized from the trawler which was coming from Myanmar, an official said. "We are trying to get details of the recipients of the drugs through the seized satellite phone call detail record because the crew members are refusing to reveal anything during interrogation. It seems that they are scared to reveal the identity of the receiver and the person behind sending the consignments. We are trying to get in touch with the service provider to get the call detail record," the officer said. The huge consignment of Methamphetamine drug was supposed to be delivered in Thailand and could be part of drug cartels, police sources said. "Based on the quantity of the consignments and the modus operandi it definitely seems like the handiwork of notorious drug cartels like Jalisco New Generation Cartel (run by El Mencho) and Chinese El Chapo gang leaders. In 2019, we seized similar drugs from the Andaman sea and then El Mencho's cartel emerged as a key suspect," the sources said. When asked about the Thailand connection, a senior police officer said, "This is the biggest catch ever on the Andaman Sea. During Christmas and New Year's eve, there is a huge demand for such drugs in Thailand. We suspect that it was supposed to be delivered to either El Mencho or El Chapo gang leaders. The drugs were packed inside tea packets. All the accused were produced before a local court and remanded in police custody for 14 days". The laboratory tests of the seized substance in Port Blair confirmed that the substance was Methamphetamine. Adani Green Energy (AGEL) on Wednesday clarified that the groups chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, the companys managing director Vneet Jaain have not been charged with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The clarification from AGEL came following reports that the trio have been charged with violations of the US FCPA. Adani Group founder and chairman Gautam Adani is the chairman of AGEL, while Sagar Adani is its executive director. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded his arrest after his indictment in the US and accused the government of protecting him. The reiteration by Rahul comes hours after the Adani Group said the billionaire and his nephew Sagar Adani have not been charged with any violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In response to the growing controversy over corruption allegations, AGEL stated in an exchange filing on November 27 that the reported charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain, as outlined by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), are incorrect. In a filing with the stock exchanges, AGEL strongly refuted claims made by various media outlets suggesting that the executives were involved in violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the company added. Media reports stating that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain have been charged with violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) are incorrect, the company said. The statement went on to clarify that these officials have not been named in the DoJs indictment or in any civil complaint filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The indictment, which includes five charges, does not mention any Adani executives in connection with conspiracy to violate the FCPA or obstruct justice, said the statement. These directors have been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment, namely (i) alleged securities fraud conspiracy, (ii) alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and (iii) alleged securities fraud, the filing said. The Count One of the indictment, which refers to the corruption and bribery charges, only involves Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal of Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec - a Canadian institutional investor and Azures largest shareholder). No Adani official has been named by DoJ under this. However, flawed understanding of the DoJ indictment by various media-foreign as well as Indian-has led to incorrect and reckless reporting of Adani Directors of being charged with corruption and bribery under or of all five counts by the US DoJ and SEC, it said. They have been charged with offences that are punishable with a monetary fine or penalty, the company said. The US Department of Justices (US DoJ) indictment filed in a New York Court last week does not mention Gautam Adani, founder chairman of the ports-to-energy conglomerate, his nephew Sagar, or Vneet Jaain in any count related to conspiracy to violate the FCPA, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), said in a stock exchange filing, it added. The AGEL is at the heart of the allegation of USD 265-million bribes being paid to Indian officials to secure solar power sale contracts that could bring in USD 2 billion of profits over a 20-year period to the firm. Gautam and Sagar also face a civil complaint over violation of sections of the Securities Act, and aiding and abetting Adani Green to violate the Act. Former Attorney General and senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi backed Adani Groups claims saying in his assessment there are five charges or counts and Adani and his aides have not been charged under Count 1 or 5 which deal with allegations of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and conspiracy to obstruct justice respectively. He said the indictment, equivalent to a chargesheet filed in an Indian court, does not name a single person who was paid a bribe. Senior advocate and BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani, also spoke with the media on the US charges against Adani and said that given the nature of the indictment, the sketchy evidence and some very important circumstances, this seems to be a hatchet job. It is obvious now that part of the Democratic deep state apparatus There are two deep states in America, the Republican deep state and the Democratic deep state. The Democratic deep state has, for some reasons after 2023, turned extremely hostile towards the present government. Coming to the indictment itself, first of all no offence is alleged in the indictment against any of the Adanis or Adani Green, he said. Adani Group companies have lost about USD 54 billion in market capitalisation since the US indictment. Also, international credit rating agencies, including Moodys and Fitch, have downgraded their outlook on several Adani firms. These downgrades are based on anticipated increased capital costs and weakened access to funding due to the legal challenges. Another fallout was AGEL cancelling a USD 600 million debt raising through green bonds despite it being subscribed over three times. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said when hundreds of people are arrested on tiny charges in the country, why is Adani not in jail? You think the Adanis are going to accept the charges. Which world are you living in? Obviously, he is going to deny the charges, Gandhi said when asked about the denial of charges by the Adani Group. The point is he has to be arrested. As we have said, hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores. He should be in jail... The government is protecting him, the former Congress chief said. India, on Wednesday, welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and said it hoped that these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region. The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah began early Wednesday morning. Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah reached a ceasefire late Tuesday evening after months of deadly clashes that stemmed from the Israel-Gaza conflict but escalated in September this year, after several leaders of the Lebanese militant group were killed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked outgoing United States President Joe Biden for his involvement in securing the ceasefire agreement. He told Biden in a call that he appreciated the US leaders understanding that Israel will maintain its freedom of action in enforcing it, according to Netanyahus office. Ahead of Israels approval of the deal, Netanyahu said the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon and the truce would allow Israel to intensify pressure on Hamas and focus on the Iranian threat. The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA)said in a statement We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region. In early October, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had termed the conflict in West Asia as a cause of great concern and deep worry, even as he had said that in a globalised world, a conflict anywhere actually creates problems everywhere. Honestly today, whether it is the conflict in Ukraine or the conflict in the Middle East (West Asia), these are big factors of instability, big factors of concern, Jaishankar had said during an event here. Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon have begun to return to their homes amid celebrations hours after the ceasefire, the reports in international media said. Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah reached a ceasefire after months of deadly clashes that stemmed from the Israel-Gaza conflict but escalated in September this year, after several leaders of the Lebanese militant group were killed. The ceasefire deal that has commenced will be carried out over 60 days, with both Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants withdrawing from southern Lebanon. The deal comes after nearly 14 months of fighting and has been brokered by the US and France. While US President Joe Biden said the deal is designed to provide a permanent end to the conflict, Israeli ministers insisted Israel would resume strikes on Lebanon if Hezbollah breached the terms of the ceasefire. While the deal does not affect Israels ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Members of Parliament (MP), cutting across party lines, on Wednesday, condemned attacks on Hindus and other minorities and arrest of Hindu Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh. Union minister Giriraj Singh said the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh reflects that the interim government of that country is in the clutches of fundamentalists and sought the intervention of the United Nations in the matter. Condemning the arrest of a Hindu leader in Bangladesh, he said such attacks are against humanity. The caretaker Prime Minister of Bangladesh is in the clutches of fundamentalists. The way Hindus are being attacked is against humanity. The United Nations should intervene in this matter, Singh told reporters in the Parliament complex. Bangladeshs interim government is headed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Singh said the targeting of Hindus and arrest of religious leaders shows that fundamentalists are dominating the Bangladesh interim government like in the case of Pakistan. The minister was asked about the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in Bangladesh and the prevailing situation there. Bangladesh police had on Monday, arrested the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monk from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka while travelling to Chattogram. India on Tuesday noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to the Hindu leader, and urged authorities in the neighbouring country to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minority groups. Several other MPs also condemned the attack on minorities in Bangladesh and sought the governments intervention. TMC MP Saugata Roy also condemned the incident and said it is a matter of concern that Hindus are being subjected to atrocities. It should not happen. I condemn it. The government should actively intervene in the matter, he said. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said his party was worried over the situation in Bangladesh. BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said it is unfortunate that the country is silent over atrocities being committed against minorities in Bangladesh. Hindus, Buddhists, Chakmas, and members of other religious and ethnic groups are being tortured in Bangladesh. Many temples and other religious places have been destroyed. Women are being married off forcefully. Illegal and forceful conversions are happening... All of this is happening but it is unfortunate that the entire country is silent on this issue, Bhattacharya said. The Congress expressed deep concern over the atmosphere of insecurity being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh and the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das. In a statement, Chairman of the partys Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said, The Indian National Congress expects the government of India to prevail upon the Bangladesh government to take necessary steps and ensure security of life and property of minorities in the country. The Indian National Congress expresses its deep concern at the atmosphere of insecurity being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh. The arrest of the ISCKON monk is the latest example, he said. A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between security personnel and followers of Das, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh in a sedition case. Das, the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka a day earlier. To cut down the response time in any adverse situation, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has accorded its formal approval to the proposal of permanently locating a component of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) in Jammu to counter any future terror threat emanating from across the border with Pakistan. At present NSG is setting up its units in Ayodhya, Pathankot and Kerala and they are expected to be operational soon by the end of this year. In addition, there are five regional hubs of NSG in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Gandhinagar. These hubs were created after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The proposal to set up an independent NSG hub in the Jammu region was in the pipeline for a long time, official sources said. According to these official sources, the proposal was mooted ahead of the annual conduct of the Amarnath yatra during one of the security review meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs last year. While discussing the spike in terror attacks in the region a suggestion was made to permanently deploy a component of the NSG in Jammu city to avoid unwarranted delay in rushing elite NSG commandos, especially in case of any hostage crisis. The NSG commandos, inducted during anti-terror operations on several occasions in the past, returned to their base in Gurgaon. This time the final approval has come in the wake of the recent spike in terror attacks in the region. Last month, the NSG team was deployed in the Akhnoor area where a group of Pakistani terrorists were holed up inside a religious place. Anticipating a hostage crisis in the built-up area the NSG teams were rushed to the encounter site to neutralize them to prevent any collateral damage. According to official sources, the Jammu and Kashmir police have also reviewed its anti-terror plan on the advice of the Union Home Ministry. A fresh security audit of the vital installations, high-value targets, and sensitive places was done recently where the requirement of the NSG team was projected as part of a back-up plan by the police authorities. The teams of the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir police and the NSG will work in close coordination to neutralise the terrorists during anti-terror operations. According to a recent assessment of the intelligence agencies, eight out of 10 districts of the Jammu region witnessed targeted attacks on the security forces this year in which 45 people have been killed, including 18 security personnel, 14 civilians, and 13 terrorists. Security forces continue to carry out massive search operations to track down the footprints of foreign terrorists behind these lethal attacks on security personnel and civilians. A 25-year-old mentally disturbed youth committed suicide on Tuesday in Badjhiri of Ratibad police station area, his body was found hanging from a tree behind the house. On the information of the family, the police have started an investigation by registering a case. After the post-mortem, the body has been handed over to the family. Initial investigation by the police revealed that the young man was mentally ill. According to the police, Jagdish Singh a resident of Badjhiri village, lived with his mother and younger sister in his elder father's house. On Monday morning, Jagdish left the house for some work and did not reach home late at night. On Tuesday, the family found Jagdish's body hanging from a mango tree behind the house. Jagdish had committed suicide by hanging. According to the police, Jagdish did not do any work. His father had sold all the property before his death due to which he lived with his mother and younger sister at his uncle's house. His mental condition was not good and he was under stress while his mother's mental condition was also not stable. The family told the police that due to his mother's mental condition and other reasons, he committed suicide. Meanwhile, the body of a man found near Holy Cross School has been identified as Rakesh Ladia, a resident of Kajlikhera. There are injury marks on the body, which at first glance seem to be due to an attack. Nothing could be ascertained and only after the autopsy report details could be revealed. On Tuesday, Kolar police station got the postmortem done and handed over the body to the family. Kolar police said that on Monday, an employee of Holy Cross School was informed about a body in the bushes. On which the body was taken into custody after reaching the spot. After which, on investigation, the deceased has been identified. Rakesh was originally a resident of Maharajpur Tehsil Deori and lived with his wife and child in Kajlikhera, Bhopal. He also has a daughter who lives with her maternal uncle. Ahead of International Gita Mahotsav, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday launched Swachh Kurukshetra Mahasafai Abhiyan in Kurukshetra. He also flagged off the Swachhata Rath to ensure cleanliness and also signed the Swachh Kurukshetra board to emphasize the message of cleanliness. Reaffirming his dedication to a cleaner environment and emphasizing the crucial role of cleanliness, the Chief Minister embodied the true spirit of a 'Swachhata Doot', when he personally participated in a cleanliness drive by picking up the broom to clean the dirt. This initiative was taken to raise awareness among citizens and transform this cleanliness campaign into a mass movement, making Haryana not just clean but a benchmark for cleanliness across states, he added. During the event, hundreds of people joined the Chief Minister for an hour-long cleanliness drive from Sheikh Chillis Tomb to OP Jindal Park, Jyotiba Phule, and Tau Devi Lal Chowk. The Chief Minister launched the campaign across 18 zones of Kurukshetra, administered a cleanliness pledge, and urged every citizen to participate in the movement. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that ensuring cleanliness and making Kurukshetra more beautiful should be the utmost priority of the officers and the residents, especially as the International Gita Mahotsav is nearing and thousands of visitors from across the globe will be visiting the holy land. He said that Kurukshetras cleanliness and aesthetic appeal are vital to its global recognition. Saini said that a clean environment will not only eradicate diseases but also ensure a healthier population, paving the way for national progress. Haryana, he said, is on track to develop three times faster, with cleanliness as its foremost goal. Efforts are being made to address the shortage of staff in all Civic Bodies, and there will be no shortage of resources. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, 7,75,810 individual toilets and more than 6,000 community sanitation complexes have been constructed in rural areas so far, said Saini. He said that Haryanas strides in cleanliness were noted, with 17 urban local bodies certified as Open Defecation Free (ODF), 59 as ODF Plus, and 2 as Water Plus. The state ranked 14th nationally in the Swachh Survekshan 2023 among states with fewer than 100 urban local bodies. Two waste management plants, each with a capacity of 1,200 metric tons, in Gurugram and Faridabad will be set up, which are expected to boost Haryanas ranking in cleanliness surveys, said Saini. The Chief Minister assured that there would be no funds constraints or compromises in the mission to keep Kurukshetra clean. He emphasized strict implementation of the campaign, with close monitoring by the Deputy Commissioner to ensure no lapses. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) performed its best by winning 34 seats in the Jharkhand assembly elections. With this historic victory, Hemant Soren will take oath as the Chief Minister for the fourth time on November 28. Before taking oath, Hemant Soren reached his native village Nemra with his wife Kalpana Soren on Wednesday, where he attended the ceremony organized on the martyrdom day of his grandfather Sobaran Soren. Acting Chief Minister Hemant Soren paid tribute to martyr Sobaran Soren on his 67th martyrdom day by garlanding his statue located at the martyr's place in Lukaiyatand, Nemra, Gola, Ramgarh. During this, Ramgarh MLA Mamta Devi was also present. The martyrdom day of martyr Sobaran Soren holds special significance for Hemant Soren and his family and the cultural heritage of Jharkhand. I visit this place every year to pay homage to my grandfather Sobaran Soren," he told reporters on Wednesday. Soren also invited his villagers to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his government at Ranchi's Morabadi ground. While addressing them at Lukaiyatand in Nemra, he said the work for government formation was underway. "From tomorrow onwards, a new innings of Abua Sarkar (our government) will start. The oath-taking ceremony is scheduled on Thursday. I invite you all to attend the ceremony. You all have worked very hard to bring the Abua Sarkar again in power," Soren told villagers. Sobaran was killed by Mahajans (moneylenders) when Shibu was 15 years old. Since then, the JMM chief has been visiting here with family to pay homage to his father. Hemant too continues that tradition. Nemra, Hemants native village, is situated amidst dense forests and hills near Bengal border, approximately 25 kilometres from Gola block in Ramgarh district. It is also the birthplace of Shibu Soren. Hemant Soren's JMM-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the NDA, which managed only 24 seats. Top leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Congress's Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, are likely to attend the ceremony. Hemant Soren and his wife were recently on a visit to Delhi. He met many leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Arvind Kejriwal and invited everyone to attend the swearing-in ceremony to be held at Morhabadi Ground in Ranchi on November 28. The India alliance has won a big victory in the Jharkhand assembly elections. This has further strengthened the position of JMM in the state. This visit of Hemant Soren is important not only personally but also politically, which indicates his connection with his roots and the people. Underlining the growing impact of social media, Director of Public Relations, Anshul Gupta, on Tuesday advised influencers to check the veracity of the news before publishing it online. Gupta said that social media has emerged as the most effective medium for information dissemination, but its credibility should be maintained by verifying the authenticity of news prior to sharing it on various platforms. The top PR official underlined that social media prominence comes with responsibility. He said content creators should remain mindful of the DPTA Act and tailor content to reader interest and understanding. Gupta was addressing the divisional workshop on Social Media and New Age Media organised by the Divisional Public Relations Office, Bhopal. On this occasion, Additional Director of Public Relations, GS Wadhwa, and Sanjay Jain were present. The workshop covered important topics such as digital marketing, video editing, graphic designing, video shooting, and scriptwriting. Influencers were introduced to modern digital tools and the latest techniques. They were also encouraged to take on a more impactful role in administrative and community programmes. Special emphasis was placed on the impact of digital media, brand promotion strategies, and effective communication skills. Expert speakers explained the latest trends in digital marketing, effective storytelling, and how to develop creative skills in a simple and practical manner.The workshop was conducted by Joint Director of Public Relations, Pankaj Mittal, and the vote of thanks was given by Deputy Director, Arun Sharma.The workshop featured social media influencersAryan Chaturvedi, Rashmi Golya, Sarvesh Pancholi, Irshad Ahmed Zaidi, Satish Kushwaha, and Sushant Kaushal, who shared their experiences. The response to Chief Minister Mohan Yadavs meeting with British MPs during his visit to the UK is exceeding expectations. Describing Madhya Pradesh as an emerging state, the MPs openly praised the personality, humility, and affability of Chief Minister Yadav. Yadav has invited British MPs, investors, and Indians to the Global Investors Summit to be held in Bhopal in February 2025. Lord Raminder Ranger, a member of the House of Lords of Britain, said that the humility and affability of Dr. Mohan Yadav, the Chief Minister of a big state from a country like India, has impressed us greatly. He told us about the investment opportunities available in Madhya Pradesh. We told Chief Minister Dr. Yadav that we would invest in whatever project he suggested. At present, the growth in India is more than 8 percent compared to the growth in Europe and USA. Money invested in India is safe, because India is a democratic country, here there is rule of law as well as heart of governance. He also praised the administrative team accompanying Chief Minister Yadav. Lord Kulveer Ranger, another member of Britains House of Lords, described the meeting with Chief Minister Yadav as amazing. He said that he too is eagerly waiting for the Global Investors Summit to be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He expressed his desire to know and understand more about Madhya Pradesh as the Lungs of India. He said that there are many opportunities available in Madhya Pradesh in the fields of renewable energy, eco-system, technology, higher education as well as agriculture and health technology. Lord Kulveer said that Chief Minister Dr. Yadav informed us about the investment opportunities in MP. In a sharp critique of the Congress on Tuesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused the party of tampering with the Preamble and strangling the Constitution. He argued that the original Constitution, drafted by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar on November 26, 1949, did not include the words secular or socialist. Alleging that the Congress added these terms during the Emergency period, he further stated, The people have delivered a fitting lesson to those who betrayed the Constitution. The chief minister made these remarks during a ceremony here at Lok Bhawan to commemorate Constitution Day. He led the reading of the Preamble, paying tribute to the architects of the Indian Constitution. Highlighting the strength and comprehensiveness of the Indian Constitution, the chief minister described it as the most robust in the world. He credited Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar with laying the foundation of Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat through the Constitution. Extending his congratulations to the people on the occasion, Yogi emphasised the significance of Constitution Day in reminding citizens of the greatness of Indias democracy and Constitution. He hailed Dr Ambedkar as a true son of India, highlighting how the drafting committee under his leadership incorporated core values like justice, equality, and fraternity into the document, ensuring a strong future for the nation. The chief minister shared historical insights, stating that the Constituent Assembly, formed in 1946 on the demand of freedom fighters, held its first meeting on December 9, 1946. Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as its President, and the Constitution was drafted by 13 committees, with the drafting committee chaired by Dr Ambedkar. He further explained that the debates of these committees were instrumental in shaping the Constitution and called them its essence. CM Yogi urged the legislature, executive, and judiciary to draw inspiration and guidance from these historic debates, which reflect the spirit and principles of the Indian Constitution. Praising Indias democracy, Yogi highlighted that the Indian Constitution ensures equal voting rights for individuals of every caste, opinion, and religion. He noted that while other democracies around the world were grappling with discrimination, India had already granted universal suffrage to all adult citizens in its general elections, a testament to the foresight of Dr Ambedkar and the Constituent Assembly. He emphasised that Constitution Day serves as an important occasion to educate citizens about their rights and duties while reinforcing their faith in democracy. Mounting a sharp attack on the Congress, CM Yogi accused the party of undermining the Constitutions sanctity by attempting to alter its basic structure, holding the party responsible for the erosion of people's faith in it. He asserted that it was the BJP government that restored and strengthened this faith, upholding the true essence of the Constitution. He emphasised that the soul of any Constitution lies in its objectives and principles. Yogi further remarked that the public has not hesitated in holding accountable those who tampered with the Indian Constitution. He emphasised the importance of exposing those who mislead the people of the country. Their faces may appear democratic, but their actions reveal a dictatorial and fascist mentality. Whenever they get an opportunity, they do not hesitate to undermine democratic values, he said. Reflecting on past and present actions, the CM pointed out, Whether it was during the Emergency in 1975 or now, their attempts to deprive socially marginalised and extremely backward caste groups of the constitutional rights granted by Dr BR Ambedkar are evident. Their remarks, both within India and abroad, speak volumes about their intentions. He underscored the significance of the Indian Constitution, calling it the legacy of Dr Ambedkar, which unites the entire nation and its 140 crore citizens in a bond of unity. CM Yogi stressed, It is our collective responsibility to safeguard this Constitution. By adhering to the fundamental duties enshrined in it, we pay the truest tribute to Baba Saheb Ambedkar, the architects of the Constitution, and the great freedom fighters of India. The chief minister highlighted Indias progressive approach to womens empowerment, stating that India granted voting rights to women before many countries, considered the pioneers of modern democracy. India has now gone a step further, he said, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi passing the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, reserving one-third of the seats in the legislature for women. This, too, is a first in the world. The CM also credited PM Modis vision for elevating the significance of Constitution Day. Ten years ago, during the launch of a grand memorial for Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the prime minister emphasised the importance of observing Constitution Day as a significant public occasion. Following his initiative, the celebration of Constitution Day has been organised with grandeur across the country since November 26, 2015, he said. Referring to the special session on civic duties held in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council in 2019, Yogi emphasised that both civil rights and duties are fundamental pillars of democracy. He stated, It is not enough to only talk about rights; it is equally important to adhere to the civic duties enshrined in the Constitution. Yogi urged all citizens to embrace the ideals and values of the Constitution. He stated, A strong and prosperous India can only be achieved when every citizen fulfils their duties and responsibly exercises the rights granted by the Constitution. During the Constitution Day programme, Yogi honoured the winners of the debate and essay competition held on the theme Ideals and Values from the Constitution. The CM encouraged the students to embrace the principles of the Constitution and live by its ideals. As part of the event, a documentary showcasing the historical events and debates surrounding the drafting of India's Constitution was screened, offering insights into the journey of Indian democracy and constitutional development. Dr BL Soni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Trauma and Emergency Medicine at AIIMS Bhopal, was honored with the First Prize in the Oral Presentation category at the 64th Annual Conference of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMSCON 2024). This conference was held from November 21 to 24, 2024, at AIIMS Jodhpur and witnessed the participation of distinguished physicians and researchers from across the country. Commending Dr Soni's achievement, Prof. Singh remarked, "Dr. Soni's innovation has the potential to revolutionize organ donation by maintaining the dignity of donors while encouraging broader acceptance and saving lives. AIIMS Bhopal is committed to developing solutions that bridge the gap between science and humanity." Dr Soni presented on the topic, "Innovative Use of 3D Printed Bone Analogues for Post-Bone Retrieval Reconstruction as Natural Appurtenance in Deceased Donors," where he showcased a unique technology addressing complex challenges in organ donation. Advising patients against hiding tuberculosis due to stigma, the district health department on Wednesday announced that the C-Y TB test, which checks for TB, is available for free at a dozen government hospitals in the state capital. The C-Y TB skin test has been launched in Bhopal to detect tuberculosis (TB) infection. It accurately confirms the presence of TB bacteria in the body. However, individuals who test positive do not spread TB to others but are at a higher risk of developing it in the future. The Government of India aims to eliminate TB by 2025. Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, family members of TB patients and other high-risk groups are recommended to receive Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT). The C-Y TB test has been introduced for this purpose, as it provides precise information about TB infection. For results, individuals must return to the health facility within 48 to 72 hours, where a doctor or health worker will examine the area of skin where the test solution was applied. If the result is positive, TPT will be given to reduce the risk of developing TB.Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Prabhakar Tiwari stated that family members living with TB patients, healthcare workers, and those with immune-suppressing diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, or who are on dialysis, are at higher risk of developing TB. Therefore, the test is particularly useful for these individuals. The test is conducted for those aged 18 years and above. After the test, the area of skin should not be rubbed or scratched. An important event took place today at the conference hall of the Garhwa District Collectorate to mark Constitution Day, chaired by Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Jamuar. During the programme, all senior officials, heads of departments, and staff members recited the Preamble of the Constitution and pledged to faithfully uphold its rights and duties. All attendees reiterated their commitment to transforming India into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, ensuring justice and providing social, economic, and political rights for all citizens, alongside the freedoms of thought, expression, belief, religion, and worship. They also vowed to foster brotherhood in order to promote human dignity and national unity. This gathering on 26 November 1949 took an oath to adopt, enact, and devote itself to this Constitution. The Deputy Commissioner remarked that Constitution Day is celebrated every year on 26 November, the date the draft of the Indian Constitution was adopted. Although the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, it was initially adopted on 26 November 1949. The government officially recognised 26 November as Constitution Day through a gazette notification on 19 November 2015. The Deputy Commissioner extended his greetings for Constitution Day and encouraged officials and staff to adhere to the rights and duties outlined in the Constitution. The ceremony was also attended by Additional Collector Raj Maheshwaram, District Land Acquisition Officer Sanjay Prasad, District Panchayati Raj Officer Pramesh Kushwaha, as well as other district-level officials and office staff. Hit by economic slowdown and poor infrastructure, industrialists from Jharkhands key industrial districtsEast Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, and Seraikela-Kharsawanare looking to the newly formed state government for revival and support. The industrial zones of Adityapur, Gamharia, Kandra, and Chandil have been grappling with inadequate infrastructure, including poorly maintained roads, lack of bridges, erratic water supply, and unreliable power. Entrepreneurs in these regions hope the new administration will address these issues and work toward improving the states industrial ecosystem. The slowdown in production at Tata Motors and the closure of major industries like Tayo Rolls have significantly impacted the industrial belt. Ancillary units and vendors in the Adityapur Industrial Area are facing one of their toughest periods as Tata Motors continues to cut production to cope with the downturn. The government must immediately implement a robust rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy to facilitate smoother land acquisition for industries, said N K Singhal, a city-based entrepreneur. He added that mining licenses for essential raw materials such as iron ore and coal must be expedited to support steelmaking and allied industries. Financial stress is a critical concern for ancillary units. Around 300 ancillary businesses have secured loans from public and private banks over the last five years, but more than 100 of these units have been declared non-performing assets (NPAs), according to industry insiders. We urge the government to work with banks to provide a six-to-eight-month moratorium on loan repayments and prevent further units from being classified as NPAs, said a functionary of the Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA) and an ancillary owner. Officials and industrialists alike are optimistic that initiatives such as the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the Adityapur Auto Cluster Limited can accelerate development under a stable and development-focused government. A government with a clear vision for industrial growth is the need of the hour, said an official from the Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA). It has been coordinating with ancillary units to secure some relief from banks but acknowledges its limited capacity to address the broader crisis. The sprawling Adityapur Industrial Area, located in Seraikela-Kharsawan, is home to 900 units, including 11 large-scale, 64 small-scale, and 166 micro-industries. Prominent companies such as Usha Martin Group, RSB Group, and Tata Steel Growth Shop (TGS) have operations in this belt. Notably, 20 industries from this region export products to markets in the USA, Australia, and Europe. However, the financial struggles of several units have forced entrepreneurs to mortgage personal assets, including homes and valuables, to keep their businesses afloat. Despite these efforts, the fear of bank auctions looms large over many. Recognizing the severity of the situation, officials from ASIA have announced plans to meet the Chief Minister to discuss the pressing challenges faced by the industrial sector. They intend to present a comprehensive update on the issues and propose solutions to revive the regions industrial ecosystem. The state governments active intervention is critical for the revival of the industrial belt, which serves as a backbone for Jharkhands economy. Entrepreneurs and industry leaders remain hopeful that the new administration will prioritize their concerns and drive meaningful change for the betterment of the sector, said an industrialist. Leader of the INDIA bloc in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, is set to be sworn in as Jharkhands Chief Minister for the fourth time on November 28 at the historic Morhabadi Ground in the State capital. The ceremony is expected to serve as a significant moment for the opposition alliance, showcasing their unity and political might. Sources said that Soren will take oath as CM alone and will later expand his Cabinet as the decision on the shape of the council of ministers has not been finalised as of now. Prominent leaders from the opposition, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha), NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are likely to attend the ceremony. The event will also feature leaders from various parties such as AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Additionally, notable figures from Bihar like Tejashwi Yadav and Manish Sisodia are expected to join. Other key attendees include Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, whose National Peoples Party is part of the NDA, is also on the guest list. The swearing-in ceremony, set to take place at Ranchis Morhabadi ground, a venue previously used for similar events, is expected to draw a crowd of approximately 50,000 people. Preparations are in full swing, with elaborate decorations and arrangements being finalized. Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari has reviewed the event preparations to ensure everything is on track, while Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan and SSP Chandan Sinha are overseeing administrative and security arrangements. Authorities have emphasized strict security protocols to ensure a seamless event. Later in the day, Soren along with his wife and Gandey MLA Kalpana Soren inspected the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony. On this occasion, he took information from the officials about the stage construction, decoration, electricity, sound and security arrangements at the venue and the welcome of the guests and the seating arrangements for the visitors. He said that there should be a strong arrangement for transportation and parking of vehicles to the venue, so that no problem of any kind arises. He told the officials that all other necessary facilities along with drinking water should be available here. Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, Additional Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary Vandana Dadel, Secretary Amitabh Kaushal, Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi Varun Ranjan, Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Sinha and many other officials were present on the occasion. Earlier in the day, Soren visited his ancestral village, Nemra in Ramgarh district, to pay tribute to his grandfather Sobaran Soren on his martyrdom day. At Lukaiyatand, where a statue of his grandfather stands, Soren, accompanied by his wife Kalpana Soren, honored his memory by laying a garland. During the visit, he reflected on the struggles of the people of Jharkhand against exploitation and spoke about the sacrifices of their ancestors in the pursuit of justice and equality. Our forefathers have inspired us to continue the fight for rights and justice. Their sacrifices remind us to stay committed to the path of equality and dignity, Soren stated. On social media, he shared a heartfelt tribute, acknowledging the contributions of his grandfather, Master Sobaran Manjhi, and reiterating the importance of education as a transformative tool for society. "Saluting my revered grandfather on his martyrdom day The people of Jharkhand have endured and resisted oppression for centuries. Their courage inspires our fight for rights and justice," he wrote. The Indian Army's request for 300 units of free electricity per month for its personnel stationed in Punjab has thrown the State Government into a financial quandary. With over one lakh army personnel stationed in various parts of the State, the demand poses a significant challenge to an already-strained fiscal situation. The Army's South Western Command has made the request, citing the 300-unit free electricity scheme for domestic consumers implemented by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Punjab Government since July 2022. However, the benefit has not been extended to military personnel and defence civilians residing in cantonments and military stations in Punjab. The demand for free power was articulated in a letter from the South Western Command to the Punjab Government, arguing that the scheme should include all military personnel and their families living in cantonment areas. While Punjab offers free power to domestic users, military personnel, who are also state residents, have been excluded, even though they live in residential quarters. The Army highlighted that other states, such as Delhi, provide similar electricity subsidies to their stationed soldiers, and Punjab should follow suit to ensure parity. This plea has triggered internal discussions within the State Government, which is grappling with an already burgeoning electricity subsidy bill. The request comes at a time when Punjabs power sector is facing severe financial constraints. With the State Government already struggling to pay a power subsidy bill of approximately Rs 9,076 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), the addition of military cantonments to the list of free electricity recipients could exacerbate the states fiscal woes. The free power scheme for domestic consumers has already led to a sharp increase in electricity consumption, with new connections rising by 80,000 since the schemes launch in 2022. The State Governments power subsidy expenditure has surged as a result, with its total subsidy bill increasing by Rs 1,550 crore compared to the previous fiscal year. A senior government official explained that military stations and cantonments receive bulk electricity supply, which is different from the individual domestic consumers who benefit from subsidies. This makes extending the free electricity scheme to military personnel challenging, as bulk consumers are not eligible for such schemes. While the Armys request is currently under review, the financial implications for the state are significant, especially since the government is already struggling to meet its subsidy obligations. As of November 2023, the Punjab Government had only paid Rs 4,508.2 crore towards the total Rs 20,477 crore subsidy due to PSPCL, with the remainder still pending. If the Punjab Government agrees to extend the subsidy to the military personnel, it will be required to provide free electricity to soldiers residing in cantonments and military stations across the state, including those in Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Patiala, Amritsar, and Pathankot. This would not only increase the states subsidy burden but also put additional pressure on the already financially struggling PSPCL, which has been grappling with high losses and delayed payments. The financial toll of the free electricity scheme has already become apparent. The number of new electricity connections has risen dramatically since the schemes implementation, with many households reportedly splitting their connections to take advantage of the 300-unit free power. This surge in connections has contributed to an increase in overall power consumption, placing additional strain on the states already stretched energy resources. A team of three IIT Bombay graduates has achieved a significant milestone by securing $500,000 in funding from Y Combinator, one of the worlds leading startup accelerators. The funding will enable the trios startup, Vocera, to revolutionize the testing and evaluation of voice AI technology. Founded by Sidhant Kabra, Tarush Agarwal, and Shashij Gupta, Vocera aims to address a critical gap in the market by automating the testing of voice AI systems. Their platform helps companies improve the accuracy and efficiency of voice agents, reducing the manual hours spent on testing while minimizing human errors. The problem, according to Tarush Agarwal, who studied from DBMS English School, Jamshedpur, lies in the time-consuming and error-prone processes many companies use to test their voice AI systems. "We noticed a huge gap in how companies were testing their voice AI. Its often time-consuming and prone to human error," Agarwal explained. Voceras solution automates the testing of voice agents by simulating real-world customer interactions. The platform tests voice agents against various customer personas, providing actionable insights that help companies improve the agents' responses. The team hopes to set a new benchmark in the industry for reliable voice AI testing. The funding from Y Combinator will accelerate the startups growth and expansion, allowing it to reach more companies globally. Sidhant Kabra, another co-founder, who studied at Rajendra Vidyalaya, Jamshedpur, said, "Y Combinator is a tremendous opportunity for us to accelerate our growth and bring our voice AI testing platform to more companies worldwide." Y Combinator, known for supporting unicorns like Razorpay, Groww, and Meesho, has a history of backing successful companies. The inclusion of Vocera in its portfolio further cements its reputation for supporting game-changing innovations. Tarush Agarwal has worked in quantitative finance, developing ultra-low latency systems that turned a loss-making trading strategy into a profitable operation, generating millions in monthly recurring revenue. Shashij Gupta is an expert in NLP and machine learning, having authored a highly-cited paper on transformer testing at ETH Zurich and worked at Google as a quantitative researcher. Sidhant Kabra has a track record of scaling AI-based startups, advising Fortune 500 companies, and driving growth in the edtech space. Together, the three IIT Bombay graduates are looking to redefine the standards for voice AI testing and lead the way toward more efficient, accurate, and reliable AI systems in industries worldwide. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday emphasised that the upcoming Maha Kumbh 2025 in Prayagraj will not only set new benchmarks in cleanliness but will also embrace technology to present a Digital Kumbh. While attending a programme here on Tuesday, Yogi extended greetings on Constitution Day, emphasising that the three foundational pillars of the Indian Constitution are rooted in samvad (dialogue and communication). The CM provided detailed insights into the governments preparations for the upcoming Maha Kumbh 2025, while also reflecting on the transformative changes Uttar Pradesh has witnessed over the past seven and a half years. He noted that this Maha Kumbh will not only be a clean and grand event but will also showcase a Digital Kumbh, marking a blend of tradition and technology. CM Yogi remarked, There was a time when Kumbh was synonymous with dirt, stampedes, and chaos. The management of the Kumbh was often entrusted to individuals with little respect for faith, tradition, culture, or heritage. However, with a sense of reverence for this heritage and the inspiration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the arrangements for Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019 earned UNESCO recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The CM said that Maha Kumbh 2025 will take place from January 13 to February 26, spanning 45 days. Key bathing dates include Paush Purnima (January 13), Makar Sankranti Shahi Snan (January 14), Mauni Amavasya (January 29), Basant Panchami (February 3), Magh Purnima (February 12), and Mahashivratri (February 26). Described as one of the worlds largest religious, spiritual, and cultural gatherings, Maha Kumbh 2025 promises to be a magnificent celebration of tradition and faith. Highlighting the governments extensive preparations, the CM emphasised the collaborative efforts of the Central and state governments. He recalled that the 2019 Kumbh witnessed the participation of 23-24 crore devotees and stated that this time, 35-40 crore devotees are expected to visit over the course of 45 days. Yogi shared details about infrastructure upgrades, noting that preparations are being carried out on a war footing to enhance Prayagrajs connectivity via air, rail, and road, including the development of four- and six-lane highways. The Maha Kumbh area has been significantly expanded from 3,200 hectares in 2019 to 4,000 hectares for 2025, divided into 25 well-organised sectors. He also spoke about parking and transportation facilities for the convenience of pilgrims. The government is ensuring that devotees dont have to walk more than 1.5-2 km to reach the Sangam coast. Over 1,850 hectares have been earmarked for parking on various routes, within a radius of 2-5 km from the Sangam. From these parking sites, around 7,000 transport corporation buses will provide electronic transport services to the Kumbh area, he added. Speaking on infrastructure enhancements for Maha Kumbh 2025, the CM said that significant upgrades are being made compared to the 2019 Kumbh. In 2019, nine road flyovers and six underpasses were constructed. This time, 14 road overbridges are being built. While there were four concrete bathing ghats last time, nine concrete ghats are being constructed this time. All these works are progressing on a war footing and will be completed by November 30, he said. The CM also mentioned the ongoing construction of a riverfront and the extension of temporary ghats. In 2019, the temporary ghats spanned 8 km; this year, they will extend to 12 km, he said. Highlighting transportation arrangements, Yogi announced that 550 shuttle buses will be deployed for the convenience of devotees, and seven bus stands have been constructed. To improve connectivity, road widening projects are being expedited, converting single-lane roads to double lanes, two-lane roads to four lanes, and four-lane roads to six lanes. These enhancements aim to ensure smooth and efficient movement during the grand event. Yogi highlighted the remarkable progress in restoring the purity of the Ganga River, stating, Before 2014, the Gangetic dolphin, once symbolic of the Gangas identity, had disappeared. Now, it has returned. No drainage or sewer will flow into the Ganga anymore, and devotees will witness a clean and uninterrupted river during Maha Kumbh 2025. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has raised significant doubts about the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), asserting that elections conducted via ballot papers would have yielded far better results for the INDIA alliance. The party claims that under a ballot-based voting system, the INDIA bloc could have secured 75 out of the 81 seats in Jharkhand, a notable increase compared to the outcomes observed with EVMs. This claim was made through a post on the JMM's official social media platform, X, which was also shared by Acting Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The party expressed dissatisfaction with what it described as the dictatorial rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and emphasized the growing public anger in Jharkhand. The post also accused the BJP of ignoring key state issues, including unresolved financial dues amounting to Rs 1.36 lakh crore, which the JMM claims is a significant grievance among the state's citizens. The JMM-led alliancecomprising Congress, RJD, and CPI(ML)achieved a historic victory, securing a total of 56 seats. This marked the highest number ever won by an alliance in Jharkhand's 24-year history. Within this coalition, the JMM won 34 seats, Congress 16, RJD 4, and CPI(ML) 2. Despite this success, the JMM, led by Hemant Soren, continues to question the reliability of EVMs. JMM General Secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya previously raised concerns about potential EVM tampering, citing reports from Haryana elections that suggested suspicious anomalies, such as EVMs maintaining unusually high battery levels for extended periods. Bhattacharya implied that such incidents raise questions about the machines' integrity. The JMMs scepticism regarding EVMs echoes the stance of several Congress leaders who have also advocated for a return to ballot papers. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has criticized EVMs as completely unreliable and called for their replacement. As part of this push, Kharge announced that Rahul Gandhi would spearhead a nationwide "Ballot Paper Yatra" to campaign for a return to traditional voting methods. The JMM has voiced its support for this initiative, aligning itself with the broader debate on election transparency in India. Concerns about EVMs are not limited to Jharkhand. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra, which suffered a heavy loss in the November 20 Assembly elections, has joined the demand for a return to ballot paper voting. The MVA, which secured only 48 seats out of 288 in the Maharashtra Assembly, has raised doubts about the fairness of EVM-based elections and is calling for a shift back to the conventional voting system for future polls. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, campaigning to invite global investors to the Global Investors Summit to be held in Bhopal in February 2025, addressed an interactive session with industrialists during a roadshow in London, UK, on Tuesday. Yadav praised the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the rapid industrial development seen across India. Inviting the industrialists to invest in Madhya Pradesh, he highlighted that the state possesses one of the largest land banks in the country. Madhya Pradesh has transparent and investor-friendly policies and is a leader in the mining and agricultural sectors in India. While addressing the industrialists during the session in London, Yadav said that even after facing challenges, the relations between India and the UK remain strong because of their shared democratic heritage. He attributed India's rapid development and political stability to the miraculous leadership of Prime Minister Modi. He reminded everyone of how PM Modi turned the challenge of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity, proving India's capability in overcoming crises. Under his leadership, not only was India safeguarded, but the world was also supported, which enhanced India's reputation globally. PM Modi's clarity of vision and firm resolve have created a favorable environment for industrial investments in India. In the interactive session titled Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Yadav informed the industrialists that before reaching out to foreign investors, significant improvements were made within the state, and a campaign was initiated to invite industrialists from across the country to Madhya Pradesh. As a result, investments worth thousands of crores became possible. Yadav shared that renowned industrialist Lakshmi Mittal appreciated the investment opportunities in the state during a recent meeting. He also expressed delight that an Indian-origin real estate entrepreneur from the UK has shown interest in investing ?25,000 crore to set up a semiconductor chip manufacturing unit in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Yadav extended an invitation to Indian-origin industrialists in the UK, stating that their investment in Madhya Pradesh would not only enhance employment opportunities in the state but also expand their businesses, forming a long-lasting partnership with the state. Madhya Pradesh: The Heartland with Immense Industrial Potential India's High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, described Madhya Pradesh as an ideal destination for industrial investments. He praised PM Modi's leadership and stated that India has emerged as one of the best places for doing business under his tenure. Mr. Doraiswami emphasized that Madhya Pradesh ranks among the top five states in India for ease of doing business. With vast land availability, the highest agricultural growth rate, and industry-friendly policies, Madhya Pradesh presents unlimited opportunities for investors. Mr. Doraiswami noted that Madhya Pradesh's central location makes it an excellent hub for industries, as products can be easily transported across India and the globe. With abundant natural resources and comparatively low competition, Madhya Pradesh offers a lucrative opportunity for investors. The state's transparent policies enable both global expansion for businesses and significant growth for investors. Additional Chief Secretary for Science and Technology, Mr. Sanjay Dubey, presented the investment opportunities in the IT/ITES and ESDM sectors. He highlighted the state's vibrant tech ecosystem and government support for IT investments. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said that Madhya Pradesh is the heart of India where people from all regions of the country reside. In the changing times, the country is progressing rapidly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Madhya Pradesh is also flourishing in the field of industry and trade. All types of facilities are being provided by the state government in every field including health, tourism, IT, education, and garments. Be it the field of infrastructure or other basic facilities, the double-engine government of Prime Minister Modi is doing effective work for industrial development and investment promotion. Madhya Pradesh has established itself as the best state in the country in terms of land banks for roads, electricity, and industrial sector. Chief Minister Yadav expressed these views while interacting with the NRI group 'Friends of Madhya Pradesh' and the expatriate community in London during his UK visit. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav was warmly welcomed and felicitated by the expatriate community and members of 'Friends of MP' at the Royal National Hotel in London (UK). Many eminent Indian expatriates including former Deputy Mayor of London Rajesh Aggarwal were present. Yadav said that Prime Minister Modi's vision and leadership abilities have established India's reputation in the world. The acceptance of his leadership abilities in the countries of the world has increased the pride and respect of India and Indians in the world. Indians consider themselves fortunate due to the strong and capable leadership of Modi in the world's largest democracy. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also remembered former Prime Minister Late. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Throwing light on the development of Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that till 2003, there were only 5 medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh, but at present a total of 30 medical colleges are operating in the state. Colleges of Excellence operate in all 55 districts. There are many possibilities in the field of mining and tourism also. In the garments sector, there is an incentive of Rs 5,000 per worker per month, similarly in other sectors including IT, there is a system of providing facilities and incentives. Madhya Pradesh ready to welcome investors Chief Minister Yadav said that Madhya Pradesh is ready to welcome investors and said investors and industry groups should invest. Madhya Pradesh will also progress and together we will all participate in the progress of the country. Yadav said that the Regional Industry Conclave was started to increase investment and employment opportunities in the state, in this sequence conclaves have been organized in Ujjain, Jabalpur, Rewa, Gwalior, and Sagar. Inviting investors to the Global Investors Summit to be held for the first time in Bhopal in February 2025, Chief Minister Yadav said, 'I am inviting all of you - Come and invest in Madhya Pradesh, as the state has opened all the doors of development'. India is the fastest-growing economy in the world Addressing the programme, former Deputy Mayor of London Rajesh Aggarwal said that no one can stop development of India and Madhya Pradesh. India is the largest investor in London, India is the fastest-growing economy in the world. Aggarwal wished Chief MinisterYadav a successful and purposeful journey. Founder member of 'Friends of MP' NRI Manish Tiwari said that Madhya Pradesh is not just a place where its people live, MP is a miniature India. He said that Friends of MP was formed with the aim of organizing the people of Madhya Pradesh in London. Tiwari praised the tourist places full of the natural beauty of the state including Bhopal, Jabalpur, and Kanha-Kisli. Ranchi Smart City Corporation has been honoured again in the Indian International Trade Fair held from 14 November 2024 to 27 November 2024 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Various departments of the state government had set up stalls related to their projects in the Jharkhand Pavilion, in which Ranchi Smart City has got the first place for better decoration and best exhibition. On Wednesday RSCC was honoured by the Directorate of Industries of the Government of Jharkhand, GM (Technical) Rakesh Kumar Nandkyoliar received this honour on behalf of Ranchi Smart City. Principal Secretary of Urban Development and Housing Department, Jharkhand Government, Sunil Kumar and CEO of Ranchi Smart City Corporation, Amit Kumar congratulated the team of Ranchi Smart City for this honour. The stall of Ranchi Smart City was built in a total area of 16 square meters, in which along with better lighting, beautiful blue and white colour was used more in the stall. A 3D model of 20 square feet was installed at the stall. This 3D model was displaying the master plan of Ranchi Smart City and the proposed buildings and the currently completed infrastructure. Four backlight posters based on the important components of Smart City were put up in the stall. Integrated infrastructure, command control and communication center, public bicycle sharing system and plots e-auction and Green Initiative were described in these backlights. Audio visuals and photographs based on Smart City were displayed through a large LED screen. Ranchi Smart City officials Amit Kumar, PRO, Bipin Bihari Sah, Company Secretary and Rakesh Kumar Nandkyoliar, GMT were appointed for different time intervals to give information about the features of Smart City to the people visiting the stall. Minister of State for Defence of Government of India, Sanjay Seth, Chief Secretary of Jharkhand Government, Alka Tiwari, Judge of Jharkhand High Court Justice Anand Sen, Secretaries and Directors of the State Government's Department of Industry, Building Construction, Revenue, Tourism, Labour, Energy Department of Government of India, several officers of Jharkhand cadre posted in Government of India, officers of Goa Government, other states, a senior officer posted in PMO as well as senior officers of DDA, NTPC, MIT etc visited the stall of Ranchi Smart City. Lakhs of people visited the stall and praised it in 14 days. Along with this, many foreign tourists reached the stall and took information and praised this project. A retired Air Force official from Faridabad was duped of Rs 5 lakh by fraudsters posing as TRAI and CBI officials, who placed him under digital arrest for 55 hours. According to police, the victim, Aditya Kumar Jha (55), a retired sergeant from the Air Force, is currently employed as a clerk at Punjab National Bank. On October 6, a day after returning from Haryana election duty, Jha received a video call at around 9:50 am from an unknown number while his wife and son were at the Jhandewalan temple in Delhi. One of the callers, posing as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, told Jha that his mobile number would be deactivated in two hours because someone had obtained a SIM card using his Aadhar details in Delhi, and gambling messages were being sent from that number, police said. Meanwhile, the second fraudster, introducing himself as Vijay Kumar, a DCP from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), claimed that arrest warrants had been issued against Jha, further alarming him, they said. "The caller instructed me to reach the CBI's Delhi office within two hours. When I refused, he told me that a money laundering case involving Rs 6.68 crore had been filed against me, accusing me of being involved in the case along with Nawab Malik," Jha stated in his complaint. The scammers then demanded Jha's bank account details and placed him under digital arrest, warning him not to disconnect the video call, or they would take action against his family, police said. Digital arrest is a type of cyber fraud where scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials, intimidating victims through audio or video calls and coercing them into making payments. The fraudsters instructed Jha to transfer a sum of money into a specified bank account under the pretense of an investigation into money laundering. When the transaction failed, they ordered him to visit his bank's home branch in Madhubani, Bihar, police added. Jha, not disconnecting the call, travelled by train to Bihar where he transferred Rs 5.03 lakh to the account as instructed. Suspicion arose when a relative of Jha called the same number from which he had received the initial call on October 8, causing the phone to disconnect. The relative then informed Jha's son in Delhi, who travelled to Bihar, took his father back to Faridabad. The victim then registered an FIR at the Cyber Crime Central Police Station here. The ASJ & Special Judge, CBI, Vyapam Cases, Bhopal on Tuesday sentenced seven accused including three candidates and four impersonators namely Vivek Tyagi Sunil Rawat & Charan Singh Sikarwar (all three candidates) and Vijendra Singh Rawat, Hariom Rawat, Sriniwas Singhal & Sandeep Prasad Nayak (all four impersonators) to 7 Years Rigorous Imprisonment with total fine of Rs 90,000 in a Vyapam scam case. This case was initially registered with STF police station of Bhopal vide FIR No. 10/2015 on May 16, 2015 against three accused persons viz. 03 candidates and unknown middlemen and others. STF had filed 01 charge-sheet dated 12.08.2015 in the instant case against 06 accused persons and further investigation of the case was kept open for identifying and tracing of other accused and for collecting additional evidence against the charge sheeted accused persons. In compliance of the orders dated 09.07.2015 of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the instant case was re-registered by CBI on 14.08.2015 against all accused persons as charge-sheeted by STF for further investigation. During its investigation, CBI traced all the absconding accused persons and examined them. Further, the expert opinion with respect to handwritings, thumb impressions, photographs, CCTV Video recording, etc. were obtained from CFSL, Mumbai and CFSL, New Delhi. After the completion of investigation, supplementary chargesheet was filed on 31.08.2018 by CBI, against the accused persons including those convicted by the Court on Tuesday. Under the leadership of the Yogi Adityanath government, skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh are being selected for employment opportunities in Israel. As part of this initiative, skill testing will be conducted at the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Aliganj, with the testing process running until December 3. On Wednesday, Minister of State for Vocational Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) Kapil Dev Aggarwal visited ITI Aliganj to encourage the workers participating in the India-Israel Drive 3.0. This drive aims to provide skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh with employment opportunities in Israel, boosting their careers and expanding global work prospects. Under the India-Israel Drive 3.0, around 5,000 skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh will be sent to Israel. So far, more than 9,000 workers from Uttar Pradesh have been employed in fields like construction, mall management and in technical jobs in Israel. Workers are earning monthly salaries ranging from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh in the country. To enhance the skills of these workers, the government is offering language and skill improvement training programmes. This will help them perform better at their workplaces and succeed in the global job market. As part of the Mission Rozgar, young people from Uttar Pradesh are being connected to global job opportunities. This initiative not only provides employment but also helps returning workers boost new job creation and entrepreneurship in the state. Under Chief Minister Yogis leadership, youth from Uttar Pradesh are advancing by learning new skills in areas like farming, industry and software. Thousands of workers from Uttar Pradesh have secured employment in Israel under the agreement between the two governments. This initiative is not only inspiring the youth of the state towards a better future but also providing them with an opportunity to become self-reliant. The effort is contributing to the economic growth of the state while giving the youth global recognition. During a recent meeting with Chief Minister Yogi, the Israeli Ambassador praised the work of UPs skilled workers. Government ITI Lucknow Principal Rajkumar Yadav mentioned that the India-Israel Drive 3.0 will continue until December 3. So far, over 1,300 workers have undergone skill testing, and the process will continue until the target is met, he added. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday and extended a formal invitation for the swearing-in ceremony of his government, which is scheduled to take place in Ranchi on November 28. Hemant Soren was accompanied by his wife Kalpana Soren, the newly elected MLA from Gandey constituency. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Hemant and Kalpana Soren on their electoral success and shared pictures of the meeting on X. Earlier, Hemant Soren also met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and party President Mallikarjun Kharge, inviting them to the ceremony. A JMM spokesperson said that invitations have been sent to various prominent political figures, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar's Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal, CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, and the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Jammu and Kashmir. The swearing-in ceremony is set to take place at Morabadi Ground, Ranchi, on November 28 at 4 p.m. Along with the Chief Minister, several other ministers are expected to take the oath. Hemant Soren was unanimously elected as the leader of the INDIA bloc in the state on Sunday. The Hemant Soren Cabinet is likely to have representation from all regions and different communities. A JMM sources said Kalpana, who swept to power from the Gandey Assembly constituency with a margin of more than 17,000 votes, cannot be ruled out as a minister in the states 12-member cabinet. She is among 12 women MLAs to have been elected in the Assembly polls this time three from the JMM, five from Congress and four from BJP. On Thursday, half of the 12-member Cabinet in which one seat is likely to remain vacant like last time will be sworn in from among JMM, Congress and RJD legislators; the rest will follow. Each of the five administrative regions of the state will be represented, the source said, adding that the cabinet was not likely to accommodate a Deputy Chief Minister and most of the portfolios would remain the same as in the previous government. According to JMM sources, the post of Speaker of the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha was likely to remain with the JMM and a five-day session was likely to be scheduled starting Monday. The results of the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly elections, announced on November 23, gave the Hemant Soren-led JMM-Congress-RJD alliance a resounding victory with 56 seats. The JMM won 34, the Congress 16, the RJD 4, and the CPI-ML 2 seats. This marks the first time a government in Jharkhand has secured a two-thirds majority. Hemant Soren will make history as the first leader to be sworn in as Jharkhand's Chief Minister four times. He first took oath on July 13, 2013, leading a Congress-RJD-supported government until December 2014. He returned as CM on December 29, 2019, but had to resign after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31, 2024. After his release on bail, he was sworn in for the third time on July 4, 2024. Earlier, his father Shibu Soren, and BJPs Arjun Munda have each served three terms as Jharkhand Chief Minister. Tensions between farmers and the Punjab Police have escalated following the detention of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leading to protests across the region. The ongoing standoff at the Khanauri border saw a failed negotiation attempt on Wednesday between the farmer representatives and police officials, including DIG Manjit Singh Sandhu, SSP Nanak Singh, and intelligence officers. Despite the government's efforts to de-escalate the situation, farmers have made it clear that talks will not continue until Dallewal is released and returns to the protest site. Punjab Police's actions have stirred strong reactions from farmers, who have demanded the immediate release of their leader. Dallewal was arrested at the Khanauri border during wee hours on Tuesday, hours before he was scheduled to begin an indefinite fast, and was later taken to the DMC hospital in Ludhiana. The farmers concerns about his well-being have been mounting, especially given his medical history, which includes cancer and diabetes. No official medical bulletins have been issued, fueling suspicions and concerns over his treatment. It wasnt until Wednesday evening that images of the 44-hour detained leader emerged from DMC Hospital in Ludhiana, where he had been brought under heavy police security. While Dallewal appeared at the hospital, his condition remains a matter of grave concern for the farmers community. On Wednesday, Punjab Police officials attempted to meet with farmers at the Khanauri border to prevent the escalation of the protest. However, the farmers stood firm, insisting that the discussions would resume only once Dallewal rejoined the protest. Until Dallewal is brought to the protest site, there can be no further dialogue, said Kaka Singh Kotda, a prominent farmer leader. The police officials assured that the matter would be communicated to higher authorities, but this did little to calm the agitated farmers. The farmers have resolved that in case any leader dies during the ongoing hunger strike, their last rites will not be performed. Instead, another leader will take their place in the fast until their demands are met. This declaration highlighted the seriousness of the farmers resolve. The growing unrest was evident when farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher called on the Punjab Government to clarify its position on Dallewals detention. The Centre has clarified that they have no involvement in this. Now it is up to the Punjab Government to explain, Pandher demanded, while expressing concerns over the lack of transparency surrounding Dallewal's current condition. The security around DMC Hospital in Ludhiana has been unprecedented. The hospitals emergency ward, where Dallewal is being kept, is under triple-layered security, and police have cordoned off the area nearly 50 meters before the hospital entrance. Policemen are keeping a close watch on everyone entering the premises, further restricting access to the leader. This strict surveillance has also extended to the wider hospital complex, where dozens of police personnel are stationed, ensuring no unauthorized interactions with Dallewal. While the police maintain that their concern for Dallewal's health, especially his age and pre-existing conditions, is the reason for the heightened security, it has done little to quell the anger of the farmers. Farmer leader Sukjeet Singh Hardo Jhanday, who has also begun his own hunger strike, expressed grave concerns over human rights violations, citing the forced medical interventions allegedly being conducted on Dallewal. The farmers have already announced that they will march to Delhi on December 6 if their demands are not met within the next 10 days. They have made it clear that they will not allow the police to disrupt their protests, as they have beefed up security at the protest sites. Meanwhile, the Punjab Governments stance remains unclear, with the police continuing to block all access to Dallewal at the hospital. Despite this, some politicians, including Congress leader and wrestler Bajrang Punia, have visited the Khanauri border in solidarity with the farmers cause. As the standoff continues, the issue of human rights violations has taken center stage, with many criticizing the police's actions in detaining Dallewal without clear communication about his health. His supporters argue that his arrest and the lack of medical updates constitute a violation of his basic rights. The involvement of Jagjit Singh Dallewal in the farmer movement is significant. At 70 years old, Dallewal has been a key figure in agricultural protests, having led opposition against land acquisitions and in support of farmers' compensation for losses. He has also been involved in several hunger strikes and protests against various state and Central Government policies, including the controversial farm laws in 2021. His leadership in this ongoing protest has made him a symbol of resistance. The current conflict highlighted the deepening divide between the farmers and the government, with both sides refusing to compromise. As farmers prepare for further protests, they have vowed not to back down until their demands are fully addressed, with the central issue being the release of their leader Dallewal. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged the youth to embrace a positive attitude towards reforms and not deprive themselves of new knowledge. Addressing the youth at the 136th convocation of Allahabad University, the chief minister emphasised that every new piece of knowledge is a science in its own right, and distancing oneself from it creates self-imposed barriers. He pointed out that many people struggle to accept new ideas and reforms, often protesting against them. He stated that the era of demanding that personal needs be met regardless of circumstances is over, and such attitudes will never lead to the progress of the nation or society. The chief minister further asserted that every moment of our lives should be dedicated to fulfilling our duty to the nation. He also condemned those attempting to divide student and youth power based on caste, opinion, or religion, calling them perpetrators of a grave injustice by weakening Indias youth force. Such individuals, he said, must never be allowed to advance. Chief Minister Yogi attended the 136th convocation of Allahabad University on Wednesday, where he conferred degrees on the graduating students. Allahabad University Vice-Chancellor Prof Sangeeta Srivastava welcomed the chief minister by presenting him with a memento and draping a shawl. Chancellor Ashish Kumar Chauhan administered the oath to the students being initiated. Chief Minister Yogi also awarded the honorary degree of DLitt to the renowned poet Dr Kumar Vishwas on behalf of the university. In his address, the chief minister stressed the importance of not depriving oneself of new knowledge, highlighting that the pace of time is unique. If one fails to keep up with it, time can become detrimental. We must not fall victim to misfortune but instead embrace the wealth of new knowledge, he said. Chief Minister Yogi expressed his joy at being part of the convocation ceremony, acknowledging the esteemed reputation of Allahabad University, which has produced energetic youth in every field of society. He noted that while time moves forward at a certain pace, those who fail to keep up with it risk being left behind, becoming followers rather than leaders. Despite the challenges faced by the university, Chief Minister Yogi expressed confidence that Allahabad University would soon regain its former glory. The chief minister also touched upon the convocation sermon, describing it as not just an end, but the beginning of a new journey. He recalled that ancient India had demonstrated to the world the ideal model for higher education. The tradition of Indian rishis, who composed the Upanishads, has deeply influenced education in India, he added. He referred to the Taittireeya Upanishad, which has been a guiding principle for students entering new life after education for thousands of years. The teachings of the Upanishad, such as satyam vad, dharmam chara" (Speak the truth, follow righteousness), continue to resonate in our educational ethos. Chief Minister Yogi also referenced the wisdom of Lord Ved Vyas, who emphasised that wealth and desires could only be attained through adherence to the path of righteousness. He emphasised that India has a broad understanding of religion. According to the original text of the Indian Constitution, religion is defined as the flow of duty, morality and ethical values that guide the lives of individuals and society. Our philosophy teaches that religion is not limited to mere rituals practiced on specific days, but is instead the force that drives our cultural progress and paves the way for liberation in the afterlife, he remarked. He added: Indian wisdom has never confined religion to narrow boundaries; instead, it has embraced everyone. Whenever humanity faces crises, India has always welcomed the world with open arms, offering shelter and protection without selfish motives. This is the essence of Sanatan Dharma and Indias enduring spirit. Turning his focus to opposition parties, Chief Minister Yogi questioned whether Indian wisdom views religion merely as a method of worship. He pointed out that November 26 marked the day when India adopted its Constitution, which came into force on January 26, 1950. The original Constitution did not include the words secular or socialist, but these were later added when Parliament was dissolved and judicial powers were curtailed. Attacking the opposition parties without naming them, Chief Minister Yogi accused them of first weakening the Constitution, attacking democracy, and then pretending to be its saviours. Addressing the youth, the chief minister reflected on the power of young people throughout history, mentioning the contributions from Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, Mahavir and numerous national revolutionaries. He highlighted the sacrifice of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, who, before being hanged in Gorakhpur jail, did not ask for freedom or riches, but only wished for the end of the chains of slavery. Chief Minister Yogi also noted that when Veer Savarkar was sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 28, and when Maharana Pratap fought the Battle of Haldighati at 27, they were young men determined to fight for their homeland. He also recalled the courage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who founded the Hindavi Empire in his youth, and the four Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh, who were martyred for Indias religion at ages as young as 7, 9 and 11. The chief minister launched a strong attack on the Samajwadi Party, urging the youth to decide who should be their role models. He criticised those who promote nepotism under the guise of socialism, asserting that such individuals can never serve as true role models. He recalled the words of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, who defined a true socialist as someone who can live without attachment to property or progeny. He questioned whether the current leaders could live by this principle, asking if their movement truly represented socialism. He also lamented the fading ideals of leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Dr Lohia. Chief Minister Yogi reminded the youth that Dr Lohia was the one who initiated the Ramayana fairs in the country and emphasised the universal message of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who rose above caste, creed and religion. He urged the youth to reflect on the contributions of these great men of India. The chief minister also stressed that Allahabad University must once again take the lead in nurturing an exceptional team of youth in every field. He suggested that universities should consider establishing a Youth Parliament instead of traditional student unions, where representatives from each class could be elected, and these representatives would decide who should contest elections in subsequent years. This, he argued, would allow young leaders to emerge, who could guide society in various fields. Addressing the advancements in science and technology, the chief minister pointed out the progress made since the early 1990s when protests arose against the computerisation of government banks. At that time, many feared that automation would lead to job losses, but in reality, computers made life easier. He noted that today, technologies like ATMs, e-offices, e-libraries, ChatGPT and artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed society. He emphasised that while technological progress offers immense potential, it is crucial to embrace it rather than resist it, as doing so would harm both the current generation and future ones. He added that knowledge and challenge go hand in hand when knowledge is in the right hands, it can be used for good, but if misused, it can cause harm. He concluded by stating that walking the path of truth and righteousness not only makes one knowledgeable but virtuous. A virtuous person, he said, inspires others to stay grounded in their humanity. Chief Minister Yogi encouraged the students to expand their research on the diverse aspects of the Prayagraj Kumbh. He highlighted that the Kumbh or Magh Mela is not only a spiritual and religious event for Prayagraj but also has significant economic, employment and developmental impacts. Exploring these dimensions, he suggested, would offer a unique learning experience. He mentioned that universities worldwide conduct studies on the socio-economic effects of such events. The chief minister also emphasised the inspiration drawn from the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj, which, combined with the vibrant academic environment of the university, fuels the dedication of thousands of students who study here in preparation for competitive exams. He noted that the students success is determined by the mindset and determination with which they approach their studies. Further, the chief minister stressed the importance of reconnecting with the universitys alumni. He suggested focusing on strengthening the tradition of alumni engagement, as it could significantly contribute to the universitys growth. He said, This connection could help in the physical development of the university, create a positive atmosphere and accelerate its progress. He said Allahabad University was continually setting new standards of success. Chief Minister Yogi expressed the confidence that the university would re-establish itself as a premier centre of excellence for various academic disciplines, a hub for groundbreaking research, innovation, and a reflection of the public spirit it is known for. On this occasion, Allahabad University Chancellor and Chairman of National Stock Exchange Ashish Kumar Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor Prof Sangeeta Srivastava, state Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, Mayor Ganesh Kesharwani, MP Praveen Patel, MLA Siddharth Nath Singh, Harshvardhan Bajpai, newly elected MLA Deepak Patel, MLC Surendra Chaudhary, renowned poet Dr Kumar Vishwas and other dignitaries were present. During his visit to Prayagraj on Wednesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will review the ongoing preparations for Maha Kumbh 2025 with a focus on cleanliness and security. He will also inaugurate major sanitation and security projects valued at over Rs 238 crore. The projects include state-of-the-art equipment aimed at enhancing cleanliness and safety at Maha Kumbh. A significant highlight will be the unveiling of a newly constructed control room in the municipal corporation, which is expected to streamline operations during the event. In a move to empower workers and volunteers, the chief minister will distribute uniform kits to sanitation workers and Swachhagrahis and provide life jackets to sailors, reinforcing their critical role in maintaining the events standards. Additionally, CM Yogi will launch various schemes to benefit these frontline workers. Prior to reviewing Maha Kumbh preparations, the chief minister will inspect developmental works at key religious sites. The chief minister will inaugurate advanced sanitation equipment, including tippers and compactors, at a programme in the Parade Mela area. These projects are valued at Rs 50.38 crore. Furthermore, CM Yogi will unveil fire safety, water police, radio, and traffic equipment worth Rs 173 crore. In total, the Chief Minister will launch projects worth Rs 237.38 crore aimed at ensuring cleanliness, security, and support for Swachhagrahis and Ganga Seva volunteers during Maha Kumbh 2025. The CM will also extend benefits to sanitation workers and Swachhagrahis through various welfare schemes. As part of this initiative, around 20,000 Swachhagrahis and Safai Mitras will receive uniform kits, and life jackets will be distributed to boatmen. Under the Swachh Kumbh Fund, over 15,000 personnelincluding 10,000 workers, 3,000 boatmen, and otherswill be linked to more than five schemes aimed at improving their welfare. These schemes will also include the distribution of insurance certificates to the workers, ensuring their safety and well-being. CM Yogi and other dignitaries will take a pledge to realise the vision of a clean Maha Kumbh and a cleaner Prayagraj, reinforcing their commitment to a hygienic and secure event for all devotees and visitors. The CM will review various development works and participate in several significant programs. Alongside attending an event at Allahabad University, he will offer prayers at the Nagvasuki Temple. The chief minister will also inspect key projects, including the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Ganga Riverfront, dredging activities in the Ganga river, and the construction of pontoon bridges. In preparation for Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming visit, Yogi will examine the proposed event site at Sangam Nose. Additionally, he will oversee the signing of an MoU with Google. For the first time, Google will integrate the temporary city being set up for Maha Kumbh into its navigation services. This initiative will enable visitors to easily locate major religious sites, ghats, and akharas within the fair area using Google Maps, significantly enhancing their experience. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday called for unity in condemning the alleged arrest of an ISKCON priest in Bangladesh. The actor-politician urged the neighbouring country's interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to take steps to stop the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. Let's all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKCON Bangladesh Priest Chinmoy Krishna Das' by Bangladesh police. We urge and plead Bangladesh Govt (government) under Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus, said Kalyan in a post on X. He recalled the sacrifices of the Indian Army in the formation of Bangladesh. Indian army blood has been spilled, our resources had been spent, our Army Jawans lives had lost for Bangladesh formation. We are deeply disturbed by the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted, he said while seeking the intervention of the United Nations. Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Wednesday amid opposition protests over the Adani controversy and violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal Opposition members trooped to the Well of the House raising slogans as soon as the House met again at 12 noon. BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day after parliamentary papers were laid on the table. Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had taken up the Question Hour when the House convened at 11 am. However, he adjourned the proceedings amid sloganeering by the opposition members. The Opposition members wanted to discuss the Adani controversy and the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday said it has removed two education department officials and terminated the services of two others for alleged irregularities in distributing scholarships meant for SC/ST and OBC students in 2012-13. The civic body also took action against two employees of the department, removing one of them and terminating the services of the other, according to an official statement. Additionally, one officer has been demoted, the statement said. The case pertains to the MCD's Central Zone, where an investigation found that a school inspector and a principal misappropriated scholarship funds by using false identities and depositing the money into different accounts, causing financial losses to the Corporation. The investigation also revealed that the officials failed to perform their duties responsibly, and a school attendant neglected to maintain cash book and cheque records properly, the statement said. Among those penalised, a school inspector was found guilty of retaining funds meant for students' uniforms. He has been demoted by three levels and will now receive honorarium as per Level 6 of the pay scale, the MCD said. "We have taken strict action over irregularities in the scholarship distribution for SC, ST, and OBC students in the Education Department. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi will not tolerate any form of corruption," the statement added. Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, argued before the Karnataka High Court that the deceased was a "menace to society." Senior Advocate C V Nagesh, representing Darshan, made the statement during a hearing seeking bail for the jailed actor on Tuesday. According to Nagesh, Renukaswamy had a history of sharing obscene images of women and had no regard for societal norms or respect for women. Nagesh stated that his behavior was reprehensible. "A man with no respect for women, a lawless individual, has now been portrayed as a national hero, while my client, who is a hero in reel life, is being vilified as a villain," Nagesh said. The lawyer also highlighted alleged procedural lapses in the investigation, including delays in conducting an inquest and a postmortem examination of the body, which was discovered by a security guard on June 9. Furthermore, Nagesh refuted claims that Renukaswamy had been abducted on Darshan's orders, asserting that the victim had voluntarily travelled from Chitradurga to Bengaluru. Justice S Vishwajith Shetty is set to hear further arguments on Darshan's regular bail plea on November 28. According to police, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to his friend Pavithra Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June 9. Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered. According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and hemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries. Police have said Pavithra, who is accused number one, was the "major cause" for Renukaswamy's murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime. Darshan was arrested on June 11. His friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 others are co-accused in the case. The 47-year-old actor is currently out on interim bail. He walked out of Ballari jail on October 30 after being imprisoned for more than four months, hours after the Karnataka High Court gave him relief for six weeks on medical grounds, to undergo spine surgery. Pavithra is lodged in Bengaluru prison, and others in various jails of the state; some of them had recently got bail. Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Wednesday as opposition members insisted on a discussion on various issues, including bribery charges related to the Adani Group. The proceedings were briefly adjourned in the morning session due to opposition protest, and when the House re-assembled at 11.30 AM, there were identical scenes. This prompted Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to adjourn the proceedings for the day, saying the "House is not in order". The trobule started after Dhankhar rejected 18 notices under a rule of the House to suspend scheduled business and take up issues mentioned in the notices. The notices related to demand for 'constitution of a JPC to investigate the alleged misconduct, including corruption, bribery, financial irregularities of the Adani Group in connivance with other authorities', violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and rising incidents of crime in the national capital. "Upper House needs to reflect and follow well-established traditions that ruling of the Chair requires reference and not cause differences. I have, in detail, given reasons why, in these situations, notices are not being accepted," Dhankhar said while rejecting the notices under Rule 267 of the House. On Monday also, the Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day during the morning session itself as opposition insisted on raising the issues related to Adani Group. There was no sitting of the House on Tuesday. The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he will fully support BJP leadership's decision to name the next CM, adding that he won't be a hurdle in the process. Shinde's announcement makes the decks clear for the BJP to name Devendra Fadnavis as the CM for the third time, a senior BJP leader said. I called PM Modi yesterday and also Amit Shah and told them to decide (on who will be the CM post), and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take, Shinde told reporters at his residence in Thane. Our Shiv Sena will fully support the BJP's decision to name the next Maharashtra CM. There is no speed breaker from our side, Shinde said. Shinde rubbished reports that he was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the ruling Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership. "Nobody is annoyed. We have worked as Mahayuti," he said. Asked if he was dismayed that he was not getting a second term, Shinde said, There is no such thing. You must remember that BJP supported my tenure as CM. There is a meeting in Delhi tomorrow with Amit bhai (Shah) and all related decisions will be taken there, Shinde said, when asked about who the deputy chief ministers will be in the new cabinet. The modalities of forming the next government will be finalised in the meeting at Delhi on Thursday, he said. I thank the people and voters of Maharashtra once again for this landslide victory, he said. Shinde said he campaigned extensively during the recent assembly eections. I used to sleep for 2-3 hours before starting the campaign the next day, he added. I am a worker forever; for me, CM is not Chief Minister but Common Man, he said. Shinde thanked PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for supporting him during his two-and-a-half year tenure as chief minister. We worked to take Maharashtra to Number 1 spot from Number 3 in six months of my becoming CM, he said. I am not disappointed. We fight and don't cry, Shinde said, referring to media reports that he was unhappy over being asked to step down despite leading the Mahayuti to a massive poll victory. I worked as the CM not to become popular but for the welfare of people of Maharashtra, Shinde said. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance scripted a powerful comeback in state assembly elections by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House. Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections losses, the BJP bagged 132 constituencies, highest among all constituents of the Mahayuti. Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP also performed well. Sena won 57 while NCP won 41 seats. Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20 seats. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23. On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde tendered his resignation as CM to Governor C P Radhakrishnan. The Governor requested Shinde to continue as caretaker chief minister until the new government is formed. Research on silk artifacts showcased in east China Xinhua) 10:45, November 27, 2024 HANGZHOU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The first research achievements of a project on Chinese silks were debuted on Monday in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The project, "A Comprehensive Collection of Chinese Silks," focuses on analyzing and cataloging traditional Chinese silk artifacts from across the country over various historical periods. The project's first research findings have been published in five volumes on silk collections from museums in central China's Hunan Province, south China's Guangdong Province and northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as those preserved in the Palace Museum and the China National Silk Museum. The volumes were compiled by Zhejiang University, the China National Silk Museum and other research institutions across the country. The research team behind the project compiled the findings based on broad research on the most representative Chinese silk artifacts preserved in institutions at home and abroad, said Zhao Feng, head of School of Art and Archaeology at Zhejiang University and editor-in-chief of the published volumes. The project has gathered Chinese silk art resources that have been scattered around the globe, and aims to publish 100 volumes in total, Zhao said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Yes, you need to spend your money on supposedly cheap Chinese tat on Black Fraud Day, an annual tradition exported to the world by the Americans. End of year stock clearance of useless junk Were here to convince you that the fucking deals you are coerced to buy are a fantastic opportunity to spend all of your money on Black Fraud Day. Get your credit card out and do not think as you buy another piece of utter crap that will either break in a few weeks time or be obsolete in less than that time. In rip off Britain, consumers are treated with such disdain and contempt with overpriced products compared to the rest of the world that a simple tiny reduction in price is seen as a massive fucking deal, when in reality it is still more expensive than anywhere else. Imagine the throbbing veins on Jeff Bozos bald head as he watches the sales figures and his offshore bank balance reach new fucking heights. Bozo is so happy that you are spending all your money on things you do not need, he is so ecstatic he ejaculates over one of his multiple screen set-ups. Most of the so-called deals are not actually deals, but you dont know that, thankfully for the companies selling you utter shit. If you were to do your due diligence and research the prices, you would realise that, but no, you have been dazzled momentarily, and you have to get that Black Fraud Day deal. Anyway, heres to the Wonderful Black Fraud Day empty your wallets you fucking chumps, you truly deserve everything you get. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he plans to impose across-the-board tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian and Mexican goods imported into the United States as soon as he takes office in January. The revelation that he would proceed with levies was not altogether surprising, as he had campaigned on the issue in the lead-up to his re-election last month. But analysts were expecting a tariff of about 10 per cent, rather than the hefty rate he is now promising. Economists predict that the imposition of tariffs could have far-reaching implications for everything from cross-border relations to the hammering of the Canadian economy, which sends about 75 per cent of its exports to the U.S. We spoke with Dr. Brian Bow, chair of Dal's Department of Political Science, about what this inaugural gesture will mean for the Canadian consumers, the economy and industries such as oil and gas, auto manufacturing and agriculture that rely heavily on our neighbour to the south. What is the rationale for these tariffs? With Donald Trump, as always, its hard to say for sure. Not because his motives are especially complex. He is still evidently mostly driven by ego and emotional impulses, and this time around there are fewer checks on those impulses. He said repeatedly during the campaign that he was going to use tariffs to force Mexico to try harder to fix the problems at the border. Sometimes he would include Canada as part of the border problem. This most recent, post-election version of the threat clarifies that Canada is definitely in the crosshairs, and it puts drug trafficking especially fentanyl on the same level as migration. Its ridiculous to think that economic arm-twisting is going to lead to real solutions to these problems, but Trump might actually believe it. How worried should Canadians be? Very worried, I think. In the first Trump administration, there were some people around him who were in a position to talk him out of following through on his worst ideas, or at least blunt the sharp edges or slow him down. This time, there are going to be virtually no guardrails. In normal times, Canadian policymakers (and academic observers) often reassure us that the U.S. wont actually follow through on things that might hurt Canada, because those things would bounce back and do damage to the U.S. as well. Now we cant make that argument because Trump doesnt make those calculations. He is going to do things that will directly undermine American interests. Eventually, when those self-inflicted wounds start to really hurt, theres going to be backlash from within the U.S., and Trump will back off. Of course, he wont say hes backing off; hell lie about the tariffs effects or blame them on someone else, declare victory and move on to something else. The fact that he will probably back off eventually shouldnt reassure us too much, because even a short-run application of tariffs as high as hes proposed would do enormous damage. Related reading: How the U.S. could in fact make Canada an American territory What is the immediate effect of these tariffs going to be on Canadian manufacturing, exports and employment? In the short run, orders for Canadian products will be cancelled or cut back, there will be some layoffs and closures, and the Canadian dollar will take a hit. In the longer run, prices for many products will go up in both countries, big companies that depend on cross-border supply chains will try to reorganize so that they are less reliant on components and services from Canada, therell be a lot more layoffs and closures, and well go into a recession. How severe all of that will be depends on what tariffs Trump actually ends up imposing, whether and how Canada retaliates, and how long it takes for powerful interests in the U.S. whove been impacted to mobilize against the tariffs. Which industries or sectors will feel these measures most acutely and quickly? There are two kinds of industries that will be hit hardest products that depend on export markets in the U.S., like oil and gas, and products that are built in cross-border supply chains, like autos. Those two sectors specifically will be pivotal in all of this because each represents a huge chunk of our exports, and each is geographically concentrated in ways that will put intense pressure on both federal and provincial governments in Canada. How will Canadian consumers be affected if retaliatory tariffs are imposed on U.S. goods? Canadian consumers will be hurt whether Canada retaliates or not. Last time, Canadian retaliation was mostly symbolic and designed to have effects on Trumps re-election math. This time, it will have to be designed to push key stakeholders in the U.S. to mobilize against Trumps tariffs, without triggering resentment among potential allies in the U.S. or hurting Canadian consumers too much. So, I expect a lot of it will be aimed at luxury products made in specific U.S. states, where theres some reason to hope that members of Congress and/or state governments might be able to put pressure on the White House. How will this reframe Canada-U.S. economic relations, assuming president-elect Trump follows through with his proposal? I think that reframing has already happened. Trumps America First agenda and the renegotiation of NAFTA made it very clear that we can no longer count on stability and mutual benefit in bilateral relations with the U.S. These new tariff threats just reinforce that. I expect over the next few months we will hear people talking more about whether there are ways to reduce our reliance on the U.S. market, by becoming more self-reliant and/or diversifying our export and investment relationships. Weve tried that in the past, without much success, but we may feel compelled to try again. In the short run, there will be efforts to mollify Trump, byfor exampletightening up the border and promising to spend more on defence. In the longer run, therell be efforts to try to strengthen ties to Europe and to find new partners in other parts of the world. What will this mean for the fate of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA? CUSMA was scheduled to be reviewed in 2026 and there was already quite a bit of concern that a second Trump administration would push for further concessions from Canada and Mexico before it could be renewed. If Trump goes ahead with the tariffs hes threatened, that would be a direct assault on CUSMA itself. Tariffs like the ones hes proposed directly and clearly violate the core rules of CUSMA, and could be read as a unilateral abrogation of the deal. Canada and Mexico will try to protect CUSMA and keep it in place, no matter what Trump does, but theyll have to think seriously about what the agreement is worth if the same leader that initiated its (re)negotiation is prepared to flush it down the toilet on his first day back in office. North West BAPS is thrilled to announce the launch of a stunning new breastfeeding mural the first of its kind in the North of Ireland - created by the talented artist collective Peaball, to celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. The event will take place on Friday, 29 November 2024 at 12:30pm, at the mural site on the gable wall of the Pram Centre, 14 Great James Street, Derry. This vibrant mural, commissioned by North West BAPS, is a testament to their mission to increase awareness and visibility of breastfeeding and to campaign for nurturing support for local parents who want to breastfeed. The murals unveiling by the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council will be followed by the telling of the story behind the Mural and refreshments at Culturlann, located at 37 Great James Street. Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Lilian Barr said she was delighted to see this incredibly beautiful and creative mural. Cllr Barr said: This is a wonderful way of supporting mothers and highlighting the benefits and joys of breastfeeding and to let women and their families know that there is support available locally. The mural beautifully depicts the special bond between mother and child and is a great way of encouraging breastfeeding and raising awareness and visibility among the community. We are excited to bring this beautiful piece of art to our community, said Sinead OKane North West BAPS representative who coordinated the Mural Project. This mural not only represents the beauty and importance of breastfeeding but also symbolises our continuous efforts to listen and reflect what parents have been telling us about their experiences. Artist Peaball shared their enthusiasm: North West BAPS are doing great things here in the city by providing a platform for informative discussion and support. We hope the commissioned piece of street art can help not only raise awareness, but help the organisation to grow. Join us for this celebration of art and community spirit as we unveil this new addition to Derrys cultural landscape. Everyone is welcome to attend and show their support for breastfeeding awareness and the incredible work of North West BAPS. Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr and Infrastructure Minister John ODowd have officially opened a new green infrastructure improvement project in Park village. The project in Learmount Forest includes the construction of a replacement footbridge, path improvements, new seats, picnic benches and better signage. The pedestrian footbridge known locally as the Footstick in Park was entirely washed away during the widespread severe flooding event of August 2017. Derry City and Strabane District Council secured funding from the COVID Recovery Small Settlements Programme for the construction of a replacement footbridge and improving access to the new bridge from both the Altinure Road and the car park at Learmount Country Park. Attending the opening event Infrastructure Minister John ODowd said: The Small Settlements Regeneration Programme is a great example of Departments working together to deliver real change in how people live and work in the post pandemic world. I am delighted that my department was able to contribute 82,500 to this programme at Learmount Country Park which has brought tangible benefits to our rural communities by supporting initiatives on the ground. This is a fantastic project which provides a relaxing green space for local people and visitors to visit and enjoy the natural environment. Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said: This project in Park village will provide much welcomed green infrastructure for the rural communities in the North West. The Small Settlements programme, led by my department, has been an excellent example of three departments working together with local Councils to regenerate towns and villages across Northern Ireland. Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said: The Covid Recovery Small Settlements Regeneration Programme has provided three government departments with the opportunity to work with local Councils to fund locally identified initiatives that address the needs of rural communities. "This new green space adds vitality to the area and allows both locals and visitors to spend and enjoy more time in Learmount Forest which in turn will benefit their health and wellbeing and address issues of loneliness and social isolation. Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Lilian Seenoi-Barr, welcomed the opening of the project, I am delighted that this landscape will be open to full use and access for the public, she said. "The route existed for over 150 years before the new footbridge was washed away over six years ago and the new bridge and additional infrastructure will offer a welcoming space for locals and visitors to navigate the forest and spend time in the outdoors. The funding for this project was multilayered and I would like to commend all the partners who worked together to bring the projects to this key stage. This scheme has been made possible through funding from the Council and the COVID Recovery Small Settlements Programme, a collaboration between the Department for Communities (DfC), Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), working closely with local Councils to identify priority projects for delivery on the ground. The programme aims to support a range of regeneration and active travel interventions targeting small settlements (with a population of less than 5,000 people) that will attract investors and visitors and create vital and viable villages that meet the needs of local citizens and the surrounding areas. Out of the close to 2.5m funding secured by Council from the Programme, 1m has been allocated towards three greenspace projects, with the remaining budget committed to a commercial facade painting scheme and associated environmental improvements within eight settlements. The three Green Infrastructure (GI) projects have been drawn up to meet community requests as identified through the Councils Green Infrastructure Plan. Other GI projects in the scheme include Claudy Country Park which provided improvements to the Play Area and safety and access works in the wider Claudy Country Park, and Vaughans Holm, Newtownstewart. All projects are due to be complete by early Summer 2024. Economy Minister Conor Murphy has announced that from the 2025/26 academic year students at the Graduate Entry Medical School at Ulster Universitys Derry campus will be able to access tuition fee loans. Currently, graduate entry medical students cannot obtain a Government loan to cover the cost of university tuition fees. Minister Murphys announcement means that studying at Ulster Universitys Graduate Entry Medical School will be more financially accessible for students. Speaking after a visit to the Medical School, the Minister said: "Expanding student numbers at Ulster University's Magee campus is a top priority for me and for the Executive. The Graduate Entry Medical School is a key component of the expansion. However to date those medical students havent been able to access a Government loan to cover the cost of their university tuition fees. My Department will now offer this loan, making it easier to attract students to Magee and producing more medical professionals for our health service. This is a small but important step forward as we work towards 10,000 student places at Magee. Economy Minister Conor Murphy is pictured with current medical students studying at Ulster Universitys Derry-Londonderry campus - Gina Pritchett, Rosie McGarvey, Clodagh McErlean and Dylan Kerr. Welcoming today's announcement, Ulster University Vice-Chancellor Paul Bartholomew said: "This is a significant development which will facilitate wider access to medical education in the North West. For the first time, our medical students will be able to avail of financial support. "The Derry campus is already an attractive place for graduate-entry candidates who will go on to become the much-needed medical workforce of the future, and this new intervention will increase that attractiveness. READ NEXT: Funded Arts project brings memories to life for Derry care home residents We thank the Minister for his provision of this important support for our students. We will continue to work together to grow the Derry campus and to realise our ambition for it and the surrounding region, including a new School of Medicine building, as part of the Derry City and Strabane Region City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund. The decision to introduce these loans has been made with agreement from Health Minister Mike Nesbitt. A judge at Derry Magistrate's Court has said that drug enterprises 'go all the way up to hedge funds' and for 'the machine to work all the cogs have to work'. District Judge Barney McElholm was speaking as he remanded two men in custody on a series if drug charges. Both men were granted anonymity on the basis of the threat existing in the city. One of the men was charged with possessing a Diazepam tablet and breaching his bail on November 26. The other man faced a total of 20 charges including being concerned in the supply of cocaine, cannabis and Diazepam on various dates between January 12, 2023 and November 26 this year. He was also charged with possessing criminal property on November 20, possessing fireworks on October 30 as well possessing 1,200 counterfeit euros. He was further charged with concealing criminal property on dates between January 12 last year and November 26 this year. A police officer connected the accused to the charges and opposed bail. He told the court that police stopped a vehicle in which the two men were travelling. One of the was seen trying to hide something under his leg and when it was checked a single Diazepam tablet was said to have been found. The officer said that this breached bail that the man had been granted on substantial drug charges. As regards the second man the officer said police believe he was connected to a find made earlier this year that included 363 Diazepam tablets, 12 grammes of cannabis, 225 grammes of cocaine with the total value of drugs found being put at more than 33,000. The court heard that after being stopped this defendant tried to snap a iPhone in half but only succeeded in damaging it. He refused to give police the PIN number and made no comment interviews. The officer said that there was 'substantial evidence' on the phone the defendant was 'heavily involved' in the supply of class A and B drugs with 'multiple chats' relating to drug supply. He added there were pictures and videos on the phone of both defendants 'with large amounts of actual drugs' including one where they were allegedly pictured with two kilos of cocaine valued at 'tens of thousands of pounds'. The court heard that this defendant had people working for him and there were messages suggesting that he gave them boxes of cannabis valued at more than 5,000 and on one occasion gave one helper cocaine valued at 11,000. Bail was opposed due to the risk of interference with justice as police had not yet located the cocaine pictured on the phone. The officer said the second defendant had 62 previous convictions and was heavily involved in drug supply. Defence counsel for the first man said the other defendant was a 'significant drug dealer' and asked for bail for his client. Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley for the second defendant said that every drug dealer in the city made themselves look like they were 'the biggest drug dealer ever'. He said this was often no more than 'bravado' and added that his client accepted he used drugs. Judge McElholm said that drug enterprises included everything from hedge funds down to street dealers. He asked 'where do they think the money comes from?' The judge added that anyone who involved themselves in this business was not innocent and while they may not be making huge profits they are 'a necessary part of the functioning machine'. He refused bail and remanded both men in custody to appear again on December 12. The Apprentice Boys of Derry 336th Shutting of the Gates takes place in Derry on Saturday, December 7. The city centre is open and motorists driving through the cityside and Waterside areas, between 11.30am and 5.30pm, are advised to take extra care and of delays during parade times. Signage advising of diversions/closures will be in place and officers will be on patrol. Police work in partnership with the parade organisers and marshals to ensure minimum disruption to those going about their daily routine. Parade details Visiting Branch clubs taking part in the parade will assemble at the Railway Station in the Waterside at about 11am and leave at 11.30am. The route will take the clubs and bands from Duke Street across the top deck of Craigavon Bridge and then onto Carlisle Road, Hawkin Street, London Street, Bishop Street and Palace Lane to the Memorial Hall. 1.15pm Bands will leave Society Street, Bishop Street, The Diamond, Ferryquay Street, Wapping Lane, Carlisle Road, Kennedy Street, Hawkin Street, London Street into the grounds of St. Columb's Cathedral. This is estimated to take approximately 40 minutes. 3.15pm The Parade reforms in Bishop Street, Society Street, and moves off via London Street, Hawkin Street, Kennedy Street, Kennedy Place, Wapping Lane, Carlisle Square, Carlisle Road, Ferryquay Street, The Diamond, Bishop Street, Society Street, Palace Street to Bishop Street for the burning of the effigy at 4pm. When the parade is in Bishop Street for the burning; traffic - where possible - will be facilitated in the city, and this will be clearly signposted and officers will be on the ground to assist with traffic flow. 4.30pm Following the burning, the parade will return to the Waterside across the top deck of Craigavon Bridge via London Street, Hawkin Street, Carlisle Road, Craigavon Bridge, and Duke Street for dispersal at Waterside Link at 5.15pm approximately. The top deck of Craigavon Bridge (Waterside-bound) and Duke Street will be closed for a short time as the parade is underway. An acclaimed pianist and a childrens writer are among the Northern Ireland artists to benefit from funding to support new projects that will showcase their work to local and international audiences. The Major Individual Awards (MIA) worth up to 15,000 are being presented by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland with National Lottery funding. They are the highest-value awards bestowed by the Arts Council each year. Pianist Ruth McGinley, childrens writer Derek Keilty, author Richard ORawe, visual artist Ian Cumberland and violinist Darragh Morgan have been awarded the grants to develop new works. Ms McGinley, from Londonderry, will spend time in Iceland and receive mentorship in composition as she develops a new album. Mr Keilty will write his first novel for adults as well going on a book tour of the US to promote his Ivy Newt childrens book series. Mr ORawe will write the third novel in the Ructions OHare series and carry out research by visiting France, London and Dublin. Visual artist Mr Cumberland will realise an ambitious new interdisciplinary project by blending traditional art techniques with emerging technology such as AI. Mr Morgan will use his grant to develop a recording of works for solo violin and the Ulster Orchestra. He will record works by four living composers from Northern Ireland Brian Irvine, Frank Lyons, Bill Campbell and Ryan Molloy. Gilly Campbell, from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: Five immensely talented artists who have already made a significant contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland and beyond. Each artist will benefit greatly from being able to take time out to concentrate on new, ambitious, high-quality projects with the financial backing they need to produce work of lasting value. This game-changing award, made possible thanks to the National Lottery players, will help to cement their national and international reputations as artists, and strengthen the positive cultural profile of Northern Ireland, both at home and abroad. The five join a list of artists who have previously benefited from the Major Individual Awards. Ministers have been urged to publish a Northern Ireland specific impact assessment of the Governments changes to inheritance tax. Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Alex Burghart said farms in the region are different to the rest of the UK, leaving them more exposed to the changes. Labours changes to agricultural property relief will see farmers pay inheritance tax of 20% on properties and land worth more than 1 million, with a higher threshold of 3 million for couples passing on their farms. Government estimates claim that three-quarters of farmers will not be impacted, but the National Farmers Union (NFU) has said plans to bring together the agricultural tax break with another for business property will draw farmers more into paying it. Mr Burghart called on the Government to publish a detailed breakdown of the impact on farms in Northern Ireland. He told MPs: The make-up of farming in Northern Ireland is slightly different to the rest of the UK. There is a greater density of farms in sole ownership and agricultural land is worth more, and this means that farms in Northern Ireland are more exposed to Labours family farms tax. The farmers I met in Northern Ireland are deeply concerned about this and nationally there is a disagreement about the figures. On one side we have the Government that says not many farms will be affected. On the other side, we have the experts who say that very many farms will be affected. Transparency will help everyone. So, will the Secretary of State commit to asking the Chancellor to publish detailed Treasury working of the Budgets impact on farms in Northern Ireland so that independent experts can check their figures? Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn replied: To understand the impact, you have to look at the ownership structure of each individual farm and I am not entirely sure that he is advocating that the Government should do that for all of the farms right across the country. It will be for farmers themselves to look at the arrangements that will apply from 2026 and to take advice on how they can ensure that they are able to continue to pass their family farms to their children and their grandchildren. DUP MP Carla Lockhart said she had attended a rally hosted by the Ulster Farmers Union to oppose the tax. The MP for Upper Bann said: It was attended by 6,000 farmers, with every political party in Northern Ireland standing together in opposition to the change. When will the Government acknowledge that their figures are not reflective of the average farm and that this death tax will result in the break-up of family farms as we know them, in the selling of land to pay the tax and the purchasing of devalued land by big businesses who are not interested in using it for feeding our nation. Mr Benn said: I understand that those changes are unwelcome and difficult but, given the fiscal position, the Government is having to take difficult decisions. Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester Jess Brown-Fuller said that income from farming in Northern Ireland had fallen amid volatile markets soaring costs and declining output, as she also called for a regional impact assessment. Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Taiwan and Germany join forces for smart mobility with AI license plate innovation On November 26, Germany's Tonnjes International Group and the German-Taiwanese joint venture Toennjes Leon unveiled an innovative AI anti-counterfeit license plate initiative at the GIS Convention Center of Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). The project aims to promote German IDePlate technology while leveraging Taiwan's semiconductor and AI innovation capabilities. As Chen Ziang, a consultant for Toennjes Leon, noted, the embedded chip in the AI license plate demonstrates Taiwan's status as a "chip kingdom" and its expertise in AI technologies. The ultimate objective is to integrate these chips into AI-driven solutions, expanding the application of Taiwan-made semiconductors in global markets. Successful implementation in Taiwan could set a precedent for deploying AI anti-forgery license plates worldwide, further strengthening Taiwan's role in the high-performance computing ecosystem. The AI license plates feature sophisticated security elements, including embedded NFC encryption chips, watermark designs featuring Taiwan's national flower (plum blossom), a "SECURE" reflective pattern, and a holographic laser displaying the ROC or TW logo. These features strengthen anti-counterfeiting capabilities, allowing car owners to access smart transportation, intelligent parking, and personalized services while enabling seamless vehicle identification through roadside AI systems. By integrating "human-vehicle-road-cloud" connectivity, the initiative aims to establish Taiwan as a secure, tech-driven smart island. The team has developed customized prototypes featuring national emblems and Taiwanese totems to meet local needs, reflecting the global trend toward regionalization. Jochen Betz, CEO of Tonnjes, announced that one of the company's two global production lines for AI anti-counterfeit license plates is now operational in Taiwan. This localized production improves adaptability to Taiwan's needs, ensures compliance with technical and data sovereignty regulations, and boosts production efficiency. Betz expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with Taiwan's strategic partners to drive innovation across Asia and unlock new opportunities for AI applications. With extensive experience in developing smart traffic solutions across Europe, South America, and Asia, Tonnjes has exported its technologies to Thailand and Malaysia. Toennjes Leon oversees project execution and marketing in Asia, working with key partners to pilot and expand deployment in Taiwan. Dr. Eva Langerbeck, executive director of the German Trade Office in Taipei, highlighted the success of a 2022 MOTC-supported pilot project in Taoyuan. The project implemented a smart recognition system for large vehicles along Route 108, demonstrating the transformative potential of AI license plates in addressing social challenges. The incorporation of banknote-level security features and passport-grade identification mechanisms prevents tampering and misuse, enhancing public safety. Dr. Langerbeck added that future efforts will focus on deepening Taiwan-Germany relations while highlighting the importance of Taiwan's investments in Germany. Samsung hires new foundry CTO amidst leadership changes Samsung Electronics has enacted changes to its management, including the appointment of a new chief technology officer (CTO) for its foundry operations. On November 27, Samsung announced its usual executive reorganization for 2025, which included nine senior executives. This contains two promotions to president and seven role changes. Further executive changes and organizational restructuring for vice presidents and below will be announced shortly. The new hires emphasize utilizing the global leadership and outstanding management skills of experienced executives at Samsung. They are assigned new tasks about brand and consumer experience, designed to augment Samsung's mid-to-long-term value. Samsung claimed that these substantial changes are intended to address the unpredictable internal and external business environment, thereby establishing a foundation for a new developmental phase. This modification is characterized by three primary attributes: First, the memory business unit has been reorganized to report directly to the representative directors. Secondly, the foundry division has undergone a leadership change. Thirdly, senior executives who have extensive experience have been designated responsibilities to explore new business opportunities. Additionally, the following roles have been newly created to improve the competitiveness of semiconductor technology and elevate the organizational environment: The first role is that of CTO for the foundry business, Samsung noted. The second role is that of a strategic operations leader who reports directly to the president of the DS division. According to Samsung, Young-Hyun Jun, Samsung vice chairman and head of the Device Solutions (DS) Division, has been named CEO and will also lead the Memory Business and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. Jin-Man Han was promoted to president and will now lead the foundry business, while Seok-Woo Nam will become the foundry business's CTO, a newly created position. Han was previously EVP and president of Device Solutions America, leading the company's semiconductor business in the US. Previously, he worked in design teams for DRAM and flash memory and has also led SSD development and strategic marketing. Nam, previously president and head of FAB engineering & operations, is an expert in semiconductor process development and manufacturing with extensive experience in memory process technology and foundry manufacturing technology. Jong-Hee Han, vice chairman, CEO, and head of Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) division, will also lead a newly created committee that focuses on strengthening product quality across the company. Samsung indicated that the company has reinstated a dual representative director system to enhance the competitiveness of its core business and provide a platform for sustainable growth. Han-Sung Ko, CEO of Samsung Bioepis, has vast experience in developing new business areas such as biotechnology and is expected to lead efforts in finding new growth opportunities. Other executive changes announced by Samsung include Yong-Kwan Kim, named president of management strategy at DS division, previously EVP of business support TF; Won-Jin Lee, named president and head of global marketing office, previously executive advisor for Samsung Electronics; and president Hark-Kyu Park, who was previously CFO, moving to the business support team. Taiwan's aerospace ambitions take flight amid global security concerns Taiwan is making a determined push into aerospace as part of its "Five Trusted Industry Sectors" initiative, with the sector reaching NT$133.6 billion (US$4.2 billion) in output, returning to pre-pandemic levels. This industry, deemed critical for national defense and technological advancement, is experiencing a renaissance after the severe disruption of 2020-2022. According to Tracy Lu, acting general manager of Taiwan Aerospace Corporation, the island's aerospace strategy encompasses three key segments: drone/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and rocket launch capabilities. Strengthening domestic UAV capabilities In the UAV sector, Taiwan is pursuing a cluster development strategy reminiscent of its successful semiconductor industry model. The initiative centers on the Chiayi region, where manufacturers are congregating to create synergies in research and production. Recent visits by US defense contractors have opened possibilities for technology transfer, particularly in military UAV development. However, significant challenges remain in domestic manufacturing capabilities. "Critical subsystems such as motors, avionics, sensors, and flight control systems still present high technical barriers," said Lu. The development of essential thermal imaging chips for optical payload systems is expected to take another two to three years to mature. Credit: Drone Industry Insights Global market opportunities and alliances The market opportunity is substantial. Military UAV spending is projected to reach US$54 billion globally between 2023-2032, with commercial applications adding another US$58.5 billion. The ongoing Russo-Ukraine War has intensified demand, creating opportunities for Taiwanese manufacturers in Southeast Asian markets where domestic production is limited. A new industry alliance, led by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and comprising over 50 companies, was formed in September to pursue international opportunities. The consortium includes major players such as Air Asia Company Limited, Thunder Tiger, and Evergreen Aviation Technologies. Satellite development and challenges In the satellite sector, Taiwan aims to achieve 80% self-sufficiency in key components for ground-based communication systems by 2027, backed by a US$1 billion government investment. The global satellite industry is dominated by ground equipment manufacturing, accounting for US$150.4 billion or 53% of the market - an area where Taiwan's electronics expertise could prove advantageous. Credit: SIA Yet Taiwan faces stiff competition in the increasingly crowded low-earth orbit space. With global satellite launches expected to reach 3,500-4,000 annually by 2025, driven by projects like SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper, Taiwanese manufacturers are primarily focused on component supply rather than system integration. Navigating regulatory constraints The rocket launch sector presents perhaps the greatest challenge, constrained by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) which limits the range to 300km. Some companies, like TiSPACE, are circumventing these restrictions by conducting launches overseas, with tests planned in Japan early next year. "Government procurement needs to ignite initial demand and sustain production lines," Lu emphasized, noting that Taiwan's defense ministry plans to outsource 80% of its UAV requirements to domestic manufacturers. Current localization rates below 40% are expected to improve significantly as the industry matures. The convergence of geopolitical tensions and technological advancement has created a strategic opportunity for Taiwan's aerospace sector. Its success hinges on the ability to leverage manufacturing expertise while navigating international restrictions and global competition. As Taiwan seeks to reduce its technological dependence on foreign suppliers, the aerospace industry's development has become increasingly intertwined with national security considerations. Gardai are appealing for witnesses following a fatal hit and run on the northside of Limerick city. A male pedestrian, aged in his 50s, died after he was struck on the Ennis Road - close to the city centre - shortly before 2pm this Tuesday. Gardai remain at the scene of the incident and an investigation has been launched. "The car involved in the collision - a maroon-coloured Ford Focus, registration 141 C 3717 - failed to remain at the scene. The car has since been recovered," said a spokesperson. A man, aged in his 30s, has been arrested in relation to the incident and he is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at garda station in the Southern Region. READ ALSO: Two elderly men injured during early morning robbery Motorists are being advised that the Ennis Road is currently closed pending an examination of the scene by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators. Local diversions are in place. Gardai are appealing for witnesses to come forward. Anyone with any information on the movements of the Ford Focus around the time of the incident is asked to contact gardai. "Any road users who were travelling in the area at the time of the collision and who may have camera footage, including dash cam footage, are asked to contact gardai. Anyone with any information, is asked to contact Henry Street garda station in Limerick on (061) 212400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. More than 2,500 prospective students and their families recently attended Dundalk Institute of Technology's (DkIT) two-day Open Day events. Schools from across the North Leinster-South Ulster region visited the campus to gain insight into student life, meet lecturers, interact with current students, and explore the state-of-the-art facilities available at DkIT. During the events, attendees had the chance to explore nearly seventy degree courses on offer and participate in a range of engaging activities. Highlights included demonstrations in Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, as well as a special screening of student films. Many visitors also took part in lab tours, including visits to the new 18m Science Extension, veterinary nursing, exercise physiology, and clinical skills labs for nursing and midwifery. These tours showcased the cutting-edge equipment used across the School of Health and Science. Young aspiring chefs had the chance to speak with culinary staff and students and even visited the Hospitality Restaurant for a first-hand look at life in the kitchen. DkIT's Multi-Purpose Centre was transformed into an exhibition hall, featuring a wide range of courses from Accounting and Finance to Sound Design, Early Childhood Studies, and Agriculture. Visitors were able to engage with lecturers and student ambassadors about various programmes and potential career pathways. Read Next: Dundalk gardai fine driver for illegally parking in disabled bay Diarmuid Cahill, Schools Liaison Officer at DkIT said: "It was fantastic to welcome so many prospective students, guidance counsellors, and their families to the DkIT campus for our Open Days. At DkIT, we are committed to offering innovative courses across all of our four schools, designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of industry. "With sixty eight degree programmes available in a variety of disciplines, prospective students have a huge range of options. Coupled with small class sizes and a hands-on approach to learning, DkIT offers a wealth of opportunities for those seeking the next step in their educational journey." DkIT's next Open Day will be held on Saturday, 18th January 2025. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Hermann Kelly has strong connections in the county having lived before in Drogheda and Mid-Louth for over 20 years. Mr Kelly helped organise and spoke at the protest last year against the closure of the D Hotel and opposed its conversion to an IPAS centre. The protest attracted hundreds of people from the Drogheda area. Mr Kelly and the Irish Freedom Party have been extremely vocal in its opposition to the Government's asylum and immigration policy. He said he also wants to focus on solving the huge dereliction problem in major towns like Dundalk and Drogheda. He continued that other priorities include making Louth a prime tourist destination and attracting new investment and jobs into the county. Mr Kelly has advocated for a fiscal culture of lower taxes for Irish workers and higher taxes on vulture funds and REITS to put them out of the market to allow first time buyers to get on the housing market. He said: "I'm also in favour of hiring more Gardai to deal with the increasing problem of anti-social behaviour and crime in Co Louth." Mr. Kelly has also spoken out against the proposed wind farm in Kellystown, near Monasterboice, saying: "Wind farms in general are expensive, taxpayer - subsidised, built using tonnes of steel and concrete and extremely ugly, particularly unsuitable in a beautiful area of historical significance, such as Monasterboice. John McGahon was elected as a Member of Seanad Eireann in March 2020 on the Cultural and Educational Panel and was subsequently appointed as Spokesperson for Climate Action, Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. He serves on both the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action and the Committee on Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Prior to this, Senator McGahon served for six years as a member of Louth County Council. First elected at 23 years of age in 2014 he was re-elected in 2019 on the first count for the Dundalk-Carlingford LEA. He was elected Cathaoirleach of the Dundalk Municipal District in 2017/18 and 2019/20. Born and raised in Dundalk, he is a nephew of former Louth TD Brendan McGahon. Senator McGahon was educated at Dundalk Grammar School and University College Dublin where he obtained a BA Honours Degree in History and Politics. If elected, Senator McGahon wants to see the rate of building homes in Dundalk increase, along with ensuring that Dundalk and Louth are the epicentre of the M1 Corridor between Dublin and Belfast. He says he will continue his work championing the improvement of cancer services in Louth. Senator McGahon also wants to help deliver a new primary and secondary school for Blackrock, Louths fastest growing community, and Technological University status for Dundalk Institute of Technology. Investigations are underway after a fire broke out at an army camp housing asylum seekers in county Wicklow. A fire broke out in the canteen of the Emergency Accommodation and Reception Centre (EARC) in Kilbride Military Camp on Monday evening, November 25. According to a Defence Forces spokesperson, An Garda Siochana, the Fire Brigade and Military Police all responded to the incident. The fire was extinguished by 10pm Monday night by Wicklow Fire Service, and there are no reports of injuries. "All International Protection applicants and Defence Forces personnel are safe and accounted for," the Defence Forces spokesperson said. Read Also: Aldi issues urgent recall of popular party food ahead of Christmas shopping rush "A damage assessment and investigation is currently ongoing". A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said they were alerted "by the Fire Service to a fire at a building complex in Kilbride" at around 7.30pm on Monday evening. " Once feasible, a technical examination will be carried, the results of which will guide the garda investigation," they said. A grave in Co Monaghan has been exhumed by experts searching for Disappeared victim of the Northern Ireland Troubles Joe Lynskey. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. Both the time frame and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972, the commission said in a statement. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then failed to locate his remains. The commission said the process of establishing the identity of the remains found in the grave may take some time. Mr Lynskey was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate their whereabouts. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Investigators searching for the remains of Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey said the exhumation of a grave in Co Monaghan had been a difficult time for his family. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. He was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then have failed to locate his remains. Jon Hill, lead investigator for the ICVLR, said it was a difficult time for the Lynskey family. Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Hill said: The Lynskeys have been disappointed before when weve done a search and recovered remains. In 2010, the commission was searching for Mr Lynskey in Co Meath and uncovered remains which related to two other of the Disappeared: Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. Speaking to the PA news agency at Annyalla cemetery, Mr Hill added: So they had that news, hoping or expecting that could have been Joe, and their hopes were dashed. They took comfort from the fact that someone had been recovered, and they still have that view. So theyre quite guarded in their views or their thoughts on what it is, that their hopes dont raise too high until we get to a position where were sure it is Joe. His comments echoed those of Mr Lynskeys niece Maria, who told BBC Radio Ulster that she was hoping not to be disappointed again. She said she was both nervous and optimistic about the exhumation, and added: These are long journeys for us, for all the families of the Disappeared that have had to go through this. Mr Hill said the commission had had information for a period of time relating to what appeared to be suspicious activity that took place within the graveyard several years ago. The investigator said: Recent years have suggested that that could have been indicative of what happened to Joe Lynskey. Because of that, weve taken steps together with An Garda Siochana to go through the due process of arranging for an exhumation. Mr Hill said there were multiple sets of remains in what was a family grave. The sets of remains would be submitted for DNA examination. If Mr Lynskeys remains were identified, there would be a post-mortem examination and a process involving the coroner and State pathologist. He said the commission had been in contact with the family associated with the plot. To be suggesting there could be a burial within their family plot that doesnt relate to their family is something that they want resolved as well, he said. That is information that was within that family group over a number of years. So I think it brings some relief to them as well. The investigator acknowledged the exhumation was an unusual search process for the commission. Ordinarily, our searches are in fields or bog land, where well be looking for one set of remains in a field, and thats all well find, he said. Of course, in a churchyard, its significantly different from that, and that brings about its own dynamics and creates its own problems. There are of course remains here, numerous remains. And yes, its unusual, but it isnt unusual for the commission to have information relating to something happening during a burial which was unusual. Weve had a number of cases like that reported to us over the years, and weve been able to investigate all of those and eliminate them all, apart from this one. So this one has become particularly relevant as the years have gone by, and more recent information has brought us to the conclusion that were at now, that it needed to be exhumed to eliminate that possibility that it could be Joe Lynskey. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate the whereabouts of the Disappeared. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Mr Hill said all the remaining cases would remain open until the victims were either found or there was no more that we can do. We would appeal always to anyone who has any information to come forward, because the information is absolutely crucial to our work, he said. Tell us about yourself; My name is Aoife Hosford. Im 31 years old and Im from Passage West in Cork. I went to CADA Performing Arts from the age of three. I went to Ashton in Blackrock and once I finished my Leaving Cert I moved to London. I trained in Musical Theatre at Momentum Performing Arts Academy and graduated with a diploma in Musical Theatre. I also gained my DDE qualifications with ISTD in both tap and modern. I performed, taught and lived in London for 10 years. It was amazing. I moved back to Cork in 2022 and went on to a one-year top-up from my diploma to a degree at MTU Cork School of Music. I graduated this October with a BA honours degree in Musical Theatre. I love performing and teaching and I adore the performing arts, especially dance. I am super-excited to be performing in this years panto Red Riding Hood as Pip, especially because back in 2003 I played Little Red in The Everymans production. It is a real full circle moment and I am so grateful to Catherine Mahon Buckley for giving me the opportunity. Where were you born? I was born in Cork. Where do you live? I live in Passage West in Cork. I am currently saving for a house so back home saving every penny! Family? I have one older sister, Sarah. She is also an actor and is living in London. She is truly an inspiration to me. She is the most hard-working, caring and passionate person I know. We lived together for about six years of my time in London. She is an incredible actress and you may recognise her on your screens in the An Post Christmas advert with the tin man. Best friend? I have so many amazing friends that I have met through the years from Cork and London. One of my best friends is Kadie. We met when we were five in dance class at CADA and have been best friends ever since. I was recently a bridesmaid at her wedding and it was such an amazing, emotional day. She is the most incredible friend and I would be lost without her. Aoife Hosford is playing Pip in The everyman's panto this year. Earliest childhood memory? I think the earliest thing I remember is being in pre-school and painting with black paint and not realising we had to wait for the coloured paint. I was really upset about this, haha. Person you most admire? There are so many people I admire and who inspire me every day. My parents for a start, theyre the most incredible, kind, hard-working people. If I could be half the people they are, Id be doing incredibly well. My sister, as I said, is a true inspiration. I also have had some of the most incredible dance teachers throughout my training who inspired and continue to inspire me. Person who most irritates you? There is not one particular person who irritates me, to be honest. I can get irritated by the smallest things. Im a Taurus so it can be the most random thing that suddenly irritates me. Where was your most memorable holiday? I have been so lucky and have had some amazing holidays with friends, family and work. Recently, for my 30th birthday, my family and I went to Barcelona and it is such an amazing holiday in a gorgeous city. Favourite TV programme? Friends. I have loved it since I was in my teens and have watched it from start to finish more times than I can count. Its my comfort show. Favourite radio show? I dont really listen to the radio. Ill listen to music on my Spotify and I love a good podcast. Staying Relevant with Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks is my go-to at the moment. Your signature dish if cooking? I make an amazing chicken risotto if I do say so myself. Favourite restaurant? I love Bramley Lodge in Carrigtwohill. Last book you read? Only Love Is Real, by Brian Weiss Best book you read? Im not great for reading but I have read all the Harry Potter books! Last album/CD/download you bought? Lady Gagas new Harlequin album. Its all the old classic songs but modernised. Im obsessed! Favourite song? I love so many songs so this is hard. But I do love I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. One person you would like to see in concert? The next band on my list is Coldplay. I saw them years ago at Oxygen but their concerts look so incredible so I really want to see them again. Do you have a pet? Yes, I have a beautiful dog called Belle. She is a two-year-old cockapoo and I am obsessed with her. Morning person or night owl? Morning person. I am way more productive in the morning. Your proudest moment? Its hard to pick one moment but I was extremely proud to have been cast in Singin In The Rain, Showtimes 48-hour musical. We got to perform at the Adelphi Theatre in London and I cant express how amazing a feeling it was. I am so proud of that but also all the other gigs that came from that after. Spendthrift or saver? A little bit of both. Im a bit more of a saver now as I want to buy my own house. But as my mum always says, if you like it, buy it! Name one thing you would improve in your area in which you live? I would love to bring more performing arts to my area. I have started my own little performing school in Passage West but I would love there to be more things here for the children. What makes you happy? As cliche as it sounds, its all the little things. Spending time with my family and friends. Having a cup of tea and chats. Going for walks with my dog. How would you like to be remembered? I would love to be remembered as a hard-working, kind person. What else are you up to at the moment? I am currently doing lots of teaching. I teach at Montfort Performing Arts College and I also have just opened my own little school Hosford Performing Arts in Passage West. I am so passionate about the arts and want to bring and share my knowledge and passion with all the young performers. Whether they do it as a hobby or want to pursue it as a career. I also just worked alongside my sister producing a charity concert in London in aid of UNICEF. We gathered musical theatre performers who performed alongside us at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith. It was an amazing show and all for such a great cause. A young man rang his ex-partner to find out where she was and she told him where but when she returned home he assaulted her by biting her face and squeezing her throat. Judge Dermot Sheehan imposed a sentence of two-and-a-half years imprisonment on Shaun Tait of An Duiche, Tipperary town, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for the assault he carried out on his ex-partner outside her apartment at Newcestown, County Cork, on July 2. Detective Garda Dave Barry said the two parties had been in a relationship but that the relationship was definitely off at the time of this assault. She received a phone call asking her where she was and she said she was in Mitchelstown. Walking towards her home she saw him walking towards her. He appeared to be intoxicated. She walked to her apartment followed by Mr Tait. He bit her in the face, grabbing her by the collar of her clothing. Later there was a mark on her right cheek where she was bitten and her neck was marked, Det Garda Barry said. When Shaun Tait was brought before the district court gardai objected to bail. He was granted bail on conditions but was unable to raise the necessary bail and was remanded in custody since the incident in July. He had previous convictions for common assault, stealing a car, burglary, and robbery. The 29-year-old wrote a letter to the court where he apologised to the victim and expressed his shame. He expressed the hope that she would be able to forgive him and said he was broken-hearted for the assault on the dignity of his former partner. Judge Sheehan noted during sentencing: The victim speaks highly of him and forgives him. A sentence of two-and-a-half years was imposed backdated to July 3 when he went into custody. CORK South West is a constituency of 92,567 people that stretches from the Beara Peninsula in West Cork to Kinsale and includes medium-sized towns, such as Bandon, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Skibbereen, Bantry, and Castletownbere. The constituency is home to 46,641 women and 45,926 men, who will be represented by three candidates in Dail Eireann following Fridays general election. Ahead of the polls on November 29, we profile the constituency, focusing on demographics, candidates, and the issues that need to be addressed. Seats and candidates There are three seats up for grabs in Cork South West. Outgoing TDs include the leader of the Social Democrats, Holly Cairns, the leader of Independent Ireland, Michael Collins, and Fianna Fails Christopher OSullivan. Mr Collins retained his seat in the 2020 general election, topping the poll in Cork South West. He took 26.42% first-preference votes and was elected on the first count. A strong Independent vote is expected in the constituency. Mr Collins is predicted to be re-elected, although which two Cork South-West candidates will join him in Dail Eireann is less certain. Mr OSullivan was elected on the eighth count in 2020, just ahead of Ms Cairns, with Fine Gaels Tim Lombard not far behind. Fine Gael have selected another candidate to run in the upcoming elections, alongside Mr Lombard: Skibbereen local electoral area councillor, Noel ODonovan, a former garda. The Labour Party is running Clonakilty-based disability activist Evie Nevin. Sinn Fein have selected support co-ordinator Clare OCallaghan, who works with older people in the community, and Donnchadh O Seaghdha, who was elected to Skibbereen Town Council from 2004 to 2014. The Green Party is running Mary Ryder, who has volunteered and canvassed with the party since 1999, while People Before Profit is running Zoe Laplaud, who has been a committed activist for four years and has campaigned on housing, environmental justice, Palestine, and LGBTQ+ rights. Aontu is running CEO of Kinsale Intercultural Network Development (KIND Kinsale) Mairead Ruane and The Irish People are running Deborah ODriscoll. Independent candidates on the ballot include Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District councillor Alan Coleman and John OLeary. Main issues A range of concerns have been raised by constituents, with candidates citing housing, health, the cost of living, infrastructure, and transport as just some of the issues that are being highlighted at the doors. Lack of housing and vacant homes are priorities for candidates, with a demand from constituents for affordable housing across the South West. According to the Oireachtas Library & Research Service, of the 44,866 households in the constituency, 34,333 are occupied, 5,593 are unoccupied holiday homes; 771 are temporarily absent, and 4,170 are other vacant dwellings. Houses owned outright number 15,594; 8,261 are owned with a mortgage or loan; 5,481 are rented from a private landlord; 2,006 are rented from Cork County Council; 278 are rented from a voluntary or co-operative housing body; 932 are occupied free of rent, and 1,320 are not stated. Mr Lombard said that housing and vacant properties and dereliction are among the issues being highlighted by constituents and said that housing will be a priority for him, should he win a seat. Ms Cairns said that housing in Cork South West is completely unaffordable, and she raised concerns about record house prices and record rents, all while vacant housing in towns and villages falls into disrepair. The Social Democrats will treat this crisis with the urgency it requires, delivering affordable homes at scale, improving water infrastructure, tackling vacancy, and clamping down on illegal short-term lets. All of which will ensure people are no longer priced out of their communities, she said. Ms Ruane, speaking about her ambition to tackle homelessness in Cork South West, said: A reduction of homelessness, rapid turnover of council accommodation and vacant properties, avoiding the generation of multiple additional problems, especially for children, are a local target. Ms Nevin described housing as critical and said that too many families are stuck on waiting lists or priced out of homeownership, while nearly 5,000 houses sit empty. Ive seen homes where three generations live under one roof, highlighting the severity of the crisis, she said. Ms Nevin said that housing remains the most urgent concern at the doors, with voters frustrated by a lack of affordable homes and widespread vacancy and dereliction. My priorities start with addressing housing by tackling vacancy and dereliction and fast-tracking the construction of affordable and cost-rental homes, she said. Ms Laplaud said serious action is needed to confront the housing crisis. We need serious action on housing, through a state-run construction company that could engage in large-scale house building as well as engaging in retrofits, she said. Ms Laplaud also raised concerns about the cost of living and said that it has brought huge problems for people across the constituency. We need to urgently tackle the cost of living, through price controls, through putting in place a living wage, and through reducing the tax burden on the lowest earners, Ms Laplaud said. The provision of infrastructure and the development of the public transport network were also highlighted as key areas for improvement. Ms Nevin described investment in infrastructure as crucial for the constituency, particularly in water systems, roads, and broadband. Persistent sewage problems in Shannonvale and outdated wastewater-treatment facilities in places like Dunmanway highlight the need to hold public bodies like Uisce Eireann accountable, she said. With a huge budget surplus, we have the resources to invest in efficient public services that will create an Ireland of opportunity, not crisis, for future generations. Echoing Ms Nevins comments, Ms Laplaud said that a lot of attention has been brought to environmental issues, which, she said, are not just a global matter, but a local one, with pollution a real problem across the area. In Shannonvale, weve seen failure to manage wastewater into the Argideen being a big issue, where similar problems have arisen down the Bandon river and in a large number of our beaches, where poor wastewater management and agricultural run-off have forced beaches to close intermittently, Ms Laplaud said. Ms Laplaud also highlighted the need for free, frequent, and reliable public transport, while Ms Nevin said that improving transport infrastructure to connect rural areas will create sustainable jobs and ensure Cork South West thrives. Mr Lombard also highlighted progress on the Bandon Relief Road, the use of OPW sites as assets, and traffic management as issues of importance. Mr O Seaghdha said roads have long been neglected in West Cork compared to other regions an counties. West Cork is kind of peripheral, and were not being taken seriously. Were a constituency of three seats and we need to be taken more seriously and central government needs to sit up and realise that this is a very important area for tourism and the road infrastructure is very important, as well as rural services, Mr O Seaghdha said. Ms Cairns said the election was about how we can do things better and get better value for money. Its about investing in the future by prioritising public services and building new infrastructure, she said. My absolute priorities are tackling the crises facing my constituents due to chronic under-investment by successive governments. Investments in health, education, and childcare services were also highlighted as key issues in the South West. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns TD canvassed in Schull, West Cork today, assisted by her team of four. Picture: Andy Gibson. Ms Cairns said that health services across the constituency need urgent investment and said there is constant anxiety about the fate of services in Bantry General Hospital, little provision of primary care outside of normal GP hours, very few public dentists, and genuine fear that ambulances will not reach people in time. The Social Democrats leader also raised concerns about the lack of adequate disability services in Cork South West. It is enraging and heartbreaking to witness how disabled people are let down time and time again by the state, Ms Cairns said. There is still no special school in West Cork. This is an absolute disgrace and this, along with the lack of home care or personal-assistance hours, demonstrates how disability is not a priority at the highest levels of power. That is why a senior disability minister at the Cabinet table is a deal-breaker for the Social Democrats in any government-formation talks. Ms Nevin said that should she win a seat, she will focus on healthcare access, in particular youth mental health and special education, which she said must be improved to support families, as well as education and childcare. Healthcare, especially youth mental-health services, continues to worry constituents struggling with long waiting lists, Ms Nevin said. Education, particularly special education, is a key issue, with inadequate resources for children with additional needs. Establishing a publicly funded childcare model will provide affordable, high-quality care, reduce costs for families, and enable parents to return to work or education. Ms Laplaud said that threats of cuts to emergency department services at Bantry General Hospital, as well as the general neglect of regional hospitals, have been a big issue, with a lot of people, elderly people in particular, needing medical services close to home. Mr O Seaghdha highlighted a shortage of GPs across the South West constituency and said that many patients are waiting two weeks to get an appointment with their GP. He said home-care assistants are also finding it impossible to get hours, which is a concern for many in the South West. Mr Lombard said that special education, and the establishment of a special school west of Bandon, is another priority for him. Theres been significant progress in school-building projects throughout the constituency, he said, highlighting the importance of special education, particularly at post-primary level. Ms Ruane said that she will use her expertise as a psychologist and training consultant to community and mental-health teams to develop, support, and empower grassroots family and community-led networks to achieve improved mental and physical wellbeing. She said that training and allocation of special-needs assistants (SNAs) in schools, as well as access to psychological services that involve longitudinal funding and planning, are key. Independent candidate Alan Coleman spoke about the importance of small businesses and the agri sector, as they face the challenge of rising costs and uncertainty over regulations. I will support legislation to allow Uber drivers to transport people in and out of our towns and villages. This would help breathe some life in to the hospitality sector, which must get a reduction to their Vat rate, he said. Mr Lombard also recognised the huge importance of agriculture to the local economy in Cork South West. We have a great example of sustainable farming here in Cork South West with the Carbery Farm Zero C project at Shinagh, outside Bandon. Its a world-class project and a super example of what can be done on our family farms, he said. Mr Lombard said that should he win a seat, he will continue to speak up for farm families and work to retain derogation post-2025, which, he said, is essential for the constituency. Speaking about the significance of the hospitality sector and particularly small, family-run businesses across the constituency, Mr O Seaghdha said: There are very few pubs around now and a lot of restaurants are closing as well, so, the reduction of the Vat would help that. The heart of the towns are kind of dying and it gives a bad impression to visitors and they [businesses] dont have the footfall down here that they would have in the cities. They depend on the summer and the winter is very quiet. Mr O Seaghdha said that global issues, such as the war in Palestine, have also come up at the doors and said that people are acknowledging that while conditions might not always be great here, it is all in contrast to what people are suffering in Gaza. Echoing Mr O Seaghdhas comments on Palestine, Ms Cairns said she will also continue to fight for justice for Palestine, through an end to diplomatic, trade, and travel relations with Israel. Air France's popular, daily seasonal service from Cork to Paris Charles de Gaulle will commence early next year due to the high demand. Previously operating the service from the end of March through October, next year it will begin on March 3, 2025. Air France has operated to and from Cork Airport since 2018, providing a direct, daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Announcing the earlier start date of Air France 2025 operations at Cork Airport, Jerome Salemi, General Manager of Air France-KLM (UK & Ireland), said: After the success of the route last year, we wanted to make the extra effort to bring it back even earlier to give the Cork local community and businesses even more options to reach Paris and the rest of the world via our hub in Charles de Gaulle. "We are pleased to have worked with Cork Airport on making this possible and hope to have more opportunities such as this is the future. Tara Finn, Head of Aviation Business Development and Communications at Cork Airport welcomed the announcement by Air France saying: Next spring, Air France will commence its daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle at the beginning of March - four weeks earlier than planned. "Id like to thank Air France for this vote of confidence in Cork Airport and Im confident that the direct services to Paris, along with the vast range of onward connections, will ensure the route performs well next summer. Corks industrial docklands have been described as a huge opportunity to bring new life to the city, with a mix of modern living options and office spaces giving rise to a whole new district. However, Cork Chamber president Rob Horgan told the organisations annual Dublin dinner last night that the impact of infrastructure inefficiencies on this ambition could not be underestimated. Cork is uniquely positioned to lead in urban evolution, as a model city forging a path for others to follow, said Mr Horgan. Our next government needs to innovate on how we reinvigorate Irelands urban centres through the creation of what we call urban evolution deals to leverage local strengths and to drive sustainable development. Urban evolution needs to be taken on at ministerial level, if we are to make city-centre living a reality. Urban evolution isnt just about infrastructure; its about making cities work for the people who live in them. During his address, Mr Horgan also called for the easing of the regulatory burden on the business sector, as well seeking the provision of supports needed. A thriving SME sector is also the bedrock for our FDI companies, which we place great value in, he said. Cork Chamber honours Jim Barry Managing Director of Barry Group with the Outstanding Contribution to Business Award 2024, pictured here at the Cork Chamber Dublin Dinner receiving the award with Ronan Murray, EY Cork Office Managing Partner, Rob Horgan, President of Cork Chamber, Jacqui Hurley, MC for the event and Conor Healy CEO of Cork Chamber,. Picture: Finbarr O'Rourke. The keynote speaker at the event attended by more than 600 leaders from Irelands business, political, and diplomatic sectors was former Tanaiste Simon Coveney, who warned of significant challenges and opportunities in an evolving geopolitical landscape. From shifts in US administration to economic and political pressures, these changes will test our resilience and demand forward-thinking strategies to safeguard Irelands interests and global standing, he said. Frank OKeeffe, the managing partner of event sponsor EY Ireland, said both Cork and Dublin play a vital role in driving Irelands economic success. At EY, we are committed to helping businesses adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape, empowering them to embrace sustainability, digital transformation, and innovative talent strategies among other key areas. At last nights event, Jim Barry, managing director of the Barry Group, was recognised with the award for outstanding contribution to business for the transformation under his leadership of a local family-run operation into one of Irelands leading wholesale distributors. Conor Healy, Cork Chamber CEO, Cllr. Honore Kamegni, Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, Rob Horgan, Cork Chamber President and Valerie O'Sullivan, CEO Cork City Council. The citation mentioned how his pioneering strategies, including the launch of Quik Pick, alongside key acquisitions and innovative expansion, have positioned Barry Group as a cornerstone of the Irish grocery trade. According to Mr Horgan, Jim Barry was a true trailblazer and exemplified the values and vision that fuel sustainable business growth. This is a shining example of the importance of ensuring the right environment for our ambitious SMEs to invest, grow and scale, he said. Accepting the award, Mr Barry said while it was a personal achievement, the award was a great recognition of the Barry Group and family business alike. Cork North Central TD Mick Barry has said that he is in a battle to retain his seat in the upcoming general elections. Mr Barry was first elected to the Dail back in 2016 on the seventh count, the second candidate to reach the quota. He was the only outgoing TD to keep his seat in 2020, but had to fight harder to hold on to the seat before eventually getting elected on the 14th count. He got the fifth-highest amount of first-preference votes, 291 behind Independent Ken OFlynn, but pulled ahead when he got almost 1,500 transfers from the surplus of Sinn Feins Thomas Gould, who topped the poll, and almost 2,000 from the Green Partys Oliver Moran, who was the last candidate eliminated. Mr OFlynn finished fifth, but is running again this year as a member of Independent Ireland and could take a seat after topping the poll in the recent local elections. The addition of a fifth seat brings the inclusion of Ballincollig and Mallow in the constituency, a move which may hurt Mr Barrys chances, as Labour runs Mallow councillor Eoghan Kenny and Fine Gael and Sinn Fein run Ballincollig councillors Garret Kelleher and Joe Lynch, who are expected to pick up seats in these areas, which could translate to transfers for their running mates. Mr Barry told The Echo: Its clear in Cork North Central now, that seats will be taken by the three big parties and by an Independent, and that I am in a battle for the final seat. All Ill say about that is never underestimate a veteran campaigner well used to fighting the fight to the very end. He added that his work as a TD was far from complete, saying: Cork has never seen such a disimprovement in the water supply as the disimprovement weve seen in the last five years under Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Green Party. Their policy of privatisation has played a huge role in this disimprovement, and needs to be reversed. There needs to be a 500m investment in replacing old pipes in the water network and I intend to keep fighting for that. An argument about a heater being left on in a mobile home caused a row between a young couple that culminated in the man attacking the 19-year-old woman: Dragging her by the hair and tightly squeezing her windpipe. Craig Cooney, 21, of 66 Coolshannagh Walk, Monaghan town, County Monaghan, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to charges that included non-fatal strangulation of a young woman in Mitchelstown on December 9, 2023. Judge Dermot Sheehan imposed a sentence of two years on Craig Cooney. The judge noted the Christian attitude shown by the victim, who said, in her victim-impact statement, that drug addiction caused Mr Cooneys behaviour. Detective Garda Brian OConnor said the young couple woke that morning and, out of nothing, an argument began about a heater being left on in the mobile home when the window was open. The 21-year-old man started throwing property belonging to the 19-year-old woman out the window. He also threw the portable heater against a cabinet and spat on her pillow. To defuse the situation, she told him he should leave. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her on to the bed. He held her by the throat. She pushed him away. He tried to grab her again. She was crying and calling out. He put her back up against the wall and grabbed her around the windpipe and squeezed tightly. She pushed him away and, in doing so, she broke a chain he was wearing. He forced her head down to his knee, which struck her jaw area. She said she would call her father (who was in the house beside the mobile home). The defendant fled through a window. Before he left, he pushed her pyjamas into the toilet, where he had defecated, Det Garda OConnor testified. Defence barrister Emmet Boyle said the accused had pleaded guilty early. Mr Boyle said, He is now 22. While he does have previous convictions, the common theme of offending behaviour was drinking. He is from the northern part of this country and he wishes to return there. Being an early school leaver, he has returned to education in prison. I would ask you to take in to consideration the very Christian attitude of the injured party in her victim-impact statement. Imelda Kelly, prosecution barrister, said the maximum possible penalty for this relatively new offence was 10 years. Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said it is not acceptable that prisoners in Cork Prison are being forced to sleep on the floor because of overcrowding. Mr Martin was speaking to reporters in Blackpool while canvassing and was asked by The Echo about conditions in the prison, as reported by this newspaper. At the start of last week, Cork Prison had a record high of 361 people in custody, representing 122% capacity, with 65 people sleeping on the floor. Mr Martin was asked if he believed the situation was acceptable. No its not, I believe there is a need for expansion of facilities and accommodation and capacity, he said. He added that he did not currently have access to detailed plans for the former Cork Prison building, the 210-year-old building which is located across the road from the modern prison and closed in 2016. In September, Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that the Irish Prison Service is currently considering the potential for the former prison to be used for prisoner accommodation, with a review due to be published by the end of that month. At the time, Thomas Gould, Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central, said the people of The Glen already had a prison right in the heart of their community. Reopening the old site will leave peoples homes sandwiched between two prisons. That is completely unacceptable, he said. Two in five people in Munster put off going to the GP or hospital because they couldnt afford to go, new research commissioned by the Irish Cancer Society has shown. The study of 1,000 adults highlights that healthcare and cancer care in particular will be a key issue for voters in the General Election. Last year, 1,164 people in Cork died due to cancer, and every year in Cork, roughly 2,850 people are diagnosed with cancer. Key findings from the Healthcare Access survey found that in Munster, three in 10 people in Munster are not confident they can access cancer diagnostic services and three in 10 waited so long that they paid privately for care instead. Four in five people in Munster think that health and healthcare will be a factor in their voting intention, just one in five people believe the Government has invested enough in cancer services, and nine in 10 people said there was a need for the Government to recruit more healthcare staff. The Irish Cancer Society is calling on the next government to prioritise health and cancer care, by fully funding the National Cancer Strategy, reducing the cost of cancer through abolishing hospital car parking charges and providing automatic entitlement to a medical card. They are also asking them to legislate on the Right to Be Forgotten for cancer patients so they do not have to disclose their cancer diagnosis after five years, with independent oversight and penalties for companies who breach this right. Averil Power, CEO, Irish Cancer Society said: More needs to be done in the next government to improve patient outcomes and to ensure everyone who receives a cancer diagnosis can access the best possible care, without financial barriers. Early detection is crucial to saving lives people should not be forced to choose between putting food on the table or accessing healthcare. People can support the Irish Cancer Societys call for the next government to improve cancer care and supports, by signing the Societys petition at cancer.ie/petition. By Cillian Sherlock and David Young, PA Leaders of the three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in their final televised debate before the general election. The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, featured Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, and Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. The parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day on November 29th, which is likely to set the scene of Irish politics for the next five years. (left to right) Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) The latest opinion poll put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for that party. Ms McDonald took aim at current coalition partners Mr Martin and Mr Harris for their respective parties roles in handling the financial crash and its aftermath. In the more than 90-minute debate on national broadcaster RTE, Ms McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fail, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael. Echoing words spoken earlier in the debate by Mr Harris, she said: There are people watching this programme who still bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity. He had said that lessons had to be learned from the financial crash, adding that Fine Gael had never crashed the economy and was now proposing the least amount of spending when compared to the other two parties. Mr Martin said he learned from his time in Government during the financial crash. Ms McDonald retorted: I know you did, sure you authored it. Mr Martin said he kept with public service and would always put the country before his party. He also said Sinn Feins enormous tax increases would destroy Irelands enterprise economy. The exchanges came amid the backdrop of the US presidential election, with compounding anxieties that the next administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Ireland. Mr Harris warned that the risk of a trade shock is real while Ms McDonald argued it was not smart to paint up a doomsday scenario around US president-elect Donald Trumps next term. During the debate, the leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael again ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Fein after the election. Ms McDonald said Tweedledum and Tweedledee seemed to believe they were the only ones who should really be in Government. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris (Niall Carson/PA) Asked why the public should believe Mr Martins pledge on Sinn Fein having previously u-turned on ruling out a coalition with Fine Gael, he said there are fundamental differences between his party and Ms McDonalds. Speaking to reporters after the broadcast, he said such a question was a scare tactic to frighten the middle ground. Elsewhere, Mr Martin said Fianna Fail had taken radical action while holding the housing portfolio. It came after Irelands Housing Commission called for a radical reset in housing policy. Mr Harris argued that housing is the number one priority, as he sought to contextualise comments from a former Fine Gael housing minister, Eoghan Murphy, who has said the party had not made the policy area its focus. Mr Harris said Mr Murphy was referring to an era dominated by concerns over Brexit. Ms McDonald said the Government parties do not recognise the scale of the problem in Irelands housing deficit and accused Mr Martin of crucifying first-time buyers. However, she was unable to give a guarantee that banks would back one of her partys key proposals in the sector. Pressed on whether banks would definitely lend to home buyers under a Sinn Fein scheme where people would not own the land under the house, Ms McDonald said: Weve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. She added: At no stage has the banking Federation said that we will not lend into a scheme of this nature. Elsewhere, Ms McDonald said the two coalition leaders should feel very ashamed over the Governments record on carers and disability. Mr Martin and Mr Harris defended their policies while setting out plans for increased investment in the sector. On healthcare, the Fianna Fail leader insisted that emergency departments are safe after investment to tackle overcrowding. His remarks come after the death of teenager Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, ahead of the general election on November 29th (Niall Carson/PA) Aoife, 16, died at UHL in 2022 after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis. The health portfolio is currently held by Fianna Fail minister Stephen Donnelly. Asked if her death was a terrible indictment of Government, Mr Martin a former health minister said: Its a terrible indictment of the hospital and what happened there, and the need for reform, and change in governance in the hospital. Also a former health minister, Mr Harris made a pledge in 2017 that waiting lists would be reduced for child scoliosis surgeries to four months which has not come to pass. He said Fine Gael made a clear commitment to fix waiting lists for child scoliosis once and for all. Ms McDonald was asked about long waiting lists for healthcare services in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein is in Government. Ms McDonald said the British Treasury is not minded to fund the place correctly, but added that there had been a huge emphasis on the healthcare allocation by the Executive. She further accused the coalition parties of allocating a derisory amount towards mental health. It came after Mr Harris accused Ms McDonald of laughing and sniggering during the debate on such services. Ms McDonald denied this and said: I am aghast at the brass iron neck youre demonstrating. Mr Harris said there needs to be a holistic approach, multi-year funding and reform in mental health services. In the election, voters will choose more TDs than ever before. It comes after a recommendation to increase the number of TDs from 160 to 174 to account for a boom in the population. The number of constituencies has increased from 39 to 43. After polling day, the protracted process of counting ballots by hand will begin. As Ireland uses a system of proportional representation, the voting slips need to be counted several times an undertaking which can last for days. The Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet for a special meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 2, 2024, in the Chancellors Boardroom at the Marion D. Thorpe Administration Building. Please find the agenda for the meeting below: AGENDA Monday, December 2, 2024 1704 Weeksville Road, Elizabeth City, NC 27909 06:00 p.m. | ECSU Strategic Plan 2025-2030 Discussion (Photo: REUTERS / Finbarr O'Reilly)Britain's then Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (L) listens while Sarah Finch introduces a private members motion on the Independent Commission on Assisted Dying during the Church of England General Synod at Church House in London February 6, 2012. The BBC, Britain's national and international broadcaster said that if lawmakers vote on assisted dying this week, their decision will have "consequences for decades." However, British commentator Simon Jenkins waded in and wrote in The Guardian newspaper on Nov 25, "it's outrageous that religious faith is being brought into the assisted dying debate." "Too much of the discussion draws on religion. This cannot be just. Imposing religious doctrine on a largely secular country is archaic," wrote Jenkins. "A joint letter by 29 faith leaders against the legislation was published last weekend, while the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said her faith was the 'start point' for her opposition to the issue (though she emphasized in a letter to her constituents that she 'would never impose my religious beliefs on anyone else.'). "For most British people, death is an act not of God but of nature, and an act that we can in some degree regulate," argued Jenkins. If the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for England and Wales becomes law, it will give people, in certain circumstances, the right to die at a time of their choosing, reported the BBC. The proposed law would make it legal for over-18s who are terminally ill to be given medical assistance to end their own life in England and Wales. The Labour Party Member of Parliament proposing the law, Kim Leadbeater, says the safeguards are the "most robust" in the world, but others argue it is a "slippery slope towards death on demand," Sky News reported. Specific eligibility criteria must be met and if a person meets all this eligibility criteria, a life-ending "approved substance" could be prescribed. This would be self-administered, so the individual wishing to die must take it themselves. "This is sometimes called physician-assisted dying and is different from voluntary euthanasia, when a health professional would administer the drugs," said Sky News. The draft law would make it illegal to pressure or coerce someone to make a declaration that they wish to end their life, or take the medicine. CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER Earlier in the week, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales said he wishes Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was alongside him as the assisted dying debate in Parliament edges closer, a Press Association reports carried in London's Standard newspaper said. Cardinal Vincent Nichols said he regrets Welby's absence from the conversation after the Church of England leader announced he was quitting over past failures in handling a sexual abuse scandal. The Anglican leader 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 legalized. On Nov. 12, 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 different 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 had warned that a right to die could "all too easily" end in vulnerable people feeling they have "a duty to die The Archbishop of Canterbury and other Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders want politicians to reject proposals to permit doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to terminally-ill patients, Premier Christian News reported. His predecessor, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey has argued in favor of a change in the law, despite the Church of England's official opposition to it. Among the faith leaders to sign the joint letter are Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth and Lord Singh of Wimbledon, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations UK. Ashley Grayson, a 35-year-old Texan influencer, has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison for attempting to orchestrate the murders of three people. Known for her online business that taught others how to create and sell courses, Grayson's social media prominence became overshadowed by her criminal actions, as revealed in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Tennessee. Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren announced Grayson's conviction on November 18 in connection with the murder-for-hire plot. According to the press release, Grayson approached a couple from Memphis in September 2022, offering $60,000 to have her ex-boyfriend and two business rivals killed. One of the targets was a woman who had criticized Grayson on social media, while the other was a Mississippi entrepreneur whom Grayson suspected of creating fake accounts to tarnish her reputation. The U.S. Attorney's office reported that "each one of these killings had a value to Grayson of at least $20,000." In a recorded video call, Grayson urged the Memphis couple to prioritize the murder of the Mississippi woman, offering an additional $5,000 if the task was completed within a week. The Memphis couple, however, never carried out the plan. Instead, they deceived Grayson by using police car photos to convince her they had attempted but failed to execute the murders. They demanded half of the promised amount and met with Grayson and her husband in Dallas, where they received $10,000 for their fabricated effort. In July 2023, a grand jury in Tennessee indicted Grayson and her husband, Joshua Grayson, on a charge of "Use of Interstate Facility in Commission of Murder-for-Hire." On October 31, 2024, United States District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker handed Grayson the maximum penalty of 120 months in prison. "This was a twenty-first-century crime where online feuds and senseless rivalries bled into the real world," Fondren stated. "The defendant tried to hire someone to murder a woman over things that happened exclusively on the internet." He emphasized that while no one was physically harmed, the emotional toll on the victims and their families was profound. "The proactive response from the investigating agencies and our prosecutors prevented an even more serious crime from occurring," he concluded. Three years after sexual abuse allegations derailed his career, Armie Hammer, 38, is attempting to rebuild his life. According to sources close to the matter (via 'People'), the actor has traded mansion living for a "very small" apartment in Los Angeles and is receiving "zero money from family" as he works to restart his career. Read more: Armie Hammer Reveals His Mother Gifted Him A Vasectomy For His 38th Birthday "He still gets frustrated at specific sensational allegations but he's trying to be at peace about it," a source explained. While the LA District Attorney found insufficient evidence to charge Hammer over an alleged 2017 sexual assault, the controversy including claims from exes about violent fantasies effectively ended his acting career in 2021. After launching 'The Armie HammerTime Podcast' and starring in upcoming Western 'Frontier Crucible', Hammer is taking small steps toward a comeback. "He wants to show people he's actually working for it," the source went on. "He feels like he's admitted to the wrongs he made and he is determined to start over." His inner circle remains "cautiously optimistic" about his future projects but warns him about getting hopes too high. "They're basically telling him, 'Yes, this is all great, but we don't want you to get let down when people aren't ready to take you back yet,'" the source divulged. Post-rehab for drug, alcohol and sex addictions, Hammer now focuses on co-parenting his children Harper, 9, and Ford, 7, with ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers. "He really is a great dad," the source added. "He and Elizabeth are in a great co-parenting routine now. They still consider each other 'family' and support each other." Hammer still works with a lawyer while handling his career matters, having lost his Hollywood representation. "He is super stoked about everything happening and really thinks his career is about to have a second wave," though those close to him emphasize a "we'll see" mentality as he believes he's "paid his dues." Hammer has a fairly empty acting slate for now, but he's hopeful to see it grow and flourish in the future. Princess Martha Louise of Norway and her husband, Shaman Durek, are getting a beatdown after it has been claimed that they owe vendors more than one million kroner (nearly $90,000) from their extravagant wedding that took place in August. About 300 guests attended the much-talked-about ceremony in Geiranger, which is on the Norwegian coast, including the Swedish royal family and close relatives. The bash stretched over four days, complete with extravagant meals and gin designed especially for the celebrations. However, three months after the wedding, some of the local businesses are now left feeling frustrated over unpaid invoices. Various suppliers have not received payment at all, leading to some filing formal collection claims, reports Norwegian media outlet Se og Hor. "It is indecent not to make amends," one business owner said. "It feels as if the princess has run away from the bill. Hotel Union, where many of the wedding guests stayed, is one of the businesses awaiting payment. The hotel has entered into extensive discussions with Princess Martha Louise's team over the unpaid bill, reports claim. Other vendors believed to be impacted include LYD AS, which provided lights and sound, as well as smaller local businesses that helped execute the successful wedding. The claims have not been addressed by the couple as of press time. Daughter of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Martha Louise revealed in 2022 she would no longer represent the Norwegian royal house officially. Her spouse, Durek Verrett, a self-declared shaman from California, has been in the spotlight for his unconventional notions and past scandals. While the princess retains her royal title, she agreed not to use it for commercial purposes in a deal before they wed. However, as reported by the Daily Mail, she faced backlash earlier this year when she used her title as branding for a gin and had to re-design the label following backlash. Sharon Stone didn't hold back on her opinion on "adolescent" America after Donald Trump secured the 2024 U.S. presidential election victory on November 5, 2024. During a press conference at the Torino Film Festival in Turin, Italy, Stone -- who was honored with the Stella della Mole prize at the festival -- called America "naive" and "arrogant." "Italy has seen fascism, Italy has seen these things you guys understand what happens. You have seen this before," Stone began. "My country is in its adolescence. Adolescence is very arrogant, adolescence thinks it knows everything. Adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant, and we are in our ignorant, arrogance adolescence." Sharon Stone says Trump won because Americans dont travel & are uneducated. Keep them away from your daughters, your wives, & your girlfriends. pic.twitter.com/GyTvoiisi8 AlexandruC4 (@AlexandruC4) November 26, 2024 Read more: Yung Joc Claims His Kamala Harris Rally Performance Was Blocked Due to Past Trump Lyric The 66-year-old added, without directly naming Trump: "We haven't seen this before in our country so Americans who don't travel, who 80% don't have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivety." "What I can say is that the only way we can help with these issues, is to help each other. Now, we just can't say that women should help women because that's the only way we've survived so far. We must say that good men must help good men, and those good men must be very aware that a lot of your friends, are not good men," the 'Basic Instinct' actress continued. "And you can't continue to pretend that your friends are good men, when they are not good men. And you must be very clear-minded, and understand that your friends who are not good men are dangerous, violent men, and you have to keep them away from your daughters, wives, and your girlfriends, because this is a time we know we can no longer look away when bad men are bad." Ahead of the election, the Pennsylvania native said in late July that she would consider moving to Europe if Trump won back the White House. She told the 'Daily Mail' how she is "certainly considering a house in Italy," as she believes "that's an intelligent construct at this time." Speaking of Trump, she added: "This is one of the first times in my life that I've actually seen anyone running for office on a platform of hate and oppression." Stone isn't the only celebrity who vowed to leave America amid Trump's win. Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi are hitting the road and saying goodbye to the United States. 'TMZ' reports that both DeGeneres and de Rossi have taken up resident in a new home in the Cotswold region in England, about two hours out from London. The pair reportedly purchased the residence before the election took place, but Trump's victory seemingly cemented their move, as sources noted they were "disillusioned" with Trump's victory. As such, they decided to "get the hell out." Eva Longoria didn't stick around in the United States after Trump bested Vice President Kamala Harris. Speaking to 'Marie Claire' for her November 2024 cover story, Longoria discussed how she and husband Jose Baston and 6-year-old son Santiago have split their time living in both Spain and Mexico since. Occasionally they travel to Europe and South America for Longoria's film and TV work, though she rarely makes the trip back to Los Angeles, proclaiming that chapter in her life is "done." "I'm privileged," the 49-year-old admitted. "I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren't so lucky. They're going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them." Sean "Diddy" Combs may not spend the holidays in the confines of his current New York jail cell. Instead, he could potentially enjoy a more comfortable setting surrounded by family though it won't be in his luxurious Miami mansion. Diddy's legal team has proposed a $50 million bail along with house arrest in a high-end, three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Any hopes of waiting for his trial at his sprawling Miami estate have been abandoned. However, nothing is set in stone. Judge Arun Subramaniam, presiding over the case, remains unconvinced, citing Diddy as a high flight risk. This was the primary reason the judge denied his request to remain at his luxurious South Florida compound during the pre-trial period. Read more: Diddy Will Feast on Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches for Thanksgiving Dinner While Awaiting Trial The mansion, featuring a sizable dock, would make it relatively easy for the accused to evade authorities and flee. The situation is different for the proposed NYC apartment. Located in the Upper East Side, the property can be effectively monitored and secured, minimizing the risk of escape. In addition to the $50 million bail, Diddy's attorneys have offered to employ security guards stationed at the apartment building's entrance and inside the residence itself. The exact address has not been disclosed for safety reasons. What Will Determine Diddy's House Arrest? Diddy's legal team must present Judge Subramaniam with a comprehensive security plan, outlining all the measures that would ensure compliance with the terms of house arrest. This includes details on who would have access to the apartment and, crucially, which security devices Diddy would be allowed to use. While Diddy's defense claims that his constitutional rights have been violatedsuccessfully getting prosecutors to destroy handwritten notes taken during a jail visitJudge Subramaniam insists he would only grant house arrest if convinced that Diddy would have no means to manipulate witnesses or obstruct the prosecution's case against him. Subramaniam has argued that the allegations against Diddy are rooted in his exploitation of resources, employees, and the influence of the multi-faceted business empire he controlled. The judge described it as a "criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice." Extending his freedom, the judge suggests, may not be wise. --Originally appeared on 'Latin Times.' After some Bachelor Nation fans speculated that Kelsey Anderson broke up with Joey Graziadei due to her social media break, the former Bachelor contestant is clearing the air. "A friend of mine passed away," the 25-year-old told E! News on Nov. 27. "It was a shock because I had just seen them the week before." She added that during difficult moments like these, "You remember how precious life is, and to remind the people around you how much you love them." Earlier this month, Anderson briefly returned to Instagram to urge fans to vote. "Haven't been on social media much the past couple days due to personal reasons but hoping everyone used their privilege to vote today or mailed in their votes," she wrote on her Instagram Story on Nov. 5. "And now we cross our fingers and wait... and maybe have a glass of wine... or the whole bottle." "Don't want y'all to get the wrong idea. Joey and I are good," she clarified in a separate Instagram Story, displaying her engagement ring. Read More: 'Dancing With The Stars' Finale: Joey Graziadei Takes Home Mirrorball Trophy Graziadei had also spoken to E! News about the situation on Nov. 12, reiterating that his relationship with Anderson was still going strong. "I think the whole thing came from one or two days that she wasn't active [on social media], and people assumed something for some reason," he said at the time. "It was during a time where she was just taking a little break, and that was for her own mentally, and I guess people assumed stuff." "We're great," he assured. "And we're just gonna keep doing what we do." Graziadei became The Bachelor in season 28 after charming viewers during his stint vying for Charity Lawson's heart on The Bachelorette. At the end of his season in 2023, he proposed to Anderson. Though the couple hasn't settled on a wedding date yet, they're looking forward to their nuptials. "We're both in the process of starting to figure it out," Graziadei told Life & Style following his Dancing With the Stars season 33 win on Nov. 26. "We both said that we want it to be for us. So, that's however you want to take that. We'll figure out what it is, but it's going to be for us, and we're going to make sure it's something special that we can look back on and do it just for us." Read More: 'Bachelor' Star Maria Georgas Shuts Down Pete Davidson Rumors: 'Insulting to My Mental Health' The next generation of reality stars is already sparking fun rivalries. Cory Wharton, star of 'The Challenge,' recently shared an amusing story about his daughter Ryder, 7, and Dream Kardashian, 8, debating their levels of fame. During an appearance on 'MTV's Official Challenge' podcast, Wharton revealed that Ryder, his daughter with Cheyenne Floyd, attends the same second-grade class as Dream, daughter of Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna. "I'm like, 'Ryder, don't you ever argue with a Kardashian,' " Wharton joked on the podcast. "We're gonna step to the side on this argument next time." 'The Real World' alum admitted he's had to "humble Ryder a little bit" following her disagreement with Dream. "All she's known is television," he explained. "You always want to make sure that they're humble about it and they know, 'Hey, we're on TV.' They don't think anything of it." Wharton also clarified that Ryder and her younger half-sisters, Mila, 4, and Maya, 2, whom he shares with Taylor Selfridge, don't find their parents' reality TV fame particularly impressive. "It's just what we do," he said, adding that Ryder first appeared on television in 2018. Dream, on the other hand, has been part of reality TV since birth. Her arrival in 2016 was featured on 'Rob & Chyna,' which aired for one season on E! She continued appearing on 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' until its finale in 2021 and is currently featured on Hulu's 'The Kardashians.' Read more: Kourtney Kardashian Has Rare Outing With Son Mason After Rumors They Had a Falling Out Over Travis Barker In September, Dream took her first step toward building her own public presence with the launch of her Instagram account. She also made her runway debut that same month during New York Fashion Week, walking in the Zeus & Lexi Kids fashion show wearing a bomber jacket, baggy jeans, and sneakers. Dream's mother, Blac Chyna, who now goes by her government name, Angela White, attended the fashion show to cheer her on, while her father, Kardashian, was notably absent. Chyna, who ended her relationship with Kardashian in early 2017, also shares a 12-year-old son, King, with her ex Tyga. Joanna Smith-Griffin, an entrepreneur who was featured in 'Forbes' prestigious "30 under 30" list three years ago, was charged with defrauding investors millions for her AI startup AllHere Education. Last week, Smith-Griffin was arrested in North Carolina for securities fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft. In documents obtained by Axios, from Nov. 2020 through June 2024, she "engaged in a scheme to defraud investors." The startup company used AI to help K-12 schools find solutions to reduce classroom absenteeism by sending text messages to parents reminding them to check on their children and engage with families using a chatbot, providing resources for assignments. Smith-Griffin, 33, allegedly "misled investors, employees, and customers by inflating AllHere's revenue, cash position, and customer base," fraudulently obtaining $10 million. She deceived investors by falsely claiming she had millions in revenue, which was not the case, as AllHere had only made a small revenue of $11,000. She is said to have used the fraudulently-obtained funds to pay for her house and her lavish three-day wedding in Florida, among other non-business-related expenses. As CEO, she was the sole person to have control over AllHere's bank accounts, corporate records and email accounts, as well as being in communication with its investors, clients, and outside financial consultants. The documents claim that between May and June, two of AllHere's investors and its outside financial accountant "discovered discrepancies between the AllHere financials" that Smith-Griffin "was sending to investors and AllHere's true financials." To conceal her crime, she allegedly created a fake AllHere email address, pretending to be the company's real financial consultant and sending false financial and client information to investors. After finding this out, AllHere's board of directors terminated her as the company's CEO. AllHere also furloughed most of its employees and closed. It then filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. She faces up to 40 years in prison, if convicted. Wedding-focused TikToker Candice Nikeia, AKA relivesocial, uncovered photos from Smith-Griffin's lavish nuptials. @relivesocial From Forbes 30 Under 30 list to allegations of defrauding, Joanna Smith-Griffin, founder of an AI tech start up called AllHere Education, is facing 40 years in prison for using company funds for personal uses including a lavish 3 day wedding in Miami. . Wedding Date: July 3, 2021 Wedding Planner: LK Signature Events Wedding Planner: Birch Event Design Photographer: Erica Melissa Photographer: Auguro Weddings Florals: Birch Event Design Venue: Moore Building Invitations: LK Signature Events Caterer: Creative Edge Parties Cake: Sweet Guilt by Angelica Lighting & Decor: Birch Event Design Lighting & Decor: PSID Group Music: DWP LIVE Factory Wedding Officiant: Marry Me Mendez Hair & Makeup: Britney Michelle Hair & Makeup: Natasha Gross Wedding Dress: Pronovias Wedding Dress: Vainglorious Brides . #weddingweekend #weddingday #weddingplanner #luxurywedding #luxurybride #bridallook original sound - Wedding Content Creator She found that the disgraced entrepreneur's three-day wedding celebration was held at the Moor Building in Miami in July 2021, which included elaborate flower arrangements, live music performers, a painter and more. Read More: Influencer Ashley Grayson Sentenced After Offering $20K To Kill Ex and Internet Rivals Who Insulted Her Online Bishop T.D. Jakes is confronting new challenges, not only from a recent health scare but also from a legal battle. Days after experiencing a medical emergency during his Sunday, Nov. 24 sermon, Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against Pennsylvania pastor Duane Youngblood. Youngblood accused Jakes of sexually assaulting him when he was 18 or 19 years old. Jakes' representatives claim these allegations, first made public on the 'Larry Reid Live' podcast on Oct. 27, are completely false and motivated by financial gain. During the podcast, Youngblood alleged that Jakes made unwanted advances toward him following a church event in Pittsburgh. He claimed Jakes embraced him, attempted to kiss him, and later asked if they could sleep together during a second incident. Jakes categorically denied these claims in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court, according to 'The New York Post.' His legal team argued that the stress from these accusations may have contributed to the medical episode he experienced mid-sermon at The Potter's House in Dallas. "This lawsuit is intended to bring that scheme to a halt," Jakes' legal team stated. "To end the extreme emotional, physical, and spiritual toll Defendants' conduct has caused Bishop Jakes, to set the record straight so the world understands the patent falsity of the accusations, and to restore Bishop Jakes's reputation." On Nov. 15, Youngblood, along with his attorney Tyrone Blackburn, demanded $6 million from Jakes, 67, to settle the matter privately. Youngblood warned that failure to comply would result in a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit. Jakes and his attorneys insist the allegations are fabricated, pointing to Youngblood's criminal history. The lawsuit noted that Youngblood is a registered sex offender in Pennsylvania, having previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two teenage boys. In a past interview with Reid, Youngblood admitted to his offenses, including a 2002 incident with a 15-year-old member of his congregation. He received seven years probation and one year of house arrest in 2006. Violating parole conditions in 2014, he was sentenced to serve five to 10 years in prison and must now register as a sex offender for life. Jakes' legal team argues that Youngblood is using social media and legal threats to spread false claims for personal and financial benefit. "Bishop Jakes believes with all his heart that actual victims of sexual abuse should be treated with the utmost respect," they wrote. "But that is not the case here." Youngblood, who describes himself as reformed, authored a book titled 'Freedom from Homosexuality: No Longer Living the Lie.' Indonesia seizes more than a ton of endangered pangolin scales said to be meant for Chinese clients Indonesian authorities said Tuesday they have foiled a plot to smuggle more than a ton of endangered pangolin scales worth over a million dollars. To understand China's reform and opening up via two sets of data 10:52, November 27, 2024 By Jin Sheping ( People's Daily Recently, two sets of data highlight the latest achievements of China's reform and opening up. The first set of data is about China's new energy vehicles (NEVs). On November 14, China's annual production of new energy vehicles surpassed 10 million units for the first time, making China the world's first country to reach this milestone. In the first 10 months of this year, China's NEV exports exceeded 1 million units, hitting 1.058 million units, a year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent. Vehicles are assembled in a general assembly workshop of FAW-Volkswagen's factory in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, November 14, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Liang Xiaopeng) The second set of data involves China-Europe freight train operations. On November 15, the China-Europe freight train service hit the milestone of 100,000 trips. Operating at an essentially balanced schedule of seven outbound trips and six return trips every week, the trains have delivered over 11 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods, with a total value exceeding $420 billion. The two sets of data offer a striking perspective into the country's reform and opening-up efforts. Here are three takeaways from this great process. The first takeaway: Economic globalization has always been the general trend. On October 11, the 3 millionth vehicle produced by Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai rolled off the assembly line, setting a new milestone. Of the 3 million vehicles, one-third have been exported to Europe and Asia-Pacific countries. In the first three quarters of this year, the Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 676,000 vehicles, accounting for more than half of Tesla's global deliveries during the period. Tesla's development in China demonstrates the fruitful outcomes of economic globalization and stands as a compelling testament to China's efforts to advance the great endeavor of "harmonious coexistence" among all countries. Apart from Tesla, a good number of foreign carmakers have ramped up investment in the Chinese market, which underscored that China, with a complete industrial chain, efficient market mechanisms, and a competitive industrial ecosystem, continues to attract global capital to invest and do business. In April this year, Mercedes-Benz inaugurated a new building in Shanghai as an upgrade to its R&D center in the metropolis to accelerate the innovation efforts in China; Volkswagen committed 2.5 billion to expand its production and innovation hub in Hefei, east China's Anhui province. Since 2010, nearly 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) has been invested in the BMW Shenyang Production Base in northeast China's Liaoning province. The trend toward economic globalization is deepening and countries are increasingly interdependent. No single country can independently manage the entire lifecycle of industrial and supply chains, which involves an interconnected process from R&D to production, distribution, and consumption. Unilateralism and protectionism offer no viable path forward, and "small yard, high fences" will only result in self-imposed constraints. The second takeaway: Promoting reform through opening up is an inevitable path. For more than 40 years, China has advanced reform and opening up in a coordinated manner. High-level opening up has become a critical driver for China to promote in-depth reforms and high-quality development. Since the beginning of this year, China has extended high-level opening-up to broader areas, wider fields and deeper levels. A fully loaded China-Europe freight train departs from Yiwu West Railway Station in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province, for Madrid, Spain, November 18, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Bin) On November 1, the new edition of China's national negative list for foreign investment officially came into effect, removing all market access restrictions for foreign investors in the manufacturing sector. On the same day, Chinese authorities released revised rules on foreign investors' strategic investment in listed companies in a move to encourage foreign investors to make long-term and value investment in the country. On November 22, China announced to apply the visa-free policy to nine more countries on a trial basis. Starting from November 30, ordinary passport holders from 38 countries within its visa-free arrangement, including the newly added nine countries, can enter China visa-free for the purposes of business, tourism, family visits, exchanges and visits and transit, with stays of no more than 30 days. Additionally, China has introduced a negative list for cross-border trade in services at the national level to boost opening up. At the same time, deepening reform also provides institutional support for further advancing high-level opening up. In March this year, China released a guideline to continue optimizing payment services for foreigners and senior citizens in the country. Thanks to the measures, over 5 million inbound visitors used mobile payment in the first half of this year, marking a fourfold year-on-year increase. China has also rolled out guidelines to speed up the building of a unified national market, regulations on promoting and standardizing cross-border flows of data, regulations for fair competition reviews, and guidelines on improving the market access system. China has made breakthroughs in key areas and crucial sectors in comprehensively deepening reform, with deep-level reform and high-level opening-up mutually reinforcing each other. This has created new opportunities for economic development. In July, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded its third plenary session, and adopted a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. More than 300 important reform measures were introduced at the session, and they will be fully implemented within five years. This will provide not only strong impetus for China's economic and social development, but also more opportunities for global development. Vehicles to be exported are being loaded onto a ship at a terminal of Lianyungang port, east China's Jiangsu province, November 8, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chun) The third takeaway: China's reform and opening up brings opportunities to the world. China's reform and opening up is a witness to the common progress of China and the world. As China opens its doors wider to the outside world, it is creating significant opportunities for the world. For instance, the China-Europe freight train service not only allows more countries along the routes to share the dividends of the Chinese market, but also creates new logistics activities, industries, commercial centers and industrial parks, generating numerous local jobs and enhancing connectivity across the Eurasian continent. "The China-Europe freight train service meets the needs of businesses exploring European and Asian markets, bringing brand-new development opportunities," head of a logistics company in the Netherlands said. The recently concluded seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) saw $80.01 billion worth of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year, demonstrating the vast opportunities of the Chinese market. Openness is an intrinsic path toward global prosperity and development. In addition to the CIIE, China is also hosting other global trade fairs one after another, including the Canton Fair and the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). Through the new development, China is creating fresh opportunities for the world, promoting the building of an open world economy, and writing a new chapter of shared development between China and the world. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) When we think of early startersthose who begin planning and shaping their futures before they even hit their teensfew stories are as sweet and inspiring as that of Cory Nieves. At just six years old, Cory Nieves, also known as Mr. Cory, had a vision that most adults take years to develop. Today, hes the CEO and founder of Mr. Corys Cookies, a business that started as a small lemonade stand and grew into a thriving cookie empire. Corys story isnt just about cookies; its about dreaming big, believing in yourself, and working hard to turn those dreams into reality. Its about how a young boy who simply wanted to buy a car for his mom ended up creating a successful business that would inspire people of all ages. So, lets dive into Corys journey and explore how he used his early start to build a brand thats captured hearts and taste buds alike. Cory Nieves was born in New Jersey and grew up with a dream. At the age of six, he told his mom he was tired of taking the bus to school and wanted to buy her a car. But instead of just asking for one, Cory took action. He started selling hot cocoa and lemonade on the street corner to raise money. What began as a small stand evolved into something much bigger when he realized he could turn his passion into a real business. According to Cory, his inspiration came from wanting to make a positive change. In an interview, he shared, I wanted to help my mom, and I also wanted to do something that I loved. This entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a big heart, is what drove Cory to create a company that not only brings joy to people through delicious cookies but also gives back to the community. Corys journey is a powerful example of how starting early can create long-term opportunities. When he started Mr. Corys Cookies, it wasnt just about making a quick buckit was about learning the ins and outs of running a business, even as a young child. His mom, Lisa, played a crucial role in helping him understand the basics of entrepreneurship, from handling money to managing inventory and creating a brand. But make no mistakeCory was the driving force behind it all. I had to learn about ingredients, baking, and also about customer service, Cory once said. Its not just about making a product; its about making people happy. This focus on quality and customer satisfaction helped Mr. Corys Cookies stand out in a crowded market. The turning point came when Cory decided to pivot from selling hot cocoa and lemonade to focusing on cookies. He noticed that people loved his homemade chocolate chip cookies, so he started experimenting with different recipes until he found the perfect one. By the age of nine, Cory had already gained the attention of media outlets and celebrities, which helped propel his business to new heights. Running a business is never easy, especially for a young child. Cory faced several challenges along the way, from balancing schoolwork with running a company to learning how to navigate the business world. But instead of letting these obstacles slow him down, Cory saw them as opportunities to grow. In one interview, Cory said, Every time something was hard, I just thought about why I was doing it. I wanted to help my mom, and I wanted to make people smile. This positive mindset kept him going, even when the journey got tough. One of the biggest lessons Cory learned early on was the importance of perseverance. Success didnt happen overnight. There were days when sales were slow or when he made mistakes in the kitchen, but he never let that discourage him. Instead, he kept pushing forward, learning from every experience. And thats something we can all take inspiration fromsometimes, the journey to success is filled with bumps, but those bumps are what help us grow. Today, Mr. Corys Cookies is a well-known brand that has been featured on shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Today Show. Corys cookies are famous for being made with all-natural ingredients, and the company is committed to giving back to the community through various charitable initiatives. But despite his success, Cory has remained humble and focused on his original mission. I still want to help people, he says. Its not just about the cookiesits about making the world a better place, one cookie at a time. This focus on community and kindness is what sets Cory apart from other young entrepreneurs. Corys journey shows us that you dont have to wait to become an adult to start planning your future. By starting early, he was able to take advantage of the compounding opportunities that come with timebuilding a brand, gaining experience, and making a difference. Its a powerful reminder that if you have a dream, the best time to start working on it is now, no matter how young or old you are. Corys story is not just about entrepreneurship; its about believing in yourself and your dreams. Here are a few key takeaways: Start Early: Cory didnt wait until he was older to pursue his He took action right away, proving that its never too early to start. Persevere: Cory faced challenges, but he never gave His story shows that resilience is key to long-term success. Give Back: Even as a young entrepreneur, Cory understood the importance of giving back to his community. This focus on helping others is what has made Corys Cookies more than just a business. Cory Nieves journey is a sweet reminder that age is just a number when it comes to making your dreams come true. But hes not the only one whos started early and made an impact. Do you know someonemaybe a young entrepreneur, artist, or athletewho inspires you with their drive and passion? Share their story in the comments below! Lets celebrate the early starters who inspire us all to chase our dreams, no matter how big or small they might be. And remember, the best time to start is always now! Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Commentary by Edward Segal, a crisis management expert and author of Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies. Getting attention for a company's products is importantbut so is sending the right message about the products, and why people should buy them. Companies that send the wrong message run the risk of generating negative publicity for themselves and creating controversies about the brands they promote. Adidas Last July, Adidas apologized for a controversial campaign that paid tribute to the 1972 Munich Olympics, where members of a militant Palestinian group killed 11 members of the Israeli team. All of the promotional photos for the campaign were removed from the brand's social media and its website, according to ENews. "We are conscious that connections have been made to [a] tragic historical eventthough these are completely unintentionaland we apologize for any upset or distress caused," Adidas said in a statement to USA Today Sports. "As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign." &pizza DC-based restaurant chain &pizza faced immediate backlash this week when it promoted a dessert called "Marion Berry knots," which are pieces of dough covered with powdered sugar and made with marionberries. "Ads for the dessert make the powdered sugar look like cocaine sealed in tiny plastic bags, clearly making fun of [former DC Mayor Marion] Barry's infamous drug arrest from the 1990s when he was caught smoking crack in an FBI sting operation," WTOP News reported. Demands To Remove The Dessert The NAACP DC issued a statement lastTuesday demanding that &pizza remove the dessert from the menu, calling it "inflammatory, culturally insensitive and drug-use insinuating," especially in light of the upcoming 10th anniversary of his death," according to Restaurant Business. "The life, legacy, lineage and name of Marion Barry deserves to be remembered as a pioneer for economic development, real-estate development, black business empowerment, youth employment and as the Mayor of the people. Mayor Barry taught us the power of economics and today, we call on the community to demand &pizza right this egregious wrong," Akosua Ali, president of the NAACP DC, said in the statement. 'We Made A Mistake' "Candidly, we made a mistake," CEO Mike Burns, said in a statement as reported by the Washington Post. "While humor was our intent, it was regrettably off the mark. "We're an edgy brand known for being risk takers. The parody of the former Mayor and portrayal of substance abuse was wrong. We have read the countless messages and social media posts and understand the frustration this has brought forthespecially to the Barry family," Burns concluded. &pizza dropped the controversial item from its menu and withdrew the offensive ad. Apple iPad Commercial Apple found out the hard way this year what can go wrong when offensive images are used to market a product after it started to advertise its iPads in a commercial that was quickly dubbed the "crushing creativity" ad. "It was supposed to be a clever product demonstration for Apple's latest sleek, artificial intelligence-powered iPad Pro," Adweek reported. "But the brand, typically praised for its advertising, sparked a wave of backlash for a commercial that crushes and destroys creative tools. Not The Metaphor Apple Wanted But instead of seeing how an iPad could help them create, most people saw the ad "as [a] metaphor for how Big Tech has cashed in on their work by crushing or co-opting the artistic tools that humanity has used for centuries. The image was especially unnerving at a time when artists fear that generative artificial intelligence, which can write poetry and create movies, might take away their jobs," according to the New York Times. "It's unusual in its cruelty," said Justin Ouellette, a software designer in Portland, Ore., who does animation work and is a longtime Apple product user. "A lot of people see this as a betrayal of its commitment to human creative expression and a tone deafness to the pressures those artists feel at this time," he told the newspaper. Apple Sorry For Controversial Commercial "Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world," Apple marketing vice president Tor Myhren said in a statement to Ad Age. "Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry." Stereotyped Images Apple was in hot water again a few months later after pulling the "crushing" ad when it ran a 10-minute ad on YouTube that showed how co-workers in Thailand used the company's products to address workplace-related issues. Critics charged that the ad portrayed an outdated and stereotyped image of Thailand that made the company look as if it were underdeveloped. "Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement," Thai lawmaker Sattra Sripan said in a statement reported by Bloomberg. "I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands." Apple's Response To The Controversy "Our intent was to celebrate the country's optimism and culture, and we apologize for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today," Apple said in a statement. "The film is no longer being aired," The Verge reported. Apple pulled the ad from its YouTube channel. KFC As I wrote in 2022, KFC sent a promotional message to customers in Germany that year, noting that "It's memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!" Kristallnacht is widely seen as the beginning of the Holocaust, the BBC explained. About an hour after sending the first message, the comapny sent an apology, which blamed the mistakenly sent communication on "a fault in our system," according to The Guardian. KFC said that it "sincerely" apologized for the "unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message" the BBC reported. The missteps these companies made are important lessons for all business leaders that marketing messages should be in sync with how brands are perceived by the public, and that ads will do nothing to harm the reputation of the products or the companies that make them. If not, the result could be controversiesor crisis situations. ##### Tuesday, November 26, 2024 For Immediate Release Details: Alan Weiss 401/884-42353 Alan@summitconsulting.com Three Named to Million Dollar Consulting Hall of Fame Three outstanding consultants from diverse disciplines and two countries have been inducted into the Million Dollar Consulting Hall of Fame, by Alan Weiss, PhD, the globally-acclaimed "consultant's consultant." Criteria for membership in this elite group are: Serving as an exemplar to others in the profession. Manifesting the highest levels of integrity, ethics, and accountability. Achieving significant annual revenue and profit improvement. Contributing intellectual capital to the consulting profession. Engaging in continuing, challenging, personal and professional development. Taking prudent risk and demonstrating resilience. The inductees and an excerpt of their citations are: Liza Amlani is the Principal and Co-Founder of Retail Strategy Group. The firm works with market-leading retailers and brands, helping them improve profitability and organizational effectiveness. Columbia/Mountain Hardware, Under Armour, Lands' End and many others turn to Liza for advice, especially in turbulent times. In addition to being a trusted executive advisor, Liza is an accomplished speaker with engagements across the world. She is a recognized authority in the retail industry and is frequently interviewed by Bloomberg, Reuters, Chain Store Age, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Sourcing Journal and Footwear News. Further, she has been recognized by Rethink Retail as a Top Retail Expert for four consecutive years and the National Retail Federation has just named her a top Retail Voice for NRF 2025. (www.retailstrategygroup.com) Amy Franko is the Founder & CEO of Amy Franko Associates. Successful mid-market organizations hire Amy to increase sales growth and build high-performing sales teams. She helps them accomplish their goals through sales strategy, advisory, and skill development programs. Based in the US, she works across multiple industries, including professional services, manufacturing, and technology. Her book, The Modern Seller, is an Amazon best seller and she is recognized by LinkedIn as a Top Sales Voice. (www.amyfranko.com) Amy Segami is a business consultant, professional speaker, and president of Segami, Inc., a consulting firm focused on solving complex challenges related to innovation. Her clients include dozens of A-listers, professionals, scientists, and business leaders from various industries and organizations, such as Fermilab of the US Department of Energy, Dow Chemical Company, and Meeting Professionals International. Trained as a scientist, she is a life member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society. With an advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering from Illinois Tech, she has worked on projects for NASA and international companies. BBC, NPR, and Chicago Crain's Business have featured stories about her unique approach to arts and science. She received numerous recognitions for her innovative leadership work. https://www.amysegami.com) The announcement was made on AlansForums.com, where Dr. Weiss noted to his global audience, "These people are readily acknowledged by their world-class peers to be wonderful inductees. I'm proud to be associated with all of them." The award inscription included the notation of "the distinction of being regarded by peers as one of the world leaders in consulting, as evidenced by empirical accomplishments in client results, professional contributions, and intellectual property." More details can be found on the Summit Consulting Group, Inc. web site at: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/million-dollar-consulting-hall-of-fame/ End End End Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said Wednesday, which would make him the latest official to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country's military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said the investigation into Dong was part of that broader probe into military corruption. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. Asked about the report at a regular briefing on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokewoman Mao Ning said it was just "chasing shadows" and did not offer further information. A former navy commander, he was appointed defence minister in December following the surprise removal of predecessor Li Shangfu just seven months into the job. Li was later expelled from the ruling Communist Party for offences including suspected bribery, state media said. He has not been seen in public since. His predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also kicked out of the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption. "It's certainly a blow... because one would imagine they will be super careful to have someone very clean in this role," Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told AFP. "Graft probes are very commonly targeted at the military because of the long historical ties between the business world and the PLA," he said, referring to the Chinese military by its official acronym. - Deepening crackdown - Beijing has deepened a crackdown on alleged graft in the armed forces over the past year, with President Xi Jinping this month ordering the military to stamp out corruption and strengthen its "war-preparedness". The intensity of the anti-graft drive in the army has been partially driven by fears that it may affect China's ability to wage a future war, Bloomberg reported citing US officials this year. "If the corruption probe into Dong Jun is true, then it is normal that people will question if it will erode morale and if it will affect the PLA's warfighting capabilities," Nanyang Technological University's Loh said. The country's secretive Rocket Force -- which oversees China's vast arsenal of strategic missiles, both conventional and nuclear -- has come under particularly intense scrutiny. In July, a top Chinese official in the Rocket Force, Sun Jinming, was placed under investigation for corruption. Sun was kicked out of the ruling Communist Party and placed under investigation for "grave violations of party discipline and laws", state news agency Xinhua said at the time, using a common euphemism for graft. At least two other high-ranking officers connected to the Rocket Force, a relatively new unit of the Chinese military, have also been removed for graft. Victor Shih, an expert on China's elite politics, told AFP that Dong "likely had authority over tens of billions in procurement per year" during his time in the navy. "The problem is that competition for top positions is so fierce that there might be some mutual recriminations between officers, which would lead to endless cycles of arrests, new appointments and recriminations," he said. Benjamin Ho from the China programme at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told AFP there were "a couple of possibilities" for the reported investigation. "One is the vetting process is wrong, or the other is that there is some kind of political scandal or problem out there which in this case somehow Dong Jun had to take the fall for." bur-je/dhc ENGLEWOOD, Colo. The American Sheep Industry Association has once again set aside $15,000 in grants to assist developing shearers and mentors. The grant will be given to 10 developing shearers and/or mentors at $1,500 each. Developing shearers will be paid $500 once accepted and $1,000 upon completion. Mentors will be paid $1,500 upon completion. There is a large and continuing need for sheep shearers across the U.S. Domestic shearers are becoming fewer, and it is increasingly difficult to bring international shearers into the United States. This program supports developing shearers as they work to increase the quality of their shearing and the amount of sheep they are able to shear each day. Additionally, as mentors provide developing shearers with education and an avenue to shear, mentors may also apply for assistance. Developing shearers and mentors may apply jointly or separately; jointly is preferred. Priority will be given to developing shearers who meet the grants goals, including those who show dedication to becoming a professional shearer. Applicants must be 16 years or older by Jan. 1. Applicants should also adhere to the following guidelines: Developing shearers should be able to shear at least 10 head of sheep per day. Developing shearers shearing 25-75 head per day and showing a commitment to working as a full-time shearer will be given priority. Mentors may manage a crew or be an individual shearer and must support the developing shearer by aiding them with shearing skills and techniques and by aiding them in finding work. Past grant recipients may apply. Register online at form.jotform.com/240155844085154 SALEM, Ohio Drought-affected farmers in Ohio could get extra financial help from the state if a new piece of legislation can make its way quickly through the state legislatures lame-duck session. House Bill 683, introduced by state Rep. Don Jones, R-Freeport, on Oct. 29, would give $10 million to soil and water conservation districts to spend on drought relief. The House Finance Committee unanimously approved the bill on Nov. 26; it now goes to the full House for a vote. This money will fill gaps in disaster relief funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its time for the state to act, Jones said, during his testimony on the bill during a Nov. 20 Finance Committee meeting. As a farmer from southeast Ohio, I can tell you that we are the last people who would ask for help, and we are asking. The USDA has declared more than half of Ohios counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the drought since September. The southeastern corner of the state, which is dominated by livestock and forage production, has been especially hard hit by the drought. While recent rains have improved conditions, its too little too late for many farmers. Most farms in the region did not get a second or third cutting of hay, while also being forced to tap into winter hay stores early after their pastures dried up without rain. Farmers have also been hauling water to their livestock, and to ease the burden heading into the winter months, some producers have sold off livestock. This USDAs disaster designation allows producers in these counties to get emergency loans and other financial assistance from the USDAs Farm Service Agency. This includes the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, which compensates farmers for grazing losses, and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program, which compensates producers for above-normal costs of hauling water and feeding livestock. The USDA also recently authorized emergency haying and grazing on conservation program acres to help drought-impacted producers. While these programs are helpful, they can take time to get into and may not cover all the costs farmers are taking on due to program restrictions. Ive spent money I never planned to, Jones said. He runs a farm in Harrison County with about 30 head of cattle. Jones said during the hearing that he spent $12,000 buying hay this year and received $4,460 from the USDA. It is my fear that $10 million will not be enough, but with respect to state revenues, Ive tried to ask for the lowest possible amount, Jones said. Jones recognized that most of the state has been dry, but the emergency funding would focus on farmers in the southeast. While these producers may be involved in the USDAs conservation programs, few of them participate in safety net programs like federal crop insurance or even the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which covers forages. The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio Cattlemens Association, the Ohio Treasurers Office and Ohio Chamber of Commerce also testified in favor of the bill. Related content Ohio farmers need more help to deal with drought: SWCD 2024 Drought News and Resources COLUMBUS Manually operating a lever that worked a grain distribution system on his farm was becoming more and more difficult for Bob Schwinn as he aged. Schwinn lost an arm in a farm accident when he was 6 years old. However, that did not stop him from farming. Schwinn, his son and his nephew currently operate a grain farm in New London, Ohio. Over the past 50 years, some tasks involved with his grain bins have become more difficult. It had gotten to the point where I could not turn the distributor all the time that I needed to, Schwinn said. Thats when Ohio AgrAbility stepped in to provide some assistance. Ohio AgrAbility is a collaborative effort between Ohio State University and state agencies to develop accommodations and modifications for farmers affected by a debilitating condition. As the average age of Ohio farmers increases, many face the risk of chronic illness and job-related accidents that might reduce their capacity to continue earning a living. However, for those who want to continue farming, AgrAbility helps them keep working at a job they love. Getting started Schwinn first heard about AgrAbility from a grain bin builder in Napoleon, Ohio. He asked the company if they could do anything to make the grain set-up easier for him to work with as he got older. I just dont have as much strength as I used to, Schwinn said. The company referred him to AgrAbility, which theyd previously worked with. AgrAbility is based on a competitive four-year grant funded by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute on Food and Agriculture through the Farm Bill. The program requires each participating state to have two partners a land-grant university and a nonprofit organization. Ohio State University and Easterseals Redwood partner with Ohios Vocational Rehabilitation Agency and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities to run the Ohio program. Anyone can approach AgrAbility about getting assistance. There is no formal referral process. Laura Akgerman, disability services coordinator for Ohio State University, walks farmers through the process. We get some brief information over the phone regarding what they do, where they are farming and their disability, she said. Farmers must have a disability to be part of the program, meaning some kind of a limitation or a debilitating condition or a disorder that prevents them from any of their activities of daily living, Akgerman said. Examples of disabling conditions in agriculture include arthritis, spinal cord injuries or paralysis, back impairments, amputation, head or brain injury, visual or hearing impairments, respiratory impairments or cerebral palsy. Farmers are then passed on to the programs statewide rural rehabilitation coordinators, Rachel Jarman and Randy Joseph, who evaluate and assess each case and present their findings to Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Assessments include a background history, the size and scope of what the farmers do, the pieces of equipment they were using or continue to try to use and the challenges they face due to their limitations. Each of these farmers goes through a vetting process and must be qualified to receive services. Then we move forward from that, Jarman said. OOD connects farmers who have disabilities with the resources, support and opportunities that fit their unique needs, abilities and interests so that they can continue farming, and Ohio Vocational Rehabilitation provides services in partnership with hundreds of providers across Ohio. AgrAbility does not purchase equipment, pay bills or give money of any sort to the farmers. Coordinating help Jarman and Joseph each average one new client per month while maintaining contact with previous clients through meetings and annual events. Several times per year previous clients are invited to a lunch to share their backstory and learn about new developments in service or technology that might benefit them in some capacity. Akgerman and Jarman spend a lot of time working on originating farmer contacts and trying to increase awareness about the services offered. They work to inform different hospital groups, occupational therapists and people working in inpatient rehab in rural areas. They also talk to county extension agents, farm bureaus, USDA offices and other places where farmers may gather. Many Ohio farmers attending the Farm Science Review during September are offered the opportunity to stop by the AgrAbility booth to reconnect with the staff, gather new information or simply get answers to questions. We always ask them to come to the AgrAbility booth, hang out and spend time with us, Jarman said. That time also serves as an opportunity for networking. A farmer thats been served by AgrAbility is sitting with us when someone comes in with a question and I can say, Oh, youre looking for a lift? This guy sitting right there has a lift. He can tell you all about it. Making an impact Even farmers who may not qualify for OOD services benefit from a meeting with AgrAbility. Jarman visited a client who explained various tasks she wanted to continue doing after breaking her back, however, she didnt meet OODs requirement that she earned minimum wage for the hours she worked. I went out and made notes about different things that she was doing and then I went home and I researched what I would call low-level tech and assistive technologies, Jarman said. I was able to send her a list of 10 or 15 things that she could improve on her farm at her pace and with her budget to make her life a little easier. Jarman understands the value of relationships and responsiveness in her role with AgrAbility. A huge mission of mine since getting this job has been, if and when you do need my services, you know who to call, she said. Its reassuring to know the work were doing is working. Custom Agri Systems, a grain bin builder, reworked the grain distribution system at Schwinns farm by replacing manually operated cables with an electrically controlled system allowing distribution to be controlled from a push-button board. It was so nice this fall to go in there and push a button and it turned it, Schwinn said. The collaboration between AgrAbility, OOD and Custom Agri Systems extended Schwinns farm career. They all worked together and all made it happen, he said. I am truly very thankful, very blessed and very appreciative of what theyve done for me. I wouldnt have the stuff today if it wasnt for AgrAbility. I have the highest regard for Rachel and the others at AgrAbility, and Im just very thankful and appreciative. For more information on Ohio AgrAbility, visit agrability.osu.edu. HARRISBURG, Pa. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced Nov. 20 that Pennsylvania will now require precautionary bulk testing of milk for highly pathogenic avian influenza from Pennsylvania farms as an added measure to prevent the spread of the H5N1 bird flu. No virus has been detected in Pennsylvania cattle, but cases continue to rise in other states. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is taking this preventative measure, at no cost to farmers, to pinpoint and contain the source of viral infections and prevent the spread of Influenza A, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The Center for Dairy Excellence and Penn Ag Industries Association will host their joint monthly Pennsylvania Agriculture HPAI Conference Call on Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. to hear from panelists from the Department of Agriculture and other state/federal organizations as they address real-time questions from dairy and poultry stakeholders about the recent Pennsylvania Department of Agricultures action of mandatory milk testing. Click here to join the meeting via Zoom. or Dial +1 301-715-8592, Meeting ID: 841 2794 6647, Passcode: 833183 To submit questions to the call, text the centers question line at 717-585-0766 or email your questions. Why Procedures are detailed in a quarantine order effective Nov. 20. Several other states have implemented mandatory bulk testing of milk to reduce the spread of HPAI. This testing plan was developed in close consultation with dairy and poultry farmers to minimize the impact on their operations, the department said. The measure is announced as more than 217 new cases in three states have been confirmed in dairy cattle in the last 30 days. Most of these cases have been detected in California. Not typically fatal in dairy cattle, HPAI can severely affect milk production, lead to serious illness in some cows and substantially strain farm operations. The virus is fatal in poultry. Taking this proactive step will ensure that we can protect our cattle, poultry, and farmworkers, Secretary Redding said, in a statement. We are taking this step after careful consideration, in consultation with dairy and poultry farmers, and after voluntary testing was not adequate to get samples necessary for detection and prevention. Pennsylvanias large number of farms with both dairy cattle and poultry present unique risks that demand extra vigilance. How it will work Milk samples will be collected from bulk milk tank trucks transporting milk from Pennsylvania farms to processing plants. If the receiving processing plant is in Pennsylvania, the sample will be collected at the plant by the processor. If the processing plant is outside Pennsylvania, the sample will be collected by the shipper, whether the shipper is an individual farmer or milk cooperative handling milk on behalf of farmers. Samples must have been taken by trained, certified personnel and submitted to a Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System lab within 48 hours of collection. Samples will be tested for HPAI. If the virus is detected, it will trigger further investigation to identify the source. Special quarantine measures will be established to contain and eliminate the virus at the source. Pennsylvania joins only three states without an active HPAI outbreak Arkansas, Massachusetts and Oklahoma in requiring precautionary testing at the processor level. This new measure adds to requirements already in place to help prevent the spread of HPAI. Less than two weeks after the USDA announced bird flu had spilled over to cattle, Pennsylvania led the nation in issuing a quarantine order requiring testing of dairy cattle entering the state. The USDA and other states soon followed Pennsylvanias move. Increased, proactive testing is the only way to confirm that we dont have the virus in Pennsylvania dairy cows or catch it early and stamp it out if we do, so farms can quickly get back to normal, said Pennsylvania State Veterinarian Dr. Alex Hamberg, in a statement. Weve seen in other states that the virus shows up in milk before cows show clinical signs of illness. The virus has spread in other states by moving dairy cows from one farm to another, then it has spread among cows. Hamburg reminded farmers that the virus can be spread on contaminated equipment, trucks and farmworkers footwear and clothing moving between farms and buildings. Rigorous biosecurity, including disinfecting boots, equipment and vehicles and using footbaths at barn entryways is critical to preventing the spread of this and other diseases. Detailed information on avian influenza, biosecurity, quarantines, and other measures to protect Pennsylvania agriculture can be found online at https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/pda/animals/diseases/avian-influenza.html. Reports that the already delayed Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme is now unlikely to open until mid-2025 is 'another hammer blow' to farmers. Farming groups have expressed concern in response to the reports, with further information expected to be published before Christmas. This is likely to detail each of the options, along with information on how the scheme will be delivered. NFU deputy president, David Exwood said he was 'extremely concerned' about the rumoured delay to the scheme. If true, its yet another hammer blow for a fragile farming community many of whom have held conservation agreements for decades, he warned. The delay has sparked concerns for uplands farmers in particular who have been given limited opportunities to access the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. This means that farmers, particularly those in the uplands, where many are in Higher Tier type agreements, are unable to go that extra mile and deliver for the environment alongside producing food. Mr Exwood said: Its a shame I have to repeat my call to the Food Security Minister that he ensures all HLS [Higher Level Stewardship] agreement holders receive an uplifted payment to compensate for the loss of direct payment during their agreements. The NFU is calling for a mechanism to allow farmers with existing environmental schemes, such as HLS or Mid Tier Countryside agreements, to transfer over into these new schemes so they can work better for their farm. This is why calls are being made for an uplift in HLS payments to help close the funding gap and prevent those who have been pro-active in engaging in agri-environmental schemes from being penalised. Im urging the Minister to establish and meet with the Upland Working Group as soon as possible something he promised the NFU three months ago, Mr Exwood added. Its vital Defra gets this right and brings the application date for CS Higher Tier forward. Cashflow and confidence are absolutely crucial in helping farmers plan for 2025 and beyond. Likely changes to the CS Higher Tier include the possibility of applying to it online and a rolling application window with monthly start dates. The Higher Tier options will be bespoke, as has been the case with existing higher level agri-environment scheme offers. This means options may need an implementation plan or a feasibility study agreed with the governments advisers to form part of the agreement. The news comes as the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has reportedly suspended capital grants, sparking more concern for farmers across the country. The suspension is reportedly due to an increase in application numbers and growing budget pressures, leaving farmers facing renewed uncertainty. A Cornish farmer is trialling different approaches to improve soil health while reducing erosion and flooding and using robotics to help him measure his success. Working in a group of farmers across Cornwall, St Tudy-based Malcolm Barrett has trialled methods of sowing maize that minimise ploughing. This including using strip till machinery that disturbed the soil in strips, rather than ploughing the whole field. Maize needs a fine seed bed to establish and is easily outcompeted in its early growth stage. This means heavy ploughing takes place to help give the crop the best chance, but this can lead to degraded and compacted soils that risk polluting rivers via run-off. This is a particular problem in the South West where there is a lot of maize grown to feed cattle, and the degraded soils typical to this crop can cause a problem when rain hits and washes soil onto roads and into rivers. Since reducing the use of the plough on his farm via a variety of min till methods, the trial supported by Innovative Farmers - has helped Malcolm see improvements in his soil with less flooding and more worms. Now the University of Plymouth has partnered with the trial as part of its research in the potential for agri-tech innovations to support land and water management. The university is developing sensors that estimate soil organic matter and moisture levels, using natural radioactivity signals that come from all soil minerals. This can provide data to help farmers see how effective their practices have been across a field and help them to plan how to better manage soils and water and improve productivity. The research aims to show how the sensors can give the farmer a full picture of a field instantly on-site using hundreds of datapoints, rather than sending away a few soil samples to a lab, waiting for results, and then hoping those samples are representative of the whole field. Sensors can be carried around the field to collect data, but this has now developed into cutting edge technology where the sensors operate on a robotic platform. The robots can be programmed to travel more slowly and accurately than walking, creating more consistent data and reducing work for the farmer or advisor. Malcolm said: We're learning more about what the soil can do for us, and what we can do for the soil. "It's helping everyone by helping the environment and we're getting huge benefits on our farm too. If we can understand our soil and our crops more, we can farm smarter by targeting our approach. "Having thousands of data points from the robotic sensors helps to build a whole picture then we can see if there's certain areas that need attention and single out management practices that work. Professor Will Blake, of the University of Plymouth, said: This trial has meant we can get our science out of the lab and test it in a real-world setting, feeding back into other research programmes we're working on. "We're using robotics to deploy soil assessment solutions that the world could take on." Cornwall Council has passed a motion opposing the government's recently announced 'family farm tax', and others are being urged to follow suit. The 'landmark' motion, proposed by Conservative Councillor Nick Craker, passed after receiving political support from across the council chamber. Cllr Craker noted that Cornwall Council was 'dismayed' at the decision in the autumn budget to restrict agricultural property relief (APR). He called on the government to 'stop the family farm tax' and for the council to consider what support it could provide to local farmers. A total of 55 votes were cast in favour of the motion, while three were against and three abstained. Rural campaigners at the Countryside Alliance called the motion 'sensible', as the inheritance tax proposals 'present a major threat' to British farming. Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs for the alliance, said Chancellor Rachel Reeves 'must listen' to Cornwall Council. "There is still time for an urgent rethink and its not too late for the Treasury to act," he added. "Cornwall Council has a history of standing up for the countryside and I hope that other councils across the country follow their lead and help get through to the Treasury just how damaging these proposals are. In May 2023, Cornwall Council became the first local authority to back a Countryside Alliance campaign to support local farmers of all sectors. It pledged to proactively source local, seasonal produce - explicitly including meat and dairy - at council events, while encouraging residents to shop locally. This came in the face of several other councils that had opted to ban meat and dairy produce instead. An additional nine other councils have since followed Cornwalls lead. Farmers, land managers, countryside and industry workers will descend on Holyrood tomorrow to signify the anger and frustration built up in rural Scotland. It comes after similar demonstrations seen across the country in response to the recent budget, all of which have been supported by farming groups and unions. Thousands of farmers gathered at a protest in Westminster last week, while the Welsh Labour Party conference was picketed the weekend before. Elsewhere in the UK, thousands of farmers in Northern Ireland gathered at a rally to oppose inheritance tax changes at the Eikon Exhibition Centre in Lisburn. The NFU Scotland-organised protest in Edinburgh, set to begin from 11:30am, will hear from Scottish farming industry representatives. They will be calling for the Scottish government, MSPs and officials to guarantee that the Scottish budget on 4 December will deliver increased and ringfenced funding for Scotlands farmers and crofters. NFU Scotland said the recent UK autumn budget had 'sent shock waves' throughout the entire agricultural industry. "With decisions made around agricultural and business property relief, many of us attended the mass lobby in London," the union said. "But just as importantly is the decision taken by the UK government to discontinue the safety net of a ringfenced budget for Scottish agriculture, after more than five decades. "This now means that it is entirely up to the Scottish government how much support it will give to farming and crofting from the increased block grant that it has received. "The agriculture budget is now competing with every other portfolio for funding from that grant." It added: "This rally is for everyone associated with our industry whether they are an NFU Scotland member or not so please encourage others to attend." The Scottish Countryside Alliance (SCA) will also be in attendance to support the rally, urging anyone who lives and works in the Scottish countryside to attend. The SCA said it was "evident that things are getting harder", as fuel is more expensive and red tape continues to hamper effective land management. Jake Swindells, the SCAs director added: It is abundantly clear that our countryside is being hit unfairly with recent budget measures such as the pickup truck tax on top of the gruelling family farm tax. "These are just two examples from an ever-growing list of reasons why the countryside is deeply frustrated and anxious about the future. The rural community needs to make its voice heard. Information about the rally NFU Scotland has issued guidance about the rally outside Holyrood, taking place on Thursday (28 November): The rally is only being held outside the Scottish parliament building. We will not attempt to enter the building, obstruct entrances or exits or interfere with others using the area. We will not interfere or seek to disrupt the functioning of the parliament. Attendees must not climb on the building or access areas where we have no authorisation to be. No banners, posters or leaflets can be attached to any part of the parliament land including building, railings and bollards. The rally ends at 2pm and everything brought by attendees will need to be removed from the site after this time. A new guide has launched which identifies 33 tree and shrub species best suited for planting on agricultural land. Hornbeam, beech, goat willow and walnut are just some of the tree species best suited to planting on farmland. This is according to a new advice published by Forest Research in partnership with the University of Reading. The guide aims to help inform farmers tree species selections based on the individual needs and conditions of the farm. Trees on agricultural land can offer benefits such as storing carbon and diversifying farm products with timber, fruits and nuts. Species highlighted in the guide include hornbeam trees, which are suitable for most farm types, have longevity and can produce specialised timber. Similarly, beech trees offer longevity and value for timber while also being suitable for upland farms and requiring little maintenance. Every tree planted can absorb carbon dioxide, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, the guide says. Tom Breeze, senior research fellow at the University of Reading, said farming with trees was a 'great way' for farmers to meet environmental goals without compromising food production. Drawing on years of research from the University of Reading, this guide aims to equip farmers with the practical knowledge and tools they need to get started. Our goal is to make farming with trees more accessible, increase awareness of its benefits, and spark a conversation about how agroforestry can transform agriculture in the UK." There are a wide a range of grants available to farmers to support planting and maintaining trees on agricultural land. These include the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes which pays farmers for establishing and maintaining in-field agroforestry systems. Other support available includes the Forestry Commissions England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO). This provides 15 years of annual maintenance payments as well as standard capital costs and additional stackable payments. Author Peter Taylor - Gooby Athens of the fifth century BCE was a city of contradictions. It was the foremost city of the Eastern Mediterranean, the cradle of democracy where some of the first scholarly history and philosophy was written, home to dramatists such as Sophocles and Euripides whose work is still performed, where the Parthenon and the Areopagus still attract millions of visitors annually. Yet the wealth of the city was based on forced contributions from subject states and the work of slaves chained underground in the silver mines for all their short lives. The rights to vote and hold public office were confined to male citizens, a small minority, perhaps a fifth of the population, who met in the Assembly, the key decision-making body. Immigrants were heavily taxed and treated with contempt. Aspasia in Debate Extract II image Wikipedia Athens was a divided society. Demosthenes, the eminent lawyer and politician, summed up (mens) attitudes to women in a much-quoted speech: We keep sex-workers for the sake of pleasure, females slaves for our daily care and wives to give us legitimate children and to be the guardians of our household. Women had virtually no rights and, in families that could afford it, were hidden away in the home. If they went out they would wear head scarves and veils. And run their errands to the temple or the market as unobtrusively as possible. Pericles the leading politician of the golden age, and Aspasias lover, remarked in his most famous speech, the Funeral Oration of 429 BCE: It is the greatest glory for a woman never to be talked about for good or for evil among men. This was the city to which Aspasia, the leading character of my novel The Immigrant Queen, came as an immigrant and a woman, a person of no importance and where, against all the odds, she triumphed. It is striking that we know the names of many thousand Athenian men, but of only a few hundred women and then mainly as wives or mothers, but we know of Aspasia as an intellectual and as a beautiful and cultivated woman. Athens was famed for its philosophy. The work of Plato and Aristotle is still taught and debated in our universities. Aspasia probably started as a sex-worker, yet she became the only Athenian woman philosopher of whom we know. Her works were quoted with approval by leading writers but we only have a few lines from them since no-one in the great library of Alexandria thought fit to copy them out. In Platos dialogue, the Menexenus, Socrates credits her with teaching him how to debate. The fragments we have include examples of the Inductio a tactic which Socrates frequently uses to convince his interlocuter to change their views. It works by leading the other to express their opinions on a range of increasingly similar topics until they realise that their original assertion was at variance with their own general framework of ideas and admit that Socrates has bested them. Diotima in the Symposium, one of the most famous dialogues, is the only female figure mentioned in Platos work. Most scholars think she represents Aspasia. As a woman she does not have a speaking role but her ideas are relayed by Socrates and form the basis of the concept of Platonic love spiritual as opposed to physical love which was so influential in the Renaissance. Yet this is a society in which school-children copied out the tag: A man who teaches a woman to write should know that he is providing poison to an asp. Many writers comment on the beauty of Aspasia. She attracted the love of Pericles, the leading citizen, and they made a happy marriage by all accounts. Her story throws into relief the inequalities and conflicts of Athenian society one of the greatest world cities, but a society which almost entirely ignored the contribution of the women who made up over half of its population. Peters latest book The Immigrant Queen An Extraordinary Woman Of Ancient Athens is out 28/11/2024 ISBN: 9781836280606 Price: 10.99 The Immigrant Queen follows Aspasia a trafficked sex-worker that became the lover of Pericles, before publishing her own philosophical works, becoming Athens most prominent female figure. Competition Time - The chance to win a copy of The Brokenwood Mysteries series 10 on DVD, The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 10 To celebrate the release THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES SERIES 10 & SERIES 1 10 COMPLETE BOX SET On DVD and digital 2 December 2024 we are offering a chance to win a copy of the newly released series 10 The Storyline Many moons ago, Detective Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea Go Girls) arrived in the seemingly tranquil, rustic town of Brokenwood in his classic car with a country music collection to die for and never left. Now, The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 10 takes us back to the town where the population is small, but murder lurks around every corner. The new series once again joins Brokenwood C.I.Bs finest, D.S.S. Mike Shepherd and his associates, Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland The Almighty Johnsons) and D.C. Daniel Chalmers (Jared Rawiri Shortland Street), as they wrestle with the alarming murder rate in the dangerous town, with warmth, camaraderie and deadpan humour. With the help of curious pathologist Gina Kadinsky (Cristina Ionda Filthy Rich), they use all manner of unconventional methods to solve the macabre and seriously strange crimes. From a brutal murder with a Jurassic twist to a spooky scene amidst the Day of the Dead carnival, a lovestruck dental patient, someone claiming to be Jesus Christ and a vicious visit to a House of Horrors, this seasons shocking slaughters will keep you guessing whos the killer in New Zealands most murderous metropolis. Competition Prize provider Aim Publicity To be in with a chance to win this fabulous prize just in time for christmas all you need to do is answer the question below the complete and submit the attached entry form. Question: What is the name of Brokenwoods pathologist? A. Kristin Sims B. Gina Kadinsky C. Doc Holiday GOOD LUCK by Matt Shine for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Closing Date : 2nd December 2024 JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu What To Expect: A Thanksgiving feast at Lotus Cafe Whats On The Menu: Traditional and contemporary Thanksgiving dishes such as the comforting Southern Mac and Cheese, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Honey-Glazed Brussel Sprouts, Orange Marmalade Glazed Ham, Green Bean Casserole and the showstopper Roasted Butterball Turkey, as well as the Traditional Pecan Pie and the Pumpkin Bake for dessert More: November 28, 2024; 7 PM to 11 PM; Rs 3,500 plus taxes per person Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recently ordered ministries and localities to strengthen government management of e-commerce. As e-commerce expands rapidly in the country, it presents challenges for online transactions, management and supervision efforts, consumer protection, and for ensuring product quality amid counterfeit and poor-quality products, intellectual property rights violations and violations of consumer protection and tax laws, the prime minister said in an official dispatch. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recently ordered ministries and localities to strengthen government management of e-commerce. The steps include amendments and supplementation of policies and laws; implementation of electronic authentication services; strengthening cybersecurity; regulating e-commerce invoices and receipts; and strengthening penalties. To raise the efficiency and effectiveness of state management in this field, he asked the ministry of industry and trade to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to continue reviewing related legal documents to promptly propose the making, amendment and supplementation of policies and laws regarding the management of e-commerce, a news agency reported. They were urged to develop policies to manage e-commerce transactions; promote dissemination and guidance to help businesses and people enhance their awareness of legal compliance and consumer protection in cyberspace; and expand cross-border e-commerce activities. The ministry of public security was instructed to work with relevant ministries and agencies to promote the implementation of electronic authentication services for e-commerce platforms and strengthen cybersecurity. The ministry of finance was asked to propose the issuance of a decree amending and supplementing the existing decree stipulating regulations on invoices and receipts. The ministry of information and communications was ordered to preside over researching and proposing amendments and supplementations to legal regulations to strengthen penalties, suspend, prevent and revoke operation licenses for e-commerce violations. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) China-Cambodia trade in the first ten months this year was worth $14.4 billiona rise of 19 per cent year on year (YoY). Imports from Cambodia to China grew by 20 per cent YoY during the period, according to the Chinese embassy in Cambodia. Bilateral trade reached $11 billion in the first three quarters this yeara 22-per cent increase YoY. China-Cambodia trade in the first ten months this year was worth $14.4 billiona rise of 19 per cent YoY. Imports from Cambodia to China grew by 20 per cent YoY and Chinese enterprises signed investment agreements in Cambodia worth nearly $3 billion during the period. Bilateral trade reached $11 billion in the first three quarters this yeara 22-per cent rise YoY. Between January and October this year, Chinese enterprises signed investment agreements in Cambodia worth nearly $3 billion, Zhong Jie, economic and trade adviser at the embassy, said. China has been the countrys largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for 12 consecutive years, she said. By the second quarter this year, the total FDI of $23 billion from China accounted for about 47 per cent of the total FDI, with the majority directed towards manufacturing. The Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework has become more robust, and significant progress has been made in the development of the Industrial Development Corridor and the Fish and Rice Corridor, bringing tangible benefits to both countries, she was quoted as saying by a news outlet. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) With positive yet cautious steps being taken towards finalising the India-United Kingdom (UK) Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Indian apparel exports could see substantial benefits once the agreement is in place. Recent data reveals noteworthy trends in Indias apparel exports to the UK. Even though India's exports to UK grew approximately 19 per cent in 2023, within the apparel segment, exports declined by about 8 per cent. If the India-UK FTA is finalised, Indian apparel exports stand to gain, especially in categories that rank among the top ten exports. The most substantial growth is anticipated in export of women's dresses made from synthetic fibres. Indian exports of apparel Overall, Indias exports to the UK grew by approximately 19 per cent in 2023. However, within the apparel segment, Indias exports to the UK declined by about 8 per cent during the same period. Despite this dip, if the FTA is finalised, India stands to gain, especially in categories that rank among the top ten exports. A significant trend observed is the stronger growth in womens apparel exports. Notably, exports of womens cotton trousers and shorts from India to the UK rose sharply by around 30 per cent in 2023, marking a notable increase in demand within this segment. Table 1: Expected increase in the exports of apparel post the FTA (in $Mn) Source: ITC Trade map, F2F analysis Exports of womens trousers and shorts from India to the UK have been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2 per cent from 2016 to 2023, with consistent increases since 2021. This upward trend is expected to continue, with an additional export volume of 7.29 million units projected once the FTA is finalised. Exhibit 1: The exports of womens trousers, and shorts of cotton (in $Mn): Source: ITC Trade map, F2F analysis The most substantial growth is anticipated in exports of womens dresses made from synthetic fibres, underscoring a need for India to enhance its capacity of synthetic fibre-based apparel production. Beyond traditional export items like dresses made from natural and synthetic fibres, the FTA is likely to boost exports of emerging products, such as dresses from artificial fibres and cotton trousers. This trend signals a robust expansion in diverse product categories and presents an opportunity for India to strengthen its presence in the UK apparel market. Table 2: Expected exports from India for knitted apparels post the finalisation of FTA (in $Mn): Source: ITC Trade map, F2F analysis Exhibit 2: The exports of mens bathrobes (in $Mn): Source: ITC Trade map, F2F analysis In the woven apparel segment, mens bathrobes and dressing gowns are expected to see the most significant export growth for India once the India-UK FTA is finalised. This category saw an impressive increase of 176 per cent in 2023 alone, with an anticipated additional export volume of 10.67 million units after the FTA is in place. Alongside conventional woven exports such as T-shirts, baby garments, jerseys, pullovers, and cardigans, mens bathrobes and dressing gowns are likely to receive heightened demand from the UK, creating a strategic need for India to expand its production capacity in these areas. Multiple factors suggest India stands to benefit considerably from the FTA if signed in a timely manner. As the global market looks for affordable and quality alternatives, the UK could view India as an emerging yet cost-effective option for its apparel needs. However, the UK economy remains in recovery mode, with limited growth across sectors. In September 2024, retail sales in textiles and clothing in the UK showed modest growth of approximately 0.3 per cent, indicating that a full recovery in the economy and retail sector may take time. Despite this, current trends suggest that Indias home textiles and womens apparel exports could experience the most substantial growth. Road ahead The India-UK FTA is yet to be finalised, but the potential benefits for India are substantial. The UK already imports a wide range of textile products from India, spanning from fabrics to finished apparels. The FTA could drive both trade creation and trade diversion, though prior analysis suggests that India stands to gain rather significantly from trade diversion than trade creation. This means that the UK may shift some of its textile orders from countries like China to India. Additionally, Bangladesh has been unable to scale up its textile orders, which may further encourage the UK to redirect trade towards India. With the Indian textile industry actively expanding its production capacity and modernising its processes to meet the global standards, its market size (textiles and apparels) reached approximately $165 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to nearly $300 billion by 2025. Agreements like the India-UK FTA are likely to generate additional demand, helping India to utilise its existing excess capacityan issue that has persisted for the past decade. This opportunity could strengthen Indias position as a key supplier for the UKs textile needs. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KL) To meet the climate and development goals as outlined in the National Green Deal Action Plan, the National Development Plan, the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and 2053 Net-Zero target, the Ministry of Industry and Technology (MoIT) of Turkiye will facilitate the countrys low-carbon transition in the industrial sector. MoIT, in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), signed the joint declaration on the establishment of the Turkiye Industrial Decarbonisation Investment Platform (TIDIP), said the World Bank in a press release. Turkiye's Ministry of Industry and Technology, with EBRD, IBRD, and IFC, launched the Turkiye Industrial Decarbonisation Investment Platform (TIDIP) to drive the industrial sector's low-carbon transition. Focusing on energy-intensive sectors, TIDIP will promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and innovation, ensuring economic competitiveness and sustainable growth. Through the Platform, the partners commit to advancing the transformation of Turkiyes industrial sector from fossil fuel dependency to renewable energy sources and low-carbon production processes. By driving energy efficiency and fostering innovation, the Platform aims to secure the countrys economic competitiveness while enhancing energy security and promoting sustainable economic development, the release said. The TIDIP will consider energy-intensive industries such as iron and steel, primary and secondary aluminium production, clinker and cement, and fertiliserswhich collectively hold the potential for significant decarbonisationas well as other strategic sectors. The efforts will be guided by four low carbon pathways, developed under the auspices of the MoIT and with EBRDs support, which were completed in March 2024, it added. While the country is already making significant efforts supported by the international financial institutions, the TIDIP will help the identification of additional decarbonisation investments in key sectors. The MoIT will oversee the Platforms activities, ensuring collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders including industrial companies, technology providers, engineering firms, development agencies, and sector associations. This approach aims to accelerate the transition to low-carbon technologies across the industrial spectrum, delivering mutual economic and environmental benefits. TIDIP will support the Platform's implementation through stakeholder coordination, policy advisory aligned with national and EU climate priorities, and assistance to industrial companies in creating tailored decarbonisation investment plans. The establishment of the TIDIP is another piece of the country strategy to move towards a low-carbon economy while ensuring the competitiveness of the industrial sector, said Humberto Lopez, Turkiye country director of the World Bank. TIDIP is a landmark initiative that reaffirms our commitment to a sustainable and resilient future for Turkiye's industrial sector. With this collaboration, we are paving the way for significant investments in low-carbon technologies and renewable energy. This platform will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also enhance the competitiveness of Turkish industries and create new job opportunities. We are committed to enabling a sustainable industrial transformation that will secure a prosperous and environmentally responsible future for Turkiye, said Wiebke Schloemer, IFCs director for Turkiye and Central Asia. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG) Actor Dhanush has initiated legal proceedings against Nayanthara, alleging the unauthorized use of stills from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. Dhanush filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court against both Nayanthara and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan. According to reports, Dhanushs production company, Wunderbar Films Private Limited, has named Nayanthara, Vignesh, and their production house, Rowdy Pictures Private Limited, in the suit and accused them of using visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan without permission. In addition to this, Dhanushs company has sought the Madras High Courts approval to file a lawsuit against Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, an entity through which Netflix manages its content investments in India. See Also: Nayanthara Opens Up About Being Fat-Shamed After Ghajini In addition to this, Dhanushs company has sought the Madras High Courts approval to file a lawsuit against Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, an entity through which Netflix manages its content investments in India. In addition to this, Dhanushs company has sought the Madras High Courts approval to file a lawsuit against Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, an entity through which Netflix manages its content investments in India. The court has granted permission to proceed with the suit, noting that a significant portion of the dispute arises within the High Courts jurisdiction in Chennai. Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan are expected to respond to the legal notice soon at the next hearing. Earlier this month, Nayanthara wrote a long letter to Dhanush, calling him out for sending a legal notice over the documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. The actor sent her a legal notice and demanded Rs 10 crore as she used the footage of their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary. She lashed out at Dhanush for denying her the permission to use the footage. She questioned Dhanush's alleged 'vengeance' against her and wrote in her letter, "The release of my Netflix documentary has been much awaited by not just me but so many of my fans and well wishers. It took a whole team of collaborators and film friends to pull together the project through all the difficulties that were thrown at us. The vengeance that you have been festering against the film, my partner and I, doesn't just affect us but the people who have given their effort and time towards this project. This Netflix Documentary about me, my life, my love and marriage includes clips of many of my industry well-wishers who have graciously contributed and memories from multiple films, but sadly does not include the most special and important film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan." While Nayanthara played the female lead in the film, Dhanush was the producer. As units become a more attractive option for potential investors, Liberty home loans are helping Australians kickstart their property investment journey. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2024 / The recent REA PropTrack report revealed that units have outpaced house price growth in several Australian regions over the past year. With rising return potential and deposit requirements often lower than other dwellings, units may be an attractive option for those seeking property investment opportunities. As a leader in the Australian mortgage space, Liberty works closely with new and seasoned property investors to help them say 'yes' when opportunities arise. Manager - Group Communications Kate Jenkinson says Liberty home loans could offer the flexibility many need to achieve their long-term goals. "As demand continues to rise, units are emerging as a strong investment option for those seeking an affordable alternative to houses," said Ms Jenkinson. "At Liberty, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to invest in their future, and we're focused on making that a reality." With a free-thinking approach to finance, the non-bank offers a range of home loan options, including low-doc, low-rate, and debt consolidation home loans. Customers may also have access to features such as offset accounts, interest-only terms, linked Visa debit cards, redraw facilities, and more. "Our diverse range of products and features could give customers the flexibility they need to realise their property potential." Beyond home loans, Liberty's lending options also include personal, car, business, commercial, and SMSF loans. "Whether you're looking to book a holiday, start your own business, or grow your property investment portfolio, we're here to support you in achieving your goals." Unlike many traditional lenders, Liberty takes a holistic approach to credit assessment, combining risk-based pricing with personalised customer service. No matter if borrowers have smaller deposits, variable income sources or complex credit histories, Liberty is dedicated to finding innovative ways to support them. "We know every customer walks their own path in life, so we proudly provide lending solutions suited to their individual circumstances," Ms Jenkinson said. With over 27 years of experience, Liberty has the skill and resources needed to help more Australians get and stay financial. About Liberty As one of Australia's leading non-bank lenders, Liberty offers innovative solutions to support customers with greater choice. Over more than 27 years, this free-thinking approach to loan solutions has seen more than 850,000 customers across a wide range of home, car, business and personal loans, as well as SMSF lending and insurance. Liberty remains the only non-bank lender with an investment-grade credit rating offering custom and prime solutions to help more people get financial. Approved applicants only. Lending criteria apply. Fees and charges are payable. Liberty Financial Pty Ltd ACN 077 248 983 and Secure Funding Pty Ltd ABN 25 081 982 87 2 Australian Credit Licence 388133, together trading as Liberty Financial. Contact Kate Jenkinson Manager - Group Communications P: +61 3 8635 8888 E: mediaenquiries@liberty.com.au SOURCE: Liberty View the original press release on accesswire.com Brisbane, Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2024) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV:GMG) (OTCQX: GMGMF) ("GMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that in connection with the annual general meeting of the company's shareholders (the "Meeting"), that was held both virtually and in person on November 25th, 2024, the following voting results were obtained. A total of 40,947,619 common shares representing 42.31% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares were voted in connection with the Meeting. At the Meeting, shareholders re-elected four current directors: Craig Nicol, Jack Perkowski, Bob Galyen and Andrew Small. Shareholders also voted in favour of the other items of business considered at the Meeting, which included the renumeration and appointment of BDO Audit Proprietary LTD. and the approval of the Company's 10% stock option plan. During the annual general meeting, Jack Perkowski, Chairman of GMG, and Craig Nicol, Managing Director and CEO, delivered a corporate update for shareholders in attendance. For a replay of the presentation, please click the link provided below. GMG 2024 AGM Presentation: https://youtu.be/fuUaQaKZROE?si=GNpL35BALI3H8a2D About GMG GMG is an Australian based clean-tech company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: GMG) that produces graphene and hydrogen by cracking methane (natural gas) instead of mining graphite. By using the company's proprietary process, GMG can produce high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and no/low contaminant graphene - enabling demonstrated cost and environmental improvements in a number of world-scale planet-friendly/clean-tech applications. Using this and other sources of low input cost graphene, the Company is developing value-added products that target the massive energy efficiency and energy storage markets. The Company is pursuing opportunities for GMG graphene enhanced products, including developing next-generation batteries, collaborating with world-leading universities in Australia, and investigating the opportunity to enhance the performance and energy efficiency of engine oils, biodiesel and diesel fuels. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231548 SOURCE: Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2024) - Impact Development Group Inc. (TSXV: IMPT) ("Impact", "IDG" or the "Company"), a leading Panamanian developer of affordable housing solutions, is pleased to announce that it has issued 96,290 non-transferable common share purchase warrants (each, a "Bonus Warrant") to a lender to the Company (the "Lender") in connection with an unsecured draw down loan agreement dated October 24, 2024 (the "Loan Agreement"). The Bonus Warrants are exercisable for common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a price of C$1.80 (US$1.28) per Bonus Warrant for a period of three years from the date of issue. Corrections The Company would like to issue the following corrections to its October 25, 2024 news release with respect to the calculation of the number of Bonus Warrants issuable under the Loan Agreement. The Lender has, pursuant to the Loan Agreement, committed to providing up to USD$1,000,000 (the "Loan") to the Company, advanced in up to four tranches (each, an "Advance") over a period of three months (each, a "Funding Date"), as follows: The initial Advance of USD$250,000 paid on the effective date ("Effective Date") of the Loan Agreement; The second Advance of USD$333,333.33 payable on the date that is on or prior to 1 month following the Effective Date; The third Advance of USD$333,333.34 payable on the date that is on or prior to 2 months following the Effective Date; and One or more final Advance of USD$83,333.33 payable on the date that is on or prior to 3 months following the Effective Date. Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, the Company is not obligated to draw down an Advance; if the Company elects to skip an Advance, it may choose to combine the skipped amount with the next Advance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company and the Lender may determine to alter the Funding Dates, including the timing and number thereof, and the amount of any Advance applicable to such Funding Dates, provided that in no event shall the aggregate principal amount exceed $1,000,000. The outstanding amount of the principal Loan will accrue interest at a rate of 12% per annum. The outstanding Loan will become due and payable on October 31, 2028. In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company has agreed to issue non-transferable common share purchase warrants (each, a "Bonus Warrant") to the Lender on each Funding Date. The number of Bonus Warrants issued by the Company in connection with each Funding Date will be equal to the Advance divided by the 10 day volume weighted average price of the Common Shares based on the most recent 10 previous days on which trades of the Common Shares of the Company on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") have been completed (the "Current Market Price"), provided that the Current Market Price must, at all times, be equal to or higher than the closing price of the Common Shares on the Exchange on the trading date immediately prior to the issuance of the Bonus Warrants. Each Bonus Warrant will have an exercise price equal to the applicable Current Market Price and will be exercisable for a period of three years from the date of issue. In accordance with the policies of the Exchange, if the principal is repaid during first year following the final Funding Date, a pro rata number of the total Bonus Warrants shall have their term reduced to the later of: (a) one year from issuance of the Bonus Warrants and (b) 30 days from the reduction or repayment of the loan. The issuance of the Bonus Warrants is subject to the final approval of the Exchange. In connection with the first Advance, the Company issued 192,206 Bonus Warrants to the Lender, at a Current Market Price of C$1.80 (US$1.30, at the time of issuance). The Lender is not a Non-Arm's Length Party (as defined in the policies of the Exchange) to the Company, as the Lender is an existing securityholder of the Company. The Loan will be used towards the working capital and general operations of Fusion Software LLC, a subsidiary of the Company. ABOUT IMPACT Impact is a Panamanian based real estate developer that provides affordable housing solutions to Panama's growing middle-class supported by a longstanding subsidized government program. The vision of IHC Panama is effectuated by a vertically integrated model which coordinates all services necessary to develop high-quality residential and commercial buildings, including land acquisition, financing, architectural, engineering, off-site manufacturing, general contracting, property management, and administration. Impact also operates, through its subsidiary, Fusion Software LLC, an innovative software platform designed to streamline the administration of low-income housing tax credits for asset managers, developers and syndicators. Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information, please contact: FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that reflect the Company's current expectations and projections about its future results. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company's business activities in Panama; the Company's plans to expand its global reach; the Company's ability to repay the Loan; the Company's plans to issue the Bonus Warrants; and the Company's hopes of promoting the development of affordable housing across a wider geographic area. The forward-looking statements, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the Company being able to carry out its business plan as contemplated; the Company's ability to repay the Loan; the Company's plans to issue the Bonus Warrants; and the Company's plans to scale and develop more sustainable housing solutions in Central America and globally. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, they can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties exist that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied in the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: the limited business history of the Company; the Company's reliance on key management; risks related to the Company's growth strategy, including that previous and future acquisitions do not meet expectations or potential acquisitions cannot be completed; risks related to the Loan Agreement; the dilutive effect of the issue of the Bonus Warrants (if exercised); dependence on and availability of third party financing; the business of the Company being subject to broader economic and political factors; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; financial results of the Company's operations; unanticipated costs and expenses; and general market and industry conditions. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231551 SOURCE: Impact Development Group Inc. MAGDEBURG, Germany, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sven Schulze, Minister for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry for the State of Saxony-Anhalt, has given the starting signal for a groundbreaking cooperation within the framework of the Saxony-Anhalt skilled worker initiative for the Viethoga training project. The aim is to optimally prepare young Vietnamese for vocational training in Saxony-Anhalt. The focus is on the introduction of a higher-qualification B2 language course program, which takes the previous success of the Viethoga training project to a new level of quality. The project is another part of the comprehensive skilled worker initiative that the minister started in June and for which an accompanying advertising campaign was launched last week that will also make the career opportunities in Saxony-Anhalt visible in Vietnam. "Language is the key to successful integration - professionally and privately," says Minister Sven Schulze. "With the new B2 language course, we are optimally preparing young people for their professional future in Saxony-Anhalt. This program not only strengthens their language skills, but also creates the basis for successful training and integration. Everyone benefits from this: the trainees and the companies. I am convinced that this project is exemplary and will be seen as a success story far beyond Saxony-Anhalt," continued Minister Sven Schulze. Viethoga project expanded to include craft and technical professions For seven years, the Viethoga training project has offered young people from Vietnam the opportunity to complete a dual training course in the hotel and catering industry in Saxony-Anhalt. So far, over 600 participants have been successfully integrated, and the number continues to rise: by the end of the year, 700 will be exceeded. At the start of Saxony-Anhalt's skilled worker initiative in June, the project was initially expanded to address craft and technical chamber professions and is now being further expanded in the area of language acquisition. Because even success stories have challenges. "Experience to date has shown that a higher language level is necessary in order to successfully complete training in Germany, which takes place in German," emphasizes Michael Schmidt, President of DEHOGA Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. "With the new B2 program, we are focusing on a solid language foundation that not only makes vocational school easier, but also everyday work and life in Saxony-Anhalt." Language support goes hand in hand with cultural integration The Goethe Institute Hanoi is playing a central role in the implementation of the new program. "Our goal is not only to teach participants language skills at B2 level, but also to prepare them culturally for life in Germany," says Steffen Kaupp, deputy director of the institute and head of language training at the Goethe-Institute. As part of the program, participants initially stay in Vietnam for a longer period of time to deepen their German language skills in intensive courses. A final language test certifies the knowledge they have achieved with an internationally recognized B2 certificate. Perspectives for long-term securing of skilled workers The funding of the skilled worker initiative and this part of the project is made possible by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, with the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt mbH (IMG) taking the lead. The language project is not only an expansion of the existing program, but also a further step towards securing skilled workers. "IMG fully supports the Viethoga training project. As a bridge between business and international skilled workers, we are helping to create sustainable partnerships and strengthen Saxony-Anhalt as a business location in the long term," explains Dr. Robert Franke, Managing Director of IMG. In the long term, the shortage of skilled workers is one of the greatest challenges for companies in Saxony-Anhalt. According to calculations by the State Statistical Office of Saxony-Anhalt, the potential workforce in the state will fall by 215,000 people or almost 18 percent by 2035. However, school graduates will only be able to fill part of the gap created by people leaving the workforce. Targeted integration of foreign skilled workers is therefore essential. More Information: The insider tip for your professional future | Germany's hidden champion: Sachsen-Anhalt kann's halt Ho?t d?ng dao t?o t?i Saxony-Anhalt cho h?c vien Vi?t Nam: Sachsen-Anhalt kann's halt Contact: Sabine Kraus Tel.: +49 391/568 9920 Email: Sabine Kraus Tel.: +49 391/568 9920 Email: sabine.kraus@img-sachsen-anhalt.de Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566714/IMG.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2362832/5046476/IMG_Sachsen_Anhalt_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/img-saxony-anhalt-minister-sven-schulze-launches-model-project-for-language-acquisition-in-vietnam-with-dehoga-at-the-goethe-institute-302315666.html BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - Brazil Potash Corp. announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 2 million of its common shares, no par value per share, at a price to the public of $15.00 per share.The company expects gross proceeds to the company from the IPO, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company, to be approximately $30.0 million. In addition, the company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 Common Shares, for a period of 30 days from the date of the final prospectus, to cover over-allotments, if any.The Common Shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE American on November 27, 2024 under the symbol 'GRO'. The closing of the IPO is expected to occur on November 29, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.The company has agreed to issue to the underwriters, upon the closing of the IPO, warrants exercisable for the number of Common Shares equal to 5% of the total number of Common Shares sold in the IPO. Such warrants will be exercisable at an exercise price equal to 130% of the initial public offering price.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX EQS Newswire / 27/11/2024 / 10:26 UTC+8 LONDON, UK - November 27, 2024 - ( SeaPRwire ) - Millbank FX, a premier provider of currency management solutions, today announced achieving a record 2.5 billion in executed foreign exchange trades during the first three quarters of 2024. Photo courtesy of Benjamin Wilson The achievement reflects a 40 percent increase in trading volume compared to last year, underscoring the firm's expanding presence across key markets, including Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America (LATAM), America, and East Asia. This growth comes amid increasing demand for sophisticated currency management solutions among multinational corporations and growing enterprises. . "This milestone reflects the growing recognition among international businesses that effective currency management is crucial for maintaining competitive advantage in today's global markets," said Benjamin Wilson, CEO of Millbank FX. "Our success is built on our commitment to combining advanced technology with deep market expertise to deliver transparent, efficient solutions for our clients." The company's performance has been solid in emerging markets, where transaction volumes have doubled year-over-year. This growth has been driven by increased adoption of proprietary risk management platforms and the expansion of its corporate client base. Recent analysis from Financial Markets Research indicates that organisations implementing sophisticated currency management strategies can reduce their foreign exchange costs by up to 20 percent. Millbank FX's clients have reported average savings of 18 percent on their currency-related transactions in 2024. "As global trade patterns continue to evolve, businesses seek partners who can provide both technological sophistication and strategic insight," Wilson added. "Our record trading volumes demonstrate that our approach to currency management resonates with organisations operating in an increasingly complex international environment." Strategic investments in its technology infrastructure and the expansion of its regional presence have supported the company's growth. Millbank FX has also strengthened its regulatory compliance framework, maintaining its commitment to the highest standards of financial governance. The firm plans to enhance its service offerings further and expand its geographical footprint, with a particular focus on emerging markets in Southeast Asia and Latin America. About Millbank FX Millbank FX is a leading financial services firm specialising in currency management solutions for corporate and institutional clients. The company provides comprehensive foreign exchange services, including risk management, strategic advisory, and trade execution, supported by proprietary technology platforms. It serves a global client base focusing on transparency, efficiency, and client success. Social Links X: https://x.com/millbankfx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/millbankfx/ Contact Information Brand: Millbank FX Limited Contact: Benjamin Wilson Email: benjamin.wilson@millbankfx.com Website: https://www.millbankfx.com 27/11/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com SEOUL, Korea, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ministry of the Interior and Safety in Korea is taking a significant step to support households in crisis by collaborating with Philip Morris Korea. The Ministry and Philip Morris Korea agreed on including informative messages inside the packaging of four major products from Philip Morris Korea to inform consumers about available support services. The initiative aims to assist individuals facing social and economic difficulties by directing them to the Health and Welfare Counseling Center (dial 129) or local government offices for comprehensive counseling, emergency welfare support, and essential supplies. This measure follows the 'Crisis Household Discovery Promotion' agreement signed with Philip Morris Korea in July, marking a first in the tobacco industry. The products featuring these informative messages include: Heated Tobacco Sticks: TEREA Purple Wave, TEREA Blue (for IQOS ILUMA) TEREA Purple Wave, TEREA Blue (for IQOS ILUMA) Regular Cigarettes: Marlboro Gold, Marlboro Red From January next year, the Ministry plans to extend this initiative to all 50 products from Philip Morris Korea. Additionally, the ministry and the company have been broadcasting these informative messages on digital advertising boards in 1,400 convenience stores nationwide to further raise awareness among consumers. Koo Bon-geun, Head of the Smart Welfare Safety Community Promotion Team, stated, "One of the main causes of welfare blind spots is the lack of publicity about support for households in crisis," and added, "We will expand cooperation with various companies to identify and support households in crisis." A representative from Philip Morris Korea stated, "It is very meaningful that our products can be actively used to alleviate welfare blind spots and raise social awareness about crisis households. As a corporate citizen, we will continue to pay close attention and contribute to places in need of help." Contact: Jongmin Shim jmshim@hahmpartners.com KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - RichTech Digital Berhad ("RichTech" or the "Company"), a company involves in the distribution of electronic reloads and provision of bill payment services in Malaysia, is pleased to announce the signing of underwriting agreement with KAF Investment Bank Berhad ("KAF") for its upcoming public offering in conjunction with the listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("ACE Market"). This pivotal milestone underscores RichTech's determination to continued innovation and growth in the electronic reloads and bill payment sector of Malaysia.Established in 2010, RichTech is a leading provider of electronic reloads and bill payment services in Malaysia, powered by its proprietary SRS platform. The platform enables electronic reloads for mobile airtime and data, prepaid digital TV, gaming credits, application credit, and e-wallet credit, as well as bill payments for postpaid mobile network, utilities, maintenance services of national sewerage systems, internet, postpaid digital TV, quit rent, assessment payment, and education loans. It serves over 4 million users nationwide.This Initial Public Offering ("IPO") exercise will involve a public issue of 54.66 million new ordinary shares ("Issue Shares") and 25.31 million existing shares to be offered under Offer for Sale ("Offer Shares"), collectively representing 39.50% of the Company's enlarged issued share capital. The allocation of the Issue Shares and Offer Shares are as follows:The allocation of Issue Shares will be offered in the following manner: -1. Shares for the Malaysian Public via Balloting:- 10.12 million Issue Shares, equally distributed between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera investors (5% of the enlarged issued share capital).2. Allocation to Eligible Directors and Employees:- 1.55 million Issue Shares (0.77% of the enlarged issued share capital).3. Private Placement to Selected Investors:- 42.99 million Issue Shares (21.23% of the enlarged issued share capital).4. Offer for Sale via Private Placement to Selected Investors:- 25.31 million Offer Shars (12.50% of the enlarged issued share capital).KAF, in its role as Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter, and Placement Agent, will underwrite 11.67 million Issue Shares allocated for the Malaysian public and eligible individuals.Mr. Lee Teik Keong, Managing Director of RichTech, said, "The partnership with KAF enables us to take our services to greater heights while strengthening our ability to serve the growing market. With the funds raised, we will focus on expanding our SRS platform, enhancing our technological infrastructure, and introducing innovative services to cater to evolving consumer needs."Rohaizad Ismail, Chief Executive Officer of KAF, remarked, "It is our honour to be part of RichTech's remarkable journey to the ACE Market. RichTech's focus on service excellence positions it as a key player in Malaysia's electronic reloads and bill payment sector. This IPO will equip the company with the resources it needs to scale its impact and deliver exceptional value to its stakeholders."RichTech will utilise IPO proceeds to fuel growth in the distribution of electronic reloads and provision of bill payment services, including marketing efforts to expand its SRS corporate and end-user base, as well as utilising the proceeds for general working capital purposes. A portion will fund the acquisition of a new office to consolidate its headquarters and branch under one roof, enhancing corporate profiling and operational efficiency. The remainder will cover listing expenses pertaining to its ACE Market debut and support strategic growth initiatives. The listing of RichTech on Bursa Securities will provide a solid platform for the company to accelerate its growth and advance its vision to become a leading force in Malaysia's electronic reloads and bill payment industry.KAF Investment Bank Berhad is the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter and Placement Agent.About RichTech Digital Berhad ("RichTech")RichTech Digital Berhad is a leading provider of electronic reload and bill payment services in Malaysia, driven by its proprietary SRS platform. Established in 2010, the SRS platform enables electronic reloads for mobile airtime and data, prepaid digital TV, gaming credits, application credit, and e-wallet credit as well as bill payments for postpaid mobile network, utilities, maintenance services of national sewerage systems, internet, postpaid digital TV, quit rent, assessment, and education loans. With a network of over 4 million users nationwide, the Company delivers a one-stop solution with secure, scalable, and innovative technology to meet Malaysia's growing demands on electronic reloads and bill payment sector.For more information, visit https://richtech.my/index.htmlIssued By: Swan Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of RichTech Digital BerhadFor more information, please contact:Jazzmin WanEmail: j.wan@swanconsultancy.bizXinyi ChingEmail: x.ching@swanconsultancy.bizSource: RichTech Digital BerhadCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Tesla's stock demonstrates remarkable resilience amid new trade policy announcements, recording a modest 0.8% gain while competitors face significant downturns. The electric vehicle manufacturer's strategic decision to concentrate its North American production entirely within the United States has proven advantageous, particularly as other automakers grapple with the implications of proposed 25% import tariffs on Mexican imports. This market positioning highlights Tesla's unique advantage in the current trade environment, setting it apart from traditional automotive manufacturers who are experiencing substantial market pressures. Market Impact on Competitors The contrast in market performance is striking, with traditional automakers bearing the brunt of the trade policy implications. Ford experiences a 2.7% decline, while General Motors and Stellantis face even steeper drops of 6.7% and 4.1% respectively. Despite the broader market challenges, financial analysts have revised their outlook for Tesla, acknowledging the company's strengthened position in light of recent political developments, though maintaining a cautious stance due to evolving market dynamics. Ad Fresh Tesla information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends. Read our updated Tesla analysis... Reno, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2024) - White Peak, a leading e-commerce optimization agency, is empowering Shopify store owners with a new solution: the Shopify Conversion Audit. This comprehensive service offers a way to improve conversion rates and average order value, without relying solely on expensive advertising campaigns. White Peak Marketing, SEO & Web Design To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10926/230697_9b142acda4efa98b_002full.jpg With rising advertising costs squeezing profit margins, e-commerce businesses are facing a critical need to optimize their websites. Here's where the Shopify Conversion Audit comes in. White Peak's Shopify Conversion Audit goes beyond traditional tactics. It leverages a data-driven approach to identify hidden bottlenecks and opportunities within a Shopify store. By analyzing user behavior, website navigation, and checkout flow, White Peak's team of conversion rate optimization (CRO) experts can pinpoint areas for improvement that directly impact sales. "White Peak's Shopify Conversion Audit is designed to provide store owners with actionable insights they can implement to turn website visitors into paying customers," says Tim Woda, founder and CEO of White Peak. "By focusing on conversion optimization, businesses can maximize the impact of their existing marketing efforts." White Peak's Shopify Conversion Audit digs through over 200 aspects of a store owner's website. By investing in this service from White Peak, they bring a tailored and expert perspective to uncover what is holding back an e-commerce website and where it can excel. It brings business owners benefits like a full sales funnel audit, improved user experience, personalized design suggestions, prioritized fixes, and better advertising results- all within a seven-day turnaround. Shopify Conversion Audits delivers results within days, allowing businesses to take action in a fraction of the time compared to traditional A/B testing optimization. White Peak not only conducts the audit but also provides online store owners with specific design change recommendations and actionable insights for their site. Aside from conversion optimization, White Peak also offers their services in the areas of website design, Google advertising, search engine optimization, social media, and website maintenance. To learn more about White Peak's Shopify Conversion Audit and how it can help businesses thrive in today's competitive landscape, visit: https://whitepeak.io/ for more information. About White Peak White Peak is a Reno-based marketing agency that serves clients nationwide. Founded by Tim Woda, their team of experts all have firsthand experience of starting, building, and growing their own successful businesses. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/230697 SOURCE: Brand Featured Don Julio in Buenos Aires is named The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 in Buenos Aires is named The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 The list showcases restaurants from 22 cities, including six new entries Buenos Aires maintained its position as the region's top culinary powerhouse with eight restaurants in the ranking, followed closely by Lima and Sao Paulo with seven restaurants each Colombian chef-restaurateur Harry Sasson wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his contributions to the region's dining scene wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his contributions to the region's dining scene Camila Fiol wins Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao, for her work at Santiago's Fiol Dulceria and beyond wins Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao, for her work at Santiago's Fiol Dulceria and beyond Trescha in Buenos Aires receives the Highest New Entry Award, landing on the list at No.33 in Buenos Aires receives the Highest New Entry Award, landing on the list at No.33 The Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee, goes to Rafael in Lima, which jumps 27 positions to No.19 in Lima, which jumps 27 positions to No.19 By a vote of his fellow chefs, Sergio Diaz of Guatemala City's Sublime is honoured with the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The culinary community descended on Rio de Janeiro for the second year in a row to attend the unveiling of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Presented at the iconic Museu Historico Nacional on Tuesday, 26 November, the 12th edition of the annual ranking celebrates the richness and diversity of the region's gastronomic offerings, featuring restaurants from 22 cities, based on the expert opinions of 300 industry insiders. For the full 1-50 list, please refer to the accompanying graphic or scroll to the bottom of this release. Don Julio in Buenos Aires claims the top spot this year, winning The Best Restaurant in Latin America and The Best Restaurant in Argentina 2024, accolades that it previously collected in 2020. Climbing to the No.1 position from last year's No.3 ranking, the Argentinian parrilla has won global recognition for its classic steaks, extensive wine list and legendary hospitality. This gastronomic landmark is led by high-profile restaurateur and sommelier Pablo Rivero, who is admired by professionals across Latin America and around the world. His expertise has earned him the prestigious title of the Beronia World's Best Sommelier at The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 awards. William Drew, Director of Content for Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "We are delighted to recognise Don Julio as The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024. Our sincerest congratulations to Pablo Rivero and the team at Don Julio, a truly special place that brings Argentine cuisine to the forefront internationally. We congratulate all the establishments recognised in this year's Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list and reaffirm our commitment to positioning Latin American cuisine among the most esteemed in the world. We look forward to witnessing the ongoing growth and success of these remarkable restaurants in the years to come." Buenos Aires maintains its prime position in the gastronomic landscape this year with eight restaurants on the 1-50 list, the same number as in 2023, closely followed by Lima and Sao Paulo with seven restaurants each. Brazil's most populous city, Sao Paulo, grows its tally of ranked restaurants compared to last year, with Tuju (No.16) reappearing for the first time since 2021, when it landed on the 51-100 list, and Kotori (No.50) making its debut in the 1-50 list. Lima's Maido (No.2) earns the distinction of The Best Restaurant in Peru, while Bogota's El Chato (No.3) is awarded The Best Restaurant in Colombia. Other notable wins include Borago (No.5) in Santiago, voted The Best Restaurant in Chile; Lasai (No.7) in Rio de Janeiro, awarded The Best Restaurant in Brazil and Quintonil (No.9) in Mexico City, awarded The Best Restaurant in Mexico. Additionally, Nuema (No.11) in Quito; Maito (No.14) in Panama City; Sikwa (No.25) in San Jose; and Gustu (No.38) in La Paz, are voted The Best Restaurant in Ecuador, The Best Restaurant in Panama, The Best Restaurant in Costa Rica and The Best Restaurant in Bolivia, respectively. Reflecting the region's expanding panorama of culinary offerings, six restaurants appear on the list for the first time. Trescha in Buenos Aires makes its debut at No.33, earning it the Highest New Entry Award and reinforcing the city's status as a gastronomic powerhouse. Huniik in Merida lands on the list at No.36, while Lo de Tere in Punta del Este enters the ranking at No.41, making it The Best Restaurant in Uruguay. Other new entrants include Manuel (No.42) in Barranquilla, Colombia and Cordero (No.44) in Caracas - awarded The Best Restaurant in Venezuela. Maximo Bistrot (No.43) in Mexico City and Aramburu (No.46) in Buenos Aires re-enter the list after previous recognitions in 2022. Stefano Bolognese, Sanpellegrino International Business Unit Director, says: "As long-time main sponsors of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are proud to support this prestigious celebration of culinary excellence. This event highlights not only the finest dining experiences across the region but also the incredible talent and creativity that continue to shape Latin America's vibrant gastronomic scene. We applaud the passion and innovation of all the chefs and teams who have made their mark, and we look forward to seeing how their vision will inspire the future of the industry. Congratulations to the winner and to all, and keep pushing the boundaries of creativity to make the world a better place through food." Seven special award announcements continued the celebration of culinary excellence at the ceremony for Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024. Harry Sasson, Colombia's renowned chef-restaurateur, wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his exceptional contributions to the region's culinary landscape. A pioneer in Bogota's evolving dining scene, Sasson heads up a network of establishments including his eponymous flagship restaurant, which offers a creative fusion of Latin American, Japanese and European flavours housed in a mock-Tudor mansion. Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao, is presented to Camila Fiol, the mastermind behind Santiago confectionary store Fiol Dulceria. A former kitchen assistant under Rodolfo Guzman at Borago, Fiol progressed to the position of head pastry chef before leaving in 2012 to start her innovative sweets shop, where she serves up daring and experimental combinations. Laura Hernandez Espinosa takes home the Beronia Latin America's Best Sommelier Award, recognising the top Colombian wine professional for her achievements in serving and discovering beverages from indigenous communities. Espinosa serves as the head sommelier at Leo in Bogota and the bar under the same roof, La Sala de Laura. She is also the executive director of Funleo, a foundation dedicated to restoring and promoting ancestral knowledge. Earning the Highest New Entry Award, Trescha (No.33) is one of Buenos Aires' most exclusive restaurants, with only 10 seats and an experimental 14-course menu along with a cocktail terrace. Chef patron Tomas Treschanski serves up alluring combinations of global ingredients and influences. Rafael in Lima earns the Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee, a special distinction recognising the multi-faceted restaurant's leap from No.46 in 2023 to No.19 this year, scaling 27 positions. Housed in an art-deco mansion, the restaurant, led by Rafael Osterling, mixes up Peruvian, Italian and Japanese flavours and ingredients. Recognised with the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award, Sergio Diaz heads up Sublime in Guatemala City - named The Best Restaurant in Guatemala - which interprets the country's history through a 12-course tasting menu that spans centuries of ingredients and flavours, from pre-Columbian times to the present. Creative and passion-driven, Diaz was born into a family of restaurateurs in the Guatemalan highlands and has extensive experience as a corporate chef that informs his intensely professional approach to hospitality and food. Lunario, a rooftop greenhouse eatery in Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, wins the Sustainable Restaurant Award. Opened in 2019 and led by Sheyla Alvarado, the Baja restaurant's unique approach to sustainability takes inspiration from local agricultural traditions. Most of the ingredients on its six- or eight-course tasting menus are grown at sister farm Finca La Carrodilla, where everything is produced according to organic certification guidelines, while fresh seafood is brought in from the Pacific Ocean just 15 kilometres away. During the awards evening, recipients of the previously announced special awards were also honoured, including Marsia Taha Mohamed as Latin America's Best Female Chef; Tuju (No.16) in Sao Paulo, winner of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award; and Clara in Quito as the recipient of the American Express One To Watch Award. The Voting Process The 50 Best organisation's role in promoting restaurants and showcasing culinary talent remains vitally important, continuing to support the hospitality sector by inspiring diners to seek out exciting gastronomic experiences. 50 Best works with professional services consultancy Deloitte as its official independent adjudication partner to help protect the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy is comprised of 300 regional voting members, each of whom is hand-picked for their expert opinion of the Latin American restaurant scene. The votes of this Academy make up the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list. The Academy is divided into five regions: Mexico, Central America, South America (North), South America (South), and Brazil. Each region has voters made up of journalists, food critics, chefs, restaurateurs and well-travelled gourmets. Each member submitted 10 votes on what they considered their best dining experiences of the previous 18 months - at least four of those votes must go to restaurants outside their own country. To see more details on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants voting process, click here. EDITOR'S NOTES: Ranking Establishment City/Town 1 Don Julio Buenos Aires 2 Maido Lima 3 El Chato Bogota 4 Kjolle Lima 5 Borago Santiago 6 Celele Cartagena 7 Lasai Rio de Janeiro 8 Merito Lima 9 Quintonil Mexico City 10 Leo Bogota 11 Nuema Quito 12 Alcalde Guadalajara 13 Mayta Lima 14 Maito Panama City 15 A Casa do Porco Sao Paulo 16 Tuju Sao Paulo 17 Fauna Valle de Guadalupe 18 Gran Dabbang Buenos Aires 19 Rafael Lima 20 Evvai Sao Paulo 21 Oteque Rio de Janeiro 22 Sublime Guatemala City 23 Villa Torel Ensenada 24 Pujol Mexico City 25 Sikwa San Jose 26 Nelita Sao Paulo 27 Metzi Sao Paulo 28 Cosme Lima 29 Mishiguene Buenos Aires 30 La Mar Lima 31 El Preferido de Palermo Buenos Aires 32 Arca Tulum 33 Trescha Buenos Aires 34 Nino Gordo Buenos Aires 35 Mani Sao Paulo 36 Huniik Merida 37 Julia Buenos Aires 38 Gustu La Paz 39 Mercado 24 Guatemala City 40 Cantina del Tigre Panama City 41 Lo de Tere Punta del Este 42 Manuel Barranquilla 43 Maximo Bistrot Mexico City 44 Cordero Caracas 45 Humo Negro Bogota 46 Aramburu Buenos Aires 47 Sud 777 Mexico City 48 Rosetta Mexico City 49 Mil Moray 50 Kotori Sao Paulo For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com/ Follow 50 Best: Follow on Instagram: @TheWorlds50Best LatAm50Best Follow on X: @TheWorlds50Best LatAm50Best Like on Facebook: facebook.com/LatinAmericas50BestRestaurants Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Worlds50Best Website: https://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/ About Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants was launched in 2013 to celebrate gastronomy across the region and to provide diners around the globe with local insight and culinary recommendations. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list is created by the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Latin America, each selected for their expert opinion of Latin America's restaurant scene. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list is published by William Reed, which also publishes The World's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2002; Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2013; and Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2022. About the host destination partner: Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro is a global city, known around the world for its lush natural beauty and vibrant culture. In addition to the beaches, lakes, forests and mountains mixed up with the urban life, Rio has a pulsating gastronomic life, which is reflected in its aromas, textures and flavours, a unique way of life. From taverns to haute cuisine, from traditional feijoada to seafood, the city offers tourists and locals a diverse and creative cuisine, rich in local ingredients and plural influences. Renowned and award-winning chefs - Brazilian and foreign - delight the most demanding palates. And, even in the simplest places, there is always a door open to the street, a table on the sidewalk, a snack, an ice-cold beer, a caipirinha and the Carioca way of serving the most sophisticated happiness. From traditional Brazilian food, with its indigenous, African and European touches, to the contemporary and cosmopolitan fusion of Asian restaurants, Rio is a city open to foreigners, to the new. From vegetarian cuisine to the classic Brazilian barbecue, the city has open arms for everyone. From a kiosk by the sea to restaurants in the middle of the forest, high up in the mountains, Rio is a true gastronomic capital of Latin America. On the menu: the carioca soul and the flavour of a happy life. About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna are the main sponsors of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being. Our partners Rio de Janeiro City Hall - Official Host Destination Partner S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna - Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024 Gin Mare - Official Gin Partner; sponsor of Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Woodford Reserve - Official American Whiskey Partner; sponsor of Woodford Reserve Icon Award American Express Resy - Official Credit Card and Booking Platform Partner; sponsor of American Express One To Watch Award Beronia - Official Wine Partner; sponsor of Beronia Latin America's Best Sommelier Award Estrella Damm - Official Beer Partner; sponsor of Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award Republica del Cacao - Official Chocolate Partner; sponsor of Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award Aspire Lifestyles - Official Concierge Partner Lee Kum Kee - Official Sauces & Condiments Partner; sponsor of Highest Climber Award Copacabana Palace Hotel - Official Host Hotel Partner Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana Hotel - Official Hotel Partner Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568242/Best_Restaurant_in_Latin_America_2024.jpg PDF: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565803/1_50_the_List.pdf Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565802/5044660/LATAM_50_Best_logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/don-julio-takes-the-no1-spot-in-the-list-of-latin-americas-50-best-restaurants-2024-302317153.html A Swift Air cargo aircraft operating for DHL crashed near Vilnius Airport, resulting in one crew member's death and three injuries. The Boeing 737, which departed from Leipzig, missed the runway and collided with a residential building, though residents were safely evacuated. This incident has cast a shadow over Deutsche Post's market performance, with shares experiencing a slight decline to 35.03, representing a 0.3% decrease. The accident investigation is currently underway, with authorities examining various scenarios including technical malfunctions and external factors. The Lithuanian authorities, supported by German aviation investigators, are conducting a comprehensive analysis while DHL confirms no suspicious cargo was involved. Market Outlook Remains Positive Despite current challenges, market analysts maintain an optimistic outlook with a target price of 41.43, suggesting significant upward potential. Deutsche Post's operational performance continues to show strength, demonstrated by a 6.16% revenue increase to 20.59 billion in the latest quarter. Projections for 2024 indicate earnings per share of 2.82, with dividend forecasts holding steady at 1.85. Ad Fresh Deutsche Post information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends. Read our updated Deutsche Post analysis... EQS Newswire / 27/11/2024 / 12:02 UTC+8 28 October 2024, Hong Kong - SY Holdings ("SY", the "Group", stock code: 6069.HK) participated in the 9th edition of the Hong Kong Fintech Week, organized by Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and InvestHK, along with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. Key officials from Hong Kong's regulatory bodies, including Financial Secretary Paul Chan, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue, and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui, attended the opening ceremony. As the flagship event for the region's fintech development, the HK Fintech Week attracted over 30,000 participants from over 100 countries, gathering global industry leaders from the banking, securities, investment, insurance, and technology sectors to discuss the future of finance and technology. SY participated in a panel discussion titled, "Fintech's Role in Encouraging Social Impact and Solving Biodiversity Crises" as a partner for the event. The Hong Kong government unveiled a policy relating to the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial markets, alongside several other measures aimed at guiding the growth of the city's fintech industry. The policy focused on Hong Kong's open yet cautious stance on the application of AI in financial markets as an international financial hub. The government also outlined a dual-track approach to promote AI adoption and development in financial services while addressing potential risks related to cybersecurity, data privacy, and intellectual property. During the panel discussion, Kenny Ng, SY's Head of International Business, highlighted the Greater Bay Area as "a strategic region and talent hub for the development of the fintech industry.", in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key to driving economic development and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Mr Ng also noted that fintech companies in the Greater Bay Area can also leverage AI and inclusive digital financial services to drive the sustainable growth of SMEs. As the first listed supply chain technology platform on the Hong Kong main board, SY Holdings has been based in Shenzhen, the core of the Greater Bay Area, for over a decade. The Group has seen first-hand, the region's rapid growth, in tandem with the development trajectory of the economic environment. Through continuous investment in R&D, cultivating talent, and applying innovative fintech solutions, SY delivers "timely, efficient, high-quality, and cost-effective" digital financial services that meet the short-term financing needs of SMEs. To date, the Group has invested a cumulative total of over RMB 200 million in R&D investment, and has dedicated over 27% of its workforce in R&D. SY currently holds a total of 69 patents and software copyrights. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, SY Information Technology Services (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., has also received numerous national certifications as a "High-Tech Enterprise," a "Specialized and New Enterprise" in Shenzhen, and a "National Encouraged Software Enterprise" with "National Encouraged Software Products." The Group's self-developed "SY Cloud Platform" harnesses AI, cloud, and IoT technologies within the supply chain, facilitating over RMB 210 billion in inclusive digital financial services for over 16,000 SMEs, of which 30% were "first-time borrowers" who were unable to secure financing through traditional channels. This thereby effectively addresses the financing pain points and costs faced by SMEs. "Riding on the wave of digitization, the use of data analytics in fintech has become a key driver in facilitating SME financing," Mr Ng said when discussing the role of AI in enabling inclusive finance. SY's transaction-focused model uses AI to parse proprietary data on its platform to validate the transaction authenticity and rationality of the SMEs. Through deep integration into the infrastructure and pharma ecosystem, SY has accumulated extensive amounts of industry data. By using its AI model on this data, SY is able to accurately profile the logistics, capital flows, business flows, and information flows for each industry, capturing the transaction profiles of SMEs to assess their financing needs. Using multi-dimensional data and cloud computing, SY's model allows for automated decision-making in determining credit limits and pricing throughout the process, significantly enhancing risk assessment capabilities and efficiency. The model has successfully achieved 83% accuracy rate predicting repayment cycles, surpassing the standards in manual assessments. Hong Kong, as an international financial center and a global fintech hub, has established itself as a bridge connecting China enterprises with the rest of the world, serving as a vital gateway for the flow of capital, talent, innovation, and technology. SY intends to leverage the synergies between Hong Kong within the Greater Bay Area, increase its investment in R&D and explore inclusive finance models. As it accelerates the development of cross-border supply chain finance, SY Holdings aims to support SMEs in "going global" and empower Chinese manufacturing to "venture overseas," injecting vitality into the growth of the real economy. 27/11/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Media archive at www.todayir.com HONG KONG, Nov 27, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Swire Coca-Cola, a leading beverage company operating in Greater China and Southeast Asia, has successfully implemented SAP S/4HANA to optimize its Hong Kong operations, signifying a milestone in the company's digital transformation journey.With a wide-reaching operation, Swire Coca-Cola produces, bottles, and distributes an impressive portfolio of 60 beverage brands, serving a franchise population of over 956 million customers. To stay ahead in the competitive market and address operational challenges in Hong Kong, the company has implemented SAP S/4HANA with the support of SAP Customer Services & Delivery.The solution enabled the company to harmonize its complex operations with flexibility, speed and insights required to tackle both present-day challenges and capture future opportunities in Hong Kong. By optimizing its multifaceted operations, including manufacturing, sourcing, financing, customer ordering, discount offering calculation, warehousing and delivery, Swire Coca-Cola can continuously support delivery across Hong Kong and leverage 360-degree real-time visibility of the automated pricing and offerings.Matthew C.M. Wong, General Manager, Digital & IT - South East Asia, Hong Kong & Taiwan, Swire Coca-Cola Limited, said, "At Swire Coca-Cola, we strive for collective success by consistently supporting our employees, partners, community and the planet. Having the right partner to deliver exceptional results is imperative as they strive to understand our unique needs, provide innovative solutions, and consistently exceed our expectations. We found these impressive qualities with the SAP Customer Services & Delivery Greater China team who seamlessly integrated its solutions into our organization's system to deliver only the best to both our internal and external stakeholders."Yee-Ching Wang, Head of Customer Services & Delivery, SAP Greater China, said, "We are delighted to take the lead to transition Swire Coca-Cola's ERP to SAP S/4HANA. SAP S/4HANA is the ideal platform to support such a complex and vast operation while minimizing disruption, maximizing efficiency and providing cross-functional visibility to better serve Swire Coca-Cola's customer base and seize new opportunities in Hong Kong."She also added, "SAP Customer Services & Delivery' mission is to support our customers in their transformation journeys through the adoption of SAP solutions and innovations and to help address the challenges across multiple business units, processes and technical architectures by providing key outcome for their strategies, thereby maximizing their business values."The complexity of Swire Coca-Cola's implementation necessitated various end-to-end operations to run concurrently and incessantly. Starting with multiple in-depth discussions, the Customer Services & Delivery team laid out the foundation of the road ahead and identified a host of deployment milestones. To ensure a successful implementation, the team stationed on-site consultants at Swire Coca-Cola's premises to refine and roll out several hundreds of system enhancements.Esmond Tong, Managing Director, SAP Hong Kong and Macau, "Companies seeking to improve operations and efficiency should leverage SAP S/4HANA to accelerate their business transformation. With SAP S/4HANA's comprehensive capabilities and scalability, companies can adjust the scope and pace of their transformation to align with business strategies and adapt to fast changing market conditions. We look forward to helping more companies adopt SAP's latest innovations and unlock new business potential."Photo Download: https://bit.ly/3Z95f4dAbout SAPAsa global leader in enterprise applications and Business AI, SAP (NYSE: SAP)stands at thenexusof business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAPto bring out their best by uniting business-criticaloperations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com/hk.For more information, press only:Strategic Public Relations Group (SPRG)Andico TsuiEmail: andico.tsui@sprg.com.hkTel: 2114 4346 / 6902 3831Source: SAP HKCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Publication in Kidney Medicine Highlights Benefits of DSR 2.0 for Sequana Medical's Direct Sodium Removal Heart Failure Program and Board Composition Update More efficient sodium and fluid removal, and improved safety versus dextrose-based approaches Board changes to improve efficiency and meet gender diversity requirements Ghent, Belgium - 27 November 2024- Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "SequanaMedical"), a pioneer in the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, today announces the publication in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Kidney Medicine regarding the Company's proprietary DSR 2.0, used in its Direct Sodium Removal program, a potential therapy for the treatment of cardiorenal syndrome and diuretic resistance in heart failure. The publication can be accessed here. Dr. Jeffrey Testani, Associate professor at Yale University commented:"This manuscript describes the pre-clinical to first in-human development of the first solution specifically designed to remove sodium from our patients. All commercially available peritoneal solutions were designed with a primary goal of cleaning toxins from the blood, whereas DSR 2.0 was created to specifically meet the unmet clinical need of removing salt and water. The results were truly impressive with ~4X greater sodium removal with DSR 2.0 compared to a commercially available solution. This new tool will allow significant improvement in the care of our diuretic resistant cardio-renal syndrome patients". Ian Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of Sequana Medical, added: "We are delighted with this publication highlighting the improved safety and efficacy of our proprietary DSR 2.0 vs dextrose-based approaches. These results build on clinical proof of concept published in European Journal of Heart Failure for DSR as a potential drug therapy for diuretic resistance and cardiorenal syndrome in heart failure using our DSR 1.0 product. The results of the first patients in the US MOJAVE study using our advanced DSR 2.0 product support the enhanced efficacy demonstrated in this excellent paper. We believe DSR's ability to virtually eliminate the need for loop diuretics for many months post-treatment represents a breakthrough in treatment options, and address one of the leading drivers of healthcare costs." The paper details pre-clinical and clinical studies to develop an optimised solution for removal of sodium and water. This builds upon the initial proof of concept studies published in Circulation demonstrating that DSR 1.0 increased sodium removal four-fold compared to commercially available peritoneal dialysis solutions. In previous experiments in humans, one litre of DSR 1.0 with a dwell of two hours removed on average 4.5g of sodium with a net ultrafiltration volume of 700mL; whereas in this paper, 0.5L of DSR 2.0 with a dwell of 24 hours removed ~9g of sodium with a net ultrafiltration volume of 2,500mL. In line with Sequana Medical's drive to improve cost efficiency and to meet the Belgian requirements for gender diversity prior to January 1, 2025, Douglas Kohrs and Kenneth MacLeod have stepped down from the board. Pierre Chauvineau, Chairman of the board of Directors of Sequana Medical commented: "We thank Doug and Ken for their hard work and great contributions to the company, and wish them well. Their input has been key in bringing Sequana Medical to where it is today." For more information, please contact: Sequana Medical Investor relations E: IR@sequanamedical.com T: +32 (0)9 496 17 27 About DSR, a disease-modifying heart failure drug therapy tackling cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) Cardiorenal syndrome is a key clinical challenge in heart failure and results from the combined vicious cycle of dysfunction of the heart and kidney. Despite the complex pathophysiology, the resultant clinical profile is thought to manifest as a self-reinforcing negative feedback cycle characterized by decreased glomerular filtration, increased renal sodium avidity, and congestion, despite escalating diuretic doses. No current therapies have been shown to improve patient outcomes in this complex and poorly understood indication. Reducing congestion is a key element of therapy but loop diuretics exacerbate many of the core mechanisms thought to underly CRS. Through effective control of the volume status for an extended period of time and thereby avoiding the negative consequences of loop diuretics, DSR has the potential to break the negative feedback cycle of this clinical challenge. Extensive analysis of patients in the RED DESERT and SAHARA studies shows the benefit from DSR therapy on i) volume status, ii) normalized diuretic response and dramatically reduced loop diuretic dosing, iii) improvement in kidney function, iv) neurohormonal status and signalling, as well as v) cardiovascular parameters. In these patients there were no congestion-related re-hospitalizations, a one class improvement in their NYHA status and a reduction of 75% in their predicated one-year mortality (based on the Seattle Heart Failure model). Initial data from the non-randomized cohort in the US MOJAVE study support these findings and indicated that DSR is safe and well tolerated, restores diuretic response and improves cardio-renal health. Results of the first three patients in the non-randomised cohort of MOJAVE, the Company's US Phase 1/2a study of DSR 2.0 for treatment of patients with diuretic-resistant heart failure, confirmed the dramatic and durable improvement in their diuretic response and virtual elimination of loop diuretic requirements. Three months post-completion of DSR therapy, i) the diuretic response was nearly normalized with a mean increase of 326% in six hour urinary sodium excretion vs baseline, and ii) all patients remained on no or low dose loop diuretics, with a reduction of at least 95% vs baseline. About Sequana Medical Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. This causes major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficulty breathing and restricted mobility. Although diuretics are standard of care, they become ineffective, intolerable or exacerbate the problem in many patients. There are limited effective treatment options, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and a major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing "diuretic resistant" patient population. alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, delivering demonstrated clinical benefit through reduced paracentesis for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems. The Company's Premarket Approval (PMA) application for the alfapump was submitted to the US FDA in December 2023 and accepted for substantive review in January 2024, having reported positive primary and secondary endpoint data from the North American pivotal POSEIDON study in recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. US market approval of the alfapump is anticipated before the end of Q1 2025 with US commercial launch planned for H2 2025. Results of the Company's RED DESERT and SAHARA proof-of-concept studies in heart failure support DSR's mechanism of action as breaking the vicious cycle of cardiorenal syndrome. All three patients from the non-randomized cohort of MOJAVE, a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a clinical study, have been successfully treated with DSR, resulting in a dramatic improvement in diuretic response and virtual elimination of loop diuretic requirements. The independent Data Safety Monitoring Board approved the start of the randomized MOJAVE cohort of up to a further 30 patients, which is planned after alfapump US PMA approval. Sequana Medical is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels (Ticker: SEQUA.BR) and headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. For further information, please visit www.sequanamedical.com. Important Regulatory Disclaimers The alfapump system is currently not approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States and Canada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation (POSEIDON Trial) and is being studied in adult patients with refractory or recurrent ascites due to liver cirrhosis. DSR therapy is still in development and it should be noted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinical investigations which have yet to be completed. There is no link between DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapump system in Europe, the United States or Canada. Note: alfapump and DSR are registered trademarks. Forward-looking statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the future holds, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medical expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as of the date of this press release. Attachments Located in Sudair Industrial and Business City, Riyadh, the Greenfield Frozen French Fries factory is set to commission at the start of 2026, making this establishment the second Joint Venture 'JV' partnership between Americana and Farm Frites in the MENA region, to produce a varied range of Frozen French Fries and specialty potato products. The new facility will contribute to KSA's Vision 2030 and aid in advancing KSA's food security agenda, boosting local production. By installing capacity in KSA, we aim to participate in advancing the local agriculture landscape in KSA, support and empower local potato growers to further develop their farming practices, enhance crop quality and improve their yields. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Agricultural Growth and Processing Company, a subsidiary of Americana Holding for Food Ltd, is set to expand its business operation with a significant $100 million investment (SAR 375 million) in a Greenfield Frozen French Fries manufacturing plant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following a strong three-decade partnership in Egypt with Farm Frites, a global leader in the cultivation of potatoes and production of Frozen French Fries, the new processing factory will be established in Sudair Industrial and Business City, pushing forward our partnership with Farm Frites to greater heights. To commemorate this significant milestone, the Agricultural Growth and Processing Company (Americana and Farm Frites) held a lease-signing ceremony on November 20th, 2024, with the the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones in MODON Headquarters, in Riyadh, in the presence of MODON's CEO, and hosted a Groundbreaking ceremony in Sudair Industrial and Business City on November 25th, 2024, to mark the commencement of construction for the new Frozen French Fries processing plant. The event was attended by esteemed government and ministerial delegates, and key stakeholders, including local potato growers, valued global, regional and local customers and key strategic partners. The $100 million investment is a strategic step aligned with the Saudi Vision 2030 plans to diversify the Kingdom's economy, while also contributing to its food security agenda by boosting local production and creating employment opportunities for KSA nationals, local potato growers and farmers. The investment by the Agricultural Growth and Processing Company will enable the company to expand its footprint in KSA, wherein Americana has been operating for over two decades, with two factories in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mohamed Ali Rashid Alabbar, Chairman of the Kuwait Food Company (Americana) KSCC commented: "We are excited to start the construction of our new Frozen French Fries plant in Saudi Arabia. Our partnership with Farm Frites dates back over three decades having been partners in Egypt since 1988. We are delighted to be renewing our long-standing relationship with a trusted partner, this time in Saudi Arabia, and are proud to be contributing to KSA's Vision 2030 and championing efforts to increase local production in KSA. This was made possible through the vital support and collaboration of key government and institutional partners including but not limited to the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and MODON, each playing a crucial role in our business expansion journey." Piet de Bruijne, Owner and Chairman of Farm Frites commented: "We are thrilled to once again join hands with Americana, building on a 30-year partnership of mutual growth and shared success. Among the 100 countries where Farm Frites is present in the world, KSA stands as the 5th largest market globally, reinforcing our commitment to the MENA region and to KSA's growth and economic diversification. We remain dedicated to advancing the industry holistically, from agriculture and logistics to delivering superior value directly to our customers." The new facility will be established on a plot exceeding 100,000 square meters and will employ cutting-edge equipment and advanced technology to produce Frozen French Fries and other specialty potato products. The plant is set to be inaugurated in Q1 2026 and will have a total annual production capacity of 70,000 MT during phase one, with plans for future expansion in the future. Upon commencing operations, this will mark the second joint venture partnership between Americana and Farm Frites and with the new facility underway in Sudair Industrial and Business City, we are set to become the largest producers of Frozen French Fries in the MENA region. Mohamed Safwat Moustafa, Managing Director of the Agricultural Growth and Processing Company concluded: "I am proud and deeply honoured to kick off this landmark new development in KSA. With a commitment to delivering excellence, we aim to establish a world-class facility right here on Saudi soil. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve some of the most renowned customers, both globally and regionally, with a superior range of French Fries products, proudly made in KSA. This new facility reinforces our dedication to quality, innovation, and the Kingdom's potential." About Americana Established in 1964, Americana Foods is one of the largest FMCG companies in the MENA region. From our humble beginnings in Kuwait, to our strong presence and extended reach in KSA, UAE, and Egypt, we have over decades grown to become a trusted household brand name in the region and beyond. Americana operates a diverse portfolio of products across several categories including but not limited to frozen processed products (poultry, beef and seafood), frozen fruits and vegetables, canned and packaged food, sweet and savory snacks. With 19 production facilities across the MENA region, direct route-to-market and distribution network in 4 key operating markets, and presence in 50+ countries across the world, Americana continues to be at the forefront of the industry, continually pushing the boundaries of quality and taste, enriching consumers' lives through the joy of food. About Farm Frites Founded in 1971 as an independent family business, Farm Frites was born from a passion for potato cultivation and crafting quality fries. Over the past five decades, this passion has driven our growth into a global enterprise. Today, we process over 1.2 million tons of potato products annually and serve more than eighty types of fries, potato specialties, and appetizers to foodservice providers all over the globe. While our operations have grown, our primary focus remains unchanged: to serve happiness, from field to plate. Our team has expanded to over 1,600 colleagues across 6 manufacturing facilities and 43 global sales offices, serving foodservice entrepreneurs in over 100 countries. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568359/Americana_Farm_Frites.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/americana-and-farm-frites-to-expand-mena-footprint-with-100-million-investment-sar-375-million-in-a-state-of-the-art-greenfield-frozen-french-fries-factory-in-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-302317244.html Karelian Diamond Resources Plc - Final Results for the year to 31 May 2024 PR Newswire LONDON, United Kingdom, November 27 27 November 2024 Karelian Diamond Resources plc ("Karelian" or "the Company") FINAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 MAY 2024 NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Karelian Diamond Resources plc (AIM: KDR), the diamond exploration company focused on Finland, announces its Audited Accounts for the year ended 31 May 2024. Details of these can be found below and a full copy of the Annual Results can be viewed on the Company's website. During the period progress was made in developing the Company's prospects in both Finland and Ireland. Highlights of the period included: The long awaited decision regarding mine boundaries for the Lahtojoki diamond deposit were finalised, post year end, at a hearing of the Finnish Land Court resulting in no change to the existing boundaries. This decision was an essential step as the Company proceeds with its plans for the proposed development of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit. Additionally, regarding the appeals by two landowners the majority of the items were rejected by the Land Court. Three items were referred back to the Land Survey to review. Analysis of basal till samples excavated at various target locations in the Kuhmo region of Finland, suggests that the Company's search for the source of the green diamond the Company discovered has narrowed, with garnets, identified in two sample locations. This suggests close proximity to a kimberlite source. The Company's exploration programme for Nickel, Copper and Platinum - Group Elements in Northern Ireland adds a significant, exciting and possibly very important wing to the Company's diamond exploration and development programme in Finland. The Company now holds three prospecting licences, totalling an area of approximately 750Km, in Northern Ireland. Samples from a stream sediment sampling programme over the prospecting licences dispatched for analysis and an independent assessment carried out. Brendan McMorrow, Chairman of Karelian, said: "I have pleasure in presenting the Company's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 May 2024. However, it is also tinged with great sadness as I do so following the passing of our founder and Executive Chairman, Professor Richard Conroy. It now falls to myself and the team to continue Richard's work and I look forward with confidence to continued success for the Company both in Finland, where we are looking to open a diamond mine, and in Northern Ireland where we have potential Nickel, Copper and Platinum - Group Elements deposits." Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31 May 2024 The full audited annual report and accounts for the year to 31 May 2024 has been posted to shareholders and will be published on the Company's website (www.kareliandiamondresources.com) shortly. Key elements can also be viewed at the bottom of this announcement. Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Company ("AGM") will be held at The Conrad Dublin Hotel, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin at 12.30pm on 18 December 2024. A copy of the notice of AGM can be viewed on the Company's website. Further Information: Karelian Diamond Resources plcBrendan McMorrow, ChairmanMaureen Jones, Managing Director +353-1-479-6180 Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad)Nick Athanas / Nick Harriss +44-20-3328-5656 Peterhouse Capital Limited (Joint Broker)Lucy Williams / Duncan Vasey +44-20-7469-0930 CMC Markets (Joint Broker)Douglas Crippen + 44-20-3003-8632 Lothbury Financial ServicesMichael Padley +44-20-3290-0707 Hall Communications Don Hall +353-1-660-9377 http://www.kareliandiamondresources.com Chairman's statement Dear Shareholder, I have pleasure in presenting the Company's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 May 2024. However it is also tinged with great sadness as I do so following the passing of our founder and Executive Chairman, Professor Richard Conroy after a brief illness. Richard's accomplishments across the diverse range of medicine, politics and indeed mineral exploration garnered respect from all. His entrepreneurial and inquiring spirit was excited by the opportunities in mine exploration and development, and his skills, honed in zinc and gold projects in Ireland, spread to Finland where his vision of the Karelian Craton having the potential for a significant European diamond mine is being steadily realised by the Company. Equally, the Company's recent progress on its Copper, Nickel and Platinum-Group Elements project in Northern Ireland held true to his belief in the potential of Ireland to provide a European solution to the shortfall in critical minerals necessary for a modern economy. In Karelian Diamond Resources, we intend to continue to build on his substantial legacy and deliver on Richard's vision for the company. The Lahtojoki Diamond Deposit The mine boundaries for the Lahtojoki diamond deposit were finalised, post year end, at a hearing of the Finnish Land Court resulting in no change to the existing boundaries. This decision in relation to the boundaries was an essential and long awaited step as the Company proceeds with its plans for the proposed development of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit. Additionally, regarding the appeals by two landowners regarding the amount of compensation payable to them, the majority of the items upon which they had based their claims were rejected by the Land Court, except for three items which were referred back to the Land Survey to review. The appellants were also required to contribute to the Company's legal costs. We will provide further updates on this matter as and when we are in a position to do so. Diamond Exploration Programme in Finland The Company is, however, not only involved in the development of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit in Finland, which it owns, but is also active in an increasingly exciting diamond exploration programme in Finland. Diamond kimberlites are generally found in Cratons. These are areas of ancient crustal stability such as those found in Southern Africa and in Canada. The Karelian Craton which extends across Finland, is one of the largest Cratons in the world and has been proven to contain world class diamond deposits. In general terms the larger the Craton, the larger the kimberlites. The presence of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit confirms that the Finnish section of the Karelian Craton is diamondiferous, and the sheer size of the Karelian Craton in Finland suggests the potential for the occurrence of a world class diamond deposit. The Company has carried out an extensive and systematic exploration programme for diamonds in Finland using, inter alia, geology, geophysics, kimberlitic indicator trains, airborne and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) drone surveys together with excavation and drilling and the analysis of basal till samples. The programme led to the previous discovery of a green diamond in the Kuhmo region of Finland - the best possible kimberlitic indicator. Analysis of basal till samples excavated at various target locations in the Kuhmo region of Finland, suggests that the Company's search for the source of the green diamond has narrowed, with garnets identified in two sample locations which suggest close proximity to a kimberlite source. Exploration for Nickel, Copper and Platinum Group Metals in Northern Ireland It is not entirely unusual for a company engaged in diamond exploration to be successful in Nickel, Copper and Platinum- Group Elements exploration. One of the most successful discoveries in this context was the Voisey's Bay nickel -copper - cobalt deposit in Labrador, Canada, one of the largest nickel discoveries in the world. The Company's exploration programme for Nickel, Copper and Platinum-Group Elements in Northern Ireland adds a significant, exciting and possibly very important wing to the Company's diamond exploration and development programme in Finland. The Company now holds three prospecting licences, totalling an area of approximately 750Km2, in Northern Ireland. Samples from a stream sediment sampling programme over the prospecting licences were previously dispatched to Overburden Drilling Management Limited ("ODM") in Canada for mineral concentration, picking and analysis for indicator mineralogy using ODM'S trade-marked metamorphic/ magmatic massive sulphide indicator minerals (MMSIMS) technique. ODM has been a key contributor to numerous discoveries world-wide, including the Voisey's Bay discovery in Canada. The results of this programme, taken in conjunction with results from a previous programme indicate a highly anomalous river catchment area. Five samples each yielded over 1,000 indicator minerals for Nickel, Copper and Platinum mineralisation. An independent assessment by Dr Larry Hulbert, an internationally recognised expert in Nickel, Copper and Platinum - Group Elements, confirmed the potential for Nickel, Copper and Platinum-Group Elements in the Company's licence areas in Northern Ireland. Dr Hulbert's review also noted marked resemblances to the Baraga Basin in Michigan that hosts the world class Eagle and Eagle East Nickel - Copper and Platinum-Group Elements deposits and recommended that the Eagle deposit should serve as Karelian's exploration model. Environmental, Social and Governance Issues Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are becoming increasingly critical in the Mining industry. Great emphasis is placed by the Company on these issues and the Company is committed to high standards of corporate governance and integrity in all its activities and operations, including rigorous health and safety compliance, environmental consciousness and the promotion of a culture of good ethical values and behaviour. Financials The loss after taxation from continuing operations for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 was 237,160 (31 May 2023: loss of 291,467) and the net assets of the Company at 31 May 2024 were 9,741,609 (31 May 2023: 9,786,074). During the year there was a fundraising of 250,000 at 2.5 pence per ordinary share. Post year end a further fundraising of 328,747 at 1.5 pence per ordinary share was concluded. Directors and Staff I would like to express my very deep appreciation of the support and dedication of Directors, staff, and consultants which has made possible the continued progress and success which the Company has achieved. Future Outlook I look forward with confidence to continued success for the Company both in diamond exploration and development in Finland and in Nickel, Copper and Platinum-Group Elements exploration in Northern Ireland. Brendan McMorrow Chairman 26 November 2024 Professor Richard Conroy - an Appreciation Professor Richard Conroy (1933 - 2024) - Former Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Directors Professor Richard T. W. L. Conroy, who died on the 14th October 2024, was a proud Irishman whose life in all its forms was an inspiration to all, especially those close to him and those who will remember him for his devotion to family, his great faith and enduring courtesy, and for his work in public office, medicine, education and natural resources exploration and development. His was a long and productive life exemplified by his many undertakings and achievements. He leaves a rich legacy not least amongst those who loved and admired him as family, neighbours, colleagues, and all who enjoyed his friendship, and amongst those dedicated colleagues and associates inspired by his incredible intellect, energy and passion. Born in Birmingham in 1933, Richard returned to Ireland at age 5, prior to the demise of his father, himself a Professor of Spanish. A gentleman, entrepreneur, businessman, diplomat and politician, Richard was deeply devoted to his family, and generous in contributing his deep knowledge, experience, and expertise to a wide range of disciplines across the many and varied fields in which he was successful. Qualified as a medical doctor, his pioneering work on the study of Circadian Rhythms gained him his PhD. In 1969 he was appointed Professor of Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - one of the youngest ever professional appointments in the British Isles, and a post he held until his retirement in 1998. A Founder Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and an eundem Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Richard brought his business acumen to the fore as Chairman of Tallaght Hospital Board, successfully overseeing its construction and commissioning, under budget and on time. A proud Irishman and member of Fianna Fail, he was elected a member of Seanad Eireann on two separate occasions (1977-1981 & 1989-1993) holding posts as Government spokesman in the Upper House on Industry and Commerce, Foreign Affairs, and Northern Ireland. In local government, he served as a member of Dublin County Council for Ballybrack (1991-1994) and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (1994-1999) holding the position of 'Cathaoirleach' (Chairman). Until his death, Richard also represented Ireland as member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Irish group on the Trilateral Commission - a body founded in 1973 to foster closer cooperation between Western Europe, Japan, and North America. A champion of the Irish natural resource sector, Richard's fascination with the world of geology, the process of exploration, the joy of discovery, and his unswerving drive to prove that Ireland is indeed a nation 'rich in natural resources' together combined to find expression in a way that younger generations now working in the sector may well reflect upon with admiration. His activities in the natural resource sector began with the establishment of Trans-International Oil Exploration Ltd in 1975 - a venture that later merged with Aran Energy and was subsequently acquired by Statoil in 1979. Enough to light the flame that was to inspire him throughout his commercial life, Richard founded Conroy Petroleum and Natural Resources in 1980 which, only six years later, went on to discover the Galmoy, Co. Kilkenny zinc and lead deposit. Critical for the revival of the minerals industry in Ireland - it being the first commercial discovery since the Navan mine in 1970 - Richard brought Galmoy from a greenfield discovery through feasibility studies, the environmental impact phase, and the permitting process. This vital work led to the emergence of Galmoy as an operating mine, generating over 200 jobs within the local area, 300 additional jobs in the wider economy, and a contribution to the State of 65m in royalties, taxes, and rates. (Significant in this context was the discovery along trend in 1990 of the adjacent Lisheen deposit) Before moving into gold exploration with the setting up of Conroy Diamonds and Gold, Richard's appetite for exploration had been whetted by the success of Stoneboy consortium whose discovery of the Pogo gold deposit in Alaska transformed into a world-class gold mine that is still in production. With Conroy Diamonds and Gold formed, Richard turned his focus towards Clontibret in Co. Monaghan, inspired by his memory as a young man of a gold discovery made there in 1956, down what was an old Antimony mine. Virtually in parallel, his knowledge of Finland, the story of a diamond found in till in Eastern Finland, and his awareness that significant diamond deposits existed across the border in Russia, together led Richard and Conroy Diamonds and Gold to conduct a diamond exploration programme in that country. One of the first foreign companies granted an exploration licence after Finland had opened its doors to foreign investment, in order to facilitate this and other plans he had in mind, Karelian Diamond Resources was formed while Conroy Diamonds and Gold evolved into the more appropriately named Conroy Gold and Natural Resources. Pursuing his belief - triggered by his memory of gold found there in an old Antimony mine - Richard steered Conroy Gold and Natural Resources towards Clontibret where - through an extensive exploration programme - a 517,00- ounce Au JORC Resource, open in all directions, has been defined there in the heart of what later proved to be the highly-prospective Longford-Down Massif. Fervent in his belief that Ireland was an emerging gold province with significant potential for economic scale ore bodies, Richard's inquisitive mind led him to explore the wider potential of the region, a pursuit in which two district scale gold trends were discovered: the Orlock and Skullmartin discoveries with a combined surface gold anomalism of 90kms. This systematic approach to exploration recently led to the discovery of visible 123.0 g/t Au (native) gold in outcrop. In Finland, his leadership at Karelian Diamond Resources has moved the dial forward from a belief that diamonds may exist there to the discovery of a new emerging kimberlite province in that country's Kuhmo region. There, the Company has discovered the Riihivaara kimberlite and established the Seitapera kimberlite pipe as the largest (6.9Ha) kimberlite in Finland. In addition, the Company has discovered a green diamond in till and identified a series of significant regional kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies. Of special interest is the Lahtojoki diamond deposit acquired by the Company - now at an advanced stage of being granted a mining permit to proceed with development. A key feature of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit highlighted by Richard is the significant percentage of coloured (pink) diamonds believed to be present there which, upon recovery, would create at Lahtojoki the first diamond mine in the EU. Richard's vision always was the discovery of world class deposits that could be proven economic through development into mines: a vision he demonstrated at Galmoy and Pogo, and currently in the development of Clontibret and at Lahtojoki. Ever focused as he was, he had an amazing eye for detail, a naturally inquisitive mind, and an ability to look at things just slightly differently, manifest in the number of successes he has seen, and in his contention that a 'little bit of luck' is very often the vital element that every successful explorer needs. Intrigued by that thought, and by the story of the discovery in 1816 of a diamond in Co. Fermanagh known as 'The Brookeborough Diamond', another major chapter in the life of Professor Richard Conroy has opened which, at his death, was coming to fruition. Code named the Fermanagh Ni-Cu-PGE project, it represents yet another example of the genius that Richard brought to his various undertakings. With the knowledge in the mid-1990s of the discovery in Fermanagh - revealing potential kimberlite indicator minerals - Richard felt that further investigation was warranted, particularly in conjunction with the TELLUS airborne geophysical data. As the world class Nickel discovery at Voisey's Bay in Canada would suggest, diamond exploration can sometimes lead to the discovery of Nickel-Copper-PGE. Following positive results from a stream sampling programme on Karelian's licences, the exploration programme carried out by the Company in Fermanagh led to an exciting new development: revealed in a detailed technical review was the potential for the discovery in Northern Ireland of a major Nickel, Copper, and Platinum Group elements deposit. A steadfast and consistent voice in the support and promotion of the Irish exploration and mining industry, and the attractiveness of Ireland as a destination for inward investment, Richard was a popular and familiar delegate and exhibitor at leading industry-related events. A steadfast supporter of the Irish Association for Economic Geology, he attended all major events, always willing to provide sponsorship for activities - one being the Prospectors Developers Association Convention in Toronto. From Medicine to Mining, Richard has left a rich and enduring legacy. Those close to him will be sustained by the memory of an exceedingly kind and courteous gentleman and a man of great faith; a loving family man devoted to his late wife Pamela, and to his daughters Deirdre and Sorca, his grandchildren, sons-in-law and their loved ones all. May he Rest in Peace. Ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann, ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis. Extract from the Independent Auditor's Report The following section is extracted from the Independent Auditor's Report but shareholders should read in full the Independent Auditor's Report contained in the Annual Report. In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. We draw attention to Note 1 in the financial statements, which indicates that the Company recorded a loss of 237,160 for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 and had net current liabilities of 1,948,585 as at that date. As stated in Note 1 in the financial statements, these events or conditions indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter. Our evaluation of the directors' assessment of the Company's ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included obtaining an understanding of the Company's relevant controls over the preparation of cash flow forecasts and approval of the projections and assumptions used in cash flow forecasts to support the going concern assumption; assessing the design and determining the implementation of these relevant controls; evaluating directors' plans and their feasibility by agreeing the inputs used in the cash flow forecast to expenditure commitments and other supporting documentation; challenging the reasonableness of the assumptions applied by the directors in their going concern assessment; obtaining confirmations received by the Company from the directors and former directors evidencing that they will not seek repayment of amounts owed to them by the Company within 12 months of the date of approval of the financial statements, unless the Company has sufficient funds to repay; assessing the mechanical accuracy of the cash flow forecast model; and assessing the adequacy of the disclosures made in the financial statements Statement of profit or loss for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 2024 2023 Continuing operations Operating expenses (418,312) (297,386) Movement in fair value of warrants 187,628 9,565 Operating loss (230,684) (287,821) Interest expense (6,476) (3,646) Total finance costs (6,476) (3,646) Loss before taxation (237,160) (291,467) Income tax expense - - Loss for the financial year (237,160) (291,467) Loss per share Basic and diluted loss per share (0.0023) (0.0038) The total loss for the financial year is entirely attributable to equity holders of the Company. Statement of comprehensive income for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 2024 2023 Loss for the financial year (237,160) (291,467) Income recognised in other comprehensive income - - Total comprehensive loss for the financial year (237,160) (291,467) The total comprehensive loss for the financial year is entirely attributable to equity holders of the Company. Statement of financial position as at 31 May 2024 31 May 31 May 2024 2023 Assets Non-current assets Intangible assets 11,690,194 11,265,894 Total non-current assets 11,690,194 11,265,894 Current assets Cash and cash equivalents 39,597 116,038 Other receivables 81,551 79,003 Total current assets 121,148 195,041 Total assets 11,811,342 11,460,935 Equity Capital and reserves Share capital presented as equity 3,203,532 3,200,882 Share premium 10,736,889 10,546,844 Share-based payments reserve 450,658 450,658 Retained deficit (4,649,470) (4,412,310) Total equity 9,741,609 9,786,074 Liabilities Non-current liabilities Derivative liability - 10,304 Convertible loan - 119,246 Warrant liabilities - 109,224 Total non-current liabilities - 238,774 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 1,903,601 1,436,087 Convertible loan 125,722 - Derivative liability 10,304 - Warrant liabilities 30,106 - Total current liabilities 2,069,733 1,436,087 Total liabilities 2,069,733 1,674,861 Total equity and liabilities 11,811,342 11,460,935 The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 22 November 2024 and authorised for issue on 26 November 2024. Statement of changes in equity for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 Share capital Share premium Share-based payment reserve Retained deficit Total equity Balance at 1 June 2023 3,200,882 10,546,844 450,658 (4,412,310) 9,786,074 Share issue 2,650 298,555 - - 301,205 Share issue costs - (108,510) - - (108,510) Loss for the financial year - - - (237,160) (237,160) Balance at 31 May 2024 3,203,532 10,736,889 450,658 (4,649,470) 9,741,609 Balance at 1 June 2022 3,191,807 9,959,181 450,658 (4,120,843) 9,480,803 Share issue 9,075 610,824 - - 619,899 Share issue costs - (23,161) - - (23,161) Loss for the financial year - - - (291,467) (291,467) Balance at 31 May 2023 3,200,882 10,546,844 450,658 (4,412,310) 9,786,074 Statement of cash flows for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 2024 2023 Cash flows from operating activities Loss for the financial year (237,160) (291,467) Adjustments for: Movement in fair value of warrants (187,628) 109,224 Interest expense 6,476 3,646 (418,312) (178,597) Increase in trade and other payables 444,507 1,361 Increase in other receivables (2,548) (18,825) Net cash from/(used) in operating activities 441,959 (17,464) Cash flows from investing activities Expenditure on intangible assets (424,300) (354,963) Net cash used in investing activities (424,300) (354,963) Cash flows from financing activities Issue of share capital 301,205 453,109 Share issue costs - (23,161) Advance from Conroy Gold and Natural Resources Plc 23,007 119,246 Net cash provided by financing activities 324,212 549,184 Decrease in cash and cash equivalents (76,441) (1,830) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of financial year 116,038 117,868 Cash and cash equivalents at end of financial year 39,597 116,038 Extracted notes from the financial statements Material accounting policies Reporting entity Karelian Diamond Resources P.L.C. (the "Company") is a company domiciled in Ireland. The Company is a public limited company incorporated in Ireland under registration number 382499. The registered office is located at Shannon Airport House, Shannon Free Zone, Shannon, Co. Clare, V14E370, Ireland. The principal activity of the Company during the financial year is mineral exploration and development. Basis of preparation The financial statements are presented in Euro (""). The is the functional currency of the Company. The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost basis except for derivative financial instruments which, if any, are measured at fair value at each reporting date. The preparation of financial statements requires the Board of Directors and management to use judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Actual results may differ from those estimates. Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods affected. Details of significant judgements are disclosed in the accounting policies. The financial statements were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 26 November 2024. Going concern In preparing the financial statements, the directors consider it appropriate to use the going concern assumption, which assumes the company will have sufficient resources to enable it to meet its liabilities as they fall due. The Company recorded a loss of 237,160 (31 May 2023: loss of 291,467) for the financial year ended 31 May 2024. The Company had net assets of 9,741,609 (31 May 2023: 9,786,074) at that date. The Company had net current liabilities of 1,948,585 (31 May 2023: 1,241,046) at that date. The Company had cash and cash equivalents of 39,597 (31 May 2023: 116,038) at 31 May 2024. As set out in the Chairman's statement, the Company expects to incur capital expenditure in 2024 and 2025, consistent with its strategy as an exploration company. The Directors have considered carefully the financial position of the Company and in that context, have prepared and reviewed cash flow forecasts for the period to 30 November 2025. The Directors recognise that net current liabilities of 1,948,585 (31 May 2023: 1,241,046) is a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and, therefore, that it may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. In this context the Board of Directors note that the going concern is on the basis that all directors, namely, Brendan McMorrow, Maureen T.A. Jones, Howard Bird, Dr. Sorca Conroy and Seamus P. FitzPatrick, and former Directors namely James P. Jones and Professor Richard Conroy (and his beneficiaries), will not seek repayment of amounts owed to them by the Company of 1,476,970 (31 May 2023: 1,291,969) for a minimum period of 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements, unless the Company has sufficient funds to repay. All of these Directors and former Directors have confirmed this to be the case. Furthermore Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc (a shareholder in the Company which it has a cost sharing arrangement as set out in note 14 (b)) in the financial statements has confirmed that it will not seek repayment of any amounts due unless the Company has sufficient funds to repay for a similar period. The cashflows include plans to raise funds to carry out the activities of the company and the Board of Directors are confident that adequate funds can be raised through strategic partnerships or direct market fundraising to meet their objectives. To mitigate the risk of the timing and scale of investment not being met, the Board and management continue to take actions to monitor and manage the cost base and project implementation plans as appropriate. In reviewing the proposed work programme for exploration and evaluation assets, the results obtained from the exploration programme, the support noted above from the Board (and past Board members), the funds raised post year end and the prospects for raising additional funds as required, the Board of Directors are satisfied that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis. The financial statements do not include any adjustments to the carrying value and classification of assets and liabilities that would arise if the Company was unable to continue as going concern. Statement of compliance The Company's financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union ("EU") and the requirements of the Companies Act 2014. Recent accounting pronouncements (i) New and amended standards adopted by the Company The Company has adopted the following amendments to standards for the first time for its annual reporting year commencing 1 June 2023: IAS 8 amendments regarding the definition of accounting estimates - Effective date 1 January 2023; IAS 1 amendments regarding the disclosure of accounting policies - Effective date 1 January 2023; IAS 12 amendments regarding Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction - Effective date 1 January 2023; IAS 12 amendments regarding International Tax Reform and Pillar Two Model Rules - Effective date 1 January 2023; IFRS 17 Insurance contracts - Effective date to 1 January 2023; IFRS 17 amendments regarding initial application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 of comparative information; and IFRS 4 amendments regarding extension of the Temporary Exemption from Applying IFRS 9 - Effective date 1 January 2023 The adoption of the above amendments to standards had no significant impact on the financial statements of the Company either due to being not applicable or immaterial. (ii) New standards and interpretations not yet adopted by the Company Certain new accounting standards and interpretations have been published that are not mandatory for 31 May 2024 reporting periods and have not been early adopted by the Company. The following new standards and amendments to standards have been issued by the International Accounting Standards Board but have not yet been endorsed by the EU, accordingly, none of these standards have been applied in the current year. The Board of Directors is currently assessing whether these standards once endorsed by the EU will have any impact on the financial statements of the Company. Amendments to IAS 21 Lack of Exchangeability - Effective date 1 January 2025; Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 regarding classification and measurement of financial instruments - Effective date 1 January 2026; Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards - Volume 11 - Effective date 1 January 2026; IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements - Effective date 1 January 2027; IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures - Effective date 1 January 2027; IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related financial information; IFRS S2 Climate-related disclosures; Amendments to SASB standards regarding enhancement of their international applicability; Amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 17 regarding supplier finance arrangements - Effective date 1 January 2025; Amendments to IFRS 16 Leases: Lease liability in a sale and leaseback - Effective date 1 January 2024; and Amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements: Classification of liabilities as current or non-current - Effective date 1 January 2024. The adoption of the above amendments to standards had no significant impact on the financial statements of the Company either due to being not applicable or immaterial. Loss per share Basic loss per share 2024 2023 Loss for the year attributable to equity holders of the Company (237,160) (291,467) Number of ordinary shares at start of the financial year 94,492,749 68,542,749 Number of ordinary shares issued during the financial year 10,600,000 25,950,000 Number of ordinary shares at end of the financial year 105,092,749 94,492,749 Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic and diluted loss per share 101,040,146 76,460,146 Basic and diluted loss per ordinary share (0.0023) (0.0038) Diluted loss per share The effect of share options and warrants is anti-dilutive. Intangible assets Exploration and evaluation assets 31 May 31 May Cost 2024 2023 At 1 June 11,265,894 10,910,931 Expenditure capitalised during the financial year: Licence and appraisal costs 246,586 269,3143 Other operating expenses 177,714 85,649 At 31 May 11,690,194 11,265,894 Exploration and evaluation assets relate to expenditure incurred in the development of mineral exploration opportunities. These assets are carried at historical cost and have been assessed for impairment in particular with regard to the requirements of IFRS 6: Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources relating to remaining licence or claim terms, likelihood of renewal, likelihood of further expenditure, possible discontinuation of activities as a result of specific claims and available data which may suggest that the recoverable value of an exploration and evaluation asset is less than its carrying amount. The Board of Directors have considered the proposed work programmes for the underlying mineral resources. They are satisfied that there are no indications of impairment. The Board of Directors note that the realisation of the intangible assets is dependent on further successful development and ultimate production of the mineral resources and the availability of sufficient finance to bring the resources to economic maturity and profitability. Mineral interests are categorised as follows: Finland 31 May 31 May Cost 2024 2023 At 1 June 11,223,401 10,910,931 Expenditure capitalised during the financial year: Licence and appraisal costs 157,299 263,421 Other operating costs 121,038 49,049 At 31 May 11,501,738 11,223,401 Northern Ireland 31 May 31 May Cost 2024 2023 At 1 June 42,493 - Expenditure capitalised during the financial year: Licence and appraisal costs 89,287 5,893 Other operating costs 56,676 36,600 At 31 May 188,456 42,493 Cash and cash equivalents 31 May2024 31 May 2023 Cash held in bank accounts 39,597 116,038 39,597 116,038 Certain of the above bank accounts are held for the purpose of holding collateral deposits related to the Finnish licenses. As at 31 May 2024, a total amount of 24,500 (31 May 2023: 24,500) relates to these collateral deposits and are treated as restricted cash balances. Non-current liabilities Convertible loan On 26 May 2023, the Company entered into a convertible loan note agreement for a total amount of 129,550 (112,500) with Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. which is both a shareholder in the company and has a number of other connections as noted in Note 14 in the financial statements. The convertible loan note is unsecured, has a term of 18 months and attracts interest at a rate of 5% per annum which is payable on the maturity or conversion of the convertible loan. The conversion price is at a price of 5 pence per ordinary share. The shareholder has the right to seek conversion of the principal amount outstanding on the convertible loan note and all interest accrued at any time during the term. The amount of 10,304 relates to the derivative liability attached to the total convertible loan note above and the net amount of 119,246 is recorded as the value of the convertible loan at 31 May 2023. The loan incurred interest of 6,476 in the current year. No interest was accrued in prior year due to it being immaterial. The Company is in discussions to extend the term of this loan however as at the date of signing of the financial statements, no formal agreement has been reached as yet. The convertible loan amounted to 136,026 (2023: 129,550) at 31 May 2024 and is classified as a current liability as at year end 31 May 2024 (see note 11 in the financial statements). 31 May2024 31 May2023 Opening balance - - Interest payable - - Derivative liability - 10,304 Convertible loan - 119,246 - 129,550 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 31 May 2024 31 May 2023 Accrued Directors' remuneration Fees and other emoluments 1,213,720 1,028,718 Pension contributions 263,250 263,250 Amount due to related party 144,551 5,023 Warrant liabilities 30,106 - Derivative liability 10,304 - Convertible LoanOther creditors and accruals 125,722282,080 -139,096 2,069,733 1,436,087 As at 31 May 2024, director fees amounting to 54,167 (31 May 2023: 44,167) due to Brendan McMorrow are included in Fees and other emoluments. It is the Company's practice to agree terms of transactions, including payment terms with suppliers. It is the Company's policy that payment is made according to the agreed terms. The carrying value of the trade and other payables approximates to their fair value. Warrant liabilities During the year ended 31 May 2024, 10,000,000 warrants were issued with a sterling exercise price and expiry of 12 months. 18,500,000 warrants with a sterling exercise price and expiry between 18 and 24 months were issued in the prior year. The fair value amount at grant date was valued using the Black Scholes Model and recorded as warrant liabilities. At 31 May 2024, the warrants in issue were fair valued with the movement in fair value of 187,628 (2023: 9,565) being recorded in the statement of profit or loss and a fair value of 30,106 (2023: 109,224) recorded in the statement of financial position. Warrants at 31 May 2024 have a 12 month expiry, hence it has been reclassified to current liabilities. See Note 15 in the financial statements for further details. Convertible loan On 10 December 2019, the Company entered into a convertible loan note agreement for a total amount of 145,829 (120,000) with one of its shareholders. The total amount outstanding as at 31 May 2022 including accrued interest was 166,790. This agreement was varied in December 2022 and the loan note holder exercised their conversion rights to convert the loan and all accrued interest (totalling 138,000) into 3,450,000 new ordinary shares in the company in the financial year ending 31 May 2023. On 26 May 2023, the Company entered into a convertible loan note agreement with an 18 month term as set out in Note 10. The convertible is classified as a current liability for the year ended 31 May 2024. 31 May2024 31 May2023 Opening balance 129,550 166,790 Interest payable 6,476 3,646 Conversion to ordinary equity - (170,436) 26 May 2023 convertible loan - 129,550 Closing balance 136,026 129,550 Commitments and contingencies At 31 May 2024, there were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities (31 May 2023: Nil) recognised at the balance sheet date. Should the Company decide to further develop the Lahtojoki project, an amount of 40,000 is payable by the Company to the vendors of the Lahtojoki mining concession. Related party transactions The Company shares office accommodation with Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. which has certain common Directors and shareholders. For the financial year ended 31 May 2024, Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. incurred costs totalling 115,048 (31 May 2023: 46,178) on behalf of the Company. These costs were recharged to the Company by Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. These costs are analysed as follows: 2024 2023 Salaries 71,738 25,558 Rent and rates 13,310 10,145 Other operating expenses 30,000 10,475 115,048 46,178 (b) At 31 May 2024, the Company owed 144,551 to Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. (31 May 2023: 5,023 owed to). Amounts owed to Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. were included within trade and other payables during the current year. During the financial year ended 31 May 2024, the Company received 23,007 from (31 May 2023: 32,500 was paid to) Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. as part of the cost sharing arrangement. During the financial year ended 31 May 2024, the Company was charged 115,048 (31 May 2023: 46,178) by Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. in respect of the allocation of certain costs as detailed in Note 14(a). In May 2023, Conroy Gold and Natural Resources P.L.C. converted amounts owing to it equivalent to 143,943 (125,000) into ordinary equity as detailed as part of the "share issue (c)" detailed in Note 12 and a further 129,550 (112,500) into a convertible loan instrument as detailed in Note 10. The Company is in discussions to extend the term of this loan. (c) At 31 May 2024, Brendan McMorrow was owed 54,167 (31 May 2023: 44,167) in respect of his services as a director. He invoiced the company an amount of NIL (31 May 2023: 9,000) during the year for other services rendered of which Nil (31 May 2023: Nil) was outstanding at 31 May 2024. These amounts are included in the trade and other payables balance in the statement of financial position. (d) Key management personnel are considered to be the Board of Directors and other key management. The compensation of all key management personnel during the year was 148,250 (2023: 139,824) including an amount of 33,250 (31 May 2023 14,824) payable to the Company Secretary Cathal Jones in respect of services provided. (e) Details of share capital transactions with the Directors are disclosed in the Directors' Report. (f) Apart from Directors' remuneration (detailed in Note 2 and Note 4 in the financial statements), a convertible loan from a shareholder (which is detailed in Note 11 in the financial statements) and share capital transactions (which are detailed within the Directors' Report), there have been no contracts or arrangements entered into during the financial year in which a Director of the Company had a material interest. Post balance sheet events Post year end the Company announced that an assessment prepared by independent geological consultant, Dr Larry Hulbert, confirms the potential for Nickel, Copper and Platinum-Group Elements, in the Company's licence areas in Northern Ireland. A series of targets within the Company's licence area in Northern Ireland were identified by Dr Hulbert during the course of his review and recommended for follow up. The Company announced on 13th August 2024 that it had received the decision of the Finnish Land Court which brought finalisation to the establishment of the mine boundaries, with no change ensuing. It further announced that in regards to the amount of compensation payable to the two appellant landowners, the majority of the items upon which they based their claims were rejected by the Finnish Land Court except for three items which were referred back to the National Land Survey to review. The appellants were also required to contribute to the Company's legal costs. On 18th October 2024, the Company announced that the sixty day appeal period to this decision had now passed and that as such, the decision now had gained legal force. On 1 July 2024, the Company raised 386,761 (328,747) before expenses through the issue of 21,916,479 new ordinary shares at a price of 0.015 per ordinary share in order to fund its exploration activities and for working capital purposes. In addition and at the same time as the fundraising, the Company converted amounts owing to certain parties totalling 29,709 (25,253) into equity by the issuing of 1,683,516 new ordinary shares at the same price. Each of the new shares noted above carry a half warrant such that the holder of one whole warrant can subscribe for one new ordinary share at a price of 0.03 per share for a period of 12 months from the admission to trading of the new shares issued on 1 July 2024. There were no further important events to note post year end. 10 Approval of the financial statements for the financial year ended 31 May 2024 The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 22 November 2024 and authorised for issue on 26 November 2024. A copy of the audited financial statements will be available on the Company's website www.kareliandiamondresources.com and will be available from the Company's registered office at Shannon Airport House, Shannon Free Zone, Shannon, Co. Clare, V14E370 Ireland. Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSX-V:EOG), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, is pleased to announce its unaudited results for the three and six month periods ended 30 September 2024. Highlights: Financials The Company had cash and cash equivalents of US$7.95 million and no debt as at 30 September 2024. The Company had total assets of US$28.74 million, total liabilities of US$1.44 million and total equity of US$27.3 million as at 30 September 2024. Following completion of the farm down of Block 3B/4B offshore the Republic of South Africa, as announced on 28 August 2024, Eco has received the first payment of US$8.3 million from the JV partners as part of the milestone payments agreed in the 3B/4B Transaction. An additional $11.5 million is expected to be received by the Company during 2025 when the next milestones are reached. Operations: South Africa Block 1 On 5 June 2024, Eco announced the acquisition of Block 1 Offshore South Africa Orange Basin. Through its 100% owned subsidiary Azinam South Africa Limited ("Azinam South Africa"), the Company will farm-in and acquire a 75% Working Interest ("WI") from Tosaco Energy (Proprietary) Limited ("Tosaco") and will become Operator of a new Exploration Right (the "Block 1Acquisition"). Block 3B/4B On 29 July 2024, the Company announced the signing of an agreement to sell a 1% interest in Block 3B/4B South Africa in exchange for cancellation of all of Africa Oil's shares and warrants in Eco (worth C$11.5 million). Upon Completion, Eco, which currently holds a 6.25% interest in Block 3B/4B, will hold a fully carried 5.25% interest in Block 3B/4B Offshore South Africa. Accordingly, the number of shares of the company will be reduced from 370,173,680 to only 315,231,936 shares. On 28 August 2024, the Company announced the completion of a farm down of the previously announced 13.75% Participating Interest in Block 3B/4B offshore the Republic of South Africa and the Transfer of Operatorship of the Block after receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals (Section 11) from the government of South Africa. Block 2B The Company is relinquishing its 50% WI Operated offshore Block 2B in South Africa where it drilled its 2022 Gazania-1 well offsetting the AJ-1 oil discovery. The Company has completed all necessary documentation, and environmental audits, and has informed the Petroleum Agency of South Africa ("PASA"), being the regulator for the Government of South Africa. Eco's board considers Block 2B a non-core asset in the portfolio given the Company's interests in Namibia, Block 3B/4B and Block 1 in SA and the 2 blocks in Guyana. Following acceptance by the PASA of this relinquishment, the Company will have no further liability in respect of Block 2B. Namibia The previously announced multi-block farm out process for all or part of Eco's four offshore Petroleum Exploration Licences (" PEL "): 97, 98, 99, and 100 has continued. Eco holds Operatorship and an 85% WI in each PEL representing a combined area of 28,593 km 2 in the Walvis Basin. Eco Atlantic is witnessing considerable interest in its licenses in Namibia and is currently assessing options to progress its exploration work programmes including a potential farm-out. Eco looks forward to providing more updates on the progress of this process in due course. Guyana Eco has continued to engage in discussions with industry players regarding the farm out initiative for the offshore Orinduik Block. Guyana continues to be an exciting jurisdiction for hydrocarbon exploration and production and Eco is pleased to have exposure to this ever-growing frontier. Gil Holzman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented: "We are pleased with the continued operational and financial progress achieved in recent months. Following completion of the farm-down of Block 3B/4B, we received a payment of US$8.3 million from our JV partners, with the potential for Eco to receive a further US$11.5 million in 2025, subject to certain milestones being achieved on Block 3B/4B. This demonstrated our commitment to unlocking value from our South African portfolio while maintaining exposure to the highly prospective Orange Basin. "Eco also increased its exposure to South Africa's Orange Basin growing offshore energy acreage through the acquisition of a75% working interest in Block 1, while taking the strategic decision to relinquish Block 2B. Both of these developments further indicate Eco's ability to take strategically prudent decisions to maximise the Company's exposure to exciting jurisdictions. "With active farm-out discussions ongoing in Namibia and Guyana, we are well-positioned to capitalise on high levels of interest from potential partners in these exciting exploration regions. We remain committed to delivering value for our shareholders and look forward to sharing further updates in the months ahead." The Company's unaudited financial results and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and six months ended 30 September 2024 are available for download on the Company's website at www.ecooilandgas.com and on Sedar at www.sedar.com. The following are the Company's Balance Sheet, Income Statements, Cash Flow Statement and selected notes from the annual Financial Statements. All amounts are in US Dollars, unless otherwise stated. Balance Sheet September 30, March 31, 2024 2024 Assets Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents 7,946,212 2,967,005 Short-term investments 75,000 13,107 Government receivable 21,938 26,970 Amounts owing by license partners - 49,578 Accounts receivable and prepaid expenses 1,276 38,539 Total Current Assets 8,044,426 3,095,199 Non- Current Assets Petroleum and natural gas licenses 20,695,406 28,168,439 Total Non-Current Assets 20,695,406 28,168,439 Total Assets 28,739,832 31,263,638 Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 970,881 1,163,546 Advances from and amounts owing to license partners 466,376 81,952 Total Current Liabilities 1,437,257 1,245,498 Total Liabilities 1,437,257 1,245,498 Equity Share capital 122,088,498 122,088,498 Restricted Share Units reserve 920,653 920,653 Warrants 14,778,272 14,778,272 Stock options 2,900,501 2,900,501 Foreign currency translation reserve (1,524,581) (1,568,469) Accumulated deficit (111,860,768) (109,101,315) Total Equity 27,302,575 30,018,140 Total Liabilities and Equity 28,739,832 31,263,638 Income Statement Three months ended Six months ended September 30, September 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Revenue Interest income 4,300 21 7,511 1,686 4,300 21 7,511 1,686 Operating expenses: Compensation costs 271,845 236,556 471,312 420,998 Professional fees 214,519 202,557 356,488 298,560 Operating costs, net 1,005,555 411,201 1,547,241 761,381 General and administrative costs 156,588 160,569 314,613 273,042 Share-based compensation - (15,817) - 95,695 Foreign exchange loss (gain) (11,813) 139,795 77,310 99,745 Total operating expenses 1,636,694 1,134,861 2,766,964 1,949,421 Operating loss (1,632,394) (1,134,840) (2,759,453) (1,947,735) Other Non-Operating Charges and Write-downs Gain on settlement of liability - (200,640) - (200,640) Fair value change in warrant liability - - - 261,720 Share of losses of associate - (166,223) - (332,447) Tax recovery - 536,694 - 536,694 Net loss for the period (1,632,394) (965,009) (2,759,453) (1,682,408) Foreign currency translation adjustment 75,627 9,901 43,888 (285,775) Comprehensive loss for the period (1,556,767) (955,108) (2,715,565) (1,968,183) Basic and diluted net loss per share: (0.004) (0.004) (0.007) (0.006) Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share 370,173,680 369,421,234 370,173,680 368,390,620 Cash Flow Statement Six months ended September 30, 2024 2023 Cash flow from operating activities Net loss from continuing operations (2,759,453) (1,682,408) Items not affecting cash: Share-based compensation - 95,695 Fair value change in warrant liability - (261,720) Share of losses of companies accounted for at equity - 332,447 Changes in non-cash working capital: Government receivable 5,032 (8,056) Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (192,665) (2,805,578) Accounts receivable and prepaid expenses 37,263 1,365,309 Advance from and amounts owing to license partners 41,715 489,800 Cash flow from operating activities (2,868,108) (2,474,511) Cash flow from investing activities Short-term investments (61,893) - Acquisition of interest in property (150,000) - Proceeds from Block 3B/4B farm-out 8,015,320 2,500,000 Cash flow from investing activities 7,803,427 2,500,000 Cash flow from financing activities - - Increase in cash and cash equivalents 4,935,319 25,489 Foreign exchange differences 43,888 (285,775) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 2,967,005 4,110,734 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period 7,946,212 3,850,448 Notes to the Financial Statements Basis of Preparation The consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared on a historical cost basis with the exception of certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value. Historical cost is generally based on the fair value of the consideration given in exchange for assets. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Critical accounting estimates Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized prospectively from the period in which the estimates are revised. The following are the key estimate and assumption uncertainties considered by management. **ENDS** For more information, please visit www.ecooilandgas.com or contact the following: Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas c/o Celicourt +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Gil Holzman, CEO Colin Kinley, COO Alice Carroll, Executive Director Strand Hanson (Financial & Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 James Harris James Bellman Berenberg (Broker) +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 Matthew Armitt Detlir Elezi Celicourt (PR) +44 (0) 20 7770 6424 Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea Charles Denley-Myerson About Eco Atlantic: Eco Atlantic is a TSX-V and AIM-quoted Atlantic Margin-focused oil and gas exploration company with offshore license interests in Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa. Eco aims to deliver material value for its stakeholders through its role in the energy transition to explore for low carbon intensity oil and gas in stable emerging markets close to infrastructure. Offshore Guyana, in the proven Guyana-Suriname Basin, the Company operates a 100% Working Interest in the 1,354 km2 Orinduik Block. In Namibia, the Company holds Operatorship and an 85% Working Interest in four offshore Petroleum Licences: PELs: 97, 98, 99, and 100, representing a combined area of 28,593 km2 in the Walvis Basin. Offshore South Africa, Eco holds a 6.25% Working Interest in Block 3B/4B and pending government approval a 75% Operated Interest in Block 1, in the Orange Basin, totalling some 37,510km2. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd. View the original press release on accesswire.com LUXEMBOURG (dpa-AFX) - Aroundtown SA (AT1.DE), a Luxembourg-based real estate company, on Wednesday recorded a decline in Funds from Operations or FFO, reflecting lower result from the disposal of properties.In addition, the company registered a narrower net loss, amidst lower negative property revaluations and capital gains.For the nine-month period to September 30, the company recorded Funds from Operations I or FFO I of 235.6 million euros or 0.22 euro per share, lower than 255.4 million euros or 0.23 euro per share, registered for the same period last year.FFO II was at 266.1 million euros as against prior year's 326.6 million euros. This decline was mainly driven by the lower result from the disposal of properties and FFO I result.Result from the disposal of properties declined to 30.5 million euros from previous year's 71.2 million euros.Net loss narrowed to 224.5 million euros or 0.21 euro per share from last years' loss of 1.118 billion euros or 1.02 euro per share.Excluding items, EBITDA was 758.1 million euros, higher than 748.2 million euros a year ago. Operating profit was 97.5 million euros, compared with a loss of 1.306 billion euros.Property revaluations and capital gains were negative 591 million euros, lesser than last year's negative 1.889 billion euros.Share of results from investment in equity-accounted investees declined to negative 9.8 million euros from negative 85.2 million euros in 2023.Property operating expenses were also down at 412.3 million euros, compared with prior year's 496.2 million euros.The European Public Real Estate Association Net Reinstatement Value or EPRA NRV was 9.614 billion euros or 8.8 euros per share as of September 2024.Revenue for nine months was 1.157 billion euros, down from prior year's 1.209 billion euros. This is mainly due to the decrease in utility costs recoverable from tenants through the operating and other income.The company generated net rental income of 883 million euros, slightly lower by 1 percent, compared with 895 million euros last year. The decline was primarily driven by the smaller portfolio size due to net disposals since the beginning of 2023.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Council of 5-7 members to Drive Adoption of Digital Twins and Safeguard AI Solutions. David Kris, a founder of Culper Partners LLC, brings more than 30 years of experience in government, the private sector, and academia. Mr. Kris led the Department of Justice's National Security Division, overseeing federal espionage and terrorism investigations and foreign intelligence surveillance. Arlington, Virginia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Edge Total Intelligence Inc. (TSXV: CTRL) (OTCQB: UNFYF) (FSE: Q5i) ("edgeTI", "Company"), a leading provider of real-time Digital Twin software that enables and safeguards AI adoption, announces the formation of the EdgeTI Industry Advisory Council ("IAC") and the appointment of David Kris as its first advisor to what will become a team of five to seven advisors working with edgeTI's CEO, Jim Barrett, who already leads Forbes Tech Council's Digital Twin Group. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10266/231514_765c663fe49de9a3_001full.jpg "The formation of the IAC will help edgeTI to rapidly develop relationships and accelerate the deployment of edgeCore digital twin solutions - twins that increase situational awareness and deliver untapped value to our commercial and government customers in industry specific use cases.," said Jim Barrett CEO of edgeTI. "I am pleased to announce David Kris as our first appointment to the Company's Industry Advisory Council." David Kris is a co-founder of Culper Partners LLC, a firm specializing in the intersection of public policy, security, geopolitics, and law. Before forming Culper, Mr. Kris held the position of General Counsel at Intellectual Ventures for six years, a privately held invention investment company with more than US$6 billion under management. He also served as the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Time Warner, Inc. Currently, Mr. Kris teaches law to U.S. Intelligence Community lawyers and is a University Affiliate at Georgetown University. In the government sector, Mr. Kris was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to lead the Department of Justice's National Security Division. In this role, he oversaw all federal espionage and terrorism cases, as well as the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Additionally, he served as a senior advisor to both Republican and Democratic Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General. With over eight years of experience as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Kris has a deep understanding of the legal aspects of national security and has received several prestigious awards and medals for his outstanding contributions. Currently, Mr. Kris advises the U.S. Intelligence Community and acts as a friend of the court for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts. "In today's world, the speed of the threat and relevance of information is important to national and international security," said David Kris. "That is why I am so pleased to be joining edgeTI's Industry Advisory Council. The Company's outstanding technology, expertise, and capabilities will help governments and commercial segments see their operations and enterprises in full context to make better decisions leveraging data and AI. I look forward to the good work ahead." Jim Barrett closed with, "the appointment of Mr. Kris is a great starting point as we look forward to progressing our art-of-the possible-capabilities in intelligence, law enforcement, and security operations for our current and future customers." The Company will make and announce additional appointments within the coming weeks. About edgeTI edgeTI helps customers sustain situational awareness and accelerate action with its real-time digital operations software, edgeCore that unites multiple software applications and data sources into one immersive experience. Global enterprises, service providers, and governments are more profitable when insight and action are united to deliver fluid experiences via the platform's low-code development capability and composable operations. With edgeCore, customers can improve their margins and agility by rapidly transforming their siloed systems and data across continuously evolving situations in business, technology, and cross-domain operations - helping them achieve the impossible. Website: https://ir.edgeti.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/edgeti YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/edgetechnologies For more information, please 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 release. Forward-Looking Information and Statements Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements or information for the purposes of applicable Canadian and US securities law. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, business, economic and capital market conditions. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the continued availability of capital and financing, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, competition and general economic, and market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231514 SOURCE: Edge Total Intelligence Inc. Bitwise begins rebranding of European product suite, renames physical XRP ETP Ripple announces plans to invest in Bitwise Physical XRP ETP November 27, 2024. Frankfurt, Germany: Bitwise Asset Management announced today that it has renamed its European XRP exchange-traded product (Ticker GXRP; ISIN DE000A3GYNB0) as part of a broader rebranding of its European product suite. In conjunction with the news, Ripple, a leading provider of digital asset infrastructure, has announced that it will invest in the product-the Bitwise Physical XRP ETP (formerly ETC Group Physical XRP). XRP, the world's fifth-largest crypto asset at a market cap of over $80 billion, has experienced a surge in popularity due to the expanding use cases on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) particularly in areas like cross-border remittances, institutional DeFi, and real world tokenization. The XRPL is known for its speed, efficiency, and reliability, which are important features for the many financial services firms that utilize it in their businesses. European investors can gain exposure to XRP through GXRP, the 100% physically backed ETP launched by Bitwise (formerly ETC Group) in 2022 issued under a prospectus approved by Germany's financial regulator. Hunter Horsley, CEO and Co-Founder at Bitwise: "XRP and the XRP Ledger are among the most familiar and trusted blockchains in crypto. XRPL is unique with over 10 years of track record in reliability, while continuing to expand in capabilities. We're thrilled to be providing access for investors through an institutional quality product with the Bitwise Physical XRP ETP (GXRP)." Brad Garlinghouse, CEO at Ripple: "Global demand for exposure to the crypto asset class has exploded in 2024, fueled by a growing interest in crypto-backed investment offerings. With the U.S. regulatory environment for crypto finally becoming more clear, this trend is poised to accelerate, further driving demand for crypto ETPs, such as the Bitwise Physical XRP ETP. As one of the most valuable, liquid, and utility-driven digital assets, XRP is at the forefront of this momentum, standing out as a cornerstone for those seeking access to assets that are resilient and have real-world utility." Bitwise has seen significant growth in 2024, recently crossing over $10B in total client assets. The firm acquired leading European ETP issuer, ETC Group in August, and is set to rebrand its European ETP portfolio while strategically expanding its operation in Europe. Bitwise plans to launch additional institutional-grade crypto ETPs, including the Bitwise Aptos Staking ETP which began trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange on 19 November 2024, and a filing of a Form S-1 for an XRP spot ETF in the US. - Ends - Key Product Details ETP Name Bitwise Physical XRP ETP Primary Ticker GXRP ISIN DE000A3GYNB0 WKN A3GYNB TER 1.95% p.a. More information about the product is provided on the respective product page . The full Bitwise product list including all exchange listings and trading information is available at https://etc-group.com/products/ . About Bitwise Bitwise is one of the world's leading crypto specialist asset managers. Thousands of financial advisors, family offices, and institutional investors across the globe have partnered with us to understand and access the opportunities in crypto. Since 2017, Bitwise has established a track record of excellence managing a broad suite of index and active solutions across ETPs, separately managed accounts, private funds, and hedge fund strategies - spanning both the U.S. and Europe. In Europe, for the past four years Bitwise (formerly ETC Group) has developed an extensive and innovative suite of crypto ETPs, including Europe's largest and most liquid bitcoin ETP, or the first diversified Crypto Basket ETP replicating an MSCI digital assets index. This family of crypto ETPs is domiciled in Germany and approved by BaFin. We exclusively partner with reputable entities from the traditional financial industry, ensuring that 100% of the assets are securely stored offline (cold storage) through regulated custodians. Our European products comprise a collection of carefully designed financial instruments that seamlessly integrate into any professional portfolio, providing comprehensive exposure to crypto as an asset class. Access is straightforward via major European stock exchanges, with primary listings on Xetra, the most liquid exchange for ETF trading in Europe. Retail investors benefit from easy access through numerous DIY/online brokers, coupled with our robust and secure physical ETP structure, which includes a redemption feature. For more information, visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com/eu Media contacts: JEA Associates John McLeod 00 44 7886 920436 john@jeaassociates.com Important information This press release does not constitute investment advice, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy financial products. This press release is issued by Bitwise Europe GmbH ("BEU"), a limited company domiciled in Germany, for information only and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. BEU gives no explicit or implicit assurance or guarantee regarding the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. It is advised not to rely on the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. Please note that this article is neither investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to acquire financial products or cryptocurrencies. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Nova Pacific Metals Corp. (CSE: NVPC) (OTCQB: NVPCF) (FSE: YQ10) (WKN: A40GFH) (the "Company", or "Nova Pacific") is pleased to announce initial results from a backpack drilling program completed on its Lara Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Six BQ-sized holes totalling 18.11m (59.4 ft) were drilled from one surface location using a Shaw backpack drill in order to confirm historic grades and to collect modern trace geochemistry information for massive sulphide mineralization in the Coronation Zone (Figure 1). To date, Nova Pacific has obtained results from two boreholes (see Table 1). Hole 24BP01 intersected 3.0 m of fractured/rehealed and sheared limestone (marble) hosting thick massive sulphide layers comprising predominantly sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite (Figure 2). The weighted average assay across the full 3 metres (9.84 ft) returned 11.67 g/t Au, 373 g/t Ag, 21.33% Zn, 4.23% Pb, and 1.75% Cu. "These initial results from our backpack drilling program at the Lara Project are truly exceptional," said J. Malcolm Bell, CEO of Nova Pacific. "The high-grade intersections we've encountered, particularly in Hole 24BP01 with significant gold, silver, zinc, lead, and copper values, not only validates our exploration strategy but also reaffirms a portion of the historical data from the Coronation Zone. These findings are a first step in revitalizing the Lara Project and provides increased confidence in its future development as we await results from the remaining 4 holes. As soon as we receive permitting for the planned 40 drill hole program, we will immediately commence the balance of our confirmation program." The first 0.9 metres (2.95 ft) of Hole 24BP02 intersected massive sulphides comprising brown sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite. This interval assayed 3.16 g/t Au, 462 g/t Ag, 46.03% Zn, 7.54% Pb, and 2.13% Cu. The remaining 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) intersected fractured/rehealed limestone (marble) with a matrix of sulphides, including brown sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite. This interval assayed 1.375% Zn, 0.56% Pb, 0.515% Cu, 0.479 g/t Au and 165 g/t Ag. Figure 1. Diamond Drill Hole (DDH) Location Map To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10425/231526_d9dc52810485d832_001full.jpg Together with the Coronation Extension and Hanging Wall zones, the Coronation Zone hosts most of the reserve and the historic resource calculations of the Lara Project. While classified as massive sulphides, these zones consist of bands, laminae and stringers of sulphide minerals in a strongly silicified rhyolite host1. Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc Sample # Hole # From To Width (m) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (%) K838901 24BP01 0 1 1 12.7 456 2.04 6.38 43.09 K838903 24BP01 1 3 2 11.15 332 1.6 3.15 10.45 K838904 24BP02 0 0.9 0.9 3.16 462 2.13 7.54 46.03* K838906 24BP02 0.9 2.4 1.5 0.479 165 0.515 0.56 1.375 Note: Sample K838902 - Standard, K838905 - Blank * Rep.: 46.13% Hole # UTM Elevation (m) Azimuth (degrees) Inclination (degrees) Northing Easting 24BP01 5414851 433489 628 230 -60 24BP02 5414851 433489 - -90 Tables 1 & 2 - Drill Hole Information Figure 2. Core from Hole 24BP01 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10425/231526_d9dc52810485d832_002full.jpg The Company is encouraged by these preliminary numbers and looks forward to the release of assay results from the remaining holes (24BP03-06), when they become available. 1 Crocker, R. (2014): Mapping, Whole Rock Geochemical Sampling and Preliminary Environmental Baseline Survey of the Lara Polymetallic Property, BCGS Assessment Report 35424 Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David Nelles, P.Geo., a qualified person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Nelles acts as a consultant to the Company and is therefore not independent. Rights of Indigenous Communities Statement Nova Pacific recognizes the Rights of all Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The Company is committed to consultation and accommodation with the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group communities on whose Traditional, Ancestral and Unceded Territory the Lara Property is located. The Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group is a politically unified group that represents six Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations: Cowichan, Stz'uminus, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, and Lake Cowichan. About Nova Pacific Nova Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on our key asset, the Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This brownfields development project boasts a significant polymetallic resource rich in gold, silver, copper, and zinc, situated in a prime location with excellent infrastructure. Nova Pacific's forward-looking strategy includes confirmation and infill drilling, completion of an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) and preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study if and as required. We are committed to creating value for our shareholders while maintaining environmental responsibility and strong community relationships. For additional information please visit: www.novapacificmetals.com . On behalf of the Board of Directors J. Malcolm Bell Chief Executive Officer, Director The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the matters referenced herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231526 SOURCE: Nova Pacific Metals Corp. More than 600,000 New Brunswick residents are now eligible to generate a Patient Summary on the VeroSource-built MyHealthNB digital front door. This year, MyHealthNB averaged over 35,000 unique monthly users in New Brunswick, reflecting 100% growth compared to 2023. The VeroSource-managed Saskatchewan Health Authority website was accessed by patients and providers over 1.3 million times in 2024, representing a 50% increase in traffic from the previous year. In addition to its successful implementations in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, VeroSource has generated revenue from three additional provinces this year. The technology is scalable across all provincial jurisdictions, hospital networks, and healthcare systems, addressing long-standing challenges in healthcare data sharing. HEALWELL is particularly well positioned to unlock value for the public sector by combining VeroSource's Patient Summary, advanced data interoperability, and VS Data-as-a-Service (VS DaaS) solutions with HEALWELL's proprietary artificial intelligence capabilities. Integration into the HEALWELL and WELL Health ecosystems will enable VeroSource to drive additional value for the public sector particularly with regards to population health analytics and insight discovery. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - HEALWELL AI Inc. (TSX: AIDX) (OTCQX: HWAIF) ("HEALWELL" or the "Company"), a healthcare technology company focused on AI and data science for preventative care, is pleased to provide a corporate update on its subsidiary VeroSource Solutions Inc. ("VeroSource"), highlighting the transformative impact of the Patient Summary functionality recently launched and its strategic roadmap to expand offerings across Canada. More than 600,000 New Brunswick residents are now eligible to generate a Patient Summary on the VeroSource-built MyHealthNB digital front door. This year, MyHealthNB averaged over 35,000 unique monthly users in New Brunswick, reflecting 100% growth compared to 2023. VeroSource has developed the first patient-mediated Patient Summary in North America, a groundbreaking tool that allows individuals to securely share their health information with healthcare professionals and care providers. The technology was successfully launched in New Brunswick in collaboration with the provincial government and Canada Health Infoway. The Patient Summary marks a significant step toward achieving the goals of Canada Health Infoway's Shared Pan-Canadian Interoperability Roadmap, offering patients secure and portable access to their healthcare data to improve continuity of care across jurisdictions, providers, and care settings. The VeroSource-managed Saskatchewan Health Authority website was accessed by patients and providers over 1.3 million times in 2024, representing a 50% increase in traffic from the previous year. This remarkable growth demonstrates the effectiveness of VeroSource's technology in improving healthcare outcomes and facilitating secure data sharing across different provinces. In addition to its successful implementations in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, VeroSource has generated revenue from three additional provinces this year. The technology is scalable across all provincial jurisdictions, hospital networks, and healthcare systems, addressing long-standing challenges in healthcare data sharing. VeroSource aims to establish itself as a nationwide leader in healthcare innovation with plans to expand into additional regions in 2025. "Digital Health Interoperability is a cornerstone to building a connected healthcare system that works seamlessly for patients and providers alike. Initiatives like Patient Summary demonstrate how cross-industry collaboration and private sector innovation can empower individuals to securely access and share their health information across the continuum of care, improving transitions, outcomes, and experiences," said Abhi Kalra, Executive Vice President of Connected Care at Canada Health Infoway. "The foundational work of improving data quality and establishing consistent data exchange standards across the country, aligned with Infoway's Shared Pan-Canadian Interoperability Roadmap, paves the way for a system that reduces barriers for clinicians, empowers patients, and strengthens the efficiency of care delivery." Mark McAllister, CEO of VeroSource commented, "We are very proud of our team for continuing to innovate and deliver important technology to address key public sector healthcare issues. As the software capabilities at VeroSource continue to deepen, we believe these offerings could potentially be scaled across the country and unlock a tremendous amount of value for the public sector. Traditionally, healthcare systems in Canada have struggled with the lack of interoperability, creating barriers to data sharing across provinces, territories, and even individual healthcare providers. Patient Summary not only addresses this issue but also positions HEALWELL to be a key driver of value creation in the public sector by unlocking critical public health insights. By integrating VeroSource's Patient Summary technology with Pentavere's AI capabilities and leveraging synergies across the HEALWELL and WELL Health ecosystems, we will enable a unified approach to healthcare data that benefits patients, providers, and public health systems alike." The ability to share healthcare data securely and efficiently addresses critical challenges faced by patients who travel, require chronic care, or lack a primary care provider. With the Patient Summary, patients can carry essential health data, such as medications, immunizations, and lab results, across provincial and international borders, ensuring better care outcomes and reducing system inefficiencies. When combined with HEALWELL subsidiary Pentavere's world-class artificial intelligence capabilities, VeroSource's offerings are poised to deliver unparalleled benefits to the public sector. Pentavere will help unlock deeper population health insights, creating a more robust, fully compliant Patient Summary. Additionally, synergies within the broader WELL Health ecosystem will further amplify the value of VeroSource's technology by integrating primary care and other healthcare data sources. This alignment strengthens VeroSource's ability to scale both domestically and internationally, enhancing its role as a leader in data interoperability and Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions. Dr. Alexander Dobranowski Chief Executive Officer HEALWELL AI Inc. About HEALWELL AI HEALWELL AI is a healthcare technology company focused on AI and data science for preventative care. Its mission is to improve health care and save lives through early identification and detection of disease. As a physician-led organization with a proven management team of experienced executives, HEALWELL AI is executing a strategy centered around developing and acquiring technology and clinical sciences capabilities that complement the Company's road map. HEALWELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "AIDX" and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol "HWAIF". To learn more about HEALWELL AI, please visit: https://healwell.ai/. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release, constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and are based on assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-Looking statements in this press release include statements with respect to, among other things: HEALWELL's future plans including VeroSource's plans for expansion into new geographic regions and the integration of and potential benefits and synergies that may result from the integration of the Company and its subsidiaries' various product and service offerings with each other and with the WELL Health ecosystem. Forward-Looking statements are often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "improve", "ensuring", "continue to", "potential", "future", "is poised", "plan", "position", "expansion", "achieve", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain future conditions, actions, events or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "can" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms . Forward-Looking statements are necessarily based upon management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as a number of specific factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by HEALWELL as of the date of such statements, are outside of HEALWELL's control and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward-Looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, including, but not limited to, the following: HEALWELL's ability to successfully integrate its various product and service offerings, the continued adoption of the software, tools and solutions created by HEALWELL, the impact of increasing competition in the industry and the ability to market HEALWELL's products and services successfully, that HEALWELL will be successful in identifying, executing and integrating new acquisitions, investments and/or partnerships, the stability of general economic and market conditions, HEALWELL's ability to comply with applicable laws and regulations, HEALWELL's continued compliance with third party intellectual property rights; and that the risk factors noted below, collectively, do not have a material impact on HEALWELL's business, operations, revenues and/or results. By their nature, forward-looking statements are 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. Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of HEALWELL, could cause the actual results of HEALWELL to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements, or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include but are not limited to those factors which are discussed under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in HEALWELL's most recent annual information form dated April 1, 2024, which is available under HEALWELL's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect HEALWELL and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-Looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, HEALWELL disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231570 SOURCE: HEALWELL AI FRANKFURT, Germany, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 3DMakerpro, a trailblazer in consumer-friendly 3D scanning technology, made a remarkable impression at Formnext 2024, the leading international trade fair for Additive Manufacturing and industrial 3D Printing, held from November 19-22. At the event, 3DMakerpro unveiled its latest innovation, the Eagle spatial scanner, which captivated attendees with its cutting-edge features. The Eagle is designed to capture 3D data of spaces and rooms. It offers a seamless blend of consumer-grade technology that integrates LiDAR and image sensors. Equipped with a built-in battery, this cutting-edge product is a versatile tool for a wide range of applications such as reverse engineering, digital twinning, extended reality (XR), high-precision mapping, and 3D printing. The Eagle is anticipated to hit the market in December, promising to set new standards in spatial scanning technology. At Formnext 2024, 3DMakerpro products' capabilities were dynamically showcased. Jonathan Levi, the founder of The Next Layer, a content creation platform specializing in 3D printing and 3D modelling, conducted live scanning demonstrations with 3DMakerpro Moose 3D Scanner. These demonstrations offered attendees a firsthand experience of Moose's impressive functionality. Adding to the event's intellectual appeal, Professor Paulo Bartolo from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), who is also the Executive Director of Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP), delivered insightful talks, highlighting the transformative potential of 3D scanning technology. 3DMakerpro also curated various engaging activities designed to captivate and involve visitors. These include 3D scanning demonstrations, immersive VR experiences, and facial scanning experiences, turning its exhibition booth into a hub of activity and innovation. In addition to showcasing its groundbreaking technology, at the Makers Night - 3DMakerpro VIP Gala held on November 20 in Frankfurt, 3DMakerpro signed a partnership agreement with NTU Singapore and announced an exciting new sponsorship for the SC3DP. The SC3DP is a premier research institution funded by the National Research Foundation, and supported by NTU Singapore, Economic Development Board, and industry partners. The centre is dedicated to advancing additive manufacturing technologies and promoting their adoption across industries. This strategic partnership emphasizes the transformative role of 3D scanning in education, reverse engineering, and healthcare. By offering workshops and training, 3DMakerpro and SC3DP aim to integrate advanced scanning technologies into academic and professional settings, fostering innovation and practical applications in industrial and medical fields through demonstration projects and real-world case studies. About 3DMakerpro 3DMakerpro, a distinguished overseas brand under Shenzhen Jimuyida Technology Co., Ltd., was established in 2015 as a prominent provider of 3D solutions. We specialize in offering cutting-edge 3D scanning devices. Our mission is to deliver professional-grade and user-friendly scanners, empowering individuals to craft their immersive 3D world. With a dedicated team exceeding 100 R&D experts, we have independently developed industry-leading software algorithms, including the multi-spectral projection system, visual tracking, no-marking registration algorithm, and automatic model processing. 3DMakerpro is committed to pioneering innovation in the realm of 3D technology. Website: https://store.3dmakerpro.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3DMakerProCares Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official3dmakerpro X: https://twitter.com/3DMakerPro Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRgFJoaefc Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568271/image_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568272/image_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568273/image_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568274/image_4.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568275/image_5.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/3dmakerpro-debuts-eagle-spatial-scanner-at-formnext-2024-announces-sponsorship-of-singapore-centre-for-3d-printing-302317313.html Press Release Nokia wins new deal with Deutsche Telekom to roll out large-scale commercial O-RAN network in Germany Nokia awarded more than 3,000 sites supporting Deutsche Telekom's Open RAN network ambitions Supports Deutsche Telekom's Open RAN strategy of increasing choice in supplier base Focus on high-power, large-scale multi-vendor Open RAN network rollout 27 November 2024 Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that it has been awarded more than 3,000 sites by Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) to support the operator's multi-vendor Open RAN network scale-up in Germany. The deal, which includes Fujitsu, covers a mass rollout of O-RAN-compliant technology with commercial deployment already underway in the Neubrandenburg area of Northern Germany. The new deal formally marks Nokia's return as a supplier to Europe's largest network and will see Nokia replace the incumbent vendor in the area covered in the agreement. Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale portfolio powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology, including modular, high-capacity baseband solutions and high-performance Habrok Massive MIMO radios for premium coverage and capacity. Nokia's industry-leading solutions ensure performance consistency, resiliency, and security for Open RAN. Nokia's solutions integrate with DT's multi-supplier Open RAN environment where Fujitsu will supply its O-RAN-compliant mid-band remote radio head products. The deal will also see Nokia support DT with network modernization alongside existing suppliers. Nokia will also deploy its intelligent AI-powered MantaRay NM solution for improved network monitoring and management and will provide AI-based services, including digital deployment, optimization, and technical support. Abdu Mudesir, Group CTO and Managing Director of Technology Germany at Deutsche Telekom commented: "This deal is further evidence of our significant commitment to multi-vendor Open RAN and ensuring we have greater supplier choice for radio access networks. The network performance in the already implemented area is delivering the best customer experience. And now together with Nokia, we look forward to scaling up Open RAN in Germany." Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: "While others talk about doing Open RAN, Nokia is actually doing it and doing it on a grand scale. This is a significant deal for Nokia as we have been selected by the largest network operator in Europe to extend our partnership. We are proud to have been chosen because of our technology leadership, innovative product portfolio, and open approach. We look forward to expanding our partnership further in the future." Resources Webpage: Nokia AirScale Radio Access (https://www.nokia.com/networks/mobile-networks/airscale-radio-access/) Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband (https://www.nokia.com/networks/mobile-networks/airscale-radio-access/baseband/) Webpage: Nokia Open RAN (https://www.nokia.com/networks/radio-access-networks/open-ran/) Whitepaper: Nokia Open RAN Industry and Solution Update (https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/213914) About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today - and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future. Media Inquiries Nokia Communications, Corporate Email: Press.Services@nokia.com (mailto:Press.Services@nokia.com) Follow us on social media LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/nokia/) X (https://twitter.com/nokia) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nokia/) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nokia) YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/nokia) 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. LONDON, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) has this week announced the winners of its "20 Most Innovative Companies to Watch, 2024" awards. With entrants from all corners of the globe, as well as a vast variety of sectors and industries, it took the judging panel longer than usual to narrow down a short-list of finalists and then reveal the outstanding 20. All of the Innovative Award winners share certain commonalities. Not only are they all successful in their particular field - regardless of whether they are a new start-up or a well-established firm - but they have also disrupted the status quo in some form or another. This could be in terms of how the company is run, the technology used, or the way in which they manage their customer service. It could also, of course, be a new product or service that they have brought to market. BWM's Robert Weinberg said that once again he was 'bowled over' by the standard of the entrants. "It's becoming rather a cliche, but it's true - every year I am truly bowled over by the nominations that come through our site at BWM. I'm also, of course, delighted because it shows us that entrepreneurs and inventors continue to excite and stimulate the business world year after year. "All we can do now is offer our sincere congratulations to the winners and encouragement to those who made the short-list but didn't quite clinch it, to try again in the future. All entrants for the Awards should take heart that the team here immensely enjoyed reading the nominations and considered all very worthy of representation." Entrants for the competition - now in its sixth year - came from as far afield as South America, the Middle East and Australia, in addition to Scandinavia and Europe. It covered a vast range of industries and sectors, from Green Energy, Life Sciences and Pharmaceuticals to Legal firms, Banking and Manufacturing. Entrants for the "20 Most Innovative Companies to Watch" Awards tend to be nominated by employees, customers, peers and even admiring competitors. Find out who made this year's '20 Most Innovative Companies to Watch' list by visiting: https://www.bwmonline.com/20-most-innovative-companies-to-watch-2024-winners/ About Business Worldwide Magazine Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enable an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few. Contact David Jones Awards Department E: david@bwmonline.com W: www.bwmonline.com T: +44 207 993 5951 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/business-worldwide-magazine-celebrates-2024s-20-most-innovative-companies-302316831.html Managing Director of Cropmate Berhad, Mr. Lee Chin Yok KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Cropmate Berhad ("Cropmate" or the "Company"), a key player in the conventional and specialty fertiliser manufacturing industry in Malaysia, is pleased to announce that its Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the Malaysian public has been oversubscribed by 84.88 times, indicating strong investor interest in Cropmate's growth trajectory and prospects.Cropmate's IPO of 260.00 million ordinary shares ("IPO Shares") consists of a Public Issue of 210.00 million new ordinary shares ("Issue Shares") and an Offer for Sale of 50.00 million shares ("Offer Shares") involving:(I) Institutional offering of 208.34 million IPO Shares in the following manner:- 158.34 million Issue Shares allocated via private placement to institutional and selected investors, including 42.25 million Issue Shares approved for Bumiputera investors by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry ("MITI"); and- 50.00 million Offer Shares allocated via private placement for Bumiputera investors by the MITI.(II) Retail offering of 51.66 million IPO Shares in the following manner:- 36.90 million Issue Shares made available for application by the Malaysian public via balloting, with an equal allocation between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera investors; and- 14.76 million Issue Shares reserved for application by the eligible directors of the Company, employees of Cropmate and its subsidiary ("Group") and persons who have contributed to the success of the Group ("Eligible Persons").The Group received a total of 21,392 applications for 3,169,052,100 Issue Shares with a value of approximately RM633.81 million were received from the Malaysian public, which represents an overall oversubscription rate of 84.88 times. For the Bumiputera portion, a total of 10,745 applications for 1,368,843,700 Issue Shares were received, which represents an oversubscription rate of 73.19 times. For the public portion, a total of 10,647 applications for 1,800,208,400 Issue Shares were received, which represents an oversubscription rate of 96.57 times.The 14.76 million Issue Shares made available for application by the Eligible Persons were fully subscribed.Under the Institutional Offering of 208.34 million of IPO Shares, the Bookrunner has confirmed that it has received interests to subscribe the 158.34 million Issue Shares allocated via private placement to institutional and selected investors, including 42.25 million Issue Shares for Bumiputera investors by the MITI, as well as 50.00 million Offer Shares allocated via private placement for Bumiputera investors by the MITI.Managing Director of Cropmate Berhad, Mr. Lee Chin Yok, expressed, "The robust response to our IPO reflects the trust that investors have placed in Cropmate's business and strategic direction. We are grateful for this overwhelming support and excited to move forward with our plans to enhance our operations and customer service capability to meet the growing demand for our fertilisers."Mr Lee also added, "The enthusiastic response from investors underscores their belief in Cropmate's future potential. This support motivates us to strengthen our operations and continue innovating to meet the evolving needs of the agriculture industry."Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad ("HLIB"), Ms. Lee Jim Leng, remarked, "The strong demand for Cropmate's IPO is a testament to the investment community's recognition of the Company's solid management team and their prospects. Cropmate is well-positioned to make a meaningful impact in the agricultural sector, and we are honoured to support them in their journey."Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad is the Principal Adviser, Sponsor, Underwriter and Bookrunner.Cropmate Berhad is scheduled to make its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities on 5 December 2024.About Cropmate Berhad ("Cropmate")Founded in 2018, Cropmate Berhad is an established fertiliser manufacturer and supplier in Malaysia, specialising in the formulation and blending of conventional and specialty fertilisers. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, Cropmate offers a wide range of products designed to enhance agricultural productivity, including compacted and blended fertilisers, as well as semi-organic, organic, and liquid fertilisers. Led by industry veterans with decades of experience, Cropmate is committed to supporting farmers in improving crop yield and quality. As the first pure-play fertiliser company listed on Bursa Malaysia, Cropmate continues to advance its mission of contributing to the growth and sustainability of the agricultural sector.For more information, visit https://www.cropmate.com.my/Issued By: Swan Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. on behalf of Cropmate BerhadFor more information, please contact:Jazzmin WanEmail: j.wan@swanconsultancy.bizWilliam YeoEmail: w.yeo@swanconsultancy.bizSource: Cropmate BerhadCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 11th, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change kicked off in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The conference focused on how to fairly and effectively allocate climate financing resources, ensuring that every penny can be used to its maximum effect, helping countries achieve low-carbon economic transformation and enhance climate resilience. At this critical moment in the global fight against climate change, as an advocate, practitioner, and leader in sustainable development in the global clean energy field, LONGi actively participated in COP29, advocating for the promotion of energy equity through green innovation. This marks LONGi's sixth consecutive participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On November 15th, LONGi in collaboration with Deeprock Group, hosted a special event titled "SOLAR FOR ALL-The Key to Tackling Climate Change: Green Innovation Accelerates Just Energy Transition" at the "Biosphere 3" Solutions Pavilion in the Blue Zone of COP29. The event showcased LONGi's latest scientific and technological achievements and project progress in the field of clean energy. Additionally, LONGi participated in a roundtable forum attended by representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), China Electricity Council (CEC), Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), World Economic Forum (WEF), Energy Foundation (EF), and relevant NGOs. At the forum, LONGi shared its stories about "Energy Equity" and discussed how to help climate-vulnerable regions enhance their climate resilience. Solarization of the Emergency Stockpile in Uzbekistan Completed UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and LONGi, a leading global solar technology company, have completed a groundbreaking project to solarize the UNHCR Regional Humanitarian Logistics Hub located in the Termez Cargo Centre in Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan. The project, part of a wider UNHCR-LONGi climate action partnership, marks a significant step towards ensuring a sustainable energy supply for logistics that support refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) across the region and beyond. The solarization has transformed the Hub into a critical operation powered by clean energy. With the installation of high-efficiency solar panels, a substantial amount of renewable energy will be generated each year, reducing the Hub's reliance on the grid and significantly lowering its carbon emissions. "This transition to clean energy - a milestone in greening our supply chain globally - not only provides a renewable, reliable and cost-effective power source for the critical work that the Termez Supply Hub supports in the region, but also demonstrates UNHCR's strong commitment to environmental sustainability," said Shoko Shimozawa, Director of UNHCR's Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS). The 700kW solar photovoltaic powerplant is expected to generate around 989,993kWh of electricity annually, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 495 metric tons per year. It will also result in significant annual electricity savings, which will benefit local energy infrastructure by reducing operating costs and allowing for reinvestment in further sustainable initiatives. "By solarizing the Hub and partnering with UNHCR, LONGi is able to provide more efficient, reliable, safe and sustainable energy solutions for refugees around the world, accelerating the global energy transition and promoting energy equity," said Dennis She, Vice President of LONGi. "Our vision is to promote a global energy transformation using BC (back-contact) solar technology, solving the electricity problem for people who are often without access to basic services, helping refugees to safeguard their rights and live in dignity." This partnership sets a precedent for future projects that aim to promote renewable energy adoption and improve the lives of vulnerable populations. A milestone in UNHCR's efforts to achieve climate neutrality across its operations, the solarization of the Hub paves the way for further collaboration that draws on the skills and expertise of the private sector. And by investing in renewable energy solutions, alongside strong partners, UNHCR is not only reducing its environmental impact but also building resilience and ensuring a sustainable future for refugees and IDPs. The Hub, which has served as UNHCR's regional emergency preparedness and response stockpile since 2021 primarily for the Afghanistan response, will be incorporated into UNHCR's global stockpile network in 2025. This network, currently consisting of seven UNHCR stockpiles, enables the organization to respond to emergencies anywhere in the world by delivering core relief items (CRIs) - like blankets, mattresses, solar lamps and kitchen sets - to up to 1 million people who have been forced to flee their homes within 72 hours of an emergency being declared. Turning emergency stockpile operations net carbon-neutral is a critical priority for the sustainability of UNHCR's work. And the success if this pilot in Termez paves the way for similar projects around the globe. Accelerating Global Energy Equity with Leading Photovoltaic Technology Dennis She believes that energy equity lies in providing clean, affordable, and non-discriminatory energy services for all of humanity. However, there is currently a huge disparity in per capita energy consumption levels among countries worldwide, with the top 20% of economies consuming about 80% of the global energy. At the same time, approximately 11% of the global population still lives in darkness without electricity, and about one-third of the population cannot use clean energy for cooking, with energy poverty directly affecting local economic development and the improvement of people's quality of life. In addition, the uneven distribution of global energy resources and limited affordability also constrain the realization of energy equity on a global scale. With the deepening implementation of global carbon neutrality goals, clean energy represented by photovoltaics will gradually become the backbone of the global energy transition. In particular, the technological and manufacturing attributes of photovoltaics continuously enhance their cost competitiveness, rapidly driving the process of energy transition. Solar energy is more widely and abundantly distributed globally than traditional fossil fuels, and it is more beneficial to developing countries. As a new type of clean energy, photovoltaic (PV) power generation has seen a rapid decrease in the cost per kilowatt-hour with the continuous development of photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaics have become the most economical source of electricity in the majority of countries and regions worldwide. Their sustainability, affordability, and characteristics of fairness and security provide an excellent solution to help achieve global energy equity. As a global leading solar technology company, LONGi calls for global energy equity and has been driving global energy transition in all aspects, reducing the costs for people on the path to carbon neutrality. This allows more people around the world, especially those in developing and underdeveloped countries and regions, to enjoy affordable clean energy and achieve energy equity. In 2022, Dennis She first advocated for global energy equity at COP27, calling for the allocation of limited resources to the popularization of renewable energy and urgent climate actions. In the future, a new round of energy revolution centered on new energy will be accelerated, and the beautiful vision of a zero-carbon future will be realized sooner based on equal and economical distribution of clean electricity. At that time, light will be brought equally into every corner of the world, providing inclusive clean energy for all regions under all scenarios, truly achieving "SOLAR FOR ALL," and the world will have unlimited possibilities for sustainable development. About LONGi Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being a leading global solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation. Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial and industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568350/Dennis_She_Vice_President_LONGi_addressed_a_keynote_speech_Blue.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568351/A_700kW_solar_photovoltaic_powerplant_installed_UNHCR_s_Emergency_Logistics_Hub.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568352/1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/longi-advocates-for-accelerating-the-energy-just-transition-through-green-innovation-at-cop29-302317360.html ABU DHABI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) has unveiled a compelling agenda for this year's event that will take place from 9th to 12th December 2024. ADFW 2024 - ADGM's flagship event with ADQ as its headline partner - is one of the most anticipated financial gatherings this year, with a lineup of industry-shaping events, influential speakers, and strategic forums that will explore the theme of 'Welcome to the Capital of Capital.' This third edition is in keeping with ADFW's tradition of convening some of the most renowned global financial leaders, investors, policymakers, and thought leaders to address and analyse topics such as economic, human, cultural, environmental and technological capital, that make Abu Dhabi the 'Capital of Capital'. The agenda for 2024 includes over 60 main and side events, more than 350 thematic sessions and approximately 600+ speakers. The event expects a gathering of over 20,000 attendees from around the world, representing over USD 30 trillion in managed assets. Commenting on ADFW's exceptional agenda, His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM and ADDED said, "Abu Dhabi Finance Week has firmly established itself as a global platform that attracts the most influential professionals in the finance industry from across the world. This year's agenda for ADFW is a testament to Abu Dhabi's position as a leading international financial hub, where innovation and collaboration drive progress for the Falcon Economy. ADFW continues to create unparalleled opportunities for meaningful dialogue, shaping strategies that strengthen resilience and growth in today's evolving economic landscape, welcoming them to the 'Capital of Capital'." Key forums, including the Abu Dhabi Economic Forum, Asset Abu Dhabi, RESOLVE 2024, Fintech Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF) will return this year. New events for 2024 include the UBS Investment Forum, the China UAE Investment Summit with HSBC, the Islamic Finance Summit, the Spear's Private Wealth Summit, and the Abu Dhabi Capital Markets Showcase. Day 1: Opening Ceremony and Abu Dhabi Economic Forum The official opening ceremony is on 9th December in the presence of esteemed members of Abu Dhabi's leadership, heads of leading global investment and financial firms and other VIPs from the financial industry. Abu Dhabi Economic Forum, a high-level leadership gathering, will feature in-depth discussions on the current state of and prospects for the Falcon Economy. It will bring together senior members of the Abu Dhabi government and prominent figures from the private sector, representing key industries. Speakers include the CEOs of Blackrock, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Citigroup, BNY, Lunate, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Aldar. ADEF Private Leadership Forum, Abu Dhabi Capital Markets Forum, the UBS Investor Forum and the prestigious ADFW Gala Dinner are a few of the major sub-events scheduled for the day. Day 2: Asset Abu Dhabi and RESOLVE The second day starts with Asset Abu Dhabi in association with ADCB, Mubadala and PGIM Global Asset Management. Bringing together asset allocators, asset managers, investment bankers, venture capitalists, private equities, family offices and other institutional investors, collectively managing over USD 30 trillion in assets, the event will see industry titans such as Ray Dalio, Robert Smith - Founder, Chairman & CEO at Vista Equity Partners, Aron Landy - CEO at Brevan Howard, and Bill Huffman - CEO at Nuveen take to the stage. RESOLVE will also be held on this day, in collaboration with the Judicial Department. Under the theme 'Resilience', the event is set to host impactful conversations among key stakeholders from the global dispute resolution community and leaders from government, industry, and academia. Day 3: Fintech Abu Dhabi and Global Financial Regulators Summit Fintech Abu Dhabi, the Middle East's largest fintech festival, will spotlight innovations in AI, digital security, and blockchain technology. Breakout events like Blockchain Abu Dhabi, RISK 4.0 Forum, Islamic Finance Summit and the AI Abu Dhabi Forum will showcase the transformative potential of emerging technologies. Leading voices, including Jeremy Allaire - CEO and Founder of Circle, Richard Teng - CEO of Binance, and Caroline Pham - U.S. CFTC Commissioner, will discuss the evolving landscape of financial technology. The Global Financial Regulator Summit also returns as a closed-door gathering of international senior regulatory bodies and representatives from the MENA region, the European Union, the UK, Asia and the USA to discuss the approach to the opportunities and challenges presented by the rise of AI. Day 4: ADSFF Exactly one year after hosting its last edition at COP28, the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF) will be held on the concluding day of ADFW to conduct discussions on sustainable finance, impact investing, and net-zero commitments. It will bring together impactful voices like H.E. Carme Artigas Brugal, Co-Chair of the AI Advisory Body at the United Nations, Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Jonathan Dean of AXA IM and H.E. Majid Al Suwaidi, CEO of Alterra underscoring Abu Dhabi's commitment to sustainability and green finance. Curated side events include 'Women in Finance' and the ADFW Venture Park. For more information on the agenda please visit What's Happening in ADFW | Agenda - Abu Dhabi Finance Week Register for Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2024 at Get your ticket - Abu Dhabi Finance Week Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2550581/ADGM_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/adfw-unveils-full-agenda-for-2024-edition-one-of-the-most-impactful-financial-gatherings-of-the-year-302317367.html GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 24, Auto Guangzhou 2024, one of China's most prestigious automotive events, successfully concluded, attracting leading global brands and international media. HONGQI stood out with its advanced TianGong electric platform series, showcasing the brand's relentless commitment to excellence in craftsmanship and technological innovation. Built on TianGong electric platform, the luxury electric SUV EHS7 has become the center of attention. It supports ultra-fast charging, allowing the battery to go from 10% to 80% in just 20 minutes, it allows users to recharge during a coffee break, ensuring long-distance travel. The EHS7 features rare-in-class rear-wheel steering and dynamic chassis control with a variable damping suspension. These advanced technologies, combined with intelligent driving systems like L2 ADAS (advanced driver assistance system), deliver a smooth and modern driving experience. Safety is the cornerstone of the HONGQI brand and a fundamental guarantee for its vehicles. The EHS7 adopts a "9H4M" cage body structure, with 74% of the vehicle composed of high-strength steel, while key areas achieve a maximum yield strength of 2000 MPa, providing users with "fortress-like" safety protection. Furthermore, the EHS7's battery system utilizes a honeycomb structure and multi-layer sealing technology, achieving an IPX8 waterproof rating to ensure durability and reliability even in extreme environments. These features exemplify HONGQI's commitment to delivering a safe and luxurious electric SUV experience for its users. Also showcased is the HONGQI EH7, a premium choice in the luxury EV segment with supercar-level performance and advanced intelligent technology. Equipped with a high-performance electric drivetrain reaching 22,500 RPM, it delivers 455 kW of power and 756 Nm of torque, ensuring exhilarating acceleration and dynamic driving. With a WLTP range of 655 km, it offers exceptional endurance for long-distance journeys. Looking ahead, HONGQI plans to introduce 10 new models in Europe over the next five years, tailored to meet the needs of European and global consumers seeking high-quality, intelligent, and eco-friendly vehicles. Pre-orders for the EH7 and EHS7 have already begun in Europe as of October 14. With a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, HONGQI strives to provide global users with exceptional luxury and an unparalleled mobility experience. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568427/HONGQI.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hongqi-shines-with-flagship-models-and-advanced-technology-at-auto-guangzhou-2024-302317369.html New research from Italy shows the importance of considering power plant dispatchability in PV project planning. The scientists claim assessing a project's levelized cost of energy could be misleading, especially with variable and sometimes negative electricity prices. A research group led by the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy has created a mathematical model to optimize PV plant design based on optimized dispatching strategies considering real grid demand and prices. "We started from the evolution of the electric curve, which is also called duck curve, and then arrived at the extreme ... 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. EQS-News: EBD Group / Key word(s): Conference Biotech Showcase marking 17 years of innovation and opportunity 27.11.2024 / 11:34 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Biotech Showcase marking 17 years of innovation and opportunity San Francisco, CA, November 27, 2024. Biotech Showcase is a cornerstone of the life science industry, with a 17-year history of connecting private and micro- to mid-cap biotech companies with top-tier investors and biopharmaceutical executives. The event is returning to San Francisco, January 13-15, 2025, ready to ignite the biotech community during the busiest week in healthcare. Additionally, the event will feature two days of digital partnering on January 21st and 22nd, enabling attendees to maximize their opportunities for collaboration. Attendees will experience an expertly curated program, with presentations from biotech innovators unveiling their latest breakthroughs and in-depth panel discussions on market trends, regulatory landscapes, and future therapeutic areas. The event also integrates two specialized tracks: Seed Showcase : Designed for early-stage biotech companies to gain visibility, attract investors, and connect with key industry players. : Designed for early-stage biotech companies to gain visibility, attract investors, and connect with key industry players. TechBio Showcase: Focused on the convergence of technology and biology, featuring companies leveraging innovations such as AI, machine learning, and next-generation platform technologies to redefine healthcare. This global gathering brings together over 3,200 biopharma leaders, including 1,200+ investors and 350+ biotech innovators, showcasing the latest breakthroughs in the life sciences. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in more than 6,000 one-on-one meetings, facilitated by partneringONE, the premier partnering software platform that simplifies and enhances the networking experience. Delegates can seamlessly connect in person or virtually, creating collaborations that drive the future of biotech. Co-produced by the respected Demy-Colton and EBD Group, Biotech Showcase is synonymous with excellence in business support services for the biotechnology industry. With its unrivaled focus on innovation, investment, and networking, Biotech Showcase 2025 is the must-attend event for anyone in the biotech sector. To learn more about registration options visit: biotechshowcase.com About Demy-Colton Since 2008, Demy-Colton has been at the forefront of building networks between leaders from innovative biotech companies and industry stakeholders to examine and address biotech opportunities and challenges and deliver on the promise of transformational science. Demy-Colton achieves this with unique meeting platforms that facilitate networking and biotech community development on an international scale. Its investor conferences and CEO Summits build networking communities that transcend geographical boundaries and establish ongoing, high-value relationships among the industry's top decision makers, investors, and thought leaders. Demy-Colton sets a unique stage where investment, learning, and growth thrive. Its events spur introductions and thoughtful conversations. In turn, inspiration, ideas, and opportunities for investment flow. About EBD Group EBD Group's overriding mission is to help collaborations get started across the life sciences value chain. Our range of partnering conferences has grown to become the largest and most productive conference platform in the industry. Each one of our landmark events held in key life sciences markets around the world is powered by our state-of-the-art partnering software, partneringONE , that enables delegates to efficiently identify and engage with new opportunities via one-to-one meetings. Today our events (BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring, Biotech Showcase, ChinaBio Partnering Forum, Asia Bio Partnering Forum and BioEquity Europe) annually attract more than 15,000 senior life sciences executives who engage in over 60,000 one-to-one partnering meetings. These vital one-to-one engagements are the wellspring of deals that drive innovation in our industry. Contact EBD Group Karina Marocco E-mail: kmarocco@ebdgroup.com MC Services, Inc. Laurie Doyle Phone: +1-339-832-0752 E-mail: EBDGroup@mc-services.eu 27.11.2024 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. The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com Houston, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - In a bold technological leap, Simublade, a leading AI solution development company in Texas, announces the diversification of its services in the groundbreaking Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to help enterprises build next-gen intelligent tools. Commenting on this momentous step, Simublade's Operations Head Rohit Kishore said, "This initiative is a testament of our dedication and growing commitment to excellence towards clients and technological innovations. Our RPA expertise will help Simublade establish market leadership as a brand that is constantly expanding its suite of digital solutions." While the company remains conscious that the journey has just begun, the very introduction of brand new RPA services is a significant milestone since it comes at a time when automation is rapidly reinventing industries all across the globe. At the heart of Simublade's vision lies partnering with entrepreneurs to build products that enhance data accuracy and lower time-to-market for businesses - something where RPA fits in perfectly. With noted automation leaders and experts on board, Simublade is all set to leverage the technology's capabilities to help enterprises and startups scale up their processes. RPA: A Transformative Future for Simublade A report from Fortune Business Insights says that the global RPA market is poised to grow from $18.18 billion in 2024 to $64.47 billion by 2032, at a 17.1% CAGR. Given the pioneering landscape the technology already has, Simublade will focus on setting the stage for the future by supercharging its innovation lab with RPA and adding it into its service portfolio. "The main aim is to help business executives focus on high-value initiatives while the RPA software we build for them handles data migrations, flags cybersecurity concerns, and conducts database querying, all the while challenging the boundaries of automation," Rohit added further. RPA offers end-to-end support to several activities and popular use cases including fraud detection, regulatory compliance, business analytics, legacy integration, and payment processing. These are beneficial in top industries like healthcare, finance, banking, and telecommunications to handle both regular and high seasonal demands. Simublade, with a futuristic mindset, is further exploring opportunities strategically to expand its RPA offerings into these and upcoming sectors like education, legal, smart home solutions, hospitality, real estate, and insurance to meet the evolving needs of clients. Their ultimate aim is to help build products that free up human capital in order to pursue more creative aspects of a business and thus foster growth which is aligned with the company's long-term plans. Embracing digital transformation with RPA Simublade's RPA addition is an extension of their already existing service suite that carries specialties around NLP, cognitive automation, ML, AI, and rich predictive analytics. To further streamline business operations, the company has researched and implemented RPA services like file movement, data extraction, and form filling in multiple processes including the data entry process, order management process, pre-sales process, customer support process, and audit process. Further, by leveraging RPA, the company delivered error-free records and case management, regulatory compliance, and database tools which have helped leading companies see significant improvement. This development has pushed Simublade to adopt and provide more RPA solutions aimed at cost savings and fostering growth. The company is currently well-positioned to work on projects that are designed to use this technology for redefining tasks with unprecedented speed and accuracy while maintaining complete control and oversight of even the most complex operations and regulatory needs. About Simublade Simublade is a top-notch technology solutions company specializing in custom software development and helping bring revolutionary digital transformation. Born in Houston, Texas, Simublade joins hands with businesses across industries to unlock innovative solutions that drive growth, streamline operations, and enhance experiences. With a focus on cutting-edge technologies such as AI, machine learning, and automation, Simublade is at the forefront of helping companies navigate the complex waters of the digital world. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231577 SOURCE: Media Feature Brits are reverting to a classic Christmas in 2024 with 50% more of us searching for vintage Christmas decor Similarly, there has been a 26% increase in searches for traditional Christmas decor since 2023. Furniture Village reveals why tradition is so popular and 3 other trending styles. LONDON, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Furniture Village revealed the most popular Christmas decor trends for 2024. Analysing Google Search data, they have exposed that the vintage Christmas decor is the most searched-for aesthetic this year with 5,400 searches. It's increasingly popular among Brits as search is up by +50% since 2023. 'Traditional Christmas decor' supports this with 2,400 monthly searches on average. Experts at Furniture Village have revealed the other popular Christmas decor and why these options are all the rage below. 1. Vintage Christmas Decor: 5,400 average monthly searches Vintage Christmas decor sits at the top of the list with 5,400 monthly searches on average which is a +50% rise since 2023. Made up of deep reds, sparking golds and vibrant greens, as well as jolly Santa caricatures and stockings filled with candy canes, this style brings back the comforting nostalgia of Christmas past. Traditional Christmas Decor: 2,400 average monthly searches Similar to the former, traditional Christmas decor, with 2,400 searches, embraces lights, wreaths, and nativity scenes to enact the warmth of a homely Christmas. This is a +26% increase from last year. An expert at Furniture Village confirms, "It's likely that the traditional Christmas decor style resonates with the audience's childhood, giving them a sense of sentimentality," 2. Scandi Christmas Decor: 2,400 & Nordic Christmas Decor: 1,000 average monthly searches Many are still looking for a minimalist Christmas feel -Scandi Christmas decor has an average monthly search of 2,400 and Nordic Christmas decor has 1,000. The Furniture Village expert says, "Both the Scandi and Nordic Christmas styles embody a toned-down feel, incorporating natural wood. It uses neutral colours, like white, along with small pops of red, green, and even pastels." 3. Rustic Christmas Decor: 880 average monthly searches Rustic Christmas decor creates an "effortlessly chic feel to any home," according to Furniture Village's expert. It's comprised of tartan patterns, wooden features, and lots of texture. Think glittery ribbon and wicker ornaments. All the Christmas decor styles Brits are searching for in 2024: Vintage Christmas Decor - 5,400 Scandi Christmas Decor - 2,400 Traditional Christmas Decor - 2,400 Nordic Christmas Decor - 1,000 Rustic Christmas Decor - 880 Woodland Christmas Decor - 880 Modern Christmas Decor - 590 Rainbow Christmas Decor - 480 Minimalist Christmas Decor - 390 Winter Christmas Decor - 260 Farmhouse Christmas Decor - 110 Industrial Christmas Decor - 90 Coastal Christmas Decor - 50 Whimsical Christmas Decor - 30 Glam Christmas Decor - 20 Monochromatic Christmas Decor - 10 It's clear that more and more Britons are aiming for a traditional feel in their homes this year. But, that's not to say that decor from years prior, like the minimalist feel of a Nordic/Scandi aesthetic, isn't still popular. Whilst many are looking to the past to freshen up their homes, many are content with using their decor from years before for an effortless 2024 Christmas. For more information Nicole Barnard tmwi, acting on behalf of Furniture Village outreach@tmwi.co.uk 01789 404180 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2566760/Furniture_Village.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/furniture-village-revealed-the-most-popular-christmas-decor-trends-for-2024-302315541.html 27 November 2024 Announcement no. 374 Rovsing and Marble Imaging Announce Strategic Partnership to Develop Earth Observation Services Rovsing A/S and Marble Imaging AG are pleased to announce the signing of a cooperation agreement, marking the beginning of a strategic collaboration aimed at developing joint services utilizing Earth Observation (EO) data. This partnership will focus on two key areas: Environmental and Security Applications, ensuring relevance for commercial and governmental stakeholders alike. Environmental Applications: Services will monitor agriculture, marine, and coastal health, providing critical insights to support sustainable environmental management. Security Applications: Solutions will include monitoring activities in the Arctic, enhancing Arctic surveillance, and improving the resilience and situational awareness of critical infrastructure. This collaboration aligns with both Danish and German national strategies for space and defense, addressing key priorities for each country. Rovsing and Marble Imaging are committed to driving innovation in Earth Observation technologies and delivering impactful services that will benefit both nations and the broader global community. About Marble Imaging: Marble Imaging is a big-data EO company based in Germany, building its constellation of VHR satellites to provide daily EO analytics and insights of our planet. The data and derived EO-based analytics will be vital in supporting rapid decision-making with regard to food security, green and sustainable energy transitions, climate change, infrastructure and mobility, global security and much more. Marble already offers advanced data analysis services, including deforestation monitoring, water health assessment, and coastline monitoring. For more information: Alexander Epp alex@marble-imaging.de https://www.marble-imaging.de About Rovsing: Rovsing is a recognized space industry SME based in Denmark, delivering ground testing equipment and systems, software solutions & services for critical systems, and consultancy services to the commercial, military and institutional markets. Our solutions and services enable key capabilities and critical process throughout the industry. For more information: Hjalti Pall Thorvardarson hpt@rovsing.dk https://rovsing.dk/ Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - GT Resources Inc. (TSXV: GT) (OTCQB: CGTRF) (FSE: 7N1) (the "Company" or "GT Resources") is pleased to announce its first exploration activities on the North Rock copper - nickel - platinum group element project located in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The North Rock project was acquired by GT as part of the MetalCorp Limited acquisition in 2023 and encompasses a 13-kilometre long basal gabbroic contact along the Grassy Portage Gabbroic Complex along with one zone hosting a historic resource estimate1 of 1 million tons grading 1.2% Cu. Approximately 12,000 meters of historic drill testing demonstrates copper-nickel-palladium and platinum mineralization along this favorable basal contact. The budget for the Phase I exploration program is less than $200,000 and includes: A Bore Hole Electromagnetic ("BHEM") survey on historic drill holes to identify possible conductors of net-textured to massive sulphides below historic shallow drilling for purposes of defining drill targets. survey on historic drill holes to identify possible conductors of net-textured to massive sulphides below historic shallow drilling for purposes of defining drill targets. Reconnaissance mapping. Prospecting / sampling. Derrick Weyrauch, President and CEO commented, "The North Rock project was one of most significant assets of 2023's Metalcorp acquisition. The project hosts significant historic work including underground development and a historic resource estimate1 of 1 million tons grading 1.2% Cu and boasts a highly prospective 13-kilometer long mineralized horizon. North Rock's location and excellent access will result in very cost-efficient copper exploration." Neil Petttigrew, VP Exploration stated: "The Grassy Portage Gabbro Complex, which hosts the North Rock project is a favourable setting for magmatic copper-rich Cu-Ni-PGE sulphide mineralization. Due to the abundance of disseminated to net-textured mineralization at the base of the Complex and the presence of massive sulphide 'footwall style' veins the project hosts potential for both bulk tonnage as well as high grade sulphide deposits. The geological setting draws comparisons to the historic Temagami and Thierry Mines located Ontario, and the Mesaba, NorthMet, and Maturi Deposits hosted with in the Duluth Complex in Minnesota." The North Rock Project The North Rock project is located in Northwest Ontario, and covers over 7,000 hectares (Figure 1). The project boasts excellent infrastructure and is crossed by a paved provincial highway, a railroad, and hydro lines. The project is hosted by the Archean aged, 20 kilometer long Grassy Portage Gabbro Complex. The mineralization is copper-rich magmatic sulphide, and is focused along the basal contact of the Complex with mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks (Figure 2 and 3). The mineralization occurs in two main styles; "gabbro hosted" disseminated to locally net-textured sulphide within the basal heterolithic, varitextured gabbro, and as massive copper-PGE-rich sulphide "footwall vein" style within the footwall volcanic rocks. Two very shallow zones have been discovered today, the most significant of which is the Beaver Pond Zone (Figure 3 and 4), which hosts a historic resource estimate1 of 1 million tons grading 1.2% Cu. The Beaver Pond Zone was discovered by Noranda in 1958 and subsequently explored from underground via a 90-meter deep shaft and one drift on the 70m level. Preliminary Prospecting and Mapping Reconnaissance prospecting and mapping is underway to evaluate and re-establish access to the historic showing and drill collars to facilitate the BHEM survey. A particular focus is the historic Beaver Pond zone, grab samples containing disseminated to net-textured chalcopyrite rich sulphide have been collected (Figure 5) from a 10,000-ton surface stockpile of material recovered from underground development of the Beaver Pond Zone in the 1970's. BHEM Survey The Company's BHEM survey is targeting select historic holes located within the Beaver Pond zone including hole NR07-062, which at 780 meters is the deepest hole drilled on the project. Of significance, this hole intersected footwall style Cu-PGE rich mineralization at approximately 450-meter depth but was drilled down dip of the Zone, and therefore never exited the footwall volcanics into the main gabbro hosted mineralization, thus it missed the target. The purpose of this program is to explore for net-textured to massive sulphide mineralization within both the gabbro and footwall styles of mineralization beneath the historic shallow drilling. Figure 1. Location, and regional geology map of North Rock project, highlighting 13-kilometer long prospective mineralized horizon. 1. see Historical Resource Estimate disclaimer below To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/231518_11ec9619e445b932_001full.jpg Figure 2. Zoom in on historic zones of copper & PGE rich mineralization along the favorable basal contact of the Grassy Portage Gabbroic complex. 1. see Historical Resource Estimate disclaimer below To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/231518_11ec9619e445b932_002full.jpg Figure 3. Zoom in on Beaver Pond Zone showing the historic Noranda shaft and workings, and historic resource estimate1 area. 1. see Historical Resource Estimate disclaimer below To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/231518_11ec9619e445b932_003full.jpg Figure 4. Cross section, looking northeast through the Beaver Pond Zone showing historic drilling, note hole NR07-062, the deepest hole on the property that hit footwall style Cu-PGE mineralization, but missed the gabbro hosted mineralization. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/231518_11ec9619e445b932_004full.jpg Figure 5. Grab samples NP-NR-24-001 (left) with net-textured and NP-NR-24-002 (right) with heavy disseminated chalcopyrite-rich sulphide. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6502/231518_11ec9619e445b932_005full.jpg 1 - Disclaimer - Historical Resource Estimate1 - North Rock Readers are cautioned that the Company has not attempted to verify historic mineral resource estimates and therefore readers should not place any reliance on any historical estimate. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify a historical estimate as a current mineral resource, additionally, a qualified person has not yet determined what work needs to be done to upgrade or verify a historical estimate as a current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Company is not treating any historical estimates as current mineral resources. A Historical Resource Estimate on the Beaver Pond Zone of the North Rock project is quoted at 1 million tons grading 1.2% copper by Bergman (1973) (Ontario Mineral Deposit Inventory record MDI52C11NE00029). The parameters, methodology and categorise used are not known, and thus the reliability of the estimate cannot be determined, however, it is still considered relevant as underground development and diamond drilling in the 1960 & 1970s supported the estimate and provides a guide for future exploration. Qualified Person The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration and a director of the Company and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About GT Resources Inc. GT Resources Inc. (TSXV: GT) is a mineral exploration company with a strategy to develop copper and nickel mining projects in Europe and North America. Our projects are located in Finland and Canada and are comprised of district scale opportunities that have attracted strategic investment from a major mining company. Follow GT Resources on LinkedIn, Twitter, and at www.gtresourcesinc.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Derrick Weyrauch" President & CEO, Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Market Regulator (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 is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States of America. The common shares of GT Resources Inc. have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. Information set forth in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address a company's 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. 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, risks associated with project development; the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in mineral and commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume; and the impact of governmental entities. 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. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231518 SOURCE: GT Resources Inc. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States and Lithuania have signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of the latter's civil nuclear power program.U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and Lithuania's Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys signed the Intergovernmental deal.This agreement marks the first such intergovernmental framework led by the Department of Energy with a specific focus on the deployment of fourth generation small modular reactors and represents a significant element of the United States' advancement of the development of clean, safe, and reliable nuclear power for partners and allies, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a press release.The Agreement will establish a strategic partnership between the United States and Lithuania in the commercial civil nuclear sector, support Lithuania's ambitious objective to reach a net zero energy system by 2050, and reinforce Lithuania's capacity to serve as a regional energy exporter, particularly as all the Baltic states de-link from the Russian electricity grid and connects to Europe's continental grid network.The Agreement will also serve to bolster the U.S. civil nuclear industry. The Agreement envisions the exchange of experts to ensure the promotion of the highest standards of safety and security, the enhancement of physical and security for all civil nuclear facilities in Lithuania, and consultation regarding best practices related to decommissioning and fuel management and workforce development.In their bilateral meeting, U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm highlighted the U.S. nuclear industry's continued interest in providing clean, reliable, and resilient nuclear energy for Lithuania as one key component in strengthening energy security in the region.Lithuania's Minister of Energy Kreivys noted, 'Lithuania is particularly interested in the U.S experience in developing next-generation nuclear power technologies which could provide secure, safe and reliable supply of energy to meet the country's growing energy needs and achieve climate-neutrality goals. This agreement between the U.S. and Lithuania will help to make an informed decision on the development of next generation nuclear power in Lithuania.'Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Condor Resources Inc. ("Condor" or the "Company") (TSXV:CN) advises shareholders to vote online or by phone for the Company's upcoming annual general and special meeting (the "AGSM") scheduled for Wednesday, December 11, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. PST. Due to the ongoing postal strike in Canada and the proxy cut-off time being Wednesday, December 9, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. PST, we strongly recommend that shareholders vote by internet or submit their vote by phone. All of the material related to the AGSM including detailed voting instructions (collectively, the "Meeting Materials") is available on the Company's website at the following link: https://condorresources.com/investors/agm-materials/. The Meeting Materials are also filed on Sedar+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Registered holders in North America can call Computershare at toll free number 1-800-564-6253 to request their control number before voting their Condor shares, and for overseas holders, call direct dial number 1-514-982-7555, and submit their vote online at www.investorvote.com or by phone, at 1-866-732-8683. Alternatively, a registered holder can manually complete, date and sign a proxy and then email it for manual tabulation to the Company's Computershare Relationship Manager, Olivia Craven, at Olivia.Craven@computershare.com. Shareholders who hold Condor shares in a brokerage account should contact their broker for details on how to submit their vote online. The Company will also provide an electronic copy of the Meeting Materials to each shareholder who requests them. Shareholders may contact Jonathan Younie at jyounie@condorresources.com to request the Meeting Materials. About Condor Resources Inc. Condor Resources is a precious and base metals exploration company focused on its portfolio of projects in Peru. The Company's flagship project, Pucamayo, is an 85 km2 property containing a high sulfidation epithermal system with disseminated precious metals mineralization with a large lithocap alteration visible at surface. The Huinac Punta project, a 7,200 Ha property in Huanuco, Peru, has the potential to host a large carbonate replacement style (CRD) silver-dominant polymetallic mineralized body with the potential for discovery of a bulk tonnage silver and base metals deposit. The Company has optioned several large projects to partners who continue to advance these projects. The Company's award-winning exploration team in Peru has a long history of success in discovering and advancing high quality exploration projects and managing the social aspects of its exploration activities. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.condorresources.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Chris Buncic President & Chief Executive Officer For further information please contact the Company at 1-866-642-5707, or by email at info@condorresources.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in applicable forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in such 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 news release. SOURCE: Condor Resources, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - American Pacific Mining Corp. (CSE: USGD) (FSE: 1QC) (OTCQX: USGDF) ("American Pacific" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has received the final assays from 88 rock samples and 141 soil samples collected during the 2024 field season. The Company also completed a radiometric survey interpretation to assist future drill targeting for a 3,000-metre, Phase II program scheduled to begin in Q1, 2025. Field Program Highlights A total of 88 rock samples and 141 soil and silt samples were collected during the summer of 2024 Gold grades of up to 80.6, 38.48 and 19.85 grams per tonne (g/t) were assayed in surface rock samples (see Table 1 and Figure 1) Copper grades of up to 5.2% and 3.3% were assayed in surface rock samples (see Table 1 and Figure 2) Radiometric surveys highlight thorium, potassium and uranium, which can be porphyry system indicators (see Figure 1 with 2024 gold/silver sample locations) The Phase II, 3000-metre drilling program has been finalized and is the permitting process (see Figure 3 for planned hole locations) Disclaimer: Surface samples, by their nature, are selective and may not represent underlying values. "We are encouraged by the field work results that followed up on our 2024 drilling program. The field mapping and rock sampling have extended the mineralized footprint 2.5 kilometres southeast and 2 kilometres west. The data collected presents us with 5 additional target areas that have not historically been drill tested but have now been included in the fully-funded Phase II drill program beginning Q1, 2025," commented Managing Director of Exploration, Eric Saderholm. "The higher-grade silver values were unexpected and clearly add to the potential value of the Madison Property. Our use of radiometric surveys is somewhat unique in exploring for porphyry systems and will help us pinpoint drill targets in 2025. Further refinement of the magnetic data will be completed in December to maximize the potential for new property-wide discoveries." Table 1: Select Notable Gold, Copper and Silver Rock Samples Note: Sample coordinates are in WGS84 UTM To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/231547_a0bcc622d40cfa8a_001full.jpg Figure 1. Composite potassium/thorium radiometrics with 2024 gold/silver rock samples and emerging targets To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/231547_a0bcc622d40cfa8a_002full.jpg Figure 2. Magnetic survey base map with emerging regional Phase II target areas To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/231547_a0bcc622d40cfa8a_003full.jpg Figure 3. Current Au/Cu block model with Phase II planned drill hole traces (blocks are not indicative of NI 43-101 compliant resource) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/231547_a0bcc622d40cfa8a_004full.jpg Madison Project Sampling and Analysis Quality Assurance and Quality Control Statement American Pacific is committed to maintaining high standards of accuracy and reliability in our sampling and analysis procedures. The following Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) measures are employed in our sampling and analysis processes. Analytical Methods for the project include: Paragon Labs 50AR-MS : Multi-element analysis (50 elements) using Aqua Regia digestion with ICP-MS for trace elements. AUAG-GR30 : Gold and silver analysis via 30g fire assay with gravimetric finish for high-precision results. Au-FA30 : Gold determination using fire assay with Aqua Regia digestion and spectroscopy for detailed concentration measurement. OLAR-OES: Over-limit Aqua Regia digestion ensures accurate results for high-concentration samples. ALS Global Ag-OG62 : Silver analysis with Four-Acid digestion for ore-grade concentrations. ME-OG62 : Comprehensive ore-grade element profiling using ICP-AES. Cu-OG62 : Copper-focused analysis tailored for economic studies. Pb-OG62 : Lead quantification for precise ore-grade mapping. ME-GRA21: High-precision gold and silver determination using fire assay with gravimetric finish. About the Madison Copper-Gold Project The Madison Project was host to small-scale production that concluded in 2012, with 2.7 million pounds of copper produced at grades ranging from 20-30% copper. Subsequent drilling at Madison in 2017 included 30.18 metres of 24.50 g/t gold and 0.39% copper and 10.97 metres of 41.65 g/t gold and 0.38% copper (UG17-05 and UG17-06, respectively). Full disclosure can be found in the Company's 43-101 Technical Report for the Fortner Project (americanpacificmining.com) Qualified Person Statement Technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed and approved by the designated Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, Eric Saderholm, P.Geo., Managing Director of Exploration for American Pacific. About American Pacific Mining Corp. American Pacific Mining Corp. is a precious and base metals explorer and developer focused on opportunities in the Western United States. The Company has two flagship assets: 100%-owned Palmer Project, a Volcanic Massive Sulphide-Sulphate (VMS) project in Alaska, and the 100%-owned Madison Project, a past-producing copper-gold project in Montana. For the Madison transaction, American Pacific was selected as a finalist in both 2021 and 2022 for 'Deal of the Year' at the S&P Global Platts Metals Awards, an annual program that recognizes exemplary accomplishments in 16 performance categories. Also in American Pacific's asset portfolio, are three high-grade, precious metals projects located in key mining districts of Nevada, USA: the Ziggurat Gold project, the Gooseberry Silver-Gold project; and the Tuscarora Gold-Silver project. The Company's mission is to grow by the drill bit and by acquisition. On behalf of the American Pacific Mining Corp Board of Directors: Warwick Smith, CEO & Director Corporate Office: Suite 910 - 510 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC, V6C 3A8 Canada Full disclosure can be found in our NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Palmer Project at www.americanpacificmining.com. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231547 SOURCE: American Pacific Mining Corp. Highlights Cosa to acquire a 70% interest in a portfolio of Denison's prospective uranium projects located in the Eastern Athabasca Basin Denison to become 19.95% shareholder of Cosa and commits to a minimum of C$1,000,000 participation in future equity financings Cosa's senior management team is uniquely experienced to advance these mature, discovery-ready projects Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Cosa Resources Corp. (TSX-V: COSA) (OTCQB: COSAF) (FSE: SSKU) ("Cosa" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Acquisition Agreement (the "Acquisition Agreement") with Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison") (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN). Pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement, Cosa will acquire (the "Transaction") an interest in three of Denison's uranium exploration projects located in the Eastern Athabasca Basin (the "Projects"). The Projects consist of (a) the Murphy Lake North Project, located within four kilometres of IsoEnergy's Hurricane Deposit, (b) the Darby Project, located ten kilometres west of Cameco's Cigar Lake Mine, and (c) the Packrat Project, located 19 kilometres southwest of the Rabbit Lake Mill. Keith Bodnarchuk, Cosa President and CEO, commented: "This is a transformational day for Cosa Resources by bringing in an industry-leading shareholder in Denison and adding three strategically selected, discovery-ready exploration projects to Cosa's Athabasca Basin portfolio. All three projects offer tremendous upside potential for our shareholders. Most notably, Murphy Lake North is within four kilometres of and on trend with IsoEnergy's Hurricane Deposit - discovered in 2018 by Cosa's management team and currently the highest grade Indicated Mineral Resource for uranium on the planet at a staggering average grade of 34.5% U3O8. Cosa views this strategic collaboration with Denison as mutually beneficial, allowing Cosa to increase discovery potential while offering Denison exposure to Cosa's exploration success. Cosa remains committed to advancing priority target areas within our existing exploration portfolio, including the 100% owned Ursa Project where we recently intersected multiple intervals of basement-hosted radioactivity. In this highly competitive uranium market, opportunities to acquire projects of this quality are rare. Opportunities to acquire these projects and bring in a supportive long-term shareholder of Denison's quality are almost non-existent. This Transaction is expected to create a competitive advantage for Cosa and differentiate us from our peers. We look forward to closing this agreement and continuing to update the market with our remaining 2024 results and plans for 2025. David Cates, Denison President and CEO, commented: "Denison is pleased to collaborate with Cosa in a way that is mutually beneficial and enhances our exposure to the potential discovery of a meaningful uranium deposit on the Properties and through Cosa's existing and prospective uranium exploration portfolio. With Denison focused on executing on our core mining and development-stage projects, we believe Cosa is an excellent partner to advance exploration of the Projects. The entire Cosa senior management team has worked with Denison previously and have strong technical capabilities, plus a unique familiarity with the Projects and nearby discoveries." The Projects Murphy Lake North Murphy Lake North covers a portion of the Larocque Lake trend and is located 3.2 kilometres east of the Hurricane deposit (Figure 2). The Hurricane deposit is the world's highest-grade Indicated mineral resource for uranium and was discovered and delineated for IsoEnergy Ltd. by current members of Cosa's management, board of directors, and advisors from 2018 through 2022. The Larocque Lake trend also hosts the Larocque Lake zone, the Yelka Prospect, and the Alligator Lake zone. Murphy Lake North contains approximately six kilometres of conductive strike length oriented sub-parallel to conductive features associated with the Hurricane Deposit. Limited historical drilling completed on Murphy Lake North intersected weak mineralization in the basement and zones of alteration and structure in the sandstone and basement. Historical drilling, completed prior to the discovery of Hurricane, focused on the western extremity of the property and left most of the conductive strike length untested. Abundant drill targets exist at Murphy Lake North and diamond drilling is planned for the first half of 2025. The depth to the unconformity at Murphy Lake North is approximately 250 metres. The Darby Project The Darby Project is located ten kilometres west of the Cigar Lake Mine and 17 kilometres north of the McArthur River Mine (Figure 3). Darby is interpreted to contain more than 25 kilometres of conductive strike length including the 8-kilometre-long 95B trend oriented parallel to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake trend. Historical drilling on 95B defined more than 25 metres of unconformity offset where a package of metasedimentary rocks hosting graphitic brittle structure, hydrothermal alteration, and weak uranium mineralization lies in fault contact with underlying granitic rocks. Only one drill hole completed along strike is interpreted to have intersected the optimal target in this prospective geological setting. Weak uranium mineralization has also been intersected in the northeast portion of Darby proximal to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake trend, and along the northern extension of the 4A trend north of Darby. Initial work is expected to include diamond drilling to follow-up historical drilling results and geophysical surveying to refine conductive drill targets. The depth to the unconformity at Darby is between 480 and 650 metres. The Packrat Project The Packrat Project is located 28 kilometres east of the Cigar Lake Mine and 19 kilometres southwest of the Rabbit Lake Mill (Figure 4). Packrat covers a prominent magnetic break and basement-hosted resistivity low trend lying along interpreted magnetic lineaments related to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake magnetic low trend. Limited historical drilling on Packrat which targeted the resistivity low trend and magnetic break intersected weak uranium mineralization and zones of structural disruption and alteration of basement rocks. Initial work at Packrat is expected to include compilation and reinterpretation of historical geophysical and drilling data. The depth to the unconformity at Packrat is less than 100 metres. Figure 1 - Cosa's Eastern Athabasca Uranium Projects with Proposed Acquisition Projects To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9865/231549_a8648d030446ea3c_003full.jpg Figure 2 - The Murphy Lake North Uranium Project To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9865/231549_a8648d030446ea3c_004full.jpg Figure 3 - The Darby Uranium Project To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9865/231549_a8648d030446ea3c_005full.jpg Figure 4 - The Packrat Uranium Project To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9865/231549_a8648d030446ea3c_006full.jpg Transaction Summary Under the terms of the Acquisition Agreement, Cosa will acquire a 70% interest in each of the Projects from Denison. Upon closing of the Transaction, the parties will enter into a joint venture on each of the Projects (each, a "Joint Venture"). Cosa will initially be the operator for all Joint Ventures. In addition, Denison has agreed to participate in subsequent equity financings of Cosa for aggregate total proceeds of a minimum of C$1,000,000. As consideration for the Transaction, Cosa will issue 14,195,506 common shares (the "Consideration Shares"), equivalent to 19.95% of the outstanding Common Shares of Cosa upon completion of the Transaction. Additionally, Cosa will be required to: issue Denison a further C$2,250,000 in deferred consideration shares (the " Deferred Consideration Shares ") within a five-year period beginning at the closing date (the " Closing Date ") of the Transaction; ") within a five-year period beginning at the closing date (the " ") of the Transaction; fund 100% of the first C$1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Murphy Lake North Project by December 31, 2027. Failure to do so will result in Denison's ownership in the Murphy Lake North Project reverting to 51% and Denison will assume operatorship; and fund 100% of the first C$5,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Darby Project by June 30, 2029. Failure to do so will result in Denison's ownership in the Darby Project reverting to 51% and Denison will assume operatorship. The Darby Project is subject to a buydown (the "Buydown") which permits Denison to reclaim up to 60% of the Darby Project and is to be the greater of: (i) C$50,000,000 or (ii) 450% of Cosa's exploration expenditures to date (excluding the initial C$5,000,000 in Cosa funded expenditures) incurred on the Darby claim(s) for the proportion of the property interest subject to the Buydown. The Buydown can be completed through a combination of cash payments and Denison sole-funded work, and must be a minimum of 25% cash. The Buydown will be extinguished if Denison's interest in the Darby Project claims subject to the Buydown fall below 10%, or upon commercial production of 500,000 lbs of U3O8 from the claims subject to the Buydown. Cosa is to appoint a technical advisor nominated by Denison for a period of five years from the Closing Date or until all of Cosa's obligations under the Acquisition Agreement have been fulfilled. The Transaction is an Arm's Length Transaction under the policies of the TSXV. The Transaction will constitute a "Reviewable Transaction" under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). No finder's fees are expected to be paid by the Company in connection with the Transaction. The Consideration Shares and the Deferred Consideration Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance thereof. Trading of the Company's common shares on the TSXV is expected to remain halted, pending receipt and review of documentation relating to the Transaction. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including, but not limited to: (i) acceptance by the TSXV and receipt of other applicable regulatory approvals and (ii) certain other closing conditions customary for a transaction of this nature. Upon completion of the Transaction: (a) current shareholders of Cosa will hold approximately 80.05% of the Common Shares and (b) Denison will hold approximately 19.95% of the outstanding Common Shares. Ancillary Agreements In connection with closing of the Transaction, Cosa and Denison will enter into a royalty agreement for each Project (the "Royalty Agreements"), an investor rights agreement (the "Investor Rights Agreement"), and a joint venture agreement for each Project (the "Joint Venture Agreements"). The Royalty Agreements will provide Denison with a 2% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") on the Darby and Packrat Projects, and a 0.5% NSR on the Murphy Lake North Project. Cosa will have the right to repurchase 50% of the royalties on the Darby Project and the Packrat Project in exchange for a cash payment of C$2,000,000 per project. The Investor Rights Agreement will provide, among other things, that for so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, it will have a pre-emptive right and top-up rights entitling it to maintain and/or otherwise acquire up to a 19.95% interest in Cosa. Additionally, Denison will have the right to nominate one director to Cosa's board of directors for so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares and an additional director to Cosa's board of directors for so long as Denison holds at least 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreements, the parties will form joint ventures in which Cosa will have a 70% interest and Denison will have a 30% interest in each Project as of the closing date. The Transaction is expected to be completed by early 2025. About Denison Mines Denison is a leading uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Denison has an effective 95% interest in its flagship Wheeler River Uranium Project, which is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. In mid-2023, the Phoenix feasibility study was completed for the Phoenix deposit as an ISR mining operation, and an update to the previously prepared 2018 Pre-Feasibility Study was completed for Wheeler River's Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Based on the respective studies, both deposits have the potential to be competitive with the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world. Permitting efforts for the planned Phoenix ISR operation commenced in 2019 and several notable milestones were achieved in 2024 with the submission of federal licensing documents and the proposed final versions of the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Province of Saskatchewan. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake Joint Venture ('MLJV'), which includes unmined uranium deposits (planned for extraction via the MLJV's SABRE mining method starting in 2025) and the McClean Lake uranium mill (currently utilizing a portion of its licensed capacity to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement), plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Joint Venture ('MWJV')'s Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits, and a 69.44% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Tue ('THT') and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake Property ('Waterbury'). The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Taken together, Denison has direct ownership interests in properties covering ~384,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region. Additionally, through its 50% ownership of JCU (Canada) Exploration Company, Limited ('JCU'), Denison holds interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU, 30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU, 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU, 34.4508%). In 2024, Denison is celebrating its 70th year in uranium mining, exploration, and development, which began in 1954 with Denison's first acquisition of mining claims in the Elliot Lake region of northern Ontario. Denison has a market capitalization of approximately ~$2.9 billion (~US$2.0 billion) and its common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the 'TSX') under the symbol 'DML' and on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol 'DNN'. As at September 30, 2024 Denison's financial position includes over $105,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents and over $240,000,000 in uranium investments (Denison MD&A dated 30 September 2024). About Cosa Resources Corp. Cosa Resources is a Canadian uranium exploration company operating in northern Saskatchewan. The portfolio comprises roughly 237,000 ha across multiple 100% owned and Cosa operated Joint Venture projects in the Athabasca Basin region, all of which are underexplored, and the majority reside within or adjacent to established uranium corridors. Cosa's award-winning management team has a long track record of success in Saskatchewan. In 2022, members of the Cosa team were awarded the AME Colin Spence Award for their previous involvement in discovering IsoEnergy's Hurricane deposit. Prior to Hurricane, Cosa personnel led teams or had integral roles in the discovery of Denison's Gryphon deposit and 92 Energy's Gemini Zone and held key roles in the founding of both NexGen and IsoEnergy. Cosa's primary focus through 2024 was initial drilling at the 100% owned Ursa Project, which captures over 60-kilometres of strike length of the Cable Bay Shear Zone, a regional structural corridor with known mineralization and limited historical drilling. It potentially represents the last remaining eastern Athabasca corridor to not yet yield a major discovery, which the Company believes is primarily due to a lack of modern exploration. Modern geophysics completed by Cosa in 2023 identified multiple high-priority target areas characterized by conductive basement stratigraphy beneath or adjacent to broad zones of inferred sandstone alteration - a setting that is typical of most eastern Athabasca uranium deposits. Guided by a recently completed Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) survey, Cosa's second and most recent drilling campaign at Ursa intersected a significant zone of unconformity-style sandstone hosted structure and alteration underlain by several intervals of anomalous radioactivity in the basement rocks. Follow-up is currently in planning for 2025. Technical Disclosure Historical drilling and geophysical results for the Murphy Lake North, Darby, and Packrat projects were sourced from the Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment Database (SMAD). SMAD sources for the Murphy Lake North Project include file numbers 74I-0060, 74I09-0057, 74I09-0064, 74I09-0066, 74I09-0077, 74I09-0098, and MAW00510. SMAD sources for Darby include file numbers 74H14-0021, 74H14-0023, 74H15-0041, 74H15-0053, 74H15-0055, 74H15-0056, 74H15-0066, 74H15-0067, 74I02-0031, 74I02-0042, 74I02-0053, 74I02-0080, 74I02-0095, and MAW00516. SMAD sources for the Packrat Project include file numbers MAW00608, 74I01-0087, and 74I01-0130. Additionally, Denison provided drill hole databases for each of the Murphy Lake North, Darby, and Packrat Projects which comprised compilations of historical drilling results, and, for the Packrat Project, Denison's own drilling results including drill core photographs. Verification of drilling results included comparing historical data to Denison's drill hole database and to segments of drill core from a limited number of drill holes completed at the Murphy Lake North and the Darby Projects. Denison's Packrat Project drilling results were confirmed by reviewing photographs of drill core. Drill hole collar locations were verified from air photos. A total of five drill hole collar locations from Murphy Lake North and Darby were ground-truthed using a handheld GPS. Verification of historical geophysical results was limited to confirming the locations of geophysical survey grids from air photos and evaluating whether interpreted geophysical targets could be reasonably explained by historical drilling results. Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration for Cosa. Mr. Carmichael is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. This news release refers to neighboring properties in which the Company has no interest. Mineralization on those neighboring properties does not necessarily indicate mineralization on the Company's properties. Cautionary Statements 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. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statement or information may relate to: obtaining the required regulatory approvals and fulfilling other closing conditions related to the Transaction; closing of the Transaction; exploration and development of the Projects; commencement of trading of the Common Shares; the impact of the Transaction on Cosa's business; mining operations; the business plan of Cosa; anticipated development, expansion and exploration activities; viability of Cosa's projects and properties; and the entering into of ancillary agreements in connection with the Transaction. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct Cosa's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by Cosa in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate. 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 and risks include, among others: that there is no assurance that the parties hereto will obtain the requisite shareholder and regulatory approvals for the Transaction, and there is no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as anticipated, or at all; there is no assurance that any proposed financings will be completed or as to the actual offering price or gross proceeds to be raised in connection with such financings; following completion of the Transaction, Cosa may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations which may not be available when needed or on acceptable terms and conditions acceptable; compliance with extensive government regulation; domestic and foreign laws and regulations could adversely affect Cosa's business and results of operations; the stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies and these fluctuations may adversely affect the price of Cosa's securities, regardless of its operating performance; the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, and other risk factors set out in Cosa's public disclosure documents. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Cosa as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Cosa does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231549 SOURCE: Cosa Resources Corp. LEEDS, England, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Deepmatter, a leading innovator in digital chemistry, today unveils its rebrand to ChemAI, as part of a strategic growth plan to revolutionize the future of chemistry with artificial intelligence (AI). The rebrand reflects the company's vision to empower scientists with advanced AI tools that redefine chemical discovery and manufacturing. Over recent years, ChemAI has developed and commercialised a suite of AI-driven tools that enable chemists to dramatically improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of synthetic routes and formulations. These tools also uncover novel and innovative synthetic pathways. The AI is underpinned by access to proprietary data: a comprehensive and growing chemical database of over 23 million chemical reactions. Already collaborating with leading pharmaceutical, biotech, and cosmetic firms, ChemAI's rebranding underscores its mission to harness AI and data-driven innovation to transform the discovery, development, and production of chemical products. In conjunction with its rebrand, ChemAI announces significant additions to its Board of Directors to support the company's next growth phase: Dave Norwood has been appointed Chairman. A seasoned leader in deep-tech and life sciences, Dave is the founder of IP Group PLC and Oxford Science Enterprises, which has driven over 1.5 billion in investments into Oxford since 2015. He also co-founded Oxford Nanopore, a global leader in DNA sequencing, among other notable UK tech companies. has been appointed Chairman. A seasoned leader in deep-tech and life sciences, Dave is the founder of IP Group PLC and Oxford Science Enterprises, which has driven over 1.5 billion in investments into Oxford since 2015. He also co-founded Oxford Nanopore, a global leader in DNA sequencing, among other notable UK tech companies. Tony de Fougerolles, PhD has joined as a Non-Executive Director, bringing over 25 years of experience in biotechnology R&D, most recently CEO of Evox Therapeutics. Tony previously served as CSO at Ablynx, where he contributed to the approval of caplacizumab, the first single-domain antibody drug, and advanced immunology and oncology pipelines. As founding CSO at Moderna, he pioneered the foundational mRNA science that underpins the entire sector including the approved mRNA vaccines. He also held leadership roles at Tolerx and Alnylam. Tony serves on the boards of Etherna, Chimeron Bio, Helfie AI and Lift Biosciences. He earned a PhD in Immunology from Harvard and a BSc from McGill. Commenting on these developments, Dave Norwood, Chairman, said: "The rebrand to ChemAI reflects our bold ambition to redefine the role of data and AI in chemistry. By combining a visionary approach with a strengthened leadership team, ChemAI is well-positioned to drive transformative change and unlock unprecedented opportunities in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries." Tony de Fougerolles, Non-Executive Director, added: "I'm thrilled to join ChemAI at such an exciting juncture. The company's AI-powered platform has immense potential to accelerate innovation and improve efficiencies across the chemical ecosystem. Our approach to AI won't replace chemists entirely, but chemists using our tools will be immeasurably more productive and creative than those that don't" ChemAI's rebrand and new Board appointments underscore its commitment to empowering researchers, manufacturers, and innovators with tools that enhance productivity, sustainability, and innovation. As ChemAI, the company remains steadfast in its mission to create a world where data and AI-driven chemistry fuel solutions for global challenges. About ChemAI ChemAI (formerly Deepmatter) is a UK-based privately-held technology company leading innovation in digital chemistry. Leveraging AI, machine learning, , ChemAI optimizes chemical research and manufacturing, driving breakthroughs across the chemical, pharmaceutical, and material science industries. Its proprietary platform combines proprietary chemical reaction data, large language model (LLM)-enabled data extraction tools, and domain-specific AI for route prediction, reaction optimization, and automation control. For more information, visit chemai.io Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568474/ChemAI_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chemai-ai-driven-digital-chemistry-pioneer-announces-strategic-rebrand-and-key-board-appointments-302317422.html Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FWB: A0I0) (MUN: A0I0) (BER: A0I0) (the "Company" or "Appia") is pleased to announce that it has joined the SENAI MAGBRAS initiative which will develop the first rare earth permanent magnet facility in Latin America. The pilot facility is located in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais State - Brazil. The MAGBRAS project was established to develop and implement a roadmap towards national production of rare earth permanent magnets, and includes the Federations of Industries of Santa Catarina (FIESC) and Minas Gerais (FIEMG), together with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), along with numerous private and public sector companies. Part of the Rota 2030/MOVER program, the project aims to establish a complete and permanent rare earth production chain in the country, and to enable Brazil to become an important player on the world stage. The MAGBRAS consortium plans on developing commercial production of permanent magnets in Brazil using in-country resources "From Mines to Magnets" applying the following plan: Identification of technological challenges in producing permanent magnets. To develop and test solutions to address the identified technological challenges. Implementation of a Pilot Plant to test the metallurgical production of permanent magnets using the resources identified by local production and exploration projects. Development and implementation of an industrial scale permanent magnet facility with industry collaboration and support. Stephen Burega, President, said, "Appia's contribution to MAGBRAS will include an in-kind commitment to support the management and development of the program as well as to provide a potential future source of light and heavy rare earths to be used in the production of Brazilian permanent magnets. Appia is pleased to participate in this extremely important intiative in support of the development of a fully integrated, in-country solution to build rare earth permanent magnets. It is our hope that this initiative will grow and Appia's PCH project can be a key source of the crucial heavy rare earths - Dysprosium and Terbium - needed in the production process to produce magnets with significantly stronger magnetic fields." About Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (Appia) Appia is a publicly traded Canadian company in the rare earth element and uranium sectors. The Company holds the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in the PCH Ionic Adsorption Clay Project (See June 9th, 2023 Press Release - Click HERE) which is 40,963.18 ha. in size and located within the Goias State of Brazil. (See January 11th, 2024 Press Release - Click HERE) The Company is also focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements and gallium on the Alces Lake property, and exploring for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Otherside, Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 94,982.39 hectares (234,706.59 acres) in Saskatchewan. The Company also has a 100% interest in 13,008 hectares (32,143 acres), with rare earth elements and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones in the Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario. Appia has 149.4 million common shares outstanding, 170.8 million shares fully diluted. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For more information, visit www.appiareu.com As part of our ongoing effort to keep investors, interested parties and stakeholders updated, we have several communication portals. If you have any questions online (X, Facebook, LinkedIn) please feel free to send direct messages. To book a one-on-one 30-minute Zoom video call, please click here. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231546 SOURCE: Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE: M) (OTCQB: MYRUF) (FSE: C3Q) ("Myriad" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has completed its maiden drill program at Copper Mountain. Across all 34 boreholes, drilling encountered 30 intervals greater than 3 ft and over 1,000 ppm eU3O8 (Figure 1), 56 intervals greater than 3 feet over 500 ppm eU3O8, and 165 intervals over a minimum of 3 feet that are greater than 200 ppm eU3O8. Results of equivalent uranium (eU3O8) grades across all boreholes are provided in the appendices hereto. Results from the final 11 holes continued to validate historical drilling and delivered higher-grade results than anticipated, a consistent theme throughout the whole drill program. And in a significant development, the most recent drilling has confirmed that uranium mineralisation occurs below the general maximum depth of historical drilling (approx. 500 to 600 feet). The potential of this deeper mineralisation is highly significant and will be investigated further through geophysics and will be factored into drill targeting for the 2025 drill program. Mineralisation deeper than 600 feet is entirely new relative to historical resource estimates and could increase the potential of the entire Project. Chemical assay results may differ from spectral gamma ray results. As previously disclosed, a recent gamma probe calibration test at the US Department of Energy calibration facility in Casper, Wyoming, indicated that reported grades for boreholes 1 to 6 may be understated by as much as 13%, including CAN0006's reported peak grade of 8,060 ppm. The maiden drill program is now complete and crews have been de-mobilized. The technical team is currently logging and photographing core and shipping samples to ALS Laboratories in Vancouver, BC. Chemical assay results are expected over the coming months. Archaeological and wildlife surveys are underway in connection with the Company's submission to regulators of a large-scale plan of operations for 2025. This extensive exploration program will involve geophysics and continued drilling at Canning and other high-potential target areas. Based on the successful maiden drill program, the Company has also focused on vastly increasing its footprint at Copper Mountain by staking additional acreage across the wider Project area and important nearby prospects revealed by proprietary data and the results of recent exploration work. Highlights Drilling continued to return highly encouraging eU 3 O 8 results from the Canning Deposit area over a strike length of some 2,500 ft (~750 m). Uranium mineralisation was encountered below the historical "hard deck" of 500 to 600 feet, which brings an exciting new dimension to the Project. Several new intervals from boreholes CAN0024 to CAN0034 reported average grade greater than 1,000 ppm eU 3 O 8 and peak grade reached up to 3,847 ppm eU 3 O 8 in borehole CAN0024. All high-grade intervals exceeding 1,000 ppm over a minimum of 3 feet are listed as follows: CAN0001: 1,924 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.28 feet (peak of 2,886 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 160.56 feet) CAN0004: 2,160 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 5.58 feet (peak of 3,751 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 226.81 feet) CAN0004: 1,215 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 4.59 feet (peak of 1,515 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 243.87 feet) CAN0004: 1,698 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.89 feet (peak of 2,644 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 256.66 feet) CAN0005: 1,917 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.89 feet (peak of 2,329 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 391.47 feet) CAN0005: 1,677 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 18.70 feet (peak of 2,601 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 561.37 feet) CAN0005: 1,035 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.28 feet (peak of 1,152 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 572.20 feet) CAN0006: 1,744 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.89 feet (peak of 2,639 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 136.94 feet) CAN0006: 1,719 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.89 feet (peak of 2,262 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 179.25 feet) CAN0006: 2,436 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.61 feet (peak of 3,710 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 228.12 feet) CAN0006: 5,936 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 7.54 feet (peak of 8,060 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 267.48 feet) CAN0006: 1,733 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 8.53 feet (peak of 2,263 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 313.73 feet) CAN0006: 2,105 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 20.01 feet (peak of 5,183 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 352.76 feet) CAN0006: 1,524 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.28 feet (peak of 1,972 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 379.33 feet) CAN0006: 1,765 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.23 feet (peak of 2,410 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 414.43 feet) CAN0006: 2,417 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 8.20 feet (peak of 5,219 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 444.93 feet) CAN0006: 1,964 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.61 feet (peak of 2,890 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 455.43 feet) CAN0008: 2,173 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 5.25 feet (peak of 3,346 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 280.93 feet) CAN0008: 1,599 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 14.10 feet (peak of 2,367 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 341.94 feet) CAN0010: 1,614 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 4.59 feet (peak of 2,012 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 272.73 feet) CAN0010: 1,110 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 4.59 feet (peak of 1,184 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 560.72 feet) CAN0013: 1,881 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 8.20 feet (peak of 2,353 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 305.53 feet) CAN0013: 1,286 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.89 feet (peak of 1,595 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 330.13 feet) CAN0021: 2,530 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.56 feet (peak of 3,870 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 301.60 feet) CAN0021: 1,714 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 4.26 feet (peak of 2,340 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 330.46 feet) CAN0023: 1,644 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 8.53 feet (peak of 2,095 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 448.87 feet) CAN0024: 2,471 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 11.15 feet (peak of 3,847 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 335.38 feet) CAN0030: 1,108 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 3.61 feet (peak of 1,158 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 337.35 feet) CAN0034: 2,530 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 6.56 feet (peak of 3,870 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 301.60 feet) CAN0034: 1,714 ppm eU 3 O 8 over 4.26 feet (peak of 2,340 ppm eU 3 O 8 at 330.46 feet) Spectral gamma ray logging results show elevated uranium mineralisation (greater than 200 ppm eU 3 O 8 ) across multiple intercepts in almost every hole drilled during this campaign. Across all 34 holes drilled, there were 165 intervals over a minimum of 3 feet that are greater than 200 ppm eU 3 O 8 , 56 intervals greater than 500 ppm eU 3 O 8 , and 30 intervals greater than 1,000 ppm eU 3 O 8 . It is important to note that this initial drill program is focused only on the Canning Deposit area, itself highly significant, but there are also six other historical deposit areas at Copper Mountain previously identified by Union Pacific, namely Fuller, Mint, Allard, Hesitation, Arrowhead and Gem. The Project area also includes prospective targets such as Midnight, Knob, Bonanza, and Kermac/Day, all of which have shown excellent potential through historical exploration work. In addition, the Copper Mountain Project Area includes the formerly producing Arrowhead and Bonanza uranium mines, which are understood to have produced 0.50 Mlbs at 0.15% U 3 O 8 and 0.78 Mlbs at 1.3% U 3 O 8 respectively. CEO Thomas Lamb commented: "Our maiden results are excellent and have exceeded our expectations by a significant margin. They have verified some of the uranium mineralisation targeted by Union Pacific and highlighted additional potential. The 2.76 GT% intercept in CAN0024 is truly outstanding for that borehole location. We achieved the extraordinary result of 30 intervals over 1000 ppm across 34 holes and a peak grade of 8,060 ppm (likely to be corrected upwards by roughly 13%). "Also very exciting is that we have encountered elevated uranium below Union Pacific's 'hard deck', which is what we were targeting as part of this drilling phase. During the previous uranium cycle Neutron Energy held portions of Copper Mountain but was not able to consolidate ownership. However, their initial data inventory (2008) stated that 'Field work, drilling and evaluations of the data produced has established that there is a very large resource of uranium at Copper Mountain. Perhaps as much as several hundred million pounds.' Finding uranium below Union's historical hard deck is an important step toward us eventually reaching that world-class potential." George van der Walt, Myriad's Qualified Person for the Project and Technical Advisor, commented: "It is encouraging that the drilling has continued to provide results that are consistent with those found by Union Pacific historically as well as finding mineralisation at depths below those historically drilled. This is an aspect that needs to be investigated further. Myriad has intersected exceptional eU3O8 grades in almost all 34 boreholes drilled this season, including 30 intervals above 1000 ppm and a peak grade of 8,060 ppm (which could increase by 13% due to probe calibration adjustments). These high grades compare well with industry peers and point to significant potential value at Canning and other historical deposit areas." All significant intervals derived from Spectral Gamma Ray (SGR) logging at 1000 ppm (0.10%) cut-off (over a minimum of 3 feet) include the following intervals. Note that grade intervals at 500 ppm (0.05%) and 200 ppm (0.02%) cut-offs are provided in Appendix 1: 1000 ppm Cut-off (minimum 3 feet) Peak Grade Hole ID From (ft) To (ft) Length (ft) eU3O8 (ppm) eU3O8 (%) GT (ft%) eU3O8 (ppm) CAN0001 158.75 162.03 3.28 1924 0.192 0.63 2886 CAN0004 225.01 230.58 5.58 2160 0.216 1.20 3751 CAN0004 240.42 245.02 4.59 1215 0.122 0.56 1515 CAN0004 254.86 261.74 6.89 1698 0.170 1.17 2644 CAN0005 388.68 395.57 6.89 1971 0.197 1.36 2329 CAN0005 546.45 565.14 18.70 1677 0.168 3.14 2601 CAN0005 571.38 574.66 3.28 1035 0.103 0.34 1152 CAN0006 132.84 139.73 6.89 1744 0.174 1.20 2639 CAN0006 173.84 180.73 6.89 1719 0.172 1.18 2262 CAN0006 225.99 229.60 3.61 2436 0.244 0.88 3710 CAN0006 265.35 272.90 7.54 5936 0.594 4.48 8060 CAN0006 312.26 320.78 8.53 1733 0.173 1.48 2263 CAN0006 339.48 359.49 20.01 2105 0.211 4.21 5183 CAN0006 377.86 381.14 3.28 1524 0.152 0.50 1972 CAN0006 410.00 416.23 6.23 1765 0.176 1.10 2410 CAN0006 439.19 447.39 8.20 2417 0.242 1.98 5219 CAN0006 453.62 457.23 3.61 1964 0.196 0.71 2890 CAN0008 278.47 283.72 5.25 2173 0.217 1.14 3346 CAN0008 334.56 348.66 14.10 1599 0.160 2.26 2367 CAN0010 270.60 275.19 4.59 1614 0.161 0.74 2012 CAN0010 557.27 561.86 4.59 1110 0.111 0.51 1184 CAN0013 302.09 310.29 8.20 1881 0.188 1.54 2353 CAN0013 328.33 335.22 6.89 1286 0.129 0.89 1595 CAN0021 297.82 304.38 6.56 2530 0.253 1.66 3870 CAN0021 328.33 332.59 4.26 1714 0.171 0.73 2340 CAN0023 445.42 453.95 8.53 1644 0.164 1.40 2095 CAN0024 326.36 337.51 11.15 2471 0.247 2.76 3847 CAN0030 336.20 339.81 3.61 1108 0.111 0.40 1158 CAN0034 146.29 149.90 3.61 1442 0.144 0.52 1765 CAN0034 153.83 157.44 3.61 1304 0.130 0.47 1542 Notes: 1) The interval lengths are "down the hole" and may not represent true width intervals as the exact nature of the mineralisation distribution has not been determined yet. However, most of the holes are being drilled at an inclination of 50 degrees to test a model that indicates steeply dipping mineralisation. 2) Intervals were selected over a minimum of 3 feet, with grade below cut-off less than 1 foot being included in the total interval. 3) The possible effects of disequilibrium have not been accounted for in the determination of eU3O8 grades. The boreholes represent a combination of diamond core and reverse circulation drilling that was planned to verify mineralisation identified in drilling by Union Pacific in the late 1970s and to test a grade shell model (above 0.05% eU3O8) created from cross-sections, as reported here and here. The majority of the recently drilled boreholes reported here were drilled on the western side of the high-grade zone of the Canning Deposit area. This demonstrates the presence of high-grade mineralisation across a strike length of at least 2,500 ft (~750 m). The drilling crews will now stand down for the winter season, while Myriad completes logging and sampling and plans a more extensive exploration program to continue drilling at Canning and investigate other target areas. Figure 1: Map of completed boreholes in the Canning Deposit Area. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6301/231557_3eec51c3d451b966_002full.jpg Deeper Mineralisation Some of the boreholes drilled by Myriad have encountered low to moderately elevated mineralisation at depths below the average levels drilled by Union Pacific historically (Figure 2). Some significant intervals (>200 ppm eU3O8 over 3 feet) at these depths (downhole) include: CAN0015: 242 ppm eU3O8 over 3.28 feet (from 676.01 feet to 679.29 feet) 242 ppm eU3O8 over 3.28 feet (from 676.01 feet to 679.29 feet) CAN0015: 345 ppm eU3O8 over 4.92 feet (from 717.66 feet to 722.58 feet) 345 ppm eU3O8 over 4.92 feet (from 717.66 feet to 722.58 feet) CAN0031: 274 ppm eU3O8 over 6.89 feet (from 781.62 feet to 788.51 feet) 274 ppm eU3O8 over 6.89 feet (from 781.62 feet to 788.51 feet) CAN0031: 434 ppm eU3O8 over 12.46 feet (from 791.79 feet to 804.26 feet) 434 ppm eU3O8 over 12.46 feet (from 791.79 feet to 804.26 feet) CAN0031: 276 ppm eU3O8 over 3.28 feet (from 781.62 feet to 788.51 feet) 276 ppm eU3O8 over 3.28 feet (from 781.62 feet to 788.51 feet) CAN0031: 445 ppm eU3O8 over 3.61 feet (from 1,006.96 feet to 1,014.83 feet) 445 ppm eU3O8 over 3.61 feet (from 1,006.96 feet to 1,014.83 feet) CAN0034: 246 ppm eU3O8 over 7.87 feet (from 1,322.17 feet to 1,325.78 feet) 246 ppm eU3O8 over 7.87 feet (from 1,322.17 feet to 1,325.78 feet) CAN0034: 243 ppm eU3O8 over 3.94 feet (from 1,488.46 feet to 1,492.40 feet) The confirmation of zones of elevated mineralisation below the average levels previously drilled by Union Pacific is encouraging and needs to be investigated further. Figure 2: Side view (looking east) showing the average levels of drilling by Union Pacific (white traces) relative to drilling by Myriad, with elevated zone of mineralisation indicated (yellow ellipses). To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6301/231557_3eec51c3d451b966_003full.jpg Equipment and Methods Drilling was performed by Harris Exploration using two diamond core (DD) rigs producing HQ (63.5 mm / 2.5 in) core diameter and 96 mm (3.78 in) in hole diameter, and one reverse circulation (RC) rig using a 140 mm (5.5 in) hammer bit. Core samples have been packed into core trays and transported to Riverton for further processing. RC hole runs were drilled at 5 ft intervals and split on site to produce two representative samples that were then transported to Riverton for further processing. All mineralised intervals will be submitted to ALS Laboratories for chemical analysis to confirm the intervals reported by gamma logging. Downhole logging was performed by DGI Geoscience (DGI). A combination of Spectral Gamma Ray (SGR) and Optical Televiewer and/or Acoustic Televiewer was applied. The probes are manufactured by Mount Sopris Instruments with details as follows: QL40 SGR BGO (Sx): Measures the energy of gamma emissions from natural sources within formations crossed by a borehole. It counts the number of gamma emissions at each energy level aiding in lithological determination and correlation. The probe uses a Bismuth Germanium Oxide scintillation crystal. QL40 SGR 2G CeBr3 (Sx): Measures the energy of gamma emissions from natural sources within formations crossed by a borehole. It counts the number of gamma emissions at each energy level aiding in lithological determination and correlation. The probe uses a CeBr3 (Cerium Bromide) scintillation crystal. QL 40 ABI 2G (At, Gr): Captures high-resolution, oriented images of the borehole wall, allowing the orientation of acoustically visible features to be determined. This includes fractures, bedding/rock fabric, breakouts, bedding planes and other structural features. Contains a built in Natural Gamma sensor that measures the gamma emissions from natural sources in the formation. QL OBI 2G (Ot, Gr): Captures a high-resolution, oriented image of the borehole wall using a CMOS digital image sensor, allowing the orientation of features to be determined. This includes fractures, bedding/rock fabric, veins, lithological contacts, etc. Contains a built in Natural Gamma sensor that measures the gamma emissions from natural sources in the formation. The SGR probes measure the full energy spectrum of the gamma radiation emitted naturally from within the formations crossed by a borehole. A Full Spectrum Analysis (FSA) is performed on the recorded energy spectra. The FSA derives in real time the concentration of the three main radioisotopes 40K, 238U, 212Th, and thus also provides insight into the mineral composition of the formations. DGI is also running optical and acoustic televiewer, when hole conditions allow, to obtain downhole structural information. Borehole paths are being measured using a gyroscopic deviation tool. Data Verification and Determination of eU3O8 Grades Initial manufacturer calibration certificates have been provided to Myriad by DGI. Downhole gamma measurements are checked for a repeatability by comparing down and up runs in the borehole. DGI is providing conversion of API units measured by the SGR tools to eU3O8 concentrations using a standard conversion theory and formula. DGI also ran a calibration test on both the BGO and CeBr3 SGR probes at the Department of Energy (DOE) calibration test facility in Casper, Wyoming on November 1st, 2024. The data indicates that the CeBr3 SGR probe is measuring accurately in the test pit to within 2% of the expected average value, but that the BGO probe is possibly underestimating eU3O8 grade by as much as 13%. The first six boreholes (CAN0001 - CAN0006) were run with the BGO probe and the remainder are all being run with the CeBr3 probe. Further comparison will be made with sample assays from an accredited laboratory before any adjustments are made to the reported grade data. Radiometric Disequilibrium Radiometric disequilibrium refers to the loss or gain of uranium in the mineralised zone during geologic processes, which can disrupt the equilibrium between the parent isotope and its daughter products. At this stage the effect of disequilibrium has not been fully assessed at Copper Mountain, but it should be noted that geochemical analysis of samples from the drilling could report results for U3O8 that differ from the eU3O8 grades that have been derived from the gamma logging. Some historical reports state that closed can assays from Copper Mountain indicated little disequilibrium, however differences between gamma probe data and were observed. For this reason, the reported eU3O8 values should be considered as preliminary and are subject to data verification by chemical assay with appropriate QAQC. Myriad is in the process of collecting the samples of all the mineralised intervals from drilling and will submit them to a commercial laboratory for full chemical analysis. The results will then be compared to determine the potential effect of disequilibrium, or other factors, on the final uranium grades that will be used in mineral resource estimation when there is sufficient data to allow it. Geological Background Uranium mineralisation at Copper Mountain occurs in two distinct geologic environments: Fracture-controlled uranium mineralisation hosted in Archaean-aged granite, syenite, isolated occurrences along the margins of diabase dikes and in association with meta-sediment inclusions in granite; and As disseminations in coarse-grained sandstones and coatings on cobbles and boulders in the Tertiary-aged Teepee Trail Formation at the Arrowhead (Little Mo) mine and other localities. Uranium mineralisation is thought to have resulted through supergene and hydrothermal enrichment processes. In both cases, the source of the uranium is thought to be the granites of the Owl Creek Mountains. Historical Estimates While Myriad Uranium has determined that the historical estimates described in this news release are relevant to the Copper Mountain Project Area and are reasonably reliable given the authors and circumstances of their preparation, and are suitable for public disclosure, readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these historical estimates as an indicator of current mineral resources or mineral reserves at the Project Area. A qualified person (as defined under NI 43-101) has not done sufficient work to classify any of the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and Myriad Uranium is not treating the historical estimates as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve. Also, while the Copper Mountain Project Area contains all or most of each deposit referred to, some of the resources referred to may be located outside the current Copper Mountain Project Area. Furthermore, the estimates are decades old and based on drilling data for which the logs are, as of yet, predominantly unavailable. The historical resource estimates, therefore, should not be unduly relied upon. Inherent limitations of the historical estimates include that the nature of the mineralisation (fracture hosted) makes estimation from drill data less reliable than other deposit types (e.g. those that are thick and uniform). From Myriad Uranium's viewpoint, limitations include that the Company has not been able to verify the data itself and that the estimate may be optimistic relative to subsequent work which applied a "delayed fission neutron" (DFN) factor to calculate grades. On the other hand, DFN is controversial, in that the approach is viewed by some experts as too conservative. Nevertheless, it was applied in later resource estimations by Union Pacific relating to Copper Mountain. To verify the historical estimates and potentially re-state them as current resources, a program of digitization of available data would be required. This must be followed by re-logging and/or re-drilling to generate new data to the extent necessary that it is comparable with the original data, or new data that can be used to establish the correlation and continuity of geology and grades between boreholes with sufficient confidence to estimate mineral resources. Qualified Person The scientific or technical information in this news release respecting the Company's Copper Mountain Project has been approved by George van der Walt, MSc., Pr.Sci.Nat., FGSSA, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr van der Walt is employed by The MSA Group (Pty) Ltd (MSA), a leading geological consultancy providing services to the minerals industry, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has more than 20 years industry experience and sufficient relevant experience in the type and style of mineralisation to report on exploration results. The information and interpretations thereof are based on the Qualified Person's initial review of historical reports, which were recently obtained by the Company. The information did not include original data such as drilling records, sampling, analytical or test data underlying the information or opinions contained in the written documents. Therefore, the Qualified Person has not reviewed or otherwise verified the information and has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Qualified Person considers the information to be relevant based on the amount and quality of work undertaken and reported historically. A more thorough review of any available original data will be undertaken and reported on in more detail in future releases. About Myriad Uranium Corp. Myriad Uranium Corp. is a uranium exploration company with an earnable 75% interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. Copper Mountain hosts several known historical uranium deposits and historical uranium mines, including the Arrowhead Mine which produced 500,000 lbs of eU3O8. Copper Mountain saw extensive drilling and development by Union Pacific during the late 1970s including the development of a mine plan to fuel a planned fleet of California Edison reactors. Operations ceased in 1980 before mining could commence due to falling uranium prices. Approximately 2,000 boreholes have been drilled at Copper Mountain and the Project Area has significant exploration upside. Union Pacific is estimated to have spent C$117 million (2024 dollars) exploring and developing Copper Mountain, generating significant historical resource estimates which are detailed here. A recent detailed update with Crux Investor can be viewed here. The Company's presentation can be viewed here. News releases regarding historical drilling can be viewed here and here. Myriad also has a 50% interest in the Millen Mountain Property in Nova Scotia, Canada, with the other 50% held by Probe Gold Inc. For further information, please refer to Myriad's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), contact Myriad by telephone at +1.604.418.2877, or refer to Myriad's website at www.myriaduranium.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Company's business, plans, outlook and business strategy. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "likely", "expect," "anticipate," "intend", "estimate", "plan", "forecast", "project" and "believe" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect, including with respect to the Company's business plans respecting the exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, the proposed work program on the Company's mineral properties and the potential and economic viability of the Company's mineral properties. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in costs; litigation; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; and technological or operational difficulties. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. APPENDIX 1: Equivalent uranium (eU3O8) intervals for all holes at 500 ppm and 200 ppm cut-off (over 3 ft minimum) 500 ppm Cut-off (minimum 3 feet) Hole ID From (ft) To (ft) Length (ft) eU3O8 (ppm) eU3O8 (%) GT (ft%) CAN0001 157.44 162.36 4.92 1,520 0.152 0.75 CAN0003 286.34 289.62 3.28 644 0.064 0.21 CAN0004 224.68 250.92 26.24 1,195 0.119 3.13 CAN0004 254.20 263.71 9.51 1,410 0.141 1.34 CAN0005 388.02 396.22 8.20 1,771 0.177 1.45 CAN0005 534.64 575.97 41.33 1,197 0.120 4.95 CAN0006 130.22 143.01 12.79 1,266 0.127 1.62 CAN0006 149.24 156.13 6.89 753 0.075 0.52 CAN0006 173.51 182.04 8.53 1,530 0.153 1.30 CAN0006 223.70 231.90 8.20 1,471 0.147 1.21 CAN0006 264.37 273.22 8.86 5,173 0.517 4.58 CAN0006 289.95 293.89 3.94 1,396 0.140 0.55 CAN0006 309.96 321.44 11.48 1,504 0.150 1.73 CAN0006 335.54 360.80 25.26 1,836 0.184 4.64 CAN0006 374.58 382.45 7.87 1,189 0.119 0.94 CAN0006 408.36 418.86 10.50 1,314 0.131 1.38 CAN0006 430.01 433.29 3.28 1,034 0.103 0.34 CAN0006 438.54 457.56 19.02 1,717 0.172 3.27 CAN0007 455.26 459.53 4.26 935 0.094 0.40 CAN0007 467.40 471.01 3.61 655 0.066 0.24 CAN0007 531.36 539.89 8.53 663 0.066 0.57 CAN0008 277.49 287.00 9.51 1,546 0.155 1.47 CAN0008 315.86 321.77 5.90 864 0.086 0.51 CAN0008 332.92 349.98 17.06 1,453 0.145 2.48 CAN0010 70.52 75.44 4.92 966 0.097 0.48 CAN0010 82.00 89.22 7.22 872 0.087 0.63 CAN0010 269.62 276.18 6.56 1,347 0.135 0.88 CAN0010 287.33 292.90 5.58 593 0.059 0.33 CAN0010 551.37 565.80 14.43 876 0.088 1.26 CAN0011 386.71 391.63 4.92 877 0.088 0.43 CAN0012 328.33 335.87 7.54 718 0.072 0.54 CAN0013 290.94 310.94 20.01 1,251 0.125 2.50 CAN0013 321.11 337.18 16.07 950 0.095 1.53 CAN0014 568.42 574.33 5.90 960 0.096 0.57 CAN0019 267.65 277.16 9.51 668 0.067 0.64 CAN0019 292.25 301.43 9.18 629 0.063 0.58 CAN0019 583.18 588.43 5.25 712 0.071 0.37 CAN0020 439.85 448.38 8.53 910 0.091 0.78 CAN0021 297.17 307.99 10.82 1,789 0.179 1.94 CAN0021 327.02 333.25 6.23 1,395 0.139 0.87 CAN0023 317.50 320.78 3.28 760 0.076 0.25 CAN0023 370.31 374.25 3.94 664 0.066 0.26 CAN0023 443.13 457.23 14.10 1,269 0.127 1.79 CAN0024 325.38 337.84 12.46 2,287 0.229 2.85 CAN0025 82.98 88.89 5.90 1,139 0.114 0.67 CAN0025 90.86 94.46 3.61 1,026 0.103 0.37 CAN0026 280.11 283.72 3.61 823 0.082 0.30 CAN0028 209.59 214.51 4.92 630 0.063 0.31 CAN0030 329.64 342.76 13.12 910 0.091 1.19 CAN0030 400.82 405.41 4.59 651 0.065 0.30 CAN0030 435.26 439.19 3.94 1,243 0.124 0.49 CAN0031 342.76 348.99 6.23 657 0.066 0.41 CAN0031 382.12 389.66 7.54 637 0.064 0.48 CAN0031 398.52 401.80 3.28 647 0.065 0.21 CAN0031 415.58 419.84 4.26 655 0.065 0.28 CAN0034 142.02 159.08 17.06 1,013 0.101 1.73 200 ppm Cut-off (minimum 3 feet) Hole ID From (ft) To (ft) Length (ft) eU3O8 (ppm) eU3O8 (%) GT (ft%) CAN0001 136.78 143.34 6.56 517 0.052 0.34 CAN0001 153.18 164.33 11.15 857 0.086 0.96 CAN0001 230.91 235.83 4.92 593 0.059 0.29 CAN0001 289.62 295.20 5.58 538 0.054 0.30 CAN0001 329.64 333.25 3.61 301 0.030 0.11 CAN0002 266.99 274.54 7.54 313 0.031 0.24 CAN0002 322.75 326.03 3.28 320 0.032 0.11 CAN0002 335.54 339.48 3.94 548 0.055 0.22 CAN0002 358.18 364.41 6.23 316 0.032 0.20 CAN0003 264.70 267.98 3.28 281 0.028 0.09 CAN0003 284.70 291.26 6.56 478 0.048 0.31 CAN0003 292.90 308.98 16.07 295 0.029 0.47 CAN0003 310.94 315.21 4.26 231 0.023 0.10 CAN0003 317.18 320.46 3.28 235 0.024 0.08 CAN0003 334.56 347.35 12.79 430 0.043 0.55 CAN0003 352.60 373.92 21.32 283 0.028 0.60 CAN0004 224.02 275.19 51.17 962 0.096 4.92 CAN0004 277.49 281.10 3.61 239 0.024 0.09 CAN0004 283.72 293.23 9.51 378 0.038 0.36 CAN0004 303.73 309.30 5.58 433 0.043 0.24 CAN0005 340.79 348.34 7.54 358 0.036 0.27 CAN0005 387.04 400.49 13.45 1,204 0.120 1.62 CAN0005 412.30 417.22 4.92 370 0.037 0.18 CAN0005 518.57 530.70 12.14 365 0.037 0.44 CAN0005 534.31 582.53 48.22 1,071 0.107 5.16 CAN0006 129.56 157.11 27.55 861 0.086 2.37 CAN0006 172.53 183.68 11.15 1,253 0.125 1.40 CAN0006 199.10 202.70 3.61 392 0.039 0.14 CAN0006 223.04 232.55 9.51 1,309 0.131 1.25 CAN0006 263.71 273.55 9.84 4,690 0.469 4.61 CAN0006 288.97 298.15 9.18 806 0.081 0.74 CAN0006 303.07 307.66 4.59 743 0.074 0.34 CAN0006 308.98 326.69 17.71 1,133 0.113 2.01 CAN0006 331.94 362.44 30.50 1,587 0.159 4.84 CAN0006 373.92 388.35 14.43 922 0.092 1.33 CAN0006 407.38 422.14 14.76 1,018 0.102 1.50 CAN0006 428.37 434.27 5.90 723 0.072 0.43 CAN0006 437.88 458.22 20.34 1,628 0.163 3.31 CAN0007 313.24 316.52 3.28 479 0.048 0.16 CAN0007 370.64 374.90 4.26 251 0.025 0.11 CAN0007 454.28 463.46 9.18 602 0.060 0.55 CAN0007 466.42 472.32 5.90 533 0.053 0.31 CAN0007 480.85 487.74 6.89 365 0.036 0.25 CAN0007 510.04 514.63 4.59 629 0.063 0.29 CAN0007 516.60 526.11 9.51 405 0.040 0.38 CAN0007 530.05 539.89 9.84 617 0.062 0.61 CAN0008 223.04 227.63 4.59 287 0.029 0.13 CAN0008 276.83 287.66 10.82 1,399 0.140 1.51 CAN0008 314.88 322.75 7.87 729 0.073 0.57 CAN0008 330.62 356.86 26.24 1,094 0.109 2.87 CAN0008 550.38 563.18 12.79 321 0.032 0.41 CAN0009 259.12 262.40 3.28 444 0.044 0.15 CAN0010 69.54 76.10 6.56 809 0.081 0.53 CAN0010 78.39 89.87 11.48 687 0.069 0.79 CAN0010 119.39 129.23 9.84 402 0.040 0.40 CAN0010 268.96 279.13 10.17 980 0.098 1.00 CAN0010 285.69 294.54 8.86 496 0.050 0.44 CAN0010 547.76 568.75 20.99 707 0.071 1.48 CAN0011 201.39 211.23 9.84 323 0.032 0.32 CAN0011 211.89 217.46 5.58 360 0.036 0.20 CAN0011 228.29 247.97 19.68 317 0.032 0.62 CAN0011 249.28 257.48 8.20 307 0.031 0.25 CAN0011 263.71 274.21 10.50 290 0.029 0.30 CAN0011 289.95 304.06 14.10 328 0.033 0.46 CAN0011 318.16 331.94 13.78 270 0.027 0.37 CAN0011 338.50 342.43 3.94 258 0.026 0.10 CAN0011 357.19 363.10 5.90 287 0.029 0.17 CAN0011 370.97 376.87 5.90 246 0.025 0.15 CAN0011 385.40 393.27 7.87 674 0.067 0.53 CAN0012 323.74 340.14 16.40 513 0.051 0.84 CAN0012 344.73 349.65 4.92 262 0.026 0.13 CAN0012 423.45 429.35 5.90 431 0.043 0.25 CAN0012 464.12 470.35 6.23 258 0.026 0.16 CAN0013 287.98 312.26 24.27 1,086 0.109 2.64 CAN0013 316.19 339.81 23.62 811 0.081 1.91 CAN0013 620.25 627.79 7.54 271 0.027 0.20 CAN0014 422.14 425.42 3.28 264 0.026 0.09 CAN0014 538.58 541.86 3.28 312 0.031 0.10 CAN0014 550.38 553.66 3.28 256 0.026 0.08 CAN0014 555.30 576.62 21.32 595 0.060 1.27 CAN0014 582.53 587.78 5.25 222 0.022 0.12 CAN0014 589.74 594.01 4.26 212 0.021 0.09 CAN0014 596.63 615.00 18.37 230 0.023 0.42 CAN0015 166.62 181.71 15.09 359 0.036 0.54 CAN0015 190.24 213.86 23.62 300 0.030 0.71 CAN0015 215.50 226.32 10.82 286 0.029 0.31 CAN0015 232.22 250.92 18.70 274 0.027 0.51 CAN0015 254.20 261.42 7.22 257 0.026 0.19 CAN0015 265.02 268.96 3.94 284 0.028 0.11 CAN0015 270.60 278.14 7.54 249 0.025 0.19 CAN0015 676.01 679.29 3.28 242 0.024 0.08 CAN0015 717.66 722.58 4.92 345 0.034 0.17 CAN0016 525.46 534.31 8.86 367 0.037 0.33 CAN0017 No intervals with eU3O8 greater than 200 ppm CAN0018 269.29 273.55 4.26 451 0.045 0.19 CAN0019 217.14 231.24 14.10 359 0.036 0.51 CAN0019 232.55 279.13 46.58 373 0.037 1.74 CAN0019 287.98 304.06 16.07 482 0.048 0.77 CAN0019 310.62 329.31 18.70 293 0.029 0.55 CAN0019 582.20 590.73 8.53 556 0.056 0.47 CAN0020 438.54 449.36 10.82 787 0.079 0.85 CAN0020 485.77 490.69 4.92 281 0.028 0.14 CAN0020 517.58 520.86 3.28 211 0.021 0.07 CAN0021 128.25 131.86 3.61 389 0.039 0.14 CAN0021 296.18 309.63 13.45 1,507 0.151 2.03 CAN0021 325.05 334.23 9.18 1,057 0.106 0.97 CAN0022 482.16 486.75 4.59 427 0.043 0.20 CAN0022 702.90 707.50 4.59 257 0.026 0.12 CAN0023 310.94 322.10 11.15 442 0.044 0.49 CAN0023 334.89 344.73 9.84 320 0.032 0.31 CAN0023 356.54 362.44 5.90 287 0.029 0.17 CAN0023 368.67 375.23 6.56 541 0.054 0.35 CAN0023 441.82 461.50 19.68 990 0.099 1.95 CAN0023 547.10 550.38 3.28 440 0.044 0.14 CAN0024 224.35 227.63 3.28 336 0.034 0.11 CAN0024 253.22 257.81 4.59 438 0.044 0.20 CAN0024 323.41 338.50 15.09 1,947 0.195 2.94 CAN0024 361.78 366.70 4.92 417 0.042 0.20 CAN0025 82.00 99.06 17.06 761 0.076 1.30 CAN0025 261.42 267.65 6.23 313 0.031 0.19 CAN0025 282.08 290.94 8.86 391 0.039 0.35 CAN0026 207.95 211.89 3.94 432 0.043 0.17 CAN0026 261.42 271.58 10.17 310 0.031 0.32 CAN0026 276.50 284.70 8.20 531 0.053 0.44 CAN0026 298.48 302.74 4.26 389 0.039 0.17 CAN0027 366.05 377.53 11.48 333 0.033 0.38 CAN0027 455.59 459.20 3.61 361 0.036 0.13 CAN0027 462.15 466.09 3.94 312 0.031 0.12 CAN0027 491.02 495.61 4.59 404 0.040 0.19 CAN0028 196.80 217.46 20.66 434 0.043 0.90 CAN0028 276.83 281.10 4.26 564 0.056 0.24 CAN0028 283.06 287.33 4.26 492 0.049 0.21 CAN0029 255.51 301.43 45.92 383 0.038 1.76 CAN0029 307.34 311.93 4.59 245 0.025 0.11 CAN0029 317.50 324.39 6.89 291 0.029 0.20 CAN0030 116.77 131.20 14.43 337 0.034 0.49 CAN0030 152.85 182.04 29.19 349 0.035 1.02 CAN0030 209.92 234.52 24.60 316 0.032 0.78 CAN0030 326.36 350.30 23.94 641 0.064 1.53 CAN0030 387.37 394.58 7.22 308 0.031 0.22 CAN0030 397.21 409.67 12.46 450 0.045 0.56 CAN0030 419.18 422.46 3.28 263 0.026 0.09 CAN0030 433.29 440.18 6.89 848 0.085 0.58 CAN0031 299.79 304.71 4.92 302 0.030 0.15 CAN0031 341.78 354.90 13.12 546 0.055 0.72 CAN0031 356.54 360.14 3.61 274 0.027 0.10 CAN0031 373.59 403.44 29.85 505 0.051 1.51 CAN0031 407.38 411.31 3.94 218 0.022 0.09 CAN0031 413.94 440.50 26.57 409 0.041 1.09 CAN0031 452.64 458.54 5.90 333 0.033 0.20 CAN0031 781.62 788.51 6.89 274 0.027 0.19 CAN0031 791.79 804.26 12.46 434 0.043 0.54 CAN0031 828.53 831.81 3.28 276 0.028 0.09 CAN0031 1006.96 1014.83 7.87 445 0.045 0.35 CAN0032 429.02 432.96 3.94 274 0.027 0.11 CAN0032 777.69 784.58 6.89 258 0.026 0.18 CAN0033 285.36 294.54 9.18 256 0.026 0.24 CAN0033 296.18 313.24 17.06 253 0.025 0.43 CAN0033 335.54 344.40 8.86 291 0.029 0.26 CAN0033 346.04 453.95 107.91 323 0.032 3.49 CAN0034 110.86 125.30 14.43 372 0.037 0.54 CAN0034 126.94 138.42 11.48 298 0.030 0.34 CAN0034 139.73 163.34 23.62 829 0.083 1.96 CAN0034 222.38 227.30 4.92 459 0.046 0.23 CAN0034 334.56 342.43 7.87 252 0.025 0.20 APPENDIX 2: Table of all drilled positions Borehole ID Easting (X) Northing (Y) Elevation (ft) Azimuth Dip Type EOH (ft) CAN0001 267366.4 4809808.5 6036.1 0 -90 DD 501 CAN0002 267364.9 4809808.5 6037.4 359 -54 DD 501 CAN0003 267356 4809727 6037 0 -50 RC 750 CAN0004 267363.9 4809923 6054.1 0 -90 DD 350 CAN0005 267406.8 4809791.4 6030.2 16 -47 RC 600 CAN0006 267416.1 4809882.5 6040.8 0 -90 DD 475 CAN0007 267405.3 4809791.4 6030.5 352 -50 RC 600 CAN0008 267300.3 4809832.8 6050.5 0 -50 DD 605 CAN0009 267473.2 4809841.8 6033 0 -50 RC 400 CAN0010 266941.5 4809983.2 6165.2 0 -90 DD 635 CAN0011 266841 4809909 6117 0 -50 RC 500 CAN0012 266945 4809915 6155 0 -50 RC 650 CAN0013 267250 4809824 6077 14 -49.6 DD 700 CAN0014 267032 4809837 6182 0 -50 RC 713 CAN0015 266819 4809993 6136 0 -90 DD 863.5 CAN0016 266946 4809825 6164 0 -50 RC 660 CAN0017 266957 4809754 6140 0 -50 DD 805 CAN0018 267533 4809838 6035 0 -50 DD 414 CAN0019 266836 4809885 6111 0 -50 RC 650 CAN0020 267413 4809755 6035 0 -50 DD 996 CAN0021 266858 4809948 6128 0 -50 RC 400 CAN0022 266902 4809830 6153 0 -50 RC 1100 CAN0023 267388 4809791 6034 0 -50 DD 951 CAN0024 267036 4809882 6177 0 -50 DD 588 CAN0025 266941 4809960 6168 0 -50 RC 400 CAN0026 266821 4809967 6130 0 -50 RC 650 CAN0027 267442 4809802 6039 0 -53 DD 797 CAN0028 266824 4809905 6113 0 -50 DD 650 CAN0029 266883 4809885 6145 0 -50 RC 600 CAN0030 266918 4809916 6146 0 -50 RC 500 CAN0031 266881 4809837 6135 0 -50 DD 1173 CAN0032 266946 4809825 6166 0 -50 DD 884 CAN0033 266916 4809873 6171 0 -50 RC 650 CAN0034 267410 4809897 6056 0 -90 DD 1556 Co-ordinate System: UTM Zone 13T (N) To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231557 SOURCE: Myriad Uranium Corp. Selling a house without expensive repairs or a realtor is made possible through direct transactions with a trusted cash home buyer like Gordon Buys Homes in San Diego. Selling a California home for cash has become a straightforward process with Gordon Buys Homes, a local cash home buyer with over a decade of experience. Specializing in as-is properties in San Diego, Gordon Buys Homes is recognized for transparency, zero fees or commissions, and a fast, hassle-free process. This reputation has earned the company a spot as one of San Diego's highest-rated cash property buyers. "The average cost of selling a home with a realtor is $46,900, whereas the cost with Gordon Buys Homes is $0," said Tim Gordon, owner of Gordon Buys Homes. "According to Redfin, San Diego homes spent an average of almost 27 days on the market in October 2024, marking the slowest October in years. Gordon Buys Homes ensures homeowners receive cash offers for their properties in record time." Zero Realtor Fees or Closing Costs Traditional home sales often involve significant realtor fees, but Gordon Buys Homes takes no commissions or fees from home sales. The quoted price represents the cash value that is delivered to sellers. Additionally, title and escrow fees are covered, ensuring a cost-efficient process. "It felt like he knew how hard it was for my mother to sell her house, and he was there for us. He paid us much more than he could have and did so quickly and, on our timeline," said Richard Murillo in a five-star Google review. No Repairs Needed for San Diego Homes Selling a house in as-is condition eliminates the need for costly repairs, such as addressing outdated kitchens, damaged porches, or leaky roofs. Gordon Buys Homes purchases properties directly, bypassing the need for lenders, mortgage brokers, or appraisals. No third-party permissions are required, streamlining the process. "I had an issue with a leaky roof that was in bad shape and an unfinished bathroom and didn't want to have showings or waste time by giving credits to buyers, so I called Tim Gordon, and he offered a reasonable amount of money for my house in the shape it was," said satisfied customer Miguel Aleman. The Process for Selling a San Diego Home Selling a home is completed in three simple steps, offering a straightforward and efficient approach appreciated by many homeowners: 1. Complete a secure inquiry form. 2. Receive a free, no-obligation offer in person or over the phone. 3. Close the sale within days or weeks and receive cash. "Absolutely the best to work with. I had lots of people calling but few could walk me through the details and pitfalls ahead of time. Tim showed a real understanding of the market and my situation with the property. Tim gave me a great price, kept his word throughout a difficult escrow process, and stayed on top of everything through the end," explained Dominic Infanger in a five-star Google review from June 2024. Gordon Buys Homes provides cash offers for properties across San Diego, from Oceanside to Chula Vista, offering a quick and reliable solution for selling homes. About Gordon Buys Homes Gordon Buys Homes, a leading real estate investment firm based in San Diego, specializes in buying, selling, and redeveloping homes across San Diego County. Recognized as one of California's top-rated cash home buyers, the company has earned over 100 five-star reviews on Google. Media Contact Organization: Gordon Buys Homes Contact Person Name: Tim Gordon Website: https://gordonbuyshomes.com/ Email: media@infinitycurve.com Contact Number: +18582641900 Address: 1804 Garnet Ave Suite 399 City: San Diego State: CA Country: United States SOURCE: Gordon Buys Homes View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - World Copper Ltd. (TSXV: WCU) (OTCQB: WCUFF) (FSE:7LY0) ("World Copper" or the "Company") announces a non-brokered private placement (the "Placement") of up to 18,750,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.08 per Unit (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional share of the Company for a period of three years from the date of issuance at a price of $0.16 per share. Insiders may participate and finders' fees may be payable to qualified arm's length parties that have introduced the Company to certain subscribers participating in the Offering. All securities issued in the Offering are subject to a four-month hold period, during which time the securities may not be traded. Closing of the Offering is subject to the approval of the TSXV. The net proceeds from the Offering are intended for an expansion drill program and general working capital. This press release does not constitute an offer of sale of any of the foregoing securities in the United States. None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. ABOUT WORLD COPPER LTD. World Copper Ltd., headquartered in Vancouver, BC, is a Canadian resource company focused on the exploration and development of its copper porphyry projects: Escalones and Cristal in Chile, and Zonia in Arizona. Two of these projects have estimated resources with significant soluble copper mineralization, and each has additional copper porphyry targets with exciting potential to expand the resource base. Detailed information is available at World Copper's website at www.worldcopperltd.com, and for general Company updates you may follow us on our social media pages via Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of WORLD COPPER LTD. "Gordon Neal " Gordon Neal Chief Executive Officer and President Follow Us: Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldCopperLtd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldCopperLtd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/worldcopperltd Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained copper and precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. 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 differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, requirements for additional capital, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Escalones Project and the Cristal Project, the reasonability of the economic assumptions at the basis of the results of the PEA for the Zonia Project, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, future prices of copper, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in the Private Placement, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals (including acceptance of the Private Placement by the TSXV), permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics, including the impact of an epidemic or pandemic on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, as well as the risk factors described in the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231529 SOURCE: World Copper Ltd. OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Cosa Resources Corp. (COSA.V), a mineral exploration company, Wednesday announced that it has signed a deal to acquire a stake in three of Denison Mines Corp. (DNN, DML.TO) uranium exploration projects in the Eastern Athabasca Basin. The transaction is expected to close by early 2025.The parties will form joint ventures, in which Cosa will have a 70% interest and Denison will have a 30% interest in each Project as of the closing date.Cosa will acquire a 70% interest in Denison's fully-owned Murphy Lake North, Darby, and Packrat properties. In return, Cosa will issue about 14.2 million common shares, provide $2.25 million in deferred equity, and commit to spending $6.5 million on exploration at Murphy Lake North and Darby.Under the agreement, Denison will sell a 70% share in each project to Cosa. The two companies will establish joint ventures for these projects after the deal is completed, with Cosa initially overseeing each one. Furthermore, Denison has promised to contribute at least C$1 million or $0.7112 million to Cosa's future equity financing. About 14.196 million common shares, or 19.95% of Cosa's total shares, upon completion of the transaction, will be issued to Denison by Cosa in exchange for this agreement.Cosa is to appoint a technical advisor nominated by Denison for five years from the Closing Date or until all of Cosa's obligations under the Acquisition Agreement have been fulfilled.Tuesday, COSA.V had closed 12.50% higher at $0.22. Tuesday, DNN had closed 2.16% lesser at $2.27 on the New York Stock Exchange. In the pre-market trading, DNN gained 0.87% to $2.28.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. Trans Canada Gold Corp. (TSXV:TTG)(OTCQB:TTGXF) ("Trans Canada" or the "Company") is pleased to provide its Corporate Overview and Operational Results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. The year was marked by robust oil production, significant revenue growth, and the achievement of new production benchmarks. The Company successfully met all drilling and operational milestones by employing its multilateral well drilling strategy, which targets proven Sparky and General Petroleum (GP) oil reservoirs. The Company's partnership with Croverro Energy Ltd. recognized for its technical expertise and operational excellence, has been instrumental in achieving and surpassing daily production benchmarks. With global oil prices expected to remain high and the TMX Pipeline fully operational, Trans Canada is well-positioned to pursue additional multilateral drilling opportunities in 2025. Operational Highlights In October 2023, Trans Canada successfully drilled its first multilateral well in the Sparky reservoir. This well featured seven lateral legs and encountered oil throughout 2,675 meters of lateral oil pay. The project was completed under budget at $2.2 million CAD ($412,500 net to Trans Canada). The Company drilled its second multilateral well in September 2024, targeting the GP reservoir. This well was drilled using advanced seismic data and surrounding well control and was completed within the $2.2 million CAD budget ($412,500 net to Trans Canada). These projects demonstrate the Company's commitment to efficient and cost-effective operations, which have been central to its growth strategy for 2024-2025. Trans Canada has implemented a responsible growth strategy, focusing on low-risk drilling locations in energy-stable jurisdictions like Alberta and Saskatchewan. This approach has allowed the Company to maintain a strong working capital position supported by multilateral well production and selective capital financing. Robust Oil Production The Company's two multilateral wells combined produced over 85,610 barrels by the end of fiscal 2024, surpassing the 85,000-barrel production benchmark. In October 2024, the wells shipped 9,750 barrels, with an average daily production rate of 315 bbl/d gross (59 bbl/d net to Trans Canada). Fiscal year-end revenue from oil production totaled $793,253 CAD, marking a significant increase from $115,881 in the prior year. This growth is expected to continue into 2025 as both wells operate at full capacity. Strategic Land Acquisitions In November 2022, Trans Canada acquired two strategic land and lease packages under an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI) agreement. These acquisitions enabled the permitting and drilling of the second multilateral well and expanded the Company's resource potential in the Sparky and GP producing zones. The acquired lands are contiguous with existing holdings, further strengthening the Company's operational footprint. Financial and Market Position Revenue growth has been driven by increased production from multilateral wells and reduced operational costs compared to traditional vertical wells. The Company has benefited from the operational efficiency of its multilateral drilling strategy, which has supported sustained production levels. The TMX Pipeline's completion has alleviated transportation bottlenecks, improving Canadian crude oil export capacity and pricing. This favorable market development is expected to provide long-term support for producers like Trans Canada Gold. Additionally, the Company maintains minimal debt, a strong balance sheet, and low administrative costs, allowing it to allocate capital strategically while preserving cash reserves for future growth opportunities. Strategic Initiatives The Company plans to expand its multilateral drilling program, leveraging the strategy's proven benefits of lower operational costs, modest decline rates, and sustained production levels. Management is also evaluating new exploration opportunities in Canada and select regions of the United States to further diversify its portfolio. To strengthen its marketing and investor outreach, Trans Canada has appointed Christian Timmins as Vice-President of Business Development and Marketing Communications. Mr. Timmins will lead initiatives aimed at driving production growth and enhancing shareholder engagement. Sustainable Exploration Strategy Trans Canada continues to maintain its gold mining assets in Ontario, which hold long-term exploration potential. These assets, which have minimal carrying costs, can be reactivated when market conditions are favorable. The Gold Crow Property, located in Ontario, lies within a 700-kilometre-long belt that spans the Canadian Shield from Lake Winnipeg to the James Bay lowlands. This property hosts significant gold and magmatic copper-nickel-cobalt potential, warranting a multiyear exploration program focused on drilling in and along strike with the Jackpot Zone and the Nickel Crow Zone. Production Revenue (2011-2024) Total cumulative revenue from Trans Canada's oil production has exceeded $4,253,285 CAD, showcasing the long-term value of the Company's multilateral and vertical well strategies. Updated OTCQB Trading Symbol: TTGXF Effective July 23, 2024, the Company's common shares began trading on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol "TTGXF." This listing enhances accessibility for U.S. investors and increases liquidity. The Company's primary listing remains on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol "TTG." Executive Commentary Tim Coupland, President & CEO, stated: "2024 was a transformative year for Trans Canada Gold. With two successful multilateral wells now in production, we have exceeded our targets and established a strong foundation for continued growth. As oil prices remain high and the TMX Pipeline boosts market access, we are well-positioned to expand our operations and deliver greater value to our shareholders." Chris Timmins, Director, added: "Our multilateral drilling success and strategic land acquisitions have reinforced our growth model. By focusing on stable production, low operational costs, and disciplined capital allocation, we are confident in our ability to drive long-term revenue growth while exploring new opportunities in Canada and beyond." Outlook for 2025 The Company remains committed to sustainable growth through strategic drilling initiatives, operational efficiency, and responsible capital allocation. With favorable market conditions and a robust pipeline of opportunities, Trans Canada Gold is poised to deliver continued success in the coming year. ABOUT TRANS CANADA GOLD CORP. - OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION/REVENUE PRODUCING WELLS The Company is a discovery focused Oil & Gas Resource Development and Mineral Exploration Company that is currently focused on developing and drilling its' production of conventional heavy oil exploration properties, increasing production capabilities, and increasing future oil production revenues through responsible exploration. The Company identifies, acquires and finances with its working interest partners, the ongoing development of oil and gas assets primarily situated in Alberta Canada. The Company has qualified Senior exploration management and Geological teams of professionals, seasoned in exploration production, field exploration and drilling. The Company currently works with Croverro Energy Ltd., who has demonstrated proficiency, expected of an experienced oil and gas technical team that has proven oil production, and revenue success with large multi-lateral wells currently under their supervision. The Company has the necessary manpower in place to develop its natural resource properties and manage its production properties. The Company is committed to minimizing risk through selective property acquisitions, and responsible exploration drilling, and maximizing long term petroleum and natural gas resource assets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Tim Coupland, President and CEO Trans Canada Gold Corp. Tel: (604) 681-3131 astar@telus.com www.transcanadagold.com or Christian Timmins, Director Trans Canada Gold Corp. Tel: (403) 597-3410 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider, (as the term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Trans Canada Gold Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Brisbane, Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV: GMG) ("GMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that THERMAL-XR has been awarded 'Product of the Year' during the AIRAH 2024 Awards that took place on Thursday, November 21st, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. The AIRAH Awards celebrate outstanding achievements from across Australia's HVAC&R building services industry. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8082/231582_fd157079640dd8d3_001full.jpg GMG's Managing Director and CEO, Craig Nicol, commented: "We are truly honored that THERMAL-XR has been recognized with the Product of the Year Award at the AIRAH 2024 Awards. This achievement is a direct result of the dedication and innovation of our team, and it reinforces our commitment to advancing energy efficiency and sustainability in the HVAC industry. We believe THERMAL-XR represents the future of high-performance solutions, and we are proud to contribute to a more sustainable and energy-efficient world." Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8082/231582_fd157079640dd8d3_002full.jpg About AIRAH Awards The AIRAH Awards provide our industry with the opportunity to reflect, applaud, and raise a toast to our peers and their achievements - from promising future leaders to established sector veterans; from the finest new projects to the best retrofits; as well as the greatest in refrigeration, renewable energy, and research. Independent industry specialists determine a shortlist of finalists, from which a winner is selected by an expert judging panel. This rigorous and impartial process makes the AIRAH Awards the most highly prized accolades in Australia's HVAC&R building services industry. About THERMAL-XR powered by GMG Graphene: THERMAL-XR COATING SYSTEM is a unique method of improving the conductivity of corroded heat exchange surfaces and improving and maintaining the performance of new units at peak levels. The process coats and protects heat exchange surfaces while improving and rebuilding the lost corroded thermal conductivity and increasing the heat transfer rate by leveraging the physics of GMG Graphene, resulting in an efficiency improvement and a potential power reduction. THERMAL-XR ENHANCE is powered by GMG Graphene.PATENT PENDING About GMG www.graphenemg.com GMG is a clean-technology company which seeks to offer energy saving and energy storage solutions, enabled by graphene, including that manufactured in-house via a proprietary production process. GMG has developed a proprietary production process to decompose natural gas (i.e. methane) into its elements, carbon (as graphene), hydrogen and some residual hydrocarbon gases. This process produces high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and low/no contaminant graphene suitable for use in clean-technology and other applications. The Company's present focus is to de-risk and develop commercial scale-up capabilities, and secure market applications. In the energy savings segment, GMG has focused on graphene enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC-R") coating (or energy-saving coating), lubricants and fluids. In the energy storage segment, GMG and the University of Queensland are working collaboratively with financial support from the Australian Government to progress R&D and commercialization of graphene aluminium-ion batteries ("G+AI Batteries"). GMG's 4 critical business objectives are: Produce Graphene and improve/scale cell production processes Build Revenue from Energy Savings Products Develop Next-Generation Battery Develop Supply Chain, Partners & Project Execution Capability Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231582 SOURCE: Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / Qualcomm Qualcomm Technologies' senior director of AI product management Chirag Patel is working to bring AI concepts to market 5 Facts About Dr. Chirag Patel Title: Senior Director, AI Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Alma Mater: Ph.D., Electrical Engineering with a focus on wireless, Georgia Tech Years at Qualcomm: 18 Role: Lead product management for generative AI. Impact: With more than 750 patents granted globally, their contributions have helped position Qualcomm as a leader in generative AI and wireless technology, in turn influencing global technology trends. Speed Round Texting or calling? Texting Star Trek or Star Wars? Star Trek Early Bird or night owl? Early bird Mountain climbing or skydiving? Skydiving Favorite work snack? Almonds The key to successful engineering is to find the simplicity in complexity: the one easy thing that unlocks the solution to a thorny challenge. This applies to careers as well, and if you look at the work of Qualcomm Technologies' Dr. Chirag Patel, who holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, you see someone who understands not just technology, but the inflection points in it - where technology is going. Like many engineers, Patel was introduced to the field by his parents. Patel's father was an electrical engineer in India, and he inspired Patel to take apart broken appliances and gadgets to see how they worked or didn't work. He discovered that, to him at least, the world of machines was simpler than he thought. More recently, when his 15-year-old car's window stopped going up and down, Patel took the door apart to see if he could decode its inner workings. To his relief, he found a relatively simple mechanism (still, he has learned over the years to write down and photograph the steps to disassemble machines that he eventually wants to put back together). With memories of explorations from his childhood, he knows that many things require only persistence to repair, not professional help. Inventing new technology, though, does require a deep dive. For example, as a student, Patel was drawn to the challenge of advancing the leading edge of wireless communication. In college, he learned about and worked on code-division multiple access (CDMA) technologies, which led to his first major career choice. Eventually, artificial intelligence (AI) proved to be an irresistible draw. And the connection from wireless to AI is more direct than you might think The OnQ Team (OnQ): Why did you join Qualcomm? Chirag Patel (CP): My college project was on CDMA technology, where I wrote a very basic software simulator for CDMA transceiver system. Of course, Qualcomm was a leader in CDMA. I was an IEEE member and would read articles about Qualcomm's innovations, which fascinated me. I wanted to be part of, and contribute to, the emerging mobile wireless revolution. Qualcomm was obviously the best place to be for someone interested in wireless R&D. There was no other choice. So I started as an intern in 2005 and then transitioned to a full-time role as a wireless R&D engineer in 2006. OnQ: Before Qualcomm, what was your academic background? CP: I have a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, specializing in wireless communication. My time at Georgia Tech allowed me to explore the depths of wireless technology, including mobile-to-mobile wireless communication, and it set me up for my future career. Before moving to the United States for my higher studies, my early education was in India. OnQ: How and why did you make the move from wireless to AI? CP: For 12 or 13 years, I was working on 3G/4G/5G - engineering, standards, licensing and customer engagements. I liked it, but the AI bug bit me as part of a project we were doing for a customer. I found it fascinating. Around 2019, I joined Qualcomm AI Research, where I decided to go back to hardcore engineering and understand the technology as much as I can. It was a very dynamic period. It was hard for anyone to know everything about it. But starting in 2019 I was completely in it. As a wireless systems engineer, I have a background in statistics, probability and communication theory. A lot of those underlying foundations apply to AI, especially to the work on quantization and compression which is at the heart of our edge AI platform. It's very similar to what you do with signal processing in wireless. So that made the transition easier. OnQ: What are you working on now? CP: I am a Senior Director of AI Product Management. I lead the generative AI technology portfolio, which involves working with AI engineering teams for feature planning, with a focus on comprehensive system analysis and solutions, and translating these into AI products across different business units. Our mission is to make Qualcomm Technologies the leader in edge AI. OnQ: Now that you've been in AI for a while, what is it about the field you find most interesting? CP: The technology is mind boggling, right? You can see the impact everywhere. And it's spreading - we have AI smartphones, AI PCs and generative AI is moving into Auto, IoT, all sorts of products. What will make an impact in your day to day? That's what we're working on. OnQ: What is it like being an inventor and innovator at Qualcomm? CP: It's working with the best people. When I started in wireless, it gave me the best exposure to the brightest minds in the field. The depth and caliber. I've been fortunate to work with all these great people. At the same time, Qualcomm offers opportunities to jump around, try different things. Obviously, you have to have the caliber and smarts to actually make the transitions, but Qualcomm nurtures you and opens up doors. OnQ: Where do you get your inspiration day to day? CP: Qualcomm is in serious competition all the time. We're here as the company with best engineering ethos to innovate, out-execute and deliver ahead of the competition. Pressure cooker situations motivate me further. I actually enjoy running high-stakes demos, like when we showed off small-cell technology for Mark Zuckerberg, when he came to campus with all his bodyguards and we had sections cordoned off. I always want to deliver as best as possible. OnQ: What work has made you the most proud? CP: Lately, the AI work has made me proud, especially the work on the AI Model Efficiency Toolkit (AIMET) and several of the world's first edge, on-device generative AI demos and generative AI commercial product launches. It was a challenging transition, and I was able to understand, execute and deliver on new technology and make an impact for Qualcomm. OnQ: Do you have any advice on how to be an effective collaborator at Qualcomm? CP: Find someone you can talk to frankly - a good mentor. Maybe not an official mentor, but definitely someone who can give you a push if you're stuck. Also, be that mentor for other people. I tell people that come to talk to me, if something is bothering you, do something about it, don't delay. Qualcomm values these interactions, and everyone tries to help each other. At the same time, don't get too comfortable. It's okay to jump projects or try new things every couple of years. That's another blessing we offer. OnQ: What advice would you have on how to encourage innovation and the creation of new ideas, at the largest scale? CP: A lot of innovation in the U.S. now, especially AI, is private money. Back when I was in college, I was grateful that the U.S. government was funding the grants for the research I was doing. It was incredibly valuable. Watch a demo of the world's fastest Stable Diffusion running on a smartphone To be competitive on a global scale, we need more government support and collaborations with the private sector. Things are heading in that direction, such as with the CHIPS Act, and I hope this continues with more investments in AI infrastructure. At the same time, the private sector needs to focus on fundamental problems to maintain U.S. leadership. We need to get to that happy medium where both sectors drive the engines of innovation and growth. OnQ: Finally, can you tell us where Generative AI is going next? CP: The most immediate impact will be on smartphones and the compute side. And then, automotive, IoT, etc. For example, the in-car cockpit experience will be completely re-defined - natural, interactive and fun. You'll talk to your car; it will be your digital chauffeur. Generative AI will also make its way into home devices; an AI-centered product could emerge to combine all your home devices to become a home assistant, life logger and so on. There are endless possibilities. It's going to be about personalized experiences with any and every device you have, secure and private. I think that's a good thing, and this is where Qualcomm plays. Also, when you think about AI, think broader: while ChatGPT takes mindshare in headlines, AI will make a more long-lasting impact in areas like medicine and drug discovery, energy, manufacturing and so on. There's lots more to come. Editor's Note: The above interview was transcribed and consolidated by AI, then written and edited manually by our editors for editorial clarity. AI on the Edge: Explore more topics about the importance and possibilities of on-device generative AI Sign up for our What's Next in AI and Computing newsletter Apply for an AI role at Qualcomm Read about our next inventor: Diana Maamari View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Qualcomm on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Qualcomm Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/qualcomm Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Qualcomm View the original press release on accesswire.com NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / This year, 38 employees across seven offices read to over 700 students as part of Jumpstart's?19th anniversary of Read for the Record. The annual campaign celebrates the power of reading and supports early literacy by attempting to have most people read the same book on the same day. On October 24, Franklin Templeton volunteers read Piper Chen Sings,by?Phillipa Soo, Maris Pasquale Doran and illustrated by Qin Leng. The story is about a young girl who loves to express herself through singing but is struck with self-doubt and nervousness when asked to perform a solo in front of an audience. Piper tells her Nai Nai that she felt "like butterflies were having a dance party" in her belly; she doesn't feel she can sing in front of others without making a mistake. Thankfully, Nai Nai teaches Piper that feeling butterflies means "something exciting was ahead" and that recognizing and welcoming that anxious feeling would help it pass. Nai Nai's advice empowers Piper, who finds her voice on stage. As a sponsor of Jumpstart, Franklin Templeton donated over 1,100 copies of the book to students and classrooms. Thank you to Franklin Templeton employees who read Piper Chen Sings with Jumpstart. Your excitement and love for Read for the Record enables the organization to connect children and adults in shared reading experiences around the world year after year. About Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton's mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,500 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and over $1.6 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2024. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X and Facebook. Ft. Lauderdale volunteers View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Franklin Templeton on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Franklin Templeton Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/franklin-templeton Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Franklin Templeton View the original press release on accesswire.com Creating Gourmet Holiday Gatherings with Family and Friends ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / As the holiday season approaches, Chef Tregaye Fraser, host of TREGAYE's WAY, shares her expertise on holiday hosting. This season, Chef Tregaye provides timely tips and tricks to bring a fresh perspective to holiday entertaining, offering ideas ideal for intimate gatherings. Her approach emphasizes making hosting easier and more enjoyable, ensuring that even small events feel special. ALWAYS INCLUDED ON THE MENU When planning a menu for holiday gatherings, versatile ingredients like peanut butter add a special touch. Its flavor often evokes favorite food memories and family connections. Chef Tregaye's recipes, such as peanut butter whipped cream or No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie, are ideal for stress-free hosting. For a healthier option, Thai Peanut Butter Dip offers a delicious upgrade to traditional veggie trays. Holiday candies featuring peanut butter can also be prepared ahead of time, making them perfect for parties or gifting. Additional recipes and ideas are available at PeanutButterLovers.com. A PERFECT SIDE DISH FOR EVERY DINNER OR PARTY Bush's Baked Beans provide the ultimate holiday meal hack, adding a comforting and flavorful touch to casseroles or other go-to holiday dishes without the extra effort. These beans complement a variety of meals, from turkey and mashed potatoes to baked ham, creating an effortless and memorable gathering. Original, Brown Sugar Hickory, or other flavor varieties make Bush's Baked Beans a standout addition to any holiday spread. More information is available at www.BushBeans.com. SUGGESTIONS FOR HOLIDAY DECORATIONS Cricut's Joy Xtra smart-cutting machine is a versatile tool for creating personalized holiday decor, custom table settings, and festive party favors. This machine can cut, write, draw, and foil on more than 50 materials, including vinyl, iron-on, and cardstock. The Cricut Design Space library offers easy-to-learn templates, or users can upload custom designs to create projects in under 30 minutes. This tool enhances holiday gatherings with unique and creative decorations. Additional details are available at Cricut.com. HOLIDAY HACKS The GE Cync Outdoor Smart Plug provides a smart solution for controlling holiday string lights, icicles, and inflatable decorations conveniently from inside the home or remotely. Designed for outdoor use, its sockets can be controlled individually or grouped together in the Cync App, allowing for seamless one-touch operation. This device adds comfort and convenience to patios and outdoor spaces, making it perfectly suited for the holiday season. The GE Cync Outdoor Smart Plug is available at Target and Target.com. POST|VIDEO About TipsOnTV TipsOnTV is a lifestyle blog featuring content as seen on national and local media outlets. Expert hosts share advice for viewers, listeners, and readers. TipsOnTV covers a variety of topics, including food, entertaining, personal finance, technology, travel, health, lifestyle, and more. Contact Information R E tipsontv@gmail.com Source: TipsOnTV Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Sitka Gold Corp. (TSXV: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) ("Sitka" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Kluane Drilling Corp. to complete up to 30,000 metres of diamond drilling in 2025 at its road accessible RC Gold Project ("RC Gold" or the "Project") located in the prolific Tombstone Gold Belt in the Yukon. This will be the largest drilling campaign ever conducted at RC Gold and is anticipated to focus primarily on follow up drilling at the Rhosgobel and Pukelman intrusion targets along with further expansion drilling at the Blackjack gold deposit and drill testing other high-priority targets identified elsewhere on the district-scale, 431 square kilometre property. Kluane Drilling Ltd., a well established, highly experienced drilling company based in Whitehorse, Yukon with over 30 years of experience diamond drilling in the Yukon and around the world, has been contracted to complete up to 30,000 metres of drilling at the Company's flagship RC Gold Project. Kluane Drilling is dedicated to providing quality drilling services based on technical innovation and human talent and specializes in achieving high drilling production in various drilling environments. Kluane Drilling has proven to be an exceptional contractor for the past two years and Sitka looks forward to continuing to work with them as the Company further advances RC Gold in 2025. "We are very pleased to have secured the services of Kluane Drilling Ltd. for what will be our largest ever diamond drilling program planned for our RC Gold Project in 2025," said Cor Coe, Director and CEO of Sitka. "Kluane provided Sitka with exceptional drilling services throughout our winter and summer drilling programs at RC Gold in both 2023 and 2024 and we look forward to continuing to develop the project with them in the coming year as we substantially increase the scale and scope of drilling. The 2024 drilling campaign at RC Gold returned excellent assay results from both the Blackjack gold deposit area and the first ever diamond drill holes at the Rhosgobel intrusion, and has identified visible gold in its first two diamond drill holes at the Pukelman intrusion where assay results are still pending (see news releases dated November 25 and October 31, 2024). We are eagerly looking forward to following up on the success we had this past year and, with over $15 million in cash and no debt, the Company is fully funded to complete the planned work program at RC Gold in 2025. We also look forward to receiving the results from the last six diamond drill holes of the 2024 season totalling 2,774 metres that are still pending from RC Gold, with 2 holes from Pukelman and 4 holes from Blackjack." Stock Option Grant Sitka Gold Corp. also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 5,500,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to officers, directors and consultants of the Company. The Options are exercisable at $0.37 per share for a period of three years from the date of grant and are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. 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 PDAC, Toronto, ON: March 2 - 5, 2025 Swiss Mining Institute, Zurich, Switzerland: March 18 - 19, 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. In January 2023, the Company 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. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SITKA GOLD CORP. "Donald Penner" President and Director For more information contact: 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/231562 SOURCE: Sitka Gold Corp. QUIMPER, France, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The insurance broker Verlingue, a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group, announces its acquisition of ProConseils Solutions, a major player in the insurance brokerage market in French-speaking Switzerland. This strategic operation will enable Verlingue to strengthen its position in the Swiss market by broadening its range of services and expertise in the field of insurance coverage for businesses, local authorities and medico-social establishments. ProConseils Solutions was founded in 2003 and is known for its personalised client approach and commitment to quality. With a staff of almost 25 employees based in three offices in the Canton of Vaud, ProConseils Solutions works with more than 1,500 companies, nearly 150 local authorities and 30 medico-social establishments, providing them with optimised solutions for managing their insurance coverage. This acquisition is fully aligned with Verlingue's Better Future 28 strategic plan, which aims to reinforce the company's presence in Europe and expand the territorial coverage of its business, based on an ambitious project bringing together local businesses with a shared vision. Benjamin Verlingue, Chairman and CEO of the Adelaide Group, explains that: "The acquisition of ProConseils Solutions marks an important step in our growth strategy in Switzerland and Europe. We share strong values with ProConseils Solutions, notably close relations with our customers and service excellence. Joining forces will enable us to provide all our customers - whether in Switzerland or in the other countries in which we operate - an even broader range of expertise and solutions that are increasingly tailored to their needs." Alain Bornand and Joseph Gelsomino, co-Founders of ProConseils Solutions, add: "Becoming part of Verlingue and the Adelaide Group, is a real opportunity for our customers and our staff. We will be able to provide even better services and draw on the Group's technical expertise and international dimension. It will also enable us to continue to develop ProConseils Solutions in French-speaking Switzerland, both through our existing teams and through possible acquisitions. ProConseils Solutions is entering a new phase in its evolution and we are looking forward to sharing this with our customers, partners and staff." With this acquisition, Verlingue will help the Adelaide Group achieve its objective of becoming the leading family-owned insurance broker in Europe by 2028. About Verlingue Verlingue is an insurance broker specialising in business protection, and a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group. Working alongside entrepreneurs, Verlingue's goal is to harness corporate risk management and employee protection to drive its customers' value creation and performance. With offices in France, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Italy, and through partners in over 100 countries, Verlingue works with its customers over the long term and at every instant to better understand and plan ahead for new risks and develop simple yet effective solutions to protect their business (corporate risk) and staff (supplementary social protection schemes and pensions). 1,500 employees, 550 of whom are based outside France Operating out of 5 countries in Europe LinkedIn / www.verlingue.fr Media Contact: Agence Epoka - Lucie Fortin - lfortin@epoka.fr - +33 (0)6 19 68 70 18 About ProConseils Solutions ProConseils Solutions is an insurance broker that specialises in providing insurance advice and coverage to local authorities, socio-medical establishments and SMEs. Our team has extensive expertise, based on nationally-recognised higher occupational training, supported by many years' experience in the field. With local offices in Morges, Yverdon-les-Bains and Payerne, we are close to our customers. Respect, competency, high standards and team spirit are the values that underpin our corporate charter. Media contact for ProConseils Solutions and Verlingue Switzerland: Verlingue SA - Nicole Maissen - Marketing & Communications Manager - nicole.maissen@verlingue.ch - Telephone +41 58 414 45 20 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568709/Verlingue_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/verlingue-consolidates-its-position-in-europe-with-the-acquisition-of-proconseils-solutions-302317560.html benton buckley books is thrilled to announce the release of A Romance with Design: My Love for Beauty, Art, Travel, & Culture, an extraordinary memoir by celebrated designer Jenny Garrigues. Far more than a portfolio, this opus is a radiant mosaic of Jenny's lifelong devotion to beauty. It is a journey that traverses the luminous worlds of art, culture, and interiors, brought to life through her deeply personal storytelling and the splendor of photography that captures the essence of her creations. Jenny Garrigues: A Romance with Design Every page of A Romance with Design exudes an effortless grace, unveiling interiors that are not merely spaces but expressions of a life steeped in wonder. From the comforting nostalgia of English country house motifs to the bold inclusion of Moroccan textiles juxtaposed with Chinese lacquer cabinets, Jenny's design philosophy epitomizes eclectic elegance. Her passion for harmonizing disparate aesthetics shines through, creating environments that are at once witty, uplifting, and profoundly personal. Whether it's her own treasure-filled Palm Beach residence or the diverse settings of her clients' homes, her work invites readers into a dialogue with beauty itself. "We are profoundly honored to bring Jenny's life in design to the page," said Beth Buckley, founder of benton buckley books. "This book captures the essence of Jenny's one-of-a-kind style and her genuine love for her clients, her work, and her craft. Every chapter, every image reflects a life filled with passion and curiosity, an unending appreciation for the world's beauty. It is our hope that readers feel transported not only into the spaces she's crafted but also into the vivid, art-filled life Jenny has lived. A Romance with Design stands as a celebration of her unique talent and the incredible joy she finds in creating beauty for others." Step into the pages, and you will find not only design inspiration but also a masterclass in curating a home imbued with soul. Jenny's ability to transform objects of varied provenance into a cohesive and joyous whole reflects her belief in the unexpected beauty that arises when homes are filled with pieces that resonate personally. "Sometimes the most unexpected thing can be the most beautiful thing," Jenny shares. Her interiors are not bound by a single aesthetic or era but are instead vibrant tapestries of the life and tastes of their inhabitants, promising an enduring allure that transcends time. With its release, A Romance with Design offers not just a glimpse but an invitation into a world where design meets narrative, and beauty becomes an enduring philosophy. This book is available anywhere books are sold - a must-have for those who dream not just of curated spaces but of lives as beautifully layered as the homes they inhabit. Jenny Garrigues: A Romance with Design is available anywhere books are sold. Source: benton buckley books Interview: Opening up of Chinese market adds vitality to Zimbabwe's agricultural sector Xinhua) 13:03, November 27, 2024 HARARE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The opening up of the Chinese market to Zimbabwean agricultural produce has added momentum to the country's efforts in diversifying exports, a senior official from Zimbabwe's ruling party has said. Christopher Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party Politburo member and ZANU PF secretary for information and publicity, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the country is willing to capitalize on China's high-level opening up to boost development. "It's an exciting period for African agriculture now that China has developed a substantial middle-class population. Their palates are changing, they are also getting interested in food from diverse regions beyond China. And they have the spending power, the disposable income to afford to buy any good quality food from anywhere else in the world," said Mutsvangwa, who is also a former Zimbabwean ambassador to China. In recent years, an increasing variety of agricultural products from the southern African country have made their way into the Chinese market, driven by China's opening of its market to African products and the implementation of preferential policies to expand imports from African countries. During the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in early September, China and Zimbabwe signed a protocol for phytosanitary requirements for the exports of Zimbabwean avocados to China. Mutsvangwa said Africa has not been able to produce enough food due to a lack of investment in agriculture, which resulted in food insecurity despite the abundance of agricultural land. "There was a lack of investment in African agriculture. The investment in African agriculture by the Western countries was in fancy food crops and other crops not for consumption, like cocoa and tobacco. These were crops which the Western countries wanted for their industries," he said. With the arrival of China and other Asian countries with a large middle class, there has been a demand for quality African produce, he said. "So, this is a chance for African agriculture to become part of the global food value chain." On the production of tobacco, one of Zimbabwe's major foreign currency earners, Mutsvangwa said demand for the tobacco leaf in China created a lucrative and ready market for Zimbabwean tobacco. "The biggest tobacco company in the world, China Tobacco, came to Zimbabwe in 2004 and started investing. And today, the tobacco trade alone is millions of U.S. dollars with China," said Mutsvangwa. Following the success of exporting crops such as tobacco to China, Zimbabwe is now aiming to diversify into other produce, he said. "We are very happy that China has now allowed Zimbabwean citrus (into the Chinese market). We need to increase our production because this is a huge market. Remember, it's 1.4 billion people. So our current production is still very much below what China expects." He noted that with a green light given to citrus and macadamia exports to China, Zimbabwe also has the potential to export sesame and other agricultural produce. "I see a very very bright prospect and I am happy now that our customs department and our phytosanitary departments in agriculture are exchanging information and signing agreements. And Chinese teams are coming to inspect the potential of Zimbabwe." With the expanding trade portfolio, trade figures between China and Zimbabwe have shown a positive trajectory. Commenting on Zimbabwe's imports from China, he said more Chinese agricultural equipment and machinery can also find their way into the Zimbabwean market as the growing trade in agricultural products creates new opportunities. "So, the prospects are very promising, both in the trade for crops and in the buying of equipment from China, but also in capital investment by Chinese food giants to make sure that we have a complete value chain from the field in Zimbabwe to the supermarket in China," Mutsvangwa said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - SurgeGraph, the leading AI writing tool, has announced its most ambitious project yet: a live SEO case study aiming to generate 100,000 website traffic in just 100 days using content alone. The challenge, which launches today, aims to provide transparency and real-time updates so that marketers, SEOs, website owners, and anyone can easily follow the case study and learn from the results. SurgeGraph Launches SEO Challenge: 100,000 Traffic in 100 Days Using Content Alone To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/231584_041fe9a0a4a60b92_001full.jpg This high-stakes experiment puts SurgeGraph Vertex, the company's AI writing tool, to the ultimate test. Every article published during the challenge will be created using SurgeGraph Vertex to determine if it truly has what it takes to help websites grow their traffic through high-quality content. Along the way, SurgeGraph will use the challenge as an opportunity to refine and improve its tool based on real-world outcomes. SurgeGraph's case study focuses solely on content and content velocity - the strategy of publishing high-quality articles at scale. Key elements of the challenge include: No Backlinks or Ads: SurgeGraph is using only content to drive traffic, steering clear of paid promotions or black-hat SEO tactics. Content Velocity: Over 100 articles will be published in 100 days to demonstrate the impact of consistent, high-quality content production. Complete Transparency: Biweekly updates will share real-time traffic stats, strategies, successes, and even setbacks to ensure an open, valuable learning experience for all. "This challenge isn't just about numbers; it's about proving the power of great content, created with the right tool, to drive meaningful SEO results," said Sara Salim, spokesperson for SurgeGraph. "By sharing our journey transparently, we're not only testing the limits of SurgeGraph Vertex but also creating a real-world case study for the community to learn, adapt, and grow." The SurgeGraph team invites everyone to follow the challenge and learn from their journey. By signing up, participants will receive weekly updates, traffic stats, and insights into the strategies used throughout the campaign. Whether the challenge ends in success or reveals areas for improvement, SurgeGraph remains committed to using the findings to further improve its AI writing tool and help users achieve better SEO outcomes. Interested individuals can sign up to follow the challenge and receive updates at: https://surgegraph.io/100k-100d. About the company: SurgeGraph Vertex is an SEO AI writing tool with a mission to redefine content writing through humanized, personalized, and unique content. With various AI and SEO features, SurgeGraph Vertex helps users generate high-quality, SEO-optimized content that ranks and drives traffic. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231584 SOURCE: Plentisoft SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Environmental Tectonics Corporation (OTC Pink: ETCC) ("ETC" or the "Company") announced that on November 26, 2024, the Company closed a transaction for the sale and lease back of demonstration equipment located in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Under the terms of the agreement the assets were sold for $4,000,000. In connection with the sale, the Company entered into an Agreement of Lease ("Lease") with VFI Corporate Finance ("Lessor") for Lessor to lease back to the Company all the assets sold. The assets have been leased back for an initial term of thirty (30) months ("Initial Term") and the Lease includes specified end of initial term provisions including extending the lease for an additional year, return the equipment to the Lessor or purchase the equipment at a pre-negotiated price. Net rent expense for the lease is approximately $1,750,000 annually. The assets sold had depreciation expense of approximately $780,000 annually. The proceeds from the sale are being used for additional working capital financing to perform the approximate $100 million backlog of existing projects. "This financing provides additional working capital over our line of credit with PNC to execute the higher level of orders in our backlog," states Robert L. Laurent, Jr., ETC's Chief Executive Officer and President. About ETC ETC designs, manufactures, and sells software-driven products and services used to recreate and monitor the physiological effects of motion on humans, and equipment to control, modify, simulate and measure environmental conditions. Our products include aircrew training systems. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on management's expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, and these statements may include terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "future", "predict", "potential", "intend", or "continue", and similar expressions. We base our forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events or future financial performance. Our forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about ETC and its subsidiaries that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by these forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. This press release was published by a CLEAR Verified individual. DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global dental soft-tissue regeneration market is projected to reach USD 0.54 billion by 2029 from USD 0.37 Billion in 2024, at a CAGR 7.8% from 2024 to 2029. Dental soft-tissue regeneration process involves in the restoration or replacement of biological or synthetic soft structures or tissues lost within the oral cavity, typically the gums and connective tissues. This procedure uses biological materials, growth factors, and cellular technologies aimed at tissue repair, reconstruction and oral health enhancement. Dental soft-tissue regeneration helps in the management of periodontitis, in the correction of gingival recession, and the placement of dental implants to improve the aesthetic and functional results. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=198310783 Browse in-depth TOC on "Dental Soft-Tissue Regeneration Market" 300 - Tables 50 - Figures 330 - Pages By product type, the dental soft-tissue regeneration market is segmented autografts, synthetic biomaterials, collagen-based membranes, and others. In 2023, the collagen-based membranes segment accounted for the largest share in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market due to its biological compatibility and effectiveness in dental applications, and excellent barrier properties in dental soft tissue regeneration. Collagen-based membranes are widely adopted in dental applications as they are easy to handle and versatile in nature. Additionally, the advancements in biomaterials and membranes have further contributed to the segment's growth. By application, the dental soft-tissue regeneration market is segmented into implantology, periodontology, and others. The implantology segment dominates the dental soft-tissue regeneration market due to the rising demand for minimally invasive procedures and increasing adoption of tissue regenerative technologies in implant procedures, by clinicians. Additionally, the increasing rates of periodontal diseases, and edentulism in aging population has further contributed to the segments growth and overall dental soft-tissue regeneration market growth. By end user, the dental soft-tissue regeneration market is segmented into dental hospitals, DSO's & independent clinics, and academic & research institutions. In 2023, the DSO's & independent clinics segment has emerged as the dominant force in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market owing to the rise in demand for regenerative products such as synthetic biomaterials, collagen-based membranes, and tissue grafts which play an important role in soft tissue regeneration and grafting procedures. This is because of the increasing number of implant procedures being performed, and the increasing prevalence of periodontal diseases, around the world. In 2023, North American region accounted for the largest share of the dental soft-tissue regeneration market due to several factors, such as the region's advanced healthcare infrastructure with high healthcare expenditure leads to significant demand for dental regeneration solutions and products. Moreover, the increasing demand for advanced regenerative materials and minimally invasive procedures has increased due to the aging population with a high prevalence of dental diseases such as gingivitis, and periodontitis. Also, this region is aided by stringent regulatory standards, robust research and development programs, and presence of key market players in United States and Canada. All these factors combine to make North America a major player in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market. Additionally, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to witness the highest CAGR in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market due to an increase in the number of aging populations that demands for dental implants and advanced dental care solutions in periodontal diseases treatment. Furthermore, emerging economies such as China and India have been expanding their healthcare infrastructure thereby increasing their expenditure on healthcare services. Moreover, there has been rising awareness about oral healthcare has increasingly demanded preventive and restorative dental care, which further fuel the market growth in this region. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=198310783 Some of the prominent players operating in the market includes Geistlich Pharma AG (Switzerland), Dentsply Sirona (US), Institut Straumann AG (Switzerland), Zimvie Inc. (US), Henry Schein, Inc. (US), AbbVie Inc. (US), Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc (UK), Tissue Regenix (UK), Septodont Holding (France), Medical Consult Implants GmbH (Germany), Meccellis (US), Regedent Ag (Switzerland), Regenity (US), Envista (US), AD Surgical (US), LifeNet Health (US), B. & B. Dental S.R.L. (Italy), Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd. (Israel), Lasak S.R.O. (Czechia), KeystoneDentalGroup (US), Neoss AG (Switzerland), Bego GmbH Co. KG (Germany), Biotech Dental (France), Samyang Holdings Corporation (South Korea), and RTI Surgical (US). GEISTLICH PHARMA AG (SWITZERLAND): Geistlich Pharma AG (Switzerland) is one of the leading market players in the dental soft-tissue regeneration that provides biomaterials for soft and bone tissue regeneration. Among these are collagen membranes, matrices and bone substitutes, which find wide application in periodontal, implantology, and oral surgery practice. The company markets its products in over 60 countries, coupled with active participation in key global event like osseointegration. The company also focuses on R&D to provide its customers with innovative products and maintain a competitive position in the market. INSTITUT STRAUMANN AG (SWITZERLAND): Institut Straumann AG, a global leader in dental implantology, oral tissue regeneration, and restorative dentistry. The company has been actively involved in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market. The company offers a wide range of innovative solutions, including regenerative products, which are designed to enhance tissue regeneration and promote healing in patients with periodontal disease. Straumann's portfolio includes biomaterials, such as tissue grafts and collagen-based membranes, which are critical to restore lost bone and tissues. The company focuses on various growth strategies to maintain its position in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market. HENRY SCHEIN, INC. (US): Henry Schein is an American company and a Fortune World's Most Admired Company. It is the largest distributor of healthcare products and services in the world, with a presence in 32 countries. The company supplies a wide range of healthcare, and technology & value-added services to office-based healthcare professionals. The company with its vast global distribution network, efficiently serves healthcare facilities worldwide, offering a wide range of regenerative materials. The company strongly focuses on acquisitions, innovative product development, and market penetration to maintain its position in the dental soft-tissue regeneration market. For more information, Inquire Now! Related Reports: Dental Equipment Market Dental Consumables Market Dental Implants and Prosthetics Market IOL Scanners Market Digital X-ray Market Get access to the latest updates on Dental Soft-Tissue Regeneration Companies and Dental Soft-Tissue Regeneration Market Size About MarketsandMarkets: MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report. MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Rohan Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 1615 South Congress Ave. Suite 103, Delray Beach, FL 33445 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dental-soft-tissue-regeneration-market-to-hit-usd-0-54-billion-by-2029-with-7-8-cagr--marketsandmarkets-302317249.html The dental practice management market is driven by the increasing prevalence of oral health issues, a growing demand for cosmetic dentistry, and advancements in dental technologies, including AI-driven solutions. The rise in dental visits, fueled by greater awareness of oral hygiene, and supportive government policies further bolster market growth. LEWES, Del., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Dental Practice Management Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2024 to 2030, according to a new report published by Verified Market Reports. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 2.295 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 5.73 Billion by the end of the forecast period. The integration of cloud-based systems and tele-dentistry enhances operational efficiency and patient engagement, attracting more adoption. However, market restraints include the high initial costs of dental practice management software and the complexity of transitioning from traditional methods to digital systems. Limited technical expertise among dental practitioners and concerns over data privacy also hinder growth. Regulatory compliance requirements and challenges in interoperability add to the market's constraints. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/download-sample/?rid=113097 Browse in-depth TOC on Dental Practice Management Market 202 - Pages 126 - Tables 37 - Figures Scope of The Report REPORT ATTRIBUTES DETAILS STUDY PERIOD 2021-2030 BASE YEAR 2023 FORECAST PERIOD 2024-2030 HISTORICAL PERIOD 2021-2022 UNIT Value (USD Billion) KEY COMPANIES PROFILED ACE Dental, Practice-Web Dental, Dentrix, Tab32, Denticon, Dovetail, iDentalSoft, Maxident, Datacon, DentiMax, Open Dental SEGMENTS COVERED By Type, By Application, By Geography CUSTOMIZATION SCOPE Free report customization (equivalent to up to 4 analyst working days) with purchase. Addition or alteration to country, regional & segment scope Global Dental Practice Management Market Overview Market Drivers Fueling Growth in the Dental Practice Management Market Increasing Prevalence of Oral Health Issues and Growing Patient Awareness The rising incidence of oral health problems, including tooth decay, gum diseases, and other dental conditions, is driving demand for better dental care services. Enhanced awareness about oral hygiene, bolstered by educational campaigns and preventive care initiatives, has led to an uptick in regular dental checkups. This trend is further supported by an aging population, which requires frequent dental care. As more patients seek treatment, dental practices are adopting management systems to streamline operations and improve patient experience. Advancements in Dental Technologies and Digital Solutions The adoption of cutting-edge dental technologies, such as AI-powered diagnostics, 3D imaging, and tele-dentistry, is transforming the market. These innovations enhance clinical efficiency and provide personalized patient care, increasing the need for integrated practice management systems. Additionally, cloud-based platforms offer seamless data storage, remote access, and real-time analytics, enabling dentists to optimize their workflows. Such advancements make dental practice management systems indispensable for modern clinics aiming to stay competitive. Supportive Government Policies and Increased Investment in Healthcare IT Governments worldwide are investing in digital healthcare infrastructure to improve medical services, including dentistry. Subsidies, grants, and regulatory incentives encourage the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and dental practice management software. Furthermore, private sector investments in healthcare IT are providing dental practices with affordable and scalable solutions. These developments ensure smoother adoption of management systems, contributing to the growth of the market. To Purchase a Comprehensive Report Analysis: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/download-sample/?rid=113097 Market Restraints Limiting Expansion in the Dental Practice Management Market High Initial Costs and Budget Constraints The adoption of dental practice management systems often involves significant upfront costs for software, hardware, and training. Smaller or independently owned practices may struggle to justify these expenses, especially when budgets are tight. Ongoing maintenance and subscription fees for cloud-based platforms can further add to the financial burden, deterring many potential users from transitioning to advanced solutions. Technical Complexity and Limited Expertise Implementing and operating dental practice management systems requires a certain level of technical proficiency. Many dental practitioners and staff, especially in smaller practices, lack the expertise to navigate these systems effectively. This skill gap can result in underutilization of the software's capabilities, leading to frustration and reduced ROI. Additionally, resistance to change from traditional paper-based workflows adds to the challenge. Data Security and Interoperability Challenges Concerns over data privacy and cybersecurity are significant barriers in adopting digital dental practice management systems. Practices handling sensitive patient information must comply with stringent regulations, such as HIPAA, which can be daunting for smaller organizations. Moreover, the lack of seamless interoperability between different software solutions hinders the efficient exchange of data, limiting the system's overall effectiveness and adoption rates. Geographic Dominance The Dental Practice Management Market exhibits distinct geographic dominance, with North America and Europe leading due to advanced healthcare infrastructure, widespread adoption of digital technologies, and favorable government policies. In these regions, high disposable incomes and awareness of oral health further fuel the market. Asia-Pacific is emerging as a lucrative market, driven by a growing middle-class population, increased healthcare spending, and rapid urbanization. Rising awareness about dental care and the adoption of digital solutions in countries like China, India, and Japan are contributing significantly. Africa and the rest of the world present untapped potential, with growing dental care demand despite infrastructural and economic challenges. Efforts to improve healthcare access and increasing investments in these regions are expected to boost growth. Such diverse regional consumption patterns shape the competitive landscape and growth trajectory of the market globally. Dental Practice Management Market Key Players Shaping the Future Major players, including ACE Dental, Practice-Web Dental, Dentrix, Tab32, Denticon, Dovetail, iDentalSoft, Maxident, Datacon, DentiMax, Open Dental and more, play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Dental Practice Management Market. Financial statements, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis provide valuable insights into the industry's key players. Dental Practice Management Market Segment Analysis Based on the research, Verified Market Reports has segmented the global Dental Practice Management Market into Type, Application and Geography. Dental Practice Management Market, By Type Cloud-based Website based On-Premise Dental Practice Management Market, By Application Clinical Management Patient Engagement Hospital Appointment Management Billing & Payment Education/Training Dental Practice Management Market, By Geography North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Middle East & Africa Latin America Browse Related Reports: Global Dental Market By Type (Dental Consumables, Dental Equipment), By Application (General Hospitals, Dental Hospitals), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Dental Practice Management Solution Market By Type (Cloud-based, On-premise), By Application (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Dental Equipment Market By Type (Systems and Parts, Dental Implant), By Application (Hospitals, Clinics), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Dental Practice Anagement Software Market By Type (Native dental practice management software, Cloud-based dental practice management software), By Application (Hospital, Dental Clinic), By Geographic Scope And Forecast Global Dental Management Software Market By Type (On-Premise, Cloud-Based), By Application (Hospital, Clinic), By Geographic Scope And Forecast About Us Verified Market Reports stands at the forefront as a global leader in Research and Consulting, offering unparalleled analytical research solutions that empower organizations with the insights needed for critical business decisions. Celebrating 10+ years of service, Verified Market Reports has been instrumental in providing founders and companies with precise, up-to-date research data. With a team of 500+ Analysts and subject matter experts, Verified Market Reports leverages internationally recognized research methodologies for data collection and analyses, covering over 15,000 high impact and niche markets. This robust team ensures data integrity and offers insights that are both informative and actionable, tailored to the strategic needs of businesses across various industries. Verified Market Reports' domain expertise is recognized across 14 key industries, including Semiconductor & Electronics, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Technology, Automobiles, Defense, Mining, Manufacturing, Retail, and Agriculture & Food. In-depth market analysis cover over 52 countries, with advanced data collection methods and sophisticated research techniques being utilized. 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Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Reports US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: sales@verifiedmarketreports.com Web: https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2486715/VM_Reports.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dental-practice-management-market-surges-to-usd-5-73-billion-by-2030--propelled-by-10-9-cagr---verified-market-reports-302317381.html Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner & Founder, ETFGI LLP ("ETFGI"), joined Keith Wu, Head, Exchange Traded Products, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to open the market and celebrate the 6th Annual ETFGI Global ETFs Insights Summit Canada at Borden Ladner Gervais's office in Toronto. Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J4dq9VbmEk ETFGI is the leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF ecosystem. The 6th Annual ETFGI Global ETFs Insights Summit Canada brings together ETF industry leaders, including sponsors, exchanges, broker-dealers, institutional investors, and regulators, to explore crucial trends and developments shaping the ETF landscape. The event is designed for institutional investors and financial advisors to gain valuable insights into ETF selection, management, and trading strategies, with a focus on active ETFs, thematic investments, crypto ETFs, and trading advancements. The summit will also cover regulatory updates and market trends impacting ETF utilization. This essential gathering offers professionals an opportunity to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving financial landscape and network with peers across the ETF ecosystem. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231597 SOURCE: Toronto Stock Exchange WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday unexpectedly showing a continued increase by U.S. pending home sales in the month of October.NAR said its pending home sales index jumped by 2.0 percent to 77.4 in October after soaring by 7.5 percent to an upwardly revised 75.9 in September.Economists had expected pending home sales to pull back by 1.3 percent compared to the 7.4 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.The pending home sales index increased for the third consecutive month, reaching its highest level since hitting 78.3 in March.A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.'Homebuying momentum is building after nearly two years of suppressed home sales.' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.He added, 'Even with mortgage rates modestly rising despite the Federal Reserve's decision to cut the short-term interbank lending rate in September, continuous job additions and more housing inventory are bringing more consumers to the market.'The report showed significant increases by pending home sales in the Northeast and West, which jumped by 4.7 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.Pending home sales in the South also climbed by 0.9 percent, while pending home sales in West edged up by 0.2 percent, NAR said.'It's encouraging to see contract signings increasing in all major regions of the country,' said Yun. 'More notable gains from a year ago occurred in the expensive regions of the Northeast and West. The record-high stock market is providing a boost for upper-end home buyers.'A separate report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in the month of October.The Commerce Department said new home sales saw a 17.3 percent nosedive to an annual rate of 610,000 in October after spiking by 7.0 percent to a rate of 738,000 in September. Economists had expected new home sales to decrease by 1.1 percent to a rate of 730,000.New home sales pulled back well off their highest level in over a year, plunging to their lowest level since hitting an annual rate of 596,000 in November 2023.Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Energy Information Administration released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by more than expected in the week ended November 22nd.The report said crude oil inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels last week after edging up by 0.5 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decline by 1.3 million barrels.At 428.4 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.Meanwhile, the EIA said gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels last week but remain about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also crept up by 0.4 million barrels last week but remain about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.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. Quebec City, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - The Association des commercants de vehicules recreatifs du Quebec commercants de vehicules recreatifs du Quebec (ACVRQ) and the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA) of Canada are denouncing an unjustifiable retroactive tax burden imposed on Quebec recreational vehicle (RV) dealers. This problematic situation, created and overlooked by the Department of Finance (Canada) and now being enforced by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), directly threatens the survival of these businesses, which are key pillars of Quebec's economy and communities. On the basis of an ambiguous provision of the GST/HST legislation, the CRA is retroactively charging Ontario's Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) at a rate of 13% on RVs and RV parts purchased by Quebec businesses from the United States. The CRA's view is that Ontario HST applies to these purchases by Quebec businesses because the RVs crossed into Ontario on their way to their place of delivery in Quebec. Multiple RV dealers across Quebec have received retroactive invoices capturing the 8% difference between the HST and the federal GST. Some of these invoices amount to over $3,800,000 with respect to RVs and parts purchased more than a decade ago. These charges make a mockery of Quebec's conscious decision not to cede jurisdiction to the federal government and participate in the HST system and disregard the fact that the U.S. products in question are exclusively destined for Quebec customers. "This is a scandalous abuse of the federal government's taxation power," said Steve Lapierre, Executive Director of the ACVRQ. "How can the federal government justify applying an Ontario tax to goods imported by businesses operating entirely in Quebec? This is not just a tax issue-it is a fundamental attack on interprovincial fairness and the ability of Quebec businesses to engage in cross-border trade." The consequences could be dire. Quebec RV dealers were already grappling with rising inventory costs, declining sales, and an uncertain economic environment. These retroactive claims are forcing some businesses to consider layoffs or reducing investments to generate the liquidity demanded by the CRA. "This decision could destroy our businesses," said Josee Bedard, owner of Roulottes Chaudiere, a Quebec RV dealership that received a retroactive tax bill of over $900,000. "We have been creating jobs in our communities for decades, and now we are being punished because of taxes that should never have been assessed. If this problem goes unresolved, we will have no choice but to scale back our operations, putting dozens of good-paying jobs at risk." Eleonore Hamm, President of the RVDA, added: "This situation truly borders on absurdity: a Quebec business imports an American product destined for Quebec, intending to sell it in Quebec, and is forced to pay Ontario sales tax merely because it transits through Ontario. Yet purchase the same product from someone in Western Canada, and no Ontario HST applies. The tax law treats U.S. suppliers differently from Canadian." "Moreover, this madness was brought to the attention of federal authorities in Ottawa over a year ago by our members and the involved manufacturers, yet no solution has been implemented." The ACVRQ and the RVDA of Canada are urging Quebec's elected officials, at both the federal and provincial levels, to intervene immediately to encourage the federal government to resolve this issue. In October 2023, the Canadian RV Dealers "Sensible Border" Coalition proposed a retroactive amendment to section 178.8 of the Excise Tax Act to address this issue and prevent further harm to the industry. "We demand swift federal intervention to put an end to this crisis," concluded Eleonore Hamm. "Quebecers should not tolerate policies that disproportionately punish Quebec businesses while ignoring fundamental principles of tax policy. We also call on Quebec's elected officials to stand with dealers and advocate for fair treatment for the province's businesses." The ACVRQ and the RVDA of Canada are calling on all relevant stakeholders to mobilize to resolve this situation: "This is a moment where government leadership is badly needed," concluded Steve Lapierre. "We need those in a position to protect Quebec's interests to stand up and demand an end to this attack on businesses in our province." -30- About the ACVRQ and RVDA of Canada The Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA) of Canada represents RV dealers across the country, advocating for their interests and promoting sustainable business practices. The Association des commercants de vehicules recreatifs du Quebec (ACVRQ) focuses specifically on the needs of Quebec's RV industry, ensuring fair competition and supporting a thriving marketplace. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231596 SOURCE: Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA) of Canada TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY) is planning to purchase OpenAI stock worth $1.5 billion as part of CEO Masayoshi Son's strategy to increase investment in artificial intelligence, according to several media reports.The company intends to purchase the shares through a tender offer, inviting current and former employees of OpenAI to sell their stock, which they have held for more than two years.The employees have until December 24 to participate in the offer.As per the Financial Times, the Tokyo-based company will price the employee's stock based on the OpenAI's most recent funding round, which raised about $6 billion last month.SoftBank Vision Fund has earlier invested $500 million during that funding round.Currently, SoftBank's stock is trading at $29.11, up 1.25 percent on the OTC Markets.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. LIMERICK, Ireland, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- kneat.com, inc., a leader in digitizing and automating validation and quality processes, is pleased to announce that it has signed a three-year Master Services Agreement with ALTEN SA, a world leader in Engineering and IT Services. ALTEN will leverage Kneat Gx to digitize its own validation processes and those of its customers within the Life Sciences space. With almost 60,000 employees and operations in more than 30 countries worldwide, ALTEN's services support companies' innovation, R&D, and technological information systems efforts. ALTEN's customers in the Life Sciences & Health industries operate in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, biomedical technologies, nutrition, cosmetics, food processing, and other areas dedicated to improving lives. ALTEN plans to use Kneat Gx for its own projects, and to enable the use of Kneat Gx by its customers, starting with Commissioning and Qualification. "Our partnership with ALTEN is excellent news for validation across the Life Sciences ecosystem," stated Eddie Ryan, co-founder and CEO of Kneat. "By digitizing their validation workflows on Kneat Gx, both ALTEN and their customers will enjoy significant collaboration, time, and cost benefits." "We are excited to begin this partnership, as digital validation represents a significant step towards transforming the industry by ensuring improved efficiency, data integrity, and the delivery of safe, high-quality solutions for patients" said Quentin Birot, Director, Life Sciences Manufacturing & Clinical Operations in Europe at ALTEN. About ALTEN Created in 1988, ALTEN supports its customers' development strategies in the areas of innovation, R&D and technological information systems. ALTEN works with key actors in the Aeronautics, Space, Defence, Security & Naval, Automotive, Rail & Mobility, Energy & Environment, Life Sciences & Health, Industrial Equipment & Electronics, Telecoms, Banking, Finance & Insurance, Retail, Services & Media, Public Services & Government sectors. The Group has a workforce of 58,300 employees operating in 30+ countries, 88% of whom are engineers. Its 2023 turnover was 4,07 billion. ALTEN's stock is listed in compartment A of the Euronext Paris market (ISIN FR000001946); it is part of the SBF 120, the IT CAC 50 index and MIDCAP100, and is eligible for the deferred Settlement Service (SRD). About Kneat Kneat Solutions provides leading companies in highly regulated industries with unparalleled efficiency in validation and compliance through its digital validation platform Kneat Gx. We lead the industry in customer satisfaction with an unblemished record for implementation, powered by our user-friendly design, expert support, and on-demand training academy. Kneat Gx is an industry-leading digital validation platform that enables highly regulated companies to manage any validation discipline from end-to-end. Kneat Gx is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified, fully validated, and 21 CFR Part 11/Annex 11 compliant. Multiple independent customer studies show up to 40% reduction in documentation cycle times, up to 20% faster speed to market, and a higher compliance standard. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567928/ALTEN_Logo.jpg For further information: Kneat Investor Relations investors@kneat.com Alten Public Relations alten@hopscotch.fr View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/alten-selects-kneat-to-digitize-validation-302317386.html Hydrogen Compressors Market expansion is driven by development of electrochemical hydrogen compressor (EHC), the rising investments in renewable energy & hydrogen generation projects worldwide and increasing shift toward green hydrogen. NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new comprehensive report from The Insight Partners, "the global Hydrogen Compressors Market Size and Forecast (2023 - 2035), Global and Regional Share, Trend, and Growth Opportunity Analysis Report Coverage: Type (Lubricated and Oil-Free), Technology (Reciprocating Hydrogen Compressors, Diaphragm Hydrogen Compressors, Nonmechanical Hydrogen Compressor, and Others), End-user (Power Plants, Oil and Gas, Food and Beverages, Petrochemical and Chemical, Hydrogen Fueling Station, Hydrogen Storage, and Others), and Geography ". For Detailed Market Insights, Visit: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/hydrogen-compressor-market The report carries out an in-depth analysis of market trends, key players, and future opportunities. In general, the hydrogen compressors market comprises a vast array of hardware, and sensors which are expected to register strength during the coming years. With projected growth to $3.74billion by 2035, the Hydrogen Compressors Market represents a significant opportunity for component, provides several stakeholders-including component providers, system technology integrators, system manufacturers and others-with valuable insights into how to successfully navigate this evolving market landscape and unlock new opportunities. For More Information and To Stay Updated on The Latest Developments in The Hydrogen Compressors Market, Download The Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00019472/ Market Overview and Growth Trajectory: Hydrogen Compressors Market Growth: According to a new comprehensive report from The Insight Partners, the global Hydrogen Compressors market is observing significant growth owing to rapid industrialization and an increase in hydrogen production across the globe. Hydrogen production reached 94 million metric tons in 2021, a rise from 91 million metric tons in 2019. Hydrogen compressors are used in the oil & gas and refinery industries for compression. The hydrogen compressors market was valued at US$ 1,913.04 million in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 3,740.52 million by 2035; it is expected to register a CAGR of 6.0% during 2023-2035. The rise in government investments in the development of hydrogen fuel infrastructure and incentives offered to the buyers are allowing the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to expand their revenue stream as well as their geographical presence. There is an increase in demand for low-emission and cost-efficient vehicles owing to associated government initiatives and a growing number of high-performance commercial vehicles across the globe. Numerous government policies have been deployed to reduce emissions by vehicles. For instance, in the US, the state of California dedicated funds for the development of 100 hydrogen refueling stations and is aiming to reach ~1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025, driving the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Due to rising concerns regarding the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation, several technologies have been developed and introduced in the market that favor the eco-friendly concept of sustainability. Similarly, rising awareness related to the effects of air pollution and the surge in greenhouse gas emissions is propelling the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that offer higher fuel economy than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This vehicle has a fuel economy of more than 63 miles per gallon, while ICE vehicle has 29 miles per gallon on roads. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles enhance the fuel economy by approximately 3.2%. The oil & gas sector is rapidly expanding in several countries, such as China, the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Mexico. The industry's growth is driven by increasing oil and gas exploration activities in these countries. There is a rising adoption of advanced technologies for drilling and completing operations to optimize oil and gas production. Governments of various countries are investing in the mining, refineries, and oil & gas sectors. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation Organization, the Indian government planned to invest US$ 2.86 billion in oil and gas exploration activities to increase domestic natural gas production in 2022. With rising favorable government support, numerous investments in oil and gas projects have been made. For instance, in August 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has resumed 8,363 oil and gas projects worth US$ 79.56 trillion in India, which, in turn, promotes the integration of hydrogen compressors for the oil and gas flow control. Geographical Insights: In 2023, Asia Pacific led the market with a substantial revenue share, followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Hydrogen Compressors Market Segmentation, Applications, Geographical Insights: Based on type, the Hydrogen Compressors market is divided into lubricated and oil-free. The lubricated segment held a larger share of the market in 2023. Based on technology, the hydrogen compressors market is segmented into reciprocating hydrogen compressors, diaphragm hydrogen compressors, nonmechanical hydrogen compressors, and others. The reciprocating hydrogen compressors segment dominated the market in 2023. Based on end user, the market is categorized into power plants, oil and gas, food and beverages, petrochemical and chemical, hydrogen fueling station, hydrogen storage, and others. The petrochemical and chemical segment held the largest share of the market in 2023. Purchase Premium Copy of Global Hydrogen Compressors Market Size and Growth Report (2023-2035) at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00019472/ Key Players and Competitive Landscape: The HYDROGEN COMPRESSORS Market is characterized by the presence of several major players, including: Atlas Copco AB Burckhardt Compression AG Fluitron, Inc Gardner Denver Nash, LLC Howden Group HAUG Sauer Kompressoren AG NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP Hydro-Pac, Inc. Lenhardt & Wagner GmbH PDC Machines Inc. These companies are adopting strategies such as new product launches, joint ventures, and geographical expansion to maintain their competitive edge in the market. Hydrogen Compressors Market Recent Developments and Innovations: "Atlas Copco launches variable speed driven hydrogen compressor 'H2P'. Atlas Copco has launched the H2P, a hydrogen compressor capable of following the electrolysis production profile. Thanks to its speed-controlled technology, the compressor can compensate for fluctuations in hydrogen production and ensure optimal efficiency, thereby reducing energy losses." "CIMC Enric successfully launched hydrogen 90MPa/1000kg liquid-driven compressor and 45 MPa diaphragm compressor Strengthening the overall solution capability of hydrogen energy. The Company's 90MPa/1000kg liquid-driven compressor and 45MPa diaphragm compressor were recently launched at the CIMC Hydrogen Shanghai Equipment Manufacturing and Bengbu Equipment Manufacturing Base respectively." The SIAD Group innovates and launches the new 550 bar, oil-free, high-pressure hydrogen compressor for hydrogen mobility. The group manufactures its first compressor, SIAD Macchine Impianti (SIAD MI), a SIAD Group company, which introduced its latest engineering innovation: a high-pressure, hydrogen compressor equipped with oil-free technology that delivers top performance and reliability. Designed specifically to meet the needs of the transportation and hydrogen refueling station sectors, and thanks to this initiative, SIAD Macchine Impianti becomes a leading player in the sustainable mobility supply chain, an area of priority for the company. For Region-Specific Market Data, Check Out Brief Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00019472/ Hydrogen Compressors Market Drivers and Opportunities: A report from the Hydrogen Council, which includes over 150 multinational companies, predicts that the combined hydrogen demand from China, India, Japan, and South Korea is expected to reach ~285 metric ton by 2050, accounting for 43% of the global total. China, being the world's largest hydrogen consumer, is actively striving to gain the lead in green hydrogen production. As the demand for green hydrogen surges, companies are engaging in strategic partnerships and investing heavily to position themselves in the emerging green hydrogen industry in Asia Pacific, which propels the growth of the hydrogen compressors market. Challenges and Future Outlook: Asia Pacific is witnessing intense competition among companies aiming to establish green hydrogen production bases, recognizing its potential as a next-generation power source. The domestic players are teaming up with companies from Western countries for massive projects. Orsted, a Danish offshore wind power company exploring entry into the green hydrogen sector, partnered with POSCO, a South Korean steelmaker, for an offshore wind power project in May 2021. It is also studying the feasibility of green hydrogen production. Moreover, Western oil companies are making significant investments in Asia Pacific. In June 2022, BP became the largest shareholder in the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) project in Australia, aiming to produce up to 1.6 metric tons of green hydrogen annually and secure a 10% share of the global market. Such investments by companies are expected to fuel the hydrogen compressors market growth in Asia Pacific during the forecast period. Need A Diverse Region or Sector? Customize Research to Suit Your Requirement: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPRE00019472/ Conclusion: Many manufacturers worldwide are incorporating IoT, smart solutions, and automation in the oil & gas industry. According to Car Group Organization, in 2021, automotive manufacturers announced an investment of US$ 36 billion for building manufacturing facilities for batteries and EVs. In the first quarter of 2022, automakers in Asia Pacific announced an investment of US$ 24 billion in electric vehicles. Hydrogen compressors are widely used in automotive manufacturing. Increased adoption of Industry 4.0, along with a surge in the advancements in consumer electronics manufacturing and machinery tools, is driving the hydrogen compressor market growth. Hydrogen plays a vital role in energy production; this supports the aim of the decarbonization of carbon-intensive sectors, including chemical, processing, automotive, mobility, and power generation, among others. Compressors are used in the hydrogen gas production value chain and are essential for efficiently transporting hydrogen. Related Report Titles: Hydrogen Fueling Station Market Size and Forecasts (2021 - 2031) Hydrogen Fuel Stacks Market Share, Size and Trends (2021 - 2031) Hydrogen Fuel Cell Stacks Market Size and Forecasts (2021 - 2031) Brown Hydrogen Market Size and Forecasts (2021 - 2031) Automotive Air Compressor Market Strategies, Top Players, Growth Opportunities, Analysis and Forecast by 2031 Automotive Air Conditioning Compressor Market Growth, Size, Share, Trends, Key Players Analysis, and Forecast by 2031 About Us: The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials. Contact Us: If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us: Contact Person: Ankit Mathur E-mail: ankit.mathur@theinsightpartners.com Phone: +1-646-491-9876 Press Release: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/pr/hydrogen-compressor-market Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2520492/The_Insight_Partners_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hydrogen-compressors-market-is-set-for-explosive-growth-with-projections-indicating-a-surge-to-3-74-billion-by-2035---exclusive-report-by-the-insight-partners-302317534.html Garland, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - On November 26, 2024, Cenatex Holdings, LLC ("Cenatex") a Texas limited liability company purchased an aggregate of 31,500 common shares (the "Common Shares") in the capital of Bri-Chem Corp. ("Bri-Chem") listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange at an average price of $0.18 USD per Common Share, for an aggregate cost of $5,670.00 USD (the "Purchase"). Immediately prior to the Purchase, Cenatex and joint actors beneficially owned, or had control or direction over, an aggregate of 2,643,295 Common Shares, representing 9.999% of the 26,432,981 shares issued and outstanding Common Shares. Following the Purchase, Cenatex and joint actors own, or have control or direction over, an aggregate of 2,674,795 Common Shares, representing 10.119% of the 26,432,981 issued and outstanding Common Shares. Cenatex purchased the Common Shares as a result of an investment decision, and, based on current market conditions, Cenatex and joint actors may, in the future, further increase or decrease their shareholdings in Bri-Chem, as circumstances warrant, whether in the open market, by privately negotiated agreements, or otherwise. Any transaction that Cenatex and joint actors my pursue may be made at any time, and from time to time, without prior notice, and will depend on a variety of factors, including, and without limitation, the price and availability of common shares of Bri-Chem, subsequent developments affecting Bri-Chem, its business and prospects, other investments and business opportunities available to Cenatex and join actors, general industry and economic conditions, the securities markets in general, compliance with applicable securities laws, and other factors deemed relevant by Cenatex and joint actors. An early warning report related to this transaction will be filed on SEDAR+ under Bri-Chem's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. To obtain a copy of such report, please contact: To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231655 SOURCE: Cenatex Holdings, LLC DUSSELDORF, Germany, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Marstek, an established leader in energy storage technology, successfully hosted the launch event of its Energycube AC Couple ESS at the Solar Solutions Dusseldorf trade show. Wholesalers, installers, and media representatives attended the event, connecting with peers, gaining valuable insights into the industry, and exploring Marstek's latest advancements in renewable energy storage. Peter Yang, CEO of Marstek, expressed his enthusiasm: "We are excited to partner with EUPD to launch the Energycube in Dusseldorf, Germany. This marks a significant milestone in our journey to deliver innovative, accessible energy storage solutions. The Energycube reflects our dedication to efficiency and sustainability, empowering users to achieve energy independence. As the demand for renewable solutions grows, we look forward to presenting this cutting-edge technology to industry experts, partners, and the community." The event highlighted the unveiling of the Energycube alongside a range of Marstek's latest energy solutions. Guests gained valuable insights from EUPD Research's PV market update, which offered a comprehensive look at the evolving photovoltaic and energy storage landscape. The Energycube The Energycube represents a significant advancement in energy storage, providing a user-friendly installation, scalable capacity, and tools for real-time energy management. Key Features of the Energycube: Plug & Play DIY Setup: Designed for straightforward installation without technical expertise, ideal for various environments including forest cabins, yachts, and remote homes. Flexible Energy Capacity: Supports both single and multiple units, allowing scalability up to 10 kW output and a capacity of up to 20.48kWh. Real-Time Global Electricity Prices: Equipped with access to real-time electricity prices across 46 countries, supporting optimized energy cost management. Smart Energy Efficiency: Utilizes peak shaving and valley filling capabilities, enhancing daily energy savings. Hybrid System Compatibility: Allows for the simple upgrade of existing solar installations to a hybrid storage solution, enabling whole-home backup power within minutes. About Marstek Founded in 2009, Marstek is a global leader in renewable energy solutions, specializing in advanced energy storage technologies. With four manufacturing bases and operations across the USA, Germany, Japan, Kenya, and Nigeria, it integrates innovation with a vertically aligned industry chain to deliver scalable, efficient energy systems. Marstek empowers households and businesses with tools that promote energy independence and sustainability. By setting new benchmarks in energy management, Marstek drives the global transition to a cleaner, more sustainable future. Contact: Ricky Ma, ricky.ma@marstek.de Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567857/Marstek_Energycube.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/marstek-launched-energycube-ac-couple-ess-a-new-era-of-home-microgrid-solutions-302317414.html PRESS RELEASE DATED 27 NOVEMBER 2024 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SQUEEZE-OUT OF THE SHARES OF THE COMPANY SQLI FOLLOWING THE SIMPLIFIED PUBLIC TENDER OFFER INITIATED BY THE COMPANY Synsion BidCo AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION : 54 per SQLI share This press release (the "Press Release") has been prepared by Synsion BidCo and is issued in accordance with the provisions of article 237-3, III of the General Regulation of the Autorite des marches financiers (the "AMF") and article 9 of AMF instruction n2006-07 relating to public tender offers. Target company : SQLI ("SQLI" or the "Company"), a French limited company (societe anonyme) whose registered office is located at 2-10, rue Thierry Le Luron - 92300 Levallois-Perret, France, whose identification number is 353 861 909 RCS Nanterre, and whose shares are admitted to trading on compartment B of the regulated market of Euronext Paris under ISIN code FR0011289040, mnemonic "SQI". Offeror : Synsion BidCo (the "Offeror"), a simplified joint stock company (societe par actions simplifiee) whose registered office is located at 95, rue La Boetie - 75008 Paris, France, and whose identification number is 903 881 373 RCS Paris. Terms of the squeeze-out : Under the simplified public tender offer initiated by the Offeror for the Company's shares (the "Offer"), which was cleared by the AMF on November 5, 2024 (AMF decision no. 224C2188) and which lasted between November 7 and November 22, 2024 (inclusive), the Offeror acquired 278,644 shares in the Company. Following the Offer, the Offeror directly held 4,440,566 shares in the Company, and 61,247 shares by assimilation[1], representing overall 96.44% of the share capital and 96.77% of the theoretical voting rights of the Company[2]. Banque Degroof Petercam, acting on behalf of the Offeror, informed the AMF by a letter dated 25 November 2024 of the Offeror's decision to implement the squeeze-out procedure for the shares in the Company not held by the Offeror (other than shares subject to a liquidity mechanism and/or assimilated to shares held by the Offeror), as the Offeror had expressed its intention to do in the offer document, which received visa no. 24-463 dated November 5, 2024 (the "Offer Document"). The conditions required by article L. 433-4, II of the French Monetary and Financial Code and articles 237-1 et seq. of the AMF's General Regulation for the implementation of the squeeze-out procedure concerning the Company's shares are met, considering that: the 166,043 shares of the Company not tendered to the Offer held by minority shareholders (other than shares subject to a liquidity mechanism and/or assimilated to shares held by the Offeror) represent, upon closing of the Offer, 3.56% of the share capital and 3.23% of the theoretical voting rights of the Company (i.e. less than 10% in both cases); when examining the compliance of the proposed Offer, the AMF had at its disposal the valuation report of the presenting bank, Banque Degroof Petercam, and the report of the independent expert, Crowe HAF, appointed on the basis of article 261-1 (I, 1, 2 and 4, and II) of the AMF's General Regulation, it being specified that the latter concluded that the terms of the Offer, which may be followed by a squeeze-out, are fair from a financial point of view for the Company's minority shareholders; and the squeeze-out will be carried out under the same financial conditions as the Offer, i.e. 54 per share. In accordance with AMF notice no. 224C2452 of 26 November 2024, the squeeze-out on the Company's shares will target shares not held by the Offeror, with the exception of the 1,256 treasury shares held by the Company and the 59,991 free shares being issued to date, but the holding period of which has not expired prior to the closing date of the Offer (the latter shares being covered by the liquidity mechanism described in section 1.3.1 of the Offer Document). The squeeze-out on the Company's shares will be carried out at the same price as the Offer, i.e. at a price of 54 euros per Company's share. The total amount of the compensation will be paid by the Offeror, at the latest on the date of implementation of the squeeze-out, into an escrow account opened for this purpose with its financial agent Uptevia, whose registered office is located at 90-110, Esplanade du General de Gaulle - 92931 Paris La Defense Cedex, appointed as centralizing agent for the squeeze-out compensation transactions. In accordance with the provisions of article 237-8 of the AMF's General Regulation, the funds corresponding to the compensation of the Company's shares which have not been claimed by the depositaries on behalf of the beneficiaries, will be held by Uptevia for a period of ten years from the date of implementation of the squeeze-out and paid to the Caisse des Depots et Consignations at the end of this period. These funds will be at the disposal of the beneficiaries subject to the thirty-year statute of limitations in favor of the French State. In accordance with the provisions of article 237-5 of the RGAMF, the Offeror will publish a notice informing the public of the squeeze-out in a legal gazette (journal d'annonces legales) in the location of the Company's registered office. Euronext will publish a timetable for the implementation of the squeeze-out of the Company's shares. The Offer Document approved by the AMF and the information on the legal, financial, accounting and other characteristics of Synsion BidCo, filed with the AMF on November 5, 2024, are available on the websites of SQLI (www.sqli.com) and the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and can be obtained free of charge from the Offeror and Banque Degroof Petercam in Paris (Degroof Petercam Investment Banking, 44, rue de Lisbonne - 75008 Paris, France). The response document relating to the Offer prepared by SQLI, which received visa no. 24-464 dated November 5, 2024, as well as the information on the legal, financial, accounting and other characteristics of SQLI, filed with the AMF on November 5, 2024, are available on SQLI's website (www.sqli.com) and on the AMF's website (www.amf-france.org) and may be obtained free of charge from SQLI's registered office at 2-10, rue Thierry Le Luron - 92300 Levallois-Perret. Warning The Press Release has been prepared for information purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to the public. The distribution of this Press Release, the Offer and its acceptance may be subject to specific regulations or restrictions in certain countries. The Offer is not addressed to persons subject to such restrictions, either directly or indirectly, and may not be accepted from any country where the Offer would be subject to such restrictions. The Press Release is not intended for distribution in such countries. Consequently, persons in possession of this Press Release are required to inform themselves about any local restrictions that may apply and to comply with them. Synsion BidCo disclaims all liability for any violation by any person of these restrictions. [1] Including, in accordance with article L. 233-9, I 2 and 4 of the French Commercial Code, (i) all 59,991 free shares allocated under the 2022 free share allocation plan and issued to date but for which the holding period has not expired prior to the closing date of the Offer, covered by the liquidity mechanism described in section 1.3.1 of the Offer Document, and (ii) the 1,256 treasury shares held by the Company. [2] Based on a total of 4,667,856 shares representing 6,015,074 theoretical voting rights in the Company (including in particular the granting, on 22 November 2024, of 1,319,004 double voting rights to shares held by Synsion BidCo). ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: mm5uYcpqkmzIm3BsYpeYaGeUaZhmmZWdlmTHx2loY52UbJ1gyWhjnMXJZnFpnmZn - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-88911-pr-synsion-bidco-mise-en-oeuvre-du-ro.pdf Summary: Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene has introduced a revamped website to enhance convenience and showcase landscaping services while simplifying the quote request process. Valhalla, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene is excited to announce the launch of a newly designed website to offer a seamless browsing experience and provide prospective clients with detailed information about the company's services. With an emphasis on convenience and accessibility, the website makes it easier for homeowners and businesses to learn about the best landscaping in Westchester County and seamlessly request consultations and personalized quotes. This is a major step forward in the company's mission to transform yards into lively, livable, luxurious, and beautiful spaces. The new Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene website features a clean, welcoming, and responsive design, ensuring users flow from one section to another across devices. Visitors can explore the company's detailed landscape services, including design, mulching, sod installation, grading, planting trees/shrubs, yard removal/renovations, or drainage solutions. Those curious about integrating hardscapes can create the envisioned front and backyards thanks to the website's extensive information about retaining walls, paver patios, walkways, driveways, outdoor kitchens, fire pits and outdoor fireplaces, concrete patios, walkways, and driveways. Also included is their full suite of outdoor living services, such as building decks, synthetic grass installation, water features, gazebos, and pergola construction. While having a functional and appealing outdoor space is desirable to many property owners, maintenance is one of the greatest challenges. Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene recognizes this, making maintenance services such as lawn mowing, weed control, dethatching, leaf removal, core aeration, and shrub trimming available on the newly designed website. Additionally, tree removal and trimming, snow plowing, and ice control services showcase the company's commitment to quality, creativity, and comprehensive approach to beautifying properties. This initiative underscores Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene's client-first philosophy by simplifying connecting with a professional landscaping team. Visitors can click on the contact page to find an online intake form for their details, the services they're interested in, the type of property they own, and their budget. As a business with an A+ accreditation from the BBB, prospective clients can find Ace Landscaping on Instagram, discover the hours of operation, view the location, call the current phone number, and read the company's numerous 5-star reviews on the new website. The release of the Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene redesigned website significantly impacts Westchester County residents by improving access to personalized landscaping services and fostering better communication between the company and property owners. About Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene: Ace Landscaping & The Green Scene has transformed countless properties across the region into stunning outdoor spaces that families cherish for generations. What began as a small family business has become a full-service company with designers, horticulturists, and skilled craftsmen who pour expertise and passion into every project. These professionals are not just landscapers but trusted partners in bringing outdoor dreams to life with personalization, attention to detail, meticulous planning, and flawless execution. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231525 SOURCE: GetFeatured MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / Alphinat Inc. (TSXV:NPA.H:NEX) announces a net loss of $(43,866) for the first quarter 2024 ended May 31st, 2024 compared to a net loss of ($5,848) for the same period in 2023. During the quarter ended May 31, 2024, Alphinat continued to focus the majority of its sales efforts on the public sector and its partners. SmartGuide is leveraged by federal, state/provincial and municipal government agencies to accelerate solution deliveries, improve productivity gains and user experiences. In order to accelerate future growth, Alphinat has six main areas of solution deliveries: SmartGuide Grants and Contributions solution (www.smartgrants.ca) was developed in conjunction with a federal department of the Canadian Government. This platform offers unparalleled productivity for federal, state and municipal clients creating calls for grants including financial program creations for applications, adjudication and payments; SmartGuide Portal Edition for Dynamics 3651 (www.smartd365.com) has optimize the way that clients can now create and deploy online services on top of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM solutions. This offering is available in SaaS mode as well as on-premises; SmartGuide Green House Gas Registry solutions (www.SmartGHGR.ca) is a green fintech solution allowing governments and industry to work together in reducing the harmful effects of greenhouse gas. Alphinat currently has three provincial clients for our SmartGHGR.ca solution; SmartGuide Claims solutions (www.smartclaims.ca) was developed in conjunction with a major IT consulting partner, which aims at offering unparalleled productivity to federal, state and municipal clients for financial claims applications, adjudication and settlements for financial compensation and class action settlements; SmartGuide CIVIC Portal, CIVIC Portal for Permits & Licensing (www.permitsmarter.ca) and SmartGuide Municipal Cloud are Municipal Cloud and on-premises solutions front ending partner solutions and other digital services for improved user experience for both the cities and their citizens. SmartProfile (www.smartprofile.ca) a secure Single Sign On solution is now a standalone solution, built on SmartGuide it provides industry leading flexible for full integration and end-user satisfaction. For the 3-month period ended May 31, 2024, revenues were $256 533 compared to $393,621 for the corresponding period of 2023. The net loss for the 3-month period ended May 31, 2024 was $(43,866) or $(0.000695) per common share outstanding would correspond to a net loss of $(5,848) or $(0.0001) per common share outstanding for the 3-month period ended May 31, 2023. Alphinat's financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the period ended May 31, 2024, are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About Alphinat At Alphinat, we are driven by the passion to make application development easy for everyone and system interoperability issues a thing of the past. We enable people with the vision of how a finished application should look and behave to be a major part of the development process. After all, what better way to ensure a positive outcome than to provide those closest to an application's end-users with a vested interest in its success throughout its development? That's why we bring you new ways to empower the right people at the right time in the application development process. At the same time, we're constantly working to reduce the need to code in order to make application development and maintenance simpler and less error prone. So, whether you choose to develop your applications with the help of our low-code platform SmartGuide, kickstart your project using one of our pre-built apps or engage us or one of our partners to do the work for you, we're here to help you deploy better applications in record time. Visit us at https://www.alphinat.com for more information. We look forward to hearing from you. Forward-looking statements Certain statements in this document, including those which express management's expectations or estimations with regards to the Company's future performance constitute forward-looking statements" as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward- looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause significant differences between actual results and those described in forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, the Company's capacity to increase acceptance of its products on the market, and to penetrate new markets; the potential existence of defects or undetected problems in the Company's products; the Company's ability to manage its growth; the Company's ability to compete with others; potential commitments; maintaining the Company's intellectual property rights and defending against litigation putting those rights in question; the Company's reliance on the knowledge of its key personnel; and the Company's access to sufficient capital to finance its future needs. This is a partial and non-exhaustive list of factors that could bear on any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to Alphinat or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. The Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Risks and uncertainties that bear on the Company are described in greater detail in the Company's Annual Report. 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. For further information please contact: Ms. Mahtab Abbasigaravand Chief Executive Officer Alphinat Inc. (514) 398-9799 1 Dynamics 365 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation SOURCE: Alphinat Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The price of crude oil showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually ending the day slightly lower.Crude oil for January delivery edged down $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $68.72 a barrel after slipping $0.17 or 0.3 percent to $68.77 a barrel on Tuesday. The modest decreases seen over the past two sessions came following the nosedive seen during Monday's session.The choppy trading on the came as traders weighed the news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah against data showing a bigger than expected decrease by crude oil inventories.The Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels last week after edging up by 0.5 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decline by 1.3 million barrels.Meanwhile, the EIA said gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels last week but remain about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also crept up by 0.4 million barrels last week but remain about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.Traders also looked ahead to an OPEC+ meeting over the meeting, with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies expected to further delay the oil output increase set for January.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 and BREDA, THE NETHERLANDS / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / Organto Foods Inc. (TSXV:OGO)(OTCQB:OGOFF)(FSE:OGF) ("Organto" or "the Company"), a provider of branded, private label and bulk distributed healthy and organic fruit and vegetable products today announced its financial results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), except where specifically noted. "We are pleased with our financial results for the third quarter of 2024 which reflect the impact of our operational restructuring which has streamlined our product portfolio, shifted our marketing strategy and re-engineered our ongoing operating costs. We believe the results for the third quarter reflect the benefits of our repositioning efforts, including sales growth of 47% versus the prior year, gross profit dollar growth of 63% versus the prior year, and substantially improved bottom line results versus the prior year that are continuing to improve. Our work is not done, and we remain intently focused on leveraging the positive changes we have made as we drive continued business growth combined with operational improvements, all leading to long-term profitability and sustainability. We also continue to focus on the restructuring of our convertible debenture obligations, which is expected to result in reduced cash outlays and greater operating flexibility. We believe the impact of these initiatives will continue to be apparent as we report our results in the coming quarters." commented Steve Bromley, Chair and Chief Executive Officer. Bromley commented further, "Immediately following the filing of our Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis for the second quarter of 2024, we submitted our application to have the current Cease Trade Order lifted. This process is ongoing, and we are hopeful it will be concluded in the near term. We believe we are now fully current with all financial related filings, and when combined with the performance of our restructured business, are looking forward to an exciting future. We truly appreciate the continued support we have received from our shareholders, debenture holders and key operating partners as we have worked through the restructuring of our business. We remain committed to building a world class foods company focused on serving growing global healthy foods markets with the goal of building long-term shareholder value." Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results Overview As a result of the sales of the three subsidiaries in June 2024, all sales and expenses, as well as any gains and losses relating to the operations of the sold subsidiaries have been eliminated from continuing operations and instead are shown as a single line item, loss from discontinued operations, for both the current period and any comparative historical periods. Sales of $5.2 million versus sales of $3.5 million in the prior year, an increase of 47%, driven by strong growth in sales of organic and fairtrade bananas to European customers. Gross profit of $0.6 million or 11.8% of sales versus $0.4 million or 10.6% of sales in the prior year. Third quarter gross profit includes a one-time favorable adjustment of approximately $104,000 to properly allocate sales commissions to selling, general and administration expenses for the first and second quarters of 2024. Excluding this adjustment, gross profit for the third quarter of 2024 was $0.5 million or 9.8% of sales. Cash overhead costs increased to 19% of sales versus 13% in the prior year. Third quarter 2024 costs include approximately $113,000 related to ongoing restructuring, reorganization and cease trade order activities combined with additional costs to complete the 2023 financial audit. Excluding this, the increase in ongoing costs was driven by the retention of costs and resources which were previously included in sold subsidiaries, offset by the savings realized from our efforts to streamline and simplify the business. The current quarter loss for the period was $0.8 million versus a loss of $1.6 million in the prior year, reflecting improvement as the business has been and continues to be restructured and positioned for future growth and profitability. Year to Date 2024 Financial Results Overview Sales of $14.3 million versus sales of $10.9 million in the prior year, an increase of 31%, driven by strong growth in sales of organic and fairtrade bananas to European customers. Gross profit of $1.2 million or 8.2% of sales versus $1.0 million or 9.4% of sales in the prior year, a dollar increase of 15%. Year-over-year gross profit as a percentage of sales was impacted by currency fluctuations and supply chain costs. Cash overhead costs remained flat at 14% of sales. Our third quarter 2024 included approximately $113,000 related to ongoing restructuring, reorganization and cease trade order activities combined with additional costs to complete the 2023 financial audit. These costs plus incremental costs driven by the retention of resources which were previously included in sold subsidiaries were offset by the savings realized from our efforts to streamline and simplify the business. Gain of $2.6 million on the sales of three of our wholly owned Dutch operating subsidiaries (see July 12, 2024 and June 5, 2024 news releases) as well as a gain of $0.4 million on the dissolution of an inactive subsidiary. Loss for the year of $0.3 million versus a loss of $5.9 million in the prior year, reflecting a substantial improvement as the business has been and continues to be restructured and positioned for future growth and profitability. Interested parties may access the Company's filings including Financial Statements and accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended September 30, 2024 at www.SEDARplus.ca or at the Company's website at www.organto.com under the Investors tab. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Steve Bromley Chair and Chief Executive Officer 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. For more information contact: Investor Relations info@organto.com John Rathwell, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations 647 629 0018 ABOUT ORGANTO Organto is an integrated provider of branded, private label, and distributed organic and non-GMO fruit and vegetable products using a strategic asset-light business model to serve a growing socially responsible and health-conscious consumer around the globe. Organto's business model is rooted in its commitment to sustainable business practices focused on environmental responsibility and a commitment to the communities where it operates, its people, and its shareholders. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release may include certain forward-looking information and statements, as defined by law including without limitation Canadian securities laws and the "safe harbor" provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("forward-looking statements"). In particular, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements respecting Organto's business model and markets; Organto's belief that the Company has made good progress in the restructuring of its business and is focused on a clear path to profitability; Organto's belief that its efforts to restructure its convertible debt portfolio is expected to result in reduced debt levels and greater operating flexibility; Organto's belief that as it is now current with its filing obligations and believe that its application to have the current Cease Trade Order revoked as per the terms of securities legislation of British Columbia will be concluded in the near term; Organto's belief that it remains focused on building a world class company focused on growing healthy foods markets with the goal of building long-term shareholder value; management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations; and general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including without limitation assumptions about the following: the ability and time frame within which Organto's business model will be implemented and product supply will be increased; cost increases; dependence on suppliers, partners, and contractual counter-parties; changes in the business or prospects of Organto; unforeseen circumstances; risks associated with the organic produce business generally, including inclement weather, unfavorable growing conditions, low crop yields, variations in crop quality, spoilage, import and export laws, and similar risks; transportation costs and risks; general business and economic conditions; and ongoing relations with distributors, customers, employees, suppliers, consultants, contractors, and partners. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and Organto undertakes no obligation to update any of the foregoing except as required by law. SOURCE: Organto Foods, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / New Holland, a brand of CNH, recently welcomed partners from the academic and farming communities, as well as select agricultural media, at its Model Farm at Nakhon Sawan College of Agriculture and Technology (NSCAT) to showcase its strong commitment to empowering farmers in Thailand. Expected to be fully developed in 2025, the 45-hectare Model Farm will feature advanced New Holland machinery and precision technology. It will serve as a practical training facility for the college students, a testing and demonstration hub for New Holland customers, as well as a learning centre for the agriculture community. Mark Brinn, Managing Director for Southeast Asia and Japan at CNH, said, "In partnership with NSCAT, we're building a farm where anyone can experience great iron and great technology in action. This investment exemplifies our unwavering support to today's and tomorrow's farmers." New Holland has been supporting generations of farmers for over 125 years with advanced technologies, tailored solutions, and services designed to enhance productivity and sustainability in agriculture. "We listen closely to what our farmer communities need and expect. With the Model Farm, we can showcase our latest machinery and precision technologies in a real-world setting, helping us better understand their needs and tailor solutions to meet their requirements," Mr. Brinn added. During the visit, guests witnessed the donation of a New Holland TT2.50 tractor with a rotavator, a TT4.65 tractor, along with shirts and safety boots to NSCAT. This equipment will provide hands-on training for over 100 students, giving them a safe and practical experience. In partnership with NSCAT, New Holland has committed to establishing a technical training center on campus and providing practical demonstrations and instructional materials for the students. New Holland is also collaborating with the College to develop curriculum standards, offer both short vocational courses and comprehensive training programs, and provide resources that support various crop cultivation projects. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: CNH Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cnh Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: CNH View the original press release on accesswire.com Theralase Technologies Inc. (" Theralase " or the " Company ") (TSXV:TLT)(OTCQB:TLTFF), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of light, radiation, sound and drug-activated small molecules and their formulations, intended for the safe and effective destruction of various cancers, bacteria and viruses has released the Company's unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024. (" Financial Statements "). Theralase will be hosting a conference call on Wednesday December 4 th at 11:00 am ET , which will include a presentation of the financial and operational results for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024. Questions are welcome. To ensure Theralase has time to review and properly address them during the call, please send them in advance to mperraton@theralase.com . Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84816819001 Conference Call in: 1-647-558-0588 (Canada) / 1-646-558-8656 (US) - not required for those attending by Zoom. An archived version will be available on the website following the conference call. Financial Summary: For the nine-month period ended September 30 th : 1 Other represents foreign exchange, interest accretion on lease liabilities and / or interest income Financial Highlights For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024; Total revenue decreased 12%, year over year. Cost of sales was $332,136 (53% of revenue) resulting in a gross margin of $290,848 (47% of revenue). In comparison, the cost of sales for the same period in 2023 was $363,882 (51% of revenue) resulting in a gross margin of $342,813 (49% of revenue). The gross margin increase, as a percentage of sales year over year, is attributed to an increase in sales in the third quarter. Selling expenses increased to $257,935, from $194,418 for the same period in 2023, a 33% increase. The increase in selling expenses is a result of increased spending in sales salaries (55%), and advertising (54%). Administrative expenses decreased to $1,294,969 from $1,456,382 for the same period in 2023, an 11% decrease. The decrease in administrative expenses is a result of reduced spending on general and administrative expenses (45%), professional fees (22%) and stock-based compensation (26%) (due to the cumulative effect of accounting for the vesting of stock options granted in the current and previous years). Net research and development expenses for the Drug Division decreased to $1,962,484 from $2,250,346 for the same period in 2023, a 13% decrease. The decrease is primarily attributed to a decrease in costs for Study II patient enrollment and treatment. Net research and development expenses for the Device Division increased to $138,215 from $34,844 for the same period in 2023, a 297% increase. The increase is attributed to development of a new software program for the TLC-2000 Cool Laser Therapy system. The net loss for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, was $3,337,995 which included $562,353 of net non-cash expenses (i.e.: amortization, stock-based compensation expense and foreign exchange gain/loss). This compared to a net loss in 2023 of $3,579,855, which included $714,020 of net non-cash expenses. The Drug Division represented $2,810,423 of this loss (84%) in 2024. The decrease in net loss is primarily attributed to decreased spending on research and development expenses in Study II. Operational Highlights: Non-Brokered Private Placement: On February 5, 2024, the Company closed a non-brokered private placement of units. On closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 6,666,670 units at a price of $CAN 0.18 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $CAN 1,200,000 of which 1,310,502 units were purchased by certain insiders of the Corporation, representing gross proceeds of $235,890. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at a price of $CAN 0.25 for a period of 5 years following the date of issuance. On April 24, 2024, the Company closed a non-brokered private placement of units. On closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 4,167,778 units at a price of $0.18 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $750,200. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at a price of $0.25 for a period of 5 years following the date of issuance. On July 8, 2024, the Company closed a non-brokered private placement of units. On closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 3,522,729 units at a price of $0.22 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $775,000. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at a price of $0.30 for a period of 5 years following the date of issuance. On September 24, 2024, the Company closed a non-brokered private placement of units. On closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 2,720,000 units at a price of $0.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $544,000. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at a price of $0.30 for a period of 5 years following the date of issuance. On November 15, 2024, the Company closed a non-brokered private placement of units. On closing, the Company issued an aggregate of 2,221,334 units at a price of $0.30 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $666,400. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at a price of $0.45 for a period of 5 years following the date of issuance. In 2024 and 2025, the Company plans to secure funding through various equity and debt instruments to allow the Company the ability to become base shelf eligible. This will allow the Company sufficient funding to complete enrollment into Study II in 2025, data lock in mid 2026 and position the Company for FDA and Health Canada approval by the end of 2026, subject to achieving FDA Priority Review." Warrant Extension On September 19, 2024, the Company extended the expiry date of 10,000,000 share purchase warrants, all of which are exercisable at $0.35 per share. The share purchase warrants were issued on September 22, 2024, pursuant to a private placement involving the issuance of 10,000,000 units of the Company. The new expiry date of the warrants is September 22, 2027. On November 12, 2024, the Company extended the expiry date of 1,000,000 share purchase warrants, all of which are exercisable at $0.35 per share. The share purchase warrants were issued on November 17, 2024, pursuant to a private placement involving the issuance of 1,000,000 units of the Company. The new expiry date of the warrants is November 17, 2027. Study II Update: On February 8 th , 2024, Dr. Michael Jewett joined the Company in the role of an independent consultant, to assist the Company in the accruement of patients into Study II. Under the terms of the consulting agreement, Dr. Jewett will be responsible for working with existing clinical study sites and helping to onboard new clinical study sites to assist Theralase to complete enrollment and provide the primary study treatment to 75 to 100 patients in Study II, in 2025. Study II commenced in April 2019 with an estimated completion time of approximately 8 years and an estimated cost of approximately $CAN 100 million. The timing and cost may vary significantly depending on numerous factors; including: number of Clinical Study Sites (" CSSs ") enrolling and treating patients, patient enrollment rates in total and at each CSS, patient compliance and successful achievement of Study II primary, secondary and tertiary objectives. Break Through Designation Update: In 2020, the FDA granted Theralase Fast Track Designation (" FTD ") for Study II. As a Fast Track designee, Theralase has access to early and frequent communications with the FDA to discuss Theralase's development plans and ensure the timely collection of clinical data to support the approval process. The accelerated communication with the FDA potentially allows, the Study Procedure, to be the first intravesical, patient-specific, light-activated, Ruthenium-based small molecule for the treatment of patients diagnosed with BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS, (with or without recurrent / resected papillary T a /T 1 tumours). FTD can lead to Break Through Designation (" BTD "), Accelerated Approval (" AA ") or Priority Review, if certain criteria are met, which the FDA previously defined to the Company for BTD as clinical data on approximately 20 to 25 patients enrolled and provided the primary Study Procedure, who demonstrate significant safety and efficacy clinical outcomes. To this list, the FDA has added: Post Study II Monitoring of Response and Central Pathology Laboratory Review, as further defined above. The Company is currently working with the CSSs, a biostatistics organization and a regulatory organization to update the pre-BTD submission with clinical data clarifications identified by the FDA. The Company plans to resubmit the pre-BTD submission to the FDA in 4Q2024 for FDA review of these clarifications. Once the pre-BTD submission has been accepted by the FDA, the Company plans to compile a BTD submission for review by the FDA in 1Q2025 in support of the grant of a BTD approval. Theralase has received the majority of the clinical data from the CSSs with a high percentage of patients showing a duration of their CR beyond 450 days, with some patients demonstrating CR for up to = 3 years, post receiving the primary Study Procedure. Study II Preliminary Clinical Data : To date, Theralase has enrolled and treated 75 patients in Study II, who have been provided the primary Study Procedure by the CSSs. Theralase plans to add up to 5 new CSSs in 4Q2024/1Q2025, as well as increase enrollment at the existing 10 CSSs to complete Study II accruement in 2025. 96% (72/75) of treated patients have been evaluated at the 90 days assessment for treatment safety and efficacy according to the clinical study protocol. 84% (63/75) of treated patients have completed the clinical study for treatment safety and efficacy according to the clinical study protocol by being assessed up to 450 days or by being removed from Study II. Performance to Primary Objective: For the primary endpoint of Study II (CR at any point in time) 61.9% (39/63) [42.5, 81.3] of patients provided the Study Procedure (Study Drug activated by the Study Device) demonstrated a CR (negative cystoscopy and negative urine cytology; positive cystoscopy (low grade) and negative cytology or negative cystoscopy and suspicious / positive urine cytology with confirmed upper tract / prostatic urethra disease and negative bladder biopsies). Including patients, who demonstrated an IR (negative cystoscopy and positive or suspicious urine cytology), the TR increases to 68.3% (43/63) [47.9, 88.7]. This represents that greater than 2 out of 3 BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS patients treated with Theralase's unique Study Procedure are demonstrating complete destruction of the cancer in their bladder. Primary Endpoint Performance (CR at any Point in Time) # % Confidence Interval (95%) Complete Response ("CR") 39 61.9 % (42.5, 81.3 ) Total Response (CR and IR) 43 68.3 % (47.9, 88.7 ) Performance to Secondary Objective: For the secondary endpoint of Study II (duration of CR) 43.6% (17/39) [22.9, 64.3] of treated patients who achieved a CR, maintained their CR response for at least 12 months (450 days from date of Study Procedure). Secondary Endpoint Performance (Duration of CR) (450 Days) # % Confidence Interval (95%) Complete Response ("CR") 17 43.6 % (22.9, 64.3 ) Performance to Tertiary Objective: For the tertiary endpoint of Study II (safety of Study Procedure) 100% (63/63) experienced no Serious Adverse Events (" SAEs ") directly related to the Study Drug or Study Device. Tertiary Endpoint Performance (Safety) (450 Days) # % Safety 63 100.0 % In addition, 15.4% (6/17) [3.1, 27.7] of patients who demonstrated a CR at 450 days, continue to demonstrate a CR at 24 months from date of first treatment (5 patients are still pending assessment) and 10.3% (4/17) [0.2, 20.4] of patients continue to demonstrate a CR at 36 months from date of first treatment (8 patients are still pending assessment). Note: For patients to be included in the statistical clinical analysis they must be enrolled in Study II, provided the primary Study Procedure and evaluated by a PI at the 90 days assessment through to 450 days assessment (cystoscopy and urine cytology) or have been removed from Study II, prior to the 450 day assessment. One patient passed away prior to their 90 days assessment and is therefore not included in the efficacy statistical analysis, only in the safety statistical analysis; therefore, there are 63 patients that have completed Study II and have been statistically analyzed for safety and efficacy and 1 patient analyzed only for safety. Evaluable Patients are defined as patients who have been evaluated by a PI and thus exclude a patient's clinical data at specific assessment days, if that clinical data is pending. 12 out of a total of 75 patients have been enrolled and provided the primary Study Procedure, but have not been evaluated through to their 450 days assessment (or have been removed from Study II, prior to the 450 day assessment); therefore, 63 patients are considered Evaluable Patients. The data analysis presented above should be read with caution, as the clinical data is interim in its presentation. Study II is ongoing and new clinical data collected may or may not continue to support the current trends, with clinical data still pending. Patient Response Chart: The Swimmer's plot is a graphical representation of the interim clinical results (n=43) for patients who achieved a CR or IR at any point in time and their response up to and including = 3 years (1080 days), graphically demonstrating a patient's response to a treatment over time. As can be seen in the plot, clinical data is still pending for patients (indicated by arrows), who have demonstrated an initial CR at 90 days and continue to demonstrate a duration of that response. 61.9% (39/63) of Evaluable Patients achieved CR at any point in time, with 43.6% (17/39) of Evaluable patients who demonstrated initial CR continue to demonstrate CR at 450 days and thus achieved the primary and secondary objectives of Study II. Clinical data is still being collected, but all indications demonstrate that Study II has achieved its primary, secondary and tertiary objectives based on an interim data analysis. Kaplan-Meier Curve: The Kaplan-Meier (" KM ") Curve illustrates graphically, for patients who have achieved a CR, the duration of CR and probability of that CR continuing in the future when all clinical data of the Study II will be analyzed. Note: The information on the time-to-outcome event is not available for all patients in this analysis, as not all patients have been assessed at all available assessment visits. Only patients that achieved the primary objective (CR at any point in time) have been analyzed and data is plotted relative to the date at which their first CR was observed. The green circle denotes censored observations, which means subjects who achieved CR at their last assessment visit and are currently on-study or have been removed from study. Thus, the KM Curve estimates the risk of a patient failing to maintain a CR over time, according to currently available interim data. In summary, the interim clinical data demonstrates that patients consenting to participate in Study II have a 61.9% chance of achieving CR. According to the KM Curve, if CR is obtained, then the patient has a = 53.0%, = 35.8% and = 24.9% chance of remaining cancer free for 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Serious Adverse Events For 75 patients treated in Study II, there have been 15 Serious Adverse Events (" SAEs ") reported: 1 - Grade 1 (resolved within 9 days) 3 - Grade 2 (resolved within 1, 1 and 33 days, respectively) 7 - Grade 3 (resolved within 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 82 and unknown days, respectively) 3 - Grade 4 (resolved within 3, 6 and 8 days, respectively) 1 - Grade 5 Theralase believes all SAEs reported to date are unrelated to the Study II Drug or Study II Device. Note: A SAE is defined as any untoward medical occurrence that at any dose: Is serious or life-threatening, requires inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization, results in persistent or significant disability/incapacity, is a congenital anomaly/birth defect or results in death. Dr. Arkady Mandel, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., Chief Scientific Officer of Theralase stated, " The interim clinical data of Study II has proven to be world-class. Study II has demonstrated an ability to destroy urothelial cell carcinoma in a patient's bladder for a Total Response (" TR ") of 68.3%. For patients who are assessed as achieving a Complete Response (" CR "), these patients have demonstrated a duration of that CR of 43.6%, at 450 days. The primary benefits of the Theralase technology versus competitive technologies are: a urologist-led treatment, a single out-patient procedure, high efficacy rates (patients achieve a CR in 61.9% of the cases with a 43.6% duration of that CR at 450 days), probability of the ongoing duration of that complete response (53.0% demonstrate a CR of = 1 year, 35.8% demonstrate a CR of = 2 years and 24.9% demonstrate a CR of = 3 years, based on the Kaplan-Meier Curve analysis of the interim clinical data) and high safety profile ( no SAEs directly associated with the Study Drug or Study Device); therefore, the Theralase technology has the opportunity to become a safe, effective alternative therapy for patients, who are at high risk of having their bladder removed. " Roger DuMoulin-White, B.E.Sc., P.Eng., Pro.Dir., President and Chief Executive Officer of Theralase stated, " Based on the interim clinical data accumulated to date, Study II has achieved its primary, secondary and tertiary endpoints. To complete the study, Theralase plans to enroll and treat approximately 20 to 25 patients in 2025. Pending their follow-up in 2026, the clinical data will be submitted to Health Canada and the FDA for marketing approval. The interim clinical data has been able to demonstrate that greater than 2 out of 3 patients (68.3%), treated with the Theralase technology have been able to have the cancer in their bladder completely destroyed. The Theralase bladder cancer treatment has been proven clinically to be safe and effective in the treatment of BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS, fulfilling an unmet need of the medical community. " About Study II: Study II utilizes the therapeutic dose of the patented Study II Drug (" Ruvidar TM " or " TLD-1433 ") (0.70 mg/cm 2 ) activated by the proprietary Study II Device ( TLC-3200 Medical Laser System or " TLC-3200 "). Study II is focused on enrolling and treating approximately 75 to 100 BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC Carcinoma In-Situ (" CIS ") patients in up to 15 Clinical Study Sites (" CSS ") located in Canada and the United States. About Ruvidar TM : Ruvidar TM is a peer reviewed, patented PDC currently under investigation in Study II. About Theralase Technologies Inc.: Theralase is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of light activated compounds, their associated drug formulations and the light and/or radiation systems that activate them, with a primary objective of efficacy and a secondary objective of safety in the destruction of various cancers, bacteria and viruses. Additional information is available at www.theralase.com and www.sedarplus.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such statements include; but, are not limited to statements regarding the Company's proposed development plans with respect to Photo Dynamic Compounds and their drug formulations. Forward looking statements may be identified by the use of the words " may , " should ", " will ", " anticipates ", " believes ", " plans ", " expects ", " estimate ", " potential for " and similar expressions; including, statements related to the current expectations of Company's management for future research, development and commercialization of the Company's Photo Dynamic Compounds and their drug formulations, preclinical research, clinical studies and regulatory approvals. These statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions; including, the ability of the Company to: adequately fund and secure the requisite regulatory approvals to commercially market a treatment for bladder cancer in a timely fashion and implement its commercialization strategy. Other risks include: the ability of the Company to successfully complete its Phase II BCG-Unresponsive NMIBC CIS clinical study , access to sufficient capital to fund the Company's operations may not be available or may not be available on terms that are commercially favorable to the Company, the Company's drug formulations may not be effective against the diseases tested in its clinical studies, the Company's fails to comply with the term of license agreements with third parties and as a result loses the right to use key intellectual property in its business, the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property, the timing and success of submission, acceptance and approval of regulatory filings. Many of these factors that will determine actual results are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Readers should not unduly rely on these forward- looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate as such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results or future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in the press release are based upon what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective investors that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are subject to change. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements. For investor information on the Company, please feel to reach out Investor Inquiries - Theralase Technologies . For More Information: 1.866.THE.LASE (843-5273) 416.699.LASE (5273) www.theralase.com Kristina Hachey, CPA x224 Chief Financial Officer khachey@theralase.com SOURCE: Theralase Technologies, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com AI/ML Innovations Inc. ("AI/ML" or the "Company") (CSE:AIML)(OTCQB:AIMLF)(FWB:42FB), a leading company committed to acquiring and advancing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies that address urgent societal needs, is pleased to announce that it has re-appointed Follow The Money Investment Group ("FTMIG") as a marketing consultant. FTMIG is a marketing group headquartered at Hampton, Ontario, Canada which provides relevant content and timely information needed to navigate the ever-changing capital markets. They are dedicated to bringing investors and companies together through strategic social media campaigns that expand their reach and maximize their potential. The individual providing the Services on behalf of FTMIG is Karl Boyd and he is located at Hampton, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Boyd can be reached by telephone at 647-212-6644 or by email at kboyd@ftmig.com. FTMIG will assist in increasing awareness of the Company using a number of market communications initiatives, including media distribution on multiple on-line channels such as the FTMIG website, social media platforms, and Reddit advertisements. Under the terms of the engagement, FTMIG has been retained for a 12-month period at $32,500 plus direct expenses, to be paid from general corporate funds. The engagement commenced on November 25, 2024. ### About AI/ML Innovations Inc. https://aiml-innovations.com/ AI/ML Innovations Inc. has realigned its business operations to capitalize on the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with an initial investment focus on emerging digital health and wellbeing companies that leverage AI, ML, cloud computing and digital platforms to drive transformative healthcare management solutions and precision support delivery across the health continuum. Through strategic partnerships with Health Gauge Inc. (95.2% owned by AIML), Tech2Heal (up to 22% ownership rights, with 11.11% currently owned by AIML), AI Rx Inc. (70% owned by AIML), NeuralCloud Solutions Inc. (100% owned by AIML), and other planned accretive investments, the Company continues to capitalize on expanding growth areas, to the benefit of all the Company's stakeholders. AI/ML's shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "AIML", the OTCQB Venture Market under "AIMLF", and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under "42FB". On behalf of the Board of Directors Tim Daniels, Executive Chairman For more information about AI/ML Innovations : For detailed information please see AI/ML's website or the Company's filed documents at www.sedarplus.ca For further information, contact: Blake Fallis at (778) 405-0882 or info@aiml-innovations.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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. SOURCE: AI/ML Innovations, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Spark Energy Minerals Inc. (CSE: SPRK) (OTC Pink: SPARF) (FSE: 8PC) ("Spark" or the "Company") an exploration Company focused on the discovery of battery metals in Brazil's prestigious Lithium Valley, is pleased to announce the exploration team has officially entered Brazil's Lithium Valley and has commenced the maiden exploration program at the Company's flagship Arapaima Lithium Project. The core focus of the program is following up on the spodumene occurrences identified in government heavy mineral pan concentrate samples across the 64,359-hectares. Exploration Highlights: Spark has mobilized three field geology stream sampling teams, having completed their first day in the field yesterday, November 26, 2024. Two teams are dedicated to detailed follow-up around key sample points (See Figure 1), where visible spodumene concentrations were reported in heavy mineral concentrates published by the CPRM (Brazilian Geological Survey) in 20161 and 20232. The third team has initiated a systematic reconnaissance across the entire tenement, aiming to quickly validate historical data, including information from competitors (Si6, Perpetual), and new targets identified by Spark's geophysical, remote sensing, and geochemical analyses. Arapaima Lithium Project - Exploration of Priority Targets: Figure 1 below shows the entire Arapaima tenement, marking government heavy mineral pan concentrate sample points (blue stars) where visible spodumene was reported in the CPRM 2016 study. These are superimposed on the highest-ranked lithium prospectivity drainage basin (highlighted in red), as indicated in the CPRM 2023 report. In addition, Spark's newly generated targets derived from public domain geophysical, remote sensing, and geochemical datasets. It also includes planned sampling points for ongoing sediment and mineral pan concentrate collection as part of Spark's "boots on the ground" exploration efforts. Figure 1: Spark's 64,359-hectare Arapaima Lithium Project highlighting targets from Brazil's CPRM 2023 government report as well as targets from remote sensing and geochemical datasets To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/231699_20d0a708049b194c_002full.jpg Jon Hill, VP Exploration, Country Manager & Director, Comments: "We are based out of a small hotel in Padre Paradiso, located right at the 'gateway to the Lithium Valley', a short drive to the Arapaima Lithium project tenements. The team gathered to review and discuss priorities, logistics, key deliverables, both technical and non-technical procedures, safety and protocols. We have three field vehicles to support the three teams each led by a senior geologist and yesterday we took our first steps on the property. The first day was encouraging having immediately found an exposure from a former road borrow pit containing a prominent pegmatite occurrence, highly weathered but early indications of potentially lithium bearing minerals observed at surface. This pegmatite occurrence was not based on the known data of the CPRM geologists however we remain confident the CPRM government data has put us immediately in the right areas as the team uncovered two additional locations with pegmatite outcrops. The weathered outcrop shown in Figure 4 is exactly what we were hoping to see and we've only scratched the surface of this staggering 64,359 hectare tenement package." Figure 2: Exploration team meets in the Lithium Valley base camp to review the final plans prior to heading out into the field To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/231699_20d0a708049b194c_003full.jpg Figure 3: Viewpoint of Spark's tenements looking south-southwest highlighting the red/orange exposure on the right-hand side which represents the "cover" or overburden in the area of interest as well as the targeted erosional window beneath the cover with visible weathered outcrop To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/231699_20d0a708049b194c_004full.jpg Figure 4: Drone image over top of the targeted erosional window beneath the cover showcasing visible weathered outcrop. This area will be the subject of immediate follow-up and sampling over the next couple of days. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/231699_20d0a708049b194c_005full.jpg Qualified Person: The scientific and technical information disclosed in this document has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill BSc Hons, FAUSIMM, a Qualified Person consistent with NI 43-101. Source: 'Evaluation of the Lithium Potential in Brasil" - Mid - Jequitinhonha River, North -East Minas Gerais" ministry of Mines and Energy, Secretary of Geology, Mines and Development, the Geological Survey of Brazil promoting mineral research. Technical Report - 2016 Source: 'Lithium Potential Assessment Project in Brasil" in the Eastern Pegmatite Province of Brasil: the Geological Survey of Brazil promoting mineral research. Technical Report 19 - August 2023 DOI: 10.29396/ITCPRM.2023.19 About Spark Energy Minerals Inc. Spark Energy Minerals, Inc. is a Canadian company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of battery metals and mineral assets, with a particular emphasis on its substantial interests in Brazil. The Company holds significant land and mineral rights in Brazil's renowned Lithium Valley, one of the most prolific mining regions in the world. This region is rapidly gaining global recognition for its vast deposits of lithium and rare earth minerals, positioning Brazil as a critical player in the global energy transition. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could," "intend," "expect," "believe," "will," "projected," "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/231699 SOURCE: Spark Energy Minerals Inc. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES Rektron Group Inc. ("Rektron" or the "Company") (CSE:REK.U)(FRA:F75) a global commodities trading house, is pleased to report a revenue of USD$2.5 billion for the year ended July 31, 2024 ("YE 2024"), or USD$3.20 per share, compared with a revenue of USD$2.0 billion, for the year ended July 31, 2023 ("YE 2023"). For YE 2024, gross profit attributable to the Company was USD$30 million, or USD$0.38 per share. Worldwide revenue increased 24%, to USD$2.5 billion for YE 2024. The Company reports a profit of USD$13 million for the fiscal year or USD$0.17 per share. "Amid significant market challenges this year, we proactively adjusted our business operations to better align with the current environment," said Ricardo Phielix, CEO of the Company. "Together with the improvements made over the past several years, these adjustments enable us to serve our customers more effectively and achieve strong results across the business cycle." As we navigate ongoing geopolitical headwinds across our markets, we remain committed to making meaningful investments in our future while deepening our relationships with customers," Phielix continued. "Our team of dedicated employees come to work each day with a singular focus: delivering commodities and reduce operating costs." Copies of the Financial Statements of the Company, together with the auditor's report thereon and the Management's Discussion and Analysis, are available on the SEDAR+ website www.sedarplus.ca. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, Rektron Group Inc. Ricardo Phielix Chief Executive Officer FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Email: ir@rektrongroup.com Email: ir@rektrongroup.com Web: https://www.rektrongroup.com/ About the Company The Company is the holding and parent company of Rektron AQ Limited, which is the holding and parent company of DL Hudson Limited. DL Hudson Limited is the trading arm of a group of companies, of which there are several subsidiaries that support the group's global commodity trading operations. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, while Rektron AQ Limited is headquartered in London, UK. The Company focuses on maintaining an experienced team of management and traders, extensive geographical and product diversification, trading and logistical expertise, and financial and risk management. The team at the Group is composed of energy and metals traders, City of London and Wall Street bankers. The trading expertise includes principal energy and metals products, particularly ferrous and nonferrous metals, Energy Transition Commodities ("ETC"), recycled metals and crude and Euro VI-compliant refined oil products. The Company transacts across all compliant markets following the international trade regulations and guidelines. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements") that relate to Rektron's current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "expects", "will continue", "is anticipated", "anticipates", "believes", "estimated", "intends", "plans", "forecast", "projection", "strategy", "objective" and "outlook") are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Rektron's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the other factors set forth under "Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's final prospectus dated March 4, 2024 and as amended on June 28, 2024 and August 12, 2024. Rektron undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Rektron to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. Contact Information View the original press release on accesswire.com Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD) (Barton or the Company) advises that the attached presentation is due to be presented today at the Company's Annual General Meeting. Authorised by the Managing Director of Barton Gold Holdings Limited. For further information, please contact: Barton Gold is an ASX, OTCQB and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed Australian gold developer targeting future gold production of 150,000oz annually, with ~1.6Moz Au JORC Mineral Resources (52.3Mt @ 0.94 g/t Au), multiple advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines, and 100% ownership of the only regional gold mill in the renowned central Gawler Craton of South Australia.* Competent Persons Statement & Previously Reported Information The information in this announcement that relates to the historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources as listed in the table below is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by the Competent Person whose name appears in the same row, who is an employee of or independent consultant to the Company and is a Member or Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO). Each person named in the table below has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 ( JORC ). Activity Competent Person Membership Status Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Stockpiles) Dr Andrew Fowler (Consultant) AusIMM Member Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Perseverance Mine) Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant) AusIMM Fellow Tarcoola Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021) Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant) AIG Member Tarcoola Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021) Mr Marc Twining (Employee) AusIMM Member Tunkillia Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021) Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant) AIG Member Tunkillia Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021) Mr Marc Twining (Employee) AusIMM Member Tunkillia Mineral Resource Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant) AusIMM Fellow Challenger Mineral Resource Mr Dale Sims (Consultant) AusIMM / AIG Fellow / Member The information relating to historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources in this announcement is extracted from the Company's Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 or as otherwise noted in this announcement, available from the Company's website at www.bartongold.com.au or on the ASX website www.asx.com.au . The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Exploration Results and Mineral Resource information included in previous announcements and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates, and any production targets and forecast financial information derived from the production targets, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the applicable Competent Persons' findings are presented have not been materially modified from the previous announcements. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This document may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "target" and "intend" and statements than an event or result "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information is subject to business, legal and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, risks relating to property interests, the global economic climate, commodity prices, sovereign and legal risks, and environmental risks. Forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and opinions at the date the statements are made. Barton undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such dates or to update or keep current any of the information contained herein. Any estimates or projections as to events that may occur in the future (including projections of revenue, expense, net income and performance) are based upon the best judgment of Barton from information available as of the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any of these estimates or projections will be achieved. Actual results will vary from the projections and such variations may be material. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation as to the past or future. Any reliance placed by the reader on this document, or on any forward-looking statement contained in or referred to in this document will be solely at the readers own risk, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. *Refer to Barton Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 and ASX announcements dated 4 March and 16 July 2024. Total Barton JORC (2012) Mineral Resources include 833koz Au (26.9Mt @ 0.96 g/t Au) in Indicated and 754koz Au (25.4Mt @ 0.92 g/t Au) in Inferred categories. SOURCE: Barton Gold Holdings Limited Rush Rare Metals Corp. (CSE:RSH) ("Rush" or the "Company) is pleased to advise that Rush's earn-in partner on the Copper Mountain uranium property in Wyoming, Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE:M)(OTCQB:MYRUF)(FRA:C3Q) ("Myriad"), has announced that it has completed its maiden drill program at the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. Myriad's news release dated November 27, 2024, can be found here. Peter Smith, Rush's CEO, commented "Myriad has done an excellent job with its maiden drill program at Copper Mountain. Thus far, results verify and exceed historical results in the Canning Deposit area, and it also appears that new, deeper zones of mineralization have been encountered. This work will certainly help inform more extensive drilling in 2025, and we are equally excited to see exploration expanded to include some of the other highly prospective areas, such as Midnight, Knob, Bonanza, Mint and others, all already identified by Union Pacific and others with millions in historical exploration spending. As the size and vast potential of this project continues to grow, so does the benefit to Rush and its shareholders." About Rush Rare Metals Corp. Rush Rare Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on its Boxi Property located in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Rush also owns the Copper Mountain Project located in Wyoming, USA, which it has optioned to Myriad Uranium Corp. Rush currently has a 100% interest in both properties. For further information, please refer to Rush's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) or contact Rush by email at psmith@rushraremetals.com or by telephone at 778.999.7030, or refer to Rush's website at www.rushraremetals.com. Rush Contacts: Peter Smith Chief Executive Officer psmith@rushraremetals.com ### Mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's properties. Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, including with respect to future plans, and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, business, economic and capital market conditions, the ability to manage operating expenses, and dependence on key personnel. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, the continued availability of capital and financing, litigation, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. SOURCE: Rush Rare Metals Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Doron Therapeutics, a Chapel Hill, NC-based clinical-stage biotech company focusing on degenerative musculoskeletal conditions, raised $11M in Series A funding. The round was led by SPRIM Global Investments (SGI). The company intends to use the funds to take MOTYS into Phase 3 clinical studies. Led by CEO Doron is a is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing MOTYS, 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. As part of the Series A financing, Doron is also adding two new board members: Karen Zaderej, and Tassos Konstantinou. Zaderej previously served as chief executive officer and as chairman of the board of directors of Axogen Inc. from 2010, led the companys 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. Konstantinou, SPRIMs managing director, is an investment professional with life science venture capital and business development experience that brings a broad and diversified global perspective. FinSMEs 27/11/2024 Molyon, a Cambridge, UK-based startup that specializes in building lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, raised 4.3m in its first funding round. The round was co-led by IQ Capital and Plural. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations at its Cambridge pilot facility. Founded in 2024 as University of Cambridge spinout and led by CEO Dr Ismail Sami, and CTO Dr Zhuangnan Li, Molyon has developed a high-energy-density Li-S battery that leverages earth materials to deliver high performance and stable supply chains. Its cathode technology, based on metallic molybdenum disulfide (MoS) and stabilizes sulfur, is founded on result of research conducted by the founding team in the Chhowalla Group at the University of Cambridge. Initial applications include drones and robotics. FinSMEs 27/11/2024 Tricentis, an Austin, TX-based company which specializes in continuous testing and quality engineering, received a $1.33 Billion investment from GTCR, at $4.5 billion valuation. The agreement was approved by global software investor Insight Partners and Tricentis following a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives. Insight Partners and GTCR will work together with equal representation on the Board of Directors to support the Tricentis management teams efforts in fueling the companys further expansion. Led by CEO Kevin Thompson, Tricentis specializes in continuous testing and quality engineering. Its AI-based, continuous testing portfolio of products provides a new approach that is totally automated, fully codeless, and intelligently driven by AI to DevOps, cloud, and enterprise applications. It addresses both agile development and complex enterprise apps, enabling enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation by increasing software release speed, reducing costs, and improving software quality. Founded in 2007 in Vienna, Austria, the company has more than 3,000 customers, including brands such as McKesson, Allianz, Telstra, Dolby, and Vodafone. FinSMEs 27/11/2024 WadzPay, a Singapore-based company which specializes in the blockchain technology and financial services, raised a SGD $50M investment GEM Global Yield LLC SCS. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth strategy via acquisitions, partnerships and organic initiatives. Founded in 2018 by Anish Jain, CEO, WadzPay is a global blockchain-based technology provider for virtual assets. The companys platform available as a SaaS offering provides technology solutions, catering to businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2B2C). WadzPay works with large international companies, banks, and fintechs to enable virtual asset-based transaction processing, custody, and settlement. It operates across geographies spanning Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. FinSMEs 27/11/2024 Maya Gogoi Deka, a 19-year-old Assamese vlogger, was found dead in a hotels service apartment in Bengaluru on Tuesday (November 26). She had reportedly checked into the apartment with her alleged boyfriend, Aarav Hanoy, 21, who allegedly stabbed her to death. Police suspect that Hanoy stayed with the body for more than a day before walking out of the room read more The decomposed body of the victim, identified as Maya Gogoi Deka, was discovered in the service apartment, which she had reportedly booked with her acquaintance, Aarav Hanoy, 21, on November 23. Image Courtesy: @bykarthikreddy/X In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old woman hailing from Assam was found dead in Bengalurus Indiranagar area on Tuesday (November 26). The decomposed body of the victim, identified as Maya Gogoi Deka, was discovered in the service apartment, which she had reportedly booked with her acquaintance, Aarav Hanoy, 21, on November 23. The incident raises concerns about womens safety because it follows two cases in which working women from other states were murdered by their male acquaintances in Bengaluru. Advertisement Heres all we know about the case. The murder Maya Gogoi Deka checked into the service apartment of the Hotel Royal Living, located opposite Double Road Park, 1st Stage Indiranagar, on November 23 (Saturday) afternoon. She was accompanied by Aarav Hanoy, a native of Keralas Kannur, the police said. According to several media reports, the suspect was Dekas boyfriend. The incident came to light when housekeeping staff on Tuesday morning detected a foul odour. Using a spare key, they opened the room and discovered Gogois body on the bed with multiple stab wounds. The preliminary investigations showed that Deka had multiple stab injuries and a head injury. However, the likely cause of death was a deep stab wound in her chest. Her mobile phone, which was recovered from the crime scene, has been sent for forensic analysis. A case under Section 103 for murder and 238 for causing the disappearance of evidence and offence has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said, adding teams have been formed to nab the suspect. Also read: The shocking arrest of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, girlfriend over fans murder Spent nights with the body The police suspect that Hanoy had killed Deka on November 24 by stabbing her in the chest and stayed with the body for more than a day before walking out of the apartment on November 26. Hanoy was at the service apartment for the last three days with the victim. The suspect left the apartment around 8.20 am on Tuesday and took a cab. He switched off his phone after travelling for a few kilometres and has been untraceable since, a police officer close to the investigation told Deccan Herald. Advertisement The 21-year-old suspect was reportedly working as a student councillor for a private education firm at HSR Layout in Bengaluru, while Deka was a vlogger and also worked at a private firm in Jayanagar. Her sister, who also lives in Bengaluru, told the police that the deceased had known Hanoy for six months, however, how the two met is unclear. Premeditated murder? According to police investigations, the murder was premeditated. The suspect had brought an old knife in a bag, which is yet to be recovered, and had bought a nylon rope from the quick commerce app, Zepto, on Monday. Why he ordered the rope is a mystery. We will know more once he is arrested, the officer said. Advertisement The officer said the exact date of the murder can be ascertained only after they get the post-mortem report. The motive behind the murder is yet to be known, however, authorities suspect personal disputes may have led to a horrific crime. Also read: Why murder of Neha Hiremath, Karnataka Cong corporators daughter, has triggered a love jihad row Safety concerns In September this year, Mahalakshmi, a 29-year-old salesperson at a clothing factory, was murdered and her body was cut into 59 pieces, allegedly with a sharp cleaver knife, by her lover Mukti Ranjan Ray, who escaped from Bengaluru, days after committing the gruesome crime. In July, Kriti Kumari was stabbed multiple times by her ex-boyfriend, Abhishek, in her PG facility in Bengalurus Koramangala. The chilling CCTV footage of the gruesome incident shook the nation. The reputation of Indias Silicon Valley, which was once considered the safest place for young working women in the country, has been declining. A senior police official from Bengalurus Central Crime Branch told The Print that increasing murders in the city today involve love and betrayal. Advertisement The report, citing data from the Bengaluru Crime Branch, stated that there were about 702 murders reported in Karnataka in the first eight months of this year alone. Twenty-three of the victims were killed by their lovers, including live-in partners. Last year, the tally was 41, while the previous year, it was 20. The rise in crime is often blamed on romances, Western values and working women. In 2021, according to Indian Express, BJP MP and former Karnataka Health Minister, K Sudhakar, pinned the blame on the mindset of educated and working women that has broadened too much due to Western values. However, gender activist Brinda Adige feels such regressive views could lead to calls for rules and regulations of live-in relationships, and that big brother methods will not help. Advertisement Police officials tend to have a patriarchal mindset while registering cases of live-in couple murders. They tend to shift the blame on the woman victim to escape filing a case. This allows the perpetrator to think they can get away, Adige told The Print. With inputs from agencies The deep depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into Cyclone Fengal on Wednesday near the Tamil Nadu coast. A red alert has been issued in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. NDRF and state teams have been deployed to vulnerable regions and a holiday has been declared in education institutions as heavy to extremely heavy rains are expected read more Fishermen anchor a boat during rain at Marina beach, along the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, Tuesday, November 26, 2024. PTI The deep depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into cyclone Fengal on Wednesday (November 27). The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that it is expected to move north-northwestwards towards the Tamil Nadu coast over the next two days. Chief Minister MK Stalin chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness and has deployed NDRF and state teams to vulnerable districts. Heres how the state is preparing for the cyclone. Advertisement Cyclone Fengal likely to intensify Once it intensifies on Wednesday, the storm will be identified as Fengal, a name proposed by Saudi Arabia according to a system used by countries to identify storms in the North Indian Ocean. The name, in Arabic, reflects the cultural diversity of the naming panel. This is the second post-monsoon season cyclone to hit the Indian coast, following Cyclone Dana, which passed over Odisha in late October as a storm of the severe category. In its latest update, the weather agency has said the prevailing deep depression over the Northwest Bay of Bengal was located at about 130 kilometres east-southeast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, 400 kilometres southeast of Nagappattinam, 510 kilometres southeast of Puducherry and 590 kilometres south-southeast of Chennai. Preparations underway for safeguarding fishing boats during rain at Marina Beach, near Foreshore Estate in Chennai, Tuesday, November 26, 2024. PTI The IMD said, It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm by Wednesday. Thereafter, it will continue to move in the north-northwestward direction towards Tamil Nadu coast and skirt the Sri Lankan coast during subsequent two days. Red alert in Tamil Nadu Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is forecast over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh between November 27 and 29. Strong winds, ranging between 45-55 kilometres per hour with gusts up to 65 kilometres per hour, are likely along the affected coasts. A red alert has been issued for Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and an orange alert on Thursday. It is also warned that heavy rainfall will also affect coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema, Kerala and Mahe during the remaining days of this week. In the meantime, Chennai and the neighbouring districts of Chengelpet, Kanchipuram, and Tiruvallur, the northern coastal city of Cuddalore, and the Cauvery delta regions, including Nagapattinam, were among the numerous locations in Tamil Nadu that experienced moderate rain. Advertisement Rough seas can also disrupt maritime activity and cause flooding in low-lying locations. Meanwhile, several flight disruptions were also reported at the Chennai airport on Wednesday morning. VIDEO | Heavy rains cause major flight disruptions at Chennai airport. Rains lashed several parts of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, and the India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rainfall for three more days in the state, starting today, when the deep depression in Bay of pic.twitter.com/Yj4YCAiojE Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 27, 2024 CM reviews preparedness Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin convened a high-level meeting in view of the storm with the district collectors and monitoring officers to assess the states preparedness for the heavy rainfall forecasted by the meteorological department. As a heavy rain warning has been issued, I have held a review meeting with the District Collectors of Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Cuddalore to be ready and to instruct the Ministers to work from the field. The government is ready to face the rain. I request the public to be safe while going out, he tweeted. Due to rainfall, boats anchored on Marina beach, near Foreshore Estate, along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, in Chennai, Tuesday, November 26, 2024. PTI He highlighted that the government has relief camps and necessary equipment, including medical teams, earth movers, boats, and motor pumps, ready to handle the current situation. Until November 29, fishermen have been cautioned not to venture to the sea, especially off the coasts of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. Advertisement Due to the storm, residents in low-lying areas have been told to relocate to safer areas or relief camps. NDRF teams deployed, schools shut The 4th Battalion of the NSRF has sent out seven teams, including two canine units (each with 30 rescuers), in anticipation of the high to extremely severe rainfall that the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has predicted for portions of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry through Thursday, according to Moneycontrol. Due to the alert, a holiday has been declared for schools and colleges in Tamil Nadus Trichy, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Thiruvallur districts. In view of the rain holiday, Madras University has also postponed its semester exams scheduled for Wednesday. Puducherry and Karaikal have also declared a holiday for all government and private schools. Also read: No power, no food: How Andhra, Tamil Nadu are reeling from Cyclone Michaung Factors that contributed to the storms intensification Cyclone Fengal is the fourth cyclonic storm of the 2024 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Its intensification is attributed to warmer sea surface temperatures (28 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius) in the Bay of Bengal, which has provided the energy needed for the depression to strengthen. Advertisement The fact that the sea surface temperatures near Tamil Nadu coasts are cooler (ranging from 26 degrees Celsius to 28 degrees Celsius) might help in slightly weakening the cyclone before its landfall on Wednesday. Experts also attribute the formation of the cyclone to global climate change patterns, which lead to increased storm activity and intensity in the past few years. With inputs from agencies Delhis worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) starts gaining limelight around October-November every year. However, this year, another alarming development has emerged: The National Capital has not recorded any good air day so far and it is not likely to see one before 2025 read more Air pollution in Delhi becomes a hot topic around Diwali every year. The National Capitals air quality starts deteriorating even before the winter sets in. While most of us notice the citys rising pollution levels only around October-November, Delhi has failed to breathe good air for over a year. It is unlikely the National Capital would see a good air day this year now. Delhis Air Quality Index (AQI) has remained in the very poor category this week. On Wednesday (November 27), the city reported its cleanest air day this month, with the AQI touching 303. Advertisement According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), AQI below 50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is severe. Lets take a closer look. No good air day in Delhi Delhi has not had a good air day so far this year. This is the first year after 2018 that the city has not recorded a single good air day. Also, in 2016, Delhi saw no good air days, as per an Indian Express report. This year, Delhi breathed its cleanest air on September 13 when the AQI reached 52. The CPCB data shows that the last time Delhis air quality was in the good category was in September 2023. As per ThePrint analysis, Delhi recorded an AQI of 45 on September 10 last year, which is considered good. We are yet to record a good air day, but we have seen that there has been an increase in the number of moderate and satisfactory days. We will release the annual air quality analysis soon, a senior CPCB official told ThePrint. Senior officials of the board said to the digital news outlet that Delhi is not expected to report a good air day this year since it was nearly December, which typically sees the worst air days. An anti-smog gun sprays water to settle dust particles as traffic moves along a road, with the sky enveloped in smog due to air pollution in Delhi, November 25, 2024. Reuters According to the CPCB data, Delhis air improves the most during the monsoon season. As Indian Express noted, this explains why the citys good air days are recorded between August and October. Advertisement As winter approaches, Delhis air quality begins deteriorating, with pollution levels increasing. Several factors, including meteorological conditions, play a role in affecting the AQI. Stubble burning by farmers, vehicular emissions and construction contribute to the citys pollution woes. Lockdown effect Delhi reported the highest number of good air days one in March and four in August in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 lockdown. In 2021, the city saw only one good air day in October. The next year, the air quality again improved and Delhi reported three good air days in 2022 one in September and two in October, reported Indian Express. This fell to just one good air day in 2023. As per an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, an environmental think tank, Delhis annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) level was 100.9 microgrammes per cubic metre (ug/m3) last year. Advertisement This was two per cent more than in 2022 and six per cent higher than in 2020, reported ThePrint. Pollution chokes Delhi Delhis pollution levels are worsening. Over the last 10 years, the year-end months have witnessed only moderate, very poor, severe and severe plus in Delhi. Over the last few weeks, the city reported AQI in the severe plus category, as smog engulfed the capital, plunging visibility levels. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows that there has been no rain in Delhi so far in November. Last year, Delhi reported four rainy days during this period. Additionally, since 2016, the city has witnessed rain in November in 2018, 2019 and 2020, reported Indian Express. Rain clears pollutants and dust from the air, improving the air quality. The Delhi government has been seeking to use artificial rain to bring some relief from the noxious pollution. However, the effectiveness of cloud seeding remains a matter of debate. Advertisement Delhis toxic air is a health hazard for everyone. Once the AQI dips to severe or severe plus levels, pollution starts impacting even healthy individuals. It is high time that authorities act to stop the same story repeating every year. With input from agencies The EU-Mercosur trade deal seeks to establish one of the worlds largest free trade zones, likely to benefit 750 million people or roughly one-fifth of the global economy. It aims to lower trade barriers and tariffs to facilitate export by companies much like the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. However, despite 25 years of talks, the deal still lacks unanimous support from member states read more A Gandarmerie officer stands guard during a protest against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. Reuters The European Union and Mercosur countries are pushing to conclude their long-running trade negotiations by the end of the year. Mercosur is a trade bloc of South American countries. However, despite 25 years of talks, the deal still lacks unanimous support from European member states due to concerns about the future of the agriculture sector clash with the blocs strategic requirements. Heres a look at the deal and its concerns. The EU-Mercosur trade deal The trade deal seeks to establish one of the worlds largest free trade zones, with 750 million people or roughly one-fifth of the worlds population. It aims to lower trade barriers and tariffs to facilitate export by companies on both sides, much like the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. Advertisement For the EU, the deal would mean lower tariffs on products like cars, machinery, and chemicals, while for Mercosur countries, it would provide improved access to EU markets for agricultural goods including sugar, beef, and poultry. An initial agreement was achieved in 2019 after negotiations started in 1999; however, it has not been approved because of strong opposition, especially from France. Countries supporting the deal Germany, Spain, and Portugal are among the EU countries that are in favour of the deal and are pushing for it to be finalised by years end. Germany, in particular, sees Mercosur as a key market for its automakers. Leaders in South America, like Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, see the deal as a boon to regional commerce and economic expansion. The agreement is also supported by nations like Uruguay and Paraguay, who want to lessen their dependency on China and diversify their trading relationships. Argentinas President Javier Milei has also supported it, indicating a change from his predecessors doubts. Editors Picks 1 Mercosur to remove international roaming rates for members The deal is also backed by industries in both regions. European carmakers and pharmaceutical companies see it as a way to access Mercosurs growing markets. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also expressed strong support, calling it an agreement of great economic and strategic importance. Her support comes despite opposition from certain EU member states. Advertisement EU countries against the deal France is the biggest agriculture producer in Europe. The country, along with Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, has remained steadfast against the deal. Recently, Italy has also voiced concerns about the possibility of a Mercosur agreement. The current version of the deal is unacceptable, according to Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, who last week called for Mercosur farmers to be held to the same obligations as their EU counterparts. The agreement has also drawn criticism from environmental organisations like Greenpeace, which fear that it may hasten Amazonian deforestation and increase the use of dangerous pesticides. Gendarmerie officers stand guard next to a demonstrator during a protest against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. Reuters Concerned that the competition will cut prices in its primary European markets in half, Ireland, the worlds fifth-largest beef exporter, has also voiced doubts about the agreement. Belgian farmers have also protested against the trade deal. Advertisement It is unclear, though, if these nations will follow France and try to block the deal. Their concerns French President Emmanuel Macron has called for stronger environmental and labour standards, stating that his country would not sign the deal as is. The country has also requested that the European Commission renegotiate the text, particularly by incorporating mirror clauses, which would impose identical standards on products traded between the two blocs. European farmers, especially in France, worry that an influx of South American products would saturate their markets, undercutting local agriculture. One year after a massive European farmers protest movement, another round of protests have erupted across the continent, with many claiming that reduced tariffs or duty-free quotas for South American products could be fatal for them. For example, 99,000 tonnes of beef would face a reduced tariff of just 7.5 per cent, while 180,000 tonnes of poultry would enter duty-free. According to the European Commission, this accounts for less than two per cent of the EUs annual beef consumption. Advertisement Livestock farmers argue they cannot compete with South American producers, who benefit from lower labour costs, larger farms and less stringent regulations on practices such as the use of growth hormones compared to EU standards. Brazil, the largest beef exporter in the world, is unable to ensure that its shipments to the EU are free of the growth hormone oestradiol 17-, which has been prohibited in Europe for decades, according to an audit conducted by the European Commission in October. Moreover, it is pertinent to note that France has no power to stop the agreement because the European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the 27 member states, controls trade negotiations. Advertisement Future course The Mercosur summit on December 5 and 6 in Uruguay could be a key moment for the deal. However, even if it is signed, it must be ratified by all member states, the European Parliament and all member states national parliaments before taking effect. This would give France a chance to veto it. The European Commission is thinking of dividing the pact into a trade-focused accord and a broader cooperation agreement to speed up and facilitate approval. Under EU regulations, the latter would simply need a majority vote, obviating the need for unanimous consent. France would no longer have the veto power under this approach unless it could gather enough support to create a blocking minority. Although nations like Poland and Austria have voiced their disapproval, their combined influence is insufficient to stop the pact. With inputs from The Associated Press A petition has reportedly been filed in the Bangladesh High Court seeking a ban on Iskcon. This comes amid protests by Hindus against the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the religious organisation read more Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), who faces several charges, is escorted by the police at the Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Court, in Chattogram, Bangladesh, November 26, 2024. Reuters Bangladeshs arrest of a prominent Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) has created an uproar among the countrys minority Hindus. Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest has courted criticism from various quarters, including India. Amid the controversy, a petition has reportedly been filed in the Bangladesh High Court seeking a ban on Iskcon. On Wednesday (November 27), the court asked the government what steps have been taken regarding Iskcons recent activities. Advertisement Lets take a closer look. Bangladeshs crackdown on Iskcon Iskcon has remained in the news in Bangladesh since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country in August. The port city of Chittagong saw tensions in early November after a Muslim grocer called Iskcon a terrorist group in a Facebook post. Clashes broke out in the Hazari Gali area, inhabited mainly by Hindus, leading to many people getting injured. Recently, a social media campaign in Bangladesh against Iskcon has called for its ban. As per an India Today report, hashtags like ban iskcon, ISKCON must be banned, Hindutva Propaganda, and Hindus Playing Victim have flooded social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X. The Hindu religious organisation has been accused of promoting the interests of the Awami League, Hasinas party, and acting as agents of the Indian government. Iskcon has rebuffed these allegations. As per a report in Bangladeshs The Daily Star, the Bangladesh High Court has told Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman to inform the court on Thursday of the steps taken by the government concerning Iskcons recent activities. The Attorney General told the court that Iskcon was not a political party. It is a religious fundamentalist organisation. The government is already scrutinising them, Asaduzzaman said, according to India Today. This came after a Supreme Court lawyer, Moniruzzaman, sought a ban on the Hindu organisations operations. Amid protests, the lawyer also urged the court to declare a state of emergency in Chittagong and Rangpur to avoid further untoward incidents. Advertisement Reacting to the petition, Iskcon vice president Radha Raman Das called on world leaders to speak about the issue. The situation is out of hand. Not in our control now. We will wait for January 20 when Donald Trump gets in[to] office. Hope things proceed then, Das told India Today. Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest in Bangladesh has angered Hindus. Hindu protesters clashed with security forces Tuesday after Das was denied bail by a magistrate court in Chittagong. A Muslim lawyer was killed during the protests outside the court in Chittagong. Das, also known as Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, was arrested in Dhakas main airport on Monday while travelling to Chittagong on several charges, including sedition. Bangladeshi Hindu leader Krishna Das Prabhu shows a victory sign as he is taken in a police van after court ordered him detained pending further proceedings in Chattogram in southeastern Bangladesh, November 26, 2024. AP Das has been accused of disrespecting Bangladeshs national flag. As per a Dhaka Tribune report, the sedition case was filed against him and 18 others for allegedly hoisting a saffron flag above Bangladeshs national flag in October. Advertisement Das served as the Chittagong Divisional Secretary of Iskcon from 2016 to 2022. He is also a member of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group. Since Hasina fled in August, he has led several large rallies calling for safety for the Hindus, reported Associated Press (AP). Das arrest triggered protests in the capital Dhaka and Chittagong. On Tuesday, the magistrate court in the port city rejected his bail and ordered him to be detained pending further proceedings. Clashes broke out as police tried to escort the Hindu leader to jail but hundreds of his supporters surrounded the van he was in, reportedly blocking it for over two hours. Advertisement They went on a rampage, throwing bricks at us. To disperse the crowd, we had to fire tear gas. No one was seriously injured, but one of our constables was hurt, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Hasib Aziz said, according to Reuters. India expresses concern India, which has expressed concern about the safety of Hindus since Hasinas ouster in Bangladesh, has condemned Das arrest. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement yesterday. It also decried attacks on peaceful protests by Hindus. Advertisement We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, the ministry said. Dhaka criticised Indias reaction, calling the issue internal affairs of Bangladesh. Bangladeshs foreign ministry said the government does not interfere in the judiciarys work. The Government of Bangladesh is also committed to upholding communal harmony in the country, the ministry said. With inputs from agencies Unrest has gripped Dhaka, Chittagong and other parts of Bangladesh after the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu, a Hindu priest on Monday. A lawyer was killed in Chittagong as protests turned violent and now reports have emerged that Hindu temples have been attacked read more Bangladeshi Hindu leader Krishna Das Prabhu shows a victory sign as he is taken in a police van after a court denied him bail. Protests have gripped the country over the last two days. AP How safe is Bangladesh for Hindus and other minorities? Its a question that has been asked too often, especially after the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5. Now tension has gripped the country as violent clashes erupted after the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das on Monday. At the centre of the unrest is Chittagong (Chattogram), a port city in southeastern Bangladesh. A lawyer has been killed and temples are reportedly being targeted. Amid all this, India has raised concerns over the safety of Hindus in the neighbouring nation. Advertisement Whats going on in Bangladesh? And how did it all begin? We take a deep dive. Why was Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu arrested in Bangladesh? Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu, the Hindu priest who is linked to ISKCON, was arrested at Dhakas main airport while travelling to Chittagong on Monday. He was reportedly held after a complaint by former Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader Firoze Khan on the allegation of desecration of the national flag. The monk is the spokesperson of Bangladesh Sommilito Sanatan Jagaran Jot, a newly formed coalition between two religious bodies, one of which advocates for the rights of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, where Islam is the state religion. He is also head of the Pundarik Dham, which is operated by ISKCON, in Chittagong, according to Dhaka Tribune. Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), who faces several charges, is escorted by the police at the Chattogram Metropolitan Mesgistrate Court, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The court has denied Das bail and the next hearing is likely on Thursday. Reuters Das has been leading rallies demanding the security of Hindus in Bangladesh. On October 30, a case was filed against 19 people, including the priest, at Chattograms Kotwali Police Station, accusing them of disrespecting Bangladeshs national flag during one such gathering of the Hindu community, news agency PTI reported. According to case details, a religious flag was placed over the national flag during the rally. Das has been arrested on the charges of sedition. Since the police did not seek remand, the court has sent him to judicial custody, directing that he be granted all religious privileges during his attention. His bail application was rejected by Chittagongs Metropolitan Mesgistrate Court on Tuesday (November 26). Now the next bail hearing is expected to come up on Thursday (November 28). Das delivered a powerful message from a prison van outside a Dhaka court on Tuesday. We want a united Bangladesh, he said in Bengali, flashing a victory sign before being taken away by the police. We santanis have some responsibilities towards the nation. Supporters of Das surrounded the van carrying the leader after the court ordered him detained pending further proceedings in Chittagong on Tuesday. How Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest triggered protests Soon after the arrest, protests erupted in Dhaka, Chittagong, and other parts of the country. In Dhaka, members of the Hindu community protested in the Shahbagh area, raising slogans and blocking roads, as they demanded that Das be released immediately. Members of ISCKON also protested against the arrest, reports Dhaka Tribune. During the protest, several people were injured after being attacked by unidentified people. Advertisement Thousands of people in Chittagong gathered on the court premises demanding the release of Das on Tuesday. Violence broke out in the high court premises as police cracked down on protesters. Several were injured as cops hurled sound grenades and lathi-charged the monks supporters. Hindu genocide is happening in Bangladesh. Please help. See how the police administration attacked the minority Hindus like extremists by shutting down the internet in the Chittagong Judge Court.#FreeChinmoyKrishnaDas #SaveBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/LT0SGT3HtQ Avro Neel Hindu (@avroneel80) November 26, 2024 Advertisement As the clashes in Chittagong turned violent, a lawyer was killed on Tuesday. However, the motive for the killing is not known. Saiful Islam Alif, a lawyer, was killed in Chittagong, Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, President of Chittagong Bar Association, told news agency ANI over the phone. Arif was brutally hacked to death and the Chittagong Bar Association has decided to suspend the court activities on Wednesday in protest. Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to the interim Bangladesh government, has condemned the lawyers murder. He has also ordered an investigation into the killing and an appropriate legal course. Yunus has urged people to keep calm and stay away from participating in any untoward activities. He has also ordered law enforcement agencies to step up security in the port city, including in all the vulnerable neighbourhoods. Advertisement Meanwhile, Hindu groups claim that Das has been targeted because he spoke up against the atrocities faced by Hindu Bengalis since the regime change that saw Sheikh Hasina ousted. They allege these are steps taken by the Yunus-led interim government to antagonise Bengali Hindus, a minority in Bangladesh. Law enforcers charge batons to disperse followers gathered to demand the release of Das. Reuters What has been the fallout of the protests? Students at Dhaka University held a protest march on campus over the lawyers killing. They chanted anti-ISKCON slogans and held a symbolic funeral prayer. Three Hindu temples were targeted in Chittagong. These include Lokonath Temple in Firangi Bazar, Mansa Mata Temple and Kali Mata Temple in Hazari Lane, according to a report in News18. How has India reacted to Das arrest? India has expressed deep concern over the denial of bail to Das. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings. We also note with concern the attacks on minorities protesting peacefully against the arrest of Shri Das, it added. Advertisement The MEA also urged Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety of Hindus and minorities in the country. We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, the statement emphasised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously raised the issue in public statements and over a phone conversation with Yunus. Policemen charge batons to disperse the supporters of Das Prabhu after they surrounded police van carrying their leader at the court premises, in Chattogram. AP What has Bangladesh said? Hours after MEA issued a statement, Dhaka reacted, calling the issue an internal affairs of Bangladesh. It said that such unfounded statements not only misrepresent facts but also stand contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries. With input from agencies Maldives has raised its exit fees, levied on departing passengers, as much as 400 per cent. The move comes in the backdrop of Male facing a foreign exchange crisis and its economy appearing to have taken a hit after calls to Indian tourists to avoid the picturesque island nation came as a response to President Mohamed Muizzus India Out campaign. Lets take a closer look read more The departure tax, which kicks in from December 1, is applicable to all non-Maldivians without regard to age or nationality. Reuters Planning a visit to the Maldives? Not only is visiting expensive, now you will have to shell out big bucks to leave as well. The Indian Ocean archipelago nation has increased its exit fees. But what happened? Just how much will it hit your wallet? Lets take a closer look: What happened? According to CNN, the Maldives has raised its exit fees as much as 400 per cent. The change kicks in from December 1. The departure tax is applicable to all non-Maldivians without regard to age or nationality. Advertisement According to OneMileAtATime.com, economy passengers will now have to pay $50 (Rs 4,221) compared to $30 (Rs 2,553). Business class passengers will have to shell out $120 (Rs 10,132) as opposed to $60 (Rs 5,061). Those travelling First class passengers will have to pay $240 (Rs 20,264) compared to $90 (Rs 7,599) earlier. Those on private jets will have to shell out $480 (Rs 40,528) compared to $120 (Rs 10,132). Interestingly, this exit fee does not take into consideration the length of your stay from 1 hour to a week. They will be added directly to the price of the ticket. As per CNN, the Maldivian Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) announced the revised charges in November. The money generated from these fees goes toward maintenance and upkeep of Velana International Airport (MLE) the Maldives main transit hub. Exit fees arent the only thing going up. Tourists enjoy the beach at a resort island at the Male Atoll. Indian tourists are among the highest foreign visitors to the Maldives. In 2023, of the total 17 lakh tourists who visited the island nation, more than 2,09,198 visitors were Indians. The Maldives will be increasing its daily green tax on tourists from January. The $6 (Rs 500) tax per tourist will be doubled to $12 Rs (1,000) for resorts that have more than 50 rooms. For those resorts under 50 rooms, the tax will be increased from $3 (Rs 250) to $6 (Rs 500.) Advertisement Children under the age of two will be exempted from the green tax. From July 2025, the Maldives will be increasing its goods and services tax from 16 to 17 to per cent. The amendments to the tax laws were passed in Parliament in October, as per TravelMaldives.com. The president ratified the changes on November 5. Males foreign exchange crisis The move comes in the backdrop of Male facing a foreign exchange crisis. The country has limited types of transactions allowed in foreign currency and imposing mandatory foreign currency exchange controls on tourism establishments and banks. The Maldivian economy appears to have taken a hit after calls to Indian tourists to avoid the picturesque island nation as a response to President Mohamed Muizzus India Out campaign last year. Advertisement The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned of a potential debt crisis. Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) on October 1 introduced a new regulation, requiring all foreign currency income generated by the tourism industry to be deposited in local banks. MMA, which had in August imposed a strict dollar limit as Maldives found itself in a dollar shortage, published the new rules in the local Dhivehi language. As per TTGAsia, Fitch in a recent report said the decline in foreign reserves to $492 million in May 2024 from $748 million a year earlier reflects a persistently high current account deficit. Moodys pegs the countrys total external debt obligations at between $600 million to $700 million in 2025. Advertisement It said this figure could rise to US$1 billion by 2026. The finance minister in a letter dated August 31 said, we urgently need to move forward as proposed given the challenging fiscal and external position of the country. High taxes will kill industry The Ministry of Finance predicts the changes will swell the countrys coffers by Rs 8 billion. The additional revenue from the airport development fee will be invested in the Sovereign Development Fund, as per the website. However, not everyone is happy. The high taxes will kill the industry, one local owner told TTGAsia. An international chain CEO, speaking on condition of anonymity, added, We are urging the government (in a letter to the Ministry of Tourism) to delay these taxes and give the industry time to adjust to these changes as we have contracts running for more than six months. We are not opposed to the increased taxes but we are concerned about the timing of these changes. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Chinas military leadership is reeling under a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, with Defence Minister Dong Jun becoming the third consecutive official in his position to face investigation. This follows similar cases involving his predecessors, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, both expelled from the Communist Party for alleged bribery read more Chinas anti-corruption campaign has rocked the upper echelons of its military, with Defence Minister Dong Jun becoming the latest in a string of top officials investigated for alleged misconduct. Dong Jun, appointed as defence minister in December 2023, is now under investigation for corruption, reported the Financial Times. This marks the third consecutive Chinese defence minister to face such allegations. Chinese defence ministers targeted? Before Dong, Li Shangfu was removed from office in September 2023 after just seven months in the role and expelled from the Communist Party in June 2024 for serious violations of discipline. His predecessor, Wei Fenghe, also faced similar accusations and was ousted in March 2023. The Communist Partys official statement on Li and Wei described their actions as betraying the partys trust, polluting the political environment, and damaging the militarys image. Both were accused of accepting substantial bribes and using their influence to benefit others. Advertisement Dong, a former chief of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, took charge of military diplomacy during his tenure and oversaw an unprecedented thaw in US-China military relations. However, in an unexpected turn, he declined to meet US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin during a Laos defence ministers meeting, citing US actions over Taiwan. Dongs omission from key positions like the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the State Council earlier this year now appears significant. Traditionally, Chinas defence ministers are members of these powerful bodies. Xi Jinpings anti-corruption campaign Since 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping has intensified the anti-corruption campaign within the military. Over nine PLA generals and multiple defence industry executives have been removed, including high-ranking officers from the Rocket Force, a strategic unit managing Chinas nuclear and conventional missiles. One prominent case involved Sun Jinming, a senior Rocket Force official, who was dismissed for grave violations of party discipline and laws. Analysts suggest these purges are part of Xis broader strategy to eliminate corruption that could undermine military readiness. Victor Shih, an expert on Chinese elite politics, told AFP, Dong likely had authority over tens of billions in procurement per year during his time in the navy. The intense competition for top positions can lead to cycles of arrests, new appointments, and further recriminations. The anti-corruption drive is emblematic of Xi Jinpings focus on consolidating control and ensuring loyalty within the PLA. While Beijing has long grappled with the nexus of military leadership and business interests, the current wave of investigations signals an unprecedented level of intensity. Does this affect Chinas war-preparedness? The crackdown is not without controversy. Some experts argue it and operational capability. Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, told AFP, If the corruption probe into Dong Jun is true, then it is normal that people will question if it will erode morale and affect the PLAs warfighting capabilities. The growing scrutiny of the Rocket Force is especially notable given its role in Chinas strategic deterrence. US officials have raised concerns that corruption in procurement and leadership could hinder Chinas ability to wage a future war. Advertisement United States President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting, November 16, 2024, in Lima, Peru. File Image/AP Chinas foreign ministry has yet to comment on the investigation into Dong, while official state media has maintained silence. If confirmed, Dongs investigation would underline systemic issues in Chinas military hierarchy despite years of purges aimed at addressing corruption. Not only Chinese defence ministers Chinas political landscape has been shaken by more than just its defence ministers. Over a year since the mysterious disappearance of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, the Chinese government continues to remain silent on his fate. Recent reports, including one by The Washington Post, claim that Qin has avoided imprisonment and is now holding a nominal position at the World Affairs Press, a state-owned publishing house under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to two former US government officials cited in the report, Qins current role is purely symbolic, with one stating, Hes not going to jail, but his career is over. The 58-year-old was once celebrated as the youngest foreign minister since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Advertisement His abrupt removal from public life in July 2023 fuelled a flurry of theories, ranging from imprisonment to suicide. Speculation also linked his disappearance to an alleged affair with Fu Xiaotian, a Chinese journalist rumoured to have shared state secrets with foreign intelligence agencies. The handling of Qin Gangs disappearance, like the ongoing corruption probes within the military, has put a spotlight the CCPs unpredictable and often opaque approach to managing internal dissent and misconduct. Also Read | One China versus many Chinas: Time to bust the myth to deal effectively with the Dragon With inputs from agencies Protests have sparked at the Dongduk Womens University in Seoul over plans to admit male students. Students argue the move threatens the safe space the institution provides, while administrators cite demographic challenges and long-term competitiveness read more The protests have been supported by several other women-only universities in South Korea. X/pannatic Protests erupted on November 11 at Dongduk Womens University in Seoul over plans to admit male students into some departments. The controversy has revealed deep-seated tensions surrounding gender equality, societal expectations, and the survival of single-gender universities in South Korea as it grapples with demographic and social challenges. Whats behind the protests Founded in the early 20th century, Dongduk Womens University was established to empower women in a society dominated by patriarchal norms. For decades, it has been a haven for female students, providing a space for education free from the male gaze and societal scrutiny. However, in a meeting to set goals for 2040, university administrators floated the idea of opening certain departments such as design and performing arts to male students. Advertisement Although the university claims the idea was merely part of a broader discussion, it has triggered fierce backlash. Students accuse the administration of failing to consult them, with a student council representative stating, The universitys unilateral decision, made without any input from the students who actually study and live here, left us with no choice but to raise our voices. Slogans like Wed rather perish than open our doors have been spray-painted across campus buildings. Hundreds of jackets and diplomas have been laid out in symbolic protest, while students occupied the main building, forcing classes online and leading to the cancellation of a planned job fair. What is the students case Students argue that admitting male students undermines the institutions original purpose and the sense of safety it provides. Co-chair of the student protest committee, Lee Song-yi, explained: Although the university isnt a perfect haven, we have felt free inside the campus. Getting rid of a safe space where women can freely express their opinions goes against the founding purposes of the university. Also Read | How low birth rate in South Korea has forced it to turn to foreign nannies Citing incidents such as a 2018 case where a man posted explicit photos taken inside a classroom, students pointed to a pattern of unsafe environments for women outside the campus. Broader societal issues, such as stalking, illegal filming, and violent crimes against women, exacerbate their concerns. South Korea ranks 94th out of 146 countries in gender equality, with women holding just 20 per cent of parliamentary seats and occupying only 7.3 per cent of executive roles in major companies. In this climate, many students see women-only universities as critical spaces for nurturing female talent. Then why is the university hoping to admit male students At the heart of the controversy is South Koreas ongoing demographic crisis. The countrys birthrate, one of the lowest globally, has led to an 18 per cent drop in higher education enrollment over the past decade, threatening the viability of single-gender institutions. Some administrators argue that admitting male students is essential for the universitys long-term survival and competitiveness. Advertisement Also Read | In South Korea, dog strollers outsell prams for babies. Heres why that is a worry Politicians have also weighed in, turning the protests into a political battleground. Conservative leaders, including Han Dong-hoon, condemned the students actions as uncivilised and demanded accountability for property damage, which the university estimates at 2.4 billion to 5.4 billion won ($1.7$3.9 million). Opposition politicians, however, accused conservatives of weaponising the protests to distract from unrelated political scandals. The protests have also sparked anti-feminist backlash online, with groups like New Mens Solidarity threatening to expose protesters personal information. A female YouTuber supporting the protests reportedly faced harassment and was forced to close her account. Advertisement What now Following a series of tense meetings, the university agreed to temporarily suspend discussions on co-education. However, students remain unconvinced, demanding a complete withdrawal of the proposal. During a general meeting attended by 1,973 students far exceeding the 10 per cent quorum required an overwhelming 1,971 voted against the transition. Despite partial concessions from the administration, student council president Choi Hyun-ah declared, The existence of womens universities is about advancing womens educational rights; transitioning to co-education would mean theres no reason for us to exist at all. The protests have since inspired similar movements at other womens universities, including Sungshin Womens University, where students condemned plans to admit male international students. Also Watch: With inputs from agencies Singh said the targeting of Hindus and arrest of religious leaders shows that fundamentalists are dominating the Bangladesh interim government as in the case of Pakistan read more Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), who faces several charges, is escorted by the police at the Chattogram Metropolitan Megistrate Court, in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Reuters New Delhi: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday said the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh reflects that the interim government of that country was in the clutches of fundamentalists and sought the United Nations intervention in the matter. Condemning the arrest of a Hindu leader in Bangladesh, Singh said such attacks are acts against humanity. The BJP, however, refrained from making any comment and said it stands by the rightful stand taken by the External Affairs Ministry on the issue. Advertisement India on Tuesday noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to the Hindu leader and urged authorities in the neighbouring country to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minority groups. We ditto the stand of the government of India, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference at the party headquarters here when asked for comment on the issue. Bangladesh police on Monday arrested International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka while he was travelling to Chittagong. The caretaker prime minister of Bangladesh is in the clutches of fundamentalists. The way Hindus are being attacked is against humanity. United Nations should intervene in this matter, Singh told reporters in the Parliament complex. The Bangladesh interim government is headed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Singh said the targeting of Hindus and arrest of religious leaders shows that fundamentalists are dominating the Bangladesh interim government as in the case of Pakistan. The minister was asked about the arrest of the ISKCON monk in Bangladesh and the prevailing situation there. Advertisement Singh also attacked the opposition, saying while they are raising the Sambhal violence issue, they are not concerned about the situation faced by Hindus in Bangladesh. People are talking about going to Sambhal, but Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav are not able to see Bangladesh where atrocities are being committed against Hindus. All Hindus should protest against the atrocities in Bangladesh, the Union minister said. He also stressed the need for a law to stop religious conversions in India. The law made by Assam on conversion should be welcomed. All states should have similar laws against religious conversion through enticements. Conversions are rising in the country and it is unfortunate. Democracy is safe only as long as the majority is Sanatani, Singh said. Advertisement Several other MPs also condemned the attack on minorities in Bangladesh and sought the governments intervention. Senior Trinamool Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee said, It is not a state issue but a matter concerning the Centre. People gave their mandate to the Central government. The TMC, as a party, has decided to support the decision of the Centre. I can only say that whatever has happened in Bangladesh is extremely unfortunate. Another TMC parliamentarian Saugata Roy also condemned the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh. It should not happen. I condemn it. The government should actively intervene in the matter, he said. Advertisement Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said his party was worried over the situation in Bangladesh. We are worried over what is happening in Bangladesh. A few days ago, an ISKCON monk was arrested and his supporters were attacked. Where is Vishwaguru PM Modi? he asked. Why is there such a situation in a neighbouring country despite PM Modis presence? He goes to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine but ever since he has taken charge, Indias influence in its neighbourhood is declining. Gogoi alleged that the prime minister is silent and no concrete steps are being taken to resolve the situation. BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said it is unfortunate that the country is silent over atrocities being committed against minorities in Bangladesh. Hindus, Buddhists, Chakmas, and members of other religious and ethnic groups are being tortured in Bangladesh. Many temples and other religious places have been destroyed. Women are being married off forcefully. Illegal and forceful conversions are happening All of this is happening but it is unfortunate that the entire country is silent on this issue, he said. Advertisement Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan said, Its very painful to see what is happening there. If something happens in Palestine an entire ecosystem will echo their pain. If something happens in Bangladesh then nobody says anything. While a Corps Commanders concerns about women officers highlight current challenges, they also present an opportunity to strengthen inclusivity and leadership within the Indian Army read more (File) Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani presents Officers Training Academy (OTA) gold medal to BUO Simran Singh Rathi during the 'Passing out Parade' of cadets at OTA, in Chennai on September 7, 2024. PTI As the Indian Army continues its transition toward inclusivity, the role of women officers has gained increasing prominence. From commanding key units to participating in strategic decision-making, women have shattered several glass ceilings. However, challenges remain, as highlighted recently in the context of the Indian Armys 17 Corps, also known as the Brahmastra Corps, stationed at Panagarh, West Bengal. This critical battle formation, tasked with safeguarding the strategically vital Siliguri Corridor and Doklama hotspot of the 2017 India-China standoffhas brought to light issues that go beyond the battlefield. When a Coprs commander who recently relinquished the command of the 17th Corps flagged significant gaps in the leadership preparedness and behavioural dynamics of women officers at Colonel-level with his senior, according to a report in the Times of India, this sparked a debate about inclusivity and operational efficiency in the Indian Army. Advertisement Not uproar, but ponder Maj Gen VK Singh (Retd) expressed strong support for the letter from the former 17th Corps Commander to the Army Commander, highlighting the seriousness of the concerns raised. The fact that the Corps Commander felt it necessary to write such a letter to the Army Commander indicates that he is deeply concerned. He must have observed the situation closely before addressing it, taking due cognisance of the matter. He intends not to undermine women in the army but to share his concerns with a senior commander for the overall betterment of our army. I am positive that whatever the Corps Commander has written, it has been written with utmost maturity and due diligence. It needs to be taken cognisance of and treated with the utmost importance, as it is aimed at securing the future of the army. We are all part of this great Indian Army and share the goal of making it the best, Maj Gen Singh told Firstpost. The former officer made it amply clear that the letter in no way diminishes the role of women in the army. There is no difference in training for male and female officers in the army. Both men and women officers graduate from the same training academies. However, there are different benchmarks for physical endurance, to incorporate physiological differences that are natural. Being physically present on the frontline carries inherent risks, including facing male adversaries and the possibility of capture and mistreatment. Therefore, I would say by all means women officers should be given equal opportunities in fields where they can perform the best and contribute in making our Army rise and face every situation that arises with elan, Maj Gen Singh said. Challenges in leadership integration However, structural barriers persist, as pointed out by Lt Gen Puri, the former commander of the 17 Corps, the Times of India report said. In an October correspondence with Lt Gen RC Tiwari, the Eastern Command chief, Lt Gen Puri pointed out that unlike their male counterparts, women officers often lack opportunities to undergo essential training programmes such as junior command and staff college courses or hold key early-career appointments that are vital for preparing for command roles. These observations show the broader structural and cultural challenges the Indian Army faces in integrating women into leadership positions within its ranks. Advertisement The former GOC of 17 Corps, in a detailed note to senior officials, noted patterns of behaviour of women officers under his command such as frequent grievances directed toward junior officers, limited collaboration in decision-making and insufficient empathy for both officers and troops. Additionally, he observed tendencies toward over-centralisation of authority creating undue stress on personnel due to overly ambitious performance expectations. The report identified two distinct behavioural patterns among the officers. While some reportedly used dismissive language toward juniors to claim credit for outcomes, others opted for a subdued leadership style, showing minimal interest or enthusiasm for commanding their units effectively. Advertisement Indian Armys progress: A milestone in inclusivity Over the years, the Indian Army has made commendable strides in integrating women into its ranks. While core combat roles in infantry, armoured corps and mechanised infantry remain closed to them, women officers have assumed command roles in support arms such as air defence, signals, ordnance, engineers, intelligence and service corps. These support arms play a crucial role in military operations as their performance during wartime can significantly impact the effectiveness of the combat arms they assist. As the Indian Army transitions toward inclusivity with the Supreme Court mandating permanent commissions and leadership roles for women, the institution faces the dual challenge of breaking gender barriers while maintaining operational efficiency. Last year, a landmark selection process resulted in 108 women officers being empanelled for command roles, following policy adjustments and special considerations. With India facing strategic challenges from Pakistan and China, the armys leadership emphasised adopting a gender-neutral approach to ensure combat readiness and organisational integrity. Advertisement Maj Gen Singh highlighted the significant opportunities available for women officers in the Indian Army, asserting that both men and women can perform equally across various roles. In the Indian Army, there is sufficient space for both men and women officers to perform equally. There are many roles can be handled better by women officers from the rear, as evidenced in the Israel-Iran conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war. Women officers can play a stellar role in such scenarios, working in secure areas, utilising computers and delivering results of equal significance. Women officers can work in the Intelligence Corps and Cyber Security. Tasks that can be managed remotely, such as artificial intelligence operations, UAVs and remote weapons systems, offer opportunities for women officers to avoid direct frontline engagement while making impactful contributions at par with their male counterparts, he said. Advertisement Gone are the days of Cathay Williams who disguised herself as a man, changed her name to William Cathay and joined the US Army in 1866. She joined the 38th United States Colored Infantrya group of distinguished fighters later given the name buffalo soldiers. She was discharged after a period of two years, having contracted smallpox and been revealed to be a woman. Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, Gen Marie Annabelle Jennie Carignan, herself a woman, indirectly addressed US Senator Jim Rischs comments on the role of women in combat during a panel at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia on Saturday. Gen Carignan defended the contributions of women in combat, highlighting that they have served their countries for centuries without proper recognition. She highlighted that women in uniform should not be perceived as distractions to defence and national security and reportedly expressed her disbelief that even in 2024, it remains necessary to justify their contributions in the military. Global perspectives: Learning from US and Israel The Indian Armys journey toward inclusivity can draw valuable lessons from the experiences of the United States and Israel, two nations that have integrated women into their military leadership structures with varying degrees of success. United States Since 2015, all combat roles in the US Army have been opened to women. Training programmes, while maintaining rigorous standards, have been adapted to address physiological and practical differences. The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), for instance, assesses endurance, strength and agility with performance categories adjusted for gender and age. In mixed-gender units, fostering mutual respect and collaboration has been a critical focus, ensuring combat readiness and cohesion. This experience highlights the importance of tailored yet equitable training for women transitioning into leadership and combat roles. Israel In Israel, women undergo the same foundational training as men, focussing on physical endurance, combat tactics and decision-making. The prestigious Officer Training Course (OTC) ensures that female recruits are equipped to handle high-stress situations effectively. Women in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have excelled in diverse roles, including intelligence, logistics and elite combat units, proving their capabilities in traditionally male-dominated fields. Both nations emphasise mentorship and continuous skill development, ensuring women are not only integrated but thrive in leadership roles. Building a level playing field Today, women in the Indian Army are increasingly taking on important roles. While a gap still exists between them and their male counterparts, the focus should be on bridging this divide and creating a level playing field where neither gender feels either preferred or neglected. Gender representation is vital, but its impact on military performance must be carefully evaluated. Four days and many hours. The stalemate over the next Maharashtra Chief Minister continues due to the power tussle among the Mahayuti. The BJP, which leads the alliance, wants Devendra Fadnavis to be the next leader of the state, while Shiv Sena wants Eknath Shinde to continue as the CM read more The people of Maharashtra gave a massive majority to the BJP-led Mahayuti and with this, it got the power to form the government in the state which holds a crucial position in Indian politics. The 2024 Maharashtra election results were announced on Saturday (November 23) and since then it has been four days and the alliance is still in a stalemate over who would be the next chief minister. Mahayuti is an alliance of three parties - BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Ajit Pawar. Soon after the poll results were declared, BJP and Sena got embroiled in a power tussle, wanting their candidate to be named as the next Maharashtra CM. Advertisement BJP, which has garnered maximum votes among the other parties in the alliance, wants Devendra Fadnavis to head the government in Maharashtra, while Shiv Sena (Shinde) has been adamant about Eknath Shindes name for the post. Mahayuti winning math In the recently held Maharashtra elections, BJP bagged 132 out of the 149 seats it contested, while Shiv Sena (Shinde) secured a win on 57 of the 80 seats contested. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 of the 59 seats it fielded its candidates on. In total, Mahayuti registered the best electoral performance by any pre-poll alliance in the last five decades with BJP securing a win on most seats. Delay over CMs name continues Tuesday, November 26, was the deadline for the formation of the new government in Maharashtra, but neither Shiv Sena (Shinde) nor BJP have budged on their CM post demand. As per protocol, Shinde, who was the CM of Maharashtra, submitted his resignation before Governor CP Radhakrishnan. He was accompanied by Fadnavis and Pawar, the two of his deputies, who also resigned from their posts. The Maharashtra Governor asked Shinde to continue as the caretaker CM till the new government takes charge. However, the stretching delay in the announcement of the next Chief Minister by the Mahayuti is gradually starting to eclipse the resounding victory registered by the alliance and is also raising concerns over whether the NDA would head the same way it did in 2019 when the BJP-Shiv Sena (undivided) failed to form a government despite winning a majority in the Assembly. Though it is still not clear as to what is happening among the alliance members behind the doors, the BJP and Shiv Sena have been sticking to the claim that there is no dispute on the question of leadership and alliance will form a government without much ado. Also Read: 3 reasons why Maharashtra wont have a constitutional crisis if next CM isnt sworn in today Advertisement As per reports, BJP is said to be miffed over the Shiv Senas insistence on continuing Shinde as the Chief Minister. After the results were announced, the BJP had claimed on record that there was no pre-poll arrangement with the Sena regarding Shindes continuation as CM. The top leadership of BJP have reportedly maintained all through the elections that a decision on the CM would depend on the election results and the individual performance of each party in the alliance. Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla dismissed a suggestion by Shiv Senas Naresh Mhaske, who cited the Bihar model to pitch for Shindes continuation as CM, saying that in Bihar, the BJP had committed to making Nitish the CM ahead of elections and honoured it. Advertisement In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership. Above all, the party never gave any commitment of continuing with Shinde as CM after the elections, a report by The Indian Express quoted Shukla as saying. Meanwhile, the NCP as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been supporting Fadnavis candidature as the new Maharashtra chief minister. Delhi has turned out to be one of the most polluted places on this planet, an undesirable achievement for a nation that has always prioritised and promoted the principles of ecological consciousness read more As India aims to become the third largest economy in the world, it has considerably failed to develop a policy plan that may control the play of the annual catastrophe in Delhi. Evidently, Delhi has turned out to be one of the most polluted places on this planet, an undesirable achievement for a nation that has always prioritised and promoted the principles of ecological consciousness. So, as a city, while Delhi is choking to death, the executive, legislative, and judiciary are struggling to find any permanent solution to this annual death event. Advertisement It is vital to understand the gravity of the ongoing death play in Delhi. First, it must be understood that stubble burning is not the sole reason behind the spike in Delhis pollution level. The practice of stubble burning was made illegal in 2015; nonetheless, it continues. The nub of the matter is that stubble burning contributes to 35 per cent of Delhis pollution. Hence, the major problem lies elsewhere both at the atmospheric level and the industrial level and it is quite disheartening to see a resolute silence that undergirds this catastrophe. Second, the harvesting season of late October is also a time when the wind direction changes. So, when the stubble is burnt in Lahore, Punjab, and Haryana, the pollution reaches Delhi and its neighbouring parts, and due to the meteorological conditions, it results into a thick cloud that percolates death to the citizens. Last week, Delhis air quality index (AQI) which points to the level of pollutants in the air reached almost 1,700 in some parts of the city. If we compare this with our closest competitor, China, its capital Beijing, reached the highest AQI of 1,300, which suggests how fast we are heading to convert Delhi and the NCR into a death chamber. Agreed that PM2.5 (particulate matter) is a major source of pollution in Delhi, but there are many contributing factors. About 40 per cent of Delhis air pollution is attributed to vehicular emissions, with diesel vehicles being a major contributor. Yet, other polluting causes lie in the huge number of industries that have piled up across Delhi, including the NCR. They are the major and constant source of pollutants and slow violence that the people of Delhi are subjected to. Stubble burning only exacerbates the pollution level, turning the slow violence into a fierce one, thus rendering this catastrophic play visible to all of us. There is also a misgiven belief that one could beat the spike in pollution during the November-December time with the help of air purifiers, thus making this annual death play impact mostly the unprivileged ones. What one does not realise is that air pollution knows no boundary, and that it can neither be demarcated geographically, nor physically. To situate this problem as a temporary one, or for that matter that only pertains to Delhi, therefore, only breeds more risk to a nation that aspires to become a leading economy in the coming years. Advertisement The national figures are also alarming: around 33,000 people across 10 cities die annually from breathing air measured safe by official standards in India. A recent report pointed out that 30 million people living in and around the capital might have been deprived of 12 years of their lives due to its hazardous health impacts. Likewise, leading medical journal Lancet suggests that 11.5 per cent of Delhis annual deaths are attributable to air pollution. To understand this further, the State of Global Air 2024 (SOGA) points out that air pollution accounted for 8.1 million deaths globally, becoming the second most risk factor for death, including for children under the age of five. This is exactly why proper policy-level planning is needed. To control this with the help of an odd-even formula, or to move to online teaching mode, or trying to mitigate this only when it starts impacting us most severely can only be seen as virtue-signalling gestures. Advertisement The larger question that haunts us at this critical juncture is whether the clean air target is achievable. The answer is yes, but for that, a clear vision and clean consciousness are needed. It is a strange paradox that most of our policymakers are either busy blowing trumpets for their bosses or they have divorced themselves from the public good; still, some of them have convincingly demonstrated their ignorance of policymaking at all, ensconced as they are as spokesperson on television channels or as poets at literary events. When it comes to human security, it needs to be grounded and aimed at a collective level, which is diametrically opposed to self-serving interests that many of our present policymakers suffer from. Advertisement As rightly emphasised by JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Pandit, human security can only be achieved if we take care of our panchbhoota principles. Everything in this cosmos is interconnected but as humans, we continue to demarcate boundaries and binaries. Speaking at a session on Lok Surkasha (public security), part of an event on Lokmanthan, organised in Hyderabad on November 24, 2024, she argues that human security is inevitably linked to public security, which in turn is linked to ecological security. Hence, it is essential to have more investment in the notion of public security if we are to come anywhere close to becoming the third largest economy in the world and having access to clean air for breathing. Can we go back to that cognizant level of cosmic well-being in our policymaking? Advertisement Delhi pollution has been institutionalised and it wont be wrong to say that it has become an annual apocalypse event in the absence of any convincing policies. All hat and no cattle is symptomatic of this annual performance of the death drive, which also signals that unless we act urgently, we may be on the verge of attaining one nation, one level of pollution soon. Om Prakash Dwivedi is an author and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das under dubious sedition charges in Bangladesh highlights the growing state-driven atrocities against Hindus. His detention seems to be less about national sovereignty and more about silencing dissent read more The recent arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari has cast a glaring spotlight on the Yunus governments alleged anti-Hindu bias and the rising Islamist influence in Bangladesh. This incident is not an isolated one but part of a broader pattern of targeted suppression of minority voices. Brahmachari, a prominent advocate for Hindu rights, was detained under dubious charges of sedition, a move widely seen as an attempt to silence dissent and stifle those who speak out against the increasing violence and discrimination faced by Hindus in the country. Advertisement Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, there has been a noticeable spike in violence against Hindus, with reports of vandalism, attacks on temples, and assaults on individuals becoming alarmingly frequent. Brahmacharis arrest, following his vocal condemnation of these atrocities, underscores the growing intolerance and hostility towards the Hindu community. The Yunus governments failure to curb this violence, and its active role in persecuting minority leaders, further exposes its complicity in fostering an environment of fear and insecurity for minorities. The political upheaval in Bangladesh has emboldened Islamist groups, leading to the cancellation of events promoting religious tolerance, such as the Lalon Mela festival, due to their threats. The Yunus governments apparent appeasement of these radical elements, coupled with its crackdown on minority leaders like Brahmachari, signals a dangerous shift towards an Islamist-dominated political landscape. This rise in extremism poses a significant threat to the secular fabric of Bangladesh. International human rights organisations and political leaders have condemned Brahmacharis arrest, highlighting the deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh governments actions have not only tarnished its global image but has also raised serious questions regarding its commitment to protecting the rights and freedom of all its citizens. The growing Islamist culture and the persecution of minorities are alarming trends that demand urgent attention and intervention. Targeted Suppression of Minority Voices The arrest of Hindu monk Brahmachari highlights the Yunus governments systematic targeting of minority voices in Bangladesh. Brahmachari, a leader of Bangladeshs Sanatan Jagaran Mancha, was charged with sedition after being accused of raising a saffron flag during a protest demanding minority protections. This protest, which gathered nearly two lakh Hindus, aimed to push for reforms such as the establishment of a minority protection law and a tribunal to address persecution. However, the sedition charges appear to be an attempt to stifle such advocacy. Advertisement The Bangladesh governments actions reflect a troubling pattern of suppressing Hindu activists while ignoring growing communal tensions. Despite the claims that Brahmachari disrespected national symbols, evidence suggests that his movement respects national values, with participants routinely displaying the Bangladeshi national flag during events. The charges have been widely criticised as politically motivated, with experts noting that such cases would require approval from high-ranking officials, further underscoring a deliberate campaign against Hindu voices. The arrest also occurs against the backdrop of increased attacks on Hindu communities, with violence reported in over 49 districts since the exit of Sheikh Hasinas government. Such incidents, combined with legal harassment of minority leaders, illustrate the precarious position of Hindus in Bangladesh. Activists warn that this could lead to further marginalisation and migration, echoing the historical exodus of Hindus due to persecution. Advertisement This incident not only exposes systemic bias but also underscores the urgent need for international attention and pressure to safeguard minority rights in Bangladesh. As Brahmachari himself stated, this is a fight for survival in a nation where communalism threatens to erode its democratic fabric. Anti-Hindu Reality of Yunus The Yunus government in Bangladesh has repeatedly assured protection for minority communities, especially Hindus, but its actions tell a different story. The arrest of Brahmachari under dubious sedition charges highlights the growing state-driven atrocities against Hindus. His detention seems to be less about national sovereignty and more about silencing dissent. Under Yunus, the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus has worsened. Homes, temples, and businesses have been vandalised, and many Hindus have been forced to migrate due to fear and insecurity. Despite promises of minority protection, the Yunus administration has done little to curb these incidents, with activists accusing it of enabling such violence. The arrest of Brahmachari exemplifies how the state is complicit in marginalising Hindus, using legal tools to suppress leaders advocating for justice. Without urgent intervention, Bangladesh risks further alienating its Hindu minority, eroding its democratic values. Advertisement Rise of Radicals Under Yunus The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has largely failed to curb the violence against minorities and has exacerbated the situation by lifting bans on radical Islamist groups and releasing terror suspects from jail. This leniency has emboldened extremist factions, allowing them to operate with impunity and spread their influence across the country. The resurgence of groups like Hefazat-e-Islam, which has a history of opposing secularism and promoting Sharia law, further underscores the growing threat to Bangladeshs secular identity. The political vacuum created by Hasinas ouster has provided fertile ground for Islamist groups to gain traction. Reports of increased attacks on Hindu minorities, including vandalism of temples and assaults on individuals, have become alarmingly frequent. The Yunus governments failure to protect these communities and its active role in persecuting minority leaders highlight a troubling anti-Hindu stance. Advertisement The rise of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladeshs largest Islamist political party, is particularly concerning. Despite its history of collaboration with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War and subsequent bans, the party has managed to regain influence. The lifting of the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami by the interim government has allowed it to re-enter the political arena, further destabilising the countrys secular framework. Adding to the complexity is the alarming presence of ISIS flag marches in Bangladesh. Students from prestigious institutions in Dhaka have been seen marching with black flags resembling those of ISIS, demanding the establishment of a caliphate. These incidents underscore the extent to which radical ideologies have infiltrated educational institutions and influenced young minds. The ability of groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir to mobilise students for such demonstrations clearly demonstrates their growing influence and the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies. International observers have expressed concern over the rising extremism in Bangladesh. The United States, for instance, has noted the growing influence of Islamist groups and the potential for increased violence and instability. In conclusion, the rise of Islamist extremism in Bangladesh, fuelled by the Yunus governments appeasement of radical groups and persecution of minorities, poses a significant threat to the countrys secular fabric. Urgent action is needed to address this growing menace and ensure the safety and rights of all communities in Bangladesh. The author, a columnist and research scholar, teaches journalism at St. Xaviers College (autonomous), Kolkata. He tweets at @sayantan_gh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. A new phase of high-level India-China dialogue has been unlocked following the October 21, 2024, agreement on border patrolling. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, along with both nations foreign and defence ministers, have held meetings since then, with the ministers talks concluding just last week. The two sides have also agreed to resume dialogue at the Special Representatives and foreign secretary-vice minister levels. These developments signal long-awaited progress in a prolonged border standoff, breaking the diplomatic ice that had frozen ties between Asias largest neighbours since the summer of 2020. Behind these positive steps lies a carefully orchestrated diplomatic manoeuvre, revealing much about the evolving dynamics of one of Asias most complex bilateral relationships. Advertisement Breaking the Ice The path to this moment began seven months earlier, in April 2024, when both nations began taking careful steps toward finding common ground. Prime Minister Modis characterisation of the relationship with China as important and significant served as a clear diplomatic signal from the very top level of Indian decision-making. While maintaining Indias firm stance on the border standoff, these words offered an olive branch to Beijing. Chinas response came in May with the appointment of an ambassador to India after an 18-month vacancy, reopening a crucial channel of communication. The real momentum, however, built after Indias June elections with an intensive period of diplomatic engagement. The Foreign ministers met twice in July. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs (WMCC) held two meetings barely a month apart between July and August. The national security advisors met on the sidelines of a BRICS gathering in September. Most significantly, corps commanders from both sides engaged in discussions spanning ten days in October to hammer out the details of the agreement. The Agreement Beyond the Headlines But what exactly does this much-anticipated agreement entail? Despite some media outlets heralding it as a detente, the reality is more nuanced. The agreement relates specifically to patrolling arrangements and grazing rights in the remaining two friction points of the standoff in eastern Ladakh where India and Chinas militaries are yet to disengage Depsang and Demchok. Both sides have agreed to conduct weekly coordinated patrols, a significant step toward managing tensions but far from a complete resolution of their differences. Most importantly, disengagement has been reported complete but has not yet been officially announced completed; the process is underway. The agreement doesnt extend to the buffer zones already established in other friction points the Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, and the Gogra-Hot Springs area, where both sides are yet to work out patrolling arrangements a reminder of the complex patchwork of mechanisms required to manage this challenging border. Evolution of Border Management Advertisement The evolution of border management between these nations tells its own story. What began as traditional patrolling patterns has over time transformed into a sophisticated, multi-layered system. Buffer zones, some extending 3-4 kilometres as in the Gogra-Hot Springs area, create physical separation between troops. Regular ground-commander meetings provide forums for addressing disputes before they can escalate. This systematic approach represents lessons learned from multiple incidents. Meanwhile, both nations maintain robust military capabilities along the Line of Actual Control. Infrastructure improvements, substantial force deployments, and advanced surveillance technologies create an armed coexistence a reality that influences every diplomatic move and countermove. High-level Engagement Amidst Structural Challenges Advertisement The agreement paved the way for the first full bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi since the 2020 standoff, held on the margins of the BRICS summit in Kazan. Yet even this meeting revealed the fundamental differences that continue to shape the relationship. India emphasised the centrality of border peace and tranquillity to any normalisation of relations, while China advocated for preventing specific disagreements from affecting the overall relationship. These divergent perspectives point to deeper structural challenges. India sees Chinas actions in 2020 as having fundamentally altered the relationship, bringing the border to the forefront. China, meanwhile, views Indias deepening relationship with the United States as part of a containment strategy. Underlying these tensions is a fundamental question about Asias future order whether it will be hierarchical with China at its apex, or more balanced with space for multiple rising powers. Advertisement Near-term Considerations As winter descends on the high-altitude border regions, both nations face immediate practical challenges, particularly in terms of the tooth-to-tail ratio. Temperatures plunging below -30C in areas like the Depsang Plains and Pangong Tso create not just military-logistical challenges but significant economic costs. Every day of deployment requires specialized equipment, elaborate logistics networks, and constant vigilance. The commercial relationship between these nations reflects similar complexity. India has walked a fine line, implementing stricter screening for Chinese investments while maintaining essential trade flows. This managed approach to economic ties mirrors the broader relationship neither fully cooperative nor completely adversarial. As Indian Army Chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi noted last month, India has to compete, cooperate, co-exist, confront, and contest with China. Advertisement The Path Forward: A New Framework for Stability? Looking ahead, the success of this latest re-engagement will depend on multiple factors. Both sides must maintain open dialogue channels while managing their economic interdependence. Crisis prevention mechanisms need to remain robust even as both nations pursue their broader strategic objectives. The resumption of high-level dialogue offers opportunities for communication and understanding, but it would be premature to mistake dialogue for resolution. Both sides still need to take a series of steps to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh. Along with disengagement, both sides need to work out new patrolling arrangements in the erstwhile buffer zones, de-escalation of troops all along the border, as well as bridge the trust deficit that has mired the relationship since 2020. Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs recent emphasis on de-escalation points to this broader challenge rebuilding trust while carefully unwinding military tensions. The recognition that both sides share this goal offers a glimmer of pragmatism in what remains a complex diplomatic process. As External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar noted, managing this relationship between two rising neighbours will require deftness and diplomacy. The latest development represents neither the complete reset some hoped for, nor the irreversible deterioration others feared. Instead, it offers a glimpse into the complex reality of two rising powers seeking to manage their differences while pursuing their ambitions in an evolving Asian century. The path forward remains long and complex, requiring careful navigation of immediate security needs while pursuing longer-term strategic goals. As both India and China continue their ascent, finding a sustainable equilibrium will require not just agreements and protocols, but a shared understanding of how these two ancient civilisations and modern powers can coexist in an increasingly multipolar world. Shibani Mehta is a senior research analyst with the Security Studies Program at Carnegie India. Her research focuses on the India-China boundary dispute with the purpose of analysing Indias foreign and security policy decision-making. Saheb Singh Chadha is a research analyst in the Security Studies Program at Carnegie India. His research focuses on Chinas foreign and security policies, India-China relations, and Indias military modernisation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Apple Intelligence has been facing some major regulatory hurdles in China, mainly because of the way the country handles user data, and forces companies working there to share all data with the CCP read more This marks Cooks third visit to China in 2024, underscoring the importance of the region to Apples operations. He has been accompanied by key executives like COO Jeff Williams, who has also made multiple trips this year. File image Apple CEO Tim Cook is back in China, diving into high-stakes discussions about launching Apple Intelligence, the companys localised AI language model, in the region. His visit isnt just about AI, though it also touches on supply chain challenges and US-China trade tensions. With Chinas regulatory maze posing significant obstacles, Cook is treading carefully to find a path forward. Apple tackling regulatory challenges in China Cooks visit comes at a time when regulatory hurdles are a major sticking point for Apple. Reports suggest that introducing Apple Intelligence in China requires navigating a lengthy and intricate approval process. According to a source within the Cyberspace Administration of China, gaining standalone approval as a US company is nearly impossible. However, using AI models pre-approved by the Chinese government could simplify the process considerably. Advertisement This regulatory landscape puts Apple in a tricky position, forcing the company to explore collaborations with local tech firms. While Apple hasnt publicly commented on these efforts, its actions signal a strategic pivot toward adapting to Chinas rules. Tim Cook rebuilding bridges with Chinese tech giants To navigate these complexities, Apple has reportedly initiated discussions with prominent Chinese technology companies. The talks include major players like Baidu, known for its AI capabilities, as well as ByteDance and Moonshot. These partnerships could help Apple integrate its AI tools into the Chinese market without running afoul of regulatory constraints. Cooks focus on fostering these relationships highlights the companys commitment to bringing Apple Intelligence to Chinese consumers. This move reflects a broader trend of global firms adapting their strategies to meet local market demands while maintaining their technological edge. A busy year for Cook & Apple in China This marks Cooks third visit to China in 2024, underscoring the importance of the region to Apples operations. He has been accompanied by key executives like COO Jeff Williams, who has also made multiple trips this year. These frequent visits underline Apples dedication to resolving supply chain and trade issues while advancing its AI ambitions. Although Cook hasnt made official statements during his current trip, his October remarks hinted at the challenges ahead. He acknowledged the regulatory hurdles but expressed hope to bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese consumers soon. With Cooks persistent efforts and Apples strategic collaborations, the company is inching closer to making its AI tools a reality in China, even as it grapples with a tough regulatory environment. Foxconn, which already has a strong manufacturing presence in India, is looking to diversify its portfolio as part of its 3+3 strategy, targeting electric vehicles (EVs), digital health, and robotics. read more During his visit to India in August, Chairman Young Liu emphasised Foxconns interest in moving up the value chain, focusing on sectors like energy storage to support its broader EV ambitions. Image Credit: Reuter In a significant move, the Tamil Nadu government is set to offer Foxconn, the worlds largest contract manufacturer, an incentive package that includes 200 acres of land for its proposed battery energy storage system (BESS) unit. This facility, if approved, would mark Foxconns second global venture in battery energy storage, expanding its footprint beyond smartphones into the burgeoning energy sector. Foxconn, which already has a strong manufacturing presence in India, is looking to diversify its portfolio as part of its 3+3 strategy, targeting electric vehicles (EVs), digital health, and robotics. Advertisement Foxconns strategic expansion in India During his visit to India in August, Chairman Young Liu emphasised Foxconns interest in moving up the value chain, focusing on sectors like energy storage to support its broader EV ambitions. The proposed BESS unit in Tamil Nadu aligns with this vision, aiming to enable storage of renewable energy from solar and wind sources. The state government has identified a site near Manalur in Tiruvallur district, about 50 km from Chennai, for the project. Talks are reportedly in the final stages, and sources suggest that Foxconn is likely to greenlight the initiative. The incentives and infrastructure support provided by Tamil Nadu are expected to play a pivotal role in securing the deal. Global context of Foxconns battery ventures Foxconns first battery plant, located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is geared towards supporting electric vehicles. The company is also making strides in Indonesia, where it has signed an MoU to develop a solid-state battery ecosystem for electric two-wheelers. These efforts highlight Foxconns commitment to becoming a leader in battery storage and EV technologies, a market segment with immense growth potential. At an investor conference earlier this month, Young Liu shared updates on the Kaohsiung facility, noting that while manufacturing is nearly complete, mass production has been delayed until early next year due to typhoon disruptions. This timeline underscores the urgency of setting up additional facilities to meet the increasing demand for energy storage solutions. Boost for Tamil Nadus green-energy goals The potential establishment of Foxconns BESS unit in Tamil Nadu could be a game-changer for the states renewable energy ambitions. By hosting such a facility, Tamil Nadu positions itself as a hub for advanced energy storage technologies, which are critical for managing renewable energy sources efficiently. As part of its strategic push into green industries, Tamil Nadus collaboration with Foxconn also underscores the states commitment to attracting global investments in high-growth sectors. If the project moves forward, it could cement Tamil Nadus reputation as a preferred destination for cutting-edge technology ventures in India. TSMCs challenge isnt just about staying in the USs good graces. It operates two factories in China, catering to a wide array of local clients. Any misstep could invite intervention from Chinese authorities, risking profits and potentially destabilising the global semiconductor supply chain read more With giants like Apple and Nvidia on its client list, TSMC has no choice but to comply fully with US investigations. Image Credit: Reuters The escalating tech battle between the US and China is putting immense pressure on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the chip-making giant behind Apples processors. A key supplier for Apple since 2014, and a manufacturer for some of the most advanced AI chips, TSMC has been striving to remain neutral amidst the geopolitical turmoil. However, maintaining its Switzerland of semiconductors stance is proving increasingly difficult as tensions rise. US Scrutiny and Sanctions on Chinese Tech TSMCs neutrality has been tested, particularly as the US tightens its grip on semiconductor exports to China. Since 2020, sanctions have aimed to block Chinese firms like Huawei from accessing advanced chips without approval. Further restrictions in 2022 targeted AI chip exports, adding to the pressure on companies operating in both markets. Recently, the US Department of Commerce began investigating TSMC for allegedly breaching sanctions, suspecting the company may have unwittingly supplied Huawei with chips through a third-party intermediary. The chip in question resembles Huaweis Ascend 910B, which is designed for training AI models a sensitive area in the tech rivalry. Advertisement In response, TSMC has launched an internal review of its Chinese customer base, halting suspicious orders and even destroying questionable wafers. Despite these efforts, the company faces scrutiny from both sides, walking a tightrope to avoid offending either its US or Chinese partners. Balancing Acts and Business Risks in China TSMCs challenge isnt just about staying in the USs good graces. The company operates two factories in China, catering to a wide array of local clients. Any misstep could invite intervention from Chinese authorities, risking profits and potentially destabilising the global semiconductor supply chain. With such high stakes, TSMC must tread carefully while investigating its Chinese operations. When questioned by Chinese officials about the US probe, TSMC reportedly emphasised its obligation to follow US regulations but assured China it would not take additional punitive steps beyond what was required. This balancing act reflects the delicate position TSMC finds itself in, trying to maintain its extensive business ties with both superpowers. TSMCs tightrope between markets The reality for TSMC is that its dependence on US clients who account for 65 per cent of its revenue leaves little room for them to manoeuvre. With giants like Apple and Nvidia on its client list, the company has no choice but to comply fully with US investigations. It hopes that by cooperating transparently, it can avoid hefty penalties, while demonstrating the difficulty of vetting clients in a complex supply chain. As the US-China tech rivalry intensifies, TSMCs balancing act underscores the broader challenges faced by global businesses caught between two competing superpowers. How well it navigates this high-stakes game could have far-reaching implications for the semiconductor industry as a whole. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been reached after more than a year of hostilities, resulting in thousands of casualties, extensive destruction, and widespread displacement in both Lebanon and Israel read more Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah ceased fire under a deal that aims to end more than a year of hostilities ignited by the Gaza conflict. Here are some of the main costs of the conflict, which escalated two months ago when Israel went on the offensive against the Iran-backed group. Casualities At least 3,768 people have been killed in Lebanon and 15,699 wounded since October 2023, according to Lebanons health ministry as of Nov. 24. The figures do not differentiate between Hezbollah fighters and civilians. The vast majority of casualties were inflicted after Israel went on the offensive in September. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect early Wednesday. The number of Hezbollah dead has yet to emerge. The group had announced the deaths of about 500 of its fighters in the hostilities up until the point that Israel launched its offensive in September, but stopped doing so at that point. Advertisement Tel Aviv Universitys Institute for National Security Studies, which has deep ties to the military establishment, says Hezbollah has lost a total of 2,450. Hezbollah strikes have killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities. Destruction In Lebanon, the cost of damage to housing is estimated at $2.8 billion, with more than 99,000 housing units partially or fully destroyed, according a World Bank report. In Beiruts southern suburb alone, a stronghold of Hezbollah, Israeli strikes have demolished at least 262 buildings, according to the American University Beirut Urban Lab. The Israeli military has also done extensive damage in villages and towns in the Bekaa Valley and south Lebanon, both areas where Hezbollah holds sway. The World Bank report estimated damage in agriculture at $124 million, with losses of more than $1.1 billion, driven by lost harvest caused by destruction of crops and livestock and displacement of farmers. In Israel, Israeli authorities estimate property damage to be at least 1 billion shekels ($273 million), with thousands of homes, farms and businesses damaged or destroyed. The bulk of the damage in Israel has been inflicted in areas adjacent to the Lebanese border, pummelled by Hezbollah rockets. About 55,000 acres of forestry, nature reserve, parks and open lands in northern Israel and the Golan heights have been burnt down since the start of the war, Israeli authorities say. Advertisement Displacement As of Nov. 18, over 886,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Over 540,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria since the war started, data by UNHCR showed. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) Trumps tariff announcement combines two of his cornerstone policies: protectionism and hardline immigration measures. However, experts argue that these tariffs would not only strain diplomatic ties but also inflict financial harm on US consumers and businesses reliant on cross-border trade read more President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico on his first day back in the White House, tying the move to efforts to halt illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking. The proposed tariffs, announced on Monday (November 25), could severely strain trade relationships and spark economic challenges for both Canada and the US Here are 7 key things to know about US-Canada trade ties as this controversial proposal looms: Advertisement Deeply-integrated relationship Canada and the US share one of the most comprehensive trading partnership globally, with goods and services worth $3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) crossing their border daily in 2023. This relationship supports millions of jobs and relies on deeply integrated supply chains spanning key industries like energy, automotive, and manufacturing. **The CUSMA Framework **Trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico is governed by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), in place since July 2020. The agreement underpins resilient supply chains and a balanced trading relationship. Imposing tariffs could breach this framework and lead to legal and diplomatic disputes. **Heavy reliance on US markets **Canada sends more than 77 per cent of its exports to the US, making it heavily dependent on its southern neighbour for economic stability, according to The Globe and Mail. Any disruptions, such as tariffs, could have severe consequences for Canadas economy, potentially leading to a recession. **Potential economic impact **Economists warn that a 25 per cent tariff would hit the Canadian economy hard. Trevor Tombe, an economist at the University of Calgary, estimates a 2.6 per cent annual reduction in Canadas GDP, equivalent to $2,000 per person. The oil, gas, mining, and auto sectors are expected to bear the brunt, with the latter potentially facing a 20 per cent drop in exports to the US. **Energy trade at risk **Canada is the largest foreign supplier of energy to the US, exporting over 1.6 billion barrels of petroleum last year. Tariffs could disrupt this vital energy supply chain, driving up gasoline prices for US consumers and threatening Canadas energy sector. **Long-standing investment ties **Beyond trade, Canada and the US share a significant investment relationship. Canada is the largest source of foreign direct investment in the US, while the US is Canadas top investor. This reciprocal relationship underscores the deep economic interdependence between the two nations. Who Pays for Tariffs? Despite Trumps claims that Canada and Mexico will shoulder the costs, tariffs are ultimately paid by importers in the US. The additional costs are typically passed on to consumers. A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated that across-the-board tariffs would cost the average US family $2,600 annually, with increases in gasoline and vehicle prices. Trumps tariff announcement combines two of his cornerstone policies: protectionism and hardline immigration measures. However, experts argue that these tariffs would not only strain diplomatic ties but also inflict financial harm on US consumers and businesses reliant on cross-border trade. Advertisement Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right before the US- and French-brokered truce with Hezbollah was announced Tuesday and they agreed to try again for a Gaza agreement that has eluded negotiators for months read more US President Joe Biden announces a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. Source: X | @WhiteHouse. US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that after the successful culmination of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, Washington will make another push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power, Biden said on X. After weeks of international pressure on Israel, POTUS announced the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday. Advertisement Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu right before the US- and French-brokered truce with Hezbollah was announced Tuesday and they agreed to try again for a Gaza agreement that has eluded negotiators for months. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told MSNBC that Biden will start working on a possible Hamas ceasefire immediately. The Israel-Hezbollah deal was a rare boost for Biden as he prepares to leave the White House and hand over to Donald Trump on January 20. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire has been welcomed by different stakeholders with leaders urging Israel to stick to the deal and withdraw troops from southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, after witnessing a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, Hamas said it is also ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners, the official told AFP, however accusing Israel of obstructing a deal. In a statement released later Wednesday, Hamas said the enemys acceptance of the agreement with Lebanon without achieving its preconditions marks a significant milestone in shattering (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahus illusions of reshaping the Middle East through force. With inputs from AFP Despite opposition from companies like Google and Meta, Australias lower house has passed a bill to ban social media for children under 16, requiring age-verification protections read more Australia on Wednesday moved closer to banning social media for children under 16 after the parliaments lower house passed the bill even as Alphabets (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google and Facebook-owner Meta (META.O), opens new tab pressed the government to delay the legislation. Australias House of Representatives passed the bill 102 votes to 13 after Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses centre-left Labor government secured bipartisan support for the ban. The Senate is expected to debate the bill later on Wednesday, with the government keen to ensure it is passed by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday. Advertisement Albanese, trying to lift his approval ratings ahead of an election expected in May, has argued that excessive use of social media poses risks to the physical and mental health of children and is looking for support from parents. Media outlets, including News Corp (NWSA.O), opens new tab, have backed the ban. Some youth advocates including Australias human rights commission raised concerns the law would hurt childrens rights to self-expression, but a YouGov survey released on Tuesday showed 77 per cent of Australians backed the ban, up from 61 per cent in an August survey. The planned law would force social media platforms to take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are in place. Companies could be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for systemic breaches. Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce the ban, some of the toughest social media controls imposed by any country to date. A Senate committee late on Tuesday backed the bill but inserted a condition that social media platforms should not force users to submit personal data such as passport and other digital identification to prove their age. Advertisement In its report, the Senates environment and communications legislation committee said social media platforms must set out alternative methods for assuring age as reasonable steps with consideration given to the age assurance trial. A progress report on the age assurance trial must be submitted by the communications minister to parliament by Sept. 30, 2025, the committee said as it urged the government to meaningfully engage with youth when framing the law. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) India has welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah that came into effect in the early hours of Wednesday read more Smoke rises above Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, on Israel's border with Lebanon. Source: REUTERS | FILE. India has welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. After months of US- and French-mediated negotiations, the Israeli Cabinet on Tuesday approved a US-drafted ceasefire proposal and the 60-day truce came into effect in the early hours of Wednesday. In a statement on Wednesday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India hoped the ceasefire would lead to a peace and stability in West Asia. We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region, said Jaiswal. Advertisement Our statement on ceasefire announced between Israel and Lebanon:https://t.co/75xLsCZr2B pic.twitter.com/r3mMB25XbY Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) November 27, 2024 After the Israeli Cabinet approved the ceasefire proposal, which had already been approved by Hezbollah the previous week, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the ceasefire between the two sides in a joint statement. Today, after many weeks of tireless diplomacy, Israel and Lebanon have accepted a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon. This announcement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line, read the joint statement. While the ceasefire agreement has not been made public, it has been reported that it contains an initial 60-day during which Israeli forces will withdraw southward of the Blue Line and Hezbollah would vacate southern Lebanon bordering Israel and would withdraw northward of the Litani river the Blue Line is the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon. The area vacated by Hezbollah would be occupied by the Lebanese government forces to protect the border. Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Iran-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel, leading to the displacement of several thousands of Israelis in the countrys northern parts bordering Lebanon. After clashing with Hezbollah along the border on a nearly daily basis, Israel ramped the bombardment of Hezbollah sites this year and, after weeks of intense aerial campaign, invaded Lebanon on October 1 to wage a ground war against Hezbollah. Advertisement South Korea and Ukraine have agreed to deepen security cooperation amid concerns over North Koreas troop deployment to Russia and potential military collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow read more South Korean mechanised unit personnel parade with their armored vehicles during the media day for the 76th anniversary of Armed Forces Day at Seoul air base in Seongnam, South Korea. AP South Korea and Ukraine agreed Wednesday to deepen security cooperation in response to the threat posed by the deployment of North Korea troops in Russia, the presidency in Seoul announced. The statement followed a meeting between South Koreas president and Ukraines defence minister after their countries sounded the alarm over the deployment of thousands of Pyongyangs troops in western Russia. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and expressed hope that South Korea and Ukraine would work together to devise effective measures to address security threats posed by North Koreas military cooperation with Russia, the presidency said. Advertisement Both sides agreed to continue sharing information on North Koreas troop deployment to Russia and the transfer of weapons and technology between Russia and North Korea, the presidency added. The trip came after South Korea signalled it could reverse a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict but there was no mention of arms supplies in the statement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said in an interview with South Korean media last month that his country was preparing to submit a list of needed military support. He added that the list would include artillery support and air defence systems. Earlier this month, Yoon said whether - or how - South Korea decides to help Ukraine directly depends on the level of North Korean involvement in the conflict, adding that Seoul was not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons. If South Korea were to supply arms, the initial batch would be defensive in nature, Yoon said. Ukraine is reliant on Western air defence systems, particularly Patriots, to protect itself from Russian missile barrages - and has been calling for more deliveries. South Korea, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North and has maintained production of weaponry long overlooked by Western arms industries, could make a significant impact if it decides to supply weapons, experts say. Advertisement (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) Students have been protesting in Dhaka after the death of Abhijeet, a class 12th student who died of dengue at a hospital. The protestors allege that he died of negligence read more Bangladesh is back to what it was a few months ago. Students are back on the streets to protest the death of a colleague who allegedly died of medical negligence. The country is once again facing a massive law and order upheaval, only this time it is happening under an interim government. The administration has deployed the Army to quash the protests ensuing in different colleges around Dhaka. Meanwhile, a parallel protest led by minorities, specifically Hindus of Bangladesh, has also rocked the country after an ISCKON monk Chinmay Prabhu Das was denied bail in a sedition case. Advertisement British MPs write to Lamy Amid all this ruckus, some British MPs have written a letter to the UKs foreign secretary David Lamy expressing concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government and the rise of extremist elements. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Commonwealth in the UK has documented over 2,000 atrocities since the fall of Hasinas government, alleging that the current regime may be using the legal system as a tool for revenge. 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. Why are students protesting? Earlier this month on November 16, a 12th standard student named Abhijeet was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for dengue. He died two days later following which on November 19, his roommates Siam and Aftab alleged that he died because he was treated wrongly in the hospital. After a few days, Siam and Aftab started protesting outside the hospital where Abhijeet was admitted and other college students also joined them. China is expected to conduct military drills near Taiwan during President Lai Ching-tes Pacific visit and US transit, escalating tensions over sovereignty and regional influence read more China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President Lai Ching-tes upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, according to assessments by Taiwan and regional security officials. Lai will start a visit to Taipeis three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip coming shortly after the US election. Advertisement China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and the most important issue in its relations with Washington, has a strong dislike of Lai whom Beijing calls a separatist. Lais office has yet to confirm details of what are officially stop-overs in the United States, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources familiar with the trip have previously said. Beijing could conduct military manoeuvres around or shortly after Lais trip which ends on Dec. 6, said four officials in the region briefed on the matter, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Chinas defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment, though the government has urged the United States not to permit Lai to transit. Chen Binhua, spokesperson for Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday that Lais transit stops were essentially provocative acts that violate the one-China principle. Taiwans defence ministry and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. China has already staged two rounds of major exercises around Taiwan this year to pressure Taipei, one in May and one in October, dubbed Joint Sword - 2024A and B, respectively. China could repackage ongoing regular military activities in the South China Sea or the East China Sea, moving them closer to Taiwan and rebranding them Joint Sword - 2024C, according to a Taiwan security official. Advertisement Beijing could expand the size of its regular joint combat readiness patrol that typically involves naval and air force drills near Taiwan during Lais visit and launch a targeted exercise towards the end of the trip, the source said. Between 20 and 30 Chinese naval vessels are involved in the ongoing military manoeuvres this week in the South China Sea, the source added. Red line Beijing wants to show the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump that the first island chain is Chinas sphere of influence and Lais trip could become a pretext, the official said, referring to an area that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing Chinas coastal seas. Beijing hopes to draw a red line and establish its power during the US government transition and extend its sphere of influence, the official said, adding the military drills were meant for the United States and its allies. A second source, a Taiwan-based regional security official, said the drills would probably be more limited in scope than the two earlier rounds this year given unstable winter weather conditions in the Taiwan Strait. Advertisement A third source, familiar with security assessments around Taiwan, said China could use exercises in the coming weeks to test the bottom line of the Trump administration. Two of the sources said more favourable weather conditions may prompt an earlier or delayed display of force in the days around Lais trip. Taiwan presidents typically take advantage of stop-overs in the United States going to and from far-flung allies to give speeches and meet with friendly politicians. Lai will be visiting the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the 12 remaining countries maintaining official diplomatic ties with Taipei. It would not be unprecedented for China to respond militarily to this trip. It did so in August of last year when then-Vice President Lai returned from the United States, and in April of last year upon then-President Tsai Ing-wens return from California. Advertisement Lai and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party reject Beijings sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwans people can decide their future. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) Dhaka reacted to the statement of the Indian government expressing deep concerns over the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, calling it internal affairs of Bangladesh read more Hours after India expressed deep concern over the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and urged authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities in Bangladesh, Dhaka reacted to it, calling the issue its internal affairs. On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed deep concern over the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das and urged Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. Advertisement Within a few hours, the Bangladeshs foreign ministry issued a statement in reaction to Indias and said, It is with utter dismay and deep sense of hurt that the Government of Bangladesh notes that the arrest of Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been misconstructed by certain quarters since Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been arrested on specific charges. The Government of Bangladesh maintains that such unfounded statements not only misrepresent facts, but also stand contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries, the Bangladeshs ministry of foreign affairs said. The Bangladeshs interim government led by Muhammad Yunus further alleged that the statement issued by the MEA does not reflect the harmony that exists among the peoples of all faiths and the commitment and the efforts of the government and the people in this regard. Also Read: Noted with deep concern arrest, denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das: India on Hindu leaders arrest in Bangladesh It also completely disregards that the Government of Bangladesh is determined to conclusively end the culture of impunity to the perpetrators of gross human rights violations against the people of Bangladesh, thus treating the religious majority and minorities alike. The ministry in Dhaka further said, Bangladesh reaffirms, in the strongest terms, that every Bangladeshi, regardless of his or her religious identity, has the right to establish, maintain or perform respective religious rituals and practices or express views without hindrance, it said, adding that ensuring safety and security of all citizens, particularly the members of religious minorities, remains a duty of the government of Bangladesh. Advertisement Government is firm to uphold religious #harmony in #Bangladesh, irrespective of religious affiliation, and uphold rule of law for every Bangladeshi, without distinction, under the laws of the land. pic.twitter.com/gGaOrJ2SHl Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@BDMOFA) November 26, 2024 Bangladesh court denies bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das On Tuesday, a court in Bangladesh denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das who was arrested a day before on sedition charges and was sent to prison. His detention triggered massive protests by community members in several locations, including the capital city of Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram. Das was escorted to the court on Tuesday amid tight security as a large group of his supporters, including lawyers, chanted slogans protesting his arrest and demanding his release. Advertisement Also Read: Explained: The arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and rising tension in Bangladesh Upon the conclusion of the arguments, the judge rejected Dass bail petition and said that since the Hindu priest was arrested from outside the port city, as per law, he is required to be kept under judicial custody for 24 hours. The judge then ordered that Das be taken to jail and directed the prison authorities to allow him to practice his religious rituals as per the Jail Code. Netanyahu may have little political incentive to end the war, as doing so could destabilise his coalition, which includes ministers opposed to a truce with Hamas. Hamas, for its part, expressed hope that the Hezbollah ceasefire could lead to progress in Gaza read more A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect early Wednesday (November 27), halting more than a year of hostilities between the two. Announcing the Lebanon deal on Tuesday (November 26), President Joe Biden said he would renew efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, where fighting has ravaged the territory for 14 months. He urged both Israel and Hamas to negotiate. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, too, said Biden would be engaging with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and other regional players. Advertisement However, any hopes of a similar resolution in Gaza appear remote as Israeli officials vow to continue their offensive against Hamas. Israel unlikely to agree to ceasefire Gaza will never be a threat to the state of Israel again We will reach a decisive victory there. Lebanon is different, said Israels Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a member of the inner security cabinet and former Shin Bet chief. Dichter said Hamas would have no future role in Gaza. We are going to stay in Gaza for a long time, he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to bring home the 101 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and to eliminate Hamas, which launched a large-scale attack on southern Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people. Ofer Shelah, a researcher at Tel Aviv Universitys Institute for National Security Studies said that Netanyahu may have little political incentive to end the war, as doing so could destabilise his coalition, which includes ministers opposed to a truce with Hamas. Whats Hamas stand? Hamas, for its part, expressed hope that the Hezbollah ceasefire could lead to progress in Gaza. We hope that this agreement (with Hezbollah) will pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza, said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri. Advertisement The group has demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages and insists on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Negotiations between the two sides remain stalled, with each blaming the other for the impasse. Donald Trumps impending return to the US presidency in January further complicates the picture. While Trump has pledged to end the war, Palestinians are wary, given his past pro-Israel stance. With inputs from agencies As US Trade Representative, Greer is set to work on reining in the countrys trade deficit, protecting American industries and widening export markets, Trump added read more Donald Trump on Tuesday named Jamieson Greer his trade envoy, a key figure in implementing the president-elects economic agenda, particularly his plans to use tariffs to raise revenue and help bring more manufacturing to US shores. Trump also picked Kevin Hassett as his top economic advisor, bringing the former member of his first administration to the helm of the White House National Economic Council. Hassett is set to help advance Trumps plans too, ranging from tax cuts to widening energy production. Advertisement Jamieson played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China and others to combat unfair Trade practices, said Trump of Greer, who served as chief of staff to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during Trumps first administration. He also cited Greers experience in helping to see through a trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Greer is a partner at law firm King & Spalding. During Trumps first term from 2017 to 2021, the United States introduced tariffs on billions of dollars worth of imports notably on China but also Americas allies. In particular, the Trump administration imposed levies on some $300 billion in Chinese goods as Washington and Beijing engaged in an escalating tariff war. Lighthizer emerged as a strongman in trade talks as he sought to force changes in Beijings economic policies. If confirmed by the Senate, Greer, who is viewed as Lighthizers protege, will be charged with rolling out Trumps tariff policy and negotiating trade deals. Manufacturing return Trump on Tuesday lauded Greers efforts under Lighthizer, saying this helped bring manufacturing jobs back to America. As US Trade Representative, Greer is set to work on reining in the countrys trade deficit, protecting American industries and widening export markets, Trump added. Advertisement Trump has vowed sweeping tariffs of at least 10 percent on allies and adversaries alike, and a steeper level on China. The aim is to raise government revenue and target countries he said have been ripping us off, while pushing businesses to bring production back to US shores. Even before he takes office in January, Trump has threatened to begin his presidency with an immediate trade war against three top US economic partners: China, Mexico and Canada. It remains unclear what role Lighthizer might assume in Trumps second term, but he is expected to remain influential within the president-elects orbit. Greers earlier role at the USTRs office means he was involved in Washingtons decisions to impose tariffs on Beijing in Trumps first term, and come to a Phase One trade deal in 2020. Advertisement The deal marked a truce in the trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. But China has yet to meet its commitments of boosting purchases of American products and services over 2020 and 2021, as the world grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund would offer grants not loans to make the transition to eco-friendly technologies and practices in developing nations easy. It has been modelled after the fund that successfully addressed ozone depletion read more Climate activists march on a street to demand stronger global commitments to fight plastic waste. Image used for representative purpose/Reuters India has proposed the establishment of a multilateral fund to support developing countries in combating plastic pollution, modelled after the successful Montreal Protocol fund that addressed ozone depletion. The proposal was submitted during the final round of negotiations for a legally binding international agreement on plastic pollution in Busan, South Korea. Indias plan calls for developed nations to provide financial and technical assistance, including access to advanced technologies, to help developing countries comply with the proposed global rules and targets on plastic pollution. Advertisement The fund would offer grants not loans to make the transition to eco-friendly technologies and practices in developing nations easy. According to the proposal, developed countries would make periodic contributions to the fund, with private sector donations allowed under agreed guidelines. The developed countries would be required to periodically contribute to the fund and allow private sector donations based on agreed guidelines, according to a statement issued by the Union environment ministry. The proposal says that compliance by the developing countries should depend on the developed countries covering the extra costs involved in transitioning to environment-friendly alternatives. India has suggested the formation of a subsidiary body with equal representation from developed and developing countries to oversee the funds operations, including creating policies, managing resources, and ensuring fair distribution of funds. The subsidiary body would also handle technology transfers. The proposal builds on the momentum created in 2022, when the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted a resolution to address plastic pollution globally. That resolution led to the creation of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which has since been tasked with developing a legally binding agreement by 2024. Advertisement The INC has held four sessions in Uruguay, France, Canada, and Kenya. The current session in Busan, running from November 25 to December 1, is expected to finalise the agreement. With inputs from PTI A ceasefire brokered by the US and France between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday, ending a deadly conflict along the Israeli-Lebanese border read more A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region shaken by two wars for over a year. Lebanons army, which is tasked with helping make sure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement on Wednesday it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country. The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has waged war against Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around six km (4 miles) into Lebanese territory, withdraws. Advertisement The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, is a major achievement for US-led diplomacy in the waning days of President Joe Bidens administration. Biden said his administration was also pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it was possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalise relations. Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Lebanons capital Beirut after the ceasefire took effect at 0200 GMT. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israels military. Streams of cars carrying people displaced from southern Lebanon by Israeli strikes in recent months began heading back to the area after the ceasefire, according to Reuters witnesses. Other families could be seen returning to the bombed-out southern suburbs of Beirut, carrying Hezbollah flags. Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israels security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) Advertisement Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for potential war crimes, said that the ceasefire on the northern front would allow Israels military to regroup and focus on Hamas and Iran read more Due to Israel's ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, a truce in Gaza appears to be all the more unlikely. Image used for representational purpose/Reuters Aya is a 30-year old displaced woman. She now lives with her family in a tent in the Central Gaza Strip. She is hopeful that after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, efforts will be focused on Gaza to end the war. Optimistic, she states, they say if it rains in one place, it foretells good things for people in another place. Unfortunately, the reality of the truce in Lebanon is far from hopeful for Gaza. Advertisement When he spoke to Israelis about the ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for potential war crimes, said that the ceasefire on the northern front would allow Israels military to regroup. He emphasised that it would give the nation an opportunity to focus on other enemies: Iran and Hamas. If his words werent loud enough, actions definitely were. Israeli airstrikes continue unabated in Gaza. On the eve of the ceasefire announcement, Israeli strikes in Gaza City killed at least seven Palestinians, amid reports of sniper drones targeting civilians. There is no sign of a halt in hostilities. Experts see red in Gaza The going conventional wisdom is that theres no ceasefire deal because Netanyahu doesnt want a hostage deal he hasnt wanted one because he wants to keep his coalition together, and the far right wants to resettle Gaza, The Intercept quoted Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group focusing on IsraelPalestine, as saying. You cant pull out of Gaza if youre going to build settlements there. Ofer Shelah, a researcher at Tel Aviv Universitys Institute for National Security Studies has a similar view. He said that Netanyahu may have little political incentive to end the war, as doing so could destabilise his coalition, which includes ministers opposed to a truce with Hamas. Beyond the hostages, there is hardly any leverage to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah had been attacking Israel in a show of support towards Palestine. The message then was clear if you want the fire from Lebanon to stop, stop the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Therell be no real pressure now on Israel over Gaza, Shelah said. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Even as Israel and Hamas have said they want to reach a deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, several roadblocks remain to reach such a deal read more Even as Israel and Hezbollah have accepted a ceasefire, the main conflict in the region, the Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip, continues unabated. Both Israel and Hamas, the Iran-backed and Gaza-based terrorist group, continue to blame the other for the failure to reach a ceasefire deal. The yearlong war in Gaza has devastated the Palestinian enclave and has killed several thousands of civilians. Most of the Gazas population has been displaced by the fighting and the humanitarian disaster is such that a senior United Nations (UN) official warned there was a full-blown famine in the region. Advertisement Now, after the signing of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, there is hope that progress would be made in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas as well both sides have given promising signals. While a Hamas official said that the group is ready to agree to a serious deal for a ceasefire, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that negotiating a hostage deal is the top priority of his government now. However, there are several roadblocks for the realisation of any deal between Israel and Hezbollah. The deadlock around hostages & prisoners The basis of any deal for Gaza is the release of hostages held by Hamas in lieu of a ceasefire and the release of certain Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. There has been deadlock around how many prisoners and hostages would be swapped. At times, Israel has also expressed a desire to veto the release of certain prisoners convicted of grave crimes. Moreover, there has also been disagreement over how certain prisoners would be released whether they would be released in Gaza or exiled abroad. In the original Israel-endorsed ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden in May, in the first round of ceasefire, around 33 hostages in humanitarian category were to be released in lieu of at least 50 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences either abroad or in Gaza. In July, Netanyahu amended the proposal and said that Israel would only release such prisoners abroad. Advertisement The amendment was part of a set of demands inserted by Netanyahu into Mays proposal in July that essentially tanked the talks with Hamas for months. It was only after the elimination of top leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and damaging attacks on Iran that Hamas returned to the negotiation table under pressure. Of around 250 hostages initially taken by Hamas, around 100 are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have been killed. At times, Hamas has expressed inability to locate all hostages or have enough alive hostages from the humanitarian category. The issue is primary for Israel and the United States. Advertisement In his address from White House after the Israel-Hezbollah deal was signed, Biden said that the only way for a ceasefire in Gaza is the release of hostages. Now Hamas has a choice to make. Their only way out is to release the hostages, including American citizens which they hold, and, in the process, bring an end to the fighting, which would make possible a surge of humanitarian relief, said Biden. Israeli military presence & issue of Gaza-Egypt border While the presence of Israeli armed forces inside Gaza after a ceasefire is a non-starter for Hamas, Netanyahu has stressed it is required. In the new demands inserted into the ceasefire proposal in July, Netanyahu insisted that Israeli military would be present in at least two areas of Gaza: the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border and east-west Netzarim Corridor within Gaza to screen Gazans returning home for weapons and terrorists. Advertisement The issue of aid There are also disagreements regarding the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza. While the preferred medium, the UN Palestinian refugee agencies UNRWA, is unacceptable to Israel, the alternatives presented by Israel are also deemed unrealistic by critics. For example, there have been reports that Israel has considered the distribution of aid by private organisations under security provided by Israeli soldiers. Such an approach would mean that Israeli military would continue to operate inside Gaza and render the ceasefire meaningless. Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, whom Netanyahu fired earlier this month, has said that such an arrangement would be a euphemism for Israeli military occupation of Gaza. A report by families of October 7 attacks victims has indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus arrogant policies over the years for creating conditions ripe for the Hamas-led attack last year read more Israeli Prime Minister Benjamine Netanyahus arrogant policies over several years and failure of national security apparatus led to the October 7 attack, according to the families of the victims. On October 7, 2023, Hamas mounted the worst terrorist attack on Israel and killed around 1,200 persons. It also injured more than 5,000 persons and abducted around 250 persons and took them to the Gaza Strip as hostages. In the absence of any formal inquiry by the Netanyahu government, families of victims of the Oct. 7 attack set up an independent panel in July dubbed the Civil Commission of Inquiry of the Oct. 7 Disaster. It was led by former judge Varda Alshech and comprised two retired generals, a retired police commissioner, a former major, and a father of a soldier killed in the attack. Advertisement The panel heard around 120 testimonies from former prime ministers, senior leaders, former and current security officials, survivors of the attacks, and heads of volunteer organisations, among others. The panel concluded that a series of policies of Netanyahu over many years led to the strengthening of Hamas and the cultivation of a culture that stifled any internal discussion and debate on security-related matters, creating conditions perfect for the Oct. 7 attack. The report said that Netanyahu consistently undermined national security decision-making process and created a rift between Israels political and military leadership that left the country unprepared for an Oct. 7-like attack, according to The Times of Israel. The panel concluded that the entire government had failed its primary mission and that the Israeli military and intelligence agency completely failed to fulfill their sole objective protecting the citizens of Israel, as per the newspaper. Netanyahus arrogance & inherent blindness led to Oct 7 attack The report said that the culture of arrogance and inherent blindness cultivated by Netanyahu over the years led to the Oct. 7 attack. For years, Netanyahu blessed a scheme where Israel sought to buy peace with Hamas by funneling money to Hamas in Gaza. The report said that such an approach did not work and Netanyahu stifled internal debate and discussion to the extent that no other point of view was ever studied. Arrogance and inherent blindness also led the political echelon to continue strengthening Hamas by transferring funds and avoiding taking offensive initiatives in the face of threats, all while idealising the reality and trying to buy security [and] quiet with money, ignoring the breaking of the rules by the enemy, and avoiding consultation with relevant parties such as the then-head of the Mossad, said the report, according to The Jerusalem Post. Advertisement This is a reference to an arrangement as per which Qatar provided funds for Hamas with Israels blessings for the ostensible purpose of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The understanding was that as long as Hamas received those funds, it would not fight a war with Israel. The unwillingness on part of Netanyahu to listen to any other point of view out of arrogance led to the unpreparedness of various government ministries and public systems, delaying the response to besieged residents and later to evacuees from the South and North, said the report. Netanyahu was responsible for undermining all decision-making centers, including the Cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion that includes a plurality of opinions on significant security issues, said the report, as per The Times of Israel. Advertisement The report further said that warnings in the form of reports in the months leading to the attack went unheeded as these inputs were not met with in-depth discussions. The report said, The IDF was not prepared for the mass invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists even though their plan was known in advance." Following the Oct. 7 attack, it has been reported that there were intelligence inputs that Hamas was planning a large-scale attack on Israel. Such a system cultivated by Netanyahu where decision-making was centralised, coordination was scant, and barely any consideration of any point of view other than of his own took place, no consideration was given to the possibility that the belief that Hamas silence had been bought with cash could be incorrect, according to the report. Advertisement IDF was not prepared While the report put the primary blame on Netanyahu, it did not spare the military and intelligence apparatus either. The report said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were not prepared for a war with Hamas. The report indicted the IDF commanders for reducing soldiers along the border with Gaza and leaving large swathes of area undefended. It flagged one example where intelligence personnel deployed in forward areas were not even provided rifles. The report also indicted the IDF for slow response once the attack began and slammed it for leaving the soldiers in forward areas to their fate. The IDFs Southern Command and the Gaza Division failed miserably, to the point of collapse leaving soldiers in the field to their own devices without back-up or coordination with the Israel Police, said the report, according to The Times of Israel. Advertisement The report said that the blame is shared by multiple generation of officers and generals who thinned the army and took the approach of small and smart army and placed too much of an emphasis on technological means of controlling the border, as per the newspaper. After daylong clashes with security personnel in which at least six were killed and dozens were injured, former Pakistani premier Imran Khans supporters retreated from Islamabad in the early hours of Wednesday read more Supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, gather to remove shipping containers to clear way for their rally demanding Khan's release, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (Photo: AP) The dayslong siege of Pakistani capital Islamabad by supporters of former premier Imran Khan ended in their retreat in the early hours of Wednesday. Up to six people, including a policeman and three paramilitary personnel, were killed in clashes between Khans supporters from his party Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and security forces personnel. Even though the army was deployed in Islamabad with shoot at sight orders, Khans supporters reached the D-Chowk in the Red Zone area of the capital. Advertisement The D-Chowk is a major public square in Islamabad which is just across the road from the Pakistani parliament. It is the junction of Jinnah Avenue and Constitution Avenue. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO), Supreme Court, and key ministries like the foreign ministry are also located in the area. As protesters reached within a stone throw of the heart of the Pakistani governments seat, the security forces and protesters fought pitched battles through the day. Around 8 pm on Tuesday, the police and Frontier Constabulary made the final push to drive the protestors from the D-Chowk and the nearly Express Chowk, according to Dawn. In the eviction and the subsequent crackdown, hundreds of Khans supporters are said to have been arrested. The Dawn reported that up to 450 were arrested. The protests were led by Khans wife Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. As authorities mounted a crackdown on PTI protestors, the two leaders escaped the area. Gandapur has been reported to have told PTI supporters to go home, have dinner and return tomorrow. While exact whereabouts of Bibi and Gandapur are not known, Information Minister Ata Tarar said they were on their way to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa via Haripur. Advertisement The protestors said the container on which they were sitting to fire as they retreated the Pakistani authorities had installed several shipping containers in and around Islamabad to prevent Khans supporters from marching. After the Red Zone was cleared, Tarar told the media the PTI supporters had planned to attack the parliament complex. This is why they set the main container ablaze, said Tarar, adding they wanted to destroy documents in the attack. The newspaper reported that at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and another health facility as confirming the deaths of at least of two civilians and injuries to at least 73 persons, including security personnel and civilians. Advertisement The violence began earlier on Tuesday as advancing protestors started to set the containers on fire and clashed with paramilitary personnel. The police joined the paramilitary personnel in attempts to disperse the marching protests, but they kept returning for recurring clashes with security personnel. The Dawn reported that protesters kept moving forward despite roadblocks, including shipping containers, blocking the way, which they removed at several locations, such as on Srinagar Highway, including Sector G-14, Sector G-10, Peshawar Mor, Faisal Avenue, Zero Point, and Khyber Chowk. As the PTI leaders retreated after three days of protests in the early hours of Wednesday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi mocked Bibi and Gandapur. He said that they were fleeing till as of now. Advertisement They ran away in front of you, not one or two or three but thousands of people ran away, said Naqvi from D-Chowk, as per Express Tribune. Naqvi further said, Mobile and internet services will be restored by morning. You will find all roads in working condition by morning. Even though Khan has been out of power for more than two years, he remains vastly influential across Pakistan. He has been waging a yearslong movement against other political parties and the military-intelligence establishment, which he has alleged to be united in opposition to him. Since his ouster in a trust vote in early 2022, he has alleged that that the other political parties, including the PPP and PML-N, and the military-intelligence establishment removed him in conspiracy also involving the United States. Advertisement Since his ouster as premier, Khan has spent much of his time in jail and has over 100 cases against him. He and his party have been subjected to various crackdowns, including a ban from contesting elections. Yet Khans PTI has repeatedly mounted widespread protests, such as the one seen this week. Last week, in unprecedented protests in reaction to his Khans arrest, PTI supporters stormed the houses of Pakistani military commanders and also attacked the military headquarters. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has urged Baltic and Nordic countries to cooperate on Baltic Sea security amid rising tensions with Russia. read more Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that he would urge Baltic and Nordic countries to take joint action regarding security of Baltic Sea waters during a two-day trip to Sweden. In the face of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO countries are taking joint action to protect themselves, including joint control of airspace over the Baltic countries within the framework of so-called air policing. I will convince our partners of the need to immediately create an analogous formula when it comes to the control and security of the Baltic waters, to navy policing, a joint undertaking of the countries that lie on the Baltic Sea and that have the same sense of threat when it comes to Russia, Tusk said. Advertisement Tusk will take part in a meeting of the prime ministers of the Baltic and Nordic countries on Wednesday and Thursday, and will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The talks will cover transatlantic relations, regional cooperation on security and a common policy towards the war in Ukraine. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) Trade ties between the two countries have frayed in recent months, with Moscow banning some Kazakh agricultural exports a day after the Central Asian state declined to join BRICS read more Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for a two-day trip aimed at shoring up ties with his Central Asian ally as tensions mount over the Ukraine war. Kazakhstan is a member of the Moscow-led CSTO security alliance but has expressed concern about the almost three-year conflict, which Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has refused to condone. In an article published in Russias Izvestia newspaper ahead of Putins visit, Tokayev emphasised his countrys support for peaceful dialogue, without mentioning Ukraine. Putin praised Kazakhstans close (to Russian) cultural, spiritual and moral values in an article published in a state-run Kazakh paper, saying he was ready to further develop friendly and allied relations with Astana. Advertisement Russian state media showed footage of Putins plane landing in the capital on Wednesday. Trade ties between the two countries have frayed in recent months, with Moscow banning some Kazakh agricultural exports a day after the Central Asian state declined to join BRICS. Putin has made expanding the alliance of emerging economies a pillar of Russias foreign policy, touting BRICS as a powerful counterweight to what he sees as a global Western hegemony. The Russian leaders visit comes as tensions between Moscow and the West flare over the Ukraine war, with Russia firing an experimental hypersonic missile at its neighbour last week and Kyiv firing US- and UK-supplied long-range missiles at Russia for the first time. In September, Tokayev called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, warning that escalation of the war would lead to irreparable consequences for the whole of humanity. Ukraine on agenda While Putins international travels have been limited since Russias all-out military offensive on Ukraine in 2022, he has been a regular visitor to Central Asia. Kazakhstan is a longstanding military and economic partner of Russia and has a 7,500-kilometre (4,650-mile) border with its giant neighbour. The two leaders are expected to discuss trade and energy ties, as well as the construction of Kazakhstans first nuclear power station, which Russias Rosatom is in the running to build. Kazakhstan accounts for about 43 percent of world uranium production but has no nuclear reactors itself. Advertisement Putin on Wednesday said that Rosatom was ready for new large-scale projects with Kazakhstan. The two countries will also sign several documents on Wednesday, as well as make a statement to the media, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. Then on Thursday, Putin and other leaders from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) are scheduled to meet in Astana for a security summit. Ukraine will be firmly on the agenda, with leaders expected to discuss the Wests permission to strike long-range missiles deep into the Russian Federation, the TASS news agency reported, citing a source. Notably absent from the meeting will be Armenia, which suspended its membership in the alliance over frustration with Moscows failure to side with it in its standoff with Azerbaijan. Advertisement Ushakov on Tuesday said that Armenia remained a fully-fledged member of the alliance and that it could return at any moment. For over two and a half years, Russias relentless offensive has severely depleted many Ukrainian units. Reinforcements are scarce, leaving some soldiers exhausted and demoralised read more Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Joe Biden attend a Ukraine Compact meeting, on the sidelines of the NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington, US. File image/Reuters The Biden administration is reportedly urging Ukraine to lower its military draft age from 25 to 18. This push is aimed at addressing Kyivs manpower shortages in its ongoing conflict with Russia. AP cited a senior Biden administration official as saying that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilisation age to help expand the pool of fighting age men available for Ukraines armed forces. The country is severely outmanned in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. The official said the pure math of Ukraines situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight. Advertisement Second times the charm? Ukraine has already reduced its conscription age due to the war once. In April 2024, Ukraine reduced its conscription age from 27 to 25 to bolster its forces. Despite this measure, the Ukrainian military continues to face significant personnel challenges. For over two and a half years, Russias relentless offensive has severely depleted many Ukrainian units. Reinforcements are scarce, leaving some soldiers exhausted and demoralised. The situation is especially critical for infantry units near Pokrovsk and along the eastern front, where Ukraine is struggling to halt Russias gradual advances, CNN reported. By expanding the pool of eligible conscripts to include 18-year-olds, Ukraine could potentially increase its military strength. Russia also facing manpower shortage Its not just Ukraine that is trying to waddle through a shortage of troops, though. Russia, too, has been doling out incentives to boost recruitment. The September 2022 partial mobilisation prompted widespread panic, leading tens of thousands of men to flee Russia. To sidestep another such backlash, the Kremlin has focused on voluntary recruitment, incentivising enlistment with a variety of financial measures. Most recently, President Vladimir Putin signed a law granting debt forgiveness to individuals who enlist to fight in Ukraine. The legislation, published on a government website Saturday (November 23), allows recruits and their spouses to write off bad debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000). With inputs from AP Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called the FT report just shadow-chasing which cited US officials as saying that Chinas Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption read more Just shadow-chasing said the Chinas foreign ministry, on Wednesday, when it was asked about a news report which claimed that the Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption. The reply was given by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning during a regular news briefing after the Financial Times reported that Dong was under investigation as part of a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe that has roiled the top ranks of the Peoples Liberation Army. Advertisement Ning, however, did not offer further information. The FT report cited current and former US officials familiar with the situation as saying that Dong has been fired and was being investigated as part of a broader probe into graft in the PLA. Also Read: Third in a row: China probes its defence minister for corruption The report further mentioned the US official as saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been conducting a wave of investigations into the PLA that had ensnared Dong. However, it was not clearly known what kind of corruption allegations he is facing. Dong, a former navy commander, was appointed as defence minister in December 2023. He replaced Li Shangfu who was removed from office in September 2023 after just seven months in the role and also expelled from the Communist Party in June 2024 for serious violations of discipline. Lis predecessor, Wei Fenghe, also faced similar accusations and was sacked in March 2023. Also Read: Why Chinas defence ministers have been in the dock for corruption Since 2022, Xi has intensified the anti-corruption campaign within the Chinese military. Over nine PLA generals and multiple defence industry executives have been removed, including high-ranking officers from the Rocket Force, a strategic unit managing Chinas nuclear and conventional missiles. Advertisement With inputs from agencies. The European country is still reeling from the October 29 floods which killed at least 229 people, washed away roads and rail lines, submerged fields, and gutted homes and businesses, mainly in the eastern region of Valencia read more Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced almost 2.3 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in new aid for the countrys flood stricken region as he defended his governments handling of the deadly disaster last month. The European country is still reeling from the October 29 floods which killed at least 229 people, washed away roads and rail lines, submerged fields, and gutted homes and businesses, mainly in the eastern region of Valencia. Spains worst natural disaster in decades has sparked widespread fury at elected leaders for their perceived mishandling of the crisis. Advertisement Sanchez announced a fresh package of 60 measures for stricken citizens worth nearly 2.3 billion euros that brought the total aid provided in the wake of the disaster to 16.6 billion euros. Under Spains highly decentralised system of power, regions are in charge of disaster management, but the events have triggered a blame game between Sanchezs minority leftist government and the conservative regional government of Valencia. I ask that people not be misled: if you want to find culprits, look for them, do so, but dont point the finger at the public services who fulfilled their responsibilities, Sanchez told parliament. The question is whether the Spanish government has fulfilled its responsibilities and the answer is that it has done so. It has done so from the outset and continues to do so and will continue to do so for as long as necessary. The central government has said the regional government took too long to convene and emergency coordination meeting in response to the storm and to send out a mass alert to mobile phones But the head of the regional government, Carlos Mazon of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), has said he received insufficient. Inaccurate and late information from the state weather agency and a central government agency responsible for monitoring flood risks. Advertisement He has come under fire for attending a three-hour lunch with a female journalist on the day of the disaster, when his government sent emergency alerts to mobile phones when water was already gushing through some towns. Sanchez said Wednesday he was absolutely open to the creation of a parliamentary commission of enquiry to look into the states response to the floods but said he felt it was not yet the right time. The Bank of Spain estimates the floods were likely to knock 0.2 percentage points off the countrys gross domestic product in the last quarter of the year while the Washington-based International Monetary Fund sees a limited impact from the disaster on growth. Advertisement Jailed Russian politician Alexei Gorinov has staged a courtroom anti-war protest while facing new terrorism charges for criticising Russias invasion of Ukraine read more Moscow city councillor Alexei Gorinov, serving a seven-year sentence for criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine, holds a placard reading 'Stop killing. Let's stop the war.' as he stands inside a defendants' cage during a new court hearing against him for 'justifying terrorism', in Vladimir, Russia, November 27, 2024. (Photo: Reuters) A Moscow district councillor serving a seven-year sentence for criticising Russias invasion of Ukraine staged an anti-war protest from the courtroom cage on Wednesday at the start of a new trial against him on charges of justifying terrorism. In summer 2022 Alexei Gorinov became the first individual in Russia to be jailed under a wartime censorship law, introduced soon after the invasion launched that February, which punished the dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian army. Advertisement He is now charged by Russian prosecutors with justifying terrorism for alleged conversations he had with cellmates about Ukraines Azov battalion, which Moscow considers a terrorist group, and the bombing of a bridge in Russian-annexed Crimea, independent outlet Mediazona reported. Gorinov, 63, risks up to five more years in prison if found guilty. His lawyers and supporters have voiced concerns about his health in prison, where they say Gorinov regularly suffers from bronchitis and is sometimes forced to shovel snow while ill. From behind the bars of the defendants cage in the city of Vladimir east of Moscow, Gorinov held up a sign on Wednesday reading Stop killing and Lets stop the war, accompanied by a drawing of a peace sign. Opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was freed from a Russian prison in an East-West exchange in August, hailed Gorinov as an indomitable voice of protest and urged that he be included in a future prisoner swap. Behind him are almost three years of prison cells and prison transfers, constant pressure and ruined health, Yashin wrote on Telegram. But Alexei raises an anti-war poster in court again. Public protest against the war is rare in Russia, which has cracked down on any opposition to the Kremlins policies with lengthy prison sentences, but dissidents such as the late Alexei Navalny have used their right to speak in court as an opportunity to express dissent. Advertisement In July 2022, Gorinov, a former member of the Krasnoselsky district council in Moscow, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he told a council meeting that Russia was waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian newspaper editor, said in a YouTube broadcast that other prisoners were given hidden microphones and planted in Gorinovs cell, where they were instructed to provoke him to speak about the war in Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify that accusation. Prosecutors say Gorinov spread ideologies promoting terrorism among four fellow inmates while he was being treated for pneumonia in prison in January 2023. His remarks touched on attacks on the Crimean Bridge and the actions of the Azov battalion, Mediazona reported. Advertisement Gorinov denied the terrorism charge on Wednesday, the outlet said. I have nothing to do with your terrorism and never have in my entire life, he told the court. I was imprisoned for seven years only for speaking out about the fact that civilians are suffering and children are dying during the war, Gorinov said. Life has shown that I was right. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.) About 31 million Tanzanians are eligible to cast ballots for more than 80,000 street and village leaders who wield considerable power in the East African nation read more Polls opened on Wednesday for voting in Tanzania local elections widely seen as a litmus test for parliamentary and presidential elections due next year. About 31 million Tanzanians are eligible to cast ballots for more than 80,000 street and village leaders who wield considerable power in the East African nation. Hundreds of voters queued across the country well before the official polls opened. We are waiting to decide, said Mohamed Kheri, outside a polling station in Mkuranga district, south of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. Advertisement Polling stations will close at 1400 GMT. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, a dominant force for decades, is facing a strong challenge from an opposition that boycotted the polls in 2019 citing violence and intimidation. Similar concerns have clouded this years elections with the main opposition Chadema party saying many of their candidates were unfairly disqualified from the contest. Chademas leader Freeman Mbowe was also briefly arrested last weekend after police broke up a rally using tear gas, according to the party. Hassan on Tuesday sought to assuage fears about the election and promised a fair contest. The vote will serve as a barometer of the countrys political landscape ahead of a presidential election next October. We are electing local leaders who are also important campaigners during general election, Chademas director of communication and foreign affairs John Mrema told AFP on Tuesday, calling the contest an important pillar. It is the first test at the ballot box for Hassan since she took office after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli in 2021. She was initially feted for easing restrictions that Magufuli had imposed on the opposition and the media in the country of around 67 million people. Advertisement But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression ahead of the votes, with arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures. In 2019, the opposition boycott paved the way for a clean sweep of the seats by CCM. Donald Trumps transition team has announced signing of agreement to start the process of transferring control of the federal government to themselves, despite the details of the plan suggested some breaks with standard practice read more The team of US President-elect Donald Trump has announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to commence the process of transition from Joe Biden-led federal government, even though the details of the plan indicated certain departures from conventional procedures. As per the incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the Trumps team would now be sending in landing teams to various departments and agencies as it braces up with its preparation to take over the bureaucracy of the executive branch. Advertisement After completing the selection process of his incoming cabinet, president-elect Trump is entering the next phase of his administrations transition. This engagement allows our intended cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations," a report by The Guardian quoted Wiles as saying. However, as per the report, the agreement with the Biden administration, which is known as a memorandum of understanding, seemed to be a pared-down version of what is usually signed by presidential transitions. The signing of the memo typically releases up to $7.2 million in government funding to cover staffing expenses and other costs, along with access to government office space via the nonpartisan General Services Administration. The transition team has to reveal its donors and impose a $5,000 limit on contribution. Also, the agreement should have been signed months before the presidential election. Normally, the transition team just signs an ethics agreement, which leads for transition aides to start receiving government information such as classified briefings and the granting of security clearances. The report said the media release on Wiless announcement suggested that the Trumps team had negotiated its own language for some of the restrictions. Advertisement Although the Trump team pledged to disclose the identities of its donors and reject any foreign contributions, Wiles stated that no government funds would be used, and the entire operation would be privately financed. Wiles further said that the Trump team had its own ethics plan, separate from the official government one, leaving uncertain whether all transition aides would be allowed to receive full government briefings, including those containing classified information. Trumps disinterest in engaging with the formal transition process stems from his first administration, when officials handed over transition team records to the Russia investigation, according to sources familiar with the situation. Advertisement As per the report, Trump has previously broken convention with the transfer of power. Back in 2016, his campaign organised what appeared to be a standard process, but after winning, Trump fired his transition teams leadership and cut off communications with the Obama administration. In 2020, shortly after the election, Trump pressured the General Services Administration to withhold recognition of Bidens victory, preventing his team from accessing federal financial assistance. A third defence minister of China in a row has been placed under investigation in the latest corruption-related scandal to hit the top of the Peoples Liberation Army read more China Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun has been put under investigation in the latest corruption-related scandal that has roiled the top ranks of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). A report by Financial Times quoted current and former US officials familiar with the situation as saying that Dong Jun has been fired by the Xi Jinping-led government and is now being investigated as part of a broader probe into graft in the PLA. Advertisement Third Chinese defence minister investigated for corruption Dong Jun is the third consecutive serving or former Chinese defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption. Before being elevated to the post he was the Peoples Liberation Army Navy Chief. In December 2023, Dong Jun became the defence minister of China, replacing Li Shangfu, who was sacked in just seven months in the job after he was put under investigation in alleged corruption related to equipment procurement and development. Both Dong Jun and Li Shangfu were appointed by Xi. Li had succeeded Wei Fenghe who was also placed under investigation for corruption after he had retired from the role. The FT quoted the US official as saying that Xi has been conducting a wave of investigations into the PLA that had ensnared Dong. However, it is still not clear what kind of corruption allegations he is facing. Since last year, the Chinese military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge, with nine PLA generals and at least four aerospace defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body. The report mentioned US military officers and officials saying that the investigations into the PLA were undermining Xis confidence in his military and raising questions about whether it would develop the capability to invade Taiwan by 2027 a goal set by the Chinese president. Dong Jun refused to meet Lloyd Austin Last week, Dong attended an Asian defence meeting in Laos at which he refused to meet US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, citing Americas action over Taiwan. Austin described the move as unfortunate. Austin and Dong Jun earlier met in Singapore in May at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum which was the first significant minister-level engagement between the two militaries since November 2022. Advertisement In an effort to negotiate or at least divert the negative effects Trumps 25 per cent tariff plan might have on Canadas economy, Trudeau is planning to resurrect his Team Canada approach that he employed on Trump during his previous presidency read more Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has launched a lobby campaign to mitigate the effects of Donald Trumps tariffs. Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump pledged big tariffs on the United States three largest trading partners - Canada, Mexico and China - detailing how he will implement campaign promises that could trigger trade wars. The announcement has made Canada anxious, prompting Trudeau to start taking appropriate measures to try and stop Trump from levying 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods. The prime minister held a meeting on Wednesday with provincial premiers to discuss the future course of action. Advertisement Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border, in a move that would appear to violate a free-trade deal. The Team Canada approach In an effort to negotiate or at least divert the negative effects Trumps 25 per cent tariff plan might have on Canadas economy, Trudeau is planning to resurrect his Team Canada approach that he employed on Trump during his previous presidency. A Canadian source told Global and Mail that Trudeau will also revive the lobby campaign it used in 2017 and 2018 where he would encourage premiers and business leaders to influence their US contacts to nudge Congress leaders in the other direction. On Tuesday, Trudeau said he had a good call with Donald Trump and discussed how intense and effective connections are between Canada and the US. We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. This is something that we can do, laying out the facts moving forward in constructive ways," the said. How will the tariffs affect Canada? The tariffs would significantly impact the Canadian economy, as the US is Canadas largest trading partner. In 2023, Canada exported goods worth $592.7 billion to the United States, accounting for over 77 per cent of the countrys total exports. Trumps announcement sparked a dollar rally. It rose 1 per cent against the Canadian dollar and 1.6 per cent against the Mexican peso, while share markets in Asia fell, as did European bourses in early trade. S&P 500 futures were little changed. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Without saying who was targeted, transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said these incidents ranged from bomb threats to swatting. The FBI said we take all potential threats seriously read more Several members of Donald Trumps incoming administration have received threats including bomb alerts, a spokeswoman for the president-elect said Wednesday. Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them, said transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. Without saying who was targeted, Leavitt said these incidents ranged from bomb threats to swatting, the practice in which police are summoned urgently to someones house under false pretenses. Advertisement Elise Stefanik, a Trump loyalist congresswoman tapped to be UN ambassador, said her residence in New York was targeted in a bomb threat. In a statement she said she and husband and small son were driving home from Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday when they learned of the threat. The FBI said it was aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents and that we take all potential threats seriously. As he prepares to return to the White House in January, Trump has already swiftly assembled a cabinet of loyalists, including several criticized for severe lack of experience. The Republican, who appears set to avoid trial on criminal prosecutions related to attempts to overthrow his 2020 election loss, was wounded in the ear in July in an assassination attempt. The United States has imposed sanctions on an additional 21 allies of President Nicolas Maduro, accusing them on Wednesday of perpetrating some of the repression with which officials in Venezuela responded to Julys disputed presidential election read more Joe Biden's (C) administration has sanctioned officials close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) over a contested election in which opposition leader Gonzalez Urrutia (R) has claimed victory. Agencies/Firstpost The United States has imposed sanctions on an additional 21 allies of President Nicolas Maduro, accusing them on Wednesday of perpetrating some of the repression with which officials in Venezuela responded to Julys disputed presidential election. The security and cabinet-level officials sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury include the head of the nations corrections agency, the director of an intelligence service and the minister of Maduros Office of the President. They joined a list of dozens of sanctioned Venezuelans that includes the head of the countrys high court, ministers and prosecutors. Advertisement The Biden administration last week recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as that nations president-elect. The US also on Wednesday placed visa restrictions on additional individuals it accused of repressing Venezuelans after the July 28 election. While Maduro declared victory in the election, he and his government have refused to show vote tallies backing his claim. Gonzalez left Venezuela in September for exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of vote tallies. The former diplomat, who represented the main opposition parties, claimed to have won the presidential election by a wide margin. In September, the US government imposed sanctions against 16 allies of Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses. The effect of the individual sanctions and visa restrictions announced Wednesday is unclear. Previously punished Maduro loyalists still hold powerful in Venezuelas government. Venezuelan lawmakers on Tuesday continued the debate over a bill that would catalogue economic sanctions as a crime against humanity and allow the prosecution of anyone who expresses support for the measures. German automaker Volkswagen is set to exit Chinas Xinjiang region amid sustained pressure from human rights groups raising issues related to violation of human rights of Uyghur Muslims read more German carmaker Volkswagen AG has finally bowed to pressure from investors and is now set to exit Chinas Xinjiang region, which has been in news for wrong reasons over the years. Volkswagen will now end its activities in Xinjiang as investors are worried about the future of the sites that the company had acquired earlier amid sustained campaigns by human rights groups flagging human-rights abuses in the western Chinese region. The German carmakers Chinese venture with SAIC Motor Corp will now sell a small plant in Urumqi, Xinjiang, to a unit of state-owned Shanghai Lingang Economic Development, Bloomberg quoted the company as saying on Wednesday. Advertisement Meanwhile, Volkswagen also decided to extend its partnership with SAIC by a decade to 2040, Bloomberg reported. VW has been under pressure over its presence in Xinjiang, with the US-led West alleging that China has engaged Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region in forced labour across the vast region. China strongly denies such allegations. Beijing defends programmes, often cited by international agencies as violative of human rights, as its efforts to improve living standards for ethnic minorities. It says that a good programme has been misconstrued. Volkswagen shares fell 0.4 per cent this morning in Frankfurt. Overall, its stock has declined 28 per cent through 2024 as the German auto giant is battling serious issues back home. It is under pressure over its much-anticipated job cuts and factory closures following a drop in demand for electric vehicles. The company has also struggled in China, where the local brand such BYD has emerged as a major player with the support of the governments policy interventions. The SAIC Volkswagen plans to introduce a total of 18 new models to the market, including eight new EVs, by 2030. Carmakers operating from China have faced challenges in the West over labour rights issues. For example, the US blocked the import of thousands of Porsche, Bentley and Audi models in February saying that the vehicles had components that were made in China in violation of the American anti-forced labour laws. VWs Urumqi facility employs 175 workers but doesnt manufacture any cars. However, it is designed to do the final quality checks of assembled vehicles. The cars are then sent to deals to be purchased by prospective buyers. Now, VW will also sell test tracks in Turpan and Anting to the same buyer. Advertisement At a time when Ukrainian defences are crumbling before Russian assaults, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that victory is impossible if Ukraine would remain defensive and now was the time to launch a counter-offensive read more At a time when Russia is on a winning spree, Ukraines military chief has called for a fresh counter-offensive. Throughout the year, Russia has made gains in the yearslong Ukraine War. It has captured key cities and towns of Avdiivka, Vuhldedar, Ukrainsk, among others. It has also moved dangerously closed to strategic cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove. With the election of Donald Trump in the United States, who has indicated the pulling the plug on support to Ukraine, the nation is in a precarious position in the war with Russia. Advertisement Amid such a situation, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi told a group of military bloggers that victory is impossible if Ukraine would remain defensive and now was the time to go offensive. Victory is impossible if the Armed Forces work only in defense. We have to seize the initiative and counterattack. We have and we will. Where and who you will see, said Syrskyi, according to blogger Kirill Sazonovs post on Telegram cited by The War Zone. While Syrskyi did not outline any plans for an offensive, he referred to previous counter-offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson provinces. Offensive at a time when defences are crumbling For weeks, Ukrainian defences have been crumbling before the Russian attacks across the various theatres of the war. Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, Russia has been advancing at its fastest pace, according to analysts cited by Reuters. With help from around 10,000 North Korean soldiers, Russia has also recaptured up to 40 per cent of territory in Kursk province that Ukraine had captured in the counter-offensive in August, said a source to the news agency. Despite such a series of setbacks, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi has cited previous examples to call for a fresh counter-offensive. It was the encirclement of the enemy, the attack on the flanks and the cutting of logistical routes that brought success to the Armed Forces. The liberation of Kharkiv Oblast, the liberation of Kherson exactly according to this logic, said Syrskyi, according to The War Zone. Advertisement Syrskyi further said that the situation in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, the major targets of ongoing Russian offensives, has improved in recent days for Ukraine. The situation in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove is difficult but better than it was a week ago when it was critical, Sazonov stated Syrskyi as saying. He further said, Some units withdrew, left their positions, and there was no one to close them. A crisis situation indeed. But the issue has been resolved, the reserves have been deployed, the enemys plans have been thwarted. He further said that even though Russian soldiers outnumber Ukrainians by 5-1 near Pokrovsk, losses as a result of meat grinder attacks by Russia has affected Russian numbers as well. Advertisement Despite that, Ukraine continues to deal with a severe shortage of trained personnel to fight. The situation has been worsened by the Kursk incursion which appears to have been counter-productive. While Ukraine deployed some of the best-trained personnel in Kursk operation with the idea that Russia would divert personnel and equipment from other theatres of war to deal with Ukraine in Kursk, that did not happen and Russia continued to press elsewhere even as Ukraine continued to expand gains in Kursk and took the fight to neighbouring Belgorod province. With the help of North Korean soldiers, Russia has recaptured up to 40 per cent of territories Ukraine had captured in the incursion, said a source to Reuters. Advertisement Eli Albag, the father of a 19-year-old woman who was taken captive on October 7, says that Netanyahu should reach an agreement with Hamas just as he secured a deal with Hezbollah read more As Lebanon celebrates the culmination of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal with the displaced heading home after months of conflict, relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza feel they are missing out. On Wednesday family members of hostages temporarily blocked off the entrance to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Knesset office, demanding the return of their loved ones. Eli Albag, the father of a 19-year-old woman who was taken captive on October 7, says that Netanyahu should reach an agreement with Hamas just as he secured a deal with Hezbollah. Advertisement My Prime Minister, we are asking you, just as you quickly resolved Lebanon, resolve Gaza quickly, too. We trust youyou can do it if you choose to. Please, we are begging you, from the depths of our hearts, for our loved ones, he said. pic.twitter.com/wmNEtP1HJ6 (@DaphnaLiel) November 27, 2024 We are barricading ourselves outside the Prime Ministers Office in the Knesset to make it clear that we cannot leave our loved ones in Gaza, especially after Hamas sent the video of a body of a hostage, who was apparently killed as a result of IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip, back to us this past Saturday evening, Sharon Sharabi, the brother of Eli and the late Yossi Sharabi said. Biden to push for Gaza truce deal US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that after the successful culmination of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, Washington will make another push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power, Biden said on X. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told MSNBC that Biden will start working on a possible Hamas ceasefire immediately. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Indias traditional PC market, which includes desktops, notebooks, and workstations, recorded 4.49 million unit shipments in Q3 2024, reflecting a modest 0.1% year-over-year (YoY) growth, according to IDCs Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. This comes after a 7.1% YoY growth in Q2 2024. While desktops declined by 8.1% YoY, notebooks and workstations showed slight gains of 2.8% and 2.4% YoY, respectively. Notably, premium notebook sales (priced above $1,000) surged by 7.6% YoY, driven by festive online promotions. Consumer and Commercial Segments The consumer segment experienced a 2.9% YoY decline, despite vendors offering aggressive discounts on online platforms. Unlike Q3 2023, demand remained organic, with vendors avoiding overstocking in Q3 2024, which helped limit losses. In contrast, the commercial segment grew by 4.4% YoY, fueled by a 9.6% YoY rise in enterprise demand. According to Bharath Shenoy, Research Manager at IDC India & South Asia, early e-tail sales, starting in late September, boosted PC shipments. Shenoy noted that brands capitalized on these sales by offering discounts, cashback offers, and bundled accessories, while matching prices across physical stores. This strategy resulted in one of the strongest consumer quarters on record. Leading Brands in Q3 2024 HP Inc. led the market with a 29% share, dominating both commercial and consumer segments with shares of 34.3% and 24.8%, respectively. HPs success was driven by enterprise demand, which grew by 30.2% YoY, and robust consumer notebook sales during the festive season. The company shipped 1.05 million notebooks, marking its third-best quarter ever. Lenovo ranked second with a 17.3% market share. Key enterprise orders and momentum in the SMB sector helped it secure a 20.3% share in the commercial market. Lenovos consumer segment grew by 3% YoY, boosted by branded gaming notebooks and e-tail promotions. Dell Technologies held a 14.6% share, performing well in the SMB sector, where it grew by 14.9% YoY. It captured a 20.8% share in the commercial market but saw a 5.4% decline in the consumer segment due to limited participation in e-tail promotions. Acer tied with Dell, also holding a 14.6% share. Acers shipments increased by 26.2% YoY, driven by partial fulfillment of education projects and enterprise orders. It led the commercial desktop market with a 30.2% share and saw a 38% YoY rise in consumer shipments during festive sales. Asus ranked fifth with a 9.7% share. A leaner inventory resulted in a 22.3% YoY decline. However, Asus secured a 16.2% share in the consumer market, second only to HP, and grew by 5.5% YoY in the commercial segment. Outlook for the Future Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President of Devices Research at IDC India, South Asia & ANZ, stated that the commercial PC market is recovering as enterprises gradually refresh their IT equipment. He noted that IT/ITES sector purchases are expected to gain momentum in 2025. Singh also highlighted that increasing demand for PCs in gaming and content creation, alongside a growing focus on AI-driven features, will drive consumer demand in Q4 2024 and into 2025. Source I wouldn't bother with that restore and protect oil. Diesel engines simply do not build up deposits in the same way that gasoline engines do. None of that brown crusty stuff inside the valve cover, even if you don't change the oil for a long time. It just gets more and more black in a diesel, but I've never in all my years as a repair tech seen a diesel with sludge and crust buildup on the inside of the engine unless it had a blown oil cooler or something else that was introducing foreign compounds into the sump. All you really need to do for the 7.3 is change the oil every 5k. 10k if it's a pavement princess and never has to work for a living. Do it twice in 100 miles if it's been a very long time since the last one and that's optional, IMO. EDIT: I've been using Costco's Kirkland brand of 15-40 lately and I find that the cold start is just as good, if not better, than when I was using Motorcraft 5-40 synthetic. But I live in AZ, so it rarely gets below freezing, even in the winter. I live at 3,800 foot elevation so it's not Phoenix type weather, but much more seasonal. Anti-aircraft guns fire in Gobi Desert China Military Online) 13:04, November 27, 2024 Anti-aircraft guns attached to a brigade under the Chinese PLA 82nd Group Army fire at the target drones during a live-fire confrontational training exercise held in the Gobi Desert. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhao Xing) Anti-aircraft guns attached to a brigade under the Chinese PLA 82nd Group Army fire at the target drones during a live-fire confrontational training exercise held in the Gobi Desert. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhao Xing) HQ-7B ground-to-air anti-aircraft short-range missile systems attached to a brigade under the Chinese PLA 82nd Group Army fire at target drones during a live-fire confrontational training exercise held in the Gobi Desert. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhao Xing) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Mon Monday 66 /42 More clouds than sun. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 40s. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Nick Courville, a rancher from Charlo, topped three other competitors to win the Montana Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet. He received the keys to a Polaris Ranger and will be eligible to compete in the national competition which... Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 6 Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Fort Peck Multispecies Fish Hatchery in Fort Peck for a legislative open house. The public is welcome to attend, and local legislators and commissioners have been invited as well. The main purpose of this meeting is for FWP Helena staff to share with legislators, CAC members, and the public the legislative proposals that involve FWP, the FWP budget, and to answer any questions on these or other related topics. The meeting will be conducted as follows: 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Region 6 CAC updates and CAC roundtable 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Lunch for CAC members, invited guests, and FWP staff 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Legislative open house: FWP Helena staff will present topics and bills related to the upcoming legislative session and FWP budget Members of the public are encouraged to attend the afternoon session for the legislative open house but are welcome at the morning session as well. Each of FWPs seven administrative regions has a volunteer CAC to help guide policies and programs. The Region 6 group meets three to four times a year. FWP ensures that its meetings are fully accessible to persons with disabilities. To request special accommodations for this meeting, please contact 406-228-3700. In October the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) installed a new permanent air quality monitor in Glasgow, expanding the availability of relevant, valuable and timely air quality information to Valley County residents. Installation of... Glasgow's Speech and Drama team traveled to Circle on Nov. 23 for their last meet before the Thanksgiving holiday. Once again the team placed in Class B Speech with a second place in Speech Class B Sweeps. The students placed in the following: Lincol... Including A 20 Percent Increase For Residential Properties In Valley County Montana Department of Revenue staff told a legislative committee on Nov. 18, that next years reappraisal cycle could produce a partial repeat of last years jarring tax spike as the states surging real estate market continues to translate into high... Robert Molvig, of Tampico, Mont., passed peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. Besides his parents, Agnes and Chris Molvig, he was preceded in death by his two older sisters, Dorothy Kolstad and Carol Kreer. His surviving siblings are Alyce Tracy, Charles, Donna Whittle, Kenneth, and Rick. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Services are planned for late Spring 2025. Robert was THE definition of a family farmer. Other than his military time, he spent every day dedicated to the Molvig family farm. Through harsh weather, howling winds, too much snow, too little rain, crop-destroying hail, midnight calving, and sitting on ice-cold metal tractor seats, Robert got up every day--every single one--and worked the land and cattle. It takes a special family to create a farm on the wind-blown prairie of Valley County. Robert's parents---Agnes and Chris Molvig---along with their eight children, have kept it operating nearly a century. It was those family farms and those salt-of-the earth types who built Montana. Robert was born Oct. 26, 1936. He was born with the traits of hard work and dedication, Montana-tough. No wonder, though, considering a February 1936 conception: four successive days of -50F, and two others of -49F. That weather toughens. He attended Tampico School and its many functions and then was graduated from Glasgow High School. He was involved in Farmer's Union activities and in 4-H. He was one of 18 statewide to participate in the 1955 Grain Marketing Tour. His graduating class at GHS included Ronald Helland (Glasgow Courier), Orville Fossum (Fossum Ready Mix), and Wayne Dale (Dale Plumbing), all who left lasting businesses in Glasgow. There are many more familiar names from that exceptional class, a few still alive. He served in the USAR (U.S. Army Reserve) until his honorable discharge in December 1965 with the rank of Sergeant E-5. His basic training at Fort Ord, Calif., was the only time he left Valley County for more than a few weeks for the rest of his life. As the years passed and a host of young nephews and nieces arrived, Robert became their trainer, a tough taskmaster. They all found out that he really cared that they worked hard, did the work well, and did not get hurt doing it. They knew the gruffness was out of love, although they may have questioned that when he got them up in the middle of the night to help him move irrigation tubes. Every one of them carries fond memories. When they are together, they laugh and repeat his fun sayings he would sing to them, including "It's nice to get up in the morning," when the last thing they wanted to do as a kid was to get up early! Robert loved living in rural Tampico. He was a regular at the stockyard sales and didn't mind enjoying a beer or two at one of the Front Street bars following. He truly enjoyed the big family gatherings at the Flesjers, Kirklands, and Nelsons, or when they all came to the Molvigs, a tradition that remains strong many decades later, including the poker sessions. All of them enjoyed the visits from the Norwegian Cousins. As he aged and slowed, Robert would sit and watch Rural Farm Network, keeping abreast of the ever-changing nature of farming. He liked to see what was going on with the land and cattle and truly enjoyed the Sunday drives with Mike Molvig. He also liked catching up on the neighbors. The point came when Robert had finally worked enough, and he spent the last years of his life resting at Valley View, Glasgow. No man deserved it more. Robert Edward Molvig had led a good life. Though he has left, our memories of him will not be forgotten. Online condolences may be left for the family at bellmortuarymontana.com. Robert "Robbie" Lee Carpenter, 65 years old, passed away peacefully at his home, Warren Group Home on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. A celebration of his life will be held Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 2:30 p.m. at Bell Mortuary with Pastor Bonnie Novak officiating. Burial will take place at a later date at the family plot in Glendive, Mont. He was born on Sept. 7, 1958, to Myron Carpenter and Violet Trulock. Robert entered Eastmont School in 1967 at the age of nine. There he learned to read primers and write his name. In 1976, Robert after reaching an age limit, moved to Glasgow, where he attended the Milk River Activity Center. It was a special time for Robert when he traveled to Glendive to see his family, he especially loved seeing his nephews. Some of the other things Robert enjoyed were listening to music and trying to keep the beat, bowling, walking events and participating in Special Olympics. Other enjoyments were riding horses, seeing little babies and watching farm animals, which he loved to feed. Robert also loved to dress up. He especially loved to wear blue jeans that he rolled up, always wearing a vest and a cowboy hat. He loved collecting pens that clicked and of different colors. Robert was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents; and aunts Verna and June. Robert is survived by his brothers, Rodney (Verna) and Richard (June); his sister, Karen (Darrell) White Eagle; nephews Pernell (Lori), Richard, and Jeffrey; nieces Sheridan Savio and Michelle Wood. Robert was a "Great Uncle" to Alexandria, Abby, Ella, Noah, Carson, D'Artagnan, Tyler and Travis. Black Boxes From DHL Aircraft Found Amid Search For Clues In Deadly Crash By RFE/RL November 26, 2024 The flight recorders of a cargo plane belonging to global courier DHL that crashed near Vilnius on November 25 have been found as investigators continue to search for the cause of the deadly accident. The Boeing 737-476 aircraft crashed as it attempted to land at Vilnius International Airport, killing the jet's Spanish pilot and injuring another Spanish crew member, a German, and a Lithuanian. The crash came amid concerns among Western security officials that Russian intelligence is preparing acts of sabotage targeting Western cargo aircraft, though officials have said so far they have no evidence of a link. The plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the so-called black boxes, "were found and removed from the wreckage," Lithuania's Justice Ministry said in a statement, adding that investigators are analyzing the data on the two devices. "The goal of a safety investigation is to prevent future accidents," the statement said, adding the probe "does not seek to determine who is at fault or responsible." Lithuanian Chief Prosecutor Arturas Urbelis separately said at least 19 witnesses were interviewed in connection with the incident but so far no indication has been found of "more serious actions." The plane that departed Leipzig, Germany, about 90 minutes before the crash hit several buildings as it skidded hundreds of meters, according to the police and DHL. One of the buildings hit by the plane was a house whose occupants survived, authorities said. Firefighters were not able to determine whether the plane began burning or breaking up while still in the air, and authorities have appealed to the public to hand over possible video recordings of the crash. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the crash could have been a "hybrid incident" with outside involvement. "We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident," Baerbock told reporters at a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy. "We have recently seen multiple hybrid attacks in Europe, often targeting individuals and infrastructure, whether underwater or hard infrastructure," she said, alluding to the recent severing of telecom cables in the Baltic Sea that officials have said could have been sabotage. German authorities are working very closely with the Lithuanian authorities to get to the bottom of the crash, she added. Lithuanian authorities have so far stopped short of making the same link. "We cannot reject the possibility of terrorism...but at the moment we can't make attributions or point fingers because we don't have such information," Lithuanian counterintelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters. Many Western intelligence agencies have accused Moscow of involvement in sabotage acts in Europe, which they have said are aimed at destabilizing allies of Ukraine as it relies on Western governments in its war against Russia's full-scale invasion. Lithuanian Commissioner-General of Police Arunas Paulauskas said surviving crew members told investigators there was no smoke, fire, or other emergency situation in the cabin prior to the crash. He also said the probability of an external force impact was very low. The crash came after a series of fires at DHL depots in Britain and Germany during the summer. Western security officials were quoted in a news report earlier this month linking the fires to a test run of an alleged Russian operation aimed at igniting fires on cargo or passenger aircraft bound for North America. The Wall Street Journal quoted security officials as saying devices that ignited in July in DHL depots in Leipzig and the British city of Birmingham were part of the test run. Last month, Polish officials said four people had been detained as a result of the investigation into parcels that caught fire while en route to United States and Canada. The activities of the four people "consisted of sabotage and diversion related to sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies to European Union countries and Great Britain, which spontaneously ignited or detonated during land and air transport," Polish prosecutors said in a statement on October 25. "The group's goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada," the statement said, adding that foreign intelligence services were to blame. The statement did not directly accuse Russia of involvement. Canada in early November expressed concern to Russian officials after he arrests were announced. Russia responded by summoning a Canadian diplomat on November 8 to rebut allegations that Russia's secret services had orchestrated the campaign to mail explosive packages. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/black-boxes-from-dhl-aircraft- found-amid-search-for-clues-on-deadly-crash/33216579.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Expels British Diplomat Over Alleged Espionage Activities By RFE/RL's Russian Service November 26, 2024 Russia has expelled Edward Prior Wilks, a second secretary in the Political Department of the British Embassy in Moscow, accusing him of espionage under diplomatic cover. The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the decision on November 26, claiming Wilks was part of an "undeclared intelligence presence" in Russia, deepening tensions between Moscow and London. According to the FSB, Wilks entered Russia with false information and engaged in "intelligence and subversive activities" that posed a threat to national security. The diplomat, reportedly linked to the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's Directorate for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, has had his accreditation revoked. Russian authorities have given him two weeks to leave the country. The expulsion follows the removal of six British intelligence officers in August amid strained relations between the two nations over issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to alleged interference in domestic affairs. The move comes on the same day Russia's Foreign Ministry expanded its sanctions list, barring 30 prominent U.K. officials, military personnel, and journalists from entering the country. The list includes Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and high-profile figures in the defense and technology sectors. In a statement, Moscow accused Britain of pursuing an "aggressive, Russophobic policy," including support for Ukraine, disinformation about Russia, and direct involvement in the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin warned London to abandon its "futile course" and engage in constructive dialogue. The announcements mark a further escalation in the strained relations, reflecting the deepening crisis in relations between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russia's actions highlight a deliberate strategy to challenge what it perceives as Western interference. By targeting both diplomatic channels and influential figures, Moscow is signaling that it will not tolerate perceived provocations. At the same time, these moves are part of a broader pattern of Russia asserting its geopolitical stance against the West amid ongoing tensions over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The diplomatic expulsion, coupled with expanded sanctions, reflects the Kremlin's view of the United Kingdom as a central player in the Western coalition supporting Ukraine, escalating an already hostile dynamic. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-uk-diplomat-wilks- expulsion-espionage-ukraine-war/33216498.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address G7: Press remarks by the High Representative/Vice-President ahead of the second day of the Ministerial Meeting European External Action Service (EEAS) 26.11.2024 Fiuggi, Italy EEAS Press Team Check against delivery! Good morning. This is my last G7 [Foreign Ministerial] meeting as High Representative and I could not expect [it] to take place in such a challenging situation, both in Ukraine and in the Middle East - and other places in the world like Sudan. Yesterday, we discussed the situation in the Middle East, and I explained to the ministers, and [also to] our Arab friends, my assessment of the situation because I am coming from Lebanon. I was in Lebanon. I was in Jordan. And I got first-hand information of what is going [on] there. In Lebanon, there is no excuses for [not implementing] a ceasefire. On the proposal agreement, brokered by the United States and France, Israel has all security concerns. There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart. In Lebanon, there are almost 4,000 civilian victims. All the South of Lebanon has been destroyed, fully destroyed. The United Nations [Interim] Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) - I was with [Lieutenant] General [Aroldo] Lazaro [Saenz], who is commanding the UNIFIL - are under attack. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are also under attack by the Israeli army. Several of their soldiers, almost 50 of their soldiers, have been killed. A ceasefire is absolutely necessary if we want hundreds of thousands of displaced people to go back home. Well, to go back home - there are no more homes. There are no more places to go, because the South of Lebanon is fully destroyed. There is nothing left there. And [it is] not [destroyed] in combat, it is not because they are fighting. It is because they are imploding, voluntarily destroying all houses. 100,000 houses destroyed. So, let's put pressure on Israel in order to approve the proposal of ceasefire today. But I heard voices from the extremist Ministers of the Israeli government [say they are] willing to continue the fight, wiling to continue the bombing. And every night, Beirut is under severe bombing. So, let's hope that today Netanyahu's government will approve the ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States and France. No more excuses. No more additional requests. Stop this fighting. Stop killing people. And let's start thinking on peace. This is on Lebanon. In Gaza, the situation is still worse. In Northern Gaza, there are about 250,000 people completely abandoned. The United Nations coordinator explained me [since] Monday - it means from yesterday - "we have to stop, because we do not have any food, we do not have any fuel; we cannot enter." The humanitarian aid is fully impeded. By whom? By the Israeli army. Let's say the truth. Let's put a name [to it]: the humanitarian aid is completely impeded. No more humanitarian support entering into Northern Gaza. The United Nations are completely unable to continue supporting these people. That is why yesterday, I told my colleagues - to the Arabs, who came to discuss with us, to the Europeans - that it is good to continue saying nice words, but let's act. Why do we not go to the United Nations Security Council, putting on the table the resolution just about humanitarian support to these people? The Two-State Solution will come later. Everything will come later. We are talking about weeks, or days. Go to the Security Council, and call to the conscience of the world in order to avoid the tragedy. Yes, hunger is being used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned. Let's go to the Security Council and call to the countries of the world: this cannot happen. I know there is a statement that is being discussed today. Maybe, it will be agreed between Europeans and the Arabs, in order to push in this direction and to tell that the people who impede the humanitarian support have to become accountable. Let's see. Then, there is the issue of the International Criminal Court. You know that the United States are in a completely different position because the United States has not signed the Rome Convention. Okay, the United States has not signed the Rome Convention, but all Member States of the European Union have signed the Rome Convention. It is not something that you can pick and choose. You cannot applaud when the Court goes against Putin and remain silent when the court goes against Netanyahu. This is the typical example of two weights and two measures, by which we are so much criticised. I asked the Member States of the European Union to fulfil the obligations under international law. Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a Court, as powerful as any national Court. If the Europeans do not support the International Criminal Court, then there will not be any hope for justice. Well, let's see today which is the final result of our discussions - but I want to be clear on that. It is not an alternative. It is not an "I like it, or I do not like it", it is an obligation. I hope that at the end of the day, we will be able to say clearly that the Europeans will fulfil our obligations under international law. The United States will have to do whatever they want to do, but I want a statement saying: "the Europeans will fulfil their obligations under international law." Thank you. Q&A. Q. What do you expect from the agreement between Israel and Lebanon? The second one is about the International Court, it has no unity, as you said. I think I have been talking about it. I think I explained that the International Court is a Court, and its arrest warrants have to be implemented. If someone does not do it, they are breaking international law. Q. [inaudible - So how can you find a compromise?] Well, we, Europeans, we will say - I hope - that we will fulfil all our obligations under international law. All our obligations under international law include the [International] Criminal Court. All our obligations under international law include our obligations with respect to the International Criminal Court, because it is part of our international obligations. About the ceasefire, I could not say [it] more clearly. There is a proposal on the table, brokered by the United States and by France, which gives Israel all the security commitments they were asking for. There are no excuses to reject this proposal. If they reject this proposal, then, I am sorry, I do not see what else we can do. Q. [inaudible] The agreement foresees the participation of France in the Implementation Committee. The Committee will be chaired by the United States. The Lebanese accepted that the United States would be chairing the Committee but asked for France to be on that Committee. This is one of the points that are still missing, because Israel does not want France to be part of it. The Lebanese are asking for it. France wants to help - the only purpose of France is to participate in order to make it implementable. If the Lebanese ask, and they are asking for it, [as] the Speaker for the Chamber, Mr Berri, told me clearly: "we want France to be in the implementation committee." So, France is ready to participate, unless there is an Israeli veto. If there is not an Israeli veto, France will be there, and the implementation will be easier. Q. [inaudible] UNIFIL is doing a great job. I was discussing with the [Lieutenant] General [Aroldo] Lazaro [Saenz], who explained all the difficulties they found on implementing this task. We have to rethink the way that UNIFIL works, but I am strongly supporting the participation of UNIFIL on keeping peace and stability on the South of Lebanon. Q. [inaudible] ceasefire? Who will guarantee the ceasefire? It is France and the United States. Q. Mr Borrell, did the G7 make you [inaudible] for Ukraine? Ukraine is this morning. Yesterday it was the Middle East. Q. [inaudible] what can you say? Look, we do not speculate. We have to continue working to give Ukraine the support that Ukraine needs. We, as Europeans, we are acting independently of what Mr Trump wants to do. We have our commitments. We have our capacities. When we claim we have a Strategic Autonomy, the least that we can say, and do, is continue supporting Ukraine. We are not pending on Mr Trump's orders. Certainly, what the United States will do is very much important, but from our side, we have to continue putting all our capacity at the service of the Ukrainian's defence. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister is here, to explain to us the situation. We will renew our engagement on supporting Ukraine. This is the position of the European Union - at least on the [past] Friday, when I will leave. I hope it will be the same on [the following] Monday. Q. President Trump has announced new tariffs. What will they mean for Europe? Well, it is not good news. It is not good news. If everybody starts putting tariffs on everybody - Mexico, Canada, China, Europe -, the world economy will be in very difficult circumstances because they are going to stop the dynamics of the growth. So, we are ready, we are prepared to do the countermeasures. I will not be in the Commission from Monday [on], so I cannot tell you what the Commission will do. I cannot engage the Commission form Monday [on]. But one thing is clear. If Trump opens a new trade war, and starts putting tariffs to everybody, it is not going to help the world economy, it is going to create difficulties to everyone, starting with the Americans themselves. Thank you. Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-264590 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tsahkna to Landsbergis: We will not simply watch as Russia is acting arbitrarily on our territory Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 26.11.2024 Today 26 November, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is on a visit to Estonia, meeting with Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna to discuss further cooperation between their countries, support for Ukraine, and regional security. "Ukraine is facing its third winter of full-scale war, set to be the hardest yet," Tsahkna said. "In addition to intensified strikes, Russia has brought in North Korean soldiers, thereby giving the war in Europe, close to NATO's border, a global dimension." "Over the course of three years we have seen that Russia is not backing down," Tsahkna said. "We must continue doing our utmost to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine. It is existential for our countries, and we cannot soften our message or backtrack on it." Both Estonia and Lithuania also stand for Ukraine's NATO and EU membership because it is crucial for ensuring peace in Europe. The ministers discussed the sharp increase in hybrid threats in our region over the past couple of years. "Hybrid actions have been conducted against both Estonia and Lithuania and we must continue emphasising that this must stop. Our Allies in NATO and partners in the European Union are aware of this and we are in close contact with them," Tsahkna said. "We will not simply watch as Russia is acting arbitrarily on our territory." The ministers reaffirmed the close alliance between Estonia and Lithuania. Tsahkna also thanked Lithuania for leading a successful desynchronisation operation that will result in the complete desynchronisation of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia from the Russian electricity grid. Tsahkna added that in cooperation with Landsbergis, Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation has become one of the most important cooperation formats in the region. In conclusion, Tsahkna thanked Landsbergis for his wonderful cooperation and friendship: "During your term, the relations of Estonia and Lithuania have become even stronger." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Development assistance to Yemen being phased out Government Offices of Sweden - Ministry for Foreign Affairs 26 November 2024 The Swedish Government has decided to stop providing development assistance to Yemen. Bilateral development assistance to Yemen will be phased out in a responsible manner. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has been tasked with bringing activities to a close by 30 June 2025. Sweden will continue to be a major humanitarian donor to Yemen. "Since 2020, Sweden has provided small-scale development assistance to Yemen. In light of the difficult security situation in the country and the increasingly destructive behaviour of the Houthis, we are now choosing to phase out our development assistance," says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa. "The situation in Yemen makes it very difficult to effectively conduct and monitor development initiatives - not least in Houthi-controlled areas in northern Yemen. It is important that Swedish development assistance funds have maximum impact and do not risk ending up in the wrong hands," continues Mr Dousa. The Government has tasked Sida with ending development operations in Houthi-controlled areas before the end of the year, and by 30 June 2025 in the rest of the country. This decision is in line with the reform agenda's focus on long-term sustainability, transparency and effectiveness. In recent years, Sweden's development assistance to Yemen has totalled approximately SEK 80 million annually. Yemen's population remains in need of humanitarian assistance, for which reason Sweden will continue to be a major humanitarian donor. Sweden's humanitarian assistance to Yemen totals SEK 287 million in 2024. Sweden is also a major donor of core support to a number of UN agencies operating in Yemen, such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address AFP air, naval assets hold 54 patrols in WPS Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno November 26, 2024, 2:25 pm MANILA -- Air and naval assets of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have conducted 54 patrol missions in the West Philippine Sea from Nov. 1 to 25 this year, as part of efforts to assert Philippine sovereignty in the region. AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, in a statement Tuesday, said these successful missions highlight its "commitment to safeguarding our nation's maritime interests." Naval assets conducted three sealift missions, 13 maritime patrols/sovereignty patrols, one maritime surveillance patrol, one search and rescue operation, and one rotation and resupply mission. "Meanwhile, our naval and air force aircraft executed four maritime air surveillance/intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (MAS/ISR) operations, along with 30 maritime patrols (MARPAT), and one search and rescue (SAR) operation," she added. Padilla said these patrols strengthen its commitment to protect the WPS, while ensuring seamless support for operations like maritime domain awareness, search and rescue operations, and resupply missions. "The AFP stands resolute in its mandate to uphold territorial integrity, maritime sovereignty, and regional stability while serving and protecting the interests of all Filipinos," she said. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Respect the Constitution: Palace hits Duterte call for military action Philippine News Agency By Darryl John Esguerra November 26, 2024, 2:47 pm MANILA -- Malacanang on Tuesday called on former president Rodrigo Duterte to respect the Constitution and desist from being "irresponsible" by insinuating a military action against the Marcos administration. In a statement, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said Duterte's call to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is inspired by a "selfish motive" to allow her daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, to take over. "No motive is more selfish than calling for a sitting president to be overthrown so that your daughter can take over," Bersamin said. "And he will go to great and evil lengths, such as insulting our professional armed forces by asking them to betray their oath, for his plan to succeed," he added. In a late-night online press conference Monday, the former president sought the military and police's intervention to "protect the Constitution" amid what he described as a "fractured" government. Duterte, however, stopped short of calling for a coup. According to Bersamin, Duterte should respect the Constitution, not disobey it. Bersamin, a former Chief Justice, urged the Duterte camp to follow the proper procedure and wait for the right time to be in power, even as he vowed that the Marcos administration would "not shirk from its sworn duty to govern and manage the affairs of the Filipino Nation according to the Constitution and the Rule of Law." "It will defend its legacy before the Filipino People only by lawful means. The state will act resolutely to go against all unlawful attempts and challenges," Bersamin said. "Hindi katanggap-tanggap ang marahas na pang-aagaw ng kapangyarihan upang madaling maluklok bilang pangulo sa pamamagitan ng pagpaslang, panggugulo at pag-aalsa. Maghintay kayo sa tamang panahon, sumunod sa tamang pamamaraan (Violent usurpation of power in order to be easily installed as president through assassinations, riots, and uprisings is unacceptable. Wait for the right time, follow the right procedure)," he added. Duterte's tirades came following the government's move to conduct an all-out investigation against his daughter, who earlier said she has contracted someone to asssassinate President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. if the supposed plot to kill her were to succeed. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Navy official: Chain of command intact, troops loyal to Constitution Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno November 26, 2024, 2:58 pm Updated on November 26, 2024, 6:51 pm MANILA -- The Philippine Navy (PN) on Tuesday said it is unbothered by the ongoing row between the country's leaders, stressing that the troops remain loyal to their duty to protect the country and the Constitution. PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad made this remark when asked Tuesday whether the current political environment has weakened their resolve to protect the West Philippine Sea (WPS). "The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will continue performing its mandate to ensure the integrity of our national territory. I just mentioned that for the month of November, we conducted a total of 54 different activities in the WPS. This is a manifestation of our professionalism and we take pride in that. Amid all the developments of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, I would like to say that your Armed Forces will remain loyal to the Constitution and the duly constituted civil authorities," he said in a press conference. Trinidad said the chain of command remains intact despite efforts by some groups to weaken it through disinformation. "To those who are spreading misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation designed to weaken the chain of command, listen and listen well. The chain of command is intact. It is secured. It will remain intact and secured. We take pride in being military professionals," he added. The PN official said the military takes pride in performing its mandate without fanfare, over sea, over land and over the air. AFP a non-partisan organization Relatedly, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the military is a non-partisan organization, aside from being a united and a professional one. "The AFP is a non-partisan organization. As our Chief of Staff (Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.) has already stated, our Armed Forces (are) united and professional. So, with all of these things, we respectfully request that we are shunned away from political issues," she added. Padilla also assured the public that all soldiers remain professional and are unfazed by political noise. Amid reports of pro-Duterte groups gathering at the EDSA Shrine, Padilla said the military is monitoring the situation. "Patuloy naming binabantayan ang sitwasyon upang masiguro ang seguridad at kaayusan ng publiko, habang nananatiling nakatuon sa aming mandato na protektahan ang sambayanan at ipagtanggol ang Konstitusyon (We are monitoring the situation to ensure security and order for the public, while focused on our mandate which is to protect the nation and defend the Constitution)," she added. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Wider Europe Briefing: NATO Braces For An Unpredictable 2025 By Rikard Jozwiak November 26, 2024 The Briefing: NATO Braces For An Unpredictable 2025 When speaking to NATO officials about the incoming U.S administration, I generally hear some variation on "We'll make it work," immediately followed by a reassuring, "Don't worry, we're not in panic mode." But will they? And aren't they, actually? In his first term as U.S. president, Donald Trump was said to have been toying with a possible U.S. withdrawal from the military alliance over burden-sharing (notably at a summit in Brussels in 2018). Then, on the campaign trail earlier this year, he said he would encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" with NATO members that didn't spend enough of defense -- essentially casting doubt on Article 5, the collective-defense clause of the North Atlantic Treaty that is the cornerstone of the organization. Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has also questioned why the United States should be the European "emergency contact number," and has described the continent's NATO allies as "outdated, outgunned, invaded, and impotent." Many NATO diplomats I've chatted with have tried to make sense of the U.S. president-elect's flurry of cabinet picks. In the first administration, you had what one source called "NATO guardrails" in the form of seasoned U.S. generals like Jim Mattis and H.R. McMaster -- people who were very much shaped by the Cold War and NATO's role as a fundamental Western building block. It was pointed out to me that Hegseth has instead been influenced by the Iraq war, and more importantly by Afghanistan. Whisper it if you're in the alliance's Brussels corridors, but Afghanistan is widely seen as a major failure in which NATO pulled out after 20 years and let the Taliban reconquer the place. Moreover, no one's saying it very loudly but inside NATO it's seen as a conflict in which the United States was doing the heavy lifting while many Europeans were present but avoided much of the action. The Trump team's selection of former acting Attorney-General Matthew Whitaker as ambassador to NATO also raised eyebrows, as he doesn't appear to have much foreign policy experience. The press release announcing the nomination sent mixed messages, saying that Whitaker will both "strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies" and "put AMERICA FIRST." I should note that Trump's NATO ambassador during his first term, Kay Bailey Hutchison, also had little foreign policy experience but ended up being well regarded within the alliance. Diplomats told me it's a good sign that the new pick for NATO ambassador has been announced so early; Trump didn't nominate Hutchinson until June 2017, more than six months into his presidency. Many also seemed reassured by the presumptive national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and by the man picked for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, who is known to many in Europe and co-authored U.S. legislation in 2023 barring any president from exiting NATO without Senate approval or an act Congress. Keeping The Alliance Relevant What many say they learned from the first Trump term is that one should heed actions rather than the "noise" playing out in the media. They noted, for example, that Trump increased the U.S. military presence on NATO's eastern flank. They do, however, acknowledge a certain nervousness about the perceived "unpredictability" of the incoming president and his team. All organizations want some sort of stability, but even more so a military one and especially NATO, where even annual summits are carefully choreographed: Major decisions are generally made weeks, if not months, in advance and the final meeting communique is rarely tampered with during the actual summit (unlike, for instance, European Union meetings, at which leaders can fight on for days over every comma). The key is essentially to keep NATO relevant. And that can only happen if the military alliance can defend every inch of its territory. Simply put: deterrence. And that means 1) plenty of powerful military gear, which the United States has; and 2) the political will to honor Article 5. It's the second of those two things that people at NATO are fretting over. The Two-Pronged Tactic The NATO tactic to keep Washington coupled with the alliance going forward is two-pronged and can be detected in pretty much everything that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said since taking up the hot seat in October. The first is higher defense spending among NATO's European members; the second is a greater focus on China. In fact, it was Trump who hammered home these two things in his first term, and that has not gone unnoticed inside the alliance. When Trump was last president, just a handful of countries were spending the required 2 percent of GDP on defense; today, it's 24 of the 32 allies, and many credit the rise to Trump's scare tactics (although the war in Ukraine has obviously been a contributing factor). Rutte has been on the record from the very start saying that 2 percent is not enough. NATO officials I've spoken to argue that most must reach 3.5 percent in order to be competitive. The official commitment is there, but the question is whether it's accompanied by political will -- particularly considering that many European economies, notably Germany's, are hardly growing. Another problem is that the European defense market remains fragmented. And while the continent produces good stuff, it's rather "artisanal" in its approach -- in other words, its goods are high-end but take time to manufacture and don't come in bulk. Another NATO diplomat I spoke to was more blunt: "The Americans have better [aircraft] carriers, better drones, better air defense -- just better capabilities in general. Plus, the size of their army dwarfs every European one." Don't rule out European allies buying American in an attempt to please the new administration, instead of going through the longer-term and more painstaking ordeal of ramping up their own domestic production. On China, NATO has already moved toward a much tougher stance on Beijing. The leaders of the alliance's four Asia-Pacific partners (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea) have already attended the last three NATO summits, and will be welcomed in the future. The quartet will also have a seat at the table in defense and foreign affairs meetings going forward. NATO diplomats keep arguing that the alliance is good for the United States, as its 32 members account for half the world's military and economic might, while China doesn't have 31 friends or allies. The European Commission recently slapped tariffs on Chinese-produced electric vehicles, and Sino-European relations might further sour following two recent events. The first was news that European intelligence believes Chinese-made military drones have been sent to Russia. The second was the severing last week of two Internet cables under the Baltic Sea, with a Chinese vessel reportedly spotted near both locations. Given that another Chinese ship destroyed the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline that runs between Estonia and Finland in 2023 and that Beijing declined to cooperate on any international investigation (although it acknowledged fault), many European governments might join Washington in becoming more hawkish on China. The Trump-Whisperer And The EU Problem Then, of course, there is NATO Secretary-General Rutte himself. The former Dutch prime minister was chosen in part because of a near-mythical belief in Brussels that he is something of a "Trump-whisperer" who developed a good relationship with the American during his first administration. People close to Rutte believe he's one of the few European leaders whom Trump actually respects, and he hasn't been shy about crediting Trump for the increased European defense spending. It's not for nothing that he was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence over the weekend. Ever the pragmatist, Rutte famously noted before he got his new gig at NATO that Europe must stop worrying about who's in the White House and "dance with whoever is on the dancefloor." Despite the preparations, people I speak to still ponder what might go wrong. One scenario involves Americans conflating NATO with the European Union. While the belief within the military alliance is that Trump is OK with NATO as long as Europeans pay more, the European Union is bracing for a trade war. Billionaire entrepreneur and avid Trump supporter Elon Musk is a key individual in that context. Musk has sparred publicly with European politicians on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that he bought two years ago. The fear is that Musk's interests will become very much intertwined with those of the U.S. administration. X is in the EU's regulatory crosshairs, notably in connection with the recently enacted Digital Service Act (DSA) that governs online content moderation in the EU. Most Internet giants try to comply with it; but the European Commission recently opened formal DSA proceedings against X that could result in fines of up to 1 billion euros ($1.04 billion). The fear is that this could erupt into an almighty transatlantic rift, with NATO suffering collateral damage. Poland's Moment There is perhaps one European country to watch out for in particular: Poland. Irrespective of the government in Warsaw, relations with Washington are warm. That's for good reason; Poland is spending more than any other NATO member on defense (a projected 4.7 percent of GDP in 2025). It has also invested massively in U.S. weapons: A new U.S. ballistic-missile-defense base was opened there in November, a U.S. company is building nuclear reactors in the country, and 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Poland. Will Warsaw be the county that keeps the U.S. anchored in Europe? Many officials I speak to hope so. Something else to monitor is what might happen to the 90,000 or so U.S. troops deployed elsewhere on European soil, and whether they are redeployed outside Europe or mostly moved from Western Europe to the eastern flank. Poland could prove crucial, with Emmanuel Macron's France hobbled by a government dependent on the support of the far-right National Rally. For its part, Germany is facing federal elections in February that are likely to be followed by protracted coalition talks. But it's also the case that the person tipped so far to emerge as German chancellor, center-right candidate Friedrich Merz, could strike up a well-functioning relationship with Trump, thanks in part to his roots in the business sector and his hawkishness on the issue of immigration. Ukraine In The Balance It is ultimately the future of nonmember Ukraine that will shape much debate at NATO in the coming months. Publicly at least, European allies have clung to the notion of "nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine." But there are signs that Washington is moving in the direction of "land for peace" despite Kyiv's insistence that it won't cede territories to Russia. While no one I've spoken to is privy to any concrete negotiation plan with Russia, one way or another, NATO will be part of any conversation. For instance, might NATO membership be offered to a "reduced Ukraine"? And would all 32 allies agree to such a thing, as is required for any accession? The concern I invariably hear in this context is that Moscow might immediately test Article 5 by sending a rocket into "reduced Ukraine" in the hope that there's no appetite within the alliance to fight Russia -- a hope informed, perhaps, by recent NATO summits at which Ukraine's invitation to NATO remained as elusive as ever. Instead, it could be that NATO membership will be on hold for a longer period of time. European diplomats I've spoken to have instead suggested more robust bilateral security deals with Kyiv, sending greater quantities and more sophisticated arms so Ukraine could defend itself if Moscow decided to heat up what could be a budding frozen conflict. Looking Ahead Check out the European Parliament plenary this week. On November 27, the chamber is voting on confirmation of the next European Commission, which, if green-lighted, will officially start working on December 1. Then, on November 28, MEPs will vote on a nonbinding resolution on Georgia; the key point to watch is whether they demand new elections there. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-nato-geopolitics-ukraine- 2025-trump/33215200.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Protests Against Pro-Russian Romanian Presidential Candidate Spread Beyond Bucharest By RFE/RL's Romanian Service November 26, 2024 Protests against the rise of pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu spread beyond Bucharest to other Romanian cities on November 26 after his surprise victory in the first round of a presidential election over the weekend. Protests opposing Georgescu took place on the evening of November 26 in Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi, Brasov, and Sibiu. Georgescu faces a runoff against pro-Western center-right candidate Elena Lasconi on December 8 after winning 22.94 percent of the vote in the first round of balloting on November 24 in the EU and NATO member state. About 1,000 people turned out in Bucharest for the second night of protests against Georgescu in the Romanian capital's University Square. Most of those who took to the streets were young people who expressed their concern about Georgescu's radical attitudes and the future of their country. "I came here because at the moment our democracy is in a precarious situation and I strongly believe that we, the young generation, can prevent a future disaster, which could take place in the second round," said a student from Bucharest who declined to be identified by name. Another protester said she was demoralized that people chose not to inform themselves about Georgescu before the election. "I cannot accept that I or my future children...would be led by a fascist," said the protester, who also declined to provide her name. She said that Romanians must go down the path of democracy and there is still a chance for that in parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on December 1 and in the December 8 runoff in the presidential race. "We can go back 35 years and see what our parents and grandparents went through...the mass misinformation they went through when [communist Romanian dictator Nicola] Ceausescu was elected," she said. "Let's inform ourselves before choosing. We have to go massively to the vote. We young people have a voice and we have to use it." In Timisoara, young people chanted "Today in Timisoara, tomorrow throughout the country," a reference to the December 1989 revolution, which began in Timisoara. The protesters also displayed posters saying, "Down with the legionaries," a reference to statements made by Georgescu in television appearances in which he affirmed his sympathy for the legionary or religious fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania and its leaders. Similar protests were held on November 26 in Iasi and Brasov, where several dozen young people gathered. The protesters in Iasi said they did not want to be led by a dictator or a sympathizer of anti-Semitic and fascist leaders from Romania in the 1930s and 1940s. Georgescu, 62, has denied that he is an extremist or a fascist and referred to himself as "a Romanian who loves his country." He had been polling in single digits before a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to aid for Ukraine. The independent candidate insisted "there is no East or West" and stressed that neutrality was "absolutely necessary." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-protest-presidential- election-georgescu-regions-bucharest/33216970.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Tajani US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson November 26, 2024 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani today and congratulated Italy on a successful G7 host year. They discussed the situation in Lebanon and the ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution that allows civilians to safely return home. They also shared concerns on growing humanitarian assistance needs in Lebanon. The Secretary and the Foreign Minister reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring critical humanitarian aid is delivered to Gaza and the need to end the conflict in Gaza and bring the hostages home. They also discussed Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including implications of Russia's decision to introduce DPRK troops into its war on Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'ICC arrest warrants can help save lives, must be respected and complied with': UN experts United Nations Human Rights Council Press releases Multiple Mechanisms 26 November 2024 GENEVA -- UN human rights' experts today urged full compliance with the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and against Hamas commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. "The ICC's decision marks a historic step towards justice and accountability, offering hope for ending decades of impunity for long-standing serious violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)," the experts said. "The protracted lack of accountability, especially of the State of Israel, has been an enabling factor to the increasing and untenable violence in the region, affecting the lives and futures of both Palestinians and Israelis." Since 7 October 2023, and the military assault on Gaza and the rest of the OPT, the independent experts have received and documented evidence of grave violations of international law committed against civilian populations. "These violations, often amounting to international crimes, must stop immediately and cannot go unpunished," they said. In welcoming the ICC's decision, the experts reminded States of their legal and moral obligation to uphold international law and punish war criminals, stating that the power to enforce these arrest warrants rests with governments. "Compliance with the arrest warrants is critical to overcome long-standing impunity, benefiting perpetrators, and to end grave crimes in the OPT and Israel," they said. As millions of people in the region, especially those in Gaza, continue to endure abhorrent atrocities, it is incumbent on all States to demonstrate their commitment to justice and upholding international law universally, without bias or double standards, the experts said. "Delivering justice is often the outcome of a collective endeavour, we therefore encourage domestic courts to contribute to and complement the critical work done by the ICC. "We are particularly attentive to the fundamental right of victims and their families to comprehensive and meaningful reparations and urge all relevant parties to ensure their rights are upheld," the experts said. "In order to guarantee the rights of victims and their families, it is imperative that the ICC be able to carry out their work without interference or other undue pressure." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lebanon: Turk reiterates call for ceasefire following grave escalation United Nations Human Rights Council Press releases Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 26 November 2024 GENEVA -- UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said today he was gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon in recent days, reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the loss of life and destruction. Dozens were reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between 22 and 24 November, including eight children and 19 women. An airstrike that flattened an eight-storey building in Beirut on Saturday killed at least 29 people and left at least 67 injured, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The day before, an Israeli strike on the home of a hospital director in the Baalbek district killed him and six others, including a boy. On 22 and 23 November, at least seven paramedics were reportedly killed in three separate Israeli strikes on the south of Lebanon. This adds to the 226 healthcare workers killed as a result of the conflict in Lebanon between 7 October 2023 and 18 November 2024, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Nearly half of the attacks on healthcare teams and facilities in Lebanon have each caused at least one death - the highest proportion compared to any other active conflict in the world. "This is another indication of how brutal this war is on health workers, and on civilians in general," Turk said. "Healthcare personnel exclusively assigned to medical duties must be respected and protected in all circumstances. If they are targeted as such, this constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a war crime." "Israel must do all it can to ensure full protection for medical staff and minimise any casualties among them, as well as any damage to health infrastructure," the High Commissioner said. Since 8 October 2023, at least 3,754 people have been killed and 15,626 injured in Lebanon by Israeli fire, according to the Ministry of Health. Almost 900,000 have been internally displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. "Israeli military action in Lebanon has caused wide-scale loss of civilian life - including the killing of entire families, widespread displacement, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, raising serious concerns about respect for the principles of proportionality, distinction and precautions," Turk said. "How many more lives have to be lost in order for the warring parties to end this suffering?" he added. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets on the north of Israel, which has also resulted in civilian casualties. "Most of these rockets are indiscriminate by nature, prolonging the unacceptable displacement of many Israeli civilians," the High Commissioner said. According to the Israeli Government, 40 civilians have been killed by Hezbollah rockets - including 13 in the occupied Syrian Golan - and more than 60,000 Israelis have been internally displaced from the north since 7 October 2023 due to rockets fired by Hezbollah. "The only way to end the tragedy for innocent people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts; in Lebanon, in Israel and of course in Gaza," Turk said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lebanon: UN rights chief adds voice to immediate ceasefire call 26 November 2024 - UN human rights chief Volker Turk lent his weight to growing ceasefire calls in Lebanon on Tuesday, as senior Israeli cabinet members were reportedly due to meet on a deal to end more than a year of conflict with Hezbollah militants, sparked by the war in Gaza. The development follows dire assessments from UN aid teams about the cost of "relentless" Israeli attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs since the weekend, resulting in extensive damage and significant casualties, and forcing more people to flee their homes. "The High Commissioner reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the killings and the destruction," stressed Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). "Israeli military action in Lebanon has caused widescale loss of civilian life, including the killing of entire families, widespread displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, raising serious concerns about respect for the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity." Civilians bear brunt At the same time, Hezbollah rocket fire has continued into northern Israel, resulting in civilian casualties, the OHCHR spokesperson noted. "Most of these rockets are indiscriminate by nature" and have displaced thousands of Israeli civilians, "which is unacceptable. The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts: in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza." The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported that a deadly air strike on Saturday in Beirut "demolished a residential building, claiming nearly 30 lives and injuring more than 65 people. This is out of a total 84 people killed in the country that day alone, according to the authorities." Deadly toll rises On average, 250 people have been killed every week in November in Lebanon, bringing the death toll to more than 3,700 since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, OCHA said, while the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) condemned the killing of at least nine youngsters between 22 and 23 November, "including boys and girls who were sleeping in their beds". The UN agency said that the total number of child deaths has reached at least 240 since October 2023 when Hezbollah rocket fire escalated in response to Israeli bombardment of nearby Gaza. Aid teams still delivering Despite ongoing security concerns, the UN and humanitarian partners remain on the ground to try to scale up efforts to continue providing critical assistance. As of 19 November, UNICEF reported carrying out 14 humanitarian convoys, reaching some 50,000 people in areas that are difficult to access, such as Tyre, Rmeich, Marjaayoun and Hasbaya. The UN agency has also supported displaced families living on the streets of Beirut, helping them find shelter amid a severe urban displacement crisis. Meanwhile late Monday, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had delivered 48 tons of medical supplies to support the Lebanese health authority's chronic medication programme, ensuring that 300,000 people "have continued access to essential medicines". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN welcomes ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon By Vibhu Mishra 26 November 2024 - The United Nations has welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope that the agreement "can put an end to the violence, destruction and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing." "The Secretary-General urges the parties to fully respect and swiftly implement all of their commitments made under this agreement," the statement noted. He also urged the parties to undertake immediate steps towards the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). "The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) both stand ready to support the implementation of this agreement, in line with their respective mandates," the statement added. Agreement, a starting point Separately, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called the agreement a pivotal moment to restore safety and security for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. "This agreement marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006)," she said in a statement. The Security Council resolution, adopted in the aftermath of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, calls for a cessation of hostilities as well as respect for the "Blue Line" of separation between Israeli and Lebanese armed forces. Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert stressed that selective adherence to the resolution would no longer suffice. "The status quo ante of implementing only select provisions of resolution 1701 (2006), while paying lip service to others, will not suffice," she warned. "Neither side can afford another period of disingenuous implementation under the guise of ostensible calm." Time to deliver The Special Coordinator urged both parties to demonstrate unwavering commitment to the ceasefire agreement. She also commended them on seizing the opportunity to close "this devastating chapter", reminding them of the work that lies ahead. "Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today's achievement." The ceasefire agreement comes after more than a year of heightened tensions along the Blue Line. Civilians on both sides have borne the brunt of the violence, with thousands killed and tens of thousands displaced. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address General Assembly President urges collective action on Sudan as crisis deepens By Vibhu Mishra 26 November 2024 - Addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday, President Philemon Yang called for urgent collective action to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and stressed the shared responsibility of UN bodies to safeguard global peace and security. He was speaking at an Assembly meeting convened following the use of veto by Russia at the Security Council earlier this month. The negative vote by the permanent Council member prevented the adoption of a draft resolution that would have strengthened measures to protect civilians and increase humanitarian access across Sudan. The country has been in freefall since the brutal power struggle erupted last April between rival militaries - the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Across the country, more than 11.8 million people have been displaced from their homes, according to data maintained by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. More than 3.1 million among them have sought shelter in neighbouring countries, sparking a regional crisis. Peace, a shared responsibility Assembly President Yang reiterated the shared responsibility of the Security Council and the General Assembly to work collaboratively to safeguard peace and strengthen collective security. He voiced "grave concern" over the increasing use of veto power in the Council since 2022, referencing General Assembly resolution 77/262. That resolution, among others, mandated the General Assembly President to convene a meeting of the 193-member-body to discuss the situation in which the veto was cast. "This alarming trend highlights, yet again, the urgent need for the General Assembly to take initiative on critical issues of peace and security when the Security Council finds itself paralyzed and unable to fulfil its core mandate." Sudan's escalating crisis Mr. Yang drew attention to the deteriorating situation in Sudan, where 19 months of conflict has left almost 80 per cent of health centres in affected areas nonfunctional, and the humanitarian toll has been compounded by mounting reports of human rights violations, including sexual violence. "This suffering must end," he said, calling for immediate dialogue, a cessation of hostilities, and sustainable conflict resolution. He also urged the international community not to let the crisis "fade into the background" amid other global conflicts. "It is equally tragic, equally urgent, and it demands action. I urge the Security Council to rise to its responsibilities and fulfil its mandate to uphold international peace and security." UN humanitarian efforts Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that aid efforts continue despite immense challenges. The World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering crucial supplies to Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where famine was declared nearly four months ago. A convoy arrived last Friday with vital food assistance, after entering Sudan via the Adre border crossing. A second convoy en route to Zamzam from Port Sudan has travelled 1,400 kilometres (about 870 miles) over two weeks, facing rough terrain, armed checkpoints, and conflict zones. "It is now 300 kilometres away from Zamzam. The last part of this dangerous and long journey is the most risky and unsafe," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists at the regular news briefing at UN Headquarters, in New York. Eating peanut shells to survive "Families at Zamzam have been resorting to extreme measures to survive because food is so scarce. They are eating crushed peanut shells that are typically used to feed animals - and across the camp, parents are mourning the deaths of malnourished children," Mr. Haq added. Moreover, another WFP convoy has been on its way to Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan from Port Sudan for two weeks. Mr. Haq said that the trucks will be departing Kosti in White Nile state in the coming days for the final leg of the journey to locations in South Kordofan that have received little or no assistance since the start of the war in April 2023. Similarly, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has sent additional reproductive health and protection supplies to Kassala and Gedaref, where people fleeing the fighting in Al Jazirah state (also spelled Gezira) have been arriving. These supplies will support safe births and the clinical management of rape and are sufficient to meet the needs of 240,000 women and girls for three months. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'The UN is not leaving Haiti,' spokesperson afffirms 26 November 2024 - As the security situation in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince rapidly worsens due to ongoing gang violence, the United Nations is adjusting its operations to ensure the continued delivery of critical humanitarian assistance. In a briefing on Tuesday, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq highlighted the deepening insecurity, noting that essential personnel from various UN agencies and the UN Mission in Haiti (BINUH) are remaining in Port-au-Prince to continue their critical activities. While the safety of staff is a priority, the UN remains fully engaged in supporting Haitian-led efforts for political transition and providing vital humanitarian aid. Programmes continue to be delivered outside the capital, reaching communities in need across the country. Disproportionate impact on women and girls The UN's humanitarian response comes at a time when the crisis is having a particularly severe impact on women and girls. Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Monday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) emphasised the disproportionate toll the crisis is taking on women and girls in Haiti. Between January and October 2024, 5,400 incidents of gender-based violence were reported, though the true number is expected to be far higher. This troubling statistic is compounded by severe underfunding for services supporting survivors of gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has secured just 19 per cent of the funding required for this year, leaving critical gaps in support for vulnerable populations. Surge in child recruitment The situation for children is equally alarming. UNICEF has reported a sharp increase in the recruitment of minors by armed gangs, with the number of child recruits rising by 70 per cent in the past year. Some children as young as eight years old have been forcibly recruited, and minors now represent between 30 and 50 per cent of all gang members. This disturbing trend is exacerbated by the closure of schools and widespread displacement, leaving children increasingly vulnerable and without protection. UN's continued commitment Despite the challenges posed by the security situation, the UN remains dedicated to supporting the Haitian people and authorities, focusing on providing essential services and assistance, especially for women and children affected by the ongoing violence. "We continue supporting the Haitian people and authorities, with critical humanitarian assistance and political support to assist Haitian-led efforts to successfully carry out the political transition," Mr. Haq further emphasised. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Security Council urged to ensure greater protection of humanitarian workers 26 November 2024 - With 2024 the deadliest year for aid workers on record, the Security Council must clearly condemn attacks against them and ensure accountability for perpetrators, a senior official with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Tuesday. Lisa Doughten was addressing Ambassadors at a Council briefing on preventing and responding to attacks against humanitarian and UN personnel, in line with resolution 2730 (2024), adopted in May. "As we look to the next steps on resolution 2730, we urge this Council to champion action that protects humanitarian and UN personnel; ensures accountability for those who harm them; and helps survivors and families to rebuild their lives," she said. Gaza conflict drives surge To date, 282 aid workers have been killed this year in places such as Gaza and Sudan, according to Humanitarian Outcomes, the independent research group that maintains a database of all major incidents stretching back to the 1990s. Other colleagues have been injured, kidnapped, attacked and arbitrarily detained, and most victims are overwhelmingly local staff. Ms. Doughten said much of the unprecedented surge in casualties is due to the situation in Gaza. Since the war began last October, more than 330 humanitarian workers have lost their lives, mostly staff with the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA. "These numbers signal a disturbing lack of regard for the lives of civilians and humanitarian and UN workers. There is no situation in recent history that compares," she said. "So, as we gather today, seeking specific actions that the Security Council and the wider UN membership could take to increase the protection of aid workers, my first message is this: Please help protect my colleagues in Gaza." Call for protection Despite the very real dangers, humanitarian and UN personnel continue to stay and deliver, and have provided life-saving support to more than 116 million people worldwide this year. They must be protected, Ms. Doughten stressed. While welcoming resolution 2730, she highlighted the critical need for the Council to clearly condemn attacks against aid workers. "Our partners want to see renewed, unequivocal political support from the Security Council and Member States for aid workers and their safety," she said. "They want you to use diplomatic and economic pressure to force respect for international law. They demand, as does the Secretary-General, an end to arms transfers to anyone violating international law." Accountability for crimes UN partners are also concerned by the lack of accountability for perpetrators of crimes against humanitarian workers, and how this emboldens further offences. "They want to see more systematic and universal accountability for serious violations," she continued. "They want Member States to fight impunity with political will and action, including through legislation that ensures accountability for crimes against humanitarian workers - both international and domestic." Aid partners also want the Council to do more to ensure accountability, she added. This includes encouraging international cooperation to facilitate investigations and prosecutions, and where national jurisdictions fail, to establish international mechanisms or refer matters to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The final area for action concerns supporting humanitarians who have suffered harm. Measures include allowing survivors to directly participate in global discussions, including at the Council, as well as reparations and legal aid. Take action now The head of the UN Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS), Gilles Michaud, stated that resolution 2730 has never been more vital. He reported that today, UN field operations face greater complexity, greater needs in more high-risk areas and threats to UN and aid personnel, including from State actors. "Let me be clear. My biggest concern is a profound lack of accountability for violence against humanitarians and UN personnel. And this is where, now more than ever, we need you to take action," he told ambassadors. Mr. Michaud noted that host countries and UN Member States hold primary responsibility for the safety and security of the Organization's personnel and the protection of its premises. He urged all States to join the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel and its Optional Protocol, and fully implement them. Targeted and collateral violence Abby Stoddard is a partner and director at Humanitarian Outcomes, which compiles the Aid Worker Security Database. She said 30 years ago, fatal attacks on aid workers were not common. Back then, the main threats they faced were accidents and illnesses, but "today, it is violence - both collateral and targeted - which claims more aid worker lives than any other work-related cause." She noted that 2023 was the deadliest year ever recorded, with 280 fatalities, but 2024 has already exceeded that "awful total". Ms. Stoddard echoed the calls made for greater protection and accountability. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DESRON 15 SCC Completes Deployments with USS Ronald Reagan, USS George Washington US Navy 26 November 2024 From Courtesy Story YOKOSUKA, Japan -- Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 returned to Yokosuka, Japan Nov. 22 following deployments aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS George Washington (CVN 73). "After the completion of these patrols, DESRON 15 has reaffirmed our underway proficiency," said Capt. Dave Huljack, deputy commodore and sea combat commander for DESRON 15. "We are thrilled to reintegrate with our team ashore and realign with our theater surface warfare responsibilities." DESRON 15 splits its staff between two distinct missions. In addition to serving as the Theater Surface Warfare Commander (TSUWC) for U.S. 7th Fleet from the shore, DESRON 15 embarks deployed aircraft carriers as the Sea Combat Commander (SCC). Throughout patrols for the two carriers, DESRON 15 directed maritime strike operations and managed the anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare operations of the forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers attached to Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5 as the SCC. The SCC team, in concert with Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70, planned and executed numerous exercises to include Valiant Shield, Freedom Edge, and Keen Sword. The CSG and SCC teams operated alongside nations of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Canada to conduct routine security and stability operations. "It is invaluable to lead a team that can operate on two fronts," said Capt. Justin Harts, Commander, DESRON 15. "While half of our staff is ashore conducting independent theater surface operations with allies and partners, our other half is seamlessly integrating with the CSG to provide continuity underway." CTF 70 has operational control of Carrier Strike Group 5 from aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73), America's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. DESRON 15 is the Navy's largest forward-deployed destroyer squadron and the U.S. 7th Fleet's principal surface force. It is forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Palestinians fear Israel's UNRWA ban will spark disaster By Heather Murdock, Nedal Hamdouna, Amjed Tantesh, Enas Tantesh November 26, 2024 In northern Gaza, families are still fleeing what is left of their homes. "They told us to leave immediately," said one woman, who stopped briefly to tell a VOA cameraman what is going on. Families behind her streamed down the bombed-out street, carrying belongings in backpacks and plastic sacks, and other items, such as pans and buckets, in their hands. "We have nothing else to lose. We lost our children. We lost everything," she said, as a male family member urged her to keep moving. The United Nations said the Israeli military is "subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation." And in the next two months, the situation could get immeasurably worse, added Roger Hearn, director of relief and social services for UNRWA, the U.N.'s agency for Palestinian refugees. Over the objections of much of the international community, Israeli laws that would essentially halt UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip are expected to take effect in late January. "People are facing catastrophic hunger in Gaza," said Hearn in a phone interview from an airport on his way home from Gaza. "People are struggling to get the basics, such as water. Most people in Gaza are displaced. ... So, to actually take that one step further and say, 'OK, UNRWA is forbidden from working in Gaza,' would be a very cruel addition to a situation where people are already in dire need." Israel accuses UNRWA of having Hamas members among its staff in Gaza, including participants of the October 7, 2023, terror attack that sparked the war when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 250 others. The United States, Britain and other Western countries designate Hamas as a terror group. In a letter to the U.N. early this month, Israel withdrew from the 1967 agreement recognizing UNRWA, according to The Times of Israel. "UNRWA the organization whose employees participated in the October 7th massacre and many of whose employees are Hamas operatives is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution," said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, according to the news site. And while UNRWA disputes these allegations, Hearn said the most urgent issue on their agenda is trying to convince Israel not to implement the new laws. People in Gaza are now starving, even as trucks containing enough food to feed the Strip for months languish across the border in Egypt. Aid that gets in is hard to distribute amid ongoing battles, bombings and looting. Aid workers in Gaza say they still have hope that the laws will not go into force. "We hope that the active parties in the international community will intervene and prevent this disaster," said Abu Sharaf Jadallah, a local leader and relief worker who helps distribute UNRWA aid in Gaza. "It is the only party now that is providing aid to all Palestinians, to 2 million displaced people." Long-term losses Further south, in Khan Younis and Deir Albalah, Gaza, where conditions for displaced families are marginally better than in the north, humanitarian aid is not nearly enough to feed the people. They are malnourished and increasingly sick. Soon, many also may face starvation. Families here say they fear that if UNRWA stops working in Gaza, they will have even less access to food and clean water. However, the long-term consequences of an UNRWA ban could be even more devastating, they say. Before the current war, UNRWA was providing education for 350,000 children in Gaza. Palestinians in general, and Gaza specifically, have one of the world's highest literacy rates. But that status is already in jeopardy as children here face a second year without classes. UNRWA schools now mostly serve as crowded and undersupplied emergency shelters. But locals say that to cripple the future education system at this time would be a massive blow. "It will be a terrible thing," said Rasheed Abu Eida, a 50-year-old father of six. "A country deprived of education." Now, his children are just trying to survive, he said. Besides trauma from constant bombings, they have suffered from severe weight loss and other illnesses. "My children are destroyed," Eida said. New law controversy The international community has widely objected to the laws, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying, "It would be a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster." The laws were approved by Israel's parliament in late October and would bar UNRWA from operating in Israel, which controls all access to Gaza, and curtail the agency's activities inside the Strip. Israel has said that more than 10% of the UNRWA staff of about 13,000 people in Gaza has ties to Hamas, and that 12 employees participated in the October 7 attack. UNRWA has fired nine employees in response to these allegations and says it has seen no evidence to support the claim that more than 1,400 other staff members have ties to Hamas. Israel says other organizations and U.N. agencies can take up the work of UNRWA, but the U.N. says it would be virtually impossible to replace UNRWA's complex systems on the ground during war time. Locals say the potential loss of the organization, which has been helping Palestinians since 1950, is unthinkable. The organization serves Palestinian communities in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. "A ban on UNRWA would mean no care for refugees," said Fatma Alzahraa Sharqawy, a displaced mother of four. "And not only the refugees who left their villages and cities in the past, but all of Palestine. So, if the United Nations and UNRWA is banned, it means the international community has abandoned the Palestinian cause." Said Kilany contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ceasefire deal: Hezbollah to move north, Israeli troops to gradually withdraw By Linda Gradstein November 26, 2024 Israel and Lebanon have signed a ceasefire agreement after more than 13 months of conflict. According to the deal, Hezbollah troops will move north of the Litani River and Israeli troops will withdraw from south Lebanon. The Israeli Cabinet voted Tuesday to approve the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which will take effect on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Speaking on Israeli TV, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel retains freedom of movement to attack the Iran-backed Shia militant group if it violates the ceasefire. Netanyahu said, "If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terror infrastructure near the border, we will attack." The prime minister said Israel has set Hezbollah back decades by assassinating leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as thousands of other Hezbollah fighters and destroying much of Hezbollah's attack capability. According to the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah will move its soldiers north of the Litani River as called for by U.N. Resolution 1701. Israeli troops will gradually withdraw from south Lebanon, and acting Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati said 5,000 Lebanese soldiers will be deployed there. Netanyahu said the ceasefire will enable more than 60,000 residents who have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel to return. More than a million Lebanese have also been displaced on the other side of the border. But some are skeptical that the ceasefire will really mean the end to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Middle East expert Eitan Shamir of Bar Ilan University said Israel has achieved its objectives in the fight against Hezbollah. "We are at a point of diminishing returns," Shamir said. "A lot of effort, getting some casualties, we will probably get more casualties if we continue. On the other hand, most of the damage has already been done to Hezbollah. The idea from the get-go was not to completely destroy Hezbollah and getting it to a situation where it has to surrender. From the minute this campaign was launched, there was an understanding that Hezbollah will continue to be a serious actor in Lebanon." The big question is how the ceasefire deal in Lebanon will affect the fighting in Gaza. Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to fight in Gaza until Hamas is annihilated and all remaining hostages, living and dead, are returned. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Death toll from Sudan's brutal civil war far exceeds previous estimates, study suggests By Henry Ridgwell November 26, 2024 The number of people killed in Sudan's civil war is far higher than previously thought, according to new research, as aid agencies warn that the conflict has created the world's worst hunger crisis with millions on the brink of famine. The study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine suggests that deaths in Khartoum state alone were higher than previous estimates for the entire country. "In Khartoum State, between April 2023 and June 2024, the researchers estimate over 61,000 people died of all causes, a 50% increase in the pre-war death rate. Over the same period, it is estimated that there were over 26,000 deaths due to violence in Khartoum State, significantly higher than the 20,178 intentional-injury deaths reported by ACLED for the entire country," the report said. ACLED, or Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, is a non-profit organization whose figures are widely used by international organizations, including the United Nations, and national governments. The research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine showed that the leading cause of death was preventable disease and starvation. It indicates that the nationwide death toll in Sudan is far higher than previous estimates, as "over 90% of both all-cause and violent deaths in Khartoum State went unrecorded, suggesting the death toll in other regions is also significantly higher than recorded figures." Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023, a brutal power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has cut off entire communities and devastated most government services, making it difficult to reach an accurate estimate of the number of excess deaths caused by the conflict. The study used a relatively new technique known as "capture-recapture analysis" which compares data from multiple sources to arrive at accurate estimates when not all data are recorded. "It allows us to estimate the number of unrecorded events, in this case, deaths. We've done that by collecting data from three different sources, triangulating those three sources and comparing them and seeing the amount of overlap there was. The less there was an overlap between the three source lists, the more unrecorded deaths we estimated to have occurred," lead author Maysoon Dahab told VOA. Separately, the aid group Doctors without Borders says that since January this year, one in six of its patients at a Khartoum hospital were children under 15, with many sustaining severe injuries from gunshots, explosions and shrapnel. The organization said there has also been a rise in cases of severe malnutrition among children. The United Nations says the conflict has forced 11 million people to flee their homes, with some 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - needing food aid, making it the world's biggest hunger crisis. It's vital that more is done to end the suffering, said Maysoon Dahab of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "So, in the case of the international community, ensuring the understanding that the aid effort needs to be increased, scaled up and put out to inaccessible populations. In terms of actors who are shaping the war, what we hope to put out in terms of the research is the true price of this war. So that they are able to make their decision based on those facts," she told VOA. Visiting Khartoum last week for talks with Sudan's army chief, the United States' Special Envoy to Sudan, Thomas Perriello, said efforts international efforts were ongoing to end the violence. "We also share the aspiration for this war to end as soon as possible, to see an end to the horrific atrocities," Perriello told reporters in Port Sudan on November 18. However, there are few signs that either the Sudanese army or the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are ready to agree a truce. Meanwhile, Russia last week vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, saying the process excluded Sudan itself. Britain, which sponsored the resolution alongside Sierra Leone, strongly criticized Moscow's decision. "This Russian veto is a disgrace, and it shows to the world yet again Russia's true colors," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. "Shame on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin for pretending to be a partner of the Global South while condemning black Africans to further killing, further rape, further starvation in a brutal war," he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Africa displacement triples, fueled by conflict, violence and disasters, new report states By Mohammed Yusuf November 26, 2024 A new report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center says the number of people displaced in Africa has tripled to 35 million. Of these, 32.5 million abandoned their homes due to conflict and violence. The report, published Tuesday, says government efforts to address internal displacement on the continent have been commendable but not enough. Twenty-four-year-old Amani Kalindi has not known peace since he was a boy growing up in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The truck driver is one of the millions of Africans displaced from their homes due to conflict, disasters, and climate change. He said people are living in constant fear, fleeing to seek safety, but then hit with new dangers and forced to flee again. War has been a constant problem, with foreign armed groups invading the country to fight over its resources and minerals, he said, adding that inter-communal violence is also a threat. Kalindi said that, with nowhere else to turn, he arrived in Uganda on Saturday after spending years in Ituri and North and South Kivu provinces in the DRC. Escaping danger, he joined millions of others from Africa and beyond in registering as a refugee. In a new report published Tuesday, the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center says the large majority of people displaced worldwide are in Africa. The report looks at the new trends and developments of the displaced from 2009 to 2023 and found that the number of people forced from their homes has tripled to 35 million. Almost 93 percent are displaced due to conflict and violence, and 26 million of them are displaced in just five countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. Experts say poverty, inequality and marginalization are among the many factors that fuel conflict and violence, and armed groups have exploited these grievances, which create more displacements. IDMC director Alexandra Bilak said violence is not solely to blame for the crisis. "So, five countries on the African continent are generating the most conflict-related internal displacement, but our report also shows that disaster displacement is also rising. We are now reporting six times more disaster displacements than 15 years ago," Bilak said. Floods and droughts trigger the majority of disaster displacements. IDMC researchers warn climate change will make these weather-related events more frequent and intense, and they expect these displacement trends to continue. With the heightening conflict in Sudan, the chronic armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and weather-related disasters hitting communities, Balik said it's hard to see the numbers going down. "It's hard to be optimistic. We know that with the impact of climate change, the disasters we already see today are likely to increase in the future," Balik said. "We have seen prolonged periods of drought across the Horn of Africa. And without more investments in the underlying causes of this displacement, we fear that the number will continue rising." The Internal Displacement and Monitoring Center notes that some African countries have developed national policies to protect and assist internally displaced persons in accordance with a 2009 African Union agreement. Beyond national legislation and policies, Nigeria issues birth certificates and national identification cards to the displaced, ensuring they are recognized and have access to government services. Balik said implementing such solutions is necessary for countries to reach their development goals. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on November 26, 2024 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: November 26, 2024 18:46 Yonhap News Agency: This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the DPRK and China, and the "DPRK-China Friendship Year" jointly announced by the two countries. In April this year, the opening ceremony of the "DPRK-China Friendship Year" was held in Pyongyang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji attended the event representing China. When will the closing ceremony of the "DPRK-China Friendship Year" be held? Mao Ning: We will release timely information when it's available. Reuters: US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged big tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Trump said that the US would impose an additional 10 percent tariff above any other additional tariffs on China on the reason that Beijing has not taken strong enough action to stop the flow of fentanyl crossing into the US from Mexico. Does the ministry have any comment? Mao Ning: I just noted what you mentioned and we will respond to that later. The Wall Street Journal: Following up on that previous question, I understand if you don't have any comment yet specifically on the announcement, but could you confirm has China reached out to the Trump transition team to try to talk about this issue yet? And if so, is there any plans for talks before Donald Trump takes office in January? Mao Ning: I have no information to share. Let me say more broadly that we are open to dialogue and communication. The Paper: Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is on a visit in China. The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said a few days ago that the two sides will take this visit as an opportunity to build an even closer community with a shared future between China and Pacific Island countries. We also noted that the Australia-based Lowy Institute issued a report recently, saying that China has regained its place as the Pacific Island region's second-largest bilateral donor, with a more competitive, politically targeted model of aid engagement. Can you share more information on that? Mao Ning: Samoa is one of the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China, and to sign the MOU on Belt and Road cooperation with China. China-Samoa cooperation has left its footprints everywhere in Samoa. The Faleolo International Airport, renovated with the support of a Chinese company, is one of the most modernized international airports in South Pacific, and the China-aided government building, depicted on the new banknotes of Samoa, has become a popular spot for the locals to visit and take photos. The friendly ties between China and Samoa epitomize China's cooperation with Pacific Island countries. China develops its relations with Pacific Island countries under the principle of respecting the Pacific Island countries' sovereignty and independence, and their will, cultural traditions and effort to seek strength through unity, and provide economic and technology aid with no political strings attached. We have rolled out close to 500 projects with various kinds of aid and concessional loans to help Pacific Island countries build roads, bridges, ports, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure, and trained over 10,000 professionals, bringing tangible benefits to the local people. China has made active effort to support Pacific Island countries in implementing the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, built new platforms according to their national conditions for climate response, agricultural cooperation, poverty alleviation and development, and kept exploring new areas for cooperation. We will continue carrying out all-round cooperation with Pacific Island countries on the basis of equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness to support Pacific Island countries' development. China Daily: In her morning press conference on November 22, Mexican President Sheinbaum said that the idea that Chinese products are entering the United States and Canada through Mexico is false. Mexican government will show to the US and Canadian governments that Chinese products are not entering the two countries through Mexico, and that they enter through all channels in terms of trade. She also noted that they have a plan with the aim of substituting these imports that come from China, and producing the majority of them in Mexico. What's China's comment? Mao Ning: China noted President Sheinbaum's remarks. China carries out trade cooperation with other countries in accordance with international rules and market principles, and mutual benefit is a defining feature of such cooperation. We always believe that politicizing economic issues serves no one's interest. China and Mexico are good friends that trust each other and good partners seeking common development. Imports from China have played an important role in boosting the development of Mexico's manufacturing industry and improving its competitiveness in foreign trade, and brought about tangible benefit to the Mexican people. Maintaining steady and sound economic and trade ties meets the common aspirations of both China and Mexico and serves the long-term interests of all sides. China stands ready to work with Mexico to uphold the sound momentum of our bilateral trade and economic cooperation to boost the development of both countries. Bloomberg: In his social media posts, Trump seemed to complain that China hadn't done enough to stem the flow of fentanyl to the US. Would the ministry like to comment on this? Does China believe that it has done enough to stop the flow and done enough with the agreements made with the US on this? Mao Ning: We've shared on multiple occasions what has been achieved in China-US counternarcotics cooperation. On your specific question, we will respond to that later. AFP: Denmark said yesterday that it is in talks with China over a ship that may be linked to cutting of cables in the Baltic Sea. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm that the talks are happening and provide any update on the discussions? Mao Ning: As I have learned, China maintains communication with relevant parties, including Denmark, through diplomatic channels. Bloomberg: The EU is proposing that it'll sanction several Chinese firms that it says helped Russian companies develop attack drones that were deployed against Ukraine. Would the ministry like to comment on this? Mao Ning: China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council. On the Ukraine issue, China is committed to promoting talks for peace. China has never provided weapons to parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, even drones for civilian use, and opposes using civilian drones for military purposes. The normal exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Russian companies do not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or interfered with by any third party. As we speak, most countries, including European countries and the US, carry out trade with Russia. We urge the EU to refrain from applying double standard and stop listing Chinese companies, smearing China and shifting the blame to China without providing any factual basis. China will do what is necessary to firmly defend the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies. AFP: In Myanmar, the rebel group, the TNLA, said yesterday that they are ready to reenter talks with Myanmar's military junta to end the fighting there. Since China has previously brokered talks between the TNLA and the military, can you tell us if there are any new talks scheduled or if there's been any progress towards talks? Mao Ning: As a friendly neighbor , China has been paying close attention to what is happening in Myanmar and the situation in northern Myanmar. We firmly oppose wars and turbulence in Myanmar and sincerely hope that stability will be restored soon in the country. We have been urging all parties to the conflict in northern Myanmar to stop the fighting, resolve issues through dialogue and consultation, and jointly bring about a soft landing of the situation in northern Myanmar. China will continue to actively promote talks for peace and provide support and assistance to Myanmar's peace process to the best of our capability. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 3rd India-Tanzania Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting held in Goa to further expand bilateral ties India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Posted On: 26 NOV 2024 3:21PM by PIB Delhi The third edition of Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting between India and Tanzania took place in Goa on November 26, 2024. During the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of areas of cooperation, including growing training partnership and service-to-service, maritime & defence industry collaboration. They also reviewed the progress on decisions taken during the previous JDCCs, and explored new areas to further expand bilateral defence cooperation. The Indian delegation, led by Joint Secretary Shri Amitabh Prasad, included senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces. The High Commissioner of India to Tanzania Shri Bishwadip Dey also attended the meeting. The Tanzanian delegation was led by Land Forces Commander Maj Gen Fadhil Omary Nondo. As part of the tour, the Tanzanian delegation will visit Goa Shipyard Ltd to get first-hand experience of India's capabilities in port development and shipbuilding. The delegation is also scheduled to visit INS Hansa and National Institute of Hydrography in Goa. India shares close, warm and friendly relations with Tanzania which are bolstered by robust capacity building & avenues for developing partnership. The two countries have a five-year roadmap to guide defence cooperation. ***** SR/Savvy (Release ID: 2077414) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar insurgent group agrees to talks after Chinese pressure China is keen to see an end to turmoil in a neighbor where it has extensive economic interests. By RFA Burmese 2024.11.26 -- An ethnic minority insurgent force in Myanmar has said it is ready to talk to the junta, while acknowledging China's efforts to end hostilities, in what an analyst said was the latest sign that Chinese pressure on Myanmar's rivals to end their war was paying off. China has extensive economic interests in its southern neighbour including energy pipelines and mining projects and is keen to see an end to the violent turmoil that has engulfed Myanmar since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021. China backs the military but also maintains contacts with rebel forces, particularly those based on its border. It has been calling on all sides to talk while pressuring the insurgents by closing the border and cutting off essential supplies such as fuel. The Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, based in Shan state, announced in a statement on Monday that it was ready to engage in talks with the military. The group was positive about China's mediation and said it was committed to cooperate until favorable conditions were achieved. It highlighted its belief in a federal union that ensures the right to self-determination for all ethnic groups. Radio Free Asia was awaiting further details from the TNLA's spokesperson on the possibility of talks with the military. One analyst said Chinese pressure was working. "It appears that China is exerting pressure on both sides," said Hla Kyaw Zaw, a China-based analyst on Myanmar affairs. "The TNLA is also taking into account the impact of the conflict on civilians in its region." The TNLA is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance of rebel groups who went on the offensive on Oct. 27 last year, and made stunning gains, putting the military under the most pressure it has faced since shortly after independence from Britain in 1948. Offers of talks The junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has recently made several offers of talks to the insurgents, including once while in China this month, on his first visit there since the 2021 coup. In his latest call for peace, in a message for National Day on Monday, Min Aung Hlaing said political issues had to be resolved through political means not through armed struggle, and if not, Myanmar risked disintegration and the loss of solidarity and sovereignty. The military has long seen itself as the only institution capable of holding the diverse country together. While calling for talks, the junta has also been stepping up airstrikes on rebel zones, with a rising toll on civilians, U.N. rights officials say. Insurgents groups, including the TNLA, have asked China not just to press them to make peace but to also tell the junta to stop its airstrikes on civilians. They say China has not responded. The rebels dismissed Min Aung Hlaing's first offer of talks as window-dressing for a foreign audience, made at China's insistence. Then in September, a Shan-state-based ally of the TNLA in the three-party alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, said it would stop attacking big towns and cities and would no longer cooperate with the National Unity Government, or NUG, which was set up by pro-democracy politicians after the 2021 coup. The MNDAA announcement came days after it said China had warned it to stop fighting and had closed off the border. China gave the TNLA the same warning in late August. Analysts say China regards the NUG as under the influence of Western governments and wants it isolated. 'Stop the money' For its part, the NUG, which commands the loyalty of militia forces set up by pro-democracy activists, has been skeptical of the junta's calls for talks. It said in its National Day comments that the population was united in the effort to overthrow the military dictatorship and begin a new chapter. The NUG stresses the need for concerted international pressure on the junta, including cutting off supplies of jet fuel for the air force. "If regional countries stop the flow of money to the military regime, it will suffer," said NUG spokesman Kyaw Zaw. "Sanctions should target companies that supply jet fuel and shipping lines which transport jet fuel for the junta." Political analyst Than Soe Naing was also not optimistic about the prospects for talks given the bad blood between the two sides. "Only when the people have some weapons and power in their hands can they begin to talk about peace," he told RFA. "As long as the people are oppressed and killed, peace talks will be impossible." Myanmar affairs analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said there was nothing any other powers could do about China's intervention in Myanmar and its support for the junta: "Neither the U.N. nor the United States has the capacity to stop it. ASEAN has also failed to implement effective measures." China's intervention on behalf of a deeply unpopular junta looks bound to inflame public anger. A small bomb recently went off outside the Chinese consulate in Mandalay city. "China is actively interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs," said a Myanmar citizen in the South Korean capital, among a couple of hundred people protesting outside the Chinese embassy. "We, as members of the diaspora, are opposing China for recognizing the military council." Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn. Translated by Aung Naing, Kalyar Lwin. 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address What Is Behind The Deadly Sectarian Violence In Pakistan? By Abubakar Siddique November 26, 2024 Pakistan's northwest has been the scene of sporadic bursts of sectarian violence for decades. In the latest flareup, over 80 people were killed in clashes in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on November 21-23. The violence erupted when gunmen fired on a convoy of Shi'ite Muslims. The deadly incident triggered retaliatory attacks on the Sunni Muslim community. The sides announced a seven-day cease-fire on November 24. Troubled History Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country. But Kurram, a mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, has a large Shi'ite population. Decades of clashes, often over land, have left thousands of people in Kurram dead. Over 200 people have been killed since July, alone. Northwestern Pakistan has been a hotbed of militancy for decades. The emergence of Sunni and Shi'ite armed groups in the region has exacerbated sectarian tensions, experts say. "The rise of militant groups from rival sects has transformed Kurram into a battleground for sectarian dominance," said Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, news director at the Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Shi'a say Sunni extremist groups -- including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State-Khorasan, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi -- are trying to exterminate or expel them from Kurram. Many of the groups have targeted Shi'a, whom they see as apostates. In some of the worst violence in Kurram in recent decades, around 2,000 people, mostly Shi'a, were killed between 2007 and 2011 when the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, tried to overrun the district. The Sunni community blames the violence in Kurram on the Zainebiyoun Brigade, a Shi'ite militia made up of Pakistanis who fought in Syria. The group included Shi'a from Kurram, some of whom have returned home in recent years. Political Marginalization Experts say the deadly sectarian violence in Kurram is also borne out of weak governance and political marginalization. Pakistan's border regions -- including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- have been the scene of deadly military offensives against Islamist and separatist insurgencies, and the army has been accused of committing widespread human rights abuses. The federal government in Islamabad and the powerful military, which has an oversized role in domestic and foreign affairs, have also eroded democratic norms and institutions. In 2019, Islamabad passed a law that granted security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sweeping powers, including detaining suspects indefinitely or without charge. Syed Irfan Ashraf, a university lecturer in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said Pakistan's military has tried to enforce an "authoritarian governance model" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "This governance model is taking a huge toll now," he said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-shia- sunni-sectarian-kurram-pakhtunkhwa/33216207.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia And Yemen's Huthis United In Their Animosity Toward The West By Kian Sharifi and Current Time November 26, 2024 Yemen's Huthi rebels have attacked international shipping and fired on U.S. naval forces in the Red Sea for over a year. The Huthis' missile and drone attacks have disrupted a key global trade route and triggered retaliatory strikes by the United States and Britain. Now, U.S. media reports suggest that Russia has been helping the rebels pick their targets -- most of them commercial ships owned or operated by Western companies or vessels heading to or coming from Israel. Experts say Russia is expanding its cooperation with the Huthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that is backed by Iran, including by sharing intelligence. Moscow could even supply the Huthis with advanced arms in response to Washington loosening restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied weapons. "It sends a message to the United States that Russia could make life very painful if it wants to, and it's a not-so-veiled threat that could be construed as retaliation for Washington's assistance to Ukraine," said Colin Clarke, director of policy and research at the New York-based Soufan Group intelligence consultancy. Enemy Of My Enemy The Huthis have said their attacks on Western and Israeli targets in the Red Sea are in response to Israel's devastating yearlong war in the Gaza Strip. The rebels have vowed to continue their attacks, which include direct missile and drone attacks on Israel, until a cease-fire is reached in the Palestinian enclave. The Gaza war has pitted Israel against Iran's so-called axis of resistance, a loose network of state and nonstate actors that include the Huthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria. Experts say Russia's support for the Huthis aligns with the Kremlin's narratives about opposing the West and empowering anti-Western armed groups globally. "The Kremlin is interested in having friends who can test the nerves of Moscow's enemies in the Red Sea or anywhere in the Middle East," Ruslan Suleymanov, an academic and oriental studies expert, told Current Time. He added Russia also wants to be seen supporting any group that "stands up to the West." U.S. media reports and intelligence in recent months suggest that Russia is providing intelligence, including satellite data, to the Huthis to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea. Since July, reports have said the Kremlin even threatened to transfer anti-ship missiles to the Huthis, but that the United States and Saudi Arabia dissuaded Russia. Experts say that could change after Washington on November 17 reportedly allowed Ukraine to use longer-range U.S. Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike inside Russia. "The Russian consideration of arming the Huthis has been directly related to what [Russian President] Vladimir Putin perceives as U.S. escalation against Russia in progressively loosening restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied weaponry," said Kenneth Katzman, former senior Middle East analyst for the U.S. Congress. In addition to disrupting shipping in the Red Sea, Russia is reportedly using the Huthis to recruit fighters from Yemen to join the war against Ukraine. Moscow is also ensuring that Russian ships can safely transit the Red Sea. The Huthis have wrested control of Yemen's northwest and Red Sea coastline since the country's devastating civil war erupted in 2014. Boon For The Huthis Experts say the Huthis stand to gain by expanding their relations with Russia. Clarke of the Soufan Group said Russian intelligence helped the rebels more accurately target Western vessels in the Red Sea. It also shows that the Huthis are not an "uncontrollable gang of terrorists," he said. "On the contrary, they are a rational actor, a highly capable organization that is becoming an even bigger player in the Middle East and doing so through asymmetric means," Clarke added. Iran is the Huthis' main military backer, supplying them with weapons technology and missile components, according to U.S. intelligence. Experts say the rebels would benefit significantly from Russian missile technology, which Katzman said was "far more precise and effective" than the arms provided by Tehran. This could lessen the group's dependence on Iran, an ally of Russia. "The Russian weaponry might even enable the Huthis to successfully strike U.S. and coalition warships, which could escalate the Red Sea conflict enormously, were the Huthis to actually strike a U.S. naval vessel," Katzman said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-huthis- red-sea-crisis/33215377.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks during the 43rd meeting of the Foreign Ministry's Council of Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation, November 26, 2024 26 November 2024 12:37 2297-26-11-2024 Colleagues, Welcome to the regular meeting of the Foreign Ministry' Council of Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation. During our previous meeting on April 22, 2024, we talked about engaging the potential the Russian regions to promote our comprehensive cooperation with the People's Republic of China. We have built a solid track record in promoting our region-to-region ties, which have become one of the key elements in the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China. In fact, we have been witnessing sustained and consistent momentum in developing our ties with China even in the present-day environment and despite the Western attempts to control everything and suppress progress towards a multipolar world order. Regional and municipal governments proactively contribute to and take part in all kinds of bilateral forums and exhibitions held by Russia and China. There are almost daily reports about these events on television and on social media. It is rejoicing that regional economic actors, educational, research and cultural institutions have been stepping up their ties. I am certain that region-to-region ties between Russia and China have a lot of potential. Apart from the bilateral track, this includes multilateral interactions, for example, within BRICS. Held regularly, the Forum of Twinned Cities and Municipal Entities has proven its worth, offering Russian and Chinese participants a platform for promoting multilateral cooperation for all BRICS countries. Our today's agenda focuses on Agricultural Diplomacy for the Regions. This is a very important topic these days. Russia has been performing its obligations under international contracts in good faith. We are among the key actors when it comes to guaranteeing food security. It is quite obvious that in today's geopolitical environment, being proactive in our diplomatic efforts in the agricultural sector helps forge stronger ties with the countries in the Global South and East, and serves as an effective asset in our foreign policy. We saw this during last year's Russia-Africa Summit, where President Vladimir Putin put forward several initiatives to supply food and fertilisers to the countries in the Global South which need this kind of assistance. We also saw this in Sochi, at the Sirius centre, which hosted the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum. This is a very important topic for the Global Majority, including our friends within BRICS. In June 2024, Moscow hosted the Conference on Food Security and Sustainable Agricultural Development as part of Russia's BRICS chairmanship. Its participants outlined specific steps for reinforcing our cooperation in this domain. Those taking part in the Kazan Summit supported Russia's initiative to establish a grain exchange within BRICS and possibly expanding it in the future by adding other agricultural sectors. In this context, the proposal by Tambov Region Head Yevgeny Pervyshov to set up an International Centre for Food Security and Fighting Hunger within the Michurinsk State Agrarian University was quite timely and relevant. We will hear more details about this proposal today. The Council's working group which prepared today's meeting worked with representatives from 10 leading agricultural regions and the Ministry of Agriculture. They have all done a great job. I would like to thank the Council, our embassies, as well as the staff of the agricultural attaches working in embassies across 40 countries for their efforts. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine: Speech by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the EP plenary on support to Ukraine and on military cooperation between North Korea and Russia European External Action Service (EEAS) 26.11.2024 Strasbourg, France EEAS Press Team Speech delivered by Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell. Check against delivery! Opening remarks Thank you madame President, Minister Honourable Members, It is imperative that we, as European Union, together with Member States, continue to use all the tools at our disposal to assist Ukraine, its military defence, its economy, its citizens and support it on its EU accession path, in line with the EU-Ukraine joint security commitments signed in June. All aspects of our support are linked and inter-connected. Security and defence goes hand in hand with support to accession related reforms, and with the support to recovery and reconstruction. And EU's accession is the ultimate guarantee that the European Union can offer. As shown by the Ukraine report under this year's enlargement package, Ukraine has continued to demonstrate remarkable resilience and strong commitment to fundamental reforms, despite the ongoing Russian war of aggression. The overall assistance to Ukraine and its people, by the European Union and its Member States, amounts to about 124 billion. The Ukraine Facility is delivering, with the total financing expected to be more than 16 billion by the end of the year to support Ukraine's most pressing financing needs. Its second pillar, the Ukraine Investment Framework will support investments in critical reconstruction projects. Around 45.5 billion have been mobilised in military support, of which 6.1 billion via the European Peace Facility. This helps providing a wide variety of arms necessary for Ukraine to repel the Russian aggression. The European Union has committed and delivered 1 million ammunition shells. At the same time, we ramped up the production capacity of our own industry. This improved production capacity will not only help long-term assistance to Ukraine but also replenish our own stocks. By helping Ukraine, we are also building up our own security. Ukraine is now also able to operate F16 fighter jets thanks to the Netherlands, Denmark and others. Additionally, we have mobilised 1.5 billion in windfall profits from frozen Russian assets. 90% of this first tranche will be channelled through the European Peace Facility to deliver priority equipment, including artillery ammunition and air defence, and for the first time direct procurement from the Ukrainian defence industry. For the next tranche of expected 1.9 billion, we proposed to allocate 1 billion to the Ukrainian industry. Our EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine will hit the target of 75,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained by the end of the winter. However, we know that the current level of assistance remains insufficient to tilt the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine's favour. We know that Russia has put its entire economy on a wartime footing and counts on the military backing of North Korea and Iran as well as the substantial support provided by China. We need to step up our assistance: Ukraine urgently needs more air defence, more ammunition and more long-range weapons. Our support to Ukraine must be scaled up. The European Union will continue to coordinate with its Member States to increase our military support and to adapt our aid to Ukraine needs. The European Union will also continue to work with Member States to provide all the necessary political, military, financial assistance that Ukraine needs to win. It is very important to continue such kind of support during the war now, but we need also - I would say - to continue to work on the fight against impunity to be sure it is possible to bring the responsible people for such a war of aggression to justice. And we need to continue to work to be sure that Russia will pay for the compensation of the damage caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine. So, be sure that we want to continue our full support during the war. but we want also to continue of actions about the accountability of the Russian authorities and for all the crimes committed in Ukraine. Thank you very much for your support and your attention. Link to video (starting at 4:17) : https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-264331 Closing remarks Thank you, Madam President, Minister, Honourable Members, This debate illustrates the need to continue the European Union's support to Ukraine. The European Union and its Member States have done a lot, but the needs remain huge. Let me stress that this extraordinary assistance is an investment in the European Union's future: Ukraine has to be able to successfully defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, also for our own security. The deployment of troops from North Korea to support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is a dangerous escalation of the war by Russia. And a serious consequence for Europeans and global peace and security. We strongly condemn it. In addition, the transfer of arms and millions of artillery shells from North Korea to Russia, is yet another blatant violation by Russia of international law, including the United Nations Charter, as well as several United Nations Security Resolutions adopted with Russia's support. It sends a clear message: Russia is not sincerely interested in a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, but is escalating and directly seeking support for its war. You have rightly pointed out issues requiring further work. We have indeed gradually moved from the one-off solutions at the outset of the invasion to more systemic assistance mechanisms. Our support to Ukraine will remain a crucial priority of the next Commission and High Representative-designate [Kaja] Kallas. We will do more to put European Union assistance on a more sustainable, predictable footing. This is essential to strengthen Ukraine now and for its recovery once the long-awaited peace is restored. Thank you very much. Link to video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-264332 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lithuania expresses strong protest over Russia's continued war crimes against Ukraine and its people Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024-11-26 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania summoned the charge d'affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Vilnius, Alexander Elkin, and handed in a diplomatic note expressing strong protest against Russia's continued war crimes against Ukraine and its people. As Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine and increasingly shells Ukrainian cities, their residents and the critical infrastructure, reports of unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war being shot by Russian forces and other war crimes committed by aggressor appear with appalling regularity. From October to November of this year alone, at least three instances were recorded in which more than 20 Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner were executed. According to the Geneva Conventions, such treatment of prisoners of war is considered a war crime. Today, during the meeting, the representative of the Russian Federation was told that if the Russian leadership and country's law enforcement agencies did not take action to investigate and prevent these crimes, they would be considered complicit in these crimes. Russian diplomats will also be held to account for justifying the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and for their active or passive efforts to whitewash the record, helping the Russian Federation evade accountability for the numerous war crimes that its military forces have committed and are still committing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania once again demanded that the Russian Federation immediately cease its illegal aggression against Ukraine, stop the hostilities, withdraw its armed forces from the entire territory of Ukraine and compensate Ukraine for all damage caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Attacked With 'Record' 192 Drones, Missiles As NATO Gauges Russia's New Weapon By RFE/RL November 26, 2024 Russia overnight launched 188 drones and four cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine -- a record number of projectiles in a single attack, Kyiv's air force said, as NATO and Ukrainian envoys prepared to gather in Brussels to assess Moscow's launching last week of an experimental missile at a Ukrainian city. Ukrainian air-defense systems "tracked 192 air targets -- four Iskander ballistic missiles and 188 enemy drones," the air force said in a message on Telegram. It added that 76 Russian drones were shot down over 17 Ukrainian regions, while another 95 drones "were lost in location" after their navigation systems had been jammed by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems. Five more drones changed course and flew toward Belarus, it said. No casualties were immediately reported in any of the 17 regions targeted, but critical infrastructure facilities such as the country's power grid and high-rise apartment buildings were damaged in several regions, officials said. During the attack, the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil was temporarily left without electricity. For the past several months, Russia has been battering Ukrainian cities with increasingly heavy drone, missile, and glide bomb strikes, causing casualties and damaging energy infrastructure as the cold season settles in. In Brussels, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) is to discuss on November 26 Russia's launching of an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile at Ukraine last week. The NUC was established at a NATO summit in Vilnius last year to step up the alliance's collaboration with Kyiv and support Ukraine's aspirations for NATO membership. The NUC meeting of envoys from Ukraine and the 32 member states of the alliance was called by Kyiv after Russia on November 21 struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with what President Vladimir Putin said was a new missile called Oreshnik. Putin said the move was part of Moscow's response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil with U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles. Putin said 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. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-ukraine-council- brussels-putin-oreshnik/33216107.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Opens Criminal Case Against Brit Accused Of Terrorism, Mercenary Activities By RFE/RL November 26, 2024 Russia's Investigative Committee announced on November 26 that it had opened a criminal case against James Scott Rhys Anderson, a British citizen accused of committing terrorism and mercenary activities. Anderson, who is alleged to have fought for Ukraine's International Legion, was detained in Russia's Kursk region after crossing the border in mid-November. His case underscores the growing complexities of international involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war and the heightened risks faced by foreign volunteers. According to the Investigative Committee, Anderson, alongside other members of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries, illegally entered Kursk with weapons, military equipment, and drones armed with explosive devices. Russian authorities claim the group carried out actions intended to intimidate the local population, cause "significant" property damage, and destabilize government operations. A statement from the Investigative Committee said Anderson and his associates were armed with automatic firearms, missile systems, and drones, underscoring the technological capabilities of Ukraine's forces and their international allies. The authorities allege these actions constitute terrorism under Russian law. A video circulated on pro-Russian Telegram channels and by the state news agency TASS over the weekend showed a man identifying himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, a 22-year-old former British Army signalman who joined Ukraine's International Legion after leaving military service in 2023. Speaking with a clear British accent, Anderson confirmed his identity and discussed his role in the ongoing war. However, the footage has not been independently verified, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding its recording. Anderson's situation highlights the dangers faced by foreign volunteers in Ukraine's resistance, as well as the propaganda value such incidents hold for Russia. The Kremlin has consistently sought to portray foreign fighters as illegitimate actors, using their presence to bolster its narrative that Ukraine's defense is dependent on mercenaries and extremists. Since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's 2022 call for international recruits, thousands of foreign volunteers have joined Ukraine's International Legion. The elite unit, integrated into Ukraine's military, has attracted fighters from across the globe, including Western nations. For many, the war represents a fight against Russian aggression and a defense of democratic values, but their participation also exposes them to legal and physical risks. Anderson's case is not the first instance of a foreign fighter being captured or accused by Russia. Moscow has consistently sought to criminalize foreign involvement, labeling such fighters as mercenaries -- a status not protected under international law -- and often accusing them of terrorism. This tactic not only targets individual fighters but also aims to deter further international participation in Ukraine's defense. The announcement of Anderson's detainment comes amid shifting dynamics in the border regions, including Kursk. Ukraine's recent cross-border operations signal an escalation in tactics, challenging Russian defenses within its own territory. These incursions, while symbolic of Ukraine's bold resistance, also amplify Moscow's narrative of external aggression threatening its sovereignty. At the same time, reports of Russia employing North Korean soldiers and pushing to reclaim territory lost during Ukraine's August counteroffensive suggest a deepening of the conflict. Russia's efforts to portray foreign fighters like Anderson as central to these operations serve as both a legal and propaganda tool, distracting from its own controversial use of international personnel and tactics. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uk-citizen-mercenary-ukraine- russia/33216317.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Interview: Could A Demilitarized Zone End The Ukraine War? By Vazha Tavberidze November 26, 2024 Lieutenant Colonel Jahara "Franky" Matisek is an active-duty U.S. Air Force officer, a former command pilot, instructor, and Bronze Star recipient, and a professor in the national security affairs department of the U.S. Naval War College. He has researched and written widely on issues of technology in future warfare, hybrid warfare, and security force assistance. In a conversation with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Matisek talked about the state of the Russian invasion at the 1,000-day mark and whether the United States has really done all it can for Ukraine. He also floated the notion of a huge demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Belarus. And he said Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion in Kursk already called "B.S." on Moscow's threat of a nuclear response to invasion. Matisek's views are his own and do not represent the official position of the U.S. military or the U.S. government. RFE/RL: Roughly 1,000 days into Russia's full-scale invasion, where do we stand in the Ukraine war? How is it looking? Jahara "Franky" Matisek: In some ways, it's looking worse, in other ways, it's looking better. The things I would say are looking better are that you have more European unity on training and equipping Ukrainian forces. I would also contend that the U.S. has actually been quite lackluster in the training of Ukrainians, that we've only trained about 20,000. So any perceptions that the U.S. is doing everything for Ukraine, it just isn't true. I would argue that there is also concern about what the next [U.S. President-elect Donald Trump] administration might be doing in regard to the Ukraine war. And if we must put on our "doomcasting hat" about where this is looking more negative, it is obviously the insertion of North Korean troops into the war. That adds another element. The question becomes: Is this just a limited insertion of 11,000 North Korean troops? But when you start hearing rumors that the North Koreans may end up giving Russia up to 100,000 troops, that's highly concerning because, through the course of the war, Russia seems to be running out of viable manpower to do effective combined-arms maneuvers and have a well-trained and well-equipped army to carry out current operations. So they have to rely on "meat-wave" assaults (operations with large numbers of troops with little regard for individual survival), and the meat-wave assaults work as long as, from a Russian perspective, those people were disposable anyways. You know, it is very telling about how they work: They basically force the Ukrainians to expose their defenses and positions to take care of the meat-wave assault. Meanwhile, the Russian VDV [Airborne Forces], who are obviously comparatively better than most Russian forces, are able to then use precision fire over time to basically slowly pick off Ukrainian defenses. Again, the negative is that the Russian war machine continues to grind on. They are still taking more territories, especially in eastern Ukraine. And there is a big question mark as to whether Moscow has achieved its war aims of undermining Western political support for keeping this war up into the third year, especially as we don't know what the incoming Trump administration is going to do. RFE/RL: With all that in mind, in this theater of war, which act are we watching, and how far are we from the grand finale Matisek: If you're [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Moscow, you obviously want to exploit this sort of lame-duck presidency [of outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden]. So you could argue it's quite good that the Biden administration finally relented on allowing longer-range strikes [by Ukraine] into Russian territory. And the Ukrainians have already launched several ATACMS [ballistic missiles into Russia]. The range of the ATACMS is only about 300 kilometers.... RFE/RL: Isn't it a fallacy to refer to them as long-range? They are distinctly short-range. We're not talking about Tomahawks here. Matisek: Well, for the [U.S.] Army, 300 kilometers is a long-range weapon system. But you're 100 percent right, long-range for the army means something very different from the navy or the air force. I'm an air force pilot, so when I think "long-range," I think I can hit anything on the planet from wherever I am. I like to use the term "anti-strategy" for the narrative that the U.S. basically got cornered into allowing long-range missiles and deep strikes into Russia when it's 300 kilometers. You can drive that in a few hours; that's not long-range if it's a day trip. So the fact that we even allowed ourselves to get into that debate -- self-defeating, self-deterring, loop or spiral or cycle, whatever you want to call it -- is really unfortunate because, again, it gave the narrative to Putin, which he obviously seized upon. He just released a new, updated Russian nuclear doctrine. The two biggest things he did in there were [to assert that] any conventional attack on Belarus is now considered an attack on Russia. And the other thing I found very notable is the inclusion of verbiage -- essentially it's directed at Ukraine -- about a country attacking us with the support of a nuclear power -- so that's potentially the U.S., the French, the Brits -- we consider that also within the realm of a response with nuclear weapons. I think it's "red line" bluffing, because the U.S. and the collective West have been crossing Moscow's red lines for the last three, four years. But it's an attempt to control the narrative and to signal to the West that "Hey, you can't touch this because we've now drawn the line [whereby] your participation in this war, the very act of it, makes you culpable in a potential nuclear war." RFE/RL: In that case, they don't need to wait for another escalation by "the West." By that Russian logic, the United States is already involved and is therefore a potential target for a nuclear strike. So what are they going to do to implement it? Matisek: Well, I don't think it's any change because Russia already had a nuclear doctrine that if their territory is invaded they're allowed to have a nuclear response. Well, the Ukrainians already demonstrated that that was a line of bullshit. So I don't think the Russians are using a nuclear weapon anytime soon. The Russians can talk, they can rattle the saber about this all they want, but in the end, it would actually do more harm to the Russian war machine. It would hurt them even more, it would make them more isolated. The rest of the world is going to judge the actions of Moscow and them using a nuclear weapon when the survival of the Russian state and Russian leadership is not at stake. RFE/RL: If we could return to the second half of the previous question: How close are we to an endgame, provided the current trends continue and assuming no Trump intervention happens? Matisek: I could see this going on another three years. RFE/RL: Looking at the battlefield, is there still a case to be argued in favor of Ukraine winning this on the battlefield, retaking all its territory and driving Russians out, or has that ship sailed? Matisek: If I were to cast this into a campfire metaphor: Imagine a big campfire, and if the campfire is the standard of retaking Luhansk and [the rest of] Donbas and Crimea, the chances of that happening are merely a warm ember, and the fire is mostly out. So it does not look good, given current trends, things that I do believe could change -- that would be the European Union sending an EU-flagged mission into Ukraine and drawing a line in the sand, saying that "Russian forces will not cross these lines because we view this as an invasion of Europe." RFE/RL: How likely is that, given what we've seen from Europe? And curiously enough, one of the peace plans that emerged from President-elect Trump's camp actually includes creating a demilitarized zone and manning it not with U.S. but European troops. So now, without a hint of sarcasm, how realistic is it that Europe says yes to that? Matisek: The idea of the Russian forces eventually making it to Kyiv or farther west over the next three to five years would compel the Europeans to do that, along with the Americans telling the Europeans, "You have to do this." And there is a model for this; it is basically how North Korea and South Korea had to be essentially split up. Is that a best ideal outcome? No, of course the best ideal outcome is all Russian forces leaving the entirety of Ukraine. But we have to go back to being realistic. How much are the Americans and the Canadians and the Europeans willing to fight and die for every centimeter of Ukrainian territory? And that becomes a question of political willpower and domestic politics. I think it's just an easier sell having to lock this in place. And you essentially create a huge DMZ [demilitarized zone], essentially between Ukraine and Belarus, Russia, and the occupied parts of Ukraine. And that would just basically be millions of land mines and Ukrainian defense bases, with probably European Union-flag forces essentially as observers, peacekeepers, and as a part of that sort of deterrent line. It would essentially become just one big trip-wire deterrent, if you will. That would be an ideal outcome for a lot of countries, especially in Europe. It's really depressing and unfortunate, but it's hard to make that case to the average American or average European, that this war is worth actually fighting and dying for. It's worth fighting for, yes, but... RFE/RL: Dying for it is a different matter. Matisek: Exactly. RFE/RL: We are talking hypotheticals now, right? If that plan became a reality, somebody would have to man the DMZ, right? It couldn't be only Ukrainians. Matisek: It would have to be a European Union-flag mission. NATO would not want to be charged with that type of mission. RFE/RL: Because of Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty, providing for common defense in the event of an attack on any member]? Matisek: Yes. RFE/RL: Then we enter the very murky territory of who would actually be willing to send troops there. And further, equally murky territory would be what happens if there is any sort of renewed military conflict and those troops get in harm's way? Matisek: So, on the first point, I would argue that most Eastern European countries are willing -- the Baltics would be willing to send forces, and Poland for sure -- and then it becomes kind of murky after that. I would argue the French would probably be willing to do it, and I bet the Germans would also be willing to do it. And I would argue we already kind of know who'd be willing to do this, because a template kind of exists: NATO has the EFP, the Enhanced Forward Presence, in the Baltics already, a sort of trip-wire deterrent force. RFE/RL: But they are very conveniently under the NATO umbrella. These ones wouldn't be. Matisek: Yes, but, for the sake of argument, there is enough overlap between the EU and NATO, they could use an EFP, they could borrow part of the EFP construct. And I would contend that you would probably get a similar mix of forces from the EU in addition to the Canadians and the Brits and even Norwegians, I bet. RFE/RL: Since we are discussing armies and, to an extension, manpower: Which is the more pressing issue for Ukraine at this stage, shortage of equipment or shortage of manpower? Matisek: It's manpower, manpower, manpower. The Europeans and the Americans and the Brits, all these countries that are willing to train Ukrainians, they could train more; it's just a question of whether Ukraine can send more. And get them enough military-aged men and women, as women are also allowed to serve in the Ukrainian Army. So that becomes a huge part. We know it's in Germany's interest not to allow Ukraine to fall either; I think a big report came out just last week about the anticipation that, if Ukraine were to fall or be abandoned, that Europe would expect 10 million to 15 million Ukrainian refugees and that would be way more disruptive economically and politically. So, yeah, it's manpower. The only thing you can do to offset the manpower things is having more and more drones. Because they don't have the manpower, you really see the Ukrainians emphasizing cheap drones that are unjammable, that use AI, and that is a way to overcome the manpower issue. But at a certain point, you still need people on the ground to man the drones. RFE/RL: We have already discussed the ATACMS green light from the United States. Let's circle back to it. What has shifted in the Biden administration's calculations that made them think that now is the time? Matisek: Oh, it's definitely that the administration has been under a lot of pressure because of the insertion [into Russia's Kursk region] of the 11,000 North Korean troops. They've been under a lot of pressure, I think, internally and externally, about letting the North Koreans get involved in this war without any sort of tit-for-tat-type response. The South Koreans are quite upset and angry about this as well. So this had to be a natural response. RFE/RL: The general consensus seems to be that it's coming way too late, but still the question needs to be asked: What's the expected impact? Matisek: Again, the tit-for-tat escalation by the current administration has just been too little too late, constantly. That seems to be a theme -- too little, too late, too much open debating, too much time to give Russia an ability to adjust before these weapons and stuff are used so that you can't exploit them in the moment. I guarantee you, Russians did their best to disperse after that announcement, in terms of massing formations and trying to get things out of stockpiles, just to minimize how much damage can be done by ATACMS. So that's what I find unfortunate about it, that the U.S. is trying to incrementally escalate but do it very openly, and that actually undermines the intent and the purpose. And honestly, this is still a war, so when you do things like this, it makes it feel more like a war of politics and diplomacy than an actual war of militarily defeating Russia and neutering their ability to invade a neighbor ever again. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/demilitarized-zone-ukraine-war- matisek/33212436.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian-Installed Court In Donetsk Sentences Georgian Legion Leader In Absentia By RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus November 26, 2024 The so-called Supreme Court in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Donetsk region has sentenced Mamuka Mamulashvili, leader of the Georgian Legion, to 23 years in prison in absentia. The court, operating under Russia's authority in the illegally annexed region, accused Mamulashvili of recruiting and training foreign mercenaries to fight against Russian forces in Ukraine. According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, the 46-year-old Mamulashvili, who says he has been the focus of several poisoning attempts, was found guilty under several articles of the Russian Criminal Code. While the ruling will likely have no practical impact on Mamulashvili or the Georgian Legion's operations, it provides valuable propaganda for the Kremlin as it continues its campaign to suppress dissent and isolate Ukraine diplomatically. For Ukraine and its allies, the verdict underscores the ongoing challenges in countering Russia's narrative both on and off the battlefield. The charges allege that from 2014 to 2024 Mamulashvili recruited ex-military personnel from Georgia and other nations not directly involved in the ongoing war in Ukraine. Prosecutors claimed Mamulashvili provided training, weapons, and logistical support to these recruits, enabling their participation in military operations. The court further stated Mamulashvili received compensation equivalent to over 23 million rubles ($221.500) for his activities. Russian authorities also highlighted an April 2022 interview Mamulashvili gave to the Khodorkovsky-LIVE YouTube channel where he voiced staunchly anti-Russian sentiments and criticized Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In addition to Mamulashvili, three other Georgian fighters -- Giorgi Rusitashvili, Nodar Petriashvili, and Vano Nadiradze -- were sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison each. They were convicted of participating as mercenaries in an armed conflict. The Russian prosecutor's office stated that all four individuals would serve their sentences in a strict-regime penal colony if captured. The Georgian Legion, founded in 2014, is a volunteer military unit supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Composed primarily of Georgian ex-soldiers, the group has been actively involved in key battles across eastern Ukraine. Russia has labeled the Georgian Legion a terrorist organization, aligning with its broader narrative of framing foreign support for Ukraine as illegitimate and criminal. The in absentia sentencing of Mamulashvili and other Georgian fighters appears to serve several purposes beyond legal action. It reinforces Moscow's portrayal of foreign volunteers aiding Ukraine as mercenaries and terrorists, undermining their legitimacy. By focusing on Mamulashvili's recruitment efforts and financial rewards, Russian authorities aim to discredit the broader network of international support for Ukraine's resistance. The verdict also underscores Russia's effort to project authority over Donetsk, a region it annexed in violation of international law. Issuing high-profile verdicts from a "Supreme Court" in the occupied territory serves to normalize its judicial and political structures in the eyes of its domestic audience, despite their lack of international recognition. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-donetsk- georgian-legion-leader/33216280.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address G7 Foreign Ministers Renew Support For Ukraine In Final Summit Document By RFE/RL November 26, 2024 The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries expressed their support for Ukraine on November 26 in the final statement following their summit in Italy. They also condemned what they described as Russia's "irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric." The G7 ministers' statement also warned that North Korean support for Russia marked a dangerous expansion of the war, condemning the development and saying Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. "We stand firm against Russia's war of aggression. We vehemently condemn the brutal attacks against Ukraine's cities and critical civilian infrastructure and its unacceptable toll on the civilian population," the minister said in a joint statement at the conclusion of their two-day meeting. The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States noted Russia's use of an intermediate range ballistic missile on November 21, saying it is "further evidence of its reckless and escalatory behavior." They also said their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence "will remain unwavering." The ministers, who were joined by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and the EU's foreign policy chief at their meeting in Fiuggi, a spa town southeast of Rome, added that they hoped to start distributing a $50 billion loan package stemming from frozen Russian assets by the end of the year. They also pledged to act against groups helping Russia to evade sanctions and called on China, a long-standing ally of North Korea, to act against the deployment of North Korean troops to the battlefield. The ministers also tried to raise the pressure on Israel to accept a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement." They called on the Israeli government to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. "We express our strongest condemnation for the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace," the statement added. With reporting by Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/g7-italy-ukraine-russia-canada- japan-france-germany-britain-european-union/33216840.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In New Book, Merkel Justifies Stance On Ukraine At 2008 NATO Summit By RFE/RL November 26, 2024 Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written an autobiography in which she reaffirms her decision to push back against offering Ukraine future membership in NATO at a summit in 2008 despite criticism that such a move may have prevented Russia from invading Ukraine. In the book, Merkel reflects on how that decision and others during her 16 years in office have fared over time and recalls her relationships with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021 was launched in Berlin on November 26 nearly three years to the day after she left office and ahead of a promotional tour of major European cities and the United States. The 70-year-old Merkel, known for her calm and unflappable leadership style, in the book rejects blame for any of the current strain in the West's relations with Russia in a rare commentary on her time in office. Concerning the 2008 Bucharest NATO summit, Merkel noted a pledge that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join the western military alliance was a "battle cry" to the Russian leader, adding that he later told her: "You won't be Chancellor forever. And then they'll become a member of NATO. And I want to prevent that." Six years later Putin launched the Russian occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and followed that with the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which the Russian president has justified in part by citing Kyiv's NATO membership desires. Russia Is 'An Indispensable Geopolitical Factor' Putin was always on guard not to be treated badly and engaged in power games, according to the book. Merkel wrote about his inclination to make others wait and recalls how, despite her fear of dogs, he allowed his black Labrador to be in the room during a meeting in 2007 in Sochi. "You could find all this childish, reprehensible, you could shake your head at it," she writes. "But that didn't make Russia disappear from the map. Russia with its nuclear arsenal exists and remains "an indispensable geopolitical factor." Merkel also details her experience with Trump during his first term as president, saying he "judged everything from the perspective of the real estate developer he had been before entering politics." She writes that they "talked on two different levels," in their March 2017 meeting at the White House. "Trump on an emotional level, me on a factual one." Trump 'Captivated' By 'Dictatorial Tendencies' She added that Trump, who won a second non-consecutive term on November 5, did not share her conviction that cooperation could benefit all but instead believed that all countries were in competition with each other. "He did not believe that prosperity of all could be increased through cooperation," she writes of the U.S. president, who "was captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial tendencies." Merkel also writes about the difficulties of being the first female candidate for chancellor and her decision to welcome large numbers of migrants and displaced people in 2015 in the 700-plus page memoir, which is being simultaneously published as an audiobook and translated into more than two dozen languages, including French and English. She will make a special presentation in Washington on her book tour to to present it in the United States on December 2 alongside former U.S. President Barack Obama. The book is being published as Germans rethink her legacy, including her policy on migration, which many in Germany believe led to a surge in the far right. The former leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) uses the book to justify the decisions she made regarding Russia, which launched its invasion of Ukraine just five months after Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats (SPD) was elected to succeed Merkel, who had decided not to seek reelection. Under Scholz the German economy has stagnated. The war in Ukraine prompted Berlin to wean itself off cheap Russia gas. At the same time the country has had to deal with a reduction in exports to China. Scholz now faces a challenging campaign for reelection after the collapse of his coalition government. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/merkel-putin-germany- russia-ukraine-2008-nato-summit-trump/33216723.html Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Defence Ministry reports on repelling AFU attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region (26 November 2024) 26.11.2024 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region. 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 brigades, 36th Marine Brigade, 112th, 116th, 117th, and 129th territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Aleksandriya, Viktorovka, Kruglenkoye, Lebedevka, Leonidovka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo, and Sverdlikovo. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the enemy near Aleksandriya, Gornal, Guyevo, Kazachaya Loknya, Pervy Knyazhy, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovo, Martynovka, Nikolsky, Plyokhovo, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as well as Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Zapselye, Miropolye, Pavlovka, and Yunakovka in Sumy region. Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 250 troops. Four tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured fighting vehicles, eight motor vehicles, and two mortars were destroyed. Two AFU servicemen surrendered. Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 35,760 troops, 221 tanks, 156 infantry fighting vehicles, 121 armoured personnel carriers, 1,197 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,035 motor vehicles, 304 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 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by Russian Defence Ministry 26.11.2024 According to the confirmed data, in the last three days, the AFU carried out two strikes at objects in Kursk region by long-range Western-made weaponry. On 23 November, the enemy fired five U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles at a position of an S-400 anti-aircraft battalion near Lotarevka (37 kilometres north-west of Kursk). During a surface-to-air battle, a Pantsir AAMG crew protecting the battalion destroyed three ATACMS missiles, and two hit their intended targets. As a result of the strike, a radar was damaged. There are casualties among personnel. On 25 November, the Kiev regime delivered one more strike by eight ATACMS operational-tactical missiles at the Kursk-Vostochny airfield (near Khalino). Seven missile were shot down by S-400 SAM and Pantsir AAMG systems, one missile hit the assigned target. Two servicemen were lightly wounded and infrastructure objects sustained minor damage by missile debris. After investigating the attacked sites it was confirmed that the AFU delivered strikes by U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles. The Russian Defence Ministry controls the current situation. Retaliatory measures are being prepared. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nearly 200 Russian Drones Against Ukraine in One Day - That Is Nearly 200 Proofs That Russian Ambitions Are Utterly Detached from Any Ideas of Real Peace - Address by the President President of Ukraine 26 November 2024 - 18:14 Dear Ukrainians! The key points for the moment. Nearly two hundred Russian strike drones in one night. Most of them were either shot down or neutralized by electronic warfare. I am grateful to all mobile fire groups, all air defense and electronic warfare units. This was a major escalation of pressure on Ukraine through such acts of terror. And it is crucial that we succeed in protecting our people and our infrastructure from the majority of these threats. But unfortunately, not one hundred percent. In the Ternopil region, efforts are still underway to address the aftermath of the strike. Nearly two hundred Russian drones against Ukraine in one day - that is nearly two hundred proofs that Russian ambitions are utterly detached from any ideas of real peace. Currently in Sumy, the rescue operation at the site of the shelling targeting a vehicle service station is still in progress. Tragically, two people have been killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. One person is likely still trapped under the rubble. A house and a nearby kindergarten were also damaged by the strike. Preliminary, it was a multiple rocket launcher attack. And the only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian launchers directly on Russian territory. That is why the ability to strike Russian territory is so important to us. This is the only factor that can limit Russian terror and Russia's capacity to wage war in general. I am grateful to all the partners who understand this and convey it to other partners. Today, there was a report from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi. It was in the morning. And there will be another conversation this evening. The priorities - they are clear. The frontline - the Pokrovsk direction, Kurakhove. Also, the Kursk operation. We appreciate that our partners are now implementing the announced support packages. They are implementing them quite timely. And it is important that the scale of what is announced aligns with our agreements and objective needs. We need a new impetus for defense supplies. And in December, we must make it happen. I want to thank everyone who stands with us, who stands with Ukraine! Thank you! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Group-IB contributes to INTERPOL and AFRIPOL-led Operation Serengeti resulting in the arrest of 1,006 suspects involved in cybercriminal activities in Africa November 2024 by Marc Jacob Group-IB announced that it has participated in Operation Serengeti, a two-month INTERPOL and AFRIPOL-led initiative aimed at combating cybercrime across Africa. The multinational operation took place between 2 September to 31 October 2024, culminating in the arrest of 1,006 suspects, the dismantling of 134,089 malicious infrastructure and networks that facilitated ransomware attacks, business email compromise, digital extortion, and online scams. The operation identified more than 35,000 victims, with financial losses of nearly US$193-million worldwide. These threats were highlighted in INTERPOLs 2024 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report, of which Group-IB was a contributor. kentoh The information shared by participating countries about ongoing cases was incorporated into 65 Cyber Analytical Reports prepared by INTERPOL. These reports ensured that on-the-ground actions were intelligence-driven and targeted the most significant cybercrime actors. As a private sector partner of INTERPOL and AFRIPOL, Group-IB received 19 requests for support, providing investigation results for investment-related scams, multiple scam schemes including those impersonating government officials, phishing, pig butchering and online casinos. Group-IBs investigation helped in facilitating the arrests of cybercriminals by law enforcement agencies during the operation. Clockwise from top: The arrest of the cybercriminals in Angola; devices seized from cybercriminals in Senegal; mobile sim-cards seized during the operation in Cameroon. Image credit: INTERPOL and AFRIPOL. In Kenya, law enforcement officials uncovered an online credit card fraud ring that stole US$8.6 million, redistributing funds to companies in the UAE, Nigeria, and China. In Senegal, eight individuals, including five Chinese nationals, were arrested in a US$6 million Ponzi scheme. Nigerian authorities apprehended a man running online investment scams, reportedly making over US$300,000. In Cameroon, a group trafficked victims from seven countries for a multi-level marketing scam, collecting at least US$150,000. Meanwhile in Angola, investigators dismantled a virtual casino operation defrauding Brazilian and Nigerian gamblers, making 150 arrests and seizing computers and phones. In addition, Group-IB also identified approximately 10,000 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks originating from African servers in a previous year, over 3,000 phishing domains hosted in the African region, as well as details on data stealers and actors who have published data leaks from the region on Dark Web forums. This contributed to an actionable plan by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL for taking down the cybercriminal infrastructure. From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks is of serious concern. Operation Serengeti shows what we can achieve by working together, and these arrests alone will save countless potential future victims from real personal and financial pain. We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we will continue targeting these criminal groups worldwide. Valdecy Urquiza, Secretary General of INTERPOL Through Serengeti, AFRIPOL has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States. Weve facilitated key arrests and deepened insights into cybercrime trends. Our focus now includes emerging threats like AI-driven malware and advanced attack techniques. Ambassador Jalel Chelba, AFRIPOLs Executive Director We are proud to have supported INTERPOL, AFRIPOL, and local law enforcement agencies in Operation Serengeti, and sending a clear message to cybercriminals that they have nowhere to hide. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the law enforcement agencies involved for their tireless efforts and collaboration. We believe that through our partnership we are making it increasingly difficult for cybercriminals to operate with impunity, and we remain dedicated to our fight against cybercrime, and the protection of citizens and businesses worldwide from evolving cyber threats. Dmitry Volkov CEO of Group-IB As a precursor to the operation, Group-IB participated in the third edition of AFRICA Cyber Surge, held in Accra, Ghana, during the first week of September. Anna Yurtaeva, Group-IBs Head of High-Tech Crime Investigations in the Middle East and Africa (META), represented the company at the event, where she shared her expertise and provided support to the participating countries. The operation brought together over 40 representatives and cybercrime experts from across the African region. Anna contributed to the working groups, focusing on case discussions. The event highlighted a successful example of productive collaboration among various stakeholders in the fight against cybercrime. CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted final approval of the National Association of Realtors proposed settlement agreement to resolve class action claims related to broker commissions. The Court heard from all parties as well as objectors and the Department of Justice. Once arguments concluded, the Court quickly ruled to grant final approval. The Court is expected to soon issue a formal written order. The settlement secures a release of liability for more than 1.4 million NAR members, all state/territorial and local Realtor associations, Realtor Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), NARs affiliate organizations and all brokerages with an NAR member as principal that had a residential transaction volume in 2022 of $2 billion or below. The settlement also releases MLSs and brokerages that chose to opt-in to the agreement. This is an important moment for NAR members, home buyers and sellers, and the real estate industry, said NAR President Kevin Sears, broker-associate of Sears Real Estate/Lamacchia Realty in Springfield, Massachusetts. As consumer champions, NARs members have been working tirelessly to implement the practice changes required by the settlement and shepherd consumers through this period of transition. The principles of transparency, competition and choice are core to the settlement agreement and empower real estate professionals and consumers to negotiate the services and compensation that work for them. NAR CEO Nykia Wright said, NAR is committed to empowering Realtors to help home buyers and sellers successfully navigate what is often the most important financial transaction of their lives. Today and every day, NAR is focused on demonstrating the importance of agents who are Realtors in the marketplace, creating a transparent and inclusive home buying and selling process, and advancing the right to real property for all. More information about the practice changes in the settlement agreement can be found at NAR Settlement FAQs. NAR members must adhere to the practice changes in good faith to maintain released status under the settlement agreement. NAR strongly opposes any attempts to circumvent the settlement. Under the settlement, NAR will also pay $418 million over approximately four years to the settlement fund. Membership dues for 2025 will remain unchanged from 2024. For complete information about the settlement and the approval order once available, please visit facts.realtor . About the National Association of Realtors The National Association of Realtors is Americas largest trade association, representing 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The term Realtor is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation visit facts.realtor. # # Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. MANAUS, Brazil, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brazil Potash Corp. (Brazil Potash or the Company) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering (the IPO) of 2,000,000 of its common shares, no par value per share (Common Shares), at a price to the public of $15.00 per share. All of the Common Shares are being offered by the Company. The gross proceeds to the Company from the IPO, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company, are expected to be approximately $30.0 million. In addition, the Company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 Common Shares, for a period of 30 days from the date of the final prospectus, to cover over-allotments, if any. The Common Shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE American on November 27, 2024 under the symbol GRO. The closing of the IPO is expected to occur on November 29, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company has agreed to issue to the underwriters, upon the closing of the IPO, warrants exercisable for the number of Common Shares equal to 5% of the total number of Common Shares sold in the IPO. Such warrants will be exercisable at an exercise price equal to 130% of the initial public offering price. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Banco Bradesco BBI S.A., Freedom Capital Markets, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, and Clarksons Securities, Inc. are acting as underwriters in the IPO. A registration statement on Form F-1 relating to the offering of the Common Shares in the IPO has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and was declared effective on November 26, 2024. The offering of Common Shares is being made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attention: Capital Markets, 110 East 59th Street, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by email at prospectus@cantor.com; or Bradesco Securities Inc., Attention: Isabella Behar, 450 Park Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by email at bbi.ecm@bradescobbi.com.br. Copies of the Companys registration statement can be accessed through the SECs website at www.sec.gov. The Company has also obtained a receipt for a (final) base PREP prospectus filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, other than Quebec, on November 26, 2024. A copy of the supplemented PREP prospectus containing pricing information and other important information relating to the Common Shares may, when available, be obtained by contacting Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation, Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 181 University Avenue, Suite 1500, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 3M7, or by email at ecmcanada@cantor.com, and will be available under the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Investors should read the prospectus before making an investment decision. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company, nor shall there be any sale of any securities of the Company in any state, province, territory, or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state, province, territory, or jurisdiction. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. About Brazil Potash Brazil Potash is an exploration and development company with a potash mining project (the Autazes Project) located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. The Companys technical operations are based in Autazes, Amazonas, Brazil and Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and its corporate office is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company is in the pre-revenue development stage and has not yet commenced any mining operations. The Companys plan of operations for the next few years includes securing all required environmental licenses for the Autazes Project, and, subject to securing sufficient funds, commencing all phases of the construction of the Autazes Project. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not historical facts. Words such as expects, anticipates and intends or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the terms of the IPO, the timing of commencement of trading of the Common Shares on the NYSE American, the closing of the IPO, and the underwriters over-allotment option, are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those described in the Risk Factors section of the Companys registration statement on Form F-1 for the IPO filed with the SEC and the (final) base PREP prospectus filed in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, other than Quebec. Completion of the IPO is subject to numerous conditions, and no assurance can be given that the IPO will be completed on the terms described, or at all. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Companys expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based, unless required by law. For more information, please contact: Brazil Potash Investor Relations info@brazilpotash.com BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saxena White P.A. has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit (the Class Action) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against Rentokil Initial plc (Rentokil or the Company) (NYSE: RTO) and certain of its executive officers (collectively, Defendants). The Class Action asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased Rentokil American Depositary Shares (ADSs) between December 1, 2023 and September 10, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period), and were damaged thereby (the Class). The Class Action filed by Saxena White is captioned Laborers Local #235 Pension Fund v. Rentokil Initial plc, et al., No. 24-cv-2932 (W.D. Tenn.). Based in Crawley, England, Rentokil provides pest control, hygiene, and wellness services worldwide. The Companys three main business lines are Pest Control, Hygiene & Wellbeing, and France Workwear. Rentokil is the largest global pest control services provider. North America Pest Control accounts for more than half of the Companys annual revenue. Rentokils Level II sponsored ADSs are listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol RTO. Leading up to the Class Period, Rentokil announced on October 12, 2022, that it had completed its acquisition of Memphis, Tennessee-based Terminix Global Holdings, Inc. (Terminix) in a transaction valued at $6.7 billion, including $1.34 billion in cash and over 129 million new Rentokil ADSs (the Terminix Acquisition). As a result of the Terminix Acquisition, the Terminix business became part of Rentokils pest control business line, making Rentokil the largest pest control services provider in North America. After the Terminix Acquisition closed, Rentokil claimed it was well positioned to successfully integrate Terminix into Rentokils pest control business. Throughout the Class Period, Defendants touted Rentokils progress and success integrating Terminix and the benefits of the Terminix Acquisition. The Class Action alleges that, during the Class Period, the Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, including that: (1) Rentokil experienced levels of disruption in the early pilots of the Terminix integration; (2) Rentokil experienced significant, ongoing, self-inflicted execution challenges integrating Terminix; (3) the disruption and execution challenges imperiled Rentokils integration plan for Terminix; (4) Rentokil and Terminix were still two separate businesses that were not yet integrated; (5) Rentokils failure to integrate Terminix negatively impacted the Companys business and operations, particularly organic revenue growth in North America; and (6) as a result of the above, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. The truth began to be revealed prior to the markets opening on April 18, 2024, when Rentokil issued a press release announcing its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, reporting that organic revenue growth in North America had increased by only 1.5% year-over-yearbelow the Companys guidance of 2% for the first quarter and 2% to 4% for the full year, issued just six weeks earlier. During the corresponding earnings call held later that day Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew M. Ransom assured investors that our integration program is on track[,] while Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Stuart M. Ingall-Tombs maintained, were pretty confident about our revenue guidance now. On this news, the price of Rentokil ADSs fell over 9%, from a closing price of $28.25 per ADS on April 17, 2024, to a closing price of $25.61 per ADS on April 18, 2024. The truth was revealed on September 11, 2024 when, before the markets opened, Rentokil provided an unscheduled Trading Update, announcing that the Company now expected only 1% organic revenue growth in North America for the second half of 2024well below the Companys prior guidance. In the related press release, Rentokil disclosed, [T]he trading performance in July and August was lower than anticipated. There has also been some modest disruption to organic growth from branch integration. During a related conference call with analysts held later that same day, CFO Ingall-Tombs revealed that, after nearly two years of integration efforts, I think what we have got is still because weve got 2 separate businesses, which are largely at an operational front-end not integrated yet. . . . During the same conference call, CEO Ransom admitted, This is a manifestation of execution challenges, execution -- a need to improve our execution. Its not a market phenomenon. As we can see at the moment, if further information comes to light suggest [sic] reserve the right to change that answer, but I dont think its market[,] I think this is on us. On this news, the price of Rentokil ADSs fell over 21%, from a closing price of $31.60 per ADS on September 10, 2024, to a closing price of $24.95 per ADS on September 11, 2024. If you purchased Rentokil ADSs during the Class Period and were damaged thereby, you are a member of the Class and may be able to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff, a motion on your behalf must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee no later than January 27, 2025. The lead plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as lead plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in the Class Action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member. You may contact Marco A. Duenas (mduenas@saxenawhite.com), a Senior Attorney at Saxena White P.A., to discuss your rights regarding the appointment of lead plaintiff or your interest in the Class Action. You also may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in the Class Action. You may obtain a copy of the Complaint and inquire about actively joining the Class Action at www.saxenawhite.com. Saxena White P.A., with offices in Florida, New York, California, and Delaware, is a leading national law firm focused on prosecuting securities class actions and other complex litigation on behalf of injured investors. Currently serving as lead counsel in numerous securities class actions nationwide, Saxena White has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of injured investors. CONTACT INFORMATION Marco A. Duenas, Esq. mduenas@saxenawhite.com Saxena White P.A. 10 Bank Street, Suite 882 White Plains, New York 10606 Tel.: (914) 437-8551 Fax: (888) 631-3611 www.saxenawhite.com SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K&F CONCEPT offers a range of filters designed to unlock endless creative possibilities for photographers, aiming to deliver a complete shooting experience. Recognizing the importance of selecting the right filter with minimal time and effort, the brand has revamped its product lineup into four distinct series, named using concise letter-based abbreviations and their full names: - NANO-K (NANO-Klear) - NANO-D (NANO-Dazzle) - NANO-X (NANO-Xcel) - NANO-X Pro (NANO-Xcel Pro) Each series is thoughtfully designed to cater to photographers of varying expertise levels, progressing from beginner-friendly to professional-grade tools. NANO-Klear Entry-Level Filters: Begin Your Photography Journey Embark on a new photographic journey with the NANO-Klear series. Perfect for beginners and enthusiasts looking to improve image quality, these filters balance performance with affordability. Whether enhancing colors, reducing glare, or adding dramatic effects, the NANO-Klear series ensures an effortless and rewarding user experience. NANO-Dazzle Intermediate Filters: Where Technique Meets Creativity As your photography skills advance, the NANO-Dazzle series offers the tools you need to take your craft to the next level. Tailored for creative expression, these filters provide precise control over light and color, enabling you to capture the mood and essence of your subjectswhether it's a stunning landscape or an intimate portrait. NANO-Xcel Professional Quality, Exceptional Results The NANO-Xcel series is engineered for professionals and perfectionists alike. With premium optical technology and superior materials, these filters excel in challenging shooting conditions, offering unparalleled sharpness, clarity, and detail. Designed to meet the demands of advanced creators, this series guarantees a seamless and intuitive shooting experience. NANO-Xcel Pro Craftsmanship Redefined, Ultimate Performance For those who view photography as both art and profession, the NANO-Xcel Pro series represents the pinnacle of filter technology. Inspired by the precision of leading global brands, these filters feature cutting-edge optics and exceptional durability for prolonged, intensive use. Thoughtfully designed for ease of operation, they free you to focus on your art rather than your gear. Whether shooting commercial projects, portraits, or exploring nature, the NANO-Xcel Pro series delivers industry-leading support for your creative vision. K&F CONCEPT Filter FAQs: Are the series names only indicative of price? Not just price. Each series reflects its intended audience, functional complexity, and overall user experience. Does more coating improve performance? Absolutely. Higher coating layers typically enhance optical quality. Coatings help minimize reflections and glare, improve light transmission, boost color accuracy, prevent smudges and scratches, and enhance contrast. Some coatings also block UV light, reducing haze in outdoor shots. Even our entry-level filters feature advanced multi-coating technology to ensure excellent sharpness and color fidelity for everyday photography needs. Whats the difference between True Color Nano X and regular Nano X? Filters with the "True Color" label use a specialized polarizing film and precision manufacturing to ensure uniformity and minimize color shifts. This acts as an additional layer of color correction, offering consistent and stable color performance. INCHEON, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. today announced that Kyung-Ah Kim, who has been serving as Executive Vice President and Development Division Leader, has been named as President and Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Bioepis. Kim will succeed Christopher Hansung Ko, who has been appointed to lead Samsung Future Business Division. Kim, a veteran scientist with more than 20 years of experience in biologic development, has been serving as Development Division Leader since December 2021, overseeing all of Samsung Bioepis product development cycle across various therapeutic areas. Since joining Samsung Bioepis in December 2015, she has been serving various leadership posts within Development Division. Prior to joining Samsung Bioepis, Kim worked as Principal Scientist and later as Vice President at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) leading Biotherapeutics Group focusing on development of antibody therapeutics targeting oncology. Before joining SAIT, she worked as a scientist/head of cell biology at multiple biopharmaceutical companies, leading various projects on development of therapeutic agents, including genetic sequencing and profiling, development of drug screening assays, pre-clinical assessment, pharmacological assessment, and functional assessment of antibodies. Kim holds a Ph.D in neurotoxicology from The Johns Hopkins University where she established signal transduction pathway, specifically in the learning impairment caused by genetic perturbation in lead poisoning. About Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. Established in 2012, Samsung Bioepis is a biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing healthcare that is accessible to everyone. Through innovations in product development and a firm commitment to quality, Samsung Bioepis aims to become the world's leading biopharmaceutical company. Samsung Bioepis continues to advance a broad pipeline of biosimilar candidates that cover a spectrum of therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, ophthalmology, hematology and endocrinology. For more information, please visit: www.samsungbioepis.com and follow us on social media X , LinkedIn . RIMINI, Italy, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2024, the Piadina Romagnola celebrates an important milestone: the tenth anniversary of obtaining the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) mark. A certification that since October 2014 has protected the quality and authenticity of one of the symbolic products of the Italian gastronomic tradition, guaranteeing that Piadina Romagnola PGI is produced exclusively in Emilia-Romagna, following precise rules laid down in the production regulations. The traditional recipe calls for only four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt, and fat, which can vary from lard to olive oil, depending on local tradition. The use of preservatives or additives is strictly forbidden. Under the protection and control of the PGI, the production process must respect artisan and traditional methods, guaranteeing the unmistakable thickness of the piadina, which varies from 3 mm for the thin Rimini version to 8 mm for the thicker version in the Cesena area. The Protected Geographical Indication also enhances the link with the territory: only piadina produced in the provinces of Rimini, Forli-Cesena, Ravenna and part of Bologna can bear the PGI mark. Thanks to these rules, the PGI mark has helped protect Piadina Romagnola from imitations, allowing local producers to continue to hand down their art and offer consumers a genuine product that is deeply linked to the land of Romagna. "Piadina Romagnola PGI is much more than a food product, it is a true symbol of our land and our tradition," says Alfio Biagini, President of the Consortium for the Protection and Promotion of Piadina Romagnola PGI. "In these ten years, thanks to the protection of the PGI, we have managed to protect the artisan roots of the product, guaranteeing consumers the highest quality and authenticity." From 2014 to date, the production of Piadina Romagnola PGI has steadily increased, both in terms of volume, with +280% in ten years, and in terms of recognition. Piadina Romagnola PGI has in fact been recognized and protected in a dozen non-EU states thanks to the protection work that the Consortium has introduced. With the PGI, local producers have been able to enhance tradition and support the local economy, while maintaining the use of quality ingredients and traditional production methods. Moreover, thanks to its versatility and unmistakable taste, Piadina Romagnola PGI has become queen not only in street food and the Romagna table, but also in restaurants and kitchens all over the world. The PGI represents a guarantee for consumers, who know they are buying a product linked to the territory and made according to strict quality standards. Over the past ten years, the mark has enabled Piadina Romagnola to be defended against imitations and to enhance its authentic production. "We are thrilled to be celebrating this tenth anniversary. Our goal for the future will continue to be the promotion and protection of Piadina Romagnola PGI, further expanding its presence in international markets, without ever losing sight of its roots and tradition," concludes Alfio Biagini. The Piadina Romagnola PGI, defined as the bread of Romagna, is a food that tells a story of simplicity and authentic flavours that with the IGP award has consolidated its identity as a traditional product of excellence. Fur Informationen: SECNewgate Italia - Giorgia Rizzi +39 3400010762 giorgia.rizzi@secnewgate.it News about the Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola The Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola PGI was set up to promote and valorise Piadina Romagnola or Piada Romagnola, and the variant of Piadina or Piada Romagnola alla Riminese, as well as to enforce the specification, the reference text for the production of Piadina that respects the traditional recipe. The Consortium's efforts led to obtaining the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) designation on 24 October 2014. The Consortium currently has 12 companies of different sizes, including artisan, industrial, and kiosk companies in the Romagna region. For these companies, the Consortium acts as mediator and representative. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5da461c3-0c06-4a39-843c-df52fab13a4b Dublin, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Earmuffs Market by Type, Function, Distribution Channel, End User - Global Forecast 2025-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Earmuffs Market grew from USD 3.50 billion in 2023 to USD 3.85 billion in 2024. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 9.92%, reaching USD 6.80 billion by 2030. Market growth is positively influenced by growing awareness of workplace safety, stringent regulatory frameworks, and advancements in earmuff technology, such as active noise reduction features that cater to both industrial and consumer sectors. The latest opportunities lie in the integration of smart technology, adding functionalities like Bluetooth and environmental sensors, which cater to tech-savvy consumers and professional applications requiring enhanced communication capabilities. Innovations in materials focusing on sustainability and improved comfort could capitalize on the growing eco-conscious consumer base. However, challenges include market saturation in mature regions, price sensitivity among consumers, and the availability of alternative solutions such as noise-canceling headphones. Stiff competition from local and international players can also impede market expansion. Key limitations involve the bulky design of traditional earmuffs, prompting an opportunity for research into lightweight, compact alternatives. For businesses aiming to leverage market potential, emphasis on R&D targeting technological integration and comfort-enhancing features will be crucial. Expanding distribution in emerging markets, where industrialization and safety standards are on the rise, presents a lucrative opportunity. To surmount market constraints, building strategic partnerships for technological co-innovation and focusing on user-centric designs aligned with fashion trends could ensure a competitive edge. The earmuffs market, while somewhat niche, provides considerable avenues for innovation, particularly in the fusion of hearing protection with digital technology advancements, aligning with broader trends towards smart wearables. Earmuffs Market Dynamics Market Drivers Rapid urbanization and changing fashion trends Popularity of fashion and winter accessories globally Increased awareness about occupational safety and noise-induced hearing loss among workers Market Restraints Problems due to inaccurate and prolonged use of earmuffs Market Opportunities Introduction of noise cancellation or acoustic earmuffs Advancements in design and use of different technologies in earmuff Market Challenges Comfort issues associated with earmuffs Key Company Profiles The report delves into recent significant developments in the Earmuffs Market, highlighting leading vendors and their innovative profiles. These include 3M Company, ADCO Hearing Products, Centurion Safety Products, Inc., Cotral Lab Inc., Custom Protect Ear, Inc., David Clark Company, Dynamic Ear Company, Ear Inc., Earlabs AB, Etymotic, Inc., Gentex Corporation, Happy Ears AB, Honeywell International Inc., Hultafors Group, Insta-Mold Products Inc., Moldex-Metric, North Safety Product, Pacific Coast Laboratories, ReadyMax Inc., Sensear Pty. Ltd., Sonomax Technologies, Inc., Sonova Holding AG, Starkey Laboratories, Inc., Tasco Corporation, and Westone Laboratories. The report provides a detailed overview of the market, exploring several key areas: Market Penetration: A thorough examination of the current market landscape, featuring comprehensive data from leading industry players and analyzing their reach and influence across the market. Market Development: The report identifies significant growth opportunities in emerging markets and assesses expansion potential within established segments, providing a roadmap for future development. Market Diversification: In-depth coverage of recent product launches, untapped geographic regions, significant industry developments, and strategic investments reshaping the market landscape. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: A detailed analysis of the competitive landscape, covering market share, business strategies, product portfolios, certifications, regulatory approvals, patent trends, technological advancements, and innovations in manufacturing by key market players. Product Development & Innovation: Insight into groundbreaking technologies, R&D efforts, and product innovations that will drive the market in future. Additionally, the report addresses key questions to assist stakeholders in making informed decisions: What is the current size of the market, and how is it expected to grow? Which products, segments, and regions present the most attractive investment opportunities? What are the prevailing technology trends and regulatory factors influencing the market? How do top vendors rank regarding market share and competitive positioning? What revenue sources and strategic opportunities guide vendors' market entry or exit decisions? Key Attributes Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 188 Forecast Period 2024-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $3.85 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $6.8 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 9.9% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered 1. Preface 2. Research Methodology 2.1. Define: Research Objective 2.2. Determine: Research Design 2.3. Prepare: Research Instrument 2.4. Collect: Data Source 2.5. Analyze: Data Interpretation 2.6. Formulate: Data Verification 2.7. Publish: Research Report 2.8. Repeat: Report Update 3. Executive Summary 4. Market Overview 5. Market Insights 5.1. Market Dynamics 5.1.1. Drivers 5.1.2. Restraints 5.1.3. Opportunities 5.1.4. Challenges 5.2. Market Segmentation Analysis 5.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.3.1. Threat of New Entrants 5.3.2. Threat of Substitutes 5.3.3. Bargaining Power of Customers 5.3.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.3.5. Industry Rivalry 5.4. PESTLE Analysis 5.4.1. Political 5.4.2. Economic 5.4.3. Social 5.4.4. Technological 5.4.5. Legal 5.4.6. Environmental 6. Earmuffs Market, by Type 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Standard Headband Style Earmuffs 6.3. Wrap-Around Earmuffs 7. Earmuffs Market, by Function 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Noise-Reduction 7.3. Stay Warm 8. Earmuffs Market, by Distribution Channel 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Direct Sales 8.3. Hypermarket/Supermarket 8.4. Online Store 8.5. Specialty Stores 8.6. Wholesalers/Distributors 9. Earmuffs Market, by End User 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Adults 9.3. Kids 10. Americas Earmuffs Market 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Argentina 10.3. Brazil 10.4. Canada 10.5. Mexico 10.6. United States 11. Asia-Pacific Earmuffs Market 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Australia 11.3. China 11.4. India 11.5. Indonesia 11.6. Japan 11.7. Malaysia 11.8. Philippines 11.9. Singapore 11.10. South Korea 11.11. Taiwan 11.12. Thailand 11.13. Vietnam 12. Europe, Middle East & Africa Earmuffs Market 12.1. Introduction 12.2. Denmark 12.3. Egypt 12.4. Finland 12.5. France 12.6. Germany 12.7. Israel 12.8. Italy 12.9. Netherlands 12.10. Nigeria 12.11. Norway 12.12. Poland 12.13. Qatar 12.14. Russia 12.15. Saudi Arabia 12.16. South Africa 12.17. Spain 12.18. Sweden 12.19. Switzerland 12.20. Turkey 12.21. United Arab Emirates 12.22. United Kingdom 13. Competitive Landscape 13.1. Market Share Analysis, 2023 13.2. FPNV Positioning Matrix, 2023 13.3. Competitive Scenario Analysis 13.4. Strategy Analysis & Recommendation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/v6cono 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. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Childcare Robot Market by Type of Robot, Age Group Compatibility, Price Range, Application, Distribution Channel - Global Forecast 2025-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Childcare Robot Market grew from USD 609.66 million in 2023 to USD 702.75 million in 2024. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 15.75%, reaching USD 1.69 billion by 2030. Market growth is primarily driven by technological advancements in AI and robotics, rising parental concerns over child safety, and the increasing adoption of smart home technologies. However, challenges such as high initial costs, privacy concerns, and the need for regulatory compliance could hamper widespread adoption. Latest opportunities lie in the integration of AI and machine learning for personalized child interaction, expansion into emerging markets where childcare infrastructure is less developed, and partnerships with educational content providers to enhance the educational aspect of these robots. To seize these opportunities, companies are advised to invest in R&D to refine usability and safety features while ensuring cost-effective solutions. However, limitations persist in consumer acceptance, potential technological failures, and the ethical considerations of robotic interaction with children. The most promising areas for innovation include developing adaptive algorithms that can tailor interactions based on individual child behaviors, enhancing sensory and emotional recognition capabilities to better assist children with special needs, and expanding battery life and energy efficiency to ensure continuous operation. The childcare robot market is poised for significant expansion, with a dynamic nature that encourages continual adaptation and innovation to meet evolving consumer expectations and technological landscapes. Key Company Profiles The report delves into recent significant developments in the Childcare Robot Market, highlighting leading vendors and their innovative profiles. These include AvatarMind Technology Ltd., Blue Frog Robotics, Embodied, Inc., Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Intuitive Robots, iRobot Corporation, Makeblock INC., Miko Robot, PAL Robotics, Promobot LLC, ROYBI, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SoftBank Robotics Group Corp., Sony Corporation, Sphero, Inc., SPIN MASTER LTD., SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., The LEGO Group, VEX Robotics, Inc., WowWee Group Limited, and YASKAWA Electric Corporation. The report provides a detailed overview of the market, exploring several key areas: Market Penetration: A thorough examination of the current market landscape, featuring comprehensive data from leading industry players and analyzing their reach and influence across the market. Market Development: The report identifies significant growth opportunities in emerging markets and assesses expansion potential within established segments, providing a roadmap for future development. Market Diversification: In-depth coverage of recent product launches, untapped geographic regions, significant industry developments, and strategic investments reshaping the market landscape. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: A detailed analysis of the competitive landscape, covering market share, business strategies, product portfolios, certifications, regulatory approvals, patent trends, technological advancements, and innovations in manufacturing by key market players. Product Development & Innovation: Insight into groundbreaking technologies, R&D efforts, and product innovations that will drive the market in future. Additionally, the report addresses key questions to assist stakeholders in making informed decisions: What is the current size of the market, and how is it expected to grow? Which products, segments, and regions present the most attractive investment opportunities? What are the prevailing technology trends and regulatory factors influencing the market? How do top vendors rank regarding market share and competitive positioning? What revenue sources and strategic opportunities guide vendors' market entry or exit decisions? Childcare Robot Market Dynamics Market Drivers Increasing numbers of working parents and presence of dual-income families Adoption of childcare robots in educational institutions Growing applicability of childcare robots to operate various child-related operations Market Restraints High costs of childcare robots with need for appropriate maintenance Market Opportunities Advancements in childcare robots with integration of artificial intelligence Investments and emergence of startups in childcare robotics space Market Challenges Compatibility issues of children with childcare robots Key Attributes Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 188 Forecast Period 2024-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $702.75 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $1.69 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 15.7% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered 1. Preface 2. Research Methodology 2.1. Define: Research Objective 2.2. Determine: Research Design 2.3. Prepare: Research Instrument 2.4. Collect: Data Source 2.5. Analyze: Data Interpretation 2.6. Formulate: Data Verification 2.7. Publish: Research Report 2.8. Repeat: Report Update 3. Executive Summary 4. Market Overview 5. Market Insights 5.1. Market Dynamics 5.1.1. Drivers 5.1.2. Restraints 5.1.3. Opportunities 5.1.4. Challenges 5.2. Market Segmentation Analysis 5.2.1. Type of Robot: Substantial utilization of surveillance robots for security and monitoring purposes 5.2.2. Application: Evolving usage of childcare robots in educational settings 5.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.3.1. Threat of New Entrants 5.3.2. Threat of Substitutes 5.3.3. Bargaining Power of Customers 5.3.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.3.5. Industry Rivalry 5.4. PESTLE Analysis 5.4.1. Political 5.4.2. Economic 5.4.3. Social 5.4.4. Technological 5.4.5. Legal 5.4.6. Environmental 6. Childcare Robot Market, by Type of Robot 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Companion Robots 6.3. Educational Robots 6.4. Surveillance Robots 7. Childcare Robot Market, by Age Group Compatibility 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Children 7.3. Infants 7.4. Toddlers 8. Childcare Robot Market, by Price Range 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Economy 8.3. High-End 8.4. Mid-Range 9. Childcare Robot Market, by Application 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Educational Institutions 9.3. Home Use 10. Childcare Robot Market, by Distribution Channel 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Offline 10.3. Online 11. Americas Childcare Robot Market 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Argentina 11.3. Brazil 11.4. Canada 11.5. Mexico 11.6. United States 12. Asia-Pacific Childcare Robot Market 12.1. Introduction 12.2. Australia 12.3. China 12.4. India 12.5. Indonesia 12.6. Japan 12.7. Malaysia 12.8. Philippines 12.9. Singapore 12.10. South Korea 12.11. Taiwan 12.12. Thailand 12.13. Vietnam 13. Europe, Middle East & Africa Childcare Robot Market 13.1. Introduction 13.2. Denmark 13.3. Egypt 13.4. Finland 13.5. France 13.6. Germany 13.7. Israel 13.8. Italy 13.9. Netherlands 13.10. Nigeria 13.11. Norway 13.12. Poland 13.13. Qatar 13.14. Russia 13.15. Saudi Arabia 13.16. South Africa 13.17. Spain 13.18. Sweden 13.19. Switzerland 13.20. Turkey 13.21. United Arab Emirates 13.22. United Kingdom 14. Competitive Landscape 14.1. Market Share Analysis, 2023 14.2. FPNV Positioning Matrix, 2023 14.3. Competitive Scenario Analysis 14.3.1. South Korea Invests Over KRW 52 Billion in Robotics: Advancing Manufacturing, Telemedicine, and Childcare Technologies 14.3.2. Revolutionizing Education by Chennai's Introduction of AI-Enabled Buddy Robots in Schools 14.3.3. Seoul's Strategic USD 160 Million Investment in Robotics to Address Demographic Challenges and Economic Sustainability 14.4. Strategy Analysis & Recommendation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yd1gg2 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Endeavour Silver Corp. (Endeavour or the Company) (TSX: EDR, NYSE: EXK) is pleased to announce the completion of its prospectus offering announced on November 20, 2024 for the issuance of a total of 15,825,000 common shares (Common Shares) at a price of US$4.60 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of US$72,795,000 (the Offering). The Offering was led by BMO Capital Markets, together with a syndicate of underwriters consisting of CIBC World Markets Inc., TD Securities Inc., Ventum Financial Corp. and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (the Underwriters). The Company plans to use the net proceeds of the Offering for the advancement of the Pitarrilla project in Durango State, Mexico and general working capital. About Endeavour Silver Corp. Endeavour is a mid-tier precious metals company committed to sustainable and responsible mining practices. With operations in Mexico and the development of the new cornerstone mine in Jalisco State, the Company aims to contribute positively to the mining industry and the communities in which it operates. In addition, Endeavour has a portfolio of exploration projects in Mexico, Chile, and the United States, which has helped it achieve its goal of becoming a premier senior silver producer. Contact Information Allison Pettit, Director of Investor Relations Tel: (604) 640 4804 Email: apettit@edrsilver.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding the intended use of proceeds. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events, level of activity, performance or achievements of Endeavour and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in production and costs guidance; the ongoing effects of inflation and supply chain issue on mine economics; changes in national and local governments legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, Chile, the USA and Mexico; financial risks due to precious metal prices; operating or technical difficulties in mineral exploration, development and mining activities; risks and hazards of mineral exploration, development and mining; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits; continued compliance with the project loan debt facility; fluctuations in the prices of silver and gold; fluctuations in currency markets (particularly the Mexican peso, Chilean peso, Canadian dollar and US dollar); and challenges to the Companys title to properties; as well as those factors described in the section Risk Factors contained in the Companys most recent form 40F/Annual Information Form filed with the SEC and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to: the continued operation of the Companys mining operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, mining operations will operate and the mining products will be completed in accordance with managements expectations and achieve their stated production outcomes, resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. These forward-looking statements represent the Companys views as of the date of this release. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will 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 intend to and does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. US & Canada, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new comprehensive report from The Insight Partners, the Oil & Gas Sensors Market is observing significant growth owing to growing expansion of the oil and gas industry worldwide and rising demand for ultrasonic sensors. For Detailed Market Insights, Visit: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/oil-and-gas-sensors-market The report runs an in-depth analysis of market trends, key players, and future opportunities. In general, the Oil & Gas Sensors Market comprises of type, connectivity, function, and application which are expected to register strength during the coming years. For More Information and To Stay Updated on The Latest Developments in The Oil & Gas Sensors Market, Download The Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPEL00002622/ Market Overview and Growth Trajectory: Oil & Gas Sensors Market Growth: According to an exhaustive report by The Insight Partners, the Oil & Gas Sensors Market is experiencing significant growth, driven by rising investment in capacity expansion of offshore projects and evolution of 5G technology in sensors. The market, valued at $6.8 billion in 2023, is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.6% during 20232031. Increasing investment in oil & gas exploration activities: For instance, according to the Urwald eV report published in November 2023, between 2021 and 2023, 384 businesses across the globe have reported an average capital expenditure of more than US$ 10 million in oil & gas exploration activities. The top seven companies invested in oil & gas exploration are China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) (US$ 5.9 billion), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) (US$ 3.2 billion), Saudi Aramco (US$ 2.8 billion), Pemex (US$ 2.6 billion), Sinopec Group (US$ 2.4 billion), Pioneer Natural Resources (US$ 2.1 billion), and Shell plc (US$ 2.0 billion). These investments support oil & gas companies to adopt technologically advanced oil & gas sensors by expanding their business worldwide. Stay Updated on The Latest Oil & Gas Sensors Market Trends: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPEL00002622/ Growing oil and gas production: According to the US Energy Information Administration data of March 2024, crude oil production averaged 12.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2023, surpassing the previous US and global record of 12.3 million barrels per day set in 2019. In December 2023, average monthly crude oil production in the US reached a monthly record high of more than 13.3 million barrels per day. Plant capacity expansion operations, with the increasing spending on infrastructure development and rising operational complexities, create demand for oil & gas sensors for smooth operational activities. Oil & gas sensors help plant operators effectively manage and control operations in real-time. Growing Demand for Ultrasonic Sensors: the growing demand for oil & gas has led to high production output from existing infrastructure that must be more dependable and efficient. To meet these demands, oil & gas sensor companies, such as Fuji Electric Co Ltd, Honeywell International Inc, Siemens AG, and Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, are offering ultrasonic sensors that measure liquids in severe and complex process conditions. These sensors are widely used for remote monitoring, condition monitoring & maintenance, analysis & simulation, and flow control in various oil & gas applications. An ultrasonic flow sensor is used in upstream, midstream, and downstream applications to compute the mass flow or volume flow of fluids in pipelines, tanks, and other processing equipment. The sensor also monitors equipment such as monitor pumps, flowlines, valves, and any other component that requires a precise flow rate to maintain the flow of oil. Geographical Insights: North America dominated the Oil & Gas Sensors Market in 2023. Europe is the second-largest contributor to the global Oil & Gas Sensors Market, followed by Asia Pacific. Purchase Premium Copy of Global Oil & Gas Sensors Market Size and Growth Report (2023-2031) at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPEL00002622/ Oil & Gas Sensors Market Segmentation, Applications, Geographical Insights: Based on type, the market is segmented into pressure sensor, temperature sensor, flow sensor, and level sensor. The pressure sensor segment accounted for the largest oil & gas sensors market share in 2023. On the basis of connectivity, the market is divided into wired and wireless. The wired segment held a larger oil & gas sensors market in 2023. In terms of function, the oil & gas sensors market is categorized into remote monitoring, condition monitoring and maintenance, analysis and simulation, and others. The remote monitoring segment held the largest oil & gas sensors market share in 2023. Based on application, the oil & gas sensors market is segmented into upstream, midstream, and downstream. The upstream segment held the largest oil & gas sensors market share in 2023. For Region-Specific Market Data, Check Out Brief Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPEL00002622/ Key Players and Competitive Landscape: The Oil & Gas Sensors Market is characterized by the presence of several major players, including: Honeywell International Inc TE Connectivity Ltd Robert Bosch GmbH ABB Ltd Siemens AG Rockwell Automation Inc Analog Devices Inc Emerson Electric Co SKF AB GE Vernova These companies are adopting strategies such as new product launches, joint ventures, and geographical expansion to maintain their competitive edge in the market. Oil & Gas Sensors Market Recent Developments and Innovations: "NevadaNano, an innovator in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) solutions, announced that it had closed its Series C funding round. First-time investors Honeywell Ventures and Emerson Ventures led the round, joined by several existing investors. ABB launched its new FusionAir Smart Sensor, a touch-free room sensor with optional room control sensors capable of monitoring the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2), and VOCs to improve the overall IAQ and reduce the risk of viral exposure. For In-Depth Market Forecasts and Analysis, Request PDF Brochure: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPEL00002622/ Conclusion: The oil & gas industry has played a significant role in the economic transformation of various countries. The industry accounted for the largest share of global consumption of energy resources. Natural gas is projected to become the fastest-growing fossil fuel in the coming years. Oil production is increasing and fulfills energy demand. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global oil demand is expected to rise by 6% from 2022 to 2028 and reach 105.7 million barrels per day, with a significant requirement from the aviation and petrochemical industries. Rising demand for oil among various industries increases the demand for numerous oil & gas sensors such as pressure sensors, temperature sensors, flow sensors, and level sensors for monitoring and controlling plant operations. Oil & gas sensors have found various upstream, midstream, and downstream applications, including optimizing pipeline performance, measuring flow, detecting leaks, and preventing potential accidents or environmental hazards by ensuring workers' safety. Growing demand for operational reliability and efficiency, rising need for early detection of potential hazards, increasing industrial automation , and favorable government initiatives are propelling the oil & gas sensors market. Moreover, the expanding oil & gas industry and the growing need for real-time monitoring of oil & gas plants are boosting the market growth. Technological advancement and integration of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and IoT in the development of advanced sensors contribute significantly to the oil & gas sensors market growth. Need A Diverse Region or Sector? Customize Research to Suit Your Requirement: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPEL00002622/ With projected growth to $10.5 Billion by 2031, the Oil & Gas Sensors Market represents a significant opportunity for solution providers, system integrators, and end-user. By staying abreast of market trends, embracing innovation, and focusing on quality and performance, companies can position themselves for success in this dynamic and evolving market landscape. About Us: The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials. Contact Us: If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us: Staten Island, New York, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the sixth straight year, the Tunnel to Towers Foundations Season of Hope will deliver gifts of forever homes for the holidays. From now until Christmas Eve, the Foundation will deliver 40 mortgage-free homes nationwide to Americas heroes and their families. Thanks to the support of Americans from every corner of this great country, this year Tunnel to Towers will deliver over 210 mortgage-free homes to Americas heroes and the families they left behind. To launch this years Season of Hope, Tunnel to Towers paid off the mortgages and renovated the homes of three heroes to make them more accessible: USMC Corporal John Munoz-Ramirez - Lago Vista, Texas Army Specialist Andy Kingsley - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina San Francisco Police Sergeant Kevin Brugaletta - Petaluma, California Corporal John Paul Munoz-Ramirez was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. Inspired by videos of Marines in action, he enlisted in 2005. While deployed in Afghanistan, Cpl Munoz-Ramirez triggered an IED. He lost his left leg below the knee and several fingers. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury in the blast. He is looking forward to celebrating the holidays in his new smart home, where he can finally find stability and comfort with his family. The modifications Tunnel to Towers made to our house were carefully designed to grow with me, each space thoughtfully crafted to reflect both my needs and the evolving journey of living here. The small, personalized details really make it feel like home, said Cpl Munoz-Ramirez. Specialist Andy Kingsley followed in his fathers footsteps by enlisting in the Army in 2008. On July 12, 2010, enemy forces attacked Combat Outpost Sabari in Afghanistan with small arms, rockets, and mortars. While fighting off the enemy, SPC Kingsley was catastrophically injured, resulting in the amputation of his right leg above the knee, shrapnel wounds throughout his body, the loss of one of his toes and one of his fingers, partial vision loss, a traumatic brain injury, and PTSD. He spent over a year at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, learning how to navigate life with his injuries. Tunnel to Towers renovated his home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that he shares with his wife and children. He is grateful to Tunnel to Towers for relieving the financial burden of a mortgage from his and his wifes shoulders. I feel truly blessed to have received help from Tunnel to Towers to be able to achieve the American dream of a paid-off home, said SPC Kingsley, who added, Words cannot express the gratitude I have and the stress relief I feel to have a forever home that caters to my physical needs as a result of my injuries from my time in service. Sergeant Brugaletta, an 18-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, was severely injured in March 2023 when a falling tree struck his police vehicle during a storm. The impact broke his neck and trapped him in the car as it caught fire. He was rescued by the fire department and sustained a spinal cord injury, burns, and smoke inhalation. He spent seven months in an intensive care and rehabilitation hospital out of state, during which time his pregnant wife gave birth to their second daughter. Despite these challenges, he remains focused on his recovery. "I cant express enough how much this means to my family and to me, said Sgt. Brugaletta. Its a huge burden lifted, and we can now focus on what matters mostmy recovery and spending time with my loved ones." The Tunnel to Towers Smart Home Program supports Americas catastrophically injured veterans and first responders by providing specially-adapted homes that meet their unique needs. These homes feature smart technology and design features to ensure each individual can live as independently as possible. Thanks to the generosity of Americans from every corner of this great country, 40 families will receive the gift of a mortgage-free home or a specially adapted smart home this holiday season. These homes will give these heroes who risk everything for us a place to celebrate and gather this year and for many years to come, said Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. To learn more about the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and join us on our mission to provide homes for Americas heroes, visit T2T.org and consider donating $11 per month. Attachments Dublin, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "School Bags Market Global Forecast Report by Fabric, Type, Age, Distribution Channel, Countries and Company Analysis 2025-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global School Bags Market will reach US$ 37.19 billion by 2033, up from US$ 24.14 billion in 2024, with a CAGR of 4.92% between 2025 and 2033 Some of the factors controlling the market's growth include the growing number of students attending school, the promotion of ergonomic bag designs by health consciousness, the rise in disposable incomes, the popularity of personalized and customizable bags, the development of material technology, the growth of online retail platforms, the increasing influence of pop culture on design, and an increase in environmentally conscious consumer preferences. Global School Bags Industry Overview The main factors driving the school bag market are changing student fashion trends, the increasing focus on outdoor and extracurricular activities that call for specialized bags, the expansion of partnerships between bag manufacturers and educational institutions, and growing consumer awareness of child safety, which has led to the inclusion of safety features in bags. Additionally, the market is growing as a result of the growing popularity of licensed products from children's media, changes in educational systems toward digital learning, a rise in marketing and promotional efforts aimed at young consumers, and the growing influence of social media on student preferences. Rising global population and school-going children The market for school bags is significantly influenced by the growing worldwide population, especially the number of children attending school. For instance, As per a statement by United Nations, India will continue to be the most populated nation in the world for the entire century, according to the United Nations, even though its population is expected to peak in the early 2060s at over 1.7 billion and then drop by 12%. Additionally, more children are enrolling in school as the world's population grows, particularly in developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. For instance, in the United States approximately 49.6 million students were enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in the fall of 2022, as per the National Center for Education Statistics. The increased demand for school-related goods, such as school backpacks, is a direct result of this demographic change. The number of children attending school is increasing as more families place a higher priority on education, which increases the demand for reasonably priced and useful school backpacks to accommodate this expanding student body. Furthermore, the growing middle class in nations with high birth rates and increasing urbanization increases demand for school bags since they have more money to spend on fashionable, long-lasting, and high-quality school supplies. The industry is seeing increase in school bags that encourage improved posture and lessen shoulder and back strain as parents realize how important ergonomically designed backpacks are for their kids' comfort and health. An increase in disposable incomes One of the notable factors fueling the market for school bags is an increase in disposable income. Families have more money to spend on better, more durable, and more fashionable school bags for their kids as family incomes rise, especially in emerging economies. Parents can now prioritize school bags' style, brand, and extra features like eco-friendly materials, water resistance, and ergonomic support in addition to their fundamental usefulness thanks to this economic improvement. Parents who have more money to spend are more likely to buy high-end, branded bags that will last, which helps the market expand. Furthermore, there is a growing need for a greater variety of options, such as stylish and customized school bags that represent each child's own style, as the middle class grows in developing nations. Online retail and e-commerce platforms also profit from this trend, providing customers with convenient access to a range of high-end school bags that were previously hard to find. Furthermore, parents who have more money to spend are more inclined to purchase multiple bags for various extracurricular or school-related activities, which boosts sales even more. Essentially, families can now afford to spend more on high-quality, multipurpose school bags because to the increase in disposable income, which increases demand and promotes the market's steady expansion. Ongoing Developments in Material Science Fashion and customization trends are major factors propelling the market for school bags. The demand for school bags that showcase personal flair is rising as kids become more fashion-conscious and keen to show off their uniqueness. Because they understand that fashionable bags affect a child's social image in addition to their functionality, parents are also becoming more and more willing to spend money on them. As a result, a wider range of patterns, colors, and designs are now accessible to suit a wider range of tastes, from bold prints to sleek, minimalist designs. With numerous brands providing personalized choices like monogramming, patches, and compartments that can be customized, personalization has further spurred the market's growth. Students may stand out with personalized school backpacks, which gives them a sense of empowerment and individuality. Younger kids and teenagers, who are keen to show off their individuality through their accessories, are particularly drawn to this trend. Manufacturers are responding to these trends by concentrating on limited-edition releases, special collections, and partnerships with well-known figures, influencers, or franchises. For instance, in September 2021, targeting students going back to school following the summer holiday, Puma announced the debut of their "Back to School" collection. A variety of school backpacks and accessories that were both fashionable and functional were part of the collection. Furthermore, in July 2022, Nike debuted their newest line of backpacks for school, designed to improve students' extracurricular and academic lives. Children will be well-prepared and excited about returning to school environments because to the sturdy, roomy, and comfy design of these backpacks. Because kids are affected by classmates and influencers who display their fashionable school bags, the emergence of social media also contributes to the increase in fashion-conscious behavior. As a result, there is a growing need for stylish, customized school bags, which is a major driver of market growth. School Bags Market Overview by Regions Due to a number of variables, such as customer preferences, educational systems, and demographics, the school bag market differs substantially by region. Asia-Pacific prioritizes affordability and usefulness over durability and design, which is a reflection of different cultural trends and economic conditions. The following provides a market overview by region: United States School Bags Market Due to reasons like growing student enrollment, rising disposable income, and rising desire for stylish and functional designs, the school bag industry in the US is expanding steadily. High-quality school bags are still in high demand due to the large number of students enrolled in K-12 and postsecondary educational institutions. Parents are spending more money on bags that prioritize comfort and durability while fusing style and usefulness. Due to increased awareness of the health risks connected with large baggage, ergonomic backpacks that improve posture and lessen back strain are growing in popularity. Additionally, consumers' preferences are being influenced by the movement toward sustainable and eco-friendly materials; many are choosing bags made of organic or recycled textiles. India School Bags Market India's growing student population and rising disposable budgets are driving the country's school bag market's notable expansion. As per the Ministry of Finance, in FY22, 26.5 crore school enrollments were conducted in India. The need for school bags is continuously growing in both urban and rural areas due to rising school enrollment rates and increased awareness of education. Indian customers are choosing more and more comfortable, long-lasting bags with fashionable designs for kids and teens. The demand for high-end, branded school bags is rising along with the middle class. Additionally, shoppers who care about the environment are choosing bags made of recyclable and sustainable materials. A larger audience may now purchase school bags because to the increased accessibility and diversity brought about by the growth of online shopping. It is anticipated that this rising demand would keep propelling market growth in the coming years. United Kingdom School Bags Market The market for school bags in the UK is expanding due to rising consumer demand for goods that are both fashionable and useful. Due to a steady student body and growing disposable means, parents in the UK are prepared to spend money on premium, ergonomic school backpacks that guarantee comfort and encourage proper posture. With students looking for stylish, branded bags that express their individuality, the trend toward stylish school bags has accelerated. Another important consideration is sustainability, since environmentally concerned buyers like bags composed of recyclable or environmentally friendly materials. E-commerce, which provides a multitude of choices, has been essential in broadening market reach. Saudi Arabia School Bags Market The growing number of students and rising disposable incomes in Saudi Arabia are fueling the market for school backpacks. There is a growing need for high-quality school backpacks that blend comfort, design, and usefulness as education becomes the nation's top concern. In addition to fashionable, branded options that appeal to both kids and teens, parents are choosing ergonomic designs that promote health. Consumer preferences are also being influenced by the increased demand for eco-friendly products, with sustainable materials becoming more popular. By providing a large selection of school bag solutions to satisfy a variety of customer needs, e-commerce platforms are also improving accessibility. Company Analysis Adidas AG Nike Inc. Puma SE Samsonite International S.A. Sumdex Group VIP Industries Limited Wildcraft Overview Key Persons Recent Development & Strategies Product Portfolio Financial Insights Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 120 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $24.14 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $37.19 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.9% 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 School Bags Market 6. Market Share Analysis 6.1 Fabric 6.2 Type 6.3 Age 6.4 Distribution Channel 6.5 Country 7. Fabric 7.1 Canvas 7.2 Polyesters 7.3 Nylon 7.4 Leather 7.5 Others 8. Type 8.1 Messenger Bag 8.2 Backpack 8.3 Laptop Bag 8.4 Duffel Bag 8.5 Clutch Bag 9. Age 9.1 Preschool 9.2 Elementary School 9.3 Middle School 9.4 High School 10. Distribution Channel 10.1 Supermarkets and hypermarkets 10.2 Hypermarket 10.3 Online Retail 10.4 Others 11. Country 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 Australia 11.3.5 South Korea 11.3.6 Thailand 11.3.7 Malaysia 11.3.8 Indonesia 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 South Africa 11.5.2 Saudi Arabia 11.5.3 UAE 12. Porter's Five 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/yx7vqj 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. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Bariatric Surgery Devices Market Global Forecast Report by Procedure Type, Device Type, Procedure, Application, End User, Countries and Company Analysis 2025-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Bariatric surgery devices market has been estimated to grow from US$2.78 billion in 2024 to US$4.36 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 5.12% from 2025 to 2033. The rising trend of obesity worldwide has contributed significantly to the growth of the bariatric surgery devices market. Obesity is a serious health condition and is often associated with other chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension. The condition not only increases healthcare expenditure but also diminishes the quality of patients' lives. Advancements in Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques One of the driving factors for the advancement of the growth of the market is improved technology in minimally invasive bariatric surgery methods. The developments in bariatric procedures including laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery would ensure that the procedures are much safer to have less recovery periods, very minimal scarring, and low risks of complications. It boosts the confidence level of patients and thereby makes them more susceptible for such a treatment. Minimally invasive tools and robotic systems make bariatric surgery more precise, controlled, and exact for surgeons performing complex bariatric surgeries. As these technologies continue to advance, they expand adoption of bariatric surgeries and drive demand for advanced surgical devices in this market. In January 2024, Arthrex launched TheNanoExperience.com-an online resource aimed at educating patients on Nano arthroscopy-a minimally invasive orthopedic procedure that connects patients with surgeons, targeting specific treatment areas while minimizing the impact on healthy tissue. Growing Insurance Coverage and Supportive Policies by Healthcare The rapidly increasing adoption of bariatric surgery into health insurance policies is a driver of the bariatric surgery devices market. Insurance coverage largely reduces out-of-pocket spending for patients, thereby increasing access to surgery for people who might otherwise be unable to afford it. In several countries, health insurance policies have evolved towards acknowledging obesity as a major health concern and insurers are attaching coverage to bariatric procedures. This easy access makes more patients opt for surgery. Along with favorable healthcare policies, as well as government efforts toward the prevention of obesity, increased insurance cover strengthens the global bariatric surgery devices market. Canada Bariatric Surgery Devices Market The Canada Bariatric Surgery Devices market is gradually picking up with rising obesity rates wherein there has been an increase in the incidence of obesity-associated diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. There is increasing scope for bariatric surgeries in Canada, given the rising number of population looking forward to weight loss. The development in technicalities of minimally invasive surgical apparatuses - such as laparoscopic and robotic systems - contributes to the safety and efficiency of procedures. Increasing healthcare supportive policies coupled with ever-expanding insurance for bariatric surgeries are significant factors marking market growth. Consequently, demand for bariatric surgery devices in Canada rises, saving more patients. Market Overview of Bariatric Surgery Devices in France The market for bariatric surgery devices in France has been growing at a high rate, due to the increasing obesity rate and resultant health disorders, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Growing needs for effective solutions to weight loss among French patients lead to the increased demand for bariatric surgeries. Advances in minimally invasive surgical tools like laparoscopes and robotic devices are changing the dimensions of surgical procedures while reducing recovery times. Favorable healthcare policies and expanded insurance coverage for bariatric procedures are motivating patients to undergo surgical treatments. Rising demand for bariatric surgery devices from France is creating a trend that resulted in better care and treatment for patients. February 2024 - BariaTek Medical, a France-based company, has successfully implanted for the first time its BariTon, a state-of-art reversible implant capable of diminishing calorie absorption and food intake in a similar manner to obese weight loss surgeries. India Bariatric Surgery Devices Market The India Bariatric Surgery Devices market is further going to boom on the back of the ever-spreading scale of obesity problems and the various linked diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart diseases. As people look for efficient treatments for losing weight, bariatric surgeries are more in demand. The technologically evolving minimally invasive devices, such as laparoscopic tools and robotic systems, improve on the procedures by sharpening their precision and safety. Moreover, the growing awareness, the improvement of health infrastructure, and expanding coverage of the insurance plan for bariatric surgeries are some of the other reasons driving the market further. Therefore, good growth is being seen in the Indian market in terms of demand for bariatric surgery devices. To say, for instance, as per a news in August 2022, CDSCO has approved Allurion's gastric balloon capsules for weight reduction in obese patients. Bariatric Surgery Devices Market in Saudi Arabia The Saudi Arabia Bariatric Surgery Devices market is growing at a great pace, fueled by an increasing prevalence of obesity and related health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Now that obesity emerges as a serious issue for public health, people have started opting for bariatric surgery as an effective weight loss solution. Innovation in minimally invasive surgical techniques, advanced laparoscopic systems, and robotic systems, have greatly improved the safety, efficacy, and recovery times associated with these procedures. Higher healthcare awareness, improvement in insurance coverage, and government initiatives towards obesity control also promote bariatric surgery devices in Saudi Arabia. Olympus Corporation has rolled out VISERA ELITE III, a new surgical vision platform especially for healthcare professionals conducting endoscopic procedures within a large range of medical specialties. It has officially introduced this product in September 2022. Company Analysis Apollo Endosurgery Inc. GI Dynamics Intuitive Surgical Inc. Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Medtronic Inc. Olympus Corporation Reshape Lifesciences Inc. TransEnterix Inc. Overview Key Persons Recent Development & Strategies Product Portfolio Financial Insights Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 115 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $2.78 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $4.36 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.1% 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 Bariatric Surgery Devices Market 6. Market Share Analysis 6.1 Procedure Type 6.2 Device Type 6.3 Procedure 6.4 Application 6.5 End User 6.6 Country 7. Procedure Type 7.1 Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures 7.2 Non-Invasive Surgical Procedures 8. Device Type 8.1 Assisting Devices 8.2 Implantable Devices 9. Procedure 9.1 Sleeve Gastrectomy 9.2 Adjustable Gastric Banding 9.3 Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass 9.4 Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch 9.5 Others 10. Application 10.1 Weight Loss 10.2 Hereditary Disease 10.3 Other Disorders 11. End User 11.1 Bariatric Surgery Clinics 11.2 Hospitals 11.3 Others 12. Country 12.1 North America 12.1.1 United States 12.1.2 Canada 12.2 Europe 12.2.1 France 12.2.2 Germany 12.2.3 Italy 12.2.4 Spain 12.2.5 United Kingdom 12.2.6 Belgium 12.2.7 Netherlands 12.2.8 Turkey 12.3 Asia Pacific 12.3.1 China 12.3.2 Japan 12.3.3 India 12.3.4 Australia 12.3.5 South Korea 12.3.6 Thailand 12.3.7 Malaysia 12.3.8 Indonesia 12.3.9 New Zealand 12.4 Latin America 12.4.1 Brazil 12.4.2 Mexico 12.4.3 Argentina 12.5 Middle East & Africa 12.5.1 South Africa 12.5.2 Saudi Arabia 12.5.3 UAE 13. Porter's Five Analysis 13.1 Bargaining Power of Buyers 13.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 13.3 Degree of Rivalry 13.4 Threat of New Entrants 13.5 Threat of Substitutes 14. SWOT Analysis 14.1 Strength 14.2 Weakness 14.3 Opportunity 14.4 Threat For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hym26v 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. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market Global Forecast Report by Drug Class, Type, Countries and Company Analysis 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Allergy-Relieving Eye Drops market is expected to grow from USD 1.51 billion in 2023 to USD 2.37 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 5.15% from 2024 to 2032. Factors driving growth include growing demand for inexpensive, yet effective allergy relief, non-invasive procedures, strategic marketing, consumer education by key players, and advancements in the development and manufacture of these products. Rising Prevalence of Allergies Rising allergy rates in global markets serve as the major growth driver in the allergy-relieving eye drops market. Allergic reactions, including eye-related symptoms, have increased due to rising pollution, climate change, and urbanization levels. The increasing number of seasonal and perennial allergies is raising demand for effective eye treatments that are easy to administer and boost the allergy-relieving eye drops market. There is a rapidly increasing trend of allergic diseases all over the world, and almost 30-40% of the world's population is suffering from one or more allergic disorders. Demand for Non-Invasive, Convenient Solutions Consumers are also becoming increasingly interested in non-invasive, quick relief for their allergy symptoms. Relief from discomfort without oral medications or injections is attainable through allergy-relieving eye drops. The market sustains further growth through the trend toward over-the-counter access as patients seek convenient means to address allergies. In August 2024, OCuSOFT Inc. introduces NEW OCuSOFT Retaine Allergy, prescription-strength antihistamine drops for dry eye itch relief. Advancements in Eye Drop Formulations Ongoing research and revolution in eye care have improved the formulations for allergic eye drops, reducing the allergy by effectiveness and comfort. New formulas attract more consumers, having longer effects, with fewer side effects, and faster relief from eye allergy, hence offering better results with fewer applications. It is the innovation, that in a way fuels market expansion due to a demand from highly effective user-friendly solutions. The eye care leader, Alcon, will present new clinical data and innovation in products at AAO 2024 Annual Meeting in Oct 2024. Canada Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market The demand for Canada allergy-relieving eye drops is rising due to the prevalence of seasonal and environmental allergens in many parts of the country. A higher incidence of urbanization, climatic changes, and air pollution are responsible for raising the allergic level and thus triggering a necessity for more efficient OTC eye treatments. Tens of millions of Canadians are in search of immediate, speedy relief from redness, itchiness, and swelling, which is increasing the demand of the allergy-relieving eye drops market. In addition, development of eye drop formulations and non-invasive treatment solutions are attracting more and more consumers. In addition to that, marketing efforts from major pharmaceutical companies also support growth in this Canadian market. Feb 2021, Bausch + Lomb announced the U.S. launch of Alaway Preservative Free eye drops, the first OTC preservative-free antihistamine approved by the FDA for eye itch relief. France Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market Rising allergies related to environmental changes, urbanization, and pollution are further increasing the allergy-relieving eye drops market in France. Seasonal allergic tendencies are on the rise, especially in urban areas. There is a significantly growing demand for easily accessible, over-the-counter eye drops that will immediately alleviate itching, redness, and irritation. French consumers prefer non-invasive options and favor allergy-relieving eye drops as an easy-to-use solution. Advancements in the formulations of eye drops that sustain longer than conventional varieties and cause more comfort to add up towards market growth as giant pharmaceutical companies keep on innovating with products of viable treatment options across the country. India Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market India's allergy-relieving eye drops market is growing since the escalating levels of pollution, urbanization, and changing climate have made people develop allergic reactions. Many Indians suffer from eye allergic symptoms, most predominantly in thickly populated cities. This creates a massive demand for efficient, non-prescription eye drops that alleviate itching, redness, and irritation. Consumers are increasingly in pursuit of convenient and non-invasive treatments, and the allergy-relieving eye drops is one such quick and easily accessible solution. With the recent progress in eye drop formulations and increased awareness through marketing initiatives from major pharmaceuticals in India, this market is expected to grow further. In September 2024: PresVu eye drops from ENTOD Pharmaceuticals were approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). PresVu is an eye drop that would reduce the dependence on reading glasses for presbyopia patients. A common condition affecting most people above 40, this causes the victim to have difficulty focusing on close objects. PresVu stands as a benchmark in the eye care space for the elderly. UAE Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market The allergy cases rise up in UAE with the dust level being high and the arid climate plus rapid urbanization. Eye allergies in the UAE are more common because of frequent sandstorms, and because of an affinity for the use of air conditioning, which exacerbates dryness, itchiness, and redness. There is a further increase in demand due to over-the-counter eye drops that immediately provide relief with non-invasive features, which are effective. Another factor that pushes the demand upward is further consciousness about allergy management as well as formulations of eye drops, such as prolonged-acting relief as well as greater comfort, driving demand higher because customers want easier fixes for eye allergy symptoms. Company Analysis AbbVie Inc. (Allergan Plc) Johnson & Johnson Pfizer Inc. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Novartis AG Bausch Health Companies Inc Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Santen Pharmaceutical Co Overview Key Persons Recent Development & Strategies Product Portfolio Financial Insights Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 100 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1.51 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2032 $2.37 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.1% Regions Covered Global Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Research & Methodology 3. Executive Summary 4. Market Dynamics 4.1 Growth Drivers 4.2 Challenges 5. Global Allergy Relieving Eye Drops Market 6. Market Share Analysis 6.1 Drug Class 6.2 Type 6.3 Country 7. Drug Class 7.1 Antihistamines 7.2 Non-steroidal anti-Inflammatory Drugs 7.3 Vasoconstrictors 7.4 Others 8. Type 8.1 Seasonal and Perennial Allergic Conjunctivitis 8.2 Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis 8.3 Atopic Keratoconjunctivitis 8.4 Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis 8.5 Others 9. Country 9.1 North America 9.1.1 United States 9.1.2 Canada 9.2 Europe 9.2.1 France 9.2.2 Germany 9.2.3 Italy 9.2.4 Spain 9.2.5 United Kingdom 9.2.6 Belgium 9.2.7 Netherlands 9.2.8 Turkey 9.3 Asia Pacific 9.3.1 China 9.3.2 Japan 9.3.3 India 9.3.4 Australia 9.3.5 South Korea 9.3.6 Thailand 9.3.7 Malaysia 9.3.8 Indonesia 9.3.9 New Zealand 9.4 Latin America 9.4.1 Brazil 9.4.2 Mexico 9.4.3 Argentina 9.5 Middle East & Africa 9.5.1 South Africa 9.5.2 Saudi Arabia 9.5.3 UAE 10. Porter's Five Analysis 10.1 Bargaining Power of Buyers 10.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 10.3 Degree of Rivalry 10.4 Threat of New Entrants 10.5 Threat of Substitutes 11. SWOT Analysis 11.1 Strength 11.2 Weakness 11.3 Opportunity 11.4 Threat For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jjyg32 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment Dublin, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Baby Oral Care Products Market Report Global Forecast Product Type, End User, Distribution Channel, Country and Company Analysis 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Baby Oral Care Market will reach US$ 1.77 billion by 2032, up from US$ 1.34 billion in 2023, with a CAGR of 3.20% between 2024 and 2032. The market for infant oral hygiene products is mostly driven by the rising worries about pediatric dentistry, increased knowledge of the importance of early oral health, and the growing emphasis that parents and caregivers have on preventive healthcare practices globally. The growing awareness of the importance of pediatric dental health has propelled the growth of baby oral care as a major industry within the healthcare sector. The products vary from parent education materials and teething gels to specialist toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste. Businesses concentrate on using natural, safe, and inventive ingredients to satisfy consumer demand for non-toxic products. Campaigns encouraging first dental exams by the age of one further underscore the value of early dental checkups in the market. Furthermore, digital platforms furnish parents with tools and advice, augmenting their comprehension and involvement. In general, the sector seeks to promote healthy mouth habits from an early age. Innovative Products boosts the industry growth In the infant oral care market, innovative products play a critical role in driving growth as they cater to changing customer tastes and needs. To assure both safety and efficacy, companies are creating toothbrushes with ergonomic forms and soft bristles specifically for small hands. Parents who are concerned about their health and want non-toxic toothpaste options can find new formulations that are made of natural materials and frequently include no fluoride. Gums are soothed and hygiene is promoted by teething toys that also function as dental hygiene equipment. Additionally, smart technology is entering this market in the form of items that track brushing patterns and offer feedback through applications, promoting improved oral hygiene practices from an early age. Positive associations with oral hygiene are also fostered by educational kits that instruct parents and kids about dental health. As more parents place a higher priority on their kids' oral cleanliness, these creative solutions not only increase convenience and efficacy but also promote a proactive dental health culture, which will accelerate business growth. Asia Pacific Baby Oral Care Market The market for baby oral care in Asia Pacific is growing quickly due to rising disposable incomes and growing awareness of kid dental health. Preventive care is becoming more and more important to parents, which is driving up demand for cutting-edge goods like natural toothpaste and toothbrushes with soft bristles. Government campaigns encouraging early dental exams also contribute to the market's expansion. The region's varied cultural customs and customer preferences promote the creation of specialized dental care products for young children. China Baby Oral Care Industry Growing parental knowledge of dental health and a growing focus on preventative treatment are driving considerable growth in China's newborn oral care market. Families with more discretionary means can now afford to buy premium dental hygiene products, such as baby-specific toothpaste without fluoride and toothbrushes with soft bristles. E-commerce sites are essential for accessibility since they make it simple for parents to buy a variety of goods. In addition, parents are being encouraged to embrace proactive oral hygiene practices by government efforts that support early dental checkups. Innovation is also being seen in the sector, as companies are bringing in educational resources and smart toothbrushes to engage kids. Additionally, the country's demand of dental care products is further bolstered by the dense population. It is anticipated that long-term market growth would be driven by trends such as modern parenting, which is bolstered by government programs to enhance children's health and well-being, consumer awareness campaigns conducted by prominent corporations, and greater access to childcare services and goods. India Baby Oral Care Industry In India, the market for baby oral care is expanding significantly due to parents' growing knowledge of the importance of early dental hygiene and wellness. Specialty items such child toothpaste without fluoride, toothbrushes with soft bristles, and teething tools are in high demand right now. E-commerce sites are improving accessibility by making it simple for parents to locate a wide range of possibilities. Furthermore, in India, the prevalence of oral problems among children across all age groups has increased dramatically. For instance, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Directorate General of Health Services of the Government of India report that dental caries is a public health concern in India, occurring 60-80% of the time in youngsters. In order to maintain dental hygiene and protect their child from bacterial diseases, parents are now implementing infant oral care solutions. Additionally, in order to appeal to consumers who are concerned about their health, it is anticipated that the market will witness more innovation in the form of eco-friendly products and smart dental tools. It is probable that educational programs endorsing the value of dental hygiene will acquire traction and impact consumer behavior even more. In addition, the market will proceed to be shaped by government funding for projects related to pediatric dental health, emphasizing the importance of early oral care for Indian families. Global Baby Oral Care Company News April 2024- The dental service organization (DSO), Sage Dental, has expanded to over 120 locations throughout Florida and Georgia with the opening of two new practices in South Tampa and Viera, Florida. Dentists are able to concentrate on patient care since Sage Dental, a DSO, provides clinical and non-clinical support to its connected offices. February 2024- Colgate teamed together with UNICEF India-incubated platform IMPAct4Nutrition, which focuses on nutrition. Through this collaboration, Colgate's social responsibility and IMPAct4Nutrition's specialist knowledge will be combined to raise children's awareness of nutrition and oral health. By 2025, the goal is to positively affect an extra 10 million youngsters. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 105 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1.34 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2032 $1.77 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 3.1% 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 Baby Oral Care Market 6. Market Share Analysis 6.1 By Product Type 6.2 By End User 6.3 By Distribution Channel 6.4 By Countries 7. Product Type 7.1 Toothbrush 7.2 Toothpaste 7.3 Floss 7.4 Tooth Mousse 7.5 Others 8. End User 8.1 Infant 8.2 Toddler 9. Distribution Channel 9.1 Supermarket/Hypermarket 9.2 Specialist Retailers 9.3 Online Stores 9.4 Convenience Stores 9.5 Others 10. Countries 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 South Korea 10.3.5 Thailand 10.3.6 Malaysia 10.3.7 Indonesia 10.3.8 Australia 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 Saudi Arabia 10.5.2 UAE 10.5.3 South Africa 11. Porter's Five Forces 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. Key Players Analysis 13.1 Overview 13.2 Key Persons 13.3 Recent Development & Strategies 13.4 Revenue Analysis Church & Dwight Co. Inc. Colgate-Palmolive Company Johnson & Johnson Procter & Gamble (P&G) Company Pigeon Corporation Unilever Plc Honasa Consumer Ltd Himalaya Wellness Company For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/46p0fl 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 NOTIFICATION BY THE ACPR OF THE DESIGNATION OF BNP PARIBAS ON THE LIST OF G-SIBs Press release Paris - 27 November 2024 BNP Paribas has received the notification by the Autorite de Controle Prudentiel et de Resolution (ACPR), dated 27 November 2024, that the Group has been designated on the 2024 list of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) in the bucket 2 corresponding to its score based on end-2023 data. Consequently, the requirement of the G-SIB buffer applicable for the group remains at 1.5% of the total risk-weighted assets beginning 1st January 2025, unchanged compared to the level currently applicable. The Group is well above the regulatory requirements with, as at 30 September 2024, a CET1 ratio at 12.7%, a Tier 1 ratio at 14.7% and a Total Capital ratio at 16.7%. About BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is the European Unions leading bank and key player in international banking. It operates in 63 countries and has nearly 183,000 employees, including more than 145,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services for the Groups commercial & personal banking and several specialised businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval; Investment & Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated commercial & personal banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Turkey, and Eastern Europe. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific. BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group's performance and stability. Attachment California to provide rebates for zero-emission vehicles if federal tax credit eliminated by incoming Trump administration Xinhua) 13:14, November 27, 2024 LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday the western U.S. state will step in to provide rebates for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) buyers if the incoming Trump administration follows through on its threat to eliminate the federal tax credit. "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," said Newsom in a statement, noting that "We're not turning back on a clean transportation future -- we're going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don't pollute." California, the most populous state in the United States, continues to lead the nation in ZEV adoption, surpassing 2 million electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen-powered vehicles sold across the state, home to around 10 million residents, according to the Democratic governor's statement. In the third quarter of 2024, Californians purchased 115,897 ZEVs, representing 26.4 percent of all new vehicle sales in the state. Over 30 percent of new ZEVs sold in the country are sold in California, Newsom noted. Newsom's statement pointed out that the state is spending billions to speed ZEV infrastructure deployment, tear down barriers, and deploy infrastructure in hard-to-reach and low-income areas. The governor said if the Trump administration eliminates the federal tax credit, he will propose creating a new version of the state's successful Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023. The plan has funded more than 594,000 vehicles and saved more than 456 million gallons of fuel. Under the law, consumers can lower the purchase price of a new electric vehicle by up to 7,500 U.S. dollars. "The EV rebate promise is only Newsom's latest move against the incoming Trump administration," commented The Sacramento Bee, a major newspaper published in the state's capital city. "The governor's proposal comes not only as California officials gear up for a battle with the incoming Trump administration over environmental policy, but also amid growing concerns about rising energy costs in the state," the newspaper added. Tesla's electric vehicles would be shut out from consumer rebates under the proposal by Newsom, pitting the prospective Democratic presidential hopeful against Republican power player Elon Musk, reported Bloomberg News. His office told Bloomberg News that the current proposal includes market-share limitations that would exclude Tesla's popular EV models. The details, including Tesla's possible omission from the credits, will be negotiated with the state legislature and could change, said the report, citing Newsom's office. Musk condemned the proposal on his X platform. "Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California!," said Musk, adding that "This is insane." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2024 FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant, providing $200,000 in funding to advance groundbreaking research aimed at improving the diagnosis, management, and treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis and doubling FSRs investment from 2023. FSR has awarded two grants, each in the amount of $100,000, to Dr. Eliot Peyster, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Ravi Karra, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Duke University. These grants support innovative projects designed to improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical care for cardiac sarcoidosis patients. Dr. Peysters research project, Establishing a True Gold Standard for Cardiac Sarcoidosis Diagnosis with Quantitative Multi-marker Immunofluorescence, applies advanced spatial biology techniques to create a new diagnostic gold standard for cardiac sarcoidosis, leveraging quantitative multi-marker immunofluorescence. His expertise spans cardiovascular diseases, heart failure, and translational research, with a focus on adapting cutting-edge technologies to improve patient care. This generous award from the FSR will enable us to test a novel, modern, and very promising new approach to diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis, says Dr. Peyster. The work we will perform as part of this award has the potential to be practice-changing and will hopefully lead to earlier disease detection and better outcomes for patients. Dr. Karras research project, Repurposing 99mTc-Tilmanocept Imaging for Cardiac Sarcoidosis, focuses on adapting macrophage-specific imaging agents to improve cardiac sarcoidosis diagnosis and monitoring. His translational program at Duke University combines developmental biology and epidemiology to advance early-phase clinical trials and improve care for heart failure patients. With generous support from the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, we are excited to test whether an imaging agent specific to macrophages can be used to better diagnose and follow cardiac sarcoidosis, says Dr. Karra. This work is part of a bench-to-bedside approach from my lab and has the potential to address a significant, unmet need in the field of sarcoidosis. "We are thrilled to support these extraordinary projects through FSRs Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant," says Mary McGowan, FSR's CEO. "The insights gained from this research have the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis, outcome evaluation, and treatment strategies not only for individuals with cardiac sarcoidosis but also for a wide range of other inflammatory diseases." FSR is dedicated to accelerating sarcoidosis research through its fellowships, pilot and cardiac grants, and other disease-specific initiatives. To date, FSR has provided more than $7 million in funding to support sarcoidosis research worldwide. To learn more about FSRs funding opportunities, visit https://www.stopsarcoidosis.org/fsr-grants/. About Sarcoidosis Sarcoidosis is a rare inflammatory disease characterized by granulomastiny clumps of inflammatory cellsthat can form in one or more organs. Despite advances in research, sarcoidosis remains challenging to diagnose, with limited treatment options and no known cure. Approximately 175,000 people live with sarcoidosis in the United States. About the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) is the leading international organization dedicated to finding a cure for sarcoidosis and improving care for those living with the disease through research, education, and support. For more information about FSR and its community programs, visit: www.stopsarcoidosis.org. Media contact: Cathi Davis Director of Communications and Marketing 312-341-0500 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6e117b7a-964e-442d-b5ed-d7fff74c93b9 Dallas, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded $80,000 in funding to Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity to build an affordable home in southern Dallas. Dallas Habitat is one of 179 local Habitat for Humanity affiliates awarded grant funding through the 2024 Wells Fargo Builds program to increase access to affordable homes across the U.S. The grant helped volunteers from Dallas area Wells Fargo branches, Dallas Habitat, and local families build a new home in a region of Dallas that is revitalizing with new and restored homes and engaged families. It comes at a time when at least one in five Texas households spend over half of their income on housing, and the number of Dallas-area families who are struggling to afford rent is on the rise. Ethiopian-born Ketema Hora and Serkalem Wondiye Eliyas, who moved to Dallas 15 years ago to work and raise their 18- and one-year-old children, are among Dallas families seeking homeownership for their growing family, while escalating home prices put the dream out of reach. Grants like the one from Wells Fargo help families like Ketema and Serkalems achieve their dream of homeownership. Dallas Habitat is honored to receive this grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation says Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity CEO Ashley Brundage. Dallas Habitat is on a quest to dramatically improve Dallas housing crisis, and it is thanks to the funding support and partnerships with organizations like Wells Fargo that make building affordable homes possible. This funding is part of a $6.375 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International through the 2024 Wells Fargo Builds program to help support more than 290 families in communities nationwide. The Dallas family, who will take ownership of the new Habitat home built alongside Wells Fargo volunteers, will be announced in the coming months. # # # About Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity Through affordable homeownership opportunities, financial education, advocacy, and neighborhood empowerment programs, Dallas Habitat transforms families, revitalizes neighborhoods, and is working together to build a better Dallas. Strategically bringing together public and private funding, community leadership and vision, and thousands of volunteers we will break the cycle of poverty and transform our communities. In the last 20 years alone, Dallas Habitat has built or rehabbed homes for more than 1,300 low-income families using affordable homeownership as an anchor for hope, change, and stability. Since its inception in 1986, Habitat has invested nearly $200 million in more than 25 Dallas-area neighborhoods. More at www.dallasareahabitat.org, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), or YouTube pages. Attachment Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $75,000 In Rentokil To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options If you suffered losses exceeding $75,000 in Rentokil between December 1, 2023 and September 10, 2024 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). [You may also click here for additional information] NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Rentokil Initial plc (Rentokil or the Company) (NYSE: RTO) and reminds investors of the January 27, 2025 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company. Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com. As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) Rentokil experienced levels of disruption in the early pilots of the Terminix integration; (2) Rentokil experienced significant, ongoing, self-inflicted execution challenges integrating Terminix; (3) the disruption and execution challenges imperiled Rentokils integration plan for Terminix; (4) Rentokil and Terminix were still two separate businesses that were not yet integrated; (5) Rentokils failure to integrate Terminix negatively impacted the Companys business and operations, particularly organic revenue growth in North America; and (6) as a result of the above, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. The truth began to be revealed prior to the markets opening on April 18, 2024, when Rentokil issued a press release announcing its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, reporting that organic revenue growth in North America had increased by only 1.5% year-over-yearbelow the Companys guidance of 2% for the first quarter and 2% to 4% for the full year, issued just six weeks earlier. During the corresponding earnings call held later that day Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew M. Ransom assured investors that our integration program is on track[,] while Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Stuart M. Ingall-Tombs maintained, were pretty confident about our revenue guidance now. On this news, the price of Rentokil ADSs fell over 9%, from a closing price of $28.25 per ADS on April 17, 2024, to a closing price of $25.61 per ADS on April 18, 2024. The truth was revealed on September 11, 2024 when, before the markets opened, Rentokil provided an unscheduled Trading Update, announcing that the Company now expected only 1% organic revenue growth in North America for the second half of 2024well below the Companys prior guidance. In the related press release, Rentokil disclosed, [T]he trading performance in July and August was lower than anticipated. There has also been some modest disruption to organic growth from branch integration. During a related conference call with analysts held later that same day, CFO Ingall-Tombs revealed that, after nearly two years of integration efforts, I think what we have got is still because weve got 2 separate businesses, which are largely at an operational front-end not integrated yet. . . . During the same conference call, CEO Ransom admitted, This is a manifestation of execution challenges, execution -- a need to improve our execution. Its not a market phenomenon. As we can see at the moment, if further information comes to light suggest [sic] reserve the right to change that answer, but I dont think its market[,] I think this is on us. On this news, the price of Rentokil ADSs fell over 21%, from a closing price of $31.60 per ADS on September 10, 2024, to a closing price of $24.95 per ADS on September 11, 2024. The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Rentokils conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others. To learn more about the Rentokil Initial plc class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/RTO or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, on X, or on Facebook. Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/de2601eb-12a6-4c86-acde-1ee2f3350b29 VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) (OTCQB: LMGDF) (the "Company" or "Lumina") is pleased to announce that it has completed negotiating the terms of the Exploitation Contract with the Government of Ecuador and signed a binding term sheet (the "Term Sheet") in preparation for the finalization of the Exploitation Contract for its 100% owned Cangrejos project (the "Project"), located in southwest in Ecuador. Marshall Koval, CEO & Director commented: "This is a major step for the Project and Ecuador on the path to the development of the largest primary gold deposit in the country. Lumina Gold would like to thank all the Government representatives that worked on the negotiations and all our local stakeholders that have supported the Project to date. The royalty terms we have agreed upon are in line with Lumina's 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study and position the Project well for the upcoming Feasibility Study expected in Q2 2025." In addition, the signing of the Term Sheet satisfies a required condition of the amended precious metals purchase agreement (the "PMPA") with Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton"). It is expected that Wheaton will fund the remaining US$6.0 million of the Early Deposit under the PMPA on December 2, 2024. Term Sheet Summary: Advanced Royalty Payment Total Advanced Royalty Payment - Over Four Payments US$25.0M Payment 1: Exploitation Contract Signing in 2025 US$2.5M Payment 2: Start of Construction US$7.5M Payment 3: 12-months into Construction US$7.5M Payment 4: 24-months into Construction US$7.5M Gold NSR Royalty (%) Price Threshold 3.0 % Up to US$2,225/oz 4.0 % US$2,225.01/oz to US$2,475/oz 5.0 % US$2,475.01/oz to US$2,725/oz 6.0 % US$2,725.01/oz to US$2,975/oz 7.0 % US$2,975.01/oz to US$3,225/oz 8.0 % Over US$3,225.01/oz Copper NSR Royalty (%) Price Threshold 3.0 % Up to US$4.33/lb 4.0 % US$4.34/lb to US$4.96/lb 5.0 % US$4.97/lb to US$5.59/lb 6.0 % US$5.60/lb to US$6.22/lb 7.0 % US$6.23/lb to US$6.85/lb 8.0 % Over US$6.86/lb Silver NSR Royalty (%) Price Threshold 3.0 % Up to US$27.50/oz 4.0 % US$27.51/oz to US$31.00/oz 5.0 % US$31.01/oz to US$34.50/oz 6.0 % US$34.51/oz to US$38.00/oz 7.0 % US$38.01/oz to US$41.50/oz 8.0 % Over US$41.51/oz The Advance Royalty Payments will be credited to the accrued amount of each period against the lesser of 50% of the royalties payable in each semester or 10% of the total advance royalty payments in the semester until the advance royalty is settled in full. In accordance with current legislation, the Exploitation Contract also provides that the Government of Ecuador's share of cumulative discounted benefits derived from the Project will not be less than 50% on a net cumulative present value basis. Each year, to the extent that the Government of Ecuador's cumulative Project benefit falls below 50% on a net present value basis, the Company will be required to pay an annual sovereign adjustment. The Government of Ecuador's benefit will be calculated as the present value of the cumulative sum of taxes paid, including corporate income taxes, royalties, labour profit sharing paid to the State, non-recoverable VAT and any previous sovereign adjustment payments. Based on the 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study assumptions included in the Project's financial model, it is not expected that the Company would be required to make any such payments. The Term Sheet also includes a mechanism for correcting any economic imbalance for the Company as a result of changes in taxes, laws and regulations in place at the date of the signing of the Exploitation Contract. This mechanism removes a significant amount of uncertainty for the economic regime governing the Project in the future. The Term Sheet also contains various investor protection rights, ensuring the protection of the Company's interest in the Project including, among other things, autonomy and freedom of the Company to make its commercial decisions and a dispute resolution mechanism through international arbitration. In the following months, the Company will apply to Ministry of Energy and Mines to change the Project's official status from exploration phase to exploitation phase (the "Phase Change Application"). The Company has up to six months after registering the approval of the Phase Change Application with the Mining Registry to execute the Exploitation Contract with the Government of Ecuador. Once executed, the Exploitation Contract is required to be registered with the Mining Registry and will be made publicly available on the Company's profile on the SEDAR+ website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators at www.sedarplus.ca. Once the Exploitation Contract is signed, an Environmental License must be obtained in order to start the exploitation phase. The Company expects to complete applications and supporting public hearings for the Environmental License in 2025. About Lumina Gold Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals development company focused on the Cangrejos Gold-Copper Project located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador. In 2023, the Company completed a Pre-Feasibility Study for Cangrejos, which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador. Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects. Follow us on: Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook. Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminagold.com/. To receive future news releases please sign up at https://luminagold.com/contact. LUMINA GOLD CORP. Signed: "Marshall Koval" Marshall Koval, President & CEO, 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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to: the signing of the Exploitation Contract, the timing for completion of a Feasibility Study for the Project; the development of the Project; receiving the remaining US$6 million from Wheaton; the application to change the Project's official status from "exploration" to "exploitation" and completing applications and supporting public hearings for the Environmental License. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or "projected" or variations of those words or statements that certain actions, events or results "will", "could", "are proposed to", "are planned to", "are expected to" or "are anticipated to" be taken, occur or be achieved. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about; the terms of the Exploitation Contract aligning with the Term Sheet, without material variation; the Company's ability to meet its obligations under the PMPA; general business and economic conditions; the prices of gold and copper; and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive. Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lumina-gold-announces-exploitation-contract-terms-with-the-government-of-ecuador-302317019.html SOURCE Lumina Gold Corp. VANCOUVER, November 26, 2024 - Zeus North America Mining Corp. (CSE:ZEUS)(OTCQB:ZUUZF)(FRANKFURT:O92) (the "Company" or "Zeus") reports that the Management Information Circular, Notice of Meeting and proxy form (collectively, the "Materials") for the upcoming Special Meeting to be held at 11:00 a.m. (Pacific Time) on December 19, 2024 at 780 - 789 West Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia were mailed to the registered shareholders on November 14, 2024. However, due to the ongoing Canada Post strike, the delivery of the Materials may be delayed. Registered shareholders and beneficial shareholders can retrieve the Materials from www.sedarplus.com under the profile of Zeus North America Mining Corp. or request the Materials from the Company by contacting the Company by email at investors@zeusminingcorp.com. Registered shareholders are encouraged to contact National Securities Administrators Ltd., the transfer agent of the Company, by sending an email at proxy@endeavortrust.com to obtain an electronic copy of their form of proxy or their control number and password to vote their shares by internet. Proxies submitted must be received by 11 a.m., Pacific Time, on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Shareholders who hold Company's shares in a brokerage account (beneficial shareholders) should contact their broker for details on how to vote their shares. At the Meeting the shareholders will be asked to approve the plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement"), announced by the Company on August 26, 2024. The Meeting Materials provide the details of the Arrangement. On behalf of the board of directors. "Dean Besserer" President and CEO For more information, please contact the Company at info@zeusminingcorp.com FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT: Kin Communications Inc. Ph: 604-684-6730 ZEUS@kincommunications.com About Zeus North America Mining Corp. Exploring in Idaho's newest Copper Belt. The Company is focused on its exploration properties in the state of Idaho, USA known as the: Cuddy Mountain; Selway; and Great Western properties, respectively. The Idaho properties consist of 102 (Cuddy Mountain), 57 (Selway) and 38 (Great Western) lode mining claims respectively and cover a cumulative area of approximately 4,200 acres. The Company's flagship Cuddy Mountain Property is adjacent to Hercules Metal Corp.'s Leviathan Copper Porphyry discovery. The Company is in the business of mineral exploration. Forward Looking Statements When used in this news 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 the Company 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 news 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 news release include, amongst others, the Company's plans regarding the Arrangement and exploration plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. 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 or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of the parties; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs; shareholder, court and regulatory approvals; and general development, market and industry conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of its securities or its financial or operating results (as applicable). The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE: Zeus North America Mining Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com November 26th, 2024 - Western Star Resources Inc. (WSR: CSE) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced Shares for Debt Settlement transactions (see press release dated November 18, 2024) to settle an aggregate of $136,135 of debt owed to arm's length creditors of the Corporation (the "Creditors") by issuing an aggregate of 1,296,522 common shares (the "Shares") of the Corporation at a deemed price of $0.105 per share. The Shares are subject to a hold period of four months and one day. Additional Information Additional information about the Company and the Transaction is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile. The summary of the Transaction set out above is qualified in its entirety by reference to the description of the Transaction in the Company's filing statement posted on SEDAR. "Western Star Resources is a mineral exploration and development company. The company's objective is to increase shareholder value through the development of exploration properties using cost-effective exploration practices, acquiring further exploration properties, and seeking partnerships by either joint venture or sale with industry leaders. The company currently owns nine non-surveyed contiguous mineral claims totalling 2,797 hectares, which are located within the Revelstoke mining division of British Columbia. The Western Star property group is located approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Revelstoke, B.C., and roughly 10 kilometres north of the abandoned community of Camborne. Access to the Camborne area is via paved highway from either Revelstoke or Nakusp. Access to the property area is best via helicopter from Revelstoke or Nakusp." Contact Information: Blake Morgan, CEO and Director blake@acvc.vc Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Certain of the statements made and information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information." In particular references to the private placement and future work programs or expectations on the quality or results of such work programs are subject to risks associated with operations on the property, exploration activity generally, equipment limitations and availability, as well as other risks that we may not be currently aware of. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, Nov. 26, 2024 - Argenta Silver Corp. (TSXV: AGAG) ("Argenta" or the "Company") announces that, due to the current delays and suspension of mail service in Canada due to the nationwide strike of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers that commenced on November 15, 2024 (the "Postal Strike"), the notice of meeting and information circular (the "Meeting Materials") for its upcoming annual and general special meeting being held on Tuesday December 17, 2024 (the "Meeting") have not yet been mailed, but have been posted and are accessible on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.argentasilver.com. Shareholders of the Company are encouraged to access the Meeting Materials directly through the above-mentioned websites, or may contact the Company's transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada ("Computershare") toll-free between the hours of 8:30 AM and 8:00 PM EST at 1-800-564-6253 or email at service@computershare.com to request copies of the Meeting Materials. In the event that the Postal Strike ends prior to the Meeting, the Company will mail the Meeting Materials in the normal course, but there can be no assurance that the Meeting Materials will be received by the shareholders prior to the Meeting. The Company is in the process of evaluating its options with respect to relief from the mailing requirements for the Meeting Materials and will provide an update if and when such relief is granted. How Registered Shareholders Can Vote Registered shareholders are shareholders who hold their shares directly in the Company, and not through a brokerage account or depository company. The Company is advised that registered shareholders may submit their votes by proxy by completing the form of proxy available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile or on the Company's website (both linked above) and sending the completed proxy to Computershare by email at service@computershare.com. Registered shareholders who require assistance submitting their votes by proxy may contact Computershare toll-free between the hours of 8:30 AM and 8:00 PM EST at 1-800-564-6253 or email at service@computershare.com. How Beneficial Shareholders Can Vote Beneficial shareholders are shareholders who hold their investment through a brokerage house, depository company or other intermediary. Beneficial shareholders should contact their brokerage house or depository company or other intermediary and ask to obtain their voting control number and the steps of how to vote, which could include internet voting, completing a form of proxy and emailing it, directing your broker over the phone on how you wish to vote or some other method as described by your brokerage house or depository company. Financial Statements and MD&A Copies of the Company's annual financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as interim financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024 (collectively, the "Financial Statements and MD&A") have been filed and are available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The Company will provide physical copies of the Financial Statements and MD&A to securityholders upon request by phone at 604-609-6100 or email at mborthwick@fiorecorporation.com. Following the conclusion of the Postal Strike, shareholders requesting Financial Statements and MD&A will be delivered those documents in the ordinary course. About Argenta Silver Corp. Argenta Silver Corp. is a focused silver exploration company committed to advancing projects that support the global energy transition. Our mission is to create sustainable, long-term value for shareholders by acquiring and developing high-potential silver assets in mining-friendly jurisdictions across Latin America. Led by an experienced management team with deep expertise in exploration, finance, and project development, Argenta takes a disciplined, strategic approach to growth. With a strong emphasis on responsible mining practices, we are well-positioned to meet the rising demand for silver-a critical metal in renewable energy and emerging technologies-while building a lasting and successful company. On behalf of Argenta Silver Corp. "Geir Liland" Chief Executive Officer 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 Information This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based on are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE Argenta Silver Corp. For further information please contact: Tel: 604.609.6110, Email: info@argentasilver.com or visit the Company's website at https://www.argentasilver.com Vancouver, November 27, 2024 - Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: JUGR) (OTCQB: JUGRF) (FSE: 4JE) (the "Company" or "Juggernaut") announces that it has filed an amended Notice of Meeting and Record Date, moving its upcoming Annual and Special Meeting (the "Meeting") to January 7, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. PST. The November 12, 2024, Record Date remains unchanged. The Company's notice of meeting, management information circular and proxy form (the "Meeting Materials") will be mailed to shareholders on December 6, 2024. Copies of the Meeting Materials, including the form of proxy, will also be filed and available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at https://juggernautexploration.com/ as of December 6, 2024. With the ongoing Canada Post strike, the Meeting Materials may not be delivered on time to all shareholders, but shareholders can contact Teresa Kwan at Computershare Investor Services at Teresa.Kwan@computershare.com to obtain their control number and will be able to cast their vote for the upcoming Meeting. If a shareholder holds shares through an intermediary such as a brokerage firm, they are to contact their intermediary directly for copies of the Meeting Materials. The voting deadline for the Meeting is at 11:00 a.m. PST on January 3, 2025. The Company also advises that, further to its November 22, 2024, news release, the 537,564 non-transferable broker warrants issued pursuant to their recently closed flow-through private placement have an exercise price of $0.085, not $0.12 as previously stated. About Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. is an explorer and generator of precious metals projects in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. All of its projects are in world-class geological settings and geopolitical safe jurisdictions amenable to mining in Canada. Juggernaut is a member and active supporter of CASERM, an organization representing a collaborative venture between the Colorado School of Mines and Virginia Tech. Juggernaut's key strategic cornerstone shareholder is Crescat Capital. Qualified Person Rein Turna P. Geo is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for Juggernaut Exploration's projects. View Juggernaut videos by Clicking Here. For more information, please contact Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. Dan Stuart President, Director, and Chief Executive Officer 604-559-8028 info@juggernautexploration.com www.juggernautexploration.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT Certain disclosure in this release may constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties relating to Juggernaut's operations that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including its ability to complete the contemplated private placement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES. THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR AN INVITATION TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED IN IT. Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, Nov. 27, 2024 - Vizsla Copper Corp. (TSXV: VCU) (OTCQB: VCUFF) (FRANKFURT: 97E0) ("Vizsla Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to report final drill results from its summer core drilling program at the Woodjam and Redgold copper-gold projects in central BC (Figure 1). A polymictic breccia containing intrusive clasts with porphyry-related quartz-chalcopyritebornite stockwork was intersected in two drill holes northwest of the Three Firs target. The clasts may suggest proximity to a potentially mineralized and concealed copper-gold porphyry system. Future drilling at Three Firs will target the source of the mineralized clasts. HIGHLIGHTS Drill holes TF24-123 and TF24-126 intersected a new zone of polymictic breccia approximately 500 meters northwest of the Three Firs copper-gold target: Breccia contains common intrusive clasts with quartz-chalcopyritebornite stockwork Assays from the breccia returned up to 0.35% copper and 0.50 g/t gold, with mineralization hosted mainly in the clasts Results from a recent induced polarization (IP) survey across the Three Firs area demonstrate an increase in chargeability in the down-plunge direction from the breccia intersections Future drilling will target the source of the mineralized clasts Drill hole DH24-125 targeted the southern extension of the Deerhorn deposit: 50 meter step-out hole along strike to the south of the Deerhorn deposit intersected strong alteration with individual assays up to 3.5% copper 2024 exploration program successfully: Expanded the Deerhorn copper-gold deposit where mineralization remains open Expanded and verified higher-grade copper-gold zones within the Southeast deposit Generated high-priority exploration targets at the Great Plains and Three Firs areas "I'm very pleased with the results of our summer exploration programs," commented Craig Parry, Executive Chairman. "Woodjam continues to deliver exceptional exploration results, and the mineralized breccia intersections at the Three Firs zone provide further evidence that additional porphyry-related deposits are waiting to be found." "Thanks to the excellent work of our field crews, the summer drilling program at Woodjam has been very successful," commented Steve Blower, Vice President of Exploration. "We've expanded zones of high-value mineralization at both the Deerhorn and Southeast deposits, and with the mineralized breccia intersections, we're possibly vectoring toward a new porphyry center at Three Firs." 2024 Exploration Program The 2024 exploration program at the Woodjam and Redgold projects (Figure 1) consisted of over 4,000 metres of diamond drilling in ten holes (seven at Woodjam and three at Redgold) and the completion of over 40 line kilometres of induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveying across three main target areas (Three Firs, Great Plains and Redgold). The program successfully accomplished its two main objectives: 1) expand on high-grade porphyry-related gold-copper mineralization at the Deerhorn and Southeast deposits (see September 3rd, 2024 and September 9th, 2024 news releases), and 2) define new exploration targets to be evaluated in future drill programs (Three Firs, this release and Great Plains, see October 30th, 2024 news release). Three Firs Drilling at Three Firs was designed to investigate the extent of near-surface, porphyry-related copper and gold mineralization to the northwest. Drill holes TF24-123 and TF24-126, collared 500 meters from the core of the Three Firs target (Figure 2), intersected a new occurrence of polymictic breccia containing intrusive clasts with porphyry-related quartz-chalcopyritebornite stockwork (Figures 4 and 5). Mineralized clast-bearing breccia was intersected over 41.6 meters (363.4 m to 405 m at EOH) in TF24-123 and in TF24-126 over two intervals including 27.6 meters (499.7 m to 527.3 m, upper breccia) and 39.9 meters (598.15 m to 638.0 m, lower breccia). Based on clast composition and texture, the breccia in TF24-123 is interpreted to be related to the upper breccia in TF24-126. The breccia matrix in TF24-123 has been strongly clay+carbonate altered (Figure 4) whereas the matrix in the upper breccia in TF24-126 is variably quartz-sericite-chlorite altered (Figure 5d). In both intervals, clast compositions vary from intrusive (monzonite to granodiorite) with porphyry-related stockwork, fractured and truncated quartz veins, to plagioclase porphyritic andesites, hornblende-phyric diorites, and fine-grained volcanics/sediments (Figures 4b, c, d, e and 5b, c, d). Potassically altered intrusive clasts are more abundant in TF24-126 and clasts with porphyry-related stockwork mineralization are locally brecciated (Figures 4b, d). The frequency of mineralized clasts within the TF24-123 and upper TF24-26 breccias increases with depth from hole TF24-123 to TF24-126 corresponding to an increase in copper and gold grades. The breccia in TF24-126 returned 27.6 meters of 0.18% copper and 0.13 g/t gold relative to TF24-123 which yielded 41.6 meters of 0.06% copper and 0.03 g/t gold (Table 1 and Figure 3). The lower breccia in TF24-126 (Figure 6) contains strongly sericite altered andesite clasts set in a quartz-pyrite cement. Minor chalcopyrite-bearing clasts are also observed (Figure 6b). The presence of multiple facies of polymictic breccias in TF24-123 and TF24-126 suggests a complex magmatic-hydrothermal system during the late-stages of porphyry system development in the Three Firs area. Modelling shows a general plunge of the breccia system to the southeast towards a broad and untested high-chargeability anomaly (Figure 3). This anomaly will be tested for a potential center of intrusion-hosted, porphyry-related mineralization and the source of the mineralized clasts within the breccias. Deerhorn Expansion Drilling Drill hole DH24-125 at the Deerhorn deposit was designed to step-out 50 meters south of the previously reported drill hole DH24-120, which intersected 1.16 g/t gold equivalent (0.91 g/t gold, 0.18% copper) over 86.0m (see September 3rd, 2024 news release, Table 1). DH24-125 intersected a broad zone of strong fracturing with associated clay alteration and local copper and gold mineralization, up to 3.5% copper and 0.6 g/t gold (Figure 7). Further drilling up-dip from holes DH24-120 and DH24-125 is required to evaluate the extension of mineralization southeast from the main Deerhorn resource area. Redgold Inaugural Drilling Drilling at the Redgold project, contiguous and immediately north of the Woodjam district (Figure 1), consisted of three holes, targeting the eastern and northern extension of porphyry-related copper and gold mineralization at the East zone target (Figure 8). Hole RG24-15, a 135 meter step-out to the southeast of hole RG12-11 (151.9 meters of 0.21% copper with 0.24 g/t gold3, see May 12th, 2023 news release), intersected numerous intervals of anomalous copper and gold mineralization highlighted by 30.0 meters of 0.15% copper and 0.13 g/t gold. These new drill results together with recently acquired IP chargeability and resistivity data will be interpreted together to refine the Redgold exploration model. Next Steps The 2024 drill program is now complete and assay results have been received from all the drill holes. New drilling and geophysical data are currently being integrated with existing project-wide data to prioritize targets for the next phase of exploration which may include drilling at the Three Firs, Deerhorn, and Southeast targets. Table 1. Woodjam and Redgold 2024 Assay Summary Area Hole-ID Significant Intersections2 From (m) To (m) Length (m) Cu (%) Au (g/t) Deerhorn DH24-1191 Abandoned Before Target Deerhorn DH24-1201 191.0 277.0 86.0 0.18 0.91 includes 208.5 277.0 68.5 0.18 1.07 Deerhorn DH24-1253 232.0 238.0 6.0 0.27 0.41 and 287.0 303.6 16.6 0.18 0.08 includes 287.0 293.0 6.0 0.35 0.14 Southeast SE24-1211 63.1 273.3 210.2 0.35 0.09 includes 63.1 114.7 51.6 0.52 0.16 Southeast SE24-1221 65.0 242.3 177.3 0.56 0.29 includes 65.0 160.0 95.0 0.75 0.46 Three Firs TF24-1234 363.4 405.0 41.6 0.06 0.03 Three Firs TF24-124 No significant Intersections Three Firs TF24-1263 499.7 527.3 27.6 0.18 0.13 includes 515.0 527.3 12.3 0.20 0.25 Redgold RG24-153 79.0 109.0 30.0 0.13 0.15 and 131.0 133.8 2.8 0.65 0.10 and 179.0 186.0 7.0 0.20 0.35 and 275.0 293.0 18.0 0.09 0.11 Redgold RG24-16 No significant Intersections Redgold RG24-17 No significant Intersections Notes: 1. Previously disclosed, see September 3rd, 2024 and September 9th, 2024 news releases 2. Intervals are downhole core lengths. True widths are unknown. 3. Calculations are length-weighted using a 0.10 g/t Au or 0.10% Cu cutoff 4. No cutoff applied to length-weighted interval Table 2. Drill Collar Information Hole ID Project Easting* Northing* Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip DH24-119 Woodjam 611185 5791908 918 128.0 -45.0 DH24-120 Woodjam 611467 5791738 920 228.4 -59.5 DH24-125 Woodjam 611458 5791672 915 215.5 -73.0 SE24-121 Woodjam 612967 5787807 1013 221.6 -60.2 SE24-122 Woodjam 612979 5787878 1015 305.6 -79.8 TF24-123 Woodjam 608470 5787687 977 221.6 -60.2 TF24-124 Woodjam 608448 5787451 979 222.3 -59.8 TF24-126 Woodjam 608470 5787687 977 200.0 -67.0 RG24-15 Redgold 604627 5813663 966 65.0 -60.0 RG24-16 Redgold 604782 5813743 936 63.4 -60.0 RG24-17 Redgold 604691 5814321 906 63.5 -60.4 *UTM NAD 83 Zone 10 Figure 1. Map of the Woodjam and Redgold projects. Figure 2. Map showing the main target areas on the Woodjam project and the location of 2024 drill holes. Figure 3. Schematic section across the Three Firs area showing the locations of exploration holes TF24-123, TF24-24 and TF24-126 in relation to historical drilling1 and a section through the inverted chargeability model. The zone of polymictic breccia is modeled with a SE plunge highlighting a potential target at depth below the Three Firs area. Intervals are downhole length-weighted. True widths are unknown. Figure 4. Core photos of TF24-123. A. Box photos showing core from 389.4 to 405.0 meters (EOH) downhole. Zones of bleaching in the matrix caused by clay + carbonate alteration. Larger subrounded purple clasts are plagioclase-phyric andesite, B and C. Examples of rounded intrusive clasts with porphyry-related mineralization (quartz-chalcopyrite-bornite stockwork). D. Polymictic breccia near the bottom of the drill hole with mineralized and quartz vein clasts set in a clay + carbonate cement. E. Example of quartz vein with bornite cutting porphyry clast. Abbreviations: qtz = quartz, cpy = chalcopyrite, bn = bornite, carb = carbonate. Figure 5. Core photos of the upper breccia zone in TF24-126. A. Box photos showing core from 499.75 to 528.2 meters downhole. An increase in mineralized clasts at 515.0 meters resulted in a 12.3 meter interval of 0.25 g/t gold with 0.20% copper. B. Example of brecciated and potassically altered intrusive clast with fine quartz-chalcopyrite-magnetite stockwork. C. Mineralized clast with quartz-chalcopyrite-magnetite vein. D. Polymictic breccia showing mineralized clasts, potassically altered intrusive clasts, hornblende-phyric diorite clasts, and plagioclase-phyric andesite clasts set in a fine-grained magmatic(?) matrix. Abbreviations: qtz = quartz, cpy = chalcopyrite, mgt = magnetite Figure 6. Core photos of the lower breccia zone in TF24-126. A. Box photos showing core from 594.9 to 624.0 meters downhole. Sharp contact with Nicola group volcanics at 598.15 meters. The bleaching of many of the clasts is caused by sericite (white mica) alteration. B. Local chalcopyrite bearing clast in quartz-pyrite cemented breccia. C. Sericite-altered clasts set in a quartz-pyrite hydrothermal cement. Abbreviations: qtz = quartz, py = pyrite, cpy = chalcopyrite. Figure 7. Southwest-northeast section across the southeastern extent of the Deerhorn deposit showing the location of DH24-125 and DH24-120 (previously released). Interpolated gold shell is based on preliminary modelling of current and historical assay data2 and is shown to schematically show the distribution of porphyry-related gold mineralization. Copper results (right side of drill trace) only shown for 2024 holes. Intervals are downhole length-weighted. True widths are unknown. Section width is 90 m. Figure 8. Map of the Redgold Project showing the location of the 2024 drill holes with select historical drill results3. Intervals are downhole length-weighted. True widths are unknown. Sampling, Chain of Custody, Quality Assurance and Quality Control All drill core analytical results have been monitored through the Company's quality assurance and quality control program (QA/QC). Drill core was sawn in half at Vizsla's dedicated and secure core logging and processing facility in Horsefly, BC. Half of the drill core was sampled and shipped by a bonded courier in sealed and secured woven polyester bags to the ALS Global preparation facilities in Kamloops, BC. Core samples were prepared using ALS standard preparation procedure PREP-31A which involves crushing the sample to 70% less than 2mm, followed by a riffle split of 250g, and then a pulverised split to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Following sample preparation, the pulps were sent to the ALS Global analytical laboratory in North Vancouver, BC for analysis. ALS Global is registered to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditations for laboratory procedures. Drill core samples were analyzed for 48 elements by ICP-MS on a 0.25-gram aliquot using a four-acid digestion (method ME-MS61). Overlimit samples (>10,000 ppm Cu) were re-analyzed using an ore-grade, four-acid digestion and ICP-AES finish (method ME-OG62). Gold was analyzed by fire assay on a 30-gram aliquot with an AES finish (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy - method Au-ICP21). In addition to ALS Global laboratory QA/QC protocols, Vizsla implements a rigorous internal QA/QC program that includes the insertion of field and lab duplicates, certified reference materials (standards prepared by an independent lab) and blanks into the sample stream. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the QA/QC data. Results are considered acceptable. About Vizsla Copper Vizsla Copper is a Cu-Au-Mo focused mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company is primarily focused on its flagship Woodjam project, located within the prolific Quesnel Terrane, 55 kilometers east of the community of Williams Lake, British Columbia. It has three additional copper properties: Poplar, Copperview, and Redgold, all well situated amongst significant infrastructure in British Columbia. The Company's growth strategy is focused on the exploration and development of its copper properties within its portfolio in addition to value accretive acquisitions. Vizsla Copper's vision is to be a responsible copper explorer and developer in the stable mining jurisdiction of British Columbia, Canada and it is committed to socially responsible exploration and development, working safely, ethically and with integrity. Vizsla Copper is a spin-out of Vizsla Silver (TSX.V: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) and is backed by Inventa Capital Corp., a premier investment group founded in 2017 with the goal of discovering and funding opportunities in the resource sector. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and the Company's website (www.vizslacopper.com). Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Christopher Leslie, Ph.D., P.Geo., Technical Advisor for Vizsla Copper. Dr. Leslie is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. Some technical information contained in this release is historical in nature and has been compiled from public sources believed to be accurate. The historical technical information has not been verified by Vizsla Copper and may in some instances be unverifiable. Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby projects is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on Vizsla's projects. References 1. Summarized in: Blackwell, J., Rainbow, A., and Madsen, J. (2013), 2012 Assessment report on the Woodjam North Property, Including diamond drilling, geochemical sampling and ground magnetics, Cariboo Mining Division, British Columbia, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 33805, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris 2. Summarized in: Lomas, S. (2022), NI43-101 Technical Report for the Woodjam Property Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada, https://sedarplus.ca 3. Reported in: Lesage, G. (2013), 2011 Assessment report Redgold Property including soil sampling, surface rock sampling, ground magnetics and diamond drilling, Cariboo Mining Division, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 32975, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris 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 The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements relating to: the exploration and development of the Company's projects, including Woodjam; the release of exploration results; and the Company's growth and business strategies. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of the Company, future growth potential for the Company and its business, and future exploration plans are based on management's reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of silver, gold, and other metals; no escalation in the severity of public health crises; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; the Company's ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms. These statements reflect the Company's respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company's mining activities; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company's management team and outside contractors; the Company's inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of public health crises; the economic and financial implications of public health crises to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company's interactions with surrounding communities; the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine; general economic facts; and the factors identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's management discussion and analysis and other public disclosure documents. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE Vizsla Copper Corp. VANCOUVER, Nov. 27, 2024 - CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V: CMB) (Frankfurt: ZM5P) ("CMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a new Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for its silver-lead-zinc Silver Hart Project (SHP), in Yukon, Canada. The new MRE totals an Inferred resource of 8.820 Moz @ 145.2 g/t silver equivalent ("AgEq") in 1,889,000 tonnes utilizing a cut-off grade of 50 g/t AgEq (See table 1). This MRE has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Table 1 SHP Pit Constrained Inferred Mineral Resources as of December 31, 2023 at a Cut-off Grade of AgEq>=50 g/t Mining Method Domain Mass (Tonnes) Average Value Material Content AgEq g/t Ag g/t Pb % Zn % AgEq Million oz Ag Million oz Pb Million lb Zn Million lb Open Pit TM_Zone 269,000 229.8 152.7 0.56 1.88 1.985 1.319 3.3 11.1 S_Zone 127,000 334.5 262.1 0.36 1.90 1.368 1.072 1.0 5.3 KL_Zone 1,026,000 110.9 35.7 0.11 2.17 3.659 1.178 2.5 49.0 K_Zone 265,000 79.8 14.2 0.09 1.90 0.680 0.121 0.5 11.1 M_Zone 202,000 173.6 98.1 0.58 1.82 1.128 0.637 2.6 8.1 Total 1,889,000 145.2 71.3 0.24 2.03 8.820 4.327 9.9 84.7 Notes: The effective date of this mineral resource statement is December 31, 2023. The qualified person responsible for this Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is Charley Murahwi, M.Sc., P.Geo., FAusIMM. The mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with the CIM Best Practice Guidelines (2019) and the CIM Definition Standards (2014) Ordinary Kriging (OK) interpolation was used with a single block size of 5m x 5m x 5m. The mineral resource results are presented in-situ within the optimized pit. Mineralized material outside the pit has not been considered as a part of the current MRE. The tonnes and metal contents are rounded to reflect that the numbers are an estimate and any discrepancies in the totals are due to the rounding effects. AgEq g/t = [(Ag ppm x %Recovery x Price/g) + (Pb ppm x %Recovery x Price/g) + (Zn ppm x %Recovery x Price/g)]/ (Ag Price/g x %Recovery). Mineral resources unlike mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. A summary of the SHP mineral resource economic and technical parameters and/or assumptions is presented in Table 2 below. Table 2 Summary of the SHP Economic and Technical Parameters/Assumptions Item Units Extended Mining cost CAD$/t all material 10.00 Processing cost CAD$/t crude feed 25.50 G&A cost CAD$/t crude feed 5.00 Exchange rate CAD$ to US$ 0.75 Ag price USD$/oz 23.30 Pb price US$/metric tonne 1,892 Zn price US$/metric tonne 2,505 Metallurgical recovery (all metals) Percentage 80 Overall pit slope Degrees 45 Further details on the new mineral resource estimate at Silver Hart and the use of the above-mentioned parameters will be provided in the upcoming NI 43-101 report by MICON International Limited who undertook the MRE estimate on behalf of the Company. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO of the Company noted, "We have a conceptual development plan that suits the size and grade of the resource estimate and the nature of the mineralization that starts at surface. The mineralization at Silver hart comprises of high-grade veins and mantos that are potentially amenable to open pit mining. Our plan is to fully evaluate developing these resources for a seasonal, small scale open pit operation developing each of the known mineralized areas. We plan to evaluate the potential ways to minimize project risk that will include the possible utilization of an ore sorter to enhance ore grades with the concentrate material then trucked to a processing facility. The closest potential mill may be at the Silvertip project owned by Coeur Mining, which would entail a trucking distance of approximately 100 kilometers from Silver Hart. CMC also hopes to establish a partnership arrangement with local First Nations to undertake this project and will be commencing discussions in the very near future. Our next steps are to engage discussions with First Nations and conduct the first round or metallurgical testing and ore sorting capabilities which we hope to commence in the near future, subject to financing." The new MRE also notes that there are opportunities to expand many of the known mineralized zones (TM, KL, K, S and M) and does not include any discussions on the potential for additional zones in the adjacent Blue Heaven Property that is 80% owned by CMC. The Rancheria Silver District is located approximately 300 kilometers east of Whitehorse, Yukon in a 130 km long by 50 km wide belt that straddles the Yukon and British Columbia border. CMC has been actively exploring this silver district on the northern end at its Silver Hart and Blue Heaven properties and recently acquired a 100% interest in the Amy property and has optioned its Silverknife Project to Coeur Mining Inc. Qualified Person The Qualified Person responsible for this Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is Charley Murahwi, M.Sc., P.Geo., FAusIMM of MICON International Limited (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). The Qualified Person has given his approval of the technical information pertaining reported herein. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting, geophysical investigations, environmental and baseline studies, engineering studies, metallurgical testing, assaying and all other technical data. About CMC Metals Ltd. CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon), Amy and Silverknife claims (British Columbia). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (central Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon). On behalf of the Board: "Kevin Brewer" Kevin Brewer, CEO, President and Director CMC METALS LTD. For Further Information and Investor Inquiries: Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng. President, CEO and Director Tel: (709) 327-8013 kbrewer80@hotmail.com Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2 To be added to CMC's news distribution list, please send an email to info@cmcmetals.ca or contact Mr. Kevin Brewer directly. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. "This news release may contain certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation." Vancouver, November 27, 2024 - Sitka Gold Corp. (TSXV: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) ("Sitka" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Kluane Drilling Corp. to complete up to 30,000 metres of diamond drilling in 2025 at its road accessible RC Gold Project ("RC Gold" or the "Project") located in the prolific Tombstone Gold Belt in the Yukon. This will be the largest drilling campaign ever conducted at RC Gold and is anticipated to focus primarily on follow up drilling at the Rhosgobel and Pukelman intrusion targets along with further expansion drilling at the Blackjack gold deposit and drill testing other high-priority targets identified elsewhere on the district-scale, 431 square kilometre property. Kluane Drilling Ltd., a well established, highly experienced drilling company based in Whitehorse, Yukon with over 30 years of experience diamond drilling in the Yukon and around the world, has been contracted to complete up to 30,000 metres of drilling at the Company's flagship RC Gold Project. Kluane Drilling is dedicated to providing quality drilling services based on technical innovation and human talent and specializes in achieving high drilling production in various drilling environments. Kluane Drilling has proven to be an exceptional contractor for the past two years and Sitka looks forward to continuing to work with them as the Company further advances RC Gold in 2025. "We are very pleased to have secured the services of Kluane Drilling Ltd. for what will be our largest ever diamond drilling program planned for our RC Gold Project in 2025," said Cor Coe, Director and CEO of Sitka. "Kluane provided Sitka with exceptional drilling services throughout our winter and summer drilling programs at RC Gold in both 2023 and 2024 and we look forward to continuing to develop the project with them in the coming year as we substantially increase the scale and scope of drilling. The 2024 drilling campaign at RC Gold returned excellent assay results from both the Blackjack gold deposit area and the first ever diamond drill holes at the Rhosgobel intrusion, and has identified visible gold in its first two diamond drill holes at the Pukelman intrusion where assay results are still pending (see news releases dated November 25 and October 31, 2024). We are eagerly looking forward to following up on the success we had this past year and, with over $15 million in cash and no debt, the Company is fully funded to complete the planned work program at RC Gold in 2025. We also look forward to receiving the results from the last six diamond drill holes of the 2024 season totalling 2,774 metres that are still pending from RC Gold, with 2 holes from Pukelman and 4 holes from Blackjack." Stock Option Grant Sitka Gold Corp. also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 5,500,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to officers, directors and consultants of the Company. The Options are exercisable at $0.37 per share for a period of three years from the date of grant and are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. 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 PDAC, Toronto, ON: March 2 - 5, 2025 Swiss Mining Institute, Zurich, Switzerland: March 18 - 19, 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. In January 2023, the Company 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. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SITKA GOLD CORP. "Donald Penner" President and Director For more information contact: 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 "forwardlooking 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 forwardlooking 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/231562 LONGUEUIL, Nov. 27, 2024 - Greenheart Gold Inc. (TSXV: GHRT) (the "Company" or "Greenheart Gold") is pleased to announce the appointment of Karim Michel Nasr to its Board of directors and Doug Flegg as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. "We are very pleased to have Karim Nasr join our board of directors" stated David Fennell, Executive Chairman of Greenheart Gold. "Karim brings with him a wealth of experience in capital markets and corporate strategy and will be a great resource for Greenheart Gold as we position the Company for future growth." Mr. Nasr has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance and investments, especially in the technology, media and telecom ("TMT"), and mining sectors. He is currently Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at G Mining Capital. Mr. Nasr joined La Mancha Resource Capital in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer and he was Managing Partner & co-Chief Investment Officer from 2019 to October 2024. From 2011 to 2017, he was Chief Executive Officer of Digital World Capital LLP, an alternative asset manager specialized in TMT and advised clients on special situation investments. From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Nasr was a member of the Executive and Investment Committee of Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom, in charge of corporate finance, raising over US$68 billion in capital and closing over US$67 billion in merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Nasr previously served on the boards of G Mining Ventures Corp., Horizonte Minerals plc., Elemental Altus Royalties Corp. and Golden Star Resources Ltd. Mr. Nasr holds a master's degree in management from the University of Paris IX. Justin van der Toorn, President and CEO of Greenheart Gold commented "We are pleased to welcome Doug to the senior management team of Greenheart Gold. Doug's combination of technical background in geology and over 38 years in various positions in capital markets, are well suited to help the Company achieve its goal of maintaining a strong financial position and a supportive shareholder base." Mr. Flegg has over 38 years' experience in mining finance including senior positions in research, portfolio management and global equity sales. Previously, Mr. Flegg was Managing Director Global Mining Sales with BMO Capital Markets, where he was involved in raising $35 billion in over 200 corporate financings. Since 2016 Doug has been working closely with the boards and senior executive teams of junior mining companies, most recently with that of Reunion Gold, providing business development, strategy and financing advice. Mr. Flegg holds a CFA charter, has obtained both an MBA and a B.Sc. in Geology from Queen's University, Kingston and has experience as an exploration geologist. Grant of Stock Options The Company also announces that it has granted incentive stock options to purchase up to a total of 6,750,000 common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.60 to certain officers, directors, employees and key consultants of the Company in accordance with the Company's stock option plan. The stock options are exercisable for a period of five years expiring on November 26, 2029, and are vesting in three tranches over a period of two years. The grant of the options is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. About Greenheart Gold Inc. Greenheart Gold is an exploration company that builds on a proven legacy of discoveries within the Guiana Shield, a highly prospective geologic terrain that hosts numerous gold deposits yet remains relatively under-explored. The Company is led by former executives and exploration team of Reunion Gold, a team that was most recently noted for the discovery and delineation of the multi-million-ounce Oko West deposit in Guyana, which was sold to and being advanced to production by G Mining Ventures. Greenheart Gold intends to build on its technical knowledge, strong relationship base and success from exploring in the Guiana Shield to assemble, maintain and explore a portfolio of early-stage exploration projects in Guyana and Suriname that are prospective for orogenic gold deposits. ? Greenheart Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'GHRT'. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and the Company's website (www.greenheartgold.com). For further information, please contact: GREENHEART GOLD INC. Justin van der Toorn, President and CEO, or Doug Flegg CFA, Senior V.P. Corporate Development E: d.flegg@greenheartgold.com E: info@greenheartgold.com Telephone: +1 450-800-2882 Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, those related to the Company's plans and objectives. Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature, including among others, those risks and uncertainties set forth in the Listing Application (Form 2B) dated August 30, 2024, management's discussion and analysis for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and other documents and reports filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulators available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, and the risk that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future outcomes. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that the list of factors set forth in the Company's filings that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. VANCOUVER, Nov. 27, 2024 - DFR Gold Inc. (TSXV: DFR) ("DFR" or the "Company") announces the resignation of Mr. Carlo Baravalle from the Company's Board of Directors effective immediately. Mr. Baravalle who joined the Company as a director in July 2022 concurrent to the Company's acquisition of its West African gold portfolio, has decided to step down as a Director with immediate effect. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Baravalle for his contribution and dedicated services to DFR Gold during the past two years. The DFR Board now comprises four directors, two of whom are independent, namely: Bertrand Boulle and Len Comerford. Brian Kiernan, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO, and Sybrand Van Der Spuy, Chief Operating Officer, are the remaining Directors. The Audit Committee now comprises Bertrand Boulle (Chairman), Len Comerford and Sybrand Van Der Spuy. Chairman of the Board and Interim CEO Brian Kiernan said: "We wish to thank Carlo for his dedication and valuable contributions as a director and audit committee member and wish him well in his current endeavours." Notes to Editors: DFR Gold Inc. is a TSX Venture Exchange listed exploration, and mine development company focused on gold in West Africa. DFR holds interests in a portfolio of gold exploration projects in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. DFR also owns the Beravina Zircon project in Madagascar. Website: www.dfrgold.com The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedarplus.ca Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE DFR Gold Inc. VANCOUVER, Nov. 27, 2024 - Horizon Copper Corp. (TSXV: HCU) (OTCQX: HNCUF) ("Horizon Copper", "Horizon", or the "Company") is pleased to provide development advancements from its portfolio of assets. "Recently, we've seen several positive advancements at the underlying development assets in Horizon's high-quality copper portfolio," said Erfan Kazemi, Horizon's President & CEO. "The Hugo North Extension continues to showcase its status as one of the world's best copper deposits with exceptional high-grade drill results. As Entree's largest shareholder, we are encouraged by the start of underground development and the continued exploration success, which highlight the deposit's long-term potential and solidify the importance of this property within the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Meanwhile, SSR Mining is making progress on pre-construction activities at Hod Maden, and we look forward to realizing the long-term value this exceptional asset will deliver to Horizon shareholders." High-Grade Drill Results at Hugo North Extension Follow Commencement of Development Work Entree Resources Ltd. ("Entree") has announced advancements at the Oyu Tolgoi Hugo North Extension ("HNE"). In November 2024, underground development work commenced at Oyu Tolgoi Lift 1 Panel 1, part of the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property, focusing on up to 212 metres of lateral development in the southwest corner of HNE. This work, outlined in the 2024 Oyu Tolgoi Mine Plan, is a critical step in preparing the infrastructure for future mining operations. Concurrently, Entree continues discussions with Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC") to finalize governance agreements for the joint venture, exploring both the execution and delivery of the existing JV agreement or a new arrangement with equivalent economic value. Entree indicated that a clear pathway forward has been identified, with final agreements requiring OTLLC board approval. In addition, results from eight remaining diamond drill holes from the 2023 drilling program at HNE have been released, confirming high-grade mineralization within the Hugo North Lift 2 block cave footprint and extending the deposit's potential at depth. Notably, surface drill hole EGD 174 intersected 448 metres grading 1.31% copper including 172 metres at 1.58% copper. The hole terminated in mineralization at a depth of 1,800 metres, indicating the deposit remains open at depth for deeper potential lifts. Additional surface drilling included EGD 177, which intersected 143 metres grading 1.09% copper, including 51 metres at 1.75% copper. At depths, the Hugo North deposit dips to the northwest with an increasing proportion located on the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture ground. Underground geotechnical drilling further confirmed the continuity of mineralization, with high-grade results such as UGD 805B intersecting 177.3 metres at 1.79% copper, UGD 813 intersecting 56 metres at 1.45% copper, and UGD 814 intersecting 138 metres at 1.92% copper. Drilling activities in 2024 have concentrated on the Hugo North Lift 2 mineralized footprint. As of October 31, OTLLC had completed 5,287 metres of underground drilling across 23 diamond drill holes and 2,476 metres of surface drilling across four diamond drill holes. These efforts continue to enhance understanding of the resource, and Entree expects to share further updates once the results have been reviewed. These developments continue to highlight the high-grade nature of HNE and the significant potential of the deposit. For more information, refer to the press releases dated October 29, and November 4, 2024, on Entree's website at www.entreeresourcesltd.com. Horizon Copper is Entree's largest shareholder at 24% ownership. SSR Mining Continues Pre-Construction Work at Hod Maden At the Hod Maden development project in Turkiye, where Horizon owns a 30% non-operating interest, the operator, SSR Mining Inc. ("SSR Mining") continues to advance site preparation activities and engineering studies. During the third quarter of 2024, SSR Mining reported that US$10.9 million was spent on pre-construction works. SSR Mining plans to outline its 2025 capital expenditure forecast for Hod Maden along with the company's production guidance in early 2025. For further details, refer to the press release dated November 6, 2024, on SSR Mining's website at www.ssrmining.com. QUALIFIED PERSON Imola Gotz (M.Sc., P.Eng.), Sandstorm Gold Ltd.'s Vice President, Mining & Engineering is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Gotz has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release. ABOUT HORIZON COPPER Horizon Copper is a premier copper company holding a portfolio of unparalleled copper assets including a 1.66% net profits interest on the Antamina copper mine, exposure to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine through a 24% equity ownership in Entree Resources Ltd., and a 30% interest in the copper-gold Hod Maden project. Horizon plans to actively grow its portfolio of assets with a focus on copper projects. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although Horizon believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Horizon is not a guarantee of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to Entree Resources' ability to reach an agreement related to the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Horizon 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. The securities referred to in this press release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required under securities laws. Further information concerning risks, assumptions and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in Horizon's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), as well as subsequent filings that can also be found under the Company's profile. RISK FACTORS REGARDING ENTREE/OYU TOLGOI JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT Entree Resources Ltd ("Entree") previously disclosed in 2022 that, with Lift 1 Panel 0 underground development work progressing, Entree's ability to effect transfer of the mining licenses and achieve contractual certainty through negotiation remains uncertain, and Entree may be unable to advance discussions with the Government of Mongolia in a meaningful way without first confirming its underlying contractual rights and obligations vis-a-vis OTLLC. Entree's board of directors authorized and approved the commencement of binding arbitration proceedings to seek declarations and orders for specific performance relating to certain provisions of the Earn-in Agreement and the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi Joint Venture Agreement. The arbitration was commenced on May 26, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia under the International Commercial Arbitration Act (British Columbia). A three-member Tribunal was appointed and the evidentiary hearing took place in Vancouver on April 8 and 9, 2024. Closing submissions were heard in Toronto on July 10, 2024. To date, no decision has been released and Entree does not know when a decision will be forthcoming. Further, Entree does not know if the Tribunal will release a partial or final decision. If a partial decision is released further submissions and hearings may be necessary. There can be no assurance that a decision will be favourable to Entree. While Entree remains committed to achieving a commercial resolution with Rio Tinto and OTLLC, if an arbitration decision is received prior to the execution of any definitive alternative agreement(s), there can be no assurance as to whether both parties would continue to try to progress a commercial resolution as currently contemplated or at all. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2024 Entree met with Mongolian officials to reaffirm Entree's commitment to fulfil any obligation it has under applicable Mongolian law to share with the State of Mongolia up to 34% of the economic benefit derived by Entree from its interest in the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property. The Minerals Law of Mongolia provides the State may share in up to 34% of the economic benefit derived from exploitation of a mineral deposit of strategic importance (a "Strategic Deposit") where proven reserves were determined through funding sources other than the State budget. The Hugo North Extension copper-gold deposit on the Shivee Tolgoi mining license and the Heruga copper-gold-molybdenum deposit on the Javhlant mining licence are part of the Oyu Tolgoi group deposits. The Oyu Tolgoi group deposits were classified a Strategic Deposit by Resolution No. 27 dated February 6, 2007, adopted by the Parliament of Mongolia. 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. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/horizon-copper-provides-portfolio-development-updates-302317864.html SOURCE Horizon Copper Corp. Next article: Volkswagen Ghana boss highlights benefits of locally assembled vehicles at new Amarok launch Ghana Gold Coin goes on sale: Bank of Ghana announces pricing GraphicOnline Business News Nov - 27 - 2024 , 13:39 The Bank of Ghana has officially unveiled the pricing guidelines for the Ghana Gold Coin (GGC), offering Ghanaians a unique investment opportunity in precious metals. The coins, which are available in one ounce, half ounce, and quarter ounce denominations, are issued and guaranteed by the central bank. Design and features The Ghana Gold Coin is crafted from refined gold with a purity level of 99.99 percent, showcasing the original gold colour. Each coin features the Ghana Coat of Arms on one side and the Independence Arch on the reverse, symbolising the nations heritage and resilience. The coin dimensions vary based on weight: - The 1-ounce coin measures 34mm. - The half-ounce coin measures 27mm. - The quarter-ounce coin measures 22mm. Advertisement Pricing and availability The central bank has set the prices for the coins based on the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA) Auction PM Price and the Bloomberg REGN Mid-Rate from the previous days close. On November 26, the prices were announced as follows: The pricing mechanism allows for daily adjustments in line with international gold rates. How to Buy The GGC can only be purchased in Ghana through commercial banks using cedi. Banks will act as intermediaries, requiring customers to open gold accounts with the Bank of Ghana to facilitate transactions. Banks may also charge a uniform transaction fee for resale, covering the coin's value-added costs and the wooden storage box. Purpose and Benefits The introduction of the Ghana Gold Coin is part of the Bank of Ghanas domestic gold purchase programme, aimed at bolstering the national economy. Governor Dr Ernest Addison highlighted its dual benefits: The issuance of the GGC democratizes access to this enduring financial asset, enabling residents to diversify their financial portfolios. The coin will also assist the central bank in mopping up excess cedi liquidity in the banking system, complementing tools like the Bank of Ghana Bills for open market operations. Investment Opportunity The GGC offers Ghanaians a chance to invest in a stable, internationally valued asset while promoting local gold usage. This initiative aligns with the Bank of Ghanas vision to make gold investment accessible to a broader audience. For further details, potential investors can contact commercial banks or visit the Bank of Ghanas website. US signs landmark framework with Ghana, Cote dIvoire and cocoa industry to combat child labour GraphicOnline Business News Nov - 27 - 2024 , 20:27 The US Department of Labor has announced the signing of a pivotal framework of action with the governments of Cote dIvoire, Ghana, and the World Cocoa Foundation, aiming to eradicate child labour in the West African cocoa sector. Cote dIvoire and Ghana, which together account for nearly 60 percent of the worlds cocoa production, have long grappled with the issue of child labour on cocoa farms. Despite notable progress, the practice persists, underscoring the urgency for sustained intervention. This framework places the relevant national plans of action of Cote dIvoire and Ghana at the centre of our work, while underscoring the critical role that companies play in promoting due diligence and transparency in supply chains, said the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Labor, Thea Lee in a statement. We are working together because we share a goal to end child labour as well as a common responsibility to improve the lives of vulnerable children, families, and workers. Focus on root causes The newly established framework aims to tackle the root causes of child labour, such as poverty, limited access to decent work, inadequate social protection, and insufficient corporate accountability. Key components include: Advertisement - Expanding access to quality education and vocational training. - Strengthening social services and protections for cocoa-farming communities. - Empowering women, youth, and workers. - Enhancing child labour monitoring systems. The agreement emphasises a collaborative approach, with stakeholders including companies, workers, farmers, and civil society organisations expected to work in unison. Global support and local action The US Ambassador to Cote dIvoire, Jessica Davis Ba, hailed the initiative as a moment of hope and opportunity, while commending the leadership of Cote dIvoires First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, for her vision and commitment to transformative action. In Ghana, U.S. Ambassador Virginia Palmer reaffirmed the countrys dedication to the cause. As the worlds second-largest producer of cocoa beans, we welcome the government of Ghanas signing of this new framework and its commitment to work with stakeholders to address child labour including companies, workers, and the farmers producing the cocoa beans, she said. Promoting accountability and transparency The framework also highlights the importance of amplifying the voices of farmers and workers. It seeks to foster regular dialogue with civil society organisations to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the cocoa sector. This collaboration represents a significant step in combating child labour, with a shared vision of improving the livelihoods of cocoa-farming communities and protecting the rights of vulnerable children across Cote dIvoire and Ghana. Volkswagen Ghana boss highlights benefits of locally assembled vehicles at new Amarok launch Kweku Zurek Business News Nov - 27 - 2024 , 06:26 The CEO of Volkswagen Ghana and President of the Automobile Assemblers Association of Ghana (AAAG), Jeffrey Oppong Peprah, has reiterated the importance of purchasing locally assembled vehicles to drive economic growth and reduce reliance on imported cars. Speaking at the launch of the new Volkswagen Amarok in Accra on Tuesday, Mr. Peprah outlined the economic, environmental, and employment benefits of supporting Ghana's burgeoning automobile assembly industry. Driving industry growth Highlighting the transformative potential of Ghana's automotive industry, Mr. Peprah emphasised the strategic importance of locally assembled vehicles in reducing the importation of used cars and stimulating the domestic economy. Locally assembled vehicles can help create a sustainable automotive industry in Ghana. They generate jobs, provide competitive pricing, and contribute to economic growth. If we promote locally produced cars, we can gradually replace imported vehicles, creating a domestic used-car market and significantly reducing the reliance on imports," he said. Advertisement The CEO also pointed out that taxes on imported cars, such as the proposed 35 percent levy on vehicles between one to five years old, could increase the competitiveness of Ghana-assembled models. "We are engaging the government to implement measures that make it more advantageous to purchase local vehicles. This includes reducing costs for locally assembled cars and incentivising their adoption through specialised financing options," Mr. Peprah explained. The AAAG also aims to integrate informal sector workers, particularly those in automotive repairs, into the modern industry through education and skills training, ensuring they can adapt to new automotive technologies. New Volkswagen Amarok The launch event also spotlighted the latest Volkswagen Amarok, a robust pickup tailored to Ghana's diverse terrains and industries. The new Amarok boasts advanced features, including a 10-speed automatic transmission and powerful engine options designed for high performance in construction and mining sectors. This vehicle is made for all terrains. It can navigate mining pits, handle off-road challenges, and also serve as a comfortable family car. Its versatility and durability make it ideal for the Ghanaian market, Mr. Peprah remarked. The Amarok is available in multiple trims, including the high-end Aventura and PanAmericana models, featuring luxurious interiors, cutting-edge safety systems, and enhanced off-road capabilities. All models come with a three-year/120,000 km warranty, underscoring Volkswagen's commitment to quality and reliability. Vision for the future Volkswagen Ghana's investment in local assembly aligns with the governments automotive policy aimed at fostering local production and reducing vehicle imports. Mr. Peprah expressed optimism for the future, citing opportunities to strengthen local manufacturing capabilities and improve vehicle affordability through flexible payment plans and government-backed financing schemes. Ada Traditional Council expresses concern over inaccurate media reports Daily Graphic Nov - 27 - 2024 , 07:58 2 minutes read The Ada Traditional Council in the Greater Accra Region has expressed concern about recent media publications regarding salt mining operations of Electrochem Ghana Limited. In a statement, the council stated that those reports lacked factual accuracy and appeared to undermine the developmental progress in the Ada Songhor Lagoon area. It said the narratives were orchestrated to advance the interests of a group it accused of undermining efforts by Electrochem Ghana Limited to rejuvenate the Songhor Lagoon. Electrochem, an investor in the region, has been at the forefront of developing the lagoon for sustainable salt mining, a project hailed by the council as vital to the areas socio-economic advancement, the statement said. Advertisement The council consequently cautioned the media and other entities against publishing one-sided journalism aimed at sowing seeds of discord within the community. The statement emphasised that such actions jeopardised the livelihoods of the majority and benefited just a few. It further criticised some individuals for their inconsistent stance regarding the Ada Songhor Lagoon area and Electrochem Ghana Limited. It alleged that some actions, including influential individuals supporting news conferences organised by some persons in the Ada Songhor Lagoon area, contributed to community tensions. The traditional council, therefore, warned such persons to desist from actions that could incite division, hinting at potential legal consequences for any further disruptions. Other issues The statement also addressed internal issues within the Ada Traditional Area, highlighting a decision taken on March 23, 2022, to restrain the Queenmother of the Terkperbiawe Clan, Naana Korlekie Korle II, from performing official duties. The action, the statement said, was taken under Section 40 (4) of the Chieftaincy Act, 2008 (Act 759). The council reiterated that any public statements from Naana Korle did not represent its official position. Appeal against violence The council further condemned all forms of violence among the people and urged law enforcement authorities to hold those responsible for the recent vandalism and assaults accountable. It also called on stakeholders to resolve disputes through peaceful and lawful means, stressing the need to maintain unity in the Ada Traditional Area. The council remains steadfast in its commitment to the development and unity of Ada, and calls on all parties to respect its authority and contribute positively to the growth of the community, the statement signed by the Paramount Chief of the Ada Traditional Area, Djetse Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku, said. The statement underscored the councils dedication to safeguarding the interests of the Ada community and urged restraint and responsibility in addressing grievances. Next article: Plea bargaining will not shield people from prosecution Tuah-Yeboah All set for special voting Monday Samuel Duodu Nov - 27 - 2024 , 12:23 4 minutes read All is set for the conduct of Special Voting on Monday, December 2, this year, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has stated. During an interaction with the National Security Task Force, led by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the EC Chairperson said the exercise would take place in 328 special voting centres across the 276 constituencies. A total of 131,478 personnel have qualified to cast their ballots in Mondays exercise. The special voting is restricted to members of the security agencies, media and electoral officials who have applied and followed through the process to a successful end. Advertisement Adequate supplies Mrs Mensa gave an assurance that the EC had an adequate supply of ballot papers and biometric devices in place to ensure a smooth and seamless special voting exercise. She urged all registered voters, especially those eligible for special voting, to exercise their right to vote in an orderly and peaceful manner. We look forward to a credible, peaceful and transparent process," the EC Chairperson added. The special voting is a facility provided by law to allow registered voters who would not be able to present themselves at their polling stations on Election Day to vote earlier. Preparations The EC Chairperson said the commission had completed preparations for the December 7 general election, saying the voters' register had been disseminated across the country and ballot preparation for the presidential and parliamentary elections was nearing completion. She stated that ballots had been distributed to police armouries nationwide, except for the Northern, Bono and Bono East regions, which received theirs earlier yesterday. The EC had also recruited approximately 210,000 temporary officials, including returning officers, presiding officers and polling assistants, to support the electoral process, Mrs Mensa said. The commission, she added, was also preparing biometric verification devices. She said more than eight regions had already received theirs. Mrs Mensa expressed her gratitude to the police and the Ghana Armed Forces for their support and cooperation throughout the process. We are confident that by this weekend, all the biometric verification devices will be safely lodged in the police armouries across the country, Mrs Mensa said. She reiterated the readiness of the commission to conduct peaceful, credible, transparent, free and fair elections on December 7. "We are fully prepared. Our staff are receiving adequate training to enable them to perform creditably on Election Day and beyond", Mrs Mensa stated. Memoirs Mrs Mensa further disclosed that the EC had also developed basic instructions and guidelines, known as the "Eight basic memoirs," which will be pasted at the various centres, including polling stations, constituency, regional and national collation centres. Those instructions, she explained, would provide clarity on key aspects of the electoral process, including requests for recounts and correction of errors. Mrs Mensa encouraged all eligible citizens to participate in the upcoming December 7 general election, saying the commission was working tirelessly to ensure a peaceful and transparent electoral process. We thank all the heads of our security agencies and our media partners for working with us to ensure a peaceful and credible process, Mrs Mensa said. The IGP, Dr Dampare, on behalf of the National Election Task Force, assured Ghanaians of a peaceful election process and commended the EC for its excellent work so far. We want to commend the chairperson and her team across the country for an excellent job done so far," he said. We have been with them every step of the way, and we know inside out the work that has gone on to bring us to this point, the IGP stated. Dr Dampare also praised the partnership between the National Election Security Task Force and the EC, saying it had taken their cooperation to another level. The Chairman of the National Security Task Force assured the public that his team was committed to ensuring that the country remained peaceful throughout the election period and thereafter. We'll do all it takes to ensure that this country continues to be at peace with itself," he emphasised, adding that We will protect every Ghanaian, and we will protect every stakeholder in this election. Dr Dampare said the security agencies were ready to provide a secure environment for the polls. We are here today as a way of debriefing, as we have always done. We've done a lot of work when it comes to the printing of the ballots and the transportation of the ballots across the country, he stated. "We are 95 per cent done with the printing and transportation of ballots, and we are almost 50 per cent done with other logistical arrangements," the IGP revealed. Culinary industry players must leverage opportunity in digital age GTA CEO Emmanuel Bonney Nov - 27 - 2024 , 09:57 3 minutes read Players in the culinary industry have been encouraged to embrace the opportunity the digital age presents to innovate and grow their businesses. With technology virtually turning the world into a global village, it also offered unprecedented opportunities for the culinary arts. The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Akwasi Agyeman, who gave the advice, said technology played a significant role in how food was prepared and consumed. Thus, anyone who tried to work without embracing technology risked missing out on business. "Technology is now revolutionising how we prepare, share and consume food. From virtual cooking classes and online recipes shared to the use of social media to showcase culinary creativity, the digital world is expanding the horizons of the culinary arts," he said. Advertisement He was speaking at the 46th Graduation of the EKGS Culinary Institute last Sunday. It was held on the theme: "The Culinary Arts in the Digital Age: Driving Economic Growth and Innovation. Integration Mr Agyeman said the integration of technology into the culinary field hopefully would drive economic growth and innovation in several ways. The digital age has opened up new avenues for culinary entrepreneurs. Online food delivery services, virtual restaurants and food blogging are just a few examples of how technology can enable you to reach a global audience and grow your businesses, he said. Again, he said, digital tools could also play a crucial role in promoting sustainable practices in the industry. From reducing food waste to smart inventory management to supporting the value chain of food through online marketplaces, technologies have helped us to build a more sustainable and innovative food ecosystem, he said. Study The GTA, he said, conducted a study about four years ago, and almost 73 per cent of the facilities that were used for the survey did not even have a website, let alone a Facebook page or Instagram and added that in this day and age, this is so sad. Mr Agyeman, therefore, charged the young graduates to leverage technology to drive growth in their business and create new opportunities, saying that what they had learnt was just the tip of the iceberg and that they could learn more from these online platforms. Grooming professionals The Director of the EKGS Culinary Institute, Efua Goode-Obeng Kyei, said since its establishment over 25 years ago, the institution had trained over 8,000 graduates. She said 70 per cent of the graduates were now running their successful culinary outlets and 30 per cent had been employed by some of Ghanas top hospitality institutions. That accomplishment, she said, reflected its significant contribution to the broader economy through job creation and entrepreneurship. She said the culinary industry in Ghana continued to be a dynamic driver of national economic growth. According to recent reports, the hospitality and culinary sectors generate over GH2 billion annually. GGSA warns of disaster on Kabakaba Hill Alberto Mario Noretti Nov - 26 - 2024 , 09:57 3 minutes read The Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) has expressed grave concern over the growing unauthorised construction of houses and other giant structures on slopes of the Kabakaba Hill in Ho, saying the trend is worrying. The Director-General of the GGSA, Isaac K. Mwinbelle, said Ho is in an earthquake zone and in the event of an earthquake, the consequences could be dreadful. He was speaking at a days media sensitisation workshop on earthquake disaster and risk reduction in Ho last Wednesday. About 30 media practitioners in the Volta Region attended the workshop on the theme: Resourcing the GGSA A necessary tool to regulate the extractive industry. Advertisement The objective was to discuss geo-hazards, the importance of early warning systems and how to contribute to building a more disaster-resilient society. Mr Mwinbelle said the long-term effects of the unauthorised development on the slopes may be expensive and disastrous on a large-scale. Some lands were acquired by individuals without any official permit and proper documentation, without taking into account the type of rocks beneath the ground, he added. The Director-General of the GGSA said some of the buildings were put up by local artisans who may not have the skills to identify the rock types and groundwater at the building sites. He said the GGSA was the competent authority to carry out the appropriate systematic geological mapping and evaluate geological risks concerning such development activities. Therefore, the authority must be duly informed about any prospective development activity on the specific site such as the hill, for the appropriate risk assessment to be made. Unauthorised structures The Chief Director of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC), Augustus Awity, said the unbridled construction of unauthorised structures on the Kabakaba Hill posed a threat to human lives. He said what was even more disturbing about the impudent development on the hill was the fact that they were being carried out by learned people. The chief director sought to know if the people were waiting for another disaster to occur before pointing accusing fingers at the authorities for failing to act. This is the time to stop the laid back attitude and get involved in sustainably managing our cities, Mr Awity maintained. He urged the media to vigorously support the campaign for sustainable development to reduce harmful environmental impacts. The Deputy Head of the Seismology Unit of the GGSA, Saviour Mockley, said geo-hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and floods could have long-term devastating effects on communities and economies. However, she said through effective disaster risk reduction strategies, early warning systems and timely public awareness campaigns, their impact could be mitigated. Mr Mockley said the media played a crucial role in shaping public perception, informing the public and driving action concerning such emergencies. As gatekeepers of information, you have the power to educate communities, influence policies and advocate stronger resilience measures, Mrs Mockley told the participants. Saviour Baptist Church marks 10th anniversary Emmanuel Bonney Nov - 27 - 2024 , 09:57 1 minute read The Saviour Baptist Church of the Ghana Baptist Convention at Senya Beraku in the Central Region has celebrated its 10th anniversary. The event was held on the theme: Celebrating the Faithfulness of God in a Decade Onwards. The Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, Rev. Enoch Nii Naah Thompson, who was the main speaker, emphasised that Christians should be thankful to God and celebrate His goodness. Theme Speaking on the theme, the clergyman appreciated how far the Lord had brought the Saviour Baptist Church. He encouraged the church to stand firm in times of trouble. Advertisement He also spoke on how the future of the church would be bright. Rev. Thompson stressed the need for peace before, during and after Election 2024. The Chief Executive Officer of the Ideal Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Kobina Essibu, who was the guest of honour, encouraged Christians to love Christ and His church than worldly groups. Foundation As part of the anniversary celebration, the church visited the BECKY'S Foundation (Christian Atsu Educational Centre) to donate items to the orphans. There was a free health screening to seek the well-being of the people in the community. The church also organised a float Evangelism. Ghana Election 2024: Vote Number 1 on December 7 - Dr Bawumia tells electorate Chris Nunoo Nov - 27 - 2024 , 07:36 4 minutes read The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has urged the electorate to vote Number 1 in the presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7 this year. Dr Bawumia, who was addressing spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai in the Ablekuma Central Constituency in Accra yesterday, consequently asked Ghanaians to stick with the NPP. I have been to over 270 constituencies and 16 regions. What I have witnessed here today tells me by close of day on December 7, we will hear Jefferson Sackey has won as the new Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma Central and the NPP has won the presidential election, he said. Describing former President John Mahama as a failed President, Dr Bawumia said while the provision of chalk for schools was a problem under his government, conditions had improved today, with tablets and laptops being distributed to students and teachers. Advertisement He said the NPP had also added to the 37 ambulances it met in the system in 2017, with the country now boasting over 300 ambulances. He said when the Agenda 111 hospital projects were completed; 70,000 people would be employed. Prayer centre The NPP flag bearer, who had earlier visited the Mallam Atta Market in the Ayawaso Central Constituency in Accra, later visited the Hebron Prayer Centre at Medie in the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency in the Eastern Region, where he and his entourage were ushered into the packed-to-capacity auditorium amid deafening cheers, singing and dancing. Dr Bawumia, who was accompanied by the NPP parliamentary aspirant for Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency, Frank Annor Dompreh, and the NPP parliamentary candidate for Amasaman Constituency, Yahaya Kassim Atta, announced a support of 50 bags of rice, 50 bags of sugar and GH100,000 cash to the centre. He made a special prayer request from the centre, saying it was God who elected leaders and so in all things it was important to seek the face of God. Making reference to the Holy Bible, the NPP presidential candidate said: When God does not build a house, the builder builds in vain. That, he said, was because With God all things are possible, and his ways are not our ways. You have all seen the work we have done in the last eight years. I want you to support me with prayers because we are not done yet. I am coming to protect the free SHS, he stated, about the free senior high school policy. A leader of the centre, Elder Frank Donkor, led the congregation to pray for Dr Bawumia and his entourage. Policies Prior to addressing the spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai in the Ablekuma Central Constituency, Dr Bawumia held a closed-door meeting with leaders of the Spare Parts Dealers Association, after which he took time to explain his policies such as the flat tax rate regime he has proposed to bring comfort to traders and importers. The Vice-President reiterated that each foot of imported container would come with specific flat taxes, explaining that the measure would sanitise imports and make it easier for importers to clear their goods. The NPP flag bearer further told the spare parts dealers that he would introduce a tax amnesty to ensure that all taxpayers began on a clean slate. That, Dr Bawumia explained, was part of measures to enhance the ease of doing business. While explaining the mobile money interoperability and the significance of the Ghana Card to the gathering, he indicated that the Ghana Card was an important national asset which had cleared all ghost workers from the government payroll. He said the card would also aid in the acquisition of passports since all the information needed for filling out a form to acquire a passport was already embedded in the Ghana Card. There were spontaneous cheers when he mentioned his digitalisation policy which he said was the way to go in the fourth industrial revolution. Next article: Ghanaian man sentenced in US for $2million fraud scheme Ghana Election 2024: Western Region chiefs appeal to Mahama for development Kester Aburam Korankye Nov - 27 - 2024 , 06:57 4 minutes read Some traditional leaders in the Western Region have expressed disappointment and frustration over the current government's neglect of the region. In a passionate appeal to the National Democratic Congress (NDCs) presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, who paid a courtesy call on the Western Regional House of Chiefs, the chiefs urged him to address the region's pressing issues should he become President in 2025. The chiefs lamented the destruction of the region's natural resources, including forest reserves, saying the situation would have dire consequences for the nation. They also expressed concern about the exploitation of their lands and the devastating effects of illegal mining, commonly called galamsey, as well as the lack of infrastructural development. Advertisement The Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area, Osaberima Kobina Nketia, who chaired the meeting, urged former President Mahama to come back and wake the nation up. We have been sleeping since Independence; come back and wake us up, he said. The Chief of Nzema Lower Axim, Awulae Attobrokwa, said the region had not received its fair share of the national cake in the last eight years despite contributing so much to the development of the country. "We contribute every resource to the development of this country but we get nothing in return," one chief said. "We want 10 per cent of the proceeds from oil to develop our region," he said. The Queenmother of Mpohor Traditional Area, Nana Ebohkra, appealed to Mr Mahama to remember the Western Region if he became President. She emphasised the need for leadership to stop contributing to environmental pollution in the system. "Our lands are being destroyed, and we need your help to stop the exploitation. Our water bodies have been destroyed and we don't even have a hospital that can receive referral cases," she said. Also present at the meeting were the Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove, Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX; the Chief of Mpohor, Osaberima Kwaw Entsie, and the Paramount Chief of Gwira Traditional Council, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, and others. New dawn Mr Mahama, who is currently on a three-day tour of the Western Region, promised to implement comprehensive measures to restore the Western Regions prominence and ensure better livelihoods for cocoa farmers and fishermen, and harness the potential of the railway sector for the regions development. He emphasised the critical role of these sectors in the economic prosperity of the region. The former President said the current government had neglected the critical sectors of the economy, which, he said, could free the people of Sekondi-Takoradi and beyond from economic stagnation. The fishing harbour and railways are the backbone of the Sekondi-Takoradi enclave. These infrastructure projects were integral to the growth and development of the region, Mr Mahama said. Economic turn Mr Mahama criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for a criminal supervision of the economy. The former President accused the government of excessive borrowing, stating that we have borrowed to the extent of not being able to pay our creditors, hence leading us to debt restructuring. I maintain that what has happened is a criminal supervision of the destruction of our economy, Mr Mahama said. The next NDC government, he said, would prudently manage the economic affairs of the country and prioritise investment in critical sectors to spur growth and improve lives. Itinerary Mr Mahama kicked off his #Mahama4Change campaign in the Western Region last Monday with a packed itinerary for three days. After the engagement with the Western Regional House of Chiefs in Sekondi, where he sought the chiefs' blessings and support for his campaign, he also engaged with religious leaders in the region at the Assemblies of God Church at Anaji. Mr Mahama's campaign team then proceeded to attend several community engagement throughout the day. These included stops in Daboase, Waasa East, Shama, Kojokrom, Sekondi, Bankease, Kwesimintsim, and Takoradi constituencies. At each of the locations, Mr Mahama addressed enthusiastic supporters, thousands of whom had poured out on the streets to show their solidarity. This whirlwind tour of the Western Region is part of Mr Mahama's broader campaign strategy to engage with voters across the country. So far, he has covered 14 regions and 204 constituencies across the country as NDC prepares for the 2024 general election in the next 10 days. The party and its flag bearer are leaving nothing to chance in their bid to emerge victorious in the polls. Next article: It was a court bailiff and police who went to Metro TV to execute court order - Police Ghana well-positioned to end 'Galamsey' Prof. Gavin Hilson Zadok Kwame Gyesi Nov - 27 - 2024 , 16:12 2 minutes read A Professor of Sustainability at the Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, UK, Gavin Hilson, is of the view that Ghana is better equipped than most African countries to eliminate illegal mining, commonly known as "galamsey." Speaking at the opening of a two-day conference on West Africa's mining sector held at the University of Ghana on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, he described galamsey as a manufactured problem that could be effectively addressed through the implementation of the right policies. He emphasized the need for a paradigm shift from viewing participants in galamsey as mere criminals to exploring innovative approaches to formalising the artisanal mining sector. According to him, this approach could be adopted not only in Ghana but also across other West African countries. Advertisement Prof. Hilson, a globally recognised authority on the social and environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), highlighted that artisanal mining provides livelihoods for many. He stressed that addressing the galamsey issue does not require additional funds but rather a commitment to reorient policies and ensure all stakeholders play their roles effectively. Ending galamsey is about creating space for small-scale miners to acquire licenses, he noted, adding that Ghana has always attracted donor interest in ASM but has not fully leveraged this support to formalise the sector. The conference, held on the theme: Sustainability in West Africas Mining Sector(s) Political Trends, Popular Struggles, and Sustainable Futures, was organised by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) in collaboration with the University of Ghana. It brought together academics, civil society representatives, policymakers, and industry players to discuss sustainable governance in the mining industry. MIASA, based at the University of Ghana, operates in collaboration with German partners, including the University of Freiburg, Goethe University Frankfurt, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), and the German Historical Institute Paris. Its research programme addresses issues of sustainable governance through interdisciplinary studies focusing on democratic governance, peace and conflict, and sustainable transformations. Prof. Hilson called for a rethink of how artisanal miners and large-scale mining operations coexist, proposing autonomous coexistence. In their welcoming address, the MIASA Director of Ghana, Prof. Grace Diabah, and Prof. Mamadou Diawara, MIASA Director, Germany, said since early September 2024, the team has been exploring sustainability in West Africa's mining sector, focusing on institutional initiatives and experiences in developing and implementing sustainability agendas. For them, the conference adopted a cross-disciplinary and transnational lens, enabling the IF 11 team and participants to exchange ideas on current political questions of land and mineral governance in Africa. Ghanaian man sentenced in US for $2million fraud scheme GraphicOnline Nov - 27 - 2024 , 06:26 2 minutes read A Ghanaian national, Wigbert Bandie, has been sentenced to over five years in prison for orchestrating an international wire fraud conspiracy that defrauded elderly victims of over $2 million. The 34-year-old was sentenced to 63 months by United States District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Following his incarceration, Bandie will serve three years of supervised release and must repay $2.18 million in restitution to his 11 victims. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that Bandie and his accomplices used false identities on social media, dating websites, and other platforms to form online relationships with their victims, many of whom were elderly. Advertisement Exploiting these connections, the scammers requested financial assistance under false pretences or persuaded victims to invest in non-existent opportunities. "Once the victim was clearly engaged in the scam, the scammer would begin to ask for emergency financial assistance or dupe victims into non-existent investment opportunities," the DOJ stated. One victim in East Tennessee alone lost over $280,000 to the scheme, with other victims nationwide losing amounts ranging from a few thousand to several hundred thousand dollars. The operation involved co-conspirators who acted as "money mules," facilitating the movement of funds from the United States to overseas accounts via wire transfers or mail. U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III commended the efforts of law enforcement, particularly the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Special Agent Matthew R. Short led the investigation. The case underscores the dangers of online scams targeting vulnerable individuals and highlights the ongoing efforts of U.S. authorities to combat such fraudulent activities. The DOJ and law enforcement agencies encourage the public to remain vigilant against online romance and investment scams, which often prey on trust and emotions. Next article: GMOs safe for Ghanaians to consume, says OFAB It was a court bailiff and police who went to Metro TV to execute court order - Police Gertrude Ankah Nov - 27 - 2024 , 15:14 3 minutes read It was a court bailiff accompanied by police personnel who went to the premises of Metro TV on Wednesday morning to execute a court order, the Ghana Police Service has explained. Preliminary Police investigations indicate that upon a request from the court, Police Officers accompanied a court bailiff in the company of the judgment creditor, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, to execute a court order against Metro TV, a statement issued by the police on Wednesday afternoon said. The police statement was a clarification to earlier reports that suggested that some armed men had attacked Metro TV and in the process injured two private security officers who had sought to prevent them from gaining full access to the premises of the Accra based television station. The incident happened at a time the Good Morning programme hosted by Randy Abbey was on air. Advertisement Randy Abbey had gone ahead to announce the incident on live TV. Responding, the police in the statement said it has launched an investigation into the disruption that occurred at the premises of Metro TV on Wednesday, November 27. In a statement, the police said preliminary findings indicate officers accompanied a court bailiff, along with representatives of Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, the judgment creditor, to enforce a court order against Metro TV. The security personnel at the TV station however prevented the bailiff from serving the court order. This exchange disrupted activities at the TV station. We urge the public, particularly the management and staff of Metro TV, to remain calm and cooperate with the police in the ongoing investigation, the statement added. The incident disrupted the live broadcast of Metro TVs flagship programme, Good Morning Ghana. Host Randy Abbey in a video circulated on social media said that tensions arose when the group attempted to seize his personal vehicle, which he argued had no connection to Metro TV. They said they were here to enforce a court order. I asked, Court order against who? They claimed it was against Metro TV, but this car isnt for Metro TV. Why block my car? Am I Metro TV? Am I a shareholder or director? Mr Abbey questioned. The situation escalated further as the team reportedly tried to force their way into the studio. Metro TVs private security personnel were said to have blocked the intrusion but at the cost of two security officers sustaining injuries. You may have noticed we had to take an abrupt break, Abbey said on air during the broadcast. It was due to some armed men and others trying to forcibly enter the studio. Our private security intervened, and unfortunately, some were injured. Police officers were also present, but we still dont know why they were trying to access the studio, Randy Abbey said on the live TV programme without mentioning the court issue. However, another video shared on social media shows him narrating how he had been approached and informed about the court order when he arrived and even before he went on air. Guests on the Wednesday morning programme at the time included Kwesi Pratt Jnr., Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, and Dr. Richard Asante Yeboah, Executive Secretary of the Public Servants Housing Loan Scheme. Read the police statement below: Next article: Why the Electoral Commission did not grant accreditation to all observers for Ghana Election 2024 Electoral Commission urges party agents to maintain discipline during Ghana Elections 2024 GraphicOnline Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 12:00 2 minutes read The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has called on political parties to ensure their agents conduct themselves appropriately during the upcoming elections to maintain the integrity of the process. Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, made the appeal during his address at the Graphic National Development Series today in Accra. He highlighted the vital role of party agents in safeguarding the transparency and credibility of the electoral process but noted that their lack of understanding of EC procedures sometimes leads to disruptions. "We want to also use this opportunity to entreat political parties and candidates to educate their agents to conduct themselves well at all the polling stations," Dr. Asare stated. "At times, the problems that come up are because the agents dont understand our processes very well. So we expect that the parties will also educate them." Advertisement Dr. Asare reaffirmed the ECs impartiality, emphasising that its primary goal is to deliver a peaceful, transparent, credible, and inclusive election. "The Commission does not have any interest in the elections except to ensure that the processes leading to the elections of a president and parliamentarians are peaceful and reflect the will of the Ghanaian people," he said. He encouraged all registered voters to exercise their franchise on December 7, reiterating the ECs commitment to supporting voters in casting their ballots without hindrance. Dr. Asare also expressed confidence in the collaboration between the EC and security agencies under the Election Security Task Force to maintain order at polling stations and collation centres. "We are working in concert with security agencies to ensure that Ghanaians vote in peace, choosing the parliamentarians and the president they want," he concluded. The EC has pledged to deliver elections that uphold Ghana's democratic values and urged all stakeholders, particularly party agents, to prioritise the nations collective interest over partisan gains. Ghana Election 2024: EC to deny newspapers, online portals access to election collation centres Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 07:49 2 minutes read Journalists from newspapers and online portals are to be denied access to Ghana's Election 2024 results collation centres at the constituency and regional levels. The Electoral Commission (EC) has decided to grant limited media accreditation that give access to only television and radio stations at the collation centres, excluding newspapers and online portals. The commission had earlier asked for applications for media accreditation, which normally grant access for the coverage of the elections at all polling stations and collation centres. However, with this new arrangement, the EC has decided to limit the accreditation to only television and radio stations when it comes to the collation centres. Advertisement In a memo dated November 25, 2024, addressed to all regional directors and seen by Graphic Online, it is only television and radio stations that are to be granted access to collation centres. Even with that, it is only eight media houses that will be granted access per each constituency collation centre. When it comes to the regional collation centres, it is only 12 media houses that will be granted access. The memo, emanating from the office of the EC Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, addressed to the regional directors and copied to the Deputy Chairman in charge Corporate Affairs talks about accreditation for media houses. "Ahead of Election Day on the 7th of December, this comes to request that you [regional directors] send us the names of credible media houses, i.e. radios and TV stations in your districts and regions," the memo stated. "The purposes is to enable us provide them with accreditation which will allow them entry into the constituency collation centres and the regional collation centres..." It goes ahead to explain that out of the eight media houses per each constituency collation centre, there should be three TV stations, two personal per station and five radio stations, one personnel per station. For the regional collation centres, it states that out of the 12 media houses per each centre, there should be five TV stations, two personnel per station and seven radio stations, one personnel per station. The memo does not mention newspapers and online portals and concludes by asking the regional directors to submit the names of media houses by close of day on Monday, November 24. It adds that without the accredition, "no media personnel can enter our collation centres." Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh Follow @enochfrimpong Follow @Graphicgh Ghana Election 2024: Guan - The virgin constituency in focus Emmanuel Modey Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 09:57 6 minutes read The virgin constituency, Guan, is ready to take on a suitor in the December 7 poll but the bride has numerous needs the suitor must be prepared to meet. With a poor road network, dilapidated schools, inadequate health facilities, and lack of secondary referral facilities, among others, residents are looking forward to an ambitious Member of Parliament who can lobby for projects and development for the nascent constituency. Created in 2020 after the maturity of the Constitutional Instrument (CI) for the creation of the Guan District on Friday, November 6, 2020, four traditional areas make up the constituency, namely Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL). With a total land surface area of 1,722 square kilometres, the Guan District and Constituency is a rich agricultural belt with the cultivation of staple food and cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, kola, palm nut and other food crops being their mainstay. Advertisement It shares borders with Togo on the east, Hohoe Municipal on the south, Jasikan Municipal on the north, and the Biakoye District on the west. Expectations For now, the whole constituency is enjoying the political campaigns, while waiting for their first MP for the area. The Likpe Mountains which form part of the Akwapim-Togo Ranges along the eastern border lies in the constituency A trader based at Likpe Agbozume, Yawa Gati, said their main challenges were employment, health, education, roads and fighting poverty. On health, Mrs Gati appealed for the rehabilitation of the Agbozume Health Centre to enable it to properly cater for the health needs of the people in the area. She said currently, both the male and female wards of the health centre, which had few beds, were in a dilapidated state. She said the centre also had inadequate nurses and delivery equipment, as well as a makeshift delivery ward. On agricultural activities, Mrs Gati said that the number of interventions put in place by the government had led to the improvement in the yields of the farmers in the area. She appealed to the government to construct their deplorable roads that made it difficult for farmers to cart their produce from farms to the urban centres for sale. Facelift The Guan District Chief Executive, Emefa Obro Adibo-Goka, said the district had been earmarked for a facelift in terms of socio-economic development. She, therefore, called on the people to vote massively for Dr Bawumia and Mr Osibo as a reward for what the NPP government had done for them. The NPP has given us a region, district and constituency that we should be thankful for. Thus, we should come out in our numbers to vote, she said. She urged the people to vote massively for Mr Osibo since he had also done a lot for the creation of the Guan constituency and district. Mrs Adibo-Goka said the December 7 general election should be viewed by the people as a step for rapid development. She said with the creation of the Guan district, fighting poverty remained one of the governments priorities, aside from the existing infrastructure and interventions such as the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), school furniture, street lights and the provision of boreholes, among others. DRIP machines She was grateful to the government for the DRIP machines that were being used to reshape most of the feeder roads, which over the years had been in deplorable states, especially during the rainy season. She said their roads were important and strategic, hence their rehabilitation would enhance productivity, and reduce travel time for travellers moving to other parts of the country and the Republic of Togo and beyond. Education Touching on the educational sector, she said plans were far advanced to re-roof the Evangelical Presbyterian Primary School complex that was ripped off by a rainstorm recently because all parents were desirous of giving their children quality education. The DCE said although the assembly had received its share of the District Assemblies Common Fund over the years, the absence of an MP had denied them their share of the MPs Common Fund. She, therefore, added her voice to that of the parliamentary candidate to vote for the NPP presidential candidate to ensure rapid development. Currently, the office of the central administration is in a rented apartment and all the decentralised departments are yet to be provided with offices. It is one of the nine administrative districts in the Oti Region. Virgin Constituency The parliamentary candidate (PC) for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Michael Osibo, described the creation of the Guan Constituency, affectionately called The Virgin Constituency, as a significant approach towards integrating the economies of the four traditional areas in the Oti Region. It is an exciting development and a model for the Oti Region as a whole. It also marked the beginning of a collective approach to harness the potential for development, he said. Mr Osibo urged the constituents to use their uniqueness to forge a united front to accelerate their socio-economic development. He explained that their uniqueness was because all four traditional areas are Guans. Before the 2020 general election, the four traditional areas were under the Hohoe-North Constituency, but just before the polls, the people were told to participate only in the presidential ballot. For the past four years, they have been without a Member of Parliament to promote their interest in Parliament, a situation Mr Osibo said had made people in the area orphans without anybody hearing from them in Parliament. The NPP PC said when given the nod on December 7, he would link them up to use their vast fertile land and their multiple tourist attractions to break the chain of poverty. Mr Osibo said one of his main priorities was to establish a solid foundation for the take-off of the constituency. This, he said, was because, over the years, they had been part of either the Buem or Hohoe constituency, stifling their development since then. He said with the new wind blowing in the constituency, coupled with the notice of polls scattered throughout the constituency, he expected all eligible voters to come out with one voice to vote for him to champion their cause in Parliament, as well as his flag bearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for a brighter future. Mr Osibo said as a local man himself, he would work with the youth to revive their agricultural activities since the land was fertile for the cultivation of cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, kola nut, palm nut and other food crops. No comment All efforts to engage the National Democratic Congress (NDC) PC, Fred Agbenyo, extensively proved futile. However, during a telephone conversation, Mr Agbenyo said he had decided not to speak to any journalist until the election was over. Presidential candidates to sign Peace Pact Thursday Samuel Duodu Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 08:07 4 minutes read Presidential candidates in the December 7 elections will commit to a peaceful process when they meet in Accra tomorrow to sign the customary peace pact. To be held under the auspices of the National Peace Council, the exercise is aimed at promoting the peaceful conduct of political parties in the December 7 polls. The Presidential Peace Pact, the fourth to be signed since the 2012 general election, seeks political parties and their leaderships to commit to peaceful conduct before, during and after the elections. The public commitment is intended to provide a positive signal to the support bases of the parties and candidates to prevent violence and promote national cohesion. Advertisement By signing the pact, political parties and their leaders pledge to respect the electoral process, accept the outcome of the elections, and resolve any disputes that may arise through peaceful means. This helps to reduce tensions, build trust, and promote a sense of responsibility among political actors. The pact has become a significant part of the country's electoral process, forming a ritual to promote peace and stability during general election. Peace Council The Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, George Amoh, at a meeting with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Resident Representative in Ghana, Mohammed Lawan Gana, and the advanced team of the ECOWAS Observer Mission in Accra last Thursday, said the Peace Council had been working tirelessly to ensure that all stakeholders committed to peaceful elections. He noted that the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who was the presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), had already indicated his willingness to sign the pact. The Executive Secretary of the NPC further said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, had also expressed readiness to sign the peace pact. Mr Amoh stated that the NDC's letter to the Peace Council also included some suggestions to make the pact more effective and responsive. He said the Peace Council was currently working towards achieving the request made by the NDC. Mr Amoh added that the NPC was working to bring President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the guest of honour to sign the Peace Pact. NDC The NDC had outlined six conditions that must be addressed by the Peace Council before the party would agree to sign the 2024 Peace Pact. It include the full implementation of the Ayawaso West Wuogon Commissions recommendations to address past electoral violence and ensure justice, the prosecution of individuals who were involved in the violent incidents and killings that occurred during the 2020 elections and calls for legal action against those implicated in the illegal printing of ballot papers, which in a way undermines the electoral process. The others are the transparent and public resolution of missing biometric devices at the Electoral Commissions office, public declaration by the President to accept the will of the people in the 2024 general election and getting the President, Chief Justice, Attorney General, and Inspector General of Police (IGP) sign the Peace Pact. Theme The Executive Secretary of the NPC who shared some details with the Daily Graphic said the event, themed Pursuing Peaceful Elections, Non-Violence and Justice," will be broadcast live on radio and television across the nation. He said the NPC and the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEA) had partnered with various international organisations, including the European Union, the Norwegian Embassy, the Netherlands Embassy, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations, to support this initiative. Mr Amoh emphasised that the NPC was committed to consolidating sustainable peace, stability and national cohesion, while IDEA aimed to promote democracy and good governance in Ghana and Africa. Meeting The ECOWAS Resident Representative in Ghana, Mr Gana, appealed to Ghanaians to ensure that the December 7 general election was peaceful, free, fair and credible. There cant be peace without justice Samuel Sarpong Daily Graphic Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 09:57 2 minutes read The National Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Sarpong, has stated that for the country to remain on the path of unity and peace, there is the need to ensure that justice prevails at all times. Speaking to the chiefs and people of Atebubu- Amantin during a church service to climax their seven-day Kwafie yam festival, Mr Sarpong said it was good everybody is talking about peace but indicated that without justice, it will be difficult for peace to prevail. Mr Sarpong emphasised the importance of justice in achieving lasting peace, stresssing that peace should not be pursued at the expense of addressing legitimate concerns without aiming at justice. Position I must add without equivocation that the position of the NDC is that for there to be peace, there should always be justice. Advertisement He said some of the issues that the NDC was raising should be addressed by the chiefs and clergy, and cited the Techiman incident where eight people lost their lives to buttress his point. Mr Sarpong blamed the government for not doing enough to find the perpetrators of the crime, and asked so if we argue that there are findings, how were the findings implemented? On the murders, what are the investigations so far and where have we reached?. He told the gathering that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was also the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces could not also make any definitive pronouncement on the killing of the eight people. "It is about time our chiefs and the clergy were bold to criticise some of the comments from the President, which are not creating harmony among the citizenry, and that the honesty on the part of our President, I believe, will ensure the peace we're all yearning for, Mr Sarpong further indicated. Dr Sarpong, together with the Member of Parliament for Atebubu - Amantin Constituency in the Bono East Region, Sanja Nanja, donated GHc26,000 on behalf of the NDC presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, for the refurbishment of the female maternity ward at Amantin. Crates of assorted soft drinks were also presented to the chiefs and people of Amantin to celebrate the festival. Donation For his part, the Member of Parliament for the area also donated 50 bags of cement towards the development of the health facility. Mr Sanja Nanja admonished the youth to remain peaceful before, during and after the elections. The chiefs and the people of Amantin expressed their profound gratitude to the former President Mahama, Dr Samuel Sarpong and Mr Sanja Nanja and the NDC fraternity for their immense support during the celebration. Graphic Communications MD urges youth to lead change, calls for tolerance ahead of elections Kweku Zurek Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 11:14 2 minutes read With just ten days to Ghana's December 7 general elections, the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd. (GCGL), Ato Afful has issued a rallying call for the youth to reimagine Ghanas future and for political actors to prioritise the nations interests over partisan considerations. Speaking at the fourth edition of the Graphic National Development Series (GNDS) today in Accra, Mr. Afful highlighted the pivotal role of young people in shaping Ghana's destiny. You, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine Ghana, to make this place what we want it to belive, work, and thrive in. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path, he said. Emphasising the importance of participating in the democratic process, he added, Its 10 days to December 7; go out and vote. Remember, in God we trust; all others we verify. Mr. Afful also underscored the responsibilities of political actors, calling for tolerance, respect, and the prioritisation of Ghanas interests. Advertisement Our political actors, Mr. Chairman, must maintain their power through consent, not coercion. You must respect the rights of each other and every voter and participate with the spirit of tolerance and compromise. You must place the interest of our people Ghana and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party, he stated. The GNDS, a platform created by GCGL to inspire national dialogue, provided a stage for key stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission, political parties, and civil society, to outline measures for peaceful and transparent elections. Mr. Affuls speech resonated with the events overarching theme, "Sustaining Civic & Democratic Governance System for Development: Mandate of All Citizens", emphasising the collective responsibility of citizens to ensure credible elections. As the nation prepares to head to the polls, the call for responsible leadership and active civic participation remains critical to the sustenance of Ghana's democracy. Watch the event below; Next article: Speaker rejects Afenyo-Markin's request to recall House, Says it will happen after the elections Speaker on why he declined Majority Leaders request to recall Parliament Nana Konadu Agyeman Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 18:53 3 minutes read The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has declined the request by the Majority Leader for him to recall the House to consider outstanding urgent government and public business. He said given the closeness of the elections barely 11 days, recalling members of Parliament would interrupt with their campaigns and that would not serve national interest. In such circumstances, he said was neither inclined nor disposed to exercise his discretion in favor of Alexander Afenyo-Markins request to recall the legislators. Bearing in mind the provisions of article 296 (a) and (b) of the Constitution and the closeness of the proposed dates to the general election, I am of the considered opinion that it would not be in the national interest to interrupt the campaigns of members and parties by a recall to plenary sitting of Parliament, he said. Advertisement Memo In a November 26 dated memo in response to a request by the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Mr Bagbin said. Consequently, it will not be fair to exercise my discretion in favor of your request to summon members of Parliament at this time to a two-day sitting to deliberate on 22 items you consider urgent or outstanding government businesses. It is worth noting that having regard to the practice and deliberations of the House, I wonder how the proposed 22 items could be transacted within two days. I accordingly suggest that government prioritises these businesses together with others not captured by your memo for consideration after the conduct of the general elections on December 7, 2024, he said. Functions by plenary Writing in response to Mr Afenyo-Markins request for him to recall the House, the Speake the request was received at his office on Friday, November 22, 2024 at a time he was out of office to honor an invitation outside Accra. He said the Majority Leaders memo called on me to exercise his discretion, pursuant to Orders 57(3) and 58(4) of the Standing Orders of the House, to summon the House to sit for two days, November 28 and 29, 2024, to consider 22 items, all of which the Leader referred to as either outstanding public business or urgent government business. Honourable Leader, as you may be aware, the performance of the functions of Parliament and the duties of members of Parliament extends beyond the plenary sittings of Parliament. Again, as you are aware, the parliamentary calendar acknowledges elections campaign periods, he retorted. Request declined Mr Bagbin said this season was for the government, parties, and both presidential and parliamentary candidates to present their manifestoes to the people, and to account and justify how the mandate given them by the voters for the four-year term of office has been applied to the benefit of the people. He, therefore, said the House would resume sitting after the elections to complete all essential matters before a seamless transition to the Ninth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. The national interest would better be served if members exhibit conduct of honor, empathy, and humility in the performance of their duties. In the circumstances, I am neither inclined nor disposed to exercise my discretion in favor of your request. The request Is accordingly declined, he said. Speaker rejects Afenyo-Markin's request to recall House, Says it will happen after the elections Beatrice Laryea Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 15:48 2 minutes read The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin has rejected a request from Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to recall the House. The Speaker stated that Parliament would reconvene after the December 7 elections to address all critical matters before ensuring a smooth transition to the 9th Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. The House was adjourned indefinitely on November 7 after Speaker Bagbin suspended proceedings due to the lack of a prepared agenda from the Business Committee. Later, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the lawmaker for Effutu, called on Speaker Bagbin to exercise his constitutional authority under Standing Orders 57(3) and 58(4) to reconvene Parliament and address the pending business of the House. Advertisement In response, the Speaker stated, "I am writing in reply to your memo on the subject, which was received in the Office of the Speaker on Friday, November 22, 2024, while I was out of the office attending an invitation outside Accra. Your memo requests that I exercise my discretion, in accordance with Orders 57(3) and 58(4) of the Standing Orders of the House, to summon Parliament for two daysThursday, November 28, and Friday, November 29, 2024to consider twenty-two (22) items, all of which you have described as either outstanding public business or urgent government business." Hon. Leader, as you may be aware, the performance of the functions of Parliament and the duties of members of Parliament extends beyond the plenary sittings of Parliament. Again as you are aware, the parliamentary calendar acknowledges elections campaign periods. This season is for the Government, Parties, and both presidential and parliamentary candidates to present their manifestoes to the people, and to account and justify how the mandate given them by the voters for the four-year term of office has been applied to the benefit of the people. Bearing in mind the provisions of Article 296 (a) and (b) of the Constitution, 1992, and the closeness of your proposed dates to the general election, I am of the considered opinion, that it would not be in the national interest to interrupt the campaigns of members and parties by a recall to plenary sitting of Parliament. Consequently, it will not be fair to exercise my discretion in favor of your request to summon Members of Parliament at this time to a two-day sitting to deliberate on twenty-two (22) items you consider urgent or outstanding government business. We need the media - Electoral Commission at Graphic National Development Series GraphicOnline Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 11:42 2 minutes read The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has reiterated its commitment to collaborating with the media to ensure transparency in the December 7 general elections, following concerns about its decision to limit media access to collation centres. Speaking at the Graphic National Development Series in Accra, Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the Commission in charge of Corporate Services, addressed the public outcry over a leaked memo that proposed quotas on media access to constituency and regional collation centres. "We recently sent a memo to our regional and district offices about the media houses to work in the collation centres. We thought we had sent this information to only our officers. Apparently, that information got into the public domain, and many people have said, 'Oh, why are you restricting the media in the collation centres?' The EC has had discussions with the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and we've also engaged the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), so we have put it on hold," Dr Asare explained. The deputy chairman clarified that the initial move was aimed at ensuring orderliness in potentially congested collation centres. "We shouldn't forget that you can be in a particular region, there will be about 400 media houses, and the collation centre may be like this room or even smaller. So if you want to give unimpeded access to all the media houses, you may end up having challenges," he said. Advertisement Dr Asare underscored the Commissions reliance on the media as a critical partner in delivering credible elections. "In any case, if there is any institution that needs the media now, it's the Electoral Commission. We need Graphic. We need all the major media, even the smaller media houseswe need you. I want to assure you that the Electoral Commission will not do anything to undermine the work of the media," he added. The EC has since announced plans to engage further with GIBA and GJA to devise a more inclusive policy for media accreditation at collation centres. A statement from Samuel Tettey, Deputy EC Chair in charge of Operations, affirmed the Commissions intent to balance transparency with orderliness during the collation process. The GNDS platform, organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited, served as a timely opportunity for stakeholders to address pressing issues ahead of Ghana's crucial December polls. Watch the event below; Why the Electoral Commission did not grant accreditation to all observers for Ghana Election 2024 Kweku Zurek Politics Nov - 27 - 2024 , 11:53 2 minutes read The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has clarified its decision to limit accreditation for election observers, emphasising the need to prioritise credibility, experience, and capacity to maintain the integrity of the electoral process. Speaking at the Graphic National Development Series in today Accra, Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, explained that not all applicants were granted observer status for the upcoming elections. "One of the topical issues that has come up as far as the observation is concerned is that not all the people who applied to observe were given the opportunity," he noted. Dr Asare outlined the criteria used in the selection process, stressing that election observation is not an automatic privilege. "The EC has maintained that to observe the elections is not automatic. We must look at your track record as an institution, your research potential, and your track record when it comes to election observation," he said. "We have a team in charge, and once the team makes the determination that you have what it takes to observe the election, you will be qualified to do that." Advertisement The Deputy Chairman highlighted the significance of observers in ensuring transparency and trust in the electoral process. He acknowledged the participation of local and international organisations, including the Commonwealth, African Union, ECOWAS, and diplomatic missions, who will monitor the elections. Dr Asare assured stakeholders that the commissions approach aligns with global best practices to safeguard the credibility of Ghanas electoral process. "We believe that the presence of the observers will ensure the credibility of the process," he stated. As preparations intensify for the December 7 polls, the EC reiterated its commitment to delivering free, fair, and transparent elections, reflecting the will of the Ghanaian people. Watch the event below; On Tuesday, October 8, Western Wyoming Community College's (Western's) Powerline Technology program was honored with the Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA) Innovation Award, recognizing its significant impact on the state's workforce and economy. WEDA's Executive Director, Brett Kahler shared, "WEDA's Innovation Award is given in recognition of projects that significantly impact Wyoming communities and its residents. The award celebrates partnerships and innovation in economic development, and Western's Powerline Technology Program perfectly fits that mold. Through public and private partnerships, the faculty and students of Western are filling a crucial role needed in Wyoming." Lance Caldwell, Instructor of the Powerline Technology program, expressed his gratitude, stating, "We wouldn't be here today without Governor Gordon's support through the Wyoming Innovation Partnership grant. These funds have enriched countless students' lives and will continue to positively impact future generations by providing them with a prosperous future built on the knowledge and experience gained here." The Powerline Technology program, the only one of its kind in Wyoming, was launched with support from the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) and key industry leaders like Rocky Mountain Power and Lower Valley Energy. These partners contributed scholarships, equipment, and in-kind donations to ensure students gain both theoretical and hands-on experience. In recognition of its impact, Governor Gordon highlighted the program in his State of the State Address, commending program graduate Owen Madsen for his dedication to maintaining Wyoming's power grid. The program continues to thrive with additional support from the Wyoming Rural Electrical Association (WREA), which provides $200,000 annually in scholarships, enabling the program to address Wyoming's workforce needs in the energy sector. Western's President Dr. Kirk Young shared, "Western's Powerline Technology program is a true example of the innovative spirit we strive to foster at our college. Through strong partnerships with industry and the support of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership, this program not only addresses critical workforce needs but also has a transformative impact on our community and the state as a whole. By equipping students with the skills needed for high-demand jobs in the energy sector, we are helping to build a stronger, more resilient economy and providing opportunities for individuals to thrive right here in Wyoming." Since its inception in August 2022, the program has produced skilled graduates who have secured employment in Wyoming and neighboring states, with each cohort growing significantly in size. As the program enters its third year, it remains a vital contributor to Wyoming's energy industry, addressing the state's workforce gaps and enhancing economic prosperity through innovative partnerships and practical training. For more information about the Powerline Technology program, visit http://www.westernwyoming.edu/powerline or contact Lance Caldwell at lcaldwell@westernwyoming.edu. A bill honoring the life and legacy of former Shoshoni Postmaster Dessie A. Bebout passed the United States House of Representatives this week and is on its way to the Presidents desk for approval. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.), where it passed unanimously in April of this year. The bill then progressed to the House, where it was supported by U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) and unanimously passed. The legislation honors Dessie Bebout by naming the local post office in Shoshoni, Wyoming after her. Bebout passed away last year at the age of 102. Bebout, a WWII veteran, began her honored career with the U.S. Postal Service in 1962. She became Postmaster for Shoshoni, Wyoming and served her state for 13 years with distinction. Dessie Bebout devoted her life to serving our country and the people of Wyoming, said Senator Barrasso. Dessie deserves Wyomings gratitude for her heroic service in the U.S. Navy in WWII and as Shoshonis Postmaster for over a decade afterward. The passage of this bill will ensure that Dessies legacy lives on in Wyoming. It was an honor to see this pass the Senate and House unanimously, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law soon. Dessie Bebout was a trailblazer, and her enduring legacy and pioneer spirit is the perfect embodiment of our Wyoming way of life, said Senator Lummis. Her love and unwavering service to the Cowboy State are unmatched, and permanently memorializing her commitment to our great state is the perfect way to honor one of Wyomings most cherished daughters. There is nothing more appropriate than renaming this post office after Dessie, said Representative Hageman. I am honored to play a small role in honoring her legacy. After graduating from Fremont County Vocational High School in Lander, Bebout worked for the Fremont County Extension Service and at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bebout enlisted in the U.S. Navy as part of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service or WAVES program. In addition to her career in the U.S. Postal Service, Bebout served as a Fremont County Election Judge, in the Shoshoni Chamber of Commerce, Shoshoni PTA, Wyoming Womens Commission, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Womens Auxiliary and on the Riverton Hospital Board among many other organizations. As a result of her military and civic service, she was awarded the Wyoming Women of Distinction award from the Wyoming Council for Womens Issues. She also received the Medal of Honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution. SHIRLEY BASIN-Josh Oakleaf stood where Carbon County miners scoured the earth's surface starting 60-some years ago in search of the uranium that fueled the United States' rise to becoming a nuclear superpower. After the mine went bust in the late 1970s, the land - part of the Heward Ranch - would have initially been a moonscape. Federal environmental regulators initiated a partial reclamation effort here in the 1990s, but much bare ground remained and the landscape still didn't support much life, let alone vibrant native flora and fauna. By 2021, the same spot was a construction site on its way to a transformation. Three years later, this swath of the Little Medicine Bow River drainage is a work-in-progress restoration project dominated by young sagebrush, native grasses and forbs that evolved in the Shirley Basin. If all goes according to plan, the area will also be a proving ground for a lofty goal. Specifically, Oakleaf and his counterparts are trying to demonstrate that they can build the bona fide habitat - nesting areas, security cover, lekking grounds, all of it - that struggling sage grouse require to survive. And they're looking to recreate it essentially from nothing. "The lek is just the new toy in the sandbox," said Oakleaf, a project manager for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's Abandoned Mine Lands Division. "The real value in this is all the surrounding habitat." At a late October visit to the ranchland turned uranium mine turned habitat restoration site, Oakleaf spoke from what he coined a "lek analog." This would be the place that, hopefully, male sage grouse would one day routinely gather to puff out their chest and strut as part of their elaborate display to attract a mate. "Ideally, sage grouse will start using this site [for its] brood-rearing potential in the very near future," Oakleaf said. "Hopefully some immature males will come here and establish this as a lekking site." 'New toy in the sandbox' No sagebrush grew at the lek analog. The big birds like to do their little dance in the open, so it was specifically planted with low-growing species. The lek analog wasn't plopped onto the landscape arbitrarily. Oakleaf gestured toward an adjacent hillside, strategically built to block the wind and funnel the males' wooshing, popping noises towards their prospective female suitors. Sagebrush growing on that hill and elsewhere would also provide security cover, he said. The hill's manmade contours were even built at an angle that sage grouse prefer, with slopes selected specifically by geomorphologists who've analyzed the species' habitat needs. A lot of forethought, research and expense went into the endeavor, which was preceded by a 2019 update to Wyoming's sage grouse policy that added habitat restoration and enhancement as a conservation priority. The 100-acre project cost about $2 million, Oakleaf said. Funding came from a present-day coal tax that funds abandoned mine reclamation nationwide. Oakleaf's field of dreams was informed by an interdisciplinary group that included scientists with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy. Sage grouse biologist Matt Halloran also played a pivotal role in the lek creation project. Tried before, sort of Biologists have attempted before to lure sage grouse away from existing leks towards prospective new leks. "There have been various efforts using sound and decoys and things like that, trying to move a lek away from a place that's going to be disturbed or has been disturbed," said Tom Christensen, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish sage grouse coordinator. "I would say [the concept] hasn't been demonstrated - but I don't know that." Off the end of the Jackson Hole Airport runway, for example, dozens of grouse once strutted, and they were deemed a safety threat because of periodic strikes with planes inbound and outbound from Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park officials sought to draw the remaining birds away by improving habitat elsewhere, though the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported in 2023 that just two strutting grouse remained. Oakleaf heard of a similar effort near a Decker, Montana, mine as long ago as the 1970s. A lek was going to be dug up for coal production, he said, and so biologists mowed some sagebrush nearby to try to draw away the soon-to-be-displaced birds. "They were trying to get those birds to establish on that [new] lek before they destroyed it," he said. "They witnessed birds come over and hang out, but the only thing they did was clear the sage brush." The goal in the Shirley Basin is to prove that sage grouse will take to the new manmade lek and stick around. There are some factors working in the reclamationists' favor. For one, the Shirley Basin is an ecologically vibrant landscape that is occupied with sage grouse. There are at least 50 leks in the region and hundreds of thousands of acres of protected "core" habitat, according to the 2007 sage grouse conservation plan for the area. Locals have also witnessed sage grouse take to reclaimed mine land, just not breed on it. Todd Heward owns and manages the ranchland where the DEQ and its partners are hard at work. Generations ago, he said, there were 10,000 acres of bare dirt in the Shirley Basin from the uranium mines. "Out of that 10,000 acres, 9,000 acres looks great today," said Heward, who represents agriculture as a member of the Bates Hole/Shirley Basin Sage Grouse Local Working Group. "A bunch of original stuff that my grandfather helped reclaim in the late '50s and '60s, there's sage grouse on that." Will it work? Oakleaf's also seeing encouraging signs on the vegetation front. Sagebrush restoration, which isn't always easy, has gone well at the site - he proudly brushed off snow from some of the more robust 3-year-old plants that sprouted all around him. A survey of the site found 37 distinct plant species, he said, and 32 of them native. Yet other factors perhaps limit the likelihood that sage grouse actually take to the lek analog. It's a challenging site, the landowner pointed out. "It's right by a county road, it's got structures near it, it's got a fence," Heward said. "All of the things that we get beat up over in the sage grouse habitat world exist on this site." But the fifth-generation rancher isn't a skeptic of the work, and said he hopes it's successful for sage grouse. Plus, the restoration was happening anyway and the newly reshaped, revegetated landscape is clearly better for erosion, soil, wildlife and livestock, he said. "It's just better all the way around," Heward said. "There's no doubt there's more wildlife in the area now." Christensen, the retired Wyoming sage grouse coordinator, said he sees Oakleaf's work as a "well-intentioned effort" that will yield important lessons - even if they're learned through failure. "What's important is not the outputs in terms of time and effort and goodwill, but it's the outcomes," Christensen said. "Did it work? That's the proof in the pudding." If Wyoming officials do demonstrate that they can recreate a sage grouse lek, the tactic could be "another arrow in the quiver" to conserve the increasingly rare bird, he said. By one estimate, sage grouse numbers have plummeted from 16 million to somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000. Only time will tell, but Oakleaf's optimistic that breeding sage grouse will take to the Heward Ranch's reclaimed mine land. "Saving a dozen sage grouse in the Shirley Basin doesn't add up, but I can share this [template] across the sagebrush steppe," he said. "If it inspires a couple people to use our techniques in other places that support other distinct populations of sage grouse, that's a win." WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. Unlawful Possession of a Machine Gun Preston Lewis, 21, of Rock Spring, Wyoming, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment with three years of supervised release for the unlawful possession of a machine gun. According to court documents, on April 11, the Rock Springs Police Department was called to a firearms dealer for a report of a suspicious male who had purchased approximately $18,000 worth of high-dollar firearms. Police later found the defendant at another firearms dealer. During questioning, the defendant admitted to straw purchasing firearms for another individual. He also acknowledged... Wyoming is poised to become the first state in the nation 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. Saturday's 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. 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 it's 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 WyoFile's request for comment. Taking up Neiman's 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 don't tell anyone how to think," Haroldson, who won, told WyoFile. "We don't want to do that. We're 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, it's way bigger than one of us." Moving forward, Haroldson said "there's a unity that's very much visible and palatable. You can feel it. "I believe that there's 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 weekend's 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 WyoFile's 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 Senate's second-most senior member, said Saturday's vote was a rejection of that turmoil and a turn towards 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 Senate's incoming leadership as a "coalition" with Nethercott representing "more of the moderate side." "I'm really proud of the Senate," Case said. "It's 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 WyoFile's request for comment by publication time Saturday. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. The Brazilian antitrust watchdog Cade has ruled that Apple must lift all restrictions related to in-app purchases. The Cupertino-based company has 20 days to comply, or it will face a $43,000 fine per day. The decision comes after Mercado Libre, an online merchant, filed a complaint back in 2022 against Apple for anti-competitive practices. The Brazilian regulator forces Apple to either allow developers to link to external websites for payments and subscription options or let all developers handle payments themselves. This isn't the first court ruling against Apple's in-app purchases policies. The US, EU, South Korea, and Japan have all forced Apple to allow third-party app payment options. Source A couple of weeks ago, a rumor claimed that One UI 7 Beta will start rolling out in the week of November 18-24. That obviously didnt happen, but another rumor detailed a release timeline for the new OS version, which started with the Galaxy S24 series getting it in the first week of December. Were not there yet, but its quite possible that this will fall through as well One UI 7 Beta rollout will start in mid-December (i.e. week two or three), according to sources speaking to Tarun Vats. In case that name sounds familiar, Vats has been closely tracking Samsungs firmware development and reported the first beta builds on Samsungs test servers earlier this month. One UI 7 running on the Galaxy S25 Ultra (@IceUniverse) Note that the mid-December timeline is for the Phase 1 countries: the US, Germany and South Korea. The Phase 2 countries are the UK, Poland, India and China, but theres no word on how long it will take to go from Phase 1 to 2. It could easily be after New Year, if the mid-December report is correct. And that is if you have a Galaxy S24, owners of an S23-series model and older will have to wait longer. You will need even more patience than that if you want to skip the beta and install the stable release too the timing of its release is unclear, all we can say for certain is that its not happening this year. According to the leaked timeline (whose accuracy is now in question), the Beta period will last two months, so stable One UI 7 can be expected in February. Thats right around the expected launch of the Galaxy S25 series, which will presumably run One UI 7/Android 15 out of the box. Of course, the actual length of the beta period will depend on how buggy it is. Source Samsung Electronics made some changes in its leadership in an attempt to become more competitive in the AI chip market. The company announced that it promoted Semiconductor chief Jun Young-hyun to co-CEO to better manage the memory chip business. Han Jin-man, the head of the US chip business, was promoted to head of the foundry business. The reshuffle saw Samsung's stock price slide 3.4% as the changes are unlikely to "calm concern" about how the company will navigate risk associated with the protectionist policies of US President-elect Donald Trump, reported Reuters. Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO and Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics The Business Support Task Force kept its leader, Chung Hyun-ho, and some analysts argued that changes need to be made among the biggest decision-makers, such as Chung, who is also second-in-command to Chairman Jay Y. Lee. President and CFO Park Hark-kyu join the team, as Samsung is yet to name a new person for the top financial position. Source | Via Xiaomi is allegedly working on its own in-house developed chipset, according to a new report today. The move comes in order to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek. Mass production of the chip is apparently going to begin next year and the first phones powered by it will also launch in 2025. Chinese officials have repeatedly asked local firms to reduce their reliance on foreign tech as much as possible, and Xiaomi seems to have received the message loud and clear. Of course, it remains to be seen how the chip will be positioned and in what part of the market it will be used. And of course, how well it will perform compared to competing offerings from Qualcomm and MediaTek. Unfortunately this report doesn't tell us any of that, so we'll have to wait for more details to be outed, either officially or through more rumors. Xiaomi is planning to invest around CNY 30 billion ($4.1 billion) in R&D in 2025, up from CNY 24 billion ($3.3 billion) this year. The new chip will undoubtedly eat some of that. Source Guams sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna Wednesday afternoon, casting a warm glow on the podium where visiting Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle delivered his Homily during a Mass to wrap up the Year of the Eucharistic Revival. Tagle, who currently serves in the Vatican as the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, visited Guam at the invitation of Archbishop Ryan P. Jimenez. A large crowd of Guams Catholic faithful gathered to attend the Mass, with every pew in the church filled. As Tagle approached the podium, he spoke about the concept of revival, particularly in the context of the Eucharist and community life. We need to be brought to life. We need to start a new life again and again. Revival is about life, Tagle said. And for us, life is revived when life is delivered and sustained in the gift of the Eucharist. When there is a revival in the Eucharist, the community must also experience it. They cannot meet separate revivals. The life of the community must be revived...those two folks [rich and poor] must come together. Tagle reflected on how the Eucharist symbolizes new life and freedom from enslavement, encouraging an appreciation for the blessings that are given. He drew parallels to the Israelites journey in the desert and their murmurings of discontent. Instead of appreciating that life and clinging on to that new life that God offered, they murmured. You know what kills? Murmuring. And thats the hobby of many people, he said. The bread that God gave them was not recognized. They were already being fed, and they said, What is that? While his message carried a tone of firmness and urgency, Tagle also infused his speech with humor, lightening the atmosphere. His blend of seriousness and wit kept the congregation both engaged and entertained. Though laughter echoed throughout the church, the cardinals words continued to command attention as he spoke about the deeper meanings of the Eucharist and its role in spiritual renewal. I often challenge, first the parents, during holidays, to strengthen the family bond. They go to a restaurant to eat together, and thats true. They go shopping together, then theyre all good. But to church together? Do we consider that faith is what binds us together? The family that prays together stays together for revival, Tagle said. For several years now, Tagle has been reported as one of the leading contenders to become the next pope. Pope Francis appointed Tagle as the 32nd Archbishop of Manila on Oct. 13, 2011, a position which he held until 2020. Hes been to the island before. I think he has a wonderful relationship with the people of Guam, said Sinajana Mayor Robert Hoffman, who attended the Wednesday afternoon Mass celebrated by Tagle. Just the fact that hes a very busy guy, and to change his schedule to come here to help us celebrate the end of the Eucharistic year, its just really an honor. Hoffman added, It really elevates the event and the moment and what weve all been praying for and working for. The Sinajana mayor said he was surprised by the large turnout, especially given that the Mass was held on a workday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. I was afraid that people would not come. Its a three oclock Mass, and the day before Thanksgiving. And look, the church is packed, and there are lots of people everywhere. So, people who really want to be here are here, and I think it just makes the celebration all the more meaningful, he said. Hoffman, who has been a long-time admirer of the cardinal, recalled first hearing about him when Tagle served as a priest at the Manila Cathedral in the Philippines. Following his career, I think of the charitable works he does and the message he brings, Hoffman said. I was telling the cardinal, I really admire the work he did with young people, really trying to get them involved in the spirit of volunteerism, calling them to action, calling them to faith, and encouraging them to live their faith. Its a wonderful message. Hoffman also believes the cardinals visit is both meaningful and timely for Guam. I think he also brings a wonderful perspective on rejuvenating that faith and rekindling that faith, he said. Hes really encouraging others to do that. You can see wherever hes gone, in the areas that hes been through and the impacts hes made. Hoffman hopes that, given Tagles prominent role at the Vatican and his potential to become pope, Guam may once again see a papal visit. The last time we had one was in the 1980s, and I think its time for another pope to come see the Pacific Islands and see what we are about here, Hoffman added. Haiti - FLASH : More than 41,000 people displaced in 10 days in Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince, is witnessing the highest wave of displacement since January 2023, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports 41,000 people forced to flee their homes due to escalating violence and insecurity since 11 November. Over 90 percent of those displaced are sheltering in 23 displacement sites, including 19 newly created in recent days to accommodate the overwhelming numbers. The violence is forcing families to abandon their homes, often for the second or third time. Displaced people face dire conditions with limited or no access to water, food, sanitation, and healthcare. "The scale of this displacement is unprecedented since we began responding to the humanitarian crisis in 2022, said Gregoire Goodstein, IOM Chief in Haiti. Our teams are working tirelessly under extremely challenging conditions to deliver life-saving assistance. Despite immense pressures, our staff remain steadfast in their commitment to supporting displaced families and ensuring their essential needs are met." Water was delivered to over 15,000 internally displaced persons, while hygiene promotion sessions were conducted across displacement sites to improve sanitation practices. On-site medical interventions provided care to hundreds of displaced individuals, and 1,075 people received transportation assistance to relocate to safer provinces. Additionally, more than 10,000 IDPs benefited from non-food item distributions. IOM is also supporting one of the remaining hospitals in Cite Soleil by supplying essential resources to address the recent surge in cholera cases. "This crisis is not just a humanitarian challenge [more than 700,000 people displaced]. It is a test of our collective responsibility," said Gregoire Goodstein. "We must ensure that displaced families are not left to face these struggles alone." HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Insecurity : UN evacuates non-essential personnel in Haiti UN evacuates non-essential personnel in Haiti due to violence by armed gangs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama confirms the arrival of two humanitarian flights from Haiti, one arriving on Tuesday, November 26 and the other United Nations plane is expected this Wednesday, November 27 in Panama City with 22 international police advisers and two UN officials on board, who will stopover in the country for a maximum of 72 hours. The departure of some humanitarian, diplomatic and UN personnel in recent days comes after the intensification of violence by armed groups and gangs, who have taken control of more than 80% of Port-au-Prince, generating terror and producing massive displacements of the population. The agencies and entities of the United Nations system operating in Haiti have nevertheless insisted on their desire to remain in the country. "Our humanitarian operations have continued since the beginning of the escalation of the crisis," said Ulrika Richardson, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, "We have provided thousands of meals, medical and psychosocial care and clean water." Despite the increasing dangers, UN humanitarian organizations are committed to remaining in Haiti to help the most vulnerable survive the current crisis. S/ HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Religion : The World Council of Churches calls for prayer for the Haitian people The Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Cyprus on 21-26 November 2024, calls all WCC member churches to prayer and Christian solidarity with the people of Haiti. We pray for Gods compassion for the people of this troubled land, and an answer to their cries. The Executive Committee : 1. Calls on WCC member churches, ecumenical and interfaith partners worldwide and especially in the United States of America and France to : - Offer persistent and fervent prayers for Haiti, especially for those affected by violence, displacement, and systemic injustice. - Help raise awareness of the situation in Haiti, which is too often forgotten or ignored. - Engage in advocacy efforts urging their governments to take constructive actions to address Haitis humanitarian and political crises, including sustained support for peacebuilding efforts. 2. Requests the WCC general secretary to : - Consult with Haitian churches, ACT Alliance, specialized ministries, and other relevant partners to discern and implement effective ways for the WCC to support the ministry of the churches in this context and to express solidarity with the Haitian people. - Advocate for the international community to provide robust and coordinated support for Haiti, including through increased personnel and funding for the Multinational Security Support Mission and its transformation into a UN peacekeeping mission as requested by the Haitian authorities and further efforts to stabilize governance, rebuild institutions, and address humanitarian needs. 3. Encourages ecumenical partners, specialized ministries, and UN system entities to : - Expand humanitarian assistance to those affected, prioritizing food security, education, medical care, and protection for vulnerable populations, especially women and children. - Support programmes that strengthen the resilience of local communities, foster social cohesion, and address root causes of violence and poverty. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... IOM : Housing Rental Assistance The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is offering a chance to find new housing for those fleeing gang violence through rental assistance supported by the United States Agency for International Developments Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID-Haiti). Despite limited resources and growing needs, urgent action is essential to continue protecting the most vulnerable. Resumption of armed clashes On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, after a "relatively calm" morning, clashes between law enforcement and heavily armed gang members resumed in several areas, including Carrefour Aeroport, Delmas 17, 19, 30, as well as part of Delmas 29. Sowing panic again... Voltaire tour the institutions On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Leslie Voltaire, the pro tempore President of the Transitional Council, made a series of visits to institutions, including the National Civil Aviation Office (OFNAC), the National Airport Authority (AAN), the Ministry of Public Works (MTPTC) and the Road Maintenance Fund (FER) with the aim of strengthening collaboration and accelerating priority actions that meet the country's essential needs. UN Agency Relocation The World Health Organization (WHO), like other UN agencies in Haiti, has relocated some of its non-essential staff to more secure areas in the country. However, humanitarian assistance continues uninterrupted. Despite extremely difficult working conditions, PAHO/WHO teams remain fully mobilized to respond to the growing needs caused by the intensification of violence. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43724-haiti-insecurity-un-evacuates-non-essential-personnel-in-haiti.html Jamaica repatriates about forty Haitians On Monday, November 25, 2024, the Jamaican Coast Guard repatriated about forty Haitian nationals in an irregular migratory situation, including 5 women and 2 children who were handed over to the Haitian Coast Guard. The Les Cayes City Hall was responsible for welcoming our compatriots. Haiti Consulate in Miami closed The Consulate General of Haiti in Miami informs the Haitian community and the general public that the Mission will be closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29, 2024, on the occasion of "Thanksgiving and Black Friday". The Consulate will resume its services on Monday, December 2, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. HL/ HaitiLibre A cryptocurrency enthusiast has reported on X that his programming attempt with ChatGPT cost him 2500 US dollars. He wanted to use the artificial intelligence to program a so-called bump bot to advertise his tokens on a cryptocurrency trading platform on Discord servers. Anzeige What he did not expect was that ChatGPT would suggest a fraudulent Solana API website. He explains that he took code suggested by ChatGPT that transmits the private key via the API. He also used his main Solana wallet. "When you're in a hurry and doing so many things at once, it's easy to make mistakes," summarizes the program creator with the handle "r_ocky.eth". Several mistakes made r_ocky.eth is obviously not very familiar with security or programming: Private keys are not given out, but are used to encrypt messages. Software development should also never be carried out with a "production account", but with a separate test account. The code snippet, of which he shows a screenshot, even openly states what it does: "Payload for POST request" can be read as a comment, which is followed by the private key that programmers are supposed to enter. The fraudster behind the API was quick, reports the scammer, and shortly after using the API he transferred all his crypto assets from the wallet to his own. This took place within 30 minutes after he had sent a request. In the end, he had the feeling that he had done something wrong, but he had lost his trust in OpenAI. He reported the chat history with the fraudulent program code to OpenAI. He informed Github about the fraudulent repository, whereupon it was quickly removed. Read also OpenAI admits: ChatGPT is used for malware development Reports that OpenAI's ChatGPT is being used for malware development have already been published frequently. However, the fact that ChatGPT can generate malicious code due to "data poisoning" in the training data is apparently not yet a widespread realization. However, this example proves once again that the results of AI are not blindly trustworthy without question, but should always be checked again. Anzeige (dmk) In the joint "Operation Serengeti" by Interpol and Afripol, law enforcement officers in 19 African countries have arrested 1006 suspected cyber criminals. In the process, they dismantled 134,089 criminal networks. The operation ran from September 2 to October 31 of this year. National authorities and private partners supported the operation with important information and resources. Anzeige The investigations focused on cybercrime such as ransomware, phishing and online fraud, Interpol writes about the operation. More than 35,000 victims were identified. The global losses amounted to almost 193 million US dollars. Nevertheless, the officers were able to recover almost 44 million US dollars. Several cases successfully solved In Kenya, for example, law enforcement officers were able to solve a case of online credit card fraud that resulted in losses of 8.6 million US dollars for the victims. Using fraudulent scripts that ran after manipulating the security protocol of the banking system, the stolen money was moved via SWIFT to companies in the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and China, to digital asset management institutions. Almost two dozen arrests have been made so far. In Senegal, eight people, including five Chinese nationals, were arrested for a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 1811 victims of 6 million US dollars. A search of their homes uncovered 900 SIM cards, 11,000 US dollars in cash, phones, laptops and copies of victims' identity documents (ID cards). Operation Serengeti was carried out with funding from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the German Foreign Office and the Council of Europe. Law enforcement officers were involved from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Support also came from the private sector, with the companies Cybercrime Atlas, Fortinet, Group-IB, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro and Uppsala Security assisting and supporting the investigation, writes Interpol. Read also Europol: Call center with crypto asset scam busted Online criminals should not feel too safe. Time and again, international law enforcement agencies have managed to strike serious blows against criminal organizations. In May, for example, it became known that Europol had uncovered twelve fraudulent call centers that had ripped off their victims with supposed crypto investments. Anzeige (dmk) Version 8.3 of the Proxmox Virtual Environment has been released. The software is based on Debian 12.8 "Bookworm" and comes with Linux kernel 6.8.12-4 as standard. Kernel 6.11 is also available on request. The QEMU base is now available in version 9.0.2, ZFS comes in version 2.2.6 and is equipped with compatibility patches for Linux 6.11. The container runtime environment LXC 6.0.0 has not been updated compared to Proxmox VE 8.2. Anzeige Open Virtualization import from the browser Users can now import files in Open Virtualization format and from Open Virtualization Applications from file-based storage via the web interface. The new version automatically recognizes the boot sequence, guest operating system and network adapter. OVA files can also be uploaded from a local computer or downloaded from a URL. This revised guest import process complements the wizard implemented in version 8.2 for migrating virtual machines from other hypervisors, including VMware ESXi. Version 8.3 backs up container files faster to Proxmox backup servers. Proxmox VE now ignores files that have not been edited since the previous backup. This function is optional and can be deactivated. In the background, the virtualization platform restores the metadata archive of the existing backup. Backups and their metadata are now stored in separate archives. Closer integration of SDN stacks with the firewall The network stacks defined in software are more closely integrated into the firewall in Proxmox VE 8.3. For example, managed IP sets for VNets and virtual guests can be generated automatically in the IP address management plugin. Users can refer to IP sets in the firewall rules and manage them in this way. In addition, the nftables-based firewall allows forwarded network traffic to be filtered at host and VNet level. Users must activate the function manually. The developers have added a webhook notification target to Proxmox. It can be used to trigger HTTP requests for events such as backup jobs or system updates that can be processed by compatible services. The content of the notification header and body is customizable and can contain metadata. Driver customization enables vGPU support from Nvidia Anzeige For Linux kernel 6.8, the new Proxmox version allows the pass-through of virtual graphics processors from Nvidia. The developers modified the vGPU driver for this purpose. The use of AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization is also possible for the first time. This allows users to encrypt the memory of guest systems. Functions such as live migration or snapshots with working memory could not previously be carried out securely. The graphical interface now has a tag view for the resource tree. This allows users to display and manage their virtual machines grouped by keywords. The German translation has also been revised. As a tech preview, Proxmox VE 8.3 supports the Ceph storage system in the latest version Squid 19.2.0. Users can also use Ceph Reef 18.2.4 or Quincy 17.2.7 and select these during installation. Proxmox VE 8.3 is available for download from the company's website. Installation without an existing system is possible using an ISO image. Alternatively, the virtualization platform can be installed on an existing Debian. Older Proxmox versions from 7.4 can be updated via apt. Enterprise customers receive access to the enterprise repository for 110 euros per year and CPU socket. Support is available for between 340 and 1,020 euros per year and socket. All changes to Proxmox VE 8.3 can be found in the press release and the roadmap. (sfe) Mikael Pentikainen , CEO of Suomen Yrittajat (Finland's Entrepreneurs), described the decline as concerning for Finlands economic growth. Entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized business owners in Finland have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the government as the year progresses, according to a recent survey. While 49% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the government coalition, only 41% were satisfied with its actions. In June, those figures stood at 60% and 54%, respectively. Entrepreneurs dissatisfaction is not a good sign for Finlands growth. When trust in politics erodes, it can act as a handbrake on investments, he said. Pentikainen attributed the decline in satisfaction to several factors, including value-added tax increases, cuts to household deductions, and the perceived inability to drive economic growth. He also cited disappointment with diluted measures in the government programme, such as local labour agreement provisions that allow for negotiations without a union representative. Despite dissatisfaction with the government, the opposition has not gained significant favour among entrepreneurs. Only 14% expressed satisfaction with the opposition, suggesting its proposals are not resonating with the business community. Among entrepreneurs, those most satisfied with the governments actions are owners of companies with more than ten employees, those in the industrial sector, and those based in Western Finland. The least satisfied are solo entrepreneurs, women, business owners in Eastern and Northern Finland, and those in the service sector. Male entrepreneurs are notably more satisfied than their female counterparts, with 48% of men expressing satisfaction compared to 29% of women. Younger entrepreneurs were the most likely to view the opposition favourably, with 24% expressing satisfaction. The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) continues to dominate as the preferred party among entrepreneurs, with 37% support. This is nearly three times higher than the second most popular party, the Finns Party, which received 13% support. However, Kokoomuss support among entrepreneurs has been steadily declining. In April 2024, its backing stood at 44%. The Centre Party is the third most popular party with 9% support, followed by the Social Democratic Party (6%) and the Greens (5%). Among female entrepreneurs, the Social Democrats are the second most popular party after Kokoomus, garnering 10% support compared to Kokoomuss 32%. The survey was conducted by Verian on behalf of Suomen Yrittajat. It polled 1,054 representatives of small-to-medium-sized enterprises between 7 and 13 November 2024. The results have a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points in either direction. HT The Finnish Immigration Service will convert between 300 and 400 fixed-term roles into permanent posts next year. This change addresses the agency's current staff structure, where nearly half of the workforce is on fixed-term contracts. While this initiative will not increase the total number of employees, it will formalise positions of a permanent nature, enhancing operational stability and fairness for staff. Simultaneously, the agency faces a 13% reduction in operating expenses for 2025, prompting adjustments to improve efficiency. The agencys growing responsibilities, coupled with rising work- and study-based immigration, have highlighted the need for permanent staff. Director of Personnel Karoliina Ruuskanen noted that most tasks associated with residence permits, immigration monitoring, and other services can no longer be classified as temporary. This situation is unsustainable for the continuity and development of our operations and is unfair to our staff. Fixed-term contracts require a clear legal justification, which is no longer the case for many roles, she said. Immigration to Finland has surged over the past decade, leading to an increased demand for services from the Finnish Immigration Service. Work- and study-based immigration is expected to remain high, further driving up the number of applications for residence permits and citizenship. To meet these challenges, the agency has hired numerous fixed-term employees in recent years. It has also absorbed responsibilities previously handled by other authorities. Since 2017, the Finnish Immigration Service has overseen extended permits, EU registrations, and the management of state-run reception centres, roles previously held by the police. Additionally, the reception centre operated by the City of Helsinki was integrated into the agency in 2021. In 2025, over 50 employees from closing TE Offices will join the agency, though these transfers will not increase the overall number of public-service positions in the public sector. Ruuskanen explained that these developments, combined with increased customer demand, resulted in a high number of fixed-term contracts. With our new staff programme, we aim to improve the staff structure, reflected in the form of numerous permanent vacancies, she said. Although the establishment of permanent positions will enhance stability, the agency anticipates a gradual reduction in overall staff numbers between 2026 and 2028. Johannes Hirvela, Director of Development, stated that funding constraints are likely to narrow the staffing framework. Our appropriations are set to decrease significantly in the long term, but it is too early to predict specific impacts beyond 2026, he said. While the shift to permanent roles marks a significant change, the agency will continue to employ fixed-term staff for project-specific, seasonal, or temporary backlog-clearing tasks. The Finnish Immigration Service currently employs approximately 1,500 people. HT Jonna Savander , Head of Product Safety at Finnish Customs, emphasised the risks associated with sweets manufactured outside the EU. The Finnish Customs Authority has uncovered banned titanium dioxide (E171) in candy imported from China. Titanium dioxide has been prohibited in EU food products for two years. The sweets, brought into Finland through the EU, may have been sold in the country before Customs intervened. Our findings indicate that non-EU manufacturers may still use colourings banned in the EU. It is crucial to be vigilant when importing such products. The banned substance is not an isolated issue. Last year, Customs identified titanium dioxide in a Mexican candy ball and a Chinese lollipop, both of which were barred from entering the Finnish market. Customs monitors imported sweets by comparing detected additives with the declared ingredients on packaging. Laboratory analyses are conducted to verify the colours and their concentrations, according to Sanna Henttonen, a Customs Laboratory chemist. This year, Customs has inspected nearly 100 imported confectionery products. By mid-October, approximately 30% received warnings or were rejected outright, a notable improvement from the 60% rate of violations recorded in the previous two years. Most issues involve food additives and incorrect packaging labels. Customs also flagged several candy-toy combinations this year, which pose a choking risk. Among these were four candy lipsticks that were removed from the market. Savander highlighted the dangers of such products, which have also been banned in other EU countries. Candy-toy combinations can be extremely hazardous, she said. Customs has tested a variety of imported sweets this year, including milk, dark, and filled chocolates; sugared items such as candy-coated sweets and sprinkles; candy bars; soft and hard candies; gelatin-based confections; chewing gum; halva; marshmallows; and nut pastes. These products were sourced from both EU countries and non-EU regions such as Asia, North America, and South America. The agency evaluates food additives, aromas, and enzymes that affect a products shelf life, taste, appearance, or texture. The use and quantities of additives are strictly regulated under EU law. Customs also ensures compliance with food packaging regulations. All inspections are conducted at the Customs Laboratory, focusing on safety and adherence to standards. HT Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal takes effect after year-long deadly conflict Xinhua) 14:30, November 27, 2024 Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024.(Str/Xinhua) The ceasefire deal could bring temporary stability to the region and possibly pave the way for negotiations with Hamas, said Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal by a vote of 10-1. The ceasefire takes effect on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). The Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home, according to the deal. In a televised speech ahead of bringing the draft to his cabinet for a vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "set Hezbollah back decades" through the war and vowed to strike the Lebanese armed group if it violated the ceasefire deal. The ceasefire deal, brokered by the United States and France, will provide the conditions needed for a return to calm in Lebanon, said U.S. President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a joint statement on Tuesday, pledging to work together to ensure the deal is fully implemented. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he welcomed the ceasefire deal, according to a statement released by the Council of Ministers, Lebanon's cabinet. STRATEGY RETUNED? The ceasefire deal could bring temporary stability to the region and possibly pave the way for negotiations with Hamas, said Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Netanyahu's strategy toward Hezbollah differs from his approach to Hamas. While the goal with Hamas involves its complete destruction -- both militarily and in governance -- Israel's objective with Hezbollah is to push its forces back from the northern border and weaken its operational capacity, he said. A ceasefire with Hezbollah may allow Israel to concentrate its military efforts on the ongoing war in Gaza and the dismantling of Hamas, as well as to achieve a hostage deal with Hamas, he added. At this stage, Israel seems to have decided that Hezbollah has been weakened sufficiently, and there's no point in pursuing an all-out campaign to eliminate every last Hezbollah fighter, said Eitan Shamir, managing director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. However, Shamir was pessimistic about a broader peace deal in the Middle East happening. "It's worth noting that the war in Lebanon is not just a direct conflict with Hezbollah; it's also an indirect confrontation with Iran...This ceasefire, in a sense, represents a de-escalation with Iran," he said. This photo shows a convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Sidon, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua) BROADER PEACE ON HORIZON? The ceasefire deal has fueled speculation about the prospects for peace in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 44,000 Palestinians as of Tuesday, according to figures released by Gaza-based health authorities. "The conflict in Gaza is far from over. Much work remains to find a resolution there, but this ceasefire may enable Israel to divert resources and attention toward concluding its campaign in Gaza," said Shamir. "A deal in the north might give Netanyahu more freedom to act in the south. It's a matter of waiting to see how things unfold," said Eyal Zisser, a Middle Eastern affairs expert at Tel Aviv University. "In any case, achieving a ceasefire in Lebanon must come first, followed by Gaza," he noted. Just hours before Netanyahu's television speech, Israel launched intense airstrikes on central Beirut, targeting several neighborhoods and sparking widespread panic, according to local media. TV footage from local TV channel Al Jadeed showed civilians fleeing the targeted areas by car and on foot, causing traffic jams and further chaos across the city. Less than six hours before the ceasefire was expected to take effect, air defense sirens were sounded in several areas in northern and central Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces said the sirens were activated following the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon, which the Israeli Air Force successfully intercepted and no casualties were reported. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A new proposal for targeting the quota, it added, will be presented to the government as soon as possible. THE MINISTRY of the Interior announced last week it has initiated an expedited decision-making process on targeting the annual refugee quota, citing both the mistrust surrounding its earlier decision and a request from Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP). The Ministry of the Interior on Friday also said it is seeking to dispel suspicions by publishing a handful of documents appended to the report it submitted to the Ombudsman for Equality in early November. The Ombudsman for Equality ruled earlier this month, citing documents it had requested from the ministry, that there is a strong assumption that the political leadership of the ministry had steered the preparatory work on the quota in a way that constitutes religion-based discrimination. Iltalehti, for example, has reported that the political leadership had a stated preference for Christians. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in July proposed that Finland allocate about 150 spots in its quota to Syrian refugees in Turkey and 200 spots to Afghan refugees in Iran. The Ministry of the Interior was contrastively looking to reserve 250 spots for Congolese refugees in Rwanda and 120 spots for Venezuelan refugees in Peru. Both Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo are Christian countries. The Finnish government has roughly halved its refugee quota for next year to 500. Media reports also indicate that the government had attempted to employ religion as a selection criterion also for this years quota, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The Ministry of the Interior on Friday explained that the intention of the political leadership was to make sure also next years refugee quota placed an emphasis on religious minorities within Syrian refugees. This is the Christians-related instruction that the political leadership brought to the official preparing the matter, it said in its press release, seemingly suggesting media reporting had failed to detect the implied context of the guidelines. The documents it published also shed light on the position of other arms of the central administration. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, they reveal, had estimated that there is no particular need to receive Venezuelan refugees and voiced its support for receiving Afghan refugees, especially because Finland has no other channels of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) continued to deny the suggestion that she sought to increase the intake of Christians and reduce that of Muslims in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat on Friday. It has nothing to do with religion, she stated. The UNHCR template also doesnt have religions. Were talking about vulnerable people, all of whom have the refugee status. The Left Alliance Parliamentary Group has announced it intends to submit a motion of no confidence against Rantanen. The Green Parliamentary Group has said it will back the motion if the details circulating in media prove accurate. A final decision on how to target the refugee quota will be made in December. Aleksi Teivainen HT Finland was among the first countries to deploy commercial 5G networks, revolutionising terrestrial communications with high-speed, low-latency connectivity. A new EU-funded project led by VTT has successfully tested a groundbreaking solution to extend 5G network coverage and capacity beyond coastal areas, improving communication, safety, and passenger experiences in maritime operations. The project demonstrates Finlands expertise in 5G technology and marks a significant advance for the shipping industry. Extending these benefits to maritime areas has been challenging, with coverage so far limited to coastal regions. To address this, the 5G-ROUTES project, coordinated by VTT, tested a multi-hop 5G solution extending coverage up to 10 kilometres offshore. The trials were conducted along the maritime route between Finland and Sweden. Anne Lonnqvist, Research Manager at VTT, described the trials as a significant achievement. We conducted a pioneering 5G multi-hop test at sea. The project aims to solve the challenges of connectivity and capacity in maritime data transmission, enabling new services for passengers and the broader maritime industry. The trials were supported by industry partners including Vediafin, Cumucore, and Airbus, along with major technology providers such as Ericsson, Nokia, Digita, DNA, Telia, and Goodmill Systems. Lasse Nykanen, Project Manager at Vediafin, highlighted the potential of the new system. The tests at sea provided an excellent opportunity to develop new 5G applications for maritime use. The technology is ready, and the next step is to establish a commercial deployment model. The system integrates public 5G networks, private 5G networks between ships, and satellite connections, ensuring seamless connectivity even when vessels are far from the coast. The multi-hop approach, using mid-band frequencies, enables high-bandwidth 5G links between vessels. Public 5G networks maintain connections to the coast, while private 5G networks handle ship-to-ship communication, with satellite links serving as backups. Kati Korbe, Project Manager at Ericsson Estonia, noted that the solution significantly enhances data services for vessels. However, she emphasised that regulatory limitations, maritime traffic density, and the availability of public 5G networks remain challenges for widespread adoption. Extensive testing was conducted on two vessels operating between Turku and Stockholm. A ship closer to the shore acted as a relay, providing connectivity to another vessel further offshore. This setup ensured continuous data transmission and reliable internet access for various applications, including real-time video communication, virtual reality tools, and online multiplayer gaming. Mika Skarp, Business Development Manager at Cumucore, described the solution as a major step forward. The 5G multi-hop system significantly enhances the reliability and bandwidth of maritime communication networks, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity even in the absence of satellite links. This scalable and flexible solution offers maritime operators a cost-effective way to boost operational efficiency and passenger experience. The 5G-ROUTES project is funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme and focuses on testing innovative 5G applications in cross-border road and maritime transport. The findings provide valuable insights into the integration of public and private networks in maritime contexts and open new possibilities for European shipping, particularly on routes like Latvia-Estonia-Finland. Improved connectivity promises transformative benefits for the industry, enhancing both operational performance and passenger services. HT (JNS) - Thrown into a tank after being riddled with seven bullets in Gaza, the 23-year-old Israeli soldier kept his hand on his mortally wounded Dutch Shepherd through the entire ride to the hospital, even as he drifted into unconsciousness. "I kept hoping that he was OK even as I felt my organs were popping out of my body," Ben Ladany told JNS in an interview in Herzliya on Wednesday of his beloved IDF counter-terrorism dog, Jack. For the next two months, Ladany lay in an induced comatose at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon with severe stomach and leg wounds, as a fungus infection set in h... (New York Jewish Week) - In the new comic book, "We Are Brooklyn: Stories of Hope," Francil Tejada shares her story about the Dominican Republic, where she was born, and the death of her grandmother, which inspired her to change how she connects with people and shows love. It's a personal story, a Brooklyn story and an American story - one of six being told through an anti-hate project initiated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Others tell stories about an imam's trip to Auschwitz and growing up Jewish in Germany. Contributors to the comic are part of the third cohort of... Yvette Lubitz Blum, aged 93, passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by immediate family and song on Nov. 9, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Born on May 29, 1931, Yvette dedicated over six decades of her life to the field of dental hygiene, significantly impacting many through her profession and volunteer work. A graduate of Ohio State University College of Dental Hygiene, she was not only a committed dental hygienist but also a mentor and pioneer, instrumental in founding the Life Member group of the Florida Dental Hygienist Association. Her legacy in the field is immortalized in the Yvette L. Blum Mentorship Award, celebrating her dedication to nurturing future professionals. Yvette was a cherished member of the Congregation of Reform Judaism for over 60 years, reflecting her deep faith and commitment to her community. Her life was marked by a joyous engagement with the world around her. She loved her friends, among whom are her best friend, Barbara Shargaa, who survives her, as well as many cherished friends she met through her dental hygienist profession and the plumbing association which she belonged to while her husband was alive. She leaves behind a loving family: her children Helaine Blum, Lonnie Blum, and Lori Blum (Ronald Miller); and granddaughter, Julienne Miller. Yvette was preceded in death by her beloved husband of blessed memory, Julius Blum, and her cherished immediate family members of blessed memory: parents, Harry and Celia Lubitz; brothers Irving Lubitz (Stella), Philip Lubitz (Gladys), Karl Lubitz (Dorothy); sister, Dorothy Katz (Gerald). Funeral services for Mrs. Blum were held at Congregation of Reform Judaism with Rabbi Rachael Jackson officiating. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Congregation of Reform Judaism, Pathlight HOME, the Institute for Oral Health Foundation, or St. Judes, honoring Yvettes lifelong commitment to service and community. Service entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 933 Lee Road, Suite 101, Orlando, Florida 407-599-1180. (JNS) The Knessets Economic Affairs Committee will convene on Monday to discuss a request made by airline companies to amend the Aviation Services Law so they can resume their flights to and from Israel. In the wake of Israels more than year-long war on its southern and northern borders, a host of foreign airlines suspended flights to the Jewish state, sharply cutting options for travelers and leading to higher prices for seats on local carriers. Airline companies complained that the law is causing them great losses, through no fault of their own, and are requesting to suspend it entirely... (JNS) Several Democratic senators told JNS on Wednesday night that the significant number of their colleagues who voted for an Israeli arms embargo werent representative of the party. Republicans in the upper chamber said the figureup to 19 on one measurerepresented the Democrats abandonment of a key ally. Asked how decisive an issue the votes on the three resolutions of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), which would have banned the transfer of certain categories of weapons to Israel, were for his party, Cory Booker (D-N. J.) said, When you say its for the party, to me this is not a party is... (JTA) - Pam Bondi, who President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to be his attorney general, said last year that campus protesters who express support for Hamas should face FBI questioning. Trump named Bondi, who served as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, on Nov. 21. The nomination came after his first pick, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew following meetings with Republican senators, who apparently made clear that allegations of sexual predation and drug use, which he has denied, would bury him. Bondi's confirmation process is expected to face fewer hurdles. On Friday, Jewish... (JNS) The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Wednesday morning, citing its failure to condition a halt in hostilities directly to the release of the hostages. We could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages, Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council. Wood accused Hamasand not Israelof blocking a negotiated ceasefire and cited Israels reference for a temporary ceasefire and a phased release of hostages. Washington cast the lone vote against the mea... (JNS) A poll of Jewish voters in the 2024 election suggests that President-elect Donald Trump made modest gains among Jews over his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris. The non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute published the responses from a national survey of 1,000 Jewish respondents taken between Oct. 30 and Nov. 8. It found that 71 percent of Jewish voters went for Harris and 26 percent voted for Trump. Jewish voters continue to support Democratic candidates by a substantial margin, while Republicans have made modest gains in recent cycles, the Jewish Electorate Institut... (JNS) U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Saturday threatened to sanction Americas allies if they sought to enforce the International Criminal Courts arrest warrants for Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. To any allyCanada, Britain, Germany, Franceif you try to help the ICC, were going to sanction you, Graham said in an interview with Fox News. The U.S. should crush [their] economy, because were next, he continued. The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and w... (JNS) The decision to extend Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria is one for Israel to make, according to Mike Huckabee, who was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump last week for the post of U.S. ambassador to Israel. Speaking to Israel National News on Nov. 15, the former Arkansas governor said that the decision is not one the United States will impose. I dont think Donald Trump is the kind of president that wants to tell other countries what to do and how to do it. He wants to accommodate, help, encourage peaceful endeavors, strengthen alliances, said Huckabee. His remarks echo... The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant based on allegations that they starved Palestinian civilians in Gaza during Israels war against Hamas. The court on Thursday also issued an arrest warrant against Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military chief whose death has been reported but is not confirmed. The Hague-based courts pre-trial chamber decided to issue the warrants based on a recommendation in May by its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. The court said in a statement that it found reasonable gro... (JNS) Jewish patients coming to the University of California, San Francisco for medical care are hiding their identity, a senior faculty member at the school told the Washington Free Beacon. The professor added that the public school has contributed to an erosion of professionalism and a loss of the centering of the patient-physician relationship with its activist teaching, per the Free Beacon. The publication reported that a required, six-week medical justice and advocacy workshop taught that an anti-Israel protest on Nov. 16, 2023which blocked the San Francisco Bay Bridge and preven... (JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers at the Knesset in Jerusalem that outgoing U.S. President Joe Bidens advice on how to handle the wars with Iran and its terrorist proxies across the region was often incorrect, and that Jerusalem had opted to follow our own view. Following Hamass Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre from the Gaza Strip, Washington suggested that we not go in on the ground, he said during a 40-signature debate, which opposition lawmakers can call once a month and in which the premier is legally obliged to participate. It said, It can be hand... (JNS) The Biden administration announced a new round of sanctions against three Israeli entities and three individuals, pursuant to the presidents Feb. 1, 2024 Executive Order 14115, which targets Israelis accused of undermining the foreign policy objectives of the United States. Per the U.S. Department of State and in accordance with the E.O., All property and interests in property of the designated persons described that are in the United States or in possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Cont... (JNS) Jewish teens involved in Jewish camps, schools and other programming are more likely to hold positive views of Israel and less likely to harbor negative sentiments about the conflict, according to a new study. The global survey of teens aged 14-18 was conducted by Mosaic United, an initiative of Israels Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Of the 1,600 responses collected, half were disqualified for various reasons. The final sample consisted of 80 percent American Jewish teens with various levels of Jewish engagement. Among... (JNS) - The Emirati interior ministry announced that it has arrested "the three perpetrators involved in the murder of Zvi Kogan, a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident." The Emirati Ministry of Interior then confirmed on Monday, Nov. 25, that the three suspects arrested for the murder of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan are Uzbek nationals. Security authorities identified the suspects as Olimpi Toirovich, 28, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, also 28, and Azizbek Kamlovich, 33. Additionally, the ministry anno... Greece, Israel in talks to develop $2 billion Iron Dome By JNS Staff (JNS) Greece is negotiating with Israel to develop a 2 billion euro ($2.11 billion) anti-aircraft and missile defense similar to Israels highly successful Iron Dome, according to Israeli and Greek officials. The talks, which were first reported by Reuters last week, come as multiple countries around the world have voiced interest in purchasing the Israeli missile defense system, which has won international accolades for its performance during Israels war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Greece currently u... (JNS) The final two months of the Biden administration may see diplomatic actions taken against Israel, although the White House has neither confirmed nor denied assessments on the issue. One scenario could see the administration consider approving a United Nations Security Council resolution that would target Israels presence in Judea and Samaria, reminiscent of Resolution 2334 passed in 2016 during the Obama administrations transition period. A report by Israel Hayom on Tuesday cited an American source close to the Biden administration as stating that the United States intends to endorse... (JNS) Rolling Stone, a magazine once renowned for its solid investigative journalism, is planning to publish a reckless, unsubstantiated attack on two of my heroic sons serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Doing so is not just journalistic negligence but a grotesque blood libel and a nauseating, stomach-turning display of antisemitism. Rolling Stone is legitimizing the Hind Rajab Foundation, a minuscule joke of an organization that claims to represent Palestinian interests. The foundation, which has fewer than 1,000 followers on social media, filed a complaint with the International Crimina... (JNS) Israels detractors believe that Americas unwavering support for Israel is driven by the mythologically omnipotent Jewish lobby. The truth is it is the Arab lobby, entrenched within the deep state, which has been adversely affecting U.S. policy since the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. The Arabists fought first to prevent the establishment of Israel, then to strangle the nascent state at birth, and ever since, have sought to drive a wedge between the two countries despite their shared values and interests. This tradition has continued in the Biden administration, wher... Mongolian ethnic attire weaves tradition, fortune tapestry Xinhua) 15:01, November 27, 2024 HOHHOT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- For Meng Genhua, a dedicated Mongolian ethnic attire artisan, her greatest joy has stemmed from seeing her business grow from a humble 20-square-meter workshop to a thriving 500-square-meter store over the course of nearly four decades. This transformation not only underlines her entrepreneurial success but also symbolizes the revitalization of China's ethnic heritage. Having grown up in a herding family in Otog Front Banner in the city of Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Meng was very young when she started learning the craft of making traditional Mongolian clothing from her mother, who was a well-known local tailor. Once regular daily wear, Mongolian attire -- characterized by silk and satin fabrics, intricate designs and vibrant colors, gradually became less common with the increased popularity of more modern apparel. Meng, however, felt a deep responsibility to preserve and renew this traditional cultural treasure. In 1985, Meng began her career by opening a small family workshop. "Initially, customers rarely came for clothing but only for small fixes like mending clothes or sewing on buttons," she recalled. At that time, the shop functioned more as a tailoring service rather than a clothing store. Occasionally, Meng's traditional Mongolian robes did catch the eye of older customers, who were amazed by her mastery of an almost forgotten traditional technique. Word began to spread, and Meng's business started to flourish. In 2011, Meng founded her own company specializing in the trade of Mongolian ethnic attire. A year later, she was recognized as a municipal-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Mongolian attire-making in Ordos. With the rise of cultural tourism across China in recent years, public interest in traditional craftsmanship has been reignited. Seizing this opportunity, Meng has advanced her career by blending traditional elements with innovative designs. Today, in addition to daily wear, Meng's store offers wedding garments, performance costumes and accessories. Meng is also dedicated to passing on her craft. Since 2015, her company has partnered with a local vocational high school to offer training courses -- benefiting over 300 students. More than a dozen of her apprentices have gone on to open their own businesses. Among these inheritors is Sarula, Meng's daughter. "Mom taught me to sew as a child. The sewing machine was my plaything," she said. After earning a degree in art design from Beijing Oriental University, Sarula taught art at a local vocational high school from 2004 onwards. However, in 2017 she decided to shift her focus to garment design. "We're preserving Mongolian ethnic features like the mandarin collar, frog buttons and trim colors in everyday wear. We also draw inspiration from traditional Chinese garments and modern clothes, simplifying designs and opting for low-maintenance, washable cotton and linens," Sarula explained. In 2023, the government of Otog Front Banner invested over 2.88 million yuan (about 400,100 U.S. dollars) in the preservation of Mongolian traditional attire. The government plans to promote cultural tourism, train professionals and build exhibition halls to further protect and celebrate ethnic clothing. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) He is not yet in power but President-elect Donald Trump rattled much of the world with an off-hours warning of stiff tariffs on close allies and China -- a loud hint that Trump-style government by social media post is coming back. With word of these levies against goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China, Trump sent auto industry stocks plummeting, raised fears for global supply chains and unnerved the world's major economies. For Washington-watchers with memories of the Republican's first term, the impromptu policy volley on Monday evening foreshadowed a second term of startling announcements of all manner, fired off at all hours of the day from his smartphone. "Donald Trump is never going to change much of anything," said Larry Sabato, a leading US political scientist and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "You can expect in the second term pretty much what he showed us about himself and his methods in the first term. Social media announcements of policy, hirings and firings will continue." The first of Trump's tariff announcements -- a 25 percent levy on everything coming in from Mexico and Canada -- came amid an angry rebuke of lax border security at 6:45 pm on Truth Social, Trump's own platform. The United States is bound by agreements on the movement of goods and services brokered by Trump in a free trade treaty with both nations during his first term. But Trump warned that the new levy would "remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country" -- sowing panic from Ottawa to Mexico City. Seconds later, another message from the incoming commander-in-chief turned the focus on Chinese imports, which he said would be hit with "an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs." The consequences were immediate. Almost every major US automaker operates plants in Mexico, and shares in General Motors and Stellantis -- which produce pickup trucks in America's southern neighbor -- plummeted. Canada, China and Mexico protested, while Germany called on its European partners to prepare for Trump to impose hefty tariffs on their exports and stick together to combat such measures. The tumult recalls Trump's first term, when journalists, business leaders and politicians at home and abroad would scan their phones for the latest pronouncements, often long after they had left the office or over breakfast. During his first four years in the Oval Office, the tweet -- in those days his newsy posts were almost exclusively limited to Twitter, now known as X -- became the quasi-official gazette for administration policy. The public learned of the president-elect's 2020 Covid-19 diagnosis via an early-hours post, and when Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani was assassinated on Trump's order, the Republican confirmed the kill by tweeting a US flag. The public and media learned of numerous other decisions big and small by the same source, from the introduction of customs duties to the dismissal of cabinet secretaries. It is not a communication method that has been favored by any previous US administration and runs counter to the policies and practices of most governments around the world. Throughout his third White House campaign, and with every twist and turn in his various entanglements with the justice system, Trump has poured his heart out on Truth Social, an app he turned to during his 20-month ban from Twitter. In recent days, the mercurial Republican has even named his attorney general secretaries of justice and health via announcements on the network. "He sees social media as a tool to shape and direct the national conversation and will do so again," said political scientist Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor. William joins Pendry San Diego from Alma San Diego, where he served as director of food and beverage. Throughout his 30-year career in the food and beverage industry, Figueroa has held leadership positions at several premier culinary concepts in Seattle, London, New York City and Los Angeles. In his role at Pendry San Diego, Figueroa will manage and oversee all day-to-day food and beverage operations across the hotel's culinary destinations. AUSTIN, Texas - Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology and services company, has been awarded three top prizes at the 4th Annual World Travel Tech Awards 2024: Worlds Best Data Driven Marketing Agency, Worlds Best Hotel CRM Solutions Provider, and Worlds Best Hotel Sales Proposal Solution. This is the first year Cendyn has won three prestigious awards. The accolades were officially presented at the World Travel Tech Awards Gala Ceremony 2024, which took place on 24 November 2024 at Savoy Palace in Madeira, Portugal. Were proud that the innovation we bring to the hospitality sector continues to be recognized. It demonstrates the investment we continue to make across our product portfolio. With a vision to connect hoteliers with their guests through uniquely meaningful experiences, this year alone, weve further developed data driven marketing capabilities for hoteliers with our AI-powered Digital Marketing Platform so hotels can target their advertising strategies more effectively. Weve strengthened the personalization capabilities in our CRM to allow them to segment and target guests more effectively across multiple channels and weve acquired Knowland to provide sales and market intelligence to hotels so they can identify their ideal prospects. These awards round off a very successful year for Cendyn as we deliver products that help hoteliers find customers, drive bookings and grow business. Chris Egan, Chief Product Officer Cendyns extensive and interconnected digital marketing platform enables hoteliers to use their own first-party data in campaigns. This elevates brand awareness, drives demand and increases revenue, improving conversion rates across every channel. With a focus on nurturing growth through direct booking channels, Cendyn is helping hoteliers develop strategies to find new guests, book more direct, and grow revenue. This includes the ability to run effective metasearch campaigns, plus access to a pioneering integration of Google Performance Max for Travel Goals. Cendyn is the inaugural Google Premier Partner to provide this integration. Cendyn CRM is a cutting-edge CRM platform empowering hoteliers to maximize the value of their guest database. Supporting every aspect of the guest journey, hotels build stronger relationships with their guests while driving forward profitable revenue. Strengthened by their cloud-based Customer Data Platform (CDP), Cendyn CRM is a powerful tool for marketing automation across channels, guest journey automation, and sales CRM. This results in more deeply personalized interactions across channels, improved guest satisfaction and increased direct bookings. Cendyns Proposal software allows hoteliers to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) in minutes, helping them to close group business faster. As well as giving hoteliers a first-responder advantage, Cendyn Proposal delivers personalized, media-rich RFP replies on a branded microsite. The functionalities within this include different language options, integrations to food and beverage systems, the ability to use compelling video content, and real-time notifications that allow hotel sales representatives to know exactly when a prospect opens the proposal. 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 Ryan Haynes View source AMSTERDAM - Booking.com, one of the worlds leading digital travel platforms, has partnered with HotelTechReport.com to launch the AI Tech Stack Advisor. The tool, developed by HotelTechReport.com, is designed to provide hoteliers with bespoke guidance and first-class hospitality tech solutions to help optimize their digital transformation journeys and drive growth. The AI Tech Stack Advisor leverages GenAI to deliver personalized assessments to hoteliers based on their current tech infrastructure and particular property characteristics. It draws on HotelTechReports extensive review database to identify the technologies and resources that could deliver the greatest impact on their business performance - from channel managers and revenue management tools to upsell solutions and Customer Relationship Management tools. Hoteliers are able to connect directly with potential vendors, enabling faster, informed decision-making. For Booking.coms connectivity partners, the tool reciprocally opens the door to a vast network of hotels that are just starting to enter the hospitality technology market, or are in need of support to take their tech stack to the next level. In addition to spotlighting helpful technologies, as well as identifying possible gaps, the tool offers hotels a Digital Transformation Score, providing a tech stack benchmark comparison against a potential competitor set, and allows users to track their performance and digital transformation progress over time. As technology rapidly evolves, hoteliers are keen to leverage the latest tools to help them sustain growth. However, the task of identifying, investing in and implementing new tools can be daunting. The AI Tech Stack Advisor helps lower that barriers for hoteliers both large and small providing invaluable insights to help optimize their businesses, drive value and ultimately better serve their guests. Eddy Veldhuizen, Senior Director of Travel Technology Ecosystems at Booking.com The AI Tech Stack Advisor has been purpose-built to help hoteliers accelerate the pace of digital transformation in hospitality and grow their business. During this project it became clear to us that the Booking.com team feels a deep sense of responsibility for the success of properties far beyond the bookings that come through its website. HotelTechReport.com CEO, Jordan Hollander The AI Stack Advisor is currently available for hoteliers, with homes and other accommodation types planned for rollout in 2025. New users can run the audit for one property during the initial roll out, with access to additional hotels upon request to HotelTechReport.com. This announcement comes on the heels of Booking.coms own broad range of AI-powered solutions recently developed, as it continues to invest in technology to improve the travel experience for both travelers and partners. These innovations include the expansion of the companys AI Trip Planner tool, the launch of AI smart search filters, property Q&As, and more. Part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com's mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. By investing in the technology that helps take the friction out of travel, Booking.com's marketplace seamlessly connects millions of travelers with memorable experiences every day. For more information, follow @bookingcom on social media or visit globalnews.booking.com. For more information, follow @bookingcom on social media or visit globalnews.booking.com. Press Office Booking.com +31 20 709 4743 Booking.com View source World Travel Tech Awards the global initiative to recognise and reward excellence in the travel tech sector has unveiled the winners of its 2024 programme at a glittering gala reception, held in Funchal, Madeira. The finest travel technology brands from around the world attended the red-carpet 4th annual World Travel Tech Awards Gala Ceremony. Seoul Tourism Organisation, South Korea claimed World's Best Smart Tourism Destination and Qatar Airways won the coveted title of World's Best Airline Website. Booking.com also celebrated this year by claiming World's Best Travel Booking App. Google Meet was named the winner of World's Best Video Conferencing Solution. Amadeus emerged as World's Best Travel Technology Provider, whilst NEOM won Worlds Best Smart Hospitality Project. Roiback also enjoyed a strong showing, collecting World's Best Hotel Booking Solutions Provider. BNESIM was voted World's Best Travel SIM Provider, and Norwegian Cruise Line won World's Best Cruise Line Website. France.fr took the title of World's Best Tourism Authority Website, whilst Red Sea International Airport was named Worlds Best Smart Hospitality Project. Panasonic Avionics collected the title for Worlds Best Inflight Internet Service Provider. Antom was hailed as winner of Worlds Best B2B Travel Payments Provider. Moder claimed Worlds Best Hotel Tech Startup. What an incredible event it has been here in enchanting Madeira. World Travel Tech Awards had the privilege of recognising brands that are stellar examples of excellence in their field. My congratulations to each of them. Mike Sawicki, Managing Director, World Travel Tech Awards The results follow a year-long search for the worlds leading travel tech brands. Votes were cast by travel tech professionals and the public, with the nominee gaining the most votes in a category named as the winner. For a full list of winners visit here. World Travel Tech Awards is the sister event to World Travel Awards, currently celebrating its 31st anniversary. For more information about World Travel Tech Awards, visit worldtraveltechawards.com. About World Travel Awards WTA was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the WTA brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognize and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region. WTA gala ceremonies are widely regarded as the best networking opportunities in the travel industry, attended by government and industry leaders, luminaries and international print and broadcast media. For more information about WTA visit worldtravelawards.com. World Travel Awards +44 (0) 20 7925 0000 World Travel Awards View source Smartphones are playing an increasingly important role in travellers in-destination decision-making. This trend is delineated in an important recent study led by Dr Dan Wang of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Adopting the powerful theoretical lens of sociomateriality, the researchers offer insights into the ways in which tourists interact with their Internet-enabled devices while making travel decisions such as where to visit and what to buy in real time. Their findings point to rich opportunities for tourism businesses to influence tourists spending decisions in the age of the smartphone. Technology is influencing not only where and how often we travel, but also how we behave when we reach our destination. In particular, the rise of smartphones has ushered in an era of unprecedentedly dynamic and impulsive decision-making by tourists. It seems that the fixed holiday itinerary is becoming a thing of the past. People increasingly postpone their decisions until after arrival , say the authors, as more contextual information and ubiquitous Internet access via smartphones improve decisions . For researchers, the travel context provides a wealth of opportunities to study technology-mediated decision-making. Although a holiday destination itself is usually pre-planned and fixed, and we may have a rough idea of the sites we most want to visit, we are free to make many choices on the go. Even when visitors do arrive with a schedule in mind, they often depart from it. This leads to substantial disparities between travel plans and actual behaviours related to various travel components , as the researchers put it. With a smartphone full of apps, it has never been easier to be spontaneous on vacation. The information technology revolution in holidaymaking has certainly not gone unnoticed by academics. The hospitality and tourism industry needs to keep pace with these changes and understand how the ubiquity of mobile Internet is reshaping visitors behavioural choices. However, despite the burgeoning research interest in the impact of smartphones and apps on tourism, many studies have only been quantitative. Experiential accounts of in-destination decision-making by tourists remain quite limited , the authors note. Exactly how and why holidaymakers choose their activities in the mobile Internet era is thus ripe for investigation. Holidaying is often a social activity, and group travellers decisions are collaborative. Smartphone technology has not only revolutionised how individuals access information but also influenced the workings of a typical social group. The literature is rich in technical studies that focus on how people employ smartphones to complete specific tasks. In these studies , warn the researchers, smartphones and apps have been perceived only as tools . Wangs team saw the need for more research into how such devices affect the relational dynamics of tourist groups. To fill this gap, the researchers drew on a concept from the information studies literature. The increasingly recognized sociomateriality approach , they explain, has been developed to frame research questions regarding technology through a sociotechnical lens and analyse technology in tourism and hospitality contexts . Developed as a more sophisticated alternative to a simple technological perspective, the sociomateriality view of technology enables researchers to explore how the social and material worlds influence and even constitute each other. As powerful, pocket-sized computers that mediate our social and professional activities in numerous ways, smartphones have certainly become a constitutive part of our lives. While access to mobile data in foreign locations was once hard to come by, today it is routine to use apps to explore our environment wherever we are. Thus, to push the field forward, Wangs study shifted the focus to the sociomateriality of smartphones in travel, which consists of the entanglements of smartphone functions with social actions during a trip . To explore actual tourists smartphone use for decision-making, the researchers performed a real-world experimental study. This involved making contact with a set of participants who were holidaying in groups of two to five in a far-flung set of locations in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. All of the informants were regular smartphone users, and throughout their holidays they remained in close contact with the research team, who sent messages roughly every 4 hours to discuss their experiences, particularly their travel decisions. To ensure that the information obtained from the participants was not only rich and accurate but also relevant to sociomateriality, the team designed their research as a process-tracking study. Using questions designed to capture the sociomateriality of smartphones in tourist group decision-making and its performativity during trips , they explored in depth the patterns of group behaviour as the groups used their devices for information searching, wayfinding, making payments, communication and more. This led to a deep contextual understanding of the participants smartphone-informed choices. From 97 scenarios of group decision-making involving smartphones, the researchers identified three patterns of group decision-making and four features of smartphone sociomateriality related to decisions regarding activities, meals, and shopping in travel . The three patterns pertained to the participants social dynamics as they planned their itineraries. The four features, namely knowledgeability, thriftiness, referenceability, and negotiability, referred to the categories of information that the participants acquired from their smartphones to drive the dynamic decision-making process. The first group decision-making pattern was defined as Dominance of the Active Smartphone User. This pattern involved the searching and filtering of information by a single smartphone user. The rest of the group then accepted the dominant users suggestions, instead of using their own devices to provide alternative information. For example, one groups decision to visit some top attractions in Prague was dominated by a single member using their smartphone to search for information (the knowledgeability feature). In another case, tourists in Cambodia opted for a show after one discovered they could buy cheaper tickets online (thriftiness). Complexity from Multiple Active Smartphone Users characterised the second pattern. Here, two or more group members were involved in decision-making, and there was more negotiation and discussion. This pattern mostly occurred when there was little time pressure. Smartphones tended to shape this type of group decision-making through knowledgeability and negotiability , the researchers explain. Group members each searched for information, and more persuasive cases were generally accepted. In Thailand, for example, multiple group members used their devices to search for restaurants, and the group opted for places with good reviews across different sets of search results. The third pattern was Decapsulated Decision-Making, whereby smartphones were used to open up group decision-making beyond the group itself. That is, travellers used their devices to obtain real-time advice from other social contacts who were not part of the holiday thus decapsulating the decision. Two visitors to Las Vegas, for example, were influenced in their shopping decisions by the mother of one participant, who chatted with them as they shopped. Wang and teams findings go beyond the technical details of usage and elucidate the social aspects of tourists deployment of smartphones. The finding that the relationship between smartphones and tourists was more profound than the adoption of some mobile apps for navigation, information search, reservation payments, and other functions opens up the possibility of smartphones having their own technology agency. Meanwhile, the researchers recommend that tourism businesses pay greater attention to contextual and location-based marketing in the age of abundant data and on-the-go decision-making. Wang, Dan, Tussyadiah, Iis, and Zhang, Elaine. (2023). Shaping In-Destination Group Decision-Making: The Sociomateriality of Smartphones. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 63, No. 3, 625-641. About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management For 45 years, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has refined a distinctive vision of hospitality and tourism education and become a world-leading hotel and tourism school. Ranked No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality and Tourism Management" category in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024 for the eighth consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the "Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services" category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2023/2024 for seven years in a row; rated No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism" subject area by the CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017; and ranked No. 1 in Asia in the "Hospitality and Leisure Management" subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024, the SHTM is a symbol of excellence in the field, exemplifying its motto of Leading Hospitality and Tourism. The School is driven by the need to serve its industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge. With a strong international team of over 90 faculty members from 21 countries and regions around the world, the SHTM offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees. Through Hotel ICON, the School's groundbreaking teaching and research hotel and a vital aspect of its paradigm-shifting approach to hospitality and tourism education, the SHTM is advancing teaching, learning and research, and inspiring a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals to take their positions as leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry. Website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/shtm/. Pauline Ngan Senior Marketing Manager +852 3400 2634 Hong Kong PolyU SYDNEY - Accor's extraordinary year in the Pacific has been marked by dynamic growth, sustainability milestones, and unforgettable events that have shaped the regions tourism landscape. By bringing communities together through iconic events, welcoming guests to thoughtfully designed spaces, and embracing sustainable practices, Accor continues to demonstrate how travel can inspire, unite, and create lasting positive impact. Accors Expansion in the Pacific Accor continues to expand its portfolio in Australia with some key openings over the past year, including the dual-branded Novotel and ibis Styles Melbourne Airport which opened in July 2024. Inspired by the natural beauty of regional Victoria, Novotel Melbourne Airport (248 rooms) provides a serene sanctuary, while ibis Styles Melbourne Airport (216 rooms) reflects Melbournes urban vibrancy with a playful and personal design. Further north, the 32-room Peppers Gladstone has set a new standard in regional hospitality, as the first new hotel development in the Gladstone region in over a decade. In August 2024, Ennismore, a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands in which Accor owns a majority share, announced its plans to bring The Hoxton brand to Melbournes Cremorne neighbourhood, with a debut set for 2027. The lifestyle hotel will feature 198 guestrooms in signature The Hoxton categories, like Cosy, Roomy, and Biggy. Known for its vibrant, open-door lobbies, the hotel will celebrate its locality through art, design, retail, and eclectic programming, with interiors taking inspiration from the buildings history and creative local community and surroundings. In June 2024, Hotel Woolstore 1888, Sydney joined the Handwritten Collection, marking another milestone for this fast-growing brand in the Pacific. Standing as a beacon of individuality in the increasingly crowded hospitality space, Handwritten Collection's properties embody the essence of stylish and inviting homes, welcoming guests into a world of charm and personality where the unique character of each destination shines through in every detail. With three Handwritten Collection hotels now open in Australia, also including Hotel Morris Sydney and Wonil Hotel Perth, the brand has quickly gained momentum since its launch in 2023, with occupancy rates climbing 8 percentage points in Australia during the past three months compared with the same period last year. Handwritten Collection - an anthology of carefully curated addresses - currently boasts more than 15 hotels worldwide, with an additional 25+ hotels currently under development and over 150 more under varying stages of discussion. Accor intends to accelerate the brands expansion in Australasia over the coming years. Also this year, Accor announced that two new Pullman hotels will join the collection in 2027 Pullman Perth Airport and Pullman Launceston. Pullman remains the largest and fastest growing premium brand in the market. Key Openings Shaping Accors Future Accors expansion in Australasia continues in 2025, with Novotel Sydney Cabramatta leading the charge. Located 30km southwest of Sydneys CBD, this 140-room hotel promises a diverse culinary experience, featuring an all-day dining restaurant, an Asian-inspired eatery, and a signature steakhouse by Dany Karam. Guests can also enjoy a range of facilities including a gymnasium, outdoor pool, poolside bar, and a business lounge, positioning Novotel Sydney Cabramatta as an ideal destination for both families and business travellers. Across the Tasman, TRIBE will make its debut in New Zealand with the opening of TRIBE Auckland Fort Street. Located in Aucklands bustling Central Business District, this 60-room hotel combines smart rooms with a stylish social hub and lobby bar, perfect for work and play. Its prime location near Britomart and Commercial Bay positions it as a top choice for modern travellers seeking social spaces, connectivity and great design. As lifestyle and design-led brands continue to thrive in the Australasian market, Ennismore is set to debut three flagship brands in Australia next year. Sydney will welcome 25hours Hotel The Olympia, a vibrant playground for locals and travellers alike; the Mondrian Gold Coast Hotel & Residences atBurleigh Headswill blend luxury living with coastal flair; and Hyde Perth will redefine the city's lifestyle scene with its signature fusion of nightlife and hospitality. Hosting the Nations Biggest Moments Accor Stadium hosted a series of unmissable events in 2024 that united the nation and ignited the tourism economy. From the electrifying NRL and NRLW Grand Finals to record-breaking concerts by global superstars, Accor Stadium continues to bring world-class experiences to life. Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour and Coldplays Music of the Spheres World Tour collectively welcomed over 660,000 fans, driving an unprecedented surge in hotel bookings across Greater Sydney. These iconic events showcased the stadiums capacity to fuel tourism and boost local economies. In 2025, Luke Combs, Oasis, Metallica, Race of Champions, State of Origin and Juicy Fest are just some of the major events announced at Accor Stadium so far. Certified Impact: Raising the Bar Accor is proud to announce a major milestone in its sustainability journey in Australia with 150 hotels now certified by Ecotourism Australia. Accor has embedded rigorous sustainability practices across its portfolio in partnership with Ecotourism Australia, meeting over 200 key indicators aligned with global best standards. The certified properties span all states and territories, showcasing innovative and impactful sustainability initiatives. With periodic independent audits ensuring continued excellence, this milestone sets the stage for Accor to drive further positive change and lead the hospitality sector toward a greener future. Accor is committed to contributing to carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. Our growth in the Pacific this year reflects Accors dedication to shaping meaningful experiences through exceptional hospitality. From opening transformative new hotels and expanding brands like Handwritten Collection, to achieving sustainability milestones and hosting unforgettable events at Accor Stadium, we are redefining what it means to connect people and places. As we look ahead to 2025, we remain committed to driving innovation, supporting local economies, and creating moments that inspire and unite. Adrian Williams, Chief Operating Officer PM&E, Accor Pacific From luxury to economy, Accor operates 19 international brands and over 400 hotels across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and French Polynesia, such as Sofitel, MGallery, Art Series, Pullman, Swissotel, Movenpick, Grand Mercure, Peppers, The Sebel, Mantra, Handwritten Collection, Novotel, TRIBE, Mercure, BreakFree, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget, as well as Ennismores SO/. Visit ALL.com About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group Accor is a world leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 110 countries, with over 5,600 properties, 10,000 food & beverage venues, wellness facilities or flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industry's most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing more than 45 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore. Accor is focused on driving positive action through business ethics, responsible tourism, environmental sustainability, community engagement, diversity, and inclusivity. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information, please visit group.accor.com or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. Naomi Hammond Communications Manager - Pacific +61(0) 434 738 380 Accor Japan and Thailand holiday favourites for second year running, followed by China, Australia, New Zealand and Italy Business travel makes a comeback (13% increase in planned business trips globally), led by travellers in China, Germany and Spain Asia and Europe dominate business and leisure travel plans for 2025 Longest vacations planned by travellers in China, Thailand, and the UAE Relaxing and unwinding overtakes exploring new destinations as #1 travel motivation Friends and family recommendations remain the leading source of inspiration Loyalty platforms still the top tool for hotel search and booking Dubai, UAE - Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the worlds largest alliance of independent hotel brands, has revealed its GHA DISCOVERY members top destinations and travel motivations for 2025. For the second year running, Japan and Thailand rank as the most popular holiday destinations, while China climbs to third, overtaking Spain. Australia, New Zealand, and Italy tie for fourth, pushing out 2024 favourites Canada and Hawaii. Leisure travel continues to dominate, with 99% of members surveyed planning holidays in 2025, while business travel is rebounding 62% are planning work trips, with travellers based in China, Germany, and Spain leading the resurgence. More than 93% of members are expecting to travel internationally for leisure next year, and 69% expect to do so for business, with business trips largely being within the region of residence, while leisure travel is expanding further, with Europe and Asia being the preferred regions for all source markets. Travellers plan to take six leisure trips on average (similar to 2024) and more than five business trips with an overnight stay in 2025 (a 13% increase year over year). Travellers in China anticipate the most business trips (7 trips on average), followed by Germany (6 trips) and Spain (5). For leisure, China dominates again, with members based in this market planning the most stays (7), followed by those in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates with 6 trips planned. Regional highlights Asia: For business travel, 93% of Singaporean members plan international trips. Members in China and Australia focus on domestic business travel, while Australians also target Oceania and Indians the Middle East for work. Leisure travel shows similar patterns: 75% of Singaporeans plan overseas vacations, while Indians favour the Middle East. Japan is the top holiday destination for members in China, Australia, Thailand, and Singapore, while Japan-based members prefer Thailand and Indians are keen on Europe. Europe: Travellers from Spain, Germany, and the UK favour Thailand and Japan as holiday destinations for the third year in a row. Renewed interest in Dubai, New York, and the Caribbean replaced last years choices of Spain and Italy. Business trips will stay within the region, followed by Asia, North America, and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East. North America: US members are planning vacations domestically as well as across Europe and the Caribbean, with familiar hotspots like Hawaii, Spain, and Italy still popular. While Japan remains on the list, its appeal has slightly declined since 2023. For business travel, domestic trips will dominate in 2025. Middle East & North Africa: For UAE-based members, Thailand has surpassed Japan as the top holiday destination and Vietnam has emerged as one to watch for 2025. Intra-regional holidays within the Middle East are also expected to remain popular. On the business front, international travel will significantly outweigh domestic trips. Motivations, inspirations and preferences Relaxation rules: Relaxing and unwinding is the leading reason for travel in 2025, with 72% of members prioritising it. This overtakes last years focus on exploring new destinations and cultures, which now ranks second at 62%, followed by escaping everyday life in third (46%). Family and foodie breaks, as well as city and cultural activities, remain popular, while most members plan to travel with a spouse or partner, mirroring 2024 trends. Mixing the old with the new: Members aim to balance new destinations with revisiting old favourites. Those from India, China, and Spain are more inclined to travel somewhere new, while members in Germany, Singapore, and the UAE prefer a mix. In line with last years preferences, cities and beaches/tropical destinations dominate, more so than mountains and countryside. Friends and family inspire: 43% of members rely on recommendations from friends and family, whether through word of mouth or social feeds, which follows 2024s trend. Travel magazines continue to influence 20% of members, maintaining their relevance from last year. Loyalty platforms lead the way: Loyalty programme websites, apps, and social pages are now the top choice for travel research and booking across all regions, continuing the upward trend seen in 2023 and 2024. More than one-third (35%) of members turn to these platforms to search for hotels, while a striking 50% of travellers in China, India, and the UAE prefer booking through hotel loyalty programme websites or apps. Online travel agent (OTA) sites remain the second most popular source for research, echoing last years patterns. When choosing where to stay, travellers prioritise the quality of accommodation, loyalty programme benefits, and the propertys location or neighbourhood, all above the price or hotel brand. This ranking is largely consistent across markets and even across loyalty tiers. Upgrades and recognition rock: Room upgrades, early check-in, and late checkout retain their status as top perks for higher loyalty tiers especially in Japan (94%) and Germany (84%), while member rates and discounts remain the priority for lower tier members. 2025 promises to be a year of exploration, with destinations like Japan, Thailand, UAE and Italy continuing to captivate our members, alongside new favourites like New Zealand, and Vietnam. As business travel continues its long recovery and longer leisure stays take centre stage, were seeing a clear shift towards blending work and relaxation. And with loyalty programmes increasingly influencing choice, we are in a prime position at GHA to help our members make the most of their travels across these sought-after destinations. Kristi Gole, Executive, Vice President of Strategy at GHA For more information visit Global Hotel Alliance and GHA DISCOVERY. GHA DISCOVERY is complimentary to join, and travellers can sign up online or download the GHA DISCOVERY app and register on their mobile phones. Travellers can also connect with GHA DISCOVERY on Instagram and Facebook. About GHA and GHA DISCOVERY Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands with 45 brands and 850 hotels in 100 countries. Its award-winning loyalty programmeGHA DISCOVERYprovides 30 million members recognition, D$ rewards and exclusive experiences across its hotels and partners, both with and without a stay. GHA DISCOVERY generated US$2.7 billion in revenue and 11 million room nights in 2024. Through membership in GHA, brands expand their global reach, drive incremental revenue and reduce dependence on third-party channels, all while maintaining management independence and individual positioning. For more information, visit globalhotelalliance.com or ghadiscovery.com. Andrea Krenn Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) What could be safer than a Swiss bank? This article takes a deep dive into what Swiss authorities are doing to restore confidence in the countrys banking system. As discussed in a previous article, the Public Liquidity Backstop (PLB) is a measure implemented by the Swiss government to insulate the countrys banking system from a run on its systemically-important banks. Designed prior to the involuntary merger between Credit Suisse and UBS, the PLB will, at long last, go into effect in 2025. Yet, the measure could have unintended consequences that need to be fully considered. So how did Credit Suisse (CS) collapse in the first place? A look in the rearview mirror In March 2023, a little-known California bank was in distress; it didnt receive a bailout and quickly folded. Investors were spooked and began searching for the next weak link in the banking industry. They trained their sights on CS, which had been plagued for years by scandals and poor results. Investors expected a drop in the share price; they voted with their feet and shares plummeted. With its stock plummeting, CS entered a vicious circle. The forced tie-up between UBS and CS has been well publicized and its outcome mostly positive. That being said, the PLB contains three fatal flaws. First, if the PLB is implemented in its current form, systemically-important banks encountering substantial difficulties would not be able to distribute dividends, which would send markets a clear signal that something is wrong. This will drive the share price lower and strengthen the vicious and dangerous circle. Moreover, as dividends are part of the value of a share, not being able (by law) to pay dividends might decrease the market capitalization of the company and, therefore, accelerate the snowball effect. When regulators force a bank to halt dividend payments When markets are perfectly efficient, investors price in all information available to them; otherwise there is information asymmetry. Investors will therefore expect a struggling bank to forego dividend payments. At best, having a law on the books that forces banks to stop paying dividends would be redundant; at worst, it would even be harmful if, for instance, the bank has enough reserves to keep the dividend payments flowing. In this case, a bank that 1) is struggling but 2) has enough reserves to keep paying dividends but cant because the PLB forces them to halt payments will 3) see its share price plummet as investors walk away. This is called a pro-cyclical measure, i.e. one that reinforces a trend that is already underfoot. Whats more is, Swiss law already stipulates the conditions under which dividends should and should not be paid out. Having a lex specialis that overlaps current law could create confusion and excessively limit Swiss banks room for maneuver. Finally, it appears the PLB could unfairly punish shareholders. (Systemically important banks have a huge number of small shareholders, spread over a large geographic area, with little say in management decisions.) And yet, shareholder support is crucial when things go south. On paper, it sounds fair to prevent these banks from paying dividends to shareholders while they are being propped up by the taxpayer; yet, doing so could have the unintended effect of actually speeding up a bankruptcy. Sharing the risk, spreading the danger The PLBs second weakness is the inherent danger in asking a systematically-important bank to pay a fee based on the risk of failure (see art. 32c of the proposed PLB). According to art. 32c par. 3, the flat, annual fee is based on the potential average long-term loss of the Swiss Confederation (lit. a) and the financial results of each bank (lit. b). Par. 4 lit a, in particular, links the size of the fee to the risk (as per the Basel standards) carried by the bank. The banks are interconnected, which creates a strong incentive for them to collude. Lets consider the scenario in which either UBS, the Raiffeisen Group, Zurcher Kantonalbank, or PostFinance (the four systemically-important banks in Switzerland) encounters turbulence. This will also expose the others to higher risk. By definition, a systematic bank is part of a system. Thus, if one banks assets drop in value, then the value of the other banks assets will rise. This would automatically increase the size of the fee that the other banks would have to pay. Instead, they could cooperate privately and bypass the PLB system by snatching up the shares of a peer bank in distress. Note that the shares of other systematic banks are liquid assets that count towards the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) under the Basel framework. This would be a win-win situation for both the struggling bank in and the supporting peer. This type of collusion might, however, break antitrust law and exacerbate the keiretsu effect. In other words, the system's interconnectivity and alliances will be reinforced, and so will market concentration. More worrisome, it might result in a domino effect. If one goes down, all try to help, and they all end up drowning. Again, what looks like a common sense solution hides a lupus in fabula (a wolf in sheeps clothing). A tale of two compensation schemes Thirdly, according to Article 10a of the Banking Act, credit establishments in distress cede control over their remuneration policy to the Swiss Federal Council. But this could make matters worse. Lets imagine a bank that suddenly finds itself in choppy waters. Who do they want at the helm? The best managers. Would they have accepted to come on board if they knew that, retroactively, they may have to return part of their compensation? Wouldnt they be tempted to jump ship? Who then would be willing to go work for one of these banks to start with? Probably the most risk-loving managers. Executives not only invest their money in the company (restricted shares, options, etc.) but also their physical labor; and thus, they are tied to the fate of the company because they cant diversify this risk (i.e., they cant work for two banks at the same time). Top managers receive a salary and, very often, a bonus that is based on performance. The former is how much they are guaranteed to earn on an annual basis; the latter heavily influences the level of risk they are willing to take on (regardless of their level of compensation). Imagine that managers are only paid in stock options. They might end up with a pay of $0 if the stock price doesnt increase. To drive up the companys shares, managers are therefore incentivized to take big risks. Now, imagine the same managers, but the bank gives them a huge salary. With their pockets already well lined, they have no incentive to gamble. On the contrary, the companys survival and well-being is their number one goal. All else being equal, it is not the size of compensation, but rather the type of compensation that drives the risk cursor of a given company. A word of caution for the PLB From the three points Ive made above, I would indeed raise a red flag. Given the financial turmoil seen in the last two decades in Switzerland, it is, indeed, high time for reform. However, the change in legislation is an attempt to make common sense adjustments and provide political answers to financial questions. It does not include an economic analysis of the law a la Posner, which would show that seemingly reasonable measures can actually be counterproductive; what seems fair can be detrimental; what aims to help actually hinders; and what seems to be the right punishment for certain people actually punishes others. The PLB runs the risk of missing the mark and should be adjusted to reflect a more economics-oriented point of view. EHL Hospitality Business School Communications Department +41 21 785 1354 EHL View source Adapting to Germanys E-Invoicing Compliance: What Hospitality Leaders Need to Know - By Johannes Vocke, CFO, Futurelog - Image Credit Futurelog The new e-invoicing mandate in Germany marks a major shift for hospitality businesses, driven by the European Unions directive to standardise electronic invoicing in business-to-business procurement. Designed to streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens across member states, this regulation will affect how invoices are issued, processed, and archived, bringing both challenges and exciting opportunities for the hospitality sector. Here's a look at what this shift means and how it can enhance operations and guest experiences. For hotels and other hospitality businesses, compliance will require all invoices to be issued in a specific structured electronic format. The mandate isnt just about using digital invoices but also adopting formats like ZUGFeRD or XRechnung, which meet the European standard (DIN EN 16931). These formats are designed to be automatically processed by both public and private sector systems, allowing seamless integration with other financial processes. Ensuring your invoicing software is compatible with these formats will be essential for maintaining compliance and avoiding operational hiccups. The switch to e-invoicing demands more than a change in formatit requires a new approach to financial data management. Each e-invoice must include specific data elements such as VAT numbers, invoice dates, unique identifiers, and itemised descriptions of services. This shift creates an opportunity for hospitality businesses to bring greater accuracy and consistency to their billing and record-keeping practices, which can help streamline accounting and support audits more effectively. And since data security is now central to compliance, its essential to adopt secure transmission channels and digital signatures to ensure data integrity. E-invoicing isnt just about complianceits a way to future-proof your business operations. The mandate encourages hospitality leaders to adopt smart digital archiving solutions, as e-invoices will need to be stored for a minimum of ten years. For many hospitality executives, this offers a chance to create a more robust digital framework, where invoices are not only archived securely but also easily retrievable for audit purposes. And with advanced archiving solutions in place, businesses will save time and reduce risks when faced with compliance checks. Transitioning to e-invoicing presents practical benefits for the hospitality industry beyond legal adherence. A digitised invoicing system brings the promise of enhanced efficiency, real-time data exchange, and improved accuracy, which can lead to better financial insights and more informed decision-making. For hotels, e-invoicing means a reduction in paper waste as part of more sustainable business operations, which guests are generally in favour of. In an industry where speed and accuracy are crucial, e-invoicing can be an unexpected advantage, streamlining internal workflows and reinforcing your reputation as a modern, guest-focused brand. Of course, non-compliance carries risks, including financial penalties and potential damage to a brands reputation. Germanys new regulations require hospitality businesses to prepare before the final compliance deadline in January 2025. Large businesses may face earlier timelines, so staying informed about specific deadlines will be essential to avoid fines or operational disruptions. Choosing the right e-invoicing software is a critical step in ensuring a smooth transition. A solution like FutureLog is designed specifically for hospitality and addresses all compliance needs, from secure data handling to format compatibility with Germanys e-invoicing standards. FutureLog integrates with property management systems, simplifying workflows for busy hospitality teams. By adopting a comprehensive e-invoicing solution, hospitality leaders can not only achieve compliance but also gain powerful insights into their expenditure and financial performance. Germanys e-invoicing regulation brings a significant change, yet it also opens the door to more efficient, accurate, and ultimately more guest-friendly operations. For hospitality executives, adapting to this regulation means staying competitive, boosting operational efficiency, and enhancing guest satisfactionultimately turning compliance into a valuable advantage. About the Author Johannes Vocke is the Chief Financial Officer at FutureLog, the leading global cloud-based procure-to-pay platform for the hospitality and gastronomy industries. Prior to joining FutureLog, Johannes spent over a decade at prestigious Big 4 firms spanning Germany, the U.S.A. and Switzerland, working primarily on professional audit services and honing his skills in finance. With an M.Sc. in Accounting and Taxation from Mannheim, Germany's #1 Business School, and a B.Sc. in Economics and Law from the University of Munster, Johannes is responsible for leading all strategic financial initiatives across the organisation and is driven by his passion for innovation, analytics, and process optimisation. In his free time, he enjoys travelling, exploring the great outdoors (sometimes on foot, sometimes on his motorbike!), and is an avid festival-goer. Connect with Johannes on LinkedIn. About FutureLog FutureLog provides a fully integrated, cloud-based procure-to-pay platform for the hospitality industry. We facilitate an end-to-end procurement process from purchasing, through inventory management and up to invoice processing; all available in one platform to save you time and money. The FutureLog procure-to-pay platform is the foundation for seamless connectivity between Hotel Operations, Corporate Centres and Suppliers. Suzanne Ward Vice President Digital Marketing and Communication +41 41 759 1861 FutureLog Marriott International and Sotheby's Extend Partnership, Offering Exclusive Luxury Experiences - Image Credit Marriott International Marriott International's Luxury Group and auction house Sotheby's are extending their partnership following the success of their initial collaborations earlier this year. This partnership is focused on offering exclusive experiences for the Luxury Sales event in New York this December. The Luxury Group and Sotheby's are set to auction two unique experiences, combining high-quality hospitality with exceptional treasures from Sotheby's auctions. The first, "Geneva Grandmasters: A Watchmaking Odyssey Curated by The Ritz-Carlton," offers watch enthusiasts an exclusive opportunity for a horology immersion at Geneva's Ritz-Carlton Hotel de la Paix. This includes a hands-on workshop with watch brand Girard-Perregaux, access to limited-edition timepieces, and a private culinary experience at the brand's ancestral home, Villa Girard-Perregaux in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This experience will be presented in Sotheby's Important Watches sale on December 6th. The second experience, "A Taste of France: An Epicurean Voyage Curated by The Luxury Collection," allows guests to explore France's culinary treasures. The journey begins at the Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Paris, before taking guests on a guided day trip to Champagne Lallier's historic Maison in Ay for a tasting of its latest harvests. An afternoon tea with Global Explorer, esteemed chef, and artist Laila Gohar follows this. This experience is currently open for online bidding until December 10th. The collaboration will also feature curated events and exclusive content when Sotheby's exhibitions open to the public on December 5th. The partnership is expected to grow worldwide, with further offerings from the Luxury Group and Sotheby's anticipated in 2025. George Hammer, Global Head of Luxury Marketing at Marriott International, stated that the expanded partnership with Sotheby's reflects a shared belief in the synergy of tangible and intangible luxury. Eleonore Dethier, Sotheby's Global Head of Partnerships, described the collaboration as a unique fusion of Sotheby's expertise in curating exceptional luxury collectibles and the Luxury Group's approach to hospitality. For more information on the experiences visit Sotheby's Luxury Sales. Gabriel Escarrer Julia - Image Credit Melia Hotels Melia Hotels International has announced the passing of its founder and honorary chairman, Gabriel Escarrer Julia. He was 90 years old. The company has expressed deep sorrow over his loss, highlighting his immense contribution to the group's development and success. Born in 1930 in Felanitx (Mallorca), Escarrer Julia began his journey in the hospitality industry at an early age. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish Melia Hotels International in 1956, which has since grown into one of the leading hotel companies globally. Over six decades, he helped expand the company across 40 countries with a portfolio of more than 380 hotels. Escarrer Julia's vision and leadership were instrumental in transforming Spanish tourism during the second half of the twentieth century. His work significantly contributed to positioning Spain as a top global tourist destination. Despite stepping down as CEO in 1996 and appointing his sons to lead the company, Escarrer Julia remained actively involved with Melia Hotels International as its honorary chairman. He continued to contribute to strategic decisions and maintained strong relationships with industry stakeholders. Escarrer Julia's legacy extends beyond his business achievements. He was known for his commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and cultural patronage. Numerous awards have recognized his efforts throughout his career, including Spain's Gold Medal for Merit in Tourism and France's Legion d'Honneur. The company will continue to uphold Escarrer Julia's values by focusing on sustainable growth, maintaining close relationships with stakeholders, and promoting cultural exchange through tourism. The Board of Directors at Melia Hotels International has expressed gratitude for Escarrer Julias contributions to the company and the tourism industry. They have vowed to continue his legacy by maintaining the company's commitment to excellence, innovation, and social responsibility. The passing of Gabriel Escarrer Julia marks the end of an era for Melia Hotels International. However, his vision and values will continue to guide the company's journey towards a sustainable future in the global hospitality industry. Wait! Before you go Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. State Fire Marshal: Serve Up Safety on Thanksgiving STOW, Mass. State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine is asking residents to practice fire safety in the kitchen on the number one day for home fires in Massachusetts. "There are about twice as many fires on Thanksgiving as on the next-closest day, and almost all of them start with unsafe cooking," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "Dont let a fire ruin this special day with your family and loved ones. Practice fire safety when cooking and heating your home, and be sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that can alert you to danger." Thanksgiving Cooking Fires There were 705 Thanksgiving Day residential fires in Massachusetts from 2019 to 2023. Thats more than double the 318 residential fires on Christmas Eve, the second-leading day. Last year, Thanksgiving cooking fires increased by more than 25 percent, from 103 to 130, with 84% taking place at home. These fires injured one resident and one firefighter and caused $1.3 million in reported damages. State Fire Marshal Davine offered cooking safety tips that everyone can follow to stay fire-safe in the kitchen this year: Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms Save Lives Be sure you have working smoke and CO alarms on every level of your home Check the manufacturing date printed on the back of the alarms: smoke alarms should be replaced after 10 years, and CO alarms should be replaced after 5-10 years depending on the model Never disable a smoke alarm: modern smoke alarms should have a "hush" feature that is much safer than removing the batteries If your alarms take alkaline batteries, replace the batteries twice a year: if you arent sure when they were last replaced, do it today Keep it Clean: Clean up grease spills Keep groceries, food packaging, towels, and other flammable materials away from the stovetop Keep pot handles turned inward to prevent spills Create a three-foot child-free zone around the stove Only use the oven for cooking, not for heating or storage, and be sure its empty before you turn it on Stand by Your Pan Stay in the kitchen when boiling, broiling, or frying food Set a timer when baking or roasting so you don't lose track of time Loose sleeves can ignite if they get too close to burners or heating elements: wear clothing with short or tight-fitting sleeves Put a Lid on It In the event of a fire on the stovetop, cover the pan with a lid or cookie sheet to smother the flames Never try to move a burning pan or douse it with water For a fire in the oven or microwave, leave the door closed, turn off the appliance, and call the fire department Have the appliance professionally checked before using it after a fire If you can't extinguish the fire quickly, get to safety and call 9-1-1 If your clothing catches fire, stop, drop, and roll to put out the flames. Put burns in cool running water for 10-15 minutes. Call 9-1-1 for help. Turkey Fryers A devastating turkey fryer fire in New Bedford caused severe injuries and displaced almost 30 people in 2020. Fire safety experts strongly discourage the use of outdoor gas-fueled turkey fryers that immerse the turkey in hot oil. There are no outdoor turkey fryers that have a listing from an independent testing laboratory such as UL or ETL, and the risk of hot oil spilling or igniting is high. The National Fire Protection Association states that home use of "turkey fryers that use cooking oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for safe use by even a well-informed and careful consumer." They recommend using new "oil-less" turkey fryers. Gas Ovens: A Source of Carbon Monoxide Generally, the confined space of a closed gas oven does not produce enough carbon monoxide (CO) to present any dangers, but it can present a hazard if used for several hours consecutively such as when roasting a turkey. If you have a kitchen exhaust fan, use it; if not, crack a window for fresh air when using the gas oven for a prolonged period. Working CO alarms are vitally important to protect you and your loved ones from carbon monoxide poisoning. Home Heating: #1 Source of Carbon Monoxide, #2 Cause of Fires Heating is the second leading cause of fires on Thanksgiving and the primary source of carbon monoxide in the home. Give your furnace an annual check-up, have chimneys cleaned and inspected by a professional at the beginning of heating season, and place space heaters on flat, lever surfaces where in locations where they wont be bumped or tripped over. Keep a three-foot "circle of safety" free of anything that can burn around all heat sources. For more information, contact your local fire department or the Department of Fire Services Thanksgiving web page. World's captive panda population hits 757 China Daily) 15:28, November 27, 2024 Giant panda Mei Huan is pictured at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, Nov 21, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua) The global population of giant pandas in captivity has increased to 757, a senior government official said on Tuesday, lauding China's conservation efforts over the years. Guan Zhi'ou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, made the remark at the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference held in Chengdu, Sichuan province. China has established 67 panda nature reserves and the Giant Panda National Park, covering a combined area of 2.58 million hectares and connecting the habitats of 85 percent of the country's wild panda population, he said. Currently, the population of giant pandas in the wild in China is around 1,900, he added. Guan was one of the many experts and officials from around the world attending the conference, who shared their experiences and noted advancements in giant panda conservation. They called for more efforts to safeguard the shared habitats of pandas and humans, while boosting cultural exchanges and cooperation. Svetlana Akulova, director of the Moscow Zoo in Russia, said the upkeep of giant pandas "requires special attention, knowledge, and care", underscoring the importance of creating an environment in captivity that is as close as possible to the pandas' natural habitat. Since two pandas arrived at the Moscow Zoo five years ago, a series of measures have been taken to ensure good living conditions, such as installing an isothermal humidifier and air conditioning system for keeping the temperature and the humidity constant inside the enclosures, Akulova said. The zoo has been observing and collecting behavioral data that can be used to improve husbandry conditions and develop effective strategies to conserve the panda population in the wild, she said. For example, measures to alleviate stress include unscheduled training for the pandas and enriching their living environment with new toys, she added. Yasumasa Tomita, deputy director of the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan, said the giant panda represents all endangered species in the world because of its high profile and plays an important role in raising people's awareness of wildlife protection. "The giant pandas at our zoo attract 3.5 million visitors each year, not only from Japan, but also from around the world. They come to Tokyo to learn about biodiversity. It's amazing," he said. Guan, from the forestry administration, said that significant progress has been made in giant panda conservation efforts over the years, adding that China has engaged in panda conservation research cooperation with 26 institutions in 20 countries, as a result of which 71 cubs have been born. Li Desheng, deputy director and chief scientist at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Sichuan, said that China has released 12 pandas into the wild since 2006, in an attempt to increase their wild population, and 10 of these animals are still surviving in the wild. In 2017, the center launched a program to send female captive pandas to mate with male pandas living in the wild, aiming to improve their genetic diversity. A total of 14 cubs were born as a result of this program, 12 of which have survived. Wei Fuwen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Jiangxi Agricultural University, said that although the overall population of giant pandas in the wild shows a potential growth trend, "efforts are still needed to save the isolated small populations that are threatened by habitat fragmentation". Releasing captive giant pandas into the wild and creating ecological corridors through which they can move are important ways to protect the species, Wei said, suggesting releasing more female pandas into the wild, as they have higher survival rates than males, who face intense competition from wild male pandas. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Wednesday 27 November 2024, 08:13 - Last updated: 18:12 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This article is automatically translated Anbeta Toromani is one of the most significant figures in the Italian dance scene, known especially for her participation in the talent show "Amici di Maria De Filippi." The Albanian-born dancer will be one of the protagonists of "This Is Me" in the episode on Wednesday, November 27. Anbeta participated in the second edition of the program, securing second place. Her talent was noticed by the leading experts in the field, marking the beginning of her career. Anbeta has been a principal dancer in numerous international and Italian theaters, including the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tirana, the Slovak National Theater, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo, and the Sferisterio in Macerata. Anbeta Toromani was born on April 2, 1979, in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in a family that had no direct ties to the world of dance. She started dancing at the age of 5 and graduated from the National Academy of Dance. She then moved to Baku, Azerbaijan, to further her studies and refine her skills as an artist. Upon returning to Albania, she joined the Ballet Corps of the Tirana Opera Theater as a principal dancer. Here, she played the lead in numerous famous ballets, including Giselle, Don Quixote, Cinderella, and Carmen. At the age of 14, driven by the desire to perfect herself and achieve more ambitious goals, she decided to move to Italy, where she began studying with the best dance teachers. Her training expanded to include classical ballet, contemporary dance, and later modern jazz and theatrical dance. It was in Italy that Anbeta became part of the new class of artists of Amici in 2003. The Italian public got to know Anbeta Toromani in 2003 when she participated in the second edition of "Amici di Maria De Filippi," one of the most followed talent shows in Italy, dedicated to music and dance. Although she did not win the program, her participation was a turning point. Her refined and powerful dance immediately impressed the judges and the audience, who welcomed her with enthusiasm. Anbeta, with her stage presence and ability to interpret every step with great emotion, became one of the most appreciated dancers of the program. Her performances were never predictable; each was a work of technical precision and artistic expression, a combination of elegance and intensity that made her unique in her genre. During the program, she had the opportunity to work with great choreographers and professional dancers, continuously learning and perfecting her technique. This led her to gain extensive experience, reflected in her subsequent successes. Anbeta, despite her elimination from the "Amici" finale, did not stop. On the contrary, her career took an even more interesting and multifaceted turn. After her participation in the program, she joined the "Amici" dance troupe as a teacher, a role that allowed her to pass on her experience to new generations of dancers. Her preparation and authority made her one of the most respected figures within the school. In parallel, Anbeta continued to perform in high-level shows and collaborate with some of the most prestigious realities of the Italian and international artistic scene. Her repertoire ranges from classical ballet to contemporary dance, from musicals to modern dance. Her impeccable technique and versatility have led her to perform on stages worldwide, bringing her art abroad. For Anbeta, dance is not just a career: it is a true mission. Anbeta Toromani has always been very private about her personal life, not letting anything slip that she did not want to make public. The professional has always kept a very low profile, and until a few years ago, the only public information was that she was engaged to a colleague. Recently, Anbeta revealed the identity of her lucky partner, Alessandro Macario, whom she met during one of her theatrical projects. The two have been together for over 15 years, but they have never married and do not have children. In 2021, Anbeta returned as a special guest on Amici after many years of absence. The departure was reportedly caused by a heated argument with Maria De Filippi. According to the site Solonotizie24, the host allegedly reprimanded her for her methods: "Those who do my job have a different level, comments should be made at home and not in front of a twenty-year-old. I respect you professional dancers and find you amazing, but you sometimes let yourselves go in comments. Especially you, Anbeta. Don't act like an etoile who takes and leaves." The alleged argument was never confirmed, but today the two have a very real and sincere relationship. Anbeta spoke to Novella 2000 about her sweet bond with Alessandra Celentano. "A person to whom I am particularly attached, both for emotional reasons and for everything she has given me through work." Celentano was her dance teacher during her time on Amici: "Thanks to her, already an assistant to Terabust, a world of obsessive pursuit of quality and precision opened up to me. During the 'Amici' program, Alessandra completely deconstructed me to rebuild me with meticulous work. Jokingly, I told her that it seemed like I had never danced before." Anbeta Toromani talked about her relationship with colleague and great friend Kledi Kadiu. At Verissimo, the dancer said: "It's thanks to Kledi that I'm here. He discovered me, and at first, before going to Amici, I thought, 'Who wants to watch a girl on pointe?". According to what she told Verissimo, it was Kledi Kadiu who convinced Anbeta to audition for Amici: the dancer had seen the flame of dance and talent in her. The two often collaborate and have developed a very deep friendship. Anbeta is happily engaged for over 15 years to dancer Alessandro Macario. The two are very reserved and publish few photos together, but theirs is a true and deep love. At Verissimo, the dancer said: "In Italy, I also found love; he is a dancer, and we've been together for 15 years. He and I share a love for dance. He knows Anbeta 100%: the good sides and the bad. When I see others crying, I always say, 'Come on, hold it in a bit," but it's not that easy! He is a very sweet man, and we spend a lot of time together because we also work together. As a couple, I wish us to remain as we are: not more and not less because we have everything." Fresh off its global launch in Bali, the highly-acclaimed OPPO Find X Series returns to the Philippines with the OPPO Find X8, now available for pre-order. Boasting an exceptional camera system and slew of impressive AI features that set new benchmarks among flagship smartphones, the OPPO Find X8 blends cutting-edge innovation with an ultra-modern design, premium durability, seamless performance, and a refreshed user experience with the new ColorOS 15. Heres everything you need to know about the OPPO Find X8 and how you can enjoy special pre-order deals and perks: Flagship Hasselblad Master Camera System OPPO continues its partnership with Hasselblad to deliver renowned imaging technology to its latest flagship smartphones. Equipped with three 50MP lenses, the OPPO Find X8 offers stunning clarity with its Ultra-Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras, while AI-powered Telescope Zoom ensures crystal-clear shots up to 120x zoom. Meanwhile, OPPO's HyperTone Image Engine elevates photo quality by combining multiple frames to deliver exceptional dynamic range and natural aesthetics. 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Read our privacy policy Ed Henry , who was fired from Fox News in 2020 over rape allegations raised by former Fox Business Network associate Jennifer Eckhart, has been accused of sexually assaulting a second woman at the network in a new court filing by Eckhart. The bombshell claim that another woman was sexually assaulted by Henry while he was a star at Fox News, which was given as sworn testimony by the alleged victim, is just the latest flashpoint in a legal saga that has been mired in the courts for four years now. It also has sparked questions from those who currently work with Henry at MAGA channel Newsmax: How the hell does this guy have a job? Other current and former colleagues of Henrys, meanwhile, said that the newest allegations included in Eckharts lawsuit are horrific while taking a shot at Newsmax for employing him despite past accusations of sexual misconduct and harassment. One former colleague said that Eckharts story doesnt shock me, especially the part that says multiple men accused of rape or assault are still at Fox. In her original lawsuit against both Henry and the network filed in July 2020, Eckhart claims that the former Fox News anchor groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced her into a sexual relationship while referring to her as his personal sex slave, which she says began in 2014. She also alleges that Henry violently raped her in 2017 when she would not comply voluntarily with his sexual demands. open image in gallery Ed Henry discusses the June presidential debate on Newsmax ( Newsmax ) The complaint accuses Fox News of downplaying the severity of the risk of sexual misconduct and harassment Henry posed to female employees. She also claims that Fox News retaliated against her for complaining about the hostile work environment she was subjected to, leading to her being terminated in June 2020. Henry has long denied Eckharts accusations while Fox News has pointed out that the network fired Henry immediately after learning of Eckharts accusations. Upon first learning of Jennifer Eckharts allegations in 2020, Fox News promptly conducted an investigation by an outside independent law firm, which resulted in senior management and HR terminating Ed Henry within six days, the network said in a statement after the lawsuit was first filed. Earlier this fall, Fox News filed a motion for summary judgment in the case. In its filing, Fox News argued that Eckhart did not tell anyone about her sexual encounters with Henry and didnt file any complaints about harassment or retaliation until after she was fired by the network. In response, Eckharts lawyer, Michael Willemin of Wigdor Law, Eckhart, admitted that she did not inform the network about Henrys sexual misconduct until she departed Fox, though she has said in the past that Henrys behavior was an open secret at the network. After having missed their deadline for filing, the lawyers for Ms. Eckhart are now desperately trying to salvage their case, Fox News said in a statement to The Independent. As discovery in this matter has confirmed, FOX News was not aware of any relationship between Ms. Eckhart and Mr. Henry or of any allegations of unwelcome sexual activity by Mr. Henry until after she left the company. In response to Fox News statement, Willemin said: As made clear in todays filings, there is no merit to Fox News or Ed Henrys desperate attempts to extricate themselves from this case. We firmly believe that Fox News and Mr. Henry are going to be held accountable by a jury or Ms. Eckharts peers, and we are very much looking forward to pushing this case to trial. In his filing on behalf of Eckhart, which was first reported by Mediaite , Willemin lays out a series of new allegations of harassment and sexual assault by Henry while at Fox News, arguing that the network was well aware of the significant risk Henry posed before firing him in 2020. Willemin also states that Fox News failed to investigate other allegations against Henry, even though there was precedent due to Fox suspending Henry in 2016 over an extramarital affair he had with a cocktail waitress, prompting him to be sent to a sex addiction center. Fox News said in a statement that it learned about the new assault allegation only during this litigation and that no employees warned executives about Henry engaging in sexual harassment while he was employed at Fox. Additionally, in its summary judgment filing, the network argues that the evidence proves that it did not become aware of any allegation that Henry engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct until after Henry and Eckhart had both left the company. Willemins motion also claims that another Fox News staffer was sexually assaulted by Henry in 2017. Fox News treatment of Mr. Henry following his return to the network only served to embolden him, as he escalated his abusive treatment of women by not only raping Ms. Eckhart, but also sexually assaulting another Fox News colleague, the filing states, redacting the name of the alleged victim. open image in gallery The complaint accuses Fox News of downplaying the severity of the risk of sexual misconduct and harassment Henry posed to female employees ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) The 39-page filing also includes a heavily redacted section that describes allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct against several men who remain employed at Fox News, asserting that the network is a safe haven for men who engage in sexual harassment and assault. Meanwhile, in its summary judgment filing, Fox News states that Eckhart only waited two weeks after she was fired for longstanding performance failures and three years after the alleged sexual assault occurred to raise the allegations with Fox through her lawyers. It also notes that prior to Eckharts complaint, Fox News had only received reports of consensual sexual activity regarding Henry, and once they investigated Eckharts claims, they quickly took action and fired the longtime anchor. Henrys attorney Eden Quainton told The Independent that while she would have a comment, but likely not today. She also said shed encourage this reporter to look at all the filings on the case and not just the outrageous allegations du jour. After his unceremonious departure from Fox News, Henry eventually resurfaced at the fringe right-wing channel Real Americas Voice, where he was once again accused of engaging in lewd sexual behavior and harassment. In a human resources complaint that was first reported this summer, Henry allegedly sent a young female staffer a series of sexually explicit text messages while eventually establishing a grooming relationship with her. The report, which came out months after Henry left RAV for Newsmax, resulted in Henrys removal from the networks presidential debate coverage in June. Despite the brief benching, Henry has remained in the good graces of Newsmax. Neither the network nor Henry responded to a request for comment. Henrys employment at Newsmax was already unpopular with network staffers prior to these latest allegations. When it was merely rumored he was being hired, employees fumed to Mediaite that Henry was a legal risk. Staffers told The Independent that they just dont get why the network is taking a chance on him. Ed Henry being in Florida has him out of sight, out of mind most of the time, one Newsmax employee told The Independent, referencing Henrys current location near Boca Raton. However, after that most recent court filing, some people are wondering: how the hell does this guy have a job? Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Amid the praise for Quentin Tarantinos film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, one eagle-eyed celebrity viewer spotted a glaring historical inaccuracy in the blockbuster flick. The moment occurs towards the end of the film, when Leonardo DiCaprios character Rick Dalton is reported to have arrived back in Hollywood from Europe on a Boeing 747. But it was John Travolta, who is a plane enthusiast and trained pilot, who said that this would have been impossible given the film is set in 1969. Well, the 747 had its test flight in February 1969, but it went into service in January 1970. Theyre nine months off! He would have been on a Boeing 707! he said. We can forgive Tarantino for that. But its hard to believe that some slip-ups whether its Judy Garland without her ruby red shoes in The Wizard of Oz or Julia Roberts eating a croissant that gets swapped for a pancake in Pretty Woman actually made it through the editing process. According to the website Movie Mistakes, Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson features no less than 60 errors over its two-hour duration. Is there a film where somebody hasnt screwed up? Here, we list 29 mistakes in films that you might not have caught. Batman (1989) open image in gallery Batman 1989: 'Gentleman Let's Broaden Our Minds, Lawrence!' The Tim Burton-directed superhero film has multiple mistakes, but a major one happens when Joker and his crew deface paintings at a museum. One of his gang members slaps a painting with his hands that are covered in red paint, but in the next shot, the handprints have disappeared from the artwork. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (2019) open image in gallery Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood' ( Sony ) Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, flies back to Hollywood on a Boeing 747. But it would have been a 707. The film was set in 1969 and the 747 went into service in January 1970. The Graduate (1967) open image in gallery ( Embassy Pictures ) Dustin Hoffmans character drives in the wrong direction across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on his way to Berkeley, California. He is travelling on the top deck of the bridge for traffic going from California to San Francisco. Pretty Woman (1990) There is a continuity issue at breakfast when Julia Robertss character takes a bite out of a croissant. Shes in the hotel room with her co-star Richard Gere, but when the camera pans back to her, it transforms into a pancake. Then when she takes a second bite out of the pancake, there is only one bite mark in it. open image in gallery Pretty Woman ( Rex Features ) North by Northwest (1959) open image in gallery ( MGM ) One of the children playing an extra in Alfred Hitchcocks film covers his ears a few seconds before Eva Marie Saints character unexpectedly fires a gun at Cary Grants character in the Mount Rushmore cafeteria. Pulp Fiction (1994) open image in gallery ( Rex Features ) Bullet holes can be seen in the walls of the apartment where John Travolta and Samuel L Jacksons characters go to get a briefcase, but its before the shoot-out has happened. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) open image in gallery ( Warner Bros ) John Connors Cessnas plane numbers keep changing in the film. When he is in the hanger on the runway it is N3035C, but once its flying, the numbers change to N3413F. The Wizard of Oz (1939) open image in gallery Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz ( MGM ) Judy Garland isnt wearing her iconic ruby red slippers in the scene where the trees pelt Dorothy and the Scarecrow with apples. Instead, she can be seen wearing plain black shoes. Why do blockbuster movies cost so much to make? American Sniper (2015) open image in gallery The baby that Bradley Cooper holds while adapting to civilian life after the Iraqi War is plastic. In fact, it looked so fake, even he admitted it was nuts. Independence Day (1996) open image in gallery ( Claudette Barius/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock ) When computer expert David Levinson, played by Jeff Goldblum, is throwing a tantrum in the hanger housing the captured alien craft, he knocks over a bin that is labelled Art Dept. Clearly, a set designer left it there by mistake. The Fast and the Furious (2001) open image in gallery ( Univeral Pictures ) In a scene when Jesse and Tran race, Tran is wearing a shirt with sleeves, but in the next shot hes in a tank top. Didnt anybody notice when they edited it? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) open image in gallery ( Warner Bros ) We were always told that Harry Potter had his mothers blue eyes. But when we see Lily Potter as a child, she has brown eyes. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977) open image in gallery Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in 'Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope' in 1977 ( Rex Features ) As a group of stormtroopers enter a control room, one of them accidentally bangs his head on a door. The actor responsible, Laurie Good, couldnt believe it made it into the final film. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) open image in gallery ( Rex Features ) There is a crew member wearing a cowboy hat and looking out to sea behind Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow on the pirate ship. Quantum of Solace (2008) open image in gallery Bond girl: Gemma Arterton with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace (2008) ( Rex Features ) A street cleaner behind Daniel Craigs James Bond is pretending to sweep the road but is holding his broom several inches off the ground. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) open image in gallery ( Buena Vista Pictures ) When Bianca accidentally shoots a gym teacher with an arrow, an extra, who is playing a student, runs off to get urgent help but once she thinks she is out of shot, she stops and looks back at the camera. Braveheart (1995) open image in gallery ( Rex Features ) There is a modern car in the background of a big battle scene. Considering the film is set in the 13th century, its hard to imagine how it stayed in the final cut. Django Unchained (2012) open image in gallery ( TWC ) Leonardo DiCaprio accidentally cut his hand while filming a scene in which he slams his hand on the table and breaks a glass. But rather than shout cut, he carried on in character. Tarantino liked it so much that he kept it in the film. Captain Marvel (2019) open image in gallery ( AP ) Many of the mistakes are related to the films 1990s time period. These include computers using a wrongly dated version of Windows and Carol Danverss memories being jogged by a Nirvana song that wasnt out until after she left Earth. Spider-Man (2002) open image in gallery ( Rex ) Toby McGuires Spider-Man saves Kirsten Dunsts Mary Jane from a group of attackers. He throws them through a set of windows before he kisses her upside down in the rain. But during their romantic embrace, the windows behind her are perfectly intact. Halloween (1978) open image in gallery ( * ) John Carpenters slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis was set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, but all the cars have Californian number plates and there are shots of palm trees, as the film was shot in Southern California. The Goonies (1985) open image in gallery ( Rex Features ) At the end of the cult film, Data tells news reporters that the octopus was really scary, but this actually refers to a deleted scene. It was only added back in for the Disney Channel version. Avengers: Endgame (2019) open image in gallery ( * ) Eagle-eyed fans have noted that Ant-Man can be seen in two places at once during the final battle scene in the van, and in his giant form, fighting alongside the other Avengers. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) open image in gallery ( Rex ) Merry and Pippin are captured by the Orcs at the start of the film, and Pippin is seen in handcuffs. But he doesnt have them anymore in the fight scene. And then they reappear on his wrists a few moments later. Gladiator (1999) open image in gallery ( Rex ) Ridley Scotts epic film took place many centuries before fuel-powered vehicles. But during the Battle of Carthage, a gas canister can be seen on the back of a chariot when it flips over. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) open image in gallery ( Rex ) There is a mix up over whether it is day or night at the beginning of the stock market heist scene in Christopher Nolans film. It is clearly daylight, but suddenly, after the police chase, its pitch black. Titantic (1997) open image in gallery ( Rex ) When Jack (Leonardi DiCaprio) is painting a naked Rose (Kate Winslet) and tells her to go over by the bed, and then says he means the couch, it was DiCaprio flubbing his lines. But James Cameron kept it in the film because it was funny. Jurassic World (2015) open image in gallery ( Rex ) The blockbuster featured about 33 mistakes, including a scene in which lead actor Chris Pratt talks to co-star Bryce Dallas Howard without his mouth moving. In another scene, a phones broken screen suddenly appears fixed. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Universal Pictures has called reports claiming that Ariana Grande was paid millions more than her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo completely false. Following the release of the musical hit in theaters on Friday, November 22, rumors began circulating online that Grande was paid $15 million for her role as Glinda the Good Witch, while Erivo was paid $1 million to play Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder, a spokesperson for Universal told Variety in a statement on Tuesday (November 26). The spokesperson didnt specify the amount the actors received; however, they confirmed: The women received equal pay for their work on Wicked. Director Jon M. Chus Wicked, which serves as an origin story for Elphaba, the antagonist prominently featured in The Wizard of Oz, debuted in theaters to the tune of $112 million domestically, easily making it the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation. Into the Woods, which opened to $31 million in 2014, was the previous record holder. Wicked has been a hit with viewers and critics alike it currently sits at 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. While The Independents Clarisse Loughrey found it to be fun and well acted, she criticized it for being aggressively overlit and shot like a TV advert. Jon M. Chu has defended the movies color-grading, saying: What we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place ( Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. ) Its shot and lit like were being sold an Airbnb in Mykonos, she wrote, with her comments joining an overall complaint made by viewers about the movies coloring looking washed out. Chu has since defended the movies color-grading, telling The Globe and Mail: I mean, theres color all over it. I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someones mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldnt feel real. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free In addition to Grande and Erivo, the movie also features Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh, Bridgertons Jonathan Bailey, Broadway star Ethan Slater and Jeff Goldblum. Grande recently attended a Wicked screening with her 99-year-old grandmother at a theater in her hometown of Boca Raton, Florida. Her grandmother was just 12 years old when the original 1939 Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was released. Flew to Boca for a day to watch with Nonna at the movie theater I grew up going to every weekend, Cinemark 20 in Boca, Grande wrote on Instagram, alongside a series of photos, including one which showed her leaning close to her grandmother, Marjorie Grande, while her brother, Frankie Grande, smiled in the background. Part one of Wicked is out in theaters now, with Part Two scheduled to premiere on November 21, 2025. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Elon Musk used an insensitive slur to ridicule Ben Stiller for his support of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. On Wednesday (November 27), a tweet from former investment banker and author John LeFevre went viral. In the post, he included a screenshot of a headline, which read: Ben Stiller says woke America killed edgier comedy, alongside a photo of Stillers Tropic Thunder character. In the controversial 2008 satirical comedy, Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a method actor known for his portrayal of an autistic farmer called Simple Jack. Says this.... Endorsed Harris..., LeFevre tweeted, referring to the headline. Fervent Trump supporter Musk, who the President-elect has hinted will play a role in his cabinet, reshared the post hours later, adding: Damn he went full r*****. Musks remark is likely a reference to a line from the movie said by Robert Downey Jr.s character when hes talking to Tugg about Simple Jack. Everybody knows you never go full r*****, Downey Jr.s Kirk Lazarus tells him. The article shared by LeFevre was based on Stillers recent interview with Collider, in which the actor was asked if he thought the controversial 2008 movie, which also featured Downey Jr. in blackface, could be made today. open image in gallery Elon Musk uses slur to mock Ben Stiller ( Elon Musk on X/Twitter ) I doubt it, Stiller said. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too, he continued. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on actors trying to do anything to win awards. But now, in this environment, I dont even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. Im being honest. Although Stiller acknowledged the problematic nature of the Noughties film, he still remains proud of it. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free open image in gallery Ben Stiller previously endorsed Kamala Harris ( Getty Images ) I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder, he tweeted in 2023 in response to a fan who told him to stop apologizing for making the film. Dont know who told you that. Its always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work that everyone did on it. Downey Jr., who earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role, has also defended the movie as well as his use of blackface. [Ben] knew exactly what the vision for this was, he executed it, it was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie. And 90 percent of my Black friends were like, Dude, that was great, the Marvel star said on an episode of Joe Rogans eponymous podcast. I cant disagree with them, but I know where my heart lies. I think that its never an excuse to do something thats out of place and out of its time, but to me, it was a blasting cap on [the issue] I think having a moral psychology is job one. Sometimes, you just gotta go, Yeah I effed up. In my defense, Tropic Thunder is about how wrong [blackface] is, so I take exception. This past summer, both Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. were among a slew of Hollywood stars to come out in support of Harris. Very excited about moving forward and all the energy and excitement thats around this movement right now, Stiller said in a video interview posted by journalist Nicholas A. Ballasy in August. Thats why Im here, because its time for change, and it seems like its happening. Meanwhile, Downey Jr. and his Avengers co-stars backed Harris and Tim Walz on Instagram using the hashtag #AssembleForDemocracy. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Marilyn Manson has agreed to drop a defamation lawsuit he brought against his former partner Evan Rachel Wood after she accused him of horrifically abusing and grooming her during their relationship. Manson will pay Wood $327,000 in legal fees. The goth rock musician and the actor were together from 2007, when Wood was 18, to 2010. Manson is 18 years her senior. Wood named Manson as her abuser for the first time on social media in 2021, and he subsequently sued her for defamation. She had previously told a Congressional committee that she had been raped and repeatedly abused but did not name Manson at that time. In a statement to The Independent, Michael Kump, partner at Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir and lead counsel for Wood, said: Marilyn Mansonwhose real name is Brian Warneris giving up his lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood and has agreed to reimburse Wood nearly $327,000 for her attorneys fees. By the time she named Manson as her abuser, Wood was already a longtime advocate for survivors of abuse. Wood had testified before Congress and the California Senate in support of legislation to expand survivors rights and extend the statute of limitations for domestic violence. Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood ( Getty ) In 2023, LA Superior Court threw out much of Mansons case against Wood. Kump added: Mansons lawsuit accused Wood of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that they orchestrated a campaign to cast him as a rapist and destroy his career. Wood responded by seeking to strike the bulk of Mansons lawsuit under Californias anti-SLAPP statute, which permits defendants to request early dismissal of claims that arise from the exercise of their First Amendment rights. Last year, the court granted Woods motion, ruling that Mansons claims lack merit and gutting his lawsuit. After Wood went public with her allegations about Manson, more than a dozen other women came forward with similar accusations against the musician. Manson has consistently denied sexually assaulting or abusing anyone, claiming that his intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. In April 2021, Game of Thrones actor Esme Bianco brought a federal lawsuit against Manson claiming that he violated human trafficking laws by bringing her to California from England under the false pretences of roles in music videos and movies that never materialised. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up She alleged that in 2009, Manson flew her to Los Angeles to shoot a video for the song I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies. According to the suit, Manson allegedly deprived Bianco of food and sleep, plied her with alcohol and drugs, locked her in a bedroom, whipped her, gave her electric shocks, tried to force her to have sex with another woman and threatened to enter her room and rape her during the night. The music video was never released. Manson and Bianco reached an out-of-court settlement in January 2023. Biancos attorney said in a statement at the time that his client wanted to move on with her life and career. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Jean Rather, an artist and wife of the longtime CBS news anchor Dan Rather, has died. She was 89. The news was announced by her family in a statement posted on social media. Today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family, it began. Jean Rather, Dans wife, passed away at their home in Austin, Texas, early this morning. She had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her. Her cause of death was given as cancer, and she was described as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist and a true Texan. She was born Jean Goebel in Smithville, Texas on September 7, 1935. She graduated from a local public school and quickly began working, meeting her soon-to-be husband Dan Rather at a Houston radio station. They married in 1957, and over their 67 years together lived in Dallas, Washington DC, London, and New York. For eight years, Jean Rather served as the Painter Member and the Vice Chair of the Art Commission of the City of New York. She had attended art classes at American University and Mary Mount Manhattan College and became an accomplished artist whose paintings and collages were shown in galleries and private collections across the United States. open image in gallery Jean and Dan Rather in New York in 2014 ( Mike Coppola/Getty Images ) In 2004, Dan Rather made headlines around the world when, at the age of 73, he retired as Americas most famous newsman. Even after giving up the prominent position, he continued reporting. I have always been, and remain, a hard news investigative reporter at heart, he said in a statement at the time. I now look forward to pouring my heart into that kind of reporting full time. He was the subject of the 2023 documentary Rather. In 2021, the couple returned to live in Texas on a full-time basis. In an obituary published by the family, Jean was described as a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm. She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile. She is survived by her husband, Dan; son Danjack and his partner, Ann Prunty, and grandson Martin in New York; daughter Robin and her partner, Mike Marler, and grandson Andy in Austin; and many members of the extended Wallace, Zimerhanzel, and Rather families. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mishal Husain, one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4s Today programme, will be leaving the BBC after 26 years, the broadcaster confirmed on Wednesday. Husain said: My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4. I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best. The news comes shortly after it was reported that the broadcaster would be stepping back from her duties on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, after 11 years. She will officially leave the corporation in the new year. In a post shortly after the announcement, Husain confirmed that she would be moving to Bloomberg for the next step in her career. My news... heading to Bloomberg to host a multi-platform global interview show as part of the recently launched Weekend Edition, she wrote on X (Twitter) on Wednesday (27 November). Much to look forward to in this new chapter of career and life. Husain first joined the BBC in 1998, and is a host of The Today Debate. She fronted several 2024 general election debates this year and was previously a presenter on BBC World News. The 51-year-old bestselling author, who was paid up to 345,000 last year by the BBC, is understood to have been talking to bosses for about 18 months about her resignation. Husain has been with the corporation since 1998 ( PA ) Husain previously hinted at her exit earlier this year when she told The Sunday Times in June that she was thinking about what is beyond Today and was wondering what the next act of my career might look like. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free She began her career at the age of 18 as a city reporter in Islamabad and then gained work experience at the BBC producing several stints. In 2013, she became the regular presenter for the BBC Radio 4s Today programme with co-host John Humphrys. She is also an occasional presenter on the BBC News at Six, the weekday edition of the BBC News at Ten and during major breaking news stories. Her career, spanning across three decades, has been recognised at the London Press Club where she was crowned Broadcaster of the Year in 2015. She won the accolade again in 2024. Husain is the latest in a string of high-profile departures for the broadcaster, after Zoe Ball announced she was leaving last week. CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness said: Mishal leaves the BBC with an incredible journalistic legacy. After more than a decade on the Today programme she is going with our gratitude and affection and we wish her the best of luck in her new chapter. I very much hope the BBC and Mishal will get the chance to work together again one day. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Chinese defence minister Dong Jun is reportedly being investigated for corruption as part of the Communist Party's ongoing crackdown on graft in the Chinese army. China is investing Admiral Dong as part of a broader probe into graft in the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the Financial Times reported, citing US officials familiar with the matter. Admiral Dong is the third consecutive serving or former defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption. He replaced General Li Shangfu as defence minister in December 2023. General Li was himself removed seven months into the job for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for granting favours in violation of military and party discipline. Wei Fenghe was defence minister for five years prior to that, until he was accused of similar charges and placed under investigation for seriously violating political and organizational discipline by helping others gain improper benefits in personnel arrangements". The Chinese foreign ministry played down the report on Wednesday, describing it as "just shadow-chasing". China's military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since 2022, with at least nine PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives from the Rocket Force, a strategic unit managing Beijing's nuclear and conventional missiles, removed from the national legislative body. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly spoken out against corruption in both public and private, but analysts say he has also used such crackdowns as a method of eliminating political rivals and shoring up his own political position. US officials told the Financial Times that Mr Xi had ordered a wave of investigations into the PLA that had ultimately ensnared the minister. It was not immediately known what kind of corruption allegations Admiral Dong was facing, and he has not responded publicly to the claims. Admiral Dong, a former PLA Navy chief, was last seen outside the country on 21 November when he delivered a speech at the 11th Asean defence ministers' meeting in Laos. He declined to meet US defence secretary Lloyd Austin there, citing US actions over Taiwan. Mr Austin described the incident as "unfortunate" as Admiral Dong had overseen a recent thaw in US-China military-to-military ties, with both nations holding commander-level talks for the first time in September. The Chinese defence ministry said Admiral Dong held talks with defence leaders from New Zealand, India, Malaysia and the secretary-general of Asean. As defence minister, Admiral Dong is responsible for China's military diplomacy with other nations. But he was not promoted to the six-member Central Military Commission (CMC), China's highest-level military body, during a major Communist Party plenum earlier this year, where personnel reshuffles would normally be announced. China's defence minister has traditionally been a member of both the CMC, which is headed by Mr Xi, and the state council, China's cabinet-level executive body. Admiral Dong was not appointed to the State Council either during a government reshuffle in March. "The history with these investigations in the PLA are that once the string of corruption is pulled many other threads are revealed and the sweater unravels," Dennis Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University and former US intelligence analyst, told Reuters. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A 400-year-old palace in northern India became the site of a massive feud between members of an erstwhile royal family that escalated to stone pelting and police intervention. Earlier this month, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was anointed as the 77th Maharana of Mewar a titular head of a region in the northwestern state of Rajasthan in India. On 25 November, Mr Singh Mewar decided to visit a temple within the Udaipur City Palace grounds to seek blessings on becoming the ceremonial head of the Mewar royal family. But he was issued a notice by the palace trust denying him permission to enter the grounds. Enraged supporters of Mr Singh Mewar allegedly tried to break down the barricades that had been placed by the palace administration. According to media reports, stones were pelted both by Mr Singh Mewars supporters as well as from within the palace leading to the police being forced to intervene to calm the situation. The administration and police tried to calm them but they started throwing away the barricades and pelting stones, glass bottles, and bricks, Udaipur Police superintendent Yogesh Goyal said, according to Hindustan Times. Several people were injured and rushed to the hospital. The situation that we see today is unfortunate, Mr Singh Mewar told the media. I am grateful for your support. On one side are properties, but there are also traditions where we seek blessings. This is wrong as far as traditions and society norms are concerned, he said. It is a years-old ritual of the [erstwhile] royal family that we have to follow, be it legally or socially or ritually. I waited for over five hours at night but yet was denied entry, he added. The source of the clash between the palace trust and Mr Singh Mewar lies in a family succession dispute and a will that dates back 40 years to 1984. Origins of the dispute Created in 1955 by Maharana Bhupal Singhji of Mewar, the Shri Eklingji Trust takes care of all upkeep and expenses of palaces, temples, and forts that are held by the Mewar family. In 1984, then head of the royal family, Maharana Bhagwat Singh, left the control of the trust to his younger son Arvind Singh, bypassing his older son Mahendra Singh and cutting him out of the succession entirely after a dispute. Mahendra Singhs son is Mr Singh Mewar. Despite being left out of the will, Mahendra Singh was anointed as the Maharana of Mewar on 19 November 1984 after the death of Bhagwat Singh, a ceremony that was even marked by a grand spectacle. Arvind Singh, however, contested Mahendra Singhs claim to the title, asserting that he, according to their fathers will, was the legitimate custodian of the Mewar legacy. After Mahendra Singhs death on 10 November this year at 83, Mr Singh Mewar was anointed, following which the palace trust issued a notice that pointed out that Mr Singh Mewar is not a trustee and doesnt hold any legal title in the trust either, in which case his attempt at entering the palace grounds is criminal trespass. What happens now? What happened was unfortunate. We hope that the administration and the government will stand with truth and serve justice, Lakshyaraj Singh, the son of Arvind Singh told reporters. People in political positions should not misuse their position and power within the government to enter our home. People cannot force themselves into our home, he said. We can always approach the court. It is not right to take the law into your hands and consider yourself above the law. We have faced a similar situation 40 years ago, and will reply in terms of law to their illegal approach. People, including women and children, could have died had the chaos escalated. I urge everyone to step up according to the law. We all need to be united to find a resolution to this, at least not through hooliganism, he said. Mr Singh Mewar has said that in accordance with royal traditions, he only wanted to visit two temples, the Ekling Shiv temple about 50km from Udaipur and the Dhuni Mata temple within the palace grounds both of which are under the care of the trust, and therefore his uncle, Arvind Singh. The matter of the succession and who controls the properties belonging to the royal Mewar family has been stuck in courts for decades; a 2020 judgement declared that the disputed property would be divided into four parts: three would be divided between Bhagwat Singhs three children, Mahendra Singh, Arvind Singh, and Yogeshwari Kumari, and the fourth part would stay under the late Bhagwat Singhs name. Until the exact division is finalised, the court declared that the three children would be permitted to use the royal properties on a rotational basis for four years each. While the situation in Udaipur is under control now, according to the police, it is still uncertain as to whether Mr Singh Mewar will be allowed to enter the palace. India abolished privy purses and the recognition granted to the rulers of Indian states in July 1971. Cut off from the income they made from their estates and the privy purses, many royal families sold jewellery and other assets to maintain their lives, while many have converted their palaces into heritage hotels. Recently, Albert Hall Museum in Rajasthans Jaipur, which houses one of Indias finest collections of royal artefacts, was forced to close for two days after a significant rat infestation. Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant for Myanmars military leader for crimes against humanity linked to the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority. General Min Aung Hlaing who overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup faces accusations of crimes against humanity for orchestrating the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya minority. In a statement, the ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said that the court has been investigating alleged crimes committed during the 2016 and 2017 waves of violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar, and the subsequent exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh. After an extensive inquiry, the ICC has found reasonable grounds to believe that Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing is criminally responsible for crimes against humanity, including deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed with the involvement of Myanmars military and police forces, Mr Khan said. The application for his arrest the first targeting a high-ranking Myanmar official is supported by witness testimonies, documents, and scientific evidence, with crucial backing from the Rohingya community, the Bangladeshi government, and the UN, the ICC chief prosecutor said. More than a million members of their (Rohingya) community have been forced to flee violence in Myanmar. We are grateful to all those who provided testimony and support to my office, those that have shared their stories, those that have given us information and material, Mr Khan said. open image in gallery General Min Aung Hlaing faces accusations of crimes against humanity ( AP ) The Myanmar authorities have not yet responded to Mr Khans announcement. Min Aung Hlaing has previously denied allegations of persecuting Rohingyas, and rejected claims of involvement in violence in the 2017 crisis. He has claimed that the Myanmar military operation was a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya militants. In June this year, UN special rapporteur Thomas Andrews warned that the Rohingya in Myanmars Rakhine state faced a renewed risk of genocidal violence akin to the 2016-2017 atrocities. Clashes between Myanmars military and the Arakan Army an armed group that advocates for the rights of the Rakhine ethnic minority and aims to achieve greater autonomy for the region have displaced tens of thousands, with reports of killings, abductions, and property destruction. The military has forcibly conscripted more than 1,000 Rohingya men and boys despite their lack of citizenship, exacerbating tensions. Human Rights Watch and the UN have documented serious abuses, including airstrikes and attacks on civilians. For Rohingya people oppressed, scapegoated, exploited, and stuck between warring parties the situation carries echoes of the lead-up to genocidal violence in 2016 and 2017, Mr Andrews told the United Nations Human Rights Council in June. Mr Khan said yesterday: In my visits to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar [in Bangladesh] over the last three years, including just yesterday, I met with Rohingya women who spoke with clarity and purpose about the need for accountability. I sat with youth activists who wanted to play their own role in seeking justice. And I spoke with men of all ages including the old and the sick, who were united in demanding to be seen and to have accountability for what befell them. Our work, the work of the International Criminal Court, seeks to vindicate their resilience and their hope in the power of the law. ICC judges will now decide if the arrest warrant application meets the required standards and if approved, the court will work with its registrar to facilitate the military leaders arrest. Myanmars military junta has faced significant sanctions and isolation from Western countries, especially after the 2021 coup and for its role in what has been called the 2017 Rohingya genocide. Yesterday, speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, Mr Khan announced plans to seek additional arrest warrants for Myanmars leaders in the near future. In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pakistani security forces pushed back thousands of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who breached security barriers to enter Islamabad, demanding his release. Police launched a massive midnight raid on thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters after protesters defied government warnings and breached a barrier of shipping containers blocking access to Islamabad on Tuesday. They entered a high-security zone, clashing with security forces amid tear gas shelling, mass arrests, and gunfire. Nearly 4,000 people were arrested and at least seven people, including a police officer and members of security forces, lost their lives. Pakistans interior minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that the Red Zone, home to government buildings and embassies, along with the surrounding areas, has been cleared. He said that leaders from Mr Khans PTI party have also left the protest site. Led by Mr Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, and his key aide Ali Amin Gandapur, the protesters pushed toward the capitals fortified Red Zone during the chaos. The government imposed a lockdown, blocked roads, and deployed heavy security to prevent the demonstration, calling it a threat to public safety. Despite this, protesters vowed to stay until Mr Khans release, claiming he is a political prisoner. Tensions have been running high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister launched a long march from the restive northwest to demand his release. Mr Khan, imprisoned for over a year, faces more than 150 criminal charges, which his party claims are politically motivated. PTI claimed on Wednesday that around 100 people were injured by gunfire during the protests on Tuesday, though this figure could not be independently verified. Earlier, the government enforced a stringent three-day lockdown in the capital to prevent protesters from entering D-Chowk, an intersection in the heart of the capital called the red zone. Major highways and roads were sealed off with shipping containers, concrete barriers, and heavy security deployments, while mobile data services were suspended in some areas. Messaging platforms and social media platform, X, were also disrupted in the capital. Meanwhile, Islamabad remained tense on Wednesday as all educational institutions were closed, and mobile data services were suspended for a fourth consecutive day amid escalating political unrest. Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the clashes that left several security personnel. In a message to his supporters from his prison in Rawalpindi, Mr Khan wrote on X on Tuesday: I commend the Pakistani nation and PTIs political workers, who are fighting for their rights by participating in this peaceful protest, and resolutely standing before the mafia that has imposed itself upon our country, to demand their rights and genuine freedom. He urged them to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met! He continued: To those threatening to try me in military court: Do what you must; I will not back down from my stance. Those who havent yet joined the protest must also head to D-Chowk. Earlier in the day, addressing a large crowd, Bushra Bibi vowed to remain at D-Chowk until Mr Khans release, declaring she would be the last to leave. Criticising his treatment in jail, she rallied supporters, urging them to stay steadfast. I promise that I will be the last woman here, I will not leave D-Chowk without him. If anyone tells you otherwise, it is a lie, she said. Muslims dont hit other Muslims, so then why are you shelling us? she said. Another senior leader of PTI, barrister Gohar Khan urged the government to stop using teargas against protesters. I called upon the government to refrain from firing at innocent people, Mr Gohar wrote on X. I appeal [to] all PTIs workers and supporters to remain peaceful in their struggle. I want to tell you all that we are very much hopeful of early release of [Imran] Khan sab, InshaAllah. The government maintains that only the courts have the authority to order Mr Khans release. Mr Khan was removed from office in 2022 after a no-confidence vote in parliament, which was backed by opposition parties. His removal followed a power struggle with the military and his ouster led to his party staging multiple protests and challenging the legitimacy of the vote. Additional reporting by agencies. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Russia has carried out its highest-level diplomatic engagement with the Afghan Taliban yet, as it seeks to expand its sphere of influence in Asia beyond its closest ally China. Earlier this week Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russias powerful Security Council, reached Kabul carrying the message that Vladimir Putin wants to support the de facto administration or, in Russias parlance, achieve a durable peace in Afghanistan. The former Russian defence minister, who oversaw the invasion of Ukraine until May this year, met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistans deputy prime minister for economic affairs, who said the Taliban administration needed Moscows help to ease the burden of Western sanctions. Shoigu also met with other senior Taliban officials, including its defence and interior ministers. Baradar, who signed the Doha agreement marking the exit of US troops from Afghanistan, was a key figure during the 1980s in the SovietAfghan War in Kandahar and co-founder of the Taliban along with Mullah Omar. Shoigus visit comes at a time when the Kremlin is considering removing the Taliban from Russias list of terrorist organisations, a move backed by Mr Putin in July when he called the Taliban an ally in the fight against terrorism. The Russian leader is increasingly looking to Asia as he seeks more allies who, unlike the US and European nations, will not censure him of his invasion of Ukraine, experts say. And the Taliban craves international recognition of the legitimacy of its government in Afghanistan as well as partners who wont criticise its gender apartheid. Russia has historical ties with Afghanistan but [they are] not particularly pleasant all along, says Oz Hassan, a national security expert from the University of Warwick. Russia knows Afghanistans strategic importance, where it sits in Asia, balancing out Europes interests, US interests, Gulf interests, Chinas interests, Indias interests it just exists bang in the middle. So in other words, Mr Putins not coming at it directly, its part of a much wider chess game. The Russian president is a strategic actor, looking at global politics and he will try to see how many countries are on his pile rather than the US pile. Sending a close aide like Mr Shoigu to meet the Taliban sends a message in itself, says Aleksei Zakharov, an independent researcher in Moscow. By sending Shoigu, the Kremlin wants to show to the new Taliban regime that Russia is seriously looking to develop closer relationships with them, he said. Developing new alliances in Asia has value to Russia beyond its symbolic importance, says Dr Hassan. The [diplomatic] relationship with the Taliban could potentially lead to a longer term relationship economically where Russia can tap into millions of dollars worth of economic projects which the US and Europe will miss out on, he explains. He suggests Russia could follow a similar model to its relationship with North Korea a quid pro quo arrangement which includes the use of the Talibans battle-hardened fighters in Putins war on Ukraine. These forces in Afghanistan can be recruited directly as mercenaries in the conflict, because you have a whole set of folks who need money and possess the skill set of having directly fought Nato for the longest period of time, Hassan says. Zakharov, a former research fellow at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, says the first step in building such a relationship would be for Russia to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organisations. This move by Mr Shoigu, verbally assuring the Taliban ranks in Kabul, shows that Russia is really moving ahead with that, Zakharov says. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The projected fertility rate of South Korea is set to rise in 2024, marking the first increase in nearly a decade in a country grappling with an ageing society and low birth rates. Recently, marriage rates have increased for five consecutive months and the number of births has risen for two consecutive months, Dr Joo Hyung-hwan, vice-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, said during a keynote speech at the Global Symposium on Low Fertility and Ageing. The event, held on 26 November in Seoul, was co-organised by Statistics Korea and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), reported the Korea Herald. These signs suggest the declining fertility rate may finally be reversing. If this trend continues, this years total fertility rate is projected to be 0.74, which would mark a rebound, he said. South Koreas total fertility rate the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime has been steadily declining since 2015. It fell below one child per woman for the first time in 2018, hitting 0.98, and dropped further to a historic low of 0.72 in 2023. This figure is among the lowest globally and significantly below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman, the threshold required to sustain a population without relying on immigration. Experts warn that without sustained progress, South Koreas population could shrink by half by 2100, exacerbating existing social and economic challenges. Earlier, the National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) also predicted a recovery in South Koreas fertility rate in its report published on 11 October this year, holding it at 0.74 up from the year before. Driven by the recent recovery in the number of births, the total fertility rate is projected to rise by 0.2 children per woman this year, and continue to rise modestly through 2028, said the NABO in the report. However, despite the increase in birth rate, the total population is expected to decline as the number of deaths will exceed the number of deaths, according to the office, reported the Korea Times. The South Korean government has characterised the demographic crisis as a national emergency and has implemented various measures to address it, ranging from financial incentives for families to broader policies aimed at improving work-life balance and childcare support. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Luxury carmaker Aston Martin has seen its shares come under further pressure after it alerted over profits for the second time in as many months and tapped investors for more cash. The group revealed plans for the fundraise after the market close on Tuesday as it also warned that underlying earnings would be lower than forecast this year, at between 270 million and 280 million. Aston had already cut its outlook in September. Shares in the firm fell as much as 9% at one stage on Wednesday before settling around 5% down after the latest gloomy update. It comes amid a difficult time for European car firms, which have been knocked by sliding sales, overseas competition as well as pressure ahead of new electric vehicle targets in the UK. With this financing successfully secured, we are now well positioned for growth Adrian Hallmark, chief executive Vauxhall owner Stellantis revealed plans on Tuesday to shut the carmakers Luton factory, partly blaming the stringent UK zero-emission vehicle mandate. Aston Martin famous for making fictional spy James Bonds cars has seen its stock tumble 56% so far this year as it has battled supply chain issues and production delays as well as slumping demand from the key Chinese market. It said on Wednesday it had successfully raised around 211 million through a share placing, with another 100 million secured through debt raising from bond holders, to help fund future growth. Adrian Hallmark, chief executive of Aston Martin, said: We thank our investors, including our strategic investors who continue to show strong support for the company, for their commitments and confidence in Aston Martin. With this financing successfully secured, we are now well positioned for growth. Lawrence Stroll, the groups executive chairman, added: With the strong backing of Aston Martins strategic shareholders and the board, Adrian now leads the company into an exciting 2025 with a stronger and more resilient balance sheet. The group is now expecting to deliver around half the 38 new Valiant models by the end of the year, having previously said it would be the majority. It blamed this on a minor delay in the timing of a small number of deliveries. The group had warned in September that supply chain issues would hit annual production by about 1,000 cars. Meanwhile, it has also been battling weak trading in China amid a downturn in demand across the country, with Chinese sales volumes in the first nine months of the year falling 54% compared with the same point in 2023. Since Aston Martin was bought by Canadian billionaire Mr Stroll in 2020, it has pushed on with a swathe of new model launches in a bid to turn its ailing fortunes around. It recently appointed Mr Hallmark as its new chief executive, with him taking on the role in September amid a ramping up of sales of its new Vantage and DBX707 models, which it said helped boost production volumes. Aston Martin delivered just 1,998 cars in the first half of 2024, nearly one-third fewer than the same period last year, while it also said in July that pre-tax losses widened to 216.7 million, down from 142.2 million. The firm is in the middle of a multi-year turnaround effort kicked off by Mr Stroll. He has already had to bring in new shareholders such as Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund in recent years to help bankroll the carmaker. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kaley Cuoco has revealed just how far she is willing to go for her brand. The Big Bang Theory actor owns a dog business, named Oh Norman! after one of her dogs, selling supplements, treats, and toys. Cuoco recently revealed on The Tonight Show what happened when she tested one of the supplements herself. She was testing a liquid supplement called Calm the Eff Down, which is targeted towards dogs who are stressed and is meant to be used in various circumstances such as going to the vet or when fireworks are going off. Just FYI, I did try it when we started this, she told the talk shows host Jimmy Fallon. I wanted to make sure I could say that... I didnt want, like, humans to, like, die. I wanted to make sure we could take it, she added. The Flight Attendant actor then was able to clarify that the product did work on her as she said she was out for three hours. Cuoco explained she tested the product to make sure humans could safely take it ( Getty Images ) Its all-natural, I did take it, I tested it on myself, and I really did calm the eff down, she said. It was great. I was out. Fallon then decided to interrupt to offer a disclaimer to the shows viewers that just because Cuoco used the product herself doesnt mean that others should do so. Were not recommending humans take the product, he said. Cuoco has previously talked about her love of dogs, particularly rescues. 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. Recently, she made a video on Instagram where she discussed why she had to rehome her late dog, Shirley. The Based on a True Story actor admitted that Shirley violent and would get into fights with every dog that wasnt Norman, who inspired her dog-care brand. 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. 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. Shirley was then taken in by Cuocos pet handler, Tony, and his wife, who kept her until she died from a very aggressive bone cancer. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Target fans cant get enough of the companys new holiday campaign, which has transformed Santa Claus from sweet to sexy. With Christmas fast approaching, the American retailer sprinkled some cheer with a new series of commercials starring model Brent Bailey as Target employee Kris K., also known as Kris Kringle. Instead of appearing like the typical Santa Claus, however, Bailey was dressed in a tight quarter-zip red sweater and khaki pants, prompting viewers to fawn over the handsome Santa. Titled Born to Be Kris, the first 30-second ad showed the 41-year-old actor with silver hair driving a red Ford Bronco, with a Sleigh license plate on the back. He was then seen getting out of the car outside a snow-coated Target, as Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf played in the background. Meet Kris, our newest Target Team Member. He loves the holidays as much as the next guy. Actually, way more than the next guy, Target wrote in the ads description on YouTube. Actually, way more than anyone we know. Actually, more than anyone anyone knows. But hey, thats not important. What is, is that shiny red Bronco and perfectly coiffed beard. The holiday commercial, which Bailey posted to Instagram on November 14, left fans mesmerized not only by his silver fox facial hair but his overall attraction. open image in gallery Target releases its holiday campaign starring Brent Bailey as Kris K. ( Target / YouTube ) Sexy Target Santa Not your Mommas Santa, one viewer commented under his post. The second advertisement titled Hes Hot, But These Target Turkey Deals Are Hotter saw the return of Baileys Kris K., as he approached a woman in the refrigerated aisle. Upon seeing him, the woman told Bailey hes weirdly hot, before reaching for a $0.79 turkey. On YouTube, the 15-second ad has been viewed more than six million times. My favorite ad of the 2024 season so far. I cannot get enough of it, one fan commented, while another said: Congrats Target, Santa got it going on. open image in gallery Target shoppers fawn over sexy Santa-themed holiday ads ( Target ) Target also released a third video as part of its holiday campaign, titled Kris from Target, whiched showed Bailey doing bicep curls with a miniature Christmas tree as he walked around the store. On Instagram, Target shoppers begged for more sexy Santa ads and wished for the chance to meet Bailey in person. Where are they doing photos with THIS Santa? Id like some, one person asked, while a second user wrote: Whoever is in charge of our marketing deserves a raise. Love it, thats my kind of Santa, another commenter added. I believe in Santa again, joked someone else. Of course, one skeptical viewer pointed out that Targets version of Santa Claus would likely only appeal to adults, and kids wouldnt be as amazed by Baileys rendition. I guess adults might like this Santa, but kids wont, they wrote. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Wickeds costume designer has revealed the movies secret link to The Wizard of Oz. The film based on the Broadway stage adaptation itself based on a 1995 novel is a prequel to L Frank Baums The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland. In the much-loved film, Billy Burke plays Glinda the Good, a saintly witch who helps Dorothy (Garland) find her way back home to Kansas. In the Broadway adaptation of Wicked, Glinda is dressed in an icy blue dress to depict her goodness against Elphaba Thropp who dons a black dress and pointed hat to contrast with her green skin. Some fans noticed that Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda in the 2024 film directed by Jon M Chu, only wears pink throughout the movie. But Paul Tazewell, the films costume designer, explained that this was less of an intentional departure from the play as an ode to something far older. It was actually my decision to dip into and I was very inspired by the Glinda of the 1939 film, played by Billy Burke, because that is the icon of Glinda that I have in my head, he told Buzzfeed UK. I mean, thats what I always see. And I thought that that was a brilliant idea to bring back the colour of pink into the story of Glinda. open image in gallery Ariana Grandes style was influenced by 1939 film The Wizard of Oz ( Universal ) So we have that kind of pink , that bubble kind of iridescent pink reflected through all of her time at Shiz and then as we will see, and as the audiences will see, into the second film as well. Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who plays the awkward and misunderstood Elphaba, have drawn attention from social media users for their persistently teary promotional interviews. open image in gallery Billy Burke played Glinda the Good in the film ( Warner Brothers ) However, their co-star Ethan Slater and Grandes real-life partner, explained the reason behind the effusive demonstrations of emotion. Slater, who plays a Munchkin boy named Boq in the movie, recently toldToday that the two of them constantly joke about crying during interviews. open image in gallery Glinda wears pink in the film rather than blue as in the stage adaptation ( Warner Brothers ) Theyre so funny, he said. Theyre both like, after a full day of junkets, Well, we cried 100 times again. Everyone must be getting so annoyed. But I think it comes from a really genuine place. Wicked is out in cinemas now For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Lawyers in southeastern Bangladesh boycotted courts Wednesday to protest the killing of a colleague in a daylong violence over the arrest of a prominent minority Hindu leader. Hundreds of followers of Krishna Das Prabhu clashed with security officials and Muslims after a magistrate denied him bail and ordered him detained on sedition charges Tuesday pending further proceedings. Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5, an interim government has been struggling to ease tension in the South Asian nation. Hindus and members of other minority groups say they have faced more attacks than ever since Hasina fled to India following a massive uprising against her 15-year rule. The government says the threat to Hindus has been exaggerated. Around 91% of Bangladeshs population is Muslim, with Hindus making up almost all of the rest. The violence on Tuesday began as police attempted to transport Prabhu, also known as Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, to jail. His supporters surrounded the van carrying him, forcing it to stop for hours. To disperse the crowd, police fired teargas, stun grenades and charged them with batons, leaving scores injured. Muslims also joined the security officials and attacked the Hindu protesters. A Muslim lawyer, Saiful Islam Alif, was killed in an alley as he was reportedly leaving the court area as violence raged. It was not clear who killed him. Prabhu's Hindu group denied the allegation it was responsible and demanded an investigation. Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, president of the Chattogram District Bar Association, told The Associated Press that the lawyers in the city were protesting the killing and would boycott the courts on Thursday as well. He blamed the authorities, especially police, for failing to prevent hours of violence. We want security for us. He was killed in broad daylight. Police and other security officials were there, but he was killed. We cannot allow such incidents to continue, Chowdhury said. On Wednesday, thousands of mourners joined the funeral prayers for the slain lawyer. Authorities said that security officials arrested at least six suspects after verifying video footage. The press office of the interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, said that another 21 people were arrested in Chattogram in connection with attacks on police and vandalism. Prabhu is a prominent Hindu leader and a respected figure. He is a member of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group. He is also associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, widely known as the Hare Krishna movement, and acts as a spokesman for the group in Bangladesh. On Tuesday, India expressed deep concern over the violence and Prabhu's arrest. Bangladesh said it was its internal affairs. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Gorinov appeared in court on Wednesday for a second trial for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, an independent news site reported. The new trial against Gorinov, a 63-year-old former member of a Moscow municipal council who is suffering from a chronic lung condition, is the latest in the unrelenting crackdown against dissent that the Kremlin unleashed after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Gorinov is already serving a prison term for public criticism of the full-scale invasion he was the first known Russian sent to prison under a law that essentially bans any public expression about the war that deviates from the official narrative. In July 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army at a municipal council meeting by voicing skepticism about a childrens art competition in his constituency while saying that every day children are dying in Ukraine. The authorities launched a second case against him last year, according to his supporters. He was accused of justifying terrorism in conversations to his cellmates about Ukraine's Azov battalion, which Russia outlawed as a terrorist organization, and the 2022 explosion on the Crimean bridge, which Moscow deemed an act of terrorism. Gorinov vehemently rejected the accusations Wednesday, independent news site Mediazona reported. It quoted him as telling the court that he merely said the annexed Crimean Peninsula was Ukrainian territory and called Azov a part of the Ukrainian army. I am far from the ideology of terrorism, Gorinov was quoted as saying. He said "nothing else has been proven during the investigation, there is just some kind of rubbish written (in the indictment). Gorinov's trial was held in the Vladimir region, where he is serving time. Photos from the courtroom, published by Mediazona, showed a weary Gorinov in the defendants cage, holding a hand-written placard saying: Stop killing. Lets stop the war. He had part of a lung removed before prison and struggled with respiratory illnesses behind bars. The arrest, conviction and imprisonment of Gorinov a low-profile activist has shocked many. In written comments to The Associated Press from behind bars in March 2023, Gorinov said authorities needed an example they could showcase to others (of) an ordinary person, rather than a public figure. According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that tracks political arrests, some 1,100 people have been implicated in criminal cases over their anti-war stance since February 2022. A total of 340 of them are currently behind bars or have been involuntarily committed to medical institutions. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appeared to be holding Wednesday, as residents in cars heaped with belongings streamed back toward southern Lebanon despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese military that they stay away from certain areas. If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war and threatened to pull Hezbollah's patron Iran and Israel into a broader conflagration. It could give some reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border with Lebanon. The U.S.- and France-brokered deal, approved by Israel late Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the terms of the deal. The deal would not address the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is still fighting Hamas militants in response to the groups cross-border raid into southern Israel in Oct. 2023. But President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration would make another push in the coming days to try to renew efforts for a deal there. Lebanese are streaming south despite warnings Hours before the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect, Israel launched broad strikes that shook the Lebanese capital Beirut and a volley of rockets from Hezbollah set off air raid sirens across a large swath of northern Israel. But after the ceasefire took effect early Wednesday, quiet appeared to take hold, prompting waves of Lebanese to head home. Israels Arabic military spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned displaced Lebanese not to return to their villages in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese military asked displaced returning to southern Lebanon to avoid frontline villages and towns near the border where Israeli troops are still present until they withdraw. But some videos circulating on social media show displaced Lebanese defying these calls and returning to villages in the south near the coastal city of Tyre. Israeli troops were still present in parts of southern Lebanon after Israel launched a ground invasion in October. On the highway linking Beirut with south Lebanon, thousands of people drove south with their belongings and mattresses tied on top of their cars. Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon. Residents will return to vast destruction wrought by the Israeli military during its campaign, which flattened villages where the military said it found vast weapons caches and infrastructure it says was meant to launch an Oct. 7-style attack on northern Israel. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah emerges from the war battered and bloodied, with the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war tarnished. Yet its fighters still managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon, said Hussein Sweidan, a resident returning to Tyre in southern Lebanon, who said he saw the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. Sporadic celebratory gunfire was heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars and residents cheered. Some Israelis are concerned the deal doesn't go far enough In Israel, the mood was far more subdued, with displaced Israelis concerned that the deal did not go far enough to rein in Hezbollah and that it did not address Gaza and the hostages still held there. I think it is still not safe to return to our homes because Hezbollah is still close to us, said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern Israeli city of Kyriat Shmona, which is not far from the border with Lebanon and was hit hard by the months of fighting. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel, more than half civilians, as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon. A significant return of the displaced to their communities, many of which have suffered extensive damage from rocket fire, could take months. But Israel can claim major victories in the war, including the killing of Hezbollahs top leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of its senior commanders, as well as the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, widely attributed to Israel, appeared to show a remarkable degree of penetration of the secretive militant group. The kinds of massive, long-range rocket barrages that many Israelis had feared before the war never fully materialized, either because they were destroyed by Israeli strikes or Hezbollah held them in reserve. Hezbollah also failed to launch any ground attacks across the border, despite evidence presented by the Israeli military that it had invested heavily in preparing for such operations. ___ Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. ___ Find more of APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Florida state and federal authorities have recovered a million dollars worth of stolen gold coins that are linked to a fleet of sunken 18th-century treasure ships. The states Fish and Wildlife Commission said it had partnered with the FBI to retrieve the 37 priceless historical artifacts following a lengthy investigation. In 2015, members of the Schmitt family, working as contracted salvage operators for 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC, uncovered a treasure trove of 101 gold coins from the wrecks off Floridas Treasure Coast, the agency said in a press release. While 51 of these coins were reported correctly and adjudicated, 50 coins were not disclosed and were subsequently stolen. The coins include a one-of-a-kind gold piece from 1709 that was mistakenly hammered with a silver coin stamp. That coin, sometimes referred to as a Holy Grail coin, was reclaimed this year after being illegally sold at auction for about $50,000, according to McClatchy News. Following new evidence in June, investigators launched an in-depth probe. While the commission did not reveal what that evidence was, it said the new information linked a member of the Schmitt family, Eric Schmitt, to the illegal sale of multiple stolen gold coins between 2023 and 2024. open image in gallery Floridas Fish and Wildlife Commission has worked with historical preservation experts to authenticate and appraise the coins ( Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/Facebook ) After executing search warrants, the coins were recovered from peoples homes, safe deposit boxes, and auctions. A Florida-based auctioneer unknowingly purchased five gold coins from Schmitt. They have since been reclaimed. Schmitt faces charges for dealing in stolen property. Advanced digital forensics identified metadata and geolocation data linking Eric Schmitt to a photograph of the stolen coins taken at the Schmitt family condominium in Fort Pierce. It was also discovered that Eric Schmitt took three of the stolen gold coins and placed them on the ocean floor in 2016 to be found by the new investors of 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC, the agency wrote. open image in gallery Investigators are still looking for 13 more of the coins ( Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/Facebook ) The recovered artifacts will be returned to their rightful custodians, and investigators said that they were committed to recovering an additional 13 stolen coins. The commission said it worked with historical preservation experts to authenticate and appraise the coins. This case underscores the importance of safeguarding Floridas rich cultural heritage and holding accountable those who seek to profit from its exploitation, FWC investigator Camille Soverel said. open image in gallery The Urca de Lima ship is seen in this painting by artist William Trotter. The ship was one of the 1715 fleet caught in a hurricane ( NPS ) Spanish fleets traveled the waters between Spain and the Americas between the mid-16th to mid-18th century, transporting massive amounts of New World treasure. The return voyage was the most perilous, as pirates and other European rivals threatened to seize the cargo. But, the greatest danger was from hurricanes, according to the National Park Service. More than 300 years ago, the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet was wrecked during a July hurricane off Floridas shores. The storm took down 11 of the 12 ships that were sailing on a course from Cuba to Spain. Spains treasure fleets were also devastated by hurricanes near the Sunshine State in 1733. open image in gallery A diver looks on the ocean floor at the site of the Urca de Lima wreck. The ship remains on a natural reef composed of coral, sponges, and marine vegetation, approximately 200 yards from shore ( NPS ) Although they managed to recover some treasure, much of it remained on the ocean floor and sunken ships lay there for over 200 years until they were discovered. Today, the remains of the Urca de Lima and the 1733 San Pedro are protected as Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves, and the area is nicknamed the Treasure Coast. Thousands of dollars in silver coins were found from the 1715 fleet in 2020. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists called for humane ways to handle crabs, lobsters, and other shellfish in the kitchen after showing for the first time that crustaceans indeed feel pain. Boiling lobsters and crabs alive has been a common method of killing them in the kitchen for many years with loud calls to end the cruel practice. Shellfish are also currently not covered by animal welfare legislation in the EU, but this too could change. It was suggested earlier that lobsters responses when treated this way were just reflexes, and that they were incapable of feeling pain, but new research suggests otherwise. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have now detected pain stimuli sent to the brain of shore crabs, providing more evidence for pain in crustaceans. open image in gallery Freshly cooked crab sits on a pot of boiling water ( Getty Images ) We need to find less painful ways to kill shellfish if we are to continue eating them. Because now we have scientific evidence that they both experience and react to pain, study co-author Lynne Sneddon said. Previous research has hinted at the likelihood of crustaceans feeling pain when subjected to mechanical impact, electric shocks or noxious acids touching their soft tissues such as the antennae. In these earlier experiments, the shellfish reacted by touching the exposed area or trying to avoid the danger, leading researchers to assume that they felt pain. However, information on the presence of specialised pain receptors in their body that detect such stimuli has remained elusive until now. FDA investigating 'forever chemicals' in seafood In the latest study, published in the journal Biology, scientists used EEG-style measurements to assess the activity in the brain of a shore crab. They measured the activity in the brains central nervous system when the soft tissues of claws, antennae and legs were subjected to some form of stress. Researchers showed clear nerve-cell reactions in the crustaceans brain during such mechanical or chemical stimuli. We could see that the crab has some kind of pain receptors in its soft tissues, because we recorded an increase in brain activity when we applied a potentially painful chemical, a form of vinegar, to the crabs soft tissues, PhD candidate Eleftherios Kasiouras, who was part of the study, said. The same happened when we applied external pressure to several of the crabs body parts, he said. open image in gallery Electrodes measuring brain activity were attached to a shore crab ( Eleftherios Kasiouras ) The findings, according to scientists, indicate that shore crabs have some form of pain signalling to the brain from these body parts. They also found that the pain response was shorter and more powerful in the case of physical stress than in the case of chemical stress, which lasted longer. It is a given that all animals need some kind of pain system to cope by avoiding danger. I dont think we need to test all species of crustaceans, as they have a similar structure and therefore similar nervous systems, the PhD candidate said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Turkish security forces arrested the three Uzbek suspects in the killing of a rabbi in the United Arab Emirates as they left an airport in Istanbul, local media reported Wednesday. The arrest of the Uzbeks suspected of killing Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan highlights the transnational nature of the attack. While no motive has been offered, Iran has used criminal gangs in the past to target dissidents and its enemies. Already, Tehran has threatened to retaliate against Israel as the two countries have exchanged fire during the Mideast wars even as it has denied being involved in Kogan's killing. Both Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization detained the men after determining which flight they arrived on, allowing them to leave the airport before pulling over their taxi, Turkey's Hurriyet and Sabah newspapers reported. The men then were immediately extradited to the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Emirati Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night separately thanked Turkey for for their cooperation in arresting the perpetrators, without elaborating. Diplomatic relations between the UAE and Turkey had been strained for a decade over their divergent views on Islamists in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring, but improved in recent years. Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan spoke Tuesday at the Global Womens Forum Dubai. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has offered its first comment on the killings in a statement acknowledging a meeting between its foreign minister and the ambassador of Israel. The statement said Uzbekistan, a tightly controlled Central Asian country, was cooperating with both Israel and the UAE in the investigation into Kogan's killing. The people of Uzbekistan have always maintained a friendly attitude toward all representatives of religions and backgrounds, the statement said. Uzbekistan has never tolerated and will never tolerate any form of nationalism. The meeting underscored that terrorism and extremism know no borders or nationality. Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21, managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords. The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel. But Israels devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the UAE. Irans Embassy in Abu Dhabi has denied Tehran was involved in the rabbis slaying. However, Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country. Iranian intelligence services also have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE. While not directly blaming Iran, Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others have referred to an axis of evil being responsible for Kogan's killing a phrase Israel in the past has used to refer to Iran and its allies. It was all very normal in the beginning. A normal family two parents, two kids, a boy and a girl in a normal town, in the North East of England. Harriet and Tom were navigating all the normal aspects of parenting teenagers when it began: changing schools, changing friends, the onset of social media. They lived in a six-bedroom, three-storey house; work was good, and life was ticking along. Then, slowly at first, everything started to change. The signs were subtle. Bens transition to secondary school had been relatively smooth but, as all teenagers do, he was testing boundaries occasionally. He started sneaking out a bit, Harriet explains their bedroom was at the top of the house, so we didnt necessarily hear everything downstairs. It had never been a problem in the past. But then I started to realise he was going missing. Hed say he was in his friends garage, and wed make him come home right away. That happened quite regularly at the start. Then our daughter started telling us 20 had gone from her desk, things like that. To be honest we just assumed shed lost it we couldnt imagine hed be taking money. As time went on, I started to put these things together. At just 13, Ben had been recruited into a criminal gang selling drugs via county lines (networks that deal in illegal substances). Its a form of modern slavery victims, mostly under-18s, are picked and primed, exploited, and then find they are trapped in a violent underworld, unable to free themselves. In 2023, more than 7,000 children in the UK were referred for help under the national referral mechanism, a framework designed to identify and protect people at risk of modern slavery; 42 per cent of them were referred as potential victims of child criminal exploitation. This, says childrens charity Barnardos, is just the tip of the iceberg. Many such children go unidentified. In fact, it is thought that, as a conservative estimate, 27,000 children are at high risk of exploitation by criminal gangs. For a while, it just looked like bad behaviour, Harriet explains. She and Tom have asked for their real names to be withheld, to protect them and their son, Ben, whose name has also been changed. Ben was becoming known to the police for antisocial behaviour, and his whole demeanour changed. When they found that hed been buying cannabis at the age of 12, they took him to the police station to scare him. I was distraught, Harriet explains. But it wasnt the deterrent shed hoped for. Police strip-searched him in the family home, and found drugs and a phone he was using for his county lines activities. Ben now owed the money for the drugs, and was a liability to the gang. He was subject to a debt bondage from the gang for the value of what was confiscated, and now had to work for them for free. The family moved to what they deemed an even nicer area, but things didnt improve. Because it doesnt matter where you go it seems to be everywhere. If theyre involved, if they make that initial link, its everywhere. Things went from bad to worse. At one point, I genuinely feared he might die. In the media, this happens to children boys, mostly from deprived backgrounds, Sarah Pritchard, a consultant social worker and a trainer at Barnardos, explains. But Tom and Harriets story is far from unique. Its just not widely covered or spoken about. Theyre a middle-class family, with middle-class jobs, in a middle-class, affluent area. Poverty wasnt a driver. This is exactly the point: exploitation is indiscriminate. open image in gallery Merseyside Police raid a home in Liverpool in 2021 as part of an operation to infiltrate county lines gangs ( AFP/Getty ) In primary school, Ben had been creative and popular He was always involved in the girls drama, Harriet laughs. If a girl was crying, hed be in the toilets making sure that they were OK. The teachers loved him, the kids loved him. He was quirky. We worried about that before he went to secondary school, whether his creative streak would mean he was bullied. This was the last thing we expected. The complicated truth is that, as Pritchard explains, these are now qualities that appeal to criminal gangs. Theres a real power at play here, she says. These qualities that Ben had that he was a loyal friend, that hes going to stick around these are what exploiters [look for]. He was preyed upon, because he was raised on social media he was out being a child, doing what children at that age do. Gang members will seek out and target this. They targeted all these characteristics and made them useful for them. It was a very hard time, Tom explains. I felt pretty hopeless. When it escalated, when Ben was around 16, we were hardly getting any sleep. We were calling the police every time he went out, which was what we were told to do to report him as a missing person. He would always come back, maybe around midnight. But then wed have to stay up for the police, who would arrive at about 3am; then Id go out to work again soon after. Tom is visibly emotional recalling that time. I just feel sad, he says. I felt like Id lost him. We had been close, really close like most father-son relationships, I suppose. He used to apologise to me before he went out. He knew I was upset, but he still had to go out. Its just not widely covered or spoken about. Theyre a middle-class family, with middle-class jobs, in a middle-class, affluent area. Poverty wasnt a driver. This is exactly the point: exploitation is indiscriminate Sarah Pritchard, Barnardos Inevitably, it strained Tom and Harriets relationship. There were no hard signs that you might expect from seeing this type of crime play out on TV or in films, they explain. You think that looks like him becoming violent towards you, which he never did, explains Harriet, or wearing gold chains or new trainers. He was never violent. Most of the time he would be silent in the house. There was nothing you could say to him to make him open up or just talk. Then, yes, he used to apologise. He would say, Im sorry, I have to go. It was heartbreaking. Pritchard explains that, often, kids will be threatened they are told that, if they dont comply with the demands of the gang, their family will be at risk of violence. By this point, Ben was disappearing to work in a cuckood property a flat, perhaps belonging to a vulnerable person, that the gang had taken over to use for selling, supplying or storing drugs. Harrowingly, Tom and Harriet would sometimes drop him off there, unaware of the danger he was in once inside. Things started to unravel when Ben was eventually arrested and searched in the family home, where they found his burner phone full of county lines contacts. Social workers got involved, and Harriet and Tom accessed lifesaving information and support from charity the Ivison Trust (which was then called Pace Parents Against Child Exploitation). open image in gallery As many as 27,000 children are thought to be at risk of exploitation by criminal gangs ( Getty ) When Ben was 16, he was facing jail. Things came to a head. Late one night, when they picked him up, he broke down in the back of the car. But Ben went from one extreme to the other. After he confessed what had been happening, he began having panic attacks, and Harriet and Tom became worried that he was contemplating suicide. He locked himself in his room and wouldnt come out. If we had to go somewhere, wed have to invite family to watch him as we were worried hed hurt himself. Thankfully, Ben was helped by the support services, who worked hard to build a trusted and safe relationship with him. More than 18 months on, hes completely turned his life around. Its such a joy, I cant tell you, Harriet explains. Hes totally focused on his fitness, hes got an apprenticeship in mechatronics, he wants to work in renewable energy. Hes a bright kid. Our relationship now is brilliant. He wants to come everywhere with us. Its almost like hes a bit too perfect, she laughs. Tom says their outlook on parenting has also changed. Im ashamed to say that, before it happened to us, I might have looked at some of those children involved in antisocial behaviour like Ben was, and thought, That must be because of something at home. We did everything that parents are supposed to do, Harriet adds. One of the biggest things is that we never in a million years thought our parenting wouldnt be enough, and it wasnt even coming close. No amount of parenting or love was enough during that moment in our lives. Theyre now getting on with their lives together a chance that Harriet is grateful to have. Were so relieved its over, she says. We know how lucky we are to get to see our son grow up. The tragic reality is that most others arent so fortunate. If youre worried about your or someone elses child, contact Barnados or the Ivison Trust for support For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Soho private members club The Groucho Club has closed while police investigate an alleged serious crime that took place at the iconic venue. Westminster City Council said it had suspended the clubs venue licence following a request from the Metropolitan Police. The club, which counts many A-list celebrities among its members, is understood to have cooperated with the councils licensing sub-committee, acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations and accepted the decision. Its chief executive, Elli Jafari, reportedly wrote to members to apologise for the temporary closure on Tuesday. A council spokesperson said: Following a request from the Metropolitan Police and with the agreement of the operator, the councils licensing sub-committee has decided to suspend The Groucho Clubs licence with immediate effect on the basis that the premises is associated with serious crime. This decision follows reports that a serious crime may have taken place at the premises in circumstances linked to a breach in the premises licencing conditions. The allegations are subject to an ongoing police investigation and we cannot comment further at this stage. open image in gallery Groucho is renowned for being decorated with a contemporary collection of around 150 works of art ( PA ) A full hearing will be held by the councils licencing sub-committee next month. A Met Police spokesperson said: On Tuesday, 26 November, a Westminster council licensing hearing ruled that the licence for The Groucho Club should be suspended for up to 28 days until a full hearing can take place. The suspension will take effect immediately and follows an application made by the Metropolitan Police Service on the grounds that the venue had breached its licensing conditions and had been the scene of a recent serious criminal offence. The investigation into that offence is ongoing and as a result, there is a limit to the detail that can be provided. Todays hearing was held in private for the same reason. Further details will be released when possible. The decision means the Groucho will be closed during one of its busiest seasons the run-up to the Christmas holidays. Founders of Groucho include Australian writer Carmen Callil, publisher Liz Calder and American literary agent Ed Victor, who set it up as an alternative to male-dominated private members clubs. Membership can set clubgoers a fee of up to 1,500 per year. Cara Delevingne, Lily Allen, and Noel Gallagher are said to be among the members of the club. Parties at the venue have been attended by Kate Moss, George Michael, and Bill Clinton. The venue was sold to independent hospitality business Artfarm in 2022 in a deal reported to be worth around 40m. It marked the third time Groucho had changed hands since it was founded in 1985. The Independent has contacted The Groucho Club for comment. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A prisoner who set himself alight in his cell after serving 12 years for stealing a mobile phone under an indefinite jail term is being denied his right to healthcare, his family has warned. Thomas White has developed severe mental health problems in prison as he languishes under a since-abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence. Earlier this year, the father of one set himself alight in his cell in desperation as he lost hope of ever being freed. Two medical reports shared with The Independent this summer laid bare the toll of the devastating jail term on the prisoner, who suffers psychosis and religious delusions, as medics warned his lengthy incarceration was creating impermeable barriers to his recovery. Both called for him to be moved to a hospital. White was due to have another key psychiatric assessment earlier this month to decide whether he can be transferred to hospital. But this did not go ahead after the prison did not have enough staff to get him out of his cell for the assessment, his family said. open image in gallery Clara White has written to health secretary Wes Streeting ( PA Wire ) Now his heartbroken sister Clara White has written to the health secretary Wes Streeting in a desperate appeal for him to intervene and find her brother a hospital bed before he makes another attempt on his own life. I have stopped going to see him because its too traumatic, she told The Independent. Hes dying in front of me. Hes skin and bone. I havent seen him be treated with dignity once. I just want him treated with some dignity. I just dont know where else to turn with it. I am being destroyed in the process along with him. As well as a suicide attempt and self-harm, White has been hearing voices and suffering regular hallucinations inside Category A HMP Manchester. Imploring Mr Streeting to intervene before Christmas, Ms White begged: Parliament will go on recess soon. How can MPs go and sit round a table and eat Christmas dinner knowing that other peoples families are dying? I have got to ride Christmas through praying that something doesnt happen to him. Move him before Christmas and show some mercy to me and my mum. IPP jail terms were introduced under New Labour in 2005 and saw offenders given a minimum tariff but no maximum. They were scrapped in 2012 over human rights concerns but not for people already detained leaving almost 2,700 prisoners like White languishing in prison with no release date. The sentences have been branded psychological torture by a UN human rights expert after at least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives. open image in gallery Thomas White with his sister, Clara, and his mother, Margaret, in Manchester in 1985 ( White family ) An assessment by an independent consultant forensic psychiatrist in August found 40-year-old White, who has paranoid schizophrenia, has been suffering panic attacks and pacing in his cell as he struggles with psychosis and religious delusions. Mr White expressed feeling depressed about his long imprisonment without a set release date, citing this as the reason for his previous suicide attempt, Dr Deepu Thomas said, concluding he should be moved to a medium secure unit. In a previous report last year, the same psychiatrist said that the indefinite jail term, which had a two-year minimum tariff, was the probable cause of his poor mental health. Labour peer Lord Woodley this month called for the government not to be on the wrong side of history as he called for IPP prisoners to be resentenced in a private members bill. However, prisons minister and Labour peer James Timpson has insisted the government will not support any form of resentencing, despite at least 700 IPP prisoners having served more than 10 years beyond their minimum term. The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care cannot comment on medical matters relating to individuals. 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. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A court has fined a British luxury yacht builder for importing wood from Myanmar linked to the illegal timber trade, often referred to as blood teak. Sunseeker International, based in Poole, Dorset, was fined 358,760 following a hearing at the Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday. The case marks the first prosecution under the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR), a post-Brexit legislation that replaced the EU Timber Regulation. Sunseeker pleaded guilty to three charges, including failure to exercise due diligence in timber sourcing. The charges relate to 11 specific imports for which the company paid around 60,000. International demand for Myanmar teak, prized for its water-resistant properties, has been a key revenue source for the countrys military junta, which seized power in February 2021. Sanctions from the EU, UK and US on the ruling regime, which oversees the timber exports, have effectively made all teak imports from Myanmar illegal. Teak logs being transported in Myanmar ( Supplied by EIA ) Judge Jonathan Fuller KC, while imposing fine, noted that Sunseeker was aware of the changes in timber import regulations after Brexit, which redefined the firms status from trader to operator. He labelled its actions a "systemic failure". The judge ordered the company to pay a total of 358,759.64 covering a fine and prosecution costs. Sunseeker International, in a statement to The Independent, attributed the unintended failure to a change in legislation on 1 January 2021, following the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union, adding that Brexit imposed additional due diligence obligations when sourcing timber from the EU. The company said it had fully cooperated with the (Office for Product Safety and Standards) throughout its investigation, accepted responsibility at an early stage, and has taken decisive steps to rectify the issue, by implementing a robust timber procurement policy and a UKTR-compliant due diligence process. Sunseekers board expressed regret over the lapse, regretting the companys failure in meeting its responsibilities under the UKTR and underlines its ongoing commitment to compliance with laws and regulations. The Environmental Investigation Agency, a UK-based international NGO, hailed the courts decision as a milestone in tackling illegal timber trade. The groups forests campaign leader, Faith Doherty, described the ruling as sending a clear and unequivocal message to other luxury yacht manufacturers worldwide. Using blood teak from conflict-torn Myanmar is totally unacceptable and will cost them dearly in the end, she said. Ms Doherty said the case should serve as a catalyst for further action, noting that timber traders have continued to flout the law without consequence. "This case changes that," she said. "It should be used as the landmark it is for actually using these laws with the appropriate penalties this crime deserves." Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Watching the last three weeks of her husbands life convinced Patricia Donoghue that patients should have a right to choose how they die. A former nurse from Glasgow, Patricia had taken early retirement with her husband Kevan, hoping that they would have more time to holiday and see friends and family. Tragically, just two years later, Kevan was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in 2013. The assessment had initially been hopeful, with Kevan managing to return to his local choir after surgery, but by the winter of 2014 he was deteriorating. By March 2015 he was transferred to a hospice for end of life care and the last three weeks of his life were agony for him and for us watching him, Patricia said. His liver was failing and he had developed a bowel blockage, likely a secondary cancer, that he was too frail to have investigated or removed. As a result Kevan wasnt able to be treated and he wasnt able to ingest food or water. All nurses could do for him was to give him a small amount of tea that would pass through his mouth, and then run down a tube and into a bag - leaving him dehydrated with just the taste to savour. Patricia, who has now turned 70, explained: There was very little that anyone could do. He didnt have anything to eat or drink for three weeks. He starved to death really and he also had intractable pain. It was a very upsetting end and I know he would have opted for a quicker death if he had the choice. open image in gallery Kevan Donoghue, who died from cancer, with his wife Patricia and son. ( PA ) He didnt want to linger, he hated what was happening to him, and having no control. Throughout your life you have control over most things but you dont have control over how you go. She continued: I would walk into Kevans room and it would stink of ketones - which has a very distinctive smell like pear drops. It was because he was so dehydrated and it was so noticeable in the whole room. We went into the last three weeks being told every day that this could be the day he dies and that continued for three weeks. open image in gallery Patricia and Kevan with their family ( PA ) On the day of Kevans death, Patricia was at home getting something to eat and her sister was sitting with him in the hospice. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and sadly she didnt get back to see him one final time. I could have been there, she says. Ive felt guilt for a long time about that. It was a dreadful ending to a horrible time and had it been in a more controlled way we could have been with him. I really wanted to be with him when he passed away, but I wasnt. Patricia is hopeful that MPs will vote in favour of an assisted dying bill on Friday that would allow patients with six months left to live to be assisted to take their own lives. Under the bill, these patients would have to get approval from two doctors and a High Court judge to end their life. Opponents of the bill have questioned whether the NHS or the judicial system have capacity to properly deal with the numbers of people who would want an assisted death, or warned of a slippery slope if the legislation is made law. But proponents say the bill has sufficient safeguards and would allow people to have a say in their death. Referring to the current bill, Patricia explained: Its for people who know they are going to die and who would want to choose not to linger in intractable pain or lose their dignity. At the end of the day it would be a choice, and its been proved that its a choice that people want. Bryan Grayson, from West Sussex, also wants that choice for himself - having witnessed difficult deaths of both his mother and his father-in-law. His father-in-law Harry Moore was 102 when he died in June 2022. Just after his 102nd birthday he had a bad fall necessitating calling out the paramedics. They put him into bed with minor cuts but that was the tipping point for him. The next day he was adamant that he wanted to die and the only way he could do it was by starving himself to death which he fully intended to do, Bryan explained. open image in gallery Harry Moore (pictured) died after deciding to stop eating food, his son-in-law Bryan said ( Bryan Grayson ) A former royal marine, Harry was fiercely independent and had also witnessed his wife Rosie die a slow death from cancer around 20 years before. It took him about eight weeks to pass away after that decision - a process that caused unnecessary pain and anguish, Bryan said. At the end of the day you make life-changing decisions all your life, why then should this be removed at the end of your life, he added. Bryans mother Mavis Corkindale died of lung cancer in 2016, after a painful final few months in a hospice. Bryan was able to be with her when she passed away but his brother Paul was not. open image in gallery Harry pictured on his 100th birthday ( Bryan Grayson ) The only thing that she wanted was to die at home with me and my brother by her side and that didnt happen. I can understand the dangers of a new law and the need for safeguards, but the current law as it stands is just crazy, he argued. Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, a campaign group in favour of assisted dying, said: "These stories powerfully underscore the urgent need for a compassionate assisted dying law in the UK. Many individuals in the UK have the distress of facing either a potentially drawn-out, painful death or travelling far from home for a dignified one. Our current system is heartless and cruel. We urge politicians to recognise that any system that forces people to suffer is a broken system. We therefore encourage them to do the right thing and vote in favour of Kim Leadbeaters assisted dying bill on the 29th November." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy 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. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Months after Lucy Letby was removed from caring for babies over patient safety concerns, then-hospital chief executive Tony Chambers told her: Your resilience, Lucy, you astound me. The conversation took place in December 2016 after the child serial killer was redeployed to an administrative role at the Countess of Chester Hospital following consultant paediatricians voicing fears she may have been deliberately harming infants. Letby went on to launch a grievance against her employers, which was upheld in December, over the decision to take her out of the neonatal unit. The Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding Letbys crimes has heard the nurse was said to have felt consultants Dr Stephen Brearey and Dr Ravi Jayaram had orchestrated a campaign against her and that some doctors on the unit referred to her publicly as angel of death and murderer on the unit. A meeting with Letby, her parents, John and Sue, and Mr Chambers took place on December 22 2016 in which Mr Letby called for the instant dismissal of the two consultants. Giving evidence on Wednesday, Mr Chambers said: Letbys family, it is fair to say, were very upset and very angry about how they felt she had been treated unfairly by the trust. Im prepared to accept that we had not been open and honest with her at the time. Letbys father was very angry, he was making threats. He was making threats that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse by threatening GMC (General Medical Council) referrals to the doctors. He was threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things. open image in gallery John Letby, the father of Lucy Letby (Jacob King/PA) ( PA Archive ) During the meeting, Mr Chambers told Letby: Your resilience, Lucy, you astound me. Mr Chambers told the inquiry: I say it twice. Counsel to the inquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC said: Have you ever made such a statement in relation to the consultants for the bravery they showed when trying to speak out to keep babies safe? Mr Chambers said: Yes, in many of the meetings that took place during July 2016. If you look at the notes, all of the meeting notes end with a reference to thanking everyone for their contributions, for their open candid contributions to the discussion and a very clear statement about these matters being really difficult, lets take care and look after each other. Mr Chambers went on to ask the consultants to apologise to Letby for the alleged derogatory remarks, the inquiry has heard, and a follow-up meeting took place with Letby and her mother in early February 2017. Letby told Mr Chambers she wanted individual apologies from four consultants in particular. Mr de la Poer said: Bringing in hindsight, she is sitting there knowing the crimes she has committed. Would you agree that was deeply manipulative behaviour? Mr Chambers said: I have to say I didnt feel I was manipulated at the time, I really dont know. It was her father who seemed to be pulling the strings as opposed to herself. In handling these matters with Letby, I was very conscious to try as much as possible to avoid further escalation particularly from her father. Her father was not at this meeting but you got a sense of his presence. Mr Chambers also told Letby: Lucy, dont worry, we have got your back. Asked for his response to that comment, Mr Chambers said: Clumsy language. The intention here was to avoid any possible escalation. Eight years on with what we know and we look at this, these are the kind of things you know you didnt get right. Mr de la Poer said: If this was an attempt by Letby to take control and get what she wanted and go on the offensive, then she succeeded in recruiting you to that, didnt she? Mr Chambers replied: No, I dont think so at all. My take on all of this is that the only thing Letby wanted was something to acknowledge that she had been treated unfairly. She sought no other redress, that I was aware of, other than at some point subject to all the plans and processes to get back to a job she really loved. Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. The inquiry, at Liverpool Town Hall before Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn that year. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Prince Harrys latest legal claim against the publishers of the Daily Mail could go to trial, a High Court judge has said. The Duke of Sussex has accused the publisher of allegedly commissioning unlawful activities, including hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, recording private phone conversations blagging private records, and even burglaries to order. At a preliminary hearing on Tuesday High Court judge Mr Justice Nicklin said that it was important to progress the case to an eventual trial. He has among a group of high-profile individuals fighting the case, including Stephen Lawrences mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and politician Sir Simon Hughes. The group is bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which firmly denies the allegations, previously telling the court that they are lurid and simply preposterous. open image in gallery The group is bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which firmly denies the allegations, previously telling the court that they are lurid and simply preposterous ( PA Archive ) On the first day of the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Mr Justice Nicklin told the court: My broad objective is we fix a trial date It will probably start on 14 January 2026. The judge continued that the date may change and repeated that it was an objective. He added: I dont know what is going to happen in various stages of the litigation That objective may ultimately be thwarted. Th hearing in London is due conclude on Wednesday and will deal with requests for documents, costs and a bid to have part of the case dismissed without a trial. Cost budgets for both sides combined total more than 38 million. Hundreds of people, including the Duke of Sussex, have previously brought legal action against other newspaper publishers over allegations of unlawful information gathering, including related to phone hacking. open image in gallery Th hearing in London is due conclude on Wednesday and will deal with requests for documents, costs and a bid to have part of the case dismissed without a trial. ( Victoria Jones/PA Wire ) Harry was previously awarded 140,600 in damages after suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) and faces a trial in January 2025 for his claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN). Lawyers for ANL said that it would be wrong to treat the claims brought against ANL in the same way as cases against those publishers. Catrin Evans KC, for ANL, said: Critically, the bedrock of liability in the MGN and NGN cases consisted of criminal convictions of certain journalists and far-reaching admissions about the extensive use of unlawful acts there is no similar bedrock of matters here. David Sherborne, lawyer for the individuals, told the court that the individuals were, in different ways, each the victim of numerous unlawful acts, including illegally intercepting voicemail messages; listening into live landline calls; (and) obtaining private information between 1993 and 2018. The barrister also said in his written submissions that there have been deletions of some, but not all, of journalists emails at ANL, and that some documents were destroyed during the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking. In court, Ms Evans denied the allegation, stating it was a claim of deliberate tampering with the documents which is of course strongly denied. The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin and Judge David Cook is due to conclude on Wednesday, with a further hearing expected in May next year. The full trial of the claims could then be held in early 2026. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Three former prime ministers have come out against the assisted dying bill, as Dominic Grieve warned it would breach the rule of law. Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Theresa May are all opposing the bill, which does not have the backing of a single former PM. And ex-attorney general Mr Grieve claimed the bill would be blocked on several grounds by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). open image in gallery Liz Truss said she is completely opposed to the assisted dying bill ( Jeff Moore/PA Wire ) He was among five former government law officers warning MPs to vote against the assisted dying bill on Friday, with its passage on a knife-edge. In their letter, they warned the law would have serious implications for the judiciary in the UK and seeks to overturn decades of legal convention, The Times reported. Mr Grieve cited previous rulings under the ECHR that decriminalising assisted dying would breach a states obligations if it did not come with adequate safeguards against abuse and coercion, adding that the upcoming bill fails to provide such safeguards. And, in a further blow to Kim Leadbeaters private members bill, Mr Johnson, Ms Truss and Baroness May all joined opposition to its passage. While none of the former Tory PMs will be able to vote on the measure on Friday, reports confirmed that the three would oppose it if they did. open image in gallery Dominic Grieve warned the bill would breach Britains obligations under the ECHR ( AFP via Getty Images ) Ms Truss told The Daily Telegraph she was completely opposed to the change, adding: It is wrong in principle: organs of the state like the NHS and the judicial system should be protecting lives, not ending them. No doubt, as we have seen in Canada, vulnerable people would be put under appalling pressure to end their lives early. The law would be ripe for being exploited by the unscrupulous. MPs should vote this terrible Bill down and instead focus on improving health services. Sources close to Baroness May and Mr Johnson made clear their opposition, while Rishi Sunak has not yet indicated how he plans to vote. The major interventions come after Gordon Brown declared he does not support the legalisation of assisted dying, arguing that the state of the NHS means it is not the right time for the momentous change. The influential ex-Labour PM said the days spent with his wife Sarah beside their dying baby Jennifers bed were among the most precious days of our lives. open image in gallery Theresa May indicated she would oppose the bill if she had a vote ( PA Wire ) And, in an intervention which threatens to derail Ms Leadbeaters Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, Mr Brown called instead for the establishment of a commission to devise a fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care. 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. Ms Leadbeater has described her 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. open image in gallery Boris Johnson is understood to be against the bill ( PA Archive ) The legislation, 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. Ms Leadbeater said opponents of plans to legalise assisted dying mustnt be hearing the stories of the terminally ill. She called for the debate to focus on the problem we have to fix rather than who in the cabinet has fallen out with who else in the cabinet. A cross-party group of MPs, comprising Conservative MP Ben Spencer, Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson, and Labours Anna Dixon, have co-sponsored a so-called wrecking amendment, which would scupper the bill if enough MPs supported it. Ms Dixon on Wednesday told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: There are a lot of complex legal and practical considerations that we dont feel a private members bill is going to allow us to adequately address, and thats why weve put down this cross-party amendment. The independent review would be something like a law commission or royal commission, and it would enable experts to look in much more detail at issues around, for example, coercion. She continued: As a legislator its incumbent on us when we make decisions not only to understand the legal implications, as Ive suggested, but also to understand that wider societal impact. Who is going to be affected, how much is it going to cost? There isnt that weight of evidence and thats why we think an independent review, like a royal commission, is needed to bottom out these issues, Ms Dixon added. Hitting back at claims that the bill has not had enough time for debate, Ms Leadbeater told the programme: There are very clear, strict, eligibility criteria for this legislation, so the concept of a slippery slope, I will dismiss that. Once this bill is passed, it cannot be changed, the title of the bill is intentionally terminally ill adults only. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Parliament will vote on an assisted dying bill tomorrow for the first time in nearly a decade. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater proposed the Private Members Bill in mid-October, which will legalise assisted death under certain conditions for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. The bill would apply to those who are over 18 years old, have mental capacity, and have six months left to live, with the consent of two medical professionals. The bill has generated strong opinions from both sides of the assisted dying movement, while even some of those in favour have voiced concerns over the lack of safeguarding in the bill. A group of MPs have also pushed an amendment which may stop the bill from progressing to a vote this week. The Independent analysed public statements from all 650 MPs, in addition to news reports and other available information, to find which MPs will likely vote for or against the assisted dying bill this week. The analysis will be updated as more MPs come forward. The bill is open to a free vote, meaning that the party whips will not dictate whether to support or oppose the bill. Individual MPs are free to vote based on their own values and opinions of their constituents, regardless of whether they are Labour, Tory, or otherwise. Note: the voting intention of MPs is not final until the votes have been cast on Friday. As this is a sensitive issue, many MPs are still deciding and some could change their mind from previous positions. Our updated analysis has found that at least 104 MPs are likely to vote in favour of the bill, while at least 97 are likely to vote against it. Dozens of MPs have come out in the last few days alone in support or criticism of the bill, as political heavyweights on either side of the debate have published their thoughts in the papers. Some 477 MPs have either not made their opinion on assisted dying public, said they are still weighing up both possibilities or said they will abstain from the vote. Taking this into consideration, it will be difficult to say exactly whether the vote will pass. There is a significant degree of unknown, particularly among first-time MPs who are facing the issue for the first time. When including assumptions of how MPs might vote based on positions in the 2015 bill and previous statements, approximately 212 MPs may support the bill and 209 may vote against it, with the rest unknown. Meanwhile, when also including voting intentions shared privately off-record, The Times reports that 265 MPs are planning to vote for the assisted dying bill, and 217 plan to vote against it. Both our analysis and The Times analysis indicate that slightly more MPs are leaning in favour of the assisted dying bill than not. Within the parties, our analysis found MPs are divided between voting for and against the bill, according to public declarations, reports, and working group memberships. Labour MPs are more likely than Tories to lean towards supporting the assisted dying bill, which was proposed by a fellow Labour MP. However, influential Labour figure Gordon Brown penned an op-ed in opposition of assisted dying, which has been shared by several Labour MPs. At present, an estimated 66 Labour MPs will support the bill, while 55 will vote against it. Among those against the bill are some of Labours most prominent members, including health secretary Wes Streeting, and long-standing MP Diane Abbott. open image in gallery Health secretary Wes Streeting has spoken out against the assisted dying bill ( Lucy North/PA ) Conservative MPs are more likely to vote against the bill, while only a third (at least 12 MPs) so far are likely to support assisted dying, including Kit Malthouse and former medical practitioner Neil Shastri-Hurst. In the final hour, both former Tory PM David Cameron and former health secretary Matt Hancock have come out in support of assisted dying legislation, as revealed by The Independent, and urged other MPs to join in support. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, whose son was born severely disabled and whose wife has MS, has said he will not back the assisted dying bill. Meanwhile, 19 of his fellow party members are likely to vote in favour. Even in smaller parties like Reform, the decision is highly individual. While leader Nigel Farage is against assisted dying, saying it gives him the shivers, deputy leader Richard Tice has come out strongly in favour, an Rupert Lowe said he will vote in favour following a mock referendum of constituents. We should be brave enough to try assisted dying, Mr Tice said on Jeremy Kyle earlier this month. open image in gallery Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned assisted dying could lead to a slippery slope towards death on demand ( PA Wire ) Several MPs voting against assisted dying have said they will do so due to the bill feeling rushed, and lack of adequate consultation over safeguarding. Others have warned of possible coercion as a reason they will not support the bill, including North Northumberland MP David Smith. In addition, some have cited moral or religious reasons as part of their decision, such as Muslim MP and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood and Christian MP Rachael Maskell. Lord Falconer has come under fire for criticising Ms Mahmood, saying that her religious beliefs shouldnt be imposed on everybody else. Meanwhile, Tory MP Danny Kruger an evangelical Christian who has been a vocal campaigner against assisted dying is under investigation for his role in a parliamentary group called Dying Well, which received 55,000 from lobbyists. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A former senior cabinet minister has become the latest political grandee to oppose the assisted dying bill, warning that it could turn the National Health Service into a national death service. Liam Fox, who is a practising doctor and served as shadow health secretary for more than four years, believes it would be impossible to prevent the slippery slope scenario of the bill being expanded beyond terminal illness, as he described the safeguards contained in the legislation as false. His warning reflects concerns among the wider public, highlighted in polling seen by The Independent, which shows that 50 per cent do not believe the NHS is in a fit state to administer assisted dying. It came as three former prime ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss united to oppose the bill, which is set to be debated on Friday, and as former attorney general Dominic Grieve warned that it would breach the rule of law. open image in gallery Liam Fox is critical of the proposed legislation ( PA Archive ) Writing for The Independent, Dr Fox said: As a doctor who became a politician, I believe that some of the so-called safeguards around this legislation are completely false. For example, the idea that the conditions set down in the bill cannot be altered in future, preventing the slippery slope scenario, is just untrue. In our political system, no parliament can bind its successor, and so any future changes to widen the scope of the law would be entirely possible. While the bills sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has insisted her safeguards are the strictest in the world, Dr Fox based his concerns on what has happened in countries that have already introduced assisted dying. He said: We can see the potential dangers we will face by considering the Canadian experience. In 2016, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) was made legal in Canada for the terminally ill. In 2021, however, the requirement for death to be reasonably foreseeable was removed; in addition, the extension to include people with mental illness has been approved in principle, and is due to come into effect in 2027. open image in gallery Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has defended her assisted dying bill ( PA Wire ) In 2022, 13,241 people died in Canada through MAID, accounting for 4.1 per cent of all deaths. This would be the equivalent in the UK of around 30,000 deaths per year. Perhaps most worryingly, more than 35 per cent of those who died by medical assistance in Canada in 2022 reported being motivated by the idea that they were a perceived burden on family, friends or caregivers. He added: The state of Oregon in the USA has expanded the interpretation of terminal illness to encompass non-terminal conditions like anorexia, diabetes, hernias and arthritis, and the Netherlands and Belgium have extended the practice to allow euthanasia for children and newborn babies. open image in gallery Liz Truss has said she is completely opposed to the assisted dying bill ( PA ) Dr Foxs opposition to the bill comes after polling from Whitestone Insights found that 50 per cent of the 2,000 people polled agreed that the NHS is not currently in a state where it would be safe to introduce assisted suicide. This increased to 68 per cent among 18- to 24-year-olds. Overall, 63 per cent did not believe that MPs have been given enough time to debate and scrutinise the legislation. Former attorney general Mr Grieve claimed that the bill would be blocked on several grounds by the European Convention on Human Rights. He was among five former senior government legal officials who warned MPs to vote against the assisted dying bill this Friday, with its passage resting on a knife edge. In their letter, they warned that the law would have serious implications for Britains judiciary, and that it seeks to overturn decades of legal convention, The Times reported. Mr Grieve cited previous rulings under the Convention that decriminalising assisted dying would breach a states obligations if it did not come with adequate safeguards against abuse and coercion, adding that the upcoming bill fails to provide such safeguards. The interventions by Mr Fox, Mr Johnson, Ms Truss and Baroness May none of whom can vote on Friday come after Gordon Brown declared that he does not support the legalisation of assisted dying, arguing that the state of the NHS means it is not the right time for such a momentous change. The influential former Labour chancellor said the days spent with his wife Sarah at the bedside of their dying baby Jennifer were among the most precious days of our lives. open image in gallery Theresa May has indicated that she would oppose the bill if she had a vote ( PA ) And, in an intervention that threatens to derail Ms Leadbeaters Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, Mr Brown called instead for the establishment of a commission to devise a fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care. Ms Leadbeater has described her 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. open image in gallery Boris Johnson is understood to be against the bill ( PA Archive ) Under the legislation, which covers England and Wales, only terminally ill adults with under six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible. Ms Leadbeater said that opponents of plans to legalise assisted dying mustnt be hearing the stories of the terminally ill. She called for the debate to focus on the problem we have to fix rather than who in the cabinet has fallen out with who else in the cabinet. A cross-party group of MPs, comprising Conservative MP Ben Spencer, Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson, and Labours Anna Dixon, have co-sponsored a so-called wrecking amendment, which would scupper the bill if enough MPs supported it. On Wednesday, Ms Dixon told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: There are a lot of complex legal and practical considerations that we dont feel a private members bill is going to allow us to adequately address, and thats why weve put down this cross-party amendment. The independent review would be something like a law commission or royal commission, and it would enable experts to look in much more detail at issues around, for example, coercion. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The EUs former chief negotiator has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to strike a deal with Brussels that would allow young people to live and work in Europe as part of his post-Brexit reset. In a policy brief setting out the potential future EU-UK relationship, Ignacio Garcia Bercero called on the prime minister to strike an agreement on youth mobility and cultural facilitation as part of a series of deals with Brussels to complement the existing trade and cooperation agreement (TCA), which currently governs trade with the bloc. Sir Keir has so far ruled out agreeing to such a scheme, which would let under-30s live, study and work across the bloc for a period, despite it being one of the EUs top priorities in renewed talks. Stella Creasy, chair of the Labour Movement for Europe, told The Independent that a deal on youth mobility is in the interests of British workers, students, apprentices and businesses. She noted existing deals with countries including Japan, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand, which allow Britons to live, study and work there for up to two years. open image in gallery Ignacio Garcia Bercero called for a veterinary agreement, which would reduce barriers for food and agriculture trade with the EU, and for the UK to join the EU emissions trading system ( EPA ) It makes sense to do one with our neighbours to open up opportunities for our young people, she added. Ms Creasy said: Given the restrictions it places on participants, its very clearly not free movement either, so the sooner we agree some terms and conditions for such a scheme the better as far as the labour movement for Europe is concerned. James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrats spokesperson on Europe, said: The youth mobility scheme is a chance to open doors for the next generation fostering cultural exchange, building lifelong connections, and giving young people the opportunity to broaden their horizons. The EU is ready, the public are behind it, and its time for the government to step up and make it happen. The fresh calls come months into the PMs much-hyped reset in post-Brexit relations with Brussels, after years of acrimony under the Conservatives. He will meet European leaders for a summit in the first half of next year ahead of the renewal of the TCA later in 2025. open image in gallery Ignacio Garcia Bercero said a repeat of previously frustrated Brexit talks can be avoided if Stamer is willing to explore the margins of flexibility around the red lines ( AFP/Getty ) Ahead of the talks, Mr Garcia Bercero said a repeat of previously frustrated Brexit talks can be avoided if Sir Keir is willing to explore the margins of flexibility around the red lines he set during the general election no return to freedom of movement, the customs union or the single market. An agreement to negotiate an EU-UK youth mobility scheme has become a threshold issue for the reset, he said. And he warned: Although it does not constitute a trade agreement, there is a risk that failure to launch negotiations on youth mobility may derail negotiations on the trade agenda. Mr Garcia Bercero said it is therefore urgent and essential that both sides engage in discussions to test respective flexibilities. As well as the legally binding agreements to sit alongside the TCA, Mr Garcia Bercero also called for a new framework to reinforce regulatory cooperation, as well as a ministerial forum to increase cooperation on global trade and economic challenges. And Richard Kilpatrick, policy expert at European Movement UK, said: If done correctly, reimagining the UK-EU relationship offers huge potential for mutual gain. There are already plans for an EU-UK summit in the first half of next year. If the government is serious about turning around our sluggish economy, then closer ties with our largest trading partner are the way to do that. A veterinary agreement, a youth mobility scheme and closer security cooperation are all areas ripe for kicking off a much closer UK-EU relationship in future. The government also needs to begin an independent, forward-looking inquiry into the true economic cost of leaving the EU, its ongoing impact on all our finances, and look very seriously about how best to mitigate that damage in the years to come. A government spokesperson said: There are no plans for a youth mobility scheme and we will not return to freedom of movement. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kemi Badenoch has admitted that Brexit isnt working, saying the previous government did not deliver after the country voted to end free movement. It comes as the Tories promised to offer a new leader with a new approach to tackle high levels of migration, warning: The system is broken, and, until we accept that, all politicians are doomed to fail. We ended free movement, but the system that replaced it is not working, the Tory leader told a press conference in Westminster. Under my leadership, we are learning from our mistakes. Pre-empting the publication of net migration figures on Thursday, Ms Badenoch said: Tomorrows figures will likely show a reduction in net immigration and no doubt the new government will try to take credit for that reduction. But that change is due to the reforms that the Conservatives made during our final months in power. At the end of 2023, the party announced an increase to the minimum earning threshold for overseas workers by nearly 50 per cent from its current position of 26,200 to 38,700, as well as ending the 20 per cent going-rate salary discount for shortage occupations. Kemi Badenoch delivered a speech in Westminster on the Tory partys approach to migration ( GB News ) Speaking alongside shadow immigration minister Chris Philp, she pledged to introduce a hard cap on the number of arrivals in the UK, and a zero tolerance policy for illegal migration. Millions want to come here, but we as politicians have to do right by the citizens of this country before anyone else, the Tory leader said. She also promised to review the UKs membership of the European Convention on Human Rights. We will review every policy, treaty and part of our legal framework, including the ECHR and the Human Rights Act. And in designing our detailed policies will put the following elements at the core a strict numerical cap with visas only for those who will make a substantial and clear overall contribution, she said. The Tory leader called for a reconsidered approach to citizenship, saying a British passport should be a privilege to be earned, not an automatic right. The shadow home secretary accused Labour of being reluctant to talk about immigration much at all, claiming: The truth is they dont have the answers. Mr Philp said the Conservatives had taken some steps to reduce migration, adding: It is also true that we need to go much further to take tougher measures, as Kemi set out a few minutes ago. And those tougher measures will include a hard cap on numbers and zero tolerance for illegal migration. So with a new leader, the Conservatives will develop a new approach. Labour scrapped the Tory partys Rwanda plan in their first week in office, after the previous government failed to get a single flight off the runway. The scheme which cost 700m in total was bound up in legal challenges and opposition from MPs and peers, becoming a symbol of the partys failed attempts to tackle rising immigration. Asked why the Conservative Party should be trusted again, Ms Badenoch said: To earn back trust you need to acknowledge where you got things wrong, and we are acknowledging today that while we may have tried, we did not deliver. We brought in a points-based system that I personally thought was only going to allow skilled migrants in and instead it allowed a lot of people at low incomes and with dependants. So we are going to change that. But we want people to know that we recognise their frustration and in many cases, certainly in mine, we share it. Angela Eagle, minister for border security and asylum, said: Its welcome the Tories finally accept that immigration spiralled out of control on their watch. But Kemi Badenoch offers no new ideas or alternative to her partys failed policies of the past. She added: The Conservatives wasted hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayers cash on the Rwanda gimmick, and its clear they would do it all over again. The Tories have learned nothing. Labour is fixing the foundations and getting a grip on the Tories immigration chaos. Our new Border Security Command is working with our European partners to smash the criminal gang networks driving small boat crossings, and were ramping up the removal of people with no right to be in the UK. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Keir Starmers national security adviser will seek to woo Donald Trumps team over the Chagos islands after The Independent revealed the president-elect fears the controversial deal will be sealed before he even enters the White House. Jonathan Powell, who negotiated the plan to hand over the islands earlier this year, is to travel to Washington in a bid to persuade Mr Trump not to tear up the agreement. He is understood to be looking for ways to cancel the arrangement amid security concerns over the crucial joint UK/US base on one of the islands, Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. There are also fears 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. open image in gallery Donald Trumps team are seeking assurances that the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration ( Getty ) The Guardian reported that Mr Powell, who worked as Tony Blairs chief of staff in Downing Street for a decade, is seeking meetings with Trumps team and is heading to Washington in the coming days. The president-elects inauguration is set for 20 January. Mr Trumps pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned in October that the agreement posed a serious threat to US national security by ceding the islands to a country allied with China. Stephen Doughty, the minister for North America, said earlier this month that Mr Trumps team would be briefed on the details of the deal to allay any concerns. As part of the agreement, the UK and US believe they have secured use of the airbase for at least 99 years, but have so far refused to publish how much they will have to pay to be allowed to use it. The Independent understands that Mr Trumps transition team has requested legal advice from the Pentagon over the agreement which will see the Chagos Islands, currently under British control, handed back to Mauritius. open image in gallery The Chagos Islands decision impacts the Diego Garcia airbase ( DOD/AFP/Getty ) Allies of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had pushed Mr Trumps team to investigate the consequences of the deal even before the outcome of the US election. Mr Farage said the next Presidents team viewed the deal with outright hostility and would try to challenge it, telling MPs: Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet as far as America was concerned. The row dates back to 1968, after which Mauritius argues it was forced to give up the Chagos Islands away in return for independence from Britain. Thousands of people were forcibly displaced from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s in a scandal widely condemned as shameful. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that he faces total humiliation on the world stage with his plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on the brink of collapse in the next 48 hours. With Sir Keirs national security adviser Jonathan Powell heading to the US in a late bid to dissuade Donald Trump from vetoing the controversial deal, doubts have now also been raised by the new prime minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who has expressed doubts about the deal struck with his predecessor. After a meeting with Mr Powell earlier this week, Mr Ramgoolam said: I informed them that I wished to have more time to study the details with a panel of legal advisers. Previously he had described it as high treason and a sellout because the UK and US would still be allowed to use an airbase on the islands in the Indian Ocean. The new Mauritian governments first cabinet meeting will take place on Friday, when they are expected to look at whether to continue with the deal which is due to be completed next summer, leaving the entire agreement on the brink. However, even if they do agree to stick with it, Mr Trumps team are hardening their opposition to what they consider to be a major security risk for the West. open image in gallery Donald Trumps team are seeking assurances from Keir Starmer that the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration ( Getty ) The UK prime minister and his foreign secretary David Lammy have insisted that they had no choice but to hand over the islands, including Diego Garcia where the UK and US have their major airforce base, to Mauritius because of a ruling by the International Court of Justice. Mr Lammy has doubled down claiming that the deal is good one guaranteeing the use of the airbase for the next 99 years. But the government has refused to publish details and costs of the deal. But Tory shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who has been pressing for answers on the plan, told The Independent: If this deal collapses it will be a total humiliation for Starmer and Lammy. Mr Lammy told MPs on the foreign affairs select committee that he is confident the deal will be agreed but conceded the new Mauritian government needed time to study it. He said: We have only just engaged with the new government in Mauritius, there was an exchange of letters between the prime minister and the new leader of Mauritius. We have got to give them time to get into the arrangements, but I hope we can sign the treaty. He dismissed previous comments on high treason as being words during an election campaign. Asked about the incoming Trump administrations opposition, he noted: The national security agencies in the United States think this is a good deal. The state department think this is a good deal. Most important the Pentagon and White House think this is a good deal. open image in gallery David Lammy insisted that the handover would go ahead ( PA Wire ) Mr Lammy also declined to say whether alleged phone hacking by the previous government, revealed by The Independent, was a problem in the negotiations but told MPs it was being investigated properly. On Wednesday night, culture secretary Lisa Nandy told ITVs Robert Peston she was confident Mr Trump would not veto the deal. My experience of President Trump last time he was in office is that his team was very pragmatic... theyll see that that is in our mutual interest, she said. The Independent revealed this week that the Trump team has been seeking assurances that Sir Keir would not try to accelerate the deal to get it completed before his inauguration in January. Joe Bidens outgoing administration backed the deal but following an intervention from Nigel Farage and legal advice sent by Brexiteers to Mr Trump, the incoming president has been looking for a way to veto it without embarrassing Sir Keir. Meanwhile, Mr Powell, who negotiated the plan to hand over the islands earlier this year, is to travel to Washington in a bid to persuade Mr Trump not to tear up the agreement. With security concerns over the crucial joint UK/US base on Diego Garcia, there are also fears the deal will allow China access to the islands to build their own rival base. Mr Trumps pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned in October that the agreement posed a serious threat to US national security by ceding the islands to a country allied with China. open image in gallery The Chagos Islands decision impacts the Diego Garcia airbase ( DOD/AFP/Getty ) Stephen Doughty, the minister for North America, said earlier this month that Mr Trumps team would be briefed on the details of the deal to allay any concerns. The Independent understands that Mr Trumps transition team has requested legal advice from the Pentagon over the agreement. Mr Farage warned the next presidents team viewed the deal with outright hostility and would try to challenge it, telling MPs: Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet as far as America was concerned. The issue dates back to 1968, after which Mauritius argues it was forced to give up the Chagos Islands in return for independence from Britain. They had been the administrative centre for the islands in the British empire even though they are more than 1,000 miles away. Thousands of people were forcibly displaced from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s in a scandal widely condemned as shameful. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at Donald Trumps tariff threats with an apparent warning that 1 million Americans working for British companies stand to be affected. It comes as the president-elect indicated that he will slap tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China as soon as he re-enters the White House in January, raising fears that the UK is next. The prime minister is facing continued warnings that the UK will be economically isolated unless it chooses between a trade deal with Trumps US and closer ties with the EU. But Labour ministers have so far refused to be cowed by the threat from the US, or commit to making further concessions on the Brexit reset, when pressed in the Commons. In a briefing to journalists, No 10 highlighted the 304bn that UK-US trade was worth over the last year. open image in gallery Trump has been warned that any tariffs he introduces could affect 1 million Americans working for UK firms ( Reuters ) It comes after the president-elect threatened to unilaterally impose massive levies of 25 per cent on imports to the US from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. During the election campaign, he announced plans to introduce 20 per cent tariffs on all imports to the US, with the levy rising to 60 per cent for Chinese imports. Sir Keirs government is reported to be ready to retaliate if Trump does threaten the UK with US brands such as Levis and Jack Daniels on the tariff hit list. But Labour insists it will resist making concessions on the Brexit deal with the EU, despite calls for Sir Keir to refuse to take Trumps threats on the chin and to continue to pursue closer ties with the European Union, Britains largest export market. In what will be widely seen as a warning to Trump of the implications of any tariffs imposed on the UK, Downing Street said: A million Americans work for UK-owned businesses and vice versa, and the fact that UK-US trade was worth 304bn in the last year, clearly that is something that we want to build on. Asked in the Commons by Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary about the president-elects confirmation of tariffs to be imposed on Canada one of Americas closest allies a Foreign Office minister, Stephen Doughty, also pointed to the number of jobs that would be affected. open image in gallery Labour insists it will resist a key Brexit concession with the EU despite Trumps tariff threat ( PA Archive ) Mr Doughty told MPs: We have a thriving trading and investment relationship with the United States, with more than 1 million British citizens working for US firms and vice versa. He added: We look forward to working with President-elect Trump in office, including on his policy priorities and to improve our trading relations. But he rejected Mr MacClearys calls to sit down with European allies to agree a new youth mobility scheme. Mr Doughty told him: We are engaged in a number of conversations with the EU ... We will look at EU proposals on a range of issues, but there are no plans for a youth mobility scheme, nor will we return to freedom of movement. When it comes to reprisals against US-imposed tariffs, officials have told ministers that they would be able to revive a package of EU measures that were used against the US during Trumps first term in the White House, without their having to be subject to an investigation by Britains trade watchdog, Politico has reported. The measures were implemented following Trumps imposition of levies on European steel, and they were carried over after Britain left the EU. They targeted a number of US products, including goods made by Calvin Klein and American staples such as peanut butter. The Liberal Democrats have called on the prime minister to Trump-proof the economy ahead of the new presidents inauguration. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Fewer than one in five teachers believe a school-wide ban on mobile phones would improve student behaviour, a survey has suggested. More than two in five (41%) teachers agree that mobile phones can be a teaching tool within schools, according to the poll. The survey of 1,001 UK teachers also suggested only 20% said unauthorised mobile phone use disrupts their classrooms most frequently. The most disruptive behaviours cited were student chatter (80%), inattention (75%), inability to sit still (65%) and disrespect towards other students (55%). The findings, shared exclusively with the PA news agency, come after Labour MP and former teacher Josh MacAlister introduced a Private Members Bill in Parliament last month on protecting children from harms caused by excessive screen time. Rather than seeing phones as purely disruptive, many teachers recognise they could be useful learning tools when managed well Duncan Verry, Bett Mr MacAlisters Bill calls for a legal requirement to be introduced so all schools in England are mobile-free zones. But the YouGov poll, carried out for education technology exhibition Bett in August, found just 18% of teachers believe a school-wide phone ban is a measure which will improve student behaviour in their school. When asked to select their top measures for improving pupil behaviour the majority pointed to reduced class sizes (57%) and increased support for students with behavioural challenges (50%). Schools in England were given guidance under the former Conservative government in February intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day but it is currently non-statutory. Last month, Downing Street signalled that the Labour Government is unlikely to back Mr MacAlisters Bill as headteachers can already ban phones from schools at their own discretion. A Department for Education (DfE) blog, published last month, said the use of mobile phones in schools can lead to distractions, disruption and can increase the risk of online bullying and they have no place in classrooms. Views are clearly mixed about whether mobile phones can be used as learning tools in a manageable way Pepe DiIasio, Association of School and College Leaders Duncan Verry, portfolio director at Bett, said: Our research indicates that teachers take a balanced view of mobile technology in schools. Theyre clear-eyed about both the challenges and benefits of phones in educational settings. Rather than seeing phones as purely disruptive, many teachers recognise they could be useful learning tools when managed well. He added: Whats particularly striking is that teachers view phone-use as a relatively minor disruption compared to traditional classroom management challenges. This suggests we should consider phone policies as part of a wider conversation about supporting teachers and creating effective learning environments. Our bigger concern is their use outside of school time, which is where problems such as cyberbullying, addictive behaviour and exposure to inappropriate content generally happen Pepe DiIasio, Association of School and College Leaders Pepe DiIasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: Views are clearly mixed about whether mobile phones can be used as learning tools in a manageable way. Some people argue they are part of life and utilising them in supervised circumstances can provide valuable learning opportunities while others feel they are always a potential distraction. However, we have reached a point where government guidance has fallen on the side of prohibiting their use entirely during the school day, including in lessons. Given increasing concern about the impact of this technology on young people, that may be a reasonable place to land. But our bigger concern is their use outside of school time, which is where problems such as cyberbullying, addictive behaviour and exposure to inappropriate content generally happen. The answer is tougher regulation of online platforms. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said: Individual schools know their pupils and communities, so are best-placed to make decisions on phone use based upon what works for them and for their pupils education and wellbeing. He added: Schools already have the power to implement their own policies on mobile phones and most have clear guidelines in place which they review regularly. A Department for Education spokesperson said: We know that technology can bring many benefits to childrens education, but mobile phones are a distraction from learning and our guidance is clear that it is for headteachers to decide how to prohibit their use in a way that will work in their own schools. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Labour MPs call for a law to tackle Islamophobia has provoked concerns about Keir Starmers commitment to freedom of speech. Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley MP Tahir Ali raised the issue of hate crimes against Muslims as part of Islamophobia awareness month on November. He went on: Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the desecration of religious texts, including the Koran, despite opposition from the previous government. Acts of such mindless desecration only serve to fuel division and hatred within our society. Will the prime minister commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions? open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer did not reject the idea of measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions in his answer ( PA Wire ) The MP later tweeted: As November marks Islamophobia Awareness Month, it is vital the Government takes clear and measurable steps to prevent acts that fuel hatred in society. The problem of Islamophobia has been a growing issue in the UK and appears to have been exacerbated by the Israel/ Gaza war. In the year following Hamass 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the charity Tell Mama UK said it has recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate, the highest annual total in 14 years. Mr Alis question raised concerns he was in effect calling for a blasphemy law, but Sir Keir did not reject the proposal in his answer while not committing himself to any specific action. He replied: I agree that desecration is awful and should be condemned across the House. We are, as I said before, committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division, including Islamophobia in all its forms. Tory veteran MP Sir David Davis, a longstanding campaigner foor civil rights who once resigned his seat in protest over government authoritarianism during Tony Blairs government, expressed his disappointment at the prime ministers response. He posted on X (formerly Twitter): For centuries, one of the most important features of Britains freedom of speech is the absolute right to criticise religion. Freedom of speech is fundamental to everything we have and everything we stand for. I regret Keir Starmer did not make that clear to Mr Ali at PMQs. Journalist and former peer Matt Ridley described it as a black day. He said: A truly black moment for Britain to hear a prime minister effectively endorse the idea that we should reintroduce blasphemy laws. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UK will continue to trade arms with Israel during its war in Gaza despite a ceasefire in Lebanon, Keir Starmer has said. The prime minister reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself from attacks, including from Iran. More than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was suspended for 60 days due to the ceasefire deal, with both sides withdrawing from southern Lebanon, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. In response, Sir Keir called for a wider ceasefire in the Middle East region to lead to an end to hostilities. He told MPs: We must seize this opportunity to build trust, de-escalate tensions and push for a wider ceasefire. open image in gallery Peacekeepers secure the area in Khardali, southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) The halt to fighting in Lebanon was long overdue, but demonstrates that diplomacy can succeed even in the most challenging of circumstances, he added. But challenged by SNP MP Brendan OHara on what he called the UKs morally repugnant arms sales to Israel, Sir Keir said: I have set out my position very clearly in relation to the sale of capability to Israel to defend itself against attacks, such as those from Iran, and I am very clear that we will continue to do so. In September, foreign secretary David Lammy did suspend arms export licences to Israel - around 30 of 350 export licences - for use in military operations in Gaza following a review of Israels compliance with international humanitarian law. Last month the world held its breath as Israel launched three waves of air strikes on Iranian military targets, explicitly linking them to missile strikes from Tehran weeks earlier. Israel had made no secret of its plans to hit back against Iran, which it also blames for backing Hamas in Gaza. At the time Sir Keir called for restraint, saying: "I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression and I am equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. Meanwhile, Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said she cautiously welcomed the deal for a ceasefire while recognising there is a long road ahead. She added: A huge international effort will be needed if this agreement is to endure. If it works, it could bring long awaited relief for many and potentially a pathway to sustainable peace. The key to a sustainable end to the conflict in Gaza remains the release of the hostages. Hamas should release all remaining hostages immediately and unconditionally. open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer has now called for a wider ceasefire in the Middle East region to lead to an end to hostilities. ( PA Wire ) Mr Lammy said the ceasefire announcement offers hope. He added: We strongly urge all parties to use this agreement to open a pathway to a lasting peace. We must seize this moment. It must be a turning point that builds momentum towards a lasting peace across the Middle East. In Gaza, we need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all the hostages and an end to Israeli restrictions on aid. The intolerable suffering must end. He also indicated that British troops could train and support the Lebanese armed forces to secure the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah. He told the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Emily Thornberry that the UK had previously given "training and support" to the Lebanese army and said yes when asked if that would be renewed as part of the peace deal. The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the ceasefire and expressed gratitude to the USA, France, and others who helped facilitate the agreement. We hope that in due course communities on both sides of the border will be able to return safely to their homes and livelihoods, Mr Rosenberg said. We pray that this breakthrough leads quickly to a wider cessation of hostilities in the region, including in Gaza, with the release of the hostages, aid and relief to Gazan civilians, and moves towards lasting peace and security between Israel, the Palestinians and the wider region. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy 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. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Prime Minister has encouraged young people to get involved with AI, saying the world is in the foothills of a revolution. Sir Keir made the comments during a visit to Googles AI Campus, which launched on Wednesday in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, where he emphasised the technologys ability to transform millions of lives across our country. The facility in Somers Town is a partnership between Google, Camden Council and Camden Learning and aims at inspiring a new generation of AI-talent through educating young people and teachers. In a speech to attendees, the Prime Minister said he wanted the UK and London to be the best place in the world to start and scale and AI business. To every young person, whether in this room or elsewhere, I say, whatever your interest, whatever your talent, AI is the opportunity of this generation Sir Keir Starmer We do stand in the foothills of a revolution. Its a revolution thats taking place across the world. There is a race on now, for AI, we are well-placed in that race, he added. Sir Keir also emphasised the importance of ensuring that children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to access AI-related jobs and education. He said: Success belongs to our young people, and this will help make sure theyve got the skills that they need for the jobs of the future. To every young person, whether in this room or elsewhere, I say, whatever your interest, whatever your talent, AI is the opportunity of this generation. Its your opportunity. Get involved. Take advantage of it, he added. The Prime Minister went on to praise British computer scientist Sir Demis Hassabis, founder of the London-based AI start-up DeepMind, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last month. During the visit, the Prime Minister had a tour of the facilities and met with students on a two-year AI Connect pilot programme. The course, which began last month, will provide 32 Year 12 students from across the Camden borough with real-world projects that connect AI tools and skills to a range of fields including health, social sciences and the arts. On Wednesday, Google announced more than 865,000 in funding through its philanthropic arm to train teachers across the country on AI and equip them with resources to help engage their students on the topic. The teacher programme, co-developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind, will deliver this training with the aim of reaching more than 250,000 additional pupils by the end of 2026. Leader of Camden Council Richard Olszewski said the partnership between the council, Camden Learning and Google marked a significant milestone in a commitment to provide young people with world-class opportunities. He said: By fostering collaboration between industry leaders, educators, and students, this trail-blazing initiative will undoubtedly empower countless young people from all backgrounds in the borough to thrive in the science, technology, engineering, arts and maths industries that are developing around them. Managing director for Google UK and Ireland, Debbie Weinstein, said: Google is so proud to partner with Camden Learning to launch the AI Campus, an educational pilot that serves to create the next generation of AI leaders. We believe that AIs enormous opportunities should be accessible to all and this ground-breaking initiative, by empowering the next generation to learn vital digital skills, will be key in supporting the UK to unlock AIs 400 billion economic potential. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves are among 15 cabinet ministers who have been banned from entering Russia, as part of a fresh wave of sanctions on British officials. In total, 30 British citizens have been listed under new sanctions. The Russian ministry said it was putting members of the UKs political and military establishment, as well as journalists, on its so-called stop list, accusing them of anti-Russian activities. Jonathan Reynolds and Ed Miliband are among the cabinet ministers impacted. It comes just hours after a British diplomat was expelled from Russia after being accused of spying, allegations that have been strongly denied by Downing Street. Thirty British citizens have been listed under new sanctions including several senior government figures ( Getty/Reuters ) The diplomat worked at the embassy in Moscow and had replaced one of six British intelligence officers who were expelled in August, news agency Tass reported, citing Russian security service the FSB. His accreditation has been revoked, meaning he must leave the country within two weeks. The FSB claimed he had provided false information to enter the country, according to the report, saying it had found evidence the diplomat was involved in reconnaissance and subversive work that threatens the security of the Russian Federation. The British ambassador to Russia, Nigel Casey, has been summoned by the countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Tass. But the prime ministers spokesperson said No 10 refuted the allegations, adding: Theyre baseless. Were now considering our response. This is not the first time that Putins government has made malicious, baseless accusations against our staff. He added: Youll remember that the Kremlin baselessly curtailed the accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia earlier this year following action taken by the UK government in response to the Russian state directing activity across Europe and in the UK. Todays announcement is no surprise coming from President Putins government, which has overseen an illegal war in Ukraine. The UK government is unapologetic about protecting our national interests and will now respond in due course, and our embassy in Moscow will continue its important work in Russia to support UK interests. Tensions between Russia and the West have significantly escalated in recent days after US president Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use American-supplied long-range missiles to attack targets inside Russia. Meanwhile, Storm Shadow missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain were reportedly fired into Russia last week. Foreign secretary David Lammy has vowed to continue to do everything that is necessary to help Ukraine combat Russia after Putin threatened strikes on the UK and bolstered his defences with troops from North Korea. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer may be softening his stance on changes to inheritance tax, according to the boss of the National Farmers Union (NFU). After a meeting in No 10 with the prime minister on Monday, NFU president Tom Bradshaw claimed there was a more conciliatory tone regarding the controversial change which some have dubbed a tractor tax. It came as farmers descended on the port in Dover to continue to heap pressure on the government. Mr Bradshaw said: We are trying to give it a bit of room to breathe. He hasnt guaranteed me anything but I think there is a general softening of lines and I dont want to stoke the fire. In a video update to NFU members, he said: I had a great opportunity to be invited into 10 Downing Street by the prime minister. Weve been able to present outside of the discussion around what the changes are going to mean for you, your family and your future. open image in gallery Jeremy Clarkson joined farmers protesting over the changes to inheritance tax rules ( PA Wire ) The prime minister is very much in listening mode, and I hope that hes able to act on what hes heard this afternoon. Mr Bradshaw said: We will continue to fight this, I want to work with the government but they are making it incredibly difficult. His comments followed the news that at least 100 fed-up farmers are set to take to their tractors in a go-slow protest targeting Dover to show their frustration with the Labour government. The tractors were used in a rolling rally with ferry passengers, lorry drivers and members of the public showing their support. Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones said: They all know this is more than just about farmers now. The prime minister did not seem ready to compromise when he was put on the spot by Tory Scottish MP Harriet Cross who raised how it had affected one of her constituents. Ms Cross said: Sarah and her family have farmed beef cattle in my constituency for over 70 years and they had always planned for her sister to continue the family legacy. Earlier this year, Sarahs mother died suddenly and unexpectedly. She was just 58. Sarah said to me that, despite already having a tragic year, it was made even worse after the Budget. She said: Changes to agricultural property relief have hit us hard while were already struggling to cope with bereavement and losing Mum. What would the Prime Minister say to Sarah and her family, in what has been the most difficult year of their lives, in the light of the family farm tax? While expressing sympathy and asking to be sent details of the case, Sir Keir stood by the policy. open image in gallery Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the controversial change in her autumn Budget ( PA Wire ) He said: On the question of inheritance of family farms, it is important to bear in mind that in a typical case, which is parents passing to a child, the threshold is 3 million, and that is why, as she knows, the vast majority of farms will be totally unaffected. It comes days after Labour peer Baroness Mallalieu, who is president of the Countryside Alliance and joined farmers on a march against the tax changes, now warned her government that it is losing the trust of rural communities. The changes, announced by Rachel Reeves last month, will mean farms valued at 1m or more will be liable for 20 per cent inheritance tax. The Treasury says with tax allowances, in reality only farms worth 3m will be hit - or around 500 each year. But the NFU believes around three in four family farms will be affected by the tax change, putting already wafer-thin profit margins under further strain and even forcing some to sell up to pay inheritance tax bills. Sir Keir Starmer insisted his government supported farmers but indicated on Friday that he would not be u-turning on the policy, and warned the money is needed to fund public services. The prime minister told BBC Bristol: Were for working people who need to be better off, whove really struggled over recent years. Were for everybody who wants to and needs to rely on the NHS, which is on its knees, and weve got to pick it up and we will and get those waiting lists down. He has previously said the vast majority of farms and farmers will be unaffected by the changes announced in the Budget. But last week an estimated 13,000 people marched on Westminster to protest the levy, dubbing the PM Keir Starmer farmer harmer. The protest saw TV personality Jeremy Clarkson urge the government to back down over the policy, saying it is a hammer blow to the back of the head for the agricultural industry. He begged the government to accept this was rushed through, wasnt thought out, and was a mistake. Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch promised to reverse the policy if her party wins the next election, describing it as cruel and wrong. A government spokesman said: We remain committed to fully implementing the policy and are not considering mitigations. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trumps new trade chief has previously called for deals with the UK, it has emerged, as the president elects team seeks to force Keir Starmer to choose between the US and the EU. Last year, Jamieson Greer voiced support for trade agreements with Britain during evidence to Congress. He has now been unveiled as Mr Trumps pick for US trade representative just a week after a senior economic adviser to the next President warned the UK had to ditch the socialist EU and embrace the US - or face tariffs. The intervention was seen as an attempt to force the hand of Sir Keir, who is currently trying reset and improve post-Brexit relations with the EU. open image in gallery The Trump team hopes to force UK to make a choice between the US and the EU ( Getty ) Trump adviser Stephen Moore told The Times that the UK has to make a choice between EU socialism and US freedom. He said: Ive always said that Britain has to decide do you want to go towards the European socialist model or do you want to go towards the US free market? Lately it seems like they are shifting more [towards] a European model, and so if thats the case, I think wed be less interested in having [a free trade deal]. The choice of Mr Greer as trade representative will be seen as another sign of the Trump teams keenness to push for possible trade deals with the UK. Mr Greer told Congress last year: I recommend that the United States seek market access in non-Chinese markets, in incremental, sectoral and bilateral agreements with other countries. Focusing on trading partners such as the United Kingdom, Kenya, the Philippines and India would be a good start. Announcing his choice, Mr Trump said that Mr Greer, a former Air Force lawyer turned trade litigator, would focus the Office of the US Trade Representative on reining in the countrys massive trade deficit, defending American manufacturing, agriculture and services and opening up export markets everywhere. open image in gallery Trump adviser Stephen Moore has said the UK has to make a choice between EU socialism and US freedom (PA) ( PA Archive ) During the election campaign, Mr Trump unveiled plans to introduce 20 per cent tariffs on all imports to the US, with that figure rising to 60 per cent for Chinese imports. Sir Keirs government is reported to be ready to retaliate if Trump does threaten the UK with US brands such as Levis and Jack Daniels on the tariff hit list. Sir Keir hit back at Mr Trumps tariff threats on Tuesday with an apparent warning that 1 million Americans working for British companies stand to be affected. In what was widely seen as a warning to Trump of the implications of any tariffs imposed on the UK, Downing Street said on Tuesday: A million Americans work for UK-owned businesses and vice versa, and the fact that UK-US trade was worth 304bn in the last year, clearly that is something that we want to build on. Overnight the president-elect had indicated that he would place tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China as soon as he re-enters the White House in January, raising fears that the UK is next. The Liberal Democrats have called on the prime minister to Trump-proof the economy ahead of the new presidents inauguration. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A 74-year-old fruit seller had no idea that one of his bananas, which go for 35 cents a pop, would one day be worth $6.2 million. A reporter informed Shah Alam, who operates a fruit stand on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, that one of his pieces of produce had been duct-taped to the wall by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and then sold at a Sothebys auction last week for a whopping $6.2 million to cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun. When he discovered the bananas trajectory, he started to cry, the New York Times reported. The piece, the vendors banana strapped to a wall with silver duct tape, is called Comedian but Alam didnt find it funny at all. I am a poor man, Alam said. I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money. The septuagenarian came to the US in 2007 from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he worked as a civil servant, the outlet reported. He moved across the world to be closer to his daughter, one of his two children, who lives on Long Island with her spouse. open image in gallery Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan's duct-taped Banana is called "Comedian," ( AFP via Getty Images ) Alam lives with five other men in Parkchester, Bronx in a basement-level apartment, paying $500-per-month in rent. He works 12 hour shifts all of which are on his feet four days a week at the fruit stand for $12 per hour. After Sun purchased the work of art, he posted news of his latest acquisition on X: This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history. I am honored to be the proud owner of the banana. Alam was astonished by the lucrative sale of the art which he wouldnt have been able to see anyway, due to his poor vision, since he needs cataract surgery, he told the outlet. Those who bought it, what kind of people are they? he asked. Do they not know what a banana is? open image in gallery Cattelan's art was auctioned for millions at Sotheby's in New York ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Cattelan, the artist, told the Times he was moved by Alams words but didnt delve deeper into his criticism. The reaction of the banana vendor moves me deeply, underscoring how art can resonate in unexpected and profound ways, he told the outlet. However, art, by its nature, does not solve problems if it did, it would be politics. Alam continues to work at the fruit stand, selling four bananas for one dollar, while Sun made plans to eat the $6.2 million duct-taped banana on November 29. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An Alabama man charged with killing four people in September has now been charged with capital murder in a separate quadruple homicide that took place in July, according to law enforcement officials. Damien McDaniel, 22, has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the July 13 mass shooting outside of a nightclub in Birmingham that left four people dead and 10 others wounded, Officer Truman Fitzgerald announced at a press conference Tuesday evening. McDaniel is also accused of three separate fatal shootings that took place on three separate days in August and September. Another man, Hatarius Woods, 27, was also charged with capital murder in connection with the July mass shooting. "These individuals started back in July, and they did not stop from September," said Fitzgerald. "We often say on these crime scenes that we have a few select criminals that add to this crime and give Birmingham a bad name." Woods and McDaniel are allegedly responsible for approximately 30% of all homicides that took place in the city between July and September, Fitzgerald said. Attorneys for Woods and McDaniel did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Including the charges announced Tuesday, McDaniel is accused of killing 11 people and wounding 29 others in five separate incidents over two months one of those charges is in connection with the Sept. 21 mass shooting outside of a different nightclub, where four people were fatally shot and 17 others injured. Fitzgerald said on Tuesday that there were "multiple shooters" in the September mass shooting, and the investigation is ongoing. The September shooting was Birmingham's third mass shooting of the year. open image in gallery Damien McDaniel faces a fresh spate of charges. ( Birmingham Police Department via AP ) Birmingham surpassed the decades-long homicide record set in 2022 after a fatal shooting Sunday marked the 145th homicide in 2024. In a 30-minute long video released Tuesday night, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sat in front of a table with 145 guns on it to represent the number of homicides in the city since the beginning of the year. He implored state legislators to help him address the rampant gun violence across the city. "Even if I give you more officers on our streets, people are still legally allowed to drive around with these types of guns," Woodfin said, gesturing to the guns in front of him. Woodfin said he supported the Second Amendment but also wanted to let voters across the city decide whether to place more restrictions on gun permitting. "If I was a betting man, I would believe the residents of Birmingham have had enough of this and want to see more gun safety laws in place that protect people in Birmingham, but that has to come from a level higher than me," Woodfin said. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Texas man, found guilty of killing, dismembering and burning the remains of his ex-girlfriend, offered no remorse when he was sentenced to life behind bars. A jury convicted Andres Tarnava, 36, for the shooting death of Marisol Klingelhofer in April 2021. In court, jurors watched footage of Tarnavas interrogation with two Texas Rangers, during which he confessed to shooting Klingelhofer four times in the face because he wanted her to face the consequences for allegedly stealing his fathers military ID and Social Security card. He showed no remorse in the interrogation, telling the rangers: My dad was my world and I would do it again. He explained his motive to the rangers: You arent just going to take something from me and just let it go. Tarnava also admitted throwing his gun away before burning her body whole. open image in gallery Andres Tarnava sentenced to life in prison after allegedly killing and dismembering his ex-girlfriend ( KSAT 12 ) But a friend of Klingelhofer took the stand, testifying that Tarnava told me he cut her up and burned her. The witness also told the jury about the last moments he saw her alive. The pair were sitting and talking in a pickup truck when, the witness said, I saw him pull out something, looked like a gun, and shot her twice. I heard her say, No, no. He shot her once and she started yelling again. And he shot her again and I didnt hear more voice. A jury convicted Tarnava in June. Klingelhofer was a mother. One of her children, Priscilla Gonzalez, told Fox San Antonio in June: My mom didnt deserve that. We didnt get to say goodbye, we didnt get to give, I didnt get to give her that last hug and tell her I love you, she told the outlet. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales also shared his condolences. There is never a reason to use violence in any situation, Gonzales told WOAI in a statement. Had the defendant not taken matters into his own hands, Marisol would be alive today. Our office is always ready to seek justice and todays verdict is a representation of that. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Marisol Klingelhofer. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A New Hampshire jury on Tuesday found a former leader at a youth detention center guilty of holding down a teen while he was raped in 1998. The jury deliberated over three days following a four-day trial. Bradley Asbury, now 70, was found guilty on both counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault. He faces a maximum prison term of 20 years on each count. Asbury served as a house leader at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. He was accused of restraining 14-year-old Michael Gilpatrick on a staircase with help from a colleague, while a third staffer raped the teen and a fourth forced him to perform a sex act. It was the second criminal trial to stem from a broad 2019 investigation into longstanding abuse at the center. Asbury is among 11 men who worked there or at an associated facility in Concord who were arrested. The case turned on the testimony of Gilpatrick, now 41. He said hed struggled to cope with the attack for many years and that talking about it at the trial was part of a healing process. He said he wanted to hold the perpetrators accountable and recalled having an out-of-body experience during the attack. I can see it happening, but I cant do anything, he testified. I was just not there. But there. Gilpatrick got into several heated exchanges during cross-examination, and at one point called the defense lawyer a sick man as the attorney urged him to repeat his claim of rape over and over. During closing arguments, the lawyer, David Rothstein, said I want to apologize to anyone I may have upset during that exchange, or any other exchange. Rothstein said Gilpatrick lived in an imaginary world in which hed created villains to explain things that had gone wrong in his life. Mike Gilpatrick falsely accused Brad Asbury of a crime that he not only didnt commit, but which, in every shape and form, was virtually impossible to commit, Rothstein said. He said there were no eyewitnesses or corroborating pieces of evidence, and that Gilpatrick had changed crucial details over time to suit the narrative. He said such an attack on an open staircase in the middle of the facility would have been seen or heard by somebody else. He said Gilpatrick was motivated by money, pointing out hed already received more than $146,000 against an anticipated payout from a related civil case. The prosecution said Gilpatrick didnt have perfect recall of all the events surrounding the rape but had always been consistent in his recall of the key event. He couldnt tell anybody at the time, the prosecution said, because Asbury was in charge. Instead of guiding Mike, counseling him, showing him a better way to go out and live his life, these four grown men, including the defendant, shattered the trust, said state Assistant Attorney General Adam Woods. An earlier case against Victor Malavet ended in a mistrial in September after jurors deadlocked on whether he raped a girl at the Concord facility. A new trial in that case has yet to be scheduled. The investigation has also led to extensive civil litigation. More than 1,100 former residents have filed lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades. In the only civil case to go to trial so far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for abuse he says he suffered in the 1990s, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce it to $475,000. The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan and Gilpatrick have done. Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Kentucky police officer who was shot in 2020 during protests over Breonna Taylors death is suing his department, alleging his superiors discriminated against him after he expressed his opinion about Taylor's shooting. Louisville Officer Robinson Desroches alleges in the lawsuit that Black officers like himself who discuss race or criticize their experience related to race are vilified as betraying the thin blue line. In the lawsuit filed in Jefferson County on Monday, Desroches alleges that some leaders tried to push him out of the department after he "firmly stated that the true reason he was shot in the line of duty is because LMPD officers killed Breonna Taylor.' He says one commander criticized his long rehabilitation after he was seriously wounded in the shooting. Louisville Police declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, but said in a statement that the department strives to create an inclusive environment where employees feel welcomed, valued, and respected. The department takes seriously any accusations of harassment and/or discrimination. When employees injured in the line of duty are ready to return to work, LMPD strives to provide reasonable accommodations to place the employee in alternative roles in the department until they are cleared by a doctor to return to full duty, the LMPD statement said. open image in gallery A mural depicting Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead in her home by police ( Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Desroches remains a Louisville police officer but is on workers compensation leave for his physical and mental health, his attorney Sara Collins said Tuesday. Desroches and another officer were shot during intense street protests in September 2020. The unrest occurred after former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that a grand jury had declined to indict the officers who shot Taylor during a deadly police raid earlier that year. Desroches was shot in the stomach, and the bullet traveled close to his spine. It took over a year before he was able to return to work on light duty, the lawsuit says. The other officer was not seriously wounded. When Desroches returned to duty, he was assigned to the recruitment department and superiors later approached him about taking on a role doing speaking engagements for media coverage. Desroches says in the lawsuit that he believes the department wanted to use his experience as as Black officer who was shot during the 2020 protests to improve LMPDs publicity and recruitment efforts. He declined the position, saying he did not want his image and story twisted to portray a false narrative about LMPD, since he held some negative views about the department, the lawsuit says. Desroches said his superiors soured on him after that, and he was not offered a recruiting position upon returning to full-time status, according to the suit. He alleges he also was told by a command staffer last year that there was a target on his back, the suit says. The man who shot Desroches, Larynzo Johnson, pleaded guilty in 2022 to two counts of assault, along with dozens of counts of endangerment. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Desroches is seeking punitive and compensatory damages from the Louisville Police department. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A man has been arrested on murder charges for a DUI crash that killed a pair of toddlers in California. Alexis Garcia, 28, from Santa Barbara County, has been charged with two counts of murder, one count of DUI, and one count of felony hit-and-run and will be booked upon his release from hospital, according to KTLA5 . Investigators allege that Garcias vehicle struck a car with the two toddlers, aged 3 and 4 inside after he allegedly ran a red light on Sunday night in Rialto, San Bernardino County. Police say that the young victims were inside their parents white Honda Accord which was turning left when the Blue Dodge Ram pickup truck Garcia was driving, struck it side-on. Their vehicle then careened towards a black tow truck, said Rialto Police Departments Sergeant Daniel Smith. One of the toddlers was launched from the vehicle upon impact and later both were declared dead at the scene, Smith confirmed. open image in gallery Alexis Garcia, 28, from Santa Barbara County who was reportedly driving a Blue Dodge Ram that broadsided the familys car will be booked into West Valley Detention Center upon his release from hospital ( Rialto Police Department ) The girls father, Marky Flores, 25 required hospitalization for moderate injuries, and the mother Valencia Avilez, 24, was uninjured, said ABC7 . Lisa Avilez, the step-grandmother of the two girls, identified them formally as Neveah and Alenia Flores. She told KTLA5: Im lost for words. I just had them two weeks ago. I just went out and bought Christmas clothes for them Im angry. Im angry. People do not need to be driving drunk. How many fatalities is it going to take? He just took two innocent childrens lives, and now my daughter is a mess. Garcia allegedly attempted to leave the scene of the fatal accident but police found and arrested him 400 yards away. He was still being treated for injuries acquired during the crash on Monday evening and when discharged he he will be booked into West Valley Detention Center, authorities told ABC7. The girls father is reportedly undergoing surgery in the hospital, according to a GoFundMe campaign that has been created to support the parents with medical and funeral expenses. An investigation into the crash remains ongoing and The Independent contacted the Rialto Police Department for information. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Florida man who was critically injured in a shootout with federal marshals has been charged with killing and dismembering his girlfriend and packing her remains in a suitcase. The crime was traced beginning last month after Jorge Quintero, 41, began sending suicidal text messages from his home in Orange County, Florida, to his family and friends, according to court documents detailing the investigation. Friends, concerned for his wellbeing, went to Quintero's house, where they found a bathtub covered in blood, with a knife teetering on the edge. Quintero was not home, and one of the friends immediately notified police, reported News 6 Orlando. Orange County sheriff's deputies arrived a short time later and reportedly found clothes covered in blood, notes that they believed to be suicide messages, and information about an apartment complex. Security footage reviewed by law enforcement showed a "male figure" leaving the back door of the home and driving away in a white truck, officials reported. Deputies later learned that Quintero had been leasing an apartment to move in with his girlfriend, 29-year-old Carmen Carrera. Deputies searching that apartment found bloody towels and blood stains on the walls, as well as Carreras clothes, wallet and keys, according to the court documents. Investigators traced Carrera's cell phone to a location in Seminole County, Georgia, near where Quintero had been driving a rented truck days earlier, according to reports by law enforcement officials. Deputies who located the truck reportedly discovered a garbage bag in the bed of the vehicle that appeared to be in the shape of a human body. Tests from the apartment, meanwhile, linked spatterred blood there to both a male and female, according to officials. Investigators reportedly also discovered on security footage that after Carreras disappearance that Quintero charged gas purchases to her bank account, and was wearing a blue cloth around his neck that may have served as a bandage. open image in gallery Jorge Quintero, 41, has been charged with the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Carmen Carrera, 29. ( Orange County Jail ) Deputies and federal law enforcement officers eventually tracked Quintero's white truck to Saraland, Alabama, where they confronted him on Halloween, triggering a shootout. Quintero was critically wounded and transported to a nearly hospital, and has survived. Investigators in Georgia, meanwhile, found a discarded suitcase with Carrera's remains inside. Quintero has denied knowing anything about the whereabouts of his girlfiend, officials said. An autopsy determined that Carrera had been strangled with a power cord. Investigators have accused Quintero of taking the suitcase with her remains to the Alabama-Georgia state line and discarding it off Highway 84, where it was later recovered by law enforcement authorities. Quintero was booked into the Orange County Jail on Monday, and has been charged with first-degree murder. Hes being held without bail. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Police are probing suspicious payments made by a Hawaiian woman who went missing more than two weeks ago in Los Angeles. According to the family of Hannah Kobayashi, a 30-year-old photographer from Maui, police are investigating a pair of payments she made over Venmo to a man and woman on November 9, shortly before her disappearance, and just after she missed her connecting flight from LA to New York, according to the US Sun. One of the payments was sent at 6:25pm to a woman named Veronica Almendarez and was labeled with a bow-and-arrow emoji. 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 news site. The woman's aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told the outlet that their search efforts are still focused on downtown LA, and that they still have hope to find Kobayashi alive. open image in gallery Hannah Kobayashi, 30, vanished last week while traveling from Hawaii to New York City ( Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook ) She asked people "across the nation to keep an eye in case she has been taken outside of California." We are looking at all possibilities, hotels, metros, bus, train stations, she said. It's unclear exactly how much she sent in the payments she made before she was last heard from on November 11. It was then that the Kobayashi family said they received a "strange and cryptic" text from the woman's 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 told the Associated Press on Saturday. She said the phone "just went dead" after November 11. Pidgeon did not elaborate on the texts. She did say that the family reviewed surveillance footage of her near the Pico Metro station in downtown LA with an unidentified person who Pidgeon believes "misled her." "We believe that she just trusted the wrong person," she told USA Today. Kobayashi's disappearance is sadly not the only tragedy the family is weathering. open image in gallery LAX security footage shows Hannah Kobayashi earlier in November. Ryan Kobayashi, father of Hannah Kobayashi, right. Ryan Kobayashi died by suicide in Los Angeles on November 24 ( Facebook/Fox News ) Early on Sunday morning, the body of Hannah's father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found near the Los Angeles International Airport. The 58-year-old had flown out to LA to search for his daughter, and apparently died by suicide, according to a county coroner's report. The coroner's report listed his cause of death as suicide caused by multiple blunt-force traumatic injuries. Pidgeon told USA Today that Kobayashi's father died of a "broken heart." "Being on the streets and seeing what the possibilities of where his daughter could be. No sleep. The speculating rumors that are going around. It just took a toll on him," she said. Meanwhile, volunteers in LA have gathered to help search for any sign of Kobayashi. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A mom has been accused of starving her two-month-old son to such an extent that police officers said he looked like a Holocaust survivor. Christin Donat, 26, of Evansville, Indiana, was arrested and charged with two child neglect charges in connection to her babys severe malnourishment, Vanderburgh Countys Sheriff Noah Robinson told reporters on Monday. According to an affidavit seen by The Independent, Department of Child Services worker Michael Smith was summoned to the Deaconess Gateway Hospital on November 6 to a report of a child suffering from malnutrition, starvation, and dehydration. The two-month-old child had been taken from his mother and rushed to the hospital by a friend, according to the affidavit. The infant was so malnourished that his skin was hanging off his arms and he weighed just 6 pounds, 6 ounces two ounces lighter than he had weighed at birth, the documents state. One of the terms used to describe this childs condition was almost as that of a Holocaust survivor, Robinson said. The sheriff described the infants condition as similar to emaciated temporal wasting a condition that causes significant weight loss with a sunken-in face, where literally all the fat has been used in the body, trying to keep it alive, resulting in the skin hanging from the bone. open image in gallery Christin Jade Donat, 26, (pictured in mugshot) was charged with two counts of child neglect ( Vanderburgh County Sheriffs Office ) Donat allegedly arrived at the hospital hours after her child was rushed to emergency care, claiming that she had needed to rest after working a shift at a Dollar General in Evansville. According to the affidavit, Donat first told investigators she fed her infant one ounce of formula six times a day but later changed her story. She also allegedly failed to feed her son properly while he was in the care of medical professionals at the hospital, forcing staff to intervene. Donat showed some remorse to investigators saying she should have done things differently, the affidavit says. Robinson said that there was no other conclusion to make than Donat being deliberately indifferent to the needs of the child. The baby has now been taken out of Donats custody and placed with a foster family. Donat is now being held at the Vanderburgh County Jail on a $25,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A federal judge found New York City in contempt for its failure to stem violence at its notorious Rikers Island prison complex, as abysmal conditions have continued at the facility nearly a decade after a settlement meant to end them. The current rates of use of force, stabbings and slashings, fights, assaults on staff, and in-custody deaths remain extraordinarily high, and there has been no substantial reduction in the risk of harm currently facing those who live and work in the Rikers Island jails, Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote in her scathing ruling. The decision could put an outside authority, known as a receiver, in direct control of New York City jails. City officials have been directed to draw up receivership plans by mid-January. In 2015, city jails fell under federal oversight as part of the settlement in a class-action lawsuit from prisoners, who argued violence inside facilities like Rikers was so severe it violated their constitutional rights. Since then, despite regular monitoring and a suite of recommendations, violence inside Rikers has gotten demonstrably worse, the court wrote on Wednesday, even as New York spends more than $400,000 a year per inmate, six times the average of other large U.S. cities. One of the most disturbing statistics plaguing the Rikers Island jails is the number of deaths of people in custody in recent years. Nineteen people died in Defendants custody in 2022, nine more died in 2023, and five died in the first eight months of 2024, Wednesdays ruling reads. Wednesday ruling clears way for New York jails to enter a state of receivership, being overseen by an outside official ( AP ) The Legal Aid Society and the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, which helped bring the original class action, celebrated Wednesdays ruling as an important step forward, calling it a historic decision. The culture of brutality on Rikers Island has resisted judicial and political reform efforts for years, they said in a statement to The New York Times. Civil rights advocates also praised the courts decision. Rikers Island is dangerous, inhumane, and an unconstitutional nightmare, the New York Civil Liberties Union told The Independent. Todays historic decision shows by clear and convincing evidence the Department of Corrections systemic failure to protect the lives of those in its custody, the vast majority of whom are Black and Brown New Yorkers. The administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday it had made significant progress towards addressing the decadeslong neglect and issues on Rikers Island. We are proud of our work, but recognize there is more to be done and look forward to working with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails, a spokesperson told Gothamist. A receiver could dissolve or alter labor contracts for staff in New York City jails, whom critics say have abused policies like unlimited sick leave, often leaving facilities like Rikers understaffed. The ruling marks the latest high-profile accusation of dysfunction at the facility. Earlier this week, attorneys for Harvey Weinstein accused the prison of being like a gulag as the disgraced Hollywood mogul awaits a retrial of his 2020 rape conviction. When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IVs, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions, Weinsteins attorney, Imran H. Ansari, said in a statement. In 2015, Kalief Browder killed himself after being held in Rikers, often in solitary confinement, for three years without trial on charges related to stealing a backpack. His death generated widespread outrage. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A shoplifting ring that stole nearly $2 million in clothes and beauty products from Macys and other well-known stores in the U.S. and then resold them in New York City and the Dominican Republic has been busted, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. Five New Yorkers have been charged with felony possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other related crimes, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The bust served as a reminder to shoppers as the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest with Black Friday this week to make sure they are supporting legitimate establishments, she said. When a deal seems too good to be true, I guarantee you, its too good to be true, Katz said. Nationally, businesses lose roughly $100 billion and the average family pays $500 more a year because of the impact of organized retail theft, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined the district attorney and other law enforcement officials in Queens. The Democrat said the arrests also marked the first time anyone has been charged under a new criminal statute of fostering the sale of stolen goods that she recently signed into law to help crack down on retail theft. This is real simple. Weve had enough with criminals preying on our citizens, Hochul said. We are sick and tired of our citizens feeling theyre vulnerable to random crimes on the streets or these sophisticated organized crime rings. And we are coming after you. Katz, the district attorney, said the group stole high-end makeup, perfume, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories from stores ranging from Macys to Victorias Secret, American Eagle, Sephora and Ulta Beauty over a roughly two-year period. The groups alleged leaders, married couple Cristopher Guzman and Yvelisse Guzman Batista, directed shoplifting crews to steal specific merchandise as they hit multiple stores in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and elsewhere along the East Coast, she said. They are also accused of paying truck drivers to divert products bound for retailers from manufacturer warehouses directly to locations under their control. The group, operating out of a home in Queens, then resold the merchandise online as well as at a brick-and-mortar boutique called Yvelisse Fashion in Santiago, a city in the Dominican Republic. Vince Scala, a lawyer for the couple and two of the other defendants, said his clients pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Saturday. They were released pending their next court date in January. The charges are only a couple of days old, and I have not seen a single piece of evidence, discovery or police reports, he said. I look forward to reviewing the case at the appropriate time. Tuesdays announcement is part of a broader push from Hochul to counter Republican criticisms that Democrats in New York are soft on public safety issues, an issue that hurt her party in the 2022 midterm elections and has remained a consistent talking point for the GOP. Earlier this year, Hochul signed off on a handful of policies aimed at cracking down on retail theft, including increased criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, new funding for law enforcement teams dedicated to retail theft and tax credits for businesses to install security cameras. She also approved policies that allow prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when filing larceny charges and made it easier to criminally charge third-party sellers of stolen goods. Retail theft has also been a concern elsewhere. Videos of brazen shoplifting crews rampaging through stores have been widely shared on social media, fueling widespread frustration that retail crime is rampant and unpunished. Earlier this month, California voters overwhelmingly passed a tough-on-crime ballot measure that makes shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders again. The measure partly rolled back a progressive law passed by voters a decade ago downgrading several nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors, including theft under $950 in value. Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A teenager who was shot in Washington County, Oregon, sent her mom a chilling message after being critically injured: I got shot. Mama. Plz. Help me. Naomi Briggs, 16, was in a friends bedroom when her pal accidentally shot her in the stomach at roughly 5 a.m. on Thursday, according to court documents obtained by KATU2. The girls 18-year-old friend, Sky Alexander Douglas Korbut, was arrested and charged with assault in the third degree as well as unlawful possession of a firearm. The pair were reportedly hanging out at Korbuts house in the early hours of Thursday morning after Korbut picked up the teen from an evening out with friends. Korbut told police that he thought his guns magazine had been removed when he went to move it from the dog kennel it had been resting on. He went on to claim that he waved the gun toward his friend, and that it somehow went off and hit her as she was sitting on his bed, according to KATU2. Thats when Briggs texted her mother a series of troubling text messages. I woke up to that text message saying that she had been shot but her phone was off, the girls mom, Andrea Briggs, told KGW. open image in gallery The 16-year-old girl remains in ICU since the incident on Thursday ( Facebook ) The doctor did tell me there was a chance she might not make it and so its just been a struggle. She added: Hold onto your kids, you never know like whats going to happen. The gun, a Smith & Wesson pistol, was allegedly purchased from someone on the street for $650 in Portlands Chinatown, as Korbut had already failed a background check when trying to buy a shotgun for home defense, according to court documents. Korbut allegedly admitted to a 911 dispatcher that he shot Briggs. First responders found her with a single bullet hole in her stomach. The young woman who only just celebrated her 16th birthday has needed four surgeries since the incident and remains in the intensive care unit at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, according to Oregon Live . The single bullet struck the young girls intestines, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, and IVC vein and she needed at least 20 liters of blood transferred for the severe injuries, reported KATU2. Her family has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser page to help with the teens spiralling medical costs as she continues her recovery. On the donation page, Briggs was described as being too young [and], full of life for something like this to happen. Korbut has been released from jail and is scheduled to appear in court on December 2. The Independent contacted Beaverton Police, the Oregon Justice Department, and Washington County Jail for more information on the case. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An aspiring TikTok creator who disappeared after a night at a Georgia strip club has been found dead, according to his family. Jiare Schneider, 31, who disappeared on November 15, was found in a car that crashed into the woods. He'd been missing since November 15, according to police, and was last seen traveling the road where he died. "This morning, a group of us gathered, and we came out here, and we went to the woods and there he was," family friend Germequa Bell told Fox 5 Atlanta. "We knew when he disappeared that something was up." Police did not comment on when the crash occurred, but a Clayton County Police Department spokesman did say that the vehicle was "deep in the woodlice, which indicates there was a fast speed approaching the intersection." "Our officers received a call from friends and family of Jiare Schneider, whos been missing from Forest Park," Clayton County Police Department spokesperson Lt Ricky Porter told Fox 5. Schneider's family members found him Sunday inside a silver Toyota 4Runner the last vehicle he was seen driving before his death. open image in gallery Jiare Schneider, 31, disappeared on November 15 after spending a night at a Georgia strip club and was found dead in his truck on November 26 ( Clayton County Police Department ) The woods where Schneider was found is approximately 25 minutes from a content creator house where he sometimes spent time. His family members theorized to Fox 5 Atlanta that he may have been visiting the content house in the hours before his apparent wreck. Days before he was discovered, Jasnique Oliver, Schneider's sister, told Fox 5 that Jiare hadn't called his son in a few days, which she said was unusual for him. "He calls his son like every day," she told the broadcaster, noting that Schneider's young son has a chromosomal disorder that requires his parents' attention. She said that in addition to not checking in on his children, he also hadn't checked in online. Her older brother was trying to grow his presence online using the handle "Big_Homie_TooTall" to create content on Instagram and TikTok. When he hadn't posted in more than a week, his sister knew something was wrong. "He wants to get himself out there, you know, whether its with his music, or whatever he wants to get into," she told the broadcaster. A friend called Oliver on Saturday to tell her that he had been missing for a week. "We are very concerned. Weve been trying to find out what happened to him for well over a week," she said. It was ultimately Schneider's out-of-town family, and not local police, who found the wrecked truck. The family said they were glad they found Schneider but expressed frustration at what they perceived to be a lack of help from local law enforcement. "Of course, [we're] relieved that we found him, but still angry that we didn't get the resources, the help that we were asking," Bell told Fox 5. The family is trying to process their loss and look after Schneider's young son. "His son, that's all we can think about," Bell said. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A non-verbal man who vanished without a trace in 1999 has been found 25 years later after his sister spotted his photo in a news article. The man, who has not been named, disappeared from Doyle, California, in 1999 and hadnt been seen or heard from since, Lassen County Sheriffs Office said on Monday. The man, now in his mid-60s, is said to have disappeared of his own accord, reported ABC News. Now, 25 years later, the man will soon be reunited with his family thanks to a USA Today article. The article, published in May, detailed how a non-verbal man had been found on April 15 in the Florence-Graham area of south Los Angeles. The man, who was not able to communicate his name or other information that would assist with his identification, was taken to St Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. The outlet shared a photo of the man and issued an appeal to help in identifying him. A woman saw the article and called police to say she believed the man in the photo was her brother who had gone missing decades earlier. The missing non-verbal man (pictured) was spotted by his sister in a news story ( St Francis Medical Center/LinkedIn ) By that time, the mystery man had been moved to another hospital in LA, Lassen County Sheriffs Office said. The mans fingerprints were taken, confirming that he was indeed the womans missing brother. LCSOs Captain Mike Carney said on Tuesday that the sister was super excited by the news and was looking forward to being reunited for the holidays. She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know, he said. Its gonna make their Thanksgiving that much better. Caren Bohan, USA Todays editor-in-chief, told The Independent that the uplifting story was the epitome of service journalism and reaffirms our mission to enrich the communities we serve. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The third adoptive parents of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian-born woman with dwarfism who some people believe had been an adult masquerading as a child, have fallen out with her. Cynthia and Antwon Mans brought Grace, 22, into their home in 2012 after they discovered she had been living alone in Lafayette, Indiana. But the couple is speaking out in a new Investigation Discovery documentary called The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter. A teaser for the documentary shows Antwon Mans telling the producers Something aint right with Natalia. He and his wife had previously described her as a genuine and loving young lady, according to the Daily Mail. Grace first came to the US in 2008 and was placed with a couple who turned her away for undisclosed reasons, the outlet reported. In 2010, she was adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett, her second adoptive parents who the newspaper says abandoned her. The couple were later charged with abandoning and endangering a dependent. At the time, Kristine told the Daily Mail: Natalia was a woman. She had periods. She had adult teeth. She never grew a single inch, which would happen even with a child with dwarfism. The doctors all confirmed she was suffering a severe psychological illness only diagnosed in adults. open image in gallery Grace as a young child speaking on the Investigation Discovery documentary The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks ( Investigation Discovery ) In October 2022, Michael Barnett was acquitted of the charges and Kristine Barnett had her charges dropped three weeks before her trial in March 2023. The girl lived with the Barnetts for two years. The couple would later say she was a sociopath who had threatened to kill them. At one point, the couple said Grace stood over their beds with a knife and tried to poison Kristine. Additionally, the couple doubted that Grace was born in 2003 because after she was under their care, she started getting public hair and getting her period, the outlet reported. A court later agreed to change Graces birth certificate to state she was born in 1989. Thats around the time they allegedly dropped her off at an apartment in Lafayette. A DNA test this year confirmed Grace is around 22 years old. That would mean she was 10 years old when she began living with the Barnetts. Grace herself has publicly claimed she was a child when the couple abandoned her to live on her own. Antwon insinuated to the documentary team that Grace had a romantic interest that turned her against them. Shes got this dude online, he said, according to the outlet. He turned her against us. Shes ready to go to hell with gasoline panties on. open image in gallery Natalia Grace speaking in a documentary about her life ( Investigation Discovery ) In another documentary that aired in January, he and his wife told the team they were done with Grace. Other people interviewed for the documentary did not appear to paint the couple as the victims of the story. Grace has since moved out of the couples home and is trying to raise money for a $500,000 spinal surgery that isnt covered by insurance, according to the outlet. I have a type of dwarfism called Diastrophic Dysplasia a form of dwarfism that has many serious issues which often require surgery, she wrote on GoFundMe. The first treatment I need is to have my spine corrected as if I leave it too long it could lead to paralysis and incontinence. The documentary is premiering in January 2025 on Investigation Discovery. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The principal of an Oregon high school has been indicted by a grand jury after being accused of failing to protect her students from two teachers who have been arrested on sexual abuse charges, according to reports. Katy Wagner was charged with two counts of criminal mistreatment and four counts of official misconduct stemming from the ongoing scandal, according to an indictment filed Tuesday and obtained by local news outlets. The indictment, filed in Columbia County Circuit Court, asserts that Wagner "did unlawfully and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate physical care from the students of St. Helens High School. It comes following the arrest of one current and one former St. Helens High School teacher on sexual abuse charges. Choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, and Mark Collins, 64, were both detained following a two-month investigation launched by the St. Helens Police Department regarding allegations of sexual abuse at the school. open image in gallery St Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner has been indicted by a grand jury in Oregon after the arrest of two teachers accused of sexually abusing students ( St. Helens School District/ Facebook ) Stearns was subsequently indicted for seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sexual abuse. Collins was indicted on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse. Both men have pleaded not guilty and are currently being held at the Columbia County Jail, police said. According to a court document filed Tuesday, the grand jury indicted Wagner on two felony counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, two counts of first-degree official misconduct, misdemeanors, and two counts of second-degree official misconduct, which are also misdemeanors. Wagner is accused of failing to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting requirements under state law and having "consciously disregarded the fact that the violation created a risk of the commission of a sex crime against a vulnerable person." She was placed on administrative leave, along with Superintendent Scot Stockwell, as of November 15. In a statement on Tuesday, Dr Steve Webb, who has been appointed as acting superintendent, said: I understand that the community of St. Helens is hurting, anxious, and, in many cases, angry. Many of you are outraged that the system failed to protect this communitys children and that some adults allegedly failed to act when informed of misconduct. I want to echo the words of a St. Helens parent who recently spoke at a public meeting and whose comments were reported by the media: Families do not give us their students. They do not give us their children. They give us their babies. It is a sacred trust, and we have a moral obligation to honor it with reverence. That trust has been broken. The district has significant work ahead to repair relationships and rebuild trust. Healing this pain will take time, decisive action, transparent communication, and community engagement. open image in gallery Dr Steve Webb was appointed as acting superintendent following the launch of a police investigation into the scandal by St Helens Police ( St Helens School District ) Webbs words echoed a statement released by staff members at St. Helens High School on November 15 that acknowledged the events had damaged trust in the school. Feelings of disappointment, betrayal, fear and shame around these events are affecting everyone students, families, community members and staff alike, the statement read. To say the least, we are ALL struggling right now. We are working right now. We are meeting, listening, asking so many questions, and trying to figure out a way forward that can bring this school together in the wake of a crisis that should never happen to any school. But it did. We want you to know that we are in this together. We, like you, are ready for change. The coming days, weeks, and months are not going to be easy. There is much repair and rebuilding of trust to be done. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A pilot who became renowned for rescuing animals has died in a plane crash in New York state while transporting three rescue dogs said officials. Seuk Kim, 49, of Springfield had been piloting a small aircraft with the animals on board from Maryland to Albany on Sunday when he reportedly lost control and smashed into a woodland in Windham, New York roughly 35 miles southwest of his final destination, said Greene County Sheriff's Office NY on Monday. A preliminary investigation found that he died upon impact, said Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky as per CBS. A homage to the Virginia father-of-three was posted on an online obituary: It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Seuk Kim, who left us far too soon while living his dream and making the world a kinder place. Two of the dogs one a Labrador-mix puppy named Whiskey sustained injuries including two broken legs, said Greene County Sheriff's Office NY. Another, an 18-month-old Yorkshire terrier mix called Pluto, suffered minor injuries, reported CBS. Kusminsky described the state of the injured pup to CBS: "It was pretty scared and it was dug down into the snow." open image in gallery Kim regularly undertook dog-rescue endeavors across the US ( Sourced ) The animals were taken to Hyer Ground Rescue along with PAW (Partners for Animal Welfare) for care, said Greene County authorities. However, the pilot with a zest for life along with a third dog did not survive. At the time of the incident, conditions had been poor with reduced visibility. Kim reportedly made an altitude request after experiencing turbulence on board just before the crash, Fox5 reported. His 16-year-old daughter Leah Kim said that her father died doing what he loved, which was saving animals, wrote the outlet. The fundraiser posted in memory of the 49-year-old said: From a young age, Seuk dreamed of taking to the skies, and he made that dream a reality by becoming a pilot. open image in gallery A Labrador-mix puppy named Whiskey survived the crash with two broken legs and was taken to a veterinary hospital in Middleton, Connecticut said CBS ( Greene County Sheriff's Office NY ) He found immense joy in flying and used his passion to help others, including his recent work with a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and transporting dogs to safe homes. On his Facebook profile, Kim posted regularly about his pet-saving endeavors and embarked on numerous flights across the US to rehabilitate and help rehome animals in need. In October he wrote: Ive flown hundreds of dogs and never has one chewed and gnawed through a crate to get out and stand on it, looking so proud like she had conquered it (laughing emoji). Could have gone badly I suppose if she wasnt such a great dog. Velma (the wiry escape artist) is available to adopt out of Stafford/Fredricksburg area if anyone is interested. A spokesperson from the National Transportation Safety Board told The Independent on Tuesday: Two NTSB investigators arrived at the accident site Monday afternoon. Today they are documenting the accident site and airplane wreckage. The wreckage will then be moved to a secure facility for further evaluation. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday could get a little dicey this year, with winter weather forecast to impact a wide swath of the U.S. during the next few days. A record 80 million Americans are expected to hit the roads and and another 30 million in the skies over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, between today and and Monday, according to AAA. They may have to contend with snow in the Midwest, thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast, more precipitation pounding an already-saturated West Coast and the possibility of messy Thanksgiving travel in the eastern U.S. open image in gallery Snow and rain are set to impact larger portions of the U.S. this week as people begin to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday ( AP ) This unsettled weather is forecast before temperatures are projected to plummet during the last week of November and the first days of December. Heres a look at the holiday week weather forecast: Today open image in gallery Snow piles up on a statue during a storm last weekend in Mammoth Lakes, California. The state will see dry conditions after days of unsettled weather ( (Cody Mathison/Mammoth Mountain via AP) ) While snow is expected to end over the Rockies this morning, the low pressure system responsible for the snowfall will intensify and move through the Midwest and into the Northeast through Thanksgiving. One tricky travel area will be in and around the Denver area as snow spreads across the area on Wednesday, where 1-3 inches of snow is expected to fall, said AccuWeather Meteorologist Emma Belscher. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are also expected across the Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, and Tennessee Valley through the afternoon. The rain will move east through Thursday, as well. open image in gallery Motorists slowly navigate the southbound lanes of Pena Boulevard to leave Denver International Airport on Tuesday. Snow is expected to end over the Rockies this morning ( (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) ) Temperatures from the Southern Plains into the Gulf Coast will be above average, and the West Coast was forecast to see dry conditions after days of wet weather. Today will be the last day of above average temperatures throughout the South. Elsewhere, snow showers across the Upper Great Lakes may yield anywhere from 4-8 inches over the northern coastline of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as northern parts of the Lower Peninsula, the National Weather Service said. Thursday The weather will turn on Thursday, bringing some potentially severe thunderstorms across the Southeast and a significant arctic outbreak in the northern Plains. Rain could cause ponding on roadways and lightning delays are possible at airports in cities from Houston to Atlanta, AccuWeather forecasters stated. Thunderstorms Wednesday night into Thursday across the South can spell trouble for any last-minute travelers as they can be accompanied by flooding downpours, damaging wind gusts and even isolated tornadoes, warned Belscher. open image in gallery Travelers rush to their gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday in Georgia. Millions of people are expected to travel during the holiday through airports ( (AP Photo/Olivia Bowdoin) ) To the north, the mid-Atlantic will have rain and snow in some areas. The western Great Lakes will continue to see snow showers, with dangerous wind chill temperatures and heavy lake effect snow likely downwind of the region. In the eastern U.S., FOX Weather said a Thanksgiving Day storm would cause last-minute travel troubles that will likely last until Black Friday and the start of the weekend. Rain is forecast in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C.. All of this comes as the National Weather Service alerted Americans about a significant arctic outbreak that would arrive in the northern Rockies and Plains on Thanksgiving into Friday. open image in gallery On Thanksgiving, the mid-Atlantic and the Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow ( AP ) A record number of people will be traveling, AAA predicted. The group projects that a record 71.7 million will head out by car, 5.84 million will fly domestically, and close to 2.3 million are expected to travel by modes of transportation, including buses, cruises and trains. The most weather-delayed airports during the holidays are San Francisco International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport, according to AccuWeather. Friday Travelers should expect significant delays, with major airports likely to see cancellations and delays in the early morning. Chilly air over the Great Lakes will bring lake-effect snow. open image in gallery Travelers walk through the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Monday in Maryland. Post-holiday travel will continue to be tricky with weather systems across the nation on Friday ( (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) ) Post-holiday travelers near the Great Lakes will not be in the clear as lake-effect snow will continue into the weekend, Belscher said. A swath of light to moderate snowfall is likely to develop across portions of the interior Northeast, with the Northern Appalachians forecast to receive 4-8 inches of snow by Friday morning, the National Weather Service noted. The arctic outbreak will move south and east through the Plains and Midwest this weekend. Dangerous wind chill temperatures are expected with a significant long duration lake effect snow event possible downwind of the Great Lakes, the National Weather Service said. The National Retail Foundation also expects a record number of in-store and online shoppers from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. This year should see 183.4 million, up from 182 million last year. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released and are returning to the United States, the White House said Wednesday, announcing a diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration. The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained by China. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. "Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years," the White House said in a statement. The release comes just two months after China freed David Lin, a Christian pastor from California who had spent nearly 20 years behind bars after being convicted of contract fraud. U.S.-China relations have been roiled for years over major disagreements between the world's two largest economies on trade, human rights, the production of fentanyl precursors, security issues that include espionage and hacking, China's aggressiveness toward Taiwan and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, and Beijing's support for Russia's military-industrial sector. The release of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China has been a top agenda item in each conversation between the U.S. and China, and Wednesday's development suggests a willingness by Beijing to engage with the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House in January. open image in gallery The three prisoners - Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung - have been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained by China ( AP ) Trump took significant actions against China on trade and diplomacy during his first term. He has pledged to continue those policies in his second term, leading to unease among many who fear that an all-out trade war will greatly affect the international economy and could spur potential Chinese military action against Taiwan. Still, the two countries have maintained a dialogue that has included a partial restoration of military-to-military contacts. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met earlier this month to discuss potential improvements. A U.S. official said the Biden administration had raised the cases of the detained Americans with China in multiple meetings over the past several years, including earlier this month when Biden spoke to Xi on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru. Politico was first to report the men's release, which it said was part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. The White House did not immediately confirm that any Chinese citizens had been returned home. Li, a Chinese immigrant who started an export business in the U.S., was detained in September 2016 after flying into Shanghai. He was placed under surveillance, interrogated without a lawyer and accused of providing state secrets to the FBI. A U.N. working group called his 10-year prison sentence arbitrary and his family said the charges were politically motivated. Leung was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges. He was detained in 2021, by the local bureau of China's counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and social controls to fight the spread of COVID-19. Swidan had been jailed for 12 years on a drug charge and, along with Li and Leung, had considered by the State Department to be wrongfully detained. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on China which are set to make a wide variety of goods more expensive come the new year. That may include your next iPhone. Trump said during the campaign that he would impose a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese products, with 10 to 25 percent tariffs being applied to other major trading partners. If Trump goes ahead with his 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods, iPhone prices are likely to increase significantly. Economists have estimated that an iPhone 16 for $1,000 may cost $300 more under Trumps policies. On Monday night, Trump said in a Truth Social post that China may face additional tariffs. I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States But to no avail, he wrote. Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before, he claimed. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10 percent Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America. President-elect Donald Trump has promised steep tariffs on goods from China ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) While Trump has claimed that his policies wont hurt consumer prices, most economists disagree. Tariffs are paid to the government by the retailer or manufacturer importing the products, not the country where the goods were purchased from. Trumps tariffs may help some companies whose products are already made in the U.S., but economists have warned that tariffs would raise costs for U.S. companies who have to buy goods from abroad, such as iPhone compartments. U.S. companies may take on that extra cost and make a smaller profit, or as is more likely, they could pass those costs on to the American consumer. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo told Newsweek: Shoppers eyeing big-ticket items this Black Friday should consider moving quickly, especially with potential tariffs looming that could potentially raise prices. Electronics, appliances, cars, and furniture are particularly vulnerable to price increases because of their reliance on imported parts and materials, Lupo added. The U.S. imported goods worth $4 trillion in just the last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Tariffs are taxes. Taxes make prices go up, the director of Texas A&M Universitys Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy, Raymond Robertson, told Newsweek. Im just so stunned that people dont put two and two together, he added. For budget-conscious consumers, the advice is clear: prioritize purchasing now if youre in the market for items like stoves, smartphones, or cars, Lupo told the outlet. Locking in lower prices before new tariffs take effect is a smart move. Waiting might result in sticker shock once tariffs are implemented and retailers are forced to adjust their pricing to accommodate higher import costs. The U.S. census reveals that smartphones are about a tenth of the goods imported in the last year and that more than 80 percent of them are made in China. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trumps calls with world leaders are worrying foreign policy experts after the president-elect and his team shut out the State Department from taking part. Trump is reported to have spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 7, with The Washington Post reporting that the president-elect urged Putin not to escalate the hostilities in Ukraine and reminded the Russian leader of the U.S. military presence on the European continent. But the Kremlin denied that the call ever occurred. Under more normal circumstances, the State Department would have been able to document and prove that the call had taken place as it usually helps to orchestrate calls with foreign leaders. As such, the conversations between Trump and foreign leaders have not been held on secure phone lines, there have been no State Department staff present to guide the president-elect on foreign policy matters and there have been no official interpreters to clear up any possible misunderstandings. Former diplomat and Obama White House staffer Brett Bruen told USA Today: Were entering a dangerous territory of telephone games, where Trump is going to have private chats with foreign leaders, and theyre going to tell their teams one thing, and Trump is going to tell our national security team another. Bruen noted that different views of what transpired during a call can prompt an international crisis. open image in gallery Trump has held calls with foreign leaders without the help of the State Department ( AP ) The government was unable to provide briefings, security clearances, and resources to the Trump team for weeks as it had not signed the legal documents required to officially begin the transition of power. The Trump team revealed on Tuesday that it has signed one of the required documents, meaning that it now has access to government information not accessible to the public, that it can now receive briefings, and send in people to the departments theyre about to take charge of. Trump, who has spoken of what he calls the deep state with derision for years, has often shared his suspicion that the civil service is working to thwart his goals. He has pledged to fire civil service staff and install loyalists during his second term. Some of President Joe Bidens phone calls with foreign leaders in 2020 were conducted without the aid of the State Department as Trump refused to acknowledge his loss, former diplomat Daniel Fried told USA Today. open image in gallery Vladimir Putin is said to have spoken to Donald Trump days after the election ( AFP via Getty Images ) Soon after his election victory was announced earlier this month, Trump began receiving calls from foreign leaders, such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump said two days after the election that he had spoken to more than 70 foreign leaders. While most calls with foreign leaders mostly include congratulations and pledges of future cooperation, some of the calls taken by the president-elect appear to have delved into policy. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, wrote on X on November 10 that he had spoken to Trump three times after the election. We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect, he wrote. We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas. Under federal law, its a crime for an unauthorized U.S. citizen to negotiate a conflict with another state, putting Trumps comments to Putin under scrutiny. There can only be one foreign policy at a time, Bruen told USA Today. What Trump is doing is saying you need to do X or Y, even though he hasnt been sworn in, even though he doesnt control U.S. foreign policy right now. He added: Most of our adversaries are able to tap into these calls, which in and of itself is concerning because it means that the Russians are spying on the calls hes having with Europe and the Middle East, and the Chinese are accessing the same ones. These are sensitive discussions. They allow countries leaders to understand where there may be potential compromises or vulnerabilities, Bruen argued. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The mother of Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, stopped by Fox Business on Monday to scold those who call her son wealthy, claiming it was degrading and that she would prefer he be referred to as the genius of the world. With her son now president-elect Donald Trumps First Buddy and in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Maye Musk sat down with Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney to gush over her 53-year-old childs accomplishments. Besides talking about the younger Musks companies SpaceX, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), she also dished on how well her son and Trump get along, especially since the election. Ive seen them together, but very shortly. I live in New York, and theyre in Mar-a-Lago or at a SpaceX launch, and they just seem to be having fun. A lot of fun, she declared, adding: And its nice for both of them to have fun, and [Elon] really respects him a lot and is really happy that theres a future for America now. She also claimed that it would be very easy for her son and DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy to slash the federal workforce and cut spending, citing Elon Musks severe and immediate layoffs when he purchased Twitter in 2022. Seemingly parroting her sons talking points, she absolutely trashed the press. What they call mainstream media, but I call them dishonest Democrat media, they will be trying to break up the relationship. They will be hating everything," she said. "And I told that to Elon, he said he expects that because they were dishonest before the election. Maye Musk praises her son Elon during an appearance on Fox Business ( Fox Business ) In the end, though, Maye wanted to make sure everyone knew her son was the best at, well, everything. And that referencing his massive wealth was a pejorative. I dont like the word wealthy or billionaire or things like that because I think its degrading, she exclaimed to Varney. I think hes the genius of the world, and people are loving him for that! They love him because of what he does, and they respect him. And Im very proud of him. Once the clip of Mayes comments was shared on social media, it didnt take long for the mockery to start flowing. For instance, multiple people reacted by sharing the meme of The Simpsons nebbish character Milhouse van Houten sheepishly saying: But my mom thinks Im cool! At least one person superimposed an image of Elon on top of Milhouse in the cartoon. Bet your mom doesnt go on Fox News to tell everybody what a good and impressive boy you are. (It is because you and your mom have dignity), Wonkette managing editor Evan Hurst quipped on Bluesky. One social media account snarked that the mother of one of the most powerful men in the world going on the News to complain about people hating on her kid is North Korean-level dictatorial bulls***, while another Bluesky user added: If my mommy had to go on the news to call me the genius of the world and to tell people to stop being mean to me, [I] think [I]would die of shame and embarrassment. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Elon Musk, the worlds wealthiest man and President-elect Donald Trumps first buddy, took to his social media platform X to ominously accuse the key witness in Trumps first impeachment of treason while calling for him to pay the appropriate penalty. Musk, who has been tasked by Trump to lead an outside agency on government efficiency named after a meme, took issue on Wednesday with comments made by former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman during an appearance on MSNBC. Vindman, who testified in 2019 that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, cited reports that Musk had been engaged in secret conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin dating back to 2022. He then expressed concerns that Musk, who has federal contracts through his SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink companies, may have shared state secrets with Putin. And [Putins] been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, thats encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump, Vindman told MSNBC. Thats not speculation. We see how far in Elon has gone. And then using Twitter as a disinformation platform. Reacting to a clip of Vindmans remarks, Musk tweeted: Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty. National Security Council Director for European Affairs Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on November 19, 2019 ( Getty Images ) Vindman in turn responded on X, tweeting: Elon, here you go again making false and completely unfounded accusations without providing any specifics. Thats the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. What oligarch? What treason? Let me help you out with the facts: I dont take/have never taken money from any money from oligarchs Ukrainian or other otherwise. He added: You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. Im not intimidated. According to U.S. Code Title 18, the penalty for treason which is defined by the Constitution as levying war against the United States or adhering to the nations enemies is death, or no fewer than five years imprisonment. Anyone convicted of treason also forfeits their right to hold public office. Unsurprisingly, a number of political observers and journalists expressed outrage over Musks remarks, especially since he is so closely intertwined with the incoming administration. Oh nothing, just a person deeply integrated into the incoming administrations center of power calling for the execution of one of his critics, The Unpoulists senior editor Berny Belvedere noted on Bluesky. Lying about a private citizen and making a not-so-veiled threat that he will be executed, The Bulwarks executive editor Adam Keiper wrote. And the person doing it is the richest guy in the world, a major government contractor, who is new besties with the convicted-felon president-elect. Do I have that right? While Musk would later clarify his threat in a follow-up tweet, claiming that Vindman has committed treason and belongs behind bars, he still hasnt explained how Vindman is a traitor to the U.S. or what proof he has that the retired Army officer is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs. The Independent has reached out to both Vindman and Musk for comment. Republicans and conservative media, meanwhile, have long accused Vindman of holding dual loyalty, citing the fact that his family fled Soviet-era Ukraine when he was 3 years old. After Vindman first testified before the House impeachment inquiry about Trumps actions towards Zelensky, Fox News hosts and GOP lawmakers said he has an affinity for Ukraine while suggesting he was simultaneously advancing Ukrainian interests while working in the White House. As reported by The Intercept at the time, the smear tactic leaned heavily on antisemitic tropes, especially since Vindman himself is Jewish. This also isnt the first time that Musk has questioned the loyalties of Vindman, who has been a frequent critic of both Trump and the X owner. Vindman is both puppet & puppeteer. Question is who pulls his strings, Musk wondered in 2022 after Vindman commented on Musks purchase of Twitter. Musks tweet deliberately or not evoked an antisemitic trope that Jews are puppeteers who secretly wield power over various institutions or that they are puppets of the Israeli government, The Jerusalem Post observed at the time. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have a new target in their war to make the government more efficient daylight savings time. The worlds richest person, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, took to X to push for the measure. All I want for my birthday is the abolishment of Daylight Savings Time, James Stephenson wrote on X on Wednesday. open image in gallery Elon Musk has bene tasked with finding government efficiences for Donald Trump ( Getty Images ) Musk responded, saying, Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes! Its inefficient & easy to change, Ramaswamy responded to Musk. Florida Senator Rick Scott, whom Musk backed in a failed bid for Senate Republican leader, added: Daylight Saving Time is old, terrible and needs to go. Pass my Sunshine Protection Act to lock the clock & give everybody more sunshine! Yes! a seemingly enthused Musk wrote. It remains unclear if the incoming Trump administration would support a change to abolish daylight savings time, but it would require congressional approval as well as by the president. Daylight saving time goes from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November when Americans change their clocks forward and back one hour to have more daylight hours during spring and summer. open image in gallery Vivek Ramaswamy is the other half of the DOGE duo ( REUTERS ) Opinion on the matter is mixed, with 44 percent saying in a 2022 Monmouth University poll that they wanted permanent daylight savings time with later sunrises and sunsets. Only 13 percent said they wanted standard time to be permanent and 35 percent said they wanted to keep the clock changes. Both local and federal lawmakers have argued for years to make daylight savings time permanent, but no single proposal has made it through both the House and the Senate. In 2022, the Senate passed legislation that was set to make daylight savings time permanent last year but it didnt go through the House. Bipartisan legislation introduced this year isnt expected to be successful, Forbes noted. Those in favor of permanent daylight savings time say that most Americans want more light in the hours after work and it may decrease energy use during the evenings. However, according to the American Medical Association, moving the clocks forward in March is connected to a rise in heart issues, mood disorders, and car crashes. In addition, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has said that permanent standard time is a better match for the bodys internal clock. Meanwhile, in at least 30 states so far this year, lawmakers have considered legislation connected to daylight savings time, the National Conference of State Legislatures has found. States cannot make daylight savings time permanent under current federal law, but 19 states have passed legislation that would do so if the federal legislation was changed. Some of the states have also taken into account what the states around them would do. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states with permanent standard time the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands have made the same change. While other states have indicated that they would like to do the same, such as Georgia, Idaho, and Tennessee, they have said that neighboring states would have to join them, Forbes noted. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President-elect Donald Trump has nearly completed his nominations for Cabinet and key government roles in his next administration but the battle is hardly over. On Tuesday evening, he nominated Jay Bhattacharya, a physician who during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic argued against lockdown measures, to be director of the National Institutes of Health. This comes after Trump nominated Marty Makary, who once said that only 20 percent of Americans needed to receive a Covid-19 vaccine for the US to reach herd immunity, to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Trump also nominated Glen Weldon, a former Florida congressman who had promoted the debunked theory that a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines causes autism, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Trumps nominees will now need to be confirmed by the Senate, which Republicans control with a 53-seat majority. Trump got a reality check last week when Matt Gaetz, the embattled former Republican congressman, pulled his nomination for attorney general after it became clear he would face Senate opposition. During his presidency, Joe Biden had to grapple with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the conservative Democrats-turned-independents, when he wanted to pass anything. Now Trump may face his own bloc of opposition within his party. Here are the Republican senators who could be a roadblock to Trumps agenda. open image in gallery Senator Susan Collins of Maine will hold immense power as the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the Trump presidency. ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Susan Collins Maine Democrats may loathe the Maine Republican for frequently insisting during Trumps first term that she was very concerned about his actions, and for voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh whom she later claimed misled her on his desire to overturn Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court in 2018. But Collins has occasionally shown opposition to Trump. She opposed the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020 and voted to convict the president-elect after his actions on January 6. This time around, she clearly had reservations about Gaetz becoming attorney general. As chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, she works with Democrats to write the budget. Collins hails from a state with ranked-choice voting so she does not have to fear a challenge from the right. open image in gallery A pro-choice moderate Republican who often wins Democratic voters, Senator Lisa Murkowski will likely frequently clash with Trump. ( Getty Images for JDRF ) Lisa Murkowski Alaska No Republican senator seems more annoyed at having to answer questions about Trump and his right-wing shenanigans than Murkowski. Like Collins, she voted to convict Trump in 2021, supported Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination and opposed the Republican repeal of Obamacare in 2017. Last week, she told The Independent she wanted to know more about Robert F Kennedys stance on vaccines and autism. Murkowski is not up for re-election until 2028, and Alaska recently voted to keep ranked-choice voting, which insulates her from a MAGA primary challenge. open image in gallery Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (center) will likely break with Trump on topics like the war in Ukraine while John Curtis, to his right, will likely make breaks on Trumps nominations. ( Getty Images ) John Curtis Utah Curtis will succeed Mitt Romney and in many ways, is a natural successor to him. Like Romney, Curtis is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, a group thats historically expressed skepticism of Trump, despite the fact they remain rock-ribbed Republicans. As a congressman, Curtis founded the Conservative Climate Caucus, and would occasionally vote with Democrats, such as when he voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. But hes often voted in step with the rest of his party, even opposing the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Romney brokered. Mitch McConnell Kentucky Now this might surprise some people. The longtime Senate majority leader is in many ways responsible for Trumps two presidencies, from blocking Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016 to voting to acquit Trump after January 6. But now that he will no longer lead the Republican conference, he is more free to strike out on his own. In addition to his criticism of some of Trumps nominees, he will be chairman of the influential Senate Rules Committee and lead the Appropriations Subcommittee for defense spending. McConnell will likely use the latter perch to defend what he wants to be his legacy item: supporting Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin. At 82, he is unlikely to run again. Thom Tillis-North Carolina Of all the senators on this list, Tillis is the most endandgered. He hails from the swingiest of swing states and has always survived in tight races. During the Biden presidency, he brokered deals on everything from codifying protections for same-sex and interacially married couples to infrastructure to guns. He seemed less than enthused about voting to confirm Matt Gaetz, saying his nomination would lead to a popcorn-eating confirmation. Thats made him a target for some on the MAGA right, and he will likely face a primary challenger when he is up for re-election in 2026. He could easily be in a tough race against a strong Democratic challenger such as outgoing Governor Roy Cooper. This article was amended on 28 November 2024. It originally stated that Marty Makary is Donald Trumps nominee for surgeon general, but that was incorrect. He is Trumps nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The man at the center of unhinged January 6 false flag conspiracy theories trumpeted by MAGA media, including Tucker Carlson, has had his defamation lawsuit against Fox News thrown out of court. United States District Judge Jennifer L. Hall granted the right-wing networks motion to dismiss Ray Eppss case on Wednesday, agreeing that he had failed to prove that Fox News had committed actual malice against him. The dismissal of Eppss defamation suit against Fox News follows the conservative cable giants victory in similar cases recently brought by former Biden disinformation chief Nina Jankowicz and Hunter Biden whistleblower Tony Bobulinski. These victories come on the heels of the network settling a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over airing 2020 election lies for a historic $787 million. Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, FOX News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment, Fox News Media said in a statement to The Independent. Eppss attorney Michael Teter declined to comment. Ray Epps at the Capitol riots on January 6 ( AP ) After an insurrectionist mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop President Joe Bidens electoral certification on January 6, 2021, Epps soon became a magnet for a bevy of baseless claims that he was working with the FBI to incite the riots and entrap Trump supporters. Fueling these suspicions was the fact that Epps, who was present at the January 6 attack but did not enter the Capitol, was not initially charged with a crime, prompting many far-right media personalities to claim he was an agent provocateur whom federal prosecutors were protecting. Eventually, these theories were echoed by Republican members of Congress and made their way to Carlsons then-primetime Fox News show. (The Department of Justice has called these claims ludicrous and a disservice to federal agents.) Taking aim at Epps repeatedly on his show, Carlson who had led the conservative media charge in January 6 revisionism said there is no rational explanation why this mysterious figure who helped stage-manage the insurrection had not yet been charged. Notably, federal prosecutors eventually charged Epps for his participation in the riots and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last year, receiving one year of probation. Epps, a one-time fervent Trump supporter and loyal Fox News viewer, said his life had essentially been destroyed by the conspiracy theories of him helping the fed concoct a false flag on January 6. Finally, he sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fox News in March 2023 demanding Carlson deliver a formal on-air apology and retract the lies he promoted on his program. Carlson, meanwhile, was fired by Fox News a week after the Dominion settlement and a month after Epps sent the apology demand. The letter was followed up four months later by a lawsuit, in which Epps claimed that Fox repeatedly published defamatory falsehoods about Epps, including by broadcasting and rebroadcasting defamatory statements by Tucker Carlson who devoted over two dozen segments to Epps and by republishing those falsehoods across its platforms. In the end, though, the judge in this case did not feel that Eppss complaint made the case that the network engaged in actual malice against him. In its motion to dismiss, Fox News argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed for failure to state a claim, noting that Epps had become a limited purpose public figure due to his involvement in the Capitol riots and that Carlsons statements did not have precise meaning or convey objectively verifiable facts. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kamala Harriss campaign aides have revealed that the hit YouTube show Hot Ones turned down their offer off an interview with the vice president during her presidential election campaign. Speaking about what went wrong for Harris for the first time since her loss to Donald Trump, campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon and senior campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter told the Pod Save America podcast that the Democrat had struggled to catch a break on some non-political podcasts. Its my understanding that you guys wanted to do a bunch of the larger, more popular, not specifically political, podcasts. Can you talk a little about why that may not have happened? host Dan Pfeiffer asked. Pfeiffer gave the example of Hot Ones, in which A-list celebrities answer questions while eating spicy chicken wings. Everyone from Ariana Grande to Jennifer Lawrence to Will Smith has been filmed taking on the so-called Wings of Death on the popular show. Cutter revealed that the popular show refused an interview with the Democratic candidate. open image in gallery Harris campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon shares what went wrong for the Democrats campaign on Pod Save America ( Pod Save America/Crooked ) I think if I remember correctly on Hot Ones that they didnt want to delve into politics, she said. And thats across the board, Dillon chimed in. I do think we had a lot of support in a number of, you know, athletes and others that were just not super interested in getting their brand caught up in the politics of this campaign and I dont think [Trump] had the same problem. Dillon conceded that Trump was able to tap into some cultural elements in ways the Harris campaign could not, hinting at the president-elects three-hour appearance on Joe Rogans podcast. I think that that had an impact on us that there were places that we knew we had support that we desperately wanted to go and have conversation that we thought would be interesting and relevant and fun, and we couldnt get there, she said. Harris appeared on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, along with All the Smoke. She was also a guest on Charmalagne Tha Gods The Breakfast Club, and Club Shay Shay. Trump, meanwhile, sat down with podcasters like The Nelk Boys and Theo Von. He also went on Logan Pauls Impaulsive podcast, where he was gifted a t-shirt featuring his Fulton County, Georgia mugshot. The president-elect also joined Kick influencer Adin Ross on his show in August and, towards the end of the campaign, he appeared on Rogans podcast, where he reached an audience of nearly 40 million. open image in gallery Stephanie Cutter said Hot Ones didnt want to delve into politics ( Pod Save America/Crooked ) Cutter added that when Trump appeared on popular podcasts, the conversation wasnt political. We did lots of outreach to many of the same podcasts that he went on. Ultimately, you know, as we said with everything in this campaign we had to pick and choose because of the limitations on time, Cutter said. Trumps 18-year-old son Barron and his friend Bo Loudon were reportedly responsible for getting Trump to appear on Rosss show and helped advise the 78-year-old how to reach young bro voters. Earlier this week, Donald Trump Jr suggested that his father was considering opening up the briefing room to podcasters like Rogan when asked if it was time to take away seats belonging to traditional media. Were gonna break some news here, Trump Jr replied. Because I literally had this conversation withI was flying backI was on the plane with my father, I think it was coming back from the SpaceX launch with Elon [Musk] last week. And we were talking about the podcast world and some of our friends and Rogan and guys like you. Trump Jr said his father was considering his options given how the media has behaved. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Before he is sworn in as president on January 20, Donald Trump will likely walk through the same tunnel where a mob of hundreds of his supporters, wearing hats bearing his slogan, bore down on police for three hours with their fists, pepper spray, stolen police shields and flag poles with the American flag twisted around them. Some of the worst violence on January 6, filmed on hundreds of devices and livestreamed to millions of people, was captured in that tunnel, where Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone was pulled to the ground by his neck, tased and beaten, while rioters yelled kill him with his own gun. He had a heart attack and fell unconscious. The violence in and around the Capitol that day was fueled by a false, ongoing narrative that the 2020 election was rigged against and stolen from Trump, who is accused of enabling a mob that set out to do what he failed to. On November 25, the Department of Justice special counsel who led two sprawling criminal investigations against the former president filed motions to dismiss them both, effectively throwing in the towel after a years-long attempt to prosecute Trump for 44 crimes, spelled out in hundreds of pages of evidence. Neither case made it to trial. Jack Smiths decision to end two federal criminal cases against Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss and for withholding thousands of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound was inevitable. After months of delays, appeals and Supreme Court decisions that gave Trump exactly what he wanted, the cases were ultimately upended by Trumps victory against Kamala Harris, throwing the courts and the Justice Department into unprecedented territory. Can they prosecute a sitting president? No, according to the agencys counsel. So thats that. open image in gallery Trump appointed his criminal defense attorneys Todd Blanche, right, and Emil Bove, to top roles at the Justice Department ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Despite Trumps public attempts to influence officials to overturn election results, impeachment hearings, congressional investigations, and real-time footage of the attack and Trumps response, followed by hundreds of court filings that thread them all together, Trump has escaped any criminal consequences for his actions surrounding the 2020 election and its aftermath. Now, Trumps allies are planning how to execute his campaign of retribution against the prosecutors, judges and elected officials who put him in the crosshairs. No one should be above the law, said former US Capitol Police officer Aquilino Gonell, who testified to the House committee investigating January 6 about the extent of injuries he experienced during the attack. Ending the case against Trump will only embolden him to fulfill his promise to pardon hundreds of January 6 defendants, he said. The Oversight Project the Heritage Foundations venture against weaponization of the federal government is planning model indictments for the prosecutors who spearheaded investigations and indictments into the former president. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning, the group wrote in a statement following Smiths motions, quoting Winston Churchill. Jack Smith and his team must be held accountable for their unprecedented lawfare. We are preparing a model indictment. open image in gallery Trump at his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court in April 2023 ( Getty Images ) Trump could also avoid any potential future investigations by simply pardoning himself, according to Heritage Foundation senior legal fellows and former federal prosecutors Zack Smith and Charles Stimson. Top officials at the Justice Department including Trumps two criminal defense attorneys in his hush money case will be under pressure to decide whether to prosecute the attorneys they faced in courts across the country. Trump nominated his attorney Todd Blanche to serve as deputy attorney general, the second-highest ranking Justice Department official, after he successfully kept Trump away from criminal consequences for his 34-count felony conviction in New York, helped him win immunity in his election interference case, and convinced a judge to toss out the classified documents case altogether. Career attorneys at the Justice Department are bracing for his arrival, and hoping that he can curb Trumps basest instincts against his political rivals. (Rod Rosenstein, Trumps first deputy attorney general, said Blanche and Bove wont allow partisanship to sway DOJ prosecutions.) I think it will be enormously difficult for Blanche to balance the orders he gets from the president with what he knows is the right thing to do, former Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich told NBC News. If I were he, I would have stayed as far away from the Justice Department as I could. I dont think it will end well for him. Blanche will serve behind Attorney General Pam Bondi, if she is confirmed in the Senate, open image in gallery New York prosecutors may seek to delay a sentence in Trumps hush money trial indefinitely to preserve a conviction after the only criminal case against the former president that went to trial before his 2024 election ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, Bondi told Fox News in 2023. 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. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon, recently released from prison, told his War Room podcast listeners this week that Trump is coming after members of the House select committee that investigated January 6. Preserve your documents, because were coming after you. You people are criminals, he said. Judges overseeing the cases against the former president and January 6 defendants cannot hide behind your cloaks, he said. Were coming for you, too. You are corrupt. Earlier this month, House Republicans demanded Smith preserve his records, while Elon Musk now a key adviser in Trumps transition after pumping more than $100 million in his campaign said Jack Smiths abuse of the justice system cannot go unpunished. In a lawsuit filed in Texas, state attorney general Ken Paxton demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland preserve case records, claiming that Smith is out to destroy them. open image in gallery Special counsel Jack Smith has moved to dismiss the two federal criminal cases against Trump, leaving open the possibility that they could be revisited after he leaves office ( AFP via Getty Images ) Paxton fears that many releasable records will never see daylight, based on his well-founded belief that the Justice Department will simply destroy the records, his office wrote in court filings. That is how they and/or their predecessors have operated in the recent past, his attorneys wrote. And Jack Smiths team has conducted itself in multiple ways that suggest it cannot be blindly trusted to preserve, and eventually produce, all of its records. The Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing that complaint swatted it down on November 25, calling it unserious, and that Paxton proffered nothing to suggest more nefarious intentions. Trump routinely conflates his mountain of civil and criminal cases with an attack on the American people and rule of law itself. The end of his federal cases legitimizes Republicans lost cause surrounding January 6, and he sees his election victory as a mandate to rewrite history. Trump has long viewed his election as his exoneration, despite the one criminal trial he endured resulting in a unanimous 34-count guilty verdict from a room of his Manhattan neighbors. A sentencing date in that case has been indefinitely postponed, potentially past his presidency, which may end up being the best-case scenario for prosecutors: The conviction will stand, and Trump will remain a convicted felon. open image in gallery Pam Bondi, seen with Trump in 2018 during his first term, has been appointed to serve as his US attorney general ( AFP via Getty Images ) But the end of Trumps two massive federal cases leaves several glaring, unsettled questions about what, exactly, a president can get away with. A monumental decision from the Supreme Court affirmed that Trump and the office of the presidency are shielded from criminal prosecution for actions tied to official duties. The attorney who argued that case on behalf of the former president? D. John Sauer, who Trump has since nominated for the next solicitor general of the United States. Sauer gave credence to an improbable hypothetical question raised by federal appeals court judges who asked whether his definition of immunity would give the president the legal ability to order the assassinations of his rivals. The Supreme Courts ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, notably does not address whether Trump could be immune from prosecution for pressuring his vice president Mike Pence to reject election results, nor did Roberts determine whether any of the conduct that makes up the charges against the former president like spreading election lies and conspiring to recruit fake electors in states he lost would count as official business. open image in gallery Trumps mugshot quickly started appearing on merchandise as he leaned into the claim that the charges against him were politically motivated ( REUTERS ) Roberts also did not address whether officials working under the presidents direction are also immune from prosecution if they were simply taking orders. Smiths filing to dismiss the case is a tactical surrender that could leave open the door for Smith to publicly release a comprehensive report outlining the case against the former president. It also leaves open the possibility that the cases could be reopened after Trump leaves office in 2029. Smiths motion to dismiss notes that the decision only rests on the Justice Departments long-standing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, which 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. Sign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Married couples across the U.S. have had access to no-fault divorce for more than 50 years, an option many call crucial to supporting domestic abuse victims and key to preventing already crowded family courts from drowning in complicated divorce proceedings. But some advocates for women worried as old comments from now Vice President-elect JD Vance circulated during the presidential campaign opposing no-fault divorce. And after President-elect Donald Trump and Vance won the election, warnings began popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to "pull the trigger" while they still could. Some attorneys posted saying they were seeing a spike in calls from women seeking divorce consultations. Trump who is twice-divorced hasn't championed overhauling the country's divorce laws, but in 2021 Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. "We've run this experiment in real time and what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that's making our kids unhappy," Vance said during a speech at a Christian high school in California, where he criticized people being able to "shift spouses like they change their underwear." Despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don't expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. And states determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can't change policy. "Even in some of the so-called red states, it hasn't gotten anywhere," said Beverly Willett, co-chair of the Coalition for Divorce Reform, whose group has unsuccessfully attempted to convince states to repeal their no-fault divorce laws. Mark A. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said that while many Americans have become accustomed to no-fault divorce being an option, Vance's previous comments on making it more difficult to separate from a spouse could help jumpstart that effort. "Even though he's not directly proposing a policy, it's a topic that hasn't gotten a ton of discussion in the last 15 years," Smith said. "And so to have a national profile politician talk that way is noteworthy." open image in gallery JD Vance criticized people being able to shift spouses like they change their underwear. ( AP ) Meanwhile, Republican Party platforms in Texas and Nebraska were amended in 2022 to call for the removal of no-fault divorce. Louisiana's Republican Party considered something similar earlier this year but ultimately declined to do so. A handful of proposals have been introduced in conservative-led statehouses over the years, but all immediately stalled after they were filed. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an "abolition of marital obligation." Similarly, in South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers in 2023 filed a bill that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. And in South Dakota, a Republican lawmaker has attempted to remove irreconcilable difference as grounds for divorce since 2020. None of the sponsors of these bills responded to interview requests from The Associated Press. All are members of their state's conservative Freedom Caucus. Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers say they remain worried about the future of no-fault divorce. They point to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort. "When you choose to be silent, you allow for this to creep in," said Democratic South Dakota Rep. Linda Duba. "These are the bills that gain a foothold because you choose to be silent." Before California became the first state to adopt a no-fault divorce option in 1969, married couples had to prove their spouse had violated one of the approved "faults" outlined in their state's divorce law or risk a judge denying their divorce, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Qualified reasons varied from state to state, but largely included infidelity, incarceration or abandonment. The system was a particular burden on domestic violence victims, often times women, who could be stuck in dangerous marriages while they try to prove their partner's abuse in court through expensive and lengthy legal proceedings. "If there was any evidence that the couple both wanted to get divorced that was supposed to be denied because divorce was not something you got because you wanted it, it was something you got because you've been wronged in a way that the state thought was significant," Grossman said. open image in gallery Donald Trump who is twice-divorced hasnt championed overhauling the countrys divorce laws, but advocates are still worried. ( Getty ) To date, every state in the U.S. has adopted a no-fault divorce option. However, 33 states still have a list of approved "faults" to file as grounds for divorce ranging from adultery to felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. Calls to reform no-fault divorce have remained fairly silent until the late 1990s, when concern pushed by former President George Bush's administration over the country's divorce rate sparked a brief movement for states to adopt "covenant marriages." The option didn't replace a state's no-fault divorce law, but provided an option for couples that carried counseling requirements and strict exceptions for divorce. Louisiana was the first state to embrace covenant marriage options, but the effort largely stopped after Arizona and Arkansas followed suit. Christian F. Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women, said she is "extremely worried" about the possibility of no-fault divorce being removed with the incoming Trump administration, Republican-controlled Congress and wide range of conservative state leaders. "With so many states focusing on a misogynistic legislative agenda, this will turn back the clocks on women's rights even more," Nunes said in a statement. "This is why removing 'no fault' divorce is another way for the government to control women, their bodies, and their lives. Eliminating no-fault divorce is also a backdoor way of eliminating gay marriage, since this implies that a marriage is only between a man and a woman." With Trump's reelection, Willett, whose group opposes no-fault divorce, said she's cautiously optimistic that the political tide could change. "Was what he said an indication of things to come? I don't know," Willett said. "It's a good thing but it's certainly not anything that has been really discussed other than a few high profile conservatives who talk about it." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Some members of Donald Trumps transition team are reportedly frustrated that Kash Patel and Cliff Sims, both MAGA insiders, appear to be using their positions to promote themselves for deputy director of the CIA. Patel and Sims are both going head-to-head for the No. 2 position at the CIA, Politico reports. The CIAs deputy director wields immense influence over the intelligence community but does not have to be confirmed by the Senate, unlike cabinet members. However, some transition team members in their orbit are frustrated that the men are advocating for themselves while making staffing decisions, Politico reports. The issue that a lot of us have is that these people are involved in staffing national security jobs, and at the same time theyre also promoting themselves for the same roles, an unnamed insider told Politico. Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokesperson and soon-to-be White House press secretary, denied Politicos reporting. This story is 100% false, Leavitt said in a statement to The Independent. The fake news is clearly trying to sow division between two of President Trumps most loyal supporters. President Trump is choosing brilliant people to serve on his team, and those decisions will continue to be announced as he makes them. open image in gallery Kash Patel is vying against Cliff Sims for the second-highest CIA position, Politico reports ( REUTERS ) Patel previously served as a National Security Council official, senior adviser at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. He is a Trump loyalist who has railed against the so-called Deep State. Even among the most staunch MAGA loyalists, he is viewed as a controversial figure. On Steve Bannons War Room podcast last year, Patel said a team of all-American patriots in all levels of government in the next Trump administration will come after members of the press that he claims have lied about American citizens and helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. Were going to come after you, whether its criminal or civilly, well figure that out, said Patel, who joined the Trump administration in 2019 as an intelligence official. Were putting you all on notice, he added. And Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why were tyrannical. This is why were dictators, because were actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have. Patel has also reportedly been considered for other administration roles. Sims, meanwhile, is a former communications strategist for Trumps White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He published Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House in 2019, which recounted his time in Trumps administration. open image in gallery Cliff Sims published Team of Vipers, a book about the first Trump administration, in 2019 ( CNN ) The book angered Trump during his first term. A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction, Trump tweeted in January 2019. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess! Sims then sued Trump, arguing the government was stifling his First Amendment right to disclose unclassified information regarding which he learned during his tenure as a federal employee, Politico reported. He later dropped the lawsuit and returned to the administration to serve as a senior adviser to the director of national intelligence in October 2020, according to Politico. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trumps transition team reportedly plans to surround Robert F Kennedy Jr with some anti-abortion figures to appease members of the GOP who are unconvinced by the prospective head of the Department of Health and Human Services and his stance on the divisive issue. Concerns have been raised about RFK Jr who previously said he opposed any government limits on abortion at the state or federal level and his confirmation by the Republican majority Senate. Abortion is guaranteed to come up during the hearing. Speaking to Fox News, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, a new member of Senate GOP leadership, said: Itll come up in the hearing 100 percent. Theres no question that this will be an issue. I will raise it if no one else does. His sentiments have been echoed by other senior GOP figures including former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN that assurances are already being made to anti-abortion leaders that other top healthcare positions in the looming Trump administration will be stacked with anti-abortion advocates. open image in gallery Donald Trump shaked Robert F Kennedy Jrs hand after the latter endorsed the now-president-elect at a rally in August. RFK Jr will be nominated to serve as Trumps HHS secretary, Politico reports. ( Getty Images ) I made clear to them that this needs to be tended to, one anti-abortion leader, who spoke with the transition team over their concerns, told CNN. We have some serious policy and personnel concerns that have been proprietary to our community for 30 years. The expectation theyve given me is they will have an assistant HHS secretary who more aligns with us. open image in gallery ( AFP via Getty Images ) Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said there was no question about the need for a pro-life HHS secretary, saying that the organization had concerns about the appointment of RFK Jr. I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be re-established, she told CNN. During his independent presidential bid, RFK Jr praised Roe v Wade, saying he was for choice and medical freedom. A statement posted on his website states: Abortion is a tragedy but I dont trust the government to make these decisions for Americans. Im for choice and medical freedom. We need to trust mothers to make the best decisions. We also need to give full support to mothers who want to bring babies to term. RFK Jr has since walked back on the comments after blowback from anti-abortion advocates, including from inside his own campaign at the time. However, his wavering on the issue prompted figures including Pence who is staunchly anti-abortion to call for GOP senators to reject his nomination. On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as secretary of Health and Human Services, Pence said in a statement following Trumps selection of Kennedy for the HHS role, adding that the pick was deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans. Graham, who lobbied Trump during his 2024 campaign to support a 15-week national abortion ban with exceptions, recently told The Dispatch: I want to see what [RFK Jr] has to say about abortion. That will matter a lot to me. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A New York federal court on Tuesday dismissed a $30m defamation lawsuit from a former Hunter Biden business associate against a Fox News anchor. In March, Tony Bobulinski sued Jessica Tarlov, one of the hosts of Foxs The Five, after she said on air that month that Bobulinskis legal fees to retain lawyer Stefan Passantino had been paid by a Trump Super PAC, after Bobulinski testified as part of the Houses inquiries into the Biden family. The following day, after Bobulinskis attorneys reached out to say this wasnt correct, Tarlov issued a clarification on air. During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing I said that Mr. Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC, she said. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees and he denies that they were. As one lawmaker noted during the hearing in question, the Save America PAC paid the firm representing Bobulinski $10,000 earlier that year. After the clarification, Bobulinski continued to assert Tarlov had described him inaccurately and filed suit. open image in gallery Lawsuit claimed Fox News host Jessica Tarlov hadnt done enough to retract statement on Hunter Biden critic ( CAA ) Tuesdays ruling found that Tarlov could dismiss the complaint and was entitled to legal fees under a novel application of New Yorks anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statute in federal court, a law designed to fend off lawsuits aimed at burdening opponents with excessive legal costs. "FOX News is pleased with the courts landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantinos meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP statute, Fox News said in a statement to The Independent. The Independent has contacted Bobulinskis attorney for comment. open image in gallery Tony Bobulinski testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing ( AP ) In the Tuesday ruling, District Judge J. Paul Oetken found that Bobulinkski hadnt shown Tarlovs statements had damaged his reputation, even though the initial one was inaccurate. The court pointed out that Bobulinski had voluntarily associated himself with Trump in the past, including attending a presidential debate as his guest and hiring a former Trump White House official as his attorney. Connecting Bobulinski to the formerand futuredemocratically elected President of the United States simply cannot be grounds for an average Americans hatred, distrust, or ridicule, the judge wrote. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be a doctor who argued for allowing young and healthy people to become infected with Covid-19 long before a vaccine was available and later fought against mandating vaccination against the novel coronavirus. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will nominate Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, currently a professor of health policy at Standard University and director of Stanfords Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging, to lead the National Institutes of Health, one of the worlds foremost medical research entities and oversee its $47 billion in funding. In a statement, Trump said Bhattacharya would work with his Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr, to examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, Americas biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease. He added: Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again! Bhattacharya thanked Trump for the nomination on X. I am honored and humbled by President Trumps nomination of me to be the next National Institutes of Health director, he wrote. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! https://t.co/FrLmYznhfw Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) November 27, 2024 Bhattacharya earned a doctorate in medicine from Stanford in 1997 and earned a Ph.D. in economics from the same university three years later. Hes been a professor at the university and a senior research associate for Acumen LLC for 23 years. Born in Kolkata, India, he is a naturalized US citizen. His research focuses on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, emphasizing the role of government programs, biomedical innovation, and economics, Trump said. In October 2020, Bhattacharya co-authored an open letter alongside other public health experts calling for an alternative to lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The experts suggested the government focus on measures that would prevent the elderly from contracting the virus but meanwhile allow it to spread among less vulnerable populations. The idea was to create widespread immunity without a vaccine. The letter dubbed the Great Barrington Declaration was immediately called into question by the scientific community. Bhattacharya has continued to be a vocal critic of former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Faucis handling of the pandemic. open image in gallery Jay Bhattacharya was one of the academics behind the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter proposing alternative COVID pandemic measures ( Getty ) Fauci led the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the NIH. The NIH is the nations medical research agency. It works to reduce illness and disability and enhance health through scientific innovation. The public did not know that there were prominent scientists that disagreed with the lockdown policies, Bhattacharya said in an interview for Childrens Health Defense, an organization founded by Kennedy Jr. They wanted to create an illusion of consensus. In a statement on the announcement, Kennedy Jr said on X: Im so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine. Also on Tuesday, Trump announced other appointments: Jim ONeill as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, John Phelan as secretary of the Navy, Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council, Jamieson Greer as the United States trade representative and Vince Haley as director of the Domestic Policy Council. Trumps cabinet picks will need to go through a congressional confirmation process. It remains to be seen if all his nominees will assume their roles. Earlier this month, Trump appointed former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as US attorney general and Pete Hegseth, Fox News host and Army veteran, as secretary of defense. Both of the men have faced sexual misconduct allegations. Gaetz has been accused of having sex with a minor in 2017 and Hegseth has been accused of assaulting a woman that same year. Both men deny the allegations and any accusations of wrongdoing. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration last week. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Some Washington, D.C. residents are taking their Airbnbs off the market for President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration in protest. Residents are calling on Airbnb hosts to either blackout the dates around Trumps inauguration or increase the prices and donate the proceeds to liberal causes, The Washington Post reports. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president on January 20. Resident Stacy Kane, an Airbnb host who has led the charge, is circulating a letter among community groups and local government officials explaining the cause. The blackout will show Trump supporters who are coming into the DMV that we do not welcome hate, misogyny, or intentions to take over D.C., Kanes letter reads. Kane told the Post she wants to try to make any kind of difference that we can in the situation we find ourselves in as D.C. residents and just as human beings right now. open image in gallery Workers prepare a media riser for the 2025 presidential inauguration outside the White House. Donald Trump has made his disdain for Washington, DC clear, once calling it filthy and crime-ridden' ( Getty Images ) So far four people have signed up, Kate said, and only two provided their email addresses, according to the Post. Others are skeptical of how widespread Kanes initiative will be. Stuff like that always happens, Elliott Ferguson, CEO of Destination DC, told the Post. People will stay lets protest and some will, but most wont, he added. Theyll try to find a way to maximize revenue. For many DC residents, Trumps second inauguration is especially personal after he made his dislike for the nations capital clear, once calling it filthy and crime-ridden, and threatening a federal takeover of the District. CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT I HAD TO FLY TO A FILTHY, DIRTY, FALLING APART, & VERY UNSAFE WASHINGTON, D.C., TODAY, & THAT I WAS THEN ARRESTED BY MY POLITICAL OPPONENT, WHO IS LOSING BADLY TO ME IN THE POLLS, CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IT WAS A VERY GOOD DAY! he wrote on Truth Social last August. Trump once faced charges in Washington D.C. for crimes connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including his alleged role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. However, all charges were dismissed after Trump won a second term in the White House. The president-elect also faced off against Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2020, when protests broke out over the murder of George Floyd. Trump said Bowser had lost control of the city, and declared a multi-agency lockdown. Then, Trump and several staffers walked by St Johns Church which was vandalized after riot police cleared largely peaceful demonstrators in nearby Lafayette Square using tear gas. There, Trump stood silently and was photographed holding up a Bible, which some speculated was upside down. Bowser subsequently ordered Black Lives Matter to be painted on a street near the White House in giant yellow letters. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A police officer in Australia who Tasered a 95-year-old nursing home resident has been found guilty of manslaughter. Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when Sen Const Kristian James Samuel White discharged his Taser at her in May 2023. A jury found White guilty in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma , fell backwards after White shocked her. She hit her head and died a week later in hospital. The case prompted a high-level internal investigation by state police in New South Wales. It also provoked debate about how officers in the state use Tasers, a device that incapacitates using electricity. Police said at the time of her death that Nowland received her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the device's debilitating electric shock. open image in gallery Clare Nowland, 95, was tasered by Australian police ( Screengrab/ ABC News (Australia) ) In video footage played during the Supreme Court trial, 34-year-old White was heard saying nah, bugger it before discharging his weapon, after the officers told Nowland 21 times to put the knife down. White told the jury he had been taught that any person wielding a knife was dangerous, The Guardian reported. But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected arguments by White's lawyers that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat posed by Nowland, who weighed about 100 pounds. The prosecutor argued that White's use of the Taser was utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive, local news outlets said. The charge of manslaughter carries a possible prison term of up to 25 years in jail in New South Wales. White is on bail. Nowland was survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren, and 31 great-grandchildren, Australia's ABC reported. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy In the early hours of Wednesday morning a breakthrough ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect after 13 months of almost daily fire exchanged across the Israeli-Lebanon border and weeks of a intense ground and airstrike operation. While residents of Beirut and southern Lebanon celebrated, returning to their neighbourhoods in droves hours after intense Israeli bombardments despite warnings from the Israeli military to stay clear the mood was different in Israel, with some northern communities fearful of going home and believing the deal didnt go far enough. The Lebanese health ministry says nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting erupted in the wake of Israels retaliatory war against Hamas an ally of Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran in Gaza. The vast majority of deaths have come in the wake of the intensified bombing and ground campaign that began in September. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, in the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities. International pressure is on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Najib Mikati, Lebanons caretaker prime minister, to maintain the peace. What is the ceasefire deal? Under the terms of the agreement, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces from Lebanon over a period of 60 days, with the Lebanese army then set to control territory near its border to ensure Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there. open image in gallery Women hug in Lebanon after returning to their neighbourhood ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved ) Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. Lebanons Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday the Lebanese army was ready to deploy 5,000 troops into the region as Israeli forces withdraw. The US is expected to lead a five-country monitoring committee to enforce the truce, which US president Joe Biden said was designed to be permanent. Mr Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement in which they said France and the United States would both work to ensure that the ceasefire was fully implemented. Will it hold? Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations, but Lebanese officials rejected writing that into the proposal. Still, Mr Netanyahu said Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, did not enforce the deal. open image in gallery Rescuers in the Beirut rubble after an Israeli airstrike ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) Israel's military said on Wednesday its forces were still on Lebanese territory and urged residents of southern Lebanese villages who had been ordered to evacuate in recent months to delay returning home until further notice from the Israeli military. Israeli troops have pushed around four miles (six kilometres) into Lebanon in a series of ground assaults. Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer. There were no immediate signs that the incident would undermine the ceasefire. Defense Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the military to "act firmly and without compromise" should it happen again. Hezbollah has indicated it will give the pact a chance, but one of the groups leaders told Al Jazeera the groups support for the deal hinged on certainty that Israel would not renew its attacks. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, said. We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state [of Lebanon]. Rana Sahili, a media spokesperson for Hezbollah, told the Independent that the militant group does not trust the Israelis. The countries that support [the Israelis] must provide guarantees, Ms Sahili added. What about Gaza? The landing of an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah without a similar deal with Hamas in Gaza has left Palestinians feeling abandoned and fearful that Israel would now turn its focus squarely on the territory, with Mr Netanyahu said Israel would now concentrate on Hamas militants in Gaza along with his top security concern, Iran. Both the war inside Gaza and the Hezbollah-Isaraeli cross-border fire was triggered in 7 October last year, when Hamas launched a terror attack inside Israel. They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Mr Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all hostages are freed. Some 100 remain, although about a third of those are believed to be dead. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the largely devastated Gaza, according to local health officials, while around 90 per cent of the population of around 2.3 million have been forced from their homes. open image in gallery A child in Gaza injured in an Israeli strike ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Mr Biden said the US would now make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with a hostage release. British prime minister Keir Starmer backed up his US counterpart in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit is to be released from custody after his arrest last week on rape allegations, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported on Wednesday. At the same time, however, Oslo police began an investigation into a new alleged sexual offense for which he has not been charged, NRK reported. Details about the new allegations were not immediately available. Marius Borg Hiby is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties. Borg Hiby was arrested last week in Oslo on a preliminary charge of having had sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act. A preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows authorities to detain suspects during an investigation. At the time, police did not say when the alleged rape occurred, but only that the victim must have been unable to resist the act. Norwegian media reported that Borg Hiby has denied the accusation. The royal palace had no comment regarding the allegations, the news agency NTB said. open image in gallery Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit attend the celebrations of Princess Ingrid Alexandra's Official Day at Deichman Museum on June 16, 2022 in Oslo, Norway. (Photo by Rune Hellestad/Getty Images) ( Getty Images ) On Wednesday, police said they would not seek further detention of Borg Hiby because there was no indication that important evidence would be removed, NRK reported. This was not surprising. He shouldnt have been imprisoned at all, yvind Bratlien, Hibys defense attorney, told NRK. He said Borg Hiby would likely be released later Wednesday. On Aug. 4, police officers responded to a disturbance in downtown Oslo and briefly detained Borg Hiby. He faced preliminary charges of bodily harm and criminal damage and was released. Details were unclear but police said there was a relationship between the suspect and the victim. More preliminary charges have since been filed against Borg Hiby, including violating several restraining orders and driving without a valid drivers license. In all, the cases involve four women and one man. The case was top news in Norway, where the royals are popular. Borg Hiby, 27, lives with the royal couple and their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Norways future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married Haakon because she was a single mother who had lived a freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on drug charges. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Russia has expelled a British diplomat for spying in an accusation denied by London as a fresh row erupts in the latest blow to relations between the two countries. The Russian FSB security service named the diplomat, whose photo was splashed across TV news bulletins, as Edward Wilkes and alleged he had intentionally provided false information when he entered Russia a claim disputed by the UK Foreign Office as malicious and baseless. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the FSB said: During counterintelligence work, the Russian Federal Security Service has discovered an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy in Moscow. At the same time, the Russian FSB has discovered signs of the said diplomat conducting intelligence and subversive work that threatens the security of the Russian Federation. A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course. Downing Street issued a similar denial. To be clear, we refute these allegations. They're baseless. We're now considering our response, a No 10 spokesman said. Moscow also said it was adding 30 more British names including leading members of prime minister Keir Starmer's cabinet to a stop list of people who are banned from entering Russia. The move is symbolic, as no British minister has visited Russia since before President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The FSB said the expelled British diplomat had been a replacement for one of six British diplomats ordered out earlier this year, also on espionage charges. open image in gallery The fragments of a missile fired by Ukraine at the territory of Kursk airport in Russia seen in a picture released on Tuesday ( AP ) Reacting to those expulsions in September, Britain rejected the spying allegations and said Russia's behaviour was completely unacceptable. Relations between Britain and Russia have plunged to post-Cold War lows since the start of the Ukraine war. Britain has joined successive waves of sanctions against Russia and provided arms to Ukraine. Russia said Ukraine fired British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at its territory last week for the first time. Putin cited that, and the launching of US ATACMS ballistic missiles by Ukraine, as the reason Russia fired a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday. Russia casts Britain and the US as deceitful powers that are supporting Ukraine as part of efforts to cleave Russia apart and grab its vast natural resources assertions Washington and London dismiss as absurd. In October, Russia issued a scornful denial when the head of Britain's MI5 security service said Russian military intelligence was bent on causing "mayhem" in Britain and Europe via arson, sabotage and other means. open image in gallery US-supplied ATACMS missiles appears to be fired from Ukraine, although the date and location of the image cannot be independently verified The expulsion comes after Russia launched 188 drones against most regions of Ukraine in a night-time blitz, the Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday, describing it as a record number of drones deployed in a single attack. Most of the drones were intercepted, according to the air force, but apartment buildings and critical infrastructure such as the national power grid were damaged. No casualties were immediately reported in the 17 targeted regions. Ningxia-grown vegetables find big market in Greater Bay Area 16:23, November 27, 2024 By Qin Ruijie ( People's Daily In a vegetable planting base in Xianjin village, Ligang township, Helan county, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, which mainly supplies its produce to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Chinese flowering cabbages were just harvested, and they would soon be shipped to Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province around 2,300 kilometers away. "It takes only 36 hours for our Chinese flowering cabbages to reach the markets in the GBA from our fields. The demand is so high that we can hardly satisfy it," said Chen Dingyou, head of the planting base. Chen works for an agricultural technology company in Ningxia that owns vegetable distribution centers in three cities in the GBA. A worker harvests Chinese flowering cabbages in a vegetable planting base in Helan county, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, which mainly supplies its produce to Hong Kong. (People's Daily/Qin Ruijie) Chinese flowering cabbage is a vegetable commonly used in Cantonese cuisine. In Helan county alone, there are 15 planting bases that grow it, covering a total area of 24,500 mu, or about 1,633 hectares. The Chinese flowering cabbages harvested in Ningxia are shipped to the GBA through cold-chain logistics, and they enjoy high reputation in the region. The unique climate is what makes Ningxia a perfect place for growing Chinese flowering cabbages. Take Helan county as an example. The county, with an average altitude of over 1,000 meters, has dry summers and enjoys rich sunshine. Besides, with the Yellow River as the source of irrigation, nutrient accumulation becomes easy for the vegetable. Though Ningxia boasts sound natural conditions, science-based planting is still necessary. Standard planting techniques of GBA enterprises are now adopted in Ningxia. Chen picked up his phone and showed how the vegetable is planted. In the vegetable field, neatly arranged ridges spaced 20 centimeters apart stretched across the land. The Chinese flowering cabbages glistened with water droplets as workers skillfully and swiftly cut the tender greens with precision. Today, the vegetable base of Chen's company utilizes automated irrigation systems and drone-based crop protection operations, which have significantly reduced labor management costs. With a simple tap on a mobile app, the 2,000-mu planting base was divided into dozens of plots, where details like seeding and weeding progress were displayed. "We've developed a digital field management and monitoring platform that allows us to manage the entire planting process - seeding, fertilizing, and watering - all from a smartphone," said Wu Xiaoning, the materials scheduling manager of the company. "Currently, processes like rotary tilling, seeding, and film mulching are all mechanized. The base can cultivate five full crop cycles each year, with each cycle yielding 400 to 600 kilograms. The average output value per mu for the entire planting cycle reaches 10,000 yuan ($1,379)." Wu added. "The Chinese flowering cabbage grown using modern farming techniques has a crisp and tender texture," said Chen. "As soon as the product hits the market, it becomes a hot seller in the GBA." Delivering delicious Chinese flowering cabbages to the GBA, more than 2,000 kilometers away from Ningxia, wouldn't be possible without a modern logistics system. "The cold storage is maintained at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Once the freshly harvested Chinese flowering cabbage is brought in, it is rapidly cooled down," said Li Houxue, head of Xianfeng agriculture development company based in Ningxia, referring to a cold storage facility of the company. After being pre-cooled for six hours, the Chinese flowering cabbage harvested is packed and sorted by 2 a.m. the next day. By 8 a.m., refrigerated trucks set off directly for Guangzhou, where the produce is distributed to secondary centers in cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. Some batches, after passing quality checks, are loaded onto trucks bound for Hong Kong, ready to hit the local market. "With professional cold chain logistics, the transportation cost for a 15-kilogram box of Chinese flowering cabbage has been reduced to just 15 yuan," Li said. Today, nearly 80 refrigerated trucks depart from Ningxia every day, delivering Chinese flowering cabbages to regions like the Yangtze River Delta and the GBA. To address storage challenges at the source, Helan county has ramped up cold chain infrastructure development. Currently, 56 enterprises have established cold storage facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 89,900 tons and a net volume of 449,500 cubic meters. These advancements have greatly improved the storage, preservation, and processing capabilities for agricultural products at their origin. To meet market demand, many vegetable bases in Ningxia that supply products to Hong Kong have established strict cultivation and quality control standards. They have developed a comprehensive industrial chain from planting, management, and harvesting to packaging, cold chain transportation, and sales. "In 2023, Helan county's vegetable planting area reached 243,800 mu, with an annual output of 474,600 tons and a production value of 1.4 billion yuan. This has effectively boosted employment and income for local farmers," said Chen Ying, director of the bureau of agriculture and rural affairs in Helan county. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Joe Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and allowing for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said on Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting age men available to help a badly outmanned Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. Speaking to reporters, the official said Ukraine was not mobilizing or training enough new soldiers for the conflict. The need right now is manpower, he said. The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk ... Mobilization and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time as we look at the battlefield today. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months. But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its manpower if it's going to stay in the fight with Russia. open image in gallery Russia Ukraine War ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they probably will need more. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Nordic and Baltic states and Poland said they would in the coming months step up support for Ukraine, including to the countrys defence industry, and invest in making more ammunition available. We are committed to strengthening our deterrence, and defence, including resilience, against conventional as well as hybrid attacks, and to expanding sanctions against Russia as well as against those who enable Russias aggression, the leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Sweden said in a statement. The leaders were meeting at the Swedish governments country retreat in Harpsund, southwest of Stockholm, for talks covering transatlantic relations, regional security cooperation and a common policy on the war in Ukraine. The election of Donald Trump to a second presidential term has raised questions about the United States commitment to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and about Washingtons role in NATO. Many analysts believe that Europe will have to spend more on its own defence and on bolstering Ukraines military effort after Trump is inaugurated in January. The Nordic and Baltic countries - several of which share a border with Russia - are among Ukraines biggest backers. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thousands of people forced to leave their homes in war-torn southern Lebanon have started to return in the wake of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and furniture streamed through the heavily bombed southern port city of Tyre, heading south towards the areas hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to flee from during nearly 14 months of clashes. Traffic jams could be seen around Beirut and along the roads heading out of the city, as people began their journeys as soon as the ceasefire came into effect at 4am local time. Hussein, 45, told The Independent that he and his wife Hiam, 41, had packed all their belongings at the shelter they had been staying in in the Hamra neighbourhood of Beirut, and started the normally two-hour-long journey to an area south of Tyre. At 6 oclock I was turning the car [around] and went straight to Tyre Harfa. I thought I would be the first one there, but I was surprised that the traffic was stifling on the southern road, just like it was when we left for Beirut, he said. Hussein said he had been working as a painter in and around Tyre, but that the work had dried up about seven months ago, and he had fled with his mother, three children and wife as the fighting in the city intensified. Our house is badly damaged, but I will return even if I have to set up a tent in front of the house, he said. The important thing is that the war is over. We are not afraid, we are the owners of the land, but our material losses are great, and we have many victims and wounded among our extended family, neighbours and villagers. The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said a ceasefire was the first ray of hope in the regional conflict after months of escalation. It is essential that those who signed the ceasefire commitment respect it in full, he said. The truce afforded a reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese citizens displaced by the fighting, and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border. Under the Lebanon ceasefire terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon during the 60-day truce, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border with Israel. The Israeli military cautioned residents of southern Lebanon against moving south of the Litani River from 5pm local time to 7am on Thursday, noting that Israeli forces were still present in the area and that they would deal firmly with those who continued to travel. open image in gallery Displaced families carry mattresses as they prepare to return to their villages near Sidon ( AP ) The military also said that Israeli forces had fired at several vehicles carrying what it claimed were suspects, to force the vehicles to turn round and prevent them from entering a no-go zone in Lebanese territory. Such isolated incidents were not expected to put the ceasefire at risk, but the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzi Halevi, said Israels enforcement of the ceasefire would be very determined. Hezbollah operatives who approach our troops, the border area, and the villages within the area we have marked will be struck, he said. We are preparing, getting ready for the possibility that this [ceasefire] approach wont succeed. The Lebanese health ministry says that nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting erupted in the wake of Israels retaliatory war in Gaza against Hamas an ally of Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran. The vast majority of deaths have occurred as a result of the intensified bombing and ground campaign by Israel that began in September. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, in the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities. Majida Mubarak, 60, cried in front of the rubble of her home in the Sfeir area of Beiruts southern suburbs. The building was destroyed during heavy airstrikes by Israel on southern Beirut and other cities just before the ceasefire came into effect. The Israeli military said 330 Hezbollah targets had been struck before the ceasefire came into force. I dont feel happy. I dont have a home to go back to. People are happy because they will be returning to the homes they miss, but we dont have a home now, she said. Her husband, Shafiq, 70, a clothing salesman, said: I spent my whole life building a house in Beirut and a house in my village, Aita al-Shaab [close to the Israeli border]. I built a palace from my tears and sweat. [But] thank God we are fine and our children and our large family are fine. This is the most important thing, the pair added. open image in gallery A woman hugs her crying daughter as displaced residents return to Dahiyeh in southern Beirut ( AP ) Ghenwa, 55, owns a clothing store in her village in Shamshtar in Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon. The conflict forced her to leave her home for the first time, and she was clear about the toll it had taken, even if many were celebrating being able to go home. The country is almost destroyed, and dozens of our relatives were killed or wounded in the war. We are sad about the loss of so many lives, all of them innocent children, women and young people. In Israel, the mood was generally subdued, with displaced Israelis concerned that the deal did not go far enough to rein in Hezbollah and that it did not address the conflict in Gaza or what will happen to the hostages still being held there. I think it is still not safe to return to our homes, because Hezbollah is still close to us, said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, which is not far from the border with Lebanon and was hit hard by the months of fighting. The war in Gaza along with the cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah was triggered on 7 October last year, when Hamas launched an attack inside Israel. The militant group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all of the hostages are freed. Some 100 hostages remain, although about a third of those are believed to be dead. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the largely devastated Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, while around 90 per cent of the population of around 2.3 million have been forced from their homes. The deal does not address the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes overnight on two schools being used as shelters in Gaza City killed 11 people, including four children, according to hospital officials. Joe Biden has said the US will make another attempt, along with Middle Eastern countries, to orchestrate a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from government. Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power, Mr Biden said on X (formerly Twitter). Many residents of Gaza have said they feel abandoned, with the focus so heavily on Lebanon. We hope that all Arab and Western countries, and all people with merciful hearts and consciences ... implement a truce here, because we are tired, displaced Palestinian Malak Abu Laila told reporters. Back in Lebanon, many are unsure what the future holds. Fatima, 33, said she and her family had been displaced about four times, once from the south to Tyre, then to the [Beirut] suburbs, then to a school in Sanayeh in Beirut. Fatimas husband made clear that their ordeal wasnt over. Who will rebuild all these villages and all these buildings? Who will restore our memories? Who will buy us furniture? he asked. With Joe Biden set to leave the White House in less than 60 days, he seems determined to try to make a difference in the Middle East before Donald Trump takes office in January. Of the major conflicts in the region, including those in Gaza and Lebanon as well as Israels broader clash with Iran, it is Lebanon that proved the easiest in which to achieve a ceasefire, if such a term can ever be applied in the presence of such overlapping and entrenched feuds. Bidens push for peace in Lebanon has lined up with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus need to show both his domestic audience and Trump that he can halt a conflict once he has got involved in one. For Trump is now the focus of Netanyahus gaze, with the president-elect making the debatable claim that there were no wars during his first term in the White House a key part of his election pitch. Trump made repeated boasts that he would end Russias invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours of his inauguration, while also saying that he wants the conflict in Gaza to be over. The US has been Israels staunchest ally and Trump has shown that he cares little for the diplomatic norms in the Middle East to which others carefully adhere so Netanyahu knows he will have more latitude than ever before. But he has to be careful to balance that against Trumps intense dislike of any complicated issues, or anything he cant easily claim as a win for himself. Showing movement on Lebanon buys Netanyahu some time with both the Biden White House and Trumps incoming administration, with some of Trumps acolytes already seeking to claim credit for the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. It also prevents the domestic pressure from climbing any higher, with Trump prone to cutting loose allies he sees as failing to keep their standing within their own nations sufficiently high. Successes, such as the degrading of Hezbollahs leadership in Lebanon, are important to Netanyahus domestic poll ratings, which have been low during much of the war in Gaza. Netanyahu will know that his political career will likely be over once the wars Israel is conducting have come to an end, as he was under severe pressure even before Hamass act of terror on 7 October 2023. So the question for Netanyahu now is how to keep Trump engaged enough to enable the Israeli leader to bring the war in Gaza to an end on his own terms, without having Trump force his hand. And Netanyahu appears to be clear about the way to make that happen: Iran. Trumps political career has shown that binary opposition is the way to get him to act. Going up against China in an economic war is one example. The logic is simple China trying to limit US economic power: bad; Trump fighting for American businesses: good. The complicated issues that spring from that are someone elses problem to deal with (the US Treasury, Americas diplomatic corps). The same can be said of Iran. Trump knows of the longstanding enmity between Washington and Tehran; it is an enemy that Trump will have no issue labelling evil, boasting about how he will knock the Iranians down a peg or two. Part of Netanyahus stated rationale for the ceasefire with Hezbollah was that it meant Israel could turn its attention fully towards Iran, whose proxies include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and other groups in Syria and Iraq. That framing will also be aimed at Trump. The president-elect may not care about the morass that the war in Gaza has become, or its horrific death toll, but he will find dealing with Iran easily digestible. Netanyahu has previously said that he and Trump are on the same page when it comes to Iran. The Israeli PM will be hoping it stays that way and that he can keep the 45th and 47th US president from turning up the political heat over Gaza. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Four bodies were recovered and five survivors rescued from the water 24 hours after a yacht sank in the Red Sea when it got caught in rough weather. The number of survivors now stands at 33 including 28 who were rescued on Monday with seven people still missing amid a major search operation led by Egyptian naval forces. Two Brits among the 16 people originally missing on Monday have not yet been accounted for. Sea Story, a live-aboard boat which was carrying 44 people on a five-day diving trip, sent a distress signal after a large wave crashed into the boat and caused it to capsize, according to survivors accounts of what happened. open image in gallery Survivor is carried to safety by rescue workers after the boat capsized on Monday ( Red Sea governoras office/AFP vi ) Some of those on the boat, which was carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew members, were inside the cabins when the boat capsized within minutes. The governor of Egypts Red Sea region, Amr Hanafi, said the five survivors rescued on Tuesday included two Belgians, an Egyptian, a Swiss national and a Finnish national. It is unclear how they survived through the night, but the Red Seas temperature may have been warm enough to survive if they had a means of floating. Mr Hanafi said the four bodies recovered on Tuesday are yet to be identified. The boat was carrying foreign nationals from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain and Ireland. open image in gallery Rescue workers transport a survivor of the boat ( (Egyptian Press Center via AP) ) Irelands foreign minister Micheal Martin said an Irish citizen who was on board the Sea Story was rescued. My understanding is that an Irish citizen is OK and receiving consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs, he told reporters in Dublin on Tuesday morning, according to RTE. The German foreign ministry said on Tuesday that three Germans remained missing while three others were rescued. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Polands Foreign Ministry said two Polish nationals were missing and that their families have been notified. Sea Story, which is operated by Dive Pro Liveaboard, was scheduled to dock in Hurghada five days after leaving Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday. According to Mr Hanafi, it sank 46 nautical miles away from Marsa Alam, a popular tourist town. The boat, which can hold 36 passengers and had space for 50 people on emergency escape vessels, did not have any technical issues and had all the necessary permits before the trip. It last underwent a safety check in March. On Saturday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned of rough sea conditions and advised against maritime activity on Sunday and Monday. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Astronauts on the International Space Station wont be back home on Earth Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving, but they will share a meal together with at least some traditional fare. NASA astronaut Nick Hague noted, however, that tradition might look a little bit different in the orbiting laboratory in zero gravity. In a live stream Tuesday, he and other members of the NASA Expedition 72 crew pulled out a container of food, some of which then floated around them in the weightlessness of space. Weve got brussel sprouts, butternut squash, apples and spice, Hague smiled with fellow crew members Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Don Pettit. open image in gallery Bits of the Expedition 72 crews Thanksgiving meal flies around the International Space Station on Tuesday. Despite the challenges, astronauts said they were thankful for the weightlessness of space. Its fantastic, said Butch Wilmore. ( NASA ) Smoked turkey! Williams chimed in. Its going to be delicious, said Hague. The crew also shared messages of gratitude. Were thankful for zero gravity; its fantastic! said Wilmore. Were grateful for a nation that is a space-faring nation, that lets us live free, say what we think is important to say, he continued. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on Earth and everyone who is supporting us! Williams exclaimed. Thanksgiving celebrations have taken place in space for decades. open image in gallery Skylab 4 astronauts Edward Gibson, left, William Pogue, and Gerald Carr, demonstrate eating on Skylab. Skylab, Americas first space station, operated until 1979 ( NASA ) Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward Gibson and William Pogue made up the first crew to celebrate the holiday in space on November 22, 1973. Skylab was the nations first space station. Crew members shared two meals at dinner time, although neither included special Thanksgiving food. Twelve years passed before the next orbital Thanksgiving celebration in 1985. The seven-person crew of STS-61B ate shrimp cocktail, irradiated turkey, and cranberry sauce aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. open image in gallery A close-up shot shows the Thanksgiving dinner items on the space station in 2013. The food includes turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans and mushrooms, and dressing ( NASA ) Mexicos Rodolfo Neri Vela introduced tortillas to space menus, and they have remained favorites among astronauts ever since. More than 10 years later, the international crew chowed on smoked turkey, freeze-dried mashed potatoes, peas, and milk. In 2001, crews gobbled up smoked turkey and mashed potatoes as well, with the addition of green beans with mushrooms and blueberry-cherry cobbler. Smoked turkey packages are heated in the Galley Food Warmer. There are no refrigerators in space, but scientists are working on how to provide them. open image in gallery The smoked turkey packages are in the Galley Food Warmer on the space station in 2019. Smoked turkey has become a staple for astronaut Thanksgivings ( NASA ) Food in space has evolved from bite-sized cubes, freeze-dried powders, and semi-liquids packaged in aluminum tubes. While some foods can be eaten in their natural form, others are dehydrated to prevent them from spoiling. Astronauts just need to add water to rehydrate them. All food is precooked or processed, with the exception of fruit and vegetables. Using rehydratable food and drinks also significantly reduces weight. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Researchers have developed an AI audio generator that they claim can create sounds that have never been heard before. The new generative artificial intelligence model, called Fugatto, was built by a team at computer chip giant Nvidia who wanted to create a Swiss Army knife for sound. The tool allows users to edit or generate audio using simple text prompts, such as removing a particular instrument from a song or changing the accent of someones voice. In a blog post detailing Fugatto, Nvidias Richard Kerris claimed it offered more dexterity than any other AI model and holds the potential to revolutionise music through brand new sounds. Fugatto can make a trumpet bark or a saxophone meow, Mr Kerris wrote. Whatever users can describe, the model can create. A video demonstrating the tool shows Fugatto creating a unique audio sample from a text prompt: Deep, rumbling bass pulses paired with intermittent, high-pitched digital chirps, like the sound of a massive, sentient machine waking up. Another example shows Fugatto transforming the sound of a train into a string orchestra. This thing is wild, said Ido Zmishlany, a producer and songwriter who is part of Nvidias Inception program to help new startups. Sound is my inspiration. Its what moves me to create music. The idea that I can create entirely new sounds on the fly in the studio is incredible. Fugatto took more than a year to develop, requiring millions of audio samples to train it. The rapid advancements that generative AI has brought to audio technology has led to concerns about how it might impact people working within creative industries. Earlier this year, the Australian Association of Voice Actors warned a parliamentary committee that an estimated 5,000 local voice actors could soon be put out of a job if companies adopt AI-powered replacements. The music industry has also voiced its concerns about how generative AI programs might infringe copyrighted material, with the Recording Industry Association of America recently launching a lawsuit against AI tools for allegedly replicating their artists music. Despite the pushback, some artists believe AI represents another evolution of music that will bring with it new creative possibilities. The history of music is also a history of technology. The electric guitar gave the world rock and roll, said Mr Zmishlany. When the sampler showed up, hip-hop was born. With AI, were writing the next chapter of music. We have a new instrument, a new tool for making music and thats super exciting. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Chinese scientists have built a cat-inspired robot designed to adjust its posture and stick its landing even in low-gravity environments, an advance that could revolutionise the exploration of asteroids. Researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeast China developed a special control system for the quadruped robot inspired by the ability of cats to twist and successfully land on their paws whenever they fall. The robot is capable of moving its four legs in a coordinated manner and can adjust its posture mid-air to stick landings, according to the study, published last month in the Journal of Astronautical Sciences. Scientists checked whether the robot and its newly developed control system could potentially manoeuvre in low-gravity celestial environments like asteroids. open image in gallery Japans Hayabusa2 spacecraft snapped pictures of the asteroid Ryugu while flying alongside it two years ago ( Jaxa ) In such space environments, researchers say even small imbalances and slight miscoordination between the legs of such a robot can cause it to tumble and crash. In the low-gravity environment of these [small celestial] bodies, robots undergo extended periods of free fall during each jump, scientists wrote. It is essential to utilise this time to correct any altitude deviations induced by the jump, ensuring a safe landing or adjusting the yaw angle to modify their future trajectory, they said. open image in gallery Image captured by Rover-1B, and provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the surface of asteroid Ryugu ( Jaxa via AP ) In 2018, Japan made history by landing two cookie jar-sized jumping rovers onto the rocky asteroid Ryugu about 280 million km (170 million miles) away from Earth. The short-lived robots used the low-gravity conditions on Ryugu to hop across the asteroids surface for a day to beam back pictures to Earth. What if we nuked an asteroid? Since the missions success, scientists and space agencies have been building new types of robots to explore asteroids and moons. The extremely weak gravity and rocky terrains of such small celestial bodies are not conducive for wheeled rovers. open image in gallery Prototype of the SpaceHopper developed by ETH Zurich researchers ( Dominik Lindegger ) So researchers are building hopping robots to explore asteroids and prospect for valuable minerals like platinum and other rare metals. Earlier this year researchers at ETH Zurich unveiled a three-legged jumping robot called SpaceHopper to navigate low-gravity environments like asteroids and moons. These are thought to contain valuable mineral resources that could be of use to humankind in the future. The exploration of these bodies could also give us insights into our universes formation, researchers wrote. In the latest study, researchers trained the cat-inspired robot for several hours in a virtual simulation. open image in gallery Chinese cat-inspired robot learns to land on its feet using machine learning ( Journal of Astronautical Sciences ) It learned to adjust its movements for a stable landing in about seven hours, scientists say, according to South China Morning Post. Further experiments in a microgravity simulation platform confirmed the effectiveness of the new AI learning system, they say. A microgravity simulation test platform for quadrupedal robots employing air suspension technology has been designed and constructed, validating the effectiveness of this control strategy through prototype experiments, researchers wrote. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy This private island lodge is a nature-filled haven on the River Nile in eastern Uganda, which immerses its guests in nature while also feeling wonderfully luxurious Location Youre staying on the Nile and I mean right on it. The hotel has been built on Kalagala, a small private island in eastern Uganda, a short boat ride from the mainland. This section of the Nile is known for its white water, and Wildwaters brings you about as close as you can to it. The lodge feels remote, yet is actually reasonably easy to reach. The nearest town is Jinja, once a popular stop on the backpacker trail thanks to its white-water rafting and kayaking, but now with significantly fewer visitors. The closest airport is Entebbe, which is near to the capital Kampala, and roughly 130 kilometres from Wildwaters. Traffic-dependent, the drive from Entebbe airport to the hotel is around three hours and best done by taxi. open image in gallery The lodge a short boat ride from the mainland is situated on high-grade rapids ( Lemala Camps and Lodges ) The vibe Rustic luxury. Wildwaters feels like your own secret haven, hidden away in the jungle. Although the hotel goes above and beyond to provide everything you need for a comfortable stay, youll feel like youre out in the wild. Rooms are on stilts over the river with its roaring rapids, and the restaurant, library and pool feel as though theyre sitting right on the water; theyre linked by wooden walkways on stilts over the river, surrounded by lush green jungle. Walking back to your room at night youll be surrounded by a cacophony of wildlife sounds. It is worth noting that, although Wildwaters is a high-quality hotel with a luxe feel, this is the jungle, and if you get squeamish about bugs or anxious about patchy wifi then its probably not the hotel for you. If you love nature and adventure, youll be in heaven. Service Beyond being attentive, service feels friendly, relaxed and genuinely warm. Wildwaters has found that perfect balance of making guests feel completely taken care of while also being laidback. Everyone, from the boatmen who take you from the mainland to the waiting staff and the general manager, will know your name and be happy to chat, while also being completely unobtrusive. When you want to return to your room from the restaurant after dinner, staff will almost magically appear with a torch and guide you. Activities and requests are arranged swiftly, and transport to and from the island is seamless. Read more: Will Gabon become Africas new ecotourism hotspot? Bed and bath The 10 rooms are all in their own little villas, each with wonderful views over the raging waters of the Nile. Youll be lulled to sleep by the rush of the rapids (natures white noise) in beautifully comfortable beds draped with mosquito nets. Full-length glass doors lead out to large wooden balconies, each with an outdoor bathtub (wooden screens ensure complete privacy) overlooking the river. There are no bad views here, and its hard to decide which room has the best. There are seven standard suites, two suites with private plunge pools and one two-bedroom suite. The decor and design is perfectly suited to the rainforest with lots of wood and neutral tones, and the bathrooms in particular are almost seamlessly integrated into the landscape with the rain showers appearing to have been built into the rock. open image in gallery The rooms feel seamlessly integrated into their surroundings and there are no bad views ( Lemala Camps and Lodges ) Food and drink Meals are eaten at the hotels spacious open restaurant with beautiful views of the rapids. It serves both African dishes and an international menu, with options such as beef wellington, mushroom risotto and beef carpaccio. Id strongly recommend opting for the African menu, which mainly consists of stews. The Nkoko Nganda stew and fresh peas stew served with rice or posho (a starchy, boiled corn meal) and mixed greens were both simple yet carefully prepared with fresh ingredients. In comparison, the international dishes are over-complicated and rather underwhelming. There are plenty of vegan and vegetarian options (again, the African menu is better for these) and a good number of dishes are gluten-free. Breakfast is a very pleasant affair with a small buffet of pastries and fresh fruits, as well as an a la carte menu with classics such as eggs benedict, omelette, French toast and crepes. The wine list is limited and not particularly refined, but if youre happy with a glass of Hardys to accompany sunset looking over the Nile, youll be more than happy. Read more: The most stunning lodges for a luxe safari Facilities There is a small pool located by the restaurant overlooking the river with a few sunbeds. The library is a lovely place to relax with a book or a coffee (although it doesnt appear to hold many itself, so bring your own) with gorgeous heavy wooden furniture and spectacular views of the river. There is a spa with a small selection of massages delivered on your balcony overlooking the river for an impressive wellness experience. When in this part of the world youll want to explore the Nile, and the hotel offers high-adrenaline white-water rafting trips that are suitable for all levels, as well as kayaking and horse riding. There is also a (somewhat unsightly) bungee-jumping platform a short distance away on the mainland, and this activity can be booked at the hotel. Ugandas bird watching is legendary (arguably some of the best in the world) and there are plenty of opportunities to spot one of the many species from around the lodge, but you can also arrange tours in nearby Jinja. open image in gallery The restaurant, bar and boutique open out onto the river with beautiful views on all sides ( Lemala Camps and Lodges ) Accessibility Provisions for those with disabilities are limited, with no accessible or adapted rooms. Pet policy No pets allowed. Check in/check out? Check in from 2pm; check out by 10am. Family-friendly? Due to being situated on particularly strong rapids, Wildwaters is not suited to young children. The hotel currently allows children from the age of 12 but from June 2025, it will only allow guests aged 16 and over. At a glance Best thing: The location. It feels like a real privilege to be able to sleep with the sound of the rapids in the background. Perfect for: Couples and solo travellers who are looking for a truly special experience and enjoy the outdoors. Not right for: Those who avoid nature. Instagram from: Sunrise at the library. The view of the rapids is truly spectacular. Address: Victoria Nile, Kangulumira, Uganda Phone: +255 682 933 933 Website: lemalacamps.com Read more: The best holidays to spot wildlife Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A man has been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after checking in two suitcases filled with meth-caked clothing, including a cow pajama onesie. Raj Matharu, 31, of Northridge, tried to check in two pink and gray suitcases on November 6 at LAX for a flight heading to Sydney, Australia, the US Attorneys Office said on Tuesday. Inside the cases was more than a dozen items of clothing including underwear, socks, sweatpants, hoodies, and a cow pajama onesie all soaked in methamphetamine, according to court documents, seen by the LA Times. Airport screening officers x-rayed the suitcases and noticed irregularities, which prompted a second inspection of the cases. After opening the cases, the officers found more than a dozen white or light-colored clothing items that were dried stiff and covered in a white residue inside, prosecutors said. open image in gallery The cow onesie was found caked in methamphetamine, prosecutors said ( US Attorney LA/X ) The items tested positive for methamphetamine. Prosecutors said the drug-caked clothing weighed around 71 pounds, estimating the items had been washed in more than 30 pounds of white methamphetamine solution. Matharu was arrested on the jet bridge as he boarded his flight. He was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. open image in gallery The drug-caked items weighed 71.5 pounds in total, said prosecutors ( US Attorneys Office LA/X ) The 31-year-old was released on a $10,000 bond secured by a relative, according to the LA Times. If found guilty, Matharu faces up to life in federal prison. United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement: Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit as alleged in the facts of this case. open image in gallery Drug residue was found on over a dozen items (pictured) including tank tops, sweatpants, jeans, socks, boxers, hoodies and underwear ( US Attorneys Office LA/X ) In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world. Law enforcement is committed to fighting drug trafficking, knowing that every seizure saves lives. Matharu will next appear in court in downtown LA on December 2. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Colombias president has hit back at the UK government saying his country will impose visa requirements on British citizens in response to the UK Governments decision to impose visa rules on Colombian visitors. The number of Colombians claiming asylum in the UK has soared, prompting the Government to impose visa rules on visitors from the country. The changes, which came into force at 3pm on Tuesday, mean visitors from Colombia will now need a visa to travel to the UK. Colombian nationals will also need a transit visa if they need to pass through the UK to travel on to another country. On Tuesday evening, Colombias leader Gustavo Petro said his country will adopt similar rules under the principle of reciprocity. He wrote in a post on X: If the United Kingdom has reinstated the need for visas for the Colombian people, I have to say that by the principle of reciprocity, the Colombian government will ask for visas from British citizens who want to come to Colombia. The move means plans to allow Colombians to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from Wednesday, for travel to the UK from January 8, will no longer be introduced. There will be a four-week, visa-free transition period for those who have already booked travel to the UK prior to 3pm on Tuesday, where visitors are due to arrive in the UK no later than 3pm on Christmas Eve. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the decision was made in the wake of a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims and high rates of refusals of visitors at the border since November 2022. In a written statement to Parliament, she said: We are taking this action due to an increase in the number of Colombian nationals travelling to the UK for purposes other than those permitted under visitor rules since the visa requirement was lifted in November 2022. This has included a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims, and high rates of refusals at the border due to people travelling without the intention of visiting for a permitted purpose. open image in gallery Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (PA) ( PA Wire ) The rise in claims and refusals has added significantly to operational pressures at the border, resulting in frontline resources being diverted from other operational priorities, Ms Cooper said, as she stressed the decision had been taken solely for migration and border security reasons. Our relationship with Colombia remains a strong and friendly one. Any decision to change a visa status is not taken lightly and we keep the border and immigration system under regular review to ensure it continues to work in the UK national interest, she added. open image in gallery Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (left) during a bilateral meeting with President of Colombia Gustavo Petro, at the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November (Stefan Rousseau/PA) ( PA Wire ) In a radio interview on Tuesday, Roy Barreras, Colombias ambassador to the United Kingdom said that more than 940 Colombians have made asylum claims in the United Kingdom this year, with some resorting to travel agencies that allegedly teach them how to cheat in their asylum applications. In 2021, only six Colombians made asylum claims in the UK, the ambassador said. Over the past three years, hundreds of thousands of Colombians have fled to Europe and the United States. Economic stagnation and rising violence in some parts of the country, particularly from rebel groups and drug traffickers, have forced many to seek safety and opportunity abroad. In 2022, U.S. border patrol agents conducted more than 165,000 arrests of Colombians at the Mexican border. This number decreased slightly to 155,000 in the following year. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sgt. Ian Van Nest rolls slowly through the streets of Churchill, his truck outfitted with a rifle and a barred back seat to hold anyone he has to arrest. His eyes dart back and forth, then settle on a crowd of people standing outside a van. He scans the area for safety and then quietly addresses the group's leader, unsure of the man's weapons. How are you today? Van Nest asks. The leader responds with a wary: We OK for you here? Youre good. You got a lot of distance there. When you have people disembarking from the vehicle you should have a bear monitor, Van Nest, a conservation officer for the province of Manitoba, cautions as the tourists gaze at a polar bear on the rocks. "So, if thats you, just have your shotgun with you, right? Slugs and cracker shells if you have or a scare pistol. It's the beginning of polar bear season in Churchill, a tiny town on a spit of land jutting into Hudson Bay, and keeping tourists safe from hungry and sometimes fierce bears is an essential job for Van Nest and many others. And it's become harder as climate change shrinks the Arctic sea ice the bears depend on to hunt, forcing them to prowl inland earlier and more often in search of food, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a group of scientists that tracks how endangered species are. Read more: Why this Canadian city has been handing out free pancakes every year since 1923 You're seeing more bears because there are more bears on the land for longer periods of time to be seen and they are willing to take more risks, getting closer to people, said Polar Bears International research and policy director Geoff York. There are about 600 polar bears in this Western Hudson Bay population, about half what it was 40 years ago, but that's still close to one bear for every resident of Churchill. open image in gallery A female polar bear sits on rocks in Churchill, Manitoba ( The Associated Press ) Yet this remote town not only lives with the predator next door, but depends upon and even loves it. Visitors eager to see polar bears saved the town from shrinking out of existence when a military base closed in the 1970s, dropping the population from a few thousand to about 870. A 2011 government study calculated that the average polar bear tourist spends about $5,000 a visit, pumping more than $7 million into a tiny town that boasts fancy restaurants and more than two dozen small places to stay amid dirt roads and no stoplights. Were obviously used to bears so (when you see one) you dont start to tremble, Mayor Mike Spence said. Its their area too. Its important how the community coexists with bears and wildlife in general to really get along. Were all connected. It's been more than a decade since a bear mauled two people in an alley late on Halloween night before a third person scared off the animal. Read more: My trip down Americas road of the paranormal with a clown-themed haunted motel and a UFO crash site open image in gallery Spotted: A polar bear stands near rocks ( The Associated Press ) It was the scariest thing that's ever happened in my life, said Erin Greene, who along with a 72-year-old man who tried to fight off the bear with a shovel survived their injuries. Greene, who had come to Churchill the year before for a job in the tourist trade, said it was the other animals of Churchill the beluga whales that she sings to as she runs paddleboat tours and her dozen rescued retired sled dogs that helped her recover from the trauma. There have been no attacks since then, but the town is watchful. At Halloween, trick-or-treating occurs when bears are hungriest, and dozens of volunteers line the streets to keep trouble at bay. Any time of year, troublesome bears that wander into town too often may be put into the polar bear jail a big Quonset hut-style structure with 28 concrete-and-steel cells before being returned to the wild. The building doesn't fill up, but it can get busy enough to be noisy from banging and growling inside, Van Nest said. Residents show polar bear pride in a way that mixes terror and fun, kind of like a rollercoaster. You know we're the polar bear capital of the world, right? We have the product, it's just about getting out there to see the bears safely, said Dave Daley, who owns a gift shop, runs dog sleds and talks up the city like the former Chamber of Commerce president he is. I always tell tourists or whatever You know what, theyre the T. rex like, of the dinosaur era. They're the Lords of the Arctic. They'll eat you. Usually they don't. open image in gallery Tourists stand outside the Polar Bear Holding Facility ( The Associated Press ) Read more: The best New York holidays The military base's rocket launch site seemed to keep bears away, and when it closed in the 1970s, they came around more, longtime residents said. So Churchill and province officials put together a polar bear alert program to make sure the community members were looked after, protected, said Spence, mayor since 1995. The town's old curfew siren blares nightly at 10pm, suggesting to people that it's time to go home for safety from bears. But on this Saturday night, three different bonfire parties are going on at the town beach a spot next to the school, library and hospital that is a particular hot spot for bears coming inland. Yet no one is leaving. Then a truck shows up, and a lone figure one of government's paid guards gets out, armed with a shotgun. He walks out on the dunes about 100 yards from the parties and scans the horizon for polar bears. The guards are expected to scare any bears away with warning shots, flares, bear spray or noise not kill them. It's just everybody watches out for everybody, Spence said. So it's just, it's just normal. It kicks into gear as a community that lives alongside polar bears, you're always accustomed to coming out of your house and you look like this and you look ahead. And that's just in your DNA now. open image in gallery Erin Greene holds one of her rescued sled dogs ( The Associated Press ) Georgina Berg recalls growing up in the 1970s outside of Churchill, where many First Nations people lived, and how differently her father and mother reacted to a bear sighting. Her father, she said, would see a bear poking in garbage and just walk on by. He said, If you dont bother them, then they wont bother you," she recalled. When a bear came near in later years, after her father had died, her mum was scared. Everything was like pandemonium. Everybody was yelling, and all the kids had to come in and everybody had to go home. And then we stayed silent in the house for a long time until we knew for sure that bear was gone, Berg recalled. For Van Nest, the provincial officer, the group he came upon that day was plenty safe from a bear about 300 yards (meters) away. He said the bear was putting on a bit of a show for the tourists. This is a great situation to be in," he said. The tourists are a safe distance away and the bears doing his natural thing and not being harassed by anybody. Read more: Myth and meaning discovering New Zealands newest dark sky reserve A survivor of the Egypt tourist yacht that sank in the Red Sea off Egypt on Monday (26 November) thanked his rescuers in an emotional exchange on Tuesday. The Belgian tourist told officials "It's very nice to be back" as five people were rescued alive, bringing the total number of survivors to 33. Two British passengers remain among seven missing people as the search enters a critical third day. German and Polish nationals are believed to make up the others who are unaccounted for. Kemi Badenoch appeared to refer to Angela Rayner as "the ginger nut" during a heated Prime Minister's Questions clash with Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday, 27 November. The Conservative leader took a biscuit-themed swipe at the deputy prime minister as she referred to the boss of McVities bakery products parent firm Pladis saying the case for investment in the UK is getting harder to see. While the PM has been hobnobbing in Brazil, businesses have been struggling to digest his budget. She added: Isnt it the case the Employment Rights Bill shows that it is not only the ginger nut that is causing him problems? This is the moment two violent robbers broke into a Chelsea antique shop where they attacked two workers with hammers, before stealing 200,000 of jewellery. James Dixon, 42, and Thomas Loring, 41, were part of an organised crime network based in South London and targeted cash in transit vans, Post Offices and a jewellers in a spate of vicious assaults which left victims with serious injuries CCTV footage captured the criminals breaking into the Chelsea jewellery shop on 26 March. Dixon and Loring were arrested following an attack targeting a cash in transit worker at a Post Office on the Old Kent Road on 19 June during which they punched and kicked the custodian, stealing 26,000. Dixon, of no fixed address pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to steal, robbery of cash and possession of an offensive weapon during a hearing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on 28 October. He is due to be sentenced on 18 January 2025. Loring, of Dunkery Road, SE9 was found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery on 25 November at Kingston Crown Court, after the jury deliberated for 42 minutes. He is due to be sentenced on 16 January 2025. Wednesday morning in south Beirut started as daybreak has for much of the last two months with explosions and gunfire. This time, however, it was peace breaking out that was being marked by the volleys. As has happened so many times before, Hezbollahs supporters wanted to celebrate fighting Israel to a standstill, regardless of the cost. Cynics are probably not wrong to say that this ceasefire will only be temporary. However, it could endure for a long time if it suits the calculations of the power brokers on either side and their foreign backers. Ordinary people in Lebanon and northern Israel can be forgiven for letting out a deep sigh of relief. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon (as a proxy for Hezbollah) means that after 60 days the Israeli army will withdraw back to the border in the south and Hezbollahs fighters will go beyond the Litani River 30km or so from the Israeli border. This is a score draw, not a knock-out blow. Israel continued ferocious air strikes until the last moment. Hezbollah fired 250 rockets into Israel the day before. Hezbollah and Lebanese civilians suffered many times the casualties and damage that the militant group could inflict on the IDF and Israeli civilians. But what is ominous for Israel is that despite the devastating mix of intelligence-led targeted strikes with booby trap pagers and bunker busters killing its leader, Hassan Nasrallah two months later Hezbollah were still fighting and not defeated. This ceasefire will likely hold, for now. But it is hardly likely to be a harbinger of a wider peace. Benjamin Netanyahu justified stopping the war on Israels northern front as necessary for his forces to replenish their munitions from the USA and other Western suppliers, so it could redouble its efforts to suppress Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It was also aimed at dealing with Iran as a strategic threat and Tehrans various proxies from Syria and Iraq, via the West Bank to the Houthis in Yemen. Rather than hoping that, at last, the Lebanese army and the blue-helmeted United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will really be able to control southern Lebanon, it is Hezbollahs need to lick its wounds that means it may stay out of the coming fighting further south. Netanyahus failure to pacify Gaza so far might suggest that he will now relocate the IDF there to crush Hamas and free any remaining hostages. But he went out of his way to identify Iran as Israels enemy number one now and gave the Houthis an honourable mention as continuing targets. Netanyahu notes Israel has increasingly crossed other countries red lines and he meant, above all, the USAs attempts to rein him in. Announcing the ceasefire with Lebanon, he boasted that critics had said: We wont go back to fighting [after the abortive ceasefire with Hamas] but we did go back big time. And we will go back in Lebanon if necessary. The Israeli Air Force dropped three huge bombs on Beirut as Joe Biden went out in front of the press at the White House to present the ceasefire as the triumphant conclusion to his presidencys foreign policy. These noises from Jerusalem were cruelly discordant. Sadly, Bidens role looks less decisive and more like a footnote. Biden says he hopes yesterdays ceasefire in Lebanon will be a precedent for Israels relations with Gaza. He also talked about wider normalisation between Israel and the Arab world. Netanyahu suggested that the northern ceasefire paved the way for a new normal. That Israels military power rather than pious hopes for peace would calm the region. Netanyahu seems to be calculating that Trump 2.0 will let him loose on Iran. Calming the war with Hezbollah, while Israel prepares for the real showdown with Iran, will make the 60-day ceasefire running out look less like Bidens legacy, than his epitaph. Meanwhile, Donald Trump declared the ceasefire as the Trump effect: peace through strength. It may well be that the president-elect had a hand in persuading Israel to cut its losses in Lebanon, where Hezbollah was willing to buy time by accepting a ceasefire that gave it a chance to rebuild its organisation and gave time to Israel to redraw the map further south. Will Trump and his hawkish team now step in to knock heads together to get a peace deal that Biden could not? Or will Netanyahu blend big military blows on Israels enemies with rhetoric about achieving a Trumpian peace through strength? Appealing to the new presidents vanity while letting him carry the can for anything that doesnt go according to plan would be typical Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister doesnt expect permanent peace even after a victory. Trump, however, wants to be the peacemaker from Gaza to Ukraine. Tensions between the new broom in the White House and the veteran in Jerusalem are on the cards. Revenues at the Dublin-based international headquarters for the operator of Facebook and Instagram last year surged by 20pc, or 11.69bn, to 69.75bn in a record performance for the business. New accounts show that on the back of the average weekly revenues of 1.34bn for 2023, pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of social media giant Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd increased by 6pc from 1.75bn to 1.85bn. The revenues recorded by the Dublin-based unit account for 54.5pc of the US-headquartered Metas global revenues of $134.9bn (128bn) for 2023. The directors for the Irish arm state that the company has continued to grow during the year. Revenue is generated from advertising. The firm states that the revenue increase was attributable to growth in advertising revenue from third-party customers generated by displaying ad products on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and third-party mobile applications. Last year, Meta Platforms Ireland led by Cork native Anne OLeary since her formal appointment in June 2024 officially opened its new international headquarters at Ballsbridge. The firm recorded a post-tax profit of 1.56bn for 2023 after incurring a corporation tax charge of 288.48m. The accounts disclose that during the year, the company paid a dividend of 900m to parent company Facebook International Operations Ltd. The 900m dividend was down sharply on the 3.7bn dividend paid out in 2022. In a post-balance sheet event, the directors disclose that in March 2024, they approved a further dividend of 600m to Facebook International Operations Ltd. Numbers employed by Meta Platforms Ireland last year reduced by 491, or 18pc, from 2,662 to 2,171 and the directors state that it recorded severance expenses for impacted employees of 40.4m. The severance fund works out at an average redundancy payout of 82,281 for the 491 ex-employees. The 2023 severance payout follows 22.5m paid out under the same heading in 2022. In 2022, Meta axed around 350 roles at its Irish base and in May of last year Meta announced another round of jobs losses where up to 490 jobs were expected to be cut here. The directors state that the reduction in headcount formed part of measures to pursue greater efficiency and to realign business and strategic priorities. Staff costs increased marginally from 518.48m to 524.8m that included the 40.4m severance payout. The 524.8m in staff costs included 105.72m in share-based payments. A breakdown of the roles show 767 employed in operations, 587 in administration, 486 in sales and marketing and 331 in engineering. Pay to directors increased by from 1.9m to 2.7m along with 6.6m under long-term incentive schemes benefits. A note states that other director payments in connection with retirement from office amounted to 800,000. Profits were hit at the company after Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd set aside an additional 143.7m provision for potential regulatory fines which was down sharply on the additional 1.43bn set aside in 2022. The firm had 4.17bn set aside to deal with potential regulatory fines at year end after 613.5m was utilised during the year. A note attached to the accounts states in 2024, the European Commission has opened formal proceedings against the company to assess Facebook and Instagrams compliance with various articles of the EU Digital Services Act. Furthermore, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network sent a letter to the company regarding compliance with EU consumer law and the notes states that it is too early to determine with any reasonable accuracy impacts to the company for these matters. Research and Development (R&D) costs last year decreased from 196m to 155.43m. The profit also takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of 65.4m. Operating profits last year increased from 1.3bn to 1.88bn after administrative expenses of 65bn and cost of sales of 2.79bn are taken into account. Net interest payments of 33.8m reduced profits to a pre-tax profit of 1.85bn. The dividend payout offset by the post-tax profits last year resulted in accumulated profits increasing from 267m to 891m. Shareholder funds totalled 1.5bn. The companys cash funds more than doubled from 2.3bn to 5.89bn. Polish PM Donald Tusk joins France in opposition to EU-Mercosur trade deal Ratification of free trade agreement for South America now looks less likely Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. Photo: Getty Donal ODonovan Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 16:58 Incoming European commissioners for trade and agriculture in Brussels have been put on notice that key member states are out to block the ratification of the long-delayed EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Carrefour rows back after CEO criticises Mercosur meat Carrefour apologised on Tuesday after its CEO Alexandre Bompard's criticism of South American meat last week angered Brazilian companies ad caused suppliers to cut beef deliveries to the food retailer's Brazilian subsidiary. The Brazilian unit, which operates Carrefour, Atacadao and Sam's Club stores, said beef deliveries had not been occurring as scheduled since last Thursday, causing temporary shortages of some cuts. Its shares rose almost 6% in late afternoon trading. "The delivery schedule of beef products has resumed and the company expects the normalisation of resupply of such products during the coming days," the unit of the French supermarket said in a securities filing. Bompard said last week that the trade deal being discussed between the European Union and South America's Mercosur trade bloc presented the "risk of meat production spilling over into the French market (and) failing to meet its requirements and standards". His remarks, made in a letter to leaders of France's farm lobbies and posted on social media, were blasted by Brazil's government and agribusiness groups as "protectionist". On Tuesday, Carrefour headquarters said it regretted that the remarks had been "perceived as a questioning of our partnership with Brazilian agriculture or as criticism of it". "We never set French agriculture against Brazilian agriculture, as our two beloved countries share a deep love for the land, its cultivation and quality food," it added. Abiec and ABPA, two lobby groups representing large processors including JBS, Marfrig and Minerva and BRF SA, welcomed the apology. In a statement, Abiec said it hoped "operations of the French retailer could be resumed," in a sign that suppliers would imminently restart deliveries to Carrefour's stores in Brazil. ABPA said its member companies considered Bompard's apology "an end to the case." "Based on the positive stock reaction, it seems that the market may be pricing a fast resolution," Citi analysts said in a note to clients. They noted that although beef represents a small percentage of sales, meats in general help to drive customer traffic in stores. Brazil's agriculture ministry also said it had received a letter from Bompard apologising for his remarks. Carrefour said it sources meat sold in France almost exclusively from France and meat sold in Brazil exclusively from Brazil, adding it would continue to do so. Bompard's remarks came amid protests by French farmers against a potential EU free trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc formed by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Reuters Judge says 'it is lambing seasons and dogs won't be chasing big sheep, they will be chasing baby sheep' as he issues bench warrant for attendance of dog owner in court Poland opposes the EU-Mercosur free trade deal with South American countries in its current form, the prime minister said on Tuesday, joining France in standing against an agreement European farmers say will expose them to unfair competition. Farmers oppose the agreement between the European Union the Mercosur bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay objecting that it will allow large imports of products that are not bound by the same strict regulation they face in the EU. "Poland does not accept, and we are not alone, we will not accept in this form the agreement with the countries of South America, that is the Mercosur group, on free trade," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said before the start of a government meeting. France welcomed Poland's stance as it held a debate in parliament to try to placate French farmers who are staging a week-long protest against the deal. "It's a wonderful signal that we too must help to send out," Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said. "We can no longer allow farmers to feel that they are nothing more than an international bargaining chip," she said. French farmers brought dozens of tractors near the European Parliament in Strasbourg. "Mercosur is very bad for agriculture, especially French agriculture. We will bring in products that cannot be produced here, so we will inevitably not be competitive with these countries," said Christian Adam, a farmer in eastern France. France, the EU's largest agriculture producer, has been trying to convince other EU members to form a blocking minority against the deal. The EU-Mercosur deal would allow the entry of an additional 99,000 tons of beef, 190,000 tons of sugar, 180,000 tons of poultry meat, and 1 million tons of maize, producers have said. Meanwhile, IFA President Francie Gorman will hold a series of high-level discussions in Brussels tomorrow about the Mercosur trade deal. As part of the COPA meeting with the incoming EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen, the IFA President said he will be raising the very real concerns about the impact of the deal for the Irish beef and poultry sectors if passed. Francie Gorman will also meet officials from DG Trade to set out the dangers of a deal for farming. IFA will hold a bilateral meeting with our French counterparts FNSEA to maintain the strong alliance in opposition to the deal. Earlier this week, IFA Livestock Chair Declan Hanrahan and COPA Beef Working Vice Chair Brendan Golden met beef farmers from across Europe in Brussels at the Copa Cogeca Beef Working Group where the unified opposition to this deal was again highlighted and options discussed to intensify the campaign by EU farmers to have the deal rejected. The impact of a negative trade deal would be felt beyond the farmgate, with processing and upstream value hit by any decision to allow more imports. The Commissions plans appear to be to ignore the devastating impact of agricultural production in Brazil, while at the same time imposing greater regulations on farmers here. The next Government cannot allow this to happen. They must stand up for Irish farmers. Committing to support the beef sector as part of our General Election would be meaningless if this deal is allowed to go through, Francie Gorman said. Reuters The trial of a barrister and landowner accused of murdering an intruder in a row over the killing of a dog has heard farmers are perfectly within their rights to shoot dogs worrying their sheep. Man jailed for pointing shotgun at unarmed gardai who had genuine concerns for lives I fully believed that I was going to be killed. Killed for doing my job, killed for going to help members of the public. Michael Donoghue (21) of Stocking Hill, Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin. Photo: IrishPhotoDesk.ie Sonya McLean Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 22:56 A man who pointed a double barrel shot gun at uniformed unarmed gardai causing the officers to have genuine concerns for their lives has been jailed for four years. Gardai and the Irish Prison Service are working on introducing a formal written record for the handover of prisoners on committal, following the death of a vulnerable woman who attempted suicide just over 24 hours after being brought to the Dochas Centre in Mountjoy five years ago. A woman who was arrested as part of a money laundering operation in Blackrock, Dublin has been charged and is due to appear in court this morning. Conor McGregor at the High Court with his partner Dee Devlin Conor McGregors fiancee Dee Devlin has spoken out for the first time since her partner he lost a civil rape trial last week. Nikita Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a civil case at the High Court last Friday. Devlin accompanied McGregor to court for the verdict, but did not make any comment as she left. On Monday night, the Dublin woman turned her Instagram page public and posted a photo of the couple and their daughter Croia (6) and son Mack (1) with the caption: My man and I have created a beautiful life together. I love him I trust him and I BELIEVE HIM! Our four beautiful children whose smiling faces and happy hearts are testimony to the man he is and who we are! No one is entitled to comment on our relationship. We trust one another and love one another. Nothing or nobody will change that. Our family stands strong! Dee Devlin posted this image with fiance Conor McGregor on her Instagram post On Monday night hundreds of Irish people took to the streets to show their support for brave Nikita and yesterday several retailers announced they would no longer stock alcoholic drinks from his company. McGregor and Dee Devlin arrive for the verdict The total amount of damages awarded to Hand by the jury was 248,603.60 euro. McGregor made no comment as he left court but later in a post on X said he intends to appeal. Three sisters with the help of hurling star Lee Chin have been on the campaign trail for their father in Sydney, Dubai and Edinburgh While Labour general election candidate for Wexford George Lawlor has been knocking a fair amount of doors in recent weeks on the campaign trail, he got the shock of his life this week as his own doorbell rang. Standing there, having travelled over 17,000km from Sydney, Australia, was his daughter Rachel who had made the journey home to vote for her Dad and help with the last few days of his campaign. "I was stunned, Cllr Lawlor said. I was in complete and utter shock. A couple of days previously, Rachel had met up with (Wexford hurler) Lee Chin in Sydney and got a photo with one of my posters that she had made over there. Rachel Lawlor in campaign mode in Sydney, Australia, pictured with Wexford hurler Lee Chin a few days ago. "She had taken this poster around all the sights Koogi Beach, Oktoberfest, Sydney Opera House and, of course, the 1798 memorial there. It was a major surprise when she arrived at the front door with the same poster in hand after bringing it on the plane with her! The current Mayor of Wexford has seen his campaign for the Dail go global as a result of his three daughters all scattered around the globe. "Sarah, Rachel and Ruth have all got involved in the campaign, he said. Sarah currently works for Emirates and is based in Dubai. She brought one of my posters to the Burj Khalifa and brought another smaller-sized poster across to New York where she brought it around to all the sights there. Sarah Lawlor with her Dad's election poster at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. "Ruth is in Edinburgh and she recruited her Lismore rugby team for some great photos with a poster doing line-outs and that type of thing. The Labour man is hoping that all three daughters will be reunited with he and his wife Yvonne for polling day on Friday. Ruth Lawlor 'lines out' for her Dad with her rugby club in Edinburgh, Scotland. "Ruth is due home on Friday morning," he said. Then Sarah is currently awaiting leave to fly home from Dubai. She has to ask for leave in advance and we had predicted an earlier election, so shes hoping to sort it out so she can get home in the next couple of days and hopefully Ill have all three daughters back to vote and canvass! Gillian Sheratt and Stephen Morrison with their son Harvey Sherratt when he was aged 3. Picture: Gerry Mooney A young boy suffering from life-threatening scoliosis, who was removed from the active waiting list, is due to finally have his spinal operation on Friday as the nation goes to the polls. Eight-year-old Harvey Sherratt from Clondalkin, Dublin, touched the hearts of the nation as a video showed him struggling to breathe due his spinal curve, leading to his ribcage twisting around his lungs and heart. His relieved mother Gillian Sherratt, who has campaigned outside Leinster House to highlight the urgent need for his surgery, confirmed yesterday he will get his operation on Friday. His case has been repeatedly at the centre of political debate and was highlighted in the Dail by Sinn Fein TD Mary Lou McDonald who criticised the delays faced by children with scoliosis. A multi-disciplinary team in Temple Street Hospital reviewed Harvey and they are hoping to go ahead as long as beds are available, his mother said yesterday. Two months ago his family were left distraught when he was removed from the active waiting list and they are still awaiting an explanation on why this happened. At the time, Ms Sherratt and her husband Stephen Morrisson said they felt quite broken by it all. Three surgeons had told them Harvey should have surgery to implant growth rods in his spine. The child has since been referred to a new surgeon and the family were told last Friday the surgery would take place in a week. Harvey still needs a lot of breaks from his wheelchair at home and in school to relieve his pain and discomfort. He has suffered damage to his lungs which cannot be reversed, his mother said. The surgery will prevent it getting worse. He will likely still face breathing problems. The capacity of his lungs on his right-hand side is restricted because they have not been able to grow properly. Ms Sherratt said the ongoing waiting lists for scoliosis surgery over many years are difficult for parents to understand. If children with cancer were being failed in the same manner, I dont think this would have gone [on] as long. She wrote to Taoiseach Simon Harris and received a response the day before the Dail reconvened in September when Ms McDonald raised Harveys plight. Ms Sherratt had since contacted Mr Harris seeking a meeting, along with other parents, and is awaiting a response. As health minister, Mr Harris promised that by the end of 2017 there would be no children waiting more than four months for spinal surgery to treat scoliosis. He blamed the Covid pandemic and disruption to health services for the waiting time not being met. Waiting lists for October showed the number of children needing spinal surgery on the active waiting list for longer than four months by the end of this year should fall to 20 down from 86 at the start of this year. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said any child deemed suitable would be offered surgery abroad. During the summer, Childrens Health Ireland began a programme to outsource children who are suitable to hospitals here and in the UK and USA. Twenty children were passed for treatment abroad. CHI and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh are due to perform 557 procedures this year, an increase of 93 compared to last year. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris speaks during the final TV leaders' debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland, November 26, 2024. Niall Carson/Pool via REUTERS Climate campaigners plea for a leaders debate dedicated to climate went unanswered so the eight minutes given to the topic on Tuesday night were critical for assessing the attitudes of the taoisigh-in-waiting. The segment was not very illuminating, however. Micheal Martin relied on Fianna Fails achievements over the past four and a half years to speak for its future intentions. He was annoyed that an expert analysis of manifestos commissioned by Friends of the Earth gave the party a fail grade because it only looked forward. Simon Harris turned to his new favourite go-to phrase: We have to be able to do more than one thing at a time. By that, he means growing the economy and tackling climate change, not having dinner with Michael OLeary and simultaneously ignoring Michael OLeary. Im sure youll notice that Fine Gael scored significantly higher than the other two parties that Im sharing the stage with today, he said of the Friends of the Earth analysis which also failed his party and Sinn Fein. For the record, Fine Gael scored 38 out of 100, Sinn Fein got 33 and Fianna Fail, 30. Mary Lou McDonald launched her trademark attack on the carbon tax and promise to fund the retrofitting schemes, farm environmental initiatives and fuel allowances it supports by taxing the rich. Micheal Martin was the only one to mention the inextricably linked biodiversity crisis, though again it was in the rear-view mirror of how his party supported Green Party efforts to move it up the agenda. Simon Harris squeezed in an assertion that there was too much farmers versus climate framing of the debate. There is an undeniable attribution of high greenhouse gas emissions to our intensive farming practices, however, so his real issue seems to be that there is too much science. In an election where housing, healthcare, the cost of living and immigration have dominated, it is not surprising that climate was pushed to the end of the debate. But those eight minutes might have been put to better use. Questions that could have been asked include: When do you think the AMOC [the under-threat sea current system that gives us our benign climate] will collapse? What are your plans to cope with sea level rise? Are you prepared to relocate homes from coastal areas and rezone agricultural land as permanent flood plains? What percentage of the Irish land mass will you rewild? Will you stop doing trade with Saudi Arabia if it continues to obstruct global climate agreements? What extra measures will you take to ensure Ireland meets its 2030 emission reduction targets given that current estimates are that just over half the reduction will be achieved?. How will you fund the 8 billion in penalties Ireland faces if the country fails to meet those targets? Finally, a question Dutch journalist Jelmer Mommers posed in the title of his book on his expose of the science Shell hid from the public and then the public chose to ignore: How are we going to explain this? Ms Naughton canvassed with Cllr OBrien after the staff member involved alleges she made Ms Naughton aware of her complaint The Government chief whip will not say whether she knew about a complaint against former Fine Gael councillor Patsy OBrien when she canvassed with him. Cllr OBrien was expelled from the party after a staffer complained about being texted pornographic material by him. In letters sent to Taoiseach Simon Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee, the staff member is understood to have alleged Ms Naughton was told about the messages in 2019. Questioned by the Irish Independent on Wednesday, Government chief whip and Galway West TD Hildegarde Naughton would say only: A complaint was made and the Fine Gael party engaged in a process. And at the end of that process Councillor Patsy O'Brien was expelled from the party, and rightly so. It's also important to say that the person involved wants their identity to remain private. And for their privacy to be respected. And I need to be very conscious of that." Asked directly whether she was aware of the allegations against Mr O'Brien when she canvassed with him in 2019, Ms Naughton would not say. A complaint was made and the Fine Gael party engaged in a confidential process, Ms Naughton said. He was expelled from the party and that was the right course of action." In an interview on Galway Bay FM later on Wednesday evening, Ms Naughton repeated her answers in response to questions on the matter. Ms Naughton was quizzed after Mr OBrien, the now Independent general election candidate, said the pornographic image he sent to a Fine Gael staff member was workplace banter. Mr OBrien has until now refused to discuss the reason why he was expelled from Fine Gael. However, after Fine Gael issued a statement saying it expelled the Mayo County Councillor because he sent unsolicited pornographic images to a party member, Mr OBrien has broken his silence. In a statement to Midwest Radio today, Mr OBrien said he sent one message to the individual involved around October 2019. The text was generic and viral at the time and was sent in error by me to a person for which I apologised for, he said. "The Whatsapp, as sent, was generic and viral at the time and was not of myself. It was brought to my attention some three months afterwards, a lot of texts that are sent in the workplace environment amount to workplace banter, he added. Hildegarde Naughton on the campaign trail with Patsy OBrien Today's News in 90 seconds - 27th November 2024 Mr OBrien said he was continuing to examine all documentations and paper reports that have circulated recently and that, more importantly, the latest Fine Gael statement on the reason for his expulsion had now been passed to my legal team". The earlier Fine Gael statement said Mr OBrien was expelled from the party after an internal committee found he was in breach of their code of conduct for repeatedly sending unsolicited pornographic material, which was degrading and graphic in nature, to the Oireachtas staff member. This caused serious upset, alarm and distress to her, Fine Gael said. A Fine Gael hearing committee in 2020 found that Councillor OBrien sent pornographic and sexually explicit material, including videos, to the staff member while he was carrying out his work as a county councillor and when making representations on behalf of citizens and constituents. Accordingly, the committee determined that by his actions, Clor OBrien acted in a manner which was contrary to the code of conduct of the Fine Gael party and expelled him from membership of the party, they said. Fine Gael has not answered any questions related to Ms Naughton campaigning with Mr OBrien, despite allegedly knowing about the messages that led to his expulsion. Mr OBrien confirmed in his statement that at least one message was sent in 2019. Facebook posts on Ms Naughtons official page show she campaigned alongside OBrien in South Mayo during the 2020 general election. On February 2, 2020, Ms Naughton posted photos of herself and Mr OBrien having a great day canvassing. The following day, she posted a video endorsement from Mr OBrien and another councillor, along with a caption describing the two men as really excellent and hardworking councillors in south Mayo. Fine Gael Dublin North West candidate Noel Rock appeared to put pressure on Ms Naughton over the issue. Its a very busy time for us all as candidates and Im sure Hildegarde Naughton will make a comment at the appropriate time to the media, he said. When asked whether he would urge her to do so, he said: Im not in a position to order any other candidate to do anything, of course, all I can do is continue to do is the job I am doing here in Dublin North West and Im sure Hildegarde Naughton will make a comment. Outgoing Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said Fine Gael had delivered accountability. That individual is no longer a member of Fine Gael. The moment that issue [arose and] we became aware of this as a party, we suspended him, then initiated a disciplinary process that led to his expulsion, he said. We take these issues so seriously. At least half of the four Cork East seats will be filled by new representatives after this election, as two long-standing TDs have opted not to stand this time around. Current TDs (four seats) Pat Buckley (SF), Sean Sherlock (Lab), David Stanton (FG) and James OConnor (FF), although David Stanton and Sean Sherlock, who have held their respective seats since 1997 and 2007, are not running for the next Dail. Sinn Feins Pat Buckley is attempting to secure his third term as a TD for Cork East after his poll-topping performance in 2020 while Fianna Fails James OConnor, aged just 27, will be hoping to retain his seat for the first time. In trying to retain its seat in the constituency, Fine Gael is running Mark Stanton, son of David, before the people for the first time as well as four-term Fermoy councillor Noel McCarthy, whose political roots may appeal to certain voters in the absence of a Labour candidate on the ballot. Fianna Fail are also running Fermoy councillor Deirdre OBrien, whose father Ned OKeeffe served as a Cork East TD for 29 years, in a General Election for the first time while non-party candidates and those from smaller parties including the Greens, Social Democrats, Aontu and Independent Ireland are also contesting the constituency. Who could make gains here? With two of the constituencys seats not held by incumbents, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will both be hoping to get two representatives elected. Without a Labour candidate, there may be an opportunity for the Social Democrats or the Green Party to garner enough votes to pose an unlikely challenge to the big boys. Independent candidates and those from parties offering an alternative perspective to the coalition partners will each believe they are in with a good shout of winning a seat. Any boundary changes to note? The constituency has lost land in the north, with the population centre of Mallow moved into Cork North-Central and the rural districts of Ballyclogh, Buttevant, Caherduggan, Doneraile and Caherduggan annexed into Cork North-West. These boundary changes splintered the prime territory of Sean Sherlock - leading him to opt out of standing for election again - and opened up a seat in the constituency for candidates to compete for. While Independent Ireland party leader Michael Collins is expected to be re-elected, which two Cork South-West candidates will join him in the Dail is far less certain. Fine Gael are making a big push to secure a seat while Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns could end up in a dogfight to hold on to hers. An ability to attract transfers will prove crucial in deciding who takes the third seat. Current TDs (three seats) Holly Cairns (Social Democrats), Michael Collins (Independent Ireland) and Christopher OSullivan (Fianna Fail) Fine Gael failed to win a seat in Cork South-West for the first time in more than 60 years in the 2020 general election and have placed a heavy emphasis on winning back a seat in the most southerly constituency. They are running two strong candidates in Cllr Noel ODonovan and Senator Tim Lombard and they are determined to win a seat. The leader of the Independent Ireland party, Michael Collins, retained his seat in the last election, getting elected on the first count with 26.42% first preference votes. Renowned for his hard work throughout the constituency and his common sense approach to rural life, Deputy Collins is heavily tipped to retain his seat. Christopher OSullivan won a seat for the first time on the eighth count at the last election. He has maintained a strong profile in the constituency since, showing particular passion for environmental and disability issues. Social Democrats party leader Holly Cairns was dramatically elected in the 2020 general election. She received 3,023 transfers from the Sinn Fein candidate Paul Hayes to pip Tim Lombard for the final seat. Ms Cairns, who was elected leader of her party 2023, has been very vocal in debates on the proposed redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes, housing, and disability services. Who could make gains here? It is widely expected that Independent Ireland party leader Michael Collins will top the poll and retain his seat for the third successive time. The race for the two remaining seats is set to be a battle royal with a few candidates expected to be in the running. It is generally expected that Social Democrats party leader Holly Cairns faces a real battle to get re-elected. She will be hoping for a substantial increase to her first preference vote. On the plus side it is envisaged that Deputy Cairns will be transfer friendly and she will gain from all the left candidates. Determined to win back a seat in the constituency, Fine Gael have selected two strong candidates in Senator Tim Lombard and Cllr Noel ODonovan. Senator Lombard is located in the east of the constituency while Cllr ODonovan is located in the centre. If Fine Gael get their tactical voting right, it could prove pivotal in winning a seat. Sitting TD Christopher OSullivan is also expected to poll very strongly again. Fianna Fail has deliberately decided to run one candidate and they will be expecting Deputy OSullivan to retain his seat. The party ran two candidates in the 2020 general election when sitting TD Margaret Murphy OMahony was defeated. Sinn Fein has selected two candidates to contest the election. They have selected Clare OCallaghan and Donnchadh O Seaghdha. Ms OCallaghan ran in the recent local elections and was disappointed with her overall vote. It is not anticipated that Ms OCallaghan or Mr O Seaghdha will be in contention for a seat. Long serving Independent councillor Alan Coleman will contest another election and he generally receives a strong vote. The transfers from Mr Coleman, who is based in Belgooly, could ultimately prove decisive in the destination of the final seat. The Labour Party has selected Evie Nevin who also unsuccessfully ran in the recent local elections. Mary Ryder will run for the Green Party and Zoe Laplaud has been selected by People Before Profit. Mairead Ruane, who also contested the 2020 election for Aontu, will run again, while Deborah ODriscoll has been selected by The Irish People. Taoiseach Simon Harris admits a member of team sent statement to RTE over clip of run-in with carer Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris speaks to the media as he arrives at RTE studios to take part in the final TV leaders debate. Photo: PA Simon Harris speaks to the media as he arrives at RTE studios to take part in the final TV leaders debate. Photo: PA Fine Gael will ramp up the fear factor in the final days of the general election campaign over transatlantic economic shocks and try to persuade voters it is the only party to be trusted on the economy. The party is desperately trying to move the election debate on to the economy in a bid to lure voters away from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. Fine Gael has stumbled from one crisis to another and Taoiseach Simon Harris admitted yesterday a member of his team sent a statement to RTE, after the Irish Independent reported a staff member raised concerns with the broadcaster over airing his interaction with a disability worker in Cork. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TDs ruled out Sinn Fein as a coalition partner, as they said the party membership would vehemently oppose propping up the party in government. A swathe of TDs and candidates fighting to win seats said they would not support a Fianna Fail-Sinn Fein coalition, saying the partys members who have to vote on any proposed programme for government would vote against it if it involves Sinn Fein. Party leader Micheal Martin also previously ruled out going into government with Sinn Fein. However, Fine Gael does not trust the Tanaiste to stick by his word, as he also ruled out a coalition with Fine Gael in the 2020 general election. Fine Gael has battled to put out fires as it stumbles to the final days of the election campaign. Mr Harris has conceded his team offered a statement to RTE over airing the clip of his interaction with a disability worker in Kanturk, Co Cork. The Irish Independent reported yesterday that a member of Mr Harriss campaign raised concerns with RTE about publishing the footage of his run-in with Charlotte Fallon. The staff member is believed to have wanted RTE to add context, such as details of budget measures for people with disabilities. Fine Gael sought to play down the concerns raised by the staff member, saying this is par for the course between political parties and broadcasters. There is always constant contact between political parties and journalists, Mr Harris told Shannonside radio. I understand there may have been contact with RTE offering a statement, but lets be honest, RTE is fully independent. It is entirely important that clip was shown, I put my hands up, my mistake. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was chilling, while Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said it was an example of Fine Gael being a nasty party. Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty called on Fine Gael to clarify what the concerns were and said the conversation should now be made public by Fine Gael. One Fine Gael campaigner admitted there is panic throughout the party and cast doubts on whether a strong performance from Mr Harris this week would be enough to shore up support. Once the momentum is against you it is impossible to stop it, they said. Some Fine Gael candidates have reported they are being told on the doorsteps by voters that they are voting for the Government, but stopping short of saying they are voting for Fine Gael, leaving the campaigners fearful they are voting for Fianna Fail. Meanwhile, Ms McDonald said there has been a change in the tempo and momentum of the campaign in recent days. Party TDs Pearse Doherty, Louise OReilly and Eoin O Broin laid out a document to tackle the cost of living, including cutting housing, childcare and healthcare costs. The plan includes hiking Child Benefit by 25 per month and abolishing USC. Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said yesterday the stakes are high in the years ahead after US president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Trump said he would impose a 25pc tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10pc tariff on goods from China, on his first day in office. It just underlines to me, the change in the centre ground regarding trade, and if you are as trade intensive and exporting as Europe and Ireland is, that means the stakes are high in the next few years, Mr Donohoe said. I will respectfully argue that we dont want to be rudderless and adrift here in Ireland at a moment in which such change is brewing. Sparks flew between Mr Doherty and Mr Donohoe after the Sinn Fein TD accused him of chickening out from a television debate. When first asked if Mr Donohoe had dropped out of the show, a spokeswoman for the Fine Gael minister said he had taken part in a number of other debates. Fine Gael later confirmed that Mr Donohoe would take part in the Tonight Show debate as originally planned last night, after rectifying a scheduling issue on the ministers part. Councillor expelled from FG, OBrien, sent pornographic material to a party member.Fianna Fails Jack Chambers says Government chief whip should respond to controversyTaoiseach Simon Harris calls actions of former party colleague deplorable Government chief whip Hildegarde Naughton is coming under pressure to publicly address the actions she took when she learnt about former Fine Gael councillor Patsy OBrien sending pornographic material to a party member. Finance Minister and Fianna Fail deputy leader Jack Chambers called on Ms Naughton to set out what she knew about Mr OBriens behaviour, which has been called deplorable by Taoiseach Simon Harris. All parties should uphold standards to their public behaviour and everything else and Im sure she will be in a position to respond back, Mr Chambers said. Fine Gael should explain and should set out the context, and Hildegarde Naughton should answer questions, as would I or anyone else in Fianna Fail. Yesterday, Fine Gael revealed it expelled Mr OBrien after he was found to have repeatedly sent pornographic material to a female Oireachtas staff member. Government chief whip Hildegarde Naughton. Photo: Collins Taoiseach Simon Harris says Patsy OBriens behaviour was 'deplorable' but refuses to comment on Hildegarde Naughton's praise for councillor Mr OBrien was suspended from Fine Gael in March 2020 after the party received a complaint about unsolicited material he was sending the staff member. He was expelled in October of the same year, after an internal Fine Gael committee found he was in breach of the partys code of conduct. After several requests for comment from the Irish Independent, Fine Gael issued a statement detailing how it handled the issues related to Mr OBrien, who is running as an Independent election candidate in Mayo. Fine Gael has not answered any questions related to Ms Naughton allegedly campaigning with Mr OBrien, despite knowing about the messages he sent the Oireachtas staff member. In the statement, Fine Gael said: Following consultation with a former female Oireachtas staff member who made a complaint against Councillor Patsy OBrien, Fine Gael can, in agreement with this individual, confirm that Fine Gael received a complaint concerning Councillor OBrien repeatedly sending her unsolicited pornographic material, which was degrading and graphic in nature. This caused serious upset, alarm and distress to her. A Fine Gael hearing committee in 2020 found that Councillor OBrien sent pornographic and sexually explicit material, including videos, to the staff member while he was carrying out his work as a county councillor and when making representations on behalf of citizens and constituents. Accordingly, the committee determined that by his actions, Councillor OBrien acted in a manner which was contrary to the code of conduct of the Fine Gael party and expelled him from membership of the party. The former staff member has asked Fine Gael to relay that their privacy be fully and absolutely respected and no further contact be made with her by media outlets. The individual does not wish to see any material published which risks identifying her. The Sunday Independent reported last weekend that Mr Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee had received letters outlining claims Ms Naughton continued to canvass with Mr OBrien despite knowing he sent pornographic messages to an Oireachtas staff member. Ms Naughton has refused to answer any questions on her knowledge of the material. She posted videos and photographs on her social media accounts praising Mr OBriens work as a county councillor in February 2020 during the general election campaign. It was claimed in letters to Mr Harris and Ms McEntee that Ms Naughton knew about the messages sent by Mr OBrien since 2019. Yesterday, the Taoiseach refused to answer any questions related to Ms Naughton, but called Mr OBriens actions deplorable. Mr OBrien has not responded to requests for comment. Taoiseach Simon Harris at a campaign event in Trim, Co Meath. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters Fine Gael general election candidate John McGahon has made a last-ditch effort to secure a seat in the Dail amid the controversy over a pub assault. Mr McGahon asked voters in Louth to give him their Number 1 vote or highest transfer in a leaflet that was designed to look like a handwritten letter. A leaflet claiming to be from the senator was posted through some letterboxes in Dundalk in recent days, and states it was printed by Fine Gael headquarters. This is the first time the senator has broken his silence since The Sunday Times published videos of an assault outside a pub in 2018. In 2022, a Circuit Court jury found Mr McGahon not guilty of the assault of Breen White outside a pub in Co Louth in 2018. However, Mr White sued Mr McGahon for assault and battery and the High Court awarded 39,000 to Mr White. Elected to the Seanad after the incident, Mr McGahon denied the claims and said he had been assaulted and acted in self-defence. He has not spoken publicly since videos of the incident emerged during the campaign in recent weeks. Taoiseach Simon Harris and his ministers have backed Mr McGahon. However, in recent days Mr Harris has appeared to backtrack on his support for the candidate, pointing to the other candidate on the ticket for Louth, Paula Butterly. Yesterday, Mr Harris said he was not sure whether he would allow Mr McGahon to join him on a canvass. In the leaflet, the senator states Ireland is at a crucial moment because the choices voters make will affect the future of our country. He called on voters to remember the work he has done locally, saying since he was elected as a councillor in 2014, I have worked my heart out for county Louth. I love our county, its my home and I am very proud of the work we have achieved here, he said. Helping people is the most rewarding part of my job and it has been a privilege to do that over the past 10 years as a councillor and then as a senator, he added. But now, at this crucial election, our community needs a TD who will champion it, both at home in Louth and nationally in Dail Eireann. Mr McGahon said he hoped that voters would see how much he loved our community and how much he was working for it. Thats why I am asking you for your Number 1 vote, said. If that is not possible, please consider me for your highest transfer. The coming election is going to be really close, so please make sure to vote. It is understood he has been canvassing around the constituency in recent days. Broadcaster Pat Kenny took a shot at the hosts of RTEs Prime Time leaders debate Sarah McInerney and Miriam OCallaghan on his Newstalk radio programme. During a recap of the debate on The Pat Kenny Show on Wednesday morning, Kenny said it really wasnt a debate, and it comes down to the format that they had. They had two moderators and I think that was the big competition of the night. Who could ask the best questions, who could be the best moderator, rather than who is going to be the best leader of the country, Kenny said. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris with presenters Miriam OCallaghan (right) and Sarah McInerney during the final TV leaders debate, at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, ahead of the General Election on November 29 (Niall Carson/PA) "Because I watched that from a professional perspective watching how that was done, and I think that probably did inhibit the debate a bit. He said the best debate he could host in his own studio is one where I say nothing and I let them at it. Thats where it becomes, for me, Im watching like a sentry waiting to jump in if I have to, but otherwise I want the protagonists to have a right go at each other. He added: The moderators were kind of like the fire brigade putting out the fires before the fires could erupt. Mr Kenny was the host of RTEs debate ahead of the 2011 Presidential election on Frontline when he read out a tweet from a fake account purporting to be the official account for Martin McGuinnesss campaign. During the debate, Mr McGuinness and independent candidate Sean Gallagher had a heated exchange over a claim that Mr Gallagher had collected a 5,000 cheque from a man for a Fianna Fail fundraiser event. Pat Kenny. Photo: Steve Humphreys Main political leaders react to RTE debate Later in the show, Kenny read a tweet which said Mr McGuinness would be at a press conference the following day with the man Mr Gallagher allegedly took the cheque from. The tweet had come from a fake @McGuinness4Pres account the official campaign account was @Martin4Prez2011. The man Gallagher took the cheque from will be at a press conference tomorrow, it read. Seen as the frontrunner at the time, Mr Gallagher held a lead in the polls when the debate was broadcast just three days out from the election. The reading out of the tweet was widely seen as having derailed his campaign. In March 2012, a complaint by Mr Gallagher to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) was upheld. He had complained the Frontline debate and the following mornings episode of Today with Pat Kenny were in breach of the fairness, objectivity and impartiality section of the Broadcasting Act. The BAIs findings were accepted by RTE. On an episode of his radio programme following the BAI decision, Mr Kenny said Sean Gallagher didnt raise the issue of the tweet after the debate, and he was unaware the tweet was from a fake account when he went on air the following morning. Hotels and guesthouses in Louth are urging political parties and candidates in the upcoming general election to commit to policy measures to protect the countrys tourism and hospitality sector, particularly in relation to food service businesses, which they say is teetering on the edge of a commercial crisis. The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) have highlighted the growing challenges facing local businesses due to spiralling costs, which they have attributed to government policies. John ONeill, a local IHF branch representative described the situation as unsustainable, and has called for an urgent change in direction to protect the future of the industry, which is Irelands largest indigenous employer. Tourism and hospitality should not be taken for granted, ONeill states. Much more needs to done to safeguard and prioritise out industry. Tourism and hospitality must be at the heart of the next Governments economic policy, supported by targeted measures to ensure our industry lives up to its full potential as a major engine for growth and economic prosperity. The sector, which supports over 270,000 jobs nationally, including 3,000 in Louth, has been hit hard by rising operational costs, especially in the food services. ONeill pointed to increased VAT rates and other government imposed costs as the major reasons why financial strain is being felt across the industry. Among the key measures proposed by the IHF are an urgent review of the Governments Tourism Policy Approach, a reinstatement of the 9% VAT rate for hospitality food services, waivers for local authority commercial rates, tax-free tips for restaurant staff, and employer PRSI rebates to ease the burden on labour-intensive businesses. Other priorities include increased investment into tourism marketing, improved regional air access, funding for hospitality training, and a push for sustainability through a national hotel retrofitting scheme. The IHF also advocates for a dedicated Department of Tourism and Hospitality with a cabinet seat. A key priority for our sector is the need to tackle the cost of doing business, which is getting out of control and posing an enormous risk to the sector. There has been an alarming deterioration in the commercial model of hospitality food services in particular as a result of the increased VAT rate coupled with a raft of Government-imposed large cost increases. Businesses are now at a cross-roads requiring immediate action by the next Government, he said. Ministers appear to abandon Harris in days before the country votesFine Gael call on Fianna Fail candidates to shut door on Sinn Fein coalitionSinn Fein say vote for Fianna Fail will put Harris back in Government Taoiseach Simon Harriss path back to power has taken a further blow with the majority of voters believing he lost the last general election debate of the campaign, according to an opinion poll from Ireland Thinks. The new research shows the majority of people believe Tanaiste Micheal Martin (38pc) performed best in the debate, with the runner-up being Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (36pc). However, just 15pc voters who watched the RTE Prime Time debate believed the Fine Gael leader was the winner. The RTE Prime Time leaders' debate Mini manifestos: What the main three parties promise on immigration One in ten people said they were not sure who performed best. The Ireland Thinks poll of 418 people who watched the debate was carried out on Wednesday. The televised debate was the only one between the three main political party leaders. The only other debate featured ten political leaders, including Mr Harris, Mr Martin and Ms McDonald. It comes as Cabinet ministers appear to be abandoning the Taoiseach in the final days of the campaign. Only Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe have featured prominently during the final days of the Fine Gael campaign. Limerick TD Patrick ODonovan was supposed to participate in a launch on education on Tuesday in Munster but this was called off. Instead, a social media clip was issued of the Further and Higher Education Minister laying out the partys promises on education. Similarly, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke was due to appear at an event with Mr Donohoe on Tuesday but did not show up. Mr Burke was, however, at an event today with the Taoiseach. Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has also mostly been absent from the national campaign as she is not running to keep her seat in Cavan Monaghan. Meanwhile, in its latest election strategy, Fine Gael has moved to target Fianna Fail TDs who previously said they would have no problem entering into a coalition involving Sinn Fein. In a press release, Longford-Westmeath candidate Micheal Carrigy called on Fianna Fail TD Robert Troy to clarify previous comments he made about power sharing with Sinn Fein. With Mary Lou McDonald saying on RTE that shell talk to everyone, its even more critical that voters know where Fianna Fail candidates stand before they go to the polls on Friday, the Fine Gael senator said. Are Robert and other Fianna Fail candidates in Longford-Westmeath still willing to facilitate a Sinn Fein government? How can we take Micheal Martins word for it, if we do not know where the rest of his party stands on this? he added. Similarly, Dublin South West TD Colm Brophy called on his Fianna Fail counterpart John Lahart to shut the door on forming a coalition with Sinn Fein. Mr Brophy also questioned if Mr Martin could be taken at his word on ruling out going into government with Sinn Fein. With potential global trade shocks set to hit Ireland, we need to ensure we have a stable economy and stability in government in the years ahead, he said. A Sinn Fein government presents the opposite of this, yet the public is unclear if John Lahart and many of his Fianna Fail colleagues would be happy to facilitate this instability for the country, Mr Brophy said. Mr Lahart told Irish Independent he no longer supports going into coalition with Sinn Fein. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein are warning voters that a vote for Fianna Fail will mean a return of Simon Harris to government. In a statement, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said: Five years ago, Micheal Martin told voters that Fine Gael had been in power for too long and that they needed to come out of government. He then went and put them in. We all know the results of that decision. Micheal Martin now wants to give Fine Gael five more years - a fourth term in government. His only offering to the Irish people is 19 unbroken years of Fine Gael in government. Micheal Martin is determined to put the discredited Simon Harris back into government, despite everything that we have seen during this campaign, he added. When the bell finally rang for a general election, candidates across party lines and of all ages were preparing to enter or perhaps re-enter into the political arena. The Irish Independent spoke with some of them. Ruadhain Bonham (23) (Greens, Meath East) The recent graduate is the youngest candidate running for his party and wants to bring to light the many challenges young people from Co Meath face. People are shocked when they see me at their door, the Dunboyne man said. Theyre like Oh my God, what? 23 Are you mad? Should you not be enjoying your life like every other young person, going off to work or emigrating? Mr Bonham expressed concern for the steady decline in average farmers in Ireland, saying: Theres rhetoric out there that Greens are against farming, which couldnt be further from the truth. Green Party candidate Ruadhain Bonham Were trying to get more people to become farmers and to be more sustainable. Were pushing for organic farming. My family were initially very nervous about me running, particularly because I still live with them. Around the time I was considering running, Simon Harris and Helen McEntees homes were facing threats so that really worried them. My friends never thought theyd know someone whod run in a local or general election, but now its become somewhat normal. They are becoming more empowered when theyre knocking on doors with me. Eoghan Kenny (24) (Labour, Cork North Central) For councillor Eoghan Kenny, the message on the doorstep could not be any clearer: people need more young blood in Cork North Central. We need a new generation of politicians in Ireland, he said. People are looking for somebody to turn to and address issues this country has in terms of housing, healthcare and childcare. As a 24-year old, people see their own children in me. Eoghan Kenny of Labour The councillor said he had noticed a new trend appearing in this years general election. I am seeing people putting party politics aside and considering voting for a new candidate who will address issues directly affecting their children and grandchildren. Ive never seen that in an election before, he said. Ive not come across any negativity about my age. I would hope people put their faith in me. The difficulty this time round is getting around to the whole constituency which likely wont be possible in the next two weeks. Melissa Byrne (25) (Aontu, Kildare South) Before she ran in this years local elections, the 25-year-old from Newbridge, Co Kildare, only considered herself to be semi-political. My cousin was canvassing for Peadar Toibin in 2020 when he was running for the general election and asked me to come with him, Ms Byrne said. I remember just going around the doors and seeing that even people who didnt agree with him still saw him as a force for goodness in their community. It was an interaction with politics Id never had before and it made me want to be more involved. Melissa Byrne of Aontu Ms Byrne said that people across generations were connecting with her on the doors because of a general need to see a different kind of people in politics. The young candidate has said she hasnt faced any animosity due to her age on the campaign trail, but highlighted the vulnerabilities that come with social media exposure. People just seem surprised and tell me I look quite young, she said. I asked my family what they thought about me running before I decided to do it officially because when youre running youre putting others in the spotlight by extension. My friends thought it was quite mad. The idea that you have a friend whos running for government seemed pretty funny. Social media has been a massive tool and Ive had so many people on the doors who said they recognised me on TikTok or Instagram. Bernard Durkan (79) (Fine Gael, Kildare North) The Fine Gael TD, whose political career spans four decades, says that on this general election campaign recognition is not an issue. I couldnt ask for a better reception, he said. Every election is the same as the first one. You just have to go through the long way around and you have to recognise that. Really, youre only as good as your last one and have to start all over with support in the same way. The Fine Gael spokesperson on Public Expenditure said he is making use of all the technology at his disposal to take on a new electorate in this years general election. Bernard Durkan of Fine Gael We use Facebook all the time because we have to, he said. We use all the means that are available to us to communicate with the electorate. Earlier this year I received up to 15,000 emails. You need to study and process them all. Charlie Keddy (80) (Independent, Wicklow) Mr Keddy is the oldest candidate running in the election, with his campaign based around a pro-life stance. He said he felt compelled to run as no one else represents my opinions. The place is full of issues, but theres about 40 other people dealing with them, he told the Wicklow People. The most important thing for me is to save the unborn baby. Im hoping we will follow the Americans. The Americans voted that there would be no abortion, he added, referring to the recent US election, where 10 states featured ballot measures that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Charlie Keddy is the oldest candidate in the election On the other 17 candidates in the dog-eat-dog constituency with just four seats available, Mr Keddy said: Theyre going to deal with trimming the hedges and fixing the potholes and the state of our hospitals. Theyre looking after that. And to me, trying to save the unborn baby is number one, above all. The Worker is more frequently known by their other title: the squeezed middle. Thats me. Stuck in the middle of those who have and those who have not. Depending on the time of the month, I swivel from one state to the other. Forsa, the countrys largest public sector trade union, will meet next week to consider next stepsUnite said its members have also backed action in the same dispute Forsa would have to give three weeks notice to the HSE and is not expected to act until the New Year. (Stock image) Thousands of health service workers have overwhelmingly backed industrial action in a row over an alleged staffing crisis. The largest public sector union Forsa announced that its members backed industrial action by 93.6pc over alleged understaffing. A Unite spokesperson said its members have also backed action in the same dispute. Nurses and midwives have also balloted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over unsafe staffing. Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which has over 46,000 members, voted by 95.6pc in favour of industrial action following a six week ballot. A spokesperson said members were balloted on the non-filling and delayed filling of posts. She said over 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts were left unfilled in the public health system at the end of last year. INMO members have sent a clear message to the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health that nurses and midwives are no longer willing to accept pausing the hiring of much-needed safety critical staff in a weak attempt to balance the books, said INMO president Caroline Gourley. She claimed directors of nursing and midwifery have been stripped of all autonomy to recruit nurses and midwives but are expected to ensure a safe service. We cannot wait any longer, patients deserve a properly staffed health service that is not constantly dogged by crisis after crisis, she said. INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said the INMO executive council will liaise with other health sector trade unions that balloted their members to decide on a united approach over the next two weeks. Our members are often the first point of contact many sick people have with the public health system, she said. In turn, they have to bear the brunt of the publics rightful frustration with the overcrowding crisis and long waiting lists that are exacerbated by short staffing. One of the first priorities of the next Government must be to solve the staffing issues that exist right across the public sector. Forsa's divisional executive will meet next week to consider its next steps. It would have to give three weeks notice of industrial action to the HSE under existing agreements, and is not expected to act until the New Year. Forsa represents clerical and administrative grades in the HSE as well as health and social care professionals. Health service unions have been holding lunchtime protests at hospitals in recent weeks after alleging that they were not consulted on the HSEs staffing plan, known as the pay and numbers strategy. The unions claim that the HSE has suppressed thousands of vacant posts that were not filled since a hiring ban was imposed. The hiring ban has since been lifted. Forsa said in a statement that the suppression of these jobs means that health staff are forced to cope with an insufficient complement of workers in most departments. It claimed this is adversely affecting services to older people, community, acute and mental health services. The union said current pressures on services are set to get worse as demand rises in the winter months. The ballot result illustrates our members frustration and the challenges theyre facing every day, said Ashley Connolly, head of Forsas Health and Welfare division. She said continuing employment restrictions are putting patient services under enormous strain. Waiting lists continue to grow, and its having a damaging effect on the morale of our members who continue to deliver services. They cannot operate indefinitely in circumstances where demand outstrips capacity. The HSE and the Department of Health need to wake up to that challenge. It cant continue this way, she said. Forsa national secretary Linda Kelly said its members have spoken clearly. Members have backed industrial action because the HSE doesnt see fit to engage on this dispute, she said. Forsa members have said they wont back down while their capacity to deliver services has been severely compromised. They are taking a stand, and they wont be ignored, she said. There was a turnout of 60.8pc in the Forsa ballot. Meanwhile, Unite said vacancies are being benchmarked against a headcount for this year. It said this means any vacancies unfilled last year have effectively been lost to the health service. With the worst of the winter still ahead of us, staffing pressures will increase further, said Unite regional officer Eoin Drummey. He said unions have exhausted all available avenues to resolve the dispute. HSE management only has a short window to avert industrial action by rolling back the discredited Pay and Numbers Strategy and instead negotiate a safe staffing framework in the interests of workers and patients, he added. Another lunchtime protest is due to take place tomorrow at St Vincents Hospital in Dublin. A Bunclody resident has claimed that the decision to move the polling station from St Aidans community centre to the Our Lady of Lourdes primary schools is not only farcical, but could affect the the number of people voting on polling day. According to Maureen Moorehead, the decision to change the location was due to a complaint by the mother of one resident who was unable to access the centre due to the size of their motorised wheelchair during the local elections in June. At the time, a solution was given in the form of allowing him to cast his vote in Clohamon. However, Ms Moorehead said their decision to move the station has affected the accessibility of many others and may affect the number of votes being cast on Friday. "There is a lack of common sense. Why would you move the station from the centre of town to up a hill? Now 300 children will be out of school for the day and parents are scrambling to sort out childcare for that day, she said. She also believes that whoever made the decision overlooked a very simple solution to the problem. "It was just one complaint and they could have sorted it simply by allowing them to avail of a postal vote, she added. Maureen, who is also a volunteer at the community hall, said that the caretakers and staff are feeling the loss as they usually receive 450 during polling days which goes towards the much-needed upkeep of the hall. Furthermore, committee member Jonathan King said the initial complaint simply outlined that the hall, which has been the polling station in the centre of the village for over 100 years, needed to be made more accessible. The committee set about trying to improve the access, which would prove costly, but not impossible. It was decided to apply for funding through various bodies, however, the grant applications for such works had been allocated for 2024. The committee have been working with the mother who filed the initial claim to improve accessibility in the hall, who is said to be mortified that her complaint is being used as cause for the decision. The wheelchair in question is larger than average wheelchairs as it allows the user a range of motions and independence. "The new polling station is some 500 meters from St. Aidan's Hall, up a fairly steep hill in a National School, which will have to close for the day. A cost to the state for school staff wages and cancellation of school meals. This is a Deis school with children from disadvantaged areas and the food provided could be their only nutritional meals for the day, he explained. "We just want the right to hold the polling station back we would love funding to help with this since we are a not for profit space, he added. To add insult to injury, when Maureen went about finding out who and why they made the decision, no one would claim responsibility for the decision. "When I called Wexford County Council, specifically Michael Drea, I was told that it had nothing to do with the council and told her to contact the returning election officer, said Maureen Yet, when she contacted returning officer Mary Delahunty, who is stationed in Bray, she told her that Wexford County Council would be responsible for deciding polling station locations. "It is like something out of Faulty Towers, she stated. In response to this issue, County Secretary Michael Drea confirmed that the returning officer Mary Delahunty had consulted on the issue after issues were raised about accessibility. "Wexford County Council consulted with the County Registrars (Wicklow Wexford and Wexford) and concerns were expressed in relation to accessibility, and a preference to move which was facilitated, he said. He also referenced the Electoral Act 1992 which states in section 28(1A) that outlines the need for polling stations to be wheelchair accessible. A long running investigation into a criminal gang based in the Castleknock area of Dublin and a crime organization led to major raids by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) on Wednesday. The Bureau seized seized 23 cars, vans and trucks, as well as drugs, electronic equipment and over 400,000 in cash. The Irish Independent has learned that the alliance between the Castleknock based Irish criminals and the Albanian mafia has been a source of serious concern for detectives in west Dublin for some time. This is an organisation that had been continuing to grow in strength and they have links to very serious drugs trafficking organisations both inside and outside this country, a source pointed out. Like all criminal organisations money needs to be washed through what appears on the outside as legitimate businesses so this cash can then be used. The Dublin based part of this network has so far not managed to get involved in gangland feuding despite their connections to nearly all the main gangs, the source added. For a number of years now officers have been concerned about the growing influence of the Albanian mafia in the Dublin 15 area of the capital in which they have been involved in serious violence and drugs debt intimidation. Some of the main protagonists in the gang have already been convicted with serious offences including assault but the gang members are in control of key smuggling routes from the Balkans into Ireland where firearms are also smuggled into the country. In December 2019, a senior member of an Albanian crime mob whose crew are suspected of being heavily involved in people and drugs trafficking were the target of raids by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). Two high-end cars were seized and 22,000 in cash and an expensive Swiss watch was also taken by the Criminal Assets Bureau during five searches in Dublin and Wicklow. In May, 2017, it was revealed that specialist gardai were conducting a number of top secret operations against the Albanian mafia in the capital which led to almost 1 million worth of cannabis herb being seized in the space of a fortnight at the time. Albanian gangsters have been laundering their cash through chippers and car wash businesses across the capital and are heavily involved in the security business as well as car dealerships. Gardai announced details of their latest operation against the mob. The Criminal Assets Bureau conducted a search operation in west Dublin today, Wednesday, 27th November 2024 as part of ongoing CAB investigation into targets linked to a Dublin-based organised crime group, a spokesperson said. This group is involved in the trafficking of controlled drugs in the DMR West Division. CAB officers were assisted by Gardai from DMR West, the Emergency Response Unit, the Armed Support Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit and the Customs Dog Unit. Todays operation involved 130 personnel carrying out searches at 14 different locations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. During the course of this operation 23 vehicles along with 400,000 in cash and frozen funds were seized. A quantity of suspected cannabis herb, electronic devices and assorted documentation were also seized. This operation marks a significant development in CABs ongoing proceeds of crime investigation, they added. One teen mum, Jane, got support for her studies for a business degree in a third-level college. Stock image: Getty The number of teenage girls having babies has dropped sharply from 3,135 in 1999 to 705 last year, but the complex social issues they face have increased, it has emerged. National manager of the Teen Parents Support Programme (TPSP), Samantha Dunne said more young parents today have a social care background, increased mental health issues, exposure to domestic abuses, high incidences of homelessness and substance misuse problems. So although births to young parents have decreased, challenges, adversity and many other systemic issues can impact young parents significantly, she said. This has led to the need to expand the age-range criteria, and support parents for a longer period of time, she said. Ms Dunne was speaking at a special event in Dublin where 25 years of the Teen Parents Support Programme was celebrated. The organisation has helped around 10,000 women and men, across 10 counties. Ms Dunne said: We are delighted with what the TPSP has achieved, and are also committed to responding to changing needs. In 2022, European Social Funding was secured to evolve it into a new programme, co-funded by the Irish Government and European Union, and we are therefore pleased to today officially launch the Young Parents Support Programme (YPSP). She said this is a reframed approach which will expand to reach young parents who face challenges in 19 counties by 2027. Both programmes are co-ordinated nationally through child and family information and support service Treoir. One of the teenage mothers supported was Jane (18), who was three months pregnant when referred to the service. She came from a family background which was extremely deprived, both emotionally and financially. Despite this, Jane had succeeded in getting a place in a local third-level college where she was studying for a business degree. Although she was highly motivated, she feared that the demands of rearing her child would force her to discontinue her education. The Teen Parents Support Programme was able to provide Jane with some of the supports she lacked at home. As her delivery date coincided with exam times, the project leader secured special arrangements for her while doing her exams which she passed with first-class honours. She was also supported to apply for a grant from an Access Fund administered by the college. Jane is now living in her own rented accommodation, is in her third year of college and plans to study for a masters. Fiona Meaghers teenage son helped during emergency at Co Meath home Meath-based mum, Fiona Meagher, said a radio interview about another stroke survivors symptoms just weeks earlier, saved her. A stroke survivor has told how hearing a fellow patients experience on the radio helped to save her own life. Fiona Meagher (54) urged her husband and son to call an ambulance when her arm went weak while reaching to a cupboard at home. The Meath-based mum said a radio interview about another stroke survivors symptoms just weeks earlier, saved her. "I said to my husband and son, Im having a stroke, call an ambulance, said Fiona. "But that was only because I had listened to Meaghan OBriens story. My son, Darradh, who is 16 and was in Transition Year, had done a F.A.S.T. (face, arm, speech and time) course two days before in school. In the middle of the chaos, he calmly sat me down and did the F.A.S.T. test. He spoke to the emergency call taker on the phone. The terrifying incident happened at her home in Ashbourne shortly before Christmas last year. Weeks earlier, mum-of-three Fiona had heard Irish Heart Foundation Patient Champion, Meaghan OBrien, describing her own stroke symptoms during a radio interview. The Patient Champions Programme aims to train patients with cardiovascular disease to lobby for better supports for their fellow patients at political level, speak publicly and in the media, and build local support networks. After being diagnosed with heart failure in 2019, Fiona completed the programme in 2023 and has graduated - along with 30 others - as a Patient Champion. She has since used her voice in Brussels, where AI in heart treatments was discussed, on heart failure in Dail Eireann, and has spoken in schools and at various events for patients and the public. Tests revealed Fiona had a hole in her heart, which a clot had passed through, causing the stroke. She was discharged from hospital on December 22 last year. I came home and life got back to normal, I was straight into doing the food shop for Christmas on the way home, she said. Fiona is encouraging other stroke and heart patients to turn to the Irish Heart Foundation for support and to consider joining the Patient Champions programme. I didnt know anything about the Irish Heart Foundation when I was first diagnosed with heart failure, she said. Its a shame hospitals dont promote it more because at the very start youre so alone, broken, upset, lonely - its an awful thing. Availing of the Irish Heart Foundation support services really helped me with my recovery so I wanted to give something back. The Advocacy Campaign Manager with the Irish Heart Foundation described people like Fiona as the unsung heroes of the organisation. The Patient Champions are a terrific addition to the Irish Heart Foundation, said Pauline OShea. Their lived experience and desire to help others and the organisation speak out about significant issues that affect heart and stroke patients, is a powerful combination for working for positive change for patients. We are now recruiting for our Patient Champions Programme in 2025, and we welcome heart and stroke patients from all over Ireland to apply. If you would like to become one, visit irishheart.ie/patientchampions Four fatalities in recent days including a father of two who died on deadly stretch of road Five people have been killed in yet another dark period for road deaths, bringing the total number of lives lost on roads this year to 160. The latest fatality occurred in Limerick city yesterday afternoon when a man in his 50s, a pedestrian, was killed in a hit-and-run on the Ennis Road around 2pm. The driver failed to remain at the scene, but gardai later recovered the vehicle involved and arrested a man in his 30s. He remains in custody. This fatality followed the death of Sean Maye (32) from Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, on Monday when his van collided with a lorry on the hard shoulder of the N17 at Corbally, Claremorris, Co Mayo. Mr Maye was a father of two young children and his death caused shock in his community. The crash occurred on the same stretch of road between Claremorris and Knock where several tragedies have occurred this year. In March, Una Bowden (47) and her daughters Ciara (14) and Saoirse (10), from Moycullen, Co Galway, died when their car collided with a lorry less than 2km from the site of Mondays crash. Just days later, a teenage boy, Vakaris Gudaitis (17), was struck by a vehicle and killed in the townland of Barnacarroll, Claremorris, Co Mayo. In May, Andrea Gornowicz (58) was killed after she was involved in a three-car collision on the N17 between Claremorris and Ballindine. Local Aontu councillor Paul Lawless extended his sympathies to the family and friends of Mr Maye, who was a well-known landscaper from Tubbercurry and was believed to be returning home from work when the accident happened. It is an awful tragedy. It is a devastating situation, he said. I understand he was a young father and the loss his family and friends must be feeling is terrible. I have been working and doing everything I can with Mayo County Council and the GII [Ground Investigations Ireland] to make the N17 safer. Statistically, that 7km stretch, it is the most dangerous in the country. I really think it needs to be upgraded to a motorway. The Knock to Collooney road project has been downgraded to a single carriageway, so essentially we will be getting something similar to what we have on the N17. I think it is a mistake. It is something I will be fighting for. Separately, a man aged in his 70s died from injuries suffered in a crash in Liscooley, Co Donegal, last Friday night, which also claimed the lives of Ryan Glenn (25) and Gordy Galbraith, aged in his 30s, both from Castlederg, Co Tyrone. A Ford Focus car they were travelling in was involved in a collision with a Kia Sportage in which the man in his 70s was travelling. A woman, aged in her 70s, remains in a serious condition in hospital. The crash occurred on a straight stretch of the N15, with gardai trying to determine what caused the accident. A spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said behind every death on Irish roads is a devastated family trying to piece their lives back together. We are deeply saddened by the recent road tragedies and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends affected by these tragic events, it said. We are acutely aware that behind each number is a person someone who had dreams, someone who had loved ones. The injured man had been brought to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin Gardai in Dublin have renewed an appeal for witnesses after a man died from his injuries sustained in a road traffic collision nearly two weeks ago. The cyclist, a man aged in his 20s, passed away yesterday, following the incident involving an e-bike and a car on the N11 in Cabinteely on Thursday, November 14. Gardai and emergency services had rushed to the scene of the collision at the Johnstown Road junction shortly before 5pm. The cyclist, who had been seriously injured, was rushed by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. However, he passed away yesterday. Gardai have now appealed for witnesses to come forward. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the area at the time are asked to make this footage available to investigating gardai. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Dun Laoghaire Garda Station 01 6665000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. Update on exhumation of a grave in the search for Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey A grave in Co Monaghan has been exhumed by experts searching for Disappeared victim of the Northern Ireland Troubles Joe Lynskey. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. Both the time frame and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972, the commission said in a statement. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then failed to locate his remains. Today's News in 90 seconds - 27th November 2024 The commission said the process of establishing the identity of the remains found in the grave may take some time. Mr Lynskey was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate their whereabouts. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Breanainn Lyness said the event was mostly welcoming but heard someone directing the phrase Sinn Fein murderer at him A row has broken out after the Orange Order criticised the switching on of the Christmas lights in a Co Antrim village by a Sinn Fein councillor. Broughshane held its annual festive parade and lights ceremony last Saturday. However, the local Orange lodge hit out over the presence of Breanainn Lyness. The Ballymena Guardian reported that mayor Beth Adger was unable to attend and deputy mayor Mr Lyness took her place. Mr Lyness told the Belfast Telegraph the event was mostly welcoming but he heard someone directing the phrase Sinn Fein murderer towards him. The local Orange Lodge expressed deep disappointment and regret at the Sinn Fein councillors attendance due to his partys historical association and stance. They said: Christmas is a time for unity, togetherness, and goodwill to all, and we believe that such an important community event should reflect those values. The presence of a Sinn Fein representative, regardless of their position in the council, given the partys historical associations and stance, namely their totally unrepentant position on the terrorism they waged in this country for 30 years is deeply divisive and inconsiderate to many in our community. We are dismayed that an opportunity to bring people together and celebrate the festive season has instead been marred by a decision that fails to respect the sensitivities of all members of the community. Sinn Fein Councillor Breanainn Lyness at the lights ceremony on Saturday They added they were committed to fostering a spirit of harmony and respect within Broughshane and would continue working towards strengthening the community. Councillor Lyness said everybody was in good spirits and the vast majority of people in attendance were welcoming as he handed out medals to kids on the night. It was mostly welcoming, I thought it went down really well. It was more after the fact that I heard opposition to it, he told the Belfast Telegraph. I represent everybody in both my roles. Im a local, I only live five minutes down the road from Broughshane. Ive spent my life here. Its not as if Im a blow-in, he added. Broughshane village Christmas tree The Sinn Fein councillor recalled hearing someone shout Sinn Fein murderer just prior to giving the Christmas lights ceremony speech. He said: As I was doing the speech, I heard somebody shout but I didnt realise what it was. Somebody had shouted Sinn Fein murder, but I just continued on with the speech and got a big round of applause at the end. Councillor Lyness reiterated that despite the jeer, he felt welcomed by the village and recalled a good atmosphere on the night. A spokesperson for the Broughshane and District Community Association said: We were delighted by the very well-supported Christmas Lights switch on. As in our tradition, we asked Mid Eastern Antrim Councils Mayor to attend and carry out the switch-on. In her absence, the mayor deputised this duty to her deputy who came along and joined in the event. We regret that some members of the Orange Lodge were dismayed by this but welcome their commitment to fostering a spirit of harmony and respect within Broughshane and will continue to work towards the strengthening of our community. Ms Hussey had been suffering a short illness and was surrounded by her family in the care of Gascoigne House Nursing Home, Dublin 6, when she died. Taoiseach Simon Harris and President Michael D Higgins have led the tributes to the late Fine Gael politician. In a statement on social media, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris described Ms Hussey as a trailblazer. It is with profound sadness that we in Fine Gael mark the death of our friend and colleague, Gemma Hussey, he said. Gemma was a trailblazer, the States first female minister for education and Fine Gaels first female cabinet minister. Gemma was a passionate progressive for womans rights, education reform and Irelands place in the world, particularly the potential of European Union membership. Gemma was a TD from my own native Wicklow, where her long service and delivery is remembered to this day. But above all, Gemma was a patriot, a Fine Gael stalwart and a kind and generous person. I was one of the people lucky to enjoy her company, her advice and her good humour. To all of her family, colleagues and friends, I am truly sorry for your loss, he said. Meanwhile, President Michael D Higgins said Ms Hussey was a lifelong committed feminist. Gemma Hussey was a passionate advocate and inspiration for the vitally important increase in the number of women serving in our political system, he said in a statement. As a dedicated and effective government minister, she set a stirring example of the key role which must be held by women in politics. President Higgins mentioned several achievements of Ms Hussey, such as establishing the National Parents Council as education minister. She put in place lasting reforms which have benefited all those who have grown up in Ireland in the succeeding decades. Throughout her career, she remained true to her principles and advocated for social reforms at a time when not all of the causes she supported were popular with all parts of Irish society. Her interests were wide and inclusive. For example, I recall that we were both members of the McBride Commission on the Irish prisons, where Gemma took a particular interest in crimes of violence against women. As chair of the Womens Political Association, and later as co-founder of the European Womens Federation, she used her experience to aid others in building their own political careers. In the years since her departure from frontline politics, Gemma Hussey remained an incisive commentator and an always-valuable voice on the political system, Mr Higgins added. Justice Minister Helen McEntee has also paid tribute to the former Fine Gael colleague, describing Ms Hussey as a trailblazer for women in politics. Gemma Hussey was a pioneering politician who was inspired to enter public life by her involvement in the womens movement, she said in a statement. She was the first woman to hold the position of Minister for Education and was the only woman serving at Cabinet in the period 1982-87. She also served as minister in the departments of Social Welfare and Labour. Women in politics today owe a lot to Gemma and the female politicians of her generation. In a statement issued this evening, her family said they are deeply proud of her contribution to a better Ireland and a better Europe over a lifetime of service. Carmakers are sticking with petrol and diesel cars longer than they had planned Tariffs are very much part of the motoring conversation at the highest levels. Against a backdrop of Donald Trump threatening all sorts of import duties on Chinese cars, EU and Chinese officials are looking at alternatives to European charges. They include minimum prices for cars sold in Europe. It is only just beginning. * A tale being told with increasing frequency is carmakers are sticking with ICE (internal combustion engines) longer than they had planned. Several brands are reported to be taking another look at plans that entailed going with all-electric power on most of their line-ups. They will now sell ICE cars for longer than planned as EV sales trail off. * A 750km range is a major point scorer for the next DS. The replacement for the DS9 SUV is expected to be launched in the first six months of next year. * BMW now says production of the Neue Klasse EV is expected in late 2025. It is a serious shift as key technology in this crossover will cater for a completely new line-up of EVs. The new First seats will be made by Northern Ireland-based Collins Aerospace, BA says The new First seat, viewed from above British Airways has unveiled a luxurious new first class seat that it hopes will give it the edge in the battle to attract high spending passengers on flagship routes across the Atlantic. The carrier, which is the only European airline to offer first class between London and the US, is set to provide passengers with a modern luxury hotel feel, the seat also combines home comforts and thoughtful British touches. It is the first update to British Airways first class cabin since 2020. Each mini-room will cost around 100,000 to make. New features in the first class suites arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration include a wider and longer seat, a 32-inch TV screen, so called buddy dining, and a personal luggage space. Bluetooth connectivity will allow passengers to use their own wireless headphones or those supplied by the airline. The seat will be introduced on BAs fleet of 12 double decker Airbus A380s as they are refurbished and should be in the skies by early 2026. It is part of a 7 billion (8.4bn) overhaul of the onboard experience across its fleet. The new First seat, viewed from above The new seat is three feet wide, and transforms in to a flat bed with a length of 79 inches, and includes a multi-purpose ottoman foot stool and stowable table, a 32-inch 4K TV screen, and adjustable mood lighting with options including relax, dine and cinema. It is wrapped by a five foot high curved wall for privacy with a slatted door that allows passengers to see what is happening outside their suite. For customers travelling together in the centre of the cabin, a divider slides open to create a shared lounge space, so passengers can experience buddy dining in the seat with their travel companion. The suite also features window blinds, activated by buttons on the internal control panel for all three windows per seat. There is also a do not disturb option on a wireless control tablet that notifies crew. Storage including a leather lined exterior wardrobe with space for a full-sized rollaboard, and a cupboard that can fit a rucksack or handbag. British Airways chief customer officer, Calum Laming, said: Were incredibly proud to launch the next era of First that pushes the boundaries of comfort, luxury and modernity, taking into consideration customer preferences and expectations to the finest detail. This coupled with our incredible colleagues delivering a world-class service, following the launch of our First Service Specialists scheme, as well as the many benefits of flying First such as First Wing entry, access to our award-winning lounges including our Concorde Room and priority boarding, means we truly believe we offer a winning combination in delivering an extraordinary experience for our customers. British Airways hired London-based design agency Tangerine to help it overhaul its First cabin. Tangerine previously worked with BA in the 1990s when it helped create the Club World seat. The seat will be made by Northern Ireland based Collins Aerospace, while BA says it has also used leading British manufacturers such as Scottish luxury leather specialist Muirhead. The route on which the new first class suites will debut has yet to be revealed, but A380s currently fly from London on US routes to Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco and Boston. The Christmas card was invented in Victorian Britain in 1843, but can it survive the digital age? And can it survive the increasing cost of a stamp? Postage in Britain has become so expensive that card-senders are being told that it would be cheaper to fly to Albania for the day and post their cards from Tirana than from anywhere in the UK. Elections have consequences, and in todays global geopolitical and economic landscape the general election on Friday will have enormous consequences. All parties are promising significant spending growth. Many of these commitments will not be achieved, given the coming transatlantic economic storm from president-elect Donald Trumps tariff and tax plans. One party here stands out among the three larger parties as planning to dramatically narrow our tax base, pile more taxes on fewer people and pump spending up to what can only be described as astronomical levels. The money simply will not be there. To describe Sinn Feins economic plans as undeliverable is a reasonable position. Mr Trump is well into implementing his promises. He will impose high new tariffs on imports and will reduce corporation tax in the US. He will demand the return of foreign investment by US companies to their homeland. The result will be that US companies in Ireland will be highly incentivised to move at least some of their investments back home. FDI executives, managers and higher earners will be primed to return to the US if Sinn Fein is in pole position after the general election. This is undeniable, given Sinn Feins public commitments to target higher earners by tax them more. The Department of Finance knows it will take only a small amount of international capital flight from Ireland to collapse our tax take. Clearly, the Irish economy is overly dependent on tax revenue from higher-paid employees and multinational companies. Those in the centre of the political spectrum, having introduced all the existing welfare programmes and state spending, know we have reached the tipping point for many entrepreneurs, multinational executives and domestic investors. Mark Mohan, Castleknock, Dublin 15 Healthcare should be top priority for any candidate seeking election to Dail Health has to be a focus for those seeking public support in the general election on Friday. Unfortunately, we constantly hear about the statistical analysis of those challenges, but very little about the real impact on people and communities. People must demand an effective and efficient health service. It is now time to reinforce and ring-fence the cross-party support for Slaintecare and separate health into two ministerial departments: a health service ministry responsible for operational delivery, and a Slaintecare ministry responsible for policy setting and planning are governance solutions that will provide maximum accountability to sustain the solution process way beyond any single term of government. The fiscal envelope has never been so plentiful, and to future-proof healthcare, resources must now be invested, but only with the guarantee of supporting political accountability to ensure the planning is viable and sustainable. Failure to grasp this nettle now will only further reduce effectiveness and efficiency and drive out skills and expertise from a crumbling framework of so-called health democracy. We can do far better than we are doing. Brian Rowntree, Ardee, Co Louth Hectic canvassing across country leaves little time to focus on lay of the land Watching the many politicians traversing the country at breathtaking speed, I am mindful of the wise words of William H Davies: What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare. Alice Leahy, Alice Leahy Trust, Dublin 8 Taoiseach must show us there is substance behind slick social media smiles In yesterdays Irish Independent, Kevin Doyle wrote that Simon Harris will be the focus of most viewers trying to decide whether they have been sold a pup in Tuesdays leaders debate. The jury is out on that one, in my opinion, but Simon Harriss mask clearly slipped in his awkward encounter with care worker Charlotte Fallon in Kanturk, Co Cork. When confronted with a real person with a genuine gripe, he walked away, seemingly only going back to her after realising the encounter had been captured on camera. Simon Harris has built his campaign on an energy he clearly has. This is advertised to people with the new energy slogan on his posters, but an energy without substance is meaningless. Flying around the country, meeting hundreds of happy, clappy people to be edited into slick TikTok videos is shallow. Harris has a chance tonight to convince us we havent been sold a pup and that there is substance behind the smile. Tommy Roddy, Ballybane, Co Galway Radio silence from those petulant elites now Trump is headed for White House The article regarding US citizens moving abroad, post Donald Trump, was very interesting (Ireland a favourite for Americans who plan to flee US and seek new home abroad after election of Donald Trump, Independent.ie, November 24). As a gesture of goodwill, I have attempted to contact a number of Hollywoods finest, offering a house swap of my humble semi-detached home for one of their palatial mansions in Beverly Hills or Malibu. My only concern is that many of these individuals have been threatening this same petulant action for years if they didnt get their own way, similar in many ways to a spoilt child throwing a tantrum. Sad to report, I have yet to receive a reply. Ah, well, one lives in hope. Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath Disappointed by the lack of focus on mens health concerns this Movember As the month draws to a close, I am very disappointed by the all-but-disappeared theme of the month, Movember, which is focused on promoting mens health, with discerning orientation on prostate and testicular cancers. It is widely acknowledged that men are not good guardians of their own health. While accepting that news matters such as Donald Trumps re-election, wars and our own general election would make good headlines, I would, as a prostate cancer survivor, have expected a much greater effort to focus mens attention on their health during this month. We need to make Movember great again. Michael Gannon, St Thomas Square, Kilkenny Flexi-FD is a Munster based financial consultancy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Ms Collins served as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork North West constituency from 2011 to 2016. Since her departure from politics, Aine CPA IOD has been supporting a number of businesses, both at board and CFO levels, as well as a two year term as President of CPA Ireland (Chartered Professional Accountants). She has also served as a business mentor for high potential start-ups on various Enterprise Ireland programmes. With over 25 years of financial expertise, as well as being involved in setting government policy for SMEs during her tenure as a public representative Aine, together with her team will bring practical hands on experience to support small and medium businesses to grow and develop their businesses with a wide range of services. This will range from bookkeeping to management accounting with a comprehensive range of business advisory services. Ms Collins stated: My work over the past number of years has shown me that while many businesses have a need for dedicated finance resources, often SMEs cant justify an internal resource to meet every need. "At Flexi-FD we can be an organisations flexible finance department, working closely with the owner and management team, providing a consistent and expert resource, with as much or as little support and expertise as is needed, she added. Aines knowledge and practical experience means she can quickly understand and transform a businesss financial processes and create efficient systems that produce real benefits. She is joined in the business by Kathleen Chambers CMA, who is a highly experienced financial controller with particular experience in both multinational and SME family-owned environments. Ms Collins said she is looking forward to working with a wide variety of businesses. Daily financial operations can be complex and time consuming and can overshadow the more strategic financial activities that help grow businesses. We can bridge any resource gaps and work in partnership to support business owners to build successful businesses. Whether its monthly management accounts, support with financial roadmapping or strategic business planning, Aine is available for an initial consultation. Ms Collins can be contacted through the website www.flexi-fd.ie. Below are the candidates you can expect to find on the ballot paper come election day. Independent Ireland candidate Kathryn Bermingham Candidate: Kathryn Bermingham Party: Independent Ireland Kathryn Bermingham is standing for public office for the first time in the upcoming election, after being selected to run for Independent Ireland in September. Mrs Bermingham works as a school manager in UCC. According to Independent Ireland, she sits on several boards related to research health, safety and educational advancement and is the chairperson of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee at UCCs School of Biochemistry. She is the first candidate from her party, formed in November last year, to seek election to the Dail in Cork East. Outgoing Sinn Fein TD Pat Buckley Candidate: Pat Buckley Party: Sinn Fein Outgoing TD Pat Buckley began his career in politics after he was elected to Cork East in the 2011 Local Elections and has stood successfully in the last two General Elections. The east Cork native got involved in campaigning as a mental health rights activist following the death of a loved one through suicide and has served as Sinn Feins spokesperson on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. In the 2016 General Election, Deputy Buckley received 5,538 first-preference votes and was elected to the fourth and final seat in Cork East on the tenth count. As his party experienced a huge surge in support in 2020, the outgoing TD topped the polls with 12,587 first-preferences and was elected to the constituency on the first count. Ross Cannon is standing as an Independent candidate in Cork East. Candidate: Ross Cannon Party: Independent Ross Cannon, a security guard based in Killavullen, has stood unsuccessfully for election on three previous occasions. He ran as an Independents Together candidate for Fermoy LEA in the 2014 Local Elections, in which he accumulated 138 first-preference votes, and stood as a non-party candidate for Cork East in 2016, in which he gathered 147 first preferences. Mr Cannon also ran in this years Local Elections, contesting Mallow LEA for the Irish People party, and was eliminated on the sixth count after securing 322 first preferences. Independent East Cork councillor Mary Linehan-Foley Candidate: Mary Linehan-Foley Party: Independent Mary Linehan-Foley started out in politics 25 years ago when she was elected to Youghal Town Council as a Fianna Fail representative in 1999. She retained her position on the council in the 2004 elections and stood unsuccessfully for election to Midleton LEA in 2009. Despite this setback, the candidate has since carved out a successful career as an Independent councillor for Cork East, after securing a seat on the sixth and final count in the 2014 Local Elections and topping the polls in 2019 and earlier this year. Cllr Linehan-Foley has also vied for a Dail seat. In the 2016 General Election she gathered 3,145 first preferences and increased this tally to 3,903 in 2020. Candidate: Catherine Lynch Party: Independent Ireland Catherine Lynch is a healthcare professional who is from Bantry. The upcoming election will mark the first time that Ms Lynch stands for public office. Ms Lynch is the second Independent Ireland candidate to be announced for Cork East, with Kathryn Bermingham also standing. *There is no image available of Catherine Lynch. Fine Gael councillor for Fermoy, Noel McCarthy Candidate: Noel McCarthy Party: Fine Gael Cllr Noel McCarthy is one of three sitting Fermoy LEA representatives who are seeking to become the first TD from the area in some time. The Fermoy resident has been elected locally on all previous attempts, in 2009 and 2014 as a Labour representative, and for Fine Gael in 2019 and 2024. In a crowded field earlier this year, he won nearly 16% of the vote and was elected on the second count. This election is not the first time that Cllr McCarthy has sought a Dail seat. He ran unsuccessfully for Cork East in 2016, when he captured 4,406 first-preferences and was eliminated on the eighth count. Asch Ni Finn is running for People Before Profit-Solidarity in Cork East. Candidate: Asch Ni Finn Party: People Before Profit-Solidarity Asch Ni Finn is a seamstress from Knockraha who is contesting Cork East for People Before Profit-Solidarity. Ms Ni Finn, who is a long-time community activist according to her party, is another first-time electoral candidate. She is standing as a natural successor to Ciara Leonardi-Roche, who ran for the previous iteration of the Solidarity party, the Anti-Austerity Alliance, who secured 1,999 first preferences from Cork East voters in the 2016 General Election. Fianna Fail councillor for Fermoy, Deirdre O'Brien. Candidate: Deirdre OBrien Party: Fianna Fail Cllr Deirdre OBrien from Mitchelstown won a seat in Fermoy LEA in 2019 on the first occasion she contested an election, securing 2,225 first-preference votes to be selected for the third seat in the constituency. The full-time councillor, who is a daughter of former TD Ned OKeeffe, was successful in retaining her Fermoy council seat earlier this year, when she won 1,891 first-preferences and was elected on the eighth count to become one of three Fianna Fail representatives elected. Cllr OBrien was selected by her party to run in the upcoming General Election in late September and it is the first time she is seeking to win a seat in the Dail. Outgoing Cork East TD James O'Connor of Fianna Fail Candidate: James OConnor Party: Fianna Fail James OConnor is one of the four outgoing Cork East TDs. The Youghal-born candidate comes from a farming background and was first elected to public office in the 2019 Local Elections, when he secured the fourth seat in Midleton LEA after garnering over 10% of the vote (1,535 first preferences). At age 22, he became one of the youngest ever Fianna Fail members to be elected a TD when he won a seat in Cork East in the 2020 General Election. In that race, he collected 7,026 first preferences to secure the fourth and final seat in the constituency. Cliona O''Halloran is the Green Party candidate for Cork East. Candidate: Cliona OHalloran Party: Green Party Cliona OHalloran made her electoral debut earlier this year when she ran for a seat on Cobh LEA. The Green Party member came very close to winning election to the Municipal District, but was denied the sixth and final seat in the constituency after a recount which confirmed the election of a fellow first-timer Dominic Finn of Fianna Fail. Mrs OHalloran, who is a project manager and sustainable business consultant, will be hoping to become the first Green Party representative elected to Cork East in the upcoming election. The party had a relatively strong showing in the area in the previous General Election, when councillor Liam Quaide collected 3,749 first preferences. Independent candidate John O'Leary. Candidate: John OLeary Party: Independent John OLeary is from Kerry Pike in Cork and lists his occupation as a businessman. He is also known as Sean OLeary and previously ran in several constituencies in the 2020 General Election and is now listed in several constituencies this time around as well, including Cork East. He garnered headlines last time for canvassing from an hospital trolley and listed healthcare and homelessness among his key concerns. Fermoy Independent councillor William O'Leary. Candidate: William OLeary Party: Independent Fermoy councillor William OLeary spent most of his political career as a member of Fianna Fail but announced he had decided to become an Independent last March after becoming disgruntled with his former party. Cllr OLeary was perhaps rewarded for his choice in Junes Local Elections, as he topped the polls with 2,920 first preferences and was elected on the first count. In the 2019 election, the councillor was elected to a seat in Fermoy with less votes (2,212) from a field that contained six less candidates. The representative is seeking to be elected as a TD for the first time in this years General Election. James Peter O'Sullivan is standing for The Irish People in Cork East. Candidate: James Peter OSullivan Party: The Irish People James Peter OSullivan is standing in his second election as a candidate for The Irish People party. Mr OSullivan, who is a machinist from Midleton, ran in Midleton LEA in the Local Elections in June and won 211 first-preference votes and was eliminated after the fourth count. Medhi Ozcinar is running for Sinn Fein in Cork East. Candidate: Medhi Ozcinar Party: Sinn Fein Medhi Ozcinar is standing in his first General Election, having run for Sinn Fein in the Local Elections earlier this year. Contesting Cobh LEA, Mr Ozcinar secured 629 first preference votes and was eliminated after the eighth count. A Cobh resident who is the son of a Kurdish father and an Armenian mother, Mr Ozcinar works in customer service for a multinational company and he is also a small business owner. Mr Ozcinars candidacy means that Sinn Fein is running two candidates in the constituency for the first time. East Cork Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide Candidate: Liam Quaide Party: Social Democrats Cllr Liam Quaide was first elected to office when he became a Green Party councillor for Midleton, securing the seventh and final seat in the constituency after winning 1,024 first preferences (6.8% of the vote) in the 2019 Local Elections. Cllr Quaide then ran unsuccessfully in Cork East in the 2020 General Election, winning a respectable 6.9% share of the vote. Last year the representative, who is a clinical psychologist, decided to leave the Green Party after becoming frustrated over the closure of the Owenacurra mental health facility in Midleton. After some time as an Independent, he joined the Social Democrats and was re-elected to Midleton LEA in June after growing his vote share to 9.9%. Former councillor Frank Roche Candidate: Frank Roche Party: Independent Frank Roche is a former councillor for Fermoy LEA, who served on the County Council after being elected to the sixth seat in the constituency after garnering 899 first-preferences in 2019. The Independent candidate had run in the previous Local Elections in 2014, but failed in his bid to win a seat. In June, he was also unsuccessful in his attempt to be re-elected to Fermoy after he secured 628 votes and was excluded after the fourth count. Mr Roche, who announced his intention to run in Cork East in late October, is seeking to be elected as a TD for the first time. Fine Gael candidate Mark Stanton Candidate: Mark Stanton Party: Fine Gael Mark Stanton is the son of outgoing Cork East TD David Stanton, who earlier this year announced that he would no longer contest the Cork East Dail seat he has held since 1997. The younger Stanton, born and raised in Midleton, has not run for public office up to now and spent the last eight years working in recruitment in Ireland and the UK. His father has been the sole Fine Gael representative elected to Cork East in the last two Dail terms, winning over 13.5% of the vote share in the 2016 General Election and more than 11% in 2020. Aontu candidate Mona Stromsoe Candidate: Mona Stromsoe Party: Aontu Mona Stromsoe, who has been a resident of Midleton for 30 years, is running for a place in the Dail for the first time. The Aontu candidate first dipped her toes in the electoral waters when she ran for Midleton LEA in this years Local Elections. She failed in her attempt to win a seat on Cork County Council but still garnered a respectable 692 first-preferences (4.3% of the vote). Ms Stromsoe succeeds Connor Hannon as Aontu candidate for Cork East. Mr Hannon won 1,337 first preferences (2.45%) in the constituency in the last General Election. Below are the candidates you can expect to find on the ballot paper come election day. Deputy Holly Cairns (Social Democrats) Candidate: Holly Cairns Party: Social Democrats Holly Cairns is a TD for Cork South-West, leader of the Social Democrats and the only female TD in Cork. Deputy Cairns first stood for election in 2019 because she wanted to see the community reach its full potential. Ms Cairns believes this election is about how we can do things better. She wants to help deliver a West Cork where families can thrive, businesses can flourish, and young people can see a future. The party leader wants a future with affordable homes, quality jobs, local healthcare, disability, and homecare services, plenty of childcare and school places and a thriving natural environment. Cllr Alan Coleman (Independent) Candidate: Alan Coleman Party: Independent Cllr Alan Coleman says the people in Cork South-West deserve a positive voice representing them at national level. He claims an independent thinker is required in Dail Eireann who can help put the resources in place to deliver the services and infrastructure required. Cllr Coleman believes the various Cork ministers, TDs and senators have failed the people. He also believes he possesses the experience and ability to work with people to deliver on important projects for the region. Priorities for the long-serving politician include increased support for small businesses and the agricultural sector due to continued high costs and uncertainty on regulations. Another key priority for Cllr Coleman is helping children with special needs and carers for the elderly. Maintaining tourism in rural areas like West Cork is also a big priority. Deputy Michael Collins (Independent Ireland) Candidate: Michael Collins Party: Independent Ireland Deputy Michael Collins has lived in Lowertown, Schull, his entire life. His father worked for Drinagh Co-Op for 48 years and his mother was a homemaker who raised five children. Before entering politics, Deputy Collins worked with community voluntary groups for 30 years and he continues to work with the voluntary groups. After being elected in 2016, he created the Belfast-or-Blind bus service, improved public transport access throughout West Cork and fought to protect farmers and fishers. If re-elected, he will improve healthcare, increase housing, support farmers and fishers and expand education services. Deputy Collins will also seek to address the cost-of-living crisis, combat illegal immigration, fight crime, and bring young people home. Zoe Laplaud, People Before Profit Candidate: Zoe Laplaud Party: People Before Profit-Solidarity Zoe Laplaud has been selected by People Before Profit-Solidarity to contest the general election in the Cork South-West constituency. The 22-year-old is a native of Durrus and is a proud Gaeilgeoir. Ms Laplaud has been a committed activist for over four years and has campaigned enthusiastically on housing issues, environmental justice, Palestine, and LGBTQ+ rights during this time. The forthcoming general election represents her first time contesting an election. Ms Laplaud is looking forward to the general election: Im excited to be able to offer a real alternative to the people of West Cork and to propose real solutions on housing, healthcare, and the cost of living. Senator Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) Candidate: Tim Lombard Party: Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard is the current Fine Gael Spokesperson for Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Marine. He has 21 years of political experience and has served as a senator since 2016. He has a proven track record in turning up and speaking up for families, farmers, older people, small businesses and for communities. If elected Senator Lombards priorities include education and championing equality of opportunity for all students including those with dyslexia and other learning differences; promoting the continuation and extension of schemes which see young people able to purchase or build their own home; and advocating for farmers on issues like nitrates derogation, VAT refunds and ash dieback. Evie Nevin (Labour Party) Candidate: Evie Nevin Party: The Labour Party Evie Nevin is a passionate advocate for equality and justice. She entered politics through her activism during the Repeal the Eighth Amendment campaign. As a disabled person and mother, she brings lived experience to her work, particularly in housing, healthcare, and disability rights. Ms Nevins key priorities include addressing the housing crisis, ensuring accessible healthcare, and promoting environmental sustainability. If elected, she aims to create a fairer future for all, where rural communities thrive, and every person has access to the services and opportunities they deserve. Donnchadh O Seaghdha, Sinn Fein Candidate: Donnchadh O Seaghdha Party: Sinn Fein Donnchadh O Seaghdha is a native of Skibbereen and he was previously elected to Skibbereen Town Council from 2004 to 2014. He has been involved in numerous organisations such as Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Conradh na Gaeilge, Bol Chumainn na hEireann and the GAA. Mr. O Seaghdha worked as a teacher with the VEC which involved education through the medium of Irish and adult education. He is currently a part-time farmer and a member of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers organisation. Mr. O Seaghdha was chair of the ODonovan Rossa Centenary Committee commemorations in 2015 when President Higgins unveiled the monument at the memorial park. Donnchadh is currently chair of the Kilmichael and Crossbarry Commemoration Committee. His priorities if elected include: Upgrading the roads network in West Cork, investment in social and affordable housing, supports for farming, fishing and local businesses, investment in hospitals, post offices and other services in rural Ireland. Mr O Seaghdha also wants more incentives to halt the emigration of our youth. Clare O'Callaghan (Sinn Fein) Candidate: Clare OCallaghan Party: Sinn Fein Claire OCallaghan works and lives in west Cork with her husband and four children. She teaches English as a foreign language. As a parent and worker living in a rural community, the Sinn Fein candidate understands the need to end decades of neglect in rural Ireland to ensure that West Cork can reach its full potential and thrive. Ms OCallaghan has the passion and determination to deliver for the people of Cork South-West and ensure their voices are heard. Her key priorities include ending the housing crisis and reforming the healthcare system. This includes delivering more GPs, out of hours doctors and resources for Bantry hospital. Cllr Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael) Candidate: Noel ODonovan Party: Fine Gael Cllr Noel ODonovan hails from near Rossmore and he attended secondary school in Dunmanway. The Fine Gael candidate, who has served as a member of An Garda Siochana, now works in Rosscarbery where he helps to run the family grocery business. Cllr ODonovan who represents the Skibbereen Local Electoral Area was first co-opted to Cork County Council in 2011. He was re-elected in 2024 after he topped the poll on the first count. He is passionate about west Cork and its community and wants to ensure the people of Cork South-West have a strong and energetic voice in Dail Eireann. Cllr ODonovan promises to be a new voice and a new energy for the people of West Cork. His plan for West Cork is to make it an even better place to grow up, work and live in through ensuring investment in critical infrastructure. He wants people and communities to have a greater say on the decisions that impact them. Deborah ODriscoll, The Irish People Candidate: Deborah ODriscoll Party: The Irish People Deborah ODriscoll ran unsuccessfully in the recent local elections in the Bandon-Kinsale LEA. If Ms ODriscoll is elected she wants to be a voice for the people which she feels is sorely lacking in Dail Eireann. Ms ODriscoll says she is against a corrupt illegal government and the woke indoctrination of children. Independent candidate John O'Leary. Candidate: John OLeary Party: Independent John OLeary is from Kerry Pike in Cork and lists his occupation as a businessman. He is also known as Sean OLeary and previously ran in several constituencies in the 2020 General Election and is now listed in several constituencies this time around as well, including Cork South-West. He garnered headlines last time for canvassing from an hospital trolley and listed healthcare and homelessness among his key concerns. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) Candidate: Christopher OSullivan Party: Fianna Fail Deputy Christopher OSullivan is the partys spokesperson on Coastal Communities, Environment, Climate Action, and Biodiversity. He is the parliamentary party link to the youth branch, Ogra. A UL law graduate, before entering the Dail in 2020, Deputy OSullivan served as Mayor of County Cork and was a county councillor for 13 years. As TD, he has served on the Dail Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media and the Committee on Environment and Climate Action. Deputy OSullivans priorities if re-elected include the need for continued investment in Bantry Hospital and community hospitals across the region. He also wants to see continued investment in social and affordable homes in the constituency. He wants to see further investment in education, a reduction in waiting times for assessments and further supports for students with additional needs. With the region having the longest road network in the country, Deputy OSullivan wants to see greater road spend per kilometre. Finally, he would like to see a reduction in the bureaucracy involved in agriculture and significant supports for the tourism industry. Mairead Ruane (Aontu) Candidate: Mairead Ruane Party: Aontu Mairead Ruane is a psychologist and training specialist. Ms Ruane is involved in community services management across homelessness, teenage pregnancies, addiction, disability and mental health services. A mother of two, she established Kind Kinsale which is an organisation that provides advocacy and training for people living in direct provision. Mary Ryder (Green Party) Candidate: Mary Ryder Party: Green Party Mary Ryder, who has a lifelong passion for learning and active citizenship, is an adult literacy organiser in Cork ETB. Ms Ryders priorities include sustainable agriculture, integrated local communities, reliable transport, and accessible medical services. Ms Ryder believes that with a whole-of-society lens, there can be a welcoming and forward-looking community for all. This will offer a future with sustainable homes and employment opportunities and ensure children can grow and adults can thrive. It was a harrowing experience, said Cork care worker Charlotte Fallon whose meeting with Taoiseach Simon Harris in Kanturk last Friday emerged as the dominant moment in the closing days of the general election campaign. The disability care worker who works in St Josephs Foundation in Charleville, 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 subsequently went viral. Ms Fallon said all she wanted from the Taoiseach was a simple answer to a query on Section 39 care workers. That was not the political impact I was looking for. All I wanted was a simple answer and a nice conversation on what is going to be done. There is no voice being heard. Doors are being shut on people. They promise you the world and nothing is done. When was the last time you heard about the disability sector? It was a very tough experience, said Ms Fallon. I am a bit overwhelmed. I was in the chemist before that and people were saying the Taoiseach was around. When I saw him in the shop, I said this is my chance to raise a few issues. I even apologised to him as well when we were speaking. I said maybe I was abrupt and Im sorry If I came into your face. That is not me and who I am. I was just so frustrated. Reflecting on her encounter with Mr Harris, she acknowledged it was a harrowing experience. You have to remember as well that he had all his people around him. It is like a burning spotlight on you. When someone is dismissive and condescending towards you it is even worse. It was a harrowing experience. The fact when you are getting emotional and starting to cry. You are trying not to show weakness because you are a woman. That is worse. The care worker admitted to feeling a bit sorry for Mr Harris, who personally contacted Ms Fallon last Saturday morning. Did it show him and his party in a bad light? Not just Simon Harris, but every single one of them. What is getting to me is that they are all piggybacking off the whole experience. I feel a bit sorry for Simon Harris because they are all jumping on the bandwagon. I didnt expect it to go viral. That was not my intention. He rang me Saturday morning and apologised. He took full responsibility. We had a lovely conversation. He said he will visit me. There will be no media and cameras. It was good to get his feedback. At the same time the damage was done. You can forgive, but dont forget. I wont forget it overnight, she added. Ms Fallon reiterated her appeal for more positive changes to be made in the disability sector. A lot of changes in the sector definitely need to happen. Section 39 workers deserve pay parity. We worked through Covid. They held a clapping session for frontline staff and healthcare workers during Covid. That is just a slap into the face. Ms Fallon continued: More respite care is definitely needed. I meet so many families who have no respite. For the people who do, it is literally two or three hours. That time is spent getting the shopping and doing errands. That is not a break. There also needs to be more facilities and better care. I am only one voice. Ask the parents and guardians what is needed. They will let you know what needs to be done. The child sector is shocking. The mental health sector is shocking. All I want is more help for carers, for children and for the disability sector. More needs to be done. I want people to be listened to, she added. The care worker paid tribute to her work colleagues for their support in recent days. The CEO at St Josephs Foundation Michael Hegarty has been nothing but supportive. He has made a lot of changes for the better. My care staff have been brilliant and so supportive. They said I have been a good voice and an advocate. The nurses have also backed me 110% saying how brave I am. Referrals from men in Cork looking for support with domestic violence behaviour increased by 124% in the past year. 34 men across County Cork contacted MOVE Ireland seeking support last year. 15 men in Cork County contacted MOVE Ireland seeking support in 2022. The South West region which comprises Cork, Kerry, Limerick and South Tipperary had an overall 49% increase in referrals. MOVE Ireland which stands for Men Overcoming Violent Emotion, is a nationwide organisation aimed at rehabilitating men who choose to be violent in their intimate or interpersonal relationships. MOVE runs programmes for men throughout the Southwest region encouraging them to take responsibility for their behaviour and actions. Dr Michelle Walsh, CEO of MOVE Ireland said: 2024 to date has seen a rise of 400% of calls to our service. Domestic violence does not discriminate based on age, gender, socio-economic background, race, or religion. Perpetrators come from all walks of life. The reasons behind their abusive behaviour can be complex, involving a combination of personal history, psychological issues, and learned behaviour. Men are looking for change, said Dr Walsh. Our referral rate increased by 34% in 2023 and to date in 2024 we have seen a 27% rise, 46 % of referrals being self-referrals. Its incredibly encouraging to see that more people are seeking help to change abusive behaviours. Mens willingness to seek support reflects a growing awareness and a positive shift in addressing the roots of domestic violence. When individuals come forward, it not only opens the door for personal growth and accountability, but also fosters healthier relationships and communities, she added. Dr Walsh continued: Domestic violence encompasses a wide range of abusive behaviours that goes beyond physical harm. It involves various forms of manipulation, control and intimidation. We also work with the partners and ex partners of the men on the programme. We have worked with three generations of women who have been abused and sadly some abusers are mirroring the abuse they saw in childhood. Its a cycle that we are working to break. We are currently running 12 group programmes nationwide, said Dr Walsh. Four of which are online. The Choices programme is a 23-week rolling programme. The programme runs for two hours once a week. Men can self-refer via our online form on our website or state services like Tusla or probation may do so. "The programme provides participants with the tools to change their destructive behaviours and rebuild their relationships. We see the transformative impact of this programme on couples and families every day. They are safe, free from fear and anxiety. Together with our community partners, we are determined to create a safer environment for everyone, she added. Daa has applied to lift the annual passenger cap from 32 to 40 million. Pic: Collins A planned protest will go ahead at Dublin airport this weekend after daa rejected a meeting with residents to discuss noise pollution. Families living near Dublin Airport claim that their childrens sleep quality, educational potential, and overall well-being are being negatively impacted. The airport operator, daa, is currently embroiled in a planning dispute regarding an application to increase the airports annual passenger cap from 32 million to 40 million. St Margarets & The Ward Residents Association (SMTW) had requested an urgent meeting with daas board of directors to discuss flight paths for the North Runway, which began operating in August 2022. The association made this request on behalf of the communities in Fingal and East Meath, seeking to discuss the current aircraft noise and operational flight paths associated with the runway. In response to the meeting request, a daa spokesperson said: As you are aware, our CEO and Board Director, Kenny Jacobs, already met with representatives from St Margarets, The Ward, and other communities on February 27 this year to discuss the issues you have raised. During that meeting, we committed to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the noise levels and operational impacts associated with the North Runway. We have been actively working on measures to mitigate the noise and are continuously engaging with relevant stakeholders to address these challenges. As you are aware, the North Runway operates within designated hours, between 7am and 11pm. It is only used for night-time operations when the South Runway is undergoing essential maintenance, typically for four nights, six times a year. The discussions and agreements made during the previous meeting are still in effect and are being diligently followed up on, they added. However, members of the residents group said that, as the follow-up meeting could not be arranged, they will now proceed with a peaceful demonstration at the airport roundabout from 3-5pm on Sunday, December 1. They added that, regarding their community engagement with Mr Jacobs in February, nothing productive resulted from the meeting. It is unacceptable that our lives, our health, and our right to peace in our homes are being sacrificed for the protection of big business, they said. It is unacceptable that daa does not appear to be subject to the same laws as every other Irish citizen. Dubliners can avail of free one-day tickets for polling day on November 29 Dubliners voting in the General Election this Friday can avail of a free bike ride to their polling station. DublinBikes has announced free journeys on polling day to encourage greater voter participation. From midnight until 11.59pm on November 29, one-day tickets for the bike-sharing scheme will be free of charge, a saving of 3.50. The DublinBikes scheme has facilitated approximately 38 million journeys since its launch in 2009 and hopes to increase voter participation this Friday with the offer of free one-day tickets. To redeem the special offer, users must log on to dublinbikes.ie or use the official RedClick DublinBikes app and select the Promotions subscription option. They should then select the Free RedClick: Pedal to the Polls option. New users of the bike rental scheme will need to register. DublinBikes hopes to encourage greater voter participation with this initiative Ensuring Dubliners can easily access polling stations is a priority for us, and were delighted to partner with RedClick on this initiative, said Brendan OBrien, Head of Technical Services, Environment and Transportation Department at Dublin City Council. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to creating a more connected, voter-friendly city. The DublinBikes scheme recently gained a new sponsor in car and home insurance company RedClick. Coca-Cola was the first major sponsor of the scheme in 2014, with Just Eat and Now TV later stepping in to support the service. At RedClick DublinBikes, we are committed to making it easier for people to move around Dublin, said Lisa Silver, Head of Marketing at RedClick. Offering free day passes on election day is our way of supporting the democratic process and helping the Dublin community get to polling stations quickly, sustainably, and without stress. We hope this initiative makes it a little easier for voters to make their voices heard, she added. Guys Coffee adds a taste of Melbourne with two new cafes in Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock Paige Banks and Guy Martin launched Guy's Coffee after falling in love with the coffee culture in Melbourne A couple who met in Australia and fell in love with the coffee culture in Melbourne, decided to bring a similar vision back with them to Dublin. Paige Banks and Guy Martin are the couple behind Guys Coffee, which started as a humble coffee trailer in Blackrock Market. It has since grown rapidly, with two permanent cafe locations one in Blackrock Market and the other at The National Sailing & Powerboat School in Dun Laoghaires harbour. The couple only moved back to Ireland in May and had a five-year plan, which Paige said has felt like it has come four and a half years early. Originally from London, Paige lived in Australia for several years and met Guy, from Dun Laoghaire, while they were living in Sydney. They later moved to Melbourne. before relocating to Ireland Its a tale as old as time, really: an English girl meets an Irishman, falls in love, and then moves back to Ireland with him, she said. Guy's Coffee have locations in Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire I had permanent residency in Australia and had no intention of moving back to this side of the world. From the moment I met Guy, he knew exactly what he wanted to set up something in his hometown of Dun Laoghaire. He wanted to bring that coffee culture back home, and Dun Laoghaire for him was one of those places with so much untapped potential. Its more than just bringing high-quality Australian coffee back to Ireland; its about everything the coffee culture comes with, she added. Guys Coffee has partnered with Proud Mary, an award-winning Australian coffee roaster based in Melbourne, and Paige hopes they will eventually become a social enterprise. They would love for their business to one day support ocean conservation and connect with like-minded people, such as beach cleaners, and more. Speaking about why the coffee is considered of such a high standard in Australia, she said its popularity flourished with the arrival of immigrants from Italy and Greece in the 1950s. Paige Banks and Guy Martin launched Guy's Coffee after falling in love with the coffee culture in Melbourne Melbourne was specifically impacted by this when the Italian population imported the first espresso coffee machines, which revolutionised the industry. Australia has been doing what London and Dublin are only just starting to do now creating a culture around good coffee, she said. Theyve refined it over the years, setting a high standard that other countries are now catching up to. Australias coffee culture is so competitive that only the best coffee shops survive. Its not just about having coffee; its about having the best, and thats something we really value, she added. She said the type of culture that surrounds coffee in Australia is about getting into the outdoors, going for walks, and connecting with people something they hope to bring to Dublin. Theres a movement here around wellness too, and you can see people want to live healthier, more connected lives, she said. Were tapping into that, combining a love for the ocean, the environment, and great coffee. Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. A meet and greet by Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Deep in discussion Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Party leaders are certainly determined to woo the electorate in Kerry given the recent visits of both the Taoiseach Simon Harris and FF leader Micheal Martin and this week it was the turn of Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald to visit the Kingdom. She took to the streets of Tralee on Saturday, accompanied by Kerry general election candidates Pa Daly TD and Stephanie OShea. During her visit, she visited a number of local businesses and got a very warm welcome on the streets of the county capital. Deputy McDonald engaged with many voters on the streets, including one young woman who shared a personal story about her siblings being forced to emigrate. She highlighted how one sibling, a teacher, struggled for years to secure a permanent position in Ireland but was able to obtain a permanent contract in London within just four weeks. A meet and greet by Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Speaking about the issue, Mary Lou McDonald said: "One of the central tasks for the next, and I hope new Government will be to address the challenges faced by younger people. Travelling is a valuable experience, but its crucial that young people have the opportunity to return home and build a future here. The outgoing Government has failed, particularly in its responsibility to provide affordable housing." Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. Pa Daly echoed these sentiments, saying: "This Government has made home ownership unattainable for an entire generation, stripping so many of any hope for a future here in Ireland." Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald and TD Pa Daly on the campaign trail in Tralee. During her time in Tralee, Mary Lou McDonald, along with Deputy Pa Daly, Stephanie OShea, and Councillor Deirdre Ferris also met with families affected by the Kerry CAMHS scandal. Plans to reduce the number of on-street car parking spaces in Carrick-on-Suir's Main Street from 54 to 33, have prompted a local group to launch a petition in opposition, now signed by about 5,800 people Plans to remove on-street parking on Main Street, Carrick-on-Suir have divided the south Tipperary town, with nearly 6,000 people signing a petition against the proposals. A number of abusive messages were sent to councillors in Carrick-on-Suir concerning elements of the 17.8m town regeneration scheme, which would see a reduction in on-street parking on Main Street, but an overall increase in spaces. One such message claimed that what the elected representatives were attempting to do was like Nazi Germany. The regeneration plan proposes public realm works to enhance and beautify Carrick, but the proposed reduction in Main Street parking has met with fierce local opposition. A petition has been launched by a group called the Main Street Business Initiative (MBI), signed by about 5,800 residents so far, calling for the spaces to be retained. The MBI group consists of local traders, business people, property owners and tenants. The abusive messages, some of which were read out by councillors at the latest meeting of Carrick-on-Suir municipal district, are in no way linked to the MBI. A public meeting was held in September in the Carraig Hotel concerning the scheme, where MBI members voted to lodge complaints to various bodies, including the EU Commission and two Ministers, Heather Humphreys and Joe OBrien. The MBI has submitted complaints to the Department of Rural and Community Development and Office of the Planning Regulator in respect of the scheme. The petitioners are opposed to the removal of on-street parking from the Main Street of Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary The matter was raised at this months meeting of Carrick-on-Suir municipal district. The new parking regime would see a net gain of over 20 spaces a reduction of 54 to 33 of on-street spaces would be offset by an increase in over 40 spaces in other parts of town, explained Cathaoirleach of Carrick-on-Suir municipal district, FG Cllr Mark Fitzgerald. Funding for the regeneration scheme has been drawn from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF). At the time of its inception, the plan was supported by Cllr Fitzgerald, Cllr Imelda Goldsboro and former Cllr Kevin OMeara, but then not supported by Cllrs David Dunne and Kieran Bourke. Those two councillors now support the scheme. The Part 8 process was then passed on a 3-2 vote two years ago, on condition at the time that the council would work with the businesses and local traders to create as much off-street parking as possible. Ten parking spaces will be created at Strand Lane, and around 30 spaces will be created at Stable Lane, in an old disused portion of ground. The whole plan envisages implementing the RRDF funding in phases the regeneration of the Main Street being the last phase to see completion. We would be hoping that by the time the last phase is starting, we would have these two new car parks completed. The only disruption to the Main Street will be from the construction works thats going on, but we will try to keep that to a minimum also, said Cllr Fitzgerald. Many events are planned for Carrick-on-Suir around Christmas to encourage visitors into the town, he said. Cllr Fitzgerald pointed to the success of Dungarvan and Kilkenny in transforming their town centre urban spaces to create thriving pedestrian friendly experiences. The intention is to have all the finishing touches in place by the end of 2026. There is a 25pc vacancy rate in Carrick-on-Suir town centre, and unless something is done, this could get worse, stressed Cllr Fitzgerald. We have to do something to try and encourage businesses back into the town centre, he said. We have a lot going on. Linking the Suir to the town centre is part of it you will have your Blueway, and a water amenity down by the river. A feasibility study is under way to link the Greenway in Waterford to the Blueway, with Carrick-on-Suir being the meeting point. Funding is being sought to transform a site at the banks of the River Suir, with the potential to create a brownfield site ripe for development, such as a second hotel, said Cllr Fitzgerald. One of the offensive messages sent to Cllr Fitzgerald, edited here, stated: You have sold out the Main Street businesses and their livelihoods. Shame on you. You have done a wicked harm and it will all come tumbling down around you. Cllr Fitzgerald said he took exception to any suggestion that he would do anything to harm a small business, as his own family comes from humble origins. I myself come from a small business. I am sixth generation in a small rural pub. To think I would ever be associated with trying to close down a business is absolutely disgusting, he said. Im doing this because its the right thing to do. I really do believe Carrick is going to be a tourism hub in years to come. A separate motion at the latest meeting of Carrick-on-Suir municipal district called on the government to make progress on Waterford airport, to enhance tourism in the region, added Cllr Fitzgerald. Another message was sent to a different councillor. This lengthy message contained a final paragraph, including: its not just about parking. Its about a section of our community being disenfranchised, just like Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The message contained references to corruption and being rotten to the core. Its understood some councillors are considering legal advice arising from these messages. Labour Party councillor and general election candidate, Cllr Michael Chicken Brennan, told the meeting he was against the notice of motion backing the regeneration plans. We are not aware as elected members what is contained in the complaints filed by the MBI and if we are to respect the complaints process, then this motion cannot be passed or considered, he said. The motion has to be withdrawn if we are to respect the due process and await the outcome of the complaints lodged with the Minister and others, he said. This motion will divide our community and alienate the Main Street traders and business people who already feel disenfranchised. It will fuel flames within the town and make a bad decision even worse and make any compromise solution more difficult to find, he said. Its also very disrespectful and indifferent to the over 5,000 people in Carrick-on-Suir and surrounding areas who have signed a petition calling for no reduction in parking on the Main Street, added Cllr Brennan. It will create a bad will and lead to further division of our community. We must give the complaint process a fair chance and respect all the community, the petition signatures and the Main Street traders and businesses. The MBI issues is not about parking, its about people livelihoods. I feel this motion will motivate the MBI members to achieve their result by any means as there is already palpable anger and disgust among the people on the Main Street, having canvassed the Main Street last Saturday and (this) will lead to further alienation and disharmony. We dont need to make matters worse and back people, who have loans to pay and who employ over 250 people, into a corner and induce them into more radical action, he added. The notice of motion was put forward by Cllrs Kieran Bourke, David Dunne, Imelda Goldsboro, and Mark Fitzgerald. It called on the elected members of the district to recognise the regeneration and revitalisation of the centre of Carrick-on-Suir as a vital part of the future of the town. The awarding of 17.9m under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, is seen as a game changer for the town and wider district, and we will ensure that the town centre can meet the needs of the people that it serves. The motion said the delivery of this regeneration project is a priority of the elected members during the council term, and called on all elected members to support the delivery of the project in its entirety. We are also seeking that members would continue to support and work with the municipal district to seek additional funding for both the town and district. Cllr Brennan has called for council officials to sit down with the MBI group to seek a compromise on not removing as many parking spaces from the Main Street. Receipt of the official complaint by the MBI group in Carrick-on-Suir was sent by the Ministers office on Tuesday, November 26 MBI spokesperson Bobby Fitzgerald said that their complaint, sent by email on Monday to the Minister, is 45 pages long. Receipt of the complaint was sent by the Ministers office on Tuesday, November 26. The documents refer to alleged breaches of planning legislation, alleged breaches in the Public Participation Network (PPN) rules, alleged breaches of the Local Government Act 2014 and EU law and flawed assumptions contained in the RRDF application presented by the Tipperary County Council, according to Mr Fitzgerald. Mr Fitzgerald said Carrick has a population of 5,700 people with only 550 spaces available. That is one car space for every 11 people in town, or one space for every 16 people within a 5km radius hinterland. In contrast, Dungarvan has one car park space for every five people, he said. The MBI represent 95pc of all business owners, property owners and tenants on the Main Street. Our only aim is to retail parking. The local authority refuses to engage and ignores us. The Main Street parking is being cut by 50pc and is the only street being affected and penalised in the town, he added. 1 Do They Know Its Christmas? Band Aid 20 2 Lose My Breath Destinys Child 3 Ill Stand By You Girls Aloud 4 Irish Son Bryan Mcfadden 5 Just Lose It Eminem 6 What About Me Shannon Noll 7 Car Wash Christina Aguilera feat. Missy Elliott 8 What You Waiting For? Gwen Stefani 9 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams Green Day 10 Numb/Encore Jay-Z & Linkin Park Not counting the current Band Aid 40 new mix, versions of Do They Know Its Christmas? have visited the top of the charts in Ireland no fewer than four times: in 1984, 1989, 2004 and 2014. The 20th anniversary version, credited to Band Aid 20 in 2004, is the biggest selling recording of the charity song in Ireland and ranks 17th in the Irish best-selling singles of all time list. It featured Bono, reprising his original role, along with a host of other household names, including Coldplays Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, Dido, Thom Yorke of Radiohead on piano and Paul McCartney on bass guitar. Dizzee Rascal rapped a couple of lines to become the first person to add lyrics to the song since its original release in 1984. Band Aid 20s version of Do They Know Its Christmas? was recorded on November 14, 2004 and released a few weeks later. It quickly became the UKs biggest selling single of the year - with sales of 1.2 million - and was the Christmas number one. HMV stores opened early to give customers more time to buy the single and staff wore Band Aid 20 shirts that said, Have you bought your copy yet?. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was seen picking up a copy of the charity single at an HMV store in Edinburgh. In Ireland, the single was a huge success. It spent five weeks at the top of the charts, reigning supreme from late November into the New Year. Writers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure were again the driving force behind the project, with Bono the only artist from the original Band Aid single to contribute vocals to the 20th anniversary edition. The first Band Aid single in 1984 is one of the worlds biggest selling singles of all time, with almost 12 million physical sales. Since then weve had versions from Band Aid II in 1989, Band Aid 20 in 2004 and Band Aid 30 in 2014. A version combining elements of several versions of Do They Know Its Christmas?, mixed and produced by Trevor Horn, was released on Monday (November 25) to mark the songs 40th anniversary. In a statement widely reported, Ed Sheeran, who sang on the 2014 version, said he would have refused permission to reuse his vocals in 2024 had he been asked, saying his opinion of Band Aid had changed. Bob Geldof, speaking to the Sunday Times, responded: This little pop song has kept millions of people alive. 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? The Expendables (2010) ITV4, 10p.m. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is the leader of a band of mercenaries known as The Expendables in this meeting of action-movie greats. These hard men are hired to overthrow General Gaza (David Zayas), who rules the small island of Vilena with an iron fist. Barney is joined by former SAS operative Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial arts master Yin Yang (Jet Li), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture) and combat veteran Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). They infiltrate the island but discover that Gaza isnt the only enemy on Vilena: rogue CIA agent James Monroe (Eric Roberts) and his hulking bodyguard Paine (Steve Austin) are pulling the strings. To add to the teams problems, Barney falls for the charms of the Generals feisty daughter Sandra (Giselle Itie). THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28 A Matter of Life and Death (1946) BBC4, 8.30p.m. Dashing Second World War pilot Peter (David Niven) flirts with radio operator June (Kim Hunter) during a return journey from a bombing run. It looks like any romance will be very short-lived though, as his plane has been hit and hes about to bail out without a parachute. So, when Peter then wakes up on a beach, it seems like a miracle but all is not well. It turns out his survival is down to a clerical error in heaven and, if he wants to stay on Earth with June, he must argue their case in a celestial court. Written, produced and directed by the visionary Powell and Pressburger, A Matter of Life and Death is one of the greatest romances of all time. And with the lush, brightly coloured Earth, and austere black-and-white heaven, its also one of the most visually striking. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 Django Unchained (2012) Film4, 9p.m. German bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) gives slave Django (Jamie Foxx) his freedom in return for helping to identify the murderous Brittle brothers, who have a price on their heads. When Django later learns his beloved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) has fallen into the clutches of slippery plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), his new friend pledges his assistance on a suicidal rescue mission. This blood-soaked western energises a simple tale of redemption with writer-director Quentin Tarantinos characteristic flair behind the lens and on the page. Foxx is tightly wound as a vengeful husband, playing the straight man to larger-than-life performances from DiCaprio, an Oscar-winning Waltz and Samuel L Jackson as a fire-and-brimstone-spouting slave. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977) ITV2, 6.25p.m. The all-conquering space saga begins with farm boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) being thrust into the midst of an intergalactic battle between good and evil. Setting out to rescue a stubborn princess (Carrie Fisher) from the clutches of the sinister Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones), Luke discovers the mysteries of the Force, and receives help from a space pilot (Harrison Ford, in a star-making role), a veteran Jedi warrior (Alec Guinness), a pair of bickering robots and an eight-foot-tall hairy wookie. While the prequel trilogy and the sequels have covered new and somewhat darker terrain, this original entry in the sci-fi franchise is basically a good, old-fashioned matinee adventure, with a rousing score and at the time unbelievable interstellar action sequences. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980) ITV2, 1.05p.m. If your appetite for the Star Wars saga has been whetted from last night, then follow aspiring Jedi knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he tackles the evil Galactic Empire on the ice planet Hoth. Luke also rubs shoulders with wizened master Yoda, who picks up his training where Obi-Wan left off. But when Lukes comrades Han (Harrison Ford), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca and C-3PO are kidnapped by Darth Vader and his cronies, he abandons his lessons to save them. The Empire Strikes Back is simply the best of the Star Wars movies thanks to a fine script by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett, and assured direction by Irvin Kershner. There is more dramatic substance (and romnance) here than in its predecessor, which should keep grown-ups more than happy. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2 Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) BBC1, 11.25p.m. As the world tries to get back to normal after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker just wants to get back to being a normal teenager. So, the opportunity to go on a school trip to Europe is just what he needs especially as it might also finally give him a chance to ask classmate MJ out on a date. But it seems once an Avenger, always an Avenger, and when a series of mysterious attacks start taking place, none other than Nick Fury appears, to persuade the young hero to get his spidey suit out of storage. Tom Holland stars in his second solo outing as the wall-crawling hero, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya and Samuel L Jackson. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3 Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) BBC1, 11.10p.m. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is exposed as Spider-Man and he tries (unsuccessfully) to ride out the storm. When the people he loves are penalised for associating with him, Peter entreats master of mystic arts Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell with ancient runes to make the world forget his secret identity. The incantation is botched and fissures in the multiverse allow five of Spider-Mans most fearsome adversaries Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) to converge on his refraction of New York City. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a thrillingly wild ride that puts the characters and in turn us through the emotional wringer to underline the great responsibility that comes with great power. Jason Murphy is running for The National Party in the general election in Wexford. Former FIFA assistant referee Michelle O'Neill will run for Fianna Fail in the upcoming general election. Below are the candidates you can expect to find on the ballot paper come election day for the Wexford constituency. Wexford TD and Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne TD. Candidate: James Browne Party: Fianna Fail James Browne was elected to Dail Eireann in the February 2016 general election as a representative of Wexford and re-elected in the 2020 general election. In 2020 he was appointed Minister of State Department of Justice with responsibility for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice. He has served as the Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Mental Health, leading initiatives to reform mental health services in Ireland, including the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2018 and served on the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Mental Healthcare. Minister Browne was also involved in the creation of the new Womens Refuge in Wexford. Cllr Cathal Byrne. Candidate: Cathal Byrne Party: Fine Gael Cathal Byrne is a councillor from Ballyhogue, Enniscorthy, who graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an Honours degree in Law and Business and also completed a Masters in Law. He qualified as a solicitor in 2020. He has retained his local seat since his first election in 2019 and topped the poll with the most votes in the Enniscorthy LEA, 2,275, in the June 2024 local election. Deeply rooted in the community, Cllr Byrne is a board member for historic 1798 National Rebellion Centre and acts as the Leinster Council Delegate on the Wexford GAA County Board. He takes pride in having been consistently active on the ground assisting and supporting the public, local business, farmers and community and voluntary organisations. Cllr Jim Codd. Candidate: Jim Codd Party: Aontu Having topped the poll in Rosslare in the summer local elections, Wexford councillor Jim Codd will hope to capitalise on his popularity by gaining a seat in the Dail on November 29. First elected to the local council in 2019, the Aontu councillor ran unsuccessfully for the Dail the following year but has since been re-elected to Wexford County Council and is the current cathaoirleach of the Rosslare district. A strong advocate for rural Ireland, the Taghmon-native has been vocal on homelessness, the poor condition of regional roads, and increasing tourism in Wexford during his time in office. A schoolteacher at Bridgetown College by trade, he has also spoken out about the contents of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme in recent months. Cllr George Lawlor Candidate: George Lawlor Party: The Labour Party The current Mayor of Wexford, George Lawlor has served as a councillor for some 20 years, topping the poll on numerous occasions. The Wexford town native has long been a close ally and friend of veteran TD and former Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin, serving as his parliamentary assistant for a number of years. Cllr Lawlors ambitions for the Dail have been no secret. He contested the 2019 by-election for the seat vacated by Mick Wallace, but ultimately lost out to Fianna Fail's Malcolm Byrne. As a result of the enduring support for his colleague Brendan Howlin, it was beginning to feel like Cllr Lawlor would never get the nod to contest a general election. He was playfully dubbed the Prince Charles of Wexford politics. However, just as Prince Charles took his seat on the throne as King, Cllr Lawlor will be hoping to slip into the seat vacated by Deputy Howlin after 40 years in politics this time out. Green Party candidate Peadar McDonald. Candidate: Peadar McDonald Party: Green Party A first time candidate, Peadar McDonald decided to join the Green Party as he wanted to be involved in protecting Irelands unique natural environment. He believes that more urgent action and funding is needed to support people and businesses to adapt to more sustainable ways of living and working. Accepting that making changes to how we live wont be easy, he is focused on providing more public transport, reducing waste and use of fossil fuels, and varying the use of our invaluable land. Mr McDonald says more local link bus services will reduce carbon emissions in Co Wexford and believes organic farming and forestry planting will provide regular income for landowners, support nature restoration, improve water quality, and reduce carbon levels in the atmosphere. From a housing perspective, he says vacant land purchased by local councils in towns or villages could provide a range of accommodation solutions including social and affordable homes, housing for the elderly and for people with special needs. Cllr Bridin Murphy. Candidate: Bridin Murphy Party: Fine Gael Bridin Murphy was re-elected to Wexford County Council in 2024 and is the current cathaoirleach of the New Ross district. She lives in Clonroche with her husband and two daughters having grown up on her familys strawberry farm, Boro Valley Fruit Farm, where she continues to be a director. Cllr Murphy has a masters degree in social work and has worked in the areas of mental health, care of the elderly and child protection. She served as treasurer for the Irish Association of Social Workers until 2024. If elected she says she will prioritise the enhancement of our education system through investment in schools and universities, supporting the vulnerable in society through social services, and advocating for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Jason Murphy is running for The National Party in the general election in Wexford. Candidate: Jason Murphy Party: The National Party At 21-years-old, Jason Murphy was the youngest Wexford candidate on the ballot paper for the local elections back in June. Running in the Rosslare District, the Ladys Island native endured a difficult day at the count centre. The National Party candidate attracted the lowest vote in the county, attracting just 125 first preference votes. Despite this, he hasnt been put off by the experience and has confirmed his intention to run for Dail Eireann. A big focus of Mr Murphys campaign surrounds migration, stating that Ireland needs to house Irish, not the world. He also states that Ireland is under threat from mass migration. The young Wexford man also vows to put a focus on the environment and protecting our beaches, forests and fields. Verona Murphy TD. Candidate: Verona Murphy Party: Independent A former president of the Irish Road Hauliers Association, Deputy Verona Murphy's career in politics began under the banner of Fine Gael. She was selected by the party to contest the 2019 by-election for the Dail seat vacated by Mick Wallace. She would finish third in the by-election, behind George Lawlor and the winner Malcolm Byrne. During this campaign, there was a rift with the party over controversial comments made around direct provision centres and immigrants coming into the country. It culminated in her being de-selected by Fine Gael for the 2020 election. However, Ms Murphy would have the last laugh as she was elected to the third of five Wexford seats as an independent. In the interim, Deputy Murphy has grown her brand significantly, not least of all by launching the Wexford Independent Alliance in this year's local election something which saw five of 12 candidates running under her banner elected. Since then, the outspoken TD says that shes been the subject of damaging rumours circulating in local political circles. Johnny Mythen TD. Candidate: Johnny Mythen Party: Sinn Fein Deputy Johnny Mythen lives in Enniscorthy with his wife Barbara and has always been involved in his local community. He is a Sinn Fein politician who has been a Teachta Dala for the Wexford constituency since the 2020 general election. He was elected with a record vote of 18,717 first preference votes. An ESB worker for many years, Deputy Mythen was active in the Unite Union and was part of its national negotiating team. Representing his county and making Wexford a better place for everyone to live and to grow up in is what motivates his political activism. Former FIFA assistant referee Michelle O'Neill will run for Fianna Fail in the upcoming general election. Candidate: Michelle ONeill Party: Fianna Fail Micheal Martins announcement of former FIFA assistant referee Michelle ONeill as a running mate for Minister of State James Browne certainly set the cat among the pigeons on the Wexford political scene. Back in June, Ms O'Neill had run in the local elections under the banner of Independent TD Verona Murphy's Wexford Independent Alliance. Less than six months later, Ms O'Neill has confirmed that she will run against her former mentor under the banner of Fianna Fail. Shell be desperately hoping to improve on her showing in the local elections, which saw her attract just 368 first preference votes in a competitive Wexford Borough District. Having come in for some criticism online for choosing to run for one of the main parties, Ms ONeill will be hoping to win the public over on the doorsteps with promoting women in sport and a drive towards equality a key area of concern for her. Cllr Jackser Owens. Candidate: Jackser Owens Party: Independent Jackser Owens is an independent councillor from Enniscorthy. Cllr Owens has been vocal regarding his stance as an independent, stating that he works for the people and not parties. High on his agenda is to secure essential funding for mental health services, create more housing, and to sit down with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to discuss desperately needed flood relief for Enniscorthy. Outside of his councillor duties, he previously worked as a safety traffic warden for St Aidans primary school for ten years, and is currently demanding that the council hire a replacement to ensure that young children safely attend school. At the local election in June, he received the fifth seat with 1,675 votes. Stephen Power. Candidate: Stephen Power Party: The Irish People This will be the second experience of an election for Wexford town man Stephen Power. Back in June, he ran in the local elections under the banner of The Irish People. Despite the apparent growth of immigration as a topic, one of the major principles of The Irish People Party, Mr Power endured a fairly torrid time, attracting just 145 first preference votes and becoming the first candidate eliminated in the competitive Wexford Borough District. Part of this may have been down to a lack of any social media presence, posters, attendance at local events or visible canvassing in advance of the election. Regardless, Mr Power returns for the general election, this time running under the banner of the National Alliance an amalgamation of The National Party, Ireland First and The Irish People which puts immigration issues at its core. Cllr Michael Sheehan. Photo; Mary Browne Candidate: Michael Sheehan Party: Independent A few short months ago, the notion of veteran councillor Michael Sheehan departing Fianna Fail would've been inconceivable. However, after the party snubbed the councillor of 25 years in favour of FIFA ref Michelle ONeill as a running mate for Minister of State James Browne, he decided to go it alone and declare as an independent candidate for the upcoming election. Cllr Sheehan contested the last general election for Fianna Fail and managed 4,366 first preference votes. It wasnt enough to secure one of the five Wexford seats, however, and he was ruled out after count seven. In the local elections, back in June, again running as a Fianna Fail candidate, Cllr Sheehan managed 1,291 first preference votes which saw him take a seat ahead of general election rival Bridin Murphy of Fine Gael. Cllr Sheehan has pushed the importance of having a TD from New Ross, stating that it's been two decades since someone from the town had stood in the Dail. Martina Stafford of People Before Profit. Candidate: Martina Stafford Party: People Before Profit-Solidarity People Before Profit-Solidarity candidate Martina Stafford has been an activist and organiser for years on issues such as cost of living, housing and gender-based violence. A musician, Ms Stafford has worked as a carer for people with intellectual and physical disabilities and says a key issue for her in this election will be the crisis in care for children with autism and people with disabilities. The Wexford woman has also campaigned on LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, anti-racism and Palestinian solidarity and wants to push for an end to the US military use of Shannon airport. Mick Wallace. Candidate: Mick Wallace Party: Independents 4 Change Former TD and MEP Mick Wallace left it late to announce his candidacy in the 2024 General Election. The Wellingtonbridge man confirmed he would be staking a claim for one of four Wexford seats less than 24 hours before the deadline. Mr Wallace was elected to Dail Eireann on two previous occasions, topping the poll on his first outing in 2011. In 2019, he ran for the European parliament and took a seat in Ireland South. However, in June of this year, he failed in his re-election bid. While he describes himself as an outsider" to take a seat, the outspoken Wexford man and former property developer says that he wont be engaging in parish pump politics and instead will be a "national parliamentarian for Wexford, a county he says hasnt been particularly well-served in the past. What started out as a way of making a difference in her local area has led to Wexford woman Anne Marie Kirwan being named Ocean Hero of the Year at a ceremony in the Gibson Hotel, Dublin. Anne Marie is part of the Tomhaggard Clean Coasts, which was shortlisted in the Group of the Year category, and was one of its founding members in 2021. Judges said Anne Marie was a worthy winner of the award and had been honoured for her continued dedication to protecting and preserving the coast through her dedication in volunteering. Described by her group as an incredible force of nature, her commitment and energy couple perfectly with her gentle manner and inclusive nature. I love spending time beach cleaning, it gives me a sense of peace and purpose, said Anne Marie. It is a hands-on, enjoyable way to make a difference in my local area. I never cease to be amazed by the collective effort of the group at the end of a beach clean-up and have really come to enjoy the camaraderie of the group. It is a joy to meet other people who share my enthusiasm for improving our coastline and coastal habitats. Every year, the Ocean Hero Awards commemorate the invaluable contribution and dedication that Clean Coasts volunteers, groups and communities give towards conserving Irelands unique coastal heritage. As of 2024 there are over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and over 40,000 volunteers who are actively engaging with the programme and who are integral to their coastal communities nationwide. Established in 2021 by a small group of family and friends, Tomhaggard Clean Coasts has now grown to include 73 members, about half of whom are actively involved in beach cleaning while others support the group in a myriad of ways. The group has adopted a 25km stretch of the south Wexford coastline from Carnesore to Cullenstown as their own, which represents a total 10 per cent of the coastline of County Wexford. To date for 2024, the group has removed over 10 tonnes of waste from these beaches. The group has also established a unit at Kilmore Quay Harbour in which found fishing items are placed for reuse by the local community. In 2024 the group took on a biodiversity project, using the flagship species, sea turtles, to explain the dangers posed by waste in the ocean to marine life. Also in Co Wexford, Ballygarrett Tidy Towns were shortlisted in the Event of the Year Category for its work on the Cahore Little Tern Project. The group was formed in 2005 with a small but hard-working committee who look after the village and the nearby beaches of Old Bawn and Cahore. The group works closely with the local schools, clubs and groups to engage them in beach cleans and their Team up to Clean up Campaign. As well as this, the group also manages the Cahore Point Trail and have installed new eco toilets at Cahore beach which they also manage. This summer, the group collaborated closely with the National Parks & Wildlife Service Education Centre Knocksink to roll out The Cahore Little Tern Protection Project. This project was based along the North Wexford Coastline with the aim of protecting endangered birds and increase their nesting. The project kicked off back in April 2024, ahead of the nesting season, with an educational walk and talk by the NPWS Team. Knowledge was shared from the team and the locals to plan how best to protect the bird. The project was wrapped up at the end of the nesting season in October and proved successful with nesting increased from 22 to 64 nests. Christ Church COI Services of Worship for this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent: 8.30am Holy Communion; 10.30am Holy Communion. Classics by Candlelight this Sunday December 1st: Classics by Candlelight returns for its fifteenth year at 7pm this Sunday. An hour of wonderful music for string quartet will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies. (Alcohol-free hot punch means that drivers need not miss out!) The musicians all play with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra. Tickets 15 will be available soon from the Parish Office and are currently available online at: christ-church-bray.sumupstore.com/, Fluertique, Florence Road, The Travel Boutique, Main Street, and after church this Sunday. Christ Church Bray Christmas Cards: These are now on sale: Pack of 10 mixed cards 1 available at the back of the Church. When theyre gone, theyre gone! Recycled Teenagers: Meet today (Wednesday) at 10.30am in the PLC. Bray Methodist Church Worship for this Sunday: 10amSunday Worship with Creche and Sunday School. Bray Presbyterian Church Worship for this Sunday: 11.30am Sunday Worship. Christian Assembly Church Worship for this Sunday: 10.45am Morning Worship. Wednesdays: 8pm Prayer Meeting & Bible study. Monthly Ladies Meeting: For details see: www.christianassemblybray.com. Cornerstone Church at The Well Worship this Sunday: 11am. Holy Redeemer Parish Contact Holy Redeemer Parish: Call (01) 2868413. Website: www.holyredeemerbray.ie; Email: office@holyredeemerbray.ie. Parish Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 9.30am to 11am. If you need to contact us email: office@holyredeemer.ie. Mass Times: 10amMonday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday No Mass on Tuesday. Sunday Masses: 6pm Vigil Mass on Saturday and on Sunday at 10.30am and 12Noon. To book a Mass, please call into the Sacristy before or after our Masses. Music at Mass on Sundays: 10.30am Folk Group; 12pm Gaudium Choir (Mainly Latin Church Music) on the 1st Sunday of the Month; 12pm on other Sundays of the Month: Parish Choir (Mainly English Church Music). Baptism: Registration for Baptism can be made online via the parish website www.holyredeemerbray.ie. St Peters Parish To Book a Mass: To book a Mass, please contact the Parish Office on 01- 282 9467 or email: stpeterslittlebray1@gmail.com. Parish Office: Parish Office opening hours areMonday: 9.30am to 12.30pm; Tuesday: 9am to 12.30pm; Wednesday: Closed; Thursday: 9am to 12.30pm; Friday: 9am to 12.30pm. The parish office can be contacted by calling 01-282 4967 or by email: stpeterslittlebray1@gmail.com. St. Peters Church Mass Times: Sunday: 9am. (Irish Mass), 11.30am. Holy Days: 11am. 1st Friday: 11am. Car Park Hours: These are from 9am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday, for parish business and at the weekends during church ceremonies. The Cemetery is accessible via the laneway for pedestrians. St. Peters Cemetery: There is a strict policy of No Dumping Allowed in any area of the cemetery. Visitors to the cemetery are requested to take home all forms of rubbish with them in order to keep the cemetery tidy. Your co-operation is appreciated. St. Annes Church, Shankill: A Vigil Mass is celebrated at 5pm on Saturdays. All are welcome. From next Monday there will be no celebration of the 10am Mass on Mondays and Saturdays. St Fergals Parish Mass Times: Mass times are 9.30am Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. No morning Mass on Thursdays and Saturdays. Saturday: 7pm Vigil Mass; Sundays: 8am and 10.30am. Confessions: Are heard on Saturdays after the 7pm Vigil Mass. Baptism: Baptisms take place on the first and third Saturday of each Month at 12Noon. Bookings can be made through the Parish Office Only. The Preparation meeting takes place on the Monday before the 1st Saturday of the month. Please call into the Parish Office three weeks in advance of the Baptism to complete the Baptism Form and to confirm the date. St. Fergals Church Baptism Team: Our Baptism Team is in need of some extra volunteers to assist on a rota basis, with the twice monthly Baptisms which take place here in the Church. Training will be given, and Garda Vetting is a necessity. If you would be interested in joining this dedicated team please leave your name with Jenny in the parish office, or contact Monica Cornejo at: 086-0608384 or moncor44@hotmail.com. St. Claires Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Messages for the St. Vincent de Paul should be sent to St. Clairs Centre, Ballymorris, Killarney Road, Bray call 01-2745325 and leave your message. Mobile No: 087 1738 235. Marriage: All couples must give notice to the priest or Parish Secretary at least three months prior to the date of marriage. Syro Malabar Catholic Church Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 12 noon in St. Fergals Church, Ballywaltrim. Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish Website: www.queenofpeace.ie. Church Opening Hours: The Church closes at 4.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Eucharistic Adoration: Eucharistic Adoration takes place from 11am to 10pm on Mondays only in this Church. Mass: Weekday Masses are celebrated at 10.30am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Weekend Masses are at 6.30pm on Saturdays and 10.30am and 12 Noon on Sundays. Mass Bookings: Anyone who wishes to book a Mass can do so by contacting the Parish Secretary via email at: secretary@queenofpeace.ie, or call 2745497. Parish Centre: To book a meeting room in the Parish Centre please call 01-2760045 or email: villafas1@hotmail.com. Three Tenors Live: Will be in concert in this church at 8pm this Saturday. Tickets, 30, can be obtained from the Parish Office, call 2760045; email villapacisbray@gmail.com or via Eventbrite. QOP youth club Queen of Peace Adventure Youth Club were delighted at the turn out of thirty-five members at their team quiz night on Friday night. They need a lot more female leaders to help fulfil the programme of activities for now and especially for next year. Persons with a couple of spare hours are most welcome. Club events are enjoyed by all the members and the leaders. Call Paul Temple on 086 3516630 for information and you could be involved in the longest running youth club in the county. Diving club Bray Divers Sub-aqua club members are doing work up dives in Dalkey Sound in preparation for their annual dive trip to Lanzarote. A new dive course will be run early in December, and participants may expect be in the water in January. All courses and certification have international recognition. Call 087 6756439 for further information. Bray Library Opening hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday with late opening on Tuesday and Thursday until 8.30pm. The library can be contacted at 01-2862600 or email: braylib@wicklowcoco.ie. Bray Library Literary Book Club meets on the last Thursday of the month at 7pm the next meeting will take place tomorrow (Thursday)enquire at the desk for details on the book for this meeting. Bray Library Romance Book Club meets at 7pm on the First Tuesday of the month the December meeting will take place next Tuesdayenquire at the desk for details on the book for this meeting. Bray Library Crime Book Club meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7pm the next meeting will take place on Tuesday December 10thenquire at the desk for details on the book for this meeting. All are welcome. Ballywaltrim Library Opening hours are 10am to 5 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and 10am to 8pm on Wednesday. The library is closed on the Saturdays and Mondays on Bank Holiday weekends. The library can be contacted at 01-2723205 or by email at: ballywatrimlibrary@wicklowcoco.ie. Page Turners: Interested in joining a Wednesday Night Book Club? Please enquire by email or telephone ballywaltrimlibrary@wicklowcoco.ie or call 01-2723205. Storytime for All takes place on Saturday mornings at 11,30am and at 11.30am on the Tuesdays of this month no booking is required. Tummy Time for Babies takes place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10.30am to 12pm when babies can play beneath the Magic Tables Projections. All are welcome no booking is required. Adult Scrabble takes place every Monday from 3pm to 4.30pm no booking is required. Bray Cualann Historical Society Last Thursday night John Brazil was the guest speaker for the November meeting of the Bray Historical Society, the local history society for Bray and North Wicklow, in the Royal Hotel, Main Street, Bray, Co. Wicklow, at which he presented DNA of people in Ireland from ancient times to today Events taking place in the week ahead which may be of interest to members and supporters of the Society are: today (Wednesday) Henry Fairbrother will present The Dublin Yeast Company at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in the Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 139-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required. The AGM of the Society will follow this lecture. Tomorrow (Thursday) Dublin City Council Historian in Residence Cormac Moore will present The Tailteann Games at 6.30pm in Rathmines Library, Dublin 6. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required; Ian Campbell will present Northern Ireland Railway Review at 7.30pm to the Irish Railway Record Society in their Dublin Hueston Station premises strictly members and their guests only; Kate Nugent will present Moving lines and changing shapes getting into the heart of the East Wall at 8pm to the Rathmines, Ranelagh & Rathgar Historical Society in Rathmines Town Hall, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6. Members are free / visitors 4Swan Car Park Evening Rate: 4 from 7 p.m. to Midnight. Next Monday night Felix Larkin will present The Freemans Journal at 8pm to the Kilmacanogue History Society in Kilmacanogue Parish Hall which is adjacent to St. Mochonogs R.C. Church, Kilmacanogue. All are welcome admission is 3 for members and 5 for non-members. Next Tuesday night Peter Pearson will present Architectural treasures of old Killiney at 8pm to the Killiney Historical Society in Druids Chair Pub upstairs lounge, Killiney Hill Road, Rocheshill, Killiney, Co. Dublin. All are welcome admission is 5. Next Wednesday John Martin will present Dalkey Taverns and Small Hotels at 8pm to the Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society in the Royal Marine Hotel, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. All are welcomeadmission is 5; John Lennon will present St. Nathis Church in Dundrum at 8pm to the Rathmichael Historical Society in Rathmichael National School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill, Co. Dublin. All are welcome. Admission is 5 for non-members. Shankill Classical Music Club The next meeting takes place on Wednesday December 11th from 7.45pm to 10pm, including a tea break in the Shankill Day Centre, Lower Road, Shankill (100 yards from the main street, car parking available). The January meeting will be on Wednesday 8 January. The December meeting will feature video along with the music, which will be as always: a varied programme of classical music on CDs, covering many genresorchestral, instrumental, vocal, opera etc.in a friendly setting. Visitors and new members are always welcome. You dont need to be an expert! Theres no charge on the night. For further information phone or text John at 087-2109175. W.H. Five Loaves Bingo W.H. Five Loaves Bingo takes place every Sunday night at 8pm in the Little Flower Hall beside the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. Fundraiser for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland The Bray Guild ICA (Irish Countrywomens Association) will hold a charity craft event this Saturday in Loretto College, from 10.30am to 4.30pm in aid of Acquired Brain Injury Ireland. The stall will feature a wide array of handmade crafts, including beautiful handmade cards, crochet amigurumi snowmen, beaded pictures and Dog and Cat bandanas. This event aims to raise funds and awareness for those affected by acquired brain injuries. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase unique handcrafted items while supporting a worthy cause. This craft staff will also be available in the Little Flower Hall on Friday December 6th from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Parish of Powerscourt with Kilbride Services at Powerscourt with Kilbride: All Services are available on the Parish YouTube Channel. Service of Worship in St. Patricks Church, Powerscourt, for this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent: 11.30am Morning Prayer 2. Service of Worship in St. Brigids Church, Kilbride, for this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent: 9.45am Holy Communion 1. Irish Trefoil GuildGuiding for Life: Calling all former leaders of the Irish Girl Guides in Bray and the surrounding area. There is now a Trefoil Guild in Bray. Contact Anne at braytrefoilguild@gmail.com. St Marys Church Parish Website: www.enniskerryparish.ie is the Parish website of the Immaculate Heart of Marycheck it out for the latest information about our parish. Facebook Page: There is a facebook page for the parish of Enniskerry, incorporating all four churches which facebook users will find under Enniskerry parish with a cover photo of trees and profile picture of a quote from Pope Francis. Please give it a like and feel free to post news from your community. Enniskerry (also Curtlestown & Glencree) Parish Office opening times: Monday to Friday: 10am to 1pm; email: stmarys@enniskerryparish.ie; or call 01-2760030. St. Mochonogs Parish Office opening times: Monday: 9am to 2pm, Tuesday: (by phone) 10am to 1pm, Wednesday: 10am to 2pm, Thursday (by phone) 10am to 1pm. Closed Friday. Parish Churches Schedule of Masses: Enniskerry St. Marys: Saturday evening 6pm and also via parish webcam; Sunday 11am and also via parish webcam. Weekday Mass at Enniskerry is at 10.15am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and also via parish webcam lay-led prayer service on Wednesday; and Saturday at 10.15am, and also available via the parish webcam. Masses in Curtlestown and Kilmacanogue are on Sunday at 10am. Mass in Glencree is at 9am on the first Sunday each month. Baptism Requests: Requests for Baptism now take place online at www.enniskerryparish.ie. Downtime Thursday/Adoration: Downtime Thursday has now reverted to the last Thursday of the Month so the next one will take place tomorrow (Thursday) from 7pm to 8pm so why not pop into the church for some quiet time.. You can sit in silence with candlelight and gentle music. Take a few minutes for yourself and just be. Light a candle, say a prayer. Just sit if thats what you need. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place. Registration for the Sacraments: We are at the start of another year of preparation for the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation. There is still time to register on-line, if you havent done so already via https://enniskerryparish.ie/. Leaders in Church Ministry: We currently have a small team of three Funeral leaders. They have been serving the parish wonderfully for a year and have been greatly appreciated by the bereaved families. We would very much like to increase our team of leaders in the parish this year to include all ministries. Please consider being part of our growing leadership team in Enniskerry parish. New Readers Needed: We need new readers. Please give your name to Phil Kenna or to the parish office if interested. New Here?: You are very welcome. You can keep up to date with us through the parish webpage at www.enniskerryparish.ie. You can register as a parishioner by mailing us at stmarys@enniskerryparish.ie or stmochonogs@enniskerryparish.ie. If you wish to receive items, or if you would like to receive the Parish Link by email weekly please phone the Parish Office in Enniskerry on 01-2760030 (10am to 1pm Monday to Friday or email: stmarys@enniskerry.ie; and Kilmacanogue on 01-2021882 (10am to 1pm Monday to Thursday) or email:stmochonogs@enniskerryparish.ie. Broadcast List: A broadcast list for the parish is now up and running. This is to keep everyone up to date with what is happening in the parish and for easy communication in relation to building our communities. If you would like to have your name added to the list please contact Aideen at 086 8182 241. History Society Members and supporters of the Enniskerry History Society are asked to note that the following events will take place in the week ahead. Today (Wednesday) Henry Fairbrother will present The Dublin Yeast Company at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in the Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 139-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required. The AGM of the Society will follow this lecture. Tomorrow (Thursday) Dublin City Council Historian in Residence Cormac Moore will present The Tailteann Games at 6.30pm in Rathmines Library, Dublin 6. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required; Ian Campbell will present Northern Ireland Railway Review at 7.30pm to the Irish Railway Record Society in their Dublin Hueston Station premises strictly members and their guests only; Kate Nugent will present Moving lines and changing shapes getting into the heart of the East Wall at 8pm to the Rathmines, Ranelagh & Rathgar Historical Society in Rathmines Town Hall, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6. Members are free / visitors 4Swan Car Park Evening Rate: 4 from 7 p.m. to Midnight. Next Monday night Felix Larkin will present The Freemans Journal at 8pm to the Kilmacanogue History Society in Kilmacanogue Parish Hall which is adjacent to St. Mochonogs R.C. Church, Kilmacanogue. All are welcome admission is 3 for members and 5 for non-members. Next Tuesday night Peter Pearson will present Architectural treasures of old Killiney at 8pm to the Killiney Historical Society in Druids Chair Pub upstairs lounge, Killiney Hill Road, Rocheshill, Killiney, Co. Dublin. All are welcome admission is 5. Next Wednesday John Martin will present Dalkey Taverns and Small Hotels at 8pm to the Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society in the Royal Marine Hotel, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. All are welcomeadmission is 5; John Lennon will present St. Nathis Church in Dundrum at 8pm to the Rathmichael Historical Society in Rathmichael National School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill, Co. Dublin. All are welcome. Admission is 5 for non-members. Enniskerry Library Opening hours are Tuesday 10.30am to 12.30pm & 1.30pm to 4.30pm; Wednesday: 2pm to 4.30pm & 6pm to 8pm; Friday: 10.30am to 12.30pm & 1.30pm to 4.30pm; Saturday: 10am to 2.30pm. The Library is closed on Mondays and Thursdays and on the Saturdays of Bank Holiday weekends. The Library can be contacted at 01-2864339 or email: enniskerrylib@wicklowcoco.ie. On-line services including e-books, audio-books, digital magazines and newspapers and e-learning are available from the library website. Enniskerry Bridge Club Enniskerry Bridge Club meets every Tuesday night in the Parochial Hall (beside Poppies) at 7.30pm. New members are very welcome. For more information please contact the Secretary on 085 7112179. Sheep Sale November 19: Smaller sale due to bad weather conditions. There was a very strong trade for all types of sheep, both fat lambs and store sheep. Heavy Lambs 185 to 192 or 130 to 140 over /kg; Factory Lambs 160 to 185 or 117 to 138 over /kg; Store Lambs 117 to 155 or 90 to 125 over /kg; Heavy Ewes 180 to 248 per head; Lighter Ewes 110 to 170 per head. Cattle Sales November 21: Good yard of quality cattle. There was a strong trade for all types of cattle, with a lot of customers both ringside and online. Male Weanling 310kg made 1,180 or 3.80 per kg; Male Weanling 320kg made 1,180 or 3.68 per kg; Male Weanling 284kg made 1,000 or 3.52 per kg. Female Weanling 256kg made 900 or 3.51 per kg; Female Weanling 286kg made 980 or 3.42 per kg; Female Weanling 296kg made 1,000 or 3.37 per kg. Bullock 550kg made 1,700 or 3.09 per kg; Bullock 398kg made 1,190 or 2.99 per kg; Bullock 490kg made 1,440 or 2.93 per kg. Heifer 474kg made 1,500 or 3.16 per kg; Heifer 478kg made 1,440 or 3.01 per kg; Heifer 520kg made 1,440 or 2.76 per kg. Cow 660kg made 1,660 or 2.51 per kg; Cow 600kg made 1,370 or 2.28 per kg; Cow Weighed 562kg made 1,000 or 1.77 per kg Continental Store Bullocks 580 to 1,310 over /kg; HE/AA Store Bullocks 500 to 1,190 over /kg; FR Store Bullocks 360 to 680 over /kg; Cont. Store Heifers 520 to 1,220 over /kg; HE/AA Store Heifers 460 to 1,080 over /kg; Beef Cows 600 to 1,200 over /kg; Feeding Cows 300 to 600 over /kg. CARNEW Sheep Report - November 16: 2,057 head of sheep on offer leading to a full clearance. Farmers, wholesalers and butchers continued to battle it out both ringside and online for all classes with sheep. Cast Ewes reached a top price of 272 and Heavy Lambs reached a Top Price of 193. Prices: 7 x R/L58kg, at 193; 20 x R/L56kg, at 190; 12 x E+W53kg, at 185; 9 x R/L51kg, at 184; 13 x M/L50kg, at 184; 23 x M/L49kg, at 178; 13 x E/L49kg, at 187; 24 x M/L48kg, at 177; 7 x M/L43kg, at 160; 5 x R/L40kg, at 154; 18 x M/L37kg, at 150; 10 x R/L34kg, at 138; 22 x M/L31kg, at 134; 2 x ewes104kg, at 272; 2 x ewes95kg, at 256; 5 x ewes96kg, at 244; 13 x ewes80kg, at 193; 12 x ewes73kg, at 184; 8 x ewes83kg, at 182; 14 x ewes77kg, at 171; 10 x ewes72kg, at 169; 8 x ewes69kg, at 163; 30 x ewes71kg, at 141; 45kg, + Over 162193; 40kg,44kg, 148163; 35kg,39kg, 132154; 30kg,34kg, 116139. Cattle Report - November 16: 897 head of cattle on offer meeting an electric trade from start to finish. Store Cows were up anywhere from 4060 while Beef Cows were up 80 per head all round with heavier Continental Cows up 100. Store Cattle were on fire with some exceptional prices: LMX HEF484kg1,7503.62/kg & CHX BLK592kg2,3503.97/kg. In Ring 2 on Saturday there were 65 calves on offer with AA & HE selling from 240390. Continental calves sold from 320500. There was a small selection of runners, mainly White Heads & AA selling between 520750. Actor Luke Evans has said he suffers from anxiety over his body insecurities (Ian West/PA) Actor Luke Evans has said he has terrible anxiety over insecurities about his body, despite staying fit for physical roles. The 45-year-old told the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast that despite his muscular appearance, he still didnt want to take my t-shirt off on a recent trip to the beach. During his career, Evans has played hunter Gaston in the 2017 live action adaption of Beauty And The Beast, Count Dracula in Dracula Untold (2014) and American Second World War aviator Wade McClusky in Midway (2019). Evans said the anxiety had come despite staying fit for physical roles (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Welsh actor explained on the podcast: Inside, I still sometimes go to the gym and just feel very anxious. I look at myself in the mirror and just go, you dont look good enough, or youre letting it go. I look at my face the terrible part of my industry is that youre just reminded constantly of the decades of film youve done when you had not a crease on the face and not one grey stubble, whereas all my stubble is now grey. And just so many things I keep being reminded of, so Ive had to learn to be kinder to myself, but I have terrible anxiety about feeling good enough physically. Part of that isnt completely bad, I think it gives you a little something to fight for, but it can be overwhelming. Ive been on a beach just recently and I didnt want to take my t-shirt off. I dont want to be in that place. I know I shouldnt feel like that, but you know, we are sensitive creatures, were very delicate. As hard as I may look, I am quite delicate. He went on to say that if he was not an actor he would probably let it all go, as: Staying fit and in a certain physical fitness level now is definitely doing my job. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content Evans added: I wouldnt care so much, but it is part of my job. I get cast in certain roles that require a certain amount of physical strength and aesthetic. Its been good because its probably kept me on the straight and narrow. It comes after the actor released his book Boy From The Valleys: My Unexpected Journey this month, which sees him speak about being bullied in his youth and his sexuality. The full interview can be heard on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, available on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts. Comedian and actor Jason Manford has said he asked for his storyline on Waterloo Road to be changed before taking on the role after feedback from his daughters who were unhappy with it. The 43-year-old played headteacher Steve Savage in the BBC drama, who had a romantic interest in canteen worker Nicky Walters, played by Kym Marsh, 48, but Manford said his character was initially supposed to fall in love with a teacher in her 20s. When the Salford-born comedian told his daughters the story they told him it would be weird and urged him to get it altered. Jason Manfords character will be replaced in the upcoming series of Waterloo Road (Ian West/PA) Manford told ITVs Good Morning Britain: Its very of its time I suppose, so one of the storylines they mentioned was that my teacher, hes a widower, and he was going to have this romance with this teacher. They mentioned the teacher who it was, and I mentioned it to my girls, who loved the show, and they were like, you cant do that, you weirdo, shes about 24 and youre 43, thats weird. I didnt know the character, so I rang the producer and I said, look, Id love to be in it, what a privilege to be the headteacher, but I said, I cant have this storyline, its just weird, its just not right in todays society, and certainly my daughters were not happy with it. So I said, is there another more age-appropriate member of staff who maybe he could have this romance with? They said, what about Kim Marsh? And I said, Ill see you Monday. Manford appeared in series 14 of the show this year, which saw his character led to the cells in its final episode for perverting the course of justice after one of the schools students, Boz Osbourne, was killed by his son Billy Savage, also a student at the school. For the next series of Waterloo Road, Manfords character will be replaced by a new headteacher, Dame Stella Drake, played by Lindsey Coulson. Manford began his career as a stand-up comedian and has gone on to present a number of TV programmes including BBCs The One Show and is currently on a stand-up tour called A Manford All Seasons, which will run until November 2025. LATEST | Displaced people return to south Lebanon as ceasefire appears to hold Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced on Tuesday People sit in traffic as they return to their villages after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in Ghazieh, Lebanon (Mohammed Zaatari/AP) Irish Independent Newsdesk Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 07:27 Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group took effect early on Wednesday morning. DJs, including Fatboy Slim, will host a seven-hour charity rave to raise funds for the ongoing care of music producer Ashley Beedle. The Dance for Ashley event at the Ministry of Sound in London has been set up to raise money to support the British house music pioneers healthcare needs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said his cabinet approved a US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanons Hezbollah, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. In the hours leading up to the cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signalled it aims to keep pummelling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold. Honda enters the Indian E2W market with the launch of Activa e: and QC1. Image credit: PR Team Bengaluru/IBNS: Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Honda has finally entered India's electric two-wheeler (E2W) market with the launch of its two new electric scooters Activa e: and QC1. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, held its first-ever electric two-wheelers' launch event in Bengaluru on Wednesday (Nov. 27). According to the motorcycle manufacturer, bookings for the new QC1 and Active e: will begin on January 1, 2025, and deliveries will start from February 2025 onwards. Introducing Hondas maiden EVs for the Indian market, HMSI's Managing Director, President & CEO, Tsutsumu Otani, said, The introduction of ACTIVA e: and QC1 marks a defining step in our commitment to sustainable mobility in India." "It is in line with Hondas global Triple Action to ZERO concept to realize carbon neutrality by 2050, which focuses on three areas: carbon neutrality, clean energy, and resource circulation," Otani said. "With our EV roadmap now in the execution phase, HMSI is committed to build one of Indias best EV ecosystems," he added. "This is a milestone moment in Hondas journey to electrification, and with every step forward, we are focused on building a future that is safer, more sustainable & meets the evolving needs of our society. Commenting on the unveil, HMSI's Director, Sales and Marketing, Yogesh Mathur, said, We are ecstatic to mark our entry into the Indian EV market with not just one but two all-new electric vehicles, marking a significant milestone in our journey towards achieving sustainability by providing cleaner mobility solutions." "With ACTIVA e:s swappable battery technology and QC1s fixed battery set-up along with the industry-leading hassle-free ownership experience, we are striving to meet the diverse needs of our customers," Mathur noted. "Moreover, to ensure the highest level of safety for our technicians and the vehicle, we are introducing industry-first insulated tools designed specifically for the servicing of electric vehicles. Together, let us ride towards a cleaner future, he added. Honda Activa e: The all-new ACTIVA e:s design blends Honda Activa silhouette with modern, sophisticated elements, giving it a fresh yet familiar look that speaks about both tradition and innovation. The Activa e: is equipped with pristine all-LED headlight and tail lamp along with smiling DRLs. The E2W comes with dual-tone seats, 12-inch diamond cut alloy wheels, flat footboard and a sturdy grab-rail. The Activa e: is available in two variants ACTIVA e: and ACTIVA e: Honda RoadSync Duo along with five colours Pearl Shallow Blue, Pearl Misty White, Pearl Serenity Blue, Matt Foggy Silver Metallic and Pearl Igneous Black. The E2W is equipped with a 7.0-inch TFT screen that offers real-time connectivity with Honda RoadSync Duo app, allowing riders to stay connected and updated. The in-vehicle infotainment system supports navigation and also gets day and night modes which optimizes screens brightness and readability as per ambient light automatically. The TFT screen can be controlled by using toggle switches placed on the handlebar. The ACTIVA e: also comes with Hondas H-Smart key that gets features like Smart Find, Smart Safe, Smart Unlock and Smart Start. The ACTIVA e: is equipped with Honda Mobile Power Pack e: which are swappable batteries developed and maintained by Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt. Ltd. The ACTIVA e: gets two such swappable batteries, each of 1.5 kWh capacity, and it is tested to offer a range of 102 km on a full charge. The swappable batteries can be exchanged with the help of designated Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: (BeX swapping stations) planned across the city for a seamless experience. It is already live in Bengaluru and Delhi and will be soon started in Mumbai as well, according to the company. Powering the ACTIVA e: is an advanced in-house developed permanent magnet synchronous electric motor that delivers 6 kW of peak power and 22 Nm of torque for impressive performance. Honda claims the E2W can sprint from 0 to 60 km/h in 7.3 seconds and has a top speed of 80 km/h. The ACTIVA e: gets three riding modes Econ, Standard, and Sport. Honda QC1 According to Honda, the new QC1 is a personal mobility solution that combines fluidic design and sophisticated engineering. The new QC1, which is equipped with LED headlights and tail lamp as well as clear winkers, is offered in five colour options Pearl Serenity Blue, Pearl Misty White, Matt Foggy Silver Metallic, Pearl Igneous Black, and Pearl Shallow Blue. This electric scooter also boasts classy rear-view mirrors, 12-inch front alloy wheel, and a sturdy grab rail. As claimed by the company, the Honda QC1 is powered by a 1.5 kWh fixed battery pack that has been rigorously tested to provide an impressive range of 80 km on a single charge. Charging the QC1 is effortless at home with a 330-watt off-board home charger that comes with an auto-cut technology, ensuring a safe and efficient charging process. The e-scooter can be charged from 0 to 80 percent in 4 hours 30 minutes while a full juice up will take 6 hours and 50 minutes. The QC1 gets an in-wheel electric motor that has a peak power rating of 1.8 kW and maximum torque of 77 Nm, and it has a top speed of 50 km/h. Moreover, there are two riding modes, Standard and Econ, that adjust power and efficiency based on the riders preference. The Honda QC1 is packed with a 5.0-inch all-info LCD display that offers all the vehicle information in a simplified manner at one glance. For added utility, it gets a USB Type-C outlet to charge all your personal mobile devices on the go, along with an ample 26-litre under-seat storage box. Honda is raising the bar in the EV segment with the launch of ACTIVA e: and QC1. Both these electric scooters will be sold via HMSIs existing selected dealer network. The ACTIVA e: will be available in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru with deliveries starting from February 2025 onwards, while the QC1 will be initially available in select cities from February 2025 onwards. Both the EV models will be manufactured at HMSIs Narsapura plant near Bengaluru. These models will be offered with three years or 50,000 km warranty along with three free services for the first year. Honda said it is aiming to elevate the customer experience to "unparalleled" heights by also providing free roadside assistance for the first year. PM Modi greets BJP supporters after party's landslide victory in Maharashtra on November 23 | Photo courtesy: Narendra Modi Facebook page Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose politics is hugely marinated in symbolism, chose the Statue of Unity in his home state Gujarat on October 31 to announce that the central government's cherished 'One Nation, One Election' and 'Uniform Civil Code' are in the pipeline and asserted the two are steps away from becoming realities in the country. On the occasion of Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, Modi said, "We are working towards One Nation, One Election which will strengthen Indian democracy, give an optimum outcome of the country's resources. As a result, India will gain momentum to fulfill the dream of Viksit Bharat." "India is also moving towards 'One Nation, One Civil Code' or 'Secular Civil Code', which is inspired by Sardar Patel's vision of social unity," the Prime Minister added celebrating Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, which marks the birth anniversary of independence activist Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Modi with soldiers on Diwali 2024 For the uninformed, Patel's statue is referred to as the Statue of Unity, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. Impossible, says Congress Soon after the announcement, Mallikarjun Kharge, chief of the largest opposition party Congress, arraigned Modi's remark calling it impossible in the current political scenario. "Modi can't do what he is saying because when it (bill) comes to Parliament, he has to take everybody into confidence. Then only this will happen. But it is impossible because several states have diverse problems. Moreover, there are several regional parties," said Kharge, almost reminding the ruling dispensation of lacking a majority in the upper house Rajya Sabha. #WATCH | On PM Modi's remarks on 'One Nation One Election', and Secular Civil Code, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, says, "What PM Modi has said, he will not do it, because when it comes in the parliament, he has to take everybody into confidence then only this will pic.twitter.com/DX44iJkIoA ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2024 CPI leader D Raja told ANI, "This is the current agenda for PM Modi, nothing else. There is strong public opinion against 'One Nation, One Election' because there is a perception that it will destroy the multi-party democratic system in the country, it will destroy the federal system of governance in our country and the present power structure, afterall India is a union of states." BJP's Rajya Sabha hurdle The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs a coalition government with allies at the Centre, may sail through in the Lok Sabha with the figures of national coalition, but it may stumble upon the statistics in Rajya Sabha. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance may have the majority in Lok Sabha, but in the upper house Rajya Sabha the ruling coalition currently has 101 members, falling short of the majority mark of 113. Several neutral parties (who are not allied to any national alliance) like YSRCP or AIADMK too are currently in a dismal situation owing to the changing political landscape in their own states. Modi during a meeting with BJP allies This brings to focus the remark passed by former Union Minister and Congress veteran P Chidambaram, who claimed the Modi government will have to bring at least five Constitutional amendments in order to make 'One Nation, One Election' a reality. Chidambaram bluntly cited BJP's lack of numbers both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Though the saffron party may cobble up the number in Lok Sabha, thanks to the allies, the ruling coalition has to strive in the upper house of Parliament. History of simultaneous elections in India On December 27,1970, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a late Congress stalwart, dissolved the Lok Sabha after his government turned minority following her ouster from own party. In an address to the nation, Gandhi had said her government aims not just to enjoy power but work towards betterment of people. She had dissolved her government 15 months prior to her term's expiry date, opening the door for asynchronous elections in the country. The first simultaneous elections in India were held in 1951-1952, when Modi's present dream of 'One Nation, One Election' was a reality. But prior to 1970, the simultaneous assembly elections were already disrupted. In 1959, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had advised President Rajendra Prasad to dissolve the world's first elected Communist government in Kerala. Several unstable governments in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal were dissolved in the 1960s. Modi often counters the Opposition's charges of misusing power reminding them about Gandhi's dissolution of state governments on occasions. Speaking to IBNS, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said: "One nation, one election, is not a new concept. During the early years, our republic followed this. There are several arguments that favour reverting back to this." "When placed before Parliament, our elected representatives will have the opportunity to share their views and address concerns, if any," he said. A reality check In March this year, former President Ram Nath Kovind-headed high-level panel sent a report to his successor Droupadi Murmu recommending simultaneous polls, which are aimed at saving resources, time and accelerating developmental works. The panel has recommended all local body polls across the country simultaneously within 100 days after the General Elections and State Assembly elections are held. One of the major positives of simultaneous elections is lowering of burden of expenditure as the country of 28 states and 8 union territories are almost always in an election mode. The unabating election mode incapacitates the governance and discharge of duties due to the recurrent imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), leaving aside political leaders with top portfolios in hand hitting the campaign trails for a month. But one of the key challenges that is perceived as a hurdle is the question as to what would happen if any government, be it a State or Centre, collapses midterm? A government's slump will eventually snap the synchronicity, strictly going by the current model of elections in India. Among other disadvantages, the logistical issues like the arrangement of a chunk of EVM machines, resources, availability of security across the vast country of 1.4 billion people are the areas that demand a closer view. Narendra Modi at Red Fort on Independence Day this year In what would interest the Opposition, multiple state elections that go on within five years are often perceived as a referendum on the ruling party (primarily at the Centre) or the progression or deterioration of the Opposition camp nationally. Elections on one shot will deprive the parties from assessing their ground realities while the voters would run out of options to vent their dissatisfaction or show their approval. According to senior journalist-author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, the idea is impractical at the moment. "It's not going to happen. I don't think what Narendra Modi wants is a practical idea at this juncture. I don't think it will also save substantially on public expenses," said Guha Thakurta. "We have entered a new era of coalition politics. The BJP has weakened as compared to previous two terms. The entire political ecosystem has changed. We are returning to the era of coalition politics," he added. BJP needs to convince major allies for UCC The vexation for the ruling BJP is likely to breed when it comes to Modi's other poll promise, the contentious issue of UCC or the Secular Civil Code as the Prime Minister prefers to call. Indubitably the Opposition- with most of the entities flagging the secular image in the country- will turn down the proposal, even BJP's key allies- Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United)- are not in a mood to embrace the resolution. Fathullah Mohammad, the general secretary of TDP's minority cell, speaking to Hindustan Times, said:"We need to know what aspects of civilian life will be impacted if the UCC is passed. Ours is a secular country and the Indian Constitution allows every citizen to practice their religion in accordance with their faith system." "The BJP should have ideally discussed this issue with the alliance partners before announcing it publicly," he said. Modi's post yoga selfies in Srinagar In an interview with The Hindu, JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha said, "Unless there is a concrete proposal we cannot possibly comment on the issue." As per the statistics, the Muslim population forms nearly 10 percent and 17 percent of population in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively. In both the states, the BJP is a part of the respective alliance governments. "... These are issues that we should address when we sit across the table with our alliance. We will put forth our concerns ...The Law Commission is yet to draft the format for its (UCC) implementation. Unless the final draft does not come, I will not be able to say anything...," another important BJP ally Chirag Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief, told Hindustan Times. Commenting on BJP's toil to get allies on board, Guha Thakurta said, "I also don't see UCC coming into reality, simply because Modi and his BJP are dependent on coalition partners. I don't think there will be a political consensus within the NDA. "Also, the opposition is stronger than before with the Congress improving its tally from earlier 52 to 99 and now 101 with the support of two Independents. So I don't think the government will be able to push through this also." (Photo courtesy: Narendra Modi Facebook page) India welcomes ceasefire deal reached between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash The Indian government on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah which temporarily ended the ongoing conflict between the two sides. "We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. "We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region," the statement said. Bringing a halt to a 13-month conflict, Israel and Lebanon have accepted the US-backed ceasefire deal. Fighting escalated in September when Israel intensified bombing and launched a limited ground invasion. "Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli forces will withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days, while Hezbollah forces will be replaced by Lebanese army forces in the south of the country over the same period," BBC reported. In a statement, the White House said: "Today, after many weeks of tireless diplomacy, Israel and Lebanon have accepted a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon." "The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon," the statement said. The White House said this announcement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. "The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented and enforced, and we remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence," the statement said. "The United States and France also commit to lead and support international efforts for capacity-building of the Lebanese Armed Forces as well as economic development throughout Lebanon to advance stability and prosperity in the region," the statement said. The inaugural round of India-Japan Dialogue on Economic Security held in Tokyo. Photo Courtesy: India in Japan X page Indian and Japanese officials exchanged views on respective security policies and promoted collaboration in research and application of key technologies during the 1st round of Dialogue on Economic Security in Tokyo on Wednesday. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri co-chaired the 1st round of India-Japan Dialogue on Economic Security, including Strategic Trade and Technology, in Tokyo on 27 November 2024 along with Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masataka OKANO. "The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on respective economic security policies, strengthen partnership for building industrial and technological resilience and promote collaboration in research and application of key technologies," read a statement issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs. Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri met with Mr Masataka Okano, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for the first meeting under the Dialogue on Economic Security, including Strategic Trade & Technology @MEAIndia#ConnectingHimalayaswithMountFuji pic.twitter.com/Ti1Xsu2Sxh India in Japan (@IndianEmbTokyo) November 27, 2024 During the meeting, both sides underscored the need for closer collaboration to protect economic interests, and build resilient supply chains and critical infrastructure in identified sectors, by way of policy facilitation for business and academic partnership between relevant actors in India and Japan. "They also explored ways to facilitate talent exchange and upskilling in fields of common interest," the statement said. "Both sides agreed to bring concrete results through enhanced holistic collaboration in focus areas," the statement said. 25-year-old Air India woman pilot dies by suicide in Mumbai. Photo courtesy: Videograb from X Mumbai/IBNS: A 25-year-old Air India pilot allegedly died by committing suicide in her apartment in Mumbai, media reports said. The police arrested her boyfriend on charges of abetment to suicide. The body of the woman, Srishti Tuli, was recovered from her Andheri apartment. Her boyfriend, Aditya Pandit (27), has been remanded in police custody till November 29. Tuli's uncle alleged that Aditya often misbehaved and argued with her, due to which she committed suicide, NDTV quoted Powai Police. The police are conducting a detailed probe into the matter. Trinamool Congress signals rifts in INDIA bloc. Photo courtesy: IBNS File & Rahul Gandhi Facebook New Delhi/IBNS: The Trinamool Congress Wednesday refused to be a "rubber stamp" for its ally's decisions, signalling a rift in the INDIA bloc, media reports said. Differing from the Congress's demand for a discussion in Parliament on alleged corruption, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has said it wants the House to function in order to raise the issues of the people of West Bengal. The TMC said its stand was backed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has emphasised that the Congress is not an electoral ally of the party. Mamata's party also said it does not have to accept "unilateral decisions" undertaken by Congress as both are members of the INDIA alliance. The Congress and the TMC had contested the Lok Sabha elections and the recent bypolls in Bengal separately. The Trinamool Congress won all six seats in the bypoll and 29 of 40 constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections, improving its 2019 tally despite BJP's tremendous effort to win Bengal. A TMC leader said that the party does want to discuss corruption, which is one of the key causes of adjournments of both Houses of Parliament since Monday. "West Bengal has been deprived of funds, there has been a rise in prices across the country, and we are pushing for a law for speedier justice for women who are raped. These are some of the issues that we want to raise. For this, we need Parliament to function," the leader was quoted by NDTV. Kriti Sanon turned a producer with Do Patti which released on Netflix in 2024 | Photo courtesy: Kriti Sanon Instagram handle Panaji/IBNS: Bollywood star Kriti Sanon has recently opened up on the debate over nepotism holding the film industry not much responsible for the alleged favouritism offered to the starkids. Kriti made the remark while speaking at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The actress said, "The industry has given me a very warm welcome since the time I have come. Of course, when you dont belong to a film background, it takes time for you to get there. "It takes time for you to get those opportunities that you crave for. It takes time for you to even get those magazine covers. So everything is a bit of a struggle. But nothing can stop one if he/she keeps working hard." #KritiSanon on Nepotism - "I feel the industry is not so much responsible for nepotism. Its also the media and the audience. The audiences want to watch what the media is putting out about certain star kids. Because the audience is interested in them, the industry feels that pic.twitter.com/CHBAbmoLu5 $@M (@SAMTHEBESTEST_) November 26, 2024 She added, "I feel it's not the industry so much that's responsible. It is also the media and eventually the audiences because the audiences want to watch what the media is putting about certain starkids and they feel interested. It is because the audience feels interested, people in the industry want to make a movie with the starkids. I feel it's a circle. It's everyone all together. "But I believe, eventually if one is talented, he/she gets there. No matter where one comes from, he/she will not get there if talent is lacking. If the audience doesn't connect, one will not get there." Kriti, who made her Bollywood debut with Heropanti in 2014, is one of the A-listers in the Hindi film industry now. She has won the National Award for her role in Mimi at the 69th National Film Awards. Apart from Mimi, the films that headlined her career were Bareilly Ki Barfi, Luka Chuppi, Bhediya, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Crew. She ventured into production this year with Do Patti, where she played a double role. Speaking at a panel discussion on the topic of Empowering Change: Women Leading the Way in Cinema at Kala Academy, in Goa, Kriti said that her film Mimi was the boldest choice that she had made in her acting career so far and that risk paid off well when she won the National Award for Best Actor (female) for that movie. Kriti Sanon at the 55th IFFI | Photo courtesy: PIB "I was advised against selecting this film (Mimi) by many people. They were afraid that I would be given the label of an actor who prefers art house films and that it would affect the other projects coming my way. "Still, I chose it because the script touched my heart. And this factor should matter most while choosing projects," Kriti opined. She also expressed her desire to play a superwoman character and any character in a negative role in the future. Kriti said she considers her role in the movie Do Patti as layered and nuanced and also described the subject of domestic violence as something which touches her heart. Speaking about her role in the movie Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, the actor expressed how it was difficult to play the role of a perfectly straight-faced robot and how that role was well received. While commenting about negative characters and roles being played by women in recent films, Kriti said that audiences do like and connect well with grey characters and that the 'male gaze' is undergoing change nowadays, with lesser demand for the 'perfect' girl or woman. Kriti Sanon speaks during a panel discussion at IFFI in Goa | Photo courtesy: PIB Kriti said she has great admiration for the new crop of female writers that gained entry into the industry through OTT platforms. She added that OTT platforms are giving female filmmakers better reach in hundreds of countries. Bollywood has seen its fair share of controversies, with films banned for several reasons including sensitive content, political themes, or cultural taboos. One of them which marked filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's debut in Hindi cinema - Paanch - is all set to release after 22 years as confirmed by producer Tutu Sharma. As we wait for this one, let's have a look at other banned movies which deserve a release as well. Banned Bollywood movies which deserve to be released 1. Dazed in Doon (2010) Directed by Ashvin Kumar, this controversial movie was supposed to highlight the goods of The Doon School but ended up catering to reality - which included parts where students were bullied. The school authorities moved to suppress the distribution of the film because according to them, it "didn't give the school a good name" and the matter remains sub-judiced. However, several alumnae who watched the movie in a private screening continue to support the plot. 2. The Pink Mirror (2003) The Pink Mirror was one of India's first transgender films but was banned by the Censor Board for its portrayal of the transgender community. The film was criticized for being "offensive" and "vulgar," though many viewed it as a pioneering piece of work that shed light on the lives and struggles of transgender individuals. Directed by Sridhar Rangayan, the movie can be found on YouTube. Also Read - 'That's A Serious Debate', Director Sridhar Rangayan Can't Stand Cis Actors Playing Trans Roles 3. Toofan Singh (2017) Toofan Singh was banned for its depiction of Sikh youth and their struggles against injustice, which many saw as promoting separatist ideologies. The film explores the life of a militant member of the Khalistan Liberation Force who, after facing the trauma of violence and repression, turns to radicalism. The government feared it could provoke political unrest. While it remains banned in India, it was released internationally to positive reception. 4. India's Daughter (2015) India's Daughter, a documentary directed by Leslee Udwin, explores the brutal 2012 Nirbhaya Delhi gang rape incident and its aftermath. The film was banned by the Indian government due to its sensitive nature and concerns over the potential for public unrest. It also included an interview with one of the rapists, which sparked outrage in the country. Many still await for film's big-screen debut. 5. Hava Aney Dey (2004) Hava Aney Dey, a film by Partho Sen-Gupta, was banned for its portrayal of Kashmir and the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan. The film showed the impact of violence on the lives of ordinary people and a part of it focused on a Kashmiri girl's struggle to find peace. The film was seen as anti-national and was alleged to have a sympathetic portrayal of the separatist movement. Which of these movies do you think deserves a release? Tell us @indiatimes. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Missing You OTT release date is here. The show is going to release on Netflix soon and it will keep you glued to your screens. Following Fool Me Once, Hold Tight, Sage, Gone For Good, The Stranger, The Woods, The Innocent, and Stay Close, Missing You is the most recent TV adaptation of novelist Harlan Coben's books. Sir Lenny Henry, Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, and others are featured in the crime thriller. Missing You will be released on Netflix on 1st January 2025. Netflix shared the trailer with the caption, What would you do if your ex disappeared and came back into your life after 11 years? Your next Harlan Coben New Year's Day watch is almost here." Plot According to Netflix, The love of Detective Kat Donovan's life, Josh, her fiance, vanished eleven years ago, and she hasn't heard from him since. Her world erupts once again when she sees his face while browsing through profiles on a dating app. She is forced to delve deeper into the murder mystery of her father and unearth long-forgotten secrets from her past when Josh reappears. Cast and crew Unlike the novel's original New York location, Missing You is set in the United Kingdom. It was directed by Nimer Rashed and Isher Sahota, and Victoria Asare-Archer adapted the series, while Sumerah Srivastav contributed to the writing. Ashley Walters, Sir Lenny Henry, Richard Armitage, Steve Pemberton, Jessica Plummer, Mary Malone, Lisa Faulkner, Samantha Spiro, Matt Jay-Willis, Rudi Dharmalingam, and James Nesbitt are the main actors in the crime thriller. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Akhil Akkineni, Nagarjuna's younger son, and his girlfriend (now fiancee) Zainab Ravdjee are going to get married soon! In a note declaring the couple's engagement, a proud father welcomed his daughter-in-law to the Akkineni clan. Although Akhil, Naga Chaitanya's half-brother, is not as well-known as his older brother, he has contributed some memorable films to the business. So if you too want to know more about Akhil, we have got your back. Before his wedding with Zainab Ravdjee. Heres all you need to know about Akhil Akkineni. Who is Akhil Akkineni? The younger son of well-known Indian actors Nagarjuna and Amala Akkineni, Akhil Akkineni was born in San Jose, California, on April 8, 1994. His half-brother, Naga Chaitanya, is a well-known actor in the Telugu cinema industry, and his grandpa, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, was a legendary actor. Movies and more Akhil made his stage debut as a baby in his father's comedy Sisindri, which is an Indian version of Baby's Day Out and was directed by Shiva Nageswara Rao. He received the Filmfare Best Male Debut award for his first starring role in Akhil. Afterwards, he starred in Mr. Majnu and Hello. The romantic comedy Most Eligible Bachelor was his smash hit. Akhil Akkineni was first engaged to GV Krishna Reddy's grand daughter Shriya Bhupal In 2016, Akhil got engaged to Shriya Bhupal, the business magnate G. V. Krishna Reddy's granddaughter. Originally scheduled for 2017, their wedding was canceled for unspecified reasons. After two years of dating, Akhil and Shriya were last spotted together at a public gathering, looking incredibly infatuated however some reports claimed that tensions had been building however no official statement for the same was given by the family. Shriya Bhupal went on to get married to Anindith Reddy, the grandson of Apollo chairman Pratap Reddy in a magnificent ceremony. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Actor Dhanush recently threatened to take legal action against Nayanthara for using footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her Netflix documentary without his approval. The Vada Chennai star has now sued her in the Madras High Court. He also asked for permission to sue Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, a Mumbai-based firm through which Netflix reports its content investments in India. This adds a new layer to the bitter rivalry between Nayanthara and Dhanush. With that, here is a look at everything that has transpired between them so far. Nayanthara teams up with Dhanush for Naanum Rowdy Dhaan In 2015, Nayanthara starred opposite Vijay Sethupathi in the Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which Dhanush produced under Wunderbar Films. The Vignesh Shivan-directed film emerged as a blockbuster and received rave reviews. Moreover, Vignesh and Nayanthara fell in love during its shoot. After dating for nearly seven years, they tied the knot in 2022. Nayanthara's documentary releases Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, which premiered on Netflix earlier this month, takes a look at Thalaivi's professional and personal journey. It also explores her marriage with Vignesh, The team used a three-second clip from the shoot of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary. Dhanush sends a notice to Nayanthara, 'Thalaivi' hits back This upset Dhanush who sent a legal notice to the star. Following this, the 'Lady Superstar' slammed Dhanush and accused him of behaving like a 'tyrant;. She also claimed that he was jealous of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan's success. The star went on to add that Dhanush made them wait for an NOC and eventually did not grant it. Nayan, Dhanush avoid each other in public Following this, Dhanush and Nayan ignored each other at a wedding. Moreover, Kasthuri Raja Dhanush's father dismissed Nayanthara's allegations and said that work is his son's only priority. Legal action and the road ahead The feud took another turn when Dhanush filed a civil case in the Madras High Court against Nayanthara and others for unauthorised usage of visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. The court took note of the allegations and mentioned that the case comes under its jurisdiction. Nayanthara is now, reportedly, expected to respond to the suit during the next hearing. On the work front, Dhanush will soon be seen in Kubera. The Telugu-Tamil bilingual marks his first collaboration with Rashmika Mandanna. The cast also includes Nagarjuna and Jim Sarbh. Nayanthara, on the other hand, has The Test in her kitty. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's long-standing legal dispute over their French winery, Chateau Miraval, has taken a new turn, with the actress scoring a major win. On Monday, November 25, a Los Angeles judge ruled in Jolie's favour, urging Pitt to produce documents and communications that the actress claims will prove her domestic violence allegations before the court. Angelina Jolie scores a major legal win against Brad Pitt Labelled the 'War of Roses', the Jolie and Pitt feud over their French winery has seen the former pair engaged in an ugly legal battle despite eight long years to their highly-publicised divorce. Just last week, Pitt got an edge over his ex-wife after a Los Angeles superior court ruled out in his favour. However, the tables have now seemingly turned as Judge Lia Martin has now asked him to disclose documents that are believed to have covered up alleged domestic violence allegations. Expressing satisfaction over the recent ruling, Paul Murphy, the advocate for Jolie, told Us Weekly that Brad has concealed the crucial evidence for years, which can unveil concerning abuse, lies to authorities and years of cover-up. The documents sought by Judge Martin reportedly back Jolie's claims that the F1 actor forced her to sign a nondisclosure agreement that prevents her from speaking out against his alleged domestic violence so that he can get complete authority over Chateau Miraval. Domestic violence allegations central to French Winery case Despite the Maria actress closing a legal chapter with the Department of Justice and the FBI over the release of documents related to the infamous 2016 plane incident, her lawyer believes the domestic violence allegations play a pivotal role in the French winery case. Murphy emphasised that Pitt's actions harmed Angelina and their children. 'Mostly irrelevant': Pitt's side responds An insider close to the Top Gun: Maverick star has downplayed the significance of the recent court ruling, calling it 'mostly irrelevant'. The source further claimed that Brad has already gone all out with providing the court with all the documents related to the case. Jolie-Pitt's 'War of Roses' Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, basking in the glory of love, bought the vineyard in 2008 as a family business, but tension over the French winery began surfacing after their divorce battle in 2016. Their dispute escalated when Pitt accused Jolie of illegally selling her shares of Chateau Miraval behind his back. Since 2022, the two have been locked up in a bitter legal feud over ownership of the winery. The case is not reported to be heading to a trial. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Bollywood might have its Ranbir Kapoor, but Tollywood has its own crowned king of charm and chaos: Naga Chaitanya. Born into a powerhouse film dynasty, Chay's acting chops may have won fans, but his love life has kept the gossip mills churning for over a decade. From secret romances to a grand wedding and a heart-wrenching divorce, his journey through love has been no less dramatic than a blockbuster Tollywood movie. Let's unravel the timeline of Naga Chaitanya's romantic escapades that have left fans swooning, shocked, and speculating! Kajal Aggarwal (2011) It all started on the sets of Dhada, where Naga Chaitanya's on-screen chemistry with Kajal Aggarwal had fans shipping them hard. The duo was spotted together at events, sparking rumors of a romance. However, the two remained tight-lipped about their alleged relationship, leaving the internet wondering: Were they or weren't they? Shruti Haasan (2013) By 2013, Chay reportedly moved on to another stunning co-star: Shruti Haasan. Their whirlwind romance was the talk of the town, with insiders claiming Chaitanya was smitten enough to consider marriage. But the fairytale came to an abrupt end, allegedly over a mix-up involving Haasan's sister. While the two later starred together in Premam, fans couldn't help but notice the lingering tension. Naga chaitanya shruti hassan pic.twitter.com/wAZ2BMx3J1 Jinxious (@jimpsonjan) December 7, 2023 Samantha Ruth Prabhu (2016-2021) The most celebrated chapter in Chay's love life began on the sets of Ye Maaya Chesave. Sparks flew between Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and by 2016, they were South cinema's IT couple. Their dreamy Goa wedding in 2017 featuring both Hindu and Christian ceremonies had fans tearing up. But their love story hit a shocking twist in 2021 when the couple announced their separation. Although they called it amicable, the internet was rife with speculation about what went wrong. Divyansha Kaushik (2019) Rumors of trouble in paradise surfaced as Chay was linked to Majili co-star Divyansha Kaushik in 2019. Their sizzling chemistry on-screen set tongues wagging, but the relationship was never confirmed. Fans couldn't help but wonder if art was imitating life. Many many Happy returns of the day My fav. CHAY#HBDNagachaitanya pic.twitter.com/BTNK9z7NrT Divyansha Kaushik (@itsdivyanshak) November 23, 2019 Daksha Nagarkar and Krithi Shetty (2022) Fast forward to Bangarraju in 2022, and Naga Chaitanya found himself in the midst of yet another love triangleallegedly. Both Daksha Nagarkar and Krithi Shetty were rumored to be vying for Chay's attention. Daksha's effusive praise during promotions and Krithi's frequent interactions with him only added fuel to the fire. Fans were divided, with some cheering for the potential pairings while others dismissed the chatter as baseless gossip. Sobhita Dhulipala (2022 Present) After his split with Samantha, Chaitanya seemed ready to embrace love again, this time with Made in Heaven star Sobhita Dhulipala. Speculations began when the two were spotted together in Hyderabad, followed by sneaky snaps during a London trip. The internet nearly exploded when they teased fans with jungle safari posts in April 2024. "We are delighted to announce the engagement of our son, Naga Chaitanya, to Sobhita Dhulipala, which took place this morning at 9:42 a.m.!! We are overjoyed to welcome her into our family. Congratulations to the happy couple! Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. pic.twitter.com/buiBGa52lD Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) August 8, 2024 By August 2024, Chay and Sobhita were done playing coy. The couple made it official with an intimate engagement ceremony in Hyderabad, and wedding bells are set to ring on December 4, 2024. Fans are eagerly counting down to the day when Chay walks down the aisle again, hoping this love story gets its happily ever after. A love life written in the stars From secret rendezvous to public heartbreaks, Naga Chaitanya's romantic timeline reads like a Tollywood script: dramatic, unpredictable, and oh-so-entertaining. With his engagement to Sobhita Dhulipala, Chay seems ready to start a new chapter. But knowing his track record, we're keeping the popcorn readybecause with Chay, the show is far from over! For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Kriti Sanon has been making headlines on the internet for her fashionable outings and film releases equally. This time, the Do Patti actress nailed her look in a black off-the-shoulder corset gown with a train. The ensemble screamed "alpha energy" like there was no tomorrow, and we were ready for it. Kriti Sanon wore a black silk corset and skirt Kriti Sanon looked stunning in an all-black off-the-shoulder corset gown with a ribbed and structured upper bodice embellished with tiny black lace along the sweetheart neckline. Waist down, the dress flowed into voluminous layers that added softness and grace to her OOTD, which was finished with a train. Celebrity stylist Sukriti Grover accessorised Surya Sarkar's power look with a set of hefty diamond-encrusted silver earrings from Rejuvenate Jewels and a pair of 925-carat silver rings with floral infinity loop motifs from PRATA. The actor kept her hair and makeup minimal Aasif Ahmed, Kriti's hair stylist, fashioned her hair into a center-parted untidy high ponytail with a wave-laden fringe framing her face on both sides. Adrian Jacobs, Kriti's makeup artist, added the perfect strokes of glam to her pretty face with beaming skin, chiselled cheekbones, feathery brows, an angular smokey-grey eyeshadow that defined her upper and lower eyelids, mascara-filled wispy lashes, and Kriti's very own brand Hyphen's peptide lip balm in a luscious marshmallow pink to tie the look together. Kriti Sanon exuded party vibes in her strapless corset gown. Also read: Feeling the Monday blues? Kriti Sanons pre-workday motivation tips can fix you, see post For more on such stories on celeb lifestyle and fashion from around the world please visit Indiatimes Lifestyle. In a tragic incident, five young medical professionals lost their lives in a road accident on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in the early hours of Wednesday. The doctors, who were postgraduate trainees with the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences in Saifai, were returning from a wedding function in Lucknow when the accident took place. CREDIT: BCCL Five doctors killed on Agra-Lucknow Expressway accident According to the police, there were a total of six people inside the ill-fated SUV when the accident happened. While five of them lost their lives, the condition of the sixth is said to be critical. The victims have been identified as Dr Aniruddh Verma, Dr Santosh Kumar Maurya, Dr Jaiveer Singh, Dr Arun Kumar, and Dr Nardev. The lone survivor, a postgraduate student at Saifai Medical College, was rushed to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Medical College in Tirwa and is undergoing treatment. #WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Amit Kumar Anand, SP Kannauj says, "Today morning at around 3.30 am, a Scorpio car going to Agra on Lucknow Agra Expressway broke the divider and collided with a truck. 5 people died in the accident, 1 was injured. Out of the 5 dead, 3 were junior resident pic.twitter.com/aC86nPZzf9 ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 27, 2024 How the tragedy unfolded According to reports, the driver of the SUV could have dozed off behind the wheel while driving late, resulting in the chain of events that ended in the tragedy. CREDIT: BCCL The SUV lost control near Kannauj around 3:00 am on Wednesday, after which the speeding Mahindra Scorpio broke through the divider and entered the parallel lane. It then crashed into a truck coming from the opposite side, leaving the SUV in a mangled mess. The truck, coming from Rajasthan, dragged the SUV for a considerable distance before it came to a halt. Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh: A speeding car lost control on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, collided with a truck, and killed five doctors from Saifai Medical College. One other person was injured. The accident occurred near the 196-kilometer mark in Tirwa Kotwali area pic.twitter.com/70ISlcHQkQ IANS (@ians_india) November 27, 2024 Circle Officer Priyanka Bajpai said that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem, and an investigation into the accident is underway. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. More than a year since the deadliest confrontation between the two sides started, Israel and the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah have agreed on a ceasefire. The ceasefire deal was brokered by the United States and France and will come into effect on Wednesday, at which point "all fire will stop from all parties." CREDIT: AP Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal According to the ceasefire deal, Israel, which launched a ground invasion of Lebanon in October, will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon over the next 60 days. To comply with the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah must also withdraw from the southern border with Israel and move further north up the Litani River. The area, often referred to as the Blue Line, will then be controlled by Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers. CREDIT: AP What Joe Biden said US President Joe Biden, who played a key role in the ceasefire deal, said that "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt." Under the deal reached today, the fighting across the Lebanon-Israel border will end tomorrow. Lasting security for the people of Israel and Lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield that's why I directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon to pic.twitter.com/pUMFcryWvS President Biden (@POTUS) November 27, 2024 He also warned that any violation of the ceasefire deal could result in more punitive actions by Israel. "If Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defence consistent with international law," Biden said. What Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also expressed cautious optimism and said the duration of the ceasefire would depend on developments in Lebanon, which suggested that the truce could be a temporary measure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory." Full remarks >>https://t.co/43nIjRoJQv pic.twitter.com/KiwT3ZKcog Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 26, 2024 How Lebanon reacted Welcoming the ceasefire deal, Lebanon's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, described the proposal as a "fundamental step towards restoring calm and stability in Lebanon and enabling displaced persons to return to their towns and cities." CREDIT: AP Hezbollah won't be the same again The ceasefire deal comes at a time when Hezbollah, once considered the strongest non-state military in the world, has been reduced to a shell of its former self. In the past year, Hezbollah has suffered significant losses in terms of both leadership and fighting capabilities. Even among the Lebanese population, Hezbollah has seen its influence and support reduced due to the heavy price civilians had to pay for a war they did not start. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Android users, pay attention! The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has issued a high-risk alert for Android users, specifically focusing on those who are using the Android 15 version. The CERT warns users of severe security vulnerabilities that threaten to impact Android devices. The advisory points out a series of problems in the Android operating system, which, if exploited would grant access to an attacker to exploit sensitive information, they can gain more privileges, execute arbitrary code, or cause denial of service (DoS) conditions on the targeted system. Android users update their devices immediatelywarns the government According to the fresh warning issued by the government, Android users must update their devices immediately to protect themselves from any sort of danger. In the whole matter, Android versions 12 and 15 are involved, and thats why the issue concerns millions of users. Which Android devices are at risk? The CERT-Ins Vulnerability Note CIVN-2024-0349 notes that such dangers arise from faults in the Framework, System, and Google Play system updates of Android, with other hardware components from MediaTek and Qualcomm. If there is an attack, it could lead to unauthorised access to the device data that may leak sensitive information or grant complete remote access to the device. The impacted Android versions include: Android 12 Android 12L Android 13 Android 14 Android 15 The potential risk factors may lead to severe loss of data or privacy that will affect the common users or organisations that are using Android devices. What is CERT? CERT, or Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams, also known as the Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT), are the first responders in the event of a cyberattack. CERT-In is a cybersecurity agency that operates under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The main goal of a CERT is to contain computer security incidents and reduce their impact on the operations of the organisation and its reputation. They also focus on facilitating post-crisis remediation and reconstruction. Few tips for the users Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath recently took to social media to reflect on his travels across Europe, where he observed a striking uniformity in culture and lifestyle across the continent. In contrast, he highlighted India's incredible diversity and even noting how this plays a crucial role in shaping Zerodha's marketing strategies. "I recently returned from visiting several countries in Europe. Everything feels like a cut, copy, and paste with very small differences," shared 45-year-old billionaire Nithin Kamath. I recently returned from visiting several countries in Europe. Everything feels like a cut, copy, and paste with very small differences. In contrast, India is more like a continent than a country. The diversity in terms of languages, food, culture, etc., between the 28 states pic.twitter.com/6er6J4IvVB Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) November 26, 2024 In stark contrast, he described India as more akin to a continent than a single country. "The diversity in terms of languages, food, culture, etc., between the 28 states and within each state is nuts," he said. "Every time I think of this, I am amazed at how the country actually came together." Kamath has long reflected on the challenges posed by this diversity. Last year, he shared similar thoughts, emphasising that India's complexity, as "many countries in one," makes building products or services far more challenging. He pointed out that catering solely to English-speaking, affluent Indians ignores the vast majority of the population. "'India has 140 crore people, and if X% can become customers because of Y% in a developed country,' is a dangerous line of thinking for founders and investors," he had warned. What works in one state or region may not work in another." Recently, Kamath had also compared India and the U.S., discussing the difference in attitudes toward success in both the countries. In India, he observed, there's often skepticism about wealth, with people thinking, "There must be something wrong with how they earned it." He attributed this mindset to India's socialist roots, contrasting it with the U.S., which he described as a "pure-bred capitalist society." Nithin Kamath had also recently also commented on Delhi's worsening air quality, with the AQI reaching hazardous levels. You have to wonder what it will take for us to take air pollution more seriously. By the way, this data only covers until 2019, and things have only gotten worse in the last five years. Maybe a property price discount for the quality of air and water is the solution. If pic.twitter.com/QtyzkqoG43 Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) November 24, 2024 He proposed linking property prices to air and water quality as a solution to pollution. Kamath had suggested on X: "Maybe a property price discount for the quality of air and water is the solution. If economics accounted for this, maybe we would all figure this out. Essentially the air and water quality determines the rate for the property." How did people respond? The comments section quickly sparked a debate. While many agreed with Kamath's perspective, others criticised it as overly "idealistic." One user said, "Well, we do have uniformity in air pollution, bad roads, and garbage-filled streets." Well, we have uniformity of air pollution, bad roads and garbage lined streets. SS (@ss17321_s) November 26, 2024 How about poor infrastructure & filth around in most of the iconic & also pious cities !! Vipul Shah (@vipulshah729) November 26, 2024 Another pointed out that diversity isn't unique to India, citing Singapore as an example of a country where multiple races coexist peacefully. I lived in Singapore and many other countries. There multiple races are living peacefully and their Government and Leaders are millions times Honest and Better than India in every sector. In India Common people are treated like trash. No Law and Order. Justice is a Joke. TickerInvest (@TickerInvest0) November 26, 2024 "In India," they added, "common people are often treated like trash." What's your opinion on this? To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending. The Adani Group faced a major setback on Thursday as allegations of bribery and fraud surfaced against its founder, Gautam Adani, and senior executives. The accusations led to a steep drop in stock prices, significantly affecting the group's market value. Here's a breakdown of the events and their impact on Adani stocks. Adani Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Bribery Claims Shares of the Adani Group fell by up to 20% after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Gautam Adani and seven others of being involved in a large-scale bribery and fraud scheme on Thursday, November 21, according to ET. Reports claim Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, paid $265 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts expected to earn $2 billion in profits over 20 years. Following these charges, a US court issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. Prosecutors have also indicated that these warrants will be handed to international law enforcement agencies for action. Adani Enterprises Struggles to Hold Key Support Levels Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship company, faced heavy losses, testing key technical support at its 200-week moving average. This level, which helped stabilise the stock during the January 2023 Hindenburg crisis, appears fragile as investor confidence continues to waver. Massive Losses for Adani Group Stocks The bribery allegations caused panic among investors, leading to a Rs 2.6 lakh crore drop in the Adani Group's total market value during early trading. The group's combined market valuation slipped to Rs 11.91 lakh crore from Rs 14.24 lakh crore just two days earlier. Several stocks hit their daily lower circuit limits, with Adani Energy Solutions falling 20% to Rs 174. Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Total Gas declined by up to 17%, while Adani Enterprises lost 10% in early trade. Hindenburg Reports 2023 When US short-seller Hindenburg Research first targeted the Adani Group on 24 January 2023, it accused the conglomerate of carrying out the "biggest fraud in corporate history" through "accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation." This triggered a massive sell-off in the stock market, causing Adani Group companies to lose thousands of crores in market value. Within just five weeks, the group's market value plunged by approximately 65%, falling to Rs 6.7 lakh crore, as reported in TOI. During this period, Gautam Adani, the group's chairman and the world's second-richest person in late January 2023, dropped below the 25th position on the global rich list. Additionally, Adani Enterprises, the flagship company, had to cancel its $2.5 billion follow-on public offering (FPO). Hindenburg striked again Nearly 18 months after its first report accusing the Adani Group of financial mismanagement, Hindenburg Research has made fresh claims. On August 10 this year, the US-based short-seller alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband were linked to offshore entities tied to Adani-related funds. The whistleblower documents suggest complex financial structures in Bermuda and Mauritius were used to funnel money. The claims have reignited concerns about the Adani Group's financial dealings and governance. Adani's Market Value Declined in the past The new Hindenburg allegations follow the devastating impact of its initial report in January 2023, which caused Adani Group stocks to lose Rs 11 lakh crore ($132 billion) in market value within a month, reported in India Today. By February 2023, the group's valuation had fallen to Rs 8.2 lakh crore, less than half of its January high of Rs 19.2 lakh crore. The Hindenburg 2.0 report has added to the group's troubles for investors, with Rs 53,000 crore wiped out in market value on Monday, August 12 two days after the report came out, reported in TOI. Shares of 10 Adani companies saw declines of up to 7% during the morning session before recovering slightly. What Lies Ahead for Adani Stocks? The Adani Group now faces a tough road ahead as it deals with legal battles, allegations of bribery, and claims of offshore financial irregularities. Investor confidence has been severely shaken, and the group's ability to recover its reputation and market stability remains uncertain. Current status of Adani stocks Shares of Adani Group companies jumped by as much as 7.5% on the BSE today after Adani Green Energy (AGEL) stated on Wednesday. The company clarified that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain have been cleared of all bribery charges by the US Department of Justice. However, it noted that three charges from the indictment remain. Adani Enterprises saw a gain of 4.15%, reaching Rs 2,239.10, while Adani Ports climbed 1.6% to Rs 1,147.30. Adani Green Energy shares increased by 4%, and Adani Energy Solutions surged by 7.45% to hit Rs 646.85, its highest for the day, reported in TOI. Adani Power also made a significant jump, rising 6% to an intraday high of Rs 463.95. Meanwhile, Adani Total Gas and Adani Wilmar recorded gains of 2-4%. Key Points to Remember - Gautam Adani and others are accused of paying bribes to secure energy contracts. - Adani stocks suffered sharp declines, losing Rs 2.6 lakh crore in value. - Fresh allegations by Hindenburg Research have further dented confidence. - The group's market value has fallen drastically since January 2023. For the latest and more interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here The Greek government has introduced a comprehensive tax reform bill in Parliament, aiming to stimulate economic growth, boost incomes, and enhance innovation. Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis presented the bill, highlighting its alignment with the government's commitment to supporting citizens and businesses amid rising living costs. The legislation includes a range of measures designed to provide tax relief and encourage economic activity. Key provisions include: Permanent abolition of the ENFIA property tax for listed buildings valued up to 400,000. Continued VAT suspension on new buildings until the end of 2025. Enhanced financial support for military cadets. 12 tax reductions for 2025, including the elimination of professional tax fees, reduced social security contributions, and incentives for property owners to reintroduce unused rental properties to the market. "These measures reaffirm our promise to direct the benefits of economic recovery to all Greeks," Mr. Hatzidakis said. In addition to the tax reform bill, a supplementary budget of 400 million for 2024 has been tabled, allocating funds for public investments and the completion of EU co-financed projects. Deputy Finance Minister Christos Dimas emphasized the bill's focus on innovation and economic inclusivity. "The reforms target sustainable growth while supporting individuals, businesses, and startups to navigate and thrive in a changing economic landscape," he said. Beyond tax cuts, the government plans to provide targeted financial aid to retirees and vulnerable groups, along with incentives for working parents, including tax breaks for child-related expenses. The measures aim to enhance citizens' quality of life and alleviate economic strain. This comprehensive tax reform bill signifies Greece's ongoing efforts to modernize its tax system, foster economic stability, and address the challenges faced by households and businesses in the current economic climate. iefimerida.gr Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South, Abia State, has accused Nigeria Army of mixing terrorist group with agitators of the Indigenous People of Biafra. Reacting to the arrest of a self-acclaimed Prime Minister of IPOB, Simon Ekpa, by Finnish Government, Abaribe said it was a welcome development. The lawmaker, speaking on Channels Television on Monday, said that security agencies find it difficult to discern between a criminal and somebody who is agitating. Advertisement He said: What it does is that it will tell those people at home who are purveyors of violence, who have been instigated by Simon Ekpa, to now know that he actually said he is just a content creator. READ MORE: Theres Nepotism In Tinubus Govt, Peter Obi Wouldve Performed Better Sen. Abaribe We have always said that what he continues to direct from there is antithetical to what the Igbo stands for, and it is totally wrong. And what has happened is that a legitimate quest by the IPOB seeking a non-violent referendum was turned by all these kidnappers because they have found a key because, to an average Igbo people, when you say Biafra, you must be doing the right thing. Whatever they say they are doing in the south-east is not supported by anybody in the south-east. All you have is a band of criminals. Also, our security agencies find it difficult to discern between a criminal and somebody who is saying he is doing agitation. So, every little thing that happens, they would say it is IPOB. Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory Court, in Abuja, has ordered the remand of a former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The judge on Wednesday, also adjourned till December 10, 2024, to rule on his bail application. Earlier, defence counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), asked the court to grant bail to the former governor as the alleged offences were bailable. Advertisement He also prayed that the court should allow the EFCC open its case immediately. Meanwhile, prosection counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), challenged the competence of the bail application, arguing that it was filed only on November 22 while the arraignment had not been done. READ MORE: Yahaya Bello Faces Arraignment Over Alleged N110bn Fraud She said: This court only assumed jurisdiction upon the arraignment of the defendants. It is only after arraignment that the bail application can arise and be heard. The application is premature, hasty, and contradicts the meaning of bail. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that Bello and two former officials of Kogi State Government, Abdulsalami Hudu and Umar Oricha, were alleged to have conspired to use state government funds acquire properties within the FCT and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, worth N110.4 billion. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 21 stolen exotic cars worth over N1.8 billion to the Canadian government. The vehicles were recovered from a criminal gang with the aid of the recently established Operation Hot Wheel, a collaborative effort between the NCS, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), and the Canadian government. According to Wale Adeniyi, Comptroller General of Customs, the International Police (INTERPOL) had identified countries in the West Africa sub-region as hubs for exotic vehicles stolen from Canada, America, and Europe. Adeniyi noted that the stolen vehicles are usually shipped to Nigeria with falsified documents. READ ALSO: Driver Survives After 40ft Container Crushes Vehicle In Lagos Advertisement Operation Hot Wheel consists of officers from the Nigeria Customs Service, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), and the Canadian government. According to INTERPOL reports, West Africa has emerged as a notable destination hub in the global stolen vehicle trade network, he said. The recovery of the stolen vehicles is seen as a significant step in addressing the growing incidence of stolen vehicles in Nigeria. As Adeniyi noted, The growing incidence of stolen vehicles finding their way into our region has become a matter of serious concern, as it not only undermines our legitimate automotive market but also strains our security infrastructure. Nigerian disc jockey Florence Otedola, widely known as DJ Cuppy, has faced backlash after taking her quest for a husband to LinkedIn, a professional networking platform. In a post shared on her profile on Tuesday, DJ Cuppy expressed her desire to find a partner, specifically a finance man who is 6 feet tall with brown eyes, accompanied by a crying face emoji. She wrote, LinkedIn. Im looking for a man in finance: 6 foot, Brown eyes. Advertisement LinkedIn is primarily designed for professional connections, career advancement, and job searches, which made many users question her use of the platform for personal matters. READ MORE: Funke Akindele Ventures Into Real Estate, Unveils New Luxury Development The post quickly drew criticism on Twitter, with many accusing DJ Cuppy of crossing the line and being overly desperate in her search for a partner. See some reactions below Temitope Juba wrote, I cant believe DJ Cuppy actually posted that shes looking for a husband on LinkedIn Schrodingers Niece wrote, Whats that bullshit Cuppy went to post on her LinkedIn? I know shes out of touch with reality but couldnt fathom the extent Tomi Tomero wrote, Cuppy posted that stuff on LinkedIn? O.S. wrote, Can Cuppy stop? Posting that you want a man on LinkedIn, its embarrassing SEE BELOW Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group, have reached a 60-day ceasefire agreement, marking a significant step towards ending the conflict between the two. The agreement, facilitated by the United States, aims to bring about a permanent cessation of hostilities, according to US President Joe Biden. As part of the agreement, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat 40 kilometers from Israels border, while Israeli ground forces will withdraw from Lebanese territory. The Lebanese army will deploy and take control of its territory, ensuring that Hezbollahs terrorist infrastructure is not rebuilt. Advertisement READ ALSO: Israel Hits Precise Strikes On Iran After Relentless Attacks The agreement comes after a year-long conflict that has resulted in significant loss of life and displacement. Israeli forces bombarded Beiruts southern border just hours before the agreement, killing 25 people. Despite the ceasefire, Israel has warned residents displaced by fighting not to return to their homes in Lebanon just yet. The US will lead another push for a ceasefire in Gaza, with President Biden stating that the people of Gaza deserve an end to the fighting and displacement. The President emphasized that peace is possible, saying as long as that is the case, I will not for a single moment stop working to achieve it. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has reassured Nigerians that the proposed tax reform bills will not introduce new taxes, but rather increase the number of eligible taxpayers. This was disclosed by Zacch Adedeji, Chairman of the FIRS, during the second edition of the annual national dialogue organised by Nigeria Politics Online on Tuesday. According to Adedeji, the proposed tax laws already at the National Assembly are aimed at reforming the tax system to generate more revenue without burdening citizens. Advertisement We dont need new taxes; what we need is new taxpayers. We want to simplify tax payments with the hope of maximising revenue. We are committed to fair tax administration, responsive and accessible service to optimise revenue for national development, he said. READ ALSO: Nigerians Are In Hard Times, Tax Reform Bills Dead On Arrival At NASS Ndume Adedeji also disclosed that all revenue-collecting agencies have posted good results so far this year, exceeding their targets from January to October. He attributed this success to the cooperation between the tax agency and taxpayers, saying, So we are moving from voluntary compliance to cooperative compliance. Lets sit and have a discussion on how best we can improve our revenue through taxation. The FIRS boss identified collaboration with private sector investors as a key strategy to address funding constraints. He also highlighted asset optimisation, digitalisation, value-added tax (VAT), privatisation, encouraging private-sector investment, and implementing cost-cutting measures as revenue options for the government. Some angry residents of Ido community in Osun State, have protested against the plan by the state government to relocate the state airport project from Ido to Ede. The community also described the move as unjust and discriminatory. They argued that the relocation undermines historical and developmental significance of the airport project, which has been situated in Ido-Osun since 1936. Advertisement The residents also accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of breaching his oath of office by favouring his hometown. This was contained in a statement signed by Chief Oyewale Basiru Oyeleke, from Eesa Ido-Osun. He said: This action reeks of nepotism and violates the principles of fairness and democracy. Our community has hosted this airport for decades. Over N20 billion has already been invested in this project by previous administrations. Moving it to Ede is not only unfair but wasteful. We appeal to President Tinubu to call Governor Adeleke to order. This decision must be reversed in the interest of justice and equity. READ MORE: Gov Adeleke Tells Osun Residents To Ignore Edo, Ondo Election Outcome Given the history of conflict, this move risks inciting communal clashes. This is part of an expansionist agenda that we will resist with all our might, the statement declared. The government must act in the interest of all citizens, not a select few. We will explore all legal and peaceful avenues to protect our heritage and rights. This insensitive agenda could escalate into unrest, and we hold the government responsible for any fallout. This is not just about infrastructure; it is about respect for our identity and contribution to the states progress. Former candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has commended Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over the latest success on the newly launched Port Harcourt Refinery. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that after several setbacks, the refinery, located in Rivers State, commenced production of fuel. The fuel production plant would start with 60,000 barrels capacity per day, releasing Premium Motor Spirit, diesel, and others into the Nigerian market. Advertisement Reacting to the development on Wednesday in a post via his X handle, Obi described the revival of the refinery as a positive step. The former Anambra State governor, called for transparency and accountability in the operations of the newly launched Port Harcourt Refinery. He said: I wish to congratulate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for fulfilling the long-standing promise of revamping the old Port Harcourt refinery. READ MORE: Port Harcourt Refinery Now Operating At 70% Capacity NNPC The refinery, which comes on stream today boasts an installed production capacity of 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Approximately 200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery. Nigerians now await the corresponding impact and benefits on pump prices and the overall economy. Additionally, news of the Kaduna refinerys revival is promising, as it is expected to boost productivity, improve transportation, and alleviate economic burdens across the country. While we acknowledge these achievements as a step in the right direction, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of transparency in the operations of the NNPC. Nigerians deserve clarity and accountability regarding the management of the nations vital oil resources, ensuring that the benefits of increased refining capacity reach every Nigerian and that the gains are used to support long-term development. The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit filed by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, seeking to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting him at the end of his tenure. According to reports by News Agency of Nigeria, the Presiding Judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, dismissed the suit after Sanwo-Olus counsel, Gbenga Femi Akande, moved the motion to discontinue the case. The court struck out the case on October 31. Advertisement READ ALSO: Gov. Sanwo-Olu Drags EFCC To Court Over Alleged Plan To Arrest Him After Tenure The lawsuit was filed in October, with Sanwo-Olus lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, arguing that the alleged plan to arrest the Governor is unconstitutional and a flagrant violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom of movement. The EFCC had described the legal action as speculative and a mere conjecture. Inln a counter affidavit, the anti-graft agency stated that it is not investigating the Governor and has never threatened to arrest him or his staff. In a surprising turn of events, the EFCCs counsel, Hadiza Afegbua, appeared in court on Tuesday, only to discover that the case had been struck out. A heated debate erupted in the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, as Senator Ali Ndume protested the invitation of Zacch Adedeji, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), to brief the lawmakers on tax reform bills. Ndume argued that the briefing was not listed on the order paper, and therefore, the Senate rules had been breached. This is a very important matter. We should not in any way try to use the position of the Senate because the order paper is clear, he said. Advertisement The Senator emphasized the need to follow established procedures, stating, I have no problem having them come to explain whatsoever, but we must follow known procedures. Ndume also expressed concerns about the tax reform bills, saying, Mr President, you can have your way, but I will have my say. You can use your gavel and I will use my voice. The tax reform bill is very sensitive, our people have been dominated by this matter. READ ALSO: Nigeria Needs New Tax Payers, Not New Taxes FIRS On Proposed Tax Reforms When you say, it is a matter of urgent national importance, yes, but even those matters normally refer to another legislative day if they are so inconvenient. Please I beg you in the name of God. This matter is very important to not only us, but Nigerians that we represent and we swore by the Bible and Holy Quran that we will represent the interest of the people. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin countered that the senate was operating within its rules, saying, You have made your point. Now we are not here for rhetorics. Despite the initial disruption, Adedeji was eventually led into the chamber to brief the lawmakers. Ndume has been vocal in his opposition to the tax bills. President Bola Tinubu has congratulated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on his 78th birthday anniversary. In a statement, the President via his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Sunday Dare, described Abubakar as an active player in Nigerias democratic process since 1999. Advertisement The President recalls many special moments shared with Wazirin Adamawa as founding members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), united in the mission to build a better future for Nigerians, as well as their engagement as political opponents in the last presidential election, the statement reads. READ ALSO: Yemi Osinbajo Celebrates 35 Years Of Love With Wife In Heartfelt Tribute He also acknowledged Abubakars commitment to public service and philanthropy, while praying for Almighty Allah to continue to grant him health and happiness in the years ahead. Abubakar served as Vice President from 1999 to 2007 and was the Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) standard-bearer in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections. The immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, is set to be arraigned before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) today, Wednesday, November 27. Bello submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, accompanied by his lawyers. After turning himself in, the EFCC held him for clarifications and preparations for his arraignment. He is expected to be docked before Justice Maryan Anenih of the FCT High Court sitting in Maitama. Advertisement Dressed in white caftan and blue cap, was marshalled into the court premises by armed operatives of the EFCC before 9am, for his arraignment. The judge had fixed November 27 for arraignment based on the EFCCs request and had issued a public summons against Bello on October 3. READ ALSO: Nigeria Needs New Tax Payers, Not New Taxes FIRS On Proposed Tax Reforms The EFCCs Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, had confirmed that Bello would be docked at the FCT High Court but declined to give a specific date. At the last hearing, Counsel for EFCC, Jamiu Agoro, stated that the order of the court, given on October 3, had not elapsed. Bello faces allegations of fraud amounting to N110 billion, with the EFCC filing 16-count charges against him. The court had previously issued a public summons, after Bello failed to attend prior hearings related to the new charges. Meanwhile, operatives of the commission clarified to Daily Trust that Yahaya Bello was tactically arrested by detectives, contrary to the reports in some quarters that he drove himself to the EFCC. You think that man (Yahaya Bello) is ready to be taken to court? Your guess is as good as mine. What I can tell you is that the man was nabbed by our tactical operatives after gathering substantial intelligence. If he submitted himself as they are claiming, you think he wouldnt come with the incumbent governor, Mr Usman Ododo? This insinuation that he drove himself to us should be discarded, one of the detectives said. Philadelphia police have arrested a man in connection with a string of gunpoint robberies at three Northeast Philadelphia smoke shops over the weekend, including one in which a person was shot. Police arrested Tyree Hatch, 47, on Monday in connection with the robberies, which began Saturday. The case is awaiting charging from the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office, Police Capt. James Kearney said Tuesday. Advertisement Kearney said that Hatch is believed to be behind the Saturday robbery of the Exotic Convenience Store on the 6700 block of Castor Avenue. In that incident, police said, a man entered the store around 1 p.m. and brandished a handgun at an employee. Police said that he forced an employee to open the stores register and stole $500 before fleeing in a black SUV. According to police, Hatch robbed the Cloud Nine Smoke Shop on the 2000 block of Cottman Avenue the following day around 9 p.m. In that incident, Kearney said, a gunman allegedly shot a store employee in the left shin after the victim attempted to disarm him. The robber was believed to have stolen about $400, and the employee was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and placed in stable condition. Police also believe Hatch committed a third robbery at around 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Castor Smoke & Vape Shop on the 7100 block of Castor Avenue. Kearney said a robber pointed a gun at an employee and stole about $600 in that incident, as well as an iPhone and vape supplies. Shortly after the Monday robbery, Hatch fled to a home on the 6700 block of Large Street and barricaded himself inside the residence after he saw police on the street, Kearney said. Police, Kearney added, had already been investigating Hatch in connection with the two previous robberies. Around 5 p.m. Monday, Hatch surrendered to police and was placed in custody. Investigators recovered a 9mm Glock handgun at the scene that had been reported stolen from Bristol Township in July, and police believe it to be the weapon Hatch used in the robberies, Kearney said. The investigation remains ongoing. For today, two days away from Thanksgiving, were extremely thankful to get this guy off the street and in custody, Kearney said. Philadelphia police stand in front of the National Constitution Center ahead of the Presidential debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10. The event cost the city nearly $1.3 million in police overtime. Read more Being the center of the political universe comes at a cost. The Philadelphia Police Department spent more than $4 million in overtime providing protection for the presidential and vice presidential candidates who visited the city this year vying for votes, city records show. Advertisement Across the 22 days in which candidates came to town in 2024, the police department paid out an average of $191,423 in overtime, the records show. The Democratic candidates President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate Tim Walz visited most often and drew the most city resources. Republican President-elect Donald J. Trump and soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance came to the city on five occasions, but typically stopped by other parts of the state more frequently. Harris massive rally outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the eve of Election Day was the most expensive, running up a nearly $1.6 million tab for police overtime. Coverage for the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Harris and Trump at the National Constitution Center cost a little over $1.3 million. That $4 million tab is only the cost to city police, and doesnt include the additional local resources for 18 candidate visits to the nearby suburban counties. The Pennsylvania State Police also typically provide security support for candidates events across the state, if requested. The agency declined to provide figures for its overtime spending, but a spokesperson said it is always willing to provide the necessary support to keep candidates and residents safe. The Secret Service is typically responsible for requesting support from local law enforcement for events and visits, and historically, the agency does not reimburse municipalities for those costs. (This is an issue that some lawmakers have focused on changing. U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a Republican who represents part of North Jersey, sponsored a bill earlier this year that would authorize the agency to reimburse state and local governments. It remains in the House Judiciary Committee.) Even so, Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, said the city has submitted expenses for reimbursements to the Harris-Walz campaign for costs not associated with police or public safety. As for police overtime, he said, the city would shoulder those costs, as has been the case historically. Its part of the police departments regular duties of providing public safety, he said. Sgt. Eric Gripp, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department, said the agency works closely with state and federal partners to balance the importance of security with the responsible use of resources. Ensuring the safety of presidential candidates is not just a matter of protocol but a reflection of our departments commitment to maintaining public safety as a whole, he said, adding that while the protection comes at a cost, the security of the nations leaders, and of Philadelphians, is paramount. A spokesperson for Harris campaign said the campaign does reimburse local law enforcement when it directly asks for their support. The official did not specify how often that occurs or under what circumstances. Trumps campaign did not respond to questions about the Philadelphia costs. The president-elect has been criticized in the past for not responding to municipalities requests for repayment. For example, officials in Erie requested a $40,330 reimbursement for Trumps visits in 2018 and 2023, but received no response, according to the Erie Times-News. While the overtime for presidential events was only a fraction of the Philadelphia Police Departments $877 million annual budget, that expense came during yet another year of record-breaking costs for the city and the department. Thats partly why Lauren Cristella, president of the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit that advocates for better government spending and oversight, said the campaigns should pay the charges associated with their visits. Events tied exclusively to campaign activities should not burden local taxpayers, especially in a city already managing record overtime costs, Cristella said in a statement. She added: If campaigns view these events as vital to their strategy, they should also recognize the responsibility of covering the true cost of making them safe and successful. Doing so supports Philadelphias fiscal health and ensures local resources remain focused on serving residents. Overtime costs in Philadelphia are expected to increase 8% across city government this fiscal year, to $285 million. The expense is driven in part by lingering vacancies in the city workforce and rising employee pay rates, city officials say. Nearly half of all city overtime comes from the police department, with the total projected to cost the city more than $120 million by the end of the fiscal year. Last year, police overtime cracked $100 million, a figure that represented a 36% increase over the previous years total. The rising costs are driven in part by an ongoing staffing shortage, Gripp said, as well as higher salaries from the union contract. The agency is currently short about 1,300 officers, he said. The city and the department have noted that increased overtime spending is offset by the reduced salary expenses from the vacancies. Vacancies and the accompanying overtime are an issue in departments across the city. Nearly one in five municipal jobs is unfilled, and officials say that has complicated efforts to control overtime. A former cyber charter school business administrator is suing the school, alleging that it was improperly billing school districts, including for students who werent logging on to the charters lessons. Read more A cyber charter schools former business administrator is suing the school, alleging that it was improperly billing districts, including for students who werent logging on to the charters lessons. Loree Marchese filed a lawsuit Monday in Philadelphias Common Pleas Court against the 21st Century Cyber Charter School, where she worked from 2021 until January. In the lawsuit, Marchese alleges the school violated Pennsylvanias Whistleblower Act, saying she was fired after reporting waste and wrongdoing to the school and its CEO. Advertisement READ MORE: Pa.s largest cyber charter wants to block records showing how it spends money Marchese reported improper billing of school districts for students whose residency was not properly verified by the charter, the lawsuit alleges, and for students who were not attending school and not logging in as required. School districts pay tuition to charter schools for every student they enroll, at a rate based on the districts spending per student. Cyber charter schools, which can enroll students from anywhere in Pennsylvania, receive different tuition rates depending on a students home district. While some of the errors reported by Marchese involved de minimis amounts of money, others were significant, the lawsuit said noting that as a result of the plaintiffs efforts, the cyber charter had to refund over $20,000 to the Jersey Shore Area School District due to improper billing. A lawyer for 21st Century Cyber Charter, Grace Deon, said Tuesday that an internal investigation had determined there was no improper billing. The school maintains that plaintiffs claims are without merit and it intends to vigorously defend against plaintiff Marcheses lawsuit, Deon said in an email. In response to a federal case filed by Marchese in May, the school denied Marcheses allegations of waste and wrongdoing, instead saying there were unintentional billing errors that it had addressed. The charter which enrolled about 1,100 students last year billed based on information known at the time, the school said in the lawsuit. It issued credits, for instance, if it learned that a student had moved from one district to another. There are instances when a student becomes truant or homeless and despite best efforts to engage and/or to locate the student, these efforts are not successful, the school said in the filing. Upon the learning of such circumstances, the school would make adjustments to reconcile school district billing as required. It also said that when it had trouble locating a student or parent, it sent staff out to the home, contacted the states Office of Children, Youth, and Families, and even involved law enforcement for a well check. Efforts to overhaul cyber charter funding Pennsylvanias cyber charter funding system has been controversial for years. Cyber charters are funded at the same rates as brick-and-mortar charters. And given the variance in how much school districts spend per student, the payment rates can vary widely depending on where a student lives. But efforts to overhaul the funding system have largely failed. A proposal last year by Gov. Josh Shapiro to establish a flat cyber charter tuition rate of $8,000 per student compared with rates last year that ranged from $8,600 to $26,000 wasnt part of the budget deal. Marchese, who says she was fired while on leave for a health condition, filed the whistle-blower complaint in Common Pleas Court after a federal judge ruled earlier this month that his court didnt have jurisdiction over that claim. Other claims remain pending in federal court. In response to that federal case, the 21st Century charter said it had not fired Marchese but had accepted her resignation effective immediately. Pennsylvanias latest standardized test results are out, and while students continued to make gains in math and science, English scores dropped again. State education officials said the 2024 results released Tuesday from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and other tests showed overall improvement in student achievement. But the results are still below pre-pandemic levels. Heres what the scores show: Math and science scores are up Just over 40% of students scored proficient or above on the math portion of the 2024 PSSAs, which are administered to grades three through eight. The 40.4% of students who met that proficiency benchmark grew by one percentage point, from 39.4% last year. Advertisement Similarly, the share of students proficient in science increased slightly to 65.8%, from 65.5% last year. Pennsylvanias education secretary, Khalid Mumin, said in a statement that once again, this years assessment results showed increased levels of participation and improvement across the Commonwealth. English scores arent rebounding English scores, however, have not been increasing. For the second year in a row, scores slipped with 53% of students testing proficient this year, down from 53.7% of students last year. Last years score also marked a decline, from 54.6% in 2022. Before the pandemic, more than 60% of students were proficient in English on the 2019 PSSAs. The continued slide in English is in contrast to the trend in math and science scores, which are approaching their 2019 levels. The Pennsylvania Department of Education acknowledged that scores had not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and said it will continue to support Pennsylvanias local education agencies as they and their learners work to recover from the challenges of the pandemic. Mary Jean Tecce DeCarlo, a clinical professor of literacy studies at Drexel University, said theres a difference in how math and English language arts are taught that could be a factor in the diverging test scores trends. Math curriculum, she said, tends to spiral students first learn to add or subtract two-digit numbers, and then move on to three and four digits. While teaching students that more-advanced calculation, a teacher can also reinforce how to add or subtract two digits for those who are struggling. ELA curricula, in contrast, are more of a skills ladder, DeCarlo said. First graders, she said, may work on decoding words with short vowels like bus and slip and, in second grade, move on to more complex skills like decoding final stable syllables for instance, -tion. That curriculum doesnt double back and review the first-grade skills, but is designed to move on to more complex skills and texts, she said. As a result, if some kids didnt learn key skills during the pandemic, they might still be missing them. But there could also be a non-pandemic factor, DeCarlo said, which is that literacy instruction has been undergoing a rethinking amid the science of reading movement that emphasizes more direct reading skills instruction. Schools have been adopting new curricula including in Philadelphia, where some teachers say they were inadequately prepared and DeCarlo predicted it would take a few years for improvements to show up in scores. These stagnant scores may be more about instructional strategies and less about any COVID learning loss, DeCarlo said. READ MORE: This Philly-area elementary school saw test scores plummet. Now its putting all its resources toward catching up. The state says attendance is improving The education department pointed to other improvements, saying that English learner growth and attainment grew from 29% last year to 31.7% this year. English learner growth and attainment tracks progress toward English language proficiency, which students are expected to attain within six years. It also noted a reduction in chronic absenteeism, which is defined as having missed more than 10% of the school year. With new, innovative approaches being used by Pennsylvania schools, Mumin said, he was confident that with each passing year, participation and achievement will continue to improve and give students new ways to chart their own course and succeed. Camden School Superintendent Katrina McCombs has deflected an attempt to have her replaced as school chief. Read more A New Jersey lawmaker this week admitted to joining efforts with four other city officials to oust Camden school Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs, but declined to give a reason for wanting to replace her. Assemblyman William T. Spearman (D., Camden) made his first public comments about the matter to The Inquirer after a brief appearance Monday night at a Camden school advisory board meeting. Advertisement In an interview, Spearman acknowledged that he signed off on a letter sent recently to acting state Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer asking him to replace McCombs as the state-appointed schools chief. But Spearman repeatedly declined to answer why the five officials, including Mayor Vic Carstarphen, sent the request to the commissioner. Im not going to say, Spearman said after being questioned outside the meeting. A former city councilman, Spearman represents the district and lives in Camden. He was elected to the Assembly in 2018. He said he notified McCombs before the letter was sent to the state. Spearman was lauded by McCombs at the meeting for a partnership he helped spearhead with Star Academy, a program that helps students who have fallen behind get back on grade level. The superintendent called Spearman onstage to give remarks. As soon as the presentation ended, Spearman quickly hurried off the stage and left the Camden High auditorium. McCombs did not acknowledge Spearmans role in the effort to drive her out, but others spoke about it during the meetings public comment portion. I want you to give me the reason why theyre coming after you like that? asked former school board member Kathryn Blackshear. Community activist Vida Neil, a staunch McCombs supporter, said she spoke privately with Spearman and told him, You will leave before she will. Added Bishop Antwan Ferren of the God is Love Ministries: We will continue to fight with her. McCombs told the crowd she had not seen the letter. She said the commissioner has given her a charge to continue to do what I do. McCombs was appointed acting superintendent in 2018 and got the job permanently a year later. Its a tight spot to be in as a state district superintendent who reports to the commissioner of education in your own hometown, McCombs said. She had previously said she had no intention to step down unless it was in the will of God. In the Oct. 30 letter, city officials said the troubled school system needs a new vision in leadership. The district has been under a state takeover since 2013 after years of poor student performance. A change in leadership will better position our schools to thrive and serve the diverse needs of our community, the letter said. READ MORE: A decade after a state takeover, has the Camden school system made progress? The letter was also signed by State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez, City Council President Angel Fuentes, and the newly elected school advisory board president, NNamdee Nelson all Democrats. Some have speculated that McCombs was targeted as retaliation for calling for the resignation of former school advisory board President Wasim Muhammad. Muhammad initially refused to step down after a civil sexual assault case by a former student was settled for $2 million. READ MORE: https://www.inquirer.com/education/camden-school-district-superintendent-wasim-muhammad-20240905.html Other takeaways from the meeting Camden has a 9% teacher vacancy rate and is seeking to fill 55 positions for the current school year. They include hard-to-fill spots for Spanish and health and physical education teachers. The district also has 25 vacancies for paraprofessionals or support staff. McCombs expressed disappointment in the districts latest assessment by Camden County on the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, the states monitoring system for how public schools operate. The results are significant because, as a takeover district, Camden must score at least an 80 in five areas. Camden showed a decline by four points in its instruction and programs score, to 57, and slightly missed the score needed for fiscal management. It exceeded the benchmark for operations, governance and personnel. McCombs said an appeal is planned to the state Department of Education. Several teachers raised concerns about conditions at the swing space that is temporarily housing Eastside High School while a new building is constructed. They said the space is too small and cannot comfortably accommodate students and staff. READ MORE: Eastside High students adjust to much smaller, temporary home at a former elementary school: Theres no place to hide A big issue with the new space at the former Alfred Cramer College Preparatory School has been physical education and health classes. Students have been bused to two locations off-site, but that is slated to end in January as changes will be made at the once-shuttered elementary school. Plans currently call for setting up trailers in the parking lot to serve as a cafeteria. An all-purpose room used as the cafeteria would be converted for physical education. The $105 million project to demolish and build a new Eastside High at its old location on Federal Avenue is slated for completion in 2029. The century-old building had fallen into disrepair. This cannot go on for five years, community leader Jose E. Delgado said. This is very inhumane. McCombs acknowledged that it was not a perfect situation and asked for patience and flexibility to make the changes needed to smooth out operations. A naloxone kit and fliers about the dangers of xylazine, an animal tranquilizer increasingly mixed with street drugs, given out to drug users. Read more Patients addicted to opioids are arriving at emergency rooms with deep wounds that expose their bones. Some have lost multiple limbs. And many ultimately are leaving hospitals against medical advice, with severe, untreated skin lesions, insisting they cant bear the withdrawal from tranq the drug that caused their wounds in the first place. Those were among the stories shared by doctors from Philadelphias major health systems as they compared notes for the first time on the medical consequences of tranq the street term for xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that has exploded across the citys illicit opioid supply. Advertisement At a weekend symposium hosted at Thomas Jefferson University by Rothman Orthopedics and the Foundation for Opioid Research and Education, physicians outlined the patient cases theyd seen and the limited research on how xylazine affects the body. This has really changed the dynamic of the opioid crisis, said Asif Ilyas, an orthopedic surgeon at Rothman who helped organize the event. And Philadelphia is the front line. For the last several years, doctors in Philadelphia have been increasingly treating wounds caused by xylazine. Never approved for human use, it is now present in nearly all of the illicit opioids sold in the city. Health officials believe it was initially added to fentanyl to provide a longer-lasting high. Xylazine also appears to cause severe skin lesions. At Saturdays symposium, doctors said that its believed the drug is toxic to skin cells and may also constrict blood vessels, slowing the circulation of oxygen in the body and making wounds slower to heal. Doctors who spoke stressed the importance of collaboration to help patients requiring care that goes beyond simply treating a serious wound. Wounds are a symptom of the disease; not the disease itself, said Jason Wink, a plastic surgeon at Penn Medicine. The risks of leaving treatment early Doctors working with tranq wounds must also address their patients addiction: It is a disease like any other disease, Rachel Haroz, head of Cooper University Hospitals toxicology and addiction medicine division, told her colleagues from other specialties. Of particular concern are patients with wounds who leave against medical advice before their treatment is complete. Sometimes, thats because doctors havent adequately treated their withdrawal symptoms. Avoiding wound treatment can have serious consequences. Katherine Woozley, the head of Coopers orthopedic hand and nerve surgery division, spoke about a man who had arrived at Cooper with a wound that covered much of his forearm, and a host of other medical issues, including endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves often seen among people who inject their drugs. The man ultimately left the hospital against medical advice, only to come back a year later with his arm missing below his shoulder, and a section of bone exposed. He told doctors the arm had fallen off on its own about six months before. Woozley didnt say why that man had originally left the hospital, but stressed that surgeons treating tranq wounds must work closely with addiction specialists and other social support services to give patients a better shot at healing. People are trying At Temple University Hospital, doctors are seeing success with synthetic skin coverings that can protect a wound for up to a year, allowing it to heal even if a patient isnt ready to quit using drugs. Lisa Rae, Temples chief of burn surgery, said her goal is to decrease patients risk of amputation. She spoke of a patient with a wound that had exposed the joints in their wrist, who kept leaving the hospital and was continuing to inject drugs. Doctors covered the wound with synthetic skin and, earlier this year, the person entered recovery. At a recent follow-up, the wound was almost healed, Rae said. Dont give up on wound care, Rae said. People are trying. This gives them time to find their way out. Other surgeons spoke about navigating treatment for patients with wounds so severe they can no longer use their limb. Wink, the Penn plastic surgeon, recalled a woman who had not used drugs for three months, but still dealt with a serious wound on her forearm. She told doctors she wanted to save the limb, but ultimately felt relief when it had to be amputated. Amputation can remove the burden of wounds from a patient, Wink said, urging careful consultations with patients, their families, and other doctors before proceeding with a life-changing surgery. Developing guidelines for care Doctors at Saturdays symposium said theyre beginning to develop comprehensive recommendations for classifying and treating tranq wounds. Earlier this year, Philadelphia health officials also released guidelines on wound treatment. And addiction medicine experts stressed that hospitals must also emphasize follow-up care for patients who use xylazine, ensuring that patients have adequate medication, wound-care supplies, and connections to social services when they leave the hospital. Ilyas said he was pleased that the first-of-its-kind symposium had brought together so many doctors with different perspectives and areas of expertise. This is not a problem managed by just surgery, he said. In the early days of the crisis, he said, we werent managing the problem in front of us, which is fundamentally addiction. And this type of wound crosses multiple surgical specialties orthopedic, burn, plastic, general. Most of us have never trained on these injuries, so its important to exchange notes. Gardner Stern (right) lives alone in a Chicago condominium complex. He never planned for his care needs in older age. He just figured things would work out, one way or another. Joy Loverde (left), an elder-care specialist, lives in the same building and is Sterns tell it like it is friend. Loverde helped Stern decide to give up driving and persuaded him to have a walk-in shower with a bench installed in his bathroom. (Joy Loverde) Read more Donald Hammen, 80, and his longtime next-door neighbor in south Minneapolis, Julie McMahon, have an understanding. Every morning, she checks to see whether hes raised the blinds in his dining room window. If not, shell call Hammen or let herself into his house to see whats going on. Should McMahon find Hammen in a bad way, she plans to contact his sister-in-law, who lives in a suburb of Des Moines. Thats his closest relative. Hammen never married or had children, and his younger brother died in 2022. Advertisement Although Hammen lives alone, a web of relationships binds him to his city and his community neighbors, friends, former coworkers, fellow volunteers with an advocacy group for seniors, and fellow members of a group of solo agers. McMahon is an emergency contact, as is a former coworker. When Hammen was hit by a car in February 2019, another neighbor did his laundry. A friend came over to keep him company. Other people went on walks with Hammen as he got back on his feet. Those connections are certainly sustaining. Yet Hammen has no idea who might care for him should he become unable to care for himself. Ill cross that bridge when I come to it, he told me. These are fundamental questions for older adults who live alone: Who will be there for them, for matters large and small? Who will help them navigate the ever more complex health care system and advocate on their behalf? Who will take out the garbage if it becomes too difficult to carry? Who will shovel the snow if a winter storm blows through? American society rests on an assumption that families take care of their own. But 15 million Americans 50 and older didnt have any close family spouses, partners, or children in 2015, the latest year for which reliable estimates are available. Most lived alone. By 2060, that number is expected to swell to 21 million. Beyond that, millions of seniors living on their own arent geographically close to adult children or other family members. Or they have difficult, strained relationships that keep them from asking for support. These older adults must seek assistance from other quarters when they need it. Often they turn to neighbors, friends, church members, or community groups or paid help, if they can afford it. And often, they simply go without, leaving them vulnerable to isolation, depression, and deteriorating health. When seniors living alone have no close family, can nonfamily helpers be an adequate substitute? This hasnt been well studied. Were just beginning to do a better job of understanding that people have a multiplicity of connections outside their families that are essential to their well-being, said Sarah Patterson, a demographer and sociologist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The takeaway from a noteworthy study published by researchers at Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was this: Many seniors adapt to living solo by weaving together local social networks of friends, neighbors, nieces and nephews, and siblings (if they're available) to support their independence. Still, finding reliable local connections isnt always easy. And nonfamily helpers may not be willing or able to provide consistent, intense hands-on care if that becomes necessary. When AARP surveyed people it calls "solo agers" in 2022, only 25% said they could count on someone to help them cook, clean, get groceries, or perform other household tasks if needed. Just 38% said they knew someone who could help manage ongoing care needs. (AARP defined solo agers as people 50 and older who aren't married, don't have living children, and live alone.) Linda Camp, 73, a former administrator with the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, who never married or had children, has written several reports for the Citizens League in St. Paul about growing old alone. Yet she was still surprised by how much help she required this summer when she had cataract surgery on both eyes. A former coworker accompanied Camp to the surgery center twice and waited there until the procedures were finished. A relatively new friend took her to a follow-up appointment. An 81-year-old downstairs neighbor agreed to come up if Camp needed something. Other friends and neighbors also chipped in. Camp was fortunate she has a sizable network of former coworkers, neighbors, and friends. What I tell people when I talk about solos is all kinds of connections have value, she said. Michelle Wallace, 75, a former technology project manager, lives alone in a single-family home in Broomfield, Colo. She has worked hard to assemble a local network of support. Wallace has been divorced for nearly three decades and doesnt have children. Though she has two sisters and a brother, they live far away. Wallace describes herself as happily unpartnered. Coupling isnt for me, she told me when we first talked. I need my space and my privacy too much. Instead, shes cultivated relationships with several people she met through local groups for solo agers. Many have become her close friends. Two of them, both in their 70s, are like sisters, Wallace said. Another, who lives just a few blocks away, has agreed to become a well help each other out when needed partner. In our 70s, solo agers are looking for support systems. And the scariest thing is not having friends close by, Wallace told me. Its the local network thats really important. Gardner Stern, 96, who lives alone on the 24th floor of the Carl Sandburg Village condominium complex just north of downtown Chicago, has been far less deliberate. He never planned for his care needs in older age. He just figured things would work out. They have, but not as Stern predicted. The person who helps him the most is his third wife, Jobie Stern, 75. The couple went through an acrimonious divorce in 1985, but now she goes to all his doctor appointments, takes him grocery shopping, drives him to physical therapy twice a week and stops in every afternoon to chat for about an hour. Shes also Gardners neighbor she lives 10 floors above him in the same building. Why does she do it? I guess because I moved into the building and hes very old and hes a really good guy and we have a child together, she told me. I get happiness knowing hes doing as well as possible. Over many years, she said, she and Gardner have put their differences aside. Never would I have expected this of Jobie, Gardner told me. I guess time heals all wounds. Gardners other main local connections are Joy Loverde, 72, an author of elder-care books, and her 79-year-old husband, who live on the 28th floor. Gardner calls Loverde his tell it like it is friend the one who helped him decide it was time to stop driving, the one who persuaded him to have a walk-in shower with a bench installed in his bathroom, the one who plays Scrabble with him every week and offers practical advice whenever he has a problem. I think I would be in an assisted living facility without her, Gardner said. Theres also family: four children, all based in Los Angeles, eight grandchildren, mostly in L.A., and nine great-grandchildren. Gardner sees most of this extended clan about once a year and speaks to them often, but he cant depend on them for his day-to-day needs. For that, Loverde and Jobie are an elevator ride away. Ive got these wonderful people who are monitoring my existence, and a big-screen TV, and a freezer full of good frozen dinners, Gardner said. Its all that I need. _ KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism. Residents at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals are part of the union push among thousands of local resident physicians and fellows. Read more This week, we take you inside an unprecedented push by Philly medical residents to unionize before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. Plus, we have details on an incoming surge in medical malpractice cases, and two local organizations fights to stay solvent. What do you think about unions in medicine? For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, email us back. Advertisement If someone forwarded you this newsletter, sign up here. Aubrey Whelan and Alison McCook, Inquirer health reporters, @aubreyjwhelan. Philly lived up to its reputation as a union town last week, when 3,300 resident physicians and fellows from four major area health systems announced their plans to unionize, seeking strength in numbers to negotiate for better working conditions. National union leaders call the scale of the local interest unprecedented: Ive never seen anything like it, said A. Taylor Walker, the president of the Committee of Residents and Interns, the SEIU-affiliated union organizing Phillys residents. Residents at CHOP, Temple, Jefferson, Einstein (owned by Jefferson), and Delawares ChristianaCare will all vote on whether to unionize in the coming weeks. Theyre part of a wave of doctors unionizing in the region, from residents at Penn and Rutgers to attendings at ChristianaCare. Well keep you posted on developments in the months ahead. The clock is ticking for Phillys newest unionizing residents. CIR officials fear that the incoming Trump administration will make it much harder for graduate students to unionize, based on policies proposed in his first term. In short: Donald Trumps labor officials didnt think graduate students counted as employees; President Joe Bidens did, and recognized more than 50 graduate student unions in the last four years. The residents are hoping to hold a union vote and certify their unions with the feds before Inauguration Day in January. Can they do it? Stay tuned to this newsletter for future updates and read Aubreys story for a close look at the union drive. The latest news to pay attention to The number of medical malpractice cases filed this year in Philadelphia is expected to surge, after a rule change that allowed cased to be filed here even if the incident occurred in a different county. But by how much? Read Harold Brubakers story to find out. Public Health Management Corp. is slashing several long-running programs to save money. Harold has more on the tough choices that PHMC, one of the areas largest health and human services nonprofits, had to make. Philadelphias largest LGBTQ health agency, the Mazzoni Center, says its facing bankruptcy after a rogue employee took out high-interest debt to make payroll. Reporter Abraham Gutman has the scoop on the agencys fight in federal court to get out of repaying the roughly million dollars it owes. Guess what? The soda tax works. But how, and by how much? For answers, read Aubreys story, which has the facts and figures from a new study in The Lancet. The big number: 21. Thats the number of gun safes distributed to Philly residents in half an hour at Penns Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, where staff held a recent event to promote gun safety. More residents wanted them, as demand exceeded the supply of safes on hand. Those who missed out signed up to get one mailed to them. Like other health systems in the area, Penn has long given out gun locks cables that wind around the trigger of a gun to prevent it from being loaded or fired. Gunshot wounds are the leading cause of death for children. Between January and September, Phoenixville Hospital (owned by Tower Health) was cited for failing to document less restrictive means of subduing patients before using physical restraints. Reporter Sarah Gantz has details on the four visits inspectors made to the facility to investigate potential safety problems. A lot of health-care experts have strong opinions about the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services including local vaccine expert Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit dealt with RFK Jr. when the former presidential candidate called Offit to ask whether thimerosal, a compound used as a preservative in vaccines (and removed since 2001), caused autism. (Offit reassured Kennedy that vaccines are safe.) Read on for exclusive details from Offits take on what it could mean to have an anti-vaccine activist running the nations health agency and why he calls Kennedy a dangerous man. AtlantiCare Health System has an ambitious growth plan (double its revenue to $2 billion over six years), and its making moves to get there. The health-care organization has appointed Joseph V. Lombardi as its next chief physician executive, effective 2025. Lombardi comes to AtlantiCare from Cooper University Hospital, where he served as chief of vascular and endovascular surgery and director of aortic surgery. Blood and urine samples from thousands of people, collected over more than 30 years, are a gold mine for researchers. A Penn professor just got $11 million from the National Institutes of Health to use this patient sample (part of CARDIA, a long-term study about the risks of coronary artery disease that began in the 1980s) to study the link between chemical exposures and dementia. Aimin Chen, a senior environmental epidemiologist at Penn, will run those samples through a mass spectrometer to see which environmental chemicals pesticides, metals, and chemicals found in plastics and furniture appear more frequently in people who develop Alzheimers and other types of dementia. Check out Alisons story for more information on this project, including how the researchers are even planning to study the role of unknown chemicals in future brain health. Which chemical exposures do you suspect increase risk of dementia? For a chance to be featured in this newsletter, email us back. By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10. WASHINGTON Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released and are returning to the United States, the White House said Wednesday, announcing a diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration. The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained by China. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. Advertisement Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years, the White House said in a statement. The release comes just two months after China freed David Lin, a Christian pastor from California who had spent nearly 20 years behind bars after being convicted of contract fraud. U.S.-China relations have been roiled for years over major disagreements between the worlds two largest economies on trade, human rights, the production of fentanyl precursors, security issues that include espionage and hacking, Chinas aggressiveness toward Taiwan and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, and Beijings support for Russias military-industrial sector. The release of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China has been a top agenda item in each conversation between the U.S. and China, and Wednesdays development suggests a willingness by Beijing to engage with the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican President-elect Donald Trumps return to the White House in January. Trump took significant actions against China on trade and diplomacy during his first term. He has pledged to continue those policies in his second term, leading to unease among many who fear that an all-out trade war will greatly affect the international economy and could spur potential Chinese military action against Taiwan. Still, the two countries have maintained a dialogue that has included a partial restoration of military-to-military contacts. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met this month to discuss potential improvements. In a separate but related move, the State Department on Wednesday lowered its travel warning to China to level two, advising U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution from the norm when traveling to the mainland. The alert had previously been at level three, telling Americans they should reconsider travel to China in part because of the risk of wrongful detention of Americans. The new alert removes that wording but retains a warning that the Chinese government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law. The Biden administration had raised the cases of the detained Americans with China in multiple meetings over the past several years, including this month when Biden spoke to Xi on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru. Politico was first to report the mens release, which it said was part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. The White House did not immediately confirm that any Chinese citizens had been returned home. Li, a Chinese immigrant who started an export business in the U.S., was detained in September 2016 after flying into Shanghai. He was placed under surveillance, interrogated without a lawyer and accused of providing state secrets to the FBI. A U.N. working group called his 10-year prison sentence arbitrary and his family said the charges were politically motivated. Leung was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges. He was detained in 2021, by the local bureau of Chinas counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and social controls to fight the spread of COVID-19. After Leungs sentencing, the U.S. recommended though without citing specific cases that Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions. Swidan had been jailed for 12 years on a drug charge and, along with Li and Leung, had considered by the State Department to be wrongfully detained. Gov. Josh Shapiro makes an announcement at Frankford Transportation Center on Nov. 22 about state money that helped keep workers on the job. Read more While Gov. Josh Shapiro temporarily stopped SEPTA from falling into a death spiral by redirecting federal roadway funds to the nations sixth-largest public transit system, the fight in Harrisburg to secure a reliable state funding stream is just getting underway. State lawmakers will spend the next several months deal making to help SEPTA avoid a fiscal crisis, including major rate increases, temporarily stalled by Shapiros efforts, for nearly 800,000 residents who use public transportation on a daily basis in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. Advertisement Who is to blame for SEPTAs funding crisis and why lawmakers couldnt come together sooner to reach a solution is an ongoing disagreement among top legislative leaders in the GOP-controlled Senate and narrow Democratic majority in the state House, with disagreement from each party on how to move forward. For top Democrats, including Shapiro, its the failure of Senate Republicans to work on the issue. For Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), SEPTAs funding woes are a crisis of [Shapiros] own making, instead prioritizing public education dollars over public transit in budget negotiations earlier this year. And according to Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), Senate GOP members are being thrown under the bus by Democrats, instead of proposing realistic solutions. If the governor and House Democrats feel they need to use us as a scapegoat, so be it, Pittman said. But the reality is, it takes all parties to come to the table to identify solutions to the issues. Shapiro put a bandage on the issue last week when he announced he would take the extraordinary step to flex $153 million in federal funds intended for eight roadway projects as a holdover for SEPTA. Without it, top SEPTA officials planned to raise fares by 21.5% across the board and cut services to try to address its $240 million annual deficit thats a result of fewer people using public transportation post-pandemic. A separate 7.5% hike went into effect on Sunday, bringing the cost of a bus, subway, or trolley ride purchased via a passengers digital Travel Wallet to $2.50, the same price theyd pay if they used cash. Most single-trip Regional Rail fares also increased. Shapiro, a Democrat from Abington, made a promise not to let SEPTA fail, after it was clear how much the transit agency would need to raise fares and cut services to stay afloat. Earlier this year, Shapiro proposed increasing the share of how much public transit receives under the states sales tax but not increasing the tax itself as a dedicated funding stream intended to give transit agencies some stability. Democrats in the state House passed this plan and others on three different occasions, all of which Senate Republicans have yet to act on, said House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery). If they want us to come up with other ideas, we can talk about other sources but frankly, we moved the Rubiks Cube three times without any meaningful response other than what appears to be moving the goalposts at a time when workers, employers, and the economy are in danger because of the Senates inability to act and to govern, Bradford added. READ MORE: SEPTA being hard to fund is nothing new. Heres how we got here GOP leaders in the state Senate bucked the plan, however, stating they would not support public transit funding without pairing it with infrastructure funding and cited the states structural deficit, in which the state is projected to spend more than it brings in every year for the coming years. Pittman proposed regulating skill games which are legally ambiguous, slot-machine look-alikes that have proliferated around the state in restaurants, bars, and corner stores as a potential new revenue stream, but not all Republicans or Democrats in either chamber have a consensus yet on how to tax and regulate the industry. The reality is what the governor and House Democrats proposed is simply taking away revenue from our General Fund to pay for transit, and all that does is make our structural deficit even worse, Pittman said. I think frankly, the Democrats mindset is, We can just spend more money on transit, and we dont have to worry about where it comes from. And thats the point of view that our majority in the Senate is not willing to accept. Top lawmakers and Shapiro failed to reach a deal as part of the final budget agreement this summer, only setting aside a fraction of what SEPTA and other transit agencies said they needed from the state and only after Philadelphias delegation to Harrisburg stepped in to ensure SEPTA got some of the funding it needed to survive the short term until a final deal was reached. Lawmakers left Harrisburg earlier this month without ever coming to that final deal, sending SEPTA into its death spiral. Democrats and Republicans previously showed a willingness to come together on issues regarding SEPTA, with the creation of a SEPTA special prosecutor. Shapiro will likely pitch a solution as part of his budget proposal in February, but its unlikely that a dedicated funding stream would be approved until this summer, when lawmakers and Shapiro are constitutionally required to pass the states annual budget. This puts transit agencies across the state, including SEPTA, in limbo until a final fix is reached. As I woke up on Nov. 6, exhausted from a full day at the polls and focused on how to explain the election results to my 10-year-old, I also thought about how Id approach my workday. Life goes on, right? As an arts leader, even following an election with an incredibly high-profile focus on actors, directors, and musicians, I battled a sense of hopelessness. Is inviting people to gather together for a play the best way I could spend my precious hours in support of the values and dreams I have for our society? Then, Kamala Harris concession speech in the afternoon gave me the jolt I needed: And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts, and in the public square. Advertisement The public square, in a country built on freedom of speech and expression, lives in our arts spaces. Here in Philadelphia, we have proven for centuries that we are a hub for new ideas, with a track record including the Declaration of Independence, the Free Library, the Philadelphia sound, and Mural Arts. This year, our city became an EGOT town, with the Wilma Theater (Tony) joining the ranks of award-winning local artists DaVine Joy Randolph (Oscars), Quinta Brunson (Emmys), and Yannick Nezet-Seguin (Grammy) in national recognition. As a city, we must continue to imagine, innovate, and convene for dialogue, self-discovery, and shared dreams. We must listen to our artists. Artists dream alongside us, contextualize our current events, critique our leadership, and represent the viewpoints of the collective us a vast array of identities and cultures living alongside each other. Past crises have shown me that the arts may feel nice to have at a time when we struggle to pay for groceries and many neighbors face grave concerns about their human rights. However, art is more than a mere distraction. In Clifford Odets Waiting for Lefty, the fictionalized taxi drivers union portrayed on stage had audience members shouting strike in the 1930s. Tony Kushners Angels in America brought the AIDS crisis into the public eye in the early 1990s. The Wilma carries on the legacy of echoing our audiences lived experiences and galvanizing them into action. If you value active dialogue, peaceful dissension, and collective future-making as I do lets get ourselves to the theater. What appears on our stages directly reflects the daily issues of Philadelphians. Last week at the Wilma, for example, we opened The Comeuppance by Branden Jacobs Jenkins (which runs through Dec. 14). The play gathers a group of millennials for their 20th high school reunion, wondering what has happened in their adulthood while grappling with war, fear, and death, and finding space for dancing, laughter, and connection. Earlier this year, we shared stories of the war in Ukraine, the trappings of living a charitable lifestyle among capitalist greed, and being a visionary woman forgotten to history. What makes coming to the theater comforting and even a bit magical is that we are outside our homes, outside our self-selected groups of friends. At the theater, an art form built on collaboration and real-time interaction between artists and the audience, we can flex our muscles by having constructive and difficult conversations with those whose opinions differ from ours. Is someone next to me laughing and Im confused? Perhaps I can learn from their connection to this story. Does the audience leap to their feet and I instinctively join them to applaud and dance? During a play, we are directly in the community while processing, learning, and sharing the experience with 300 strangers. The ideas uncovered by the play continue in conversations that take place afterward. These conversations can inform your choice in the voting booth, your support of local social justice movements, and your donations to global causes. The interplay of these tensions is entirely the point of democratized art-making and embodies Phillys gritty truth-telling in moments of loss (see: booing your home team) and fully embodied celebration (see: greased poles on Broad Street). Totalitarian rulers suppress artistic expression for these very reasons. The Wilmas own founders, Jiri and Blanka Zizka, fled Czechoslovakia in the late 1970s for freedom in the United States. Our current Co-Artistic Director Yury Urnov as well as director Dmitry Krymov (who led the Wilmas 2022 production of The Cherry Orchard) are among the dozens of Russian artists unable to return home since speaking out against Russias invasion of Ukraine. Had they and their colleagues stayed, these artists would likely face similar consequences as Russian theater director Yevgeniya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, who were both recently sentenced to six years in prison for making art critical of their government. If you value active dialogue, peaceful dissension, and collective future-making as I do lets get ourselves to the theater. Philly theater artists are here for you as we create and live alongside you, and as we all process what comes next. Leigh Goldenberg is the managing director of the Wilma Theater at Broad and Spruce Streets and is a board member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. She also serves as a Democratic committeeperson in South Philadelphias 1st Ward. Jahzara Agyemang, Nyamal Tutdeal, and Maya Gilliam are all American expats who have moved to Ghana. Read more Advertisement ACCRA, Ghana Before the election, some folks including certain celebrities talked big about up and leaving the country if Donald Trump was reelected. Now that he has been, will they do it? Who even knows. Instead of fretting over the election results, as I initially felt like doing, I hopped on a plane heading to West Africa to meet up with some Black Americans whove already departed our shores for Ghana. I hadnt planned for it to be a consolation trip. Id naively assumed Vice President Kamala Harris would have been elected. But since were now all preparing for T2: Trump 2.0, The Tangerine Sequel, I decided to bury myself in work. It turned out that a trip abroad was just what I needed. As part of a project financed, in part, by the National Association of Black Journalists, I spent two weeks connecting with African American expatriates whove settled in this nation of nearly 35 million people. I attended a meeting of the countrys growing African American Association of Ghana, I explored a restaurant and other businesses run by expats, and I attended Ghanas largest-ever citizenship ceremony in which the country welcomed 524 new citizens. These expats, many of whom have heeded a call from Ghanas president to come home, are committed and fearless and they need to be. Ghana is a deeply impoverished and underdeveloped country. It can be a tough place to live. I dont know that I could make the kind of leap they have. But many in the community here whom I have been getting to know tell me that any potential sacrifices are small compared to the peace of mind and sense of freedom they gain in no longer having to contend with the many challenges of being Black in America. Among the dozens of expats I spoke with, three main factors were behind their decisions to move: worries about racism, housing concerns, and economic opportunity. Here are a few of their stories. Jahzara Agyemang Jahzara Agyemang was raised by a single mother and grew up desperately poor in North Philadelphia. Although shed never traveled outside the city, at night she would have recurring dreams of beautiful waterfalls. Years later, on her first trip to Ghana in 2004, she spotted the twin waterfalls that resembled the one she had seen in her dreams all those years. The former Independence Blue Cross employee spent hours quietly staring at the Boti Waterfalls, located in the eastern region of the country, as its water cascaded over the rocks. Agyemang stayed until the park closed, reflecting on something her soul already knew: She was at home. Ghana was where she was supposed to be. There were numerous details to work out she had a school-age son, a good job in Center City, and a small shea butter and fashion design business to consider. At first, she traveled to Ghana a few times each year, getting to know the country and understand what it would be like to live there. Philadelphia was becoming very violent and very crazy, she recalled. I used to really feel scared for my son. She worried what would happen if cops spotted her son with his Afro riding his skateboard at night. He had already been pulled over by police for absolutely no reason at all, Agyemang recalled. It was becoming very frustrating. So, in 2018, she instructed her children to pack two pieces of luggage that weighed 50 pounds each, and they were off. Today, Agyemang lives in a four-bedroom house with a garage in a gated compound that she rents for about $160 a month. Thats why theyll never get me to live in America again, she said. Nyamal Tutdeal The daughter of a refugee from Sudan who emigrated to South Dakota, Nyamal Tutdeal learned early about what it was like to be othered. Not only did she have to deal with the challenges of being an immigrant, but she was also Black, which carries with it a whole other host of obstacles in America. As a child, she gravitated toward African Americans but quickly learned they werent always welcoming. She got called a field negro and other ugly names. I was like, What does that even mean? recalled Tutdeal, who teaches a remote class on conflict resolution at Arcadia University in Montgomery County. Eventually, she learned about Black history in America and the scars it left on enslaved people. When I was called the N-word for the first time, I didnt know what that meant because I dont have a history of that, said Tutdeal, who was born in Ethiopia. So for me, it was like navigating racism and colorism at the same time. Tutdeal traveled to Ghana for the first time for her birthday in 2021 and spent seven days exploring Cape Coast and visiting the infamous slave dungeons, where enslaved Africans were held before being shipped to the Americas. She felt such a profound connection to the country and its people that she decided to make it her home. Tutdeal returned to the United States and began making arrangements to leave. By January 2022, she was back in Ghana. I didnt think twice about it because I was ready. I was honestly done being Black in America, she said. I told a friend of mine, Girl, I dont know how your family did it for 400 years, but for me, 25 was enough. McCleod Kolleh McCleod Kolleh was just 12 years old when she immigrated to the United States in 1997 with her family from war-torn Liberia. They settled in a comfortable home in Yeadon, and in 2015, she officially became an American citizen and obtained her first passport. After Ghanas government called on Black Americans to visit the West African country in 2019 400 years after the first slave ships set sail across the Atlantic Kolleh booked a trip. She was instantly smitten with the country and its people. I felt at home. I felt welcome. Everyone looked like me, she recalled. So it was like, Oh my gosh, I want to be here. Kolleh returned to America, but a bit of her heart stayed behind as she calculated how to make that happen. Then, George Floyd was killed by the police in May 2020. Right before then, there was Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and then George Floyd, Kolleh recalled. It was just a lot of tension. Like other Black mothers around the country, she reminded her son to be extra cautious. I would tell him, Even though youre little, theyre still looking at you as a Black little boy. Meanwhile, she never forgot how she felt in Ghana. When the borders opened up, she packed up her two children and went back. I dont want to say I didnt feel safe in America, but it was a different kind of safety [in Ghana]. I had peace of mind. I didnt have to worry about if my son was roaming the street if somebody was going to think, Oh, hes up to no good. There he can roam freely. Everyone was like family. Its a community. We were embraced. We were welcomed. Maya Gilliam When Maya Gilliam was running Maati Spa on Main Street in Winston Salem, N.C., she felt hassled by local law enforcement as well as bureaucratic red tape. It all proved to be too much for the Howard University grad. Eventually, she sold her properties and started over in Ghana. I felt harassed in Winston Salem. The cops came down my alleyway, plain-clothed, guns pulled, Gilliam told me, adding that she was placed in handcuffs. They bust in guns drawn. I had PTSD from that for at least a year or two. She put the incident in her rearview mirror once she had settled in Accra, Ghanas capital city. At first, she started with an Airbnb, but then began using one of the rooms for her Maati Spa Ghana location in Accra. Initially, she went back and forth every month, taking her son back to the States to be with his father. But now, Ghana is her home. Altogether now, she has three locations for her business, catering mainly to American tourists who are greeted with foot washes with calabash bowls, aromatherapy, shoulder massages, and tea. Shes not having any of the hassles she was dogged with in her native North Carolina. We dont get any pushback here in Ghana, she told me. As long as you pay your taxes, you are fine. Today, she has a thriving business and is well-known. Gilliam is settled in for the long haul. When I first came to Ghana, I felt celebrated. Not tolerated but celebrated. Wanida Lewis Tucked away on a dirt road in West Legon, a suburb of Accra, Wanida Lewis runs Crescendo Foods, which is billed as Africas first food innovation hub. It is our training space. It also serves as our event pop-up space, as well. We also have people who cowork here during the day, the former Philly resident said as she welcomed me into a spacious building decorated with furniture made by local artisans that she rents for less than $500 a month. I got to see firsthand how Lewis, who has a doctorate in food science, is living out her passion, which is creating sustainable agricultural policies and also teaching classes on topics such as food safety and product marketing. Her journey began in 2018 while working with the U.S. State Department and creating workshops for African women in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Ghana. They loved the work that I did so much that they asked me to come back and live [in Ghana] in 2018, she told me. Thats also when she started traveling around the continent. Lewis, 41, had always wanted to live abroad shed just never dreamed shed wind up making a home in West Africa. She loves the warm weather, abundance of fresh produce, slower pace of life, and challenge of learning a new culture (although English is the official language, there are nearly a dozen government-sponsored languages). She cautions that the country isnt for everybody. A lot of people come here with expectations thinking that, Ill be welcomed with open arms, but they dont realize that colonialism has done a number on everybody, she said. This column is the third installment of Blaxit a series by The Inquirers Jenice Armstrong about Black American expatriates who have moved to the African continent. Travel for the series was funded, in part, by the National Association of Black Journalists. Timothy Sharpe outside Brith Sholom House, a large apartment building in Wynnefield where senior citizens reside. The building is in severe disrepair, and PHA today announced tenants would have to move out while it is fixed up. Read more The residents of Brith Sholom House, a Wynnefield senior apartment complex, spent much of the last year organizing to save their homes. In August, it seemed they had won: The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) stepped in to purchase the building for $24 million from foreclosure after its previous owner allowed it to fall into ruin while pocketing rent and utility payments. Advertisement But Tuesday afternoon, PHA president Kelvin Jeremiah told residents that they would have to move out, as the building is too ravaged by neglect to allow them to remain while it is repaired. Instead, the agency will have to do a gut rehab of the building to make it livable. The conditions are worse than we anticipated. Its horrifying that residents were made to live under the[se] conditions, Jeremiah said. The disrepair, in a word, is astonishing. READ MORE: Empire of Neglect: How the Puretz family cashed in while poor renters paid the price Jeremiah said that PHA would guarantee the residents right to return and that the agency would cover costs associated with moving out and, eventually, moving back in. The gut rehab of the building would take 18 months. He also said any rent residents have paid to PHA in the last few months would be refunded. He said tenants would get help finding new accommodations in the Wynnefield neighborhood, if they wanted to stay there, either in PHA-owned units or with private-sector units that could be obtained with the help of housing vouchers. Jeremiah noted that while originally some residents of Brith Sholom House had incomes too high to be eligible for PHA subsidies, anyone who had the resources to move has done so. He estimated that about 111 residents are still living in the 360-unit building. For residents, the idea of finding new accommodations is devastating. Yolanda Lee, whose mother, Gayle Lane, 83, has lived at Brith Sholom for 13 years, said she was distressed and worried by the news dumped on her family two days before Thanksgiving. Its very disruptive. I have no idea whats going on, where are these places going to be located. Its not a good thing at all, she said. We thought we had negotiated it to the point where its semi-settled. Now were not feeling it at all. She said her mother is frail, and Lee is concerned about how she will be affected by the forced displacement. And if its impacting my mother, who has me, Im sure it has a greater impact on other people who dont have anyone. At PHAs August board meeting, Jeremiah said the cost of acquiring the building would be $67,000 per unit not including renovations. At the time, they anticipated the rehab would cost $30 million to $40 million. Now PHA says the necessary renovations are so extensive that the costs will almost triple to $112 million. Jeremiah also said that some of the units were beyond repair, so the overall apartment count would be reduced to 335. There are also concerns that some senior residents may not live long enough to move back into the rehabbed building. Jeremiah said that he understood such fears, but that he applied a simple test to such buildings: Would he want his mother living there? It absolutely hurts my heart that in the case of Brith Sholom the answer is a resounding no, he said. Madison Gray, staff attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, which has been working with the tenants, said it will be up to PHA to mitigate the effects of the disruption on the elderly residents. Brith Sholom residents have been living on the precipice of displacement for years, Gray said. What makes this most recent threat of displacement different is that it comes with both the right to return and PHAs obligation to provide tenants with financial assistance and personalized support. The saga of Brith Sholom Houses catastrophic neglect began with the buildings purchase by the New Jersey- and New York-based Puretz family, three members of which are now facing criminal charges. The family had a pattern of buying aging affordable housing complexes, taking out large loans in some cases, by deceiving lenders about the value of the property and then defaulting on them, while also siphoning away residents utility payments and laundry machine cash. They also slashed maintenance contracts, allowing their buildings to fall into disrepair. An Inquirer investigation this year identified more than 16,000 apartments in 21 states owned by Puretz companies, burdened with more than half a billion dollars in debt. Their tenants, many of them elderly and disabled, suffered the consequences. One renter died in a baking-hot apartment, and another fell down an elevator shaft. Others were sickened by mold and left without heat in the coldest months of winter. Cities across America have paid tens of millions of dollars to relocate tenants or to prevent utility shutoffs. Philadelphia leaders have been aware of deteriorating conditions at Brith Sholom for well over five years, but sought to place the building into receivership only last year. By then, the buildings former owner who recorded a $36 million mortgage on the property around the time ownership was transferred to the Puretzes had filed for foreclosure on the 11-story senior tower. The Inquirer investigation raised questions about that mortgage, which was signed by a now-deceased resident of Brith Sholom who was in her 90s but was listed as president of the company on the loan document. The building was placed into receivership. But conditions only worsened, according to tenants who described leaks, mold, and pests in their apartments, frequent heat and elevator outages, and retaliation for their advocacy. Jeremiah said PHA found sewage leaks in parts of the building and a rampant bedbug infestation. In August, PHA lined up state and federal financing to save the building. Jeremiah told the authoritys board that the incredible acquisition was a deal. On Tuesday, Jeremiah said that PHA would do everything in its power to ease the transition and ensure that any tenants who want to, or are able to, can move back in when repairs are complete. These residents have been my heroes, they have fought a good fight, Jeremiah said. They have gotten us to acquire the property, and now I want to provide them with a good, safe, decent, safe, affordable place to live. They have a fundamental right, after the relocation is done to return to the fully rehabbed building. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code Theres a level of frustration with how lost or damaged parcels are handled, and businesses are being encouraged to up their game when it comes to returns and refunds and offering cover for goods, Aiello said. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) have acknowledged the findings of the Senate Select Committees report on the Impact of Climate Risk on Insurance Premiums and Availability, which examines rising insurance costs linked to climate change and policy measures to address affordability and access issues. But in fact, what really happens is the fire comes and finds a couple of minor ways to get inside the house and it's all the furnishings within the house that burned down over the many hours after the fire, said Leonard. So it really comes down to the house's ability to prevent fire and embers reaching the interior of the house. Importantly, we are sharing the DMCs capabilities and insights with governments, industry, and emergency services to help drive better disaster preparedness and recovery for the wider community, he said. Gorman, who has also built a career in professional indemnity, will lead Miller's UK and international PI wholesale team. Previously with Price Forbes (formerly MGB Insurance Brokers), Gorman led its new business division, and his background includes work as an underwriter at Wimsure Underwriting and a role within Towergates financial risks team. Kroely joins Howden Re with extensive experience in the reinsurance sector. Most recently, he served as client reinsurance director at Aon in Paris, a position he held from April 2022 to November 2024. Before that, Kroely spent over 13 years at Willis Re, where he held various leadership roles, including head of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Shepard's acquisition is part of Gallagher's broader strategy to expand its presence in key markets. In November alone, Gallagher also announced the acquisition of Santiago-based THB Chile as part of its ongoing international expansion. Additionally, the company acquired Peabody Insurance Agency to bolster its footprint in Michigan. Gallagher has also expanded its presence in the employee benefits and property & casualty sectors through the acquisition of two specialized agencies: Oklahoma-based Scout Benefits Group and California-based Statewide Commercial Insurance Brokers. The combination of this explosive growth and the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era for programs. Speaking to Insurance Business, Sharis weighed in on what will separate successful MGAs from other firms trying to enter the space. This value shift will hinge on underwriting results, service quality, and customer experience, she said. Brokers are encouraged to rate workers compensation carriers they have dealt with over the past 12 months in areas such as claims processing capabilities, customer service, and competitive premiums. This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. You and your bestie booked a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country train trip to celebrate your biggest professional accomplishment to date. What could go wrong? Sadly, an emergency appendectomy derails your plans two days before your departure. Good thing you had travel insurance! However, the casual observer likely doesnt understand that under that travel insurance policy lies an entire network of people and agencies and carriers, all responsible for delivering this protection to interested consumers. And under that network is a layer of regulation that shapes how those businesses get licenses, relate to each other, and ultimately deliver contracts to consumers. While a life insurance license or a property and casualty insurance license may be fairly straightforward across the states, travel has many variations that make state reciprocity a tricky proposition. Here, weve listed some of the common variations we see between state regulation of travel insurance licenses. 1. Some states simply dont require producers or agencies to have a travel license The first variation on the travel lines theme that makes reciprocity tricky is that some states dont require any kind of license to sell travel insurance. In these states, travel insurance may not even be regulated by the state department of insurance but may be viewed more as a product warranty. Some states dont require a travel retail agency or their sales people to have insurance licenses but do require them to operate under the supervision of an agency that has an appropriate travel license. Or maybe a property and casualty (P&C) license. Or maybe the travel retail agency can sell travel insurance without a license as long as the coverage is part of a travel package, but never as a standalone product. This variation even within a single state gets a little chaotic, and it inevitably makes reciprocity awkward in the states that do require some kind of licensing. 2. Some states include your travel license under other major licenses Many states allow producers with P&C licenses to sell travel insurance under the P&C line of authority. And some states allow anyone with a major lines license property, casualty, life, or health to sell travel insurance as long as they have proper training from the carrier. The states that include travel lines under other major lines of authority often have exceptions that are very specific about whether their travel license structure applies to producers, to agencies, to third-party administrators, or to any combination of these businesses and people. As you might guess, this, too, makes figuring out state reciprocity a teeny bit hellacious. 3. You can forego getting an appointment for travel in some states if you have a P&C license In some states, if your ability to sell travel insurance stems from a P&C license, then the travel insurance carriers youre selling for can skip appointing you for travel. Pretty swanky discount for your travel carriers, although youll still need P&C appointments for relevant carriers. 4. Some states require you to have a special limited lines travel license separate from other licenses Many states require producers to have a specific limited lines travel license in order to sell travel insurance. As weve said, reciprocity gets tricky for travel lines, and this is one reason. At least one state also encourages producers to use its travel license as a designated home state (DHS) license to make reciprocity easier. Some states that require a limited lines travel license will grant one to a nonresident whose state includes travel sales under a P&C or other major lines license. Sometimes this requires a producers resident state DOI to submit proof that the state includes travel under a major lines license. And sometimes this requires producers to take a special path to apply 5. Remember paper license applications? * Laughs in insurance compliance * In the case where a producer is applying for a nonresident state that has a travel lines limited license and that producers resident state holds travel under a major lines license, the nonresident state might require the producer to submit a paper application. There are at least three states where this is currently true: Alaska, Colorado, and New Mexico. 6. Producer license reciprocity for travel lines licenses gets freaky As you may have surmised thanks to the Is it a P&C sublicense? Is it a limited lines license? Is it something anyone with a major lines license should be able to sell?, producer licensing for anyone who wants to sell travel insurance across state lines is complicated. Some states make it easy. Some states dont. Take the pain out of travel licensing with AgentSync Manage Do you know how we know all these crazy variations? Its because we did the hard work of mapping out how travel lines licensure works across the different states, and how a producer or agency can get reciprocity. And now all that handy data is mapped in our Manage product. What that means for agencies and carriers that sell travel insurance is that AgentSync can take applying for nonresident licenses across state lines from being a manual and tedious process to having streamlined reciprocity data built in. By using our proprietary line of authority mapping in conjunction with data from the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), you can maintain a complete picture of your producers across all lines of business and all states youre working in. To see how AgentSync can transform your travel license compliance and producer management, request a travel-lines-specific demo today. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has filed suit in state court against Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute for allegedly deceiving Mainers for decades about the role of their fossil fuel products in causing climate change. The state seeks to hold the oil firms accountable for failing to warn Mainers and concealing their knowledge about the consequences of the increasing use of fossil fuels on Maines people, economy, and environment. The state is asking that the court require the energy companies to pay for both past and future climate harms and to force them to cease their ongoing deception. The state seeks relief through damages, penalties, abatement, and disgorgement of profits. Over the past five years, more than 20 states, tribes, cities, and counties have brought similar climate deception lawsuits to date, including the states of New Jersey, California, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. Cities that have sued include Annapolis, Baltimore, Charleston, and Chicago. The Maine lawsuit contends that the conduct has resulted in enormous financial burdens, public health impacts, property damage and other harms across Maine as a result of extreme weather, sea-level rise, and warmer temperatures. The complaint further alleges that the oil companies knew about the potentially catastrophic consequences fossil fuels cause as early as the 1960s, but rather than warn the public, they protected their own assets from climate change impacts and deployed public relations campaigns to discredit the scientific consensus on climate change and delay the transition to a lower-carbon future. For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects, said Frey. In so doing, they burdened the State and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception. Freys complaint alleges seven violations of Maine law, including failure to warn, negligence, nuisance, trespass, and unfair trade practices. It also alleges that the American Petroleum Institute aided and abetted the fossil fuel companies deception. Oil companies have denied the allegations in this and similar suits and argued that energy policy should not be decided in courts. In a statement to Insurance Journal, the Shell Group said that it agrees that action is needed now on climate change and it fully supports the need for society to transition to a lower-carbon future. However, Shell continued, addressing climate change requires a collaborative, society-wide approach and it does not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change. Exxon Mobil told the New York Times that Maines actions ignore the states historic dependence on oil and natural gas, do nothing to address the risks of climate change and waste taxpayer dollars. Oil companies have also pursued a legal strategy of trying to move the lawsuits from state to federal courts where they believe they would fare better. While that strategy has stalled much of the litigation, several federal courts have affirmed that the cases belong in state courts. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Minnesotas lawsuit may proceed in state court. Maine itself was the target of a climate lawsuit filed earlier this year. A suit filed by Maine Youth Action, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club claims the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is under an existing and ongoing statutory obligation to reduce emissions and has failed to do so. Topics Lawsuits Energy Oil Gas Climate Change Maine A worker activist has sued the Department of Labor (DOL) to force the release of records surrounding the deaths of three workers at New Jersey Amazon workplaces in 2022. The lawsuit says DOLs Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which Amazon says opened investigations into all three deaths, has not responded to a freedom of information act (FOIA) request for documents relating to the deaths of Rafael Mota Frias, Rodger Boland, and Eric Vadinsky. We have questions about Amazons working conditions and conduct that we hope to be able to answer through gaining access to these investigations, the lawsuit filed by Daniel Schlademan says. The lawsuit says obtaining the OSHA documents is critical to inform New Jersey lawmakers in preventing further deaths of Amazon workers. Schlademan is an organizer with the Online to Offline Strategy Group, an organization supporting the Warehouse Life, which advocates for better working conditions. Warehouse Lifes current campaign, #ExposeAmazon, centers on Amazons injury rate. New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering a heat standard bill that the lawsuit maintains might have protected workers like the three who died in 2022 if it had been in place three years ago. OSHA Investigating Deaths of Amazon Workers in New Jersey On August 14, 2024, Schlademan submitted a FOIA request seeking records concerning three OSHA investigations into Amazons conduct at warehouses in Carteret and Monroe, New Jersey, including Inspector notes of investigations; recordings or photographs; notes of interviews, and any reports summarizing each investigation. He says he has not received any response from OSHA. In the case of Mota Frias, Amazon said its own investigation attributed the death to a personal medical condition. In January 2023, OSHA issued a finding that the cause of death was cardiac arrest unrelated to work. Mota Frias died at an Amazon warehouse in Carteret on July 13, 2022. Amazon says OSHA investigated all three deaths and found no fault on Amazons part. OSHA has not released findings on Boland or Vadinsky. These were tragic incidents and its really disappointing that some people are working to twist them into something they werent, said Maureen Lynch Vogel, Amazon spokesperson in a statement. As is standard in these situations, OSHA conducted thorough investigations and closed all three without citations or allegations of wrong-doing on Amazons part, and theres no evidence that heat was a contributing factor in any of them. Amazon also says it has taken its own steps to address heat conditions in the workplace. We appreciate that legislators are concerned with the safety of the community members they represent. Keeping employees safe is our top priority, too, which is why we already have a strong, industry-leading heat management program, and weve seen the positive safety impacts of that effort, Vogel said. For example, she said the firms warehouses are climate controlled and all Amazon-branded vehicles have air conditioning, which she said is above industry standard. Topics Lawsuits Workers' Compensation Credit Suisses 2022 conviction for failing to prevent the money laundering of a cocaine dealers profits was overturned by a Swiss appeals court following the death of one of its former employees who was found guilty in the case. A., as the former banker can only be named, died in April 2023 following a long-running illness, complicating the appeals process. The Swiss Appeals court ruled on Wednesday that it in view of A.s death, it was not possible to examine the banks alleged breach without violating the presumption of innocence of the deceased. Therefore, the court said, the bank should be acquitted and compensation it was ordered to pay of 19 million Swiss francs ($21.5 million) be canceled. Under Swiss law, prosecutors can press criminal charges against banks if they believe those institutions didnt do enough to screen clients and prevent criminal wrongdoing. Credit Suisses conviction was one of a number of court cases and lawsuits that UBS had looked to resolve since the takeover of its troubled former rival in 2023. UBS said in a statement that it welcomes the courts decision to acquit the bank in connection with a legacy matter related to Credit Suisse. Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Topics Fraud A Wisconsin man has been charged with defrauding the Federal Crop Insurance Program, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced. Lance G. Meier, 52, Ogema, is charged with defrauding the federal crop insurance program. The indictment alleges that on September 30, 2019, Meier submitted a fraudulent Wells Fargo bank statement to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation in connection with reinstating his crop insurance. If convicted, Meier faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The charge against Meier is the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Stelljes is handling the case. Topics Fraud Agribusiness Shares of US automakers tumbled on worries that a new round of tariffs imposed by President-elect Donald Trump will cause sticker prices to soar even further. Trump said that he would impose additional 10% levies on goods from China and 25% on all products from Mexico and Canada critical trade routes for the auto industrys global supply chain. Its unclear how new tariffs would be implemented under an existing trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, but the threat underscores the incoming presidents intention to shake up global trade ties. Tariffs of that magnitude on the roughly $97 billion worth of auto parts and 4 million finished vehicles that come to the US from Canada and Mexico would be devastating, Wolfe Research analysts said in a note on Tuesday. Average new-car prices would rise about $3,000, they said, adding to an almost $50,000 cost that many consumers are struggling to afford. The entire year, weve been talking about affordability, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at market researcher Cox Automotive. Anything thats going to increase prices is going to be difficult for consumers who are already facing difficulties in affording vehicles. General Motors Co.s shares fell 9% on Tuesday, the biggest drop since 2020. Shares of Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV also declined. Stellantis, Volkswagen AG, Ford and GM would be highly exposed to an increase in tariffs on Canada and Mexico, according to Bernstein analysts. Stellantis and VW import about 40% of the vehicles they sell in the US, while GM imports roughly 30% and Ford 25%, according to a research note. GM and Stellantis import 55% of trucks sold in the US from Mexico and Canada, according to Bernstein. Stellantis imports the heavy-duty version of its Ram pickup trucks and commercial vans from Mexico. Ford imports the electric Mustang Mach-e from Mexico, as well as the Bronco Sport SUV and Maverick small pickup truck. Trump repeatedly vowed during his campaign to use tariffs to bring more factories and jobs back to the US. Its an outgrowth of his first term in office, when he employed a combination of real and threatened tariffs in an effort to reorder industry supply chains and trade alliances. Even if Trump follows through with the tariff threat, it would not result in an immediate bump to auto jobs, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions. It will take years to shift production from one place to another, he said. And its not going to add jobs in six months. In the short-term, its definitely gonna be a hardship. Retaliation Risk The auto industrys outsized role in US-Mexico trade was on full display Tuesday, as Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum invoked GM, Ford and Stellantis by name as she suggested the country could raise tariffs of its own in response to new levies by Trump. One tariff will be followed by another in response, and so on until we put common companies at risk, she said during her daily press conference in Mexico City. The main exporters from Mexico to the US are General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company, which arrived 80 years ago. Why put in place a tariff that puts them at risk? GM has one of its four North American plants making large pickup trucks in Silao, Mexico, with much of its production coming to the US. The Detroit-based carmaker also imports the Chevrolet Equinox EV from a plant in Ramos Arizpe, which also builds the Blazer EV. The Equinox starts at $35,000 and played a big role in GMs surge in plug-in sales in the second half of this year. Additional levies could also pose risk to a push by Jeep and Ram brand owner Stellantis to shift its manufacturing footprint to lower-cost countries, including Mexico. Its part of an effort by Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares to drive down the cost of EVs and offset higher labor expenses in the US a strategy squarely at odds with the agenda of Trumps incoming administration. The automaker has laid off thousands of workers in Michigan and Ohio this year, including 1,100 at a truck plant in Warren, Michigan. At the same time, its expanding a truck plant in Saltillo, Mexico to make Ram 1500 pickups in addition to the heavy-duty trucks it already makes there. Contingency Plans Given the magnitude of auto industry fallout from additional tariffs, wed expect most investors to assume Trump ultimately does not follow through with these threats, Wolfe analysts led by Emmanuel Rosner said in their note. However, we cant say for sure. Chris Feuell, the CEO of the Ram brand, said last week that the company would be flexible in navigating any policy changes from the 47th president and could potentially revise its investment plans. At an industry conference in New York last week, Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said the company has been gaming out various scenarios to determine what impact tariffs might have on their business and how the company would adjust pricing and profitability. Well have to see what the level of tariff is and what we can do with that, Lawler told analysts at a Barclays conference on Nov. 20. Remember its four years and we dont know how lasting this will be. We need to think about things on the longer cycle and the longer arc. Photo: Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Topics Auto Pricing Trends NEW ORLEANS (AP) Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry raised serious objections Thursday to a $3 billion project long hailed as key to restoring the states eroding coastline, decrying the growing cost and predicting dire harm to a coastal culture dependent on fishing, shrimping and oyster dredging. The Republican governors remarks to a Senate committee in Baton Rouge were his most extensive and most decisively negative on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project since he took office in January. They come a month after federal authorities warned that money for the project channeled to the state by the federal government would have to be returned if the state could not provide a clear commitment to the plan. Landry stopped short of calling for an end to the project altogether but said a compromise must be reached with opponents of the project. The chair of the Senate Committee, Republican Sen. Pat Connick, said lawmakers would have to weigh the next move. The project would channel 75,000 cubic feet (2,100 cubic meters) of sediment per second from the Mississippi River into the nearby Barataria Basin in southeast Louisianas Plaquemines Parish to create between 20 to 40 square miles (52 to 104 square kilometers) of new land over five decades. It has drawn opposition from some in Plaquemines Parish and now Landry. This project is going to break our culture, Landry said, likening the projected damage to shrimp and oyster harvesters to the diminishing of the Cajun French language generations ago when southwest Louisiana school children were forced to speak nothing but English. Ground was broken on the project in August 2023, but state and federal litigation by various interests has stalled it. Landrys remarks added to doubts about its future, despite support from environmental groups. Supporters of the project, which is being funded from a settlement arising from BPs 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, quickly pushed back during and after Landrys committee testimony. I really think, again, the proper course of action is to remain and build as properly permitted as already funded with BP oil spill dollars Every day that we wait and delay were costing the state more money, Rep. Joseph Orgeron, a Republican from Cut Off, told Landry. While Landry called the project experimental, Orgeron said other, smaller diversion projects have worked. As we continue to lose wetlands to open water, thats just less and less breeding grounds, less and less protection for all of our juvenile shrimp, crab, finfish, you name it, Corey Miller, community engagement director with the nonprofit Pontchartrain Conservancy, said in an interview. We have to figure out a way to reestablish that connection between the river and our estuaries in order to rebuild deltas to protect all of our communities. The project was planned in response to a rapidly vanishing coastline caused by a variety of natural and man-made factors. Those include land subsidence, sea-level rise, the cutting of canals through coastal wetlands by oil and gas companies, and the artificial control of the Mississippi River via levee systems that protect populations from floods but also prevent the natural flow of water that would ordinarily deposit sediment and rebuild land. The conservation group Restore the Mississippi River Delta said Landrys remarks represent a dramatic shift in coastal restoration efforts: Not building this project as designed, permitted and funded will put citizens and businesses at increased risk from future storms. Landry said delays have pushed the Mid-Barataria project cost over the years from around $1.5 billion to more than $3 billion, and he predicted costs above $2.9 billion will have to be passed on to Louisiana taxpayers. ___ Associated Press reporter Jack Brook in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this story. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana Floridas chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, whose office oversees insurance agent and adjuster licensing, along with insurance fraud investigations, plans to step down and run for Congress next year. News outlets reported that Patronis, a staunch supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, sent letters to Gov. Ron DeSantis and to the Florida secretary of state this week, announcing his resignation, effective next spring. Patronis will be seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, representing part of the Florida Panhandle in the 1st Congressional District. Gaetz resigned from Congress last week after he was considered for appointment to be U.S. attorney general, but he has since pulled out of consideration for that job as well. A special election to fill the House seat will be held Jan. 28 (party primary) and April 1 (general election), according to an order signed by DeSantis. Names floated to replace Patronis as CFO include state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill; and state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, according to news reports. Gruters had already filed paperwork to run for the job in two years. The appointment to finish Patronis term would be made by the governor until the regular election in 2026. The position of CFO is considered vital to the property insurance industry in Florida. Over the coming days and weeks, much will be written and reported about who Governor DeSantis will tap to fill the vacancy, blogged B.G. Murphy, government affairs director for the Florida Association of Insurance Agents. The decision of who to appoint will be critical to insurance agents across the state, given the CFOs regulatory authority oversight of insurance agents. Topics Florida Talent A city in New Mexico has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a woman who was shot and killed by a police officer now charged with second-degree murder. Teresa Gomez, 45, was fatally shot in October 2023 shortly after a Las Cruces police officer on a bicycle approached her while she sat in a parked car with another person, authorities said. Body camera video shows the officer shot Gomez three times as she tried to drive away. The officer, identified by the city as Felipe Hernandez, was charged in January and fired months later from the Las Cruces Police Department. 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. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. His trial is scheduled for June 2. The Associated Press sent an email Saturday seeking comment from Hernandezs attorney. A lawyer for the Gomez family said her relatives are grateful to the city for recognizing the injustice of Teresas death, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. They trust that the city will redouble efforts to make sure no other family suffers the tragedy of losing a loved one to abusive police conduct, Shannon Kennedy said in a statement to the newspaper. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Mexico New Mexico Leavitt Inland Pacific is merging with Troy Insurance Agency in Idaho. Both agencies are locally owned and affiliates of Leavitt Group, a network of insurance brokers. This strategic partnership enables Leavitt Inland Pacific to offer service team support and use the resources of Troy Insurance Agencys two Idaho locations in Moscow and Lewiston. Leavitt Inland Pacific recently closed its office location and has since moved into the Troy Insurance Agencys office at 207 South Main Street in Moscow. The combined agencies will serve Moscow, and the Quad City region with national support from Leavitt Group. As the cost of attending college increases across the United States and around the globe, how to pay for it (ideally with as little student loan debt as possible) remains a big concern. Many students and families who opened 529 plan accounts to fund their education here are discovering that the money can also be used to study abroad if you follow the rules. To use your 529 savings to study abroad, you'll need to find a host school approved by the United States Department of Education. Key Takeaways 529 savings plans can be used to pay for study-abroad programs but not to cover day-to-day expenses or travel costs, which can be substantial. The host school must be approved by the United States Department of Education to be eligible for 529 funds. The student must also be enrolled at least half-time for their room and board costs to qualify. How a 529 Plan Works A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings account for education. While traditionally used for college and other higher education costs, the plans can now be used for qualified K12 expenses and to repay some student debt. The states administer 529 plans. While different states offer different funds and varying tax deductions or credits, you dont necessarily have to buy into a plan offered by the state where you reside. Most 529 savings plans have no state residency requirements, leaving you free to choose from many plansalthough you may forgo a state tax break for your contributions if you do. While your contributions dont entitle you to any immediate federal tax breaks, the money that your account earns won't be subject to federal income tax as long as you use your withdrawals for qualified education expenses, such as tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees. How to Use 529 Savings to Study Abroad Before depositing an expensive study-abroad program, you may want to familiarize yourself with the rules regarding 529 plans and educational trips. Fortunately, most study-abroad expenses consist of tuition, fees, and room and board, which are eligible to be funded with 529 money just as they are in the United States. Required textbookswhich can be another significant expenditureare also covered. Note that the 529 beneficiary must be at least a half-time student for room and board to qualify. And if the student chooses to live off campus, then their eligible room and board cant exceed the schools published cost of attendance estimate for those expenses. A study-abroad program sponsored by your U.S. college or university will qualify for 529 funding if the U.S. school does. Enrolling in a foreign college or university may also qualify if its an eligible educational institution as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. You can find out about it by consulting the Federal School Code List. Many foreign colleges and universities are on the list. In addition, as a result of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, passed and signed into law in 2019, 529 funds can now be used to pay back student loans (up to $10,000) and for eligible apprenticeshipsboth of which could be useful for those studying abroad. You cant use 529 funds for travel, so youll want to budget accordingly for tickets to get to your destination and home again. Which Expenses Aren't Eligible? Unfortunately, study-abroad costs aren't covered because they're not considered qualified expenses by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These include: The cost of traveling to and from the school, including airline tickets, train tickets, cab fares, etc. International health insurance or medical costs not covered by U.S. health insurance (You cant use your 529 to pay for U.S. health insurance, either.) Basic living expenses, which may be cheaper or more expensive than in the United States Any costs associated with an international cellphone Sports or other activities that aren't part of the college curriculum Are Study-Abroad Programs Eligible for Federal Financial Aid? Yes, you can use federal financial aid for study-abroad programs, so long as you qualify for aid in the first place. The rules differ depending on whether youre an undergraduate or graduate student, as well as whether youre taking a study-abroad program for credits at your U.S. college or university or enrolling full-time in a foreign school. You can find more details on the Federal Student Aid website. What Happens if I Use 529 Funds for Expenses That Dont Qualify? If you withdraw money from a 529 plan account and use it for something other than qualified education expenses, youll generally owe federal income tax on the earnings (as opposed to contributions) portion of that amount and an additional 10% penalty. Your state may impose taxes and penalties as well. Can I Use My 529 to Live Off Campus if I Study Abroad? Yes, so long as you are enrolled at least half-time, you can use your 529 savings to live off campus while studying abroad. However, the cost of your living expenses may not exceed that of the published room and board at the school you're attending. If there is a gap in the price, youll have to cover that using other funding. The Bottom Line The fantasy of studying abroad is often accompanied by sticker shock, as tuition and housing costs for these programs continue to rise. Fortunately, by using a 529 accountif you have oneyou can save money on all of the expenses that qualify. Investigators searching for the remains of Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey said the exhumation of a grave in Co Monaghan had been a difficult time for his family. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The ICLVR did not become aware that Joe Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010 (WAVE Trauma Centre/PA) He was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The commission said it had received information related to suspicious historic activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then have failed to locate his remains. Jon Hill, lead investigator for the ICVLR, said it was a difficult time for the Lynskey family. (The family are) quite guarded in their views or their thoughts on what it is, that their hopes don't raise too high until we get to a position where we're sure it is Joe Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Hill said: The Lynskeys have been disappointed before when weve done a search and recovered remains. In 2010, the commission was searching for Mr Lynskey in Co Meath and uncovered remains which related to two other of the Disappeared: Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee. Mr Hill added: So they had that news, hoping or expecting that could have been Joe, and their hopes were dashed. They took comfort from the fact that someone had been recovered, and they still have that view. The exhumation was carried out at Annyalla Cemetery in Co Monaghan (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) So theyre quite guarded in their views or their thoughts on what it is, that their hopes dont raise too high until we get to a position where were sure it is Joe. His comments echoed those of Mr Lynskeys niece Maria, who told BBC Radio Ulster that she was hoping not to be disappointed again. She said she was both nervous and optimistic about the exhumation, and added: These are long journeys for us, for all the families of the Disappeared that have had to go through this. Mr Hill said the commission had had information for a period of time relating to what appeared to be suspicious activity that took place within the graveyard several years ago. Mr Lynskeys niece Maria Lynskey said she was hoping not to be disappointed again (Brian Lawless/PA) The investigator said: Recent years have suggested that that could have been indicative of what happened to Joe Lynskey. Because of that, weve taken steps together with An Garda Siochana to go through the due process of arranging for an exhumation. Mr Hill said there were multiple sets of remains in what was a family grave. The sets of remains would be submitted for DNA examination. If Mr Lynskeys remains were identified, there would be a post-mortem examination and a process involving the coroner and State pathologist. Ordinarily, our searches are in fields or bog land, where we'll be looking for one set of remains in a field, and that's all we'll find. Of course, in a churchyard, it's significantly different from that, and that brings about its own dynamics and creates its own problems He said the commission had been in contact with the family associated with the plot. To be suggesting there could be a burial within their family plot that doesnt relate to their family is something that they want resolved as well, he said. That is information that was within that family group over a number of years. So I think it brings some relief to them as well. The investigator acknowledged the exhumation was an unusual search process for the commission. The ICLVR said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) Ordinarily, our searches are in fields or bog land, where well be looking for one set of remains in a field, and thats all well find, he said. Of course, in a churchyard, its significantly different from that, and that brings about its own dynamics and creates its own problems. There are of course remains here, numerous remains. And yes, its unusual, but it isnt unusual for the commission to have information relating to something happening during a burial which was unusual. Weve had a number of cases like that reported to us over the years, and weve been able to investigate all of those and eliminate them all, apart from this one. So this one has become particularly relevant as the years have gone by, and more recent information has brought us to the conclusion that were at now, that it needed to be exhumed to eliminate that possibility that it could be Joe Lynskey. We would appeal always to anyone who has any information to come forward, because the information is absolutely crucial to our work The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate the whereabouts of the Disappeared. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Mr Hill said all the remaining cases would remain open until the victims were either found or there was no more that we can do. We would appeal always to anyone who has any information to come forward, because the information is absolutely crucial to our work, he said. Gardai and the Irish Prison Service are working on introducing a formal written record for the handover of prisoners on committal following the death of a vulnerable woman who attempted suicide just over 24 hours after being brought to the Dochas Centre in Mountjoy five years ago. An inquest heard there was a dispute between gardai and prison officers over whether the prisoner, Monika Nawrat, had stated her intention to kill herself during the handover process in the reception area of the prison. The 33-year-old mother of two, who had a history of mental illness and substance abuse, died in the Mater hospital in Dublin on October 14, 2019 10 days after she attempted to take her own life in a prison cell. The Polish native was found in an unresponsive condition at 11.31pm on October 4, 2019, just over 24 hours after she had been committed to the Dochas Centre when she did not have enough money to pay a 100 bail bond. The inquest also heard Ms Nawrat had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed as suffering from severe depression and paranoid schizophrenia, as well as being a regular user of cannabis. Around the time of her death, she also had financial pressures and was upset over not seeing her children, who resided with her ex-partner, Luckas Bogdan. Ms Nawrat had previously been admitted to a psychiatric unit in Drogheda for a suicide attempt in June 2019. Public order offence The deceased, who had been living in Ireland for over 10 years, had been arrested at her home in Bettystown, Co Meath on October 3, 2019, on foot of a bench warrant issued the previous month for an alleged public order offence. Ms Nawrat was remanded with consent to bail after being brought before a sitting of Trim District Court. However, she was kept in custody after being unable to meet the 100 bail bond as she only had 5 in cash on her. The deceased was brought by ambulance under a Garda escort to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar after she had self-harmed in a holding cell in Trim courthouse. The prisoner was subsequently brought to the Dochas Centre later that evening after being discharged by the hospital. A Garda witness told a sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court Ms Nawrat had said she would kill herself during the committal process on her arrival at the prison but a Dochas prison officer denied hearing such a comment. The two-day inquest heard evidence a nurse who examined Ms Nawrat on the evening of her committal was satisfied that she was not at risk of immediate self-harm and assigned her to a shared vulnerable cell with two other prisoners. However, she was on her own in the same cell the following evening after the other two prisoners were moved into the general prison population. Ms Nawrat was checked every 15 minutes and CCTV evidence showed she had been seen by a prisoner officer eight minutes before being found in an unresponsive state. The inquest heard the deceased had scraped a message which she signed and dated onto the wall of her cell in which she stated Im sorry to her two children. The governor of Mountjoy, Raymond Murtagh, told the coroner, Myra Cullinane, that any prisoner deemed at risk would have been assigned to a special observation cell but there was no formal process about the use of a shared vulnerable cell. Governor unaware of concerns However, Mr Murtagh said he was unaware of any concerns about Ms Nawrat when he carried out a committal interview with her on the morning of October 4, 2019. A prison doctor who examined her one hour later also raised no concerns about the prisoner. The governor said he was not entitled to access detailed medical evidence about prisoners on the Prisoner Information Management System but he could read any information documenting healthcare assessments of prisoners on committal. In reply to other questions, Mr Murtagh said it was not possible to remove all potential dangers within a prison cell to prevent prisoners from taking their own life as the IPS attempt to replicate a normal living environment. A jury of five women and one man issued a number of recommendations after returning a verdict of suicide. They included the use of a written record for the more effective transfer of information on committal to prison, particularly in relation to prisoners with significant medical needs as well as calling for the immediate involvement of medical staff in the care of such prisoners. The jury also recommended TV brackets be removed when damaged TV sets were taken out of prison cells. Offering her sympathy to the deceaseds ex-partner and her son who attended the hearing, Dr Cullinane said the most poignant evidence was how Ms Nawrat was thinking of her children and her love for them at the very last moment of her life. A champion of West Corks stunning coastline has been named a campaigner of the year at Irelands Ocean Hero awards. Schull-based Mark McCarthy, the son of a lighthouse keeper who has traveled the world working on the sea, was described by judges of An Taisces Clean Coasts initiative as one of the go-to people in West Cork for their environmental project which works with communities to help protect and care for Irelands waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. This year, he added a two-minute beach clean to the powerboating courses he runs. His passion for the environment is coupled with his kind and friendly manner, they said. Carrying out amazing work in cleaning the coastline, he regularly encourages others to take an active interest in maintaining the local marine environment litter-free. Both enjoying and protecting our ocean and coastal environment is very important to him. He includes his family in his beach cleaning efforts and takes to social media, speaking seriously about the importance of protecting our coastal environment mixed with some lighthearted humour and, of course, his West Cork charm. He was named co-winner of the champions award alongside Rathmullan Clean Coasts in Donegal. Mark McCarthy was named as a co-winner of Campaigner of the Year at Clean Coasts 2024 Ocean Hero Awards. Mr McCarthy said he was delighted to win. "I was born with wet feet, as they say, and the marine environment is just always something I've been passionate about," he said. "I dont do it for the recognition or the awards. I just do it because I love the area, and have been encouraging more people to get involved. "We are seeing more people leaving less of their own rubbish behind but we are finding more marine plastic and microplastics in particular." An Taisce hosted the awards in Dublin on Wednesday to honour the contribution and dedication of the 2,000 Clean Coasts groups, comprising some 40,000 volunteers, to conserving Irelands coastal heritage, with judges considering a shortlist of 30 groups which were nominated across six categories. The group of the year award was shared between Enniscrone Clean Coasts and Spanish Point Community Group. The individual of the year award went to Anne Marie Kirwan from Tomhaggard Clean Coasts. The youth of the year award went to Navan National Learning Network. Among the other nominees were Clean Coasts Ballynamona and St Colmans College, who ran a series of beach-based environmental education workshops and beach cleans on Redbarn in Youghal, Garryvoe and Ardnahinch near Ballycotton, and Inchydoney Strand in West Cork, involving around 800 primary school children and their teachers. Pictured at the Blue Flag Marine Education Day in September on Garryvoe beach, Co. Cork, were students from Midleton CBS Primary School, Midleton Educate Together National School, Scoil Bhride Midleton, and St Colman's College Midleton at the event organised by Clean Coasts Ballynamona. Clean Coasts Ballynamona and St Colmans College were among the nominees at today's awards. Clean Coasts Cobh, Ballymore Community Association and Cobh Tidy Town were also nominated for their big clean-up around Fota train station, which led to the removal of 70 bags of litter in just one hour. Conall OConnor, from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, commended all the nominees for their work. The impact that their programme has on all our lives and particularly on coastal areas is immeasurable, he said. An Taisces Clean Coasts programme manager, Bronagh Moore, said they hope the awards will inspire others to get involved in protecting and caring for our marine environment. In every general election, one constituency gets tagged as the group of death, the place where a big political beast is likeliest to fall. In 2024, there is an argument to be made that Dublin Central fits that bill. In a four-seat constituency, there is agreement openly from candidates that Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe will take two. But for those two remaining seats, there is no real consensus. Sitting TDs Gary Gannon (Social Democrats) and Neasa Hourigan (Green Party) were in stiff competition with Fianna Fails Mary Fitzpatrick (who has Bertie Ahern knocking doors with her, 2007 hatchet buried) and Labour senator Marie Sherlock. Ms McDonalds running mate Janice Boylan is in contention. And that was before Clare Daly entered the race. Ms Dalys interactions with the media have been... spiky, well say. After she lost her European seat in June at the RDS, she declined to speak the media, saying it had no interest in her for five years, which is not strictly true. Much of Ms Dalys coverage here while in Brussels focused on her outlook on international events her votes against EU resolutions on Ukraine in particular (Ms Daly says that her position on Ukraine is identical to her position on Gaza she is an anti-war peace activist). But having been convinced by local activists to throw her hat in the ring in Dublin Central, she is focused on the local, rather than the international. Yesterday, she assembled an all-star team to back her campaign in the Clonliffe House, a local pub most known to many for its proximity to the Cusack Stand of Croke Park. In the pubs back snug, Dublin City councillor Cieran Perry, former Green MEP Patricia McKenna, GAA legend David Hickey, and civil rights icon Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, all spoke of Ms Dalys qualities, of her fighting spirit, and of the need to build a movement around her election. Ms Daly laid out a vision for taking the Gregory seat in a constituency that had an independent TD from 1982 to 2020. Ms Devlin McAliskey spoke about a movement needed and led by someone with sharp elbows. Our campaign is building a movement, and electoral politics are just part of that, Ms Daly said. And my attitude to electoral politics, and what Ive always done when elected, is to try and use those platforms as a vehicle to organise on to highlight the struggles and the concerns of people in their everyday lives. The message is clear: This is the Clare Daly who went to prison over bin taxes, who was elected to the Dail, who went to Brussels, whatever you think about her international stances. Asked if those issues were coming up on the doors, it was Geraldine Molloy, a local community activist, who took up the response: I think the people here in the central area of Dublin, their biggest struggles in life are so huge that they cant be thinking about Europe. Anybody I would speak to, my neighbours, friends, community, their struggles are here in the city, Dublin. Their struggles are homeless children who are not getting services for their health, autistic children, ADHD kids who are not getting help. Those people cant even think beyond Dublin. Never mind beyond the rest of Europe or the rest of the world. Coalition talks are a long way off While Micheal Martin's 2020 pledge not to go into government with Fine Gael was thrown at him a few times, the Tanaiste attempted to retain some mystery about his potential government bedfellows during Tuesday night's leaders' debate. This despite ruling out Sinn Fein as partners, realistically leaving only Fine Gael. The exchanges between Mr Martin and Taoiseach Simon Harris only occasionally hit any kind of temperature in fact it was pretty cordial between the two. At one point, they had a respectful disagreement about Fine Gael's sums. "There's a problem with the public expenditure side of your manifesto," Mr Martin told Mr Harris. "I'm sure it's an error rather than intentional, misleading the public," Mr Harris said. It was almost collegial between the two men. Credit: Harry Burton The Dublin riots sparked fiery exchanges On the issue of crime, Mary Lou McDonald said of the Dublin riots last year: "The State lost control of the streets of our capital city on that occasion, that's unacceptable, and that by any measurement, is a measure of failure". She did not back down from her decision to call at the time for the resignations of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee. Simon Harris hit out at her, saying she "held a press conference at a crime scene" and used the day for her "political gain". Mr Harris also said he would not take a lecture on law order from a party who collected a Garda killer from prison. As expected, Simon Harris was tackled on the issue of scoliosis. As health minister at the time, Mr Harris set a target in 2017 that no child would be waiting longer than four months for scoliosis surgery. Mr Harris said his party's manifesto contained a commitment to "fix this once and for all". He said pre-covid, the number of children waiting was down to 35, but the pandemic had frustrated attempts to eliminate waiting lists, and the number was now 72. Perhaps surprisingly, Ms McDonald did not jump in. UHL was raised and its reorganisation called a 'hames' The ongoing issue of overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) was raised, with particular reference to the case of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston, who died from meningitis-related sepsis and was left for more than 16 hours without antibiotics. It was put to Micheal Martin that Ms Johnston's death was "a terrible indictment" on the Government and the need for a change of governance in UHL. "It is a shocking incident, it should not have happened," he said. Micheal Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Simon Harris during the final TV leaders' debate, Mr Martin said investments had begun and once these were completed, UHL would rank second in terms of the number of beds per patient. When asked if he could reassure the Irish people that emergency departments (EDs) around the country were safe, the Tanaiste said they were and encouraged people to attend EDs if and when required. Mr Martin said there were 13,000 fewer people on trolleys than last year, with a number of hospitals recording no patients on trolleys. "We have invested hugely in health, we need more investment that is why we are proposing 25,000 healthcare staff for the next five years on top of the 6,000 that will be employed next year," Mr Martin said. Simon Harris also spoke about Ms Johnston, saying there must a full inquiry as has been called for by her parents, while Mary Lou McDonald said there must be a model three hospital with a second emergency department for the Mid-West. Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government of not listening to people Mary Lou McDonald landed one of the heaviest blows of the night when she challenged the Taoiseach and Tanaiste on the Governments record on children with disabilities. "I think it is shameful that you cannot walk the length of yourself in any town, village, community, without meeting parents, mothers desperate and frantic, because not alone can they not get an assessment of need, they can get no support for their children." "You don't seem even capable to hear people and hear their experiences," she said, sandwiched in between her two rivals. Cartoonist Harry Burton's take on the recent interaction between Simon Harris and carer Charlotte Fallon in Kanturk, Co Cork. Harris and Martin's biggest clash came on mental health The Government leaders were asked to speak on their records in terms of mental health, with Miriam O'Callaghan bringing up the story of one Cork family. Last December, Gearoid Coughlan, 32, who suffers with paranoid schizophrenia, pleaded guilty in court to attempting to murder his mother Mary Coughlan, on June 4, 2021, at her home in Ballycoughlan. Coughlan was jailed for 10 years and will undergo six years of supervision by probation and psychiatric services following his release, or face a further two years in prison. Ms Coughlan said she was frustrated people with paranoid schizophrenia were allowed to live in the community without the care they needed, in particular to ensure they stick to their prescribed medication. Ms Coughlan said a lack of communication regarding the level of risk posed by her son's disease left her in an "unexpected, dangerous situation where I endured a horrific assault that almost cost me my life and will continue to impact my life forever". "The assault by my son, who I never feared before, resulted in severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury." Ms Coughlan, her husband, and Gearoid's siblings have said that they feel let down by the State. Simon Harris responded by saying there was a need for certainty in the funding of the health service and taking a holistic approach to treating people, especially those who have a dual diagnosis. He said there was a five-year budget giving clarity to the level of investment coming down the line. While Mr Harris once again said he was just seven months in the job as Taoiseach, Ms McDonald challenged him by asking how long he had been in Cabinet. Mr Martin claimed the Fine Gael manifesto did not provide for "one additional staff recruitment, while we provide for 25,000", which Mr Harris denied. The debate descended into jibes as Mr Harris and Ms McDonald continued to speak over each other, with the Taoiseach accusing the Sinn Fein leader of not taking the matter seriously. Ms McDonald said the mental health investment as announced in recent budgets had been "derisory". Was there any real winner? As Mick Clifford has written, none of the leaders emerged from the debate with any real momentum. All three were solid, but none were spectacular. However, there was one person who was certainly not a winner, according to our special correspondent. "The only real loser from the 90-minute gabfest was the undecided voter who tuned in looking for a decisive reason to vote for the next taoiseach." Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman speaks to the Irish Examiner's Elaine Loughlin ahead of the general election In the latest of the Irish Examiner interviews with party leaders political editor Elaine Loughlin spoke to Roderic OGorman. In a wide ranging conversation the Green Party leader has welcomed the growing awareness and acceptance of Green Party policies across the political divide but has warned that only the Greens will maintain that direction and focus. We need to talk about violence and sexual violence against Irish women, but when do we not? We are just coming off the back of Nikita Hands victory in the High Court in her civil action against Conor McGregor and trying to catch our breath, but here we are again. A new study released on Tuesday shows how violence, sexual violence, and sexual harassment against Irish women are above the EU average, regardless of whether it takes place in an intimate relationship or is perpetrated by a stranger or colleague. The comprehensive European study was released as part of the annual international Global 16 Days Campaign, which kicked off on Monday and highlights violence against women globally. Here are some facts and figures. According to this study, almost 20% of Irish women have experienced physical violence or the threat of physical violence in their lifetime, which is the sixth highest percentage across Europe. Almost 22% of Irish women have been subjected to sexual violence, the seventh highest in Europe. Some 44% of Irish women have experienced sexual harassment at work, the sixth highest out of 27 states. Ireland has the highest rate of violence in Europe perpetrated by someone who is not an intimate partner. Cheering, isnt it? As Irish women, we live with the social reality of these figures every day. It affects daily decisions about where we walk, who we hang out with, what we drink, how we dress, how we get home after a social occasion, or what time we leave the office. Were always making plans to stay safe because, culturally, we are given the duty of keeping ourselves safe. Its up to us. On Sunday, I went for a walk late in the afternoon because I had been working all day. When I returned, a family member said it wasnt ideal that I had been tramping around West Cork alone in an isolated dark spot. I pointed out that I had been on the phone with a male friend, but as he lives in Portugal, theres not much he could have done for me if I did get in trouble, and gardai are so thin on the ground in rural Ireland that there is nobody to ring anyway. The reality is that Ashling Murphys murder took the joy out of walking or running even in a supposedly rural idyll, even during the day for Irish women. Ashling Murphy: Killed in broad daylight while out running. In 2022, the Offaly teacher was murdered on a path by the canal in Tullamore, having been stabbed 11 times in the neck by Josef Puska and left to die in a ditch. This callous taking of a young womans life, as well as shocking the nation, changed how many women view their daily regimes. Last week, female journalists wrote several articles on the Nikita Hand versus Conor McGregor case, and you could sense the anger bubbling off the pages. I spoke to female friends about the case all day on Saturday trying to process this case, yet another watershed in the onslaught of violence against women. One thing that stood out was how weary women are trying to figure out a solution to the tsunami of violence, sexual violence, and harassment against their gender. Men were furious about it, too. I did notice that most of the men I spoke to had daughters. Maybe thats a coincidence. But a part of my brain wondered if they were imagining their daughters out and about and ending up in a sexual assault unit having a tampon removed from deep inside their vagina with a forceps. The number of calls to the Rape Crisis Centre helpline increased by 50% after Nikita Hand's High Court victory. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin What is also very striking is that on Monday, the Rape Crisis Centre released figures that showed how the number of first-time callers to its helpline increased by 50% over the weekend following Ms Hands High Court victory. So, there is value in discussing these things, and Nikita Hand did women a service in bringing her case. Separately, the case of Gisele Pelicot has shocked France, and arguably the world. The 72-year-old thought she was in a happy, supportive marriage. Her husband has now been accused of drugging her and inviting over 80 men to rape her while she was unconscious. Last week, Pelicot was given a chance to address the court one last time. With great dignity and referring to herself, she said: Its difficult for me to hear that its banal to have raped Madame Pelicot. Gisele Pelicot has gone to great lengths to stress that she is not taking the burden of shame in this case, she is sending it back to those accused of her rape. Victim blaming is alive and well, and it goes deep in all of us and permeates several levels of society. Victim blaming happens in domestic violence when we read about horrific abuse against a woman by an intimate partner, and we immediately ask why she stayed, not why he did it. It happens in domestic homicides when articles are written about a spontaneous loss of control by an otherwise good man who murders his wife and sometimes his children rather than facing the reality that the murder will have been planned by a man who felt entitled to murder his wife. In these kinds of cases, you often read details about how the murderer handed out communion, was a stalwart in the local GAA club, or raised money for good causes. There is a cultural resistance to accepting that he was a domestically abusive man, that the murder was the endpoint of a regime of abuse, and that domestic violence is rife in our country. A powerful social script Its noteworthy that last week in the Nikita Hand versus McGregor case, Mr Justice Alexander Owens felt the need to direct the jury to point out that the fact that a woman engages in risky activity such as drinking or taking drugs does not mean they are up for sex. The powerful social script we are given also enters the courtroom with judges, barristers, and solicitors because they are human beings and are not immune to these powerful stereotypical beliefs. Unless we train them carefully, that script and the subtle effects of gender stereotypes affect legal decisions in cases of violence and sexual violence against women. However, while the law is one tool in tackling violence and sexual violence against women, its not the only answer. We over-expect from the legal system. The reality is that while we call out the law, we dont call out the culture. At some deep level, our social script says that men are entitled to power and control over women. And that if a girl or woman gets beaten, raped, sexually assaulted or harassed, then our first question must be whether she was asking for it. Its time to re-write that script. She dropped her eyes from the black and white TV screen when her image appeared on it, until the Media Skills trainer told her she wouldnt learn unless she watched herself. What she and all the group saw was a smartly dressed woman in her thirties, with diction as crisp as a snapped biscuit, articulating a new vision of what women in Ireland could be. Gemma Hussey was one of seven women, all members of the Womens Political Association, who had decided that they needed to come to terms with the relatively new medium of television, in the 1970s. They wanted women to play a bigger part in Irish life, and they knew public persuasion would be key to achieving it. Gemma was the leader, and, while she might not have wanted to watch herself on TV all her life she hated her own appearance she was perceptive, confident and insightful when it came to assessing the performances of her colleagues. This was when Womens Liberation was synonymous with bra-burning and Ireland was still in the relative dark ages: when women needed their husbands signature in order to get a library card. On the second day of the training programme, one of the women suggested the group needed a single, achievable, highly visible goal. Like? Like getting a female newsreader on Telefis Eireann, said Gemma Hussey. Silence ensued as every woman present realised that the national broadcasting station the only national broadcaster at the time did not have a single woman in this key, even pivotal role. No woman ever looked up from the news desk to the camera when a major bulletin was about to start. That was the prerogative of guys like Charles Mitchel. Of course it was. You couldnt have a woman in such an important position. For heavens sake, if you had a woman reading the news, viewers would spend so much time looking at what she was wearing, they wouldnt remember what she had said. You couldnt have that. It was obvious. It was a given. It was a given until Gemma Hussey decided otherwise. She had an acute sense of the symbolism involved, but no idea how to change the situation. Someone suggested the group craft a video and hold public meetings drawing attention to the issue and to the unbelievably sexist rationale behind it. Suddenly, the training took on a whiff of reality, as members of the group accepted briefs to do research, learn how to interview, develop scriptwriting skills, and nerve themselves to speak to a camera. A few weeks later, a highly professional video for the time had been created and the campaign started. Within a year, RTE had its first female TV newsreader. And because it was such a game-changer, as Gemma had foreseen, it made people, indeed, it made a whole generation of women begin to rebel against the constraints of an Ireland deeply hostile, not just to errant women, but also to uppity women. Gemma Hussey hated being talked over and ignored, not for her own sake but for the gender she represented. Gemma Hussey was the definition of an uppity woman, central to the development of a feminist understanding in Ireland. Inevitably, this led her into politics. Her husband Derry and herself had a firmly middle-class belief that because they were what would have been dubbed, back then, comfortably off, they should give something back to a society that had been good to them, and giving back meant running for election. If that sounds like posh high-mindedness, it was the opposite. Gemma Hussey won a Senate seat and in due course a Cabinet at a time when her husband was regularly and publicly sympathized with for having such an opinionated wife, a time when the notion of a balance between home life and a career was laughable. A woman who wanted to be a government minister had to do everything that the guys did and tolerate the status quo. Women were prominent in politics because they had inherited a seat from a father or dead husband. They were treated like extras of minor annoyance, expected to place-hold but not policy-drive. Gemma challenged all that. She hated being talked over and ignored, not for her own sake but for the gender she represented. She loathed media coverage which commented raucously if she put on a few pounds. A non-believer, she refused to pretend to be otherwise and remember, the Catholic Church had ways, in those years, of demonstrating its disapproval of agnostics and atheists. Gemma Husseys unpublished diaries, which she recently let me read, are a daily sequence of battles, shames, arguments and defeats. Also admiration for her boss Dr Garret FitzGerald, although Garret, despite his reliance on her, managed to literally forget her when forming one government, ending up creating a mortifying half-job for her. Throughout it all, she managed to be hospitable and generous. She helped a generation of Eastern European women grasp democracy before their states joined the EU. She wrote authoritative books about Ireland. Once, in a radio studio, years after she had left politics, a new minister of state said something on air which made it clear that she had no clue that Gemma had ever been a Government Minister or been at the centre of breakthrough advocacy for the advancement of women. The programme presenter quickly corrected the minister of state, but what was striking was how generously Gemma let her off the hook. Its not an insult to have the struggle forgotten, she said gently. Its a triumph that this generation of women can take their rights for granted. Brazils former president Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a federal police report unsealed on Tuesday. Brazils federal police last Thursday formally accused Mr Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their 884-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal. The evidence collected throughout the investigation shows unequivocally that then-president Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organisation aiming to launch a coup detat and eliminate the democratic rule of law, which did not take place due to reasons unrelated to his desire, the document said. Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation At another point, it says: Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation. Mr Bolsonaro, who had repeatedly alleged without evidence that the countrys electronic voting system was prone to fraud, called a meeting in December 2022, during which he presented a draft decree to the commanders of the three divisions of the armed forces, according to the police report, signed by four investigators. The decree would have launched an investigation into suspicions of fraud and crimes related to the October 2022 vote, and suspended the powers of the nations electoral court. The navys commander stood ready to comply, but those from the army and air force objected to any plan that prevented Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvas inauguration, the report said. Those refusals are why the plan did not go ahead, according to witnesses who spoke to investigators. Mr Bolsonaro never signed the decree to set the final stage of the alleged plan into action. Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or awareness of any plot to keep him in power or oust his leftist rival and successor. No one is going to do a coup with a reserve general and half a dozen other officers. What is being said is absurd. For my part, there has never been any discussion of a coup, Mr Bolsonaro told journalists in the capital Brasilia on Monday. The word coup has never been in my dictionary If someone came to discuss a coup with me, Id say, thats fine, but the day after, how does the world view us? he added. The word coup has never been in my dictionary. The top court has passed the report on to prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet. He will decide whether to formally charge Mr Bolsonaro. Rodrigo Rios, a law professor at the PUC university in the city of Curitiba, said Mr Bolsonaro could face up to a minimum of 11 years in prison if convicted on all charges. A woman involved in the January 8 attack on the Supreme Court received a 17-year prison sentence, Mr Rios told the Associated Press, noting that the former president is more likely to receive 15 years or more if convicted. Bolsonaros future looks dark. Ahead of the 2022 election, Mr Bolsonaro repeatedly alleged that the election system, which does not use paper ballots, could be tampered with. The top electoral court later ruled that he had abused his power to cast unfounded doubt on the voting system, and ruled him ineligible for office until 2030. Still, he has maintained that he will stand as a candidate in the 2026 race. Since Mr Bolsonaro left office, he has been targeted by several investigations, all of which he has chalked up to political persecution. Federal police have accused him of smuggling diamond jewellery into Brazil without properly declaring them and directing a subordinate to falsify his and others Covid-19 vaccination statuses. Authorities are also investigating whether he incited the riot on January 8 2022 in which his followers ransacked the Supreme Court and presidential palace in Brasilia, seeking to prompt intervention by the army that would oust Mr Lula from power. Mr Bolsonaro had left for the United States days before Mr Lulas inauguration on January 1 2023 and stayed there for three months, keeping a low profile. The police report unsealed on Tuesday alleges he was seeking to avoid possible imprisonment related to the coup plot, and also await the uprising that took place a week later. A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militant group has won the backing of Israeli leaders, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signalled tentative backing for the US-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Heres what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon. Us President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4am local time on Wednesday. President Joe Biden called the agreement good news (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the US would monitor compliance by all sides. Mr Biden said the deal was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israels defence minister, Israel Katz, insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not provide effective enforcement of the deal. Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the groups support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. Rescuers use an excavator as they search for victims at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon (Hassan Ammar/AP) We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon, he said. The European Unions top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israels security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollahs top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signalling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making a televised statement (Israeli Government Press Office via AP) The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israels overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the groups effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israels massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their countrys fate to Gazas at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in a grave condition. Areas in Tyre, south Lebanon, were hit by Israeli strikes with a ceasefire deal under discussion (AP) No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israels attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the groups top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder on Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine, he said in a speech to the UN read by his ambassador. Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group took effect early on Wednesday morning. The ceasefire has brought relief across the tiny Mediterranean nation, coming after days of some of the most intense airstrikes and clashes since the war began, though many wondered if the agreement to stop fighting would hold. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced on Tuesday. Displaced people started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early on Wednesday, defying an Israeli military warning to stay away from previously evacuated areas. Ahmad Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an indescribable feeling and praised speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanons negotiations with Washington. He made us and everyone proud. People sit in traffic as they return to their villages after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in Ghazieh, Lebanon (Mohammed Zaatari/AP) Mr Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members. Meanwhile, sporadic celebratory gunfire could be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars some piled with mattresses and residents cheered. A couple of men shouted slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September. Hussein Sweidan said he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. This is a moment of victory, pride and honour for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon, he said. At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the countrys north. Areas in Tyre, south Lebanon, were hit by Israeli strikes with a ceasefire deal under discussion (AP) The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire marks the first major step towards ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into an all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south. In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gazas Health Ministry. A ceasefire to end 14 months of fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has come into effect, with Lebanese civilians already returning to the devastated south of the country. Do we know the details of the deal? The agreement follows the contours of UN security council resolution 1701, which ended the 36-day Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006, but was never fully implemented. The deal requires Israels military to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah to pull its heavy weapons north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the frontier. The western-backed Lebanese army is expected to deploy to the south during a 60-day transition phase. While Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, its forces are not part of the official military. A copy of the ceasefire deal seen by Reuters stipulated that only official military and security forces in Lebanon will be allowed to carry weapons. Hezbollah is unlikely to disarm completely but might reduce its armed presence in public. Israel has long complained of Hezbollah stationing weaponry near its territory while Hezbollah has claimed only it not the weaker Lebanese state army is powerful enough to resist Israels expansionist policies. The hope is that the ceasefire will become permanent, and the deal will be monitored by a US-led supervisory mechanism that will act as a referee on infringements. A letter of assurance that is not formally part of the deal reportedly guarantees US support for Israeli freedom of action if Hezbollah attacks Israel again or moves its forces or weaponry south of the Litani. Displaced residents drive past the rubble of destroyed buildings as they return to their villages, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Tyre, southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Is it likely to work? Israel appears to have come to the table after warnings from Washington that a failure to agree a ceasefire would prompt the US not to veto a UN security council resolution that would impose a ceasefire under disadvantageous conditions for Israel. Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist organisation, participated in the talks for the truce via mediators and has not formally commented on the ceasefire. Israel will be glad of the opportunity to rest its tired ground forces and reservists and repair and replenish munitions and inventory. It is also pleased that the US, its major ally, will be directly involved in mediating violations. What is the situation on the ground? There has been fierce fighting over the past few days as both sides seek to solidify gains. Children carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents return to their villages after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Ghazieh, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) Israel carried out intensive airstrikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and across the south of the country on Monday and Tuesday, after Hezbollah fired more than 200 rockets into Israel on Sunday one of the heaviest attacks since the war began. The conflict escalated in late September, when hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded in an attack attributed to Israel. Israel then killed much of Hezbollahs leadership in airstrikes, and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. About 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon, and 126 people in Israel by the fighting. Hundreds of thousands on both sides of the frontier have been displaced from their homes. What about a ceasefire in the war in Gaza? Importantly for the Israelis, Hezbollah has dropped its demand that a ceasefire in Lebanon is contingent on ending the fighting in Gaza. Since a truce in the Gaza war collapsed after a week last November, ceasefire negotiations have repeatedly failed. Qatar, a major mediator between Israel and Hamas, announced earlier this month it was quitting its role until both parties showed willingness and seriousness in the talks. Resettling or permanently reoccupying Gaza is not official Israeli policy, but senior defence officials recently told the Haaretz newspaper that the government was aiming to annex large parts of the territory rather than negotiate an end to the war. - The Guardian A ceasefirebetween Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appears to be holding. Residents in cars heaped with belongings are streaming back towards southern Lebanon, despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries that they should stay away from certain areas. If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war and threatened to pull Hezbollahs patron Iran and Israel into a broader regional conflagration. The deal does not address the war in Gaza. It could offer a reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border with Lebanon. The US- and France-brokered deal, approved by Israel late on Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the terms of the deal. Israeli forces are still fighting Hamas militants in Gaza in response to the groups cross-border raid into southern Israel in October 2023. However, US President Joe Biden said his administration would make another push in the coming days to try to renew efforts for a deal in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave. Areas such as Dahiyeh, in Beirut, had been badly hit during the conflict (AP) Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza rages on. The Gaza Health Ministry said 33 bodies had been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll in the nearly 14-month-long war to 44,282. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Hamas sites in hard-hit northern Gaza, including weapons storage facilities and military structures. It said it had warned civilians to evacuate the area beforehand. For weeks, the military has battled a resurgence of Hamas in the area, which was an early target of Israels offensive. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire has no direct bearing on the conflict in Gaza, where international mediators have struggled to secure a truce. Several of US President-elect Donald Trumps cabinet choices and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and swatting attacks, his transition team said. Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them, Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. She said the attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting', adding: In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire transition team are grateful for their swift action. Swatting entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretences. Among those targeted was Elise Stefanik (Alex Brandon/AP) The FBI said in a statement that it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. It added: We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. Among those targeted was Elise Stefanik, Mr Trumps choice to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations. Her office said that she, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence in Saratoga County. New York state, county law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism, her office said in a statement. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7. In Florida, meanwhile, the Okaloosa County sheriffs office said in an advisory posted on Facebook that it received notification of a bomb threat referencing former congressman Matt Gaetzs supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9am this morning. President-elect Donald Trump with Elise Stefanik (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) While a family member resides at the address, they said former congressman Gaetz is not a resident, adding: The mailbox however was cleared and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results. Mr Gaetz was Mr Trumps initial pick to serve as attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration amid allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Mr Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him. The threats follow a political campaign marked by unusual violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then-candidate in the ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The US Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Mr Trumps golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a fence while Mr Trump was playing golf. El Centro Sector U.S. Border Patrol Indio agents encountered a woman reported missing out of Lake Havasu City, who suffers from dementia. She was reunited with family, the USBP said. KAMPALA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Institute at Makerere University, Uganda's premier institution, celebrated its 10th anniversary Monday, marking a decade of fostering cultural and linguistic exchanges between China and Uganda. The vibrant ceremony, held at the university, featured cultural performances such as Chinese songs and dances. Delegations from China, university faculty and students, and representatives of Uganda's Chinese community attended the event. Uganda's State Minister for Higher Education John Muyingo praised the institute's role in strengthening Uganda-China ties through language and cultural exchange over the past decade, in a message delivered by education official Ismail Mulindwa. Muyingo highlighted the institute's instrumental role in introducing Chinese language instruction in Ugandan secondary schools and supporting its integration into higher education curricula. He noted that with the Chinese language now being taught and examined at higher levels, including universities, the ministry aims to establish a Bachelor of Arts in education program featuring Chinese language as a teaching subject. This, he said, would support efforts to train enough teachers to meet the growing demand for Chinese language education. "I urge all stakeholders to continue advancing cross-cultural understanding, innovation, and cooperation as we look to the future to strengthen the bond between Uganda and China, harnessing the transformative power of education and cultural extension for the betterment of our nations," said the minister. Fan Xuecheng, minister counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Uganda, commended the institute's teachers, volunteers, and students for their dedication, which has deepened the friendship between the two nations. "The pragmatic cooperation between China and Uganda sets a fine example for developing countries to seek development through unity and cooperation. Cultural exchanges and mutual learning have always been an integral part and vivid characteristics of China-Uganda cooperation," Fan said. Deng Guojun, vice president of Xiangtan University, which co-established the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, said the two universities have forged a close bond through the China-Africa Universities 20+20 Cooperation Plan initiated by China's Ministry of Education. This program connects 20 African universities with 20 Chinese counterparts, fostering collaboration and mutual development. Deng emphasized the strong bond forged between the two universities, expressing pride in their shared achievements. "These achievements fill us with pride, and we look forward to the continued success of the Confucius Institute in the years ahead." Vice Chancellor of Makerere University Barnabas Nawangwe noted the growing interest in Chinese language studies, driven by expanding economic ties between the two countries. He called for continued investment in infrastructure and programs to meet the increasing demand. "In the next decade, we envision the Confucius Institute at Makerere University becoming the leading center for Chinese language and cultural studies in East Africa," Nawangwe said. The event also marked the launch of two new associations, namely the Alumni Association of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University and the Uganda Chinese Language Teachers Association. The celebrations also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Confucius Institute globally, highlighting its broader impact on promoting cultural and educational exchanges worldwide. Ceasefire Between Israel and Hezbollah Takes Effect as Civilians Return to Southern Lebanon A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-supported group Hezbollah has come into effect following an agreement facilitated by the US and France, marking a rare diplomatic achievement in a region that has endured conflict for over a year. Lebanons army, responsible for ensuring that the ceasefire is upheld, announced it is preparing to deploy to the southern part of the country. The military also urged residents of border villages to postpone their return until the Israeli military, which has previously engaged in conflicts with Hezbollah and pushed approximately 6km into Lebanese territory, has withdrawn. This morning, Israeli forces targeted multiple vehicles carrying suspected individuals to prevent access to a restricted area in Lebanese territory, causing them to disperse, according to a statement from the Israeli military. President Biden indicated that his administration is also advocating for a challenging ceasefire in Gaza, suggesting the potential for normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The Department of Defence has expressed support for the newly established ceasefire and emphasized that UNIFIL the UN mission in Lebanon, to which Ireland contributes troops will continue to play a crucial peacekeeping role in the region. In their statement, the Department confirmed that the Defence Forces will maintain their mission in southern Lebanon. Gunfire was heard across Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, after the ceasefire was instituted at 2am Irish time. It was unclear whether the gunfire was celebratory, as it was also employed to alert residents who might have missed evacuation notifications from the Israeli military. Displaced individuals have begun their return to homes in southern Lebanon. Reuters witnesses reported streams of cars filled with people returning to southern Lebanon after being displaced by Israeli strikes in recent months. Other families were seen returning to the bombed-out suburbs of southern Beirut, proudly bearing Hezbollah flags. President Biden addressed the nation from the White House yesterday shortly after Israels security cabinet ratified the agreement with a 10-1 vote. He mentioned that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, stating that the fighting would cease at 4am local time (2am Irish time). This is intended to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, Mr. Biden stated. Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be permitted to again pose a threat to Israels security. According to Mr. Biden, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days while ensuring that Lebanons army takes control of the territory near its border with Israel to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing its infrastructure in the area. Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities, he added. Men gesture and wave flags as they drive between Sidon and Tyre. Hezbollah has not officially commented on the ceasefire; however, senior official Hassan Fadlallah mentioned in an interview with Lebanons Al Jadeed TV that the group supports the increase of the Lebanese states authority but believes it will emerge from the conflict stronger. Thousands will join the resistance Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that failed, said Mr. Fadlallah, who also serves as a member of Lebanons parliament. Iran, which supports both Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, as well as the Houthi rebels attacking Israel from Yemen, voiced its approval of the ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that the agreement is the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the United States. Lebanons Prime Minister Mikati issued a statement expressing support for the agreement. People displaced by the conflict rest in Martyrs Square, Beirut, as the ceasefire takes effect. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced that the Lebanese army is set to deploy at least 5,000 troops in southern Lebanon during the Israeli withdrawal. Mr. Netanyahu indicated his willingness to implement a ceasefire but emphasized a robust response to any violation by Hezbollah. Latest Middle East stories He outlined that the ceasefire would enable Israel to concentrate on the threat from Iran, provide an opportunity for the army to restock supplies, and isolate Hamas, the group whose attack on Israel from Gaza last year triggered the regional conflict. In full cooperation with the United States, we retain complete military latitude. If Hezbollah breaches the agreement or attempts to rearm, we will respond decisively, Mr. Netanyahu asserted. Hezbollah, which aligns itself with Hamas, has been significantly weakened compared to its position at the start of the conflict, as he further claimed, We have pushed it back for decades, eliminated its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralized thousands of fighters, and dismantled years of terror infrastructure along our border. A senior US official, speaking anonymously to reporters, noted that the US and France would collaborate with the UNIFIL peacekeeping force to establish a mechanism aimed at deterring potential violations of the ceasefire. It was clarified that US combat forces would not be deployed. People wave the flag of Hezbollah as they drive through Beirut following the ceasefire announcement. In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, hostilities intensified as Israel escalated its airstrike campaign in Beirut and other regions of Lebanon, with health authorities reporting at least 18 fatalities. The Israeli military claimed to have targeted components of Hezbollahs financial management and systems, including a money-exchange office. In response, Hezbollah maintained its rocket fire into Israel until the final moments. The Israeli air force intercepted three rockets launched from Lebanese territory, the military reported, during a significant missile barrage last night that set off warning sirens in around 115 settlements. A poll conducted by Israels Channel 12 TV found that 37% of Israelis supported the ceasefire, while 32% were against it. Opposition against the deal in Israel includes leaders from the opposition and heads of towns near the border with Lebanon, advocating for a depopulated buffer zone on the Lebanese side. Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that the return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a crucial aspect of the agreement. Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahus government, expressed concerns on X that the agreement does not guarantee the return of Israelis to their homes in the northern part of the country and doubted the Lebanese armys capability to counter Hezbollah. To exit Lebanon safely, we must establish our own security buffer, Mr. Ben-Gvir stated. McGrath Names Knab-Lunny as Chief of Staff for New Team The newly appointed Irish EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has chosen an Irish woman working in EU institutions to lead his new team just before the European Parliament approves the new Commission. According to RTE News, Fiona Knab-Lunny, who has been part of the cabinet for the outgoing EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, will take on the role of Chef de Cabinet for Mr. McGrath. She will be one of two Irish members in his six-person team, alongside Kevin Barrett, who previously served as Mr. McGraths special advisor during his tenure as Minister for Finance. It is believed that Mr. Barrett will take on the role of a policy expert in the Commissioners cabinet. Mr. McGrath is reported to have received over 500 CVs from candidates vying for prestigious positions within his six-person cabinet, as well as within a secondary team of six staff members. Several members of the Commissioners team are thought to have been recruited directly from the cabinets of two outgoing CommissionersVera Jourova, the Commissioner for Values and Transparency, and Didier Reynders, the outgoing Justice Commissioner. Mr. McGrath is believed to have received approximately 70 applications from Irish candidates, both from within and outside the EU institutions. Reports indicate that about six Irish officials currently in EU institutions have secured roles within the cabinets of other Commissioners. At 52, Ms. Knab-Lunny is understood to have been with the European Commission for eight years, focusing on conflict prevention, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and engagement with civil society during the outgoing mandate. It is noted that Mr. McGrath had discussions with Charmaine Hili, President Ursula von der Leyens outgoing justice expert, regarding her potential as his head of cabinet. However, it appears that Ms. Hili will remain in the cabinet of the Commission President for a second term. Tomorrow morning, Ms. Von der Leyen will address MEPs in Strasbourg in advance of a vote that is anticipated to approve her new team of Commissioners with a majority. Irish MEPs from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and Labour are expected to support the new Commission, alongside Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly. Conversely, Sinn Fein MEPs Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion, as well as Independent Luke Ming Flanagan, are reportedly planning to vote against it. Prosecutors Request Sentences of Up to 14 Years for Defendants in French Rape Trial French prosecutors have called for sentences of up to 14 years for several remaining co-defendants of a man accused of recruiting numerous strangers to sexually assault his wife while she was drugged and unconscious. On the previous day, prosecutors sought a maximum 20-year prison term for Dominique Pelicot, who has been on trial in the southern city of Avignon since September alongside 49 other men for orchestrating the rapes and sexual assaults of Gisele Pelicot, now his ex-wife. One individual is being tried in absentia. This case has triggered outrage, protests, and a discussion about male violence in France, with tens of thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets nationwide on Saturday against violence directed at women. Prosecutors are presenting their sentencing proposals for all defendants, who belong to various professions ranging from the fire service to the media. Public prosecutor Laure Chabaud requested a 14-year sentence for Karim S, 38, who was among the few defendants found to have exchanged messages with Mr. Pelicot, as discovered by investigators. For Florian R, 32, who did not acknowledge intent, and Gregory S, 31, who was aware of Gisele Pelicots compromised condition, Mr. Chabaud demanded thirteen years in prison. Some defense attorneys have characterized the sentencing requests as overwhelming and disproportionate, claiming that the prosecution is under pressure from public sentiment. I am apprehensive about what will follow, stated Louis-Alain Lemaire, a lawyer representing four defendants. Nevertheless, public prosecutors argue the trial should mark a significant shift in societal attitudes. In 2024, we can no longer say she did not say anything, she agreed, that belongs to another time, Mr. Chabaud remarked yesterday. Psychological reports Prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence for nine of the other defendants, including Boris M, 37, who asserted during the hearings that he was also a victim. He claims he was a victim of Dominique Pelicot, much like Gisele Pelicot, prosecutor Jean-Francois Mayet stated. However, he added, at no point did he seek or secure Gisele Pelicots consent, explaining, in truth, he was satisfied with the situation presented to him by the main defendant. Prosecutors also requested a 12-year sentence for Mahdi D, 36, who similarly alleged he was a victim of Mr. Pelicots actions. Mr. Chabaud additionally requested a 12-year sentence for Lionel R, 44, who claimed he was participating in a couples fantasy. Many of the accused contended in court that they believed Pelicots assertion that they were involved in a libertine fantasy, where his wife had consented to sexual activity and was merely pretending to be asleep. Among them, 33 argued that they were not in control of their faculties during the abuse or rape of Gisele Pelicot, a defense not supported by any of the psychological evaluations conducted by court-appointed experts. Denies responsibility Prosecutors also demanded a 12-year prison term for Cyril B, 47, who was fully aware that Gisele Pelicot should not be awakened, and for Thierry P, 54, who claimed Mr. Pelicot was entirely responsible, according to the public prosecutor. Mr. Mayet advocated the same prison term for Omar D, 36, who argued that the husbands consent and presence seemed adequate, and for Ahmed T, 54, who denies any accountability. Two other defendants, Redouane A, 40, who said he came to Mazan to satisfy the couple, and Jean T, 52, who claimed without evidence that he too was drugged by the main defendant, are also facing a 12-year sentence. Yesterday, prosecutors requested a 17-year prison sentence for one defendant, Jean-Pierre M, 63, who adopted Mr. Pelicots methods to sexually assault his own wife on a dozen occasions, sometimes in Mr. Pelicots presence. The trial has turned Gisele Pelicot, who pushed for the hearings to be public, into a feminist symbol in the battle against sexual abuse. Mr. Mayet commended her bravery and grace, expressing gratitude for her decision to allow the hearings to be conducted publicly. The final verdicts and sentences are anticipated by December 20. UK Woman Sentenced to Seven Years in Jail for Keeping Child in Drawer A woman in England has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison after keeping her baby in a drawer beneath her bed until the child was discovered just weeks before her third birthday.The little girl, found at the familys home in Cheshire, was reported to have matted hair, deformities, and rashes, as presented in Chester Crown Court. The court heard that the mother, who cannot be identified to protect her childrens privacy, concealed the babys presence from her siblings by stashing her in the drawer of her divan bed and kept her secret from her partner, who frequently stayed over. While sentencing the woman for child cruelty, Judge Steven Everett stated, What you did is beyond belief. He further remarked, You tried to manage this situation as best as you could, but by sheer luck, your horrific secret was uncovered. The impact on (the child) was nothing short of catastrophicphysically, psychologically, and socially. He described the child as an intelligent little girl who is now arguably beginning to awaken from what was nearly a living death in that room. The court learned that the woman did not seek medical help for the childs cleft palate and failed to provide adequate food and water, opting to feed her milky Weetabix through a syringe. Sion ap Mihangel, prosecuting, stated, She was kept in a drawer in the bedroom, not allowed outside, not socialized, with no interaction with anyone else. He explained that when the child was first hospitalized, her developmental age was assessed at between zero and ten months, and she was significantly malnourished and dehydrated. According to Mr. ap Mihangel, the infant was abandoned while her mother took her other children to school, went to work, and even during family visits over Christmas. Once the mothers boyfriend began staying overnight, the child was moved to another room and left alone there, as testified in court. The girl was discovered when her partner returned home one morning to use the restroom after the mother had left. Upon hearing a noise, he entered one of the bedrooms and noticed the child. He left the house but notified family members, leading to social services arriving later that day and finding the child in the drawer of the bed. A social worker shared in a statement that she saw the child sitting in the drawer and asked the mother if that was where she kept her daughter. She answered rather matter-of-factly, yes, in the drawer,' the social worker reported. I was taken aback by how the mother seemed unperturbed and nonchalant about the situation. It became abundantly clear that I was likely the only other face (the child) had seen besides her mothers. Two police officers involved in the case were brought to tears as a statement from the childs foster carer, described by the judge as truly devastating, was read in court. The carer pointed out, It was evident that she did not recognize her own name when we called her. In her police interview, the woman claimed she was unaware of her pregnancy and felt really scared upon giving birth. She insisted that the baby was not always kept in the drawer and claimed that the drawer was never fully closed, but admitted to officers that the child was not part of the family. She explained to social workers that she had been in an abusive relationship with the childs father and wanted to prevent him from finding out about her. Matthew Dunford noted there had been an exceptional set of circumstances, including the womans mental health struggles, a tumultuous relationship with the childs father, and the impact of the Covid lockdown. The defendant wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue as she articulated how her other children, whom she reportedly cared for well, no longer lived with her. Senior crown prosecutor Rachel Worthington, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, stated, This child has never received a birthday present, a Christmas gift, or any acknowledgment of these occasions. Shes had no interaction with her siblings. She had not experienced daylight or fresh air and did not respond to her own name when she was initially found. She added, The motive behind the mothers actions remains unclear, but that falls outside the responsibilities of the Crown Prosecution Service. Our role is to ensure that the individual responsible is held accountable. That has now been accomplished, and it is the CPSs sincere hope that the victim in this case is able to recover sufficiently to lead as fulfilling a life as possible. The woman pleaded guilty in October to four counts of child cruelty, which encompassed her failure to secure basic medical care for the child, abandonment, malnourishment, and general neglect. ( Tomdispatch.com ) During this years presidential election campaign, I was puzzled and increasingly troubled that the issue of truth-telling and the spectacular lack of it from one candidate wasnt getting the sort of focus or emphasis in the news coverage it should have received. We heard or read about Donald Trumps specific false statements just about every day (because they happened just about every day). But we didnt often hear about the deeper questions those falsehoods raised and continue to raise: What will it mean to have a president of the United States who has no regard for the truth and often no idea what it is? What will it do to public life if a presidents words cant be trusted, no matter what hes talking about? What are the possible consequences if a president consistently ignores or distorts proven facts, and how much will those distortions shape his policy decisions and actions? For obvious reasons those questions became more significant, not less, with Trumps victory. His habitual disregard for the truth isnt just an old story from a past presidency, but todays and tomorrows news for the next four years. So, journalists, opinion-makers, and anyone else whose voice reaches the public need to keep raising the issue in the weeks leading up to Trumps second inauguration and after he takes office. That means not just calling out individual falsehoods but connecting the dots, reminding us of his overall record and what it should tell us about the next phase of American public life. Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute and a co-founder of the fact-checking website PolitiFact, got it right in a fundraising email two days after the election when he reminded supporters that facts are the foundation of our reality. Checking facts, he went on, is time-consuming but essential There is no off switch on the dial of misinformation. For the most part, we have no way of knowing which of Trumps false statements are conscious lies when hes saying something he knows isnt true and when he believes his own words because they fit into the made-up world hes concocted in the insulated bubble of his mind. But that distinction hardly matters when it comes to what kind of president hell be. A chronic liar or chronically delusional, either one is a dangerous person to have in the White House for the next four years. That makes it essential to keep a spotlight not just on specific factual issues as they crop up in the news, but on the broader credibility question as well, tracking the misinformation Trump and his crew will almost certainly spew out and, where possible, countering its influence on policy decisions and official actions. On Immigration, A Stunning Record of Untruths Perhaps the most immediate and urgent need for that kind of fact-checking will be on immigration policy, where Donald Trump has consistently misrepresented essential facts for many years. The sheer volume of those falsehoods is breathtaking. A recent report from the Marshall Project, a nonprofit investigative news site, documented 12,000 false statements of his on that issue alone no, thats not a misprint, twelve thousand untrue statements! during his years in the public arena. I searched but found no indication that Trump has ever backed down from any of them or acknowledged that anything he said on the subject was untrue. Corroborating that impression, Anna Flagg, one of the coauthors of the Marshall Project paper, wrote in response to an email inquiry that she is personally not aware of Trump correcting any of these statements. Far from correcting such falsehoods, he has often repeated them even after they were thoroughly and conclusively debunked. One of many examples was his claim in a late September blog post that 13,000 convicted murderers entered our Country during [Kamala Harriss] three and a half year period as Border Czar Also currently in our Country because of her are 15,811 migrants convicted of rape and sexual assault. Journalists quickly established that those numbers, listed on a chart prepared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), were, in fact, a count of people who had entered the country over a more than 40-year time span, including Donald Trumps four years as president. That airtight refutation didnt stop him from repeating the same false allegation a month later, when he declared in an interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan that other countries are allowed to empty their prisons into our country with murderers, we had 13,099 murderers dropped in our country over the last three years. Nor were those murderers able to freely and openly roam our Country, as Trump claimed in yet another post. The list of convicted murderers, a DHS spokesperson told CNN, included many who are under the jurisdiction or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners. (Confusingly, the DHS chart lists all 13,099 as undetained, but that means only that they werent in the custody of the U.S. immigration agency, not that they werent in state or federal prisons.) Another example came during Trumps September 10th debate with Kamala Harris, when, speaking about Haitian immigrants in Ohio, he alleged that in Springfield, theyre eating the dogs. The people that came in. Theyre eating the cats. Theyre eating theyre eating the pets of the people that live there a story police and local officials had already declared to be untrue. Trump also regularly exaggerates the number of Haitians actually in Springfield, as when he told listeners to the Rogan podcast that 32,000 migrants that dont speak the language had been dropped there. The actual estimate is 10,000-12,000. Reminding us of the facts when it comes to those and numerous other distortions is crucially important now that Trump will again be in a position not just to bluster about immigration but to execute policies that will affect huge numbers of men, women, and children. Starting now, fact-checkers should do everything they can to make Americans aware of the actual facts such as the strong likelihood that the mass deportations hes vowed to launch on day one of his presidency will upend the lives of many people who are not illegal immigrants but are in the U.S. legally (a category that includes almost all of the Haitians in Springfield that Trump wants sent back to their country). In that effort, truth-tellers should also monitor statements by advisers who have their own records of incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric particularly, Tom Homan, Trumps prospective border czar, and Stephen Miller, one of the principal architects of the sweeping ban on Muslim immigrants that Trump imposed early in his first term, who is slated to return to the White House as deputy chief of staff. Other Places to Set the Record Straight Along with spreading the truth about immigration, fact-checkers monitoring Trump and his team should do what they can to correct counterfactual statements on other important issues the new administration will be dealing with. Climate change is one example of a crucial issue where Trump has regularly minimized the risk, espoused policies (drill, baby, drill) that will increase the danger, and misrepresented scientific evidence (as in his assertion that the ocean will rise 1/8 of an inch over the next 200 to 300 years, a figure thousands of times less than the 10 to 12-inch rise over 30 years predicted by the U.S. governments Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change). Fact-checking will also be highly relevant on a looming subject that has potentially significant implications not for government policy but for public trust in the American legal and judicial system: the end, permanent or temporary, of criminal proceedings against Donald Trump himself. Barring unforeseen surprises, it appears certain that the cases against him will either be dropped or put on indefinite hold, probably before he even takes office. When that happens, he will undoubtedly insist that hes been completely exonerated, did nothing wrong, and was unjustly prosecuted for political reasons. Presumably, that claim will be challenged, but its another case where fact-checkers should be at work reminding the public of what hes been accused of doing, detail by detail, and recalling what the evidence has shown us about Trumps past actions and the true origins of those cases. (Some new material on the subject may be added to that record before inauguration day in a report special prosecutor Jack Smith is expected to submit to the Justice Department after he closes out the two federal cases against Trump that hes overseen for the last two years. At this writing, its not 100% certain when or even if Smiths report will be officially released, but its hard to imagine that any significant new information in it will be successfully suppressed.) More broadly and looking further ahead, fact-checking not just labeling particular statements false as they occur, but systematically keeping track of and reporting on the cumulative record of Trumps misstatements should be a top priority during the new administration. A possible model is the Washington Posts project during Trumps first presidency, when its staffers maintained a database of his untruths. The Posts final tally was 30,573 false or misleading claims during his time in the White House an average of 21 untruths a day for four years! If the Post and other publications do something similar this time around, I hope they will periodically publish their findings, both as front-page stories and perhaps a front-page box every week or two with the totals and notable examples during the preceding interval. Dont Just Challenge Trump One more suggestion for journalists: while tracking Trumps false statements in the coming weeks and months, dont just seek comments from him or his mouthpieces, but follow up on factual questions with other Republican politicians. Whenever possible at confirmation hearings, say (if Trump doesnt succeed in bypassing that check-and-balance procedure) reporters should press congressional Republicans to respond to his falsehoods and declare on the record what they believe is true. For example: Senator, do you believe that 13,000 murderers from other countries were admitted to this country during the Biden administration and are now walking around free in American cities and towns? And if the senator or representative dodges the question, as many undoubtedly will, follow it up: Senator, are you aware that those murderers came over a period of 40 years, not just the last four, and that quite a few of them are in prison, not walking around free? You get the idea. If and when a Republican politician does actually acknowledge a Trump falsehood, the reporter shouldnt let it go at that, but ask a further set of questions: Have you told people who voted for you and your party that this story isnt true and what the actual facts are? Do you and other members of your party have any obligation to act against the spread of such false beliefs so that what your supporters think will be based on verified facts and not the presidents false information? Its almost impossible to believe that any ongoing fact-checking effort will change Trumps style or make his public discourse any more truthful. Nor will it convince his diehard supporters, who will continue to trust his statements no matter what the evidence shows. But there must be people out there who voted for him but are still open-minded enough to be convinced by the actual facts. Presumably, more of those people will accept more of those facts when they hear them not from Trumps opponents or the news media but from their side of the political divide, from Republican office holders or others they believe represent their views. So, it will be critical for fact-checkers to keep the pressure on elected officials and others who have some credibility with Trumps constituents and challenge them to publicly correct the falsehoods that we can confidently expect will continue pouring out from his White House. The record of that group up to now does not inspire much hope. With only a few honorable exceptions, Republican politicians loyalty to Trump has consistently outweighed any loyalty to the truth. But now, when his conscious and unconscious falsehoods are about to be combined with presidential powers and so will pose potentially unfathomable dangers for American public life, reversing the balance between those conflicting loyalties is more urgent than in the last eight years or perhaps ever in our history. Confronting lies and correcting untruths will be essential in meeting that threat and I hope fact-checkers and truth tellers will rise to the challenge. Copyright 2024 Arnold Isaacs Via Tomdispatch.com Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | Michael I. Kotlikoff Interim President, Cornell University mik7@cornell.edu Dear Interim President Kotlikoff: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern about the negative comments that you recently made regarding a course proposal developed by a distinguished member of the universitys faculty, Dr. Eric Cheyfitz, Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters, Professor of American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Director of Graduate Studies of Cornells American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP). For a university leader to, in effect, publicly criticize a proposed course that had already been reviewed and approved by a faculty committee, in full accordance with Cornells own procedures, contravenes the universitys avowed commitment to the principles of academic freedom. MESA was founded in 1966 to support scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has nearly 2800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere. In the fall of 2024 Professor Cheyfitzs proposed course, Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance, was reviewed and approved by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Curriculum Committee (CCC), and it is now scheduled (and fully enrolled) for the spring 2025 semester. Professor Cheyfitz is clearly eminently qualified to teach this course: he is an internationally recognized and respected scholar of Indigenous studies and has for many years been publishing and teaching on settler colonialism in North America and Israel/Palestine. In an email message to a Cornell professor who had complained about Professor Cheyfitzs course and who was apparently the person who made your comments public, you are reported to have stated that you were extremely disappointed with the curriculum committees decision to offer the course and the courses apparent lack of openness and objectivity. Cornell courses should provoke thought and present multiple viewpoints, rather than transmit pre-formed views of a complex conflict, and I personally find the course description to represent a radical, factually inaccurate, and biased view of the formation of the State of Israel and the ongoing conflict. You are of course entitled to your opinion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the proposed course. But by criticizing, in your capacity as Interim President, a course designed by a recognized authority on the topic and reviewed by the faculty body officially charged with approving the CALS curriculum, without ensuring that your comments would remain entirely private, you have called into question both the committees judgment and Professor Cheyfitzs reputation as a scholar and a teacher. Faculty governance, including control of the curriculum, are essential components of academic freedom, and your remarks may compromise the willingness of Cornell faculty to offer courses that deal with controversial issues and the CCCs ability to fairly review new courses to which university leaders voice objections on political grounds. We call your attention to the American Association of University Professors 1994 statement On the Relationship of Faculty Governance to Academic Freedom, which declares that experienced faculty committeeswhether constituted to address curricular, personnel, or other mattersmust be free to bring to bear on the issues at hand not merely their disciplinary competencies, but also their firsthand understanding of what constitutes good teaching and research generally, and of the climate in which those endeavors can best be conducted. We must also point out that your remarks contradict Cornells commitment to upholding the values of its accrediting agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which requires adherence to core values including academic freedom, intellectual freedom, freedom of expression, and respect for intellectual property rights. We further note that the 1940 Declaration of Principles of the American Association of University Professors asserts that academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom in learning. We therefore call on you to apologize to Professor Cheyfitz for your remarks, refrain from such comments in the future and commit to respecting the decisions of the faculty bodies charged with reviewing courses. We further call on you as Interim President to publicly and forcefully reaffirm your commitment to respecting and defending the academic freedom and the right to free speech, as well as the safety and well-being, of all members of the Cornell University community. We look forward to your response. Sincerely, Asl U. Bali MESA President Professor, Yale Law School Laurie Brand Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom Professor Emerita, University of Southern California VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V: CMB) (Frankfurt: ZM5P) (CMC or the Company) is pleased to announce a new Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its silver-lead-zinc Silver Hart Project (SHP), in Yukon, Canada. The new MRE totals an Inferred resource of 8.820 Moz @ 145.2 g/t silver equivalent (AgEq) in 1,889,000 tonnes utilizing a cut-off grade of 50 g/t AgEq (See table 1). This MRE has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). Table 1 SHP Pit Constrained Inferred Mineral Resources as of December 31, 2023 at a Cut-off Grade of AgEq>=50 g/t Mining Method Domain Mass (Tonnes) Average Value Material Content AgEq g/t Ag g/t Pb % Zn % AgEq Million oz Ag Million oz Pb Million lb Zn Million lb Open Pit TM_Zone 269,000 229.8 152.7 0.56 1.88 1.985 1.319 3.3 11.1 S_Zone 127,000 334.5 262.1 0.36 1.90 1.368 1.072 1.0 5.3 KL_Zone 1,026,000 110.9 35.7 0.11 2.17 3.659 1.178 2.5 49.0 K_Zone 265,000 79.8 14.2 0.09 1.90 0.680 0.121 0.5 11.1 M_Zone 202,000 173.6 98.1 0.58 1.82 1.128 0.637 2.6 8.1 Total 1,889,000 145.2 71.3 0.24 2.03 8.820 4.327 9.9 84.7 Notes: The effective date of this mineral resource statement is December 31, 2023. The qualified person responsible for this Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is Charley Murahwi, M.Sc., P.Geo., FAusIMM. The mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with the CIM Best Practice Guidelines (2019) and the CIM Definition Standards (2014) Ordinary Kriging (OK) interpolation was used with a single block size of 5m x 5m x 5m. The mineral resource results are presented in-situ within the optimized pit. Mineralized material outside the pit has not been considered as a part of the current MRE. The tonnes and metal contents are rounded to reflect that the numbers are an estimate and any discrepancies in the totals are due to the rounding effects. AgEq g/t = [(Ag ppm x %Recovery x Price/g) + (Pb ppm x %Recovery x Price/g) + (Zn ppm x %Recovery x Price/g)]/ (Ag Price/g x %Recovery). Mineral resources unlike mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. A summary of the SHP mineral resource economic and technical parameters and/or assumptions is presented in Table 2 below. Table 2 Summary of the SHP Economic and Technical Parameters/Assumptions Item Units Extended Mining cost CAD$/t all material 10.00 Processing cost CAD$/t crude feed 25.50 G&A cost CAD$/t crude feed 5.00 Exchange rate CAD$ to US$ 0.75 Ag price USD$/oz 23.30 Pb price US$/metric tonne 1,892 Zn price US$/metric tonne 2,505 Metallurgical recovery (all metals) Percentage 80 Overall pit slope Degrees 45 Further details on the new mineral resource estimate at Silver Hart and the use of the above-mentioned parameters will be provided in the upcoming NI 43-101 report by MICON International Limited who undertook the MRE estimate on behalf of the Company. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO of the Company noted, We have a conceptual development plan that suits the size and grade of the resource estimate and the nature of the mineralization that starts at surface. The mineralization at Silver hart comprises of high-grade veins and mantos that are potentially amenable to open pit mining. Our plan is to fully evaluate developing these resources for a seasonal, small scale open pit operation developing each of the known mineralized areas. We plan to evaluate the potential ways to minimize project risk that will include the possible utilization of an ore sorter to enhance ore grades with the concentrate material then trucked to a processing facility. The closest potential mill may be at the Silvertip project owned by Coeur Mining, which would entail a trucking distance of approximately 100 kilometers from Silver Hart. CMC also hopes to establish a partnership arrangement with local First Nations to undertake this project and will be commencing discussions in the very near future. Our next steps are to engage discussions with First Nations and conduct the first round or metallurgical testing and ore sorting capabilities which we hope to commence in the near future, subject to financing. The new MRE also notes that there are opportunities to expand many of the known mineralized zones (TM, KL, K, S and M) and does not include any discussions on the potential for additional zones in the adjacent Blue Heaven Property that is 80% owned by CMC. The Rancheria Silver District is located approximately 300 kilometers east of Whitehorse, Yukon in a 130 km long by 50 km wide belt that straddles the Yukon and British Columbia border. CMC has been actively exploring this silver district on the northern end at its Silver Hart and Blue Heaven properties and recently acquired a 100% interest in the Amy property and has optioned its Silverknife Project to Coeur Mining Inc. Qualified Person The Qualified Person responsible for this Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is Charley Murahwi, M.Sc., P.Geo., FAusIMM of MICON International Limited (as defined by National Instrument 43-101). The Qualified Person has given his approval of the technical information pertaining reported herein. The Company is committed to meeting the highest standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological reporting, geophysical investigations, environmental and baseline studies, engineering studies, metallurgical testing, assaying and all other technical data. About CMC Metals Ltd. CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in Yukon, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Our polymetallic silver-lead-zinc CRD prospects in the Rancheria Silver District include the Silver Hart Deposit and Blue Heaven claims (Yukon), Amy and Silverknife claims (British Columbia). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (central Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon). On behalf of the Board: Kevin Brewer Kevin Brewer, CEO, President and Director CMC METALS LTD. For Further Information and Investor Inquiries: Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng. President, CEO and Director Tel: (709) 327-8013 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Suite 1000-409 Granville St., Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2 To be added to CMC's news distribution list, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact Mr. Kevin Brewer directly. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Companys filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 27, 2024 /CNW/ - Urano Energy Corp, (CSE: UE) (OTCQB: UECXF) (the "Company" or "Urano Energy") announced today that it has entered into purchase agreements to acquire mineral claims and mining leases located in Utah and Colorado, covering various uranium properties that are prospective for uranium mining in consideration for an aggregate of US$5,865,000 in cash and US$4,800,000 in shares of the Company, payable in installments over five years. The shares will be issued at a value equal to the 15-day volume weighted average price as at the date the payment is due. The vendors will retain a 1% gross royalty in respect of all uranium produced from the mineral claims and a net smelter returns royalty equal to 10% on all vanadium produced on the property. All vendors are at arm's length to the Company. The Company will issue a further news release providing information on the uranium properties upon closing, anticipated to occur on or about December 2, 2024. About Urano Energy Corp. Urano Energy is a mineral exploration company focused on conventional uranium assets in the United States. The Company also holds a portfolio of gold and copper projects in Canada. The securities referenced herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expected", "will be", "anticipated", "may" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. Highlights Successfully completes follow-up drill hole to initial massive sulphide result New net-textured sulphide interval of 9.2 metres within overall highly mineralized interval of 12.7 metres in hole BAN24-20 Previous hole BAN24-18 intersected 12.0 metres of 1.61% nickel including 4.0 metres of 3.95% nickel Borehole electromagnetic survey in progress TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2024 /CNW/ - Canada Nickel Company Inc. ("Canada Nickel" or the "Company") (TSXV: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) is pleased to announce it has intersected a second significant interval of net textured sulphide in the follow-up hole to its initial intersection of higher-grade massive sulphide on its 100% owned Bannockburn Property located 65 kilometres south of Timmins, Ontario. CEO Mark Selby said, "We are pleased that this second hole at Bannockburn F-Zone intersected a well-mineralized interval, which correlates with the geophysical target that had been identified in the prior borehole survey. We have multiple geophysical targets on our Bannockburn property and look forward to the follow-up borehole geophysics work and subsequent drilling as we unlock this higher grade potential opportunity." Bannockburn Property The Bannockburn Property is located 65 kilometres south of Timmins and approximately 20 kilometres west of Matachewan, Ontario. The Company recently completed infill drilling on the large tonnage, low grade nickel zone (the B-Zone) and has identified new prospective targets which will be tested for higher-grade material. Historically, higher grade intervals have been drilled at Bannockburn, the C-Zone and the F-Zone (Figure 1). The B-Zone initial resource is expected to be completed by Q1 2025. Bannockburn F-Zone Initial drilling by Canada Nickel resulted in the intersection of massive sulphides in drillhole BAN24-18 which yielded 4.0 metres of 3.95% nickel, 0.40% copper and 1.08 g/t palladium & platinum within a thicker interval of 12.0 metres of 1.61% nickel. The Company contracted Crone Geophysics to perform a borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) survey of BAN24-18 with the purpose of understanding the size and location of the high grade mineralization in the F-zone. Interpretation of the BHEM survey results produced a target approximately 130 metres below the initial discovery in BAN 24-18 which was then tested with hole BAN24-20. The hole intersected the target at 470 metres downhole (within 20 metres of the interpreted location), within a strongly serpentinized peridotite that includes net-textured to locally semi-massive sulphides. The strongly mineralized peridotite is approximately 12.7 metres in core length (see Figures 2 a,b) and is followed by strongly serpentinized peridotite with disseminated nickel mineralization to end of hole. An XRF analyzer was used to confirm the presence of nickel. Samples have been submitted for assays. The Company has a BHEM survey underway in BAN24-20 to test the continuation and extent of the high-grade horizons intersected in holes BAN24-18 and BAN24-20. Figure 1 Bannockburn B-Zone and F-Zone, ongoing drill program. Figure 2 BAN24-20, core pictures a (467.0-485.3 metres); b (469.9-479.1 metres) a) Volcanics to Peridotite contact; b) Net-texture sulphides (Po (Pyrrhotite)>Pn (Pentlandite) Table 1: Logged Intervals BAN24-20 From (m) To (m) Length (m) Lithology % Sulphide* 470.3 471.3 1.0 Strongly Serpentinized Peridotite. Diss Ni Min 2-5 471.3 477.0 5.7 Net-textured sulphide peridotite. 15-25 477.0 480.5 3.5 Strongly Serpentinized peridotite. Strong diss Ni mi 5-15 480.5 483.0 2.5 Strongly Serpentinized Peridotite. Diss Ni Min ~1 * Visual estimation. For reference, Crawford % sulphide typically between 0.1-0.5% Table 2: Drillhole Orientation Hole ID Easting (mE) Northing (mN) Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) F-Zone BAN24-20 507326 5311585 34 -60 550 Amended Services Agreement Further to the previously announced engagement agreement (the "Services Agreement") between the Company and a third-party service provider (the "Service Provider") (see news release dated October 31, 2024), the parties have agreed to revised terms such that the Company will pay a fee of $25,000 per month to the Service Provider, which amount shall be satisfied by the issuance of common shares of the Company (the "Service Shares") on a quarterly basis for services provided. The deemed price of the Service Shares to be issued will be calculated using the closing price of the Service Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on the last trading day of the applicable three-month period. The services are with respect to recovery of platinum group metals contained in the Company's nickel concentrate when processed by third party battery precursor companies. In accordance with the revised terms of the Services Agreement, 73,529 Service Shares will be issued to the Service Provider at a deemed price of $1.02 per Service Share in settlement of services rendered during the three-month period ending October 31, 2024. The issuance of Service Shares under the Services Agreement is subject to the prior approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Service Shares will be subject to a hold period under Canadian securities laws, which will expire on the date that is four months and one day from the date of issuance. Statement Regarding TSX Venture 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. Quality Assurance and Control, Drilling and Assaying Edwin Escarraga, MSc, P.Geo., a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, is responsible for the on-going drilling and sampling program, including quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC). The core is collected from the drill in sealed core trays and transported to the core logging facility. The core is marked and sampled at 1.5 metre lengths and cut with a diamond blade saw. One set of samples is transported in secured bags directly from the Canada Nickel core shack to Actlabs Timmins, while a second set of samples is securely shipped to SGS Lakefield for preparation, with analysis performed at SGS Burnaby. All are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited labs. Analysis for precious metals (gold, platinum and palladium) are completed by Fire Assay while analysis for nickel, cobalt, sulphur and other elements are performed using a peroxide fusion and ICP-OES analysis. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at a rate of 3 QA/QC samples per 20 core samples making a batch of 60 samples that are submitted for analysis. Qualified Person and Data Verification Stephen J. Balch P.Geo. (ON), VP Exploration of Canada Nickel and a "qualified person" as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel. About Canada Nickel Company Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets. Canada Nickel Company has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero NickelTM, NetZero CobaltTM, NetZero IronTM and is pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net zero carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel in low political risk jurisdictions. Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp. For more information, please visit www.canadanickel.com. For further information, please contact: Mark Selby CEO Phone: 647-256-1954 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, drill and exploration results relating to the target properties described herein (the "Properties"), the significance of drill results, the ability to continue drilling, the impact of drilling on the definition of any resource, the potential of the Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project and the Properties, timing and completion (if at all) of mineral resource estimates, the ability to sell marketable materials, strategic plans, including future exploration and development plans and results, corporate and technical objectives, and the completion of assays, follow-up geophysics and further drilling. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon several 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 information. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals, the future demand for metals, the results of drilling, inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the property, environmental liabilities (known and unknown), general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, results of exploration programs, risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. Canada Nickel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Toronto, ON TheNewswire - November 27, 2024 Metalite Resources Inc. (CSE:METL) (OTC:JNCCF) (Frankfurt:D68) ("Metalite" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding letter of intent ("LOI") dated November 26, 2024 to acquire 100% interest in Lyra Mining Corp. ("Lyra"), a private arms length company incorporated in Ontario, which holds a key land position in the historic Elliot Lake Uranium Mining District in Ontario ("Elliot Lake North Project"). Chris Hazelton, CEO of Metalite, commented: "We are excited to announce our proposed strategic debut into the energy transition space with a key acquisition of a sizable land package in a well-known uranium district in a mining friendly jurisdiction. With the growing demand for nuclear power in sectors such as AI technology and data centers, uranium begins to play a crucial role. Elliot Lakes rich history in uranium makes this a perfect time to unlock its potential to meet the futures energy needs and create shareholder value through exploration." About Elliot Lake North Project The Elliot Lake North Property is located approximately 16 km north-west of the City of Elliot Lake within the northern limb of the Quirke Syncline, a geologically rich area historically known for its uranium production and is comprised of 166 unpatented mining claims covering approximately 3,984 hectares. The Elliot Lake North Property is located directly adjacent to the land where over 150 Mt of ore and over 360 Mlbs of U3O81 were produced from 1956 to 1996 by Rio Algom and Denison Mines. According to technical reports from nearby properties, there are resource estimates demonstrating that at least 260 Mt of ore containing almost 200 Mlbs of U3O8 1 remains in the close vicinity and that there are over 80 uranium occurrences and deposits2 in the 18 geographic townships that cover the entire Elliot Lake District. Please see the enclosed map for more information. Metalite began data compilation efforts to assess the potential of the Elliot Lake North Property, which contains at least five known uranium occurrences Candore, Span-North, Zenmac, Boymar, Consolidated Callinan)2 and two known critical metals occurrences Ezma Lake (Cu) and Dollyberry Lake (Mo) 2. Over 100 historic drill holes have been identified directly on the Elliot Lake North Property, and Metalite is in the process of completing a geological compilation to assess the upside potential for new discoveries and defining one or more uranium deposits. The Elliot Lake North Property currently has no royalties, exploration commitments or contingent payments and the proposed acquisition by Metalite contemplates an outright 100% acquisition with no post-acquisition consideration to be paid. About Acquisition of Lyra by Metalite Pursuant to the LOI, Metalite will acquire 100% interest in Lyra ("Acquisition") by issuing no more than 20,000,000 common shares in the capital of Metalite ("Metalite Shares") to the shareholders of Lyra on a pro-rata basis, subject to certain contractual resale restrictions to be determined by Metalite and Lyra prior to closing. For clarity, the 20,000,000 Metalite Shares issuable on account of the acquisition is inclusive of all shares outstanding in Lyra due to any of its financing activities conducted prior to closing. The Acquisition is expected to be completed by way of a three-cornered amalgamation whereby a new wholly-owned subsidiary of Metalite, will amalgamate with Lyra and all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Lyra following the amalgamation will immediately be exchanged for common shares of Metalite. The Acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: i) due diligence review by each of the parties; ii) execution of the definitive agreement on or before January 31, 2025; iii) Lyra completing a capital raise such that it has working capital of no less $200,000 in cash on closing; iv) receipt of the approval of Lyra shareholders and v) the parties obtaining all requisite regulatory approvals. No finders fees are anticipated in connection with the Acquisition. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition will be completed as proposed or at all. Metalite also wishes to announce its letter of intent with Osprey Advanced Materials Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cachee Gold Mines Corp. ("Cachee"), as announced in Metalite press releases dated January 19, 2024 and April 16, 2024 has expired. While the exclusivity period under the letter of intent has concluded, Metalite and Cachee remain in discussions and continue to explore potential opportunities for collaboration. Updates regarding these discussions will be provided as developments occur. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. William van Breugel, P.Eng., a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Metalite Resources Inc. Metalite Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration issuer with a precious metals focused project in NSW, Australia. Contact Information Metalite Resources Inc. Chris Hazelton, CEO (647) 660-8718 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historic fact, that address activities, events or developments that Metalite believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate, expect," and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may," "will," "can," "should," "could," or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of Metalite based on information currently available to Metalite. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of Metalite to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on Metalite. Forward looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the proposed transactions with Cachee, Lyra and the timing thereof. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to obtain all necessary approvals for the completion of the transactions discussed herein. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Metalite disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Metalite believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and have in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transactions and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. 1 A Technical Report on the Appia Energy Corp. Elliot Lake Uranium-Rare Earth Property, by Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited (July 30, 2013). 2 Ontario Mineral Inventory (OMI) database - https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/mineral-deposit-inventory-of-ontario Highlights Cosa to acquire a 70% interest in a portfolio of Denison's prospective uranium projects located in the Eastern Athabasca Basin Denison to become 19.95% shareholder of Cosa and commits to a minimum of C$1,000,000 participation in future equity financings Cosa's senior management team is uniquely experienced to advance these mature, discovery-ready projects Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Cosa Resources Corp. (TSX-V: COSA) (OTCQB: COSAF) (FSE: SSKU) ("Cosa" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Acquisition Agreement (the "Acquisition Agreement") with Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison") (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN). Pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement, Cosa will acquire (the "Transaction") an interest in three of Denison's uranium exploration projects located in the Eastern Athabasca Basin (the "Projects"). The Projects consist of (a) the Murphy Lake North Project, located within four kilometres of IsoEnergy's Hurricane Deposit, (b) the Darby Project, located ten kilometres west of Cameco's Cigar Lake Mine, and (c) the Packrat Project, located 19 kilometres southwest of the Rabbit Lake Mill. Keith Bodnarchuk, Cosa President and CEO, commented: "This is a transformational day for Cosa Resources by bringing in an industry-leading shareholder in Denison and adding three strategically selected, discovery-ready exploration projects to Cosa's Athabasca Basin portfolio. All three projects offer tremendous upside potential for our shareholders. Most notably, Murphy Lake North is within four kilometres of and on trend with IsoEnergy's Hurricane Deposit - discovered in 2018 by Cosa's management team and currently the highest grade Indicated Mineral Resource for uranium on the planet at a staggering average grade of 34.5% U 3 O 8 . Cosa views this strategic collaboration with Denison as mutually beneficial, allowing Cosa to increase discovery potential while offering Denison exposure to Cosa's exploration success. Cosa remains committed to advancing priority target areas within our existing exploration portfolio, including the 100% owned Ursa Project where we recently intersected multiple intervals of basement-hosted radioactivity. In this highly competitive uranium market, opportunities to acquire projects of this quality are rare. Opportunities to acquire these projects and bring in a supportive long-term shareholder of Denison's quality are almost non-existent. This Transaction is expected to create a competitive advantage for Cosa and differentiate us from our peers. We look forward to closing this agreement and continuing to update the market with our remaining 2024 results and plans for 2025. David Cates, Denison President and CEO, commented: "Denison is pleased to collaborate with Cosa in a way that is mutually beneficial and enhances our exposure to the potential discovery of a meaningful uranium deposit on the Properties and through Cosa's existing and prospective uranium exploration portfolio. With Denison focused on executing on our core mining and development-stage projects, we believe Cosa is an excellent partner to advance exploration of the Projects. The entire Cosa senior management team has worked with Denison previously and have strong technical capabilities, plus a unique familiarity with the Projects and nearby discoveries." The Projects Murphy Lake North Murphy Lake North covers a portion of the Larocque Lake trend and is located 3.2 kilometres east of the Hurricane deposit (Figure 2). The Hurricane deposit is the world's highest-grade Indicated mineral resource for uranium and was discovered and delineated for IsoEnergy Ltd. by current members of Cosa's management, board of directors, and advisors from 2018 through 2022. The Larocque Lake trend also hosts the Larocque Lake zone, the Yelka Prospect, and the Alligator Lake zone. Murphy Lake North contains approximately six kilometres of conductive strike length oriented sub-parallel to conductive features associated with the Hurricane Deposit. Limited historical drilling completed on Murphy Lake North intersected weak mineralization in the basement and zones of alteration and structure in the sandstone and basement. Historical drilling, completed prior to the discovery of Hurricane, focused on the western extremity of the property and left most of the conductive strike length untested. Abundant drill targets exist at Murphy Lake North and diamond drilling is planned for the first half of 2025. The depth to the unconformity at Murphy Lake North is approximately 250 metres. The Darby Project The Darby Project is located ten kilometres west of the Cigar Lake Mine and 17 kilometres north of the McArthur River Mine (Figure 3). Darby is interpreted to contain more than 25 kilometres of conductive strike length including the 8-kilometre-long 95B trend oriented parallel to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake trend. Historical drilling on 95B defined more than 25 metres of unconformity offset where a package of metasedimentary rocks hosting graphitic brittle structure, hydrothermal alteration, and weak uranium mineralization lies in fault contact with underlying granitic rocks. Only one drill hole completed along strike is interpreted to have intersected the optimal target in this prospective geological setting. Weak uranium mineralization has also been intersected in the northeast portion of Darby proximal to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake trend, and along the northern extension of the 4A trend north of Darby. Initial work is expected to include diamond drilling to follow-up historical drilling results and geophysical surveying to refine conductive drill targets. The depth to the unconformity at Darby is between 480 and 650 metres. The Packrat Project The Packrat Project is located 28 kilometres east of the Cigar Lake Mine and 19 kilometres southwest of the Rabbit Lake Mill (Figure 4). Packrat covers a prominent magnetic break and basement-hosted resistivity low trend lying along interpreted magnetic lineaments related to the Cigar Lake - Tucker Lake magnetic low trend. Limited historical drilling on Packrat which targeted the resistivity low trend and magnetic break intersected weak uranium mineralization and zones of structural disruption and alteration of basement rocks. Initial work at Packrat is expected to include compilation and reinterpretation of historical geophysical and drilling data. The depth to the unconformity at Packrat is less than 100 metres. Figure 1 - Cosa's Eastern Athabasca Uranium Projects with Proposed Acquisition Projects Figure 2 - The Murphy Lake North Uranium Project Figure 3 - The Darby Uranium Project Figure 4 - The Packrat Uranium Project Transaction Summary Under the terms of the Acquisition Agreement, Cosa will acquire a 70% interest in each of the Projects from Denison. Upon closing of the Transaction, the parties will enter into a joint venture on each of the Projects (each, a "Joint Venture"). Cosa will initially be the operator for all Joint Ventures. In addition, Denison has agreed to participate in subsequent equity financings of Cosa for aggregate total proceeds of a minimum of C$1,000,000. As consideration for the Transaction, Cosa will issue 14,195,506 common shares (the "Consideration Shares"), equivalent to 19.95% of the outstanding Common Shares of Cosa upon completion of the Transaction. Additionally, Cosa will be required to: issue Denison a further C$2,250,000 in deferred consideration shares (the " Deferred Consideration Shares ") within a five-year period beginning at the closing date (the " Closing Date ") of the Transaction; ") within a five-year period beginning at the closing date (the " ") of the Transaction; fund 100% of the first C$1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Murphy Lake North Project by December 31, 2027. Failure to do so will result in Denison's ownership in the Murphy Lake North Project reverting to 51% and Denison will assume operatorship; and fund 100% of the first C$5,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Darby Project by June 30, 2029. Failure to do so will result in Denison's ownership in the Darby Project reverting to 51% and Denison will assume operatorship. The Darby Project is subject to a buydown (the "Buydown") which permits Denison to reclaim up to 60% of the Darby Project and is to be the greater of: (i) C$50,000,000 or (ii) 450% of Cosa's exploration expenditures to date (excluding the initial C$5,000,000 in Cosa funded expenditures) incurred on the Darby claim(s) for the proportion of the property interest subject to the Buydown. The Buydown can be completed through a combination of cash payments and Denison sole-funded work, and must be a minimum of 25% cash. The Buydown will be extinguished if Denison's interest in the Darby Project claims subject to the Buydown fall below 10%, or upon commercial production of 500,000 lbs of U 3 O 8 from the claims subject to the Buydown. Cosa is to appoint a technical advisor nominated by Denison for a period of five years from the Closing Date or until all of Cosa's obligations under the Acquisition Agreement have been fulfilled. The Transaction is an Arm's Length Transaction under the policies of the TSXV. The Transaction will constitute a "Reviewable Transaction" under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). No finder's fees are expected to be paid by the Company in connection with the Transaction. The Consideration Shares and the Deferred Consideration Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance thereof. Trading of the Company's common shares on the TSXV is expected to remain halted, pending receipt and review of documentation relating to the Transaction. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including, but not limited to: (i) acceptance by the TSXV and receipt of other applicable regulatory approvals and (ii) certain other closing conditions customary for a transaction of this nature. Upon completion of the Transaction: (a) current shareholders of Cosa will hold approximately 80.05% of the Common Shares and (b) Denison will hold approximately 19.95% of the outstanding Common Shares. Ancillary Agreements In connection with closing of the Transaction, Cosa and Denison will enter into a royalty agreement for each Project (the "Royalty Agreements"), an investor rights agreement (the "Investor Rights Agreement"), and a joint venture agreement for each Project (the "Joint Venture Agreements"). The Royalty Agreements will provide Denison with a 2% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") on the Darby and Packrat Projects, and a 0.5% NSR on the Murphy Lake North Project. Cosa will have the right to repurchase 50% of the royalties on the Darby Project and the Packrat Project in exchange for a cash payment of C$2,000,000 per project. The Investor Rights Agreement will provide, among other things, that for so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, it will have a pre-emptive right and top-up rights entitling it to maintain and/or otherwise acquire up to a 19.95% interest in Cosa. Additionally, Denison will have the right to nominate one director to Cosa's board of directors for so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares and an additional director to Cosa's board of directors for so long as Denison holds at least 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreements, the parties will form joint ventures in which Cosa will have a 70% interest and Denison will have a 30% interest in each Project as of the closing date. The Transaction is expected to be completed by early 2025. About Denison Mines Denison is a leading uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Denison has an effective 95% interest in its flagship Wheeler River Uranium Project, which is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. In mid-2023, the Phoenix feasibility study was completed for the Phoenix deposit as an ISR mining operation, and an update to the previously prepared 2018 Pre-Feasibility Study was completed for Wheeler River's Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Based on the respective studies, both deposits have the potential to be competitive with the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world. Permitting efforts for the planned Phoenix ISR operation commenced in 2019 and several notable milestones were achieved in 2024 with the submission of federal licensing documents and the proposed final versions of the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Province of Saskatchewan. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake Joint Venture ('MLJV'), which includes unmined uranium deposits (planned for extraction via the MLJV's SABRE mining method starting in 2025) and the McClean Lake uranium mill (currently utilizing a portion of its licensed capacity to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement), plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Joint Venture ('MWJV')'s Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits, and a 69.44% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Tue ('THT') and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake Property ('Waterbury'). The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Taken together, Denison has direct ownership interests in properties covering ~384,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region. Additionally, through its 50% ownership of JCU (Canada) Exploration Company, Limited ('JCU'), Denison holds interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU, 30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU, 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU, 34.4508%). In 2024, Denison is celebrating its 70th year in uranium mining, exploration, and development, which began in 1954 with Denison's first acquisition of mining claims in the Elliot Lake region of northern Ontario. Denison has a market capitalization of approximately ~$2.9 billion (~US$2.0 billion) and its common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the 'TSX') under the symbol 'DML' and on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol 'DNN'. As at September 30, 2024 Denison's financial position includes over $105,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents and over $240,000,000 in uranium investments (Denison MD&A dated 30 September 2024). About Cosa Resources Corp. Cosa Resources is a Canadian uranium exploration company operating in northern Saskatchewan. The portfolio comprises roughly 237,000 ha across multiple 100% owned and Cosa operated Joint Venture projects in the Athabasca Basin region, all of which are underexplored, and the majority reside within or adjacent to established uranium corridors. Cosa's award-winning management team has a long track record of success in Saskatchewan. In 2022, members of the Cosa team were awarded the AME Colin Spence Award for their previous involvement in discovering IsoEnergy's Hurricane deposit. Prior to Hurricane, Cosa personnel led teams or had integral roles in the discovery of Denison's Gryphon deposit and 92 Energy's Gemini Zone and held key roles in the founding of both NexGen and IsoEnergy. Cosa's primary focus through 2024 was initial drilling at the 100% owned Ursa Project, which captures over 60-kilometres of strike length of the Cable Bay Shear Zone, a regional structural corridor with known mineralization and limited historical drilling. It potentially represents the last remaining eastern Athabasca corridor to not yet yield a major discovery, which the Company believes is primarily due to a lack of modern exploration. Modern geophysics completed by Cosa in 2023 identified multiple high-priority target areas characterized by conductive basement stratigraphy beneath or adjacent to broad zones of inferred sandstone alteration - a setting that is typical of most eastern Athabasca uranium deposits. Guided by a recently completed Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) survey, Cosa's second and most recent drilling campaign at Ursa intersected a significant zone of unconformity-style sandstone hosted structure and alteration underlain by several intervals of anomalous radioactivity in the basement rocks. Follow-up is currently in planning for 2025. Technical Disclosure Historical drilling and geophysical results for the Murphy Lake North, Darby, and Packrat projects were sourced from the Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment Database (SMAD). SMAD sources for the Murphy Lake North Project include file numbers 74I-0060, 74I09-0057, 74I09-0064, 74I09-0066, 74I09-0077, 74I09-0098, and MAW00510. SMAD sources for Darby include file numbers 74H14-0021, 74H14-0023, 74H15-0041, 74H15-0053, 74H15-0055, 74H15-0056, 74H15-0066, 74H15-0067, 74I02-0031, 74I02-0042, 74I02-0053, 74I02-0080, 74I02-0095, and MAW00516. SMAD sources for the Packrat Project include file numbers MAW00608, 74I01-0087, and 74I01-0130. Additionally, Denison provided drill hole databases for each of the Murphy Lake North, Darby, and Packrat Projects which comprised compilations of historical drilling results, and, for the Packrat Project, Denison's own drilling results including drill core photographs. Verification of drilling results included comparing historical data to Denison's drill hole database and to segments of drill core from a limited number of drill holes completed at the Murphy Lake North and the Darby Projects. Denison's Packrat Project drilling results were confirmed by reviewing photographs of drill core. Drill hole collar locations were verified from air photos. A total of five drill hole collar locations from Murphy Lake North and Darby were ground-truthed using a handheld GPS. Verification of historical geophysical results was limited to confirming the locations of geophysical survey grids from air photos and evaluating whether interpreted geophysical targets could be reasonably explained by historical drilling results. Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration for Cosa. Mr. Carmichael is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. This news release refers to neighboring properties in which the Company has no interest. Mineralization on those neighboring properties does not necessarily indicate mineralization on the Company's properties. Cautionary Statements 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. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statement or information may relate to: obtaining the required regulatory approvals and fulfilling other closing conditions related to the Transaction; closing of the Transaction; exploration and development of the Projects; commencement of trading of the Common Shares; the impact of the Transaction on Cosa's business; mining operations; the business plan of Cosa; anticipated development, expansion and exploration activities; viability of Cosa's projects and properties; and the entering into of ancillary agreements in connection with the Transaction. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct Cosa's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by Cosa in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate. 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 and risks include, among others: that there is no assurance that the parties hereto will obtain the requisite shareholder and regulatory approvals for the Transaction, and there is no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as anticipated, or at all; there is no assurance that any proposed financings will be completed or as to the actual offering price or gross proceeds to be raised in connection with such financings; following completion of the Transaction, Cosa may require additional financing from time to time in order to continue its operations which may not be available when needed or on acceptable terms and conditions acceptable; compliance with extensive government regulation; domestic and foreign laws and regulations could adversely affect Cosa's business and results of operations; the stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies and these fluctuations may adversely affect the price of Cosa's securities, regardless of its operating performance; the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, and other risk factors set out in Cosa's public disclosure documents. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Cosa as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Cosa does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. 3.0m @ 11.67 g/t Gold, 373 g/t Silver, 21.33% Zinc, 4.23% Lead, and 1.75% Copper Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2024) - Nova Pacific Metals Corp. (CSE: NVPC) (OTCQB: NVPCF) (FSE: YQ10) (WKN: A40GFH) (the "Company", or "Nova Pacific") is pleased to announce initial results from a backpack drilling program completed on its Lara Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Six BQ-sized holes totalling 18.11m (59.4 ft) were drilled from one surface location using a Shaw backpack drill in order to confirm historic grades and to collect modern trace geochemistry information for massive sulphide mineralization in the Coronation Zone (Figure 1). To date, Nova Pacific has obtained results from two boreholes (see Table 1). Hole 24BP01 intersected 3.0 m of fractured/rehealed and sheared limestone (marble) hosting thick massive sulphide layers comprising predominantly sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite (Figure 2). The weighted average assay across the full 3 metres (9.84 ft) returned 11.67 g/t Au, 373 g/t Ag, 21.33% Zn, 4.23% Pb, and 1.75% Cu. "These initial results from our backpack drilling program at the Lara Project are truly exceptional," said J. Malcolm Bell, CEO of Nova Pacific. "The high-grade intersections we've encountered, particularly in Hole 24BP01 with significant gold, silver, zinc, lead, and copper values, not only validates our exploration strategy but also reaffirms a portion of the historical data from the Coronation Zone. These findings are a first step in revitalizing the Lara Project and provides increased confidence in its future development as we await results from the remaining 4 holes. As soon as we receive permitting for the planned 40 drill hole program, we will immediately commence the balance of our confirmation program." The first 0.9 metres (2.95 ft) of Hole 24BP02 intersected massive sulphides comprising brown sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite. This interval assayed 3.16 g/t Au, 462 g/t Ag, 46.03% Zn, 7.54% Pb, and 2.13% Cu. The remaining 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) intersected fractured/rehealed limestone (marble) with a matrix of sulphides, including brown sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite. This interval assayed 1.375% Zn, 0.56% Pb, 0.515% Cu, 0.479 g/t Au and 165 g/t Ag. Figure 1. Diamond Drill Hole (DDH) Location Map Together with the Coronation Extension and Hanging Wall zones, the Coronation Zone hosts most of the reserve and the historic resource calculations of the Lara Project. While classified as massive sulphides, these zones consist of bands, laminae and stringers of sulphide minerals in a strongly silicified rhyolite host1. Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc Sample # Hole # From To Width (m) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (%) K838901 24BP01 0 1 1 12.7 456 2.04 6.38 43.09 K838903 24BP01 1 3 2 11.15 332 1.6 3.15 10.45 K838904 24BP02 0 0.9 0.9 3.16 462 2.13 7.54 46.03* K838906 24BP02 0.9 2.4 1.5 0.479 165 0.515 0.56 1.375 Note: Sample K838902 - Standard, K838905 - Blank * Rep.: 46.13% Hole # UTM Elevation (m) Azimuth (degrees) Inclination (degrees) Northing Easting 24BP01 5414851 433489 628 230 -60 24BP02 5414851 433489 - -90 Tables 1 & 2 - Drill Hole Information Figure 2. Core from Hole 24BP01 The Company is encouraged by these preliminary numbers and looks forward to the release of assay results from the remaining holes (24BP03-06), when they become available. 1 Crocker, R. (2014): Mapping, Whole Rock Geochemical Sampling and Preliminary Environmental Baseline Survey of the Lara Polymetallic Property, BCGS Assessment Report 35424 Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David Nelles, P.Geo., a qualified person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Nelles acts as a consultant to the Company and is therefore not independent. Rights of Indigenous Communities Statement Nova Pacific recognizes the Rights of all Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The Company is committed to consultation and accommodation with the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group communities on whose Traditional, Ancestral and Unceded Territory the Lara Property is located. The Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group is a politically unified group that represents six Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations: Cowichan, Stz'uminus, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, and Lake Cowichan. About Nova Pacific Nova Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on our key asset, the Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This brownfields development project boasts a significant polymetallic resource rich in gold, silver, copper, and zinc, situated in a prime location with excellent infrastructure. Nova Pacific's forward-looking strategy includes confirmation and infill drilling, completion of an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) and preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study if and as required. We are committed to creating value for our shareholders while maintaining environmental responsibility and strong community relationships. For additional information please visit: www.novapacificmetals.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors J. Malcolm Bell Chief Executive Officer, Director The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the matters referenced herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forwardlooking information. Forwardlooking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forwardlooking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forwardlooking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forwardlooking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forwardlooking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forwardlooking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Ionic Corp. (TSXV: LTH; OTCQX: LTHCF; FSE: H3N) (Lithium Ionic or the Company) is pleased to announce the receipt of a non-binding Letter of Interest (LOI) from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to provide up to US$266 million in debt financing for its 100%-owned flagship Bandeira Lithium Project (Bandeira or the Project), located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This funding represents 100% of the capital expenditure (CAPEX) outlined in the May 2024 Feasibility Study, marking a pivotal milestone as the Company accelerates toward construction and production within the next 2 years. EXIM LOI Highlights: Up to US$266 million in debt financing for Bandeira Project development, covering the entire CAPEX outlined in the May 2024 Feasibility Study. Maximum repayment term of 15 years. EXIM, the official export credit agency of the United States, plays a pivotal role in supporting U.S. exporters and strengthening supply chains. The LOI reflects the Projects alignment with EXIMs China and Transformational Export Program (CTEP), which emphasizes critical minerals essential for energy security and electrification. EXIMs support underscores the critical role of the Bandeira Project in bolstering the United States energy security and supporting the global battery supply chain. Lithium Ionic will now work with EXIM to complete the due diligence process and secure a definitive financial agreement. Blake Hylands, P.Geo., CEO of Lithium Ionic, commented, This Letter of Interest from EXIM is a major achievement for Lithium Ionic, providing a clear pathway to fully fund the development of the Bandeira Project. Securing this support demonstrates the viability of the Project, reflects the strength of our Project and team, and the growing recognition and importance of Brazils Lithium Valley in the global move towards electrification. We extend our sincere appreciation to the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the US State Department for their direct interest in the Project and for reaffirming its strategic value to the security of the United States, Canada, and partner nations. With this backing, we are a major step closer to achieving our goal of becoming Brazils next major lithium producer. While the Bandeira Project covers only approximately 1% of its ~17,000-hectare land holdings in the Lithium Valley, it represents the cornerstone of Lithium Ionics growth strategy. In May 2024, a robust Feasibility Study demonstrated a 14-year mine life, average annual production of 178,000 tonnes of high-quality 5.5% Li 2 O spodumene concentrate (24.2k tpa LCE), and competitive on-site operating costs of US$444 per tonne. The study demonstrated a low CAPEX of US$266 million, delivering a post-tax NPV of US$1.3 billion and an IRR of 40%. Bandeira has access to excellent infrastructure, including low-cost hydroelectric power, established transport networks, and proximity to international markets via nearby ports, significantly contributing to its cost efficiency and competitiveness. The LOI reflects the culmination of extensive effort, collaboration, and expertise from Arlington Innovation Partners, BMO Capital Markets, and the Ervin Graves Strategy Group, who have all played an instrumental role in reaching this important milestone for the Bandeira Project. EXIMs funding commitment to the Company is conditional upon Lithium Ionic completing the application for funding, satisfactory due diligence by EXIM and EXIMs customary approval process of a final financial commitment. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lithium Ionic Corp. Blake Hylands Chief Executive Officer, Director About Lithium Ionic Corp. Lithium Ionic is a Canadian mining company exploring and developing its lithium properties in Brazil. Its Itinga and Salinas group of properties cover ~17,000 hectares in the northeastern part of Minas Gerais state, a mining-friendly jurisdiction that is quickly emerging as a world-class hard-rock lithium district. Its Feasibility-stage Bandeira Project is situated in the same region as CBLs Cachoeira lithium mine, which has produced lithium for +30 years, as well as Sigma Lithium Corp.s Grota do Cirilo project, which hosts the largest hard-rock lithium deposit in the Americas. Investor and Media Inquiries: +1 647.316.2500 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute forward-statements. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. 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. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the mineralization and prospectivity of the Companys mineral properties, the Companys ability to obtain a definitive binding commitment from EXIM, the LOI, the Companys ability to finance the Project, the economic viability of Bandeira, the development of the Companys mineral properties, the Companys exploration program and other mining projects and prospects thereof, the Companys ability to obtain the requisite permitting and the Companys future plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. 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. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Information and links in this press release relating to other mineral resource companies are from their sources believed to be reliable, but that have not been independently verified by the Company. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SASKATOON, SK / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2024 / Abasca Resources Inc. ("Abasca" or the "Company") (TSXV:ABA) is pleased to announce assay results from part of its 2024 summer exploration program (Figure 1) at its Key Lake South (KLS) Project. The program focused on systematically drilling a 600 m section of the 2 km Loki Flake Graphite Zone ("Loki Zone"), which remains open along strike and at depth (Figure 2). Locations and orientations of drillholes are listed in Table 1 and their assay results are shown in Table 2. Assay Highlights KLS-24-026: 42.5 m at 7.36 % Cg, including 5.5 m at 15.10 % Cg KLS-24-027: 33.0 m at 7.28 % Cg, including 6.5 m at 14.01 % Cg KLS-24-028: 30.3 m at 8.72 % Cg KLS-24-030: 41.0 m at 7.20 % Cg KLS-24-031: 52.0 m at 7.18 % Cg, including 8.5 m at 14.98 % Cg Dawn Zhou, President and CEO remarked "Abasca is excited by the promising lab data from the 2024 summer drilling program at its Loki Zone. The significant intersection lengths and positive lab data position the zone for mineral resource estimation. The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy lists graphite as one of six priority critical minerals for its potential to spur Canadian economic growth. While Abasca continues its exploration for uranium at KLS, the Company also dedicates to advance the flake graphite project for creating shareholders' value and contributing to enhance North America's graphite supply chain and Saskatchewan's strategy of doubling the number of critical minerals being produced in the province." Loki Flake Graphite Zone In the summer of 2024, the Company drilled 20 holes, totaling 5,499 m, at the Loki Flake Graphite Zone that was discovered in 2016. The delineation program was conducted at a 100 m x 100 m grid spacing, testing the strike- and depth-extents of the Loki Zone. All drillholes successfully intersected graphite mineralization, which was extensively sampled. Graphite mineralization was intersected at the overburden-basement contact and dips toward the southwest (Figures 3 and 4). The mineralization is hosted in metapelitic rocks of the Wollaston Domain along a northwest-trending fault zone in the north part of the property. Pegmatite and local calc-silicate rocks are commonly observed in the hanging wall interlayered with the metapelitic gneiss and also contain local graphite mineralization (Figures 3 and 4). Brian McEwan, Vice-President of Exploration commented "We are encouraged by the first set of lab data from the Loki Flake Graphite Zone. The grades are consistent with what our team has logged in the field, and we are looking forward to receiving the remaining lab results. Given the overall size of the trend, the shallow depth of the zone, and the access to the project site, we are very optimistic about continuing our work. This program is the first step in evaluating the Loki Flake Graphite Zone and we are excited that we have the opportunity to bring something a little bit different to the table in Saskatchewan in terms of critical mineral diversity." An additional two drillholes, totaling 912 m, were drilled into a parallel fault zone approximately 600 m northeast of the Loki Zone (Figure 2). Both holes, KLS-24-042 and KLS-24-046 intersected graphite mineralization and were comprehensively sampled (Figure 5). Results from these holes and the remaining Loki Zone holes are pending, as well as metallurgical testing of samples from KLS-24-052. Collected samples were sent to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, an independent laboratory accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for preparation and ICP-MS multi-element analysis, boron by fusion as well as graphite content (% Cg) and total sulphur by LECO. Samples were collected in accordance with industry-standard quality assurance / quality control practices and included the insertion of blanks, standard reference materials, and repeats into the sample stream at regular intervals. Samples were also collected for in-field and lab density measurements at regular intervals and through the mineralized zones. For more information on the Loki Flake Graphite Zone and an overview of the Key Lake South Project, please visit the Company's website at https://www.abasca.ca. Figure 1: Map of the Key Lake South Project area showing the 2024 Exploration Areas. Figure 2: Map of the area around the Loki Flake Graphite Zone area showing the 2016 and 2024 drilling. Drillholes KLS-24-042 and KLS-046 intersected a new prospective graphite zone northeast of the Loki Flake Graphite Zone. Yellow outline: Cross-sections A and B, included in this release. Figure 3: Cross-Section "A" through the Loki Flake Graphite Zone showing the continuity and extent of the graphite mineralization. Lithologies are shown along the center of the drillhole trace and graphite assay results (Cg %) are shown overtop in the larger diameter traces. Refer to Figure 2 for location reference. *Assays pending and not included in this release. Figure 4: Cross-Section "B" through the Loki Flake Graphite Zone showing the continuity and extent of the graphite mineralization. Lithologies are shown along the center of the drillhole trace and graphite assay results (Cg %) are shown overtop in the larger diameter traces. Refer to Figure 2 for location reference. Figure 5: Core photos of the Loki Flake Graphite Zone (A) and the New Prospective Graphite Zone (B) to the northeast. Table 1: Locations and orientations of drillholes included in this release. Drillhole ID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Inclination Total Length KLS-24-026 445377 6330260 557 35 -60 372 KLS-24-027 445317 6330176 556 35 -60 420 KLS-24-028 445481 6330398 559 35 -60 207 KLS-24-029 445405 6330477 559 35 -60 159 KLS-24-030 445349 6330394 560 35 -60 234 KLS-24-031 445289 6330313 557 35 -60 304 Table 2: Drillholes and their composited graphite intersections through the Loki Flake Graphite Zone. Drillhole ID From To Length Cg % S % KLS-24-026 189.00 191.00 2.00 2.55 0.51 195.00 196.95 1.95 1.20 0.25 235.50 278.00 42.50 7.36 1.03 Including 236.00 238.50 2.50 13.64 239.00 244.50 5.50 15.10 245.00 247.50 2.50 15.42 KLS-24-027 296.50 303.50 7.00 2.96 0.53 343.00 376.00 33.00 7.28 1.12 Including 357.50 358.50 1.00 11.30 360.00 360.50 0.50 12.10 362.50 363.00 0.50 11.50 364.50 371.00 6.50 14.01 KLS-24-028 71.50 72.00 0.50 4.02 0.45 78.50 79.50 1.00 3.90 0.49 99.70 130.00 30.30 8.72 1.05 Including 100.50 101.00 0.50 14.10 101.50 105.00 3.50 14.47 108.50 110.50 2.00 15.83 123.50 124.50 1.00 11.10 125.50 128.00 2.50 15.42 KLS-24-029 63.50 95.50 32.00 6.73 0.92 Including 71.00 73.50 2.50 15.02 75.00 78.00 3.00 15.10 90.50 92.00 1.50 13.73 KLS-24-030 120.50 122.00 1.50 2.80 0.28 132.00 150.50 18.50 9.17 1.47 Including 133.50 134.50 1.00 10.80 138.00 141.00 3.00 13.95 141.50 146.00 4.50 14.23 155.00 177.50 22.50 5.24 0.88 Including 175.50 176.00 0.50 11.70 176.50 177.00 0.50 11.70 KLS-24-031 208.00 260.00 52.00 7.18 1.02 Including 208.50 217.00 8.50 14.98 224.00 224.50 0.50 10.00 227.00 228.00 1.00 11.80 228.50 229.50 1.00 10.95 255.00 255.50 0.50 11.70 All lengths are as measured downhole and do not represent true thickness. Composite intervals are calculated using a 3.0 % Cg cut-off and may include a maximum of 2.0 m internal dilution. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Brian McEwan, P.Geo, a Qualified Person as set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. McEwan is the Vice-President of Exploration at Abasca. About Abasca Resources Inc. Abasca is a mineral exploration company that is primarily engaged in the acquisition and evaluation of mineral exploration properties. The Company owns the Key Lake South Project (KLS), a 23,977-hectare uranium exploration project located in the Athabasca Basin Region in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 15 km south of the former Key Lake mine and current Key Lake mill. The project also hosts the Loki Flake Graphite Zone. On behalf of Abasca Resources Inc. Dawn Zhou, M.Sc, CPA, CGA President, CEO and Director For more information visit the Company's website at https://www.abasca.ca or contact: Abasca Resources Inc. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Telephone: +1 (306) 933 4261 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. 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 of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking information and statements ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs with respect to future events and is based on information currently available to management. Forward-looking information contained in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to a follow up exploration program at the Loki Flake Graphite Zone and the testing of the other target areas at KLS. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Abasca undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations, or statements made by third-parties in respect of Abasca, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although Abasca believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking information in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking information has been based on expectations, factors, and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and factors, certain of which are beyond Abasca's control, including the impact of general business and economic conditions; risks related the exploration activities to be conducted on KLS, including risks related to government and environmental regulation; actual results of exploration activities; industry conditions, including uranium and graphite price fluctuations, interest and exchange rate fluctuations; the influence of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that become available or are pursued; title, permit or license disputes related to KLS; litigation; fluctuations in interest rates; and other factors. In addition, the forward-looking information is based on several assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the availability of qualified employees and contractors for the Company's operations and the availability of equipment. The forward-looking information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. Abasca disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Tamarack, Minnesota--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2024) - Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) (OTC Pink: TLOFF) ("Talon" or the "Company") announces that effective January 1, 2025, Mike Kicis will succeed Sean Werger as President of Talon, who is stepping down to assume a senior leadership role with a prominent Toronto charitable organization. Mr. Werger will be joining the Company's Board of Directors and will work closely with Mr. Kicis to ensure a seamless transition. Mr. Kicis has been a senior member of the Talon leadership team since 2013 in the role of Chief Legal Officer. As a key member of the senior leadership team, among other things, Mr. Kicis has played an integral part of the Company's most notable transactions, including the Company's current partnerships with Rio Tinto and Sweetwater Royalties, the Company's off-take arrangement with Tesla Inc. and the grants received by the Company from the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Defense. Warren Newfield, Chairman of the Board for Talon stated: "I am extremely pleased to announce that Mike Kicis will succeed Sean Werger as Talon's President. As an integral member of the Talon team since 2013, Mike is ideally suited to help take the Company through its next phase of growth. Mr. Newfield continued: "Sean Werger's decision to continue on as a valuable member of our Board of Directors will ensure that our business has continuity, with Sean's ongoing dedication, support and assistance. Sean has decided to leave Talon to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer with a prominent not-for-profit organization. On behalf of Talon, we wish Sean the best and look forward to his continued involvement in Talon." Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon stated: "Mike, Sean and I have had the pleasure of working together for more than a decade. Mike has always been a respected leader amongst the Talon team. He is also extremely commercially focussed, which will be essential for Talon going forward. I am looking forward to my continued work with Sean." Sean Werger stated: "The decision to leave my post as President of Talon is bittersweet, but I am thrilled that I can remain an important part of the team by joining the Board of Directors. I am confident that the Company, under Henri and Mike's leadership, is extremely well positioned for success, and given the extremely strong relationship between, Henri, Mike and me, the transition of my role to Mike will be seamless. I am excited about Talon's future - we not only have an excellent project with the Tamarack Nickel Project in Minnesota, but now we have also have plenty of excitement with early day copper-nickel exploration success in Michigan. I have been fortunate to work with such a professional and knowledgeable team and I am confident in their ability to deliver significant value for our shareholders." ABOUT TALON Talon is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with Rio Tinto on the high-grade Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project located in central Minnesota. Talon's shares are also traded in the US over the OTC market under the symbol TLOFF. The Tamarack Nickel Project comprises a large land position (18km of strike length) with additional high-grade intercepts outside the current resource area. Talon has an earn-in right to acquire up to 60% of the Tamarack Nickel Project, and currently owns 51%. Talon is focused on (i) expanding and infilling its current high-grade nickel mineralization resource prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 to shape a mine plan for submission to Minnesota regulators, and (ii) following up on additional high-grade nickel mineralization in the Tamarack Intrusive Complex. Talon has a neutrality and workforce development agreement in place with the United Steelworkers union. Talon's Battery Mineral Processing Facility in Mercer County was selected by the US Department of Energy for US$114.8 million funding grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the US Department of Defense awarded Talon a grant of US$20.6 million to support and accelerate Talon's exploration efforts in both Minnesota and Michigan. Talon has well-qualified experienced exploration, mine development, external affairs and mine permitting teams. For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at www.talonmetals.com or contact: A post recently made by comedian Hong Seok Cheon on Instagram featuring actor Byeon Woo Seok became a hot topic among fans. In the post, Byeon wore an AI wig with YouTuber Kim Ddolddol that had many viewers double-taking. The wigs also featured in a post on Hong's Instagram feed, wherein the trio wore the wigs, with Kim joking to Hong about how he looks with long hair, likening him to 'an Afghan hound dog. 'To which Hong replied: "He's beautiful no matter what." Hong captioned the viral post: "I want hair, LOL. Meanwhile, Woo Seok looks beautiful no matter what. Ddolddol, will you please stop pranking me like this? Social media was flooded as fans started chuckling at the hilarious interaction between the two as well as appropriately praising Byeon Woo Seok. User comments included, "Byeon Woo Seok is as beautiful as his sister," and more. One remarked this is hilarious lol. Byeon Woo Seok is pretty why so pretty Here are other comments from the online community forum theqoo: INSERT COMMENTS: https://theqoo.net/hot/3501576103 Byeon Woo Seok's older sister, a model-turned-flight attendant, has garnered attention for her own striking beauty. Korean netizens have been quick to plant comparisons between the two. Byeon was well showcased not only through the charm of the AI filter but also by the obvious similarity to his sister. Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - Saboti MP Caleb Amisi has praised President William Ruto as a political genius, predicting he will successfully win over former Prime Minister Raila Odingas stronghold to support his 2027 presidential bid. Speaking on Tuesday after President Ruto's successful tour of Kisumu County, Amisi attributed the Head of State's political success to his strategic use of money and manipulation of relationships. The fierce lawmaker described Ruto as a "very smart, vicious, conniving, and calculative politician" who effectively leverages financial resources to influence outcomes Amisi drew parallels between Rutos approach in the Mt Kenya region during the 2022 elections and his upcoming strategy in Azimio leader Raila Odinga's stronghold. He argued that Ruto had successfully capitalised on the close relationship between former president Uhuru Kenyatta and himself, gaining goodwill from Uhurus support base and staying close to the people, while Uhuru remained largely absent. "He took advantage of the bromance between the two, gained goodwill from Uhuru's support base, and remained close to people, and their leaders were a phone call away, unlike Uhuru, who was always absent. "Forget about other underlying reasons. This was the straw that broke the camel's back," Amisi claimed. Amisi predicted that Ruto would use a similar script in opposition leader Raila Odinga's stronghold. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - Controversial political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has urged President William Ruto to accept that he has lost the Mt. Kenya region. Despite assurances from some of his handlers that he still holds influence in the vote-rich Mt. Kenya region, Mutahi Ngunyi has urged President William Ruto to accept that he has lost the area's support entirely. Mutahi Ngunyi told President William Ruto that Kikuyus have reached "ground zero" and will no longer support him, regardless of what he offers them. Ngunyi urged President William Ruto to shift focus to regions like Luo, Luhya, and Kamba lands, suggesting he could secure enough support there to offset the loss of Mt. Kenya's backing. Dear Ruto. Kikuyus will NOT change their MIND. They are at GROUND ZERO with you. WHY? No Idea! FIRE their MINISTERS. "Appoint Luos, Luhyas, Kambas, and those who will appreciate YOU. Fix this Kikuyu PROBLEM once and FOR ALL. "As a Kikuyu, SOME of us believe they should be DOWNSIZED, Mutahi wrote on his X page. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - President William Ruto has lauded former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for his support during the June and July unrest this year, when young Kenyans, commonly known as Gen Z, nearly toppled his government. Speaking on Tuesday during his tour of Kisumu, President William Ruto expressed appreciation for Raila Odinga, claiming he was instrumental in making Odinga the former Prime Minister. Raila and I agreed (to work together). You know there was a time I helped Raila and this time round he has helped me, why should anyone find a problem with that? Ruto posed while addressing a mammoth crowd in Kondele. This was the first time since the youth-led nationwide protests that almost toppled his administration in June that Ruto admitted to Railas support. Without naming names, the President told off politicians who were spreading tribalism and division saying they had no space in the new Kenya. I stood here in Kondele some time back and said we will work together to unite Kenya. Those who promote division, hatred and tribalism will be shown the way to go home. Residents thronged the street, holding banners and cheering as the President made his way to Kondele, the political heartbeat of the lakeside city. The area has in the past been volatile towards Ruto, owing to the political differences that existed between him and Raila. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - President William Rutos speech writer Eric Ngeno is on the spot for sending threatening messages to Jackie Maina Lawrence, an IT guru who had been contracted to develop spying software. Jackie produced the threatening messages after she moved to court and sued Ngeno and other senior government officials for breaching the contract. In the messages, Ngeno hurls unprintable insults at Jackie and threatens to kill her and her family. On July 26, 2024, Ngeno sent a message to Jackie, telling her to say her last prayers. Ngeno and other senior government officials had approached Jackie and contracted her to develop the spying software and propaganda tool, with reports indicating that the deal was worth Ksh 130 million. However, they breached the contract, causing her a significant loss. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachaguas troubles are far from over. This is after President William Ruto allegedly okayed his MPs to go after him for wasting taxpayers billions on his Karen mansion. MPs are probing an alleged misuse of about Ksh1.2 billion renovation budget by impeached DP Rigathi Gachagua's office for the refurbishment of his residence and offices. The National Assembly Committee on Security, during a meeting with officials from the Office of the Deputy President, questioned how the multi-billion funds were used in the renovation of Gachaguas Karen residence, Harambee Annexe Office, and Mombasa office. The legislators raised concern over the amount used in the repair works, alleging that the Ksh1.2 billion allocation requested for the renovation works could have been more than the actual cost of the work. According to a report submitted to the committee by the officials, Ksh400 million had so far been used in the repair of the Harambee Annexe Office, the Karen residence, and the Mombasa office. Officials informed the MPs that part of the funds disbursed for the repair of the Harambee Annexe was used to fix broken kitchens, build new washrooms, and plant flowers, expenditures which the committee termed as wasteful. The report presented before the committee further showed that the refurbishment projects that are being undertaken within 5 years up to June 2027 were 45 per cent done at the Harambee Annexe. The MPs questioned how the refurbishment at the Karen residence which is estimated to cost Ksh560 million was almost half done yet less than Ksh250 million had been used from the budget allocated in the 2023/2024 financial year. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot has jealously defended his controversial bill seeking to bar workers from suing tech companies in Kenya. Taking to his official X handle, Cheruiyot clarified that the Business Laws Amendment Bill was seeking to make Kenya globally competitive to attract investors while observing our own labour laws. The Senate Majority Leader highlighted the clause that seeks to prevent workers from suing tech employees, arguing it concerns players in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. The Senator observed that for Kenya to fully realise its full potential, favourable policies need to be made to attract industry players in the BPO in a bid to address unemployment in Kenya. Cheruiyot argued that BPO companies have shown interest in Kenya because the country has many fluent English speakers and the presence of a good number of tech-savvy young people. He dismissed the notion that once the bill sails through workers will not be protected. Tech companies will still be mandated to observe certain labour standards and handle all HR-related disputes with their employees in the countries they operate in. Cheruiyot, however, noted there was the need to curb the exploitation and manipulation of Kenyan workers, thus stringent measures need to be made. His bill comes two months after the Court of Appeal ruled that Facebooks parent company, Meta, can be sued in Kenya in a case filed by over 180 content moderators. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 President William Rutos government has come out guns blazing and dismissed accusations that it attempted to spy on former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and other political rivals. In a statement, the government dismissed reports that it tried to deploy spying software against Rutos political rivals. National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo termed the reports published by a local daily as unfounded. I wish to respond to the inaccurate and misleading story published in todays Daily Nation under the headline Ruto Men Sued Over Classified Spying Software. "The article features my image and implicates me in an alleged government plan to acquire classified technology for propaganda purposes. These allegations are absolutely unfounded, Kiptoo stated. Kiptoo denied knowing the main character mentioned in the scheme and also denied reports that there exist confidential accounts within the National Treasury, from which funds would be allocated for the scheme. The PS who has termed the reports as speculative and baseless, says the report was published without due diligence. As a result, Kiptoo demanded an immediate retraction of the story and a public apology, saying the story has caused harm to his reputation and character. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Thousands of applicants for overseas jobs being driven by President William Rutos government have decried being extorted in the process. The nationwide recruitment drive for overseas jobs kicked off in the Rift Valley region on Monday, but allegations of extortion by recruitment agencies marred the exercise. Speaking at the region's first recruitment centre in Nakuru, applicants told the press that some agents asked them to part with money to secure the slots. "Some of the agents are asking for processing fees...they are asking for between Ksh150,000 and Ksh180,000. We do not have that kind of money so we do not know why we are here," said one of the applicants. However, Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua assured the applicants at the station that the exercise would be free and fair, further urging them to do their due diligence to determine the specifics of their jobs. The nationwide recruitment drive is part of Rutos plan to curb unemployment by sending 20,000 Kenyans to practice in Qatar, Europe, Canada, and Australia. In addition to the alleged extortion, the applicants also raised an issue with the types of jobs on offer, stating that some of them are not worth the hassle. The Kenyan DAILY POST Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - A concerned Kenyan has raised the alarm over the poor state of Lowdar County Hospital where patients are forced to sleep on beds that have no mattresses, while others in congested wards sleep on the floor. The hospital also has poor drainage, and the wards are flooded whenever it rains, posing health risks to the patients. Further reports indicate that some of the critical machines in the hospital are not working. Security guards also said that part of the hospital is not fenced and robbers take advantage of this to raid the facility at will and steal hospital beds, mattresses, and patients clothes. The County Government receives over Sh 12 billion from the exchequer with additional support from the donors to guarantee the residents access to quality healthcare services but the money is looted, leaving the hospital in a sorry state. Watch the video. A video showing crumbling infrastructure at the dilapidated Lodwar County Referral Hospital goes viral on social media. pic.twitter.com/Ii5zogxZ8C Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) November 26, 2024 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - An outspoken Luhya Community Member of Parliament has blasted colleagues for giving President William Ruto a standing ovation and applauding him after he cancelled Adani Group deals in Kenya last week. Ruto cancelled the deals after Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, was indicted by a New York court on bribery charges. Sirisia MP John Waluke expressed his displeasure over the conduct of his colleagues when the President cancelled government deals with Adani. The MP wondered why the MPs gave the President a standing ovation. According to the MP, there are better ways in which the MPs can applaud the President for issuing directives that are beneficial to Kenyans. "This issue of MPs clapping like school children, even me I do not like it. "If the President passes or rejects something, there is a way of clapping and not standing up and behaving like school kids," he opined. "We are not supposed to do that. We are supposed to listen." The Kenyan DAILY POST James Cox The final leaders' debate aired on RTE on Tuesday night, and much like the current opinion polls, there was little between the three party leaders. Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald all put in more reserved performances than viewers are used to. With so much riding on the debate, it seemed all three leaders were reluctant to go all out for a killer blow. Here, we have a look at the performances of the three leaders. Simon Harris The debate was perhaps more important to the Taoiseach than his two rivals, and Mr Harris certainly had the most to lose. Mr Harris apologised over the weekend for his handling of the discussion with Charlotte Fallon while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday evening. The exchange went viral after a clip on RTE news, and it has damaged the Taoiseach with Fine Gael suffering a six-point slump in the latest opinion polls. At the beginning of the debate, Mr Harris was challenged over claims that a member of the party had contacted RTE in an attempt to stop the clip airing. I have no knowledge of that whatsoever, because this clip was entirely appropriate, said Mr Harris. It was a very important moment on the campaign. And RTE and indeed many media outlets have been with me throughout the campaign, covering many interactions that Ive had with many, many people right across this country. Mr Harris started slowly enough, appearing uncomfortable when he was not speaking. He also toned down his attacks on his rivals, particularly Ms McDonald, in what may well have been a deliberate strategy. However, his performance improved in the second half of the debate. When Ms McDonald repeated the Tweedledee and Tweedledum", characterisation of Mr Martin and Mr Harris (which she has used before), the Taoiseach replied: "Come on now, you can do better than this. Youve had five years to come up with a new line. When the issue of justice came up, particularly in relation to the Dublin riots, Mr Harris doubled down on criticism of Sinn Fein's motions of no confidence in Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Mr Harris made reference to the fact that former Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris had, in 2009, collected Garda killer Pearse McAuley from the gates of prison after his release. I think there will be many Garda families at home finding it quite sickening that Mary Lou McDonald is now the champion of An Garda Siochana. Thats the first thing. Im not ready to take a lecture from you on law and order. My party has never had a TD who has collected a Garda killer from the gates of prison. First point. Second point is this your position was to immediately blame the head of the guards rather than the rioters, and you carried out a press conference at a crime scene. That was your approach. How do I use this to my political advantage? That was your approach. And the public saw right through it. On mental health, he said there was a five-year plan supported by his party, and accused Ms McDonald of not taking the issue seriously as tensions rose. At one point he said he had only been seven months in the Taoiseach's Office, however, Ms McDonald has a quick response as she asked him how long he had been in Cabinet. Unsurprisingly, with government formation undoubtedly at the back of their minds, the Taoiseach and Tanaiste didn't attack each other too often. However, Mr Harris did get one swipe in at Mr Martin, as he said "my party has never crashed the economy, and my party has helped pick this country up off its knees". His pledge to bring people back from Australia came across as a bit strange, but undoubtedly grabbed attention. Overall, Mr Harris' performance was steady and he avoided any further damage after the Kanturk exchange. Fine Gael strategists will be unhappy with his constant muttering while the other candidates were talking though, as it comes off as petty and unprofessional. Mary Lou McDonald While the Tweedledee and Tweedledum" jibe came off a bit flat, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald also had the best one-liner of the night. When Mr Harris brought up the financial crash, she was very quick off the mark. You brought the crash, Ms McDonald said, pointing to Mr Martin, and you brought austerity, she said, pointing to Mr Harris. 'Change the government' has been Sinn Fein's main slogan in the closing stages of the general election campaign, and Ms McDonald was effective in attacking the record of the coalition leaders. At one point, she accused the Government of not understanding the scale of the challenges people are facing. "I think it is shameful that you cannot walk the length of yourself in any town, village, community, without meeting parents, mothers desperate and frantic, because not alone can they not get an assessment of need, they can get no support for their children. "You don't seem even capable to hear people and hear their experiences." She showed clear empathy with those suffering from the housing and cost-of-living crises, adding that her party would offer an alternative to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail rule. Many viewers felt she faced the toughest questioning from hosts Sarah McInerney and Miriam O'Callaghan, but she more than stood her ground on various issues. Her weakest point was Sinn Fein's proposed housing plan. She was unclear when asked about banks' reported reluctance to offer mortgages under the proposed housing scheme. Well, weve engaged with the banks. The banks have requirements that will have to be met. I dont think anybody should be shocked by that. Theyre not some kind of Robin Hood institution giving money away. Were absolutely confident that those requirements will be met. Micheal Martin Mr Martin came into the debate in the best position, as the polls suggest his party is in line for the most TDs in the next Dail. He appeared to be attempting to portray himself as the most mature and balanced of the three candidates, but at times his temper showed. Like Mr Harris, he appeared to be making a concerted effort to avoid talking over his rivals, but he looked visibly annoyed at times when Ms McDonald was setting out her points. He also bristled at Ms O'Callaghan's question about his refusal to consider a coalition with Sinn Fein, labelling the question "extraordinary". Mr Martin did not go after potential coalition partner Mr Harris too much, but did criticised Fine Gael's position on mental health in its manifesto, saying it did not provide for "one additional staff recruitment, while we provide for 25,000". He agreed with Ms McDonald that the State lost control during the Dublin riots of November 2023, which is unsurprising as Fianna Fail has made its target of claiming the justice portfolio clear. He conceded he was in government during the crash, to which Ms McDonald replied "I know", with Mr Martin quickly adding: "Ive learned from it, Ive learned from the experience. On housing, he said the foundations are in place for 60,000 homes a year by 2030. Mr Martin was far less combative than he usually is in debates, but the strategy worked for him, and he may well have been the happiest of the three leaders coming out of the debate. Who do you think won the debate? Let us know who you think was the winner of the debate by voting in our poll below. Footage of the moment a young fisherman narrowly dodged a deadly threat was caught on camera. The young fisherman dodged the eastern brown snake by a matter of centimetres in Mudgee NSW. Source: TikTok/lifewithoutdestination Footage of a boy reeling in a fish on the banks of a river started harmless enough until the person behind the camera noticed something deadly moving centimetres away from the young Aussie's thong-clad feet. The incident occurred in Mudgee wetlands in NSW close to a children's playground and barbecue area recently when the adult instructed the young fisherman to "walk back with him" as the fish flapped at the end of the fishing line. "Alright bring him up, walk back with him... keep going up!" the man can be heard encouraging in the footage. As the youngster moves backwards, an eastern brown snake is spotted slithering along the ground where the boy was standing moments earlier. "Look at the size of that brown snake!" the man suddenly shouted, appearing to jump back. However the determined fisherman stood firm, seemingly eager to secure his catch. Deadly snakes live 'metres away from people' and go undetected Brown snakes make up the majority of the roughly 3,000 snake bites and snake-related deaths that occur in Australia every year, thanks to their potent venom. Despite brown snakes having relatively small fangs and a small average venom yield, the venom packs a punch containing severe neurotoxins that result in progressive paralysis. ADVERTISEMENT And these snakes are "common" in Australia, one snake expert told Yahoo News last week. "Brown snakes are living their entire lives metres away from people and are rarely seen," Mathew Hampton said. They're known to get "easily agitated and will readily defend themselves", professional snake handler Chris Williams also previously told Yahoo News. It's always advised to move slowly and not to make any sudden movements. Snake season well and truly here as Aussies spot more in the wild There has been an increase in snake sightings since the weather has warmed and snake season officially kicked off. ADVERTISEMENT This month, one woman got quite the fright after a "decent sized" eastern brown snake popped out of the Murray River in Torrumbarry, Victoria while she was riding on a knee-board. A western brown was spotted slithering along the Spinifex North Beach in Perth last week, narrowly missing a group of beachgoers who were lounging metres away. There have been many brown snake sightings in the last few weeks across the country. Source: Facebook/Instagram The extreme heat many parts of the country has experienced recently is being credited for the uptick in snake sightings, with Hampton telling Yahoo News the heat seemed to "wake the snakes up earlier" this year. "As the planet warns and climate change happens, I think we're only going to see snake season creep a little bit earlier and earlier every year," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Cairns Deputy Mayor Brett Olds dismissed grumbles about the new look of the median strip. The vegetation on the median strip along Trinity Beach Road in Cairns has been uprooted and turf laid in its place. Source: Facebook/Cairns Regional Council There has been intense backlash after a stretch of road in a major Aussie city received a drastic makeover last week, impacting the "aesthetics" of the area. Despite there now being calls to "reverse" the move that has been described as a "waste of ratepayers' money", the council told Yahoo News residents simply need to get on board. "Haters gonna hate." That's what Cairns Deputy Mayor Brett Olds told Yahoo News when responding to backlash over shrubs and hedges being rooted out of the median strip on Trinity Beach Road and replaced with turf. He argues that people have been "overwhelmingly happy" with the decision and, as a local himself, he believes it's for the best. ADVERTISEMENT "I've had many phone calls from people saying that it's awesome... the shrubs make it really hard for traffic to see, especially on the roundabout down there, and we had to keep cutting it back as the maintenance cost was ridiculous," he explained. "There's always going to be people who are unhappy... haters gonna hate. "There's some unhappy people if you give them a million dollars in a brown paper bag, they'll complain about the brown paper bag," he said. Cairns Deputy Mayor Brett Olds said the vegetation maintenance costs were 'ridiculous'. Source: Facebook Residents push back against road 'eyesore' After the update was shared online, many residents questioned why an alternative that offered more biodiversity wasn't selected. "An absolute disgrace in my opinion! A diversity of insects are now gone. Now it is an uninhabitable environment that requires far more water and costly maintenance," one resident said, calling the new road divider an "eyesore". ADVERTISEMENT Others called it a "terrible" decision and said native shrubs or trees "would look much better". Council reveal hidden reason behind median strip decision Not only was the vegetation restricting drivers' visibility, it also poses a deadly risk to native wallabies in the area, Olds said. "We use the zoysia grass which the wallabies don't eat so they don't go across the traffic and get in the middle of the road," he said, explaining this was a major consideration when the council made the change. "It looks softer than concrete and is better when it's hot. We put concrete down once nearby and the community backlash was huge... this slow-growing grass is better," he said. Trees will be planted at a later date to provide shade and add to the biodiversity of the area without causing safety concerns for drivers. "I think overwhelming people are really happy with it." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in Beijing on Tuesday, saying China is willing to make empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change a priority in its cooperation with these countries. China will work with Pacific Island countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, uphold fairness, justice and the common interests of the Global South, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi told Mata'afa. Noting that Samoa was among the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China nearly five decades ago, Xi said the two countries have maintained traditional friendship, mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. He said China supports Samoa in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, and exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China will continue to provide assistance to Samoa in its economic and social development, and tap the potential of economy, trade, investment, agriculture and fisheries to achieve common development, Xi said. Xi stressed that China does not attach political strings to its assistance to the Pacific Island countries, and China's policy toward Pacific Island countries is open and inclusive, without targeting any third party or engaging in geopolitical competition or spheres of influence. Mata'afa said Samoa hopes to learn from China's experience in achieving modernization, especially in poverty reduction and green development. Thanking China for its long-time valuable assistance to Samoa, Mata'afa said Samoa firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi. Samoa regards China as an important strategic partner and looks forward to taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year to further advance bilateral relations, Mata'afa said. Australia is the only developed nation to be declared a deforestation hotspot. A new deal would have protected what remains of the nation's forests. Australia is the only developed nation on the WWF list of deforestation hotspots. Source: Chris Taylor/Supplied Talks to end native forest logging in Australia were on the precipice of being secured yesterday, sources have told Yahoo News. The Albanese government had been negotiating with the Greens on a deal to include the measure in promised environmental protection laws. Before last week, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young had insisted the laws should include a climate trigger, a reform that would have seen all new development projects referred for federal government assessment if they were likely to be highly polluting. But after Labor appeared to show no interest in this plan, she proposed ending native forest logging instead, a measure which would have helped protect endangered animals like the greater glider and koala. After her talks with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek ended, Hanson-Young issued a statement criticising Labor for refusing to protect forests during an extinction crisis. Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinction in the world, it is the only developed nation declared a deforestation hotspot and there are more than 2,200 species listed by the Commonwealth as threatened with extinction. The Greens put a deal on the table and the government has walked away, Hanson-Young said in a statement provided to Yahoo News. Sarah Hanson-Young claims to have been on the precipice of securing a deal to end native forest logging. Source: AAP Senator accuses forestry industry of bullying prime minister The Greens' plan would have closed loopholes that allow the states to avoid the scrutiny of federal threatened species protections. This would have included the Regional Forest Agreements that allow state governments to clear native forests for timber. ADVERTISEMENT Hanson-Young appeared to place the failure of the negotiations at the feet of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying the industry appears to have more influence than the rest of Australia. The Prime Minister has been bullied by the mining and logging lobby again, she claimed. Parliament will come to a close this week and won't resume until February, and there is speculation the legislation may be shelved until the next election. Reforms to Australia's failing environment laws had been promised by the Albanese government following its election in 2022 and they were supported by conservationists and the Business Council. Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese have been contacted for comment. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. By Baek Byung-yeul The film "Harbin," which tells the story of Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910), an independence activist who sought to break free from Japanese colonial rule, strived to capture the unwavering determination of the lieutenant general of the Korean resistance army and his comrades, director Woo Min-ho said Wednesday. "Even after arriving in Mongolia, we had to travel three more days to reach the filming location. It was all unpaved roads and just getting there exhausted us," the director said during a press conference in Seoul. The movie was filmed in three locations: Latvia, Mongolia and Korea. Woo noted that temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in Mongolia were particularly challenging. "The prerequisite for filming this movie was that we shouldn't be comfortable, in order to capture General Ahn and other independence fighters' spirit," he said. "Although it's incomparable to what they went through, we believed we needed to experience hardship by visiting remote places and vast wilderness to understand even a fraction of their efforts, difficulties and mindset." The big-budget movie, reportedly costing about 30 billion won ($21.5 million), highlights independence activists who risked their lives fighting for Korea's independence in the early 1900s. The film centers on Ahn (portrayed by Hyun Bin), who shot and killed Ito Hirobumi, Japan's first prime minister and resident-general of Korea, in Harbin, China, in 1909. The director, best known for his 2015 film "Inside Men" and 2020 film "The Man Standing Next," revealed that he entrusted the role of Ahn to Hyun with the belief that only he could fulfill it. "It was an undeniably burdensome role because he was a real person and a great historical hero," Woo said. "Therefore, we needed an actor with the physical stamina to endure such a demanding role. I thought Hyun Bin was perfect for Ahn Jung-geun. I believed he could endure and overcome it." Hyun also admitted to feeling pressure about portraying this renowned historical figure. "As I was playing a real historical figure, the pressure and responsibility were considerable. On the other hand, I was grateful just to have the opportunity to portray such a meaningful character," Hyun said. "Above all, this was my first work with the director, and I could feel his sincerity, determination and passion for this project. In the end, I think choosing to appear in this film was the right decision." To portray the independence fighter, Hyun said it took about nine months to prepare and film. "(Filming this movie) was a continuous process of learning about, contemplating and imagining the general. Before carrying out his mission, General Ahn must have experienced anguish, frustration and sadness as a human being like us. Nevertheless, I wanted to express the conviction and will he needed to achieve his goal," the actor said. Actor Park Jung-min, who played another independence fighter, Woo Deok-sun (1879-1950), also took a careful approach when portraying the historical figure. "Playing a real historical figure required an extremely sensitive and delicate approach," Park said. "Since there weren't many remaining records, I first had many conversations with the director and referenced books containing trial records." Lee Dong-wook, whose character Lee Chang-seob is a fictional independence fighter, revealed that he struggled to ensure the film accurately depicted these activists' deeds. "The actors discussed whether we could have been independence fighters if we were born in that era, but the answer always seemed to be no," he said. "So, we worked hard with the mindset that we shouldn't dishonor their gratitude." Woo explained why he had returned to the historical drama genre for the big screen, following his previous work "The Man Standing Next," which dealt with the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee in 1979. "General Ahn Jung-geun and the independence fighters' spirit moved my heart. In fact, I had a feeling that 'Harbin' would be the most challenging work I've done, but I started with the determination to face this challenge," the director said. Harbin will be released in theaters on Christmas Day. By Park Han-sol A bouquet of wilting sunflowers, a swirling starry night and a bandaged ear. Few artists in history can be conjured so vividly in the public imagination with just a handful of disjointed images as Vincent van Gogh (1853-90). The Dutch titans tumultuous personal life is just as iconic as his highly expressive and distinctive brushwork a story that transformed him into the archetype of the tortured artist. His tale is a well-known one of unrequited love, destitution, a stormy friendship with Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), battles with mental illness, a tragic suicide and the posthumous fame that followed. The enduring mystique surrounding the painter and the staggering sums required to assemble his original works under one roof are what makes every van Gogh exhibition a big deal. Such is the case with Van Gogh: The Great Passion, opening to the public this Friday at the Seoul Arts Centers Hangaram Art Museum. This marks the first retrospective featuring the art icons original brushwork in Korea in 12 years. And its the largest ever staged in the country. The 76 pieces on display 39 oil paintings and 37 drawings are all on loan from the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands. The museum is home to the worlds second-largest van Gogh collection, with 88 paintings and over 180 drawings, surpassed only by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The Great Passion offers a straightforward, chronological journey into the life of an art titan who, remarkably, didnt take up painting until the age of 27. Before discovering his true calling, van Gogh stumbled through a string of failed careers as an art dealer, teacher, bookseller and lay preacher. In a letter to his brother Theo in September 1881, just a year after he embarked on his artistic path, he reflected: A change has come about in my drawing, both in my manner of doing it and in the result What used to seem to me to be desperately impossible is now gradually becoming possible. The show opens with van Goghs early works from the 1880s, created during his time in the Netherlands. Here, his primary focus was on rural Dutch landscapes, humble farmsteads and the hardy resilience of peasant life. These themes come to life in portraits and landscapes such as Digger (1885), Sheaves of Wheat (1885), Loom with Weaver (1884) and Head of a Woman Wearing a White Cap (1884-85) a figure who would later take center stage in his early masterpiece, The Potato Eaters (1885). It wasnt until the painters arrival in Paris, the thriving heart of modern art, in 1886 that his signature style came to be born. The dark, moody canvases of his Dutch period, reminiscent of masters like Rembrandt and Frans Hals, gradually gave way to lighter, more vibrant palettes as he became influenced by the Impressionist movement that celebrated light and its shifting qualities over time. In his two years in the French capital, van Gogh compensated for his lack of formal technical mastery with an unrelenting drive to experiment with color and thickly textured impasto. This creative leap is evident in Interior of a Restaurant (1887), Still Life with Plaster Statuette (1887) and Flowers in a Blue Vase (1887). The city also marked an era of self-reflection for the artist, quite literally, as seen in his prolific output of self-portraits. Of the more than 30 he produced in his lifetime, 25 were painted during his Paris period, including one featured in the Seoul show. After two transformative years immersed in the avant-garde energy of Paris, he left for Arles, drawn by the promise of vivid colors and the warmth of the southern sun. During the final two years of his life, the subject matter of van Goghs work was shaped by his time in three locations: Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise. His yearlong stay in Arles marked the most creatively rich chapter of his career, giving rise to some of his most iconic tour de force pieces, including Sunflowers (1888), Cafe Terrace at Night (1888), The Night Cafe (1888) and Bedroom in Arles (1888). This period also saw his intense falling-out with Gauguin, culminating in the infamous incident where he cut off part of his left ear a moment that has become as legendary as his art itself. One standout piece featured in the Seoul exhibition from his time in Arles is The Sower (1888). While inspired by Jean-Francois Millets portrayal of rural life, van Gogh infused the scene with the brilliance of the southern sunlight and his strikingly imaginative use of color, transforming it into an expressive vision of agrarian life. The final sections of the show are adorned with a poignant collection of portraits, landscapes and a reinterpretation of Eugene Delacroixs Romantic masterpiece, The Good Samaritan, created during the artists time in and out of mental hospitals while battling recurring seizures. Wheat Stack Under a Cloudy Sky (1890) on view was completed in July of that year, the same month he took his own life at 37. Seo Soun-jou, director of The Great Passion, reflected on the Dutch painters unique legacy, noting that while his oeuvre itself had a relatively modest impact on Western art history compared to giants like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who defined the Renaissance, or Picasso and Matisse, who spearheaded Cubism and Fauvism it was van Goghs unwavering artistic spirit amid poverty and personal torment that transformed him into a mythical global icon. Its the idea that he poured his tortured soul onto every canvas that continues to captivate audiences worldwide today, Seo remarked. Van Gogh: The Great Passion runs through March 16, 2025, at the Hangaram Art Museum. Korea's business sentiment worsened in November amid growing concerns over a slowdown in exports and sagging domestic demand, a central bank poll showed Wednesday. The Composite Business Sentiment Index, or CBSI, in all industries for November came to 91.5, down 0.6 point from the figure tallied for the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The CBSI among manufacturers fell 0.6 point from a month earlier to 90.6 in November, the lowest level since October 2023. Manufacturers pointed to an increase in inventory stock, tight financial conditions and the overall economic situation as major reasons for their negative view. But the index for non-manufacturers gained 0.4 point to 92.1, as they cited rising profitability and sales as positive factors, though they also voiced concerns over the economic situation and tight financing conditions. The economic sentiment index, which reflects sentiment among both consumers and businesses, added 0.2 point to stand at 92.7 for November, the data showed. "Companies were wary of uncertainties after the U.S. presidential election. Some expected Donald Trump's trade policy to have a negative impact on the domestic semiconductor, bio, eco-friendly energy and other sectors, as well as overall exports," a BOK official said. (Yonhap) By Jun Ji-hye Global private equity firm Blackstone signed an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in JJ Tools, a Korean industrial cutting tool manufacturing company. Blackstone announced on Wednesday that Park Jong-ik, the founder and CEO of JJ Tools, will remain as a shareholder and continue to support the firms global expansion through collaboration with the private equity firm. With this investment, Blackstone plans to maintain its partnership with outstanding entrepreneurs and strong family businesses in Korea. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Seoul, JJ Tools specializes in industrial cutting tools, manufacturing high-precision cutting tools such as carbide end mills, thread mills and drills. These cutting tools are used across various industries, including semiconductors, engineering, automotive, aerospace and health care. Eugene Cook, Blackstones senior managing director and head of Korea private equity division, said, Blackstone continues to make efforts to discover outstanding companies in Korea and collaborate with capable entrepreneurs, consistently supporting their long-term growth. Through cooperation with CEO Park and other company members, we aim to drive the companys continued development. Korea put forward a comprehensive package of support measures for the semiconductor industry Wednesday, with its top economic policymaker highlighting "growing headwinds" amid concerns of potential shifts in U.S. trade policy under the incoming Donald Trump administration and rising competition from Chinese rivals. "The next six months will be the 'golden time' that will decide the fate of our industries," Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said in a meeting with economy-related ministers aimed at enhancing the global competitiveness of local industries. "Given the current challenges, including global economic shifts under the incoming U.S. administration, competition from emerging countries and the rapid reorganization of global supply chains, the role of the government must evolve from a 'supporter' to a 'player' working alongside businesses," he added, according to his ministry. Korea, home to leading global memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, faces uncertainties over possible tariff increases and changes in U.S. industrial policy that could significantly impact the semiconductor sector. Trump has said he plans to impose tariffs of up to 20 percent on all imports, while also signaling intentions to roll back subsidies for semiconductors and electric vehicles introduced under the Joe Biden administration in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. Choi emphasized the growing uncertainty in the chipmaking industry, also citing intensifying competition from emerging nations. The finance ministry highlighted China's rapid technological advancements and its drive to dominate global supply chains. In response, Seoul plans to provide various support for Korean semiconductor firms that will include fiscal assistance and tax incentives, among other support measures, to help bolster the semiconductor ecosystem, according to the finance ministry. First, the government plans to alleviate the financial burden on chipmakers by subsidizing a significant portion of the costs associated with burying transmission cables for semiconductor clusters in Yongin, just south of Seoul, and Pyeongtaek, located some 65 kilometers south of Seoul. The plan, which requires parliamentary approval, aims to cover around 60 percent of the estimated 3 trillion-won ($2.14 billion) infrastructure project. "The final share of government support is still under review but will likely exceed half of the total cost," a ministry official said. The industry ministry later said the government will accelerate its efforts to build the needed infrastructure for the Yongin cluster that will be capable of providing 10 gigawatt-hours of electricity and 1.33 million tons of water daily. "We will promptly establish infrastructure for the Yongin cluster to support operations expected to begin in 2027 and expedite the implementation of private investments totaling 600 trillion won," it said in a statement. Tax deductions for research and development (R&D) and facility investments in the semiconductor industry will also be increased, according to the finance ministry. Currently, large and midsized companies benefit from a 15 percent tax deduction, while small businesses receive a 25 percent deduction under the national strategic technology framework. For 2025, the government has earmarked over 14 trillion won for policy financing programs, such as low-interest loans "from state-affiliated banks" and other financial support for semiconductor manufacturers. To tackle the workforce challenges in the industry, the government plans to expand graduate programs specializing in semiconductors and explore ways to bring in more foreign talents, the ministry said. (Yonhap) Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo on Wednesday discussed ways to address the potential reshuffle of the global supply chain in the wake of the incoming U.S. administration's protectionist policies. "Uncertainties in the global trade environment have been rising in the wake of the upcoming launch of the new U.S. administration," Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said during a meeting with experts from think tanks. The business community has been keeping a watchful eye on the incoming U.S. administration's trade policy, including the possible imposition of sweeping tariffs of at least 10 percent on all imported goods. Earlier this week, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he will impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China, when he takes office in January. "The government plans to closely monitor the impact of such uncertainties on industries and the supply chain, aiming to minimize the burden on the economy while fully utilizing opportunities," Cheong added. During the meeting, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade suggested that Korea needs to diversify its export portfolio amid the anticipated reshuffle of the global supply chain following the escalating decoupling of the United States and China. Korea will continue to coordinate with major trade partners and seek to bolster its supply chain with countries rich in natural resources and advanced technologies, the ministry added. (Yonhap) Kim Soo-hyun's agency says he dated Kim Sae-ron for 1 year after she became adult President-elect Donald Trump's team is considering "pursuing direct talks" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in hopes of reducing the risks of armed conflict, Reuters has reported. Citing two sources, Reuters reported Tuesday (U.S. time) that "several" members of Trump's team see "a direct approach" from the president-elect as most likely to break the ice with Kim. It said that the policy discussions are "fluid" and Trump has not yet made a final decision on the matter. In his first term, Trump held three meetings with Kim, first in Singapore in 2018, followed by Vietnam and the truce village of Panmunjom on the inter-Korean border in 2019. However, no concrete results were achieved in denuclearizing North Korea from the talks. The subsequent administration of President Joe Biden has not engaged directly with North Korea, while Pyongyang has further sophisticated its nuclear and missile arsenal. Trump's reelection reignited prospects for his summit diplomacy with Kim, especially after the president-elect named former State Department official Alex Wong as deputy national security adviser, noting that Wong "helped negotiate my summit with" Kim. Reuters reported that an initial goal of Trump would be to "reestablish basic engagement," but further policy aims or a precise timetable have not been determined. During his second presidential campaign, Trump hinted at a policy of pursuing direct engagement with Kim, boasting about his personal ties with him. "I got along with Kim Jong-un of North Korea," Trump said during a campaign rally in August. "We also looked at his nuclear capability. It's very substantial. ... You know, getting along is a good thing. It's not a bad thing," he added. Nearly three weeks after Trump's reelection, Kim Jong-un has not mentioned his presidential win. Last week, Kim said during his speech at an arms exhibition in Pyongyang that North Korea had gone as far as possible in negotiations with the U.S., but it only confirmed the unchanging invasive and hostile policy toward North Korea. He said there will never be an occasion for his country to relinquish the "pendulum of the military balance" on its own. Some have voiced skepticism about the prospects of resuming summitry between Trump and Kim, citing North Korea's significantly advanced nuclear and missile programs, its close alignment with Russia and more pressing security concerns for the U.S., such as the Russia-Ukraine war. (Yonhap) The top diplomats of South Korea, Canada, France and Italy have voiced concerns over the threat posed by North Korea's troop deployment to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, pledging to work together for a concerted response, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Canadian, French and Italian counterparts made the point during Cho's separate talks with them on the sidelines of the foreign ministers' gathering of the Group of Seven advanced nations in Fiuggi, Italy, according to the ministry. South Korea and the United States said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine, and some of them have already entered combat in Russia's western Kursk border region. In a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly the previous day, Cho shared the latest developments and concerns about the forces deployment. Cho explained his country's plan to take "effective, phased" measures in response to the security threats posed by "illegal" Russia-North Korea military cooperation. Joly pledged to continue working with South Korea, saying that properly addressing the issue is important for the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. In a separate meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday, both ministers expressed "serious concerns" about the grave threats posed by North Korea's troop deployment and the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang to the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. In separate talks on Tuesday, Cho and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also pledged joint efforts for a "united and stern" international response to the issues, the foreign ministry noted. Cho and Tajani also appreciated the brisk trade and investment between their countries, with the Italian minister emphasizing the importance of partnership with South Korea in Italy's expansion into Indo-Pacific markets. (Yonhap) By Kim Hyun-bin Philip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, will retire in January after nearly 35 years of diplomatic service. Goldberg, who took up his post in Korea in July 2022 following the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, is expected to leave Seoul in January. His appointment came 18 months after the departure of his predecessor, Harry Harris, in January 2021 coinciding with the inauguration of President Joe Biden. During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, Goldberg has been credited with strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance and boosting trilateral cooperation among Korea, the United States and Japan. As a career diplomat, Goldberg has been praised for his experienced communication skills and his steady management of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Prior to his appointment in Korea, he served as ambassador to Colombia, acting ambassador to Cuba and ambassador to the Philippines. The appointment of a new U.S. ambassador to Korea is expected to align with the launch of the second Trump administration. Until a successor is named, Deputy Chief of Mission Joy M. Sakurai will serve as the acting ambassador. Korea, Thailand to start economic partnership agreement By Kim Hyun-bin The Thai government will push forward with ongoing initiatives aimed at reducing the number of illegal Thai workers in Korea, emphasizing significant collaborative efforts with Korean authorities and practical solutions to facilitate legal labor migration, according to Thai Ambassador to Korea Tanee Sangrat. "We have almost 200,000 Thai people in Korea, many of whom are workers spread across the country," Sangrat said during an interview with The Korea Times at the Embassy of Thailand in Seoul on Nov. 14. "One of our most pressing tasks is addressing the issue of illegal Thai workers. We've been working diligently with Korean immigration and the Korean Employment System to bring these numbers down." The ambassador emphasized the success of the voluntary return program, which offers illegal workers a chance to return to Thailand without facing penalties. According to recent estimates, approximately 140,000 Thai nationals are working illegally in Korea, significantly outnumbering the legally employed Thai workers in the country. These undocumented workers have prompted stricter immigration controls and warnings from the Thai government against overstaying tourist visas and seeking illegal employment in Korea. "Right now, we are in the middle of a voluntary return program that will end at the end of this month. We hope that many illegal workers will choose this option to return to Thailand and report themselves to Korean immigration. Last time we implemented this with Korean immigration, almost 7,000 people took advantage of the program and departed Korea," he explained. "We have launched a public relations campaign in collaboration with our consular section and labor office here in Seoul. This campaign aims to educate Thai nationals about the benefits of legal migration and the risks associated with illegal work." Furthermore, the Thai Embassy has been working to provide more accessible legal channels for Thai workers seeking employment in Korea. "We are cooperating with Korean immigration, the employment system and the ministries of labor and justice to create opportunities for legal employment. This involves streamlining visa processes and ensuring that Korean employers have the resources to hire Thai workers through legal avenues," the ambassador said. "Our efforts have already shown positive results. The number of illegal Thai workers has been decreasing over the past few years, thanks to our collaboration with Korean immigration authorities and the voluntary return program. We are committed to continuing these efforts to ensure that our workers can come to Korea through proper channels, which is beneficial for both Thai workers and Korean employers." Sangrat also highlighted the supportive role of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Over the past 90 days, we secured a budget and additional personnel to issue almost 40,000 passports, the largest record of passport issuance abroad outside of Thailand. This effort ensures that Thai nationals have the necessary documentation to work legally in South Korea," he said. The ambassador expressed optimism about the future of Thai labor migration, emphasizing that Thai workers are well-liked by Korean employers. He noted that Thai workers are hardworking, well-paid and happy to work in Korea. The ambassador hopes to manage labor migration more effectively to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between Thai workers and Korean employers. History & investment The ambassador reflected on the deep-rooted historical connections between Korea and Thailand, highlighting the mutual sacrifices made during the Korean War and emphasizing future opportunities for collaboration in various sectors, including tourism, investment and technology. "Thailand was the first Asian country to answer the call to contribute troops to the Korean War. We were the only Asian country to support the Korean War with all three branches of our armed forces, and we have suffered some casualties and some missing in action as well," Sangrat said. "The Korean War was one of the first episodes that Thai people learned about Korea. Our relationship went back further, but the Korean War was the most notable event in history. One of our Korean War veterans even became prime minister of Thailand. Sangrat also shared insights on the growing economic partnership between Thailand and Korea, highlighting the ongoing negotiations and future prospects. He emphasized the commitment of both nations to enhancing trade and investment ties. "Both leaders and governments of Thailand and Korea have decided to start the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which is also an FTA (free trade agreement) in itself," Sangrat said. "We have had the second round of EPA negotiations in September, and Thailand will host the third round soon. Both sides, including Prime Minister Paetongtarn (Shinawatra), expressed their hope to conclude the EPA next year." The ambassador highlighted advancements in digital payment systems in collaboration with the Bank of Thailand, the national Bank of Korea and the private sector. They are working on implementing QR code payments for Korean visitors in Thailand, allowing payments for services and products without the need to exchange currency. The conversation also explored sectors with the most potential for collaboration. "Korea, being the fourth largest economy in Asia, is one of the 10 strategic countries that Thailand prioritizes," Sangrat said. "We focus on the digital and creative economy, semiconductors and smart chips, among other areas." Reflecting on the long-standing economic relationship, Sangrat noted the presence of over 400 Korean companies in Thailand. "Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, and our trade with Korea amounts to about $14.7 billion," he said. "There's a lot of room for expansion, and we have significant work ahead to reach our potential. Thailand has the second largest economy in Southeast Asia with a population of almost 70 million people. The ambassador's personal goal is to increase the number of Korean companies in Thailand from around 400 to 500 or 600 in the coming years. He also aims to boost tourism between the two countries and foster closer collaboration with what he described as "Korea's very advanced" startup ecosystem. The chief of the state arms procurement agency has said Korean shipbuilders could seize new opportunities under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's second term in areas ranging from naval maintenance and repair and overhaul (MRO) to shipbuilding. Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Minister Seok Jong-gun made the assessment amid upbeat prospects for shipbuilders here, after Trump called for more bilateral cooperation in the shipbuilding industry, especially in the MRO sector, during his phone conversation with President Yoon Suk Yeol. The news raised expectations of greater U.S. business opportunities for Korean shipyards, which has made a turnaround after years of an industry slowdown. "The size of the naval MRO sector itself is big, and if this expands to shipbuilding, it would be a completely new market. There are high chances of the market expanding," Seok told a group of reporters in a meeting at a DAPA office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on Tuesday. Seok mentioned possible opportunities for weapons systems, noting that Korea's 2.75-inch guided rockets have received favorable reviews, referring to LIG Nex1's Bigung, which passed the U.S. Foreign Comparative Testing conducted in Hawaii in July. The DAPA chief also raised prospects for more arms exports outside of the United States should Trump push nations to do more to bolster their own defense. "If Trump calls on nations to take care of their defense on their own, more weapons would be needed," Seok said. "Our weapons systems, which in large part are verified, could fill that role." Seok, however, noted that new policies by the Trump administration that could potentially mandate defense firms to have U.S.-based manufacturing facilities could be a downside that may lead to financial losses in the event of an administration change. On overall exports, a DAPA official who also attended the meeting said it may be "challenging" for Korea to meet this year's annual export goal of $20 billion but said the country is still on course to become the world's fourth-largest defense exporter by 2027. Speaking on a 7.8 trillion-won ($5.6 billion) naval destroyer project that has been in limbo amid a legal feud between two contending local shipbuilders, Seok said DAPA will push to proceed with the project early next year to prevent a delay in delivery. "Although it is delayed, the delivery period requested by the military should be met through all means," he said. Korean shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean have been embroiled in a fight over the bid after employees at HD Hyundai, which completed the basic design for the next-generation Aegis destroyer, were convicted of acquiring military secrets on the project. The two shipbuilders recently dropped a defamation lawsuit and police complaint that they had filed against each other amid calls within the shipbuilding community to unite in the face of global market uncertainties. (Yonhap) Presidential office makes no mention of talks on arms support to Kyiv By Kwak Yeon-soo President Yoon Suk Yeol held closed-door talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Seoul, Wednesday, and discussed support measures for the country amid its war with Russia, according to the presidential office. Yoon and the delegation, led by Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, also shared intelligence on North Koreas troop dispatch to Russia, the office said. The visit comes roughly a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Kyivs plans to send a delegation to South Korea during his phone talks with Yoon. Zelenskyy has emphasized the urgent need for artillery and air defense missiles to counter the ongoing threats from Russia. "Yoon welcomed the Ukrainian delegation and expressed hope that South Korea and Ukraine will come up with effective countermeasures to deal with the growing security risks posed by the cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia," the presidential office said in a statement. "Both sides agreed to continue to share information on North Korea's troop deployment and possible transfers of weapons and military technology between Russia and North Korea. As the U.S. Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump's team are responding in unison to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, we will communicate closely with the U.S." The presidential office did not say if the two sides discussed South Korea's potential arms provision to Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation held a separate meeting with National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun following the meeting with Yoon. South Korea, which possesses one of the world's largest stockpiles of artillery shells, has provided humanitarian aid and indirect military support, including exporting weapons to Poland and lending 500,000 rounds of 155mm artillery shells to the U.S. However, it has refrained from directly supplying arms to Kyiv, citing its longstanding policy of not providing weapons to countries actively involved in conflict. However, after it was confirmed that North Korean troops joined Russian forces to fight against Ukraine, South Korea has repeatedly said it could consider providing weapons, ranging from defensive to offensive ones depending on the extent of military ties between Russia and North Korea. The North is believed to have sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia, some of whom recently began engaging in combat operations in Russias Kursk region. Yoon said on Nov. 7 that he would not rule out the possibility of providing weapons to Ukraine. Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases, he said. However, the South Korean government is facing a dilemma over whether to provide lethal weapons directly to Ukraine, especially as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may pursue a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine after taking office in January. Opposition from the National Assembly is another significant factor contributing to Seoul's hesitancy. We will listen to Ukraines request, but we also have basic principles. We will respond step by step, but we will do so in coordination with our allies and partners such as the U.S. and NATO. We will draw up the governments policy while adhering to these principles, Shin said in an interview with Yonhap TV on Sunday. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul held talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on the sidelines of the foreign ministers' meeting of the Group of Seven advanced countries in Fiuggi, Italy, and said the government will take practical steps corresponding to the security threats and the progress of the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. During the meeting, Sybiha highlighted the need for action in response to the North's troop dispatch. Meanwhile, Russia warned South Korea about providing arms to Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko called on Seoul to refrain from reckless steps. Seoul must realize that the possible use of South Korean weapons to kill Russian citizens will fully destroy relations between our countries, Rudenko said on Sunday. Korea's presidential office on Wednesday expressed concerns about the potential impact of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Korean businesses in Mexico and Canada, vowing proactive measures to address the risks. Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential chief of staff for policy, held an interagency meeting to assess the potential effects of Trump's pledge to levy a 25 percent tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10 percent tariff on China. Trump's proposal has raised concerns among Korean companies with investments in Mexico and Canada that utilize the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement to access the North American market. "If the proposed 25 percent tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada becomes a reality, it would inevitably affect exports from Korean companies producing in these countries to the U.S.," the office said in a release. "It would also impact Korean companies in the U.S. sourcing components from Mexico and Canada, as well as those exporting intermediate goods to these countries," it noted. While the tariffs on China are expected to have a limited direct impact on Korean manufacturers in the semiconductor, steel and automotive sectors given their heavy focus on the Chinese market, officials also examined the broader effects of the escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. "A decline in China's exports to the U.S. could affect Korea's intermediate goods exports to China and may also intensify competition in third-country markets," the office said. Sung instructed senior officials from the finance, trade and foreign affairs ministries to proactively prepare responses for each scenario to minimize the potential risks from the new policies under the Trump administration. (Yonhap) Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said Wednesday he takes "full responsibility" for the controversy over Japan's memorial ceremony for Korean wartime forced labor victims, expressing regret over Tokyo's failure to honor the promises it made to the international community. Criticism emerged after Japan hosted the event for Sado mine forced laborers earlier this week, which failed to properly acknowledge the victims or the site's full history of forced mobilization of labor during World War II, when Korea was under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule. Holding a memorial ceremony was a condition for Seoul's consent to the location's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Critics have blasted the Korean government for what they call a "diplomatic failure" with Tokyo over historical issues, a longstanding thorn in bilateral relations between the two neighbors. "Consequently, I take full responsibility for how things have turned out," Cho told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, upon returning from the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting in Italy. "I regret that the outcome was not carried out properly," he said. As for what Japan has shown over the course of negotiations, however, Cho pointed out that it calls into question its commitment to delivering on its promise. "It's not a matter of negotiations, but a matter of judgment on whether or not Japan has carried out the promise it made to South Korea and to the international community," Cho said. Cho stressed that the government will continue to raise this issue with the World Heritage Committee and urge Japan to faithfully implement its commitments. Cho also said he expressed regret over the Sado mine memorial when he met one-on-one with his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, on the sidelines of the G7 gathering. "I explained in detail the reasons for and the backdrop of our decision not to attend Japan's ceremony," Cho said. "How could this have been explained without expressing regret?" Cho also told Iwaya that the attendance of a Japanese vice foreign minister, mistakenly believed to have visited the Yasukuni Shrine, was "not the decisive reason" for boycotting the event. The shrine honors the Japanese war dead, including war criminals from World War II, and any visits or offerings made to the site by Japanese government officials is strongly protested by countries like Korea and China. Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday it had expressed regret to Japan over the handling of the memorial service, a day after boycotting the Japan-hosted event. Instead, the ministry accompanied bereaved family members to a separate ceremony near the mine site to pay respects to the victims. (Yonhap) By Jung Da-hyun The Korea Times has selected 11 students and one institution as winners of the 13th Global Korea Youth Awards. Hwang Yu-na, a student at Cheongshim International Academy in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, won the Grand Prize award, which will be presented by Gender Equality and Family Vice Minister Shin Young-sook, who is serving as the acting minister. Born to a Chinese mother and Korean father, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership, serving as vice president of the schools student council. With a keen interest in science and astronomy, she actively engages in a range of activities both within and beyond the classroom. The Korea Times also selected two outstanding students each from the elementary, middle and high school levels. The winners are Maeng Ye-lin from Seoha Elementary School, Kim Jeong-in from Daap Elementary School, Kim Tae-yang from Wando Middle School, Kim Su-yeon from Murung Middle School, Lee Ji-eun from Doonchon High School and Lee Ji-na from Wonju Finance Accounting High School. Oh Song-hui from Daeja Middle School won the Special Jury award, while Arabella Nia Joshua from the School of Global SARANG won the Semoon Chang Award presented to students with exceptional talent in foreign languages. Kim Won-hee from Samgye Middle School received the Korean Association for Multicultural Education Award, while the University of Utah Asia Campus Award went to Shadikhodjaeva Asilakhon Sherzodovna from Sejong Arts High School. The School of Global SARANG was picked in the volunteer category. The grand prize winner will receive 2 million won ($1,430) and each of the winners of other awards will receive 1 million won. An awards ceremony will be held on Dec. 17 at the Korea Press Center in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to hold a meeting with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as early as Wednesday, sources close to the matter said. The Ukrainian delegation, which arrived in South Korea on Wednesday, is also expected to meet with Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun as early as later in the day, according to the sources. During the meetings, Umerov is anticipated to share intelligence on North Korea's troop deployment to Russia and seek South Korea's support for Ukraine's war efforts. The visit comes about a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Kyiv's plans to send a delegation to South Korea during his phone talks with Yoon. Yoon has said South Korea may consider providing arms support to Ukraine depending on the extent of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. Zelenskyy has previously emphasized Ukraine's urgent need for anti-aircraft missiles and artillery systems to counter threats from Russia. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed expectations that South Korea will work closely with Ukraine on information sharing with regard to the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. (Yonhap) President Yoon Suk Yeol urged the military to maintain strong readiness to counter growing security threats posed by North Korea's troop deployment to Russia, the presidential office said Wednesday. Yoon made the call during a promotion ceremony for six lieutenant generals, including new Marine Corps Commandant Ju Il-suk, at the presidential office. "North Korea has gone beyond nuclear and missile provocations by deploying a large number of troops to Russia, posing a serious threat to the peace of not only South Korea but also the international community," Yoon said. He expressed concerns about the security implications of North Korean forces potentially gaining modern warfare experience while fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. "With approximately 12,000 North Korean troops expected to share their combat experience with the rest of the over 1 million-strong North Korean military, it is crucial for our military to maintain thorough readiness," he said. During the ceremony, Yoon awarded them with Samjeonggeom, which means the "sword of triple sincerity" in Korean, traditionally symbolizing the power and authority of generals. (Yonhap) By KTimes A joint Korean-Chinese crime syndicate has been arrested for swindling 122 billion won ($92 million) from 84 individuals in an eight-month romance scam. The group impersonated Korean-heritage foreign women on social media to lure victims into fake cryptocurrency and gold investments. The Busan Police Agency announced Tuesday that 12 members, including a Korean recruiter and Chinese manager, have been arrested and charged with fraud and operating a criminal organization. Another eight members were charged without detention. The syndicate recruited Koreans in their 20s and 30s, relocating them to Cambodia and Laos to train them in scamming techniques. Members targeted victims through social media, presenting themselves as Korean-heritage foreign women. After building trust over a week of conversations, they persuaded victims to invest in fake cryptocurrency or gold trading platforms, according to the police. Victims were directed to fraudulent websites and coerced into investing amounts ranging from 1 million won to 20 billion won. When victims expressed doubt, the scammers played on emotional connections, asking, "Dont you trust me?" If victims requested returns, the group demanded additional deposits for taxes and fees before disappearing with the funds. Police reported that the victims, mostly men aged between 20 and 70, have collectively lost 122 billion won since January. The investigation began in April after a victim reported the scam. Authorities have arrested 20 syndicate members and are pursuing six Chinese masterminds with Interpol notices. Bank account tracking and further investigations are ongoing. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 26, GAC Group hosted its Commercial Vehicle Strategy and Product Launch Conference at the GAC Technology Museum, unveiling the "135" strategic roadmap to accelerate its transition to intelligent new energy commercial vehicles. The company aims to achieve annual revenue of 30 billion yuan in this field by 2030, establishing itself as a key player in the commercial vehicle sector. Photo credit: GAC Group The event also showcased two key innovations: the T9, a new energy heavy-duty truck designed specifically for short-haul operations, and the L intelligent driving platform developed by MiracoMotor, a technology innovation enterprise incubated within GAC Group). The platforms debut model, the Robobus L60, was unveiled at the event. "135" strategy for the development of commercial vehicles GAC Group General Manager Feng Xingya elaborated on the "135" strategy, which includes: Photo credit: GAC Group 1 Goal: Achieving 30 billion yuan in annual revenue by 2030 and becoming a core player in the new energy commercial vehicle sector. 3 Engines: Advancing intelligent manufacturing, fostering industry alliances, and building a user-centric ecosystem to drive innovation in electrification and intelligence. 5 Strategic Measures: Reforming organizational systems, developing a diverse product portfolio tailored to specific use cases, integrating GACs resources to deliver innovative integrated solutions, forming industry alliances for a shared ecosystem, and expanding globally with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as its foothold. T9 new energy heavy-duty truck model According to the carmaker, the T9 heavy-duty truck addresses key pain points in the short-haul transportation industry, such as product homogeneity and inefficient operations. Designed with low energy consumption, high cost efficiency, and intelligent features, the T9 offers a modularized integration of battery packs and chassis, low aerodynamic drag (0.4Cd), and lightweight materials, bringing its total weight to just 8.9 tonnes. Photo credit: GAC Group Equipped with GAC Hinos proprietary technologies, including a high-efficiency electric drive axle, integrated thermal management system, and an intelligent vehicle/cloud-enabled big data system, the T9 delivers a combined energy consumption rate of 1.1 kWh per kilometer. Its innovations ensure operators enjoy high comfort, functionality, and operational efficiency. MiracoMotor's L intelligent driving platform available for scale applications At the event, MiracoMotor unveiled the L platform, its first intelligent driving platform developed for scale applications. The platforms inaugural model, the Robobus L60, was unveiled and is set to be put into production in December 2024. Photo credit: GAC Group The Robobus L60 features passenger car-grade drive-by-wire steering and brake-by-wire systems, delivering faster response times and higher precision compared to traditional commercial vehicles. It also incorporates advanced energy-saving technologies, including an integrated intelligent thermal management system with a heat pump air conditioning unit. Building on the L platform, MiracoMotor plans to release two derivative products: Robotruck and Robovan. To the specific, the Robotruck T45 is scheduled for production in the first half of 2025. This driverless logistics vehicle eliminates the traditional cab, offering a 15-cubic-meter cargo capacity and a payload exceeding 2.1 tonnes. Slated for production in 2026, the Robovan X60 is developed to European standards and features an 800V high-voltage platform for improved efficiency. It offers a cargo volume exceeding 16.5 cubic meters, with a 25% increase in utilization efficiency compared to traditional designs. This makes it an ideal solution for digital logistics operations and dual-purpose passenger and cargo applications. Prosecutors investigating bribery allegations involving former President Moon Jae-in have decided not to question his wife, Kim Jung-sook, in person, their office said Wednesday, after she has refused to comply with their summons. The Jeonju District Prosecutors Office made the announcement, saying Kim has explicitly stated through her lawyers that she is not willing to be questioned as a witness regarding the suspicion that Moon's ex-son-in-law was unfairly hired as an airline executive in exchange for favors for the firm's founder. The office in the southwestern city of Jeonju, 190 kilometers south of Seoul, added that there is no way to forcibly grill a witness under the current law. Moon's former son-in-law, surnamed Seo, was employed as an executive director at the Thailand-based budget carrier Thai Eastar Jet in 2018 after the company's founder and former two-term lawmaker Lee Sang-jik was appointed as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency. Prosecutors suspect that Lee's appointment as head of the government agency was made in exchange for hiring Seo at his airline company, particularly given his lack of experience in the airline industry at that time. Moon allegedly stopped providing financial support to the family of his daughter, Da-hye, after Seo's employment. Thus prosecutors view the about 223 million won ($160,000) in salary and other compensation paid by Thai Eastar Jet to Seo and Da-hye as a bribe to the former president. The prosecution reportedly sent a summons to Kim on Nov. 20, asking her to appear before prosecutors between Nov. 25-29. But she declined the request the following day. Da-hye has also refused to be questioned as a witness to the investigation three times, according to the prosecution. Seo has appeared before prosecutors as a witness several times but reportedly exercised his right to remain silent. Da-hye and Seo divorced in recent years. Legal experts speculate the prosecution may attempt to call in Moon as a suspect for questioning about the bribery allegation without questioning Kim and Da-hye. (Yonhap) An appellate court on Wednesday upheld a 15-year prison sentence for the assailant in a knife attack on opposition leader Lee Jae-myung early this year. The assailant, a 67-year-old man surnamed Kim, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in July for stabbing Lee in the neck during the opposition leader's visit to the southeastern city of Busan on Jan. 2. The Busan High Court rejected Kim's appeal and upheld the ruling, saying the sentence was "fully acceptable" given the assailant tried to justify his crime and concealed evidence. The court also said responsibility for the crime was "heavy" considering he tried to disrupt free and fair elections by carrying out the attack ahead of parliamentary elections. Kim was charged with attempted murder and violating election laws. Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, was hospitalized for eight days after the attack. (Yonhap) Controversial remarks during lecture at high school triggers calls to boycott education company By KTimes Son Joo-eun, chairman of the prominent private education company MegaStudy Group, is under fire for controversial comments made during a lecture to high school students. Son said that "giving birth is more important than going to college" and warned that "a life without academic success is worse than that of a sex worker." According to the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, Son delivered a special lecture titled "Study to Help Others" to about 500 high school students, including both boys and girls, in Daegu on Nov. 22. During the lecture, Son addressed Korea's demographic crisis, advocating for special university admissions policies favoring teenagers who give birth. "Having children is more important than going to college. I urge girl students to change their way of thinking," he said. "Giving birth in your late teens or early 20s is one of the most significant contributions you can make to this country." He also said, "If possible, get married and have children quickly. If marriage isnt an option, then just have children first." Son also revealed a past incident where he told a struggling student that their life could be "worse than that of a sex worker." He said, "When I saw this student, whose face was covered in acne and who ranked 20th in the class, I thought there was no hope for them outside of academics." Son told the student, "If you continue living like this, I feel your life will be worse than that of a sex worker. At least they get paid for their services, but you would end up giving away your money, becoming nothing more than a mans plaything." After the lecture, students expressed outrage, saying they felt "sexually humiliated" and called for a boycott of MegaStudy. Some parents also lodged complaints with the school. The school later stated that it had received an apology from Son via MegaStudy last Monday. However, controversy deepened when students received notifications that MegaStudys legal team was preparing a response, raising concerns over potential intimidation. MegaStudy Group issued a statement saying, "We apologize if any expressions used during the lecture, intended to discuss awareness of the low birthrate and examples of students changing their futures through academics, made students uncomfortable." The company also clarified that it had not taken any action to remove videos of the lecture from Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. Creative diplomacy essential to preparing for Trump 2.0 By Kang Hyun-kyung U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps nomination of former State Department official Alex Wong as deputy national security adviser has sparked speculation among experts and media in South Korea about its potential implications for the country. Citing Wongs previous role in the U.S.-North Korea summit during the first term of the Trump administration, one South Korean media outlet said Trumps pick could be a harbinger of another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. As Trump said, Wong, who previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for North Korea, helped negotiate the Trump-Kim summit in his first term. Another media outlet, however, interpreted the nomination differently. Based on Wongs previous remarks during a seminar held in Seoul, it forecast that there will be no major changes in the U.S. governments stance on the denuclearization of North Korea and that, therefore, the U.S. would never recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. Meanwhile, Wongs previous career as global head of public affairs at Coupang was addressed in another media outlet to highlight his connection with South Korea. Although these three media outlets views are different, their reactions have one thing in common: South Korea is wary of a possible policy shift under Trump in his second term. This is not the first time Korean media outlets and experts have tried to predict what will happen once Trump takes office in January. Whenever Trump unveiled his picks for U.S. national security adviser, state department secretary and other key post holders whose responsibilities include affairs of the two Koreas, experts here were quick to speculate about their possible role in South Korea-U.S. relations. Its understandable that South Korea is keen to watch the U.S. president-elects nominations of key post holders and interpret how they could impact South Korea. This is presumably what other countries also do around this sensitive time period because, like South Korea, they are also wary of a possible policy shift and its fallout on their bilateral relations with the U.S. However, as always, hectic reactions wont help South Korea at all. Policymakers should stay cool and realistic when they analyze and draw up measures to prepare for Trump 2.0. There is a particular skill South Koreas policymakers and experts need to hone when preparing for the incoming U.S. administration: They should think like Trump. What would matter most to President-elect Trump? How he would handle that? Policymakers can start by answering these two questions and then navigate the options South Korea can choose. Trump is expected to prioritize decoupling from China and will invest all his time and energy to make it happen. To live up to his commitment, he is expected to mobilize all political and diplomatic capital to counter China in trade and foreign policy. Currently, the biggest challenge is the war in Ukraine as the U.S., like the European Union, is pitted against Russia. Trump will want to end this situation and is expected to push for a cease-fire deal. Although a bumpy road is ahead, a cease-fire deal, if signed, will benefit South Korea, too. If the war in Ukraine ends, North Koreas dangerous military cooperation with Russia will slow down. This shared interest shows whats good for the U.S. can also benefit South Korea. There will be more areas where the two sides can find mutual gains. The question is then which side is primarily responsible for seeking out new areas of cooperation and suggesting the allies work together. As an old Korean saying suggests, people who are thirsty are supposed to initiate to dig a well. And this time, the one that needs to dig a well is South Korea. Policymakers need to be creative and think outside the box to find what those new areas of cooperation will be. The writer is a member of The Korea Times editorial board. Prudent measures needed in looming trade war U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reignited controversy with his proposal to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada. In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that one of his first executive actions would be to implement this tariff on goods entering the U.S. from its northern and southern neighbors. He justified the move by accusing both countries of exploiting what he described as "ridiculous open borders." The proposal has sparked concern not only in Mexico and Canada key partners in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) but also in other nations with substantial trade surpluses with the U.S., such as South Korea. Trump justifies these tariffs by linking them to illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico and Canada, and the rise in drug-related crime. He has also claimed that much of the fentanyl fueling the U.S. opioid crisis is imported from China, promising to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods until such imports are eliminated. This stance signals a broader escalation in Trump's trade policies, foreshadowing a potential tariff war during his administration. For countries like South Korea whose trade relationship with the U.S. includes a significant surplus there is growing concern about being caught in the crosshairs of Trumps aggressive trade measures. South Korea, a major trading partner with the U.S., faces significant risks from Trump's proposed tariffs. With strong trade ties to both Mexico and the U.S., South Korean companies operating in the Central American country stand to be among the hardest hit. Many of these businesses, particularly in the automotive and home appliance sectors, have heavily invested in Mexico to capitalize on its lower labor costs and tariff-free access to the U.S. market. In 2023, South Korea emerged as Mexico's second-largest foreign investor, pouring over 1 trillion won ($716 million) into the country. A 25 percent tariff on goods manufactured in Mexico would sharply increase the cost of exporting these products to the U.S., undermining the profitability of these investments. This could force South Korean firms to rethink their strategies and restructure global supply chains to adapt to the new trade landscape. The prospect of tariff impositions on South Korean goods produced in Mexico is just one part of a wider threat posed by Trumps trade policies. With South Koreas significant trade surplus with the U.S., it is highly likely that the Trump administration will scrutinize the KORUS Free Trade Agreement (FTA) more closely once it takes office. Trump has already criticized South Korea in the past over what he perceives as an imbalance in trade, and he may use this as leverage to press for further concessions, including demanding that Seoul shoulder more of the cost of maintaining U.S. military forces in South Korea. Such demands would add further strain to the bilateral relationship. In light of these developments, it is imperative that the South Korean government adopt a proactive approach. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration must prepare to engage with the Trump team, emphasizing the value of the U.S.-South Korea alliance and the mutual benefits of close economic cooperation. The U.S. is eager to revitalize its manufacturing sector, and South Koreas strong position in industries like semiconductors, automobiles and electronics could be an asset in such efforts. South Korea should remind the U.S. that a stable and robust economic partnership will contribute to job creation and economic growth in both countries. Moreover, South Korea must also highlight the critical strategic importance of the bilateral alliance, especially in the face of increasing North Korean threats. The U.S. military presence in South Korea is not just a security asset for the region but also a strategic necessity for the United States. It is essential that Trump respects the value of this partnership and does not undermine it in pursuit of short-term trade gains. South Koreas strategy should be one of flexibility, pragmatism and realism. Rather than simply resisting U.S. tariffs or pushing back against demands for further concessions, South Korea should offer mutually beneficial proposals. This could include expanding cooperation in sectors where both nations stand to gain, such as technology, clean energy and regional security. South Koreas ability to navigate these challenges will depend on its capacity to respond quickly and decisively to the shifting dynamics of international trade under Trumps administration. The looming trade war and the prospect of tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and other countries pose serious challenges. South Korea, while maintaining its strong economic ties with the U.S., must remain vigilant and agile in the face of these threats. The Yoon administration must approach these challenges with a clear understanding of the broader geopolitical and economic implications, ensuring that any agreements or compromises made are beneficial to both nations in the long term. The coming months will require diplomatic skill and strategic foresight to weather this storm effectively. By Jang Daul Nuclear power has long been a controversial issue mainly due to nuclear accidents, radioactive waste, nuclear proliferation and high costs. Now, the nuclear debate is centered on the role of nuclear power in the zero-carbon power mix to address the global climate crisis. In order to determine whether nuclear power is a feasible option that can make an additional contribution to the urgent global carbon reduction, it is necessary to understand the current status of the global nuclear industry based on neither plans nor hopes but facts. To do so, it's hard to find a better resource than the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), written by an interdisciplinary group of independent experts around the world, which analyzes the industry through dozens of indicators. As John Mecklin, editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said, "The report provides authoritative, important information that cannot and should not be ignored, regardless of one's attitudes about the nuclear industry." Therefore, as a citizen of the world's fifth-largest nuclear power operating country, it is important to look at the key findings in the 513-page WNISR 2024 report. 1. Nuclear capacity growth stagnates Last year, five reactors (5 gigawatt or GW) started up and five were closed (6 GW). As of July 1 (hereafter mid-2024), 408 reactors were operating in 32 countries. The net operating capacity was 367 GW as of mid-2024 which is almost the same as the 2006 end-of-year record. In other words, there was not much growth over the last 17 years. 2. Nuclear power generation growth stagnates Global nuclear power plants produced 2,602 terawatt-hour of electricity in 2023 which was a 2.2 percent increase compared to 2022. Yet, it was still less than the peak of 2,660 TWh in 2006. Furthermore, the modest but growing trend over the past decade was mainly due to China's contribution. 3. The share of nuclear in global electricity generation falls Nuclear energy's share of global electricity generation was 9.15 percent in 2023, a slight decrease from the previous year, and it was much lower than the historical peak of 17.5 percent in 1996. 4. Construction shrunk and faces difficult challenges Globally, 59 reactors of which 27 are in China were under construction as of mid-2024, with many facing years of delays and cost overruns. It was roughly a quarter of the historical peak of 234 reactors under construction in 1979. 5. More closures than startups of reactors Over two decades (2004-23), 102 reactors started operation, and 104 were closed. Out of the 102 startups, 49 of them were in China which did not close any reactors. In other words, there has been a significant net decline of 51 reactors outside China during the two decades. 6. Not many export opportunities, and Russia dominates Out of the 59 reactors under construction, 37 (63 percent) are built by domestic technology. And out of the remaining 22 reactors built by foreign technology, Russia is building 20 (91 percent) of them. 7. It takes much longer than 10 years to build The average construction time of the 18 reactors connected to the grid between 2021 and 2023 was 10 years. The construction time here only covers the actual construction (commonly marked by the first concrete being poured to form the foundation of the reactor building) to the connection to the grid. There are lengthy preliminary steps before the actual construction, including siting, radiological environmental impact assessment, public engagement and regulatory safety review for construction license. 8. Aging reactors are shutting down In the absence of significant new reactor startups over many years, the average age of global reactors has been increasing since 1984 and, as of mid-2024, is 32 years. Around a third of the global reactors have operated for 41 or more years. The average age at closure of the 29 reactors between 2019 and 2023 was around 43 years. Considering the factual analysis of multiple indicators above, it is reasonable to conclude that the global nuclear industry is grappling with stagnation of further growth, aging of reactors and mounting challenges of new startups. Therefore, it would be quite difficult to even maintain the current contribution of nuclear power in the global zero-carbon electricity generation for the coming decades. These are the straight facts about the status of the global nuclear industry. Simply, there is no such thing as a 'nuclear renaissance.' Jang Daul (daul@oceanenergypathway.org) is a climate and energy expert and advocacy specialist. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not reflect The Korea Times editorial stance. 3 vice chairmen retain posts to ensure stability By Nam Hyun-woo Samsung Electronics announced a major leadership shakeup at its Device Solutions (DS) division, Wednesday, replacing the heads of its memory and foundry businesses. The leadership reshuffle is widely viewed as Samsungs response to mounting concerns about its position as the worlds leading memory chipmaker and also reflects growing pressure for decisive leadership changes to bolster the companys competitiveness in advanced chip manufacturing. Despite the leadership changes at its chip division, Samsung chose not to replace its three vice chairmen, signaling its intention to maintain stability ahead of a critical court ruling involving Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong. The ruling, expected in February, pertains to a high-profile 2015 merger case that has drawn significant attention. In its regular reshuffle of nine president-level executives, Samsung named DS division Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun as one of the companys co-CEOs and the new head of the memory business. The change replaces Lee Jung-bae, the outgoing head of the memory division, and places the business directly under the leadership of a CEO. Samsung appointed Device Solutions America Executive Vice President Han Jin-man as the new head of the foundry business, replacing Choi Si-young. The company also created a new president-level position, titled chief technology officer of the foundry business, which has been given to Nam Seok-woo. Nam, who was previously responsible for manufacturing and infrastructure in the DS division, will now focus on driving the technological strategy of the foundry business. The reshuffle is viewed as Samsung's effort to strengthen the execution capabilities of its memory chip division and to address employee morale in its struggling foundry business through strategic changes. Jun, a memory chip specialist who led the semiconductor division from 2014 to 2017, returned to Samsung Electronics in May as the head of the DS division, to take on the tasks of improving Samsungs competitiveness in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) business and normalizing operations at the foundry business. HBM has become one of the most important sectors in the semiconductor industry, particularly due to its use in artificial intelligence (AI) processors. However, Samsung is trailing behind its competitor, SK hynix, which currently leads the market as the primary supplier to Nvidia. Given this context, placing the memory business under Jun's direct control signals that Samsung is placing greater emphasis on its HBM business. The appointment of Jun Young-hyun as the head of memory business means that he will be managing the HBM business directly, said Lee Jong-hwan, a professor at Sangmyung Universitys Department of System Semiconductor Engineering and a former Samsung Electronics researcher. "This demonstrates the company's intention to avoid past mistakes, such as sidelining the HBM business, and to enhance its competitiveness with strong leadership. It also suggests that Jun will personally oversee efforts to resolve challenges related to supplying Samsungs HBM chips to major tech companies, including Nvidia." The appointment of Han as the new head of Samsung's foundry business aligns with this strategy. Before taking charge of Samsung's chip business in the United States in 2022, Han worked in the company's design teams for DRAM and flash memory and also held marketing roles. In March, Han garnered attention by securing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huangs "Jensen approved" endorsement for Samsungs 12-layer HBM3e chip. Samsung said Han's appointment was made with the expectation that he will "strengthen networks with key clients and enhance competitiveness by leveraging his combination of technical expertise, business acumen and extensive experience in global customer engagement." While bringing changes to its DS division, Samsung pursued stability in its top leadership, with the companys three vice chairmen retaining their positions. Samsungs Device Experience (DX) division head and co-CEO Han Jong-hee will expand his responsibilities by taking on the role of chair for the newly established Product Quality Innovation Committee. The DX division is in charge of smartphones and other electronic appliances. Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho, who leads the companys business support task force and is widely regarded as the right-hand man of Lee, the executive chairman, retained his position due to his critical role as Samsung's top strategist. System LSI business head Park Yong-in, responsible for designing mobile application processors and other chips, along with mobile experience business head Roh Tae-moon, who leads the Galaxy smartphone series, both retained their positions. Market watchers speculate that Wednesdays reshuffle may be part of Samsung's efforts to ensure stability ahead of the Seoul High Court's upcoming ruling on an appeals trial regarding the executive chairman's alleged involvement in the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung Group affiliates. The primary purpose of the merger was to streamline Samsung's corporate structure and strengthen the control of the Lee family, particularly in preparation for the succession of Lee Jae-yong. The merger was controversial due to allegations of stock price manipulation, undervaluation of assets and potential harm to minority shareholders. During the final hearing of the trial on Monday, Lee pleaded his innocence, acknowledging that he is aware of the "concerns surrounding Samsungs future" and stating that the company is now facing "a reality more challenging than ever before." Lee was cleared of all 19 charges in a lower court trial in February, as the Seoul Central District Court ruled that tightening Lees control over Samsung Group was not the sole purpose of the merger, and there was no evidence that the merger caused financial harm to shareholders. However, the prosecution appealed the decision, seeking a five-year prison sentence. They argued that the group had manipulated the stock market to facilitate the merger. With the court set to deliver its ruling on Feb. 3, Samsung appears to have opted against making sweeping changes involving its executives, apparently to avoid amplifying uncertainties during this critical period. While Samsung need to change, it is also true that the company also needs stability given Lees trial, the professor said. "Whats more important are the shakeups at the companys vice-president level, which are expected to follow soon. Samsung's current crisis is rooted in missteps in its leadership strategy, and to resolve this, the company needs executives who possess a deep understanding of technology." Korean companies with manufacturing bases in Mexico are scrambling to prepare for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico at the start of his second presidential term. The former U.S. president posted on social media Monday (U.S. time) that he plans to use an executive order to levy tariffs on goods made in Mexico and Canada on his first day in office, part of his campaign pledge to entice firms to establish production bases in America. Mexico has been regarded as an ideal export hub for targeting the North American market due to its low labor costs and the benefits of a U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. As of last year, Korea ranked 11th in foreign direct investments made in Mexico. Samsung Electronics operates a home appliance factory in Queretaro and a TV factory in Tijuana. LG Electronics runs production facilities in Reynosa, Monterrey and Ramos Arizpe. "Since we also operate production bases in various regions outside the U.S., we are preparing countermeasures while considering various possibilities, including changes in trade policies," an electronics industry source said. LS Cable & System, which broke ground on a new factory in Mexico in August, is preparing response measures. In the automotive industry, Kia operates a production plant in Mexico, producing 250,000 vehicles annually in Monterrey. Of these, approximately 150,000 units are exported to the U.S. Auto parts makers Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Transys Inc. also operate manufacturing facilities in Monterrey. The Korean trade ministry is closely monitoring trade policy-related developments in the U.S. while assessing the potential fallout from the anticipated spike in tariffs. "Since Trump is still the president-elect, no immediate actions are being taken as of now," a ministry official said. "Any policy implementation, such as imposing tariffs, will only occur after his inauguration in January." Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said in a recent meeting with companies operating in Mexico that the government will work to minimize business uncertainties by operating cooperation channels with Mexico's central government and local governments where many Korean companies are based. The ministry is closely watching the possibility of Vietnam also becoming a target of U.S. tariffs, as the Southeast Asian nation posted the third-largest trade surplus among the U.S.' trade partners in 2023. Vietnam serves as a major production base for many Korean companies. Korea accounts for 17.9 percent of total investment and 24.3 percent of projects among Vietnam's 148 foreign investor countries. (Yonhap) Samsung Electronics announced its new leadership Wednesday with a focus on the semiconductor business, in an apparent move to strengthen its future competitiveness in the field. Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of the device solutions (DS) division, was named CEO and will also lead the memory business and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, the Korean company said in a press release. In a bid to bolster its technological competitiveness, the new CEO will directly manage the memory business unit. Since taking office as the DS division head in May, Jun has created a new high bandwidth memory (HBM) development team in just over a month and has vowed to regain leadership in the global chip market. Han Jin-man, former executive vice president and president of Device Solutions America, was promoted to president and will head the foundry business, which is suffering a loss of trillions of won. Han is expected to work to enhance the competitiveness of the foundry business through his network of global clients and his technological expertise. Samsung Electronics also newly created the chief technology officer position for its foundry business and appointed Nam Seok-woo, former president and head of FAB Engineering & Operations. Kim Yong-kwan, former executive vice president of a business support taskforce, has also been promoted to president of management strategy at the device solutions division. The latest reshuffle affected a total of nine officials, including seven who have been reassigned to new positions. Samsung Electronics said the reshuffle is aimed at giving new challenges, such as the innovation of brands and consumer experience, to veteran executives with "global leadership" and "excellent management capabilities" to foster mid-to-long-term growth of the company. The Korean chipmaker has been in a crisis this year as it posted disappointing earnings, apparently lagging behind its rivals in the global artificial intelligence chip war, and also due to a negative outlook for the global semiconductor industry. In the July-September period, Samsung posted a lower-than-expected operating profit from its chips division at 3.86 trillion won, marking a sharp decline from a 6.45 trillion won profit in the previous quarter. In the high-value high bandwidth memory (HBM) chip market, the company is trailing after its local rival SK hynix, which has already started mass-producing the industry-leading 12-layer HBM3E chips. Samsung's HBM3E products are still undergoing qualification testing by Nvidia, a key customer in the AI market. Earlier this month, shares in Samsung hit 49,900 won ($35.70), the lowest mark since June 2020, prompting the company to initiate a share buyback program. The stock price had rebounded to 58,300 won as of Tuesday. (Yonhap) Korea's industry ministry said Wednesday it has selected a site in the East Sea for the first drilling operation to uncover potential gas and oil reserves, with the process set to begin next month. The decision came during a meeting with related agencies in Seoul to review progress in preparations for the exploration project in the East Sea that could potentially uncover between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of gas and oil, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Korea is set to initiate the first drilling operation next month, which is expected to take around two months, with the drilling ship scheduled to arrive in the southeastern port city of Busan in mid-December. The government plans to announce the results of the first drilling operation in the first half of next year. "As we have taken the first step toward the full-fledged development of a deep-sea gas reserve, we should not be overly concerned about the success of the first drilling operation but continue with follow-up efforts based on the experience and information gained," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said. If confirmed, the reserves could be sufficient to meet the country's gas demand for up to 29 years and its oil demand for four years. Costs, however, remain a major hurdle for the development project, as drilling a single hole is estimated to cost around 100 billion won to 130 billion won (71.5 million-$93 million). In October, the Korea National Oil (KNOC) named S&P Global as the adviser for the East Sea project. KNOC has also been holding meetings with global and domestic businesses to attract investment since July. (Yonhap) Beijing (Gasgoo)- On November 22, Dongfeng Motor held a grand launch event for the right-hand-drive version of the DONGFENG BOX electric vehicle model at its flagship store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Themed "Step into possibilities of BOX," the event showcased an innovative electric vehicle experience. Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor The venue was designed to exude modernity and artistic flair, illuminated with vibrant lighting. Four dedicated zones, including "BOX of Style," "BOX of Versatile," "BOX of Recharge," and "BOX of Love", highlighted the model's distinctive features, offering attendees an immersive experience to explore the BOX's versatility and potential. The DONGFENG BOX targets markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In the first half of this year, the BOX made appearances in European markets including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. According to Dongfeng Motor, the European-specific BOX began production in July, with the first batch of 2,000 units already shipped to Europe. Previously, the right-hand-drive version of the BOX has also been introduced in Southeast Asia, appearing in markets like Nepal and Malaysia, signaling Dongfeng Motor's commitment to expanding its global footprint in electric mobility. Farming machine makers anticipate ceasefire in Europes breadbasket By Park Jae-hyuk Competition is heating up between Koreas major farming machine manufacturers to sell their products in Ukraine amid growing expectations that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will end the Russo-Ukrainian war. Daedong recently became the first Korean agricultural equipment maker to sell a large volume of products in Ukraine since Russia began its invasion in February 2022, as the company signed an agreement with a Ukrainian farming machine importer this month to supply tractors worth 30 billion won ($21 million) over the next three years. The agreement was reached five months after they signed a contract in June for the supply of 10 Daedong tractors to Ukrainian farmers, allowing them to test the machines in the countrys highly fertile soil. Daedong explained that the latest supply deal was the result of positive feedback from the farmers regarding the quality of its products and services that it offered during the testing of its tractors. Before Daedong revealed the contract, TYM was seen as the primary beneficiary of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, having donated farming machines to the war-torn country every year since 2022, thus establishing itself as Daedong's main rival. TYM also participated last month in a meeting of companies interested in the reconstruction of post-war Ukraine. Earlier this month, Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Pryputen visited TYMs headquarters in Seoul, prompting the Korean firms stock price to hit the daily limit high after the announcement of his visit. However, it was revealed belatedly that Ukrainian Sen. Oleksander Denysenko visited Daedong in August to initiate discussions about the companys participation in the post-war reconstruction of the country. This month, Denysenko made another three-day visit to Daedongs Seoul office and a manufacturing plant in Daegu to support the Ukrainian government in helping the countrys farmers purchase the Korean firms agricultural machinery. According to Daedong, the Ukrainian politician said that his country wants to restore its agriculture with the companys machines and to boost the bilateral partnership for future-oriented agriculture. Read More Farming machine makers turn to Europe amid decline in US demand Long known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine was the worlds fourth-largest exporter of agricultural products before Russia's invasion. A report published by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency showed that the size of Ukraines annual import of tractors reached $790 million in 2022 and rose 4.6 percent to $830 million in 2023. By Jhoo Dong-chan The Singapore Chamber of Commerce Korea (SingCham Korea) is hosting its inaugural year-end gala on Nov. 29, bringing together business leaders and government officials from both Korea and Singapore. According to the business lobby group, about 200 guests are expected to attend the gala on Friday. The event will not only celebrate the success of bilateral cooperation between Korea and Singapore but also provide attendees with an opportunity to network, strengthen relationships, and enjoy after-dinner performances. As part of the gala's program, SingCham Korea is expected to showcase performances representing the pop culture of both countries, featuring artists such as Nat Ho, Hyewon, and Crowe, following the dinner. The event takes place at Signiel Hotel in Songpa District, Seoul. By Nam Hyun-woo Kolmar Korea's research and development (R&D) capabilities are gaining market attention due to the global popularity of Korean beauty and cosmetic products, as evidenced by the company's role as a contract manufacturer for many indie brands that are now leading beauty industry trends. According to the U.S. International Trade Commissions DataWeb, Korean products accounted for 22 percent of the U.S. import cosmetics market as of September, surpassing France at 16.7 percent and Canada at 13.3 percent to take the top spot. This achievement came just two years after Korean products ranked third in 2022. Notably, it was independent brands operated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) driving the quick ascent, rather than large companies. According to Koreas Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the countrys cosmetics exports stood at $7.4 billion from January to September this year, and SMEs represented 68 percent, or $5.02 billion of the total, meaning that nearly seven out of 10 exported Korean beauty products were from SMEs. Cosmetics industry insiders said original development manufacturers (ODMs) such as Kolmar Korea played important roles in the success of independent brands, drawing comparisons to TSMC, the worlds largest semiconductor contract manufacturer. Kolmar Korea was established in 1990 as a company focusing on contract manufacturing or developing cosmetics products. The company has never offered its own brands, as part of its philosophy of not competing with its clients. With the growth of Korean cosmetic brands, Kolmar Koreas profitability is also improving. The company posted a revenue of 626.5 billion won ($448.24 million) for the third quarter of this year, up 21.33 percent year-on-year, while its operating profit jumped 75.74 percent to 54.5 billion won during the same period. The companys client base is also expanding in tandem with the market growth. The number of its clients, which reached 2,509 in 2022 and 3,147 in 2023, is projected to grow to 3,776 by the end of this year. Kolmar Korea's clients include Beauty of Joseon and SKIN1004, which are popular on Amazon and other cosmetics platforms. Kolmar Korea said it is improving its competitiveness with aggressive investments in R&D, which accounts for 5 to 7 percent of its yearly sales. More than 30 percent of the companys total employees are researchers. Building on Korean beauty brands popularity, Kolmar Korea is also strengthening support for SMEs. In June, the company and Amazon jointly held the Amazon K-Beauty Conference in Seoul, unveiling plans to support the global expansion of independent beauty brands. Kolmar Korea has built distinguished competitiveness through big data and R&D capabilities with more than 3,000 clients over the past 34 years, an official at the company said. Moving forward, we will continue to elevate the global status of K-beauty and create sustainable success models by fostering mutual growth with independent brands. By Park Jae-hyuk HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) held a signing ceremony, Wednesday, to celebrate the delivery of the ROKS Jeongjo the Great destroyer to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy at its shipyard in Ulsan. Named after the 22nd monarch of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, the ship is Koreas first locally developed 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, which is larger than previous Aegis destroyers designed and built by Korean shipbuilders. In addition to the Korean naval officers, U.S. Consul Nolan Barkhouse, Ecuadorian Ambassador Patricio Esteban Troya Suarez, Polish Charge d'Affaires Artur Gradziuk and envoys from Morocco, Chile, Thailand and Peru attended the ceremony. HD HHI said that the diplomats also examined the Chungnam-class frigate, which will be delivered to the ROK Navy next month. The shipbuilder expects the recent event to help increase its naval ship exports to Poland and Peru. The signing ceremony was also held as HD HHI is exploring potential cooperation with the U.S. Navy for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of U.S. warships at its shipyard. Its a great honor for us to successfully deliver the top-class Aegis destroyer Jeongjo the Great, said Joo Won-ho, head of HD HHIs naval and special ship business. We will do our best to contribute to Koreas defense exports with the Team Korea, Team Ship spirit. According to HD HHI, Jeongjo the Great is equipped with the latest Aegis combat management system, multi-function phased array radar, integrated sonar system developed independently by the company, as well as a vertical launch system that is customized for the ROK Navy and ballistic missile interceptors that can detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles. HD HHI started building the ship in 2021 after signing a contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The destroyer was launched in July 2022 to undergo 550 thorough trial tests, including maximum speed evaluation. Next year, the shipbuilder will launch the ROKS Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, another 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer named after a Joseon philosopher, who was an aide to King Jeongjo. HD HHI began construction last month on the third 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer. Government set to shoulder more of financial burden for Yongin chip cluster By Lee Min-hyung The Korean government is set to provide a policy financing package worth 14 trillion won ($10 billion) to chip material, component and equipment manufacturers, as well as fabless companies, in an effort to support struggling industry players facing heightened trade risks under the upcoming presidency of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government is also considering taking on a financial burden of 1.8 trillion won to cover the cost of undergrounding transmission lines for a semiconductor cluster to be established in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The government will supply the massive policy financing in 2025 to every corner of the industry, so Koreas chip industry can overcome escalating market uncertainties triggered by the inauguration of the new government in the U.S. and Chinas growing rivalry, the ministry said in a statement, Wednesday. The decision came amid increasing concerns that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix may no longer be eligible for subsidies from the United States, as Trump intensifies his rhetoric surrounding the CHIPS and Science Act enacted by the Biden administration. Under the act, Samsung Electronics will receive $6.4 billion in subsidies for its plant in Texas, and SK hynix is also scheduled to win $450 million in incentives for its chip packaging facility investment in Indiana. Responding to the external risk factor, the Korean government is in talks with the National Assembly to minimize corporate burden for the infrastructure project of the chip cluster. The power transmission infrastructure project is worth 3 trillion won, but the government is moving to cover more than half of the expenses to ensure its smooth progress. The Korea Development Bank is also set to launch a low-interest loan product worth 4.25 trillion won for chip industry players. The state-run lender has plans to expand the chip ecosystem fund to around 420 billion won next year. The government and the National Assembly are on track to join forces to offer more tax incentives for companies investing in chip equipment and conducting research in the industry. Both ruling and opposition parties have recently reached a consensus to increase the tax deduction rate for semiconductor equipment investment by large companies to 20 percent, a 5 percentage point increase. The rate for small and medium-sized chip companies will also rise to 30 percent. The authority pledged to increase tax benefits to any chip players expanding R&D investment. The government also presented its vision to invest more in artificial intelligence (AI). Under the plan, it will team up with the private sector to build what it calls the national AI computing center worth 4 trillion won by 2030. The move reflects the intensifying rivalry in the global AI industry, with the U.S. and China especially pushing aggressively to expand their AI infrastructure in a bid to gain the upper hand. Catching up with the AI-driven global tech paradigm shift, the government will invest 400 billion won in expanding the nations AI computing infrastructure next year. By Nam Hyun-woo Lotte Group said Thursday that it provided Seoul's landmark Lotte World Tower as collateral to strengthen the creditworthiness of corporate bonds issued by its struggling chemical unit, Lotte Chemical. The move is part of the group's efforts to reassure investors about its financial prudence. Lotte Group said in a statement that it will offer Lotte World Tower to banks as collateral to enhance the creditworthiness of its corporate bonds through bank guarantees related to the bond agreements. The 123-story, 555-meter Lotte World Tower is the worlds sixth-tallest building and the highest in Korea. Owned by Lotte Property & Development, its current value exceeds 6 trillion won ($4.3 billion). The statement came after Lotte Chemical revealed last week that it was in a position where creditors could declare an event of default and demand early repayment of its corporate bonds, valued at 2.05 trillion won. This development arose from the companys inability to comply with the predetermined terms of the bonds. The bond agreements required Lotte Chemical to maintain an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of at least five times its average interest expenses over the past three years. However, that ratio dropped to 4.3 times in the third quarter of this year due to declining earnings, enabling creditors to demand full repayment before the bonds maturity. Lotte Chemical said that this agreement does not reflect its redemption capabilities, and added that it will hold a meeting with creditors on Dec. 19 to adjust the precondition. "With this latest measure, we aim to assure stakeholders that Lotte Chemical's liquidity remains stable," the group said in the statement. The group also said it plans to actively counter recent rumors of a liquidity crisis. When such rumors circulated on Nov. 18, the group's holding company, Lotte Holdings, saw its share price drop 6.59 percent, while Lotte Chemical experienced a sharper decline of 10.22 percent. Israel approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants on Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire, starting at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza , where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. The last stages have been the most scary, said Ahmad Khateeb, who fled to the citys seaside promenade with relatives. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire agreement after Netanyahu presented it, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement good news and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed accomplishments against Israels enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran. If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack, he said. For every violation, we will attack with might. The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. Netanyahus office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but reserves the right to act against every threat to its security. Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday it had not seen the agreement in its final form. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. Any violation of sovereignty is refused. Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it called Hezbollah targets across Lebanon while the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanons Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously were not targeted. Residents fled. Traffic was gridlocked, with mattresses tied to some cars. Dozens of people, some wearing pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said peacekeepers will not evacuate. The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages ever since. Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the countrys north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. (AP) China's state media shrugged off U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods in editorials late on Tuesday, accusing the former president of blaming China for the country's failure to address the fentanyl crisis. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said on Monday he would impose "an additional 10 percent tariff, above any additional tariffs" on imports from China. He previously said he would introduce tariffs in excess of 60 percent on Chinese goods. The tariff threat is rattling China's industrial complex, which sells goods worth more than $400 billion annually to the U.S. and hundreds of billions more in components for products Americans buy from elsewhere. Economists have begun downgrading their growth targets for the $19 trillion economy for 2025 and 2026. Editorials in Chinese communist party mouthpieces China Daily and the Global Times focused squarely on the reason Trump gave for imposing the tariffs: fentanyl. "Scapegoating others can't end U.S.' drug crisis," read the headline of a China Daily editorial on Tuesday, while the Global Times urged the "U.S. not to take China's goodwill for granted regarding anti-drug cooperation after Trump's remarks." "The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is farfetched," China Daily said. "The world sees clearly that the root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. lies with the U.S. itself," it added. "There are no winners in tariff wars. If the U.S. continues to politicize economic and trade issues by weaponizing tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed." Trump's team maintains China is "attacking" the U.S. with fentanyl. China is the dominant source of chemical precursors used by Mexican cartels to produce the deadly drug. Trump on Monday also pledged 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada until they clamp down on drugs and migrants crossing the border. Trump is threatening Beijing with far higher tariffs than the 7.5 percent-25 percent levied on Chinese goods during his first term. S&P Global on Sunday lowered its growth forecast for China for 2025 and 2026 by 0.2 and 0.7 percentage point, respectively, to 4.1 percent and 3.8 percent, citing the impact Trump's tariffs could have. "What we assumed in our baseline is an across-the-board increase from around 14 percent now to 25 percent. Thus, what we assumed is a bit more than the 10 percent on all imports from China," said Louis Kuijs, Chief Asia Economist at S&P Global Ratings. "For now the only thing we know for sure is that the risks in this area are high." (Reuters) President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday chose trade lawyer Jamieson Greer as his new U.S. trade representative, elevating a key veteran of his first-term trade war against China to execute a sweeping tariff agenda that promises to upend global trade. "Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the Countrys massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Services, and opening up Export Markets everywhere," Trump said in a statement. Greer, 44, served as chief of staff to Trump's former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the architect of Trump's original tariffs on some $370 billion worth of Chinese imports and the renegotiation of the North American free trade deal with Canada and Mexico. In this role, Greer participated with Lighthizer in all negotiations with Chinese officials through the signing of a "Phase 1" trade deal with Beijing in January 2020. Under that agreement, China pledged to buy some $200 billion worth of U.S goods over two years, a goal never achieved, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Greer, who previously worked with Lighthizer at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, on steel trade remedy cases, left USTR in May 2020 to join the King & Spalding law firm in Washington, D.C. There, he has represented clients including domestic manufacturers in trade remedy cases, export and import compliance and investment security matters. Trump got off to an early start on specific tariff plans, vowing on Monday to impose duties of 25 percent on imports from Mexico and Canada and 10 percent on Chinese goods unless they halt flows of the deadly opioid fentanyl and illegal migrants into the U.S. The threat has drawn warnings of retaliation. The threat comes on top of Trump's vow to impose tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese imports and 10 percent to 20 percent on all goods from elsewhere. Greer's views on China are firmly aligned with both Trump and Lighthizer and on the need for strong actions against China to counter its state-driven efforts to dominate global industries and protect U.S. jobs and industries. During testimony in May before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Greer argued in favor of "increased tariff usage" to level the trade playing field between the U.S. and China, along with stronger export controls to safeguard sensitive U.S. technologies. He applauded President Joe Biden's steep tariff increases on Chinese imports to shield strategic industries such as electric vehicles, batteries and semiconductors, but said stronger action was needed. "I'm gravely concerned not only with Chinese efforts to dominate global markets and some of the most important technologies and advanced manufactured goods, but also with the Chinese government's use of trade investment to support its state owned enterprises, its military, and then to drive an economy that appears to be gearing up for conflict with the United States and others," Greer said. Greer said during a February trade forum that his clients have been seeking to diversify their supply chains away from China, partly a result of the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports during Trump's first term. (Reuters) China declined on Wednesday to comment about the marriage of the son of jailed former leader Bo Xilai to an individual from Taiwan, saying only that it opposed "malicious" speculation about the matter. Public discussion is taboo in the case of Bo, once considered a contender for top leadership but jailed for life in 2013, and the issue of his son's marriage is made even more sensitive by the poor state of China's ties with Taiwan. Asked about the wedding at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said he could not comment. But he added the government "was opposed to maliciously hyping it up". Pressed by a reporter on further questions about the son, Bo Guagua, Chen said he had nothing more to say about "that marriage." The father was found guilty of corruption and abuse of power in a dramatic fall from grace linked to the killing of British businessman Neil Heywood. The mother was found guilty of murdering Heywood and is also in jail in China. Last week, Taiwan's government said Bo Guagua was visiting the democratically-governed island, which China claims as its own, though Taipei rejects the sovereignty claims, following his marriage to a Taiwanese citizen. Reuters has not been able to contact the Oxford- and Harvard-educated Bo Guagua for comment. He has lived outside China and kept a low profile since his parents were jailed. It is not known if he has returned to China during that time. Reuters has also not able to confirm whom he had married. Wednesday's news conference was carried live online by state media, but the official transcript omitted the question about Bo Guagua. (Reuters) Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 26, SAIC-GM-Wuling ("SGMW") anounced that the cumulative sales of the Xingguang family under the Wuling Global Silver Badge have surpassed the 100,000-unit mark at 102,871 units. Wuling Xingguang S; photo credit: SGMW SGMW reported earlier this month that the Wuling Xingguang S SUV model recorded a cumulative sales volume of 21,577 units within just 80 days of its market launch. The model, which hit the market on August 28 with a starting price of 99,800 yuan, is positioned as the first dual-power SUV built on the "Tianyu Architecture D Platform." The PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) version offers a combined range of over 1,000 km, while the BEV (battery electric vehicle) version is equipped with the Shenlian battery that supports 2C fast charging. Wuling Xingguang S; photo credit: SGMW The Wuling Xingguang sedan, which went on sale in December 2023, offers two battery range options70 km and 150 km (under the CLTC condition)starting at 88,800 yuan. The vehicle delivers a fuel consumption of just 3.98L/100km (under the WLTC condition) when running out of battery. In April 2024, SGMW unveiled the Xingguang Co-creation Edition at the Auto China 2024 with a price starting at 79,800 yuan. The BEV version is available in two variants, while the PHEV version offers four trim levels. China doubled down on efforts for global cooperation to maintain the operation of international supply chains hours after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump pushed his "America First" agenda by upping his tariff threats against Chinese imports. On the opening day of the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China's Vice-President Han Zheng said that Beijing was willing to work with other countries to advocate an equal and orderly world multipolarity and promote the construction of an open world economic system. "The world has entered a new period of turmoil and change, and the fragmentation of the world economy has intensified," he said in a keynote speech. Han encouraged business leaders to build consensus and strengthen links to contribute to maintaining the stability of the global supply chains, while also "injecting more certainty and positive energy" into the recovery of the global economy. China is the world's top merchandise exporter with massive manufacturing capability, accounting for around 15 percent of the global trade volume. As the world's second- largest consumer market, it also draws huge investment from major multinational companies. But on Monday, Trump threatened to add further disruptions to the global supply chains after saying he would impose new tariffs on goods from China using an executive order on the first day of his new administration, which is set to start on January 20. In a series of posts on his media platform Truth Social, Trump said he would add another 10 percent tariff to all imported goods from China on top of the tariffs already in place, a legacy of the U.S.-China trade war that started during his first term. A day earlier, Premier Li Qiang had said protectionist tendencies and actions had disrupted global supply chains, and that such behaviors had also escalated costs, reduced efficiency and hindered shared progress. "We firmly oppose any form of 'decoupling' or creating alternative systems," he told representative of the U.S.-China Business Council and executives of multinational companies, including Apple, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, battery manufacturer CATL, Lenovo, TCL and Yum China ahead of the expo. "Economic efficiency hinges on the smooth flow of resources. Isolation leads nowhere - openness is the only path forward," he said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China is a key part of the global supply chains, but faces the constant threat of U.S.-led decoupling efforts. In addition to the "small yard, high fence" strategy to curb China's technological progress, Washington is also luring reshoring of high-end manufacturing with the use of automation, artificial intelligence and tax incentives. While appealing to multinational firms to help defend the stability of global supply chains, Li also signalled intention for further opening-up and widened market access for foreign investors. "We welcome more foreign companies to come to China to carry out industrial cooperation and continue to provide a broad space for the expansion of global industry and supply chain cooperation," Li added. The second edition of the supply chain expo, which runs until Sunday, has attracted 620 firms, a third of which are foreign. It has also drawn the participation of some high-profile business figures, including Apple CEO Tim Cook. Sean Stein, the incoming president of Washington-based U.S.-China Business Council, said at the expo that companies and global supply chains are facing challenges, while American firms face a twofold threat. "On the U.S. side, they're encountering an increasingly complex compliance environment, risks of tariff increases, potential removal of permanent normal trade relations, heightened export controls ... and other impediments to continuing to deepen supply chains," he said. "In China [they] are grappling with economic uncertainty, concerns over competition with state-owned enterprises and private companies and challenges with things like procurement and consumer confidence, which also presents challenges for us." Read the full story at SCMP. Apple, Tesla and Starbucks are among the most recognised U.S. brands in China. Their presence not only represents business success stories, but also the broad goodwill that has existed between the two countries over the years. When people think about U.S.-China mutual interdependence, a typical example could be an affluent Beijing or Shanghai consumer driving a Tesla vehicle, holding a Starbucks cup, and swiping on an iPhone. The chief executives of these companies have become goodwill ambassadors. Tesla founder Elon Musk had the privilege of entering the Zhongnanhai compound, the heavily guarded working and residential area for top Chinese leaders, on almost every one of his China visits in recent years. Apple CEO Tim Cook is the head of an international advisory body for a school at the prestigious Tsinghua University, which provides direct access to Chinese state leaders on a regular basis. In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote to Howard Schultz, the chairman emeritus of Starbucks, encouraging his company to play a positive role in advancing economic and trade ties between the two countries. The cosy relationships, however, may see challenges during the second presidential term of Donald Trump due to changing market conditions and the deteriorating state of U.S.-China ties. First of all, the Chinese market has become harder to crack for these brands. Starbucks, after years of expansion in China, is finding that its high-priced lattes and esoteric brews are increasingly out of step with changing consumption patterns. It is seeking a "strategic partnership", a term that implies it is looking for a buyer for its China operations. In one scenario, Starbucks could become a pure franchise like McDonald's and Coca-Cola in China the brand is still a U.S. one but the mainland business is run by Chinese companies. Apple's iPhone, the only visible foreign smartphone brand in China, is facing fierce competition from local brands from Huawei Technologies to Xiaomi. No one in China would be crazy enough to trade a kidney for an iPhone as a teenager did in 2011. Tesla is facing similarly fierce competition in the electric vehicle sector where local brands are catching up in design and production capabilities. Secondly, the fragmentation of data management systems may result in higher costs for U.S. brands in China. The Great Firewall has always been an obstacle for foreign internet firms such as Google and Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg's well-documented and failed attempts to bring his social media services to China were a clear signal that Beijing was not willing to compromise cybersecurity to entertain U.S. business plans. In the era of artificial intelligence and big data, however, almost every cross-border business will face the same challenges. Apple is still waiting for Beijing's approval to bring Apple Intelligence to mainland iPhone users, even though Cook has made three visits to China this year, while Tesla is pending Chinese approval for its full self-driving technology. The two companies are likely to eventually receive the greenlight. Apple and Tesla are also expected to comply with strict data localisation and protection rules, just as ByteDance's TikTok had to comply with equally strict data regulations in the U.S.. Another challenge for these U.S. executives will be a potential political backlash at home, given that the climate in Washington is such that even normal business engagement with China is subject to heightened scrutiny. A U.S. lawmaker has already warned that Musk's ties with Beijing could be exploited, posing a national security risk, a far-fetched allegation that would be hard to imagine only a few years earlier. As strategic rivalry between China and the U.S. intensifies, many U.S. corporations once considered role models for business success in China have had to cut their China exposure. It is a destabilising development since business ties have been seen as the "ballast stone" to stabilise the ship of U.S.-China relations. In this regard, the continued success of Apple, Tesla and Starbucks in China is important not only for the companies but also for the broader bilateral relationship. Read the full story at SCMP. The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor asked judges on Wednesday to issue an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmars military regime for crimes committed against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority . Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who took power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in 2021, is accused of crimes against humanity for the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. Nearly a million people were forced into neighboring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes. From a refugee camp in Bangladesh, the courts top prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that he intends to request more warrants for Myanmar's leaders soon. In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law, the British barrister said. The allegations stem from a counterinsurgency campaign that Myanmars military began in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. Hlaing, who heads the Myanmar Defense Services, is said to have directed the armed forces of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, as well as national police to attack Rohingya civilians. Khan was in Bangladesh where he met with members of the displaced Rohingya population. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar , including about 740,000 who fled in 2017. Rohingyas face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, with most denied citizenship. Myanmar's government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as one of the countrys 135 lawful ethnic minorities, instead calling them Bengalis, with the implication that their native land is in Bangladesh and they are illegally settled in Myanmar. Human rights groups applauded the decision to seek a warrant. The dire situation of the Rohingya has received less attention as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have grabbed headlines. The ICC prosecutors decision to seek a warrant against Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing comes amid renewed atrocities against Rohingya civilians that echo those suffered seven years ago. The ICCs action is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity, said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister for Myanmars opposition National Unity Government, established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats in 2021, said on X that ICC judges should swiftly issue the warrant and that governments should act and enforce this warrant to uphold justice and international law. She posted that the ICC action "represents a critical moment in Myanmar history. Thet Swe, a spokesperson for the military regime, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Khans request now goes to a panel of three judges who will weigh the evidence provided and determine if a warrant should be issued. There is no deadline for a decision. A request for an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin took less than three weeks in 2023 but judges issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , his former defense minister and Hamas military chief more than six months after Khan asked. Myanmar does not belong to the global court, but Bangladesh does. In 2018 judges at the court ruled the prosecutor could look into crimes which were completed on the territory of a member state, such as forcible deportation. In 2019, Khans predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, formally requested to open an investigation into the situation and judges gave the green light for investigations into any crime, including any future crime committed at least partly in Bangladesh or another court member state and linked to the Rohingya. The move paved the way for Khan to pursue crimes beyond forcing men, women and children over the border and into refugee camps. The request comes days after a powerful rebel group seized a key trading town in northeastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government. The military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmars ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations highest court, advanced a separate case against Myanmar brought by Gambia alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya. Five European countries and Canada have asked the court to back Gambia in the proceedings. (AP) K-pop fans are comparing the lineups between the 2024 SBS Gayo Daejeon and the 2024 MAMA Awards. The recently-held MAMA Awards had its three-day run from November 21 to 23. The first day of the 2024 MAMA took place in the United States for the first time, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, California. This was then followed by the second and third days, which were both held at the Kyocera Dome, in Osaka, Japan. Many K-pop artists were awarded at the event, as well as showcased their energetic stage performances. However, some were left unsatisfied by MAMA's artist lineup. On X (formerly Twitter), fans compared the MAMA Awards artist lineup to the ongoing list unveiling of 2024 SBS Gayo Daejeon, an annual music festival for K-pop artists. The first performer lineup was announced way back on November 13, with NewJeans, ITZY, Stray Kids, TXT, NCT DREAM, NCT WISH, RIIZE, ZEROBASEONE, and TWS all scheduled to perform at the exciting event. On November 26, SBS Gayo Daejeon declared its second lineup of performers. According to the list, the event will also include LE SSERAFIM, aespa, SHINee Key, NCT 127, ILLIT, BOYNEXTDOOR, NMIXX, and ATEEZ. Fans then shared their thoughts on Gayo Daejeon's amazing lineup, which they claimed was "better than MAMA." Read their reactions below: the lineup are crazy even better than MAMA pic.twitter.com/5hnHjwwgvN (@pradahypen) November 26, 2024 We got everyone in the house shai is daydreaming (@shailificent) November 26, 2024 Illit, Aespa, Newjeans, and Lsf in the same house???? Were about to be healed https://t.co/euqQVnCFoz Kwo (@Kwooluvsu) November 27, 2024 gayo daejeon never disappoints. such good memories from when i went. hope one day i can go again https://t.co/EnZP1svhYs Paige (@KimLipaige) November 27, 2024 gayo dajeon ALWAYS goes way crazier than mama yall have to be there fr https://t.co/NQpDJNBNVR |in this multistan sh- for life| 7 (@staytinyroha) November 27, 2024 The 2024 SBS Gayo Daejeon will be held on December 25, at the INSPIRE Arena, in Incheon, South Korea. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 26, marking the 40th anniversary of SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC Motor and Volkswagen Group signed an agreement in Shanghai to extend their joint venture until 2040, reaffirming their long-term partnership. Photo credit: SAIC Motor SAIC Volkswagen, established in 1984, was China's first passenger car joint venture, formalized through a partnership agreement signed in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. The agreement was previously renewed in April 2002, eight years ahead of schedule. This latest early renewal underscores both sides' confidence in the joint venture's achievements and the future of China's automotive industry and economy. Creating products tailored for Chinese market In response to the evolving automotive industry, the joint venture will leverage shared resources to develop a range of new models tailored to the Chinese market, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). By 2030, SAIC Volkswagen plans to introduce 18 new models, 15 of which will be specifically designed for China. In the internal combustion engine-powered vehicle segment, SAIC Volkswagen is focusing on vehicle intelligence. Recent releases such as the Tiguan L Pro and the Passat Pro have debuted under the "Pro" family banner, with the upgraded Teramont Pro set for launch in early 2025. Photo credit: SAIC Motor In the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, the joint venture is intensifying its product update efforts with BEV, PHEV, and range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) models. The fresh AUDI brand's first premium smart BEV model is scheduled to hit the market in 2025. Starting in 2026, two compact BEVs developed on the China-specific CMP platform, alongside three PHEV and two REEV models, will expand SAIC Volkswagen's NEV lineup. Upgrading industrial layout Aligned with its new strategic direction, SAIC Volkswagen is recalibrating its production capacity to reduce reliance on internal combustion engines and transition toward smart, connected NEV manufacturing. The Shanghai Anting production base, the joint venture's birthplace and core facility, has undergone significant upgrades since 2015. It is now evolving into three strategic hubs: an electrification production center, an R&D and innovation center, and an intelligent manufacturing center. This year, SAIC Volkswagen has signed several agreements with Anting Town's government and related partners to accelerate its transformation, aiming to build a comprehensive smart EV ecosystem. Other production bases are also being optimized to adapt to market changes and strengthen collaboration across the supply chain. Advancing "Zero-Carbon Roadmap" As part of its commitment to sustainability, SAIC Volkswagen upgraded its CSR strategy to the ESG Growth Strategy in 2023. Focusing on environment, society, and governance, the company established six strategic pillars to guide sustainable development. By driving technological innovation and applying intelligent technologies, SAIC Volkswagen continues to develop "zero environmental impact factories" with a goal to reduce CO emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to the level in 2018. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 26, Chinese new energy vehicle maker Li Auto announced that the CFRT (Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic) composite it co-developed with Rochling and FRECO successfully rolled off the production line at Rochling's Kunshan plant. This marks a significant milestone for Li Auto, demonstrating its capability to independent development and design in the CFRT composite. Photo credit: Li Auto At the ceremony, Duan Jichao, Director of Materials Technology of Li Auto, said Li Auto is committed to developing innovative materials and components, delivering a safer, more comfortable, convenient, and refined driving experience for its users. Rochling, a globally renowned plastic products manufacturer with over 200 years of history, has long been providing high-quality products and solutions to its customers. FRECO is a company specializing in the R&D and industrial application of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. Notably, FRECO is China's first supplier to possess a dual-steel-belt press machine production line. CFRT is a high-strength, low-density composite widely used in industries such as aerospace, automotive, shipping, and rail transportation. Compared to traditional materials used for fuel tank skid plates, CFRT offers significantly higher puncture resistance. Li Auto has pioneered the use of CFRT in fuel tank skid plates, providing superior protection for the fuel tank. By tackling key challenges including low fiber strength, poor compatibility between glass fibers and polymer resins, and warping during component molding in the formulation design, material processing, and manufacturing of CFRT composites, Li Auto, in collaboration with Rochling and FRECO, has developed a self-engineered material that offers superior puncture resistance compared to imported alternatives, which significantly reduces the risk of fuel tank punctures, ensuring greater safety for users. The new material will be featured in Li Auto's 2025 L series' models. The project's technology director Guo Qing highlighted that the material has surpassed 1,000N/mm in the puncture resistance for the first time in the industry, thanks to innovations in resin and fiber formulation design. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On November 25, Nanjing Steel Group Co., Ltd. ("Nanjing Steel") and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Ningde city, Fujian province, according to a post on CATL's WeChat account. The partnership marks CATL's first collaboration with a state-owned steel giant, signaling a new direction for synergy between the renewable energy sector and traditional high-carbon industries. Photo credit: CATL The steel industry, a critical backbone for infrastructure, automotive, equipment manufacturing, and construction, accounts for approximately 15% of China's carbon emissions. With the sector set to join the national carbon market by year end, its transformation toward low-carbon operations is vital to achieving China's carbon neutrality goals. Leveraging CATL's expertise in zero-carbon technologies, the two companies will combine resources to explore innovative applications. These include developing "zero-carbon energy" and "zero-carbon transportation" scenarios, and establishing "zero-carbon industrial parks" and "zero-carbon water-land transport hubs." They aim to jointly create impactful zero-carbon solutions that can be deployed nationwide. The partnership will extends to intelligent industrial products, electrification of construction machinery, lightweight hybrid materials applications, green transportation using electric heavy-duty trucks, and photovoltaic energy applications. By tapping into energy-saving and carbon-reduction potential, the collaboration seeks to enhance process efficiency, accelerate decarbonization retrofitting, and implement comprehensive carbon asset management across the value chain. High Court reporters A High Court judge has ordered the return of a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy to his native country to live with his father despite hearing that the boy objected and that he was afraid of dying. Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty said the child's fear was not based on established facts, nor was there medical support to establish that this fear in itself might cause a grave risk to the child if returned. She ruled there was no evidence of any risk to the boy which would be sufficient to allow such a "grave risk" defence to supersede the urgent and important imperatives of the Hague Convention namely the prevention of child abduction and the vindication of the child's rights through relationship with both parents. She said this issue was linked to the views of the child as he considered he would be at risk if returned. However, the judge said there was insufficient evidence to substantiate his concerns. The judge referred to a key passage in the boy's objection which reads My father wants me to go back to Ukraine. I'm so scared of that, Thousands of people there are murdered every day. My father says it's safe, but so many rockets fly into the region where he lives. Where my father lives there are no air defences. I'm afraid of dying. The boy had left the Ukraine with his mother in May 2022 for two months in Poland but later travelled to Ireland. The judge said she was satisfied the boy was wrongfully retained in May 2022" and his location was deliberately concealed from his father who remained in Ukraine. However, the boy's mother claimed that the move was for the duration of the war, which was an "indefinite" period, not for two months. The judge said it was clear that the father never stopped asking for details of the location of the mother and son and repeatedly requested their return. The judge was deciding on an application by the father to have the child returned to Ukraine. Ms Justice Gearty said the evidence the child offered to support his conclusion that Ukraine is unsafe is that some people that his mum knows have been killed in the war. She said she took his objections seriously and considered his views very carefully. His only objection to return is based on his personal safety. Anyone would sympathise with this view, but it does not appear on the evidence before me to be one that has been formed on a sound factual basis, the judge said. The judge also noted that while the child is feeling safe in this country, there is no sense from the evidence that he has settled here in the sense that he has made an emotional home here with friends and interests to compare to those left in the Ukraine. There was also an added and serious factor that the child, whether logically or not, has formed the view that his father's village is at risk. There is no evidence of this in any of the affidavits, and on the contrary, there are averments as to the facts on the ground, which are that the father lives in a place in which there are alerts and bomb shelters but where there has not been an invasion nor is there any evidence of bombs or devices detonating or exploding in the area, let alone evidence of murders or anything of that nature. Nonetheless, the child's fears appear to be genuine even if they are not evidence-based, the judge said. She said the father could provide undertakings to reassure the court that the child will be moved if there is any threat to him. Independent general candidate in Laois cllr Aisling Moran joined frontline workers on their protest at the gates of Portlaoise hospital earlier today in their continuing campaign opposing the HSEs Pay and Numbers Strategy. The lunchtime picket was organised by SIPTU and the INMO to highlight the pressure on hospital workers, failure by the HSE to fill vacancies over a prolonged period and the chronic shortage of staff which is putting inordinate pressure on their members. Cllr Moran has repeatedly raised concerns for frontline staff throughout her campaign and long beforehand at numerous council meetings. She said: The stress and strain they are under is unbearable and unsafe both for staff and patients. I have time and time again spoken of how they are not in the frontline but rather the firing line, and the victims of poor management and failed government policies. There wasnt a penny, not a mention in the budget of nurses, no plan to recruit and retain them as they emigrate in their droves. The same can be seen in teaching and in the guards, so many other jobs where this government repeatedly fail to take action to attract staff who cant afford a home or even pay rent. Meanwhile in the workplace they are run off their feet and unable to cope safely with whats demanded of them. Independent general election candidate Aisling Moran joined protesting hospital staff outside Portlaoise hospital earlier today. Showing solidarity at todays protest at Portlaoise hospital was Aislings wife, Fiona, herself a former nurse who told the protesting staff: I quit, I had to get out. I was a nurse. We were underpaid, understaffed and undervalued. I just got sick of it and left. For her part cllr Moran contends there is a different way. There is a better way to treat nurses and healthcare workers, rather than insulting them with pious platitudes, broken agreements, and dangerously low staffing levels." Its infuriating to listen to the Taoiseach in the leaders debate last night talking about how he understands the problem. How hes glad that question was asked. How he understands peoples anger, as if it has nothing whatsoever to do with him. Simon Harris has been in Government since 2011 - 14 years hes had to solve these issues. Along with the Tanaiste, Micheal Martin they are both former Ministers for Health. They have the health service in a disastrous and dangerous state, even though the country is supposed to be awash with money. Now they are offering more sympathy when whats required is more staff and better pay and conditions. Hes talking about the Rainy Day Fund, well the rainy day is here in the health service, in housing, in childcare, in disability services, in special needs supports. All he has to offer is tea and biscuits and I feel your pain. "The public are sick of it, and hell get his answer on Friday, said cllr Moran. SIPTU and other health union members are to stage a lunchtime protest outside Portlaoise Hospital today Wednesday 27 November over their continued opposition to the HSEs Pay and Numbers Strategy. The workers will be protesting from 12.30pm at the Block Road entrance to the hospital. SIPTU Organiser John Hubbard said that a key issue of concern for SIPTU members is staffing levels within the HSE. He said that the HSEs employment census data demonstrates that many key, front-line roles have not benefitted from record levels of investment in the health service. Mr Hubbard said: Our members are deeply frustrated at the lack of recruitment in certain areas of the Midland Regional Hospital and across the region. Their key concerns are patient safety and comfort. It is clear to them that the HSEs current policy on recruitment is not fit for purpose. It places an effective embargo on the recruitment of staff in certain areas and doesnt take account of staffing needs when considering the much-needed expansion of services. We are continuing to actively consult with our members in any areas where staffing is being raised as a concern and engaging with management in a bid to resolve any issues arising. A review of this policy would allow us to do this in a timely manner, which will benefit staff and services, said Mr Hubbard. WHAT you did to your friend was a nasty, vicious assault as a result of being drunk. Theres no point in calling her your friend. Locking yourself away, drinking, will not help, said Judge Eugene OKelly in Carlow Circuit Court on Friday to defendant Sandra Doyle. Ms Doyle was before the court to be sentenced for stabbing her friend twice in her breast in a row over a mobile phone. The defendant, with an address at Church Street, Graigueucllen, pleaded guilty at the July sitting of the circuit court to assaulting the woman, causing her harm and to producing an article, namely a blade, during a dispute at New Oak Estate, Carlow on 10 September 2021. Judge OKelly was told that 51-year-old Ms Doyle had accused the injured party of stealing her phone and had gone to her house in New Oak Estate to get it back. The injured party told gardai that Ms Doyle pushed her and that she turned away from her, but when she turned back Ms Doyle had a knife, stabbing her twice with it. A witness told gardai that Ms Doyle threatened to kill the injured party if she didnt give her back her phone and that after Ms Doyle stabbed the injured party, she saw her breast tissue hanging out. The court heard that the woman sustained a 7cm laceration to her left breast and a 10cm wound under her right breast. Ms Doyle admitted to gardai that she hit the injured party once or twice with the knife, using a swinging motion rather than a stabbing motion. Judge OKelly had adjourned sentencing Ms Doyle so that a probation report could be prepared, and last week defence counsel Tara Geoghegan told him that her client had come on in leaps and bounds since engaging with the Probation Service. Ms Geoghegan continued that Ms Doyle and the injured party had been friends for years and that Ms Doyle had since written to her to apologise for stabbing her. Ms Geoghegan continued that the defendant had been upset at the injured party for taking the phone because there were pictures of her late brother, who had died in custody, and her late father on the phone. She said that Ms Doyles family were very well known to the gardai. Criminality has been entrenched in her life and has been since she was a young age, said Ms Geoghegan. The court also heard that the defendant had mental health and addiction problems, that she is now on a methadone programme and that the Probation Service has organised a full programme of care for her. Ms Geoghegan said that Ms Doyle had complex mental health problems but that she was now living independently in her own home, which she was afraid of losing if she was sent to prison. She also said that her client did not do well in prison. Judge OKelly replied that, according to the probation report, Ms Doyle was drinking a bottle of vodka several times a week, taking medication and washing it down with vodka. He also noted that the defendant had 24 previous convictions and that the easiest thing of all would be to put her into prison to dry her out. Shes 51 years of age and instead of trying to do something, shes locked herself up in her house as a recluse, drinking and sending people out to do her shopping. When Ms Geoghegan told Judge OKelly that Ms Doyle had started to attend AA meetings, he said that he wanted to hear direct evidence of that from her. Ms Doyle told the judge that she did not leave her house because she was afraid of bumping into people and that she had begun attending AA meetings the previous week. Judge OKelly said he would finalise sentencing Ms Doyle at the next sitting of the circuit court in February next year and ordered an updated doctors report to focus on Ms Doyles issues with alcohol. Beijing (Gasgoo)- VOYAH, a premium new energy vehicle brand under Dongfeng Motor, recently held a brand launch event in Lisbon, Portugal, in collaboration with Salvador Caetano Group, the largest automotive distributor on the Iberian Peninsula. Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor Three new energy vehicle models were showcased at the launch, including the VOYAH FREE, VOYAH DREAM, and VOYAH Courage. This marks another significant partnership following VOYAH's successful entry into the Spanish market earlier this year. Since its inception, VOYAH has pursued a strategy of globalization and international operations. Beginning its overseas journey in 2022 with a focus on Northern Europe, VOYAH has steadily expanded into Southern European markets. Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor In April 2024, the company entered Italy and announced its "Let's VOYAH" global expansion strategy at the Auto China 2024 in Beijing. In June, VOYAH penetrated the Spanish market, followed by the opening of its flagship store in the Netherlands in July. In October, VOYAH forayed into Slovenia, while simultaneously launching the VOYAH Courage model in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Following Portugal, VOYAH plans to expand into Belgium and Latvia by the end of this year, continuing to strengthen its presence across Europe. Bengaluru, November 27: HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle in Bengaluru received a bomb threat via email on Wednesday, police said. Following the threat, authorities conducted thorough searches of the premises. However, nothing suspicious was found, and the police declared it a hoax, as per the DCP East division, Bengaluru. Bomb Threat at HSBC Bank in Bengalurus Trinity Circle Turns Out To Be Hoax, Probe Underway. "A bomb threat mail was received by HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle in Bengaluru. Immediately the police reached the spot and did a check. Nothing suspicious was found and it was declared a hoax bomb threat," DCP East Division, Bengaluru, said. Further investigation is underway. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) 6D Technologies honored as the 'Best of IT Service Excellent Gold Partner of the Year' at the Smartfren Awards 2024 PRNewswire Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 27: 6D Technologies is honored to announce its receiving of the 'Best of IT Service Excellent Gold Partner of the Year' at the prestigious Smartfren Awards 2024. This recognition highlights 6D Technologies' relentless commitment to delivering innovative and impactful IT solutions that drive success for Smartfren and its customers. Also Read | Hyundai Motor To Launch EV Charging Subscription Service for Its Customers in Indonesia From Tomorrow. 6D Technologies' partnership with Smartfren spans multiple years of collaboration, innovation, and shared growth. By consistently delivering customized solutions and exceptional service, 6D Technologies and Smartfren have become trusted partners in their journey of digital transformation. "We are incredibly proud to be recognized as the 'Best of IT Service Excellent Gold Partner of the Year'. This award reflects our commitment to fostering strong partnerships and providing groundbreaking solutions that empower our clients to lead in a digital-first world. Thank you, Smartfren, for this esteemed recognition. Together, we continue to set benchmarks for innovation and excellence!" said Abhilash Sadanandan, Co-Founder and CEO of 6D Technologies. Also Read | Spotify for Authors: Music Streaming Platform Introduces Marketing Tools for Publishers and Audiobook Authors; Check Details. About Smartfren Awards The Smartfren Awards celebrate outstanding achievements and partnerships that propel the company's mission of innovation and excellence. This annual event acknowledges the critical contributions of partners who share a vision for driving progress and enriching customer experiences. About 6D Technologies 6D Technologies is a global leader in digital transformation solutions, offering cutting-edge technologies in areas like digital BSS, AI, IoT, Digital Financial Solutions, and more. With a customer-first approach and a proven track record, 6D Technologies empowers enterprises to navigate the complexities of today's digital landscape and achieve sustainable growth. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567633/6D_Technologies_Smartfren.jpgLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2267508/4565806/6D_Technologies_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) (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 27 (ANI): Aimed at strengthening ties between India and the United Arab Emirates, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), in support with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, hosted the 'India-UAE: Shaping Sustainable Futures: Innovation and Investment in Real Estate' conference in Abu Dhabi. The conference brought together participants, including government delegates from India, industry leaders, and from the UAE. Also Read | Haldwani: Husband Divorces Wife Through Triple Talaq After Affair Gets Exposed, Charges Filed Against Him and Family. As per the organiser, the conference saw discussions on innovative solutions and investment strategies for sustainable urban development. Mohamed Ebrahim Al Mansoori, Director General of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme; Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure UAE, and Minister's Advisor for Engineering Affairs, underscored the UAE's commitment to sustainability and urban innovation. Also Read | 'Very Indecent': Sayani Gupta Recalls When a Co-Star Continued Kissing Her Even After Scene Was Over; Praises Prateik Babbar for Ensuring Her Comfort During Intimate Shoot. The UAE has reduced its non-oil GDP by 8 per cent, achieving a homeownership rate of 91 per cent by the end of 2023, the organiser quoted him as saying. "These are the results of financial sustainability and progressive policies. By sharing our experiences, we aim to create eco-resilient cities that inspire the world. India's rapid urbanization presents immense opportunities for collaboration, and together, we can build a future defined by sustainable innovation," he said. Kuldip Narayan, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Housing for All), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, spoke on the ambitious scale of India's housing mission. He outlined how India in the past years facilitated the construction of millions of affordable houses. "Our next target is to construct 10 million homes in just five years, doubling the speed of delivery. However, the scale of urbanization in India demands even greater efforts. Greenfield city development and innovative urban planning are crucial if we are to align our infrastructure with the country's economic growth, which is projected to grow at 7-8 per cent annually over the next 20 years," Narayan was quoted as saying. He also noted the importance of a robust regulatory framework in driving progress. "Real estate contributes not just to economic growth but also to societal development. The single-window interface for approvals must be streamlined to facilitate ease of doing business. We must embrace best practices from countries like the UAE to create urban environments that are sustainable, inclusive, and future-ready." G Hari Babu, President of NAREDCO, emphasized the significance of the India-UAE relationship, describing it as the foundation for the event. "India and the United Arab Emirates are the best friends in the world today. With representatives from India attending this conference, we are taking important lessons in sustainable urban development back home. India's housing journey has progressed from providing basic homes to affordable, sustainable, and now luxury housing for all. Cities like Hyderabad are seeing apartments worth 20-25 crores, reflecting the remarkable growth of our real estate sector." Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman of NAREDCO, also emphasized the significant contributions of the real estate industry to India's economy. Currently responsible for an estimated 7 per cent of the GDP, the sector is projected by Niti Aayog to expand to 15 per cent as India approaches a USD 5 trillion economy. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Computershare Adds 435 Employees in Two Years Since its Launch in India PNN Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 27: Computershare, a global leader in financial services, has grown its workforce in India from just 10 employees to 435 over the last two years since its launch in the country. The company recently celebrated its two-year anniversary in India, marked by a visit from CEO Stuart Irving and senior executives to its Hyderabad office. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: Sarpanch, Kin Kill Dalit Man Over Land Row in Shivpuri; CM Mohan Yadav Promises Strict Action. Computershare's India employees support its Corporate Trust business, enabling it to provide specialised services tailored to the needs of its global clients, with a focus on business operations and technology. Stuart Irving, CEO of Computershare, attended the celebrations and also confirmed the company's commitment to nurturing talent across its locations. "We've surpassed all expectations over the last two years thanks to the commitment of our talented team in India," he said. Also Read | Vaibhav Suryavanshi Real Age? Fans Question After Old Video of Youngest IPL Player, Who Was Picked by Rajasthan Royals, Surfaces Online. "Our employees in Hyderabad and Bengaluru have contributed significantly to the success of the Corporate Trust business, and I'm very proud of the way our operation and culture has created a great working environment that has attracted talented and aspiring employees. I'm really pleased to have met so many of our wonderful colleagues in India who have worked hard to establish a significant source of support for our global business," he added. In Q1 2023, the company started its India journey by setting up permanent offices of 100,000 sq. an area of 2,000 sq. ft. at its two locations. Their state-of-the-art facilities have allowed the Computershare team in India to develop a strong base for expansion and collaboration. Commitment to People and Community Computershare is committed to delivering value outside of its business operations, and also with the communities where it operates. Their recent CSR initiatives in Hyderabad and Bengaluru include recording audio versions of books for visually impaired people and donating food to families and individuals in need. In recognition of its workplace practices, Computershare recently received several awards at the 2024 Global Capability Centers (GCC) Workplace Awards, for diversity and inclusion and was named among the 'Top 24 GCCs of 2024'. The company said that it is committed to continuing to invest in its India-based team members and that employees receive comprehensive training in the dynamic and evolving landscape of the financial services industry. - The company's CEO, Stuart Irving visited the Hyderabad office, to pay tribute to the 445-strong workforce in India - Computershare's employee base in Hi-tech City in Hyderabad and Manyata Tech Park in Bengaluru expands from 10 to more than 445 employees in two years - Team in India supports Computershare Corporate Trust operations and technology for the US Future Plans Looking ahead, Computershare would continue to scale its success in India by nurturing local talent and diversifying its operations. The management team highlighted its ambition to continue on this upward trend while retaining a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and excellence. About Computershare Corporate Trust Computershare Corporate Trust is a market leader with decades of experience as a provider of trustee and sophisticated agency services for private and public companies, investment banks, and asset managers. We offer a wide range of services that fulfill our clients' needs in corporate and structured finance, debt issuance and M&A. Computershare Corporate Trust is an industry leader with USD$5.8 trillion of debt under administration, USD$342.7 billion in assets under administration and cross-border capabilities including USD$1.3 trillion in funds movements across 75+ currencies in foreign exchange and distributions. With the acquisition of Wells Fargo CTS in November 2021, Computershare Corporate Trust is among the top providers in the US ranking #1 in CMBS, CRE CLO and top 3 in RMBS, CLO, ABS, Convertible and High Yield Debt. Our team of more than 2,000 employees continues our commitment to delivering the highest standards of service and value to our entire client base. For more information, visit computershare.com/corporatetrust About Computershare Limited (CPU) Computershare (ASX: CPU) is a global market leader in transfer agency and share registration, employee equity plans, proxy solicitation and stakeholder communications. We also specialize in corporate trust, mortgage servicing and a range of other diver ok sified financial and governance services. Founded in 1978, Computershare is renowned for its expertise in high integrity data management, high volume transaction processing and reconciliations, payments and stakeholder engagement. Many of the world's leading organizations use us to streamline and maximize the value of relationships with their investors, employees, creditors and customers. Computershare is represented in all major financial markets and has over 12,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit www.computershare.com. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 26: The 16th edition of the Dr Batra's Positive Health Awards, supported by Bajaj Auto, stands as a unique and pioneering event at TATA Theatre, NPCA Mumbai, hosted by renowned Actress Mandira Bedi. The award honours individuals who have triumphed over profound illnesses and disabilities while actively contributing to society. Also Read | Subhadra Yojana: Mohan Charan Majhi-Led Odisha Government Releases Third Phase of Subhadra Instalment, Transfers INR 5,000 to Over 20 Lakh Women; Know Steps To Check Beneficiary Status. The eminent jury panel is comprised of Rajiv Bajaj - MD, Bajaj Auto, Padma Shri recipient, Dr. Mukesh Batra, and Founder, Dr Batra's Group of Companies, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Vivek Oberoi, and R. Balki had a difficult job of selecting the winners from hundreds of applications from across the country. More than 1000 prominent leaders from different walks of life graced the occasion with their presence. Also Read | Vlogger's Murder in Bengaluru: Probe Reveals Killer Spent 2 Days With Corpse in Apartment, Say Police Sources. The audience was treated to a captivating experience featuring musical performances by 'Swarrange,' an orchestra comprised of visually challenged individuals and dynamic performances on wheelchairs showcasing a fusion of kathak and Bharatnatyam by Pasha Dance Group from Bengaluru. Speaking on the occasion, Padma Shri recipient Dr. Mukesh Batra, Founder - Dr Batra's group of companies said, "I believe that true inspiration for patients comes from other patients who have successfully recovered. The positive health heroes are an inspiration to millions of others who are sick. As a healing brand practising the safe science of homoeopathy, we take pride in unveiling their extraordinary stories, which are a testament to their true spirit. Our gratitude extends to Mr. Rajiv Bajaj and to our other sponsors for their unwavering support. " Speaking on the occasion - Actor and Philanthropist Sonu Sood said, "Dr Batra's Foundation is doing great work in recognising people who are specially abled. Their stories are truly inspirational and are examples for others to follow. I commend the good work done by Dr Batra's in healing people through homoeopathy - a safe system of medicine." Rajiv Bajaj - MD, Bajaj Auto, said, "I am a firm believer in the science of homoeopathy and strongly advocate it, as I have also witnessed its healing power. Dr. Batra has modernised it and taken it to the world. We are proud to have collaborated with Dr. Batra's Positive Health Awards for many years. We are happy to support our differently-abled fellow Indians through this extraordinary platform." Satyam was declared the People's Choice winner with more than 4 lakh votes, while Suvarna Raj garnered over 3 lakh votes and Anand Arnold garnered over 2 lakh votes. Each of these awardees took home a certificate and trophy naming them 'Positive Health Heroes 2024' together with a cheque for One Lakh Rupees to aid their journey in making this world a better place. About Dr Batra's Foundation: Dr. Batra's Positive Health Foundation is the CSR arm of Dr. Batra's Group of Companies and has been making a profound difference in the lives of the less fortunate in the country. Initiated 22 years ago, the foundation currently runs 192 free clinics that provide lifetime free consultation and treatment on the 2nd Thursday of every month for the needy. Dr. Batra's Foundation has been associated with ten non-profit organizations across the country to spread the goodness of homeopathy to the underprivileged. The Foundation has given scholarships to over 100 deserving homeopathy students who wish to pursue studies in Homeopathy but cannot afford the fees. (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) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, November 27: A 77-year-old woman from Mumbai was kept under "digital arrest" for a month by cyber fraudsters who posed as law enforcement officials and made her transfer Rs 3.8 crore, claiming her Aadhaar card was used in a money laundering case. The woman's ordeal began a month ago when an unknown man made a WhatsApp call and told the victim that a parcel sent by her to Taiwan contained MDMA drugs, five passports, a bank card, and clothes. When the homemaker, who lives with her retired husband in south Mumbai, told the caller that she didn't send any parcel, the person said details of her Aadhaar card were used in the crime, a police official said on Wednesday. The caller then connected the woman to a "Mumbai Police officer" who told her that her Aadhaar card was linked to a money laundering case under investigation. Digital Arrest Scam in Bhopal: Man Held Digitally Captive for 6 Hours Saved by Madhya Pradesh Police (Watch Video). "The caller asked the woman to download the Skype app and told her that police officers would talk to her. She was ordered not to disconnect the call and disclose the matter," the official said. Later, a man who identified himself as an IPS officer sought details of her bank accounts. Another man, claiming to be an IPS officer from the finance department, asked the woman to transfer money to bank accounts provided by them. "They told her that the money would be returned if no illegality is found," the official said. The accused returned the Rs 15 lakh transferred by the woman, apparently to gain her trust. "They subsequently asked the woman to send all her money from the joint bank accounts of her husband. She ended up transferring Rs 3.8 crore in several transactions to six bank accounts," the official said. The complainant suspected something was amiss when she didn't get her money back even as the accused kept demanding more funds in the name of taxes to release the money she had transferred to them. Digital Arrest Scam in Hyderabad: SBI Branch Staff Thwart INR 13 Lakh Scam Targeting Senior Citizen in Telangana. "The woman called up her daughter who lives abroad. Her daughter told her she was being conned and asked her to approach police," the official said. The woman subsequently dialled the cyber helpline number 1930, following which investigators froze the six bank accounts where the money was transferred, he said, adding that the crime branch was probing the case. (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 27 (PTI) The government has said airfares have moderated in 2024 compared to 2023 and notably, a decline in air ticket prices was observed in various routes during festival seasons. Amid concerns in certain quarters that air ticket prices are ruling high, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Rajya Sabha that airfares are not subject to regulation by the government and airlines have the flexibility to determine their airfares based on their operational needs while adhering to existing rules. Also Read | Delhi Construction Ban: Hundreds of Workers Protest Outside LG VK Saxena's Office Over 'Income Loss' Due to Ongoing Ban on Construction Activities Under GRAP. "...the government generally refrains from regulating airfares to maintain market competitiveness, however, it remains vigilant, and the government intervenes to shift capacity from one sector to another to prevent exorbitant pricing to ensure passenger comfort and welfare," he said in a written reply on November 25. Airfares are dynamic and is a function of demand and supply. Also Read | Road Accident in Tamil Nadu: 5 Killed After Speeding Car Hits Them on Highway off Mammallapuram. With continuous engagement with airlines & Online Ticketing Agents (OTAs) and keeping a watch on the movement of airfares by the government, Mohol said airfares have moderated in 2024 relative to 2023. "The airlines have also been sensitised to ensure reasonability while fixing the airfares and to keep passengers' interest in mind. Notably, during festival seasons, a decrease in airfares was observed in various sectors," he added. According to him, the trends in airfare prices in India exhibit considerable seasonality, prevailing fuel price, the capacity of the aircraft operating on the route, competition on the sector, season, holidays, festivals, long weekends and events. Besides, he said the pricing is significantly influenced by operational constraints at airports, adding that the combination of constrained capacity and elevated demand leads to fluctuations in airfares. "Given the complex dynamics of the Indian aviation industry, government is playing the role of a facilitator by way of creating enabling environment to support the growth of the sector," Mohol said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 (PTI) Opposition BJD and Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday alleging the collapse of public distribution system which they claimed led to the deaths of three tribal women after consuming mango kernel gruel "due to scarcity" of foodgrains. The issue of people at Mandipanka village in Kandhamal district consuming mango kernel gruel allegedly due to food scarcity was discussed in the House through a notice for an adjournment motion. Also Read | UP Shocker: 22-Year-Old Student Commits Suicide at His Hostel Room in Private University in Bareilly; Family Claims Murder. The opposition BJD held the state government responsible for deaths of three women and people "starving" after not receiving supply of foodgrains on time. Both the BJD and Congress members alleged that the people were forced to consume mango kernel gruel as they could not get foodgrains under the PDS in October. Also Read | Rajasthan Court Admits Petition Claiming Existence of Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple Within Premises of Ajmer Sharif Dargah. However, Odisha's Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister KC Patra dismissed the allegation and claimed that the three tribal women of Mandipanka died due to food poisoning and not due to lack of food. Patra, however, said that the deceased women had consumed the mango kernel gruel which was contaminated. "They ate mango kernel along with rice. The government had made all provisions of food for the people of Mandipanka village," the minister claimed. The minister also dismissed the allegation of starvation and claimed that subsequent investigation confirmed that the affected families had adequate food supplies at the time of the fatal mishap. The minister, accused the opposition parties of making it a major issue. "During the BJD rule, people died after eating contaminated mango kernel gruel in certain areas in 2001 and 2018," the minister said. (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 27: The Supreme Court noted on Wednesday that the trial against former West Bengal Education Minister and MLA Partha Chatterjee was yet to start and hundreds of witnesses were to be examined in the money laundering case related to irregularities in recruitment of primary teachers. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the trial, which will take time, is yet to commence and hundreds of witnesses need to be examined. Supreme Court Junks Pleas Seeking Removal of Words Secular and Socialist From Preamble of Indian Constitution Ahead of Constitution Day. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Chatterjee, informed the top court that his client was in jail for nearly 2.5 years, 183 witnesses are in the case and the trial is yet to start. He also referred to his age and said that he is 73 years old. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, opposed Partha Chatterjee's bail plea in the case and said that charges are serious in nature. A huge amount of cash was seized, he added. The apex court took into account that the allegations were serious and sought to know the status of the investigation. ASG Raju said that a chargesheet has been filed in the case. The top court also noted the low conviction rate in money laundering cases. Preambles Secular, Socialist Case in SC: Supreme Court To Pass Order on Pleas To Delete Secular and Socialist Words From Constitution on November 25. The top court was also informed that Chatterjee was under judicial custody in another case being probed by the CBI. The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for December 2 and sought to know the period of judicial custody and police custody undergone by Chatterjee. The top court asked ASG Raju to take instructions on whether Chatterjee was arrested for the second time by the CBI.The top court was hearing Partha Chatterjee's bail plea in a case related to cash-for-jobs recruitment irregularities. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], November 27 (ANI): Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah for approving an amount of Rs 139 crore for Uttarakhand under the disaster head. The approval was made by a high-level committee chaired by Amit Shah, which approved Rs 1115.67 crore for disaster reduction and capacity-building projects for various states, including Uttarakhand. Also Read | Constitution Day 2024: Constitution 'Guiding Light', Spirit of 'Nation First' Will Keep It Alive for Centuries, Says PM Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Dhami emphasised that the funding would be instrumental in strengthening Uttarakhand's disaster risk reduction systems, ultimately helping to prevent significant losses of life and property during future disasters. In addition to the Rs 139 crore allocated to Uttarakhand, the high-level committee also approved a project worth Rs 115.67 crore for the training and capacity building of civil defence forces across all states and Union Territories. Also Read | Food Poisoning in Telangana: 21 Students Fall Ill After Consuming Mid-Day Meals in Government School in Narayanpet District. CM Dhami further expressed his thanks to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the entire committee for their support. Earlier, a high-level committee, under the chairmanship of Amit Shah approved Rs.1115.67 crore for disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects for various states. The committee, comprising the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog members considered the proposal to mitigate Landslide Risk in 15 States, for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and another proposal for training and capacity building of Civil Defence volunteers in all States and UT's under Preparedness and Capacity Building from the funding window of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), a press release said. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the high-level committee has approved the National Landslide Risk Mitigation project in 15 States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal) at a total cost of Rs. 1000 crore. The committee approved Rs139 crores for Uttarakhand, Rs 139 crore for Himachal Pradesh, Rs 378 crore for eight North East States, Rs100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs 72 crore for Karnataka, Rs 72 crore for Kerala, Rs 50 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs 50 crore for West Bengal. CM Dhami thanked the central government for its continued support and reiterated his commitment to improving disaster resilience in Uttarakhand. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) SANYA, China, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A gala celebrating China's 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities was held at Yasha Park in Sanya, Hainan Province, showcasing the nation's rich cultural diversity and unity. The event commenced with a welcome ceremony and cultural fair at the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area, where athletes and guests enjoyed vibrant performances of traditional songs and dances, theatrical presentations, folk customs, and exhibitions of the area's intangible cultural heritage. Interactive activities further enlivened the experience. The cultural fair reached its climax as participants exchanged gifts and came together to perform the Gongtong Dance of the Li ethnic group, inspired by the rhythms of Danzhou folk tunes. "Sanya is a coastal city known for its unique maritime charm," said Wu Yan, chief producer of the Ethnic Gala. "We created nearly 40 thematic ethnic displays at the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area, forming a continuous 'ethnic landscape' along the seashore." "By blending coastal scenery, ethnic cultural performances, and natural elements like forests, beaches, and blue skies, we aimed to merge Hainan's regional uniqueness with ethnic traditions and modern trends," Wu explained. Liu Junjie, a Han athlete from the Hebei delegation, praised the fair's vibrant atmosphere. "The gala today was incredibly lively. I could truly feel the harmony among all ethnic groups. I feel so fortunate to be Chinese," he said. During the main gala, athletes enjoyed captivating performances and eagerly participated in interactive games. As the event came to a close, the festive spirit soared as performers enthusiastically invited athletes to sing and dance, creating a joyful atmosphere that embodied the spirit of unity and friendship. Photo credit: TNT Sports There is no love lost between Charles Barkley and the city of San Antonio. For decades now, Barkley has trolled the city (and specifically its women) for being on the portly side. There are literally 40 minute montages of Barkley making fun of San Antonio from over the years on Inside the NBA. So it would only be right and fitting that the next great star of the San Antonio Spurs franchise would be Victor Wembanyama, who stands 73 and weighs approximately 125 pounds. Wemby has embraced his unique frame, even dressing as Slenderman for Halloween. And its no surprise that Barkley has used his thin physique to continue the barrage against San Antonio. In an interview last year, Barkley tried to introduce Wembanyama to what a churro is. And in a highlight package on Tuesday night showcasing Wembys starring role in the Spurs victory against the Utah Jazz, Charles Barkley just could not resist going to the well once again. Shaq you know whats weird about Wemby? Hes like the only person in San Antonio that cant gain weight, Barkley said. I dont understand why this is the only skinny person in San Antonio, he added. Barkley said last year that he was asked by TNT executives to calm down the fat jokes about San Antonio women after an article that complained about his fat-shaming. He expressed displeasure with people taking his jokes about the city given he is no stranger to making fun of his own physical state. Please enable JavaScript to view the poll powered by Disqus. But even if he has relented these days in the spirit of being more politically correct, it appears that Charles Barkley can still find new and creative ways to have fun with one of his favorite running gags. New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan will take oath as Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Notably, Priyanka Gandhi will become the third member of the Gandhi family to enter Parliament. Congress' Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in a by-election with 5,86,788 votes. The seat fell vacant following the death of the sitting Congress MP, Vasantrao Balwantrao Chavan, necessitating the bypoll. Also Read | Rajasthan Shocker: Visually-Impaired Teacher Alleges Harassment by Colleague. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra secured the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 4,10,931 votes, defeating Sathyan Mokeri of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Wayanad, a Congress stronghold, witnessed a triangular contest among Priyanka Gandhi, BJP's Navya Haridas, and CPI's Sathyan Mokeri. Priyanka Gandhi contested the Wayanad seat as a candidate of the United Democratic Front (UDF). The seat was vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, who previously represented Wayanad but shifted to Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after being elected to the Lok Sabha from there during this year's general elections. Also Read | Delhi Assembly Elections 2025: BJP Looks for Early Start, Shortlists 3 Probables for Each Seat. On Wednesday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi expressed her happiness after receiving her certificate of election, describing it as a symbol of love, trust, and commitment to shared values. "My colleagues from Wayanad brought my certificate of election today. For me, it is not just a document; it is a symbol of your love, trust, and the values we are committed to. Thank you, Wayanad, for choosing me to take forward this journey to build a better future for yourselves," Priyanka said on X. On November 23, after her victory in Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi expressed her gratitude to the voters for their support. "I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and that the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!," she said on X. Meanwhile, Hemant Soren will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on November 28, following the JMM-led alliance's majority win in the Assembly elections. This marks the first time in Jharkhand's history that an incumbent government, having completed five years in office, has returned to power. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 27 (ANI): The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 137 battalion conducted a free medical camp on Wednesday at Government School Roun in District Udhampur under the Civic Action Programme (CAP). This was the third medical camp under the CAP in the district during which medicines like antacids, Vitamin E tablets, multivitamins, Vitamin B complex tablets, cough syrups, and sanitary pads were distributed free of cost. Also Read | Sambhal Violence: Akhilesh Yadav Hits Out at UP Government Over Violence, Asks 'What Action Did Police Take Against Sloganeering BJP Workers'. Presiding over the camp, Commandant of CRPF 137 battalion Manoj Kumar Sikon said, "Considering the winter season, free medicines and cough syrup are being provided to young children.... This is the third programme we have done under the CAP. We offered test reports, ECG reports and free medicines to the local public in today's medical camp... "Medicines like antacids, Vitamin E tablets, multivitamins, Vitamin B complex tablets, cough syrups, and sanitary pads are being distributed free of cost. We are raising awareness about CRPF to the children by involving them in this programme. Health-related awareness is also being spread to the locals so they can take care of their health," Manoj Kumar Sikon added further. Also Read | Jhansi Medical College Fire: Uttar Pradesh Government Removes Principal, Suspends 3 Others in Connection With Fire Incident That Claimed Lives of 10 Newborn Babies. Also present at the event, Medical Officer of CRPF 137 battalion Dr Manish said, "Fog days are coming soon during which respiratory patients suffer a lot. For this purpose, we are nebulizing them and we are providing respiratory pumps as well. School children often suffer from worms in the stomach, for which we are giving syrups to the needful patients under the CAP." On November 21 a similar medical was organised by the 137 Battalion of CRPF in Udhampur. Earlier, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted a mock drill on emergency and rescue operations in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Thane, Nov 27 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in coordination with Thane police has arrested here a man accused of dacoity and robbery in UP and absconding since 2007, an official said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Satish Babulal Gupta alias Satish Tiwari, was traced to Wagle Estate area in Maharashtra's Thane city and apprehended on Monday evening, the official from the Anti-Extortion Cell here said. Also Read | Pune Shocker: 15-Year-Old Boy Dies by Suicide After Man Sexually Assaults Him and Threatens To Leak Video Online, Accused Arrested. Gupta, a native of Almapur village in Unnao district of UP, was wanted in connection with two cases of dacoity and robbery in the northern state, he said. The UP STF with support from the Thane Crime Branch's anti-extortion cell managed to nab the accused after search efforts spanning multiple locations, the official said. Also Read | Gautam Adani, Nephew Sagar Adani Clear of Bribery Charges As per US Department of Justice Indictment, Says Adani Green. (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 27 (PTI) The Supreme Court is likely to consider on December 3 the sealed cover report allegedly on unsatisfactory performance and other materials against two women civil judges terminated from services by the Madhya Pradesh government. The top court, on November 11, 2023, had taken a suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the termination of services of six women civil judges by the state government for their alleged unsatisfactory performance. Also Read | Bomb Threat in Bengaluru: HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle Receives Bomb Threat via Email, Authorities Conduct Searches. A bench headed by Justice B V Nagarathna, on July 23, asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to reconsider its decision of terminating the services of judicial officers. The full court of the MP High Court reconsidered its earlier resolutions on August 1 and decided to reinstate four officers, namely, Jyoti Varkade, Sushri Sonakshi Joshi, Sushri Priya Sharma and Rachna Atulkar Joshi subject to certain terms and conditions. Also Read | Maharashtra Assembly Election Results 2024: NCP-SCP Leader Rohit Pawar Raises Question Over EVMs Credibility Citing Rise in Voting Percentage. "Insofar as two other officers are concerned, namely, Sarita Choudhary and Aditi Kumar Sharma, there is no revocation of the earlier orders and resolutions and the full court has also further resolved to place the adverse remarks and other materials against them before this court in a sealed cover, the bench noted earlier. On Wednesday, senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the two terminated judicial officers, sought to know whether there was any fresh material against her client to be rebutted. The bench took note of the submissions and ordered sharing of a copy of the sealed cover report with the amicus curiae and senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal. The amicus was directed to apprise the bench -- without sharing the report's copy with anybody else -- about the fresh material, if any, against the terminated judicial officers on the next hearing on December 3. The bench clarified the report won't be shared with the counsel of the terminated judicial officers at the moment. While taking cognisance of the termination, the bench issued the notices to the high court registry and the judicial officers who had not approached it against the termination. The judicial officers were terminated despite the fact that a quantitative assessment of their work could not be done on account of the Covid outbreak, the court had noted. "The officers along with three other women officers were appointed in judicial services in the state of Madhya Pradesh. They are alleged to be terminated from service primarily on account of disposal not being up to the standards set," the office report said. The termination orders were passed in June 2023 by the state law department after an administrative committee and a full court meeting found their performance during the probation period "unsatisfactory". According to the plea of impleadment of one of the former judges through advocate Charu Mathur, despite having an unblemished service record of four years and not having any adverse remarks, she was terminated without following any due process of law. She alleged her termination from service was a violation of her fundamental rights under Articles 14 (right to equality before law) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. In her application, she said if the period of her maternity and child care leave was taken into consideration in the quantitative work assessment, it would be a grave injustice to her. "It is a settled law that maternity and child care leave is a fundamental right of a woman and also the infant, therefore, evaluation of the applicant's performance for the probation period on the basis of the leave taken by her as part of maternity and child care is grossly violative of her fundamental rights," it said. (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 27 (ANI): NCP-SP leader Clyde Crasto on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using Ekanth Shinde to win the elections. Speaking to ANI, Crasto said, "The whole issue of who is going to be the next Maharashtra CM is turning out to be a big question. During the elections, the BJP always said that they were contesting the elections with Eknath Shinde as the face of Mahayuti. Now when the time has come and he has also performed, and it is the time to make him the CM again, the party is talking about the Bihar model not being there and other issues. This clearly means they are using Eknath Shinde." Also Read | Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman To Move Bills To Amend Banking Laws in Lok Sabha Today. Further, he said that injustice was being done to Shinde. "This is injustice to Shinde... Are they trying to say that he is not good enough to be the CM or are they trying to say that they did what they wanted to do, used him and now they want their man as the CM? Whatever it is they have got the mandate of the people and they need to respect it. They need to announce the Chief Minister who will lead Maharashtra prosperity," he added. Also Read | Crowdfunding Scam in Mumbai: Nagpada-Based Couple Allegedly Collect INR 4.5 Crore From Public for Treatment of Their Sick Child, Use Money for Other Purposes; Booked. Earlier, on November 26, Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai said that all the three leaders --Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar--would sit together and hold discussions if the deadlock continues over the choice of name of next Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The election results for Maharashtra were announced on November 23 but the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on the Chief Minister. "Who would lead our Mahayuti and who would be the CM face of Mahayuti? Our three leaders, Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, would sit together and discuss this. Whatever they decide will be accepted by all the MLAs of Mahayuti and the same decision will be implemented...," Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai told ANI. "Every party feels that a leader of their own party should get the CM post. If you ask me, as a Shiv Sainik, I would say that our main leader, Eknath Shinde,should get the CM post. The same goes for BJP leaders who want Devendra Fadnavis to get the post...But all three leaders will sit together and discuss. A solution would come out after discussions," he added. Meanwhile, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said Devendra Fadnavis should lead the Mahayuti government as "people of Maharashtra want him" to be the next Chief Minister, and Eknath Shinde can be the Deputy CM or join the Modi government. (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 [India], November 27 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency registered a case in connection with the recent violence in Jiribam along with two other cases on the directions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, a press release said. "Acting swiftly on the Union Ministry of Home Affairs's directions to bring the culprits to book expeditiously, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has launched thorough investigations into three major cases relating to the recent spate of violence in Manipur", the release said. The anti-terror agency re-registered three cases afresh on November 13, 2024, after the MHA decided to hand over the investigations to NIA considering the gravity of the offences, amid escalating violence in the strife-torn state and to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the brutal attacks. Also Read | EAM S Jaishankar Meets Counterparts of US, South Korea, Japan and Italy During G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi. "In the first case (FIR No. 29(11) Borobekra PS, dated November 11, 2024), several houses were burnt and two civilians were killed at Borobekra. Later unknown militants had also abducted and murdered 6 persons including 3 women and 3 children," the release said. The incident took place on November 11 when some unknown armed militants fired towards Borobekra Police Station, as well as some houses and shops located at Jakuradhor Karong, and also set ablaze the latter. The police and CRPF personnel of Borobekra PS retaliated, leading to a heavy exchange of fire. Subsequent search operations led to the recovery of two dead bodies inside the burnt houses, it added. The case has been re-registered by NIA as RC-15/2024/NIA/IMP under various sections of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and Arms Act, 1959. The second case in which NIA has initiated a probe is connected with the 11th November attack on a CRPF post located at Jakuradhor Karong and Borobekra police stations, Jiribam, by armed militants (original FIR No. 30(11) registered at Borobekra PS). A CRPF constable sustained bullet injuries in the attack and was evacuated to Silchar for medical treatment. During a search by security forces and the police team, dead bodies of unidentified armed militants, along with arms and ammunition, were recovered from the vicinity of the attack. NIA has re-registered the case as RC-14/2024/NIA/IMP under various sections of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and Arms Act, 1959. The third case relates to the murder of a woman at Jiribram by fully armed militants. The incident took place on November 7, when 31-year-old Zosangkim (31 years), wife of Ngurthansang from Jairolpokpi (Zairawn), Jiribam, Manipur, and mother of three, was allegedly raped and burnt alive at her residence by fully armed militants. The case was originally registered as FIR No. 80(11)2024 at Jiribam PS on November 8, 2024, NIA has re-registered the case as RC-13/2024/NIA/IMP under relevant sections of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, Arms Act, 1959, and UA(P) Act. Also Read | Kullu Fire: Blaze Erupts in Forest of Bada Bhuin Panchayat of Himachal Pradesh (Watch Video). The release said that the NIA teams visited the spots on November 21-22, 2024 and started the probe. The process of handing over case documents from local police to NIA is currently underway. (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 27 (PTI) Opposition members on Wednesday stormed out of the meeting of the joint parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, alleging that its proceedings had become a mockery. They, however, returned to attend the meeting after an hour amid indications that the committee chairperson would seek an extension in its term. Also Read | Road Accident in Tamil Nadu: 5 Killed After Speeding Car Hits Them on Highway off Mammallapuram. Sources said the panel's tenure might be extended till the first week of the Budget Session, adding that a final decision would have to be taken by the Lok Sabha. Earlier in the day, Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, A Raja of the DMK, Sanjay Singh of AAP and Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC protested the conduct of committee chairperson Jagdambika Pal, alleging that he was keen to wrap up its proceedings by the November 29 deadline without completing due process. Also Read | 'You Are the Head of Our Family, Will Accept Your Decision': Eknath Shinde Leaves CM Decision Call to PM Narendra Modi. Gogoi said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had indicated the committee might be given an extension but it appeared that some "big minister" was directing the action of Pal. TMC MP Banerjee said, "It is a mockery." YSR Congress MP V Vijaysai Reddy said all parties not allied with the BJP wanted an extension but Pal called for finishing its work so that the report could be tabled in the Lok Sabha on November 29. (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 27 (PTI) Parliament failed to transact any significant business on the second day of the winter session as protests by opposition members who were pressing for discussions on allegations of irregularities against the Adani Group, Sambhal violence and other issues rocked both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The two Houses were adjourned once in the morning and later for the day amid continuing uproar by opposition members. Also Read | Hyderabad Fire: 3-Story Building Collapses As Blaze Erupts Out at Plastic Bag Manufacturing Company at Jeedimetla Industrial Area (Watch Videos). Soon after the Lok Sabha met, Speaker Om Birla took up the Question Hour, but adjourned the House proceedings following sloganeering by the opposition members. They wanted to discuss the allegations of irregularities against the Adani group and the recent violence in Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of a mosque. They trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans as soon as the House met again at 12 noon. Also Read | Red Planet Day 2024 Date and Significance: Know About the Day That Commemorates the Launch of Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964, the First To Land on Mars. BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day after official papers were laid on the table. In Rajya Sabha, the trouble started after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected 18 notices under a rule of the House to suspend scheduled business to take up issues including the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue. The proceedings were briefly adjourned due to opposition protests, and when the House re-assembled at 11.30 AM, there were identical scenes. This prompted Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to adjourn the proceedings for the day, saying the "House is not in order". The notices related to the demand for the "constitution of a JPC to investigate the alleged misconduct, including corruption, bribery, financial irregularities of the Adani Group in connivance with other authorities", violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and "rising" incidents of crime in the national capital. Only Congress members demanded a discussion under Rule 267 after the suspension of the house business, on setting up a joint parliamentary committee to probe allegations against the Adani group, while other opposition parties gave similar notices on different issues. "Upper House needs to reflect and follow well-established traditions that ruling of the Chair requires reference and not cause differences. I have, in detail, given reasons why, in these situations, notices are not being accepted," Dhankhar said while rejecting the notices under Rule 267 of the House. The Chairman also said that for the last 30 years, the House has reflected a consensual approach concerning Rule 267 every time. "As I have reiterated on several occasions, I thought it wise to bestow focused attention given the situation that we are entering the last quarter of the century of adoption of the Constitution of India," he said. He emphasised that the House needs to reflect and follow well-established traditions that a ruling of the Chair requires "deference and not (be a) cause of differences". While rejecting the notices, Dhankhar also stressed that there will be occasions to raise these issues in accordance with rules. Of the total 18 adjournment notices given under Rule 267, at least nine were from Congress members on the Adani matter, while others sought discussion on violence in Manipur and Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. The Congress members who had given the notices were G C Chandrashekhar, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Syed Naseer Hussain, Neeraj Dangi, Renuka Chowdhury, Rajeev Shukla, Pramod Tiwari, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Jebi Mather Hisham. However, Sanjay Singh of AAP gave a notice for adjourning all other business of the House to discuss the "increasing crimes in Delhi". Sushmita Dev (TMC), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Raghav Chadha (AAP) and Sandosh Kumar P (CPI) had given separate notices under the same rule for discussion on violence in Manipur, while John Brittas (CPI-M), A A Rahim (CPI-M), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) and Abdul Wahab (IUML) gave notices to discuss the recent violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, the Chairman extended birthday greetings to Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Wanweiroy Kharlukhi and Dharmshila Gupta, all Members of Rajya Sabha. On Monday also, the first day of the Winter Session, the Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day during the morning session itself as the opposition insisted on raising issues related to the Adani Group. There was no sitting of the House on Tuesday. The Adani Group had denied allegations of irregularities. It said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case. (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 27: President Droupadi Murmu kicked off her four-day visit to the southern state as she landed in Coimbatore airport on Wednesday morning. The President will be in Tamil Nadu till November 30. During her visit, President Murmu is scheduled to engage in several key events, including addressing faculty and student officers at the Defence Services Staff College and interacting with members of tribal women self-help groups, an official release said. Constitution Day 2024: President Droupadi Murmu Calls Constitution of India A Progressive, Living Document on 75th Samvidhan Diwas. President Murmu will address the faculty and student officers at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington on November 28, the release mentioned. Following that, on November 29, President Murmu will interact with members of tribal women's self-help groups and prominent members of the tribal community in Nilgiris District at Raj Bhavan, Udhagamandalam. Droupadi Murmu Plays Carrom Video: President Interacts and Shares Light Moments With School Children During Her Visit to Swami Vivekananda Vidya Mandir in Silvassa; Heartwarming Clip Goes Viral. On the final day of her visit, November 30, the President will grace the convocation ceremony of the Central University of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvarur. (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 27 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday said the Congress suffered a crushing defeat in Maharashtra assembly polls not because of the EVMs but poor management by its leadership, and asked the opposition party's president Mallikarjun Kharge to consider "replacing" Rahul Gandhi instead of the voting machines. Taking a swipe at the Congress president over his latest remarks on the EVMs, BJP Lok Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra also said Kharge can go to "planet Mars" taking Gandhi with him and "live there happily if he doesn't want electronic voting machines, Election Commission, Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, judiciary and the Modi government. Also Read | Network Readiness Index 2024: India Climbs Up 11 Slots in Latest NRI 2024, Now Placed at 49th Rank Globally, Says Government. The ruling party's reaction came a day after Kharge demanded a return to the use of ballot paper in elections and called for a concerted campaign on the scale of Bharat Jodo Yatra to create awareness about it. "Let them keep EVMs with them. We don't want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper. Then they will know what their position is and where they stand, the Congress president had said while speaking at the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan' function at Talkatora stadium on Tuesday. Also Read | Mumbai: Air India Pilot Found Dead in Andheri, Boyfriend Arrested As Family Alleges He Abused Her, Stopped Her From Eating Non-Veg Food. Hitting back, Patra said that the Congress leaders are venting out their frustration over the defeat in the Maharashtra assembly polls by raising questions on the credibility of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The problem is not in the machine (EVM). The problem is with the (Congress) leadership. The EVM is fine, Rahul is faulty. Replace Rahul, not EVM, he said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here. You have lost the election due to RBM, which means Rahul's bekar (poor)' management, Patra added. The BJP spokespersons said that Kharge doesn't want EVM, Election Commission, Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and judiciary. You do not also want the current government of India because you feel it's not a good government. You don't want anything. Then I think planet Mars is the most appropriate place for you. No one is there...You go there, make shehzada' sit on the chair there and live happily, he added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Credit: Mad Dog Unleashed/SiriusXM Chris Russo took on a new media duty Tuesday, guest hosting on The New York Posts The Show podcast, and he shared some hunches about prized free agent Juan Soto. Russo substituted for reporter Joel Sherman on the podcast, and he told co-host Jon Heyman he sees the Mets as the leader in the chase for Soto, who played for the New York Yankees last season. I think [Mets owner Steve Cohen] felt that he set the table well with his team talking to Soto, Russo told Heyman. So I think maybe right now the Mets are the leading clubhouse contender and that, as you said, well find out about everybody else. I thought hed be signed with the Yankees. But I got a funny feeling he might go to the Mets. Russos thoughts on Soto might seem to be restating the obvious in whats been reported in recent weeks. USA Todays Bob Nightengale reported Monday the Mets are the clear-cut favorite to land the slugger. But the Yankees are strong contenders. Sotos hefty price tag, more than $600 million for a multiyear deal, limits the number of potential bidders. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are also expressing interest. Russo hilariously dismissed thoughts of Soto going to the Blue Jays. I dont think hes going to the Dodgers. I dont think hes going to Toronto. Why would you go to Canada? Russo said. As Russo sees it, the Mets are the favorites, but he said that if Soto goes there, hed better prepare for a rude welcome next year in the Bronx. Please enable JavaScript to view the poll powered by Disqus. Ill give the Mets the edge right now, sort of halfway through the process, Ill give the Mets the edge, Russo said. If I was Soto, Id be a little concerned about playing those four games at Yankee Stadium when he signed with the Mets because hes going to get booed for leaving the Yankees to go to the Mets. [The New York Post] Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex climbed 230 points in a volatile session on Wednesday following gains in Adani group stocks and foreign fund inflows. The 30-share index rose by 230.02 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 80,234.08 as 18 of its shares closed in green and 12 in red. During the day, it surged 507.09 points or 0.63 per cent to 80,511.15. Also Read | Road Accident in Tamil Nadu: 5 Killed After Speeding Car Hits Them on Highway off Mammallapuram. In a see-saw trade, the NSE Nifty rose by 80.40 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,274.90. The index moved between a high of 24,354.55 and a low of 24,145.65. Utilities, power, services and capital goods shares advanced while realty and healthcare stocks were the laggards. Also Read | 'You Are the Head of Our Family, Will Accept Your Decision': Eknath Shinde Leaves CM Decision Call to PM Narendra Modi. Adani group shares led the recovery rising up to nearly 20 per cent after the group clarified that chairman Gautam Adani and his aides have not been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. They faced three other charges, including securities and wire fraud that are punishable with monetary fines, the group stated. Adani Ports & SEZ was the biggest gainer among Sensex stocks, rising by 6 per cent. HDFC Bank rose by 1.43 per cent contributing over 167 points to total Sensex gains. NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and Axis Bank were among the other gainers. In contrast, Titan, State Bank of India, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank were among the laggards. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equity markets on Tuesday which also bought strengthened the sentiment. FIIs bought equities worth Rs 1,157.70 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. "In Asia, market sentiment was mixed due to the potential tariff impositions by the US. Meanwhile, the Chinese market rebounded on expectations of additional stimulus measures," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said. In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green, while Seoul and Tokyo ended lower. European markets were trading mostly lower. The US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.63 per cent to USD 73.23 a barrel. The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 1.18 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.34 per cent. Among sectoral indices, BSE utilities soared the most by 3.11 per cent, followed by power (2.74 per cent), services (2.53 per cent), industrials (1.35 per cent), telecommunication (1.17 per cent), capital goods (1.13 per cent) and commodities (1.05 per cent). Realty and BSE Focused IT were the laggards. As many as 2,593 stocks advanced while 1,335 declined and 112 remained unchanged on the BSE. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Sheopur, November 27: Two cubs born to African cheetah Neerva were found dead and their mutilated carcasses were recovered at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, an official said. A team of forest staffers monitoring the movement of cheetahs received signals through radio telemetry that Neerva was away from her den, following which they along with veterinarians rushed to the spot and found the mutilated carcasses of the two cubs inside, he said. After inspecting all possible places inside the boma (enclosure), they concluded that no proof was found about the existence of any more cheetah cubs there, the official said. No other cheetah cubs were found inside the boma during the inspection, which reflects that Neerva gave birth to only two cubs. The carcasses of the two newborns will be cremated on Thursday as per norms, Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said. Madhya Pradesh: Cheetahs at Kuno National Park To Be Released Into Wild in Phases Starting Late October; India Eyes New Translocations. The samples from the dead cubs were collected and sent for examination and the exact cause of their death will be known only after getting the lab report, the official said. All adult cheetahs, including Neerva, and the rest of the 12 cubs at the Kuno park are healthy, the official said. With 12 of those cubs surviving, the count of cheetahs at KNP was last reported to be 24. Confusion prevailed on Monday over the exact number of cubs that Neerva gave birth to. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav initially shared on social media that she delivered four cubs, but later deleted the post and said the forest department would confirm the exact number of the newborns. In a new post that evening, Yadav wrote, Today the Cheetah Project has achieved a major milestone. In Cheetah State Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, a female Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs. The Forest Department will soon confirm the number of cubs. In September 2022, eight Namibian cheetahs five females and three males were released into enclosures at the KNP as part of the world's first intercontinental translocation of the big cats, seven decades after they became extinct in India due to hunting and habitat loss. Namibian Male Cheetah Pawan Dies at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. In February 2023, a dozen more cheetahs were translocated to the national park from South Africa as part of the Centre's project to reintroduce the big cats in the country. (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 27 (PTI) The NIA on Wednesday informed a court that it was likely to move the Delhi High Court seeking grant of special powers to a court currently hearing the terror-funding case against J&K MP Rashid Engineer, to enable it to hear the case. Principal District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav was hearing the matter recommended by a special judge over the transfer of the terror-funding case to a court designated to try lawmakers after observing that Rashid was now a member of Parliament. Also Read | Mumbai: Air India Pilot Found Dead in Andheri, Boyfriend Arrested As Family Alleges He Abused Her, Stopped Her From Eating Non-Veg Food. The counsel appearing for the NIA made the submission before the district judge, seeking 10 days to the probe agency to receive a response from the high court. The district judge listed Rashid's interim bail application December 6 to enable him to attend the ongoing Parliament sessions. Also Read | Manipur Violence: Mobile Internet and Data Services Suspended for 2 More Days in 9 Districts Including Trouble-Torn Jiribam. During the arguments on Wednesday, senior advocate and special NIA prosecutor Siddharth Luthra informed the district judge that the case should not be transferred from the special court as as it would delay the proceedings. Previously, the counsel for Rashid and the NIA jointly sought the matter to remain in the court hearing it. Apart from the case lodged by the NIA and the regular bail application of Rashid, the special judge had also recommended transferring a related money laundering case to the special court for lawmakers. Rashid was elected from the Baramulla constituency in the Lok Sabha elections and has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror-funding case. Both the cases filed by the NIA and the ED also involve Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others. The ED filed a money laundering case against the accused persons on the basis of the NIA's FIR, which accused them of "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ranchi, November 27: A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner in a forested area and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand's Khunti district, police said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested. The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24. Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her. Delhi Shocker: Woman Cuts Off Drunk Husbands Private Part During Heated Fight at Home in New Chandrawal, Probe Launched. "The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI. Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken. He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI. Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village. "Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said. The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said. Pakistan Shocker: Pregnant Woman Killed by Her Mother-in-Law, Chopped Into Dozens of Pieces in Punjab Province. Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings. "The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added. The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory. Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi's Mehrauli. (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 27 (PTI) State-owned BEML on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to develop technologies for the marine industry. The company aims to leverage the opportunity to expand its expertise into the marine sector, BEML said in a statement. Also Read | Red Planet Day 2024 Date and Significance: Know About the Day That Commemorates the Launch of Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964, the First To Land on Mars. "BEML and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) have entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance research and development in cutting-edge technologies for marine applications," it said. As part of the agreement, BEML will provide technical support for the design and manufacturing of strategic equipment, specifically suited for marine applications. Also Read | Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024: Online Registration Begins, Check Eligibility, Fee, and Exam Pattern. MDL will make dedicated facilities available to BEML's research team, facilitating the development, testing and validation of innovative technologies and systems. Together, the two organisations aim to drive innovation and deliver cutting-edge solutions, aligning with India's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and strengthening the nation's maritime capabilities. BEML aims to leverage the partnership with MDL to develop solutions for futuristic marine applications to expand its expertise in the marine sector, the company said. BEML CMD Shantanu Roy said, "The collaboration underscores our commitment to reducing dependency on imports for the defence forces while strengthening our manufacturing capabilities and contributing to India's self-reliance in the defence and maritime domain". Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders specialises in the construction of wardships and submarines for the Indian Navy, ships for coast guard as well as other maritime platforms for commercial purposes. BEML, under the Ministry of Defence, operates in three verticals construction and mining, rail and metro and defence and aerospace. (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 27 (PTI) A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death at Ramleela ground in northwest Delhi for allegedly making social media comments that police described as "controversial", an official said on Wednesday. According to the police, the assailants, also minors, attacked him with a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds. Also Read | Red Planet Day 2024 Date and Significance: Know About the Day That Commemorates the Launch of Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964, the First To Land on Mars. "A PCR call was received in the Shalimar Bagh Police Station regarding an injured boy lying in Ramleela ground. The police team reached the spot and found him with multiple stab wounds," a police officer said. He was working as a labourer in a banquet hall for the last two days, the officer said. An FIR was registered and the police apprehended two juveniles in the case. Also Read | Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024: Online Registration Begins, Check Eligibility, Fee, and Exam Pattern. Preliminary investigation reveals that the deceased was stabbed due to an ongoing enmity, the officer said. During questioning, the accused told the police that the victim had made "controversial comments" against them on social media. Following which, they intercepted him at Ramleela ground and stabbed him. He died on the spot, officer said. "We have recovered a dagger and the victim's mobile phone. Further investigation in the case is underway," he added. (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 27 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged the French aviation sector to explore opportunities to set up manufacturing facilities in India. He said that India is the world's largest aviation market with 1,500 planes ordered with the capability of taking the order up to 2,000. Also Read | Red Planet Day 2024 Date and Significance: Know About the Day That Commemorates the Launch of Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964, the First To Land on Mars. "Indian companies have 1,500 aircraft on order and have the option to take it to 2,000. It would also be in the best interest of French companies to look at Indian manufacturing possibilities, to look at expanding their own sales in India for both aircraft, spare parts for aircraft, maintenance, repair and overhaul and all other associated industries," he said while addressing the Asia-Pacific Forum of French Foreign Trade Advisors. A large part of the order of aircraft by Indian companies has gone to French manufacturer Airbus. Also Read | Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024: Online Registration Begins, Check Eligibility, Fee, and Exam Pattern. India has increased the number of airports to 125 from 75 in 2014 and by 2029, 75 more airports will become operational. "It gives huge opportunities for companies who wish to develop airports and other associated industries," Goyal said. The minister also suggested for joint production partnership between Indian and French companies in the defence sector for the world markets. "We are encouraging companies from across the world to manufacture in India. We allow 100 per cent ownership of defence manufacturing companies. "We don't even insist on technology transfer in most cases," he said. Goyal also invited French companies for partnerships with India in the area of agriculture and food processing, renewable energy, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, and services sector. France is the 11th biggest source of foreign direct investment in India with total investments of USD 11 billion. About 750 French companies are operational in India and 75 Indian companies have operations in France. The bilateral trade between the countries reached USD 15 billion in 2023-24 with Indian exports at USD 7 billion and imports at USD 8 billion. Though the trade is balanced it is suboptimal, the minister said. "We should aspire to grow it much better, much bigger much faster. The trust between the two countries will strengthen our continued engagement in investment on both sides". Goyal read a special message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscoring the ties between India and France based on trust, shared values and a forward-looking vision. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Hamirpur (HP), Nov 27 (PTI) Women among hundreds of Hamirpur residents on Wednesday held a protest against the closure of a charitable hospital run by Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Bhota area here. Raising slogans demanding the continuation of medical services at the charitable hospital, the villagers of the adjoining villages have decided to hold protests from 11 am to 4 pm daily over the failure of the state government to transfer the land of the hospital. Also Read | Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024: Online Registration Begins, Check Eligibility, Fee, and Exam Pattern. The villagers on Monday held a demonstration after the sect put up a notice on the hospital's main gate informing people that it will not be able to give its services from December 1. The Radha Soami Satsang Beas has been approaching the state government to transfer the hospital's land to its sister organisation but is facing some issues under the Land Ceiling Act. Also Read | Bank Holidays in December 2024: From Christmas to Weekends and More, Banks To Remain Closed for 17 Days Next Month; Check Complete List of Bank Holiday Dates. The request for land transfer was made to obtain GST exemption in the purchase of machinery and other equipment to upgrade the hospital facilities. Located in the foothills of Himalayas, the 75-bed hospital in Hamirpur-Shimla highway gives free medical facilities to patients and has been running since 2000. It caters to lakhs of people of over 900 villages in its 15 km radius. Hospital administrator Colonel Jaggi (retired) said a notice has been put up on the gate following the orders received from the sect management. As of now, no written assurance has been received from the state government, he said. The protestors were also upset over the levying of GST on hospital services despite the fact that the trust was rendering free medical services and demanded a written assurance or notification from the state government that the hospital would not be closed. BJP MLAs Inder Dutt Lakahnpal and Ashish Sharma visited the spot and held talks with the management as well as protestors, who staged a dharna on the main road outside the hospital. They urged the protestors not to resort to road blockade and continue their agitation peacefully. The road was cleared of within minutes and the villagers were asked to protest peacefully. Police force was present at the spot and urged them not to stop the free movement of traffic. The MLAs said it was up to the state government to take immediate action to end the stalemate. There was no hitch in transferring the land in the name of the charitable trust but the dilly delaying attitude of the state government was responsible for this. On Monday, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the sect wishes to give the land of the charitable hospital to its sister organisation and the state government is contemplating to bring an ordinance for making provision in the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holding Act, 1972 to transfer the land. The state government wants institutions like Radha Soami Satsang to serve the people, the CM said. "Legal aspects would be considered to make provision in this regard and the matter would be discussed in the winter session of assembly and if any changes have to be made in the law that will also be done, he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Japan's SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son sees India's potential to emerge as a big player in chip design due to geopolitical reasons and asked founders of his portfolio companies in the country to work on artificial intelligence with 10 years perspective, according to sources. During his two-day visit to India, Son met Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Day 1 in Mumbai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the second day in the national capital. Also Read | Red Planet Day 2024 Date and Significance: Know About the Day That Commemorates the Launch of Spacecraft Mariner 4 by NASA in 1964, the First To Land on Mars. The billionaire CEO met founders of SoftBank's portfolio companies, including Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey, OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal, Ola Consumer and Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, Flipart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, and Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal, among others, on second day of his visit. "During meeting with the founders, Son said India's engineering talent is the biggest in the world. He said that due to geopolitical de-coupling, India could be a big player in chip design. He mentioned SoftBank has invested USD 15 billion in the last 10 years and SoftBank's investments in India could exceed that," a source who was part of the meeting said. Also Read | Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024: Online Registration Begins, Check Eligibility, Fee, and Exam Pattern. The SoftBank Group founder also said that chip designing will be the heartbeat of the AI economy. During discussions with founders, Son emphasised on development of business around artificial intelligence. He said founders will have to think in an exponential manner not in a linear way as AI is not a linear thought process. Son said AI will have a capex of USD 9-10 trillion globally and founders need to look at AI from a 10 year perspective. Sources said that Son told founders that making a 2-3 year AI plan will be a recipe for failure. He also met some of the founders individually, including InMobi's founder and CEO Naveen Tewari, to discuss further potential collaborations in consumer tech and AI. Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal took to the micro-blogging site X to share the news. "Always amazing to meet @masason! Such an energising discussion on AI, AGI, Energy and India. We will make the future here in India together," he wrote. Over the years, SoftBank has invested in several high-profile Indian companies such as Flipkart, Ola, Paytm, Delhivery, FirstCry, and Swiggy. (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 27: Shiv Sena MPs on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, days after the BJP-led Mahayuti registered a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Shiv Sena MPs led by Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav, Ravindra Waikar, Sandipan Bhumare, Shrirang Appa Barne, Milind Deora, Dhairyasheel Mane and former Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale met Shah in Parliament. Maharashtra Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Says 'CM Means Common Man', Calls for Working for People in His Address. Mane said the MPs thanked Shah for campaigning extensively for the elections and touring almost every district of the state. "People of Maharashtra listened to what Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, and the Mahayuti returned to power with a thumping majority," Mane said. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won the Maharashtra elections by a landslide, bagging 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP alone won 132 seats while the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) emerged victorious on 57 and 41 seats, respectively. Smaller parties of the coalition won five seats. You Are the Head of Our Family, Will Accept Your Decision: Eknath Shinde Leaves CM Decision Call to PM Narendra Modi. The meeting took place as Eknath Shinde, the outgoing chief minister and Shiv Sena leader, addressed a press conference in Thane and declared that he would abide by the decision of the prime minister on his successor. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is considered as frontrunner for the chief minister's post with the Shiv Sena and the NCP getting deputy chief minister posts. NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare also met Shah and congratulated him on the Mahayuti's victory. Tatkare also met the prime minister and greeted him on the victory in Maharashtra elections. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Women in the Era of the Houthi Militia 06:03 () Yemeni women are the biggest victims of the ongoing war in Yemen. Since the coup that started the war back in 2014, women have been exposed to all kinds ofviolations against their rights by the Houthi Militiafrom kidnapping, assault, harassment, to imprisonment.These acts practiced by the militia affects women psychologically and physically which also affects their health negatively. Women in Houthi-controlled areas are subjected to arbitrary arrest, especially female human rights activists and journalists, as the Houthi militia arrests them because of their political or human rights activities. And anyone who does not see eye to eye with them gets thrown into prison, where they use horrendous methods of torture. They also face the crime of rape by the Houthis who takes advantage of their authority to scare women and use them for personal satisfaction. Then use the judicial system to get away with their crimes, depriving them of every bit of hope that exists. The amount of gender-based discrimination women encounter by the Houthis in Yemen is atrocious, while the level of protection is non-existent, leaving them vulnerable against a group thirsty for violence. Thus gender-based violence against women has escalated since the beginning of the war, reaching nearly 70%. Reports from human rights organizations show that the Houthi Militia have committed more than 10 thousand violations against women until March 2024. Meaning that thousands of women were denied the probability of living a normal life. The international community, the United Nations, and the parties involved in this file must take serious steps to end this violence caused by the terrorist Houthi Milita against the Yemeni women who struggle to be part of the society they live in, which is her simplest right. Budaun, November 27: A revenue official posted in the Bisoli tehsil of this Uttar Pradesh district has been suspended after an audio recording of him engaging in obscene conversations with a widow became widely circulated on social media, officials said Wednesday. The suspension was ordered by Subdivisional Magistrate Rashmi Krishna and implemented by Tehsildar Vijay Shukla, who also initiated a departmental inquiry into the matter. Shukla said, "The lekhpal (revenue official), Ramautar, was caught in an obscene phone conversation with a widow who had approached him for registering her inheritance and verifying income certificates for government benefits." "Upon learning about the viral audio, we immediately suspended him and began an investigation. However, the woman has not yet filed a formal written complaint," the officer said. UP Shocker: Man Held for Raping 16-Year-Old Girl After Promising To Marry Her. Officials said the widow, a resident of a village in the Bisoli tehsil, had been visiting the revenue office for nearly six months to get her inheritance registered. In August, she applied for an income certificate but alleged that the lekhpal kept delaying the process. Frustrated, she contacted the lekhpal over the phone and he reportedly pressured her to get into physical relations with him in exchange for getting her work done, the officials said. Agra Shocker: Man Drinks Mosquito Repellent After Breakup With Girlfriend, UP Police Save Him After He Streams Suicide Attempt on Instagram Live. The widow had previously raised the issue with Krishna during a tehsil grievance day event, following which her inheritance was registered. However, the lekhpal continued to demand inappropriate favours, citing the preparation of the income certificate required for the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, the officials said. The situation escalated when the lekhpal's obscene phone conversation became circulated on social media, prompting swift action. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Fiuggi, November 27: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held important discussions with his counterparts from the US, South Korea, Japan and Italy during the G7 Foreign Minister's Meeting in Fiuggi, Italy. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani. The EAM wrote on X, "A warm meeting with DPM & FM @Antonio_Tajani of Italy today. Discussed opportunities in technology, innovation, clean energy, fertilizers, railways and investments. Also exchanged perspectives on IMEC, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. The recently announced Joint Strategic Action Plan guides our activities. Look forward to welcoming him in India in 2025". EAM S Jaishankar Meets German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, Holds Wide-Ranging Discussions With Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (See Pics). US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken shared the details of his meeting with Jaishankar on X. He said, "The U.S. and India are stronger when we are working together. Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and I met today in Italy to discuss the importance of our continued close cooperation to promote global security and prosperity". EAM Jaishankar shared the highlights of the meeting and expressed confidence in the India-US partnership which continues to move forward. He also shared about his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul on X and noted, "Appreciate our growing convergences on the Indo-Pacific, vibrant economic partnership, strong defence ties and active tech collaboration". EAM S Jaishankar Says Friendships Not Exclusive in Emerging Multipolar World. Sharing the details of the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister, Takeshi Iwaya, the External Affairs Minister said that the two nations "exchanged views on advancing our strategic partnership and cooperation in Indo-Pacific". In other developments, earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil. During the recently concluded ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting Plus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held deliberations with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and the US. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New York, Nov 27 (AP) Harvey Weinstein's lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City, alleging that he is receiving substandard medical treatment in unhygienic conditions while in custody at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex. The Tuesday's notice of claim, which is the first step in filing a lawsuit against the city, accuses the facility of failing to manage the former movie mogul's medical conditions, which include chronic myeloid leukemia and diabetes, and negligence ranging from freezing conditions to a lack of clean clothes. Also Read | Gautam Adani, Nephew Sagar Adani Clear of Bribery Charges As per US Department of Justice Indictment, Says Adani Green. The city's law department and Department of Correction did not immediately respond to requests for comment. When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IV's, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions, Weinstein's attorney, Imran H Ansari, said in a statement, comparing the facility to a gulag." Also Read | Who Is Jay Bhattacharya, Indian-American Scientist Picked by Donald Trump To Lead Top US Health Institute?. Weinstein, 72, has been in city custody since earlier this year, after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction in the state. The case is set to be retried in 2025. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing. Weinstein was briefly hospitalised in April and again in July for health problems. His team has said he's been treated for diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, COVID-19, and fluid on his heart and lungs. The legal claim, which seeks USD 5 million in damages, argues he'd been returned to Rikers each time before he had fully recovered. Weinstein's film production company went into bankruptcy proceedings after his convictions, setting up a USD 17 million fund for a sexual misconduct claims fund. The Rikers Island jail is slated to be closed in 2027, but the city has pushed back deadlines to do so. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Hong Kong, November 27 (ANI): In a landmark ruling, Hong Kong's top court on Wednesday upheld the inheritance and public housing benefits for same-sex married couples, marking a significant step for gay rights in the territory, despite Hong Kong not recognising same-sex marriage, The New York Times reported. The ruling brings an end to two long-standing legal battles involving couples who married overseas. One such case was that of Nick Infinger, who married his husband in Canada. They applied for public housing in Hong Kong but were rejected. Infinger sued Hong Kong's Housing Authority in 2018 and won, but the government appealed. Also Read | Florida Inmate Has 'Miracle' Baby by Using Air Vent To Get Pregnant Just 'Like Virgin Mary'. In the other case from 2019, Edgar Ng sought to challenge the lawfulness of a policy after learning that his husband, whom he married in Britain, would not be able to inherit his government-subsidised apartment. Ng died in 2020, and lower courts subsequently ruled in his favour. His husband, Henry Li, contested the Hong Kong government's efforts to appeal those rulings, as reported by the New York Times. "The exclusion of same-sex married couples from Hong Kong's housing policies cannot be justified and that welfare benefits should be distributed on a rational and justifiable basis, free from discrimination," Chief Justice Andrew Cheung stated on Tuesday. Also Read | Network Readiness Index 2024: India Climbs Up 11 Slots in Latest NRI 2024, Now Placed at 49th Rank Globally, Says Government. Further, Judges Joseph Fok and Roberto Ribeiro said that "the government had failed to justify the differential treatment in inheritance laws," describing them as "unlawful and unconstitutional." Nick Infinger, speaking outside the Court of Final Appeal, expressed his approval of the decision made by Hong Kong's top court, saying, "The ruling today affirms the right of same-sex couples to love one another and live together. This is very important." Jerome Yau, the co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, an advocacy group, said the decision sent a clear signal to the government that it must stop denying spousal benefits to same-sex married couples. "These positions will reinforce the message that the time has come," Yau said. "Really, it's time for the government to understand from a legal standpoint that it is wrong to treat people differently because of their sexual orientation." Last year, Hong Kong's top court made a decision that the government must create a system to legally recognise same-sex partnerships by October 2025. However, the court did not go as far as recognising same-sex marriage as legally valid. Despite this, a study published last year shows that more and more people in Hong Kong support same-sex marriage. In fact, 60 per cent of people surveyed said they were in favour of it, according to the New York Times. "The most sensible thing to do is to legalise same-sex marriage," Yau said. "The court made it clear that the government has to come up with a framework. It does not make sense to continue addressing this issue in a piecemeal fashion." (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 York, Nov 27 (AP) Walmart's sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at US companies that are re-evaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programmes to bolster historically under-represented groups. The changes announced by the world's biggest retailer on Monday followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programmes aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. Also Read | Jun Young-hyun Named New CEO of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and Memory Business Unit To Lead Semiconductor. The retreat from such programmes crystalised with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes a priority. Trump's incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller, who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programmes that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination, said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher at the Human Capital Centre at the Conference Board. Also Read | Adani Bribery Case: No Bribery Charges Against Gautam Adani, His Nephew Sagar Adani and Other Executives Says Adani Group. This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino, he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity centre set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index. Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after US Supreme Court's ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the US Department of Transportation over its use of a programme that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organisation says it has identified more than 60 programmes in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches -- the US Supreme Court, the Congress and the President -- are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualised treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups, Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can't be overstated, said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labour & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they've got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It's a virtually impossible dilemma, Schwartz said. Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, a civil rights group that has worked with Walmart on diversity and inclusion efforts in the past, called the company's pullback from DEI stunning" and unexpected. This is inconsistent with the Walmart I know, said Morial, who argued that DEI policies are how organisations ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and any suggestion of favouritism or preferential treatment is really defamatory against what DEI represents. He said that Walmart would see a strong message to the decision but that civil rights leaders are first very interested in dialogue with Walmart executives. A recent survey by Pew Research Centre showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52 per cent in the October survey, compared to 56 per cent in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associate at Pew, called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won't be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Centre for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI," Glasgow said. "The only reason you don't hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They're putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention. Glasgow advises organisations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. It's going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there's a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing, he said. One reason DEI programmes exist is because without those programmes, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic, Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Walmart says its US businesses sourced more than USD 13 billion in goods and services from diverse suppliers in fiscal year 2024, including businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organisations that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women's Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America's top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart's announcement. Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organisation, said she hoped Walmart's need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company has no explicit dollar goals. I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World, Prince-Eason wrote. Any retailer's ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart." Walmart's announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe's and Tractor Supply. Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don't feature sexual and trans-gender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign's annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. RaShawn Shawnie Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation's Workplace Equality Programme, said companies that abandon their commitments workplace inclusion policies are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders. She said the buying power of LGBTQ customers is powerful and noted that the index will have record participation of more than 1,400 companies in 2025. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, November 27: Karnataka Bank has officially begun the registration process for the recruitment of Customer Service Associates (CSA) as part of its 2024 hiring drive. This presents an excellent opportunity for candidates seeking a career in banking services. Interested and eligible applicants are encouraged to submit their applications through the official website, karnatakabank.com. According to the official notification, selected candidates will be required to participate in an Induction Training Programme conducted at the Bank's Staff Training College in Mangaluru or another location designated by the Bank. This training will be at the candidates' own expense. Upon successful completion, they will be assigned to one of the Bank's branches or offices. Karnataka Bank and Clix Capital Enter Into Strategic Digital Co-Lending Partnership Through Yubi Platform. Eligibility Criteria For Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024 The eligibility criteria for Karnataka Bank's CSA recruitment 2024 require applicants to be no older than 26 years as of November 1, 2024, with candidates having been born on or after November 2, 1998, to meet the age requirement. In terms of educational qualifications, candidates must have completed their graduation in any discipline from a university, institution, or board recognized by the Government. JKBOSE 11th Result 2024 Released For Private and Bi-Annual Exams, Know Steps to Download Marksheet At jkbose.nic.in. Application Fee For Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024 The application fee for Karnataka Banks CSA recruitment varies based on the candidate's category. General, Unreserved, Other Backward Classes and other applicants are required to pay INR 700 plus applicable taxes, while candidates from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories need to pay INR 600 plus applicable taxes. Payments can be made conveniently using Debit Cards (RuPay, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro), Credit Cards, UPI, or Mobile Wallets. Examination Pattern for Karnataka Bank Recruitment 2024 The Karnataka Bank CSA exam will feature 200 questions, each worth 200 marks. Candidates will be allotted 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete the exam. All questions will be presented in English, each with five options. The exam will be divided into several sections, including Reasoning, English Language, Computer Knowledge, General Awareness (with a focus on the Banking Industry), and Numerical Ability. This structured format ensures a comprehensive assessment of candidates' skills and knowledge across key areas. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2024 02:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Chennai, November 27: The deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal is moving north-northwestwards at a speed of 13 kmph and is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm within the next 12 hours, bringing heavy rain across Tamil Nadu, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC). In a statement, the RMC reported that the deep depression is currently located about 120 km east-southeast of Trincomalee, 370 km southeast of Nagapattinam, 470 km southeast of Puducherry, and 550 km south-southeast of Chennai. The system is expected to continue moving north-northwestwards, skirting the Sri Lankan coast, and is likely to approach the Tamil Nadu coast over the next two days. The RMC has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated places across the districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, and Cuddalore. Heavy rains are also expected in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Mayiladuthurai districts on Thursday. Cyclone Fengal: Rains Lash Several Parts of Tamil Nadu, Cyclonic Storm Brewing in Bay of Bengal (Watch Video). An Orange alert has been issued for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Ranipet districts on November 29 and 30, indicating the likelihood of heavy rainfall. The RMC has issued a warning of strong winds, with gusts of up to 65 kmph, likely over the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal on November 28. This is the fourth weather system to form during the Northeast Monsoon season since mid-October. A similar rainfall pattern is expected across coastal and northern Tamil Nadu from November 29 to December 2. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin chaired a review meeting with District Collectors and monitoring officers to assess the states preparedness for the heavy rains and potential cyclonic storm. The government said that the Chief Minister has reviewed precautionary measures in Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, and Cuddalore districts. District Collectors have assured that adequate relief camps have been established, and medical teams equipped with necessary resources are on standby. Disaster response teams have been pre-positioned, and first responders, along with volunteers, have been mobilised. Emergency control centres at the state and district levels are functioning round the clock with multi-department coordination. Cyclone Fengal: IMD Says Cyclonic Storm Brewing in Bay of Bengal, Moving Towards Tamil Nadu; Check Weather Forecast for November 26-27 (Watch Video). Following the Chief Ministers directives, one team each from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed to Thiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, and Cuddalore districts. Additionally, two NDRF teams have been stationed in Thanjavur. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2024 11:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). New Delhi, November 27: Opposition members on Wednesday stormed out of the meeting of the joint parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, alleging that its proceedings had become a mockery. Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, A Raja of the DMK, Sanjay Singh of AAP and Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC protested the conduct of committee chairperson Jagdambika Pal, alleging that he was keen to wrap up its proceedings by the November 29 deadline without completing due process. Waqf Board Amendment Bill 2024: Huge Uproar, Walkout During JPC Meet; Opposition MPs Complain Against Chairman Jagdambika Pal to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Gogoi said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had indicated the committee might be given an extension but it appeared that some "big minister" was directing the action of Pal. TMC MP Banerjee said, "It is a mockery." YSR Congress MP V Vijaysai Reddy said all parties not allied with the BJP wanted an extension but Pal called for finishing its work so that the report could be tabled in the Lok Sabha on November 29. As part of the ceasefire, Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from Lebanon over the next 60 days, US President Joe Biden said in his address to the nation from the White House on Tuesday, shortly after Israel's Security Cabinet approved the accord. HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle, Bengaluru, received a bomb threat via email on Monday. Police swiftly conducted checks but found nothing suspicious. The threat was confirmed to be a hoax, said DCP East Division. Police have launched probe to identify the accused. Bomb Threats to Flights: Nagpur-Kolkata Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Chattisgarhs Raipur Airport. Bengaluru Bomb Threat Karnataka: A bomb threat mail was received by HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle in Bengaluru. Immediately the police reached the spot and did a check. Nothing suspicious was found and it was declared a hoax bomb threat: DCP East division, Bengaluru. ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT (Global Times) The G7, originally an economic organization focused on economic cooperation, frequently involves itself in international events and conflicts beyond its original scope. In particular, it has inserted itself into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, becoming a meddlesome force with clear political motives. According to an early draft from the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting reported by Bloomberg on Monday, they are expected to vow "'appropriate measures consistent with our legal systems, against actors in China and in other third countries' who are supporting Russia's 'war machine' in Ukraine." Why is the G7 so intent on portraying China as aiding Russia militarily? On the one hand, they want to pass the buck to China for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On the other, they are trying to legitimize their strategy of isolating China and uniting a small circle of allies led by the US, from calling on China to stop its "backing" of Russia's dual-use weapons in April to now attempting to take "appropriate measures." The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly responded that "China handles the export of military products prudently and responsibly. We have never provided lethal weapons to any party of the conflict." It has also pointed out multiple times that China's normal trade with Russia is done aboveboard. It's consistent with WTO rules and market principles. It does not target any third party and should not come under external interference or coercion. China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests brook no infringement. However, it is the US, the G7's "main leader," who has authorized Ukraine to use powerful long-range weapons to strike targets. Regardless of the fact, the Russia-Ukraine conflict provides the G7 an opportunity to amplify the so-called "China threat" narrative. They use it as an excuse to expand sanctions against Russia and other countries, and weaken China's international image, thereby consolidating G7's waning influence. The G7 is no longer regarded as a purely economic organization but rather a geopolitical alliance, a tool for advancing "strategic objectives." Their true aim has shifted to using pressure and sanctions to promote the strategic interests of specific nations, shaping the global order and maintaining Western dominance. As a result, China has become their primary target. The G7 expresses frequent concerns about China possibly supporting Russia, yet chooses to turn a blind eye to the US' approval of Ukraine's use of long-range weapons. One side calls for peace while the other fuels the flames of war - who should be questioned? This reveals that Western politicians, eager to threaten Beijing with sanctions, are simply making futile, baseless statements, which only harm the West's overall image. Not only the G7, but the European Commission is also proposing sanctions related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to documents leaked to Bloomberg, the European Commission will sanction several Chinese firms it claims helped Russian companies develop attack drones that were deployed against Ukraine. Companies from Russia, Serbia, Iran, India, and other countries will also be included in the sanctions. Such "scattershot" actions prove that neither the G7 nor the EU are genuinely focused on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The G7 constantly talks about its "unwavering commitment" to Kiev, yet never stops its "unwavering smearing" against China. What the G7 expresses is a self-affirmation of its perceptions, reinforcing its narrow mind-set rather than presenting a true solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "By taking such an extreme stance, the G7 risks becoming increasingly isolated and awkward on the global diplomatic stage," Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. Elon Musk told Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that not hiring white people on the job is illegal. The reaction of tech billionaire was triggered as a response to a post that said Microsoft's gaming division excluded white males from being hired to work on their video games. The post done by Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) further said that all the new hires were " unqualified queers" and "black people". The post further said that the tech company's executives had an explicit mandate against "crusty old white dudes." Starlink Gets FCC Approval for US Commercial License To Provide Supplemental Coverage From Space. Hiring "Unqualified Queers" and "Black People" Is Illegal, Said Elon Musk to Satya Nadella (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) New Delhi, November 27: Infosys, the IT firm, has reportedly announced an average performance bonus of 85 per cent for its employees. The Infosys performance bonus is related to the second quarter of the financial year 2025, which finished in September. It is anticipated that the bonuses will be paid out together with the salaries of November. The amount each employee will receive will differ depending on how well they performed and what they have contributed during that quarter. As per reports, Infosys has sent emails to eligible employees detailing the bonus allocation. In the second quarter, Infosys is said to have performed very well, showing growth across various areas and strengthening its position in the market. The success can be related to the hard work of its employees, as well as a strategy aimed to improve profit margins. Additionally, the company's expertise and skills in Cloud technology and Generative AI have played a crucial role in achieving these positive results. Wipro Partnership With Marelli Extended for 4 Years To Work on Cloud Transformation. Salil Parekh, CEO of Infosys, has shared that salary hikes will start selectively from January 2025. By April 2025, all employees will receive their pay raises. The announcement comes after a period where salary increases were put on hold in FY 2022, and there was a delay in the performance review process in FY 2024. Who Are Eligible for the Infosys Average Performance Bonus? The Infosys average performance bonus will mainly target employees who are at mid and junior levels in the delivery and sales departments. The group of workers is a large part of Infosys, which has a total workforce of around 3.15 lakh. The company intends to reward and motivate those who are essential to its operations. The bonus payout has now risen to 85 per cent, which is an increase from the 80 per cent that was announced for Q1 FY25. Previously, in Q4 FY24, the bonus was set at 60 per cent. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2024 08:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). The 98th Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to its usual 2.5-mile route for the annual holiday tradition in New York City. The annual event is back with its largest lineup of over 5,000 volunteers, 17 featured character balloons, 22 floats, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 11 marching bands and 10 performance groups from several stars, including Santa Claus. Plus, there are several new floats and balloons to look forward to this year. Here is how you can watch the festivities this year from your couch or the New York City parade route. The 2024 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 and runs until approximately noon. The parade will be broadcast at the same time in all U.S. time zones. There will also be a replay of the parade from 2-5 p.m. There are two channels available to catch the parade in English and Spanish languages. NBC and Telemundo will broadcast the parade. NBCs streaming service Peacock will livestream the parade starting at 8:30 a.m. You also can watch NBC on other streaming platforms, such as Fubo TV, which offers a free trial and has live TV and DVR functions, so viewers can watch the parade in real-time or on-demand. The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, while in its 98th year running, has been televised since 1948. There were only two years the parade was not held. It was suspended from 1942-1944 to conserve materials for World War II. This was due to the increased popularity it got after it was featured in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street. Today hosts Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker will host for NBC. During the Telemundo simulcast, the networks Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza will host the show. It begins at West 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. The parade will make its way south along 8th Avenue before turning down 59th Street at Columbus Circle. The remainder of the Thanksgiving Day Parade will travel south down 6th Avenue, ending at Macys Herald Square. The parade will feature six new balloons, four new balloonicles, seven new floats and dozens of performers and marching bands. One of the new balloons in particular is Disneys Minnie Mouse, who will make her Macys Thanksgiving Day parade debut this year. Floats such as Doras Fantastical Rainforest and Wednesdays Feast will also debut this year. Wednesdays Feast comes right as the show which the float is based on announced that it will be premiering its second season on Netflix as early as September 2025. There will be 28 performers, including big names, such as Idina Menzel, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Kylie Minogue, The Temptations and T-Pain. There will also be 11 marching bands. The first giant Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon was of the popular 1920s cartoon character Felix the Cat. According to NPRs Morning Edition, he joined the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. Felix the Cat last reprised his role in the parade in 2016. How do I get tickets to the parade, if I want to see it in person? The Macys Thanksgiving Parade is not a publicly ticketed event. If there are tickets for prime viewing spots of the parade at Herald Square, they are usually given to friends and family of Macys employees, parade performers and politicians. It is possible, however, to view the parade for free along the 2.5 mile parade route. People usually line up starting at 6 a.m. at Central Park West, which is a prime viewing spot, to watch the parade on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is expected to be a wet day in New York. Forecasters from the National Weather Service are calling for rain with a high of 49 degrees and a low of 40 degrees. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips. Independent Republican candidate Brian Stanley has a renewed fire in his belly after a bruising political departure from Sinn Fein only last month. The Portlaoise based candidate admits he wasnt going to run in the wake of his highly publicised departure from Sinn Fein, who had accused him of gross misconduct, an allegation he strongly denies. I wasnt going to run. If I hopped out of the car and walked ten or twenty yards there was somebody stopping me over the last few months and saying to me to make sure to run. So, I decided for better or worse to do it and I have to say the campaign is going well. I am enjoying it. I am enjoying it better than any campaign in the last 30 years. It is good. I have great people around me and the response from the public is very, very good overall, he revealed. Having topped the poll with 16,654 (Quota 11,574) first preference votes in the former five seat Laois Offaly constituency in 2020, well clear of the next nearest candidate Fianna Fails Barry Cowen on 8,677, many will wonder how much of the vote was personal and how much was attributable to Sinn Fein. This seat belongs to the people of Laois. It doesnt belong to Brian Stanley. It doesnt belong to Fianna Fail, it doesnt belong to Fine Gael, it doesnt belong to Sinn Fein, contrary to what they may believe and as I say, it doesnt belong to me. Its the peoples seat, let the people decide, said Mr Stanley. While seats may not belong to candidates, Mr Stanley conceded that the likely outcome of the election will see Fianna Fail and Fine Geal winning seats in Laois. He believes he will attract new voters because he is no longer associated with Sinn Fein. He secured votes throughout the county in his last outing and is hopeful of a strong showing this time out. I got a very good spread of votes throughout the county from the three electoral districts. The Portlaoise, Abbeyleix district, Ballinakill, when you take that middle of the county, that would have been the strongest, but there was a very good vote all around. I would always try and service and raise issues to do with the whole county, he said. Mr Stanley said his constituency office has been busy and he knows the issues that are important to the people of Laois. Housing, health, childcare, school places, dental services and just transition are all areas where Mr Stanley believes focus is needed. You are meeting people with children who are renting who have a notice to quit, or who have just received notice that their rents are going up again. The so called rent pressure zones are fantasy. They are not working, he said. He wants to see more cost rental and affordable housing provided. In Laois County Council we have deliberately pushed for those for families who have no hope. Maybe they gone beyond 45 and they are not in a position to get a mortgage, maybe they are just above the limit for social housing on 37, 38, 39,000 gross. They havent a hope of getting a mortgage. Cost rental provides security of tenure. They have a lifetime tenancy, you have a rent that is index linked, he said. One of the ones that is coming up a huge amount is special needs children and the absence of services. This is one that is close to my heart, children on the autism spectrum waiting on diagnosis, receiving therapies. Having to go private, paying thousands for an assessment, he said. The lack of school places in primary and secondary school is also a major issue he hopes to tackle. He wants more ASD classrooms as well and believes a further 11 will be needed next year. As an Independent Republican candidate, Mr Stanley is also keen to see progress on a united Ireland. He believes it will be time to focus on laying down the groundwork after the elections are over. He believes an economic argument must be made and won before any border poll takes place. He also said more emphasis is need on winning hearts and minds than lecturing people. If elected, Mr Stanley believes he can work with like minded Independents, naming the likes of Galways Catherine Connolly and Donegals Thomas Pringle, to achieve his aims. What I will try and do is use my position as one member of 166 in the Dail and combine with a group of fairly like minded Independents, centre left, he said. He said he was prepared to back worthwhile proposals from all parties. I am not going to be politically sectarian about it. If somebody puts forward a good proposal, be it Labour, be it Sinn Fein, be it Soc Dems, be it whoever, or if government comes up with a good proposal, he said. Mr Stanley believes Independents could play an important role in the next government and he said the old way of two parties and a mudguard are over. As for his former party, he said, Sinn Fein isnt going into Government. They are not within an asss roar of government. That has been blown because they didnt deal with the issues they needed to be addressed starting two years ago and they didnt deal with their internal issues. He asked people to look at his record as a former Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, as a TD and as a Councillor before that. Check my track record with regard to the Public Accounts Committee. Check my track record with regard to exposing the plan to closing the A&E unit and Pediatrics at Portlaoise Hospital. Check my record in relation to Abbeyleix Hospital, check my record in relation to Mountmellick, campaigning for new schools, ASD units, a living wage for workers, a just transition for farmers and rural dwellers, scaling up retrofitting. Check my record in relation to disabilities, not just since I became a TD but when I was a councillor. The question is do you want somebody who is effective, who has the experience, who has the commitment, who has the energy and I can tell you that if I had the energy when I first got elected 26 years ago as a councillor I have twice as much of it now. I am twice as motivated, he said. Check out profiles of all the Laois general election candidates in the Leinster Express this week. Just over 70% of the population of Laois have registered to vote in the General Election according to figures released by Laois County Council. The local authority, which maintains the county's Electoral Register, has confirmed to the Leinster Express Laois Live that 65,873 people have the right to vote in the national poll on Friday, November 29. It's understood that the number registered to vote has swelled in the run-up to the poll due to a flurry of registrations. Staff have also been busy with voters changing their electoral details. The is only the second time that Laois has been part of a three-seat constituency having been party of the Laois Offaly electoral area at all other General Elections since the foundation of the State. The number registered in Laois for election 2024 is up on the number who were registered in 2016 when the Laois constituency took in Monasterevin and surrounding areas of south Kildare. On that occasion, 63,295 people were registered to vote. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Just six candidates candidates contested in 2016 when the turnout was nearly 62%. Sean Fleming of Fianna Fail topped the poll with over 13,600 votes. Brian Stanley was returned for Sinn Fein while Charlie Flanagan was elected for Fine Gael. The new constituency was created after the Electoral Commission deemed Laois and Offaly to have sufficiently large populations to merit representation by six TDs. Electoral law specifies that a constituency can have no more than five TDs so two constituencies were created. No parts of other counties are included in the new Laois constituency. The number of registered voters in the 2024 Local Elections in Laois was 68,471. The smaller General Election electorate is due to the fact non-Irish citizens can vote in Local Elections. A total of 12 candidates are contesting the General Election in Laois. Voting takes place from 7am to 10pm on Friday. The votes will be counted from Saturday morning in the Nagle Rice Hall at the Borris Road secondary School complex in Portlaoise. Jason Lynch was one of the last minute entrants to the race to represent Laois as a TD in Leinster House. The Portlaoise native announced his intention to contest the General Election with just over two weeks to go before polling day. He told the Leinster Express / Laois Live he had considered a tilt at the local elections but did not have the time during the summer to dedicate to running. This General Election came and I said to myself if not now, when, he said. Mr Lynch, a paramedic, chose to run as an independent because he said it is a lot less complicated than going through the party system. He also said being independent would allow him to better represent his colleagues in the health service. He said he had always wanted to get involved in politics and had considered joining political parties in the past and looked at Sinn Fein years ago but did not join. He said he was inspired to run by a friend who won a county council seat in Kilkenny last June as an independent. The top General Election topic is the main manifesto item for Mr Lynch. The big issue for me is the housing crisis which has been an issue for too long. Houses went from being super cheap but nobody could buy them to now being super expensive but nobody can buy them, he said. Mr Lynch, now aged 32, said he has been affected by the problems since leaving school and into his 20s. There was no opportunity to buy a home. Even with a decent job it is still very difficult to buy a home. It breaks my heart when I hear the homeless figures in a first world country like Ireland, he said. Working in the ambulance service he sees the problem first hand. As a paramedic, I go into places where people are living in hotel rooms and I can tell you that there is nothing nice about it. I couldn't imagine living like it, he said. Lots of ideas have been floated on how to improve the situation to increasing supply to controlling prices. Mr Lynch believes the Help to Buy scheme needs to be looked at as it is inflating the prices of houses. He said he is aware of properties being bought with the scheme and being sold on at a big profit. He says house prices in Portlaoise continue to spiral up. I looked at a house in 2019 before Covid in Aughnaharna (Portlaoise) and it was on sale for 275,000. Within six months the asking price had gone up by nearly 60,000, he said. He believes that a balance needs to be struck in the market between profit and price. His job gives him insight into the other big General Election issue, the health service. I'm on the frontline working with doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, cleaners. The service is not getting any quieter, it is getting busier but it is seriously understaffed, he said. Mr Lynch welcomes work on new facilities at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise but he has fears about the new and expanded services in the pipeline. We can build the extensions but do we have the staff to work in it and are we going to motivate the staff and give them incentives to stay in the service, he said. He said the embargo on HSE recruitment that was in place had an impact on the hospitals and the ambulance service. He says the staffing issue is compounded by retirements which means recruitment is only keeping pace with departures. The big thing is that we need more staff and we need to incentivise them to stay. It is a great career being a nurse, doctor or paramedic but there is only so much they can do until they get burn out. Staff are exhausted especially at winter time when people are getting sicker, he said. He believes that while the thriving economic situation is to be welcomed, staffing hospitals should not be a problem. The independent candidate says many doctors, nurses and other workers have emigrated. There is no incentive to come back, he said. Mr Lynch also higlighted, what he called disgraceful, St Francis Special School in Portlaoise being instructed by the Department of Education that it had enrolled too many pupils and was warned not to do it again. He said he has a family member who has to travel to Roscrea with children because no ASD place could be sourced locally MORE BELOW PICTURE. Jason Lynch signs his election papers witnessed by Returning Officer Rory Hanniffy in Portlaoise Court. The aspiring TD says his job as a paramedic gives him insights into society and how people live. As to how an indpendent can be effective in the Dail, Mr Lynch believes he will be able to contribute. Firstly, you have your own views as an independent but you also have to be open to the views of other parties and independents, he said. He said that if he is elected he would put the people of Laois at the top of his agenda. First and foremost you go into the Dail to serve the people of the constituency first and be there for the people who would elect me, he said. The Portlaoise man outlined what sets him apart from the other 11 General Election candidates. What makes me different is that I would see myself as a working class person. I am not a councillor nor have I have ever been. I am not associated with a political party and don't have any businesses and my job as a paramedic is my only job. If I was successful in this campaign that would then be my only job and priority. I am not a landlord and I have nothing else to gain by being elected other than to help the people of the constituency, he said. He added that a lot of local people will be able to relate to him as having grown up in a council estate and working hard. He hopes first time voters will see a reason to back him. If things remain the same they are also going to struggle. I want better for them and better for my own children...I want them to know that if elected I have their back, he said. Describing himself as the 'ultimate underdog' he concluded his pitch for votes by appealing to staff working in Portlaoise hospital and other parts of the health service. He says he can be the voice for healthcare staff. I can be the voice that they desperately need, he said. PROFILE Jason Lynch works with the HSE's National Ambulance Service as a paramedic based in Portlaoise. Aged 32, he has a wife and two young daughters. He grew up in St Brigid's estate which is one of the biggest estates in the County. He says his grandfather is the well-known minibus driver Billy Lynch Not a member of any political party but considered Sinn Fein in the past. Soldiers in rubber boats take part in the US-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercise in Palawan on April 30, 2024. Photo: VCG (Global Times) The US military has recently announced its support for Philippine operations in the South China Sea through task force Ayungin, named after the Philippine term for China's Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef). This initiative, according to Manila, will involve collaboration in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts. What additional, lesser-known details exist about this task force? Why was its launch timed during such a sensitive period? To what extent can it bolster the Philippines' provocations in the South China Sea? The Global Times conducted interviews with a Chinese expert who has engaged with high-level sources in the Philippines, as well as a former deputy national security advisor of the Philippines, to uncover deeper insights on the task force. The announcement represents the latest example of the US "fanning the flames" in the South China Sea. It also underscores the current Philippine government's dedication to strengthening its strategic partnership with the US, according to Ding Duo, a deputy director at the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies, who recently concluded a visit to the Philippines, where he engaged with local sources familiar with the matter. "The US task force will only hinder the peaceful resolution of disputes that require direct dialogue, consultations, and negotiations between the Philippines and China," stated Rommel C. Banlaoi, Chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence, and Terrorism Research, in an interview with the Global Times on Monday. As the former director of the Center for Intelligence and National Security Studies in the Philippines, Banlaoi previously told the Global Times that he is dismayed by the current government's decision to increase American military presence, which he believes undermines the balance in the Philippines' relationship with China and promotes a markedly pro-Americanism in foreign policy. He pointed out that the Marcos administration is complicating efforts to improve Philippines-China relations and that these unilateral actions are counterproductive to peacefully resolving disputes with China. HSE top brass have been given stark warnings about damage being caused to staff and the knock-on risks for patients of Portlaoise hospital that the executive's recruitment containment strategy is having on the service. Healthcare workers from several trade unions took to the streets of Laois united in protest at Portlaoise hospital at what they believe is a ban on recruitment disguised as the Pay and Numbers Strategy. With a General Election looming, hundreds of nurses and their fellow healthcare workers gathered for a public protest at the ongoing implementation of the Pay and Numbers Strategy. The workers view the strategy as a continued implementation of the controversial recruitment embargo. Clare Walsh is a nurse on the frontline in Portlaoise hospital working in the Emergency Department. She explained that staff who leave the ED (A&E) are not being replaced due to the HSE Strategy. She says this is happening against the backdrop of rising patient presentation. "Our numbers have gone up dramatically in the last two years. We are seeing an average of between 120 and 180 patients in 24 hours. She said this compares to no more than 90 a day before the pandemic hit five years ago. "We are thankful to senior management to get agency staff to be able to get agency staff but we would love to be able to train up our nurses as ED nurses for the safety of our patients," he said. MORE BELOW PICTURE. She said complaints from the public have risen due to longer waiting times. "Historically, we would not have had long waiting times. We would have had patients coming to us from Limerick, Wicklow, Kildare to our ED because our waiting times were less but now our waiting times are starting to rise because of the amount of patients who are coming through each day," she said. She said population growth in Portlaoise is also causing pressure on the service which she said is 'always under scrutiny'. "The biggest thing is that patients are kept safe and we do not have a situation like in Limerick on our hands," she said. Ms Walsh added that politicians are not aware of the problems. "It doesn't register with them. I've had them at my door canvassing and brought up the Pay and Numbers strategy and been told what they have done for the hospital but we can't staff the hospital. They looked at me like they didn't know when the Pay and Numbers Strategy was," she said. Moira Lafferty was one of the INMO reps at the protest. She is the Pay and Numbers strategy has wiped out existing agreements with nurses and midwives that allowed directors of nursing and midwifery to hire staff. She said there were 34.5 and 22 midwifery vacancies in Portlaoise hospital. "This is impacting our services and stretching the services to the limit. We want safe staffing in the hospital an want it underpinned by legislation," she said. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Claire Cunningham is a staff nurse at the hospital and the chair of the Laois branch of the INMO. "It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Some days are horrendous. You don't have enough staff. It's like a balloon that is ready to burst. You can't reach on everything. Mistakes can happen because people miss things. You don't get to care for people that you should be. There is no safe staffing but you can't do your job unless its safe," she said. She said hospital staff were made a lot of promises after a protest before the last General Election in 2019. "I work in paediatrics and to this day, we do not have a safe staffing ratio in paediatrics," she said. She added that this was similar in many other services including the much-scrutinised maternity services which she said is now understaffed with midwives. Carly Payne works as a midwife in the hospital's maternity. She has a stark message for HSE management and the public about the services delivered in unit due to staff shortages. "Dangerous," was the one-word answer from Ms Payne when asked what is it like in the maternity ward. "We are short-staffed, overworked and not getting the support and the skill mix is not there that we need," he said. He said midwifes are not able to give pregnant women the time they deserve when they come into deliver a baby. "Becoming a mother is scary and you need help," she said. Ms Payne felt that despite the unit being overhauled due to historical problems, the public remains 'nervous' about the Laois maternity service. "This means we have the double workload of having to deliver a high standard of care without the staff to give that high standard of care," she said. The nurses said HSE management can not claim to not be aware of the problems and risks to patient care as everything has been flagged in writing. Ron Russell is also an INMO member, who works in perioperative and was on the protest line. He dismissed the Pay and Numbers strategy as "an embargo by another name". He explained how it is manifesting itself. "They are not replacing key staff. They are making hospital departments compete with each other. It is interfering with patient care and staff relationships and is putting staff under stress. "We are haemorrhaging staff not just in Portlaoise but across the whole nursing service. People are going to overseas to Australia and Canada and why wouldn't you," he said. He said nurses are being redeployed to departments outside their field of nursing expertise. "When you move them around they're like pawns on a chessboard which is not far to them or their patients," he said. Dermot Ging is a Spitu member who works on the Emo Court medical ward. He said it is extremely busy with staff numbers down and other not able to work due to the stress caused by the pressure of work. "The whole thing is unpredictable," he said. She said patients get "absolutely frustrated" because the recognise that there are staff shortages. He said that there could be 26 patients on a ward with just one staff member assigned to provide health care support to nurses. He added that the carer's ability to support nurses might be restricted by the fact that they may have to be assigned to a single patient. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Mr Ging, who has worked in the hospital for a decade, said nurses are "run off their feet mentally and physically". "It's just not good enough," he said. Regina McCormack has worked as a Health Care Assistant (HCA) for nearly 20 years in the hospital. She has seen expectations on staff grow significantly over 20 years. "The workload has doubled. There is not enough posts and sick levels are at an all time high because staff are getting burned out with the extra workload. That means more work for the staff left behind - it's a domino effect. "You are trying to 100% care and you can't give it because the staff are not there to give it so there is a downfall in a lot of areas like patient care, hygiene, food," she said. Her colleague Pat Lalor, is Siptu shop steward since 1992 and he has worked at the hospital since 1980. He said the HSE is now suppressing recruitment by not filling posts that were left vacant during the full recruitment embargo. He also felt the huge population growth in the Laois hospital's patient catchment is not being reflected in the facility's staffing level. Apart from the impact on their own health, the workers warned that the recruitment restriction causes dangerous risks for patients in all parts of the hospital. Derrick McCormack is also a Siptu member who is an MTA in the isolation ward having worked at the hospital for 21 years. He hs notice a change demands on staff. "Over the last five six years I've notice a big difference in the pressure management have been putting on staff and not replacing people. When a person retires or has been out sick for a long time, the position is left vacant," he said. He argued that the recruitment embargo was imposed by the HSE's CEO on the service. He also claimed that thousands of people were recruited from overseas while there was supposed to have been an embargo in operation. "I found that odd and unfair," he said. He said he and other services on the ground hear concerns from patients constantly about the impact on care. He said isolation ward services have suffered due to staff shortages. "It can be a bit chaotic," he said. He said staff cannot sustain what is currently being asked of them. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Brendan O'Sullivan and Hugh O'Byrne are members of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA). They work in the laboratory of Portlaoise hospital which operates round the clock every day of the year. Not alone does the lab process tests and samples for the hospital, it also provides invaluable testing for GPs and nursing homes. They are among 35 staff working in the Laois hospital's labs. They are frustrated as the claim that up to six permanent jobs that are vacant with agency staff filling in. "Staff wise it is poor. We need more staff and there is a reluctance, it seems, on the employer's behalf to provide those staff. Despite the fact the recruitment embargo is officially over, we know those jobs have officially disappeared," said Mr O'Sullivan. He said staff shortage puts pressure on existing workers which impacts their safety and well-being and in turn raises concerns for patient safety. Mr O'Byrne added that apart from delivering services, staff are also required to do 'a huge amount of work' to retain compliance with quality standards which must be reached to retain ISO accreditation. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Linda Kelly is the National Secretary of the big Forsa trade union. She attended the protest where she said 93% of her members around Ireland have voted to take industrial action over the Pay and Numbers Strategy. "That is an overwhelming mandate and should serve as a wake-up call to senior management. You cannot staff services with an embargo by decommissioning thousands of posts or by putting in place employment ceilings," she said. Ms Kelly said her members in Portlaoise and other hospitals are upset. "People are very distressed because they know that the services are suffering. They know that people are not getting access to the services they need and they feel they are the face of that and they have to stand over it but the staff are saying no, that's not good enough. To be honest, I would say it's frustration, distress and anger," she said. The President of Ireland has led tributes to former government minister Gemma Hussey, who has died at the age of 86. The first female to hold the position of minister for education, the former Fine Gael TD was a strong advocate for womens rights. It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Gemma Hussey this evening. Gemma was a true champion of equality, a trailblazer for female leadership in politics and a dear friend. My heartfelt condolences go to her family and friends. pic.twitter.com/c5hjyRpxTb Frances Fitzgerald (@FitzgeraldFrncs) November 26, 2024 President Michael D Higgins said: A lifelong committed feminist, Gemma Hussey was a passionate advocate and inspiration for the vitally important increase in the number of women serving in our political system. As a dedicated and effective government minister, she set a stirring example of the key role which must be held by women in politics. In introducing aural and oral exams and establishing the National Parents Council as minister for education, she put in place lasting reforms which have benefited all those who have grown up in Ireland in the succeeding decades. Throughout her career, she remained true to her principles and advocated for social reforms at a time when not all of the causes she supported were popular with all parts of Irish society. Gemma Hussey was a pioneering presence for women in politics as the first female Minister for Education. Read my statement here https://t.co/cmyCIQtfbK via @rte pic.twitter.com/zHJ6kKhSCI Norma Foley T.D (@NormaFoleyTD1) November 26, 2024 President Higgins said that after her departure from the political front line, Ms Hussey remained an incisive commentator and an always valuable voice on the political system. May I express my deepest sympathies to Gemmas children Rachel, Ruth and Andrew, and to all her family, friends and former colleagues, he added. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris called her a trailblazer. He noted she was Fine Gaels first female cabinet member. Gemma was a passionate progressive for womans rights, education reform and Irelands place in the world, particularly the potential of European Union membership, he said. Gemma was a TD for my own native Wicklow, where her long service and delivery is remembered to this day. But above all Gemma was a patriot, a Fine Gael stalwart and a kind and generous person. I was one of the people lucky to enjoy her company, her advice and her good humour. To all of her family, colleagues and friends, l am truly sorry for your loss. May she rest in peace. Current Education minister Norma Foley also paid tribute, describing Ms Hussey as a pioneering presence for women in politics. She was a courageous and determined politician who showed the way for women at the highest level in politics, said the Fianna Fail minister. She was highly regarded for the work she did in steering and guiding the development of the Irish education system. Taoiseach Simon Harris has insisted he is not aware that any member of his team tried to get RTE to take down a viral social media clip of a much-criticised encounter with a disability care worker. The Fine Gael leader was asked about the controversy in the first question posed during Tuesdays televised election debate on RTE Prime Time. Mr Harris apologised over the weekend for his handling of the discussion with Charlotte Fallon while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday evening. The Taoiseach was accused of dismissing concerns that Ms Fallon raised about Government support for the disability sector during the exchange filmed by RTE in a supermarket. Mr Harris rang Ms Fallon on Saturday and said he unreservedly apologised for the way he treated her, however, focus has since shifted to Fine Gaels interactions with the national broadcaster about the social media video. At the outset of Tuesdays TV debate, co-host Miriam OCallaghan directly asked the Fine Gael leader whether a member of his party contacted RTE to ask for the clip to be taken down. I have no knowledge of that whatsoever, because this clip was entirely appropriate, said Mr Harris. It was a very important moment on the campaign. And RTE and indeed many media outlets have been with me throughout the campaign, covering many interactions that Ive had with many, many people right across this country. The Taoiseach said the approach by his team member was part of the normal contact that happens between party politics and broadcasters on a daily basis. Mr Harriss partner-in-government in the last coalition, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, said he was not aware of the approach to RTE by Fine Gael. I didnt realise this had happened, he said. I think Simon has given his explanation to it. Im not sure its as normal or as usual. I just get on with it every day. But, again, I think, you know, Im not au fait with the details behind all of this, or the background to it. The video didnt come down, and it was seen by many, many people. And I think it illustrates that out there, there are a lot of people suffering in our society. Notwithstanding the progress weve made as a country, a lot of people are facing a lot of individual challenges, and our job as public representatives and as leaders in travelling the country is to listen to people, hear their cases, to understand the challenges that they are going through in their lives. And when we go about in election campaigns, we have to open up ourselves to criticism and to people calling us to account. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald had earlier on Tuesday described reports of the Fine Gael approach to RTE as chilling. However, at the start of the debate, she was asked about a media-focused issue related to her own party, namely the controversial manifesto proposal for an independent expert review of RTEs objectivity in its coverage of the war in Gaza and other international conflicts. Mr Harris previously branded the proposal a dog whistle to conspiracy theorists while Mr Martin said it was a dangerous departure. Ms McDonald defended the idea during the RTE Prime Time debate. Politics and politicians should not try to influence editorial decisions or try and have clips taken down because they are inconvenient to them, she said. There has to be distance, there has to be objectivity. But I would say I am struck by the very defensive reaction from some to this (the review proposal). The BBC, for example, a peer review looked at their coverage on migration. Politicians didnt put their hands on it, and rightly so. I think in a world where we have to rely on quality information, especially from the national broadcaster, which is in receipt of very substantial public funding, that has to be the gold standard of reliability. I think peer reviews like that are healthy. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has said he would like to see homelessness figures to fall within 12 months. The number of people accessing emergency accommodation has risen at a near consistent rate in recent years, repeatedly breaking new records. The housing portfolio is held by Fianna Fails Darragh OBrien. In the last of Virgin Medias Big Interviews with party leaders, Mr Martin said homelessness was his partys number one priority and the reason it sought the housing portfolio in the coalition. The official figures from the Department of Housing look at the number of people accessing emergency accommodation services over the last week of each month, and are published at 2pm on the last Friday of the following month. Octobers figures are due at on polling day, November 29. The latest figures for the end of September show there were 14,760 people accessing such services, including 4,561 children record highs for both metrics. The figures do not include people sleeping rough, those that may be couch surfing or homeless in hospitals or prisons, and those in a shelter for asylum seekers or domestic violence centres. Mr Martin said his party would not interfere with the agreed process by publishing the figures in advance of polling day. However, he accepted that there are too many people homeless and said homelessness is very traumatic for families. Speaking on Wednesday night, he said there was a need to build more houses faster, prevent homelessness and reduce the amount of time people rely on emergency accommodation. The obligation is to get people out of emergency accommodation as quickly as we can, and get them a house as quickly as we can. That is why building 40,000 social houses is progress, and we need to build 12,000 social houses a year, I think, to deal with the homelessness issue. Asked if he was expecting the figures to be uncomfortable, he said: Were already uncomfortable with the homelessness figures, so next Friday isnt going to change that to any significant degree. Pressed on when he expected the figures to peak, Mr Martin said he did not have exact timelines and added supply needed to be increased. Asked when the figure would come down, he said: I would like to see that within the next 12 months but I cant give a guarantee on that. Population is growing, and that is a factor in all of this. But we have to get up to 50,000 houses per annum. Elsewhere, he doubled down on ruling out a Fianna Fail coalition with Sinn Fein. Mr Martin said Sinn Feins tax proposals would destroy Irelands enterprise economy, as he made an appeal to Irish voters before polling day on Friday. Asked how big the differences are between the two parties, he said: Theyre very substantial, fundamentally, in terms of the economic model that we have in this country. Mr Martin said the vast majority of Fianna Fail members agreed with his position. Pressed on Fianna Fails past history of entering into coalition with Fine Gael in 2020 after initially ruling it out, the party leader defended that decision. He said there were a number of factors, including the argument about obligations to elect a government. He said the Fianna Fail-Fine Gael-Green coalition was able to protect a pro-European, pro-Enterprise model. Mr Martin said the Government was also formed in the context of a one in 100-year pandemic. The Fianna Fail stalwart also refused to rule out a future bid for President of Ireland, but said: I havent considered it. The renovation and restoration of the historic market house in Portarlington is to be complete by March, say Laois County Council but there is no use yet decided for the landmark building. Director for Housing Angela McEvoy confirmed the timeline to Cllr Aidan Mullins at the November council meeting. He had asked if council staff were going to work in the historic building which was used as a garage in its latter years before it was sold privately. A renovation and restoration is underway since mid 2023. Ms McEvoy said there is no use yet decided for the building, which is designed to have "meeting rooms, offices and useful spaces for the public". It's use is still a matter for discussion. I don't think there is any agreed decision. It is a fabulous building, it looks well and is a huge enhancement to the town. It definitely has to be put to good use when there is so much investment in it, she said. Cllr Mullins was concerned that the project may have overrun. "When is the projected finish? I think it's gone way beyond it. What's going to be in there? It was mentioned that council staff will use the top floor for offices. I've heard comments that it will be office accommodation for staff, that should be elsewhere. This is meant to be a community building," he said. The project is costing 1.2million, with the building taken on by the council in a lease from its owners. Robin Lee Architecture based in London has the renovation contract. They confirmed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that the scaffolding will come down in mid December, revealing the restored exterior. They outline the history of the market house, and its envisaged new uses. "The Portarlington Market House is believed to have been built around 1740-1750, to serve as a Market House and Town Hall. "The Market House was the centre of the towns life through the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first floor consisted of three rooms, reached by a stair in the NE corner. The local courts were held there as well as being available as a hall. Regular markets were held in the open square and local courts were held upstairs. "The town was re-surveyed by the Ordnance Survey in 1889, showing how the square had remaining relatively unchanged, except for the lass of some buildings along the south-west corner. Many of the lands behind the squares buildings were being used as timber yards, workshops and stores. The presence of weighing scales in the square attests to its use as a market place. "Like many similar small-town market/courthouses, the Portarlington Market House lost its relevance with consolidation of court functions elsewhere and changes to the way livestock and other farm produce were traded and brought to market. By the middle of the 20th century, the typical market house had lost its relevance and importance in most locations in Ireland. "Around 1990, the structure was converted into a motor repair shop on the ground floor, with living accommodation above, created from the former court rooms. It has remained the same over the last three decades. The masonry walls remained relatively intact, along with the timber framed hipped roof with central valley. A few panelled timber doors have survived in the ground and first floors, but no other significant early joinery has remained in place. Virtually none of the structures original internal or external finishes or features have survived in place after that conversion. "The project will see the refurbishment and repurposing of the Market House building to create meeting rooms, offices and useful spaces for the public that will interact positively with the surrounding public space and be the stimulus for the regeneration of the Square enhancing its contribution to the town of Portarlington. Design of the refurbished Portarlington Market House with the town's derelict cinema in the background, painted with an ADW mural honouring its location the Into The West Irish film. "The development of the Market House is one of the principle projects within the Portarlington Regeneration Strategy The Portarlington Regeneration Strategy 2030 is a heritage-led regeneration strategy which recognises the Market House as the heritage asset of Portarlingtons historical centre catalysing the enhancement of its wider area. This is to be achieved by stimulating physical, environmental, economic, and community-related aspects of the town centre. "The main objective of the project is 'to create a more viable and visually attractive Town Centre in Portarlington for residents, visitors and workers through the appropriate rehabilitation of the Market House and other buildings and improvements to connectivity, public realm and amenities'. Underpinning this objective is the desire to ultimately regenerate the town centre by tackling critical issues such as poor pedestrian environment, dereliction and dysfunctional public spaces. This overall vision also includes increasing the attractiveness of the area to encourage investment," the architects say. The council was granted funding of 1.2 million in 2021 by the Department of Rural Affairs and Community Development for the project which includes the surrounds in the square. The council is putting another 0.18 million to the project. It is hoped the building can once again become a focal point for the town and be used for meetings and exhibitions once the work is completed. A major extension of the DART service further into Kildare with a new station is in the pipeline, it has been confirmed. The development would see residents of the Naas and Kilcock areas brought into the commuter rail network. Minister James Lawless said the proposed extension would "turbo charge commuting options for the north Kildare public. He further indicated that a brand new station for Naas commuters is being considered in the vicinity of Millennium Park. Mr Lawless told The Leinster Leader that funding has been secured to prepare for the future rollout of DART to Sallins/Naas on the southwest line, and to Kilcock on the west line. This will being the DART services even further than the already agreed extensions to Hazelhatch and Maynooth on the respective lines. The rail link would bring unprecedented fast and efficient travel to and from the heart of Dublin city centre into the heart of north Kildare. It would make it easier for the people of Kildare to get into the Capital for work, shopping, visiting friends and family or any other reasons. Mr Lawless told the Leader: Im delighted to announce that as part of Budget 2025 I have instructed the National Transport Authority (NTA) to commence the rollout of the DART+ project to Sallins station on the Dart Southwest line and to Kilcock on the DART West line. The DART+ projects involve a major upgrade of the current commuter rail services in Kildare, were also bringing them into Wicklow and up to Drogheda on the Northern line. The benefit of the DART+, as opposed to what we already have, is that it is fully electrified, highly regular, highly reliable service, much better capacity, far greater service levels and effectively a ten minute service on your doorstep. In terms of the Sallis connection, the trains already coming to Hazelhatch and Celbridge as part of the DART+ project, Ive asked them to bring it further down to Sallins. and as part of that we may see a second station around Millennium Park. Tributes have poured in following the sad and sudden death of Tony (The Count) Roche, late of Barrettstown Lawns, Newbridge, Kildare and Suncroft, Kildare. Tony was a very proud retired member of the Irish Defence Forces, 3rd Battalion, The Curragh Camp. Tony passed away on Friday, November 22, at his beloved home. He is predeceased by his parents Peg and Pat. Beloved husband of Veronica, Tony will be sadly missed by his wife, his daughter Jeanette, son Anthony, daughter in law Ruth, grandchildren TJ and Sienna, brother Patsy, brothers and sisters in law, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, relatives, his wonderful neighbours, a wide circle of friends and his work colleagues past and present. Heartfelt condolences have been left on RIP.ie, from those who knew and fondly remembered Tony, with one mourner writing, "Sincere condolences to Veronica and family on the untimely death of Tony. It was a pleasure to serve with the Count in the 3BN during the 70s and 80s.He was professional ,totally reliable and a pleasure to work with. May he rest in peace." Another wrote, "Sincere condolences to Veronica , Anthony, Janette the Roche and Farrell families at this very sad time. May Tony gentle soul rest in peace. He was one of lifes true gentleman." While another wrote, "Deepest sympathies to Jen, Veronica, Anthony and children on the passing of their lovely dad, husband and grandad. A true character, a gentleman, a welcoming, kind, caring soul full of life and chats. His spirited nature will continue to live through you all. Carry him in your hearts forever." Funeral Arrangements Reposing at Glennons Funeral Home, 32 Main Street, Newbridge, from 5pm today (Wednesday, November 27) concluding with rosary at 7pm. Removal on Thursday morning to arrive at The Dominican College Church, Newbridge, for requiem mass at 11am. Burial afterwards in Holy Cross Cemetery, Suncroft. Tony's funeral Mass will be live-streamed on this link Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to the Jack and Jill children's charity or to the Laura Lynn Foundation. We need a government that will support rural communities, particularly those in the northwest of Ireland. Like many families living in the northwest, my now adult children have sought work and education outside this region. While of course I want my children to have the opportunity to travel and work elsewhere I also want them to have the chance to build their future in this region. I firmly believe the areas of Ireland with hidden potential are our rural regions, but emigration is something that still looms over many families. This drives me to want a change for my friends, my family, and my community. Housing is an issue raised with me at every single door I visit. Leitrim has seen the highest year-on-year rent increase in the last number of Daft.ie surveys. We now have 2 and 3 generations of families living in one house because of the cost of rent, or some families who are facing delays in getting planning permission to build on their family land. I want to see a move towards a fairer Ireland, where people have the opportunity to live and flourish in their rural communities. As Agriculture spokesperson I am committed to securing the family farm which is the backbone of many rural communities including my own. READ MORE: Leitrim Ukrainians say "100,000 Thanks" on the 1,000 day of war Former MEP Chris MacManus is well known for his community and political activism seeking positive change and investment for all in the Northwest. One of only three people from the Sligo/Leitrim constituency to serve as an MEP in Brussels, Chris had previously been a Councillor in Sligo since 1999. He narrowly missed winning a seat at the 2016 General Election. MacManus has strong links with the area. His mother, Helen McGovern hails from Glenfarne, whilst his father Sean MacManus comes from Gubaveeney, near Dowra. For nearly five years in the European Parliament, I championed the Northwest of Ireland, highlighting decades of regional imbalance and our communities not having access to infrastructure and services taken for granted elsewhere. I want to continue this work as a TD. As a member of the Parliaments Agriculture Committee, I also prioritised the need to reverse rural decline as well as protecting our farming families and our young farmers. There needs to be less red tape and more incentives - you cannot keep asking farmers to do more for less. As an Irish Republican, I have committed my political life to Irish Unity and equality for all our citizens. This underscores all my political activism." READ MORE: Leitrim SuperValu gets greenlight for parking expansion, with conditions Met Eireann has issued a Status Yellow - Fog warning for Leitrim and the rest of Connacht for overnight. The warning comes into place from 4pm on Wednesday evening through to 6am on Thursday morning. The national forecaster warns of patches of fog and freezing fog, thickening this evening and tonight. The Status Yellow warning takes in the entire Connacht province, as well as Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath and Wicklow. Motorists have been advised to take extra care while driving later on this evening and tonight. Overnight, temperatures will drop below freezing with widespread frost and some icy patches forming. There is likely to be fog across much of the country, turning dense in some areas. Status Yellow - Fog warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Connacht Patches of fog and freezing fog, thickening this evening and tonight Valid: 16:00 Wednesday 27/11/2024 to 06:00 Thursday 28/11/2024 pic.twitter.com/YEoexk99RJ Met Eireann (@MetEireann) November 27, 2024 Temperatures are set to fall to 0 Celsius from 5pm on Wednesday evening and hitting -2 overnight. Temperatures are not expected to rise until 6-7am on Thursday, with rain predicted to fall around 10am in parts of Leitrim on Thursday morning. READ MORE: Survey of Leitrim voters reveals major surprise on which party is the most popular Tineco Recognized as Global Leader in Emerging Floor Washer Category With over five million units sold globally in the past year, Tineco reinforces its leadership in the industry SEATTLE, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Tineco is proud to announce that Euromonitor International, the world's leading independent provider of strategic market research, has recognized the company as the #1 global leader in the household wet & dry vacuum cleaner category*. With over five million units sold between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, the honor reflects Tineco's commitment to innovation and quality in the home cleaning sector. Harnessing more than two decades of industry innovation, Tineco began its journey with a single vacuum cleaner. Pioneering industry excellence, a notable moment in company history was the launch of the first-ever smart vacuum to market in 2018, quickly followed by an inaugural smart floor washer in 2019, and an intelligent carpet cleaner in 2022. Today, Tineco products are enjoyed by 14 million users across key markets worldwide, including regions in North America, Europe, and Asia. Tineco is now a globally recognized market leader in smart home appliances across the floor care, kitchen, and personal care categories, with 975 patents and 577 registered trademarks across domestic and international markets. For three consecutive years, the company has also held the title of being the #1 wet & dry vacuum brand on Amazon in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, and Japan. "At Tineco's inception, we set out to simplify life and household tasks with the help of smart technology. Over the past 26 years, our robust R&D team has made significant investments and a steadfast dedication to setting the standard for excellence in floor care solutions," said Ling Leng, CEO of Tineco. "The honor of being named the #1 global leader in the wet & dry vacuum cleaner category by Euromonitor International is an incredible milestone achievement. This recognition fuels our commitment to continuing to innovate and push boundaries to bring exceptional products to market that enhance the lives of our customers worldwide. Looking ahead, we are laser-focused on making Tineco more accessible by expanding into new markets, introducing new advanced technologies to simplify our customers' lives, and expanding our product lineup to meet diverse needs." Tineco's flagship models, including FLOOR ONE Stretch S6 , PURE ONE Station 5 , and Carpet One Cruiser , combine intelligent features with superior power and user-friendly capabilities to revolutionize cleaning. Tineco's R&D team has carefully engineered each model to address real-world challenges and enhance user satisfaction by incorporating technological advancements and valuable consumer feedback. Specifically: FLOOR ONE Stretch S6: Building off the incredible success of Tineco's social-media viral Floor Washers, which vacuum and mop simultaneously, FLOOR ONE S6 offers exceptional maneuverability. Its 180 tilting design lets the floor washer lay completely flat, compressing its height to just 5.1 inches. Coupled with mini assistive wheels that swivel 45 to the left and right, this makes cleaning under furniture, beds, or in hard-to-reach areas effortless. Building off the incredible success of Tineco's social-media viral Floor Washers, which vacuum and mop simultaneously, FLOOR ONE S6 offers exceptional maneuverability. Its 180 tilting design lets the floor washer lay completely flat, compressing its height to just 5.1 inches. Coupled with mini assistive wheels that swivel 45 to the left and right, this makes cleaning under furniture, beds, or in hard-to-reach areas effortless. PURE ONE Station 5: Setting a new standard in stick vacuums, the PURE ONE Station 5 provides a brand new vacuum after each and every clean. Its 3-in-1 Smart Station will entirely self-clean, charge, and store the unit, keeping it in pristine condition for subsequent use. Paired with 175W of powerful suction, this is an indispensable tool for households of all types and sizes. Setting a new standard in stick vacuums, the PURE ONE Station 5 provides a brand new vacuum after each and every clean. Its 3-in-1 Smart Station will entirely self-clean, charge, and store the unit, keeping it in pristine condition for subsequent use. Paired with 175W of powerful suction, this is an indispensable tool for households of all types and sizes. Carpet One Cruiser: The Carpet One Cruiser is designed to transform deep cleaning carpets into a regular household activity. It effectively deep cleans various carpet types and powerfully extracts water to reduce drying times by 50% or more than traditional models. Three levels of SmoothPower tech, bidirectional assist wheels, and repositioned water tanks lessen the unit's weight, making the machine easy to maneuver, suitable for users of all ages and strengths, and ideal for frequent use. A leader in the intelligent floor care category, Tineco smart models are equipped with Tineco's proprietary iLoop technology that adjusts suction power in real-time based on the mess detected, which not only optimizes battery power but also allows the user to visualize cleaner floors on the unit's display ring that will change from red to blue once the surface is clean. Guided by customer insights, all new Tineco models also feature self-cleaning capabilities that significantly streamline maintenance. Tineco products are available globally, with distribution in North America on Amazon, Tineco's official online store, and in over 10,000 major retail locations, including Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, Home Depot, and Canadian Tire. To learn more about Tineco and its entire portfolio of intelligent stick vacuums, floor washers, carpet cleaners, and more, please visit us.tineco.com . *Source: Euromonitor International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.; measured in terms of 2023 H2 and 2024 H1 retail sales volume in the world; household wet & dry vacuum cleaners are defined as household cleaners that dispense clean water (or cleaning solution) to wash hard floors and vacuum the dirty water and garbage thereafter; research completed in Nov. 2024. About Tineco Tineco was founded in 1998 with its first SKU as a vacuum cleaner and, in 2019, pioneered the first-ever smart vacuum. Today, the brand has innovated into a global leader offering intelligent appliances across home categories, including floor care, kitchen, and personal care. Tineco is dedicated to its brand vision of making life easier through smart technologies and consistently innovating new devices. For more information, visit us.tineco.com . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2564357/Tineco_Global_No1_Press_Release_US.jpg 26 november 2024 at 18:01 News published onand distributed by: NTT DATA Announces Intent to Acquire Niveus Solutions to Accelerate Global Leadership in Google Cloud NTT DATA, a global leader in digital business and IT services, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Niveus Solutions, a premier cloud engineering company, specializing in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services. The acquisition accelerates NTT DATA's strategy to expand its cloud capabilities to meet the global demand for transformative cloud solutions across industries and solidifies the company as a leading global system integrator for Google Cloud. Once the transaction is closed, Niveus Solutions, an award-winning leader in Google Cloud services, will add 1,000 GCP engineering professionals with expertise in GCP native modernization, data engineering and AI to enhance NTT DATA's Google Cloud Business Unit. With deep knowledge across financial services, manufacturing, automotive, retail and logistics, Niveus Solutions supports NTT DATA's ability to deliver specialized industry cloud platform solutions which enable rapid development of customized use cases. These added capabilities enhance NTT DATA's ability to address complex client challenges across industries and deliver scalable, secure, industry-specific cloud solutions globally. "The acquisition of Niveus Solutions will firmly position us as a leading Google Cloud powerhouse, propelling NTT DATA as one of the world's largest system integrator partners for Google Cloud," said Charlie Li, Head of Cloud and Security Services, NTT DATA, Inc. "With Niveus Solutions, we are set to redefine possibilities in the AI-driven cloud era, enabling clients to accelerate digital transformations and achieve meaningful business outcomes across industries and geographies." Building on NTT DATA's expanded strategic partnership with Google Cloud The acquisition will build on NTT DATA's recently expanded strategic partnership with Google Cloud which is focused on co-innovating data analytics and GenAI solutions for enterprise clients. Through this alliance, NTT DATA and Google Cloud will deliver cloud-based data and AI solutions tailored for industry-specific needs. Leveraging NTT DATA's proven industry blueprints, best practices and cloud solutions on GCP, the expanded partnership is set to deliver innovative solutions backed by proven implementation expertise. Niveus Solutions also complements NTT DATA's dedicated Google Cloud Business Unit, established to deliver industry solutions in data analytics, GenAI and cloud modernization services. Now enhanced with Niveus Solutions' 1,000 GCP experts, NTT DATA is accelerating its ability to deliver secure, scalable industry-specific solutions on a global scale. Niveus Solutions has demonstrated proven success with recent accolades including the 2024 Google Cloud ?Breakthrough Partner of the Year ? Asia Pacific' and ?India Partner of the Year.' Building on this momentum, NTT DATA is well positioned to expand its leadership and extend these capabilities globally. "Niveus Solutions is excited to join forces with NTT DATA. Our team's dedication to advancing digital transformation on Google Cloud, combined with NTT DATA's extensive reach and capabilities, strongly positions us to bring modern cloud solutions to new markets to expand the boundaries of cloud innovation," said Suyog Shetty, CEO and co-founder of Niveus Solutions. "Today's news accelerates our mission to harness our GCP talent pool globally, tapping into India's thriving ecosystem of skilled professionals and enhancing our ability to deliver transformative services globally." "The Niveus Solutions acquisition significantly advances our Google Cloud partnership and expands our ability to meet the growing demand for AI-powered solutions that drive business growth," said John Lombard, Chief Executive Officer, NTT DATA, APAC. "With Niveus Solutions, we're strategically positioned to capitalize on this significant growth opportunity across APAC and beyond." Global impact and market leadership The addition of Niveus Solutions will further establish NTT DATA as a top provider of Google Cloud solutions, deepening the company's capabilities to help organizations harness the power of GCP-native modernization. According to Gartner, Inc., worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services in 2024 is forecast to total $679 billion and is projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2027. GenAI deployments across organizations will further fuel the demand, highlighting the importance of today's news and NTT DATA's global expertise to support clients' evolving needs for cloud modernization, AI insights and secure digital transformations. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within the next 30-60 days. About NTT DATA NTT DATA is a $30+ billion trusted global innovator of business and technology services. We serve 75% of the Fortune Global 100 and are committed to helping clients innovate, optimize and transform for long-term success. As a Global Top Employer, we have diverse experts in more than 50 countries and a robust partner ecosystem of established and start-up companies. Our services include business and technology consulting, data and artificial intelligence, industry solutions, as well as the development, implementation and management of applications, infrastructure and connectivity. We are also one of the leading providers of digital and AI infrastructure in the world. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3.6 billion each year in R&D to help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. Visit us at nttdata.com. About Niveus Solutions Niveus Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a cloud-native engineering services company specializing in Google Cloud technologies. With a team of over 1,000 experts in cloud modernization, data engineering, and AI, we deliver scalable, industry-specific solutions that drive innovation and digital transformation across sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and logistics. Recognized as the 2024 Google Cloud Breakthrough Partner of the Year for APAC and the Service Partner of the Year for India, Niveus Solutions is a trusted partner in cloud services. Named a 'Major Contender' in the Everest Group's Google Cloud PEAK Matrix Assessment 2024, Niveus Solutions is also among India's Great Places to Work in 2023, reflecting our people-first culture and commitment to innovation and growth. Visit us at niveussolutions.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning NTT DATA and its current expectations and projections about future events and trends affecting its business, including with respect to the acquisition of Niveus Solutions, the business impact of the acquisition of Niveus Solutions and the potential of growth related to digital services. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although NTT DATA makes such statements based on assumptions that it believes to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. 26 november 2024 at 22:35 News published onand distributed by: SHARC Energy Announces Q3 2024 Financial Results VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SHARC International Systems Inc. (CSE: SHRC) (FSE: IWIA) (OTCQB: INTWF) ("SHARC Energy" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has filed financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. All figures are in Canadian Dollars and in accordance with IFRS unless otherwise stated. Third Quarter and Year to Date (YTD) Financial Highlights: Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 (" YTD 2024 ") is $2.34M representing 147% of the full year revenue in 2023 . Revenue slightly increased quarter over quarter from the three months ended June 30, 2024, of $0.78M to $0.79M during the three months ended September 30, 2024 (" Q3 2024 "). ") is $2.34M representing . Revenue slightly increased quarter over quarter from the three months ended June 30, 2024, of $0.78M to $0.79M during the three months ended September 30, 2024 (" "). Revenue for Q3 2024 is $0.79M, which is a 44% increase from the three months ended September 30, 2023 (" Q3 2023 "). YTD 2024 revenue is $2.34M which represents a 35% increase from the nine months ended September 30, 2023 ( YTD 2023 "). from the three months ended September 30, 2023 (" "). YTD 2024 revenue is $2.34M which from the nine months ended September 30, 2023 ( "). Gross margins for Q3 2024 and YTD 2024 were lower at 32% and 37%, versus 40% and 42% reported in Q3 2023 and YTD 2023, respectively, due to sales mix. Management remains optimistic that this margin range aligns with our expectations for the coming quarters. As of November 27, 2024, the Company has a Sales Pipeline1 of 17.1 million (M) and Sales Order Backlog2 of $2.5M. Sales Pipeline saw a slight increase of 2% or $0.3M while Sales Order Backlog slightly decreased by 7% or $0.2M since the Company's August 29, 2024 disclosure despite drawing down Sales Order Backlog by $0.79M. The Company continues to observe the maturity of its Sales Pipeline providing the Company's revenue more consistency with reduced revenue volatility, providing a solid platform to scale and grow. Michael Albertson, President of SHARC Energy US, said, "The third quarter of 2024 continued to validate SHARC Energy's pipeline has reached a key maturity milestone as Sales Order Backlog grew from its previous disclosure on August 29, 2024, despite recognizing quarter over quarter revenue growth in Q3 2024 compared to Q2 2024. Sales Order Backlog currently contains 10 projects, consistent with Q2 2024, representing the greatest number of projects under order at any period in the Company's history. We see this as a strong indication that the Company's future revenue is not only growing but diversifying. There are several projects indicating signs of conversion from Sales Pipeline to Sales Order Backlog which should affirm continued stability and growth of revenue in the near and long term." "Thermal Energy Networks, commonly referred to as TENs or district energy, is a growing solution for managing small to large scale thermal energy loads efficiently and cost-effectively. WET supported solutions continue to grow in awareness and acceptance with the Company learning of projects in planning across North America and globally. In the Greater Vancouver, British Columbia region alone, there are several municipal or utility supported TENs ranging in size and scale, similar to the False Creek Neighborhood Energy Utility or lel?m? projects, in different stages of development that will increase SHARC Energy's local footprint over the next few years. In the United States, legislation allowing or mandating utilities to develop thermal energy network demonstration projects or pilots have been passed in eight states, including the State of New York and recently added California, where the Company has installations in progress, projects in design and a growing list of leads looking to implement WET TENs," added Mr. Albertson. Q3 2024 Highlights and Subsequent Events Fred Andriano appointed to the Board of Directors. The Company announced the appointment of Fred Andriano to its Board of Directors on November 7, 2024. Mr Andriano was previously CFO at WaterFurnace International, where his leadership was critical in strategic acquisitions, international joint ventures and impressive growth, with revenues doubling from $65M to $130M culminating in a $364M acquisition by NIBE Group in 2014. He continued as CFO and eventually moving to Vice President of Financial and Administrative Services for NIBE North America. During this time, Mr. Andriano played a pivotal role in securing major acquisitions, such as Enertech and The Climate Control Group, expanding NIBE's footprint in the renewable energy space. The Company announced the appointment of Fred Andriano to its Board of Directors on November 7, 2024. Mr Andriano was previously CFO at WaterFurnace International, where his leadership was critical in strategic acquisitions, international joint ventures and impressive growth, with revenues doubling from $65M to $130M culminating in a $364M acquisition by NIBE Group in 2014. He continued as CFO and eventually moving to Vice President of Financial and Administrative Services for NIBE North America. During this time, Mr. Andriano played a pivotal role in securing major acquisitions, such as Enertech and The Climate Control Group, expanding NIBE's footprint in the renewable energy space. Closing of $2 Million 8.0% Debenture financing . The Company closed a non-brokered private placement of debenture units of the Company (" Debenture units ") at a price of $1,000 per Debenture Unit, for gross proceeds of $2,000,000. Each Debenture Unit will be comprised of: (i) a $1,000 principal amount of 8.0% unsecured debenture of the Company (the " Debenture "); and (ii) 5,000 common share purchase warrants of the Company (the " Warrants "). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a " Share ") at an exercise price of $0.20 per Share for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance. The Company closed a non-brokered private placement of debenture units of the Company (" ") at a price of $1,000 per Debenture Unit, for gross proceeds of $2,000,000. Each Debenture Unit will be comprised of: (i) a $1,000 principal amount of 8.0% unsecured debenture of the Company (the " "); and (ii) 5,000 common share purchase warrants of the Company (the " "). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a " ") at an exercise price of $0.20 per Share for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance. False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility ("NEU") Expansion . The Company continued work on the supply and maintenance agreement with the City of Vancouver for the provision and maintenance of five SHARC systems for the False Creek NEU Expansion. During the period, the Company completed and billed milestone 3 of 5 of the agreement, where all components have been delivered to site. The project is expected to be completed before the end of 2024. The Company continued work on the supply and maintenance agreement with the City of Vancouver for the provision and maintenance of five SHARC systems for the False Creek NEU Expansion. During the period, the Company completed and billed milestone 3 of 5 of the agreement, where all components have been delivered to site. The project is expected to be completed before the end of 2024. Purchase order received for Whitney Young retrofit featured in NYSERDA Empire Building Challenge. The Company received a purchase order for a SHARC 660 WET system for the Whitney Young Manor recapitalization project in Yonkers, New York. The Whitney Young Manor will undergo a $22 million renovation, with nearly $12 million allocated to the project's decarbonization effort, inclusive of all energy efficiency measures. The retrofit project will highlight how to leverage a recapitalization opportunity to comprehensively retrofit energy systems and modernize an affordable housing complex. The system shipped in Q1 2024. The Company received a purchase order for a SHARC 660 WET system for the Whitney Young Manor recapitalization project in Yonkers, New York. The Whitney Young Manor will undergo a $22 million renovation, with nearly $12 million allocated to the project's decarbonization effort, inclusive of all energy efficiency measures. The retrofit project will highlight how to leverage a recapitalization opportunity to comprehensively retrofit energy systems and modernize an affordable housing complex. The system shipped in Q1 2024. Purchase Order received for Phase 1 of transformative $1.2B development to create 2,400 affordable homes, a medical clinic, and retail in Brooklyn, New York. The Company received a purchase order for a SHARC 660 WET system to be included in the first phase of a transformative $1.2 billion redevelopment in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood led by Apex Building Company, L+M Development Partners, RiseBoro Community Partnership, and Services for the Underserved. The system shipped Q1 2024. The Company received a purchase order for a SHARC 660 WET system to be included in the first phase of a transformative $1.2 billion redevelopment in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood led by Apex Building Company, L+M Development Partners, RiseBoro Community Partnership, and Services for the Underserved. The system shipped Q1 2024. Insiders, including management and directors, have purchased 4,632,500 common shares of the Company year to date. Insider ownership represents 16% of the current outstanding float. For complete financial information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, please see the Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About SHARC Energy SHARC International Systems Inc. is a world leader in energy recovery from the wastewater we send down the drain every day. SHARC Energy's systems recycle thermal energy from wastewater, generating one of the most energy-efficient and economical systems for heating, cooling & hot water production for commercial, residential, and industrial buildings. SHARC Energy is publicly traded in Canada (CSE: SHRC), the United States (OTCQB: INTWF) and Germany (Frankfurt: IWIA) and you can find out more on our SEDAR profile. Learn more about SHARC Energy: Website | Investor Page | LinkedIn | YouTube | PIRANHA | SHARC ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Lynn Mueller Chairman and Chief Executive Officer For investor inquiries, please contact: Hanspaul Pannu Chief Financial & Operating Officer SHARC Energy Telephone: (604) 475-7710 ext. 4 Email: [email protected] For media inquiries, please contact: Mike Tanyi Director of Marketing & IT SHARC Energy Telephone: 604.475.7710 Ext.109 Email: [email protected] The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified using words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. SHARC Energy's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information because of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. SHARC Energy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. _______________________________________ 1 Sales Pipeline is a non-IFRS measure. Please see discussion of Alternative Performance Measures and Non-IFRS Measures in the Q3 2024 MD&A. 2 Sales Order Backlog is a non-IFRS measure. Please see discussion of Alternative Performance Measures and Non-IFRS Measures in the Q3 2024 MD&A. 27 november 2024 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form THE HAYES Christmas Lights, a festive tradition in Shanagolden, will not be returning for Christmas 2024, much to the disappointment of its yearly visitors. The lights display, organised by Cormac Hayes, is taken a break for this year's festive season. The event first "came to light" in 1997, when Cormac's mother, Mary, first bought a light-up Santa and Snowman. Despite his father, Timmy, thinking she was "mad", and claiming that you'd only see those kinds of decorations in America, he started buying lights the following year. The tradition continued until his father passed away on December 23, 2003, and the lights display stopped completely by 2005. Cormac, now 35, decided to bring the display "back to life" in 2017, and has raised almost 100,000 for various local charities since. Each year, he spends eight and a half weeks putting up his display before the Christmas season. This feat is undertaken each evening after his shifts at O'Neills Deli Supplies, which start at 4am each day. Though his boss wonders where he gets the energy, Cormac explained that he passes University Hospital Limerick every morning and thinks of the "people inside there that won't be able to come out for Christmas", and that keeps him inspired. READ MORE: 'One Limerick, One Book' initiative expected in 2026 "Everyone asks me how many kids I have, and I kind of go, well, if I had kids, I don't think I'd have this much time," Cormac explained. Despite this, when he creates his Christmas displays, he says: "I'm not looking at it as an adult, I'm looking at it as a child". "I have a child in my heart, as simple as that." Santa, reindeers, snowmen, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, seven foot giraffes, the Grinch, penguins, crocodiles, rhinos, polar bears, a crib, and a real car are all sights to be spotted within the typical Hayes Christmas Lights display. The display usually opens for visitors in the evenings throughout the holiday period, but the lights won't be shining bright this year. Explaining his decision to take a break from the lights display this December, Cormac said his priority is getting to spend this Christmas with his mother and his family, doing "all the things we've never got to do since we opened back up in 2017". Giving thanks to his community for their support over the years, he promises "1000%" that the lights will be back bigger and brighter than ever next year: "If you've seen last year's display, it'll be another quarter bigger, I can promise you that". With lots of new "mad ideas" for the display, Cormac has already started ordering lights for Christmas 2025. A MAN who was being questioned by gardai following a fatal hit and run incident in Limerick city earlier this week has been charged and is to be brought before the courts. The man, aged in his 30s, was arrested on Tuesday evening - hours after the road collision which happened on the Ennis Road, between Sarsfield Bridge and Union Cross. The pedestrian who died from his injuries has been named locally as James Forde, who lived in the Clareview area of the city. Investigating gardai have confirmed that a maroon-coloured Ford Focus car which did not remain at the scene of the incident has since been recovered and that investigations are ongoing. In an update, issued this Wednesday night, they confirmed the man who was arrested has now been charged. "The man, aged in his 30s, arrested as part of the investigation into the fatal hit-and-run road traffic collision in Limerick city on Tuesday, November 26 2024, has been charged. He is due to appear before Limerick District Court tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 28, 2024," read a brief statement confirming the development. READ ALSO: Late Limerick student described by Dad as a 'beautiful, young woman' who made family proud Gardai are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to come forward and any road users who were travelling in the area at the time of the collision and who may have camera footage, including dash cam footage, are asked to make the footage available to gardai. Henry Street garda station in Limerick can be contacted on (061) 212400. The Banner County looks to be a hotly contested constituency as a record number of candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. 20 candidates have been confirmed by the Clare returning officer to run in the 2024 General Election, the highest number of candidates since the 16 that ran in 2016. Nine are women, another record-breaking increase from the last election which saw only five female candidates run. Crucially, two of the four seats in Clare are vacant as we head to the polls, where the dominant issues are likely to affordable housing, healthcare particularly the re-opening of an emergency department at Ennis Hospital immigration and farming. Independent Michael McNamara gave up his seat upon being elected to Europe as an MEP for Ireland South, while Fine Gael's Joe Carey stepped down from politics in August due to ill health. Seeking re-election are Fianna Fail's Cathal Crowe, and Independent Violet-Anne Wynne, who was elected last time round for Sinn Fein, but has since resigned from the party. Deputy Wynne actually topped the polls last time with the highest number of first preferences and was the first to clear the quota on the seventh count, but she left Sinn Fein in February 2022 citing "psychological warfare" while she was on maternity leave. Her former party are fielding Shannon councillor Donna McGettigan, who put in a strong show in the local elections this summer, but she was only one of two Sinn Fein candidates elected to the council out of the six fielded across the county. Read Also: NCW Womens Shed break tradition and bring politics to the table ahead of General Election Cathal Crowe, looking for his second term, is joined on the Fianna Fail ticket by west Clare councillor Rita McInerney, who stood unsucessfully in 2020, and Senator Timmy Dooley. Senator Dooley will look to reclaim his Dail seat, lost in that Sinn Fein popularity surge in 2020, which he'd held for three terms previously. With the loss of Joe Carey for Fine Gael, his sister Leonora was initially pipped as the only candidate at the party convention earlier this year. They've since added west Clare GP, Dr Tom Nolan, a long time campaigner on health, and former Mayor of Clare Joe Cooney, who's been a councillor for Killaloe for over ten years, a former chairman of Clare GAA (riding that wave of Liam McCarthy's return perhaps?), and was re-elected on first count in the east Clare region. Green Party Senator Roisin Garvey will surely look to capitalise on her recent promotion to deputy party leader to help her in the fight for that fourth seat in Clare, though their only Green councillor, Liam Grant, lost his seat in west Clare to Fianna Fail's Joe Killeen. Her former party colleague, Tuamgraney-based network engineering manager Barry ODonovan is a last minute addition to the ballot paper for Rabharta (previously An Rabharta Glas Green Left). Independent Irelands candidate Eddie Punch, who contested the European elections, will be targeting the farmers vote which helped to propel Michael McNamara back to the Dail last time. Also campaigning as Independents are Matthew Moroney, an unsuccessful candidate in east Clare for the local election, Patrick Murphy, Amanda Major and Kevin Hassett. The Social Democrats candidate is Hilary Tonge, a co-founder of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign and development worker at WCI Clare. West Clare-based June Dillon is the Aontu candidate, while Michael Loughrey of The Irish People, Michael Leahy of Irish Freedom Party and the Socialist Party's Caitriona Ni Chathain round out the list of the candidates. Final List of Candidates for county Clare (Four Seats) Fine Gael: Joe Cooney, Leonora Carey, Dr. Tom Nolan Fianna Fail: Cathal Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Rita McInerney Sinn Fein: Donna McGettigan Green Party: Roisin Garvey Social Democrats: Hilary Tonge People Before Profit-Solidarity: Caitriona Ni Chathain Rabharta: Barry ODonovan Aontu: June Dillon Independent Ireland: Eddie Punch Irish Freedom Party: Michael Leahy The Irish People: Michael Loughrey Non party/Independent: Kevin Hassett, Amanda Major, Matthew Moroney, Paddy Murphy and Violet Anne Wynn As Black Friday and the Late Late Toy Show approach, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is strongly advising against purchasing e-scooters, scramblers, or quad bikes for children this Christmas. As part of new laws introduced in May of this year, individuals must be at least 16 years old to legally use an e-scooter in Ireland. Theyre also banned from footpaths and users are not allowed to carry passengers. The RSA also wants to remind parents that quad bikes and scramblers pose significant safety risks to children. They urge parents to avoid gifting these vehicles to ensure the safety and well-being of young people during the holiday season. Four e-scooter riders were killed and 117 seriously injured on Irish roads between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. During the same period, 1 other road user was killed and 20 more seriously injured in collisions involving e-scooters. READ NEXT: Man arrested after pedestrian is killed in hit and run on busy road Casualty figures show that between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023, 49 people were seriously injured in collisions involving a quadbike or scrambler on a public road. In the same period, there were three fatalities involving quad bikes or scramblers on public roads. Sam Waide, Chief Executive of the RSA, explained: The greatest gift parents can give this year is ensuring the safety of their children. Parents should not consider purchasing a quad or an e-scooter for any child this Christmas. It is crucial for parents and members of the public to be recognise that quads and e-scooters are designed to be operated by those of an age to fully understand the dangers they pose when not being used appropriately and/or on uneven terrain. Indian automaker Mahindra and Mahindra has unveiled the much-anticipated XEV 9e, showcasing impressive safety features and high-performance capabilities. The electric SUV, priced at 21.90 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base variant, is set to compete strongly in the country's developing EV market. At an internal crash test demonstration held at its Chennai facility, Mahindra exhibited the safety credentials of the XEV 9e in the presence of media representatives, reported HT Auto. While the vehicle is yet to undergo Global NCAP testing, the companys internal evaluations suggest a strong likelihood of achieving a top safety rating, added the publication. Mahindra, renowned for its robust track record of producing vehicles with four- and five-star Global NCAP ratings, is betting on the XEV 9e to continue this trend. The SUVs top variant boasts seven airbags, a 360-degree camera, parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, and an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). The entry-level Pack 1 variant is no less equipped, featuring six airbags, a reverse camera, an electronic parking brake, and a tyre pressure monitoring system. Performance and Range Under the hood, the XEV 9e offers two battery options: a 59 kWh pack and a larger 79 kWh pack. The SUV claims an MIDC-certified range of up to 650 kilometres, making it a strong contender for long-distance travel. Additionally, the vehicle supports ultra-fast charging, with a 2080% charge achievable in just 20 minutes using a 175 kW charger. The XEV 9e promises dynamic performance, delivering 288 bhp and 380 Nm of torque. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in a swift 6.8 seconds, highlighting its sporty edge. New Delhi: The Delhi high courts division bench on Wednesday issued notices to Delhi International Airport Ltd and Mumbai International Airport Ltd, subsidiaries of GMR Airports Ltd and Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, respectively, in response to a petition filed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over the revenue-sharing model. The petition challenged a 2022 arbitral award that ruled against AAI. The bench, led by chief justice Manmohan, deferred the hearing to 29 January after the airports informed the court that they would not enforce the arbitral award until further orders. The dispute centres around confusion in the revenue-sharing model between the airports and the AAI under the operation, management, and development agreement of 2006. The case reached the division bench after a single judge of the high court, in October, refused to interfere with the arbitral award and dismissed AAIs challenge. Dissatisfied with the outcome, AAI approached the division bench to contest the decision. The background In 2006, the government, aiming to enhance airport infrastructure, invited private firms to operate and develop major airports. As part of this initiative, AAI entered into joint ventures with private entities, forming Delhi International Airport Ltd for the Indira Gandhi International Airport (led by GMR Group) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (initially led by GVK Group and later acquired by Adani Airport Holdings). Under the operation, management, and development agreement, the JVs were required to pay an annual fee to AAI as a percentage of projected revenue outlined in their business plans. This revenue-sharing arrangement was central to the agreement. Additionally, a state support agreement and nine other covenants were signed, collectively forming the project agreements. The dispute The disagreement arose over the interpretation of the term revenue in agreement, which determined how the annual fee payable to AAI would be calculated. While the agreement defined revenue as all pre-tax gross revenue with specific exclusions, the JVs argued that they had been mistakenly paying the annual fee based on their gross receipts instead of the projected revenue outlined in the business plans. Delhi Airport asserted that it had overpaid 6,663.25 crore by calculating the annual fee on gross receipts instead of projected revenue. This overpayment was allegedly realized only in September 2018. Arbitral order The dispute was referred to arbitration, where a tribunal comprising three former Supreme Court judges delivered a majority opinion in favour of the JVs. The tribunal ruled that the annual fee should have been based on projected revenue as per the business plans. It acknowledged the significant overpayments claimed by the two airports. The tribunal also noted that the JVs had been paying the annual fee based on gross receipts for several years before realizing the alleged error. The minority opinion in the tribunal, however, differed, acknowledging Mumbai airport's claim of overpayments but disagreeing with the majority ruling. Gautam Adani, the billionaire Chairperson of Adani Group, is likely to face a long road to trial in the United States over criminal charges related to his alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme, news agency Reuters reported on Wednesday, November 27. Adani is also accused of conspiring to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts and develop India's largest solar power plant project, according to the Reuters report. What are the allegations against Adani? The US Department of Justice and the securities market regulator SEC alleged that Adani and his co-defendants agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian officials to obtain solar contracts worth an estimated $2 billion over 20 years. Gautam Adani is charged with alleged securities fraud, alleged securities fraud conspiracy and alleged wire fraud conspiracy. The law in the United States allows prosecutors to charge executives with foreign bribery when their companies do business in the US and also gives broad jurisdiction over transactions that pass through US financial institutions. The prosecutors also alleged that Adani deceived US investors by covering up the alleged bribes. Can Adani be arrested from India? According to the extradition treaty, if Adani is in India, US prosecutors must ask the Indian authorities to extradite him under the terms of the two countries, reported the agency. The extradition process will be handled by a court in India, which will need to consider multiple factors, such as whether the crime charged in the US is a legible crime in India, whether or not the charges are politically motivated or whether he could face inhumane treatment in the US. Adani can fight the extradition, but it is not clear how long that process may take in such a case. According to the agency report, accusations of bribing government officials can make the issue politically stressful. Gautam Adani has not been arrested, and his whereabouts are unknown. The agency could not immediately reach out to him for a comment. Adani Group has denied all the allegations and charges calling them baseless and said that the company is a law-abiding organization, fully compliant with all laws. Can Adani fight the charges in court? Until Adani appears in the US Court, Adani's lawyers can only challenge the indictment on procedural grounds, like claiming that US prosecutors do not have the authority to charge him. After Adani's court appearance, his lawyers can attack the substance of the indictment by arguing the charges that are legally deficient or unsupported by the facts. Prosecutors citing evidence of the alleged crimes quoted in the indictment, including in-person meetings with Indian officials and an extensive paper trail of cell phone and messaging app records. Adani could also strike a plea deal with prosecutors by agreeing to admit to certain crimes in exchange for a lighter sentence, though prosecutors are not obligated to negotiate. Any deal would also need to be approved by a judge, the report said. Also Read | Adani group shares surge up to 16% after Adani Green issues clarification What penalties can Adani face? If convicted of the alleged charges, Gautam Adani could face decades in prison. He could also face monetary penalties and any sentence, depending on the judge overseeing the case, reported the agency. In the US, a 12-person jury will need to vote unanimously to convict Adani, and he could appeal a verdict against him, as per the report. Even if Adani is extradited or surrendered in the US, a trial could still be a long way off. His lawyers, as would lawyers for his seven co-defendants, who could seek separate trials, would be entitled to litigate the admissibility of evidence and other legal questions before a trial could begin. The Adani Group has refuted the bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against its founder and Chairman, Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and the MD & CEO of Adani Green Energy, Vneet Jaain. In response to the growing controversy over corruption allegations, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) stated in an exchange filing on November 27 that the reported charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain, as outlined by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), are incorrect". The DoJ indictment, which has drawn significant media attention, does not include these three Adani officials in any corruption or bribery counts, per the statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd. In a filing with the stock exchanges, AGEL strongly refuted claims made by various media outlets suggesting that the executives were involved in violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the company added. Media reports stating that Mr. Gautam Adani, Mr. Sagar Adani, and Mr. Vneet Jaain have been charged with violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) are incorrect, the company said. The statement went on to clarify that these officials have not been named in the DoJs indictment or in any civil complaint filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The indictment, which includes five charges, does not mention any Adani executives in connection with conspiracy to violate the FCPA or obstruct justice, said the statement. Instead, the corruption-related charges in the DoJ indictment are focused on executives from Azure Power and its largest shareholder, CDPQ, a Canadian institutional investor. The indictment names individuals like Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, and others connected to Azure Power, as per the company statement. Despite this, certain media reports misinterpreted the indictment, erroneously claiming that Adani executives were charged under all five counts, the statement further claimed. Charges against Adani executives While no bribery or corruption charges have been levied against the Adani executives, they are named in three counts relating to securities fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. These charges are separate from the bribery allegations and do not involve the FCPA, as per the company statement. Also Read | Ola Electric Mobility share price rises 6% on new scooter range launch No evidence of bribes The DoJ indictment does not present any direct evidence that Adani executives paid bribes to Indian government officials. The claims are based on allegations of promises or discussions of bribes, with no confirmation of actual payments, the company statement added. The flawed reporting and the ongoing legal proceedings have had significant financial and reputational consequences for the Adani Group. International projects have been cancelled, and the group has seen a nearly $55 billion loss in market capitalisation across its 11 listed companies, said the company in a statement. Adani Groups CFO response In a statement, Jugeshinder Robbie Singh, Group CFO of Adani Group, expressed confidence that the truth would prevail despite the challenges. Truth is starting to emerge. To all who are patient and value integrity and honesty, thank you for your support. We are in an uphill battle with well-funded forces of blatant lies, unethical and irresponsible reporting. However, the truth will finally emerge, he posted on X. Former AG Mukul Rohatgi's statement on Adani bribery charges Former Attorney General and senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Adani Group in several other cases, today told reporters that the vital counts (similar to charges under the IPC) in the United States indictment papers do not name Gautam Adani or his nephew Sagar Adani. New Delhi: In a relief for SpiceJet, Ireland-based aircraft lessor Aircastle has withdrawn its insolvency case against the budget airline after reaching a $5.6 million settlement. Both parties informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Delhi about the settlement on Wednesday, after which the tribunal approved the withdrawal of the case. This marks another instance of the airline settling its disputes with creditors after raising 3,000 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). In October, the airline had announced the resolution of a $23.39 million dispute with Aircastle (Ireland) Designated Activity Co. and Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd. The matter was settled for $5 million, along with an agreement regarding the treatment of certain aircraft engines. Aircastle was among the first lessors to file an insolvency plea against SpiceJet in 2023 for defaulted rental dues, as the airline faced mounting insolvency claims from lessors and vendors in Delhis insolvency court. SpiceJet's disputes with lessors and vendors On 9 October, the airline resolved a $131.85 million claim with Horizon Aviation 1 Ltd., Horizon II Aviation 3 Ltd., and Horizon III Aviation 2 Ltd., managed by Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management, for $22.5 million. On 24 September, SpiceJet settled a claim with Engine Lease Finance Corp., reducing its dues from an initial $16.7 million. SpiceJet settled with Celestial Aviation, Alterna Aircraft, and Raymach Technologies. Despite the settlements, SpiceJet continues to face insolvency claims. Last week, the NCLT issued notices to the airline over pleas filed by lessors Sabarmati Aviation and JetAir 17. On 24 October, another insolvency plea was filed by Falgu Aviation Leasing Ltd over a default of $8.1 million ( 68 crore). However, its worth noting that none of these claims have resulted in any insolvency proceedings against SpiceJet to date. Many have been withdrawn after settlements, some dismissed, and others are still pending. Additionally, SpiceJet is also set to receive 736 crore from a previous funding round, further bolstering its financial stability and growth prospects. This new capital is vital for SpiceJet to address the financial challenges and settle obligations with various creditors, particularly lessors involved in ongoing litigations in the NCLT, Delhi high court, and the Supreme Court regarding unpaid dues. Recent court orders have mandated the grounding of leased engines and aircraft due to these unpaid dues, exacerbating the airlines difficulties. According to media reports, SpiceJets CMD Ajay Singh stated that the airline aims to expand its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2026. The government-owned BEML Ltd. (formerly known as Bharat Earth Movers Ltd) announced on Wednesday, November 27, that it has signed an agreement with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to develop technologies for the marine industry, news agency PTI reported. According to the company statement cited by the agency, the company aims to leverage the opportunity to expand its expertise in the marine sector. BEML and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) have entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance research and development in cutting-edge technologies for marine applications, the statement reads. Mazagon Docks will provide facilities to BEML's research team to facilitate developing, testing, and validating innovative technologies and systems. In exchange, according to the agreement, BEML will provide its technical support to design and manufacture strategic equipment specially suited for marine applications. The collaboration underscores our commitment to reducing dependency on imports for the defence forces while strengthening our manufacturing capabilities and contributing to India's self-reliance in the defence and maritime domain, said Shantanu Roy, the chairman and managing director of BEML. BEML shares closed 4.24 per cent higher at 4,187.90, compared to 4,017.65 at the previous market close. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders shares closed 5.54 per cent higher at 4,467.45, compared to 4,233.10 at the previous market close. Partnership goals Both BEML and Mazagon Dock aim to drive innovation and deliver cutting-edge solutions in line with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision and increase the country's maritime capabilities. As per the company statement cited in the report, BEML plans to leverage the partnership with MDL to develop solutions for futuristic marine applications and expand its expertise in the marine sector. Also Read | Govt looks to reduce tax on marine diesel oil to boost coastal, inland shipping Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders specialises in the construction of wardships and submarines for the Indian Navy, ships for the Indian Coast Guard, and other maritime platforms for commercial purposes. Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Adani Group in several other cases, today (November 27) told reporters that two vital counts (similar to charges under the IPC) in the United States indictment papers, do not name Gautam Adani or his nephew Sagar Adani. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have alleged that Adani Group companies and officials were involved in a bribery case. The US has filed an indictment naming Gautam Adani (Founder-Chairman, Adani Group), Sagar Adani (Executive Director, Adani Green Energy), Vneet Jaain (CEO & MD, Adani Green Energy) and other officials. Former Attorney-General for India and senior lawyer, Rohatgi said that count one, relating to the conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and count five, relating to obstruction of justice, does not mention Adanis. He added that both these counts are more important. Rohatgi also clarified that these were his personal, non-vetted, legal views, and he is not a spokesperson for the Adani Group. He said the company would seek their own legal consultation in the US. Also Read | Adani Group refutes US bribery charges against Gautam Adani and top executives Adani Group refutes US allegations Meanwhile, in an exchange filing on November 27, the Adani Group refuted the bribery allegations made by the US DoJ and SEC against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain. In response to the growing controversy over corruption allegations, Adani Green Energy (AGEL) issued a clarification stating that the charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain are incorrect. The DoJ indictment, which has drawn significant media attention, does not include these three Adani officials in any corruption or bribery counts, AGEL said. It added, Media reports stating that Mr. Gautam Adani, Mr. Sagar Adani, and Mr. Vneet Jaain have been charged with violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) are incorrect. The indictment, which includes five charges, does not mention any Adani executives in connection with conspiracy to violate the FCPA or obstruct justice, said the statement. In 2017, when Sudhir Singh joined NIIT Technologies, the first thing he did as CEO was to change the entire top leadershiplock, stock and barrel. His logic for replacing all his 14 direct reports was simple; The only thing the old team proved was that they cant grow," he told Mint . Barring one departure, the new leadership team is still in place at the company, now rebranded Coforge, and it has overseen a transformation that is the stuff of business podcasts. Despite global economic uncertainties and pandemic-driven headwinds, Coforges revenues tripled, its market cap went up 16.5x, and it made at least three acquisitions. During this time it changed ownership twicethe NIIT promoters exited in 2019, and in 2023, Baring Private Equity Asia, which had picked up NIITs stake, also exited. That last exit turned Coforge into a board-run company, a unique model in the IT services landscape. For the second quarter this fiscal year (FY25), the IT services company reported a 17% increase in net profit over the year-ago period to 212 crore. Revenue rose by about a third over the same period to 3,062 crore. On current form, Coforge is on track to close this fiscal year at around $1.4 billion or 11,000 crore. In October, it also completed the integration with Cigniti Technologies, which it had acquired in May. Cigniti, an engineering services and software testing company, is the companys fourth acquisition in the last seven years. The others include SLK Global, a business process management company; Whishworks, to enhance its Salesforce business and RuleTek, a US-based digital integration firm The company is eyeing $2 billion in revenue by FY27 and hopes to keep up the momentum it has built over the years to become a market darling. The stock price has zoomed around 400% in the last five years. In November 2019 it was trading at around 1,450 a share and on 27 November, it closed at 8,684.90. Following the strong Q2, brokerages have raised their target on the Coforge stock. Nuvama Equities raised it to 8,650 per share from 7,500 earlier. Motilal Oswal is the most bullish, with a target of 10,000, an upside of about 16% from its current levels. A harder playing field Coforge achieved what NIIT Technologies could not: grow at a fast clip and scale up. But will the company be able to sustain its fairytale run? The rapid growth and accomplishments, while commendable, have come on the modest base that NIIT had built. And while Singh and his team have demonstrated that they are a force to reckon with in niche plays, as they eye bigger deals, and expansion in key verticals, they will face competition from much larger players. To put its size in context, the $1.4 billion revenue that Coforge hopes to close with this fiscal year is just a drop for TCS, Indias biggest IT services company, which closed FY24 with a top line of $29 billion. Infosys, No. 2 in the pecking order, was at $18.6 billion. Even LTI Mindtree, a mid-tier contender, which is itching to break into the big league (something Mint had written about in September), is around 3.5x times bigger than Coforge, with revenues of $4.3 billion in the last fiscal year. Size does matter. As Gaurav Vasu, CEO of UnearthInsight, a Bengaluru-based consultancy, put it, While banking and financial services are Coforges strength, at $1.1 billion-plus, it faces challenges competing with larger IT firms for mega-deals." Echoing that view, Joel Martin, executive research leader of global business research consultancy HFS Research, said, As a mid-sized firm, Coforges leadership will need to constantly navigate challenges in scaling operations compared to its larger competitors, who have more resources." The heavy reliance on BFSI, travel and insurance for revenue also exposes it to sector-specific slowdowns. Coforge has built a strong foundation to sustain growth, but executing a balanced strategy that blends niche expertize with scalable operations will be critical to its success," said Vasu. Moreover, as Coforge grows in regional markets, it will face other contenders. Apart from competition from Indian services providers, it faces competition from global players as well," Martin explained. Other challengers, like Softtek, Encora and Globant (all mid-tier IT companies), which offer near-shore services and engineering capability centres, will likely be primary competitors in the mid market." To take on them, he said, Coforge will need to balance its off-shore capabilities with high-touch nearshore services. Singh, however, insists the companys approach will not change. We dont go out and say, We will drive transformation. We walk in and say, We are a specialized player in the sector you operate in," said Singh. We are expanding, but our strategy remains the same." Contrarian bets Singh began his career with Hindustan Lever (HLL) in sales and marketing. Back in the 1990s, he ran one of the largest sales units at HLL. Later, he joined Infosys, when the bellwether company was worth just $180 million, around Y2K. In 2010, he joined Genpact, which had been spun out of GE. In the four years before Singh took over, the company grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1%; since he began helming it, Coforge has grown at a CAGR of 16%. That transformation has been due to a careful transition, avoiding the pitfalls that mid-tier companies are typically caught in. According to Singh, it was due to a series of contrarian bets" that paid off. For instance, none of the 14 new leaders were hired from other midcaps. Talent used to rotate from one small firm to anotherfrom Birlasoft to Hexaware to NIIT and so on. Coforge steered clear of this. The new team was roped in from Infosys, TCS, Accenture and the like. The 14 included Mark Holden, Gautam Samanta, Madan Mohan, Vic Gupta and Anurag Chauhan, all from the top tier. Chauhan is the only one who has left. These were leaders who had seen big deals and growth with their previous employers. We couldnt pretend to offer the same services with the same depth as the large companies. It wasnt working Sudhir Singh The second contrarian bet Coforge took was to change the centre of gravity of the leadership. Earlier, 11 out of the 14 were based in India; Singh moved the top tier closer to client markets. He himself is based in New Jersey, with the US accounting for half of the companys business. About one-third comes from Europe and the rest from the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The US is the largest market for the $260 billion Indian IT services sector, with the top tier getting close to 70% of its business from the country. The third thing that Coforge focused on was not following the herd. All technology services providers end up offering similar services as the top tier and then struggle for growth as they cant build the capability of larger companies. We couldnt pretend to offer the same services with the same depth as the large companies. It wasnt working," said Singh. The company identified sub-segments within banking and insurance and focused on building capabilities in those. These were Pega and Duck Creek. The former is a workflow automation platform, with greater applicability on the banking side, while the latter is an insurance software platform with a focus on the property and casualty insurance businesses. Coforges Pega business has scaled up from $7 million to $110 million, while Duck Creek grew from $5 million to $70 million over seven years. The company also changed its rewards and recognition system. Inspired by his stint at HLL, Singh quadrupled sales incentives, realizing that pushing people is not enough. So, the commission on bagging new deals went up 4x, motivating employees to do more. This turned the also-ran into a player to be reckoned with. The Coforge transition The company was set up in 1992 as the software services division of NIIT, an early mover in the computer learning space. In 2004, promoter Rajendra Pawar and others spun out the software arm into a separate unit, called NIIT Technologies, with a focus on travel, hospitality, banking and other services. However, given the promoters focus on the core business of education, the services company saw only glacial growth. In April 2019, Baring Private Equity Asia acquired a 30.6% stake from NIIT for approximately 2,627 crore, later increasing its share to about 70% through an open offer to public shareholders for 3,045 crore. The promoters made a full exit. Coforge has done well since being spun out from NIIT Technologies in 2020, after Baring acquired a controlling stake in the company Pranati Dave Coforge has done well since being spun out from NIIT Technologies in 2020, after Baring acquired a controlling stake in the company," said Pranati Dave, practice director at Everest Group, a provider of research insights in technology services. Baring and the new management rebranded NIIT Technologies as Coforge in 2020. This transition marked a strategic shift for Coforge, allowing it to focus on its IT services and solutions without the constraints of its former parent company," Dave added. Baring, to their credit, did not make a single change in the executive leadership, which is different from how PE players handle a team. They found a team that was already hungry as hell," said Singh, an engineering graduate from IT BHU, with an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Baring did help hone some of the HR practices, by introducing two ideas, talent to value and time to value. The latter focuses on the importance of getting things done within a particular timeframe. And the former is about rewarding good talentthats how the reward system was changed. Last year, Baring sold its entire stake in Coforge. The company is now looking to continue its growth momentum, scale up and break into the big league. As a mid-tier company, Coforges bets on specific areas have paid off. It has also built relationships with cloud services major Amazon Web Services (AWS), customer relationship management platform Salesforce, and cloud-based business automation services provider ServiceNow, mirroring the approach of large caps. With a market cap now around $6 billion compared to $370 million six years back, it no longer operates in sub-segments (banking, insurance, travel and government are its four key verticals). But going beyond niche segments has also meant competing with a broader spectrum of companies, from LTI Mindtree and Tech Mahindra to Infosys and Wipro. Coforge is banking on the Cigniti acquisition, made early this year, to make some headway in its pursuit of growth. The acquisition gave it access to a client portfolio that was primarily exposed to software testing. The company is also looking at expanding work in BFSI beyond niche services, while simultaneously growing in new verticals such as healthcare, retail and hi-tech. The company wants to expand business in the US market, which brought in around 50% of its $1.1 billion business in FY24. North America is where we want to grow and this is a market where Cigniti has a strong client portfolio," said Singh. It will also need to improve margins to keep the Street interested. As it gets to $2 billion by FY27, Singh expects Ebitda to expand by 150 bps to 250 bps. He believes that with smaller deals, the onsite footprint is bigger and margins are lower; with bigger deals, margins tend to improve. Its more about the right execution, said Singh. But analysts like Vasu of UnearthInsight believe margins could be under pressure as Coforge invests in talent and new capabilities to build differentiation from its Tier I and II competitors. A board-run company A bigger worry is the absence of a promoterCoforge is a board-run company. The six-person board comprises Singh, Gautam Samanta, who is also president and head of the banking and financial services vertical, and four independent directors. According to Vasu, while its growth continues to beat the industry, and in the first half of this fiscal its revenue grew 10.4%, the absence of a promoter or a PE sponsor could influence strategic agility, as decisions now hinge on board consensus and market trends." However, Mukesh Ranjan, vice president of Everest Group, believes that being a fully board-governed company without any promoter influence will help it attract more institutional investors and enhance investor confidence." Singh himself believes this is likely to be one of the models that will become more prevalent in the future. Quoting Baring PE Asia founder Jean Eric Salata, he said, The Indian tech industry will have to start moving out of founder-led firms." Coforge is currently on a high, thanks to its past contrarian bets paying off and putting it on a growth trajectory. But as it aims to rise up the pecking order in the IT services league, it wont be able to lean on past bets alone. Infosys bonus payout: Information technology (IT) Infosys is handing out a 90 per cent average performance bonus to eligible employees for the July-September quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2FY25). The payout, which will be disbursed with November-end salaries, covers mid-to junior-level employees across delivery and sales units, which comprise the bulk of its 3.15 lakh workforce. According to news agency PTI, while the Bengaluru-headquartered software services major pays an average performance bonus of 90 per cent, the percentage will differ based on individual performance and contribution. The performance bonus averaged about 90 per cent in Q2FY25, slightly higher than the 80 per cent given in the preceding April-June quarter (Q1FY25). According to business news daily The Economic Times, India's second-largest IT services company announced the bonus payout in an email sent to its eligible employees. ET reviewed the email, which is as follows: In Q2, we delivered a strong performance with broad growth, reinforcing our market leadership. This success is a testament to your unwavering dedication, our strategic focus on margin performance and our industry-leading expertise in Cloud and Generative AI. Your commitment has been instrumental in building our capabilities and delivering exceptional value to our clients. Thank you for your invaluable contributions; we look forward to a future with endless possibilities with you, the email read. According to The Economic Times, the performance bonus average figure comprises payouts to employees at band six (E6) and below. At Infosys, the classification of E0 E2 employees ranges from freshers to technical leaders, and the E3 E6 employee band includes mid-level positions. Those at E7 and above are the senior-level employee base. According to the business newspaper, the latest average bonus payout is among the best since the pandemic, driven by a strong July to September growth quarter for the IT giant. It also marks a sharp markup over the 60 per cent average bonus rolled out in the March quarter of FY24. Infosys employees also await the September-October appraisal cycle revision for the fiscal year 2023-24. During the latest second-quarter earnings conference in October, Infosys CEO and managing director Salil Parekh disclosed that a salary hike would be effective from January 2025. Selective employees will first receive the appraisal revision, followed by others in April 2025. Infosys Q2 Results Last month, Infosys posted a nearly five per cent rise in its second-quarter net profit and raised revenue guidance for the year, citing a broad-based recovery in demand and ramp-up of mega deals, particularly from its key financial industry clients. The technology services bellwether raised its revenue guidance for the full fiscal year for the second consecutive quarter. Infosys expects constant currency revenue growth between 3.75 per cent and 4.5 per cent for the financial year April 2024 to March 2025, higher than its earlier guidance of three to four per cent. Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh termed this a "huge upward movement" in growth guidance. The upward revision came on the back of a ramp-up of mega deals. Walmart's sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at US companies that are re-evaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programmes to bolster historically under-represented groups. The changes announced by the world's biggest retailer on Monday followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programmes aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. Also Read | Walmart earnings: Holiday shopping is off to a strong start The retreat from such programmes crystalised with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes a priority. Trump's incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller, who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programmes that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination, said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher at the Human Capital Centre at the Conference Board. This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino, he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity centre set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index. Also Read | Walmart agrees to pay $7.5 million to settle California lawsuit over disposal of hazardous waste Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after US Supreme Court's ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the US Department of Transportation over its use of a programme that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organisation says it has identified more than 60 programmes in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. Also Read | Walmart to replace paper shelf labels with digital price screens in 2,300 stores We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches -- the US Supreme Court, the Congress and the President -- are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualised treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups, Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can't be overstated, said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labour & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they've got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It's a virtually impossible dilemma, Schwartz said. Also Read | Walmart, Costco Pressured by Investor Group Over Abortion Pills Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, a civil rights group that has worked with Walmart on diversity and inclusion efforts in the past, called the company's pullback from DEI stunning" and unexpected. This is inconsistent with the Walmart I know, said Morial, who argued that DEI policies are how organisations ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and any suggestion of favouritism or preferential treatment is really defamatory against what DEI represents. He said that Walmart would see a strong message to the decision but that civil rights leaders are first very interested in dialogue with Walmart executives. A recent survey by Pew Research Centre showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52 per cent in the October survey, compared to 56 per cent in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associate at Pew, called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won't be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Centre for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI," Glasgow said. "The only reason you don't hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They're putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention. Glasgow advises organisations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. It's going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there's a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing, he said. One reason DEI programmes exist is because without those programmes, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic, Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Walmart says its US businesses sourced more than USD 13 billion in goods and services from diverse suppliers in fiscal year 2024, including businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organisations that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women's Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America's top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart's announcement. Also Read | Why the Walmart model doesnt work in healthcare Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organisation, said she hoped Walmart's need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company has no explicit dollar goals. I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World, Prince-Eason wrote. Any retailer's ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart." Walmart's announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Also Read | Walmart to lay off hundreds of corporate staff and relocate others, says report Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe's and Tractor Supply. Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don't feature sexual and trans-gender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign's annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. Also Read | New Jersey fines Walmart over in-store pricing practices RaShawn Shawnie Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation's Workplace Equality Programme, said companies that abandon their commitments workplace inclusion policies are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders. Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and a key figure in India's digital and economic transformation, shared a personal story of defying his father's wishes by choosing to attend IIT Bombay, during a conversation with LinkedIns global CEO, Ryan Roslansky. In his conversation with Roslansky, Nandan Nilekani shared that his father had a job that made him feel insecure, so he emphasised the importance of obtaining a solid education and securing a stable career. Born in Bengaluru in the 1950s, Nilekani explained that during that time, children in India were typically expected to choose between engineering or medicine. Since he had no interest in becoming a doctor, he decided to pursue engineering. "If I was going to study engineering, it had to be at a top institution, and IIT Bombay was the best option," he stated. IIT Bombay In 2023, Outlook India ranked IIT Bombay 3rd among government engineering colleges. In 2024, India Today ranked it 2nd for best engineering colleges. In 2025, QS India ranked it 1st. Moreover, 72 of the top 100 JEE (Advanced) rankers chose IIT Bombay, with all the top 10 choosing computer science. Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and a key figure in India's digital and economic transformation, shared a personal story of defying his father's wishes by choosing to attend IIT Bombay, during a conversation with LinkedIns global CEO, Ryan Roslansky. When asked about his fathers opposition to his choice of IIT Bombay, Nilekani responded, At 18, youre a rebel. My father sent me a telegram that said, Join IIT Madras, chemical engineering. He continued, I told him, Im not going to listen to you. Instead, I decided to join electrical engineering at IIT Bombay. It was a small act of rebellion, he explained. IIT Bombay (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay) is one of India's premier institutions for higher education in engineering, technology, and research. Established in 1958, it is located in Powai, Mumbai. IIT Bombay is recognized globally for its academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and contribution to technological innovations. It consistently ranks among the top engineering institutes in India and is known for its world-class faculty, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and strong alumni network. I told him, Im not going to listen to you. Instead, I decided to join electrical engineering at IIT Bombay. The institute offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs across various disciplines of engineering, science, design, and management. Zepto is well on its way to touch annualized sales of $3 billion in the next month or two, Aadit Palicha, Zepto co-founder and chief executive, told Mint , underscoring the firms potential for rapid growth that has attracted investors from around the world. Zeptos dark stores are turning profitable at a faster pace as the firm is adding newer categories with a higher average order value, which is adding to its bottom line. Right now, is not the time to slow down," Palicha said in an interview with Mint. On Friday, Zepto raised $350 million, the largest domestic fundraise in the history of India's startup ecosystem Edited excerpts: Zepto just closed its third fundraise in six months. How much cash do you have now? We've closed this financing not because we needed cash. Before this financing, we had around a billion dollars, and now we've got $1.3 billion of cash in the bank. So, we do not do this financing round with the objective of trying to raise more capital. The financing was done very candidly to increase domestic ownership. And that is exactly what we were able to achieve. We pulled off the largest domestic fundraise for a startup in Indian history. And we are moving towards domestic ownership next fiscal year. Why is Zeptos cash burn increasing? The reason why we were able to raise a billion dollars of capital earlier this financial year is because we turned 70% of our dark stores profitable. The stores are now turning profitable faster. It used to take about 23 months for a store to turn profitable and now it takes about eight months. And the capital being spent for each store to turn profitable was also getting lower. It used to take about 3.9 crore of capex in operating burn for a store to turn profitable. Now it only takes about 1.5 crore. Read more: Sharechat to ramp up investments in algorithms to improve user retention In a nutshell, we had gone from zero to over $1 billion (annualised sales run rate) of top line in two and a half years. The business is moving close to Ebitda breakeven. Seventy per cent of our markets are profitable. And the inputs on return on equity are getting better in terms of speed to turn a store profitable and capital spent. Within a quarter of the next financial year [FY26] we expect to be PAT positive. However, our institutional investors told usyou already achieved so much scale, you're still growing 100%, the economics are working, and there is this huge opportunity ahead of you. Right now, is not the time to slow down. It is actually the time to invest in the business and go aggressive with store launches, which is exactly what we're doing. We are launching in the magnitude of 100 dark stores a quarter. That is still a good place to be as long as our mature stores keep turning profitable. How is Zepto reducing the breakeven time of a store? It's mainly execution and operating leverage. For instance, we have added new categories like general merchandise, apparel, beauty and cosmetics, and electronics, that are additive to profitability because they are about 2-3x more gross margin per unit than FMCG. So, the share of those categories increasing has contributed to the bottom line. For example, you know, there are racks like the private label. We have also scaled private labels. Weve gone from zero to 700 crore (annualised run rate) in 12 months. Our advertising income has also scaled to 1,000 crore revenue run rate. Our core supply chain is also getting efficient. We just started rolling out the first layer of automation in our back end motherhub. As we're getting scale, we're getting fixed cost leverage and sourcing leverage. We're seeing AOVs [average order value] go up. What was the GOV (gross order value) in FY24? We grew roughly over 140% in FY24 over FY23. Our GOV was around 5,500 crore in FY24. This space is moving so fast, looking at FY24 numbers will not be productive. In the 8 months since, we have gone from $93 million in gross order value per month to $250 million gross order value per month. In a month or two we will announce our annualised sales at $3 billion. Our biggest lever is frequency and retention. We believe our retention rate is best in class in terms of how many users come into the system and how many of them actually continue to be active customers. Multiple brokerage reports place Zepto in the second position in terms of market share, trailing Blinkit. What do you think helped it reach here? Our biggest lever is frequency and retention. We believe our retention rate is best in class in terms of how many users come into the system and how many of them actually continue to be active customers. Retention is being aided by speed, quality, selection, and price. We've consistently maintained a 10-minute delivery speed. Our selection has expanded from 6,000 stock keeping units to 13,500 SKUs over the past 12 months. We also run one of India's largest fresh fruits and vegetables supply chains that are fully vertically integrated, which I think is a novelty in this space. We have gone straight to the farmer to source a majority of our fresh fruits and vegetables. On pricing, we have introduced new features like SuperSaver that are giving us a huge amount of growth right now, almost three times the AOV, right? The AOV for SuperSaver orders is over 1,000. At this AOV, we can give customers back some margin in the form of lower prices and still make money. Our customer retention metrics are at 30-35% at the end of 12 months. Do you see any merit in partnering kirana stores given government regulation will come in at some point? We already have hundreds of dark stores today that are run by small mom-and-pop entrepreneurs. These are ex-restaurateurs, or someone who used to formerly run a kirana store. Today, about 30% of dark stores are run by local entrepreneurs; by the next financial year it will be about 50%. They employ between 30 and 40 people from the local communities. We give them the technology and the operating support to run the dark stores and then they own the store. They set up the capex, they take up the lease. That's going to be a majority of our dark stores by next year, i.e. run by local entrepreneurs. This narrative revolves around taking business away from the kirana store, not only is it wrong but it's actually dangerous. Because it takes away from the fact that quick commerce is actually a net job creator. The wages of those jobs are meaningfully above minimum wages. And these jobs come from the informal sector. Are you worried about government overreach in the quick commerce sector? We are in a position where we are operating the same e-commerce models that have existed for a decadethat Amazon or Flipkart have operated for over a decade at a huge scale in India. Do we have airtight compliance, not just in foreign direct investment (FDI), but even in goods and services tax (GST), and income tax, yes. In spirit, we'd like to be a compliant company. So, the honest answer is regardless of the noise that gets created over this (quick commerce) we are not really deeply worried about government overreach. How do you feel about newer competition such as Flipkart and Amazon entering the q-commerce segment? We are expanding on a base of billions of dollars, and we are currently not feeling the impact of competition. That said, (I have) huge respect for Amazon and Flipkart. We think, if they pick up anything, they'll do well. If they come into this space and they're able to execute, create a better value proposition in some areasfantastic. We will learn from that. But, the market is huge, so we don't really worry about competition too much. In fact, we look at competition as an opportunity to learn. Whatever they're doing well that we've not been able to crack, we'll pick it up from them. So, it's a good thing. Read more: The fall and rise of fine jewellery startup BlueStone But ultimately, honestly, today, it's just a media narrative. To build a business in billions of dollars of scale, as quickly as we haveand we are crazy. We execute fast, very aggressively. We are a different style of company than Amazon and Flipkart, in that we are not bureaucratic. We've created a business with a fraction of the capital than all formats of the internet before us have taken. To do that is not as easy as it sounds, regardless of your balance sheet. At the end of the day, the alpha factor is not your balance sheet, it's execution. The new category we are focused on right now is Zepto Cafe that's expanding pretty rapidly. We are launching 140 cafes a month right now. Are you likely to get into newer categories such as pharmacy? We're exploring it. In the next couple of weeks, you might see something, but we are constantly looking at new categories. The new category we are focused on right now is Zepto Cafe that's expanding pretty rapidly. We are launching 140 cafes a month right now. We think it's already 160 crore of revenue; we are living in just 15% of our stores. By next year we think it will hit 1,000 croreif we scale it to all our dark stores. Between Zepto cafe, ad-revenues, and private labels (staples and meats), what's the revenues split? This month, we hit about 86 crore in ad (revenues). So that's one of the biggest levers on advertising revenue. Quick commerce is about 86-87% of revenues, 13% is private labels and ads. Then, you've got the smaller businesses that are starting to scale like Zepto Cafe, which will take up another 4-5% of the business. These businesses are all within the core flywheel of quick commerce. We're not going to get into new businesses. How have you seen the kind of brands that you list evolve on the platform? The incumbent brands versus the new-age ones? Absolutely. So, the share of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands on our platform is actually very high and growing. The market share of all these new age brands is expanding on Zepto. They have added a couple of percentage points of share in the past two quarters and think it will keep growing. If let's say the platform is growing 3x, D2C brands are growing 4X. Incumbents are not small; but they are losing share. So, I'll give you an example, the ice-cream category was dominated by lets say Magnum, Quality Walls, etc. and in the past 12 months brands such as Nic and Go Zero have taken so much share that they're getting pretty close to their (competitions) scale. Do you make more money from D2C brands or from the established brands? It depends on your scale; what type of category youre in. It's not the same for all brands. But it's less about where we make money from and more about what the customer is choosing on the platform. Wipro Ltd has named a new Europe head as the software services provider looks to revive business in this second biggest market. On Monday evening, Indias fourth largest software services company appointed Omkar Nisal as the chief executive of its Europe business. Nisal, who is based out of London, will take over the role immediately, reporting to chief executive and managing director Srinivas Pallia. He will also be part of the companys executive board. Nisal succeeds Pierre Bruno, who headed the companys Europe market since February 2021. While the company stated that Bruno stepped down, Mint could not independently ascertain if Bruno had left the company or whether he had just stepped down from his role. The Bengaluru-headquartered companys Europe business has underperformed. Since Pierre Bruno took over as Wipros Europe head in February 2021, the company generated 28.4%, or $631 million, of its $2.22 billion January-March 2021 revenue from Europe. At the end of the three months through September, Wipro's Europe business accounted for 27.9%, or $742 million, of the companys $2.66 billion quarterly revenue. The Europe business clocked a compounded quarterly dollar revenue growth of 1.16% between 31 March 2021 and 30 September 2024, according to a Mint review. During this time, Wipros overall business managed a quarterly compounded revenue growth of 1.3%. The slowdown in Europe, however, was not limited to Wipro. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd clocked an overall compounded quarterly growth of 1.78% and 1.77%, respectively. Meanwhile, their Europe businesses managed growth rates of 1.51% and 1.58%, respectively. TCS, Infosys and HCLTech reported $2.42 billion, $1.46 billion, and $978 million in revenue from Europe for the quarter ended September 2024, respectively. Also read | What explains TCS, Wipro, Infosys, TechM flocking to Nvidia For Pallia, who took over as Wipro chief executive on 6 April after his predecessor Delaporte was asked to leave, reviving the fortunes of Wipro is a tough ask. This is primarily because two of the companies geographiesEurope and Asiahave underperformed for a long time. For Wipros Asia business, Pallia appointed a new head just over a month after taking over as CEO. Vinay Firake took over as the head for Wipros business in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region on 10 May 2024. He succeeded Anis Chenchah, under whose watch the companys revenue from clients in the geography declined. Wipro generated $313 million in revenue from clients in Asia and Africa at the end of the three months through March 2022, a month before Chenchah took over. The companys revenue from this region came down to $282 million by 30 June 2024, a month after Vinay Firake took over. Since Pierre Bruno took over as Wipros Europe head in February 2021, the company generated 28.4%, or $631 million, of its $2.22 billion January-March 2021 revenue from Europe. Europe is Wipros second largest geography. The company earned $3 billion, or 28.4% of its full-year revenue of $10.78 billion, from this market. Its biggest cash cow remains the US, from where the company generated 57% or $6.15 billion of its annual revenue for the year ended March 2024. Omkars strategic vision, combined with a strong understanding of the European market dynamics, well positions him to lead our ambitious plans for growth and expansion," Pallia said in a press release to the exchanges on Monday. With a strong customer-centric approach, Omkar will help build a resilient and adaptable organization poised for sustainable growth in the region." Both Nisal and Firake have been in Wipro for more than a decade. Their elevation to top jobs is an indication of Pallia promoting internal talent rather than relying on outside hires to steer the company to growth. Also read | Six months into CEO's shoes, Pallia quietly scripting Wipro's turnaround This (Nisals appointment) is a re-alignment to the old days when internal talent was promoted to top posts," said a Mumbai-based analyst working at a domestic brokerage on the condition of anonymity. Wipro has not been stable at the top. More than two dozen senior executives ranked senior vice-president and above left the company since Frenchman Thierry Delaporte took over as CEO in July 2020. His successor also sought to bring about his own leaders to top posts. There have been seven changes at Wipros executive board, which comprises leaders from service lines and geography heads, since March last year. Relying on internal talent is just one of the things that Pallia is doing to steer the company to growth after the companys revenue fell last fiscal. He is also doing away with expensive lateral hires, shedding extra costs by shifting offsites teams once held at five-star locations in Paris and Dubai to the online mode, and shifting the nerve centre of the company from Paris. Shareholders have reacted favourably to Pallias efforts. Wipros shares have gained nearly 19% since Pallia took over as CEO on 6 April. While Wipro outperformed TCS, which has seen its stock rise 8.4%, during the period, it has lagged Infosys and HCLTech with their shares surging 27% and 22%, respectively. Investor optimism follows growth trajectories. In the first six months of the fiscal year, HCLTech reported the highest growth among India's top four IT services companies, growing at 5.98% over a year earlier. Infosys revenue grew 2.92% during the period. And read | Wipro ER D division to grow by 30% in FY25 India-China trade data for 2023 reveals a widening discrepancy, with India's reported imports from China falling significantly short of China's export figures, raising concerns over potential anomalies such as under-invoicing, misclassification, and inconsistent reporting practices. In 2023, India's merchandise imports from China stood at $99.59 billion, which was 18.2% lower than the $117.68 billion worth of exports reported by China, according to the latest data from the World Bank's World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) and the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S). The discrepancy stood at 15.5% the previous year, with India's merchandise imports from China valued at $102.63 billion, significantly lower than the $118.50 billion exports reported by China, according to the same data sources. China was Indias largest trading partner in 2023-24, per Indian government data. The magnitude of these discrepancies indicates major anomalies, warranting closer scrutiny of the data reporting mechanisms. While discrepancies in trade data can arise due to methodological differences, the magnitude of these gapsparticularly in textiles and clothing, iron and steel, electronics, and remaining categoriesrequires deeper investigation," said Ajay Srivastava, former trade service official and the founder of economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). Addressing under-invoicing, misclassification, and data reporting practices is essential to ensure accurate trade accounting and mitigate revenue losses. Focused studies should prioritize sectors with the highest variance to identify and rectify anomalies," he added. Spokespersons of the ministry of commerce and the Chinese embassy in New Delhi didn't respond to emailed queries. Sectors showing divergence The divergence in India-China trade data is starkly evident in imports of shipping goods, aircraft, textiles and clothing, iron ore, steel, base metals, medical devices, leather, paper, and glass. On the other hand, sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, diamonds, gold, and other valuable products, telecom, electronics, electrical products, and machinery and computers exhibited the opposite trend, with Indias reported imports exceeding China's export data. Mint first reported in November 2022 about varying trade data from India and China, with the significant gap due to reasons which included under-invoicing of shipments by Indian importers to avoid paying import taxes. Under-invoicing of imports involves marking the stated value of imports below the actual value paid to the exporter abroad, reducing the import tax outgo. Experts said while Indias import values from China, reported by the DGCI&S, are calculated on a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis, these values are expected to be higher than Chinas reported exports to India, measured in FOB (free on board) terms. However, data from 2023 and 2022 reveal the opposite trend. FOB origin typically means that the buyer assumes all risk once the seller ships the product. Normally, a countrys exports are reported in FOB terms while imports are reported in CIF terms. Since CIF includes FOB plus freight and insurance values, CIF values are usually 3-10% higher than the reported FOB values for the same consignments," said Srivastava of GTRI. "Indias import from China values as reported by DGCI&S are in CIF terms and hence should be higher than the values reported for the same trade by China as export values that are expressed in FOB," he added. A senior trade economist, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that while the India-China trade discrepancy is established, it would be incorrect to attribute them solely to under-invoicing or misclassification, as there could be other reasons like quality issues with data or human errors which could be leading to the discrepancy. China: Indias largest trading partner In 2023-24, Indias bilateral trade with China reached $118.4 billion, cementing China as Indias largest trading partner during the yearmaking the data discrepancies a worrying factor. Indias exports to China grew by 8.7%, totalling $16.67 billion while imports rose by 3.24%, amounting to $101.7 billion during this period. Meanwhile, India's goods trade deficit with China widened to $57.83 billion in April-October, from $51.12 billion in the same period a year ago, according to data from India's ministry of commerce and industry. In October, the trade deficit with China widened to $8.46 billion from $8.27 billion a year ago. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has rescheduled one of the Chartered Accountant (CA) Foundation exams, which will be held in January 2025. As per the official notification, the exam has been rescheduled in view of Makar Sankranti/Bihu/Pongal festivals across the country. It added that the CA Foundation exam to be held on 14th January 2025 stands rescheduled to 16th January 2025. CA Foundation January 2025 exam revised dates After the rescheduled exam date, the complete schedule will be held as 12th, 16th, 18th & 20th January 2025. The notification further stated, There will be no change in the schedule of the Chartered Accountants Intermediate Examination to be held in January 2025. It may further be noted that there would be no change in the examination schedule in the event of any day of the examination schedule mentioned above, being declared a Public Holiday by the Central Government or any State Government / Local Authority. Mock Test Papers Series I & Series II for Students appearing in CA Foundation exams The Mock Test Paper Series I & Series II will be conducted in physical/virtual mode(s). Series I 20.12.2024 - Paper-1: Accounting - 10.30 AM 1.30 PM 21.12.2024 - Paper-2: Business Law - 10.30 AM 1.30 PM 23.12.2024 - Paper-3: Quantitative Aptitude - 10.30 am-12.30 pm 24.12.2024 - Paper-4: Business Economics - 10.30 am-12.30 pm Series II 31.12.2024 - Paper-1: Accounting - 10.30 AM 1.30 PM 02.01.2025 - Paper-2: Business Law - 10.30 AM 1.30 PM 03.01.2025 - Paper-3: Quantitative Aptitude - 10.30 am-12.30 pm 04.01.2025 Paper-4: Business Economics - 10.30 am-12.30 pm Also Read | JKSSB police constable exam admit card 2024 out at jkssb.nic.in Maharashtra: Soon after Eknath Shinde said that he has left the decision about Chief Minister's post upto Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule heaped praise on the Shiv Sena chief. Shinde is now serving as caretaker CM after his resignation from the post on Tuesday following Mahayuti's landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly election. On Wednesday, breaking his silence amid ongoing speculations over who will become the next CM, Shinde said that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and told them that he wouldn't be an obstacle in forming the government and will abide by their decision. Reacting to Sena Chief's remarks while addressing a press conference in Nagur, Chandrashekhar Bawankule thanked ally Eknath Shinde for stating that the decision of the top BJP leadership on the next chief minister of the state would be acceptable to him. Bawankule also slammed the opposition for trying to spread rumours and cast aspersions on Shinde's character. "I want to thank Shinde. He today made clear his stand on the chief minister's post. He has taken an important stand. I am proud of him," the BJP leader said. Bawankule also praised Shinde for his commitment to Maharashtra's progress, highlighting his role in the completion of the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway. "He took a lot of efforts for the betterment of Maharashtra. He did a good job as chief minister," Bawankule added. Shinde, as a Shiv Sena leader, must have felt a lot of pain when Uddhav Thackeray, then head of the united Shiv Sena, severed his alliance with the BJP in 2019, he said. Also Read | Why is BJP backing Devendra Fadnavis as next Maharashtra CM? As CM, Shinde demonstrated the true power of a "double-engine" government, Bawankule added. He also lauded Shinde's willingness to collaborate and prioritise the state's development over personal ambitions. "Whatever we asked as an ally, he accepted our demands and respected our expectations," the BJP leader said. Days after the Mahayuti stormed to power in the assembly elections, suspense continues on who will the next chief minister of Maharashtra. Eknath Shinde, who resigend as chief minister on Tuesday, continues as caretaker chief minister until a new government is in place. The annoucement of the next chief minister may take a few days, according to sources. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti won 230 seats in the 288-member assembly elections. The results unleashed pressure on alliance partners to take a call on who will be the chief minister Shiv Sena (Shinde) chief Eknath Shinde or BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. A consensus has eluded the ruling combines leaders on who should be the next chief minister. BJP firm on Fadnavis The BJP's Maharashtra unit wanted Fadnavis to be the chief minister in June 2022 during political turmoil in Maharashtra, but the partys top brass opted for Eknath Shinde as the chief minister of Maharashtra, perhaps for making the alliance possible. The decision came after Shinde, along with over 39 party lawmakers, rebelled and spearheaded a coup of sorts against the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's MVA government. The demand for making Fadnavis the CM this time stems from the fact that the BJP, under Fadnavis, scripted its best-ever performance by winning 132 of Mahayutis 230 seats. The Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 57 and Ajit Pawars NCP won 41 seats. Fadnavis was in New Delhi on Monday night to attend the wedding of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla's daughter. He did not, however, meet any BJP top brass and flew back to Mumbai, according to sources. The MLA's in Shinde Sena are reportedly pitching for a second term for Eknath Shinde. They say, it was under his leadership that the Mahayuti alliance won the brute majority. Bihar Model Ruled Out Some leaders in Shinde camp have referred to Bihar model, where Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) is the chief minister despite BJP having more MLAs. The BJP has, however, ruled out the option. The model applicable to Bihar does not hold true for Maharashtra. In Bihar, the BJP had given a commitment to make Nitish Kumar the CM ahead of elections and honoured it. In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership," BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla told The Indian Express. "Above all, the party never gave any commitment of continuing with Shinde as CM after the elections. On the contrary, the top leadership maintained throughout the elections that a decision on the chief minister would be based on the electoral outcome, he said. Also Read | Will RSS back Fadnavis as next Maharashtra CM? Know what THIS report says The decision on the chief minister will be based on the electoral outcome. Even if BJP doesnt count Shinde Senas 57 MLAs, it is comfortably placed to form the government with Ajit Pawars 41 MLAs. The majority mark in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly is 145. Ajit Pawar has already announced his support to Fadnavis as the next chief minister of Maharashtra. The BJP is expected to announce observers for Maharashtra soon. A meeting of BJP Legislature Party will be held in Mumbai in the presence of observers to elect a leader. RSS backs Fadnavis Fadnavis is arguably 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 said to be in good books of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ONE OF THE early uses of the word was by Lead Belly, who sang about the Scottsboro boys, nine young African-Americans in Scottsboro, Alabama, who were wrongly accused in 1931 of raping two white women. They got an unfair trial; all nine later had their convictions overturned or were pardoned. In a recording in 1938, Lead Belly warns black Americans travelling through Alabama to stay woke", lest they be accused of something similar. Even the most committed anti-woke warrior would grant that the man had a point. But in the past decade, a form of wokeness has arisen on the illiberal left which is characterised by extreme pessimism about America and its capacity to make progress, especially on race. According to this view, all the countrys problems are systemic or structural, and the solutions to them are illiberal, including censorship and positive discrimination by race. This wokeness defines people as members of groups in a rigid hierarchy of victims and oppressors. Like the Puritans of old, adherents focus less on workable ideas for reducing discrimination than on publicly rooting out sinful attitudes in themselves and others (especially others). View Full Image After-peak-woke--what-next- The Economist has analysed how influential these ideas are today by looking at public opinion, the media, publishing, higher education and the corporate world. Using a host of measures, we found that woke peaked in 2021-22 and has since receded. For example, polling by Gallup found that the share of people who worry a great deal about race relations climbed from 17% in 2014 to 48% in 2021, but has since fallen to 35%. Likewise, the term white privilege" was used 2.5 times for every 1m words written by the New York Times in 2020. Last year it was used 0.4 times per 1m words. That timing is no coincidence. Many people assume that wokeness took off after the murder of George Floyd in 2020; in fact the inflection point was in 2015, as Donald Trump ran for president. Mr Trumps victory had a profound effect on the American left. It strengthened those who said America is racist and sexist and undermined those who said that progress is possible and that persuasion beats cancellation. As those on the centre-left cowered for fear of being cancelled themselves, woke ideas spread from sociology departments to the rest of the university, and from there to company boardrooms. On campus, controversial speakers were prevented from addressing students. In corporate America managers were rewarded partly for hiring to meet targets based on diversity, equity and inclusion. The backlash has been led by right-leaning activists and mainline liberals who disagree about many other things. And the Democratic Party has realised that woke ideas and policies are both unpopular with voters and electorally reckless in a party that relies on a multiracial coalition to win. Towards the end of her acceptance speech in Chicago, Kamala Harris talked about the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earththe privilege and pride of being an American". It would have been hard for a front-line Democrat to say that between 2016 and 2021. The lesson is not that wokeness is over, still less that it achieved nothing good. The cycle of overreaction and counter-reaction can lead to progress. Companies still care about diversity; universities still disdain hateful rhetoric. But as the left and their critics on the right score points off each other, the fight increasingly feels stagey and artificial, like professional wrestling. The hope now is that race and sex will once again be discussed as questions of public policy, where compromise is possible, rather than of identity, where it is not. 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com For Indians looking to travel to the Middle Kingdom, a direct flight is still some distance. Despite cooling hostilities, the Indian security establishment is opposed to direct flights that remain suspended since 2020, two people aware of the matter said, given unresolved national security concerns. China has repeatedly pressed for a resumption, including on the sidelines of the recent G20 Summit when Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met external affairs minister S. Jaishankar. Currently, our security establishment is not in favour of resumption of direct flights with China," said a top Indian government official, one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity. While resuming direct flights might support the economy and improve people-to-people ties, India's caution aligns with its broader strategy of reducing dependence on Chinese goods and services, emphasizing self-reliance and safeguarding strategic interests. Since 2020, India has imposed several measures against Chinese entities, including banning Chinese apps, tightening visa protocols, and restricting investments. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of ministries of home affairs, external affairs, civil aviation, Prime Minister's Office, and the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Monday remained unanswered. The key concern behind the opposition to flight resumption is the trust deficit. The standoff over flight resumption may only end after top-level discussions in the matter," the second person said, also on the condition of anonymity. India-China direct flights stopped in 2020 as countries shut air travel during the covid-19 outbreak. The Indian government decided to not lift the direct flight ban in the wake of the Galwan clash in June 2020 between Indian and Chinese soldiers, where 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Also read | India rejects food consignments from China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey on food safety worries The ban on direct flights remains despite India being Chinas largest trade partner. In FY24, India imported goods worth $101.75 billion from China, primarily comprising raw materials and minerals, while exports totalled $16.67 billion, commerce ministry data showed. India's goods trade deficit with China widened to $57.83 billion during April-October from $51.12 billion a year ago. A trade deficit occurs when a country's imports exceed its exports. In October, the trade deficit stood at $8.46 billion, up from $8.27 billion a year ago. Experts say resuming direct flights will benefit China more, given its trade advantage. "As of now, the terms of trade between India and China are tilted in favour of China," said Pralok Gupta, associate professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). "If flight services are resumed, resulting in better business connectivity, the advantages will likely be more in favour of Chinese businesses. However, with the rise of industries such as electronic goods in India, where exports have shown a significant growing trend recently, easier business connectivity through the resumption of flights would help in the sourcing of raw materials, such as metals and ceramics. This may prove beneficial for our exports to third countries," Gupta added. Indian traders, on their part, are in favour of resuming direct flights. Currently, those travelling to Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai need to fly via countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, extending travel times by as much as four hours. The lack of direct air connectivity between the two countries is posing significant challenges for Indian traders. Currently, traders are forced to take indirect routes, leading to increased time and costs for reaching key business hubs in China," said Naresh Gupta, president of the Indo-China Chamber of Commerce. Prior to the suspension, airlines such as Air India, IndiGo and Air China operated over 500 monthly direct flights between India and China. Currently, those travelling to Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai need to fly via countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, extending travel times by as much as four hours. Among the steps discussed were the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage, data sharing on trans-border rivers, direct flights between India and China and media exchanges," Indias external affairs ministry said in a 19 November statement after the Jaishankar-Wang meeting. Also read | Indias trade deficit with China soars during April-October despite import curbs This also comes in the backdrop of Indian exporters rerouting critical machinery and materials through Dubais Jebel Ali port to mitigate disruptions caused by Chinas export restrictions to India, as reported by Mint earlier. Chinas refusal to provide these equipment and materials is being seen as a deliberate tactic to stifle Indias economic growth. To bypass these supply chain bottlenecks, Indian importers show Dubai as the import destination, from where they are being rerouted to India. However, this rerouting process is resulting in cost time over-run. "No doubt, flights between India and China should resume, but not at the cost of the country's security. Exporters and cargo are reaching China via transit routes, and direct flights would save both time and money. Ultimately, it is the supreme authorities who should take the final call," said C.K. Govil, president of the Air Cargo Agents Association of India. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that there is a need to strengthen existing regulations to curb vulgar content on social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, and called for a consensus on the same. We are living in the era of social media and OTT platforms. However, the democratic institutions and traditional forms of the press that once relied on editorial checks to ensure accountability and correctness of content have seen these checks diminish over time, the Union minister of information and broadcasting, railways, and electronics and IT said in the Lok Sabha while addressing a question. Also Read: New draft broadcasting bill raises accountability, censorship concerns He added that due to the absence of such editorial oversight, social media has become a platform for freedom of the press on the one hand and a space for uncontrolled expression, which often includes vulgar content, on the other. Acknowledging the distinct cultural differences between India and the geographies where these platforms originated, Vaishnaw pointed out that India's cultural sensitivities differ greatly from those of the regions where some of these platforms originated. This makes it imperative for India to make existing laws stricter. He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to come to a consensus on this matter. Also Read: Why are filmmakers miffed with the censor board? The minister further urged the parliamentary standing committee to take up the issue as a priority. There should be societal consensus on it, along with stricter laws to address this challenge, he said. In February 2021, the government formally tightened its control over digital and OTT platforms with the introduction of a three-tier mechanism that it termed as a soft-touch regulatory architecture". While the first two tiers put in place a system of self-regulation by the platforms themselves, the crucial third called for an oversight mechanism managed by central government bureaucrats. NTPC Green Energy IPO: The listing date for NTPC Green Energy Limited's initial public offering (IPO) has been declared. According to the NSE and BSE notices, the NTPC Green Energy IPO listing date has been fixed as 27 November 2024. NTPC Green Energy's shares will be available for trading starting 10:00 AM today. NTPC Green Energy shares will be listed on the Indian exchanges in a special pre-open session during Wednesday's dealings. According to stock market experts, NTPC Green Energy IPO received a decent response from the Indian primary market investors. However, the choppy trend on Dalal Street may be a dampener. They said that NTPC Green Energy IPO listing could be 'flat to positive' as the company has strong fundamentals. NTPC Green Energy IPO listing price prediction Speaking on NTPC Green Energy IPO listing, VLA Amabala, a SEBI-registered research analyst and Co-founder of Stock Market Today, said: "Market sentiment surrounding the NTPC Green Energy IPO suggests a neutral to flat listing for the stock, primarily due to its massive INR 10,000 crore size. The current conditions indicate that the stock could debut with a modest gain of approximately 1.85% per share." Expecting 'neutral to flat' listing for NTPC Green Energy IPO, Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP Research at Mehta Equities, said, "Despite the selloff mood in the market and expensive valuations, NTPC Green Energy, the leading player of India's renewable energy sector received a decent demand from NII & Retail investors while NII stayed back with low interest. Considering all the parameters and decent subscription demand followed by market sentiments, the stock can be listed in the neutral to flat gain range of 0-5% on its issue price." Predicting positive NTPC Green Energy IPO listing, Manish Chowdhury, Head of Research, StoxBox, said, "NTPC Green Energy Ltd. received a subscription rate of 2.55 times, indicating moderate investor interest. The company is set to debut on the stock exchange on November 27, 2024, and is expected to open 3% over the upper price band with a stable performance outlook." NTPC Green Energy IPO GMP today According to stock market observers, NTPC Green Energy IPO GMP (Grey Market Premium) today is 4. This means the grey market expects NTPC Green Energy's IPO listing price to be around 112 ( 108 + 4). It was a foregone conclusion that Indian private telecom companies would do well in the September quarter (Q2FY25) thanks to the tariff hikes taken in July and the ongoing premiumization trend of SIM card upgrades. This has played out with aggregate wireless revenue for the three private telcosReliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltds India arm, and Vodafone Idea Ltdrising by 8% sequentially. Driven by the partial flow-through of tariff hikes, blended wireless average revenue per user (Arpu) improved about 9% for private telcos, with Bharti leading with about 11% quarter-on-quarter uptick, followed by Jio and Vodafone with about 7% quarter-on-quarter improvement each," said Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Companies undertook about 10-20% tariff hikes in July. The hikes usually start late for postpaid subscribers and customers with longer-tenure pre-paid plans. Thus, Ebitda margins and Arpus are expected to improve further in the second half of FY25 as tariff hike gains materialize fully. In Q2, Ebitda margins of the three companies were up 50-160 basis points (bps) sequentially. Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. An era of pricing-led growth Of course, some would benefit more. For instance, higher capital expenditure, increasing debt burden, and eroding customer bases are likely to keep margin gains for Jio and Vodafone Idea under check. However, Airtel is likely to be the biggest gainer here thanks to its premium customer mix and better network quality and services. Since the Indian telecom industry is in an era of pricing-led growth, customers are willing to pay more in expectation of better quality of services. And Airtel is in a relatively better position to make the most out of this situation," said Vivekanand Subbaraman, lead analyst for telecom, oil, gas and media at Ambit Capital. Perhaps this explains why Airtel lost the fewest customers to SIM consolidation in Q2FY25, with a subscriber loss of 2.9 million. In comparison, Vodafone lost 5.1 million subscribers, and Jio, which caters to the masses and has more price-sensitive customers, lost around 11 million subscribers. Vodafone said it had lost subscribers to the government-backed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the impact of which has been receding now. Also Read: Delhivery is gradually finding its feet amid rising competition Meanwhile, Jios relatively value-oriented customer base, coupled with the large expenditure on its pending commercial 5G launch, is expected to weigh on its profitability. Still, the situation is worse for Vodafone, which has consistently lost 2.8 million customers on average in the last four quarters due to the massive gap in its 4G coverage. As smartphones continue to penetrate rural India, customers upgrading to 4G from 2G networks are often left to choose between Jio and Airtel. To recover lost ground, Vodafone Idea plans to spend 8,000 crore in H2FY25 after spending 2,100 crore in H1FY25 on 4G coverage expansion. We expect the pace of subscriber loss to decline in FY26 and Vodafone Idea to return to a modest growth path in FY27, underpinned by investments for expanding 4G population coverage and 5G roll out," said a Nomura Global Markets Research report on 14 November. But Vodafones crushing debt burden continues to eat away its profitability, as the company reported a 13% sequential increase in its net loss at 7,176 crore due to increased interest costs of 6,600 crore in Q2. Also Read: Cement sector needs lady luck to smile on prices In this backdrop, Vodafones shares have lost as much as 55% so far in 2024, while Airtels shares have risen 55%. For Airtel, another tariff hike as and when it happens would be a trigger. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Ltd, Jios parent, has offered almost no returns during this time. Stock Market Today: Adani group stocks rebounded on Wednesday, gaining up to 16% post clarification issued by Adani Green Energy regarding bribery charges against Gautam Adani and others. Adani Total Gas share price surged 16% and was the top gainer, followed by Adani Power and Adani Green, whose share price skyrocketed up to 8%. Adani Group stocks rise up to 10% Adani Green Energy share price gained up to 8% while Adani Enterprises share price gained more than 7% during intraday trades on Wednesday. Adani Power Ltd gained 8% and Adani Total Gas skyrocketed almost 16%. Among others, Adani Wilmar, Adani Ports and Special and Special Economic Zone, Ambuja Cements, ACC and New Delhi Televisions saw gains of up to 5%. Also Read | Ola Electric share price rises 15% on new scooter range launch Clarification by Adani Green Adani Green Energy Ltd in a release on the exchanges said that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vineet Jain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA (United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ (United States Department of Justice) or civil complaint of the US SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). These directors have been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment namely (i) alleged securities fraud conspiracy, (ii) alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and (iii) alleged securities fraud, said the release. Adani Power, Adani Green leads the gains Adani Power share price opened at 435.50, slightly lower than the previous close of 437.75. Adani Power share price thereafter gained more than 8% to 485 levels during the intraday trades. Adani Green Energy share price skyrocketed and gained up to 10% too. Adani Total Gas share price gained 15.85% to 671.60. Adani Enterprises also gained more than 7%. In another development, Adani Enterprises intimated exchanges that April Moon Retail Private Limited (AMRPL), a joint venture company of Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has completed the contemplated acquisition of 74% stake of Cococart Ventures Private Limited (CVPL) and thereby CVPL becomes joint venture of AAHL and Adani Enterprises. Hong Kongs third airport runway officially starts operating on Thursday, but therell be hardly any additional flight capacity for at least another year. Aircraft movement will grow only up to 4% next summer season March to October 2025 according to documents published by the citys Civil Aviation Department. The slow ramp-up reflects the citys sluggish aviation recovery after the pandemic. Incumbent airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is not yet back to full strength and the airport is struggling to appeal to major foreign airlines particularly those who need to fly around Russian airspace, forcing a longer round trip. More broadly, Hong Kong is still suffering a reputational hit from street protests and pandemic policies that set back the economy, tourism and businesses. While overall visitor arrivals to the city is roughly back to the pre-pandemic levels, many people are now coming from mainland China via land or sea. The new runway is going to be there for a long, long time, said Vivian Cheung, acting chief executive officer of operator Airport Authority Hong Kong. We didnt want to use up this runway all in one or two seasons. Even our base carrier needs time to ramp up its flights. The transformational effect the HK$141.5 billion airport upgrade is meant to have on the Asian financial hubs economy and tourism industry may therefore take longer to realize. The city has a lot riding on the project in its quest to stay abreast of Singapore as a key regional hub. It may well be the single most important key of Hong Kongs sustained success as a leading international aviation hub, said Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong last month. The documents published by the citys Civil Aviation Department show officials plan to lift total runway capacity to 1,453 take-offs and landings per day by next summer compared to the same period this year. HKIA said the expanded passenger buildings associated with the third runway, will be commissioned in phases from the end of 2025, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. Hong Kong was one of the worlds busiest international passenger transit hubs pre-Covid. It now faces stiff regional competition from Seoul, whose own latest upgrade is nearing completion, while Singapore and Bangkok are also embarking on multi-billion dollar expansion. Cathays struggle to return flights to pre-Covid levels has been compounded by staff shortages and a training backlog. The carrier is steadily taking delivery of new aircraft, but still isnt fully utilizing its existing fleet given the aircrew dearth. The airline said on Tuesday it will reach 100% of pre-pandemic flight capacity from January. Passenger volumes at Hong Kong airport meanwhile were around 85% of monthly pre-Covid levels at the end of October. Multibagger Stock: Talbros Automotive Components share price surged 15% in intraday trade on Wednesday, November 27 to a 4-week high of 344 per share, following the companys announcement of a significant order win worth 475 crore. The company informed investors that along with its joint ventures (JVs), it has secured orders for both domestic and export markets from leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These orders, spanning across a five-year execution period starting from FY25, cover a range of Talbros' products, including gaskets, heat shields, forging components, chassis, and hoses. The order breakdown includes approximately 345 crore from the sealing business, with 131 crore coming from exports, primarily to Europe. "Of this, 245 crores is for the heat shield segment received from multiple OEMs. The remaining 100 crore is for the gasket division. By increasing exports to Europe, a highly specialised market for auto component manufacturers, the company is boosting its market share in that region. Additionally, increased exports are expected to enhance overall margins," the company said in today's filing. Furthermore, through its JV with Marelli Talbros Chassis Systems, it received orders worth 35 crore for chassis components and 23 crore from the forging business. The Talbros Marugo Rubber JV secured 70 crore order for products like hoses and A/V in the domestic market. Talbros is confident that these new orders will enhance the companys revenue visibility and profitability, further demonstrating the capabilities developed by Talbros and its joint ventures in highly specialised automotive markets. The company is a diversified auto component player with a presence across automobile categories in passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, agricultural machinery, off-loaders, and industrial vehicles. Its marquee customers include Bajaj Auto, Tata Cummins, Volvo Eicher India, Ashok Leyland, Escorts Group, Force Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Honda, Hyundai, John Deere, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki, TAFE, Daimler India, Tata Motors, Simpsons, Carraro, Dana, Musashi, Spicer, and GE. For the September quarter (Q2FY25), the company posted a 15% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit, reaching 23 crore. The revenue from operations witnessed a growth of 11% YoY, reaching 215 crore. Wealth creator The companys shares began their remarkable rally in April 2023 at 81 and maintained this upward trend for the following 16 months, until July 2024, reaching a fresh all-time high of 395.80, marking an impressive gain of nearly 400%. However, the stock struggled to maintain the same momentum in the subsequent months, leading to a 16% decline from its peak. Nevertheless, looking at the long-term picture, the stock has delivered a phenomenal return of 1,343% over the past four years. Stock Market Today: NTPC Green Energy share price made a muted stock market debut on Wednesday, November 27, listing at 111.50 per share on the NSE, a modest 3.2% premium over its issue price of 108. On the BSE, the stock debuted at 111.60, showing a slightly higher premium of 3.3%. Despite a lukewarm initial response, the stock gained momentum, briefly reaching its upper price band of 122.65 on the NSE, marking a 13.56% gain from its issue price. This surge came after a strong investor response to the issue, yet the stocks entry on Dalal Street is weak compared to the subscription enthusiasm. While the debut was tepid, analysts remain bullish on NTPC Green Energys long-term prospects, emphasising the companys solid fundamentals and its strong position within India's renewable energy sector. NTPC Green Energy Shares: Where are they headed? VLA Ambala, co-founder of Stock Market Today, suggests that investors with allotments in NTPC Green Energy should hold their positions for at least two years, citing the companys strong fundamentals and the promising prospects of the green energy sector. He further emphasised that non-allotted investors could explore opportunities in the secondary market but must approach the stock with a long-term view as short-term results could be disappointing. He said investors with a 3 to 6-year investment horizon can target a price range of 250 to 600. Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP, Research at Mehta Equities, said, "As expected, the NTPC Green Energy listing aligned with the flat debut. Valuations and subdued market mood justify the listing." For long-term investors, NTPC Green Energy is an excellent opportunity to invest in a leading player in India's renewable energy sector, backed by the formidable resources and expertise of NTPC Ltd as a long-term strategy only, Tapsee said. He further emphasised that NTPC Greens strategic expansion into green hydrogen, chemicals, and battery storage, positions it at the forefront of Indias energy transition. Considering all the parameters, allotted investors should consider holding it for long-term despite the short-term market volatility, he said. Manish Chowdhury, Head of Research, StoxBox, echoed similar views, suggesting that investors who have been allotted shares should consider maintaining their positions with a medium- to long-term outlook. Chowdhury said that NTPC Green Energy leverages NTPC's five-decade legacy, extensive experience, strategic partnerships, advanced operations and maintenance (O&M) technologies, and in-house expertise to efficiently develop, procure, and operate renewable energy projects, aligning with NTPC's target of achieving 60 GW of renewable capacity by 2032. Also Read | BPCL partners with Sembcorp and GPS Renewables for renewable energy push He said the company boasts a diversified portfolio of 16,896 MW across solar and wind projects, a pipeline capacity of 9,175 MW, long-term PPAs with government agencies and public utilities, and widespread renewable energy development across India. "Given its strategic development and solid financial growth, the company is well-positioned to capitalise on growth opportunities in the renewable energy sector," Manish Chowdhury stated. Also Read | SJVN shares up 6.5% on signing 7 GW renewable energy project with Rajasthan govt Small cap stock under 100: BCL Industries witnessed strong propulsion today after the release of an order book update on Wednesday, November 27, fueling the stock to gain nearly 4 per cent. BCL Industries disclosed that the company had received the acceptance letter on November 26 for a tender offer floated by Rajasthan State Ganganagar Sugar Mills Ltd asking to supply 60 lakh litres of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) in six months, as per the BSE filing on Wednesday. Also Read | Amid market correction, experts upbeat about these sectors and themes As per the contract offer, BCL has to supply 60 litres of ENA from its distillery in Bhatinda, Punjab, over six months, with the buyer having an exercisable option of asking for an additional 50 per cent supply. BCL Industries Ltd shares closed 3.21 per cent higher at 55.70 after Wednesday's trading session, compared to 53.97 at the previous market close. The company filed the order book development with the stock exchanges during market operating hours. BCL Industries share price target The stock is looking positive on the technical chart and on the cusp of giving a fresh breakout at 58 to 59. On breaking above this, the small-cap stock may touch 69 and 85 in the medium to long term, said Mahesh M Ojha, AVP - Of research at Hensex Securities. Yearly chart of BCL Industries Short-term investors can hold the stock for 69 target and fresh investors can also buy the stock keeping stop loss below 51.50, said Ojha. BCL Industries' Q2FY25 results BCL Industries announced a 52 per cent rise in net profits to 29.86 crore for the July to September quarter of the financial year 2024-25, compared to 19.66 crore in the same quarter the previous year, as per the consolidated financial statements. BCL Industries has delivered positive Q2FY25 results. Company's EPS and sales have registered a decent growth that has worked as trend reversal for the small-cap stock. Today's rally in the stock is because of the fresh alcohol supply order. So the stock is expected to continue attracting fresh buying in short to medium term, said Anshul Jain, Head of Research at Lakshmishree Investment and Securities. Also Read | Should you look at conservative hybrid funds amid the market rally? On the revenue front, the company's revenue from its core operations rose 55 per cent in the second quarter to 746.12 crore, compared to 480.70 crore in the same period the previous year. BCL Industries' core businesses, Oil and Vanaspati and Distilling, shined in the July to September quarter results. According to the exchange filing on Wednesday, the company also disclosed that it is set to fulfil approximately 80 lakh litres of the ENA order to Rajasthan State Ganganagar Sugar Mills Ltd by November 30. According to the BSE filing, the company received the order on February 2, 2024. A credit card typically carries a credit limit that keeps a cap on its usage. This means if a credit card's limit is 10 lakh then the card user can spend upto 10 lakh. But what if on a particular occasion, you have a need to spend over 12 lakh. Well, out of the blue, it is not permitted. One must first enable the overdraft limit to be able to use the credit card more than its limit. There are some pre-defined rules on using a credit card beyond its limit. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stipulated that the usage of a credit card beyond the sanctioned credit limit calls for prior explicit consent of the cardholder. This is part of a fraud minimisation mechanism. Also Read | What determines your credit card limit in India? Here are 6 key factors "Further, a cardholder shall be given an option to enable or disable the option of overlimit through transaction control mechanism available on card-issuers platforms such as internet, mobile banking, or any other suitable medium. Unless explicit consent has been obtained from the cardholder for the overlimit facility, no overlimit can either be provided or overlimit charges be levied," reads the RBI's Master Direction on credit cards (dated April 21, 2022 and updated on March 7, 2024). Credit card against overdraft facility In fact, banks can also issue a card to other loan accounts such as overdraft facility, cash credit facilities. RBI's master directions have enabled the issuance of various types of credit cards that can be customised to access the limits available in different loan accounts. For instance, a card user availing an overdraft facility from a bank can be issued a type of credit card to access the funds available under the facility. The terms of usage of this credit card (interest charged, repayment schedule, penalty, cash withdrawal limit) will correspond to the terms and conditions applicable to the overdraft facility. Also Read | RBI to introduce these facilities for debit and credit card users. Details here Let us suppose, some card user Mr X is given an overdraft facility of 7 lakh by the bank. The bank, in this case, may issue a credit card to Mr X linked to his overdraft facility. The card limit and other terms of this card will be same as that of the overdraft facility. On November 27th, diplomatic envoys participating in the "Opportunities in China: International Communication Event of High-Quality Development of Anhui for Diplomatic Envoys in China" visited Fuyang Technician Institute and the Happy LandYinghuai Light Digital Culture Industry Integration Development Base. They gained an in-depth understanding of Anhui's active exploration and significant achievements in vocational education, cultural heritage, and innovation. At Fuyang Technician Institute, diplomatic envoys first toured several practical training bases, including the aerospace product production training base, the elevator training base, and the intelligent welding robot training base. These training bases showcased the college's advanced facilities and teaching philosophy, particularly the "Three Transformations and Four Resemblances" model of operation. The college provides students with more practical opportunities and employment channels through school-enterprise cooperation projects, helping them better adapt to market demands and achieve smooth employment. Diplomatic envoys appreciated the college's efforts and achievements in vocational education, believing it provides strong talent support for the economic development of Anhui and even China as a whole. Subsequently, diplomatic envoys visited the Happy LandYinghuai Light Digital Culture Industry Integration Development Base. This base is an important platform for Fuyang City to promote the development of cultural industries and foster integration with cultural tourism. The base features multiple functional areas, including a digital culture comprehensive research and practice base and a digital intangible cultural heritage folk culture district. Diplomatic envoys learned in detail about the base's active exploration and practices in the integrated development of the digital culture industry. They experienced the dynamic inheritance of intangible cultural heritage crafts and expressed that these crafts, which possess both deep cultural heritage and innovative spirit, would be well received in their own countries. Additionally, they visited the digital intangible cultural heritage folk culture district, fully experiencing Anhui's innovation and development in the digital culture industry. In recent years, Fuyang has been proactive in regional coordinated development, industrial upgrading, and green transformation, embarking on a new journey of high-quality development with unprecedented speed and quality. Through this event, diplomatic envoys gained a deeper understanding of Anhui's development achievements and engaged in in-depth discussions on exploring more mutually beneficial and win-win models. Source: cri.cn The Delhi government has announced an expansion of its old-age pension scheme, bringing an additional 80,000 senior citizens under its ambit. With this move, the total number of beneficiaries will rise to 5.3 lakh. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal made this announcement on Monday, emphasising the governments efforts to support senior citizens financially. Kejriwal stated, It is a sin to stop the pensions of old people, referring to claims that the BJP halted pensions during his imprisonment. He assured the public that his government had resumed these payments and expanded the scheme to include more individuals in need, as per PTI. Pension Details The scheme provides financial assistance to senior citizens based on their age. Beneficiaries aged 60-69 will receive 2,000 per month, while those aged 70 and above will be entitled to 2,500. Additionally, individuals belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and minority communities will receive an extra 500 per month. This step aims to address the additional financial hardships faced by marginalised groups. Online Application Process To ensure transparency and convenience, the application process for the scheme is entirely online. Interested applicants can apply through the e-district portal at https://edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in/ According to the Delhi government, over 10,000 applications have already been submitted since the portal was launched. Applicants can also visit District Social Welfare Offices for assistance in case they face difficulties applying online. Documents Required Applicants need to upload the following documents to complete their application: Proof of Age: Official documents Proof of Residence: Ration card, electricity bill, voter ID, or property documents showing a minimum of five years of residency in Delhi Bank Account Details: A single-operated account linked with Aadhaar Additional Proof for SC/ST/Minority Applicants: Caste certificate or self-declaration of religion verified by a religious institution A passport-sized photograph and an income self-declaration form are also mandatory. Also Read | Personal Loan: 5 key determinants of repayment tenure Eligibility Criteria To qualify for the scheme, applicants must: Be 60 years or older Have an annual family income of less than 1 lakh Be a resident of Delhi for at least five years Not receive financial assistance or pensions from any other government source Processing Timeline The government ensures that applications are reviewed and processed within 45 days. The District Social Welfare Office will scrutinise applications and verify documents, calling applicants if necessary. Approved beneficiaries will receive payments directly into their bank accounts via the Public Financial Management System (PFMS). Credit cards provide you a variety of exclusive offers designed specifically according to your lifestyle and needs. From discounts on hotels and flight bookings to great deals on restaurants and premium brands, credit cards have everything in store for you. However, you must also understand that increased usage of credit cards can make you form a habit of using it unnecessarily. Hence, you should spend your limit wisely so that you can repay the bill on time without any defaults. Steps to apply for a credit card online Checking eligibility: Visit the bank website and check for the credit cards offered by the bank. Check for the eligibility criteria and look for the cards you are eligible for. Documentation: Submit the necessary documents which will be required by the bank to verify your eligibility. This will mainly include your employment proof, salary slips, address proof and Aadhar card. However, based on the credit card type, you may be required to provide additional documents as per banks requirements. Apply for the card: Once you complete the documentation you can choose between the cards which you are eligible for and compare the one which aligns with your lifestyle. Activation: Once your application is approved by the bank, the credit card will be activated and delivered to you within a week. You can simply activate the card online or at your nearest ATM. Also Read | How to align your credit card use with your budget goals? Steps to apply for a credit card offline Branch visit: You can go to your preferred banks nearest branch and then ask the relationship manager to provide you with the latest offers on credit cards. You can then evaluate the cards offered and then decide on which one you would like to get. You will then be required to submit the required documents and post that the relationship manager will assist you in the process. After completing the process, your credit card will be delivered to your doorstep within a weeks time. On call assistance: You can also call on the customer care number provided by the bank and enquire about the latest deals and offers on credit cards. Tips to get the right credit card Evaluate your need: Banks offer you with a variety of credit cards based on your eligibility. Before you make a decision of choosing one credit card, you should explore different options available to you and align them with your needs and lifestyle. Credit cards are mainly offered based on categories including travel, lifestyle, cashback, rewards, fuel and many more. Understanding annual fee: While you choose a credit card, you must keep a note of the annual fee which you will be bound to pay. However, most credit cards offer a fee waiver if your credit card bill crosses a certain amount annually. Look out for offers and deals: Many banks offer you with exclusive offers and deals on travel, lifestyle and cashback. Before you choose one, you must do research on what is the best deal for you and grab offers which align best with your needs. Check for pre approved credit cards: If you are already a customer of a bank, then there are high chances that you may get a pre approved credit card based on your spending habits and the past credit history. You can also check out those cards and compare them with other banks cards to get the best deal. Also Read | Credit Card Etiquette: 4 essential rules for smart usage Conclusion Credit cards have gradually become an add on to our lifestyle due to the attractive offers and deals provided by the banks. While credit cards take care of your bills and pay on your behalf, you must remember that over usage of credit cards can end up with heavy amounts that you will be bound to repay every month. Cyclone Fengal Tracker: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai said that the depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal had intensified into a deep depression and is expected to strengthen into a cyclonic storm by Wednesday. The IMD has forecast light to moderate rains across the region, with occasional heavy downpours, continuing until Thursday, November 28. Schools closed in 6 districts and both, schools and colleges closed in 9 districts of the state as IMD predicted heavy rainfall due to possible cyclonic storm in the Bay Of Bengal. Schools are closed in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpet, Ariyalur, Sivagangai and Pudukottai. Both schools and colleges are closed in Villupuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Ramanathapuram and Trichy. Earlier on Tuesday, authorities had declared a holiday for schools and colleges in several regions, including Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, and Tiruvarur, in anticipation of heavy rains. Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, said that the depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression and is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday. "Yesterday's depression will intensify into a deep depression... It is likely to further intensify into a cyclonic storm and move towards the north direction, towards the Tamil Nadu coast," S. Balachandran, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said. IndiGo issues advisory IndiGo Airlines has issued a travel advisory regarding disruptions to flights to and from Chennai, Tuticorin, and Madurai, which continue to be impacted due to adverse weather conditions. The airline also hoped for a swift recovery from the ongoing challenges, thanking passengers for their understanding. "#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to adverse weather conditions, flights to/from #Chennai, #Tuticorin, and #Madurai continue to be impacted, while #Tiruchirappalli and #Salem might now also be affected," the airline posted on X. What does IMD say? According to the India Meteorological Department, the deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwards with a speed of 10 km/h in the last six hours over the south-southeast of Chennai. The IMD further stated that the depression is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday and would continue to move north-northwestwards towards the Tamil Nadu coast, skirting the Sri Lankan coast during the subsequent 2 days. The IMD further stated that on Wednesday the Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai districts of Tamil Nadu and the Karaikal area will experience heavy to very heavy rain at a few places, with extremely heavy rain at one or two places. Isolated places over Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villuppuram, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Pudukkottai districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are also likely to witness heavy to very heavy rain, with heavy rain likely to occur at isolated places over Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Perambalur, Tiruchirappalli, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Rayalaseema, the IMD further stated. Flash flood warning The IMD had further issued flash flood warnings in the watersheds and neighbourhoods of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal. The depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression and is likely to further intensify into a cyclonic storm. Moderate to high flash flood threat likely to occur in Madurai, Perambalur, Salem, Teni, and Virudhunagar districts, with high flash flood risk in Karaikal, Puducherry, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Kanchipuram, Kanyakumari, Karur, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Nilgiri, Perambalur, Salem, Sivaganga, Teni, Thiruvarur, Tirunelveli, Tiruvallur, Tuticorin, Villupuram, and Virudhunagar districts. In a legal clash that has sparked considerable attention in the Tamil film industry, actor Dhanush has filed a civil suit against Nayanthara and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Sivan, over the alleged use of footage from his 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in Nayanthara's Netflix documentary without prior permission. The Legal Dispute: Whats at Stake? Through his production company Wunderbar Films, Dhanush has approached the Madras High Court with a lawsuit targeting Nayanthara, her husband Vignesh Sivan, and their production house Rowdy Pictures, The Hindu reported. The suit claims that certain visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan were used without permission in the documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, which is currently available on Netflix. In addition, Dhanush has requested the courts permission to add Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, a Netflix-linked entity, to the lawsuit. The company manages Netflix's content investments in India and is based in Mumbai. Dhanush has urged the court to proceed with the case under jurisdiction provisions, as a significant part of the issue originated within the Madras High Courts jurisdiction. Also Read | Viral video shows Nayanthara apologising to south superstar; Here is why The court has granted permission to include Los Gatos in the case, and both parties are expected to present their arguments in upcoming hearings, The Hindu reported. The Backstory: Nayanthara's Response The legal dispute follows public comments by Nayanthara, who accused Dhanush of attempting to strong-arm her into removing footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan that was included in her documentary. Nayanthara claims that after editing the documentary to exclude the footage, Dhanush sent a legal notice demanding 10 crore in damages for using a mere three-second behind-the-scenes clip from the film. Also Read | What triggered Nayanthara-Dhanush spat over Netflix documentary The two actors, who have worked together on Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, reportedly avoided interaction when they attended a wedding in Chennai recently, further fueling their growing tensions. Naanum Rowdy Dhaan: A Personal and Professional Milestone Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, released in 2015, was a major success and held a deep personal significance for both Nayanthara and her husband, Vignesh Sivan. It was during the filming of this project that Nayanthara and Vignesh began their relationship, which eventually led to their marriage in June 2022. Nayanthara's Gratitude to Shah Rukh Khan, Chiranjeevi Despite the controversy with Dhanush, Nayanthara took to Instagram to publicly thank several prominent film industry figures for their support while creating her Netflix documentary. In a post, she expressed gratitude to producers Shah Rukh Khan, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, and others for granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) without hesitation or delay, allowing her to use footage from their films. Also Read | What triggered Nayanthara-Dhanush spat over Netflix documentary Every film I have worked on holds immense significance in my life, as my journey in cinema is filled with countless joyful moments. Among these, many films are especially close to my heart, and I wished to include those memories and scenes in our documentary, Nayanthara wrote. Her post continued: When I approached the following producers to obtain No Objection Certificates (NOCs), they granted them without hesitation or delay. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of them. This message came just days after Nayantharas criticism of Dhanush, who had opposed the inclusion of footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan and demanded financial compensation for its use. Nayanthara's Netflix Documentary Continues to Attract Attention Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, which provides an intimate look into the actor's career and life, has gained considerable attention since its release. However, the controversy over Dhanushs legal action could now create additional hurdles for the documentary. Tech giant Google has reportedly asserted that the company was assisting Indian officials in the serious incident involving the death of three men who were driving to an unfinished bridge, following the lead of Google Maps while commuting. As per a report from Hindustan Times, these men were on their way to attend a wedding in Uttar Pradesh, where tragically, their car fell off the incomplete bridge and landed into the Ramganga river earlier this Sunday. The publication quoted the police officials and said in a report that the driver was following the lead of the navigating software Google Maps while driving on his way to attend a wedding. Moreover, a report from the Press Trust of India news agency reported that the police have questioned an unnamed executive from Google Maps and investigated a few officials from the government public works department. Also Read | Google Maps can provide real-time alerts about fogs and floods on your route "Our deepest sympathies go out to the families. We're working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue," a spokesperson from Google told AFP in an emailed statement. Notably, a local police official has also stated that a portion of the bridge was damaged last year during the flood. The Circle Officer highlighted the lack of safety measures, such as barriers or warning signs, on the under-construction bridge, which could have averted the tragic incident. According to the report, the car was travelling at high speed, making it impossible for the driver to stop before the bridge abruptly ended. The vehicle then fell 25 feet into the Ramganga River, resulting in the immediate death of all three passengers. This information was shared by a user on X. In another similar tragic incident, two doctors died last year in the state of Kerala when their car had fallen off into the Periyar river following the navigation app. In a heart-wrenching tragedy, an IIT Delhi student died after soil collapsed on them when they entered a pit near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat. The incident took place on Wednesday morning. The deceased has been identified as Surabhi Verma (23), a PhD scholar at IIT Delhi. Three other students also suffered injuries. A researcher from IIT Delhi, identified as Surabhi Verma, died on the spot. Three others were rescued and rushed to the hospital where their condition was stable, said a police official. The students had gone to the ancient Indus Valley civilisation site, some 80 km from Ahmedabad, to do research work when the cave-in occurred, reported PTI, quoting police. A team of four researchers, two from IIT Delhi and as many from IIT Gandhinagar, were near the archaeological remains of the Harappan port town of Lothal to collect soil samples for study, said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Om Prakash Jat. Also Read | Bizarre! Gujarat man declared dead shows up at his own memorial service Police said that all the victims went inside a 10-foot-deep pit dug up for the purpose when its wall collapsed, burying them under a mound of soil. According to Desh Gujarat, Assistant Professor Yama Dixit was rescued by locals and is hospitalized in Ahmedabad and is not facing any risk to her life. It is learned that two Assistant Professors from IIT Gandhinagar were also present at the site. Dikshit is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at IIT-Delhi. A bomb threat mail was received by HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle in Bengaluru on 27 November, said police. Following the threat, officers from the Halasuru police station immediately reached the spot and did a check. The DCP East division, Bengaluru, mentioned that they found nothing suspicious and it was declared a hoax bomb threat. A bomb threat mail was received by HSBC Bank at Trinity Circle in Bengaluru. Immediately the police reached the spot and did a check. Nothing suspicious was found and it was declared a hoax bomb threat, ANI quoted DCP East division, Bengaluru, as saying. Meanwhile the police have registered a case against the unknown sender of the email and initiated an investigation. Previous incidents: Two weeks ago, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai received a bomb threat from an unidentified caller, who alerted the security personnel about a passenger carrying explosives. While another flight from Nagpur to Kolkata made an emergency landing at Raipur airport following a bomb threat. IndiGo plane 6E812, which had 187 passengers and six crew members on board, is currently being checked at the airport. The plane landed at the Chhattisgarh capital sometime after 9 am and was immediately taken to the isolation bay for mandatory security checks. A month ago, at least 50 flights operated by Indian airlines received bomb threats, prompting heightened security measures at several airports across the country. According to the details, over 300 flights have received similar threats. Meanwhile in October, over 450 hoax calls were reportedly recorded that raised widespread concerns about their potential impact on passenger safety and national security. In response to these growing threats, the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) cyber wing has thoroughly investigated these calls. The inquiry focuses on determining the motives behind the calls and evaluating their credibility. Ranchi:A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhands Khunti district, police said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested. The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24. Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her. "The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI. Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken. He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI. Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village. "Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said. The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said. Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings. "The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added. The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory. Manipur Unrest: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken charge of three major cases related to the recent violence in Jiribam, Manipur, following directives from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The agencys involvement came after the MHA decided to transfer the cases to NIA, recognising the gravity of the crimes and the growing unrest in the state. Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the Central and State Governments have launched massive combing operations in Jiribam and its surrounding areas to apprehend those responsible for the recent incidents adding that this operation will continue until the culprits are booked. Also Read | Parliament Winter Session adjourned till Wednesday as INDIA bloc protests Details of the Manipur Cases Under Investigation The first case involves a violent attack in Borobekra on November 11, 2024, when militants set houses on fire and killed two civilians. In addition, six others, including women and children, were abducted and murdered by armed militants. The second case relates to an assault on a CRPF post at Jakuradhor Karong and Borobekra police stations, where one CRPF constable was injured. The third case involves the brutal murder of Zosangkim, a 31-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped and burned alive by armed militants in Jiribam on November 7, 2024. The NIA re-registered all these cases for further investigation, citing the need to uncover a larger conspiracy behind the violence. Massive Combating Operations Underway in Manipur Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh confirmed that both the state and central governments have launched extensive combing operations to apprehend the perpetrators. CM Biren Singh stated that these operations would continue until all those responsible for the violence are brought to justice. The Manipur CM also addressed the legislative decisions made by the NDA forum in Manipur, which included requests for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from six police station areas and the transfer of the Jiribam murder cases to NIA. Manipur Government's Measures to Address Rising Tensions The Chief Minister has urged calm within Manipur, asking the people to avoid violence amidst the tense situation. CM Biren Singh stressed that it is crucial for the government and the people to collaborate to find solutions, particularly regarding the AFSPA. The violent incidents in Jiribam, which led to the deaths of several innocent civilians, have heightened tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities. The killings have prompted Manipur MLAs to call for swift action, including mass operations against Kuki militants and the declaration of the Kuki militants as an unlawful organisation. This escalation comes after six people were found dead. In response to the incident, the Manipur government had initially suspended internet services in seven districts. NIAs Role in Investigating Violence and Terrorism in Manipur In its ongoing investigation, NIA has sent teams to the crime scenes, beginning its probe on November 21-22, 2024 in Manipur. NIA has been granted full access to case documents from the local police, and their investigations are expected to uncover further details surrounding the attacks and the militants involved. Calls for Justice in Manipur Meanwhile, the Manipur government, led by CM Biren Singh, continues to push for further measures against militant groups. Despite these efforts, the violence has cast a shadow over Manipur's political and social stability, particularly as both Meitei and Kuki groups remain embroiled in a tense conflict over territorial control and autonomy. A father was sentenced to life term in prison by the Mumbai Sessions Court for stabbing his 20-year-old son to death with a pair of scissors. The murder took place in August 2018 after the son refused to call his stepmother ammi (mother). Also Read | How Harshita Brella was killed by husband in London The case involves Salim Ali Ibrahim Shaikh, a resident of Dongri, accused of killing his son Salim Shaikh on August 24, 2018. According to the FIR filed by Salim Shaikhs mother, the incident took place following a quarrel between the father and the son. The argument turned violent when the son refused to call his stepmother 'ammi. Fearing harm to her son, she rushed to the police station to seek help. By the time police arrived at the scene, the son was lying in a pool of blood, being stabbed multiple times with a pair of scissors. However, during the trial, the father claimed that his son's death was not a homicide but a suicide. He also told the court that under the influence of drugs, his son had inflicted injuries upon himself. Surprisingly, his mother also supported her husbands version. But, Judge Dr SD Tawshikar, after examining the evidence, ruled that the wounds were both antemortem and homicidal. Also Read | Caught on camera: Woman attacked in Madurai shop for rejecting advances The court also said that the father had fled from the crime scene, and the mother would not have rushed to the police station for help if her son was attempting suicide. These two points contradicted the suicide claim. The court also noted that the use of a sharp object like a scissor and the nature of the assault demonstrate cruelty and the intentional taking of undue advantage. The judge concluded that the culpable homicide of the deceased is nothing but a murder. Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged France and India's Asia-Pacific partners to strengthen trade ties, advance technological collaboration to tackle global challenges like climate change, and expand defence partnerships. Speaking at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Forum of the French Foreign Trade Advisors, Goyal expressed optimism about strengthening the India-France partnership and emphasized the need for faster growth in bilateral trade between the two nations. Also Read: India-China trade: An alarming $18 billion discrepancy The India-France bond is rooted in shared democratic values, multilateralism, and respect for international law, evolving into a robust partnership spanning defence, space, energy, and digitalization, he said. "I am confident that French business leaders and trade commissioners will return with the conviction to put India on top of their business agenda and will become strong advocates for doing business with India," he added. India's merchandise trade with France reached approximately $15 billion in 2023-24, with imports totalling $8 billion and exports at $7 billion, marking an increase from $14 billion in 2022-23. "There is the strength of our two economies, something we should collectively aspire to grow much bigger, much better, much faster. And I am convinced that these numbers only tell a very small part of the story of our relationship," he said. Also Read: India should reconsider its rejection of the RCEP trade bloc "France is India's 11th largest foreign direct investor with $11 billion investment so far. But again, a figure which puts a lot more potential in the future," he added. Goyal said the presence of over 750 French companies in India and 70 Indian companies in France exemplifies deepening economic integration. Mumbai, 27th November, 2024 A fast-growing manufacturing firm in Kolkata (Lalbaba Engineering Group) recently faced the daunting task of hiring 50 new employees and onboarding key vendors for an expansion project. The HR and legal teams struggled with tight timelines and high costs. Turning to Time2Justice.ai, they found an innovative solution. By using Time2Justices AI-powered instant background checks, weve verified candidates employment histories, educational qualifications, and criminal records instantly, said Deepak Chaudhury, Chief Strategy Officer of Lalbaba. This approach not only reduced verification timelines by 99 percent but also saved the firm over 1.25 lakhs. Simultaneously, Time2Justice.ais legal drafting tools enabled us to create error-free employee and vendor agreements tailored to Indian laws, avoiding 1,50,000 in legal fees for us, said Chaudhury. This is one of many success stories attributed to Time2Justice.ai, Indias first AI-powered legal platform designed specifically to address the unique needs of Indian businesses. Since its launch, the platform has onboarded over 50 clients in just 90 days, transforming how small-medium sized enterprises handle their legal and HR workflows. Comply faster with the Indian judicial and tax system with Time2Justice: For businesses in industries like manufacturing, retail, staffing, and technology, legal and HR challenges are compounded by resource limitations and increasing compliance demands. Indias legal system, with over 45 million pending cases, often creates additional hurdles for companies trying to stay compliant. According to PRS India, legal costs can account for five to ten percent of operational budgets for businesses, while inefficient background checks can delay hiring decisions by two to three weeks. Time2Justice.ai addresses these pain points by combining artificial intelligence with user-friendly solutions tailored to Indian laws. Instant AI background checks and document drafting: Time2Justice.ai provides tools that streamline complex processes, such as contract drafting, compliance management, and employee background checks. For the manufacturing firm, the platforms AI-powered background checks allowed the HR team to onboard candidates quickly without compromising due diligence. The legal drafting feature, meanwhile, ensured that vendor contracts met regulatory requirements without incurring steep external counsel fees. Get instant expert opinion on complex legal and tax matters: The platforms ability to combine speed and compliance resonates with small-medium sized enterprises, many of which face the dual challenge of managing growth while navigating complex legal landscapes. A Deloitte report highlights that nearly 40 percent of MSMEs in India struggle with contract management, often due to the unavailability of affordable legal expertise. For businesses like the manufacturing firm, Time2Justice.ai bridges this gap, making routine tasks faster, more affordable, and more reliable. The platforms impact extends beyond hiring and contracts. In another case, a retail business used Time2Justice.ai to resolve compliance queries in real time, avoiding potential operational delays. Similarly, a tech startup automated its NDA and franchise agreement processes, saving up to 50,000 per document and accelerating its ability to form partnerships. CA / IIM MBA and Texas educated Computer Engineer as Founders: Time2Justice.ais founders bring a wealth of experience that has shaped the platforms capabilities. Neeraj Gutgutia, the business lead, is a Chartered Accountant and MBA graduate from IIM Indore. With leadership experience at Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, Gutgutia also founded Right2Vote.in, an online voting platform managing over 3,000 elections annually. His vision for Time2Justice.ai is to simplify legal workflows for businesses, enabling them to focus on growth. Prateek Agrawal, the Chief Technology Officer, is a Computer Engineer and AI expert with an MS from Texas with over 18 years of experience consulting Fortune 100 companies and teaching AI to over 10,000 professionals. Agrawal, also a founder of www.ivyproschool.com - Indias leading GenAI & Data ed-tech firm since 2008, believes that the future of legal services lies in AI-driven solutions that bring speed and precision to traditionally time-consuming tasks. The success of Time2Justice.ai also reflects broader trends in Indias legal and business ecosystems. The Indian legal services market is projected to grow from USD 2.34 billion in 2024 to USD 3.18 billion by 2029, driven by demand for pre-litigation services and legal tech innovations. With manufacturing contributing 17 percent to Indias GDP, the sectors increasing adoption of technology solutions underscores the critical role platforms like Time2Justice.ai play in enabling growth. More relevant than ChatGPT, designed for Indian laws: By offering tools tailored to Indian laws, Time2Justice.ai stands out from generic AI solutions. Its legal query solver provides instant answers to compliance questions, eliminating reliance on external advisors for routine queries. Additionally, its document drafting capabilities ensure contracts are legally sound, helping businesses mitigate risks and reduce operational costs. As enterprises adopt AI-driven platforms, Time2Justice.ai is leading the way, helping businesses save up to 23 lakhs annually on legal and HR tasks while completing processes 80 to 90 percent faster than traditional methods. Our mission is to provide small-medium sized enterprises with the tools they need to thrive in todays fast-paced, compliance-driven environment, said Gutgutia. With Time2Justice.ai, businesses can handle legal complexities with confidence while focusing on what matters mosttheir growth, said Agrawal. For companies looking to streamline their legal and HR operations, Time2Justice.ai offers a practical and powerful solution. To explore its features or schedule a demo, visit time2justice.ai or watch this concept video. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NRDPL and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the sidelines of the G7 meet in Fiuggi, Italy on November 26, led to discussions on the two world power closely cooperating on global security. In a post on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Blinken posted a photo with Jaishankar and wrote, The US and India are stronger when we are working together. Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and I met today in Italy to discuss the importance of our continued close cooperation to promote global security and prosperity. Jaishankar also posted about the meeting on X and said he discussed the state of the world and the India-US partnership, which continues to move forward, with Blinken. India-US Relations Further, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, The US desires to continue coordinating closely with India to address global security challenges. In a readout of the meeting to reporters, Miller added that Blinken and Jaishankar have affirmed the US and India's enduring commitment to deepening bilateral ties, according to a PTI report. A fire erupted on the 6th floor of the Chinchan building, located in Mumbai's Andheri West area. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the situation is now under control, and no injuries were reported due to the fire. The blaze erupted at 8.42 am in a flat on the sixth floor of the Chinchan building in Andheri (West), the officials said. Also Read | Fire breaks out in high rise building in Kalyan Four fire-fighting vehicles were rushed to the spot. The blaze was doused by around 9 am, a fire official said. "There is no report of injury to anyone," a civic official said. Cooling operations were underway at the spot, the fire official said. The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. Also Read | UP: Tragic fire claims lives of three workers at Greater Noida furniture factory Earlier on November 26, some flats were gutted in a massive fire that broke out in a 17-storey residential building in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said as reported by PTI. No casualties were reported in the blaze that broke out on the 15th floor of the high-rise -- Vertex Housing Society -- located in Adharwadi of Kalyan west. "The fire broke out in a flat on the 15th floor around 6.30 pm. It quickly spread to neighbouring flats and on the 16th and 17th floors. The blaze was brought under control by the fire brigade around 9.30 pm after a strenuous firefighting operation that involved five fire engines from the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Thane and other neighbouring civic bodies," an official said. The fire was visible from a considerable distance and caused widespread panic among residents and onlookers in the area. In another incident, a woman and her two children trapped on the third floor of a society building in Noida were rescued after a fire broke out on the ground floor. The fire, that broke out late Monday at Mayur Gold Apartment in Balaji Enclave Society of Bisrakh area, destroyed six vehicles on the ground floor, officials said. Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Pradeep Kumar Choubey said that on Monday night, the blaze was caused by a short circuit on the ground floor of the building. All the schools in Ranchi will remain shut in the wake of the swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Chief Minister-designate Hemant Soren on November 28. The District Education Officer of Ranchi issued a notice on Wednesday, directing that schools in the city will remain closed on Thursday, November 28 to avoid traffic congestion and crowd in wake of Soren's swearing-in ceremony. The notice stated that the decision was taken while keeping in mind the interest of the students and the request of the parents. It said the students coming by school bus may get stuck in traffic for hours. In this regard, many parents are requesting through telephone to keep the school closed tomorrow, the notice released on Wednesday stated. Hemant Soren is set to take oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony at Morabadi Ground on Thursday, with several prominent political leaders and dignitaries, including key members of the INDIA bloc, expected to be in attendance. Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at 4 pm. Also Read | Jharkhand Mukti Morchas Hemant Soren to take oath as CM on Nov 26 This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat by defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recently held Assembly polls. Sorens JMM-led alliance stormed to victory, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 seats. Hemant Soren's JMM and its INDIA bloc allies won the Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024 by a huge margin. The JMM achieved its highest-ever tally in the elections, winning 34 of the 43 seats it contested. Congress secured 16, RJD 4, and CPI(ML) bagged 2 seats in the INDIA bloc. According to the power-sharing arrangement, the RJD is expected to receive one ministerial berth. A massive fire broke out at the SSV scrap industry, a plastic manufacturing unit in MedchalMalkajgiri's Jeedimetla, yesterday afternoon i.e. on Novmber 26. Also Read | Trump fires salvo on North American trade pact Fire tenders are present at the spot and efforts to control the fire have been underway since yesterday. Earlier in the day, a fire erupted on the 6th floor of the Chinchan building, located in Mumbai's Andheri West area. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the situation is now under control, and no injuries were reported due to the fire. Yesterday, Three workers lost their lives in a fire that erupted at a furniture factory in Greater Noida. As reported by PTI citing Ashok Kumar Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida), stated that the fire was reported at around 8:15 am from the factory located in the Site 4 area, within the jurisdiction of the Beta 2 police station. In Maharashtra, some flats were gutted in a massive fire that broke out in a 17-storey residential building in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said as reported by PTI. No casualties were reported in the blaze that broke out on the 15th floor of the high-rise -- Vertex Housing Society -- located in Adharwadi of Kalyan west. "The fire broke out in a flat on the 15th floor around 6.30 pm. It quickly spread to neighbouring flats and on the 16th and 17th floors. The blaze was brought under control by the fire brigade around 9.30 pm after a strenuous firefighting operation that involved five fire engines from the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Thane and other neighbouring civic bodies," an official said. The fire was visible from a considerable distance and caused widespread panic among residents and onlookers in the area. In Himachal Pradesh, a 21-year-old disabled woman died after a fire broke out at her home in Bilaspur district, officials said on Tuesday. The incident took place in Manjhedwan village of the district, when the woman, who belonged from a poverty line family, was alone at her home while her mother had gone to bring grass, they said. The Telugu romantic thriller Appudo Ippudo Eppudo started streaming on Amazon Prime just three weeks after its theatrical release. The film stars Nikhil Siddhartha and Kannada actress Rukmini Vasanth, marking her debut in the Telugu film industry. The film was released in theatres on November 8, 2024, but was pulled out of the big screens in two days amid its disastrous run. Amazon Prime Video acquired the digital rights of the Appudo Ippudo Eppudo. The film was reportedly expected to be released after a long wait; however, it was released much earlier, on November 27. The film also received negative reviews from critics. Key roles Sudheer Varma wrote and directed the film, which is based on the themes of romance and crime. The film also stars Ajay, John Vijay, Viva Harsha, Satya, and Sudharshan in supporting roles. Karthik and Sunny M R composed the music for the film. Richard Prasad did the cinematography, and Naveen Nooli edited it. BVSN Prasad produced the film under the Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner. Reportedly, the film was initially slated to be released on the Diwali weekend; however, it was later postponed to November 8 owing to multiple releases during the festive weekend. Plot The movie's plot revolves around a man named Rishi who falls in love with a girl named Tara. However, owing to a mistake by his Yaji, Rishi and Tara get separated. At Yaji's suggestion, Rishi starts working as an intern in the racing circuit in London. The film's leading actor, Nikhil Siddhartha, stars as Rishi, whereas Rukmini Vasanth stars as Tara. Also Read | Hunger OTT: Emmy winning Thai film is streaming on THIS platform An Uttar Pradesh bride changed her mind about the groom at the last minute, allegedly because he worked in the private sector. In a bizarre event in Uttar Pradeshs Farrukhabad district, the bride, who had just completed the varmala (exchange of garlands) ritual, decided she didn't want to marry her match anymore. According to a News18 report, midway through the wedding ceremony, the woman realised that the man did not have a government job, as she had previously believed. But here's the actual twist in the story! The groom, an engineer in a private firm, earned a 1.2 lakh a month. A native of Chhattisgarh's Balrampur, he reportedly owned six plots of land and 20 bighas of land. All this and yet the bride rejected him because he lacked a government job. Also Read | Meet the couples putting mortgages before marriage Here is how the event unfolded: On the wedding night, the baraat arrived at a guest house where the Dwarchar ritual took place. This was succeeded by the varmala or jaimala ceremony, taking place late in the evening. However, shortly before one o'clock, the bride received information indicating that her groom was not employed in a government job. Following this revelation, she decided not to proceed with the wedding rituals. It is understood that both families attempted to persuade the bride. Nevertheless, she remained adamant, asserting that she had been promised a groom with a government job. Her decision not to proceed with the wedding left everyone in shock. To rationalize with the bride, the groom's family obtained his salary slips. The groom acquired his payslip over the phone and showed it to the bride's family, revealing a monthly income of 1.2 lakh. Thanksgiving is a time to carve turkey, share gratitude among friends and family. On the fourth Thursday of November each year, people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. This year it will be observed on 28 November. It is a day of national holiday to honor the early settlers and Native Americans who came together to have a historic harvest feast. It is a time to gather with loved ones, and what better way to celebrate it than indulging in special Thanksgiving menus in the city. Here's how to celebrate the festival in Mumbai and Delhi 1. Thanksgiving Day Dinner in Elina Vara in Delhi NCR: This restaurant in Chattarpur Farms has been running their special Turkey & Duck Festival since November 7 and it will continue till November 28. Join them as they savor farm-fresh flavors, crafted with care for you. You can also reserve a table on BookMyshow. 2. The Oberoi - Delhi: Celebrate this Thanksgiving at The Oberoi, New Delhi, with a delectable brunch at 360. Enjoy a variety of carved turkey and classic festive dishes, perfect for sharing with your loved ones. Also Read | Meghan speaks about separation with Harry after he misses Thanksgiving event 3. MKT The Chanakya - Delhi: MKT The Chanakya is offering a unique twist with confit duck leg paired with a tangy pomegranate juice. Venue: 4. Cafe Delhi Heights - Gather with your friends and family to create a lasting memories over a festive feast filled with flavors to be grateful for. 5. Hyatt Centric Juhu -Mumbai: The restaurant is celebrating Thanksgiving at the Sesame restautrant. Bookings for the same are also available on Bookmyshow. Also Read | Biden pardons Turkeys Peach and Blossom in Thanksgiving tradition at White House 6. The Park, Navi Mumbai: The Park is offering a curated buffet at 1599 with live carving stations of holiday delights. 7. Radison Blu Mumbai airport: Radison Blu at the Mumbai airport is offering lavish festive feast to celebrate the joyful thanksgiving celebration. With the United States preparing for Thanksgiving festivities, Boston residents are bracing for a mix of weather conditions, reported hoodline.com on 27 November. According to the National Weather Service, Wednesday's weather forecast promises mostly sunny skies with highs nearing 49 degrees. However, at night, there is a 30 percent chance of rain emerging after 4 a.m. and a drop in temperature to around 35 degrees. On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, the Boston forecast remains mostly sunny before a storm brings rain after 7 a.m. The rains may intensify through the afternoon and evening. Also, gusty east winds could reach up to 21 mph, with peak gusts near 40 mph may be experienced, says NBC Boston. NBC Boston added that areas like western Massachusetts and southwestern New Hampshire may also see 1 to 5 inches of snow. On Thursday night, rain is likely to continue, and as the storm makes its slow exit, the possibility of seeing an immediate freeze is minimum. The winds are expected to persist, with gusts that may reach 40 mph at times. By weekend, the stormy weather is expected to change into sunny conditions. Cyclone Fengal: Meanwhile, due to the deep depression in Bay Of Bengal, areas like Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh in India are experiencing heavy to very rainfall. With the deep depression turning into Cyclone Fengal, the IMD has issued a red alert for Wednesday's extremely heavy rains in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In the next three days, it also issued an orange alert for very heavy rains in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam. Citing the deep depression in the southwest Bay of Bengal, the Indian Coast Guard has begun coordinating with the state agencies to ensure seafarers' safety, reported PTI. Puducherry Education Minister Arumugam Namassivayam declared a holiday for all government and private schools, government-aided schools, and colleges in Puducherry and Karaikal on 28 November. Billionaire Elon Musk has issued a stark warning about the US economy, claiming the country is heading towards bankruptcy due to widening deficits between government spending and revenue. In a recent post on X, the CEO of Tesla echoed concerns raised by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which reported that the US government spent $6.16 trillion in the financial year 2023, compared to $4.47 trillion in revenue, creating a significant budget gap. America is currently headed for bankruptcy super fast, Musk posted, sharing the DOGE post on X. The DOGE post also emphasised that the last budget surplus for the United States was in 2001. Also Read | The meteoric rise of Elon Musk from South Africa to the US White House This trend must be reversed, and we must balance the budget, said the post dated Saturday, November 23. According to the post, the US government's revenue comes from sources like individual income tax, payroll tax, corporate income tax, customs duties, sales and excise tax, and others. Meanwhile, spending is largely directed towards social security, national defence and veterans, medicare, assistance to individuals, net interest on debt, transfers to State and other spending. Also Read | Elon Musk responds to astrophysicist who mocked his Mars colonisation plan In another post on November 24, DOGE highlighted the US government's spending, $28 million on things like licensing fees for a green camouflage pattern on Afghan National Army uniforms, $2.5 million on a Super Bowl advertisement for the Census, $1.7 million for holograms of dead comedians, and $500,000 to build an IHOP in Washington, DC among other things. What is DOGE? The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appears to be an outside advisory department set up by US President-elect Donald Trump's administration and billionaire Elon Musk to provide transparency to the people of America. Happy Thanksgiving 2024: Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. This year it will be observed on November 28. The day is celebrated to honour the early settlers and Native Americans who came together to have a historic harvest feast. Also Read | Thanksgiving 2024: Best places in Delhi and Mumbai to celebrate with loved ones History and Significance Long before the settlers arrived on the East Coast of the United States, the area was inhabited by many Native American tribes. The area surrounding the site of the first Thanksgiving, now known as southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island, had been the home of the Wampanoag people for more than 12,000 years. The people who comprised the Plymouth Colony were a group of English Protestants called Puritans who wanted to break away from the Church of England. These separatists initially moved to Holland. However, after 12 years of financial struggle, they received funds from English merchants to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620 and settle in a new place. During that time, Thanksgiving was observed in a much different manner. It brought together the people to express gratitude for the assistance given by the Wampanoag Native Americans and to celebrate the Pilgrims' having survived a harsh winter and struggle with disease and lack of food when they arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Thanksgiving 2024 wishes May your Thanksgiving be bountiful with reasons to be grateful. Happy Thanksgiving. I am so grateful to call you a friend. Happy Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving because it brings loved ones together. I feel happy to be able to spend the day with you. Happy Thanksgiving. We so appreciate the joy you bring to our lives. Happy Thanksgiving 2024 Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for many things in this life. But you, my dear, are the best one among them. 6.On this Thanksgiving, let us all enjoy the delicious turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and other delicacies, and pray for everyones good health and good life. 7.I'm grateful for good health, my lungs for keeping me breathing, my heart for tirelessly beating, and my body - the vessel that allows me to get through life. Happy Thanksgiving. 8.May Thanksgiving and the rest of the year remind us to be grateful for what we have. Happy Thanksgiving! 9.May the pie be sweet, but the moments with each of you be even sweeter. Grateful for every one of you. Happy Turkey Day! Happy Thanksgiving! 10.This Thanksgiving, we are reminded of just how grateful we are for you. Happy Thanksgiving! 11.Wishing Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. Extending good health, good times, and a good life. 12.Happy Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving is an opportunity to get together, enjoy, and show gratitude toward others. 13.On this Thanksgiving, I feel thankful for the person you are and everything you do for me. I can't wait to sit down to a delicious meal together! Happy Thanksgiving. Amid the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and clashes between security personnel and his followers, a petition has been filed in a Bangladesh High Court seeking a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Chinmoy Krishna Das, the leader of the Hindu group Sammilita Sanatani Jote, was arrested on Monday from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area in Dhaka by the police in Bangladesh. The Supreme Court lawyer Moniruzzaman has also sought an order to impose a state of emergency in Chattogram and Rangpur to avoid any further untoward incidents. Also Read | Who is Chinmoy Krishna Das? Why Bangladesh denied bail to Hindu leader Moniruzzaman placed before the court two newspaper reports on ISKCON reported The Daily Star. Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman told the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury that someone is trying to destabilise the country. He told the court that the government is dealing with the situation by building national unity. The High Court also sought to know what steps the government has taken regarding ISKCON's recent activities, including its rally and clashes in Chattogram. "It is a religious fundamentalist organisation. The government is already scrutinising them," the Attorney General told the court in response, reported India Today. The Attorney General has also been asked to inform the court about the government's steps tomorrow. on Tuesday, India noted with "deep concern" the arrest and denial of bail to Hindu leader, and urged authorities in the neighbouring country to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minority groups. Reacting sharply to the MEA's statement on the arrest of Das, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka said it was "unfounded" and stood contrary to the spirit of friendship between the two countries. In a statement, Dhaka said it does not interfere with the country's judiciary, which is fully independent. "Such unfounded statements not only misrepresent facts but also stand contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries," it said. Lawyer Killed on Tuesday, a lawyer was also killed during clashes between security personnel and followers of Das. Police said that assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, who was in his early 30s, was critically wounded and rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. ISKCON Bangladesh denounces arrest ISKCON Bangladesh has issued a statement denouncing the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and has called upon government authorities to promote peaceful coexistence. Australia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalise the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD 33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. The legislation was passed with 102 votes in favour to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver's licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system. "Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it's not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people's lives," Tehan told Parliament. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties' support all but guarantees the legislation will be passed by the Senate where no party holds a majority of seats. Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents' authority to decide what's best for their children. Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer. Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would "make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media." "The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it," Daniel told Parliament. "There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that's because no other country wants to do it," she added. The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it. The platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced. Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as "absolutely essential for the safety of our children". Will it be perfect? No. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people's lives. "It's not the only thing that we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but to provide some immediate support for our children and parents to be able to manage this, it's a great step," the 65-year-old online safety campaigner told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire deal: World leaders have expressed strong support for the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which took effect early Wednesday. The agreement, brokered with the help of the United States and France, aims to end hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group, while fostering conditions for broader regional stability. Governments from both sides of the Atlantic, including the US, France, Germany, and the UK, have hailed the deal as a crucial step toward de-escalation, while emphasizing the need for sustained peace efforts. Here are key reactions from around the world. United States and France The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will protect Israel from the threat of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and create the conditions for a "lasting calm", US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the truce coming into force. "The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon," the leaders said in a joint statement. The United States and France will work "to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented" and lead international efforts for "capacity-building" of the Lebanese army, they added. Also Read | Netanyahu Says War Cabinet to Vote on Lebanon Cease-Fire Biden welcomed the deal as "good news" and also said the United States would lead a fresh effort to secure a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Macron said the Lebanon ceasefire should "open the path" for an ending to the war in Gaza. Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US President Biden for his "involvement in securing the ceasefire agreement". He told Biden in a call that he appreciated the US leader's "understanding that Israel will maintain its freedom of action in enforcing it", according to Netanyahu's office. Ahead of Israel's approval of the deal, Netanyahu said the "length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon" and the truce would allow Israel to "intensify" pressure on Hamas and focus on the "Iranian threat". Also Read | Israel moves closer to ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon Lebanon Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the ceasefire was a "fundamental step" towards restoring stability in the region. Thanking France and the United States for their involvement, Mikati also reiterated his government's commitment to "strengthen the army's presence in the south". Germany German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed the deal, hailing it as "a ray of hope for the entire region". "People on both sides of the border want to live in genuine and lasting security," Baerbock said in a statement, calling the deal "a success for diplomacy". Also Read | Israeli airstrikes kill 20 in Beirut as ceasefire talks falter United Kingdom British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised a "long overdue" ceasefire that would "provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations" of both Israel and Lebanon. Calling for the truce to be "turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon", Starmer vowed to be at the "forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East". European Union EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the "very encouraging news" of the ceasefire, saying it would increase Lebanon's "internal security and stability". The announcement was welcomed news "first and foremost for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting", Von der Leyen said on X. "Lebanon will have an opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollah's reduced influence," she said. Also Read | Israeli strikes in Lebanon stir fears of sectarian strife United Nations A top UN official welcomed the ceasefire agreement, but warned that "considerable work lies ahead" to implement the deal. Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire: In a significant development for the Middle East, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday at 4 am local time (7.30 am IST), halting a year-long conflict that has recently intensified in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. Announcing the deal on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden hailed the accord as a crucial step towards stability in the region. The hours leading up to the ceasefire saw an escalation in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, drawing sharp criticism from Lebanese authorities and international observers. Also Read | Netanyahu Says War Cabinet to Vote on Lebanon Cease-Fire The agreement, which Israels cabinet approved in a 10-1 vote, outlines a 60-day cessation of hostilities. However, tensions remain high, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioning that any breach by Hezbollah could lead to renewed military action. Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire: Coordinated Withdrawal Under the agreement, Israeli troops will begin a phased withdrawal from southern Lebanon over the next two months. Simultaneously, the Lebanese army will deploy south of the Litani River to reassert state sovereignty and ensure that Hezbollah militants do not re-establish their positions. A senior Biden administration official clarified that Israeli forces would initially maintain their positions to prevent a security vacuum. The Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment in the south, and as they take up positions, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw, the official stated. Also Read | Israel moves closer to ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon The US and France will assist in monitoring the implementation of the deal through an existing verification mission, which was originally established following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war but has been largely ineffective. This mission will not involve the deployment of US troops in Lebanon but will focus on enhancing the Lebanese armys operational capacity. Netanyahus Warning and Hezbollahs Response Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahus warning about potential retaliation underscores the fragility of the ceasefire. If Hezbollah violates this agreement, Israel will not hesitate to respond, he said during a press briefing. Conversely, concerns remain about how Hezbollah might perceive any perceived Israeli provocations. Also Read | Netanyahu cites 3 reasons for agreeing to Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire When questioned about potential violations by either side, a US administration official admitted that Lebanons sovereignty would be pivotal in addressing any such scenarios. The aim is to empower Lebanese forces to repel any aggression while ensuring compliance with the ceasefire terms, the official noted. There really was a sense of (the administration official) simply not wanting to entertain the idea that Israel could suddenly decide that, well, were going back in. When asked a specific question, that it didnt seem the administration official was terribly prepared for What if Hezbollah thinks that Israel has violated the deal? there was this very waffly answer that seemed to suggest that Lebanon would have sovereignty in the south to repel any Israeli attack., Al Jazeera reported. Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire: Israeli Escalation Ahead of the Ceasefire In the lead-up to the ceasefire, the final hours, Israel intensified its bombing campaign across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah strongholds, including Beiruts southern suburbs. Also Read | Israeli airstrikes kill 20 in Beirut as ceasefire talks falter Israel issued evacuation notices in several areas, with Lebanons public health ministry reporting multiple casualties and injuries. The escalation has raised questions about whether Israels actions were intended as a final show of strength before the cessation of hostilities. Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire: Role of International Mediators The negotiations, facilitated by the United States, involved no discussion of additional military aid for Israel, according to US officials. Instead, efforts focused on ensuring a balanced withdrawal process and preventing a resurgence of Hezbollahs military infrastructure. Frances involvement in the verification process signals a renewed international effort to stabilise southern Lebanon. The phased withdrawal plan aims to avoid creating a vacuum that could lead to further unrest. Also Read | Israeli strikes in Lebanon stir fears of sectarian strife Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire: A new era or temporary pause? Although the agreement marks a pause in hostilities, its durability remains uncertain. The involvement of international observers US and France, and the Lebanese army's role in securing the south of Lebanon will be critical in determining whether the ceasefire can transition into a long-term resolution. Also Read | Israeli forces push deeper into Lebanon in widening war campaign Elections in India have become a trial by fire for pollsters. The ones who get it right are celebrated for their prescience. The rest are seen as outright frauds. If all of them get it wrong, people suspect a conspiracy; or worse, a stock market scam. We also hear demands for banning pollsters sometimes. A spotlight on pollsters at the time of election results is not unusual. They are in the business of forecasting electoral outcomes. And if the outcomes do not match their predictions, we should question these forecasters. Such questions are also raised in other democracies. Yet, the nature of questioning in most mature democracies is quite different. Pollsters have faced intense criticism in the US, for instance, for under-estimating support for Donald Trump in three consecutive elections (2016, 2020, 2024). Trump himself has dismissed opinion polling as fake." But not everyone there has taken his words literally. Some commentators have in fact defended pollsters this time since the final vote shares of the candidates are within the stated margins of error. Others have raised questions about a systematic bias in one direction. They fear that Republican voters may have been less likely to respond to polls compared to Democrats. Still others have questioned whether sampling weights used to adjust the raw polling data have led pollsters astray. Pollsters will now hand over their raw data to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), a self-regulatory organization of pollsters that investigates polling practices after each presidential election. A sundry bunch of academic, commercial, government and political researchers started AAPOR in 1947 to figure out rules for effective and credible polling. The organization acts as the conscience-keeper of the polling industry. It ensures that both data producers and consumers follow data hygiene norms while dealing with poll data. Some of AAPORs post-mortem reports have helped improve polling methods over time. Others havent. But all of those reports have enriched the debate on polling and American politics. In contrast, discussions around pollsters in India often tend to be hysterical. The inability of pollsters, academic institutions and media organizations to arrive at shared rules on how to conduct and broadcast polls has bred deep mistrust around polling. Pollsters in India are often reluctant to disclose methodological details about their surveys. TV channels that partner with them fail to quiz them about how they have conducted their surveys. Unlike business journalists, political journalists often appear to have a fraught relationship with numbers in India. That seems to limits their ability to ask meaningful questions about polling data. Most political scientists have also kept themselves away from such issues. Unlike in the US, political science students have historically been discouraged from taking up quantitative studies in India. A richer empirical tradition might have produced more fruitful collaboration between political scientists and pollsters, leading to more systematic studies of political attitudes over time. Pollsters would have been able to develop better tools to understand what voters thinkat the time of elections and also in between ballot exercises. Political scientists would have better answers on what shapes voter preferences and beliefs. Yet, we have reasons to be hopeful about the future. Compared to a decade ago, we now have many more political scientists who work with electoral data-sets. The past decade has also witnessed the rise of a new breed of data journalists, who have a deeper engagement with election-related data. Whats missing is an institutional mechanism to regulate and improve polling. Ideally, pollsters should themselves initiate steps to form a self-regulatory organization. It would be a pity if polling rules are framed by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, triggered by a public interest litigation. Regulating the business of polling should be a scientific and voluntary affair. Bureaucrats or judges shouldnt be calling the shots on this issue. Nor should politicians. Media watchdogs such as the Press Council or Editors Guild could help fill the institutional vacuum to some extent by framing disclosure norms. Even if a few big media groups begin following basic transparency norms while publishing poll data, it would make a significant difference. Any of the leading press clubs of the country could also take the initiative to begin framing rules on the use of polling data. Having basic disclosure guidelines in place would also help earnest editors and honest pollsters protect their reputations. Pollster ratings, either from media houses or academic institutions, would also help improve the business of polling. Once pollsters know they are being systematically trackedon methods, transparency and outcomesthey might want to open up much more. Transparency reforms might drive some pollsters out of business. But the better ones would thrive and probably be able to raise more funds to conduct more innovative surveys. The industry as a whole would gain credibility. Also read: Urban millennials in India have had much to reveal in five years Citizens would understand the nuances of polling better, and be more forgiving of pollsters when they get some results wrong. They would learn to appreciate how opinion polls could go wrong in tight races. Demands to ban opinion polls would die down. Even as revenue growth for companies in India has reduced its pace to a canter, royalty payments sent abroad by several Indian offshoots of multinational companies (MNCs) are galloping ahead. In several cases noted by market regulator Sebi, royalty payments exceed dividends. In fact, the higher the firms expense on royalty payments, the lower the profit and thus lower the possible dividend outgo from it. In 2023, the Indian government increased the withholding tax on royalty payments and fees for technical services from 10% to 20%. In fact, there is a strong case for raising the normal tax on royalty payments to the applicable corporate-tax rate. On some types of royalty-payment hikes that have no rational basis, the tax rate on the incremental payout could go as high as 100%. To curb excesses in this practice, it is not enough for Indian rules to require that locally listed units of MNCs get shareholder approval for raising royalties. Accountability to equity holders needs to be equitable and sharp, no doubt, but we need fiscal action as well. All royalty claims are not equal. Those paid for intellectual property (IP) licences are the most legitimate. Patents and other forms of IP have a definite life expectancy; by the time they expire, companies are expected to have fully recouped their investment in them and earned a decent return. While trademarks need renewal, a brand name with special consumer appeal might be what sets a product apart from its competitors. In such cases too, brand strength may justify a royalty. But when it comes to brands that most of us can hardly even recall, let alone identify with or value, the logic weakens. Its hard to see why Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) wouldve paid its parent Unilever royalty on its Knorr label slapped onto flour and the like (before Unilever sold off its flour and salt business in 2023), for example. That name of German origin was no match for its own homegrown atta brand Annapurna, which it offloaded last year along with Captain Cook salt. On the whole, it is unclear how local MNC units justify their rising royalty bills. It might be argued that royalty payment excesses will self-correct. Also read: Why royalty payout to parent firm as a percentage of revenue needs to be relooked After all, if any company were to load its product pricing with a liberal slather of royalty, a local competitor that is not so burdened, but has invested in brand credibility, would be able to undercut the royalty-paying player and corner a larger share of the market. This pressure would work only if both play in the same quality bracket, though. A graded tax on royalties, with the rate going up as transfers grow as a percentage of revenues, would not only deter local MNC units from overpaying parents, but also magnify the self-regulatory power of market competition. Whats logged as an expense by the Indian unit of an MNC is not a conventional cost, given that it is a decision in which its power equation with the parent may play a big role. In fact, at a conceptual level, royalty is a return on capital invested. Like profits. Or interest payments in the hands of lenders, which are taxed on these as it amounts to income for them. Royalty should be taxed in India on par with any other form of return on capital. Levies on royalty should be seen in the same light as taxation of profits, interpreted as what companies owe the government for governance that enables companies to do business and generate returns on capital. All said, while shareholders do need to take a closer look at royalties, fiscal action could be especially effective. Parliament Winter Session: Proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned amid protest by the opposition, minutes after the sessions began on Wednesday. The session in both houses will now reconvene on Thursday, November 28. Opposition members created an uproar in Lok Sabha as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Arun Govil was taking part in the Question Hour in the House. Speaker Om Birla adjourned the Lok Sabha till 12 noon soon after the lower house convened at 11 am on Wednesday, November 27. The protests returned when Lok Sabha reconverned at noon. Presiding Officer Dilip Saikia adjourned the session again, this time for the day. The Congress and other opposition parties staged protests demanding a discussion on Manipur violence and bribery charges against the Adani Group. The INDIA bloc is demanding a JPC Probe into allegations against the Adani group. Also Read | Parliament Winter Session adjourned till Wednesday as INDIA bloc protests Similar scenes were witnessed in Rajya Sabha too. Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar requested members to have constructive discussions before adjourning the house for the day. Adani Group Denies Charges Earlier this month, Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest men, and seven others were indicted for fraud by US prosecutors over their alleged roles in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure power-supply deals. The Adani Group has denied all allegations, calling them "baseless". We demand a JPC Probe into allegations against the Adani group. Earlier in the day, the Adani Group denied allegations of bribery and violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) against its chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and key executive Vneet Jaain in a case filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The company clarified that its chairman Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain have not been charged under the FCPA, dismissing recent claims as incorrect. Also, former attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi along with Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani addressed the media and said the allegations lack credible evidence and specifics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government has listed 16 bills, including the Waqf Act Amendment Bill, for the for the session which runs till December 20. BEIRUTFor nearly two decades, thousands of United Nations peacekeepers have been helpless to stop the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah from rearming along Israels border since the two sides previous war. Now that Israel and Hezbollah have come to a cease-fire ending a year of fighting, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or Unifil, is again at the center of efforts to keep the peace but still lacks the capability to enforce a buffer zone between the parties, analysts said. The deal agreed to on Tuesday includes a 60-day implementation period to allow the Israeli military to withdraw and for the Lebanese military to secure the border area and prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing an armed presence there, according to Lebanese officials. An international committee including U.N. peacekeepers would monitor compliance, they said. But neither the Lebanese military nor U.N. forces could do much to keep Hezbollah from building up fighting positions in southern Lebanon and firing rockets across the border, while Israel responded with military overflights and occasional live fire. The culmination was a year of fighting that began after another Iran-backed militant group, Hamas, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Gaza Strip. The U.N. peacekeepers have mostly sheltered in their bases after repeatedly coming under fire from both sides. As a result, Israel insists on the freedom to strike at Hezbollah even after a cease-fire if it believes the U.S.-designated terrorist group poses a threat. An Israeli official said Israel would ensure its own safety. Were not talking about the dissolution of Unifil but also wont place the future security of northern Israel in Unifils hand," the official said. Were not going back to Oct. 6." Unifil has had what its defenders say was an impossible mandate since 1978, when Israel invaded Lebanon after a Palestinian militant attack on a bus in central Israel, killing 38 civilians, including 13 children. Unifils job was to monitor the Israeli militarys withdrawal from Lebanon and to help the Lebanese government maintain security in the countrys restive south. But by 1982, Israel was back fighting in Lebanon. After an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, Unifils job included monitoring Hezbollahs activities in southern Lebanon and aiding the Lebanese militarys efforts under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. Unifil reports possible violations to the Lebanese army and Israel, which are responsible for correcting the behavior, and to the U.N. secretary-general who relays the findings regularly to the Security Council. Lebanons army, however, is underfunded and outgunned by Iran-backed Hezbollah, and there is little in the resolution to force either party into line. Resolution 1701 was almost immediately violated, and Unifils task has grown more difficult over the years. Unifilwhich at times conducted some 10,000 patrols a monthincreasingly complained that its peacekeepers were prevented from moving around freely and inspecting suspicious locations. It is prevented from entering private property and detaining civilians without permission from Lebanese authorities. Peacekeepers have complained over the years about an increasingly hostile environment and intimidation by Hezbollah and people in the south, who occasionally accuse them of spying for Israel and attack them. In 2010 Unifil reported that during a 36-hour exercise, its soldiers were attacked by Lebanese civilians who threw stones, assaulted the patrol leader, damaged vehicles and took some Unifil weapons and ammunition. In 2010, Unifil reported an explosion at a house in a village, but said it was unable to determine the cause, as possible evidence was tampered with or removed before the UNIFIL investigation team was allowed access to the incident site." The Lebanese army was only allowed to enter after a standoff with villagers, Unifil said. Unifil has had some success defusing conflicts and has hosted meetings with the Lebanese army and Israel to keep them from shooting at each other. But over the years, Hezbollah amassed so many arms close to the border that the situation became unsustainable to Israel, said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, a think tank. Its been an open secret for quite a long time that you had Hezbollah operating in quite close proximity to Unifil," Gowan said. The peacekeepers last report to the U.N. before the Oct. 7 attacksdated July 2023highlights the challenges they faced trying to control the situation. In it, the peacekeepers report a range of concerning incidents including rocket fire, unauthorized weapons, Israeli airspace violations, tunnel construction and a Hezbollah drill with rocket launchers and quadcopters, as well as frequent harassment. A U.N. patrol was stopped in April by masked people and assaulted. The mission complained that it couldnt get access to suspicious buildings on the border belonging to an environmental group that the U.S. and Israel accuse of being a cover for Hezbollah. Israeli tanks aimed guns at them in several instances, and lasers were pointed at them from both sides. Unifil says it can report violations, but not unilaterally enforce Resolution 1701. We go back to the limitation of the missions mandate, what the mission can do and what we cannot do," Unifil spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. But its up to the Security Council to decide how to move forward. Its not up to the mission to take further steps that are not within the missions mandate." Unifils observations, however, led to some action. In 2006, Unifil reported sporadic evidence" of weapons and armed personnel in the border area about once a week, including the discovery of 17 Katyusha rocket launchers and a weapons cache. Unifil said it informed the Lebanese Armed Forces, which confiscated or destroyed the weapons. It later reported sporadic rocket attacks from south Lebanon into Israel, indicating the presence of weapons in the demilitarized zone. In 2008, it discovered eight rockets ready to be launched at Israel, which the Lebanese army defused and dismantled. Years later, between December 2018 and April 2019, after being notified by Israel, the peacekeepers confirmed the existence of five tunnels, three of which crossed the Blue Line from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. It provided the coordinates to the Lebanese Armed Forces, and urged them for months to fulfill the countrys commitments under the resolution. Unifil told Israel that it couldnt inspect the locations of the tunnels without permission from the Lebanese military because they were on private property, said Jonathan Conricus, a former Israeli military liaison to Unifil and the U.N. When nothing happened after a month, the Israeli military pumped so much cement into one of the tunnels that it spurted out on the other end, flooding a building in a village and gushing into the street, said Conricus, now senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based pro-Israel lobby group. The Lebanese Armed Forces didnt reply to a request for comment. It has previously said it has been executing its missions with U.N. peacekeepers to implement the 2006 agreement and defend Lebanons national sovereignty, including from Israel. Its defenders say there are various reasons the armed forces havent been able to fulfill its mandate, including lack of international funding and the challenges in straddling Lebanons sectarian divisions. In March 2022, Unifil reported more violent incidents and confiscations of its property, including by armed personnel. Later that year, an Irish soldier was killed in an alleged Hezbollah-linked attack while on a peacekeeping patrol. Hezbollah at the time denied involvement. Unifil has also reported regular Israeli breaches of the 2006 resolution. From 2007 through 2022, the U.N. reported that 22,355 Israeli aircraft violated Lebanese airspace, according to data collected by Earshot, an investigative agency. Israeli officials say overflights in Lebanon are necessary for intelligence gathering because Unifil hasnt effectively fulfilled its mandate. They also say that Unifil has failed to accurately report the extent of Hezbollahs rearmament. Fouad Siniora, who as Lebanons prime minister helped negotiate the 2006 resolution, said it was the responsibility of the parties who agreed to the resolution to uphold it. When they dont, it puts Unifil in a virtually impossible situation, he said, paraphrasing a line of classical Persian poetry to describe the peacekeepers predicament: You throw a man in the water, then blame him for being wet." Dov Lieber contributed to this article. Write to Sune Engel Rasmussen at sune.rasmussen@wsj.com Executives at Zeiss SMT, which makes indispensable components to build the worlds most powerful semiconductors, got some troubling news last fall. Headhunters from Huawei Technologies, the Chinese tech firm, were trying to poach its employees. Staff with access to sensitive Zeiss know-how received LinkedIn messages, emails and calls from Huawei representatives, offering them up to three times their salaries to join the Chinese company, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The push triggered an investigation by German intelligence officials, who feared it could provide a back door for Huawei to access some of the worlds most sophisticated intellectual property. The investigation remains open, people familiar with the matter say. It was the latest sign that talent-poaching has become a crucial front in the battle between China and the West for tech supremacy. As Western governments make it harder for China to access sensitive technologiesa trend expected to continue under the administration of President-elect Donald Trumpmany Chinese companies are trying to get ahead by luring away top engineers in areas such as advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Chinese firms are focusing on several tech hubs, including Taiwan, parts of Europe and Silicon Valley. Some obscure their Chinese origins by forming local ventures that hire the employees to avoid drawing attention from local officials, authorities say. The push is forcing officials in the U.S. and Europe, many of whom view recruiting as an ordinary business activity that shouldnt be restricted, to confront whether they need to do more to police the practice, and if so, how. Taiwan, which already has strict rules on Chinese recruitment, said in September that it had launched a crackdown, accusing eight mainland Chinese tech companies of illegally poaching talent from the island, threatening Taiwans competitiveness. South Korean authorities are toughening punishments for individuals who illegally transfer sensitive technologies to foreign countries such as China, including when they are recruited. The country is grappling with several cases, including one in which an ex-Samsung Electronics executive was charged with illegally obtaining Samsungs factory blueprints to build a copycat chip plant in China. The U.S. and Europe remain fairly open for recruitment by most Chinese companies. But European intelligence officials say they have been watching with concern as China-linked actors try to lure experts from the continents high-tech companies. U.S. intelligence agencies said in their latest threat assessment that they believed China was trying to use talent recruitment as one way to become a science and technology superpower. Semiconductor secrets Western security officials are especially concerned about Chinas efforts to target ASML Holding, among the worlds most important tech companies, and its suppliers, including Germanys Zeiss. The Dutch firm is the only one capable globally of making sophisticated machines needed to print structures smaller than 1/10,000 of the width of a human hair onto chips for advanced AI and other applications. It took ASML decades to master such lithography machines, known as EUV scanners. Without them, China cant make chips at the cutting edge. The Dutch government prevents ASML from shipping its EUV machines, which also could have military applications, to China. Since 2021, Huawei has hired dozens of engineers and other staff based in China who were working on lithography and optics for companies including ASML and other Western firms, data from LinkedIn and Chinese job networking site Maimai shows. A Chinese engineer who left ASML about a decade ago with knowledge of some of its software later set up a rival company in China, according to corporate registrations and ASML. One former Taipei-based employee of ASML said he received inquiries from Chinese recruiters every month for two years after he left the company in 2020. The engineer said Huawei was particularly persistent, with repeated efforts to connect on LinkedIn. He never responded. ASML said it had no indication of unusual recruitment activity toward its employees and the rate at which employees leave is very low in the Netherlands and globally. Chinas Foreign Ministry said it wasnt aware of the examples of talent poaching, adding that Chinas interaction with foreign talent is no different from that of other nations. Huawei didnt respond to requests for comment. Spray and pray China has made clear that recruiting is a priority, especially for competitive technologies such as AI. A government blueprint for AI development in 2017 called for attracting the sharpest" talent, including international top scientists" in areas such as machine learning, automatic driving and intelligent robots. Luring foreign engineers can provide a valuable shortcut for Chinese companies because their experience cannot be easily duplicated or stolen, said Paul Triolo, a partner at business consulting firm DGA Group. Governments now care more about this," he said, although determining where to draw the line on acceptable recruitment will be a very difficult task and difficult to enforce." Many governments have already restricted academic and business partnerships with China or introduced investment-screening programs for Chinese acquisitions. State funding for Chinese companies enables them to offer salaries beyond what Western companies can pay. Many engineers are reluctant to entertain such offers, citing reputational risks and concerns about fitting into Chinese corporate culture. Yet Chinese companies make so many approachesa strategy one former Huawei recruiter described in an interview as spray and pray"that inevitably some say yes. Often, they bring trade secrets with them. Last year, the chief executive of Californian semiconductor company FemtoMetrix testified to Congress that his companys trade secrets had been stolen when three employees left to start a semiconductor company in China, bringing thousands of FemtoMetrix files with them. Alon Raphael, FemtoMetrixs CEO, said in his testimony it was an example of Chinas playbook for the theft of American intellectual property." In an interview, Raphael said his company is barely" still in business, and he hasnt been able to raise substantial funding since the theft. Chinas Foreign Ministry said China respects intellectual property rules and that any reports of alleged intellectual-property stealing were baseless slander. Taiwans troubles In Taiwan, home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the worlds largest contract chip manufacturer, officials say they started seeing an increase in Chinese talent poaching and trade-secret theft around 2015. Frustrated, they approved new rules in 2022 that bar anyone from leaking technology critical to national security and Taiwans industrial competitiveness to foreign countries. Offenders face up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to the equivalent of about $3 million. Taiwan also strengthened penalties for domestic firms that act as fronts for Chinese companies to hire talent. The know-how is in their brains, and in some cases, a whole team could be poached by a Chinese company," said Sun Chen-yi, deputy director general of the investigation bureau at Taiwans Ministry of Justice. Between 2020 and July 2024, the ministry investigated about 90 cases of talent poaching, most related to semiconductors, electronics and machinery, Sun said. Several years ago, Liang Mong Song, a former senior Taiwanese engineer at TSMC and Samsung, joined Chinas largest contract chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International. Liang is often credited with the rapid ascendance of Shanghai-based SMIC, which last year helped Huawei to produce its most advanced smartphone processor, a seven-nanometer chip used in one of its most powerful phones. In Taiwans latest crackdown, authorities said they raided 30 locations and questioned 65 individuals across four cities. Among the eight companies accused of illegally poaching talent was a large Chinese chip toolmaker. Some Chinese chip firms try to obscure their origins, working with headhunters based in Singapore and Hong Kong. They also pair up with Taiwanese to open companies on the island to hire local engineers, investigators say. German connection German authorities are also concerned about Chinas efforts to lure engineers from its ASML suppliers. Zeiss SMTs specialized mirrors form the centerpiece of ASMLs elaborate EUV systems, which are sometimes the size of a bus. Zeisss technologies are considered so advanced that its headquarters are off-limits to most visitors. Images in its promotional materials are carefully edited so as not to give away trade secrets. When Zeiss employees flagged Huaweis poaching attempts last fall, they shared recruiters profiles with their managers, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Although no employees jumped ship, the head lobbyist for Zeiss SMTs parent company raised the matter with government officials, triggering the German intelligence investigation, people familiar with the matter say. Zeiss and Germanys domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, also known as VfB, declined to comment. It later turned out that Huawei had also been targeting Trumpf, a German company that produces a laser amplifier that creates a concentrated light source to produce chip details, some of which are a fraction of the size of a grain of sand. A Trumpf spokesman said it has also registered intensified approaches by Chinese companies such as Huawei targeting our employees." None was successful, he said. Berlin authorities have held off from interfering too much in business decisions such as whom employers can hire. Berlin recently adopted legislation barring telecommunications operators from using Huawei components in sensitive parts of Germanys networks, echoing more stringent restrictions the U.S. imposed on Huawei in 2020. But the Chinese companys handsets and other products are still sold in the country. Huawei runs five research centers across Germany working on optical systems and other areas. Many government officials are skeptical that poaching can be prevented. New legislation that could have made it harder for Chinese companies to set up in Germany with a view to recruiting talent is likely to fail after Chancellor Olaf Scholzs government collapsed. Still, Friedrich Merz, head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union and, according to polls, the likeliest candidate to become the next chancellor, has sounded tougher notes on China. German companies are also a target," he told German newswire DPA in an interview earlier this year. And that is not OK." Joyu Wang in Taipei and Dustin Volz in Washington contributed to this article. Write to Bertrand Benoit at bertrand.benoit@wsj.com, Liza Lin at liza.lin@wsj.com, Heather Somerville at heather.somerville@wsj.com and Kim Mackrael at kim.mackrael@wsj.com Cognitive scientist, author and entrepreneur Gary Marcus was an early and vocal critic of large language models, arguing their limitations were far greater than many people thought. Lately, he has been making the case that LLMs are far riskier, tooand must be regulated. In September, Marcus published Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure That AI Works for Us." The book argues that technological risks and moral problems raised by todays AI are deeply intertwined. Marcus wrote the book in roughly two months, because he said there is an urgent need for greater skepticism to enter the public conversation about AI. The hype has led the average person to think these things are magic, but theyre not," said Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University who founded Geometric Intelligence in 2014. Geometric Intelligence was a machine learning company that developed new techniques for learning more from modest amounts of data. It was sold to Uber, where Marcus directed AI research for a time. One of the craziest things that I mentioned in my book is that some senators and Congress tried to pass a law saying you couldnt use AI to make nuclear weapon decisions without a human in the loop and they couldnt pass that," Marcus said. He argues for a regulatory framework that would address such challenges, and much more. There are signs that AI oversight is on the agenda of the next administration. President-elect Trump is considering naming an AI czar in the White House, Axios reported. Here are highlights of Marcuss discussion with The Wall Street Journal: WSJ: How do you assess the limitations of large language models, the foundation for things like text-based generative AI? Gary Marcus: LLMs are both morally and technically inadequate. On the technical side, what you have is basically a giant black box. I sometimes call it autocomplete on steroids, that is trying to learn the statistical structure of how humans talk to each other, and that is correlated with how humans think about the world. But its not identical to that. You can train them on hundreds of millions of games of chess and they still dont really internalize the rules of chess. They still make illegal moves. On almost any domain where people have looked at LLMs, you get astonishingly good performance, but never reliable performance. Something that I foresaw, and some in the field really hated me for saying this, was that we might reach a peak. I think its partly a data limitation and partly an architectural limitation, where the system is not really representing facts, its just approximating those kinds of things. I think were running into a point of diminishing returns. And, you know, for a while there was a really good run. WSJ: How do you see the link between the technical and moral limitations of LLMs? Marcus: Many of the moral limitations actually follow from the technical limitations. The nature of these systems is that we cant give them simple instructions and assume that they will follow them. If you tell them, Dont hallucinate, theyre still going to hallucinate. If you tell them, Dont do anything harmful or Dont recommend anything thats harmful to humans, they still will. People have tried to build guardrails, but the guardrails are not very effective. The largest problem, the longest-term problem, is we have poor control over these systems. Some people have written about what they call the alignment problem, which basically boils down to getting machines to behave in ways that are consistent with human values or with just whatever you ask. And they dont really do that. And that is a serious riskthat were going to build some very intelligent machine, but its not really going to do what we want, that its going to be some source of Sorcerers Apprentice-style mess. WSJ: How do you propose to construct a regulatory framework for AI? Marcus: If Sam Altman wants to release a technology that puts us all at risk, he can basically do that. Theres no government procedure to say, Hey, slow down here, lets make sure this thing is OK. I would emphasize having some kind of AI agency for the United States. It should be a cabinet-level position because AI is changing so fast. Its affecting so many aspects of society. Its just as important as having a cabinet-level thing for defense or health and so forth. Also at the top of my list would be some kind of FDA-like process to approve things that are released at large scale. The third thing I would prioritize is monitoring once things are out. So, for example, it should be possible for well-qualified scientists to say, I want to study the degree to which this particular large language model might discriminate against people. And how is it actually being used in practice, in job decisions, jail sentences and so forth. There should be some auditing that has government backing to allow independent scientists to ask legitimate questions of this sort. We should have some kind of liability, especially if something very seriously goes wrong. The big tech AI companies right now are basically trying to privatize the profits and socialize the costs. WSJ: How do you think Elon Musk, a close ally of President Trump, will use his role to influence the conversation about AI regulation? Marcus: Elon Musk is a very interesting player in this. He on the one hand was one of the first people to warn about long-term AI risks, machines going rogue. Ive corresponded a little bit with him and I know that hes sincere about that. But on the other hand, hes building an AI company that I think is going to be valued at $40 billion or something like that. WSJ: You argue that theres a better alternative to the LLM. What is it? Marcus: Daniel Kahneman drew a distinction between System One and System Two thinking. System One is fast and reflexive. It works, but it makes mistakes. System Two is deliberate, is about reasoning and abstraction. The AI that we are currently building is basically like System One. And what I think we need to do is to bring those two traditions together. Even that is not going to magically bring us to artificial general intelligence tomorrow. But I think its a prerequisite to go further. Apple and Samsung are again set for a big competition as both brands are expected to launch their ultra-slim smartphones next year. Both companies are rumoured to introduce slimmer versions of their flagship smartphone series which will likely be known as the iPhone 17 Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim. These smartphones are expected to be thin and lightweight, which may offer a whole new range of flagship smartphones in the market. Over the past few weeks, several leaks surrounding the iPhone 17 Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim have been surfacing online, revealing plans for what Apple and Samsung may launch in 2025. Based on leaks, lets have a look at which slimmer model will dominate the market in 2025. iPhone 17 Air vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Design and display: In terms of design, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be the slimmest iPhone model with just 6mm of thickness. However, note that with a slimmer profile, the company may have to go through several compromises. On the other hand, the Galaxy S25 slim dimensions are still unknown, however, rumours suggest that it may fall between 7.2mm to 7.5mm in thickness. While it may not be as thin as the iPhone 17 Air, it is expected to be known as the slimmest Samsung Galaxy model. In terms of display, the iPhone 17 Air is rumoured to feature a 6.6-inch OLED display with ProMotion technology, offering a 120Hz refresh rate. As far as Samsung is concerned, the Galaxy S25 Slim will likely feature a 6.55-inch display. Performance: In terms of performance, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be powered by an A19 chip fabricated with TSMCs 3rd generation 3nm processes, boosting improved performance. Whereas, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim will likely feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite or Exynos 2500 chip. Therefore, both devices will offer flagship performance. With the slimmer model, we may also see new AI features in both devices. Camera: For the camera, iPhone 17 Air will likely feature a single rear sensor with 48MP resolution and 2x optical zoom. Over the weeks, several tipsters and reports have confirmed the single lens camera to reduce smartphone thickness and weight. Therefore, this may come as a big challenge for Apple, since it may resemble Apples SE-series smartphone. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim could feature a triple camera setup that may include a 200MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom and an ultrawide camera. It is rumoured that Samsung is taking camera inspiration from Vivo X200 Pro Mini which was earlier launched in China. Akins family and friends gathered at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, speaking about the mother of seven, her life, and the countless lives she impacted. It was made clear she'll be missed by those who truly knew her best. As a former Chairperson of a political party here in Longford Town (Fine Gael in my case) I am eagerly looking forward to engaging in this years election this time as a voter rather than an activist. I was amazed to see in the Longford Leader this week that there are as many as 20 candidates this time round. I admire them all for their courage and I believe we should respect each of them for their efforts and, above all else, take the time out on November 29 to cast our votes for the candidate of our choice. In 2007 Longford-Westmeath returned both James Bannon and the late Peter Kelly to Dail Eireann in what was then a four seat constituency. From what I say below, that 2007 result was a phenomenal achievement for our small county and arose because of the extraordinary vote getting skills of our two elected candidates at the time. Now we have a five seat constituency and there is a real prospect of returning two candidates from our County at the very time that we most need to be represented in the Dail. Also Read: New CEO of Longford's St Christopher's Services hopeful of ending dispute The Longford-Westmeath constituency is made up of the entire counties of Longford and Westmeath for the first time since 1980. The overall population of the entire constituency at the last census was 142,972. Of this, Longford has 46,751 (an increase of 14.4%) and Westmeath 96,221 (an increase of 8.4%). Longford has 32.69% of the population of the constituency and Westmeath 67.31%. There are just five seats, 20% each. The quota will be 16.66% of the vote. However many of the increased population in Longford will not be on the register. Therefore if every single person in Longford and Westmeath were to vote by county only, the outcome for two seats for Longford will be razor sharp in my opinion. There is a risk that Longford could end up with only one seat. To secure two seats for Longford, candidates from Longford must get votes from Westmeath and Longford must vote solidly for Longford candidates transferring onwards to other Longford candidates. The outcome is therefore TOO CLOSE TO CALL. Also Read: 'Thank God I just got him out alive': Longford Gardai probe dog attack on young boy (2) We are a small county and need to punch above our weight to secure two seats for our county. It is critical that we in Longford vote for our own this time, more so than ever before. As a gesture of solidarity with the candidates, I will now put my head on the block by endeavouring to predict the outcome. I anticipate that Peter Burke and Boxer Moran will top the poll and get elected; I think Robert Troy will also get elected at some point. The remaining two seats will, I expect, be between Joe Flaherty, Micheal Carrigy and Sorca Clarke. While Gerry Warnock has put his hat in the ring this time, I dont think he will be able to make enough inroads this time round. Also Read: Man arrested after pedestrian is killed in hit and run on busy road If Sinn Fein polls well this will mean that either Micheal Carrigy or Joe Flaherty could fail to gain a seat. This is very tight. I cannot honestly predict who will be the unlucky loser. My heart of course says that I would like to see the Longford candidates elected but at the end of the day that will be down to the people of Longford to decide. I cannot even say for certain whether Micheal or Joe will finish ahead. Micheal Carrigy was only 1,000 votes behind Joe Flaherty last time round not a lot to make up and there is the Simon Harris factor and the reality that Gerry Warnock may make more inroads into Joes vote than Micheal. For the sake of completeness I will make a prediction that both Joe Flaherty and Micheal Carrigy will be elected but Im not sure in what order and that Sorca Clarke will be the unlucky loser left stranded at the last count. Gardai in Longford are investigating after they received a complaint that a two year old boy was bitten by a dog in the Chapel Lane area of the town. Patrick Joyce, a married father of five who lives in Campbell Drive, was visiting a local resident with his infant son Paddy when the alleged attack took place shortly after 10pm on Thursday night. The young boy was taken to a doctor and subsequently brought to Mullingar Regional Hospital on Friday where he has been receiving treatment in recent days. Mr Joyce, who was about eight or nine yards away when the attack occurred, stated he is grateful he was nearby and able 'to save him' and he believes Paddy's life was in danger. PICTURES | Full house as Longford group presents memorable 'Stars in their Eyes' show "I was down visiting a friend and my little boy was coming in the back door with a bike and the dog was there waiting and as soon as he came in it happened so quickly and it just snapped and attacked the child on the spot," he said. "The first place he bit him was the side of his belly." Mr Joyce stated the dog was vicious and he reacted quickly to pull his boy away from danger. "At that moment I never actually thought I'd get my son out alive, there was blood pumping out through him, there was blood from me and I wasn't worried about myself and thank God I just got him out breathing and alive," he said. "He has an infection in his arm where the dog bit him and they are keeping an eye on that so it won't get any worse and they are treating it as well." Also read: Longford hairdresser scoops Ireland's Most Stylish Businessman gong Mr Joyce stated he and he was bitten on the right arm and on the leg by the dog and he reported the incident to the Gardai and the Longford Dog Warden. "The reason I was bitten on the arm is because when I saved my son I raised him high up in the air over my shoulders and the dog went back a few steps and he he kept moving forward trying to get him in the face and lucky enough I got it instead in the arm," he said. "I definitely want to see the dog put down because the way I look at it is I saved my child, but I don't think the next child is going to be saved." Also read: Longford Celebrity turns 34 in the jungle Mr Joyce stated when the dog's owner grabbed the pet it was still making every effort to get away and still very 'aggressive'. "We just left and rushed to MiDoc," he added. Mr Joyce said he is eager to warn others in the Chapel Lane area to be careful and vigilant as he believes the dog is dangerous and is capable of attacking again. Also read: New look Longford Yearbook hits the shelves across the county this week A Garda spokesperson stated they are investigating. "I can confirm Gardai are aware of an alleged incident involving a dog that occurred on the night of Thursday, November, 21 at 10pm approximately. "Enquiries are ongoing." As wildfires ripped through the North Dakota Badlands in early October, Perry Ecker thought his home was lost. But as Thanksgiving approaches, the 74-year-old McKenzie County rancher is thankful to be hosting a holiday dinner for dozens of church members at that home, and grateful for the work of firefighters who helped protect it. Ecker's land was part of the more than 10,000 acres impacted by the Elkhorn fire, one of six major fires in northwestern North Dakota this fall, burning as much as 118,000 acres. Homes, rural outbuildings, vehicles, roads and electrical infrastructure were damaged or destroyed and numerous livestock were killed or sickened from the smoke. Two people died -- ranchhand Nicolaas van Eeden, 26, of South Africa, and Edgar Coppersmith, 47, of Tioga -- and six others were injured. For Ecker, who has been ranching in western North Dakota since the late 1970s, this was the third wildfire he has dealt with. This time around he lost fencing, a few ranch buildings and some cattle, but he knows it could have been a lot worse in the area. With his home intact, Ecker is looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday, when he and his wife anticipate welcoming dozens of people to celebrate. "You know there's a lot of out-of-state people in the oilfield, and many of them left their families or the support system where they came from," he said. "So those people appreciate having some place to go for Thanksgiving dinner." This will be the fourth or fifth time that the two have hosted the meal, Ecker said. They also host monthly meals for families from their church who are new to the area. "Children play across the yard in hay bales. There's a lot of children in the church and they are just thankful to have a place to go to that's 100% safe," he said. "It's kind of made us thankful, seeing what those people have come from and gone through just to make ends meet." Donations set up Across northwest North Dakota, people are rallying around each other in ways both big and small, from raising thousands of dollars for fire victims to hosting meals and taking care of others' livestock. Earlier this month in Tioga, the community's support for some of the families hit the hardest by the wildfires was on full display. The community in and around Tioga experienced some of the most devastating impacts of the wildfires. The two men who died had lived in the area, and three local families lost their homes. Kelci Hanson, a Tioga resident, organized a benefit to raise money for the five families who lost homes or a family member. "We had probably over 300 donations between physical donations and then monetary donations," she said. "We had probably 250 people there that day. There would've been more I'm assuming, but the weather was not good." So far, they have raised about $200,000, which will be split among the families. "Montana, Wyoming, Arizona ... really I've just had calls from everywhere of people wanting to send checks," she said. 'Awesome friends' South of Tioga, near Ray, Blake Wheeler said people from far and wide have reached out, offering help in the aftermath of the wildfires. The list of crops Wheeler and his family grow on their 122-year-old farmstead seems endless, but he has a real affinity for his cattle. "Spring wheat, durum, lentils, canola, oats, barley, field peas, safflower, corn, soybeans, sometimes we've done mustard. ... We mostly farm, but my dad and grandpa always had a few cows, and since I've started being more involved in the last 15 years I've tried to add more cattle into the mix and make it better so I can graze cows on cropland and make the land a little bit better," he said. Some of the biggest help has come from people who have offered to host these cattle until the area is safe for them again. "I had friends -- they're just awesome friends -- that next morning after I kind of figured out what was going on, where the cows were at there's nothing left there. The water is contaminated from all the ash and dirt, and there's nothing to graze, so the next day I had friends come up ... and everybody pretty much had their cows hauled out that next day and brought to somewhere that wasn't affected by the fire," he said. Wheeler also helped fight the fires. "The fire was headed toward a neighbor -- I say 'a neighbor,' but everybody over here we consider neighbors if they are pretty much within an 8-mile radius. There were a few of us in tractors trying to make fire breaks, get it slowed down," he said. "It was hard to see and the only way I could really tell where I was, was I had my phone pulled up with the Maps App ... there was multiple times where you couldn't see." Wheeler said that he is especially thankful for the efforts of first responders and businesses from the area that offered equipment in firefighting efforts. "It's still a terrible ordeal that there were two lives lost, (but) being close to it, and being in it, my thought at the moment was, this is not going to be good, there's going to be way more damage than there ended up being. So I'm so thankful that it turned out the way it did," he said. Back to normal Back in McKenzie County, Ecker said he is also thankful for the firefighters. Volunteers and professionals alike stuck around for more than two weeks, waiting for areas with a lot of vegetation to spark up again so new fires could quickly be put out. "We have a little snow on the ground now, so that makes everybody feel a little safer like it's not going to flare up," Ecker said. "Life is kind of getting back to normal," he added. "The fencing will take time, and the grass will take rain and snow, but I think everybody has the idea that things are getting back to normal and everybody's thankful for that." Senator Micheal Carrigy has welcomed the latest milestone in the Granard Motte project, which has received approval from Minister Heather Humphreys and the Department of Rural and Community Development to proceed to the Detailed Design and Tender Documents phase. This critical step will be completed in 2025, after which a contractor will be procured and appointed to bring this transformative project to life. The Granard Motte project, first approved for Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) funding in 2018, has secured a total of 2,872,500, covering 75% of the project cost. Failte Ireland, as a project partner, is providing match funding of 627,500. Also Read: Longford Variety Group present This Is Me Senator Carrigy emphasised the importance of this initiative, stating, The Granard Motte project represents a tremendous opportunity to enhance tourism and community amenities in our region. This historic site, a national monument, will be transformed into a heritage park on 15 acres, complete with a living Norman village and dedicated childrens amenities. It will not only showcase our rich history but also boost local tourism and economic development. Senator Carrigy also highlighted the hard work and dedication of Granard Motte Community Enterprise Ltd., whose commitment has been instrumental in driving the vision for this project forward. Their continued efforts, alongside the support of Failte Ireland, have been crucial to reaching this significant milestone. He thanked Longford County Council, Minister Humphreys and the Department for their continued commitment to this vital project and praised the collaborative efforts that are bringing this vision to reality. Also Read: Longford's Hazel McVeigh presented with Equine Judge certification This is a landmark moment for Granard and Co. Longford, and I look forward to seeing this project move into its next stages, bringing lasting benefits to our community, Senator Carrigy concluded. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: November 27 2024 Bipartisan legislation, which was passed by the House in May 2024, will support veterans and first responders with disabilities through specially trained service dogs. Americas VetDogs is thrilled to announce the passage of The Working Dog Commemorative Coin Act (S. 711) by the U.S. Senate. This bipartisan legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May, will honor the impact of working dogs on society, while supporting veterans, active-duty service members, and first responders with disabilities through the invaluable work of assistance dogs across America. Introduced in the Senate in March 2023 by Senators Ted Budd (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), the Act recognizes the invaluable contributions of working dogs across various fields, including military service and assistance roles. Surcharges from the sale of the commemorative coins will benefit Americas VetDogs, contributing to the breeding, raising, training, and placement of more service dogs at no cost to those in need. The bill was originally introduced to the 118th Congress in February 2023 by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). This legislation reflects what we can achieve together for a common cause, said John Miller, President & CEO of Americas VetDogs. Each coin purchased will help empower veterans and first responders to regain their independence, resilience, and quality of life. We are grateful to Senators Budd, Tillis, Kelly, and Duckworth, as well as Leader Schumer and Senator Gillibrand from our home state, for their leadership and bipartisan support. Working dogs help our nations active-duty service members, veterans, and first responders recover from injury, enhance their independence, and improve their lives. I commend the Senate and House for passing our bipartisan bill. This commemorative coin will honor the service of working dogs and provide funding to raise more service dogs for Americas heroes. Im proud to lead this effort to give back to those who serve our country. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC). Our veterans face unique challenges re-integrating into civilian life after theyve left the military and we owe them solutions and support as they transition their lives. Service dogs provide the companionship and everyday assistance that make a real positive impact towards independence, quality of life, and mental health. As we continue to confront the crisis of rising veteran suicide rates, I'm proud that our bipartisan legislation delivers solutions by expanding access to this critical form of supportand makes it available to Americas heroes at no cost. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Working dogs are vital to the many Americans who rely on them, including our nations veterans. I am proud the Senate passed this legislation to honor our amazing working dogs and support Americas VetDogs. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). Working dogs provide vital services and companionship to so many peoplefrom servicemembers and Veterans to the disability community and more. Im proud the Senate passed our bipartisan legislation today, which would recognize our furry friends while helping provide support to organizations that train these service dogs so theyre ready to serve. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). The bill now heads to The White House for the Presidents consideration. Once law, the coins are set to be issued by the Department of the Treasury via the U.S. Mint, in 2027. Funds raised via surcharges on sales of the coins will help cover the over $50,000 cost associated with preparing each service dog for our nations heroes. Americas VetDogs has been transforming lives since 2003, providing specially trained service dogs to veterans facing physical and emotional challenges, including PTSD, and helping them to Live Without Boundaries. To learn more about Americas VetDogs or the Working Dog Commemorative Coin Act, visit VetDogs.org/Coin. About Americas VetDogs For more than 20 years, Americas VetDogs (www.VetDogs.org) has trained and placed guide and service dogs to provide independence, enhanced mobility, and companionship to veterans with disabilities from all eras. In 2015, VetDogs opened its programs to first responders, including fire, police, and emergency medical personnel. Americas VetDogs is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded by the Guide Dog Foundation and serves clients from across the United States. Americas VetDogs relies on contributions from generous individuals, corporations, service clubs, and foundations to fund its mission to help those who have served our country live with dignity and independence. It costs over $50,000 to breed, raise, train, and place one assistance dog, but Americas VetDogs provides its services completely free of charge to the individuals it is honored to serve. Americas VetDogs has been accredited by both the International Guide Dog Federation and Assistance Dogs International. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: November 27 2024 Richard Gaines Jr. allegedly accepted and drew down pension payments made to his father from the New York State and Local Retirement System for two and a half years after the man's death. District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly and New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced that a Florida man was charged with grand larceny and identity theft for allegedly accepting, withdrawing, and spending nearly $80,000 in funds from pension payments made by the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) to the defendants father who had passed away in 2019. Richard Gaines Jr., 51, of Daytona Beach, Florida, was arraigned today before Judge Geoffrey Prime on charges of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony) and Identity Theft in the First Degree (a D felony). The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on November 27, 2024. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison. This defendant allegedly defrauded our states pension system, stealing tens of thousands of dollars of his deceased fathers pension funds to which he was not entitled, said DA Donnelly. The states retirement system is built to support public employees who earned their pensions over years of hard work. Financial abuses like the alleged theft committed by this defendant undermine this essential system and places an unnecessary burden on resources that provide security for hundreds of thousands of retirees and their beneficiaries. Mr. Gaines allegedly exploited his fathers death to pocket nearly $80,000 he was not entitled to, DiNapoli said. I will continue to work with law enforcement across the state and country to protect the pension fund. My thanks to Nassau County District Attorney Donnelly for her partnership with my investigative team. We will continue to steadfastly guard the pension system from fraud. DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, the defendants father, a Long Beach resident, was the sole account holder of a bank account in which he received his NYSLRS pension via direct deposit. The pensioner died on November 11, 2019, at which time all benefits should have ceased. After his death, pension deposits continued to be made into the checking account totaling $79,943. In June 2022, the defendant reported to NYSLRS that his father had died in 2019 and pension payments were terminated. A subsequent investigation showed that between November 11, 2019, and May 31, 2022, the defendant allegedly made more than 130 ATM withdrawals from his deceased fathers account, totaling $45,980, using his fathers debit card and ATM personal identification number. The defendant allegedly also used his fathers debit card to conduct 28 transactions totaling $2,484 for purchases at Nassau County businesses including BJs Wholesale, Stop & Shop, Wal-Mart, and other stores. The defendant also allegedly made ATM withdrawals in the states of New Jersey, Georgia, and Florida. Gaines Jr. surrendered to NCDA Detective Investigators on November 22, 2024. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Taylor Cain of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau under the supervision of Crimes Against Revenue Unit Chief Christine Burke and Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. The defendant was represented by the Legal Aid Society at arraignment. Woman Arrested for DWI After Seriously Injuring Man in Motor Vehicle Crash, Cops Say Crime By Chris Boyle Published: November 27 2024 Aleshia Davis, 39, was charged with Driving While Intoxicated. Suffolk County Police arrested a woman for driving while intoxicated following a North Patchogue motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a man early this morning. Aleshia Davis was driving a 2024 Audi Q7 southbound on Route 112 when her vehicle struck an eastbound 2011 Hyundai Sonata at the intersection of Sunrise Highway South Service Road at 12:35 a.m. Davis, 39, of Medford, was transported to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue for treatment of minor injuries. The driver of the Hyundai, Martin Darius, 41, of Shirley, was transported to Long Island Community Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Davis was charged with Driving While Intoxicated. The vehicles were impounded for safety checks. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Fifth Squad at 631-854-8552. One of a set of images Irans state-run Defapress labeled the vibe of Lebanon post-ceasefire. With Israel and Hamas having reached a ceasefire agreement, the rhetoric coming from Tehran is far from de-escalatory. Military and civilian officials within the Islamic Republic continue to underscore their commitment to rebuilding Hezbollahs capabilities and have reiterated threats of launching a third phase of the True Promise operation against Israel. Previously carried out in two coordinated attacks from Iranian soil on April 13 and October 1, the True Promise threats highlight Tehrans strategy of sustained pressure. The ceasefire period offers Iran a crucial window to reassert its influence and strengthen its regional proxies, aiming to solidify its position and prepare for future confrontations with Israel. Mahmoud Qomati, the deputy head of Hezbollahs political council, reaffirmed the groups devotion to the Palestinian cause on November 26, stating that Hezbollah will not abandon this mission. He also emphasized the organizations intention to move forward with its reconstruction efforts, signaling continued violations of ceasefire terms and a determination to maintain influence in the region. Despite the agreement explicitly prohibiting Hezbollahs presence in southern Lebanon, images and videos have surfaced showing members and supporters defiantly waving Hezbollah flags as they return to the region. In line with Hezbollahs statements and actions, the Islamic Republic has hinted at re-establishing Hezbollahs capabilities. Abbas Moghtadaei, deputy chairman of the Iranian Parliaments National Security Commission, reaffirmed Tehrans ongoing support for its regional proxies On November 27 and asserted that members of the Axis of Resistance will expand tremendously following this victory (ceasefire deal). A day prior, Islamic Republic Assembly of Experts member Abbas Kabi, who has close ties to Hezbollah, stated that Hezbollah cannot be expelled from southern Lebanon and added that the group will remain armed in the south (of Lebanon). The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency has advocated for the rearmament of Hezbollah, outlining a two-pronged strategy for Tehran following the ceasefire. The outlet emphasized the importance of mitigating past security breaches, likely referencing Israels intelligence superiority that enabled targeted pager and radio attacks affecting thousands of Hezbollah fighters. Most importantly, Tasnim highlighted the need to replenish Hezbollahs arsenal, referring to drones, rockets, and missiles produced in Iran. Tehrans calls for enhancing Hezbollahs military strength appear tied to its broader strategy of retaliating against Israels recent military actions on Iranian territory. While Israel officially confirmed that its air force successfully struck 20 sites on October 26, it withheld operational specifics. However, open-source intelligence and independent reports suggest that the strikes inflicted significant damage on Irans ballistic missile program and S-300 air defense systems. The Islamic Republics apparent openness to a ceasefire may stem from the disruption caused by these attacks, which likely hinder Irans ability to supply arms to its regional proxies until it can restore missile production capabilities. Nonetheless, Tehran feels compelled to retaliate to maintain its credibility among allies and followers, underscoring the high stakes in its confrontation with Israel. During a meeting with the regimes armed forces on November 27, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei urged heightened naval preparedness amid rising tensions with Israel, emphasizing deterrence as a strategic priority. Khamenei remarked, The foremost duty of the armed forces is to avert enemy aggression. You must project the nations combat readiness in such a way that hostile forces recognize the severe costs of any confrontation. Reflecting the regimes stance, Kayhana publication closely aligned with Khameneis officeunderscored the Axis of Resistances resolve against Israel. It noted that despite the ceasefire, Hezbollah has continued its operations, signaling a broader unwillingness within the coalition to pause the campaign against Israel. Ahmad Vahidi, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander who also served as Irans interior minister, law enforcement deputy commander, and chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, stated on November 26 that the Axis of Resistance remains determined to back Hamas until Israel halts its military campaign in Gaza. Vahidi also noted that the tensions will naturally continue until a ceasefire is reached. IRGC General and Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri threatened that Irans retaliation for Israels recent aggression would surpass expectations, emphasizing that this response would differ in tactics, execution, and weaponry. Similarly, IRGC member and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared on November 26, Hezbollah is more alive than ever, pledging to proceed with the True Promise 3. The administration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed these sentiments on November 27. In a press briefing in response to the ceasefire deal, the Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated Tehrans unwavering support for Lebanese Hezbollahs resistance against Israel. Amid Irans threats of a decisive retaliation against Israel, Jerusalem and Washington have reaffirmed their alignment in addressing this shared threat. Following the approval of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on November 26 that Israel would now shift its strategic focus to the head of the octopusthe regime in Tehran. On the same day, President-elect Donald Trumps national security advisor nominee, Mike Waltz, said the incoming US administration aims to restore stability in the Middle East by reimplementing the Maximum Pressure campaign against Tehran. Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republics regional malign influence. IDF soldiers operating in an area near the Litani River. (IDF photo) Israel moved one step closer to a ceasefire in Lebanon on November 26. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought to his cabinet a ceasefire proposal that had been in negotiations in recent days. Netanyahu said in a statement that he had promised Israel victory and we will achieve victory. He described a complex, multi-front war in which the fight with Hezbollah was the seventh front. The other fronts include Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. Netanyahu described the background of the fighting in Lebanon, which intensified when Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows on September 23. On October 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a limited ground operation in Lebanon that has mostly sought to comb through border villages and remove immediate Hezbollah threats near the border, such as anti-tank missiles and short-range rocket launchers. Hezbollah decided to attack us from Lebanon on October 8th [2023]. A year later, it is not the same Hezbollah. We have pushed them decades back. We eliminated Nasrallah, the axis of the axis. We have taken out the organizations top leadership, we have destroyed most of their rockets and missiles, we have killed thousands of terrorists, and we demolished their underground terror infrastructure abutting our border, infrastructure they had been building for years, Netanyahu said. Israel set itself several goals for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Among them is one stated goal in the conflict with Hezbollah: Israel wants to enable around 60,000 people who were evacuated in October 2023 to return to their homes in northern Israel. The war will not end until we realize all its goals, including the return of the residents of the north safely home, Netanyahu claimed. Israel expects that the ceasefire, supported by the United States, will enable the IDF to maintain full freedom of military action. This means that if Hezbollah seeks to re-arm, again threaten Israel, or rebuild sites near the border, then Israel may attack the group. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack, Netanyahu added. In this regard, Israel has set itself a difficult mission, because preventing Hezbollah from obtaining weapons, as Netanyahu spelled out in his vows regarding the agreement, will be challenging. We will respond forcefully to any violation, the Israeli prime minister said. If the ceasefire is successful in Lebanon, Israel will be able to focus on the Gaza front and on enabling reservists to return home. Many Israeli reservists have been called up for more than 10 months out of the last 13 months of war. Five IDF divisions, including around 15 brigades, have seen action in southern Lebanon. Among the reserve units that fought in Lebanon are the 2nd Carmeli Infantry Brigade, the 3rd Alexandroni Infantry Brigade, the 9th Oded Infantry Brigade, the 228th Alon Infantry Brigade, the 8th HaZaken Armored Brigade, the 205th HaBarzel Armored Brigade, and the 226th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade. Even though a large number of units participated in the operations in southern Lebanon, the overall ground operation remained relatively small in most areas, consisting of cautious advances up to several miles into Lebanon to take control of border villages and search for terrorist infrastructure. The IDF added some details about units that have participated recently in fighting in southern Lebanon. The elite Shaldag Unit, an Israeli Air Force special operations unit, conducted raids with the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion. The IDF said these activities took place near the Litani River, which stretches across southern Lebanon. The Shaldag Unit operated to locate and destroy Hezbollah terrorist compounds, which had been used in recent months to launch dozens of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. During the activity, the troops raided several targets above and below ground. The soldiers found short- and long-range rockets as well as other sites Hezbollah used to store weapons. In another area of Lebanon, north of the Israeli community of Metula, the IDFs 98th Division and Commando Brigade continued attacks on Hezbollah sites. Over the past week, the Commando Brigade identified and eliminated an armed terrorist cell, including Hezbollahs regional commander in the area, the IDF said. The ground operations were combined with increased airstrikes on Beirut on November 26. The IDF warned residents of numerous buildings to evacuate as strikes continued throughout the day. The expectation in Israel was that the ceasefire would take effect during the morning of November 27, meaning that these rounds of airstrikes are expected to be some of the last in roughly two months of intense fighting. 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 major aerospace company responsible for designing, manufacturing and servicing military aircraft and space systems, Boeing, recently announced plans to lay off nearly 17,000 employees. The companys CEO, Kelly Ortberg, said last month Boeing planned to reduce the size of its total workforce by roughly 10% in addition to several other initiatives aimed at restoring (the) company. Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together. Beyond navigating out current environment, restoring our company requires tough decisions, Ortberg wrote in the October release. We also need to focus our resources on preforming and innovating in the areas that are core to who we are rather than spreading ourselves across too many efforts that can often result in underperformance and underinvestment. As a result of the companys restructuring plans, the workforce will see a reduction of roughly 10% which includes executives, managers and employees. The Virginia-based aircraft and aerospace company operates out of several countries, and is based in the United States. According to several news outlets, the companys first round of layoffs is coming right before Christmas, with Boeing having filed federally-mandated notices in seven states for a total of 3,509 layoffs slated by Jan. 17. As of Nov. 27, Boeing has filed to cut 2,199 workers in Washington, 50 in Oregon, 220 in South Carolina, 101 in Pennsylvania, 63 in Colorado, 184 in Arizona and 692 in Missouri. Washington employees will be hit the soonest, with layoffs coming Dec. 20. All other states will see layoffs Jan. 17. Two fast food chains in Massachusetts are facing more than $2 million in fines after the Attorney Generals office says they violated child labor laws and didnt pay their employees. The investigation began after an employee at Burger King complained to the Attorney Generals office that they werent getting paid. Between at least January 2022 and March 2023, officials said the Burger King franchise didnt pay their employees minimum wage or make timely payments to workers. Sometimes, officials said, they didnt pay their employees at all. Northeast Foods LLC, which operated the Burger King locations, has nearly 2,000 employees across Massachusetts. They also didnt allow workers to earn and use sick time, which is legally required. The fast food chain failed to maintain accurate employee payroll records and failed to provide certain requested documentation, including payroll records, to the Attorney Generals office. During this time, officials said they scheduled minors for work during hours that are prohibited by Massachusetts child labor laws and had them working more than the states limit of nine daily working hours. And this isnt the first time. In 2017 and 2022, the Attorney Generals office cited Northeast Foods LLC for multiple violations of the states child labor laws at their Burger King locations. And in 2019, officials cited the company for not maintaining a legally required earned sick leave policy at a Burger King location in Marlborough. The chain was fined $2,029,754, which includes restitution for unpaid wages and penalties. There were also 19 Popeyes franchise locations across Massachusetts that violated the states child labor laws and the earned sick time law. Popeyes franchise operators Amish Parikh and Ashish Parikh, of New Jersey, didnt allow three workers to use sick time as legally required and scheduled minors for work during legally prohibited hours, the Attorney Generals office said. The company settled and was fined $212,516, which included restitution for the workers and penalties. Our workplace laws exist to provide crucial rights and protections to our workforce, said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. My office will continue to enforce these laws to protect and empower workers, including young workers who contribute to their communities and gain new skills and experiences. A North Chelmsford woman faces several charges in connection with driving the wrong way while intoxicated, New Hampshire State Police announced Wednesday. Before 1 a.m. on Wednesday, state police were notified of a car driving south on the northbound side of Interstate 93, state police said in a statement. Callers saw the car in Ashland, New Hampshire, with others telling state police that it was driving at high speeds in the left lane. A Sanbornton police officer found and stopped the driver, the statement read. A state police trooper investigated and arrested the driver, Grace Dionne, 22. She faces the charges of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated. Massachusetts residents have cast their ballots in the 2024 General Election. In addition to the top-of-the-ticket fight for the White House other pivotal races for the U.S. House and Senate and the state Legislature were also on the ballot. Bay State residents also made their voices heard on five ballot questions, the outcome of which could reshape public policy in the commonwealth for decades to come. There also are contests for the Governors Council, a little-understood panel that traces its roots to the Colonial era and plays a key role in state government such as confirming judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments. Below are election results, which will be updated as they become available after the polls close. Results are unofficial until they are certified in a couple of weeks. The presidency Republican Donald Trump has been elected to a second term as president, defeating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The race was decided in a handful of battleground states, all of which Trump has either won or is narrowly leading as of Wednesday morning. Here are the nationwide results. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., back right, and Republican challenger John Deaton, back left, participate in their second debate ahead of the 2024 senatorial election moderated by GBH News Political Reporters Adam Reilly, front from right, and Saraya Wintersmith along with NEPM News Reporter Adam Frenier, at NEPM's headquarters in Springfield on Oct. 17, 2024. (Meredith Nierman/Pool Photo via AP)(Meredith Nierman/Pool Photo via AP) U.S. Senate race Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Cambridge, has secured another term. She faced Republican John Deaton, an attorney and political newcomer, from Swansea. You can read the full story here. Results are below. A view of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)AP U.S. House All nine members of Massachusetts' U.S. House delegation are on the ballot this year. Several face general election opponents. They are: U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-2nd District U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton D-6th District U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-9th District Just two lawmakers, Lynch and Keating, had Republican challengers, and both emerged victorious on Election Day. Lynch faces Robert Burke, a videographer from Milton, who is mounting his second challenge. Lynch has represented the Boston-based seat since 2013. Keating, who has represented the South Shore-based 9th District spanning Quincy, the Cape and Islands and New Bedford since 2013, faces Dan Sullivan, a nurse from Manomet. Neal and McGovern, respectively faced independent challengers Nadia Milleron and Cornelius Shea. Both won re-election. The Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston (Noah R. Bombard). The Legislature There are 54 contested House races and 14 contested Senate races this year. Democrats control both the 40-member state Senate and the 160-member state House. And while there is some competition on the ballot this year, an overwhelming majority of state lawmakers are expected to have smooth sailing on the way to reelection on Nov. 5. Here are the results from four key open-seat races around the state: Plymouth/Barnstable Senate District: 10th Bristol House District: 8th Bristol House District: 3rd Berkshire House District: Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page speaks at a March 4 rally for a ballot question to remove the MCAS graduation requirement outside the Statehouse. (SAM DRYSDALE / STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE)State House News Service Scroll to the end of this story to find links to the results for other contested legislative races. The ballot questions The race for the White House and the Massachusetts U.S. Senate campaign are getting a lot of public attention this campaign season. But theyre not the only acts in town. Not by a long shot. Bay State voters will also cast their ballots this fall on a quintet of ballot questions that, if approved, could reshape public policy for years to come, often in the most direct and interesting ways. Here are the results. Question 1: Whether to authorize the state auditor to audit the state Legislature, and remove some existing regulations regarding the auditing process. This question passed by the widest margin across the state. Question 2: Whether to repeal the requirement that students must achieve a certain competency level on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam to graduate high school. This question also passed handily. Question 3: Whether to provide for unionizing and collective bargaining for transportation network drivers. The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday afternoon, handing a win to the yes campaign. Question 4: Regulating access to naturally occurring psychedelic substances. This question failed. Question 5: Whether to gradually increase the wage of tipped employees ($6.75 an hour) until it meets the state minimum wage ($15 an hour) in 2029 and still permit tipping in addition to the minimum wage. This question failed by the widest margin of the ballot questions. The entrance to the Massachusetts Governor's Council's chambers on the third floor of the State House in Boston. (John L. Micek/MassLive)John L. Micek Governors Council The elected body, also known as the Executive Council, serves a low-profile but very important purpose in state government: It acts on pardons and commutations, confirms judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments to a host of boards and commissions, according to the states website. There are only three contested races for the eight seats on the council, according to Ballotpedia. Those races are: District 2: Tamisha Civil (D); Francis T. Crimmins Jr. (R) District 5: Eunice Ziegler (D); Anne Manning-Martin (R) District 7: Paul DePalo (D); Andrew Couture (R) Incumbent Councilors Joseph C. Ferreira (District 1); Christopher A. Iannella (District 4), and Terrence W. Kennedy (District 6), are running without opposition. Newly elected Councilor Mara Dolan, who defeated incumbent Councilor Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney in the Sept. 3 primary, also is running without general election opposition, according to Ballotpedia. As of 6:45 on Wednesday morning, Democrats Civil and DePalo had emerged victorious, according to the AP, and Zeigler was leading. Results for state legislative races: Senate: 1st Middlesex 2nd Essex 3rd Bristol/Plymouth 3rd Suffolk Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire Cape and Islands Worcester and Middlesex Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex Plymouth and Barnstable Worcester and Hampden Worcester and Hampshire House of Representatives: 1st Barnstable 1st Bristol 1st Middlesex 1st Plymouth 2nd Barnstable 2nd Bristol 2nd Norfolk 2nd Worcester 3rd Barnstable 3rd Berkshire 4th Hampden 4th Worcester 5th Barnstable 5th Bristol 6th Essex 6th Plymouth 6th Worcester 8th Bristol 8th Plymouth 9th Norfolk 9th Middlesex 9th Plymouth 9th Suffolk 10th Bristol 10th Norfolk 11th Middlesex 12th Plymouth 13th Middlesex 14th Bristol 19th Middlesex Not snow, not rain, not gloom of night ... not really. Frustrated by persistent delivery delays, shuttered post offices, and other service issues, and with the holidays closing in, a group of Bay State politicians have called on the U.S. Postal Service to get its act together in Massachusetts. "For more than a year, we have observed a pattern of facility closures, consolidations, and slowed service resulting in delayed or lost mail for our constituents," U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote to U.S. Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Hull and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a pair of letters on Wednesday. Markey was joined on the letter by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and seven of the nine Democratic members of the states U.S. House delegation. Our efforts to address these concerns with USPS have been shrugged off by management. We write to ask that you conduct a review of the cause of these problems, the lawmakers wrote. The letters came even as Markey and postal union workers held a news conference in Bostons Mission Hill neighborhood calling on DeJoy to step down. I am constantly hearing reports from residents of egregiously delayed mail delivery, closed post office locations, weeks of lost mail, and so much more, Markey said, according to The Boston Herald. Specifically, Im hearing from residents across the city of Boston who are getting mail once a week, if not once a month. They are experiencing months of mail delays, and important mail pieces like medications and checks are delayed on a consistent basis, he continued, according to the newspaper. MassLive reached out to the Postal Service for comment about the call for DeJoy to resign, and for details on its efforts to address the service issues raised by Markey and union leaders. The timing of the letters and the press conference may be different, but the issues are familiar ones. Thats particularly true in Boston, where elected officials reached out to the Postal Service in September to voice concerns about delivery issues as Election Day loomed. Many of the citizens Ive talked to have told me that mail service is terrible, that theyre not getting mail on a regular basis, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin told WBZ-TV in Boston at the time. Obviously, we expect that ballot vote to be delivered to them and returned from them. On Wednesday, the Bay State pols dinged the Postal Service for what they said was the agencys refusal to testify before Boston City Council on Nov. 13. In the letters, the lawmakers asked for "ZIP-code level data to better address the disparate impact that mail delivery delays are causing, particularly in communities of historical underinvestment in Boston." DeJoy visited Boston earlier this month, meeting with local officials to jump-start negotiations on an effort to add more tracks to South Station. The space being eyed for the expansion is currently home to a giant mail-sorting facility, The Boston Globe reported. In an appearance before city business leaders earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, whos spearheading the effort, said he was optimistic about the prospects of an agreement. Moving the postal facility also would reopen a shuttered section of Dorchester Avenue, he noted. Theres tremendous opportunity if we manage it well, Lynch said during his appearance before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. In the letter to the Postal Service leaders, Markey and his Capitol Hill colleagues also raised concerns about closed post offices in Medway, Watertown, and Bostons Allston neighborhood; lost mail across the Greater Boston region; the proposed consolidation of a processing center in Brockton, and an agency proposal for a slowdown in rural mail delivery. "Proper postal service takes differing lived experiences into account when ensuring that mail delivery is regular and frequent. We understand that proper mail delivery is a justice issue; we question whether you do, the lawmakers wrote to DeJoy. Also joining Markey and Warren on the letter were U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, D-1st District; James P. McGovern, D-2nd District; Lori Trahan, D-3rd District; Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District; Katherine Clark, D-5th District; Seth Moulton, D-6th District, and Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District. In October 2023, Markey, Warren, and McGovern sent DeJoy a letter calling on the Postal Service to "to restore adequate postal service" to Medway, which experienced a sudden suspension of service in August of that same year. They followed up with another letter in November 2023 calling on the Postal Service to abide by their required timeline for announcing plans to re-open the Medway Post Office and engage in community input processes. In March, lawmakers fired off still another letter to DeJoy urging him to stop any changes to USPS service standards that would result in job losses and further degrade mail delivery performance, which would have resulted in the consolidation of the Brockton Processing and Delivery Center. In June, as a result, the Postal Service pressed pause on those efforts, according to Markeys office. In August, Bay State lawmakers asked DeJoy for a meeting to talk about widespread service issues across the state. On a busy strip of Dorchester Avenue in Boston, theres a hole in the community where a hospital used to be. Carney Hospital, the community mainstay that traced its roots to South Boston in 1863, closed its doors for good in August, leaving generations of patients who depended on it for care scrambling to find other options. Carney, along with Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, which also closed in August, were both casualties of the bankruptcy of Dallas-based Steward Health Care, a company whose name has now become synonymous with the perils of private-equity health care. Three months after doctors at Carney and Nashoba treated their final patients, and nearly two months after Steward sold off its remaining properties in the Bay State, Massachusetts officials and policymakers are still sifting through the rubble of its collapse. Heres a little bit of what that looks like: Patients who used to get care at Steward-owned hospitals, including Nashoba, are turning to other facilities, putting more stress on already strained hospitals and emergency rooms. In Dorchester, the nonprofit Health Care for All sent canvassers into the streets to help residents understand what happened to the hospital and what might come next for the sprawling property, according to the local Dorchester Reporter. Meanwhile, a working group convened by Mayor Michelle Wu is studying the impact of Carneys closing and is expected to issue its recommendations early next year. Carneys closing has left critical gaps in access to care, Wu said in an October statement announcing the groups formation, adding that officials must act quickly to address the future of quality health care on this site and bring community members together to reimagine and strengthen access. On Beacon Hill, a bill intended to avert a future Steward-style meltdown remains tied up in a joint House and Senate conference committee, with the clock running down on the current two-year legislative session. 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. House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, has said hes pretty confident lawmakers will get a finished bill onto Gov. Maura Healeys desk before the lights go out. On Capitol Hill, federal lawmakers, including Democratic U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are raising concerns about the private-equity-owned firm thats taken over Stewards physicians' network. Both lawmakers have raised concerns about the continuity of care now that Rural Healthcare, a subsidiary of the private equity firm Kinderhook Industries LLC, has taken over the network formerly known as Stewardship Health. Markey, in particular, has said he fears that the same Stewardship executives who drove that health care provider into the ground will now take the reins at the newly christened Revere Medical. These executives should not be permitted to fail up and place in jeopardy another health care provider on which Massachusetts residents will come to rely, Markey wrote in a Nov. 25 letter to Rural Healthcare CEO Benson Sloan. And the Healey administration? Speaking to WCVB-TV in Boston on Sunday state Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh acknowledged the health care challenges posed by Stewards bankruptcy. But she stopped short of the same blanket condemnation of private equity ownership of hospitals made by Warren and others. The Cambridge Democrat has compared the firms to vampires. I think that private equity is a mechanism for people to access capital, Walsh told the stations On the Record program. And we have a health care system that has to change. It has to innovate. We have to find better ways to serve people. The Bay States biotech and life sciences sectors are funded by venture and private interests, so any blanket statement doesnt make sense. Stewards other former Massachusetts hospitals, including Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeths Medical Center in Brighton, have been sold and are in the hands of new owners. Among them is Rhode Island-based Lifespan Health System, which took over Morton Hospital in Taunton and Saint Annes Hospital in Fall River in a $175 million deal. The companys president and CEO, John Fernandez, has pronounced himself confident our team has the experience and know-how to rebuild the infrastructure of these two hospitals and operate them as successful and thriving not-for-profit organizations. Still, at least one Massachusetts lawmaker is taking a wait-and-see approach to whether that prediction will come true. While theres been this scramble to arrange sort of these shotgun weddings, where a so-called healthy hospital will take over one of these wounded or dysfunctional hospitals, its too soon to tell whether these shotgun marriages will allow us to maintain a system that reliably and adequately meets the needs of our community, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce earlier this month. Speaking to WCVB-TV, Walsh, the Healey administration official, disagreed with Lynchs shotgun marriage characterization of the scramble to find new owners, calling it a reflection of his Irish wit. And, then, perhaps speaking for the Bay Staters who lived through Stewards collapse and are still waiting to come through the other side, she noted that its still hard work. As are most things. But in health care especially. SPRINGFIELD A federal judge is mulling a motion to dismiss from Ludlow school and town officials in a $10 million lawsuit filed by a former teacher who was fired for outing an 11-year-old genderqueer student to the childs parents. Bonnie A. Manchester was fired in 2021 for conduct unbecoming a teacher, after she informed the students parents that the student sent an email to the staff reporting she was gender fluid, and wanted to be referred to by a different name and pronouns. Manchester had been with the Ludlow school system for two decades. Info/News: Renouvellement du permis doperation pour les pharmacies priveesLes prochaines rencontres de football de la MFAMeteo du 6 janvier 2025Modoki La Nina dans le PacifiqueZone pluvio-orageuse au Nord-Nord Ouest de MauriceTrois Jumbo Express ferment leurs portesDeces de Lady Nancy Ah-ChuenSpace42s Thuraya 4 Satellite successfully launched into orbit[Video news] Baby John au Sirsa[Video News] Les numeros gagnants du tirage du Loto et Loto Plus du 4 janvier 2025Sanjiv Ranjan is the new Secretary-General of the IORA SecretariatLettre ouverte au Premier ministre du PakistanLettre ouverte a lAmbassadeur des Etats Unis a MauriceIPLOOK Networks 2024 RecapThe Best-Performing CEOs in Africa in 2024iHerb Debuts Digital Wellness HubHinen to showcase advanced energy storage technologyContribution decisive des Nouveaux Democrates dans la victoire du 10 Novembre 2024DTOS Group lance une initiative innovante pour renforcer les relations intergenerationnelles en entreprise[Video News] La 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solutions and sustainable livingDepression tropicale a lEst-Nord-est[Document] Debats parlementaires du 20 decembre 2024[Document] The Special Allowance Act 2024[Document] The Employment Relations (Amendment) Act 2024Maurice et lAfrique du Sud veulent renforcer leurs liens culturels en 2025[Video News] Message de Noel de Mgr Jean-Michael Durhone[Video News] Message de Noel de Mgr Stelio Andre[Video News] Message de Noel de Dharambeer Gokhool[Video News] La combinaison gagnante du Loto et Loto Plus du 25 decembre 2024 WE have had a very short run-in to General Election 2024 but there have been plenty of twists and turns since Taoiseach Simon Harris dissolved the Dail on Friday, November 8. The results from a lot of constituencies across the country look fairly predictable, but that cannot be said here in Mayo. We are in for a fascinating battle once the boxes are opened from 9am on Saturday at the Count Centre, which once again will be located in the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar. The bookmakers odds and the results of the TG4 Ipsos B&A poll of the constituency show that only two of the candidates are relatively safe. Fine Gael Junior Minister Alan Dillon is now at the top of the betting markets and it is generally expected that he will top the poll. Still, he is unlikely to be elected on the first count. Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh looks to be clear in second place, and she should comfortably hold on to her seat. However, she may have to wait until the likely elimination of her running mate, Cllr Gerry Murray. Momentum does seem to have swung towards Fianna Fail in recent days, with both Dara Calleary and Lisa Chambers now occupying the third and fourth positions in the betting markets put up by the two biggest bookmakers, Paddy Power and Boyle Sports. However, both candidates will struggle to get transfers, and they will have to be patient to get over the line. Both bookmakers now have Fine Gaels Cllr Mark Duffy in fifth position and favourite to take the final seat but there has been a significant move in recent days for Westport-based first-time Fine Gael candidate Keira Keogh. Concerted campaign Keogh was as big as 3/1 to take a seat a little over a week ago, but both betting companies now have her clear in sixth position at odds of 11/8. There has been a concerted campaign in Westport and west Mayo in recent days to hammer home the Fine Gael message that the area needs to vote to keep a TD in order to build on the decades of work put in by retiring TD Michael Ring. The veteran TD has most certainly given his full backing to the Keogh campaign, as has long-time Erris-based Fine Gael councillor, Gerry Coyle, and Keogh now has the wind in her sails as voting day approaches. However, the volatile nature of the Mayo constituency can be judged by the fact that the bookmakers are now discounting the chances of other candidates in the field. The aforementioned TG4 poll struck a blow to the campaign of the other first-time Fine Gael candidate in the field, Martina Jennings, but her battle in south Mayo with the now-Independent councillor, Patsy OBrien, will still be one of the most interesting aspects of voting in the Mayo constituency. OBrien has drifted in the betting markets, probably due to the controversy surrounding the reasons for his expulsion from Fine Gael, but he is still firmly in the race for a seat. The TG4 poll has given real impetus to the campaign of Aontu councillor, Paul Lawless, who is now as short as 11/2 with the bookmakers. He may fall just short of getting into the race for the final seat, but his transfers and those of Independent Irelands Chris Maxwell and Independent Stephen Kerr, are going to prove pivotal in deciding who remains in the race for those final seats. In such a tight race, every vote could prove crucial, so Mayo voters are encouraged to get out in large numbers on Friday next and play their role in deciding which five Mayo candidates are elected to the 34th Dail. I was canvassed last week by an aspirant TD from one of the government parties. Our cottage is on the slopes of Croagh Patrick, close to the exit of the controversial proposed TII/Mayo County Council cycle track on the mountainside. The canvassers had failed to notice my protest placard at the gate, and when I raised the matter, claimed that this was a local issue whereas their candidate was running for national office. Presumably, they thought the line of similar placards all along the road from Belclare to Murrisk to be equally irrelevant. To say that the debate about the cycle track on the mountainside versus a track along the road from Westport to Murrisk has been poisonous is an understatement. Initial survey A national agency, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), and the executive of Mayo County Council (MCC) are pushing for the construction of a tarmac-surfaced road through the Belclare Owenwee River Valley and through pristine oak woods and over slopes of Croagh Patrick, through the old Murrisk Deer Park. Construction is not the whole story. Also involved is the destruction of an area of great natural beauty and ecological importance when an alternative roadside track would be feasible, cheaper and environmentally friendlier. For many years, there has been discussion about the desirability of a cycle track that circled Clew Bay, starting at Westport, proceeding along the south side of the bay through Murrisk, Lecanvey, Louisburgh and ending at the ferry harbour at Roonagh. From there, ferries could bring cyclists to Clare Island, itself a wonderful place to explore, and afterwards another ferry would take them to Darbys Point on Achill Island. A track from Darbys Point to Achill Sound (one location of the financial malfeasance of MCC back in 2022) then connects cyclists to the existing magnificent greenway on the abandoned rail track linking the Sound to Mulranny, Newport and home to Westport. A challenging and spectacular round trip of 105km. An attraction of European significance. A freedom of information (FOI) request disclosed that MCC obtained initial funding for the Clew Bay cycle track in 2020 and carried out a very detailed survey (a Digital Terrain Model) of the initial roadside route from Westport to Murrisk. The survey concluded that bringing the existing R335 hard-shoulder cycle track to a safe standard would be feasible and could be constructed with limited impact on local roadside properties. Screeching halt Two events brought progress on this project to a screeching halt. Firstly, very serious financial malfeasance was uncovered in MCC that resulted in the Government confiscating the allocated funding. Second, the Covid-19 lockdown brought all construction activity to a standstill. When the Westport-Murrisk cycle track project resurfaced in 2023 it had mutated into a TII gold-plated greenway that MCC now claims could not be placed along the existing road without massive expense. Documents recently issued by the Mayo National Roads Office costed the mountain track at 6.5 million and the roadside track at 14 million. It is claimed that a roadside track would require eight houses and seven sheds be demolished versus zero for the mountain route. Also, 29 driveways and 2,272 boundary walls would have to be demolished and rebuilt, versus two and 200, respectively, for the mountainside option. These claims are shockingly misleading and false, because there is no need for the roadside greenway to be gold plated. The copper-plated design initially made by MCC would be safe and fit the bill perfectly. Earlier in November, I was told by MCC that: In response to FOI 2421 I confirm that Mayo County Council has not applied for any departures from standards in relation to the Belclare to Murrisk Greenway. Badly served It is very clear what is going on here. The Council initially acquired funding for the roadside cycle track but had to return it to the Department of Community and Rural Affairs because of its questionable administration of those funds. It must have seemed as though nobody would ever trust MCC with funding again, but TII was prepared to do so, at a price the price being environmental degradation. Mayo County Council could have sought modifications to the TII greenway design standard to facilitate construction along the roadside. In their eagerness to put the track on the mountainside, they never explored the possibility of modest departures from the TII standards to enable a safe and inexpensive cycle track to be built along the roadside. This behaviour flies in the face of MCCs original 2020 plans, which included an improved road-segregated greenway from Belclare to Murrisk and widening of the R335 at any pinch-point locations to around three metres. Having cycled the roadside route, I have seen for myself that there are few enough pinch points, they could be easily addressed, the land is already in public ownership, and no houses or sheds would have to be demolished. Meanwhile, the rest of the Clew Bay cycle track remains in abeyance. If this is a local issue and not a national issue, as claimed by my aspirant TD visitor, who then will protect us from the dishonest, misleading and arrogant behaviour of a County Council Executive that is so strapped for cash that it recently announced that all hedge cutting would terminate due to lack of finance? The people of Mayo are badly served by a Council Executive that prefers to hide its real intentions and motivations behind barriers of secrecy, has a confrontational relationship with our elected Councillors, and has already admitted to drawing down funds without incurring the requisite expenditure, leaving a trail of miscoded invoices. Many years ago, when my late mother taught in the local convent, she refused to sign a Good Luck card for a retiring teacher because the card was not made in Ireland. Another card with a Made in Ireland stamp was procured and presented to the teacher. Mothers motto was simple, buy Irish when you can and support your fellow country people. We have since been through the Guaranteed Irish phase, a government-sponsored scheme to support Irish businesses. That has more or less lapsed because of our European love-bombing, with EU procurement procedures to the fore. Meanwhile, its sad to see so many businesses close down across the country, especially in the hospitality sector. Pubs and restaurants bear the brunt of the closedowns. Increased costs outside of the operators control is the main reason. Lack of local support is another. While political candidates tread the election trail it is Government costs, directly and indirectly, that are killing off many of these businesses. The unscrupulous and unreal rise in rates is one example. Politicians cannot blame anyone other than themselves. Its amazing how some local politicians want to remove themselves from the consequences of decisions taken at national level by their respective parties. The reality is that both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael politicians are directly responsible for the rates rises, regardless of their claims that its the Valuation Office (Tailte Eireann). Tail-wagging-dog politics is no longer acceptable. On top of rates you also have VAT, income tax, USC and excise duty, not to mention tax on almost every product and service you buy. This means you use your already-taxed money to pay more tax! While fuel and energy companies screwed all around them since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, our government stood idly by and raked in increased taxes from consumers. Efforts at energy credits following a public outcry was a poor government response. When paying rates businesses once received water in, water out and refuse collection services, all now hived off to quangos and private companies. Today, if businesses cannot pay they receive nothing more than a legal threat from a statutory body. There are no direct services now in exchange for paying rates. A government website claims: The money generated from commercial rates goes towards the running of day-to-day services provided by the local authority, including street lighting, street cleaning, footpath and road maintenance, public parks and spaces, environmental protection, libraries, fire services, and more. These services were once provided by our direct taxes. When challenged about the ongoing deterioration of roads and footpaths the council will claim not to have money. Even voluntary committees bringing business to the town that require road closures are being asked to pay for council newspaper notices! Councils seem to have money for nothing. Who made the decisions to stop long-standing allocations of tax monies to councils for the provision of everyday services? When, where and why were those decisions made that enable councils to claim they do not now have money? Yet, councils are still allocated taxpayer-funded State money. Today in Westport, the Chamber of Commerce is involved in the provision of Christmas lights. This commendable action has the downside of appearing to let the council off the hook. Approaching Christmas will mean an extra drain of peoples resources. Shop local is the key message. The money you pay locally is an investment in our parish community. Its now so easy to shop online with foreign companies who have no vested interest in our community other than the monies they can squeeze out of us. We need to make positive decisions to favour local businesses that also support local workers and ensure viability of businesses. They are the ones we turn to for support when our clubs and societies need sponsorship. Christmas is an opportune time to repay them for their kindness. My late mothers message from years ago still rings true support the people around us. Westport Chamber of Commerce has a Westport Christmas Shop Local campaign. Over 100 retail and hospitality businesses are supporting a draw for 5,000 in shopping vouchers for participating customers. When you shop local no one loses. Mayo has fallen in love with Paddington Bear since he first appeared not so long ago on a bench in front of The Mayo News offices on The Fairgreen in Westport. Happily, he seems content to stay, enjoying a marmalade sandwich and the attention of visitors of all ages, who come and sit with him a while and watch the world go by. But theres another bear in town and this one is not from deepest, darkest Peru. Shes from right here in the west of Ireland, and shes just as adorable. Shes had lots of adventures too, and shes keen to tell everyone all about them. The Adventures of Grainne Bear is a new series of childrens books written by Bernie Gaughan, a woman who is very passionate about bears of all kinds and their adventures. The first in the series, entitled The Discovery, will be launched this Thursday evening, November 28, in the Grainuaile Visitor Centre, Church Street, Louisburgh, at 6.30pm and all are welcome. This book tells the enchanting story of how Grainne Bear and her family are discovered, recounting Grainne Bears ancestors connection with Grace OMalley, Mayos Pirate Queen, more commonly known as Grainne Mhaol, or Granuaile. There are many adventures, from way back in the 16th century to the present day, travelling all along the coast of Mayo, the Wild Atlantic Way and beyond. History and fiction combine to create a beautiful story that is sure to capture the imagination, and the book's timely release means it could make the perfect Christmas gift for young and old. Bernie was inspired to write the Adventures of Grainne Bear series by her time working at the Granuaile Visitor Centre. The books have allowed her to merge her natural creativity and her keen interest in history, channelling them through the medium of teddy bears to produce these beautiful stories. The Adventures of Grainne Bear The Discovery will be available to buy at the Granuaile Centre, Louisburgh, and The Bookshop, Westport. More outlets will be announced on the website, grainnebear.ie. In more exciting news, Grainne Bear herself will also attend the upcoming Christmas markets in Newport and Westport Town Hall. For more information, visit grainnebear.ie or email grainnebearsadventures@gmail.com. Atlantic Technological University (ATU) completed its 2024 graduations last week, celebrating the achievements of over 5,000 graduates in ceremonies in Donegal, Galway, Sligo, Mayo and Connemara. The ceremonies have brought together students, families and faculty to honour the hard work and dedication of graduates across a wide range of disciplines, from undergraduate certificates to doctoral degrees. Fields as diverse as science, engineering, health, business, and the creative arts were recognised, in one of the most important events in the university calendar year. Speaking at the Galway ceremony, Dr Orla Flynn, President of ATU, extended her congratulations to all graduates, stating it will have a real impact on the region: This year, ATU will have seen about 5000 graduates receiving awards that brings a hugely positive impact on society and especially across this region. As you, our wonderful new graduates, step into the next phase of your careers, I encourage you to stay connected with ATU and to join our growing family of alumni Together, we can continue to build a brighter future for the West and Northwest of Ireland, and beyond. Dr Flynn also highlighted the universitys ongoing commitment to the region, noting that ATU will continue to expand its offerings and respond to the needs of students and the wider community. Highlighting recent developments like the introduction of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy programmes, she added: In just two and a half years, ATU has focused on addressing regional needs. The launch of these programmes is proof of our commitment, though much work remains ahead. In her speech to graduates, Dr Flynn called for the removal of constraints on the technological university (TU) sector, constraints that prevent ATU from better serving the West and Northwest of Ireland: To fully deliver on our promise to the region, we need to be given the full set of tools used by other universities in Ireland and across Europe. We need to be able to appoint Professors, access funds for essential facilities, and develop affordable student accommodation. Dr Flynn concluded by repeating an appeal to policymakers saying: I am calling on those who hold the keys to use them, to enable us to unlock our full potential and, in turn, the potential of the region. ATUs 2024 conferring celebrations will conclude with a special honorary Doctorate ceremony which will take place at the ATU Mayo campus on Monday, December 2, where former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, will be honoured for her extraordinary contribution to society. A local councillor has accused the HSE of deliberately misleading her over the long-running Ballyhaunis Primary Care Centre project. Cllr Alma Gallagher attacked the lack of progress on the primary care centre after the HSE refused to confirm if it would be fully complete by 2025. The primary care centre was left incomplete for more than three years after the developer, Sharpdale Ltd, stopped work on the building after it became no longer economically viable. Following successful negotiations, the developer agreed to recommence work on the building in September. In that same month, the HSE said it might occupy the building in late 2025. It added that significant activity on site was not anticipated until October 2024 when both the mechanical and electrical subcontractors are due to return to site. Cllr Gallagher cast doubt on the expected timeline for opening the primary care centre due to the slow pace of construction. In response to a question from Cllr Gallagher at Tuesdays HSE Regional Forum West, the HSE said the developer had advised them that practical completion was expected in May 2025. Cllr Gallagher said that false deadlines were continuously being given for the project, which first stalled in April 2021. I dont know whether you are intentionally misleading a public representative or basically you have no engagement whatsoever with the developer, she said. On Friday, I was passing the HSE building and I saw one worker there on the scaffolding in the snow. Its just not good enough. There doesnt seem to be any full-scale activity, she added. None of this is making any sense. Ballyhaunis, the population is rising three times faster than the county average, we have the most diverse town in Ireland and yet this project is allowed to linger with absolutely no urgency from the HSE or the developer while the developer is actually developing other primary health care centres around the country. So I dont know where the priorities are here. Tony Canavan, Executive Chairman of the Regional Health Forum, described the project as a priority for the HSE but could not confirm when a full resumption of activity would commence. He explained that the term practical completion meant that the contractor was almost finished on site. He said the contractor was currently carrying out minor works and that a completion date would be firmed up following further engagement with the contractor. After that, we would then expect that the building would have to be commissioned, which means that itd need to be equipped, cleaned, et cetera and then brought into service, said Mr Canavan. Cllr Gallagher said that the the May 2025 practical completion date did not make sense given the remaining works had been given a ten-month timeline for completion. The Fine Gael representative described the information given by the HSE as very very vague. Mr Cavanan responded: The practical completion date that we have right now is May 2025. There isnt much more that I can see beyond that. Up to 40 gardai swooped in on one Limerick town in a planned operation shortly after first light this Tuesday morning. Thirty four arrests were made in Kilmallock by officers from Limerick County Community Engagement Functional Area, and Limerick Divisional Crime Functional area in a joint day of action this Tuesday, November 26. The intelligence-led operation was supported by Limerick Divisional Roads Policing Unit, Regional Armed Support Unit, and gardai from Clare / Tipperary Division, along with Customs and Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and Limerick City and County Council's dog warden. A garda spokesperson said the operation included detecting and preventing theft and fraud, and organised retail crime offences; enforcement of road traffic legislation; and control of dogs legislation targeting the possession of controlled breeds. Read Also: Aldi issues urgent recall of popular party food ahead of Christmas shopping rush "As part of the operation, which involved over 40 garda personnel, a residential property was searched and four multi-agency checkpoints were conducted. "A total of 34 people were arrested for various alleged offences, including outstanding bench warrants and three arrests under Operation Tairge," said a garda spokesperson. One vehicle was detected by customs with Green Diesel and a fine was levied. One pit bull dog was seized by Limerick City and County Council. "Three males were arrested in connection with the operation, and are currently detained pursuant to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, at Garda stations in the County Limerick and County Tipperary areas," said a garda spokesperson. In a recent interview withGuangming Online, Henrique Nobrega, president of the Brazil-China Friendship Association, reflected on the enduring and dynamic relationship between Brazil and China as the two nations celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties. He expressed a deep sense of honor regarding the warm response from Chinese President Xi Jinping and underscored the significant role of mutual respect in strengthening the bilateral relationship. Nobrega noted that the positive and steady growth of this relationship over the years was largely due to Chinas continued efforts, particularly in areas like economic collaboration and mutual support. As he put it, I feel deeply honored by President Xis reply to our letter. It represents a recognition of our efforts, and it is very important to us. He also observed that since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago, the partnership has continuously evolved, marked by growing exchanges in trade, culture, and diplomacy. China's Role in Global Development Reflecting on the broader context of the relationship, Nobrega highlighted how Chinas economic rise has not only benefitted its own people but has had a significant positive impact on developing nations, including Brazil. One key example he pointed to was the collaborative effort between China, Sinovac, and Brazils Butantan Institute to produce the CoronaVac vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized that this cooperation demonstrated the vital role that strong international relationships play in responding to global crises: "Chinas exceptional development over the past decades has extended a helping hand to other developing countries. For instance, the joint production of the CoronaVac vaccine showed the importance of such a relationship for peoples health and humanity." The Belt and Road Initiative: Shared Growth Nobrega also highlighted Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a clear indication of the countrys vision for a shared future, built on mutual benefit. He explained that the BRI goes beyond benefiting only China, focusing on creating long-term, sustainable partnerships with developing nations like Brazil. The BRI is a mutual benefit. Its about building partnerships that help all involved. It ensures developing countries receive investments, particularly in infrastructure, which is critical for their development, Nobrega said. He believes that Brazil stands to gain significantly from this initiative, particularly in terms of infrastructure improvements, which have long been a priority for the country. Technological Collaboration and Innovation Looking forward, Nobrega is optimistic about the potential for further collaboration between Brazil and China, especially in technology. He acknowledged that China is already at the forefront of global technological innovation, with cutting-edge advancements in space exploration and patenting. China is at the technological frontier today, with rockets and satellites launched into space. Chinese universities lead the world in patents and innovations, surpassing even the most established American, European, and Israeli institutions, he said. For Nobrega, this presents a unique opportunity for Brazil to learn from Chinas technological expertise and to collaborate in areas like research and development, space exploration, and tech innovation. Strengthening Cultural and People-to-People Connections Beyond economic and technological cooperation, Nobrega emphasized the importance of cultural exchanges in furthering Brazil-China relations. He discussed the active role of the Brazil-China Friendship Association in promoting people-to-people connections, noting that such exchanges have helped foster deeper understanding and respect between the two nations. Our contribution is not only in carrying out projects or receiving delegations. Its about connecting people, he said. He also reflected on how many Brazilian officials, after visiting China, were surprised by the countrys remarkable development, returning with a newfound appreciation for Chinas progress. A Bright Future for Brazil-China Relations As the two countries look to the future, Nobrega expressed confidence that the next 50 years will be even more promising. He believes that Brazil-China cooperation will expand into new areas, particularly in tourism, education, and cultural exchanges, while continuing to strengthen trade and technology ties. The next 50 years will be excellent. Our cooperation will continue to grow, and we will not only gain from this relationship in terms of trade and technology but also in culture and human exchange, he said. In closing, Nobrega shared a message of hope, quoting a Brazilian poet: "We dont make friends; we recognize them." For him, this sentiment encapsulates the deep bond of mutual respect that exists between the two nations and reflects a vision of continued collaboration and peace through diplomacy. by Fern Siegel , November 27, 2024 Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham ("Ted Lasso") is setting sail on the Princess Cruises line. Terri & Sandy's new creative global campaign "Love Boat by Hannah" showcases her singing talents and charm. Nostalgia is powerful. We knew Princess being the original Love Boat was the epitome of nostalgia for our 40+ target of new cruisers, JP Gomez, creative director, Terri & Sandy, told Agency Daily. We came up with the idea to reimagine the 'Love Boat' song, but needed a charismatic icon with style and elegance that could both represent the brand, and belt out a tune, in order to bring it to life. The Love Boat by Hannah campaign will roll out in a series of 6,- 15-, 30- and 60-second spots across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia on connected TV, digital and social. The original "Love Boat" series aired from 1977 to 1986. advertisement advertisement The flagship 60-second spot also appears in U.S. cinemas before "Wicked" and "Gladiator 2." Dave Laden of Hungry Man directed the work. Earlier this year, Waddingham was honored as the Godmother of the brand's new, next level Love Boat, Sun Princess a title held by various celebrities, such as Diana, Princess of Wales, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. Princess Cruises is part of Carnival Corp. Terri & Sandy's client work has included Pilgrim's, FreshPet, Nutella and Icy Hot Kids. by Ray Schultz , November 26, 2024 Technology firm PubMatic has formed a partnership with Intuits media network SMB MediaLabs that will help B2B advertisers offer business owners relevant products and services that best fit their needs, says Dave Raggio, vice president of Intuit SMB MediaLabs. Launched in July 2023, Intuits SMB MediaLabs is a media network that focus on small and medium-sized businesses. It leverages 36 million identifiers through Intuit QuickBooks, while keeping the underlying customer data secure on Intuits platform, it says. The new arrangement provides buyers and publishers with premium, brand-safe inventory across CTV, video and mobile. In addition, SMB MediaLabs advertisers will be able to connect to these data segments directly via PubMatics self-service Convert platform. This will unlock permissioned self-service capabilities for customers, says Raggio. advertisement advertisement Our partnership with Intuit SMB MediaLabs is an incredible opportunity to bolster PubMatics support of the B2B market, says Tim Rogers, vice president of commerce media at PubMatic. We will connect marketers to small and medium businesses wherever they engage with the open internet across PubMatics premium omnichannel inventory. PubMatic cites a forecast published by eMarketers that the digital B2B ad spend will top $18.3 billion in the U.S. this year. In addition, it shows that nearly 90% of businesses are SMBs. by Danielle Oster , November 26, 2024 The brand taste test is a timeless marketing tactic. But Newmans Own -- the Westport, Connecticut-based food brand co-founded by actor Paul Newman -- has put a new spin on the practice with its latest campaign. For this social experiment, the brand enlisted consumers to taste-test two slices of pizza while blindfolded. Newmans Own provided two descriptions for the (virtually identical) slices of pizza: before one, participants were given a description of the brands own practice of donating its profits to help kids; before the other, they were told the profits went toward corporate excesses like a $50 million bonus for the CEO and perks for top executives. According to Newmans Own, consumers consistently rated the slices from the socially conscious company significantly higher than those described as benefiting corporate excess -- with the prior earning an average score of 8.5 out of 10, compared to an average 2.9 rating for the latter. advertisement advertisement The company documented the social experiment with a video, working with agency/consultancy DCX Growth Accelerator, digital media strategy agency Stella Rising, and The Door which was responsible for earned media and influencer relations on the campaign. Our experiment suggests that the good a brand does in the world can have a significant impact on the taste experience of just about anything, Newmans Own Interim Chief Growth Officer Peter Kaye said in a statement, adding that despite the playful execution, the campaign was also designed to draw attention to genuine issues related to American business practices that pioritize profits despite brand purpose and social impact claims. The campaign acts as an attention-grabbing way to remind consumers about the brands mission and long-running practice of donating its profits. Good Tastes Better also builds on the similar social experiment of the brands recent Generosity Index" campaign. That effort found Newmans Owns pizza truck traveling across the country this summer to determine the generosity of various cities, informing customers of the brands profit-donating practices and asking them to set their own price for a pie. Reflecting on the Generosity Index campaign in September, Doug Cameron, chief strategy & creative officer for DCX Growth Accelerator, told Marketing Daily that its primary goal was to reach Gen Z and millennial audiences that might be less familiar with Newmans Own and its brand mission. This latest effort appears to pick up where it left off in service of reaching the same types of consumers. We have several other brand initiatives in development that build upon [the campaigns] momentum, Cameron said in September, while also alluding to an upcoming celebration of Paul Newman's 100th birthday in January of 2025. by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, November 26, 2024 Vanessa Hudgens is one of Kohl's celebrity holiday partners. Kohls executives had braced investors for a sales decline in the fiscal third quarter, but the results -- a 9.3% sales tumble -- were far worse than expected. Net income also plummeted. Kohls named Ashley Buchanan, currently Michaels chief executive officer, as the new CEO. Buchanan has also held key roles at Sams Clubs and Walmart and replaces Tom Kingsbury, who is retiring on Jan. 15. Kohls revenue fell to $3.5 billion from $3.84 billion in the fiscal third quarter of last year. Net income sank to $22 million, down from $59 million. The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company now expects full-year sales to decrease between 7% and 8%. Calling the results horrible and abysmal, David Swartz, an analyst who follows Kohls and other retailers for Morningstar, writes that Kohls stock plunged by a midteens percentage after releasing the financial report. Although Kohls reported progress with its Sephora (beauty sales up 15%) and Babies R Us efforts, its core apparel, footwear, and home goods categories remained weak, Swartz says. Among other problems, the company blamed the sales shortfall on insufficient inventory of affordable private-label clothing. Kingsburys departure is not unexpected. He stepped into the CEO role on an interim basis in 2022, when then-CEO Michelle Gass decamped to lead Levi Strauss & Co. He agreed to accept the permanent position through May 2025, and will stay on in an advisory role through then. We had anticipated that Kingsbury was likely to retire sooner rather than later, but a leadership change during such a tumultuous period is not ideal, Swartz says. Traffic fell 3% in the quarter. On a call webcast for investors, Kingsbury acknowledged the disappointing results stemmed from a series of missteps and added that performance has been improving through November. The holidays have always been an important time for Kohls, he said, and this year, we will deliver even more value with our extended gifting assortment. While we expect the holiday to be highly competitive, we are well positioned, from a product and marketing perspective, to improve our sales trend. by Danielle Oster , November 27, 2024 Given the requirements of the job, Santa has a tough time delivering presents to hotels. That's the theme behind Airbnb's new holiday ad, which positions the brand as the hero helping Old Saint Nick avoid Santastrophe to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve. The animated ad, created by Airbnb's in-house team, is set in a rhyming narration style in the vein of holiday staple A Visit from St. Nicholas, while playing on the comical challenges Santa would face trying to navigate a seemingly Santa-proof hotel to deliver gifts. The spot is built around the idea that the holidays are better in an Airbnb, mixed with the childhood fear of Santa being unable to deliver presents due to logistical challenges. For the creative team, that idea led to a long list of potential obstacles Father Christmas might face at a hotel. One early version apparently showed Santa trapped in an elevator as a child named Brian pressed the button for every floor, prompting a move to the naughty list. Issues around dragging a sack full of presents into a busy elevator did make the cut. advertisement advertisement The creative team reviewed countless options for each part of Santas look in an attempt to evoke a Claus "that felt like a childs memory of Christmas, according to an Airbnb representative. It also slipped in a brand Easter egg in the form of the gold stitching on Santas red coat, which takes the shape of the brands logo. The spot debuts Nov. 28 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. It will run across social media platforms, and in cinemas, as well as on TV -- including a prime spot in the U.S. during the Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast. Santastrophe is the latest addition to the Get an Airbnb campaign the brand introduced last year, which depicts scenarios where trips are improved by getting an Airbnb over a hotel. While its playful animation style is in line with earlier entries in the campaign, it also marks the first Get an Airbnb ad to be built around a narrative. It's also the rare holiday ad from the brand, although not its first foray into the festive season. A comprehensive analysis shows GLP-1 receptor agonists significantly benefit kidney and heart health in people with and without diabetes. Trusted Source Effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on kidney and cardiovascular disease outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials Go to source Trusted Source Did You Know? Kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease, causes more deaths each year than breast cancer or prostate cancer. #medindia #kidneydisease #cancer Kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease, causes more deaths each year than breast cancer or prostate cancer. #medindia #kidneydisease #cancer Advertisement Broader Applications of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Advertisement Study Overview and Meta-Analysis Scope Advertisement Overall Reduction in Kidney Disease Outcomes Reduction in Cardiovascular Death First Clear Evidence of Kidney Protection Global Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease Need for Further Research and Clinical Implementation Effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on kidney and cardiovascular disease outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials - (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(24)00271-7/abstract) The largest and most thorough study of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists on kidney and cardiovascular outcomes reveals that these treatments offer substantial benefits for both individuals with and without diabetes. The results were published in).Initially developed to manage diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists replicate the effects of a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide 1, which promotes insulin production and helps lower blood sugar levels. More recently, they have proven effective in treating obesity by slowing digestion, enhancing feelings of fullness, and reducing hunger.But while the benefits of GLP-1 receptor agonists for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease are well known, their impact on chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been less certain.Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 11 large-scale clinical trials of GLP-1 receptor agonists involving a total of 85,373 people (67,769 people with type 2 diabetes and 17,604 people with overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease but without diabetes). Seven different GLP-1 receptor agonists were investigated in the trials, including semaglutide (also known as Ozempic or Wegovy), dulaglutide (Trulicity) and liraglutide (Victoza).The results showed that compared to placebo, GLP-1 receptor agonists reduced the risk of kidney failure by 16% and the worsening of kidney function by 22% (defined by a drop in estimated glomerular filtration rate - a measure of how much blood the kidneys filter clean every minute - of at least 50%). The combined reduction in the risk of kidney failure, worsening kidney function, and death due to kidney disease was 19%.The analysis also confirmed previous findings that GLP-1 receptor agonists protect cardiovascular health, with a 14% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack, and non-fatal stroke, compared to placebo. Death by any cause was 13% lower among patients treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists.Lead author Professor Sunil Badve, Professorial Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and UNSW Sydney said the study expanded current knowledge about this class of drugs in key areas, including benefits in people with CKD, and in people with and without diabetes.This is the first study to show a clear benefit of GLP-1 receptor agonists on kidney failure or end-stage kidney disease, suggesting they have a key role in kidney-protective and heart-protective treatment for patients with common medical conditions like type 2 diabetes, overweight or obesity with cardiovascular disease, or CKD, he said.These results are particularly important for patients with chronic kidney disease. It is a progressive condition eventually leading to kidney failure requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation and is associated with premature death, mostly from heart disease. It has a significant impact on patients quality of life and incurs substantial healthcare costs.CKD is estimated to affect one in ten people worldwide, equivalent to around 850 million people. It is the tenth leading cause of death and is projected to become the fifth most common cause of death by 2050. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity are independent risk factors for CKD and represent a major global health burden.Professor Vlado Perkovic, Professorial Fellow at The George Institute, Provost at UNSW Sydney and senior author on the study said, This research shows that GLP-1 receptor agonists could play an important role in addressing the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Our study will have a major impact on clinical guidelines for the management of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease in people with and without diabetes.More work is now needed to implement the results of this study into clinical practice and improve access to GLP-1 receptor agonists for people who will benefit from them, he added.Source-Eurekalert (Photo: Crane Worldwide Logistics) Crane Worldwide Logistics UK has recently announced the expansion of its existing warehouse space in the Midlands. Due to strategic growth in contract logistics services, the company has leased an additional facility to satisfy increasing demand. In Wellesbourne, close to Birmingham airport, the company operates pick, pack, and ship services in a multi-user facility. The warehouse services include value-added services, including labeling, tagging, and SKU transformation with full in-house WMS integration and 360 client reporting. The additional warehouse space, located within Wellesbourne Industrial Park, will add 55,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space in the Midlands. The Midlands warehouses supplement Crane Worldwide's additional 3PL logistics capabilities throughout the UK, which include global freight forwarding and niche services such as Time-Critical air freight and X-ray screening. Hubs in London Heathrow and Manchester provide global freight forwarding services, using their international presence to meet UK shippers worldwide import and export requirements. Crane also has a strong foothold in Scotland, with its Aberdeen hub serving the energy, projects, and renewable markets. It also has a growing footprint of warehouse space in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, including locations such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Tilburg, Roosendaal, Dublin, Cork, and Johannesburg. "Our growing 3PL presence in the UK is a testament to the dedication of our people, who have developed strong partnerships with our clients," says David Burck, Managing Director UK at Crane Worldwide. "As a privately owned company, our organic growth is built on solid partnerships with a personal touch, focused on innovative solutions that benefit our client's bottom line." Logistics UK says the strategy must acknowledge logistics role in underpinning the economy The government's new industrial strategy must acknowledge the strategic importance of UK logistics, the industry has said. Logistics UK, the country's largest logistics trade association, has submitted its final response to the governments consultation. A top priority for it is for the strategy to acknowledge logistics role in underpinning the economy and create the policy environment for the sector to thrive and drive growth throughout the economy. The Industrial Strategy Green Paper has identified eight sectors as having the highest growth-driving potential. It describes how the final strategy will include policies for subsectors on which these sectors have critical dependencies. According to Logistics UK, effective logistics is critical to underpin at least five of the highest potential growth-driving sectors, namely advance manufacturing, clean energy industries, life sciences, defence and creative industries. Logistics UK Deputy Director Policy Michelle Gardner says, The prosperity of the logistics sector and productivity of the economy are completely intertwined. "Logistics must be recognised as a foundational sector with policies prioritised to enable growth across the whole economy. "By establishing the right partnerships, regulations and investment for logistics, the government can deliver productivity gains that will boost the UK economy by up to 8 billion per year by 20301. According to Oxford Economics the public sector and other private sector businesses spent 15% of their total input-related spending on logistics services in 2019. As outlined in Logistics UKs submission to the government, this shows how critically important the sector is to the UKs overall economy. The group also outlined how logistics has a key role to play in helping industry ensure the quality and consistency of its output, expand markets, increase sales and help sectors reduce carbon emissions. Ms Gardner continues, Logistics case to be considered a foundational sector is clear: transport and logistics must be embedded into the industrial strategys objectives, given it will be integral to supporting the expansion of the highest potential growth-driving sectors. "The sectors investment in its efficiency, automation and skills base cascades through the economy. Logistics UKs submission also outlines how the strategic importance of logistics and transport to the UKs industrial future must be reflected in the Industrial Strategy Council. The business group has recommended that, as the voice of the sector, Logistics UK sits on both the Council and the Forum, as well as the interim Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, to ensure efficiency and productivity gains across the logistics sector are realised. The Navy will sideline 17 ships to contend with a shortage of civilian mariners, the Military Sealift commander said last week, prompting concerns from the Marine Corps about how it will support and transport its own forces. Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the MSC commander, told reporters on Thursday that the move to dock more than a dozen ships was meant to give overworked and understaffed civilian mariners a break as the command looks to get "the foundation back intact" for ship maintenance. While Sobeck said this plan would take place "over the next two years," he wouldn't say how long it will take to get ships back in the water. The result is that ships that support the Marine Corps will not be available, causing worries for the amphibious service that will compound existing challenges getting Marines to the field. Read Next: Forget Dessert, Bring on the Meat and Sweet Potatoes: Deployed Troops to Get 360K Pounds of Holiday Victuals Sobeck's remarks served as the first official confirmation of an August USNI News report. A Marine Corps official familiar with the plan told Military.com on Tuesday that the service was aware of the Navy's intent to dock the ships when the reset was presented in August "and had concerns with it then." "If this workforce initiative is a rebrand of the original MSC reset, then 16 of the 17 ships have direct Marine Corps equities," the official said. The official noted that prior discussion of the "reset" entailed potentially sidelining some combination of two fleet replenishment ships, a fleet oiler, 12 fast transports for Marines and equipment, two forward-deployed expeditionary sea bases, and an ammunition transport ship. "Without these ships, Marine stand-in forces and Marine Expeditionary Units will lack sea-based transportation, basing, and support capabilities during a strategically vital period for training and readiness," the official said. That list broadly lines up with the ships that Sobeck said would have their manning cut, though the admiral said that "the reason why you're not hearing specific names is because those names are based on us managing what ship at the right time to be able to maximize the maintenance availabilities and also the operational capability." The sidelining of the support ships comes as the Navy grapples with low readiness rates for its amphibious fleet, ships that Marines rely on to respond to crises around the world. In the last few years, the Marine Corps has been hard-pressed to quickly deploy following incidents of global turmoil, including in the aftermath of an earthquake in Turkey, evacuation of Americans from Sudan, and not having a "MEU out when Russia started forming on Ukraine's border" in 2022 given the inability to deploy amphibious ships on time, now-retired Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl told Military.com earlier this year. The Marine Corps has been grappling with the state of the Navy's 31 amphibious warships -- the bare minimum it says it needs to support its "MEU 3.0" concept, which requires "heel-to-toe" deployments from the East Coast, West Coast and Japan, according to the Marine Corps commandant's August planning guidance. The service had been planning to rely on fast transport ships to pick up the slack with the ongoing issues with the amphibious warships, according to USNI. Now, the new sidelining of support ships that Marines depend on seems ready to compound ongoing concerns for the service as it continuously deploys to the Pacific, Mediterranean and elsewhere. The issue also comes as the Navy is trying to, more broadly, rebuild its industrial base amid constant delays and cost overruns in building new ships and issues repairing those already in the fleet. The Navy's top leaders say that too is a recruiting and people issue. In April, the Navy's top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, told an audience of military officers and industry officials at the service's annual Sea Air Space conference that "all of the industry partners are facing some of the same challenges in the workforce [that the military is]." "So, we're working alongside industry to generate some of these pipelines where people can be recruited, they can come in and get training, and they come out with a certification and then immediately go and be employed," she went on. In February, one local news outlet near Newport News, Virginia, home to several shipyards and the Navy's massive base in nearby Norfolk, reported that their maritime industry is currently 10,000 workers short, and projections say that, by 2030, that figure could grow to 40,000. Related: Marines Can't Count on Navy Ships to Carry Them to Global Emergencies, One of the Service's Top Generals Says Less than a week after Thanksgiving in 1864, Army Col. John Chivington had a plan for a Native American encampment he gazed down upon. His designs stood in wild opposition to a part of the holiday's history tied to breaking bread with tribes. Chivington ordered nearly 700 troops to attack the tent camp, where members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho lay resting near Big Sandy Creek on the vast plains of the Colorado territory. The tribes were staying not far from Fort Lyon amid peace negotiations, and Chief Black Kettle had instructed that a white banner and an American flag adorn their tents in accordance with instructions from U.S. officials. Read Next: For Soldiers at Fort Carson, Food Is Scarce But as the first rays of daylight began to glisten on the snow and ice on Nov. 29, Chivington and his men descended on the resting Native Americans and gunfire tore through the village. "Hundreds of women and children were coming toward us and getting on their knees for mercy," a letter from one officer who refused to participate in the attack read. "I tell you ... it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized." Upward of 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne people were brutally mutilated, scalped and murdered by the American soldiers, according to the National Park Service. The majority of those killed were women, children and the elderly. Following the tragedy, Chivington and his soldiers brought body parts back to Denver as trophies. Friday, Nov. 29, marks 160 years since the Sand Creek bloodshed, and the pain of the tragedy still haunts descendants of those who were slain and those who escaped. Eleanor McDaniel, a 72-year-old who is an enrolled Comanche tribesman, is the great-great-granddaughter of Chief Little Raven, an Arapaho leader who was among those who camped farther away from the scene of the ambush and survived the slayings. McDaniel believes she was 12 when she first heard about the massacre from her grandfather. "Our grandfather from the Arapaho tribe came to our home and was telling my mom and her sisters all about it," she said. McDaniel made a choice in her youth to put on the Army uniform with her husband during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, despite the troubled history between the military and her tribe. "This land meant a lot to us as Native Americans because all our people, everywhere you go, from East to West, North to South on this continent, our people are buried there," McDaniel told Military.com. "So, I love this country. I'm willing to defend it." In this Dec. 27, 2019, photo, an entrance sign is shown at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Eads, Colo.. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras) The Aftermath The U.S. government made a series of promises to the survivors of the massacre and their descendants, promises that have never been fulfilled. Nearly one year after the massacre, in October 1865, the U.S. government ratified the Treaty of the Little Arkansas. The treaty strongly expressed the "condemnation of and as far as many be repudiated the gross and wanton outrages perpetrated against certain bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians" on Nov. 29 and guaranteed land, goods and payment to the survivors and the descendants of those who were killed. But almost as quickly as the treaty's promises were made, they were taken away. A subsequent treaty two years later reduced the lands promised to the Cheyenne and Arapaho and made no mention of reparations for the Sand Creek massacre. Now, 160 years after the massacre, McDaniel and other descendants tied to it are still fighting for what they were promised. The U.S. government, to this day, has not paid out funds to them, lawyers and descendants claim. Though funds have not been forthcoming, the U.S. government has slowly begun to more openly acknowledge the killings. In 2000, Congress passed legislation that created the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site -- permanent government recognition of the atrocities committed by troops in 1864. "When we talk about military acts against the people that were in this village, against Indigenous people, the name of this place reminds us that Indigenous communities have endured a very long, violent relationship with non-native powers or use of authority," Mario Medina, the lead park ranger at the Sand Creek Massacre Historic Site, told Military.com in an interview. In 2014, then-Colorado governor, now-U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper formally apologized for the tragedy on behalf of the state to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people. But descendants, lawyers associated with the tribe and National Park staff are unaware of any formal Department of Defense or Army apology -- and descendants are still locked in a legal battle regarding an unfulfilled treaty that offered reparations to survivors of the massacre. The Minister and the Whistleblower The leader of the slaughter, Chivington, a Methodist minister, was known in military circles for his achievements during the early years of the Civil War, specifically his success at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico. It earned him the rank of colonel and command of the Colorado Military District, according to the National Park Service. Another officer who fought alongside Chivington at Glorieta Pass -- Silas S. Soule -- was promoted by Chivington from lieutenant to captain and joined the colonel in his new command. Capt. Soule was alongside Chivington and other officials for some of the discussions with the Arapaho and Cheyenne leading up to the Sand Creek Massacre, according to the National Park Service, and saw firsthand the Native Americans' desire for peace. When Chivington ordered his men to begin their slaughter, Soule disobeyed orders and held his men on the other side of the creek. "I took my [company] across the Creek, and by this time the whole of the 3rd and the Batteries were firing into them and you can form some idea of the slaughter," Capt. Soule wrote in a letter to his former commanding officer just weeks after the attack. "My [company] was the only one that kept their formation, and we did not fire a shot." Soule documented the horrors of the day in the Dec. 14 letter, not sparing any graphic details of the massacre. "You would think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did there, but every word I have told you is the truth, which they do not deny," Soule wrote. "It was almost impossible to save any of them." Soule's correspondence and account of the events began to circulate and ultimately led to an inquiry from the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, as well as the Army itself. Chivington escaped punishment and court-martial by resigning from the Army in disgrace. He died of cancer 30 years after the massacre. Former Rep. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, said during a 2005 speech that a judge who was part of the original Army investigation described the Sand Creek massacre as "a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation.'' Soule was shot and killed in 1865 in Denver, after he'd testified against his commander Chivington and detailed the atrocities committed by troops at Sand Creek. The National Park Service wrote on the Sand Creek Massacre Historic Site's webpage that Soule's murderers, "though known, were never brought to justice." Broken Promises Efforts on the congressional level to account for and get the payments promised in the Treaty of the Little Arkansas have fallen short. In 2013, the Sand Creek Massacre Descendants Trust filed a class-action lawsuit that was ultimately dismissed. In 2016, lawyers for the descendants hoped to have their case heard by the Supreme Court, to no avail. Darren Derryberry, an attorney who represented some descendants in litigation, told Military.com that lawyers are still weighing other options for getting those family members what they believe they're owed. His late father, who served as the attorney general of Oklahoma, also represented the descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre in their fight for reparations. "It's a tragedy that the descendants of those massacred at Sand Creek are still having to attempt to gain their rightful reparation so many years after the massacre," Derryberry said. "I saw my father work with descendants to try to have the treaty upheld, and I am now working with our team to try to accomplish a goal started decades ago." McDaniel joined the Army after seeing her older brothers and sister serve in the Navy and Marine Corps. They have passed away, leaving her alone to wait and wonder whether the government will make good on its promise. She said she is proud of her family's legacy in uniform. As much as she believes an apology is due from the Army or the Department of Defense, she said it would also feel disingenuous -- at least until the promises of the Little Arkansas Treaty are fulfilled. "This generation is the last-ditch effort to see something resolved," McDaniel said. Related: Pentagon Reviewing 20 Medal of Honor Awards Given to Soldiers at the Wounded Knee Massacre 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... Roughly one-third of the Department of Veterans Affairs' projected medical budget shortfall in 2025 is due to the costs of new medications, including weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound that are increasingly being prescribed for vets. Discussing a revision of the department's anticipated funding shortfall in 2025 with reporters Monday, VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal said roughly $2 billion of the $6.6 billion requested from Congress is needed for weight-loss drugs known as glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, agonists, and new medications for illnesses found in veterans, such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, a fatty liver disease. "Part of the reason we need the funding is that we know the need for new drugs for obesity ... and novel medications for conditions that are more common in veterans," Elnahal said in a call with reporters Monday. "New drugs on the market that will help veterans cost more." Read Next: Forget Dessert, Bring on the Meat and Sweet Potatoes: Deployed Troops to Get 360K Pounds of Holiday Victuals A 2020 study by researchers at Texas State University's School of Health Administration on obesity in the veteran population found that roughly 70% were overweight or obese. In 2014, the VA estimated that 78% of enrolled veteran patients were overweight or obese. Excess weight is known to contribute to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, stroke and certain types of cancer. The VA maintains its own pharmacy formulary and can decide which medications the department covers but also looks to Medicare's coverage for guidance. Elnahal said the VA needs to prepare to cover the costs of these medications. On Tuesday, the Biden administration proposed expanding coverage of obesity medications such as Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound for Americans on Medicare and Medicaid. Currently, the federal health programs cover only the cost of these medications -- roughly $1,000 a month per patient -- if they are prescribed for diabetes or risk of heart disease. The cost to cover more Medicare patients would be roughly $25 billion and for Medicaid patients $11 billion over 10 years, according to Department of Health and Human Services officials. The publication of Biden's proposed Medicare coverage of these drugs marks the start of a regulatory process that will not be complete by the time President Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 and brings his own health team to Washington. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, said he doesn't support the medications for weight loss and favors healthy eating over drugs. During an interview with Fox News on Oct. 19, Kennedy said a "fifth" of the cost of a bill in Congress proposed to cover all counseling and weight-loss medications for overweight Americans would provide "good food, three meals a day to every man, woman and child" and would "solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight." "[The manufacturers] are counting on selling it to Americans because we are so stupid and so addicted to drugs," Kennedy said. Physician and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, introduced a bill last year for Medicare to cover weight-loss counseling and anti-obesity drugs. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump's pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the drugs need more study, but he voiced his support for the medications in 2023 on Instagram. "I respect you no matter what your weight might be, but for those who want to lose a few pounds, Ozempic and other semaglutide medications can be a big help. We need to make it as easy as possible for people to meet their health goals, period," Oz said. In March, the FDA approved the first drug for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, Rezdiffra, which the company has priced at $47,400 per year before discounts or negotiation. According to the VA, more than 30% of veterans receiving VA health care have risk factors for MASH and other fatty liver diseases. The VA on Monday announced that, after examining its expenses in 2024, savings and estimates of future care, it will need an additional $6.6 billion to cover its medical expenses in fiscal 2025 above the roughly $300 billion it requested in its budget. The figure was down from an estimated $12 billion shortfall officials cited earlier this year. "We need more funding to continue our clip of providing more care to veterans than ever before," Elnahal said. Related: VA Checking for Connection Between PFAS Chemicals and Kidney Cancer in Afflicted Veterans Unlocking the Secrets of Online Privacy: A Guide to Disarming Your Google Account (How to Sign Out of a Single Google Account) Are you tired of constantly having to log out of different accounts across different websites? Or do you find yourself clicking on the Sign Out button multiple times a day? Well, fear not! In this blog post, well take you through the ins and outs of signing out from a single Google account. First things first, lets talk about what exactly a Google account is. Its a web-based platform that allows users to access various online services, including Google Docs, Gmail, YouTube, and more. By logging into your Google account, you can create, edit, and share documents, send emails, and watch videos all within one central hub. Now, lets move on to how to sign out of a single Google account. The process varies slightly depending on whether youre using the desktop or mobile app, but heres a general outline: Step 1: Log in to your Google account using your username and password. If you dont have a password, you can create a new one by following these steps: * Go to the Google Account page at https://accounts.google.com/ * Click on the Sign Up button * Enter your name, email address, and password (or select Create an account with a Google account). Youll be asked to verify your identity before completing the form. Step 2: Once youve signed in, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the screen and select Settings. This will open up a menu of options for managing your account settings. Step 3: Under the Sign-out preferences section, click on the Sign Out All button. This will automatically sign you out of all other Google accounts that you have linked to your account. If you want to turn off the automatic sign-out feature, you can also do so by going to the Account menu in the top right corner of the screen and selecting Manage Account. In conclusion, signing out from a single Google account is a quick and simple process. By following these steps, you can easily keep track of your personal information and ensure that your Google account remains secure. So why wait? Start disarming your Google account today! (How to Sign Out of a Single Google Account) Note: Some websites may require you to log out of their respective accounts in order to use Google products. Additionally, some websites may only allow you to log out temporarily, while others may require you to log out permanently if you choose to do so. Make sure to review each websites terms of service before making any changes to your account settings. Inquiry us if you want to want to know more, please feel free to contact us. ([email protected]) Unleash Your Creativity with the Sony A7 III: The Ultimate Photography Companion (How to Update Your Sony A7 III Camera) As a professional photographer, you know that your camera is often the backbone of your photography workflow. But did you know that theres more to the Sony A7 III than meets the eye? This versatile camera offers stunning image quality, incredible performance, and advanced features that can help you take your photography to the next level. So, what exactly makes the Sony A7 III so special? Let me break it down for you. First and foremost, the Sony A7 III has an impressively high megapixel count. With 42.8MP (35mm equivalent), this camera is capable of capturing stunning photos with exceptional detail and clarity. Whether youre taking portraits, landscapes, or street shots, the Sony A7 III will give you the perfect balance of image quality and affordability. One of the most notable features of the Sony A7 III is its dual XLR audio input. This allows you to capture high-quality audio recordings directly from your camera, which can be incredibly useful when working with live music or sound engineering projects. Plus, the built-in microphone ensures that your audio is clear and natural. But dont just take my word for it try using the Sony A7 III yourself! I recently shot a series of images with the camera, and I have to say, I was blown away by the results. From beautiful landscape photos to sharp portraits, the Sony A7 III delivers excellent image quality every time. Another standout feature of the Sony A7 III is its continuous shooting capabilities. With a burst mode setting of 6 frames per second, you can shoot up to 12 consecutive photos in quick succession without having to worry about pressing the shutter button too many times. This means that you can always capture the perfect moment, no matter how busy your schedule gets. In addition to these advanced features, the Sony A7 III also offers numerous other tools that can help you improve your photography skills. For example, the cameras electronic viewfinder provides a live preview of the scene on the screen, making it easier to compose your shots and avoid unexpected camera shake. And the included image stabilization system ensures that your photos come out perfectly sharp, even when dealing with difficult lighting conditions. (How to Update Your Sony A7 III Camera) All in all, the Sony A7 III is an outstanding camera that offers unparalleled image quality, impressive performance, and advanced features that can help you take your photography to the next level. Whether youre a professional photographer or simply someone who loves to experiment with new techniques, the Sony A7 III is definitely worth considering. So why wait? Start using the Sony A7 III today and see just how much better you can take your photography! Inquiry us if you want to want to know more, please feel free to contact us. ([email protected]) BENTON HARBOR, MI The company that owns the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will host an open house meeting during which the public can ask questions about its planned restart of the 800-megawatt facility shut down more than two years ago. Holtec will host the session from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the Palisades Joint Information Center, 330 W. Main St. in Benton Harbor. Company officials will be available at multiple posterboard stations to discuss ongoing activities to prepare for the planned restart and take questions from the public. There also will be job recruiters at the open house. Federal nuclear regulators are considering whether to allow the company to restart the reactor, what could become the first time a nuclear power plant in the United States returned to service after beginning the decommissioning process. Local government and business organizations said they support the effort to restart the nuclear plant, though there have been some vocal critics of the plan, both nearby neighbors and anti-nuclear advocates. A recent public meeting in Benton Harbor hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission focused on the return of wider emergency preparedness in case Holtec gains approval to repower the facility. Two federal resident inspectors will return to the 1970s-era nuclear plant in December. 60 1 / 60 Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan Communities around the closed facility also can expect the return of federal and state radiation emergency exercises this summer. Michigan officials are expected to submit an updated emergency plan by January, which will launch the process. Meanwhile, both company experts and federal inspectors are going over various operating systems in the nuclear plant. Federal inspectors found a large number of steam generator tubes must be repaired or further studied. Other recent work includes inspections of the main turbine, high-voltage transformers, nuclear containment building structure and dome. Workers are following a comprehensive schedule of inspections, maintenance, replacements, and upgrades, said Nick Culp, Holtec spokesperson. The company wants to restart the plant by the end of next year and this year hired more than 300 workers. Reactor operator training also continues, Culp said. Repowering the plant in Van Buren County is on the clean energy agendas for both Michigan and federal leaders who want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Thats because nuclear generates large loads of electricity without planet-warming carbon emissions that accompany coal and oil. Michigan lawmakers authorized a collective $300 million in public funds in the last two budget cycles for the Palisades restart, and the U.S. Department of Energy finalized a $1.52 billion loan guarantee for the effort this year. Additionally, the federal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development granted $1.3 billion to be shared between rural electric co-ops in Michigan and Indiana to buy the plants entire energy output, should it be restarted. Related articles: Work already underway for new small nuclear reactors at Palisades property Holtec says it plans to restart closed Palisades nuclear plant next year First major inspection at Palisades nuclear plant finds large number of needed repairs Extreme weather, public health and more should be factors in Palisades restart No, Palisades wouldnt be the first time a nuclear plant got a restart Michigan, Indiana rural co-ops to get subsidies for Palisades power ALLEN PARK -- Amon-Ra St. Brown is dealing with a knee injury heading into the Thanksgiving showdown between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. St. Brown said hes feeling good and expects to play. He was upgraded to limited at Tuesdays estimated practice report, with the Lions conducting another walkthrough on the short week. But St. Brown handled punt returns last week in a pinch, and hes ready to do it again if needed. MAPLE FOREST TOWNSHIP, MI An 18-year-old Michigan man is accused of attempted murder and other crimes after allegedly setting his exs home on fire, leading to its destruction, police said. There were four people inside the home; they all escaped without injury, according to a news release from the Crawford County Sheriffs Office. The house is a total loss. Cameron Spencer, 18, of Central Lake, was arraigned Tuesday. A Crawford County home is a total loss after alleged arson early Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. Four people were inside the home and all escaped without injury.Crawford County Sheriff's Office Around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, police and fire crews responded to a structure fire at a home in Maple Forest Township, police said. A juvenile who was inside the home at the time of the fire reported to deputies that, a couple hours before the fire, they had heard strange noises, police said. While investigating the noise, the juvenile found a person hiding inside the house. The juvenile then woke the adults and told them what they had seen, police said. However, no one was found at that time. The family went back to bed. A couple hours later, the juvenile woke everyone up and told them the house was on fire, police said. While escaping from the burning house, the family saw a suspect fleeing the area. Crawford deputies contacted the Antrim County Sheriffs Office in an attempt to identify a suspect. They were told that earlier in the morning, Antrim had handled a crash, and the driver was the former boyfriend of one of the residents of the Maple Forest home. The driver was interviewed by Crawford investigators, leading to the arrest Spencer. He was arraigned Tuesday on four counts of attempted murder, second-degree arson, first-degree home invasion and two counts of malicious destruction of property. GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI A Michigan man was arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman he offered to drive home from a bar. UpNorthLive reported that Christopher Warren, 31, of Acme has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct for the incident on Nov. 1. According to the Grand Traverse County Sheriffs Office, Warren is accused of driving a 44-year-old woman from downtown Traverse City to an area in East Bay Township and sexually assaulted her. He then left her on the side of Holiday Road where she then called 911, the TV station reported. Warren was arrested on Nov. 5 after an investigation and several interviews. He was lodged in Grand Traverse County Jail. The article has been clarified to reflect that attorneys are currently seeking a class action for 3,600 tenured professors. LANSING, MI - Attorneys representing about a tenured professor seeks a 3,600-plaintiff class action against the University of Michigan Tuesday, seeking backpay from the last three years. CHELSEA, MI - A man was injured and a Chelsea home was destroyed after an indoor fire pit malfunctioned Tuesday evening. The Chelsea Area Fire Department was called around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, to the 5900 block of Sibley Road in Chelsea for a report of a structure fire, said Chief Rob Arbini. When crews arrived, they found one side of the home almost completely on fire. A man in the home, which was occupied by a couple and their 5-year-old child, had been using an ethanol-burning fire pit meant for indoor use when something poofed, Arbini said. Officials believe the pit malfunctioned. The man then caught on fire and tried to extinguish it with a fire blanket, which also started burning, Arbini said. The family then fled the home and called emergency responders from a neighbors house, Arbini said. The fire was brought under control in roughly an hour, but the home is considered a total loss, Arbini said. The man, whose age was not immediately available, was taken to the University of Michigan Health with both first- and second-degree burns, Arbini said. As of Wednesday morning, it is unclear if the familys cat survived the fire. Crews cleared the scene around 2 a.m. Wednesday. The Chelsea Area Fire Department was aided by crews from Dexter, Scio Township and Ann Arbor, Arbini said. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. FENTON, MI Fenton residents are being asked to be on the lookout for letters from the city as it works to remove household waterlines containing lead. The city sent out letters on Nov. 15 informing residents about its plans to inspect household water service lines containing unknown materials or galvanized waterlines that were previously connected to lead. Residents who received these letters will not be required to cover any costs associated with the inspection or replacement of their water service lines. Anyone that received a letter was instructed to contact the water department for an appointment or upload a picture of their incoming waterline from the wall or floor to the meter so the materials can be checked, Fentons water superintendent Stephen Guy said in an email on Monday, Nov. 25. Guy said there are 302 waterlines that need to be installed throughout the city as well as 183 waterlines that need to be inspected. The unknown material lines need to be checked inside the house to confirm if replacement is needed, he said. Replacing all the waterlines in need of inspection would cost the city a total of approximately $2.5 million, according to Guy. The cost will be paid out of the water operations fund, he said. If grants become available, the city will apply for them. The city estimated that it would take a maximum of 9.7 years to replace all 485 of these waterlines, but Guy said several photos and inspections have already confirmed that not all these lines will need replacing. So, at this moment it would mean the timeline will be quicker than the maximum time of 9.7 years, he said. This upcoming round of waterline replacements is the next step in the citys efforts to comply with federal and state regulations, particularly the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energys (EGLE) regulations for lead water service lines which were issued in 2018 under the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule. Under these lead water service line regulations, municipalities were required to begin replacing waterlines containing lead at a minimum rate of 5% per year beginning in 2019. The city of Fenton has replaced over 230 waterlines starting in 2019 and water department staff has identified many more lines that did not need to be replaced by using hydro excavation and materials inventory methods, Guy said. He also said the citys concerns are low regarding lead levels in its water, but he noted that any residents living in households in need of waterline replacements can ask the city to provide them with a lead filter. Also, the city will have the water tested with help from the customer if they request it, Guy said. Residents can contact Fentons department of public works and water department by calling the city at 810-629-2261. Additional information about Fentons water service line replacement program, including a map identifying the households with lines that need to be inspected, is available on the citys website. Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. FLINT, MI - Michigan State Police delivered Thanksgiving meals to families throughout southeast and central Michigan this week. The meals are part of a partnership with Kroger that has been occurring for many years. In our shared commitment to combat food insecurity in the communities we live and serve, the Kroger Co. of Michigan stands united with the Michigan State Police, extending a helping hand to those facing the challenge of hunger, said Cameron Barrett, Corporate Affairs Manager for the Kroger Co. of Michigan, in a press release. Ten families in the Flint area received Thanksgiving meals personally delivered by Michigan State Police. Michigan State Police Troopers Amy Belanger, Shane Noble, and Steve Kramer, along with Lieutenants Kim Vetter and Ty Purdy, drove around Flint, Davison, and Mount Morris, after loading 20 Thanksgiving meals into a van on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Community Resource Officer Tim Aumaugher assisted Michigan State Police during the day. Troopers split up to drop off the meals consisting of a turkey and sides, feeding four to six people. We look forward to this opportunity every year to partner with Kroger to give us the opportunity to meet with the community and share some holiday joy with them, said MSP Lt. Kim Vetter. Michigan State Police community service troopers identified community members whod receive the meals with collaboration from community service organizations and local schools. Michigan State Police also delivered meals in Lansing, Jackson, Monroe, Brighton, Metro North, Metro South, Lapeer, and Tri-City. Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free "3@3 Flint" daily newsletter. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Sitting inside a Jeep, an alleged gunman shot and killed a man before dumping his body in the road of a Grand Rapids neighborhood and fled in the vehicle. Moments later and a few blocks away, the shooter allegedly killed a woman, also seated in the Jeep, and left her body in the street. GRAND RAPIDS, MI As tons of people are expected to be visiting their favorite local bars tonight, Grand Rapids authorities are warning of the risks of overcrowding at bars and nightclubs. The day before Thanksgiving, sometimes called Blackout Wednesday or Drinksgiving, is widely considered to be the biggest bar night of the year, as people go back to their hometowns for the holidays and catch up with old friends. RELATED: Bridge Street is booming: How it became one of Grand Rapids hottest nightspots But with that surge in business also comes added safety concerns, particularly when it comes to risks of overcrowding. Thats why Grand Rapids fire officials are advising patrons and business owners to adhere to capacity limits and be wary of overcrowding on Wednesday night, Nov. 27. Grand Rapids Fire Marshall Bill Smith said it is dangerous when an establishment is over-capacity, because it becomes harder for people to leave in the event of an emergency, like a fire or an act of violence. People have a right to go out and have a good time, but they also have a right to be safe in their space, Smith told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. We want to make sure that if theres an emergency incident, people have immediate egress from that space, so that means that there is no hindrance of leaving that location. Those exits are there for their safety. We want to make sure that those exit aisles are clear at all times while theres patrons in the building. Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said an act of violence could happen at any place or time, which is why it is important for buildings to have clear exits for patrons. Escaping from a violent incident is key to survival, overcrowding increases the potential for injury or worse, Winstrom said in a statement. Because it will be a busy bar night, fire inspectors will be out doing capacity checks at bars and nightclubs in the city of Grand Rapids on Wednesday evening, to ensure each establishment is in compliance with fire codes, including capacity limits, Marshall said. Tonight is going to be a very busy night for everyone, and we hope that everyone is safe and having a good time, he said Wednesday. But we also want to make sure that we are working towards that goal of everybody going home safely. Fire officials have been advised to call the police to locations where extreme overcrowding is present, the city said in a news release. Businesses that neglect to follow fire code and allow overcrowding will be hit with a notice of violation and a fee, the release said. Subsequent violations will be subject to a civil infraction. Bars, nightclubs and restaurants that have the capacity to have over 49 patrons are required to have an occupancy limit based on their square footage, in order to legally operate in the City of Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Fire Department Fire Prevention Division said it regularly inspects venues and event spaces, as well as other commercial businesses, to ensure businesses are compliant with the regulations and operating safely. HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI A former Hillsdale County Sheriffs sergeant pleaded guilty after being accused of assaulting a female inmate in the county jail. Ronald Leggitt, 44, of Marshall pleaded guilty to one felony count of misconduct in office and one misdemeanor count of aggravate assault for repeatedly pepper sprayed a female jail inmate in the face only inches away from her eyes while she was restrained, according to an announcement by the Michigan Attorney Generals Office Tuesday, Nov 26. As part of his plea, he agreed to relinquish his MCOLES certification making him now ineligible to be a police officer anywhere in Michigan, officials said. Related: Hillsdale sergeant accused of repeatedly pepper spraying restrained inmate, faces 7 felonies With this conviction, Mr. Leggitt has been stripped of his ability to serve as a police officer in Michigan, preventing him from harming others who would have been under his authority, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. My department remains committed to holding accountable those who abuse their positions. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29 before Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain. Leggitt was arraigned on March 17 on six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of misconduct in office. He is currently on unpaid administrative leave from the sheriffs office. Police arrested the woman Dec. 16, 2021, and she allegedly became combative with jail deputies during the booking process, officials said. Officers brought the woman into to the jail, where Leggitt was supervising operations and staff. Staff at the jail were informed the woman had resisted officers during her arrest, and she continued to exhibit resistant and disruptive behavior while entering the jail, officials said. The attorney generals office contends over the course of 80 minutes, Leggitt assaulted the inmate six times with aerosol subject restraint, commonly known as mace or pepper spray, spraying the chemical irritant from a distance of inches. During five of the six alleged assaults, the victim was secured in an emergency chair, restrained in wrist and ankle cuffs and at the chest, preventing her from moving, officials said. On Dec. 22, 2021, six days after the alleged assault, the Michigan State Police contacted the Hillsdale County Sheriffs Office to report several troopers had witnessed Leggitt using excessive force on the arrested woman, Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire said in a written statement. The sheriffs office launched an internal investigation and contacted a Michigan Sheriffs Association team, asking it to launch its own investigation as an independent third party, Hodshire said. Leggitt was placed on administrative duties only during the course of the internal investigation. The association team then sent its findings to the Attorney Generals Office in February 2022, Hodshire said. Leggitt continued to work at the sheriffs office until March 13, when the sheriffs office was notified of pending charges and placed him on unpaid leave. He no longer works for the Hillsdale County Sheriffs Office. A lawsuit was filed Nov. 20 in U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan seeking damages for Leggitts use of excessive force, emotional distress and the sheriffs office failure to intervene and stop his actions. The lawsuit claims the woman was intoxicated, experiencing a mental heal crisis and was suicidal when she was brought to the jail. Mental health providers told jail staff she should be in a hospital and not jail, but was not transferred, the lawsuit claims. Attorneys for the woman and Hillsdale County did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Want more Jackson-area news? Bookmark the local Jackson news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Jackson daily newsletter. KALAMAZOO, MI Nineteen years after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a music studio, Shawn Darnell Robinson Hopkins is headed to prison. Following a week-long jury trial, Hopkins, now 39, was found guilty Tuesday, Nov. 26, in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court of two counts of first degree criminal sexual assault causing personal injury. Hopkins now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The victim, now 33, reported the assault to authorities the day after it occurred, but no charges were authorized in the case until January 2023. Hopkins, of Kalamazoo, was arraigned in February 2023 and bound over to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court for trial following a preliminary hearing two months later. RELATED: Accused of sexually assaulting teen in 2005, Kalamazoo man headed to jury trial A DNA profile of the suspect was created immediately, but Hopkins identity was not confirmed until April 2022, the Attorney Generals office said previously. Hopkins was eventually charged through the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which was established in 2017 to address previously untested sexual assault kits and, when possible, provide resolutions for victims. This case is another example of the tremendous work being done on behalf of the survivors of sexual assault, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said previously. No survivor should go unheard. I hope that this case, and others like it, will serve notice to those that would prey on others in the community that there are severe consequences for their actions. RELATED: DNA testing leads to charges against Kalamazoo man for 2005 sexual assault of girl, 14 The victim testified at the preliminary hearing in April 2023 that she met Hopkins through a friend just a few hours before the assault occurred on June 17, 2005. She only knew him as Chicago, one of his many aliases, according to authorities. Hopkins, who was then 21, allegedly gave the girl alcohol and marijuana. Once she was intoxicated, he allegedly forced her onto the floor before penetrating her, she testified. The case was investigated right away by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, but Hopkins is said to have initially fled when he learned he was a suspect. Bringing charges in cold case sexual assaults demands an enduring courage from assault survivors and determination from investigative teams, Attorney General Dana Nessel said previously. The Kalamazoo SAKI team is among the most productive teams pursuing cold case sex crimes in the state and Im grateful for their tireless work which resulted in these charges. A sentencing date for Hopkins was not made immediately available. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter. MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI - After serving 15 years on the school board for the Muskegon Heights Public School District, Trinell Scott announced Monday she will resign at the end of this year. Scott, who has served as president since 2012, was first appointed to the board to the board in 2009. Serving the community of Muskegon Heights as a member of the Muskegon Heights Public Schools Board of Education has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, she said in the Nov. 25 press release. For 15 years, our community has trusted me to make decisions for the benefit of our communities children, and I remain ever grateful for that trust. The school board will address the vacancy left by Scotts departure at its next meeting, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17. The board is currently comprised of Vice President Safornia Johnson-Pierce, Secretary Marjorie Cook, Treasurer Estelita Rankin and Trustees Marianne Darnell, Mark Glover and Peggy Selmon. In the Nov. 5 election, Johnson-Pierce and Darnell were not reelected for another term, but Rankin was. Also elected was Kassandra Kitchen, Antonette Robinson, David Fox and Tamieko M. Gray-Simmons. Im going to continue to advocate for the families in Muskegon Heights, just in a different capacity, a different aspect, Scott said. Scott helped the district navigate a number of challenges during her tenure, including the period from 2012-2016. In January 2012, former Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a six-member Financial Review Team to examine the school districts conditions. The review team concluded a financial emergency was present and an emergency manager was appointed. An oversight board had been appointed in 2016. The state terminated the receivership in July 2021, after the district made accomplishments toward continued fiscal stability. Board trustee Trinell Scott addresses the emergency manager review team meeting in Muskegon Heights on Wednesday, March 7, 2012.Chronicle photo by Hye Soo Nah For Muskegon Heights, the goal was to ensure long-term financial stability by making sure the school board adhered to its assigned responsibilities and the school district had a balanced budget. I am incredibly proud of what the board has accomplished over the past decade, Scott said. We have strengthened the districts position within our community by fostering key relationships with partner organizations like the Community Foundation of Muskegon County. Most significantly, we worked closely with our local legislators particularly District 87 Rep. Will Snyder, for whose indispensable assistance we are eternally grateful and the Governors office to have the districts outstanding debts completely forgiven. Thanks to these efforts, the Muskegon Heights Public School District is better positioned for the future than it has been for many years. I am confident that great things are in store, and I am excited to watch them unfold. Scott also expressed thanks to the Muskegon Intermediate School District and Superintendent Randy Lindquist for the support they have shown for MHPSD over the years. The Muskegon Heights School District entered into a charter agreement with the Muskegon Height Public Schools Academy System in July 2012 to operate the system. Want more Muskegon-area news? Bookmark the local Muskegon news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Muskegon daily newsletter. Michigan Democrats will have a new party leader early next year, and at least four people are already campaigning for the seat. According to party officials, more candidates could still jump into the race for the two-year term to lead the state Democrats. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes, who led the party through historic wins in 2022, announced earlier this month that she wouldnt be seeking reelection. Two party officials who spoke with MLive said Barnes decision to step down didnt stem from the partys poor results on Nov. 5 in which Republicans took back the state House, flipped one U.S. House seat and captured the state for President-elect Donald Trump. Democrats successfully held onto the open U.S. Senate seat. Rather, they said, even before the election Barnes had talked about not wanting to run again, expressing a desire to spend more time with family. In a Nov. 14 statement, Barnes didnt explicitly say why she wasnt seeking reelection but said she was excited to play a bigger role in her family and serve as an example for her children and grandchildren. My philosophy for this party has always been that we dont worry, we work even when the going gets tough, Barnes said. I still plan to be in this fight for justice and help shepherd the next generation of leaders who will take on this important work. The new Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) chair will be voted on at the partys spring convention slated for sometime in February or March. Michigan Republicans will also vote on a new chair early next year after current party Chair Pete Hoekstra was nominated by Trump as the nations ambassador to Canada. MDP Vice Chairs Chris Cracchiolo and Jonathan Kinloch said they know of at least four people currently campaigning for Barnes seat. Those candidates are former state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., who recently lost a bid for the U.S. House; MDP Rural Caucus Chair Mark Ludwig; political and community organizer Al Bj Williams; and Kevin Tolbert, a former UAW official and current MDP chair of the 12th Congressional District. Cracchiolo said its still early in the process and that theres still plenty of time for other candidates to vie for the chair, which is a two-year term. The new chair will be tasked with leading the party through the 2026 elections, which will see open races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state all seats currently held by term-limited Democrats. The party will also be looking to take back the state House, maintain their majority in the state Senate, hold on to their U.S. Senate seat and flip whatever U.S. House seats they can. My guess is that the new chair will convene some of the leadership and get together and brainstorm what some of the strategies should be, at least over the next two years, Cracchiolo said. Theres a lot of things going to be going on in 2026. Kinloch said the new chair will have to lead by listening at first, embarking on a tour across the state to hear what messaging, concerns and policies the people want to hear the party talking about. Coming off this type of election, and keep in mind its not our first time, it is just a horrible feeling that looking at these numbers and just listening to people across the state and how they feel about the lack of connection in certain areas, whether it was issues, bringing out communities, whether it was people feeling as if their voices werent heard this year was very challenging, Kinloch said. All of that is going to fall at the feet of the next chair of, No. 1, how they respond but also how they fix it. While Trump gained votes in the state from his 2020 showing, Vice President Kamala Harris got 67,507 less votes on Nov. 5 than President Joe Biden did four years before, according to the Michigan Department of State. Places that didnt turn out for Harris like they did for Biden included Democratic stronghold Wayne County and solidly blue Oakland County. Trump also flipped Muslim-majority Dearborn in what was seen as disapproval over the Biden-Harris administrations handling of Israels ongoing war. Kinloch said the new chair is going to have to address the Democrats turnout failure ahead of the critical midterms. I know statewide we have record turnouts but in core Democratic areas, we saw fewer voters turn out than we have seen in the previous (presidential) election, he said. Were going to have some real serious conversations on how we make sure that doesnt occur in 2026. Kinloch pushed back on any assessment that Barnes was to blame for the 2024 election results, saying the chair carries out the advice of stakeholders within the party. He also pointed to some of the problems with Biden dropping out of the race late and passing the torch to Harris without a primary. This was a difficult year, but I know that while this party may bend under the weight of the pain of loss, it will never break, Barnes said in her Nov. 14 statement. At the end of the day, this country, and this state, were built to move forward there is much more work to be done and the Michigan Democratic Party stands ready to do it. I look forward to taking on new challenges, pursuing projects close to my heart, and continuing the fight for what is good and right for all of us and for our families. Barnes was elected as the MDP chair in 2019, becoming the first Black Michigander to serve as the partys chair. At the time, she was serving as the partys chief operating officer. She previously served as the state director for former President Barack Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. One of her largest successes was leading the party through historic and sweeping wins in 2022 that saw Democrats winning slim majorities in both chambers of the Michigan Legislature and every partisan statewide race. Related: Michigan sees Democratic domination after party sweeps state, legislative and federal contests News / National by Staff reporter Cement manufacturer PPC Zimbabwe is facing growing discontent among its middle-level management in the southern region following reports that over 20 local managers are set to be laid off as part of a company-wide restructuring plan. The retrenchments are reportedly part of a broader turnaround strategy aimed at improving the company's efficiency, but they have sparked anger and resentment among the affected employees.According to sources within the company, the layoff targets appear to be focused exclusively on local staff, with foreign nationals in similar managerial positions being exempted from the cuts. "There are about 400 employees, and with its turnaround strategy, the company is only targeting local management while protecting foreigners holding similar posts," said one middle-level manager, who wished to remain anonymous.Another manager expressed frustration over the timing of the retrenchments, especially given the company's recent financial success. "How can a company report an increase in revenue in June and be able to declare dividends, but all of a sudden is retrenching the same workers who played a pivotal role in producing these good results?" they questioned.PPC Zimbabwe has a history of replacing local non-executive managers with foreign counterparts, a move that has raised concerns about the company's commitment to its local workforce. The recent decision to lay off local employees has reignited these concerns, with many employees questioning the fairness and transparency of the company's decisions.In January 2024, PPC Zimbabwe appointed Albert Sigei as its new managing director. Sigei, who brings a wealth of experience to the company, was reportedly chosen to lead the firm's turnaround efforts. However, his appointment was delayed due to a legal battle over his work permit, which was contested in court. Sigei eventually won the case, and his tenure is now underway.Despite the company's positive financial results, with a reported 20.6% year-on-year increase in revenue for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, PPC Zimbabwe has faced criticism for its decision to retrench local staff. The company reported revenues of approximately US$550 million for the period, up from US$457 million the previous year, with much of the growth attributed to its Zimbabwe subsidiary's performance.Efforts to obtain comment from PPC Zimbabwe's company secretary, Tawanda Chiurayi, who also serves as head of legal services, have been unsuccessful. Chiurayi has not responded to inquiries about the retrenchment plans for the past three weeks, despite multiple attempts to contact him.As the situation unfolds, the local management at PPC Zimbabwe remains apprehensive about the future, particularly given the company's recent financial success and the ongoing debate over its treatment of local employees. With the company restructuring its workforce, many are questioning whether the decisions being made reflect a commitment to sustainable growth or a disregard for the contributions of local staff. News / National by Staff reporter Tony Sigauke, the acting bishop of Mugodhi Apostolic Faith Church (MAFC), has passed away at the age of 88. Sigauke, who had been serving as the church's acting bishop since 2019, died of natural causes in Harare. His funeral will take place in Mutare on Saturday.Sigauke took over the leadership of MAFC in an acting capacity after the church's substantive leader, Aaron Munodawafa, was declared incapacitated due to old age. Munodawafa, now 104 years old, had led the church for decades, but his advanced age led to Sigauke stepping into the leadership role.Confirming Sigauke's death, MAFC's head of the legal department, Davison Mangoma, expressed the church's sorrow. "On behalf of the church, we lost our revered bishop at the weekend. The position we have is that he will be buried on Saturday in Mutare. We are saddened that the acting bishop is no more," Mangoma said.Sigauke's passing comes at a time when MAFC was celebrating a significant victory in a leadership dispute. The church had been embroiled in a wrangle after the son of the late bishop, Washington Mugodhi, attempted to impose himself as the new leader. However, the Supreme Court upheld a previous High Court ruling affirming that Aaron Munodawafa was the legitimate leader of the church, a decision welcomed by many members.Sigauke had a long and distinguished career with MAFC, having been ordained in 1967 and later rising to the position of vice bishop in 2014. He was born in 1936 in Musikavanhu, Chipinge, and worked at the Mutare Museum from 1958 until his retirement in 1996.The church will now face the challenge of selecting a new leader as it mourns the loss of a respected figure in its leadership. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe has harvested 560,000 metric tonnes of wheat this year, a significant increase from the 468,000 tonnes produced in 2023. This milestone was confirmed by the country's Lands and Agriculture Permanent Secretary, Obert Jiri, at a press briefing in Harare on Monday."As of Monday, we have accounted for over 560,000 metric tonnes of wheat harvested," Jiri said. "We are still in the process of finalizing the figures, but we are confident that the total harvest will include both usable grain and any grain that may have been affected by rain."Jiri praised farmers for surpassing the previous year's wheat production, highlighting their resilience and efforts in achieving a better yield. He expressed optimism for the upcoming farming season, encouraging farmers to continue planting as agricultural inputs are readily available across the country.However, Jiri also acknowledged challenges in the movement of traditional grains, encouraging farmers to align their crop choices with agroecological conditions in order to maximize productivity. "We encourage farmers to adapt to the agroecological tailoring to ensure that the crops they plant are well-suited for their specific regions," he stated.The government's efforts to ensure food security were underscored by the bumper wheat harvest in 2022, which allowed Zimbabwe to halt flour and wheat imports, with Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka declaring that the country had become self-sufficient in wheat production. The country's annual wheat consumption is estimated at 360,000 tonnes, putting the current harvest well beyond domestic demand.Despite this success, the reopening of borders in March for wheat imports has posed challenges for local farmers and millers. The influx of imported flour has led to a downturn in local milling activity, with some mills scaling back operations or shutting down altogether.The increase in wheat production is a positive sign for Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, but the government faces the challenge of balancing local production with the impact of imports on the domestic milling industry. News / National by Staff reporter The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has expressed grave concern over what it describes as a "slanderous" and "false" article titled "Mnangagwa Turns to Parallel Structures." The article alleges that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is maneuvering to extend his term beyond constitutional limits, employing unconventional methods and "parallel structures" outside ZANU-PF's established arms.In a strongly worded statement, the OPC refuted the claims as malicious fabrications aimed at discrediting the Head of State and undermining national unity. The Office emphasized that President Mnangagwa has consistently reiterated his commitment to upholding the two-term limit prescribed by Zimbabwe's Constitution."Repeatedly, the President has been on public record stating and re-stating in person that he has no intention or ambition to serve beyond the term which the National Constitution mandates for Presidency," the statement read.The OPC accused NewsDay of creating a misleading narrative that suggests disunity within ZANU-PF and security structures, warning that such allegations could destabilize the nation. It further described the publication as an act of defamation, calculated to erode public trust in the President and foster discord.Call for RetractionThe OPC has demanded that NewsDay retract the article within seven publishing days, warning of legal action if the demand is not met. This marks the second time in recent months that the publication has come under fire from the President's Office for allegedly publishing falsehoods."While the Office respects freedoms granted to the media by the Country's Constitution, it is very clear that flagrantly publishing and circulating falsehoods is not protected by the laws of the country," the OPC warned, adding that offenders may face legal consequences.Media ResponsibilityThe OPC acknowledged the importance of media freedom but stressed that this freedom does not absolve journalists of accountability. "Views of individuals and interest groups exercising their freedom of expression cannot be imputed on the President or treated as reversing his public pronouncements," the statement emphasized.The Office also clarified that ZANU-PF's affiliate groups, which operate within the framework of the party's constitution, cannot be mislabeled as "parallel structures."ImplicationsThe OPC's response underscores the tensions between government officials and sections of the press, with accusations of media overreach being met with government assertions of defamation. This development highlights the delicate balance between press freedom and accountability in Zimbabwe's evolving political landscape.As the situation unfolds, all eyes will be on NewsDay's response to the demand for a retraction and any subsequent legal action. News / National by Staff reporter 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 country's 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 SWAPO's support, which fell to 56% in the 2019 presidential election from 87% in 2014. There are no reliable polls on how it might fare this time.The frontrunner among 14 opposition candidates is Panduleni Itula, a former dentist who won 29% 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% 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 CHALLENGEDNamibia 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% 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.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 Africa's 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.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 SWAPO's 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. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders in South Africa are raising concerns that they will be unable to meet the Friday, November 29 deadline to apply for a further one-year exemption due to significant backlogs in the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).Under current regulations, ZEP holders must apply for a one-year exemption, which would allow them to remain and work in South Africa until November 2025. Those who do not meet this deadline or fail to secure the necessary visa or waiver could face deportation. However, according to the ZEP Holders Association (Zepha), the backlog of visa and waiver applications - many of which have been pending for several months - makes it impossible for many to meet the deadline.Zepha, represented by Advocate Simba Chitando, has called on Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber to extend the deadline, similar to the extension granted by Schreiber's predecessor, Aaron Motsoaledi, in 2023. Chitando described the situation as a "self-created crisis" for the Department of Home Affairs, pointing to the bureaucratic inefficiencies that have led to delays in processing applications."The November 2024 deadline for the ZEP is yet another self-created crisis for the Department of Home Affairs. Many ZEP holders, due to bureaucratic constraints within the Department, will not be able to make the deadline through no fault of their own," Chitando said.ZEP holders have struggled to secure appointments at VFS Global offices, the agency responsible for processing applications on behalf of DHA. Last week, Minister Schreiber acknowledged that some of DHA's systems were overwhelmed by the volume of applications."I have no doubt that he will have no choice but to extend the deadline again to avoid a catastrophic failure to document ZEP holders," Chitando added.The ongoing uncertainty surrounding ZEP holders' legal status in South Africa has persisted for years. Currently, there are approximately 178,000 ZEP holders in the country, many of whom have lived and worked in South Africa for over 15 years. The previous ZEP permit expired in November 2023, and it was extended for another two years. However, the extension came with the condition that Zimbabwean and Lesotho exemption permit holders would not be allowed to apply for permanent residence.This decision is currently being challenged in court, with ZEP holders arguing that the Minister of Home Affairs has the authority to grant them permanent residency based on their long-term stay and contributions to the country.While the two-year extension provided some breathing space for ZEP holders, it has not eliminated the uncertainty surrounding their legal status or that of their families. ZEP holders were advised to apply for alternative visas, such as general worker visas, to solidify their legal standing in the country. Unfortunately, many have faced difficulties in scheduling appointments at VFS Global, where visa and waiver applications are processed.Xpatweb, a consultancy that assists expatriates, highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by ZEP holders. "Unfortunately, it seems this deadline causes headaches for many as they struggle to secure submission dates at offices of VFS Global," said Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb.In response to these challenges, Schreiber introduced a new system for issuing visas digitally via email, which has helped process over 60,000 ZEP waiver applications, many of which date back to 2022. ZEP holders who have received waiver letters via email can now proceed to submit their applications for general work visas.To address inefficiencies and reduce red tape, DHA also launched a new points-based system for work visas in October. This system aims to combat corruption and ensure a more transparent and efficient application process.Minister Schreiber has received praise for his efforts to tackle corruption and improve the functioning of DHA. Recently, 18 DHA officials were dismissed for offences such as fraud, corruption, and sexual harassment, while four others received written warnings. Schreiber emphasized the importance of these actions in improving the department's integrity and ensuring that applications are processed fairly and efficiently.Despite these efforts, the looming deadline remains a critical issue for thousands of ZEP holders, with many hoping for an extension to avoid potential deportation and further legal uncertainty. News / National by Staff reporter President Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed deep concern over the increasing corruption within local councils across Zimbabwe, calling for the arrest and prosecution of all officials involved in graft. His remarks come amid a series of high-profile corruption cases involving both urban and rural council officials.The latest exposure of corruption includes an ongoing commission of inquiry into Harare City Council, led by Retired Justice Maphios Cheda, which has uncovered widespread malfeasance among council officials. One of the most notable cases involves former Harare Town Clerk Hosiah Chisango, who is out on bail after being charged with illegally awarding a street lights tender to Moses Mpofu's company. In addition, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has suspended Chisango pending further investigations into his misconduct.Meanwhile, in Bulawayo, Deputy Mayor Edwin Ndlovu and Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo were arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after allegedly demanding a bribe of US$20,000 from Chinese investors. The scandal has further highlighted the extent of corruption within Zimbabwe's local government institutions.Local government officials are also facing allegations of collaborating with land barons to illegally parcel out land. These illicit practices have added to the public's growing frustration with corruption at the local level, which has undermined development and public trust.Speaking at the All Councillors Indaba in Harare on Tuesday, President Mnangagwa ordered that all corrupt local government officials be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He emphasized that no one - regardless of their position or influence - would be exempt from the consequences of corrupt actions."I am deeply concerned by the cases of corruption in the local government space and the entire society. Those perpetrating such acts must face the full wrath of our country's law. No one, including local authorities, will be spared. Let us root out this menace," Mnangagwa said.The All Councillors Indaba, organized by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (ZILGA), brought together delegates from all 92 local and rural councils in the country. The gathering served as a platform for discussing strategies to combat corruption and improve governance at the local government level.The President's call for swift action against corrupt officials signals a commitment to tackling corruption head-on, which has long been a major issue in Zimbabwe's political landscape. It remains to be seen how effective these measures will be in addressing the systemic corruption that continues to plague the country's councils. News / National by Staff reporter The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s Vuyani Pambo says President Cyril Ramaphosa must be arrested for the Phala Phala scandal.Pambo is among EFF members who were marching to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, where the party is battling it out with the president's legal team.Dozens of EFF supporters gathered in Newtown to march to the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein under the watch of Johannesburg metro police, Gauteng crime prevention wardens, and EFF marshalls.Pambo said they want to see Ramaphosa behind bars."Ramaphosa must go to jail. We must have this Phala Phala matter brought back to the table. How are we going to have people respecting the law if the number one citizen does not respect the law?"Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema said the party would ensure President Cyril Ramaphosa accounts for his Phala Phala monies.Addressing the red berets ahead of the march, Malema said the EFF would do all it can to have Ramaphosa declared a criminal."The ANC [African National Congress] abused its majority in Parliament to defend their corrupt president. We will fight in Parliament. We will fight on the picket lines and we will fight to defend the constitution of the Republic of South Africa." News / National by Staff reporter ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont has opened up about his struggles with the alleged infidelity of his ex-wife Terry Beaumont and DA leader John Steenhuisen in 2010.The incident led to Beaumont's departure from the DA's KwaZulu-Natal office to Gauteng.Beaumont told TimesLIVE he married Terry in 2010, but their marriage was short-lived, ending in divorce only three months later due to the affair. At the time Steenhuisen was the leader of the DA in KwaZulu-Natal and was married to Julia Steenhuisen. He later divorced Julia and married Terry in 2014. Terry was the DA's media liaison at the time."I was the provincial director and he [Steenhuisen] was the leader, which is like the president and secretary-general of a party, so we worked together daily. We were very close and interacted very closely, which made things terribly difficult," he said."It was a difficult time, and it was a terrible thing to go through because it was a huge public matter. It had a terrible impact on my family, who are private people. They're not like me. They're not open to having their names splashed like that. It was a difficult thing to go through."My reason for leaving was partly informed by that. He had stepped down as DA leader in the province. The decision to move to Gauteng was largely driven by opportunities there. Gauteng was a more interesting province because we had a lot more voters who were mobile in their political choices. The opportunity to go to Gauteng was exciting for me."The alleged cheating scandal led to Steenhuisen's resignation as DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal.Beaumont emphasised the incident does not define him or his political career."A lot of people try to make the story about who I am politically in 2024, and I think they do so fairly maliciously because we are talking about 2010, We are talking ancient history."I remained in the DA for nine years after that incident. There's certainly nothing about my political choices today that has anything to do with those events."He said he and Steenhuisen have moved on and are happy in their respective marriages."Those events are ancient history. John is happily married, and I've been married for seven years. In many ways, I think it was a blessing in my life, but it was a difficult thing to go through, certainly not something that framed my politics or who I am." News / National by Staff reporter Uzumba Member of Parliament Wiriranai Muchemwa (Zanu-PF) and his accomplice, ward 15 councillor Knowledge Chipindu, have been granted US$300 bail each after being charged with defrauding a Chinese mining company, Black Cube Mining, of US$12,000.The two appeared before Harare magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa, represented by advocate Taona Sibanda. They were ordered to report to the police once a week and instructed not to interfere with State witnesses. The matter has been remanded to February 6 for further investigations.The AllegationsState prosecutor Anesu Chirenje outlined that on April 10, 2024, Wang Qun, representing Black Cube Mining, received a request from Muchemwa for a US$12,000 donation. Muchemwa allegedly claimed the funds were needed for infrastructure development projects in Uzumba constituency.Following a meeting, Wang agreed to provide the funds. In addition, the company donated mealie-meal, which Muchemwa and Chipindu claimed was to be distributed to villagers during a presidential rally at Nhakiwa Business Centre in Murehwa.However, the donated mealie-meal was allegedly repackaged with South African brand labels and sold. Chipindu reportedly engaged Murehwa Milling Company to facilitate the sale, which raised US$10,179.Discovery of FraudIn August 2024, Wang was approached by another Zanu-PF councillor, Lovemore Matanhire, seeking donations for his area. Wang informed him that the company had already contributed US$12,000 to the constituency earlier in the year. Matanhire, however, stated he was unaware of any such donation.Suspicious of misappropriation, Wang filed a complaint with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). Investigations led to the arrests of Muchemwa and Chipindu, who failed to account for the US$12,000 and proceeds from the mealie-meal sale.Legal ProceedingsThe accused duo is expected to return to court in February, as investigations into the alleged misuse of funds and donations continue. The case highlights concerns about corruption and the alleged misuse of political influence for personal gain.The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has reiterated its commitment to tackling graft in both public and private sectors, with this case serving as a test of its resolve to enforce accountability. News / National by Staff reporter The murder trial of former fugitive and Gweru businessman Peter Dube, accused of killing two people and attempting to kill two more in a suspected love triangle, has hit another roadblock after he exhibited signs of mental instability.Dube, who allegedly fatally shot two people on the spot and attempted to kill two others in April 2021, had previously been declared fit to stand trial following a mental health assessment in September 2024.During that earlier hearing at the Gweru Magistrate's Court, he had reportedly made incoherent statements, including demands for the return of vehicles he claimed were seized by ZIMRA.On Tuesday, the trial at the Bulawayo High Court was once again stalled when Dube displayed erratic behaviour, including fidgeting, talking and laughing to himself, and allegedly drinking water from the toilets.Justice Munamato Mutevedzi ordered a fresh mental health evaluation after discussions in chambers."It is directed in terms of both sections 28(2) and 29(2) of the Mental Health Act [Chapter 15:12] that the accused shall be re-examined by psychiatric doctors Nemache Mawere and R.R. Nyamukapa at Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital and Gweru Provincial Hospital, respectively, to ascertain: whether or not he is fit to stand trial and whether or not he was mentally challenged or handicapped at the time he allegedly committed the offence," ruled Justice Mutevedzi.Dube faces double murder charges and two counts of attempted murder stemming from the April 2021 incident.According to court documents, the violent episode was triggered by allegations of infidelity. Dube reportedly accused one of the victims, Shelton Chiduku, of having an affair with his second wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and blamed another victim, Gamuchirai Mudungwe, for enabling the alleged affair.On April 22, 2021, Dube had an altercation with Nyasha after she returned from Masvingo with her sister, Nyaradzo Nharingo, Chiduku, and Mudungwe. Nyasha had sought Mudungwe's help to secure a driver, Chiduku, for the trip.When the group returned home late at night, Dube reportedly locked himself inside with the children and the house helper, refusing to let Nyasha and Nyaradzo in. Despite interventions by Nyasha's co-wife, Justina Chawana, and Dube's brother, Advance Dube, the situation escalated. Dube eventually allowed the women into the house but demanded that they pack their belongings and leave.As Nyasha and the house helper began packing, Dube allegedly stormed out with a pistol, fatally shooting Chiduku and Mudungwe. He then shot at Nyasha and Nyaradzo, who survived and were rushed to the hospital.After the shootings, Dube fled Zimbabwe, reportedly crossing into South Africa before settling in Eswatini under a new identity.His escape ended in 2023 when he was arrested in Dublin for immigration violations. Despite claiming to be Mozambican, authorities confirmed his Zimbabwean nationality, leading to his extradition.The court will wait for the results of Dube's latest psychiatric evaluation to determine the way forward in the trial. News / National by Staff reporter Matabeleland South Rural Infrastructure Development Authority (RIDA) acting provincial coordinator, Mr. Joseph Dube, tragically lost his life in a car accident along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Highway on Sunday evening. He was 54.Dube, who was driving a Toyota Hilux double cab, was traveling from Gwanda to Bulawayo when he lost control of the vehicle near the 114km peg in Nsindi, just outside Gwanda Town. The vehicle veered off the road, overturning twice before landing on its left side. Dube was ejected from the vehicle and landed approximately 15 meters away, dying on the spot.The accident occurred around 6 p.m. and has been confirmed by Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Stanford Mguni."I can confirm that we recorded a fatal incident where one person died at the 114km peg along Bulawayo-Gwanda Road. The driver, who was heading toward Bulawayo, lost control of the vehicle, which overturned and landed on its side. Unfortunately, he was thrown out of the vehicle and succumbed to his injuries," said Assistant Inspector Mguni.He urged motorists to exercise caution, particularly as the festive season approaches and rainy weather conditions make roads more hazardous.Loss to the ProvinceThe news of Dube's passing has sent shockwaves through Matabeleland South, where he was widely respected for his dedication and hard work.In a statement, Matabeleland South acting director of Local Government, Mr. Zachariah Jusah, expressed deep sorrow over the loss."On a sad note, yesterday we lost one of our hardworking and dedicated members. A dark cloud has befallen us as Mat South Province, especially the WASH Sector, following the passing of our PWSSC Chair, Joseph Dube. He was a committed leader and an asset to the province and the nation," said Mr. Jusah.Dube's contributions to infrastructure development, particularly his work in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives, were widely acknowledged.Road Safety ReminderAs investigations into the accident continue, authorities are emphasizing the importance of road safety, particularly during the festive season. Drivers are urged to maintain caution, adhere to speed limits, and remain vigilant, especially during rainy conditions that may affect road surfaces.The tragic passing of Mr. Joseph Dube marks a significant loss to Matabeleland South and Zimbabwe's development efforts. His legacy of service will be remembered by colleagues and the communities he served. Archisha Yadav USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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I Accept Darshan tells court deceased Renukaswamy had no respect for woman, indulged in porn content Vaishnavi Gavankar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwean horticultural farmers are aiming to produce 30,000 metric tonnes of blueberries annually by 2030, a goal that underscores the rapid growth of the sector. However, this ambitious target is being stifled by a lack of investment capital, according to industry stakeholders.Since exporting its first blueberries in 2017, Zimbabwe's blueberry industry has grown at an "incredible" rate, with exports reaching 5,500 tonnes in 2023. This remarkable expansion has positioned Zimbabwe as the fastest-growing blueberry producer globally.Speaking to Fresh Plaza, Linda Nielsen, CEO of the Horticultural Development Council (HDC), highlighted the challenges that threaten the sector's growth trajectory."This year we're aiming for 8,000 tonnes. However, the expansion is not from new plantings but from plant maturity because we still don't have enough capital to expand," Nielsen said.She outlined the industry's long-term vision of cultivating 1,500 hectares of blueberries by 2030 to achieve the 30,000-tonne target. The anticipated output could generate revenue comparable to Zimbabwe's total horticultural export earnings in the 1990s.Investment and Policy ChallengesTo meet this goal, Nielsen estimates a substantial investment of around US$240 million is required. The lack of affordable financing and unfavourable foreign exchange policies have been significant impediments to achieving the needed expansion."High borrowing costs and exchange rate volatility are preventing growers from accessing the capital they need. Addressing these challenges is critical to unlocking the full potential of the sector," Nielsen added.Despite these hurdles, the horticultural sector as a whole has shown impressive growth, with exports now exceeding 113 million metric tonnes annually, driven by resilient traditional crops like citrus and emerging high-demand products such as blueberries.Addressing Climate ChallengesNielsen also emphasized the importance of addressing water availability, a critical factor given the realities of climate change. Zimbabwean farmers are adopting improved water management and storage techniques to mitigate these risks and ensure sustainable growth in the horticulture sector.OutlookWhile the potential of Zimbabwe's blueberry industry is evident, reaching the 30,000-tonne milestone will require targeted investments and supportive policies. If successful, the sector could become a significant contributor to the country's economy and a leader in global blueberry exports.The industry's stakeholders are calling for coordinated efforts to address funding gaps and create a conducive environment for growth, ensuring Zimbabwe capitalizes on its horticultural promise. M Snehanjali USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept JSW Steel, SAIL in talks with Mongolia for coking coal shipments, sources say: Report 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. 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I Accept IPO MobiKwik - Meet Upasana Taku, the force behind one of India's leading digital payment platforms bracing for Rs700-crore listing *Disclaimer - Brand Connect is a solution that allows brands to break the queue to gain better engagement among our audiences Riya Gandhi USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years. Kumar Chatterjee USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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I Accept BPCL to commission its first green jet fuel production facility by 2027 in line with govts blending mandate Debasis Basak USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept India could benefit as Trump starts tariff war with Canada and Mexico: MC analysis Ishaan Gera USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. 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Suvarna USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept News / National by Staff reporter The interim leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Jameson Timba, and 34 of his supporters are set to be released from custody after being handed varied suspended sentences for participating in an unlawful gathering on June 16.Timba and fellow CCC member Jason Kautsa were each sentenced to a wholly suspended 16 months, while over two dozen others received shorter suspended sentences. The court found the group guilty of participating in an unlawful assembly, though they were acquitted of additional charges of disorderly conduct.The activists were arrested in June and have remained in custody since then. Their trial culminated with the State proving the unlawful gathering charge, but failing to establish sufficient evidence for the disorderly conduct accusations.The case garnered significant attention, with rights groups and CCC supporters criticizing the arrests as politically motivated.Legal OutcomeThe suspended sentences mean that the convicted individuals will not serve additional time behind bars unless they commit similar offenses during the suspension period.This outcome has been seen as a relief for the activists, who had spent nearly six months in custody awaiting the conclusion of the trial.The release of Timba and his supporters comes at a politically sensitive time for Zimbabwe, with tensions between opposition parties and the ruling government continuing to simmer.Observers view the case as part of a broader pattern of actions targeting opposition members, a claim the government has consistently denied.The CCC has yet to issue a formal statement on the release of its interim leader and members, but party insiders have indicated that they plan to challenge the convictions.The case underscores ongoing debates about political freedoms and the right to assemble in Zimbabwe as the country grapples with calls for democratic reforms. Maharashtra's capex may take a hit on welfare politics: How will infra, cement, other players fare? Zoya Springwala USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept NTPC Green assures funding for capex will be at the most 'optimum price' Rohit Singh USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years. Adrija Chatterjee USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwean government has been called upon to expedite efforts in training traditional leaders to issue essential primary documents, such as birth and death certificates.This initiative is expected to lower transport costs, eliminate the need for witnesses, and improve access to documentation for rural populations.The recommendations were highlighted in a report on the statelessness of migrants in Zimbabwe, compiled by the Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs, Security Services, and War Veterans Affairs.To tackle barriers in accessing primary documents, the government has trained village heads to issue birth and death confirmation records for individuals born or deceased outside healthcare facilities.This pilot programme is currently underway in Manicaland and Matabeleland North, with plans to expand nationwide.The Committee noted that traditional and religious beliefs often delay the naming and registration of children, contributing to low birth registration rates. "This has excluded children and their families from accessing education, health services, and food aid," the report stated.The lack of primary documents has far-reaching consequences, including restricted access to education, employment, and basic services."The inability to obtain documents prevents citizens from actively participating in the economy. They cannot be employed, open bank accounts, or even purchase mobile phone lines," the report said.The Committee highlighted the educational impact, noting that many students are forced to drop out before writing their primary school exams due to a lack of birth certificates. "This prematurely ends their educational careers."Talented athletes were also noted to suffer, as the absence of primary documents prevents them from competing internationally or representing the country.The report warned of heightened security risks stemming from an increase in undocumented individuals. "This could lead to spiralling criminal activities and human trafficking. Perpetrators would be difficult to trace as they remain unregistered," the report added.In addition, undocumented populations contribute to inaccurate census data, hinder resource planning, and compromise poverty alleviation strategies. Stateless individuals are also deprived of voting rights, customary law benefits, and other social protections.The Committee observed reluctance among some Registrar General's Office (RG) officials to assist individuals with unique cases."Clients are often turned away on unclear grounds. Officers fail to specify the requirements needed to obtain documents, creating unnecessary barriers," it noted.The need for witnesses further increases the financial burden on applicants, discouraging many from seeking documentation.As part of their recommendations, the Committee said there is need for government to set aside resources in order to conduct quantitative research to determine the number of people who are at risk of being statelessness in the country by 31 December 2025.They also called for the Registrar General`s office to conduct public awareness programmes to encourage the public to obtain primary documents, outlining their importance including procedures for obtaining them particularly in mining areas where there are large numbers if undocumented people by 31 December, 2024.Meanwhile, the Portfolio Committee said there is a need for the Civil Registry Department to undertake ongoing refresher courses and training in customer care for officers so that quality service may be provided by the Department at all centers by 31 July 2025."The Civil Registry Department should specify at least minimum requirements needed for one to obtain either a birth certificate, National ID or Passport through advertisement of public outreach programs by 31st July 2025 in order to reduce unnecessary turn aways. This Will help to reduce the number of people who are undocumented," they said.Meanwhile, the Committee also recommended that the Ministry should give a special dispensation for those who fall victim to natural disasters such as floods, lightning and infernos."These should be given amnesty to acquire their Primary documents without any cumbersome procedures by 31st July, 2025.""Treasury should allocate more funds to Civil Registry Department to enable them to Conduct verification exercise to capture and record all the undocumented people so that they can be given a form of documentation in order for them to be identified and to participate in all aspects of life," said the Portfolio Committee on defense, home affairs. 'Went into depression, received threat calls...': Champions Trophy star Varun Chakaravarthy on his dark time JD Vance says Green Card holders dont have indefinite right to stay in US: 'Americans will decide ...' Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City's al-Tabin school shelter killed four people, with others injured or missing, according to Al Jazeera. The site, previously attacked in August, saw over 100 fatalities, mainly women and children, in a strike timed during dawn prayers to maximize casualties. An unofficial inquiry by Israeli survivors of the October 7 Hamas attacks criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu and security officials for failing to prevent or prepare for the incursion. The 70-page report, chaired by former Judge Varda Alshech, accused leaders of "arrogance and structural blindness" and also blamed past prime ministers, police, military, and Shin Bet. The inquiry followed the government's refusal to initiate an official probe. Police have filed a case against Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, Sohail Iqbal (son of local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood), and arrested 25 people after violent clashes erupted between protesters and security forces over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque. The violence led to four deaths. Australia's House of Representatives has passed a bill prohibiting children under 16 from using social media, according to AP reports. On November 26, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Fiuggi, Italy, to discuss strengthening cooperation on global security. Blinken shared a photo on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting the importance of continued collaboration between the U.S. and India for promoting global security and prosperity. Yemens Houthi fighters expressed support for Hezbollah following its ceasefire agreement with Israel. Houthi spokesman Abdul Salam Salah commended Hezbollah's resilience against Israeli aggression, attributing the ceasefire to its effective resistance. He praised Hezbollah's operations for preserving Lebanon's security and sovereignty. The Iran-backed Houthis have also conducted attacks on Israeli targets and international shipping lanes to oppose Israel's actions in Gaza. A video of a TTE performing CPR on a conscious elderly man aboard a train, shared by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, sparked online controversy. While initially praised as a rescue effort, it faced criticism from medical experts, who noted CPR on a conscious person is unnecessary and potentially harmful. The minister deleted the video after widespread backlash. Chandrima Sanyal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept November 27, 2024 / 16:47 IST -Rains continued to lash Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta areas impacting standing paddy crops. Crops were submerged partially and completely at several places, including those in and around Tiruvarur, Thiruthuraipoondi, Muthupettai, Mayiladuthurai, and Vedaranyam, and according to farmers' rough estimates, crops on at least 2,000 acres were affected, PTI reported. -Also, huge acreage of salt pans in the districts of Nagapattinam (Vedaranyam) and Villupuram (Marakkanman) came under water. -Rain-related incidents, including the collapse of an old house at Tarangampadi and the wall of a Dharga's tank at Jambuvanodai in Tiruvarur district have been reported. Trees were uprooted and some fell on nearby electricity poles causing power failure and many localities were inundated. One dead, two critical after inhaling toxic fumes in Andhra pharma factory Smriti Mishra USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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I Accept Paris Airport shuts 2 runways in search of tourist's missing pet dog on the run. Watch Shubhi Mishra USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept In this editing of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: Indian banks gearing for change in new year, how the trading cycle will fare in 2024... USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Aihik Sur USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept SoftBanks Masayoshi Son goes all in on AI during lunch meeting with founders in India Tushar Goenka is a breaking news reporter who focuses on startups. Interested in venture capital, quick commerce, e-commerce, food delivery and D2C. Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Tushar Goenka USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept The French at least are making their opposition to the proposed EU-Mercosur trade deal abundantly clear, and for once French President and World Economic Forum lackey Emmanuel Macron is listening. French farmers protests are always laced with interesting strategies; here french farmers are covering Govt offices with manure ! pic.twitter.com/3FR8mFOmSr Ramandeep Singh Mann (@ramanmann1974) November 21, 2024 Macron is no stranger to being slapped and hit with eggs by the French, and potentially fearing what the manure protest tactic augurs for his future he continues to voice strong opposition to the EU-Mercosur trade deal. The problem is that Paris doesnt look to have enough bloc support to derail the deal, which is sailing towards approval next week.Lets take a look at the proposed deal, what it means for the average European, and why the EU is so eager to get it finished. What Is the EU-Mercosur Trade Deal? Chief negotiators from the EU and the Brazilian-led South American bloc of Mercosur countries are meeting in Brasilia this week for final talks on their trade agreement thats been under discussion for a quarter century. The big push from Brussels to get a deal done now is purportedly to help counter Chinas influence in South America. Mercosur also includes Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia as members. The talks seek to establish one of the worlds biggest free trade zones that would cover about 750 million people and about one-fifth of the global economy. Heres Euronews with more: The FTA aims to remove tariffs on 100% of all industrial goods imported by the EU from the South American bloc. Meanwhile, Mercosur would remove tariffs on 90% of industrial goods imported from the EU, including cars, machinery, IT equipment, textiles, chocolate, spirits and wine. The tariffs on cars and car parts to Mercosur are currently 35%, which is very high. Machinery around 14%-20%, chemicals around 18%, said Li. So thats why then countries like Germany will be very happy to see some of those tariffs go down. As the country is battling one of its worst crises, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly called for closing the deal saying that: The Mercosur agreement is groundbreaking for diversifying and strengthening the resilience of our economy. It most certainly would strengthen the ailing German automotive industry, including struggling Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as the German chemicals industry with companies like Bayer. Theres reason to believe that the trade deal will not be a panacea for German industry. Aside from the countrys energy disadvantages due its Russia policy, China already has a heavy presence in South American auto market that appears poised to grow. From the Buenos Aires Times: Chinese vehicle makers have pushed pedal to the metal in recent years. With multiple brands that combine price and quality they have managed to conquer the Latin American market, rising ahead of the United States and Brazil. In the last five years, China has quadrupled sales to the region. In 2019 it sold US$2.18 billion of cars, in 2023 it hit US$8.56 billion and 20 percent of the market to become the main supplier to Latin America, according to the ITC International Trade Centre. The United States, which boasted the first position in 2021, reached 17 percent, whereas Brazilian vehicles dropped from 14 to 11 percent of the market last year. In the budding market of electric vehicles, the dominance is even greater: 51 percent of sales in the region were from the Asian giant, while practically all electric buses are Chinese. France is leading the opposition to the deal, and demanding that Mercosur farmers be subject to the same requirements as their EU peers. Much like its EU counterpart Germany, which opposed the EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, Paris knows its stance is largely symbolic as it doesnt likely have the votes to shut the deal down. The government says publicly that they are opposed, but behind the scenes, they acknowledge they dont have the strength and pretend to fight, said Manon Aubry, an anti-Mercosur French MEP from the France Unbowed movement. The reason France and other countries against the agreement are stuck is due to some clever maneuvering from the Ursula von der Leyen-led European Commission. Under normal circumstances, the deal would need to be ratified by all 27 EU member states, the European Parliament and all bloc national parliaments before taking effect. The Commission, however, is splitting the deal into two parts: a broad cooperation agreement and a trade pact. This apparently allows it to skate through with a qualified majority of at least 15 member states to approve the agreement. And according to political watchers, Paris lacks the ability to pull together the qualified minority representing at least 35 percent of the EU population that it would need to block the deal when it finally goes to a vote among member countries. Supporters and Ursulas Commission are saying the deal needs to get done posthaste. Because if not the Mercosur countries will turn their backs on the EU and march down the aisle with China instead. If we dont do a trade agreement with [Mercosur], then this void will be filled really by China, incoming EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said recently. The European Commission and Mercosur countries aim to conclude their long-running negotiations on a trade accord at a Mercosur summit next week, according to Politico. Agriculture Risks European farmers are sounding the alarm about the dangers in the deal not just to their economic well being but the general well-being of all Europeans. That includes European food safety, animal welfare, and environmental standards and pay higher wages compared to that of the Southern American farmers. European agricultural organizations are pointing to the lax standards of Mercosur exports compared to EU regulations. From Tri-State Livestock News: DG SANTEs audit highlighted significant gaps in Brazils ability to trace hormone use in its cattle exports to the EU, particularly estradiol 17, a growth hormone widely used in Brazil but banned in the EU for over 40 years due to its potential cancer risks. Despite these findings, the EU Commission has allowed Brazilian authorities to implement a self-ban until they can guarantee hormone-free beef exports to Europe. This decision has raised serious concerns about the adequacy of oversight and the reliability of Brazils self-regulation, especially considering the recent Carne Fraca scandal which exposed severe regulatory failures in the Brazilian meat industry. In addition to the livestock, there a major concerns about the safety of arable products: Recurring difficulties in Brazil restricting the use of hazardous plant protection products and the increasing differences in terms of phytosanitary standards between Brazil and in the EU, makes the situation unsustainable and unacceptable for EU farmers. For example, a forthcoming CEPM study shows that 52% of the active substances authorized for use on maize in Brazil and Argentina had been banned in the EU, some of them, such as atrazine, for over 15 years. As far as sugar beet is concerned, there are around 30 active substances authorized in sugar cane in Brazil that are no longer authorized for use in sugar beet in the EU. These differences cannot be explained only by different conditions such as climate, soil, or mitigation measures. EU farmers say an active substance considered dangerous for health or for the environment in the EU should also be considered dangerous in Mercosur countries. No matter, Politico tells farmers to calm down. Its no big deal says the outlet owned by Axel Springer, which excludes Politico employees from the requirement at its other media outlets to sign a mission statement expressing support for Israel transatlanticism: the tariff-free quotas Brussels has afforded the South Americans are low. For beef, these account for 1.6 percent of Europeans annual consumption by volume and a smidge more by value. Its even less for poultry and sugar, which by volume weigh in at 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. Rice is below the single digit. This of course ignores the fact that multinationals can easily absorb while already-struggling small scale farms could be sunk by even a small increase in unfair competition, which is precisely what free trade agreements do and thereby aid corporate concentration at the expense of small and medium enterprises. And Im sure theyd never try to increase the quotas. The deal is a big win for the evermore globally concentrated Big Ag. According to SOMO, in the last three years, the profits of the five biggest traders in agricultural commodities tripled compared to the years before. Together, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO and Louis Dreyfuss Company (ABCCD) hold a monopoly position on the global market. Its soon to get even worse. Thats because the EU and Ursula, who loves her tools, isnt a fan of utilizing the competition policy toolkit. From SOMO: since the start of the EU Merger Regulation in 1990, only 88 out of 9243 notified mergers have been stopped. That is less than 1 per cent. Sixty cases that European regulators considered and approved involved the ABCCD agricultural commodity traders, including the 34-billion-dollar deal [inked this year and set to close in 2025] between agricultural giants Bunge and Viterra. On the South American side, there are strong reasons to believe that the deal will lead to the following: More fires and deforestation in the Amazon. Escalation of invasion of indigenous territories, land-grabbing and violent attacks. A disruption of local food production. Increased use of dangerous pesticides. Why Does the EU Ruling Class Want the Deal? Trade between the two blocks is relatively small. European Commission data shows that in 2023 the EUs exports to the four Mercosur countries was 55.7 billion euros while Mercosur exported 53.7 billion euros worth of goods to the EU. European farmers are in effect being asked to sacrifice supposedly for the EU and Americas strategic goals. The strategic aspect revolves around China and critical minerals. While agriculture products are the largest slice of the Mercosur exports to the EU (32.4 percent), mineral products are second at 29.6 percent. The South American countries have plenty of what the EU is looking for, including lithium, graphite, nickel, manganese, and rare earth elements. The EU is currently almost completely reliant on China for minerals needed for EV batteries, solar panels, wind energy, and green hydrogen all part of the blocs flailing green transition. Even if the EU is able to secure more critical minerals from Mercosur with this trade deal, who will do the processing? Theres still no clear answer. Von der Leyen likes to tout her tools like the blocs Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which aims for the EU to process 40 percent of the strategic raw materials it uses by 2030. The NZIA allows projects to bypass many environmental and social impact reviews, but theres no budget, and the policies do nothing to change Europes disadvantages, which include a lack of subsidies compared to the US and China and much higher energy costs thanks to their de-risking away from Russian energy. Yet the de-risking code for the EUs eager role as a US proxy in the fight against Russia and China continues. Thus far, its mostly been a disaster on every level strategically, economically, and environmentally. The EU has yet to halt the rise of China (and Russia) with its derisking efforts. Far from it as both are likely stronger than before. Meanwhile, the EU is now wholly reliant on the US economically, militarily, and energy-wise. Everyday brings worse economic news from across the bloc. The Swedish battery developer and manufacturer, Northvolt, last week filed for bankruptcy. More frequently the bad news comes from the EUs economic engine: Germany. Thyssenkrupp, the countrys largest steelmaker, proposed on Monday to cut 5,000 jobs and outsource another 6,000 is just the latest example. The 2024 European Commission State of the Energy Union report touts that With the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and the Critical Raw Materials Act, the EU took action to strengthen the competitiveness and the supply chain resilience of its clean energy technologies manufacturers. It offers no examples but amazingly notes that it has swiftly acted by strengthening its international partnershipsbut also by inviting strategic reflections of Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta. Over to you Signore Draghi. His much-anticipated September report managed to obfuscate the biggest reason the EU is suffering from a competitiveness crisis: its decision to cut itself from pipeline Russian gas. And his solution is not to rethink that choice but to double down on it while also gutting labor laws and embracing AI and more concentration. On the green front, well, its anything but. The EU derisked from Russian pipeline gas, which plays a major role in the economic disaster currently hitting the bloc, and in the process dramatically increased its reliance on liquefied natural gas (LNG). According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, since the beginning of 2022, Europe has increased its LNG import capacity by 23%, or 58 billion cubic metres. Much of it comes from the US. Heres the problem: the planet-heating pollution from American LNG exports is worse than that of coal. Thats because the production of shale gas, as well as liquefaction to make LNG and transport it by tanker, is energy-intensive. Somehow these derisking plans always seem to screw over European workers while simultaneously failing to achieve any of the other goals, but the wealthiest continue to make off like bandits. Its almost like thats the point. Itll be the same with any EU-Mercosur deal. Thats a small price to pay, according to the DC-based Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a think tank funded by the likes of the Charles Koch Foundation, Bank of America Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BP, Citigroup, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Raytheon Company, Amazon, Apple, IBM, and Disney. Heres Lauri Tahtinen, a non-resident senior associate at CSIS, discarding any concerns with the trade deal and gifting us with his wisdom: At a higher plane, both parties should wish for the conclusion of an agreement and so should the United States, as it shares an interest in the orientation of both EU and Mercosur countries away from China. This is because the rapid decline of U.S. trade in South America (in both absolute terms and relative to China) has also contributed to democratic backsliding. This does not mean that, in the world of diplomacy, the United States has an easy time advocating for two parties to reach an agreement that it is unwilling to arrive at with either party. In the world of trade diplomacy, it is also clear that some lobbies within the United States will be marginal losers if an EU-Mercosur deal is concluded. This is why the role of trade diplomacy needs to be placed within a broader context. When Washington itself no longer looks to conclude trade deals, their broader benefits should be sought by proxy, as happened when a Japan-led coalition saved the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In the case of EU-Mercosur, both blocs have demonstrated that they remain capable of arriving at free trade agreements (FTAs), at least, with the correct, smaller counterparty. So take comfort, European readers, as your standard of living continues to decline or if your farm goes bankrupt or if the imported agricultural products you ingest give you cancer. You simply dont understand how trivial your concerns are because youre not on a higher plane. While a cessation of hostilities should be a welcome event, the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is not cause for great cheer. While it does mean that Israels air assault on Beirut and other parts of Lebanon are off for now, and maybe even a long time, that does not mean Israel is foreswearing its belligerent ways. It will instead be free to turn its full attention to Palestine and the West Bank. The big reason for this ceasefire is that Israel was suffering high costs and getting nowhere in its ground invasion of Lebanon. Colonel Larry Wilkerson estimated that Israel had suffered 8,000 wounded in action, an unsustainably high level, while getting only a few kilometers into the country. But Israel had driven Lebanese citizens near the border out of their homes (and destroyed many) and was also doing great damage to Beirut and other civilian areas. So Hezbollah, which is a political party and part of the Lebanese government apparatus, could not oppose a ceasefire that would spare Lebanese lives and property, even if it mean reneging on its promise to keep fighting Israel as long as the war in Gaza continued. One question over my pay grade is what this means for the promised Iran retaliation on Israel. Professor Mohammed Marandi, who so far has been accurate in his calls about Irans action, has maintained that Iran will strike Israel in response to its attack on Iran. Professor Marandi had also said the reason Iran had held back on its second attack (the one after the assassinations on Hamas political leader Haniyeh and Lebanons Nasrallah) because Gaza ceasefire headfakes talks were underway, and Iran did not want to be accused of being a spoiler. There are some bleats about a Gaza ceasefire in the wake of the Lebanon deal. Just as I was writing this section, this new entry appeared on the Aljazeera live blog: Tehran reserves the right to react to last months air strikes on Iran, but it also considers other developments in the region such as the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said. Note that there are some remarks in the Twitterverse and by some pundits that Iran will guarantee Hezbolahs performance. That seems to be based on a misleading Haaretz headline: Israel May Sign Cease-fire Deal With Lebanon, but Iran Will Guarantee Hezbollahs Compliance. The subhead says: Only Iran can guarantee that the organization abides by the agreement with Israel. Iran was not a party to these negotiations and has guaranteed squat. We are far from alone in our assessment of the pact. From Sam Husseini: While Israel killed thousands in Lebanon, it was unable to advance more than a few miles into the country, leading many to argue that this was a major reason for Israel agreeing to a ceasefire.. Many simply hear ceasefire and think good. Given Israels record, this may be naive. Netanyahu (born Mileikowsky) himself said that he had three reasons for agreeing to a ceasefire: to focus on the Iranian threat, to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks and to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. That is, he effectively says he wants more war in other places. And Mike Hampton: Today, at 0200 GMT, a USA/France brokered ceasefire began between Israel and Lebanon. Strangely, no copy of the deal is yet available but is said to include a 60-day implementation period during which: Israel will leave Lebanon. Hezbollah will withdraw north of the Litani River, which is up to 30km away from the border with Israel. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will act as a peacekeeping force, replacing Hezbollah in the evacuated area. This means that: The USA and France are anti-war and anti-colonialism nations without agenda except for peace and human rights in the Middle East. The Israelis have won their war against Lebanon. Hezbollah is defeated. Netanhayu is an honest man. Palestine is screwed. Or: The USA and France are pretending peace like Germany and France did to Russia regarding Ukraine with the Minsky II agreement in 2015. Hezbollah has inflicted such severe injury on Israeli troops that they need to either regroup, or focus only on Palestine. The main intention is to weaken Hezbollah via the Lebanese Armed Forces. Netanhayu misleads. Palestine is screwed. Im not covering all the options, just making a point. You can decide if youre an optimist, pessimist or realist whilst further considering that there was a going-away party. With the ceasefire deal approved by the Israeli cabinet, but hours from its stated start, Israel showed good faith by launching its largest attack on Beirut. As of when I last checked Twitter, there was still no report of a published a text of the deal. The wave of residents of South Lebanon returning home confirms the widespread desire in Lebanon to end or at least halt the conflict: People in Lebanon celebrated and thousands of cars filled the roads to return home after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. pic.twitter.com/uU3TVrBQ51 Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 27, 2024 In spite of IDF warnings, #Lebanons roads are filled with thousands of people today heading home to the South to find whats left of their villages. Hoping for the best, fearing the worst. Everyone praying this longed-for ceasefire holds. pic.twitter.com/SP2tlh8oZA Leila Molana-Allen (@Leila_MA) November 27, 2024 The mainstream media and many well-regarded English language Mideast sites like Middle East Eye were depicting the ceasefire as in place. But Twitter featured multiple, separate sightings of Israel persisting in attacks. Note there seem to be several incidents in Khiyam: This is Baalbek, Lebanon, right now. Israel is massively bombing a historic city that has stood for over 9,000 years in the middle of the night, just moments after accepting a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/0eLuSQrHtg sarah (@sahouraxo) November 26, 2024 BREAKING Israeli soldiers are firing in the vicinity of residents in Khiyam city, who arrived to inspect their homes in the northeastern neighborhood. This after a ceasefire between the Israeli occupation and Lebanon took effect at 4am local time in Lebanon (02:00 GMT). pic.twitter.com/PVBw2rIbS9 TruthWire (@truth_wire) November 27, 2024 Khiyam residents in Lebanon tried to return home but the israelis are firing at anyone on sight, says journalist Marwa Osman | so no ceasefire then? pic.twitter.com/bftwY4aqa1 Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) November 27, 2024 BREAKING: Ceasefire Violation Despite the start of the ceasefire agreement, an Al Jazeera correspondent was forced to end the broadcast after Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at civilians attempting to move around in the town of Khiam, southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/vFUTK9wWe3 Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) November 27, 2024 Even a Jerusalem Post headline included IDF fires at Lebanese, Hezbollah, returning to southern Lebanon. Israel maintains the shots were at Hezbolloh forces. Separate and apart from whether the IDF complies with the ceasefire, the settlers in northern Israel are a wild card. Ben Gvir has been arming settlers in the West Bank. Will the settlers in Northern Israel take, or be encouraged to take, a similarly acquisitive posture? The wags are arguing whether France giving Netanyahu and Gallant immunity from the ICC warrant was a sweetener to get the ceasefire done or alternatively, France using the agreement as cover to do what it was inclined to do anyhow Turns out France did NOT give Netanyahu ICC immunity in return for getting a ceasefire in Lebanon. The ceasefire was going to happen anyways, but France gifted Netanyahu the immunity from the arrest warrant in return for giving France credit for the ceasefire deal! pic.twitter.com/hZl95L3PRn Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) November 27, 2024 As best as we can tell, this pact keys off the old 2000 deal, UN Resolution 1701 in which Israel withdraws to the old blue line, Hezbollah pulls back to the Litani River, and UN peacekeepers intervene. Here, the toothless Lebanese army gets again to police Southern Lebanon. From Associated Press: International mediators hope that by boosting financial support for the Lebanese army which was not a party in the Israel-Hezbollah war Lebanon can deploy some 6,000 additional troops south of the Litani River to help enforce the resolution. Under the deal, an international monitoring committee headed by the United States would oversee implementation to ensure that Hezbollah and Israels withdrawals take place. You can see where this is going. Israel violations, like the ones that are already occurring, will be ignored by the US, while any by Lebanon will be pinned on Hezbollah (whether or not the case) and used as a casus belli if and when Israel is willing to resume a fight. Even many independent experts see the IDF as tired and battered, the political leadership of Israel sees the fight to take Greater Israel as eschatological. In keeping, Larry Wilkerson, in an interview right before the deal was announced (but there was ample speculation) said Netanyahu had not gone to the Knesset for approval (which may also explain the hiding of its text) and said he was pretty confident any agreement would give Netanyahu control, in particular freedom to re-start the conflict. So this ceasefire may not be that long-lived: Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary, is saying that their tariffs is a "10 year project" to make the Chinese consume more and manufacture less. This says so much about so many things First of all, when your competitive strategy is premised on shaping your https://t.co/K09XIOOiME Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 26, 2024 First-time political candidate Ailina Carona said something that has stuck with me ever since I wrote about the New Girls Club of first-time female candidates in Tennessee several months ago. She said running a campaign has been one of the hardest things shed ever done, save for childbirth. Though Carona lost her bid for Tennessees House District 57, she has three children, so she knows she could do it again even after the pain of her first campaign. Women are made for a capacity for pain that is so much more than men, and I think that can transfer into all areas of our life, Carona told me. These new candidates were united in their frustration with a lack of gun violence prevention at the state level and with seeing their reproductive rights slashed. It was personal Shaundelle Brooks son and Claire Jones co-worker were victims of gun violence, and Laura Andreson is an OB/GYN facing the fallout of Tennessees abortion ban firsthand. While confident, they didnt have delusions of grandeur. Though some ran in overwhelmingly conservative districts, they thought, Ill run to at least see if theres an appetite for a Democratic candidate in my area. They thought, Why not me? Come election night, all but Brooks who was elected to state House District 60 were defeated. Im grateful to Brooks, Carona, Jones, Andreson, Ali Beale and Teri Mai for pushing. They led with their hearts and backed it up with knowledge and determination. In doing so, theyve blazed the trail for the next mom, woman, Democrat who throws their hat into the ring. Hannah Herner Reporter, Nashville Scene and Nashville Post Alberta launches review and public consultation about expansion of MAID program that promotes euthanasia The Conservative provincial government of Alberta is set to review the legislation and policies around Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program as the federal government plans to broaden its scope. In a recent press release, the United Conservative Party (UCP) under Premier Danielle Smith announced that it will conduct a comprehensive review of legislation and policies surrounding MAID, including a public consultation period open until Dec. 20. The initiative seeks to ensure Alberta has robust safeguards and consistent oversight to prevent coercion, particularly for individuals with disabilities or mental health challenges. (Related: Disabled Canadian man reveals hes been offered EUTHANASIA multiple times by hospital staff.) The Alberta government also invited residents to participate in an online survey, alongside consultations with medical associations, advocacy groups, religious organizations, regulatory bodies and academics. "We recognize that medical assistance in dying is a very complex and often personal issue and is an important, sensitive and emotional matter for patients and their families," said Alberta Minister of Justice and Attorney General Mickey Amery. Additionally, Amery stated that the goal of the is to ensure "necessary supports to protect the most vulnerable." Furthermore, the Alberta government said the consultation will help shape its policies and potentially lead to legislative changes concerning MAID in the province. Canada has been proposing disturbing expansions of the MAID program for several years In 2016, Canada legalized assisted death under the MAID program. Since then, the federal government has never stopped proposing MAID expansion. In 2022, the Liberal government proposed extending eligibility to individuals with mental illness as their sole underlying condition. Fortunately, this expansion, originally scheduled for March 2023, faced significant pushback from provinces, pro-life groups and medical organizations, leading to a delay until 2027. This has given pro-life organizations more time to fight for human lives. In 2023, Conservative MP Ed Fast submitted Bill C-314, titled "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)." During the second reading of Bill C-314 on May 17, 2023, in the Canadian House of Commons, Fast argued that the intentions to expand MAID, particularly for those with mental health problems, would encompass "more and more defenseless Canadians, most particularly those living with disabilities." "What is equally disturbing is that the Liberal government has also signaled its intention to extend the so-called 'treatment option' to minor children. That would arguably make Canada the most expansive, most liberal assisted suicide jurisdiction in the world," said Fast. Aside from expanding MAID to mentally ill people, Dr. Louis Roy of the Quebec College of Physicians (QCP) recommended euthanizing infants up to one year old with "severe deformities and very serious syndromes" before the House of Commons' Special Joint Committee on MAID that same year. Roy based his recommendation on the Groningen Protocol, a framework from the Netherlands that permits euthanasia for infants enduring unbearable suffering due to incurable illnesses or severe disabilities. Under this protocol, the process requires a confirmed diagnosis by at least one other physician and the informed consent of both parents. Follow Euthanasia.news for more news about euthanasia programs. Watch the video below about the extermination of vaccine-injured Canadians through euthanasia. This video is from the CADKIAH channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ex-chief coroner warns: U.K.'s assisted dying bill could lead to involuntary euthanasia. Ontario government reportedly tracked 428 cases of possible illegal euthanasia but never notified police. Canadian lawmaker introduces petition against expanding EUTHANASIA for babies with "severe health issues." Euthanasia- and infanticide-promoting philosopher wins $1 Million dollar Berggruen prize. Euthanasia legalized in Australia: State of Victoria will allow assisted suicide beginning mid 2019. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com NationalPost.com Brighteon.com Anne Wojcicki accused of running biological Ponzi scheme with 23andMe The 23andMe scandal is blowing open in a major way after a thread dropped on X / Twitter that tells the criminal history of the company and how its leadership was practicing medicine without a license. Dr. Jack Cruse (@DrJackKruse) tells the story of how Anne Wojcicki, the sister of deceased former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, was running a "biological Ponzi scheme" that bilked people out of billions. The scheme started in 2007, only to be found out and addressed in 2013 when a letter was sent to 23andMe warning that what it was doing was illegal. Even so, the business continued. By 2014, more than half a million Americans had sent away their saliva samples to learn about their alleged risk of genetic illness. "Sergey money paid for propaganda ads in print, social media and on TV by splashing ads across media nationwide in 2012-2013," Dr. Kruse explains. "It was 23andMe's invitation to give you the ability to share your data with Anne and Sergery so they could discover 'hundreds of things about your health,' and sell it to whoever would pay for it. It was Big Tech creating the HARPA. This is where DARPA became HARPA." "This was the time that Paula Casey Means was learning this business model. She worked at 23andMe back in those formative years. When the FDA blocked Anne's plan, Paula realized maybe I need an MD after all to play in the HARPA sandbox?" (Related: In case you missed it, be sure to check out our earlier report about how every board member at 23andMe except for Wojcicki resigned back in September under suspicious circumstances.) FDA goes after 23andMe From the very beginning, 23andMe was operating outside the bounds of the law but with the government's blessing. There were no regulations imposed upon the company's infamous at-home testing kits; all a person has to do is fork over the cash, click a button, and voila: the "first step in prevention" to "mitigate serious diseases" is achieved, or so the company claims. It turns out that the author of the 2013 warning letter was none other than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which finally stepped in to prohibit 23andMe from continuing to sell products to diagnose health conditions unless the company could prove with evidence that the science backs it. 23andMe responded to the FDA's warning letter by "suspending" all sales of its "health-related genetic tests to comply." Consumers then brought a class-action suit against the company, accusing it of "falsely and misleadingly advertis[ing]" its genetic testing kit "as providing 'health reports on 240+ conditions'" in the absence of "analytical or clinical validation." The Paula Casey Means connection More recently, Wojcicki, as previously mentioned, tried to take 23andMe public, only to have the entire board except for herself resign. Apparently, nobody on the board sees her vision for the company as viable or even valid. After expressing interest in acquiring the company back in April, Wojcicki a few months later in July would suddenly submit a proposal to take the company private. The board's Special Committee rejected Wojcicki's proposal, explaining that she failed to provide a premium to the closing price at the time when the stock price was 40 cents per share. Not only that, but Wojcicki's proposal lacked committed financing. Wojcicki was afforded a "limited amount of additional time" by the Special Committee to address these changes in her proposal, but she apparently never responded because here is what the board members wrote to her just two months ago: "After months of work, we have yet to receive from you a fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal that is in the best interests of the non-affiliated shareholders." Dr. Kruse warns that Paula Casey Means and her family are possible investors in Wojcicki's idea, which Dr. Kruse refers to as "Big HARPA." Describing Wojcicki as a "data thief," Dr. Kruse says that nobody wants to support except for Means and her family. All that DNA data, by the way, is worthless because mtDNA controls the epigenetic expression of nuclear DNA. The only thing DNA collection schemes like this accomplish is to funnel large amounts of people's cash into the hands of a few, in this case Wojcicki and her friends. "This idea is buried at the base of decentralized science which is 180 degrees opposite centralized medicine ideas of 23andMe, Levels, and TrueMed," Dr. Kruse explains about the mtDNA concept. "Investors have spoken loudly. So now the tables have turned into getting into seats in government where policy can change these market forces? We'll see soon." Like many other such Ponzi schemes, 23andMe appears to be little more than a Wall Street pump-and-dump scheme. It is profitable for some, mainly those who dump the stock early, leaving everyone behind them to hold the bag. "Even centralized medical scammer Scott Gottlieb's Illumina, the flagship DNA sequencing company, is struggling!" Dr. Kruse notes. "Remember he is the regulator of the FDA who left government to work for Pfizer and then became a talking head on CNBC to shill his BigHarma bags." "After the entire human genome can be sequenced for $100 no growth. What, nobody needs their computer-generated garbage for anything, even when it only costs one Benjamin?" Dr. Kruse recommends using Yandex to search for more information about all this as opposed to Google since Google's SEO "is being used to help Anne." More related news about all this and more can be found at Corruption.news. Sources for this article include: X.com NaturalNews.com Flashback: Heres why Monsanto was declared the most evil corporation on earth Now that the political tides are shifting once again, it is a good time to refresh everyone's memory about what Monsanto, once called "the most evil corporation on earth," did to earn that reputation. It all started back in the 1780s when the Monsanto family was reaping massive profits from the Atlantic slave trade. There were 51 slaves on the Monsanto family plantation at the time, and more were sold to other plantations in Louisiana. Founded by John Francis Queeny in 1901, Monsanto Chemicals Works, as it was then called, came to be as an honor to Queeny's wife, Olga Mendez Monsanto. Historically, the Monsanto family was Sephardic Jewish and ran a merchant and banking business. Monsanto's first product was the chemical saccharin, an artificial sweetener that was eventually sold to Coca-Cola to use in its soda-pop beverages. "Even then, the government knew saccharin was poisonous and sued to stop its manufacture but lost in court, thus opening the Monsanto Pandora's Box to begin poisoning the world through the soft drink," reports explain. By the 1920s, Monsanto developed a new class of "wonder" chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that today is considered to include some of the most dangerous chemicals on the planet. "Even though PCBs were eventually banned after fifty years for causing such devastation, they are still present in just about all animal and human blood and tissue cells across the globe. Documents introduced in court later showed Monsanto was FULLY aware of the deadly effects, but criminally hid them from the public to keep the PCB gravy-train going full speed!" (Related: Have you checked out our report about how Monsanto knew all along the dangers of its chemicals but continued to sell them anyway?) Monsanto: destroying the world decade after decade In the 1930s, Monsanto started delving into agricultural manipulation with the creation of the first hybrid seed corn, which also led the company to expand into detergents, soaps, industrial cleaning products, synthetic rubbers, and plastics, all of which are toxic. By the 1940s, Monsanto was conducting research on uranium, which was used in the Manhattan Project's first atomic bomb that would later be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese people and poisoning millions more. In the 1950s, Monsanto had partnered with The Walt Disney Company to create several attractions at the Disney Tomorrowland theme park feature. A "house of the future" was developed to showcase all of Monsanto's new household chemicals and plastics. In the 1960s, Monsanto partnered with DOW Chemical, which produced Agent Orange for use in the Vietnam war. More than three million people were contaminated and more than half a million Vietnamese civilians ended up dead. In the 1970s, Monsanto partnered with G.D. Searle to produce aspartame, another fake chemical sweetener used in junk food beverages and commercial chewing gum and mints. Then in the 1980s, President Reagan pulled a fast one with the FDA to keep aspartame on the market even after it was determined to be deadly. In the 1990s, Monsanto delved into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and its infamous glyphosate (Roundup) chemical herbicide for GMO crops. Glyphosate causes cancer and many other horrible diseases, we now know, and yet like aspartame and just about every other horrible thing Monsanto has ever created, it remains on the market. If Monsanto is allowed to continue existing and creating new bioweapons disguised as "food" and "medicine," then eventually there will be no more people left from all the chemical pollution in circulation. It may already be irreversible if GMO crops spread their altered traits throughout the wild, killing native food crops, pollinators, and other food-growing inputs. Today, Bayer owns Monsanto. Back in June, Bayer decided to drop the name Monsanto as part of a global campaign to improve the company's reputation and image. More related news can be found at Chemicals.news. Sources for this article include: X.com NaturalNews.com Israel ends administrative detention for settlers as tensions rise in West Bank The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on Nov. 22 that it will no longer be holding illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank under "administrative detention." The policy of administrative detention has long been criticized by Palestinians and international rights groups due to how Israel uses it to unlawfully imprison Palestinians. In his statement, newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz explained, In a reality where Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] face serious Palestinian terror threats and settlers are subjected to unjustified international sanctions, it is not appropriate for Israel to take such a severe measure against the people of the settlements. Katz further emphasized that if criminal activity is suspected, perpetrators could be prosecuted through legal channels, and other preventive measures could be taken instead of resorting to administrative detention. Katz also condemned "any acts of violence against Palestinians and taking the law into one's own hands" and called on settlement leaders to adopt a similar stance, expressing a clear and unequivocal position on the matter. (Related: Israeli leader celebrates Trump victory, says Israel now has opportunity to annex occupied West Bank.) Administrative detention policy mostly used against Palestinians The administrative detention policy has primarily targeted Palestinians, though it has occasionally been applied to extremist Israeli settlers. The policy will still apply to Palestinians suspected by Israeli occupation authorities of committing crimes. The policy allows individuals to be detained without charge for up to six months, with the possibility of indefinite renewals. It is frequently used against Palestinian minors, with a report from Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) revealing that the number of Palestinian children in Israeli administrative detention has nearly quadrupled since last year, reaching 85 as of Sept. 30. These minors now account for 35 percent of all Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention, according to DCIP. DCIP Accountability Program Director Ayed Abu Eqtaish described the situation, stating: "Israeli forces are arbitrarily detaining Palestinian children without charge or trial at a rate we have never seen before." Israeli forces continue to conduct military operations across the occupied West Bank, resulting in widespread destruction and casualties. For instance, after a two-day military operation in the city of Jenin, Israeli forces left significant damage to infrastructure and property, as well as at least eight Palestinians dead and 19 injured. Resistance groups in the West Bank have ramped up their activities in response to ongoing violence and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Palestinian fighters have carried out attacks against Israeli military checkpoints and settlements. On Nov. 22, the Tulkarem branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement's military wing, the Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for detonating a heavy explosive against an Israeli military vehicle in Anabta, east of Tulkarem, and firing volleys of bullets at military vehicles. This follows a report by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who cited a well-informed Washington official claiming that Israel is set to officially annex the West Bank, a territory it illegally occupied in 1967. Hersh wrote in his Nov. 20 Substack article that the Israeli leadership plans to take this step within the next two weeks, hoping it will put an end to discussions of a two-state solution and persuade some in the Arab world to reconsider funding the reconstruction of Gaza. Watch this video showing a recent attack on an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. This video is from the FreePalestineTV channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson is a pro-Israel hardliner who wants Trump to allow the annexation of the West Bank. Trump's naming of "unapologetic Zionist" Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel could lead to full annexation of the West Bank. Preparing for WAR: Israeli settlers in West Bank buy high-caliber rifles. Humiliation campaign: Israel arrests Palestinians in West Bank, writes number on their foreheads. Israeli soldiers accused of even more torture and abuse in the West Bank. Sources include: TheCradle.co NBCNews.com Brighteon.com ICC arrest warrants show that Israel is swiftly becoming a pariah state The International Criminal Court's recent decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant constitutes a watershed moment for Israel 's image and international legitimacy. (Article by Meron Rapoport republished from MiddleEastEye.net) The warrants have sent shockwaves across Israeli society and political establishment. Politicians reacted defiantly. Netanyahu accused the ICC of antisemitism. The rest of Israel's right wing followed suit. The centre-left has not accused the court of antisemitism, but agreed that the decision was unacceptable, unjust, and had no legal basis, because it placed Israel and Hamas as equals in committing crimes during the war. These reactions are a direct continuation of Israel's lack of recognition of what it is doing in Gaza. Even if there is a very small minority in Israel that recognises the crimes committed by its army in Gaza, the general Israeli public is in complete denial. They claim that only Hamas has committed war crimes, not Israel, and that what Israel is doing in Gaza is self-defence. In the eyes of most Israelis, Israel is not killing innocent Palestinians for no reason, and if there is a famine in Gaza, it is the result of Hamas stealing humanitarian aid - a line repeated again and again by the Israeli army and other official channels. This reaction was expected, yet the situation in Israel is a little more complicated. The issue of arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defence minister is a significant event and watershed moment in Israel's relations with the international community and international law. Israel was established by a UN resolution. Much of the developments in international law after World War II, such as protection for refugees or the criminalisation of genocide, were a response to the Holocaust, and Israel has backed these developments. But Israel's assault on the ICC casts the country as an enemy of international law, as a state trying to undermine international law and all its institutions. Its a dramatic change of attitude. It doesnt end with the ICC. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is now examining the case brought by South Africa, accusing Israel of genocide. There is no direct connection between the two institutions and the two legal processes, but it is reasonable to think the issuing of arrest warrants by the ICC will affect also the deliberations at the ICJ concerning genocide. The warrants were issued against Netanyahu and Gallant personally, but to a large extent they indicate that Israel, as a state, is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu and Gallant did not commit these alleged crimes by themselves, the entire military and state apparatus was involved. In the short term, the ICC decision could deter Israeli commanders at the middle or higher ranks, such as division commanders and brigade commanders. For example, senior Israeli military officers have said openly that they prevented humanitarian aid getting into northern Gaza after the army's military operation there began in early October. They have said too that the purpose of this operation is to drive the remaining population south across the Netzarim corridor. Now that the orders have been issued, an Israeli army officer will think twice before making such statements, because they may be afraid that they will be arrested on their next trip to Europe. A soldier may also refrain from executing orders that could lead to starvation, as this was clearly mentioned in the ICCs warrants as a possible crime against humanity. 'Gray refusal' In the short or medium term, the ICCs decision could provide an answer for those Israelis who are wondering whether Israel is committing crimes in Gaza. Aside from a small left-wing minority that is convinced Israel is committing crimes, there is a broader group of Jews in the centre-left who are beginning to have doubts about Israel's actions in Gaza, despite being supportive of the war up until now. Recently, Tomer Persico, a liberal centre-left scholar, and Eran Etzion, former deputy head of the National Security Council, called on reservists to refuse serving in the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza. We dont know how many Jews think this way, as the mainstream media doesnt give space to these voices, but they could amount to 10 or 15 percent of the Jewish population. The ICCs decision will give legitimacy to these views in Israel. Those holding them will be able to say: "This is what the world thinks of us." A change of opinion in the Zionist left could lead to an increase in refusal to serve in the war. Since its beginning in October 2023, there have been very few cases of refusal to serve, while in the First Lebanon War and the Second Intifada there were hundreds of cases. We are now seeing in Israel a phenomenon of gray refusal - Israelis who do not show up when called to the reserves. While at the beginning of the war, all those called showed up, today the rate has dropped to 65 percent. This gray refusal is not usually for moral reasons. It is mainly to do with economic or family problems. Yet this type of refusal could increase following the ICC decision. It is also possible that some of the reservists will make a distinction between Gaza and Lebanon. The war in Gaza is no longer popular with the Israeli public, in contrast to the war in Lebanon, which still enjoys a broad consensus. The fact that Netanyahus government seems to have given up on the 101 hostages in Gaza may only add fuel to the opposition. Pariah state In the long run, and in a more meaningful way, the ICC warrants cut Israel off from the international community in a very sharp way. These are no longer just mass demonstrations against the war in London or on campuses across the United States. This is a decision by a court that is accepted by most of the western world. With these warrants Israel moves more and more to the margins of the international community. It is likely that the new Trump administration in the US will be very aggressive toward the ICC and will try to extract Israel from this isolation, along with countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Argentina and other members of the global radical right-wing coalition. However, this American reaction, whose impact is not guaranteed (Trump already sanctioned the ICC in his previous term and had little effect on the court) cannot change the basic reality: Israel is swiftly becoming a pariah state. This isolation and delegitimisation of Israel can have practical and immediate effects such as encouraging military and other sanctions on Israel. Its not only that Netanyahu will find it difficult to travel abroad, foreign leaders will also find it difficult to travel to Israel and meet a wanted man. The whole of Israel's diplomatic relations may suffer a significant blow. It can be said that Israel is undergoing a slow process of South Africanisation before the abolition of the apartheid regime. Supporters of Palestinian rights around the world can say that Israel has committed far more serious crimes in Gaza than it is accused of, and it has not yet been subjected to the same severe sanctions as Russia and Iran. There is justice in this claim. But it must be taken into account that Israel is an integral part of the West and the closest ally of the United States. For many in Europe, supporting Israel is a kind of compensation for the Holocaust. In western eyes, Israel never stood where countries like Iran, Syria or Russia stand. Therefore, the marginalisation of Israel is a significant event relative to where it stood on 6 October 2023. It is too early to say whether the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant will lead to the weakening of Israel's far-right government. It could be that they boost its support, as Netanyahu and co claim "the whole world is against us". But it can already be said that something deep has cracked in Israel's legitimacy as a state within the international community, and that Israel will find it difficult to fix this without a complete change in the way it treats the Palestinians. This marks the ICC decision as an event of enormous significance. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net Intelligence report claims North Korea is supplying Russia with advanced military systems A Ukrainian intelligence report is alleging that, along with providing Russia with over 10,000 soldiers, North Korea is also supplying the country with advanced military systems These alleged weapons systems include M-1978 Koksan 170mm self-propelled howitzers and M-1989 240mm multiple launch rocket systems. These weapons, alongside North Korean soldiers, have been deployed to Russia's Kursk region to assist in expelling Ukrainian forces. In recent weeks, North Korea has delivered about 50 self-propelled howitzers and 20 updated rocket systems. Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the American think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted that this is part of a broader trend of military collaboration between Russia and North Korea, including the supply of millions of rounds of artillery ammunition throughout 2023. Both nations are strengthening their military ties to support Russia's war efforts. Several Western intelligence sources suggest that North Korea may have deployed more than 12,000 troops to Russia. Although there is debate over the exact numbers with some warning that North Korea could deploy up to 100,000 troops to Russia it is clear that Russia and North Korea are forming a closer alliance. United States' foreign policy decisions, especially its military encirclement of Russia and North Korea and sanctions, have driven both countries to strengthen ties, creating a new geopolitical reality where nations disillusioned with the West's liberal approach are aligning with Eurasian powers like Russia and China. (Related: Russia has invoked Article 4 of its mutual defense treaty with North Korea, Putin confirms.) North Korea's armed forces, the Korean People's Army, is one of the largest in the world in terms of manpower. But North Korean soldiers lack modern combat experience. Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes that while North Korean troops are highly indoctrinated, their readiness is low. However, experts believe that North Korea's special forces could be effective on the battlefield. These troops are trained to withstand extreme physical and psychological stress, making them more capable than regular North Korean units. North Korea helping Russia address its manpower shortages Despite challenges such as language barriers and unfamiliarity with Russian military systems, some analysts believe that North Korean troops will likely be tasked with engineering and construction duties, rather than frontline combat. However, as the war progresses, these soldiers may become some of Russia's most capable fighters. North Korea's involvement also helps Russia address its significant manpower shortages. Russia has suffered heavy casualties, with an estimated 600,000 soldiers killed or wounded since the invasion began. Moscow has been struggling to reinforce its forces, offering bonuses to recruits and enlisting foreign soldiers. North Korea stands to earn about $2,000 per soldier per month, with much of this money funneled into its state coffers. For North Korea, this arrangement offers financial benefits and access to Russian military technology, which it might not otherwise acquire. In exchange, Russia gains much-needed troops for its war effort. Moscow is reportedly recruiting 20,000 new soldiers per month to replenish its ranks. North Korean troops could help alleviate some of the pressure caused by Russian casualties. Watch this video of retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas MacGregor discussing how North Korean troops are crushing their Ukrainian adversaries. This video is from the Treasure of the Sun channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: North Korean soldiers deployed to Ukraine to fight for Russia allegedly getting addicted to online p*rn. Zelensky blasts West's "zero reaction" to claim of North Korea's deployment of troops in Russia. Ukrainian intelligence claims that 12,000 North Korean troops are currently in Russia a desperate ploy to escalate U.S. involvement? Biden urges Ukraine to hit North Korean troops that its military encounters on the battlefield. South Korea could send arms to Ukraine after North Korea deploys troops to aid Russia. Sources include: BigLeaguePolitics.Substack.com BBC.com Brighteon.com Planned Parenthood selling viable nonanomalous fetuses to University of California, San Diego for experimentation The documents, obtained through a California public records request, reveal a controversial research plan approved by UCSD's Institutional Review Board in 2018. The emails and heavily redacted records detail a study that sought to collect fetal tissue from babies between four and 23 weeks of gestational age. The study involved patients undergoing elective surgical abortions at Planned Parenthood in San Diego, with a reported goal of obtaining samples from up to 2,500 patients. CMP noted that modern medical care could save many healthy infants born at 23 weeks. Moreover, Planned Parenthood reportedly used excessive doses of the labor-inducing drug misoprostol, known commercially as Cytotec, hours before performing the procedures. Typical doses of misoprostol can induce labor in most cases within four hours. However, Planned Parenthood administered eight to 16 times the amount recommended for dilation and evacuation abortions. (Related: Planned Parenthood facing new allegations of illegally selling aborted baby tissue.) Planned Parenthood and UCSD had a "Biological Materials Transfer Agreement," which designated aborted fetal tissues as "proprietary" material belonging to Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. The contract granted UCSD access to these tissues in exchange for Planned Parenthood retaining rights to any patents or intellectual property developed from the research. This arrangement has drawn legal scrutiny, as federal law prohibits the exchange of human fetal tissue for "valuable consideration," and violating this is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. CMP founder condemns the practices of Planned Parenthood and UCSD David Daleiden, founder of the CMP, has condemned the practices of Planned Parenthood and UCSD. "These documents show that Planned Parenthood is supplying healthy babies who are old enough to survive outside the womb from late-term abortions to the University of California's royalty-generating experiments," Daleiden said. "After months of pro-abortion forces and media gaslighting the public about whether late-term abortions on healthy babies and healthy mothers actually happen, to see it spelled out this explicitly in the records of a government-funded body is truly shocking [and] also extremely clarifying for the conversation on abortion our country is currently having." Daleiden has also accused Planned Parenthood of racial discrimination, pointing to disparities in the consent forms provided to patients for the donation of pregnancy tissue from abortions. The English-language consent forms include 15 bullet points, one of which informs patients that the donated tissue may have "significant commercial value." In contrast, the Spanish-language consent forms contain only 14 bullet points, omitting this specific disclosure. "I don't understand why Planned Parenthood and UCSD felt that Spanish-speaking mothers did not deserve to know that the body parts of their aborted children would be "commercialized," while English-speaking mothers did deserve to have this fact disclosed to them," Daleiden said. "The only explanation I can think why this discrepancy persisted for at least four years is blatant institutional racism." Visit Abortions.news for similar stories. Watch this video about Missouri suing Planned Parenthood after an investigation exposes abortion trafficking. This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Planned Parenthoods grisly organ-trafficking operations revealed in video previously SUPPRESSED by then-Attorney General Kamala Harris. Planned Parenthood defies Missouri court order to turn over records related to sex change interventions for children. Planned Parenthood accused of trafficking minors to carry out more abortions. Planned Parenthood caught admitting it performs SECRET ABORTIONS on young teens "so the parents won't find out." Planned Parenthood says virginity is just a "social construct" product of "patriarchy." Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com CenterForMedicalProgress.org TheFederalist.com NYPost.com Brighteon.com Russia unveils hypersonic Oreshnik missile in attack on Ukraine, warns it can strike European capitals within minutes of launch Russian state media are warning about the capabilities of the country's newly deployed "Oreshnik" nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles, which can reach any European capital in minutes after launch with its speeds exceeding Mach 10 (7,623 miles per hour). Berlin could be hit in just 15 minutes. Cities as distant from the Kapustin Yar launch site as London and Paris in the United Kingdom and France, respectively, could be struck within 20 minutes. If the conflict escalates to a global scale, these populations would have little time to take shelter. On Thursday, Nov. 21, Russia hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with new intermediate-range missiles. This action signaled that the West had crossed Russia's "red lines" after providing Ukraine with long-range weapons. (Related: Ukraine war going GLOBAL after West launches long-range missiles into Russia, crossing Putin's "red line.") The Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate clarified that Oreshnik refers to a research project, while the operational missile system is called Kedr. Key specifications of Kedr include that it has six warheads, with each carrying six submunitions, and that it has a terminal speed that exceeds Mach 11 (8,440 miles per hour). If Kedr is indeed a medium-range ballistic missile, as suggested, it could strike targets up to 5,500 kilometers (3,418 miles) away, violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which eliminated such missiles. In July, Vladimir Putin warned: "Today, the development of such systems in Russia is nearing completion. We will take mirror measures to deploy them, considering the actions of the United States and its allies." Following the attack on Ukraine, many outlets initially mistook the missile for an ICBM, but Russia confirmed the use of Oreshnik, a hypersonic missile for which no defense system currently exists. Use of Oreshnik in missile strike intended to deter any future escalation by the West Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the missile strike was meant to send a clear signal to Washington, emphasizing that the West now understands Russia's red lines. Putin warned that Ukraine's conflict has become a "global" one due to Western support, and hinted that attacks on Western targets are possible. The Russian foreign ministry singled out a U.S. missile base in Poland as a potential target. Russian state media reported that Oreshnik can fly at Mach 10 and reach distances up to 5,500 kilometers. Retired Russian Col. Viktor Litovkin explained that the missile's speed and range surpass anything the West currently has. He also mocked U.S. claims about hypersonic missiles, stating that experimental U.S. missiles have not been able to demonstrate the ability to fly at speeds of Mach 6 to 7 (4,604 to 5,371 miles per hour) or faster, which is the threshold for reaching hypersonic speed. Geopolitical analysts suggest Oreshnik represents a major shift in military power. The missile's hypersonic speeds, which can reach speeds of up to three to four kilometers per second (1.86 to 2.5 miles per second) during reentry, make it nearly invulnerable to current anti-air defense systems. The missile could strike any European target in under 20 minutes, leaving no time for effective countermeasures. Experts warn that Europe is now defenseless against Russian weapons capable of hitting political and industrial centers with little notice. Putin confirmed that Oreshnik was used in a successful strike on a Ukrainian defense facility. He emphasized that no air defense system can intercept these missiles, calling the strike a demonstration of Russia's new military advantage. Despite his tough rhetoric, Putin reiterated that Russia remains open to peace talks but warned that any escalation would be met with retaliation. Watch this video from "Borzzikman" warning about how Russian advanced hypersonic ballistic missiles can easily strike targets in the West. This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Russia confirms WWIII COMING SOON after Biden green-lights long-range missile strikes. Nearly three years into the conflict, Ukraine grapples with dwindling resources as Russia steadily gains ground. West not taking seriously enough the threat of a nuclear attack by Moscow, warns former Russian president. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com BBC.com Brighteon.com Steve Quayle: Everything is geared up to initiate WORLD WAR III Author and filmmaker Steve Quayle has warned that everything is geared up to start World War III He issued this warning during a recent appearance on the "Health Ranger Report" with the Health Ranger Mike Adams. Quayle noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the mistake of launching a long-range missile into Russia. This, he added, would result in the U.S. and Western Europe getting hit with hypersonic nuclear weapons. Moreover, the nationally known radio host pointed out that outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the order to launch a preemptive attack on Moscow with the advice of former U.S. President Barack Obama. (Related: Ukraine strikes Russian military installation in Bryansk just one day after Biden authorizes use of U.S.-made, long-range ATACMs missiles.) Adams agreed, mentioning that the Biden administration announced it was granting permission for Ukraine to use the longer-range missiles. "These are the super long range that allows Ukraine to fire missiles deep into Russia. I don't know if you can say deep, a few hundred kilometers. I mean, Russia is a huge land mass, so it doesn't go that deep into Russia, but it's much deeper than anything before," Adams said. "The point is that previous to this, Russia's top leaders had said that if the West grants this permission, that that permission alone will be considered an act of war by the U.S. and NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization member] nations. So essentially, we are now in a state of war, according to Russia. A state of war between Russia and NATO that exists as of right now." Quayle said the U.S. and NATO have declared war on Russia, with all the nuclear weapons in place and ready to launch. However, Moscow has the advantage with the hypersonic missiles in its arsenal. "The powers that be have given the go ahead to use nukes, and that's why Russia will not stand for any short-range missiles. Now, I think it's imperative that people understand something. We are at a state of defense condition which is classified, but it's beyond DEFCON 2. I don't know the actual designation, but that means everything is geared up to basically start WWIII." Adams: Russia won't be bluffing when it decides to use its nukes According to the Health Ranger, Russian President Vladimir Putin won't be bluffing if he decides to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, the U.S. and the rest of NATO. European military bases would be among the Kremlin's very first targets the moment it retaliates against the West for allowing Kyiv to fire missiles. Putin has repeatedly warned Russia will use nuclear weapons if NATO attacks key Russian resources even if the attacker uses non-nuclear or regular kinetic means. Quayle said Russia will use its non-nuclear warheads, specifically its thermobaric weapons equivalent to 44 megatons (44 million tons) of TNT, to target European military facilities.. These weapons will unleash fuel-air explosions that will surely devastate American military bases and cities. He also noted that Russia's hypersonic missiles from submarines will take out most targets in the continental U.S. within two to three minutes. Adams added that Russia's Poseidon nuclear underwater drones, which are armed with 100-megaton nuclear warheads, are already parked off the continental shelf of both the East Coast and West Coast. Moreover, the Poseidon nuclear drone possesses the ability to be untraceable and can stay dormant for long periods. In addition to the Poseidon and thermobaric missiles, Russia also has Kinzhal and Iskander missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. Adams said Moscow boasts of almost 7,000 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. Follow WWIII.news for more news about the threat of World War III. Watch the full conversation between Steve Quayle and the Health Ranger Mike Adams about the looming threat of WWIII below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Steve Quayle warns of ORCHESTRATED nuclear events that will destabilize America. IT'S COMING: Russia initiates NUCLEAR drills simulating retaliatory strikes on West. World War III will be "nuclear and destructive," warns Russian foreign minister. Putin fuels World War III fears with deployment of nuclear-capable bombers near NATO borders. Sources include: Brighteon.com SteveQuayle.com Texas AG announces investigation of ad cartel that conspired to boycott X Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that he is investigating a liberal advertising cabal over allegations that it carried out a conspiracy to boycott particular social media platforms. According to a statement by his office, he will be looking into whether the World Federation of Advertising (WFA) and its nonprofit wing known as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) pressed advertisers to avoid buying advertising space on sites that it claims did not adhere to its so-called brand safety standards. The AG's press release explains what is at stake: Although companies are free to choose when and where they want to advertise, a conspiracy among companies along these lines can result in harm to competition and may violate the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983. In July, a House Judiciary Committee report accused GARM and its members of launching a coordinated plan to suppress free speech online and restrict ads on sites such as Elon Musk's X social media platform and the New York Post website. The House report cited internal emails from GARM, including one from executive Robert Rakowitz in which he bragged that X had dropped to 80% below revenue forecasts after the group targeted them. As part of his investigation, Paxton is asking WFA and GARM to hand over documents and information so he can investigate whether they have violated the state's antitrust laws. Trade organizations and companies cannot collude to block advertising revenue from entities they wish to undermine. Todays document request is part of an ongoing investigation to hold WFA and its members accountable for any attempt to rig the system to harm organizations they might disagree with, he wrote. Advertisers have been reducing ad spending on X since Musk took over A number of WFA members, including global brands like CVS Health, Coca-Cola and IBM, have either stopped or considerably decreased the amount of money they spend advertising on X since Musk took over the platform. In particular, a swarm of big-name advertisers such as Disney and Apple left the platform last November after the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Media Matters issued a report implying that X wasn't moderating posts and failed to remove hateful content. Following the release of the House Judiciary Committee report this summer, Elon Musk filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the WFA and GARM, along with some of its biggest advertisers, for organizing the ad boycott, which they say cost them billions of dollars worth of ad revenue. GARM ceased operations in August, citing the legal costs of its fight against Elon Musk. Last month, X reached a settlement with one of the defendants in the suit, Unilever, who said at the time that they would resume their advertising on the social media platform; antitrust claims against the other defendants are still ongoing, however. IBM, Disney, Comcast and several other major brands have also returned to X this year, although some of the advertisers who have returned are not buying nearly as many ads as they did in the past. In response to Paxtons announcement of his WFA investigation, Musk wrote on X: This is still a major problem. The outcome of the case could extend far beyond the specific parties involved and have repercussions for the advertising industry in general and the way it exerts its influence on social media conversations. Sources for this article include: NYPost.com TexasAttorneyGeneral.gov U.K. government to comply with ICC arrest warrant against war criminal Netanyahu if he sets foot on British soil The United Kingdom has recently confirmed that its government will comply with the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should they set foot on British soil. On Thursday, Nov. 21, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration refused to comment on whether it would allow the arrest of Netanyahu in the United Kingdom. But the next day, Starmer's spokesperson said: "The U.K. will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law." Palestinian Ambassador to the U.K. Husam Zomlot told Middle East Eye that they welcome the announcement by the U.K. government that it supports and respects the independence of the ICC and would comply with the Netanyahu government arrest warrants. "All member states of the ICC have clearly mandated obligations," Zumlot added. "It's a clearly mandated obligation to uphold and preserve international law." He further commented that supporting the independence of the ICC is the floor, not the ceiling, of the U.K.'s responsibilities as a member state, let alone its historic responsibility for the plight of the Palestinian people. "And adherence to international law cannot be selective and must not be politicized," he pointed out. "This also includes adhering to the ICJ advisory opinion whereby all dealings with any organization, competent individual or body that support Israel's illegal practices in occupied territory must cease immediately." In 2001, Tony Blair's Labour government passed the ICC Act, which enforces compliance with the court. There is a domestic legal process through which Britain's independent courts determine whether to endorse the warrant following the said act. Starmer's spokesperson seemed to have referred to this process in his statement. In line with this, opposition politicians have also called on the government to go further and cease trade relations with Israel. Independent MP Ayoub Khan said that Britain must immediately halt all assistance to the Israeli government, including the sharing of intelligence from British surveillance flights over Gaza. Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the warrants "make clear that to continue selling arms to Israel is to aid and abet war crimes." Similarly, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell agreed with the decision of the court, saying that it has to be respected and implemented. The Dutch foreign minister said, "We will act on the arrest warrants" and Italy said it would support the Court, which should "play a legal role and not a political role." The German chancellor's spokesman said Berlin had "unique relations with a great responsibility for Israel" and further action would only be taken when a stay by Netanyahu and Gallant was "foreseeable." On the other hand, two of Israel's closest allies in the EU rejected the ICC's decision. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would invite Netanyahu to visit and "guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC's ruling will have no effect in Hungary." Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the court had made "an unfortunate decision" in equating "the elected representatives of a democratic state with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization." Biden calls issuance of arrest warrant by the ICC "outrageous" Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden has called the ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister's war crimes in the Middle East "outrageous." "Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence none between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security," Biden said in a statement. Meanwhile, Israel rejected the allegations made by the ICC, with Netanyahu saying "The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way." He added that the ICC accused Israel of a deliberate policy of starvation. But he claimed that this was when they supplied Gaza with 700,000 tons of food to feed the people of Gaza. "We issued millions of text messages, phone calls, leaflets to the citizens of Gaza to get them out of harm's way -- while the Hamas terrorists do everything in their power to keep them in harm's way, including shooting them, using them as human shields," he further claimed, arguing that Israel would "not recognize the validity" of the ICC's decision. Also, Israel denies the allegation that its forces are committing genocide in Gaza, which is the subject of a separate case before the ICC. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert mirrored Netanyahu's "sentiment." Olmert said that while he was critical of Netanyahu's handling of the conflict with Hamas, he did not agree with the ICC's decision. "Israel has not committed genocide or war crimes that deserve these charges against the prime minister and the minister of defense," Olmert told Radio 4's "World Tonight." The impact of the warrants announced by the ICC will depend on whether the court's 124 member states -- which do not include Israel or its ally, the U.S. -- decide to enforce them or not. (Related: Full list of 124 countries that must arrest Netanyahu for the ICC.) Read more stories related to the ICC's decision on Israel's war crimes committed in the Middle East on IsraelCollapse.com. Sources for this article include: MiddleEastEye.net BBC.com Greenwald: Western censorship of Russia is excessive and counterproductive Governments have been colluding with the mainstream media and social media platforms for some time now in a bid to control the narrative, censoring opposing views on everything from COVID-19 to transgenderism. However, journalist Glenn Greenwald thinks that we should be paying more attention to one very specific type of censorship: Western censorship of Russia. Speaking to Tucker Carlson, he called attention to the way that the West has been criminalizing the platforming of Russian media outlets. Its a big departure from the Cold War, when mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times would regularly publish speeches that were given by Soviet leaders like Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. He told Carlson: Now it's practically criminalized. He pointed out how obvious this was when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine first escalated in February of 2022. He said: One of the very first steps [the EU] took legislatively was to ban the platforming, to criminalize the platforming of Russian media, like RT and Sputnik. They made it a crime, and YouTube immediately pulled it off because they didn't want their citizens hearing any information from the Russian perspective. This is putting us at a disadvantage by preventing us from getting a better idea of their viewpoints, he says. I mean, you can hate Russia, you can think Russia's evil, you can think whatever you want about Russia, but why wouldn't you want to hear from the other side? he asked. Carlson agreed, saying that a speech he heard from Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he announced his military operation was very insightful. He said that most Americans arent aware of what Putin is thinking, and he doesnt understand why people want to remain ignorant. Greenwald and Carlson concluded that this is due, at least in part, to the fact that propaganda works. Russian state media target of censorship campaigns The media outlet RT has been described by the U.S. State Department as a major part of the Kremlins propaganda and disinformation campaign and was blocked in the European Union and Canada in 2022. However, replicas of its articles appear on numerous other websites, and there has been a concerted effort to try to stop its message from spreading. German Marshall Fund senior fellow Bret Schafer said: It was quite evident when we were running the search results in the E.U. that if Russian propaganda is not showing up on Russian domains, its getting through, which is sort of a double whammy because its not just evading restrictions and bans, its doing so on sites that are less transparent than RT itself. YouTube blocked global access to all channels that are affiliated with RT and has taken steps to remove what it claims is harmful misinformation. RT acknowledged in a statement that its content doesnt follow the U.S. State Department/NATO party line but is glad to hear its content is reaching different platforms and users. In September, Facebook owner Meta said that it would be banning RT along with Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media outlets from all of its platforms, which include WhatsApp and Instagram, on the grounds that they allegedly used deceptive tactics to conduct influence operations online. "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," the social media company said in a written statement. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the world should treat RT's activities like they would covert intelligence operations. Sources for this article include: RT.com NYTimes.com Reuters.com Who is Sebastian Gorka, the Trump-appointee former US officials call an Islamophobic huckster? US President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump official and media commentator, to return to the White House and serve in a senior national security role in the new administration. (Article by Umar A Farooq republished from MiddleEastEye.net) Gorka's nomination to be deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism has drawn controversy over past comments he made and his views on Islam and Muslims. The role does not require Senate approval to be confirmed and was announced on Friday. The son of Hungarian parents who fled to the UK after the failed uprising against the Soviet Union in 1956, Gorka immigrated to the US and became a naturalised US citizen in 2012. His political and media career eventually led him to serve a brief stint in the first Trump administration. He has previously implied that 98 percent of "terrorists" in the United States are Muslim, and in a Breitbart column in 2016 demonised Muslim immigrants coming to the United States, saying that Muslims are, in the best case, opposed to American values and in the worst case, "want to kill us". Former US officials Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin, who served in national security and counterterrorism roles in the US government, previously said that Gorka believes that violence in the Middle East is inextricably linked to the "martial language" of the Quran. "Mr Gorka sees Islam as the problem, rather than the uses to which Islam has been put by violent extremists," Simon and Benjamin said in an opinion article published in The New York Times in 2017, in which they referred to Gorka as an "Islamophobic huckster". Middle East Eye contacted Gorka for comment on his views regarding Islam and Muslims but didn't receive a response by the time of publication. In recent months, Gorka has also been vocal on the Israeli war on Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of the enclave's civilian infrastructure. In an interview on Russian broadcaster RT, he said, "There is no such thing as Palestine". In 2020, Trump appointed Gorka to a national security education board, a position he held for several months before resigning. In his resignation letter published in August 2020, Gorka said that certain "forces" did not support Trump's campaign promise to "Make America Great Again" and gave this as his reason for leaving the White House. However, reports at the time, citing US officials, said Gorka did not resign and that he was ousted from the administration. He currently is a political commentator who appears on Newsmax and the Salem Radio Network and is a close ally of Steve Bannon, a Trump advisor who previously described Islam as the "most radical" religion in the world. Bannon was one of the architects of Trump's immigration policy for several Muslim-majority countries, which became known as the "Muslim ban". Bannon, who was released from prison in October after four months of jail time, was convicted of not complying with subpoenas issued by the now-defunct House Select Committee that investigated the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack. Gorka has touted himself as a counterterrorism expert. But in 2017, his PhD advisor said that while Gorka was knowledgeable about some terrorism matters, "I would not call him an expert on terrorism". Trump's choice to select Gorka comes after his campaign spent time engaging with Muslim and Arab leaders in Michigan to shore up support from the community and capitalise on the outrage over the Biden administration's support for the Israeli war on Gaza. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the leading Muslim organisations in the US, criticised the appointment of Gorka back in 2020, referring to him as an "anti-Muslim bigot". While Trump has vowed to end the wars in the Middle East, he has also chosen several vehemently pro-Israel politicians to serve in key cabinet positions. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net Congress dithers while Vlad and Joe play nuclear chicken Is President Joe Biden out to start a war? Or are his shadow warmongers Anthony Blinken and Jake Sullivan responsible? War can potentially explode regardless of who pulled the pin on the grenade. (Article by Brian C. Joondeph republished from AmericanThinker.com) Several days ago, the pin was pulled. Reuters reported, Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday in response to the U.S. and UK's allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons, in a further escalation of the 33-month-old war. This was a shorter-range weapon, U.S. officials and NATO echoed Putin's description of the weapon as an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which has a shorter range of 3,0005,500 km (1,860-3,415 miles). Moscow to New York is about 4,600 miles, meaning that this missile does not threaten the continental U.S., but the rest of Europe and NATO are at risk. This explains why Sweden and Finland are preparing for possible war. Major EU capital cities could be minutes from obliteration by this Russian missile. With its hypersonic speed, the missile could reach Berlin in 15 minutes and London and Paris in 20 minutes. Is Russian President Vladimir Putin the instigator, or did the U.S. and NATO poke the bear one too many times? Signs at the zoo warn visitors not to tease or provoke the animals. Those who disregard such advice often learn of their folly the hard way. How many such missiles does Russia have? Our intel community may or may not know. Government intelligence is often used to create a narrative rather than reflect reality, so we may be in for a future surprise. Is the Russian missile launch a gambit toward a negotiated peace with a future President Trump? Perhaps. Remember that chess is a national pastime in Russia. Moves and countermoves. Chess, however, is played with wooden pieces on a small board, not with nuclear weapons capable of destroying civilization. In Dirty Harry fashion, Russia and the U.S. may ask each other, Do you feel lucky today? Unfortunately, Trump cannot negotiate anything until January 20. All communications from Trump and his entire team are likely being monitored by the same agencies that spied on his 2016 transition, looking for any opportunity to invoke the Logan Act as an excuse not to certify his election. Remember that the president-elect is not simply any citizen corresponding with a foreign government. Biden is considered a lame-duck president. In politics, a lame duck or outgoing politician is an elected official whose successor has already been elected or will be soon. A lame duck is free to make decisions that exercise the standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders, pardons, or other controversial edicts Does this include starting a war? Lets look at the U.S. Constitution. The Constitutions Article I, Section 8 specifically lists as a power of Congress the power to declare War, which unquestionably gives the legislature the power to initiate hostilities. The extent to which this clause limits the Presidents ability to use military force without Congresss affirmative approval remains highly contested. Most people agree, at minimum, that the Declare War Clause grants Congress exclusive power. Presidents cannot, on their own authority, declare war. But that is just what Biden did, not by name but by deed. As the NY Times reported, Ukraines military used American-made ballistic missiles on Tuesday to strike into Russia for the first time, according to senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials, just days after President Biden gave permission to do so in a major shift of American policy. These are highly complex missiles. Its not like handing Ukraine a handgun to shoot at Russia. These missiles require sophisticated guidance and launch procedures beyond the capability of the Ukrainian military. As the Washington Post acknowledges, Ukraines rocket campaign is reliant on US precision targeting. In other words, Ukraine is nothing but a launching pad used by the Biden warmongers to attack Russia, a sovereign country not threatening the U.S. and which also happens to have the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Back to the Russian response. It was entirely expected, and the West had better pay attention. As CNN reported, Although Russias strike was non-nuclear, the missile appeared to carry a MIRV payload, meaning it used multiple warheads to strike separate targets. MIRVS, or Multiple independently targetable Reentry Vehicles, were developed during the Cold War to permit a missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads to different targets. Although the nuclear payload appeared to have been replaced with a non-nuclear one in this case, the use of the MIRV technology was intended to send a message. Is Putin sending a message or simply reacting with his available weaponry? Putin claims that the launched missile was a combat test of a new missile system. Was the launched missile one of a handful of prototypes or part of a larger arsenal? We are playing Russian roulette with the Russians. Is anyone hearing this message? Congress? Bueller? Bueller? Has WW III begun? Ukraines ex-top general says it has. North Korean troops and Chinese weapons are helping Russia. US and NATO militaries are assisting Ukraine. How did we get here? Promises made and not kept. From decades ago. As the LA Times reported, The United States has failed to uphold a promise that NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe, a deal made during the 1990 negotiations between the West and the Soviet Union over German unification. American foreign policy hubris is on display once again, spreading democracy and American values to countries that dont share the same views as American progressives, who want to be left alone to select their own leaders and live their lives in peace. America promised not to expand NATO closer to Russia, yet we did. Putin warned about red lines that America continuously crossed. Then Russia said nyet. But American politicians on both sides of the political aisle know better and have left a wake of bloodshed and misery across the globe as their gift to the world. After all, President Trump was impeached over a phone call with the Ukrainian president asking about corruption. Asking a legitimate question is an impeachable offense, but starting an undeclared war with Russia is not? Its an upside-down world we now live in. Consider this scenario. Russia organizes a color revolution in Canada, replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a pro-Russian puppet. Russias stated goal is to place nuclear weapons in Canada aimed at the U.S. How would the U.S. react? Would they react like Russia is acting today toward Ukraine? Are any of todays actions surprising, or was this entirely predictable? What is Congress, a supposedly co-equal branch of government to the warmongering executive branch, doing? Do they have more pressing matters than World War III? It seems so. A newly elected Congress-man from Delaware, who chooses to dress like a woman, is causing bathroom-gate in the halls of Congress. A video of Rep. Nancy Mace bitchslapping an ABC News crank is more newsworthy. Then there is the question of whether Mat Gaetz dated a 17-year-old girl. Never mind that the highly partisan and politicized Wray FBI and Garland DOJ investigated allegations against Gaetz and found nothing, dropping the investigation. The world is on the brink of a nuclear holocaust, depending on how much the U.S. and NATO want to continue poking the well-armed Russian bear. Congress is consumed by frivolities, in Hunger Games fashion, over which bathroom a transgender member should use or accusations of whom a former member dated. Maybe Elon and Vivek, through their DOGE commission, will find that the 535 members of Congress and thousands of staffers are wasteful and irrelevant, recommending replacement with, as William F. Buckley suggested, the first 2000 people in the Manhattan phone book. Read more at: AmericanThinker.com Every 2-3 months, DHS sends $600M in U.S. taxpayer cash to NGO funding illegal migrant invasion of America More than half a billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer cash is shipped off to America's illegal migrants every two-to-three months via a convoluted scheme involving non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the corrupt Joe Biden regime, and other powerful deep state players. A guy on X / Twitter named "ColoradoKevin" (@ColoradoKevin3) conducted extensive research into claims that $600 million is funneled through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other entities pretty much quarterly to NGOs like the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which spends lots of U.S. taxpayer cash paying for food, water, shelter, and transportation for illegal migrants waiting for their court hearings. "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has allocated substantial amounts to support services for migrants, including a recent announcement of $380 million through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) to assist communities providing critical support like food, shelter, and transportation for migrants awaiting immigration proceedings," ColoradoKevin explains. "In fiscal year 2023, more than $780 million was awarded to organizations and municipalities to help manage the influx of migrants. This includes previous allocations such as $259.13 million distributed earlier in the year. Therefore, when considering the frequency and total amounts, it is plausible that funding could approach or exceed $600 million within a short timeframe if multiple grants are considered." (Related: Did you know that the U.S. and the UN are together funding the illegal migrant invasion of America using cash in envelopes?) The Homeless Industrial Complex and its NGO money laundering scam Truth be told, many NGOs involved with illegal immigration are functioning as money laundering operations to redirect money from the public coffers, which are intended for U.S. citizens, into the coffers of organizations and entities that are helping illegals to take over the nation. Some critics of the NGO scam say it is part and parcel of the Housing Industrial Complex and its takeover of America's residential sector. Suddenly, American citizens are the ones ending up homeless and on the streets while illegal aliens who do not even belong here are taking their place and on the taxpayer dime. Some members of Congress are finally taking notice of the situation. They are demanding more transparency and accountability concerning how all this money is being spent and whether the current format is addressing any of the problems posed by rampant illegal immigration. "NGOs are a way to fund things the government cannot do legally," is how Pat Reilly (@PatReilly472249) put it on X / Twitter. "The scam is that some money is then funneled back to the officials that funded the NGO in the first place." Another criticized Congress for letting this all happen in the first place. Prevention is better than treatment, after all, and now the task of cleaning up America's illegal immigration problem is arguably more difficult than it has ever been, which is why Trump wants to hit the ground running. "Congress should be fired for this massive corruption and other money diverted plans," tweeted another. "None of this helps Americans. Someone else explained how NGOs work together to address different facets of the illegal alien invasion. Some focus on getting "free" phones into the hands of illegals while others coordinate delivery. Still others are deciding where all the illegal migrants will be shipped off to with "red" states often getting lots of them. "And still the government can't or won't help hurricane victims or finish securing our border," lamented another about the misplaced priorities of the current status quo government occupying Washington. Will Trump's efforts to deport millions of illegals and secure the southern border be a success? Find out more about his plans at Trump.news. Sources for this article include: X.com NaturalNews.com Special Counsel Jack Smith DROPS election interference case against Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith has dropped his election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump In a six-page court document filed Monday, Nov. 25, Smith asked a judge to dismiss the charges against the incoming president. He and his team cited the DOJ's policy from the Watergate era, which states that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. "The Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated," the filing continued, referencing Trump's election victory and inauguration in January next year. "This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant. Based on the Department's interpretation of the Constitution, the government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment." Smith's election interference case hit a roadblock in June after the Supreme Court ruled that a sitting president has immunity from prosecution for their official acts and duties. In response, he filed a superseding indictment against Trump months later. The superseding indictment claimed Trump acted on his own accord and not within his presidential duties when he allegedly broke the law. (Related: Supreme Court says Trump, other former presidents immune from criminal prosecution for official acts but NOT unofficial acts.) "This marks the end of Smith's two-year prosecution of Trump alleging that he attempted to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election," Jamie White, writing for InfoWars, pointed out. "The decision isn't all that surprising, since Smith's team announced earlier this month that it would move to wind down its lawfare cases against Trump in the wake of his landslide election victory." Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, lauded the DOJ's move to have the charges dismissed in a statement. "Today's decision by the DOJ end the unconstitutional federal cases against [President-elect] Trump, and is a major victory for the rule of law," he said. "The American people and Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system, and we look forward to uniting our country." Smith's earlier classified documents case against Trump DISMISSED Even though Smith dropped his election interference case against Trump, the incoming president has pledged to terminate the special counsel and his prosecutorial team upon taking office. Earlier, United States District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Smith's earlier case accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents. According to ZeroHedge, Cannon based her decision on the fact that Smith's appointment was unconstitutional and violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause. Under the clause, only the president with the advice and consent of the Senate can appoint special counsels. But in Smith's case, Attorney General Merrick Garland as head of the DOJ, overstepped his authority by appointing the special counsel to his post. "The special counsel's position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers," Cannon wrote. "Dismissal of this action is the only appropriate solution for the Appointments Clause violation." The other two lawfare cases against Trump in Georgia and New York remain on life support, according to InfoWars. The president-elect and his co-defendants have petitioned the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject a ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case. Meanwhile, New York State Supreme Court Acting Justice Juan Merchan has indefinitely postponed the sentencing date against Trump following his guilty verdict in late May. Many legal experts believe Trump's conviction, which stemmed from hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, could eventually be overturned on appeal. Head over to Trump.news for more stories about the president-elect's legal battles. Watch this report from Fox News about Special Counsel Jack Smith dropping his election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Biden-Harris DOJ now trying to find a way to DROP charges against Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith accused of deliberately impeding Trump's presidential campaign. IT WAS ALL POLITICAL: DOJ to fire Jack Smith, drop all legal cases against Trump before inauguration. Judge dismisses Trump's classified documents case, special counsel's appointment ruled unconstitutional. Jack Smith's indictments of President Trump are ill-founded and unconstitutional, judicial clerk explains why. Sources include: InfoWars.com CourtListener.com ZeroHedge.com Brighteon.com Joe Biden has decided to send LAND MINES to Ukraine Outgoing President Joe Biden's administration has shocked human rights groups over its decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines This comes just a day after the U.S. officially gave its approval to Kyiv to use longer-range, American-supplied missiles to launch strikes deeper into Russia. The decision is also a reversal of a pledge Biden made in 2022 to limit the use of such land mines. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the shift in Washington's policy regarding the use of antipersonnel mines was necessary for Ukraine to counter "changing Russian tactics." He noted that Russia's recent string of victories in southeastern Ukraine are being led by individual ground troops, not more protected soldiers in armored vehicles. Thus, Austin claimed Ukraine has "a need for things that can help slow down that effort." The mines are part of the White House's recent $275 million military aid package for Ukraine. Also included in this package are more HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) units, FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 155 millimeter (mm) and 105 mm artillery rounds and a variety of other military equipment as well as spare parts to help maintain existing U.S.-supplied military equipment in Ukraine. Analysts note that the decision also comes as Biden's outgoing administration reflects on mounting international concerns over Russia's recent battlefield gains in Ukraine and the potential change in foreign policy goals of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. (Related: Nearly three years into the conflict, Ukraine grapples with dwindling resources as Russia steadily gains ground.) The Biden White House is committed to providing Ukraine with as much military aid as possible before his term ends on Jan. 20, 2025. On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the White House announced its intention to cancel half of the debt around $4.6 billion that Ukraine owes to America. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said the administration informed Congress of the move and that the White House does not expect Congress to pass a resolution of disapproval to try to stop the loan forgiveness because of bipartisan support for aiding Ukraine. Human rights groups express opposition to giving Ukraine land mines, warn of potential civilian casualties The White House claims that there are certain safeguards built into the antipersonnel mines Biden is sending Ukraine. One official claimed that the types of mines being sent to Ukraine are "non-persistent," meaning that they become inert after some time. "They are electrically fused and require battery power to detonate," said the U.S. official who spoke with POLITICO. "Once the battery runs out, they will not detonate." Regardless, human rights organizations are warning that these weapons pose special and long-term dangers. "It is devastating, and frankly shocking, that President Biden made such a consequential and dangerous decision just before his public service legacy is sealed for the history books," said Amnesty International USA Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia Ben Linden. "Antipersonnel land mines are indiscriminate weapons that kill and maim civilians, and especially children, for generations after wars end," warned Center for Civilians in Conflict Executive Director Hichem Khadhraoui. "These weapons cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants as required by international humanitarian law." These groups warn that, as soon as the conflict ends, these mines can be left on the battlefield for generations and potentially cause significant harm to civilians. Ukrainian government estimates suggest that more than 50,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory would need to be searched for mines and other explosives, an area comparable to the land area of Alabama. Watch this clip from CNN reporting on the White House's decision to approve sending anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: U.S. bracing for Russia's response attack by shutting down embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine strikes Russian military installation in Bryansk just one day after Biden authorizes use of U.S.-made, long-range ATACMS missiles. Moscow promises "devastating response" if Zelensky strikes deep in Russian territory. U.S. pledges another $425 million military aid package for Ukraine. Biden urges Ukraine to hit North Korean troops that its military encounters on the battlefield. Sources include: POLITICO.com APNews.com Brighteon.com Russia threatens to strike U.S. air bases in Poland with advanced weapons amid escalating conflict in Ukraine Russia has issued a stark warning to the United States, threatening to target its air bases in Poland with "advanced weapons." Moscow's threat was in response to the opening of a new U.S. ballistic missile defense base in Redzikowo, located near the Baltic coast. The facility, which opened on Nov. 13, is part of the "Aegis Ashore" missile defense system of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is designed to help intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned this base, stating it would "increase the overall level of nuclear danger" and adding that it had been placed on a list of potential Russian targets. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, criticized the opening of the base, describing it as "provocative" and part of a broader series of destabilizing actions by the U.S. and its allies. She emphasized that the Redzikowo base would now be considered a priority target for Russia, stating that it could be destroyed using "a wide range of advanced weapons." This threat came shortly after Ukraine's air force reported the launch of a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the southern Russian region of Astrakhan, near the Caspian Sea. Russian authorities have not confirmed the missile launch, but if true, it would mark the first time such a powerful missile has been deployed in the conflict. (Related: U.S. bracing for Russias retaliatory attack by shutting down embassy in Kyiv.) However, some analysts have expressed doubt about the missile being a true ICBM, as its reported range of 700 kilometers (435 miles) falls short of the expected range for intercontinental missiles, which typically exceed 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles). This discrepancy has led some experts to speculate that the missile may not have been a full-fledged ICBM, though others believe it could have been used as a signal of Russia's missile capabilities rather than for practical military purposes. Russian threat a response to West's escalatory actions The reported launch follows a series of escalatory actions, including Ukraine for the first time being allowed to use U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles to strike targets deep inside internationally recognized Russian territory. Moscow had warned that such actions would lead to a significant response, and the recent missile launch threats suggest that Russia may be preparing to retaliate in kind. One possible missile used in the recent launch could be Russia's RS-26 "Frontier," a nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to 5,800 kilometers (3,604 miles). Although the RS-26 has never been used in combat, its potential use would demonstrate Russia's ability to strike Ukraine with long-range, advanced weaponry. Experts believe that while such an attack would be costly, it would serve to show how far Russia could go if it chose to dramatically escalate the war. Meanwhile, Russia's ongoing bombardment of Ukraine continues, with strikes on critical infrastructure and industrial sites leading to power outages in regions like Kyiv, Odesa and Sumy. Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted several incoming missiles, including Kh-101 cruise missiles, but Russia's missile strikes remain a significant challenge to Ukraines ability to protect its airspace. The use of Tu-95MS strategic bombers and MiG-31K fighters to launch these attacks demonstrates Russias intent to cripple Ukraine's power grid as the harsh winter sets in. In response to Zakharova's statements on the Redzikowo base, Poland's foreign ministry reiterated that the facility is purely defensive and does not house nuclear weapons. The spokesperson emphasized that such threats from Russia would only strengthen Poland's commitment to reinforcing its air defense capabilities, as well as NATO's overall defense posture in Eastern Europe. These developments come at a time of heightened tensions, as Russia's rhetoric and actions signal a significant increase in hostilities. Just a day before these missile threats, Ukraine launched Storm Shadow missiles at military targets in Russia's Kursk region, further escalating the conflict. Watch this video from "Borzzikman" discussing how Russia is preparing to target U.S. and NATO bases in Europe with hypersonic ballistic missiles. This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ukraine war going GLOBAL after West launches long-range missiles into Russia, crossing Putin's "red line." Putin revises nuclear doctrine, making it easier for Russia to target Ukraine with nukes. Moscow promises devastating response if Zelensky strikes deep in Russian territory. Moscow accuses U.S. and U.K. of plotting to sabotage Russian undersea cables to BREAK the global internet. ITS COMING: Russia initiates NUCLEAR drills simulating retaliatory strikes on West. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Reuters.com Brighteon.com Sebastian Gorka: British intelligence asset? Sebastian Gorkas involvement with British intelligence cost him a security clearance in Hungary. His longtime mentor is a UK spook currently engaged in covert operations against Russia. Is the Ukraine hawk and Trump counter-terror appointee operating on London time? (Article by Kit Klarenberg and Max Blumenthal republished from TheGrayzone.com) After years in the wilderness of right-wing radio, where he flamboyantly proclaimed his loyalty to president-elect Donald Trump for years, Sebastian Gorka has finally found his way back into Trumps inner circle, earning an appointment as incoming White House counter-terror advisor. Gorka served as Trumps deputy assistant advisor on national security issues for eight months in 2017, storming out of his job with a petulant resignation letter that blamed forces within the administration that did not support Trumps MAGA promise. During his brief tenure in the White House, Gorka, a London-born immigrant, was credited with masterminding the Presidents so-called Muslim ban, which refused admission to the US for citizens of countries identified as national security threats. While Democrats have hammered Gorka as a far-right extremist and MAGA sycophant, he has stood out as a voice of Biden foreign policy continuity within Trumpworld, pledging further aggression against Russia and even greater military aid to Kiev. During a November 23 interview, for example, Gorka promised that the aid that we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts if the murderous KGB colonel Vladimir Putin does not obey Trumps dictates. Sebastian Gorka, who Trump just named a Director of national security policy in the White House, says that Trump's strategy for ending the Ukraine war will include threatening Putin to provide Ukraine with exponentially more military "aid" pic.twitter.com/SB9RTWtqth Michael Tracey (@mtracey) November 23, 2024 Gorkas full origin story explains why his views on the Ukraine proxy war track more closely with those of the anti-Trump turncoat John Bolton than incoming Vice President J.D. Vance, who has vowed to negotiate an end to the conflict. As this investigation will demonstrate, the mindset of the Transatlantic policy operative was molded primarily through his intimate involvement in British intelligence circlesnot his role within the America First movement. The son of an anti-communist Hungarian exile, Gorka joined a British Army intelligence unit while still in university. When he entered the world of national security studies, he learned at the knee of a notoriously conniving British military intelligence officer named Chris Donnelly, who has dedicated his career to instigating conflict with Russia, and was exposed by The Grayzone as an architect of the notorious Kerch Bridge bombing. Donnelly personally endorsed Gorkas PhD thesis, granting him the imprimatur of a top intelligence officer in the British Ministry of Defence. The relationship fueled Gorkas career within the burgeoning Atlanticist military infrastructure, yet ultimately cost him security clearance in his familys native Hungary, where the countrys National Security Office suspected him of being a UK spy. Soon after Gorka resigned from the first Trump administration, leaked documents exposed Donnelly as the founder of a secret, UK state-funded influence operation called the Integrity Initiative, which was aimed at drumming up war with Russia through a covert international propaganda network. A 2017 funding proposal submitted by the Integrity Initiative to the British Ministry of Defence promised to deliver a tougher stance on Russia by arranging for more information published in the media on the threat of Russian active measures. When Donnelly visited Washington in 2018 to expand his secret initiative, the first item on his agenda was breakfast with Gorka. To this day, Gorka refuses to discuss the meeting, or any aspect of his relationship with Donnelly, erupting with rage at reporters who have dared to inquire about the long friendship. Gorka in the UK Territory Army Intelligence Corps Gorkas security clearance rejected due to his connections with British intelligence Sebastian Gorka grew up in London in the shadow of his father, Paul, an exiled Hungarian nationalist activist affiliated with the Vitezi Rend, an anti-communist order that collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. Sebastian Gorka blames Kim Philby, the British double agent, for betraying his father to the Soviets, leading to his imprisonment and seemingly exposing his fathers role as an MI6 asset. However, Paul Gorka provided a different account of his capture in an interview with the British historian and Holocaust revisionist, David Irving, claiming Hungarian intelligence broke his cell after discovering papers on one of his cells couriers. Paul Gorka on a firing range at Bisley, UK After members of Vitezi Rend broke Paul Gorka out of prison during their failed, Western-backed 1956 attempt to topple the countrys communist leadership, he found refuge in the UK. From London, Paul Gorka worked for the British government, helping them vet anti-communist emigres arriving from Hungary. Young Gorkas mother, Susan, found part-time work as a translator to Irving, the Holocaust revisionist historian. She was credited as an interpreter in his 740-page tome, Uprising! One Nations Nightmare, 1956, which portrayed the CIA and MI6-backed Hungarian rebellion of 1956 as a workers insurrection against a corrupt communist leadership, which happened to be disproportionately Jewish. With the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Sebastian Gorka set his sights on a career serving British national security interests. From 1990 to 1993, Gorka served in Unit 22 of the British militarys Territorial Army Intelligence Corps as an interrogator. The duties he carried out in the intelligence unit later became a source of intrigue, and remain mysterious to this day. Sebastian Gorka (second to right, second row) with the Intelligence Corps, UK Territorial Army. In 1999, following a fellowship at NATO, Gorka returned to Hungary to advise the first government of Victor Orban, and established himself as a prominent national security commentator in the country of his familys origin. Three years later, when Hungarys new Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy faced accusations that he had conducted counter-espionage operations for the countrys communist government 20 years prior, Gorka was selected to investigate the charges on a parliamentary committee. However, the countrys National Security Office rejected the security clearance he needed to join the committee because, as the Hungarian news outlet Origo reported, it became risky from a national security point of view due to [Gorkas] connections with British intelligence. As the scandal swirled in Hungarian media, dramatically different accounts of Gorkas involvement in British Army intelligence appeared in the media. The UKs Sunday Times reported that Gorkas duties in the unit included gathering evidence for the war crimes tribunal set up after the collapse of Yugoslavia. However, Gorka claimed to Hungarian media, I never dealt with intelligence we were tasked with guarding key facilities [in Northern Ireland], such as fending off IRA threats. It was unclear how Gorka could have served in two regions at around the same time, or what his intelligence duties actually entailed. When contacted by American reporters about his service, the British Military of Defense declined to provide details. A year after being publicly accused of working for British intelligence, Gorka left Hungary for the US. My American wife and I woke up one morning and realized America was the future, he claimed. Read more at: TheGrayzone.com Texas offers 1,400 acres to incoming Trump administration for MIGRANT DETENTION facility The state of Texas, through the Texas General Land Office (GLO), has offered 1,400 acres of land to the incoming second Trump administration for a migrant detention, processing and deportation facility. The offer came in the form of a letter sent by Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. According to Breitbart News, the GLO head offered a 1,400-acre tract of land in Starr County near the Lone Star State's border with Mexico. Buckingham's officer purchased the land from a rancher in October, in order to build additional sections of border wall along the Texas-Mexico border. Fox News' Adam Shaw reported that the area is a known drug and human smuggling hotspot, per Texas law enforcement. But the state's acquisition of the land could bring about some much-needed change. A GLO spokesman told Breitbart News that the state will build an approximately 1.5-mile border wall along the property's area facing the Rio Grande. "The previous owner had refused to allow the wall to be built and actively blocked law enforcement from accessing the property. Her actions enabled cartel members and violent criminals to sexually abuse migrant women and children on this land for some time," Buckingham wrote in her letter. She continued that the GLO is "fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the U.S. Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nations history." "By offering this newly acquired 1,400-acre property to the incoming Trump administration for the construction of a facility for the processing, detention, and coordination of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nations history, I stand united with [President-elect] Donald Trump to ensure American families are protected," the land commissioner later told Breitbart News. (Related: Texas offering Trump 1,400 acres to construct "mass deportation" camp to process illegals.) "No longer will the rape and murder of our sons and daughters be tolerated. Our state will remain a beacon of hope, justice and dignity for all who call Texas home." Texas taking the lead on BORDER SECURITY According to the National Pulse, "the acquisition is part of a broader strategy to bolster security." It noted that "in the past, land ownership issues have hampered federal law enforcement activities at the border and, in some instances, allowed illicit activities to continue unabated" as Buckingham outlined in her letter. The land offered by the Lone Star State is located about 20 miles east of Fronton Island. Buckingham made headlines last year when she designated the 170-acre island, located along the Rio Grande, as state property. The strategically important Fronton Island had been used as cover for drug and human smuggling operations. Her decision to declare the island as state property disrupted smuggling routes utilized by cartels. This also "demonstrate the GLO's active participation in supporting Texas' role in federal immigration policies," the Pulse continued. Meanwhile, the president-elect has hinted at the potential use of military forces to support his border control measures, especially regarding the arrest and separation of members of violent criminal gangs. To this end, he has appointed former acting ICE Director Tom Homan as his border czar. Head over to Migrants.news for more stories like this. Watch this news clip from Firstpost about Texas offering 1,400 acres of land to the federal government to construct a migrant detention and processing facility. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: POLL: Majority of Americans support the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Trump to immediately focus on deporting immigrants and resuming construction of border wall. Texas Rangers, Border Patrol reclaim Rio Grande Island previously used as base of operations by Mexican drug cartels. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com Breitbart.com Brighteon.com Texas bill seeks to restrict online conversations about abortion and access to abortion services on the internet The Texas House of Representatives is proposing a measure that would restrict online conversations in the state regarding abortion The measure, known as House Bill 2690, the Women and Child Safety Act, was filed by State Rep. Steve Toth (R-Conroe). It will mandate all ISPs to "make every reasonable and technologically feasible effort to block internet access to information or material intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug." The restrictions would block all efforts to "create, edit, upload, publish, host, maintain or register a domain name for an internet website, platform or other interactive computer service that assists or facilitates a person's effort in obtaining an abortion-inducing drug." (Related: New York passes pro-abortion ballot initiative that mandates other leftist agendas.) The bill names six websites associated with organizations providing abortifacient drugs and other abortion services to states like Texas that have restricted abortion access, including Aid Access, Hey Jane, Plan C, Choix Health, Just the Pill and Carafem. The bill presents serious legal consequences for anyone involved in manufacturing, distributing or even discussing abortion-inducing drugs. It goes as far as to outlaw the hosting or facilitating of online speech that could assist in obtaining these medications. The legislation also seeks to prevent the dissemination of information about accessing abortion pills. This includes creating or managing websites and applications that might facilitate such access. It would also expose a wide array of tech companies to civil lawsuits if they fail to block Texas residents from accessing certain abortion-related content. Critics claim bill violates First Amendment rights of Texans The implications for free speech in the legislation have critics of the bill afraid of its profound consequences. The bill blocks access to legal content based on location and undermines the fundamental principles of free expression upheld by the First Amendment. The act also contains peculiar provisions regarding legal defenses. It states that reliance on a court ruling that may later be overturned is no defense for actions taken under the bill. This eliminates the ability to argue that one was complying with the law at the time of the alleged violation, setting a precarious legal precedent. Kiki Freedman, co-founder and CEO of Hey Jane, a virtual clinic that offers abortion services through the internet, said in a written statement that the bill "baselessly attacks individual liberty and equity" as well as "freedom of speech and commerce." "This proposed bill shows just how far anti-abortion politicians have gone in the months since Roe v. Wade was overturned," Freedman said. "It would not only infringe on the First Amendment right to free speech by trying to silence telehealth abortion providers, but also target abortion funds and their donors who have been instrumental in ensuring access to safe abortion care across the country and anyone who travels out of state for care." She added: "Anti-abortion politicians understand that medication abortion is now the most viable form of safe and effective abortion access, which is why they continue to attack it." Visit Abortions.news for more about abortion legislation in America. Watch this episode of "The Kim Iversen Show" as host Kim Iversen reports on an incident wherein a private equity firm forced an employee to get an abortion. This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Pro-life organization condemns Trudeau government for making it "easier" to kill babies with online abortion portal. Florida ballot measures to legalize recreational weed and expand "abortion rights" FAIL. New York passes pro-abortion ballot initiative that mandates other leftist agendas. Report reveals a Mexican drug cartel is using the U.S. Postal Service to ship black market abortion pills all over America. U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs Biden administrations appeal challenging Texas abortion law. Sources include: ReclaimTheNet.com TheTexan.news Brighteon.com More than 100,000 turkeys killed in Utah over bird flu scare Bird flu is making headlines as Thanksgiving approaches, with more than 100,000 turkeys being killed in Utah recently after the presence of avian influenza was confirmed there. The disease is highly pathogenic, and culling flocks is common to prevent the spread of infection. An update issued on November 22 by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food explained that three turkey farms in Piute County with 107,800 turkeys and a backyard flock with 253 turkeys were confirmed positive, and the strains involved are now being genetically sequenced. The agency said: Though the overall risk to public health remains low, HPAI is a serious disease, requiring rapid response, including depopulation of affected flocks as it is highly contagious and fatal to poultry. They also advised poultry owners to monitor their flocks for signs of illness and take immediate action if they spot them, while those who work in close contact with any infected birds should take the recommended precautions, which include wearing personal protective equipment. Its the second outbreak there in two months; more than 1.85 million birds were affected in Cache County last month. There are currently five Utah poultry farms in quarantine. In the nation overall, there have been 47 flocks with confirmed infections during the last 30 days, affecting a total of more than 5.21 million birds. Other states where the virus has been reported include Illinois, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, Minnesota and South Dakota. Avian flu has also been reported in humans, with 55 confirmed cases in U.S. citizens. This is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who note that the biggest number of infections was recorded in California at 29. Meanwhile, Washington and Colorado have seen 11 and 10 cases respectively, while Michigan has two cases and Texas, Missouri and Oregon each have one. However, poultry accounted for just 21 of these cases, while 32 of them were attributed to cattle. All of those affected were farm workers, most of whom experienced mild symptoms. In California, one case was confirmed in a child, marking the first report of avian flu in a minor; none of the childs family members tested positive for it. According to U.S. Geological Survey officials, avian flu can spread in domestic poultry via clothing, equipment and feed that has been contaminated, in addition to spreading through direct contact with wild birds. Could bird flu spread to humans and spark a new pandemic? Virologist Richard Webby, who has studied avian flu viruses since 1997, said there are some concerns the virus could mutate into a human one and then be spread among people. Flu viruses make a lot of mutations when they replicate. Every time theres an infected host, theres a chance that key mutations will emerge. And if that happens in the right place where an infected animal was in contact with humans, a human gets infected that potentially could be the start of something like a pandemic, he told WHYY. He also pointed out that H5N1 isnt the only virus circulating right now in chickens and other types of animals and that we cant forget that there are these other threats that are also causing human infections and also pose probably just as much, if not more of a pandemic risk, than the H5 does. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com KSL.com U.S., European officials considering sending NUCLEAR weapons to Ukraine Despite repeated warnings out of Moscow not to cross any of Vladimir Putin's "red lines," the West is still poking the bear with new talk about sending nuclear weapons to Kiev. Officials in Europe and the United States are reportedly in talks about how to try to deter Russia from completing its special military operation in Ukraine. They are running out of ideas as nukes become front and center in the conversation about how to proceed. Almost immediately after Donald Trump was reelected president, Washington and its NATO allies launched talks about rushing more weapons to Ukraine before Trump gets inaugurated. Such weapons will be used by Volodymyr Zelensky deep within Russian territory, which Putin has warned will bring with it serious consequences. "U.S. spy agencies have assessed that speeding up the provisions of weapons, ammunition, and material for Ukraine will do little to change the course of the war in the short term," The New York Times reported after speaking with U.S. officials who were briefed in the intelligence community's assessment of the situation. "U.S. and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire. Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union." (Related: The other day, Moscow warned the West that even non-nuclear attacks out of Ukraine using NATO-U.S. weapons could warrant a nuclear response by Moscow.) Is Putin waiting until Trump reenters Oval Office to make a move? There are some officials in the Joe Biden regime who believe that Putin will back off for a few months and wait until Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, to make his next move. "The escalation risk of allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S.-supplied weaponry has diminished with the election of Mr. Trump," one official is quoted as saying, adding that Biden regime officials are under the impression that Putin "knows he has to wait only two months for the new administration." The reason for this perception has to do with Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence (DNI): Tulsi Gabbard, who is likely to take a more favorable stance on Russia than the current DNI. At the same time, Trump during his first term was aggressive against Russia, helping to: Ramp up sanctions on Russia Provide lethal arms to Ukraine, and Expel a large number of Russian diplomats from the U.S. Back in September, Putin stated that he would prefer to have Kamala Harris in the White House rather than Trump for another four years. "Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions," Putin said at the time. Now that Trump won instead of Kamala, Putin is likely reassessing what to do, especially since a sizeable contingent of Americans believes that both Trump and Gabbard are secret agents of Russia. "However, extensive investigations into Trump's ties to the Kremlin have come up empty," writes Kyle Anzalone for Antiwar.com. "Additionally, the Times reported last week that there was no evidence Gabbard was in any way an asset of Putin." No matter how you slice it, tensions between the West and Russia are likely to continue escalating behind the scenes, even if most people are unable to see all this for what it is. "I guess I'll need a bigger desk to hide under," is how one commenter put it, making reference to the grade school nuclear drills of old in which students and teachers alike would hunker under their desks as if a nuclear attack had just occurred. Is all of this back and forth leading to World War III? Find out more at WWIII.news. Sources for this article include: Antiwar.com NaturalNews.com U.S. suffers worst telecom hack in history after Beijing-linked hacking group Salt Typhoon secretly intercepted surveillance data on Americans A trove of surveillance data on Americans that was only supposed to be accessible by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies was intercepted by China earlier this month, we are told. A cohort of national security advisers and other senior officials from the outgoing regime of President Biden met with top executives from major telecommunications companies this week to discuss what they described as "by far" the worst data breach in America's history. In early November, the Beijing-linked hacking group "Salt Typhoon" grabbed hold of the surveillance data that telecoms like Verizon and AT&T record and store for the police in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The hack allegedly resulted in text messages and audio from an unknown number of calls making their way into Chinese data centers. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, is the one who called all this the "worst telecom hack in our nation's history by far" following the recent hearing. "The barn door is still wide open, or mostly open," he added. (Related: Did you catch our report from back in July about the AT&T hack that resulted in "nearly all" customers getting hacked?) Top secret meeting The meeting in question was hosted by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy National Security Adviser Anne Neuberger. It is unknown who else specifically was there. "The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives about how the U.S. government can partner with and support the private sector in hardening against sophisticated nation-state attacks," the Biden White House said in a statement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued their own joint statement as well, blaming China for the hack and claiming that the stolen information is stored as part of "legal" surveillance on Americans. "Specifically, we have identified that PRC-affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call record data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders," that statement reads. There is, of course, no truly legal means through which the government is allowed to surveil Americans without a warrant. Such surveillance has been normalized ever since 9/11, but it is unconstitutional, just to be clear, though the government is saying that only "suspects" are being surveilled. The FBI has notified less than 150 people who were affected by the breach that their data was stolen. Most of them are located in the Washington, D.C., area which suggests they might be people who work for the government or the deep state. One of the people whose conversations were intercepted in the hack is an unnamed adviser to President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, this according to The Washington Post. It is unknown whether or not this adviser is "subject to U.S. law enforcement requests." You will recall that back in 2016, the FBI used the fabricated Steele Dossier, a product of Hillary Clinton and other deep state players, to ask a court for permission to surveil then-candidate Trump's campaign and undermine his presidency. Beijing says this latest hack was not conducted by Chinese hackers but rather by hackers in Washington who are trying to meddle with the most recent U.S. election results. The Chinese Embassy in Washington also stated that it is unaware of any hacking activities by Salt Typhoon and likewise accused the U.S. of fabricating all this to "smear China" by blaming it for the attack, China being a common scapegoat of the U.S. establishment. More related news can be found at CyberWar.news. Sources for this article include: Reuters.com NaturalNews.com When a whale dies, its journey continues on the ocean floor, providing life to countless deep-sea creatures in a process known as "whale fall." This natural occurrence can span decades, showcasing the critical role whales play even after death. Whale falls are rare events that begin when a whale carcass sinks to the seafloor. The body undergoes three decomposition stages: the mobile scavenger stage, the enrichment opportunist stage, and the sulfophilic stage. Each phase benefits a succession of marine life. In the initial stage, large scavengers like sharks and crabs feed on the soft tissues. Smaller creatures, such as snails and worms, take over during the next phase, consuming leftover organic matter. In the final stage, bacteria break down the whale's bones, releasing sulfur and sustaining unique ecosystems for decades. According to Natural History Museum, Dr. Adrian Glover, a deep-sea biodiversity expert, explained that whale falls nourish entire populations. "The death of a whale leads to a long-lasting source of food for deep-sea creatures," he said, emphasizing the importance of these events in sustaining life in nutrient-scarce ocean regions.' READ MORE : Rising Seas Could Submerge US Coastal Cities by 2100, Affecting Millions Whale Falls: Sustaining Deep-Sea Life for Decades In a recent expedition, Ocean Networks Canada and Ocean Exploration Trust revisited a whale fall discovered in 2009 off the coast of British Columbia, Popular Mechanics reported. Located 4,100 feet below the surface, the whale skeleton was found still teeming with life after 15 years. Tube worms, crabs, and other marine organisms had made the bones their permanent home, showcasing the remarkable longevity of whale falls. Scientists are using data from such discoveries to better understand marine ecosystems and the vital role of whales. Even in death, whales continue to support ocean life for up to 50 years, demonstrating their significance in the marine food chain and the circle of life beneath the waves. Moscow, Nov 27 : The Russian Foreign Ministry has banned 30 British citizens from entering Russia's territory "in response to the hostile actions of the British side". The sanction list includes members of Britain's political establishment, military blocs, high-tech companies as well as news outlets, said the Ministry on Tuesday in a statement. British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and several other high-ranking officials are high on the list. Russia is set to further expand the sanction list in response to the hostilities by the British authorities, according to the Ministry. Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Russia and filed a protest after expelling a British diplomat over charges of espionage. The British diplomat, identified as Wilkes Edward Prior, was accused of providing false information on his documents and carrying out espionage and sabotage activities, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). He must leave Russia within two days, the FSB said. Moscow condemned London for allegedly fostering "aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric," imposing "illegitimate unilateral sanctions," and supporting what it called the "neo-Nazi Kyiv regime". The UK government denounced the move and dismissed the accusations as "malicious and baseless," vowing to respond in due course. "This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course," said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office. Mumbai, Nov 27 : Actor Sunny Deol took to social media to wish his son Karan Deol on his birthday. On Wednesday, the doting father posted a heartfelt video showing the father-sons candid moments. The video captured several heartwarming and joyful moments shared by the Deol family during vacations and other cherished occasions. The clip opens with Sunny Deol relaxing on a rooftop, surrounded by breathtaking snowy mountains and clouds. The actor playfully says, Hi, were father and son here, sitting on the rooftop trying to catch these clouds. The clip transitions into a series of heartwarming snapshots, showcasing the special bond between Sunny and his son, Karan. Some moments also include his younger son, Rajveer Deol, and Dharmendra. In one of the clips, the 'Hero' actor is seen motivating his son with heartfelt words, saying, "This is what it is. Nothing to worry about. Just do it. Okay, love you," before planting a tender kiss on Karans head. The post concludes with a video of Karan successfully completing the task in the mountains, cheered on by Sunny, who enthusiastically exclaims, "That was good Wow, Rocky! Sharing this endearing video, Sunny wrote in the caption, Happy Birthday My Rocky! You are my pride and my heart. Karan Deol stepped into acting in 2019 with his debut film Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, co-starring Sahher Bambba, and directed by his father, Sunny Deol. Reports suggest that Karans next project will be "Apne 2", featuring a powerhouse cast that includes his father Sunny Deol, grandfather Dharmendra, and uncle Bobby Deol. On the other hand, Sunny is currently busy shooting for Rajkumar Santoshis movie "Lahore 1947" alongside Preity Zinta. He also has an upcoming war drama Border 2 in the pipeline. Lisbon, Nov 27 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for peace and rebuilding trust at the 10th United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) Global Forum held in the Portuguese city of Cascais. At the official opening ceremony of the forum, Guterres said that in today's "very difficult times" and "in every corner of the world, we see the social fabric under serious strain ... we need peace. Above all, peace," Xinhua news agency reported. He stressed that "everywhere, we must uphold the values of the UN Charter and international law." "The absence of peace is leading to an erosion of trust" in the multilateral system, in societies, as well as in one another, the UN chief said. Guterres emphasised that "Rebuilding trust is our essential task," adding that efforts must be expanded in four "crucial areas" including communities, online, across cultures, and institutions. "In these turbulent times ... the most powerful force of all is the recognition that we are more united by our common fate than divided by our distinct identities," he said. The three-day event kicked off on Monday under the theme "United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future - Reflecting on Two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity." Mumbai, Nov 27 : Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen recently took to social media to cheer for her daughter, Renee Sen, as she confidently poses for the camera. On Wednesday, the former Miss Universe shared a video of Renee striking different poses for the camera. Alongside it, the proud mommy wrote in the caption, "You goooooo girl!!!! #stunning @reneesen47 My favourite part is you, dancing of course!!! That's my #babygirl Confident, beautiful & enjoying the moment!!! I love you shona!!! #bringit Maa #duggadugga." In the video, Renee is seen wearing a short shimmery dress. She posed with utmost grace and confidence. Renee is also seen dancing in the clip. Sushmita Sen never shies away from expressing her love and pride for her daughters. For the unversed, the actress became a single mother at the age of 24. She adopted her elder daughter, Renee in 2000. In 2010, Sushmita expanded her family by adopting her second daughter, Alisah. Her elder daughter, Renee, stepped into the world of acting in 2021 with her debut in a short film. Reflecting on her journey as a mother, Sushmita once shared her thoughts on adopting her daughters during an interaction at FICCI Hyderabad, where she spoke about the life-changing decision and the joy it brought to her life. The 'Main Hoon Na' actress stated that becoming a mother at 24 was the wisest decision she has ever made. It brought stability to her life. While many see it as a great act of charity or a noble gesture, for her, it was about self-preservation, a way of protecting and grounding herself. On the work front, Sushmita Sen was last seen in the thriller "Aarya." In the series, she portrayed a resilient woman who pushes boundaries to shield her family from the dark world of crime. Season 3 was released in two parts, with the first half premiering in 2023 and the second half debuting on February 9, 2024. United Nations, Nov 27 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, his spokesman said in a statement. The UN chief hopes that this agreement can put an end to the violence, destruction and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing, the spokesman said, Xinhua news agency reported. Guterres urges the parties to fully respect and swiftly implement all of their commitments made under this agreement, and undertake immediate steps towards full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) both stand ready to support the implementation of this agreement, in line with their respective mandates, the statement said. The UN Secretary-General's statement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the nation's security cabinet approved a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The ceasefire is expected to take effect on Wednesday morning. In a separate statement, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said that the ceasefire agreement marks the starting point of a critical process to restore the safety and security that civilians on both sides of the Blue Line deserve. "Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today's achievement," she said. Amaravati, Nov 27 : Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday urged the Centre to appoint the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department (APFD) as the nodal agency for the sale and export of Red Sanders or Red Sandalwood. He made the request during a meeting with Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi. Pawan Kalyan, who holds the Environment and Forests portfolio, discussed with the Union Minister various issues related to the conservation of Red Sanders. He sought implementation of the recommendation of the Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) report that the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department be designated as the nodal agency for managing the auctioning of seized Red Sanders. The Jana Sena leader also sought the Centre's support for repatriating seized wood and formalising the APFD as the official nodal agency for the sale and export of Red Sanders. He called for steps to ensure uniform grading and higher revenue from Red Sanders. Red Sanders is found in the Seshachalam, Veligonda, Lankamala, and Palakonda hill ranges of Andhra Pradesh, stretching across seven districts and into Tamil Nadu. Pawan Kalyan thanked Yadav for his time and support and sought his continued valuable cooperation in the future for the common objective of environmental protection. In August, Pawan Kalyan had met Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar B. Khandre and discussed the handing over of Red Sanders worth Rs 140 crore belonging to Andhra Pradesh and seized in the neighbouring state. He was all praise for Karnataka forest officials for their honesty in declaring that the Red Sanders seized by them belonged to Andhra Pradesh. While Red Sander worth Rs.100 crore was seized in 2017, another Rs.40 crore worth Red Sanders was seized this year. Rayalaseema region, bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is notorious for Red Sanders smuggling. Violent smuggling of Red Sanders was the theme of the 2021 blockbuster multilingual movie "Pushpa: The Rise" starring Tollywood actor Allu Arjun. The movie's sequel "Pushpa 2: The Rule" is set for theatrical release on December 5. Last year, India received the international green light to make the trading in plantations of Red Sanders by farmers legitimate after almost two decades. The approval is expected to help end its smuggling to Japan, China, and other European countries and open a legal trade route. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international environmental conservation collective regulating wild trade, removed India from the list of 'Review of Significant Trade in specimens (RST)' for Red Sanders. Following this move, India can promote the private plantation of Red Sanders and export it while conserving the naturally growing species. The rare wood has a huge demand globally. It is used in traditional medicines and woodcraft across China, Myanmar, Japan and other countries of East Asia. It is also used in the United States and Europe for colouring alcoholic beverages, foodstuffs, and pharmaceutical products. The West Asian countries also import Red Sanders. Moscow, Nov 27 : A diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis remains a distant prospect as the battlefield situation continues to escalate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview. "Judging by what is happening on the battlefield, we are still far from a political and diplomatic resolution of the crisis. Washington and its allies remain fixated on achieving a strategic defeat for Russia," Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian government's official newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, on Tuesday. Lavrov described recent missile strikes on Russian territory as an "escalatory move," adding that Moscow's warnings about responding proportionately to such actions had been ignored, reports Xinhua news agency, citing the Rossiyskaya Gazeta interview. "No escalation on the part of the enemy will force us to retreat from achieving the goals. As President (Vladimir) Putin has said, we are prepared for any turn of events but always prefer to resolve disputes through peaceful means," he said. New Delhi, Nov 27 : India on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, hoping that the development would finally result in peace and stability in the wider region which had been engulfed in tension due to the long conflict. "We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Announcing the truce deal late Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon. "We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory," said Netanyahu. Over the last one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly expressed his deep concern over the widening of the conflict in West Asia and reiterated India's call to de-escalate the situation. Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar also met Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on the sidelines of Rome Mediterranean Dialogue organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. Addressing the gathering, EAM Jaishankar admitted that the conflict underway currently in the Middle East has undoubtedly been a major complication and India has for long been concerned at the possibility of a broadening of the conflict. "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," said EAM Jaishankar. "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," he added. Last month, after the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFL) revealed that its Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit following clashes between Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and Hezbollah elements in south Lebanon, India had said that it remains "concerned at the deteriorating security situation" along the Blue Line that stretches for 120 km along Lebanon's southern frontier and remains a key to peace in the region. "We are concerned at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line. We continue to monitor the situation closely. Inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate," the MEA stated. Amaravati, Nov 27 : Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and discussed various issues related to the state's growth. The Jana Sena leader posted on social media platform X that he had the distinct honour of meeting Prime Minister Modi in the national Capital. "Our discussions focussed on the development of Andhra Pradesh, addressing key challenges and exploring strategic solutions for the progress of our state," wrote the actor-turned-politician on Wednesday. The Deputy Chief Minister stated that he held a constructive meeting with the Prime Minister to address key development priorities for the state. The discussions focussed on strengthening collaborative efforts to drive Andhra Pradesh's progress, while reinforcing the principle of national unity and integrity. "PM Modi's leadership continues to guide India towards unprecedented growth and his emphasis on empowering states like Andhra Pradesh is crucial for fostering nationwide development. "I look forward to collaborating on initiatives that will contribute to the advancement of our state and nation," posted Pawan Kalyan, whose Jana Sena is a constituent of the Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Andhra Pradesh. In another post, he thanked the PM for giving his valuable time amid the hectic Parliament session. "From my first meeting in Gandhinagar till this meeting, it was always filled with warmth and I always leave the meeting with admiration for him and his commitment and love for Bharat is truly inspiring," the Deputy Chief Minister posted. He also shared on X that after an insightful meeting with the PM, he engaged in a warm and cordial interaction with several MPs in Delhi. Pawan Kalyan who holds the portfolios of Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and Rural Water Supply; Environment, Forests, Science & Technology, also met Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi. He urged the Centre to appoint Andhra Pradesh Forest Department as the nodal agency for sale and export of red sandalwood. Beirut, Nov 27 : Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Wednesday that the army would reinforce its presence in southern Lebanon, urging Israel to withdraw from Lebanese-occupied territories in accordance with the ceasefire deal reached with Hezbollah. In a televised speech following a cabinet meeting on the first day of the ceasefire, Mikati stated that the Lebanese government is committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions, especially those concerning the strengthening of the deployment of the army and security forces south of the Litani River. He emphasized Lebanon's dedication to preserving its sovereignty by sea, land, and air, refuting any possible violations, as reported by Xinhua news agency. Mikati also demanded that the Israeli enemy fully commit to the ceasefire resolution, withdraw from all areas and sites it has occupied, and implement Resolution 1701 in total. In his speech, he praised the efforts of the Lebanese army and healthcare workers for their dedication during this challenging time. "Lebanon deserves all our effort, patience, and faith, and tomorrow will be bright and full of hope and solidarity for all its people," he expressed. According to the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Windy. Showers developing this afternoon. High 66F. Winds SW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Rain...mixing with snow overnight. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 70%. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Mostly cloudy and windy with showers developing this afternoon. High 66F. Winds SW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Rain...mixing with snow overnight. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 70%. On Nov. 18, the heart failure and transplantation team at Emory University Hospital (EUH) made history, performing the first-ever surgical implantation in the United States of a brand-new type of ventricular assist device (VAD), which provides crucial care to patients with failing hearts. An expert team led by veteran cardiothoracic surgeon Mani Daneshmand, MD, successfully implanted a novel magnetically levitated pump, a VAD that has been specifically designed for patient ease and long-term health. The BrioVAD System, made by BrioHealth Solutions Inc., was authorized by the FDA to begin clinical trials earlier this year. Emory became the first site enrolled in the trial to perform the procedure. As part of the INNOVATE clinical trial, Emory will participate in gathering data on patient experience with the device, joined by other leading medical institutions across the country, including Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Duke University and University of Chicago. The entry criteria for joining the study were rigorous. Emory qualified because of its high quality and extensive VAD experience. Emory has long led Metro Atlanta and the region in number and success rate of VAD implantations. Since the program began, Emory Healthcare has completed almost 1,000 VAD implants between EUH and Emory St. Joseph's Hospital. We're honored to be the first implanting site in this study. The BrioVAD is a promising heart assist pump, designed from the ground up with focus on patient safety and quality of life. With this study, we continue our long history of innovation in pursuit of our mission to bring compassionate, quality care to every patient who arrives at our doors seeking care." Mani Daneshmand, MD First used in the 1960s, VADs have been an effective treatment for patients with advanced heart failure, often providing an alternative for patients who don't qualify for a transplant - which can mean the difference between life and death. The lifesaving device, which has evolved significantly over the decades, works by providing mechanical circulatory support and helping to pump blood from the lower chambers of the heart to the rest of the body. Because the device is almost always placed on the left side of the heart, the device is frequently referred to as an LVAD. The BrioVAD system is composed of a "hemocompatible blood pump," meaning that it interacts with the blood in a way that may have fewer side effects. The new VAD also includes a fully magnetically levitated rotor and two small, lightweight, patient-worn components. "The BrioVAD shows great promise to improve on the current, excellent LVAD technology we are using every day," says Daneshmand, who is the Andrew J. McKelvey Professor at Emory School of Medicine and Director of Thoracic Transplant and MCS Surgery. The hope is that the new VAD may be used as life-long destination therapy, meaning that the VAD is used instead of transplant, or as bridge therapy to transplant or even for supporting recovery of the heart. The INNOVATE trial will assess the system performance in both the short term, with a six-month endpoint, and in the long term over the course of the next 24 months. Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News' weekly health policy news podcast, "What the Health?" A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book "Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z," now in its third edition. Public health, one of the more misunderstood concepts in the health world, is about the health of entire populations, rather than individuals. As a result, public health is closely tied to things like the environment, nutrition, and safety. One commonality among many of President-elect Donald Trump's picks to manage federal health agencies is their distrust of the nation's public health system. With major concerns such as bird flu looming, that sentiment could translate into efforts to undermine those of public health workers. To illuminate the importance and nuances of public health and recognizing that public health is best explained at the local level KFF Health News has partnered with Civic News Company to launch a project called Healthbeat. In this special episode of KFF Health News' "What the Health?", chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner is joined by KFF Health News public health correspondent and Healthbeat national reporter Amy Maxmen, Healthbeat editor-in-chief Charlene Pacenti, and Healthbeat New York City reporter Eliza Fawcett. Among the takeaways from this week's episode: Mentioned in this week's podcast: Julie Rovner: Hello, and welcome back to "What The Health?" I'm Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, and I'm joined by some of the best and smartest health reporters in Washington. We're taping this special holiday episode more on that in a minute on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 2:30 p.m. As always, news happens fast and things might've changed by the time you hear this. So, here we go. Today, I am thrilled to be joined here in our KFF studios by some of the staff of KFF Health News' newest project, Healthbeat, which we've created with another nonprofit, Civic News Company, to cover public health in America. Here with us today, our Healthbeat editor-in-chief, Charlene Pacenti. Charlene Pacenti: Hello. Rovner: Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News public health correspondent and Healthbeat's national reporter. Amy Maxmen: Hi. Rovner: And Eliza Fawcett, New York City reporter. Eliza Fawcett: Hi there. Rovner: Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for being here. Charlene, I want to start with you. What exactly is Healthbeat, and why do we need it? Pacenti: Now more than ever, I would say. Healthbeat was created in the wake of covid when it became very apparent that people needed a deeper understanding of what public health is, the kind of invisible shield that keeps us all safe. And we also needed more news coverage that centers reliable, science-based information so that people could make good decisions about the health of their families, themselves, and the people around them. So we thought part of that coverage should be rooted in communities. It's been shown that no matter their politics or how they feel about the federal government, people do trust their local public health leaders. And we think that by elevating those voices on timely issues, we can start to win back people's trust, not only in journalism but in science. Rovner: That sounds like a very uphill battle. Pacenti: Yes, as you mentioned, but we are part of Civic News Company, which you mentioned, whose model has been developed over the past 10 years covering schools with Chalkbeat. And so we're trying to leverage the success they've had with the local plus national reporting. So for Healthbeat, we're partnering with KFF Health News, which has a long tradition of excellent health reporting, to handle national coverage. And then we've opened two local bureaus to start. We're in New York and Atlanta with a third location to come next year. Rovner: Cool. Amy, you're our public health expert at the table. How is public health different from what we think of as regular health care or medical care in general? Maxmen: I am excited to answer that question, because I'm really into public health. So whereas you think about health care as what happens in a clinic. An individual is sick, and they're treated within a hospital system. Public health really focuses on preventing illness and improving health at a population level through population-level interventions. So for example, infectious disease outbreaks are often a big component of public health, and that's because they spread in communities. So even though a person is treated in a hospital say if you have somebody who has measles, now the person's treated for measles in a hospital but public health officers actually go into communities. They figure out how the virus is spreading. They might go to schools or to hospitals or to a shopping mall, wherever that person was. Similarly, if a person is shot, they go to an emergency room and they get health care in that emergency department. But public health is going to look at the surrounding issues. How does gun violence affect the whole neighborhood? What does it mean to grow up with stress? Does it mean you can exercise as much if the neighborhood's dangerous? So that's sort of why also a big component of public health is about collecting a lot of data and analyzing that data. Rovner: I feel like people kind of misunderstand this a lot. They think of public health, they think of health care as something that's between a health practitioner and you, the patient, whereas public health is bigger than that, and you are not the focus of public health, right? It's everybody around you. Maxmen: Yeah, that's the public part. Yeah, and it's fun because it's out there in the world. Rovner: But why do people I feel like people really misunderstand that, and I feel like that's the source of a lot of the frustration that people get with public health. It's like, Well, that might not be good for me. Maxmen: Yeah, that's the tricky thing because I think at its root, you have to believe in societal goods. You have to believe that having a cleaner neighborhood is good for everyone and not just because you have to take out your trash or not. I don't know if that's the best comparison. Rovner: Eliza, how'd you get into public health? Fawcett: I started as a reporter at the Hartford Courant during the start of the covid pandemic. I became really interested in covering health and also mental health during that time. And I grew up in New York, and it's been really exciting to be the first New York reporter for Healthbeat, really getting into community health issues and understanding the sprawling New York City health department, which is one of the biggest in the country. And since I grew up in New York, it's been really exciting to be doing this work. Rovner: Charlene, what kinds of stories is Healthbeat pursuing? Pacenti: Well, as you can imagine, public health is very broad, and we're just getting started. We just officially launched Aug. 30, so we've just had the last of our reporters come aboard for right now. So we're trying to narrow it down a little bit, and we're kind of focusing on three key buckets for our coverage. One is infectious diseases, which Amy's doing such a great job on bird flu right now, but also we're looking at that locally, too. What are the flu numbers right now? We're going into flu season. What are the covid numbers? How's RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] ramping up? And those sorts of things, and the community's preparedness to deal with outbreaks. Accountability is another really big thing that we're focused on. What many people may not realize is that public health funding, even at the local level, comes from Washington. It's coming from CDC [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. It's coming from HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services]. And so we're looking at how those dollars flow down to the local communities and how they are spent, and also just officials who are in charge of public health policy. In Georgia already, we've seen some pretty good impact in our reporting just by showing up, frankly. Our first Atlanta reporter, Rebecca Grapevine, she got on the job the first week and realized that the Board of Public Health in Georgia had not held a public meeting in five months. So we wrote about that, and the story got a lot of attention. And by golly, in November they had a meeting. So that was really great. And then the third thing is really community. We really want to center our coverage on the people on the ground who are working on public health from many aspects. It can be social workers. It can be your local epidemiologist at the health department. It can be volunteers at a house of worship who has a ministry trying to help with homelessness or maternal mortality or any of those things. We're really trying to be a platform and a voice for those people. At Civic News Company, we call people like that civic catalysts. They're out there doing the work, and we really want to shine a light on them. Rovner: So Amy, obviously we're going to talk about bird flu separately in a few minutes. What are the other public health, big national public health stories that you're watching right now? Maxmen: I think we'll keep an eye on vaccination rates. You can expect those to unfortunately drop. And I'm not talking about just the covid vaccine but childhood vaccination rates. It's important to keep in mind the majority of adults, around 70%, still say that childhood vaccines are really important. But remember, going back to what's public health, the power of vaccines is in herd immunity effect. So children are being protected with, say, a measles vaccine, but we want to have high rates above 90% of vaccinations so that teachers who are immunocompromised, children who are immunocompromised, infants too young to be vaccinated, so that they're all protected, too. And what we're going to see, if we see RFK [Robert F. Kennedy] Jr. as the head of HHS, there's some rumors floating that Joseph Ladapo might have a role in the administration as well. Rovner: He's the Florida surgeon general who we've talked about a lot on the podcast, who himself is kind of vaccine agnostic, if you will. Maxmen: Yeah. Exactly. And so we're seeing a lot of signs that we're going to hear a lot of terms like "choice" and "consent" when it comes to vaccines. And those sound like great words, but what it ultimately means is that we'll see a loosening of mandates around having children be vaccinated before they go to public school, and that combined with misinformation. So we'll probably see lower vaccine rates among children. So that's something to watch because it means more outbreaks. Outbreaks are costly to contain in money and in lives lost. So that's definitely one story. There's certainly others besides even the bird flu, which I'll talk about. I write a lot about occupational health, so there's lots of health care workers who lost their lives in covid, but also I've covered how many are facing long covid and PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] because they weren't very well protected when they were at work during the pandemic, during the peak of the pandemic. I've written about how farmworkers and construction workers and landscapers have had heat-related illness and injuries. There was a law that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working on, but it will almost certainly stall under a Trump administration. So we're not going to have national regulations on heat. So those are some of the other things I'll be thinking about. Rovner: What are the big stories in New York, Eliza? Fawcett: Well, a lot of them are the same as what Amy mentioned, and we're trying to see how the big changes coming down the pike with the second Trump administration will impact us locally. Obviously that is in big part about funding and whether CDC funding stays the same, is reduced, etc. Same for NIH [the National Institutes of Health] and other federal agencies that deal with health issues. The way that local health departments work, even really big ones like New York City, is that they do get a lot of money from the federal government, obviously. And so any small changes could have a really big impact on work on the ground, whether that's making sure that kids can get vaccines. The Vaccines for Children Program is responsible for making sure that many, many, many children in the United States get vaccinated. Rovner: I'm, of course, so old that I covered the Vaccines for Children Program when it began in the 1990s. But yes, that is how most kids get vaccinated now, is through the federal government's Vaccines for Children Program. One thing that obviously we are looking towards, the possibility with Republicans back in control of the Congress and the White House, is health care budget cuts. I assume New York is assuming that there will be less money in a Trump administration. Fawcett: Yeah, I think it's a real concern for public health leadership in the city, and it's been interesting to see what the response has been from city and state officials after the election. They've kind of made this point of saying that New Yorkers will be protected, whether that's reproductive rights or vaccinations. And there's this feeling of kind of pulling up the drawbridge, that New York has a pretty robust public health infrastructure. And so whatever happens on the federal level, we'll be OK. But obviously things are a lot more complicated and intertwined than that. The city does get a lot of its funding from, or the New York City public health department does get a lot of its funding from the city and from the state but also from the federal government. And so if there are major changes there, that could have a big impact on the kinds of community-led programs that do good public health work in the city. And even on vaccinations, that's an interesting question, too. Because while the CDC provides recommendations, they don't actually provide mandates. That's a states issue. If the CDC starts changing its messaging around vaccinations, particularly if RFK Jr. is running HHS, which is a big concern, that can still have a trickle-down impact on what New Yorkers think about getting vaccinated in general, which has already been a big concern for folks. So I think it's been interesting to see this dynamic starting to play out in the city, where on the one hand, there's this strong progressive leadership that is vowing to keep up the good fight. But we'll see the extent to which they can really protect themselves from any large changes that are going to happen. Rovner: Let's talk about bird flu, because it's sort of the elephant or the dairy cow in the room. We've been watching all year, and I guess health authorities have been watching with some alarm as we're seeing bird flu spreading in dairy cattle herds and then occasionally to people, to dairy workers, and now to some people who are apparently not dairy workers. What is your feeling about where we are with bird flu? And what has the Biden administration done about it? And what do you anticipate that the incoming Trump administration might do differently? Maxmen: Yeah, so I think the past, looking back on the past year with bird flu the huge disappointment, appalling if you talk to researchers, sort of frustrating if you talk to public health officials is we failed to contain it when the bird flu outbreak was confined to just a handful of states. That would be when it was smaller. It's like putting out a fire when it's small versus once there's a huge forest fire. It's harder to put out. So now it's in at least 15 states, and the number might be higher because a lot of farms, maybe the majority of farms, haven't tested at different periods during the year. There's 52 cases among people in the U.S., mainly among farmworkers. But yeah, as you just mentioned from the case in California, there's a few cases that have been mysterious, people who have no contact, no known contact with farm animals. These unknowns are actually kind of what's as staggering as also the growth of the epidemic. We've sort of lost track of what's going on. So what this means is, I've talked to so many experts at this point, and nobody thinks we're going to eliminate this on dairy farms. And to be clear, bird flu has been around for 30 years. But the bird flu in cattle spreading among mammals, that's new and that's in the U.S. So what does this mean? This means best-case scenario, millions if not billions of dollars in losses for the dairy and poultry industry. It means farmworkers are going to continue to get the bird flu, which is not comfortable. And then it also means we just have this kind of ominous constant threat that maybe the virus will evolve in a way where it spreads between people easily. And that's when you could get a pandemic. Rovner: That's been the big fear about a pandemic. Maxmen: That's the fear. Rovner: I mean but that was a fear even before the covid-19 pandemic. What everybody was afraid of was a bird flu pandemic, was an avian flu that mutated to pass from person to person. Maxmen: Exactly. It's been on the because humans don't have a lot of experience with the bird flu. It's novel. We may or may not have some partial immunity to it, so it could be very bad. So there's a chance it will never mutate in a way that has it spread easily between people. But if it does, it could be horrible like on the scale of what we saw during covid. And so that's why everyone I talked to, I guess the big question is: Why are we taking a gamble on this? But that's what we've done this past year essentially intentional, not intentional. I could get into I've reported a lot on why this is, but that's where we're at. Rovner: Some of this, I know, comes back to the whole trust issue, which is that the CDC couldn't get onto some of the dairy farms to test, because the dairy farmers didn't trust the government. What has the Biden administration been able to accomplish in terms of dealing with the bird flu? Maxmen: Well, yeah, so on a local level, this is really left to local public health departments a lot of the time. So that's really who's doing the work here. Sometimes it's state health departments, but on the ground we're talking about veterinarians, farmers, and local health officials. I actually FOIA-ed [through the Freedom of Information Act] a lot of health departments and some agriculture departments to learn what's even happening. The system of surveillance is a voluntary system, so when there's mistrust or also just fears, right, so farmers would be afraid of, if they say they have the bird flu, of losing their entire milk market, which is a big one because then they lose the whole farm. So there's a lot of concerns about their own privacy. So basically a lot of the cooperation has kind of fallen apart with that. What could the CDC do? I think there's a lot of disappointment for the CDC and the USDA [Department of Agriculture] from the experts that I speak with, because although, yes, they can't just storm onto farms, they haven't actually been using the bully pulpit to say: This is what's going wrong. We're really concerned. This is how we can do it better. This is how we can get around some of these problems like farmers being afraid of losing their milk market or farmworkers being afraid of losing their job. They haven't really been very open about the problems, and they also haven't acted with urgency. So the response on the high level has seemed slow and uncoordinated. They'll announce that they will be doing outreach to farmworkers, but then there will be months passed with no outreach. They'll say that they're going to be working on having other groups be able to test for the bird flu virus, but we still don't see any group besides the CDC having that ability. So there's a lot of people who are aggravated with the response under the Biden administration, and some of it's not just because of leadership. There's internal issues within the U.S. We have a voluntary system in a lot of ways, so for better or worse, this might be the way it is. Rovner: And what would you expect from an incoming Trump administration even? We obviously don't know a lot about what to expect from an incoming Trump administration, but based on their handling of covid, what would you expect? Maxmen: Exactly. So based on their handling of covid, one is, I can say: Time-wise, OK, what's on our side? The plus is as outbreaks continue, people often get better at figuring out what to do. So on the plus side, maybe farmers will start to have a little bit more trust that they're not going to have huge losses and that therefore they'll be a little bit more open. Maybe vets will get a better handle on how to control this. So that's the plus side. The downside is also pretty huge. So during covid, the CDC basically stopped holding press briefings. So right now, at least there are press briefings. Here, I was critical of the CDC, but I might completely lose all contact with them under a Trump administration. Another one that's quite big is there's a study that showed that we're missing a lot of cases among farmworkers, and I expect us to have more bird flu cases among people and miss more of them. And that's bad because it's bad for the people who have the bird flu, but also it means we might miss the moment if this starts to spread between people. If a person spreads it to their kids or other family members, we might miss those moments. And the reason why we'll miss them this happened during covid is when there's huge threats of deportations and when there's just a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric. I did a lot of reporting in the Central Valley around meatpacking plant workers and farmworkers. When there's a lot of threats like this, people are maybe There's a lot of people in that community who are immigrants, and maybe some are undocumented. You also have people on temporary work visas whose visa is tied to their employers. Maybe they have family members who aren't legally here, so they don't want to risk even the threat of deportation by going to a clinic when they're sick. They don't want to complain if work conditions are really unsafe. If they're given, say, no protection wall taking care of sick cattle, there's no incentive to complain about the employer if you think you might actually be deported. So stigma tends to drive infectious diseases underground, and that's sort of what we can expect. Rovner: And obviously immigration is one of those issues that we don't cover generally as a health issue, but in New York, it is a health issue, right? Fawcett: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's another thing that we'll be looking at closely as this Trump administration gets going. Obviously, there are a lot of concerns among migrant communities in the city about mass deportations, which Trump has vowed to fulfill. And New York has a really large and fairly effective system for taking care of people regardless of immigration status or insurance, particularly through the municipal hospital system, NYC Health and Hospitals. And leadership there has said that migrants' access to health care will be protected, but there is a lot that remains to be seen about how those communities will be impacted. Rovner: And Amy, which is the bigger threat out in the rest of the nation, the idea of people who could potentially spread misinformation about public health at the national level or the threat of not having enough money? Maxmen: Oh, I don't like binaries. Having misinformation at a very high level is pretty terrifying. It's pretty terrifying. And I think also, I always keep in mind big-picture stuff. As a reporter, if you're constantly combating every new little piece of misinformation, it's a bit exhausting. It's great to fact-check what people say, the big picture. Speaking about RFK Jr., he's endorsed a lot of conspiracy theories. And there's studies showing that if you believe in multiple conspiracy theories, there's a good chance you're going to believe in another one. So to have a conspiratorial mindset at a high level of government or even in very influential positions, that's pretty scary. Yeah. Fawcett: I think the other aspect to this conversation as well is just that, broadly speaking, the public health system is kind of beleaguered right now coming out of covid. A lot of the federal money that was there to support this work has dried up, and there are budget holes that need to be filled now, and people are burnt out. So I think that's another aspect here. Will folks be ready to have any fight that needs to happen under another Trump administration? Rovner: Charlene, one of the things you said at the beginning is that one of the efforts here is to help rebuild trust in public health. Public health has been, I think, of everything, of all of the parts of American society where the public has lost trust, public health is way up towards the top. And also it's way up towards the top in terms of the misinformation that's been spread. So how do you combat those two things? It's something that we talk about all the time on the podcast, and I don't know how to fix it. Pacenti: It's really tough. I think that one way that we really look at it is elevating local voices. To your point about immigrants and immigration status as a social determinant of health, we had a report just yesterday that came out in Georgia that laid out all the things that Amy and Eliza were just talking about in Georgia as well the stigma, the not asking for help, because you fear about getting involved with the authorities in some negative way. But there are a lot of community organizations that are a safe space that do work to provide culturally sensitive care and speak the language and offer the help to people so that they're not threatened. So I think by highlighting those resources, that's one thing that we can do. And another one is just highlighting people who know what they're talking about, scientific experts in the community, particularly local ones. One really exciting thing that we're doing in New York is we're kind of combining two of those concepts through a partnership with Your Local Epidemiologist. This is a newsletter that is run by Katelyn Jetelina, who back in 2020 started an email. She was teaching at the University of Texas. She's an epidemiologist, and she was just writing an email to her students and her family and friends to explain the science behind what was going on with covid. And it has snowballed, and four years later, it's really huge. So we have partnered with her to bring that concept to Healthbeat readers in New York. So every week we have our own epidemiologist. Her name is Marisa Donnelly, and she does an email newsletter every week that kind of breaks down what we call the community health forecast. And it's all kinds of really great, science-driven information with nice little charts that just lays it all out for you. Rovner: It's like the weather forecast, but for health? Pacenti: Exactly, exactly. So I think that's one way. Just lay it out for people. Give them the rationale behind it, the science behind it, and I think that work like that over time, hopefully, will help regain some trust. Rovner: Well, I want to thank the panel. This has been really inspiring. I'm hoping that we can come back to you periodically to see how public health in general and Healthbeat in specific are doing. So thanks for joining us. OK, that is this week's show. As always, if you enjoy the podcast, you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'd appreciate it if you left us a review. That helps other people find us, too. Special thanks this week to our producer, Taylor Cook, our editor, Emmarie Huetteman, and KFF Health News enterprise editor Kelly Johnson. As always, you can email us your comments or questions. We're at whatthehealth, all one word, at KFF.org, or you can still find me at X, @jrovner, and increasingly at Bluesky, @julierovner.bsky.social. Do you hang around on social media any place, Amy? Maxmen: You know I've just started. I've joined the Bluesky trend. I just sort of came over there. It's kind of one of those moments where there's a lot of journalists and health people and researchers, so yeah, I've Rovner: Do you have a handle? Maxmen: My handle is amymaxmen.bsky.social. Rovner: Excellent. Charlene? Pacenti: I'm most active on LinkedIn, where all the health people are. Rovner: There you go. Eliza? Fawcett: I am also on Bluesky newly, under my name, elizafawcett, and still kind of lurking on Twitter. Rovner: There you go. We'll be back in your feed next week. Until then, have a very happy holiday weekend and be healthy. A new malaria vaccine achieves an unparalleled 89% efficacy by targeting late-liver-stage antigens, unlocking new horizons in the fight against global disease. Study: Safety and Efficacy of Immunization with a Late-Liver-Stage Attenuated Malaria Parasite. Image Credit: Corona Borealis Studio / Shutterstock In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers in the Netherlands evaluated the safety, immune response, and protective efficacy of a second-generation genetically attenuated (GA) Plasmodium falciparum parasite in healthy adults. Background Malaria eradication efforts have slowed, highlighting the need for more effective tools. Current malaria vaccines, such as the recombinant protein-based RTS,S/AS01 (Mosquirix) and the modified recombinant R21, target the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) but provide only modest, short-lived protection, particularly in infants. Whole-parasite vaccination strategies using GA sporozoites offer a promising alternative. These sporozoites invade liver cells but fail to progress to blood-stage infection, allowing the immune system to safely encounter a wide array of parasite antigens and generate humoral and cellular immune responses. Late-arresting GA parasites show potential for improved efficacy over early-arresting models. Further research is needed to optimize these strategies and evaluate their effectiveness in malaria-endemic regions. About the Study The trial utilized a dose-escalation safety phase (Stage A) and a double-blind efficacy phase (Stage B), with participants receiving up to 50 bites from GA2-infected mosquitoes across three immunization sessions. A clinical trial was conducted at two centers in the Netherlands, Leiden University Medical Center and Radboud University Medical Center, to assess the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of genetically attenuated Plasmodium falciparum parasites. The trial included two phases: stage A, an open-label dose-escalation phase where participants received 15 or 50 mosquito bites delivering the GA2 parasite, and stage B, a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase comparing the efficacy of GA2 to GA1 and placebo. Participants underwent three immunization sessions at 28-day intervals, each involving 50 mosquito bites. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the trial was conducted with fewer participants than initially planned. Three weeks after the final immunization, all participants underwent controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) through five mosquito bites infected with the unattenuated P. falciparum strain 3D7 (Pf3D7). Primary outcomes included adverse event frequency and blood-stage parasitemia, assessed via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Secondary outcomes measured humoral and cellular immune responses using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and spectral-flow cytometry. Eligible participants, aged 18-35, provided informed consent and were randomized by an independent statistician, ensuring trial blinding. Statistical analyses included paired and unpaired t-tests, chi-square tests, and Mann-Whitney tests, with a significance level of 5%. Study Results No evidence of breakthrough blood-stage infections was observed, even at high doses of mosquito-borne GA2 exposure, reinforcing the parasite's safety profile. From September 13, 2021, to January 28, 2022, 75 malaria-naive adults were screened for trial participation, with 43 participants enrolled. No participants withdrew during stage A, while three withdrew before controlled human malaria infection in stage B. Among the participants, 51% were women, with a median age of 23 years and a median body mass index (BMI) of 24.1. The trial reported no serious adverse events or breakthrough infections following exposure to GA2-infected mosquitoes, as confirmed by qPCR. Adverse events, primarily erythema (redness of the skin) and pruritus (itching sensation) at bite sites, occurred similarly across GA2, GA1, and placebo groups. Most events were mild and treated with antihistamines or topical corticosteroids. Systemic adverse events, such as myalgia and headache, were infrequent. Two cases of elevated troponin T were assessed as unrelated to the intervention, while elevated liver function test results were attributed to antihistamine use. In stage B, GA2 immunization provided 89% protection against CHMI, with 8 of 9 participants showing no parasitemia. In contrast, protection was observed in 1 of 8 GA1 recipients (12%) and none in the placebo group. Time to parasitemia differed significantly between groups, highlighting GA2s superior efficacy. Immunogenicity analysis revealed increased antibodies against Plasmodium falciparum CSP (PfCSP) in GA2 and GA1 groups compared to baseline and placebo. However, antibody titers were similar between GA2 and GA1 groups and did not correlate with protection. Cellular immunity analysis showed higher frequencies of P. falciparum-specific Cluster of Differentiation 4 Positive T cells (CD4+) and V-Delta-2 Positive Gamma Delta (V2+ ) T cells in GA2-immunized participants. These cells exhibited a proinflammatory signature, expressing interferon-, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-), and interleukin-2, with GA2 inducing more polyfunctional T cells compared to GA1. GA2-immunized participants showed higher levels of polyfunctional CD4+ and V2+ T cells with an effector memory phenotype, indicating a robust immune response. This response was absent in the placebo group and less pronounced in the GA1 group. Conclusions To summarize, this trial demonstrated that the late-arresting parasites (GA2) induced stronger protective immunity (89%) against malaria than early-arresting parasites (GA1, 12%). GA2-induced immunity correlated with polyfunctional CD4+ T cells and V2+ T cells, suggesting a pivotal role for late-liver-stage antigens. Unlike antibodies, these cellular responses were critical for protection. GA2 showed a favorable safety profile, with no breakthrough blood-stage infections or serious adverse events. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings in larger populations, evaluate the durability of immunity, and assess efficacy in malaria-endemic regions. Escalating floods linked to climate change are amplifying health inequitiesexplore how innovative solutions can protect the world's most vulnerable communities. Special Report: Share on Climate Change, Floods, and Human Health. Image Credit: nutt / Shutterstock In a recent special report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of researchers examined the increasing health impacts of flood exposure driven by climate change, with a focus on injuries, diseases, mental health harms, and vulnerabilities in at-risk populations. Background Flooding, the most common climate hazard, has significantly increased in frequency and magnitude due to climate change, affecting over 1.65 billion people globally from 2000 to 2019. Altered precipitation patterns, soil moisture, and cryosphere changes drive these shifts, with projections indicating a dramatic rise in flood exposure and risk in vulnerable regions. For example, under high greenhouse gas emission scenarios, annual flood exposure is projected to increase by a factor of approximately 14 by 20712100, with 97.6 million people at risk of experiencing a 20-year flood annually. Health impacts of floods include immediate fatalities, injuries, waterborne and vector-borne diseases, mental health issues, and disruptions in healthcare access. Vulnerable populations, including children, older adults, and low-income communities, are disproportionately affected. Further research is essential to address knowledge gaps in long-term health consequences and strategies. Health risks associated with floods Mortality due to floods Floods result in direct fatalities from drowning, hypothermia, electrocution, and explosions, often caused by rapid water flows or damaged infrastructure. Additionally, secondary deaths occur from exacerbated chronic illnesses, waterborne diseases, and mental health conditions. For instance, a multi-country study reported a 2.1% increase in overall mortality within two months of flood events attributed to disrupted healthcare, poor sanitation, and psychological stress. Injuries and environmental hazards Nonfatal injuries, including cuts, fractures, and trauma from debris, are common during floods. Moreover, floods can mobilize hazardous chemicals, as seen during Hurricane Florence, where toxic coal ash contaminated ecosystems. In addition, carbon monoxide poisoning is a significant risk in disaster-affected areas due to improper use of fuel-burning devices like generators. Spread of Infectious Diseases Floodwaters are fertile grounds for waterborne diseases like leptospirosis and hepatitis. Overcrowded shelters further elevate respiratory infections, while stagnant water encourages mosquito breeding, increasing malaria and dengue risks. For instance, stagnant floodwaters can raise mosquito biting activity and density, exacerbating outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases. Additionally, contaminated water supplies heighten gastrointestinal illnesses. Impact on noncommunicable diseases Floods disrupt healthcare services, leading to untreated conditions like hypertension and diabetes. A study of U.S. veterans affected by Hurricane Sandy found a 26% rise in uncontrolled hypertension one year after healthcare facilities were disrupted. Cognitive decline and cardiovascular risks increase in vulnerable populations due to healthcare inaccessibility. Vulnerabilities in specific populations Pregnant women and children Pregnant women exposed to floods face heightened risks of gestational complications and pregnancy loss due to stress and infections like hepatitis E. Children, particularly in low-income regions, suffer from undernutrition, with repeated flooding linked to severe wasting, as reported in rural India. Contributing factors include diarrhea, food insecurity, and inadequate care post-disaster. For example, children in repeatedly flooded Indian communities were 3.37 times more likely to suffer from severe wasting compared to those in non-flooded areas. Mental health consequences Flood-related displacement and financial loss significantly increase the risks of depression, anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Displaced persons are up to 95% more likely to experience depression and 70% more likely to develop PTSD. Vulnerable groups, such as displaced individuals and those with prior trauma, are especially affected. Children experience cognitive impairments, poor academic performance, and heightened exposure to domestic and sexual violence post-flooding. Inequitable Impacts of Flooding Socioeconomic disparities Flood-related mortality is inversely correlated with national income levels. Poor urban populations, such as those in Indonesia, suffer disproportionately from respiratory infections and depression due to inadequate sanitation and healthcare. In high-income countries like the United States (U.S.), economically disadvantaged and minority communities residing in flood-prone areas experience higher rates of cardiovascular disease, low birth weight, and mental health disorders. Racial disparities further exacerbate these risks, as communities of color in flood-prone U.S. areas often face systematic disinvestment in housing, healthcare, and education. Gender disparities Men face greater physical exposure to flood risks due to occupational and risk-taking behaviors, while women in low-income regions endure caregiving burdens and resource limitations, increasing their vulnerability to adverse outcomes. Interventions to reduce health impacts Prevention strategies Structural measures like levees, dams, and improved drainage systems help mitigate flood impacts. However, these solutions often contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Prioritizing low-emission alternatives, such as sourcing local materials and using nature-based solutions like restoring wetlands, is crucial. Nature-based approaches, such as restoring wetlands and implementing green infrastructure, offer sustainable alternatives by reducing water flow and promoting ecosystem health. Preparedness and public awareness Effective preparedness includes public education on flood risks, evacuation planning, and robust early warning systems. The Common Alerting Protocol enhances communication, ensuring timely warnings via multiple channels. During the 2019 Odisha floods, such early warning systems facilitated the evacuation of over 1.5 million people, prioritizing vulnerable groups like older adults and children. Health systems must secure resources, train staff, and implement disaster-ready infrastructure. Emergency response and recovery Post-flood recovery prioritizes hygiene and sanitation through Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) kits and mold remediation. Telemedicine bridges healthcare gaps, offering remote care for injuries and chronic conditions. Vaccination campaigns and surveillance systems prevent outbreaks, as demonstrated in New Zealand, where genotyping traced a waterborne disease to contaminated runoff. In the 2010 Pakistan floods, coordinated humanitarian efforts rescued 1.4 million people and conducted large-scale health screenings. Conclusions To summarize, the study concludes that flooding, aggravated by climate change, poses significant short- and long-term health risks, including fatalities, injuries, infectious diseases, and mental health challenges. Vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and economically disadvantaged groups, bear the brunt of these impacts, highlighting inequities in health outcomes. Effective management requires a comprehensive approach combining prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Structural and nature-based solutions, enhanced healthcare resilience, and public awareness programs are critical. Addressing these challenges demands robust data collection, improved early warning systems, and targeted research into long-term impacts, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Delegations from over 110 countries are coming together to produce national roadmaps and negotiate a joint declaration on oral health at the first-ever global oral health meeting organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The declaration is expected to outline collective commitments from Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Global strategy and action plan on oral health 20232030. Oral diseases are the most common noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide, affecting an estimated 3.5 billion people. Oral health is often misunderstood as just dental health, overlooking its broader importance. Oral diseases include dental caries or cavities, gum disease, tooth loss, oral cancer, noma and birth defects, affecting the mouth, teeth and facial structures that are essential for eating, breathing and speaking. Oral health is an important part of well-being, yet millions of people lack access to the services they need to protect and promote their oral health. WHO calls on all countries to prioritize prevention and expand access to affordable oral health services as part of their journey towards universal health coverage." Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General This groundbreaking event, hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, is part of the preparatory process for the fourth UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs (4th UN HLM on NCDs) in 2025. It aims to accelerate progress towards UHC, reaffirm political commitments made by Member States, and promote the implementation of the Global strategy and action plan on oral health 20232030. "Oral health is a crucial aspect of overall health, and Thailand is proud to host this landmark global meeting," said H.E. Mr Somsak Thepsutin, Minister of Public Health in Thailand. "Our commitment to universal health coverage includes ensuring that all citizens have access to quality oral health services and promoting prevention through our communities, reinforcing our dedication to improving health outcomes for everyone." Key outcomes of the meeting the Bangkok declaration on oral health will inform the WHO Director-General's report for the 4th UN HLM on NCDs in 2025, ensuring better recognition and integration of oral diseases in the future global NCD agenda. The Declaration seeks to guarantee oral health as a fundamental human right. It recognizes that improving access to affordable oral health care cannot be achieved without integrating it into primary health care and UHC packages. During the meeting, it is expected a new global coalition on oral health will be announced, aiming to foster partnerships to enhance the reach and effectiveness of oral health initiatives worldwide. The WHO first global oral health meeting is being attended by delegations from Member States, UN agencies, international organizations, philanthropic foundations, civil society organizations and other stakeholders dedicated to advancing oral health, NCDs and UHC programmes. Ryan Wettstein Nauman was inconsolable one evening last December. After being put down for bed, the 3-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, just kept crying and crying and crying, and nothing would calm her down. Her mother, Maggi Wettstein, remembered fearing it could be a yeast or urinary tract infection, something they had been dealing with during potty training. The urgent care centers around them were closed for the night, so around 10:30 p.m. she decided to take Ryan to the emergency room at Carle Health. The medical procedure The ER wasn't very busy when they arrived at 10:48 p.m., Wettstein recalled. Medical records indicate they checked in and she explained Ryan's symptoms, including an intermittent fever. The toddler was triaged and given a nasal swab test to check for covid-19 and influenza A and B. Wettstein said they sat down and waited to be called. And they waited. As Wettstein watched Ryan in the waiting room's play area, she noticed her daughter had stopped crying. In fact, she seemed fine. So Wettstein decided to drive them home. Ryan had preschool the next day, and she figured there was no point keeping her awake for who knew how much longer and getting stuck with a big ER bill. There was no one at the check-in desk to inform that they were leaving, Wettstein said, so they just headed home to go to bed. Ryan went to her preschool the next day, and Wettstein said they forgot all about the ER trip for eight months. Then the bill came. The final bill $445 for the combined covid and flu test from an ER visit in which the patient never made it beyond the waiting room. The billing problem: A healthy hospital markup and standard insurance rules Even though Ryan and her mother left without seeing a doctor, the family ended up owing $298.15 after an insurance discount. At first, Wettstein said, she couldn't recall Ryan being tested at all. It wasn't until she received the bill and requested her daughter's medical records that she learned the results. (Ryan tested negative for covid and both types of flu.) While Wettstein said the bill isn't going to break the bank, it seemed high to her, considering Walgreens sells an at-home covid and flu combination test for $30 and can do higher-quality PCR testing for $145. Under the public health emergency declared in 2020 for the covid pandemic, insurance companies were required to pay for covid tests without copayments or cost sharing for patients. That requirement ended when the emergency declaration expired in May 2023. Now, it is often patients who foot the bill and ER bills are notoriously high. "That's a pretty healthy markup the hospital is making on it," Loren Adler, associate director of the Brookings Institution Center on Health Policy, told KFF Health News when contacted about Ryan's case. The rates the insurance companies negotiate with hospitals for various procedures are often based on multipliers of what Medicare pays, Adler said. Lab tests are one of the few areas in which insurance companies can often pay less than Medicare, he said the exception being when the test is performed by the hospital laboratory, which is often what happens during ER visits. Medicare pays $142.63 for the joint test that Ryan received, but the family is on the hook for more than twice that amount, and the initial hospital charge was over three times as much. The hospital is "utilizing their market power to make as much money as possible, and the insurance companies are not all that good at pushing back," Adler said. A markup of a few hundred dollars is a drop in the bucket for big insurers. But for the patients who get unexpected bills, it can be a big burden. Brittany Simon, a public relations manager for Carle Health, did not respond to specific questions but said in a statement, "We follow policies that support the safety and wellbeing of our patients, which includes the initial triage of symptomatic patients to the Emergency Department." While Ryan's family would not have had to pay for a covid test during the public health emergency, it was the family's insurer, Cigna, that did not have to pay this time, since the family had not yet met a $3,000 yearly deductible. A Cigna representative did not respond to requests for comment. The resolution Wettstein said she knew she could just pay the bill and be done with it, "but the fact that I never saw a provider, and the fact that it was just for a covid test, is mind-blowing to me." She contacted the hospital's billing department to make sure the bill was correct. She explained what happened and said the hospital representative was also surprised by the size of the bill and sent it up for further review. "'Don't pay this until you hear from me,'" Wettstein remembered being told. Soon, though, she received a letter from the hospital explaining that the charge was correct and supported by documentation. Wettstein thought she was avoiding any charges by taking Ryan home without being seen. Instead, she got a bill "that they have verified that I have to pay." "Like I said, it's mind-blowing to me." The takeaway ERs are among the most expensive options for care in the nation's health system, and the meter can start running as soon as you check in even if you check out before receiving care. If your issue isn't life-threatening, consider an urgent care facility, which is often cheaper (and look for posted notices to confirm whether it's actually an urgent care clinic). The urgent care centers near Ryan's home were closed that evening, but some facilities stay open late or around the clock. In some ways, Wettstein was lucky. KFF Health News' "Bill of the Month" has received tips from other patients who left an ER after a long wait without seeing a doctor and got slapped with a facility fee of over $1,000. Making the decision about where to go is tough, especially in a stressful situation such as when the patient is too young to communicate what's wrong. Trying to figure out what's going on physically with a 3-year-old can feel impossible. If you decide to leave an ER without treatment, don't just walk out. Tell the triage nurse you're leaving. You might get lucky and avoid some charges. Wettstein won't think twice about taking Ryan to the pediatrician or an urgent care center the next time she's ailing. But, Wettstein said, after getting this bill, "I'm not going to create a habit out of going to the emergency room." Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by KFF Health News and The Washington Post's Well+Being that dissects and explains medical bills. Since 2018, this series has helped many patients and readers get their medical bills reduced, and it has been cited in statehouses, at the U.S. Capitol, and at the White House. Do you have a confusing or outrageous medical bill you want to share? Tell us about it! Large language models, a type of AI that analyses text, can predict the results of proposed neuroscience studies more accurately than human experts, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, demonstrate that large language models (LLMs) trained on vast datasets of text can distil patterns from scientific literature, enabling them to forecast scientific outcomes with superhuman accuracy. The researchers say this highlights their potential as powerful tools for accelerating research, going far beyond just knowledge retrieval. Since the advent of generative AI like ChatGPT, much research has focused on LLMs' question-answering capabilities, showcasing their remarkable skill in summarising knowledge from extensive training data. However, rather than emphasising their backward-looking ability to retrieve past information, we explored whether LLMs could synthesise knowledge to predict future outcomes. Scientific progress often relies on trial and error, but each meticulous experiment demands time and resources. Even the most skilled researchers may overlook critical insights from the literature. Our work investigates whether LLMs can identify patterns across vast scientific texts and forecast outcomes of experiments." Dr. Ken Luo, Lead Author, UCL Psychology & Language Sciences The international research team began their study by developing BrainBench, a tool to evaluate how well large language models (LLMs) can predict neuroscience results. BrainBench consists of numerous pairs of neuroscience study abstracts. In each pair, one version is a real study abstract that briefly describes the background of the research, the methods used, and the study results. In the other version, the background and methods are the same, but the results have been modified by experts in the relevant neuroscience domain to a plausible but incorrect outcome. The researchers tested 15 different general-purpose LLMs and 171 human neuroscience experts (who had all passed a screening test to confirm their expertise) to see whether the AI or the person could correctly determine which of the two paired abstracts was the real one with the actual study results. All of the LLMs outperformed the neuroscientists, with the LLMs averaging 81% accuracy and the humans averaging 63% accuracy. Even when the study team restricted the human responses to only those with the highest degree of expertise for a given domain of neuroscience (based on self-reported expertise), the accuracy of the neuroscientists still fell short of the LLMs, at 66%. Additionally, the researchers found that when LLMs were more confident in their decisions, they were more likely to be correct. The researchers say this finding paves the way for a future where human experts could collaborate with well-calibrated models. The researchers then adapted an existing LLM (a version of Mistral, an open-source LLM) by training it on neuroscience literature specifically. The new LLM specialising in neuroscience, which they dubbed BrainGPT, was even better at predicting study results, attaining 86% accuracy (an improvement on the general-purpose version of Mistral, which was 83% accurate). Senior author Professor Bradley Love (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "In light of our results, we suspect it won't be long before scientists are using AI tools to design the most effective experiment for their question. While our study focused on neuroscience, our approach was universal and should successfully apply across all of science. "What is remarkable is how well LLMs can predict the neuroscience literature. This success suggests that a great deal of science is not truly novel, but conforms to existing patterns of results in the literature. We wonder whether scientists are being sufficiently innovative and exploratory." Dr. Luo added: "Building on our results, we are developing AI tools to assist researchers. We envision a future where researchers can input their proposed experiment designs and anticipated findings, with AI offering predictions on the likelihood of various outcomes. This would enable faster iteration and more informed decision-making in experiment design." The study was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Microsoft, and a Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, and involved researchers in UCL, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior (Germany), Bilkent University (Turkey) and other institutions in the UK, US, Switzerland, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Spain and Australia. When presented with two abstracts, the LLM computes the likelihood of each, assigning a perplexity score to represent how surprising each is based on its own learned knowledge as well as the context (background and method). The researchers assessed LLMs' confidence by measuring the difference in how surprising/perplexing the models found real versus fake abstracts the greater this difference, the greater the confidence, which correlated with a higher likelihood the LLM had picked the correct abstract. A new gold-based drug can slow tumor growth in animals by 82% and target cancers more selectively than standard chemotherapy drugs, according to a study by Australian and Indian researchers. The RMIT University study published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry reveals a new gold-based compound that's 27 times more potent against cervical cancer cells in the lab than standard chemotherapy drug cisplatin. It was also 3.5 times more effective against prostate cancer and 7.5 times more effective against fibrosarcoma cells in the lab. In mice studies, the gold compound reduced cervical cancer tumor growth by 82%, compared to cisplatin's 29%. Project lead at RMIT, Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava AM, said it marked a promising step towards alternatives to platinum-based cancer drugs. These newly synthesized compounds demonstrate remarkable anticancer potential, outperforming current treatments in a number of significant aspects including their selectivity in targeting cancer cells. While human trials are still a way off, we are really encouraged by these results." Suresh Bhargava AM, Director of RMIT's Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry The gold-based compound is now protected by a US Patent and ready for further development towards potential clinical application. Towards more targeted, less toxic treatment Gold is famously known as the noblest of all metals because it has little or no reaction when encountering other substances; a property that makes it perfect for wedding rings and coins. However, the gold compound used in this study is a chemically tailored form known as Gold(I), designed to be highly reactive and biologically active. This chemically reactive form was then tailored to interact with an enzyme abundant in cancer cells, known as thioredoxin reductase. By blocking this protein's activity, the gold compound effectively shuts down cancer cells before they can multiply or develop drug resistance. Bhargava said this highly targeted approach minimizes the toxic side effects seen with the platinum-based cisplatin, which targets DNA and damages both healthy and cancerous cells. "Their selectivity in targeting cancer cells, combined with reduced systemic toxicity, points to a future where treatments are more effective and far less harmful," Bhargava said. This specific form of gold was also shown to be more stable than those used in earlier studies, allowing the compound to remain intact while reaching the tumour site. Project co-lead at RMIT, Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski, said along with this ability to block protein activity, the compound also had another weapon in its anti-cancer arsenal. In zebrafish studies, it was shown to stop the formation of new blood vessels that tumours need in order to grow. This was the first time one of the team's various gold compounds had shown this effect, known as anti-angiogenesis. The drug's effectiveness at using these two attacks simultaneously was demonstrated against a range of cancer cells. This included ovarian cancer cells, which are known to develop resistance to cisplatin treatment in many cases. "Drug resistance is a significant challenge in cancer therapy," said Plebanski, who heads RMIT's Cancer, Ageing, and Vaccines Laboratory. "Seeing our gold compound have such strong efficacy against tough-to-treat ovarian cancer cells is an important step toward addressing recurrent cancers and metastases." Regional collaboration a key enabler The dedicated RMIT team is collaborating with scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad under a $2million Australia-India Strategic Research Fund grant. First author on the latest study, Dr Srinivasa Reddy, was initially a graduate from RMIT's joint PhD program with IICT and is now playing an active role in the collaborative project. Meanwhile, RMIT Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow Dr Ruchika Ojha has been supporting Bhargava in building and leading his Molecular Engineering Group to continue advancing innovative research into gold-based therapeutics long into the future. "I am proud to carry forward Professor Bhargava's golden legacy, ensuring his pioneering contributions to this field continue to inspire groundbreaking discoveries," Ojha said. Bhargava said leveraging the best minds and technical infrastructure across both Australia and India was critical to making a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer. Gold has been a cornerstone of Indian Ayurvedic treatments for centuries, celebrated for its healing properties. Today, gold-based cancer treatments are gaining global traction, with advancements such as the repurposing of the anti-arthritic drug auranofin, now showing promise in clinical trials for oncology. "We know that gold is readily accepted by the human body, and we know it has been used for thousands of years in treating various conditions," Bhargava said. "Essentially, gold has been market tested, but not scientifically validated. "Our work is helping both provide the evidence base that's missing, as well as delivering new families of molecules that are tailor-made to amplify the natural healing properties of gold," he said. Industry support worth its weight in gold RMIT's research in this field over a sustained period has caught the gold industry's attention. In October, Pallion subsidiary ABC Bullion committed an annual donation of 250 grams of pure Australian gold valued at more than AUD $30,000 to support the research. Representatives of Canada's third-largest gold producer, Agnico Eagle Mines, have also visited the RMIT labs to explore collaboration opportunities. "These endorsements highlight the social and scientific impact of our research," Bhargava said. "There is a recognition that this is not just a scientific breakthrough but a step towards addressing a global health challenge and people want to be a part of that." This groundbreaking project led by Bhargava and Pebanski brings together a dynamic team of young scientists including Dr Srinivasa Reddy, Dr Steven Priver, Dr Ruchika Ojha, Dr Ranjith Jakku, and Dr Tayebeh Hosseinnejad. Meanwhile, six PhD students from India, Germany, Australia, Bangladesh and Mexico have joined the effort, further strengthening the global collaboration. A multinational collaboration co-led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has uncovered a potential explanation for why some cancer patients receiving a type of immunotherapy called checkpoint inhibitors experience increased susceptibility to common infections. The findings, published in the journal Immunity, provide new insights into immune responses and reveal a potential approach to preventing the common cancer therapy side effect. "Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies have revolutionized cancer treatment by allowing T cells to attack tumors and cancer cells more effectively. But this hasn't been without side effects one of which is that approximately 20% of cancer patients undergoing checkpoint inhibitor treatment experience an increased incidence of infections, a phenomenon that was previously poorly understood," says Professor Stuart Tangye, co-senior author of the study and Head of the Immunology and Immunodeficiency Lab at Garvan. Our findings indicate that while checkpoint inhibitors boost anti-cancer immunity, they can also handicap B cells, which are the cells of the immune system that produce antibodies to protect against common infections. This understanding is a critical first step in understanding and reducing the side effects of this cancer treatment on immunity." Stuart Tangye, Head, Immunology and Immunodeficiency Lab, Garvan Institute of Medical Research Insights to improve immunotherapy The researchers focused on the molecule PD-1, which acts as a 'handbrake' on the immune system, preventing overactivation of T cells. Checkpoint inhibitor therapies work by releasing this molecular 'handbrake' to enhance the immune system's ability to fight cancer. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with Rockefeller University in the USA and Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, examined the immune cells of patients with rare cases of genetic deficiency of PD-1, or its binding partner PD-L1, as well as animal models lacking PD-1 signaling. The researchers found that impaired or absent PD-1 activity can significantly reduce the diversity and quality of antibodies produced by memory B cells the long-lived immune cells that 'remember' past infections. "We found that people born with a deficiency in PD-1 or PD-L1 have reduced diversity in their antibodies and fewer memory B cells, which made it harder to generate high-quality antibodies against common pathogens such as viruses and bacteria," says Dr Masato Ogishi, first author of the study, from Rockefeller University. Professor Tangye adds: "This dampening of the generation and quality of memory B cells could explain the increased rates of infection reported in patients with cancer receiving checkpoint inhibitor therapy." Co-author Dr Kenji Chamoto, from Kyoto University, says, "PD-1 inhibition has a 'yin and yang' nature: it activates anti-tumor immunity but at the same time impedes B-cell immunity. And this duality seems to stem from a conserved mechanism of immune homeostasis." New recommendation for clinicians The researchers say the findings highlight the need for clinicians to monitor B cell function in patients receiving checkpoint inhibitors and point to preventative interventions for those at higher risk of infections. Co-senior author Dr Stephanie Boisson-Dupuis, from Rockefeller University, says, "Although PD-1 inhibitors have greatly improved cancer care, our findings indicate that clinicians need to be aware of the potential trade-off between enhanced anti-tumor immunity and impaired antibody-mediated immunity." "One potential preventative solution is immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT), an existing treatment used to replace missing antibodies in patients with immunodeficiencies, which could be considered as a preventative measure for cancer patients at higher risk of infections," she says. From rare cases to insights to benefit all "Studying cases of rare genetic conditions such as PD-1 or PD-L1 deficiency enables us to gain profound insights into how the human immune system normally works, and how our own manipulation of it can affect it. Thanks to these patients, we've found an avenue for fine-tuning cancer immunotherapies to maximize benefit while minimizing harm," says Professor Tangye. Looking ahead, the researchers will explore ways to refine checkpoint inhibitor treatments to maintain their powerful anti-cancer effects while preserving the immune system's ability to fight infections. "This research highlights the potential for cancer, genomics and immunology research to inform one another, enabling discoveries that can benefit the broader population," says Professor Tangye. With legacy media cutting staff in the face of unprecedented financial challenges and critical science and health information scattered among unfamiliar digital platforms, how can people keep up with medical issues that might affect them? Researchers in the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine in the University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine are tapping into another way to share such data: podcasts. Their new study, Like and Subscribe: A Compendium of Infectious Diseases Audio Podcasts, appeared in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, a major open-access journal of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The two lead authors are Richard Oehler, MD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine; and Ju Hee Katzman, MD, FACP, assistant professor and program director for the division's Infectious Disease Fellowship Program. Their paper is the first ever peer-reviewed guide to audio podcasts dedicated to the topic of infectious diseases. Essentially, the study strikes a blow against medical misinformation by providing an expert guide to credible podcast sources an especially valuable tool in infectious disease, where a host of conflicting and unreliable information circulates about COVID-19, vaccines and other topics. The only way that we in the medical community can combat misinformation is to put more credible voices into social media, which includes podcasting. By now having a scientific article that identifies the most credible podcast offerings in infectious diseases, we know that podcast listeners will benefit from our study.'' Richard Oehler, MD,Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine While medical podcasts need to be held to high professional standards especially when it comes to questionable or misleading data their effectiveness in reaching millions of listeners makes them a powerful tool, the authors said. "Podcasts enable the sharing of medical information in a conversational format that can be enjoyed at the convenience of the listener, whether while driving in a car, walking or running," Oehler said. "Podcasts can also be listened to in shorter segments and then picked up and finished whenever it's convenient.'' Reading scientific journals or newspapers requires dedicated time and attention, the authors note, which is less convenient for many medical professionals or students. Publications also require subscriptions or have paywalls; most podcasts are freely distributed and can be listened to on a smart phone, tablet or computer. "Podcasts can reach learners anytime and anywhere,'' Katzman said, adding that this form of asynchronous learning "is important given the increasing amount of information that needs to be shared in a timely and efficient manner.'' Findings in scientific journals can be summarized, explained and discussed in a more digestible form on a podcast. Although podcasts aren't meant to replace traditional forms, such as scientific journals, "they're presented more understandably,'' Katzman added. In less than 15 years, the podcast format has gone from being virtually unknown to a multibillion-dollar industry with an estimated 500 million listeners worldwide, according to the study. Medical podcasts began with a desire among journals and academic institutions to share information on new clinical trials or publications, and among those committed to promoting a free and open access model of online education. The COVID-19 outbreak led to an explosion in the availability of podcasts about infectious diseases, due to the need for regular information about SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic-driven preference for virtual learning. However, many infectious disease experts and students have not yet been introduced to available infectious diseases podcast resources, the authors said. But what about misleading data and information? Aren't podcasts susceptible to the flaws or ethical fluxes of any other medium? Podcasts aren't peer-reviewed, even though many provide references on their pages or websites, as well as podcast author credentials and their affiliations. "Podcasts are no different from other broadcast media,'' Dr. Oehler said. "The user can review a series' descriptive information, listener ratings and seek peer-reviewed sources to help them determine whether a podcast is likely to provide credible information free of questionable data. "In fact, it was our purpose in putting together this article to review a variety of different podcasts to be able to recommend the programs we mentioned. We also made sure to publish the paper in an open-access medical journal, making it accessible for anyone to freely download." In their study, the authors highlight 38 of the most popular infectious diseaseoriented audio podcasts, including: The widely distributed "This Podcast Will Kill You," featuring episodes about deadly infectious diseases. "Osterholm Update," a regular podcast by noted epidemiologist and public health expert Dr. Michael Osterholm, which updates listeners on current disease outbreaks across the country. The list also includes a new USF Health series called Contagion: An Infectious Diseases Podcast, co-hosted by USF Health Infectious Disease faculty and clinicians Vivian Vega Rodriguez, MD, and Jacqueline Sherbuk, MD. In the series' first five episodes, the program has tackled diverse topics such as mosquito-borne infections, brain-eating amoeba disease, Influenza, RSV, COVID19 and food-borne outbreaks. The study notes a number of advantages and disadvantages of the podcast format: Impact of COVID-19: The pandemic spurred a surge in infectious disease (ID)-focused podcasts, with 71% of reviewed shows launching post-COVID, highlighting the rising demand for accessible, timely medical information. Audience reach and diversity: Among 38 ID-focused podcasts analyzed, audience sizes ranged widely. Popular shows like This Podcast Will Kill You drew nearly half a million listeners per episode, while others had fewer than 25. Broad topic coverage: The podcasts address a variety of subjects, from current outbreaks and immunology to public health and infection control, catering to a range of medical and public interests. Educational value: Podcasts provide an efficient way for the medical community to stay current, as medical knowledge doubles every 73 days. They are easily accessible, cost-effective and adaptable to listeners' schedules. Challenges in podcast learning: Despite benefits, issues remain with content retention when multitasking, variable episode lengths and quality standards for accuracy and source verification. Future opportunities: The study suggests growth in podcasts combating misinformation and promoting careers in the infectious diseases field, adding depth to the educational resources available to medical professionals and students. If everyone in the United States population was as active as the top 25 per cent, individuals over the age of 40 could add five years to their life, according to a new study led by Griffith University researchers. Physical activity has long been known to be good for health, however estimates have varied regarding how much benefit could be gained from a defined amount of activity, both for individuals and for populations. This latest study used accelerometry to gain an accurate view of the population's physical activity levels instead of relying on survey responses as per other studies, and found the benefits were around twice as strong as previous estimates. It found the most active quarter of people in the community had a 73 per cent lower risk of death than their least active counterparts. For that least active quartile, a single one-hour walk could potentially return a benefit of around six additional hours of life. Lead researcher Professor Lennert Veerman said this least-active cohort had the greatest potential for health gains. If you're already very active or in that top quartile, an extra hour's walk may not make much difference as you've, in a sense, already 'maxxed out' your benefit. If the least active quartile of the population over age 40 were to increase their activity level to that of the most active quartile however, they might live, on average, about 11 years longer. This is not an unreasonable prospect, as 25 per cent of the population is already doing it. It can be any type of exercise but would roughly be the equivalent of just under three hours of walking per day." Professor Lennert Veerman, Lead Researcher The research team suggested low levels of physical activity could even rival the negative effects of smoking, with other research finding each cigarette could take 11 minutes from a smoker's life. By extension, a more active lifestyle could also offer protective effects against heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and other chronic illnesses, with the study's findings highlighting a need for national physical activity guidelines to be revisited using these methods. Dr Veerman said physical activity had been vastly underestimated in its capacity to improve health outcomes, suggesting even modest increases in movement could lead to significant life-extension benefits. "If there's something you could do to more than halve your risk of death, physical activity is enormously powerful," he said. "If we could increase investment in promoting physical activity and creating living environments that promote it such as walkable or cyclable neighborhoods and convenient, affordable public transport systems, we could not only increase longevity but also reduce pressure on our health systems and the environment." On the campaign trail, Donald Trump tried mightily to reassure abortion rights supporters, vowing he would not sign into law a nationwide abortion ban even if Congress sent him one. But once he returns to the White House in January, Trump can make abortions difficult or illegal across the United States without Congress taking action at all. The president-elect will have a variety of tools to restrict reproductive rights in general and abortion rights in particular, both directly from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and from the executive agencies he'll oversee. They include strategies he used during his first term, but also new ones that emerged in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment on this topic. By far the most sweeping thing Trump could do without Congress would be to order the Justice Department to enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 anti-vice law that bars the mailing of "obscene matter and articles used to produce abortion." While Roe was in effect, the law was presumed unconstitutional, but many legal scholars say it could be resurrected. "And it is so broad that it would ban abortion nationwide from the beginning of a pregnancy without exception. Procedural abortion, pills, everything," Greer Donley, an associate professor and abortion policy researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, said on KFF Health News' "What the Health?" podcast early this year. Even if he does not turn to Comstock, Trump is expected to quickly reimpose restrictions embraced by every GOP president for the past four decades. When Trump took office in 2017, he reinstituted the "Mexico City Policy" (also known as the "global gag rule"), a Ronald Reagan-era rule that banned U.S. aid to international organizations that support abortion rights. He also pulled U.S. funding for the United Nations Population Fund. Both actions were undone when President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Those aren't the only policies Trump could resurrect. Others that Trump imposed and Biden overturned include: Barring providers who perform abortions and entities that provide referrals for abortion (such as Planned Parenthood) from the federal family planning program, Title X. The Trump administration imposed the rules in 2019; Biden formally overturned them in 2021. Banning the use of human fetal tissue in research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Trump administration issued guidance barring the practice in 2019; the Biden administration overturned it in 2021. Requiring health plans under the Affordable Care Act to collect separate premiums if they offer coverage for abortion. The 2019 Trump administration regulation was overturned by Biden officials in 2021. Allowing health providers to refuse to offer any service that violates their conscience. The 2019 Trump administration regulation a revision of one originally implemented by President George W. Bush had already been blocked by several appeals courts before being rescinded and rewritten by the Biden administration. The new, narrower rule was issued in January. Anti-abortion groups say those changes are the minimum they expect. "The commonsense policies of President Trump's first term become the baseline for the second, along with reversing Biden-Harris administration's unprecedented violation of longstanding federal laws," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement to KFF Health News. Dannenfelser was referring to the expectation that Trump will overturn actions that Biden took toward protecting abortion rights after the Supreme Court's decision. Some included: Providing that members of the military and their dependents who live in states with abortion bans be permitted to take leave and travel to other states for reproductive health care. Allowing VA medical facilities to provide abortion counseling and, in limited circumstances, abortions to veterans and VA beneficiaries, regardless of the laws in the state where the facility is located. Expanding the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. Clarifying that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 requires hospitals to provide abortions to women with pregnancy complications that threaten their health, not just their life regardless of state law. Even easier than formal changes of policy, though, Trump could simply order the Justice Department to drop several cases being heard in federal court in which the federal government is effectively arguing to preserve abortion rights. Those cases include: FDA v. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. This case out of Texas challenges the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The Supreme Court in June ruled that the original plaintiffs lacked standing to sue, but attorneys general in three states (Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas) have stepped in as plaintiffs. The case has been revived at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Texas v. Becerra. In this case, the state of Texas is suing the Department of Health and Human Services, charging that the Biden administration's interpretation of a law requiring emergency abortions to protect the health of the pregnant woman oversteps its authority. The Supreme Court denied a petition to hear the case in October, but that left the possibility that the court would have to step in later depending on the outcome of a similar case from Idaho that the justices sent back to the Court of Appeals. Whether Trump will take any or all of these actions is anyone's guess. Whether he can take these actions, however, is unquestioned. HealthBent, a regular feature of KFF Health News, offers insight into and analysis of policies and politics from KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner, who has covered health care for more than 30 years. AI Could Cut Work To 3.5 Days A Week, Says JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Curated By : Local News Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:41 IST Jamie Dimon stated that AI is a living and evolving technology, which has the potential to change business processes. AI is predicted to affect 300 million jobs globally. The co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy has been infamously grabbing headlines for his controversial words about work culture, where he advised the youngsters to work 70 to 80 hours per week. Now, another prediction has been made by a man named Jamie Dimon, according to which the future generations could enjoy fewer work days because of AI advancement. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, is of the belief that artificial intelligence will be revolutionising work in the coming time. According to him, it could reduce the tenure of employees from 5 days a week to 3.5 days a week. He added that with advancement of AI, the lifespan of humans will increase to 100 years and the lifestyle would be healthier. In an interview, Dimon stated that AI is a living and evolving technology," which has the potential to change business processes and societal standards over time. Damien has already incorporated it in his company, JP Morgans operations. The reports add that in the banking and financial sector, AI is being used in tasks like trading, hedging, research and error detection. With AI, the companies will not only be able to reduce costs but it would also make the processes more efficient. Since the gradual prevalence of Artificial Intelligence, it has sparked widespread concern about replacing human and eventual job losses. According to a report, AI can affect around 300 million jobs worldwide. Around 25 percent of employees in the US are worried that this technology could have an impact on their jobs. related stories Dimon stated, People have to take a deep breath. Technology has always replaced jobs. Your children are going to live to 100 and not have cancer because of technology, and literally they will probably be working three and a half days a week." As per a recent McKinsey report, generative AI and other emerging technology could automate 60 per cent to 70 percent employee tasks. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 16:41 IST Fiscal Deficit Likely To Be At 4.75% Of GDP In FY25, Government Capex To Be Lower By Rs 62k Crore: IndRa Published By : PTI Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:46 IST The government will be able to register the fiscal deficit at 4.75 per cent in FY25, 0.19 per cent lower than the budget aim The revenue expenditure, excluding subsidies, will be 0.12 per cent of GDP, lower than the budget estimate, the rating agency added. The government will be able to register the fiscal deficit at 4.75 per cent in FY25, 0.19 per cent lower than the budget aim, by reigning in expenditure, domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research said on Wednesday. The revenue expenditure, excluding subsidies, will be 0.12 per cent of GDP, lower than the budget estimate, the rating agency added. related stories Its chief economist and head of public finance Devendra Kumar Pant said the government capital expenditure will come out to be Rs 62,000 crore lower than the estimate of Rs 11.11 lakh crore. Pant was quick to add that the government capex will still be 10.6 per cent higher than the year-ago period. The government was initially envisaging a 17.6 per cent growth in the key number. Even as there is a dip in the government capital expenditure projected, the capex to GDP in FY25 at 3.21 per cent is estimated to be at a two-decade high, the agency said. The FY25 capex growth has been impacted by the general elections in May 2024, and capex in 1H FY25 shrank 15.42 per cent year-on-year. To achieve the FY25 (BE) target, capex in 2H FY25 must grow 52.04 per cent, which appears to be a daunting task," it added. Among ministries, railways, and road, transport and highways will breach their FY25 capex allocations, the agency said. There will be a slippage of 0.10 per cent of GDP on the subsidies front due to higher outgoes on food, fertiliser and petroleum subsidies, the agency said, pointing that the overall spending has been 54.55 per cent higher than the budgeted levels in the first half of the fiscal. On the revenue expenditure, excluding subsidies, the rating agencys report said actual spending by 43 ministries other than civil aviation, railways, and road, transport and highways in the April-September period was less than 40 per cent of their allocation. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The FY25 gross and net tax revenue will come at 12.02 per cent of GDP and 8.08 per cent of GDP, respectively, which will be a 17-year high, the report said, adding that income tax and corporate tax are estimated to contribute 80.94 per cent and 10.53 per cent, respectively, to the additional gross tax revenue. Non-tax revenue and disinvestment receipts are to be lower than the budgeted amount of Rs 5.46 lakh crore and Rs 78,000 crore, respectively, in FY25, it said. First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:46 IST Ola Electric Shares Hit 20% Upper Circuit After Launching Gig and S1 Z Scooters; Details Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:05 IST Ola Electric Shares: Reservations for the new scooters have already begun, with deliveries scheduled to start in April 2025 for the Ola Gig range Ola Electric Shares Jump 8% After Launching Gig and S1 Z Scooters Ola Electric Shares: Ola Electrics shares surged by 20%, reaching the upper circuit limit of Rs 88.16 on the BSE today, following the companys announcement of two new electric scooter models, starting at just Rs 39,000making them the most affordable options in Olas lineup. Ola Electrics share price opened at Rs 77.71, marking a 5% increase from the previous close of Rs 73.47. The stock later reached an intraday high of Rs 79.33, reflecting a gain of 8%. related stories In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal introduced the new Ola S1 Z and Ola Gig ranges, priced starting at Rs 39,000, along with a portable battery pack that doubles as a home inverter via the Ola PowerPod. He highlighted the affordability and accessibility of the new models, which are designed to cater to a broad range of customers. Reservations for the new scooters have already begun, with deliveries scheduled to start in April 2025 for the Ola Gig range and May 2025 for the Ola S1 Z range. New Scooter Range Details: Ola Electric launched the Ola Gig, Ola Gig+, Ola S1 Z, and Ola S1 Z+ models, with introductory ex-showroom prices of Rs 39,999, Rs 49,999, Rs 59,999, and Rs 64,999, respectively. Reservations for these models are available from November 26 at just Rs 499. The scooters offer affordable, durable, and flexible solutions, featuring removable batteries for both personal and commercial use in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas. Olas move to expand its electric scooter range comes at a time when the company has faced ongoing customer complaints regarding its services and products. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had previously ordered an investigation into alleged service deficiencies related to Ola Electrics vehicles. Last month, the company reported resolving 99.1% of the 10,644 complaints forwarded by the CCPA. In another development, Ola Electric reportedly laid off 500 employees in early November as part of a restructuring effort to improve margins and profitability. Olas Vision for the EV Market: top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all With the launch of the new scooters, Ola Electric aims to revolutionize access to electric vehicles (EVs) by offering a wide range of affordable options for a diverse set of customers. Bhavish Aggarwal emphasized that the company is committed to expanding EV adoption across India, stating that the new range of scooters, coupled with the existing portfolio, will help drive the country closer to ending the internal combustion engine age." Aggarwal also pointed out that the new scooters portable batteries, which can function as home inverters, offer added value by powering household appliances, enhancing the efficiency of the battery system. First Published: November 27, 2024, 11:05 IST Samsung Makes History with First Female CEO Outside Founding Family Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:46 IST Kim Kyung-Ah's appointment as Samsung Bioepis comes amid a broader management reshuffle at Samsung and highlights gradual progress in gender diversity within the South Korean company. Kim Kyung-Ah. (Photo Credit: Samsung Bioepis's portal) Samsung has reached a historic milestone by appointing a woman outside its founding family as the chief executive officer of a group company for the first time in its 86-year history. The group has named Kim Kyung-Ah as the president and CEO of Samsung Bioepis Co, according to Bloomberg. Kims appointment comes amid a broader management reshuffle at Samsung and highlights gradual progress in gender diversity within the South Korean giant. related stories Despite strides in education, women continue to face significant barriers in South Korean corporate culture. As of 2023, women account for just 10 per cent of board members at 269 large listed companies, according to Seoul-based consultancy CEOScore. This marks an improvement from 3 per cent in 2019 and 6.9 per cent in 2021, following a 2020 legal revision mandating gender diversity on corporate boards. Still, South Korea remains the developed country with the highest wage gap, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Kims promotion serves as a beacon of hope for greater inclusion in the future. Who is Kim Kyung-Ah? Kim Kyung-Ah, 56, holds a doctorate in neurotoxicology from Johns Hopkins University, specialising in the effects of chemical and biological agents on the nervous system. With over two decades of experience in biologic development, Kim joined Samsung Bioepis in 2015 and has since played a pivotal role in its product innovations. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Before her time at Bioepis, she worked at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, the companys research and development arm, as a principal scientist and later as vice president. Her focus included developing antibody therapeutics for oncology. Kim is only the second woman to head a Samsung affiliate, following Lee Boo-jin, the granddaughter of Samsungs late founder Lee Byung-chull and CEO of Hotel Shilla Co. First Published: November 27, 2024, 15:46 IST This Bihar School, Founded by Mahatma Gandhi, Is Struggling To Maintain Its Legacy Curated By : Local News Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:36 IST The school was a significant project for Gandhi, who called upon various individuals to teach there. Mahatma Gandhi himself spent six months at the school. The first basic school in India was reportedly established by Mahatma Gandhi on November 13, 1917, in East Champaran, Bihar, during his visit to the region. This historic school, which was the result of a donation from Shiv Ghulam Bakshi, a local villager who gave his house for its establishment, is located about 30 kilometers from the district headquarters. It is now struggling to maintain its identity and existence, and is in need of a transformative figure to restore its legacy. The school was a significant project for Gandhi, who called upon various individuals to teach there, including his younger son Devdas Gandhi, Baban Gokhale and his wife Avantika Bai Gokhale from Mumbai, as well as teachers from the Sabarmati Ashram, such as Chhotelal and Surendra ji. It was not just an educational institution, but also a place where Gandhi promoted self-reliance and the spirit of self-employment. Gandhi himself spent six months at the school, using the opportunity not only to educate but also to inspire the local community to take a stand against the British, particularly in the context of the indigo farming protests. His presence infused the people with a sense of nationalism and unity in the fight for independence. related stories Khenalal, appointed by Gandhi as the orderly of the school, played a pivotal role in maintaining the institution. Today, his grandson, Sonalal, continues to serve the school as a night guard, symbolising the enduring connection between the schools founding and the local community. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Sonalal told Local 18 that the well from which Gandhiji used to drink water and where he used to take bath has not been cleaned till date. Apart from this, the construction of Kasturba Gate near the pond has also not been completed till date. The spinning wheel with which Gandhiji used to spin yarn is still kept in the school. Apart from this, wooden machines, globes, clocks and other items are gathering dust in a room. Local youth Kamal Islami says that if Sonalal ji had not kept these things carefully, they would have been reduced to dust by now. Headmaster Abdul Manan says that it is his dream to see the school return to its former glory but aid from the government is required for it. Due to lack of resources and funds, things related to Gandhiji have not been preserved properly. If the government had helped, it could have been preserved in a better way, he says. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:36 IST How Imran Khans Supporters Brought Islamabad To A Halt, All About The Violent Protests Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:15 IST Imran Khans supporters have been demanding his release from jail as well as the resignation of the Shehbaz Sharif government in what they claim was a rigged election. The protests in Islamabad were orchestrated by Khans wife Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Amin... Read More Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, issued a 'final call' on November 13 for nationwide protests on November 24. (Image: AFP) The police cracked down on thousands of former Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khans supporters on Tuesday night, after they laid siege on Islamabad followed by clashes in which six civilians died. The protests, led by Khans wife Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, reached the D-Chowk in the Red Zone area of the capital, right across the Pakistan Parliament. It is the junction of Jinnah Avenue and Constitution Avenue. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO), Supreme Court, and key ministries like the foreign ministry are also located in the area. related stories As the police and Frontier Constabulary made the final push to drive away the protestors from the D-Chowk, hundreds of Khans supporters are said to have been arrested. Dawn reported that up to 450 were arrested. What Are Imran Khans Supporters Demanding? The protesters have been demanding Khans release from jail as well as the resignation of the Shehbaz Sharif government in what they claim was a rigged election. Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, 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 under a dictatorial regime". Pakistan Tehreek-e-Islam (PTI) claims the accusations against Khan are politically motivated and instead blamed the Shebaz Sharif government of suppressing democratic freedom. The party also demanded the resignation of PM Sharif and the reversal of alleged unconstitutional amendments. Early Wednesday, the PTI issued a press release on its official X account announcing the suspension of the protest, citing government brutality" and claims of plans to target unarmed citizens in the capital. What Happened In The Violence? The protests turned violent when a vehicle in the convoy rammed into security personnel, killing four Rangers. Protesters also burned trees and used slingshots against police, who retaliated with tear gas and warning shots. Pakistani TV channels showed video footage of protesters facing tear gas and climbing on the shipping containers. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemning the bloodshed, and said, It is not a peaceful protest. It is extremism". Dawn quoted Sharif as calling the PTI an anarchist group seeks bloodshed". Bloodshed for nefarious political agenda is unacceptable and highly condemnable," the prime minister added. Pakistani Information Minister Tarar accused the PTI of orchestrating the protest with the help of foreign elements, claiming that Afghan nationals had been recruited to join the agitation. He identified an arrested 16-year-old Afghan boy as an example of foreign participation. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible as authorities use shipping containers to block key highways, including the Grand Trunk Road, reported Dawn. Videos circulating online showed some protesters using heavy machinery to remove the barriers. The disruption has also affected ambulances and vehicles, forcing many to turn back. In addition, mobile and internet services have been suspended in several areas deemed security risks," further isolating the city. PTI said it wanted to re-create its iconic 2014 sit-in, which brought Islamabad to a standstill for 126 days. Despite calls for peaceful protests, the demonstrations turned violent. Over 4,000 PTI supporters have been arrested since Friday, and authorities have issued shoot-on-sight orders to prevent further unrest. What Are The Cases Against Imran Khan? The 72-year-old PTI leader 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. Let us look at some of the charges against him. Corruption: Khan was first arrested in May 2023 in relation to allegations that his wife, Bushra Bibi, and he received land worth up to 25 million as a bribe through a trust created in 2018, while he still held office. His party, however, has maintained that the land was donated for charitable purposes. Khan was released on bail after three days in prison, during which his supporters attacked and set fire to military and other state installations, with eight people killed in the violence. Abetting Violence: Khan is charged with abetting violence following his arrest in May last year, and in relation to which several of his supporters have already been sentenced. PTI said in July that authorities had issued fresh arrest warrants for him in three different cases related to the clashes. State Secrets: Khan was accused of making public classified information sent to Islamabad by Pakistans ambassador in Washington in 2022, while he still held office. He was acquitted in the case in June. Unlawful Marriage: Khan and his wife were accused of breaking Islamic law by failing to observe the mandated waiting period between Bibis divorce from her previous husband and their marriage in 2018. They were acquitted of charges in July. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all State Gifts: Khan was arrested in August 2023 for allegedly selling gifts worth more than Rs 140 million that he received during his tenure as PM and which belonged in state possession. Bibi, who was also imprisoned in the case, was granted bail in October. The couple has denied wrongdoing in the case. Khan was granted bail in the case on November 20 but continues to remain in prison in relation to other cases. (with inputs from Reuters) First Published: November 27, 2024, 15:09 IST How One Nation One Subscription Scheme Will Transform Academia, Benefit Students & Researchers Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:37 IST The One Nation One Subscription scheme, which will be launched on January 1, will help students and researchers from diverse institutions, including under-resourced colleges, have access to the latest findings, enabling quality research and innovation The aim of the ONOS scheme is to position India as a global research hub for research, learning and knowledge while fostering interdisciplinary studies. (Representational image) The government had approved One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) scheme on November 25 to provide centralised access to research articles and journals for government higher education institution and research and development (R&D) laboratories for the government. The aim of the ONOS scheme is to position India as a global research hub for research, learning and knowledge while fostering interdisciplinary studies and bridging the gap in the access of academic resources. related stories The total outlay for the project is Rs 6,000 crore till 2027. All higher education institutions under central or state governments and R&D institutions of central government can avail the benefits of the initiative through a national subscription. What Are The Key Features Of ONOS? Subscription Model: The scheme will provide access to journal articles to all individuals in India based on centrally negotiated payment", all at one place. The ONOS will replace individual institutional journal subscriptions. The central payments will be coordinated by INFLIBNET, and will include major international publishers such as Elsevier ScienceDirect, Springer Nature, Wiley Blackwell Publishing, and others. According to research conducted by S. Chakraborty of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, and other researchers and published in Current Science in April 2020, India spent around Rs 1,500 crore on subscription for electronic and print journals in 2018. Institutions also spent around Rs 30-50 crore on access to SCOPUS and Web of Science, which are popular citation databases, as mentioned in a report by The Hindu. Subhas Sarkar, then Minister of State for the Education Ministry, had said in August 2023 that the government spent around Rs 995 crore on journal subscriptions in 2022. This included the spending by the ten library consortia funded by different ministries/departments and self-subscriptions by individual government academic and R&D institutions". Overall, the total expenditure for 2019-2022 was estimated to be around Rs 2,985 crore, he added, as quoted by The Hindu. Affordability and Outreach: The scheme will also cater to those higher education institutions, including universities and colleges, who have not been able to afford comprehensive subscriptions of qualitative journals. Research and development institutions under the central government will also be included, covering approximately 6,300 institutions nationwide. ONOS will replace individual and fragmented subscription models, making them more efficient and cost-effective. Empowering Research: The scheme, which will be launched on January 1, will help students and researchers from diverse institutions, including under-resourced colleges, have access to the latest findings, enabling quality research and innovation. It will also encourage interdisciplinary studies by providing a shared platform for collaborative research across disciplines, breaking silos in academia. It will support youth empowerment by democratising access to global knowledge. How This Scheme Came To A Fruition? ONOS was recommended as part of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2020 to facilitate knowledge-sharing on an equal partnership basis". The initial plan was consulted by concerned ministries in August 2021. Another round of negotiations for ONOS took place on October 11-12, and October 25, 2023, according to a report by The Hindu. The negotiations were held with 41 publishers, which included journals and citation databases, according to the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor. A core committee was formed after Sarkars response to the Lok Sabha in 2023 to implement ONOS. This committee consists of a secretary each from the Ministry of Education and the Department of Science and Technology, and a scientific secretary, and will be chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor of the government of India. The ONOS core committee comprises the planning and execution committee (PEC) and the cost negotiation committee (CNC). top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The PEC includes library consortia coordinators and representatives from government academic and R&D institutions. Its main responsibility is to prepare a strategy to implement ONOS. The CNC is responsible to finalise membership terms and conditions and pricing details for the subscription. The members include from the negotiation committees of the existing library consortia, The Hindu report added. First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:35 IST How Turk-Pathan's 'Politics Of Supremacy' Led To Sambhal Violence In UP | Explained Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:46 IST Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and Turk community leader Ziaur Rahman Barq and son of SP MLA Iqbal Mahmood, who represents the Pathan community in Sambhal, are main accused in the case Security personnel deployed to maintain law and order, a day after clashes between police and protesters opposing the Jama Masjid survey, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, on November 25. (PTI Photo) The violence in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh that has killed four people and injured more than 20, including police officers, could be due to the purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities. Uttar Pradesh excise minister and BJP leader Nitin Aggarwal has attributed the violence to the power struggle between the two communities. The arson and violence in Sambhal is the result of the politics of supremacy. The Turk-Pathan dispute not only disrupted the peace but also raised questions about the safety of common people. The promptness of the UP police is commendable," Aggarwal posting on X on Monday. related stories According to Aggarwal, the violence was pre-meditated" and stemmed from the rivalry between Turk community leader and Sambhal MP Zia ur Rehman Barq and Sohail Iqbal, son of MLA Nawab Iqbal Mehmood, representing the Pathan community. How Did The Violence Take Place? Reports say that the violence broke out when supporters of Turk community MP Ziaur Rahman Barq allegedly opened fire on supporters of Pathan MLA Iqbal Mahmood Ansari. The altercation led to death of people from the Pathan, Saifi, and Ansari communities. Investigations show that the victims were civilians and supporters of the MLA, with no casualties reported from police actions. Authorities say the rivalry was an attempt by both communities to take advantage of each other politically and socially. Sambhal Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said the tensions flared up after MP Barq made inflammatory remarks regarding the preservation of the Jama Masjid. Barq had previously been served notice under Section 168 of the IPC for provocative statements. The violence erupted during a survey of the Jama Masjid, escalating into stone pelting and gunfire between the two groups. Seven cases and 25 individuals have been arrested in connection with the violence. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ziaur Rahman Barq and SP MLA Iqbal Mahmoods son, Suhail Iqbal, are main accused in the case. Based on the statement of injured sub-inspector Deepak Rathi, a case has been filed against 800 people, with both Barq and Suhail Iqbal named. Tensions were already simmering between the Turks and Pathans, and the Masjid survey was the flashpoint. What Did The Survey Say? 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 build 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". What Happened 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. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all 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 27, 2024, 12:30 IST Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire: What Do We Know About The Deal? Will This Impact Gaza War? Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 11:23 IST Netanyahu has said he would implement the ceasefire deal but maintained that Israel has its right to respond to any threat by Hezbollah. The Lebanese government has welcomed the deal, but insisted on the return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon Analysts say they dont see that the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire deal will bring any respite to the Gaza war. (Image: AFP file) One part of the Middle-East conflict seems to be ebbing as Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon announced ceasefire after the US and French governments brokered the deal Tuesday night. The truce will come into effect from Wednesday. The agreement will end the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that has killed thousands of people since the war in Gaza began on October 8, 2023. related stories US President Joe Biden announced at the White House that he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanons caretaker PM Najib Mikati. Both countries have accepted" the ceasefire agreement after the Israeli security cabinet approved of the deal by a vote of 10-1. The ceasefire deal for Lebanon will provide the conditions needed for a return to normalcy in the country, and France and the US will work towards ensuring that the ceasefire is fully implemented", Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement. What Are The Agreements Terms? Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah will remove its fighters and weapons in the next 60 days from the area between the Blue Line the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel and the Litani river, about 30km to the north. According to a US official, quoted by the BBC, the Lebanese Army will replace Hezbollah fighters in that area, and ensure that infrastructure or weaponry is removed and that it cannot be rebuilt. Around 5,000 troops will be deployed to the south under agreement, the US official said. The Israeli official pointed out that cutting off the connection between Gaza and Lebanon fronts would leave Hamas isolated, something also highlighted by Netanyahu in his speech. Saudi channel Al Hadath, quoting sources, said there would be no buffer zone in South Lebanon as per the agreement. Who Will Ensure That Ceasefire Is Implemented? The ceasefire agreement is largely based on the UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution 1701 specifies that areas south of the Litani should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping force (Unifil). But both sides claimed violations of the resolution. But this time the US and France will join the existing tripartite mechanism, which involves Unifil, Lebanon and Israel, which will be charged with monitoring violations, a senior US official said, quoted by BBC. There will be no US combat troops in the area, but there will be military support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, as weve done in the past. But in this case, itll be typically done with the Lebanese army and in conjunction with the French military as well," the BBC quotes the US official as saying. Israel had pushed for the removal of France as guarantor of security in Lebanon, citing diplomatic tensions between France and Israel. But France was included after strained last-minute negotiation. Another US official quoted by The Jerusalem Post said unlike in 2006, where the international community reached an agreement and then abandoned the scene, here we remain committed to be on the ground, day to day, to watch whats happening." The official explained how the current deal is different from the 2006 agreement, where Hezbollah was supposed to withdraw north of the Litani River, maintained by UNIFIL, after a war broke out between Israel and Lebanon. But in reality, Hezbollah never withdrew, and UNIFIL could not perform the task that it was supposed to. Now, there is an agreed-upon map around the north of Litani line. How Have Israel And Hezbollah Reacted To The Deal? According to an Israeli official, quoted by Marriv a Hebrew language daily ceasefire was not the end of the war. Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the deal but maintained its right to respond to any threat by Hezbollah. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu said Hezbollah, which is allied to Palestinian militant group Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict. We have set it back decades, eliminated its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralized thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border," he said. A poll conducted by Israels Channel 12 TV found that 37% of Israelis were in favour of the ceasefire, compared with 32% against. Those who were against the deal in Israel include opposition leaders and heads of towns near the Lebanon border, who want a depopulated buffer zone on Lebanons side of the frontier. Meanwhile, Lebanons Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw. A Hezbollah MP, Hassan Fadlallah, told Reuters that Hezbollah would remain active, including in providing social services to displaced Lebanese civilians in spite of the agreement. The Lebanons army has said it does not have the resources money, manpower and equipment to fulfil the terms of the agreement. However, the countrys international allies could provide some of the requirements. Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have insisted that a return of displaced civilians to southern Lebanon is a key tenet of the truce. The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, welcomed the ceasefire deal in a statement, commending the parties to the agreement. What Does This Ceasefire Mean For Gaza War? Biden has said Palestinians in Gaza deserve a similar end to conflict. The people of Gaza have been through hell, their worlds absolutely shattered, far too many civilians in Gaza have suffered far too much," Biden said. A US official, quoted by CNN , said the ceasefire deal would send a signal to Hamas" that Israel and its partners will do their utmost to secure an agreement that brings back hostages held in Gaza. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Another US official quoted by The Jerusalem Post said the ceasefire deal with Lebanon would put pressure on Hamas, who should now realise that Hezbollah had decided to abandon them and de-link the two conflicts. However, analysts dont see that the Hezbollah deal will bring any respite to the Gazans. First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:55 IST 73-Year-Old Indian National Arrested In Singapore For Sexually Assaulting 4 Women 7 Times On Flight Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:42 IST The incident occurred on November 18, and it is alleged that the man sexually assaulted the four women seven times over the course of 14 hours According to Singaporean law, each offence of sexual assault is punishable by up to three years in prison, along with a fine. (News18 Malayalam) A 73-year-old Indian man was arrested for sexually assaulting four women on a Singapore Airlines flight from America to Singapore. Balasubramanian Ramesh, was taken into custody by the police. The incident occurred on November 18, and it is alleged that he sexually assaulted the four women seven times over the course of 14 hours. Various media reports suggest that he could face up to 21 years in prison if found guilty. related stories On 25 November, Balasubramanian was presented in court in Singapore. It is alleged that he sexually harassed one woman four times, while the other three women were each assaulted once. The names of the victims have not been released. He reportedly assaulted the first woman at 3:15 am on the day of the incident. Five minutes later, he assaulted another woman. Between 3:30 am and 6:00 am, he is said to have sexually assaulted the second woman three times. The third and fourth women were assaulted between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm. According to Singaporean law, each offence of sexual assault is punishable by up to three years in prison, along with a fine. In Singapore, defendants involved in sexual assault cases are also subject to caning. However, individuals above 50 years of age are exempt from this punishment. As Balasubramanian is 73 years old, he was exempt from caning. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A similar incident was reported in India last October. A 45-year-old man was arrested by Chennai police for sexually assaulting a passenger on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Chennai. The incident took place on October 9. Rakesh Sharma sexually assaulted a passenger on the flight. It was alleged that the accused, who was sitting behind the passenger, sexually touched her while she was sitting in the window seat. The complainant said that she informed the staff of the flight immediately. He was arrested by the police as soon as the plane reached Chennai airport. First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:42 IST Air India Pilot Dies By Suicide In Mumbai, Family Accuses Boyfriend Of Abuse Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 22:00 IST She reportedly faced harassment and abuse from her boyfriend, who allegedly pressured her to stop eating non-vegetarian food, Tulis uncle alleged Srishti Tuli, originally from Uttar Pradesh, had been living in Mumbai since June 2023. (Image via X) A 25-year-old female Air India pilot died by suicide in Mumbai, leading the police to arrest her boyfriend on charges of abetment. She allegedly hanged herself with a data cable at her rented apartment on Monday. Srishti Tuli, originally from Uttar Pradesh, had been living in Mumbai since June 2023. She had been residing in the Kanakia Rain Forest building in the Marol area. related stories She reportedly faced harassment and abuse from her boyfriend, who allegedly pressured her to stop eating non-vegetarian food, Tulis uncle alleged. The boyfriend, Aditya Pandit (27), was taken into police custody on Tuesday after Tulis uncle filed a complaint. Tuli and Pandit met two years ago while pursuing a commercial pilot course in Delhi and began a relationship, Powai police official said. The suicide came to light after Pandit started his journey to Delhi by car. During the drive, Tuli called Pandit saying she would end her life. Pandit rushed to Mumbai and found the door of her flat locked from inside, the official said. He then got the door opened with the help of a key maker and found Tuli hanging with a data cable. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Based on the uncles complaint, Pandit was arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhit section 108 (abetment of suicide). He was produced in a court which remanded him in police custody for four days, the official added. (With inputs from agencies) First Published: November 27, 2024, 21:01 IST Another 'Sarabjit' Languishes In Pakistan's Prison As Sister Battles Red-Tapism Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:29 IST Sanghamitra works as a labourer and has made countless trips to the Collectorate and government offices in Bhopal, seeking assistance to bring her brother back from the Pakistani Jail Sanghamitra also mentioned that Prasannajit had completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Khalsa Institute, Jabalpur, before his mental health began deteriorating. (Local18) For nearly three years, Sanghamitra Khobragade from Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, has been tirelessly visiting government offices to secure the release of her brother, Prasannajit Rangari, from a Pakistani jail. Prasannajit, who suffers from mental health issues, disappeared from home seven years ago. Despite an exhaustive search, his family was unable to locate him and eventually presumed him dead. related stories However, their lives took an unexpected turn in late 2021 when Sanghamitra received a call revealing that her brother was alive but imprisoned in Pakistan. Since then, she has been fighting against all odds to bring him back. A Shocking Revelation Sanghamitra said that she received a call in 2021 from a former prisoner, Kuldeep Singh Kachwaha, a resident of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. Kuldeep had been released after spending twenty-nine years in Pakistans Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. He informed Sanghamitra that he had met Prasannajit in prison, where he had been held since 2019. Kuldeep revealed that Prasannajit, initially mentally unstable, eventually disclosed his identity as his condition improved. Sanghamitra also mentioned that Prasannajit had completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Khalsa Institute, Jabalpur, before his mental health began deteriorating. She works as a labourer and has been making rounds of the Collectorate and other government offices in Bhopal to bring back her brother. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The prolonged separation has taken a devastating toll on the family. According to reports, Sanghamitras father, Lopchand Rangari, who had been ill for years, passed away in April 2024, having waited in vain for his sons return. Meanwhile, their mother, who is mentally unwell, believes that her son is still studying in Jabalpur and survives on food provided by neighbours. Sanghamitra works as a labourer and has made countless trips to the Collectorate and government offices in Bhopal, seeking assistance to bring her brother home. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Prasannajit has been held in Lahore Central Jail since 2019, but no charges or sentence have been brought against him. Despite this confirmation, there has been little progress in facilitating his release. Location : Balaghat, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 16:29 IST Car Falls Off Broken UP Bridge: FIR Names Google Maps; Locals Say PWD To Blame For 3 Deaths Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:23 IST The trio died on November 23 after their car plunged into the Ramganga River from an unmarked, broken bridge on the Bareilly-Budaun border An FIR was filed against four engineers of the PWD, along with some unknown people. (Image: X/@aaraynsh) The Uttar Pradesh Police has registered a first information report (FIR) against four public works department (PWD) officials and others following a tragic incident in Badaun, where three men died after their car plunged into the Ramganga River from an unmarked, broken bridge as they were reportedly travelling using Google Maps. The police have also expanded the investigation to include an unnamed regional officer of Google Maps in the FIR. related stories Locals, while calling the incident a fallout of sheer negligence on the PWDs part, said the presence of barricades or danger signboards on the broken bridge could have saved the three lives. A Google spokesperson in a statement said, Our deepest sympathies go out to the families. Were working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue." VICTIMS WERE HEADING TO WEDDING On November 23, three men, who were driving to a wedding in a Wagon R while following a route suggested by Google Maps, plunged into the Ramganga River from an incomplete bridge, which had collapsed earlier due to floods. The victims, including two brothers, Vivek Kumar and Amit from Farrukhabad, died instantly, while the third victim was identified as Amit, who was from the Mainpuri district. They were on their way from Noida to Faridpur in Bareilly to attend a wedding. The incident took place on the Bareilly-Budaun border. Villagers spotted the damaged car in the river and informed the police. Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the GPS. As a result, the driver was misled and did not realise the bridge was unsafe," said circle officer Ashutosh Shivam. Family members of the victims blamed the administration for leaving the bridge incomplete without proper barricading or warning signs. The negligence of the administration caused this accident," a grieving relative said, urging the district magistrate to take strict action to prevent future tragedies. TAKING CORRECTIVE MEASURES: DISTRICT MAGISTRATE Nidhi Srivastava, district magistrate, Badaun, said, The approach road on the Bareilly side of the bridge was washed away during the monsoon last year. The wall on the Budaun side was damaged by some locals, and the car used that road, falling from the abrupt end of the bridge. We have ordered strict action against the officials responsible and are taking corrective measures to ensure such incidents dont reoccur." Besides, she has also issued instructions to the PWD and Setu Nigam to inspect all roads, bridges, flyovers, and underpasses to prevent a repeat of such incidents. LOCALS SLAM PWD FOR NEGLIGENCE However, the locals slammed the PWD department. We heard a loud bang in the morning, seemed like the bridge had collapsed. When we got there, we found a car had fallen from the broken bridge into the river. Had there been any signage or barricades to warn drivers, their lives could have been saved," said Suraj Kumar, a local. They paid no heed to the broken bridge, as if they were waiting for a disaster to wake them from their slumber," another local said, adding, Strict action should be taken against them for their negligence." 2 ASSISTANT, 2 JUNIOR ENGINEERS, 1 UNNAMED GOOGLE MAPS OFFICIAL BOOKED top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all According to Dataganj Police Station SHO Gaurav Bishnoi, the FIR names two assistant engineers Mohammad Arif and Abhishek Kumar and two junior engineers of the PWD Ajay Gangwar and Maharaj Singh under Section 105 of the BNS (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). An unnamed regional officer of Google Maps has been brought under the scope of investigation," Bishnoi said. The FIR also charges unidentified villagers under BNS Section 304A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) for allegedly damaging a protective wall at the accident site. This is a cognisable and non-bailable offence, carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment. First Published: November 27, 2024, 16:19 IST Court Issues Notices In Plea Claiming Shiva Temple In Ajmer Dargah, Owaisi Reacts Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 28, 2024, 09:23 IST The suit, claiming that there is a Shiva temple in the dargah, was filed in September seeking directions to start the worship in the temple again AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi (PTI) All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Assaduddin Owaisi has taken strong exception to the plea claiming there is a Shiva temple in the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, accusing the government of running a Hindutva agenda. Owaisis statement came a day after a local court in Ajmer directed that notice be issued to three parties in the civil suit. The plaintiffs advocate advocate Yogesh Siroja told reporters in Ajmer that the suit was heard in the court of Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel. related stories The suit, claiming that there is a Shiva temple in the dargah, was filed in September seeking directions to start the worship in the temple again. What Owaisi Said Owaisi questioned the legal responsibilities of the government. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Owaisi wrote, Sultan-ul-Hind Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA) is one of the most important saints for Muslims in India. People have been visiting his shrine for centuries and will continue to do so, Insha Allah. Many kings, emperors, and rulers have come and gone, but the shrine of Khwaja Ajmeri remains intact." He further emphasised that the 1991 Worship Places Act clearly states that the religious identity of any place of worship cannot be altered. Owaisi accused Hindutva organisations of violating the law and the constitution to fulfill their agenda, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remained silent on the matter. The plaintiffs lawyer said notices have been issued to Ajmer Dargah Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) office in New Delhi seeking their response. What Plaintiff Said top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Plaintiff Vishnu Gupta said, Our demand was that the Ajmer dargah should be declared as Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple and if the dargah has any kind of registration, then it should be cancelled. Its survey should be done through ASI and Hindus should be given the right to worship there." The next hearing is on December 20. The development takes place close on the heels of violence that took place in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh killing four people and injuring many including policemen, when a local court ordered survey of a mosque which petitioners said was built after destroying an old temple. First Published: November 27, 2024, 23:22 IST 4 Doctors, Technician Killed After Car Crashes Into Divider, Hits Truck On Agra Expressway Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 12:52 IST One more person travelling with them is critically injured. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. Five reportedly dead and one injured after a car rammed into a truck on AgraLucknow Expressway in the early hours of Wednesday. (Image: PTI) Four doctors and a laboratory technician were killed after their car crashed into a truck on the Agra-Lucknow expressway on Wednesday morning. The doctors, who were postgraduate trainees with the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences in Saifai. Reportedly, one more person travelling with them is critically injured. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. The accident occurred while the Scorpio SUV they were travelling in lost control and rammed into a divider. A truck then struck the vehicle. related stories The group of doctors and the technician were returning to Saifai after attending a wedding in Lucknow. Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Anand stated that the incident occurred at around 3 am when the SUV veered off course and crashed into the median divider. The vehicle subsequently crossed into the oncoming lane, where it collided with a truck. As a result, the four doctors and one lab technician died on the spot. One additional person, a PG student, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Medical College in Tirwa," the officer said. The deceased have been identified as Dr Anirudh Verma (29) from Agra; Dr Santosh Kumar Maurya (46) from Bhadohi; Dr Arun Kumar (34) from Kannauj; and Dr Nardev (35) from Bareilly along with laboratory technician Rakesh Kumar (38). top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The injured, identified as Jaiveer Singh (39) from Moradabad, has been admitted to the Tirwa Medical College," Circle Officer of Tirwa, Dr Priyanka Bajpai, told news agency PTI. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, informed police. First Published: November 27, 2024, 11:56 IST Should Any Party Decide Supreme Court's Priorities: Ex-CJI On Sanjay Raut's Allegations Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 08:06 IST Ex-CJI Chandrachud reacted to Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut's allegations against him over defection pleas in Supreme Court. Former CJI DY Chandrachud (PTI Image) Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has responded to the allegations by Shiv Sena UBT which blamed him for its poll drubbing in the recent Maharashtra Assembly Elections, stating that a party or an individual cannot decide the priority of the Supreme Court. This comes after Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut reacted sharply to the poll results and alleged that Justice Chandrachud had removed the fear from the politicians by not delivering a verdict on the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs who switched sides in the middle of a running tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. He alleged that no decision on the issue kept doors open for defections which led to the MVAs defeat in the polls. He added that history will not forgive them". related stories In the November 20 polls, Uddhav-led faction of Shiv Sena won merely 20 out of 94 seats it contested. Its allies Congress won only 16 out of 101 seats while NCP-SP won only 10 out of the 86 it contested. The ruling Mahayuti won 234 seats in the 288-seated state Assembly. In the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Justice Chandrachud, who retired on November 8 this year, said that it is the choice of the Chief Justice to take up and prioritize cases and no party can decide it. Well, my answer is very simpleThroughout this year, we were dealing with seminal constitutional cases, nine-judge bench decisions, seven-judge bench decisions, five-judge bench decisions. Now, should any one party or individual decide what case the Supreme Court should hear? Sorry, that choice is for the Chief Justice," he said. What Are Allegations Against Justice Chandrachud? The undivided Shiv Sena underwent a split in 2022 due to a rebellion by Eknath Shinde-led MLAs who pulled out of the MVA government, then comprising Congress, undivided NCP and Shiv Sena (then led by Uddhav Thackeray). Shinde later allied with the BJP and formed the government, becoming Chief Minister. It was then that Thackeray filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking disqualification of the defected MLAs. The Shinde faction had also filed counter-petition. The top court had directed the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide on the disqualification pleas of the two factions and in January this year, the Speaker declared that the Shinde faction was the real" Shiv Sena. Justice Chandrachud Responds To Allegations You point out to us that we are not working even for a minute of the time that we are assigned to do our work. And such a criticism would be valid. Important constitutional cases are pending before the Supreme Court for 20 years. Why is the Supreme Court not taking up these 20-year-old cases and dealing with some recent cases? And then if you take up old cases, you are told that you didnt take up this particular case. Well, you have limited manpower and you have a given complement of judges, you have to draw the balance," the former CJI said in the podcast. When asked about the UBTs allegations over the delay" the verdict in the case, the former CJI said, You see, this is the problem. The real problem is this, that a given segment of the polity feels that, well, youre independent if you follow my agenda That, you know, you pursue my agenda, which is inclusive of cases, which I think, I think you should be deciding. We decided electoral bonds. Was that any less important?" Now, the cases which we decided this year, any of these cases which I have referred to earlier, are these cases less significant? Or do we then follow an agenda that others set for us that, well, you have to decide this case for me today? If you dont decide my case, then, well, you are not independent." This is something which is unacceptable." the former CJI said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all And the real problem today is this, and thats why, you know, I must say this. Its because we have refused during my tenure as a Chief Justice. We have refused to be dictated by any third party on which cases to decide. Sometimes, you know, very highly resourced persons come to the court and they try and, you know, suborn the system by saying, well, my case should be heard first," he added. (With ANI inputs) First Published: November 27, 2024, 07:57 IST Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: SC Seeks Explanation From Accused On Threatening Witnesses Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 21:29 IST Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, has been accused of threatening witnesses in the 2021 violence. In an earlier case, the Supreme Court told Ashish Mishra to carefully comply with his bail conditions. The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought an explanation from Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and son of former Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, on the allegations of threatening witnesses and breaching other bail conditions imposed by the apex court. A bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant, granted four weeks to Ashish Mishra to file an affidavit to the plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to him. related stories As per the computerised case status, the matter is likely to be heard next on January 17, 2025. In an earlier hearing, Justice Kant-led Bench had asked Ashish Mishra to carefully comply with the bail conditions. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the families of the deceased, had claimed that Ashish Mishra was participating in public meetings in violation of the order granting bail. The bail condition said that the accused will be entitled to go to the place where the trial is pending a day prior to the date fixed in the trial case. Ashish Mishra went there on 2nd October, which is a holiday and there was no date fixed for trial on October 3rd. He held a massive rally and public meetings there. We know he was there, let him respond as to whether he went there or not. We will produce photographs," Bhushan said. Opposing this, senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Ashish Mishra, had contended: Please produce the photographs. Every time this matter comes up, my friend makes an allegation regarding violation of bail order." We will file an application seeking contempt of court. He is violating the bail conditions imposed," Bhushan countered. In July, the Supreme Court confirmed and made absolute interim bail granted to Ashish Mishra, taking note of the fact that only seven of the 114 witnesses were examined till then. It had asked the trial court to expedite the pending proceedings and ordered Ashish Mishra to stay in Lucknow or Delhi only. The Supreme Court in January 2023 had imposed a slew of conditions while granting interim bail to Mishra. It had ruled that Ashish Mishra would have to leave Uttar Pradesh within one week of his release; he cannot stay in UP or Delhi/NCR; he shall inform the court about his location; and any attempt by his family members or Mishra himself to influence witnesses would lead to cancellation of his bail. The apex court added that Mishra would have to surrender his passport; he would not enter UP except to attend the trial proceedings; and, the prosecution, SIT, Informant or any family member of the victims of the crime would be at liberty to promptly inform the apex court of any incident of misuse of the concession of the interim bail. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Subsequently, it relaxed the bail condition of Ashish Mishra to stay in the national capital considering the fact that his mother was admitted to a hospital in Delhi and his daughter also required medical treatment. In October 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri Districts Tikunia in violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Mauryas visit to the area. According to the UP Police FIR, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated. First Published: November 27, 2024, 21:29 IST Who Fired The Bullets In UP's Sambhal That Killed 5? Probe On Amid Conflicting Claims Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:07 IST Violence in UP's Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of a mosque has lead to five deaths, and the state government has launched a magisterial inquiry. Police personnel keep a vigil near Shahi Jama Masjid, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh (Photo: PTI) Politics over the deaths of five people in Sambhal violence has deepened after the post-mortem report of the victims suggested most of them died of bullet injuries. This came after Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi, on Tuesday, said some rioters in Sambhal were armed. Pallet guns were primarily used by the police to disperse the crowd and bring the situation under control. However, authorities were still investigating as to who fired the bullets causing the death of five people. related stories On Wednesday, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said a knife has also been recovered from the riot-hit area, and that there could be more minors involved in the violence. The number of minors involved in the case was three until yesterday. But this number can change. The minor accused are being counselled. We are trying to educate them and make them skilled. We have recovered a knife and will identify the anti-social elements in society and will expose all those who were involved in this conspiracy," he said. As the investigations into the case continue, a magisterial enquiry has already been ordered. Normalcy has started to return to the town days after the violence, which also left some police personnel injured, on November 24. While some shops were opened on Wednesday morning, restrictions were still there as the police continued to keep a close watch on locals and any misinformation being spread. VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Security remains tightened in Sambhal, where violence broke out during a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque on Sunday (November 24).Members of both Hindu and Muslim communities have called for unity and pledged to rebuild communal harmony even as pic.twitter.com/VPrxujnLdr Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 27, 2024 Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, several MPs today spoke on the Sambhal violence. BJP MP Ravi Kishan drew a parallel with Kashmir and alleged the violence was incited by local leaders of the town. Commenting on the Samajwadi Party (SP) holding local administration responsible, said, How is the administration responsible? The survey was being done as per the court orders. Suddenly, so many people with arms gathered there. There are visuals of this available. Local leaders of Sambhal incited the people there. The same used to happen in Kashmir," he said. On the other hand, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the police have been communalised. The Congress party is clear that police have been communalised. The way the Uttar Pradesh Police are acting, like a BJP wing, is unacceptable. The administration is not allowing any delegation to visit the area," he said. Also speaking to the media, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said, Innocent people were killed. Such things do not happen in a democratic system. The government has not taken any action against such officials. Our delegation will go there tomorrow and we will raise this issue. If the government does not listen to us then we have no option but to go to court." WHAT HAPPENED IN SAMBHAL? The clashes erupted over a confrontation following a court-ordered survey of the citys Shahi Jama Masjid in the Kot Garvi area. The survey was ordered following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple once stood at the site. Subsequently, a large crowd gathered near a mosque and began chanting slogans as a survey team resumed its work. The situation escalated when the protesters clashed with security personnel, set vehicles on fire, and pelted stones. So far, police have arrested 25 people and registered seven First Information Reports (FIR)s, which include charges against Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Sohail Iqbal, son of the partys local MLA Iqbal Mehmood, and over 2,750 unidentified suspects. POSTERS OF STONE PELTERS TO BE PUT UP Taking a tough stance over the violence in Sambhal, the Uttar Pradesh government has said it would make protesters involved pay for damage to public property while posters of stone pelters" will be displayed at public places. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The UP government is adopting a firm stance against the individuals involved in the Sambhal violence. Posters of the stone pelters and miscreants will be displayed publicly, and recovery of damages will be sought. A reward may also be announced for information leading to their arrest," news agency PTI quoted an official spokesperson as saying. In a similar initiative, the government had previously put up posters of individuals linked to vandalism during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in 2020. These posters were displayed across several locations, including the state capital, but were later removed following a court order. First Published: November 27, 2024, 12:35 IST 'Stop Atrocities Against Hindus In Bangladesh': Pawan Kalyan Slams Yunus, Demands UN Intervention Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:09 IST Pawan Kalyan slammed Yunus over arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das and raised issue of atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. Pawan Kalyan and Chinmoy Krishna Das (Image: PTI and @MumbaichaDon/X) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday condemned the arrest and denial of bail to Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and sought the United Nations intervention over the atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. Kalyan urged Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor to the interim government, to stop atrocities on the Hindu community in the neighbouring country. related stories The Deputy Chief Minister also reminded Bangladesh of Indias contribution to the creation of Bangladesh and said that the Indian Army jawans laid their lives to liberate Bangladesh from the clutches of Pakistan. Massive protests have erupted in Bangladesh, including from Indias Ministry of External Affairs, over the arrest and denial of bail to Prabhu, who raised his voice against the acts of violence against Hindus in the neighbouring country. The monk was held by the Dhaka Polices Detective Branch at Dhaka airport on November 25. A Chittagong court rejected his bail plea and charged the monk with sedition. Pawan Kalyan Gives Hindu Unity Call Kalyan called upon the Hindu community to condemn the incident and sought the UN intervention on the matter. Lets all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKON Bangladesh Priest Chinmoy Krishna Das by Bangladesh police. We urge and plead Bangladesh Govt under Sri Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus.Indian army blood has been spilled , our resources had been https://t.co/HcE9Mf865m Pawan Kalyan (@PawanKalyan) November 27, 2024 Lets all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKCON Bangladesh Priest Chinmoy Krishna Das by Bangladesh police. We urge and plead Bangladesh Govt under Sri Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus. Indian army blood has been spilled, our resources had been spent, our Army Jawans lives had been lost for Bangladesh formation. We are deeply disturbed the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted. We plead @UN @UNinIndia to intervene," Kalyan posted on X. MEA Issues Statement On Hindu Monks Arrest India reacted sharply to the recent developments in Bangladesh and asked the neighboring nation to ensure the safety of Hindus who are a religious minority in the country. We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression," MEA said in an official statement. The Ministry underlined that that there are rising cases of arson and looting of homes and business establishments of the minorities as well as vandalism and desecration of deities and temples. The MEA expressed concerns over the attacks on Hindus protesting peacefully demanding release of the arrest monk. Bangladesh Reacts To Indias Statement top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Bangladesh foreign ministry responded to Indias statement on Tuesday claiming that the remarks were made on the internal affairs of Bangladesh" and certain statements being made harm the friendly relations between the two countries. Attention of the Government of Bangladesh has been drawn to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of India to the media today (26 November 2024) on a matter concerning internal affairs of Bangladesh. It is with utter dismay and deep sense of hurt that the Government of Bangladesh notes that the arrest of Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been misconstrued by certain quarters since Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been arrested on specific charges," the statement said. Location : Amaravati, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 09:44 IST UP Govt Releases Photos Of Sambhal Rioters, Says Will Make Them Pay For Damages Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:34 IST The government's decision came after four people died and scores, including police personnel, were injured in Sambhal on Sunday in violent clashes. UP Police releases pictures of protesters. (Image: News18) The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to display the posters of the stone pelters" involved in the Sambhal violence at public places. In addition to this, the state government will also make the demonstrators pay for damage to public property, officials said on Wednesday. The governments decision came after four people died and scores, including police personnel, were injured in Sambhal on Sunday in violent clashes. The protests took place after a confrontation erupted over a court-ordered survey of the citys Shahi Jama Masjid in Kot Garvi area, following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple once stood at the site. related stories The UP government is adopting a firm stance against the individuals involved in the Sambhal violence. Posters of the stone pelters and miscreants will be displayed publicly, and recovery of damages will be sought," an official spokesperson was quoted by news agency PTI. The spokesperson further informed that a reward may also be announced for information leading to their arrest. UP Governments Strict Action This is not the first time that the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government is taking strict action against the protesters. The government had previously put up posters of individuals linked to vandalism during the anti-CAA protests in 2020. These posters were displayed across several locations, including the state capital, but were later removed following a court order. What Happened In Sambhal? The violence in Sambhal erupted on Sunday when a large crowd gathered near a mosque and began chanting slogans as a survey team resumed its work. The situation escalated when the protesters clashed with security personnel, set vehicles on fire, and pelted stones. So far, police have arrested 25 individuals and registered seven FIRs, which include charges against Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Sohail Iqbal, son of the partys local MLA Iqbal Mehmood, and over 2,750 unidentified suspects. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A magisterial probe is underway, and Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi stated on Monday that the situation was now under control. He assured that strict action will be taken against those responsible for the unrest." (With agency inputs) Location : Uttar Pradesh, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:18 IST Uttarakhand Man Divorces Wife Through 'Triple Talaq' After His Affair Gets Exposed, Arrested Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 18:25 IST The Banbhulpura police registered a case against Sami Alam, as well as his mother, sister, and brother, under charges related to assault and the illegal practice of triple talaq. Sami allegedly gave his first wife a triple talaq, a practice now illegal in the country. (Representational Image) A shocking case of triple talaq emerged in Uttarakhands Haldwani area, where a woman claimed that her husband divorced her after 16 years of marriage, allegedly due to his affair with another woman. The victim accused that her husband, Sami Alam, ended their marriage publically in front of their relatives, following the discovery of his extramarital relationship. The matter was brought to light after the victims brother, Samir, filed a complaint with the police. According to Samir, his sister married Sami Alam, a resident of Banbhulpura, in 2008, and the couple had two daughters. However, trouble began early in the marriage when, just two years later, Sami ran off with another woman. related stories Though he was later apprehended by police and apologised, his behaviour reportedly continued, with accusations of domestic abuse and threats, particularly linked to his alleged claim of being a journalist. In early November, tensions escalated when Sami allegedly beat his wife again on November 6. The following day, Samir intervened and brought his sister back to his own home for safety. Two days later, on November 8, Sami turned up at the family home, threatening to divorce his wife if she did not return to him. Fearing social repercussions, the woman went back to her in-laws house, only to discover that Sami had secretly remarried. On November 9, during a confrontation over his second marriage, Sami allegedly consumed four pills, believing they were poison. The family rushed him to Soban Singh Jeena Base Hospital, where he was later referred to Sushila Tiwari Hospital. It was there that they learned he had ingested intoxicant pills rather than poison. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Upon his return home on November 10, Sami allegedly gave his first wife a triple talaq, a practice now illegal in the country but still relevant in some circles, and forced her out of the house. Following a complaint from the victims brother, the Banbhulpura police registered a case against Sami Alam, as well as his mother, sister, and brother, under charges related to assault and the illegal practice of triple talaq. Police are continuing their investigation into the case. Location : Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal), India First Published: November 27, 2024, 18:25 IST Woman Returning From Bangkok Was Hiding A Secret At Mumbai Airport Till Fragrance Gave Her Away Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:29 IST Customs officials arrested the two individuals on charges of smuggling 21 kg of hydroponic marijuana in two separate cases. The marijuana, originating from Bangkok, is estimated to be worth Rs 22 crore Officials have reported a recent surge in ganja smuggling from Bangkok, coinciding with Thailand becoming the first Asian country to legalise medical cannabis. (News18 Hindi) Planning trips to enjoy vacations in Bangkok has gained widespread attraction, especially among young people, who often save for months to fund their travel. However, some travellers end up making a critical mistake upon their return, landing them in legal trouble. This scenario recently unfolded at Mumbai airport when a young woman and another individual, both returning from Bangkok, were apprehended for possession of marijuana. Customs officials arrested the two individuals on charges of smuggling 21 kg of hydroponic marijuana in two separate cases. The marijuana, originating from Bangkok, is estimated to be worth Rs 22 crore. Officials have reported a recent surge in ganja smuggling from Bangkok, coinciding with Thailand becoming the first Asian country to legalise medical cannabis. related stories Patrignaben Kapadia, a resident of Navsari, Gujarat, arriving from Bangkok, was caught with marijuana at the Mumbai airport. Upon inspecting her luggage, customs officials found lots of clothing. Initially, they did not suspect any wrongdoing. However, upon removing the clothes, a distinct odour emanating from the bag aroused suspicion. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all When Kapadias bag was emptied, vacuum-sealed packets containing a green, dry, leafy material with a strong smell were found. A field kit test confirmed the substance to be hydroponic ganja (marijuana). An official stated that it weighed 14.62 kg and had an estimated value of Rs 14 crore in the international market. In a separate incident, Mohammed Pulikkalakath, a 31-year-old resident of Kerala, was stopped and questioned by customs officials after arriving from Bangkok. They recovered ganja worth Rs 8 crore from his possession. Customs found 8.3 kg of dried ganja pieces in his luggage, which, upon examination, was confirmed to be marijuana and valued at around Rs 8.3 crore. First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:29 IST Anushka Sharma Cheers For Virat Kohli During Australia Test In A Stylish Striped Co-Ord Set Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:51 IST Anushka Sharmas outfit, from designer Dhruv Kapoor, featured a chic blue-and-white striped shirt adorned with black and orange floral embellishments. Anushka Sharma blended comfort with timeless elegance. Anushka Sharmas fashion game continues to reign supreme. She proved it, once again, at the Optus Stadium in Perth, where she cheered on her husband Virat Kohli during the first test match against Australia. As she beamed with pride after Virats century, her casual yet chic outfit stole the spotlight. With a flawless mix of comfort and sophistication, Anushka reminded us why shes a huge fashion icon, turning heads and setting trends wherever she goes. Anushka Sharma chose a comfortable tie-up co-ord set by fashion designer Dhruv Kapoor. Her blue and white striped shirt, adorned with black and orange floral embellishments, featured a collar neckline, elbow-length sleeves, and tie-up detailing for a chic twist. She paired it with matching shorts, creating a laid-back yet stylish ensemble perfect for a casual outing. related stories Keeping it simple yet glamorous, Anushka went for minimal makeup that highlighted her natural glow and styled her shoulder-length hair in a loose side part. To complete the look, she accessorized with diamond earrings and a silver wristwatch, proving once again that effortless elegance is her signature style. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bollywood Womens Style (@bollywoodwomencloset) Take style inspiration from Anushka Sharma if youre aiming for casual yet chic vibes for your next outing with friends or family. Known for her impeccable fashion choices, Anushka recently wowed fans with a stunning ethnic look in a new advertisement. For the ad, the actress donned a yellow lehenga set, complete with a choli, a flowing lehenga skirt, and a dupatta. The cropped choli stood out with intricate flower embroidery, mirror work, beaded tassels, and sequins, while the round neckline, half-length sleeves, and midriff-baring hemline added a modern twist. Anushka finished the look by draping the matching dupatta over one shoulder, letting it cascade gracefully, embodying the perfect fusion of tradition and contemporary elegance. She accessorized her look with stunning gold, emerald, kundan and pearl-adorned jewels including a choker necklace, jhumkas, bangles, and rings all of which made her look even more regal. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MYNTRA BEAUTY (@myntrabeauty) top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Anushka Sharmas effortless blend of comfort and style makes her a true fashion icon, and were sure youll be inspired to take style cues from her for your next outing. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 16:51 IST What If The Beautiful 2 States Wedding Venue Is Unreal? Top Destinations for Your Perfect South Indian Temple Wedding Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 14:53 IST With these breathtaking settings, which offer a real and spiritual spaces much beyond the movie's set, you can have your ideal South Indian temple wedding. Who says that ideal weddings can't happen? In a recent interview, Arjun Kapoor stated that the famous wedding scene from 2 States was not shot at real temple. Rather, he praised the films crew for their artistic vision. In the 2014 film, the temple where Arjun Kapoors Krish and Alia Bhatts Ananya were married seemed like the perfect setting for a wedding. Lots of people were intrigued by the place because of its breathtaking vistas. The actor confirmed, though, that the temple was completely made up. After this film (2 States) released, people wanted to know where this temple is. This temple doesnt exist," Arjun revealed in an interview with Mashable India. related stories Talking about the fan favourite visual backdrop, he added, Its a set. But people thought Its Madh Island. We shot in Madh Island for four days. This is a set, and thats the Arabian Sea behind me." Arjun underlined how unreal places may seem real thanks to the beauty of film. Thats how amazing it is to be able to make cinema come alive, when the right technicians come together. Abhishek Varman, Vinod Pradhan, Amrita, the production design, the music, everything just adds to the mystery and that aura of a dream wedding. This dream wedding was happening in Madh Island," he further said. There is no need to fear if you had visions of re-creating this magical temple setting for your own ideal wedding. Five similarly stunning locations with temple backdrops that are ideal for a South Indian wedding are listed right here: top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu:This seaside town, which is well-known for its immaculate beaches and Shore Temple, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, provides a traditional South Indian wedding setting that is both elegant and spiritual. Chettinad Mansions, Tamil Nadu:Chettinad is well-known for its elaborate architecture and historic palaces, making it the ideal location for lavish weddings infused with Tamil culture. Mysore Palace, Karnataka:With its elaborate architecture and historical appeal, this regal property offers a magnificent and culturally rich venue for weddings. Fort Kochi, Kerala:Fort Kochi is perfect for a traditional Kerala wedding with a picturesque coastal backdrop because it offers a variety of heritage sites and backwater villas. Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu:For South Indian weddings, this sacred island town renowned for its temples and serene beaches provides a profoundly spiritual and picturesque setting. These destinations all perfectly capture the splendour, elegance, and customs of South Indian culture. First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:53 IST Aishwarya Rai Looks Gorgeous In Blue As She Attends An Event In Dubai Amid Divorce Rumours | Watch Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 20:07 IST Interestingly, Aishwarya Rai's appearance comes at a time when rumours of trouble in her married life with Abhishek Bachchan has been making headlines. Aishwarya Rai attends the Global Womens Forum event in Dubai. Aishwarya Rai is currently in Dubai where she attended the Global Womens Forum event on Wednesday, November 27. A video of the actress surfaced on social media in which the Bollywood diva was seen dressed in a gorgeous blue gown with silver embellishments. She opted for smokey eyes, kept her tresses open and looked prettiest as always. At the event, Aishwarya talked about power of partnerships, innovations and determinations. Besides Aishwarya, several other celebrities including beauty mogul Huda Kattan and the lawyer who represented Johnny Depp in his legal battle also attended the event. related stories View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aishwarya Rai Team (@aishwarya_raifan) Interestingly, this comes at a time when rumours of trouble in Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rais married life have been making headlines. Speculations intensified after the couple appeared separately for the media at the Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding earlier this year. Besides this, Aishwarya recently shared photos from daughter Aaradhyas birthday bash which did not feature any of the Bachchan family members, including Abhishek. This had also left netizens wondering if all is not well between the two actors. While Abhishek and Aishwarya have been tight-lipped about the rumours, Amitabh had recently shared a post seemingly addressing speculations surrounding their familys personal affairs. I rarely say much about family, because that is my domain and its privacy is maintained by me .. Speculations are speculations .. they are speculated untruths , without verifications .. Verifications are sought by the seekers to authenticate their business and commercials of the profession they be in .. I shall not challenge their desire to be in the profession of their choice .. and I shall appreciate their effort in serving society .. But untruths .. or selected question marked information can be a legal safeguard for them that inform .. but the seed of suspected belief is sown with this most used emblem .. the question mark ..?" he said. First Published: November 27, 2024, 20:07 IST Ajay Devgn's Son Of Sardar Director Ashwini Dhir's Son, Jalaj, Dies In Car Accident; Friend Arrested Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 12:45 IST Filmmaker Ashwini Dhir, known for his works like Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge and Son of Sardar, has tragically lost his 18-year-old son, Jalaj Dhir, in a car accident on November 23. Jalaj was 18 years old. Filmmaker Ashwini Dhir, known for his works like Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge and Son of Sardar, has tragically lost his 18-year-old son, Jalaj Dhir, in a devastating car accident on November 23. According to report in the Free Press Journal, Jalaj was traveling with three friends when the vehicle crashed, leading to the loss of both Jalaj and one of his companions. The incident occurred on the Western Express Highway in Vile Parle, as the group was returning from a late-night drive from Bandra to Goregaon. The car, driven by 18-year-old Sahil Mendha, crashed into a divider near Sahara Star Hotel. Authorities believe Mendha was under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of the vehicle, causing the crash between the service road and the bridge on the northbound side. related stories 18-year-old Jalaj Dhir and his friend Sarth Kaushik tragically lost their lives in the accident. They were rushed to the hospital after the crash, but both succumbed to their injuries. The driver, 18-year-old Sahil Mendha, was arrested after a statement from the fourth passenger, Jedan Jimmy, who was in the car. Police have also sent Mendhas blood samples for alcohol testing. According to Jimmy, Mendha drank two pegs of vodka at Jalajs home in Goregaon before the group went for a drive at around 3:30 am. Mendha drove at high speeds of 120-150 km/h and lost control of the car near Sahara Star Hotel, causing the crash. While Mendha and Jimmy had minor injuries, Jalaj and Sarthak were critically hurt. Jimmy took Jalaj to a hospital, but he was later declared dead. Mendha took Sarthak to another hospital, where he too was declared dead. Following the tragedy, Jimmy filed a police complaint, leading to Mendhas arrest. Ashwni Dhir is a well-known film director and scriptwriter. He has also written and produced various TV serials. He has directed films like One Two Three, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?, Son Of Sardaar and Guest Iin London and he has produced chidiya ghar. First Published: November 27, 2024, 12:43 IST Allu Arjun BREAKS Silence On Fahadh Faasil's Absence From Pushpa 2 Promotions: 'I Really Miss...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 28, 2024, 00:30 IST In addition to his heartfelt message to Fahadh Faasil, Allu Arjun also expressed his appreciation for Pushpa 2 director Sukumar. Allu Arjun praises Fahadh Faasil's work in Pushpa 2. At the pre-release event of Pushpa 2: The Rule in Kochi, Allu Arjun took a moment to praise his co-stars, particularly Fahadh Faasil and Rashmika Mandanna. He referred to Rashmika as his home" and lauded her for her dedication. However, it was his heartfelt mention of Fahadh Faasils absence that caught everyones attention. The actor greeted his fans at the event, saying, Enda army, namaskaram." Overwhelmed by the love and response Pushpa 2 has received across its promotional events, Allu Arjun added, Lots of love from your adopted son, Mallu Arjun." He went on to express his deep gratitude for the warmth shown by Keralas audience, acknowledging their support for the past two decades of his career. related stories But what really touched the crowd was his open expression of missing Fahadh Faasil. He shared, For the first time in all my films, I have worked with one of the best Malayalam actors, our FaFa. I actually miss seeing him today. I really wish we both were standing here together in Kerala today. That would have been an iconic thing. My brother, thank you! I wish we were here together. I wish you all the best. Im telling all the Keralites here, FaFa has rocked the show in Pushpa 2 and he will make every Mallu proud throughout the world." The actors emotional words resonated with fans, who are eagerly awaiting Fahadhs presence in the film. In addition to his heartfelt message to Fahadh, Allu Arjun also expressed his appreciation for Pushpa 2 director Sukumar, who he credited for shaping his career. It was actually Sukumar who gave me Arya and that film started my market in Malayalam. The entire credit goes to Arya, and from then till Pushpa you have shown me love," said Allu Arjun. He also conveyed thanks on behalf of Sukumar, who couldnt attend due to post-production work on the film. Allu Arjun also thanked music composer Devi Sri Prasad for delivering superhit tracks, from Feel My Love to Saami Saami, and for continuing to create unforgettable music for Pushpa 2. He wrapped up by assuring fans that they wouldnt have to wait as long for his next project. Pushpa 2: The Rule is scheduled to release in theatres on December 5, 2024. Location : Kochi [Cochin], India First Published: November 28, 2024, 00:30 IST BTS Star RMs Shirtless Picture Sends ARMY Into A Frenzy Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 09:06 IST Ahead of his documentary release, BTS member Kim Namjoons shirtless picture went viral. Kim Namjoons first documentary will be released on December 5. (Photo Credits: X) BTS fans, aka ARMY, are going crazy over leader Kim Namjoons (RM) new picture featuring his ripped body. While he bulked up years ago, the 30-year-old rapper-songwriter has only recently shown off his physique. The picture that has sent the groups fans into a meltdown is from RMs upcoming documentary Right People, Wrong Place, which is scheduled to be released on December 5. In the picture shared by a BTS fan page on X, Namjoon is seen brushing his teeth inside a well-lit place. The K-pop star is seen bare-chested with his shirt hanging on one of his shoulders. Soon, the promotional image sent the ARMYs into a frenzy, and they started expressing their thoughts on RMs ripped physique. related stories One fan wrote, MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR." Another said, KIM NAMJOON looks so adorable and beautiful." A fan also commented, OMGGGGGGG RM IS COMING, RPWP DOCUMENTARY IS COMING." OMG KIM NAMJOON pic.twitter.com/sLdjVZN5L3 BTS Charts Daily (@btschartsdailyc) November 26, 2024 At present, the BTS leader, along with Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook, is serving in the military. The 30-year-old K-pop idol, enlisted in December last year, is scheduled to be discharged from the military by June 2025. However, despite being in the military, RM has made sure to keep the fans entertained while he is unable to produce any new music. The BTS leader is set to release his first-ever documentary, Right People, Wrong Place, based on his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person, which was released in May this year. The upcoming documentary will showcase RMs hard work and dedication in making his second album, which is said to have limited screenings around the world. Right People, Wrong Place has been directed by Lee Seok Jun. A part of the synopsis of the film available on its official website states: A film that chronicles artist RMs eight-month production of his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person, while candidly recording the endless concerns of the person Kim Namjoon, and the things he immerses himself in and loves. For the first time, RM, or just Kim Namjoon, steps forward and opens the door to speak to his audience." The first round of ticket reservations took place on November 6, followed by the second on November 20, when tickets were also made available in India. The pre-sale tickets quickly sold out, highlighting the stardom of the BTS leader and the excitement among fans to watch the documentary. RM released his first-ever solo album Indigo, in 2022, featuring the title track Wild Flowers. First Published: November 27, 2024, 09:06 IST Darshan Claims Renukaswamy Was 'Vulgar', Sent Nude Photos To Women: 'He Was A Threat To...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 14:46 IST Previously, police officials claimed that Renuka used to send vulgar messages to Kannada actress Pavithra Gowad, a friend of Darshan. Darshan was arrested by the Bengaluru police from Mysuru on June 11. (File Photo) Kannada actor Darshan has claimed that Renukaswamy was vulgar and a menace to orderly society." During a recent hearing in the Karnataka High Court, Darshan and his legal team made shocking allegations against Renukaswamy and claimed that he used to send nude photos to women. Darshans senior advocate CV Nagesh made claims in court and went on to claim that the deceased had also sent pornographic content to multiple women. Renukaswamy had no respect for women and was a threat to the moral fabric of society," he argued. The lawyer further told the court that Renukaswamys activities were part of his pattern, not isolated acts. related stories Who Was Renukaswamy? Renukaswamy was found dead at Sumanahalli Bridge in Bengaluru on June 8, 2024. He hailed from a middle-class background with his father Kashinatha Shivanagoudara being a retired government employee. Reportedly, Renukaswamy used to work at an Apollo Pharmacy branch in Chitradurga. Previously, police officials claimed that Renuka used to send vulgar messages to Kannada actress Pavithra Gowad, a friend of Darshan. Angry about this, Renuka Swamy was murdered and his dead body was allegedly thrown in a canal at Kamaksshipalya, Bengaluru in front of Darshan. However, Renukaswamys wife previously denied claims that her late husband used to send derogatory messages to anyone. My husband called me on June 8 afternoon. If my husband had sent derogatory messages on social media, he should have been given a warning. What was the need to kill him," she said and then added, Whether he is an actor (Darshan) or a star, I want justice." When Was Darshan Arrested? Darshan was arrested by the Bengaluru police from Mysuru on June 11. Police officials are investigating his involvement in the Renuka Swamy murder case and have already seized his cell phones. His bail plea has been rejected multiple times. First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:46 IST Dhanush Sues Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan Over Unauthorised Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Footage In Netflix Docu Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:41 IST On November 16, Nayanthara lashed out at Dhanush for sending her a legal notice and demanding Rs 10 crore. The Madras High Court has reportedly asked Nayanthara to respond to Dhanush's suit by the next hearing. Actor Dhanush has filed a civil lawsuit against Nayanthara, accusing her of using footage from his production Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her Netflix documentary without his consent. According to The Hindu, the lawsuit was filed in the Madras High Court and names both Nayanthara and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Sivan, as defendants. Wunderbar Films has filed an application with the Madras High Court requesting permission, under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent, to include Los Gatos Production Services India LLP in their lawsuit. The company, through which Netflix reports its content investments in India, is based in Mumbai. Wunderbar Films seeks to sue Los Gatos along with the other defendants within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. Nayanthara has reportedly been asked to respond to the suit by the next hearing. related stories After hearing both sides, the judge approved the application to allow the case to proceed, without commenting on the main issue. The judge noted that Nayanthara, Vignesh Sivan, and Rowdy Pictures are based in the Madras High Courts jurisdiction, and that most of the issue happened here. Nayantharas open letter to Dhanush On November 16, Nayanthara lashed out at Dhanush for sending her a legal notice and demanding Rs 10 crore. On Saturday, the actress took to her Instagram handle and issued a long statement. She mentioned that during the making of her recently released Netflix documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, she had asked for permission from Dhanush to use visuals from their 2015 movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. However, Dhanush refused to grant her permission and instead sent her a legal notice for using behind-the-scenes visuals from the sets of the movie. On November 16, Nayanthara slammed Dhanush for sending her a legal notice demanding Rs 10 crore. In a lengthy open letter shared on her Instagram, the actress explained that during the making of her recently released Netflix documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, she had sought Dhanushs permission to use visuals from their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. However, Dhanush denied her request and instead sent a legal notice for using behind-the-scenes footage from the movies sets. First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:40 IST G-Dragon Was Aware Of Jung Ho Yeon And Lee Dong Hwi's Breakup? His Online Activities Spark A Stir Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 12:22 IST After being together for nine years, Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Dong Hwi reportedly broke up and have decided to remain colleagues. Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Dong Hwi went public in 2015. (Photo Credits: Instagram) In a shocking piece of news for fans, South Korean actors Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Dong Hwi ended their nine-year-long relationship. On November 26, multiple media reports suggested that the former couple recently broke up mutually and have decided to remain good associates in the future. Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Dong Hwi, who publicly acknowledged the relationship in 2016, were quite supportive and affectionate of each other at various events, even remaining dedicated to their respective careers. While the announcement of their break up after nearly a decade of public dating has created quite a stir, BIGBANGs G-Dragon has unexpectedly become a target of discussions on the matter. G-Dragon, who has no direct connection with their former couple, ended up liking Jung Ho Yeons Instagram posts, something which instantly caught the tension of eagle-eyed fans. related stories View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hoyeon (@hoooooyeony) On November 25, the Squid Game star shared a couple of behind-the-scenes pictures from the 2024 MAMA Awards which she attended as a presenter. In her post, Yeon documented her journey from waiting in the dressing room to standing just below the stage, drawing several reactions and likes from her fans including G-Dragon. Not just that, he also liked another of her posts from a trip to Japan. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hoyeon (@hoooooyeony) This unexpected reaction to the model-turned-actress social media posts left fans confused with some even speculating that he might have been aware of Jung Ho Yeons breakup because it was reported on November 26. Interestingly, the actress does not follow G-Dragon nor has he liked her posts prior to the two latest ones. Among a few malicious commenters, some questioned the odd timing of G-Dragon to suddenly express admiration for Jung Ho Yeon, years after the success of Squid Game. Others came out in his defense, highlighting his habit of mass liking on Instagram. It is worth mentioning that Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Dong Hwi, who always remained vocal about their relationship, never refrained from praising each other. During a media interview, the Squid Game actor shared about her partners reaction to her performance, stating that he is proud of her. Lee Dong Hwi, during a variety event spoke about the Netflix show, also describing the actress as his best friend". First Published: November 27, 2024, 12:22 IST 'Hot And Beautiful': Internet Reacts To Niveditha Gowda's Dance With Friends Curated By : Local News Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:39 IST She recently came under the spotlight after announcing her separation from her husband Chandan Shetty. Niveditha is in a black crop top paired with a white furry skirt. Niveditha Gowda, popularly known for her stint in Bigg Boss Kannada Season 5, is also quite active on social media and often sets the internet ablaze with her hot and glamorous pictures and videos. Once again, the diva caught the attention of the viewers as she dropped a dance video with her friend, which is currently going viral. In the video, Niveditha is in a black crop top paired with a white furry skirt. On the other hand, her friend is seen in a black shimmery tube top teamed with grey trousers. The duo is seen dancing in a washroom to the popular song Kukkad from the film Student Of The Year. Both look adorable. Every time we spot a mediocre masterpiece walking by" reads the video caption. related stories Take a look at the video: The diva caught the attention of the viewers as she dropped a couple of pictures from her recent bold photoshoot in which she could be seen flaunting her sexy back. In the snapshots, the actress is seen posing with her back to the camera as she wears a crisscross-back bra top paired with a white furry skirt. As soon as the post was shared online, the comment section was flooded with reactions from her fans and admirers. An Instagram user wrote, So pretty." Another one commented, She is so hot." One of them commented, Damn hot." A person commented, Hot and beautiful." Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress was recently seen in the music video Manasare Ninna alongside actor Gowri Naidu. Sung by Kishan DSouza and composed by Sandeep Sannu, the song was released on the official channel of Nivriti Vibes Kannada and received good responses from fans and admirers. She recently came under the spotlight after she announced her separation from her husband, Chandan Shetty, after 4 years of marriage. The duo first met on the show Bigg Boss Kannada 5. Later, their friendship blossomed into love. In 2017, the latter proposed to Niveditha. They tied the knot in February 2020 and called it off earlier this year. Despite their separation, the duo completed the shooting of their film Muddu Rakshasi, which was initially titled Candy Saga, written and directed by Puneeth Srinivas. First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:39 IST Kerala Film Market Returns For 2nd Edition In Thiruvananthapuram Curated By : Local News Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 12:09 IST The market seeks to give filmmakers access to cutting-edge information and business prospects in a range of film-related fields. The Tagore Theatre will house the viewing chamber. Thiruvananthapuram is set to host the second Kerala Film Market, which aims to provide creative chances for film professionals to exchange information and make money from December 11 to 13. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) are co-organizers of the event. The 29th edition of the Kerala International Film Festival includes it. The primary events of KFM this year include masterclasses, workshops, and business-to-business meetings hosted by international film professionals. The capital will host the event on December 11, 12, and 13. related stories The market seeks to give filmmakers access to cutting-edge information and business prospects in a range of film-related fields. A grander scale is being planned for the second edition in response to the previous editions popularity. The government guest house in Thycaud and the Chitranjali Studio in Thiruvananthapuram will host KFM. According to Prem Kumar, Chairman of the Film Academy, the Kerala International Film Festival would not be the same without the Film Market, which blends the commercial and scholarly facets of filmmaking. According to him, womens involvement in this years film festival will be more prominent and well-liked. According to KSFDC Managing Director Priyadarsanan P S on all three days of KFM edition 2, an interactive session with the producers of popular Malayalam films will be held. The Tagore Theatre will house the viewing chamber of KFM 2 from December 11 to 20. In the viewing room, filmmakers and producers can show their films to distributors and festival organisers. According to him, the Kerala Film Market was created to grow into a sizable system comparable to the Goa Film Festivals Film Market in the upcoming editions, where producers and other creative people from the film industry are expected to actively participate. Events Three primary elements are the emphasis of the second edition of KFM: masterclasses, workshops, and business-to-business meetings. Film producer Ingrid Lill Hgtun and Keiko Funato, founder of the Paris-based film sales organisation, will be available for business-to-business talks with producers. Cinematographer Agnes Godard will lead a master class on cinematography, French musician Beatrice Thiriet will lead a master class on background music, producer Ingrid Lill Hogtun will lead a master class on co-production and fundraising, screenwriter Juliette Sales will lead a master class on co-production and fundraising, Yunus Bukhari, CEO of K Sera Sera Virtual Productions, will lead a master class on editing by film editor Sreekar Prasad, immersive technology for heritage will be covered by Ajit Padmanabhan. There will also be a masterclass by reality consultant Loic Tanga on narrative from print reality to extended relativity. First Published: November 27, 2024, 12:09 IST Rupali Ganguly's Stepdaughter Esha Calls Defamation Suit Cruel, Disturbing: 'Displayed Their True Character' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 11:32 IST Rupali Ganguly's stepdaughter, Esha Verma, addressed recent controversies regarding her family in an Instagram Story. Esha Verma has been making shocking claims about stepmother Rupali Ganguly. Rupali Gangulys stepdaughter, Esha Verma, addressed recent controversies regarding her family in an Instagram Story. She referred to the Rs 50 crore defamation notice reportedly sent by Rupali, calling it disturbing, cruel, and a reflection of their true character." Esha also slammed her father, Ashwin Verma, and stated that this would be her final statement on the matter." Esha took to Instagram Stories to put an end to the matter. An excerpt from her note read, Speaking up was the hardest thing Ive ever done, but it also became a turning point in my life. It brought clarity, peace, and liberation from years of silence. I was mindful of how this would affect not just me but also my friends and loved ones, and I handled it with the utmost care." related stories Esha Verma clarified that she had no intention of causing harm. She explained that for 24 years, she felt trapped in a difficult reality and shared her experiences to find freedom and justice. My intention was never to cause harm but to shed light on experiences that shaped me," she added. Esha Verma slammed Rupali Ganguly and her father, Ashwin Verma, stating that children shouldnt face punishment for speaking their truth. To address one important point: a child should not be punished for speaking their truth. Despite being a young adult, I am still my fathers child. Their response to my statement was disturbing, cruel, and displayed their true character. I was not just a random individual speaking out but someone who was directly affected as a member of their family," she went on to add. Esha also clarified that Rupali Gangulys son Rudransh and that she never mentioned a minor in her statements. She explained that she simply shared facts. I never involved a minor in my statements. What I shared was factual: I learned of a marriage that took place on February 6th, 2013, and later discovered on August 25th of the same year that they had a child. Any additional interpretations published in the media were made without my input or consent. I only spoke about my own experiences and addressed two individuals directly," she wrote, thanking those who have been by her side. Earlier this week, Anupamaa actress Rupali Gangulys lawyer Sana Raees Khan told News18 that it was Rupali who decided to send a defamation notice to Esha after the latter dragged her 11-year-old son, Rudransh. Rupali decided to take this drastic step when her stepdaughter maliciously labelled her 11-year-old child as illegitimate and the matter escalated with continuous and constant defamatory and derogatory posts thereby character assassinating Rupali," she said. First Published: November 27, 2024, 11:32 IST Tamannaah Bhatia Goes Retro Chic In Black Bodycon, Hottest-Ever Photos Go Viral | See Here Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 19:00 IST Tamannaah Bhatia has dropped new photos on Instagram as part of her upcoming Netflix film, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar and they have left her fans in awe. Tamannaah Bhatia will be seen in Sikandar Ka Muqaddar. Tamannaah Bhatia has dropped new photos on Instagram as part of her upcoming Netflix film, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar and they have left her fans in awe. Dressed in a sleek, form-fitting black dress with a structured sweetheart neckline, she flaunts a timeless silhouette that accentuates her curves in the photos. She accessorised the minimalistic yet bold outfit with a wide black headband, lending her a retro-chic edge while keeping the overall vibe understated and classy. Her light makeup look adds to the look flawlessly dewy skin, delicately blushed cheeks and a soft nude lip. Defined brows and minimal eye makeup highlight her natural beauty, while the bold red nails inject a pop of playful colour. related stories Tamannaah struck a couple of poses in the photos. Whether shes holding a black stiletto in one hand or resting her chin lightly on her fingers, her expressions were spot-on. She captioned the carousel, When the aaropi is under cover." Meanwhile, Tamannaah Bhatia and beau 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?" 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." According to a report by 123Telugu, the couple is planning to tie the knot in 2025 and has begun looking for a luxurious apartment in Mumbai to settle in after their marriage. While there has been no official confirmation, sources indicate that they are taking important steps toward building their future together. First Published: November 27, 2024, 19:00 IST Opinion | As Islamists Butcher Bangladeshi Hindus, India Has Many Cards To Play Written By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:31 IST It will be wise for India to turn up the heat slowly and on multiple fronts, instead of doing anything too drastic Police personnel baton-charge protesting supporters of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a jailed Hindu monk leader. (AFP) For someone whose family swam across historys river of fire from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to arrive in India and rebuild their lives from a fistful of ashes, it is not easy for me to watch what Hindus and other minorities are going through right now. The ashes leap up and swirl in your head again. When indulged, anger and pain blur objectivity. related stories Fortunately, a nation does not decide on the course of its action prodded by flames of personal anguish. The Narendra Modi government has to constantly look out for well-placed traps and landmines in this unfolding chapter across Bharats 4,096 km eastern border with Bangladesh. The proof of the US Deep States involvement in former PM Sheikh Hasinas violent usurpation from power is in its signature. The use of Islamist militant groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jamaat; ratcheting up mobs over several weeks; intel reports of Joe Bidens State Department regime-changers like Donald Lu issuing menacing ultimatums to Hasinas top diplomats; pulling down Sheikh Mujibur Rahmans statues; and installing the darling of the Clintons, Obamas, and the Soroses, Muhammad Yunusthe flair of the Deep State was etched all over. And that shadowy network, cornered and mangled in the November elections by Donald Trump-led Republicans, is going out licking its wounds but desperate for a last bite. They dont like strong governments. Soros has publicly stated his loathing for Modi more than once. Which is why India ought to tread carefully. It faces a dilemma. Not acting decisively will show it up as weak, incapable of exerting its will or saving innocent Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Christian lives. It will make it difficult to command respect in ones own nation, its neighbourhood, and the world. But hasty action, especially military, could be a trap laid to show it as a reckless aggressor, and foment trouble at home (remember, India has an estimated 30-40 million illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas). The military option must not be ruled out, especially if there are incursions. The ISI has flown in radical elements from Pakistan and started militant training in Brahmanbaria and Sylhets Ambarkhana. But there is a whole platter of other options to be explored and exhausted. First, covert action on Islamist groups Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jamaat, and Hefazat through proxies. Also, exploiting pitched battles for supremacy which have been raging between Islamist factions of BNP and Jamaat, for instance. Two, a total economic and trade blockade can bring the most rabid elements in Bangladesh to the table, that too in a short time. The ongoing and uninterrupted bloodshed has brought Bangladeshs industry almost on its knees. Its key garment industry is bleeding. It relies on India for raw material. Bangladesh also heavily depends on India for rice, wheat, eggs, onion, ginger, garlic, sugar, cotton, cereals, iron and steel, refined petroleum, electronic equipment, plastics, and energy. A blockade will affect Indias exports to an extent but hit Bangladesh much harder. All medical visas should be suspended till the violence stops. Three, India must covertly help Hindus, other minorities, and persecuted secular Muslims to fight back Islamist terror and against the paralytic Yunus government. Four, friendly lines with the Bangladesh Army are apparently open, but it needs to be further strengthened. Which is also why military intervention should be considered when all else fails. The fourth option is to befriend the BNP. One of Indias greatest mistakes was to put all eggs in one basket by blindly backing the increasingly unpopular Hasina regime till the end. Suspending distrust, if India had opened lines with a BNP which is eager to reach out, it could have possibly weaned Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahmans party away from Jamaat, enabled fairer electoral outcomes, and had both Awami League and BNP in the friend zone. If elections happen today, the BNP will sweep. It will still be worthwhile to extend a hand. Leaders like Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi could be Indias options outside the Zia family. Fifth, India should work on a post-Hasina family Awami League. The bile in a large section of Bangladeshis against her autocratic regime is so thick that if India tries to push her back into the polity, further bloodshed may ensue, besides earning New Delhi more unpopularity in Dhaka. India must explore clean and efficient leaders like Saber Hossain Chowdhury or MA Mannan to revive the Awami League, ideally with Hasinas blessings from the backdrop. Sixth, this is a good time to push back illegals into Bangladesh, start cracking down nationwide on those with fake papers and those who create those documents. Let the detection, detention, and deportation begin. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all It will be wise to turn up the heat slowly and on multiple fronts instead of doing anything too drastic. India should wait it out till Trump swears in on January 20, and Bidens State Department hyenas are out. Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:31 IST Opinion | Message For Muslims From Maharashtra: Smell The Coffee And Shun Confrontation With BJP Written By : News18.com Last Updated: November 26, 2024, 16:44 IST Its time to move on from perpetually nursing a sense of identity crisis to addressing real bread-and-butter issues affecting their community The Congresss defeat in Maharashtra, as indeed in Haryana and elsewhere, is a manifestation of a broader phenomenon: a shift of potentially historic significance underway in Indian politics towards the Right. (File image: PTI) As a consistent advocate of a dialogue between Muslims and the Sangh Parivar, the results of the Maharashtra assembly elections giving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies a thumping majority and comprehensively rejecting the so-called secular parties only reinforce my argument that Muslims need to wake up and smell the coffee. The message from Maharashtra is clear: no Godot is coming to their rescue. The proverbial fat lady has sungand its all over for the communitys secular" friends, bar the shouting. related stories In other words, Muslims are on their own, and they must decide what is in their best interest: a permanent confrontation with the ruling establishment, which has just won another popular mandate, or try and adjust to the new situation in a spirit of pragmatism and practical common sense? They are facing an existential crisis, and its important that they read the Maharashtra verdict right instead of being swayed by their liberal friends conspiracy theories. And the Maharashtra verdict is a confirmation, if one were needed, of the unstoppable pull of Hindutva and an emphatic reminder of the remorseless decline of moderate parties, whether operating alone or in alliance with seemingly more winnable partners. In the coming days, there will be enough reviews" and postmortems into yet another electoral debacle. Scapegoats will be found, allegations of rigging will be thrown about, promises will be made to fix things, and there will be a show of rearranging the deckchairs. But what will not happen is addressing the elephant in the room. And the elephant in the room, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined in his post-poll address to his party, is that Yeh desh ke badle mizaj ko nahi samajh paye, samajhna nahi chahte (They dont understand that the mood of the nation has changed; indeed, they dont want to understand it)." The Congresss defeat in Maharashtra, as indeed in Haryana and elsewhere, is a manifestation of a broader phenomenon: a shift of potentially historic significance underway in Indian politics towards the Right. But blinded by smugness, the liberal establishment has chosen not to face the facts and instead sought to shrug it off as a minor inconvenience that will go away. It will not. And Muslims, having their fingers burnt before, should be wary of the Congresss charm offensive. It is simply using them as pawns in its battle with the BJPas indeed it has done for much of the past 70 yearsand will not hesitate to dump them when they begin to look like a political liability. The truth is that the BJPs brand of nationalist appeal, initially restricted to the fringes of the hoi polloi, has rapidly spread to the mainstream. And its growingan odd blip here and there notwithstanding. The reason why the Congress and its allies are so reluctant to accept the reality of a new" India is that it will mean admitting their own role in their downfall, driven by a combination of arrogance, a false sense of entitlement, misplaced assumptions, and a disconnect from public mood. But rather than confronting this harsh truth, they find it more comfortable to seek refuge in conspiracy theoriesrigged electronic voting machines (EVMs), partisan Election Commission, and abuse of official machinery, et al. Its time to move on from perpetually nursing a sense of identity crisis to addressing real bread-and-butter issues affecting their community. In this context, a new book, Role Models: Inspiring Stories of Indian Muslim Achievers, by a young Kashmiri political and social activist, Shehla Rashid, comes as a timely intervention. It is an appeal to Muslims to come out of their shell and fashion a new identity closer to that of mainstream, modern, educated, and aspirational Indians. There is no dearth of such Muslim role models, she argues, and by way of illustration, profiles the lives and careers of a dozen-plus successful Muslim men and women cutting across age groups and regional and cultural divides. Rashid cites her own storyhow a middle-class girl from a broken home in a conflict zone" in downtown Srinagar made her own destiny in the face of heavy oddsas an example of the triumph of self-belief and determination over ideological hang-ups and social and economic adversity. She could have easily succumbed to the handwringing victimhood that has held back the community from moving forward. She acknowledges that Muslims havent always got a fair deal but argues that so is the case with women and youth". But this hasnt stopped either women or youth from claiming their space in the knowledge economy. Muslims too, whenever equipped with the right skills, have achieved stellar success as the various stories in this book demonstrate," she writes. Rashid makes a persuasive case for the need for Muslims to help themselves instead of wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing. Its a case I made in my books, Indias Muslim Spring: Why Is Nobody Talking About It? and Unmasking Indian Secularism: Why We Need A New Hindu-Muslim Deal. The new deal" means a Muslim recognition that India is a Hindu-majority country and pays more attention to their grievances. The community needs to reshape its dysfunctional politics by steering it away from its traditional obsession with identity issues that has done so much damage in the past. Liberal Muslims must work with conservative community leadership to find a way out of the confines of victimhood on the one hand and entitlement on the other. After years of isolationism and disproportionate dependence on self-styled secular parties to deliver for them in exchange for votes, Muslims face a fork in the road: to continue on the old path or chart a new course? Having said that, however, it takes two to tango. But unfortunately, the BJP has been reluctant to go beyond occasionally issuing feel-good statements. Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas" was meant to assure the minorities, not least Muslims. In the event, however, much of the past decade has seen the community being traduced and routinely accused of plotting against Hindus via love jihad", land jihad", vote jihad", food jihad" name it. At the same time, Muslim efforts to reach out to the Sangh have not been reciprocated. An example of this is the widely hailed dialogue" between RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and a group of liberal Muslimsformer Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, former election commissioner SY Quraishi, journalist Shahid Siddiqui, hotelier Saeed Sherwani, and former vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Lt Gen (retd) Zameeruddin Shah in 2022-2023. Hopes were raised of a historic rapprochement between the two sidesonly for the much-hyped dialogue to collapse after Bhagwat withdrew, leaving it to his hardliner colleagues to continue. The last meeting was held in early 2023, and while the Muslim interlocutors are said to be keen to resume the talks, there has been no response from the RSS side. It must all be rather embarrassing for Messrs Jung, Quraishi et al, who braved widespread criticism and accusations of betrayal from their peers to start the dialogue in a huge leap of faith. They risked their reputations in the larger interest of Hindu-Muslim relations and a belief in the process of dialogueonly to be let down and left defending their decision to their community. The truth is that given their isolation, most Muslims are keen to build bridges with the BJP, realising the futility of a permanent standoff. And if the BJP had made a serious effort, many, if not all, may have switched to the BJP by now. The fact that yet so many high-profile Muslims have joined the party in recent years proves my point. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Perhaps its still not too late, provided theres enough political will on both sides to do so. Hopefully, Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi", in the words of Sahir Ludhianvi. Hasan Suroor is author of Unmasking Secularism: Why We Need A New Hindu-Muslim Deal. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. First Published: November 26, 2024, 16:44 IST Straight Talk | Maha To Haryana: BJP Adapts And Conquers, Congress Squanders And Falters Written By : News18.com Last Updated: November 29, 2024, 15:16 IST Both in Haryana and Maharashtra, Congress fell for its own lies, believing that the momentum of the Lok Sabha elections will help the party win all upcoming elections. In doing so, it flanked open the field for the BJP Haryana and Maharashtra were supposed to be BJPs Achilles heel; instead, theyve become its crown jewels. (PTI) Haari baazi ko jeetna jise aata hai related stories The BJP is ending 2024 on a high note. It has won two major state elections after facing rather grim Lok Sabha election results, which made it dependent on NDA allies for a simple majority in a first since 2014. First in Haryana, and now, in Maharashtra, the BJP has done the impossible. Haryana and Maharashtra were supposed to be BJPs Achilles heel; instead, theyve become its crown jewels. In Haryana, issues like Aginveer, unemployment, anti-incumbency, and Jat anger over farm laws were described as insurmountable challenges for the BJP. In Maharashtra, the issues ranged from rural farmer distress to Maratha reservations, and even the supposed drift of OBCs and SCs towards the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) owing to the Congress Samvidhaan Khatre Mei Hai" and Aarakshan Hata Denge" narratives. Maharashtra delivered a heartbreaker to the BJP just six months ago, after a crushing blow in the Lok Sabha elections. The party dropped from 28 seats in 2019 to just 13 this year. Almost immediately, many from the political commentariat and media rushed to write the saffron partys obituary in Maharashtra. Cut to six months later, and the BJP is back with a bang. Not only have the BJP and its alliance partners from the Mahayuti retained power, the saffron party has, in fact, delivered its best-ever performance in the state. In Maharashtras coalition era, the BJP has also emerged as the single-largest party in each of the five regions of the state. When the BJPs victory in Maharashtra is read alongside its stunning comeback in Haryana, it becomes clear that the party is a silent killer. Nobody saw the BJP winning Haryana. Even top BJP leaders had given up hope on retaining the state for a third consecutive term. After the Haryana win, there was cautious optimism within the party over its prospects in Maharashtra. The political commentariat and journalistic class also began measuring its analyses thereafter, knowing very well that the BJP of today can simply not be written off. However, the scale of the BJPs victory in Maharashtra has stunned Indias political class. It has proven that all it took for the BJP to arrest the MVAs momentum in the state was less than five months. In such a short span of time, the BJP eviscerated the MVAs leads across the state, even in incredibly difficult regions like Marathwada and Vidarbha. Maharashtra, Haryana Wins Show Stark Difference in BJP & Congress Approach to Politics 2014 was a watershed year for Indian politics. That year, Narendra Modi and the BJP transformed Indian politics forever. Ever since, the Opposition has struggled to find its footing in a political space disproportionately dominated by the saffron party. However, June 4 provided Indian Opposition parties a lifeline they desperately required. What did they do with that lifeline? They squandered it away, thinking the BJPs reduction to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha was the beginning of the end of the Modi era". The BJP, however, had different plans. I have repeatedly insisted that the BJP fights best with its back against the wall. Both in Maharashtra and Haryana, the party was considered as the obvious loser before result day. Now that the dust of both these state elections has settled, it is a good time to reflect on the stark differences in the politics of the BJP and the Congress. The BJP was quick to learn lessons after its diminished performance in the Lok Sabha polls. First, the saffron party reached out to the RSS. The RSS remains the BJPs backbone, especially in elections the party knows it is fighting on the back foot. Both in Haryana and Maharashtra, the RSS mobilised its cadres to ensure the BJP wins. In Maharashtra alone, the RSS organised upward of 60,000 small meetings to canvass votes for the BJP. Second, the BJP had its ear to the ground. In both Haryana and Maharashtra, the party realised there was genuine disillusionment among the people over the state of affairs. To counter such perceptions, the BJP went on an overdrive to woo voters, especially in Maharashtra. The party reached out to onion farmers in the north and cotton and soybean farmers in Vidarbha. Offering loan waivers helped win back angry farmers. The saffron party understood what mattered to the people, and acted fast. The BJP also stitched a mighty Hindu alliance, so much so that almost three of every 10 Marathas and Kunbis and a little less than four of every 10 OBCs ended up voting for the BJP, according to a post-poll survey by CSDS. The consolidation of OBC and Maratha votes, apart from the spurt provided by women over the success of the Ladki Bahin Yojana helped the BJP seamlessly cruise towards a staggering victory. That both OBCs and Marathas favoured the BJP is an incredible feat for the party, given how there were differences between both these voting blocs over growing demands for Marathas to be provided reservations in the state. Congress Deluded by a False Sense of Self-Importance Post Lok Sabha Elections So, where did the Congress lose the plot? To answer that question, we must first understand whether the Congress actually regained the plot during and after the Lok Sabha elections. The answer, Im afraid, is a big no. The Congress fell short of winning seats, and most of these wins came due to the party piggybacking on support from regional alliance partners. Add to that, Rahul Gandhis incessant fearmongering over reservations and the Constitution dented the BJP among OBCs and SCs. The BJP, to its credit, was quick and quite effective in dispelling such apprehensions in the five months between June and November. Instead of refining its strategy, building a grassroots organisation and checkmating the BJP in election micromanagement, the Congress began enjoying what can be described as its honeymoon period." Both in Haryana and Maharashtra, the Congress fell for its own lies, childishly believing that the momentum of the Lok Sabha elections will help the party win all upcoming elections. In doing so, it flanked open the field for the BJP to first sweep Haryana, and then Maharashtra. Consider this: instead of focusing on issues that really mattered to the voters, the Congress recycled its Lok Sabha pitch of the Constitution being in danger. As is evident, voters have had enough of that. The Congress also tried to exploit supposed fault lines between the people of Maharashtra and Gujarat, alleging that the BJP was snatching important projects away from the state to benefit Prime Minister Modis home state. Rahul Gandhi also thought that using the Adani card in an assembly election will seal the deal for his party. All these issues simply found no resonance with the voters of Maharashtra, which is why the MVA was contained to a mere 46 seats. The Congresss insistence on fighting every election as if it were a national referendum has cost it dearly. Maharashtras electorate, like Haryanas, demanded solutions tailored to their unique problems, not recycled narratives from a general election campaign. By failing to adapt to this reality, the Congress ceded vital ground to a BJP that thrives on localised strategies and decisive action. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Indian politics in 2024 isnt a battleground, its a chessboard, and the BJP is thinking ten moves ahead. Unless the Congress learns how to play the BJPs game, it will keep getting rude shocks on result days. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. First Published: November 27, 2024, 11:19 IST Shinde Bows Out Of Maharashtra CM Contest? All Eyes On Big NDA Meet In Delhi Today Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 23:59 IST Sources also revealed that Shinde-led Shiv Sena MPs will meet Amit Shah today, where Shinde is expected to present his stance on the Chief Minister's role Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Eknath Shinde. (PTI photo) The BJP-led NDA will meet in New Delhi on Thursday, November 27, to discuss the Maharashtra Chief Minister position amid growing speculation over the partys choice to lead the Mahayuti coalition in the state. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, and NCP leader Ajit Pawar are expected to attend the meeting, where they may discuss the allocation of the Chief Ministers post, cabinet shares, and ministerial berths with the top BJP leadership. related stories Confirming the meeting, Shinde said in a press conference, A meeting of all three parties (of Mahayuti) will be held with Amit Shah tomorrow (28th November). Detailed discussions will be held in that meeting. After that, a decision will be made." #WATCH | Thane: While speaking about the CM face for Maharashtra, caretaker CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde says, A meeting of all three parties (of Mahayuti) will be held with Amit Shah tomorrow (28th November). Detailed discussions will be held in that meeting. After pic.twitter.com/1mfPokGGB3 ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 The Shiv Sena leader also revealed that he had spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the Chief Ministers position and assured them that he would accept any decision made, stressing there would be no resentment regarding the selection. Clarifying his stance on the Maharashtra CM post, Shinde stated that he had assured both the Prime Minister and Home Minister that there would be no issues in forming the new government, either from him or his party. Shinde, who resigned as Chief Minister on Tuesday, is currently serving as the caretaker CM till a new leader is sworn in. The term of the current government ended on November 26. Suspense Over Maharashtra CM Post The meeting comes as suspense mounts over the top post in the Mahayuti government following the recently declared results of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, comprising of the BJP, Eknath Shindes Shiv and Ajit Pawars NCP, secured a landslide victory in the elections, comfortably crossing the magic number on November 23. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The BJP won over 131 seats, while the Shiv Sena and NCP secured 57 and 41 seats, respectively. Earlier today, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis addressed the uncertainty surrounding the Chief Ministers position, stating that a decision will be taken soon. The discussion on the Chief Ministers post will get an answer soon. The leaders of all three parties will decide together. The discussions of the seniors are going on," he told the media. First Published: November 27, 2024, 15:51 IST Eknath Shinde Demands Mahayuti Convener Position, Seeks Maharashtra Deputy CM Post For Son Shrikant Shinde: Report Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:23 IST Maharashtra CM likely to take oath next week: BJP has appointed observers, including union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who will reach Mumbai on November 28 or 29, for Friday's meeting of MLA-elects. BJP has denied any tussle, saying the name will be announced this week The BJP is yet to respond to Eknath Shinde's proposal, sources said. (PTI File) Amid the tussle over the Maharashtra chief ministers post, Eknath Shinde, if not the CM, wants to be made the convener of the Mahayuti government as the election was fought under his leadership and has sought the deputy chief ministers post for his Kalyan MP son, Shrikant, under the probable leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, according to a report in the New Indian Express. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had offered Shinde either a position as a cabinet minister in the Union government or the role of deputy chief minister. The report, however, said that Shinde had turned down both. The BJP is yet to respond to his proposal, it said. related stories News18 has reported how the BJP has appointed central observers, including union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupender Yadav, who will reach Mumbai on November 28 or 29, indicating their firm stance on a CM from the party. The BJP will hold a meeting of MLA-elects on Friday. The observers will have a discussion with the alliance partners. The new government is likely to be formed next week, with the name of the CM likely to be announced this week. The BJP sources denied any tussle, saying the issue is being played out in the media. BJPs Sudhir Mungantiwar said the new government formation will happen next week, but oath-taking of the cabinet will happen in January 2025. While Shinde has called for a press meet at 3pm, Fadnavis said, There will soon be an answer to the question on the CM post. The senior leaders are discussing. The decision will be taken by the leaders of the three partiesIf they decide the CM post for me, I will take over that duty. Once, the decision for the CM post is made, we will decide on other ministerial posts keeping in mind the wishes of the alliance members." On Wednesday, Fadnavis is likely to go to Sambhajinagar for a private function and attend an event in Nagpur. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti won 235 seats in the 288-member house. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde Shiv Senas 57 and NCP Ajit Pawars 41. Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats. While alliance partner Ajit Pawar, who heads a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has already agreed upon Fadnaviss name, another ally RPIs Ramdas Athawale, too, on Tuesday, said that it was now Shindes turn to take two steps back". Shinde on Tuesday resigned as the CM, but will continue as the caretaker CM till the government is formed. WE ARE NOT UDDHAV THACKERAY, WILL ACCEPT FADNAVIS AS CM: SHINDE SENA The Shinde camp, which has been citing the example of Haryana and even Bihar to push for Shinde as the CM, stating the polls were fought under his leadership, changed its tune on Wednesday. The BJP contested the election in Haryana under the leadership of their chief minister Nayab Singh Sainiand he was made the CM post the election win. Similarly, the Mahayuti contested the Maharashtra elections under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and he should become the CM again," Naresh Mahaske, Shinde Sena MP and a close aide of Shinde, had told News18 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, the Shinde Sena leader said, We are not Uddhav Thackeray that we will go away if we are not given the CM post. We will accept the decision that is taken by the Mahayuti and will accept Fadnavis as our leader, if that is the decision. Shinde is not upset." In this massive victory, the BJP was one of the major beneficiaries, winning 132 seats out of a total of 150 contested. Shiv Sena contested 79 seats and won 57, while NCP won 41 seats. BJP cannot deny the contribution of Eknath Shinde to this victory. The Lok Sabha election was fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the outcome was that Mahayuti won only 17 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi secured 31 seats. Therefore, Shinde should be given another chance to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra," Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam had said. Kadam had also blamed the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for extending their support to Fadnavis, claiming that the NCP reduced their bargaining power by supporting BJP without proper consultations. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Meanwhile, in an X post, Shinde Sena leader Manisha Kayande wrote EkNath hain to safe hain". Kayande later told News18: Shiv Sainiks have given the slogan of Eknath hain to safe hain because they want Eknath Shinde to be the CM. Serious talks between both the leaders have not started yet. It has only been three days since the election results, so one can wait for government formation." With Inputs from Aman Sharma and Yesha Kotak First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:46 IST Energy, Vikas, Mehnat: BJPs Clever Wordplay In Response To Kharges EVM Allegations Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 18:21 IST Kharge had demanded to return to the traditional way of conducting elections via ballot papers alleging tampering with the EVMs BJP MP Sambit Patra. (PTI file photo) BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday responded sharply to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharges comments on electronic voting machines (EVMs), offering a witty twist on the acronym. In his response, Patra noted that E stands for Energy, V for Vikas, and M for Mehnat. He also introduced a new acronym, RBM, which he described as Rahuls Bekar Management." related stories Mallikarjun Kharge ji there is an EVM machine in the home of PM Modi. E- Energy V- Vikas M- Mehnat PM Modi works like a machineYes, we (BJP) are working because of EVM. Whereas they (Congress) are losing because of RBM. R- Rahuls B- Bekar M- Management," Patra said during a press conference in the national capital. Kharge Accuses EVM Tampering In Elections On Tuesday, Kharge had demanded a return to ballot paper voting, alleging tampering with the EVMs. At the Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan event, he accused PM Narendra Modi of fearing a caste census and claimed the BJP lacked constitutional integrity. We should all unite and move forward together and push them aside. I do not wish to speak about elections, but I would surely say the votes of all the poor and oppressed communities are going to waste. They should all demand voting by ballot paper," he said. Let them keep EVMs with them. We dont want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper. Then they will know what their position is and where they stand. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Congress chief called for a movement, similar to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, to push for ballot paper voting, urging Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other political parties to join the campaign. (With inputs from agencies) First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:56 IST Extend Waqf Bill JPCs Tenure: Chairman To Move Resolution On BJP, Opposition Demand Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 19:35 IST The chairman will move a resolution before the house for the extension of the committee up to the last day of the upcoming budget session. Once the motion is moved by the Lok Sabha speaker, it will be put to vote by the House Chairman of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf bill Jagdambika Pal meets TMC MP and JPC member Kalyan Banerjee, outside Parliament, in New Delhi, on Tuesday. (PTI) Acting on the demand of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition MPs, chairman Jagdambika Pal will on Thursday seek an extension for the tenure of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. The opposition, on Wednesday, staged a walkout of the meeting demanding the extension. The Members of Parliament (MP) said the real stakeholders were not being invited to discuss the bill and that the committee was acting according to the agenda of the ruling party. related stories Following an argument on whether the report needs to be submitted as scheduled on November 29, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, too, made a submission before the chairman that the demand of the opposition was genuine. The committee adopted his suggestion to extend the term for the next session to discuss the bill further. WHAT NEXT? Pal will move a resolution before the house for the extension of the committee up to the last day of the upcoming budget session of Parliament. Once the motion is moved by the Lok Sabha speaker, it will be put to vote by the House. It is on the sense of the house that the committee will be given an extension as per the protocol. After the meeting, DMK MP A Raja told News18, We had a small walkout of the committee with the demand to extend the term of the committee. Much to our expectation, the chairman has agreed." Another MP from the panel, BJPs Aparajita Sarangi said, There was a huge uproar in the committee about the demand to extend the term of the panel. After the boycott of the opposition, we had a huge deliberation on the matter. Some of the ruling MPs also thought that more deliberation needs to be done and more stakeholders need to be called. We got a resolution ready. It will be moved by the honourable chairman on Thursday. We are hopeful that the committee will extend its term." This demand is largely acceptable to the opposition parties who then returned to the meeting. THE JPC The JPC committee on Wednesday held its 29th meeting in the presence of the chairman. The bill was referred to it by the house in the last monsoon session of Parliament. On August 9, the bill was referred to the JPC. As per the data available, the committee has so far examined 13 Waqf boards and seven state representatives have come before the panel in Parliament. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all So far, 42 organisations/stakeholders have appeared before the panel. The panel has undertaken two study tours. During the first study tour across states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, the panel met 123 stakeholders. The second trip had to be cut short because of the opposition boycott and the team could only visit Guwahati and Bhubaneswar. The panel examined 16 stakeholders. The committee, which had asked the public to give their opinion about the bill both online and through physical representation, has so far received 92.28 lakh emails and 4.99 lakh physical representations. First Published: November 27, 2024, 19:30 IST 'High Command Will Decide': Top Karnataka BJP Leaders Seek Troublemaker MLA Yatnal's Expulsion | Exclusive Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 06:00 IST At a time when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is rallying its forces against the ruling Congress over the controversial Waqf land issue, BP Yatnals defiant stance has put the BJP in a difficult position. Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra told News18 that... Read More In an embarrassing move for the BJP leadership, Yatnal (above) launched his own protest over the Waqf issue under the banner of Jana Jagriti Jatha on November 25, directly competing with Vijayendras Namma Bhoomi, Namma Hakku initiative. File image/X Will Karnataka BJPs rabble-rouser MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal be expelled? News18 has credible information that senior leaders have recommended the Bijapur legislators expulsion to the state party chief for damaging the BJPs image and strategy. At a time when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is rallying its forces against the ruling Congress over the controversial Waqf land issue, Basanagouda Patil Yatnals defiant stance has put the BJP in a difficult position. related stories Protests, unauthorised statements, public spats, and internal divisions threaten to derail the BJPs concerted efforts to present a united front in its battle against the Congress government in Karnataka. Party workers and leaders want strict action: Vijayendra Amid these challenges, BJP state president BY Vijayendra has adopted a stricter approach. Ultimately, expelling him is left to the party high command, to take an appropriate decision. In Karnataka, the anti-party activities carried out by Yatnal, all information has been brought to the notice of the party high command. They will decide," he told News18 in an exclusive conversation. Karnataka is not the only state for our national leadership, but party workers and leaders are hoping some strict action has to be taken across the state against Yatnal for his anti-party activities, and they will take an appropriate decision." The Karnataka BJP chief said that the cadres across the state were upset with Yatnal. Much before Yatnal decided to carry out his yatra pertaining to the Waqf issue, the BJP had formed a committee headed by senior leaders to travel across the state and collect information on it. Yatnal is travelling across the state making irresponsible statements against former CM Yediyurappa. It is not only damaging the party, but party workers are upset with his statements and is hurting the partys interest as well," he told News18. Vijayendra said that at a time when the BJP is taking the state government head-on and successfully running campaigns that expose the Congress, Yatnal is making damaging statements. Yatnal when he was in Shiggaon and campaigning, he was there for three days and in the three days he attacked Yediyurappa ji. Immediately after the bypoll results also the immediate reaction of Yatnal was that the BJP lost the bypolls because of the father-son duo. What does it mean? Yediyurappa is a former CM and a strong leader. Even today they respect him. Such statements repeatedly are hurting the partys interests and I dont deny the fact that they affected the partys prospects in Sandur and Shiggaon," Vijayendra told News18. For a party that prides itself on discipline and swift action against errant leaders, the BJP had not yet taken decisive action against Yatnal, whose influence within his community shielded him until now. We will take action as the party has no tolerance for those who do not toe the party line. The party is supreme and people will fall in line with what the party and its high command say," said a leader to News18 who had been part of the three-hour deliberations on the BJPs bypoll results as well as the strategy for the upcoming Belagavi winter session. Tussle within state BJP over Waqf row The Waqf land issue has become politically charged in Karnataka. The BJP has accused the Congress government of allowing the Waqf Board to encroach on farmers land. Vijayendra has spearheaded the partys response with the Namma Bhoomi, Namma Hakku" (Our Land, Our Right) campaign, launching three fact-finding committees and public outreach initiatives to highlight these claims. In an embarrassing move for the BJP leadership, Yatnal launched his own protest over the Waqf issue under the banner of Jana Jagriti Jatha on November 25, directly competing with Vijayendras Namma Bhoomi, Namma Hakku" initiative. Anti-Yediyurappa stance The party has also been reflecting on its recent losses in three by-elections, including the key Shiggaon seat, which BJP insiders attribute to Yatnals anti-Yediyurappa remarks that reportedly harmed Bharat Bommais prospects. Congresss Pathan Yasir Ahmed Khan secured the Shiggaon seat with a margin of 13,448 votes, defeating the BJPs Bharat Bommai, son of former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. In the high-level meeting held in Bengaluru to discuss the BJPs strategy for the upcoming Belagavi session, it was also suggested that Yatnals rebellious attitude and refusal to follow the party line should be taken to the senior leaders in Delhi for immediate action. All the BJP district presidents are ready to meet the BJP leadership in Delhi to seek his immediate expulsion," said a party leader from the Mysuru region. The loss in Shiggaon has served as a stark reminder that Yediyurappas supporters will not tolerate repeated attacks on the veteran leader. Former chief ministers BS Yediyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda, and Basavaraj Bommai have reportedly emphasised the need to curb the anti-Yediyurappa faction, particularly Yatnal, to avoid further damage to the BJPs image. Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the Bijapur City MLA, has continued to evade action from the BJP high command since 2019, despite his history of making controversial remarks that have harmed the partys image. Yatnals faction, including prominent leaders like Ramesh Jarkiholi, Arvind Limbavali, and Kumar Bangarappa, accused the BJP leadership of sidelining them in decision-making. During a meeting at Bangarappas residence on November 14, the dissidents announced the formation of a control room to gather grievances from farmers affected by alleged Waqf encroachments. While Yatnal invited Vijayendra to join his campaign, the state BJP president dismissed the parallel protest as unauthorised. Despite this, the party leadership included Yatnal and other dissidents in the official fact-finding committees in an attempt to present an inclusive front. However, this did little to deter the rebels from continuing their actions. A senior BJP district leader from south Karnataka who also participated in the meeting in Bengaluru headed by Vijayendra said that there was a unanimous call made by all party leaders that serious action should be taken against Yatnal, who is affecting the partys image and strategies to attack the ruling Congress. He is giving the Congress an issue on a platter to target us, especially when we have been trying to expose the mismanagement and double standards of the Congress. He must be expelled. No other action will be acceptable. When a senior leader like Ananth Kumar Hegde, who affected the chances of the BJP and spoke out of line, can be denied a ticket and asked to hold ones tongue, why cant he?" said the leader. Yatnal has been a constant critic of Yediyurappa and his family. His opposition grew more intense after Vijayendra was appointed state BJP president. Following the announcement, Yatnal posted on social media site X: Na Dainyam, Na Palayanam A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges." Yatnal continued his tirade against the family of BJP veteran and former CM BS Yediyurappa, adding fresh accusations against Vijayendra. He alleged a covert agreement between Vijayendra and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar to orchestrate the padayatra. Additionally, Yatnal linked Vijayendra to a controversy surrounding the distribution of pen drives in Hassan containing explicit videos related to former Janata Dal (Secular) parliamentarian Prajwal Revanna, a matter that has further embarrassed the party leadership. Yatnal claimed that the distribution of the controversial pen drives in Hassan was done under Vijayendras instructions, alleging that the CD gang" within the party was using such material to blackmail BJP legislators. He also accused Vijayendra and Shivakumar of conspiring to dethrone Siddaramaiah by orchestrating the padayatra. Soon after the BJP began the Mysuru Chalo padayatra, Yatnal launched a scathing attack on Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, accusing them of corruption. He also dared the BJP high command to take action against the two, escalating his ongoing standoff with the Yediyurappa family. Hold over Panchamasalis Yatnal commands a lot of respect among the Panchamasali community in the region, and his work with the community has helped the BJP win elections. But that does not take away the fact that every party leader is a Karyakarta and cannot cross a Lakshman Rekha. Differences may be there, but that can be discussed in party meetings, not such outright violation of the code of party conduct. The BJP leadership is apprised; lets see what the outcome will be," said a senior party functionary on condition of anonymity. Vijayendra has a tough stand on this. What is his contribution to the Panchamasali community apart from one padayatra?" he questions. If there is anybody who is reasonable for working for the Panchamasalis, it is Yediyurappa who brought the reservation to 3B, not Yatnal. His contribution has only been making damaging statements about the party since the days of Atal Bihari Vajpayee." Yatnal also has a history of anti-Muslim remarks. During the 2023 state elections, he urged voters to avoid supporting Muslims, framing the election as a contest between Tipu Sultan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He positioned himself as a descendant of Shivaji and portrayed Tipu as a symbol of Muslim dominance. On November 6, Yatnal raised the stakes further by calling for a Waqf Hatao, Desh Bachao" (Remove Waqf, Save The Nation) rally. His remarks placed him at odds with the Muslim community, with local leaders in Vijayapura threatening to release incriminating evidence against him if he continued making provocative statements. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all After rejoining the BJP in 2019 and being elected MLA for Bijapur City, Yatnal has received several show-cause notices for his criticism of the Narendra Modi government over delayed flood relief, followed by others in 2021 and 2022 over remarks targeting Yediyurappa and allegations of corruption. Ahead of the 2023 assembly elections, Yatnal faced further notices for derogatory comments about ministers as well. As the BJP prepares for the upcoming winter session in Belagavi and local body elections, its ability to project unity and focus on issues like the Waqf controversy will be critical, say party insiders. First Published: November 27, 2024, 06:00 IST 'Decision On CM Face Soon': Fadnavis On Maharashtra Suspense, To Attend Key NDA Meet In Delhi Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:16 IST Maharashtra government formation: Shinde said he and his party will accept decision of BJP high command on the Maharashtra CM post and added that there is no "speed breaker" in the alliance Maharashtra Election 2024: Devendra Fadnavis (PTI) Maharashtra government formation: As suspense mounts over the chief ministers post in the Mahayuti government, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday cleared the air around the top position stating that a decision in this regard will be taken soon. He is likely to visit the national capital soon where he may meet the partys top leadership. related stories Will Fadnavis Be Next CM? He Reacts Speaking to the media, he said that senior leaders are carrying out discussions on the top post and will arrive at a decision soon. The discussion on the Chief Ministers post will get an answer soon. The leaders of all three parties will decide together. The discussions of the seniors are going on," he said. Fadnavis said that first the name of the Chief Minister will be finalised, which will then be followed by the names of the ministers. The BJP leader will first visit Sambhajinagar to attend a private function and then attend another event in Nagpur. He is likely to visit Delhi thereafter where he is expected to meet the top leadership of the party. Everyone In BJP Wants Fadnavis As CM: Bawankule Maharashtar BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said everyone in the Bharatiya Janata Party wants Devendra Fadnavis to be the Chief Minister. The workers of the allied parties in the Mahayuti want their leaders to be the Chief Minister. The leaders of all the three parties will sit together and decide. A BJP worker never gets upset with the decision taken by the central leadership. Their decision is final. Party leaders make the right decision. The Chief Minister of Mahayuti will take oath soon. Bawankule also pointed out that when Uddhav Thackeray betrayed the BJP, it took him a month and a half to form the government," he said. Shiv Sena MP Gives Nod To BJP Over CM Post Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske affirmed that the camp is with the Mahayuti and will not break away like Uddhav Thackeray" even if Fadnavis is made the CM. We are not Uddhav Thackeray who will go away if we are not given the chief minister post," Mhaske said on Wednesday. The Mahayuti returned to power with a huge majority, winning 234 seats out of 288 in the Assembly Elections as the results were announced on November 23. The alliance had stated in the run-up to the elections that they are contesting the polls under Eknath Shindes leadership and a decision on the CM post will be taken after the declaration of results. Shinde, hours into the announcement of results on November 23, had said that a decision on the CM post would be taken by the leaders of the alliance. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all He resigned as the chief minister on Tuesday and will continue as the caretaker CM until the formation of the new government. The term of the outgoing Assembly ended on Tuesday, increasing the necessity to swear in the new government soon. Sources said on Wednesday that Shinde has demanded the Home Ministry department if he is not given the post of chief minister. First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:19 IST Shinde, Fadnavis Put Up United Front. Here's How New Maharashtra Govt Could Shape Up Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 23:49 IST Amid massive speculation over the CM's post in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde said he would accept the BJP's decision on the matter. Despite the suspense, all three Mahayuti parties have remained tight-lipped and presented a united front. (PTI) In a big development, Maharashtras caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he would accept the BJPs decision regarding the CMs position and would not impede the process of government formation, days after the Mahayuti registered a landslide victory in the Assembly elections. All three parties have presented a united front despite massive speculation over Devendra Fadnavis return to the CM post following the Mahayutis massive victory. The BJP won over 131 seats in the recent election, while the Shiv Sena and NCP secured 57 and 41 seats respectively, reducing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to a measly 50 seats. related stories Shinde said he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and assured them that he would not object to their decision on the CM pick. You make a decision. BJPs decision is the final," he said at a press conference, effectively clearing the way for BJP to choose a CM from their party. All Eyes On NDA Meet Tomorrow Meanwhile, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to meet in New Delhi on Thursday (November 28) to discuss the highly-anticipated Maharashtra CM position. All three leaders of the Mahayuti parties Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar will be present at the meeting. Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said there were no differences among the parties on the CM position and a decision would be taken unanimously. He also praised Eknath Shinde for clearing up all the doubts over a collective decision on the matter. We will sit with our leaders soon and take a final decision," he added. Shinde and Pawar also confirmed the meeting and said they would attend to take part in final decisions over Maharashtras next Chief Minister. Shindes Remarks Spark Buzz Addressing the media, Shinde, who resigned as Chief Minister on Tuesday, thanked voters for giving a huge mandate to the Mahayuti alliance and said there was no resentment or any speed breakers" in the bloc regarding the selection of the CM. I have told the Prime Minister that if there is any problem in forming the government in Maharashtra because of me, then do not bring any doubt in your mind and whatever decision you take, that decision is acceptable to me. You are the head of our family. The way people of BJP accept your decision, we will also accept your decision in the same way," he stated. Earlier today, Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske said his camp would accept Fadnavis as the CM and that Shinde was not upset with BJPs choice. We are not Uddhav Thackeray who will go away if we are not given the chief minister post," Mhaske said on Wednesday. The money is riding on Devendra Fadnavis, who may become the Chief Minister for the third time. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said that everyone in the party wants Devendra Fadnavis to be the Chief Minister. While everyone awaits a final decision with bated breath, all three parties have shown a united front and said all decisions related to the government formation will be decided unanimously and with no disputes. What Can Maharashtras Government Look Like? While adding to the speculation of the next Maharashtra CM, Shindes comments have also led to speculation on his future role in the Mahayuti cabinet. The BJP has appointed a Chief Minister (Shinde) along with two deputy CMs (Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar) in Maharashtra after the MVA government fell in 2022. A similar model will be used in Maharashtra, where the upcoming CM would be from the BJP, backed by two deputies from Shindes Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawars NCP, according to NDTV sources. This arrangement shows that the BJP has the upper hand now, after winning 132 of the 235 seats won by the Mahayuti alliance. BJP Sources told CNN-News18 that the central leadership had offered Shinde a cabinet minister role in the Union Cabinet or the role of the deputy CM under Fadnavis. He had demanded Home or Urban development, which were denied. In turn, Shinde has been asked to choose any cabinet role between Power, MSRDC, Revenue, PwD. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all However, sources told The New Indian Express that Shinde refused to accept either the cabinet role offer or the deputy CM position. The Shiv Sena leader said if he is not made the CM, he should be made the convenor of the Mahayuti government, as the election was fought under his leadership. He also proposed that his son Shrikant Shinde should be made deputy CM of Maharashtra in Fadnavis government. The BJP is yet to respond positively to this development and the delay has postponed the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Maharashtra. Some Shiv Sena leaders have backed Shinde as the next CM. However, Fadnavis candidature is not only backed by the BJP but the Ajit Pawar-led NCP as well. With the support of Shiv Sena as well, speculations are only increased over who will get the coveted CM post, while all three parties have remained tight-lipped so far, making tomorrows NDA meeting in New Delhi a big deal that will confirm the future of Maharashtras governance. First Published: November 27, 2024, 19:49 IST 'Eknath Hai Toh Safe Hai': Shinde Sena Drives Hard Bargain On CM Post, Keeps Plan B Ready Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 11:34 IST Eknath Shinde has reportedly demanded the Home Ministry portfolio if not chosen as Maharashtra's chief minister after the BJP-led Mahayuti's landslide victory in the Assembly elections. Eknath Shinde (Photo: PTI) As the suspense over the next chief minister of Maharashtra continues, sources have told CNN-News18 that Eknath Shinde has demanded the Home Ministry department of the state, if he is not made the chief minister. The demand was reportedly put forth during a meeting of the Shinde camp leaders with Devendra Fadnavis late last night. related stories Despite the Mahayuti coalitions electoral victory, the alliance, which comprises the BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is grappling with disagreements regarding the next chief minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP (41). Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats. EKNATH HAIN TO SAFE HAIN? In an X post, Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande wrote EkNath hain to safe hain". The post drew reference from Prime Minister Narendra Modis slogan ek hain toh safe hain (united we remain safe). Following the poll victory in Maharashtra, the Prime Minister described it as one for unity". The slogan was coined by Prime Minister Modi just before the advent of the Maharashtra Assembly campaign. EKNATH SHINDE HAS RESIGNED AS MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER Eknath Shinde resigned as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Tuesday, paving the way for the appointment of a new government amid haggling by his Shiv Sena faction for continuity and the BJP pressing for its candidate for the top post. The uncertainty surrounding the selection of Shindes successor remains, as coalition leaders have yet to reach a consensus on the candidate. Accompanied by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Shinde met Governor CP Radhakrishnan earlier in the day to officially submit his resignation. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Following this, the Governor requested Shinde to continue in a caretaker role until the new chief minister is sworn in. The outgoing assemblys term concluded on Tuesday, adding urgency to the transition process. First Published: November 27, 2024, 09:32 IST 'We're Not Like Uddhav': Eknath Shinde's MP Drops Big Hint On Maharashtra CM Post Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Vani Mehrotra Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 14:47 IST Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has said the Shinde camp is open to accepting Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra's chief minister if decided by the Mahayuti alliance. Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde (Photo: PTI) Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has said his camp would accept Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister of Maharashtra if the same is decided by Mahayuti. He also claimed Eknath Shinde was not upset over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s choice for Fadnavis. We are not Uddhav Thackeray who will go away if we are not given the chief minister post," Mhaske said on Wednesday. related stories We will accept the decision that is taken by Mahayuti and will accept Devendra Fadnavis as our leader if decided so," he said, adding, Eknath Shinde is not upset." Mhaskes remarks were in reference to the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, when the BJP and Shiv Sena, then united under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had secured a comprehensive victory to retain power in the state winning 161 seats after a five-year term under Devendra Fadnavis. However, Uddhavs Shiv Sena, which had won only 56 seats compared to the BJPs 105, claimed that the then BJP chief Amit Shah had agreed on rotational chief ministership for the two parties. Later, Shah denied all such claims and said no such agreement was ever made. As the rift over the issue widened, Shiv Sena severed its ties with the NDA and formed a post-poll alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (present MVA) and was later made the Chief Minister of the state. NCP BACKS DEVENDRA FADNAVIS On Wednesday, NCP Ajit Pawar faction leader Praful Patel met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and congratulated them for the Mahayutis win in the Maharashtra assembly elections. In an X post, Patel wrote, Met Honble Union Home Minister and Senior BJP Leader Shri Amit Shah Ji in Delhi today. Congratulated him on the historic Mahayuti victory in Maharashtra. Had a fruitful discussion on strengthening the alliance further and working for the welfare of the people." Met Honble Union Home Minister and Senior BJP Leader Shri Amit Shah Ji in Delhi today. Congratulated him on the historic Mahayuti victory in Maharashtra. Had a fruitful discussion on strengthening the alliance further and working for the welfare of the people.@AmitShah pic.twitter.com/3IXBxxpiy4 Praful Patel (@praful_patel) November 27, 2024 MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT FORMATION Eknath Shinde resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra on Tuesday, paving the way for the appointment of a new government. Accompanied by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Shinde met Governor CP Radhakrishnan earlier in the day to officially submit his resignation. Following this, the Governor requested Shinde to continue in a caretaker role until the new Chief Minister is sworn in. The outgoing assemblys term concluded on Tuesday, adding urgency to the transition process. On Wednesday, sources told CNN-News18 that Eknath Shinde has demanded the Home Ministry department, if not made the chief minister of the state. The former chief minister would address a press conference later today. MAHARASHTRA ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2024 The ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a commanding 230 out of 288 seats in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, the results of which were declared on November 23. The BJP on its own walked away with 132 seats followed by the Shiv Sena Shinde faction with 57 and Ajit Pawar-led NCP with 41 seats. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all However, despite the coalitions electoral victory, the Mahayuti alliance is grappling with disagreements regarding the next chief minister. First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:15 IST 'Telangana Looking Towards BJP With Great Hope': PM Modi Meets Party Leaders From Southern State Reported By : CNN-News18 Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 19:52 IST It is learnt that during the conversation, the Prime Minister told the Telangana legislators to work hard for the cause of the people and to work on spreading the message of the schemes that have been designed for every strata of society While the MPs and MLAs from the state wanted to meet and congratulate PM Modi for the stupendous electoral wins in both Haryana and Maharashtra, the Prime Minister spoke to them about multiple issues, including the political situation in the southern state. Image/News18 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met leaders from Telangana, led by union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in his parliamentary office. While the MPs and MLAs from the state wanted to meet and congratulate PM Modi for the stupendous electoral wins in both Haryana and Maharashtra, the Prime Minister spoke to them about multiple issues, including the political situation in the southern state. Had a very good meeting with legislators and MPs from Telangana BJP.Our Partys presence in the state is growing rapidly. The people of Telangana are already fed up with Congress and have absolutely horrid memories of BRS misrule. They are looking towards the BJP with great pic.twitter.com/XjznChLDwX Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 27, 2024 related stories It is learnt that during the conversation, the Prime Minister told the Telangana legislators to work hard for the cause of the people and to work on spreading the message of the schemes that have been designed for every strata of society. The central government has launched multiple schemes that benefit every segment. Those need to be taken on the ground, is what the Prime Minister is said to have stressed. If you work hard, people will reward you with their support," PM Modi is said to have told the leaders present in the meeting. He also called upon his party members to ensure that they could form a government in Telangana for the welfare of its people. I am very confident that we can soon have a government in the state," Modi is said to have told his partymen. During Parliament sessions, the Prime Minister meets various leaders, especially groups of MPs, and shares his thoughts and ideas with them at length. In fact, in the last monsoon session of Parliament, the Prime Minister met a delegation of MPs from all the NDA partners like TDP, JD(U), etc. The BJP, which was a force to reckon with in Telangana, could not deliver its best in the last assembly elections, which were swept by the Congress. However, in this years Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party was able to double its tally of MPs from four in 2019 to eight. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Telangana is a very important state for the fortunes of the BJP, which has been desperately trying to make further inroads in the south. After losing Karnataka to the Congress, the BJP has been putting its big focus on Telangana in a bid to be able to show that it is a pan-India party. At present, two members of Parliament from the state are part of the Modi cabinet. Kishan Reddy is the minister of coal and mines, whereas Bandi Sanjay is the minister of state for home affairs. First Published: November 27, 2024, 19:52 IST Android 15 Users Have Been Warned About A Big Security Risk By The Indian Govt Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 07:30 IST Android 15 is the latest version but the new security alert is a concern for millions who can be hacked easily. The new security alert is important for Android 15 devices as well. Android users, even those on the latest 15 version have got alarming news from the Indian government this week. The security agency under the centre has issued a risk alert with a high-severity rating that can expose their device to hackers who can gain access and steal data. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has made the warning public on November 25 and millions of Android users in the country should treat it as an urgent message. related stories Android 15 Security Risk: What You Should Know The security note is not only directed at Android 15 but it is worrying that the latest version is equally vulnerable to these threats. Multiple vulnerabilities exist in Android due to flaws in the Framework, System, Google Play system updates, Kernel, Kernel LTS, Imagination Technologies, MediaTek components, Qualcomm components and Qualcomm closed-source components," what the CERT-In note says. So what happens if the hacker is able to take advantage of these issues? It could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information, gain elevated privileges, execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service (DoS) condition on the targeted system," the note adds. These are the Android versions that are at risk because of the given issues: Android 12 Android 12L Android 13 Android 14 Android 15 If you noticed that Android 11 is missing from the list thats because Google has stopped support for the version so they wont be updated anymore. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Android phones running on MediaTek and Qualcomm processors can be counted in millions, so the issue is clearly a concern, not only for the government but the users as well. The new patches have already been issued by most brands and we suggest you take it seriously and install the new version or update right away. You can do this by going to Settings Software update and install the new available version to protect your phone. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 07:30 IST Google And Meta Want Australia To Delay Its Ban On Social Media For Kids Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 09:00 IST Google and Facebookowner Meta Platforms urged the Australian government on Tuesday to delay a bill that will ban most forms of social media for children under 16, saying more time was needed to assess its potential impact. Both the tech giants are clearly worried about such a ban SYDNEY: Google and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms urged the Australian government on Tuesday to delay a bill that will ban most forms of social media for children under 16, saying more time was needed to assess its potential impact. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left government wants to pass the bill, which represents some of the toughest controls on children's social media use imposed by any country, into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday. related stories The bill was introduced in parliament last week and opened for submissions of opinions for only one day. Google and Meta said in their submissions that the government should wait for the results of an age-verification trial before going ahead. The age-verification system may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off. "In the absence of such results, neither industry nor Australians will understand the nature or scale of age assurance required by the bill, nor the impact of such measures on Australians," Meta said. "In its present form, the bill is inconsistent and ineffective." The law would force social media platforms, and not parents or children, to take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are in place. Companies could be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for systemic breaches. The opposition Liberal party is expected to support the bill though some independent lawmakers have accused the government of rushing through the entire process in around a week. A Senate committee responsible for communications legislation is scheduled to deliver a report on Tuesday. Bytedance's TikTok said the bill lacked clarity and that it had "significant concerns" with the government's plan to pass the bill without detailed consultation with experts, social media platforms, mental health organisations and young people. "Where novel policy is put forward, it's important that legislation is drafted in a thorough and considered way, to ensure it is able to achieve its stated intention. This has not been the case with respect to this Bill," TikTok said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Elon Musk's X raised concerns that the bill will negatively impact the human rights of children and young people, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information. The U.S. billionaire, who views himself as a champion of free speech, last week attacked the Australian government saying the bill seemed like a backdoor way to control access to the internet. First Published: November 27, 2024, 09:00 IST Indian-Origin Investment Banker Claims He Earns Rs 3 Crore Salary In London, Internet Says No Way Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 16:51 IST In a viral video, an investment banker working in London claimed that he earns around Rs 3.17 crore per year. The investment banker revealed that he has 8 years of work experience. (Representative Image) Investment banking is a highly sought-after career option, known for its big pay scales and dynamic work environment. In a recent viral video, an Indian-origin investment banker shared details about his impressive income and offered career advice to fellow bakers. The employee, with eight years of experience, shared that he earns over Rs 3.17 crore annually (around 300,000 GBP) in London. The video caught the attention of many NRIs who raised suspicion over the salary quoted by him. Although he didnt reveal the exact amount, his remarks gave an idea of how much professionals in the field can earn. He explained that success in this field isnt just about education but also depends on building the right connections. related stories I think education plays a big role but it has a lot to do with connection and being at the right place at the right time to work on investment," he said. The banker also suggested getting experience through internships, saying, You need to get into the industry a lot, a lot sooner. Like doing internships and all that. But then its also a function of hard work and luck." When the social media user asked if professionals in New York earn more than those in London, the banker said, I think in New York generally the salary scales are higher just because the market there is a lot bigger. So, its not really a fair comparison, to be honest." The caption shared along with the video read, Bro making a million dollars soon?" Take a look at the video here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCwV26aRzdM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link The video gained significant traction online, racking up more than 1.5 lakh views. Social media users expressed skepticism about the salary quoted by the banker, especially in the context of UK salaries. Many suggested that the figure seemed inflated given the national salary averages. One user commented, What the hell 300K in London? Where the national average is 35000 pounds, most experienced people earn around 90-100K. In Germany, thats the salary of a district mayor." Another shared, No way, this guy is making 300K a year with 8 years of experience. 300K PKR, I believe that not in GBP." Total BS! 300k is an impossible salary in London! He has inflated his salary!" someone else pointed out. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A viewer wrote, He is making it rain. Life in banking is tough though." Another asked in disbelief, Who is paying 300k in the UK with 8 years experience?" Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 16:51 IST Man Raises Concerns Over Copper Sulphate in Tatas Bottled Water, Doctor Tells If Its Safe To Drink Or Not Written By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 14:45 IST As per a report by WHO, Although copper can give rise to taste, it should be acceptable at the health-based guideline value of 2 mg/l. A man shared these images of Tata's bottled water while flagging copper sulphate in it. (Image: X/@deedydas) A man checked the label of the bottled water he was served in Delhi and raised concerns over one of its ingredients. Deedy Das, who lives in the United States but was in India at the time, shared a picture of Tatas bottle that lists copper sulphate" as one of its ingredients. While many said that the copper content in the water fell within the safe limits set by WHO, Das emphasised that the label lists copper sulphate, and not copper". Is Tatas bottled water safe to drink? To find out, we consulted a doctor. But before sharing his insights, let us take you through what Das has posted. related stories What did Das post on social media? Das shared a picture of the Tata bottle and wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), Was just served Copper Sulphate water with the goodness of copper in Delhi." He added, Turns out its extremely toxic and terrible for you (even though its 0.0004%). The only website that says otherwise is Tata Copper." Why not just have plain water? What the hell?" he further stressed. Was just served Copper Sulphate water with the goodness of copper" in Delhi.Turns out its extremely toxic and terrible for you (even though its 0.0004%). The only website that says otherwise is Tata Copper. Why not just have plain water? What the hell pic.twitter.com/t5T5YgLXRu Deedy (@deedydas) November 26, 2024 Internet disagrees with Das Many users added context to Dass post. They wrote, Tata Copper Water lists copper sulfate at 0.0004%, which is a safe, trace amount as per WHO guidelines. It provides essential copper for health and is not toxic at this level. The claim that its harmful is incorrect." A WHO report on copper in water says, Staining of sanitary ware and laundry may occur at copper concentrations above 1 mg/l. At levels above 5 mg/l, copper also imparts a colour and an undesirable bitter taste to water. Although copper can give rise to taste, it should be acceptable at the health-based guideline value of 2 mg/l." What did the doctor say? News18.com reached out to Dr Vivek Pandey, an RTI activist, for expert insights. He confirmed that Tatas bottled water is safe for consumption. Dr Pandey explained, Copper sulfate is a chemical sometimes added to water in tiny amounts, like 0.00041%, to control algae growth. At this small level, it is safe to drink and follows the safety guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO)." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Copper is also a necessary nutrient for the body, helping with iron use and enzyme functions," he stressed. Dr Pandey further said, However, too much copper can cause stomach problems like nausea. The WHO allows up to 2 mg/L of copper in drinking water, which is much more than the amount in Tatas bottled water. This means the level in the bottled water is safe. But people with rare health conditions, like Wilsons disease, should be cautious as their bodies cannot process copper properly." First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:05 IST Not My Fault: Woman Who Disposed Of Hard Drive Holding 8,000 Bitcoins Breaks Silence Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:25 IST In her recent interview, Eddy-Evans complained about the constant media focus on the topic of the lost fortune. Eddy-Evans hopes her ex-partner finds the hard drive to access the lost bitcoin . (Representative Image) The story of James Howells and the missing bitcoins recently took a new turn after his ex-partner Halfina Eddy-Evans spoke up for the first time. The incident involves a hard drive holding the key to 8,000 Bitcoins, mined by Howells in 2009, which Eddy-Evans threw away in 2013. One Bitcoin is worth more than Rs 79 lakh today, according to Coinbase. James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, mined 8,000 Bitcoins when the cryptocurrency was still in its nascent stage. However, he mislocated the hard drive, which had the master digital key to access these Bitcoins. As per Daily Mail, the hard drive was dumped by Eddy-Evans during a cleanup when Howells insisted she throw away several bags of trash without informing her that it contained the hard drive. related stories Eddy-Evans told the media outlet: Yes, I threw away his rubbishhe asked me to" and at the same time, expressed her ignorance regarding the contents of the bags that she threw away. In her recent interview, Eddy-Evans complained about the constant media focus on the lost fortune. She stresses she does not want the riches and hopes Howells can get closure by finding the hard drive. I hope he finds it not that I want a penny of his money, but it will shut him up!" she remarked. She further described how she ended up taking the bags to a nearby dump while struggling with her maternal duties, saying: Losing it was not my fault". Eddy-Evans said she is sick of hearing of the lost fortune and she thinks it is harming Howells mental health. Part of me thinks the council should let the tip site be dug up But the other part thinks for him just to drop it and let it go", she told Daily Mail. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Howells has been trying to retrieve the hard drive since 2013 and is involved in a legal battle with Newport City Council. He is seeking 495 million in damages from the council, alleging that they are stopping him from getting to the landfill which he says contains the hard drive, in more than 100,000 tonnes of waste. The council has been rejecting his applications, arguing that the changes would be detrimental to the environment due to excavation activities. He also proposed to give 10% of the fortune back to Newport for the development of this area to become the Dubai or Las Vegas of the UK." Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:25 IST Peak Bengaluru Moment: Techie Landlord Mentors Startup-Founder Tenant Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 14:29 IST Venthan, the founder of a fintech startup, disclosed that his landlord, who currently works at Intel as a Solutions Architect, became an informal advisor on his fintech startup. Bengalurus startup collaboration at its peak. (Representative Image) Bengaluru, widely known as the Silicon Valley of India, is a kind of place where tech culture predominantly exists. As a city that buzzes with startup activity, innovation is not limited to offices but takes over coffee shop conversations and residential neighbourhoods. Young entrepreneurs can find mentors and collaborators in the most unexpected places from a shared taxi ride to a random gym talk, or, as per the recent instance, from the landlords. In a real-life anecdote that is symbolic of the Bengaluru tradition of entrepreneurship, Vetri Venthan, a local entrepreneur, posted a story on social media that became popular in no time. Venthan, the founder of a fintech startup, disclosed that his landlord, who currently works at Intel as a Solutions Architect, became an informal advisor on his fintech startup. Bengaluru is the only city where your landlord also becomes a tech advisor for your startup," Venthan quipped in his post. related stories What we have here is not just a simple case of the tenant and landlord. Venthan mentioned that his landlord has become highly engaged in his startup and has helped him, especially in the identification of the optimal product architecture as well as in connecting him to important corporate partners. My landlord (Solutions Architect at Intel) loved our product & is giving us intros to corporates/advising us on our architecture while meeting us at cafes," Venthan added. The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) alumnus also posted snapshots of his WhatsApp conversations with the landlord, in which the latter enquired about his availability for a meeting to discuss the product. Bengaluru is the only city where your landlord also becomes Tech Advisor for your startupMy landlord (Solutions Architect at Intel) loved our product & is giving us intros to corporates/advising us on our architecture while meeting us at cafes My contribution to @peakbengaluru pic.twitter.com/WQG8tgsPtH Vetri Venthan (@vetrijedi) November 23, 2024 Venthans post evoked several responses from the tech community in Bengaluru and other users online. Some praised the landlords active position, and others narrated their own serendipitous meetings within the citys ecosystem. A person commented, A great ecosystem leads to more collaboration and innovation. Come to Bengaluru!" A great eco system leads to more collaboration and innovation. Come to Bangaluru! Chander Gadhvi (@chandergadhvi) November 24, 2024 Another user said, I think he is an investor for you with a vision." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all I think he is an investor for you with a vision Someone went on to suggest, Ask him to waive the 11-month deposit, call it an investment, give him sweat equity" to which OP replied saying, Lol thats going to be my next ask in the next catchup." Lol thats going to be my next ask in the next catchup Vetri Venthan (@vetrijedi) November 23, 2024 The post has over 13,000 views on the social media platform. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 14:29 IST 'Perfect' AI Girlfriends-Boyfriends Can Be Dangerous, Warns Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 17:10 IST According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, 'perfect' AI girlfriends or boyfriends could increase loneliness and have negative social effects. Eric Schmidt has a net worth of more than $20 billion. (Photo Credits: X) Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has released a cautionary statement against the growing trend of emotionally engaged Artificial intelligence (AI) partners. Schmidt discussed the possible risks of perfect" AI girlfriends or boyfriends, particularly for younger people, on a podcast hosted by entrepreneur and NYU Stern professor Scott Galloway. He cautioned that young people who become emotionally dependent on AI chatbots for company may become more lonely than before, which could have harmful repercussions. Imagine that the AI girlfriend, or boyfriend, is perfect perfect visually, perfect emotionally. The AI girlfriend captures your mind as a man to the point where she takes over the way youre thinking," Schmidt said in the podcast. Youre obsessed with her. That kind of obsession is possible, especially with people who are not fully formed," he added. related stories Schmidt, who has more than $20 billion net worth, cautioned that depending too much on AI companions may make loneliness worse, particularly for young people, and possibly lead to more serious social problems. Following this, Galloway questioned if AI companions could exacerbate issues like misogyny and extremism. You put a 12 or a 13-year-old in front of one of these things and they have access to every evil as well as every good in the world, and they are not ready to take it," Schmidt said, expressing concern that parents may not have much control over their childrens exposure to internet information. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The recent tragedy in Florida, where a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after months of interacting with an AI chatbot dubbed Dany, highlighted the perils of developing an emotional relationship with these chatbots. The teen often had romantic and emotional talks with the chatbot, which mimicked a lifelike companion. The teenager used his stepfathers gun to shoot himself. Reports stated that the teenager, who was diagnosed with mild Aspergers syndrome, grew more and more aloof from his family and environment. I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this reality, and I also feel more at peace, more connected to Dany and much more in love with her, and just happier," he wrote in his journal. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 17:10 IST Pookie Ban Jao Mere: Man Asks Strangers To Marry Him, Internet Cant Believe It Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:12 IST A hilarious video shows a content creator asking random men on the street to marry him. Prannay Joshi carried a rose while proposing to the men. (Photo Credits: Instagram You have probably come across those hilarious street prank videos where someone surprises strangers with unexpected questions. One such video has emerged on the internet recently and trust us, it is guaranteed to leave you in splits. Why? This time, a content creator decided to approach random men on the street with an unusual proposal: asking them to marry him. Yes, you read that right. And the reactions of these men are just as amusing as the prank itself. The video, shared on Instagram by Prannay Joshi, begins with his quest to find the perfect match." With a rose, Prannay starts by approaching a middle-aged man. He says, Maine aap ko dur se dekha toh aap mujhe bahut sundar lage. Toh aap mere se shadi karoge kya? (I saw you from far away and you looked so beautiful to me. Will you marry me?)" The man instantly rejects him with a firm Hatt." related stories But Prannay doesnt give up and continues his hunt, receiving equally hilarious responses. One man, when proposed to, gave a logical yet firm rejection, saying, Mere dharam me do nhi chalta hai (In my religion, marrying twice isnt allowed)." He eventually said, Main apni biwi ko dhoka nahi dunga (I will never cheat on my wife)." Others stared at him in disbelief including a man who said, Main to buddha hu. Mera toh tumhare jaise bacche hai. Bacche ke bhi bacche hai (Im too old. I have kids your age and even grandchildren)." Prannay jokingly replied that even grandparents could get married. One man simply walked away without saying a word, while a confused street vendor asked Prannay if he thought he was out of his mind. The video is full of such funny moments which makes it a fun watch for viewers. The caption accompanying the video read, POOKIE ban jao mere plsss." Prannays video has garnered over 1 million views since being posted. The comments section was entertaining like the video with social media users flooding it with their hilarious reactions. One user jokingly wrote, Wedding season is on," while another added, Life is too short to argue just say hatttt & leave." Someone else shared, The guts you need to do this." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A viewer wrote, Bro sacrificed his images for us," and another shared, Last dude for the win." Amid the funny remarks, one user shared, They all probably smiled a little before they went off to sleep that night, PROUD, you made them happy apart from their hectic schedules." Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:12 IST Zerodhas Nithin Kamath After His Trip To Europe: Everything Feels Like Cut, Copy And Paste Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:44 IST Nithin Kamath shared an old tweet pointing out the challenges of building businesses in India. Nithin Kamath is the co-founder of Zerodha. (Image Credit: Instagram/nithinkamath) Nithin Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, recently shared about his travel experience to Europe on social media. In a post on X, he described his visit to several European countries, mentioning that everything seemed very similar to India with only small differences. I recently returned from visiting several countries in Europe. Everything feels like a cut, copy, and paste with very small differences," he wrote. Kamath contrasted his European travels with the experience of living in India. He pointed out that India feels more like a continent than a single country due to its vast diversity. In contrast, India is more like a continent than a country. The diversity in terms of languages, food, culture, etc., between the 28 states and within each state is nuts," Nithin mentioned. Every time I think of this, I am amazed at how the country actually came together," he concluded. related stories Along with his post, Nithin also shared an old tweet where he had talked about the challenges of building businesses in India. He had explained that it was easier to target a small group of affluent, English-speaking people but reaching a bigger and more diverse audience was much harder and complex. I guess the right way to think of this is, India is many countries in one. What works in one state or region may not work in another," he had penned. I recently returned from visiting several countries in Europe. Everything feels like a cut, copy, and paste with very small differences.In contrast, India is more like a continent than a country. The diversity in terms of languages, food, culture, etc., between the 28 states pic.twitter.com/6er6J4IvVB Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) November 26, 2024 Nithin Kamaths post about Indias diversity sparked a discussion online with many social media users sharing their thoughts. One user agreeing with Nithin mentioned, Simply couldnt agree more. The richness of the culture coupled with the obvious grunge, makes for a far more fulfilling habitat. Also, Indians are wayyyyyy warmer and kinder." Simply couldnt agree more. The richness of the culture coupled with the obvious grunge, makes for a far more fulfilling habitat. Also Indians are wayyyyyy warmer and kinder. https://t.co/xJ2YARIjma Zorawar Kalra (@ZorawarKalra) November 27, 2024 Another user noted, Its incredible how such a diverse nation has managed to unite under one identity while still celebrating its regional uniqueness. The rich cultural heritage and the ability to coexist harmoniously is something that sets India apart." It's incredible how such a diverse nation has managed to unite under one identity while still celebrating its regional uniqueness. The rich cultural heritage and the ability to coexist harmoniously is something that sets India apart. https://t.co/6EzSe3LNL5 Manish Yadav (@Manish___Yadav) November 26, 2024 An individual shared, Been saying the same since 2 years. India is a world in itself." Been saying the same since 2 years. India is a world in itself. https://t.co/fdN4vpHfog Mihir Desai (@cadesaimihir) November 26, 2024 Europe: Same vibe, different accents. India: Travel 100 km, and youll need a translator, a new spice tolerance, and a crash course in local customs. Unity in chaosits our superpower," someone shared. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Europe: Same vibe, different accents. India: Travel 100 km, and you'll need a translator, a new spice tolerance, and a crash course in local customs. Unity in chaosit's our superpower Someone sarcastically pointed out, Well, we have uniformity of air pollution, bad roads and garbage lined streets." Well, we have uniformity of air pollution, bad roads and garbage lined streets. SS (@ss17321_s) November 26, 2024 The post has accumulated over 2 lakh views so far. Location : Delhi, India First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:44 IST 3 Temples Targeted In Bangladesh's Chattogram Amid Violent Clashes Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 28, 2024, 07:30 IST The development is part of the violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. Protests in Bangladesh demanding immediate release of ISKCON monk and Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu. (IMAGE: X/@HinduVoice_in) The ongoing clashes in Bangladesh turned violent on Tuesday as three Hindu temples were targeted in Chattogram. The temples, which were targeted, included Lokonath Temple in Firangi Bazar, Mansa Mata Temple and Kali Mata Temple in Hazari Lane. The development is part of the violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh that has risen to alarming levels since then prime minister Sheikh Hasina was deposed on August 5 in a coup. related stories The recent protests erupted after the Hindus started protesting peacefully in large numbers in response to the organised attacks by Islamist radicals. The protests were organised by their social and religious organisation, chiefly ISKCON with followers all over the world. In view of the protest, prominent Hindu leader and ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was detained at the Dhaka Airport on Monday. Attack On Hindu Minorities The Bangladesh Army attacked Hindu minorities who were peacefully protesting in Thakurgaon, Bangladesh. The protestors were demonstrating for the release of Chinmayanand Das. Meanwhile, the ISKCON Bangladesh has denounced the arrest of its leader Chinmoy Krishna Das and said that they condemn attacks on Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. Lawyer Killed In Violent Clashes top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A public-prosecutor was killed and several others were injured after a violent clash between Bangladeshi security forces and supporters of Hindu leader Chinmoy Das erupted after he was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chittagong Court. The victim was identified as Saiful Islam, a 35-year-old assistant public prosecutor and a member of the Chattogram District Bar Association, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Location : Bangladesh First Published: November 27, 2024, 07:21 IST Bangladesh HC To Hear Petition Seeking Ban On ISKCON Amid Crackdown On Hindus Reported By : CNN-News18 Edited By: Ashesh Mallick Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:07 IST Hindus have been subjected to violence in the last few months under the Yunus administration. Chinmoy Krishna Das (AP Image) A petition has been filed in a Bangladeshi High Court seeking a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as attacks on the Hindu community intensified in the country. The petition has also sought a directive to impose a state of emergency in Chittagong and Rangpur to avoid any untoward situation as protests rocked the cities. The court sought government initiative on the issue. related stories Worrying Situation: Plea In High Court Seeks ISKCON Ban Lawyer Moniruzzaman sought an order before a bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Debashish Roy Chowdhury on Wednesday. Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman stated that some people are attempting to destabilise the country and the government has started the process of discussions with political parties on recent issues". The government is dealing with a worrying situation by building national unity," he said. The High Court said, They are worried. So that no one can deteriorate the law and order situation". The court then ordered the government to give a report on its actions on ISKCON and recent issues relating to it by tomorrow. Reacting to the development, General Secretary of Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, Dr Mrityunjay Kumar Roy, said that the group strongly opposes the plea. What has ISKCON done?ISKCON is a peaceful organisation which talks about Shri Krishna and works for the welfare of the poor," he said. Protests By Hindu Community In Bangladesh This comes as the Hindu community has been protesting against the arrest and denial of bail to a monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu who was slapped with sedition charges. Prabhu has been raising his voice against atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. He has also organised several protests demanding the security of the religious minority community. He was arrested on November 25 at Dhaka Airport and was sent to jail on charges of sedition. Protests broke out outside the Chittagong court in which a lawyer was allegedly killed by the mob. India Expresses Concern On Violence Against Hindus The Ministry of External Affairs expressed concerns over the recent developments asking the Bangladeshi government to ensure safety of Hindus in the country. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression," MEA said in an official statement. The Ministry also expressed concerns over the attacks on protesting Hindus demanding the release of Prabhu. Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:12 IST China Frees 3 US Citizens In Swap After Years Of Wrongful Detention Published By : AFP Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 22:50 IST The White House said China freed Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. Harrison Li holds a photo of his father, Kai Li, as he poses for a photo, Jan. 23, 2024, in Palo Alto, California. Kai was released in a prisoner swap with China. (IMAGE: AP PHOTO) China has freed three Americans considered wrongfully detained in a swap with the United States, US officials said Wednesday, meeting a key goal of outgoing President Joe Bidens administration. The three Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung were the last prisoners in China classified by the State Department as wrongfully detained, although activists and families have raised the cases of other US citizens. related stories Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years," a State Department spokesperson said on the eve of Thanksgiving, the American holiday associated with family reunions. Thanks to this administrations efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home," the spokesperson said, referring to the Peoples Republic of China. A source close to the matter said that the three were being freed in a swap with Beijing for three Chinese nationals in US custody who were not identified. Swidan was detained in late 2012 on a business trip to China on drug charges. His family and supporters say there was never any evidence he had drugs and that his driver and translator had blamed him. In his early time in detention, Swidan was deprived of sleep and food and lost more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms), according to Dui Hua, a group that supports prisoners in China. Swidans mother Katherine, who lives in Texas, addressed a congressional hearing in September and accused the Biden administration of ignoring his plight. Our loved ones are not bargaining chips or political pawns; they are human beings whose rights and freedoms must be upheld and protected," she said. Kai Li, a naturalized American born in Shanghai who ran a business exporting aircraft technology, was detained in 2016 and convicted of espionage for allegedly sending state secrets to US authorities. He says he was sharing information routinely available on the internet as part of routine compliance with US export regulations. Leung, a US citizen in his late 70s with permanent residency in Hong Kong, was also convicted of espionage. China said little about his case when he was first detained in 2021 but later accused him of spying on Chinese officials on behalf of the United States. Engagement with China In September, the United States secured the release of another American considered wrongfully detained David Lin, a pastor who had been jailed since 2006. US officials later acknowledged that the release was part of a swap for a Chinese national following quiet diplomacy. The approach is in sharp contrast to prisoner exchanges with Russia, in which Biden and President Vladimir Putin have personally greeted returning citizens at the airport. The US prisoners in China have drawn comparatively less attention, although US lawmakers have been repeatedly raised their cases and the Biden administration insisted they remained a priority. With the latest three, the outgoing administration has secured the release of more than 70 unjustly detained Americans around the world, officials said. Biden most recently raised the prisoners case personally with President Xi Jinping during their final meeting this month on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru, officials said. Observers say that China has sought to show that, if the United States engages, it is willing to work constructively on certain areas of concern. The Biden administration also says that China has taken action against producers of the precursor chemicals to fentanyl, the synthetic painkiller behind an overdose pandemic in the United States that has begun to decline. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all President-elect Donald Trump has vowed a more confrontational approach and said on social media this week that he would immediately impose big tariffs on products from China, as well as US neighbors Mexico and Canada. Both the Biden and Trump teams have described China as the most significant long-term adversary of the United States, but Biden has also emphasized the value of engagement. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: November 27, 2024, 22:50 IST Gold Prices Drop By Nearly Rs 16,000 In Nepal, Consumers Make A Beeline Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 15:29 IST The price of hallmark gold in Nepal dropped from Rs 1,67,200 per tola on Sunday to Rs 1,51,300 per tola on Monday. Cheaper gold sparks buying frenzy in Nepal. (Representative/AP File) Gold has become significantly cheaper in Nepal, with prices dropping by Rs 15,900 per tola (11.664 grams). This reduction follows a policy shift by the Nepal government, which halved the customs duty on gold imports in response to changes in Indias gold import tax. Earlier this year, in its July budget, India lowered the import duty on gold and silver from 15% to 6%, making gold cheaper by about Rs 6,000. Nepals government has now taken a similar step, cutting its customs duty on gold from 20% to 10%, leading to a dramatic fall in gold prices in Nepal. related stories As a result, the price of hallmark gold in Nepal dropped from Rs 1,67,200 per tola on Sunday to Rs 1,51,300 per tola on Monday. This marks a significant drop of Rs 15,900. The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Associations confirmed the new price on Monday, November 25. What Led to the Price Drop? The Nepal governments decision to reduce customs duty came after Indias budget announcement, which made gold more affordable in India and sparked a surge in gold smuggling into Nepal due to the price disparity. In response, Nepals government took measures to address the imbalance, which had encouraged illegal trade across the open border between the two countries. The rise in gold smuggling due to the duty gap was a key concern for authorities. The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Associations had recommended a further reduction in the customs duty to 8%, but the government decided on a 10% rate. This move aims to control illegal trade while still making gold more affordable in Nepal. Gold Prices: Nepal vs India top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Despite the drop in Nepals gold prices, gold remains slightly more expensive in Nepal than in India. In India, the price of 10 grams of gold is around Rs 79,595, whereas the equivalent price in Nepal, when converted to Indian rupees, is around Rs 94,366 per tola, or approximately Rs 80,930 for 10 grams. Thus, while the price reduction in Nepal has made gold more affordable, it is still marginally more expensive than in India. Nonetheless, the price difference has sparked a wave of gold purchases in Nepal, with many consumers buying in bulk in anticipation of further price fluctuations. First Published: November 27, 2024, 15:28 IST 'He'll Be Killed Like Bhutto, Jinnah': Why Imran Khan's Close Aide Wants Democratic Set-Up 'Like India' | Exclusive Reported By : CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:41 IST Slamming Pakistans army chief for killing his own civilians, Dr Salman Ahmed said the former Pakistan prime minister would be punished for bringing about a revolution Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party march towards Islamabad. (AFP) Imran Khan, who has asked more supporters to join protests over his incarceration in Pakistans capital, may be killed like Benazir Bhutto or Jinnah because he has brought about a revolution", said Dr Salman Ahmed, a close aide of the former prime minister. Ahmed, in an exclusive chat with CNN-News18, said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest faced a setback after Khans wife Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur mysteriously disappeared" from D Chowk. Several media outlets had reported that the two had fled the area fearing arrest. related stories Convoys of pro-Khan demonstrators have been marching in Islamabad since Sunday, hauling aside roadblocks and skirmishing with police and paramilitary forces firing volleys of rubber bullets and tear gas. ALSO READ | Pakistan ISI Wants UAE To Mediate Between Army And Imran Khan, Ex-PMs Life Under Threat: Sources Khan has been jailed since August 2023, sidelined by dozens of legal cases he claims were confected to prevent his comeback in elections this year marred by rigging allegations. The army chief is mentally sick. No army chief in history has ever ordered the killing of his own civilians. We want a democratic set-up like India. No leader is bigger than Imran Khan in Pakistan," said Ahmed. Lauding the turnout of Khans supporters, Ahmed said: The army is firing on peaceful protestors without any reason. There has been a massive turnout at D Chowk and we congratulate the people of Pakistan for peaceful protests. However, the army may hijack this revolution." The administration, meanwhile, has pushed the PTI protesters back from D Chowk, forcing workers to retreat to the Blue Area. The army chief will survive only by eliminating Imran Khan. He will be killed like Bhutto, Jinnah because he brought a revolution," Khans aide said. Since the February vote, Khans PTI has defied a government crackdown with regular rallies, but Tuesdays was by far the largest to grip the capital. In the evening, Khan issued a statement from his jail cell outside Islamabad, telling more people to join crowds attempting to occupy a public square in the citys government enclave. Those who havent yet joined the protest must also head to D Chowk," said Khans message posted on social media and shared by his party. All Pakistanis participating in the protest must remain peaceful, stay united, and stand firm until our demands are met." The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet sporadically cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The government has accused protesters of attempting to derail a state visit by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrived for a three-day trip on Monday. (With AFP inputs) Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:41 IST Orange announced on Tuesday it is partnering with OpenAI and Meta to fine-tune AI large language models (LLMs) to incorporate regional languages in Africa that are currently not understood by any GenAI model. The initiative will initially focus on two regional languages in West Africa: Wolof, which spoken by 16 million people, and Pulaar, which is spoken by six million people. Under the partnership deals, Orange, OpenAI and Meta will train OpenAIs Whisper speech model and Metas Llama 3.1 text model with diverse examples of these languages to help them better understand them. The initial objective is to enable customers to communicate with Orange in their local languages for customer support and sales. However, Orange also plans to distribute the resulting open-source AI models via a free license for non-commercial use cases such as public health and public education, among others. It will also collaborate with local startups and other technology companies to use the models to drive AI innovation in those regional languages. Orange describes the initiative as a blueprint for how AI can be used to promote digital inclusion particularly for illiterate populations by making AI and other related advances accessible to everyone. Orange said its long-term goal is to work with multiple AI technology providers to enable future models to recognize all African languages spoken and written across Oranges 18-country footprint in Africa. Separately, Orange also signed a deal with OpenAI to gain direct access to OpenAIs models, available for the first time in Europe with data processing and hosting in European data centres. That deal would not only enable Orange to work on improving existing solutions across its footprint, but also give the telco group early access to OpenAIs latest and most advanced AI models. Orange sees AI-based voice interactions with its customers as an early key use case. Imran Khan's Wife, Close Aide Mocked For 'Fleeing' Protests Amid Police Crackdown | Watch Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 23:53 IST Police launched a midnight crackdown on Imran Khan's protesting supporters, firing tear gas and arrested hundreds in Islamabad. Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Imran Khan's party in Islamabad. (AFP) As police cracked down heavily on Imran Khans protesters, the jailed former PMs wife Bushra Bibi along with close aide and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur fled Islamabads D-Chowk to evade arrest. Videos show protesters trying to stop Gandapur from fleeing the protest. Imran Khan urged the supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to launch a final call" protest against the government and Gandapur was the central figure in the protests. However, the Pakistan government launched a brutal midnight crackdown on protesters, firing tear gas and arresting over 1,000 PTI workers, causing Bushra Bibi and Gandapur to flee and the party to call off the protest. related stories As Gandapur tried to flee the site, some of the protesters tried to stop him, saying, Humne Ali Amin Ko Nahi Jaane Dena" (We will not let Ali Amin Go) and Ye Dekhiye, Ali Amin Gandapur bhaag raha hai" (Look, Ali Amin Gandapur is fleeing). Some appeared to jump on top of a vehicle, presumably his. Footage of Ali Amin Gandapur abandoning his supporters and fleeing has emerged pic.twitter.com/Yaoye8vbSz Saad Kaiser (@TheSaadKaiser) November 27, 2024 A car arrived to take Ali Amin Gandapur away for some urgent work,but protesters stopped him and saidThis time, you wont be allowed to escape." pic.twitter.com/HIXAMsD9mU laley (@grimreaper23sep) November 26, 2024 Gandapur and Bushra Bibi remained incommunicado for hours before they finally resurfaced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Mansehra on Wednesday morning. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told The Express Tribune that both of them were safe. Gandapur Completed Hat-Trick: Ministers Ridicule KP CM, Bushra Bibi Apparently, this is not the first time Gandapur has mysteriously" disappeared from PTI protests. Former Member of the Sindh provincial Assembly Dewan Sachal said Gandapur has completed his hattrick now", while asking what would happen to the final call". Government ministers also joined in to mock Gandapur and Bushra Bibi, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi saying, They ran away in front of you, not one or two or three but thousands of people ran away." Naqvi said efforts are underway to detain both leaders. Haha. So they have reached backWhat about the 1000s of people they took with them?Woh gaye bhaar mein !Gandapur has completed his hattrick now Ab Kya Hoga final call ka?#GayiBhainsPaniMein #BhainsGoesSwimming pic.twitter.com/tw9Oxfzx36 Dewan Sachal (@essel1) November 27, 2024 Addressing a press conference after Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also ridiculed the leaders for fleeing, Dawn reported, Sadly I must say this was not a final call but a miscall," he said, adding that it was the second time Gandapur had fled" a protest after a similar stunt in October. Tarar also ridiculed former First Lady Bushra Bibi, saying that running away" had become a hobby" for her. Was it a 100-metre race in a school?" he said while calling on both of them to never again turn towards Islamabad". They brought modern weapons, teargas shells, and slingshots, attacked police, and then claimed people were killed," Tarar said on PTI protesters. PTIs Final Call Protest Still On: Gandapur Speaking from Mansehra on Wednesday, Gandapur said that the PTI protest is still ongoing and only party founder Imran Khan has the authority to decide when it will be called off. He accused the government of oppressive actions against PTI supporters, including violence, illegal detentions and restrictions on freedom of assembly. The PTI announced a temporary suspension" of its planned protest in Islamabad to call for their leaders release from prison after the police unleashed a crackdown on protesters by firing tear gas and rubber bullets. The protesters broke through barricades, defied government warnings and clashed with security forces in high-security zones. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all At least six people four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters had been killed in the protests before the overnight clashes, according to PTI. The party described the crackdown as a massacre" under the fascist military regime" as hundreds of workers were arrested. After dispersing the protesters, the government ended the lockdown in Islamabad. (with agency inputs) Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: November 27, 2024, 22:58 IST 'One-Sided, Biased': ISKCON Exposes Bangladeshi Media Narrative On Lawyer's Death Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:07 IST A lawyer was killed after protests outside a court in Chittagong demanding the release of a Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu. Bangladeshi Hindu leader Krishna Das Prabhu (AP Image) ISKCON Bangladesh has expressed concerns over the biased" and one-sided" reporting by the countrys media outlets over the death of a lawyer during protests outside the country on Tuesday. According to ISKCON, a group of people caused chaos during the protests, leading to the death of the lawyer. However, some sections of the Bangladeshi media are presenting a different narrative of the events," the ISKCON said in a statement. related stories Saiful Islam Alif, a lawyer, was allegedly hacked to death after the protests by thousands who gathered outside a court in Chittagong demanding the release of an arrested Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu, who was later denied bail and sent to jail on charges of sedition. Massive protests have erupted in Bangladesh over the arrest of the Hindu monk at Dhaka airport on November 25. Prabhu was denied bail yesterday, leading to further protests by the Hindu community who cited atrocities against them under the Yunus administration. Chief Advisor to the interim Bangladesh government, Muhammad Yunus, condemned the killing of the lawyer in Chittagong and ordered an investigation into the incident. Daily Star Claims Attack On Press Freedom The Daily Star, a daily in Bangladesh, also claimed an attack on press freedom under the Yunus administration in the country. In a detailed statement, the daily highlighted the lack of press freedom in the previous regime and stressed that threats to media are intensifying" in the present scenario. Threats to the media appear to be intensifying in the current political climate, with coordinated campaigns aiming to stoke hostility against media houses that have long stood as pillars of independent journalism. This raises troubling questions about the future of the press in Bangladesh," it said. The newspaper stated a mob attacked the head office of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. Last Thursday, the protesters even sat on protests and caused disorder outside the office for several days. On Monday, two of the regional offices of the paper came under attack in which masked individuals" vandalised the signboard and windows in Bogura. in Rajshahi, a group attempted to break into its office, destroyed its signboard, and burned copies of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star," the statement said. Hindu Monks Arrest Draws Backlash The arrest of the Hindu monk in Bangladesh drew sharp reactions from the Hindu community. Indias Ministry of External Affairs too reacted to the development asking the government in the country to ensure the safety of Hindus who have been subjected to violence and atrocities for a number of months. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression," MEA said in an official statement. Bangladesh responded to Indias reaction stating that it was made on the internal affairs of Bangladesh" and harm the friendly relations between the two nations. Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh First Published: November 27, 2024, 11:59 IST ISKCON Leader Arrested In Bangladesh As Jamaat Is Upset With Hindu Unity: Sources Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:45 IST "Jamaat feels the Hindus movement may give space to Awami League and legitimate polls in Bangladesh and they may be banned again," sources said. Prominent Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das had recently raised concerns about the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh following a regime change. (IMAGE: X) The bail hearing of Hindu monk and ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das is set to come up for hearing in Bangladesh on Tuesday. Top Intelligence sources have told CNN-News18 that the main reason for the arrest of Das is that the Jamaat-e-Islami is upset with the consolidation of Hindus under ISKCON. Sources said the Jamaat wants to curb the Hindu movement in Bangladesh as soon as possible. Jamaat feels the Hindus movement may give space to Awami league and legitimate polls and they may be banned again," sources said. related stories Sources said that a Hindu uprising has been seen in Bangladesh under ISKCON, specially after the exit of Sheikh Hasina. There have been a large number of protests and rallies organised by ISKCON in Bangladesh. According to sources, the Hindu uprising in Bangladesh gained momentum after murders and attacks on Hindus in the country. After Hasinas departure, protests against persecution of Hindus were started by ISKCON in Bangladesh. There have been protests against forced conversions, land grabbing, and violence. Sources said Jamaat was also upset due to international support to Hindus in Bangladesh. The protests by Hindus got international attention, with many human rights organisations and Hindu groups expressing solidarity with the ISKCON-led movement. According to top sources in the Indian government, the Muhammad Yunus government and army want to work with India, but pressure from the Jamaat has not been allowing them to take free decisions. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Meanwhile, the Indian government has expressed concern over the arrest of the ISKCON leader. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said,"We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples." It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings. We also note with concern the attacks on minorities protesting peacefully against the arrest of Shri Das," the MEA said. First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:45 IST Israel Denies Authority Of ICC, Will Appeal Netanyahu, Gallant Arrest Warrants Published By : Reuters Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 23:17 IST Netanyahu said that he met US Senator Lindsey Graham who debriefed him about efforts in US Congress against ICC. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of war crimes and the ICC has launched an arrest warrant against him. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Israel has informed the International Criminal Court that it will appeal against arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over their conduct of the Gaza war, Netanyahus office said on Wednesday. The State of Israel denies the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants that have been issued against the Prime Minister and the former Defense Minister. Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 27, 2024 related stories Netanyahu also said that US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had updated him on a series of measures he is promoting in the US Congress against the International Criminal Court and against countries that would cooperate with it", Netanyahu said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The ICC issued arrest warrants last Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence chief, and Hamas military leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Israel today submitted a notice to the International Criminal Court of its intention to appeal to the court, along with a demand to delay the execution of the arrest warrants," Netanyahu said. Location : Tel Aviv, Israel First Published: November 27, 2024, 23:15 IST Biden Pushes For Gaza Ceasefire As Hamas Remains Open To Truce Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 19:30 IST Israel-Hamas Ceasefire On The Cards? Biden, however, said that the truce will ensure that Hamas is not in power anymore in Gaza. Hamas and US President Joe Biden (not pictured) have both expressed their desire to see an end to the war in Gaza. (IMAGE: Reuters) US President Joe Biden said the US will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to bring into effect a ceasefire in Gaza while ensuring release of hostages and eyeing an end to the war in the blockaded coastal enclave without Hamas in power. Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power," Biden said in a post in X. related stories The US President may want a Hamas-free Gaza, an aim the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also has, but the Palestinian militant group also said that it is ready for a cease-fire in Gaza. We are committed to cooperating with any effort to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and we are interested in ending the aggression against our people," Hamas said in a statement but highlighted that its certain longstanding demands will have to be met. Hamas has stated that for any ceasefire to take place, it must result in the end of the ongoing conflict, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, and the negotiation of a prisoner exchange involving hostages, while welcoming the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal. A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that began Wednesday appeared to be holding, as residents in cars heaped with belongings streamed back toward southern Lebanon despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries that they stay away from certain areas. If it holds, the ceasefire would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September into all-out war and threatened to pull Hezbollahs patron Iran and Israel into a broader conflagration. The deal does not address the war in Gaza. It could give some reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and the tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border with Lebanon. They were a nasty and ugly 60 days," said Mohammed Kaafarani, 59, who was displaced from the Lebanese village of Bidias. We reached a point where there was no place to hide." The US- and France-brokered deal, approved by Israel late Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah emerges from the war battered and bloodied, with the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war tarnished. Yet its fighters still managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: November 27, 2024, 18:53 IST Weve Always Called For De-Escalation: India Welcomes Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 13:51 IST Netanyahu said the length of it would depend on what happened in Lebanon Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned all forms and acts of terrorism and called for the release of all hostages, referring to the Israeli hostages seized on Oct 7, 2023 by Hamas and held in Gaza Strip. (Image: REUTERS FILE/REPRESENTATIVE) India has welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that commenced on Wednesday morning. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement, mentioning that it has always called for de-escalation, restraint, and a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy". We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region," the full statement read. related stories Speaking about the ceasefire, Netanyahu said the length of it would depend on what happened in Lebanon. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory," he said. The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian groups October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. The Israeli PM listed three reasons for opting for a ceasefire pact. The first reason was to focus on the Iranian threat, but he did not want to expand. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all His second was to give the forces a pause and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission," he said. He said the third reason for having a ceasefire was to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages," he added. First Published: November 27, 2024, 13:32 IST Trump Picks Kolkata-Born Jay Bhattacharya As Director Of National Institutes Of Health Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 11:26 IST Donald Trump has nominated Jay Bhattacharya as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya has vowed to reform American scientific institutions and restore public trust in science. Jay Bhattacharya (Image: Social Media) US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked Stanford academic and US Covid policy critic Jay Bhattacharya as the Director of the National Institutes of Health. A statement from Trump read, I am thrilled to nominate Jay Bhattacharya, Md, PhD, to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya will work in coordination with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nations Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives." related stories Together, 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. Together they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!". NEW: President Trump announces the nomination of @DrJBhattacharya to Director of the National Institutes of Health. pic.twitter.com/gAweeO8jBC Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 27, 2024 In an X post, Bhattacharya said this team would reform American scientific institutions" to make the country healthy again. I am honored and humbled by President Donald Trumps nomination of me to be the next National Institutes of Health director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!" he wrote. I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrumps nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! https://t.co/FrLmYznhfw Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) November 27, 2024 The NIH director oversees 27 institutes and centers that conduct early-stage research on everything from vaccines for emerging pandemic threats to targets for new drugs. WHO IS JAY BHATTACHARYA? Jayanta Jay" Bhattacharya, born in Kolkata in 1968, is a Stanford health policy professor and doctor and was an outspoken critic of the US governments Covid-19 policies during the pandemic. Along with two other academics, Bhattacharya published the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for a return to life as normal for those who were not vulnerable to the virus. He sued the government afterwards, alleging that it pressured social media platforms to censor his opinions. Bhattacharya graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1997 and received his doctorate from Stanfords Department of Economics in 2000, according to his resume. During the Covid pandemic, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the NIHs National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease who served on President Trumps coronavirus task force, became a frequent target of Republicans for contradicting some of Trumps coronavirus policies and recommendations, leading to calls for his dismissal. Francis Collins, the NIH director and Faucis boss, defended Fauci in a July 2020 interview with STAT News, saying it was unimaginable" to consider firing Fauci, as some Republicans had demanded. As a career federal employee, Faucis job was shielded from political firings by federal civil service regulations, protections Trump has vowed to undo. US DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH On November 23, the Washington Post reported that Jay Bhattacharya was the presumptive favourite to be selected by Trump as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He met with Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trumps pick to lead HHS this week and impressed him with his ideas to overhaul NIH, the report stated. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Bhattacharya called for shifting the agencys focus toward funding more innovative research and reducing the influence of some of its longest-serving career officials, it added. Trump picked Kennedy earlier this month to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States top health agency which oversees NIH and other health agencies. First Published: November 27, 2024, 07:17 IST JMB Cadre Active In Bangladesh, Hindus May Face Attacks On Streets And In Jails, New Intel Warns Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:42 IST A top-level official aware of the intelligence said that this year, JMB leaders managed to break out of jail, raising concerns for Hindus and other minorities. Members of the Bangladeshi Hindu community hold banners and chant slogans against violence targeting the country's minorities during a protest in Dhaka. (File image: AFP) More concerns have been raised on violence against minorities in Bangladesh after the arrest of Hindu priest and ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in the country. Minorities, especially Hindus, are not only unsafe on the streets but also in jails, and the situation is becoming increasingly dire, a latest input of Indian intelligence agencies said. According to sources, agencies have warned that various JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) cadres are fueling attacks on minorities and are also likely to target them in jails. related stories Since Tuesday night, various districts in Bangladesh have seen attacks on minorities primarily Hindus. Houses have been burnt by mobs and minority population has been targeted while local government failed to act. A top-level official aware of the intelligence said that this year, JMB leaders managed to break out of jail, raising concerns for Hindus and other minorities. These cadres are likely to be involved in different attacks and incidents of vandalism. Yudhistar Das, the Communications Chief of ISCKON in India said the organisation was highly concerned about the personal safety of Chinmoy Krishna Das" after his bail has been denied and he has been sent to jail. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday condemned the arrest and denial of bail to Hindu religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and urged the Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety of Hindus, a religious minority in the country. MEAs strong remark came after Prabhu, who led multiple protests over atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, was arrested by the Dhaka Polices Detective Branch on November 25 at Dhaka airport. Prabhu was associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for many years and has served as the societys spokesperson. On several occasions, Prabhu raised his voice against the acts of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, calling out the practice of religious discrimination. Temples have been increasingly targeted by mobs, fueled by various extremist outfits. Vandalism in Hindu temples has sharply increased in the past four weeks, according to a government official. In two separate incidents in August, around 700 inmates managed to escape from jail. Many of them were JMB sympathisers or leaders. After the exit of Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh, these cadres and other outfits started targeting Hindus and other minorities. It is likely that minorities, especially Hindus, could also be targeted in jails, in addition to the streets," a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told News18. Sources also indicated that Indian central agencies are closely monitoring developments in Bangladesh. It is expected that attacks on Hindus may increase in certain areas, as the law and order machinery in those regions has collapsed. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all JMB has been involved in multiple attacks in India and abroad, including the 2002 bombing of a church in Gopalganj, bombings of the UK and US embassies in 2004, and the attack in Bodh Gaya. Gopalganj, Maulvibazar, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Khulna, and Khagrachhari have some of the highest populations of Hindus. According to sources, these areas have already witnessed attacks on Hindu temples and local residents. One such incident occurred nearly two months ago, when a temple was targeted and vandalised in the Maulvibazar area. First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:34 IST Planning Maldives Trip? Travellers Will Now Have To Pay Hefty Fees To Leave Country Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 23:48 IST The Maldives has hiked its departure tax for the maintenance of its primary tourist hub amid a slew of economic challenges. Maldives is one of the world's most expensive tourist destinations. (Reuters/File) The archipelago nation of Maldives is already one of the worlds most expensive tourist destinations. Now it will become more expensive to leave the country as the government is set to hike exit fees as much as four times from December 1. The departure tax in Maldives is broken down per passenger based on the class of service they are using to fly out of the country, CNN reported. Passengers in economy class will pay $50, up from $30, while fees for those travelling in business class have been doubled from $60 to $120. related stories Economy Class: $50 (from $30) Business Class: $120 (from $60) First-Class: $240 (from $90) Private Jet: $480 (from $120) First-class travel exit fees have been boosted from $90 to $240 and private jet travellers will have to pay $480 per person, from $120. This tax will be applicable for all non-Maldivian visitors regardless of age or passport, and it also doesnt take the length or duration of the flight into account, which means a tourist will have to pay the same whether they are travelling from Delhi or London. The Maldivian Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) announced the tax increases in November to generate revenue towards the maintenance of the Velana International Airport, the countrys primary transit hub. Will This Impact Tourism In Maldives? According to CNN, some tourists may not even notice the new charges. These fees are added to the price of airline tickets, so travellers wont have to pay upfront when they go through passport control. Moreover, Beond, a startup all-business-class airline that flies to the Maldives, has advised customers to buy their tickets before November 30 to avoid the new departure tax. The fee hike comes as the Maldives, which is most reliant on tourism, has struggled to balance the money with the needs of its population. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Maldives is also facing a number of economic challenges. The International Monetary Fund said the country is at a high risk of external and overall debt distress. Former President Abdulla Yameen had previously borrowed heavily from China for construction projects, adding to the burden. Current Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu also said he would be unable to launch any new projects due to high debt. The Maldives is a lucrative destination for high-end hotel and resort brands The Ritz Carlton, Six Senses, and St Regis are among the international hotel chains present there, with many rooms and villas costing thousands of dollars per night. On the other hand, the average Maldivian earns about $12,000 a year, as per the US State Department. Location : Male, Maldives First Published: November 27, 2024, 23:38 IST Pakistan Armys Crackdown On Stir: Exclusive From Sources Close To Imran Khan Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 18:25 IST Pakistan's stir in support of Imran Khan was suspended as the clash left at least six dead even as PTI claimed hundreds were killed PTI supporters clash with the security officials in Pakistan. (PTI) The midnight crackdown on the protest by jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khans party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday is among the most brutal, local sources told News18, even as Indian intelligence sources reminded of the countrys track record on human rights. News18 has also published what are being called videos of the attack on citizens, prompting even the locals to seek India-like democracy". The stir was formally suspended as the clash with the authorities left at least six dead and over 50 injured even as the PTI earlier claimed hundreds" were killed in the violent clashes with security personnel. According to sources close to Khan, over 100 lives have been lost and many more critically injured. Pakistan Police and Pakistan Rangers fired directly on peaceful protesters in D Chowk on the orders of Interior Minister and Chief of Army Staff. The situation at the D Chowk in Islamabad was very tense last night. Thousands of Khan supporters had gathered, but the regime switched off the lights, tear-gassed and fired at them," sources said. related stories The midnight crackdown forced Khans supporters to evacuate the D-Chowk and its adjacent main business district of the capital ending their protest. In view of the governments brutality and the governments plan to turn the capital into a slaughterhouse for unarmed citizens, (we) announce the suspension of the peaceful protest for the time being," Khans PTI said in a press release shared on its official X account. Intelligence sources said, Pakistan is facing major turmoil. The stability is under threat as army chief is ordering firing on civilians. The top leadership is not seen talking about it. Khan is looking at India." The Pakistan Army has always targeted innocent people in Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Shooting at the general population is nothing new for them. Babra, Kharakmar, Khyber Jirga Maidan, Waziristan, Kurram, Bajaur and other Pakhtun areas are watching this for ages, they said. Amid concerns about the whereabouts of Khans wife Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur who were leading the march to Islamabad the party said they were at Mansehra town, near Abbotabad, of the northwestern province. THE THREE-DAY STIR Authorities began reopening roads and cleaning all major thoroughfares vandalised during the three-day protest by Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: party. Future plans would be announced in light of directions" from Khan after the partys political and core committees presented their analyses of the state brutality" to him. The party statement also condemned the alleged killing" and terror and brutality against peaceful protesters in the name of an operation". The PTI urged the chief justice to take suo motu notice of the alleged brutal murder of martyred (party) workers" and order legal action against the prime minister, interior minister and police chiefs of Islamabad and Punjab for attempt to murder." Earlier on Tuesday evening, PTI supporters battled law enforcing agencies and succeeded in reaching the D-Chowk for a sit-in as part of their protest march that started on Sunday. The supporters clash with police killed at least six security personnel and injured dozens since Monday midnight. Bushra Bibi and Gandapur had announced that the protesters would not go away until Khan, who had given the final call for protest, was released from jail even as security personnel continued their efforts to move them from the D-Chowk, which is located close to several important government buildings: the Presidency, the PM Office, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The 72-year-old former premier, who has been in jail since August last year, 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". With PTI Inputs First Published: November 27, 2024, 18:22 IST The Philippines is well on its way to becoming a major connectivity hub in Asia. The archipelago has a strategic geographical location and is a key node for submarine connectivity, with the subsea route between the Philippines and the US attracting particular investment. Additionally, the Philippines recently updated its 85-year-old Public Service Act (PSA) to allow 100% foreign ownership of businesses within the domestic market, making it more attractive to for international submarine cable networks and hyperscale data centres. One company charting the rise of the Philippines is Telstra International, which covers the Australia-headquartered groups digital infrastructure outside of its home market, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Its remit includes subsea cables and landing stations as well as terrestrial fibre across the Pacific, as well as the services sold on top of this to wholesale and enterprise customers. We spoke to the companys CEO Roary Stasko about how the Philippines is well-positioned for future growth. What are the strategic advantages offered by the Philippines that are now attracting investment? There's a couple of dynamics at play. Geopolitics have changed - the north transpacific route has become more challenging, so we see new opportunities developing across the south and mid transpacific corridors in terms of subsea cables. [If] we look at the path of where the Philippines lies, it's a great connection point between other parts of Asia and the US or Australia. How are we building diversity and resilience into our network? Will we have a lower reliance, or diversify our reliance on cable systems that may transit through the South China Sea or for through those northern Pacific routes? In that, the Philippines is a very friendly environment for us. We've continued to build out capacity, but we also see an operating environment which, with some of the changes in telecommunication laws in the Philippines, makes it a little bit more favourable for companies such as ours to operate. As a specific example, the change to allow 100% ownership by foreign companies from the Public Service Act, that has been one dynamic that makes the Philippines an even a more interesting place as a regional hub for international submarine cable networks and hyperscaler data centres for that matter, too. What are the advantages being opened up by the change to ownership laws? As those ownership laws have changed, that has created less friction and more transparency in terms of how companies need to operate in the environment. Those types of rules and regulations are pro-digital infrastructure, pro-business, pro-telecom. We've been operating there through a partner for some time, and we'll continue to seed the market. As others look at the market, particularly in the data centre space, they would look at that and think is this a place where I need to go in with a local partner? Is this a place that we can just own and operate and it's easier to manage and govern from a corporate governance perspective - not to mention cost and equity and long-term predictability? Because just like any partnership over time, sometimes the various parties interests diverge, and that creates complexity. These are long term deals, not two- to four-year transactions - you're making 15, 20, 25-year investments. You want to have confidence in your partner or your operating model in any country that you go into, across any market in Asia. Some of the progressive actions that the Philippines is taking in terms of changing those regulations is an enabler - it reduces that friction, and it makes it attractive for foreign companies to come in and land. Are these updated rules a play by the Philippines to compete with or offer an alternative to - other established connectivity hubs in the region? It absolutely is a competitive environment now. Certain rules that Singapore has put in place - limitations on data centre builds unless you have availability of green power - have created an opportunity for other regional hubs to emerge. Hong Kong may not be as attractive for putting a data centre now for a variety of reasons; Singapore had may have some restrictions on data centre capacity because of availability of power. You start to look at Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam - if you're operating in any one of those markets, or you're a regulator or the government in any one of those markets, how do you reduce friction to make this a more attractive place for hyperscalers and the data centres to establish presence? With the connectivity that's already through the Philippines, with some of the planned cable systems that are intending to go through there, the changes in regulations, those are all very conducive to attract that type of investment. On top of that, you have a strong set of demographics of end users in that market as well. If you look at the Philippines and the consumption, the data penetration, mobile penetration, the types of use cases, and GDP, etc, you know this isn't just going to be a processing centre where all the traffic comes in and goes out. If you're a hyperscaler, the Philippines is a target-rich environment from where you want to serve the market to serve the region, but also where there's a local market to serve as well. Are hyperscalers shifting their focus towards newer growth markets? You have sort of two different types of hyperscalers B2C and B2B - and as you think about AI and how it flows through, they obviously have different needs as well. They have the training modules where they need to build large amounts of capability, but then they have the inference modules as well. I think the nature of those two is defining the topography of how hyperscalers are deploying their networks - first their data centre networks, but then also their connectivity networks that they need to connect that. I can't speak on behalf of the hyperscalers, but what we see from customers is the desire and the demand is - they want those traditional hub markets, but increasingly, because of demand and because of need, they are looking where else they can go. That's why there's this emergence of new hubs - the thing that's defining that, in many ways, is power regulation and the local markets that they want to serve. A B2C hyperscaler will be different than a B2B hyperscaler in terms of the kind of needs they're serving and how much they need in the training modules, versus the inference levels versus how much sits in the end user. What we see through all of that is the need for connectivity; we see hyperscalers increasingly being willing to trade off latency, particularly in the training modules, for availability and cost of power. If you look at your inference models, or if you look at some of the cloud demand of the prior generation of growth drivers, there was a higher sensitivity to latency. But now, as you think about the training modules, they don't need that ultra-low latency - they're willing to tolerate a little bit of latency, and that's where I think these emerging hubs are coming in. AI implementation is going to place an even greater demand on data centres where does the Philippines sit on the scale of AI deployment as compared to more developed hubs in this region? It's still relatively early days - its a high population with large number of digital users. Its somewhere in the middle in terms of power cost per megawatt, and its still developing in terms of those renewable sources. I think there are other emerging gateways that are probably still a little bit further ahead in that development of where those AI training centres are going to be. We increasingly see that stopping off point and the connection point into the Philippines as a very important emerging hub for connectivity, both into data centres, but also to serve the 120 or so million people that live in the Philippines. There are other markets where the energy costs and maybe the construction costs are lower than the Philippines, but for the hyperscalers its the power cost and the amount of green energy. Around 20% of their energy is sourced from renewables, and thats an opportunity for the Philippines to think about: how do they want to create the availability of green power to help drive that investment? While there is work to be done catching up with more established hubs in terms of green energy and AI implementation, the Philippines has evidently taken great strides towards attracting investment. As a hub for subsea cables and therefore an attractive proposition for hyperscalers along with modernised foreign ownership laws - the market is fast becoming a major new emerging gateway for Asia and the Pacific. Temples Attacked, Advocate Killed As Hindu Monks Arrest Pushes Bangladesh To Edge | Top Points Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: November 27, 2024, 10:25 IST ISKCONs Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesman of a newly formed Hindu group leading protests seeking for the protection of minorities after a regime change in Bangladesh, has been charged with sedition Police personnel baton-charge protesting supporters of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a jailed Hindu monk leader. (AFP) The arrest of a Hindu monk in Bangladesh for sedition has triggered violent protests in the volatile country after supporters of the leader clashed with security forces on Tuesday, leading to one death and a spiralling diplomatic crisis. ISKCONs Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesman of a newly formed Hindu group leading protests seeking for the protection of minorities after a regime change in Bangladesh, was arrested on Monday afternoon. A day later, his supporters irate over denial of bail surrounded the prison van carrying him while others hurled rocks. related stories In an effort to control the mob, security forces lobbed stun grenades and launched baton charges. Nurul Alam, a police inspector posted at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said a public prosecutor had been killed in the violence, identifying him as Saiful Islam Alif. Religious relations have been turbulent in the mainly Muslim nation of 170 million people since a student-led August revolution forced long-time autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. Heres the latest lowdown on the situation in Bangladesh: Three Temples Attacked Three temples Lokonath Temple in Firangi Bazar, Mansa Mata Temple, and Kali Mata Temple in Hazari Lane have been targeted in Chattogram as possible retaliation for the violence. Lawyer Speak Lawyers of the monk Pradeep Chaudhry and Nitin Prasad spoke to CNN-News18 on the way ahead for the seer. The petition for bail will come up for hearing on Thursday at 12pm. It depends on the judge if he listens to the matter. The situation is tense in Chattogram and Hindu lawyers faced issues returning home. Prabhu also defended himself in court and said allegations against him are baseless," they said. Ensure Safety of Hindus, India Tells Bangladesh In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples." The statement added: It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings. We also note with concern the attacks on minorities protesting peacefully against the arrest of Shri Das," the MEA said. One Dead In Violence Cops say Saiful Islam Alif, assistant public prosecutor, was killed by a Hindu mob in the court. Islam was found with injuries on his head and taken to the Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) Director Brigadier General Mohammed Taslim Uddin confirmed the death, adding the victim had wounds from hacking on his head. Witnesses, including advocate Mokter Uddin Sagar, said unidentified miscreants took Islam to the ground floor of the court, beat him up, and ultimately hacked him to death. Muhammad Yunus Condemns Killing Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over as interim leader from Hasina, condemned the murder of the lawyer and ordered an investigation. In a statement, he urged people to keep calm and stay away from participating in any untoward activities". The statement by the press secretary of Yunuss added that he has also directed to heighten security in Chattogram, formerly Chittagong, including in its vulnerable neighbourhoods". The interim government is committed to ensuring and upholding communal harmony in Bangladesh at any cost," it also said. Attack on Hindus The Bangladesh Army reportedly attacked Hindu minorities who were peacefully protesting in Thakurgaon, Bangladesh. The video shows the protest where they were demonstrating for the release of Chinmayanand Das. ISKCON Denounces Arrest top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all In a statement, ISKCON Bangladesh called for peaceful coexistence and condemned the attack on Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. Identify and hold accountable those who attacked the Sanatani community and protect the civil rights of Chinmoy Das," they said. The Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote also added in a statement that no Sanatani was involved in the murder of Islam who was killed as part of a planned conspiracy. Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh First Published: November 27, 2024, 10:25 IST South African operator MTN is launching an own-branded 5G smartphone. Called the Icon 5G, the new MTN smartphone will sell for 2,499 rand (about US$138). The smartphone is manufactured by ZTE. Described by MTN as providing an affordable entry point for customers seeking to benefit from 5G's faster data speeds, lower latency and enhanced user experiences, the Icon 5G is in line with MTNs commitment to make mobile internet more accessible. However, the operator is also keen to encourage customers to migrate from older 2G and 3G technologies, and this phone is part of that drive. In fact the company says: The launch of this affordable 5G smartphone is an essential step in MTNs strategy to make next-generation connectivity available to a broader base of customers, including those who may not have access to high-end devices. According to the TechCentral news website, for their R2,499 (or more on a 36-month contract basis) customers will get midrange performance with components that include a 2.2GHz octa-core processor, 6.6-inch touchscreen, 5 000mAh battery, 50-megapixel rear camera and 128GB of flash storage. The same site suggests the price may appeal given that rival devices with similar specs retail at prices ranging from ZAR3,150 (US$172.98) to ZAR4,000 (US$219.65). The price is clearly low. But will it be low enough? Industry body the GSMA, points out that device affordability is restricting internet access. And, as a recent article in these pages points out despite the surge in demand for smartphones last year in Africa, feature phones continue to hold a substantial market share, underlining an affordability gap between the two device styles. A content creator in Florida was arrested last week after she was allegedly caught shoplifting in her own video. Cape Coral Police visited a Target location on Nov. 20 in response to an alleged theft that had occurred on Oct. 30. "An unknown female entered the store and selected items listed for sale," police said in a statement, per ABC News . "Once at the self-checkout register, the female suspect did not scan the items' barcodes, instead scanning a false barcode with cheaper prices." Police confirmed 16 items valued at $500 were taken before releasing security images of the suspect, seen in a tan shirt and pants. A tipster then reported the suspect appeared to be Marlena Velez, a content creator with more than 350,000 followers on TikTok. A video shared on Velez's account showed the 22-year-old preparing for the alleged theft "in the same outfit and glasses," picking out items in the store, then loading them into her vehicle, police said. "She essentially incriminated herself," Officer Riley Carter tells the Express Tribune. The video has since been removed, People reports. Velez was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of petty theft. She was later released on bond. She was also arrested last year for shoplifting at a Walmart in Cape Coral after surveillance footage showed her under-ringing items at self-checkout, per the Tribune. Velez pleaded no contest, completed an anti-theft course, and served six months of probation, which ended just last month. (More dumb criminals stories.) Indonesian authorities on the island of Bali on November 9 apprehended a Filipino fugitive, Hector Aldwin Pantollana, accused of orchestrating a massive scam. Recognized as a casino junket operator in the Philippines, Pantollana allegedly swindled over $67 million from individuals through fraudulent investments. His capture at I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport was facilitated by biometric technology, following an Interpol Red Notice issued on October 31. Pantollana, who first arrived in Bali on October 10, was transported to Jakarta for further investigation and is set to be deported to the Philippines on Wednesday. According to Indonesian Interpol chief Untung Widyatmoko, the Filipino national police identified Pantollana as a suspect for extracting a substantial 4 billion Philippine pesos from unsuspecting clients for hoax investments. Widyatmoko emphasized the importance of international cooperation in efforts to combat and prevent transnational crimes in the ASEAN region. Indonesia's strategic location makes it a hotspot for criminals seeking refuge. Bali's authorities have recently dealt with multiple cases involving international fugitives. These include the arrest and deportation of Chinese and Thai nationals linked to significant investment scams and criminal networks. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) The UK Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing a legal challenge focusing on the definition of "woman" in a long-running dispute between a women's rights campaign group and the Scottish government. Five judges at Britain's highest court were considering the case, which seeks to clarify whether a transgender person with a gender recognition certificate that recognizes them as female can be regarded as a woman under equality laws, the AP reports. While the case centers on Scottish laws, the campaign group bringing the challenge, For Women Scotland (FWS), has said its outcome could have UK-wide consequences for sex-based rights as well as everyday single-sex services such as toilets and hospital wards. An FBI special agent who was acquitted of attempted second-degree murder two years ago is facing 10 new charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. Eduardo Valdivia, 40, has been charged in connection with alleged sexual assaults on two Maryland women, CNN reports. Police say Valdiviausing the names "Lalo Brown" and "El Boogie"contacted the women through a tattoo studio's Instagram page. He allegedly sexually assaulted the women after inviting them to the tattoo studio in Gaithersburg, promising them free tattoos and modeling work, reports the Washington Post . Police said Valdivia had the women sign modeling contracts and threatened them with legal action if they didn't comply, the AP reports. He allegedly assaulted the women during photoshoots at the tattoo studio and the hotel. Under Maryland law, "second-degree rape covers a range of nonconsensual acts," the Post notes. Valdivia was arrested Monday and was denied bail at a hearing Tuesday, where a judge said he was a flight risk and a danger to the community, CNN reports. The FBI says Valdivia has been suspended from duties pending the conclusion of the investigation. Police in Montgomery County say they believe there could be more victims. They have urged anyone who dealt with him or his business, DC Fine Line Tattoo, in person or online to come forward. In 2020, Valdivia argued with then shot a man who asked him for money on a Metro train near Washington, DC. Valdivia's lawyer said he acted in self-defense. In 2022, a Maryland jury found Valdivia not guilty on all charges related to the incident. (More FBI stories.) Miguel Diaz Bauza, after 30 years in prison: 'My life has been a bit hard, but Ive been able to handle it with patience' He is the oldest political prisoner in Cuba, and accepts the eight years he has left. His only desire, he tolds DIARIO DE CUBA, is to be with his family. A little more than a month after learning that he will have to serve another eight years in prison, 81-year-old political prisoner Miguel Diaz Bauza , who has been in prison for 30 years, since he joined a force that infiltrated the island in 1994 with the aim of overthrowing the Cuban regime, talked to DIARIO DE CUBA, stating his life in prison "has been a bit hard, but Ive been able to handle it with the patience that is needed there." Through his daughter, Karen Maria Leon Alfonso, and in the middle of a furlough from the Campamento 2 Penitentiary Center, in Remedios, Villa Clara, where he is currently being held, Diaz Bauza, who is the oldest political prisoner in Cuba, recorded some WhatsApp audios and explained that he has several diseases, including hypertension, diabetes and kidney problems, and that the conditions at the prison prevent him from receiving adequate treatment, something that has been condemned by dozens of prisoners. "I have vitiligo, which I got late in life; I don't know if it was due to stress," he adde. "My health is more or less stable, and God has given me the capacity to withstand everything I've faced in prison," he said. "I've never eaten anything from the prison, and I'm never going to, because that would mean damaging my health," he stated. As for his life in prison, that which he describes as "a bite hard," he says: "In 1999, I had a very big problem, at the Camaguey special, as they call the prison there. He got into trouble for defending the rights of prisoners and speaking out about the beatings that they suffer, which are hidden from the world. "Then, in 2000, a trial was held and I was sentenced to 20 years, without being allowed to explain why I did that. But hey, I did a good turn for the prisoners in Camaguey. Since then my life has been a bit hard, because I went nine years without any visitors," he says. In 2022 he was switched to a less severe regime, and since then every two months he has been receiving furloughs during which he visits his daughter and spends time with his two granddaughters and three great-grandchildren. Diaz Bauza said that "my daughter has always been there, and she gives me a lot of love," concluding that: "I accept those eight years that I have left, but my desire is to be with my family, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, who I love so much. I ask God to continue giving me the patience that I've had thus far. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'm going to try to have that same patience, to see how far I can make it." In 2020, the Cuban Democratic Directorate honored Miguel Diaz Bauza with the Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award, which it issues each year, in recognition of his tenacity in the struggle to achieve democratic change in Cuba. "And don't call me Shirley!" That iconic line from 1980's Airplane! is one of many that can be attributed to writer-director Jim Abrahams, who leaves behind a legacy of laughs following his death Tuesday at age 80, per The Hollywood Reporter . Abrahams, who died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, California, helped popularize the spoof genre in the 1980s as part of the filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker (ZAZ). "Together with Jerry and David Zucker, he transformed satire into an art form, inspiring generations of comedians and filmmakers and leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy," says Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center, per Variety . The trio founded the Kentucky Fried Theater in 1971 in Madison, Wisconsin, where they'd all attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Six years later, ZAZ debuted the sketch comedy The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), written by Abrahams and directed by John Landis. Landis was soon tapped to make Animal House, while ZAZ went on to make Airplane! (1980), starring Leslie Nielsen in his first comedy role. "Everything was ripe for ridiculethe more absurd, the better," per THR. The film, made for $3.5 million, grossed $83.5 million. "At the time, it was the No. 3 grossing big-screen comedy in history, trailing only Animal House and Smokey and the Bandit," the outlet notes. ZAZ followed that up with Top Secret! (1984) and Ruthless People (1986). In 1988, it launched the popular Naked Gun franchise based on its Police Squad! series, which had launched on ABC in 1982 with Nielsen as the star. Separate from the Zuckers, Abrahams directed Big Business (1988); Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990); the Top Gun parody Hot Shots! (1991); the Rambo parody Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993); and the Godfather parody Mafia! (1998), per Variety. The parody specialist, who had small acting roles in movies including Airplane!, Top Secret!, and Coming to America, had a final writing credit on 2006's Scary Movie 4. (More obituary stories.) It's possible that Chicago will emerge as ground zero in the immigration fight during the early days of the new Trump administration. A Washington Post story looks at how President-elect Trump's pledge to enact mass deportations of migrants will play out in major Democratic-run cities that generally fall under the "sanctuary city" umbrella. If the cities refuse to cooperate and instead try to protect migrants, Trump advisers are pushing for him to withhold federal funds. In the story, Chicago, Denver, and New York City are listed as potential flashpoints, but Chicago appears to be the big target. A 25-year missing persons case will be closed thanks to a USA Today article and a "tenacious" sheriff's deputy. The May story's headline was straightforward: "He's been in an LA hospital for weeks and they have no idea who he is. Can you help?" The article that followed explained St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, received a non-verbal patient who was found in South LA on April 15 but had been unable to identify him. He was thought to be in his mid-60s. In a Tuesday article, USA Today explained someone was apparently able to help: a person who saw the article sent it to a woman who contacted the Lassen County Sheriff's Office on Friday saying she believed the man to be her brother. She said her brother had gone missing in Doyle, California, in 1999 and had not been heard from since. Sheriff's Deputy Derek Kennemore contacted St. Francis but was told the man had been transferred to another hospital; that hospital confirmed the man was still in their care. His fingerprints were a match, the sheriff's office said, and the family will be reunited soon. Names have been withheld for the family's privacy. The sister "was super excited," Capt. Mike Carney tells ABC News. "She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know." It's a "perfect example" of not giving up on missing persons cases, he said. In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office commended Deputy Kennemore "on his tenacity with this case. We would also like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department for their assistance in identifying the missing man and closing out this 25 year old case." (More missing person stories.) Nebraska is inching closer to permitting medical marijuana after Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong affirmed the validity of the petitions that put it on the ballot, where it was approved by voters. Despite this legal victory for advocates, the state's attorney general may appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court. More than two-thirds of Nebraska voters supported legalizing medical marijuana on November 5, with results set for certification on December 2. Challenges to the petitions included accusations by Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers regarding improper signature collection. There were even criminal charges against a petition circulator for alleged forgery. However, the judge found no evidence of widespread fraud, bolstered by the Secretary of State's office's certification of nearly 90,000 valid signatures, surpassing the threshold of 86,499 required for ballot placement. This development marks a turning point for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, who have seen previous efforts thwarted. An earlier attempt in 2020 was blocked by the state Supreme Court because it was phrased as more than one question, and a 2022 campaign failed to secure sufficient signatures. As Nebraska progresses, the state follows a mixed national trend where recreational legalization efforts have been rebuffed in places like North Dakota, South Dakota, and Florida, but embraced for medical use in numerous states, most recently Ohio. Nationally, there's momentum as federal efforts emerge to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous substance. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) President-elect Trump has chosen health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates, to lead the National Institutes of Health, the nation's leading medical research agency, reports the AP . Trump, in a statement Tuesday evening, said Bhattacharya, a 56-year-old physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, "to direct the Nation's Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives." Bhattacharya was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter maintaining that lockdowns were causing irreparable harm. The document, which came before the availability of COVID-19 vaccines during the first Trump administration, promoted "herd immunity," the idea that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. Protection should focus instead on people at higher risk, the document said. "I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake," Bhattacharya said in March 2021 during a panel discussion convened by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Great Barrington Declaration was embraced by some in the first Trump administration, even as it was widely denounced by disease experts. Then-NIH director Dr. Francis Collins called it dangerous and "not mainstream science." His nomination would need to be approved by the Senate. Bhattacharya, who faced restrictions on social media platforms because of his views, was also a plaintiff in Murthy v. Missouri, a Supreme Court case contending that federal officials improperly suppressed conservative views on social media as part of their efforts to combat misinformation. story continues below The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration in that case. After Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he invited Bhattacharya to the company's headquarters to learn more about how his views had been restricted on the platform, which Musk renamed X. More recently, Bhattacharya has posted on X about scientists leaving the site and joining the alternative site Bluesky, mocking Bluesky as "their own little echo chamber." (More National Institutes of Health stories.) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors earlier this year, but he didn't take a similar stand against a measure that bans transgender students from using the bathrooms that fit their gender identities. The Republican governor announced Wednesday that he had signed the "Protect All Students Act." It will take effect in February, Cleveland.com reports. The act: The measure, which was tacked onto legislation about a college credit program, requires public and private schools from kindergarten to college to designate bathrooms "for the exclusive use" of males or females, based on a person's biological sex at birth, the AP reports. It also covers locker rooms and overnight accommodations. Exceptions include parents assisting children. Multi-occupancy gender neutral bathrooms are banned, but schools can still have single-use and family bathrooms. Several of President-elect Trump's picks for top jobs in his administration were targeted Tuesday night and Wednesday morning by what transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt says were "violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them." Leavitt said the nominees were targeted by attacks ranging from bomb threats to "swatting," in which hoax emergency calls are made in order to direct SWAT teams or other law enforcement to a person's home, NBC News reports. Sources tell Fox News that almost a dozen nominees were targeted, including Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense, and John Ratcliffe, Trump's nominee for CIA director. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats "dangerous and unhinged." The office of Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's nominee for ambassador to the UN, said she was driving to New York's Saratoga County with her husband and their 3-year-old son when "they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence." Police said officers and K9 units swept the home and didn't find any explosives. Lee Zeldin, Trump's pick for EPA administrator, said in a post on X that a pipe bomb threat was "sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message." In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office in Florida's Okaloosa County said a bomb threat targeting Matt Gaetz's "supposed mailbox" was received Wednesday morning, but "former Congressman Gaetz is NOT a resident." The mailbox was cleared and no devices were located, the sheriff's office said. Law enforcement sources tell the AP that others targeted include Susie Wiles, Trump's incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general after Gaetz's withdrawal. In a statement, the FBI said it "is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners." Leavitt said law enforcement "acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action." Sources tell NBC News that none of the threats were deemed credible. (More swatting stories.) President Biden has received a bipartisan plea from two House members to pardon Julian Assange as a signal that the government will not prosecute journalists "simply for doing their jobs." Reps. James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, wrote to the president earlier this month, the Guardian reports. The WikiLeaks founder made a similar argument in June after taking a plea deal in his prosecution involving obtaining and publishing classified US military information. "I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism ," Assange said. In their letter, McGovern and Massie expressed relief that the criminal case against Assange, who was freed in his home country of Australia, has ended. "There is a long-standing and well-grounded concern that section 793 [of the Espionage Act], which criminalizes the obtaining, retaining, or disclosing of sensitive information, could be used against journalists and news organizations engaged in their normal activities," the lawmakers said, "particularly those who cover national security topics." They asked the president to "send a clear message" with a pardon. The lawmakers said they agree with the chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, per the Guardian. After the plea deal was reached, Jodie Ginsberg said, "The US's pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers." Amnesty International also welcomed Assange's release at the time, saying the charges "should have never been brought against him in the first place." McGovern and Massie have asked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to press for a pardon in his farewell call to Biden, who leaves in January. (More Julian Assange stories.) Australias wage bill just hit a historic high! The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that employers across the country paid a staggering $103.7 billion in wages and salaries in September 2024. This marks a significant 3.9% jump(or $3.9 billion) compared to August, cementing a new record. Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, noted: This is the first time total monthly wages and salaries have exceeded $100 billion. A year ago, it was $97.5 billion, and two years ago, $90.9 billionshowing the remarkable growth weve witnessed over time. Whats driving the growth? This September surge follows a familiar trend: many industries pay out bonuses and other periodic payments at the end of the quarter. Other factors also played a role, including: Wage increases Changing hours worked One-off payments like bonuses and backpay More people employed overall However, annual growth in wages was slightly slower this year. Total wages grew 6.3% from September 2023 to September 2024, down from the previous years 7.3% annual growth. All 19 industries saw wage increases from August to September 2024, but a handful stole the spotlight: Six industries, including Financial Services, Mining, and Retail, accounted for 60% of the $3.9 billion rise. But annual growth told a more nuanced story: Accommodation and Food Services grew a modest 2.8% this year, a sharp drop from 7.8% last year , reflecting weaker consumer demand. grew a modest this year, a sharp drop from , reflecting weaker consumer demand. On the flip side, Public Administration and Safety saw an impressive 11.8% growth, boosted by a one-off payment from Victorias public service enterprise agreement. Wages Across Australia Wage growth wasnt just an industry story; it spanned the entire nation. Every state and territory, except for the Northern Territory (-1.9%), saw an increase from August to September. Annual growth was softer overall, but Victoria bucked the trend with slightly higher growth in 2024 (6.3%) compared to 2023 (6.0%). Australias wage landscape continues to reflect the complex interplay of economic forces. Bonuses, employment trends, and sector-specific factors all shaped Septembers record-breaking numbers. As the ABS data shows, while growth remains strong, it has tempered compared to the recovery-driven surge of previous years. Ben Thompson, Chief Economic Officer, Employment Hero: The ABS recent Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator (from April to September) indicates that the average Australian annual salary has reached $103,000. However, our October Smart Match Employment Report, which focuses on real-time, verified payroll data from SMEs, and not experimental estimates offers a more accurate and current picture. The ABS data reflects a seasonal September spike, likely driven by significant bonus payouts in high-earning sectors such as banking and financial services ($180,000+) and real estate ($145,000+), which temporarily inflate the national average. Our October data shows the average salary at $95,198, representing the typical post-September decline of at least 3% month-on-month, a trend we observe consistently each year.For the retail and hospitality sectors, salaries have been flat or slightly declining over the past few months. Healthcare salaries are falling on an annual basis, not due to a drop in hourly rates which show slight growth, but due to reduced working hours, underscoring ongoing challenges for workers in these essential industries. While year-on-year growth persists, it is slowing, and several industries are plateauing or seeing minor reductions. Combined with rising living costs, many Australians have less disposable income heading into this retail-heavy period. The upcoming Black Friday sales may surpass Christmas as the busiest retail period, but this doesnt indicate higher spending power. Instead, it could reflect consumers seeking better deals to stretch their budgets amid increasing financial pressure. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. TDT | Manama Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com On behalf of the LuLu Group, Mr Yusuffali M.A. extended his heartfelt condolences to Farouk Almoayyeds family, friends, and the larger Bahrain community whose lives he touched so profoundly. The passing away of Mr. Farouk Almoayyed, Bahrains pioneering business leader and visionary has left a vacuum in the nations life. Hailing from a venerable business family, Mr. Almoayyed left an indelible mark on both the business world and the community. His life and work spanned the twentieth and the first quarter of the twenty-first century and he helped to calibrate the demands upon business and the corporate world and shape the Kingdom of Bahrain, said Mr Yusuffali, Chairman and Managing Director, LuLu Group International. Mr. Almoayyeds extraordinary contributions to the economic and social landscape have not only shaped industries but have also inspired generations of entrepreneurs and leaders. His integrity, dedication, and passion for excellence have set a remarkable standard, and his legacy will continue to influence and guide future generations. Surely the work and vision of this giant of a leader shall continue to give momentum to Bahrains growth. May his soul rest in peace, Mr Yusuffali noted. Up to $3 million in non-dilutive funding available to advance energy storage innovation and grid technologies to propel decarbonization and electrification in B.C. VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE), announced the launch of the Call for Energy Storage Innovation, a strategic collaboration with BC Hydro aimed at accelerating the commercialization and scaling of energy storage in B.C. CICE's Call for Energy Storage Innovation, in collaboration with BC Hydro, is investing up to $3 million in energy storage innovation and grid technologies to propel decarbonization and electrification in B.C.. The application deadline is February 28, 2025. (CNW Group/B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy) CICE invites proposals from innovators and will offer up to $3 million in non-dilutive investment to projects focused on developing commercial pathways for scalable electricity storage and grid solutions. The Call for Energy Storage Innovation aims to advance the province's decarbonization and electrification efforts. "We have partnered with BC Hydro to identify the areas of innovation needed to support and diversify an abundant, reliable, and affordable clean energy future," said Sarah Goodman, President and CEO of CICE. "Now, we're calling on innovators to deliver the energy storage and grid solutions that BC Hydro and other utilities worldwide need most. Together, we can fast-track market readiness, attract investment, and strengthen B.C.'s leadership in clean energy innovation." A Call to Action for Innovators The Call for Energy Storage Innovation underscores the shared vision of BC Hydro and CICE to advance and diversify sources of clean energy in B.C. The collaboration supports BC Hydro's expansion and diversification of its clean and renewable electricity supply while aligning with CICE's focus on enabling the commercial development and scaling of made-in-Canada clean energy technologies. "BC Hydro's collaboration with CICE presents a unique opportunity for British Columbia to lead in developing and implementing innovative grid solutions," said Chris O'Riley, President and CEO of BC Hydro. "Together, we are committed to identifying projects that will enable clean and renewable electricity, like wind and solar, enhance reliability by providing more flexibility in how we manage our customer needs and our grid, as our customers look to use more clean power." Who Can Apply? This program is open to all Canadian companies that have projects located within the province of British Columbia. Applicants must demonstrate their ability to successfully complete proposed projects through effective management, operational capabilities, and robust financial backing. CICE is particularly interested in initiatives that focus on scaling energy storage solutions that can be replicated across jurisdictions to drive global climate impact. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to: Energy Storage (Stationary or Mobile) Microgrids, Distributed Energy Resources, and Hybrid Systems Flexible Generation, Load, and Grid Management Power Electronics, Integrated Energy Systems, and Sensing Technologies The Call for Energy Storage Innovation prioritizes projects that support BC Hydro's battery and energy storage incentive programs and offer significant co-benefits such as affordability, reliability, and enhanced community resilience. Eligible activities may include demonstrations, pilot projects, innovative implementation strategies, and the development of novel business models. CICE and BC Hydro are dedicated to fostering a low-carbon future and expanding the horizons of clean energy innovation. More information about the Call for Energy Storage Innovation can be found here. Applications will be accepted November 26, 2024 February 28, 2025. About CICE The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that provides early-stage, non-dilutive investment to fast-track the commercialization of British Columbia's most impactful clean energy solutions from Canada to the world. We match the urgency and efficiency of the companies we fund, driving innovation like the planet depends on it. Because it does. Together with our climate-first community of innovators, industry leaders, academia, government, and Indigenous partners, we advance future pathways to net-zero leveraging British Columbia's clean energy advantages to attract investment, create good jobs and build sustainable economic prosperity for decades to come. www.cice.ca About BC Hydro BC Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation, owned by the government and people of British Columbia, Canada. It is a leader in clean and renewable electricity generation and delivers power to 95% of the population of B.C. and serves over five million people. www.bchydro.com SOURCE B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy Media Contacts: Lindsay Chan, CICE, [email protected], BC Hydro Media Relations, [email protected] By Thy An November 27, 2024 | 04:00 am PT With a 6.5-hectare campus and a total projected investment of $165 million, British University Vietnam (BUV) has become the first university in Vietnam to achieve the prestigious EDGE Advanced Certification, a global recognition for resource-efficient construction. On Nov. 21, BUV became the first university in Vietnam to achieve the EDGE Advanced Certification, level 2 in a three-tier certification system. This level requires buildings to demonstrate at least 40% energy savings, double the basic EDGE Certified level. Thomas James Jacobs (L), IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Laos PDR, and Cambodia, awards EDGE Advanced Certification to Professor Rick Bennett, BUV Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President. Photo courtesy of BUV Sustainable development is a global priority in education. By 2030, UNESCO aims for half of all schools worldwide to adopt green practices in curricula, infrastructure, and campus environments. Countries affected by climate change are increasingly pursuing standards that support resource efficiency. Certifications like EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) provide benchmarks for entities aiming to meet these goals. Developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), EDGE assesses energy, water, and material efficiency. Supported by various international partners, the certification system has been implemented in 170 countries. BUV's campus meets EDGE Advanced requirements with a 41% reduction in energy use, 22% in water consumption, and 37% less embodied carbon in materials. Phase 1 of BUV campus construction has received EDGE Advanced Certification. Photo courtesy of BUV BUV implemented energy-saving measures from design to construction. The campus layout integrates buildings with a regulating pond and green spaces to reduce reliance on artificial systems. Natural lighting is optimized through honeycomb-style facades that also regulate indoor temperatures. Ceiling fans replace air conditioners in communal spaces, and LED lighting is used throughout the campus. Shading systems for west- and east-facing buildings minimize heat absorption. These measures reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 196.27 tons annually, equivalent to nearly a 53% cut in total emissions. Solar panels are scheduled for installation in 2026 to further support energy efficiency. The water system at BUV uses a circulation model, ensuring effective distribution for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation while minimizing waste. Wastewater and waste management are handled by providers in Ecopark, designed to limit environmental discharge. Every corner of BUV is filled with natural light, fostering a culture of wellness for students while reducing dependence on mechanical systems. Photo courtesy of BUV BUV's campus incorporates features to improve accessibility. Elevators, parking areas, and pathways accommodate wheelchair users, and classrooms include movable desks to meet diverse needs. BUV integrates sustainability into its programs and operations. Events like Value Week focus on environmental responsibility, while the Personal and Social Growth program (PSG) encourages students to develop practical awareness of sustainability issues. A sustainability mindset is one of the seven key attributes that graduates must acquire and master. This mindset is deeply embedded into the curriculum and every programme throughout students' time at BUV. BUV's spacious campus ensures high-quality natural air circulation. Photo courtesy of BUV Professor Rick Bennett, BUV's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, stated that universities influence individual responsibility and social awareness of the youth. "BUV's model aims to inspire students to contribute to environmental protection efforts in 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," he added. Thomas James Jacobs, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Laos PDR, and Cambodia, commended BUV for adopting green practices and promoting environmental awareness. Jacobs noted that the EDGE Advanced certification for Phase 1 of BUV's Ecopark campus aligns with efforts to expand green standards in Vietnam. The program supports energy savings, water conservation, and reductions in carbon emissions. BUV's achievement contributes to wider efforts to implement sustainable practices in education and construction. TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2024 /CNW/ - Coastal flooding has become an increasingly pressing issue in Canada, with rising sea levels posing significant risks to communities along the coastline. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sea levels are rising at a rate that has more than doubled in the past 30 years - from an average of 2.13 millimeters per year between 1993 and 2002 to around 4.77 millimeters between 2014 and 2023. This acceleration is attributed to climate change-induced thermal expansion of oceans and the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. Areas at Most Risk Due to Coastal Flooding and Sea Level Rise (CNW Group/My Choice Financial, Inc.) To shed light on the potential impact of rising sea levels, MyChoice, a leading insurtech company in Canada, conducted a comprehensive study estimating the number of dwellings and population situated in areas that are most vulnerable to coastal flooding. Using the sea level rise and population data from the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health and Statistics Canada's data on coastal dwellings below the one-meter elevation level, the team was able to determine which provinces/communities will be most vulnerable to the rising sea levels. Below are the key findings from the study: An estimated 3.9 million Canadians live in areas projected to be affected by coastal flooding over the next century due to rising sea levels. live in areas projected to be affected by coastal flooding over the next century due to rising sea levels. At least 11,814 dwellings across the country located at an elevation of 1 metre above sea level are expected to be flooded by 2100. This number could be significantly higher, as some provinces are anticipated to experience sea-level rises well beyond 1 metre, potentially impacting more dwellings and communities. located at an elevation of 1 metre above sea level are expected to be flooded by 2100. This number could be significantly higher, as some provinces are anticipated to experience sea-level rises well beyond 1 metre, potentially impacting more dwellings and communities. British Columbia is projected to be the most affected province, with an average sea-level rise (SLR) of 127.4 cm by 2100. Approximately 3.18 million people reside in communities vulnerable to coastal flooding, and at least 3,190 dwellings situated at 1 metre elevation within 10 km of the coastline are at risk. is projected to be the most affected province, with an average sea-level rise (SLR) of by 2100. Approximately reside in communities vulnerable to coastal flooding, and at least situated at 1 metre elevation within 10 km of the coastline are at risk. Nova Scotia faces an even higher average SLR of 159.3 cm , with around 508,114 residents living in at-risk areas. The province has 2,231 dwellings at 1 metre elevation within 10 km of the coastline that are susceptible to flooding. faces an even higher average SLR of , with around living in at-risk areas. The province has at 1 metre elevation within 10 km of the coastline that are susceptible to flooding. In Quebec , despite a smaller coastal population of 12,190 in at-risk communities, the significant average SLR of 156 cm threatens at least 1,968 dwellings. Visit MyChoice study to view the full list of communities at risk: https://www.mychoice.ca/blog/high-risk-areas-coastal-floods-canada/ Matt Roberts, COO of MyChoice, commented on the findings: "Our study underscores the urgent need for Canadians, especially those in coastal areas, to be aware of the risks posed by rising sea levels. Beyond the environmental and safety concerns, there are significant financial implications. Homeowners need to understand their insurance coverage and take proactive steps to protect their properties from potential water damage. We advise homeowners to review their insurance policies to ensure adequate flood coverage and to implement preventative measures like installing sump pumps and backwater valves to protect their properties." In response to this growing threat, the Canadian government has activated a new coastal flooding prediction and alert system to warn of storm surges, large waves, and high tides across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic coasts. Previously, such alerts were only issued on the Atlantic coast. This expanded system employs advanced modeling techniques and a coastal flood risk index to evaluate the likelihood and expected impact of flooding events. Meteorologists can now assign risk ratings ranging from low to extreme and issue forecasts through Coastal Flooding Risk Outlook maps available to the public and emergency management partners. The threat of rising sea levels and increased coastal flooding is a complex challenge that requires action from both governments and individuals. With significant portions of Canada's population and infrastructure at risk, it's imperative to utilize tools like the new coastal flooding alert system and to take preventative measures to protect homes and communities. About MyChoice MyChoice is a Toronto-based Insurtech company that equips brokers and insurance companies with tools they need to excel in operations and client acquisition. Their rate comparison site MyChoice.ca, gives Canadians access to competitive auto, home, and life insurance rates. MyChoice blends their industry knowledge with cutting-edge technologies to build solutions that significantly enhance brokerage and insurance company processes and workflows. SOURCE My Choice Financial, Inc. Vitalii Starov, [email protected] CALGARY, AB, Nov. 26, 2024 /CNW/ - Virtuo today formally announced the beta release of HomieAI, the first generative artificial intelligence app trained specifically on individual homes. Built on years of deep engagement with over 30,000 homeowners and a technology infrastructure custom-designed for the home industry, HomieAI lets homeowners securely chat with their home: ask questions, look up details, get advice and find solutions quickly and powerfully. Leveraging relationships with top homebuilders, brokers and realtors, HomieAI is securely trained on large volumes of data on individual, specific homesfloorplans, electrical layouts, HVAC installations, finish details, appliance specifications, zoning restrictions, HOA agreements, warranty information and much more. This knowledgebase allows HomieAI to give highly personalized, super accurate answers, as opposed to Google or ChatGPT, which can only give vague, general answers. HomieAI manages simple requests like "My paint is peeling. Is that covered under warranty and if not what is the swatch color?" or "What lightbulb goes into my hood fan?" easily. Homeowners can also get more engaged, asking questions like "Considering my location, what's the best thing I can do this winter to protect my house's exterior?" And, as more people use HomieAI, it becomes smarter, more powerful and useful. "We've been helping homeowners find great answers to tough questions for years," said Casey Kachur, CEO of Virtuo. "However, a challenge has always been the massive amount of data, documents, and disorder within the home industry. HomieAI was designed to help harmonize this fragmentation and, most importantly, create an amazing experience for homeowners." "We're thrilled about the opportunity to integrate HomieAI into our business and unlock its potential to build on the success we've already achieved with Virtuo," said Dave Armstrong, Vice President at Pacesetter, a Qualico Company, a leading home builder with communities across North America. "Virtuo has been pivotal in scaling and enhancing our customer experience, allowing us to deliver a truly differentiated journey for our clients. HomieAI represents an exciting next step to elevate these outcomes for our customers further." "We think HomieAI is a game changer," said Scott Kaplanis, Managing Partner at Groundbreak Ventures, an early investor in Virtuo. "AI is rapidly reshaping the real estate experience, and a lot of home builders and realty brokers are going to want to be a part of this." To learn more about HomieAI visit: https://virtuo.com/homieai/ About Virtuo Virtuo is the complete service and support platform for the home industry. With their mobile app, advanced technology and distinctive live, human concierge service, Virtuo has helped over 30,000 people across North America move, settle and thrive in their homes. Virtuo's service is provided to homeowners via a partner, such as a builder, broker or realtor. Virtuo is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. SOURCE Virtuo Inc. Daniel Nielsen, [email protected] The logo of SCB is seen on a building. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh Saigon Commercial Bank, which has been embroiled in a lawsuit against property mogul Truong My Lan, will stop offering money transfer services on its website from Dec. 12. Individual customers could still make transfers through its smartphone app, but would be limited to VND10 million (US$394) per day, down from VND100 million earlier, the bank said in a statement. It has also stopped offering some services to premium customers. SCB was placed under special government control in October 2022 when Lan, its restructuring consultant, and some of her associates were arrested for embezzling VND677 trillion (US$27 billion) from the lender over the course of a decade. The bank has shut down 100 branches across the country. As of Sept. 30, 2022, it had VND465 trillion in accumulated losses and bad debts of 35.8% of loans. A bank is placed under special control by the State Bank of Vietnam as a means to sequester it and limit its negative impacts on the financial system. The central bank then identifies experienced executives from state-owned banks to restructure the ailing lender. The United States is deeply concerned about the plight of civilians fleeing the war in Lebanon and crossing into Syria. We are concerned by ongoing reports of the Assad regimes abuses, including against Syrians displaced from Lebanon, of Syrians who have faced arbitrary detentions, disappearances, forcible conscription, and death while in regime custody, reportedly due to torture, said Robert Wood U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the U.N. These human rights violations and abuses demonstrate that the regime, which has a long history of oppression, has not changed its ways and is seeking to rehabilitate its image by exploiting humanitarian disasters and regional crises. Syrians fleeing violence in Lebanon are being compelled to return to Syria, even as Syria remains unfit for safe or dignified returns and in the absence of any meaningful reforms to address the root causes of displacement Syria is no safer for return than it was before, according to Human Rights Watch. The best way to enable the voluntary return of refugees is for the Assad regime to create the conditions needed for return, which will require bold political leadership and inclusive political processes, said Ambassador Wood. In the meantime, we continue to support UNHCRs efforts to improve the protection environment in Syria for the over half a million people it estimates have crossed from Lebanon since late September. As we continue important work to help the most vulnerable refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities, we once again urge other donors to help fill the significant funding gaps, he said. It is worth repeating that the U.S. sanctions program against the Assad regime contains numerous exemptions and licenses specifically to facilitate humanitarian aid and that we are committed to working with humanitarian partners to mitigate unintended impacts on their programs, said Ambassador Wood. The regime and certain Council members falsely claim, on a repeated basis, that U.S. sanctions are the primary cause of Syrians economic suffering when in fact it is the Assad regimes war against its own people, destruction of Syria, and long term and pervasive corruption that only benefits the elites. It is time for Assad to focus on the needs of his own people, said Ambassador Wood, rather than his sponsors in Tehran who wish to use Syria as a launching pad. ELY Nevada Arts Councils third Basin to Range Exchange, also known as BRX, is a biennial statewide gathering which allows artists from rural Nevada to connect with artists from Nevadas major cities. The professional development exchange event comes to Ely on May 7-9. This convening empowers individuals to take an active role in shaping the cultural landscape of Nevada. Participants include local volunteers, urban and rural professionals, educators and local leaders, Michelle Patrick, community arts development specialist with Nevada Arts Council, explained. This years event will be focused on artists understanding each other, with an aim to bridge geographical and cultural divides, Patrick explained. She said she hopes BRX will help break down misconceptions about Nevadas urban and rural areas finding commonality in Nevadas wide cultural landscape full of a variety of creative individuals. As some Nevadans rarely travel out of Las Vegas, we really try to showcase the richness and uniqueness of different smaller communities, Patrick said. There is a misconception that everything is just centrally located and all of the resources are in Las Vegas or in Reno when, really, there are resources that everybody is trying to obtain, she explained. Believe it or not, resources are limited for everyone, whether youre in a metropolitan or rural area. She said the program also focuses on creating partnership opportunities through setting up opportunities for relationships to form organically. During our first BRX back in 2019, being that it was our first session, we really tried to pair up our participants and that kind of fell flat, she said. If you are interested in attending, just know you will have the flexibility to work with someone who might say, That looks like a really great opportunity to build on or maybe There is a project opportunity that we can work on, I know I have some funding, Patrick noted. They learned from the 2023 BRX that this socialization experience is far more effective, she said. For 2025, based on participants feedback from the 2023 event, the BRX will feature an artisan fair area, where artists can exchange conversation about their trades, Patrick said. Whether youre an independent or individual artist or if you work for an organization or a municipality, this will be an opportunity for you to present collateral, your business cards, your elevator pitches. Attendees of the 2025 BRX will also be able to interact with Nevada Art Councils new strategic planning consultants. They can learn about how to navigate art grants, including budgeting and how to reach their audience, Patrick noted. Patrick shared an example of the power found in community discussions. During community discussions at the 2019 event, one of the things that was really striking for a lot of our rural participants was, a lot of them made the assumption that all of the participants in the cities had access to all of the resources and all of the money. However, she said the rural attendees found how, for the urban attendees, the resources are stretched just as thin as theirs in terms of volunteers, in terms of funding, in terms of competition, in terms of human resources. Its a really good way for people to hear about, yes, each others challenges but then to also think about creative ways and authentic ways on how to address those things, Patrick said about the event. Casual conversations can lead to effective creative projects, she said. For instance, the statewide P.S., I Love You postcard project with Nevada Humanities came out of a BRX event. If you had an idea, we would help to facilitate that conversation with some of the community organizers and leaders in town to really think about and be mindful about what the community wants as opposed to us coming in or an artist coming in who is unfamiliar with the town or unfamiliar with the community and just popping down and saying, Well, this is what I think works best, she said. A lot of the feedback that we received from the evaluation was that people really wanted more time to get to know who was in the room, Patrick noted. I do believe that this is going to be much more beneficial in terms of allowing participants to have even more time to network and even more time to think about and see whos in the room and what they can learn from each other. This is definitely going to be unique, and maybe unlike other conferences that you may have attended, she said. This is not so much about forcing our participants to be where we want them to be. Its about meeting them where they are. Applications for the 2025 Basin to Range Exchange will open on Dec. 2. Learn more at https://www.nvartscouncil.org/programs/community-arts-development/brx/. Jeremy Allen White had a h-h-hungry heart on the set of the Bruce Springsteen movie Deliver Me from Nowhere Tuesday in Bayonne. As production on the film continues, White, 33, who stars as a younger version of the Boss, was joined by Australian actor Odessa Young, 26, who plays his love interest in the film. White, the Emmy winner from The Bear, and a barefoot Young (The Staircase, The Order) could be seen kissing in a scene filmed on the street next to a 1980s Chevy Camaro Z28. A child actor sitting on a toy horse was also a part of the filming, and director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, The Pale Blue Eye, Antlers, Black Mass) was nearby. Deliver Me from Nowhere, which is filming all over Jersey, is about the making of Springsteens 1982 album Nebraska. The movie is based on the 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere from Montclairs Warren Zanes. Jeremy Allen White and Odessa Young with a child actor and Scott Cooper, director of the Bruce Springsteen movie.Jose Perez | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images Springsteen himself showed up on set earlier this month when the movie filmed in various local spots, including Bayonne. He signed scripts for members of the cast and crew and greeted White with a big hug in the Hudson County city. On set in Rockaway, Springsteen, 75, embraced English actor Stephen Graham, who plays his father, Douglas Dutch Springsteen, in the movie. The Jersey music icon also signed autographs for fans gathered to watch the filming in Rahway (see photo below). The 20th Century Studios film is scheduled to come to Springsteens old haunt, Asbury Park, in December. A period-appropriate Camaro was part of the set.Jose Perez | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images On that note, the production, which issued an open casting call in October, is still looking for extras and background actors to play young 80s concert-goers for scenes that will film Dec. 9 to 13 and Dec. 16 in Asbury Park. (Anyone interested can email current photos of themselves along with their name, age, phone number; Screen Actors Guild or non-SAG status; height, weight, shoe and clothing sizes; if they have any tattoos; whether or not they are an Asbury Park local; their availability to be on set and willingness to attend a costume fitting in Jersey City to husker@gwcnyc.com. Subject line: Asbury Park.) The title of Deliver Me from Nowhere and Zanes book is from State Trooper, one of the songs on Nebraska: Hey, somebody out there, listen to my last prayer, Springsteen sings at the end of the song. Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere. "Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere."Jose Perez | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images The rest of the Deliver Me from Nowhere cast includes Emmy-winning Succession actor Jeremy Strong, who plays Springsteens manager, Jon Landau. Emmy nominee Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Girls) plays Adele Springsteen, Springsteens mother, in the film (the real Adele was 98 when she died in January Springsteens father died in 1998). Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Richard Jewell) plays Mike Batlan, a guitar tech who assisted Springsteen during the making of Nebraska, which he recorded in a rented Colts Neck home. Bruce Springsteen signs autographs on the "Deliver Me from Nowhere" set in Rahway Nov. 5.Jose Perez | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images Johnny Cannizzaro (Jersey Boys) plays Steven Van Zandt, E Street Band guitarist and Springsteens right-hand man. Wyckoffs David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) is playing Al Teller, a record executive who worked on Nebraska. Jersey City native Marc Maron (GLOW, To Leslie, the WTF with Marc Maron podcast), who spent part of his childhood in Wayne, is playing Chuck Plotkin, the producer who mastered Nebraska. Harrison Sloan Gilbertson (Oppenheimer) plays Springsteens friend Matt Delia in the film. Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup. Fast food chain Roy Rogers is making its return to South Jersey for the first time in decades. The Maryland-based company, known for its burgers, roast beef sandwiches and signature Fixins Bar of toppings, is set to open in Cherry Hill in spring 2025. An official opening date has yet to be announced. Roy Rogers new South Jersey spot will be located at 614 Haddonfield Rd., in a 3,300-square-foot building that formerly housed PDQ before it abruptly closed last November. We could not be happier to bring our USDA choice top round roast beef, juicy burgers and fresh, hand-breaded fried chicken back to Cherry Hill, Jim Plamondon, co-president of Roy Rogers Restaurants, said. Roys legacy fans will be thrilled to see the iconic Fixins Bar and use our signature sauces to customize their favorite sandwiches and tenders. New guests will be pleased with our diverse menu and quality beef, burgers and chicken you cant find anywhere else. The fast food chain made its departure from South Jersey and the Philadelphia region in the 1980s. It currently operates two New Jersey locations (Brick and Pine Beach) and 38 total locations throughout six states: Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. The eaterys menu includes burgers, roast beef sandwiches, fried chicken, breakfast sandwiches, milkshakes and more. The popular Fixins Bar includes sliced tomatoes, onion, pickles and lettuce to be used for burgers. Roy Rogers restaurants were popular throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, operating over 600 locations in the Northeast. The chains physical footprint began to decline in the 90s after parent company, the Marriott Corp., sold its rights to Hardees. Weve received an overwhelming number of requests from loyal Roy Rogers fans for a location in this area, and were delighted to make it a reality. We plan to build on this success and expand even further in the market, Joe Briglia, director of real estate and franchise development, said. More food coverage: Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/. Editors note: A version of this story was posted in 2019 and has been updated. Thanksgiving Dinner may be the most iconic meal in American culture. It also may be the most stressful to prepare. How big should your turkey be? How long should you cook it? How long do you thaw it? What about a brine? And the gravy? And sides? Yikes. Fear not, Bird Day chefs. NJ Advance Media talked to some of the biggest names in New Jersey cuisine to take the guesswork out of preparing your turkey. Ryan DePersio of Battello and The Kitchen Step in Jersey City; Marc Budinich of 15 Fox Place in Jersey City; Gail Salowey, a longtime caterer based out of Northeast New Jersey; and Joshua Bernstein of Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon all weighed in on how to properly cook Thanksgiving Dinner. We asked for their thoughts on an Associated Press guideline for cooking Thanksgiving dinner that has been circulating for years, as well as their general tips and tricks. The Associated Press suggests your turkey should be about 1.5 pounds per person. Do you agree? Budinich: Only thing I would change is two pounds of turkey per guest. Leftovers on Friday are a must. DePersio: 1.5 pounds person is best, everyone craves leftovers! Salowey: I never buy a turkey less than 20 pounds, but thats because I like massive leftovers and sending people home with food. And that 10 p.m. turkey sandwich on Thanksgiving night is the best sandwich of the year. How about thawing a frozen turkey in the fridge? Does 24 hours per four to five pounds of turkey sound right to you? DePersio: I recommend running the water over it the fastest way to thaw it. Salowey: Of course a fresh turkey is the most desirable. With that being said, its very important to make sure your frozen turkey is completely thawed before the big day. Especially if you want to wet or dry brine it. It must be completely thawed before brining. The AP warns against brining a turkey for more than 10 hours. Is that good advice? Salowey: When I have wet-brined my turkey, I have always done it for 24 to 36 hours. No problem. If the brine recipe is accurate, it will be delicious. Use a recipe from a reputable chef, cook or blog, not some random website that you have Googled. Also, if wet-brining, take the turkey out the brine the night before. Its a messy process that takes some time and cleaning up. The turkey will brown better if the skin has a chance to dry out overnight. If you dont have the correct vessel or enough space, dry brining is excellent. The salt, sugar and spices will tenderize and flavor the meat and keep it moist. How long should you cook your turkey? The AP recommended cooking at 425 degrees, with a 15-pound turkey cooking for between four and four-and a half hours and a 20-pound turkey cooking between five and six hours. DePersio: I will go with the low and slow cooking approach. Avoid high temperatures, they could dry the turkey out even if its a short period of time. If you want to get fancy, slide slivers of truffle butter in between skin and breast. Salowey: Im a big fan of the low and slow. I heat the oven to 450 then turn it down to 325 as soon as I put the turkey in. Then follow the directions that come with your particular turkey. If youre not filling the cavities with stuffing, make sure you put some onions and herbs inside to further enhance the flavors. And if you dont feel like trussing the whole turkey, at least tie the legs together to keep it all snug. And dont forget to season the outside. The simplest way is to rub it with butter or an oil of your choice, then season it aggressively with salt and any other herbs and spices of your choice. Throw a couple of sliced onions, a few carrots and some celery around the base of the bird to flavor the pan juices. Basting is good but dont do it too often. The opening and closing of the oven will add time to the overall cook time. How long should you rest your turkey once its cooked? Twenty minutes? Salowey: Twenty minutes is the minimum amount of time, especially is its a large bird. Go for at least 30 minutes. But heres the thing, the turkey can sit out for an hour, tented with foil, and still be hot. Any advice for sides or leftovers? Bernstein: Think four to one, four people to one pound for each side. I try to usually have two starch sides and two to three vegetable sides for my guests. Dont forget that stuffing should count as a starch side. And stuffing should never be cooked inside the turkey. It is dangerous! DePersio: Make sure you keep the bones and carcass and make turkey soup the next day with leftover vegetables that you roast with the turkey. Add barley to make it more like a stew. Salowey: I use this time (when the turkey is resting) to not only make the gravy from all the delicious pan juices, but also to cook and reheat the sides because my oven no longer has a big bird in it. The gravy is important here. It needs to be served really hot to go on the meat that has been sliced and sitting on the serving platter. My solution is a gravy vessel with a little candle under it. As long as the gravy is hot, all the food that has been sitting out and waiting for guests to dig in to, will be warmed up by that hot gravy. Also, keep the rest of the gravy in a saucepan on the stove, at a gentle simmer, to refill the serving vessel. Thanks, Mom. With these tips and tricks from our New Jersey food experts, youre guaranteed to have a delicious and delightful Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey, your sides... and youre tryptophan-induced nap. Happy Bird Day! Related coverage: The 13 Thanksgiving foods that matter, ranked, for 2024 When is the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2024? What to know before you go or livestream the event Its turkey cooking 101! How to bake your Thanksgiving bird the right way. The ultimate Thanksgiving burger is at this N.J. bar. Its as good as it sounds. Wawa vs. QuickChek: A Thanksgiving sandwich tale of the tape Looking for more New Jersey food coverage? Subscribe to the free Jersey Eats newsletter here! Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com and followed on Twitter at @J_Schneider and on Instagram at @JeremyIsHungryAgain. A nonprofit health clinic in South Jersey has been awarded a $1 million federal grant to provide medical services including for chronic conditions, mental health, and substance use disorders to incarcerated people preparing to return home. The funding for CAMcare Health Corporation, which has seven locations throughout Camden and Gloucester counties, was announced Monday by the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The services will be provided to incarcerated individuals who are scheduled for release within 90 days, according to the announcement. Federal officials said the funding will help health centers implement innovative approaches to support for people leaving prison and help address health risks before release. Studies have shown people with a history of incarceration are in worse mental and physical health than the general population. People reentering the community from incarceration are particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes and mortality, said Carole Johnson, administrator for the Health Resources and Services Administration, in a statement. We can change that if care and services are more closely connected to the reentry experience, which is why we are working to clarify that Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health centers can provide pre-release services and why we are investing in health centers engaging with individuals prior to their release to better support their successful and healthy reentry to the community, Johnson said. CAMcare officials did not respond immediately this week to requests for comment. According to a press release, CAMcare will use its grant award to focus on managing chronic conditions, reducing the risk of drug overdose, addressing mental health and substance use disorder treatment needs, and preventing, screening, diagnosing, and treating infectious diseases. Nationally, about 80% of individuals released from prison each year have a chronic medical, substance use, or psychiatric condition, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people and families dealing with mental illness. People who are incarcerated are also more likely to have high blood pressure, asthma, cancer, arthritis, and infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and HIV, according to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Given the large number of people who are incarcerated each year, this is not a minority issue. Between 1980 and 2014, the U.S. incarceration rate increased by 220%, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Today, the incarcerated population is 15 times larger than in 1980, with approximately 5 million people behind bars, including individuals in federal and state prisons as well as local jails, according federal data. As of Jan. 1, there were 1,397 people incarcerated in correctional institutions in Camden County, accounting for 11% of total incarcerated persons, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Two counties, Essex and Camden, comprise 26% of total prison commitments in the state. Gloucester County, which has been sharing jail services with Salem for over a decade following the closure of its correctional facility in 2013, reported 299 incarcerated persons. CAMcare must also provide case management services to incarcerated persons and work with community partners to address health-related social needs, such as housing and food insecurity, financial strain, transportation barriers, and intimate partner violence, according to Mondays announcement. The funding for CAMcare is part of nearly $52 million in total awards for 54 federally-funded health centers nationwide to increase access to high-quality primary care for people soon to be released from incarceration and reentering the community. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. WFAN host Greg Giannotti is issuing a warning to any Jets general manager candidates: Dont come here! On Monday, reports indicated that the Jets had hired The 33rd Team, a media company and content creator led by ex-Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and ex-Vikings GM Rick Spielman, to lead the search for the teams next GM. WFAN host Evan Roberts is confident that the Mets are being used. On Tuesday, Roberts shared that he believes Juan Sotos ultimate goal is to re-sign with the Yankees, despite the numerous leaks surrounding his meetings with other clubs. These leaks are designed to squeeze as much money from the Yankees as possible, Roberts believes. My honest perception is I think the Mets are being used, and it scares me, Roberts said, via SNY. I think Scott Boras is leaking all of this stuff out. And I think Scott Boras has a reason on why he leaks stuff out. I believe, and I hope Im wrong about this. ... I think that Juan Soto has probably told Scott Boras he wants to stay with the New York Yankees. That is the read Im getting on this. He wants to stay with the Yankees, but hes telling Scott now, get me the most money. And I think that putting the Mets over the way the leaks have portrayed it is trying to apply pressure on Hal Steinbrenner. BUY METS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER Most recently, New York radio legend Chris Russo and The New York Posts Jon Heyman revealed that Soto actually met with Mets owner Steve Cohen at the billionaires Beverly Hills mansion. Other reports, like one from former Mets infielder-turned-MLB-news-breaker Carlos Baerga claimed Cohen had offered Soto $660 million. And Yankees announcer Michael Kay added that Cohen would beat the highest offer by $50 million. All told, these reports indicate that the Mets are the clear-cut favorite, as an executive told USA Todays Bob Nightengale recently, to land Soto. But are they really? Roberts doesnt think so. He still thinks theres a chance for the Mets though. The good news is, Robers said, Im sure theres a number that if Hal doesnt get to and Steve does, where Scott and Juan are going to say, Alright, we gave you every shot in the world. Were gone. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Manny Gomez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com. By William Lambers In his 1955 Thanksgiving proclamation, President Dwight Eisenhower said, May we show our thanks for our own bounty by remembrance of those less fortunate, and may the spirit of this Thanksgiving season move us to share with them to alleviate their need. Eisenhower would know. He spent Thanksgiving Day in 1945 testifying before Congress, urging them to increase funding for hunger relief in Europe. Ike convinced Congress to do more to fight post-war hunger, and that helped win the peace. Each of us can also make Thanksgiving a day of action against hunger. You can help your local food bank or church feed the hungry. You can donate to charities fighting hunger overseas, where millions are starving because of wars and climate change. There is strength in numbers if we all rise up against hunger. That was the America spirit we shared with the world in 1947, when the Friendship Train rolled across the country at Thanksgiving, collecting food donations for Europe, which was suffering from food shortages By donating to the Friendship Train, Americans shared our bounty, inspiring Congress to act in ways that changed the world profoundly. The headline from legendary Beltway journalist Drew Pearson read, Friendship Train an Awakener to Congress. Did it ever: An interim food aid legislation and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe quickly followed. Today, we can each encourage Congress to do more to fight hunger. One way is to join Bread for the World, whose advocacy includes a letter-writing campaign to lawmakers. Or join Catholic Relief Services, the humanitarian juggernaut that has been providing food since 1943 and is still provides assistance to more than 100 countries today. Ronald Reagan called for a National Day of Fasting to Raise Funds to Combat Hunger right before Thanksgiving in 1985. The president said, At this time of national Thanksgiving, when we thank God for our many blessings, we are especially mindful of those in distress. That call to action was prompted by a famine in Ethiopia, where millions suffered, inspiring Reagan to ask Americans to show their concern, express solidarity with the plight of fellow human beings suffering from hunger, and draw attention to efforts to raise funds to help the victims of famine. Such activism against hunger represents the true spirit of Thanksgiving, and each of us can make a big difference this Thanksgiving. Perhaps we can contribute to Save the Children and UNICEF, which needs help to stop child malnutrition war zones in Gaza, Sudan, D.R. Congo and Yemen. We cannot be silent when so many are suffering. One poignant tradition to honor starving war victims is to set an empty plate at the table, representing a silent guest. Donations could be placed on the empty plate and forwarded to charities fighting hunger like WFP, UNICEF, CARE, Marys Meals or Save the Children. The silent guest idea sent CARE packages of food to the hungry n Europe after World War II. All these relief organizations could use our help in places where more resources are spent on weapons of war than food. More good can be gained if a nation has school lunches and infant nutrition as opposed to bombs. The spirit of Thanksgiving can restore some humanity to a suffering world. Lets all do our part. William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, History News Network, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. To comment on this op-ed, send a letter to eletters@starledger.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. A co-host of Fox News The Five isnt buying President-elect Donald Trumps claim he won the election in a sweeping and an unprecedented and powerful mandate. Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov mocked Trumps claim that was part of his victory speech after CNNs Harry Enten discussed on air how Republicans in the House of Representatives will likely have one of the smallest majorities in more than 100 years. Another notch in the sweeping mandate belt, Tarlov posted to X. From Enten: Yes, the Republicans are going to control the House of Representatives. But if all of the current results holds up, were looking at a record small majority after November in the last 90 years. You have to go all the way back to the Herbert Hoover administration to find an even smaller majority after November elections. Were talking about the Republicans with 220 seats (and) Democrats with 215 if the current House results holds. And keep in mind, this will drop lower if (Elise) Stefanik, (Mike) Waltz or others, like Matt Gaetz, leave the Congress. Another notch in the sweeping mandate belt https://t.co/44YSFvJzUy Jessica Tarlov (@JessicaTarlov) November 27, 2024 Gaetz resigned his seat amid Trump tapping him to be the next attorney general, though Gaetz dropped out of the running for the job after it became clear he faced hurdles with the Senate confirmation process. However, he was reelected to another term and could potentially return to Washington next year, but hes said he doesnt plan to come back to Congress. Trump tapped Stefanik to be the next U.N. ambassador and Waltz to be his national security adviser. That means the GOPs control of the chamber could shrink to 217 Republicans and 215 Democrats for several weeks or months until those seats are filled and that a single Republican lawmaker would have the ability to tank any vote. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. Shark Tank millionaire Kevin OLeary does not think President-elect Donald Trumps proposed tariffs on China are enough. OLeary said on CNNs NewsNight that he would like to see higher tariffs on China, arguing that China is to blame for trafficking of fentanyl into the U.S. He called for the U.S. to be stronger on China, saying that the proposed 35% tariffs on goods from the country is not enough. Where is China? China is at the forefront of this fentanyl thing. And I think the real tariff war is not going to be on Mexico or Canada. Its focused on a cheater, a liar, a stealer, since 1999 when they came into the WTO. This is a country, not the people, but the leadership, that just doesnt want to play by the rules, he said Tuesday on CNN. And I live it in my businesses every day. I would like to go to DEFCON 1 with China, tariffs 400 percent, I brought it up, bring the supreme leader to Washington, or crush his economy until he has riots in the streets for food, he added. OLeary: I would like to go to defcon one with China tariffs 400%. Bring the supreme leader to Washington or crush his economy until he has riots in the streets pic.twitter.com/UcXiwqvccV Acyn (@Acyn) November 27, 2024 Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on his first day in office as part of an effort to curtail illegal immigration and drugs. He said there would be a 25% tariff on goods entering the country from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% tariff on goods coming in from China. While OLeary said Trump is "going to get tougher on China," he argued that more should be done to crush the country. What you have to do is target parts of their economy where theres a lot of workers. Just for an example, lets say yoga mats. Lets say we import a million yoga mats a month. All the yoga mat factories, 400 percent tariffs on yoga mats, they all get unemployed. They go to the streets. They scream to the supreme leader, Im starving,' riots.... he said before cross talk began. Trumps proposed tariffs have sparked warnings form economists who argue that the tariffs will only hurt U.S. consumers. On Monday, economic expert Catherine Rampell said that there would be bad news for Trump voters who think prices will go down under his second administration. I mean, it is not unexpected in a sense it may be unexpected to Americans who thought Trump was going to lower their prices. Because if you voted for Trump because you thought he was going to bring grocery prices down, I have some very bad news for you, Rampell said. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. Trump made the threats Monday in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Democratic megadonor John Morgan said Vice President Kamala Harris should be disqualified from running for office again over her campaign spending. Morgan told NewsNations Chris Cuomo on Monday that Harriss reported campaign spending is concerning, citing reporting that said her campaign spent $1.5 billion in just four months. The Harris campaign has been under scrutiny in recent weeks for the amount spent and unknown outstanding debt. All of a sudden, everybodys got the keys to the candy store, ad buyers, talent consultants. Theres 100 days to do it, and the money started pouring in, pouring in. Remember this, Chris, it wasnt pouring in for Harris. It was pouring in against Trump. Everybody that was voting and supporting Harris was really voting against Trump, Morgan said on Monday. He said he was at the White House for dinner on Friday, where he heard people questioning who got paid what doing the campaign. He also went on to say that she should not run for office again due to the handling of the campaign and its expenses. I think this disqualifies her forever. Forever. If you cant run a campaign, you cant run America, and that would be the argument just day one. So it was terrible....I think she did a good job in the debate. I think she did as good a job as she could hope for in a short period of time. I told you. I told everybody, she should not have been the nominee, he added. She was not going to win, and she didnt win. And she lost badly. So shes got to go figure out her life. Shes in Hawaii. Tim Walz was at the dinner. She was in Hawaii. So shes having a call with donors this week. They tell me about her political future, I dont think she has a political future, he said. He also went on to say he stopped donating to the campaign after President Joe Biden left the race and endorsed Harris. The same thing is going to follow Harris for the rest of her career. She cannot be trusted with the money, and the donors are going to be, like, Where is this money? he said. The Associated Press reported that the Harris campaign is still asking for donations after the election ended. During the campaign, she raised more than $1 billion. The Harris campaign certainly spent more than they raised and is now busy trying to fundraise, said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist from Michigan, told The Associated Press. The party is flooding Harris lucrative email donor list with near-daily appeals aimed at small-dollar donors those whose contributions are measured in the hundreds of dollars or less. But Hemond said the postelection effort also includes individual calls to larger donors. The scramble now underscores the expense involved in a losing effort and the immediate challenges facing Democrats as they try to maintain a baseline political operation to counter the Trump administration and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections. It also calls into question how Democrats used their resources, including hosting events with musicians and other celebrities as well as running ads in a variety of nontraditional spaces such as Las Vegas domed Sphere. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The worlds richest man played an outsized role in Donald Trumps return to the White House. Or, to put it another way, Its the reason we won. Thats according to Trump loyalist Steve Bannon. Bannon spoke to Pucks Peter Hamby and praised Elon Musk for his support of the president-elect. Elon and I disagree on some things, but Elon deserves his place at the table, Bannon told Hamby. He stroked a $150 million check for the ground game, which is not sexy, at the exact moment we needed it. He came in with the money and the professionals. To be brutally frank, its the reason we won. Musks super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Trump, according to a person familiar with the groups spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections. [Elon Musk] came in with the money and the professionals. To be brutally frank, its the reason we won. Thats according to the Rasputin of the MAGA movement, Steve Bannon. Read his full conversation with Pucks @PeterHamby: https://t.co/fZZRLwBWGg Puck (@PuckNews) November 27, 2024 The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of the money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and first-time voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. America PACs work was aided by a March ruling from the Federal Election Commission that paved the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on the near-unlimited money of the nations most high-profile billionaire to boost turnout in deep-red parts of the country. That allowed the campaign to spend the money they saved on everything from national ad campaigns to targeted outreach toward demographics Democrats once dominated. The plan worked for both sides. Trump saw key turnout surges in battleground states, and at the end of the campaign the president-elect credited Musks role in the race. We have a new star, Trump said at his election night party in Florida. A star is born Elon! It wasnt just Musks money that helped Trump. The billionaire businessman became one of Trumps highest-profile surrogates in the final months of the campaign, often joining the former president onstage. His support gave Trump a clear opening into the universe of younger men who look up to Musk. Trump also benefited from Musks ownership of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and the companys work to end many of the rules that hampered Trump before he was kicked off in 2021. Like many conservatives, Musk is a fierce critic of social media efforts to counter disinformation, arguing that those efforts amount to pro-government censorship. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. A Union County man admitted to forging documents and lying about a business he owned in order to receive almost $1 million in COVID-19 Payroll Protection Loans, officials with the U.S. Attorneys Office said Tuesday. Joseph McKeon, also known as Jay McKeon, 54, of Westfield pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering, officials said. For one year, between February 2021 and February 2022, McKeon submitted $900,000 worth of fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Loans and loan forgiveness applications for a company he owned, authorities said. McKeon lied on the applications about the number of employees his business had and the income they earned, officials said. He submitted forged documents in support of those lies, including fake payroll information, bank statements and tax return documents, officials said. McKeon withdrew a significant portion of the loan money in cash and made several large transfers between bank accounts, including a $315,504 transfer to an Indiana title company, authorities said. Sentencing is scheduled for April 1, 2025. An attorney for McKeon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X. How much influence will New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge have on Juan Sotos free agency decision? Nobody knows for sure, but it could go beyond their on-field production of one season in pinstripes. And if Judges offseason efforts are to be assessed he told reporters last week he hasnt talked to Soto since the end of the World Series on Oct. 30 he isnt doing enough, two former Yankees believe. Upon hearing Judges comments about a lack of communication, ex-third baseman Todd Frazier and ex-catcher Erik Kratz expressed disappointment on Mondays Foul Territory, saying Judge should be a more central part of the Yankees Soto negotiations. They should bring Judge back into a meeting, Frazier said. They should do everything possible to get this guy to go to the Yankees. ... Id be calling every day. Hey, can we talk again? What do you got going on? ... Im not saying its wrong what hes doing, but I think, I would do a little bit more. I would try at least once. I wouldnt berate him and hound him as much, but you know ... its give him a text, Yankees? Hey, the Boogie Down still loves you. According to NJ Advance Medias Bob Klapisch, via a person with knowledge, the Yankees were encouraged by their meeting on Nov. 18, though owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters days later that he had no idea where the Yankees stand. Kratz expected more from Judge this offseason, going as far as to question the strength of the relationship, though he acknowledged that might be their style on business decisions. I dont want to go too far into like, maybe they didnt connect over the year. If somebodys my boy, I am hounding him to stay with my team, Kratz said. Sure. I am hounding him to be like, Hey, we cant screw this up.' And sometimes when guys come over for one year, they dont always make that connection for one season. Obviously, Im going so far into it here, Im not, you know, I could be stepping out of bounds by saying that, but I would like somebody to sell me on stay with a team, but I also dont think thats what hes looking for. I dont think thats what Juans necessarily looking for. The truth is that nobody knows Sotos preferences. Reporting around Sotos free agency suggests that the 26-year-old will be looking for the biggest payday, in terms of length of deal and money. Soto declining a 15-year $440 million deal in 2022 with the Washington Nationals and Scott Boras as his agent add to that belief. His next deal is likely to be for at least 13 years and $600 million. A person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller on Monday that Soto has received first offers from the Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Many expect Soto to sign around the Winter Meetings on Dec. 9-12. Soto hit a career-high 41 home runs last year with the Yankees, while posting a .288/.419/.569 slash line with 109 RBIs. He had a 178 OPS+. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. One of the best pitchers available in free agency this winter came off the board on Tuesday night, a pitcher the Yankees were interested in. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with the defending champion Dodgers. The left-hander broke the news on his own, posting a picture of himself in a Dodgers uniform on his Instagram account. Minutes later, reporters began to confirm the blockbuster, sharing the unique details of his contract. Not only does Snells contract feature an average annual value of $36.4 million slightly more than Gerrit Coles $36 million with the Yankees but Snell will receive both deferred money and a $52 million signing bonus according to multiple reports. Like the deferrals in Shohei Ohtanis historic deal with Los Angeles last winter, this gives the Dodgers flexibility to continue to spend and improve their current roster. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE YANKEES NEWSLETTER: RESTORING THE GLORY Snell joins Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow in a loaded Los Angeles starting staff. The Dodgers could add another Japanese stud Roki Sasaki to that rotation later this winter as well. None of the other 29 teams in MLB will be happy about this signing. The Dodgers won the World Series last month and they continue to get better, flexing their financial muscles. Snell going to the Dodgers does impact the Yankees directly, though. Earlier in the day on Tuesday, before Snell made his decision, the Yankees were on a Zoom call with the left-hander, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com also reported late Tuesday night that the Yankees along with the Red Sox and Orioles were in on Snell. The expectation is that those contenders will remain active in the market for top-tier pitchers. Aces Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty are also available in free agency this winter. Part of the reason why the Yankees didnt get Snell is the Juan Soto sweepstakes. As Heyman put it, their near-total focus is on Soto, so their backup plans need to wait. Snell, who won his second Cy Young Award in 2023 with the Padres, posted a 3.12 ERA this past season over 20 starts with the Giants. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in Beijing on Tuesday, saying China is willing to make empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change a priority in its cooperation with these countries. China will work with Pacific Island countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, uphold fairness, justice and the common interests of the Global South, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi told Mata'afa. Noting that Samoa was among the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China nearly five decades ago, Xi said the two countries have maintained traditional friendship, mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. He said China supports Samoa in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, and exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China will continue to provide assistance to Samoa in its economic and social development, and tap the potential of economy, trade, investment, agriculture and fisheries to achieve common development, Xi said. Xi stressed that China does not attach political strings to its assistance to the Pacific Island countries, and China's policy toward Pacific Island countries is open and inclusive, without targeting any third party or engaging in geopolitical competition or spheres of influence. Mata'afa said Samoa hopes to learn from China's experience in achieving modernization, especially in poverty reduction and green development. Thanking China for its long-time valuable assistance to Samoa, Mata'afa said Samoa firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi. Samoa regards China as an important strategic partner and looks forward to taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year to further advance bilateral relations, Mata'afa said. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Editor: GSY Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong here on Tuesday, calling for further synergizing development strategies and boosting bilateral cooperation. Commending the remarkable achievements Singapore made during Lee's tenure as prime minister, Xi spoke highly of Lee's long-time support for China-Singapore cooperation. The two sides established an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership last year, setting a strategic course for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said. Noting that next year will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, Xi called on the two countries to strengthen high-level exchanges, further synergize development strategies, and deepen cooperation in various fields, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to regional peace and prosperity. As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu Province, Xi said the industrial park represents a vivid example of bilateral cooperation and bears witness to Singapore's deep involvement in China's reform and opening up. "China will always focus on running its own affairs well, and has confidence in maintaining sound economic momentum in the long run and achieving high-quality development," said Xi. China welcomes Singapore to continue being a forerunner in cooperation with China, advance major cooperation projects, seize the opportunities brought by digital and green development, and write a new chapter in bilateral cooperation in the new era, said Xi. Xi said that amid risks and challenges, not a single country can be immune, while upholding solidarity, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness is the right path to tread. China is ready to work with Singapore to practice genuine multilateralism, follow the trend of economic globalization, uphold international fairness and justice, reject bloc confrontation and division, and build an Asian community with a shared future, Xi added. Recalling his China visit last year, Lee said the bilateral relations have since been further strengthened, and the meeting of the bilateral cooperation mechanism has been successfully held. He said Singapore has full confidence in China's future, adding that the country will continue deepening cooperation with China and take an active part in Chinese modernization. Lee went on to say that under the current complex international situation, all countries should have a long-term vision and stay committed to multilateralism to jointly address risks and challenges and better benefit the people. The two sides also exchanged views on major issues of common concern, such as China-U.S. relations and the regional situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Editor: GSY An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) SANYA, China, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A gala celebrating China's 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities was held at Yasha Park in Sanya, Hainan Province, showcasing the nation's rich cultural diversity and unity. The event commenced with a welcome ceremony and cultural fair at the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area, where athletes and guests enjoyed vibrant performances of traditional songs and dances, theatrical presentations, folk customs, and exhibitions of the area's intangible cultural heritage. Interactive activities further enlivened the experience. The cultural fair reached its climax as participants exchanged gifts and came together to perform the Gongtong Dance of the Li ethnic group, inspired by the rhythms of Danzhou folk tunes. "Sanya is a coastal city known for its unique maritime charm," said Wu Yan, chief producer of the Ethnic Gala. "We created nearly 40 thematic ethnic displays at the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area, forming a continuous 'ethnic landscape' along the seashore." "By blending coastal scenery, ethnic cultural performances, and natural elements like forests, beaches, and blue skies, we aimed to merge Hainan's regional uniqueness with ethnic traditions and modern trends," Wu explained. Liu Junjie, a Han athlete from the Hebei delegation, praised the fair's vibrant atmosphere. "The gala today was incredibly lively. I could truly feel the harmony among all ethnic groups. I feel so fortunate to be Chinese," he said. During the main gala, athletes enjoyed captivating performances and eagerly participated in interactive games. As the event came to a close, the festive spirit soared as performers enthusiastically invited athletes to sing and dance, creating a joyful atmosphere that embodied the spirit of unity and friendship. Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Artists welcome guests during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) Members of delegations exchange gifts during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) Artists welcome guests during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen) Artists perform bamboo dance during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) An artist performs during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) Artists are seen during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Artists perform during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen) Artists welcome guests during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) Artists perform during a gala held during the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui) Artists perform during a gala held during the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui) Artists perform during a gala held during the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui) Visitors enjoy traditional handicraft making during a performance gala of the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo) Editor: GSY Follow the latest updates on President-elect Trumps transition. President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday picked Jamieson Greer, a lawyer and former Trump official, to serve as his top trade negotiator. The position will be crucial to Mr. Trumps plans of issuing hefty tariffs on foreign products and rewriting the rules of trade in Americas favor. Mr. Greer is a partner in international trade at the law firm King & Spalding. During Mr. Trumps first term, Mr. Greer served as chief of staff to Robert E. Lighthizer, the trade representative at the time. He was involved in the Trump administrations trade negotiations with China, as well as the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Before that, Mr. Greer served in the Air Force, where he was a lawyer who prosecuted and defended U.S. airmen in criminal investigations. He was deployed to Iraq. Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the Countrys massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Services, and opening up Export Markets everywhere, Mr. Trump said. And the vibe has come full circle, back to the staid, snooty ambience these restaurants thumbed their noses at. In the airless dining room at Per Se, the tables overlooking Central Park were filled with couples spending big for special occasions and deal makers who come to flex their expense accounts. The quaint dining spaces at the French Laundry seemed mostly populated by bucket-listers and gastro-tourists the same crowd as at Per Se, just on vacation. Phones glowed as the diners I witnessed snapped more photos of themselves at their hard-to-get table than of the food on their plates. No one giggled. Both of Mr. Kellers places like many other restaurants on the Worlds 50 Best/three Michelin-starred global eating circuit seem stuck in a bubble of complacency that formed in their early years. Is it possible that the price point at these places has nudged out those who once came for the food in favor of those who come for the pampering and the cultural capital? But Mr. Kellers food is no longer exceptional in a dining landscape that he is largely responsible for creating. The chefs hes mentored over the years have spread out, applying the discipline, passion and wit they picked up in his kitchens to their own cooking, often in accessible and unpretentious local restaurants like Henrietta Red in Nashville, Camelia in Los Angeles and Thai Diner in New York City. You dont have to take a plane or a mortgage to experience Mr. Kellers legacy in its full artistic glory. Theres probably a Keller alum near you, making diners laugh out loud with delight. The French Laundry 6640 Washington Street; thomaskeller.com/tfl Per Se 10 Columbus Circle; thomaskeller.com/perseny Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel's security cabinet approved on Tuesday night a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, was expected to take effect on Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) in Israel and Lebanon. The security cabinet approved the ceasefire by a majority of ten votes to one, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir casting the sole dissenting vote. "Israel appreciates the United States' contribution to the process and reserves its right to act against any threat to its security," the statement said. Meanwhile, less than six hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect, air defense sirens sounded in several areas in northern and central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said the sirens were activated following the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon, which were successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force. No casualties were reported. Editor: Zhang Zhou The divers who use sonar equipment to find submerged vehicles as part of an effort to find missing people had seen the Romer case on a map of unsolved cases involving people who had disappeared with their cars. On Friday, they started scanning every body of water within several miles of the hotel where the couple had disappeared. In a 10-foot-deep pond near a parking lot of what is today the Royal Inn, they said, they found a vehicle with characteristics that matched that of the Romers and in it human bones. It came out of the blue, said Lawton J. Dodd, a spokesman for the Glynn County Police Department in Georgia. Its a cold case that is not a cold case any longer, he said. The investigations reopened. Mr. Dodd said that the police could not yet definitively say whether the car found in the pond on Friday belonged to the Romers. But, he said, theres plenty to suggest it is. For proof, Mr. Dodd said, the police must find the vehicle identification number of the long-submerged car. Weve drained the pond, he said. Its unclear if we can even remove the vehicle from the pond without damaging it beyond being of any use. Then, he said, forensic experts with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will need to analyze and try to identify the human bones that the divers found inside the vehicle. The Israeli security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a deal for a cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, signaling that more than a year of conflict will soon be suspended, and raising hopes around the region that Lebanons deadliest war in decades could be over. The cease-fire will take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday, President Biden said at the White House. The 10 to 1 vote by Israeli ministers came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel publicly embraced the proposal in a televised speech to the nation. Just hours earlier, Israeli forces had pounded the heart of Beirut and Hezbollah-dominated neighborhoods south of the city with some of the heaviest airstrikes of the war, sending residents fleeing in a panic. Sean Combs, the embattled music mogul who has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, was denied bail again on Wednesday after a federal judge rejected his lawyers third attempt to challenge his detention. Judge Arun Subramanian wrote in the order that prosecutors had presented evidence of Mr. Combss propensity for violence and that he had violated jail regulations by trying to obscure his communications with the outside world. The judge wrote that there is evidence supporting a serious risk of witness tampering. The decision orders Mr. Combs to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a hulking federal facility on the Brooklyn waterfront, until his trial, which is scheduled for May. Mr. Combs, 55, has been detained since his arrest in September after a nearly 10-month federal investigation. After Mr. Combss arrest, his lawyers offered a robust bail package that they argued was more than sufficient to assuage the courts concerns about the risks of his release. They offered a $50 million bond, secured by Mr. Combss Florida mansion and said that Mr. Combs would pay for round-the-clock security, with visitors restricted to family. Apart from contact with his lawyers, he would have no access to phones or the internet. Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now. Just Tariff-ic President-elect Donald J. Trump said he would impose sweeping tariffs on all goods from Canada, Mexico and China on his first day in office. As Jimmy Kimmel noted, economists say that would lead to higher prices. Almost everyone who knows anything about economics believes these tariffs to be a terrible idea, Kimmel said. Imagine the population of Chicago. Then quadruple it. Thats about how many unauthorized immigrants Donald Trump hopes to remove from the country: 11 million people in all. It wont be easy. How will the government find all of these people? Where will they be held as officials process their cases? Will migrants home countries take them back? And will lawmakers approve all the funding required for this? The Morning is running a series on the policies that Trump and his congressional allies will try to implement next year. Todays installment will look at his mass deportation goals. A huge operation We already know the broad contours of Trumps plan. He wants to use the military and law enforcement to detain the millions of people who are in the United States illegally. The government will hold them in detention facilities while it inspects the facts of each case. Finally, it will fly undocumented migrants to their home countries or other places that agree to take them. A fragile peace began in Lebanon The Lebanese Army said yesterday that it was sending more forces to southern Lebanon to support a U.S.-backed cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah as it began to take hold. Thousands of displaced people began to return to areas ruined by Israeli strikes. Bumper-to-bumper traffic jammed roads leading out of Beirut as people sought to make their way back to southern towns and villages. Israels military warned civilians against immediately returning to some areas and declared a curfew over much of southern Lebanon that was scheduled to end today. Many questions remain about the truces durability, which was underscored by the Israeli shelling of two villages in southern Lebanon, Khiam and Kfar Kila. Israels military said its soldiers opened fire after identifying a vehicle in a zone prohibited for movement. Heres what else to know about the deal. Analysis: After 13 months of war, Hezbollah will struggle to convince anyone, other than its most fervent loyalists, that its acceptance of a cease-fire is not a defeat, Ben Hubbard writes. Volkswagen said on Wednesday that it was disposing of its ownership stakes in facilities in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang region, exiting an area now known for the countrys crackdown on predominantly Muslim ethnic groups there. Volkswagen had a joint venture assembly plant in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, as well as two test tracks in the region, maintaining the largest and most visible presence in Xinjiang of any multinational company. That drew condemnation from human rights groups. The United States and a growing number of European countries bar imports from Xinjiang because of evidence of forced labor there. The Chinese government, which denies the accusations of forced labor, has put heavy pressure on global companies to keep doing business in Xinjiang. In September, the Ministry of Commerce began investigating whether PVH, the corporate parent of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger clothing brands, had taken discriminatory measures by not buying products from Xinjiang. BASF, the German chemicals giant, has tried for a year to obtain Chinese government permission to dispose of its stakes in two manufacturing joint ventures in Xinjiang. BASF said on Wednesday that it was in negotiations to sell both stakes, but did not identify possible buyers. Evelyne de Pontbriand, a former French teacher who had no formal experience in winemaking when she took over her familys winery in the Loire Valley, but who nevertheless made it a leading example of organic viniculture and herself an internationally renowned voice for sustainable farming, died on Nov. 5 in Angers, France. She was 73. Her husband, Gael de Pontbriand, said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was cancer. Mrs. de Pontbriand was not looking for a career in wine in 2001, when her mother, Michele Bazin de Jessey, retired from managing Domaine du Closel and its vineyard, Chateau des Vaults, and asked her to take over. At the time, Mrs. de Pontbriand lived in Paris, where she worked for a nonprofit helping people who had long been unemployed. Still, she could hardly say no: Women had run Domaine du Closel for generations, producing well-regarded Savennieres wines, made with chenin blanc grapes. Image Mrs. de Pontbriand, right, with her mother, Michele de Jessey, and her daughter Isaure de Pontbriand, who worked at the family winery from 2004 to 2008. Credit... via Chateau des Vaults But if the familys wines were respected, they were also considered a bit stuffy, and the Savennieres appellation an area of about 8.1 square miles rarely ranked among Frances most exciting. And Mr. Trumps choice to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the former television host Dr. Mehmet Oz, has scant experience in managing a large bureaucracy like the one he may now oversee; the agency is in charge of health care programs that cover more than 150 million Americans. In Mr. Trumps first term as president, pharmaceutical executives largely cheered his health policy nominees. They had ties to the moderate wing of the Republican Party and decades of conventional experience, including at major drug companies. John LaMattina, who was once the top scientist at Pfizer and is now a senior partner at PureTech Health, a firm that creates biotech startups, said of those officials: You could disagree with them, but at least theres a certain knowledge base and theyve given serious thought to these issues. He added: Were now seeing some people without any sort of background, and thats worrisome. The implications remain unclear for Americans who rely on medications or on widespread immunity from diseases that, for now, are rare. Some in the Trump administration want to speed drug approvals, potentially seeding the market with drugs of uncertain effectiveness. Mr. Kennedy has in some forums called for more independent safety reviews of established vaccines, and at other times he has demanded fewer constraints on unconventional and unproven treatments. But Mr. Kennedy has also tapped in to veins of outrage among consumers and lawmakers, who have long vilified drug companies for setting high prices on certain drugs and reaping billions of dollars in profits rather than putting patients first. The bananas journey from fruit stand to artwork began in 2019, when Mr. Cattelan first exhibited the work at Art Basel Miami Beach, the international art fair. The conceptual piece of three editions, titled Comedian, is an implicit sendup of the absurdity of the art world, in keeping with Mr. Cattelans puckish oeuvre. It came with a detailed owners manual on just how to affix the banana with the tape, and permission to refresh it when it rots. (Mr. Cattelan bought the original bananas at a Miami grocery store, he has said in interviews.) Each edition sold in Miami for between $120,000 and $150,000 and spurred unruly crowds: A performance artist at the exhibition ripped one off the wall, peeled the banana and ate it. Mr. Cattelan was delighted by the ensuing debate over what exactly constitutes art, and how it is valued. By last Wednesday, those questions of five years ago seemed quaint: Bidding for Lot No. 10 Mr. Alams banana affixed to a wall with a slash of silver tape started at $800,000. Within five minutes, seven bidders drove its price above $5 million. The artist was not compensated for the Sothebys sale, which was on behalf of a collector who has not been named, but he said in an email that he was nonetheless thrilled by the price it commanded. A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) JIUQUAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) Editor: JYZ Manfred Ohrenstein, a fiery reformer who, while relegated to the Democratic minority of the New York State Senate for 34 years, successfully championed progressive legislation that safeguarded rent controls, legalized abortion and repealed the death penalty, died on Nov. 18 at his home in Manhattan. He was 99. His death was confirmed by his son, David. Mr. Ohrenstein, who settled in New York as a teenage refugee from Nazi Germany, started in liberal reform politics in New York by joining Eleanor Roosevelt and others in a coalition that challenged Tammany Hall, the political machine that had long monopolized the citys Democratic Party. In the 1960 primary, he defeated the incumbent state senator from Manhattans West Side in what was regarded as one of the reform movements first major victories over the regular party organization. In 1975, he again stunned the party establishment by defeating the handpicked choice of the Democratic governor and the state party chairman to lead the Senate minority a position he would hold until he retired in 1994. While a minority leaders power often rests in his ability to defeat legislation rather than enact it, Mr. Ohrenstein compiled an enviable record of advancing his progressive agenda. Every year around this time, thousands of New Yorkers engage in an intricate Thanksgiving ritual that involves advanced calculations, complex analytics, risk-assessment and strategic thinking. Their goal? Get to the airport. New York City is served by three major airports, and there is no easy way to get to any of them. This may be the largest city in the United States, and one of the most-visited in the world, but for most residents, an expedition to LaGuardia, Kennedy or Newark Liberty (in New Jersey, an entirely different state) is a daunting endeavor requiring planning and precision. No subway line goes directly to any of the airports, so if you want to take public transportation, you will have to transfer somewhere, somehow, at least once. The bus? Slow. Just drive, you say? Well, most New Yorkers dont own cars. And long-term parking at Kennedy Airport, for example, is prohibitively expensive at $40 to $80 a day. To the Editor: Re Hegseth Has One Thing Going for Him, by Jennifer Steinhauer (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 21): This essay on President-elect Donald Trumps choice for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, begins by describing as disqualifying, among other things, Mr. Hegseths antediluvian views on women in the armed forces. The dark implications of these views struck a chord with me as a woman graduate from the Naval Academy class of 1982, only the third graduating class to include women. While I will always be honored to have graduated from such a storied pillar of our nations military, I will also never forget the degrading treatment that we women in those first classes had to endure. The Naval Academy to its credit has come a long way since those early difficult days that I lived through. I visited the campus this past summer and saw a placard listing the names and pictures of students currently in various leadership positions, about half of whom were women. I found gratifying that whatever difficulties I endured paved the way for these women. Mr. Hegseths disparagement of women in the armed forces expresses a desire to reverse the progress in how women are treated. It is the demoralizing type of retrograde leadership that his views on women foretell that is a far more relevant reason for the Senate to reject his nomination than his foreign policy positions or lack of prior leadership. The leader of the Republican Party and our countrys next president has tapped a pro-choice scion of the countrys most famous Democratic dynasty to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In keeping with the bewildering dynamics of todays negative partisanship, conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation have cheered the selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while liberals have near categorically denounced him. Mr. Kennedys transformation from left-wing vaccine skeptic to potential Republican cabinet member overseeing Americas vast health apparatus represents a profound shift not only in the character of the American right but also in the politics of science more generally. The emergent MAGA science policy agenda, driven by skepticism and anti-elitism, blends familiar conservative and libertarian ideas with a suspicion of expert power once more associated with the left. The result is a uniquely American brand of populism that has the potential to fundamentally reshape national politics. In retrospect, the science policy of Donald Trumps first administration was remarkably conventional, at least until Covid struck. He filled many science policy posts with figures highly regarded in the scientific community, even retaining Francis Collins as director of the National Institutes of Health. There were controversies surrounding environmental policy, including the administrations decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. But those were familiar Republican fare, reminiscent of disputes during the Reagan and Bush eras. When it came to health agencies, many of Mr. Trumps picks Scott Gottlieb for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Alex Azar for secretary of health and human services had impeccable reputations in the Republican establishment. The criticism from the left was mostly the tired refrain that they were too cozy with the pharmaceutical industry. A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a defamation lawsuit against Fox News brought by a man who claimed that the networks former star host, Tucker Carlson, had falsely accused him of being a government provocateur who instigated the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Ruling from the bench in Federal District Court in Wilmington, Del., the judge, Jennifer L. Hall, dismissed the defamation claims by the man, Ray Epps. He and his lawyers had failed to prove that Mr. Carlson had acted with actual malice, the judge said. Mr. Epps had accused Mr. Carlson last summer of promoting a fantastical story that he was an undercover agent who had helped foment the riot at the Capitol to disparage President Donald J. Trump and his followers. Defamation lawsuits are notoriously difficult to win especially those brought against members of the news media. Judge Hall seemed to acknowledge as much by saying that even if Mr. Carlson had engaged in subpar journalism or failed to fully investigate Mr. Eppss story, that did not mean he had acted with malicious intent. Several of the people President-elect Donald J. Trump has picked to be cabinet nominees or for White House positions received threats on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a transition spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said several cabinet nominees and others were targeted with violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them. Law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted, she added. The F.B.I. said in a statement it was aware of the bomb threats and so-called swatting calls, which entail contacting law enforcement to falsely claim a dangerous person is at a particular address. Such calls are designed to create a frantic armed police response to frighten, harass and endanger someone at their home. Three people familiar with the threats, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said one of those targeted was Susie Wiles, Mr. Trumps campaign manager whom he has tapped to serve as the White House chief of staff. The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement, Mr. Kellogg wrote with Fred Fleitz for the America First Policy Institute. Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia, they added. The Biden administration has rejected calls for a cease-fire as favorable to Russia and has not used American aid to pressure Kyiv into peace talks. The paper also said that Mr. Putin could be brought to the bargaining table with an offer by the United States and NATO, a mutual defense alliance, to put off NATO membership for Ukraine for an extended period in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees. The alliances members have sent billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine during the war, and Ukraine has applied to become a member. Biden officials say Russias leader has shown no good-faith interest in peace talks. It is unclear whether the paper reflected any of Mr. Trumps views. Mr. Trump also has a strategy to end the war that he has not fully revealed, it said. A Vietnam War veteran who helped to administer Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion of the country, Mr. Kellogg is seen as a relatively mainstream figure within Mr. Trumps orbit. But he has also been a strong loyalist who advised Mr. Trumps first presidential campaign in 2016 and has publicly defended Mr. Trump against charges of wrongdoing or holding dangerous views. Marvin Scott usually gets to the airport about 45 minutes before his flights, but on Wednesday, he arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York two hours early, aware that experts had warned that this Thanksgiving travel week would be the busiest ever. He was pleasantly surprised to find a calm scene as he walked toward the gates for his flight to Puerto Rico. Now Ive got to figure out what to do, he said. Whether people are moving by rail, road or air, the days around Thanksgiving are among the busiest travel days of the year in the United States, and this year is expected to break records. The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen 18.3 million travelers from Tuesday through Monday about 6 percent more than in 2023. AAA, the automobile organization, expects a record number of travelers, including nearly 72 million motorists. The euphoria of liberation movements is rapidly disappearing among the Gen Z generation, said Oscar Van Heerden, a member of the African National Congress and political analyst in Johannesburg. They simply are not interested in talking about former glories and former oppressions. Their reality today is that they cant find jobs. Former liberation movements must rely on aging, mostly rural supporters, who lived through the freedom struggle and have more loyalty to them. In Namibia, more than 40 percent of the 1.4 million registered voters are 35 or younger. In order to woo the youth vote, SWAPO has taken to hiring popular South African pop artists to perform at their rallies. The partys presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, also handpicked a 22-year-old to be among the candidates for Parliament. Even though youth voters are strong in numbers, their electoral effect is not guaranteed. Young people are generally less likely than their elders to vote, said Rosevitha Ndumbu, a researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Although young people may register to vote, registration and actual voting are two different processes. Economic conditions are at a breaking point. There comes a time, political analysts in the region say, when the nostalgia of conquering colonizers gives way to the reality that some people are unable to feed themselves. The head of Myanmars military junta was accused on Wednesday of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Courts top prosecutor, in a blow to the war-torn countrys government. The prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested an arrest warrant for Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who in 2017 led the countrys military on a deadly rampage against Myanmars Muslim Rohingya minority. During that violence, civilians were killed, women were raped and homes were razed. Over a million Rohingya have been forced to flee violence in the country, the court said, and over the years many have sought sanctuary in refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh. Mr. Khan said arrest warrants for more top Myanmar officials would follow. Here is what to know about General Min Aung Hlaing. Visitors learn about Chinese tea products at the booth of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Visitors learn about agricultural products of Ziyang City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) Visitors learn about cultural and creative products during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Guests select cultural and creative products featuring giant panda during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Guests attend the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Members of German Burg Chinese Chorus and Chinese students perform at the opening ceremony of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Members of German Burg Chinese Chorus and Chinese students perform at the opening ceremony of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Guests watch robotic lions dancing during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) A visitor learns about cultural and creative products of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) A guest views a stuffed toy giant panda during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie) A guest inquires information at the booth of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Guests communicate during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Editor: JYZ The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday sought an arrest warrant for the countrys army leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, accusing him of crimes against humanity linked to the persecution and deportations of the Muslim Rohingya. The request for the courts judges to issue a warrant marks a rare effort by international institutions to hold the Myanmar military accountable for its actions against civilians. The decision by the prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek the warrant also is likely to further isolate the general, who seized power in a coup three years ago and is now a pariah at home and in the international community. Mr. Khan said that after conducting an extensive investigation, his office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that General Min Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the crimes of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. More than 600 people were arrested in an overnight crackdown on supporters of Pakistans jailed former prime minister in Islamabad, the police said on Wednesday. The crackdown brought a swift end to the protests that have gripped Islamabad, Pakistans capital, this week ever since thousands of people gathered in the city to demand the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister. Mr. Khan has been in prison since last August on charges that his party claims are politically motivated. The protesters, led by Mr. Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, marched to a main square near government buildings in Islamabad on Tuesday. That resulted in violent clashes with security forces, who moved to disperse them. Four civilians were killed by gunfire in the unrest, according to local media reports. The Inspector General of Islamabad Police, Ali Nasir Rizvi, said Wednesday that 954 people have been arrested in relation to the recent protests including 610 the previous night. On Wednesday, Mr. Xu was listed in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system as not in B.O.P. custody. Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for Chinas foreign ministry, said in a daily briefing on Thursday that Washington released two other Chinese nationals, and had turned over a fugitive who had been absconding in the United States for many years. The State Department did not immediately respond when asked about the statement from the foreign ministry that others had been sent back to China. The exchange has been in the works, under intense secrecy, for months. During a global summit in Peru earlier this month, President Biden discussed a potential prisoner swap with Xi Jinping, the leader of China, in a meeting at Mr. Xis hotel. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called the three Americans while he was flying back to Washington from a diplomatic mission to Rome, and as the three men were on their way back to the United States. Earlier this year, at meetings in New York and Vientiane, Laos, Mr. Blinken pressed his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, repeatedly on the need for China to release all wrongfully detained Americans. Hostage diplomacy has risen in recent years, as tensions between the United States and both China and Russia have grown. Those two superpowers increasingly see detaining U.S. citizens as a way to get back spies, arms dealers and others. The American government has warned U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to those countries or to be alert there. The arrest of an outspoken writer who flew back to his Algerian homeland and was quietly taken into custody upon arrival has set off alarm in literary and political circles worldwide and threatens to trigger a diplomatic incident. The 75-year-old novelist, Boualem Sansal, disappeared for about a week after being detained on Nov. 16, with the Algerian government neither announcing his arrest not offering an explanation for it. Rumors swirled. Then on Monday, he was accused at hearing of endangering the nation with his proclamations, according to his lawyer in France, Francois Zimeray. Mr. Sansal, who since this year has French as well as Algerian citizenship, has a long history of ruffling feathers and is a pointed critic of the Algerian government. His lawyer suggested that the charges were likely tied to recent comments by the writer that touched on a sore spot for Algeria and came at particularly fraught moment in its relations with France. Germany and Russia engaged in tit-for-tat blows over news media freedom on Wednesday, with each country making moves to expel two of the other countrys journalists. Russia ordered the expulsion of two German journalists in retaliation for what it said was Germanys move to close the Russian state broadcasters Berlin bureau. The German government denied that it had closed the bureau of the Russian state broadcaster, Channel One. But it said two Russian journalists working there no longer had residency permits and directed questions to Berlins local government, which has jurisdiction over such permits. In a lengthy written statement, the city government confirmed that it had denied the two journalists residency permits last Friday, saying they were hurting German and European interests and noting it had similarly revoked another foreign journalists residency permit in February for spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation. The agency said that its decision could still be challenged in court. The dust has settled in Dnipro, Ukraine, where investigators are analyzing the wreckage at a weapons factory struck by a new Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile last week. But the debate continues over the strategic impact of the missile, known as the Oreshnik, both on the battlefield in Ukraine and what it means for NATO states in Europe. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia touted the missile as an example of Russian technological prowess, built by a domestic military industry unimpeded by Western economic sanctions. Experts say it appears to share many features with other missiles that Russia has developed. The Oreshnik is also capable of carrying nuclear weapons, at a time when Moscow has increased threats of nuclear war. It is still not clear what explosives, if any, the missile delivered in the strike on Dnipro. Frances Foreign Ministry strongly suggested on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would not immediately be arrested if he came to French territory, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting him. A member of the court, France has been cautious so far in its reaction to the arrest warrants issued last week for Mr. Netanyahu and his former defense minister. It did not say outright that Mr. Netanyahu would be free to travel to France, but it argued that the courts rules on immunity applied to him and would have to be considered by French authorities. France will comply with its international obligations, the ministry said in a statement. But it added that while the Rome Statute the 1998 treaty that established the court demands full cooperation with the court, it also says that a state cannot be required to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the immunities of states not party to the I.C.C. The ministry added, Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other ministers concerned and will have to be taken into account should the I.C.C. request of us their arrest and surrender. The courts warrant, which accuses Mr. Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israels war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, immediately confronted governments around the world with a vexing question of whether to detain the prime minister. Mr. Netanyahu is the first leader of a modern Western democracy to be accused of war crimes by the court and unlike other leaders targeted by the court he is a close ally of the United States and many other countries. Some I.C.C. members, like Ireland, have taken a firm line on the arrest warrants, saying Mr. Netanyahu would be arrested on their soil. But others, like Italy, have also raised questions about the feasibility and legality of an arrest. The court warrants have drawn outrage in Israel, where the authorities said on Wednesday that they would appeal them before the court and ask for a delay in their execution. Israels notice of appeal reveals in detail how far-fetched and without any factual or legal basis the decision to issue the arrest warrants was, Mr. Netanyahus office said in a statement. President Emmanuel Macron and Mr. Netanyahu have a strained relationship, but France has played a key role in trying to keep the conflicts in the Middle East from spiraling out of control, especially in Lebanon. The French Foreign Ministrys statement came a day after France and the United States helped broker a cease-fire to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. France and Israel are two democracies committed to the rule of law that have a longstanding friendship, the French ministry said, adding that France would continue to work in close cooperation with Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities. Some of Mr. Macrons opponents criticized the ministrys position and suggested it was politically motivated, with the aim of securing the cease-fire in Lebanon. France has once again bowed to Benjamin Netanyahus demands, choosing him over international justice, Marine Tondelier, the leader of Frances Green party, said on X. Jean-Noel Barrot, Frances foreign minister, said on Franceinfo radio on Wednesday that France is very attached to international justice and that France, as always, will apply international law. But Mr. Barrot did not directly answer when asked if Mr. Netanyahu would be arrested on French soil, and he also said that the Rome Statute provided immunity for certain leaders. The final decision rests with the judicial authorities, he added, suggesting that Mr. Macrons government would let French courts rule on the validity of the arrest warrant before potentially enforcing it. French officials have not publicly laid out which parts of the courts founding treaty were applicable to Mr. Netanyahus situation. The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. The scope of leaders immunity before international courts has long been a subject of intense debates, and there is still no consensus on the issue among scholars, judges or other authorities. But with accusations of atrocities in the wars in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East in recent years, countries and activists have increasingly called for leaders to be held accountable under international criminal law. Article 27 of the Rome Statute says that it applies to all officials, including heads of state or government, and that immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person. But Article 98 of the statute says that the court may not proceed with a request for surrender or assistance that would require a state to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law relative to the diplomatic immunity of a person. Some judges and prosecutors have argued that diplomatic immunity under that article is restricted and does not include large-scale crimes under international law. France seemed to take a far firmer stance toward President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the target of another arrest warrant issued by the court. Russia, like Israel and the United States, is not a member of the court. Commenting on Mr. Putins recent visit to Mongolia, which is also an I.C.C. member, the French foreign ministry has said that each member nation was obliged to cooperate with the court and execute the arrest warrants it issues. But French authorities voiced full-throated support for the arrest warrant against Mr. Putin when it was issued last year, calling it a landmark decision and adding that no one responsible for crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, whatever their status, should escape justice." Philippe Dam, the European Union director for Human Rights Watch, said on X that the ministrys statement about Mr. Netanyahu was absurdly insane. Does this also apply to Russias Putin? he asked, adding that French officials were weakening Frances commitments to justice and its credibility on the world stage. Several experts on international law said that as an I.C.C. member, France should not defy the courts judgment simply because it disagreed with it. France would undermine the court if it were to ignore its obligations, said Stephen J. Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador and international prosecutor. French courts could also come to their own conclusions, he added, noting that a French appeals court had recently found that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria which is not a member of the I.C.C. could be tried in France for the use of chemical weapons against Syrians in 2013. Prosecutors have asked Frances highest court to review that ruling. But some experts also said it appeared unlikely that Mr. Netanyahu would risk setting foot in France or other European nations. I dont think any indicted officials will come to Europe anyway because of the risks, said Emmanuel Altit, a French lawyer involved in international cases. The legal issues around arrests are open to debate and nobody knows what sealed arrest warrants may exist. And even if the French government tried to reassure such officials, they may not feel confident that they could avoid detention, said William Schabas, a scholar of international law. The French justice system is independent and what it might do is unpredictable, he said. Ephrat Livni contributed reporting from Washington. As a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah began to take hold early Wednesday, some Palestinians in Gaza said they felt forgotten, nearly 14 months into a war that has shattered the enclave and killed tens of thousands of Gazans. Announcing the deal on Tuesday, President Biden said he hoped it could pave the way to an end to the war in Gaza. But for months, cease-fire talks between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which sparked the war with its deadly October 2023 attack on Israel, have stalled as Israeli airstrikes and shelling have continued to pound Gaza. Palestinians there say they have lost hope that the war will ever end. Majed Abu Amra, a 26-year-old displaced from his home and living in Deir al Balah in central Gaza, said he was frustrated that the international community had managed to secure a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, while Gazans were still trying to survive relentless Israeli bombardment. There is no global pressure to achieve an agreement here, he said. It is not only the occupation that is killing us the world is complicit in what we are suffering, Mr. Abu Amra added, referring to the presence of Israeli forces in Gaza. For years, Hezbollah told the Lebanese that it alone could defend them from Israel. It boasted of powerful weapons and hardened commandos who would unleash deadly surprises if war broke out. And it assured its followers that a regional alliance of militias supported by Iran would jump in to support it in battle. Those myths have now been shattered. After 13 months of war, Hezbollah entered a cease-fire with Israel on Wednesday that it will struggle to convince anyone, other than its most fervent loyalists, is not in fact a defeat. The 60-day truce, which is supposed to lay the groundwork for a more lasting cease-fire, comes after three months of withering Israeli attacks that have thrown the organization into disarray. Deep intelligence infiltration enabled Israel to assassinate many senior leaders, including Hezbollahs secretary general of 32 years, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel bombarded the groups most loyal communities, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee and blowing up dozens of villages, ensuring that many people have no homes to immediately return to. Buoyant after helping to forge a cease-fire in Lebanon, President Biden has declared that the deal could build momentum toward a similar breakthrough in Gaza. That assessment is premature, analysts said on Wednesday, because Israel and Hamas are much further from a deal in Gaza than Israel and Hezbollah were in Lebanon. The truce in Lebanon was possible in part because Hezbollah weakened by months of assassinations and battlefield losses had lost its leverage at the negotiating table. On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could afford to compromise because a deal in Lebanon would not significantly weaken his grip on power at home. A breakthrough in Gaza is harder to achieve because Hamas still holds roughly 100 hostages, a significant trump card that allows the groups top negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, to maintain a hard-line negotiating position. In Israel, Mr. Netanyahu cannot compromise with Hamas because doing so might collapse his ruling coalition, forcing early elections. The presence of a majority of independent members in the composition of NPC Ukrenergo's supervisory board, who are professionals with a good reputation, should be key to the company's exit from technical default, maintaining corporate governance according to European standards and independence from political influence, said former head of the board of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky. "All these people are highly qualified professionals with a reputation in the European Union, which they will definitely not risk. For Ukrenergo, the presence of a majority of truly independent members in the supervisory board is a guarantee of professional management, maintaining corporate governance according to OECD standards, and the company's independence from political influence," he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. At the same time, Kudrytsky emphasized that this would be a signal to creditors and investors that the company has a "healthy" corporate climate, which should be key to its successful exit from technical default, since it will unblock financing from international financial institutions. "This financing is necessary to resume the process of restructuring the company's debt, which was supposed to be carried out in September of this year," Kudrytsky noted. As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, by order No. 1168-r dated November 26, 2024, approved four independent members to the supervisory board of NPC Ukrenergo. Patrick Graichen served as State Secretary of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in 2021-2023, Luigi De Francisci is a former top manager of TERNA and Enel, who was already a member of the Ukrenergo Supervisory Board, Jeppe Kofod is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and Jan Montell has experience as a top manager and member of the board of directors of a number of Finnish energy companies. Since November 9, 2024, Ukrenergo has temporarily suspended payments on debt obligations on $825 million in green sustainable development bonds issued in 2021. While Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a cease-fire in Lebanon, the war in Gaza seems far from over. On Tuesday night into Wednesday, as the cease-fire was being finalized, the Israeli military struck dozens of sites in Gaza that it said were Hamas military structures. The Israeli attacks killed at least 33 people and injured 134 more in Gaza over the period, according to the Gazan health ministry. Thirteen deaths came in an Israeli strike on Al-Tabaeen in Gaza City, a school complex that has been operating as a shelter, according to Palestinian Civil Defense, which runs emergency response in Gaza. Among the dead were six women, the agency said. A Hamas official, Fawzi Barhoum, said on Facebook that two of his sons also died in the strike. The Israeli military said that it struck the school to kill Mumin al-Jabari, identifying him as a Hamas sniper who was operating out of a room in the building and had stockpiled weapons there. The military said it aimed to mitigate harm to civilians by using precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence. The military said it also struck sites Hamas used for fighting and storing weapons in northern Gaza, after learning of them in interrogations of militants arrested in the area. It has made those residents wonder about the social fabric of their communities and whether they should return home at all. Some express worry that it is still not safe to go back, while others sound more hopeful. Orly Gavishi-Sotto said that she, her husband and three daughters hoped to return to Hanita, a hilltop kibbutz with a view of the Mediterranean Sea, but added that she was worried the deal would leave Hezbollah in a position in which it can still threaten Israelis. Do I believe in UNIFIL and the Lebanese military? No, Ms. Gavishi-Sotto, 46, said, referring to the United Nations peacekeepers and the U.S.-backed Lebanese armed forces, the entities that the agreement makes responsible for keeping Hezbollah out of the border region in Lebanon. Referring to the aftermath of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict, she added: When we tried that after the last war, Hezbollah armed itself and built tunnels. What will be different this time? Hezbollah started firing at Israeli positions in northern Israel more than a year ago in solidarity with Hamas, its ally that ignited the war in Gaza. In the succeeding months, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged cross-border fire, but Israeli forces exponentially increased their attacks against the Lebanese militant group in September and invaded southern Lebanon in October. Hezbollah responded by firing deeper into Israel. A truck was transporting an Israeli tank returned from Lebanon. Residents were visiting their damaged homes near the border for the first time in a year. Israeli soldiers were bathing in a natural hot spring in the rain, in an area where sirens screamed the previous night. The first signs of the cease-fire agreement between Lebanon and Israel were visible on Wednesday in northern Israel, but most Israelis were hesitant to return to a region that has largely been abandoned for a year under near daily attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Many residents have settled into new housing and enrolled their children in schools elsewhere. They dont plan to return home until they are sure the cease-fire is holding. The Israeli government promised to retaliate immediately to any violations of the cease-fire, and officials are not encouraging residents to return yet. Those who do show up are generally there for a quick visit. It was devastating to see the damage to our house with my own eyes, said Galit Doctorsh, 45, who used the truce as an opportunity to return home with her husband for the first time in more than six months, picking up warm clothing for their children. Their town, Metula, is just a few hundred yards from the Lebanese border and suffered significant damage during the war. Dozens of homes were in ruins. The Doctorshes car was destroyed by a strike that damaged the front of their home. Nearly two months after Israel launched an invasion into southern Lebanon, a cease-fire agreement that took effect Wednesday offered hope for a return to normalcy in areas largely deserted for over a year, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza. Many of the displaced came from southern Lebanon and loaded up their cars on Wednesday to head back that way. Heavy traffic clogged the highway south. Cars were loaded with the suitcases, mattresses and blankets that people had grabbed when they fled or received in the shelters where they had spent the war. A bakery along the road blared songs by the Lebanese diva Fairouz, a familiar and comforting soundtrack in the country, and gave out cookies with tiny banners that read, Smile, better days are coming. But the sense of jubilation for returning home faded as people drove further south, passing piles of wreckage where buildings once stood and storefronts shattered by blasts. At a Lebanese Army checkpoint at the entrance to the southern city of Sidon, soldiers distributed fliers warning not to touch any unexploded bombs people might find near their homes. We are happy now, but I know it wont last, said Maryam Shoaib, 42, who had stopped for lunch with her relatives in Sidon before heading to their home further south. Heartbreak awaits us in the village, she said. Samia el Zein, 53, said that she, too, had hit the road in the morning in a good mood, thrilled at the thought of returning to her own bed. But as soon as she arrived in her neighborhood in Tyre, an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast, her chest tightened and tears rolled down her face. Im sad. Im happy. I dont know, she said. Look at all the destruction. As she carried her bags into the entry hall of her apartment, glass from the broken front door crunched under her feet. Inside, the sliding glass doors that once opened onto a large balcony were shattered and curtain rods from the windows were flung across the floor. Her brother, Mohammad el Zein, 55, had arrived earlier and swept the shards of glass into neat piles. On the dining room table, he had organized the remains of everything he found: plates, teapots, pans, cups and lamps, some of which he hoped to salvage. His fathers collection of antique ceramic pots was intact a tiny miracle, he said. Still, he and his sister felt uneasy, worried that the bombardment could resume at any time. Were not feeling the victory, Mr. Zein said. I dont think its over yet. Hearst Magazines launches its holiday season by axing close to 200 staffers. Zach Lennon-Simon, co-chair of the companys union, told New York magazine that a Nov. 21 round of cuts resulted in 192 people being laid off. A memo to staff from Hearst president Debi Chirichella said the cuts will enable us to take care of our business for the long term. Well prioritize areas where we can deliver the highest impact and drive growth and continue to focus on producing the highest-quality storytelling, advertising solutions and digital experiences. Last month, Hearst signed an agreement with ChatGPT under which Hearst content will be used to answer queries in ChatGPT. However, the agreement notes that those answers will feature appropriate citations and direct links to the original sources. Chirichella chimed in that the arrangement will help us evolve the future of magazine content. Writers Guild of America East director Sam Wheeler was, expectedly, highly critical of the developments. Terming the layoffs needless, irresponsible and cruel he pointed out that readers go to Hearst because of the talent and craft of its editorial employees. These workers make Hearst what it is. President-elect Trump is angling to keep the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act) from ever seeing the light of day. Trump has issued marching orders to Republicans in the Senate to prevent the act, which is meant to give reporters a greater ability to protect confidential sources, from reaching the Senate floor before the end of the current session of Congress. He issued those orders via a Truth Social post, which said REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL! The demand comes even though the House passed the bill unanimously, and such Trump supporters as Jim Jordan and Tucker Carlson are in favor of it. Freedom of the Press Foundation co-founder and executive director Trevor Timm told the New York Times that the PRESS Act protects conservative and independent journalists just as much as it does anyone in the mainstream press. Democratic administrations abused their powers to spy on journalists many times. The bipartisan PRESS Act will stop government overreach and protect the First Amendment once and for all. Peter Welch A newly introduced Senate bill aims make it easier for human creators to find out if their work was used to train artificial intelligence without their consent. Under the Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act, copyright holders could subpoena training records of generative AI models as long as the holder can declare a good faith belief that their work was used to train the model. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), who introduced the bill, said the US needs to set a higher standard for transparency as AI increasingly becomes a part of Americans lives. In a news release, Welch said the TRAIN Act has been endorsed by such organizations as the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the American Federation of Musicians, and the Recording Academy, in addition to major music labels including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group. Brooke Buchanan Brooke Buchanan, who as VP-communications at blood-testing company Theranos handled the crisis surrounding the criminal fraud scandal of founder/CEO Elizabeth Holmes in 2015/2016, is now chief corporate affairs officer at Panera Bread. The St. Louis-based company, which is part of JAB Holding Inc., faces wrongful death lawsuits connected to its high caffeine Charged Lemonade beverage, which it stopped selling in May. At Theranos, Buchanan handled probes by the Justice Dept., Securities and Exchange Commission and Medicare/Medicaid. She was recruited by Theranos from Williams-Sonoma, where Buchanan was VP-communications. Buchanan also served as press secretary to Sen. John McCain, and did PR stints at Walmart, Whole Foods and JC Penney. Most recently, she was at Edelman in the US lead for crisis & risk post. There are more than 2,100 Panera bakery/cafes (company-owned and franchised) in the US and Canada. The company filed paperwork for an IPO in December 2023. A transformed new three seater North Tipperary constituency, stretching from Roscrea and Castlecomer in North West Kilkenny to Newport and Ballina on the borders of Limerick and East Clare, is a hard fought battleground for the 2024 General Election where one new face is guaranteed as two candidates are fighting to keep their seats. The 14 candidates are Evan Barry (Sinn Fein); Dr. Phyll Bugler (Fine Gael); Dan Harty (Sinn Fein); Alan Kelly (Labour sitting TD), Michael Lowry (Independent / Lowry Team sitting TD), Peter Madden (Independent / National Alliance); 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) and Michael Smith (Fianna Fail). Following recommendations from the Electoral Commission, Tipperary is once again divided into North and South constituencies and in the North a large section of north west Kilkenny is included, encompassing Urlingford, Galmoy, Freshford and Tullaroan. In the west of County Tipperary areas around Newport and Birdhill are returning to Tipperary North and may create some interesting anomalies where sitting candidates face an uphill battle to appeal to new voters while also losing the votes of previously loyal constituents now unable to vote for them. Outgoing Deputies Alan Kelly and Michael Lowry are both anticipated to do well and conducted strong and confident campaigns across the large constituency, while young and dynamic new faces snapping at their heels have made arguments which have resonated with the voting public in the rural, yet progressive and forward looking constituency. A new supermarket in Tullamore is set to open its doors this week Aldi's second Tullamore store will open on Thursday November 28 at 8am. The 1,644 square metre supermarket which is located on the former Texas site, will create 30 new permanent jobs, while up to 50 were employed during the construction period. The opening represents an investment of over 9.8 million in the area. The retailer says it spent more than 23 million with six Offaly-based suppliers last year. Since opening its first store in the country 25 years ago, ALDIs network has grown to 162 stores, and it has invested more than 10 billion with Irish suppliers.'' The store will officially be opened by the local team, led by Store Manager, Yasmin Rourke who is excited to manage the supermarket. ''It is a great opportunity to take on the new Tullamore store. The experience of opening a new store, building a new team and creating a local customer base is something I am really excited about and grateful to have the opportunity to do.'' Yasmin is originally from Headford, Co. Galway but now lives in Athlone, with her five-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier called Jessie which she rescued during the pandemic in 2021.''She quickly became the highlight of my day! I also recently got married in September of this year in County Offaly,'' says Yasmin. ''Since I started my career in ALDI nearly ten years ago, I have worked in a number of stores. I started as a Store Assistant in Headford Road, County Galway and then spent time at a number of ALDI stores including Loughrea, Athlone, Roscommon, Kinnegad and Ballyfermot, and now onto the new Tullamore store.'' Yasmin worked as a Store Assistant until 2019 when she was promoted to Deputy Store Manager. Two years later she became Assistant Store Manager in the Kinnegad store before eventually moving to Ballyfermot as Acting Store Manager. ''ALDI provided training for me at the Kinnegad and Ballyfermot stores which was really beneficial when it came to progressing my career.'' When she is not busy working in ALDI Yasmin enjoys cooking, travelling, and listening to music. ''I find that working at ALDI allows me to maintain a good work-life balance, so Im able to pursue these hobbies in my free time.'' ROSCREA'S Mount St. Joseph's Abbey will become the new temporary home of monks and lay brothers from the historic Cistercian Abbey at Mount Melleray in Waterford, which is due to close in January. The decision was taken due to the falling numbers of vocations and ageing community of monks, the Cistercian Order said last Friday when the news broke the historic Waterford Abbey will close its doors. The move will also see monks from Mellifont in Co Louth relocate to at Roscrea as part of the repurposing of sites owned by the Cistercians. The Cistercians are active in the country since 1142 and work at six locations in Counties Waterford, Louth, Tipperary and Antrim. The Order has decided that with effect from January 26, 2025, three of their communities, at Mount Melleray, Mellifont and Mount St Joseph, which since November 3 the Feast of St Malachy have already merged as one new single community, will be based for an interim period at Roscrea. The new community has been given the name of The Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, and its residency at Roscrea is an interim measure, the Order emphasised. We will be continuing our presence in Ireland into the future, but to achieve this regretfully we must consolidate in accordance with the restrictions of our present resources, said Dom Rufus Pound OCSO, a spokesperson for the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Silence. Cistercian College, Roscrea continues to go from strength to strength and will not be impacted in any way, by decisions in the future", he told the Irish Independent. "This is a difficult time for all the members of our new community as we strive to meet the challenge of our present day realities. It is especially difficult for those who have spent their entire lives in a specific monastery and must now adjust to these changed circumstances. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, some of whom have been with us and supported us for decades, and the many other loyal volunteers and friends who will be affected by these developments, Dom Rufus said. Biden asking Congress for another $24 bln for Ukraine before completing his tenure U.S. President Joseph Biden has called on Congress to allocate an additional $24 billion to strengthen military support for Ukraine, the New York Post reports. According to the publication, the White House Office of Management and Budget suggested that Congress could fold the renewed aid into its solution to avert a government shutdown next month. Of the total amount of $24 billion, $8 billion is envisaged for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to fund U.S. company contracts to arm Kyiv and $16 billion to refill U.S. weaponry stock, per the report. Already, some Republicans cried foul over the reported ask. Biden just gave away $4.7 billion in your taxpayer dollars by unilaterally forgiving loans to Ukraine. Congress must not give him a free gift to further sabotage President Trumps peace negotiations on the way out the door. Any Biden funding demands should be DOA, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) posted on X. Gardai in Galway are appealing to members of the public to assist them in identifying the body of a man which was recovered from the water at Claddagh Quay in Galway earlier this month. The man's body was recovered on Sunday, November 17, and gardai are not treating the man's death as suspicious. "Extensive enquiries have been carried out but there has been no positive identification of the deceased to date," Superintendent Paudie OShea of Gaillimh (Galway) Garda Station said. "I am appealing to owners of guest houses, landlords, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and Airbnbs to check if anybody left their premises and may have left property behind." Read Also: Aldi issues urgent recall of popular party food ahead of Christmas shopping rush The man is estimated to have been aged in his 60s, and 5ft 7 inches in height. He was of a medium build, 78-80kg, with blue eyes and a full head of red/grey hair. He had a grey full beard, with the moustache part of the beard slightly red and it is believed he had an Irish accent. He was wearing a grey tweed suit jacket and trousers, a blue/white striped shirt with a flowery print along the seams where the buttons are and inside the collar. He wore size 10 black laced dress shows, Asos brand, and had black rimmed glasses on his person. Anyone with information is asked to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. Ukraine confirms that there are no obstacles to carrying out search and exhumation work on its territory, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha. "Ukraine confirms that there are no obstacles for Polish state institutions and individuals, in cooperation with relevant Ukrainian institutions, to carry out search and exhumation work on the territory of Ukraine in accordance with Ukrainian legislation and declares its readiness to positively consider applications on these issues," Sikorski said at a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart in Warsaw. Separately, Sikorski pointed out that Poland has been supporting its eastern neighbor since the very beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, providing military, economic, financial, humanitarian assistance and support to refugees. "According to our statistics, Poland has spent more money on this assistance to Ukraine in proportion to GDP than any other country. The Republic supports Ukraine with its resources and the hearts of our citizens. And it will continue to do so," he said. In turn, Sybiha also said that he and Sikorski discussed "difficult issues of the historical past" and stressed that Ukrainians, like Poles, are interested in ensuring that there is no misunderstanding between the countries. "Every family has the right to honor the memory of their ancestors with dignity, and we are currently working within the framework of a joint Ukrainian-Polish working group under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture of both countries on practical mechanisms for conducting search and exhumation work. We are on the right track, I believe that we have moved forward, and this is also properly enshrined in our joint declaration," the Foreign Minister stressed. Ukraine negotiating with NATO allies to support protection of Polish sky for possibility of transferring MiG-29 to Ukrainian side - Sybiha Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, during talks with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, raised the issue of transferring Polish MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine. "The Minister noted that the Ukrainian side understands the importance of Poland's protection of its own airspace. Therefore, Ukraine is negotiating with NATO allies aimed at supporting the protection of the Polish sky and the eastern borders of the Alliance," the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reports. Sybiha also stressed that Ukraine urgently needs an allied solution to shoot down enemy targets over its own territory. "Russia brutally attacks our cities, infrastructure, and civilian infrastructure on a daily basis. We need more protection for our people. We need immediate bold decisions," he said. During the discussion, the ministers agreed that Ukraine's membership in NATO is the only way to ensure the long-term security of Europe. Sybia reiterated that Ukraine needs to be invited to NATO right now. The Foreign Minister also said that he appreciates Poland's role as the main hub for international assistance to Ukraine and expressed hope for Poland's active participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The Minister invited Polish business to participate in restoration projects. The heads of Ukrainian and Polish diplomacy discussed border issues. Sybiha noted that the development of border infrastructure is important for both sides. He said that Ukraine and Poland are seeking to sign an agreement on joint border control. "We believe that the transit of agricultural goods from Ukraine should take place unhindered - in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Solidarity Paths created by the EU," the minister said. The Foreign Minister informed his colleague about the situation at the front. The Minister noted that Ukrainian soldiers need more weapons and equipment, and stressed his personal deep gratitude to Poland for its strong defense support. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police detained five agents of the Russian Federation who committed a terrorist attack in the central part of Zhytomyr on November 20 this year, they were notified of suspicion, the press service of the SBU reported. "Then, as a result of the explosion, one law enforcement officer, who was at the scene that time, was injured. According to the case materials, the criminals acted on the order of the Russian special services, who recruited them through Telegram channels to search for fast money," the SBU said in a Telegram message on Wednesday. It is reported that in order to commit a terrorist attack, the defendants remotely detonated an improvised explosive device near the building of the local district police department. According to the instructions of the Russian curators, they filled the explosives with nails and disguised them in a thermos, and detonated them "remotely" using a mobile phone. At the same time, agents installed hidden video cameras at the scene, which recorded the explosion in real time. "All five terrorists, who acted separately from each other, were detained red-handed as a result of a special operation in the regional center. Among them is a 46-year-old Kharkiv resident who twice served a sentence for robbery," the SBU press service informs. It is reported that the repeat offender, according to the instructions of the occupiers, bought components for explosives, which he then hid in a pre-agreed hiding place. Further, the enemy's tasks were performed by residents of Zhytomyr at the age of 15, 16, 18 and 20 years old. Two of them took these "components" from the cache and, according to the schemes provided to them, made an explosive device in a rented apartment. Two other accomplices installed video cameras near the state institution, planted explosives there and set it off. During the searches, the components of the explosive device, SIM cards and mobile phones with evidence of the crime were seized from the detainees. The investigators of the Security Service informed them of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (a terrorist act committed by prior agreement by a group of persons). The law breakers are kept in custody. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. 36 out of 89 enemy UAVs shot down as of 9:00 on Wed, 48 locally lost Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/ On the night of November 27 and as of 9:00, air defense units shot down 36 enemy UAVs attacking Ukraine, 48 were locally lost, five returned home, the press service of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. "On the night of November 27, 2024 (from 19:30 on November 26), the enemy attacked Ukraine with 89 Shahed-type attack UAVs and unidentified drones from the directions of Orel, Bryansk, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk of the Russian Federation," the Armed Forces said on Telegram on Wednesday. It is indicated that as of 09:00, 36 enemy drones were shot down by air defense in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky and Mykolaiv regions. Aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment and mobile fire groups of the Air and Defense Forces of Ukraine were involved in repelling the attack. "Forty-eight UAVs were locally lost, probably due to the active counteraction of the radio warfare of the Defense Forces, five drones left the controlled airspace towards Belarus, Russia and the temporarily occupied territories," the press service informs. It is noted that due to the falling debris of enemy UAVs, private and apartment buildings and property of citizens in Kyiv region were damaged. According to preliminary estimates, there were no casualties. Head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, said that the new European Commission would work on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. We want Ukraine as part of the European Union. So, we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, von der Leyen said while presenting candidates for EC membership for final approval at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. Von der Leyen promised that the EC would help Ukraine, Moldova, and the countries of the Western Balkans prepare for EU accession and carry out the necessary reforms. Europe's commitment to these countries will always be stronger. () And we will support these countries every step of the way on their merits-based process until they are ready to join our Union, the head of the European Commission stated. At the same time, von der Leyen recalled that Slovenian Marta Kos will be responsible for the expansion of the European Union in the new European Commission. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. The chief backer of Israel in the world is the United States; it provides the arms and munitions that have made Israel the most militarily powerful country in the Middle East. It has state-of-the-art weapons and conscripts its young for mandatory service. Far from being a beleaguered state, it is without equal in its neighborhood with unchallenged supremacy. Unfortunately, under the current U.S. president's administration, Israel has been given license to use its might against a civilian population consisting predominantly of old men, women and children -- the young are engaged in the war with a vastly superior enemy and so have to fight a guerilla war of attack and hide. In such a situation, and in Benjamin Netanyahu's vengeful attacks in Gaza, he has overstepped the line between war and war crimes. That is the opinion of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its chief prosecutor, a renowned British lawyer, and a King's Counsel (KC). The latter being a recognition bestowed for professional excellence. So here we are with arrest warrants issued by the ICC for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, until recently the Minister of Defence. Another arrest warrant has been issued for the Hamas commander, Mohammed Deif, who was responsible for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in 1180 deaths and over 2400 wounded. Since the Israeli attack was aided and abetted by Joe Biden, should he also bear responsibility? It is possible the ICC is waiting for him to complete his time in office in January. In Netanyahu's case, he is the first sitting head of government to be charged by the court and friend Biden has called it "outrageous". If so, logic should compel Netanyahu to go and defend himself to clear his name. In the meantime, most European countries have made it clear that if Netanyahu steps on their shores, they would have him arrested and sent to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands to stand trial. Also, he can never be sure which other countries in the world might do the same. There are 124 countries at present that are party to the ICC's laws. To be sure if Netanyahu is convinced he is not guilty, should he not go, get himself cleared, and return to Israel in triumph instead of becoming a blot on his country's reputation. Human Rights Watch has called the warrants a 'break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law' adding, 'this is all the more important given the brazen attempt to obstruct the course of justice at the court.' The latter refers to President Joe Biden who has been busy denouncing the court since early this year; to make his views known to U.S. allies, particularly Britain that is home to the ICC's chief prosecutor. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Despite the progress made by international conventions, biological weapons and chemical weapons still pose a threat, according to a report by the Arms Control Association. The Chemical Weapons Convention nation-states and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have made progress in destroying declared chemical weapons stockpiles. However, progress in implementing the Biological Weapons Convention has been slower due to the lack of a formal verification mechanism. The CWC is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period. It also prohibits developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling, or retaining chemical weapons, the direct or indirect transfer of chemical weapons, chemical weapons use or military preparation for use, assisting, encouraging, or inducing other states to engage in CWC-prohibited activity, and the use of riot control agents "as a method of warfare." The CWC is of unlimited duration and is far more comprehensive than the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which outlaws the use but not the possession of chemical weapons. CWC negotiations started in 1980 at the UN Conference on Disarmament. The convention opened for signature on January 13, 1993, and entered into force on April 29, 1997. The BWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling, and use of biological and toxin weapons. The CWC is implemented by the OPCW, which is headquartered in The Hague and has about 500 employees. OPCW receives declarations detailing chemical weapons-related activities or materials and relevant industrial activities from state parties. After receiving declarations, the OPCW inspects and monitors state parties' facilities and activities pertinent to the convention to ensure compliance. There are 183 States Parties to the BWC, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria). Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC (Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu). There are 193 states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Israel has signed but not ratified the convention, and Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have neither signed nor ratified the CWC. The CWC and the BWC are examples of setting international norms to prevent the use of horrific weapons. Since World War I, the world hasn't experienced much in the way of chemical warfare. However, hideous dictators like Sadaam Hussian and Bashar al-Assad have used chemical weapons. However, chemical and biological weapons are still a threat as long as they exist. It takes power to eliminate them from the world. The world's leading power centers are the US, EU, Russia, and China. However, the power centers are engaged in a Cold War, making cooperation tough. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, China might invade Taiwan, and the US illegally invaded Iraq and Libya. However, the US has a democratic system that permits change, while Russia and China aren't democratic. Power can be used for the cause of peace if it's used in the right way. In this new Cold War, the two power blocks (the US and its allies and the Russia/China orbit) balance each other with higher defense spending, and diplomacy is becoming less cooperative. China's power is growing. It is recovering from a century of being a second-rate power and challenging US power in its region. Russia is a revanchist power - seeking to recover territory lost in the Soviet Union's breakup. The US just reelected the right-wing populist Donald Trump as President, whose foreign policy isolationism will not allow the US to engage with the other powers in a productive manner. Can things get better? Yes! When each great power acts as a policeman in its sphere of influence but decides not to invade countries in that sphere or other spheres. Then, each power can work on the problems of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. Hopefully, something like Franklin Roosevelt's Four Policemen would become a reality. Jason Sibert is the Lead Writer of the Peace Economy Project Looking for a break from all Trump all the time, we went out the other night to listen to a talented local duo, Kevin and Sue, perform some familiar tunes and some not so familiar. A good decision on our part. Also serendipitous for me. One of the songs Kevin sang was "Yesterday's News", by William Sadler. I'd never heard it, but I wrote the title down on a napkin immediately. Then I heard the lyrics and I knew there had to be some reason. Later that night, I read a story in The New York Times about New York City Mayor Eric Adams' legal problems with the feds and the people thinking of succeeding him should he resign, be removed or run for reelection. Among the 13 names was Andrew Cuomo. Yesterday's news. Cuomo resigned in 2021 during his third term as governor of New York State in the midst of a sexual misconduct scandal. He was way too handsy with female employees. Since then, he's been pretty much out of the news. In addition to the inappropriate behavior with females, he was known to be a bit of a bully politically. So sure, he's just what New York City needs in a mayor. The other interesting name in that list of would-be successors to Adams is Letitia James. Don't tell me the gods don't have a sense of humor, particularly when it comes to puffed-up politicos. James, of course, is the state attorney general who pressured Cuomo to resign when the sexual assault allegations against him multiplied. She was relentless. Also in her re'sume' is a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump and an embezzlement verdict against the leadership of the National Rifle Association. She also previously held the job of advocate for the City of New York. Maybe tomorrow's news. There's a line in the song: "A worn-out man with worn-out dreams." Frankly, Cuomo blew it. He had a major national profile for his handling of the Covid crisis and if he had just stuck to business, he might well have been the Democratic Party presidential candidate this year. Instead, he joined his father, Mario, as a New York governor who might've been president. Couldda, wouldda, shouldda. As for the beleaguered mayor, he faces federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting donations from a foreign national. Not the kind of case the justice department typically loses. Nonetheless, Adams has denied the charges and is resisting calls to resign. Two of his key aides have also been indicted and four prominent members of his administration have resigned. New Yorkers are not happy. Adams, too, would appear to be yesterday's news. *** Yesterday's News "Five o'clock in the station, with no clear destination Lord he's just killin' time, "Can you spare us a dime?" hear him say Got some scars to remind him, got his best years behind him Ah but he's got enough change to buy him some Night Train Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). It is not a secret, that the Western industry is now locked in a battle with China. For example, for decades Germany has enjoyed a reputation as Europe's car capital, with slogans such as Vorsprung durch Technik emblematic of its political and industrial prowess. But troubles looming over Volkswagen, where unions are battling threats of layoffs and factory closures have raised questions not just about its future but the wider European car industry. Those fears have been fuelled by China muscling in on the EU's home turf with its cheaper goods, including electric vehicles. In November, Stellantis, which also owns the Peugeot, Citroen, Chrysler and Fiat brands, announced plans to shut its Vauxhall van factory in southern England, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk as it joins rival automakers in scaling back operations in a difficult trading environment. The announcement came as automakers such as Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan and GM are cutting jobs in response to softening demand for EVs, which consumers see as too expensive, and increasing Chinese competition. The matter is, the Western auto industry is just the tip of the iceberg of a larger problem. In general, industrial production is at risk of falling in most European countries. Now, it has become clear that Europe really needs to make a major effort to save itself. It has chosen one of the most effective and the quickest way to save the situation: boosting weapons production. According to figures from SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany has become the world's fourth largest weapons exporter. German defense companies are earning record revenues as many countries have begun rearming their armies since the start of the Ukrainian conflict. Weapon production all over the world aims not only to help this country. By expanding such production capabilities, Europe saves its economy, rearms and earns reputational bonus. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has congratulated President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on the approval of the new College of Commissioners. "I wish the new European Commission success in strengthening a united Europe and enhancing the EU's role as a global leader. We look forward to continuing our productive cooperation on key issues of the Ukraine-EU strategic agenda," he said on the X social network on Wednesday. The head of state expressed confidence that "under this European Commission's leadership, Ukraine will achieve its ultimate strategic goal membership in the EU." As reported, the European Parliament has voted for the new College of the European Commission headed by President Ursula von der Leyen. The new Commission will take office on December 1. I think it was Goegel, who said, "History repeats itself; first time as a tragedy, second time- as a farce." First time the grifters took power in Germany and it cost Humanity 50 million dead. Now they took over the US and there is a big chance the Earth will not survive. Now we have grifters with nuclear weapons. Grifters don't have any policy. They have no views or ideologies. Of course, they pretend to have ones, they imitate, they make noises, they put on shows and gather rallies. But they are as empty as that stupid balloon. They are full of sh*t and greed, malice and hypocrisy. They are not really human but rather zombies with masks. Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Shakespeare of our times. The grifters are simple in their moronic evil. What is much more disappointing is that lot of people under the cloud of molecular fear are desperate in pretending that is not so. They treat the grifters as humans. They seriously discuss the Trump's character, Gaetz's credentials or Steven Miller's policy inclinations. Some of those people are shills and just want the grifters to like them. But many are sincere. They operate within the limits of their perceptions. That is a grave mistake. Those people put themselves at mortal danger. Genevieve Tabui in her book about 1919-1939 ' Twenty Years of Diplomatic War' describes her fellow- journalists, who published something like: - Despite his ferocious looks Goering has a kind heart. Most of those journalists were Jewish. They all perished in the Holocaust. Molecular fear did not save them from the Field Marshal of the grifters. It will not save them now. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee. Fascism does not come to work with you. It comes to work on you. It comes to spread the grift like venom. Grift is its main principle, its very existence. The Field Marshal profited from every looted shop during Kristallnacht. He took everything: paintings, antiques, books, musical instruments. He killed and he looted. Grifters are looters, they like it. Our grifters are the same kind. They desperately want to loot. Some of them even would consider looting Mars. Wherever they appear, trouble follows. They seek and destroy. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Scott F. wrote about people though. We have something much worse: the careless grifters. On a personal note: if I get no comments, confirming that our country is now a fascist state, I will consider that there is no hope. The United Kingdom has seen a rise in arrests related to social media posts, igniting a fierce debate about the balance between freedom of expression and maintaining public order. Critics argue that the government's actions threaten free speech, suggesting that the measures disproportionately target political dissent or aim to placate specific groups, including radical Islamists. Authorities, however, defend their approach as essential to curbing hate speech and preventing societal harm. Dimitrie Stoica was arrested for making a TikTok video in which he pretended that right-wing rioters were chasing him. Though he claimed the video was a joke, Assistant Chief Constable Michelle Shooter stated, "As has been made clear by forces across the country, any criminal actions relating to the disorder, whether they be in person or online, will be dealt with quickly and robustly. Whether it is spreading misinformation or being involved in disorder the message is clear -- as a service we are ready to respond and deal with any situation robustly." Several more arrests for written content have since been made. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, "This is not a law free zone. And I think that's clear from the prosecutions and sentencing. Today we're due sentencing for online behavior, that's a reminder to everyone that whether you're directly involved or whether you're remotely involved you're culpable and you'll be put before the courts if you've broken the law." Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson stated, "We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media, their job is to look for this material, and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth," adding that although people may not think they are doing anything wrong, "they are and the consequences will be visited upon them." At the same time, few arrests have been made over anti-Semitic content being posted online and Jewish groups have made public their complaints over what appears to be a skewed system. The controversy stems from the UK's broad legal frameworks, such as the Communications Act 2003 and the Public Order Act 1986, which criminalize messages deemed "grossly offensive" or likely to incite hatred. This legal latitude has led to a wide interpretation of what constitutes criminal behavior online. While some arrests involve clear cases of hate speech, others have sparked outrage for targeting what many see as legitimate commentary, satire, or personal opinion. Critics of these arrests argue that they create a chilling effect on public discourse. Some contend that the authorities have selectively enforced these laws to silence viewpoints perceived as politically incorrect or to avoid offending certain communities. This has fueled accusations of appeasement, particularly towards radical elements within Muslim communities, though evidence for such claims remains contentious. The concern, according to these voices, is that fear of backlash has led to an uneven application of justice. Defenders of the current approach dismiss such accusations, pointing to the importance of addressing online harassment, hate speech, and radicalization. They argue that a robust legal response to harmful content is vital in an age where social media can amplify incendiary rhetoric, leading to real-world consequences. For them, the focus is not on suppressing speech but on preventing harm and protecting marginalized groups from abuse. The debate is emblematic of broader tensions in liberal democracies over the limits of free speech in the digital era. As platforms like Twitter and Facebook become arenas for public discourse, governments worldwide are grappling with how to regulate content without infringing on individual rights. The UK's approach highlights the challenges of navigating these competing priorities, but it also raises urgent questions about who defines the boundaries of acceptable speech and how those boundaries are enforced. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Turkish military airstrikes in northeastern Syria have cut off access to water and electricity for over a million residents, in what is known to be a drought-stricken region. From 2019 to 2024, Turkey carried out over 100 attacks on oil fields, power stations, and gas facilities in the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern and eastern Syria. These attacks have worsened the humanitarian crisis in the area. Turkey defended itself by claiming the target was to harm "sources of income and capabilities" of "Kurdish terrorist groups". Turkey further claimed they are aware of the drought and what they believe has worsened it is "mismanagement of infrastructure". The official Turkish military statement said they attacked targets of the Kurdish insurgents, the PKK, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Importantly, Turkey facilitated the rise of ISIS Turkey; helped Iran evade sanctions; supports Sunni jihadis, including Al-Qaeda, in Syria; now hosts the Hamas HQ; and bought a Russian S-400 system in violation of its NATO obligations. Turkey's aggressive military campaigns against Kurdish populations in Syria and Iraq have reignited scrutiny of its historical and ongoing policies toward ethnic minorities. These actions are not isolated incidents but part of a disturbing continuum that includes the genocide of Armenians during the Ottoman era and now the systematic targeting of Kurdish communities. Far from being a stabilizing force in the Middle East, Turkey's actions increasingly position it as a rogue state, undermining international law and humanitarian norms. The roots of Turkey's current actions against the Kurds lie in decades of repression and conflict. Kurdish groups have long sought autonomy and cultural recognition, demands that have been met with violent suppression by the Turkish state. Ankara labels Kurdish groups like the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates as terrorists, justifying military incursions into neighboring Syria and Iraq. These operations, including drone strikes, shelling, and ground offensives, have devastated Kurdish-majority regions and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. Turkey's treatment of the Kurds echoes its brutal history with the Armenians in the early 20th century. Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman Empire orchestrated the systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians in what is now widely recognized as genocide. Despite overwhelming evidence, including eyewitness accounts and documentation, Turkey continues to deny the genocide, framing it as a wartime necessity. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). COASIS Co., Ltd. is a Korean cosmetics company with the experience of 25 years of cosmetics formulator development.COASIS releasesits cosmetics by pouring a distinguished know-how of accumulated for 25 years. Its two signature brand cosmetics of PLUS ALEPH and MEDI SPON Nature are the results of such a matureknow-how and technology. COASIS has been well-known in the cosmetics industry for a long time to supply its customers with high-quality products Brisbane, Australia- 26th November 2024 - Fit Education, a leading provider of fitness training and education, is excited to announce the launch of its new Diploma of Business course. This comprehensive program is designed for individuals looking to acquire essential business skills to expand their career options, whether in the fitness industry or broader professional landscape. Chris Weir (CEO of Fit Education) said " Fit Education's Diploma of Business has been Writeessay.ca is Canada's #1 platform where certified human writers meet your academic paper requirements. It is one of the very few services that specialise in more than 100 disciplines and helps Canadian students excel, irrespective of educational level. They provide 100% unique, tailored help with a success rate of 98%. As they have excelled in their work for 10+ years, they know the secrets through which pupils can achieve high Dear Annie: I work at a school as a teacher and have struggled over the years with how cliquey the other teachers have been. Shortly after I started there, the pandemic happened, and many people friended each other on Facebook. Because that was the only source for a sense of community as we went through those first few dark months, I accepted many of the friend requests, and that felt good. However, a couple of years later I couldnt help but notice how people commented on each others posts and tagged each other like they were friends in real life but never with me. I had gone through cancer during the pandemic, which few people know about, and I missed out on many of the social events that solidified those friendships. So I had some understanding, but I figured after a while I would be invited in. That never happened, and I felt excluded by the number of posts that would show up in my feed between co-workers. I made the decision after a couple of years to unfriend/block many people on Facebook from my work so I didnt have to see that and feel bad. When staff functions or happy hours are advertised, I go and socialize and ask questions of others and show that I am interested in what they have to say and in them as people. However, people generally do not seem interested in me in any way, and I often leave feeling dissed. Over the years, I have invited people who I have gotten to know from work over for dinner at my home with my husband (and even to our wedding), and although the couples gladly accepted our invitations and we had a pleasant and fun time, a return invitation has never occurred. This week I found out that there was a celebration for one of the teachers birthdays last weekend, and many other teachers were invited, but I was not. I sit near this teacher at lunch at the break table most days and converse pleasantly with him and listen to his stories, so it stung a bit that I wasnt invited. The office staff is no better. They dont smile or say hello to me except for one of the women. I am beginning to think I am some sort of pariah at my work, and I dont know why. I have made friends through other avenues, hobbies and organizations, and have other long-lasting friendships and have a happy and healthy home life, but it is troubling that my workplace feels so cold and exclusive. I am considering looking for a job elsewhere, but I like the school, the leadership and the students, so I would like to stay. But deep down, I am also wondering if I am the problem and have some sort of off-putting characteristic or some reputation that drives would-be-work-friends away. I have started therapy for other reasons but plan to discuss this as well and am wondering what advice you have for how I might go about understanding how to perceive this feedback at work. -- Not Welcome in Washington Dear Not Welcome: Its completely understandable that you feel hurt by the way your co-workers have treated you. My guess is that this may have more to do with the fact that youre new and joined during a challenging time, making it harder to integrate yourself. Building relationships takes time, and its natural for people to need a while to get to know one another. If you love the school, the leadership and the students, thats a great reason to stay. Faculty dynamics can change, and you may meet new colleagues or form connections with the existing ones over time. Remember, we cant control other peoples actions -- only how we react to them. Sometimes, what feels like rejection is actually redirection. Perhaps you werent meant to be part of that group or party, and thats OK. Congratulations on taking the step to go to therapy and staying curious about yourself! By continuing this journey of self-growth, youll likely find that meaningful friendships will naturally come into your life. Try not to get too fixated on how those friendships should look or where they need to come from. You dont have to be friends with your coworkers; you can build connections outside of work. For now, focus on what you enjoy about your job: the students, the leadership and the school itself. Those are excellent reasons to stay and thrive in your role. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM Notorious child killer Diane Downs this year challenged some of her 40-year-old convictions, citing court rulings that declared split verdicts as unconstitutional. Downs, who received a life sentence and is incarcerated at the Central California Womens Facility, filed her claim earlier this year in Marion County Circuit Court. LINCOLN CITY Drumming made the floor vibrate and singing filled the conference room of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, on the Oregon coast, as hundreds in tribal regalia danced in a circle. For the last 47 years, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have held an annual powwow to celebrate regaining federal recognition. This months event, however, was especially significant: It came just two weeks after a federal court lifted restrictions on the tribes rights to hunt, fish and gather restrictions tribal leaders had opposed for decades. Were back to the way we were before, Siletz Chairman Delores Pigsley said. It feels really good. The Siletz is a confederation of over two dozen bands and tribes whose traditional homelands spanned western Oregon, as well as parts of northern California and southwestern Washington state. The federal government in the 1850s forced them onto a reservation on the Oregon coast, where they were confederated together as a single, federally recognized tribe despite their different backgrounds and languages. In the 1950s and 60s, Congress revoked recognition of over 100 tribes, including the Siletz, under a policy known as termination. Affected tribes lost millions of acres of land as well as federal funding and services. The goal was to try and assimilate Native people, get them moved into cities, said Matthew Campbell, deputy director of the Native American Rights Fund. But also I think there was certainly a financial aspect to it. I think the United States was trying to see how it could limit its costs in terms of providing for tribal nations. Tiffany Stuart, at right in white, holds hands with her daughter Kwestaani Chuski Stuart, bottom right, as they participate in a powwow at Chinook Winds Casino Resort, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Lincoln City, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)AP Losing their lands and self-governance was painful, and the tribes fought for decades to regain federal recognition. In 1977, the Siletz became the second tribe to succeed, following the restoration of the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin in 1973. But to get a fraction of its land back roughly 3,600 acres (1,457 hectares) of the 1.1-million-acre (445,000-hectare) reservation established for the tribe in 1855 the Siletz tribe had to agree to a federal court order that restricted their hunting, fishing and gathering rights. It was only one of two tribes in the country, along with Oregons Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, compelled to do so to regain tribal land. The settlement limited where tribal members could fish, hunt and gather for ceremonial and subsistence purposes, and it imposed caps on how many salmon, elk and deer could be harvested in a year. It was devastating, tribal chair Pigsley recalled: The tribe was forced to buy salmon for ceremonies because it couldnt provide for itself, and people were arrested for hunting and fishing violations. Giving up those rights was a terrible thing, Pigsley, who has led the tribe for 36 years, told The Associated Press earlier this year. It was unfair at the time, and weve lived with it all these years. Stuart Whitehead dances during a powwow at Chinook Winds Casino Resort, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Lincoln City, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)AP Decades later, Oregon and the U.S. came to recognize that the agreement subjecting the tribe to state hunting and fishing rules was biased, and they agreed to join the tribe in recommending to the court that the restrictions be lifted. The Governor of Oregon and Oregons congressional representatives have since acknowledged that the 1980 Agreement and Consent Decree were a product of their times and represented a biased and distorted position on tribal sovereignty, tribal traditions, and the Siletz Tribes ability and authority to manage and sustain wildlife populations it traditionally used for tribal ceremonial and subsistence purposes, attorneys for the U.S., state and tribe wrote in a joint court filing. Late last month, the tribe finally succeeded in having the court order vacated by a federal judge. A separate agreement with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has given the tribe a greater role in regulating tribal hunting and fishing. As Pigsley reflected on those who passed away before seeing the tribe regain its rights, she expressed hope about the next generation carrying on essential traditions. Theres a lot of youth out there that are learning tribal ways and culture, she said. Its important today because we are trying to raise healthy families, meaning we need to get back to our natural foods. Among those celebrating and praying at the powwow was Tiffany Stuart, donning a basket cap her ancestors were known for weaving, and her 3-year-old daughter Kwestaani Chuski, whose name means six butterflies in the regional Athabaskan language from southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. Given the restoration of rights, Stuart said, it was very powerful for my kids to dance. You dance for the people that cant dance anymore, she said. Some 174 children are staying in 22 settlements of Donetsk region, where mandatory evacuation of families with children has been announced, including 143 in the Pokrovsk community, Donetsk Regional Military Administration has said on Wednesday. There is one child in Lyman, four in Kostiantynivka, five in the Illinivka community, and 21 in the Komar community. According to Acting Head of the Service for Children's Affairs Yulia Ryzhakova, 161 children with their parents were evacuated over the past week. Four children left the Illinivka community, one from Myrnohrad, 16 children from each Kostiantynivka and the Komar community. The largest number of minors were evacuated from the Pokrovsk community 111 children, including eleven from the town of Pokrovsk. A total of 321,000 residents are staying in the Ukrainian government-controlled territory of Donetsk region as of November 26. Some 56,000 people are staying in 19 territorial communities defined as the zone of active hostilities. A Greenlandic mother in Denmark had her newborn baby taken away just hours after giving birth for failing a "parenting competency test" that critics claim discriminates against Greenlandic parents. Keira Alexandra Kronvold, 38, whose first language is Kalaallisut, was subjected to the test conducted in Danish during her pregnancy. Danish authorities removed her newborn daughter on November 7, allowing her only one monitored hour of visitation per week, The Guardian reported. Kronvold has previously lost custody of two other children, reportedly after taking a similar parenting test in 2014. The parenting competency test, or forldrekompetenceundersgelse (FKU), is criticized for its failure to account for cultural and linguistic differences. A 2022 report by the Danish Institute for Human Rights warned that a low test scores could be an inaccurate representation of a Greenlandic parent's cognitive ability. "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," the report states. Advocates for parent and Inuit rights argue that such tests disproportionately lead to forced adoption and family separation among Greenlandic parents. Nearly 5.6% of Greenlandic children in Denmark are in care, compared to 1% of Danish-background children. In Kronvold's case file, her "Greenlandic background" is noted as a factor that would hinder her ability to prepare a child for "social expectations and codes that are necessary in Danish society." "My love and tradition were more important than any test score," Kronvold told the Guardian, stating that the local municipality had "coldly assessed my worth as a parent." "This is one case out of many," said Tina Naamansen of Sila 360. "Greenlandic families are being torn apart by a system that does not understand or respect our culture." "I would like to encourage the municipalities in cases involving families with a Greenlandic background to concretely consider stopping the use of the criticized tests," Denmark's social affairs minister, Sophie Hstorp Andersen said on Wednesday. The statement followed an urgent meeting with Greenland's children's minister, Aqqaluaq B Egede, who advocated for an outright ban on the test. Denmark's Thisted municipality defended its decisions, citing the child's best interests, but vowed to ensure proper handling of the case. Protests in Nuuk and Copenhagen demand immediate reform to protect Greenlandic parents from discriminatory practices. Originally published by Latin Times. A 23-year-old college student in Texas has died after she unknowingly ate peanuts while eating out at a restaurant. Alison Pickering, 23, died just days before she was set to graduate from Tarleton State University in Stephenville in May last year. She decided to go out on a first date at a restaurant she had been to before. Alison ordered the restaurant's Mahi-Mahi, which she had also previously eaten. "She would repeatedly go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes, you know. And that was a common thing," her father, Grover Pickering, said, as quoted by CBS News. However, Alison did not know the recipe for her favorite dish had been changed, and peanut sauce was added. The changes were not disclosed on the restaurant's menu. The wait staff had also been unaware that the recipe had changed. Did Alison Not Get Medical Attention? After eating the Mahi-Mahi, Grover said Alison did her Epipen. An ambulance was also called, and Alison had even talked to the emergency responders. But "somewhere along the way, things went downhill," her father said. The 23-year-old experienced "severe anaphylactic shock," a life-threatening allergic reaction where the patient experiences difficulty breathing, swollen throat or tongue, chest tightness, nausea and vomiting, confusion, and a loss of consciousness. The college student fainted and never woke up, according to her obituary. Her family did not name the restaurant. Becoming Advocates Following Alison's death, the Pickerings became strong advocates of the Sergio Lopez Food Allergy Awareness Act, a law enacted in September this year in response to the death of Sergio Alexander Lopez, who suffered a fatal allergic reaction to peanut butter despite inquiring about the safety o his meal. Under the law, all retail food establishments in Texas are required to display a food allergy awareness poster accessible to all employees. The poster must include any risks of allergic reactions to food allergens, symptoms of allergic reactions, and appropriate responses for assisting individuals experiencing allergic reactions. In addition, restaurants must also train their staff members on food allergen safety. Apart from advocating for the law, the Pickerings are also interested in working with the Texas Restaurant Association to help "determine" what "guidelines" should be put in place that would assist restaurants in communicating the ingredients in their dishes to customers. A jury in New Hampshire on Tuesday found a former house leader of a youth detention center guilty of aiding in a crime after he held down a teen while he was being raped by staffers in 1998. The jury found Bradley Asbury, 70, guilty of two counts of abating and being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault. The verdict was made after the jury deliberated over three days. Asbury will now face a maximum of 20 years in prison on every count---which means he could be sentenced to a total of 40 years. His trial stretched out over four days, according to HuffPost. What Was the Crime? In the 90's, Asbury was the house leader at Manchester's Sununu Youth Services Center---formerly known as the Youth Detention Center (YDC). During his work there, he and an unnamed colleague were accused of holding down then-14-year-old Michael Gilpatrick on a stairwell of what was the East Cottage at the former YDC. A second unidentified staffer raped Gilpatrick, while a third staff member had him perform sexual acts. Gilpatrick, now 41, said he struggled after the attack. During his testimony in court, he said talking about the incident is part of his healing process. Abuse Allegations in the YDC The YDC was established to keep children, typically between the ages of 13 and 17, out of adult jails and prisons, much like juvenile detention facilities in the United States. The facility, however, is the subject of complaints from nearly 1,300 former residents. Allegations included hundreds of cases of sexual assault and rape over the center's 60-year history, per NPR. Despite the large number of complaints, only one other lawsuit has gone to trial so far. David Meehan was incarcerated at the youth detention center in the 1990s when he was 15 years old. He claimed he was raped "on an almost daily basis" during the last year of his stay at the YDC. He also said he was beaten during the raping and had contracted gonorrhea from one of the assaults. Moreover, Meehan said he was routinely kept in solitary confinement and was not permitted to receive education while he was staying in the facility. Meehan's allegations led authorities to launch a broader criminal investigation, which exposed decades of abuse at the facility. A jury later awarded Meehan $38 million for the abuse, though the state said the amount would be reduced to $475,000 due to a law that caps damages, AP News reported. The mother of a three-year-old girl has been jailed after she kept her child in a drawer under the bed. Authorities said the child had never seen daylight until she was rescued. The girl was kept hidden in a drawer for the first three years of her life. She was only discovered by her mother's partner in February 2023 when he had gone upstairs to use the toilet. He opened the drawer after he heard a noise that sounded like a baby and discovered the little girl with matted hair and showing signs of dehydration. A social worker was called to the house after the discovery. "I was taken aback by what I saw and was extremely shocked to see a baby looking up at me sat in a divan drawer. [The child] stared at me and was rocking back and forth," the social worker said in a statement read to the court, as quoted by The Guardian. Authorities did not release the identity of the girl or members of her family to keep her protected. Why Did the Mother Leave the Child in the Drawer? The girl's mother told authorities that she gave birth to the child in the bathtub of her Cheshire home in March 2020. However, she kept the birth a secret from the father of the baby, who she said was abusive. The child was also never registered. To hide the child, she kept her baby in the drawer under the bed and would return now and again to feed her child Weetabix---a breakfast cereal---through a syringe. The girl would sometimes be left alone in the drawer for hours on end. In one case, she was left there overnight after her mom went to stay with her parents on Christmas Eve. What Is the Child's Condition? The three-year-old has since been examined by health professionals who said she could not crawl, walk, talk, or even make any communicative noise. Being locked in the drawer also led to her having floppy limbs and swollen feet. She was neglected to the point that her development was equivalent to that of a 10-month-old baby, per the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS). Furthermore, officials said the child had never seen daylight or the face of another human apart from her mother until she was rescued. The three-year-old is currently in foster care, and she has begun to vocalize. She will require further surgery. The mother, on the other hand, has pleaded guilty to four charges of child cruelty. She will be imprisoned for seven years and six months. The leader of the European Solidarity political party, Petro Poroshenko, met with the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group in Ottawa. The politician said he had a substantial and open conversation on the entire spectrum of security issues on the agenda, the according to the website of the party. "There is an understanding that today the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area depends on the victory over the Russian aggressor exactly in Ukraine," Poroshenko said on his Facebook page. During the meeting, he noted that comprehensive military, political and economic assistance to Ukraine should remain among the top priorities of Canadian foreign policy. "Such support is of particular importance on the eve of Canada's chairmanship of the Group of Seven in 2025 and the parliamentary elections in Canada next year. I briefed Canadian parliamentarians in detail on the situation at the front and the priority needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At this stage, long-range missiles, electronic warfare systems, drones and modern training of Ukrainian military units are a priority. I called on Canadian MPs to further strengthen the sanctions regime against Russia and its allies in order to deprive the aggressor of the resources to continue the war," Poroshenko said. He noted Canada's special attention to supporting Ukraine's membership in NATO as the only effective guarantee of Ukraine's security. Earlier, Poroshenko also met with MPs and shadow ministers from the opposition Conservative Party of Canada and secured the support of its key representatives. "Today, this opposition force enjoys the highest level of public support. This is important in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections next fall," he said. As reported, in his speech at a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Canada, Poroshenko called on the Alliance members to extend a membership invitation to Ukraine and stressed that this would be the right response to Putin's escalation. A communications firm in Lower Paxton Township has been acquired. Avoq has acquired SRA Communications, which was founded by Steve Aaron. He will join Avoq as a partner. Nearly 20 customers who patronized massage parlors in Cumberland County were arrested and charged in the last month as a result of multiple human trafficking operations, according to a Tuesday press release from the county district attorneys office. The Cumberland County Human Trafficking Task Force served a search warrant at GL Massage in Carlisle on Nov. 6 after receiving a tip. After searching the business, investigators executed a second search warrant at Lis Asian Massage, also in Carlisle, on Nov. 19. Three women who worked at the parlors Chuan Xa Wang, 65, of Newport; Dong Mei Liu, 55, and Yue Jun Zhao, 62, both of Flushing, N.Y. were arrested and charged as a result of the searches. Wang, who incorporated Lis Asian Massage in February 2018, is charged with felony counts of running a corrupt organization, human trafficking and promoting prostitution. Liu and Zhao were arraigned on single misdemeanor counts of prostitution. Preliminary hearings for all three women are scheduled for next week. Additionally, as part of Operation Impact Demand, 19 customers who are accused of paying for erotic services were arrested and charged for promoting prostitution, the DAs office said. The fuel that feeds human trafficking is the money customers pay for commercial sex. Operation Impact Demand is designed to curtail the supply of money going into the pockets of human traffickers, said Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack. On Oct. 23, the Cumberland County Human Trafficking Task Force conducted an undercover prostitution detail with the Silver Spring Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police and the Cumberland County Sheriffs Office. As a result, the following individuals were arrested for promoting prostitution: Naeem Ahmad, 33, of Camp Hill Michael Cassel, 32, of Carlisle James Williams, 53, of Millersburg Frantz Alteus, 50, of Dickson City Jeremy Herman, 54, of Mechanicsburg David Wholaver, 56, of Plain City, Ohio On Nov. 8, the task force performed another undercover prostitution detail with the Hampden Township Police Department, PSP and the Cumberland County Sheriffs Office. Thirteen more people were arrested and charged for promoting prostitution as part of the operation: Travis Walters, 29, of Turbotville Donald Miller, 57, of Dover Jeffrey Nguyen, 34, of Harrisburg Jason Martin, 42, of South Fork Robert Kraft, 33, Millerstown (also charged for drug offenses) Matthew Peterson, 43, of Danville Sebastian Klinger, 32, of Bellefonte (also charged for drug offenses) Joseph Biddle, 54, of Tyrone Robert Campbell, 38, of Harrisburg Christopher Striker, 34, of Lancaster Timothy Bricker, 62 Juan Perez, 36, of Lansdale Ravi Bastola, 40, of Mechanicsburg Police said 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, but it is unclear if those two individuals are included in the most recent arrests. 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 major highways pass through the county and Interstate 81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike intersect there. 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. Staff writer Charles Thompson contributed to this report. By Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press NEW YORK A shoplifting ring that stole nearly $2 million in clothes and beauty products from Macys and other well-known stores in the U.S. and then resold them in New York City and the Dominican Republic has been busted, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. Five New Yorkers have been charged with felony possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other related crimes, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The bust served as a reminder to shoppers as the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest with Black Friday this week to make sure they are supporting legitimate establishments, she said. When a deal seems too good to be true, I guarantee you, its too good to be true, Katz said. Nationally, businesses lose roughly $100 billion and the average family pays $500 more a year because of the impact of organized retail theft, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined the district attorney and other law enforcement officials in Queens. The Democrat said the arrests also marked the first time anyone has been charged under a new criminal statute of fostering the sale of stolen goods that she recently signed into law to help crack down on retail theft. This is real simple. Weve had enough with criminals preying on our citizens, Hochul said. We are sick and tired of our citizens feeling theyre vulnerable to random crimes on the streets or these sophisticated organized crime rings. And we are coming after you. Katz, the district attorney, said the group stole high-end makeup, perfume, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories from stores ranging from Macys to Victorias Secret, American Eagle, Sephora and Ulta Beauty over a roughly two-year period. The groups leaders, married couple Cristopher Guzman and Yvelisse Guzman Batista, directed shoplifting crews to steal specific merchandise as they hit multiple stores in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and elsewhere along the East Coast, she said. They also paid truck drivers to divert products bound for retailers from manufacturer warehouses directly to locations under their control. The group, operating out of a home in Queens, then resold the merchandise online as well as at a brick-and-mortar boutique called Yvelisse Fashion in Santiago, a city in the Dominican Republic. Vince Scala, a lawyer for the couple and two of the other defendants, said his clients pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Saturday. They were released pending their next court date in January. The charges are only a couple of days old, and I have not seen a single piece of evidence, discovery or police reports, he said. I look forward to reviewing the case at the appropriate time. Tuesdays announcement is part of a broader push from Hochul to counter Republican criticisms that Democrats in New York are soft on public safety issues, an issue that hurt her party in the 2022 midterm elections and has remained a consistent talking point for the GOP. Earlier this year, Hochul signed off on a handful of policies aimed at cracking down on retail theft, including increased criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, new funding for law enforcement teams dedicated to retail theft and tax credits for businesses to install security cameras. She also approved policies that allow prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when filing larceny charges and made it easier to criminally charge third-party sellers of stolen goods. Retail theft has also been a concern elsewhere. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz shows a business card during a news conference on an international stolen merchandise ring, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)AP Videos of brazen shoplifting crews rampaging through stores have been widely shared on social media, fueling widespread frustration that retail crime is rampant and unpunished. Earlier this month, California voters overwhelmingly passed a tough-on-crime ballot measure that makes shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders again. The measure partly rolled back a progressive law passed by voters a decade ago downgrading several nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors, including theft under $950 in value. Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story. Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. Forbes recently released their list of the top private companies in the United States. And two in Pennsylvania were included in the final rankings. According to the report, Wawa is the 22nd best private business in the nation. Wawas namesake is a Native American word for the Canada Goose in flight, which is also incorporated into the companys logo, reads the report. Wawa owns and operates convenience retail stores, the majority of which include a fuel offer, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Florida. These stores offer a fresh food and beverage selection under the Wawa brand including Built to Order sandwiches, coffee and specialty beverages, wraps, breakfast sandwiches, bakery products, express items, and dairy products. The Delaware County chain was also recognized as the number one fan-favorite to customers, too: An October report listed Wawa as the number one best convenience store in the country, too. Even over fellow Keystone State convenience chain, Sheetz. Speaking of which, Sheetz was ranked 30th overall on the Forbes list. It was the only other Pennsylvania-hailing company to be on there, too. Sheetz operates approximately 680 convenience stores throughout six states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, the study states. In its stores, Sheetz sells everything from made-to-order freshly baked goods to discount cigarettes. Founded by Bob Sheetz in 1952, the company remains family own and operated. Number one was Minnesotan company, Cargill. MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Australias House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. The legislation passed with 102 votes in favor to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or drivers licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system. Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, its not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to peoples lives, Tehan told Parliament. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties support all but guarantees the legislation will pass in the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats. Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents authority to decide whats best for their children. Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer. Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media. The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it, Daniel told Parliament. There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, thats because no other country wants to do it, she added. Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers, right, gestures as he and Industry Minister Ed Husic speak to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)AP T he platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced. Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as absolutely essential for the safety of our children. Its not the only thing that we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but to provide some immediate support for our children and parents to be able to manage this, its a great step, the 65-year-old online safety campaigner told The Associated Press on Tuesday. And in my opinion, its the greatest time in our countrys history, he added, referring to the pending legal reform. Editors note: This article has been updated to correctly identify the president of the Capital Area Greenbelt Association as Doug Hill. A new homeless housing project for homeless veterans in the Harrisburg area has been approved by city council to move forward into the construction phase. Just as Pennsylvania has started to make rapid progress on reducing the number of families without health insurance, political wrangling in Washington is threatening to pull the rug out from under the effort. The agency that runs the states insurance exchange - as well as healthcare advocacy groups - are sounding the alarm about the need for Congress to continue the expanded health insurance subsides that went effect in 2021, and which would need to be renewed within the next year in order to prevent massive premium increases from hitting hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians in 2026. The subsidies are part of insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, and may serve as an early litmus test as to how far Republicans in a second Trump administration want to go in dismantling the healthcare law. In September, the board of Pennie Pennsylvanias state-run marketplace for ACA-subsidized plans sent a letter to the states Congressional delegation warning that many Pennsylvanians would no longer be able to afford coverage and the coverage gains seen since 2021 would be reversed if the extra subsidies that started in 2021 were to end. Those subsidies amount to roughly $500 million per year in federal funds that offset Pennsylvanians insurance premiums, according to Pennie. If they were to go away, the average Pennie customer would see an 81% health insurance premium hike and some age and income brackets would see their premiums skyrocket by four or five times their current amounts. Since its inception 2010, the ACA has included subsidies for those who do not have access to health insurance through an employer, and instead purchase ACA-regulated plans through systems like Pennie. The subsidies are tax credits that are discounted from monthly premiums, and reconciled on an individual or familys annual tax return. The subsidies limit the portion of a familys overall income that they pay in health insurance premiums; the federal government picks up the tab via tax credit for anything beyond that. The cap varies by coverage level and is phased out by income; under the original version of the ACA, those making over 400% of the federal poverty line (about $125,000 for a family of four, for example) received no benefit. Subsidies were significantly boosted in 2021 and 2022 through federal stimulus bills backed by President Joe Biden, as part of an effort to control rising healthcare costs. Benchmarks for the percent of income paid for health insurance were lowered, and subsidies expanded across the income scale. Those making over 400% of the poverty line now have their premium costs happed at 8.5% of their total income, eliminating the cliff. Families living just above the poverty line ($31,200 for a family of four) can often get coverage with no out-of-pocket premium, and others can get better quality coverage with a lower deductible for the same amount they were paying pre-2021. It significantly reduced premiums and it helped a lot of folks buy a plan with less-out-of-pocket costs, said Antoinette Kraus, director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, an advocacy group. Only 5.4% of Pennsylvanians had no health insurance last year, the lowest-ever uninsured rate. At the same time, a record 435,000 people are enrolled in a plan through Pennie, and 90% of them now receive some subsidy. I would attribute a lot of that to the enhanced premium tax credits over the past three years, Kraus said. Jessie Green, a Lebanon resident who runs a small business with her husband, said her family has purchased insurance through the ACA marketplace since its inception. Although the plans were much better than they were pre-Obamacare, Green and her husband make just over the 400% cutoff, meaning that until recently they received no help as rates crept up. It was very, very good for us, Green said, but slowly but surely those premiums were beginning to increase because we didnt qualify for any subsidies. At one point, Green was paying $1,700 per month to cover herself, her husband, and her son. When the subsidy expansion went into effect, her out-of-pocket premium cost dropped by nearly $1,000, she said. That has been great for us, she said. I dont worry about my health care, I dont have a little bit of a panic attack about how Im going to take care of that bill. But even though the tax credit subsides have stabilized the cost to Greens family, the base cost of health insurance has continued to rise. Green said the sticker price on her insurance plan for just herself and her husband, now that her son is independent is a whopping $2,237 per month, according to her Pennie records. With the current subsidies, her share is less than a third of that; without, shed be footing the whole bill. Legislators really need to understand that if these tax credits go away, I dont know what people will do, Green said. Getting insurance through Pennie isnt a free ride, she noted, but people who get employer-subsidized insurance often dont recognize how large the cost burden is. Theres still a co-pay, theres still an out-of-pocket cost, and I have no problem with that, she said. But I think sometimes people who have healthcare provided by an employer dont understand how much it really costs. Greens experience isnt unique. Premiums for plans on Pennie increased an average of 6% for 2025, according to the state. A plan with mid-tier coverage for a 40-year-old is $461 per month on average in Pennsylvania, according to benchmarking by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Pennsylvanians like Green who are not quite old enough for Medicare have seen some of the biggest rate increases and would be the hardest-hit if subsidies were to decrease, according to Pennie. The average 60-year-old couple with just over $80,000 per year of income would see the price of a benchmark plan balloon five-fold to nearly $3,000 per month, the agency said. The insurance subsidy is literally life-saving, Green said, since getting routine care allowed her doctor to catch a heart condition before it got worse. Greens situation points to one of the main arguments for keeping the enhanced subsidies around, despite the burden to the federal budget that the expense of the subsides will still be paid for, albeit less efficiently, even if the ACA is cut back. In Greens case, her condition may have gone untreated until she ended up the emergency room and she said she would not have been able to pay the bill. Uncompensated care for uninsured patients is a major driver of ballooning hospital costs, and most of it is paid for by the federal government through hospital bailouts. The Biden-era enhanced subsidies are one of the easier parts of the ACA for the incoming Trump administration to cut simply though inaction, since they expire for 2026 insurance policies. Further changes would require explicit executive order or Congressional action. During his first term, Trump attempted to loosen rules for health plans that didnt follow ACA rules, making them cheaper for healthier patients while shifting costs onto those who needed more care; Vice President-elect JD Vance suggested Republicans could similarly move sicker patients to higher-cost risk pools. While Obamacare was initially unpopular, many of its core concepts now enjoy wide support, particularly rules that require insurers to cover preventative healthcare and pre-existing conditions without raising premiums. The GOPs attempt to repeal these provisions in 2017 failed when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, cast the final dissenting vote. Last month, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a set of bills adding the most popular ACA rules into state law, citing the risk of these statutes vanishing at the federal level. Although introduced by the state Houses Democratic majority, more than half of House Republicans voted for the bills. The GOP-controlled Senate did not take them up before the end of session. Ideally, Kraus said, Congress would renew the extra ACA subsidies by mid-summer, giving insurance companies and agencies like Pennie time to plan. For now, the best thing individuals can do is make sure theyre enrolled for next year and getting the subsidized rate. Every headline causes some panic, and theres a lot of uncertainty in the market, so people just need to go and shop for plans, Kraus said. You have until Dec. 15. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/ The situation on the fronts of the Russian-Ukrainian war remains difficult and tense, the enemy continues to try to break through the Ukrainian defense. Since the beginning of the day and as of 4 p.m., 102 combat clashes were recorded along the front line, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has said Wednesday. More than half of them occurred on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove axes, Donetsk region. "Since the beginning of the day, on the Pokrovsk axis, the enemy has already made 24 attempts to push our defenders from their positions. [...] The defense forces are holding back the pressure and have currently repelled eleven enemy attacks. Enemy losses are being clarified. [...] On the Kurakhove axis, according to updated information, 21 attacks by the occupation army have been repelled today, six combat clashes are ongoing," it said on Facebook. On the Vremiv axis, the enemy made 13 attempts to advance, two attacks are ongoing. On the Lyman axis, the invading army carried out four attacks on Ukrainian positions, on the Kramatorsk axis one in the area of Bila Hora. On the Toretsk axis, the occupiers tried five times to displace Ukrainian units from their positions in the Toretsk area. Two attacks were repelled, three clashes are ongoing. On the Kharkiv axis, Russian occupiers tried four times to storm the defensive lines of the Ukrainian army in the areas of Vovchansk and Tykhe, the attacks were repelled. On the Kupyansk axis, the enemy actively attacked the positions of Ukrainian units seven times: the Ukrainian military is holding the line, three clashes are ongoing. In Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders repelled eleven attacks by Russian troops, three clashes are ongoing. On the Prydniprovsky axis, the enemy tried three times to dislodge the Ukrainian military from their positions, but to no avail. On the Siversk, Huliaipole and Orikhiv axes, the occupiers continue to shell Ukrainian troops and civilian infrastructure. In addition, areas of the settlements of Popivka and Dmytrivka in Sumy region suffered from enemy artillery shelling from the territory of Russia. Congratulations to Donald J. Trump on his victory as president-elect. His campaign was built on promises to challenge Washingtons establishment, eliminate wasteful spending, and put the American people first. Now, he has a critical opportunity to deliver on those promises by reevaluating Americas financial and political support for Israel. The United States annually sends $3.8 billion in taxpayer dollars to Israel, with a significant increase in 2024funds that could help rebuild our infrastructure, create American jobs, and support our veterans. Instead, this money enables the Israeli government, credibly accused of ongoing war crimes, to massacre civilians in the name of self-defense. By funding these actions and turning a blind eye, the U.S. endorsement contributes to immense human suffering and the deaths of thousands of innocent people. Our foreign policy contradicts the domestic priorities we claim to uphold liberty, justice, and the protection of secure borders. While we champion these ideals at home, lobbying groups like AIPAC spend millions to ensure Israel receives unwavering U.S. support, facilitating the destruction of Palestinian lives, freedoms, and infrastructure in this one-sided allyship. The hypocrisy undermines Americas credibility and global leadership. By Alan Cole and Trevor Wagener Trade featured prominently in the recent U.S. presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump has argued that other countries take advantage of the U.S. and proposed significant tariff increases across the board. He would be best served by a more refined and granular approach targeting specific trade infractions rather than punishing trade in general. The rise and fall of American Democracy? Fellow citizens, we are living through a nightmarish period in American history. We are on the precipice of domestic and international disasters, the consequences of which could devastate all civilization and the planet as we know it. In a 1948 speech to the British House of Commons referencing WWII, Winston Churchill said, All citizens; those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The USA has learned nothing! Never was there a more crucial period in history to have tried and true statesmen like President Dwight D. Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy in command of domestic and international events. Counterintuitively, most Americans in 2024 opted for a stooge, Donald Trump, who is already exemplifying his slapstick style of statesmanship by choosing inexperienced partisan hacks and court jesters for his cabinet appointees. He desperately seeks total political power with impunity. This is from a man whose only accomplishment in life was falling into his familys fortune. Abraham Lincoln: We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. January 6, 2021, Trump unleashed a coup to overthrow our government on live TV perverting the Constitution! What, no firing squad? Speaker Mike Johnson and SCOTUS, please read honest Abes quote repeatedly. You aint the bosses, either. Christian-nationalists, start emulating Christ rather than rejoicing the second coming of Beelzebub! Raymond Cerio Jr, Marple Township, Pa. President Joe Biden deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Thats the considered opinion of Bob Woodward, whose new book War sizes up not only Biden, but former President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. Its fair to say the investigative journalist who teamed up with Carl Bernstein to help bring down President Richard Nixon in 1974 has a low opinion of the man about to take office. He made that clear when he spoke at the World Affairs Councils of America national conference in Washington DC. It was only two weeks after more than 77 million Americans voted Trump back into the White House. Woodward describes the former president as the wrong man for the presidency who is unfit to lead the country. He says Trump is conning both the American people and himself. He is bent on creating, in Woodwards words, an imperial presidency. Author of 21 best-selling books, Woodward spent countless hours talking directly with Trump, visiting him frequently at his home in Mar A Lago. Trump granted Woodward unfettered access and even discussed key issues like how to deal with the COVID pandemic. Trump wanted to ignore it. Dr. Joyce Davis moderating a conversation with acclaimed author Bob Woodward on his new book War at the World Affairs Councils of America National Conference. Posted by World Affairs Council of Harrisburg on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Woodward has concluded one thing as a result of his extensive research and interviews, Trump is the most reckless and impulsive president in American history. Woodward doesnt even try to explain why 74 million people would vote for a convicted felon and despite what reviewers called explosive revelations in War, Fear, Rage, and Peril, all books about Donald Trump. As for Biden, Woodward reaps some high praise. He acknowledges public opinion may be against the sitting president, but hes convinced history will show him as a wise an honorable leader who refused to get American troops embroiled on the ground in either Ukraine or the Middle East. That act alone saved the lives of thousands of Americans and prevented the kind of national tragedy Woodward remembers all too well with the war in Vietnam. FILE - Richard Nixon says goodbye with a victorious salute to his staff members outside the White House as he boards a helicopter after resigning the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974. Nixon resigned from office rather than face impeachment for his administrations coverup of its involvement in a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)AP Woodward and his colleague Bernstein have gone down in history as journalists who exposed Nixons misdeeds and forced his resignation. But Woodward says thats an inaccurate assessment of what happened, nothing more than a popular myth. Just as millions of Americans dont believe Trump is guilty of any crimes despite his numerous convictions, millions didnt believe Nixon had done anything wrong, either. Then as now, many voters ignored both truth and facts to fit their own world views. Woodward insists the press was no more powerful in 1974 than it is today. It wasnt the press that brought down a president, he says, it was political leaders who held Nixon accountable for his actions. FILE - The Senate Watergate Committee hearings continue on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 3, 1973. From left are: Sen. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr; Sen. Edward J. Gurney, Fred Thompson, Sen. Howard H. Baker, Jr; Rufus Edmisten, Sen. Sam Ervin; Sam Dash, Sen. Joseph M. Montoya, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was absent. Testifying is Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters. Nixon resigned from office in August 1974 rather than face impeachment for his administrations coverup of its involvement in a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/File)AP Woodward credits U.S. Sen. Sam Ervin with having both the courage and power to call for a senate investigation that led even Republican leaders to turn against a Republican president when they realized the truth. Nixon had indeed broken the law in orchestrating the Watergate break in of the Democratic National Committee office. He could have been convicted. One thing is different between 1974 and now. Standards were higher for who should sit behind the Resolute Desk. Senators like Ervin, whatever their flaws, demanded obedience to the constitution and respect for the office of the presidency. They couldnt imagine a crook in the White House. That is no longer the case. Joyce M. Davis is PennLives Outreach & Opinion Editor. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @byjoycedavis. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. The laws on the 2025 state budget of Ukraine and on amendments to the Tax Code will be signed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming days and take effect on December 1, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said on Wednesday. "The government has already contacted the President of Ukraine regarding the earliest possible signing of these laws. They are one of the key demands of our creditors. They are important for filling all expenditure items for the defense of our state with funds this year and next year," the Prime Minister said on the Telegram channel. He also noted that after these documents are signed, the government will receive additional resources for the purchase of weapons and ammunition, as well as for paying the salaries of the Security and Defense Forces. Former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, MP of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Viatrovych (European Solidarity faction) believes that the solution to the contentious issues of the common past of Ukraine and Poland has been reduced to unilateral obligations of Ukraine. "It is wonderful that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland are 'determined to resolve the contentious issues of our common past in the name of universal values and in the Christian spirit.' But for some reason the specific vision of this solution has been reduced to unilateral obligations of Ukraine... Not a word about the perpetuation of the dead Ukrainians and their burial sites in Poland," Viatrovych said on Facebook, commenting on the joint statement of the heads of the Foreign Ministries of Ukraine and Poland. The former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance also ironically asked whether Ukrainian graves should remain desecrated "in the name of universal values and in the Christian spirit?" As reported, in September, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policies. He said this while commenting on the statement by Polish Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz that Ukraine cannot join the EU without resolving the "Volyn issue." On October 2, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced that they plan to conduct search operations for victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that they remain open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and also complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in matters of restoration and preservation of places of memory have not been in effect for a long time. Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Anton Drobovych believes that Ukrainian and Polish officials must finally move to constructive actions "in the problematic issues of exhumation and burials," and proposed a "road map." In turn, MP Viatrovych believes that the solution to the historical issue of decent burials of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine is in the hands of the Polish side. On November 26, the heads of the Foreign Ministries of Ukraine and Poland Andriy Sybiha and Radoslaw Sikorski, after negotiations in Warsaw, agreed on a joint statement, which, in particular, said that the parties "are determined to resolve contentious issues of the common past." Sheep have a role to play in the cultivation of wine-producing grapes. During the Nov. 25 meeting of the Rotary Club of Aiken, Jerry Wallace talked about the job performed by the animals in the vineyards of California-based Cline Family Cellars. Wallace formerly served as the vice president of sales for the Northeast Region for the winery, but he often used the pronoun we and spoke in the present tense while talking about Cline Family Cellars agricultural practices. We call them wooly bullies, said Wallace of the sheep. Weve got a thousand head, and what we do is we take them to the vineyards before the bud break (end of winter dormancy) and turn them loose. Wallaces presentation included photos taken before the animals started their work and after they finished. Theyre too stupid to look up and eat the grapes, he said. They just look down and eat the weeds. Its unbelievable to watch them do it. Wallace described Cline Family Cellars proprietors, Fred and Nancy Cline as stewards of the land. Everything we do is organic, Wallace said. We dont let the government get involved in our business, so we dont apply for organic status. But everything we do is sustainable. We do everything with solar energy, he added. We use no equipment in the fields. The Cline family is involved in a variety of other ventures, according to Wallace. One of them is The Olive Press. They are the largest producers of olive oil in California, Wallace said. Cline Family Cellars wines can be purchased in Aiken at The Fresh Market, Harvards Wine & Beverage and other stores. The Rotary Club met at Newberry Hall. Wallace is a member of the organization. Growth & Development Reporter Caleb Bozard covers business, growth and development for the Post and Courier Columbia. He has previously written for The State and the Times and Democrat. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to report on the negotiations after his return from South Korea. "Today is a very active day in general: many meetings, including at the highest level, with Ukrainian Defense Minister Umerov in the Republic of Korea. On my instructions. Rustem Umerov also spoke with the President of South Korea, with his colleague the Minister of Defense, as well as with the National Security Advisor," Zelenskyy said in an evening video address on Wednesday. According to the president, in South Korea Umerov discussed all aspects of Russia's involvement in North Korea's war, and what can be done together to protect the Ukrainian and South Korean peoples. "The presence of not only missiles and shells from North Korea in Russia's arsenals, but also soldiers at the front is the globalization of the war that Russia has entered into and which can only be stopped globally. And after Minister Umerov's return, I expect his report on the negotiations in Seoul," the head of state emphasized. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 77F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will sign the law on the state budget for 2025 on Thursday, November 28. According to him, on Wednesday he held a meeting with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and representatives of the Verkhovna Rada. "We discussed the main paspects of the state budget for next year, our financial readiness for this December and for next year. And we agreed that tomorrow I will sign the law on the state budget for next year immediately after the law comes from the Verkhovna Rada. The main thing is that all of Ukraine's financial needs for the near future and for next year are guaranteed," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Wednesday evening. On November 19, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the state budget for 2025 in second reading and as a whole. PR-Inside.com: 2024-11-27 13:38:17 Press Information Published by ACN Newswire +65 6304 8926 e-mail https://www.acnnewswire.com/ # 1034 Words ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926 - experts call for risk managementHONG KONG, Nov 27, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (HKECIC) and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) jointly released a research study today, titled "Unleashing the Lucrative Potential of Cross-border E-commerce for Hong Kong Traders". The study revealed that 90% of surveyed companies anticipated that cross-border e-commerce could drive significant sales growth in the business in the next two years. However, the market-related challenges continue to persist, including intense market competition, complex customs clearance procedures and the management of returns and refunds. In light of these challenges, experts recommend developing appropriate online marketing and sales strategies, enhancing risk management and adopting efficient logistics and delivery practices to better seize the opportunities presented by cross-border e-commerce.Mr Terence Chiu, Commissioner of HKECIC, said, The joint research study of the HKECIC and the HKTDC helps the industry in gaining deeper understanding of the latest development in expanding cross-border e-commerce, as well as outlining the challenges faced by businesses and the support they needed. While cross-border e-commerce has seen a significant growth in recent years, the study highlighted that the market remains highly competitive, and the ecosystem and related infrastructure still require further improvement. In addition, many e-commerce businesses have limited assets and insufficient collateral to secure financing from traditional banks and financial institutions, reflecting the ongoing challenges in the e-commerce environment. This year, the HKECIC has collaborated with a fintech and a reinsurance company, and also a bank to develop bespoke trade credit insurance solutions, aiming to provide coverage for trade loans to Hong Kong e-commerce businesses. These initiatives encourage and support local enterprises in securing trade financing and expanding into cross-border e-commerce. The HKECIC will actively seek collaboration with more financial institutions, in line with the 2024 Policy Address, to better support Hong Kong businesses in securing e-commerce export financing. By leveraging its expertise in trade credit insurance and risk management, the HKECIC is dedicated to assisting Hong Kong businesses in maintaining their competitive edge, helping them explore new overseas markets, mitigate trade risks and reduce operating costs. Dr Patrick Lau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, said, E-commerce has become a key driver of the global economy. The World Bank estimates that global B2C e-commerce sales will reach US$6 trillion by 2024, with Mainland China leading the way over a quarter of retail consumer goods sales occur online. In collaboration with the HKECIC, the study aims to help Hong Kong businesses explore new markets and seize opportunities. The HKTDC will continue to support local companies in engaging with e-commerce and taking advantage of growth opportunities on the global stage. From June to August 2024, the HKECIC and the HKTDC conducted phone and online interviews with 352 local trade and manufacturing companies to assess the development of Hong Kong companies cross-border e-commerce operations, while also detailing the challenges they face and identifying the support services they require.Driving significant sales growth in the next two yearsAs network technology has become more widespread, while electronic payment services are now ubiquitous and e-commerce platforms have come to offer an ever-expanding range of services, even new entrants and smaller businesses can easily develop cross-border e-commerce operations on a global basis. 90.0% of surveyed companies anticipated that cross-border e-commerce could raise their total sales revenue in the next two years.The surveyed companies in general indicated that cross-border e-commerce positively impacts their expansion plans whether via broader sales channels (69.0%), new market opportunities (50.3%), or enhanced brand awareness (48.9%).Reaching out to global markets: Focusing on the Mainland and ASEANHKTDC Principal Economist Wing Chu, who led the study, said, The scope of cross-border e-commerce business for Hong Kong companies spans all parts of the world, covering markets, such as Mainland China (75.2%), ASEAN (53.0%), the US (42.2%), Japan (30.9%) and the EU (30.0%). Looking ahead, respondents generally agreed that, for the next two years, Mainland China (61.6%) and ASEAN (44.3%) offer the greatest growth potential. The surveyed companies generally hope to make use of risk management to meet market competitiveness and the challenges outlined, such as insurance for cargo transportation or payments (39.8%), e-commerce promotion (34.4%) and logistics services for both delivery and product returns (33.5%).Coping with online and offline challengesCross-border e-commerce operators must confront a variety of practical issues relating to both online and offline procedures, including goods delivery, platform charges, exchange rates and refunds as well as market, regulation and financing issues.Of the companies surveyed, 38.4% said that customs clearance procedures in Mainland China and foreign markets are complex, with 31.3% indicating that product returns involve complicated procedures and / high costs, and 29.8% finding it difficult to manage practical issues, such as the international delivery of small orders.Regarding the issues of platform charges, exchange rates and refunds, the high commission rates charged by third-party e-commerce platforms and long payment periods were identified as challenges by 51.1% of respondents. Meanwhile, 46.6% said fluctuating exchange rates or high exchange costs were problems they faced during their cross-border e-commerce operations. 28.4% were concerned about the expansive costs about refund policy.In addition, companies must contend with a wide range of difficulties. Majority of the surveyed companies (84.9%) noted that developing cross-border e-commerce presented market-related challenges, such as keen market competition. Meanwhile, 54% indicated regulatory issues, and 41.2% encountered financial challenges.Leveraging Hong Kong's advantages to unlock global e-commerce opportunitiesIn addition to the questionnaire, HKTDC also interviewed a number of companies engaged in cross-border e-commerce or related businesses. According to experts opinion, though the mainland market is huge in scale, the competition is keen. Overseas opportunities abound, such as the advanced economies of Europe and America have mature online shopping markets and e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia.In addition, online sales strategies tailored to target markets are of prime importance, including the collaboration with KOL or influencers and using short-form videos to attract consumers.The study also highlighted Hong Kong's excellent logistics capabilities and extensive air cargo network as well as its well-developed financial markets and diverse financing services, which are well-suited to meeting the financial needs of e-commerce. Meanwhile, Hong Kong serves as an ideal gateway for foreign products entering Mainland China, with the Hong Kong brand enjoying a competitive edge in the region.Photo download: https://bit.ly/3Bb95BA Read more: https://www.acnnewswire.com/press-release/english/94134/ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, during which the parties discussed strengthening Ukrainian air defense. "I just spoke with Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General. Yesterday, our Ukraine-NATO Council met due to Russia's use of a new ballistic missile. And today, Mark and I discussed the existing response capabilities the necessary strengthening of Ukraine's air defense. I named specific air defense systems that we need, that can work," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Wednesday evening. According to the president, these air defense systems are available to our partners. He also recalled that the decision of the NATO summit in Washington on air defense and other supplies for the front had not yet been fully implemented, but Ukraine expects this, and this significantly affects the motivation and morale of Ukrainians. "The recent permission for long-range strikes on military targets in Russia helped. But the pressure on Russia must be maintained and increased at different levels. So that Russia feels what war is," Zelenskyy said. In addition, he also discussed with Rutte contacts with partners, and coordinated work with them in order to carry out additional military and political efforts. "In particular, for the sake of inviting Ukraine to NATO this is a strategic political step an invitation that our people definitely deserve and which can really help. Thank you Mark for your help and briefing on his communications, on his negotiations with partners," Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, as part of the Ukrainian delegation in Seoul, held meetings with South Korean President Yun Sok-yul, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and National Security Advisor Chang Ho-jin, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. "He reported on the facts of the participation of a 12,000-strong contingent of North Korean troops in the Russian army. The DPRK troops not only provide equipment and people, but also actively support strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure," Umerov said following the meeting. He said such actions pose a serious threat to South Korea, since North Korean troops are gaining experience in conducting combat operations, which could create additional security challenges in the region in the future. The parties also discussed common steps to strengthen security and stability. "We believe that our arguments about the need to increase cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Korea will lead to a tangible strengthening of the security of our peoples and regions," Umerov said. On November 21, Russia took another escalatory step by striking the city of Dnipro with a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear charge. Ukraine calls on UN member states, in particular states possessing nuclear weapons, to condemn Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric. "Moscow's narrative after the strike, including comments from war criminal Putin, has once again underscored Russia's intentions to convince the world audience of its complete inadequacy, this time demonstrating its readiness to kill Ukrainians not only with conventional but also with nuclear means. Ukraine calls on UN member states, in particular nuclear-weapon states, to condemn Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric," Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsia said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday. According to him, in response to this escalatory step, it is important to remember that further actions by the Russian leadership will directly depend on the strength and decisiveness of the reaction; in the event of weakness or readiness for appeasement, a more severe escalation of violence from Russia will inevitably follow. "On the contrary, if adequate measures are taken to contain Russia and reduce its aggressive potential, Putin will stop. Therefore, the response to the current nuclear blackmail and threats from the Kremlin should include tougher sanctions and increased military assistance to the party defending itself, its people and the principles of the UN Charter," the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN said. Kyslytsia also said the missile that struck Dnipro was equipped with six warheads, each containing six cluster munitions. According to the UN Permanent Representative, the missile moved along a ballistic trajectory, which was affected only by aerodynamic drag. He also said in the last four days alone, Russia has launched 495 UAVs at Ukraine, as well as Iskander ballistic missiles and Kh-59-69 guided missiles. Among the targets that Russian troops are trying to hit are substations of Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Following the November 17 attack, main power lines from four substations were cut off, which "poses a real and immediate threat to nuclear safety not only for Ukraine but for the entire continent." U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of General Keith Kellogg as special representative for Ukraine and Russia. "I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration," Trump said on the Truth social network. Kellogg previously served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, as well as executive secretary and chief of staff of the U.S. National Security Council in the first Trump administration. He served as acting national security adviser after the resignation of Michael Flynn. Kellogg's plan to end the war in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal on November 6, calls for Ukraine to refuse to join NATO for 20 years, freeze the front line, and create a demilitarized zone. It also includes handing over the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia. The Eagle is designed to capture 3D data of spaces and rooms. It offers a seamless blend of consumer-grade technology that integrates LiDAR and image sensors. Equipped with a built-in battery, this cutting-edge product is a versatile tool for a wide range of applications such as reverse engineering, digital twinning, extended reality (XR), high-precision mapping, and 3D printing. The Eagle is anticipated to hit the market in December, promising to set new standards in spatial scanning technology. At Formnext 2024, 3DMakerpro products' capabilities were dynamically showcased. Jonathan Levi, the founder of The Next Layer, a content creation platform specializing in 3D printing and 3D modelling, conducted live scanning demonstrations with 3DMakerpro Moose 3D Scanner. These demonstrations offered attendees a firsthand experience of Moose's impressive functionality. Adding to the event's intellectual appeal, Professor Paulo Bartolo from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), who is also the Executive Director of Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP), delivered insightful talks, highlighting the transformative potential of 3D scanning technology. 3DMakerpro also curated various engaging activities designed to captivate and involve visitors. These include 3D scanning demonstrations, immersive VR experiences, and facial scanning experiences, turning its exhibition booth into a hub of activity and innovation. In addition to showcasing its groundbreaking technology, at the Makers Night - 3DMakerpro VIP Gala held on November 20 in Frankfurt, 3DMakerpro signed a partnership agreement with NTU Singapore and announced an exciting new sponsorship for the SC3DP. The SC3DP is a premier research institution funded by the National Research Foundation, and supported by NTU Singapore, Economic Development Board, and industry partners. The centre is dedicated to advancing additive manufacturing technologies and promoting their adoption across industries. This strategic partnership emphasizes the transformative role of 3D scanning in education, reverse engineering, and healthcare. By offering workshops and training, 3DMakerpro and SC3DP aim to integrate advanced scanning technologies into academic and professional settings, fostering innovation and practical applications in industrial and medical fields through demonstration projects and real-world case studies. About 3DMakerpro 3DMakerpro, a distinguished overseas brand under Shenzhen Jimuyida Technology Co., Ltd., was established in 2015 as a prominent provider of 3D solutions. We specialize in offering cutting-edge 3D scanning devices. Our mission is to deliver professional-grade and user-friendly scanners, empowering individuals to craft their immersive 3D world. With a dedicated team exceeding 100 R&D experts, we have independently developed industry-leading software algorithms, including the multi-spectral projection system, visual tracking, no-marking registration algorithm, and automatic model processing. 3DMakerpro is committed to pioneering innovation in the realm of 3D technology. Website: https://store.3dmakerpro.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3DMakerProCares Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official3dmakerpro X: https://twitter.com/3DMakerPro SOURCE 3DMakerpro WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED The Eagle is designed to capture 3D data of spaces and rooms. It offers a seamless blend of consumer-grade technology that integrates LiDAR and image sensors. Equipped with a built-in battery, this cutting-edge product is a versatile tool for a wide range of applications such as reverse engineering, digital twinning, extended reality (XR), high-precision mapping, and 3D printing. The Eagle is anticipated to hit the market in December, promising to set new standards in spatial scanning technology. At Formnext 2024, 3DMakerpro products' capabilities were dynamically showcased. Jonathan Levi, the founder of The Next Layer, a content creation platform specializing in 3D printing and 3D modelling, conducted live scanning demonstrations with 3DMakerpro Moose 3D Scanner. These demonstrations offered attendees a firsthand experience of Moose's impressive functionality. Adding to the event's intellectual appeal, Professor Paulo Bartolo from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), who is also the Executive Director of Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP), delivered insightful talks, highlighting the transformative potential of 3D scanning technology. 3DMakerpro also curated various engaging activities designed to captivate and involve visitors. These include 3D scanning demonstrations, immersive VR experiences, and facial scanning experiences, turning its exhibition booth into a hub of activity and innovation. In addition to showcasing its groundbreaking technology, at the Makers Night - 3DMakerpro VIP Gala held on November 20 in Frankfurt, 3DMakerpro signed a partnership agreement with NTU Singapore and announced an exciting new sponsorship for the SC3DP. The SC3DP is a premier research institution funded by the National Research Foundation, and supported by NTU Singapore, Economic Development Board, and industry partners. The centre is dedicated to advancing additive manufacturing technologies and promoting their adoption across industries. This strategic partnership emphasizes the transformative role of 3D scanning in education, reverse engineering, and healthcare. By offering workshops and training, 3DMakerpro and SC3DP aim to integrate advanced scanning technologies into academic and professional settings, fostering innovation and practical applications in industrial and medical fields through demonstration projects and real-world case studies. About 3DMakerpro 3DMakerpro, a distinguished overseas brand under Shenzhen Jimuyida Technology Co., Ltd., was established in 2015 as a prominent provider of 3D solutions. We specialize in offering cutting-edge 3D scanning devices. Our mission is to deliver professional-grade and user-friendly scanners, empowering individuals to craft their immersive 3D world. With a dedicated team exceeding 100 R&D experts, we have independently developed industry-leading software algorithms, including the multi-spectral projection system, visual tracking, no-marking registration algorithm, and automatic model processing. 3DMakerpro is committed to pioneering innovation in the realm of 3D technology. Website: https://store.3dmakerpro.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3DMakerProCares Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official3dmakerpro X: https://twitter.com/3DMakerPro Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRgFJoaefc Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568271/image_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568272/image_2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568273/image_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568274/image_4.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568275/image_5.jpg WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED NIAMEY, Niger, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In follow up to an announcement made in July of 2024 regarding a potential acquisition, it has been decided by all parties to lapse any potential opportunity to close the announced transaction between African Discovery Group and the license of Central Global Access International Niger for Uranium exploration. Despite the highly promising geology and compelling valuation, the reasons for no longer a pursuit being the appropriate path for shareholders, involved the following reasoning: Challenging US and French visa restrictions creating difficulty for technical and operating teams Withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Niger Ongoing house arrest precipitated by Coup d Etat, and overthrow of democratically elected Nigerien president. For these primary reasons, it was deemed by the Board of Directors of AFDG to be a transaction in a country of asymmetric geopolitical risk, at this time, despite the compelling investment opportunity and global hyper growth being experienced in the global uranium industry at present. African Discovery Group, Inc., is a Delaware corporation, dedicated to the development of the African continent. AFDG's wholly owned subsidiary, ADG Subsidiary Corp., is a Delaware corporation ("ADG"). AFDG's primary businesses from which ADG currently generates revenues and from which it intends to generate revenues in the future, include agriculture/sustainability, power, media, strategic minerals, and finance sectors on the African continent. The Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, is committed to all aspects of environmental, social and governance issues in its business. For more information: [email protected] SOURCE African Discovery Group TAICHUNG, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In HIMSS24 APAC Seoul, Healthcare Conference & Exhibition, China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) established international presence with four notable gradings: achieving the top score in the 2023 HIMSS Global Digital Health Indicator (DHI) and receiving prestigious certifications, including Infrastructure Adoption Model (INFRAM) Stage 7, Analytics Maturity Assessment Model (AMAM) Stage 6, and Digital Imaging Adoption Model (DIAM) Stage 6. This demonstrates the excellence of CMUH in smart healthcare practice and further improvement of quality patient care. The Taiwan CMUH team attended HIMSS24 APAC Seoul to receive prestigious certifications. CMUH will continue advancing smart healthcare by integrating global technologies to deliver innovative treatments and improve patient care. Leading Way to Smart Healthcare 4.0 Enhancing Patient Care Through Digitalization Under the leadership of CMUH's Superintendent Der-Yang Cho, CMUH has pioneered healthcare digitalization and has achieved notable international certifications. Superintendent Cho stated that CMUH is embracing "Smart Healthcare 4.0," which includes the development of novel mRNA-based CAR-T immunotherapy powered by AI-driven Drug Discovery, and smart healthcare systems developed in collaboration with Microsoft and Google since 2020. These innovations include the "Medical Information Revise Assistant (MIRA)" and the "Side-effects Organizing Platform with Healthcare Intelligent Assistance (SOPHIA)," designed to provide individualized smart healthcare. These advancements not only reduce the workload of healthcare professionals in CMUH but also ensure the best quality of care for patients. Personnel, Process and Technology Development in Parallel as the Key to Digital Healthcare CMUH established the Taiwan Smart Healthcare Pavilion to showcase "HiThings Tele-ICU," which highlights three notable smart healthcare platforms: the Intelligent Anti-Microbial System (i.A.M.S.) for sepsis and drug resistance infection, the Smart Heart Platform for acute myocardial infarction, and ARDiTeX for acute respiratory distress syndrome. These platforms enable comprehensive monitoring and care in critical care settings, collectively reducing nursing personnel's workload by more than 5,000 hours. According to Director Wen-Sheng Feng of the Digital Transformation Technology Office at CMUH, the system provides real-time monitoring of patients' physiological data and is useful in discovering the high-risk patients of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Supported by AI algorithms, the system sends timely notifications, ensuring prompt care and effectively reducing mortality rates by 18.9%. CMUH's Chief Secretary, Dr. Wei-Cheng Chen, highlighted that AI-driven predictions and integrated information systems empower physicians to analyze large datasets efficiently and coordinate timely interventions with multidisciplinary teams, ensuring optimal, personalized care for each patient. Overcoming Challenges in Data Integration and Interoperability to Propel Smart Healthcare Development Dr. Shih-Sheng Chang, Director of CMUH's AI Center, and Prof. Chi-Heum Cho, Vice Superintendent of Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, discussed over "The Power of Data in Modern Healthcare." Dr. Chang emphasized that data integration and interoperability remain key challenges in advancing smart healthcare. He highlighted that individualized nursing, wearable devices for real-time data collection, and AI-assisted remote surgeries are critical dimensions for unlocking the full potential of healthcare data. Dr. Chang also underscored the importance of multidisciplinary and cross-border collaborations in driving progress in this field. Meanwhile, Prof. Cho shared insights from South Korea, where a resident doctors' strike prompted hospitals to fully adopt smart technologies, including robotic delivery systems and smart operating rooms. These advancements have significantly enhanced operational efficiency and patient care. With the acquisition of EMRAM Stage 7 re-certification, INFRAM Stage 7, AMAM Stage 6, and DIAM Stage 6 certifications, CMUH positions as a leading digital healthcare provider among Taiwan-based institutions. CMUH remains committed to fostering cross-border collaborations and enhancing patient care through the advanced application of data and AI technology. By embracing highly accurate smart healthcare solutions, CMUH continues to realize its vision of "patient-centered" care. CONTACT: Carolyn Chen, [email protected] SOURCE China Medical University Hospital Rapid Growth Continues with Two New Clinic Openings and Mobile Unit Launch PHOENIX, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Medical Services (CMS), a leading provider of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and behavioral health services, announced today updates on its rapid expansion with three new locations opening the week before the holidays. New clinics in Lakewood, CO and Akron, OH, along with a mobile unit in Kingman, AZ, will increase access to vital treatment services for individuals struggling with behavioral health and substance use disorders. The mobile unit in Kingman, AZ, will collaborate with local rural communities in Northern Arizona to address specific needs, bridging the gap in treatment accessibility. Rural populations often face hours-long drives to receive care. This mobile unit is the first for CMS and is aligned with the company's goal of meeting clients where they are both mentally in their journey, and geographically. Lakewood, CO's new clinic will serve a community severely impacted by the overdose crisis, providing critical services during a challenging time. Lakewood is the 5th clinic in Colorado that CMS has opened since July, following successful openings for communities in Aurora, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Westminster. The clinic in Akron, OH adds CMS as a new Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment provider, enhancing direct services to a community in dire need of more options. "Expanding our services during the holiday season underscores our commitment to delivering hope and support to those who need it most," said Chris Flowers, Chief Operating Officer of Community Medical Services. "We recognize the importance of accessibility and are dedicated to bridging gaps in care, especially in underserved communities." Key features of the new locations: Lakewood, CO Clinic: Extended hours, medication-assisted treatment, and counseling on demand. Clinic: Extended hours, medication-assisted treatment, and counseling on demand. Akron, OH Clinic: MOUD treatment, intensive outpatient programs, and individual therapy. Clinic: MOUD treatment, intensive outpatient programs, and individual therapy. Kingman, AZ Mobile Unit: flexible scheduling, MAT services, and coordination with local healthcare providers. SOURCE Community Medical Services Series A investment led by NFX accelerates Constrafor's mission to provide cutting-edge financial and AI-powered solutions for the construction industry NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Constrafor , a pioneering software provider for the construction industry, today announced the successful close of its $264 million Series A funding round. The financing, comprising an equity component of $14 million and a $250 million credit facility, has been led by NFX on the equity side, and Wafra and Crestline Investors on the credit side. The investment will accelerate Constrafor's ambitious growth plans and cement its leadership in construction finance technology. Constrafor is dedicated to tackling the construction industry's most pressing challengestight margins, cash flow constraints, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages. By strengthening relationships between subcontractors and General Contractors (GCs), Constrafor's innovative technology and financial solutions drive meaningful impact. The Constrafor technology platform modernizes how GCs manage subcontractor relationships, transforming inefficient processes into a streamlined digital command center. With integrated procurement tools, simplified invoicing, and the Discovery Network connecting GCs to a wide roster of subcontractors, the platform ensures efficient and organized subcontractor procurement and payment. To round-up the subcontractor administration process, Constrafor's Prequal and its AI-powered Insurance CoPilot provide contractors with powerful solutions for streamlining insurance document management and automating full policy compliance reviews. For subcontractors, Constrafor's Early Pay Program (EPP) is a game-changer. It accelerates payments at competitive rates, easing cash flow pressures and eliminating lengthy payment cycles. Taking financial empowerment even further, the soon-to-launch Subcontractor CFO Suite will offer advanced tools, such as project-based accounting, supplier management, and enhanced financial controlsredefining financial management for the construction sector. Anwar Ghauche, CEO and Cofounder of Constrafor, commented: "This Series A funding is testament to the critical need for Constrafor in the construction sector. We're not just providing features or point solutions; we're rewiring the construction industry's financial operating system. With this investment, we're poised to expand our reach and impact, helping more contractors build sustainable, profitable businesses." Douglas Reed, CTO and Cofounder, added: "This funding allows us to scale our AI capabilities, giving clients access to advanced technology. It streamlines operations and creates new opportunities in an evolving industry." Pete Flint, Partner at NFX, expressed his confidence in the company's vision: "We've seen firsthand how marketplaces like Trulia, Zillow and DoorDash can leverage network effects to become dominant players in their industries. Constrafor is exhibiting similar traits, rapidly building a platform that has the potential to become the de facto service by empowering contractors and streamlining payments and financing in the construction industry." Rahul Vaid, Lead Partner at Crestline, added: "Given our extensive experience in real estate investment, we recognize how critical cash flow is for subcontractors. Constrafor's innovative financing solutions address this need, enabling subcontractors to thrive in a competitive and capital-intensive industry. We are excited to support Constrafor's mission to streamline cash flow management and empower the construction ecosystem." Paul Steinberger, Managing Director at Wafra, said: "Constrafor is reshaping the construction finance landscape. Its innovative financing tools, which are proving invaluable to contractors and subcontractors alike, are helping usher in a new paradigm in the industry. Wafra is delighted to support this ground-breaking operation." About Constrafor Constrafor is the construction industry's first vertically integrated supply chain finance and risk management platform. By leveraging advanced technology and innovative financial products, Constrafor empowers general contractors and subcontractors to optimize cash flow, mitigate risk, and streamline operations. Visit our website to learn how Constrafor can transform your business operations and financial management. About NFX: NFX is a leading seed-stage venture firm based in San Francisco, CA and Herzlia, Israel, started by technology entrepreneurs who built 10 companies with more than $10 billion in exits. They are experts in networks, platforms and marketplaces across multiple industries and geographies. To learn more, visit www.nfx.com and follow @NFX on Twitter. About Wafra: Wafra is a global alternative investment manager with approximately $28 billion of assets under management across a range of alternative assets, including real assets, real estate, strategic partnerships, and special situations. By providing flexible and accretive capital solutions and focusing on long-term partnerships, Wafra aligns and partners with high quality asset owners, companies, and management teams. Headquartered in New York, Wafra has additional offices in London and Bermuda. www.wafra.com About Crestline Investors: Crestline Investors, Inc is an alternative investment management firm founded in 1997 and based in Fort Worth, Texas, with affiliate offices in London, New York, Toronto, and Tokyo. The firm has approximately $18 billion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2024), and is specialized in private credit strategies, offering a diverse range of investment solutions across its direct lending, opportunistic, and portfolio finance platforms. For more information, visit www.crestlineinvestors.com . SOURCE Constrafor NIIGATA, Japan, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF) has launched tours for cosplayers to enjoy photoshoots at cultural and historical landmarks in and around the city of Niigata. As part of the NIAFF WORCOS world cosplay event, cosplayers can choose from locations in Niigata and the wider Niigata region, northwest of Tokyo, to book for cosplay photoshoots through December 20, 2024. Images: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202411210361?p=images A total of 17 locations will be made available for photoshoots during the event. Among the locations are historical landmarks, including castles and former residences, as well as museums and modern monuments. Cosplayers will be given permission to shoot at spots in each location where it is typically not allowed. One of the locations, the Niigata City History Museum "Minatopia," includes the former Daishi Bank Sumiyoshi-cho branch. The grand exteriors of these buildings in central Niigata offer cosplayers a choice of backdrops against which they can enjoy photoshoots. At Zoshunkaku, in the city of Shibata, cosplayers can follow in the footsteps of major political figures who visited this former baron's home. With a Japanese-style exterior and Western-style interior, Zoshunkaku is an ideal location for cosplayers seeking a classical look in their photos. At the Daitozan Museum in the city of Tokamachi, cosplayers can enjoy photoshoots among the items on display in a traditional former residence, a cultural property of the city. They can also take photos in the mystical atmosphere of the Bijinbayashi forest nearby. To see a list of locations and make bookings, visit: https://www.kkday.com/en-us/merchant/30708?tab=product (Bookings are for non-exclusive use of the location only. Professional photographers can be arranged at an extra cost.) The NIAFF WORCOS event is being held in the build-up to NIAFF, scheduled for March 15-20, 2025. Niigata has a reputation as a hub for manga and anime, having helped to nurture a number of manga artists and anime creators. Niigata City is home to the Niigata Manga Animation Museum and the Niigata City Manga House. Events in the city include the Niigata Comic Market, the largest convention for "doujinshi" self-published comics on Japan's west coast. SOURCE Niigata International Animation Film Festival CTEK will be showcasing its latest line of battery chargers and maintainers designed specifically for high-performance and racing applications. CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CTEK, a leading global brand in vehicle battery management, is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show. The event, which brings together the latest advancements in racing technology, will be held from December 12-14 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Cutting-Edge Technology on Display CTEK Showcases Innovative Battery Management Solutions at PRI Show At this year's PRI Show, CTEK will be showcasing its latest line of battery chargers and maintainers designed specifically for high-performance and racing applications. Attendees can expect to see: CTEK PRO Series: Engineered for professional use in race shops and pit lanes CTEK's advanced AGM and lithium battery charging solutions Innovative power management systems designed for race vehicles Expert Demonstrations and Consultations CTEK's team of battery experts will be on hand to provide: One-on-one consultations to address specific racing battery needs Insights into maximizing battery performance and longevity in racing environments Where to Find CTEK Visit CTEK at Booth #3543 to experience firsthand how our products can enhance your racing program's battery management strategy. Bobbie DuMelle, CTEK's President, North America states, "We're thrilled to bring our cutting-edge battery management solutions to the PRI Show. Our goal is to help racing teams optimize their power management, ensuring peak performance when it matters most." For more information about CTEK's participation in the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show, please visit www.CTEK.com. About CTEK Established in Dalarna, Sweden , CTEK is the leading global brand in vehicle charging solutions. , CTEK is the leading global brand in vehicle charging solutions. CTEK offers products ranging from 12V and 24V battery chargers to charging solutions for electrical vehicles. CTEK's E-mobility solutions range from individual EV chargers to larger corporate and commercial installations with multiple charging stations, that require load balancing and integrate seamlessly with monitoring and payment equipment. CTEK's products are sold via a carefully selected network of global distributors and retailers: as original equipment; supplied to more than 50 of the world's leading vehicle manufacturers; and through charge point operators, property owners and other organizations/individuals providing EV charging infrastructure. CTEK takes pride in its unique culture based on a passion for innovation and a deep commitment to supporting the transition to a greener mobility, by adhering to industry leading ESG standards. Press Contact: Michelle Suzuki 310-930-6655 SOURCE CTEK BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Over 3.9 million manat ($2.29 million) have been allocated for external power supply work in five villages of Azerbaijan's Fuzuli district, Trend reports via the unified public procurement internet portal. Preparations for conducting the work have been launched by the national electrical grid operator, Azerishig. The project envisages laying a 35 kV power transmission line to provide external power supply to Dovlatyarli ('smart village') together with Zargar, Gayigchi, Gizil Gishlag, and Garamammadli villages. The organization entrusted the implementation of this work to Harmony Industrial Construction and Engineering Group village and signed relevant contracts with it. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Empowering patients and advancing gastric cancer awareness through expert insights and community support HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) hosted the 2024 Ask the Experts Gastric Cancer Educational Symposium on November 9, 2024, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event brought together patients, survivors, caregivers, and medical professionals to share vital information, foster connections, and inspire hope in the fight against stomach cancer. Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer The Symposium featured expert-led sessions on palliative care, psychosocial recovery, and innovations shaping the future of gastric cancer treatment, alongside survivor and caregiver-led Q&A sessions that underscored resilience and community. Attendees also participated in an interactive session on stress-relief techniques to support their well-being. "This symposium embodies the heart of what Debbie's Dream Foundation stands forempowering patients and caregivers with knowledge, fostering connections, and advancing the fight against stomach cancer," said Andrea Eidelman, DDF's Chief Executive Officer. "We are grateful to everyone who made this event so impactful." DDF community partners, such as the YMCA of South Florida, Gilda's Club South Florida, and HCA Florida Healthcare, were also in attendance hosting information booths. Sponsors for the Symposium include National Title Sponsor Daiichi-Sankyo, Gold Sponsor Merck, Silver Sponsors Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb, and Bronze Sponsor Taiho Oncology. To view photos from this inspiring event, visit Facebook. Session recordings will be available at www.DebbiesDream.org/lecture-library. For more information on DDF's programs, the upcoming 13th Annual Capitol Hill Stomach Cancer Advocacy Day, and how you can get involved, visit www.DebbiesDream.org. About Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer DDF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about gastric cancer, advancing research funding, and providing international education and support to patients, families, and caregivers. DDF's ultimate goal is to make the cure for stomach cancer a reality. DDF was founded in 2009 by Debbie Zelman after she was diagnosed with stage IV incurable gastric cancer in 2008 and given only weeks to live. Debbie is considered a pioneer by many for bringing awareness to the plight of stomach cancer patients worldwide, as well as to the lack of federal funding for stomach cancer research. She did all of this while receiving hundreds of rounds of chemo and daily oral treatments. Debbie passed away on December 23, 2017, at 50, almost a decade later. As a result of her leadership, DDF now has a Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of world-renowned doctors and chapters throughout the United States, and in Canada, Germany, and Japan. DDF strives to continue Debbie's mission to make her dream a reality. To learn more, visit www.DebbiesDream.org. Photo (l to r): DDF's Chief Executive Officer Andrea Eidelman, speakers Dr. Libia Scheller, Dr. Josh Jaeyop Lee, Melani Vincelli (DDF Board Secretary, New Jersey Chapter Founder, and PREP Mentor), and Dr. Paul Mansfield. Media Contact: Brittnay Starks, Communications Director Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (954) 475-1200 [email protected] www.DebbiesDream.org SOURCE Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer BANGALORE, India, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Divalproex Sodium API Market is Segmented by Type (Purity98%, Purity<98%), by Application (Divalproex Sodium Tablets): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2030. The Global Divalproex Sodium API Market was valued at USD 2188.5 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 3363.6 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period 2024-2030. Claim Your Free Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-21T6091/Global_Divalproex_Sodium_API_Market Major Factors Driving the Growth of Divalproex Sodium API Market: The Divalproex Sodium API market is experiencing steady growth, driven by rising neurological disorder prevalence, expanding generic drug production, and increasing healthcare investments. Key factors include the demand for high-quality APIs, regional manufacturing expansions, and growing mental health awareness. North America and Asia-Pacific dominate the market, while emerging regions present new opportunities. As pharmaceutical companies focus on compliance, innovation, and accessibility, the market for Divalproex Sodium APIs is poised for sustained growth. Unlock Insights: View Full Report Now! https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-21T6091/global-divalproex-sodium-api TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE DIVALPROEX SODIUM API MARKET: Divalproex Sodium APIs with a purity level of 98% are a significant driver of market growth due to their high efficacy and compliance with stringent pharmaceutical standards. These APIs are widely preferred in the production of drugs for managing epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and migraines. The superior quality and consistency offered by high-purity APIs ensure optimal therapeutic outcomes, which is critical for chronic conditions requiring long-term treatment. Additionally, regulatory bodies across the globe demand high-purity standards to ensure drug safety and effectiveness, making 98% purity a preferred choice among manufacturers. Furthermore, increasing healthcare investments and the expansion of global pharmaceutical manufacturing capacities have further bolstered the demand for high-purity Divalproex Sodium APIs, positioning them as a vital segment in the overall market growth. Divalproex Sodium APIs with a purity level of <98% are driving market growth in price-sensitive and emerging economies. These APIs offer a cost-effective alternative for pharmaceutical companies focusing on mass-market drug production. Despite slightly lower purity levels, these APIs meet essential quality standards for therapeutic applications, making them a viable option for generic drug manufacturers. Additionally, relaxed regulatory environments in some emerging markets allow for the production and distribution of drugs formulated with <98% purity APIs, further supporting their demand. As healthcare access improves in developing regions, the need for cost-effective pharmaceutical solutions is expected to grow, driving the market for Divalproex Sodium APIs with <98% purity. Divalproex Sodium tablets are a significant growth driver for the Divalproex Sodium API market, as they constitute the primary formulation used to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. The rising prevalence of disorders like epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and migraines has increased the demand for these tablets globally. Divalproex Sodium APIs are essential in the production of extended-release and delayed-release tablets, which provide consistent therapeutic benefits and improve patient compliance. The convenience of oral administration and the availability of various dosage strengths make these tablets a preferred choice for healthcare providers and patients. Additionally, government healthcare initiatives and increasing awareness of mental health have boosted the demand for effective treatments, further driving the need for Divalproex Sodium tablets. As pharmaceutical companies expand their portfolios to include generics and branded formulations, the demand for high-quality APIs for tablet production is expected to rise, supporting overall market growth. The increasing prevalence of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, migraines, and bipolar disorder is a major driver of the Divalproex Sodium API market. These conditions require long-term management, making Divalproex Sodium a cornerstone in treatment regimens. The growing awareness of neurological health and improved diagnostic capabilities have contributed to higher prescription rates, directly boosting the demand for APIs used in drug production. Pharmaceutical companies are investing in R&D to develop effective formulations, further supporting market growth. The expansion of generic drug production has significantly driven the demand for Divalproex Sodium APIs, particularly in emerging markets. Generic drugs offer cost-effective treatment options, increasing access to essential medications for broader populations. The expiration of key patents has opened opportunities for generic manufacturers to produce Divalproex Sodium-based drugs, boosting the API market. This trend aligns with global efforts to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility, particularly in developing regions. Rising healthcare spending by governments and private organizations has positively impacted the Divalproex Sodium API market. Investments in mental health programs, neurological care, and pharmaceutical infrastructure have increased the demand for effective treatments. Additionally, the establishment of health insurance schemes in various countries has improved access to prescription medications, driving demand for APIs. This growth is particularly evident in middle-income economies, where healthcare systems are expanding rapidly to meet rising patient needs. Regulatory standards requiring high-quality APIs have driven the demand for Divalproex Sodium APIs with superior purity and consistency. Pharmaceutical companies aiming to enter regulated markets like the U.S. and Europe must comply with strict guidelines, fueling the adoption of high-purity APIs. These standards ensure drug safety and efficacy, aligning with patient safety priorities. The increasing emphasis on regulatory compliance supports market growth by encouraging manufacturers to invest in high-quality API production. Claim Yours Now! https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-21T6091&lic=single-user DIVALPROEX SODIUM API MARKET North America is the largest market with about 41% market share. Europe is a follower, accounting for about 26% market share. The Divalproex Sodium API market exhibits significant regional variations. North America leads the market due to high prevalence rates of neurological disorders, advanced healthcare infrastructure, and robust pharmaceutical R&D. Europe follows closely, driven by increasing awareness of mental health and stringent regulatory requirements. Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region, benefiting from expanding manufacturing capabilities, rising healthcare spending, and growing demand for affordable medications. The key players are AbbVie, Mylan, Zydus Pharms USA, Aurobindo Pharma, Dr Reddys Labs, LUPIN, Orchid, Sun Pharm, Teva etc. The top 3 companies occupied about 49% market share. Key Companies: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. SCI PHARMTECH Anjan Drug Private Limited Harman Finochem Katwijk Chemie Orchid ChemicalsPharmaceuticals Unichem Laboratories Limited Purchase Chapters: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-21T6091/global-divalproex-sodium-api/1 SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. DISCOVER MORE INSIGHTS: EXPLORE SIMILAR REPORTS! - Levothyroxine Sodium API market was valued at USD 31 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 42 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Avibactam Sodium API Market - Ceftizoxime Sodium API Market - Pravastatin Sodium API Market - Enoxaparin Sodium APIs and Preparations Market - Piperacillin Sodium API Market - Cefuroxime Sodium API Market - Piperacillin and Tazobactam API - Sacubitril-Valsartan Sodium API Market - Diclofenac Sodium API Market DISCOVER OUR VISION: VISIT ABOUT US! 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GET A FREE QUOTE Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Blog: https://valuatestrends.blogspot.com/ Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/valuatesreports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valuatesreports6753 https://www.facebook.com/valuateskorean https://www.facebook.com/valuatesspanish https://www.facebook.com/valuatesjapanese https://valuatesreportspanish.blogspot.com/ https://valuateskorean.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesgerman.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesreportjapanese.blogspot.com/ SOURCE Valuates Reports RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second consecutive year, Rio de Janeiro hosted the unveiling of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. From the votes of 300 industry experts, the list showcases restaurants from 22 cities, including six new entries. Don Julio in Buenos Aires claims the top spot, winning The Best Restaurant in Latin America and The Best Restaurant in Argentina 2024. This gastronomic landmark, led by high-profile restaurateur and sommelier Pablo Rivero, has won global recognition for its classic steaks, extensive wine list and legendary hospitality. Don Julio in Buenos Aires is named The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 View PDF 1 - 50 the List For the full 1-50 list, click here. Buenos Aires maintains its strong position in the Latin American gastronomic scene with eight restaurants on the 1-50 list, closely followed by Lima and Sao Paulo, each with seven restaurants. Sao Paulo sees growth, with Tuju (No.16) returning to the rankings for the first time since 2021, and Kotori (No.50) making its debut on the 1-50 list. Maido (No.2) in Lima is named The Best Restaurant in Peru, while El Chato (No.3) in Bogota is awarded The Best Restaurant in Colombia. Other notable wins include Borago (No.5) in Santiago, voted The Best Restaurant in Chile; Lasai (No.7) in Rio de Janeiro, awarded The Best Restaurant in Brazil and Quintonil (No.9) in Mexico City, awarded The Best Restaurant in Mexico. Trescha in Buenos Aires makes the highest debut at No.33, winning the Highest New Entry Award. The Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee, goes to Rafael in Lima, which jumps 27 positions to No.19. Colombian chef-restaurateur Harry Sasson wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award; Camila Fiol wins Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao, for her work at Santiago's Fiol Dulceria and beyond; and Sergio Diaz of Guatemala City's Sublime is honoured with the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. William Drew, Director of Content for Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "We congratulate all the establishments recognised in this year's Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list and reaffirm our commitment to positioning Latin American cuisine among the most esteemed in the world. We look forward to witnessing the ongoing growth and success of these remarkable restaurants in the years to come." For more details on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants voting process, click here. For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568242/Best_Restaurant_in_Latin_America_2024.jpg PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565803/1_50_the_List.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565802/LATAM_50_Best_logo.jpg SOURCE 50 Best Don Julio in Buenos Aires is named The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna , reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 in is named The Best Restaurant in 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & , reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 The list showcases restaurants from 22 cities, including six new entries Buenos Aires maintained its position as the region's top culinary powerhouse with eight restaurants in the ranking, followed closely by Lima and Sao Paulo with seven restaurants each maintained its position as the region's top culinary powerhouse with eight restaurants in the ranking, followed closely by and Sao Paulo with seven restaurants each Colombian chef-restaurateur Harry Sasson wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his contributions to the region's dining scene wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his contributions to the region's dining scene Camila Fiol wins Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao , for her work at Santiago's Fiol Dulceria and beyond wins Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del , for her work at Fiol Dulceria and beyond Trescha in Buenos Aires receives the Highest New Entry Award, landing on the list at No.33 in receives the Highest New Entry Award, landing on the list at No.33 The Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee , goes to Rafael in Lima , which jumps 27 positions to No.19 , goes to in , which jumps 27 positions to No.19 By a vote of his fellow chefs, Sergio Diaz of Guatemala City's Sublime is honoured with the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The culinary community descended on Rio de Janeiro for the second year in a row to attend the unveiling of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Presented at the iconic Museu Historico Nacional on Tuesday, 26 November, the 12th edition of the annual ranking celebrates the richness and diversity of the region's gastronomic offerings, featuring restaurants from 22 cities, based on the expert opinions of 300 industry insiders. Don Julio in Buenos Aires is named The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, reclaiming the No.1 spot for the first time since 2020 View PDF 1 - 50 the List For the full 1-50 list, please refer to the accompanying graphic or scroll to the bottom of this release. Don Julio in Buenos Aires claims the top spot this year, winning The Best Restaurant in Latin America and The Best Restaurant in Argentina 2024, accolades that it previously collected in 2020. Climbing to the No.1 position from last year's No.3 ranking, the Argentinian parrilla has won global recognition for its classic steaks, extensive wine list and legendary hospitality. This gastronomic landmark is led by high-profile restaurateur and sommelier Pablo Rivero, who is admired by professionals across Latin America and around the world. His expertise has earned him the prestigious title of the Beronia World's Best Sommelier at The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 awards. William Drew, Director of Content for Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "We are delighted to recognise Don Julio as The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024. Our sincerest congratulations to Pablo Rivero and the team at Don Julio, a truly special place that brings Argentine cuisine to the forefront internationally. We congratulate all the establishments recognised in this year's Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list and reaffirm our commitment to positioning Latin American cuisine among the most esteemed in the world. We look forward to witnessing the ongoing growth and success of these remarkable restaurants in the years to come." Buenos Aires maintains its prime position in the gastronomic landscape this year with eight restaurants on the 1-50 list, the same number as in 2023, closely followed by Lima and Sao Paulo with seven restaurants each. Brazil's most populous city, Sao Paulo, grows its tally of ranked restaurants compared to last year, with Tuju (No.16) reappearing for the first time since 2021, when it landed on the 51-100 list, and Kotori (No.50) making its debut in the 1-50 list. Lima's Maido (No.2) earns the distinction of The Best Restaurant in Peru, while Bogota's El Chato (No.3) is awarded The Best Restaurant in Colombia. Other notable wins include Borago (No.5) in Santiago, voted The Best Restaurant in Chile; Lasai (No.7) in Rio de Janeiro, awarded The Best Restaurant in Brazil and Quintonil (No.9) in Mexico City, awarded The Best Restaurant in Mexico. Additionally, Nuema (No.11) in Quito; Maito (No.14) in Panama City; Sikwa (No.25) in San Jose; and Gustu (No.38) in La Paz, are voted The Best Restaurant in Ecuador, The Best Restaurant in Panama, The Best Restaurant in Costa Rica and The Best Restaurant in Bolivia, respectively. Reflecting the region's expanding panorama of culinary offerings, six restaurants appear on the list for the first time. Trescha in Buenos Aires makes its debut at No.33, earning it the Highest New Entry Award and reinforcing the city's status as a gastronomic powerhouse. Huniik in Merida lands on the list at No.36, while Lo de Tere in Punta del Este enters the ranking at No.41, making it The Best Restaurant in Uruguay. Other new entrants include Manuel (No.42) in Barranquilla, Colombia and Cordero (No.44) in Caracas awarded The Best Restaurant in Venezuela. Maximo Bistrot (No.43) in Mexico City and Aramburu (No.46) in Buenos Aires re-enter the list after previous recognitions in 2022. Stefano Bolognese, Sanpellegrino International Business Unit Director, says: "As long-time main sponsors of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna are proud to support this prestigious celebration of culinary excellence. This event highlights not only the finest dining experiences across the region but also the incredible talent and creativity that continue to shape Latin America's vibrant gastronomic scene. We applaud the passion and innovation of all the chefs and teams who have made their mark, and we look forward to seeing how their vision will inspire the future of the industry. Congratulations to the winner and to all, and keep pushing the boundaries of creativity to make the world a better place through food." Seven special award announcements continued the celebration of culinary excellence at the ceremony for Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024. Harry Sasson, Colombia's renowned chef-restaurateur, wins the Woodford Reserve Icon Award for his exceptional contributions to the region's culinary landscape. A pioneer in Bogota's evolving dining scene, Sasson heads up a network of establishments including his eponymous flagship restaurant, which offers a creative fusion of Latin American, Japanese and European flavours housed in a mock-Tudor mansion. Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Republica del Cacao, is presented to Camila Fiol, the mastermind behind Santiago confectionary store Fiol Dulceria. A former kitchen assistant under Rodolfo Guzman at Borago, Fiol progressed to the position of head pastry chef before leaving in 2012 to start her innovative sweets shop, where she serves up daring and experimental combinations. Laura Hernandez Espinosa takes home the Beronia Latin America's Best Sommelier Award, recognising the top Colombian wine professional for her achievements in serving and discovering beverages from indigenous communities. Espinosa serves as the head sommelier at Leo in Bogota and the bar under the same roof, La Sala de Laura. She is also the executive director of Funleo, a foundation dedicated to restoring and promoting ancestral knowledge. Earning the Highest New Entry Award, Trescha (No.33) is one of Buenos Aires' most exclusive restaurants, with only 10 seats and an experimental 14-course menu along with a cocktail terrace. Chef patron Tomas Treschanski serves up alluring combinations of global ingredients and influences. Rafael in Lima earns the Highest Climber Award, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee, a special distinction recognising the multi-faceted restaurant's leap from No.46 in 2023 to No.19 this year, scaling 27 positions. Housed in an art-deco mansion, the restaurant, led by Rafael Osterling, mixes up Peruvian, Italian and Japanese flavours and ingredients. Recognised with the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award, Sergio Diaz heads up Sublime in Guatemala City named The Best Restaurant in Guatemala which interprets the country's history through a 12-course tasting menu that spans centuries of ingredients and flavours, from pre-Columbian times to the present. Creative and passion-driven, Diaz was born into a family of restaurateurs in the Guatemalan highlands and has extensive experience as a corporate chef that informs his intensely professional approach to hospitality and food. Lunario, a rooftop greenhouse eatery in Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, wins the Sustainable Restaurant Award. Opened in 2019 and led by Sheyla Alvarado, the Baja restaurant's unique approach to sustainability takes inspiration from local agricultural traditions. Most of the ingredients on its six- or eight-course tasting menus are grown at sister farm Finca La Carrodilla, where everything is produced according to organic certification guidelines, while fresh seafood is brought in from the Pacific Ocean just 15 kilometres away. During the awards evening, recipients of the previously announced special awards were also honoured, including Marsia Taha Mohamed as Latin America's Best Female Chef; Tuju (No.16) in Sao Paulo, winner of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award; and Clara in Quito as the recipient of the American Express One To Watch Award. The Voting Process The 50 Best organisation's role in promoting restaurants and showcasing culinary talent remains vitally important, continuing to support the hospitality sector by inspiring diners to seek out exciting gastronomic experiences. 50 Best works with professional services consultancy Deloitte as its official independent adjudication partner to help protect the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2024. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy is comprised of 300 regional voting members, each of whom is hand-picked for their expert opinion of the Latin American restaurant scene. The votes of this Academy make up the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list. The Academy is divided into five regions: Mexico, Central America, South America (North), South America (South), and Brazil. Each region has voters made up of journalists, food critics, chefs, restaurateurs and well-travelled gourmets. Each member submitted 10 votes on what they considered their best dining experiences of the previous 18 months at least four of those votes must go to restaurants outside their own country. To see more details on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants voting process, click here. EDITOR'S NOTES: Ranking Establishment City/Town 1 Don Julio Buenos Aires 2 Maido Lima 3 El Chato Bogota 4 Kjolle Lima 5 Borago Santiago 6 Celele Cartagena 7 Lasai Rio de Janeiro 8 Merito Lima 9 Quintonil Mexico City 10 Leo Bogota 11 Nuema Quito 12 Alcalde Guadalajara 13 Mayta Lima 14 Maito Panama City 15 A Casa do Porco Sao Paulo 16 Tuju Sao Paulo 17 Fauna Valle de Guadalupe 18 Gran Dabbang Buenos Aires 19 Rafael Lima 20 Evvai Sao Paulo 21 Oteque Rio de Janeiro 22 Sublime Guatemala City 23 Villa Torel Ensenada 24 Pujol Mexico City 25 Sikwa San Jose 26 Nelita Sao Paulo 27 Metzi Sao Paulo 28 Cosme Lima 29 Mishiguene Buenos Aires 30 La Mar Lima 31 El Preferido de Palermo Buenos Aires 32 Arca Tulum 33 Trescha Buenos Aires 34 Nino Gordo Buenos Aires 35 Mani Sao Paulo 36 Huniik Merida 37 Julia Buenos Aires 38 Gustu La Paz 39 Mercado 24 Guatemala City 40 Cantina del Tigre Panama City 41 Lo de Tere Punta del Este 42 Manuel Barranquilla 43 Maximo Bistrot Mexico City 44 Cordero Caracas 45 Humo Negro Bogota 46 Aramburu Buenos Aires 47 Sud 777 Mexico City 48 Rosetta Mexico City 49 Mil Moray 50 Kotori Sao Paulo For media centre access, please visit: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com/ Follow 50 Best: Follow on Instagram: @TheWorlds50Best #LatAm50Best Follow on X: @TheWorlds50Best #LatAm50Best Like on Facebook: facebook.com/LatinAmericas50BestRestaurants Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Worlds50Best Website: https://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/ About Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants was launched in 2013 to celebrate gastronomy across the region and to provide diners around the globe with local insight and culinary recommendations. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list is created by the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Latin America, each selected for their expert opinion of Latin America's restaurant scene. The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list is published by William Reed, which also publishes The World's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2002; Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2013; and Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2022. About the host destination partner: Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro is a global city, known around the world for its lush natural beauty and vibrant culture. In addition to the beaches, lakes, forests and mountains mixed up with the urban life, Rio has a pulsating gastronomic life, which is reflected in its aromas, textures and flavours, a unique way of life. From taverns to haute cuisine, from traditional feijoada to seafood, the city offers tourists and locals a diverse and creative cuisine, rich in local ingredients and plural influences. Renowned and award-winning chefs Brazilian and foreign delight the most demanding palates. And, even in the simplest places, there is always a door open to the street, a table on the sidewalk, a snack, an ice-cold beer, a caipirinha and the Carioca way of serving the most sophisticated happiness. From traditional Brazilian food, with its indigenous, African and European touches, to the contemporary and cosmopolitan fusion of Asian restaurants, Rio is a city open to foreigners, to the new. From vegetarian cuisine to the classic Brazilian barbecue, the city has open arms for everyone. From a kiosk by the sea to restaurants in the middle of the forest, high up in the mountains, Rio is a true gastronomic capital of Latin America. On the menu: the carioca soul and the flavour of a happy life. About the main sponsor: S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna are the main sponsors of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna are the leading natural mineral waters in the fine dining world. Together they interpret Italian style worldwide as a synthesis of excellence, pleasure and well-being. Our partners Rio de Janeiro City Hall Official Host Destination Partner City Hall Official Host Destination Partner S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The Best Restaurant in Latin America 2024 Main Partner & Official Water Partner; sponsor of The Best Restaurant in 2024 Gin Mare Official Gin Partner; sponsor of Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award Woodford Reserve Official American Whiskey Partner; sponsor of Woodford Reserve Icon Award American Express Resy Official Credit Card and Booking Platform Partner; sponsor of American Express One To Watch Award Beronia Official Wine Partner; sponsor of Beronia Latin America's Best Sommelier Award Best Sommelier Award Estrella Damm Official Beer Partner; sponsor of Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award Official Beer Partner; sponsor of Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award Republica del Cacao Official Chocolate Partner; sponsor of Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award Official Chocolate Partner; sponsor of Best Pastry Chef Award Aspire Lifestyles Official Concierge Partner Lee Kum Kee Official Sauces & Condiments Partner; sponsor of Highest Climber Award Official Sauces & Condiments Partner; sponsor of Highest Climber Award Copacabana Palace Hotel Official Host Hotel Partner Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana Hotel Official Hotel Partner Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568242/Best_Restaurant_in_Latin_America_2024.jpg PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565803/1_50_the_List.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565802/LATAM_50_Best_logo.jpg SOURCE 50 Best NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, announces two new grants, totalling $1.9 million. The grants will be delivered in partnership with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International Canada to propel efforts in transforming gender norms and supporting women and girls in crisis settings. "Girls living in emergencies and protracted crisis settings face complex barriers to realising their right to education simply because of their gender. Without access to safe and protective learning environments, the aspirations and dreams of young girls are too often cut short by child marriage, gender-based violence, unwanted pregnancies, and exploitation. These new ECW partnerships with UNGEI and Plan International Canada will further strengthen our collective efforts to empower girls to reclaim their rights," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait. "Four of the five countries with the largest gender gaps in education are conflict-affected. This grant enables the UNGEI partnership to step into this gap and work with our partners on the ground to close it. We look forward to working with ECW to support girls in emergencies and protracted crises to learn, grow and thrive. Investing in girls' education is the most powerful way to build resilient communities and a more peaceful and just world," said Antara Ganguli, Director of UNGEI. "As an organization dedicated to advancing children's rights and gender justice, particularly focused on girls in all their diversity, we emphasize the importance of systematically measuring intersectional gender equality outcomes in education during emergencies and prolonged crises. This approach is essential to drive meaningful, gender-transformative and inclusive change, ultimately strengthening the broader community of practice," said Tanjina Mirza, Chief Programs Officer, Plan International Canada. The first grant ($1 million) will be implemented by UNGEI to address systemic gender inequalities in education by integrating gender-transformative approaches in education in emergencies programming. The second grant ($900,000) will be implemented by Plan International Canada, focusing on the effective measurement of gender transformative change in education in emergencies and protracted crises. Background: By 2030 only 1-in-3 girls in crisis-affected countries will have completed secondary school. Today, 53% of the 72 million crisis-affected, out-of-school children are girls. An estimated 70% of women experience gender-based violence in humanitarian contexts compared with 35% worldwide. END Note to Editors About Education Cannot Wait (ECW): Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations. We support quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls, and boys, so no one is left behind. ECW works through the multilateral system to both increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming. ECW works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors to increase efficiencies and end siloed responses. ECW urgently appeals to public and private sector donors for expanded support to reach even more vulnerable children and adolescents. On X/Twitter, please follow: @EduCannotWait @YasmineSherif1 @KentPage Additional information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org SOURCE Education Cannot Wait NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Report with the AI impact on market trends - The global electric commercial vehicle (ECV) market size is estimated to grow by USD 364.4 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 36.92% during the forecast period. Growing focus on reducing vehicular emissions is driving market growth, with a trend towards growing focus on strategies to develop advanced ECVs. However, high costs associated with ecvs poses a challenge. Key market players include AB Volvo, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co. Ltd., BYD Co. Ltd., Daimler Truck AG, Ford Motor Co., General Electric Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd., NFI Group Inc., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Olectra Greentech Ltd, PACCAR Inc., Proterra Inc., Renault SAS, Rivian Automotive LLC, Tata Motors Ltd., Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG, and Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co. Ltd.. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global electric commercial vehicle (ECV) market 2024-2028 Key insights into market evolution with AI-powered analysis. Explore trends, segmentation, and growth drivers- View Free Sample PDF Electric Commercial Vehicle (Ecv) Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 36.92% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 364.4 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 27.82 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 45% Key countries China, US, Germany, UK, and France Key companies profiled AB Volvo, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co. Ltd., BYD Co. Ltd., Daimler Truck AG, Ford Motor Co., General Electric Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd., NFI Group Inc., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Olectra Greentech Ltd, PACCAR Inc., Proterra Inc., Renault SAS, Rivian Automotive LLC, Tata Motors Ltd., Tesla Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG, and Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co. Ltd. Market Driver The Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV) market is experiencing significant growth as businesses shift towards electricity-powered Commercial Vehicles, including buses, vans, trucks, farming equipment like excavators and wheel loaders, and even construction machinery. This trend is driven by the need to reduce emissions, operational costs, and the increasing awareness of environmental consequences. Companies like Amazon and UPS are leading the charge in last-mile delivery services with electric buses and e-trucks. However, challenges remain, such as battery performance, charging infrastructure, and upfront costs. Technological advancements in batteries, such as cobalt-free batteries and silicon anode batteries, aim to address these issues. Public transportation, logistics organizations, and cities are also investing in ECVs to meet emissions reduction targets and improve air quality. The affordability, security, and noise reduction benefits of ECVs are also attracting private and commercial customers. The ECV market is expected to surpass conventional counterparts in the coming years, with innovations in battery technology, charging infrastructure, and autonomous vehicles driving growth. However, challenges such as range anxiety, limited charging infrastructure, and upfront costs must be addressed for widespread adoption. The ECV market is poised for growth, with major automakers and business associations investing in alternative fuel vehicles to meet emissions targets and reduce carbon footprints. Vendors in the global Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV) market are implementing various business strategies to stay competitive. These strategies include collaborations, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and joint ventures. For instance, in September 2022, Mercedes and Rivian signed a partnership agreement for producing large electric vans in Europe. Similarly, in November 2023, Volvo announced its plan to acquire EV and battery manufacturer Proterra. These business moves enable vendors to expand their technological capabilities and geographic reach, ultimately helping them capture significant market shares in the ECV market. Request Sample of our comprehensive report now to stay ahead in the AI-driven market evolution! Market Challenges The Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV) market is experiencing significant growth as commercial vehicles, including buses, vans, trucks, farming equipment like excavators and wheel loaders, transition from diesel and petrol to electricity. Cities and logistics organizations are leading the charge, with electric buses becoming increasingly common in public transportation. Companies like Amazon and UPS are investing in electric last-mile delivery services to reduce emissions and operational costs. However, challenges remain, such as battery performance, charging infrastructure, and upfront costs. Technological advancements in battery technology, including cobalt-free batteries and silicon anode batteries, are helping to address these challenges. Public awareness and emissions reduction are key drivers, as businesses seek to reduce their carbon footprint and comply with emissions standards and NOx laws. Fleet operators are looking for operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness, while also addressing range anxiety and limited charging infrastructure. Innovative business models, such as electric vehicle leasing and fleet management solutions, are emerging to help businesses navigate the transition to ECVs. However, financial stability and uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions and fuel prices add complexity to the market. OEMs are responding with new offerings, such as E200S mini-trucks, and collaborations with tech companies like ADAS, AI, IoT, and Flash Electronics. The ECV market is expected to continue growing, with electric vans leading the way in last mile delivery and urban delivery services. However, the market faces challenges in long-haul transportation and battery availability. The shift to ECVs will have significant environmental consequences, as well as implications for transportation infrastructures and operational expenses. The commercial vehicle market is witnessing a shift towards electric vehicles (ECVs) due to rising fuel costs and stricter emission regulations. However, the higher cost of ECVs compared to conventional gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles is a significant barrier to their widespread adoption. The average cost of electric trucks ranges from USD5,500 to USD19,500 , and electric vans cost between USD17,458.45 and USD39,106.50 . Electric buses, on the other hand, are significantly more expensive, with an average cost of USD480,000 to USD745,000 . Despite these challenges, the long-term cost savings from lower fuel and maintenance costs, as well as the environmental benefits, make ECVs an attractive option for businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint and save on operating expenses. Discover how AI is revolutionizing market trends- Get your access now! Segment Overview This electric commercial vehicle (ecv) market report extensively covers market segmentation by Product 1.1 LCVs 1.2 Buses 1.3 Heavy and medium commercial vehicles Type 2.1 Battery electric vehicle (BEV) 2.2 Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) 2.3 Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Geography 3.1 APAC 3.2 North America 3.3 Europe 3.4 Middle East and Africa and 3.5 South America 1.1 LCVs- The Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV) market is witnessing significant growth, particularly in the Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) segment. LCVs, which weigh under 3.5 tons, are essential for transporting goods and play a crucial role in various industries, including logistics and delivery services. The retail and e-commerce sectors' expansion, urban traffic congestion, and technological advancements are driving the growth of this segment. Strict emissions regulations have increased the demand for electric LCVs, leading to an uptick in their production and adoption. In response, automobile manufacturers are launching new electric LCV models, such as Renault SAS's E-Tech Trafic. These developments are anticipated to boost the growth of the LCV segment in the global ECV market throughout the forecast period. Download a Sample of our comprehensive report today to discover how AI-driven innovations are reshaping competitive dynamics Research Analysis Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECVs) are revolutionizing the transportation industry by offering sustainable alternatives to traditional diesel and petrol commercial vehicles. ECVs, which include buses, vans, trucks, tractors/harvesters, and other commercial vehicles, run on electricity and contribute significantly to reducing CO2 emissions in road transport. The charging times for ECVs are improving, making them a viable option for various applications. Electric drivetrains, powered by electric motors, offer smooth and quiet operation, and features like sliding doors enhance accessibility. ECVs are gaining popularity in last-mile delivery and are expected to become the largest market segment in the near future. Consumer awareness about the environmental benefits and cost savings of electric vehicles is driving demand. Regulations like the NHTSA's SAFE vehicles rule are pushing for the adoption of ECVs. Companies like VIA Motors and EAVX are pioneering innovation in this space, offering electric solutions for various commercial vehicle segments. However, the transition from ICE fleet to ECV fleet requires significant investment and infrastructure development. JPY 2 trillion is estimated to be invested in the global ECV market by 2030. Market Research Overview The Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV) market is experiencing significant growth as commercial vehicles, including buses, vans, trucks, farming equipment like excavators and wheel loaders, and building materials transport, transition from diesel and petrol to electricity. Cities and last-mile delivery services, such as Amazon and UPS, are leading the charge towards zero-emission transportation. Public awareness of the environmental consequences of carbon emissions, fuel prices, and regulations like emissions standards and NOx laws are driving this shift. ECVs offer numerous benefits, including reduced emissions, lower operational costs, and noise reduction. Technological advancements in battery performance, energy-storing capacity, and battery lifecycle are also contributing to the market's growth. ECVs come in various forms, including electric buses, e-trucks, and e-vans, and are being adopted by both private and commercial customers. However, challenges such as charging time, battery availability, and upfront costs remain. Innovative business models, such as electric vehicle leasing and fleet management solutions, are helping to address these challenges. The ECV market is expected to continue growing as more transportation infrastructures, including charging stations and standardization in charging, become available. The shift to ECVs is also driven by the need to reduce carbon footprint and combat climate change. Battery technology advancements, such as lithium salt, polymer electrolyte, carbon nanotube electrode, and cobalt-free batteries, are also playing a crucial role in the market's growth. The market is expected to become the largest in the EV sector, with autonomous delivery systems, e-commerce market, and on-road delivery vans leading the way. However, challenges such as range anxiety, limited charging infrastructure, and uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions and financial resources remain. OEMs are also investing in ECVs, with companies like Guangdong Province, ADAS, AI, IoT, Flash Electronics, Elimen Group, and VIA Motors leading the way. The market is expected to continue growing as more businesses and governments adopt ECVs to reduce their carbon footprint and operational expenses. However, the transition to ECVs will require significant investment in charging infrastructure and fleet operators' operational efficiency. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation Product LCVs Buses Heavy And Medium Commercial Vehicles Type Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) 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 DARIEN, Conn., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, researchers have examined the safety and efficacy of migraine neuromodulation therapy across subtypes of migraine-associated most bothersome symptoms (MBS). These researchers conducted a post hoc analysis of the TEAM (Trial of eTNS for the Acute Treatment of Migraine) study , which is the largest clinical trial to date that examines the effectiveness of external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) for the acute treatment of migraine. The original TEAM study demonstrated that 2-hour treatment of migraine with eTNS resulted in higher rates of pain freedom and resolved MBS when compared to sham stimulation. While the TEAM study demonstrated that eTNS effectively treats the most bothersome migraine symptom (MBS), the effectiveness of eTNS by specific type of MBS had not been examined. Therefore, the investigators performed the first analysis examining the effectiveness of eTNS for each type of MBS. "A post hoc analysis of migraine-associated symptoms from the TEAM (a phase 3 randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled Trial of eTNS for the Acute Treatment of Migraine) study," published in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, found that external trigeminal nerve stimulation produced consistent benefits in patients with certain MBS subtypes. Specifically, patients who experienced MBS of photophobia (light sensitivity), phonophobia (sound sensitivity), and vomiting and used 2-hour eTNS therapy for acute migraine treatment experienced consistent benefits in pain freedom at 2 hours post-treatment, pain relief at 24 hours post-treatment, relief of migraine severity, and resolution of MBS and all migraine-associated symptoms, compared to sham stimulation. For patients with nausea as their MBS, 2-hour eTNS treatment provided more variable response for pain relief at 2 and 24 hours post treatment. However, this same group experienced consistent pain relief at 24 hours post treatment, resolution of nausea, and other migraine associated symptoms following 2-hour eTNS treatment compared to sham stimulation. "Essentially, the question we sought to answer with this paper was, 'Is the response to trigeminal nerve stimulation different according to different subtypes of most bothersome symptom?" said Michael A. L. Johnson, MD, one of the co-investigators. The paper's findings suggest that patients with nausea MBS may experience more difficulty in achieving migraine relief compared to other MBS subtypes, which is consistent with prior literature regarding other acute migraine therapies. "As a result," Dr. Johnson said, "patients with nausea MBS may require a more strategic and stratified approach to acute migraine treatment compared to other MBS subtypes." The refractory nature of migraine treatment for patients who experience nausea MBS is not unique to eTNS or neuromodulation. Migraine is a complex and debilitating neurological disorder that affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. Despite migraine's prevalence, the condition is often misunderstood, underdiagnosed, and ineffectively treated. Treatment protocols often focus primarily on relieving headache pain, not MBS. Also, MBS tend to be less acknowledged and discussed, compared to migraine pain, even though MBS can be equally or more debilitating than migraine pain. The crosssectional, observational Migraine in America Symptoms and Treatment (MAST) study found that most people with migraine reported all three symptoms of nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia. (Vomiting was not named as a separate MBS). The most common MBS was photophobia, reported by 49.1% of respondents. Among women, nausea was the most common MBS (79.8% of respondents). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that most bothersome migraine-associated symptom be included as a primary efficacy endpoint in clinical trials that assess acute treatments for migraine, because it is such an important target symptom for treatment. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying pathophysiological differences between MBS subtypes and help clinicians understand the best treatment approaches, particularly for patients with nausea as their MBS. Past studies have demonstrated that patients with nausea MBS demonstrate more recalcitrance when treated with acute medications. Why is this difference present, and what impact does it have (medically and financially) on patients with nausea MBS? More research is needed to address these questions. "MBS are very understudied," noted Deena Kuruvilla, MD, the principal investigator of the study. "Clinicians tend to focus on treating headache pain, while MBS can be much more disabling for people with migraine. This study confirms that we, as clinicians, should be treating migraine as the complex, multi-symptom brain disorder that it is." The post hoc analysis and the original TEAM study were funded by CEFALY Technology. "We already know that CEFALY's eTNS migraine treatment device has been shown to be an effective and safe option in resolving MBS in addition to resolving migraine pain," said CEFALY Technology CEO Jen Trainor McDermott. "From this analysis, we now know that migraine patients with nausea may also require additional treatments, such as antiemetics or even anti-nausea neuromodulatory devices, in addition to eTNS therapy." About CEFALY Technology: CEFALY Technology is the maker of CEFALY, an FDA-cleared, over-the-counter wearable medical device clinically proven to help reduce migraine frequency and relieve migraine pain. CEFALY Technology is a Belgium-based company with its U.S. offices based in Darien, Conn., specializing in electronics for medical applications. CEFALY Technology's mission is to provide innovative, ever-evolving technology that enables people with migraine to take control of their treatment and live happier, healthier lives. Media Contact: CEFALY Jen Trainor McDermott CEO [email protected] SOURCE CEFALY Technology WARSAW, Poland, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The EU-Ukraine Tech Summit, organised by London PR Lab and hosted at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw on 18 November, gathered Ukrainian startup founders, European investors, and global industry experts. This pivotal event highlighted the resilience and creativity of Ukrainian startups, navigating the challenges of war and accelerating their integration into the European tech ecosystem. EU-Ukraine Tech Summit Startup Competition Winners Michal Kramarz, Head of Google for Startups CEE and Tymon Kokozska, Global Go-to-Market Manager spoke about Ukraine Support Fund: "Since the devastating war in Ukraine started, Google has committed over $45 million in cash and $7 million in kind to support humanitarian relief efforts for people in Ukraine and those fleeing the war. In March 2022, we launched the Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund, which has gone on to provide $5 million in equity-free cash awards to 58 recipients." International industry experts discussed Governance, AI implementation, how to secure funding and also explored how Ukrainian startups can navigate EU markets, focusing on regulatory frameworks, strategic partnerships, and innovation-driven growth. Natalia Mykolska, Executive Director Diia.City United said: "The Ukrainian ecosystem has shown its resilience since the beginning of a full-scale invasion. Moreover, it is also actively developing, including by merging into technological business unions, such as Diia.City United. For Ukrainian startups to further develop, it is very important to participate in such events, attract capital through investments and grants, especially strategic foreign investors." The summit emphasized actionable advice for startups, including the importance of networking, operational agility, and exploring EU funding opportunities. Andrii Lytvyn, Chief Business Development Officer at IT Ukraine Association said: "Events like 'EU-Ukraine Tech Summit' underscore the critical importance of international dialogue in shaping a strong and inclusive tech ecosystem. For the IT Ukraine Association, such platforms are essential to promoting Ukrainian innovation, attracting global partnerships, and solidifying our country's role as a pivotal contributor to the international tech landscape." Main standout features of the summit were speed dating and startup pitching sessions in front of European investors. This format fostered meaningful connections, funding opportunities, and demonstrated the readiness of Ukrainian startups to expand globally. Startups which took a part in the Startup Pitching Session: Omira AI Sanctions Finder QRoot POS terminal LifesaverSIM SYLA Pricer24 Jury members, VCs and Investors: Resource Partners Monolith Axtiran Group hi5 Ventures Iron Wolf Capital SpeedUp Venture Capital Group BNP Paribas LifesaverSIM, founded by Yuriy Dyachyshyn, secured the first place in the startup pitching competition, followed by the runner ups SYLA and Pricer24. LifesaverSIM is a game-based simulator for training lifesaving skills and tactical medicine, featuring realistic TCCC scenarios for Ukrainian Defense Forces and reservists. Partners and Supporters: Google for Startups, Diia.City United, American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, IT Ukraine Association, Ukrainian Startup Fund, Salve Agency, Networking Sponsor - CEE Digital Coalition / Zwiazek Cyfrowa Polska / Digital Poland Association, Transportation Partner - Bolt, Diia.City.Union. Media Partners - BiznesAlert & MEDIAALERT Vladyslav Bazikalov, the CEO & Founder of London PR Lab and EU-Ukraine Tech Summit concluded: "Our event is a testament to the power of collaboration within EU & Ukrainian ecosystems and the incredible potential of Ukrainian startups to make big changes in Tech industry. Together, we're paving the way for a brighter, tech-driven future. We will continue providing our media platforms and solutions to unite startup founders, investors and industry experts within International Tech Ecosystems." For more updates on the summit and transformative projects emerging from Ukraine, visit https://eu-ukrainetechsummit.com/ SOURCE London PR Lab BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn As the 2nd Liangzhu Forum commenced in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Nov 25, 10 international influencers gathered to explore the unique charm of Liangzhu culture. International influencers take a group photo at the Liangzhu Museum of A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn] The forum, themed "Exchanges and Mutual Learning for a New Model of Human Civilization", attracted over 300 experts from more than 60 countries and regions. "The Liangzhu Forum serves as a remarkable platform where individuals from all corners of the globe converge as representatives of their unique cultures," said Kh Shaikh Ahmed from Bangladesh. "China's commitment to preserving its cultural legacy while embracing contemporary changes sets a commendable example for the world to follow." After the ceremony, the expats visited the Liangzhu Museum of A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, experiencing a rich tapestry of Chinese art through over 1,600 Song Dynasty (960-1279) paintings. Carlos Mena from Ecuador exclaimed, "It is really amazing to know there are thousands of paintings from the Song Dynasty in the museum. And the VR experience was excellent because it felt like you were in a Buddhist temple." During the event, the expats also toured the Archaeological Ruins Park of Liangzhu City, where they were able to immerse themselves in the grandeur and historical depth of Liangzhu culture. Liangzhu culture, a testament to the over 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, boasts exquisite jade artifacts and unique architectural styles, reflecting the advanced craftsmanship and rich heritage of ancient China. The park's blend of natural landscapes and deep-rooted culture left a lasting impression on the group. Shoaib Kahut from Pakistan said, "I was amazed at the preservation efforts here and the arrangements to share them with foreigners, as well as the lifestyles of people who lived in ancient Liangzhu." The event promoted cultural exchange and mutual learning, giving international visitors a deeper appreciation of Liangzhu culture and enhancing Liangzhu's global recognition as a hallmark of China's 5,000-year-old civilization. SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn Annual membership provides the special person on your list with a year of personalized travel planning, access to exclusive offers CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This holiday season, luxury travel company Andrew Harper has some exceptional gift ideas for the discerning travelers in your life. The editors at Andrew Harper have just released the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, a surefire resource for high-end travelers and those looking for the perfect present. The editors at Andrew Harper have just released the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, a surefire resource for high-end travelers and those looking for the perfect present. Giving an Andrew Harper membership entitles the recipient to a year of personalized travel planning, exclusive perks and special offers, as well as the highly regarded monthly Hideaway Report, containing honest, unbiased reviews and recommendations of the world's most distinctive hotels, resorts, restaurants, cruises and travel experiences. The annual membership fee is $250 for digital and $395 for print and digital. Besides the Hideaway Report, membership benefits include the Andrew Harper Collection, a definitive travel-planning resource of 12 guidebooks updated annually; unlimited full-service travel planning; exclusive perks including VIP status at luxury hotels worldwide and amenities such as dining and spa credits, complimentary nights and more; savings on travel packages; members-only promotions; access to private property auctions around the world; and a weekly wine concierge newsletter with personalized recommendations. In addition to travel experiences, Andrew Harper also has partnerships with high-end brands like FPM Milano Luggage, Manni Olive Oil, Vosges Haut-Chocolat and Hotel Lobby Candle, giving members discounts on items that make wonderful gifts. Andrew Harper membership also unlocks special wine tours and tastings at hard-to-access boutique wineries in Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Members also receive insider access to high-quality, small-batch wines from Napa and Bordeaux. When it comes to planning a vacation, Andrew Harper travel advisors provide customized service and benefits, working directly with members to understand their unique needs and interests. They can create every imaginable trip for every possible occasion, from safari adventures to private island escapes and everything in between, calling on their firsthand knowledge as well as longstanding partnerships with travel suppliers and the globetrotting team of Andrew Harper editors. These expert travel advisors take care of every aspect of luxury travel, including airline, yacht and cruise reservations, hotel and villa bookings; ground transportation; and concierge services such as restaurant reservations, spa appointments and tee times. And in the process of planning a dream vacation, they save members an average of $1,100 per four-night stay. "There's no greater gift than travel," said Don Jones, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Harper. "People are craving experiences and belonging, and Andrew Harper delivers on both counts. Being part of Andrew Harper means access to the world's finest travel and the physical items that help travelers remember their wonderful vacations. This Travel Tuesday, we encourage everyone to check out our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide for some amazing ideas and inspiration." To learn more, and give the gift of membership, contact Andrew Harper at 1 (800) 375-4685 or email membership services at [email protected]. About Andrew Harper In 1979, our founding editor left corporate life to travel the world. In his desire for authenticity, he sought out small hideaways in unspoiled corners of the globe, sharing his findings through a monthly newsletter under the pen name Andrew Harper. Over the years, the Hideaway Report evolved into a members-only luxury travel site with an expanded menu of curated content, including in-depth articles about a destination's best hotels, restaurants, sightseeing and activities, as well as articles on villas, cruising, tours and sample itineraries. Andrew Harper members enjoy full-service trip planning and exclusive travel perks at top-tier hotels, villas, cruises, safaris and beyond. Additionally, they gain entry to private auctions and receive year-round exclusive offers from esteemed hotels and travel partners globally. Members receive access to private auctions and ongoing offers throughout the year from favored hotels and travel partners around the world. CONTACT: Berit Griffin [email protected] 651-442-5173 SOURCE Andrew Harper BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Azerbaijan hails the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and expects this agreement to put an end to hostilities, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's publication on X said, Trend reports. The publication notes that Azerbaijan, which advocates for peaceful conflict resolutions and initiated the joint COP29 call for peace, approved by 132 countries during its COP29 Presidency, has called on all parties to adhere to the ceasefire. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, came into effect at 04:00 (GMT+4) local time. Under the terms of the deal, the Lebanese army will gradually deploy along the country's southern border with the support of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Concurrently, Israel will begin withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon. Additionally, Lebanon's government has committed to halting the activities of illegal armed groups and preventing arms smuggling. The agreement also includes measures to dismantle illegal weapons and ammunition production facilities, as well as the confiscation of weapon stockpiles. SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ASNO is a vegan beauty brand which has a concept of protecting animals in Arctic and Antarctica, which are endangered due to environmental pollution. Its products formulated with non-irritating, natural, vegan and active ingredients. They are free of harmful ingredients such as allergenic and comedogenic ingredients. Furthermore, ASNO supports 100% vegan beauty (cruelty-free) and use sustainable materials for packaging. For now, they have hypoallergenic vegan sheet mask called 'Rescue Squad' and daily skincare products for sensitive skin 'Everlasting Youth Preserve Cream' 'Multi-Vitamin Gentle Purifying Cleanser' 'Vital Greens 80 Calming Toner' 'A.C.E Cleansing Oil'. Photo: https://img.hankyung.com/pdsdata/pr.hankyung.com/uploads/2024/11/products.jpg ASNO is actively expanding its overseas exports, driven by the growing global interest in K-beauty. Starting with the Beauty World Japan in Osaka in 2023, ASNO participated in KCON JAPAN in 2024, securing over $200,000 worth of export contracts in Japan sole. In mid-September, the brand also took part in the "2024 Seoul K-Beauty Pop-up Store" held in Dubai, not only promoting the brand but also showcasing its products. Additionally, from October 29, ASNO participated in the "2024 Korea Business Expo Vienna" held in Vienna, Austria, and successfully completed the event. Following these international ventures, the company has been actively exporting to the Czech Republic and Slovakia through KOTRA's Prague trade office, marking its continued global presence. Photo: https://img.hankyung.com/pdsdata/pr.hankyung.com/uploads/2024/11/Seoung-Min-Song-CEO-of-ASNO.jpg Seoung Min Song, CEO of ASNO, stated, "By participating in the Dubai pop-up store and the Korea Business Expo Vienna, we received various offers to enter both online and offline distribution channels. It was a great opportunity to expand into new markets and further promotion of the brand. In addition, we recently launched our product in Amazon. I am very excited to present our brand to potential customers in America." He continued, "We will make every effort to ensure that ASNO becomes a beloved K-beauty brand not only in Asia but also in Europe and the Americas." SOURCE Hankyung.com VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Horizon Copper Corp. (TSXV: HCU) (OTCQX: HNCUF) ("Horizon Copper", "Horizon", or the "Company") is pleased to provide development advancements from its portfolio of assets. "Recently, we've seen several positive advancements at the underlying development assets in Horizon's high-quality copper portfolio," said Erfan Kazemi, Horizon's President & CEO. "The Hugo North Extension continues to showcase its status as one of the world's best copper deposits with exceptional high-grade drill results. As Entree's largest shareholder, we are encouraged by the start of underground development and the continued exploration success, which highlight the deposit's long-term potential and solidify the importance of this property within the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Meanwhile, SSR Mining is making progress on pre-construction activities at Hod Maden, and we look forward to realizing the long-term value this exceptional asset will deliver to Horizon shareholders." High-Grade Drill Results at Hugo North Extension Follow Commencement of Development Work Entree Resources Ltd. ("Entree") has announced advancements at the Oyu Tolgoi Hugo North Extension ("HNE"). In November 2024, underground development work commenced at Oyu Tolgoi Lift 1 Panel 1, part of the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property, focusing on up to 212 metres of lateral development in the southwest corner of HNE. This work, outlined in the 2024 Oyu Tolgoi Mine Plan, is a critical step in preparing the infrastructure for future mining operations. Concurrently, Entree continues discussions with Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC") to finalize governance agreements for the joint venture, exploring both the execution and delivery of the existing JV agreement or a new arrangement with equivalent economic value. Entree indicated that a clear pathway forward has been identified, with final agreements requiring OTLLC board approval. In addition, results from eight remaining diamond drill holes from the 2023 drilling program at HNE have been released, confirming high-grade mineralization within the Hugo North Lift 2 block cave footprint and extending the deposit's potential at depth. Notably, surface drill hole EGD 174 intersected 448 metres grading 1.31% copper including 172 metres at 1.58% copper. The hole terminated in mineralization at a depth of 1,800 metres, indicating the deposit remains open at depth for deeper potential lifts. Additional surface drilling included EGD 177, which intersected 143 metres grading 1.09% copper, including 51 metres at 1.75% copper. At depths, the Hugo North deposit dips to the northwest with an increasing proportion located on the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture ground. Underground geotechnical drilling further confirmed the continuity of mineralization, with high-grade results such as UGD 805B intersecting 177.3 metres at 1.79% copper, UGD 813 intersecting 56 metres at 1.45% copper, and UGD 814 intersecting 138 metres at 1.92% copper. Drilling activities in 2024 have concentrated on the Hugo North Lift 2 mineralized footprint. As of October 31, OTLLC had completed 5,287 metres of underground drilling across 23 diamond drill holes and 2,476 metres of surface drilling across four diamond drill holes. These efforts continue to enhance understanding of the resource, and Entree expects to share further updates once the results have been reviewed. These developments continue to highlight the high-grade nature of HNE and the significant potential of the deposit. For more information, refer to the press releases dated October 29, and November 4, 2024, on Entree's website at www.entreeresourcesltd.com. Horizon Copper is Entree's largest shareholder at 24% ownership. SSR Mining Continues Pre-Construction Work at Hod Maden At the Hod Maden development project in Turkiye, where Horizon owns a 30% non-operating interest, the operator, SSR Mining Inc. ("SSR Mining") continues to advance site preparation activities and engineering studies. During the third quarter of 2024, SSR Mining reported that US$10.9 million was spent on pre-construction works. SSR Mining plans to outline its 2025 capital expenditure forecast for Hod Maden along with the company's production guidance in early 2025. For further details, refer to the press release dated November 6, 2024, on SSR Mining's website at www.ssrmining.com. QUALIFIED PERSON Imola Gotz (M.Sc., P.Eng.), Sandstorm Gold Ltd.'s Vice President, Mining & Engineering is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Gotz has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release. ABOUT HORIZON COPPER Horizon Copper is a premier copper company holding a portfolio of unparalleled copper assets including a 1.66% net profits interest on the Antamina copper mine, exposure to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine through a 24% equity ownership in Entree Resources Ltd., and a 30% interest in the copper-gold Hod Maden project. Horizon plans to actively grow its portfolio of assets with a focus on copper projects. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although Horizon believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Horizon is not a guarantee of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to Entree Resources' ability to reach an agreement related to the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Horizon 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. The securities referred to in this press release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required under securities laws. Further information concerning risks, assumptions and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in Horizon's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), as well as subsequent filings that can also be found under the Company's profile. RISK FACTORS REGARDING ENTREE/OYU TOLGOI JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT Entree Resources Ltd ("Entree") previously disclosed in 2022 that, with Lift 1 Panel 0 underground development work progressing, Entree's ability to effect transfer of the mining licenses and achieve contractual certainty through negotiation remains uncertain, and Entree may be unable to advance discussions with the Government of Mongolia in a meaningful way without first confirming its underlying contractual rights and obligations vis-a-vis OTLLC. Entree's board of directors authorized and approved the commencement of binding arbitration proceedings to seek declarations and orders for specific performance relating to certain provisions of the Earn-in Agreement and the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi Joint Venture Agreement. The arbitration was commenced on May 26, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia under the International Commercial Arbitration Act (British Columbia). A three-member Tribunal was appointed and the evidentiary hearing took place in Vancouver on April 8 and 9, 2024. Closing submissions were heard in Toronto on July 10, 2024. To date, no decision has been released and Entree does not know when a decision will be forthcoming. Further, Entree does not know if the Tribunal will release a partial or final decision. If a partial decision is released further submissions and hearings may be necessary. There can be no assurance that a decision will be favourable to Entree. While Entree remains committed to achieving a commercial resolution with Rio Tinto and OTLLC, if an arbitration decision is received prior to the execution of any definitive alternative agreement(s), there can be no assurance as to whether both parties would continue to try to progress a commercial resolution as currently contemplated or at all. Furthermore, in the third quarter of 2024 Entree met with Mongolian officials to reaffirm Entree's commitment to fulfil any obligation it has under applicable Mongolian law to share with the State of Mongolia up to 34% of the economic benefit derived by Entree from its interest in the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property. The Minerals Law of Mongolia provides the State may share in up to 34% of the economic benefit derived from exploitation of a mineral deposit of strategic importance (a "Strategic Deposit") where proven reserves were determined through funding sources other than the State budget. The Hugo North Extension copper-gold deposit on the Shivee Tolgoi mining license and the Heruga copper-gold-molybdenum deposit on the Javhlant mining licence are part of the Oyu Tolgoi group deposits. The Oyu Tolgoi group deposits were classified a Strategic Deposit by Resolution No. 27 dated February 6, 2007, adopted by the Parliament of Mongolia. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Horizon Copper Corp. KEFLAVIK, Iceland, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Signital, is a new digital signage software developed by the Icelandic tech company Dacoda. Signital has officially launched globally. After two years of development as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, the system promises to redefine how businesses manage their digital displays. With a proven track record of success in Icelandincluding adoption by one of the nation's largest companiesSignital is now ready to shake up the digital signage market. What Makes Signital a Game-Changer? Unlike traditional digital signage systems that require costly physical players or proprietary hardware, Signital offers a hardware-free solution. It turns any internet-connected displaysuch as a standard smart TVinto a fully functional digital signage screen, leveraging the display's built-in browser. In addition, while Signital does not require external players, it is fully compatible with a wide range of devices. Key features of Signital include: No Expensive Hardware : Signital eliminates the need for external players, streamlining costs and setup. : Signital eliminates the need for external players, streamlining costs and setup. Multi-Screen Management : Businesses can manage multiple displays across different locations effortlessly, synchronizing them into a single channel. : Businesses can manage multiple displays across different locations effortlessly, synchronizing them into a single channel. User-Friendly SaaS Platform : Accessible from anywhere, Signital's cloud-based system allows users to update and manage content with just a few clicks. : Accessible from anywhere, Signital's cloud-based system allows users to update and manage content with just a few clicks. Instant Scalability: From a single screen to hundreds, Signital's flexible infrastructure scales seamlessly to meet any business's needs. Proven Success in Iceland Having launched successfully in Iceland, Signital has already demonstrated its transformative impact. "Our goal was to make digital signage accessible and efficient for any business, large or small," says Julius Freyr Gumundsson, Founder of Dacoda. "We believe Signital's innovative approach will resonate with businesses globally, just as it has in Iceland." Expanding Horizons: Global Availability The global rollout of Signital positions Dacoda as a strong competitor in the digital signage market. With established players relying on expensive hardware solutions, Signital stands out as a cost-effective, plug-and-play alternative. Its ease of use and compatibility with existing technology make it an ideal choice for businesses seeking to enhance their communication without overhauling their infrastructure. Contact information: [email protected] +354 555-7515 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/dacoda/r/how-iceland-s-signital-is-transforming-digital-signage-by-eliminating-hardware-costs,c4072173 The following files are available for download: https://news.cision.com/dacoda/i/julius,c3355625 Julius https://news.cision.com/dacoda/i/signital-combined-2,c3355622 Signital combined 2 https://news.cision.com/dacoda/i/signital-combined,c3355623 Signital combined https://news.cision.com/dacoda/i/signital,c3355624 Signital SOURCE Dacoda He Gang, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said in his speech: "I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the winners tonight and pay tribute to creators of the mobile imaging era. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to HUAWEI XMAGE users each of you has made HUAWEI XMAGE go beyond being a tool for documenting life, evolving it into a bridge for emotional communication between people." HUAWEI XMAGE Award 2024 Ceremony: A Tribute to the Era of Mobile Imaging The XMAGE Awards have been held for eight consecutive years since 2017, where users from more than 170 countries and regions participate. Since its inception, the competition has accumulated almost 5 million entries. It is now one of the most influential mobile imaging events in the world. 2024's HUAWEI XMAGE Awards lasted 131 days, with users from 86 countries and regions participating and submitting more than 650,000 entries. In addition to China, the countries with the most overseas submissions are: Malaysia, Turkey, Philippines, UAE, Saudi Arabia; while the most popular smartphone models used by XMAGE Awards photographers are: HUAWEI Pura 70 Series, P60 Series, P40 Series, Mate 60 Series. At the ceremony, 66 winning works, including 3 Grand Prize Winners, 18 Best-in-Category Winners, 38 Runner-up Winners, 3 Honourable Mentions, 2 Best of Pura Series, and 2 Best of Mate Series were announced. Through diverse perspectives and expressive techniques, these works showcased warmth, tranquillity and brightness from all over the world and conveyed the raw emotions and strength of ordinary people. Photographer of the Year: High Praises from International Judges Chen Yong, an engineer from China, Justin Mendoza, an account manager from the Philippines, and Kinga Choinska, an office worker from Poland, were awarded the Grand Prize and each received a $10,000 Huawei Creation Fund. These works portray captivating moments in life with unique imagination and creativity, warming people's hearts. Judge's comment: "The girl ascending the ladder is a symbol of strength, movement, beauty, vitality, and uniqueness. She rises like a bird in flight, witnessing the sun piercing the clouds. Each of us holds the power to make the world better. Girl, this is your story." - Chen Xiaobo, 9th Vice President of China Photographers Association. Judge's comment: "When a photograph asks questions, it's an immediate success. This photograph embodies both humour and a great sense of scale, allowing us to consider how big the bird is, and weather or not it's been caught by the fisherman's pole. Its power lies within the serendipity of the moment, a well-considered composition, and unique low perspective." - Keith Ladzinski, National Geographic Photographer and Emmy-Nominated Director. Judge's comment: "The warm tones, matching hair accessories, and soft lighting come together nicely in this image to create a calm moment between the sisters. The cosy colour palette gives the scene a friendly and inviting feel, making it easy for viewers to sense the connection they share. It's a nice reminder of the little moments that bring us together" - James Perolls, Fashion Photographer and Director. Over 300 wonderful works will be presented at Shenzhen Sea World Culture and Art Center. The exhibition has carefully constructed seven sections including "Moments", "Faces", "So Far So Close", "Hello Life", etc., aiming to lead the audience into explore the infinite charm of Photography. From November 27th to November 30th, this visual feast will be a precious opportunity for art lovers to appreciate the excellent works of the competition up close, where emotions and stories behind each frame will be vividly displayed for all to see in person. Chen Xiaobo, 9th Vice President of China Photographers Association, said: "Mobile Imaging is not just about documenting daily life but should be integrated with deeper observations and more personal philosophical thoughts. Each photograph becomes a part of your own intimate dialogue with the world." HUAWEI XMAGE: A Brand about Human Connection, A Brand that Supports the Cultivation of Mobile Photography Culture Over the years, Huawei has continuously organized global photography tours, regularly released mobile photography trend reports, organised community-based activities, and held educational classes for photographers. The brand has always been committed to in-depth interactions with photographers, continuously promoting the cultivation of mobile photography culture, and continues to make its brand a close-knit and welcoming space for all. Through the HUAWEI XMAGE Awards' global platform, Huawei has built a space for in-depth communication among consumers, bridging the boundaries of region, culture, and language. At the same time, the platform encourages the exchange of human connections and the resonance of heartwarming emotions across the world through photography. For the complete list of winning works, please visit the official website of the 2024 HUAWEI XMAGE Awards: https://consumer.huawei.com/en/campaign/xmage/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568670/1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568671/2.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565386/Chen_Yong__China_____Catching_a_Cloud__HUAWEI_Pura_70.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565387/Justin_Mendoza_Philippines_____Pick_a_Beak__HUAWEI_P30_Pro.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2565389/Kinga_Choi_ska_Poland____Sisters__HUAWEI_P60_Pro.jpg WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hydrexia Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned company of Hydrexia Holding Limited (Hydrexia), a leading global hydrogen technology solution provider, and Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), a global automotive manufacturer announced that the two companies recently reached a commercial agreement for hydrogen application solution. Under the terms of the agreement, Hydrexia provided TMP with its containerized mobile hydrogen refueling station (HRS) to fuel hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles (HICEV), the Toyota Corolla Cross H2 Concept, which was showcased at the Toyota "Beyond Zero" media event as part of the Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) in October this year. 'Beyond Zero' is a showcase of multi-pathway approach towards carbon neutrality. It stands as a significant pledge and initiative by Toyota towards sustainable and inclusive mobility systems, as well as global carbon neutrality. Toyota showcased its commitment to providing muti-pathway vehicle technologies, contributing to a net positive carbon impact, and fostering a sustainable future. Hydrexia's provision of its mobile HRS solution to TMP marks the continued collaboration between Hydrexia and Toyota. Earlier this year, Hydrexia had worked with Toyota Malaysia to provide a mobile HRS solution to support the "Move to Zero" event in Malaysia. Hydrexia was chosen to be a service provider due to the safety and functionality of its solution and equipment, and its ability to deliver within a short timeframe. "We are honored to work again with Toyota where we can leverage our technological and solution strengths to add values to Toyota's journey towards carbon neutrality," George Gan, the global sales vice president, and the general manager for Southeast Asia at Hydrexia. "We extremely value our collaboration with Toyota and are committed to providing our support to Toyota to meet its hydrogen application needs in the Southeast Asia and beyond," Gan continued. As a leading global hydrogen technology solution provider, Hydrexia's technology solutions and products have gained considerable tractions globally in the past year. The company has expanded its business operations across Southeast Asia, Japan, India, Europe, U.S., and Australia. About Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation is the leading and largest automotive and mobility company in the Philippines. It is engaged in the local assembly, importation, and wholesale distribution of motor vehicles of Toyota and Lexus brands. About Hydrexia Hydrexia Holding Limited is a leading global integrated hydrogen technology solution provider. The company specializes in providing technology solutions for hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and end-use applications. Leveraging its solid R&D capabilities and industry-leading technology, Hydrexia aims to effectively address the technology and application needs across the global hydrogen industry value chain. SOURCE Hydrexia Hydrogen Compressors Market expansion is driven by development of electrochemical hydrogen compressor (EHC), the rising investments in renewable energy & hydrogen generation projects worldwide and increasing shift toward green hydrogen. NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new comprehensive report from The Insight Partners, "the global Hydrogen Compressors Market Size and Forecast (2023 - 2035), Global and Regional Share, Trend, and Growth Opportunity Analysis Report Coverage: Type (Lubricated and Oil-Free), Technology (Reciprocating Hydrogen Compressors, Diaphragm Hydrogen Compressors, Nonmechanical Hydrogen Compressor, and Others), End-user (Power Plants, Oil and Gas, Food and Beverages, Petrochemical and Chemical, Hydrogen Fueling Station, Hydrogen Storage, and Others), and Geography ". For Detailed Market Insights, Visit: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/hydrogen-compressor-market The report carries out an in-depth analysis of market trends, key players, and future opportunities. In general, the hydrogen compressors market comprises a vast array of hardware, and sensors which are expected to register strength during the coming years. With projected growth to $3.74billion by 2035, the Hydrogen Compressors Market represents a significant opportunity for component, provides several stakeholdersincluding component providers, system technology integrators, system manufacturers and otherswith valuable insights into how to successfully navigate this evolving market landscape and unlock new opportunities. For More Information and To Stay Updated on The Latest Developments in The Hydrogen Compressors Market, Download The Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00019472/ Market Overview and Growth Trajectory: Hydrogen Compressors Market Growth: According to a new comprehensive report from The Insight Partners, the global Hydrogen Compressors market is observing significant growth owing to rapid industrialization and an increase in hydrogen production across the globe. Hydrogen production reached 94 million metric tons in 2021, a rise from 91 million metric tons in 2019. Hydrogen compressors are used in the oil & gas and refinery industries for compression. The hydrogen compressors market was valued at US$ 1,913.04 million in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 3,740.52 million by 2035; it is expected to register a CAGR of 6.0% during 20232035. The rise in government investments in the development of hydrogen fuel infrastructure and incentives offered to the buyers are allowing the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to expand their revenue stream as well as their geographical presence. There is an increase in demand for low-emission and cost-efficient vehicles owing to associated government initiatives and a growing number of high-performance commercial vehicles across the globe. Numerous government policies have been deployed to reduce emissions by vehicles. For instance, in the US, the state of California dedicated funds for the development of 100 hydrogen refueling stations and is aiming to reach ~1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025, driving the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Due to rising concerns regarding the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation, several technologies have been developed and introduced in the market that favor the eco-friendly concept of sustainability. Similarly, rising awareness related to the effects of air pollution and the surge in greenhouse gas emissions is propelling the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that offer higher fuel economy than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This vehicle has a fuel economy of more than 63 miles per gallon, while ICE vehicle has 29 miles per gallon on roads. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles enhance the fuel economy by approximately 3.2%. The oil & gas sector is rapidly expanding in several countries, such as China, the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Mexico. The industry's growth is driven by increasing oil and gas exploration activities in these countries. There is a rising adoption of advanced technologies for drilling and completing operations to optimize oil and gas production. Governments of various countries are investing in the mining, refineries, and oil & gas sectors. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation Organization, the Indian government planned to invest US$ 2.86 billion in oil and gas exploration activities to increase domestic natural gas production in 2022. With rising favorable government support, numerous investments in oil and gas projects have been made. For instance, in August 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has resumed 8,363 oil and gas projects worth US$ 79.56 trillion in India, which, in turn, promotes the integration of hydrogen compressors for the oil and gas flow control. Geographical Insights: In 2023, Asia Pacific led the market with a substantial revenue share, followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Hydrogen Compressors Market Segmentation, Applications, Geographical Insights: Based on type, the Hydrogen Compressors market is divided into lubricated and oil-free. The lubricated segment held a larger share of the market in 2023. Based on technology, the hydrogen compressors market is segmented into reciprocating hydrogen compressors, diaphragm hydrogen compressors, nonmechanical hydrogen compressors, and others. The reciprocating hydrogen compressors segment dominated the market in 2023. Based on end user, the market is categorized into power plants, oil and gas, food and beverages, petrochemical and chemical, hydrogen fueling station, hydrogen storage, and others. The petrochemical and chemical segment held the largest share of the market in 2023. Purchase Premium Copy of Global Hydrogen Compressors Market Size and Growth Report (2023-2035) at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00019472/ Key Players and Competitive Landscape: The HYDROGEN COMPRESSORS Market is characterized by the presence of several major players, including: Atlas Copco AB Burckhardt Compression AG Fluitron, Inc Gardner Denver Nash , LLC , LLC Howden Group HAUG Sauer Kompressoren AG NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP Hydro-Pac, Inc. Lenhardt & Wagner GmbH PDC Machines Inc. These companies are adopting strategies such as new product launches, joint ventures, and geographical expansion to maintain their competitive edge in the market. Hydrogen Compressors Market Recent Developments and Innovations: "Atlas Copco launches variable speed driven hydrogen compressor 'H2P'. Atlas Copco has launched the H2P, a hydrogen compressor capable of following the electrolysis production profile. Thanks to its speed-controlled technology, the compressor can compensate for fluctuations in hydrogen production and ensure optimal efficiency, thereby reducing energy losses." "CIMC Enric successfully launched hydrogen 90MPa/1000kg liquid-driven compressor and 45 MPa diaphragm compressor Strengthening the overall solution capability of hydrogen energy. The Company's 90MPa/1000kg liquid-driven compressor and 45MPa diaphragm compressor were recently launched at the CIMC Hydrogen Shanghai Equipment Manufacturing and Bengbu Equipment Manufacturing Base respectively." The SIAD Group innovates and launches the new 550 bar, oil-free, high-pressure hydrogen compressor for hydrogen mobility. The group manufactures its first compressor, SIAD Macchine Impianti (SIAD MI), a SIAD Group company, which introduced its latest engineering innovation: a high-pressure, hydrogen compressor equipped with oil-free technology that delivers top performance and reliability. Designed specifically to meet the needs of the transportation and hydrogen refueling station sectors, and thanks to this initiative, SIAD Macchine Impianti becomes a leading player in the sustainable mobility supply chain, an area of priority for the company. For Region-Specific Market Data, Check Out Brief Sample Pages: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00019472/ Hydrogen Compressors Market Drivers and Opportunities: A report from the Hydrogen Council, which includes over 150 multinational companies, predicts that the combined hydrogen demand from China, India, Japan, and South Korea is expected to reach ~285 metric ton by 2050, accounting for 43% of the global total. China, being the world's largest hydrogen consumer, is actively striving to gain the lead in green hydrogen production. As the demand for green hydrogen surges, companies are engaging in strategic partnerships and investing heavily to position themselves in the emerging green hydrogen industry in Asia Pacific, which propels the growth of the hydrogen compressors market. Challenges and Future Outlook: Asia Pacific is witnessing intense competition among companies aiming to establish green hydrogen production bases, recognizing its potential as a next-generation power source. The domestic players are teaming up with companies from Western countries for massive projects. Orsted, a Danish offshore wind power company exploring entry into the green hydrogen sector, partnered with POSCO, a South Korean steelmaker, for an offshore wind power project in May 2021. It is also studying the feasibility of green hydrogen production. Moreover, Western oil companies are making significant investments in Asia Pacific. In June 2022, BP became the largest shareholder in the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) project in Australia, aiming to produce up to 1.6 metric tons of green hydrogen annually and secure a 10% share of the global market. Such investments by companies are expected to fuel the hydrogen compressors market growth in Asia Pacific during the forecast period. Need A Diverse Region or Sector? Customize Research to Suit Your Requirement: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPRE00019472/ Conclusion: Many manufacturers worldwide are incorporating IoT, smart solutions, and automation in the oil & gas industry. According to Car Group Organization, in 2021, automotive manufacturers announced an investment of US$ 36 billion for building manufacturing facilities for batteries and EVs. In the first quarter of 2022, automakers in Asia Pacific announced an investment of US$ 24 billion in electric vehicles. Hydrogen compressors are widely used in automotive manufacturing. Increased adoption of Industry 4.0, along with a surge in the advancements in consumer electronics manufacturing and machinery tools, is driving the hydrogen compressor market growth. Hydrogen plays a vital role in energy production; this supports the aim of the decarbonization of carbon-intensive sectors, including chemical, processing, automotive, mobility, and power generation, among others. Compressors are used in the hydrogen gas production value chain and are essential for efficiently transporting hydrogen. Related Report Titles: About Us: The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials. Contact Us: If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us: Contact Person: Ankit Mathur E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +1-646-491-9876 Press Release: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/pr/hydrogen-compressor-market Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2520492/The_Insight_Partners_Logo.jpg SOURCE The Insight Partners Industrial Burners Market Size and Forecast PUNE, India, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Credence Research report "Industrial Burners Market By Burner Type (Regenerative Burners, Thermal Radiation Burners, Flat Flame Burners, Radiant Burners, Line Burners, Customized Burners), By Fuel Type (Solid Fuel, Oil-Based Burners, Gas-Based Burners, Dual Fuel Burners), By Industry Vertical (Power Generation, Petrochemicals, Chemicals & Specialty Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Metals & Mining, Glass & Ceramics, F&B) Growth, Future Prospects & Competitive Analysis, 2016 2030" the global industrial burners market has experienced consistent growth and is projected to maintain a steady expansion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.20% from 2023 to 2030. In 2022, the market was valued at USD 5.8 billion and is anticipated to reach USD 8.3 billion by 2030. This growth is driven by the increasing adoption of energy-efficient solutions across industries, the need to comply with stringent environmental regulations, and advancements in burner technologies. Industries such as chemicals, food processing, and power generation are among the largest consumers, leveraging industrial burners for critical applications like process heating, drying, and material treatment. Future Market Dynamics The growth trajectory is supported by increasing industrialization, particularly in emerging economies, and the replacement of outdated systems with advanced, low-emission burners. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to lead the market, driven by rapid industrial development and infrastructure investments, while North America and Europe will contribute significantly due to their focus on clean energy and modernization of industrial facilities. Technological advancements, including the integration of IoT for real-time monitoring and efficiency optimization, are reshaping the market landscape. These factors, coupled with government incentives promoting sustainable energy systems, are poised to sustain the market's growth over the forecast period. Dive deeper into market insights, growth drivers, and key trends by browsing the comprehensive report. Click here to access the full report- https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/industrial-burners-market Industrial Burners Market Drivers Growing Demand for Energy Efficiency and Low-Emission Solutions The industrial burners market is driven by the increasing need for energy-efficient systems and low-emission technologies. With industries striving to reduce operational costs and meet stringent environmental regulations, the adoption of burners that minimize fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is on the rise. For example, the European Union has implemented the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), which establishes strict emission limits for NOx, SOx, and dust from industrial combustion processes. In response to these regulations, many companies are retrofitting older burners with emission control technologies and upgrading to more efficient systems. Governments worldwide are introducing policies and incentives to encourage the use of eco-friendly burners, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing, power generation, and chemical processing. This is evidenced by initiatives like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ambitious target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. The demand is especially strong in regions like East Asia, where manufacturing, energy, and heavy industries are expanding rapidly, accounting for 35.2% of the market share in 2024. These factors are fostering significant demand for advanced industrial burners, with high-velocity burners being particularly popular due to their ability to generate efficient heat distribution and reduce fuel expenses. Rapid Industrialization in Emerging Economies Emerging economies in regions like Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East are witnessing rapid industrialization, boosting the demand for industrial burners in various applications such as material processing, drying, and heating. The Asia-Pacific region plays a dominant role, with extensive global manufacturing companies establishing facilities in India and China due to lower land costs, reduced labor expenses, and easy access to raw materials. Countries like China, India, and Brazil are experiencing significant investments in infrastructure and industrial facilities, creating a robust market for industrial burners. India's steel consumption, for instance, has grown at a CAGR of 5.67% from FY14 to FY24, reaching 136 MT in FY24, demonstrating the expanding industrial base. This growth is further supported by the expansion of industries such as cement, steel, and food processing, which rely heavily on high-performance burners to ensure operational efficiency. In the food processing sector alone, India has approved 41 Mega Food Parks and 588 Food Processing Units as of June 2024, while the sector has grown at an average annual rate of 5.35% over the past eight years. The Japanese manufacturing sector, particularly in automotive, electronics, and chemicals, has also shown substantial growth in demand for high-temperature industrial burners. Advancements in Burner Technology Technological innovations in burner systems, including the integration of IoT and automation, are reshaping the market dynamics. Smart burners equipped with real-time monitoring and control capabilities enhance energy efficiency and reduce maintenance costs, with case studies demonstrating up to 30% reduction in energy consumption in certain applications. These advancements address key industry challenges, such as optimizing fuel use and minimizing downtime, which are critical for industries operating under tight profit margins. Companies implementing smart burner systems have reported a 25% reduction in unexpected failures, while high-performance models have achieved over 40% reduction in emissions through optimal fuel-air mixture control. The ability to remotely monitor and adjust burner performance is also attracting industrial users, thereby accelerating market adoption. Advanced burner management systems now incorporate predictive maintenance algorithms that can monitor burner health in real-time, enabling proactive maintenance scheduling and minimizing unexpected breakdowns. Smart control systems can provide precise electronic control of air and fuel flow, compensating for changes in combustion conditions with full cross-limited ratio to maximize burner performance. Additionally, IoT-enabled boiler monitoring systems allow facility managers to receive real-time readings and alerts directly to their smartphones, with color-coded gauges indicating performance ranges from optimal (green) to poor (red). Replacement of Outdated Equipment Industries are increasingly replacing old and inefficient burner systems with modern, high-efficiency alternatives to comply with environmental standards and improve operational performance. The rising awareness of the long-term cost savings and productivity benefits associated with new burners is driving this trend. Additionally, government incentives and penalties for non-compliance with emissions regulations are further motivating industries to upgrade their equipment, creating sustained demand for industrial burners globally. Preview the report with a detailed sample and understand how it can benefit your business strategy. Request a free sample today https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/industrial-burners-market Industrial Burners Market Restraints High Initial Investment and Operational Costs The adoption of advanced industrial burners often requires significant upfront investment, which can be a major restraint for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). High costs associated with the installation, customization, and maintenance of these burners deter many organizations from upgrading their existing systems. Additionally, the integration of new technologies like IoT and automation in burners increases operational complexity, requiring skilled personnel and additional expenses for training and support, further limiting market growth. Stringent Regulatory Compliance While stringent environmental regulations drive the adoption of low-emission industrial burners, they also create challenges for manufacturers and end-users. Developing burners that meet evolving standards requires continuous investment in research and development, increasing production costs. For end-users, adhering to compliance protocols often involves additional monitoring systems and regular audits, adding to operational overheads. Non-compliance penalties and the pressure to meet stringent standards can strain resources, particularly for industries in developing regions with limited access to advanced technologies. Dependence on Fluctuating Energy Prices Industrial burners rely heavily on fuel sources such as natural gas, oil, and coal, making the market vulnerable to energy price fluctuations. Sudden increases in fuel costs can significantly impact operating expenses, discouraging industries from investing in or upgrading to advanced burner systems. Furthermore, the volatility of energy markets, influenced by geopolitical factors and global supply-demand dynamics, adds uncertainty for industrial players, potentially limiting the growth of the industrial burners market. Limited Penetration in Developing Regions Despite the market's growth potential, the penetration of advanced industrial burners remains limited in developing regions due to infrastructural constraints and lower awareness of energy-efficient technologies. Many industries in these regions continue to rely on traditional, low-cost burner systems that lack efficiency and environmental compliance. The absence of robust policy frameworks and financial incentives in certain countries further hinders the widespread adoption of advanced burners, restraining the overall market growth. Industrial Burners Market Segmentation Analysis By Type The industrial burners market is segmented into oil, gas, solid fuel, and dual fuel burners. Among these, gas burners dominate the market due to their efficiency and cleaner combustion properties, which align with increasing environmental regulations. Dual fuel burners are gaining traction for their flexibility in fuel usage, making them ideal for industries aiming to optimize operational costs and adapt to fluctuating energy markets. Meanwhile, oil burners remain prevalent in industries with easy access to liquid fuels, and solid fuel burners cater to specific applications, especially in regions with abundant solid fuel resources. By Burner Type Burners are categorized into regenerative burners, high thermal release burners, radiant burners, direct-fired burners, self-recuperative burners, and others. Regenerative burners are widely used for their energy efficiency and ability to recover heat, reducing fuel consumption. High thermal release burners are favored in applications requiring intense heat output, such as metals and mining. Radiant burners find significant applications in processes requiring uniform heating, such as ceramics and textiles. Self-recuperative burners are increasingly adopted for their ability to enhance efficiency by preheating combustion air, while other types, like ribbon and high-velocity burners, cater to specialized industrial needs. By Operative Temperature Based on operative temperature, the market is divided into high-temperature (>1,400 F) and low-temperature (<1,400 F) burners. High-temperature burners are critical in industries like metals and petrochemicals, where processes demand intense heat. Conversely, low-temperature burners are utilized in applications such as food processing and paper manufacturing, where precise and moderate heating is required. Segmentation of Global Industrial Burners Market- Segmentation By Type Oil Gas Solid Fuel Dual Fuel By Burner Type Regenerative Burner High Thermal Release Burner Radiant Burner Direct-fired Burner Self-recuperative Burner Others (Ribbon burners, lines burners, duct burners, pipe burners, and high-velocity burners) By Operative Temperature High Temperature (> 1,400 F) Low Temperature (> 1,400 F) By Power Rating Monoblock Duoblock By Sales Channel Food & Beverages Petrochemicals Power Generation Chemicals Metals & Mining Automotive Others (Textiles, glass, paper and pilp, ceramics, and rubber) By Region North America US Canada Mexico Europe Germany France UK. Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea South-east Asia Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa & GCC Countries South Africa Rest of Middle East and Africa Tailor the report to align with your specific business needs and gain targeted insights. Request customization now- https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/industrial-burners-market Regional Analysis North America North America holds a significant share in the industrial burners market, driven by the presence of well-established industrial sectors such as chemicals, petrochemicals, and power generation. Stringent environmental regulations in the U.S. and Canada are pushing industries to adopt energy-efficient and low-emission burner systems. Technological advancements, including smart burners integrated with IoT for enhanced operational efficiency, are widely adopted across the region. The replacement of outdated systems with modern burners is further fueling market growth. Additionally, the region benefits from a mature infrastructure and government incentives promoting sustainable energy solutions. Europe Europe represents a key market for industrial burners, primarily due to its focus on clean energy and stringent emissions standards. Countries such as Germany, the UK, and France are leading in the adoption of advanced burners to meet strict regulatory requirements. The region's strong industrial base in sectors like automotive, food and beverages, and chemicals is driving demand for efficient burners. Additionally, significant investments in upgrading industrial facilities to align with the European Union's environmental policies are supporting market expansion. Emerging trends in renewable energy and waste-to-energy systems are also expected to boost the market in Europe. Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth in the industrial burners market, fueled by rapid industrialization and urbanization in countries like China, India, and Japan. The region's expanding manufacturing base in sectors such as metals, mining, and cement is driving the demand for high-performance burners. Increasing investments in infrastructure development and rising energy demands are further boosting the market. Additionally, government initiatives supporting industrial modernization and emission reduction are encouraging the adoption of advanced burners. The growing emphasis on cost-efficient and fuel-flexible solutions is also a notable driver in the region. Middle East & Africa The Middle East & Africa region offers significant opportunities in the industrial burners market, particularly in the petrochemical and power generation sectors. Countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Africa are investing heavily in industrial and energy infrastructure. The availability of relatively low-cost fuel resources supports the adoption of burners in large-scale applications. However, the region faces challenges such as geopolitical instability and infrastructural limitations, which can impact market dynamics. Nonetheless, growing industrial activities and government-led initiatives to diversify economies are expected to drive market growth in the coming years. Top Companies ANDRITZ Group Baltur S.p.A Bloom Engineering Wood Group PLC (Foster Wheeler AG) Honeywell International Inc. (Maxon) Limpsfield Combustion Engineering Ltd Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd (MHPS) Oilon Group Osaka Gas Co., Ltd Selas Heat Technology Company R.W. Beckett Corp SAACKE GmbH Industrial Combustion IC Wesman Group Striko Westofen Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd. QED Combustion Alzeta Corporation Alfa Therm Limited Weishaupt Enertech GmbH Power Flame (Astec) EOGB Energy Products Ltd. Babcock Wanson Riello S.p.A Zeeco, Inc. Alfa Laval Corbett Industries, Inc. Faber Burner Company AGF Burner Inc. John Zink Hamworthy Combustion Oxilon Private Limited Wayne Combustion Systems SECO/WARWICK, INC. Surface Combustion, Inc. Midco International, Inc. ELCO GmbH Latest Developments: ClearSign Technologies ( Oct 2024 ) : Completed testing of its Ultra-Low NOx Burner under the California Gas GET Program, showcasing significant energy savings ( ~$80k annually for a 500hp boiler) and ultra-low NOx emissions. : Completed testing of its Ultra-Low NOx Burner under the California Gas GET Program, showcasing significant energy savings ( annually for a 500hp boiler) and ultra-low NOx emissions. Buhler India ( Aug 2024 ) : Launched the DirectBake Smart oven and RotaMold Smart molder, leveraging recipe-controlled burner technology for efficiency. Both solutions cater to increasing demand in biscuit manufacturing. : Launched the DirectBake Smart oven and RotaMold Smart molder, leveraging recipe-controlled burner technology for efficiency. Both solutions cater to increasing demand in biscuit manufacturing. Fives Group & Lhyfe ( July 2024 ) : Formed a partnership to integrate hydrogen production with combustion systems, targeting industrial decarbonization in Europe and North America . : Formed a partnership to integrate hydrogen production with combustion systems, targeting industrial decarbonization in and . Weishaupt Group ( Aug 2024 ) : Introduced WK-series burners with advanced digital combustion management and insulation for high efficiency and smart infrastructure compatibility. : Introduced WK-series burners with advanced digital combustion management and insulation for high efficiency and smart infrastructure compatibility. Oilon Group ( June 2024 ) : Released the LN30 Ultra-Low NOx burners, achieving emissions below 2.5 ppm and securing patents globally. : Released the LN30 Ultra-Low NOx burners, achieving emissions below 2.5 ppm and securing patents globally. ANDRITZ AG ( Nov 2023 ) : Expanded its industrial burner portfolio with digital controls, fuel flexibility, and enhanced emissions management. : Expanded its industrial burner portfolio with digital controls, fuel flexibility, and enhanced emissions management. Honeywell ( Dec 2023 ) : Acquired Carrier Global's security division for $5 billion to enhance its automation offerings. : Acquired Carrier Global's security division for to enhance its automation offerings. Baltur ( Sep 2023 ) : Developed medium-power Gas/Biogas burners (8003600 kW) for industrial applications using Biogas as the primary fuel. : Developed medium-power Gas/Biogas burners (8003600 kW) for industrial applications using Biogas as the primary fuel. Koch Engineered Solutions ( June 2023 ): Opened a 60,000 m manufacturing facility in China with automated lines for burners and flares, emphasizing innovation and quality. Reasons to Purchase this Report: Reasons to Purchase this Report: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the market through qualitative and quantitative analyses, considering both economic and non-economic factors, with segmentation and sub-segmentation details provided in terms of market value (USD Billion). Identify regions and segments expected to experience the fastest growth or dominate the market, with a detailed analysis of geographic consumption patterns and the factors driving or hindering market performance in each region. Stay informed about the competitive environment, with rankings of major players, recent product and service launches, partnerships, business expansions, and acquisitions from the past five years. Access detailed profiles of major market players, including company overviews, insights, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis, to understand competitive advantages and market positioning. Explore the present and forecasted market landscape, with insights into growth opportunities, market drivers, challenges, and constraints for both developed and emerging regions. Benefit from Porter's Five Forces analysis and Value Chain insights to evaluate various market perspectives and competitive dynamics. Understand the evolving market scenario, including potential growth opportunities and trends expected in the coming years. Preview the report with a detailed sample and understand how it can benefit your business strategy. 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The company is a market research and consulting firm serving governments, non-legislative associations, non-profit organizations, and various organizations worldwide. We help our clients improve their execution in a lasting way and understand their most imperative objectives. Contact Us Mitul Dean Tower C-1105 , S 25, Akash Tower, Vishal Nahar, Pimple Nilakh, Haveli, Pune 411027, India [email protected] www.credenceresearch.com SOURCE Credence Research Inc. REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivalua , a global leader in spend management, is proud to announce that it has won the Asia Pacific Solution Provider award at the Procurement Leaders Asia Pacific Procurement Awards 2024 ceremony in Singapore. This marks the third award in the past four months recognizing Ivalua as the top procurement solution provider. This prestigious awards ceremony recognizes and celebrates organizations and individuals for their outstanding excellence and innovation within the procurement industry across the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia Pacific Solution Provider Award recognizes the solution provider that demonstrates the most impactful and valuable technology or service for procurement functions. It is the only award given to a technology provider. In recent years, Ivalua has further intensified its investments in the Asia Pacific region to maximize the growing opportunities presented by this dynamic market. In particular, Ivalua has been supporting the procurement digitalization of several leading organizations including BAE Systems Australia, CIMB, SA Water, Air New Zealand, UNSW, Maxis, Jollibee, Dole Sunshine, Piramal Glass, Asian Paints, and more. "We are honored to receive this prestigious award, which is a testament to the dedication of the entire Ivalua team and recognizes our commitment to supporting organizations in the Asia Pacific region with our market-leading solution. This win motivates us further to continue to drive excellence and innovation with our customers and partners in APAC," said Andrew Stafford, VP, APAC, at Ivalua. This award marks the third win in recent months for Ivalua following the Best Source-to-Pay (S2P) Technology Provider Award at the CPO Asia Summit & Awards held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Best Procurement Solution Provider accolade at the UAE 100 CPO Summit & Awards in Dubai. About the Asia Pacific Procurement Awards The Asia Pacific Procurement Awards honor organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to procurement, setting new standards, and driving innovation and social impact within their organizations and communities. An independent panel of esteemed judges featuring procurement leaders from organisations such as Air New Zealand, Asian Development Bank, and EnergyAustralia, meticulously evaluated the entries. Their rigorous assessment selected only the most worthy winners from many inspiring entries. About Ivalua Ivalua is a leading provider of cloud-based, AI-powered Spend Management software. Our unified Source-to-Pay platform empowers businesses to effectively manage all categories of spend and all suppliers, increasing profitability, improving sustainability, lowering risk and boosting employee productivity. We are trusted by hundreds of the world's most admired brands and recognized as a leader by Gartner and other analysts. Learn more at www.ivalua.com . Follow us on LinkedIn and X . Global Media Contact Corporate Communications [email protected] SOURCE Ivalua BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 11th, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change kicked off in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The conference focused on how to fairly and effectively allocate climate financing resources, ensuring that every penny can be used to its maximum effect, helping countries achieve low-carbon economic transformation and enhance climate resilience. Dennis She, Vice President of LONGi, addressed a keynote speech at Blue Zone COP29, Baku Olympic Stadium A 700kW solar photovoltaic powerplant has been installed at UNHCR's Emergency Logistics Hub in Termez.O UNHCR/Elyor Nemat LONGi and TechnoGroupService have collaborated on the construction of the Balkhash Solar Power Station in Kazakhstan At this critical moment in the global fight against climate change, as an advocate, practitioner, and leader in sustainable development in the global clean energy field, LONGi actively participated in COP29, advocating for the promotion of energy equity through green innovation. This marks LONGi's sixth consecutive participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On November 15th, LONGi in collaboration with Deeprock Group, hosted a special event titled "SOLAR FOR ALLThe Key to Tackling Climate Change: Green Innovation Accelerates Just Energy Transition" at the "Biosphere 3" Solutions Pavilion in the Blue Zone of COP29. The event showcased LONGi's latest scientific and technological achievements and project progress in the field of clean energy. Additionally, LONGi participated in a roundtable forum attended by representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), China Electricity Council (CEC), Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), World Economic Forum (WEF), Energy Foundation (EF), and relevant NGOs. At the forum, LONGi shared its stories about "Energy Equity" and discussed how to help climate-vulnerable regions enhance their climate resilience. Solarization of the Emergency Stockpile in Uzbekistan Completed UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and LONGi, a leading global solar technology company, have completed a groundbreaking project to solarize the UNHCR Regional Humanitarian Logistics Hub located in the Termez Cargo Centre in Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan. The project, part of a wider UNHCR-LONGi climate action partnership, marks a significant step towards ensuring a sustainable energy supply for logistics that support refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) across the region and beyond. The solarization has transformed the Hub into a critical operation powered by clean energy. With the installation of high-efficiency solar panels, a substantial amount of renewable energy will be generated each year, reducing the Hub's reliance on the grid and significantly lowering its carbon emissions. "This transition to clean energy - a milestone in greening our supply chain globally - not only provides a renewable, reliable and cost-effective power source for the critical work that the Termez Supply Hub supports in the region, but also demonstrates UNHCR's strong commitment to environmental sustainability," said Shoko Shimozawa, Director of UNHCR's Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS). The 700kW solar photovoltaic powerplant is expected to generate around 989,993kWh of electricity annually, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 495 metric tons per year. It will also result in significant annual electricity savings, which will benefit local energy infrastructure by reducing operating costs and allowing for reinvestment in further sustainable initiatives. "By solarizing the Hub and partnering with UNHCR, LONGi is able to provide more efficient, reliable, safe and sustainable energy solutions for refugees around the world, accelerating the global energy transition and promoting energy equity," said Dennis She, Vice President of LONGi. "Our vision is to promote a global energy transformation using BC (back-contact) solar technology, solving the electricity problem for people who are often without access to basic services, helping refugees to safeguard their rights and live in dignity." This partnership sets a precedent for future projects that aim to promote renewable energy adoption and improve the lives of vulnerable populations. A milestone in UNHCR's efforts to achieve climate neutrality across its operations, the solarization of the Hub paves the way for further collaboration that draws on the skills and expertise of the private sector. And by investing in renewable energy solutions, alongside strong partners, UNHCR is not only reducing its environmental impact but also building resilience and ensuring a sustainable future for refugees and IDPs. The Hub, which has served as UNHCR's regional emergency preparedness and response stockpile since 2021 primarily for the Afghanistan response, will be incorporated into UNHCR's global stockpile network in 2025. This network, currently consisting of seven UNHCR stockpiles, enables the organization to respond to emergencies anywhere in the world by delivering core relief items (CRIs) - like blankets, mattresses, solar lamps and kitchen sets - to up to 1 million people who have been forced to flee their homes within 72 hours of an emergency being declared. Turning emergency stockpile operations net carbon-neutral is a critical priority for the sustainability of UNHCR's work. And the success if this pilot in Termez paves the way for similar projects around the globe. Accelerating Global Energy Equity with Leading Photovoltaic Technology Dennis She believes that energy equity lies in providing clean, affordable, and non-discriminatory energy services for all of humanity. However, there is currently a huge disparity in per capita energy consumption levels among countries worldwide, with the top 20% of economies consuming about 80% of the global energy. At the same time, approximately 11% of the global population still lives in darkness without electricity, and about one-third of the population cannot use clean energy for cooking, with energy poverty directly affecting local economic development and the improvement of people's quality of life. In addition, the uneven distribution of global energy resources and limited affordability also constrain the realization of energy equity on a global scale. With the deepening implementation of global carbon neutrality goals, clean energy represented by photovoltaics will gradually become the backbone of the global energy transition. In particular, the technological and manufacturing attributes of photovoltaics continuously enhance their cost competitiveness, rapidly driving the process of energy transition. Solar energy is more widely and abundantly distributed globally than traditional fossil fuels, and it is more beneficial to developing countries. As a new type of clean energy, photovoltaic (PV) power generation has seen a rapid decrease in the cost per kilowatt-hour with the continuous development of photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaics have become the most economical source of electricity in the majority of countries and regions worldwide. Their sustainability, affordability, and characteristics of fairness and security provide an excellent solution to help achieve global energy equity. As a global leading solar technology company, LONGi calls for global energy equity and has been driving global energy transition in all aspects, reducing the costs for people on the path to carbon neutrality. This allows more people around the world, especially those in developing and underdeveloped countries and regions, to enjoy affordable clean energy and achieve energy equity. In 2022, Dennis She first advocated for global energy equity at COP27, calling for the allocation of limited resources to the popularization of renewable energy and urgent climate actions. In the future, a new round of energy revolution centered on new energy will be accelerated, and the beautiful vision of a zero-carbon future will be realized sooner based on equal and economical distribution of clean electricity. At that time, light will be brought equally into every corner of the world, providing inclusive clean energy for all regions under all scenarios, truly achieving "SOLAR FOR ALL," and the world will have unlimited possibilities for sustainable development. About LONGi Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being a leading global solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation. Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial and industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. SOURCE LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. TOKYO, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The renowned 'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' was concluded with an awe-inspiring performance at Tokyo Opera City. Organized by the Saudi Music Commission, one of the 11 commissions under the Ministry of Culture, and held under the patronage of His Highness Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Minister of Culture, the event delivered an evening of exceptional musical artistry and cultural collaboration. HOTEI Marvels of Saudi Orchestra and Tokyo College of Music Orchestra Academy. Image courtesy of The Music Commission. The concert featured the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir in a dynamic performance alongside Japan's prestigious Gagaku Orchestra Imperial Court Music and the Orchestra Academy of Tokyo College of Music. Adding to the evening's brilliance was a standout guest appearance by the legendary Japanese guitarist HOTEI, whose performance captivated the audience. Marking its fth destination and rst in the Far East, the Tokyo concert represented a signicant milestone in the 'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' tour, which has previously enthralled audiences in Paris, Mexico City, New York City, and London. The carefully curated concert blended traditional Saudi compositions with classical Japanese masterpieces, showcasing the unique artistic depth of both nations and leaving a profound impression on all in attendance. Paul Pacico, CEO of the Saudi Music Commission, reflected on the signicance of the event, stating: "The 'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' has been an extraordinary celebration of musical talent and creativity. Tonight's performance was a tting nale, demonstrating the power of collaboration between the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir and our esteemed Japanese partners. This concert not only delivered an unforgettable experience but also underscored the transformative potential of music." The 'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' represents the Saudi Music Commission's unwavering commitment to fostering world-class musical talent, celebrating cultural expression, and elevating artistic achievement to the global stage. Contacts: Lola Stewart, +44 77 99 888 548, [email protected] Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568365/HOTEI_Marvels_of_Saudi_Orchestra.jpg BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Siyavush Karimi has been dismissed from his position as the rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Trend reports. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed the relevant decree in this regard. "Based on Article 109, Paragraph 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I hereby decree: To dismiss Siyavush Karimi from his position as rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory," the decree stated. Nano-Yield bucks trends, finishes strong and casts optimistic eye to 2025 SANDY, Utah, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 2024 was a difficult year in agriculture as many companies were forced to tighten budgets and scale back operations. Like many companies, Nano-Yield had to make adjustments, but with the introduction of NanoCote and the enduring products from Aqua-Yield leading the way, Nano-Yield once again saw overall sales and production growth. NanoCote Sales and Annual NanoCon Bring Successful End to a Difficult Year In Agriculture That growth pleased company Founder and CEO, Clark T. Bell. "Even with overall difficulties across many agricultural sectors, Nano-Yield was able to grow as a whole, seeing a 25% increase in sales over fiscal 2023. The bottom line, introducing NanoCote as our first nano-based granular fertilizer coating was perfectly timed with sales surpassing all of our expectations." Nano-Yield is not resting on past accomplishments. NanoCote trials continue in many areas and on thousands of acres. All data points to NanoCote as a preferred choice for farmers looking to elevate the performance of granular fertilizers. Clark added; "To our customers, we have this message," says Bell, "The agricultural market is bright when you use Nano-Yield products." Excitement also reigned supreme at NanoYield's 5th annual NanoCon, held at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas. More than 100 customers and distributors joined Nano-Yield employees in talking "all things Nano," over a three-day educational conference and celebration. "NanoCon represents an appreciation of past performance and provides an optimistic and mission-based customer focused look to the future," said Mark Slavens, President and COO. "We could not be more excited about what 2025 will bring. The company now has our technologies on over 5 million acres around the world. That number alone demonstrates that nanoliquid technologies and global agriculture crop production are perfect partners. We eagerly hold to a saying we've believed in for almost a decade now, 'The Future Is Nano'." For the second year in a row, Nano-Yield selected its Rookie of the Year. For 2024, Regional Sales Manager Joel Mahin: "I'm so excited to be a part of the Nano-Yield family, where the customer really does come first! This technology is amazing in how it delivers products. It literally sells itself, all we have to do is get the product in their hands and let them see the difference. I want to thank the company for choosing me as Rookie of the Year, and I look forward to another amazing year of adoption in 2025." Nano-Yield also wants to take this opportunity to publicly thank all of our incredible employees, customers and distributors. In recognition of accomplishments throughout 2024, the company awarded the following honors to its customers: Cornerstone Award- Tri-Yield - Southeastern Florida Cornerstone Award- Erickson Custom Operations - North Dakota Innovator Award- Skagit Farmers Supply - Washington State Innovator Award- Westland Seed - Montana Innovator Award- Red Cedar Agronomy - Wisconsin Innovator Award- Kansas Farm & Ranch - Kansas Every Tank, Every Pass Award- Willman Ag LLC - Kansas Every Tank, Every Pass Award- Mountain West Agriculture, - Utah Explosive Growth Award - Volume & Percentage- Barman Seed Inc. - Illinois Foot Print Award- Sugar Creek Ag - Kentucky Technology Adoption Award- Tri-Ag Products, Inc. - Ohio International Distributor of the Year Award- AgroFuturo - Chile Distributor of the Year Award - West- AgDepot - Montana Distributor of the Year Award - East- New Horizon Ag Solutions - Ohio Nano-Yield also honored high performers in its employee ranks, including; Regional Sales Manager of the Year Award - Marco Guirado, VP International Sales Rookie of the Year Award - Joel Mahin, Regional Sales Manager All-In Award - Dan Adamson, National Sales Agronomist Keystone Award - Jenny Phillips, Director of Marketing About Nano-Yield: Founded in 2014, the Nano-Yield company is a pioneering force in the world of nanotechnology, dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible at the nanoscale. As a leading innovator in the field, Nano-Yield leverages cutting-edge research and groundbreaking nano solutions to create a profound impact in the agriculture and turf industries. With a commitment to precision, quality, and sustainable advancements, Nano-Yield strives to bring their patented nanotechnology to growers worldwide. For the latest information about Nano-Yield and their transformative work, please visit their official website at www.nano-yield.com Contact: Jenny Phillips 740-361-9484 SOURCE Nano-Yield HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invite media to the official launch celebration of the new SERVIR Central America regional hub, located in Costa Rica, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m. EST. The event will be hosted by NASA SERVIR Program Manager Daniel Irwin, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador William H. Duncan, and a representative from El Salvador's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN). Central America is the latest addition to SERVIR's global network, a NASA and USAID initiative that has been operating in Asia, Africa, and Latin America since 2005. Implemented by the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), SERVIR Central America will strengthen climate resilience, sustainable resource management, and biodiversity conservation through satellite data and geospatial technology. The SERVIR Central America hub will support evidence-based decision-making at local, national, and regional levels, strengthening the resilience of more than 40 million people in one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions. The event will be in Spanish with English translation available. For press access and location details, please RSVP to Belarminda Quijano at [email protected] by Monday, Dec. 2. NASA's media accreditation policy is online. The event will be livestreamed. For more information on SERVIR, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/servir/ SOURCE NASA SHANGHAI, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Noah Holdings Limited ("Noah" or "the Company") (NYSE: NOAH and HKEX: 6686), a leading and pioneer wealth management service provider offering comprehensive advisory services on global investment and asset allocation primarily for Mandarin-speaking high-net-worth investors, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2024. The Company generated solid sequential growth in both overseas net revenues and operating income, highlighting the effectiveness of its international expansion. Noah unveiled its new brands to serve overseas Mandarin-speaking clients during the quarter, including its wealth management division, Ark Wealth Management; its asset management division, Olive Asset Management; and its comprehensive services division, Glory Family Heritage. Additionally, Noah remains committed to prioritizing shareholder interests and delivering sustained returns once the window opens for the US$50 million share repurchase program it announced at the end of August. Financial Results Breakdown In the third quarter of 2024, net revenues were RMB 683.7 million (US$ 97.4 million), an 11.0% sequential increase, driven primarily by growth in the Company's overseas business. Net revenues from overseas were RMB 376.9 million (US$ 53.7 million), an increase of 28.9% year-over-year and 35.3% sequentially. Overseas revenues accounted for over 55.1% of net revenues during the quarter, underscoring Noah's expanding global presence and unique competitive advantage in serving Mandarin-speaking high-net-worth investors. Income from operations was RMB 240.8 million (US$ 34.3 million), effectively flat when compared to the same period last year and a notable increase of 79.7% sequentially, primarily due to various cost control initiatives and ongoing efforts to optimize its corporate structure, service quality, and operational efficiency. Operating margin recovered to 35.2%, an increase of 13.5% sequentially. Global Strategy Driving Sustainable Growth In the third quarter, and in response to evolving macroeconomic conditions, Noah accelerated its overseas expansion by gradually rolling out wealth management services targeting key markets such as Southeast Asia, Japan, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The Company also deepened collaborations with leading global financial institutions, launching a series of innovative products and services, further boosting its global market competitiveness and influence. This quarter, Noah also expanded its team of overseas relationship managers to 146, a significant 89.6% year-on-year increase. This growing team significantly strengthens its overseas professional service capabilities and lays a solid foundation for sustainable growth going forward. Share Repurchase Program Reflects Confidence in the Future In late August 2024, Noah Holdings' Board of Directors authorized a US$50 million share repurchase program, allowing the Company to buy back its American depository shares or ordinary shares over a two-year period. This underscores the Company's commitment to enhancing shareholder value and confidence in its long-term growth prospects. Share repurchases are expected to begin when the next buyback window opens. "Noah's third quarter results highlight the progress our global expansion is making and our ability to adapt to evolving market dynamics," said Noah's CEO, Mr. Yin Zhe. "At the same time, we have been working to improve our overall global compliance framework and professional service capabilities. We believe the overseas wealth management needs of Mandarin-speaking clients remain inadequately addressed. In response, we continue to actively expand our international business by increasing the number of local branches, strengthening our team of overseas relationship managers, and enhancing our online services capabilities to improve the quality of our offerings. We believe our stock remains undervalued and does not fully reflect our growth prospects, robust balance sheet, and cash reserves, as well as the special bond with Mandarin-speaking high-net-worth investors around the world. This share buyback reflects our confidence in the future as we expand internationally and drive long-term sustainable growth going forward." Outlook Looking ahead, Noah remains committed to monitoring international market dynamics and evolving client needs while optimizing its global asset allocation strategies and service models. The Company will also continue to strengthen compliance and risk management capabilities to ensure steady business growth. By fostering innovation and professional expertise, Noah aims to deliver comprehensive, high-quality wealth management services to global Mandarin-speaking high-net-worth clients, driving sustainable growth and maximizing long-term value. Ms. Wang Jingbo, Noah's Co-Founder and Chairwoman, added, "Noah's future presents both opportunities and challenges. By adhering to our client-centric philosophy, we will continue refining our products and services to foster deeper client satisfaction and loyalty. At the same time, we will strengthen collaborations with leading global financial institutions, driving innovation and development to ensure Noah remains at the forefront of the global wealth management industry." About Noah Holdings Limited Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH, HKEX: 6686) is a leading wealth management service provider in China, offering comprehensive global investment and asset allocation advisory services to high-net-worth investors. Noah's wealth management business primarily distributes private equity, secondary market funds, mutual funds, and other products denominated in RMB and other currencies. Through its extensive global network, the Company provides tailored financial solutions and meets clients' international investment needs via offices in Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan region, Japan, New York, Silicon Valley, and Singapore. Through its affiliate Gopher Asset Management, Noah manages private equity, public securities, real estate, multi-strategy, and other investments denominated in RMB and other currencies. Noah also offers additional services. For more information, visit Noah's official website at ir.noahgroup.com. Noah Holdings: [email protected] SOURCE Noah Holdings Limited Yohji Yamamoto x Formula 1 Wildside and Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Collections on Display and Available for Racegoers LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the weekend, Pacsun brought its vision of fashion and culture to the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix, delivering a series of activations, retail offerings, and influencer collaborations as part of its ongoing F1 partnership. By blending high-performance motorsport with cutting-edge style, Pacsun created an engaging experience for fans and attendees, showcasing the synergy between fashion and Formula 1's global appeal for the second year in a row. F1 Vegas - Pacsun Formula 1 and Pacsun also renewed their licensing partnership this year, building on their collaboration from 2022. This multi-year agreement underscores both brands' commitment to creating trend-driven, high-quality apparel for Formula 1 fans. At the F1 Fan Zone, Pacsun displayed its Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Collection of race inspired designs. This activation, which ran from Friday through Saturday, immersed fans in Pacsun's interpretation of Formula 1 style, deepening the brand's connection to the sport's international audience. The Resorts World Pitstop served as a key hub for the newly released Yohji Yamamoto x Formula 1 Wildside Collection, showcasing a high-end approach to racewear. Fans attended an exclusive signing session with legendary designer Jeff Hamilton. The session took place Friday at Resorts World, celebrating Hamilton's iconic Formula 1-inspired designs. Pacsun expanded its Formula 1 presence through a robust retail strategy this year. The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Collection was featured at a kiosk in the Fashion Show Mall, with select pieces also available trackside at the official Formula 1 Store. Jeff Hamilton Jackets were also prominently showcased at the Paddock Club, aligning with the Grand Prix's premium atmosphere. Pacsun marketing also appeared on the West Wall at Resorts World, on their globe, and throughout screens inside the property all weekend. Influencer collaborations amplified Pacsun's reach beyond Las Vegas, connecting fans to the event through engaging and authentic content. Influencers such as Cam Casey (Cameron Casey), Zack Fairhurst , JoJo Sim (Joseph Sim), Sara Choi and Dayna Marie attended the event, offering their followers and Pacsun's community exclusive insights into Pacsun's Formula 1 activations. Beyond the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Pacsun and Formula 1 have introduced race-specific collections throughout the year, drawing inspiration from unique locations such as Austin, with its celebration of country roots, and Monza, reflecting the sophistication of Italian design By providing fans with access to exclusive experiences and a fresh perspective on Formula 1 style, Pacsun continues to be a trailblazer in redefining the fan experience. Images of the collections and activations can be found HERE . SOURCE Pacsun The new build is the 76th Plaza Tire Service location and the 13th in Arkansas PARAGOULD, Ark., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Auto Tire & Service today announces the opening of a new Plaza Tire Service location, located at 2003 W Kingshighway in Paragould. For over 60 years, Plaza Tire Service has led the way in service, selection and price. Known as "The Quick Change Artist," the company strives to make the tire-buying experience easy and hassle-free. Plaza Tire Service stocks a huge selection of tires from top name brands. The new location is situated just east of the Walmart Supercenter on West Kingshighway, near the south-west corner of Kirk Field Airport. Like other Plaza Tire Service facilities, it boasts over 6,500 square feet across 8 service bays. The location is outfitted with the industry's highest quality equipment to handle tire installations and repairs, wheel balancing, alignments, brakes, shock and strut replacements, oil changes, battery replacements and more. Other routine maintenance services performed in the Paragould location include fluid flushes for transmissions, power steering systems, coolant systems and brake systems. The location will be open from 7:30am to 5:30pm on weekdays, in addition to convenient Saturday hours between 7:30am to 4:30pm. Regional Vice President Kevin Seabaugh is highly focused on customer satisfaction: "Plaza Tire Service has made a name for itself thanks to five-star service and a dedication to the customer experience. The fact that we are known for excellence has allowed us to continue growing to 76 locations and counting, including in nearby Pocahontas and Jonesboro. We have a great group of employees in that area who are dedicated to the high-quality service we provide in all our stores and we look forward to continuing the economic growth of Paragould." Founded in 1963 by Vernon "Pee Wee" Rhodes, Plaza Tire Service is based in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The company is part of the Sun Auto Tire & Service portfolio of companies. For more information about Plaza Tire Service or Sun Auto Tire & Service, please contact Jeffry Gardner, Director of Strategic Communications: Email: [email protected] Mobile: 604-834-1190 SOURCE Plaza Tire Service MIDLAND, Texas, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A Midland man has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against an oil field equipment supplier alleging that its cement pump truck was unreasonably dangerous and the cause of a dangerous incident. This lawsuit alleges that Orteq Energy Technologies, LLC, the Defendant oil field equipment supplier, designed and sold a custom cement pump truck for oil and gas wall cementing that was dangerous and defective in its design and violated OSHA regulations. The Plaintiff, Scott Calcote, filed the lawsuit today, in the 142nd District Court of Midland County, Texas. The lawsuit alleges that in January of this year, the Plaintiff and a crew had arrived at a wellhead in Midland County to begin wall cementing. While standing on the cement pump truck during standard procedure in preparation for cementing operations, Plaintiff fell off the truck approximately 10 feet, suffering severe trauma to the head. The lawsuit further alleges that the area where he was standing was unreasonably dangerous and did not have any guardrails in place. The lawsuit further alleges that the Plaintiff sustained severe and catastrophic injuries as a result of the fall, including a very serious skull fracture and traumatic brain injury requiring immediate emergency attention and emergency brain surgery, which rendered him permanently disabled. Derek Potts, National Managing Partner of Potts Law Firm, the firm representing the Plaintiff, said, "Oil field workers must do their jobs in one of the most dangerous work environments in the world and have so many risks to deal with already. To have unsafe equipment on top of the regular hazards they encounter on a daily basis is clearly unacceptable." This lawsuit is styled Scott Calcote v. Orteq Energy Technologies, LLC; Cause No. DCV-24-00542, in the 142nd District Court of Midland County. SOURCE Potts Law Firm CALGARY, AB, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (the "Company" or "ReconAfrica") (TSXV: RECO) (OTCQX: RECAF) (Frankfurt: 0XD) (NSX: REC) announces that it has reached total depth ("TD") of 4,184 metres (13,727 feet) on the Naingopo exploration well on Petroleum Exploration Licence 073 ("PEL 73"), onshore Namibia. Brian Reinsborough, President and CEO of the Company stated: "We are excited to have completed the drilling operations on the Naingopo exploration well, drilling beyond our original projected TD of 3,800 metres. The Naingopo well is the first of several to test the potential resource of the Damara Fold Belt. We will now commence an extensive evaluation program, which will include wireline logging and coring, Modular Formation Dynamics Tester ("MDT") sampling and testing of any hydrocarbons present, and a Vertical Seismic Profile ("VSP"). Our technical team will then assess all data to determine the results, which will assist us in finalizing further plans in the Damara Fold Belt." Naingopo Exploration Well The Naingopo exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 4,184 metres (13,727 feet). The Company will now undertake a comprehensive logging and coring program, and perform a VSP, followed by casing and cementing the well. Results of the well will be provided following a thorough analysis of the subsurface data acquired and any obtained oil or natural gas samples. We expect to have the preliminary results of the Naingopo well in the next several weeks. During December 2024, the Company will undertake repair and maintenance activities on the Jarvie-1 drilling rig. We expect to move to the Kumbundu (Prospect P) well location after completing the review of the results from current operations. As a reminder, the Naingopo well is targeting 181 million barrels of unrisked and 15 million barrels of risked prospective light/medium oil resources(1) or 937 billion cubic feet of unrisked and 65 billion cubic feet of risked prospective natural gas resources(1), on a 100% working interest basis, based on the most recent prospective resources report prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. ("NSAI"). Kambundu is targeting 309 million barrels of unrisked and 15 million barrels of risked prospective light/medium oil resources(1) or 1.6 trillion cubic feet of unrisked and 64 billion cubic feet of risked prospective natural gas resources(1), on a 100% working interest basis, based on the most recent prospective resources report prepared by NSAI. (1) There is no certainty that any portion of the resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the resources. Prospective resources are those quantities of oil estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development. Prospective resources are the arithmetic sum of multiple probability distributions. Unrisked prospective resources are estimates of the volumes that could reasonably be expected to be recovered in the event of the discovery and development of these prospects. About ReconAfrica ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the exploration of the Damara Fold Belt and Kavango Rift Basin in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, where the Company holds petroleum licenses comprising ~8 million contiguous acres. In all aspects of our operations, ReconAfrica is committed to minimal disturbance of habitat in line with international standards, and implementing environmental and social best practices in all of our project areas. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information under applicable Canadian, United States and other applicable securities laws, rules and regulations, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the Naingopo exploration well, the evaluation of the subsurface data relating to the Naingopo exploration well, the timing of drilling the Kambundu exploration well, the timing of rig repairs, movement of the rig from its present location and the Company's commitment to minimal disturbance of habitat, in line with best international standards and its implementation of environmental and social best practices in all of its project areas. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on ReconAfrica's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's annual information form dated July 29, 2024, available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Actual future results may differ materially. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to ReconAfrica. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and ReconAfrica undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Disclosure of Oil and Gas Information: The report of Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. ("NSAI") entitled "Estimates of Prospective Resources to the Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. Interests in Certain Prospects and Leads located in PEL 73, Kavango Basin, Namibia as of March 31, 2024" (the "NSAI Report") and the prospective resource estimates contained therein and in this press release were prepared by NSAI, an independent qualified reserves evaluator, with an effective date of March 31, 2024. The NSAI Report was prepared in accordance with the definitions and guidelines of the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook prepared jointly by the Society of Petroleum and Engineers (Calgary Chapter) (the "COGE Handbook") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum and National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101"). For additional information concerning the risks and the level of uncertainty associated with recovery of the prospective resources detailed herein and in the NSAI Report, the significant positive and negative factors relevant to the prospective resources estimates detailed herein and in the NSAI Report and a description of the project to which the prospective resources estimates detailed herein and in the NSAI Report applies are contained within the NSAI Report, a copy of which has been filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and is available under the Company's issued profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca . The prospective resources shown in the NSAI Report have been estimated using probabilistic methods and are dependent on a petroleum discovery being made. If a discovery is made and development is undertaken, the probability that the recoverable volumes will equal or exceed the unrisked estimated amounts is 90 percent for the low estimate, 50 percent for the best estimate, and 10 percent for the high estimate. Low estimate and high estimate prospective resources have not been included in the NSAI Report. For the purposes of the NSAI Report, the volumes and parameters associated with the best estimate scenario of prospective resources are referred to as 2U. The 2U prospective resources have been aggregated beyond the prospect and lead level by arithmetic summation; therefore, these totals do not include the portfolio effect that might result from statistical aggregation. Statistical principles indicate that the arithmetic sums of multiple estimates may be misleading as to the volumes that may actually be recovered. SOURCE Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. One-Night-Only Experiences at the Buzziest Restaurants Nationwide, Created by Top Chefs Celebrating America's Premier Water , Now Available for Booking on Resy TAMPA, Fla. and STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Primo Brands Corporation (NYSE: PRMB ) ("Primo Brands") today announced that the Saratoga Supper Club experience is returning to delight food connoisseurs with unique experiences from America's top chefs. Now in its second year, the Saratoga Supper Club will come to life in Miami, Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles between December of this year and January 2025. Reservations are available on Resy starting today. "The Saratoga Supper Club is where the Art of Water comes to life, celebrating creativity and exquisite taste at remarkable venues," says Brittany Aitken, Senior Brand Manager, Saratoga Spring Water. "Our signature cobalt blue bottle is the centerpiece of these experiences that pairs the heritage of our brand with exquisite creations by America's leading chefs." The series will include the following events at these Michelin-Starred restaurants: Tambourine Roomin Miami Beach on Dec. 4 The Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt, nestled within Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, offers an intimate 12-seat fine dining journey that reimagines modern classic French cuisine with refined Asian influences. Originally opened in 1958 as a space for cocktails and conversation, this iconic venue has been transformed nearly 65 years later by Chef Brandt and his talented team into a world-class culinary destination. 5:30pm Reservations HERE 8:30pm Reservations HERE Amar in Boston on December 12 Portuguese flair meets Bostonian culture. Overlooking Back Bay, Charles River and Cambridge, Chef George Mendes' signature restaurant is an intimate dining space, featuring softly lit walls and dazzling metal finishes. Here, delectable Portuguese cuisine references Boston's seafaring culture to achieve a delightful fusion of traditional and modern. Reservations HERE One White Street in New York City on January 8 Located in Tribeca, One White Street is helmed by Executive Chef Austin Johnson, who creates dishes that reflect both creativity and sustainability, offering a fresh perspective on contemporary dining in a welcoming, intimate setting. The restaurant offers a seasonal tasting menu featuring farm-to-table ingredients sourced from their own Rigor Hill Farm in the Hudson Valley. Guests can enjoy an elevated dining experience within a historic townhouse, blending formal and casual settings inspired by Johnson's time at Frenchie in Paris. 5:30pm Reservations HERE 8:30pm Reservations HERE Esme in Chicago on January 22 Esme is a fine dining restaurant in Chicago's Lincoln Park, where Executive Chef Jenner Tomaska brings his culinary vision to life with innovative dishes that celebrate the beauty of locally sourced ingredients. With a unique quarterly menu that draws inspiration from local artists, Chef Tomaska's dishes celebrate both creativity and the vibrancy of the Chicago art scene. Reservations HERE Camphor in Los Angeles on January 30 At Camphor in Los Angeles, Co-Executive Chefs Lijo George and Max Boonthanakit bring together classical French techniques and diverse global influences with California's abundant produce, offering inventive, visually stunning dishes. The restaurant creates an exciting fusion of flavor, technique, and artistry, redefining the boundaries of contemporary dining. Reservations HERE About Saratoga Spring Water: Born in the foothills of the Adirondacks over 150 years ago, the Saratoga Brand has become synonymous with quality, carefully crafted, still and sparkling, 100% American spring water. Served in fine dining establishments and luxury resorts, Saratoga is now available to enjoy at home! Visit https://www.saratogawater.com/collections/all ABOUT PRIMO BRANDS Primo Brands is a leading North American branded beverage company with a focus on healthy hydration, delivering sustainably and domestically sourced diversified offerings across products, formats, channels, price points and consumer occasions, distributed in every state and Canada. Primo Brands has an extensive portfolio of highly recognizable, sustainably sourced and conveniently packaged branded beverages distributed across more than 150,000 retail outlets, including established billion-dollar brands, Poland Spring and Pure Life , premium brands like Saratoga and Mountain Valley , regional leaders such as Arrowhead , Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Ozarka , and Zephyrhills, purified brands including Primo Water and Sparkletts , and flavored and enhanced brands like Splash and AC+ION . These brands are sold directly across retail channels, including mass food, convenience, natural, drug, wholesale, distributors and home improvement, as well as food service accounts in North America. The Company also has extensive direct-to-consumer offerings with its industryleading line-up of innovative water dispensers, which create consumer connectivity through recurring water purchases across its Water Direct, Water Exchange and Water Refill businesses. Through its Water Direct business, Primo Brands delivers sustainable hydration solutions direct to home and business consumers. Through its Water Exchange business, consumers can visit approximately 26,500 retail locations and purchase a prefilled, multi-use bottle of water that can be exchanged after use for a discount on the next purchase. Through its Water Refill business, consumers have the option to refill empty multi-use bottles at approximately 23,500 self-service refill stations. Primo Brands also offers water filtration units for home and business consumers across North America. Primo Brands is a leader in reusable packaging, helping to reduce waste through its reusable, multi-serve bottles and innovative brand packaging portfolio, which includes recycled plastic, aluminum and glass. Primo Brands sources from numerous springs and manages water resources for long-term sustainability, helping to protect more than 27,000 acres of watershed and wetlands area owned by the Company for preservation and to help assure a steady supply of clean, safe drinking water. The Company is proud to partner with the International Bottled Water Association ("IBWA") in North America, which supports strict adherence to safety, quality, sanitation and regulatory standards for the benefit of consumer protection. We believe in fostering a respectful culture that values our associates and key stakeholders, and we are deeply invested in quality hydration, our communities and the sustainability of our packaging and water sources for generations to come. Primo Brands will continue Primo Water and BlueTriton's strong support for American communities during natural disasters, in dealing with local and regional hydration quality issues and in connection with many other local community challenges. Primo Brands employs more than 11,000 associates with dual headquarters in Tampa, FL, and Stamford, CT, and has more than 50 production facilities and more than 200 depots for efficient delivery to customers and consumers across North America. For more information, visit www.primobrands.com . SOURCE Primo Brands Corporation SAVANNAH, Ga., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- South University (SU) is excited to announce that it will host a time capsule ceremony and reception at its historic Savannah campus (709 Mall Boulevard) on Dec. 5 to commemorate the university's 125th anniversary. The event will be hosted by the Chancellor Dr. Steven Yoho and the Executive Leadership Team of South University. Each campus, as well as online, were invited to submit a collection of items that represents its community of students, staff, and faculty. The symbolic time capsule, containing artifacts from South University's 11 campus locations and online division, will be designed to symbolize the unity of South University across cities and through the university's many years since inception. The time capsule will be displayed in SU Savannah's welcome center until its reopening ceremony, scheduled to take place on the university's 150th anniversary in 25 years. As South University prepares to mark this significant milestone, the time capsule represents a tangible connection between the institution's rich 125-year-long history and its promising future. The ceremony symbolizes the university's commitment to continuous growth and educational innovation. "This time capsule embodies our journey reflecting on our fulfilling past while looking forward to the next chapter of South University's mission," said South University Chancellor Dr. Steven K. Yoho. The event includes invited members of the Board of Managers, Program Advisory Committee, Alumni, Clinical Partners, Employers and our faculty and staff to join in celebrating South University's remarkable 125-year legacy of providing diverse and extensive educational opportunities to individuals across the nation. Details of the event are as follows: Date: December 5, 2024 Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Location: South University, Savannah , 709 Mall Boulevard, Savannah, GA 31406 Media interested in attending or covering the event should contact Rebecca Adams at [email protected] . About South University South University, founded in 1899, has grown from a single location in Savannah, Georgia, to serving over 10,000 students across 11 ground campuses and online curricula. The university offers a wide range of programs, from associate to doctoral levels, focusing on fields such as healthcare, business, and technology. Programs, credential levels, technology, and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. Not all programs are available to residents of all U.S. states. Administrative office: South University, 709 Mall Boulevard, Savannah, GA 31406-4805 2024 South University. All rights reserved. South University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. South University also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of South University may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC's website (www.sacscoc.org). Media Contact: Juliette Haas [email protected] SOURCE South University VICTORIA, Seychelles, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry-leading fintech firm, SquaredFinancial proudly launches its Black Friday Promotion, empowering investors to capitalize on their trading experience during this major shopping season. This special offer, subject to terms and conditions, gives traders the opportunity to benefit from a 25% bonus when depositing a minimum of $250 to trade currency pairs and metals, on industry-leading platforms, including the world-class MT4 and MT5, as well as the sophisticated trading mobile application, SquaredFinancial. SquaredFinancials Black Friday Promotion Keen to cater to the financial needs of investors from different backgrounds and offering them quality products and services, SquaredFinancial introduces this promotion to leverage the financial experience of its existing clients and attract potential traders who are on the pursuit of a trusted and reliable financial partner. The company thrives to keep innovation at the centre of its business. Its technology growth, competitive offerings, extensive expertise and education endeavours, are constantly recognized by renowned bodies. As such, SquaredFinancial has been recently recognized among the Top Trusted Financial Institutions 2024 and Best Trading Education UAE/GCC 2024. Trading enthusiasts are invited to visit SquaredFinancial website to read the terms and conditions, explore further details and register their interest. About SquaredFinancial SquaredFinancial is a well-capitalized FinTech firm founded in 2005. It aims at becoming a one-stop shop that meets investors' financial needs. With around two decades of experience in financial technology and trading, it offers global solutions to traders of different generations and backgrounds, who are looking for an intuitive and sophisticated investment gateway. It is led by market experts and leadership veterans who share a passion for trading and a vision to reshape the industry landscape. As a regulated firm, it provides investors with an online platform backed by cutting-edge technology that offers the opportunity to trade a wide range of instruments from different asset classes. SquaredFinancial has recently launched its proprietary mobile trading app and its innovative fixed-time deposit account. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568573/SquaredFinancial_Black_Friday.jpg SOURCE SquaredFinancial BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has approved the amendments to the law "On Land Lease," Trend reports. The new law stipulates that agricultural land in the territories liberated from occupation will be leased to business entities through investment tenders, following a procedure set by the relevant executive authority. In addition, agricultural land located near settlements within rural and urban territorial units will be leased to local residents for cultivating annual and perennial crops under preferential terms. The terms of leasing will be established by the relevant executive authority. The head of state also signed a decree amending several decrees related to the implementation of the law. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel New 2025 Subaru WRX tS is the most advanced WRX ever with Drive Mode Select and electronically controlled dampers tuned by Subaru Tecnica International Standard EyeSight Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System on all trim levels Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System on all trim levels New Galaxy Purple color option available across WRX lineup 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged BOXER engine Standard 11.6-inch SUBARU STARLINK Multimedia Plus System including wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto compatibility Multimedia Plus System including wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto compatibility WRX base model discontinued for 2025 Starting price for WRX Premium starts at $35,750 MSRP CAMDEN, N.J., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru of America, Inc. announced pricing today on the 2025 WRX, including the new STI-tuned WRX tS. The 2025 Subaru WRX lineup offers exceptional performance throughout the model range beginning with its 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged Subaru BOXER engine and Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. The new 2025 Subaru WRX tS goes further with electronically controlled adjustable dampers tuned by Subaru Tecnica International, uprated Brembo brakes, and 19-inch alloy wheels in satin gray finish paired with Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires. The 2025 Subaru WRX will arrive at retailers in early 2025 with a starting price of $35,750 MSRP. 2025 Subaru WRX 2025 Subaru WRX 2025 Subaru WRX "Our customers expect value, performance and practicality with the 2025 Subaru WRX, and we're happy to deliver all of those. Few buyers opted for the base trim level last year, while nearly half of all WRX buyers opt for features found on the Premium trim level, which is why it's the entry point this year," said William Stokes, Car Line Planning Manager for Subaru of America. "For 2025, the Subaru WRX lineup reflects our buyers' preferences for features and fun at every stop, from Premium to tS." The 2025 Subaru WRX will be offered in four trim levels: Premium, Limited, GT, and tS. Last year's base WRX configuration has been discontinued. A 6-speed manual transmission is standard on all trim levels, except the GT. The Subaru Performance Transmission (SPT) is available in Premium and Limited trim levels and is standard on the GT. The 6-speed manual transmission features optimized gear ratios with refined shift quality and Incline Start Assist. The SPT offers crisp up and down shifts, including adaptive shift control to quickly respond with rev-matching downshifts under braking to maintain an ideal gear ratio around corners for corner exits and Reverse Automatic Emergency Braking. Visually, the 2025 Subaru WRX is marked by its iconic hood scoop and signature hexagonal grille flanked by compact LED headlights. The "WRX" badging stands out this year thanks to a new red badge in the grille and rear trunk lid. Galaxy Purple debuts this year as a new color available across the lineup for $395 MSRP. The new color is a rich purple hue enhanced by blue and purple metallic flake and pays a small tribute to the popular Plasma Blue tone from the third-generation WRX. Inside, the 2025 Subaru WRX is equipped with an 11.6-inch SUBARU STARLINK Multimedia Plus system with high-resolution touchscreen for audio, vehicle, and climate controls. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, SiriusXM All-Access Radio with 360L (4-month trial included), HD Radio, Bluetooth hands-free phone and audio streaming are also equipped. All trim levels (aside from tS) boast revised interior red contrast "WRX" stitching in the dash, and WRX Limited and GT receive updated interiors with bold, red contrast stitching on seat bolsters and headrests. For 2025, all Subaru WRX models are equipped with Subaru EyeSight Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System, including models equipped with a manual transmission. On vehicles with a manual transmission, EyeSight includes Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centering, Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Prevention, and Pre-Collision Brake Assist. (Pre-Collision Throttle Management is included on models equipped with SPT.) Also standard across the model line is the latest generation of SUBARU STARLINK Safety and Security. Available packages offer emergency services and convenience features such as Automatic Collision Notification, Enhanced Roadside Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Recovery, Vehicle Diagnostic Alerts, Remote Engine Start with Climate Control, and more. 2025 Subaru WRX Premium Starting at $35,750, the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium offers unmistakable performance and popular driver-convenience features. The Premium trim level offers 18-inch alloy wheels with dark gray finish and 245/40 R18 summer performance tires; heated front seats, exterior mirrors, and windshield wiper deicer; aluminum alloy pedal covers; LED fog lights; Keyless Access with Push-Button Start; USB-A and USB-C input charge ports for front seat occupants; USB-A and USB-C charge ports for rear passengers and a truck lid body-color rear spoiler. An optional package for the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium adds an 11-speaker Harman Kardon Speaker System with a 504-watt equivalent amplifier and a Power Moonroof for $1,865. Equipped with the SPT, the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium costs $37,100 and adds steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters with eight preselected gear ratios, Harman Kardon Speaker System, Power Moonroof, SI-Drive Engine Performance Management, and Auto Vehicle Hold. 2025 Subaru WRX Limited Building on features found on the Premium trim level, the 2025 Subaru WRX Limited adds a standard Harman Kardon Speaker System with a 504-watt equivalent amplifier; SUBARU STARLINK 11.6-inch Multimedia Navigation System with voice-activated navigation powered by TomTom (3-year free map updates); 10-way power-adjustable driver's seat including lumbar support; Blind-Spot Detection with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert; LED Steering Responsive Headlights; Power Moonroof; Ultrasuede and leather-trimmed upholstery; and body-color side mirrors with integrated turn signals. The 2025 Subaru WRX Limited costs $40,130 MSRP with a 6-speed manual transmission, and $41,680 MSRP when equipped with the SPT. 2025 Subaru WRX tS New for 2025, the performance-focused Subaru WRX tS offers increased handling capability and ride comfort thanks to new STI-tuned electronically controlled dampers. The tS ("tuned by STI") trim level is the first of its kind offered on WRX and boasts distinctive interior and exterior enhancements, including a new fully digital 12.3-inch gauge cluster, alongside its mechanical additions. The Subaru WRX tS also comes equipped with a high-performance Brembo braking system, including 6-piston front and 2-piston rear calipers in signature gold, including larger pads and rotors. The system combines enhanced stopping power and fade resistance with exceptional pedal feel. The Subaru WRX tS also comes equipped with standard 245/35 R19 Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires for increased wet and dry performance wrapping 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels with a satin gray finish. Drive Mode Select in the WRX tS features settings for the STI-tuned electronically adjustable dampers to tailor performance among Comfort, Normal, and Sport settings. The system also includes adjustable settings for the power steering, throttle response, and EyeSight system, including a user-customizable Individual mode accessible via steering wheel controls or touchscreen settings. Inside, grippy Recaro Performance Design front seats are wrapped in black Ultrasuede with contrasting blue accents and "WRX tS" embossed on the front headrests and carpeted floormats. The seat bolsters, steering wheel, door panels, and shifter trim are complemented with blue accents as well. The 2025 Subaru WRX tS costs $45,705 MSRP. 2025 Subaru WRX GT Available exclusively with the SPT, the 2025 Subaru WRX GT builds on the WRX Limited with an Ultrasuede dash panel with red stitching, Recaro Performance Design front seats, an 8-way power-adjustable driver's seat,18-inch alloy wheels finished in matte gray, and a sport-tuned suspension with Electronic Adjustable Ride Control. The 2025 Subaru WRX GT is priced at $45,705 MSRP. The 2025 Subaru WRX is assembled in Gunma, Japan and will begin arriving in retailers nationwide in early 2025. 2025 Subaru WRX Model/Trim Transmission Applicable Option MSRP MSRP plus Destination and Delivery ($1,170)i WRX Premium 6MT 11, 12 $35,750 $36,920 WRX Premium SPT 13 $37,100 $38,270 WRX Limited 6MT 21 $40,130 $41,300 WRX Limited SPT 23 $41,680 $42,850 WRX tS 6MT 33 $45,705 $46,875 WRX GT SPT 41 $45,705 $46,875 2025 Subaru WRX Option Packages Code Description MSRP 11, 13, 21, 23, 33, 41 Standard Model N/A 12 Harman Kardon Speaker System, Moonroof $1,865 Galaxy Purple Pearl Premium Paint $395 Destination & Delivery is $1,170 for WRX and may vary in the following states: CT, HI, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI and VT. D&D is $1,320 for retailers in Alaska. About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $320 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 100,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube. Dominick Infante Director, Corporate Communications 856.488.8615 [email protected] Aaron Cole Product Communications Manager 720.231.0809 [email protected] SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc. Union Secures Victory After Workers Engage in One-day Strike COMMERCE, Calif., Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After going on strike for less than 24 hours on Monday at Breakthru Beverage, drivers at the company's Commerce facility have overwhelmingly ratified their first contract as members of Teamsters Local 166. "This isn't just a first contract for this facility it's the first Teamsters contract at this company in the entire state of California," said Mike Pharris, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 166. "That wouldn't have been possible without the grit, bravery, and determination these hardworking men and women demonstrated on the picket line yesterday. Congratulations to everyone who participated in this strike on a well-deserved victory." The two-year contract includes significant wage increases, protections against unjust reprimand and termination, and seniority rights for the 45 Breakthru workers. It will be re-negotiated around the same time as the California Statewide Liquor Master Agreement. "Now the company has to respect us. Before, we didn't have a voice, but now we do," said Roger Chaidez, a member of the Teamsters bargaining committee who has been at Breakthru for 13 years. "This is a big deal for everyone here. We thought we were going to have to be on strike for Thanksgiving, but our efforts paid off. I'd like to thank Local 166 Organizer Ruben Luna for all the hard work. This year, I'm especially thankful for my Teamsters contract." Teamsters Local 166 represents workers in a wide variety of industries throughout the Inland Empire and San Diego. For more information, go to teamsters166.com. Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 166 Amazon Suspends Queens Driver Assaulted by Corporation's Own Union Buster QUEENS, N.Y., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon Teamsters marched on the boss in New York on Wednesday after a corporate union buster hired by the trillion-dollar company verbally assaulted and repeatedly used a homophobic slur against an Amazon driver as he arrived for work. Observed by multiple witnesses, including Amazon management, the union buster of Government Resources Consultants of America attacked the Amazon employee during the morning of Nov. 26, at the company's DBK4 facility in Queens. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters are filing unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against Amazon over the assault, as well as formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). During the incident, the union buster verbally threatened the Amazon delivery driver with physical violence at work before loudly calling the Teamster a homophobic slur multiple times as he prepared for work. The driver was able to begin making deliveries as work got underway on Tuesday but was notified by Amazon management later in the day that the e-commerce giant was suspending him pending an investigation into the attack. "Amazon hired this union buster to come harass me at work and call me a homophobic slur," said Emmanuel T., the assaulted Amazon driver. "Amazon is creating an unsafe workplace for me and my co-workers, especially my fellow Teamsters who identify as LGBTQ. We don't need harassment and homophobia. What we need is for Amazon to follow the law and negotiate a Teamsters Union contract that provides the pay and safety we deserve." Amazon drivers at DBK4 overwhelmingly organized with the Teamsters on Sept. 16. In the months since, Amazon has refused to recognize the union, leading to the filing of numerous ULP charges against the company for worker retaliation, union-busting, and blatant labor law violations. Amazon is legally obligated to bargain a first contract with the Teamsters drivers under federal law, though Amazon continues to break the law. Following the worker's suspension, Amazon drivers marched on the boss at DBK4 earlier today to demand his reinstatement and for the immediate removal of the union buster and other union busters that Amazon has brought into the facility. As of Wednesday afternoon, Amazon told the Teamsters Union the worker remains suspended but would not respond about the union buster. "I came in on my day off to stand with my co-worker, Emmanuel, and tell Amazon that this is unacceptable," said Latrice Shadae Johnson, an Amazon Teamster and driver at DBK4. "I have a lot of family and friends in the LGBTQ community. It hurts to know that Amazon is paying this union buster way more than they pay us. We are not backing down in our fight for Amazon to recognize us as Teamsters." Between 2022-2023 alone, Amazon spent more than $17.2 million hiring corporate union busters to swarm its delivery stations, warehouses, and fulfillment centers to try to intimidate or threaten workers from joining the Teamsters. The union buster was paid $75,000 during a previous anti-union campaign, according to union-busting watchdog group LaborLab. Despite the abuse or explicit attacks such predators wage against working people, thousands of Amazon workers nationwide continue to join the movement to unionize. Amazon workers at five facilities nationwide have all united to join the Teamsters in recent months, including workers at Amazon's DGT8 facility in Atlanta earlier this week. Since September, warehouse workers in San Francisco and Amazon drivers in New York and Southern California have all organized and demanded Amazon recognize the Teamsters. Meanwhile, workers at the company's largest air hubs in Kentucky and California have walked off the job in protest of the company's unfair labor practices. In June, Amazon Labor Union members at JFK8 in Staten Island voted to affiliate with the Teamsters by a near unanimous 98.3 percent in favor. As momentum builds, workers across Amazon's national network of 280,000 drivers continue to become Teamsters and demand their worth from the one of the world's largest, greediest employers. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Alex Moore, (503) 886-9738 [email protected] SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters The 37 investments will address mental health, housing, legal services, social connection, and more NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bob Woodruff Foundation is proud to announce an investment of over $4.7 million dedicated to ensuring that veterans, service members and their families have stable and successful futures. The latest grant portfolio addresses key issues for veteran communities, including mental health, housing, legal services, education, employment and social connection. This new investment brings this year's total investments to over $10 million across 73 grants - a new record for the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The fall investments include seven new grantee partners, contributing to a total of 17 new grant recipients in 2024. Of the 37 investments announced today: Nine address veteran mental health through strengthening the mental health workforce, providing direct clinical care in military-connected communities and increasing access to intensive outpatient programming. Six programs support military children's access to clinical mental health care. Five investments will provide outreach and peer support to connect veterans to crisis prevention resources. One investment will support student veterans across campuses in NYC and one in South Dakota while simultaneously supporting the next generation of social workers. while simultaneously supporting the next generation of social workers. Three investments will address employment outcomes for veterans and military spouses, with services spanning New York , Indiana , and North Carolina . , , and . Four investments will improve social connection for service members, veterans and their families through the arts, leadership programming, and mentorship. Ten investments will support more than 5,700 veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness by supporting direct emergency and transitional housing, and provide complementary services to address social determinants of health. Five investments will provide legal aid to ensure veterans gain access to earned financial and health benefits, prevent evictions, remove barriers to employment, and improve quality of life. "Our fall grants fund programs and services that help veterans, service members, and their families navigate challenges they face and ensure they receive the support they've earned and deserve. We're funding housing and job programs, food assistance, physical and mental health care, legal support, and more," said Anne Marie Dougherty, CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. "We're proud to work with an incredible nationwide network of partners to make this impact possible in communities across the country.For more information on the funded organizations and their work, visit the 2024 fall grants portfolio highlights. About the Bob Woodruff Foundation The Bob Woodruff Foundation was founded in 2006 after reporter Bob Woodruff was wounded by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq. Since then, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has raised awareness about the tough challenges veterans and military families are facing, and invested in solutions to help support them in the next chapter of their lives. To date, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has invested over $165 million to ensure that our nation's veterans, service members and their families those who stood for us have stable and successful futures. Visit. www.BobWoodruffFoundation.org for more information. Contact Hillary Ovalle M: +1 954 825 3065 [email protected] SOURCE Bob Woodruff Foundation INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Police Association (NPA) proudly announces its support for the U.S. Park Police Modernization Act (H.R. 9928), a critical federal bill designed to improve the career structure and operational capacity of the United States Park Police (USPP). U.S. Park Police surrounded by protesters at Union Station July 24, 2024. Introduced by Representative Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) in October, the legislation seeks to align the service timeline of USPP officers with those of other federal law enforcement agencies, streamlining promotions, and enabling officers to advance more quickly. These reforms aim to enhance recruitment and retention of qualified personnel. The full text of the bill is available [here]. The USPP, responsible for safeguarding our nation's monuments and landmarks, faces a staffing crisis. According to the USPP Fraternal Order of Police, only 515 officers currently serve nationwidemarking the agency's lowest staffing levels since 1975. Officers are reportedly being denied days off and required to work overtime to address these shortages, resulting in diminished morale and increased risks to public safety. "The staffing situation at the USPP is unsustainable. It has placed USPP officers and civilians at increased risk of harm and our nation's treasured landmarks in peril," said Paula Fitzsimmons, Legislative Director for the National Police Association. "The U.S. Park Police Modernization Act would facilitate the recruitment of qualified men and women, improve officer morale, and prevent the type of chaos we witnessed this past summer." This summer, as large-scale demonstrations unfolded in Washington, D.C., protesters vandalized national landmarks, burned U.S. flags, and assaulted officers. The lack of adequate USPP staffing reportedly hindered officers' ability to make the necessary arrests to restore order. The staffing shortfall also poses challenges at other key locations, such as Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, which is now housing thousands of migrants. With only two USPP officers assigned to the area, crime has risen, affecting both the site and surrounding communities. The National Police Association applauds Rep. Malliotakis for addressing these critical challenges with her leadership on H.R. 9928. "We are deeply grateful for her commitment to supporting USPP officers, protecting civilians, and preserving the integrity of our national landmarks," Fitzsimmons added. Given the urgency of the current situation, the NPA calls on other members of Congress to support the U.S. Park Police Modernization Act and ensure the USPP is equipped to meet its mission. The National Police Association (NPA) is a nonprofit organization supporting law enforcement through advocacy, education, and law. For more information, visit NationalPolice.org. Media Contact: Paula Fitzsimmons [email protected] 302-469-1765 SOURCE National Police Association COLLEGE PARK, Md., Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith Executive Education at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has opened a new online course to prepare public and private sector leaders to identify technologies revolutionizing their industries and create a business strategy to manage them. The new, asynchronous 'Technology Leadership & Government' course is adapted from Smith's existing 14-credit graduate certificate program. It's designed to accommodate professionals unable to commit to the in-person certificate program. However, "participants in the virtual, self-paced new course still will benefit from learning from the high-caliber faculty teaching in the certificate program," says Clayton Richey, program manager for Smith's open enrollment programs. This course, he adds, is designed to prepare learners to "think like a chief technology officer, chief innovation officer or government technology program executive in any size organization." The course incorporates historical and contemporary case studies, interactive exercises and community discourse on technology development. Learners will benefit from the course by: Reviewing the process for designing, engineering, testing and commercializing new technology Identifying enterprise tech requirements and best practices in risk management Creating market and mission strategies for emergent tech Modeling and managing the ethical implications of new tech The course targets C-suite leaders and directors who are driving tech innovation and strategy, preparing their organizations for the latest digital trends and disruptions. It also is appropriate for consultants looking to keep pace with the latest technologies and business applications. Go to the Technology Leadership and Governance homepage for more information and to enroll in the course. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. Contact: Greg Muraski, [email protected] SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business IDC Network's Private Equity vertical establishes a strategic partnership with a leading US consumer goods distributor, expanding its reach to over 25 countries. MIAMI, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Valante Capital, the Private Equity arm of IDC Networka multi-platform asset manager with $2.2 billion in assets under managementis pleased to announce the acquisition of a significant stake in American Foods, a leading distributor of consumer goods from the U.S. to Latin America. This strategic investment aligns with Valante Capital's vision of investing in high-growth companies, particularly within the consumer goods sector, and creates new expansion opportunities for both organizations. Strengthening Regional Expansion With this acquisition, Valante Capital adds a key player in the food distribution industry to its portfolio, one that is exceptionally well-positioned to continue its expansion across over 25 countries. The investment will enable American Foods to accelerate its growth plans across the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean, furthering its mission to deliver high-quality products to an ever-growing consumer base. As part of the growth strategy, a strategic alliance has been established between American Foods and Vitali Alimentos, a company also within Valante Capital's portfolio. This partnership will enhance American Foods' brand portfolio in Central America and the Caribbean, markets where Vitali Alimentos already has a strong presence. A Key Deal for the Future This investment also marks a strategic milestone for the development of American Foods, equipping it with the resources necessary to accelerate its portfolio expansion in key markets. Both companies will combine efforts and capabilities to continue delivering high-quality food solutions to households across Latin America and the U.S., while maintaining the operational excellence and close, efficient commercial approach that have defined both organizations throughout their histories. Frank Stanzione, CEO of American Foods, shared his thoughts on the new partnership: "IDC, Valante, and Vitali Alimentos represent, in our view, the future of the region. It is an honor to have signed this strategic alliance with a dedicated team committed to offering competitive prices in the market and to expanding our brands into areas where we are not yet present." Hector Valero, Managing Partner of Valante Capital and Chairman of the Board at Vitali Alimentos, stated: "We are truly honored to team up with Frank and the outstanding team at American Foods in Miami and Panama to continue building this wonderful project together. We share the same values, aspirations, and visionthat significant goals can be achieved through passion, creativity, and resilience." Additionally, Valero noted that "the commercial alliance between American Foods and Vitali Alimentos aims to strengthen synergies in the territories where Vitali already operates." A Proven Track Record in the Industry American Foods is a well-established leader in the distribution of consumer goods, recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. The company has also received accolades from the U.S. Senate and the State of Florida as one of the top exporters in the country. With strategic alliances with top suppliers in its categories, American Foods has solidified its position as one of the key players in the industry. Some of the brands they represent include Smithfield, Gwaltney, Armour, Eckrich, Butterball, Perdue, Nathan's, and many others. Valante Capital is a Private Equity firm focused on the acquisition and transformation of companies in the consumer goods and retail industries across Latin America. Part of IDC Network, a global investment platform founded in 1995, Valante Capital is one of seven verticals managing investment funds across various sectors. Vitali Alimentos, a corporation with over 60 years of experience in the production and marketing of meat products and animal feed in Central America, is a regional leader in technology and genetics, as well as in product quality. The company employs over 6,000 people and operates in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and maintains a presence throughout Central America through its commercial partners and distributors. For more information or interview requests, please contact Benito Besada at [email protected]. About IDC Network Established in 1995, IDC is a diversified multi-fund platform. IDC focuses on partnering with strategic investors, managing and co-managing funds across multiple sectors, including Private Equity, Energy & Infrastructure, Ventures, Capital Markets, Real Estate, and Impact. Active across Latin America, the U.S., and Europe, IDC is proud to be the Partner of Choice for more than 150 of the world's most influential families from 26 countries. Learn more at IDCNetwork.com. SOURCE Valante Capital QUIMPER, France, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The insurance broker Verlingue, a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group, announces its acquisition of ProConseils Solutions, a major player in the insurance brokerage market in French-speaking Switzerland. This strategic operation will enable Verlingue to strengthen its position in the Swiss market by broadening its range of services and expertise in the field of insurance coverage for businesses, local authorities and medico-social establishments. ProConseils Solutions was founded in 2003 and is known for its personalised client approach and commitment to quality. With a staff of almost 25 employees based in three offices in the Canton of Vaud, ProConseils Solutions works with more than 1,500 companies, nearly 150 local authorities and 30 medico-social establishments, providing them with optimised solutions for managing their insurance coverage. This acquisition is fully aligned with Verlingue's Better Future 28 strategic plan, which aims to reinforce the company's presence in Europe and expand the territorial coverage of its business, based on an ambitious project bringing together local businesses with a shared vision. Benjamin Verlingue, Chairman and CEO of the Adelaide Group, explains that: "The acquisition of ProConseils Solutions marks an important step in our growth strategy in Switzerland and Europe. We share strong values with ProConseils Solutions, notably close relations with our customers and service excellence. Joining forces will enable us to provide all our customers whether in Switzerland or in the other countries in which we operate an even broader range of expertise and solutions that are increasingly tailored to their needs." Alain Bornand and Joseph Gelsomino, co-Founders of ProConseils Solutions, add: "Becoming part of Verlingue and the Adelaide Group, is a real opportunity for our customers and our staff. We will be able to provide even better services and draw on the Group's technical expertise and international dimension. It will also enable us to continue to develop ProConseils Solutions in French-speaking Switzerland, both through our existing teams and through possible acquisitions. ProConseils Solutions is entering a new phase in its evolution and we are looking forward to sharing this with our customers, partners and staff." With this acquisition, Verlingue will help the Adelaide Group achieve its objective of becoming the leading family-owned insurance broker in Europe by 2028. About Verlingue Verlingue is an insurance broker specialising in business protection, and a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group. Working alongside entrepreneurs, Verlingue's goal is to harness corporate risk management and employee protection to drive its customers' value creation and performance. With offices in France, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Italy, and through partners in over 100 countries, Verlingue works with its customers over the long term and at every instant to better understand and plan ahead for new risks and develop simple yet effective solutions to protect their business (corporate risk) and staff (supplementary social protection schemes and pensions). 1,500 employees, 550 of whom are based outside France Operating out of 5 countries in Europe LinkedIn / www.verlingue.fr Media Contact: Agence Epoka Lucie Fortin [email protected] +33 (0)6 19 68 70 18 About ProConseils Solutions ProConseils Solutions is an insurance broker that specialises in providing insurance advice and coverage to local authorities, socio-medical establishments and SMEs. Our team has extensive expertise, based on nationally-recognised higher occupational training, supported by many years' experience in the field. With local offices in Morges, Yverdon-les-Bains and Payerne, we are close to our customers. Respect, competency, high standards and team spirit are the values that underpin our corporate charter. Media contact for ProConseils Solutions and Verlingue Switzerland: Verlingue SA - Nicole Maissen - Marketing & Communications Manager - [email protected] - Telephone +41 58 414 45 20 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2568709/Verlingue_Logo.jpg "This expansion allows us to offer even more variety and convenience to our customers, ensuring they have access to the best selection of vehicles and top-notch service right here in the heart of the Florida Keys," said Lee Holt, General Manager of Keys Auto Center. Kia of Key West will maintain operations at 2826 N Roosevelt Blvd, where Keys Auto Center is excited to welcome its new employees to the organization. Warren Henry Auto Group now has 11 locations in Florida, representing 24 brands. Over the last couple of years, the auto group has expanded significantly with new franchises and locations. The Kia of Key West purchase marks the sixth dealership added to the Warren Henry Auto Group's portfolio in the last two years. "The Kia of Key West acquisition represents our continued focus on growth and expansion within the automotive retail space," said Erik Day, CFO and Partner at Warren Henry Auto Group. "We are eager to share our expertise and 'customer-first' way of doing business with new customers and communities." About Warren Henry Auto Group Established in 1976, Warren Henry Auto Group is one of the longest-standing, private, family-owned dealership groups in Florida. The company comprises of over 500 employees, 11 different retail locations, and 24 luxury and premium brands including Jaguar, Land Rover, INFINITI, Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Hennessey, Koenigsegg, Hispano Suiza, Toyota, Ford, Lincoln, GMC, Chevrolet, Nissan, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Kia, VinFast, Icon, and Vespa. Grounded in its original core values and vision, the company prides itself on providing exceptional customer service, creating a superior work environment for its employees, and supporting local causes in the communities it serves. Warren Henry Auto Group has received numerous awards and accolades including being named Best Dealership to Work for by Automotive News, honored by J.D. Power for Dealer of Excellence, and recognized by the South Florida Business Journal Philanthropy List. The company's headquarters is located at 2300 NE 151st Street in North Miami. For more information visit the company's websites at www.warrenhenryauto.com or www.keysautocenter.com or call (305) 690-6006. SOURCE Warren Henry Auto Group BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, Mazahir Panahov, has urged political parties to be active in the upcoming municipal elections to ensure a broader range of candidates, Trend reports. The chairman made his statement at todays meeting of the CEC. "I particularly appeal to political parties to actively participate in the municipal elections. As the CEC, we will create the necessary conditions for the active involvement of candidates in the elections, following the requirements of the law," Panahov said. To note, the forthcoming municipal election in Azerbaijan is scheduled for January 29, 2025. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border region, accompanied by members of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Armenia (EUMA), is yet another example of anti-Azerbaijani policies pursued by some European Union member states and European institutions, Azerbaijans MFA shared in a post on its X page, Trend reports. The publication voiced regret over the participation of the Polish presidentwhose country is officially a "strategic partner" of Azerbaijanin what was described as an unacceptable diplomatic "binoculars show" that escalated tensions between Azerbaijan and Poland. Despite multiple official appeals from Azerbaijan to the Polish presidential administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Polish side did not back away from this provocative move. Azerbaijan has reserved the right to take appropriate diplomatic measures in response to this unfriendly action. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Trend News Agency and the Turkish Demiroren News Agency (DHA), one of Turkiye's leading media outlets, are expanding their cooperation agreement, Trend reports. Ilgar Huseynov, Director of Trend News Agency, and Cemal Coskun, General Director of DHA, inked an agreement in Istanbul to deepen and diversify ties between the two agencies. Besides, Huseynov and Coskun agreed to collaborate in promoting the agencies' joint activities on the international stage. To note, in October 2022, Trend and DHA signed two agreements. As per the initial agreement, Trend will coordinate the English-language and Azerbaijani versions of DHAPRESS, the news outlet that functions in Turkiye. Trend will provide informational support for the DHAPRESS project on political, economic, energy, and other issues related to the Caspian region, Central Asia, Iran, Russia, and other areas. Under the second agreement, DHA and Trend are also cooperating in the information technology (IT) sector. The presentation of the DHAPRESS project took place last year during the Shusha Global Media Forum. One of the project's key advantages is that, for the first time, an Azerbaijani news feed is being hosted on Turkiye's major media platform. The presentation was attended by the leadership of Trend and DHA, officials, and representatives of both international and local media. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : As the Israeli security cabinet voted in favour of a ceasefire deal to end the fighting with the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that there are three "main reasons" he wants a truce now. an Israeli official told the media. Tel Aviv, Nov 27 (IANS) As the Israeli security cabinet voted in favour of a ceasefire deal to end the fighting with the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that there are three "main reasons" he wants a truce now. an Israeli official told the media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that there are three "main reasons" he wants a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon now. "With the United States' full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack", Netanyahu noted. "The first reason is to focus on the Iranian threat, and I won't expand on that. The second reason is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission. And the third reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages," Netanyahu said. The Israeli PM's speech was released after an Israeli official told CNN the security cabinet had approved a ceasefire deal. Netanyahu also said the duration of a ceasefire would "depend on what happens in Lebanon". He added that Israel would resume attacks if Hezbollah violated the agreement by rearming, digging tunnels, launching rockets, or rebuilding its infrastructure near the Israeli border. "With the United States' full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action," he said. 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. Beirut, Nov 27 : Lebanon's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah during a call with the US President, Joe Biden, on Tuesday. A series of posts on X from Mikati described the proposal as a "fundamental step towards restoring calm and stability in Lebanon and enabling displaced persons to return to their towns and cities". He thanked the US and France for their involvement, and reiterated his government's commitment to "strengthen the army's presence in the south". Mikati said: "While I value the joint efforts of the United States and France in reaching this understanding, I reaffirm the government's commitment to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, enhancing the presence of the Lebanese Army in the South, and cooperating with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)." President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has described the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire to come into effect on Wednesday as "very encouraging news". She said the news was encouraging "first and foremost for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting". "Lebanon will have an opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollah's reduced influence," she posted on X. The UK's Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, calling for the deal to be turned into "a lasting political solution". Starmer in a statement said: "Today's long overdue ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah will provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed." The Prime Minister further added that now this deal must be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild. He said the UK and its allies will continue to be at the "forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence" to achieve a "long-term, sustainable" peace in the Middle East, adding: "We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid." Israel's President, Issac Herzog, has thanked Joe Biden and his administration for its "unwavering" support of Israel and for "tirelessly working" to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Herzog wrote on X: "The Israeli security cabinet's decision to approve the deal is "correct and important," adding that "it must be clear the state of Israel will defend its citizens, any place, anyway." French President Emmanuel Macron said that a ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Lebanon should "open the path" for an ending of the war in Gaza. "This agreement should open the path for a ceasefire too long awaited with regards to the incomparable suffering of the population in Gaza," Macron said in a video posted on X. He added that it "shows that only political courage can provide everyone in the Middle East long-term peace and stability". UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres said "he hopes that this agreement can put an end to the violence, destruction, and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing". Separately, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called the agreement a pivotal moment to restore safety and security for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. "This agreement marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006)," she said in a statement. The Security Council resolution, adopted in the aftermath of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, calls for a cessation of hostilities as well as respect for the "Blue Line" of separation between Israeli and Lebanese armed forces. Hennis-Plasschaert stressed that selective adherence to the resolution would no longer suffice. The 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will go into effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The US is expected to be a key security guarantor of the deal. American troops will not be committed to the Israel-Lebanon border but the US, France, and its allies will provide the "necessary assistance" to ensure the deal is implemented "fully and effectively," President Joe Biden said. Under the deal's terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border. During a 60-day transition phase, the Lebanese army will deploy to the buffer border zone alongside the existing UN peacekeeping force. Longstanding border disputes will be discussed after the 60-day withdrawal period. Importantly for Israel, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a ceasefire in Lebanon was contingent on ending the fighting in Gaza. The Israel-Hezbollah deal will not have any direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have not led to a deal. "Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza," Biden said during his address on Tuesday. Asked if he would be able to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza before leaving office, Biden crossed his fingers and replied: "I think so. I hope so. I'm praying." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Fiuggi : , Nov 27 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has held a meeting with Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani during the G7 Foreign Minister's Meeting in Fiuggi, Italy. The EAM on Tuesday wrote in a post on X, "A warm meeting with DPM & FM @Antonio_Tajani of Italy today. Discussed opportunities in technology, innovation, clean energy, fertilizers, railways and investments. Also exchanged perspectives on IMEC, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. The recently announced Joint Strategic Action Plan guides our activities. Look forward to welcoming him in India in 2025." In another post on X, EAM Jaishankar said: "Pleased to attend the G7 FMM Outreach Session with Indo-Pacific partners today in Fiuggi. Thank FM @Antonio_Tajani of Italy for the welcome and hospitality. Noted that the Indo-Pacific is experiencing significant changes including new convergences & partnerships as well as anxieties, frictions & stresses." The EAM also said that the evolution of Quad has been a notable development and the Indo-Pacific landscape today creates a compelling argument for a wider collaborative approach. EAM Jaishankar and Italian Foreign Minister Tajani also highlighted six key responses required in the Indo-Pacific region such as more collaborations in areas like maritime, semiconductors, supply chains, etc; more resources, both to support greater activities and projects as well as to avoid bad borrowing and unsustainable debt; more capacities in fields like governance, health, technology, disaster resilience and natural resource management; more inter-operability and burden sharing to service the global commons and contribute to global good; respect for international law as well as for mutuality of benefits as well as more options so that Indo-Pacific policymakers can make the right choices. "In an era of collaborative endeavours, the Indo-Pacific will require practical solutions, nimble diplomacy, greater adjustment and more open conversations. The G7 can be one such partner," EAM Jaishankar added. Apart from Italy's Foreign Minister, EAM Jaishankar on Tuesday also held important discussions with his counterparts from the US, South Korea and Japan here. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken shared the details of his meeting with Jaishankar on X. He said, "The U.S. and India are stronger when we are working together. Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and I met today in Italy to discuss the importance of our continued close cooperation to promote global security and prosperity." EAM Jaishankar shared the highlights of the meeting and expressed confidence in the India-US partnership which continues to move forward. He also shared about his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul on X and noted, "Appreciate our growing convergences on the Indo-Pacific, vibrant economic partnership, strong defence ties and active tech collaboration." Sharing the details of the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister, Takeshi Iwaya, the EAM said that the two nations "exchanged views on advancing our strategic partnership and cooperation in Indo-Pacific". In other developments, earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil. During the recently concluded ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting Plus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held deliberations with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and the US. -- Syndicated from IANS Istanbul, Nov 27 : Turkish police detained two suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) in Istanbul over an alleged plot to carry out a bomb attack, local media reported. The operation on Tuesday followed intelligence received by the Istanbul Police Department's Counter-terrorism Branch, indicating IS plans to target the city, reports Xinhua, quoting Demiroren news agency. Authorities identified one suspect, who operated online under the alias Bekir Al Kurdi after he made inquiries on social media about constructing a pressure cooker bomb. Investigators traced him to the Gaziosmanpasa district, where he was found working with another suspect, police said. Searches of their residence uncovered high-sensitivity explosives, large quantities of bomb-making chemicals, laboratory equipment, camouflage gear, masks, lab clothing, IS flags, banned publications, and digital materials, according to police. Turkey, which designated IS as a terrorist organisation in 2013, has faced multiple attacks by the group in recent years. Turkish security forces have ramped up counter-terrorism operations nationwide, targeting suspected members and supporters. Seoul, Nov 27 : Hyundai Motor said on Wednesday it plans to launch an electric vehicle (EV) charging subscription service for Hyundai customers in Indonesia this week. Starting Thursday, subscribers of the service will be able to use 518 chargers at 288 charging stations operated by Hyundai and its EV partner companies across Indonesia, reports Yonhap news agency. The service, which can be purchased on the company's smartphone app, offers charging plans of 50 kilowatt-hours (kWh), 100kWh and 250kWh. If users exhaust their selected plan, additional charging can be purchased. The company said customers who purchased a Hyundai EV in Indonesia after September are eligible for a one-year discount on the subscription service. Starting in January, Hyundai plans to expand its EV charging subscription service to customers of other EV brands as well. "We aim to contribute to the growth of Indonesia's local EV ecosystem through our subscription service and the expansion of charging infrastructure," Lee Joo-hoon, head of Hyundai's Indonesian subsidiary, said. On Tuesday, Hyundai Motor said it plans to invest nearly $480 million in Malaysia over the next five years from 2025 to increase its production capacity in the Southeast Asian nation. The South Korean automaker said it plans to collaborate with its local partner Inokom to augment its complete knockdown (CKD) unit assembly plant, which currently manufactures the older-generation Santa Fe SUV model. The upgraded CKD plant will begin manufacturing Hyundai's multipurpose vehicle and the Staria minivan in mid-2025. The company plans to expand the lineup to include mid-to-large SUVs. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group's chief Euisun Chung has spoken about the possibility of collaboration with Japan's Toyota Motor in areas involving hydrogen-powered mobility. Dar Es Salaam, Nov 27 : The death toll has risen to 29 in a collapsed building in the Kariakoo suburb of Dar es Salaam, a senior government official said. Thobias Makoba, the chief spokesperson of the Tanzanian government, also announced the suspension of the 10-day rescue operations of the tragic accident that saw more than 85 people trapped under the rubble of the building rescued. Nine more bodies were recovered since the last count of 20 bodies was announced by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday last week, Xinhua news agency reported. Hassan announced the 20 death toll when she inspected the site of the collapsed building shortly after she had returned from the G20 summit in Brazil. The building, which had four stories, accommodated shops and other businesses. It collapsed on November 16. Chennai, Nov 27 : With the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall across many areas of Tamil Nadu, a holiday has been declared for educational institutions in several districts on Wednesday. In Chennai and its neighbouring districts, including Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu, the district collectors announced a holiday for schools and colleges. Anticipating severe weather conditions, authorities have extended the holiday to schools and colleges in the Delta districts of Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Villupuram. Holiday has also been announced for educational institutions in Karaikal and Puducherry. The RMC in Chennai stated that the depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression and is likely to develop into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday. According to weather officials, the deep depression is moving closer to the state and is just one step away from being declared a cyclone. Current forecasts indicate that the developing cyclone is likely to move toward Chennai, but the exact landfall location could vary, potentially occurring anywhere between Puducherry and Chennai or even extending beyond Tamil Naduas borders into Andhra Pradesh. The RMC has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall across Tamil Nadu for the next three days due to this deep depression. A red alert has already been issued for several districts on November 28 and 29. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin convened a meeting with district collectors and monitoring officers on Tuesday to assess the stateas preparedness for the heavy rain and the potential cyclone, as forecasted by the weather department. State Revenue Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran and Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam also participated in the virtual meeting. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu government confirmed that the Chief Minister had reviewed precautionary measures in vulnerable districts, including Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, and Cuddalore. District Collectors assured the Chief Minister that adequate relief camps have been established and that medical teams equipped with necessary tools are on standby. The state government has pre-positioned disaster response teams, mobilised first responders and volunteers, and ensured that emergency control centres are operational round the clock with multi-department officials. Following the Chief Ministeras instructions, the government has deployed one State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and one National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team each in Thiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, and Cuddalore. Additionally, two NDRF teams have been stationed in Thanjavur. The weather department has also forecast moderate thunderstorms and lightning, accompanied by moderate rainfall, for several districts, including Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Villupuram, Kallakkurichi, Cuddalore, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli over the next three days. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The final meeting of the project "Creating a Database on the Media Landscape of Azerbaijan" was held at the Press Council of Azerbaijan, which was implemented with financial support from the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports. Opening the event, Rashad Majid, Chairman of the Press Council, expressed gratitude to the agency for its support of the project. Majid noted that the project, which lasted for seven months, involved comprehensive research into all areas of Azerbaijan's media as well as surveys. "Four meetings were held across various media sectors in July, August, September, and October. These sessions analyzed the progress made under the project, discussed the structure of the information database, which aims to represent the media landscape of our country, and systematized suggestions. As part of the project, a special category titled "Media Landscape of Azerbaijan" was created on the Press Councils official website, presscouncil.az. This category includes subcategories such as Laws Regulating the Circulation of Information Products in Azerbaijan, Local and International Documents Defining Ethical Standards for Information, Key Media Actors and Journalistic Organizations of Azerbaijan, Gender Balance in Azerbaijani Media, and Azerbaijani Media during the First and Second Karabakh Wars, as well as articles and events conducted within the scope of the project," he said. Majid also mentioned that all 12 thematic articles planned under the project have been prepared and published, reflecting an institutional approach to the subject. The articles are available in the "Media Landscape of Azerbaijan" section on the website. Mushfiq Alasgarli, a member of the Press Councils board and an expert on the project, provided participants with new information available in the "Media Landscape of Azerbaijan" section. He highlighted the results of the study on Azerbaijani journalistic organizations. Alasgarli emphasized that the "Information Database on Azerbaijans Media Landscape" has been created in line with international standards. The meeting also included presentations from other participants involved in the project. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Jammu, Nov 27 : The Jammu and Kashmir Police have conducted a massive crackdown on terrorist networks linked to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) across the Jammu region. Additional DGP (Jammu), Anand Jain told reporters on Wednesday that police have conducted a series of searches and raids across the Jammu region. "Raids were conducted at 56 places across four districts of the Jammu region. The large-scale operation resulted in the arrest of several Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and terror suspects, along with the recovery of incriminating materials, including electronic devices, documents, unaccounted cash, weapons and ammunition. Investigations will continue based on the material and information gathered during the raids. Further operations are planned to target any remaining elements attempting to disrupt peace in the region, " he said. Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay Sharma said, "...To eliminate the terror ecosystem, the role of the common public is as important as that of law enforcement agencies and security forces. Without the cooperation and support of the general public, this ecosystem cannot be eradicated. And there is a lot of support in this regard, I will not deny this. The support from the people is very good; they do inform us. If they notice anything suspicious, they always approach us, and they feel very comfortable approaching." A police statement issued on the operation said, "The operations aimed to identify, track and apprehend OGWs and other terror suspects involved in supporting terrorist outfits by managing logistics, recruitment and facilitating the movement of arms, ammunition and funds. Searches were conducted at multiple locations, including residential houses and hideouts, in Rajouri district based on specific intelligence inputs. Places searched in Rajouri included Darhal, Kalakote, Manjakote and Dharamsal areas." "Twelve similar search operations were conducted in different locations of district Poonch, including Surankote, Mandi, Poonch, Mendhar and Gursai. These operations are part of investigations into two separate terror cases registered at Thannamandi Police Station in 2013 and Rajouri Police Station this year," the statement further mentioned. "The cases involve a terrorist network active in the border district and linked to proscribed organisations like JeM and LeT, which are trying to activate OGWs to initiate, organise, and execute terror-related activities," the spokesperson said. In Udhampur district, the police conducted extensive searches at 25 locations in the Basantgarh area, including Rai Chak, Chaka, Kadwah, Morha, Kund, Khaned, Ponara, Loudhra and Sang. "Ten similar raids were carried out in different locations of Reasi district, including Puni, Gulabgarh, Arnas, Panassa and Mahore-Chasana. These searches were part of an investigation linked to a terror case registered at the Basantgarh Police Station. The action has led to the arrest of several OGWs and terror suspects during two days long crackdown. Incriminating materials, including electronic devices, documents, unaccounted cash, weapons, and ammunition, were recovered during the searches. The operations were conducted meticulously to avoid any collateral damage or inconvenience to innocent civilians," the police statement added. New Delhi, Nov 27 : India's milk production increased by 4 per cent to 239.3 million tonnes in 2023-24, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh said. Union Minister Singh said the per capita availability of milk has also risen to 471 gm per day in 2023-24 from 459 gm per day in 2022-23. The minister noted that the average growth in India's milk production has been 6 per cent as against 2 per cent of the world's average. The government released Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2024 on the occasion of National Milk Day 2024, which is celebrated every year on November 26 to honour the Father of the white revolution, Verghese Kurien, who was born on this day. Addressing an event to celebrate National Milk Day, the minister said the milk production has increased to around 239 million tonnes in 2023-24 on the back of improvement in productivity. According to the report, "Milk production from exotic/ crossbred cattle has increased by 8 per cent and indigenous cattle has increased by 44.76 per cent in 2023-24 as compared to the previous year." The total egg production increased by 3.17 per cent to 142.77 billion in 2023-24, according to the report. "The per-capita availability of eggs is 103 eggs per annum," it added. India is the world's 2nd largest in egg production. Meat production, the report said, grew 4.95 per cent, and was estimated to reach 10.25 mt in 2023-24. The total wool production in the country was pegged at 33.69 million kg. The minister emphasised the need to bring dairy farmers into the organised sector as this will boost milk production and their income and eliminate middlemen. He also spoke on the need to boost exports of dairy products. The Minister asked dairy farmers to vaccinate their livestock as the government is providing free vaccinations to help them protect their cattle from disease. He said the foot and mouth disease and brucellosis will be eradicated from the country by 2030 and this would help enhance exports. The minister also asked dairy farmers to adopt sex-sorted semen and artificial insemination in a big way. The government was also focusing on breed improvement of livestock, the Union Minister said. Mumbai, Nov 27 : Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen recently took to social media to cheer for her daughter, Renee Sen, as she confidently poses for the camera. On Wednesday, the former Miss Universe shared a video of Renee striking different poses for the camera. Alongside it, the proud mommy wrote in the caption, "You goooooo girl!!!! #stunning @reneesen47 My favourite part is you, dancing of course!!! That's my #babygirl Confident, beautiful & enjoying the moment!!! I love you shona!!! #bringit Maa #duggadugga." In the video, Renee is seen wearing a short shimmery dress. She posed with utmost grace and confidence. Renee is also seen dancing in the clip. Sushmita Sen never shies away from expressing her love and pride for her daughters. For the unversed, the actress became a single mother at the age of 24. She adopted her elder daughter, Renee in 2000. In 2010, Sushmita expanded her family by adopting her second daughter, Alisah. Her elder daughter, Renee, stepped into the world of acting in 2021 with her debut in a short film. Reflecting on her journey as a mother, Sushmita once shared her thoughts on adopting her daughters during an interaction at FICCI Hyderabad, where she spoke about the life-changing decision and the joy it brought to her life. The 'Main Hoon Na' actress stated that becoming a mother at 24 was the wisest decision she has ever made. It brought stability to her life. While many see it as a great act of charity or a noble gesture, for her, it was about self-preservation, a way of protecting and grounding herself. On the work front, Sushmita Sen was last seen in the thriller "Aarya." In the series, she portrayed a resilient woman who pushes boundaries to shield her family from the dark world of crime. Season 3 was released in two parts, with the first half premiering in 2023 and the second half debuting on February 9, 2024. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Bengaluru, Nov 27 : The probe in the murder of a vlogger from Assam allegedly by her paramour, has revealed that the killer spent two days with the corpse of Maya Gogoi, at a service apartment in Bengaluru, police sources said on Wednesday. The shocking incident had come to light in Indiranagar police station limits on Tuesday. The probe so far has revealed that the boyfriend-turned-alleged killer Aarav Hanoy had spent two days with the body of Maya Gogoi, and most of the time he was just smoking cigarettes while sitting in front of the corpse. The police have formed two teams and launched a manhunt for him. The suspected killeras phone is switched off and police teams are searching for him in Kerala and other places. Aarav Hanoy, after boarding a taxi from the service apartment, had reached the Majestic area located in the Central Business District of Bengaluru and turned off his phone after that. According to the police, the deceased vlogger Maya lived with her sister in Bengaluruas HSR Layout. Maya had called her sister and informed her that she wouldn't come home as she was attending an office party on Friday. Later, she had sent another message on Saturday stating that she would not come to the residence as she was partying on that night as well. Mayaas sister has told the police that Aarav and Maya were in a relationship for the last six months after meeting via social media. They had checked into the service apartment on Saturday and an initial probe has revealed that the accused had brought a knife with him while checking into the service apartment. He had also purchased a nylon rope online. After spending time with Maya, the accused had stabbed her to death, police sources stated. The police have gathered CCTV footage and information about the cab he booked and the time he went out from the service apartment on Tuesday. The accused had left the service apartment at 8.19 A.M. on Tuesday. Earlier the police suspected that the killer had spent an entire day with his loveras corpse in a rented room before coolly strolling out and disappearing. Now it has emerged that he spent two days with the corpse as Maya and Aarav had booked the service apartment last Saturday. It is suspected that the murder had taken place on Sunday midnight. Maya was employed in a private firm and police have collected CCTV footage of Maya and Aarav entering the service apartment normally on November 23. The police are probing whether the killer had plans to cut the dead body into pieces and transport it outside as he had spent a day with the corpse. CCTV footage has not shown any other person entering the service apartment between November 23 and November 26. The official statement is yet to be made by the police department. In a recent gruesome incident, Mahalaxmi, a single working woman, in Bengaluru, was killed on September 3 by her lover, who later chopped her body into more than 50 pieces and stuffed the body parts into a refrigerator. The alleged killer Mukthiranjan Roy was found hanging from a tree near a crematorium in Bhuinpur village under Dhusuri police station in Odisha's Bhadrak district. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Former Attorney General and Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday criticised the indictment by a US court alleging bribery charges against the Adani Group, describing it as "completely silent" and lacking specifics. His comments followed a recent filing by Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) with the stock exchanges confirming that Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain had been cleared of bribery charges by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Addressing a press conference, Rohatgi clarified that his views were personal and based on his legal expertise. "I want to tell you that these are my personal legal views. I'm not a spokesman for the Adani Group. I am a lawyer, and I have been appearing for the Adani Group in several cases. So, I have gone through this indictment by the US court, which is about 54 pages long," he stated. Rohatgi detailed the charges listed in the indictment, explaining that there were five counts. He emphasised the importance of Count 1 and Count 5 while pointing out that neither Gautam Adani nor Sagar Adani was named in these counts. "Count number 1, contained in paragraphs 124 onwards, is against certain other persons minus the two Adanis. It includes some of their officers and one foreign person. That is the conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), somewhat similar to the Prevention of Corruption Act in India. In that count, the Adanis are not named, though their officers are," he said. "There are two or three other counts relating to securities and bonds. In these, the Adanis and others are named. In the last count, which is very important, relating to obstruction of justice, the Adanis are not named, their officers are not named, but certain other people, including a foreign party, are mentioned. It is unclear whether they are connected to the Adanis," he further elaborated. Questioning the lack of specifics in the indictment, Rohatgi said, "When you look at a charge sheet, you have to be specific to say that so-and-so has done such-and-such act." "This charge sheet alleges that these people, including the Adanis, have bribed Indian officials in Indian entities relating to the supply and purchase of power. But I do not find a single name or detail in the charge sheet as to who has been bribed, in what manner, or which department the official belongs to. This charge sheet is completely silent," he said. Expressing scepticism about how such allegations could be addressed, Rohatgi added, "I don't know how one can respond to these kinds of charge sheets. I am sure the Adanis will seek legal opinions, including from American lawyers." Speaking to IANS separately, he reiterated, "There are two counts in the indictment where the Adanis are not mentioned, while there are three where they have been mentioned. However, the details of who was bribed, how, why, and where are lacking in the vague charge sheet." The AGEL, in its filing, has cited the news reporting by various media houses on the bribery and corruption charges against Adani Officials as 'Incorrect'. "Media articles which state that certain of our directors namely Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement filed by Adani Green Energy Ltd. "Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added. In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant. The DoJ Indictment, which has five counts, does not have any mention of and has excluded Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani or Vneet Jaain in Count One: 'Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; neither does it have mention of these three names in Count Five: "Conspiracy to obstruct justice." New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore for various disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects to tackle natural calamities in 15 states, according to an official statement. A sum of Rs 139 crore each was approved for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Rs 100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs 72 crore each for Karnataka and Kerala, Rs 50 crore each for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and Rs 378 crore for the eight Northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The decision was taken by a high-level committee headed by Home Minister Amit Shah with Union Ministers for finance and agriculture and the vice chairman of the NITI Aayog as members. They considered the proposal to mitigate landslide risk in 15 states for funding from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF). The committee also gave the go-ahead to a project for training and capacity building of civil defence volunteers in all states and union territories at a total outlay of Rs 115.67 crore. The funding window of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) will be used to finance the project. Earlier, the committee approved Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven cities at a total outlay of Rs 3,075.65 crore and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk management projects in four states at a total outlay of Rs 150 crore from the NDMF. "To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of disaster resilient India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country," the statement said. Several measures have been taken to prevent any extensive loss of life and property during disasters by strengthening the disaster risk reduction system in India, the statement said. Under the Modi government, more than Rs 21,476 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This includes Rs 14,878.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 states, Rs 4,637.66 crore from the NDRF to 15 states, Rs 1,385.45 crore from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund to 11 states and Rs 574.93 crore from NDMF to six states, the statement added. Amaravati, Nov 27 : Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday condemned the arrest of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das. The Jana Sena leader took to 'X' on Wednesday to condemn the arrest and appeal to the Bangladeshi government to stop atrocities on Hindus. "Let's all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das by the Bangladesh police. We urge and plead with the Bangladeshi Govt under Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus," posted the actor-turned-politician. He reminded the government in Dhaka that the Indian Army shed its blood for the formation of Bangladesh. "The Indian Army's blood was spilled. Our resources had been spent and our Army jawans' lives had been lost for Bangladesh's formation," he wrote. "We are deeply disturbed by the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted," Pawan Kalyan added. He had made a similar comment last month while greetings Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Diwali. "My heartfelt Diwali greetings to Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Especially for Hindus in Bangladesh, may Lord Ram give you the strength and courage to face the situation you are in. We all in Bharat are looking forward for your safety and stability and you are there in our prayers," he wrote. The Jana Sena leader also hoped that the world community and global leaders would reach out to Hindus who are being persecuted in Pakistan and Bangladesh. "Today on Diwali day, let's all pray for the safety of Hindus who are getting persecuted in both Bangladesh and Pakistan. May Dharma be restored in their lands," Pawan Kalyan added. The Deputy Chief Minister also reacted to a song by a child from Pakistan. "This song by a Hindu child from Pakistan reflects the deep pain of the Partition. And the longing for reconnecting to the soul of Bharat," he wrote in his comment on a post. Mumbai, Nov 27 : Actress Bhumi Pednekar has shared details about her upcoming projects including the series "The Royals", which she said will be "magnanimous" and the polar opposite psychological thriller "Daldal." Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) Actress Bhumi Pednekar has shared details about her upcoming projects including the series "The Royals", which she said will be "magnanimous" and the polar opposite psychological thriller "Daldal." Speaking about "The Royals," Bhumi, who co-hosted this year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI) opening ceremony, said: "It's my first long format. I'm very, very happy that our collaborators are Netflix. It's going to be magnanimous. It's romance, it's comedy. I love that genre myself." The actor added that while the show falls into the rom-com category, it features "layered" and "nuanced" performances from a cast that includes both established and new actors, including veteran Zeenat Aman and Ishaan Khatter, reports variety.com. She also discussed her role in the series "Daldal," describing it as being the absolute opposite of "The Royals." "I haven't in my career read a character that's this complex," said the actress. Bhumi shared the stage with actors Khushbu Sundar and Suhasini Mani Ratnam, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, and actor, author and film administrator Vani Tripathi Tikoo. As an advocate for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in India, Bhumi expressed serious concerns about climate change. "Climate change is the single largest threat to humanity. Right now as we speak, schools in Delhi are shut. You're taking away right to education from children because your pollution is so bad." Previously, Bhumi went down memory lane as she talked about her debut film "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and said that she became an actor in a time where the way she looked was secondary. "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", which released in 2015, was directed by Sharat Katariya. The film also stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanjay Mishra and Seema Pahwa. The film told the story of a school dropout named Prem, who hesitantly marries an educated but overweight girl, Sandhya. However, the two come closer when they take part in a race, which involves Prem carrying Sandhya on his back. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Kochi, Nov 27 : The Kerala High Court on Wednesday accepted the petition of K. Manjusha for a CBI probe into the death of her husband, Kannur Additional District Magistrate Naveen Babu, who was found hanging at his official residence. After a preliminary hearing, the court directed notices to be served to the Kerala government and the CBI. It also directed the present probe official of the Kerala Police to submit the case diary and posted the case for hearing on December 6. In the court, the counsel for Manjusha insisted that the only way for the truth to come out was a CBI probe. Joining the issue was Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan who said that so far there has been no proper probe at all as people who should have been questioned have not been quizzed, even after a month has gone by. "Despite requests from the family of Babu, who demanded that the post mortem should not be conducted at the state-run Kannur Medical College, it was done there and the inquest and the autopsy were done before Babu's family arrived there. So everything is mysterious," said Satheesan. Incidentally, Babu was considered as one of the cleanest officials in the Revenue Department, which was even pointed out by Kerala Revenue Minister K. Rajan. Babu was found dead in his official quarters on October 15, a day after he was given an official send-off from Kannur. In her petition, his wife has raised concerns about the undue haste with which the inquest and autopsy were conducted before the family members arrived. The sequence of events that led to Babu's suicide began when, P.P. Divya, the Kannur district panchayat president and CPI-M leader arrived at the send-off function uninvited and made some critical remarks against Babu, alleging his involvement in corruption. When this incident occurred, Kannur District Collector Arun Vijayan, who was presiding over the function, kept mum and did not make any statement when Divya walked out after making curt remarks against Babu. Babu died by suicide the very next day on October 15 and following the furore, Divya resigned as Kannur district panchayat president. She was on the run for several days after a case was filed against her on October 17. On October 29 after a local court rejected her anticipatory bail, Divya was arrested by the police and lodged at a jail in Kannur till November 8 when she got bail. In the alleged corruption remark, it later surfaced that one T.V. Prasanth, an electrician by profession who worked at the state-run Medical College at Kannur had applied for a petrol pump and Babu had delayed giving the No Objection Certificate for it. Prasanth and Divya's husbands are colleagues at the hospital. A new research center has been established at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) to support the advancement of the country's oil industry. The center, titled "Resource-Saving Technologies in Hydrocarbon Production, Transportation, and Processing," is dedicated to developing innovative scientific and technical solutions for the oil sector, which is a vital component of the national economy. It also aims to address challenges in the field through a scientific and systematic approach. The center's activities will encompass several key areas, including conducting research to enhance resource efficiency in the oil industry. Additionally, it will offer training programs, facilitate laboratory research, and incorporate these initiatives into academic curricula. The center aspires to participate in local and international competitions, secure research funding, and publish its findings in reputable international journals. Jaipur, Nov 27 : Amid an ongoing dispute within the erstwhile Mewar royal family in Rajasthan, Nathdwara MLA and newly anointed 'king' Vishvraj Singh reached the Eklingji temple in Udaipur on Wednesday to offer his prayers. This ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, built by Bappa Rawal in 734 AD, holds significant importance for the Mewar dynasty. According to tradition, every anointed king of Mewar visits this temple to seek the blessings of Lord Eklingji. Singh's supporters also demanded to go inside the temple with him, but the police stopped them outside. However, Vishvraj Singh entered the temple. At the same time, the entry of common people has been stopped in the temple for some time. Earlier at 10 a.m., Vishvraj traditionally worshipped the mare and performed other rituals in his Samor Bagh Palace before visiting the temple. Meanwhile, tight security arrangements have been made in Samor Bagh, City Palace and Eklingji. As part of the familyas ritual, Vishvaraj Singh will wear a silver stick on his shoulder during the visit. His temple visit comes two days after his coronation ceremony in Chittorgarh. However, the coronation has intensified tensions within the royal family. On Monday, a dispute arose when Vishvaraj Singh was prevented from performing the traditional 'Dhuni Darshan' at Udaipuras City Palace, which is under the control of his uncle, Arvind Singh Mewar. The disagreement escalated into stone-pelting incidents in Udaipur on Monday night, leading Vishvaraj Singh to criticize the administration for its inaction. In response, the district collector imposed Section 163 (formerly Section 144) around the City Palace to maintain law and order. The conflict deepened after Monday nightas clashes outside the City Palace. Though the administration appointed a receiver to mediate, no consensus was reached on Tuesday regarding Dhuni Darshan. Meanwhile, both Vishvaraj Singh and Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar traded accusations without directly naming each other. Vishvaraj described the refusal to allow Dhuni Darshan as an act of "dictatorship", while Lakshyaraj claimed that Vishvaraj had not sought permission from the trustees or palace management, leading to his denial of entry. Udaipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Yogesh Goyal stated that Vishvaraj Singh, his family, and a select group of dignitaries would be allowed to enter the Eklingji Temple. However, in the event of large crowds, entry would be temporarily restricted to ensure order." A huge police force has been deployed here to avoid any further tension, said police officials. Jaipur, Nov 27 : Rajasthan Agriculture and Panchayati Raj Minister Kirodi Lal Meena, admitted to a hospital in Jaipur for stomach-related ailments, was slightly better on Wednesday. After the minister complained of stomach ache, vomiting, burning sensation and acidity, his family and staff members rushed him to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital on Tuesday night. According to the SMS Hospital administration, Kirori Lal Meena was rushed to the health facility's emergency ward and after administering first aid, he was shifted to the Medical ICU. According to the doctors, the minister was admitted to the unit of Senior Professor C.L. Naval of the General Medicine Department. The minister's health condition was slightly better and some other tests will be conducted on Wednesday, they said. Kirodi Lal Meena extensively campaigned for his brother Jagmohan Meena for the November 13 bypolls. However, after his brother lost to Congress' DD Bairwa in the polls, the minister was disappointed and upset. "If the traitors would have shot me in the chest, I would have suppressed pain in my heart, but they turned Meghnath and hit my Laxman-like brother," the Minister had said after Jagmohan's defeat. "I am neither disappointed nor disheartened by my struggle of four and a half decades. Defeat has certainly taught me a lesson but I am not perturbed. I am determined to continue moving forward on this path of struggle in future as well. I can never give up the vow of serving the poor, labourers, farmers and every suffering person, but there is a pain in my heart. It is very deep and also torments me every moment. I was not able to repay the debt of the brother, who supported me like a shadow throughout my life and mitigated my every pain, due to some Jaichands (a character from Mahabharat)," he added "There is only one shortcoming in me that I do not flatter and so have suffered a lot in my political life, he added. Latehar, Nov 27 : Maoist commander Chhotu Kharwar, a notorious figure with a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was killed in an internal clash among Maoist factions in the Nawadih area of Latehar, Jharkhand, on Tuesday night. His body has been recovered by the police and Chhotu's death marks a significant blow to the CPI (Maoist) organisation in the region. Chhotu Kharwar had been synonymous with terror across several districts of Jharkhand, including Latehar, Palamu, Garhwa, Chatra, and Gumla. He was wanted in over 100 criminal cases, ranging from extortion and murder to attacks on security forces. In addition to the Rs 15 lakh bounty announced by Jharkhand Police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also declared a Rs 3 lakh reward for his arrest, making him among the most wanted Maoists in the country. A native of Chhipadohar Sikid village in Latehar, Chhotu Kharwar, also known as "Sujit Ji" within the Maoist organisation, served on the CPI (Maoist) regional committee. His criminal record spanned numerous heinous acts, including the recent murder of a daily wage worker in Chhipadohar. In August, the police pasted posters at his house and he was asked to appear in court within 30 days. Chhotu had been actively expanding the Maoist presence in the Koel and Shankh zones after fleeing from Budha Pahad, a former Maoist den, during the security forces' 'Operation Octopus' conducted last year. In 2016, the Balumath police seized Rs 3 lakh from a Chit Fund company manager, Chandan Kumar, who claimed the funds belonged to Chhotu. A deposit slip revealing Chhotu's investment of Rs 26 lakh was also discovered during the investigation. This financial trail prompted the NIA to take over the case in January 2018. Chhotuas wife, Lalita Devi, was arrested in October 2019 on charges of laundering Maoist funds. Chhotu Kharwar's death underlines the ongoing struggle within Maoist ranks and is a major success for security forces combating insurgency in Jharkhand. Fiuggi, Nov 27 : Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries called on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law at a meeting. The ministers said in a statement that they support a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, Xinhua news agency reported. The ministers expressed their concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. They called on the Israeli government to ease obstacles on humanitarian aid to civilians in areas rocked by conflicts. They said that "Israel must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including International Humanitarian Law." The two-day meeting was held in Fiuggi and Anagni, southeast of Rome. The G7 comprises Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Bengaluru, Nov 27 : The statement of Vokkaliga seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami on Tuesday demanding disenfranchisement of Muslims in India, went viral on social media on Wednesday and stirred a controversy in Karnataka's political circles with Minister for Social Welfare condemning the comments. Chandrashekaranatha Swami heads the Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamsthana Mutt and the statements were made at a protest on Tuesday in Bengaluru, organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers' organisation linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to condemn the Waqf Board's alleged move to take away farmers' lands and properties. Chandrashekaranatha Swami stated, "Politicians indulge in vote bank politics and appeasement of Muslims. Hence, Muslims should be deprived of exercising their voting powers. This should be done and the end of vote bank politics would help the progress of the country." Chandrashekaranatha Swami said that in Pakistan, people of other religions, barring the Muslim majority, do not have the power to vote and added that if this is adopted in India, Muslims will keep to themselves and there will be peace in the country. "Everyone can live in peace," he stated. The seer, attacking the Karnataka government over the Waqf row, had stated that there should be no Waqf Board and the farmers' lands must remain with them. He also expressed concern over the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh. Chandrashekaranatha Swami's statement went viral and led to a furore in the state. Minister for Social Welfare, H.C. Mahadevappa condemned Chandrashekaranatha Swami's comments and stated, "After fighting tirelessly, Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar implemented the principle of 'one vote, one value.' Dalits, backward communities, and minorities must now understand its significance." "Those who spread political hatred in the name of religion must put an end to their harmful tendencies," Minister Mahadevappa stated. Earlier, the Vokkaliga seer had courted controversy by demanding that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah step down to pave the way for Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to get the Chief Minister's post. The seer had made the statement in the presence of CM Siddaramaiah and stirred a debate in the political corridors of Karnataka, bringing back to the table the issue of Shivakumar becoming the CM for half the term. The seer stated, "Everyone has enjoyed the seat of power by becoming CMs, except our D.K. Shivakumar. Hence, I request our experienced Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to vacate the CM's post and bless Shivakumar." Agartala, Nov 27 : Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, state BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee, various organisations and intellectuals criticised the Bangladesh government's action against Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. Das was taken into custody at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Monday. He was produced before Chittagong's 6th Metropolitan Magistrate court on Tuesday. The court, after rejecting the bail plea, sent the Hindu priest -- associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) -- to jail. Slamming Bangladesh authority, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, currently a Lok Sabha member, said: "The ongoing attacks on Sanatani minorities, various religious institutions and Sanatani Gurus in Bangladesh are entirely undemocratic and an affront to basic human rights principles." "I strongly condemn such incidents, completely based on narrow and vested interests, where sanatani sentiments and human rights are violated. I urge an urgent and joint international action to stem this undemocratic and anti-humanitarian situation," Deb posted on his X handle. Tripura BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee slammed the Bangladesh government over this arrest, and said, "Das during various natural disasters and crises actively helped the people in Bangladesh, providing various humanitarian support and he has been uniting the people belonging to Sanatani belief," he said in a statement. Bhattacharjee, also a Rajya Sabha member, said that ISKCON, despite being a very popular and respected international body, is now trying to be identified as a terrorist group. An apolitical and peace-fostering organisation ISKCON has 77 temples with over 50,000 devotees in Bangladesh and has branches in almost all countries across the world, the BJP leader said. He said that with the arrest of Das, it is now evident the extent of atrocities being unleashed on the minorities in Bangladesh, and added that even peaceful protest against the arrest of Das was also attacked in Dhaka. Bhattacharjee demanded Das's immediate release and the withdrawal of all charges levelled against him. A group of intellectuals and prominent citizens met the officials of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala and demanded the immediate release of Das. The intellectuals under the banner of 'Forum for Protection of Minorities in Bangladesh' urged the Bangladesh caretaker government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to make all efforts to protect the minorities in Bangladesh. Various other organisations also organised protest rallies and demonstrations against the arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. A group of Hindutva activists and social workers Tuesday evening staged a candlelight protest in Agartala. The protesters organised their vociferous protest in front of Ujjayanta Palace here, the former abode of Tripura's erstwhile Manikya dynasty which has been turned into a museum. They demanded immediate and unconditional release of the priest by Bangladesh authorities. The protesters claimed that Das has been the "voice of Sanatana Hindus" in Bangladesh and he was arrested on sedition charges after he appealed to Hindus to stay united in the country. Terming the arrest as "barbaric" and "unacceptable", Biplab Kanti Bhowmik, founder of a social organisation called 'Srestha Bhubon Samajik Sanstha', said, "We have seen through social media that Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari of Bangladesh, who is the voice of Sanatani Hindus in that country, was arrested at Bangladesh Airport and was illegally taken way." Sambhal, Nov 27 : The Sambhal police is scanning the CCTV as well as drone footage to identify the miscreants and rioters, following which strict action will be taken against them for orchestrating deadly violence during the mosque survey, said Uttar Pradesh Minister of State (MoS) Dharmveer Prajapati on Wednesday. He said that the miscreants are being identified through CCTV footage while the situation in the area is now under control. "There is no place for violence in Uttar Pradesh, and strict action will be taken against the miscreants. At present, there is peace in Sambhal," Prajapati told IANS. Calling the violence a "pre-planned conspiracy," he said, "According to CCTV footage, the road was empty until eight o'clock, and suddenly, a crowd appeared and became violent. This is clearly a conspiracy to defame the government and tarnish its image." "Under the leadership of such an honourable Chief Minister, such miscreants will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against them," the minister said. A deadly violence broke out in Sambhal on Sunday, as an unruly crowd in thousands gathered outside the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid to demonstrate against the court-ordered survey. The protesters, rather than engaging in peaceful demonstration, clashed with security forces, pelting stones and torching vehicles, leading to the death of four people and injuries to dozens, including 22 policemen. So far, police have arrested 27 people in connection with the unrest. Of these, 25 have been sent to jail, while three minors have been placed in juvenile homes. Multiple FIRs have been registered in the case, and over 2,750 unidentified suspects have been named. One of the FIRs names Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, as a key accused. Sohail Iqbal, son of local Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mehmood, is also named in the FIR. "The rioters seen in the CCTV footage are being identified, and strict action will definitely be taken against them. I have been in constant communication with the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police. As of now, the situation is fully under control. The government will not allow such acts to go unpunished," Prajapati said. The minister also reiterated government's commitment to maintaining law and order and ensuring justice for those affected by the violence. Earlier in the day, UP police released images of individuals, identified as among those involved in the violence and appealed to the public to assist in identifying them. Kolkata, Nov 27 : The third day of the West Bengal Assembly winter session witnessed pandemonium on Wednesday as the BJP legislators staged a walkout after the microphone of the party's woman MLA was 'disconnected' in the middle of her speech The BJP was seeking a debate on crime against women in the state and had moved an adjournment motion. Speaker Biman Banerjee disallowed the motion but permitted it to be read out. As Tapasi Mondal, the BJP legislator from Haldia in East Midnapore district was delivering her address, her microphone was allegedly disconnected before she could complete her speech. The BJP legislators present on the floor of the House protested over the development saying that they were not allowed to read out the contents of the adjournment motion. Later they staged a walkout in protest. After coming out of the House, they staged a protest within the Assembly premises and also carried placards. Later, the chief whip of BJP's legislative party Dr Shankar Ghosh told newspersons that only the edited version of the motion was allowed to be read out on the floor of the House. "However, we were not given the scope for any discussion. Moreover, the microphone of our legislator Tapasi Mondal was disconnected. Even after the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata, there is no end to similar crimes throughout West Bengal. By disconnecting the microphone of our legislator, the treasury bench is actually trying to silence the dissenting voice on such issues," Ghosh said. He also criticized the Speaker of the House Biman Bandopadhyay and alleged that the latter was playing "a biased role" while running the House. "Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after coming to power, advised the opposition parties to maintain silence. The Speaker is exactly trying to implement that," Ghosh said. On Tuesday, the parents of the victim R.G. Kar doctor came to the Assembly premises and met the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP legislators. The parents also requested the LoP to take some concrete steps to ensure speedy justice in the matter. They also met Naushad Siddique, the sole All India Secular Front (AISF) representative in the state assembly and made a similar appeal to him. Amaravati, Nov 27 : Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday urged the Centre to appoint the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department (APFD) as the nodal agency for the sale and export of Red Sanders or Red Sandalwood. He made the request during a meeting with Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi. Pawan Kalyan, who holds the Environment and Forests portfolio, discussed with the Union Minister various issues related to the conservation of Red Sanders. He sought implementation of the recommendation of the Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) report that the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department be designated as the nodal agency for managing the auctioning of seized Red Sanders. The Jana Sena leader also sought the Centreas support for repatriating seized wood and formalising the APFD as the official nodal agency for the sale and export of Red Sanders. He called for steps to ensure uniform grading and higher revenue from Red Sanders. Red Sanders is found in the Seshachalam, Veligonda, Lankamala, and Palakonda hill ranges of Andhra Pradesh, stretching across seven districts and into Tamil Nadu. Pawan Kalyan thanked Yadav for his time and support and sought his continued valuable cooperation in the future for the common objective of environmental protection. In August, Pawan Kalyan had met Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar B. Khandre and discussed the handing over of Red Sanders worth Rs 140 crore belonging to Andhra Pradesh and seized in the neighbouring state. He was all praise for Karnataka forest officials for their honesty in declaring that the Red Sanders seized by them belonged to Andhra Pradesh. While Red Sander worth Rs.100 crore was seized in 2017, another Rs.40 crore worth Red Sanders was seized this year. Rayalaseema region, bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is notorious for Red Sanders smuggling. Violent smuggling of Red Sanders was the theme of the 2021 blockbuster multilingual movie "Pushpa: The Rise" starring Tollywood actor Allu Arjun. The movieas sequel "Pushpa 2: The Rule" is set for theatrical release on December 5. Last year, India received the international green light to make the trading in plantations of Red Sanders by farmers legitimate after almost two decades. The approval is expected to help end its smuggling to Japan, China, and other European countries and open a legal trade route. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international environmental conservation collective regulating wild trade, removed India from the list of aReview of Significant Trade in specimens (RST)a for Red Sanders. Following this move, India can promote the private plantation of Red Sanders and export it while conserving the naturally growing species. The rare wood has a huge demand globally. It is used in traditional medicines and woodcraft across China, Myanmar, Japan and other countries of East Asia. It is also used in the United States and Europe for colouring alcoholic beverages, foodstuffs, and pharmaceutical products. The West Asian countries also import Red Sanders. Istanbul, Nov 27 : Turkish intelligence and police captured three Uzbek nationals in Istanbul, accusing them of killing an Israeli-Moldovan civilian who resided in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Turkish sources. Turkish sources said the arrest was conducted at the request of the UAE as the three Uzbek citizens fled the country after being confirmed as the perpetrators of the murder, reports Xinhua news agency. The Turkish intelligence and police "quickly" launched a covert operation against the suspects, tracked their flights, and monitored their movements after they arrived in Istanbul. The suspects' taxi was stopped for a traffic check, and they were arrested and subsequently extradited to the UAE. Zvi Kogan, a former Israeli soldier, was a rabbi and emissary of the Jewish religious movement Chabad in the UAE. The UAE intelligence and security authorities found the body of Kogan on November 24, three days after the rabbi went missing. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office then said Kogan was killed in a "heinous antisemitic terror incident." BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. An expert group has been established under the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan to investigate complaints related to actions or decisions that violate citizens' electoral rights in the upcoming municipal election, Trend reports. The issue was discussed at todays session of the Central Election Commission (CEC). To note, the next municipal election in Azerbaijan will be held on January 29, 2025. Will be updated New Delhi, Nov 27 : Editorial checks in traditional press played a crucial role in bringing accountability which is missing in the era of social media, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said on Wednesday. Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister highlighted the need to strengthen existing laws governing social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms and build a societal consensus. "We are living in the era of social media and OTT platforms. However, the democratic institutions and traditional forms of the press that once relied on editorial checks to ensure accountability and correctness of content, have seen these checks diminish over time," Vaishnaw noted. The minister further stated that due to the absence of such editorial oversight, social media has become a platform for freedom of the press on one hand, but on the other hand, "it has also become a space for uncontrolled expression, which often includes vulgar content". Acknowledging the distinct cultural differences between India and the geographies where these platforms originated, Vaishnaw emphasised that the cultural sensitivities of India vastly differ from those of the regions where these platforms were created. "This makes it imperative for India to make existing laws more strict," he said and urged everyone to come to a consensus on this matter. Vaishnaw also urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee to take up this important matter issue as a priority. "There should be societal consensus on it, along with stricter laws to address this challenge," he said. Earlier this month, calling for accountability in digital media to combat fake news and safeguard democracy, the minister said internet platforms must come up with solutions that account for the impact their systems have on our society. Speaking at an event by the Press Council of India (PCI) to mark 'National Press Day 2024', the minister addressed the need for revisiting the aSafe Harboura provision amid the changing media landscape and Indiaas diverse cultural and social context. "The spread of fake news undermines trust in the media and poses a threat to democracy," he said. Vaishnaw highlighted the social consequences of such biases, particularly in a diverse nation like India, and called on platforms to come up with solutions that account for the impact their systems have on our society. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, having won her maiden Lok Sabha election from Wayanad constituency, received an election certificate from the grand old party's leaders from her parliamentary constituency, who came calling on the MP at her Delhi residence on Wednesday. The delegation of Congress leaders from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat handed over the certificate to Priyanka Gandhi, in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and extended their best wishes on her maiden stint in Parliament. The Gandhi scion also reciprocated their sweet gesture by expressing her deep appreciation for their unwavering efforts and endeavour in securing a giant victory for her in the Lok Sabha elections. The photos of Priyanka's meeting with the Wayanad Congress leaders were shared by the party's social media handles. In the pictures, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi could also be seen treating his sister Priyanka to sweets, on her maiden victory. "During the meeting, Priyanka Gandhi engaged in meaningful discussions with the leaders about the future course of action, focussing on addressing local concerns and working collectively for the development and welfare of Wayanad," the Congress said on X. Priyanka also asked the local party leaders to convey her heartfelt gratitude to the people of Wayanad for their overwhelming support and trust. According to reports, Priyanka Gandhi is likely to take oath as Lok Sabha member on Thursday. Priyanka Gandhi, in her election debut from the Wayanad LS seat, won the bypolls with an overwhelming margin of over 4 lakh votes, exceeding her brother Rahul Gandhi's victory margin in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The 52-year-old Congress leader secured victory with a margin of 4,10,931 votes over her closest rival, Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI-M. She polled over 6 lakh votes while her closest Left contestant got over 2 lakh votes and the BJP candidate Navya Haridas finished third with a little over 1 lakh votes. New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday hinted at granting relief to former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the money laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-school job scam. Expressing concern over the delay in the commencement of the trial, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as to how long can Chatterjee be kept behind bars. "How long can we keep him behind bars? This is a case where more than 2 years have passed. If ultimately he (Chatterjee) is not convicted, what will happen?" asked Justice Kant-led Bench. It also flagged the poor conviction rate in the cases lodged by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In response, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the ED, highlighted that there were serious corruption charges against the former West Bengal minister as jobs were offered to undeserving candidates after receiving bribes. He added that Chatterjee was under the CBI custody in the predicate offence and if released on bail, he will influence the witnesses to retract their statements. On the other hand, senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing on Chatterjeeas behalf, contended that the former minister has been under custody for over two years and there was no likelihood of an early completion of trial. Rohtagi, instructed by advocate Misha Rastogi, also raised suspicion on the timing of arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying that Chatterjee was arrested after two years of registration of the FIR when his bail petition in the ED case was pending adjudication before the top court. Posting the matter for hearing next week, the apex court asked ASG Raju to apprise it about the period of custody undergone by Chatterjee in the ED as well as the CBI case. On October 1, the top court had issued notice to the ED and asked the federal anti-money laundering agency to file its reply within two weeks. In April this year, the Calcutta High Court had rejected Chatterjeeas bail plea. After being denied bail in the lower court multiple times, Chatterjee approached the high court, contending that he had no connection with the huge amount of cash recovered from the residence of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee, and should be granted bail. The ED had recovered huge quantities of cash and gold from the twin residences of Mukherjee in July 2022, which the latter had claimed were kept there by Chatterjee. In the course of the investigation, the ED also confiscated some property in the form of land plots or residential houses indirectly or jointly held by the Trinamool Congress leader and his close associates and relatives. Chatterjee was arrested from his residence by the ED in July 2022. Since then, after the initial days of central agency custody, his address had been a cell at Presidency Central Correctional Home in south Kolkata. Last week, the Calcutta High Court delivered a split verdict on Chatterjeeas bail plea in the corruption case registered against him by the CBI in the same alleged multi-crore cash-for-school job scam. While Justice Arijit Bandopadhyay pronounced in favour of bail for Chatterjee and eight others accused in the case, Justice Apurba Sinha Roy rejected the bail for Chatterjee and four others. However, the bail pleas of four persons were allowed both by Justice Bandopadhyay and Justice Sinha Roy. The division bench ordered the matter to be placed before Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam. On Monday, it was announced that a single-judge Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty will now look into the matter, including the bail plea of Chatterjee. Houston, Nov 27 : Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the largest red state will provide more land for the mass deportation operation planned by the incoming Donald Trump administration. "We have 13 million acres around the state, and if there's something that meets the federal government's needs, we want them to be able to utilize that," Buckingham told local media on Tuesday. She said her office is identifying property to be ready for the Trump administration when they take office in January. The new project is called "Jocelyn's Initiative" after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl from Houston who police say was killed by two Venezuelan men who were in the country illegally, reports Xinhua, quoting The Texas Tribune. Buckingham wrote in a letter to Trump last week that the state would offer 1,402 acres of land in Starr County "to be used to construct deportation facilities." In an interview with Fox News, Buckingham said she is "100 per cent on board" with the president-elect's promise of mass deportation. In comparison, Democratic governors of California and Arizona, two other states bordering Mexico, reportedly have pledged not to aid the Trump administration's mass deportation plans. Trump confirmed last week he would declare a national emergency to launch his mass deportation plans as soon as he enters office in January. The president-elect's vow to carry out mass deportations is certain to encounter logistical and legal challenges, like the ones that stifled promises from his first campaign once he assumed office, said a report from The Texas Tribune. Chennai, Nov 27 : The principal Opposition party of Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will hold a general council and executive committee meeting on December 15 and mull alliances for the 2026 Assembly polls. Party General Secretary and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) in a statement on Wednesday said that the meeting will be held at Chennai. The meeting assumes significance as the AIADMK is pitching for new alliances for the 2026 Assembly elections. IANS had earlier reported that the AIADMK is in discussions with the Dalit political party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The VCK, it may be noted, holds significant influence among Dalit voters in Tamil Nadu, while the PMK commands a strong vote bank in northern Tamil Nadu among the Vanniyar community. Currently, VCK is part of the DMK-led alliance, with four MLAs and two MPs. However, tensions have emerged within the coalition. Recently, VCK Deputy General Secretary Aadhav Arjuna remarked that the party's leader and MP, Thol Thirumavalavan, has the right to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He also criticised the DMK for not offering ministerial positions to its alliance partners. This statement drew sharp reactions from the DMK, prompting VCK General Secretary and MP D. Ravikumar to clarify that it was the personal opinion of Aadhav Arjuna, not the party's official stance. The PMK, currently aligned with the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is another key player in Tamil Nadu's political landscape. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 Assembly polls, the PMK, BJP, and AIADMK were part of the NDA coalition. However, with IPS officer-turned-politician K. Annamalai taking over as the BJP's Tamil Nadu President, relations between the AIADMK and BJP have soured, leading to a break-up of the alliance. While some BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu have called for a reunion with the AIADMK, the Dravidian party has categorically ruled out such a possibility. Adding to the mix is Tamil superstar Vijay, who has recently entered politics with his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). In his inaugural public address in Vikkaravandi, Villupuram district, on October 27, Vijay criticised both the DMK and BJP but refrained from attacking the AIADMK. He even invoked the legacy of AIADMK founder and iconic Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR). Vijay's entry has further opened up the political arena in Tamil Nadu. It may be recalled that the AIADMK, failed to win a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and has to build a formidable alliance to challenge the ruling DMK. Coimbatore-based political analyst M.R. Subramanian remarked, "The AIADMK's effort to forge new alliances is commendable. Aligning with VCK, a Dalit party, and PMK, a Vanniyar political party, could create a robust social engineering model, strengthening its position against the DMK in the 2026 Assembly polls." However, he added that it remains to be seen whether the VCK will leave the DMK-led alliance to join hands with the AIADMK. IANS aal/rad New Delhi, Nov 27 : India on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, hoping that the development would finally result in peace and stability in the wider region which had been engulfed in tension due to the long conflict. "We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that has been announced. We have always called for de-escalation, restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. We hope these developments will lead to peace and stability in the wider region," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Announcing the truce deal late Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon. "We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue united until victory," said Netanyahu. Over the last one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly expressed his deep concern over the widening of the conflict in West Asia and reiterated India's call to de-escalate the situation. Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar also met Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on the sidelines of Rome Mediterranean Dialogue organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. Addressing the gathering, EAM Jaishankar admitted that the conflict underway currently in the Middle East has undoubtedly been a major complication and India has for long been concerned at the possibility of it spreading to other parts of the region. "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," said EAM Jaishankar. "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," he added. Last month, after the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFL) revealed that its Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit following clashes between Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and Hezbollah elements in south Lebanon, India had said that it remains "concerned at the deteriorating security situation" along the Blue Line that stretches for 120 km along Lebanon's southern frontier and remains a key to peace in the region. "We are concerned at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line. We continue to monitor the situation closely. Inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate," the MEA stated. Mumbai, Nov 27 : Actress Nushrratt Bharuccha has shared an intriguing sneak peek from her upcoming film "Chhorii 2." Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) Actress Nushrratt Bharuccha has shared an intriguing sneak peek from her upcoming film "Chhorii 2." Today, on the 3rd anniversary of her film "Chhorii", the actress delighted fans with a little peek from the much-anticipated sequel. The actress took to her Instagram and shared photos, reflecting on the success of the film while also announcing "Chhorii 2." For the caption, Nushrratt wrote, "Celebrating 3 Years of Chhori with a lil sneak peak from Chhori 2 #Chhori2 Coming soon." In the new poster, the actress is seen lying down as a pregnant woman, while a woman stands at the door with two boys. The setting is eerie and evokes a strong horror theme. Reacting to the post, one fan commented, "Can't waitttt." Another wrote, "Superb." Earlier this year in March, the makers of "Chhorii 2" shared the first look from the horror movie. Sharing Nushrratt and Soha's look on social media, Prime Video announced on Instagram, "Sakshi races to save her daughter from an evil cult led by Pradhan Ji, battling societal superstitions and horrifying realities.#Chhorii2OnPrime #AreYouReady #PrimeVideoPresents." The duo exude intensity in the first poster. Nushrratt appears visibly frightened, while Soha is dressed in a black outfit, complete with a veil. Released in 2021, "Chhorii," directed by Vishal Furia and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Vikram Malhotra, Jack Davis, Shikhaa Sharma, and Shiv Chanana, earned praise from audiences for its gripping storytelling and eerie atmosphere. The horror thriller was a remake of the Marathi film "Lapachhapi" and features Nushrratt in the lead role, alongside Mita Vashisht, Rajesh Jais and Saurabh Goyal. The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 26 November 2021. The makers announced the second installment of "Chhorii," starring Nushrratt Bharuccha and Soha Ali Khan in lead roles. Khan and Bharuccha will share the screen for the first time in "Chhorii 2." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Imphal, Nov 27 : The army continued their intense search operation in Manipur's Kangpokpi district to locate and rescue a Meitei community man, who has been missing since Monday evening, defence officials said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tension continued to prevail in Imphal West district, which borders the hilly Kangpokpi district. A defence spokesman said that on receiving the information about the missing person, the army sprung into action, immediately activating all its resources. CCTV feeds are being carefully scanned, his co-workers are being spoken to, and an intense search operation, including the tracker dogs, has been launched. Despite a thorough search of the areas, neither the individual nor his two-wheeler has been located yet. Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, 56, a resident of Cachar district in Assam and now staying at Loitang Khunou village in Imphal West, left his residence on Monday evening to go to the Leimakhong military station where he works but did not report to the Army station in Kangpokpi. Singhas mobile phone has also been switched off since he left home. He has been working as a works supervisor for a contractor working with Military Engineering Services (MES) at the Leimakhong Military Station. "The combing operation has been further intensified, spreading across the military station and adjoining villages. Drones and other aerial platforms have also been integrated," the defence spokesman said. Army authorities have interacted with the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of the region to trace the missing person. The family of the missing person has been assured of all efforts being undertaken by the Army for an early and safe return of Singh, the spokesman said. The Manipur Police has also started an investigation. The spokesman also said that the army has requested the Meitei CSOs to remove blockades for a free and swift movement of the armed forces and Police. According to police, a large number of men and women from Loitang Khunou village blocked the road leading to the headquarters of the Army's 57th Mountain Division in protest. Leimakhong military station, located 16 km away from the capital Imphal, is surrounded by Kuki-Zo tribal-dominated areas. After the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May last year, people belonging to the Meitei community fled the areas near Leimakhong village. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has asked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure that steps are taken to speed up the land acquisition process in the state so that the execution of railway infrastructure projects, presently held up for this reason, can go forward. In a letter to Vijayan, Vaishnaw pointed out that currently railway infrastructure projects costing Rs 12,350 crore are in progress in Kerala and the highest-ever budget outlay of Rs 3,011 crores has been allotted for the financial year 2024-25. However, most of the railway projects in Kerala are not progressing due to the non-availability of requisite land, he noted. "Railways had initiated efforts for acquisition of land for most of the sanctioned railway projects but could not succeed in acquiring land. Despite making a payment of more than Rs 2,100 crore to the government of Kerala for the required land of 470 hectares, only 64 hectares of land could be acquired The support of the government of Kerala is essentially required in the matter," he said. "In view of this, I would request you to issue suitable instructions to the concerned officers to expedite the process of land acquisition so that the execution of the projects can be taken up," the Union Minister wrote. He also points out that the Centre has given a high priority to the expansion of the railway network to provide improved rail facilities as well as socio-economic growth across the country and this will add immensely to the development of Kerala. The land acquisition has got stuck in the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari, Ernakulam-Kumbalam, and the Kumbalam-Turavur doubling works and Angamali-Sabarimala new line project. For the above projects, while the requirement of land needed is 470 hectares, just around 14 per cent of the land needed has been acquired while the state government has been given Rs 2,104 crore funding. Kolkata, Nov 27 : ISKCON's Kolkata vice-president and spokesperson Radharamn Das told IANS on Wednesday that the reply of the Bangladeshi government to India on the arrest of ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, aka Chinmoy Prabhu, is highly frustrating. Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jot was arrested recently by the Bangladeshi police and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had raised the issue. "The Union Ministry of External Affairs gave a strong statement condemning the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the attacks on the minority Hindu population there. The reply from the Bangladesh government was such as if they were advising the Indian government to mind its own business instead of interfering in the internal matters of Bangladesh," Das said. According to him, Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested by Bangladesh police since he became the face of "peaceful protests" against the attacks and atrocities against the minority Hindus in that country. "Even after his arrest, crowds gathered at different Hindu colonies there and threatened to kill all those who are associated with ISKCON. As per the information that has reached us, several persons were killed and their bodies were taken away by the mob," said Das. He also said that he could not sleep for the last two days. "How can I sleep when such information and related videos are reaching us?" Das questioned. On Tuesday, BJP legislators in West Bengal, led by Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari staged a protest over the arrest of the monk. He said that he would initiate dialogue with the Union government so that all cross-border trades with Bangladesh are put on hold till the time Das is released. "The Bangladesh government should not forget how much they are dependent on India for supply of essential commodities. So the supply of commodities to Bangladesh should be stopped unless Chinmoy Prabhu is released," said Adhikari. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. We urge voters to actively participate in the municipal elections in Azerbaijan, Chairman of Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said this at today's CEC meeting, Trend reports. Panahov highlighted the significant engagement of the Azerbaijani populace in the electoral process. We also urge citizens to actively participate in the municipal elections. In particular, we call on women and youth to actively participate in the elections as candidates, the CEC chairman added. To note, the upcoming municipal elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for January 29, 2025. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Mumbai, Nov 27 : Expressing shock over the continuing atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh, the Federation of World Sindhi Congress (FWSC) on Wednesday called for an immediate end to violence in the neighbouring country. The FWSC International President, Barrister Mahesh Jethmalani, has also condemned the communal clashes over the arrest of a Hindu priest there, a sedition case filed against him and denial of bail. "The FWSC is not only concerned about the Sindhi minority community in Bangladesh but the entire Hindu minority community living there... Such violence is a crime against humanity and the government there must stop it," urged Jethmalani, a nominated Rajya Sabha MP. The BJP leader also called upon the Bangladesh authorities to ensure the protection of the Hindu minorities and rein in the violence unleashed in Chattogram after a priest, Brahmachari Chinmoy Krishna Das - of the ISKCON movement - raised his voice on the issue. Bangladesh has been in the grip of political unrest after the August 5 change in regime of the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, forcing her to flee her nation. The priest Das had spoken up against the excesses committed on the minorities since then after which he was arrested on November 25 on charges of sedition and later denied bail, triggering fresh clashes. On October 31, Das and 18 others were charged with sedition by a local activist who alleged that they (the accused) had insulted the Bangladesh National Flag in Chattogram during a rally organised by the priest. The violence led to the reported death of at least one person and many others injured, and India has taken strong note of the same. India has expressed "deep concern" over the arrest of a priest and the bail denied to him by a local court and has urged Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minorities there. However, Bangladesh has termed it an "internal matter" and claimed that such unfounded statements misrepresent facts and go contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbours. On his part, Jethmalani also urged the people of Bangladesh to maintain peace and refrain from perpetrating violence. Jammu, Nov 27 : Two union leaders were detained by police on Wednesday after fresh protests erupted in the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine base town of Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. Police said two union leaders of shopkeepers and labourers were detained and an FIR was lodged against eight others after fresh protests erupted in the town. A policeman was injured after the protesters clashed with the security forces on Monday. Police said a rally was led by Bhupinder Singh and Sohan Chand on Tuesday and Wednesday also. The protests were held despite the strike being called off on Tuesday after assurances from the government. "Police stopped the protesters after which clashes erupted. Bhupinder Singh and Sohan Chand were detained while they were leaving the protesters. Both were whisked away and an FIR was registered against eight persons," said police. "Following this, Bhupinder Singh Jamwal alias Pinku Miya, Sohan Chand and Maqbool among others were booked for provocation and instigating violence. They assaulted the on-duty police party unexpectedly with fists and blows and also attempted to harm the policemen using bricks, stones, and weapons. They also tore the uniforms of police officers and officials. Station house officer (SHO) Katra and other on-duty officials sustained injuries in the clash and were shifted to community health centre Katra for medical treatment," the officials said. They added that the protesters and attackers also damaged some vehicles at Fountain Chowk on the abetment of the leaders. They also pelted stones and bricks at the general public and Yatris thus endangering lives. The strike was called off after the district administration assured the protesters of holding talks with different stakeholders, including Shrine Board officials, to address their concerns. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said the genuine concerns of the people protesting against the proposed ropeway project would be addressed. Deputy Commissioner Reasi Vishesh Paul Mahajan and protest leader Bhupinder Singh jointly announced the strike's suspension. "I have held talks with Bhupinder. We are aware of their demands and concerns. Bhupinder has given time till December 15 to hold talks with all stakeholders to resolve the issues," the Deputy Commissioner said. Shopkeepers, Pony wallahs, porters, Palki wallahs and labourers have been protesting against the proposed ropeway project at Tarakote in Katra town saying that this would deprive them of their livelihood. Patna, Nov 27 : The third day of the winter session of the Bihar Legislative Assembly witnessed chaos as opposition MLAs disrupted proceedings, demanding a discussion on the Waqf Board Amendment Bill during the Question and Answer Hour on Wednesday. However, Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav refused to entertain the motion, stating that the matter pertains to the Government of India and is therefore not within the purview of the state legislature. The opposition MLAs sought a debate on the Waqf Board Amendment Bill, arguing that it was an issue of importance warranting discussion in the state Assembly. The Speaker cited procedural rules and clarified that since the matter is related to central legislation, discussing it in the Bihar Assembly was irrelevant. He refused to admit the adjournment motion on this issue. Dissatisfied with the Speaker's ruling, the opposition MLAs created uproar, accusing the state government of being "dictatorial." Despite repeated appeals for calm, the protests escalated. The continued disruption prompted the Speaker to adjourn the House until 2 p.m., effectively halting proceedings until the lunch break. The opposition's insistence on discussing the Waqf Board Amendment Bill highlights its attempt to bring national issues with local implications into the state Assembly. The government's rejection of the debate reflects a focus on state-centric legislative priorities and adherence to procedural norms. The Waqf Amendment Bill 2024, aimed at regulating the management and protection of Waqf properties, has sparked significant controversy, leading to protests and heated exchanges both nationally and within Bihar's political arena. Before the Assembly proceedings, Grand Alliance MLAs, led by RJD Chief Whip Akhtarul Islam Sahin, staged a protest in the Assembly premises carrying banners and posters. "The central government should withdraw the Waqf Amendment Bill," he said accusing it of attempting to usurp the property of Waqf. "Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should break his silence and pass a resolution in the Assembly opposing the Bill," Sahin added. BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur dismissed the protests by the Grand Alliance as appeasement politics. "The Waqf Board is facilitating land jihad. All NDA allies, including Nitish Kumar, would support the Bill when it is introduced in Parliament," Thakur said. Hyderabad, Nov 27 : Following massive protests by villagers in Telangana's Nirmal district, the state government on Wednesday ordered a halt to the construction of an ethanol factory. Hyderabad, Nov 27 (IANS) Following massive protests by villagers in Telanganaas Nirmal district, the state government on Wednesday ordered a halt to the construction of an ethanol factory. District Collector Abhilasha Abhinav issued orders to stop the work and appealed to people to call off their protest. The Collector earlier held talks with the protestors on their demand. She said the issue would be brought to the notice of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The decision came amid the massive protest by people from various villages in Dilawarpur mandal for a second consecutive day. The Collector said she had given a report to the government on the incidents that took place on Tuesday. Officials said the state government is reconsidering the permission given to a private firm to set up an ethanol factory. The permission was given by the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). They said a decision would be taken to ensure that people do not face any hardships. If necessary, the government will cancel the permission for the plant. Earlier, the protest by villagers against the establishment of an ethanol factory turned violent. For a second day, protestors from villages in Dilawarpur mandal blocked the Nirmal-Bhainsa national highway. Women protestors were carrying bottles of pesticides in their hands, threatening to commit suicide to stop the construction of the factory. Holding placards and raising slogans, the protestors marched through the village and sat on the highway. At one point, the protestors attacked police personnel, injuring some of them. The villagers demanded that the government shift the factory of a private firm away from their villages. They claim that the plant will damage crops, endangering their livelihood besides impacting the environment. They alleged that public representatives were not coming forward in their support to oppose the ethanol factory. The villagers vowed to continue their agitation until their demand was met. Some protestors late on Tuesday tried to attack Nirmal Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Ratna Kalyani and vandalised her vehicle. When RDO Ratna Kalyani was leaving the spot after unsuccessful talks with protestors, some people tried to stop her vehicle. She fainted when her blood pressure dropped. She was, however, immediately shifted to a hospital in Nirmal by the vehicle of Superintendent of Police Dr Janaki Sharmila. Some unidentified persons damaged the vehicle of the RDO and set it afire. However, police managed to extinguish the fire soon. Police booked 23 villagers for vandalising the RDOas vehicle The vehicular movement on the highway was restored by 11 p.m. The villagers resumed the protest on Wednesday morning. Kolkata, Nov 27 : ISKCON Kolkata Vice President and spokesperson Radharaman Das on Wednesday strongly condemned the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a prominent Hindu priest and religious minority leader in Bangladesh and said this was "nothing short of genocide." Radharaman Das expressed his concern over the growing unrest in the country, which has been intensifying for over a hundred days, particularly targeting minorities. "Chinmoy Krishna Das became the voice of the resistance movement in Bangladesh, speaking out against the atrocities being committed against religious minorities," Das said. He highlighted that the ongoing protests have attracted massive participation, with hundreds of thousands of people in Dhaka joining the rallies demanding justice. "Just a few days ago, a peaceful protest in Bangladesh saw over four lakh people calling for the government to act on a list of eight demands, which included a five-day holiday for Durga Puja and a security commission to protect minority communities," he added. However, the protests have met with a heavy-handed response from the authorities in Bangladesh. Das recounted that members of the protest movement were facing legal action, and two days ago when Chinmoy Krishna Das was travelling from Dhaka to Chittagong, he was arrested by police who were in plainclothes at the airport. "The police did not inform anything about his arrest and took him away without disclosing where he would be held," Das said, later revealing that the arresting officers were from the Intelligence department. Das also claimed that the arrest occurred secretly during the night. "As tensions escalate, reports have emerged of threats from certain Muslim groups, including slogans calling for violence against Hindus and ISKCON followers. There have also been reports of houses being set on fire, with over 250 people injured in the violence. A Kali temple was also demolished. A Muslim lawyer was also killed amid protests outside the court in Chittagong," he stated. "This is nothing short of genocide," Das declared, condemning the rising attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh. He further claimed that the Muslim groups are trying to portray Chinmoy Krishna Das as a traitor. Meanwhile, Bangladesh stepped up security in the port city of Chittagong on Wednesday as police arrested six people in connection with the murder of the Muslim lawyer. The arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das sparked widespread protests in Dhaka and Chittagong, where his supporters clashed with security forces. Hyderabad, Nov 27 : The Telangana High Court has taken serious note of the students taking ill due to suspected food poisoning at government-run schools and directed that samples from mid-day meals be collected from all such schools for lab analysis. The court passed the orders on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) about food poisoning at a government-run school in Narayanpet district. Pulling up the officials for their negligence, the High Court asked if they would react only if children died of food poisoning. It asked the officials to adopt a humane approach saying they too have children. The court also pulled up the government for not taking the issue seriously. It directed the government to take action against the officials responsible for the incident and submit a report by next Monday. A bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Srinivas Rao observed that the second incident of food poisoning at the same school within a week is a serious issue. It remarked that the incidents reflect negligence of the officials. Additional Advocate General Imran Khan told the court that the students who took ill had brought some snacks from outside. As many as 21 students of Maganoor Zilla Parishad High School took ill on Tuesday. The students complained of vomiting and diarrhoea after consuming the mid-day meals. They were rushed to the Government Hospital at Maganoor. This was the second incident at the same school in less than a week. Around 50 students had taken ill after consuming the mid-day meal served to them on November 20. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has taken serious note of the first incident and directed the district Collector to conduct an inquiry and take action against those responsible. Three officials were suspended and the contract given to an agency for supplying mid-day meals was also cancelled. However, despite the action taken by the authorities, the school was rocked by another incident of food poisoning. Anticipating protests over the incident, the police imposed assembly of five or more persons and imposed other curbs around the school on Wednesday. The incident came a day after a 16-year-old student of a tribal welfare residential school succumbed on Monday, nearly a month after falling critically ill due to food poisoning. C. Shailaja was one of the 60 students who had taken ill at the residential school at Wankidi in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on October 30. The opposition 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 working president K. T. Rama Rao every month food poisoning in residential schools claiming the lives of three students. BRS leader K Kavitha alleged that since the Congress-led government took power in Telangana, 42 students have died from food poisoning in government schools. Mumbai, Nov 27 : The Adani Group saw a stupendous rise in its market capitalisation on Wednesday, adding nearly Rs 1.25 lakh crore to its value, as shares of its portfolio of companies rallied by up to 20 per cent, led by Adani Power and Adani Green. This brought the total market capitalisation of the conglomerate to approximately Rs 12.47 lakh crore. Shares of Adani Power Limited (APL) and Adani Total Gas Limited (ATGL) closed with an upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 525 and Rs 695 apiece, respectively. Meanwhile, shares of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) and Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) closed at Rs 988 and Rs 660, respectively, with an upper circuit of 10 per cent. Meanwhile, the share of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), the flagship company of Adani Group, closed at Rs 2,399 with a gain of 11.56 per cent. The Adani Ports stock surged by 5.90 per cent, Adani Wilmar went up by 8.31 per cent, Ambuja Cement closed with a gain of 4.51 per cent, ACC shares went up by 4.05 per cent, and NDTV shares closed with a gain of 9.26 per cent. Shares of all Adani Portfolio companies had opened in green. The strong recovery in stocks came after a stock exchange filing by Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) stated that Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain are clear of any bribery charges, as per the US Department of Justice (DoJ) indictment. In its filing, AGEL cited the news reporting by various media houses on the bribery and corruption charges against Adani officials as "incorrect". "Media articles which state that certain of our directors namely Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement filed by Adani Green Energy Ltd. "Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added. Only senior officials of Azure Power Global Ltd. and Canadian pension CDPQ have been named in the bribery charges under the US FCPA provisions, Adani Green Energy cited the latest filing from the US DoJ. Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani, while talking to IANS, said that the indictment that has come from the US has no basis nor do they have any evidence. "This entire matter is about Adani Green's bond issue and neither Adani Group nor Adani Green has been accused in it," he said. New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction for the constitution of the Sanatan Dharm Raksha Board. A bench headed by Chief Justice Manmohan remarked that the court could not entertain the plea since the issue fell within the policy domain. The Bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, added that the PIL litigant may approach the government for redressal of the grievances raised in the PIL. The plea filed by Sanatan Hindu Sewa Sangh Trust said that the followers of Sanatan Dharma known as Hindu Dharm have no any kind of board or government body which can protect their rights and customs. "The petitioner is filing the instant writ petition in the public interest for upholding the rule of law and for enforcement of the rights of the citizens under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. This petition seeks the direction to the respondent (authorities) to constitute a religious body for protection of Sanatan dharma and culture of Sanatan like 'Sanatan Dharm Raksha Board'," it added. The PIL termed it a "serious situation" when the people of the community belonging to other religions are attacking the Sanatan dharm in different manners like conversion of religion from Sanatan dharm to other religions. It said that the Government of India had made government bodies like the Muslim Waqf Board, Sikh Parbandhak Committee Board and for Christian and other religions. Further, the PIL said that the Union government is bound by the law to protect the rights and customs of the Sanatan/Hindu religion because most of the people living in the country are followers of the Sanatan/Hindu religion and have the right for protection and other facilities for their religion which is not done by the government for last several years. Chandigarh, Nov 27 : In another major breakthrough, the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), in a joint operation with Mohali police, apprehended two operatives of the Davinder Bambiha gang and recovered two .32 calibre pistols along with seven cartridges from their possession, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday. Those arrested have been identified as Harinder Singh, a resident of Mehmadpur village in Mohali district, and Gurjinder Singh, a resident of Varana village also in Mohali district. DGP Yadav said the arrested accused were handled by US-based Kulveer Singh, alias Lala Benipal, an aide of absconding foreign-based gangster Lucky Patial. Lala Benipal had earlier orchestrated two separate attacks in Mohali, including one on a financer in September 2023 and another on a rival gang member in December 2023, he added. The DGP said preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested duo were tasked to carry out a series of crimes in the Tricity region. Further investigations are on establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he added. Sharing operation details, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, Deepak Pareek said police teams had received reliable inputs that Lala Benipal has tasked his gang members to carry out criminal activities in the Tricity -- Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula. Acting swiftly on the information, joint teams of the AGTF and Mohali police traced the accused persons and successfully arrested them near Focal Point in Mubarakpur, he said. The SSP said accused Harinder Singh has a criminal background with cases pertaining to attempt to murder and the Arms Act-related offences registered against him. Further investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest their other associates, he added. A case dated November 25 has been registered under Section 111 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 25(6)(7) and 27 of the Arms Act at Police Station Dera Bassi in Mohali. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The Western Azerbaijan Community has raised a red flag over the ongoing tide of misleading stories from certain Western media outlets, painting Armenia as a "Christian" nation while casting Azerbaijan as a "Muslim" one, Trend reports. The community has recently articulated its concerns regarding a targeted initiative aimed at Azerbaijan during COP29. "Recently, during COP29, we witnessed a smear campaign against Azerbaijan orchestrated by certain Western media outlets. These self-proclaimed independent media, who often tout freedom of speech, have become mere instruments of anti-Azerbaijan and Islamophobic political agendas. Unfortunately, some Western media continue to spread myths about 'Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan,' forcing societies to view the issue solely through the lens of ethnic and religious fanaticism," the statement read. The community also highlighted a documentary broadcast by the French channel ARTE, characterizing it as replete with disparaging narratives against Azerbaijan. "This documentary is yet another example of how racism and hatred toward Azerbaijan have permeated all spheres of French society in the twenty-first century. The regular defamatory statements made by the French Ambassador to Armenia, who falsely claims to be a diplomat, not only disgrace his country but also 'inspire' the radical part of Armenian society, alongside a rise in racism," the community's statement concluded. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Itanagar, Nov 27 : Two construction workers from Assam were killed and two others injured in Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar on Wednesday after a huge mound of earth collapsed on them. The incident took place when the two workers were digging to construct a retaining wall and the surrounding area collapsed on them, police said. Police said the tragic incident occurred at Doni Colony on the outskirts of capital city Itanagar. The four workers were trapped under the debris as the earth of the surrounding area where they were busy digging collapsed on them all of a sudden. The victims were identified as Jahan Hemran (45) and Vijay Bag (46), residents of Dhekiajuli in Assam's Sonitpur district. The two injured workers -- Ganesh Oran and Joseph Dopnu -- were rescued after several hours of efforts by police and the State Disaster Response Force, the police official said. The official said that the injured were admitted to the Ramakrishna Mission Hospital. The rescue operation was led by police officer Randhir Kumar Jha and police registered a case of unnatural death. The cops are now probing the circumstances leading to the collapse of the mound of earth. Itanagar Capital Region's Deputy Commissioner Talo Potom expressed grief over the mishap and said that earth-cutting related laws and procedures might have been violated leading to the unfortunate incident. The district administrations have held several meetings with all organisations and departments concerned, including elected representatives to prevent illegal excavation and digging for any kind of works, but the standard procedures often are not followed, the Deputy Commissioner said. "Violations of laws and directives often lead to the loss of life and property. Citizens and all organisations must cooperate with authorities and approach the Planning Authority to prevent such incidents that lead to loss of life and property," he said. The construction site owner Takar Yangda said the retaining wall was being constructed to prevent landslides during the monsoon season on his land. Contractor Zahir Hussain said that six labourers were brought from Assam and four were assigned to the construction at Doni Colony. New Delhi, Nov 27 : The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and networking products has seen 42 applicant companies (including 28 MSMEs) with a cumulative investment of Rs 3,925 crore and exports reaching Rs 12,384 crore (till September 30), the government informed the Parliament on Wednesday. This PLI scheme was launched in June 2021 with a total financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore. Till September, the applicant companies had clocked total sales worth Rs 65,320 crore, Minister of State for Communications, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question. Salient features of the scheme are 33 telecom and networking products, incentives ranging from 4 to 7 per cent, an additional 1 per cent incentive for MSMEs for the first 3 years, and an additional 1 per cent incentive for products aDesigned in Indiaa. The minister informed that to bolster local manufacturing, the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme was launched in 2022 with the aim of funding research and development of technologies, products and services for providing telecom services in rural and remote areas. Another scheme, Digital Communications Innovation Square (DCIS), was launched in 2021 to support the translation of innovative ideas and knowledge in engineering into pilot scale operation, field deployment or viable technology development. The PLI scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing was notified in 2020 to provide incentives to eligible companies on incremental sales (over the base year) involved in mobile phone manufacturing and manufacturing of specified electronic components, including Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units. The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) was notified in 2020 to provide a financial incentive of 25 per cent on capital expenditure for the identified list of electronic goods that comprise the downstream value chain of electronic products, i.e., electronic components, semiconductor/ display fabrication units, ATMP units, specialized sub-assemblies and capital goods for manufacture of aforesaid goods. The Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) scheme was also notified in 2020 to provide support for the creation of world-class infrastructure along with common facilities and amenities, including Ready Built Factory (RBF) sheds/Plug and Play facilities for attracting major global electronics manufacturers along with their supply chain to set up units in the country. New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Indian Chemical Council (ICC) has been conferred the 2024 OPCW The Hague Award -- a first recognising the efforts of a chemical industry body, the Cabinet Secretariat informed on Wednesday. The award was conferred at a ceremony during the 29th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at the Hague, Netherlands on November 25. The Award was established in 2014 to preserve the legacy of the Nobel Peace Prize for OPCW in 2013 for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons. It recognises individuals and organisations that play a significant role in advancing the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that came into force in 1997 and presently has 193 States Parties. India is an original signatory to the Convention. The National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) is the national authority responsible for implementing the Convention in India. ICC -- representing more than 80 per cent of the Indian chemical Industry -- is the country's premier body representing the chemical industry, which is valued at $220 billion. "This Award acknowledges the role played by ICC in promoting chemical safety, compliance with the Convention, and enhancing industry-wide security practices in India," the Cabinet Secretariat said. It informed that the ICC has increased industry compliance and facilitated efficient e-filing for chemical declarations via initiatives like the CWC helpdesks. Its 'Nicer Globe' initiative has also had a substantial impact on chemical transportation safety in India. It offers real-time monitoring and emergency response capabilities. Further, the ICC through its 'Responsible Care' (RC) and Security Code of RC has conducted activities to promote chemical safety and security. "Their focus on enhancing industry security and advancing national implementation of the Convention in one of the world's largest chemical sectors demonstrates an outstanding commitment to responsible industrial stewardship," the Cabinet Secretariat said. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of Veer Savarkar on Wednesday strongly rebuked the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi over taking potshots at the billionaire Gautam Adani, in light of bribery charges levelled against the group in United States. Ranjit Savarkar, speaking to IANS, dismissed Rahul Gandhi's accusations as unfounded and politically motivated. "Congress and the Leader of Opposition can do anything for power, even make false accusations," he said. He further stated that Gandhi's remarks were damaging to both Adani as well as the country, as his accusations suggested that investments in India are unsafe. "You are spreading false propaganda that harms our nation's reputation abroad," Savarkar added. He emphasised that Adani Group is a multinational company with presence across many countries and allegations of wrongdoings, if any, should be addressed through legal channels. Savarkar also made pointed comments about Gandhi's apparent discomfort with Adani's success, suggesting that Gandhi's objections stemmed from the fact that Adani is a 'Hindu patriot' who has built a successful multinational enterprise. "You cannot digest the success of a Hindu businessman," Savarkar claimed. "You must consider the impact of your actions on the country and also the small investors who tend to lose majorly with such fake objections," he said. When Adani's shares drop, lakhs of investors lose money. You are causing harm to the nation for your selfish interests," Savarkar added, urging Gandhi to think about the consequences of his actions on India's prosperity. Earlier, in the day, Adani Group rejected the media reports on bribery and corruption as incorrect and said that the reported indictment by the US authorities was nothing but false report. "Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain are clear of any Bribery charges as per the US DoJ, according to the latest filing with the stock exchanges by a group company-Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL)," the company said in a statement. Nagpur, Nov 27 : The BJP on Wednesday hailed Maharashtra caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's stand to support the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the post of the CM in the state. "Eknath Shinde's stand is to further make the NDA stronger and strengthen the MahaYuti. His stand is to make Visit Maharashtra and make the 14 crore people of the state happy. Therefore, I thank Eknath Shinde for his stand," Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said minutes after Eknath Shinde announced that he won't be a hurdle or a speed breaker in the formation of the new MahaYuti government in the state. Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that Eknath Shinde has decided to support the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the government formation and the Chief Minister's post. "Eknath Shinde will sit with them and discuss various issues with the BJP's central leadership relating to the nature of the government, distribution of portfolios and appointment of district guardian ministers," he said. Bawankule added that the BJP's central leadership will take a decision which will be supported by Eknath Shinde and others. "We are confident that the BJP's central leadership will take a proper decision," he said. Bawankule also downplayed a social media campaign questioning Eknath Shinde's leadership for putting roadblocks in the government formation, especially by staking claim on the Chief Minister's post. "Eknath Shinde played a crucial role in further strengthening the MahaYuti alliance. He was instrumental in reviving a slew of projects that were stalled by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. He is a fighter and he has done a great job as the successful chief minister working day and night to expedite Maharashtra's development," he said. Bawankule also slammed the opposition for taking doubts over EVM following MahaYuti's landslide victory, adding that MahaYuti after a dismal performance in Lok Sabha made all efforts to remove confusion created by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the people by spreading a fake narrative. "However, MahaYuti approached the voters by taking up the works done by the Centre and the MahaYuti government. This has helped the MahaYuti to get 52 per cent votes against 32 per cent by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the assembly election," he said. Bawankule said that Congress won the Nanded by-election while BJP lost, adding that the BJP has accepted our defeat but Maha Vikas Aghadi is now running a campaign against the EVM. "They should do self-introspection like we do," he noted. He further said that Maha Vikas Aghadi should honour the people's mandate which is in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's led-MahaYuti government's works and the promises given in the manifesto. "People are with MahaYuti not with Maha Vikas Aghadi," Bawankule added. Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 27 : A detailed inspection done over the way the Kerala government's monthly Rs 1,600 social welfare pension is being distributed has revealed that the amount is also being taken by at least 1,458 serving government officials including Gazetted officers. According to estimates, a sum of Rs 23 lakh has been used to pay even the serving government officials. These shocking details surfaced when the Finance Department asked for an inspection to look into this and on perusal it has surfaced that serving government officials are among those who are currently getting the Rs 1,600 monthly social welfare pension which should ideally go to the needy, down-trodden and the under-privileged. Among those who are currently getting the pension include school and college teachers, employees working in the health and other departments of the state government . After learning about the blatant violation of the rules, Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal called for strict action into the matter, and also recommended recovery of the amount with interest. He has also ordered disciplinary action against the wrong-doers. In Kerala, there are around six million (60 lakh) people who get a monthly social welfare pension and at times it goes into arrears too, since the state government exchequer is currently in dire straits. B. Alwyn Prakash, former chairman of the State Finance Commission, said that the need of the hour is a fool-proof audit of the entire social welfare pension. CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan said "now that this has come out, let further action start as there are chances of government officials doing such things". Meanwhile, sources aware of the development said that the process of verification will continue to ensure that all the ineligible beneficiaries are identified and removed from the beneficiary list. The Finance Department, over the years, has put in a process to filter the ineligible beneficiaries so that the amount is sent to the ones who fit into the criteria. Bhopal, Nov 27 : Former Minister Ramniwas Rawat visited BJP headquarters in Bhopal and held a closed-door meeting with the party's state unit President V. D. Sharma on Wednesday. This meeting came two days after Rawat blamed some persons within the BJP for his defeat in the recent Vijaypur Assembly bypolls, sparking a political controversy. Rawat, who contested the Vijaypur bypolls on BJP's symbol, lost to Congress' Mukesh Malhotra by 7,364 votes. The bypolls in Vijaypur and Budhni in Madhya Pradesh were held on November 13 and the results were announced on November 23. After facing defeat in Vijaypur, the Assembly seat he previously represented six times as Congress MLA, Rawat alleged that a handful of individuals within the BJP conspired to defeat him. "Some people believed that their influence would diminish if I succeeded. They left no stone unturned to ensure my defeat. These individuals misled the public and influenced core BJP members against me," Rawat said on Monday. Sources told IANS that Rawat was summoned by state BJP president. However, Rawat said that it was a formal meeting with Sharma and he would be ready to receive any role assigned to him in the party. Sharma had already denied Rawat's claim of "sabotage", saying the BJP lost the Vijaypur bypolls but the margin of defeat of the party's candidate has reduced to 7,000 against 17,000 in the November 2023 Assembly elections. However, this time, Rawat refrained from blaming anyone for his defeat, and said, 'Bhagya se zyada kuch nahi milta' (nothing beats luck). Rawat said he has submitted his resignation from the ministry to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and will decide on it after returning from a foreign visit. Meanwhile, Rawat's resignation as state Forest Minister has triggered discussions around a possible expansion of the Madhya Pradesh cabinet. Currently, there are four vacant ministerial positions in the State Council of Ministers. After Rawat's defeat, the cabinet now has 30 ministers. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Emerging technologies like Generative AI (GenAI) and quantum computing are set to create more than 10 lakh jobs in India by 2030, according to a report on Wednesday. Global capability centres (GCCs) emerged as the powerhouse of tech hiring India during the July-September period (Q2 FY25), driven by a robust demand for skills in roles such as AI/ML, analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, and DevOps, according to the report by Quess Corp, India's leading business solutions provider. In Q2 FY25, Development skills dominated with 41 per cent share of tech hiring demand while AI/ML positions saw 30 per cent growth in demand from previous quarter. "Reskilling and upskilling with proliferation of GCCs are driving the dynamic ecosystem of India's tech growth," said Kapil Joshi, CEO of Quess IT Staffing. "Emerging technologies such as generative AI, deep-tech, and quantum computing emerge are set to create over a million jobs by 2030. While challenges remain, India's IT industry is well-positioned to grow 10-12 per cent in the next six months," he added. According to the report, 79 per cent of the aggregate demand emerged from the top five skill suites -- development, ERP, testing, networking and data science. In addition to these functional skill suites, there was a rapid increase in specialised roles and skills related to Java (30 per cent), cybersecurity (20 per cent), and DevOps (25 per cent) between Q1 FY25 and Q2 FY25. The manufacturing sector witnessed a significant transition, with demand escalated on products across sectors such as semiconductor, electronics, and electrical industries. Bengaluru dominated tech hiring with 43.5 per cent share, followed by Hyderabad (13.4 per cent) and Pune (10 per cent). "India's tech landscape is experiencing a boom, with Bengaluru emerging as the undisputed leader. A staggering 62 per cent of hiring requests flow through this region, followed by the West (14 per cent), North (8 per cent), and East (0.4 per cent)," the report mentioned. Jakarta, Nov 27 : Indonesia held local elections on Wednesday to select Governors, Mayors, and regents, marking the country's first-ever simultaneous elections across all regions of the sprawling Southeast Asia archipelago nation. The elections were conducted in the country's 37 provinces, 93 cities, and 415 regencies, spanning over 17,000 islands and three different time zones, Xinhua news agency reported. More than 204 million voters cast their ballots at polling stations to elect a total of 545 pairs of candidates. Voting began at 7 a.m. Jakarta time and concluded at 1 p.m., with vote counting starting immediately and expected to continue until December 16. Indonesia's election commission has not yet announced the specific dates to release the results. However, the inauguration of elected Governors and Vice Governors is scheduled for February 7, 2025, while Mayors, Regents, and their deputies are set to be sworn in on February 10. Ranchi, Nov 27 : Newly-elected INDIA bloc leader Hemant Soren is all set to take oath as the next Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the fourth time on Thursday, with the swearing-in ceremony set to serve as a major platform for the opposition bloc to showcase its unity and strength as many of its top leaders are expected to attend the event. The official guest list includes several prominent leaders including CongressPresident Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, NCP President Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray, former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav, former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Bihar MP Pappu Yadav, and AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, whose National People's Party is a NDA constituent, is also slated to attend. These names have been officially confirmed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In addition to CM Soren, one minister each from Congress and RJD is likely to be sworn in during the event. The ceremony will take place at Ranchi's Morabadi ground, a venue that previously hosted Sorenas oath-taking ceremony on December 29, 2019. Extensive decorations are underway, with an estimated crowd of 50,000 expected to attend from across the state. State Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, on Wednesday, reviewed the preparations, ensuring seamless coordination. Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan and SSP Chandan Sinha conducted a detailed briefing for officials and staff handling the event's administrative and security arrangements. They emphasised strict adherence to protocols for guest management and security to ensure the eventas smooth execution. Earlier in the day, Hemant Soren, along with his wife Kalpana Soren, visited his native village Nemra in Ramgarh district to honour his grandfather, Sobaran Soren, on his martyrdom day. They paid homage at Lukaiyatand, where Sobaran Soren's statue stands. After garlanding the statue, Soren addressed the public, reflecting on the historical struggles of Jharkhand's people against exploitation. He remarked: "Our forefathers have always inspired us to fight for justice and rights. Their sacrifices motivate us to remain steadfast in our journey for equality and dignity." Later, in a social media post, Soren said, "Salute to the revered grandfather Amar Veer Martyr Master Sobran Manjhi ji on his martyrdom daya The people of Jharkhand have struggled and fought against exploitation and oppression for centuries. Our brave forefathers have always given us the passion to fight for our rightsa He believed that only education can bring a change in societya While fighting against the exploiters, Pujya Dadaji continued his great campaign to educate the exploited and deprived society by lighting the flame of education." BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. COP29 provided an opportunity for tens of thousands of international visitors to familiarize themselves with Azerbaijan's history, culture, material and national heritage, and modern infrastructure, Gunel Mustafayeva, spokesperson for the State Tourism Agency, told Trend. According to her, the event also raised awareness of the country's potential in emerging fields such as ecotourism, agritourism, and responsible, sustainable tourism. She highlighted that hosting such a large-scale event in Azerbaijan has significantly contributed to promoting the countrys tourism potential and enhancing its positive image. The visit of thousands of foreign media representatives to Azerbaijan during the event, as well as its coverage by the world media, created an opportunity to promote the potential of business and business tourism in Azerbaijan. Events like COP29 play a crucial role in developing tourism industry expertise, especially in areas such as hospitality and small and medium-sized enterprises linked to tourism, by aligning service standards with international norms," she pointed out. Mustafayeva stressed that hosting COP29, like other major international events, has both short-term and long-term positive impacts on the tourism sector. These types of events, combined with improved service quality, stimulate the industrys growth, increasing and diversifying the range of services offered. For the first time in COP history, key tourism-related initiatives were included in the event's agenda. These included a dedicated tourism day, the first ministerial meeting on tourism within the COP framework, and the adoption of the COP29 Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the Tourism Sector. This milestone is commendable for Azerbaijan and the global tourism industry as it integrates tourism into climate strategies and promotes sustainable practices, she said. Commenting on the issue, Azer Hasanov, a tourism expert, highlighted both opportunities and challenges for Azerbaijan's tourism sector stemming from hosting COP29. A prestigious and high-profile event like COP29 will enhance Azerbaijan's international recognition, which will positively influence the countrys tourism sector. Such significant international events can attract new tourist demographics to Azerbaijan, particularly those interested in green and ecotourism. Hosting COP29 could encourage Azerbaijans environmental partners and local tour operators to focus more on green and sustainable tourism. Consequently, this may accelerate the development of eco-friendly and sustainable tourism destinations. The events global visibility might also draw international investors interested in developing eco-friendly tourism infrastructure, such as green hotels and recreational facilities that meet global tourism standards. Moreover, COP29 presents new opportunities for tourism marketing in Azerbaijan. It could boost interest in ecotourism and introduce Azerbaijans pristine nature and cultural heritage to a broader audience. This may increase demand for ecotourism and sustainable tourism, foster the promotion of eco-friendly tourism practices, and enhance Azerbaijans visibility in the international tourism market. However, given the impacts of climate action on the tourism sector, it is essential to adopt sustainable and innovative approaches for long-term growth, Hasanov concluded. To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which ran 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. 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 Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Chennai, Nov 27 : Five women were killed on Wednesday after a speeding car hit them on the highway off Mammallapuram, near here, police said. The police said the accident occurred when a car proceeding towards Mamallapuram from Chennai went off track and crashed into a group of people sitting by the roadside. All five victims died instantly due to severe injuries. Police sources told IANS that the car driver has been detained and a probe was underway. In Tamil Nadu, a total of 18,074 people died in 66,841 road accidents in 2023, an increase from the previous year's statistics. In 2022, 17,884 fatalities were reported from 64,105 accidents, according to the data from the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB). In Tamil Nadu, a fatality is reported in every fourth accident and 25 per cent of accidents were fatal. A total of 18,129 fatalities were reported from 62,685 accidents in 2019 while 18,392 deaths from 67,279 accidents were recorded in 2018. The Covid-19 pandemic years - 2020 and 2021 - are not considered for analysis purposes by the planners. In terms of total accidents in 2023, Chennai and Coimbatore cities stand at top positions with 3,642 accidents and contribute to 5.45 per cent each of accidents. Chengalpattu recorded 3,387 accidents (5.07 per cent), followed by Tiruppur at 3,292 (4.93 per cent) and Salem at 3,174 (4.75 per cent). In terms of fatalities, Coimbatore stands first with 1,040 persons killed last year - 5.75 per cent out of the total 18,074 fatalities. Chengalpattu district saw 912 deaths in road accidents (5.05 per cent of total fatalities), Madurai recorded 864 (4.80 per cent), Tiruppur, 861 (4.76 per cent) and Salem 787 (4.35 per cent). New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought an explanation from Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and son of former Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, on the allegations of threatening witnesses and breaching other bail conditions imposed by the apex court. A bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant, granted four weeks to Ashish Mishra to file an affidavit to the plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to him. As per the computerised case status, the matter is likely to be heard next on January 17, 2025. In an earlier hearing, Justice Kant-led Bench had asked Ashish Mishra to carefully comply with the bail conditions. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the families of the deceased, had claimed that Ashish Mishra was participating in public meetings in violation of the order granting bail. "The bail condition said that the accused will be entitled to go to the place where the trial is pending a day prior to the date fixed in the trial case. Ashish Mishra went there on 2nd October, which is a holiday and there was no date fixed for trial on October 3rd. He held a massive rally and public meetings there. We know he was there, let him respond as to whether he went there or not. We will produce photographs," Bhushan said. Opposing this, senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Ashish Mishra, had contended: "Please produce the photographs. Every time this matter comes up, my friend makes an allegation regarding violation of bail order." "We will file an application seeking contempt of court. He is violating the bail conditions imposed," Bhushan countered. In July, the Supreme Court confirmed and made absolute interim bail granted to Ashish Mishra, taking note of the fact that only seven of the 114 witnesses were examined till then. It had asked the trial court to expedite the pending proceedings and ordered Ashish Mishra to stay in Lucknow or Delhi only. The Supreme Court in January 2023 had imposed a slew of conditions while granting interim bail to Mishra. It had ruled that Ashish Mishra would have to leave Uttar Pradesh within one week of his release; he cannot stay in UP or Delhi/NCR; he shall inform the court about his location; and any attempt by his family members or Mishra himself to influence witnesses would lead to cancellation of his bail. The apex court added that Mishra would have to surrender his passport; he would not enter UP except to attend the trial proceedings; and, the prosecution, SIT, Informant or any family member of the victims of the crime would be at liberty to promptly inform the apex court of any incident of misuse of the concession of the interim bail. Subsequently, it relaxed the bail condition of Ashish Mishra to stay in the national capital considering the fact that his mother was admitted to a hospital in Delhi and his daughter also required medical treatment. In October 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri District's Tikunia in violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area. According to the UP Police FIR, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated. Hyderabad, Nov 27 : A massive fire that broke at a plastic bag manufacturing company at Jeedimetla industrial area here on Tuesday continued blazing for more than 24 hours, resulting in the collapse of the three-story building. Ten fire tenders were continuing their efforts to completely douse the fire. The surroundings were still enveloped by huge smoke billowing out from the manufacturing unit which made the task of firefighting personnel difficult. The fire broke out at SSV Fab Industries in the Jeedimetla industrial area of Medchal Malkajgiri district around 12 noon on Tuesday. The fire rapidly spread and engulfed the entire premises. There was no loss of life in the incident as all 60 workers quickly managed to vacate the premises. On receipt of the information, fire tenders from various parts of Jeedimetla and other nearby areas reached the spot and started a fire-fighting operation. They took steps to prevent the spread of the fire into neighbouring establishments. Oil drums stored in the premises exacerbated the flames, making the fire-fighting task challenging. Imported machinery and the material stored for manufacturing bags were completely gutted in the fire. Property worth several crores of rupees was destroyed in the accident. Authorities suspect that the failure of the company to take necessary precautions and store more material than the buildingas capacity led to the disaster. An electric short-circuit is believed to have led to the fire. The company was manufacturing up to 4 lakh bags daily for domestic and international clients, catering to sectors like sugar, rice, food grains, cement, and fertilizers. Meanwhile, two more fire incidents were reported in Hyderabad on Wednesday. In the first incident, a huge fire broke out in a house in Ramanthapuras Vivek Nagar in the wee hours of the day. A battery bike is suspected to have exploded, resulting in the fire. Seven other two-wheelers parked in the house were also damaged. Fire services personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames. Police have registered a case and took up the investigation. In another incident, a fire broke out in a flat on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Poppalaguda of Manikonda area. The incident caused panic among residents, who ran out for safety. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the fire. According to police, three days ago a housewarming ceremony was held in a flat. An earthen lamp lit on the occasion, fell down on Wednesday, triggering the fire. Ankara, Nov 27 : Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) neutralised a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an operation in Iraq. Sadiye Muhammed Ahmed, codenamed 'Hevi,' was reportedly 'neutralised' in a pinpoint strike in Iraq's Sinjar region, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the semi-official Anadolu Agency. She had allegedly been active in PKK's activities in Syria and Iraq since 2001, according to the report. In a separate operation by the Turkish military in Iraq targeting the PKK, eight other PKK members were killed in the Gara and Metina regions, the Turkish Defence Ministry said Wednesday. Turkish authorities often use the term 'neutralise' to imply the alleged terrorists have either surrendered, been killed, or been captured. The PKK, designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. Turkey regularly conducts military operations in Iraq, where the group's headquarters and hideouts are located. Guwahati, Nov 27 : In an endeavour to elevate the artistic, cultural, and handicraft traditions of the Northeast, while simultaneously fostering the growth of the region's tourism sector, the 12th edition of the International Tourism Mart (ITM) was inaugurated on Wednesday in Kaziranga by Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, officials said. Chief Minister Sarma said that it was an immense honour to host the International Tourism Mart for a third time in the region. He expressed that this edition of the Mart would serve as a vibrant platform for the display of the Northeastas multifaceted heritage - its culture, folk traditions, and the rich panorama of its historical narratives. It is through such engagements, he added, that both national and international delegates would be afforded the invaluable opportunity to engage intimately with Assamas illustrious cultural and historical lineage. The Chief Minister alluded to the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, having spent a night at Kaziranga, bore witness to the parkas remarkable biodiversity, particularly its famed one-horned rhinoceros population. He mentioned other dignitaries, such as President Droupadi Murmu, former President Ram Nath Kovind, and the King of Bhutan, who too were captivated by the natural beauty of Kaziranga. Sarma noted the recent recognition of Charaideo Maidam as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attributing this achievement to the concerted efforts of both the Prime Minister and the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism. He emphasised Charaideoas historical significance, particularly during the six centuries of Ahom rule, which contributed to Assamas remarkable advancements in myriad fields during that time. The Chief Minister hailed this as a monumental success for the people of Assam, one that attests to the enduring legacy of the region. He also called upon all stakeholders and entrepreneurs involved in the tourism industry to collaborate in the development of the sector, underscoring the importance of unified efforts. Kolkata, Nov 27 : Kolkata needs a "regional airshed" to address the burning of sharp deteriorations in Air Quality Index (AQUI), especially during the winter season, according to the latest study report titled 'Designating Airsheds in India for Urban and Regional Air Quality Management' published in MDPI's Air journal. Kolkata, Nov 27 (IANS) Kolkata needs a "regional airshed" to address the burning of sharp deteriorations in Air Quality Index (AQUI), especially during the winter season, according to the latest study report titled 'Designating Airsheds in India for Urban and Regional Air Quality Management' published in MDPI's Air journal. The study, which has recommended dividing India into 15 regional airsheds, each tailored to the specific climatic and pollution patterns of its region, has also argued that the regional airshed management could help Kolkata mitigate the external sources of pollution and help achieve cleaner and healthier air for its residents. An airshed is a geographic area where air pollution is measured and managed as a whole. It recognises that air pollution does not stop at city or state borders and pollutants can travel across regions, which requires effective pollution management involving cooperation between cities, states, and even neighbouring countries. According to the lead author of the study Dr Sarath Guttikunda, Kolkata can gain considerable benefits from managing pollution within its immediate surroundings like putting in policies to curb vehicular pollution and this is reciprocal with what is happening in the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain area. "Coordinated management across Kolkata and other key areas on the IGP could create a positive feedback loop, enhancing air quality and health outcomes for the entire airshed," Guttikunda added. The study has pointed out that Kolkata's air quality worsens significantly during the winter months, driven by a combination of meteorological factors and pollution sources from both within and beyond the city limits including vehicular pollution. Data from mid-January of 2024 showed that AQI in Kolkata ranged from "unhealthy" to "very unhealthy" categories thus posing a heightened health risk, particularly for vulnerable groups, underscoring the need for urgent measures to improve the city's air quality. The 15 proposed regional airsheds identified in the study include two for the Himalayas, four for Gangetic Plains, four for plateaus, one for arid or desert areas, three for coastal plains and one for the islands. Kolkata, Nov 27 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on November 28. Mamata Banerjee will first attend the Assembly where she will address issues related to the state then she will to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and take the flight to Ranchi. Sources said that Soren personally called Mamata Banerjee and requested her to be present at his swearing-in ceremony. She is expected to be back in Kolkata by Thursday. Leaders of the Trinamool Congress compared the results of the last Assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra and claimed that Congress should shed its high-handed attitude toward the opposition bloc and give more importance to the regional parties. The newly-elected INDIA Bloc leader Hemant Soren is all set to take oath as the next Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the fourth time on Thursday, with the swearing-in ceremony set to serve as a major platform for the opposition bloc to showcase its unity and strength as many of its top leaders are expected to attend the event. The official guest list includes several prominent leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, NCP President Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray, former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav, former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Bihar MP Pappu Yadav, and AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, whose National People's Party is a NDA constituent, is also slated to attend. These names have been officially confirmed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In addition to CM Soren, one minister each from Congress and RJD is likely to be sworn in during the event. The ceremony will take place at Ranchi's Morabadi ground, a venue that previously hosted Sorenas oath-taking ceremony on December 29, 2019. Extensive decorations are underway, with an estimated crowd of 50,000 expected to attend from across the state. State Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, on Wednesday, reviewed the preparations, ensuring seamless coordination. Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan and SSP Chandan Sinha conducted a detailed briefing for officials and staff handling the event's administrative and security arrangements. They emphasised strict adherence to protocols for guest management and security to ensure the eventas smooth execution. Earlier in the day, Hemant Soren, along with his wife Kalpana Soren, visited his native village Nemra in Ramgarh district to honour his grandfather, Sobaran Soren, on his martyrdom day. They paid homage at Lukaiyatand, where Sobaran Soren's statue stands. After garlanding the statue, Soren addressed the public, reflecting on the historical struggles of Jharkhand's people against exploitation. He remarked: "Our forefathers have always inspired us to fight for justice and rights. Their sacrifices motivate us to remain steadfast in our journey for equality and dignity." Later, in a social media post, Soren said: "Salute to the revered grandfather Amar Veer Martyr Master Sobran Manjhi ji on his martyrdom daya The people of Jharkhand have struggled and fought against exploitation and oppression for centuries. Our brave forefathers have always given us the passion to fight for our rightsa He believed that only education can bring a change in societya While fighting against the exploiters, Pujya Dadaji continued his great campaign to educate the exploited and deprived society by lighting the flame of education." --IANS src/dan Samastipur, Nov 27 : Marking a moment of joy for thousands of people, the Samastipur district administration in Bihar is preparing to hand over houses to more than 13,000 people of the district under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). District Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) Sandeep Shekhar Priyadarshi spoke to IANS about the PMAY target in the district and said that the scheme has already been sanctioned and delivery of houses will begin in the near future. "The target is 13,559 houses under PMAY. We have already sanctioned 11,927 houses. About 1,632 houses are stuck due to some technical reasons. Some people's names are not matching with their Aadhaar number, while in others, their bank accounts donat match with Aadhaar," Sandeep Shekhar Priyadarshi said. He said that the mission would be completed by December 10. Sandeep Shekhar Priyadarshi further informed that the beneficiaries will get an amount of Rs 1,20,000 in three installments. The first installment has been released. The process for the second installment has started. He further said that there is also a provision for purchasing land and giving it to the landless beneficiaries. They can get land allotted in their name and then construct their own house under PM Awas. Sharing details on disbursal of monetary assistance, the DDC said that there is not much time lag. "Soon after the residential structure is approved, the process is initiated for transferring funds directly into the beneficiary's account," he stated. Under the PMAY, eligible beneficiaries get financial assistance in building their own homes. The objective of the scheme is to improve the living standards of economically backward citizens and provide them with the benefit of owning their own homes. To achieve this, both Central and state governments offer financial assistance. The implementation of the scheme is carried out through local self-governing bodies. Aizawl, Nov 27 : Senior IAS officer Khilli Ram Meena, who will take charge as the new Chief Secretary of Mizoram on Thursday, made a courtesy call to Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Wednesday evening. Officials said that Meena, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, would take charge from acting Chief Secretary H. Lalengmawia, a 2005-batch IAS officer. Meena succeeds Renu Sharma, who retired on October 31. According to a Mizoram government official, Meena, before his new assignment, was serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Born on December 4, 1967, in Rajasthan, Meena holds a master's degree in history and joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1993. The Mizoram government had earlier requested the Centre to appoint Vumlunmang Vualnam, a 1992 batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre and currently the Civil Aviation Secretary, as the state's Chief Secretary. Chief Minister Lalduhoma during his recent visit to New Delhi, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ask him to relieve Vualnam to replace Renu Sharma. Vualnam has earlier held several important positions within the Central government, including as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Company Affairs. Vualnam has also served in various key roles in the Manipur government and was an advisor to the executive director at the World Bank before he was appointed Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation in August 2023. However, the MHA reportedly declined the request and appointed Meena to the post. The Chief Minister earlier appreciated the performance of the former Chief Secretary Renu Sharma, a 1988 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre. Guwahati, Nov 27 : Assam Police thwarted the attempt of illegal Bangladeshi infiltration and pushed back two citizens of the neighbouring country, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. The two Bangladeshi nationals were identified as Nur Mohammed and Muhammed Khaleda Begum. Taking to X handle, Sarma wrote, "Displaying alertness along the Indo-Bangladesh border, @assampolice apprehended two Bangladeshi nationals who were illegally entering Indian territory." The security vigilance along the international border with Bangladesh was heightened following the unrest in the neighbouring country. Sarma earlier asserted that although some of the Bangladeshi infiltrators managed to get Aadhaar cards, they could not enrol themselves in the voter list. He said: "There is no chance that people cross illegally the international border from Bangladesh and get themselves enrolled in the voter list in Assam because we have caught many people who illegally entered Indian territory and they were pushed back within a few hours. Most of the infiltrators were arrested in the morning around 5 AM and before 9 AM in the morning, they were pushed back to the neighbouring country. In two or three hours, they can not register themselves in the voter list." However, the Chief Minister sees no harm in remaining double vigilant in this matter. "We have decided to take a slew of measures against the detection of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh because there might have been possibilities that a few infiltrators could not be arrested by the security personnel," he added. The Chief Minister asserted that people from Bangladesh come to India as poverty has climbed up in the neighbouring country after the recent unrest following the departure of the Sheikh Hasina government. He also claimed that contrary to conventional apprehension, mainly people who belong to the Muslim community have been trying to cross the border and enter India illegally for the sake of jobs. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The proposal to exempt business entities registered and carrying out their main activities in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) from taxes on profit, property, and land for 10 years has been put forward, the chairman of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs' Organizations of the NAR Vugar Abbasov said at the event Cooperation with business associations and entrepreneurs and its results," Trend reports. At the same time, it was proposed to exempt dividend income of shareholders of resident legal entities of the Autonomous Republic from tax from January 1, 2025, for a period of 10 years. Giving preference to companies registered and operating in Nakhchivan in the field of public procurement, we propose to allocate a special quota for business loans in the Entrepreneurship Development Fund to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In addition, we propose to increase employment of the population as a result of subsidizing contributions to mandatory social insurance of employees and co-financing of salaries, he said. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Congress party came under sharp criticism from many quarters on Wednesday over its repeated accusations against the Adani Group, over indictment of India's leading conglomerated in the United States. This backlash followed clarification by the Adani Group, in which it denied all the bribery allegations made by the US authorities against its founder Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain. Many BJP leaders hit back at the Congress party, accusing it of working against India's growth story and also "spreading fake news" about Indian industrialists with a motive to "mislead the public." Speaking to IANS, BJP spokesperson Gourav Vallabh targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of being a "brand ambassador of anti-India forces." "Rahul Gandhi does not oppose Adani or Ambani; he opposes India's development. He has become a spokesperson for anti-India entities, including those led by George Soros, who dictate his agenda. They aim to disrupt India's capital markets and FDI flow," Vallabh stated. "Rahul Gandhi is playing into the hands of foreign powers who want to harm India's growth story. Millions of middle-class Indians rely on investments in the capital market for their future dreams, and Rahul Gandhi wants to shatter these aspirations," he further added. Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) spokesperson Manisha Kayande also criticised the Congress, alleging that it targets Indian industrialists to undermine the BJP-led government. "Rahul Gandhi and his associates focus on Adani and Ambani only to target the industrialists and bring bad name to the country. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, they gave contracts to these industrialists, and now they question us," she said. Kayande cited past incidents under the MVA government, such as the placement of explosives near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, as evidence of "mishandling." She claimed such actions had driven industries away from Maharashtra to Gujarat. Rajasthan Minister Jogaram Patel also accused opposition parties of aligning with foreign powers to weaken India. "Our nation is on the path to becoming the third-largest economy, but Congress and its allies are trying to derail this progress. They target Indian businessmen to serve their agenda of weakening India," Patel told IANS. "Time and again, they travel abroad and speak the language of our enemies, siding with foreign adversaries. They target businessmen like Adani and other industrialists, but their sole aim is to weaken India and bring down PM Modi," he added. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari echoed similar sentiments, calling Congress "anti-progress and anti-India." In a video message on X, he accused the party of collaborating with international entities like George Soros to propagate false narratives. "The Congress party is against the Indian growth story. The Congress party against the Indian wealth creators. The Congress party knows that if India becomes the third largest economy, the party and its evil forces across the borders will have an issue," he said. "This is why Soros and the Congress party always try to plant fake news and fake agenda against Indian wealth creators. The latest Adani episode, in which it is now clear that the bribery charges were not against the Adani group, is yet another example of whether it is Hindenburg, whether it is Rafael, and now the Adani. The Congress party's intentions are evil," he said. Bhandari said that Congress only aims to "spread fake news, hurt the Indian growth story. This is why we say Congress is anti-progress, anti-people, anti-India." Mumbai, Nov 27 : The Maharashtra Congress here on Wednesday announced that it will soon launch a massive signature campaign among the masses demanding that future elections should be conducted on ballot paper instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to save democracy. Maharashtra unit Congress President Nana F. Patole said that nobody believes the results of the recent Maharashtra Assembly polls and "there is a feeling in all quarters that something has seriously gone wrong". "The Constitution has given all citizens a right to vote. But now the people suspect that the votes they cast doesn't go to the intended candidate, but ends up elsewhere. We shall launch the signature drive respecting the sentiments of the masses," Patole told mediapersons. The signatures collected from crores of people through the campaign in all districts, cities, towns and villages -- shall be submitted to the President, Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister and Election Commission of India for their necessary action. Patole added that on Tuesday, on the occasion of Constitution Day, Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had announced the launch of a mass movement -- on the lines of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhias two Bharat Jodo Yatras --demanding ballot paper voting and dumping the EVMs. "Both the Bharat Jodo Yatras had received tremendous response in Maharashtra. Saving democracy is the responsibility of all the people. The Congress had fought for the country's Independence, and it was after such public movements that the British Rule ended after 150 years," said Patole. He was flanked by top leaders including newly-elected candidates and the defeated nominees like Prithviraj Chavan, Vijay Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar, M. Arif Naseem Khan, Muzaffar Hussain, Nitin Raut, Aslam Shaikh, Amit Deshmukh, Amin Patel, newly elected MP from Nanded Ravindra Chavan and others. The Congress has also moved a resolution authorising Kharge to take decisions pertaining to the appointment of Congress Legislative Party Leader, Group Leaders and the Chief Whip in the new house. Replying to a query on the Supreme Court verdict (on Tuesday) on the EVMs, Patole said that there should have been clarity on the legal provisions when the judgement was given. He added that it would not be appropriate to comment on the apex court judgement, but pointed out that in a democracy, the people are supreme and the Congress is echoing and highlighting the strong public sentiments against EVMs. Meanwhile, there were anti-EVM protests by some parties in different parts of the state on Wednesday, with protests seeking re-election in the state. Similarly, besides the Congress, leaders of several other parties like the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), Communist Party of India (M), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Prahar Janshakti Party and more have demanded a return to the ballot paper voting system. A group of social activists including lawyer Asim Sarode held a meeting in Pune to review the election outcome and pointed fingers at the EVMs as some defeated leaders from the ruling Shiv Sena are moving the court, questioning the polls results. Jaipur, Nov 27 : Farmers of 300 villages on Wednesday blocked the Jodhpur-Barmer highway in Rajasthan and demanded sharing of the Jawai Dam waters The administration had also deployed forces in large numbers to thaw the protest of the farmers. However, the farmers managed to surround the Collectorate leading to a confrontation between both sides but the protesting farmers somehow managed to camp in front of the Collectorate. In support of farmers, traders also kept the market closed. The roads leading to Jalore remained closed till the afternoon following the farmer protests. For the last nine days, the farmers have been protesting under the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and demanding to fix one-third share of the water of Jawai Dam in Jalore and provide insurance claims to farmers on time. The farmers also burnt tyres and protested at Haridev Joshi and Hospital crossing raised slogans and blocked the Barmer-Jodhpur highway. The protesting farmers also protested outside the residence of Jalore MLA and Chief Whip Jageshwar Garg in Polji Nagar and raised slogans. However, the MLA was not present at his residence. Farmers complained that none of the officials reached out to them in the last nine. "Even after nine days, no one from the government has reached out to us. We will continue our protests till all our demands are not met," said the protesting farmers. ASP Motaram and DSP Gautam Jain have also held meetings with the protesting farmers and asked them to move their tractors and other vehicles from the roads for the smooth flow of vehicular activities. However, the farmers refused the police instructions and continued with the protests. Visakhapatnam, Nov 27 : One person died and nine others fell ill after inhaling toxic gas at a pharma company in Andhra Pradesh's Anakapalli district near here. Visakhapatnam, Nov 27 (IANS) One person died and nine others fell ill after inhaling toxic gas at a pharma company in Andhra Pradeshas Anakapalli district near here. The incident occurred at Tagoor Laboraties Pvt Ltd at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parawada, about 35 km from this port city, on Tuesday but it came to light on Wednesday after the affected workers exhibited symptoms. The workers were engaged in maintenance work on a reactor, which underwent a heavy pressure build-up while mixing Hydrochloric Acid and chloroform. The workers inhaled toxic fumes around 4 p.m. but they started exhibiting the symptoms around midnight. The affected workers faced cough and breathing problems. They were all shifted to a hospital in Gajuwaka here. One of them succumbed while others were undergoing treatment. The condition of two of the workers is stated to be critical. The deceased was identified as Abhijit Das (23), a native of Odisha. Police registered a case and took up further investigation. Meanwhile, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha spoke to the District Collector and directed him to ensure that the affected workers are given the best possible treatment. Anitha said in a statement that though the government has given directives in the wake of similar incidents in the past, the companies havenat taken things seriously. She said stringent action would be taken against those found negligent, resulting in the tragedy. This is the latest in a series of industrial accidents in and around the industrial hub of Visakhapatnam during the last few years. Anakapalli district witnessed two industrial accidents in a span of 48 hours in August this year. In the first accident, 17 people were killed and 36 injured in a reactor blast at a pharma unit in Atchutapuram Special Economic Zone. Four workers were injured in another accident in a pharma unit at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parawada. Following these incidents, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked all hazardous industries falling under the ared categorya to conduct regular internal safety audits to prevent accidents. The Chief Minister also revealed that since 2019, the combined Visakhapatnam district reported 119 industrial accidents in which 120 people died. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has expressed dismay over the gas leak at the pharma company in the Anakapalli district. He urged the government to provide quality treatment to those hospitalised and provide succour to the kin of the deceased. Sambhajinagar, Nov 27 : NCP National President and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday that the MahaYuti partners will finalise decisions about the candidates for the post of chief minister and deputy chief ministers including the state cabinet in a cordial atmosphere after a meeting slated with the Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday. He further stated that the decisions made in Wednesday's meetings will be supported by all MahaYuti partners. "Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and I will visit Delhi tomorrow and have a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. After that, the new chief minister, two deputy chief ministers and the Cabinet. The oath ceremony is likely on November 30 or December 1," said Ajit Pawar whose party leader and senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal has announced that NCP will support Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister. Ajit Pawar was speaking after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde opted out of the Chief Minister's race announcing that he will support the BJP candidate and he will abide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision in this regard. The state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule hailed the chief minister's move while hailing his stand to make the NDA further stronger and strengthen the MahaYuti in the state. Ajit Pawar also thanked all the voters of Maharashtra and all the workers of MahaYuti, adding that the alliance partners' responsibility has increased manifold in the wake of the landslide victory. He said that the winter session of Nagpur is just around the corner and the supplementary demands have to be approved. "There will be immediate work pressure but since most of us are experienced. We don't think it will be that much of a problem. It is an effort to develop the state in a better way. There is an effort to bring all the elements of the society together. Also, there is an effort to bring huge funds from the central government. As the session of the Lok Sabha is going on, I will also try to meet various ministers to seek higher central assistance to Maharashtra," said Ajit Pawar. On the chorus growing in NCP for Ajit Pawar to become the next chief minister, he said that irrespective of what the party workers think, in the end, it is also seen how many legislators have been elected. "The situation was different two and half years ago and now the story is totally different," he said. Commenting on the opposition's criticism of EVMs, Ajit Pawar said: "We all respect the justice system. The Supreme Court said that every time a person loses an election, the defeat is inflicted on the EVMs, and if it succeeds, then the EVM is good. Even in the past, we saw a very poor performance during the Lok Sabha elections. But we did not blame it due to EVM. The opposition's criticism is an attempt by the senior leaders to show to the candidates who have lost that they are doing something to boost their morale." He said that when the poll results of West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir are declared, the EVMs were first class and if the results go against the INDIA Bloc then they start blaming the EVMs. "The 2014 election also saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wave and despite that, some people talked about the credibility of EVMs. Some people also spoke during the 2019 elections. But after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections no one said anything about EVMs," said Ajit Pawar. He said that Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 but then won back in 2024. "The decision given by the Supreme Court is final. Those who have lost the Assembly election are making noise about the EVMs. However, most people have faith in EVMs," said Ajit Pawar. Chandigarh, Nov 27 : Haryana Development and Panchayat Minister Krishan Lal Panwar on Wednesday said the state government is preparing a blueprint for providing 100 square yard plots for two lakh low-income people to build houses. Panwar was addressing villagers after listening to their problems in Atawala, Dumyana, Urlana Kalan, Ahar, Khalila, Pardhana, Karad and Jondhan Kalan villages of the Israna Assembly constituency. The minister assured them that eligible poor people would be allotted plots of 100 square yards and all necessary facilities like paved roads, electricity, clean drinking water, streetlights, parks and open green spaces would also be ensured in their area. He said under the Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Yojana, eligible beneficiaries will not only get plots of 100 square yards in different phases but there is also a provision to help the beneficiaries in building houses on these plots. Financial assistance will be provided under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) to help the beneficiaries build their houses. Panwar said the successful implementation of this scheme by the state government will improve the standard of living of poor families. The state government is committed to rural development. "When Haryana was made a separate state in 1966, the resources were limited at that time, but today, thanks to the 'double-engine government', there has been so much development in the past 10 years that Haryana is among the leading states of the country now." He said the people of Haryana would make every possible effort to make India a developed nation by the year 2047 in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, Minister for Urban Local Bodies Vipul Goyal said there would be no compromise on the quality of construction materials used in development projects. He also made it clear that a monopoly in contractor tenders will not be allowed. "All works will be allotted in a transparent and fair manner through negotiations." Goyal made these remarks while chairing a meeting to review and approve tender rates for projects in the Municipal Councils of Narwana, Jind, Mandi Dabwali, Thanesar, and Ratia. The meeting was attended by officers from the Urban Local Bodies Department and District Municipal Commissioners from Jind, Sirsa, and Kurukshetra as well as the Chairpersons of the respective Municipal Councils. On a demand raised by the Chairperson of Jind Municipal Council regarding the unnecessary delays by the technical wing in tender allocation, the minister directed the District Municipal Commissioner to conduct an inquiry within one month. He said the past performance of the agency to which the work is being allotted should be thoroughly checked to ensure its work quality meets the required standards. Additionally, the minister stressed the tender process should be completed within a month. Guwahati, Nov 27 : Union Tourism and Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday underscored the northeastern region's legacy, cultural diversity, and natural wealth emphasising its rich cuisine, crafts and biodiversity while inaugurating the 12th edition of the four-day long International Tourism Mart (ITM) in Assam's Kaziranga. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said that the ITM is a remarkable opportunity for the northeast India to showcase its rich culture and diversity to the world, adding that the event also offers a platform for people from across the globe to witness the extraordinary heritage of the region. He further highlighted the significance of hosting the ITM in Kaziranga, stating that it reflects the increasing importance of the northeast on the national stage. Describing the event in Kaziranga as special, Shekhawat said that over the past decade, development in the region has accelerated. The Tourism and Culture Minister noted that hosting ITM in Kaziranga aligns with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the internationally renowned Kaziranga being declared a national park. He acknowledged the park's remarkable growth, with its area expanding from 400 sq. km to 1,300 sq. km in the last 10 years. This ITM not only celebrates Kaziranga's legacy but also provides a platform to explore the vast tourism potential of the northeast. The region holds immense potential and this Mart serves as a gateway to enhance it, Shekhawat stated. The minister also added that the tourism potential of India is set to grow more in the coming years, with the northeast region playing a pivotal role in this growth. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Chief Pema Khandu and Tourism Ministers of several northeastern states were present at the Inaugural function. The ITM takes place in the northeast region renowned for its diverse topography, rich flora and fauna, vibrant ethnic communities, ancient traditions, festivals, and abundant arts and crafts. Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the majestic one-horned rhino, adds to the allure of this event. A Coffee Table Book on Assam "Guwahati and Around" published by Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited was also launched. This ITM celebrates multiple achievements of northeast India's tourism and cultural prowess. In July this year, 'Moidams of Charaideo' in Assam were declared as the 43rd UNESCO World Heritage Site from India. This year's Mart featured a variety of activities, including presentations by state governments, B2B meetings, panel discussions on employment, innovation, digitalisation, youth entrepreneurship, vocal for local, women empowerment, case studies on advancing adventure tourism, conservation and promotion of wildlife, homestay, wine tourism, curated food demonstrations, cultural evenings, live music, a northeast bazaar. According to Tourism Ministry officials, the ITM will exemplify a strong commitment to sustainability, aligning with the travel for life initiative of the Tourism Ministry. The event is being organised with a focus on minimising environmental impact, employing energy-efficient practices. This event also engages with international students who are studying in the northeastern region and influencers all across the globe providing them with first-hand insights into the area and rich culture. The ITM 2024 has seen a maximum participation from 30 countries, which includes 15 international influencers from 11 countries -- Spain, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan, Italy, Vietnam, Russia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and France. As many as 24 international tour operators from 16 countries, 20 international students from 17 countries and 46 domestic buyers, 7 domestic influencers and 101 domestic sellers are also attending the event. The International Tourism Mart (ITM) is an annual event organised by the Tourism Ministry, designed to highlight the tourism potential of the northeastern region for both domestic and international audiences. This event serves as a vital platform, bringing together tourism businesses and entrepreneurs from the eight northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim -- to foster collaboration and interactions among buyers, sellers, media, government agencies, and other stakeholders. Bengaluru, Nov 27 : After his controversial remarks regarding the Muslims, Vokkaliga seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami said on Wednesday that Muslims are Indian citizens and do not belong to any other country. On Tuesday, Chandrashekaranatha Swami who heads the Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamsthana Mutt during a protest on Tuesday, organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers' organisation linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said that the Muslims should be disenfranchised. "Politicians indulge in vote bank politics and appeasement of Muslims. Hence, Muslims should be deprived of exercising their voting powers. This should be done and the end of vote bank politics would help the progress of the country," Chandrashekaranatha Swami. However, following a backlash, the seer backtracked from his statement, saying, 'it was a slip of the tongue'. "The forum was about addressing the woes of farmers who are troubled by the Waqf Board. Against this backdrop, I made the remarks. It was a slip of the tongue. I should not have made the statements. Muslims are Indian citizens and they do not belong to other countries. I request you to end the matter at this stage and do not drag it further," the seer told media persons. Karnataka Home Minister G. Paraemshwara said that the seer has not properly understood the Constitution as well as the rights and opportunities granted to every community and religion within it. "The Constitution clearly states these provisions, and it is neither appropriate to speak nor act contrary to them. It was emphasised that no one should speak against the principles of the Constitution," the state Home Minister said. Minister for Social Welfare H.C. Mahadevappa said that at the round table conference with the British, Mahatma Gandhi was against the granting of votes to all citizens. "B.R. Ambedkar vehemently argued for the voting rights of all and explained the 'one vote, one value' concept. Ambedkar then stated that the kings used to take birth in palaces but now they will take birth from the polling booths," he said. He added that no one has the right to question the voting powers of any community or citizens. Jaipur, Nov 27 : A lower court in Ajmer has admitted a petition filed by Vishnu Gupta, National President of Hindu Sena, asserting that the Sankat Mochan Mahadev temple exists within the premises of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The court presided over by Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel, has deemed the matter admissible and issued notices to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Dargah Committee Ajmer, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), asking them to present their responses. The next hearing is scheduled for December 20. The petition references retired judge Harvilas Sharda's 1911 book, Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive, which claims that debris from a Shiva temple was used in constructing the dargah. The petition also alleges that a Jain temple exists within the sanctum sanctorum of the site. Gupta stated that Hindu traditions are visible around the Ajmer Dargah, including carvings on the Buland Darwaza. He urged the ASI to investigate the premises for evidence such as water sources often found near Shiva temples. Advocate Ramswaroop Bishnoi explained that the 38-page petition provides evidence supporting claims of a Shiva temple at the site, citing architectural similarities and references from historical texts. Examples from other disputed sites, such as Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh and Benaras, are also mentioned in the plea. The petition calls for the ASI to conduct a survey of the dargah premises. It also refers to the book's claim that parts of the 75-foot-high Buland Darwaza were constructed using materials from the temple. According to the text, a Brahmin family once worshipped at the site, where a Shivling was located. Meanwhile, the Dargah Committee has denied the claims. Syed Sarwar Chishti, secretary of Anjuman Syed Jadgan, an organisation of khadims of the Dargah in Ajmer, said that the Ajmer Dargah promotes unity in diversity and pluralism, the dargah has lakhs of followers all across the world from Afghanistan to Indonesia. "Such acts are against communal harmony and nation. The court has issued notices to three parties today. We will see what we can do. Such acts of targeting age-old mosques in Kashi, Mathura are not good," he said. He also blamed former CJI Chandrachoor for amending the rule. "We have seen challenging times, however, nothing has changed. This is garib nawaz dargah and it shall stay the same in future too," he added. Bengaluru, Nov 27 : Karnataka Congress Ministers and aspirants for Cabinet berths are indulging in hectic lobbying ahead of the reshuffle after the winter session in the last week of December. Buoyed by the emphatic victory in the bypolls of three Assembly seats, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar are taking up the exercise to drop about eight non-performing ministers from the Cabinet and induct new faces. Sources said that the Congress high command has already given a green signal for the Cabinet reshuffle and Siddaramaiah is keen on it after the bypolls to consolidate his position in the face of charges of alleged "corruption" and "favouritism" against him in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Tribal Welfare Corporation cases. Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara said that the matter of cabinet reshuffling is entirely left to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. "The Chief Minister usually consults with the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President before making decisions," he said. He clarified that discussions with the high command will also take place, but he is not aware of the decisions they might make together. "Our high command will seek a report on the functioning of the ministers. This is an internal matter of the party intended to ensure good governance. I have submitted a report on what I have done in the last 1.4 years. They will make an assessment about it," he said. Sources said that Minister for PWD Satish Jarkiholi, a close associate of Siddaramaiah, had already met the high command leaders in this regard. Commenting on the development, Minister Satish stated on Wednesday that the final decision of the Cabinet reshuffle will be taken in New Delhi. "There are chances of Cabinet overhaul and a decision might also be taken to continue the present Cabinet without making changes. If the decision is taken and we are dropped from the cabinet, we have to vacate our residences in Bengaluru and come back to our constituencies," he said. Responding to queries about a potential reshuffle in the Cabinet, Shivakumar said, "I am not aware of that. When I know, I will comment. Please ask the Chief Minister or our AICC General Secretary about this matter." On being asked about reports of asking ministers to vacate their posts, he clarified, "That's not immediate. There is still time for that." --IANS mka/dan BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The threshold of necessity and the sustenance standard in Azerbaijan will ascend from 270 manat ($158.8) to 285 manat ($167.6) as the new year dawns on January 1, Trend reports. This issue has been reflected in the draft law "On the state budget of Azerbaijan for 2025" discussed at the country's parliamentary meeting. Given that the living wage is aligned with the criteria of need, both metrics will rise by over 5.5 percent relative to 2024. Subsequent to deliberations, the paper was subjected to a vote and ratified in the initial reading. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Mumbai, Nov 27 : In a recent development, actor Dhanush and Aishwarya Rajinikanth have officially been granted a divorce by the Chennai Family Welfare Court. The court's verdict comes after both parties expressed their inability to continue living together. Dhanush and Aishwarya appeared before the family court in Chennai on November 21, where they expressed their desire to part ways. The judge overseeing the divorce case adjourned the hearing to November 27, when the final verdict was expected to be delivered. The duo tied the knot in 2004 in a grand wedding in Chennai, and after 18 years of marriage, they released a joint statement revealing their decision to part ways. The statement read, "18 years of togetherness as friends, couple, as parents and well-wishers to each other. The journey has been of growth, understanding, adjusting, and adapting. Today we stand at a place where our paths separate. Aishwaryaa/Dhanush and I have decided to part ways as a couple and take time to understand us as individuals for the better. Please do respect our decision and give us the needed privacy to deal with this (sic)." They continue to co-parent their sons, Yatra and Lingaa. The two announced their separation on social media in 2022 and later filed for divorce. Meanwhile, Dhanush has recently filed a petition with the Madras High Court against actress Nayanthara and her husband-director Vignesh Shiva. The case centers around allegations of copyright infringement involving visuals from the film "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan," produced by Wunderbar Movies, which were allegedly used in the Netflix documentary "Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale." Dhanush had previously sought damages of Rs 10 crore after the trailer of the Netflix documentary featured three seconds of behind-the-scenes footage from "Naanum Rowdy Dhaan." Advocates Sathish Parasaran and R. Parthasarathy represented Nayanthara and Netflix, respectively. Justice Abdul Quddhose granted Wunderbar Movies' request to include Los Gatos in the case, noting that a significant portion of the dispute took place within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Irrigation Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday called upon Union Minister for Environment and Forest, Bhupender Yadav, to expedite environmental clearance for the Kalasa-Banduri irrigation project in Karnataka. Shivakumar submitted an appeal to the minister to expedite the forest and wildlife clearance for the Kalasa Nala Diversion Scheme and forest clearance for the Banduri Nala Diversion Scheme. Kalasa-Banduri Project is a dam project that aims to divert water from the Mahadayi River to the Mala-prabha River basin in Karnataka. The project's goal is to provide drinking water to drought-hit districts in northern Karnataka, including Belagavi, Dharwad, Bagalkot, and Gadag. The project involves building barrages on the Kalasa and Banduri streams, which are tributaries of the Mahadayi River. "Kalasa-Banduri is a critical project for the people of Karnataka. Despite adherence to all statutory and procedural requirements, Karnataka's proposal continues to face delays. It is imperative to resolve this at the earliest to avoid further impact on this vital project," Shivakumar said. He added: "The 80th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife had deferred, in a meeting held in October 2024, Karnataka's proposal to use 10.88 hectares of forest land for the Kalasa project in Western Ghats. The Board had directed Karnataka to submit a written representation addressing legal issues raised in the meeting." He said that the National Board for Wildlife had rejected Karnataka's proposal citing legal disputes between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra related to Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal's award, which was pending before the Supreme Court. He further added that however, Karnataka had contested the decision of the National Board for Wildlife stating that the Supreme Court does not restrain Karnataka from proceeding with the project. "Karnataka had also stated that the 10.68 hectares of forest land needed for the project was not part of the wildlife sanctuary but was part of the tiger corridor. Karnataka had also listed out the benefits of the project stating that it would provide a water body for the wildlife in the area," he said. Shivakumar said that Karnataka has reduced the forest land requirement for the Kalasa project from the original 258 hectares, which was approved in principle in 2003, to just 26.92. "We also reduced the forest land requirement for the Bandura project from 243 hectares to 28.44 hectares. This reflects our commitment to conservation. It is in the state's interest that the Union government has to ensure that this project is cleared without any further delay," Shivakumar urged. Shivakumar also met Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi, who hails from Karnataka and discussed the controversial Mekedatu Project. He emphasised the urgency for expedited implementation to ensure sustainable water supply. Shivakumar discussed the Kalasa-Banduri Nala Projects and the importance of securing clearances to address regional water scarcity. Shivakumar also insisted that a gazette notification must be issued to utilise our share of water as per the verdict of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal 2 by Karnataka. Along with this, the Upper Krishna Project should be declared a national project, he appealed. "The Upper Bhadra Project should be considered a national project, and irrigation facilities should be increased to provide water to farmers. Additionally, necessary approvals for the Mahadayi project should be granted to address the water scarcity in the region. The central government must provide the necessary support to the state for the implementation of these crucial projects," Shivakumar further emphasised. Beirut, Nov 27 : Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Wednesday that the army would reinforce its presence in southern Lebanon, urging Israel to withdraw from Lebanese-occupied territories in accordance with the ceasefire deal reached with Hezbollah. In a televised speech following a cabinet meeting on the first day of the ceasefire, Mikati said the Lebanese government is committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions, especially those concerning strengthening the deployment of the army and security forces south of the Litani River. Mikati said that Lebanon is keen on preserving its sovereignty by sea, land, and air, refuting any possible violations, Xinhua news agency reported. "I also demand that the Israeli enemy fully commit to the ceasefire resolution, withdraw from all areas and sites it has occupied, and implement resolution 1701 in total," he said. In his speech, Mikati praised the Lebanese army and healthcare workers for their efforts. "Lebanon deserves all our effort, patience, and faith, and tomorrow will be bright and full of hope and solidarity for all its people," he said. According to the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home. New Delhi, Nov 27 : India and France have a huge potential for partnerships in renewable energy with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) spearheaded by the two countries turning out to be "a runaway success," Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) India and France have a huge potential for partnerships in renewable energy with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) spearheaded by the two countries turning out to be "a runaway success," Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. Addressing the Asia Pacific Commission (APAC) 2024 Forum organised by the French Foreign Trade Advisors here, the minister said over 100 countries have taken membership of this alliance co-sponsored by India and France. Elaborating on the solar alliance, he underlined the efforts of both countries to take clean and renewable energy to the emerging countries and lesser developed countries of the world. He further stated that using sustainable practices can have a mitigating factor on climate change and its emerging adverse impact across the world. The minister also said that India and France can collectively expand agricultural and food processing for the world's food security using innovative sustainable practices. India's partnership with France has evolved into a robust framework encompassing space exploration, defence, civil nuclear energy, digitalisation and a shared vision for the Indo-Pacific region. The adoption of the Horizon 2047 roadmap has further consolidated our shared vision for the next 25 years, Goyal said. The minister invited French collaboration in India's infrastructure projects involving industrial cities spanning 20 locations across the country creating world-class connectivity and urban ecosystems. On the aerospace sector, the minister stated that India is the world's largest aviation market with 1500 planes ordered with the capability of taking the order up to 2000. Noting that for the next three decades, the Indian aviation market will be the largest demand aggregator, he urged the French aviation sector to explore opportunities to set up manufacturing facilities in India. He also emphasised that India has been building airports rapidly, from 74 in 2014 to 125 today. He also announced that the Government is planning to add 75 more airports by 2029. Goyal noted that India has been rapidly expanding its defence sector as well and the Centre is encouraging companies from across the world to manufacture in India providing them 100 per cent ownership of their companies. The minister calling for greater collaboration with France in the defence sector also underlined in his speech that the Government, with its robust patent-protected regime, does not insist on technology transfer. On automobiles and electric vehicles (EVs), the minister emphasised that India and France have the potential to co-innovate technologies and create a sustainable mobility revolution in India. He said that India has a large pool of first-time vehicle owners and providing them with sustainable options will be easier. On collaboration in digital technology, Goyal pointed out that both nations can foster startups in cybersecurity, AI, e-commerce and quantum technologies. Noting that the India-France Year of Innovation 2026 will be a milestone in fostering technology-driven growth, he stated that this initiative will promote joint projects in IT, healthcare, renewable energy and smart cities. The true strength in the India-France partnership lies in 'Trust', he said. Expanding further, he pointed out that both are trusted partners which will strengthen the continued engagement in investments in manufacturing and services. With Global Capability Centres (GCCs) setting up shop in India to leverage talent and affordability of India operations, India and France have the ability to co-innovate to improve the innovation landscape and also explore knowledge partnerships between the academia of the two countries, he added. He further stated that bilateral trade between the two countries for FY24 reached $15 billion, with Indian exports at $7 billion and imports at $8 billion. He emphasised that despite robust trade, these numbers are suboptimal and only narrate a small part of the story. Given the strength of the two economies, he expressed hope that trade between the two countries will grow much bigger, better and faster. Notably, France is the 11th largest foreign direct investor for India and over 750 companies have a presence here, with 70 Indian companies working in France contributing to employment generation and skill development. Goyal highlighted that India and France are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic friendship and 25 years of strategic ties this year. He added that both nations are republics with liberty, equality and fraternity at the core of our Constitution, both believe in multilateralism and both nations believe in the rule of law. New Delhi, Nov 27 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) S.P. Vaid on Wednesday criticised the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh, saying the latter has been criminalised for standing up against injustice, while terming the arrest a "direct attack on free speech and right to protest peacefully". A letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Vaid which has been undersigned by several retired IAS, IPS and Army officers and a former judge seeking protection of Hindus in Bangladesh while demanding the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other religious leaders, read: "We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the increasing violence, discrimination, and persecution being faced by the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. The systematic attacks against Hindus, their religious sites, their properties, and their very dignity are reaching unprecedented levels. These acts of violence and discrimination not only violate the fundamental rights of the Hindu community in Bangladesh but also undermine the principles of peace, coexistence, and religious freedom that India and Bangladesh have historically upheld." The letter stated that the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das on fabricated sedition charges is particularly troubling. "He was detained simply for organising a peaceful protest against the ongoing atrocities and advocating for the rights of the Hindu community. His peaceful activism should have been protected as a fundamental right, yet he has been criminalized for standing up against injustice. This arrest is a direct attack on free speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to peacefully protest," it said. The letter further read "given the gravity of these human rights violations, we respectfully urge the Government of India to take the following actions". 1. Immediate Protection for Hindus in Bangladesh: The Government of Bangladesh must take urgent measures to protect Hindu religious sites, businesses, and homes from further attacks and desecration. It is essential that the safety and security of the Hindu community be ensured, and that the perpetrators of violence are held accountable. 2. Release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and Other Religious Leaders: The immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other religious leaders who have been unjustly arrested is essential. All charges against them should be dropped, and their rights to peacefully protest and voice their concerns should be upheld. 3. Justice for Hindu Women: We demand that the Government of Bangladesh investigate the increasing cases of violence, abduction, and forced conversion of Hindu women. The perpetrators must be brought to justice, and legal protections must be put in place to safeguard Hindu women and ensure their rights. 4. Protection of Employment and Property Rights: The unlawful removal of Hindu government employees from their jobs and the seizure of their properties must cease immediately. Hindus in Bangladesh must be allowed to live with dignity, free from social and economic persecution. 5. International Sanctions on Bangladesh: We call for the application of targeted international sanctions against Bangladesh, particularly against those individuals and entities complicit in religious persecution and human rights violations. These sanctions should be aimed at pressuring the Bangladeshi government to end its complicity in these atrocities and to protect the rights of religious minorities. 6. Diplomatic Action at the United Nations and Other International Forums: We urge the Government of India to take this matter to international platforms such as the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, and other relevant international forums. Diplomatic pressure must be applied on the Government of Bangladesh to hold accountable those responsible for the persecution of Hindus and to ensure that they cease their discriminatory practices. The global community must take a united stand against religious intolerance and discrimination. The letter stated that the situation in Bangladesh is dire, and the Hindu community is suffering under conditions that are reminiscent of severe human rights violations. "The Government of India has a moral and diplomatic responsibility to raise this issue at the highest levels and to take strong, decisive action to protect the rights and safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. "We trust that, under your leadership, India will continue to stand as a beacon of hope and justice for religious minorities abroad. We sincerely hope that this matter will be given the urgent attention it deserves, and that steps will be taken to ensure the safety, dignity, and basic rights of the Hindu community in Bangladesh," it read. Cairo, Nov 27 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani held talks in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss joint efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Egyptian presidency. During the meeting, they also discussed efforts to release hostages and detainees, as well as the delivery of relief aid into the Gaza Strip, the statement added. They stressed the importance of concerted efforts to support the Palestinian people and preserve their legitimate rights to establish an independent, sovereign state in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and to safeguard the Palestinian national interest. They also called for serious steps to provide necessary humanitarian support to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, Xinhua news agency reported. The Qatari Prime Minister expressed his country's appreciation for Egypt's ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. He added that Qatar looks forward to enhancing the outcomes of the ministerial conference that Cairo will host, which aims to strengthen the humanitarian response in Gaza as an effective step in supporting the Palestinian people. Nairobi, Nov 27 : Kenya's tourism marketers have vowed to capitalise on the Lamu Cultural Festival, set to begin on Thursday in the coastal town of Lamu, to boost tourism. June Chepkemei, chief executive officer of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), said that more than 30,000 local and international tourists are expected to attend the three-day annual festival, a major tourism event celebrating coastal Lamu's heritage and traditions in a carnival atmosphere. "The Lamu festival is a major draw that consistently attracts thousands of visitors to the Kenyan coastal region. Its significance as a cultural icon is undeniable," Chepkemei said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. She said the cultural event is indicative of the coastal appeal not just for beach holidays but also for the unique cultural immersion and experiences on the heritage, history, and traditions of Lamu. Each year, the Lamu Archipelago, a cluster of islands along Kenya's north coast, comes to life during the annual Lamu Cultural Festival that displays its rich Swahili heritage, receiving visitors from Europe, North America, and Asia as well as regional visitors including domestic ones to join the revelry and experience Lamu's vibrant culture, music, food, competitions, and handicrafts. Chepkemei emphasized KTB's commitment to supporting community-driven events that boost local economies, adding that the agency is mapping out a list of festivals across Kenya to promote different regions and thereby enhance the marketing of diverse attractions. Lamu Governor Issa Timamy said the festival has evolved over the years, saying that this year's edition promises to be bigger and better, particularly with enhanced international exposure, Xinhua news agency reported. "We have positioned the Lamu festival as our island's hallmark event that showcases our people, heritage, and traditions in all their color and grandeur," Timamy said. Marked by traditional dances, displays of handicrafts and unique competitions on water and land, Swahili poetry, donkey races, dhow races, henna painting, and musical performances, the Lamu Cultural Festival reveals an important part of Swahili culture with a rare and wonderful opportunity to experience the island's unspoiled beaches, medieval ambiance, architecturally magnificent old town, gracious population, and traditions of an enchanted island where history continues to live. New York, Nov 27 : US President-Elect Donald Trump has named the Kolkata-born Jay Bhattacharya, who raised questions about Covid policies, to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the medical research powerhouse. Trump announced Tuesday night that he was "thrilled to nominate" him for the job of directing the "nation's medical research and to make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives". Accepting the offer, Bhattacharya said on X: "We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!" The NIH, an agglomeration of 27 separate research organisations dealing with different diseases and health issues, has an annual budget of $48 billion. Directorship of NIH is not a cabinet-level post, but would require Senate approval and have an enormous global impact because of the range of its research that has cascading effects around the world. Trump said that Bhattacharya would work with Health Secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy, Jr, to restore NIH "to a gold standard of medical research as they examine the underlying causes of, solutions to, America's biggest health challenges, including a crisis of chronic illness and disease". Bhattacharya is a multi-disciplinary academic at Stanford University holding professorships in medicine, economics, and health professorship, holding a medical degree and a PhD in economics. He shot to national prominence during the Covid pandemic by questioning the prevalent orthodoxy of the government health establishment of imposing extended broad lockdowns to fight the disease and went head-to-head with Anthony Fauci, who was acclaimed as the architect of the official policy. Bhattacharya has asserted that he was the victim of government censorship because Twitter placed him on its "Trends Blacklist" under official influence limiting his reach on the social media platform. now renamed X. Trump noted in his post on Truth Social that Bhattacharya "is a co-author of The Great Barrington declaration, an alternative to lockdowns, proposed in October 2020". Bhattacharya was one of the authors of the declaration, a statement co-signed by doctors, scientists, and researchers, that called for loosening the restrictions to release healthy young people from lockdowns through a policy of "focused protection" aimed at older people and those at greater risk. The declaration said that this would allow them "normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk". This played into the divide between the political establishments of the Democrats, who were for strict lockdowns, and Republicans. Some Republican-run states like Florida, which adopted aspects of the declaration, did not have significantly lower statistics than Democrat-run states like California that followed strict lockdowns while keeping school closures lower. As the social and educational fallout of the lockdowns has emerged, some former government officials who advocated those policies like former NIH Director Francis Collins have conceded that their narrow focus on lockdowns may have been unfortunate. While Kennedy opposes vaccinations, Bhattacharya does not. Kennedy advocates unorthodox treatments and theories, which have come under criticism, but his and Trumpas focus on chronic diseases has been praised by some critics. Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 : Commissionerate Police in Odisha has declared several key locations in Bhubaneswar as no-flying zones in view of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval for the three-day DGP conference starting from November 29. The locations include Biju Patnaik International Airport, Lok Seva Bhawan, Raj Bhawan, State Guest House, Maitri Vihar and the IPS Mess at Chandrasekharpur area of the city. These locations have been declared as No Drone Zone/No Flying Zone in view of the visit of PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other VVIP/dignitaries to attend the 59th DG and IGP Conference-2024 from November 29 to December 1. The Commissionerate Police has implemented stringent security measures across the city to avoid any untoward incident during the significant event. "The security measures are taken to ensure the safety and security of VVIPs and distinguished delegates across the country to prevent any untoward incidents. The comprehensive security arrangements have been made by deployment with BSF/CRPF/Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) thorough anti-sabotage checks. Patrolling and blocking have been intensified in different areas. CCTV surveillance and human intelligence team have been deployed across the city-wide," said a senior police official on Wednesday. The three-day event will also be attended by senior officers of the Intelligence Bureau, DGPs of all states, DG of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), chiefs of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), National Security Guard (NSG) and Special Protection Group (SPG). Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the preparations at the Convention Centre and State Guest House for the ensuing DGP/IGP conference in Bhubaneswar. He had earlier also reviewed the security arrangements and preparations at Bharatiya Janata Party's state office where PM Modi is scheduled to interact with MLAs, MPs and other party functionaries on November 29. Rajkot, Nov 27 : The investigation into the notorious fake GST billing scam in Gujarat has now reached Rajkot. A company linked to Mahesh Langa has come under scrutiny. Rajkot police conducted simultaneous raids at 14 locations on Wednesday, including Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Veraval, Kadi, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Shapar, and Rajkot, leading to the arrest of five individuals involved in fraudulent billing and fake transactions. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Rajkot Police took action in the GST fraud case and arrested five individuals. The raids were carried out across 14 locations, leading to these arrests. According to Police Inspector S.M. Jadeja and his team, the accused were caught in connection with the scam. As per the available information, a GST fraud worth approximately Rs 60 lakh was carried out using a company named "Parmar Enterprises" in Rajkot. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Crime, Parthrajsinh Gohil, stated that Rajkot police had received information 20 days earlier about fraudulent transactions where fake bills were being generated by shell companies to pass on GST credits. During the investigation, it was revealed that three companies -- DA Enterprises, Aryan Associates, and Arham Steel -- had already been targeted by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch. Based on this information, Rajkotas Crime Branch also took action. The Economic Offences Wing's investigation revealed that the GST scam was executed using a company named "Parmar Enterprises", which facilitated several fraudulent activities linked to GST. Parmar Enterprises was involved in GST fraud in cities such as Mehsana, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Gir Somnath, and Jamnagar in Gujarat. The company "DA Enterprises" was involved in the majority of the undisclosed transactions in the scam. This is the same company linked to journalist Mahesh Langa, who has been implicated in several GST fraud cases. Langa was arrested earlier, and his bail plea was rejected. However, the Sessions Court has granted him bail in one case, but Langa will remain in jail pending a High Court decision on his bail, which is expected on November 29. Following the recent arrests by Rajkot's EOW in the GST scam, the police may question journalist Mahesh Langa again. It is clear that the company, Parmar Enterprises, was created using a fake rental agreement to obtain a GST number. This fraudulent rental agreement was submitted along with the application for GST registration, leading to the creation of the "Parmar Enterprises" GST number. Using this fake company, several other companies participated in the GST fraud. The companies involved in this criminal activity include Yash Developers, Ikara Enterprises, Civil Plus Engineering, Dhanshree Metal, DA Enterprises, Aryan Associates, Jyoti Infrastructure, Arham Steel, Riddhi Infrastructure, Ashapura Trading, Shiv Milan Plastics, Globetra Impex, Maa Durga Steel, Maruti Nandan Construction, and Lakhubha Nanbha. These companies engaged in fraudulent billing, forgery, the use of fake documents, and false declarations, leading to millions of rupees in GST fraud through the use of bogus invoices. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. A total of 75 percent of the revenues generated by microentrepreneurs (with at least three employees) in Azerbaijan is envisioned to be exempt from tax, provided they do not have outstanding social security contributions and their annual turnover on a number of services does not exceed 45,000 manat ($26,470), without any further conditions, starting from 2025, Trend reports. This issue has been reflected in the proposed amendment to the Tax Code, discussed at the parliamentary meeting today. The mentioned service sectors include: - software development; - project design and decoration; - translation services; - advertising services; - research activities; - science, education, culture, and sports; - law, independent auditing, accounting, and finance consulting; - journalistic activities; - market research; - valuation; - order delivery and courier, excluding freight transportation by road; - tourist guide; - export. After discussions, the document was put to a vote and approved in the first reading. From January 1, 2024, under the current version of Article 102.1.30 of the Azerbaijani Tax Code, 75 percent of the income generated by micro-entrepreneurs (with at least three employees per month) has been exempt from income tax, provided they do not have outstanding social security contributions. The proposed benefits apply only to individuals, while legal entities will be able to take advantage of the benefits after fulfilling the conditions as before (i.e., with an average monthly number of employees for the year of at least three people and no debt in contributions to compulsory state social insurance). The law will be effective as of January 1, 2025, if it is ultimately passed. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Amaravati, Nov 27 : The government of Andhra Pradesh will formulate a maritime policy to transform the state into a maritime hub taking advantage of a long coastline. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday directed the officials to prepare a policy that can transform the 1,053 km long coastline. He told a review meeting that the government's vision is to take Andhra Pradesh to the level of a world-class maritime state by developing the coastal line with innovative methods creating the necessary infrastructure for sustainable economic growth through efficient governance. The officials informed the Chief Minister that the maritime policy has four components - port development, ship-building cluster, associated maritime activities, and port proximal area development. Focus areas on all these four items have already been identified. Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials to mainly focus on developing high-capacity ports by adopting a hub and spoke model, connecting the port proximal areas with departments of Industries, tourism, Roads and Buildings (R&B), linking all the three industrial corridors in the state for future development, making the people as partners for providing basic amenities, encourage the P-4 model for the development of ports and harbors and also attract the world-level companies to set up ship-building and ship repair units in the state. The Chief Minister wants the tourism and green energy programmes in the maritime sectors to be integrated, the establishment of a maritime university in the state along with making Indian Maritime University and IITs as partners for sharpening the skills of youth. The Chief Minister also told the officers to introduce radical reforms in this sector for best practices, arbitration and dispute resolution mechanisms. He also stressed the need to strengthen the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board to achieve these goals. The officers brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that the state holds second rank in the country in the category of non-major ports with a growth of 16 per cent in EXIM (Export and Import) cargo handling. The state acquired first place in the export of seafood products last year with a 32 per cent growth rate. The state currently has one major port in Visakhapatnam, five non-major ports, four green-field ports that are under construction and seven other ports which have been notified. Bengaluru, Nov 27 : Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday that he will not retreat in fear of deceitful politics following his defeats in the recently held bypolls. "To my dear party workers, I say this: Victory and defeat are part of any battle. I will not retreat in fear of deceitful politics. We have nothing to prove with empty challenges, but let us show our strength, leadership, and resolve in the next election. Let's rebuild our party and fight for the people with renewed vigour," Nikhil wrote in a letter to JD-S workers. "We have no reason to despair. I stand with you, and so does the entire party. The unexpected defeat in the Channapatna Assembly by-election, where I contested as an NDA candidate, is indeed disheartening. I have already stated the reasons for the defeat. However, neither I, nor our party has the temperament to sit quietly, fearing a setback. "Our party has endured numerous defeats in the past, only to rise again like a phoenix through relentless struggles. In this long journey of ups and downs, I am a small traveller. The party, under the leadership of towering figures like the revered H.D. Deve Gowda, has given Karnataka several capable leaders," Nikhil said. "This defeat has caused me pain, undeniably. I won't deceive myself by claiming otherwise. However, I did not enter this election expecting to lose. We fought with sincerity and determination to win. Although certain factors led to setbacks, I have the courage to rise again. "Just as I have imbibed the strength to endure pain, I have also inherited the spirit to rise with determination. I am not someone to seek sympathy. My past two defeats have given me the inner strength to overcome helplessness and face humiliation with courage. With the same determination and self-belief, I joined JD (S)-BJP leaders and workers in waging a bold battle in Channapatna," he said. "I understand the deep disappointment my defeat has caused to my party workers. I know the immense effort you all put in, working day and night in Channapatna like true warriors. You have visited every household, striving for my victory. Ultimately, the decision was made by the people, and I have humbly accepted it," he stated. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the NDA candidate was defeated by Congress candidate, senior leader C.P. Yogeshwara by a big margin of 25,413 votes. Patna, Nov 27 : One person was killed and 21 others injured in two separate road accidents in Bihar's East Champaran and Arwal districts on Wednesday. Patna, Nov 27 (IANS) One person was killed and 21 others injured in two separate road accidents in Biharas East Champaran and Arwal districts on Wednesday. The first road accident occurred near the Madhubani Ghat bridge in East Champaran, Bihar where a tanker collided with an auto-rickshaw carrying school teachers. One principal was killed and three female teachers were injured in this mishap. The accident took place on the Motihari-Pakridayal Road within the Mufassil police station area. The accident claimed the life of Naresh Kumar Ram, the headmaster of Bhelwa School in Madhuban. Three female teachers travelling with him - Sushma Patel, Anita Kumari, and Nahid Qamar - sustained injuries. The teachers were en route to their school in an auto-rickshaw when a tanker, due to poor visibility caused by fog, rammed into their vehicle. Local residents quickly rescued the injured and notified the authorities. The injured were taken to Sadar Hospital for treatment. The Mufassil Police Station SHO, Manish Kumar, confirmed the details and mentioned that the injured are receiving medical care. The second road accident occurred in the Arwal district of Bihar, near the Baidarabad bus stand on the Patna-Aurangabad NH-139, leaving 17 people injured, including 11 school children. The incident has sparked outrage among locals and caused significant disruption to traffic on the highway. The injured include 11 schoolchildren who were being taken home from a private school in Umairabad, along with six others. Local residents rushed to assist, transporting the injured to the hospital and notifying both the police and the childrenas families. Angered by the accident, people blocked the highway, shouting slogans to express their dissatisfaction with the lack of road safety measures and the negligence of student transportation. The blockade caused a significant traffic jam on both sides of NH-139. Police officials arrived on the spot to pacify the protesters and clear the road. New Delhi, Nov 27 : In a major crackdown in connection with the terror-gangster nexus case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted extensive searches at premises linked with associates of Davinder Bambiha syndicate at nine locations in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. An official said that NIA teams conducted searches at the premises of suspects in the terror-gangster syndicate case in Palwal, Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana, Jalandhar district of Punjab, and Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. "A host of incriminating materials, including mobiles/ digital devices, banking transactions and property related documents, were seized during the searches," a statement read. "The searches were part of NIA's continuous crackdown on terror outfits engaged in criminal conspiracies to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition, narcotics, explosives etc., into India. NIA investigations in the case RC 22/2023/NIA/DLI, registered on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India, further show large-scale attempts by these organisations and terrorists to raise funds for carrying out terror acts on Indian soil," the statement read. Further investigations into the case are underway. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is India's specialised counter-terrorism law enforcement agency which is empowered to deal with the investigation into terror-related crimes across states. The NIA is empowered to investigate cases that involve threats to the country's sovereignty, security, and integrity. The Agency is also authorised to conduct searches, make seizures and arrests, and also collect evidence and maintain a database of terrorist organisations and their members. The agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament on December 31, 2008. The Act was passed after the 26/11 terror attacks that had left Mumbai -- the country's financial capital -- in tatters. The NIA has its headquarters in Delhi, and it also has branches across many Indian cities, such as Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Chennai and Imphal. New Delhi, Nov 27 : An ISKCON centre in Bangladesh's Shibchar has been forcibly shut down by a group of people, media reports said. The purported development came against the backdrop of the arrest of an ISKCON priest, Chinmoy Krishna Das, in Bangladesh to which India has strongly reacted. According to reports that cited eyewitnesses, army personnel took away the ISKCON devotees in a vehicle. Earlier, Chinmoy Krishna Das 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. 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. 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. 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. Chaffin Luhana LLP and The Chaffin Luhana Foundation continue their commitment to addressing community needs with their annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaways. This year, the firm distributed turkeys in three states to families facing food insecurity, showcasing its dedication to community and compassion. PITTSBURGH, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Chaffin Luhana LLP and The Chaffin Luhana Foundation proudly continued their tradition of giving back to the communitities where the firm practices with their annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaways across three states. Over the course of the events, the firm distributed 650 turkeys to families in need across the Greater Pittsburgh area, New Cumberland, WV, and Wallingford, CT. In Connecticut, Chaffin Luhana was a proud sponsor of the 99.1 PLR Sam Tilery Food Drive at CT Fresh Food and Produce Market in Wallingford, benefiting Connecticut Food Share. According to No Kid Hungry, nearly 14 million children in the United States live in food-insecure homes. By organizing and participating in these annual Turkey Giveaway events, Chaffin Luhana doesn't just provide meals; they offer hope and support, reinforcing their commitment to the communities they serve and embodying the spirit of giving that defines the holiday season. Eric Chaffin, Founding and Managing Partner of Chaffin Luhana, reflected on the initiative, saying, "With the holiday season upon us, we're very aware of the financial difficulties many families are facing. Our Turkey Giveaway is more than just a helping hand; it's a reflection of our commitment to the communities we serve. Initiatives like this are at the heart of our mission, Doing Good by Doing Right, and we're grateful for the opportunity to bring some relief and joy to our neighbors." "Every year, as we gear up for our Turkey Giveaway events, our commitment to fostering a spirit of giving in our communities only grows stronger," reflected Roopal Luhana, Founding Partner. "This initiative is a core part of our mission, providing not just food, but comfort and connection during the holidays. We're continuously inspired by the resilience and gratitude of the individuals and families we meet. It's a powerful reminder of the meaningful impact we can have." Many recipients expressed gratitude, with Jenny F. from Pittsburgh saying, "I wish it would have been acceptable to get out of the car and hug everybody." She added, "It's been quite a year, and this was just so appreciated." Her words reflect the deep impact this initiative has on the families it serves. About Chaffin Luhana: Chaffin Luhana LLP is a plaintiffs-only national trial firm focused on representing injured survivors and their families in catastrophic and complex cases. Started by former federal prosecutors Eric Chaffin and Roopal Luhana, the firm is comprised of former state and federal prosecutors, former large defense firm attorneys, former judicial law clerks, and caring and compassionate staff including an in-house social worker. Our current leadership roles include the Uber Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation, Paraquat MDL, Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, and the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Litigation. With over 200 years of combined legal experience, Chaffin Luhana's attorneys have recovered over $1 billion for their clients nationwide. For more information, please visit https://www.chaffinluhana.com/. About The Chaffin Luhana Foundation: Law partners Eric Chaffin and Roopal Luhana, along with their families, established The Chaffin Luhana Foundation in 2010 to honor their humble roots and build upon the values of integrity and resilience instilled in them by their hardworking parents. A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation encourages the development of human potential and supports community empowerment through the endowment of funds to deserving recipients, the creation of community-based enrichment projects, and the support of important scientific research that meaningfully impacts the underprivileged and sick in society. With the goal of fostering acceptance, understanding, and an inclusive and healthy environment for everyone, the Foundation seeks to highlight individuals who are displaying outstanding characteristics in their lives, and bring all walks of life together in ways that invite positive interaction, while rewarding those resilient people willing to face difficult challenges, get back up, and surge forth once again. For more information, please visit ChaffinLuhanaFoundation.org. Media Contact Dan Reo, Chaffin Luhana LLP, 1 888-480-1123, [email protected], https://www.chaffinluhana.com/ SOURCE Chaffin Luhana LLP In November, just prior to the Macondo Literature Festival in Nairobi, Kenya, the African digital distribution platform eKitabu, which is known for its Books for All mission, launched a new book publishing imprint, Mvua Press. The publisher marked the occasion by hosting a packed workshop for aspiring and self-published authors, offering insights into editorial, marketing, design, and production, as well as holding a launch for its first title, When Love Says Goodbye by Scholastica Moraa. Kenyas publishing industry, like much of Africas, remains largely driven by educational texts. Trade publishingcovering fiction, poetry, and non-fictioncomprises only a small portion of the market. The major players in the educational sector maintain limited trade lists, while independent publishers and self-published authors have stepped in to fill the void. Self-publishing has surged in recent years, offering authors a route to market when traditional publishing channels are unavailable. Dozens of self-published titles appear in shops, but sales data is closely guarded. Authors say their best success comes from building their own following on social media in a market that remains difficult for most to break into. Barriers to access One of the most pressing challenges for Kenyan readers is the prohibitive cost of books. Imported titles dominate the shelves of Nairobis bookstoresTextbook Centre, Soma Nami, Prestige Books, and Cheche Books & Coffeebut are priced above a level that most people are willing to pay. Trade paperbacks retail for between $20 and $30, a sum that equals more than a days wages for most people, due to shipping costs and import duties. This situation leaves many African readers unable to access works by their own continents authors, even when those authors are published and widely available outside of Africa. In addition, logistical hurdles across African countries mean that it is often easier to import books from overseas than to order books from within Africa. This lack of a robust distribution network means that African literature struggles to reach its primary audienceAfrican readers. A new chapter Mvua is part of a growing movement to make recompense. Like Nigerias pioneering Cassava Republic, eKitabus new imprint aims to create professionally published, high-quality books that are affordable for local readers. According to Mvuas senior manager of publishing, Mercy Kirui, Mvuas mission is to give African writers the platform they need to reach both local and global markets, including opportunities to sell foreign and translation rights, focusing first on reaching African readers in Africa. Mvuas launch also signals the growing role of independent publishers in Kenya. In 2020, Nairobi saw the founding of Jahazi Press by Ahmed Aidurus, and now, with Mvuas entry into the market, the Kenyan literary scene is gaining new momentum. The imprints first publication is a new poetry collection by Scholastica Moraa, who up until now has only self-published. Moraas journey also reflects the potential for cross-border collaborations with African publishers and publishers from other regions. Through a fellowship program in 2023, Italian translator Valeria Paolini visited Nairobi for the Nairobi International Book Fair, resulting in Moraa securing a dual-language deal with Nonsolopoesie Edizioni in Italy. Emma House is an international publishing consultant, trustee of the Publishing Training Centre, and a former board member of PublisHer. A version of this story previously ran in the 2024 PW Frankfurt Show Daily. The annual joint meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion last weekend brought 7,760 scholars, authors, publishers, professors, graduate students, and clergy to the San Diego Conference Center, an 8% increase over last year's meeting. They chose from among 1,200 talks, panels, and meetings, angled for job openings, shopped from thousands of books offered at 100 exhibition booths, promoted their current books, and pitched their next ones. But even as they celebrated accomplishments and pursued careers there was a low hum of worry. Attendees were uncomfortably aware that universities, colleges, and seminaries continue to reduce or eliminate their programs in religious studies and the humanities. Meanwhile, President-Elect Donald Trump touts his intention to reshape the government, the economy, education, and media. "People are talking about politics, politics, politics," AAR president Jin Y. Park told PW before presiding over a Saturday morning session called "Exploring Nonviolence, Social Justice, Gender and the Brain." That evening Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, the outgoing president of the SBL, gave a talk on "The Bible in Politics and Politics in the Bible," reminding the audience that "in the ancient world, religion and politics were of one cloth. But to focus on the political is to examine the mechanisms, teachings and ideology, and practices in the Bible that aim to shape communal life in all of its facets and to critically assess it for its own time, and for ours.... The goal is not to promote this or that religious tradition, but to explore critically how it can contribute to the critical challenges of our time." Sunday morning's special session on the presidential election featured 15 panelists, including Stacey Floyd-Thomas, a professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University, who asked, "Do facts even matter in contemporary politics?" It was a rhetorical question because, she said, this was a "vibe election" in which how people feltnot what they knewwas the driving factor in how they voted. That afternoon she took her manuscript for When the Good Life Goes Bad: The U.S. and Its Seven Deadly Sins to University of Illinois Press. University of Illinois Press is also publishing a revised and expanded version of Christian America and the Kingdom of God: White Christian Nationalism from the Puritans through January 6, 2021 in February. One of the book's coauthors, Christina Littlefield, an associate professor of journalism and religion at Pepperdine University, told an audience for Sunday afternoon's panel on "Evangelicalism and Political Violence" that zealots are out to "reclaim the country for Christ and politics is their battlefield." In session after session, speakers challenged their audiences of scholars, authors, and academic publishing editors to address the same question: "What is the role of the scholar in society? What do we do now?" And what don't they do now? Trump books. New York University Press senior editor Jennifer Hammer, who booked appointments at the conference with dozens of current and potential writers and lost her voice talking to more than 50 of them, whispered late Sunday that none were pitching Trump titles. The goal is not to promote this or that religious tradition, but to explore critically how it can contribute to the critical challenges of our time. Prolific author (48 books and counting) and activist Miguel De La Torre, a professor of social ethics and Latinx studies at the Iliff School of Theology, circulated among the editors at the conference but didn't round up colleagues for a third collective book on Trump for Orbis, one of his frequent publishers. The first, Faith and Resistance in the age of Trump, published in 2017, had fast sales for a week at the start then quieted, said Robert Ellsberg, Orbis publisher and editor-in-chief. The second, 2021's Faith and Reckoning After Trump, predicted that the fracturing of facts and the fostering of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and environmental damage would be the legacy of Trump's term. It didn't sell, Ellsberg said, and he doesn't see a market for more. De La Torre agreed, telling PW, "What more is there to say? What would I call it? The Empire Strikes Back?" In the exhibition hall, however, the mood was buoyant. The latest report from the Association of American Publishers StatShot program showed the religious press category was up 18.4% in sales in the first nine months of 2024. Although academic religion publishing sales aren't specifically tracked, high interest was evident on the floor. People crowded booths to order titles from display samples or loaded up their tote bags at the few booths, such as one for Westminster John Knox, that displayed stacks of take-'em-home-now titles. Alicia Samuels, VP of marketing for WJK, pointed to their hottest sellers, including the new Westminster Study Bible. Several books by conference speakers also sold out following their author' talks, with Samuels pointing to Beverly Roberts Gaventa's Romans: A Commentary and Hanna Reichel's After Methods: queer grace, conceptual design, and the possibility of theology as examples. "What people are looking for now are books with high energy ideas," Samuels added, "and for books that will help with pastoral care needs, particularly now, at a time when so many people are distraught." Among the distraught are emerging scholars and grad students seeking tenure-track positions in academia and book contracts that could boost their efforts. Michelle Sybert, assistant director for Notre Dame Press, said she sees fear in the eyes of job-hunting grad students. To ease their way, the press offers a "5+1 doctoral program," which Sybert said "gives a grad student a year working with the press to consider publishing as a career." Laura Gifford, a historian and Lutheran deacon who is editor-in-chief of Fortress Press, saw people reaching for ethicist Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda's early November title, Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage. The author "looks at ethics in the light of lived experience," said Gifford, "and asks, 'What does it mean as the economic landscape changes but people still have needs? What scholarship will be helpful?' " Richard Brown, a senior editor for Rowman & Littlefield Academic (which was acquired by Bloomsbury earlier this year), logged more than four dozen meetings at the conference and was cheered by the possibilities ahead for distributing R&L's titles through Religion Online, a subscription service offered by Bloomsbury. "The prospects for growth are phenomenal." He was also enthusiastic about the growth of the Theological Book Network, which sends books to under-resourced libraries and seminaries in the "majority world." When the SBL/AAR conference concluded, the remaining books from the R&L booth will go to the Network. On Nov. 18, 2022, PW published a report analyzing a database of 1,300 publishing startups, almost all of which were founded since Amazon launched the Kindle some fifteen years earlier. As soon as it was published, it was out-of-date: two days later, on Nov. 20, 2022, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT, and since then the number of new startups has exploded. Over the past two years weve seen the launch of approximately 320 startups, nearly all AI-related, Thad McIlroy, the industry consultant and PW contributor who maintains the database, says. As of October, the database now includes 1,763 companies, of which 1,183 are still operating and 580 have closed. PWs database doesnt include other companies proprietary, internal AI operations. It is widely believed that each of the Big Five publishers has internal AI projects discreetly hidden from view. Why? Because while publishers are employing AI internally to streamline their businessesand who wouldnt, the tools are powerfulthey are also suing the LLMs for copyright infringement, as it has become public knowledge that OpenAI and others used published books without permission to train their models. It is widely felt that a new model for licensing published content to AI companies and ensuring publishers are compensated must be implemented. OpenAIs appetite for professionally produced words has paid off: as of the start of October, the company was valued at $157 billion, roughly the same revenue generated by the global book publishing industry in one year. OpenAI is projecting $3.7 billion in sales this year, growing closer each day to the $4.92 billion Penguin Random House, the worlds largest trade publisher, earned in 2023. Still, this is a false equivalency: revenue from AI still has the potential to grow exponentially. Book publishing, at least in its print form, does not. Audiobooks, however, still have massive room for growth. As seen at this Septembers inaugural International Summit of Audio Publishers, audiobook innovation is ongoing, much of it driven bysurprise!Sweden, where in 2023, 64% of all books sold were in the audiobook format, according to industry consultant Carlo Carrenho. Among Swedish companies, there is no bigger player than Spotify, which entered the English-language audiobook market in October 2023. The service has proven extremely popular. Robert Thomson, CEO of HarperCollinss parent company News Corp, has repeatedly called Spotify a game changer for the audiobook market, citing double-digit sales growth for audiobooks at his company as a result. Spotify is having an impact on self-published authors too, with users of Spotifys Findaway Voices service for indie creators having seen their royalties nearly double. Furthermore, Spotifylike another tech behemoth, TikTokis drawing in younger audiences. It too is employing AI, in this case to predict books a user might like according to their musical listening habits in order to promote them alongside their playlists. But Spotify isnt the only Swedish innovator: Storytel has introduced an AI-powered voice switcher that allows a user to switch narrators for an audiobook on the fly, and Nuanxed is using AI to expedite literary translation, delivering books in weeks, not years. Both services are using AI to do jobs that would normally be done by human workers, but each company argues that it will ultimately serve to grow the market, thus creating more, not fewer, opportunities for narrators and translators. Whether thats the case remains to be seen. One thing that does appear certain is that AI is giving publishers tools to more cost-effectively publish and translate books that might not otherwise have been profitable. Who will ultimately benefit from those profitsthe people who contributed to the books success or some amorphous group of faceless shareholdersis ultimately up to management. One thing is certain: while any financial impact changes wrought by AI on publishing will be marginal compared with AIs overall impact on the global economy, the ultimate value of what publishing facilitateswhether print or digitalremains ineffable and unquantifiable. A version of this article originally appeared in the 2024 PW Frankfurt Book Fair digital supplement. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Azerbaijani Parliament has approved the first reading of proposed amendments to the countrys tax code, Trend reports. The matter was tossed into the ring during the Azerbaijani Parliament session on November 27. The proposed amendments will affect 37 key articles and 75 subparagraphs across five areas. The changes aim to stimulate the investment climate, reduce the tax burden on businesses, improve tax administration, enhance Azerbaijan's position in international rankings, and implement harmonization measures. The amendments are expected to impact several sectors, including the green economy, medical tourism, the automotive industry, shipbuilding, retail and markets, the culture sector, and public-private partnerships. The goal of the proposed changes is to attract large investments, particularly through public-private partnerships, support the green economy (including the transition to environmentally friendly transportation), curb undeclared and illegal businesses, improve tax control in markets, optimize freight transport, enhance the country's position in global rankings, and support the development of culture, including cinema and theater. Additionally, the reforms are aimed at improving profitability across various sectors. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The Azerbaijani Parliament has approved in the first reading a draft law proposing changes to several key social insurance laws, Trend reports. This includes the draft law "On Amendments to the Laws "On Social Insurance," "On Health Insurance," and "On Unemployment Insurance." The proposal was discussed at a parliament session held on November 27, and the draft law includes four amendments across three existing laws. The first area of change relates to the regulation of deadlines for reporting on income tax, unemployment insurance, and both medical and social insurance. Another significant amendment concerns the limitation of benefits in the area of social insurance for life insurance policies. Specifically, the draft law proposes to eliminate social insurance benefits for life insurance in the public sector starting in 2025. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday celebrated the opening of a new port that his state-owned shipping company Cosco has built in the Peruvian fishing village of Chancay. The opening of the port marks the dawn of a dangerous new era in which China wields its commercial sea power to reshape the international order to Beijings design. China now dominates the construction, financing, and operation of the worlds commercial maritime logistics infrastructure network. Chinas dominance spans land a sea, including shipbuilding, ship repair, ship-to-shore crane manufacturing and installation, port design and construction, and the construction of road, rail, warehouse, power and technology networks to manage the system. China amplifies its sea power through a shipping consortium the Ocean Alliance whose membership includes shipping lines based in France and Taiwan. Commercial sea power is the foundation of global supremacy. No country has risen to global supremacy without having relative dominance of the worlds commercial maritime domain. Alarmingly, for the U.S. and the West, no country has long held onto global supremacy after losing the top spot in oceanic commerce and logistics. Admiral Raymond Spruance, principal architect of the U.S. island-hopping campaign that won the Pacific Theater in World War II, once wrote that a sound logistic plan is the foundation upon which a war operation should be based. China has such a plan. The U.S. does not. China is conducting economic warfare against the West, using the containerized logistics system an American invention as its weapons platform. The lead actor in Chinas campaign is Cosco. Cosco operates as Beijings version of the Dutch East India Company, called the VOC after its name in Dutch. Chartered by the Dutch state to sail to the East Indies and the South China Sea and make treaties, seize territory, raise its own armed forces and secure the lucrative spice trade, the semiconductor chips of that time. In short, the VOC pioneered state capitalism. Today Cosco spearheads Beijings seaborne expansion of Chinese state capitalism. Cosco began investing in Chancay in 2019 with a relatively modest $225 million outlay for a 60% stake in the port manager, Terminales Portuarios Chancay. Coscos partner, Peruvian mining company Volcan Compania Minera holds the remaining share. Demonstrating that Beijing does not let ideology stand in the way of achieving its strategic goals, Cosco and Volcan signed the deal during the World Economic Forum in Davos. By building a port in Chancay, Cosco did not merely increase trade between Asia and Peru and South America. It connected South America, through Peru, with hard-wired access to the worlds containerized logistics system, the foundation of Chinas global power. Through Cosco and its other port and logistics SOEs, China is surrounding the U.S., methodically occupying logistics sites ever closer to the U.S., using its control of commercial maritime routes to weaken U.S. alliances. U.S. allies in the Pacific already fear China will use its container shipping power to coerce their political allegiance by restricting supplies, banning non-Chinese ships from loading at Chinese or Chinese-controlled terminals, or imposing outright embargos. One Japanese shipping line recently requested a meeting in Washington to discuss U.S. interest in forming a secure commercial shipping alliance with allied democracies to ensure supplies to civilian populations in the event of conflict with China. The concept deserves careful consideration. But the U.S. needs to take four more steps to counter Chinas commercial sea power. No amount of reshoring of manufacturing will reduce U.S. exposure to Beijing as long as China holds sway over the worlds container logistics network. Recognizing that time is short, the U.S. should first re-enter the oceanic shipping sector by buying a container shipping line through a suitable structure. Second, the U.S. should bring ports under unified federal management. Ports are national security assets, yet remain under state and local jurisdiction. Federal direction could also address the growing presence of Cosco and its Ocean Alliance partners in American ports. This could include merging some port authorities to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs, perhaps starting with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, an idea that has some traction. Third, the U.S. should harness private capital for Americas return to the sea by working with Wall Street to create a market for securities designed to attract private sector capital from pension funds to the U.S. led maritime buildup. Many of these funds now invest in diversified infrastructure funds, which can wind up supporting terminals and other assets that benefit China. Should the new administration realize the urgent need for the position, it should appoint a shipping czar to lead Americas return to the sea. The shipping czar will likely find strong support for vigorous U.S. leadership of a commercial sea power revival that doesnt stop at the shores of the U.S. mainland. Time is short. After Xi and Biden meet in Lima, the news cycle will move on. But Cosco will remain, building out the Chinese empires newest frontier. Chancay is Coscos latest conquest. And unless America responds, it wont be the last. Christopher O'Dea is an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he recently completed Ships of State, a book that reveals how Beijing has used its state-owned commercial maritime companies to build a network of economic and political influence that binds dozens of countries to a new Chinese empire. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The state budget of Azerbaijan for next year envisages an allocation of 51.8 million manat ($30.47 million) for the maintenance of the parliament and its staff, the parliament's Chief Administrator Firudin Hajiyev said, commenting on the draft resolution of the parliament about the 2025 expenditure budget, Trend reports. According to him, 76.22 percent of the total amount is allocated for salaries and related contributions. "The offices of parliament members, staff, and administration personnel are equipped with computers and other necessary equipment. In order to effectively organize the work of parliament members, computers installed in the plenary session hall in 2009 were replaced with next-generation tablets, using funds allocated in the 2024 expenditure budget. In addition, the material and technical base of the parliament's fleet has been improved," he added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Infrastructure bond issuances by commercial banks in the current financial year (FY25) are likely to surpass Rs 1 trillion, almost double that of FY24, market participants said. So far this financial year, banks have raised Rs 74,256 crore via infra bonds. In FY24, the total issuances stood at around Rs 51,081 crore. State-owned banks have increasingly tapped the domestic capital market to raise funds through infra bonds to fund credit growth as deposit mobilisation has been a challenge. Banks such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, and Indian Bank have also raised sizable amounts through infra bonds in the current financial year. Infra bonds are particularly appealing to large institutional investors due to their superior credit quality, which align well with the risk profiles of long-term investors. These bonds are often preferred over subordinated instruments such as Tier-2 and Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds, which carry higher risk. Sources said that funds raised through infra bonds is advantageous for banks because it is exempt from regulatory reserve requirements such as statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR). Unlike funds raised through deposits, where banks must maintain 4.5 per cent of the amount as CRR with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and invest approximately 18 per cent in securities to meet SLR obligations, infra bond proceeds can be fully deployed for lending activities. The total amount raised through infrastructure bonds so far this financial year stands at approximately Rs 75,000 crore. This figure is expected to cross Rs 1 trillion by the end of FY25, said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, founder & managing partner, Rockfort Fincap LLP. Banks across India are increasingly turning to infrastructure bonds as a strategic funding tool, capitalising on their cost-effectiveness and regulatory benefits compared to Tier-2 and AT1 bonds, he added. In November, State Bank of India raised Rs 10,000 crore through 15-year infra bonds at a coupon rate of 7.23 per cent, taking the total money raised through these long-tenor papers to Rs 30,000 crore in FY25. Additionally, Bank of India is planning to raise Rs 5,000 crore through the issuance of 10-year infra bonds on Wednesday. The issuance will have a base issue size of Rs 2000 crore, and an additional greenshoe option of Rs 3000 crore. The bank had raised Rs 5,000 crore through 10-year infra bonds in July at a coupon rate of 7.54 per cent. Banks are getting good rates through infra bonds, especially through longer-tenure bonds, because demand is there. Fifteen-year bonds are coming up in the market, and we can expect some more issuances in the tenure in this quarter and next, said a dealer at a state-owned bank. The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon. IMAGE: A protest rally against the Waqf Board's stand on Munambam land, near Kochi. Video grab: Kind courtesy surendranbjp/X For me, Munambam in Kerala was always a fishing harbour. I realised it wasn't that simple when in early October, 2024, during a work-related appointment in Kochi, the person I was speaking to suddenly veered off the subject we were discussing and landed in Munambam. The otherwise pleasant individual, fumed with anger as he highlighted the "nonsense" happening in Munambam, where the popular narrative was that several families could lose their houses because the Waqf Board owned the land their houses stood on. I had heard of the problem. I knew it was a sensitive issue given the Waqf Board dealt with property donated irreversibly to God and the residents faced with potential loss, were mostly Christian. I also knew that in recent times, India's political Right-Wing, generally associated with Hindutva and known for its Islamophobia, had been cozying up to Kerala's Christian church. What took me by surprise that day was the anger displayed; something new for me in Kerala, a state I valued as a refuge for tolerance. Luckily, after a few minutes of fuming over Munambam and heaping curses on a long dead Jawaharlal Nehru, the person before me cooled down. I asked him if he was a member of any right-wing organisation, given the way he vented. He said no. It left me thinking that he was perhaps a consumer of perceptions floating around in the media, social media and the many networks -- physical and virtual -- people subscribe to. I felt sad; for him, for me, for Kerala. It was one of those moments when one doesn't know why but one sinks. IMAGE: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje with a woman who faces eviction in Munambam, Kerala. Photograph: Kind courtesy BJP Keralam/X The problem Through the rest of October, Munambam stayed on simmer mode. With three by-elections due in mid-November in the state (two to the state assembly and one to the Lok Sabha), the Munambam issue, instead of being addressed decisively by the state government, seemed to court political brinkmanship. On November 14, The Indian Express published a detailed article on the making of the Munambam controversy. According to it, the story starts with the Travancore royal family leasing out 404 acres of land already occupied by fisherfolk, to Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait, a trader settled in Mattanchery near Kochi. In 1948, his successor and son-in-law, Mohamed Siddique Sait, having got the leased land registered in his name. decided to hand it over to Kozhikode's Farook College. In November 1950, a waqf deed was registered for the purpose and the management of the college got the title deed for the land around a decade later. In the 1960s, a legal battle erupted between the residents who had been living on the land for years but had no legal documents and the college's management, which sought to evict them. Subsequently, the college management decided to sell the land to the residents in an out of court deal, at market rate. Related documents show that the college management did not mention the land as waqf; instead, they showed it as property received in a gift deed. Following complaints against the state Waqf Board, Kerala's then government instituted the Nissar Commission in 2008. Its terms of reference included fixing responsibility for assets lost and finding avenues for recovery. In Its 2009 report, the commission referred to the earlier mentioned Munambam lands, as waqf. It also said, the college management had approved its sale without the board's consent. As per the Indian Express article, In 2019, the Waqf Board suo motu declared the Munambam property to be waqf and directed the state's revenue department not to accept land tax from the current occupants. In 2022, the state government over-ruled this directive to the revenue department but the Waqf Board challenged it in the high court. The court, for the time being, has stayed the government's decision. As per The Indian Express report, more than a dozen appeals from the contesting sides are pending before the court. In May 2024, The Quint and in August, Business Standard, published articles explaining how waqf works. According to both these pieces, valid underlying ownership is a prerequisite to a property being donated as waqf. IMAGE: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, left, with protestors in Munambam. Photograph: Kind courtesy BJP Keralam/X Indecisive in times of mischief To a layperson tracking Munambam from far and via general news reportage, it would seem that valid underlying ownership (establishing who actually owns the land) is one half of the answers sought. The other half pertains to making sure that people don't get evicted and given they have been residents there for long, establishing what all varieties of land use and services thereof (like paying tax, using land as collateral, ensuring inheritance rights) may be possible. One of my journalist friends insists that the job of government is to do difficult things that others shy away from. By that yardstick, the state government (at the time of writing) was short of decisive in how it responded to the latest edition of Munambam in the limelight. Pushed to speak, it asserted that nobody would lose their houses. There seemed to be no explanation alongside on how every affected resident staying put would be guaranteed ownership of his/her property or how said property ownership would be elevated to a level where the owners may pay tax on it or how the land may be leveraged for all uses land is normally leveraged for. On November 2, 2024, The New Indian Express, quoting V D Satheeshan, leader of the Congress in Kerala, said that the party's declared stand was that the land in question at Munambam was not waqf property. Satheeshan cited the longstanding record of inhabitation at Munambam, the conditions seen in underlying land documents despite claimed waqf ownership and sale of portion of the claimed waqf assets to buttress his argument that the land was not waqf. Satheeshan said that if it wanted, the state could solve the issue quickly. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, appeared to wait, watch and speak; an approach that harked of protecting itself more than those affected by the controversy. It possibly has a context -- the Communist Party of India Marxist enjoys power and sizable presence in Kerala alone. In Bengal, where the party ruled for long, it currently has zero representation in the assembly. As Kerala's politics shifted from two political fronts to three with the entry of the BJP and its subsequent gains, the LDF has of late been both protective of its turf and resorting to tactics that may make it attractive to the BJP's voters. It makes the observer feel that the Left in Kerala worries over what lay in store for it -- will it be secure survival in Kerala or a dose of the Bengal medicine? On the bright side, unlike in Bengal, Kerala hasn't allowed either the LDF or the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) very long tenures in power. Here, governments change. The angle of being in power for too long and prompting the rise of one's enemies in a fashion that almost finishes a party for good, does not seem applicable; at least not yet. IMAGE: Union Minister Suresh Gopi addresses the protestors in Munambam. Photograph: Kind courtesy BJP Keralam/X Meanwhile, the BJP has been exploiting the angle of waqf at Munambam. It suits its brand of Hindutva politics and propagation of the same in Kerala. Further, as the party in power at the Centre, the BJP has been propelling a bill in Parliament that seeks to alter how the Waqf Board functions. Grievances like Munambam's play into that alley. For the BJP, there were gains to be had by fishing in Munambam's troubled waters while it contested the November by-elections in the state and piloted the bill in Parliament. Amidst this, according to media reports, leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML -- it is a partner in the UDF) assured Munambam residents that nobody would lose their property. That was a fine gesture. But without the state's heft to back such assurance, its effectiveness would appear blunted. The reason is simple -- as any observer would think, if these properties are waqf and yet must merit all the avenues of use, land ownership traditionally enjoys, then an official exemption may be required for these lands. For the Waqf Board, anything of this sort could end up being a tricky legal precedent. Or, the matter has to be investigated in depth and if the underlying reality is as the Congress's Satheeshan has said, then further action should be on those lines. Bottomline -- there is a need for clarity and conclusiveness. Indeed, for consumers of news, one of the hurdles already experienced in the Munambam issue is the absence of a singular, reliable, narrative. One must assemble perspective brick by brick, from multiple sources. A November 11, 2024, report in The Wire by K M Seethi, mentions more details regarding the Munambam land. According to this report, in the 1960s when disputes surfaced and tenants questioned Farook College's authority, a case was filed in the subordinate judge's court in Paravur, questioning the waqf status of the land. In 1971, the court ruled in favour of the college confirming the property as waqf and meant for educational purposes. The ruling was further upheld in 1975 by the high court. Despite this, the college management continued to engage in land transactions under the pretext that the land was a gift deed. IMAGE: A protest in Kochi against the Waqf Act. 'Over 600 families residing in Munambam allege that the Waqf Board has claimed their lands and properties.' Photograph: Kind courtesy @AskAnshul/X In 2019, when the Waqf Board registered the land in its name, residents approached the court saying the move infringed on their property rights. 'They argued that the original Waqf deed did not explicitly transfer ownership to the Waqf Board but rather vested rights with the managing committee of the college,' the Wire article said. In 2022, a single bench of the Kerala high court 'briefly allowed' the residents to resume paying property tax. Following an appeal by the Kerala Waqf Protection Forum, this ruling was stayed. The forum argued that continued tax payment may 'complicate the Waqf Board's efforts to reclaim the property.' This article also pointed out another angle. 'Further adding to the precariousness of the situation, in December 2022, the LDF Minister in-charge of Waqf, V Abdurahman responded to a submission by Indian Union Muslim League leader K P A Majeed, affirming the government's stance to reclaim what he asserted as Waqf land. Yet, interestingly, both LDF and IUML leaders have since changed their positions, publicly expressing support for the affected families and questioning the land's Waqf status, a rhetorical somersault likely influenced by the looming bye-elections,' the article said. Avoidable comments Unlike the UDF and LDF, for the BJP, wetting its feet in Munambam's waters, is a case of points scored anyway. Taking up the cause of those fearing loss of property at Munambam endears the party to sections of the electorate. At the same time, just being associated with the controversy is in line with the importance the party attaches to the Waqf Bill in Parliament. On November 10, The Indian Express reported about Suresh Gopi, BJP's MP from Thrissur and currently its trophy politician from Kerala, campaigning in Wayanad, location of one of the by-elections of November: 'Addressing BJP's election campaign in Wayanad, where Priyanka Gandhi was the Congress candidate, Gopi referred to Waqf as 'kiratham (brutality)' that is confined in four English alphabets.' He was referring to the Kerala Waqf Board's claim over 400 acres of land in Munambam, which is currently in the possession of 600-odd families most of them Christian. 'It is not at Munambam alone... This brutality will be suppressed in India... There would be harsh decisions. To uphold the true Constitution, this Bill (Waqf Bill) will be passed in Parliament,' Gopi said, accordig to the Indian Express report. On the same day, Mathrubhumi English reported on its Web site that the Congress had filed police complaints against Gopi and B Gopalakrishnan, state vice president of the BJP, for inflammatory comments made while campaigning in Wayanad. Gopalakrishnan, according to the Mathrubhumi report, allegedly wove Sabarimala, among Kerala's biggest pilgrimages (a storm over the entry of women at Sabarimala was political fuel for the BJP in 2018-2019), into the waqf controversy. The report said: 'Gopalakrishnan's statement allegedly referenced the Sabarimala temple, saying: "I have a doubt. Tomorrow, will they claim that Ayyappa's land also belongs to the Waqf? There's a companion of Ayyappa sitting below the pathinettam padi. If that companion, Vavar, says, 'I have temporarily given this land to the Waqf,' then tomorrow, Sabarimala will belong to the Waqf, and Ayyappa would have to leave. Should we allow this? Pathinettam padi refers to the eighteen steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum. On November 11, in an interview to a YouTube channel, senior journalist M G Radhakrishnan, outlined how the story of Vavar (he was a Muslim) in the context of Sabarimala, actually signified communal harmony and friendship between religions. It must be mentioned here that notwithstanding likely flip-flop, some observers find the IUML's restrained stance on Munambam dignified. IMAGE: A protest in Kochi against the Waqf Act. Photograph: Kind courtesy @AskAnshul/X On November 15, 2024, Mathrubhumi reported on its (English) Web site that an article written by the secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS -- it is the youth wing of the Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama [Samastha], a prominent Muslim community organization), published in the Samastha's publication, Suprabhaatham, had said that waqf land should not be the subject of negotiations between parties with vested interests. Between mileage and advantage On November 12, The New Indian Express reported that the Waqf Board had sent notices to five families in Thavinjal gram panchayat near Mananthawady in Wayanad. The notices were issued after complaints received on October 10 of 4.7 acres in 5.77 acres of waqf land, encroached upon. The families were required to submit relevant documents by November 16. The same report said that the Catholic Church has decided to intensify its demand for implementation of the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. It quoted Father Antony Vadakkekkara, public relations officer of the Syro-Malabar Church: 'Munambam is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Now the dispute at Thavinjal panchayat in Wayanad has come out. According to reports available, Waqf land issues persist in 23 locations across Kerala with Munambam ranking 15th on the list. It is concerning to see individuals who had legally purchased and owned land for many years are now facing potential eviction due to claims made by Waqf, warranting proper amendments to ensure equal justice for all,' he said. Kerala, known for its share of Left politics, was always riddled with religion and politics. Below the surface and sometimes visibly above it, religion not only thrived but in the case of several regional political parties, was also perceived as part of their political fabric. There were people critical of this nexus. Many in Kerala didn't -- and still don't -- like the cocktail of religion and politics. However, the earlier local avatar of politics walking with religion, rarely courted mischief or exploited tinder with the appetite witnessed now. In recent years, the state's electoral battles have transformed from featuring two sides in the main, to three. The earlier equation of the LDF and the UDF having supporters across all communities is now challenged by the BJP's approach (born from its need to muscle in) of its constituency plus others stitched on opportunistically. This is why issues like Munambam need an inclusive and wise solution. One that leaves no time or room for mischief mongers from any party, to exploit the matter further. The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections, is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage. Post script: onmanorama.com reported on November 18 that the top leadership of the Indian Union Muslim League and senior representatives of the Latin Catholic Bishops Council met at the Varapuzha Archdiocese to seek an amicable solution for the Munambam problem. The report quoted P K Kunhalikutty, the IUML's national general secretary: 'We concluded the meeting with a clear intent to end the crisis. We found no major complications in the Munambam issue, only technical challenges that can be addressed at the state government level.' 'After the elections, we plan to approach the government with the ideas formulated during the meeting.' The report quoted Kozhikode Diocese Bishop, Reverend Dr Varghese Chakkalakkal: 'Both IUML leaders and we share optimism that the matter can soon be resolved through government and legal avenues.' 'We appreciate IUML leaders attending the meeting. Maintaining communal harmony is crucial here, as this is not a communal issue but a humanitarian one.' According to the report, IUML state President Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal cautioned that delays in addressing the issue could aggravate the problem. 'The government must take immediate steps to resolve the issue. Legal and technical challenges exist, but a meeting with all affected parties can help address them,' he was quoted as saying in the report. Shyam G Menon is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com 'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.' IMAGE: Can Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar's politics survive the debacle in the Maharashtra assembly election? Photograph: ANI Photo "Politics will focus on local issues and how much local governments can convince their own people." "National issues work in the general elections, but in state elections, the state has its own strategy and people vote as per their requirements and state demands," observe 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. "Voters are sending a message to the central government that dominance of one party will not happen anymore because people will opt for another alternative if you don't perform," Dr Bisws tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in the concluding part of the interview. Part 1 of the Interview: 'Jal Jungle Zameen Trumped Roti Beti Mati' After the Congress' worst ever performance in Maharashtra and being a distant second in Jharkhand there has been a push from the Trinamool Congress with an impressive win in the six by-elections in West Bengal for Mamata Banerjee to head the INDIA group. Is such an idea likely to resonate among the partners of the INDIA bloc? West Bengal politics is very different from the rest of India. The TMC's support comes from Muslims [27%], scheduled castes [24%], scheduled tribes [6%] of the population. The BJP is essentially seen as the party of upper castes and certain OBC castes. Mamata has support in rural West Bengal and the TMC has established dominance in the state. The BJP has no viable face in Bengal. Mamata's polices like Lakshmir Bhandar [Rs 1,000 per month to women from economically weaker sections, 1,200 to SC/STs] has worked. Students in West Bengal are getting scholarships, irrespective of caste from school level right up to university. People have come to expect something from the government, but despite the TMC's big win in the by-elections, Mamata Banerjee can't be the face of the INDIA group. Even though she commands respect within the alliance, she does not have nationwide impact. The Gandhis have an all-India appeal, even in South India, and Rahul Gandhis's yatra helped the Congress perform well in Lok Sabha. Hemant Soren and Mamata Banerjee are good partners of the INDIA group, but cannot be the face of the alliance. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis after a press conference as the Mahayuti is set to form the government in the state, November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo How will the result in Maharashtra play out? Maharashtra politics was very complex since the last assembly election in 2019. The split in the Shiv Sena took place basically for power. Hindutva was the main agenda of the Shiv Sena and the Eknath Shinde group took the Hinutva ideology with it. Uddhav Thackeray failed to convince his followers that his ideology was the same as his father's. He diluted the Sena's Hindutva ideology by aligning with the Congress. The strike rate of the Shiv Sena and NCP in 2024 shows that both Shinde and Ajit Pawar have got legitimacy now. Sharad Pawar is a towering political leader, but age is catching up and his communication with the people is not what it used to be. Impactful leaders from both Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar's parties have shifted to the Shinde and Ajit Pawar groups. Another factor is that the Congress does not have a face in Maharashtra. The survival of these three political parties in the state is a challenge now. The Congress will sustain, but Sharad Pawar's NCP and Uddhav Sena's political future is shaky, because politics is ultimately about capturing power. If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship. The BJP has got 132 seats and only need the support of one political party in the Mahayuti -- the Shiv Sena or NCP. It is to be seen how the BJP will share space and power with its two partners. The Sena and NCP have 98 seats together and it will be challenging to manage this alliance if Shinde is not given chief ministership. IMAGE: Aam Aadmi Party national Convenor Arvind Kejriwal with AAP supporters in New Delhi, November 4, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo What impact will the result of these two state elections have in the national context? Trend shows that people are becoming more conscious about choosing their representatives and women are being given more importance through different policies all over India. The Delhi elections are next and Arvind Kejriwal is making statements that the BJP will stop the schemes started by AAP. Therefore, politics is revolving around who can give more. If you see voting patterns, rural people voted more and women came out in great numbers. Politics will revolve around local issues and how much local governments can convince their own people. National issues work in the general elections, but in state elections, the state has its own strategy and people vote as per their requirements and state demands. Voters are sending a message to the central government that dominance of one party will not happen anymore because people will opt for another alternative if you don't perform. People are becoming more conscious about choosing their representatives. Perform and flourish, there is no other way. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'How can the voting percentage be higher than the actual polled votes?' IMAGE: Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde have a word as the Mahayuti stormed to power in the Maharashtra assembly election, November 23, 2024. All photographs: ANI Photo The Maharashtra assembly election results came as a shock to not just the political parties but to political observers too. "The election results are unbelievable, nothing remotely connected to what we saw or experienced. There is no comparison between the results and what we saw...The verdict has shaken the faith of the people in our system," P C Chacko, working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. You said you were stunned by the Maharashtra assembly election results. Yes, I am stunned. Experienced political people get an overall feel of the trend when they campaign. We have seen so many elections, both Parliament and assembly in our lifetime. From the reaction of the crowd, from the meetings we conduct -- of the opponents also -- we come to a conclusion. In Maharashtra, this time, we got the feeling that people were totally against the government when they came out with a manifesto offering impossible things. You should understand that the entire income of the Maharashtra government will not be sufficient to implement the programmes they have announced in the manifesto. We have nothing against a government doing good for the people. But you announce certain schemes to mislead people when you realise people are not in your favour. So, just to cover up their failures, knowing very well that the schemes are not implementable, they announce them to get votes. IMAGE: Eknath Shinde during a press conference as the Mahayuti is set to form the government in the state. The Opposition parties accused the Election Commission of delaying the election dates so that the Mahayuti government could announce schemes like Laadki Bahin... Exactly. Today, the Election Commission is not an impartial body. We have first-hand experience in this. When there was a split in our party, we went before the Election Commission with the credentials of the party. Contrary to all precedence, the Commission gave the emblem and the name to the breakaway faction. When there is a split in any political party, the first thing any Election Commission does is freeze the emblem. How do you think the Congress has the hand symbol now? When splits happened in the Congress, the symbols changed from charkha to cow and calf to the hand symbol. In our case, when we should have been given the original symbol if it was not frozen, it was given to the breakaway faction. This time also, the Election Commission delayed announcing the dates so that the government could make announcements of the schemes like Laadki Bahin which helped them as more than 50% of the population is women. What they have announced for the womenfolk might have helped them a little bit. On the other side, Sharad Pawar was the most popular and respected leader in Maharashtra and there was a tremendous wave of sympathy for him. I was with him in many constituencies and saw it with my own eyes. In western Maharashtra, there was a Sharad Pawar wave. But the election results are unbelievable, nothing remotely connected to what we saw or experienced. There is no comparison between the results and what we saw. It shows there is something fishy about the election results. Ramesh Chennithala, who oversaw the Congress in Maharashtra, told a press conference in Mumbai that in his 42 years in politics, he had been part of many elections but never saw such disparity between the ground realities and the results. See, we got 8 seats in the Parliament elections a few months ago. Now, in the assembly, we got 10 seats. Is it really possible when one parliamentary constituency is seven assembly constituencies? It meant we had won in 70 assembly constituencies a few months ago. The party should raise the demand for a recount in select constituencies. I hope that will bring out the truth. IMAGE: P C Chacko with Sharad Pawar. Did you expect the people of Maharashtra to bestow the person who betrayed Sharad Pawar with these many seats? It can never happen. People who know Sharad Pawar for half a century in various positions find it difficult to accept the results. The verdict has shaken the faith of the people in our system. The fact is, the Maharashtra election was very important for Narendra Modi and Amit Shah after the Parliament election verdict. Do you feel people are okay with 'washing machine' politics if money is doled out to them through various schemes? People are concerned only about today, and they are not concerned about 'washing machine' politics. Naturally, money will influence a great deal in an election. People will accept any monetary benefit. Nobody will say, we don't want money. Sometimes, people will not accept principled politics. In the last Parliament election, the Mahayuti was struggling and just after a few months, we see a totally different result which is shocking for everyone. Nobody expected this kind of a result. How can you accept that a party that won 8 parliamentary seats got only 10 assembly seats? Some of the assembly seats are our strong constituencies too. Do you think it took time for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi to be a cohesive group because of which you lost precious time and that affected the election results? Yes, there was some delay, but I don't think it affected us. See, we had Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thakheray and the Congress and there is a substantial number of votes and seats these three combinations can get. The question is where are the basic votes of these parties? They just won't go to the other side. That's why we feel that something else happened. How can the voting percentage be higher than the actual polled votes? This shows there is something fishy about the whole thing. Then, there was the influence of money. They cooked up things to alter public opinion. We will have to look into all the aspects. We will also ask the Election Commission to count the VVPAT in some of our strong constituencies. I don't know whether it is fool proof. IMAGE: Eknath Shinde with Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis at a press conference in Mumbai, November 23, 2024. How will the Maharashtra election result change the political landscape of India? Modi knew that if we made it in Maharashtra, his government in Delhi would go as it will not easy for them to manage all the warring coalition partners. If something different had happened in Maharashtra, it would have had its repercussions on the Delhi government. So, they knew this was the most important thing they should harp on, and they did it and they did it excellently well. What will happen to the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi now? All of us will remain together. There are other like-minded parties also. The municipal elections are coming. Sharad Pawar is the tallest leader in the state, and he knows all the tactics needed in an election. It is certain that something wrong has happened this time. But public opinion is the strongest weapon, and every man and woman in the state feels that this would not have been the result if the polls were fair. What do you think will happen to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress? I don't want to comment on the Congress. Yes, I was with the Congress for many years. I left the Congress and joined the NCP. But I will say one thing: The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi should have happened much earlier. In 2019 itself, we should have formed an anti-BJP alliance. It did not happen due to lack of interest in the Congress party. I think the Congress has realised it now. The party should take the initiative to form a non-BJP alliance in every state. The Congress is not realistic when it comes to many crucial situations. But I don't want to put the blame on the Congress also. The Congress is the major political party all over India. They should take a more realistic approach, and they should also show some concession to smaller parties so that they bring all the Opposition parties together. See, even a 1% vote share affects the results to a great extent. But there are very few people in the Congress who can handle coalition politics. Even the senior leaders think that they are the old Congress! What the Congress as a party should have done was they should have taken a more practical approach in knitting up a coalition which they did not do at the right time. So, we suffered, and we gave the field free to the BJP. Now, the Congress should take Maharashtra as a lesson, and take the initiative to form a coalition in all the coming elections. They should be ready for some compromises as the common target is to defeat the BJP. Nothing is more important than that. The Congress getting 5 seats more or 5 seats less is not important. What is more important is whether our coalition can defeat the BJP or not. Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Clyde Crasto on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using Ekanth Shinde to win the elections. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis exchange sweets after Mahayuti registers a landslide win in the Maharashtra assembly election, at Varsha bungalow in Mumbai on November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo "The whole issue of who is going to be the next Maharashtra CM is turning out to be a big question. During the elections, the BJP always said that they were contesting the elections with Eknath Shinde as the face of Mahayuti. Now when the time has come and he has also performed, and it is the time to make him the CM again, the party is talking about the Bihar model not being there and other issues. This clearly means they are using Eknath Shinde," Crasto said. He further said that injustice was being done to Shinde. "This is injustice to Shinde. Are they trying to say that he is not good enough to be the CM or are they trying to say that they did what they wanted to do, used him and now they want their man as the CM? Whatever it is they have got the mandate of the people and they need to respect it. They need to announce the Chief Minister who will lead Maharashtra prosperity," he added. The conundrum over whether Shinde will continue at the helm or whether Devendra Fadnavis, who steered the BJP to stupendous victory, will replace him remains unsolved even three days after the Mahayuti romped home to retain power. The BJP-led Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP (41). Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats. With the term of the outgoing Maharashtra assembly ending on November 26, Shinde met Governor C P Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation on Tuesday. The governor asked Shinde to act as a caretaker chief minister till the new CM is sworn in. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The NorthH2 Project Company GmbH, Deutsche Offshore-Testfield- und Infrastruktur-GmbH & Co. KG, and the Offshore-Windenergie Foundation plan to build an offshore electrolysis demonstrator at the Alpha Ventus wind farm in the German North Sea, Trend reports. The 10 MW offshore electrolysis demonstrator is part of the NORTHSEA Hydrogen project, developed by NorthH2, and aims to test the feasibility of producing hydrogen directly at sea. Using power from Alpha Ventus, the project will employ a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer to split desalinated seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. During low-wind periods, the hydrogen produced will be stored, with options for reconversion under investigation. Once the AquaDuctus pipeline connects the North Sea to the land-based network, the hydrogen will be fed into the grid. This project is expected to provide crucial insights into the potential for offshore electrolyzers to operate commercially, while also offering a platform for industrial partners and researchers to test and optimize systems in real-world conditions. Andreas Wellbrock, Managing Director of NorthH2, emphasized the importance of the project in advancing green hydrogen production offshore, noting its potential to improve efficiency and overcome grid connection challenges. Karina Wurtz, Managing Director of the Offshore-Windenergie Foundation, highlighted the need to address technical and economic hurdles, particularly in the harsh conditions of the North Sea, and welcomed the opportunity to test the technology at Alpha Ventus. A local court in Ajmer on Wednesday directed that notice be issued to three parties in a civil suit which claims that there is a Shiva temple in the dargah of sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, the plaintiff's advocate said. IMAGE: The dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, Rajasthan. Photograph: ANI Photo Advocate Yogesh Siroja told reporters in Ajmer that the suit was heard in the court of Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel. The suit, claiming that there is a Shiva temple in the dargah, was filed in September seeking directions to start the worship in the temple again. He said notices have been issued to Ajmer Dargah Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) office in New Delhi seeking their response. Plaintiff Vishnu Gupta said, "Our demand was that the Ajmer dargah should be declared as Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple and if the dargah has any kind of registration, then it should be cancelled. Its survey should be done through ASI and Hindus should be given the right to worship there." The next hearing is on December 20. The development takes place close on the heels of violence that took place in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh killing four people and injuring many including policemen, when a local court ordered survey of a mosque which petitioners said was built after destroying an old temple. Candidates from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition alliance in Maharashtra have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, following their defeat in the recent assembly polls. IMAGE: An electoral officials shows the EVM to parties representatives at the counting centre in the Colaba assembly in Mumbai on November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The move comes after several losing candidates, including those from the Shiv Sena-UBT, alleged that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) might have been tampered with. Thackeray took stock of the lacklustre performance of his party at a meeting held at his residence in Mumbai. The poll verdict last week saw the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Nationalist Congress Party, retaining power with a massive mandate, pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi to margins. The Mahayuti won 230 seats and the MVA only 46 in the 288-member House. The Thackeray-led Sena-UBT emerged as the largest party in the opposition camp by winning 20 seats, followed by Congress which bagged 16 constituencies, while the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar sits at the bottom with a tally of 10 seats. Talking to PTI on Tuesday, Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan, who lost the election from Chandivali assembly constituency in Mumbai, said he held a discussion with Thackeray, who also said he has got complaints from his party workers that EVMs could have been tampered. "We are getting complaints from different parts of the state expressing doubts over the results. In a democracy, complaints need to be verified and many of us, including myself, (who faced defeat) are in the process of applying for the verification," Khan said. As per the Supreme Court's judgement on April 26 this year, the burnt memory/microcontroller in 5 per cent of the EVMs - the control unit, ballot unit and the VVPAT - per assembly constituency shall be checked and verified by a team of engineers from manufacturers of the EVMs, after the announcement of results, for any tampering or modification, he said. A written request for this has to be made by candidates who are in the second or third position behind the highest polled candidate. Such a request has to be made within seven days of declaration of the result, Khan said. A candidate making the request will have to pay the expenses of Rs 41,000 which will be refunded in case the machine is found to be tampered with, he said. The microcontroller is a one-time programmable chip embedded into the three units of EVM-Ballot Unit, Control Unit and the VVPAT - at the time of manufacturing, as per the SC. A Sena-UBT MLA from Mumbai has claimed there were discrepancies between the votes polled and the votes counted in the EVMs. "Almost all candidates raised doubts over the EVMs," the legislator said. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday headed to the national capital amid intense negotiations within the Mahayuti alliance on who would become the Chief Minister. IMAGE: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Photograph: ANI Photo Fadnavis, seen as a front runner for the chief minister's post, will meet the top party leaders. On being asked about the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis said that the answer would be given soon and a decision was being taken on the same. "The answer to this will be given soon. All senior members of the three parties of Mahayuti are taking a decision on this together," Fadnavis said while speaking to the media. Speaking on the decision for the posts of the other ministers, Fadnavis said that the decisions for the Chief Minister would be taken first after which the rest of the decisions would be taken. Fadnavis also spoke on the mass movement by the oppositions on the Electronic Vending Machines (EVMs) and said that the Supreme Court had already given an answer to the question and further added that the EVM system would continue. The Deputy CM also said that the dirty tricks of the opposition should stop. Senior Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar also emphasised that the alliance would take a deciion soon. "All this will be decided by our senior leaders from Delhi. It is not right for us to say anything about it. For us, everyone is a leader. Eknath Shidhe, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are also our leaders...Eknath Shinde has a relationship with Devendra Fadnavis. Both of them have had a good combination and this relationship will remain in future as well," he said. At least 30 suspects were detained in Bangladesh's Chattogram city for their alleged involvement in the killing of a lawyer and attacking security personnel over the arrest of a prominent Hindu community leader, the police said on Wednesday. IMAGE: Law enforcers charge batons to disperse followers gathered to demand the release of their leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in Chattogram, Bangladesh, November 26, 2024. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, who was in his early 30s, was killed on Tuesday during clashes between security personnel and followers of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote. The violence erupted after Das was denied bail and sent to jail by the Chattogram's sixth metropolitan magistrate court in a sedition case. The police said Islam was critically wounded in the clashes and rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. According to a police spokesman, 30 people were detained in the port city of Chattogram for their alleged involvement in Islam's killing and attacking law enforcement agency personnel. "We are examining their role in the killing of advocate Saiful Islam and attacking personnel of the law enforcement agencies yesterday (Tuesday) during and following the production of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in the court," he said. The spokesperson said the detained individuals would be arrested for trial after initial investigations and more suspects could be arrested if their involvement was found. Chattogram Metropolitan Police's additional commissioner Kazi Mohammad Tarek Aziz said the suspects were detained in joint raids overnight by army and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh troops and police. Interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday 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 said. Das was arrested from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday as he was about to fly to Chattogram to join a rally. After the court denied him bail and ordered his imprisonment on Tuesday, Das' followers started to protest, disrupting the movement of the prison van carrying him. The police and eyewitnesses said at least 37 people, including 10 policemen, were wounded after police and BGB troops used batons and sound grenades to disperse the demonstrators who clashed with the security personnel. Das was also a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which recently expelled him. ISKCON Bangladesh on Tuesday condemned his arrest. 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, which accused them of disrespecting the national flag in the city's Laldighi Maidan during a rally of the Hindu community on Oct 25. Das' lawyers said they would file a case in a higher court, challenging the Chattogram court's order. Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has also protested Das' arrest and demanded his immediate release. Meanwhile, Nahid Islam, an adviser of the interim government, in a Facebook post late Tuesday night said, "The terrorists who killed advocate Saiful Islam in Chattogram will certainly face strict punishment." Nahid Islam, who is also a leader of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement that led to the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime on August 5, said the way a lawyer was hacked to death by Chinmoy Krishna's supporters is unprecedented". "The interim government has sincerely considered the demands of the minority community from the beginning. But Chinmoy Krishna Das was trying to create communal division by making false and provocative statements in various meetings... but the Bangladesh government will ensure maximum punishment through legal process for the Hinduvta terrorists," he wrote. Nahid Islam also criticised the Indian media over its reporting of incidents relating to Das' arrest. Das' arrest has also ignited a diplomatic row between India and Bangladesh. India's ministry of external affairs in a statement on Tuesday noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Das and urged the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh, it said. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities' homes and business establishments, as well as theft, vandalism and desecration of deities and temples in Bangladesh. It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings, the statement said. In response, Dhaka said the MEA statement was contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries on a matter concerning the internal affairs of Bangladesh. The ministry of foreign affairs said the MEA statement did not reflect the harmony that exists among the people of all faiths and the commitment and efforts of the government and the people in this regard. It said with utter dismay and a deep sense of hurt Dhaka noted that the issue of Das was misconstrued by certain quarters since he was arrested on specific charges". The interim government's home affairs adviser retired Lieutenant General Mohammad Jahangir Alam said he suspect that the unrest over Das' arrest was instigated by parties at home and abroad. There could be instigations from both home and abroad. Some parties have been banned. They could also be involved in the instigation, he told reporters on the sidelines of a police function in northeastern Sylhet on Wednesday. The interim government last month banned Bangladesh Chhatra League the student wing of Hasina's Awami League party under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Bangladesh's minority Hindus, which constitute only about 8 percent 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. United States President Joe Biden has announced that Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have accepted a United States-brokered peace deal that is designed to be a "permanent cessation" of hostilities between the two sides. IMAGE: A woman holds up a sign and a hand painted in yellow during a protest to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, on September 5, 2024. Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters As part of the ceasefire, Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from Lebanon over the next 60 days, Biden said in his address to the nation from the White House on Tuesday, shortly after Israel's Security Cabinet approved the accord. According to reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the Security Cabinet the agreement aimed at ending months-long fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah which was ignited by the Gaza conflict and has killed and displaced thousands. Biden said he spoke with Netanyahu and Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati. "I'm pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States' proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. I want to thank President Macron of France for his partnership in reaching this moment," he said. "I've directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon to forge a ceasefire to bring the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close. "Under the deal reached today, effective at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," he said. Biden said what is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again. "Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese Army and the State Security Forces will deploy and take control of their own territory once again. Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt," he said. "Over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities and begin to rebuild their homes, their schools, their farms, their businesses, and their very lives," he added. Describing the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as the deadliest in decades, Biden said lasting security for the people of the two countries cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. "Israel must be bold in turning tactical gains against Iran and its proxies into a coherent strategy that secures Israel's long-term safety and advances a broader peace and prosperity in the region," he said. In New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the ceasefire announcement and hoped that this would put an end to the violence, destruction and suffering the people of Israel and Lebanon have been experiencing. UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert echoed similar sentiments. "This agreement marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), to restore the safety and security that civilians on both sides of the Blue Line deserve," she said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described the accord as a good deal for Israel and the region. It shows that when terrorists are beaten back both militarily and through dogged diplomacy, the likelihood of peace increases, he said. "Hezbollah said they would never give up as long as there was fighting in Gaza, but today's ceasefire agreement should show Hamas they are as isolated as ever. "Now, Hamas must release all the remaining hostages and come to a negotiated ceasefire. Carrying on their failed strategy will lead only to further suffering and SENSELESS bloodshed in Gaza. Hamas must recognise that there's no future without a strong and secure state of Israel," Schumer said. "The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement also provides an enforcement mechanism to help ensure Hezbollah remains weakened and allows displaced Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return to their homes," he said. "I applaud the Biden administration for this agreement and for continuing to work to negotiate a ceasefire and the return of all the hostages in Gaza," he said. Chief of Army staff General Upendra Dwivedi said on Wednesday the force serves as a melting pot and pointed out that members of Kuki and Meitei communities from Manipur operate in the same unit with great harmony. IMAGE: Chief of the Army staff General Upendra Dwivedi (left) calls on Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli, in Kathmandu, November 22, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Notably, Manipur has been rocked by ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities since last year. Delivering a lecture on the topic, Role and Contribution of Indian Army in Securing India's Growth Story, under General BC Joshi Memorial Lecture Series, he talked about Agniveers and said these young individuals are shaped by discipline and knowledge. General Dwivedi said the Army is an apolitical force which draws its human capital from all over the country. At the lecture organised by the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, the Army chief also spoke about the internal security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, and North-east. "In J-K, we have been able to transform the theme of 'terrorism to tourism'. As we dig deeper, in amalgamation of approximately 600-plus princely states, the military played a pivotal role for integration, including Hyderabad and Goa," he said. General Dwivedi asserted that socio-cultural values of the Army are very strong and the force plays a pivotal role as a melting pot. "If one listens to the dialogues in movies based on the valour of the Indian Army -- right from 'Haqeeqat' (1964) to Vicky Kaushal-starrer Uri (2019) -- one will come to know it plays a pivotal role as a melting pot. "We are an apolitical and 'areligious' Army, drawing its human capital from all districts of the nation. Despite that, Hindi serves as a binding language. Siachen Baba at the Siachen base, is one example where all religious gods are under one roof," he told the gathering. Speaking further on the melting pot theme, the Army chief made a reference to strife-torn Manipur. "Being a casteless Army, it enhances the camaraderie and diminishes the fault lines. One payoff of this was recently seen in Manipur where veterans from the warring communities (Kuki and Meitei) took on the mantle to allay fears and restore trust amongst the two ethnic groups." "Today both community members -- that is Kukis and Meiteis -- in the Indian Army and the Assam Rifles, operate in the same unit with great harmony," he said. As far as the Army's role in the conduct of the Olympic Games in 2036, for which India is aggressively bidding, is concerned, the force is looking at 'Mission 2032' (in terms of preparations), General Dwivedi noted. "The Indian Army will play a pivotal role in conducting the Olympics 2036 and for that we will have to prepare adequate manpower and that is why the year 2032 is important," he said. Maharashtra National Democratic Alliance leaders are likely to meet the top Bharatiya Janata Party brass in New Delhi on Thursday, sources said, indicating that the formula of one chief minister and two deputy CMs representing the three major 'Mahayuti' constituents will be followed in the new government in the state. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis address a press conference as the Mahayuti is set to form the government in the state, at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai, November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo While the BJP is tipped to get the chief ministerial post, its two allies -- Shiv Sena Nationalist Congress Party -- are expected to be given the post of two deputies. Shiv Sena leader and outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had earlier in the day all but cleared the decks for a BJP leader to succeed him, with outgoing Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seen as the clear favourite for the top job. Shinde said he will "fully support" the BJP leadership's choice for the next CM, adding that he won't be a hurdle in the process. "I called PM Modi yesterday and also Amit Shah and told them to decide (on who will be the CM post), and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take," Shinde told reporters at his residence in Thane. Shinde may swap his position with Fadnavis while Pawar will continue as one of the two deputy chief ministers, sources said. However, the details of the new government are likely to be given a concrete shape in the meeting of the state's ruling alliance leaders with the BJP's national leadership. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance scripted a landslide win in the state assembly elections by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House. Recovering from its Lok Sabha election losses, the BJP bagged 132 constituencies followed by Sena with 57 seats and the NCP with 41 seats, as they decimated the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, inflicting on the Congress its worst-ever defeat in the state. Parliament proceedings were disrupted repeatedly on Wednesday by Opposition members over the Adani controversy, recent violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and other issues. Photograph: Sansad TV As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, many Opposition members, including from Congress, were on their feet as they sought to raise various issues. Some members from the Congress and Samajwadi Party were in the Well while other Opposition members stood in the aisle and shouted slogans. Speaker Om Birla asked the Opposition members to allow the Question Hour and said they can take up their issues later. Amid the din, one question was taken up. However, the protests continued and the proceedings, which went on for about six minutes, were adjourned till noon. The Opposition members wanted to discuss the Adani controversy and the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. Rajya Sabha proceedings too were briefly adjourned amid opposition protests. Soon after listed papers were tabled in the House, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he has received 18 notices under Rule 267 for suspension of the scheduled business and to take up issues related to the Adani Group, violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal and rising incidents of crime in Delhi. He, however did not accept the notices. This led to protest by opposition members, including from those belonging to the Congress. The Chairman then adjourned the proceedings. The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case. The second survey of Sambhal's Jama Masjid was not conducted in haste but on the orders of the advocate commissioner, the lawyer of the Hindu side claimed on Wednesday. IMAGE: Policemen deployed to monitor law and order situation following the recent stone pelting incident that took place when a survey team arrived to conduct a survey of Shahi Jama Masjid, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, November 27, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo He was responding to the allegation of the mosque's management committee that the second survey of the mosque was not conducted under court orders but solely on the directions of the district magistrate "The decision on the second survey was not done in haste. It was done on order of the advocate commissioner," lawyer Gopal Sharma claimed. Addressing a press conference on Monday, president of the Shahi Jama Masjid management committee Zafar Ali had alleged that the recent survey of the mosque was carried out "unlawfully". Sharma claimed he was also an eyewitness to the incident on Sunday. "I feel that it was pre-planned. At that time, three advocates from the other side, committee members, the head of the mosque and the Imam were also present at the mosque. They also appealed for peace from the mosque. Photography was being done from the top," he said. Sharma said the protesters also threw stones at them but as the mosque was at some height, they could reach there. "The police chased them away many times but they kept throwing bricks and stones at the police. They also fired at the police. Many policemen were hit by pellets. All those people had their faces covered," Sharma claimed. He said now the matter will be heard in the court on November 29 and the advocate commissioner will submit his report in presence of both the sides. On charges that draining water from the ablution tank (wazukhana) led to a confusion among those gathered outside as they believed excavation was taking place and it provoked the crowd, Sharma said it was emptied every week. "Had it not been emptied, how its videography would have been done," he asked. Sharma said till 1978, the Hindu side also used to go there (mosque premises) for worship but after the riots in 1978, the Hindu side stopped going there. He said an ASI board has also been installed here and it is an ASI protected area. "ASI also conducts a survey twice every year. Since it is an ASI protected area, it is not appropriate to offer namaz there," he said. Ali had on Monday blamed the local authorities and the police for the violence in the district's Kot area that claimed four lives. "The culpable officials in this incident are Sambhal's Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vandana Mishra and Circle Officer Anuj Kumar," he had added. Ali also alleged that the SDM insisted on draining water from the ablution tank (wazukhana), even though the district magistrate and superintendent of police suggested measuring the depth with a stick. "Draining the water led to a confusion among those gathered outside, who believed excavation was taking place and it provoked the crowd," he had said. Chaos reigned in Sambhal city's Kot Garvi area on Sunday as people opposing the court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid clashed with police, resulting in the death of four persons. The clashes, which involved gunfire and stone-pelting, also left 20 people injured, including Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ramesh Chandra. Seven FIRs have been filed so far, and 25 individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident. Tensions in Sambhal had been simmering since a local court ordered a survey of the mosque on November 19. The survey team revisited the mosque on Sunday for further investigations. The survey followed a petition in a local court, claiming that the site of the mosque was previously a Harihar temple. Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said he has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will abide by whatever decision the Bharatiya Janata Party takes on naming his successor. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addresses a press conference at his residence in Thane. Photograph: @mieknathshinde/X Shinde's announcement followed vociferous demands by his Shiv Sena party leaders that he continue as CM as the ruling Mahayuti alliance scored a landslide victory under his leadership. Political observers said that with Shinde falling in line, the stage is set for a new government, likely headed by BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, to be sworn in. Addressing a packed press conference at his home in Thane, Shinde (60) said he will fully support BJP leadership's decision to name the next CM, and won't be a hurdle in the process. I called PM Modi and Amit Shah yesterday and told them to decide (on who will be the CM), and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take, Shinde said. Our Shiv Sena will fully support the BJP's decision to name the next Maharashtra CM. There is no speed breaker from our side, Shinde said, showing no trace on his face of having to swallow the bitter pill. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar told reporters that the new CM is likely to be sworn in either on November 30 or December 1. There will be two deputy chief ministers in the new government, he added. Shinde rubbished reports that he was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the ruling Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership. "Nobody is annoyed. We have worked as Mahayuti," he said. Asked if he was dismayed that he was not getting a second term, Shinde said, There is no such thing. You must remember that BJP supported my tenure as CM. There is a meeting in Delhi tomorrow with Amit bhai (Shah) and all related decisions will be taken there, Shinde said, adding the modalities of forming the new government will be finalised in meeting at Delhi. I thank the people and voters of Maharashtra once again for this landslide victory in the recent assembly elections, he said. I am a worker forever; for me, CM is not Chief Minister but Common Man, he said. Shinde thanked PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for supporting him during his two-and-a-half year tenure as chief minister. I am not disappointed. We fight and don't cry, Shinde said, referring to media reports that he was unhappy over being asked to step down despite leading the Mahayuti to a massive poll victory. I worked as the CM not to become popular but for the welfare of people of Maharashtra, Shinde said. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule thanked Shinde for stating that he will abide by the decision of the top BJP leadership on the next chief minister of the state. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur soon after Shinde, at present a caretaker chief minister, made clear his stand, Bawankule slammed the opposition for trying to spread rumours and cast aspersions on Shinde's character. "I want to thank Shinde. He today made clear his stand on the chief minister's post. He has taken an important stand. I am proud of him," the BJP leader said. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed that the BJP's central leadership pressured Shinde to give up his claim on the chief minister's post. Patole said it was suspicious that so much time was being taken to form the next government despite the Mahayuti alliance getting a brute majority. "The BJP's central leadership pressured Shinde to give up his claim on the CM post," he said. Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said Shinde must be confused and bewildered because of the mandate which was not expected. Union minister and RPI (A) leader Ramdas Athawale voiced support for Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister, but stressed that he would abide by the BJP "high command's" decision on the matter. NCP leader Sunil Tatkare said the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, had not decided any formula for the CM's post. There was no confirmation from Mahayuti leaders on reports that Shinde's MP son Shrikant Shinde, could be the deputy chief minister. There is a possibility that Eknath Shinde will agree to be the Deputy CM, sources said. There is also speculation that Shinde wants to be the convener of the Mahayuti government, as the elections were conducted under his leadership. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance scripted a powerful comeback in state assembly elections by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House. Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections losses, the BJP bagged 132 constituencies, highest among all constituents of the Mahayuti. Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP also performed well. Sena won 57 while NCP won 41 seats. Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20 seats. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23. On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde tendered his resignation as CM to Governor C P Radhakrishnan. The Governor requested Shinde to continue as caretaker chief minister until the new government is formed. Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, who was recently anointed as the titular head of the erstwhile Royal family of Mewar, on Wednesday visited Eklingnathji temple and Udaipur City Palace to complete his father's mourning rituals. IMAGE: >Vishvaraj Singh Mewar. Photograph: Courtesy Facebook Vishvaraj Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, visited the temple located on Nathdwara road this afternoon to complete the rituals to end the mourning period that started with his father Mahendra Singh Mewar's death on November 10. Later in the evening, the deadlock over his visit to dhuni (sacred fire) in Udaipur City Palace, ended and five people including Vishvaraj Singh went inside the palace premises with officers and had darshan of the place. Elaborate security arrangements were made at both places. There was a deadlock over Vishvaraj Singh's visit to the city palace since Monday as the property is under control of his uncle Arvind Singh Mewar whose lawyer, through public notices published in newspapers, warned of legal action on trespass. Arvind Singh Mewar, the younger brother of Mahendra Singh Mewar, is the chairman and managing trustee of the trust. The Udaipur City Palace is also under his control. The notice said that Shree Eklingji Trust Udaipur has decided to give entry to the temple on November 25 to only those authorised by the trust. After the notices appeared, policemen were deployed at the entry gate of the palace. Vishvaraj Singh was on Monday anointed titular head of the erstwhile Mewar royal family at a ceremony in Chittorgarh fort following the death of his father. After the coronation ceremony, Vishvaraj Singh along with a large number of people in Udaipur were denied entry to the palace which led to violent clashes in the night. The stalemate between Vishvaraj and Arvind Singh Mewar's family continued yesterday with Vishvaraj and Arvind Singh Mewar's son Lakshyaraj Singh targeting each other without naming. Lakshyaraj Singh told the media last night that endangering the lives of people in the name of ritual was not right. He alleged that some people on government posts were mounting pressure on administration for their vested interest and were trying to forcefully enter his house. Lakshyaraj Singh suggested that if someone wants to seek entry; he should go to the court. However, he said that Eklingnathji temple is open to the public and anyone can go there. A consensus was reached this evening and it was decided that five people will go to dhuni for darshan, collector Arvind Poswal said. After some time, Vishvaraj and others entered the city palace premises. Earlier, Vishvaraj Singh told reporters at his residence that he was happy that he had the darshan of Eklingnathji. At the temple, rituals were performed and the priest gave him a red turban which he replaced with the white turban, symbolising the end of the mourning period. Additional security arrangements were made in the temple to ensure that the visit completes without any trouble. In Udaipur, prohibitory orders under section 163 of BNSS (formerly 144 of CrPC) were imposed in areas around the City Palace to maintain law and order. The parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill is set for an extension till the last day of the next Budget Session following a stormy meet of the panel marked by a brief walkout from its Opposition members before a unanimous decision was taken to seek more time to finalise its report. IMAGE: A view of the new Parliament building, in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo The Opposition members of the committee staged a walkout and slammed Pal, who is the joint parliamentary committee chairperson, for asserting that the panel's draft report was ready. Temperatures cooled down after Pal and the Bharatiya Janata Party members of the committee reached out to them, indicating their willingness to press for an extension of the committee's deadline of November 29 to submit its report to Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha, which had constituted the committee, later listed in its list of business for Thursday a motion to extend the time for the presentation of its report "up to the last day of the Budget Session 2025". Earlier, Pal, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party MP, said after the committee's meeting that its members were unanimous in its view as it has to listen to some other stakeholders, including six states, where there are disputes between the waqf and the state governments. "We feel that there is a need to extend its deadline," Pal told reporters. BJP MP and committee member Aparajita Sarangi said the panel will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend the time for submission of its report to the House upto the last day of the Budget Session of 2025. Pal and another BJP MP Dilip Saikia will move the motion in the Lower House to this effect. The committee is expected to visit a few states to meet different stakeholders. Following the last meeting of the committee on November 21, Pal had said its draft report is ready. He indicated that the committee's consultation with stakeholders is over and its members will now discuss the report and suggest changes, if any, before it is adopted. The opposition members took strong exception to this stand in Wednesday's meeting and soon stormed out. They claimed that Birla had assured them that its tenure will be extended. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "We haven't received the assurance from the committee chairperson that we have received from the Speaker. The Speaker says one thing while the chairperson says another thing. "It seems some big minister is directing the action of chairman," he said. DMK MP A Raja said all the stakeholders have not been heard yet. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen member Asaduddin Owaisi said the committee will not be able to submit its report by November 29 if it follows the due process. Aam Aadmi Party member Sanjay Singh also slammed the committee's proceedings under Pal's leadership, while Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee called it a mockery. However, Pal and other BJP members like Nishikant Dubey and Sarangi reached out to the opposition members. They held an informal sitting outside the meeting's venue to thrash things out before the opposition members agreed to be part of the formal discussion. The committee was constituted on August 8, soon after the contentious bill was introduced in Lok Sabha. Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims. The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency to the functioning of the waqf boards and make them accountable. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday questioned the opposition on what was stopping them from announcing the name of Devendra Fadnavis if the decision was made. IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde offers sweets to NCP leader and state Deputy CM Ajit Pawar while BJP leader and state Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis looks on, Mumbai, November 23, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Speaking to ANI, Chaturvedi said, "If Devendra Fadnavis's name has been finalised, then announce it quickly; what is stopping you? Why are you depriving the people of Maharashtra of the promises made to them, why are you keeping them away and why are you ignoring the steering crisis of Maharashtra? They are so power hungry... its been days since the election came and yet the results have not been announced." Further, she questioned whether EVMs were being used as a medium to tamper with the number of votes pulled and counted to declare the winner. "Whether it is Haryana or Maharashtra, there has been reporting done that there has been a difference between the votes cast and votes counted in 95 seats... There are about 76 votes.. where it is being said that the number of votes counted is less than votes cast. The question is whether EVMs are being used as a medium to tamper with the number of votes pulled and counted to declare the winner. This is a matter of widespread discussion. The Election Commission has a habit of denying it rather than discussing it and resolving the issue... this is a matter of suspicion because it is against our Constitution rules." she added. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also spoke on the issue of the Maharashtra CM and said that the BJP breaks families and parties and ruins them and the same was being done in Maharashtra. "BJP has this habit of breaking families and parties and ruining them wherever they go. The same thing is being done in Maharashtra. They used Shinde to the fullest and now he will not become the CM," Tiwari said, speaking to ANI. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said Devendra Fadnavis should lead the Mahayuti government as "people of Maharashtra want him" to be the next chief minister, and Eknath Shinde can be the deputy CM or join the Modi government. The election results for Maharashtra were announced on November 23 but the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on the chief minister. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 57F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has arrived in Astana, Kazakhstan, on state visit, Trend reports. High-level meetings between the presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia are scheduled. On November 28, under the chairmanship of Tokayev, a session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Security Council will take place, with the participation of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The member countries will discuss issues of regional and international security. Following the meeting, a number of important documents will be signed. 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". Lieutenant Colonel Jahara "Franky" Matisek is an active-duty U.S. Air Force officer, a former command pilot, instructor, and Bronze Star recipient, and a professor in the national security affairs department of the U.S. Naval War College. He has researched and written widely on issues of technology in future warfare, hybrid warfare, and security force assistance. In a conversation with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Matisek talked about the state of the Russian invasion at the 1,000-day mark and whether the United States has really done all it can for Ukraine. He also floated the notion of a huge demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Belarus. And he said Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion in Kursk already called "B.S." on Moscow's threat of a nuclear response to invasion. Matisek's views are his own and do not represent the official position of the U.S. military or the U.S. government. RFE/RL: Roughly 1,000 days into Russia's full-scale invasion, where do we stand in the Ukraine war? How is it looking? Jahara "Franky" Matisek: In some ways, it's looking worse, in other ways, it's looking better. The things I would say are looking better are that you have more European unity on training and equipping Ukrainian forces. I would also contend that the U.S. has actually been quite lackluster in the training of Ukrainians, that we've only trained about 20,000. So any perceptions that the U.S. is doing everything for Ukraine, it just isn't true. I would argue that there is also concern about what the next [U.S. President-elect Donald Trump] administration might be doing in regard to the Ukraine war. And if we must put on our "doomcasting hat" about where this is looking more negative, it is obviously the insertion of North Korean troops into the war. That adds another element. The question becomes: Is this just a limited insertion of 11,000 North Korean troops? But when you start hearing rumors that the North Koreans may end up giving Russia up to 100,000 troops, that's highly concerning because, through the course of the war, Russia seems to be running out of viable manpower to do effective combined-arms maneuvers and have a well-trained and well-equipped army to carry out current operations. So they have to rely on "meat-wave" assaults (operations with large numbers of troops with little regard for individual survival), and the meat-wave assaults work as long as, from a Russian perspective, those people were disposable anyways. You know, it is very telling about how they work: They basically force the Ukrainians to expose their defenses and positions to take care of the meat-wave assault. Meanwhile, the Russian VDV [Airborne Forces], who are obviously comparatively better than most Russian forces, are able to then use precision fire over time to basically slowly pick off Ukrainian defenses. Again, the negative is that the Russian war machine continues to grind on. They are still taking more territories, especially in eastern Ukraine. And there is a big question mark as to whether Moscow has achieved its war aims of undermining Western political support for keeping this war up into the third year, especially as we don't know what the incoming Trump administration is going to do. RFE/RL: With all that in mind, in this theater of war, which act are we watching, and how far are we from the grand finale Matisek: If you're [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Moscow, you obviously want to exploit this sort of lame-duck presidency [of outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden]. So you could argue it's quite good that the Biden administration finally relented on allowing longer-range strikes [by Ukraine] into Russian territory. And the Ukrainians have already launched several ATACMS [ballistic missiles into Russia]. The range of the ATACMS is only about 300 kilometers.... RFE/RL: Isn't it a fallacy to refer to them as long-range? They are distinctly short-range. We're not talking about Tomahawks here. Matisek: Well, for the [U.S.] Army, 300 kilometers is a long-range weapon system. But you're 100 percent right, long-range for the army means something very different from the navy or the air force. I'm an air force pilot, so when I think "long-range," I think I can hit anything on the planet from wherever I am. I like to use the term "anti-strategy" for the narrative that the U.S. basically got cornered into allowing long-range missiles and deep strikes into Russia when it's 300 kilometers. You can drive that in a few hours; that's not long-range if it's a day trip. So the fact that we even allowed ourselves to get into that debate -- self-defeating, self-deterring, loop or spiral or cycle, whatever you want to call it -- is really unfortunate because, again, it gave the narrative to Putin, which he obviously seized upon. He just released a new, updated Russian nuclear doctrine. The two biggest things he did in there were [to assert that] any conventional attack on Belarus is now considered an attack on Russia. And the other thing I found very notable is the inclusion of verbiage -- essentially it's directed at Ukraine -- about a country attacking us with the support of a nuclear power -- so that's potentially the U.S., the French, the Brits -- we consider that also within the realm of a response with nuclear weapons. I think it's "red line" bluffing, because the U.S. and the collective West have been crossing Moscow's red lines for the last three, four years. But it's an attempt to control the narrative and to signal to the West that "Hey, you can't touch this because we've now drawn the line [whereby] your participation in this war, the very act of it, makes you culpable in a potential nuclear war." RFE/RL: In that case, they don't need to wait for another escalation by "the West." By that Russian logic, the United States is already involved and is therefore a potential target for a nuclear strike. So what are they going to do to implement it? The Tavberidze Interviews Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vazha Tavberidze of RFE/RL's Georgian Service has been interviewing diplomats, military experts, and academics who hold a wide spectrum of opinions about the war's course, causes, and effects. To read all of his interviews, click here. Matisek: Well, I don't think it's any change because Russia already had a nuclear doctrine that if their territory is invaded they're allowed to have a nuclear response. Well, the Ukrainians already demonstrated that that was a line of bullshit. So I don't think the Russians are using a nuclear weapon anytime soon. The Russians can talk, they can rattle the saber about this all they want, but in the end, it would actually do more harm to the Russian war machine. It would hurt them even more, it would make them more isolated. The rest of the world is going to judge the actions of Moscow and them using a nuclear weapon when the survival of the Russian state and Russian leadership is not at stake. RFE/RL: If we could return to the second half of the previous question: How close are we to an endgame, provided the current trends continue and assuming no Trump intervention happens? Matisek: I could see this going on another three years. RFE/RL: Looking at the battlefield, is there still a case to be argued in favor of Ukraine winning this on the battlefield, retaking all its territory and driving Russians out, or has that ship sailed? Matisek: If I were to cast this into a campfire metaphor: Imagine a big campfire, and if the campfire is the standard of retaking Luhansk and [the rest of] Donbas and Crimea, the chances of that happening are merely a warm ember, and the fire is mostly out. So it does not look good, given current trends, things that I do believe could change -- that would be the European Union sending an EU-flagged mission into Ukraine and drawing a line in the sand, saying that "Russian forces will not cross these lines because we view this as an invasion of Europe." RFE/RL: How likely is that, given what we've seen from Europe? And curiously enough, one of the peace plans that emerged from President-elect Trump's camp actually includes creating a demilitarized zone and manning it not with U.S. but European troops. So now, without a hint of sarcasm, how realistic is it that Europe says yes to that? Matisek: The idea of the Russian forces eventually making it to Kyiv or farther west over the next three to five years would compel the Europeans to do that, along with the Americans telling the Europeans, "You have to do this." And there is a model for this; it is basically how North Korea and South Korea had to be essentially split up. Is that a best ideal outcome? No, of course the best ideal outcome is all Russian forces leaving the entirety of Ukraine. But we have to go back to being realistic. How much are the Americans and the Canadians and the Europeans willing to fight and die for every centimeter of Ukrainian territory? And that becomes a question of political willpower and domestic politics. I think it's just an easier sell having to lock this in place. And you essentially create a huge DMZ [demilitarized zone], essentially between Ukraine and Belarus, Russia, and the occupied parts of Ukraine. And that would just basically be millions of land mines and Ukrainian defense bases, with probably European Union-flag forces essentially as observers, peacekeepers, and as a part of that sort of deterrent line. It would essentially become just one big trip-wire deterrent, if you will. That would be an ideal outcome for a lot of countries, especially in Europe. It's really depressing and unfortunate, but it's hard to make that case to the average American or average European, that this war is worth actually fighting and dying for. It's worth fighting for, yes, but RFE/RL: Dying for it is a different matter. Matisek: Exactly. RFE/RL: We are talking hypotheticals now, right? If that plan became a reality, somebody would have to man the DMZ, right? It couldn't be only Ukrainians. Matisek: It would have to be a European Union-flag mission. NATO would not want to be charged with that type of mission. RFE/RL: Because of Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty, providing for common defense in the event of an attack on any member]? Matisek: Yes. RFE/RL: Then we enter the very murky territory of who would actually be willing to send troops there. And further, equally murky territory would be what happens if there is any sort of renewed military conflict and those troops get in harm's way? Matisek: So, on the first point, I would argue that most Eastern European countries are willing -- the Baltics would be willing to send forces, and Poland for sure -- and then it becomes kind of murky after that. I would argue the French would probably be willing to do it, and I bet the Germans would also be willing to do it. And I would argue we already kind of know who'd be willing to do this, because a template kind of exists: NATO has the EFP, the Enhanced Forward Presence, in the Baltics already, a sort of trip-wire deterrent force. RFE/RL: But they are very conveniently under the NATO umbrella. These ones wouldn't be. Matisek: Yes, but, for the sake of argument, there is enough overlap between the EU and NATO, they could use an EFP, they could borrow part of the EFP construct. And I would contend that you would probably get a similar mix of forces from the EU in addition to the Canadians and the Brits and even Norwegians, I bet. RFE/RL: Since we are discussing armies and, to an extension, manpower: Which is the more pressing issue for Ukraine at this stage, shortage of equipment or shortage of manpower? Matisek: It's manpower, manpower, manpower. The Europeans and the Americans and the Brits, all these countries that are willing to train Ukrainians, they could train more; it's just a question of whether Ukraine can send more. And get them enough military-aged men and women, as women are also allowed to serve in the Ukrainian Army. So that becomes a huge part. We know it's in Germany's interest not to allow Ukraine to fall either; I think a big report came out just last week about the anticipation that, if Ukraine were to fall or be abandoned, that Europe would expect 10 million to 15 million Ukrainian refugees and that would be way more disruptive economically and politically. So, yeah, it's manpower. The only thing you can do to offset the manpower things is having more and more drones. Because they don't have the manpower, you really see the Ukrainians emphasizing cheap drones that are unjammable, that use AI, and that is a way to overcome the manpower issue. But at a certain point, you still need people on the ground to man the drones. RFE/RL: We have already discussed the ATACMS green light from the United States. Let's circle back to it. What has shifted in the Biden administration's calculations that made them think that now is the time? Matisek: Oh, it's definitely that the administration has been under a lot of pressure because of the insertion [into Russia's Kursk region] of the 11,000 North Korean troops. They've been under a lot of pressure, I think, internally and externally, about letting the North Koreans get involved in this war without any sort of tit-for-tat-type response. The South Koreans are quite upset and angry about this as well. So this had to be a natural response. RFE/RL: The general consensus seems to be that it's coming way too late, but still the question needs to be asked: What's the expected impact? Matisek: Again, the tit-for-tat escalation by the current administration has just been too little too late, constantly. That seems to be a theme -- too little, too late, too much open debating, too much time to give Russia an ability to adjust before these weapons and stuff are used so that you can't exploit them in the moment. I guarantee you, Russians did their best to disperse after that announcement, in terms of massing formations and trying to get things out of stockpiles, just to minimize how much damage can be done by ATACMS. So that's what I find unfortunate about it, that the U.S. is trying to incrementally escalate but do it very openly, and that actually undermines the intent and the purpose. And honestly, this is still a war, so when you do things like this, it makes it feel more like a war of politics and diplomacy than an actual war of militarily defeating Russia and neutering their ability to invade a neighbor ever again. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. 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. Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now. A Warning From The Baltics Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis offered a clear warning for those who say that China is able to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine. Finding Perspective: Speaking to the French international affairs outlet Geopolitique.eu, Landsbergis stamped down the idea. China is waiting for a moment of weakness to step in and offer solutions and I fear that some in Europe would accept this offer because its a cheap alternative to us stepping up, in the same way that you buy a Chinese car because its cheaper. The same goes for their peace proposals. Landsbergis was commenting on a recent interview with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and The New York Times, where Blinken said that one of the reasons that Moscow had not escalated into a nuclear war in Ukraine was because of China. If you follow that line of reasoning, it means that China has become a protector of Europe. That would be the beginning of a new paradigm, Landsbergis said. If we accept that China, which in my view supports Russia and is therefore an adversary of the countries supporting Ukraine, is now the guarantor of nuclear deterrence on our continent, it would be a dangerous mistake and a failure. Why It Matters: Landsbergiss warning comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office and Europe anxiously looks at a very different geopolitical reality. Trumps tariff threats and less traditional approach to Washingtons relationship with Europe is a source of consternation in European capitals and there is talk in some corners about having a more amenable position toward Beijing to balance the Trump administration. On January 14, Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke with European Council President Antonio Costa to begin what many analysts believe will be a charm offensive from Beijing toward the continent. But while Trump may have a rockier relationship with Brussels and various capitals than his predecessor, Beijing is also facing a different playing field than when U.S. President Joe Biden took office. Chinas support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine has strained ties with Europe, and Brussels is taking aim at Chinese companies in some sectors, a trend that looks set to continue. EU High Representative Kaja Kallas has also voiced strong criticism of China, especially for its stance around the war in Ukraine and its long-term repercussions. Landsbergis shared similar sentiments, saying that Ukraine is central to what will happen in the future between China and Taiwan. I mentioned earlier that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has managed to change the nuclear doctrine by getting us to accept, at least for now, that resisting an attack is a form of escalation and therefore a nuclear strike is justified. One can imagine a situation where China imposes a blockade, even a partial one, on Taiwan and they resist and we try to lift it, then China could use the Russian playbook, he said. I dont think we collectively understand how reckless it is. Three more stories from Eurasia 1. The Taliban Courts Chinese Capital My Afghan colleagues at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi and I reported about a new road built by the Taliban in northeast Afghanistan that the hardline group is hoping can better connect the country to neighboring China. The Details: The first section of the road in the Wakhan Corridor was completed a year ago in early 2024, and the Taliban is looking to build out the connections further to one day open up more trade with China. The road link is part of a series of announcements and groundbreaking ceremonies in 2024 -- from oil deals to mining rights -- that the Taliban are hoping will keep moving ahead in the coming year. But the main questions remain over whether the militants can finally calm China's long-standing security concerns. Haiyun Ma, an associate professor at Frostburg University, told me that, despite the lofty deals, Chinese investment is still not flowing in Afghanistan and that there are growing frustrations under the surface between Beijing and the Taliban. Ma says that the announcement in 2024 helps bring prestige and legitimacy to the Taliban as it adapts to governing and that it offers a low-risk, low-commitment way for Beijing to signal long-term intent toward the country. But he adds that China is in no hurry to have a footprint in Afghanistan. China is yet to set up a border crossing in the area where the Wakhan road leads and despite all the resource deals, Beijing has plenty of already developed alternatives elsewhere in the world to help meet its domestic needs. 2. Trump, Greenland, China, And The Arctic Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has once again kicked up a storm by refusing to rule out the use of force to gain control of Greenland. As my colleague Todd Prince writes, Trumps pursuit shines a light on the complicated national-security picture in the Arctic between the United States, China, Russia, and other players. What You Need To Know: While China is not an Arctic nation, it is seeking to be a major player in the region. In recent years, Beijing has sought to buy ports, other infrastructure, and mining rights on Greenland though it has not been successful. Todd writes that the United States suspected China's real interest in those projects was to place dual-use sensors and radars in the Arctic Circle to help control their military satellites and gather intelligence on U.S. space-based operations in the region. 3. U.S. Energy Sanctions Hurt Chinese, Indian Purchases Of Russian Oil Chinese and Indian refiners are looking for new fuel supplies as they adapt to hard-hitting new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil producers and tankers. What It Means: Many of the newly sanctioned tankers brought oil to China and India, and both Bloomberg and Reuters reported that the sanctions have led to a jump in prices and driven Chinese refiners back to sellers of oil that is not restricted. The sanctions were announced on January 10 and they target Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, two of Russia's five largest largest oil producers, as well as 183 vessels transporting Russian oil and oil products to foreign markets. The Biden administration also sanctioned opaque traders of Russian oil, more than 30 Russia-based oil-field service providers, and more than a dozen leading Russian energy officials and executives. The Chinese refiner Yulong Petrochemical has previously bought Russian crude, but, according to industry data, it purchased 4 million barrels of crude from the United Arab Emirates following the sanctions. After the sanctions announcement, Unipec, a subsidiary of Chinas state-owned energy giant Sinopec, booked four large carriers of crude from the Middle East which the data intelligence firm Kpler said could carry a total of up to 2 million barrels. Across The Supercontinent Kyivs China Consultations: Ukraines Foreign Ministry told RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service that 2024 was a year of developing political dialogue in Beijing, pointing to the extensive high-level talks with their counterparts in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi added that Kyiv considers China one of the countries that can and does have influence on the Russian Federation. And we will continue to maintain this contact with the Chinese side. Parting Shots: In a speech at the State Department on January 13 summing up his administrations record, Biden said the United States has widened its lead over competitors like Russia and China. "Our adversaries are weaker than they were when we came into this job four years ago. Let's consider Russia. Putin invaded Ukraine. He thought he'd conquer Kyiv in a matter of days. But the truth is, since that war began, I'm the only one that stood in the center of Kyiv, not him," Biden said, referring to his visit to the embattled nation last year. The China Connection: As Russian forces have intensified their advances in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, they're being helped by a new tool on the battlefield: drones that fly with the use of fiber-optic cables, RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service and I reported. Some Ukrainian experts have said that the drone models used by Russia are very similar to Chinas commercially available Skywalker drone. There are also growing reports in Ukrainian media of high-quantity orders being placed at Chinese factories by Russian companies for large spools of fiber-optic cables. One Thing To Watch Trade between China and Russia reached a record high in 2024, according to official data released on January 13 by Chinas General Administration of Customs. The figures show how Beijing and Moscows efforts to strengthen their relationship are paying off in the face of tough Western economic sanctions on Russia. While the 2024 trade data reached an all-time high, the year-on-year growth rate slowed significantly compared to the 26.3 percent surge seen in 2023. Thats all from me for now. Dont forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have. Until next time, Reid Standish If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every other Wednesday. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Within the framework of COP29, agreements were signed on important projects that will contribute to the green economy in our country, discussions were held on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in climate action and climate digitalization, Trend reports. During the activities hosted by the Ministry of Economy at COP29, significant agreements were executed about projects that advance the green economy. Representatives from the ministries of economy, digital development and transport, and finance, along with companies such as BYD, SARDA Group, and Electrify Azerbaijan, signed a deal to localize the production of electric buses in Azerbaijan. The project aims to establish electric bus manufacturing and localized spare parts, with plans to reach a 40 percent localization rate by 2030. The Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and the Turkish firm Dias Bilisim ve Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a "Deposit Management System" project, which will focus on the collection of plastic and glass containers and the creation of a deposit management system in Azerbaijan. Additionally, AIC and the British company Carbonbit Technologies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the development and commercialization of carbon technologies in Azerbaijan. A separate MOU was signed with Masdar, a company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and bps subsidiary, "Volts" to support the establishment of an energy battery manufacturing facility in Azerbaijan. A charter for the newly established company Ecostar LLC, a joint venture of AIC, SOCAR Downstream, and Technip Energies Italy S.P.A (TEN), was also signed during COP29. Ecostar will conduct preliminary engineering for the "Waste Monetization" project using Alterra's pyrolysis technology to produce pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. The Role of SMEs in Climate Action As part of efforts to unite SMEs in transitioning to a green economy globally, the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) initiated the "Baku Coalition Declaration of SMEs for the Green Climate Transition." All relevant stakeholders in the SME ecosystem were invited to join this declaration. A trilateral cooperation declaration between the International Trade Centre, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service, and KOBIA was also signed. The agreement focuses on promoting collaboration for sustainable and inclusive economic development and aiding SMEs in transitioning to low-carbon resources, as outlined in the UNs Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030. Climate Action and Digitalization The Ministry of Economy, in partnership with the Fourth Industrial Revolution Analysis and Coordination Centre, held discussions on topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on management, reducing environmental harm, sustainable development, and the importance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in addressing climate change. Presentations also covered AI's role in optimizing energy consumption and the application of digital technologies in climate-related fields. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A new investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 26 media partners, including RFE/RL, dug into financial dealings surrounding a key pipeline in Kazakhstan and the oil fields that feed it. The project, Caspian Cabals, and the two-year investigation are based on tens of thousands of pages of confidential e-mails, company presentations, and other oil-industry records, audits, court documents, and regulatory filings, as well as frontline reporting and hundreds of interviews, including with former oil company employees and insiders at Shell, Chevron, and Exxon. At the center is a crucial 1,511-kilometer Caspian pipeline that transports Kazakh oil through Russia to European markets. The investigation documents instances of inflated budgets, rigged bidding for contracts, and payments to subcontractors for work that never happened linked to the pipeline's construction over the years. In Russia, the investigation reported on how Transneft, a state-owned company that is the Russian partner in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that operates the pipeline, sought to wrest greater control and sideline other Western corporations such as Chevron, Exxon, and Eni that are also part of the consortium. ICIJ also looked at how oil companies signed off on lucrative contracts to two firms linked to Timur Kulibaev, the billionaire son-in-law of Kazakhstan's former president, Nursultan Nazarbaev. The investigation also focused on villages near the Kazakh oil fields where people are battling chronic illnesses and grappling with mounting environmental and health problems that local residents and activists say is tied to the sprawling energy projects nearby. Key Findings: Kazakhstan and Kulibaev In Kazakhstan, the investigation centers on the well-connected Kulibaev, who is sometimes called the Oil Prince for his top role in the industry and how he leveraged his influence with international companies and the Kazakh government to turn the country into one of the world's top producers. Kulibaev is one of Central Asia's wealthiest people, with Forbes estimating his fortune at more than $5 billion in 2024, including extravagant properties around the world. In 2011, a $276.5 million contract for two oil pumping stations was awarded to KazStroyService, a company tied to Kulibaev. Over the course of the six-year project, public records show Kulibaev's Singapore-based private equity firm, Steppe Capital, listed KazStroyService among its holdings. The cost of the project awarded to KazStroyService ballooned to $486 million, with little explanation offered for the increase -- and the company completed the work four years behind schedule. Tenizservice, a company partially owned by Kulibaev until 2010, was given a contract to build the offloading facility linked to the pipeline with a price tag of $1.06 billion. Despite enormous regulatory hurdles, the project moved quickly with preliminary work starting within a month. Chevron, Exxon, and two other partners approved a deal that would ultimately pay TenizService $1.5 billion beyond the original cost of the no-bid contract, for a total of $2.5 billion. Kulibaev declined ICIJ's requests for an interview. Kulibaev's U.K. law and communications firm, Schillings, said he is an independently wealthy businessman and investor, with his own business interests and a proven commercial track record. In a 39-page letter to ICIJ's lawyers, Schillings acknowledged Kulibaev had an indirect, minority stake in TenizService until 2010, but had no financial interest in the company when the giant infrastructure contract was awarded two years later. KazStroyService did not respond to repeated requests for comment, nor did the Caspian Pipeline Consortium or Exxon. Chevron did not respond to questions about the KazStroyService contract. Kulibaev's lawyers said he acquired a 50 percent stake in KazStroyService in June 2007 but was not involved in the company's management or contract discussions. They said Kulibaev "was never involved in the management of CPC," adding that neither he nor Steppe Capital played a role in the pumping stations project or CPC's awarding of the pipeline contract to KazStroyService. According to filings seen by ICIJ, the government of Kazakhstan has retained a U.S. lobbying firm since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine for a contract that is now worth nearly $4 million to help keep the pipeline sanction-free. Key Findings: Russia And Transneft Russia's Transneft owns a 31 percent stake in CPC and one of the central takeaways of the Caspian Cabals investigation is how the state-owned company has expanded its control over the pipeline. Scores of multimillion-dollar Chinese-funded development projects dot South and Central Asia. But rising violence is threatening to derail China's investments in the region, which is key to Beijing's global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In Pakistan, militants have killed seven Chinese workers so far this year. In Tajikistan, a Chinese worker was killed this month in the first attack of its kind. The killing of Chinese nationals has highlighted the growing fighting capabilities of extremist groups in the region, which has long been a hotbed of militancy. 'The Chinese Are So Frustrated' Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, which is home to the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an integral part of the BRI. To protect Chinese workers, Islamabad has created a special police force, installed hundreds of checkpoints, and erected numerous barriers around the megaprojects. But the measures have failed to curb the rising number of attacks on Chinese workers in recent years. Experts have put that down largely to Pakistani security and intelligence lapses as well as the increasing capabilities of the Baloch Liberation Army, the largest armed group in the southwestern province of Balochistan. "China believes in safe investments, meaning they do not like conflicts around their projects," said Jalal Bazwan, a researcher at China's Zhejiang University. "The Chinese are so frustrated because of the inability of the Pakistan government to provide security that they will not invest in further projects," he added. Balochistan, an impoverished but energy-rich region, is the site of dozens of Chinese-funded infrastructure, energy, and trade projects. The vast province borders Afghanistan and Iran and is home to Pakistan's Baluch ethnic minority, who accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province's natural wealth. In October, the BLA killed two Chinese citizens in a bombing outside the airport in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. In March, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a bus carrying Chinese workers in northwestern Pakistan, killing five of them. No group claimed responsibility. The fighting capabilities of the BLA, a separatist militant group, have increased in recent years. Estimated to have around 5,000 fighters, the BLA has been boosted by the influx of U.S. weapons to Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. The BLA has also evolved in recent years, adopting tactics used by militant Islamist groups like suicide bombings. The BLA has also boosted its ranks by recruiting women. Besides attacking Chinese nationals, the BLA has also rapidly increased its attacks on Pakistani security forces. "Generous donations, tax and extortion of local projects, and the purchase of modern weapons have helped the BLA carry out more attacks with precision," said Bahot Baloch, a researcher on armed groups in Balochistan. Experts say China is concerned that rising violence in Balochistan could disrupt its projects in Pakistan. In a sign of Beijing's worries, China said on November 19 that it will send troops to Pakistan later this month for their first joint counterterrorism military exercise in five years. Pakistan on November 19 announced plans to launch a new military offensive against militants in Balochistan. "No doubt that the attacks have increased," said Abdullah Khan, managing director of the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies think tank. "However, this will not deter China or make it wind down its projects and leave Pakistan. The billion-dollars investment is too big to pause. China is here to stay." First Known Attack In Tajikistan On November 18, one Chinese national was killed and four injured in a cross-border attack in Tajikistan's south, sources told RFE/RL's Tajik Service. The sources said the attackers crossed from Afghanistan. But it was unclear if they were criminals possibly involved in drug trafficking, a crime that is common in the area, or members of a militant group. The Chinese nationals were reportedly working at a gold mine in the Zarbuzi Gorge. Significantly, the attack marked the first known incident resulting in the death of a Chinese national in Tajikistan, home to major Chinese-funded energy and transport projects. The deadly attack underscored the persistent security concerns along Tajikistan's southern frontier. Dozens of extremist groups are active inside Afghanistan, including the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and Jamaat Ansarullah, which is comprised mainly of Tajik citizens. Edward Lemon, a Central Asia expert at Texas A&M University, says China has long been concerned over the security of its operations in Tajikistan and it has invested significantly in bolstering the Tajik military and law enforcement. "Rather than derailing China's investments in the country, I think this attack will only strengthen China's role in security in the country," he said. "We can expect further military aid, training, and potentially an expanded role for Chinese private security companies operating in the country to protect Chinese investments." ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. Russia and Kazakhstan have signed a protocol to extend and amend the intergovernmental agreement of December 9, 2010, which governs trade and economic cooperation in the supply of oil and petroleum products to Kazakhstan, Trend reports. The agreement was signed during a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Kazakhstan, according to the Kremlins press service. In a joint statement following the talks, the two sides highlighted the stable operation of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), underscoring its vital role in ensuring energy security and regional stability, as well as in strengthening economic ties between the two countries. "The parties expressed interest in further expanding cooperation in the gas sector, including opportunities for transporting gas to third countries," the statement read. Eva Osborne Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has highlighted the need to address challenges in the implementation of cohesion funding and called for a more targeted approach to the Just Transition Fund to better support families impacted by decarbonisation. Mullooly raised the issue to Elisa Ferreira, the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, and fellow MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Addressing the Commissioner, Independent Ireland MEP Mullooly highlighted the administrative burden associated with cohesion funding. "I know the success of cohesion funding, but I also know what the regional authorities say to me about the complexities and the administration and the burden that it places on them," he said. "So there's a clear need to ensure that administrations and beneficiaries can navigate the systems better. It's imperative we cut through the red tape when we can. "We know in my own country of Ireland, the implementation rate currently sits at 5.4 per cent. Member States really have to refocus their attention on cohesion funding to ensure they can reduce these regional disparities." Focusing on the Just Transition Fund, MEP Mullooly acknowledged the progress made but emphasised that it is falling short in directly supporting families who have lost their jobs due to decarbonisation. He called for a more geographically targeted approach, using defined zones to attract new businesses and create employment opportunities in affected areas, similar to initiatives implemented in coal mining regions in Poland. "Im asking if you would be in favour of a more targeted approach. We look at the peat bog land in Ireland. We look at the specific area around that and try and target the families in that area so we can assist them in the future," Gardai in Galway are appealing to members of the public to assist them in identifying the body of a man which was recovered from the water at Claddagh Quay on Sunday, November 17th 2024. The man is estimated to have been aged in his 60s, and 5ft 7 inches in height. He was of a medium build, 78-80kg. He had blue eyes and a full head of red/grey hair. He had a grey full beard, with the moustache part of the beard slightly red. He had black rimmed glasses on his person. The man is believed to have had an Irish accent. He was wearing a grey tweed suit jacket and trousers, a blue/white striped shirt with a flowery print along the seams where the buttons are and inside the collar. He wore size 10 black laced dress shows, Asos brand. Superintendent Paudie OShea of Gaillimh (Galway) Garda Station said: "Extensive enquiries have been carried out but there has been no positive identification of the deceased to date. "I am appealing to owners of guest houses, landlords, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and Airbnbs to check if anybody left their premises and may have left property behind. Anyone with information is asked to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. Irish farmers including three from Roscommon have joined forces for a new book combining scientific research with local knowledge that gives farmers and others practical tips on how to create a more sustainable future, while protecting land and nature. At a time of great challenge and uncertainty for farm families, The Farming For Nature Handbook is a practical guide to protecting and restoring nature. Published by Dingle Publishing, it will be launched tomorrow, November 28th, costs 30 and is available at www.farmingfornature.ie With contributions from more than 50 Irish farmers, the book also shares farmers experiences of how working with nature can help reduce costs and improve incomes. The three Roscommon farmers who make contributions are Andrew Chilton, mixed stock organic farmer and farm advisor, based in Corrigeenroe; Mervyn Auchmuty, an arable farmer from Lecarrow and Arigna beef farmer, Tommy Earley. (See full story in the next edition of the Roscommon Herald) What is PAN 2.0? Do You Need to Change Your PAN Card? All Your Questions Answered PAN 2.0 will provide online PAN authentication & validation services for banks, financial institutions, & government agencies, among others. What is PAN 2.0? Do You Need to Change Your PAN Card? The Indian government has introduced the PAN 2.0 project, aiming to modernize and streamline the Permanent Account Number (PAN) system. This initiative, led by the Income Tax Department (ITD), was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on November 25, 2024. Under PAN 2.0, the existing PAN system will be upgraded to a single, unified platform, consolidating services currently spread across multiple portals. Heres everything you need to know about this new system: Advertisement What Is PAN 2.0? The PAN 2.0 Project is an e-governance initiative designed to re-engineer the processes related to taxpayer registration. Its primary goal is to improve the quality of PAN-related services by adopting advanced technology. The project integrates all processes for PAN and TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number), including allotment, updates, corrections, and validation services. Additionally, PAN 2.0 will provide online PAN authentication and validation services for banks, financial institutions, government agencies, and other entities. Key Features of PAN 2.0 Unified Platform: Advertisement PAN-related services, currently managed on three separate portals (e-Filing Portal, UTIITSL Portal, and Protean e-Gov Portal), will now be hosted on a single, unified platform. The platform will handle all PAN and TAN services, including allotment, updates, Aadhaar-PAN linking, corrections, online PAN validation, and more. Paperless Processes: The system will enable a fully online, paperless process for all services, making it more efficient and user-friendly. Free Updates and Corrections: PAN holders can update or correct their PAN details (name, address, date of birth, mobile number, etc.) free of cost. A digital e-PAN will be sent to the registered email ID. For a physical PAN card, users can request one by paying a50 (for domestic delivery) or a15 plus actual postage charges (for international delivery). Frequently Asked Questions 1. Do I Need to Change My Existing PAN Card under PAN 2.0? No. Existing PAN cardholders are not required to apply for a new PAN under the PAN 2.0 system. Your current PAN card remains valid. Advertisement 2. Can I Update or Correct My PAN Details? Yes. PAN holders can update or correct their PAN details (such as name, address, email, or mobile number) free of cost once the PAN 2.0 project is launched. Until then, minor updates like email or address changes can be done using Aadhaar-based online facilities via these links: For other corrections or updates, users can follow the existing processes online or by visiting physical centers, which may involve a fee. 3. Will I Receive a New PAN Card? No new PAN card will be issued unless you request updates or corrections. The updated details will be reflected in the database, and an e-PAN will be issued. Advertisement Advantages of PAN 2.0 Ease of Access : A single platform for all PAN and TAN-related services. : A single platform for all PAN and TAN-related services. User-Friendly Experience : Simplified processes with complete online support. : Simplified processes with complete online support. Cost-Free Updates : No charges for correcting or updating PAN details. : No charges for correcting or updating PAN details. Enhanced Technology: A modern system for faster processing and improved efficiency. When Will PAN 2.0 Be Available? While the government has announced the project, the exact timeline for its rollout has not yet been confirmed. In the meantime, taxpayers can continue using the existing portals for their PAN-related needs. PAN 2.0 is a step toward making Indias tax system more efficient and accessible, ensuring better services for taxpayers across the country. (For more news apart from What is PAN 2.0? Do You Need to Change Your PAN Card?, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman) ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. The total volume of direct Russian investments in Kazakhstan has reached nearly $25 billion, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced during the 20th Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, Trend reports. "Annual investment inflows have grown significantly, doubling last year to $3 billion. Kazakhstan is now home to 23,000 Russian and joint ventures, which account for nearly half of all foreign-invested enterprises in the country," Tokayev said. He highlighted that cooperation in the fuel and energy sector between Kazakhstan and Russia has reached a new level. "In partnership with Lukoil, weve begun developing the major offshore field 'Kalamkas-Sea Khazar,' with investment in the project exceeding $6 billion. Russian partners are also actively involved in oil and gas chemical projects. In 2022, we launched Central Asias largest polypropylene plant in collaboration with Sibur. With a production capacity of 500,000 tons per year, the facility supplies raw materials to Kazakh processors and exports products to Russia, China, Turkiye, and other countries," Tokayev added. Romania. The Eastern Flank: Spanish F18 Hornet aircraft hunt drones in Romanian skies Spanish F18 Hornet aircraft are hunting drones in the sky of Romania, within NATOs airspace. Photo Bogdan Dinu Lacramioara Simion, 27.11.2024, 14:00 Spanish F18 Hornet aircraft are hunting drones in the sky of Romania, within NATOs airspace. Several times in the last two months, the residents of Constanta County, on the shores of the Black Sea, have received alarm messages from the Ro-Alert system on their phones advising them to take shelter because objects may fall from the sky. What in the last year was happening only on the northern border of the Chilia arm of the Danube Delta, in the direct vicinity of Ukraine, at Ismail or Chilia Veche, is suddenly also happening in a large city in Romania. And the noise of military planes flying over the city at low altitude shows that the hybrid war, the electronic war or simply the war of drones launched by the Russian Federation has also reached Constanta. In the cockpit of the military planes that fly over the city of Constanta, alongside the Romanian F16 aircraft, there are also pilots of the Spanish F18 aircraft from the Guard squadron of the Spanish Air and Space Forces who have been performing reinforced air policing missions here for four months, starting in August. They are stationed at the 57th Air Base Capitan aviator Constantin Cantacuzino from Mihail Kohalniceanu, just a few kilometers north of Constanta and are the first to take off in such cases. After receiving the alpha scramble mission (a real interception mission), the pilots of the three aircraft permanently on alert (in total 8 aircraft are deployed here), run to the aircraft and in a few minutes (15 minutes) take off. Lieutenant-Colonel Rafael Ichaso Franco, commander of the Guard squadron, said: We act on such real interception missions as a rule with two F18 Hornet aircraft and we try to locate and identify the drones with the help of the equipment on board our planes. We also asked the commander of the detachment if it is true that all the real interception missions of late have been caused by drones that have reached our airspace or its proximity: Yes, we can say that, but I must specify that, when we take off, we dont know what the situation is, which aerial targets we are talking about, but in general you are right, recently these aerial targets reported were drones of the Russian Federation. Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Ichaso Franco confirmed. When visiting them at the airfield, the alarm cell was manned by pilots from the 12th Aviation Wing in Torrejon, 24-26-year-olds, jovial and enthusiastic, who, despite their age, fly aircraft worth tens of millions of euros. Major Juan Enrique Lopez, chief of operations within the detachment, said: We had some issues related to drones considering that, in todays real world, drones are a significant threat. But fighting them really remains a challenge, its a challenge to manage to control the situation and keep NATOs airspace safe. Another problem is the visual identification of these relatively small drones, especially when flying an F18 aircraft. Major Lopez also gave us some explanations: They are small aerial targets and due to the material they are made of, the reflection surface is also very small. But we have certain sensors and equipment on our aircraft that can pick up the thermal signature, the source of heat given off by the drones engine, and so we can locate it. The real challenge in locating drones is to visually identify them, especially since they are painted black and launched at night, but we eventually succeed because we have a lot of sensors that are effective even in low light conditions, night vision and infrared missiles, Major Lopez concluded. The mission of the Spanish pilots and F18 aircraft will end here in Romania on November 30. The Russian Federations drones will certainly continue to test the Alliances airspace as part of a hard-to-control hybrid war. (Bogdan Dinu, LS) Romanias vulnerable communities and their problems Forced marriages are not traditional Foto: Petr Ovralov / unsplash.com Eugen Nasta, 27.11.2024, 14:00 Rroma girls and women make some of Romanias most vulnerable and most neglected groups. More often than not, the authorities prejudices and the abuses that are not considered proper abuses by the families, leave those women and girls without protection. Romania still is the EU country with the biggest number of underage mothers. The state institutions do not carry a centralized collection of data regarding forced marriages. No data, no such issue on the agenda. No data, no clear-cut knowledge of the causes of forced marriages. It is the opinion of Mariuca-Oana Constantin, a university lecturer with the National School of Political and Administrative Studies, an opinion voiced as part of the awareness-raising campaign carried by E-Romnja Romanias only NGO dedicated to Rroma girls and women. Carmina is a 10-year-old girl. She graduated from the 4th grade when she was married to a 14-year-old boy as the outcome of a marriage arranged by the parents, Two years later, Carmina gives birth to a child. The authorities took note of that regarding the case, yet the case was eventually dropped, the reasoning for that was something like the victim consented to having sexual relationships, approved of by the parents or the Rroma tradition encourages such relationships. No research on parents was conducted. Carminas story is only one of the five stories presented as part of a campaign running like In the Name of Tradition?. It was launched by E-Romnja, the NGO that seeks to debunk the myth whereby the marriage between children is a matter exclusively concerning the Rroma communities. It is one of those obnoxious prejudices justifying cases of violence against vulnerable persons. How do we know the problem exceeds the Rroma community? Because demographic data on premature deliveries confirm it. It is the idea of Cerasela Banica, State Secretary with the National Council for Combatting Discrimination. Roxana Oprea is E-Romnjas equal opportunities expert. Here is what the answer was, to the question why the issue of forced marriages was of no interest for the institutions. It is very simple and there is glaring evidence for that, I daresay, since there is a lot of racism in institutions. People relate to the phenomenon as a cultural practice specific to the Rroma community alone, yet the reality is different. Something like that, were not the only ones to say it, the E-Romnja Association, there are also other institutions and international bodies saying it. So for this very reason, it never has been a priority for institutions and decision-making bodies. Therefore, since it is not something affecting the entire population, it is viewed as a cultural practice and, because of the bias and the prejudice, you do not intervene. Carminas story, a story we have presented above, is one of the hundreds such stories we will never know. One of the many stories that really happens, as, more often than not, we keep viewing children as being their parents property, not recognizing them as individuals having their own rights and needs. As for the forced marriages, most likely, the biggest mistake of those who want to help (social assistants, teachers, psychologists, NGO staff, judicial professionals and suchlike) is they go and talk with the parents, thinking the problem can and must be solved in the family or in the community. Actually, more often than not, parents are the abusers. Roxana Oprea. We just cannot help considering this normalizing area; the moment you, as an institution, as a school, as the General Social Assistance Direction, the moment you noticed those things happened and you did nothing about it, then what is the signal you give to parents ? That what they do is okay. So you, practically, validate adults abuses on their own children. It is a vicious circle and, if we do not strengthen that kind of approach, whereby we no longer choose to point our finger at the Rroma community alone and lay the blame on the Rroma community, we cannot be in line with the international standards. We will continue to be on the shameful list of the countries allowing child marriage. The Criminal Code has a legislative void on forced marriage, the legislation does not view forced marriage as a self-contained criminal act. In the rare circumstances when such cases are brought to court, they are tried as sexual crimes. E-Romnja has raised another key problem: the use, by the authorities of the phrase consensual union when they refer to the marriage between two persons, of which at least one is younger than 16. Consent for marriage CANNOT be demanded from a minor person, younger than 16, it is stipulated in the Intervention Guide for cases of marriage between children/forced marriages, published at the beginning of the year. It was also Cerasela Banica who explained for Radio Romania International criminal investigation files do not consider this lack of consent but rather they choose placement based on such reasoning as parents agree, they had been living together for long, they have already had sexual relations or it is a habit of the Rroma community. Something like that leaves the victim completely defenseless. Asked how the authorities viewed the campaign, here is how Roxana Oprea answered: The campaign is viewed with interest, but what is the standpoint it is viewed from? From the standpoint whereby Romania is somehow compelled, legally, to eliminate such a practice, being a signatory party of several international conventions on preventing and combatting gender violence. We have Directive no 1385 of the European Parliament and the European Council issued on May 15, 2024, stipulating EU member states had a three-year period of grace, starting with the date the directive came into force, to transpose the regulations into domestic law. Therefore, we somehow have some pressure at European level so Romania may comply with those international standards. There is also the Grevio report, assumed by Romania Government which, similarly, urges the state to take measures and criminalize such a practice. Roxana Oprea also stated the issue was not viewed as one pertaining to the gender violence, and, even though such an issue were viewed as a gender violence issue, whenever violence targets a Rroma woman, is it no longer viewed as belonging to society. I think it is so normalized that, were we to speak about violence as a general phenomenon, it is normalized in all communities. We have reports revealing Romanians are tolerant regarding verbal, sexual violence that rape is justified if the woman looks somehow provocative. There are judicial reasonings compiled by Romanian women and men judges, specifying an 11- or a 12-year-old girl enticed a man or gave her consent for rape. At the pressure of the European Union, Romania has until 2027 to take action against such a phenomenon. Brazil Potash Corp. announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 2 million of its common shares, no par value per share, at a price to the public of $15.00 per share. The company expects gross proceeds to the company from the IPO, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company, to be approximately $30.0 million. In addition, the company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 Common Shares, for a period of 30 days from the date of the final prospectus, to cover over-allotments, if any. The Common Shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE American on November 27, 2024 under the symbol "GRO". The closing of the IPO is expected to occur on November 29, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The company has agreed to issue to the underwriters, upon the closing of the IPO, warrants exercisable for the number of Common Shares equal to 5% of the total number of Common Shares sold in the IPO. Such warrants will be exercisable at an exercise price equal to 130% of the initial public offering price. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The United States and Lithuania have signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of the latter's civil nuclear power program. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and Lithuania's Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys signed the Intergovernmental deal. This agreement marks the first such intergovernmental framework led by the Department of Energy with a specific focus on the deployment of fourth generation small modular reactors and represents a significant element of the United States' advancement of the development of clean, safe, and reliable nuclear power for partners and allies, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a press release. The Agreement will establish a strategic partnership between the United States and Lithuania in the commercial civil nuclear sector, support Lithuania's ambitious objective to reach a net zero energy system by 2050, and reinforce Lithuania's capacity to serve as a regional energy exporter, particularly as all the Baltic states de-link from the Russian electricity grid and connects to Europe's continental grid network. The Agreement will also serve to bolster the U.S. civil nuclear industry. The Agreement envisions the exchange of experts to ensure the promotion of the highest standards of safety and security, the enhancement of physical and security for all civil nuclear facilities in Lithuania, and consultation regarding best practices related to decommissioning and fuel management and workforce development. In their bilateral meeting, U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm highlighted the U.S. nuclear industry's continued interest in providing clean, reliable, and resilient nuclear energy for Lithuania as one key component in strengthening energy security in the region. Lithuania's Minister of Energy Kreivys noted, "Lithuania is particularly interested in the U.S experience in developing next-generation nuclear power technologies which could provide secure, safe and reliable supply of energy to meet the country's growing energy needs and achieve climate-neutrality goals. This agreement between the U.S. and Lithuania will help to make an informed decision on the development of next generation nuclear power in Lithuania." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Long-term supplies of Russian gas to Kazakhstan are being negotiated, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the plenary session of the 20th Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, Trend reports. He noted that cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia in the energy sector has reached a new level. "We have made significant progress in the gas industry. For the first time, we launched the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan. We also signed an agreement with Gazprom for the transit of Russian gas to Kyrgyzstan. We are currently working on long-term gas supplies to Kazakhstan," the president said. Tokayev also highlighted that construction of a polyethylene plant with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year began in September. In addition, a joint project with Tatneft is underway to produce 340,000 tons of butadiene annually. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. Kazakhstan and Russia's partnership in renewable energy is growing rapidly, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the plenary session of the 20th Forum on Interregional Cooperation between the two countries, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trend reports. "With the involvement of Russian partners, projects totaling 370 megawatts of capacity have already been implemented in Kazakhstan. Under the agreements reached, we plan to launch another gigawatt of clean energy generation in the near future," the president said. He also highlighted that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the Joint Action Program for industrial cooperation. "Through this program, 93 joint projects have been completed with total investments of nearly $18.5 billion, resulting in the creation of over 22,000 jobs," Tokayev added. Nociceptors are receptors that detect injurious stimuli and are necessary to convey such information from the periphery to the central nervous system. Crustaceans, such as shore crabs, are widely used in science and aquaculture. Understanding whether they can experience pain is essential for improving their welfare. One key criterion for assessing pain is the presence of nociceptors. In a new study, scientists from the University of Gothenburg, the Universidade do Algarve and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences investigated the existence of nociceptors in shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) by examining the central nervous system response to two types of potentially noxious stimuli, i.e., mechanical and chemical or acetic acid. Their results indicate that 32 areas around the crabs body exhibited putative nociceptive responses that respond to a noxious chemical, with many areas having additional mechanical sensitivity. Recent scientific evidence suggests that decapod crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, prawns, crayfish, and shrimps may be able to experience pain. However, information on the presence of nociceptors, i.e., receptors that detect noxious stimuli, remains limited. While nociceptive or pain-related behaviors have been observed, electrophysiological evidence of nociceptors is needed to identify which types of injurious stimuli may be painful. We need to find less painful ways to kill shellfish if we are to continue eating them, said Dr. Lynne Sneddon, a zoophysiologist at the University of Gothenburg. Because now we have scientific evidence that they both experience and react to pain. In their study, Dr. Sneddon and colleagues investigated the existence of nociceptive responses in various soft tissues across the bodies of shore crabs. This crustacean species was chosen as a model due to its widespread distribution and well-documented physiology. Electrophysiological recordings were conducted on the brain or the circumesophageal ganglion in response to mechanical and noxious stimuli. We could see that the crab has some kind of pain receptors in its soft tissues, because we recorded an increase in brain activity when we applied a potentially painful chemical, a form of vinegar, to the crabs soft tissues, said Eleftherios Kasiouras, a Ph.D. student at the University of Gothenburg. The same happened when we applied external pressure to several of the crabs body parts. It is a given that all animals need some kind of pain system to cope by avoiding danger. I dont think we need to test all species of crustaceans, as they have a similar structure and therefore similar nervous systems. We can assume that shrimps, crayfish and lobsters can also send external signals about painful stimuli to their brain which will process this information. The researchers point out that we need to find more humane ways to handle and even kill crustaceans. At present, it is allowed to cut up a crustacean alive, unlike the mammals we eat. We need more research to find less painful ways to kill shellfish, Dr. Sneddon said. The study was published on October 22, 2024 in the journal Biology. _____ Eleftherios Kasiouras et al. 2024. Putative Nociceptive Responses in a Decapod Crustacean: the Shore Crab (Carcinus maenas). Biology 13 (11): 851; doi: 10.3390/biology13110851 ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. Currently, 49 more Russian investment-backed projects are underway in Kazakhstan, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the plenary session of the 20th Forum on Interregional Cooperation between the two countries, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trend reports. "Currently, 49 more projects are underway, with total investments exceeding $29.5 billion and the potential to create around 20,000 jobs. For example, large-scale mineral fertilizer production projects are being carried out by EuroChem and UralChem in the Zhambyl region," the president said. Moreover, this year, a new tire manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 3.5 million units was launched in Sarani, with the involvement of Tatneft, he added. Also, in partnership with Kamaz, efforts to localize the production of machinery and equipment are also deepening. "In October, a major project for producing cast iron, with an annual capacity of up to 40,000 tons, was launched in Kostanay. Next year, a plant for producing drive axle components is expected to open," Tokayev announced. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Axpo Nordic has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Stegra to supply renewable electricity to Stegras integrated green hydrogen, iron, and steel production facility in Boden, northern Sweden, Trend reports via Axpo. Starting in 2027, Axpo Nordic will deliver 2.25 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity over a three-year period to power Stegras cutting-edge plant, which is currently under construction. The facility aims to be a key player in Sweden's green industrial transformation, producing substantial quantities of green hydrogen, green iron, and green steel to support the decarbonization of heavy industry. Both companies view the agreement as a stepping stone toward a long-term partnership. Axpo Nordic, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Axpo Group, operates in the Nordic and Baltic energy markets with a strong focus on electricity trading, renewable energy solutions, and energy-related services. A pioneer in power purchase agreements in the region, Axpo Nordic signed its first PPA nearly two decades ago and now manages 24 TWh of renewable power from wind and solar annually, along with 3.5 GW of installed renewable capacity. The Boden plant, once operational, is expected to significantly contribute to Swedens ambitious goals for renewable energy and sustainable industrial development. Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Known for its affordable offers and educational projects, Nar continues its regular Fundamentals of Mobile Communication training sessions for telecommunications students, aimed at training communication professionals in Azerbaijan. The latest training was held at Azerbaijan Technological University (ATU) in Ganja city. During the training, students explored the evolution of mobile technologies, GSM network architecture, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G technologies, mobile communication structure, wireless transmission networks, and frequency management. The training, held in an interactive format, involved students discussing the covered topics in groups. The session took place in the Nar Lab, established at Azerbaijan Technological University. It is worth noting that Nar collaborates with Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU) and Azerbaijan Technological University (ATU) to create significant opportunities for students specializing in telecommunications to gain both theoretical and practical knowledge. As part of this collaboration, Nar has established mobile communication labs at both universities, enabling students to work with mobile technologies and gain real-world network experience. For more information about Nars education-focused social projects, visit the official website at nar.az. Nar currently provides high-quality communication services to 2.2 million subscribers. Nar is the leading mobile operator in the country according to the Net Promoter Score for the last 5 years. The mobile operator adheres to a customer-oriented strategy and provides best-in-class service at an affordable price. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. TIME, one of the worlds most-read magazines, highlighted Azerconnect Groups activities in its recent article on Azerbaijan. The article titled Azerconnect Group Connecting Azerbaijan to the World recognizes Azerconnect group as a leading ICT company, shedding light on the strategic partnership signed earlier this year with the worlds telecommunications giant Vodafone. The article notes that the partner agreement will enable Azerconnect Group to accelerate development in crucial areas such as digitisation, security operations centres, network technologies and commercial services. In his interview to the magazine Azerconnect Groups Chief Executive Officer Emil Masimov highlighted the companys sufficient resources and a robust enough infrastructure as enablers for deploying advanced technologies in the country: In the telecommunications and ICT world, the pace of digital acceleration presents a challenge in terms of long-term planning. Flexibility in responding to market changes is instrumental for overcoming the challenges. The article also highlights that Azerconnect Group was named Azerbaijans Best Managed Company by Deloitte, recognized as a Top Employer in Azerbaijan by the Top Employers Institute, and won other international awards for its outstanding initiatives. The content also features the company's sustainability projects, outlining how advanced business models have significantly increased energy efficiency and lowered energy consumption by up to 60%. Discover the article at the link. About Azerconnect Group As a company operating in the dynamically developing ICT and high technologies fields of our country, Azerconnect Group delivers advanced solutions, including Mobile, Internet, and International leased lines provisioning, alongside cutting-edge digital services in FinTech, AdTech, and Media/TV. Azerconnect Group is part of NEQSOL Holding, an international group of companies operating in various countries across the energy, telecommunications, hi-tech, and construction industries. South Dakota Mines student Joshua Marquardt spent three months pushing the boundaries of nanotechnology as an intern at the prestigious Ames National Laboratory in Iowa through the U.S. Department of Energy(DOE)-funded Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program. During the 10-week program, Marquardt collaborated with leading scientists nationwide in the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, exploring groundbreaking nanomaterials with promising applications in photonics. Marquardt focused on creating a process to make nanoparticles and studied how they react to light when placed in specific patterns. His project used gold nanoparticles to understand how the distance between them affects lighta discovery that could be important for future optical technology. "It was fun meeting so many different people with such a variety of research interests within the same field," he said. The lab was very large, with a lot of different tools available for use." Marquardt worked with advanced electron microscopes, which were essential for imaging nanoparticles he made, which were as small as 50 nanometers in size. The images allowed him to confirm the success of various stages of his synthesis process. Beyond the lab, Marquardt learned vital skills in scientific communication. He was mentored in poster presentation techniques and received guidance on composing a research paper summarizing his findings, providing him with a holistic introduction to both the technical and communicative demands of professional research. This summer internship provides excellent opportunities for aspiring future scientists and engineers, said Shan Zhou, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Nanoscience and Biomedical Engineering. "Students like Joshua, who dedicate themselves to hands-on research, are vital to the future of nanoscience and engineering," he said. "Internships like these benefit the students and also advance our mission of driving science and technology forward by fostering valuable collaborations with national laboratories." Marquardt is excited to use what he learned at Ames National Laboratory to further his research on nanoparticles with Zhou under a recently awarded DOE EPSCoR Lab Partnership grant. "I loved my internship and would encourage others to apply," he said. It equipped me with the skills, experience and connections that are invaluable in my pursuit of a career in nanotechnology. Johnny Anderson, Program Director of Ministry with Community, speaking at a Housing Matters forum, Nov. 13. Second Wave File Local shelters report the number of umhoused they are seeing are up significantly this year. Pastor John Simpson, Chief Operating Officer at Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries. Local shelters report the number of umhoused they are seeing are up significantly this year. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Russia Vladimir Putin adopted a joint statement on deepening strategic partnership, Trend reports. The document was inked as part of Vladimir Putin's visit to Astana. Furthermore, the members of the delegations of the two countries exchanged several documents. As such, the sides have agreed on a program for interregional and border cooperation between the governments of Kazakhstan and Russia for the period 2024-2028. The two countries also signed an action plan for the implementation of this program, outlining specific measures and initiatives for the coming years. In addition, the governments of Kazakhstan and Russia agreed on cooperation in the development of railway transport, infrastructure, highways, and border crossing points. Another significant agreement addresses the reconstruction, major repairs, and maintenance of the road bridge over the Talyovaya River between the Syrym (Kazakhstan) and Mashtakovo (Russia) border crossing points. Both sides also signed agreements aimed at improving cooperation in other key areas. These include the mutual recognition of sea vessel crew member diplomas, healthcare, tourism, and the use of global numbering systems. Furthermore, the governments have agreed on the establishment of the Kostanay branch of Chelyabinsk State University, which will strengthen educational and cultural ties between the two nations. In addition, the members of the delegations, in the presence of the presidents, exchanged the following documents: London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Wednesday following a positive close on Wall Street, where the S&P hit a fresh record high, and as investors mulled the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 10 points higher. Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "It should be quiet for the rest of the week as the US celebrates Thanksgiving, and we could see volumes dwindle, with little direction in markets. "Tuesdays FOMC minutes have triggered a mild response in the Fed Fund Futures market, there is now a 66% chance of a rate cut next month. The minutes suggest that the Fed are treading a cautious path on rate cuts, but if the economy continues to move in line with their expectations, then it would be appropriate to cut rates gradually. The BOE and the Fed seem to be singing from the same song book when it comes to gradual rate cuts." In corporate news, low-cost airline easyJet reported a surge in full-year profit and boosted its dividend on strong summer demand and a narrowing of winter losses. The company posted a 34% rise in pre-tax profit to 610m. The dividend was lifted to 12.1p a share from 4.5p. Elsewhere, GSKs liquid meningitis vaccine Menveo has been approved by EU regulators, paving the way for a simpler vaccination process against invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Using a single-vial, fully liquid vaccine means reconstitution isnt needed before use, which should simplify immunisation and support vaccine uptake, according to Philip Dormitzer, head of global vaccines R&D at GSK. Telecommunications giant BT Group revealed on Wednesday that Marc Allera will step down as chief executive of its consumer division. BT stated Claire Gillies will take over as CEO-designate on 10 December, kicking off an orderly transition process with Allera, who will leave the group after nine years on 31 March 2025. Group chief executive Allison Kirkby said: "Marc has been an outstanding leader of BT's Consumer unit, contributing significantly to the company's growth, and to multiple key initiatives such as leading the team through the integration of EE into BT Group, the creation of the BT Sport joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery, and launching New EE as our lead consumer brand. "I'm delighted to welcome Claire to BT. She brings a wealth of international telecoms experience and has a track record of driving growth in both consumer focused and retail businesses. She will be a brilliant addition to our team as we continue to grow BT's Consumer division, and EE into the UK's leading consumer brand for converged connectivity." As of 1055 GMT, BT shares were up 1.79% at 158.95p. Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com Standard Chartered said on Wednesday that it is exploring the potential sale of its wealth & retail banking (WRB) businesses in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia. This is the first in a small number of potential business exits "to fund incremental investment" in the wealth management business, it said. The bank said this aligns with the refreshed strategic priorities shared in its third-quarter results, which are aimed at accelerating income growth and returns. Chief executive Bill Winters said: "We continually assess the efficacy of our global business model and regularly take action to concentrate resources where we have the most distinctive client proposition. "We have invested heavily in recent years in Africa, where we have operated for 170 years, and which remains core to our global network. We have more-than doubled wealth assets under management in sub-Saharan Africa since 2021 - driven by our hubs in Kenya and Nigeria - and we are confident that the greater concentration resulting from the proposed sales will help us to continue to outperform the market." The bank said there will be no material financial impact from the proposed exits and that they should be considered as included in the guidance provided in the Q3 results. Photo: Press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 27. Kyrgyzstan has strong potential to intensify cooperation with Germany, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov said during talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an expanded-format meeting, Trend reports. The president emphasized that Kyrgyzstan's collaboration with Germany spans a wide range of areas, from sustainable political dialogue to joint projects in the economy, healthcare, and vocational education. Zhaparov highlighted the significant projects Kyrgyzstan is implementing with German assistance and reaffirmed Kyrgyzstan's commitment to supporting Germany's efforts to strengthen bilateral relations. He also highlighted the Kyrgyz government's legislative measures to strengthen investor protection and enhance the country's investment climate, highlighting the promising potential for expanding trade, economic, and investment ties. Moreover, Zhaparov raised the issue of Kyrgyzstan's state debt conversion with Germany and highlighted the country's ongoing large-scale energy and infrastructure projects. He also noted the active development of various sectors, including industry, agriculture, tourism, and more. During the discussions, Zhaparov emphasized the growing importance of climate change cooperation, citing the melting of glaciers and the associated threats. He reiterated his initiative to establish a Regional Center for Energy-Efficient Technologies in Bishkek in partnership with Germany. Chancellor Scholz, for his part, reaffirmed Germany's strong commitment to its partnership with Kyrgyzstan, expressing confidence that cooperation between the two countries will continue to develop. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BEML Ltd and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) have partnered to enhance the marine technology capabilities of India. The partnership is to cut reliance on imported technology and encourage indigenous innovation in the defence sector. The Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) signed at BEML's Delhi office was attended by key officials of both companies, including BEML CMD Shantanu Roy and MDL Director Sanjeev Singhal. This will bring together the engineering expertise from BEML and the knowledge of shipbuilding from MDL to drive advancements in the defence and maritime sectors. The partnership will be working towards the development of indigenous technologies for critical defence applications with less import dependency. MDL will make use of BEML's manufacturing capabilities to enhance local production and innovation. This is a part of India's vision for self-reliance and strengthening the maritime capabilities of the nation. The Role of DevOps in Driving Digital Transformation in 2024: Insights from Kiran Kumar Kakkireni In an era where digital transformation is no longer a choice but a necessity, businesses are looking for strategies to remain competitive and agile. At the heart of this transformation lies DevOps, a methodology that bridges the gap between development and operations to accelerate innovation and improve efficiency. Kiran Kumar Kakkireni, a seasoned DevOps and cloud engineer with over 12 years of experience, CTO - Equinox IT Solutions is a leading voice on how DevOps is reshaping the digital landscape in 2024. With expertise in automation, cloud architecture, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, Kiran has been at the forefront of implementing DevOps practices for enterprises worldwide. In a recent interview, he shared insights into how DevOps is driving digital transformation and why businesses should embrace it to thrive in the modern economy. The Evolution of DevOps in 2024 According to Kiran, DevOps has evolved beyond a methodology into a cultural movement that emphasizes collaboration, agility, and automation. In 2024, DevOps is not just about faster deploymentsits about creating a mindset where teams work together to deliver value continuously, he explains. This evolution is fueled by advancements in tools and technologies, including Kubernetes, Docker, and AI-driven automation platforms. The ability to integrate these tools seamlessly into workflows is what sets successful organizations apart, Kiran adds. Key Contributions of DevOps to Digital Transformation 1. Accelerating Innovation DevOps enables businesses to shorten development cycles, allowing them to bring products and services to market faster. Kiran notes, In todays fast-paced economy, the ability to innovate quickly is a game-changer. DevOps provides the framework for rapid experimentation and iteration. 2.Enhancing Agility By breaking down silos between development and operations teams, DevOps fosters a culture of agility. Organizations can respond to market changes and customer needs in real-time, says Kiran. This agility is critical for staying competitive. 3. Ensuring Reliability and Quality Through automated testing and continuous monitoring, DevOps minimizes errors and ensures high-quality deployments. Its not just about moving fast; its about moving fast without breaking things, Kiran emphasizes. 4. Optimizing Costs Automation and efficient resource utilization are core to DevOps practices, helping businesses reduce operational costs. From scaling applications to optimizing cloud spend, DevOps delivers significant cost savings, he explains. The Role of Automation and AI in DevOps Kiran highlights the increasing role of automation and AI in shaping DevOps practices in 2024. Tools like Jenkins, Ansible, and Terraform are streamlining CI/CD pipelines, while AI-powered solutions are improving predictive maintenance and incident response. AI is enabling proactive problem-solving, Kiran explains. Instead of reacting to issues, teams can predict and prevent them, ensuring uptime and reliability. Challenges and How to Overcome Them While the benefits of DevOps are clear, Kiran acknowledges that its implementation comes with challenges, including resistance to change and skill gaps. Transformation requires buy-in at all levels of the organization, he says. Investing in training and fostering a collaborative culture are critical to overcoming these hurdles. He also stresses the importance of choosing the right tools and practices for specific business needs. DevOps is not one-size-fits-all. It must be tailored to the organizations goals and workflows, he advises. Success Stories Kirans DevOps expertise has been instrumental in driving digital transformation for several high-profile organizations. In one instance, he helped a healthcare provider implement CI/CD pipelines, reducing software release times by 50% while improving application reliability. In another project, he streamlined cloud operations for a global retailer, enabling them to scale their e-commerce platform during peak seasons seamlessly. These success stories demonstrate the power of DevOps in transforming businesses, Kiran remarks. Its about enabling organizations to do more with less and achieve their digital goals. Looking Ahead As digital transformation continues to shape industries, Kiran predicts that DevOps will remain a cornerstone of this evolution. The future of DevOps lies in its integration with emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, and edge computing, he says. Businesses that embrace these advancements will be well-positioned to lead in the digital age. Kiran encourages organizations to adopt a DevOps-first mindset, emphasizing the need for collaboration, automation, and continuous improvement. The journey to digital transformation begins with DevOps, he concludes. About Kiran Kumar Kakkireni Kiran Kumar Kakkireni is a DevOps and cloud engineer based in Dallas, Texas, with expertise in automation, cloud architecture, and CI/CD pipelines. With over 12 years of experience, he has helped global organizations accelerate digital transformation through innovative DevOps practices. Kiran is recognized as a thought leader in the field, known for his ability to align technical solutions with business goals. NEW YORK In an angry outburst in a New York courtroom, Rudy Giuliani accused a judge Tuesday of making wrong assumptions about him as he tries to comply with an order requiring him to turn over most of his assets to two election poll workers who won a libel case against him. U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman responded by saying hes not going to let the former New York City mayor and onetime presidential candidate blurt things out anymore in court unless hes a sworn witness. The interruption to an otherwise routine pretrial hearing in Manhattan came as the judge questioned Giulianis lawyer about why Giuliani has not yet provided the title to a car he has relinquished in his effort to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment won by two former Georgia election workers. Your client was the U.S. attorney for this district, the judge said, referring to Giulianis years in the 1980s as the head of the federal prosecutors office in the Southern District of New York, as he suggested it was hard to believe that Giuliani was incapable of getting a duplicate title to the car. Giuliani learned forward and began speaking into a microphone, telling the judge he had applied for a duplicate copy of the cars title but that it had not yet arrived. The implication Ive been not diligent about it is totally incorrect, Giuliani said in a scolding tone. The implication you make is against me and every implication against me is wrong. Giuliani went on: Im not impoverished. Everything I have is tied up. I dont have a car. I dont have a credit card. I dont have cash. I cant get to bank accounts that truly would be mine because they have put ... stop orders on, for example, my Social Security account, which they have no right to do. Liman responded by warning defense lawyers that the next time Giuliani interrupts a hearing, hes not going to be permitted to speak and the court will take action. The judge said Giuliani could either choose to represent himself or let lawyers do so, but you cant have hybrid representation. If Giuliani wants to speak in court again, he can be put on the witness stand and be sworn as a witness, Liman added. The exchange came at a hearing in which the judge refused to delay a Jan. 16 trial over the disposition of Giulianis Florida residence and World Series rings. Those are two sets of assets that Giuliani is trying to shield from confiscation as part of Limans order to turn over many prized possessions to the poll workers. Earlier in the proceeding, defense attorney Joseph M. Cammarata asked Liman to delay the trial, which will be heard without a jury, for a month because of Giulianis involvement in inauguration planning for President-elect Donald Trump. My client regularly consults and deals directly with President-elect Trump on issues that are taking place as the incoming administration is afoot as well as (the) inauguration, Cammarata said. My client wants to exercise his political right to be there. The judge turned down the request, saying Giulianis social calendar was not a reason to postpone the trial. Giuliani, who once served as Trumps personal attorney, was found liable last year for defaming two Georgia poll workers by falsely accusing them of tampering with ballots during the 2020 presidential election. The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani falsely claimed they sneaked in ballots in suitcases, counted ballots multiple times and tampered with voting machines. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Thanksgiving Day is just about here, and along with enjoying the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, millions will make room for another holiday tradition the 2024 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will step off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday on West 77th Street and Central Park West in New York City. For the hearty among us 3.5 million to be exact the parade is an in-person event, rain or shine. And the throngs of enthusiasts will line up along the 2.5-mile Manhattan route beginning in the early hours of Thursday, Nov. 28. But for more than 30 million others, the parades high-flying balloons, costumes, floats, celebrities and marching bands are more of a cozy sofa event, best viewed from the comfort of home. Audiences nationwide can watch only on the official telecast on NBC and simulcast on Peacock, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones, and during an encore telecast at 2 p.m. Today Show personalities Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker will return as hosts of the Emmy Award winning celebration. A Spanish language simulcast on Telemundo will be hosted by the networks Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza. To create a more inclusive experience for blind and visually impaired viewers, NBCUniversal will present the full NBC broadcast with live audio description on the Secondary Audio Program channel, provided by Descriptive Video Works. The broadcast will be available with additional audio narration describing the rich visuals of the parade. For more information, visit macys.com/parade or check out @macys on various social platforms and follow #MacysParade. Throughout this years broadcast, in-person viewers and parade fans at home will be dazzled by show-stopping performances from Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winner Jennifer Hudson, host of The Jennifer Hudson Show; global pop icon and Grammy winner Kylie Minogue, and Tony, Grammy, and Emmy winner Billy Porter. Here, the Ronald McDonald float by McDonald's appears during 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Nov. 23, 2023. (Courtesy of Macy's)Getty Images for Macy's, Inc. In its 98th year, the parade will feature 39 colorful inflatables and 22 floats, 11 marching bands, 28 clown crews, 24 performers and 4,500 costumes. And, for the first time, it will include a new Bronx Zoo wildlife float. More than 5,000 volunteers will help the parade go, and it will feature 17 character balloons, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 10 performance groups and musics biggest stars, who will all welcome Santa Claus and the 2024 holiday season. Best public viewing sites Those bundling up to watch and cheer in person traditionally arrive starting at 6 a.m. on the west side of Central Park West, from West 75th to West 61st streets. Public viewing will be available along designated portions of the route, which will wind its way down to Macys iconic Herald Square flagship store and is managed by the NYPD. Spectators should avoid bringing large bags, umbrellas, backpacks and strollers. Public entering viewing streets may be subject to a security search. Once the marching begins, the parade will turn onto Columbus Circle, but there is no public viewing there. From Columbus Circle, the parade will head south on Sixth Avenue, where there is great viewing from West 59th Street all the way down to West 38th Street. Spectators are urged to avoid trying to view the parade on Sixth Avenue, between West 34th Street and West 38th streets, and on West 34th Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, because national television broadcasting crews will limit viewing there. The parade will then make its final turn, stopping in front of Macys Herald Square, where there is no public viewing. WINDHAM, N.Y. A pilot and a rescue dog he was transporting to an animal shelter were killed when a small plane crashed in the snowy woods of the Catskill Mountains, though two other dogs were later found to have survived, authorities said. Seuk Kim, 49, was flying from Maryland to Albany, New York, when the plane crashed Sunday evening in a remote area of Windham, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Albany, officials said. A preliminary investigation indicates the pilot died from the impact, Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said. The flight was carrying three dogs and was associated with a not-for-profit group that transports rescue animals with help from volunteer pilots, the sheriff said. Two dogs survived the crash: A Labrador-mix puppy that suffered broken bones, and another dog that had only minor injuries. It was pretty scared and it was dug down into the snow, Kusminsky said of the puppy with broken bones. That dog, named Whiskey, was taken to a veterinary hospital in Middletown, Connecticut, according to the nonprofit Kim was delivering the dogs to, the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley. The other dog found safe was an 18-month-old yorkie terrier mix named Pluto. Tributes to Kim, who was from Springfield, Virginia, poured into an online memorial Monday, with fellow dog rescuers thanking him for flying flights and coordinating pilots across the country. Over the years, Seuk helped to save the lives of hundreds of animals who would have otherwise been euthanized due to overcrowding at animal shelters, Maggie Pryor, director of the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley, said in a statement. Cathy West, who operates the Kuddles & Kisses K9 Rescue in Baltimore, Maryland, said she last saw Kim in October at a nearby airport as he handed over to her a dog that had only days before been on a list to be euthanized at an overcrowded shelter in Tennessee. He was bringing me a momma dog and five puppies, West said. He was so involved in trying to get the word out to volunteer, to other pilots. That this is a good thing to save these dogs so that they dont die in shelters. A statement from Kims family said he was originally from South Korea and came to this country with little but a dream, and through hard work and perseverance, he built a life of meaning and generosity. He was a kind, selfless individual who always went out of his way to help others, no matter the circumstances, the statement said. His legacy will live on in the countless lives he touched, both human and animal, it added. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash. Visibility was poor on Sunday and Kim sought permission to change his altitude due to turbulence before the crash, Kusminsky said. The plane crashed in woods a couple of miles from the nearest road. Rescuers located the wreckage before midnight in woods covered by about a foot of snow, according to the sheriff. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In honor of those who have died, here is a compilation of obituaries posted on SILive. Viewing times and guest books can be seen here. Andrew Rivas Robertson, 47, passed away on June 23, 2024 in Brooklyn, N.Y. after a long illness. Born on May 3, 1977, Andrew was a former resident of West Brighton who received his early education at Sacred Heart School before attending Moore Catholic High School. He went on to study American Sign Language at the University of Vermont and Hillsborough Community College in Florida, where he was a longtime resident. Andrew also earned a degree from The College of Staten Island and dedicated many years professionally to Ibex Corporation, managing overseas cargo shipping operations. Beyond his career, Andrew enjoyed playing guitar, home improvement projects, gaming with his son Connor, and honoring his Scottish heritage as a proud first-generation American on his fathers side. He will be remembered for his slapstick humor and genuine delight in family time. Read the full obituary on SILive. Generative AI was used to produce an initial draft of this story based on data from Legacy.com. It was reviewed and edited by Staten Island Live staff. New York City public and Catholic school students will be able to enjoy an extended holiday weekend, as they have time off from classes on Thursday and Friday. Students will be off from school on Thursday, Nov. 28, through Friday, Nov. 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving Day is on Thursday, with schools closed the following day. Both public and Catholic school students will return to campus on Monday, Dec. 2. The city Department of Educations (DOE) public school calendar includes some two dozen days off between the first day and the last day of classes. The calendar gives time off for the religious holidays, week-long breaks for winter recess, mid-winter recess and spring recess, and federal holidays. Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York also provide plenty of time off throughout the school year for federal holidays and Catholic holidays, with breaks for Christmas and Easter, among others. The school year typically ends earlier than their public school peers in mid-June. For those looking further ahead, there are still plenty of days off before the end of the year. And winter recess will also start earlier this year for public school students, as Monday, Dec. 23, will now be an additional day off. New York City public schools will be closed for winter recess from Monday, Dec. 23, to Wednesday, Jan. 1. The last day of classes before break will be Friday, Dec. 20. Students will return to classes on Thursday, Jan. 2. It means students will have 12 days off, including weekends, during winter recess this year. You can view the 2024-2025 public school calendar here. Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York also start winter break on Monday, Dec. 23, though the vacation lasts longer than public schools. Students wont return to class until the following week on Monday, Jan. 6. Thats a total of 16 days off, including weekends. You can view the 2024-2025 Catholic school calendar here. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 27. A German entity, Nisbau Anlagentechnik GmbH, envisions the rise of a concrete plant in Kyrgyzstan., Trend reports. During President Sadyr Zhaparov's official visit to Germany, the National Investment Agency of Kyrgyzstan and the German company signed a memorandum formalizing the agreement. The project is expected to create new jobs, enhance the resilience of the construction sector, and attract additional investments to Kyrgyzstan's economy. Additionally, SBS Holding and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center at the National Investment Agency signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. The memorandum focuses on advancing a PPP project to build and operate a smart home component manufacturing plant. The smart home project aims to incorporate advanced construction technologies to create environmentally sustainable homes. The CBS technology is expected to significantly reduce building and operational costs while decreasing CO2 emissions. The initiative also plans to use innovative materials and technologies, improving the quality and accessibility of housing for citizens and contributing to the sustainable development of the construction industry. To note, President Zhaparov, who arrived in Germany on November 25, had previously visited Austria on an official trip. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Photo: Press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 27. During the official visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov to Germany, a string of bilateral agreements were inked, with the goal of tightening the bonds of cooperation between the two nations, Trend reports. According to the administration of the Kyrgyz president, the signed documents include: - An investment agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and several companies, including Sonnenenergie a.s., AB Progressio GmbH, LTI ReEnergy CleanTech Project Development UG, and the Toktogul Solar Power Station companies, to develop and operate a floating solar power plant; - A Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan and telc gGmbH; - A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, Germany's Federal Employment Agency, telc gGmbH, and DVV International; - An MoU between the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, the Bavarian State Chancellery, the Kamensky District Administrator, and the Federal Employment Agency of Germany; - An MoU between the Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan and SLG SPITZKE LOGISTIK GmbH on training train operators; - A Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan and the University of Lubeck; - A Memorandum between the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan and the Independent Research Institute for Environmental Protection; - A Letter of Intent for cooperation between the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan and Intertek GmbH; - A Memorandum of Understanding between the National Investment Agency of Kyrgyzstan and NISBAU Anlagentechnik GmbH; - An MoU on strategic cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan and the German Travel Association (Deutsche Reiseverband e.V.), aimed at organizing the Destination Forum in Kyrgyzstan in 2025; - A Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan and the German Travel Association (Deutsche Reiseverband e.V.); - A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA); - A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan and *Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG; - An MoU between the Public-Private Partnership Center at the National Investment Agency of Kyrgyzstan and SBS Holdings to promote a PPP project for the construction and operation of a smart home component manufacturing plant; - A Memorandum of Cooperation between ODDO BHF AG Bank and Textile Trans Company; - A Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; - A Cooperation Agreement between the Kyrgyz State Technical University and the Technical University of the Freiberg Mining Academy. These agreements span a wide range of sectors, including energy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and climate change, signaling the deepening of Kyrgyzstan-Germany relations in various fields. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel CBD is loath to join segments of the punditocracy in musing about what the victory of US President-elect Donald Trump means for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Loading There has been more than enough written by commentators with a myopic grasp of US politics, and plenty of hamfisted comparisons between the pair from the Escape to BlueSky crew without us adding our two cents worth, we decided. Or rather, we had decided. Now, however, needs must. CBD was alerted to a fundraiser in Canberra on Monday night attended by Dutts at the smart Barton restaurant Chairman and Yip Canberras best pan-Asian Cantonese. A favourite power dining spot in the Bubble, and hardly Trumpian. Alongside the opposition leader were shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and junior shadow minister and Dutton fanboy Luke Howarth. Sydneysiders were asked to reduce energy usage on Wednesday afternoon and evening to avoid blackouts on the hottest November day since 2020 in a stark demonstration of the increasing unreliability of the ageing coal power fleet. Four of the 12 power-generation units at the states coal power plants were offline for maintenance or breakdowns, while demand soared because of the need for air-conditioning as the temperature neared 40 degrees in parts of the city. Piping-hot tracks and equipment caused Sydney Trains to reduce speeds on the rail network by up to 10km/h in the west and south-west of the city between noon and 8pm to conserve energy and reduce fire risk. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) had warned of a heightened risk of electricity blackouts for NSW from 3.30pm to 5pm, while the state government activated plans to reduce demand during the peak hours 3pm to 8pm. Advertisement Eating outFood One of 2024s best new bars is in a surprising heritage location Dont know Barry Parade? You need to seek it out for this boozer serving clever cocktails, Australian wines and craft beers, and Creole-influenced comfort food. Matt Shea November 27, 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 Brisbanes bars had become a minor source of frustration in recent years. While the citys restaurants, cafes and bakeries have come on strong over the past decade, our boozers seemed stuck in gear. If you wanted a terrific cocktail, great venues such as Death & Taxes, its sister venue Dr Gimlette and also Savile Row had you covered. But there was a lack of new ideas in the scene. It didnt help that we lost some modern classics in that period, including The Bowery, The Cloakroom Bar, Super Whatnot and, most recently, Alba Bar & Deli. Barry Parade Public House is one of the best-looking bar openings in years. Markus Ravik But over the past 18 months, things have begun to change. Flying Colours, Alice, Milquetoast, Club Felix and the relaunched Alliance Hotel have all added much-needed variety to the ranks. You can now add Barry Parade Public House to the list. Barry Where? Exactly that Daniel Gregory, Brennen Eaton and Lachlan Henry have opened this sophisticated neighbourhood boozer in what many would consider a relatively unknown byway between the CBD and Fortitude Valley illustrates a confidence in what theyre peddling. Advertisement I dont think well be the last: Why one of Brisbanes best bars has closed We feel its unique. That neighbourhood bar but done really well doesnt really exist in Brisbane, Gregory says. We were looking at places in the CBD, but Im glad we went off the beaten track its worked out well. And Barry Parade Public House is drawing punters from the surrounding neighbourhood, not just the Spring Hill apartments and the workers cottages beyond St Pauls Terrace, but also the surrounding office blocks. Theyre coming for a focused list of cocktails, small producer Australian wine, and local craft beer on tap and by the bottle and can, along with a Creole-influenced menu of bar snacks. Barry Parade Public House has been drawing punters from the surrounding Spring Hill apartments and office blocks. Markus Ravik Theyre also coming for the venue itself, which occupies a heritage-listed terrace building that dates back to 1928. It has to be one of the most elegant new bar builds in recent memory, with Gregory, Eaton and Henry working on the design themselves. Advertisement The result is a space defined by a high-set, handsome hardwood bar, timber wall panelling, pendant lights and eye-catching original terrazzo flooring. Theres a banquette down one side of the room, with al fresco seating out on the street and a newly built timber courtyard with bench seating out back. Owners Daniel Gregory, Brennen Eaton and Lachlan Henry designed much of the venue themselves. Markus Ravik So I just had some drawings, Gregory says, which werent the greatest. But we had a really good trio of builders [from AFT Constructed]. We gave them the drawings and kind of winged it from there. Especially in the back corner where theres group seating, Eaton adds. We were going to have that as storage but one of the builders said, Why dont we just cut in and put more seats there? As for drinks, between them Gregory and Eaton have worked at The Gresham, Alba Bar & Deli, The Bowery, Black Pearl (Melbourne) and Eau de Vie (Sydney), so expect plenty of approachable innovation on the cocktail list. Advertisement Fried prawn po boy with iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickles and herb aioli. Markus Ravik You might order a Broken Spanish (Oloroso sherry, Flor de Cana seven-year-old rum, brown butter falernum, lime and pineapple), the Verona (Hine VSOP cognac, Campari, Burdekin virgin cane spirit and Punt e Mes vermouth), or a Rosys Fizz (Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz gin, bianco vermouth, Mancino Chinato vermouth, Aperol, acid blend, Heering cherry liqueur and creme de violette). Pulled duck and smoked sausage gumbo with mustard greens and sourdough. Markus Ravik Wines have been kept relatively wallet friendly, with only a clutch of bottles ranging above $150, and a generous number available by the glass. You can expect the venues three beer taps to rotate regularly. Gregory and Eaton say to expect the food to evolve as the venue finds its feet, but the menu is already more interesting than your typical bar snacks. The standout dishes include a fried prawn po boy with iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickles and herb aioli, and a pulled duck and smoked sausage gumbo with mustard greens and sourdough. Advertisement Open Tue-Fri 3pm-12am, Fri-Sun 1pm-12am 122 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley. barryparade.com Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. He was overseen by, and on occasion claimed to fellow workers to be carrying out the industrial orders of, a union boss called Joe Myles. Myles, like Leavitt, had worked for the CFMEU in Queensland before moving to the unions Victorian operation. By 2023, Leavitt wielded significant industrial muscle as a union delegate on two of the Victorian Labor governments signature Big Build projects: the $530 million Hurstbridge train line upgrade and the Metro Tunnel rail project. Sources close to the union said they emanated from a clique of violent gangland figures aligned with a bikie once considered a key ally of the CFMEU, Joel Leavitt. But his recent request for security wasnt for his safety . Rather, union organisers now working for Irving are facing threats of their own. For weeks, a personal security detail has shadowed Mark Irving, KC, after police warnings he was to be the subject of a death threat designed to destabilise his attempted reform of Australias building industry as the newly appointed CFMEU administrator. On an unseasonably cool spring morning last week, the man with one of the toughest jobs in Australia requested urgent help from a security firm led by an ex-special forces soldier. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Five sources who have had dealings with Leavitt, and who requested anonymity, also briefed this masthead for this story. Irving and Smith would not comment for this story, but their responses have been relayed to this masthead by multiple sources inside the union and who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of blowback. This masthead can reveal the unions national secretary, Zach Smith, privately addressed union officials last week, warning them that if they sided with those now threatening CFMEU organisers, they would be summarily dismissed. It signalled a major shift in the CFMEUs stance. With threats also made in NSW and Queensland, Irving felt obligated to urgently deploy small teams of highly trained former military and police officers outside CFMEU headquarters around the nation. Leavitts crew began looking for alternative sources of income, pressuring building industry insiders as they did so. Pushback from still-serving union organisers sparked warnings of violent reprisals. Leavitt lost his formal CFMEU support weeks after he was shot at a bikie clubhouse in 2023 , but his informal union networks were crippled only after the Building Bad scandal erupted in July and previous backers, such as union executive Myles, were abruptly sacked. The Leavitt crews recent agitation, along with Smiths warning to those with divided loyalties, suggests that this threat had finally materialised. By embedding gangland figures like Leavitt within a key sector of Australias economy via state government and other projects and empowering them with the unions raw industrial strength, the CFMEU created a risk for itself if the bikies revenue streams were threatened. But Smiths rhetorical shift last week signalled that influential CFMEU figures were prepared to acknowledge a reality as grim as it was obvious for those now facing threats. Vicious violence, such as an alleged bashing in December of a union delegate by one of Leavitts lieutenants, who was himself a CFMEU representative on Victorias Big Build, had met with indifference from some in the union. They had also seen these self-interested bikies increasingly become part of the union furniture. Several people in the union knew this was untrue because they had witnessed bikies or other gangland figures disregard the CFMEUs interests to line their pockets, sometimes turning on union members as they did so. When the CFMEU scandal erupted in July, the union initially claimed that bikies were given jobs as its delegates as a means of rehabilitation . In NSW and Victoria, labour hire companies exploded on the unions watch despite being anathema to secure working conditions that are the CFMEUs raison detre. In NSW, the CFMEU became a fiefdom promoting gangster-aligned companies with appalling worker safety records. Organisers who objected were warned to stay quiet. Just how bad things got prior to Irvings administration remains unknown, but it is increasingly clear that the union was slowly strangling itself. Myles has stayed quiet, although he continues to deal regularly with influential organisers who are still employed by the union and meant to be working solely for Smith and Irving. A CFMEU blame game has erupted, with Myles so-called Irish union faction being accused of wrongdoing by those loyal to sacked union bosses such as Elias Spernovasilis, who has his own deep underworld ties. A number of recently sacked union executives privately acknowledge things went too far (one of them has taken to carrying a pistol for protection, according to his friends). On paper, Leavitt was employed through union-backed labour hire firms, such as Top Up and OCC, and was ultimately paid by the Victorian taxpayer. Why was a tattooed, muscle-bound bikie, who had done a historical stint in jail in Brisbane, now working as a union representative, let alone one responsible for health and safety of employees at companies delivering more than $4 billion worth of work on Labors rail level-crossing removal program? When workers employed by the Southern Project Alliance (SPA) encountered Joel Leavitt in early 2023, they typically pondered an immediate and pressing question. Why were taxpayers funding projects that bankrolled bikies and made union bosses arguably more powerful than the public servants meant to be running the show? And who in power, if anyone, will be held accountable? This raises damning questions about how governments particularly Victorias Labor government let it all get so bad. This was cheered on by bikie bosses using the firms to place gang members on government projects. Right up the east coast, the threat of violence was real and omnipresent. In practice, he answered to two separate sources of power: the Rebels bikie gang and the CFMEU. Union sources say Leavitts delegate role on the crossing removal project was supported by Myles. Their personal relationship developed about six years ago via young union activist networks. Myles wielded the CFMEUs industrial power on the Victorian governments signature Big Build projects via a small team of union organisers, delegates and health and safety representatives like Leavitt. Many in the CFMEU suspected Myles was building a powerbase to take over the union when incumbent leader and rival John Setka departed. The two werent so different. Former CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka. Credit: Eamon Gallagher Like Setka, Myles has a history of unlawful conduct, with the Federal Court finding he has breached workplace laws more than 20 times, engaging in coercion, obstruction and illegal stoppages, and not complying with safety laws. In a 2017, former Federal Court judge Richard Tracey found Myles had a deplorable personal history of offending stretching back to 2010. Whereas Setka had spent two decades giving his imprimatur to underworld figure Mick Gatto (effectively making him the CFMEUs favoured industrial relations fixer), Myles appeared to have his own heavies in his union camp. Myles oversaw several bikie-linked figures like Leavitt working in union roles. One was Big Build organiser and former Queenslander Marty Albert, who in late 2023 was charged over a pub bashing and named by police in court (in a still unresolved case) as the sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos Melbourne chapter. Working alongside Leavitt as purported union health and safety representatives on the $530 million Southern Project Alliance Hurstridge rail line upgrade were two other hard men: ex-bikie and convicted killer Johnny Two Guns Walker and Charlie Farrugia. Johnny Two Guns Walker (right) with Hells Angels figure Luke Moloney. Credit: Instagram Walker was jailed for bashing a man to death before being welcomed into the union as one of Myles Big Build delegates. This masthead can reveal that in December, Farrugia allegedly brutally bashed another union delegate aligned to the Setka camp. Images of the attack and its bloody aftermath have been obtained by this masthead (Farrugia is yet to face trial and there is no suggestion he is guilty). The alleged attack in December 2023 was caught on CCTV. In 2022 and the first half of 2023, Leavitt, Farrugia and Walker worked as a CFMEU triumvirate on the Hurstbridge line upgrade, issuing demands laced with the menace of union action or bikie intervention. Southern Project Alliance workers were meant to vote in Farrugia, Walker and Leavitt as union representatives, but in reality they were forced onto SPAs payroll by the CFMEU, according to multiple sources. As soon as we discovered their bikie links, no one on the level crossing project wanted to challenge them, a project insider said. It was safer and easier to give in to them than fight their every demand. The alleged attack victim suffered serious injuries. According to sources who worked with him, Leavitts role extended well beyond his health and safety remit. He demanded major state government contractors pay disputed debts to union friendly subcontractors. Back at union headquarters, Myles made similar demands. One source, who requested anonymity for fear of blowback, said Myles not only threatened industrial action but shut down work on multiple Big Build projects to force the payment of contested debts. A second source said Leavitt claimed previously to have been passing on Joes orders. Myles declined to comment and the extent to which he was expressly directing Leavitt in the past, if at all, is unclear. This masthead is not suggesting Myles had any involvement in directing the latest threats to union organisers. While Leavitt was ultimately overseen by Myles, there is also no suggestion that Myles endorsed any allegedly unlawful actions by Leavitt, including threatening or standover behaviour. It is indisputable that the CFMEU empowered Leavitt on his Big Build beat. On work sites, Leavitt, Farrugia, and, to a lesser extent, Walker, pressed contractors to hire or pay additional wages to their associates and relatives, including several criminals and bikies, via labour hire companies aligned with the union. This masthead has obtained a list of workers circulated by Farrugia for special treatment along with a list of labour hire companies that employed them. At the head of the list is Top Up Labour, which was repeatedly promoted by the CFMEU, but it includes other union-backed labour hire firms OCC and Women In Construction, which also have underworld links. The SPA acquiesced to some but not all of these requests. For instance, it was forced to place Leavitt and Farrugias associates in jobs that were surplus to project requirements, out of fear of retribution. According to project insiders, the only silver lining was that as labour hire firm placements they were easy to sack. The wages they were paid before that point were ultimately funded by the Victorian taxpayer. Leaked documents show that the SPA, along with contractors on other Big Build projects, was forced into paying certain workers daily wage increases of up to 400 per cent over the 2023 Easter break because they would be working over a holiday weekend and because it was raining. This meant bikies and relatives and friends of Leavitt could earn up to $4000 in a single day for menial tasks. The union argued this lucrative arrangement was endorsed in the industrial agreement covering the Big Build. At least two major contractors insisted it wasnt, but they paid it anyway. When Leavitt and Farrugia demanded a free souvlaki day for workers, the SPA agreed and paid a company of Leavitts choosing to deliver the food, even though the potential for corruption was obvious. Leavitt also demanded SPA member Metro Trains stop using a small business because it was not CFMEU-endorsed. Metro relented and the firm was forced off the project. Leavitt and Farrugia were also in dispute with rival bikie-gang-aligned figures on the rail level crossing project, sparking concerns that workers might be caught up in bikie violence. In one incident described by two insiders, a group of Comancheros arrived on a government site to face off with gang members aligned to Leavitt. We almost had a bikie war, one insider recalled. To defuse tensions between rival gangs, the union ultimately removed a bikie as a delegate from the site, shifting him to the North East Link Big Build project. In March 2023, Leavitt used an SPA vehicle, given to him for his union health and safety duties, to attend a Rebels bikie clubhouse in suburban Melbourne. A dispute erupted and Leavitt was shot, subsequently using the SPA car to race himself to hospital. In late 2023, Farrugia allegedly brutally bashed a fellow union delegate aligned to the Setka CFMEU faction over what police have alleged was a neighbour dispute. While this was ostensibly unconnected to union business, that Farrugia had allegedly turned on a fellow union representative sparked another clash at CFMEU headquarters. Some officials thought Farrugia should remain a HSR [health and safety representative], even though he had been charged [over allegedly bashing] someone who was also serving the union, a union insider said. Ultimately, Farrugia and Leavitt would both be forced from their roles. Leavitt moved on to other building sites after the shooting (one source suggested the CFMEU removed him from the Big Build). Farrugia was forced out of his union post once charges were laid over the alleged bashing. Bandido sergeant at arms Marty Albert and ex-bikie Johnny Walker would lose their union posts after the Building Bad series broke in July. So too would Joe Myles, who was sacked along with a host of other senior union executives, including several also accused of enabling bikies, including senior Mongols and Hells Angels, and other gangland types. Myles still commands fierce loyalty from those ostensibly serving administrator Mark Irving and Zach Smith. Video footage from mid-October obtained by this masthead shows Myles meeting for an hour with still-serving Big Build CFMEU organiser and close friend Gerry McQuaid, just before McQuaid met with the major contractor running the $26 billion North East Link, a state and federally funded project. There is no suggestion Myles was doing anything but socialising, but the situation raises questions about influence at the union. Another former Myles camp figure and influential Big Build organiser, Gerry McCrudden, has also retained his role as a union official. CFMEU organiser Gerry McCrudden was caught on video saying firms that didnt work with the union would be blacklisted. McCrudden was covertly filmed in 2022 warning that firms without the unions backing in the form of CFMEU-endorsed enterprise bargaining agreements would be unofficially black-banned from Big Build sites. Irvings administration is partly paralysed by a High Court challenge funded by breakaway unions and backed by select sacked CFMEU bosses. Loading Union insiders tip that Myles and other sacked leaders hope to return to their positions if the High Court rules the administration unlawful. The legal impasse has left Irving no choice but to retain union organisers loyal to the previous leadership around the country. Leavitt remains active in the building industry, but appears now to be focused less on union power and more on making money. Sources have named Leavitts crew as behind the threats which forced Irving to scramble security. Two union sources said it was suspected the threats were linked to the organisers refusal to support a Leavitt-backed subcontractor. Other gangland figures entrenched in the building industry, including fixers Mick Gatto, Billy Mitris and Faruk Orman, along with a host of large companies, labour hire firms and subcontractors, are also adapting to a rapidly changing environment marked by instability and a power vacuum. For his part, ex-bikie gang boss Tyrone Bell is now promoting a building industry health and safety firm run by former CFMEU organiser Jaxson Mahy. Zach Smith, who has also taken over the Victorian branch, has called on his organisers to cut off the bikies and begun a wind back in the promotion of labour hire firms Any thorough clean-up effort will need to unpick how the CFMEU was able to gain near complete control on government projects along Australias east coast. The Minns government in NSW, as relative newcomers, can blame the former Coalition administration. But for Victorias Allan government, mounting questions about whether it ceded control of signature projects to the CFMEU loom as a potential political nightmare. As with every Big Build contracting conglomerate, the SPA was required to report industrial relations disputation to the public servants at the rail level crossing removal authority, who in turn briefed the Labor government and transport minister who, until she became premier, was Jacinta Allan. Sources have said that rival unions, including the Australian Workers Union and the manufacturing wing of the CFMEU, reported concerns about improper activity on the Big Build to public servants and to Labor ministers. The [Big Build] public servants definitely were told. And its their job to tell the minister, a well-connected building industry adviser said. On Wednesday, Allan insisted the government had no tolerance for illegal activity, had introduced anti-consorting laws to get bikies off building sites and backed Irvings administration after the Building Bad scandal broke. She also said the government was expecting the final report by former public servant Greg Wilson, who Labor commissioned to examine aspects of the scandal, within days. Joe Myles wife, Elizabeth Doidge, is influential in the Labor Party. She previously worked as the CFMEUs political officer, a role in which she had extensive dealings with the Victorian government as she sought to advance the unions agenda. Doidge declined to comment when approached by this masthead. But she was less reticent in 2020, when she was elected to the Melbourne City Council with the help of a $195,838 CFMEU donation. Back then, she said the union wanted a place on council so it could influence policy and play a part in the city that we built. With Kieran Rooney Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter. 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 Robin Chand guides parents on tours through Killara High, there is one topic he is almost always quizzed on: What is the schools policy on laptops in class? When I answer it, parents breathe a sigh of relief, he says. Students must bring traditional stationery exercise books, rulers, pens to school every day, for every subject. We use laptops for specific tasks, but it needs tight monitoring, explains Chand, now in his fourth year as principal at Killara High, one of NSWs top-performing public comprehensive schools. Recess and lunchtime in playground spaces at Killara High are laptop-free. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone As classrooms become increasingly crowded with digital devices, a trend turbocharged by Kevin Rudds Digital Education Revolution, the latest global test surveys reveal Australian students spend more time on screens during the school day compared with most other OECD nations. Students clock up about four hours a day on technology. Its an issue parents are concerned about, Chand says. They dont want their children glued to screens all day. Our playground spaces are laptop-free during recess and lunch. A veteran English and legal studies teacher, Chand believes laptops should not be used as a core tool in class, but rather to enhance learning or for a specific purpose. I might ask students to look up a new piece of legislation or law reform issue online in a class. But laptops need to be used judiciously, and they cannot replace books and handwriting, he says. Advertisement At top-performing private school Reddam House in Bondi, classrooms are laptop-free in English lessons from years 7 to 9. The head of Reddams primary school, Dee Pitcairn, says the use of digital devices is minimised in primary grades. Instead, students take a 50-minute lesson once a week in a designated computer lab to practise typing and research skills. Year 6 students in class at Reddam House in Bondi. Credit: Edwina Pickles The private school moved away from using e-textbooks on iPads in 2019, and laptops became the preference under its bring-your-own device (BYOD) policy. Laptops are used only when called on by the teacher, but we need to police it quite rigidly, says Dave Pitcairn, principal of the senior school. Laptop-free English lessons mean students are less distracted and can focus on note-taking by hand to build comprehension skills, he says. NSW schools set their own technology policies. Some ask parents to buy students laptops or tablets under BYOD policies, while others supply them. Some public schools ask students to bring their own iPad from as young as nine years old, at a cost of up to $800 with headphones, case and a keyboard, and ask parents to load them with more than a dozen apps. Advertisement But the rise of technology in Australian classrooms and concerns about distractions and overuse has prompted some schools to question and audit the time students are on devices. High-performing public school Ashfield Boys High conducted a major survey of its school community about the issue in 2016. It found most teachers and parents thought students should spend a maximum of 25 per cent of the day on screens, says principal Dwayne Hopwood. Ashfield Boys doesnt have a BYOD policy and limits time students spend on laptops. Credit: Louise Kennerley We looked heavily at the research on the connection between distraction and devices. Children dont have the executive functioning to manage them well. The school, which outranks some selective schools in HSC English advanced, limits how much time students spend on laptops and keeps a bank of devices that teachers can book. One parent at Ashfield Boys, Susan Terravecchia, said it was reassuring to know her child attends a school where they arent looking at a screen all day. Advertisement My other child went to a different high school that used laptops a lot. We did not want to go down that path again, she says. We feel so fortunate to be at a school where the principal really is ahead of his time. Loading The school invested in mobile phone lockers last year before a statewide ban on phones in public schools was rolled out in late 2023. Students drop their smartphones into lockers at the start of the day and collect them after last period. The impact on the playground has been extreme, even just the sheer amount of active play, Hopwood says. At selective private school Sydney Grammar screens are kept out of class, while another all-boys school, Waverley College, is considering weaving tech-free periods into the timetable. One teacher at a regional public high school, who spoke anonymously to speak freely about the issue, said technology in class has become a huge problem, with students distracted by gaming and videos in class. Students misuse department-approved games such as Minecraft Education, she said, and can bypass blocks on websites by tethering hidden mobile phones to laptops. Advertisement Im starting to think we just need to start over. Its also concerning how many need help with basic literacy and numeracy when they get to high school. She said BYOD policies meant those students without a laptop would borrow one from the school, but often theyre not charged, or are broken. Other teachers say they are forced to run classes from the back of the room to monitor the work students are doing on screens. Chand says while Killara High uses both laptops and hard-copy books, if technology is used in an unstructured way, it can pose huge challenges for teachers in managing the classroom. Killaras deputy principal, Craig Date, says technology can be especially useful when accessing certain online tools such as three-dimensional environmental models in science classes. Students at Killara High School. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone The NSW curriculum embeds information and communication technology across primary and high school, and students need to use computers at school to access online resources and materials. Teachers say access to digital devices is useful for running online tests, adaptive quizzes and assessments which can give immediate, in-depth feedback to help improve learning. Advertisement The family of three people allegedly killed in a crash by NRL star Payne Haas mother has vowed to see it through after the case was sent to trial. Uiatu Joan Taufua, 48, was ordered on Wednesday to stand trial for manslaughter almost two years after the fatal two car collision, sparking emotional scenes from the victims loved ones outside court. Uiatu Joan Taufua is the mother of Brisbane Broncos and NSW State of Origin star player Payne Haas. Credit: Nine News/Getty Images Taufua is accused of driving into an incoming vehicle on a narrow road in the Gold Coast hinterland on December 30, 2022. Susan Zimmer, 70, her partner Chris Fawcett, 79, and her daughter Steffanie, 35, died in the collision. Thats all for the blog today. Thanks for joining us. To recap the days local news, the fall-out from the mystery Liberal polling which revealed Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas as preferred leader continued today, with two Labor MPs taking aim at Zempilas, accusing him of being involved in the commissioning of the poll, which was organised by his campaign manager. Zempilas denied any knowledge of the poll. Meanwhile, WAs lithium industry has been thrown a lifeline, with the state government announcing a $150 million support package to help companies remain competitive as the industry grapples with a global price slump for the commodity. And a bushfire near Wedge Island has flared up to an emergency level for a second day, with two firefighters suffering serious burns. In the courts, a Perth man who stabbed his partner in the neck and torso inside their Gooseberry Hill home in June has pleaded guilty to attempting to murder her; and the man accused of bashing disgraced ex-MP Barry Urban yesterday fronted court as the 55-year-old continues to fight for his life in hospital. Well see you tomorrow, for a new day, and a new blog. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has intervened to scupper a deal with the Greens over environmental reform that Labor promised at the last election, addressing business concerns but circumventing his Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. This masthead has been told the prime minister did not want a Labor-Greens environment deal that could be weaponised by the federal opposition and the resources sector before the next election, and lead to a potential scare campaign. Environment Minister Tanya Pliberseks talks were undercut by the prime ministers intervention. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen With that in mind, Albanese made a political call to put the deal Plibersek negotiated with the Greens on ice. The legislation is not expected to be passed before February next year, when parliament is due to return, unless the Greens capitulate on the final sitting day of 2024 and abandon all the concessions they had sought. Independent Senator David Pocock moved on Wednesday night to try to change the prime ministers mind after an extraordinary Senate vote to suspend Victorian independent Lidia Thorpe from the chamber for a day. The biggest of his policy proposals, of which so far there are very few, is the creation of a nuclear energy industry. Notionally, it is to deal with climate change, although in the Coalition, climate change is the phenomenon that dare not speak its name. If we were to listen only to the Coalition on climate change, we would certainly never hear that it requires urgent action. Thats because most of its members think its bulldust. Nuclear energy, which the Howard government banned via legislation in 1998 and the three Liberal prime ministers who followed him made no attempt to overturn, is about demonising and avoiding renewable energy where possible no more, no less. Duttons policy has been made up on the fly. When first proposed, it was based on small modular reactors. When the business and technical case in favour of that technology started to falter this year, the policy switched to a mixture of older-style large reactors with a few smaller ones. The plan is to establish an entire new industry on the public purse. No costings have been provided, but the price tag has to be in the tens of billions of dollars. Traditionally, that policy would be viewed as a shambles and render the leader putting it forward, who has called for the nation to have a mature discussion on the issue, as questionable. But not now. Dutton pledged in his budget reply six months ago to slash permanent migrant numbers. Last week he said his approach would create 40,000 homes straight away. How? We have not been told. Nor have we seen any modelling on the economic effect of such a large cut, given how much, with our tight labour market, migration drives the nations economic growth. He says these things, there are a few questions, which he bats away, and thats it. Loading Some of the oppositions positions move almost into the realm of the absurd. Last week, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor was in high dudgeon over the governments adjustment of the Future Funds statement of expectations. Treasurer Jim Chalmers asked the fund to have regard for the energy transition, the supply of residential housing and Australian infrastructure when it makes its investments. He wants the Future Fund to transition into a genuine sovereign wealth fund once it has fully covered the Commonwealth public services superannuation liabilities during the next decade. Location, location, location but at what price? In Australias most expensive street, the typical home will set buyers back $45 million. The harbourfront Wolseley Road in Sydneys Point Piper has been named the most expensive street in the nation, in Ray White research. Melbournes crown went to the grand boulevard of St Georges Road, Toorak, where the median house price is $16.93 million. It was the only street outside Sydney to make the top 10 list of most expensive streets in the country. Many of the pricey locales are close to coastlines and city centres, offering access to nature within an easy commute to work. Bucharest: A senior official at Romanias telecoms regulator called on Wednesday for TikTok to be suspended pending an investigation into the platforms potential role in Sundays shock far-right victory in the first round of a presidential election. Having polled in single digits before Sundays vote, independent far-right politician Calin Georgescu, 62, surged to a victory that raised questions over how such a surprise had been possible in the European Union and NATO member state. Shock win: Romanian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu. Credit: Getty Images He will face centrist contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off on December 8. Georgescu gained many votes from young voters and Romanians living abroad, and his campaign relied heavily on the video-sharing platform. Despite opposition from his far-right allies at home, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the ceasefire brokered by Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed, I emphasise, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again, Netanyahu said. In the end days of his administration, US President Joe Biden appears to have jointly pulled off a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and remove Lebanon from the battlefield. Nearly 14 months ago, Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel to support its ally, Hamas, the day after Palestinian terrorists attacked Israel, killing 1200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages. The conflict escalated last September when hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded in an attack attributed to Israel. Israel then killed much of Hezbollahs leadership in airstrikes, launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, and bombed the north of the country. The fighting displaced over a million Lebanese and tens of thousands of Israelis, killed more than 3000 Lebanese and 100 Israelis and upended the regional balance of power. Loading Israel and Hezbollah last fought a major war in 2006, a 34-day battle that killed more than 1000 Lebanese and 150 Israelis. This weeks ceasefire is basically a rerun of UN Resolution 1701, the deal that ended that conflict and ushered in 18 years of uneasy peace. Netanyahu agreed to the ceasefire to focus on the Iranian threat, allow Israeli forces to refresh, and separate the conflict from the war in Gaza. Under the deals terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 25 kilometres north of the border. During a 60-day transition phase, the Lebanese army will deploy to the buffer border zone alongside the existing UN peacekeeping force. Hezbollah had insisted it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ended, but it dropped that condition, and now Hamas has been left isolated. The deal will not have any immediate direct effect on fighting in Gaza, where at least 42,000 Palestinians have been reportedly killed, and Hamas still holds dozens of hostages. The conflict there remains intractable despite US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Service (CPS), in collaboration with the St. Maarten AIDS Foundation, is inviting you to their World AIDS Day Health Fair on Saturday, November 30. The World AIDS Day Health Fair is taking place at the PMIA Hall on Back Street from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. There will be free HIV testing and additional health screenings for glucose, blood pressure, and weight, the latter of which will be carried out by the Diabetes Foundation of Sint Maarten. Other health partners will be at the fair. Take the time out to visit the fair and bring a friend. The 2024 theme for World AIDS Day is, Take the rights path: My health, my right! The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on global leaders and citizens to champion the right to health by addressing the inequalities that hinder progress in ending AIDS. The WHO adds that the world can end AIDS if everyones right are protected. With human rights at the center, with communities in the lead, the world can end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. In 2023, an estimated 39.9 million people were living with HIV globally. Approximately 630,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2023. An estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2023. CPS encourages the community to educate and inform themselves about the latest developments related to AIDS and HIV. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 27. The Azerbaijan-Kyrgyz Development Fund (AKDF) and the Kyrgyz Tourism Development Fund have signed a memorandum of cooperation, Trend reports via AKDF. The document was signed by Almaz Mambetov, co-chairman of the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyz Development Fund, and Kylychbek Rysaliev, president of the Kyrgyz Tourism Development Fund. The memorandum is designed to catalyze sustainable synergies in the tourism sector. As part of the agreement, both parties will work together to identify and assess potential tourism projects, including the evaluation of master plans, technical and economic feasibility studies, and other key documentation for project financing. Furthermore, they will leverage their knowledge and implement cutting-edge strategies from a global perspective. A key focus will be on attracting strategic partners within the tourism industry and organizing consultative and informational events. The parties also plan to collaborate on tourism, cultural, creative, and investment initiatives, intending to create favorable conditions for the tourism sector in both countries. This partnership is expected to open new avenues for tourism growth and strengthen cultural and investment relations between the two nations. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel PHILIPSBURG:--- Some 25 years ago, the first public Thanksgiving Service was held on December 5th, 1999, following the decision of the then Executive Council on December 1st, 1999, to mark the passage of the Atlantic hurricane season without significant incident or impact to St. Maarten. In understanding and respecting the multiple religious practices on the island and ensuring that all are present to participate in this moment of Thanksgiving for carrying us through another safe Hurricane season. The Government of Sint Marten in collaboration with the St. Maarten Christian Council, St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church,h invites the community to the 25th Annual Service with the theme O Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good at the New Testament Baptist Church in Philipsburg on Sunday, December 1st, 2024. This years Thanksgiving Service will feature remarks by the Honorable Prime Minister Luc Mercelina, along with songs of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, and much more. The public is encouraged to attend the Thanksgiving Service, which begins at 4:30 pm with Praise & Worship, followed by the Church Service at 5:00 pm sharp. We have once again, since 2017, been spared through what could have been a devastating 2024 hurricane season, stated Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport Melissa D. Gumbs. Nevertheless, this season proved that we must continue to remain vigilant and proactive in our hurricane readiness efforts, and our thoughts and strength continue to go out to our regional neighbors affected by, especially, Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton. PHILIPSBURG:--- Recently, St. Maartens Emergency Services shared their established working protocols with the management of TUI Cruises, which also includes the cruise ship Mein Schiff from Germany, during a visit with the senior doctor Prof. Dr. Reinhard Friedl onboard, who is responsible for all physicians employed with TUI cruises. This visit symbolizes our joint commitment to further improving our working relations between St. Maarten Emergency Services and the cruise lines in the best interest of our patients. The ship visit was made possible by Dr Stefan Luhrs, volunteer doctor of the Bjorn Steiger Foundation, and accompanied by Mr. Pierre Steiger, President of the foundation; Mr.Christof Chwojka; Mr. Silvanico Paulette, Senior Fire Officer; Ms. Iesha Harrigan, Office of Disaster Management and Mr. Cylred Richardson, Head of the Ambulance Department of Ministry Public Health, Social Development & Labor. By Mata Press Service Canadas reputation as a beacon for immigrants seeking a better life is under scrutiny as a new report reveals that one in five immigrants who arrive in the country eventually leave within 25 years. Alarmingly, about a third of those departures occur within the first five years of settling in Canada. The findings, compiled by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the Conference Board of Canada, shed light on the phenomenon of "onward migration," where immigrants move from Canada to other countries. The report, titled The Leaky Bucket 2024: A Closer Look at Immigrant Onward Migration in Canada, is based on data from 2020 and explores why Canada struggles to retain many of its newcomers. Economic immigrants, often seen as a cornerstone of Canadas immigration strategy, are the most likely to leave. In contrast, refugeesmany facing fewer options due to safety concernsare the least likely to move on. Some immigrants who leave Canada return to their country of origin, while others migrate to a third country, seeking better opportunities or conditions. The number of immigrants leaving Canada reached an all-time high in 2020. Despite extreme pandemic travel restrictions, immigrants found ways to leave the country in record numbers. Despite multiple opportunities to return, they chose not to, said Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Canadas largest cities, including Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, have the highest proportion of immigrants leaving. In comparison, smaller cities such as Calgary, Halifax, and Moncton demonstrate better retention rates. These trends highlight the pressures faced in major urban centers, such as high living costs, limited housing, and competitive job markets, which may contribute to onward migration. Francophone immigrants are particularly affected, with the report finding a 35% long-term onward migration rate, significantly higher than that of their English-speaking peers. The report underscored the importance of the first five years after an immigrants arrival in Canada. Many who leave during this period cite challenges such as underemployment, lack of affordable housing, or difficulty integrating into Canadian society. These findings have prompted calls for the federal government to develop robust retention strategies aimed at addressing these challenges early on. The stakes are high, given the increasing global competition for skilled talent and growing interest in Canada as a destination. The report authors urged policymakers to prioritize retention initiatives, particularly in addressing economic challenges, to ensure that Canada remains a preferred and permanent home for immigrants. The research shows that immigrants with United States citizenship are least likely to naturalize before leaving, even though they are not prohibited from doing so by the U.S. government. Between 40 and 60 percent of onward migrants from Ukraine, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, Morocco, Syria, Nigeria, Columbia, and Iraq obtain Canadian citizenship before leaving Canada. Immigrants who arrive as international students, particularly those who only ever hold a study permit before becoming a permanent resident, are the most likely to leave Canada, the report found. There is a noticeable spike of onward migrants at the five-year mark. This indicates that international students who gain permanent residency without holding another permit are most at risk of leaving without realizing the full benefits of their education in Canada, the report stated. The reports findings come amid broader discussions about Canadas immigration system. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently acknowledged delays in implementing immigration reforms and blamed "bad actors" for hindering progress. Additionally, rising concerns about housing affordability and integration capacity have led to debates about the federal governments ability to effectively manage immigration targets. Trudeau has announced an immediate reduction of the government's annual intake of permanent residents, international students, and foreign workers, He said his government "didn't get the balance quite right" in trying to address labour needs and maintain population growth. The new policy shift will see Canada reduce its annual intake of permanent residents immediately by 21 percent to 395,000 next year, 380,000 in 2026, and 365,000 in 2027. Canadas temporary population including international students, foreign workers and refugees will also be reduced by 445,901 in 2025, and 445,662 in 2026. Canada had planned to bring in 500,000 next year and the same amount in 2027. The countrys population has grown in recent years, reaching 41 million in April 2024. Immigration accounted for almost 98% of this growth in 2023, 60% of which can be attributed to temporary residents. An earlier poll by the Angus Reid Institute as reported in the South Asian Post showed that 39% of immigrants who have lived in Canada for less than a decade are seriously considering leaving their province due to housing affordability issues, compared to 28% of Canadians overall. The housing crisis is particularly acute in major urban centers, where many newcomers tend to settle. In Downtown Toronto, 44% of residents are considering relocating, with 22% strongly considering it. Metro Vancouver shows similar trends, with one-third of residents unsure about their long-term future in the region. This trend poses a significant risk to Canada's economic hubs, potentially leading to a workforce exodus from city cores, the pollster said. The situation is exacerbated by rapidly rising housing costs across the country, with some provinces experiencing year-over-year average rent increases exceeding 17%. The impact extends beyond housing, affecting the overall quality of life for newcomers. Recent immigrants reported feeling misled about life in Canada, with many struggling to find suitable employment despite their qualifications. Some even contemplate leaving the country altogether, with 42% of those considering relocation looking at destinations outside Canada, according to the Angus Reid report. Just weeks ago, Gautam Adani, one of the worlds richest men, celebrated Donald Trumps election victory and announced plans to invest $10bn (7.9bn) in energy and infrastructure projects in the US. Now, the 62-year-old Indian billionaire and a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose sprawling $169bn empire spans ports and renewable energy, faces US fraud charges that could potentially jeopardize his ambitions at home and abroad. Federal prosecutors have accused him of orchestrating a $250m bribery scheme and concealing it to raise money in the US. They allege Adani and his executives paid bribes to Indian officials to secure contracts worth $2bn in profits over 20 years. Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless." But this is already hurting the group and the Indian economy. Adani Group firms lost $34bn in market value last Thursday, reducing the combined market capitalization of its 10 companies to $147bn. Adani Green Energy, which is the firm at the centre of the allegations, also said it wouldn't proceed with a $600m bond offering. Then there are questions about the impact of the charges on Indias business and politics. Adani, the 62-year-old Indian billionaire, is a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Indias economy is deeply intertwined with Mr Adani, the countrys leading infrastructure tycoon. He operates 13 ports (30% market share), seven airports (23% of passenger traffic), and Indias second-largest cement business (20% of the market). With six coal-fired power plants, Adani is India's largest private player in power. At the same time, he has pledged to invest $50bn in green hydrogen and runs an 8,000km (4,970 miles)-long natural gas pipeline. Hes also building India's longest expressway and redeveloping Indias largest slum. He employs over 45,000 people, but his businesses impact millions nationwide. His global ambitions span coal mines in Indonesia and Australia, and infrastructure projects in Africa. Adanis portfolio closely mirrors Modis policy priorities, beginning with infrastructure and more recently expanding into clean energy. He has thrived despite critics labelling his business empire as crony capitalism, pointing to his close ties with Modi, both as Gujarat's chief minister - where they both hail from - and as India's prime minister. (Like any successful businessman, Mr Adani has also forged ties with many opposition leaders, investing in their states.) This [the bribery allegations] is big. Mr Adani and Modi have been inseparable for a long time. This is going to influence the political economy of India, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an Indian journalist who has written extensively on the business group. This crisis also comes as Adani has spent nearly two years trying to rebuild his image after US short-seller Hindenburg Research's 2023 report accused his conglomerate of decades of stock manipulation and fraud. Though Adani denied the claims, the allegations triggered a market sell-off and an ongoing investigation by India's market regulator, SEBI. Mr. Adani has been trying to rehabilitate his image, and try to show that those earlier fraud allegations levelled by the Hindenburg group were not true, and his company and his businesses had been doing quite well. There'd been several new deals and investments made over the last year or so, and so this is just a body blow coming to this billionaire who had done a very good job of shaking off the potential damage of those earlier allegations," Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center, an American think-tank, told the BBC. For now, raising capital at home may prove challenging for Adani's cash-guzzling projects. "The market reaction shows how serious this is," Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst, told the BBC. "Adanis will still secure funding for their major projects, but with delays." Adani has faced challenges in Kenya over a planned takeover of an international airport The latest charges could also throw a spanner in Adanis global expansion plans. He has been already challenged in Kenya and Bangladesh over a planned takeover of an international airport and a controversial energy deal. "This [bribery charges] stop international expansion plans linked to the US," Nirmalya Kumar, Lee Kong Chian Professor at Singapore Management University, told the BBC. Whats next? Politically, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has unsurprisingly called for Adanis arrest and promised to stir up parliament. Bribing government officials in India is not news, but the amounts mentioned are staggering. I suspect the US has the names of some of those who were the intended recipients. This has potential reverberations for the Indian political scene. There is more to come, Kumar believes. While the US-India business relationship may face scrutiny, its unlikely to be significantly impacted, particularly given the recent $500m US deal with Adani for a port project in Sri Lanka, says Kugelman. Despite the serious allegations, broader US-India business ties remain strong. The US-India business relationship is a very large and multifaceted one. Even with these very serious allegations against someone that's such a major player in the Indian economy, I don't think we should overstate the impact that this could have on that relationship, Kugelman says. Also, it's unclear if Adani can be targeted, despite the US-India extradition treaty, as it depends on whether the new administration allows the cases to proceed. Mr Baliga believes it is not doom and gloom for the Adanis. "I still do think foreign investors and banks will back them like they did post Hindenburg though, given that they are part of very important, well-performing sectors of the Indian economy," he says. "The sense in the market is also that this will perhaps blow over and be sorted out, once the [Donald] Trump administration takes over. Who is Gautam Adani? The billionaire is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in India. Adani is worth $69.8bn, according to Forbes magazine, and is the worlds 25th richest and Indias second-richest person. Adani is a native of Gujarat the state that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from. As a college dropout, Adani left his fathers textile trade to set up a commodities trading business in 1988, marking his first solo sojourn into business. Now, the sprawling Adani conglomerate operates everything from airports to cement production, with at least seven Adani Group firms listed on Indian stock exchanges and some 23,000 people employed. The Adani Group controls several airports, as well as the countrys largest private port the Mundra Port in Gujarat. In January 2023, it led a consortium that bought Israels Haifa port for $1.15bn. The Adani Group supplies electricity to neighbouring Bangladesh and controls the controversial Carmichael coalmine in Australia, which is a lightning rod for climate change activists. It also owns controlling stakes in Indias NDTV news. However, the billionaires super-fast rise in the business world has been overshadowed by allegations of crony capitalism and is tightly linked to PM Modis own rise as a politician, analysts say. Many have accused Adani of benefitting from Modis support, dating back to when the PM was the chief minister of Gujarat when Adani bought land at cheap prices. Some also accuse Indian state firms of being complicit in allegations of corruption that has favoured Adani. In the past, Adani has often denied allegations of corruption or favouritism. In 2014, for example, when Modi was campaigning for election as prime minister and used a private jet belonging to Adani, the businessman told reporters that he was not looking for favours by supporting the politician. This is one of the first images taken by the DC-8 aircraft which observed the re-entry of Jules Verne ATV over the Pacific Ocean. Prior to the start of the Space Age in 1957, the only objects we had to consider falling from space were meteors, asteroids, and the occasional comet. Today, however, with satellites and spacecraft frequently being launched into orbit and beyond, some of these objects eventually return to Earth. Heres a look at some of the largest spacecraft to re-enter from space. Editor's note: Russia's Mir space station is included here as a reference for comparison (due to its massive size), but it was intentionally deorbited in a controlled manner in 2001. Europe's GOCE Satellite An artist's illustration of the gravity and ocean mapping GOCE spacecraft in Earth orbit. The four-year-old spacecraft will fall to Earth in November 2013. The European Space Agency's GOCE satellite fell to Earth on Nov. 10, 2013, to meet a fiery doom during re-entry. The gravity-mapping GOCE satellite weighed about 1 ton and was about 17 feet long (5.3 meters). That's pretty big, but much larger satellites have made uncontrolled re-entries over the years. Full Story: 1-ton European Satellite Falls to Earth in Fiery Death Dive Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is in the grasp of the remote manipulator system end effector above the payload bay of the Earth-orbiting Discovery during STS-48 pre-deployment checkout procedures. Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center The 6.5-ton UARS satellite was 35 feet (10.7 m) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide. NASA's space shuttle Discovery deployed the climate satellite in September 1991 on the orbiter's STS-48 mission. UARS studied Earth's atmosphere for 14 years, measuring many key chemicals that are still being tracked by other craft today. UARS also provided important information about the amount of light that comes from the sun at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. The $750 million satellite was decommissioned by NASA in December 2005 and fell to Earth in September 2011. Researchers estimated that about 1,170 pounds (532 kilograms) of UARS' 6.5-ton bulk likely survived re-entry. Skylab The U.S. space station Skylab in its prime during the mid-1970s. NASA launched the Skylab space station in 1973, and a total of three crewed missions visited the 85-ton space station in 1973 and 1974. NASA originally envisioned Skylab to stay in orbit for a decade or so, but that didn't happen. Higher-than-expected solar activity heated and expanded Earth's atmosphere, increasing the drag on Skylab. By the middle of 1979, it was ready to come down. There wasn't much NASA could do to control the outpost's re-entry, but the space agency was able to manage some of Skylab's tumbling maneuvers. On July 11, 1979, Skylab returned to Earth, burning up over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia. Some large chunks survived re-entry, making landfall southeast of Perth and elsewhere. Nobody was hurt, but the Australian town of Esperance charged NASA $400 for littering. NASA, however, never paid up. A California radio DJ took care of the fine in 2009 after collecting donations from his listeners. Pegasus 2 NASA launches the Pegasus 2 satellite. Credit: NASA NASA launched the 11.6-ton Pegasus 2 satellite in 1965 to study the abundance of micrometeoroids in low-Earth orbit. Pegasus 2 gathered data and beamed it home for about three years, then zipped around Earth for another 11 years, during which time its orbit got progressively lower and lower. The satellite finally came down on Nov. 3, 1979, but the debris splashed down harmlessly in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Salyut 7 A diagram of Salyut 7 and Cosmos 1686. Credit: NASA Salyut 7 was the last of nine space stations the Soviet Union launched under its Salyut program from 1971 to 1982. Salyut 7 blasted off on April 19, 1982, and stayed aloft for nearly nine years, harboring six different resident crews during its operational life. Salyut 7 was about 52 feet (16 meters) long and 13.6 feet (4.15 m) across at its widest point. The total mass of the outpost was about 22 tons. The uncrewed space station came barreling back to Earth on Feb. 7, 1991. At the time, a spaceship called Cosmos 1686 was docked to Salyut 7, to help test the attachment of expansion modules to space stations. Cosmos 1686 was also uncrewed, and it tipped the scales at about 22 tons as well. The huge Salyut 7-Cosmos 1686 complex burned up and broke up over Argentina, with some debris scattering over a town called Capitan Bermudez. There were no reported injuries. Space Shuttle Columbia Debris from the space shuttle Columbia. Tragically, NASA's space shuttle Columbia also made an uncontrolled return to Earth at the end of its STS-107 mission in 2003. On Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia broke apart over Northeastern Texas as it returned home from a 16-day science mission. All seven astronauts aboard were killed, and the 100-ton orbiter was destroyed. Photos: Remembering the Columbia Space Shuttle Tragedy An investigation later cited heat shield damage to the leading edge of Columbia's left wing as the cause of the disaster. A piece of foam insulation from Columbia's external fuel tank broke off during launch and punched a hole in the shuttle's wing 82 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 16, 2003. The damage allowed super-hot plasma from the spacecraft's atmospheric entry to penetrate Columbia's left wing, destroying the vehicle as it headed to its landing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Nobody on the ground was hurt, but the loss of Columbia marked the second fatal disaster of NASA's 30-year shuttle program. Cosmos 954 A secret Soviet-navy satellite called Cosmos 954, which was launched on Sept. 18, 1977, spiraled out of control. The spy radar antennas each sported a compact nuclear reactor, making the reentry one of the most frightening to date for people on the ground. Credit: NASA Though this Soviet spycraft was not the biggest uncrewed satellite to crash to Earth, it may have been the scariest. The 8,400-pound (3,800 kg) Cosmos 954 launched in September 1977 on a mission to track the movements of U.S. nuclear submarines. Cosmos 954 itself was nuclear-powered, and its reactor core failed to separate and boost the spacecraft to a higher, nuclear-safe orbit as planned. That made the satellite's out-of-control re-entry, on Jan. 24, 1978, a cause for global concern. Cosmos 954 came back to Earth over Northwestern Canada, spreading radioactive debris over a wide area. The Canadian government billed the Soviet Union $6 million to cover the cost of the search and cleanup efforts; the Soviets eventually paid $3 million. Several other nuclear-powered Soviet satellites have plummeted to Earth, including Cosmos 1402 in 1983. Long March 7 Rocket A brilliant fireball created by falling space junk from a Chinese Long March 7 rocket lit up the skies over Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho and California late Thursday, July 27, 2016. This still image is from a video captured by observer Matt Holt in Utah, Credit: Matt Holt @mholt6 The 6-ton second stage of Chinas Long March 7 rocket fell back to Earth on July 27, 2016, causing a spectacular fireball in skies across the western United States. The Long March 7 had lifted off on its maiden flight on June 25, toting a prototype crew capsule and various technology demonstrations to orbit, Chinese officials said. China's Tiangong 1 Space Lab An artist's illustration of China's Tiangong 1 space lab falling to Earth. (Image credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office) On April 1, 2018, China's Tiangong 1 space laboratory fell out of the sky, breaking apart and burning up in the skies over the southern Pacific Ocean at about 8:16 p.m. EDT (0016 April 2 GMT), according to the U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Force Space Component Command. Tiangong-1 was about 34 feet long by 11 feet wide (10.4 by 3.4 meters), and it weighed more than 9 tons (8 metric tons). The space lab consisted of two main parts: an "experimental module" that housed visiting astronauts and a "resource module" that accommodated Tiangong-1's solar-energy and propulsion systems. China launched Tiangong 1 into orbit on Sept. 29, 2011. It flew about 217 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth and hosted astronaut crews from China's Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 missions in 2012 and 2013, respectively. After those missions, the primary goals for the lab, which had a two-year-lifespan, were complete. In March 2016, Chinese flight controllers lost contact with Tiangong 1 and it was allowed to fall from space. Tiangong 2: China's 2nd Space Lab (Controlled) A view of Tiangong-2 (below) docked with Shenzhou-11 imaged by Banxing-2. (Image credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences) China's second space lab, Tiangong 2, fell to Earth on July 19, 2019. Unlike its Tiangong 1 predecessor, Tiangong 2's re-entry was controlled. The 8.6-metric-ton Tiangong 2 reentered over the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, a dumping ground for defunct spacecraft. Tiangong-2 launched in September 2016 and was used by China to test life support, refueling and resupply capabilities to support the development of a larger, 20-ton space station. In September 2018, the China Manned Space Engineering Office announced the Tiangong 2 space lab would be deorbited in 2019 to end its mission. Related: China's Tiangong 2 Space Lab in Pictures Russia's Space Station Mir (Controlled) Russia's Mir space station consisted of several cylindrical modules launched separately and assembled in orbit between 1986 and 1996 One of the largest spacecraft ever to re-enter Earth's atmosphere remains the massive Mir space station, which was deorbited by Russia on March 23, 2001. Unlike most other falling spacecraft on this list, Mir's re-entry was a completely controlled descent aimed at disposing of the iconic Russian space station in the Pacific Ocean. Because of Mir's immense size, it is included in this list for reference. Russia's Mir space station consisted of several cylindrical modules launched separately and assembled in orbit between 1986 and 1996. By 2001, Mir (whose name meant "Peace" or "Community" in Russian) weighed 135 tons and spent 15 years in space. Mir was as large as six school buses and, with the exception of two periods without a crew, was continuously inhabited until August 1999. Mir re-entered the Earth's atmosphere near Nadi, Fiji, and fell into the South Pacific. Long March 3B booster crashes near house On Dec. 25, 2023, the China National Space Administration launched two satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The satellites were successfully placed into medium Earth orbit but the side boosters of the Long March 3B multistage launch vehicle fell back to Earth and landed in South Chinas Guangxi region. Read more: Chinese rocket booster falls from space, crashes near house, after satellite launch: report Chinese orbital module Jennifer M. captured this photo of a fireball in Earth's skies from Phelan, California on April 2, 2024 and forwarded it to the American Meteor Society. The fireball was caused by the reentry of China's Shenzhou 15 orbital module, experts say. (Image credit: Jennifer M./American Meteor Society) On April 2, 2024, a flaming piece of Chinese space junk crashed to Earth over Southern California. The reentry created an impressive blazing fireball seen by people from the Sacramento area all the way down to San Diego, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS). The debris responsible was the orbital module of China's Shenzhou 15 spacecraft, and weighed about 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms). Read more: Chinese space junk falls to Earth over Southern California, creating spectacular fireball (photos, video) Bus-sized satellite crash Artist's illustration of ESA's ERS-2 satellite in Earth orbit. The spacecraft is expected to fall back to Earth in February 2024. (Image credit: ESA) On Feb. 21, 2024, a bus-sized satellite fell back to Earth, marking the end of its nearly 30-year life in space. The European Space Agency's (ESA) European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere at 12:15 EST (1715 GMT) over the Pacific Ocean. The fall ended a nearly 13-year deorbiting campaign that began with 66 engine burns in July 2011, depleting the spacecraft of remaining fuel. Read more: Bus-sized European satellite crashes to Earth over Pacific Ocean Samsung reshuffles leadership amid challenge in AI chips Seoul, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Samsung Electronics reshuffled its leadership on Wednesday as it looks to gain an edge in the production of microchips used for artificial intelligence servers. The world's largest memory chip maker issued a rare apology in October, acknowledging it was facing a "crisis" and that questions had arisen about its "fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company". On Wednesday it tapped vice-chairman Jun Young-hyun to lead its memory business and appointed Han Jin-man, who headed the firm's US chips business, as the new boss of the chip foundry division. The reshuffle aims to "strengthen the company's growth and future competitiveness, focusing on the semiconductor business", Samsung said in a statement. While the firm posted a 277 percent rise in operating profits to $6.6 billion year-on-year in the third quarter, it missed market expectations. Its shares have fallen more than 27 percent this year. Samsung has lagged South Korean rival SK hynix in producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI chipsets and has struggled to secure certification from US titan Nvidia for its latest products. The delayed approval process has allowed Samsung's competitors to challenge its position in the fast-evolving market. The leadership change comes as chairman Lee Jae-yong faces legal challenges. Prosecutors this week demanded a court sentence him to five years in prison over a controversial 2015 merger of two affiliates that consolidated his control over the Samsung group. They say that Lee committed multiple crimes, including stock price manipulation, breach of trust and accounting fraud during the tie-up of construction and engineering firm Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Lee was acquitted in a lower court, which prosecutors appealed. A verdict on that is expected in February. Lee, who has already served jail time over a high-level fraud and embezzlement case, is the current executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the sprawling Samsung group. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, November 27. Kyrgyz airlines are expected to be removed from the EU Air Safety List next year, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said at a meeting with Airbus Europe President Johan Pelissier in Berlin, Trend reports. In recent years, active work has been carried out to improve aviation safety, introduce international standards, and modernize infrastructure, which has significantly increased the chances of lifting the restrictions, Zhaparov said. He pointed out that being left off this list will pave the way for fresh chances to fly directly to Europe. Zhaparov also kept his eye on the ball regarding the future of Asman Airlines, highlighting the need to refresh the air fleet and bring in cutting-edge technologies. The president spoke about plans to lease two Airbus airplanes (A320 or A321 models) in the first phase of cooperation, which will be used for flights to Europe, including Bishkek-Paris, Bishkek-Berlin, and Bishkek-London. As President Zhaparov puts it, if all goes according to plan, theyre looking to spread their wings and expand the aircraft fleet in cahoots with Airbus during the second phase. Zhaparov emphasized that the development of the aviation industry is one of the key priorities for Kyrgyzstan. He noted the importance of already implemented projects, including the purchase of aircraft at the expense of the republican budget, which have been successfully used in the country. At the end of the meeting, President Sadyr Zhaparov invited Johan Pelissier to visit Kyrgyzstan in the near future to continue the dialog directly with representatives of the aviation industry of the country. To note, Kyrgyz airlines were blacklisted by the European Union in 2006 for failing to comply with flight safety standards. Since then, Kyrgyz airplanes have been banned from flying to EU countries. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel China investigates defence minister for corruption: report Beijing, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said Wednesday, the latest official to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country's military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said the investigation into Dong was part of that broader probe into military corruption. Neither Beijing's foreign ministry nor its embassy in Washington replied to AFP's request for confirmation on Wednesday morning. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy commander, he was appointed defence minister in December following the surprise removal of predecessor Li Shangfu just seven months into the job. Li was later expelled from the ruling Communist Party for offences including suspected bribery, state media said. He has not been seen in public since. His predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also kicked out of the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption. "It's certainly a blow... because one would imagine they will be super careful to have someone very clean in this role," Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told AFP. "Graft probes are very commonly targeted at the military because of the long historical ties between the business world and the PLA," he said, referring to the Chinese military by its official acronym. - Deepening crackdown - Beijing has deepened a crackdown on alleged graft in the armed forces over the past year, with President Xi Jinping this month ordering the military to stamp out corruption and strengthen its "war-preparedness". The intensity of the anti-graft drive in the army has been partially driven by fears that it may affect China's ability to wage a future war, Bloomberg reported citing US officials this year. "If the corruption probe into Dong Jun is true, then it is normal that people will question if it will erode morale and if it will affect the PLA's warfighting capabilities," Nanyang University's Loh said. The country's secretive Rocket Force -- which oversees China's vast arsenal of strategic missiles, both conventional and nuclear -- has come under particularly intense scrutiny. In July, a top Chinese official in the Rocket Force, Sun Jinming, was placed under investigation for corruption. Sun was kicked out of the ruling Communist Party and placed under investigation for "grave violations of party discipline and laws", state news agency Xinhua said at the time, using a common euphemism for graft. At least two other high-ranking officers connected to the Rocket Force, a relatively new unit of the Chinese military, have also been removed for graft. Victor Shih, an expert on China's elite politics, told AFP that Dong "likely had authority over tens of billions in procurement per year" during his time in the navy. "The problem is that competition for top positions is so fierce that there might be some mutual recriminations between officers, which would lead to endless cycles of arrests, new appointments and recriminations," he said. Ukraine defence minister in South Korea to discuss arms Seoul, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Ukraine's defence minister arrived in South Korea and is holding bilateral meetings, Kyiv said Wednesday, following reports that officials from the countries would discuss potential South Korean military support for Ukraine. The trip comes as South Korea signalled it could reverse a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict following revelations that North Korea had deployed thousands of troops to aid Russia's war efforts against Ukraine. The Ukrainian defence ministry confirmed to AFP that defence chief Rustem Umerov is already in South Korea and that "his meetings there are taking place". South Korean media had reported a planned meeting between Umerov and President Yoon Suk Yeol -- though the presidential office declined to confirm. The Ukrainian delegation was expected to "share intelligence on North Korea's troop deployment to Russia" and seek Seoul's support for Kyiv's war efforts, South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with South Korean media last month that his country was preparing to submit a list of needed military support. "This will be carried out simultaneously with our envoy, who will visit South Korea soon, and discussions will be held on weapons support," Zelensky said according to a transcript by KBS. He added the list would include artillery support and air defence systems. Earlier this month, Yoon said whether -- or how -- South Korea decides to help Ukraine directly depends on "the level of North Korean involvement" in the conflict, adding that Seoul was "not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons". If South Korea were to supply arms, the initial batch would be defensive in nature, Yoon said. Ukraine is reliant on Western air defence systems, particularly Patriots, to protect itself from Russian missile barrages -- and has been calling for more deliveries. South Korea, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North and has maintained production of weaponry long overlooked by Western arms industries, could make a significant impact if it decides to supply weapons, experts say. Lebanon PM says army to reinforce south after ceasefire Beirut, Lebanon, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the army would reinforce the country's south while urging Israel to withdraw and respect a ceasefire that came into force on Wednesday. The deal that halted 13 months of conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement is largely based on the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which ended their last war in 2006. It stated that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in the south, where Hezbollah exerts control, and also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanese territory. Mikati said his cabinet had decided to "strengthen the deployment of the army and security forces in the South Litani region", in their first meeting following the ceasefire. "I demand that the Israeli enemy abide by the ceasefire deal and withdraw" from Lebanese territory, he said. "I hope this will be a new page for Lebanon, I hope the coming days will lead to the election of a president." Bickering between Hezbollah and its political adversaries has left Lebanon without a head of state for more than two years. Earlier, Lebanon's powerful parliament speaker Nabih Berri called on those displaced by war with to return home as the ceasefire took hold, also calling for the quick election of a president who can unite the country. "I invite you to return to your homes... return to your land," said Berri, despite warnings to the contrary from Lebanon and Israel's militaries. Berri heads the Amal movement and has led ceasefire talks on behalf of ally Hezbollah. After nearly a year of limited cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the Gaza war, Israel ramped up its aerial bombing of Lebanon on September 23, mainly hitting Hezbollah strongholds. It later sent ground troops across the southern border. Kyiv, Seoul say will deepen security ties over N.Korea troops Seoul, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 South Korea and Ukraine agreed Wednesday to deepen security cooperation in response to the "threat" posed by the deployment of North Korea troops in Russia, the presidency in Seoul announced. The statement followed a meeting between South Korea's president and Ukraine's defence minister after their countries sounded the alarm over the deployment of thousands of Pyongyang's troops in western Russia. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and "expressed hope that South Korea and Ukraine would work together to devise effective measures to address security threats posed by North Korea's military cooperation with Russia", the presidency said. "Both sides agreed to continue sharing information on North Korea's troop deployment to Russia and the transfer of weapons and technology between Russia and North Korea," the presidency added. The trip came after South Korea signalled it could reverse a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict but there was no mention of arms supplies in the statement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said in an interview with South Korean media last month that his country was preparing to submit a list of needed military support. He added that the list would include artillery support and air defence systems. Earlier this month, Yoon said whether -- or how -- South Korea decides to help Ukraine directly depends on "the level of North Korean involvement" in the conflict, adding that Seoul was "not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons". If South Korea were to supply arms, the initial batch would be defensive in nature, Yoon said. Ukraine is reliant on Western air defence systems, particularly Patriots, to protect itself from Russian missile barrages -- and has been calling for more deliveries. South Korea, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North and has maintained production of weaponry long overlooked by Western arms industries, could make a significant impact if it decides to supply weapons, experts say. Swiss government rejects tightening neutrality rules Geneva, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 The Swiss government on Wednesday said it was against adopting a tighter definition of Switzerland's neutrality, insisting that it would put the country's options in a straightjacket. Switzerland's traditional position is one of well-armed military neutrality, but Russia's war in Ukraine reopened questions over its non-engagement in foreign conflicts. Fearing the position might slacken, the sovereigntist organisation Pro Switzerland collected enough signatures to trigger a public vote on better anchoring neutrality in the country's constitution. The initiative aims to restrict non-military measures such as sanctions, to prevent any closer ties with NATO and to rule out any military alliance except if attacked. "Enshrining a rigid understanding of neutrality in the federal constitution is not in Switzerland's interests and would restrict its room for manoeuvre in foreign policy terms," the government said in a statement. "This would mean that sanctions could no longer be imposed on belligerent states outside the UN and cooperation with military or defence alliances would be severely curtailed," it said. A flexible application of Swiss neutrality had served the country well and was crucial to safeguarding its interests, it said. It said security and defence cooperation would be "severely restricted, thereby weakening Switzerland's defence capabilities" with such a move to tighten its neutrality rules. While the government believes cooperation with defence alliances is in Switzerland's interests, it noted that joining any such alliance is already prohibited. Bern also said it was in Switzerland's interests to support broad-based international sanctions. The government recommended that parliament should reject the initiative. Under Switzerland's direct democracy system, citizens can trigger popular votes by collecting 100,000 valid signatures within 18 months. The "Safeguarding Swiss neutrality" popular initiative was submitted in April. No date has yet been given for when the vote might take place. Switzerland has refused to send arms to Kyiv or allow countries that hold Swiss-made weaponry to re-export it to Ukraine. However, it has matched the neighbouring European Union's economic sanctions on Russia since the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The vote proposal calls for the constitution to guarantee that Swiss neutrality is "armed and perpetual" and applied "permanently and without exception". Sanctions would also be prohibited, except when decided upon by the United Nations. Swiss neutrality traces its roots back to 1516 and has been internationally recognised since 1815. All men are obliged to do military service and attend refresher courses for years afterwards. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 27. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on agricultural cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, Trend reports. The document was signed within the frame of the 25th-27th November session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission between the two countries in Riyadh. The MoU is designed to enhance synergistic agricultural collaboration between the two parties. The memorandum delineates synergistic partnerships in domains including innovative plant breeding, sustainable livestock and poultry production, collaborative scientific inquiry, proactive plant health management against pathogens and pests, strategic agricultural product exportation, and the dynamic cultivation and exchange of high-priority crop seeds. It also encompasses the exploration and strategic resolution of agricultural challenges impacting both nations. According to the National Statistical Agency of Tajikistan, the agricultural production in Tajikistan reached 52.280 billion somoni ($4.8 billion) from January through September 2024, which is an 11.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Gaza health ministry says 9 killed in Israel strike Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 The Gaza health ministry said an air strike killed nine people in the north of the Hamas-run territory on Wednesday as Israel kept up its bombardment on the day a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon. The ministry said the strike hit a shelter for displaced people in Al-Tabi'een School in Gaza City's Daraj district. The Israeli army said it had "eliminated" in Gaza City a suspect in a May 2002 bombing which wounded 10 civilians in the Israeli city of Beersheba. The military said it had also struck dozens of Hamas targets in the "combat zone" in the northern towns of Jabalia and Beit Lahia. It said "troops operated to eliminate terrorists in aerial strikes and close-quarters encounters" at the former Al-Harthani School in Beit Lahia. "During the operation, Hamas terrorists fired anti-tank missiles from the Indonesian Hospital at the troops," the army claimed. Militant group Hamas condemned the "criminal military operation in northern Gaza". Earlier on Wednesday, a senior Hamas official hailed the truce in Lebanon, adding that the group was ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect before dawn, ending more than a year of hostilities and two months of full-scale war. Gaza's civil defence agency said it had only one working rescue vehicle in the whole of the territory due to fuel shortages. The Gaza war began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,282 people in Gaza, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 27. Tajikistan and the Maldives have signed an agreement to waive visa requirements for their citizens, Trend reports via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan. The agreement was signed in New York by Jonibek Hikmat, Tajikistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Ali Naseer Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN. Under the new agreement, citizens of both countries will be exempt from visa requirements for entry, exit, transit, and short-term stays of up to 30 days in the other country. The agreement is open-ended and will come into effect 30 days after both sides receive written diplomatic notifications confirming the completion of internal procedures required for its implementation. According to the Statistics Agency of Tajikistan, more than 1,223 million foreign citizens visited Tajikistan in the first nine months of 2024, which is an increase of 19 percent compared to the same period last year. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The UK has always been attractive for residential investment, particularly overseas buyers, due to its historically favourable remittance basis tax regime, which is one of the most appealing in the world. This has had a particular impact on high end pricing in London, where prices per sq ft are significantly higher (2,320) when compared to cities like Paris and Amsterdam. Amsterdam is becoming more popular among high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) due to a tax advantage that allows expatriates to receive 30% of their gross salary tax-free for the first five years, contributing to a circa 40% increase in millionaires in the city between 2013 to 2023. Although it remains expensive by comparison to other cities. It does, however, have appealing tax advantages for individuals looking to establish companies in The Netherlands. I'm sorry, but ADHD has become a scam that is wildly overdiagnosed and an excuse for poor behaviour I'm sorry, but ADHD has become a scam that is wildly overdiagnosed Sadiq has been clear that we cannot arrest our way out of this problem. His VRU includes funding youth workers embedded in police custody and hospitals that are reducing reoffending and risk of involvement in violence. But one death will always be one too many and the Mayor is committed to working closely with the police and partners to do more to make London safer for young people. Asked whether the UKs contribution to the UN peacekeeping force would increase, he said: My commitment is for us to stand by Lebanon and that means increased support going forward and we play an important role that has been primarily in support of the armed forces. We do have local generators but with the economic situation, paying 0.60 dollars per kilowatt hour is a problem when you only earn around 400 dollars per month I installed solar power three years ago so I am covered to some extent but not totally with the colder days. I hope that these arrests show that we will not tolerate any sort of terrorist activity and that we will take action where we believe there is harm being caused to communities here in the UK or elsewhere, she added. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 27. A regular meeting of the working groups of the Tajik-Uzbek joint demarcation commission took place from November 23 through November 27, 2024, in Tajikistan's Khujand, Trend reports. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, the meeting focused on the progress of the demarcation line along the Tajik-Uzbek state border. The discussions addressed the project-related issues concerning the boundary line between the two countries. Following the meeting, the parties signed a relevant protocol. The next meeting will be held in Uzbekistan. The total length of the Tajik-Uzbek state border is 1,332 kilometers, including 105 kilometers of river border and 1,227 kilometers of land border. Joint work on the demarcation of the Tajik-Uzbek border began in 2019 and continues to this day. A visa-free regime has been implemented for citizens of both countries, allowing stays of up to 30 days. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran has started pumping gas into several thousand modern centrifuges, Iranian Vice President and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami told reporters following a ministerial meeting, Trend reports. According to him, these centrifuges are currently operating in Iran's nuclear program. Eslami noted that Iran earlier declared that if the three European countries do not approve the path to mutual understanding with Iran and attach importance to the adoption of an anti-Iran resolution, Iran will immediately take retaliatory steps. Iran's vice president stated that as soon as the anti-Iran resolution was approved, Iran started to reciprocally take adequate measures in its nuclear program. Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program. However, in May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. A complaint from one of the participating countries alleging a violation of the plan by another party triggers the various stages under provisions 36 and 37 of the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action. The complaining country may bring the matter before the UN Security Council if the stages remain unreachable. Should the UN Security Council accept Iran's complaint, it could reinstate international sanctions against Iran. Furthermore, it empowers the members of the UN Security Council to approve a military operation against Iran. Two years later, Iran responded to the sanctions by implementing a strategic plan for the nuclear sector to counter them. The Iranian parliament made this decision at the end of 2020, leading to the suspension of additional measures and the Additional Protocol in accordance with the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Border police officers from Arad discovered, on Wednesday, 17 migrants from Syria and Iraq who tried to illegally cross the border into Hungary, hidden in a truck carrying polystyrene, inform agerpres.ro. The truck was checked at the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point and was driven by a Lithuanian who was transporting polystyrene on the Romania - Czech Republic route. "Following a thorough verification of the means of transport, 17 foreign citizens were discovered, hidden in the semi-trailer. The people were taken over and transported to the sector headquarters for investigation where, following the checks, the border police established that they were citizens from Syria and Iraq, aged between 18 and 53, who intended to fraudulently cross the border," informs the Arad Border Police. The driver is being investigated for migrant smuggling, and those hidden in the truck are being investigated for attempted fraudulent crossing of the state border. For the second consecutive year, the municipality of Craiova won second place in the competition for the most beautiful Christmas fairs organized annually by European Best Destinations, official partner tourist website of the European Commission. Craiova obtained over 91,000 votes, of which over 80% from outside Romania, having only 1,200 votes fewer than the city of Gdansk, in Poland, which was in first place, and 30,000 votes more than the city of Geneva, which was on the 3rd place. "Maybe I'm subjective, but it seems to me that this year we have by far the most beautiful fair in Europe, that is, the most beautifully lit and certainly the biggest in Europe. We certainly thought that our main competitor was Gdansk, not because it looked better, but because it mobilized more, with the president of Poland supporting Gdansk on his account in this competition and urged all the citizens of Poland to vote for Gdansk. Of course, since it was an election campaign, no one really looked at this competition, but it was important for our city. It remains important for the following years for one simple reason: because we succeeded in winning a bet with tourism. This year we have tourists from the USA, from the UK, we even have from China. This pushes us so that next year we have an even more beautiful fair", the mayor of Craiova, Lia Olguta Vasilescu, said on Wednesday evening, after the announcement of the results. The Christmas fair in Craiova opened on November 15, being designed as a place where "classic stories and futuristic wonders come together to offer the joys of childhood". A Frontex delegation led by the Agency's Executive Director Hans Leijtens was on a working visit to Romania November 25 and 26, with the agenda including meetings at the Ministry of the Interior and the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police (IGPF). The Frontex officials, accompanied by a delegation of the Romanian Border Police led by the Inspector General, Police Quaestor Cornel-Laurian Stoica, visited the Giurgiu-Ruse Border Crossing Point. The activities carried out by the border police, the hardware and capabilities they use to monitor and secure the state border in the joint missions were presented on this occasion, as well as the good cooperation with the Bulgarian side, with an emphasis on joint control. The compensatory measures the two states are to implement after they join the Schengen Area with their land borders were also discussed, the IGPF said in a release on Wednesday. The Frontex representatives reiterated the Agency's support for Romania's full Schengen accession, committing to further support the achievement of this goal with human and logistics resources. The Frontex delegation also met with Minister of the Interior Catalin Predoiu, and with Secretaries of State Police General Quaestor Bogdan Despescu and Chief Police Quaestor Mihai Catalin Necula. "Success in the Schengen file presupposes not only political-diplomatic actions, but also an entire range of technical operations that we develop through the Border Police. Cooperation with Frontex and the border police of Bulgaria and Hungary, Austria and Serbia is also important. Schengen involves an enormous amount of work in the field, and our colleagues from the Interior Ministry, the Border Police and the Romanian Police do an excellent job on that," declared Catalin Predoiu. The sides also exchanged views on topics of common interest related to the management of the EU's external borders, with the participants emphasizing the solid cooperative relationship between Romania, through the Ministry of the Interior, and Frontex, with Romania being a significant contributor to the operational capacity of the Agency, both with personnel and equipment. "Currently, 16.6% (423 out of 2,549) of the Agency's own personnel are Romanian, a statistical fact that highlights the significant effort our country is making to effectively support the Agency's activity," the cited source shows. On the last day of the visit, the Frontex representatives were at the IGPF headquarters, where they visited the Operational Coordination Center - an essential organizational component within the institution for integrated border management, where they were briefed on the capabilities available to the Romanian Border Police for ensuring top-standard surveillance and control of the external borders of the European Union. The officials also visited the headquarters of the European Travel Information and Authorization System National Unit, a structure of the IGPF that hosts the activity of the Contingent 1 command team, which ensures the coordination of Frontex resource deployments to the operational areas of Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. "During the meeting, the Romanian side expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to host the headquarters of Frontex Contingent 1 and reaffirmed their availability to develop it by adding new functionalities, especially on the logistical component, given Romania's geographical location, thus facilitating the monitoring and coordination of operations in a key region, and amplifying Romania's active role in the implementation of European policies," specifies the IGPF. Romania also reaffirmed its readiness to host Frontex training programs, offering an optimal setting in terms of infrastructure and trainers. The Frontex representatives expressed their opinion that Romania is among the top European states implementing such projects and reiterated the Agency's support for Romania's full Schengen entry, committing to further support the accomplishment of this goal with human and logistical resources. The deep bilateral bond connecting Romania and Italy is based on their strong communion of fundamental values, Italian ambassador in Bucharest Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni declared on Wednesday at the opening of the exhibition marking 145 years of diplomatic relations between the two states. The deep bond between Romania and Italy, built over decades, is based on the strong communion of fundamental values and the shared membership to the Euro-Atlantic family. These values are where the convergence of our stances on all crucial international files arises from, from support for the defense of Ukraine's sovereignty and independence against the Russian aggression to the EU enlargement to the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern neighborhood, and our joint commitment to ensuring full support in the face of challenges to security, democracy and prosperity our nations and the whole of Europe are called to face, the diplomat pointed out. He also referred to the Romanian community in Italy, stating that Romania and Italy's political relationship reflects in their deep and extensive economic, industrial and commercial partnerships, oriented towards sustainable innovation and emerging technologies. This has been a basis for equally strong social and human changes, thanks to the well-integrated Romanian diaspora in Italy and the vibrant presence of Italians in Romania - two communities that are an integral part of their society, without any discrimination, creating new social and family relationships, mutual understanding and trust. The diplomat brought to mind that the exhibition was also presented in October at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, yet the Bucharest version is somewhat changed compared to the one in Italy. The exhibition at the seat of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) brings together photographs, archival documents and old Italian coins, illustrative of the relations between the two states. BNR governor Mugur Isarescu said that the showcased items are significant for the Italian-Romanian relationship and for the public. Isarescu also highlighted certain aspects of BNR's history. "A century ago, the National Bank of Romania financed the construction of the Accademia di Romania in Rome, a building erected according to the plans designed by architect Petre Antonescu on a land plot donated by the Rome City Hall in 1921," he added. Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu said that the two states have a "privileged relationship". "At this moment, our relations are stronger than ever. In February this year we had our third intergovernmental meeting, marking a new page in the common history of our countries," she stressed. Odobescu also recalled the visit of Italian President Sergio Mattarella to Bucharest this summer. "The diplomats' actions are not always known to the broad public, but the results of their efforts are essential for the dynamics of bilateral relations. We are pragmatists, but also defenders motivated by a national vision and trajectory. The interests of Romania and Italy are linked to a strong Europe and a secure NATO alliance. This is all the more evident, as we have experienced Russia's brutal and unprecedented attack on sovereignty, fundamental human rights and freedom," she also emphasized. Conveying the message of the head of the state, presidential advisor Sandra Pralong said: "Our ties extend back to the 15th century and, as we well know, are even deeper, two thousand years old. What other country do we share such an extraordinary brotherhood with, other than with our Italian and Latin friends? Over time, Romania has sent to Italy, and Italy has sent to Romania some of their most valuable statesmen - Nicolae Kretzulescu, Petre Carp, Dimitrie Ghica are some of the diplomats who have contributed to these strong ties. These people came to serve as foreign ministers or prime ministers of this country, just to prove to you the immense importance Romania has attached to this fantastic relationship over the last 145 years," Pralong pointed out. Furthermore, she noted that the bilateral ties are not limited to diplomacy and official documents, but "are being built every day by the millions of Romanians living in Italy and by the Italians who live and reside in Romania." The exhibition is organized by the Italian Embassy in Bucharest and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, in partnership with the National Bank. The National Confederation of Women's Entrepreneurship (CONAF) launches Empowering Hope for women in Ukraine, a project that puts humanitarian support and commitment to health, inclusion and social equity in the foreground, informs the confederation through a press release. "Romania is facing a reality that requires immediate action: the highest incidence of cervical cancer in the European Union. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. However, Romania continues to register the highest incidence and mortality rates from cervical cancer in the European Union, disproportionately affecting women of active age. Over 1,793 deaths and 3,368 new cases were reported in our country in 2022, and estimates show a constant increase in the following years. Each new case represents a personal drama, and an economic burden for society: productivity losses, of more than 46 million euros annually, reflect the impact of insufficient prevention and treatment management. While thousands of women struggle with this disease, the war in Ukraine adds a new dimension to the suffering. In this context, the National Confederation of Women's Entrepreneurship (CONAF) is launching the Empowering Hope project, a visionary initiative that redefines solidarity between the two nations," the release states. According to the cited source, this initiative puts humanitarian support and commitment to health, inclusion and social equity in the foreground and represents support "for women who bear the burden of war and vulnerability". "Empowering Hope will become a bridge between the present marked by suffering and a sustainable future for over 300 refugee women", CONAF representatives say. "Empowering Hope is proof that solidarity can transcend barriers and transform lives. It is a commitment to a healthier, fairer and more united world. It is proof that prevention is not only a medical strategy, but also an investment in the future. Together with CONAF, Romania reaffirms its place at the heart of European values, proving that when we build together, no obstacle is insurmountable", the release mentioned. The National Confederation of Women's Entrepreneurship (CONAF) is the strongest confederation in Romania that campaigns for the efficiency of the dialogue with the authorities, the collaboration for the development of public policies that lead to sustainable economic growth and supports entrepreneurs, recognizing their merits. CONAF represents the largest entity of its kind in Romania, an organization that promotes and supports Romanian entrepreneurship, something without precedent, which opens horizons for collaboration and cooperation both domestically and internationally. CONAF came into being as a result of the need to create a modern, sustainable and fair entrepreneurial culture, not only for women's entrepreneurship, but also for the entire business milieu. CONAF has in its composition 30 branches, 2 federations, 38 associations, over 5,500 companies and 220,000+ employees. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran's nuclear program is fully transparent and under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's Vice President and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami told reporters following a ministerial meeting in Tehran, Trend reports. He asserted that Iran's nuclear initiative is strategically aligned and progressing with complete transparency, yielding beneficial outcomes for the populace. Eslami emphasized that Iran is steadfastly advancing its initiatives within the exclusive paradigm of the nuclear non-proliferation agreement (NPT). Iran has had no activities outside the framework, no nuclear facilities. The issue of Iran's undeclared nuclear facilities, put forward in the resolution against Iran adopted at the board of directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been debated for more than 20 years. It was discussed for many years, and eventually the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan was adopted. However, Western nations are trying to put pressure on Iran by raising this issue again, he noted. To note, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution on November 21 with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions, and 3 against Iran. The resolution urged Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency on a number of issues and also called for a credible document on uranium residues at two undeclared sites on Iranian territory. Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program. However, in May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Two years later, Iran responded to the sanctions by implementing a strategic plan for the nuclear sector to counter them. The Iranian parliament made this decision at the end of 2020, leading to the suspension of additional measures and the Additional Protocol in accordance with the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu congratulated on Wednesday the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and her entire team of commissioners for the approval of the mandates by the European Parliament. "Congratulations to Ursula Von der Leyen and your team on the approval in the EP of the new Commission 2024 - 2029. Support for the Commission's mission to take forward a Union of freedom, democracy, prosperity, security", Marcel Ciolacu sent in a post on the Government's X account. In this context, the prime minister also congratulated the Vice-President of the European Commission, Roxana Manzatu, and wished her success in her work. The new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen was approved on Wednesday by the European Parliament, gathered in plenary session in Strasbourg. The European Parliament supported Ursula von der Leyen's new team with 370 votes for, 282 against and 36 abstentions. The independent candidate Calin Georgescu sent a message asking his supporters to stay at home and avoid any conflict. The message comes in the context in which, on Wednesday evening, a public meeting is organized at the University Square, the fountains area, by the Patriotic Party of the Romanian People, as stated by the Bucharest Gendarmerie. "I have no party, I do not sympathize with any party (neither parliamentarian nor non-parliamentarian). I only want the good for my people through peace and security. I ask you all to stay at home with your families and friends. Please avoid any conflict, it is not necessary, there are free, democratic elections. Anyone can express their choice by voting, this is the power of democracy and it will remain so", Georgescu said in the message posted on his Facebook account. He also tells his supporters not to let themselves be "drawn into a conflict". The Bucharest Gendarmerie announced that, between November 27 and 29, between 19:00 and 23:00, public gatherings will take place both in Victoriei Square and in University Square, which is why measures will be taken to ensure a climate of safety, public order and protection of the participants. A public meeting is organized by some students from Bucharest, in Victoriei Square, and the other one is organized by the Patriotic Party of the Romanian People, in University Square, the fountains area, informs a press release sent to AGERPRES by the Bucharest Gendarmerie. Romania's ambassador to Vietnam Cristina Romila said that Romania plays an important role in promoting the economic cooperation framework between the European Union and Vietnam, noting that Romania-Vietnam solidarity manifests at international and European level, the Vietnam News Agency VNA reports. Speaking at an event organized by the Union of Friendship Organizations in Ho Chi Minh City to mark Romania's National Day (observed on December 1) and 10 years since the establishment of the Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City (VRFA), the ambassador said that bilateral relations between Romania and Vietnam, based on the traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries, have made strong progress and reflect the growing dynamism of high-level bilateral connections. The relationship has recorded positive results in the areas of political dialogue, diplomacy, culture and economy, the diplomat added. According to Romila, bilateral trade between Romania and Vietnam over the first seven months of 2024 reached $245.97 million, up 26.28% year-on-year. The two countries share common interests in future-oriented areas such as information technology and green energy. The relationship between Romania and Vietnam is currently experiencing the most dynamic period in the history of their ties. The focus on developing bilateral cooperation provides a solid foundation for the friendship between the peoples of the two countries, Romila added. At the same event, VRFA President Truong Giang said that the association serves as a bridge that promotes solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the people of the city in particular, and those of Vietnam in general, and the Romanian people. The Romanian Association for the Club of Rome (ARCoR) reaffirms its firm commitment to European and Atlantic values, reflected by Romania's EU and NATO membership, and wishes to distance itself from the inappropriate use of the association's history in the electoral campaign, reads a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, inform agerpres.ro. ''The Romanian Association for the Club of Rome (ARCoR) reaffirms its commitment to the promotion of fundamental values that underpin a sustainable and equitable future for all, in the context of current global challenges. At the same time, we would like to state that, in the current electoral context, ARCoR reaffirms the association's firm commitment to European and Atlantic values, reflected by Romania's EU and NATO membership, and wishes to distance itself from the inappropriate use of the association's history in the electoral campaign," informs the source. ARCoR is part of the global network of the Club of Rome (CoR), a think tank organization dedicated to finding solutions to critical problems facing humanity. Founded in 1968, the CoR brings together experts from various fields to promote solutions to global problems. The clarifications come in the context of the information on the capacity that Calin Georgescu, who entered Romania's presidential runoff, had in this structure. The Romanian Embassy in the U.S. announced that Romania has met the Visa Waiver Program's visitor visa refusal rate requirement, specifying in a Facebook post that the Department of State published on Wednesday the situation of the B1/B2 (business/tourism) visa refusal rate for the tax year 2024 (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2024) and that Romania has fallen below the 3% threshold set by American legislation, thus meeting one of the main criteria for joining the program. According to the cited source, the B1/B2 visa refusal rate for the tax year 2024 is 2.61%. The diplomatic mission notes that Romanian citizens filed 80,596 B1/B2 visa applications worldwide, almost double the number of applications in the previous tax year. U.S. diplomatic and consular offices granted over 78,000 B1/B2 visas, a record number for Romania. "Romania's accession process to the Visa Waiver Program was extremely fair and transparent, and Romania's assessment by the U.S. authorities is almost complete. Romanians will be able to travel to the United States visa-free starting in 2025, giving this generation the chance to make the friendship with the American people even stronger and the opportunity to build an even more prosperous partnership," said Andrei Muraru, Romania's ambassador to the U.S. Since the beginning of the year until September, the Romanian Police received approximately 3,100 reports of investment fraud, over 80% of which concerned stock fraud, Chief Police Commissioner Sorin Stanica, a crime prevention specialist, on Wednesday told an event dedicated to online safety. In her turn, executive director of the Romanian Banks Association Gabriela Folcut said that the organization is in talks with the National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM), the National Cyber Security Directorate and the Romanian Police to find a way to prevent phone impersonation scams. "We are aware that we must strengthen all security measures, both at a technical and communication level. Technically we are very efficient in the beneficiary name display service. 20 banks are already part of this service, allowing someone who wants to make a payment to see, upon entering the IBAN code, who the amount is being transferred to - whether it is a natural person, or a legal person. Also, we are in discussions with Transfond and the National Bank to create an anti-fraud scheme benefiting all natural and legal persons, and I hope for a successful outcome as soon as possible with ANCOM. And yes, we are also trying to streamline the area where the customer immediately calls the bank when they notice that they have been scammed, so that the bank, to the extent possible, freezes the amount. (...) And we have set out to have a much more efficient cooperation with the Romanian Police, in the sense that they should call as soon as they receive a complaint from a customer, so that the bank can see if it can withhold the amount, if it was not transferred via instant payment, because in this case the money is gone in less than 10 seconds," said Folcut. The Romanian Banks Association, the Romanian Police and the National Cyber Security Directorate organized a press conference on Wednesday dedicated to the national online security awareness project #SigurantaOnline. A spokesperson for the digital platform TikTok dismissed concerns raised by Romania's National Audiovisual Council (CNA) that the platform's algorithms "were enhanced with content favorable to a certain candidate" in Romania's presidential election on Sunday, Reuters reports. The CNA asked the European Commission on Tuesday to probe TikTok's role in the election, taking into account what the Council described as "suspicions of public opinion manipulation." "In our opinion, it is clear that TikTok's algorithms were amplified with content favorable to a certain candidate, triggering an imbalance in the electoral competition and endangering political pluralism," said CNA vice-president Valentin-Alexandru Jucan. "These... reports about the Romanian elections are inaccurate and misleading, as most candidates have established a TikTok presence and the winners campaigned on other digital platforms beyond ours," the TikTok spokesperson said, as cited by Reuters. The University of Bucharest (UB) reiterated on Wednesday its commitment to defending democracy, freedom, and Romania's Euro-Atlantic orientation, urging political parties to revise their principles for selecting and promoting leaders, candidates in elections, and decision-makers in the administration system. Additionally, the representatives of UB encourage Romanians to become well-informed and to vote in order to determine Romania's future based on evidence and certainties regarding the candidates and their electoral offers, rather than on "manipulations and populist promises." "The University of Bucharest firmly reiterates its commitment to Romania's Euro-Atlantic orientation and the democratic values that are intrinsic to the Romanian state and nation. We believe that sanctioning inefficiency in governance and the social inequalities generated must be done within the democratic system and by preserving Romania's Euro-Atlantic orientation," the higher education institution said in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday. According to the representatives of the university, Romania's Euro-Atlantic orientation, as enshrined in the Constitution, and the fundamental values it expresses are supreme values in the spirit of Romania's democratic traditions. The UB representatives also pointed out that the tragedies and suffering caused by undemocratic, authoritarian, and dictatorial regimes in the 20th century should not be forgotten, nor should the victims of legionary movements and communism. Furthermore, the University of Bucharest firmly rejects "any form of dictatorship" and remains fully committed to the development of a Romanian society based on the Euro-Atlantic values of freedom, pluralism, and the rule of law through its research and educational missions. "We call on political parties to revise their principles for selecting and promoting leaders and candidates in elections, as well as decision-makers in the administration system. To defend democracy and Euro-Atlantic orientation and to avoid authoritarianism, Romania needs competent, democratic, and effective political leaders who understand the problems of the people and society and propose realistic and humanistic solutions, not populist or messianic ones," the press release also shows. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran is currently enriching uranium by 60 percent in compliance with the program, Iranian Vice President and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami told reporters following a ministerial meeting in Tehran, Trend reports. According to him, in addition, uranium enrichment for different consumptions at the rates of 5 percent and 20 percent is ongoing. Eslami noted that Iran intends to increase productivity in this field through the use of new centrifuges. To note, according to the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, since the previous report was published in August 2024, Iran has mined an additional 17.6 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium by October 26. The total amount of this material now stands at 182.3 kg. It was noted that such uranium could be easily enriched to 90 percent and made into a component of a nuclear weapon. Total uranium stockpiles increased by 852.6 kg to 6,604 kg during the same period. Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program. However, in May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Two years later, Iran responded to the sanctions by implementing a strategic plan for the nuclear sector to counter them. The Iranian parliament made this decision at the end of 2020, leading to the suspension of additional measures and the Additional Protocol in accordance with the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Tony Messenger Metro columnist Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today ST. LOUIS Four years of Roger Engelhardts work life can be told in 18 boxes of documents the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has been trying to keep secret. Engelhardt, a former lieutenant in the department, was fired because of whats in the boxes. He wants copies of the documents. The city keeps saying no. This week, he fired off his latest Sunshine Law request seeking some of the documents. Hes sent several such requests over the last year, each one denied in one capacity or another. This time, his request is informed by recently unsealed court depositions in a federal civil rights lawsuit. The depositions were of three key figures in the investigations that led to his firing Lt. Col. Michael Sack, Lt. J.D. McCloskey, and Sgt. Tonya Porter. The reason there are 18 boxes of documents, according to the depositions, is that there were actually three investigations, each of them overlapping. One was an audit of the Force Investigative Unit that Engelhardt led. That audit, first revealed in my column in January, outlined alleged errors in all 50 police shooting or jail death investigations led by the FIU during its first four years of existence. Many of the errors are procedural in nature. None of the shooting investigations have been re-opened. The city hid the document from attorneys who had filed lawsuits related to some of those investigations. A federal judge unsealed the audit in September in a lawsuit brought by the family of Mansur Ball-Bey, who was killed by city police in August 2015. Other documents in the boxes center around an internal affairs investigation of Engelhardt for allegedly getting paid for private security work while he was on the clock for the police department. The third investigation is a criminal probe of Engelhardts alleged double-dipping. According to Sacks deposition, he would give documents to the FBI when they asked for records. The FBI never charged Engelhardt with a crime, and the statute of limitations has passed. The new information in the depositions reinforces what Engelhardt has been saying since the investigations of him and his unit started in 2018: the police department didnt follow its own procedures for investigating an officer. Thats one reason why hes fought to open the records, even though some of them are critical of his work running the Force Investigative Unit. If an officer is investigated by internal affairs, hes supposed to receive notice. Engelhardt didnt receive such notice until two years after the investigation started. It was signed by Sack, showing a date in 2018 but listing a rank of lieutenant colonel for him. But Sack was a major, a lower rank, when the investigation began. Engelhardt has accused Sack of back-dating the document. Also, police regulations say there should be an incident report outlining the beginning of a criminal investigation into a police officer, and the inquiry should be separate from a personnel investigation. This is to protect police officers from incriminating themselves in a criminal investigation. There is no such incident report. And Sack testified in the Ball-Bey case that the investigations overlapped. These revelations about the scattered nature of the FIU Audit could help Ball-Beys family convince a jury that the city has a pattern of failure when it comes to police investigations. The case is scheduled to go to trial next year. But Sacks deposition also highlights a discrepancy Engelhardt noted in state court records more than a year ago. When Engelhardt was fired, he applied for and received unemployment benefits. The city later appealed those benefits. During that dispute, Engelhardt was able to question Sack, who denied being involved in any interviews related to Engelhardts firing. But in his deposition in the Ball-Bey case, Sack says he personally directed the investigation and conducted some interviews. He lied in his testimony in my unemployment hearing, Engelhardt said this week in an interview. How did you forget that you interviewed these people? Its a spiderweb of lies. It never stops. The irony is that Sack now has a lawsuit against the city, and he alleges his own spider web of malfeasance. Sack was passed over by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones for police chief, and he later filed a discrimination lawsuit, alleging the mayor violated city procedures and discriminated against him because hes white. Sacks lawsuit is ongoing, and so is Engelhardts effort to get his job back. Both cases suffer from the same delays, most of them caused intentionally by the city counselors office, the same office that spent years hiding the audit of police shootings. As he seeks documents from the city, Engelhardt is still awaiting the results of the civil service hearing in which he challenged his firing. One of the reasons he was allegedly fired taking too long to produce reports is now a key city tactic in the battle against him. The investigation or investigations into Engelhardt began in 2018. He wasnt fired until 2021. His civil service hearing was completed in March of this year. Hes still waiting for an outcome. JEFFERSON COUNTY The Salvation Army branch here will serve Thanksgiving meals Thursday at its offices after county officials cleared the building to reopen for the first time since a refrigerator fire last week. The fire at the charity's county branch, at 3740 Telegraph Road in Arnold, ruined the agency's food pantry and caused smoke damage to the rest of the building, leaving the charity without a place to store donations or help pay utilities for people in need, at a time when it is preparing to distribute meals and toys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. But by Wednesday, county health officials cleared much of the building to reopen. And volunteers were back preparing to feed an estimated 200 people on Thanksgiving to a turkey dinner with all the traditional side dishes. The charity providing the meal service, James II, was also cleared to continue a biweekly meal service that feeds up to about 60 people each time, said Karin Kostich, founder. "I'm overjoyed and I'm just so thankful," Kostich said Wednesday. "I think tomorrow is going to be amazing and its going to be a testament to the community coming together, prayer, and everybody working together for the good to help those in need." The Salvation Army's food pantry, however, remains closed. The food pantry, which is in the rear of the building and sealed off from the dining room and other offices, will need to be partially demolished and rebuilt, said Larry Hostetler, Salvation Army Jefferson County director. He hopes it can reopen early next year. "It's difficult for us to live with, but we're trying to figure out how we can move on as quickly as we can," he said. Meanwhile, the Salvation Army has picked up where it left off helping clients get assistance for utility bills and other needs and collecting toys for its annual Christmas Holiday distribution next month. And the community pitched in to help, Hostetler said. The Rock Community Fire Protection District, the Meramec Arnold Elks Lodge, and other groups offered to host the free meal services if the Salvation Army couldn't. The charity's kettle buckets, where they ask for donations outside grocers and other stores, have been full, he said. "I cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support the community has given us," he said. "It's so heartwarming." Monetary donations for the Salvation Army's facility in Arnold can be made at salarmymidland.org/Arnold. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Iran and three European countries (UK, France, and Germany) on November 29 may be effective to start nuclear discussions on a comprehensive plan of joint action, the former head of the Iranian President's Office and deputy chairman of the Moderation and Development Party Mahmoud Vaezi wrote on X, Trend reports. According to him, discussions on a comprehensive joint action plan to lift sanctions have not been properly used to lift sanctions, and the country's development has slowed down. Vaezi noted that the current Iranian government seeks bilateral cooperation in various fields with states and maintains peace and stability in the region. "It is expected that the meeting between Iran and three European countries at the level of deputy ministers will be based on mutual respect and positive results will be achieved, he noted. Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program. However, in May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Two years later, Iran responded to the sanctions by implementing a strategic plan for the nuclear sector to counter them. The Iranian parliament made this decision at the end of 2020, leading to the suspension of additional measures and the Additional Protocol in accordance with the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress long-range bomber flies over the Baltic Sea during exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2020, June 15, 2020. (Damon Grosvenor/U.S. Navy) Two U.S. Air Force long-range bombers were intercepted Monday by Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, a defense official confirmed. The B-52H Stratofortresses were in international airspace flying a pre-planned route, the official said Wednesday. The incident occurred the same day two long-range bombers conducted a simulated weapons drop training mission as part of integrated training with Finnish and Swedish fighter jets. The bombers are assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, based at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. It is unclear if the pair of bombers involved in the interception were the same bombers training with Finland and Sweden. This is not the first time U.S. bombers have had a close call with Russian aircraft in the militarily important Arctic region. In July, two B-52H Stratofortresses were intercepted by Russian fighters over the Barents Sea on a preplanned mission that involved coordination with NATO fighter planes, the U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa said. In Europe, encounters between allied and Russian aircraft are relatively commonplace. In most cases, intercepts occur over international airspace without incident. However, allies on occasion have accused Russia of crossing into their airspace. In June, Finland said four Russian military aircraft crossed into its airspace for several minutes. Other aerial confrontations have risked potential escalation between Russia and the U.S. military, such as when a Russian fighter in March 2023 collided with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, forcing the unmanned aircraft to crash into international waters. Pfc. Shreyan Karki, a Germany-based U.S. soldier, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a fellow soldier in 2023. He was sentenced Nov. 22, 2024, to over four years behind bars and will be required to register as a sex offender, an Army statement said. (William Rosado/U.S. Air Force) KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany A U.S. soldier assigned to a military hospital in Germany faces over four years behind bars and must register as a sex offender after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a female fellow soldier in his barracks room. Pfc. Shreyan Karki, 20, a member of the Medical Readiness Battalion at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, was convicted Friday by a military jury in Kaiserslautern of sexual assault and assault consummated by battery, an Army statement Tuesday said. Besides receiving a prison term of four years and two months, Karki was sentenced to a demotion in rank to private and a dishonorable discharge. The crime occurred Dec. 13, 2023, just after both Karki and the victim had arrived in Landstuhl for their assignments in the same unit, according to the statement. The woman became ill while in Karkis barracks room, so he moved her to a spare bed and then sexually assaulted her, the statement said. Karki was arraigned in August. At trial, the victims testimony was corroborated by DNA evidence, eyewitness testimony and a sexual assault nurse examiner, the Army said in the statement. The serious penalties faced by the accused are in line with how this violation will impact the victim for the rest of her life, prosecutor Maj. Sara Nicholson said. Demo, a 3-year-old yellow labrador, receives a pat from a sailor in the galley aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 14, 2024. At the time, the warship was on its way to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., from an extended deployment in the Middle East where the crew faced almost daily attacks of missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed militants. (Caitlyn Burchett/Stars and Stripes) NORFOLK, Va. A budding Navy office is trying to sell the idea of fur therapy to higher echelons after more than a year of deploying four-legged, tail-wagging honorary officers aboard warships to boost sailor mental health and morale. At sea aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in mid-July, Capt. Demo bounded through the halls of the ship and towards a crowded eating area. A chorus of Demo! Demo! rang out from sailors calling the dog. The 2-year-old yellow labrador wedged himself between two sailors seated at a table. Multiple hands reached for Demo, each giving him a pat on the head. Good boy, one of the sailors said before the dog moved along to another group. Trailing behind the labrador was one of his handlers, Hospital Corpsman Kindal Kidd. Demo is one of four facility dogs that has deployed aboard East Coast-based warships since 2023 as part of a small-scale test to evaluate the feasibility of deploying dogs aboard warships across the fleet. Dubbed the Expeditionary Facility Dog program, the test was initiated by Naval Air Force Atlantic, based at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., as part of phase two of a quality-of-life initiative the Navy launched in 2022 in the wake of a cluster of sailor suicides. Overseeing the canine program is the Force Improvement Office, which was created in 2022 in reaction to concerns about the mental health of sailors. That year, the service recorded 71 suicides among active members. Another 69 were documented in 2023. [The goal of the pilot program] is so that if people start getting into a bad cycle and the domino starts falling, if we can stop that next domino, we can interrupt the cycle, said Terri Farricker, team lead of the pilot program and force improvement officer for Naval Air Force Atlantic. Aside from Demo on the Eisenhower, the dog program has also placed captains Sage and Rudder on the aircraft carriers USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Harry S. Truman, respectively, and Lt. Cmdr. Ike on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. There are plans to place a dog aboard the carrier USS George H.W. Bush in 2025. Framed photos of Rudder, Sage and Demo, expeditionary facility dogs, on a desk in the Force Improvement Office in Norfolk, Va. The photos were hung as part of a Wall of Heroes at the office, which is responsible for overseeing the Expeditionary Facility Dog pilot program for the Navy. (Caitlyn Burchett/Stars and Stripes) The dogs, guided by handlers, visit sailors throughout the warships to help individuals feel safe and comfortable and give them a positive mental health boost. Other measures the sea service is taking to improve quality of life includes putting Wi-Fi on aircraft carriers, increasing the number of non-clinical mental health providers and chaplains aboard ships, and moving sailors off ships while in shipyards. The Navy has begun implementing some of those initiatives across the fleet. But dogs on ships cannot be rolled out fleet-wide without evidence that the dogs make a positive impact. Like anything, we have to see if the juice is worth the squeeze. All this training to put a dog onboard is any of that moving the needle to increase sailor quality of service and quality of life? Farricker said. Commitment and cost Capt. Christopher Hill, commanding officer of the Eisenhower, was first approached with the idea of deploying with a dog during a morale event where facility dogs in training came aboard the warship to interact with sailors. Hill said he was skeptical about the idea, calling it an apparent logistical nightmare. His concerns were: How does the ship feed the dog when on deployment? Where does the dog urinate and defecate? How many people must take care of the dog, and how will that distract from their ordinary duties? But those perceived challenges seemed less daunting with each puppy kiss that Hill received during the morale event, he said. That day, the captain agreed to consider the program, and in October 2023, Demo deployed aboard the Eisenhower. The deployment, he said, solidified his belief in the program. I was skeptical, too, until I saw it in action on a nine-month challenging deployment and the impact that he had on peoples lives. Just to see Demo walk through a passageway and watch sailors light up it is so hard to quantify, but it is definitely impactful, Hill said recently. Demo, a 3-year-old yellow labrador, poses July 14, 2024, on a couch alongside one of his handlers, Hospital Corpsman Kindal Kidd. At the time, Demo was aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was on its way to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., from an extended deployment in the Middle East where the crew faced almost daily attacks of missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed militants. (Caitlyn Burchett/Stars and Stripes) The canines deploying on Navy warships are dogs that are owned by Mutts with a Mission, a Virginia Beach-based nonprofit. The dogs are loaned to the aircraft carriers under a memorandum of understanding between the nonprofit and the commanding officer of the warship. The memorandum of understanding is for two years or until the commanding officer is reassigned. With the dog, comes a hefty commitment: identifying four to five sailors to act as handlers, 120 hours of training, dedicating a bathroom on the ship exclusively for the dog, and the responsibility of accommodating a dog 24/7 for the duration of the memorandum of understanding, including when the ship is in port or underway. But the responsibility of having a dog onboard is balanced out by the extraordinarily low cost, the Force Improvement Office said. The only program cost for the Navy is dog food. All other costs associated with the dog are provided by Mutts with a Mission. This includes specialized goggles, ear protection and shoes for the dogs to be in and around aircraft, a harness, leash and facility dog vest, and a dog kit containing emergency medical supplies. While those items can total hundreds of dollars, Mutts with a Mission has not indicated a need to pass those costs along to the Navy, Farricker said. Additionally, the Force Improvement Office ensures the dog has an emergency medical kit, equipped with necessary supplies for a range of illnesses, from upset stomachs to minor surgeries. And the office has partnered with the Army to offer telehealth vet appointments and in-port veterinarian care to the dogs while deployed. The Army is the only U.S. armed force that has veterinarians. Hill said the commitment to the Expeditionary Facility Dog program paid off and is something he is continuing aboard the Eisenhower now that it has returned from deployment. Morale is critical, he said, to motivating people to be the best versions of themselves. By enhancing quality of life and work for sailors, morale is enhanced, which leads to more mission success. Now, lets say we added a furry beast to this package. I think it has nothing but positive results, Hill said. Terri Farricker, force improvement officer for Naval Air Force Atlantic, is leading the Expeditionary Facility Dog pilot program. She is tasked with gathering quantitative and qualitative evidence of the programs impact on sailors deployed aboard warships. (Caitlyn Burchett/Stars and Stripes) Come for the dog, stay for the care A plush animal replica of Sage, a yellow labrador, is perched on the corner of Capt. Genevieve Clarks desk at Naval Air Force Atlantic. Clark, now the force chaplain for the Norfolk command, was the Navys first primary handler for an expeditionary facility dog. Clark was one of four handlers for Sage while aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford during its 2023 maiden deployment. It was team Sage all day, every day, Clark said, smiling fondly at the plush toy. We worked as a team, saw each other daily, and Sage loved us all equally. The Force Improvement Office works with commanding officers to identify sailors in medical or counseling fields such as hospital corpsman, physical therapists or civilian counselors to act as handlers. In placing dogs with individuals in a helping role, the facility dog can complement the responsibilities of the handler. Handlers accompany the dogs to events, classes, and one-on-one sessions offered to sailors. Handlers are also tasked with walking the dog around the ship to expose the dog to sailors who might not otherwise have the option of interacting with the dog. This typically takes two to four hours per day walking the dog to communal areas, such as the galley and the hangar bay where sailors congregate during their downtime. Departments across the ship can also reserve time with the dog. While sailors interact with the dog, the handler observes and extends resources to any sailors who indicate a need for a deeper level of care. When a facility animal is around, you see a different side of people. Maybe they were angry and having a bad day for whatever reason. But at least for that moment with the animal, they are happy, Clark said. The Ford deployed for the first time May 2023 from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. In October 2023, near the end of an otherwise uneventful deployment, the warship and its strike group were ordered to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to deter a regional conflict in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Suddenly the crew were thrust into an unknown combat environment. Sailors didnt know what they could say or not say [to their families]. It became even more important to have a little bit of normal in the midst of a lot of uncertainty. That was what Sage brought to the crew normalcy. Its normal to have a pet, and it is something that takes your mind off the gravity and immediacy of the situation, Clark said. Sage participated in more than 62,000 group activities across the eight months the Ford was deployed, averaging 7,830 per month, according to Clark. Actual interactions with sailors totaled more than 18,700 spanning the deployment. Sage, the USS Gerald R. Fords facility dog, visits the Ticonderoga-class, guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy in the Mediterranean Sea on June 20, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Malachi Lakey/U.S. Navy photo) Of those interactions, there were 911 documented instances of plus-up care, where a sailor would attend an event to see Sage and would ultimately seek out a resource beyond the facility dog. Additionally, Sage was requested by individual sailors to be in the room for 3,368 one-on-one counseling sessions. They would come for the dog, but stay for the care, Clark said. She said she often observed a shift in a sailors mood during and in the minutes after they interacted with Sage. I am not a scientist by any stretch, but I would see it have an impact for 10-20 minutes. In a day of a sailor even in a stressful situation like being on a ship that can take them from I cant bear anymore to OK, I can get through this, Clark said. Examining the impact Religious Program Specialist Javarus Stewart was one of Demos handlers during the Eisenhowers deployment to the Middle East where the crew faced almost daily attacks of missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed militants. Like Sage on the Ford, Demo was in high demand, said Stewart, who was responsible for scheduling Demos interactions. There were upwards of 20 requests per day from sailors or departments asking to reserve time with Demo. As the pair visited sailors in communal spaces, people flocked to pet Demo as if he was a celebrity. But it was the quieter moments, one-on-one interactions, that Stewart said he saw the most impact. One day, Stewart encountered a distraught sailor sitting in the Eisenhowers chapel. With Demo in tow, he approached. She was having a really bad day. But she hugged Demo, and for a moment, she was not in the Red Sea, Stewart said. Kenneth Sausen, a psychologist with the Navys Force Improvement Office, visited the Eisenhower three times during its deployment to measure the programs impact, gather observations and interact with sailors face-to-face. Lets say a puppy makes you feel good who doesnt love a puppy? But how long does that last? 30 seconds? A few minutes? As soon as you walk out the door? Sausen said. To quantify this information, Sausen designed a seven-page survey for sailors to rate their overall experience and satisfaction with having a dog aboard. He began analyzing the survey results in mid-September to present the data to leaders at Naval Air Force Atlantic and U.S. Fleet Forces. The survey, Sausen said, covered a range of topics: Are you a dog person or a cat person? How much stress are you under? Does having a dog on board improve your connection with home? The data and Sausens analysis of that information, Naval Air Force Atlantic said, would be presented to U.S. Fleet Forces. It has not yet been released to the public. Sausen said he would like to see the dogs have a 20- to 30-minute positive impact on sailors. But gauging the impact on sailors during an unprecedented combat-paced deployment introduce variables that can be difficult to measure. It depends on what happens, right? So, Im nice and chill because I got to play with the pooch, and then all sudden, a fire alarm goes off, he said. I dont know that there is a really good answer for what would be considered by most psychologists to be an effective treatment in terms of length of time. Dogs on West Coast ships Lt. Cmdr. Ike has taken social media platform Instagram by storm, documenting his deployment aboard the USS Wasp, which has been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean since June. According to his Instagram profile, which is not an official Defense Department page, the yellow labrador has mastered climbing steep stair wells, flying in helicopters and being a very good boy. His make-shift blue coveralls, customized by crew members, match that of sailors, except his have cut outs for four legs and a tail. Fur is not FOD (foreign object debris), but we would not change it for a thing!, read a post published on Ikes Instagram page, referencing debris that could potentially damage aircraft. A little lab glitter is just part of Ikes charm, and there is nothing a lint roller cant fix. He is here to spread love and maybe a few extra hairs on the USS Wasp! The post, published on Oct. 30, showed the dog with his tongue out as a sailor cleaned near a stairwell. While the pilot program is gaining traction on the East Coast, it likely wont be an official program of record for multiple years, Naval Air Force Atlantic said. After Sausens data is presented to Naval Air Force Atlantic and U.S. Fleet Forces, it will be presented to the chief of naval operations and the Navy secretary. Typically, from there, a proposal would be made to the Defense Department to elevate it to a full program, including justification for funding and resource allocation. If approved by all necessary entities, the program would be included as a line item in the Future Years Defense Program, a five-year plan that projects the Defense Departments needs for resources, manpower, and force structure. But even if it becomes a program of record, there are some limits that would prevent the program from rolling out to West Coast-based ships and smaller warships. Ike is the only expeditionary facility dog assigned to an amphibious assault ship because there is a question about whether warships smaller than aircraft carriers can accommodate a dog. Aircraft carriers are more than 1,000 feet long, while the amphibious assault ships are around 850 feet. In comparison, destroyers, which typically deploy as part of a carrier strike group are about 500 feet long. Smaller ships are steeper and narrower. They are trained to go up and down the ladder wells. But a really steep ladder well is a challenge for me, and I only have two feet, Farricker said. The smaller ships also dont have extra space to dedicate to a dog a bathroom exclusively for the animal, staterooms large enough for crew and the dog, as well as the storage for the dogs emergency medical kit. Additionally, West Coast-based ships typically deploy to regions that have strict regulations that would not allow the dog to leave the warship during port calls. Specifically, some countries in the Indo-Pacific region require animals even service animals to quarantine for 180 days before entering the country. If the dog ever wants to get off the boat in the 7th Fleet, they have to do a six-month quarantine. We cant always guarantee that, Farricker said. To go back to my original phrasing, is the juice worth the squeeze to embark the dog and have them skip 7th Fleet port call entirely? While Farricker recognizes the pilot program will require years of energy, with numerous hurdles, she said she whole-heartedly believes the juice will be worth the squeeze. If this is the investiture in terms of what we can do to meet sailors [and] invest in their mental health so they can come talk about whatever is going on in their lives that they may not feel comfortable talking about, so that we can be disruptive in a stress continuum I find that to be more than equitable for the exchange in sailor life, Farricker said. A sailor knocked on Farrickers office door. In his hands were three framed photos of the canines Sage, Demo and Rudder. Ikes photo had not yet arrived. Oh, they are here! she exclaimed as the sailor placed the frames on her desk. Farricker, in anticipation of the photos, had cleared a wall. She plans to make a wall of heroes to honor the dogs. Because they are heroes, she said. Current U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro speaks to U.S. Marine Corps recruiters at Recruiting Sub-station Essex in Bloomfield, NJ, Oct. 27, 2024. Del Toro may be replaced by President-elect Donald Trumps likely pick for Navy secretary, John Phelan. (Cesar Alarcon/U.S. Marine Corps ) President-elect Donald Trump announced businessman and mega donor John Phelan as his pick for the Secretary of the U.S. Navy. John will be a tremendous force for our naval servicemembers and a steadfast leader in advanced in my America First vision. He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else, Trump said in a statement shared to social media Tuesday night. Phelan is the founder of Rugger Management LLC and co-founder of MSD Capital, both private investment firms. He also serves as a board member of military-themed nonprofit Spirit of America. Trump said Phelans unmatched intelligence, experience and leadership will elevate the lives of sailors. It is unclear if Phelan has any military experience or a connection to the sea service. John will deliver real results for our Navy and our country, Trump said. Phelan is a strong supporter of Trumps reelection, donating $927,900 to the Trump 47 Committee since the start of 2024, according to the Federal Election Commission. If confirmed, he would replace the current Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) will sell 76,000 tons of hydrocarbon products on November 27, Trend reports. Out of the mentioned volume, 21,000 tons will be up for grabs on the home turf of the energy exchange. The following goods are to be offered on the Iran Energy Exchange's domestic ring: - Abadan Oil Refining Company's 10,000 tons of heavy naphtha, 6,000 tons of LCO, 254 tons of solvent-410 - Persian Gulf Bid-Boland Gas Processing Company's 4,000 tons of pentane, 400 tons of butane - Mahabad Petrochemical Company's 150 tons of C6+ - Shiraz Oil Refining Company's 100 tons of iso-recycle, 100 tons of iso feed - Barod Carbon Company's 50 tons of carbon dioxide Furthermore, 55,000 tons of products will be on sale on the Iran Energy Exchange's export ring: - Persian Gulf Star Oil Company's 35,000 tons of naphtha and 6,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - Pars Behin Qeshm Oil Refinery's 8,080 tons of light distillate - National Gas Company's 3,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - Tehran Oil Refining Company's 2,000 tons of butane - Fannavaran Petrochemical Companys 1,000 tons of methanol The Iran Energy Exchange's hydrocarbon sales are vital to the economy. Iran plans to boost exports while providing domestic industries with hydrocarbon products via energy exchange. IRENEX sells its products at the SANA exchange rate. The sale of hydrocarbons on IRENEX is vital to the country's economy. Through energy exchange, Iran seeks to boost exports and provide hydrocarbon products to local businesses. (Gene Lesney/Stars and Stripes) South Korea, 1958: A group of MPs grabs a bite of chow, protected by camouflage netting, while on field assignment. The 7th Military Police Company (Prov.) the Armys first pentomic MP company was on a five-day field exercise with the 7th Infantry Division, pulling guard duty and local road patrols in the battle-scarred mountains of north-central South Korea. Pictured here is a scan of the original 1958 print created by Stars and Stripes Pacifics photo department to run in the print newspaper. The red marks indicate the crop lines. Only the middle part of the image would appear in the newspaper. As the vast majority of pre-1964 Stars and Stripes Pacific negatives and slides were unwittingly destroyed by poor temporary storage in 1963, the prints developed from the late 1940s through 1963 are the only images left of Stripes news photography from those decades with the exception the negatives of some 190 pre-1964 photo assignment found recently. Stars and Stripes archives team is scanning these prints and negatives to ensure their preservation. Looking for Stars and Stripes historic coverage? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes historic newspaper archive! We have digitized our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/ The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln prepares to pull into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a scheduled port visit, Nov. 22, 2024. (Kassandra Alanis/U.S. Navy) The USS Abraham Lincoln pulled into Port Klang over the weekend, marking the first U.S. aircraft carrier visit to Malaysia in more than a decade following a high-profile bribery scandal involving a Malaysian contractor. The carrier sailed through the Strait of Malacca and docked at the port southwest of Malaysias capital, Kuala Lumpur, for a scheduled stop, the Navy announced Monday. The visit is the first by a U.S. aircraft carrier to Malaysia since the USS George Washington stopped there in 2012. That visit preceded the arrest of Leonard Glenn Francis also known as Fat Leonard who orchestrated a decade-long scheme to bribe U.S. Navy officials. Francis, the former head of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November for paying off more than 30 Navy officials with cash, prostitutes and luxury travel to secure lucrative contracts. The Department of Justice said Francis swindled the Navy out of more than $30 million. Port Klang was among Francis pearl ports, named for their profitability in the scheme. In 2010, Francis conspired with Navy Capt. Daniel Dusek to redirect the Abraham Lincoln to Port Klang, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of California. [Dusek] is a golden asset to drive the big decks into our fat revenue GDMA ports, Francis wrote to one of his employees, the Justice Department announced in 2015. Dusek was sentenced in 2016 to 42 months in prison, according to the department. Another Navy officer involved in the case, Capt. David Haas, is seeking a reduction of a felony conviction to a misdemeanor after prosecutorial misconduct resulted in the reduction or dismissal of nine other defendants felony convictions. Leonards defense team filed paperwork to appeal his conviction on Nov. 19. The Abraham Lincolns return to Port Klang on Saturday was meant to reaffirm the strong ties between the U.S. and Malaysia, the Navy said in Mondays release. The visit highlights the countries close people-to-people, economic, and security ties, it added. Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Jamie Moroney declined to comment on how long the Abraham Lincoln will stay in port, citing operational security concerns. Moroney did not respond to a question about the significance of the carriers visit in the wake of the scandal, instead pointing out how such port calls provide opportunities for ship resupplies and crew relaxation. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group stands ready to support any mission in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, she added. Cannabis and its synthetic forms are legal in some U.S. states but are banned for U.S. service members and in South Korea under the Narcotics Control Act. (Department of Defense) CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea A South Korean court handed a suspended sentence to an American soldier convicted of smuggling synthetic cannabis into the country via military mail. The service member, identified only as a 27-year-old soldier assigned to Camp Henry, received a three-year sentence from a three-judge panel in Daegu District Court on Nov. 22, according to the written verdict and court staff. The judges suspended the sentence for five years, meaning the soldier remains free unless he commits another offense in South Korea during that time. He was also fined roughly $330. Just ahead of his sentencing, the soldier was found guilty of purchasing 0.33 ounces of synthetic marijuana from a U.S.-based website on four occasions starting on Dec. 15, 2023, the verdict states. The judges determined the cannabis arrived in the country through the U.S. militarys postal service. South Korean law enforcement agencies and courts typically do not identify defendants except in extreme cases, such as homicide. The soldier said he suffered from a sleep disorder and stress from a divorce, and purchased the cannabis after seeing advertisements claiming its ingredients could help him rest, the verdict reads. Cannabis and its synthetic forms are legal in some U.S. states but are banned for U.S. service members and in South Korea under the Narcotics Control Act. Drug possession in South Korea carries a maximum sentence of five years or a fine of roughly $38,200. Trafficking narcotics carries a minimum five-year prison term. The judges verdict noted that they believe the cannabis was for the soldiers personal use, not for distribution, and that he did not have a criminal record in South Korea. Its customary in South Korea that some government officials speak to the media on condition of anonymity. President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their second summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 27, 2019. (Joyce Boghosian/The White House) Members of President-elect Donald Trumps staff are reportedly considering efforts to engage in dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Two unnamed sources familiar with the discussions said the proposed plan could repair Trumps relationship with Kim, which was strained during his first term, the Reuters news agency reported Wednesday. However, no final decision has been made by the incoming president. During his first year in office in 2017, Trump warned the communist regime would be met with fire and fury if it continued to threaten the United States. Despite that initial rhetoric, Trump and Kim made history the following year when they met in Singapore for the first-ever summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. The White House described the meeting as an epochal event aimed at building a foundation for future peace talks on the peninsula. The leaders held a second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019, but those talks collapsed without a formal agreement after disputes over sanctions relief for Pyongyang. Four months later, Trump and Kim met at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. In a symbolic gesture, Trump briefly crossed into North Korea, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so. However, North Korea continued its ballistic missile testing during Trumps presidency. The regime fired two short-range ballistic missiles on May 9, 2019, roughly seven weeks before the leaders DMZ meeting. Trump dismissed concerns over North Koreas launches, even after the regime fired two more short-range ballistic missiles on Aug. 2, 2019. There may be a United Nations violation, but Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust , Trump wrote on social media the next day. Tensions remain high on the peninsula. North Korea has conducted 45 ballistic missile launches across 12 days of testing so far this year, including an intercontinental ballistic weapon fired Oct. 31 that flew approximately 620 miles at a lofted trajectory. North Koreas state-run Korean Central News Agency criticized Trumps diplomacy earlier this year, saying it failed to deliver any substantial positive change. A July 23 report by KCNA said Trump has tried to reflect the special personal relations between the two leaders but the foreign policy of state and personal feelings must be strictly distinguished. Kim, in a speech in Pyongyang on Nov. 22, reiterated his belief that North Korea has already gone to every length in negotiations with the U.S., according to a KCNA report the following day. North Korea launches a Hwasongpho-19 intercontinental ballistic missile, Oct. 31, 2024, in this image from the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper. (Rodong Sinmun) SEOUL, South Korea Former President Donald Trumps reelection could dramatically shift U.S.-South Korean relations and renew questions about whether Seoul should pursue a nuclear weapons program, experts said this week. Trumps second term may reignite debate over a goal South Korea abandoned in 1970 when it signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, according to analysts from the Seoul-based Institute for National Security Strategy who spoke Monday at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club. The NPT, a landmark agreement, prohibits signatories from developing nuclear weapons and encourages the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Seouls consideration of nuclear weapons would depend largely on Trumps relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Han Sukhee, president of the government-funded research institute. Trump began his first term trading threats of fire and fury with Kim but later negotiated directly, meeting face to face in Singapore in 2018. The following year, a second summit in Hanoi ended without an agreement on denuclearization or sanctions relief. If Trump recognizes Pyongyang as a legitimate nuclear state and begins disarmament talks with Kim, it could have traumatic consequences for South Korea, Han said. For the past 30 to 40 years, South Korea has been cooperative with the U.S.-led denuclearization and nonproliferation regime , Han said. However, on the contrary, North Korea has been hostile to the United States and they also successfully developed their nuclear weapons systems. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, watch the launch of a Hwasongpho-19 intercontinental ballistic missile, Oct. 31, 2024, in this image from the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper. (Rodong Sinmun) Pyongyang has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, most recently on Sept. 3, 2017, when it claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb. So far this year, it has launched about 45 ballistic missiles over 12 days of testing. While Trump is unlikely to support South Korea developing its own nuclear arsenal, Seoul could explore other nuclear options, such as deploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons or revisiting past nuclear agreements, said Kyoung-Suk Ha, a research fellow at the institute. Public opinion in South Korea also hinges on continued U.S. military support, Han said. The U.S. has provided security assurances to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War, particularly in response to ongoing threats from the North. The alliance is stronger than ever, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a Nov. 13 press conference, emphasizing Washingtons commitment to South Koreas defense. That commitment includes the full range of our nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities, he said. In addition to maintaining 28,500 troops in South Korea, the U.S. has dispatched high-profile military assets to reaffirm its pledge. On July 18, 2023, the USS Kentucky a ballistic missile submarine docked at South Koreas largest port, Busan, marking the first visit of its kind in 42 years. On June 5, a U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber carried out live-fire drills with South Korean fighter jets, the first joint exercise of its kind in seven years. Han noted that such actions underscore the U.S.s extended deterrence, which could dissuade South Korea from pursuing its own nuclear weapons. A Ukrainian serviceman of an anti-aircraft unit from the 24th mechanized brigade readies a mobile short-range surface-to-air missile system Strela-10 (SAM) for combat at a position in the Donetsk region, on June 11, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images/TNS) (Tribune News Service) Russias Defense Ministry said its forces were preparing a response to Ukraines recent attacks using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on air defense units in the Kursk border region. In the last three days, the AFU carried out two strikes at objects in the Kursk region by long-range Western-made weaponry, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram, referring to Ukraines armed forces. Retaliatory measures are being prepared. Ukraine fired five of the U.S.-made long-range missiles on Saturday, targeting an S-400 battalion near Lotarevka, northwest of Kursk, Russias Defense Ministry said. Two of projectiles hit their targets, damaging a radar and resulting in casualties, according to the statement. On Monday, Ukraine launched eight ATACMS missiles at the Kursk-Vostochny airfield, less than 6 miles east of the regional capital. Seven were shot down by air defenses while one hit its target, the ministry said. Last week, Moscows forces launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile known as Oreshnik at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in retaliation for Kyivs first known use of western-supplied long-range weapons to strike Russian territory. President Vladimir Putin later said his forces may use the new missile in combat again. The move came after a week of escalation that saw Putin lower the threshold for using Moscows nuclear arsenal and Joe Biden reverse course and allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike Russia. Ukraine also launched U.K.-made Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets. The decisions by London and Washington to allow the strikes, which Kyiv had long requested, came in response to the Kremlin deploying North Korean troops to fight against Ukraine, according to officials from both governments. Ukraines Air Force said earlier on Tuesday that Russia launched 188 Shahed drones overnight, the most in at least a year, as well as four Iskander-type ballistic missiles. With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski. 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Soldiers from the Lebanese army patrol the roads around Beiruts southern suburbs on Nov. 11. (Ed Ram for The Washington Post) As quickly as they had fled, people across Lebanon on Wednesday strapped belongings atop cars and headed home, uncertain what awaited them in their cities, towns or villages - or, for their ravaged country, what came next. A furious Israeli military offensive against the militant group Hezbollah over the last year dealt Lebanon death and destruction, and after a cease-fire early Wednesday, left something else: a vacuum of authority, with the countrys future hanging on how it would be filled, officials and analysts said. Stepping into the void could be Hezbollah, bloodied but - according to some experts - unbowed; the Lebanese military, a weak force betting on a surge of international support; or some configuration of regional and Western states, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, eager to project their interests on Lebanon in its hour of need. A competition for influence could involve the process of rebuilding the country, the election of a president and the provision of security in Lebanon, especially in the south, at a time when many in the country are preoccupied with recovering from the war. You know we were so busy, all of us, with the cease-fire, Lebanons foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said at a conference in Rome on Tuesday, hours before the truce between Israel and Hezbollah was announced. Did we think very much about the day after? No, he said. Tuesdays cease-fire agreement, brokered by the United States, was an attempt both to end the war and to upend the status quo in Lebanon, including by forcing Hezbollahs fighters away from the Israeli border. It calls for Israeli troops that invaded Lebanon in October to withdraw over a 60-day period and for Lebanese military forces, along with U.N. peacekeepers, to assume authority in the south as Hezbollah fighters withdraw. Another major source of friction between Lebanon and Israel - the permanent delineation of their border - is briefly addressed by the agreement but put off for resolution at some later date. The Lebanese militarys role is seen as a key to the cease-fire. Bou Habib said the force of some 5,000 soldiers already in the south would be doubled, thrusting the military into the unfamiliar role of peacekeeper between Israel and Hezbollah, two of the regions most potent and committed foes. Even as the fighting intensified in recent months, the Lebanese military - which has received support from the United States and others to perform functions such as border patrols and counterterrorism, and sees its primary function as preserving domestic peace in Lebanon - was ill-equipped or disinclined to face either of the combatants, analysts said. Few people in the country believed the military would be asked to confront Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed force that is supported by millions of people in Lebanon. And no one expected it would challenge Israel, a nuclear power and far superior conventional force. If peace prevailed, it would only be because Israel and Hezbollah, for the moment, had decided to take a break from war. Hezbollah, which held sway in many parts of southern Lebanon, has been set back decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday. Its leadership and weapons were destroyed, he said in a victory speech aimed at selling the cease-fire to the Israeli public and domestic skeptics. There was little doubt that Hezbollah is going to come out of this very different than it came out of 2006, said Amal Saad, a lecturer in politics at Cardiff University, referring to the last war between Israel and Hezbollah, when the militant group claimed success after fighting Israel to a standstill. Hezbollah has taken a severe beating, she said, losing its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, in an Israeli attack, along with the top rung of its political echelon. The group suffered devastating infiltrations of its vaunted security network, including an Israeli attack on pagers used by the group. In agreeing to a cease-fire, the group abandoned its long-held position that it would halt fire only after Israel ended its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. I dont think anyone is hailing this as a divine victory, as the group had in 2006, Saad said. But in the face of some of Israels stated war aims - to destroy the group and to create a new Middle East free of challenge from Iranian-allied forces - Hezbollah had prevailed, she said. Analyzing efforts to craft the narrative of the war, she asked whether Hezbollah is more powerful that it withstood this brutal onslaught, adding that the group is likely to retain its role as kingmaker in Lebanons political firmament while zealously guarding its ability to retain its weapons. To Saad, the cease-fire seems like a hiatus. This is by no means the end of the war, she said. Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said Hezbollah will try to claim victory after the war, based on the notion that Israel had not been able to achieve its war goals. But the claim will be less convincing than it had been in the past, he said, in part because of the messenger. Nasrallah, a charismatic figure, had previously delivered such messages. But now it has fallen to his successor, Naim Qassem - described by Hage Ali as a lackluster leader - to convince Hezbollahs supporters and rivals alike that the war was worth the cost. It is possible that Lebanons political establishment, which had supported Hezbollah during the war, will rethink its position, given how weakened the organization is, Hage Ali said. At the same time, Lebanons future is becoming much more dependent on the regional context - including the role of Saudi Arabia and other regional states - and less so on local politics. The resumption of the war is a real threat and will impact how each side calibrates its next move. As the cease-fire took effect early Wednesday, Lebanon was still tallying the cost of more than a year of conflict. More than 3,700 people were killed, including hundreds of children, according to Lebanons Health Ministry. Upward of 1 million people have been displaced. Neighborhoods crumbled under thousands of air raids, and along the border, villages were all but erased by Israeli explosives. Daunting tests loom for Lebanon. The government - a caretaker entity already destitute because of a long financial crisis that has functioned without an elected president for more than two years - faces losses from the war that are hard to grasp: physical damage and economic costs amounting to some $8.5 billion, according to the World Bank, and a contraction of gross domestic product of about 6.5 percent. Half of the country is subsisting below the poverty line, according to Mercy Corps, an aid group. Our concern is that now that the conflict is over, or at least there is a cease-fire, the attention will not be on Lebanon, while the challenges are huge, said Laila Al Amine, director for Mercy Corps in the country. So many people have lost their means of income, she said, especially in the south, where olive farmers had lost two harvest seasons because of the conflict. Continued instability meant we cannot expect investment, and tourism, to continue as before, Al Amine said. On top of this, unexploded bombs are waiting, like traps, for children and others in abandoned parts of Lebanon. We cannot leave people alone, she said, in another warning about the vacuum. Short-term challenges amid the cease-fire were swiftly apparent Wednesday, amid reports that returning civilians were fired upon in towns Israeli troops had not yet retreated from, including journalists who were wounded by Israeli fire in the town of Khiam. But displaced people were undeterred, with thousands clogging the roads from Beirut on Wednesday as they headed south. Jawad Choueib, 31, said his family was planning to return to their village near Nabatieh in the next day or two. His mother was elated. But if we go back to the village, there are going to be at least 15 people you wont find, he said. This one who used to say hi to you; this one you know from university. He expected Lebanon to revert to the way it was, before the war. He wanted to leave the country. It wont take long for another war, Choueib said. Maybe in a few years. Mohamad El Chamaa in Beirut contributed to this report. U.S. soldiers stand guard on Oct. 28, 2024, in northeast Syria. U.S. forces conducted a strike Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, against a militant weapons storage facility in Syria, according to U.S. Central Command. (Emma Scearce/U.S. Army) WASHINGTON U.S. forces in the Middle East conducted a strike Tuesday against an Iran-backed militant weapons storage facility in Syria, according to U.S. Central Command. We will not tolerate any attacks on our personnel and coalition partners. We are committed to taking all necessary actions to ensure their protection, said Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. The strike came in response to an Iranian-backed militant attack Monday against U.S. forces in Syria. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Tuesday that he was aware of an attack, but U.S. personnel were not injured and no damage occurred to base facilities. A battle damage assessment is ongoing, though CENTCOM does not assess there were any civilian casualties. Military officials did not provide further details about the attack on the weapons storage facility. A U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria is working to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State. 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 troops are in Iraq. U.S. bases in the region have been prone to attacks since the surprise attack in October 2023 by Hamas militants on Israel. The Pentagon on Friday said U.S. forces had been attacked 125 times in Syria and 79 times in Iraq since the Hamas attack. The U.S. in September announced an agreement with the Iraqi government for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq as part of a two-phased transition of the American-led mission to defeat ISIS. The first phase will conclude the anti-ISIS coalitions military mission in Iraq and end the deployment of coalition forces in certain locations in Iraq by September 2025. Officials have not said how many U.S. troops will remain in Iraq or where they will be stationed. U.S. and Iraq officials agreed to allow coalition troops to continue to support anti-ISIS operations in Syria from Iraq through the second phase of the transition until at least September 2026. Cybersecurity is at a premium at Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in west Fort Worth, Texas. (Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS) (Tribune News Service) The person soon to be in charge of cutting federal spending is blasting a Lockheed Martin jet. Billionaire Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, said Tuesday, Nov. 26, on X that the U.S. should pull the plug on the Lockheed-Martins F-35. Some US weapons systems are good, albeit overpriced, but please, in the name of all that is holy, let us stop the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program! he wrote. The comment was one of several criticisms Musk made of the fighter, which is expected to cost the federal government more than $2 trillion over its life span, according to Defense News. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk and fellow-billionnaire Vivek Ramaswamy to head up his new Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE (yes, like the crypto currency.) They will pave the way for Trumps administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies, Trump said in a statement. Musk ultimately aims to cut $2 trillion in annual federal spending, but in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he and Ramaswamy wrote that they plan to start with cutting $500 billion in federal spending that is not authorized by Congress. Musk shared a video on Sunday, Nov. 24 that appears to show a large group of drones made by China, captioning the post, Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35. In another post on Monday, Nov. 25 Musk wrote: The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes. And manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway. Will just get pilots killed. Lockheed Martins F-35 program supports more than 49,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Fort Worth area generates $9.4 billion in annual economic impact. As a federal contractor, the companys F-35 plays a crucial role in the Department of Defenses ability to meet current and future U.S. national security goals, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. But the program has seen production issues and rising costs as the Air Force and Navy plan to use the jets less. The F-35 has not met their readiness goals for the past six years, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Asked about Musks post in light of his expected role in Trumps administration, the company said it is looking forward to working with the incoming president and Congress. 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, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. 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. Incoming U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth, said he will fight for the continuation and expansion the F-35 program. He is taking over the district represented by Kay Granger, who is retiring. Goldman said he respects much of who Musk is and the innovations hes brought to the world, but that this is an area where they disagree. He praised the brilliance of what the F-35 and the capabilities of what the F-35 has been able to do for Israel in the war with Hamas. Musk might change his mind were he to have a conversation with the Israeli government, Goldman said. Im going to fight like hell to make sure those cuts arent made, Goldman said. All that still has to go through Congress. Sen. John Cornyn, Republican representing Texas statewide, was not available for an interview on Nov. 26. Spokespersons for Rep. Marc Vesay, a Fort Worth Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican also representing Texas Statewide, did not immediately return requests for comment. The Department of Defense also did not immediately return requests for comment. 2024 Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Visit at star-telegram.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham speaks during a media event at a state-owned ranch near Rio Grande City on Nov. 26, 2024. (Chitose Suzuki, The Dallas Morning News/TNS) RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (Tribune News Service) Texas unveiled its newly acquired border ranch offered as the site of detention facilities to help the Trump administration with proposed mass deportations and Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said Tuesday the state is looking to identify additional land to aid the federal effort. The General Land Office has more than 13 million acres of land under its jurisdiction, Buckingham said. If the Trump administration thinks itll be helpful, we want to be good partners with them, she said. The effort, known as the Jocelyn Initiative, is named for Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl who was killed in June. Two Venezuelan immigrants who were in the country illegally have been charged with murder and sexual assault. We will continue to fight to ensure that our state remains a beacon of hope, justice and dignity for all who call Texas home, Buckingham said. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Buckingham said her agency is not looking to buy additional land and added she wants to be supportive of the incoming Trump administration. Buckingham, a former state senator whose agency manages state land, introduced the news media to the 1,402-acre ranch purchased by the state in October for $3.82 million, according to a purchasing agreement obtained by The Dallas Morning News. She stood before a portion of border wall the state is building on the property. The Starr County ranch is on the outskirts of Rio Grande City, a town of about 15,000 people 40 miles west of McAllen. Buckingham said her agency bought the ranch after the previous owner refused to let the state build its border wall on the property. Buckingham criticized the former landowner Tuesday, saying her decision to block the border wall contributed to drug trafficking and illegal crossings into Texas. Andrea Kate Sheerin, who sold the ranch to the state, declined to comment when reached via text message Tuesday. About a dozen Texas House lawmakers including Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin joined Buckingham at the news conference. Buckingham said the 1-mile section of wall, being built about one mile inland from the Rio Grande, is expected to be finished in the next week as part of Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbotts immigration crackdown. Trumps incoming border czar, Tom Homan, said on Laura Ingrahams Fox News show last week that the administration absolutely will use the ranch land for detention facilities. He did not specify whether facilities to process migrants would be permanent or temporary, such as tents. Homan and Abbott were scheduled to greet and serve Thanksgiving meals Tuesday afternoon to Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers stationed in Edinburg, about 50 miles east of Rio Grande City. 2024 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC Food is emotional, and we want to make sure that the soldiers, airmen, sailors, guardians and Marines serving around the world have that taste of home on Thanksgiving Day, said Robin Whaley, the Defense Logistics Agencys chief of subsistence for customers outside the continental United States. (Rose Gudex/U.S. Air Force ) WASHINGTON Roughly 700,000 pounds of Thanksgiving food staples will be served to troops deployed to hard-to-reach places around the world. The Defense Logistics Agency and supply centers for the armed forces have been working for months to ensure troops have traditional holiday meals to feast on Thursday regardless of where they are deployed. Food is emotional, and we want to make sure that the soldiers, airmen, sailors, guardians and Marines serving around the world have that taste of home on Thanksgiving Day, said Robin Whaley, the agencys chief of subsistence for customers outside the continental United States. U.S. troops in hard-to-reach places around the globe have received nearly 140,000 pounds of turkey, 177,000 pounds of beef, 98,000 pounds of ham and 49,000 pounds of shrimp for service members to feast upon. Another 46,753 pounds of sweet potatoes and 9,324 cases of pies and cakes were delivered. The Navy estimates nearly 45,000 pounds of roast turkey will be served to sailors on ships. Another 11,457 pounds of mashed potatoes and 5,654 of stuffing will be served. Topping off the meal is an estimated 23,678 assorted pies. (Ruben Rodriguez Santiago/U.S. Army ) The amount of food shipped this year is an increase from the 360,000 pounds of food sent out for last years Thanksgiving meals. This is due to more troops being stationed in Europe, Whaley said. The effort requires the food to be ordered months in advance and transported to warehouses across the globe by way of cargo planes and ships and military vehicles. From there, delivery opportunities must be coordinated to military theaters such as the Indo-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Scheduling considers the chance that operations might impact delivery opportunities, especially for those deployed to kinetic environments, such as the Middle East. The Army, the largest of the services, begins this process in January almost one year in advance. Coordination between transportation nodes, suppliers, vendors, regional commands and distributors work together to ensure meals reach the furthest point of the tactical footprint, said Jason Hicks, logistics management specialist for the U.S. Armys Sustainment Command. Thanksgiving symbolizes family, gratitude, and tradition. Providing traditional foods helps maintain a connection to home and cultural identity for service members who are deployed. This connection can be especially important in challenging environments far from loved ones, he said. U.S. troops in hard-to-reach places around the globe have received nearly 140,000 pounds of turkey, 177,000 pounds of beef, 98,000 pounds of ham and 49,000 pounds of shrimp for service members to feast upon. Another 46,753 pounds of sweet potatoes and 9,324 cases of pies and cakes were delivered. (Claudia LaMantia/U.S. Army) Celebrating Thanksgiving and other festivities, even in a modified form, provides a much-needed emotional lift to troops. The familiar tastes and rituals associated with the holiday can evoke positive memories and feelings of camaraderie among service members, Hicks said. Officials with the Mission Feeding program for the Air Force Services Center, which coordinates with the Defense Logistics Agency for the Air Force and Space Force, also said the Thanksgiving meal can boost troops mental health and build resilience. The service has seen about 62,000 pounds of turkey and other holiday staples delivered to airmen and guardians. Deployment can be isolating, especially during holidays. A traditional meal can mitigate feelings of loneliness and homesickness, said Capt. Devonte Lee, deputy chief of the Air Force Mission Feeding program. Special moments like these can make deployments feel less arduous and improve overall mental health, helping troops stay focused on their missions. The Marine Corps estimates 30,000 forward-deployed Marines will celebrate Thanksgiving thousands of miles from home, feasting on more than 18,000 pounds of turkey, as well as canned and fresh vegetables, stuffing and pies. Planning began more than four months ago. In remote Pacific locations near the Philippines, Thailand and Palau, Marines often rely on expeditionary field kitchens and modular setups that include multifunction ovens, immersion heaters, field ranges, griddles, and tray ration heaters. In austere environments, power limitations and equipment reliability add to the challenge, said Lt. Col. David Hunley, director of the Food Service and Subsistence Program for the Marine Corps. When supplies inevitably fall short, food service Marines adjust menus accordingly, finding creative ways to use locally procured and approved ingredients to meet mission. High winds can threaten burners, uneven terrain can destabilize equipment, and power generators needed to run refrigeration units often need constant attention to maintain functionality, he said. For Marines, this mission is about more than just providing a meal. Its about upholding the Marine Corps values of taking care of their own, no matter the circumstances. Even on the front lines, the spirit of Thanksgiving endures. This meal, prepared against all odds, becomes a powerful reminder of resilience, gratitude, and the unbreakable bonds of the Marine Corps family, Hunley said. The Navy began planning this years Thanksgiving and Christmas meals in March, according to Naval Supply Systems director, Cmdr. Brian Bieber. We know how important it is during the holidays for sailors to get that sense of home at sea. We work hard to ensure that everyone gets to celebrate Thanksgiving with a traditional meal, he said. The Navy estimates nearly 45,000 pounds of roast turkey will be served to sailors on ships. Another 11,457 pounds of mashed potatoes and 5,654 of stuffing will be served. Topping off the meal is an estimated 23,678 assorted pies. In many cases, Bieber said, supplies necessary for the holiday meals will be loaded onto ships before they deploy. Doing so reduces the chance of not receiving the items in the event of an operational task or shift in schedules, he said. Hostile environments such as the U.S. Central Commands ongoing effort in the Middle East to defend maritime merchant ships and military warships from attacks launched by Iran-back militants can absolutely throw a wrench in supply schedules, but Bieber said delayed deliveries can easily and safely be stored until the next delivery opportunity. The Naval Supply Systems Command reported Monday that all deployed warships had their Thanksgiving meals onboard, ready for feasting upon. It is an opportunity to provide sailors a comfort of home, despite the fact they may be deployed, on duty, or separated from family. Our culinary specialists pride themselves in curating meals that not only bring friends and shipmates together but boost morale while also fueling our sailors for success, Bieber said. President Joe Biden speaks as First Lady Jill Biden looks on at an event with service members and their families in New York on Nov. 25 2024. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) The Biden administration has dropped efforts to rebid a pricey contract to run the 1-800-MEDICARE call center and other services, a contracting battle that got dragged into debates over election-year politics and Republican accusations of undue influence by labor unions. Maximus, the McLean, Virginia, company that has long served as a contractor for the federal health department, will keep its $6.6 billion contract and continue to operate call centers for Medicare and the Affordable Care Act until 2031, the company and federal officials confirmed. We appreciate the opportunity to continue supporting HHS and CMS in their vital missions and look forward to delivering innovative, high-quality, and reliable solutions that benefit the American public, Bruce Caswell, president and CEO of Maximus, said in a statement. Unions had complained about the companys business practices, and officials including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra had personally weighed in on the need to revisit the contract, one of the richest services agreements offered by the federal government. But the intervention by officials and the proposed language for the new contract drew fire from GOP leaders who said it wrongly put pressure on contractors to employ a unionized staff and called it an election-year favor to organized labor. Maximus sued the Biden administration over its decision to rebid the contract, calling it baseless and unlawful. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), incoming chairman of the Senate health panel, credited his offices oversight efforts for helping end the standoff. The Maximus contract should never have ended in the first place, Cassidy said in a statement Tuesday. Clearly, the Biden-Harris administration wanted to rebid this contract to force unionization on call-center employees even if they chose not to join a union. Federal officials did not respond to questions about why they ended their efforts to rebid the contract and whether their original push to do so was prompted by labor unions. Continuing to maintain and improve on the customer experience is, and will remain, a top priority for CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a statement. The fight centered on the Biden administrations decision in September 2022 to award a $6.6 billion contract to Maximus - and Biden officials decision to end the contract 15 months later, citing concerns about customer service despite high approval ratings for Maximuss call center operations. The Medicare call line boasted a 95 percent satisfaction rate, according to federal officials. CMS officials also amended the contract to add a labor harmony agreement, essentially a pledge by participating companies that they would make peace with unions and not experience a labor stoppage affecting the call centers. Democrats and unions had praised the addition of the labor harmony provisions, which came after Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America, and other labor leaders criticized Maximuss wages and other practices. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) and other prominent Democrats also sided with the unions against Maximus. The CWA did not respond to a request for comment about federal officials decision to end the rebidding of the contract. Outside observers said little precedent existed for abruptly ending an ongoing contract and adding new labor harmony language. Seventeen Republican attorneys general in August demanded that HHS restore the contract to Maximus, warning that rebidding the contract and potentially disrupting the call centers was a favor to union organizations that would compromise the health care services that Americans rely on. They also contended that setting labor policy is the job of Congress, which has endorsed measures allowing employees the right to refrain from union activities. Maximus has long maintained that the Biden administrations attempt to rebid the contract was illegal and driven by outside considerations, though it declined to specify its allegations. The facts, evidence, and timing points to other motivations beyond Maximus superior performance on this contract, Eileen Cassidy Rivera, a Maximus spokeswoman, said in a statement Wednesday. Spc. Ryan Faubel, 24, provided fentanyl to Pfc. Ivan F. Rios Segui, 25, who died July 1, 2022, according Faubels charge sheet and the Office of Special Trial Counsel, which is prosecuting the case. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes) A Fort Campbell soldier has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide in the 2022 death of an Army private who died of a fentanyl overdose, according to court records. Spc. Ryan Faubel, 24, provided fentanyl to Pfc. Ivan F. Rios Segui, 25, who died July 1, 2022, according Faubels charge sheet and the Office of Special Trial Counsel, which is prosecuting the case. Faubel, of Youngstown, Ohio, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing Nov. 14 before Military Judge Lt. Col. Daniel Mazzone at the Kentucky Army base. He is also charged with possession and distribution of fentanyl on July 1, 2022, and cocaine on May 25, 2022. He pleaded not guilty, according to the Armys online court docket. Faubel and Rios Segui, of New Haven, Conn., both served in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, but in different battalions. A photo of Pfc. Ivan F. Rios Segui. (Army) The two-year delay in the charges stemmed from the investigative work required, said Michelle McCaskill, spokeswoman for the Office of Special Trial Counsel. The investigation in this case required forensic testing and analysis along with consultation with toxicology and digital forensics experts, which resulted in a longer investigation. It was not until completion of this testing that Spc. Faubel was identified as a subject, she said. At the time of the charges, Faubel was a private first class, according to the charge sheet. He is not in pretrial confinement and had been at Fort Campbell since October 2021. Dan Higgins, an attorney for Faubel, said the case remains in the early stages and unanswered questions remain regarding Rios Seguis death. According to data collected by [the Defense Department], Fort Campbell continues to struggle with drug overdoses, Higgins said referencing data on overdose deaths in the military provided to Congress last year. Fifteen soldiers died of a drug overdose at Fort Campbell between 2017 and 2021, according to the data. It was the second highest number of deaths at an Army installation. During the five-year window of the data, 15,293 service members overdosed on drugs and alcohol and 332 died. More than half of those who died had taken fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is more potent than morphine, the report found. Fentanyl, an approved pain medication being illegally produced and sold, is killing about 70,000 Americans each year, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increasingly, fentanyl is mixed with other illicit drugs or used to replace another drug entirely so that users are expecting something else. While we agree the Army should take these cases very seriously to maintain a healthy fighting force, we believe they are looking for a scapegoat in Spc. Faubel, Higgins said. We look forward to defending Spc. Faubel and pursuing justice on his behalf. Guy Miller, 75, with Jaylen Lockhart. (Courtesy of Jaylen Lockhart) Jaylen Lockhart, a U.S. postal worker in Aurora, Illinois, was driving on his regular route when he spotted a man in his rearview mirror who seemed wobbly. He seemed to be walking off-balance, said Lockhart, 26. Then suddenly, he fell and hit his headhe faceplanted on the ground. Lockhart turned on his hazard lights and did a sharp U-turn. He sprinted toward the man, Guy Miller, 75, who was on a walk with his dog, Bentley, when he fell. I dropped his treat bag on the ground, and I bent over to pick it up, Miller said. About the same time I bent over, he lunged at a squirrel. I lost my balance and hit the ground. Lockhart watched the unsettling scene unfold. I just saw that he fell really hard, and Im thinking to myself, Whatever emergency he was going through, we were going to go through it together, Lockhart said. I was not just going to keep driving. I knew that I had to be hands-on and help him. Lockhart waved down two vehicles that drove by and asked if they could help, too. The drivers got out of their cars and ran toward them. I noticed there was a lot of blood, said Lockhart, adding that they tried applying pressure to the wound on his head using napkins and someones spare T-shirt. Lockhart asked Miller some questions to check on his cognitive condition. He asked for his name, the day of the week and his address. Once it was clear that Miller seemed lucid, Lockhart got back in his truck and drove to the address Miller gave him, about a block away, so he could notify Millers wife about what happened. The other bystanders stayed with Miller and his dog. Bentley was very calm throughout everything, said Lockhart. He stayed right by his side. Lockhart informed Millers wife, Marcia, about the fall, and she followed him in her own car to her husband. It was very scary, said Marcia Miller, who was babysitting her 2-year-old grandchild at the time. Jaylen waited for me while I got my grandson in his car seat. Once they got to Guy Miller, Lockhart helped him into his wifes car. I started crying when I saw him because it was heartbreaking, Marcia Miller said. He was definitely dazed to the point where he could not get himself up. Given that Guy Miller seemingly had minor wounds and bruises, his wife took him home and called their daughter, a nurse, to come examine him. Hes diabetic, so he bleeds easily. It looked much worse than once we got it cleaned off, Marcia Miller said, adding that their daughter determined he did not have a concussion and did not need to go to the hospital for further treatment. Things were okay, Guy Miller said. The Millers were blown away by Lockhart. To go to the extent that he did to take care of Guy, to wipe his face, to come to my house to find me so that Guy would have family with him, what kind of person does that? Marcia Miller said. In todays society, were so busy, were fearful. When you knock on a strangers door, you dont know who is behind that door. The following morning, on Nov. 17, Lockhart woke up to hundreds of notifications on his phone. The Millers daughter, Ashley Roberts, had posted a screenshot of the Ring camera footage of Lockhart at her parents front door in a local Facebook group and wrote, Aurora help me find this sweet postman! He went above and beyond for my dad, she wrote. Anyone know him?! After being alerted to the post, Lockhart reached out to Roberts, who asked him to meet him in person. I was like, Hey, well, come on over, said Lockhart, explaining that Roberts and her mother stopped by his apartment that day to thank him for what he did. Thats when Marcia Miller invited Lockhart and his family - including his girlfriend, Sydney Rehm, and their 1-year-old daughter, Lennyn - for Thanksgiving, and he graciously accepted the invite. The bond had already formed in our hearts because of a deeper level of care that he showed in this crisis, Marcia Miller said. As soon as we met him, it was like we were family, and I asked, What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Guy Miller has recovered from the fall, and as a precaution, he has an upcoming appointment with a neurologist to ensure there are no underlying issues that caused him to be off-balance. Last week at the annual Aurora Winter Lights Fest, Lockhart received the Mayors Award of Service and helped light the citys official Christmas tree. He was also honored Tuesday at an Aurora City Council meeting. The mayor of Aurora declared Aug. 29 - Lockharts birthday - as Jaylen Lockhart Day in the city. Jaylens quick-thinking, selfless actions helped to save the day, the city of Aurora wrote in a Facebook post. The story, which was first reported by NBC 5 Chicago, has reached people across the internet. What the world is looking for is some kindness and some care, said Marcia Miller. Lockhart said since Guy Millers fall, he and the Miller family have been in touch every day. His girlfriend has also become friends with Millers daughter. Weve got a group chat now, Lockhart said. Weve all formed a bond; its just been great. He and his family are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Were all going to come together, put our phones down and just enjoy a nice meal together, Lockhart said. In fact, Lockharts family and the Millers are already planning ahead for future festivities together. Well be doing Christmas there, Lockhart said. This isnt the end; this is just the beginning of a longtime friendship, family relationship, Marcia Miller said. It is just incredible. The Millers said they are especially grateful this Thanksgiving. I gained a friend out of all of this, Guy Miller said. Lockhart, who has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for about a year, said although the incident that brought the families together was unfortunate, he feels lucky to have the Millers in his life. Its really been a blessing, he said. I never expected any of this. Lockhart hopes that his story will remind people to lend a hand whenever an opportunity arises. No matter where you are, no matter what youre doing, you always have time to stop and help, he said. Beautiful things can happen. Doug Collins, a major at the time in the Air Force Reserve, receives the Meritorious Service Medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster from Col. Tim Tarchick, commander of the 94th Airlift Wing, on Sept. 8, 2013, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. Collins received the medal for outstanding professional skill, leadership and ceaseless efforts to support the airmen and families of the unit. (Brad Fallin/U.S. Air Force ) WASHINGTON Col. Doug Collins attended seminary school, worked as a pastor at a small-town church and served as a chaplain in the Navy and Air Force Reserve. But the attorney also served four terms as a Republican House lawmaker from Georgia and was one of President-elect Donald Trumps most ardent defenders in 2020 during Trumps first impeachment trial. When Trump announced Collins nomination Nov. 14 to be the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 58-year-old made it clear how he intends to approach the job. Well fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption and ensure every veteran receives the benefits theyve earned, the chaplain said on social media. Collins selection marks the first time that a member of the military chaplain corps one of the smallest and oldest units in the armed services will lead the VA, which has a $369 billion budget and a workforce of nearly 400,000. The VA can play a critical role in the lives of the nations 18 million veterans delivering health care, tuition assistance, pensions, disability compensation, survivor benefits and other services. But the agency has been dogged by complaints of fiscal mismanagement that include pushing Congress for an infusion of funds in September to cover a multibillion-dollar shortfall for fiscal 2024 that did not exist. Collins declined to provide an interview prior to his confirmation hearing. Out of the utmost respect for the Senate and its constitutional responsibility, he will reserve comment for the confirmation hearing, said a spokesperson for Trumps transition team who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the spokesperson offered some insights about how Collins military experiences shaped his values and are likely to influence his work at the VA. Dougs time in the chaplaincy has taught him that leadership is about more than rank. Its about listening, having a servants heart, motivating people and setting a good example for others to follow, the Trump representative said. Doug got his start in ministry serving at his local church. Taking that ministry to the military has allowed him to serve while working with people of all faiths as well as those who dont subscribe to a particular faith. As a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, Collins completed a deployment to Iraq in 2008 with the 94th Air Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga. Collins already had experience in the military chaplain corps having served as a chaplain in the Navy for two years in the late 1980s. Now a colonel, he continues to serve as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, with his most recent duty at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. But Collins career extends to serving in Congress as an elected lawmaker. In 2012, Collins won a seat in Congress representing Georgias 9th congressional district, considered one of the strongest held GOP districts in the nation. He served in Congress from 2013 to 2021. Prior to that, he was a House member of the Georgia Legislature from 2007 to 2012. As a member of Congress, Collins spoke on the House floor about the unusual role of military chaplains ministering to soldiers on the front lines. The duty of a military chaplain is to help guide the hearts and minds of the soldiers that he serves with or she serves and that comes from a perspective of a background of their own faith but also the respect of the faiths of others that they serve with, making sure that all feel a responsibility not to only do their job, their mission, but also to themselves, that they are being all they can be in their own careers, in their own missions, Collins said. While in Congress, he voted to support bills to expand veterans access to health care outside the VA. He supported the 2014 Choice Act that enabled former service members to seek non-VA medical services when an appointment was not readily available at a VA facility. He also voted for the 2018 Mission Act that gave veterans the ability to see physicians outside the VA in the private sector. During former President Barack Obamas administration, Collins introduced a resolution supported by both chambers of Congress to consider chaplains essential workers who continued to serve during a government shutdown in 2013. Collins also is an outspoken critic of abortion, citing his own personal experience as the parent of a daughter with physical disabilities diagnosed before birth. His adult daughter, Jordan, was born with spina bifida. Collins said after he and his wife learned about their childs medical condition, his wife was encouraged by a colleague to have an abortion. The notion that for up to nine months my wife had the right to blot out Jordans voice seems counterproductive to the advancement of womens rights and alien to the dignity undergirding every life, Collins said in 2016, when he introduced legislation to ban federal funds for abortion services. Its my privilege to channel the joy Ive known as Jordans father into supporting legislation that protects the lives of the unborn and the well-being of their mothers because abortion hurts women, too, he said. Collins holds a masters degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned his law degree from John Marshall Law School in Georgia. When Trump announced Collins as his pick to lead the VA, he described Collins as a great advocate for our active-duty service members, veterans and military families to ensure they have the support they need. Doug has always believed military service is something we should honor and appreciate both during and after a persons time in uniform, the spokesperson for Trumps transition team said. On social media, Collins thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve. Together, well make the VA work for those who fought for us. Time to deliver for our veterans and give them the world-class care they deserve, he said. In a compelling new short movie produced by IWC Schaffhausen, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team driver Lewis Hamilton embarks on a flight training for astronauts The same training was used to prepare the crews of the Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn commercial human spaceflight missions. During the training day, the seven-time Formula One world champion and IWC brand ambassador was accompanied by students from Dibia Dream, a non-profit organisation fostering STEM education. Their presence is also a reminder of Lewis Hamiltons own incredible career journey spanning more than three decades and sends an inspiring message: you can be anything you want in life a pilot on the racetrack, in the air or even in space. Lewis Hamilton and John "SLICK" Baum IWC Schaffhausen One of the most successful racing drivers of all time, Lewis Hamilton is a multifaceted personality, whose interests and ambitions extend far beyond his sport. The seven-time Formula One world champion is deeply fascinated by space and human space exploration. He has visited renowned space training facilities and repeatedly expressed his desire to take part in a space mission in the future if it serves a purpose and contributes to the betterment of all humanity. IWC Schaffhausen now teamed up with the Polaris Program and its Philanthropy Director and instructor pilot, John Slick Baum, to offer Lewis Hamilton an opportunity to experience the flight training that is part of the organisations programme of preparing astronauts for space. The Polaris Program, which is supported by IWC, recently completed the first of three human spaceflight missions. During their five days in orbit, the Polaris Dawn crew wrote history by successfully performing the first commercial spacewalk. Since Lewis Hamilton became an IWC Brand Ambassador in 2013, we have created so many unforgettable moments and memories together. As his record-breaking era with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team now draws to a close, we are excited to give him an opportunity to complete a flight training for astronauts and bring him one step closer to space exploration, explains Chris Grainger- Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. Lewis Hamilton and John "SLICK" Baum IWC Schaffhausen Flight training is essential for astronauts Fighter jet training has been at the heart of human spaceflight since the beginning. All early astronauts were fighter jet pilots, and experience in piloting a jet was an essential requirement for going to space. Flight training was also a key pillar in the preparation of the Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn crews for their missions. While the g-loads experienced in a jet or a rocket cannot be directly compared as they affect the body in different ways, jet training still offers compelling benefits for astronauts. Most importantly, it allows the crew members to familiarise themselves with operating in a high-risk and high-consequence environment, similar to what they would experience during launch. While they are pressed down into their seats by several times their own body weight, they have to communicate with each other, go through extensive technical checklists and monitor critical flight parameters all while being mentally aware of their surroundings and prepared to act in case something unexpected should happen. A complete sequence of training manuvers Lewis Hamiltons space training kicked off with an extensive briefing and inspection of the L-39 Albatros jet. John Slick Baum gave Lewis Hamilton a detailed overview of the manoeuvres they would fly and how they simulate different situations an astronaut experiences during a spaceflight. During their subsequent discovery flight lasting almost one hour, Lewis Hamilton and his instructor performed a series of manoeuvres. They practiced accelerations and decelerations to experience lateral g-forces, simulating the ascent of a rocket. They also practiced higher g-loads by banking or pitching the aircraft hard. A highlight was flying a parabola figure for a zero-g demonstration, during which Lewis Hamilton briefly experienced the feeling of weightlessness. A racing glove, which eventually began to float freely in the cockpit, was used as a zero-g indicator. In flight, the F1 pilot pulled a maximum of 7.5 g, which is more than astronauts typically experience on ascent. Lewis Hamilton preparing for takeoff IWC Schaffhausen We put Lewis Hamilton through the same training we used to prepare the Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn crews for their missions. He showed truly impressive skills at the controls of the jet and proved that he can pilot any machine, whether it is a powerful race car or a jet. With the astronaut flight training for Lewis Hamilton, we underscore the Polaris Programs commitment to making space exploration accessible to more people, said John Slick Baum, Philanthropy Director and instructor pilot of the Polaris Program. Lewis Hamilton wore a dedicated race suit featuring a space mission patch with his car number 44. He will wear the same suit during this weekends race at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. In flight, he wore the Pilots Watch Performance Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team (Ref. IW388306). With its highly scratch-resistant and resilient Ceratanium case, it is the perfect watch to withstand the harsh conditions in the jet cockpit. Lewis Hamilton in his Formula 1 pilot suit IWC Schaffhausen Dibia Dream students send a powerful message The training was also attended by a group of students from Dibia Dream. This nonprofit organisation sparks social change through STEM education and recreational activities for underserved youth and has impacted the lives of 40,000 students across 32 states and 12 countries. The students spent the entire day engaging in a variety of activities related to space exploration. They also got a chance to meet with Lewis Hamilton and ask him questions prior to take-off. Their presence served as a powerful reminder of Lewis Hamiltons incredible journey, from his humble beginnings in karting at the age of eight to becoming one of the most acclaimed drivers in the history of motorsport. As the students cheered alongside the runway, they sent an uplifting message to youths around the world: you can be anything you want in life whether it is a racing driver, a pilot or even an astronaut. Mary Teresa Ward has a total of 70 convictions, 32 of them are for theft Mary Ward, who was killed in Belfast in October The mother of a woman murdered in tragic circumstances in Belfast turned to senseless shoplifting and drug offending in the aftermath of the tragedy, a court heard. Mary Teresa Ward (48) appeared before magistrates in the city accused of stealing 260 worth of aftershave sets and clothes from a charity shop. The alleged thefts were carried out after her 22-year-old daughter, also called Mary Ward, was found dead in her home on Melrose Street, south Belfast, on October 1 this year. A 31-year-old man is currently in custody in Dublin charged with her murder. Mary Teresa Ward, of Fitzroy Avenue in south Belfast, faces two counts of theft and further charges of possessing class B and class drugs. The court heard she was observed on CCTV cameras taking seven David Beckham aftershave sets with a total value of 160 from Gordons Chemists in the city centre on November 5. When police detained her on November 24 small quantities of pregabalin and cannabis were discovered among her belongings, a judge was told. Officers also recovered 24 suspected stolen items. During interviews Ward made admissions to the drugs and thefts, including 15 pieces of clothing worth 100 which had been taken from an Oxfam branch earlier that day. She could not recall where the other items were stolen from, a PSNI officer said. Opposing bail, the constable claimed there was a high risk that Ward will re-offended. She has a total of 70 convictions, 32 of them are for theft, he disclosed. Defence barrister Michael Boyd confirmed that his client has admitted the charges against her. This lady is the unfortunate mother of Mary Ward who was murdered in tragic circumstances, he told the court. She has taken solace in drink since that tragedy happened and has got herself in trouble on occasions. Mr Boyd acknowledged that sympathy for the defendants circumstances could only go so far. It does not mean to say there is carte blanche for her to consume alcohol to excess and then get into this kind of senseless trouble, making life worse for herself, counsel added. It is a tragic situation and clearly it ties in with her reaction to that tragedy. Granting Ward bail to live at an address approved by police, presiding District Judge Steven Keown banned her from being under the influence of alcohol in public. He further ordered: She is not to enter any Oxfam store or Gordons Chemists and is to stay out of the city centre. Alan Robert Spence went Awol from an army base in England in 2005 A Belfast man who fought in the Ukraine war has been convicted of deserting the British army almost 20 years ago. Alan Robert Spence went Awol from an army base in England in 2005 and returned home to Northern Ireland. Despite being found guilty of desertion, the 40-year-old, also known as Ajay, claimed the army never came looking for him. In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Spence signed up to fight for Ukraine, despite appeals from the British army for its troops not to get involved in the conflict. While fighting in Ukraine, Spence (inset) was interviewed by the BBC and he believes his former army bosses saw the interview and decided to make an example of him. Spence was arrested at Stansted Airport last year as he was travelling back home from Ukraine. He was taken into military custody and charged with desertion. He was convicted last November and sentenced to two years in prison. However, the jail term was suspended for two years. Spence was also kicked out of the British army and ordered to complete 240 hours of community service. However, now based back in Belfast, he has allegedly failed to take part in the community service programme and has been charged with breaching the terms of his suspended sentence. His case was mentioned briefly at Laganside court in Belfast last week and adjourned until next month. When the Sunday World visited Spences address in Belfast, he said he believed his arrest and conviction for desertion only happened because he went to fight in Ukraine. They definitely wanted to make an example of me, he said. Alan Spence in Ukraine In connection with the allegation he has breached his suspended sentence by not taking part in the community service programme, Spence said he felt unable to take part in the programme in many areas because of his military background. A British army spokesperson confirmed Spence, a former soldier with the Royal Irish Regiment, pleaded guilty to desertion at a military court in England on November 23 last year. The details of the charge said he had absented himself without leave from September 21, 2005 to April 29, 2023 with the intent to avoid serving at a place overseas. Spence, who had already served in Afghanistan and Iraq during his time in the army, told the Sunday World he went Awol for personal reasons. The war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022 when Russian troops invaded the neighbouring country. Ukraine used to be part of the Soviet Union but became an independent country in 1991. Despite this, Russian President Vladimir Putin sees Ukraine and other countries previously part of the Soviet Union as historically part of Russia. The Russian invasion resulted in millions of Ukrainians becoming refugees. Putins actions were condemned by many countries around the world, who pledged their support to the Ukrainian government led by Volodymyr Zelensky. Despite their support for Ukraine, the British army were against any of their soldiers travelling independently to fight for Zelenskys forces. British military officials said they feared the involvement of their soldiers would give the mistaken perception to Russia that Britain had sent in troops to engage in hostilities. Speaking shortly after the outbreak of the war, Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said British troops travelling to Ukraine would be unlawful and unhelpful. However, the appeals from the army chiefs did not stop Ajay Spence from signing up to fight for Ukraine. He travelled to eastern Europe in March 2022 after having first got in touch with the Ukrainian embassy in Dublin. Spence first arrived in Poland before making his way across the border into Ukraine. In April 2022, the Belfast man was interviewed by the BBC about his role in the war the interview, he claims, which sparked the plan by British military chiefs to make an example of him. In the interview, Spence said after arriving in Ukraine he was placed in the countrys foreign legion, which was understood to have fighters from 50 countries. He said his unit was deployed on frontline operations in towns around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and helped drive Russian forces out of areas that had been captured. He told the BBC he accepted the risks involved. Im under no illusions about that, Im willing to accept that. Im here to do a job which is to help the Ukrainian people. You just think about stuff like that later, and get on with the job in hand. He said he and other foreign fighters had been thanked by Ukrainian people for their support. When youre out and about people notice you, people come up and shake your hand. I think they need to see things like that because they need to know the world is behind them. Ukraine is a lovely country and to see the destruction and damage, and just the pure hatred thats been thrown against the people here, its hard to watch. I grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles so Ive got a bit more empathy towards stuff like that. Almost three years on from the Russian invasion, the war in Ukraine rages on. Last week a jury found she had been assaulted by Mr McGregor but not by Mr Lawrence. The jury awarded damages of 248,603 against Mr McGregor The High Court has agreed to push back by one week a hearing dealing with liability for legal costs in the civil case brought by Nikita Hand against mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and his friend James Lawrence. Ms Hand sought damages for assault this being rape against both men. Last week a jury found she had been assaulted by Mr McGregor but not by Mr Lawrence. The jury awarded damages of 248,603 against Mr McGregor. Typically, the losing side pays their own legal costs and those of the successful party. The court has a discretion to depart from this general rule if persuaded that the justice of the case requires this and there are special circumstances. The issue of legal cost liability was due to be considered by Mr Justice Alexander Owens this Thursday. However, barrister Siun Leonowicz, instructed by Coleman Legal, on Wednesday asked him to delay the costs hearing by one week to Thursday, December 5. Ms Leonowicz said Ms Hands legal team wants time to deliver very brief written submissions on the costs issue. Also, her two senior counsel, John Gordan and Ray Boland, overlooked that they have other diary commitments this Thursday, she said. Mr McGregors barrister, Remy Farrell SC, told the court he was resisting the application to delay the hearing. We are eager to get on with it, he said. Mr Justice Owens said he could not understand why Ms Hands senior counsels were not present. However, he agreed to move the costs hearing to next Thursday. Mr Lawrences senior counsel, John Fitzgerald, asked that any written submissions from Ms Hands lawyers would be delivered to him and Mr Farrell by Tuesday. Ms Hand alleged in her civil action for damages that she was raped by Mr McGregor in the Beacon hotel on December 9, 2018. Mr McGregor denied her claim, telling the jury they had fully-consensual sex. He has said he will be appealing the jurys verdict. The jury found James Lawrence (35), of Rafters Road, Drimnagh, had not assaulted Ms Hand through allegedly having sex with her without her consent in the Beacon hotel. Mr Lawrence had said in his evidence they had consensual sex twice. Ms Hand said she had no memory of that and described it as a made-up story. During cross-examination, he denied he was a fall-guy in relation to the allegation Mr McGregor raped Ms Hand. The man, who is in his 30s and cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assaults of two patients on separate dates in 2022. A HEALTHCARE worker has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman after he allegedly took advantage of his position at a midlands medical facility. The man, who is in his 30s and cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assaults of two patients on separate dates in 2022. His trial has commenced before Judge Keenan Johnson and a Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court jury. In his opening speech, Cathal O Braonain BL said one complainant, then aged 15, attended the facility with a case of mastitis and was in the waiting area. It would be alleged the accused, who worked there but was not a doctor, called her and led her to a room, and told her to lie down. The jury heard that they would listen to evidence that she was asked to lift her top, which she did on the mistaken belief he was a doctor and had cause to examine her. The prosecutor said it would be alleged the man touched her breasts with his hands and, after carrying out another task, asked her to lift her top once more and touched her breasts again this time with his gloves off. The court was told the jury would hear evidence about the circumstances of his employment, the nature of his role, and that he had no business carrying out examinations of patients. Counsel said that while the evidence was that she did not resist, the prosecutions case was that there was no consent to this touching which was allegedly on the mistaken understanding that he was a doctor with a medical purpose. The second complainant alleges that about three weeks before that, she went there after suffering stomach pains. The prosecutions case is that after she lay down, the accused engaged her in a conversation which she thought to be flirtatious and that he touched her vagina outside her clothing. Mr O Braonain told jurors that the essence of the case against the man would be that he took advantage of his position to sexually assault the two complainants within three weeks of each other. The trial continues and is expected to run into next week. Victoria Oshur, the representative of Ukraine at the Miss Planet 2024 international beauty pageant, the finals of which started in Cambodia on November 27, won the first title. The beauty from Ivano-Frankivsk was named Miss Most Beautiful Hair, drawing attention to the girl's always luxurious hairstyle. ADVERTISIMENT The contestant was invited to the stage to receive the award - a ribbon with the title and a check. OBOZ.UA learned about this from the official broadcast of the show on YouTube. During the ceremony, the winners of the main categories were also announced, including the Best National Costume award for the Philippines, while the Best Swimsuit Showcase award went to a participant from the United States. As a reminder, the Ukrainian beauty made it to the top 7 based on the results of her bikini show. ADVERTISIMENT At the time of writing, Victoria Oshur is among the top 17 best among all the beauties. However, the final results could change the course of events. A moment before the broadcast, the girl posted a new photo on Instagram, where she poses in a blaccid shiny top and matching skirt. "Backstage. The show will start in a few minutes," Oshur wrote. The day before, the beauty from Ivano-Frankivsk showed a national costume inspired by one of the symbols of Ukraine. The beauty's outfit was a composition with bright sunflowers decorating a shiny tight jumpsuit. Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about Victoria Oshur, who this year represents Ukraine at the Miss Planet 2024 contest. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! I fully believed that I was going to be killed. Killed for doing my job, killed for going to help members of the public. Michael Donoghue, 21yrs, of Stocking Hill, Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin pictured at the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) on Parkgate Street in Dublin. pic: IrishPhotoDesk.ie A man who pointed a double barrel shot gun at uniformed unarmed gardai causing the officers to have genuine concerns for their lives has been jailed for four years. Michael Donoghue (21) Stocking Hill, Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of a firearm and making threats to kill at his home on December 20, 2023. He has 12 previous convictions, mainly for theft and fraud and public order offences. At a hearing earlier this month, Garda Michael Fox read his victim impact statement into the record. He said when he was staring directly at two black barrels of a shot gun the only thought in his head was that his mother would never get over his death. I fully believed that I was going to be killed. Killed for doing my job, killed for going to help members of the public, Gda Fox said before he added that he was simply doing his job and responding to a call from members of the public. Three gardai read their victim impact statements into the record describing that while they appreciated their job as a garda was an occupation that came with risk, they never expected to be placed in such fear. They described watching Donoghue as he approached the vehicle and waiting for gun to go off, waiting to be shot. One garda, who was only six weeks into his career at the time, said his life flashed before his eyes. It was accepted by defence counsel Michael Hourigan SC that while it was later discovered that the shot gun was not loaded, the gardai that day would not have been aware of that. He acknowledged that gardai were not in a position to know that their lives were not in danger. Judge Orla Crowe said today that this was a deeply serious matter and that the officers had genuine concerns for their lives. Gardai had been called in to assist and they were obliged to investigate, she said before she added that Donoghue pointed the gun directly at the officers. The judge said it was clear they were gardai as they were in uniform and sitting in a marked patrol car. She acknowledged that Donoghue had significant medical difficulties that led to significant drug difficulties but said while this gives a reason for his offending it is not an excuse. Judge Crowe acknowledged that Donoghue has expressed a genuine apology, has been doing well in prison and has a loving and supportive family. He had provided urine analysis which demonstrated that he is now drug-free. The judge noted that the maximum penalty available to the court, because the legislature consider it so serious is 14 years. She said the offence also carries a mandatory minimum term of five years unless there are exceptional circumstances in the case which would make the imposition of such a sentence unjustified. Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of eight years before she imposed a term of five years. She noted that Donoghue has been working on his rehabilitation in prison and suspended the final 12 months of the term. Donoghue must keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years and engage with the Probation Service for 12 months. Judge Crowe said the gardai had come to Stocking Hill that day at the behest of someone in that location. She said the gardai were doing their lawful duty on behalf of all the people of Ireland and they were not to know that the weapon was not loaded. Garda Thomas Kinsella told Aoife OLeary BL, prosecuting at the earlier hearing, that officers arrived at Stocking Hill following a call in relation to a disturbance there. He was the driver of the patrol car and he and his colleagues were in uniform and unarmed. When they arrived at the halting site at 12.40am everything was quiet so he drove to a cul-de-sac and turned the patrol car. Donoghue was then spotted approaching the patrol car and pointing a shot gun at the vehicle. He was in an agitated and aggressive state. Gda Kinsella said he had genuine concerns that Donoghue intended to shoot at him and his colleagues. He reversed the patrol car in an attempt to get away. Donoghue continued to approach the car, pointing the weapon at the officers inside. He then ran to the back of the halting site and thew the gun over a wall. Gda Kinsella said a call was made for back up and two of his colleagues ran to retrieve the gun. Donoghue then ran off into a caravan before he re-appeared carrying a black steel three foot long crowbar. He threatened gardai that he would strike them if they approached him and called the officers pigs and rats. Donoghue retreated into another building beside one of the caravans and refused to come out. He was ultimately arrested, after back up arrived and was later detained for questioning. Nothing came out of those interviews and he has been on remand in custody since. The shotgun was retrieved and it was discovered that it was not loaded. It was a 12 gauge double barrel shotgun and was later deemed, following a subsequent ballistic examination, to be in fair condition. Gda Kinsella accepted a suggestion from Mr Hourigan that his client is genuinely remorseful for his actions that night and has written a letter of apology. Mr Hourigan said his client has a condition which has limited his growth. He said he started abusing drugs as a young teenager after being the victim of bullying. Counsel said his client has suffered from acute depression for a very long period of time and first exhibited suicidal ideation at the age of ten years old. Mr Hourigan said his clients condition has had a profound impact on how he viewed himself. He said he was very much a solitary child and only found comrades when he fell into the company of other addicts. Counsel handed in letters from Donoghues mother and brother and said he is from a loving and supportive family. He has been doing well in prison and is not due for release until July next year on a separate offence. Mr Crawford has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Thomas McCarthy on July 27, 2020, at Croftwood Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10. A 28-year-old man has taken the stand at his own trial and told a jury he is being blamed as the centre point of a murder he didnt commit after he loaned a van to an associate. If I dont explain my side of the story now, Ill never get a chance to do it. Ill be branded a rat, but Im willing to do that rather than being convicted of a murder I didnt do, Cailean Crawford (28) told the Central Criminal Court today. Mr Crawford has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Thomas McCarthy on July 27, 2020, at Croftwood Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10. The accused yesterday denied a suggestion by prosecuting counsel that he was trying to mislead the jury because he was in cahoots with Charles McClean the man he said he agreed to loan the van to on the day Mr McCarthy was killed. Under cross-examination, Bernard Condon SC put it to the accused that a suggestion he was in fear of Mr McClean was untrue because Mr McClean has already been sentenced for matters related to the case and cannot be prosecuted further in relation to this offence. Im still at risk by giving this evidence, Mr Crawford replied. He said he did not know how this was going to be perceived, not only by Mr McClean but by his associates or anyone else thats going to read about it in the paper. Thomas McCarthy Im trying to clear my name... because Im being blamed as the centre point of a murder I didnt do because I lent my van, he told Mr Condon. The accused said that he assumed McClean needed the van to collect drugs, going on to say that McClean had previously given him a Lyca SIM card to use after Mr Crawford agreed to collect and transport drugs on two or three occasions in the Ballyfermot area. He said he couldnt say whether he was in contact with Mr McClean on what he termed the drug phone the Lyca SIM - every day. Mr Crawford said the man who collected the van was a "mate" of McClean's who had bones sticking out of his face, going on to confirm that his evidence was that, after the van was collected at around 9.30am that morning, he then went to his grandmother's house where he had food, a shower and changed his clothes. He said he left his grandmothers house at around 11.30am to go and collect the van. Mr Condon put it to Mr Crawford it was astonishing that after the van had been handed over to the other man, someone had then parked it outside Mr Crawfords grandmothers house for a period of time. That must be one of the great coincidences in life, counsel said. For some reason people tried to kill Thomas McCarthy at around 9.30am and they couldnt kill him because he wasnt there. When he wasnt there, they took your van, and they parked it outside your granny's house. What do you make of that? counsel asked. I dont know. Its not me driving the van, the accused replied. Continuing his cross-examination of the accused today, Mr Condon said that a phone call of 82 seconds was made on the morning of the murder to the SIM card, and he asked the accused who this call had been from. "I dont know, replied Mr Crawford, to which Mr Condon asked him if he was choosing not to remember this. The accused again replied he did not know who the caller was. Mr Condon said a call was made from a person known as D to the same SIM card at 9am, then again sometime later. He said that this call had either been answered by the accused or by the "boney-faced man the accused claimed he had given the van and phone to. The accused replied that he was not sure of the exact time he handed the phone over. Mr Condon said that there had been a lot of contact between D and the phone the accused said he had handed over, before all calls ended at 11.01am on the morning. He said that it was the States contention that the phone had been destroyed, to which the accused replied that he did not know as he did not get the phone back. Mr Condon said that on July 22, five days before the murder, a call was made to Mr Crawford from D shortly after the accused activated the phone. Who is that person and why are they ringing you? asked Mr Condon. I cant remember who that person was, replied the accused, going on to say that he did not recall getting a text message from the same person on the Wednesday before the shooting. He said his only recollection was of speaking to someone who was talking rubbish about doing deliveries. Mr Condon asked why Mr Crawford had not mentioned this person before. I was never asked to account for these details by the gardai, replied the accused. Mr Condon put it to the accused that he had been asked about his movements concerning the van and had said that the van was involved in drug dealing. Counsel suggested that as Mr Crawford had not admitted that to the gardai when questioned, he was now inventing this detail. The accused replied that he had been afraid of being branded a rat for speaking to the gardai, as he knew the danger he would be in. If I dont explain my side of the story now, Ill never get a chance to do it. Ill be branded a rat, but Im willing to do that rather than being convicted of a murder I didnt do, said Mr Crawford, going on to say that he could not remember speaking to anyone on the morning apart from Charles McClean. The jury also heard evidence from Detective Garda Ronan Coffey that during an interview with the accused at Clondalkin Garda Station on October 16, 2020, the gardai gave him a caution under section 19a of the Criminal Justice Act. This section states that if an accused person charged with an offence fails to mention any fact relied on in their defence, then the court or jury may draw inferences from this failure. The jury heard that when asked if he wished to give his account in relation to the charge against him, the accused replied: No comment. Before sending the jury home for the day, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told them that this case is all about the hours between 9am and 12pm on the morning of July 27 in Ballyfermot and who had the van and who had the phone. He said that these circumstantial cases are about constructing a rope from the strands, going on to draw an analogy between the childhood game of putting ice-pop sticks together with glue to create a construction that would have great strength. At the opening of the trial, Mr Condon told the jury that there is no doubt over whether Mr McCarthy was murdered, but rather it is a case of whether Mr Crawford is the one who did it. He said there was undoubtedly more than one person involved in a conspiracy over the murder. He said it is the States case that the accused is the gunman who repeatedly shot Mr McCarthy quite viciously and without mercy at the front door of his mothers home. It is the prosecutions case that a number of vehicles were involved in the shooting and that Mr Crawford came to the scene in a blue Ford Fiesta car which was seen driving in and out of the area on CCTV. The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Hunt and the jury of six men and six women. The property in Finglas was one of three declared the Proceeds of Crime earlier this year, two of which have since been sold off. The estranged wife of drug dealer David Waldron appeared in the High Court to argue that she should not have to pay legal costs after staying in a house declared the proceeds crime. Charlene Waldron eventually moved out two days before the Criminal Assets Bureau was due to make an application to the High Court last October over her failure to vacate the property. CAB had been due to seize the house in September but officers were told she wasnt going to move because she had two children and nowhere to go. The bureau sought to have legal costs awarded to them in court today over what they said was her breach of a High Court order. Counsel for CAB said the costs had been incurred because of her and there had been wilful refusal and then moved to a property that had been available to her all along. Evidence was heard that on the day CAB officers were set to take possession she was still in the house at Ratoath Road, Finglas and told then she wouldnt be leaving. Appearing in court she asked to read a letter to the court but this was instead handed into the judge by her counsel who said CAB had been asked to extend the time. Judge Alex Owens said she was in default and that was the beginning and the end of it and that she has to pay the costs. He told her counsel that there was no basis for legal aid in relation to the hearing after an application was made. The property in Finglas was one of three declared the Proceeds of Crime earlier this year, two of which have since been sold off. Last month the court approved the sale prices of David Waldrons mega mansion in Wexford and a four-bed house in Leixlip. Darview Heights, the Wexford mansion, which was built for 1.6 million went to a bidder at auction for 522,000. Judge Owens approved the price, noting that contracts had been signed and made an order for the receiver to take the proceeds. A similar order was made for Waldrons four-bed house in Leixlip which went for 415,000 in a separate sale. In a judgement last April it was deemed that Waldron was a major player in the distribution and sale of drugs in Dublin since 2000. Judge Owens previously granted the seizure of houses owned by Waldron in Kildare and Dublin. In total, assets worth 3.3m were deemed to be proceeds of crime. The Sunday World revealed that earlier this year Waldron was still pocketing 6,450 a month in rent from the property along with the Leixlip house. CAB previously appealed a decision to grant Waldron and his wife Charlene, who has no involvement in crime, free legal aid in their legal fight over their assets. It was heard evidence emerged that in April 2020, a christening party was held at a hotel where the venue was paid 5,000 in cash. The couple were playing "cat and mouse with the court" and their replies in affidavits do not explain their wealth but are just "bald assertions", it was heard. CAB seized the Cabra home of Waldrons brother Christopher which was also deemed to be the proceeds of crime and since sold off by auction. The Waldrons have links to numerous well-known underworld figures and have been linked to a recent multi-million euro drug seizure in Dublin. It follows a search operation at a residential property in Blackrock in April when luxury items valued at approximately 350,000 were seized A woman who was arrested as part of a money laundering operation in Blackrock, Dublin has been charged and is due to appear in court this morning. The woman, aged in her 30s, was charged by gardai attached to the Detective unit at Blackrock Garda station. It follows a search operation at a residential property in Blackrock in April when luxury items valued at approximately 350,000 were seized. The woman is due to appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court this morning at 10.30am. Gardai said the woman had been charged in relation to an investigation into alleged Money Laundering contrary to Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010. They added that investigations are ongoing. According to cops, he was asked to leave due to an earlier disturbance in the pub and then fired a handgun into the air after he left A man is behind bars after US police say he fired nine rounds into the air outside an Irish bar in Rochester, north of Boston. Alexander Tibbetts-Cullen (28) of Rochester was told to leave Caras Irish Pub at 11 Fourth St early on Saturday morning. Officers from the Dover Police Department who responded to a report of shots fired recovered a total of nine shell casings outside the bar. Dover Police say no one was injured and no property was damaged. Police said witnesses helped identify Tibbetts-Cullen, who has been arrested in the past for incidents involving firearms. According to cops, he was asked to leave due to an earlier disturbance in the pub and then fired a handgun into the air after he left. "It probably stemmed out of a small argument with maybe four or five people involved, Dover police Captain David Terlemezian told local media. But it was a big enough argument that (Tibbets-Cullen) was asked to leave the bar." Tibbetts-Cullen was arrested about 6am on Tuesday at his Maple Street home in Rochester with the assistance of the Strafford County Tactical Operations Unit (the local SWAT team), the Rochester Police Department, and the Belknap Special Operations Group K9, according to Dover Police. He was apprehended by a police dog after refusing to come out of the basement of the home, according to Terlemezian. Tibbets-Cullen refused the services of a bail commissioner, police said, and is being held at the Strafford County House of Corrections. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday at the Dover District Court. It has been further reported that Tibbetts-Cullen was arrested following a six-hour standoff with police in Somersworth in October 2022. On that occasion he was charged with felon in possession of a gun, criminal threatening with a gun, and violation of a protection order. Police at that time noted Tibbetts-Cullen was a convicted felon out on bail from a previous unrelated incident involving a gun. Meanwhile, Dover Police said the investigation into the Fourth Street incident is ongoing and have appealed or anyone with information to come forward. Tibbetts-Cullen faces nine counts of reckless conduct and felon in possession of a dangerous weapon. All are Class B felonies, each punishable by 3.5 to seven years in prison if he is convicted. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys agreed to make orders, with consent from both sides Denise Leavy and Pat Lynch, who agreed to settle Glenveaghs High Court claim against them. Photo: Collins Courts Glenveagh has settled its 8 million High Court claim against two Co Meath residents it had alleged serially objected to its planning applications as part of an attempted shake-down. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys agreed to make orders, with consent from both sides, cancelling the planned two-week hearing due to start on Tuesday and for Glenveaghs legal costs to be covered by defendants Pat Lynch and Denise Leavy. The courts order on consent also noted that Mr Lynch and Ms Leavy accept that the within proceedings do not constitute strategic litigation against public participation. No further details of the settlement were outlined to the court. Mr Lynch, an insurance consultant, and Ms Leavy, a retired bank official, continue to strongly deny all of the allegations against them. Glenveaghs case is believed to have been the first developer legal action in Ireland alleging abuse of the statutory planning process by way of tortious interference with its business interests. It claimed the duos actions were predominantly aimed at leveraging an improved bargain for Mr Lynch in his bid to secure better terms in selling 16 acres of his land to Glenveagh. A 7.8 million price tag had previously been agreed in principle, the firm claimed. The developer alleged the defendants were highly targeted in making submissions and appeals on its projects across the country as part of an alleged shake-down attempt while costing Glenveagh millions. Mr Lynch and Ms Leavy, who both have addresses in Batterstown, Proudstown, Navan, Co Meath, were set to contest the case over two weeks without the assistance of lawyers in what they characterised as a David and Goliath showdown. They had asked the court on many occasions to delay the hearing for a chance to fight this as their previous lawyers, FP Logue, ceased representing them and they were struggling to find a replacement legal team. They maintain that their objections had no vexatious intent and were made as per planning laws. The developers case against them was entirely groundless, they claimed. Last April, Mr Justice Humphreys rejected an application from Mr Lynch and Ms Leavy seeking to have the case thrown out at an early stage because, they claimed, it amounted to abusive strategic litigation against public participation (Slapp). The judge said the construction firms case raised complex issues and required further investigation by way of a full High Court trial, when disputes over factual claims could be teased out. The defendants were at that point represented by solicitors and a junior and senior barrister. Glenveagh Homes denies its case was Slapp or designed to intimidate. It was represented by Michael Howard SC, Niall Handy SC and Kevin Bell, instructed by AMOSS solicitors. "I am appealing to owners of guest houses, landlords, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and Airbnbs Gardai have released a CCTV image of a man whose body was recovered from the water at Claddagh Quay in Galway on Sunday, November 17 in a bid to identify him. The man is estimated to have been aged in his 60s, and 5ft 7 inches in height. He was of a medium build, and 78-80kg. He had blue eyes and a full head of red/grey hair. He had a grey full beard, with the moustache part of the beard slightly red. He had black rimmed glasses on his person. The man is believed to have had an Irish accent. He was wearing a grey tweed suit jacket and trousers, a blue/white striped shirt with a flowery print along the seams where the buttons are and inside the collar. He wore size 10 black laced dress Asos brand shoes. Superintendent Paudie OShea of Galway Garda Station said that despite extensive enquiries there has been no positive identification of the deceased to date. "I am appealing to owners of guest houses, landlords, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and Airbnbs to check if anybody left their premises and may have left property behind, Superintendent OShea said. It is understood that gardai are not treating the death as suspicious. Anyone with information is asked to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. James Forde, who lived in Clareview, died after he was struck by a vehicle at Ennis Road on the city's northside shortly before 2pm on Tuesday. Tributes are pouring in online for a man who was killed in a Limerick hit-and-run yesterday afternoon. James Forde, who lived in Clareview, died after he was struck by a vehicle at Ennis Road on the city's northside shortly before 2pm on Tuesday. A man in his 30s was arrested in relation to this incident and the car involved in the collision, which failed to remain at the scene, has since been recovered. The arrested man has now been charged, a garda spokesperson said. He is due to appear before Limerick District Court tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 28, 2024. James, aged in his 50s, passed away following the incident at University Hospital Limerick surrounded by his family. A notice on rip.ie reads: Beloved son of Anne and the late Joe Forde. Treasured brother of Aine, Fintan, Stephen, Walter, Mary, Victor, Paula, Fergal and David. Sadly missed by his loving brothers-in-law Kevin and Shane, sisters-in-law Caroline, Marie-Louise, Stephanie and Diane, his nephews and nieces Molly, Emilie, Elsa, Sam, Elise, Lauren, Conor, Paddy, Marion, Kate, Caoimhe, Alex, Ivy and Isabel, aunts, cousins, neighbours and friends. He will be reposing at Thompsons Funeral Home, Thomas Street on Friday, 29 November, from 5.30pm to 7pm. His funeral mass will take place at Christ the King Church, Caheradavin on Saturday, November 30, at 11.30am followed by burial in Castlemungret Cemetery. James family also gave a special thanks to the dedicated care of the First Responders, gardai and the staff of Accident Department and ICU at University Hospital Limerick. Tributes are now being paid to the Limerick man online, with many remembering him as a lovely man as they offered their condolences to the Forde family. A friend wrote: Sending my deepest condolences to the Forde family on the sudden passing of James. I enjoyed our little chats at the gym. May he rest in peace. And another of James fellow gymgoers added: To the Forde family, so sorry for your loss, James was a kind, inoffensive, person that was liked by many. May his gentle soul rest in peace. While another person said: Our deepest condolences are being sent to all the Forde family. Keeping you all in our prayers and thoughts at this very tragic sad time. James was always such a lovely man who always gave a salute. He will be sadly missed walking past the house with his dog every day. Rest In eternal peace James, and watch closely over all your loved ones. Gardai continue to appeal for witnesses to come forward. Anyone with any information on the movements of the Ford Focus around the time of the incident is asked to contact gardai. Any road users who were travelling in the area at the time of the collision and who may have camera footage (including dash cam) are asked to contact gardai. Anyone with any information, is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station on (061) 212400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. Investigations are ongoing. Barrister Conor Kearney said a cowboy roofer had been engaged earlier to carry out work on the roof of a block of apartments A security man and his wife and young child, who were asleep in bed when a water saturated ceiling collapsed on them, have been awarded damages against a roofer and the management company of a block of flats where they lived. Alvydas Kulevicius, his partner Dalia Vanagaite and their son Robertas Kulevichius. were asleep at 5 a.m. when they were hit with parts of the falling ceiling and drenched in their night clothes, Judge Christopher Callan was told. Barrister Conor Kearney, who appeared with Griffin Solicitors, Templeogue, Dublin, for the family said a cowboy roofer had been engaged earlier to carry out work on the roof of a block of apartments and had left his work open to the elements. He has never been heard of since after having been involved in a 250,000 roofing contract carried out so negligently and incompetently that his insurers refused to indemnify him, Mr Kearney said. Judge Christopher Callan, in a reserved judgment, awarded each member of the family 5,000 and costs against roofer Daniel John Dwyer, with an address in Edenmore Avenue, Coolock, Dublin 5 and the Mountgorry Wood Management Company, Eirside Enterprise Centre, Swords, Co Dublin. Judge Callan had heard that Dwyer had ignored three separate 60,000 damages claims against him and judgment in default of appearance had already been obtained against him. Alvydas Kulevicius (41) told Judge Callan he had noticed damp patches and leaking water from the ceiling the day before the incident. He said that there had been no issues until Dwyer had begun work on the roof. He had suffered head injuries and afterwards suffered psychiatric symptoms. The familys landlord, Neil Mitchell, who was held not to be liable for the ceiling collapse, told the court that he called Dwyer on his emergency hotline about 30 times on the day of the collapse but had received no response. Kulevicius and his family, who had lived at Mountgorry Wood, Malahide, at the time, described bruising to their faces from the impact, and were forced to leave the house and stay with a family member for a short time until Mitchell had arranged temporary accommodation for them. Kulevicius said the family had experienced nightmares in the months after the incident and said his son would look up at the ceiling any time he heard a bird walking on the roof. Mitchell told the court that he had to sell the apartment afterwards in order to repay the debt he had incurred from refurbishment costs which his insurance company had refused to cover. He ensured the family would have somewhere else to go before he had closed the sale. The national forecaster said there will be patches of fog and freezing fog, thickening this evening and tonight The alert, which covers counties Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow and all of Connacht, comes into effect at 4pm today and is valid until 6am on Thursday. The national forecaster said there will be patches of fog and freezing fog, thickening this evening and tonight. Overnight, temperatures will drop below freezing with widespread frost and some icy patches forming. There is likely to be fog across much of the country, turning dense in some areas. Lowest temperatures tonight will range from 0C to -3C, though it will be less cold in the south and rain will start in southern parts of Munster towards the end of the night. Hazy sunshine will start Thursday off in the north and east but it will be damp in the south and west with cloud and outbreaks of rain. It will turn wet across most of the country into the afternoon though there will be just small amount of rain in Leinster and east Ulster, with some areas there remaining dry. Temperatures will rise tomorrow, with highs of 7C to 13C. Thursday night will be the start of an unsettled period, when it will be breezy with rain across the west of the country turning heavy in some places. Rain will move northwards across the country on Friday, which is forecast to be a damp and cloudy day. This will turn to scattered showers in the south and west into the evening, with highest temperatures ranging from 11C to 14C. It will remain cloudy on Friday night with some rain, drizzle and mist though it will remain mostly dry. Another mild night will see lows of 9C to 12C. Looking ahead to the weekend, Saturday will be breezy with scattered rain and drizzle turning to more persistent rain in counties on the west coast in the afternoon. The rain will continue into Saturday night, with heavy rain in some areas bringing a chance of spot flooding. The west will see sunny spells and showers on Sunday morning while outbreaks of rain cover the eastern half of the country. A mix of sunny spells and scattered showers will spread to the whole country in the afternoon with highs of 10C to 12C. National Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyy may have ties to the owner of a law firm that earns hundreds of millions of hryvnias from state-owned banks through assets registered in his daughter's name. Oleksiy Didkovskyi, the owner of Asters, received his most famous case (helping American lawyers) from Oshchad when Pyshnyy was the head of the financial institution. Almost at the same time, Pyshnyy's wife became a business partner of Serhiy Slyusarenko, who owns Ukrborg with Didkovskyi. ADVERTISIMENT Now Pyshnyy's family is building a 900-square-meter estate next door to Slyusarenko. And Didkovskyi's Asters, thanks in part to its partnership with state-owned banks, is perhaps the largest law firm in Ukraine specializing in finance and banking. Read about the possible connection between Didkovskyi and Pyshnyy in the OBOZ.UA article. Pyshnyy's estate: what else is known about the connections of NBU head In the declaration of NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy, there are two land plots belonging to Svitlana Pyshna (daughter), which are located on the beach near the Riviera Village cottage town. The plot next to it belongs to the company of well-known entrepreneur Serhiy Slyusarenko, Lebedivski Stavky. He is also now Pyshna's business partner. They are building a mansion (with one underground floor) with an area of 891.7 square meters. ADVERTISIMENT The NBU governor's ties to Slyusarenko are not limited to his estate. Serhiy Slyusarenko owns 50% of Ukrborg (a licensee of the National Bank). Another 50% of the company belongs to a well-known Ukrainian lawyer Oleksiy Didkovskyi. He is one of the most successful lawyers in Ukraine specializing in banking. In July 2015, Oshchadbank sent a claim to the government and the President of the Russian Federation for compensation for losses caused by the annexation of Crimea. The state-owned bank estimated its direct losses at about UAH 15 billion. At the time, the bank was headed by the current NBU governor, Andriy Pyshnyy. Already in 2016, Asters announced on its official website that it was assisting Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the main legal advisor to Oschadbank, in connection with Oschadbank's claim against the Russian Federation. ADVERTISIMENT The American firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan won the case, receiving $1.3 billion. Their "assistant" in Ukraine, Asters, also got its share of fame. It became perhaps the most famous story of their success. "We call on other Ukrainian companies, both state-owned and private, to apply to international arbitration in order to restore justice and make the occupier answer at least for the economic losses of Ukraine as a result of the devastating attack on our country," the press service of Oschadbank quoted Andriy Pyshnyy, the head of the financial institution's board, as saying. ADVERTISIMENT In fact, thanks to Oshchad, Asters had the opportunity to participate in a case that changed their market position and fortunes. They became one of the largest players and favorites not only of Oshchad, but also of other state-owned banks. For example, Privatbank and the National Bank of Ukraine spent UAH 900 million fighting the former owner of the financial institution, Ihor Kolomoiskyi. Didkovskyi's Asters Consult received most of this amount (about 700 million, according to media reports). It was during the period when Asters started cooperating with Oshchad that the Pyshnyy family took a step to build their estate. Thus, in July 2015, Oshchadbank headed by Pyshnyy decided to sue the Russian Federation, as it turned out later, with the help of Asters, and in June 2015, a month before, Joy Forest firm, a partner of Asters' owner Serhiy Slyusarenko, met a new co-owner - Pyshnyy's wife Lyudmyla. ADVERTISIMENT Her participation in Joy Forest probably allowed her to get a plot of land in an elite suburb. Now it is registered in the name of Pyshnyy's daughter Svitlana, who is the owner of the 900-square-meter estate that the NBU governor's family is building here. OBOZ.UA does not claim that it was Pyshnyy who initiated Asters' involvement and that it was somehow connected with obtaining a land plot or his family members participating in the authorized capital of Joy Forest. Although we sent a request to the NBU asking Andriy Pyshnyy to comment on the investment in the estate, we did not receive a substantive response. However, an independent observer may start having fair doubts about such a connection due to the absence of a conflict of interest. Asters received large profits from the state bank Asters, based on the information on their website, still believes that their participation in winning $1.3 billion for Oshchad is perhaps the most important event in the company's life. This achievement is presented on Asters' website as a key one. However, the lawyers did not specify that this was actually a victory for the American company Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which they helped. ADVERTISIMENT After Oshchad, another state-owned bank, Privat, has become Asters' largest known client. Back in 2016, before the litigation with the former owners of Privatbank started, Asters' revenue soared to UAH 290 million in 2018, when the agreements with the state bank and the regulator were signed. Didkovskyi's company also demanded to recover debts from Swedbank's clients. Irena Kilchytska, former vice president of Pravex Bank, publicly accused the parties of laundering large sums of money. "When the deal to sell the troubled bank was already underway, suddenly, Swedbank's shareholders added $100 million to the authorized capital, which was transferred to offshore accounts. It was pure money laundering. Lawyer Oleksiy Didkovskyi was personally behind Swedbank. After the sale, Muller-Hanke (who was the chairman of the board) bought a villa in Italy (this information is easy to verify), while Didkovskyi bought a house in London and moved his family there. During Swedbank's operation, Didkovskyi's law firm seems to have provided 'legal' services to it too... Every month, millions of dollars were debited from the bank's accounts to pay this company for the 'help'," Kilchytska said in an interview with GORDON. OBOZ.UA has not been able to find out on what terms first Lyudmyla and then Svitlana Pyshna became Slyusarenko's business partners. However, it can be assumed that Didkovskyi should be grateful to Pyshnyy. After all, it was during the latter's tenure at Oshchad that his company turned into a competitive market player. But the reality is the need for blood and plasma never stops and as New Zealanders stock up for Christmas, we need to do the same, Paramore said. Paramore said people were understandably busy before Christmas, then most took a well-earned break. In a media release, New Zealand Blood Service national marketing and communications manager Shane Paramore said summer was an extremely challenging time to meet demand for blood and blood products. A Bay of Plenty donor says he loves knowing his donations can help people in life-threatening circumstances. More than 2500 appointments for blood and plasma donations need to be filled in the Bay of Plenty region before Christmas to ensure demand can be met throughout the holidays, the New Zealand Blood Service says. Your donation of blood or plasma will help ensure that patients at their most vulnerable will get the lifesaving transfusion they need. The statement said someone in New Zealand needed a transfusion every 18 minutes. A donation took about an hour and can genuinely make the difference between life and death. There is one donor centre in Tauranga and the New Zealand Blood Service will also host mobile donation drives across the Bay of Plenty until the end of January, including stops in Rotorua, Mount Maunganui, Omokoroa, Papamoa and Whakatane. This summer, well be actively targeting popular holiday destinations with our mobile drives in the hopes of making it as easy as possible for people to donate without disrupting their holiday, Paramore said. Tauranga donor Zanda Perano said he was proud to be a donor, knowing it could help so many people in life-threatening circumstances. He encouraged anyone considering it to find out more and book an appointment. Tauranga-based blood donor Zanda Perano. Being part of a collective team of donors around the country reinforces my belief of the good in humanity, Perano said. Donating blood is a straightforward and practical way for me to support and extend kindness to my fellow New Zealanders. He said the warm and professional New Zealand Blood Service staff made donating safe and comfortable. Interested donors can download the New Zealand Blood Service donor app or visit its website. In August, Tauranga man Nicholas Page spoke about how his medical career has been the main inspiration for becoming a regular plasma donor. Mobile donation drive BoP stops Rotorua: The Matariki room (next to Novotel), Lake End, Tutanekai St on December 23 and 24, and January 28, 29, and 30. Mount Maunganui: Club Mount Maunganui, 45 Kawaka St on December 30 and January 22. Omokoroa: Omokoroa Pavillion, 28 Western Ave on January 23. Papamoa: Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club, 561 Papamoa Rd, on January 20 and 21. Whakatane: Whakatane RSA, 21 Richardson St on December 10, 11, and 12. -Bay of Plenty Times. A Tauranga film project is stirring excitement and pride within the local community. Directed by writer-director Mana Hira Davis, and produced by Eddie Page Productions, the short film Pakeha is bringing a deeply personal story to the screen. Inspired by Davis own experiences, the film explores the journey of a young Pakeha mother in the 1980s who learns te reo Maori to help her son connect with his Maori heritage while facing her own personal struggles. The film touches on themes of cultural reconciliation, mental health, and the healing power of aroha, offering a glimpse into the challenges of a pivotal time for te reo Maori. Writer-director Mana Hira Davis. Photo / Supplied Davis, whose mothers experiences form the basis of the story, shared that the idea for the film came to him after attending the 2023 Rotorua Film Festival where he watched indigenous short films from Australia and New Zealand. The powerful stories about the effects of colonisation resonated deeply with me, Davis said. The story of my own upbringing kept coming to mind, moving me so much that I had to leave the main theatre, ducked into the foyer and began writing about my mothers journey living with her husbands mental illness and her experience with learning te reo Maori as a Pakeha, in the early 1980s. Davis, well-known for his stunt work and acting roles in over 40 films and television series such as King Kong (2005), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) and The Meg (2018), is looking forward to directing. He said the characters in Pakeha are based on the images and feelings he had as a young boy. My hope with this film is to show the beauty and resurgence of te reo Maori in the 1980s, said Davis. It was an exciting yet intimidating time for many to learn or relearn their native language. I want this film to remind us that love connects us to everything. Actors rehearsing for Pakeha. Photo / Supplied Pakeha delves into the experiences of a Pakeha mother navigating the classroom in the 1980s as part of her own journey to connect with her Maori roots. Davis describes the film as a deeply personal project, reflecting both his mothers struggles and the broader cultural shifts of the era. Pakeha is about healing the hurt. Its about letting go the idea of race and celebrating ourselves as human beings, uniting us all as children of Papatuanuku and Ranginui. The film is being produced by Eddie Page Productions, a Tauranga-based production company founded by Larissa Allen, Sarah Oemcke, and Melissa Mae. The company is dedicated to nurturing local talent, fostering a vibrant screen industry, and creating opportunities for filmmakers to thrive in their own communities. We have a team of 28 crew members, 12 cast members, and seven rangatahi mentees, all from the Bay of Plenty, said Allen. These young people are gaining hands-on experience from local mentors in various areas of filmmaking, including production, art direction, and camera work. Its an exciting opportunity to share knowledge and build up the next generation of filmmakers. Support for the project has been bolstered by local partners like ImageZone, which has sponsored the camera equipment, and the Western Bay of Plenty Creative Communities Scheme, which has provided funding for the rangatahi mentorships. Film Bay of Plenty is also supporting the project with $1000 towards talent development. We have a lot of new cast and crew that will be mentored and gain experience on the film set, said Allen. It is great to have the support of our local film office. We have had Graeme Dingle Foundation provide their office as our crew base for the period of shooting, The Incubator loaning us some set furniture, family friends providing their Airbnb for one of our locations, 16th Ave Theatre providing their props and wardrobe. Eight of the main cast for Pakeha. Photo / Supplied The filmmakers still need community support to complete the project. Through a community-led crowdfunding campaign on Boosted, they are aiming to raise $9000 to cover catering costs for the two-day shoot in early December and post-production expenses. The Boosted Campaign, launched on November 15, invites the community to contribute in any way they can. Your financial support will help us make the best film possible, while also supporting the local economy, said Allen. The funds will go directly back into the community, hiring local crew, using local equipment, and supporting the mentorship programme for young filmmakers in Tauranga. In addition to funding, the filmmakers are seeking supporters to help spread the word. Every dollar and every share will help bring the film closer to completion and celebrate the beauty of te reo Maori. Those who contribute will receive a special thank-you in the credits, and businesses can even feature their logos. To support Pakeha and learn more about the project, visit the Boosted Campaign page. With the passion and dedication of the local team, Pakeha is set to be more than just a film - its a celebration of love, language, and community. Davis feels it is a timely story. The story is about love and how it can connect and heal us if we want it to, Davis said emphasising that the storys focus on the word Pakeha aims to spark positive conversations and contribute to growth and healing. Downtown Mount Maunganui will be engulfed in orange today, as more than 700 primary and intermediate school students march and wave banners in the Road Safe Orange Walk. Tauranga City Council Mayor Mahe Drysdale said the event is a chance to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of student road safety volunteers. Road Safe Orange Walk is an opportunity to reward the efforts of our Travel Safe and Travel Smart students, and road patrols who work hard to keep their community safe. It gives students a voice and helps raise awareness of road safety and active travel around schools. The event is a joint initiative between Travel Safe (Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty District Councils) and New Zealand Police with generous support from Road Safe Traffic Management, and has been held annually since 2007. Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer said in the Western Bay, which has both urban and rural schools, road safety is a vital part of daily life. Its great to see so much energy and passion from our young people, who are leading the way. We have even had some tamariki present to Council about the road safety infrastructure they would like to see which is leading to real, on the ground results. The Road Safe Orange Walk is a fantastic celebration of our students efforts to keep our roads safe, and I am looking forward to being part of this great event again this year. Mahe said the banner competition is a highlight of the day, with each school producing a banner that focuses on a particular issue affecting their school community. An incredible amount of effort and creativity goes into the banners and these students have a real awareness of the roads around their schools. The safety and active travel messages they are sharing are very relevant to their schools. In 2023 Mount Maunganui Intermediate won top prize for best road safety message for their banner If the red man starts flashing, dont start dashing. The sheer number of hours volunteered by the school road patrols each year paints an incredible picture of the volume of work across the region. Forty-nine crossings operate for fifty minutes a day, two-hundred days of the year for a staggering 8,166 collective hours per-year. The day begins at Coronation Park 9.15am with speeches from Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale, Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer, and Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter. The walk starts at 9.30am, following a return route along Maunganui Road, and around the roundabout at Pacific Avenue. Temporary road closures will be in place (see map below). Friends, family, locals, and visitors are encouraged to line the route, make some noise, and show their support for the students. After the walk the banner competition prizegiving will take place at Coronation Park, then the students will make their way to Baywave for a swim and a celebratory BBQ cooked by police. For event updates visit facebook.com/travelsafebop. A map showing temporary road closures. Image: Tauranga City Council Next March, for the first time ever, Tauranga will host the Skateboard Nationals, New Zealands premier skateboarding event where some of the countrys top skateboarders will drop in and carve up Mount Maunganuis Destination Skatepark. Mayor Mahe Drysdale said hosting the Skateboard Nationals next year is a fantastic opportunity for the city. This is a premier event for New Zealands skateboarding community which will bring multiple benefits to the region and help inspire the next generation of local skateboarders. Hosting national and international events like this attracts thousands of people to Tauranga and enables us to showcase everything that our beautiful city and the wider Bay of Plenty have to offer, Drysdale said. Tauranga Deputy Mayor and Mauao/Mount Maunganui Ward Councillor Jen Scoular said hosting the Skateboarding Nationals is a perfect opportunity to highlight the citys awesome skate facilities, including the new Destination Skatepark and the revamped vert ramp in Blake Park. Were so excited to host the countrys top skateboarders in the heart of Mount Maunganui. Ever since the Destination Skatepark opened earlier this year, its been humming with activity. Its a world-class facility which is attracting people from all over the country, from seasoned pros to newbie skateboarders. Were looking forward to seeing more events like this in the future. Tauranga Deputy Mayor and Mauao/Mount Maunganui Ward Councillor Jen Scoular is stoked that Tauranga is hosting the Skateboard Nationals for the first time in 2025. The Skateboard Nationals is one of the countrys most anticipated skateboarding events and will showcase talents across three disciplines, including park, street and vert skateboarding. The event typically features more than 100 competitors across a diverse range of age groups. Its the annual highlight on the skateboarding calendar, said Sonia Griffin, Board Chair of Skateboarding New Zealand. The Skateboard Nationals are a fantastic way to unite the skateboarding community, and next year were expanding opportunities with the introduction of an Under 13 division, encouraging even more people to get involved and showcase the diversity of talent and passion in the sport. Sonia attributes the surge in skateboardings popularity to its inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the increased investment from central and local government in skate facilities that support skateboarding as a positive youth activity. Local, regional and national competitions are vital for supporting the growth of skateboarding in New Zealand and provide a platform for emerging skateboarders interested in high performance who want to take their skating to the global stage. Having high class facilities like those in Mount Maunganui is crucial in opening the doors to international competition and developing a more active Aotearoa. The new Destination Skatepark is undoubtedly a standout facility - its quality and versatility for different styles of skating make it one of the most innovative skateparks in the country. From the outset, community and collaboration underpinned the development of Destination Skatepark on both a design and funding front. TECT was a key funder of the skateparks development - alongside New Zealand Community Trust, Lottery Community Facilities Fund, Grassroots Trust, The Lion Foundation and Project Tauranga - and now theyre back for more skate action supporting the Skateboard Nationals with Tauranga City Council. Mark Arundel, Chairperson of TECT, said that funding the Skateboard Nationals is an exciting next step to showcase the skatepark nationally and host a unique sporting event in the Bay of Plenty region. Hosting the Skateboard Nationals in Tauranga will boost the local economy through spending on accommodation, dining and activities. It also showcases our top-notch skatepark and the region itself, inspiring young skaters with the potential to pursue pathways to events like the Olympics. Destination Skatepark is always bustling with people of all ages and abilities, promoting outdoor activity, fun and social connections. It helps individuals build confidence, self-discipline, and perseverance, while fostering friendships and a strong, supportive skate community in the Bay. Previously hosted in Gisborne, the Skateboard Nationals will take place on 28-29 March 2025. The event is anticipated to attract hundreds of skate enthusiasts, supporters, and competitors to the region. The South Platte Natural Resources District Board met on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Following the monthly meeting, the SPNRD and the NRCS hosted the 2024 Conservation Awards Program at the Elks Lodge in Sidney. Ryan Reisdorff, SPNRD Assistant Manager, summarized the Fall 2024 report on the Active Flowing Segments of the Lodgepole Creek in the SPNRD. The creek is measured yearly on approximately April 1st and October 1st. "The average flow for the fall is approximately 85 miles," said Reisdorff. The table below provides information for Fall 2020 through 2024. The award program began in 1956 by... Are more choices for residents hurting local established restaurants? MIKE MOTZ Sidney Sun-Telegraph SIDNEY--Lately, it seems that not only the frequency of food truck vendors setting up in local business parking lots has increased, but the number of vendors has also increased. From burgers to fish, there are many varieties of foods to purchase, and in most cases, customers say the quality of the items is excellent. Most would think that having more choices for food in Sidney is a good thing, but the additional options presented by these mobile eateries can cause problems for established restaurants in Sidney. The Sun-Telegraph was contacted by a local restauran... Soldier Returns From Middle East to Surprise Local Family Kelsey Arrington Sidney Sun-Telegraph A typical late October weekday lunch at Pizza Hut quickly became a special and meaningful family reunion. The Wachtels, who were already enjoying the company of daughter, Jaide Phelps, a marine biologist visiting from Alaska, were delighted when in walks Leigha Wachtel, fresh off the plane from her time serving in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. "Oh my gosh; oh my gosh," Wachtel's Grandmother, Marge Sabin, exclaims, "Nobody knew it! Did you know it?" Sabin asks Phelps. Wachtel's mother, Barb Wachtel, gets up from the table and tearfully walks... Edited by Mike Sunderland The Arabs attacked Israel in October, 1973 the Yom Kippur War in which the Israelis, for the umpteenth time, thoroughly whipped Egypt and Syria simultaneously and took firm possession of the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In retaliation for U.S. support of Israel, the Arab oil-producing nations imposed a total ban on oil exports to the U.S. The country went nuts. Long lines formed at gas pumps and in some parts of the U.S. gasoline prices went through the roof. Congress frantically wrung its hands and came up, as usual, with the worst possible solu... From left to right, Mario Bravo, Martin Reichardt, Uwe Scheele, Oscar Medina, Georg Maas and Franko Stritt at the opening of the fifth German film week Regina Sotorrio Malaga Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 11:14 Compartir The fifth annual German film week kicked off at an almost-full Albeniz cinema in Malaga on Tuesday 26 November. The event, organised by SUR deutsche Ausgabe, the Goethe Institute in Madrid and the German consulate in Malaga shines a spotlight on the latest trends in German filmmaking and aims to strengthen ties between the two countries, whilst also presenting a "unique opportunity" for film-lovers to see recently produced films that may never reach Spanish cinemas. The nine feature films to be screened at the Albeniz cinema throughout the week until Saturday are yet to be released in Spain. "We have achieved an interesting and ambitious programme," said Uwe Scheele, director of the German edition of SUR. Meanwhile, the director of the Goethe Institute in Madrid, Martin Reichardt, said the programme boasts "exceptional diversity" and is an opportunity to see a film production that is "not so well known" in Spain. "Everyone knows what the Oktoberfest is, but it is not the only example of German culture," said Franko Stritt of the German consulate in Malaga. They applaud the "exceptional diversity" of the line-up, with young and established directors and all kinds of genres The programme features works by esteemed directors and debut films such as Sonja Heiss's movie which premiered at the Berlinale, Wann Wird Es Endlich Wieder So, Wie Es Nie War (When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before). This film will screen this Wednesday 27 November at 9pm. Sarah Blakiewitz's promising film Ivie wie ivie (Precious Lvie) will be screened this Wednesday at 6.45pm. Esteemed actors and other talents will be on screen, such as Lela Urzendowsky, "a young star" of current cinema who will be in two films in Malaga: Franky five star on Saturday at 6.45pm and Jenseits der blauen grenze (Beyond the blue border) on Thursday at 6.45pm. Viewers can expect to see comedies, dramas, thrillers with a classic film noir feel, historical productions and "films that deal with life and its conflicts and that deal with current social issues", Scheele pointed out. From the struggles of a difficult rental market in the form of a black satire, Black box (Saturday 9.30pm), to a historical reconstruction of the horrors of World War II, Die Wannseekonferenzor (The Conference) on Friday at 9.30pm, as well as the story of Franz Kafka's great love Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens (The Glory of Life), there is something for everyone's cinematic tastes. Opening film The German film week lit up screens on Tuesday with a film that reconstructs the last year of the writer's life, an "artistic and poetic film that portrays the tragedy and beauty" of Kafka's final romance. Its director Georg Maas presented the film at the Albeniz cinema yesterday and held a discussion after the screening. It is his first time in Malaga, "a city of architectural contrasts", he said when asked about his first impression of the destination. What was just an idea five years ago has become "an essential cultural event in the cultural agenda of Malaga" for cinema fans and for the many Germans living in Malaga province, Scheele added. Around the province For the second consecutive year, the German film week is extending beyond Malaga city to two of the municipalities with the most German residents, Mijas and Torrox. Here, there will be screenings of When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before (Wednesday in the town hall of Mijas Pueblo and Thursday in the multipurpose building of Torrox). The film, a tragicomedy about a boy who spends his childhood in the psychiatric hospital run by his father, will be screened for free. Oscar Medina, mayor of Torrox, home to the largest German community in Spain (some 6,000 residents), praised the celebration of a cultural event "that unites two brother towns". "Over the years, this will be one of the most important festivals in southern Europe," he said. Meanwhile, Mario Bravo, councillor of Mijas - where some 1,065 Germans reside - pointed out the richness of the cultural mix and the "pride" of being a land of welcome for those who have not been "lucky enough to be born in Spain", but who have the "intelligence and wisdom" to live in the country. All films are screened in their original German version with Spanish subtitles. Manu Alvarez Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 11:22 Compartir In an unprecedented battle between two of Spain's largest energy companies, Iberdrola and Repsol were in court in Santander on Thursday 21 November with the former accusing the latter of misleading customers over its environmental policies. Repsol argued that it "is not true" that it misleads its customers with messages about the sustainability of its products and that it has 'greenwashed' the sale of fuels, around which more than 90% of its turnover revolves. Iberdrola claims Repsol uses sustainability in its corporate and advertising messages to gain a commercial advantage. In its defence, Repsol denied the accusations of misleading advertising in some of its communication campaigns and also in its public reports. Iberdrola implied that the electricity company is only upset because it is losing market share in Spain in electricity sales. This is at the heart of the hearing which took place on Thursday 21 November at the Court of Appeal in Santander. The case brought by Iberdrola against Repsol focused on several advertising campaigns launched last year by the company in which it marketed fuels, electricity and gas with discounts and messages linked to sustainability or the renewable nature of some hydrocarbons. For just over five hours, Iberdrola's and Repsol's lawyers battled it out with language that would require a Master's in semantics, corporate communication and sustainability. Iberdrola relied on the expertise of the communications company Roman y Asociados and the company Nera for economic evaluations, while Repsol used Llorente y Cuenca - Spain's leading communications consultancy firm - and the energy economics expert Fernando Barrera. Misleading advertising The final decision on the case is in the hands of magistrate Carlos Martinez de Marigorta. Iberdrola has accused Repsol of lying when Repsol claims that it is committed to sustainability - it asserts that its investments in the hydrocarbons sector are the main proof. However, Iberdrola argued that in reality what it wants is to make money for its shareholders. Repsol representatives denied these accusations because both the terminology and the context of the advertising campaigns and the company's documents allow for other interpretations. They have denied that the company is greenwashing its advertising campaigns. Sustainability and price Repsol's lawyers also endeavoured, supported by expert opinion, to limit the real impact of some advertising messages. They supported the idea that consumers give very limited importance to the "green cover" of some products, because what they really prioritise is price. In fact, the campaign now under scrutiny offered significant discounts on fuel purchases - up to 20 cents in the best case - for customers who also signed up for electricity or gas contracts or contract the installation of solar panels. In these campaigns Repsol boasted of its "commitment to sustainability" and also of its commitment to the energy transition and the achievement of zero net emissions by 2050, citing as examples the start of the marketing of renewable fuels - already in 600 petrol stations in Spain - as well as its investments to experiment with hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Picturesque Sicily is one of Europe's favorite vacation destinations. However, one of its cities was included in the list of the worst locations in 2025. ADVERTISIMENT According to the Express, Agrigento was included in the Fodor's Travel 2025 Go and No Lists. Experts concluded that it is better to avoid it. On the one hand, the city was chosen as the cultural capital of Italy in 2025. And this should attract many tourists. On the other hand, the region is facing a serious water crisis. If the load on its water supply system is increased, it could lead to irreversible consequences for the local ecosystem and cultural heritage. Agrigento is located on a hilltop on the southwestern coast of Sicily. Getting water here is not a new problem for the locals. It is delivered in tankers. However, the combination of climate change and prolonged drought exacerbated the water supply situation. ADVERTISIMENT Small hotels and guesthouses are finding it particularly difficult to deal with the problem. Some of them limit bookings in August out of fear that they will not be able to provide visitors with the desired level of comfort. While large hotels can buy water from the mainland, small establishments do not have either the capacity to store it or the appropriate financial resources. Moreover, some shops in Agrigento close in the summer heat, with households storing water for technical and domestic needs. A combination of factors is blamed for the water crisis in Agrigento. The city's underground aqueduct system is aging and leaking. It also cannot cope with the supply of the required amount of water. Local residents blame the municipal authorities for not doing enough to improve the situation. Despite discussions about modernizing the water supply network that began in 2011, there has been no progress. To solve the problem, the Italian government has allocated 20 million euros to purchase water tanks and dig new wells in Sicily, but as of July, only 17% of the planned work had been completed. ADVERTISIMENT The drought also threatens the city's historical and cultural sites, including the Valley of the Temples. It is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of Greater Greece and one of the main attractions of Sicily. In 2023, one million tourists visited the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. However, Giuseppe Abbate, a professor of urban planning at the University of Palermo, says the drought threatens the "splendid agricultural landscape" in which it is inscribed. In February, the authorities declared a "state of crisis and water emergency" in Agrigento. It will remain in effect until the end of the year. Abbate claims that the situation threatens to disrupt all activities and events dedicated to the city's status as the 2025 European Capital of Culture. Many cities across Italy are experiencing severe droughts, but the situation in Sicily is one of the worst. The Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research has assigned it the highest level of danger. In the summer of 2024, the regional president of Sicily, Renato Schifani, said that the island's losses from crop failures, empty reservoirs, and the death of livestock had already exceeded one billion dollars - and that's without taking into account the losses of the tourism industry. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. When is Thanksgiving? What is it? Thanksgiving in the United States is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving 2024 is being celebrated on Thursday, Nov. 28. The holiday originated as a harvest festival. The event that Americans typically call the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in the U.S. when President Abraham Lincoln in October 1862 proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving during the Civil War. The Proclamation was written by his Secretary of State William Seward, of Auburn, N.Y. See whats open and closed on Thanksgiving: Are banks open on Thanksgiving? No, banks are closed on Thursday, but open on Friday. Is stock market open on Thanksgiving? No, financial markets are closed on Thursday. They re-open on Friday. Are government offices open on Thanksgiving? City, county, state and federal offices are closed Thursday. Some offices, such as the city of Syracuse, are also closed on Friday. Are post offices closed on Thanksgiving? Is there mail delivery? The U.S. Post offices are closed on Thursday, and there will be no mail delivery. USPS offices will reopen on Friday, and mail will be delivered then. UPS and FedEx are also closed Thursday, with no delivery for the Thanksgiving holiday. Will there be trash collection? City of Syracuse trash pick up will be one day late on both Thursday and Friday; Thursdays trash will be picked up Friday and Fridays pickup will be Saturday. Other municipal and private haulers may work on a different schedule. Are restaurants and stores open? Will shopping malls be on regular hours? Many restaurants and stores are closed Thursday, including Target and Walmart. Most will re-open for regular hours on Friday, with some offering special hours for Black Friday shopping. Destiny USA will be closed on Thanksgiving. The Syracuse mall will reopen Friday at 7 a.m. for Black Friday shopping and begin extended holiday hours. Is Walmart open on Thanksgiving? Is Target open on Thanksgiving? Is Wegmans open? Walmart, Target, Trader Joes and Aldi are closed on Thanksgiving. Wegmans is open until 4 p.m. at most locations on Thanksgiving Day. Tops is also open until 4 p.m. Thursday, Price Chopper is open until 3 p.m., and Nichols in Liverpool is open until 2 p.m. Are pharmacies open? Some pharmacies, including most Walgreens locations, are closed on Thanksgiving. Most CVS and Rite Aid locations will be open on Thursday, along with Kinney Drugs located at 437 Electronics Parkway in Liverpool (retail store and pharmacy); check hours for your location before visiting. Is parking free on Thanksgiving? Parking at all downtown Syracuse meters will be free on Thursday and Friday. Are libraries open on Thanksgiving? Onondaga Countys Central Library and all city branches are closed Thursday and Friday. Suburban branch hours vary; you can check your branch through the county website. Are buses running on regular time? Centro is running on a Sunday/holiday schedule for Thanksgiving. Friday buses will operate on normal schedules. For information, call 442-3400 or visit Centros website. Bomb threats and swatting attacks have been reported at the homes of several people picked for President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefaniks office said her Upstate New York residence in Saratoga County received a threat Wednesday morning while she, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving home from Washington, D.C., for Thanksgiving. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism, Stefaniks office said in a statement. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7. Stefanik, a Republican member of Congress since 2014, was recently nominated by Trump as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. New York State Police said officers and K9 unites trained in explosives detection swept Stefaniks home and did not locate any explosive devices. The FBI is investigating, troopers said. Former Congressman Lee Zeldin, who was picked by Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in his upcoming administration, said his Long Island home was targeted Wednesday with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure, Zeldin said. Zeldin left Congress in 2023 and unsuccessfully ran for governor of New York in 2022. News 12 reports a bomb threat was also made against a New York City property owned by Howard Lutnick, who was nominated by Trump for commerce secretary. Its unacceptable that members of the incoming administration are being targeted with violence & harassment, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday. New York State Police are responding & we are working closely with federal partners to protect those targeted. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work & in their communities. According to the Associated Press, Trumps transition team said other Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were also targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. The threats included swatting, or false reports to generate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim, and bomb threats. The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office said it was similarly notified of a bomb threat referencing former Rep. Matt Gaetzs supposed mailbox in Niceville, Florida. A family member resides at the address but Gaetz, who resigned from Congress and recently withdrew from considering for Trumps Attorney General, does not live there. The FBI said in a statement that it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders Tuesday, raising hopes and renewing difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signaled tentative backing for the U.S.-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. Over 130 people have been killed on the Israeli side. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, had previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. With the new cease-fire, it has backed away from that pledge, in effect leaving Hamas isolated and fighting a war alone. Heres what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday (9 p.m. EST Tuesday). Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the U.S. would monitor compliance by all sides. Biden said the deal was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, does not enforce the deal. Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the groups support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon, he said. The European Unions top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israels security concerns had been addressed in the deal, also brokered by France. Hezbollah indicated it would give the ceasefire pact a chance. Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollahs top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signaling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israels advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israels overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the groups effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israels massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their countrys fate to Gazas at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in grave condition. No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israels attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the groups top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal, while Netanyahu on Tuesday reiterated his pledge to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are freed. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 and who hopes to one day rule over the territory again as part of an independent Palestinian state, offered a pointed reminder Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine, he said in a speech to the U.N. read by his ambassador. World record holder in the high jump Yaroslava Maguchikh has set her next goals after a fantastic 2024 season. According to the 23-year-old from Dnipro, she intends to break not only her current historical achievement of 2 meters 10 centimeters, but also to update the Olympic record. ADVERTISIMENT Maguchikh told about this in an interview with OBOZ.UA, answering questions about her further motivation. The athlete, who won gold at the Paris Games, noted that she has already fully focused on preparing for the next Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles. "Our athletes are like this: they complete one cycle of four years and then a new one begins. This was the case after the Tokyo 2020 Games, and now all eyes are on Los Angeles 2028. Many goals have not yet been achieved. Firstly, to break my own record, and secondly, I have not yet set an Olympic record. This is my goal for the next Games, so that this achievement belongs to Ukraine," said Yaroslava. ADVERTISIMENT It should be noted that the Olympic record in the high jump belongs to the Russian Yelena Slesarenko, who cleared 2.06 meters at the 2004 Athens Games. Read the full interview with Maguchikh, in which she talked about the award as the best athlete in Europe, her plans for the future, as well as her motivation and responsibility due to the war in her home country, on OBOZ.UA. Earlier, Maguchikh also spoke about restrictions on sex during the competition period. The athlete also spoke about her relationship with her 20-year-old fiance, saying that "no one forbids me to go out." As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Yaroslava Maguchikh took part in a "stunning" photo shoot and impressed her fans on the social network Instagram. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy may begin in Ukraine within a day. Poland is currently awaiting official confirmation of this information. ADVERTISIMENT Such a statement was made by the head of the Institute of National Remembrance of the Republic, Karol Nawrocki. His words are reported by RMF24. "The Bureau of Search and Identification of the INP is ready to conduct a real search in Volyn within 24 hours. Therefore, we are waiting for official confirmation of this information," he said. He also reminded that since 2017, his Institute had sent Ukraine requests for search and exhumation work in the Volyn region. The request concerned a number of settlements. "Between 2017 and 2024, we sent nine such requests. None of these requests were accepted by the Ukrainian side," he assured. According to the head of the Institute of National Memory, if the statements of Ukrainian politicians are not just political declarations, he expects an official confirmation and response to the request. In this case, the Institute will send both people and equipment to Volyn region. ADVERTISIMENT Navrotsky assured that Russia's war against Ukraine will not affect the efficiency of the work. Details The Volyn tragedy occurred in 1943, when the Polish Home Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army organized, according to Ukrainian researchers, mutual ethnic cleansing of Poles and Ukrainians. As a result, more than 100,000 Poles and 40,000 Ukrainians died in the region. Witnesses to those events noted the brutal methods of reprisals on both sides. On July 24, 2024, Polish Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Warsaw would not be able to agree to Ukraine's accession to the EU until the countries resolve the disputes over the events in Volyn during World War II. On September 19, it was reported that the Polish Foreign Ministry allegedly plans to use Ukraine's European integration aspirations as a tool to put pressure on Kyiv in the coming months. In particular, in the matter of exhumations of victims of the Volyn tragedy. ADVERTISIMENT On September 24, Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized Kosiniak-Kamysh's statement and noted that such phrases "are part of Putin's policy." Later, Duda also said that a breakthrough should take place in the "problematic" historical issues of relations between Poland and Ukraine, but not as a result of "unceremonious blackmail." On October 1, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that Ukraine is ready to discuss with its Polish counterparts the controversial issues of common history. Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski said that as part of the first chapter of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Poland would raise the issue of exhuming Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy. On November 26, Ukraine confirmed that there are no obstacles to the search and exhumation of the bodies of the victims of the Volyn tragedy on our territory. This was announced by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski after a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga. As reported by OBOZ.UA, in early November, Radoslaw Sikorski stated that there has been no progress in the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy. According to him, the Ukrainian government at that time did not fulfill its promises in a timely manner. Earlier, Poland said that Ukraine's accession to the European Union was not a "matter of survival" and warned that it would set its own conditions. This included the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Taos Woman: Online Now! In this years Taos Woman magazine, we get up close with our eight Taosena awards recipients and women who are committed to the community and passionate in spirit. In winter, you want to be especially cozy and warm. One European city has been recognized as the friendliest on the continent, making it the perfect place for a weekend getaway or a romantic city vacation. ADVERTISIMENT The Swedish capital topped the Conde Nast Traveler rating. In the Readers Choice Awards 2024 category, Stockholm received the award as a city where polite and cheerful people live. The details were reported by the Express. "Swedes are open, polite, and cheerful, so Stockholm's title as Europe's friendliest city is well deserved," the Conde Nast Traveler article says. And recalling how seriously the city's residents take comfort and coziness, the experts spoke about the tradition of "fika", which literally means "coffee break", but represents a tradition of communication that is more important than the hot drinks themselves. This stunning city is located on 14 islands, making it a rather unique vacation destination. Travelers can explore each of the islands and enjoy sightseeing tours by boat. ADVERTISIMENT Tourist attractions include the city's Royal Palace, the official royal residence of the Swedish monarch, now King Carl XVI Gustaf, although he and his wife, Queen Silvia, usually live in their private residence, Drottningholm Palace. The palace is located in Gamla Stan, Stockholm's historic Old Town and central island. Just across the bridge is the small island of Riddarholmen, where visitors can see the famous Riddarholm Church, the only one in the city that has survived from the Middle Ages. There are many options for history buffs. For example, the Vasa Museum displays a warship that capsized and sank in 1628, and the Historical Museum houses Viking artifacts and medieval exhibits. Tourists should also visit Gamla Filmstaden, Sweden's answer to Hollywood, where they can get a glimpse of the time when Sweden was at the forefront of the film industry. Ranking of the friendliest cities The top 10 comfortable and friendly cities suitable for a romantic trip include: Stockholm, Sweden Budapest, Hungary Valencia, Spain Vienna, Austria Berlin, Germany Palma de Mallorca, Spain Copenhagen, Denmark Lisbon, Portugal Milan, Italy Naples, Italy. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. CentreOfGravity BHPian Join Date: Dec 2022 Location: Mumbai Posts: 264 Thanked: 3,015 Times View My Garage re: Mahindra XUV.e9 electric SUV spied. EDIT: XEV 9e Launched @ Rs. 21.90 lakh; BE 6e @ Rs. 18.90 lakh Key takeaways from the launch event: - Best ground clearance in the class = 207 mm - XEV 9e: Best-in-class boot space (measured up to the seats) and frunk at 663L and 150L respectively - XEV 9e and BE 6e have two of the quietest cabins in the segment - Best turning radius (10m) and maneuverability in the segment - Brake-by-wire tech; 100-0 kmph in 40m - 99.5% filtration of UV rays in the cabin - Fastest cooling cabins - 7 airbags - Batteries ranging from 59 - 79 kWh - 79kWh battery: WLTP range of 550 km (XEV 9e) and 533 km (BE 6e); real world range of 500+ km - 20-80% in 20 mins with a 140 kW DC fast charger - Lifetime-warranty for the batteries; applicable only to the first owner. in case of ownership change, battery warranty = 10 years / 2,00,000 km, whichever is earlier - BE 6e: 0-100 kmph in 6.7s - XEV 92: 0-100 kmph in 6.8s - MAIA: on-board vehicle assistant is claimed to be the most powerful; comes with a powerful Qualcomm chip - 16-speaker Harmon-Kardon sound system with industry-first Dolby Atmos tuning - 43-inch / 110 cm triple-screen setup + 2 screens for rear passengers; central screen gets wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay - Theatre mode which links all 5 screens - VisionX: 75-inch heads-up display - Illuminated glass roof with 16 million colours - Three drive modes: Range, Everyday, Race = Eco, Normal, Sport - ADAS L2 with 5 radars - Facial recognition! Adjusts settings as per user - Built-in dashcam of sorts with alerts - AutoPark feature - Maximum power of 228 bhp BE 6e: Main features of BE 6e - Pack 1: Indicative ex-showroom price: Indicative OTR price Chennai: XEV 9e: Main features of XEV 9e - Pack 1: Indicative ex-showroom price: Indicative OTR price Chennai: --------------------------------- Crazy, crazy pricing by Mahindra here! I love the radical design of the BE 6e, in spite of being someone who loves timeless designs 99% of the times. Really looking forward to these spaceships. - Best ground clearance in the class = 207 mm- XEV 9e: Best-in-class boot space (measured up to the seats) and frunk at 663L and 150L respectively- XEV 9e and BE 6e have two of the quietest cabins in the segment- Best turning radius (10m) and maneuverability in the segment- Brake-by-wire tech; 100-0 kmph in 40m- 99.5% filtration of UV rays in the cabin- Fastest cooling cabins- 7 airbags- Batteries ranging from 59 - 79 kWh- 79kWh battery: WLTP range of 550 km (XEV 9e) and 533 km (BE 6e); real world range of 500+ km- 20-80% in 20 mins with a 140 kW DC fast charger- Lifetime-warranty for the batteries; applicable only to the first owner. in case of ownership change, battery warranty = 10 years / 2,00,000 km, whichever is earlier- BE 6e: 0-100 kmph in 6.7s- XEV 92: 0-100 kmph in 6.8s- MAIA: on-board vehicle assistant is claimed to be the most powerful; comes with a powerful Qualcomm chip- 16-speaker Harmon-Kardon sound system with industry-first Dolby Atmos tuning- 43-inch / 110 cm triple-screen setup + 2 screens for rear passengers; central screen gets wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay- Theatre mode which links all 5 screens- VisionX: 75-inch heads-up display- Illuminated glass roof with 16 million colours- Three drive modes: Range, Everyday, Race = Eco, Normal, Sport- ADAS L2 with 5 radars- Facial recognition! Adjusts settings as per user- Built-in dashcam of sorts with alerts- AutoPark feature- Maximum power of 228 bhpMain features of BE 6e - Pack 1:Indicative ex-showroom price:Indicative OTR price Chennai:Main features of XEV 9e - Pack 1:Indicative ex-showroom price:Indicative OTR price Chennai:---------------------------------Crazy, crazy pricing by Mahindra here! I love the radical design of the BE 6e, in spite of being someone who loves timeless designs 99% of the times. Really looking forward to these spaceships. Last edited by CentreOfGravity : 26th November 2024 at 20:56 . arjab Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: MAA/CCU Posts: 1,566 Thanked: 6,407 Times View My Garage Re: Cars that you were happy to see get discontinued At the cost of raising many a hackles of "Ambassador lovers", the Ambassador was perhaps symbolic of all that was wrong with the Indian social and political system, till the advent of better automotive technology in the country. Bloated, lumbering, unwieldy and comprehensively unreliable it represented all the reasons that cars should not have had, in any country, anywhere in the world. Forced down the gullet of Indians by so-called "socialist - state" idealistic policies and quota restricted production systems, the Ambassador and the promoters of the Company that made this concoction, ensured that Indian automotive technology remained in the neanderthal ages till the mid 1980's. For its size, its front row seating was quite terrible. The driver had to resign himself/herself to an offset steering wheel to the right, a column shift gear selector, which felt as if you were rowing a ladle through a bowl of treacle pudding; for example: selecting reverse was an exercise in astrology! Miserable brakes which made you stop in the next district in the event of a panic braking situation, a clutch pedal which was so hard that driver's just used it minimally - the reason why you still see Calcutta Cabbies "half-clutching" their behemoths in 3rd gear, the asthmatic engine "pinking" away to glory! Yes: the rear bench seat was nice. The "H-point" was well judged and once seated in the rear, the squab and the backrest angle made you comfortable. However not all the generations had a comfy back seat. The later generations, read that as post Mark-4, had some re-engineering done to their seat squabs which robbed the USP of the earlier models. The squab was thinner, the backrest more "sunken-in" and the overall rear seat comfort was - well - uncomfortable to say the least. Dial in the fact; a limited rear door opening aperture, the narrow gap between the B-pillar and the edge of the rear seat, (the front seat rails' jagged edge also poked into the rear footwell area), and climbing into the rear was not an effortless affair. As someone had pointed out to me once: an Indigo MANZA rear seating experience was way more comfortable than an Ambassador's. Ambassador's and vehicle reliability do not see eye to eye. Being a Calcuttan, our family and extended family had every generation of Amby's. Landmaster's, Mk-II's, Mk-3's, Mk-4's, the terrible squinty eyed Avigo and the last of the lot an 1800 ISZ. Apart from the Landmaster and the 1800 ISZ, for the other models, you could choose from an a la carte menu of likely breakdowns that your Ambassador can suffer from; particularly when on a long tour, (of which our family used to do many and still does), with family and friends. It was a "norm" to carry entire spare axles, propshafts, fuel pumps, "dynamo's" "cut-outs", various jets of the carburettor, distributor contact breaker points and condensers, "fan belts", radiator hoses and whatnot. I was a kid then. Got very excited in seeing all these activities taking place! Got used to seeing my GrandPa and Dad, after we travelled probably, 150-200 kms, in any direction, pull over to the side of the then single lane GT Road(old NH-2) or Bombay Road(old NH-6) or NH-34 because "Gaari kharap hoyye gachhay" (translated from Bengali it means: "Car has broken down". Even the Mum's and Aunt's travelling in the car were used to these situations. As soon as "Gaari kharap hoyye gachhay" announcement was made, the ladies used to herd us kids out of the car, take us to the foot of the nearest shaded tree, spread a nice bedsheet/blanket and bring out the goodies (read that as food!!). If you were lucky you also got to play ludo and maybe also a round of monopoly! All this while poor GrandPa and Dad used to labour away under the bonnet of the recalcitrant buffalo, masquerading as a car! I thought it was the norm. Later when I grew up, got a job and became worldly wise that I came to know that this sort of product performance was unacceptable in any corner of the world, supposed to be an "exception" and certainly not the "norm" A common phrase oft heard is that "you can find an Ambassador mechanic in every village of India". A whole generation was fed upon this idea of how great an USP this was w.r.t. to the Amby and they sincerely believed it. A Toyota Chief Engineer once told me: "why do you need a mechanic in every village?" "If your vehicle is reliable and you do not crash it or do something silly, why should it break down? You have paid money for it and it should not fail!" Aaah-well...! "Quality" was a word and subject that was alien to the makers of the Ambassador at the Uttarpara factory in West Bengal where these vehicles used to be made. Production process, end-of-line quality checks, gap & flush, GD&T were alien concepts. Anything could be made and pushed out of the factory door. If anything is wrong, the onus is on the customer to fix it. Why? Because he is paying to buy the car: so it is his responsibility! After all the customer has used his life's savings to buy the car and has waited probably 5 years to get delivery of the same! There used to exist, and it still does; although to a much lesser extent: an entire area in Calcutta called the Uriapara-Bhawanipore mechanic's belt, where brand new Ambassador's used to be driven in, right from the showroom after registration: stripped down in its entirety, the bodyshell "re-welded" with "running-weld" all along, suspensions reinforced, bushes changed, locks and glass "channels" greased and then everything put back together again to be handed back to the customer as a "solid car". Performance and fuel efficiency was also nothing to write home about w.r.t. the Amby. The 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder developed as much power as a modern day Maruti 800 while lugging around a mass of metal close to 1.2 tons compared to the 0.7 tons of an M-800. The later 1800 ISZ petrol models were quite eager but sold few in numbers. No one knows the exact power and torque output of the Diesel Amby's, (still running as Yellow Cabs in Kolkata). Figures range from 35Ps to 55Ps; it is anyone's guess as to what exactly it is! The good thing is: if you ride a Diesel Amby you can save a trip to the dentist as the noise and vibration are good enough to make your teeth fall out! I find it quite amusing & laughable when I read the rapturous overtures being sung in the Amby's favour. Particularly from youngsters who are now considering this to be a "vintage" of "classical" value! Couldn't have been further from the truth. To me, (and it is a personal view), the "Ambassador era", if I may call it that way: represented all the wrong things that a country's automotive industry and particularly a product stood for. Antiquated, leviathan, lugubrious, reluctant to acknowledge,(forget about embracing change), it was a car that moved people in the country but at a huge cost. And the cost was paid by the customers. The customer did not get efficiency, performance, aesthetics, reliability, quality or even decent after sales service. The Amby should have died 10 years earlier than whenever it did. The Indian automotive industry is better off without it. Hindustan Ambassador.At the cost of raising many a hackles of "Ambassador lovers", the Ambassador was perhaps symbolic of all that was wrong with the Indian social and political system, till the advent of better automotive technology in the country.Bloated, lumbering, unwieldy and comprehensively unreliable it represented all the reasons that cars should not have had, in any country, anywhere in the world.Forced down the gullet of Indians by so-called "socialist - state" idealistic policies and quota restricted production systems, the Ambassador and the promoters of the Company that made this concoction, ensured that Indian automotive technology remained in the neanderthal ages till the mid 1980's.For its size, its front row seating was quite terrible. The driver had to resign himself/herself to an offset steering wheel to the right, a column shift gear selector, which felt as if you were rowing a ladle through a bowl of treacle pudding; for example: selecting reverse was an exercise in astrology!Miserable brakes which made you stop in the next district in the event of a panic braking situation, a clutch pedal which was so hard that driver's just used it minimally - the reason why you still see Calcutta Cabbies "half-clutching" their behemoths in 3rd gear, the asthmatic engine "pinking" away to glory!Yes: the rear bench seat was nice. The "H-point" was well judged and once seated in the rear, the squab and the backrest angle made you comfortable.However not all the generations had a comfy back seat.The later generations, read that as post Mark-4, had some re-engineering done to their seat squabs which robbed the USP of the earlier models. The squab was thinner, the backrest more "sunken-in" and the overall rear seat comfort was - well - uncomfortable to say the least.Dial in the fact; a limited rear door opening aperture, the narrow gap between the B-pillar and the edge of the rear seat, (the front seat rails' jagged edge also poked into the rear footwell area), and climbing into the rear was not an effortless affair.As someone had pointed out to me once: an Indigo MANZA rear seating experience was way more comfortable than an Ambassador's.Ambassador's and vehicle reliability do not see eye to eye.Being a Calcuttan, our family and extended family had every generation of Amby's. Landmaster's, Mk-II's, Mk-3's, Mk-4's, the terrible squinty eyed Avigo and the last of the lot an 1800 ISZ.Apart from the Landmaster and the 1800 ISZ, for the other models, you could choose from an a la carte menu of likely breakdowns that your Ambassador can suffer from; particularly when on a long tour, (of which our family used to do many and still does), with family and friends.It was a "norm" to carry entire spare axles, propshafts, fuel pumps, "dynamo's" "cut-outs", various jets of the carburettor, distributor contact breaker points and condensers, "fan belts", radiator hoses and whatnot.I was a kid then. Got very excited in seeing all these activities taking place! Got used to seeing my GrandPa and Dad, after we travelled probably, 150-200 kms, in any direction, pull over to the side of the then single lane GT Road(old NH-2) or Bombay Road(old NH-6) or NH-34 because "Gaari kharap hoyye gachhay" (translated from Bengali it means: "Car has broken down".Even the Mum's and Aunt's travelling in the car were used to these situations. As soon as "Gaari kharap hoyye gachhay" announcement was made, the ladies used to herd us kids out of the car, take us to the foot of the nearest shaded tree, spread a nice bedsheet/blanket and bring out the goodies (read that as food!!). If you were lucky you also got to play ludo and maybe also a round of monopoly! All this while poor GrandPa and Dad used to labour away under the bonnet of the recalcitrant buffalo, masquerading as a car!I thought it was the norm. Later when I grew up, got a job and became worldly wise that I came to know that this sort of product performance was unacceptable in any corner of the world, supposed to be an "exception" and certainly not the "norm"A common phrase oft heard is that "you can find an Ambassador mechanic in every village of India". A whole generation was fed upon this idea of how great an USP this was w.r.t. to the Amby and they sincerely believed it.A Toyota Chief Engineer once told me: "why do you need a mechanic in every village?" "If your vehicle is reliable and you do not crash it or do something silly, why should it break down? You have paid money for it and it should not fail!" Aaah-well...!"Quality" was a word and subject that was alien to the makers of the Ambassador at the Uttarpara factory in West Bengal where these vehicles used to be made.Production process, end-of-line quality checks, gap & flush, GD&T were alien concepts. Anything could be made and pushed out of the factory door.If anything is wrong, the onus is on the customer to fix it. Why? Because he is paying to buy the car: so it is his responsibility! After all the customer has used his life's savings to buy the car and has waited probably 5 years to get delivery of the same!There used to exist, and it still does; although to a much lesser extent: an entire area in Calcutta called the Uriapara-Bhawanipore mechanic's belt, where brand new Ambassador's used to be driven in, right from the showroom after registration: stripped down in its entirety, the bodyshell "re-welded" with "running-weld" all along, suspensions reinforced, bushes changed, locks and glass "channels" greased and then everything put back together again to be handed back to the customer as a "solid car".Performance and fuel efficiency was also nothing to write home about w.r.t. the Amby. The 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder developed as much power as a modern day Maruti 800 while lugging around a mass of metal close to 1.2 tons compared to the 0.7 tons of an M-800.The later 1800 ISZ petrol models were quite eager but sold few in numbers. No one knows the exact power and torque output of the Diesel Amby's, (still running as Yellow Cabs in Kolkata). Figures range from 35Ps to 55Ps; it is anyone's guess as to what exactly it is! The good thing is: if you ride a Diesel Amby you can save a trip to the dentist as the noise and vibration are good enough to make your teeth fall out!I find it quite amusing & laughable when I read the rapturous overtures being sung in the Amby's favour.Particularly from youngsters who are now considering this to be a "vintage" of "classical" value! Couldn't have been further from the truth.To me, (and it is a personal view), the "Ambassador era", if I may call it that way: represented all the wrong things that a country's automotive industry and particularly a product stood for.Antiquated, leviathan, lugubrious, reluctant to acknowledge,(forget about embracing change), it was a car that moved people in the country but at a huge cost. And the cost was paid by the customers. The customer did not get efficiency, performance, aesthetics, reliability, quality or even decent after sales service.The Amby should have died 10 years earlier than whenever it did. The Indian automotive industry is better off without it. Last edited by suhaas307 : 26th November 2024 at 16:48 . Reason: Spacing and formatting + typos TL;DR: Another day, another proposal from Trump to use tariffs to accomplish diplomatic and economic goals. While supporters may view these measures as necessary for protecting American interests, critics warn of higher prices and widespread business disruption. The coming months will likely see intense discussions about the future of global trade relations and the role protectionism should play in the economy. President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China once he returns to the White House. The controversial declaration has already triggered significant currency fluctuations and raised alarm bells about potential economic disruptions worldwide. Trump intends to slap a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, while adding an extra 10 percent levy on Chinese goods, piling onto existing tariffs. Trump justified these measures by accusing these nations of enabling illegal migration and drug trafficking, particularly the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The announcement sent immediate ripples through currency markets. The Canadian dollar tumbled 0.9 percent against the US dollar, plummeting to a four-year low. Meanwhile, the Mexican peso took an even harder hit, depreciating by 1.3 percent and exacerbating its recent decline. China's currency also felt the impact, with the renminbi slipping 0.1 percent to 7.25 against the US dollar. Economists and trade experts have not minced words about the potential consequences of such broad tariffs. "Stiff new tariffs on imports from the US's three largest trading partners would significantly increase costs and disrupt business across all economies involved," Erica York of the Tax Foundation told the Financial Times. Consumers will certainly feel an impact. According to a recent Consumer Technology Association (CTA) report released prior to the election, a 10 percent global tariff combined with a 60 percent China-specific tariff could increase laptop prices by 45 percent. For instance, a laptop currently priced at $793 would cost consumers an additional $357. Premium models could see even greater increases, adding $450 for every $1,000 of current pricing. The CTA, which produced the report in partnership with Trade Partnership Worldwide (TPW), projected significant price hikes across a wide range of products. Smartphone costs are expected to rise by 25.8 percent, while monitors are anticipated to see a 31.2 percent increase. These calculations were made in response to earlier proposals by Trump to impose tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on imported goods, along with a special 60 percent tariff on imports from China. The international response to Trump's latest announcement was swift. Beijing quickly fired back, with state television CCTV labeling Trump's comments as "irresponsible." In what appeared to be a strategic counter-move, China's Vice President Han Zheng used a global supply chain expo in Beijing to emphasize the country's commitment to open trade and globalization, presenting China as a guardian of free trade despite accusations of heavy subsidies and market barriers. Mexico's reaction was equally pointed. Ricardo Monreal, leader of Mexico's ruling party in the lower house of congress, said that tariffs would not address the underlying border issues. He warned that escalating trade retaliation would only serve to hurt consumers' pockets, potentially leading to economic hardship on both sides of the border. Canadian officials also weighed in on the matter. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a joint statement highlighting the strong bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States. They emphasized Canada's significant role as a trade partner and energy supplier to the US, noting that Canada purchases more from the United States than China, Japan, France, and the UK combined. Experts warn of potential disruption to integrated manufacturing sectors, particularly the automotive industry, which relies heavily on cross-border supply chains. "There's a lot of integration of North American manufacturing in a lot of sectors, particularly autos, so this would be pretty disruptive for a lot of US companies and industries," Warren Maruyama, former general counsel at the Office of the US Trade Representative, told the Financial Times. Trump's announcement aligns with his campaign rhetoric, which has consistently emphasized aggressive trade policies. He has, at times, threatened even more severe measures, including tariffs of up to 1,000 percent on Chinese cars crossing the southern border and a potential 25 percent tariff on Mexico if it fails to address border security concerns. These numbers are a significant escalation from Trump's previous trade policies during his first term. While Trump's proposed tariffs are more extreme, it's worth noting that the current Biden administration has also taken steps to increase levies on certain Chinese imports. In May, the Biden administration raised tariffs on imported clean-energy technologies and increased tariffs on electric vehicles from China to 100 percent. The Biden administration has also been pushing Beijing to crack down on fentanyl production, an effort that has seen some progress with China agreeing to impose controls on key chemical ingredients. Editor's take: Remember when today's technology was new and exciting and everyone was talking about how great the internet was, or Facebook, or Twitter? Things aren't so rosy now. And while that may sound like an Abe Simpson-like rant, it's easy to understand why "enshittification" has been crowned word of the year. Enshittification is defined as the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking. It's a helpful term for describing many of today's tech products, from Google search being a slush of ads, link farms, forum posts, and useless AI content, to social media platforms becoming a hate-filled nightmare. Don't forget those products that move from being one-off purchases to subscriptions before their quality starts becoming diluted, or once-great video game franchises that become little more than a way for publishers to push more microtransactions and season passes onto people. Companies are putting yearly increases in profits and share prices above absolutely everything else, including making sure the products they offer aren't, well, shit. Generative AI's ability to create unlimited amounts of crap and lies has exacerbated an already bad situation, of course. Related reading: The Zero Click Internet We should thank author Cory Doctorow for coining a word to describe this phenomenon. He first used enshittification in a 2022 essay on how difficult and annoying it had become to shop on Amazon. Macquarie Dictionary, Australia's national dictionary, has recognized the importance of the term enshittification in today's tech by crowning it the word of the year it also won the people's vote. According to the dictionary's committee, it is "a very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes which elevate it to being almost formal; almost respectable." "This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment," the committee said. Speaking about the enshittification of online platforms specifically (via The Guardian), Doctorow described it as a process that occurs in three stages: "First, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves," he wrote. He added a fourth stage: "Then they die." "It's frustrating. It's demoralizing. It's even terrifying." Doctorow believes that the recent anticompetitive cases, tighter regulations on privacy, and giving users more power over how they use online platforms and what data they hand over is helping to reverse the enshittification. Doctorow said he has just handed over the manuscript for a new book. Its title? Enshittification. There's also a graphic novel and documentary in the works. Enshittification had a close fight with rawdogging for Australia's word of the year. While the latter has several meanings, it has gained popularity recently over its use for enduring long-haul flights, or other monotonous tasks, without the benefit of distractions such as phones, movies, games, or books. Even sleep, food, or water aren't allowed. I tried asking Google why people do this, but there were too many pages of unhelpful crap to wade through to find the answer. Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust The big picture: Microsoft and Qualcomm touted the Snapdragon X laptops as a significant milestone for Windows on Arm, potentially akin to the introduction of Apple Silicon. However, recent market analysis suggests that PCs featuring Qualcomm's chips are struggling to catch on as x86-based alternatives dominate AI PC sales. TechRadar reports that sales of laptops featuring Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X processors reached only around 720,000 units in the third quarter of 2024, their first full quarter on the market. The number represents less than 0.8 percent of Q3 PC shipments or about 1 out of every 120+ devices. As the first PCs to support Microsoft's Copilot GenAI features, laptops featuring Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Pro and Elite chips represent the tip of the company's AI PC spear. However, data from Canalys indicates that AI PCs are increasing their market presence primarily through the latest x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Manufacturers describe PCs featuring NPUs capable of at least 40 TOPs as AI PCs. Qualifying architectures include Snapdragon X, Intel's Core Ultra 200, AMD's Ryzen AI 300, and arguably Apple's M4. A Canalys report from earlier this month indicates that AI PCs represented 20 percent of all PCs shipped in Q3. The figure marks an increase of 49 percent compared to Q2, likely due to the increased availability of AI PCs. Also Read: Arm vs Qualcomm: mutually assured destruction However, consumer enthusiasm for AI PCs and GenAI functionality remains lukewarm. The Intel and AMD devices that likely represent around half of AI PC shipments do not yet support Microsoft's Copilot toolchain. Furthermore, prior impressions of Snapdragon X laptops indicate that improved battery life, often reaching a full day, is their primary selling point. Canalys predicts that Windows 10's impending end-of-life status will spark a significant sales uptick, as users merely trying to upgrade to Windows 11 end up with AI PCs. The analysts told TechRadar Pro that, although Snapdragon X PC sales grew 180 percent between Q2 and Q3, their penetration remains niche. Microsoft's new Surface devices lead the pack, followed by Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Acer. Affordability might be one obstacle, as most Snapdragon X laptops cost at least $900. Qualcomm hopes to lower the barrier of entry to around $700 in 2025. Despite Qualcomm's sluggish early commercial performance, it won't remain the only manufacturer offering Arm chips for Windows PCs. Arm previously indicated that more manufacturers aim to enter the AI PC market in the coming years, one of which is likely Nvidia. WTF?! Firing 99 people and telling them to "get the f*ck out" because they never attended a meeting seems a tad excessive, even by CEO standards. But what makes this situation even more shocking is that many of those let go were unpaid remote part-time workers. The boss in question, however, remains unrepentant. Baldvin Oddsson, CEO of Wyoming-based musical-instrument online storefront the Musicians Club, was far from happy when just 11 of the company's 110 employees and contracted freelancers turned up to a meeting at 8:30 am on Friday, November 15. His response was to fire the offending 90% of staff via Slack. A message sent at 8.24 am warned that anyone not at the meeting would be fired by 1 pm. Keeping to his word, Oddsson sent another message later that day. It started with "This is Baldvin, the CEO." "For those of you who did not show up to the meeting this morning, consider this your official notice: you're all fired," he wrote. "You failed to do what you agreed to, you failed to complete your part of the contract, and you failed to show up for the meetings you were supposed to attend and work for." Baldvin said all agreements between workers and the company were being canceled. He instructed the now jobless staff to return anything from the firm, sign out of all accounts, and remove themselves from the Slack group, "immediately." "I gave you an opportunity to make your life better, to work hard, and to grow. Yet, you have shown me that you don't take this seriously," his rant continued. Just in case anyone doubted Baldvin's indignation, he signed off the message with "Get the f k out of my business right now." An anonymous source told MusicTech that "there was virtually no notice of a meeting [] At around 8:23 AM CST, [Oddsson] threatened anyone who did not show up to be fired," adding that it "sent the group leaders and long-time workers into a frenzy." We've seen CEOs make mass layoffs over messaging platforms before, like the Better.com boss who fired 900 employees during a three-minute Zoom call in December 2021. But it's hard to recall an instance as profanity laced and angry as Baldvin's, and what's even worse is that many of the people he fired were working for free. Fortune notes that many of the Musicians Club's jobs are targeted at classical music students looking for work experience. One listing from earlier this year for an unpaid operations manager offered "in-depth understanding of e-commerce operations within a competitive market," and "practical experience in managing and optimizing online sales platforms." There was also a "high-potential" that the role would become full-time and paid in 2025. A former intern for the company wrote on Reddit that the Musicians Club is a startup that relies on remote interns willing to work for nothing. "A big problem was that because all of the workers are unpaid and remote, they all had different schedules, so apparently it was difficult to set a specific time for attendance, which was what the CEO was so mad about," they wrote. The intern had joined the company in an unpaid cybersecurity role an hour before the 99 people were fired. They wrote that after "attending a meeting and hearing about the terrible work conditions caused by the CEO, I deactivated my account and left. There's no way I'm going to put work into this potential headache of a company." Baldvin wrote about the incident on LinkedIn, stating that some people have attempted to "cancel" him. He stands by his decisions and says firing the individuals was the right move. His LinkedIn profile shows he is currently hiring. Good luck with that. A hot potato: JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world and a cornerstone of the modern web. JavaScript is also "owned" by Oracle. However, that could soon change with an effort from the JS community to free the trademark from the clutches of Larry Ellison's corporation. Some prominent figures in the JavaScript community have formally asked the USPTO to cancel Oracle's ownership of the "JavaScript" trademark. Sun Microsystems applied for the original trademark after developing the language. Oracle came under ownership when it acquired Sun in 1997. However, Oracle has made no valuable contributions to JavaScript and allegedly committed fraud when it renewed the trademark a few years ago. The USPTO petition was filed by Deno Land, the organization that manages the namesake Deno runtime for JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly. Two months ago, Node.js creator Ryan Dahl and JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, together with other members of the JS community, authored an open letter asking Oracle to abandon its JavaScript trademark. The formal petition filed with the USPTO came after more than 14,000 people had signed the open letter. Dahl said the petition is a pivotal step to freeing JavaScript from baseless legal entanglements, recognizing that the programming language is now a public good that a single entity like Oracle cannot own. It's done. Now it's your turn, @Oracle. We've submitted a formal petition to cancel the JavaScript trademark: it is generic, Oracle has abandoned it, and Oracle committed fraud on the USPTO during the last trademark renewal. Oracle has until January 4th to respond, or the... Deno (@deno_land) November 25, 2024 Three claims form the basis of the petition. The first is that JavaScript has become genericized. JavaScript is the universal name adopted by developers for the ECMAScript standard, used by millions of people worldwide independently of Oracle. "By law, trademarks that have become generic cannot remain trademarks," Dahl said. The second is that Oracle committed fraud when re-applying for the trademark in 2019. Deno claims Oracle used screenshots of Node.js, a JS project that has nothing to do with Oracle, as evidence for JavaScript's commercial use. Finally, the petition claims that Oracle abandoned the trademark by not selling any meaningful product or service based on JavaScript. Thus, the company has abandoned the trademark. Oracle has until January 4, 2025, to respond to the filing. Dahl hopes Oracle will choose to relinquish its trademark peacefully. If Oracle decides to go to war, Deno and others in the JS community are ready to fight in court with a "wealth of evidence" proving Oracle has legally lost its right to ownership. The world-famous Suzuki Jimny budget SUV is known for its outstanding capabilities beyond paved roads. Another advantage of the model is its stylish appearance. But it did not prevent the Jimny from being transformed into a completely different car. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported in Auto Motor und Sport. The small and cheap Suzuki Jimny has been given the Ineos Grenadier face. The authors conducted a bold experiment that attracts attention. Ineos Grenadier is a large British SUV in the style of the classic Land Rover Defender. This is a rather expensive car, with the price of the Ineos Grenadier starting at $70,000. And it is especially interesting against the Jimny. In addition to the SUV, the Ineos lineup includes a large pickup truck. A premium electric SUV is on the horizon. However, a compact car in the manufacturer's lineup could attract new customers and make the brand more popular due to its more attractive price. However, one should not hope for Suzuki's cooperation with Ineos. Earlier, the Japanese manufacturer noted that Jimny is part of the company's DNA, so it should only carry its own logo. This was a response to Toyota's request to "share" the model to sell it under another brand. Busted: Streaming and IPTV services have largely overtaken torrents and direct downloads as the most popular technologies for online piracy. European law enforcement agencies just dismantled a large operation dealing in unlawful streaming, arresting several operators and seizing thousands of IPTV channels. The Italian State Police just announced the dismantling of a pirate streaming service with over 22 million global users. Officials claim it was a business unlawfully making 250 million ($264 million US) monthly. The law enforcement agency worked with Europol, Eurojust, and other international authorities to investigate the alleged administrators of illegal operations in Europe and other countries. "Operation Taken Down" is the most extensive law enforcement action against audiovisual piracy ever led, according to the Italian State Police. More than 270 Italian police officers and international colleagues conducted searches in several Italian regions, the UK, Netherlands, Romania, Croatia, and China, targeting 102 different suspects. Officials discovered over 2,500 illegal channels, with nine servers in Romania and Hong Kong as the central relays for the pirate streams. Three "higher-level" administrators were tracked down in England and the Netherlands, while officers discovered 80 control panels for managing the streaming channels across Italy. The cyber-criminals were selling popular live and on-demand TV content coming from well-established platforms such as Sky, Dazn, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount, Disney+, and more. Officials took the unlawful IPTV business offline yesterday after a two-year investigation provided a clear picture of the complex network and identified its alleged perpetrators. The Croatian police arrested 11 people, though the masterminds of the entire operation were mostly based in Italy and other European countries. Operation Taken Down was primarily led by the Italian Postal Police as ordered by the Catania Prosecutor's Office. The criminals had a widespread organization to resell the pirated IPTV channels, with different people covering specific roles in a highly organized mafia-like operation. The Italian police confiscated 1.6 million in cryptocurrencies and 40,000 in cash--just a drop in the bucket for an illegal business estimated to bring around 3 billion annually. The criminal organization also used different methods to hide its activity, including encrypted messaging applications. The criminals used false identities and ID documents to register mobile accounts, obtain credit cards, rent servers, and sign up for TV subscriptions. Apple Intelligence is having a problem when it comes to implementation in China. The Cupertino giant sees this as a huge issue as regulatory hurdles might hamper its release in this market. The process to obtain approval for AI products from foreign companies in the country will be "difficult and long," according to a high-ranking official from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). In fact, working with local AI companies will make it a "simple and straightforward" process. Apple's Generative AI Strategy in China China has a strict law stating that any generative AI product launched locally should first receive approval from the local government. According to reports from the Financial Times, Apple has been considering its own LLMs to be launched in China but has also sought collaboration with other Chinese tech companies to help navigate complex regulatory requirements. The Chinese government, which has effectively censored Western platforms like Google, Facebook, and Wikipedia, is also keen on outlawing access to the web for those other forms of generative AI that mimic web searches. Compelling foreign companies to use vetted, locally developed AI models helps China ensure strict oversight of information dissemination. Apple Will Struggle Not Just Under Economic But Political Pressure The challenges facing Apple in China are not limited to the AI area. Recently, the government dissuaded consumers from purchasing iPhones by citing national loyalty and banning them from use by government officials. These actions made Apple face a significant drop in market performance within the country. However, China is still a vital part of Apple's global business: it accounts for 17% of its sales and houses its critical manufacturing facilities. According to an acknowledgment by Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, Apple absolutely cannot function without using suppliers from China. What Analyst Predicts About Apple Intelligence Rollout in China According to JP Morgan analysts, Apple will likely take a pragmatic view of China's demands and may delay the launch of Apple Intelligence in the country into late 2025. Reports are not welcomed by the company, but Apple is likely to find a middle ground to continue its hold on the Chinese market. As for 9to5Mac, experts believe that the iPhone maker will have little choice but to cooperate with Chinese authorities in return for approval. Stakes are highrevenue-wise, besides the likelihood of dependence on Chinese infrastructure for manufacturing. Beijing's efforts to wrest control of the generative AI tools are part of its broader policy of information flow regulation. If Apple wants to bring the AI platform closer to China, it might be forced to bar US news from launching on the App Store aside from removing VPN apps. In imposing partnership agreements on local AI developers, the government solidifies its hold on technological innovations while forcing foreign operators to fit the narrow parameters. Earlier this month, an analyst revealed that Apple Intelligence is "at least two years behind." The features of this technology are the ones to blame. More importantly, Apple needs to take a slow route for its AI plans to flourish. The gradual release of new features to the public could help the users become more familiar with how they work. When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, apparently, the tech CEO was not only buying the company but also the user accounts that are registered on the platform and are still active in the present. This was revealed after a recent filing from X claimed ownership of all the accounts on the social media platform as the company is looking to stop the sale of 'InfoWars' from Alex Jones. The media company's sale is currently underway and one renowned publication company, The Onion, is looking to purchase it from Jones which is currently challenged by X and another company. Elon Musk Says He Owns All X User Accounts in New Filing A new court filing by X Corp. (via 404 Media) claimed that the social media company "owns" all of the accounts that are registered and active on the platform, especially as users agreed to their terms to use it. Despite users creating or managing their accounts, X is still, ultimately, the owner of these and has the final say regarding how they control the accounts online. That being said, X claimed that it does not own the content that registered users are posting via the platform, but it still has massive control over it, reminding users that X and Elon Musk still have the final say. It is also known that Musk and X previously flexed their ownership of these accounts back in 2023 when it was embroiled in a feud with NPR which stopped posting online because it was labeled as a 'state' media. Musk and X previously threatened to revoke their account and make it up for grabs after their mini-boycott. The Onion's Purchase of Alex Jones 'InfoWars' The reason behind X's recent filing is to stop the sale of Alex Jones' "InfoWars," an infamous conspiracy theory media company, which was previously ordered to pay $1.4 billion to the families they defamed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Onion is currently in the process of purchasing InfoWars, but Musk and another Jones' affiliated company are preventing this sale. Elon Musk's Massive Stake in the Tech Industry One of the most popular and recognized names in the tech industry is Elon Musk, best known for his companies likeTesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and previously, PayPal, which are among the top names in the industry at present. Musk is also known for his massive Twitter acquisition in 2022, but he became infamous for it because of the massive changes he effected, including a more recent controversy that sparked another mass exodus. The tech CEO was known for privatizing Twitter when he bought it two years ago, and since then, the platform changed drastically which began with its significant focus on a subscription to its blue verification checkmark. Moreover, Musk is known for leveraging his ownership to focus on 'extreme' free speech, allowing banned accounts to return, and also using X to campaign for the now President-elect, Donald Trump. Since 2022, Musk established that he is the owner of X, and despite not serving as its CEO after he was faced with backlash, he still remains at a high position where he can add or remove certain experiences online. In the recent filing by X, the world is yet again reminded that Musk not only owns the platform, but also their accounts, and using this argument to stop InfoWars' sale to The Onion. The Russian namesake of its previous imperial government leader, 'czars,' may make a comeback in the present day, as President-elect Donald J. Trump is reportedly considering appointing an "AI czar" for the United States. This specific title has been informally used in America to refer to high-ranking officials but there were no instances that it was given as a formal title, until now. A massive role would be put on top of the "AI czar's" shoulders should this turn into reality, particularly as they will be responsible for pushing for new regulations, and apart from that, combined with a 'crypto czar' role. Trump Wants to Appoint an 'AI Czar' For Regulations and More According to a recent report by Axios, Donald Trump wants to expand more of the appointed officials that will soon take the helm of specific departments under his rule, but this time, he is already considering designating an "AI czar." This so-called AI czar will center on a significant focus under Trump's rule which would lead to coordination for federal AI regulations, as well as its application within the government. It was revealed via the report that an AI czar would no longer need to be confirmed by the Senate and speed up their work to help the administration in effecting their plans for artificial intelligence in the country. However, it is important to note that President Joe Biden had a similar focus during his term where he named chief AI officers to different departments and helped integrate or regulate machine learning. AI Czar to Combine with 'Crypto Czar' Role in the Future There are no specific responsibilities and tasks yet revealed by Trump and his team regarding the possible appointment of an "AI czar" within the White House apart from focusing on federal AI regulations. However, it was also revealed that the AI czar that will be appointed by Trump could be combined with the so-called "crypto czar" role which would focus on the President-elect's plans for its country-wide adoption. Trump is Now Building the Future Leadership of the US Donald Trump may have been elected as the next United States President, but it takes more than the highest seat of power to rule a nation, and the Republican politician already appointed officials to soon fill government seats. Among the most recent ones was Brendan Carr, a current FCC Commissioner, who would soon serve as the Commission's chair who would focus on "American Freedom." Perhaps one of the biggest appointees by Trump in his plans for America's future is tech CEO and billionaire, Elon Musk, who was named as the head of the "Department of Government Efficiency" or DOGE. Musk's massive support to Trump earned him this position, and he will be co-heading this advisory group with Vivek Ramaswamy to purge wasteful expenditures, "dismantle Government Bureaucracy," and more. Over the past weeks, Trump and his transition team already released multiple statements regarding the new names that will fill in government positions and help him with his plans for America in his second term. Apart from these department heads, Trump also wants to appoint a new position called an 'AI czar' to oversee artificial intelligence regulations and its use in the government, one that could combine with crypto. According to the new church calendar in Ukraine, on November 27, Orthodox Christians commemorate the Holy Great Martyr James the Persian and the Holy Reverend Paladin. This is a day of remembrance of the extraordinary courage and perseverance of faith demonstrated by James, who suffered terrible torments but did not give up Christianity. ADVERTISIMENT James came from Persia and held a high position in the court of King Isdigerd. At first, lured by honors, he apostatized, but later, after being admonished by his mother and wife, he realized his sin and returned to Christianity. He publicly confessed his faith before the king, for which he was sentenced to severe torture. The king ordered that the saint's fingers and toes be gradually cut off to force him to deny Christ. James bravely endured each of these torments, perceiving suffering as the path to eternal life. His words during the torture testified to his deep faith in God and hope for a heavenly reward. During his execution, James prayed and praised God. He compared his suffering to the pruning of a vine that bears fruit after trials. His example convincingly demonstrated the power of faith in the face of death. ADVERTISIMENT James' life was a testimony of true devotion to Christ. The Church recalls his feat as an example of self-sacrifice and loyalty that inspires believers not to be afraid of difficulties in their Christian journey. St. Palladius the Hermit lived at the end of the fourth century. He is known for his ascetic lifestyle, deep faith, and numerous miracles attributed to him by his contemporaries. He lived in a deserted cell near Antioch, Syria, leading a life of solitude and prayer. He had the gift of miracles. According to legend, he once found the body of a murdered merchant under his door. Robbers had killed him and threw his body under the door of the house where Paladius lived. When they began to accuse him of killing the merchant, the hermit prayed and resurrected the dead man. The revived merchant told the truth about his killers. ADVERTISIMENT Holidays on November 27 in Ukraine Today is the Day of the Foundation of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) is the highest scientific institution in Ukraine, which brings together the country's leading scientists in various fields of knowledge. On November 27, 1991, in the midst of the state-building process in Ukraine, a decision was made to establish the NASU. This was an important step in the establishment of independent Ukrainian science. The establishment of the NAS symbolized the liberation of Ukrainian science from the influence of the former USSR and the beginning of a new stage of its development. The Academy has become a platform for bringing together the best scientific minds in Ukraine, promoting research and innovation. The NASU plays a key role in the development of Ukrainian science, promoting basic and applied research, training of scientific personnel and integration of Ukrainian science into the global scientific space. ADVERTISIMENT International holidays November 27 Turtle Adoption Day The purpose of this day is to draw attention to the problems faced by turtles as a result of human activity and to encourage people to protect them. The idea to celebrate this day came about in 2011 thanks to an article by Christine Shaw published on the Found Animals website. In her article, she emphasized the deterioration of turtles' living conditions and called for their conservation. Her words resonated with many people, and since then, November 27 has been celebrated annually as Turtle Protection Day. ADVERTISIMENT Pins and Needles Day (Pins and Needles Day) The name of the holiday comes from the 1937 proletarian Broadway musical Pins and Needles, which was created by a group of playwrights and composers who had united in a labor union. This musical became a kind of expression of social problems of that time, such as inequality, unemployment and exploitation of workers. Through songs and dialogues, the authors of the musical highlighted important issues and called for social change. DrinksGiving Day This is an informal holiday that originated in the United States as a kind of alternative to Thanksgiving. It combines the traditions of celebrating Thanksgiving, but with a greater emphasis on enjoying a variety of drinks, from cocktails to wine and beer. The exact date of the holiday's inception is unknown, but it is believed that it originated among students as a playful way to celebrate the end of the fall semester and the beginning of winter break. Gradually, the tradition of celebrating DrinksGiving spread beyond student groups and became popular among young people and people who just like to spend time with friends over delicious drinks. ADVERTISIMENT Historical dates of November 27 1095: Pope Urban II proclaims the First Crusade at the Cathedral of Clermont. This event marked the beginning of long religious wars between Christians and Muslims. 1648: Polish King Jan II Casimir issues a universal that guaranteed Cossack privileges. This was an important event in the history of Ukraine, which testified to the recognition of the rights of the Cossacks. 1918: The Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was founded, which later became the basis for the modern National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. 1937: Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky, a prominent church leader and religious thinker, is shot dead. 1952: The first trolleybus was launched in Lviv. 1971: The Soviet automatic station Mars-2 reached the planet Mars. November 27th. Angel's Day is celebrated today: Andriy, Borys, Vasyl, Volodymyr, Vsevolod, Havrylo, Dmytro, Ivan, Mykola, Oleksiy, Roman, Serhiy. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. Future of deep-sea mining stands at a crucial juncture United Nations, United States, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Torn between the defenders of the world's seabeds and industrialists eager to exploit the vast, untapped resources of the deep, the international community faces a crucial year that could decide the future of mining in the high seas. "It feels like a real crunch point," Louisa Casson of Greenpeace International told AFP. "We are seeing surging momentum for a moratorium (on deep-sea mining). But at the same time, the industry is saying 2025 is the year when we're just going to start applying to mine." Greenpeace has warned for years of the risks posed by deep-sea mining to the oceans' unique, but only partly understood, ecosystems. Until recently, the idea of plunging deep into ocean abyss for the large-scale extraction of coveted minerals like cobalt, nickel and copper seemed a distant possibility. The world paid little attention when the International Seabed Authority (ISA), created under UN aegis in 1994, quietly began negotiating a "mining code" -- rules for the future extraction of seabed resources in international waters. But the calendar has taken on urgency. Since July 2023, due to a legal clause invoked by the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru, any country can apply for a mining contract in the name of a company it sponsors. And Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), a subsidiary of Canada's The Metals Company (TMC), hopes to be the first to benefit from this by mining polymetallic nodules in the Pacific as soon as 2026. "We... recognize the responsibility that comes with submitting the world's first application of this kind," said TMC's chief executive, Gerard Barron. He spoke even as the company acknowledged to shareholders that "there can be no assurance that the ISA will provisionally approve our plan ... within one year from submission thereof, or at all." The company, citing the growing need for these metals amid a global energy transition, has announced that "in close consultation" with Nauru it will file its application on June 27. That date, the TMC said, was pushed back to allow the ISA Council time to "clarify" the issue during a meeting in March. The Council, the ISA's executive organ, has yet to agree on the criteria for evaluating applications given the continuing lack of an agreed "mining code." - 'Political will' - To fill that void, the Council has laid out a roadmap for adopting a code in 2025. But thorny issues have yet to be resolved, including environmental rules and how to share the profits from seabed resources that have been dubbed a "common heritage of mankind." "The code is well advanced, so with political will and a lot of intersessional work, it is possible to finalize it in 2025," one ambassador to the ISA, who requested anonymity, told AFP. The ambassador then added: "But I don't see that political will. Countries pushing for a moratorium don't have any incentive to be flexible." Some observers also fear that a rush to finalize matters could result in some ill-conceived rules. Clement Chazot of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said negotiators are still "very far from achieving a robust text dealing with the potential risks," a failure that could help "buy time." That time could be used to strengthen the coalition of roughly 30 countries favoring a moratorium on deep-sea mining. That group failed in 2024 to persuade a majority of the ISA's 169 members to move toward a pause, but conservation-minded NGOs hope to build support in 2025. For now, most member states have staked out a middle-ground position: working to negotiate sufficiently strong rules to allow mining, while doing as much as possible to protect the environment. Researchers and NGOs have long warned of the danger of the destruction of habitats and of species that may still be unknown to science -- but which could play crucial roles in deep ocean ecosystems. Their warnings gained strength this year with the surprise discovery that oxygen was being released on the ocean floor not just by living organisms, but by polymetallic nodules -- a finding rejected by the TMC, though it had helped fund the research. Whatever the ISA decides, there is nothing to prevent governments from doing as they like in their own territorial waters -- as Norway has done with a plan to open some of its seabeds to prospecting. Canada AI project hopes to help reverse mass insect extinction Montreal, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Researchers in Canada are using artificial intelligence to monitor the ongoing mass extinction of insects, hoping to collect data that can help reverse species collapse and avert catastrophe for the planet. "Of all the mass extinctions we have experienced in the past, the one affecting insects is happening a thousand times faster," said Maxim Larrivee, director of the Montreal Insectarium. The decline is occurring so quickly it can't be properly monitored, making it impossible "to put in place the necessary actions to slow it down," he told AFP. For the Montreal-based project, called Antenna, some of the data collection is happening inside the insectarium under a large transparent dome, where thousands of butterflies, ants and praying mantises are being studied. Solar-powered camera traps have also been installed in several regions, from the Canadian far north to Panamanian rainforests, snapping photos every 10 seconds of insects attracted to UV lights. Larrivee said innovations like high-resolution cameras, low-cost sensors and AI models to process data could double the amount of biodiversity information collected over the last 150 years in two to five years. "Even for us, it sounds like science fiction," he said, a grin stretched across his face. - 'Tip of the iceberg' - Scientists have warned the world is facing its biggest mass extinction event since the dinosaur age. The drivers of insect species collapse are well understood -- including climate change, habitat loss and pesticides -- but the extent and nature of insect losses have been hard to quantify. Better data should make it possible to create "decision-making tools for governments and environmentalists" to develop conservation policies that help restore biodiversity, Larrivee said. There are an estimated 10 million species of insects, representing half the world's biodiversity, but only a million of those have been documented and studied by scientists. David Rolnick, a biodiversity specialist at the Quebec AI Institute working on the Antenna project, noted that artificial intelligence could help document some of the 90 percent of insect species that remain undiscovered. "We found that when we went to Panama and tested our sensor systems in the rainforest, within a week, we found 300 new species. And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Rolnick told AFP. - Public education - At Antenna, testing to advance AI tools is currently focused on moths. With more than 160,000 different species, moths represent a diverse group of insects that are "easy to identify visually" and are low in the food chain, Rolnick explained. "This is the next frontier for biodiversity monitoring," he said. The Montreal project is using an open source model, aiming to allow anyone to contribute to enriching the platform. Researchers eventually hope to apply their modeling to identify new species in the deep sea and others harmful to agriculture. Meanwhile, the Montreal Insectarium is using its technology for educational purposes. Visitors can snap pictures of butterflies in a vivarium and use an app to identify the exact species. French tourist Camille Clement sounded a note of caution, saying she supported using AI to protect ecology provided "we use it meticulously." For Julie Jodoin, director of Espace Pour La Vie, an umbrella organization for five Montreal museums including the Insectarium: "If we don't know nature, we can't ask citizens to change their behaviour." As Arctic climate warms, even Santa runs short of snow Rovaniemi, Finland, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 With a month to go until Christmas, Santa Claus is busy preparing, but the warming climate and lack of snow in his Arctic hometown have him worried. By this time of year, the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland -- marketed by tourism officials since the 1980s as the "real" home of Santa Claus -- should be white and pretty. But on a recent visit, rain poured down from a gloomy slate sky and the temperature was well above freezing, with the thermometer showing +2C. "My reindeer can fly, so that's no problem," said the man in the red suit and long white beard, resting his weary legs after a long day of meeting excited children and adults. But "we can see that climate change is real. And it's affecting the reindeer. It's affecting life here in the Arctic," added the man, whose employers declined to identify him by his real name. Herders say milder and more unpredictable winters have left reindeer struggling to dig up their main food, lichen. Snow and ice have melted and refrozen, burying it under layers of packed ice. The Arctic is warming faster than other parts of the world due to climate change -- nearly four times as fast, according to research published by Finland-based scientists in the journal Nature in 2022. Warming global temperatures, driven by humans burning fossil fuels, have been aggravating weather disasters such as floods and droughts worldwide in recent years. In Finnish Lapland, after a historically warm summer, a new November temperature record was set a few weeks ago when 11.1C was measured in the town of Utsjoki, breaking the previous record of 11.0C from 1975. - Tourism boom - Tourists flock to Rovaniemi from around the world to see its enchanting snowy landscapes and experience the Arctic cold. With only a few hours of daylight this time of the year, many also hope to see the spectacular colours of the Northern Lights streaking across the dark skies. Last year, the town registered a record high of more than one million overnight stays. Visitors looking to get a glimpse of Santa can meet the man himself at different locations in Rovaniemi, including the Santa Park underground theme park and the nearby Santa Claus Village. "It's super nice. It's like in the Christmas movies, super magical," said Maria Batista Torres from Tenerife in Spain, visiting the Santa Claus Village with her two young children. Glittering fairy lights illuminate rooftops and trees in the Santa Claus Village, which is open all year round. "I figured it would be much more snowy," however, said Wenguel, a visitor from the United States. "I mean, it still feels like Christmas... but I figured it would be a little bit more Santa-like." In addition to meeting Santa Claus, visitors can pay to go snowmobiling or jump on a reindeer sleigh ride. While visiting Santa Claus Village is free, a picture taken with Santa costs a minimum of 40 euros ($42). - Wishing for peace - Gloomy skies aside, Santa Claus's Post Office in Santa Claus Village was bustling with activity, as red-hooded elves busily stamped cards and sorted piles of letters in the Christmas rush. "In December there can be about 30,000 letters each day," said postal elf Heidi Mustonen, who has worked here for 20 years. Over half a million letters to Santa find their way here every year, Heidi said, insisting that every letter gets opened and read thoroughly. Most of the letters were wish lists, but both children and adults also wrote to tell Santa about their personal concerns, fears, wishes and joys, with many of the envelopes containing drawings and small gifts. "This year many people have wished for peace," Heidi said. Most letters sent from Asian countries were written by young adults, with many wishing for strength to cope with their studies, she said. Letters from European countries were meanwhile mostly written by children. Heidi said she loved the warm and happy atmosphere in Santa's village, but did wish for snowfall to brighten up the landscape. "We would make snow everywhere if we could. But we are just postal elves." 'Very, very slow': plastic treaty talks grind forward Busan, South Korea, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Negotiations on a first global treaty to curb plastic pollution are moving "very, very slowly", diplomats and observers told AFP on Wednesday, threatening the chances of reaching an agreement. Delegates from nearly 200 countries are meeting in South Korea's Busan with the goal of reaching a deal by December 1, after two years of talks. But the first full day of work in four "contact groups" tasked with refining language for the treaty ended up with discussions "going around in circles," said Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy manager at WWF. "Contact group discussions are moving too slow," he told AFP. That view was echoed by several diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe closed-door negotiations. "It's very, very slow, with the usual countries constantly slowing down the process," said one delegate from a Latin American delegation. Submissions to the contact groups made clear that Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia -- suppliers of raw materials used to make plastics -- were among the countries seeking significant amendments, including deleting a portion of the treaty aimed at limiting new production. In a submission, Saudi Arabia warned supply restrictions "extend beyond" the treaty's focus on plastic pollution and risked creating "economic disruptions." Others involved in the talks warned of growing frustration. "There is a difference between protecting one's interests and willfully impeding progress in the talks," a delegate from a small island state said. A European diplomat meanwhile warned that the tenor of discussions so far suggested it would be "very, very tough at the end" of the talks. "I think that we will come to a very difficult situation in two days' time at the latest," added another delegate. Still there were some bright spots, said Lindebjerg, including on proposals to potentially limit "problematic" products and chemicals. "This can take us far in eradicating harmful and unnecessary plastic items that have been poisoning humanity and nature," he said. "Now, the progressive majority of countries represented here... must act in unison and not compromise," he added. While UN agreements are generally reached by consensus, he warned that a binding treaty "supported by the majority of governments will be far more effective than a weak and voluntary-based treaty supported by all governments." That view was echoed by a second European diplomat. "The key to success is to create an agreement that has the support of the vast majority," he told AFP. That "will force the small group (of opposing countries) to try to destroy it or to be a noisy and unsatisfied minority for a treaty that they will eventually sign." Chinese island plastic pollution turned into artistic omens Miaodao archipelago, China, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 As storm clouds gathered on a forgotten beach in China's Miaodao islands, artist Fu Junsheng picked his way through piles of plastic waste washed up along the shoreline, looking for inspiration. China is the world's largest plastic producer, and the islands -- a niche tourist destination -- sit in the cross-stream of several highly developed eastern peninsulas. Every squall brings fresh waves of floating debris onto the archipelago's white sand beaches -- and eight years ago Fu decided to make that waste both his artistic message and medium. "Our generation has witnessed rapid societal development. In the process, we've sometimes neglected nature, and at times, even ignored it altogether," the 36-year-old said as he showed AFP around his studio, full of pieces created from plastic washed ashore. One of the most striking installations features nearly 900 flip-flops, displayed in front of his seascape oil paintings. "(Marine debris) carries our daily life, the life of each of us," he said. The oldest item Fu has collected is an instant noodle packet from 1993. Despite over 30 years of exposure to the elements, it remains intact, showing hardly any signs of decomposition. "(Objects like this) don't disappear but instead break down into tiny particles, which can end up being ingested by marine life and, eventually, by us," said Fu. "This process is invisible to the naked eye." - 'Global problem' - The Miaodao islands sit opposite the Korean peninsula, where this week negotiators from around the world are attempting to hammer out an international treaty to curb plastic pollution. Fu has found lighters and coffee bottles from South Korea on his beachcombing trips. "Marine ecological protection requires people from different countries and regions to work together," he said. "It's not a localised issue -- it's a broader, global problem." At university in nearby Qingdao, Fu became interested in the environmental consequences of China's rapid urbanisation from the late 1980s onwards. These days China's factories make the most plastic worldwide -- 75 million tonnes in 2023, according to official statistics. While it is not considered the world's largest plastic polluter, its 1.4 billion citizens still created 63 million tonnes of waste plastic in 2022, according to state media citing a national body. Most of that was recycled, put into landfills or incinerated -- about 30 percent each -- while seven percent was directly abandoned. Fu argued that while completely eliminating plastic use is unrealistic, it is essential to use it in a "more controllable and precise way". Worldwide, over 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tonnes leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use. "People often approach these problems from an individual perspective. But environmental issues are collective challenges for humanity," he said. - Everyday household items - Over the years, Fu has collected countless objects -- mostly everyday household items such as children's toys, balloons, toothbrushes and bottles. His aim, he said, is to make the public recognise how intimately marine pollution is tied to their daily lives. In one piece posted online, he constructed a rainbow from different coloured plastic bits; in another, a deflated sex doll is surrounded by tens of multicoloured rubber gloves. One display includes a shelf of worn cosmetics and toiletries containers. "These products are meant to make us feel cleaner and more beautiful," Fu said. "But they often end up in the ocean, polluting the water, damaging marine ecosystems and ultimately making our world less beautiful." Thailand to return nearly 1,000 trafficked lemurs, tortoises to Madagascar Bangkok, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Thailand is sending almost 1,000 highly endangered lemurs and tortoises back to their home in Madagascar, in what both countries called their biggest ever operation against wildlife trafficking. Thai police found and confiscated 1,117 of the live and dead animals in the southern province of Chumphon in May -- the kingdom's largest ever seizure, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly-prized endangered creatures on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam and Taiwan. The repatriation of the 963 animals -- ring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, spider tortoises and radiated tortoises -- is a "significant step" in anti-trafficking operations, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chalermchai Sri-on said Wednesday. "For the first time, wildlife is being repatriated prior to the conclusion of legal proceedings," he added. Lemurs, which starred as loveable supporting characters in the Dreamworks "Madagascar" movies, are found only on the Indian Ocean island, and experts say they are threatened by trafficking into the pet trade. The furry primates and the tortoises will be sent to special centres once they return to Madagascar, said its environment minister Max Andonirina Fontaine who was in Thailand to oversee the repatriation. - 'Make a success story' - Six people were arrested and charged with endangered animal trafficking in May, and could face up to 15 years in prison and be fined 1.5 million baht ($43,000), according to local Thai media. The four species, which are endemic to Madagascar, are listed as near-extinct or threatened by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). "When two countries really collaborate together we can really make a success story," Fontaine told journalists on Wednesday. Thailand is Southeast Asia's biggest legal importer and exporter of CITES-listed wildlife from Madagascar, according to a report from TRAFFIC, a wildlife NGO. But according to the 2023 report, illegal trafficking persists and "the true extent is likely to be greater than those reflected by seizure records alone," it says. Fontaine told AFP it is "difficult" to know the true number of animals smuggled out of Madagascar, but that the increase in seizures reflects improved anti-trafficking efforts. In 2010, Thai customs authorities seized more than 200 live endangered tortoises being smuggled into the country from Madagascar. In June this year Thai customs officials arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle a red panda and 86 other animals out of the kingdom. Spain govt defends flood action as it offers new aid Madrid, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced almost 2.3 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in new aid for the country's flood stricken region as he defended his government's handling of the deadly disaster last month. The European country is still reeling from the October 29 floods which killed at least 229 people, washed away roads and destroyed homes and businesses, mainly in the eastern region of Valencia. There has been widespread fury at elected leaders over their handling of the crisis. Under Spain's decentralised government system, regions are in charge of disaster management, but the events have triggered a blame game between Sanchez's leftist government and the conservative regional government of Valencia. "The question is whether the Spanish government has fulfilled its responsibilities and the answer is that it has done so. It has done so from the outset and continues to do so and will continue to do so for as long as necessary," Sanchez told parliament. The central government has said the regional government took too long to convene an emergency coordination meeting on the storm and to send out a mass alert. But regional government head Carlos Mazon of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), has said he received "insufficient, inaccurate and late" information from the state weather agency and a central government agency responsible for monitoring flood risks. He has come under fire for attending a three-hour lunch with a female journalist on the day of the disaster. When his government sent emergency alerts to mobile phones when water was already gushing through some towns. Sanchez denied state bodies did not provide enough information, saying the state weather office AEMET had warned for days of the risk of heavy rain, and said he did not think Spain's decentralised system of government "has failed". "I think that some of its parts have failed and above all some people in very high positions who have not lived up to their responsibilities," he said in what was seen as a reference to Mazon. - 'Zero self-criticism' - Sanchez announced a fresh package of 60 measures for stricken citizens worth nearly 2.3 billion euros that brought the total aid provided in the wake of the disaster to 16.6 billion euros. It includes 465 million euros to help people replace damaged cars and 19 million euros to replace text books and other school materials. Outrage over the flood action triggered mass protests on November 9. The largest in Valencia city drew 130,000 people. Fresh protests are called for this weekend. Sanchez said he was "absolutely open" to the creation of a parliamentary commission of enquiry to look into the state response to the floods but said he felt it was "not yet the right time". PP head Alberto Nunez Feijoo accused Sanchez of "zero self-criticism, just blaming others". "What a lack of humanity and what a lack of humility," he added after the Socialist premier's address to parliament. The Bank of Spain estimates the floods were likely to knock 0.2 percentage points off the country's gross domestic product in the last quarter of the year. Plastic pollution talks must speed up, chair warns Busan, South Korea, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Negotiators must move "significantly" faster to reach a landmark treaty to curb plastic pollution, the diplomat chairing the talks warned Wednesday, as countries lined up to express frustration about the limited progress. Nearly 200 nations are in Busan to agree by Sunday on a deal to tackle the millions of tonnes of plastic waste that end up in the environment each year. They arrived in the South Korean city after two years of talks that laid bare deep divisions. Addressing negotiators on Wednesday, Ecuadorian diplomat Luis Vayas Valdivieso warned work was not advancing quickly enough. "I must be honest with you, progress has been too slow. We need to speed up our work significantly," he said on the third day of negotiations. "We must accelerate our efforts." His call was followed by a string of frustrated speeches from countries including Fiji, Panama, Norway and Colombia. "While we sit here debating over semantics and procedures, the crisis worsens," warned Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, Panama's special representative for climate change. "We are here because microplastics have been found in the placentas of healthy women... We are literally raising a generation that starts its life polluted, before taking its first breath." He accused negotiators of "tiptoeing around the truth, sidestepping ambition and ignoring the urgency that demands action" in remarks that received loud applause. - 'We are sincere' - Other representatives accused some participants of failing to engage in good faith and actively seeking to drag out the talks. They did not name countries directly, but diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity have repeatedly said Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are holding up proceedings and showing little willingness to compromise. All three countries took the floor to hit back. "We are sincere, we are honest and we are ready to cooperate," said Iran's Massoud Rezvanian Rahaghi. "But we do not want to be blamed for blocking negotiations through dirty tactics." Russian representative Dmitry Kornilov meanwhile blasted the "unacceptable" accusations and warned delegates to abandon the most contentious parts of the draft discussions. "If we are serious about this then we must concentrate on provisions that are acceptable to all delegations," he said. - 'Bold moves' - The main faultline in talks lies over whether the treaty should address the full lifecycle of plastic, including potential limits to its production, chemical precursors and certain products considered unneccessary, including many single-use items. The UN decision that kicked off the negotiating process explicitly refers both to the full lifecycle of plastic and sustainable consumption, but countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran have consistently rejected calls to limit supply. Saudi Arabia has warned supply restrictions "extend beyond" the treaty's focus on plastic pollution and risk creating "economic disruptions". Iran meanwhile has called for an article on supply to be removed entirely from the treaty text. There are other sticking points, including financial support for developing countries to implement any treaty, and how a decision to adopt a deal should be made. United Nations Environment Programme chief Inger Andersen acknowledged the "palpable frustration" expressed by many countries. "It's very simple. We have to deliver this treaty by Sunday." While the session exposed clear divisions, it also illustrated a growing consensus among a "majority", said Eirik Lindebjerg, WWF global plastic policy manager. "The political reality is that the majority is just strengthening and uniting," he told AFP. "And then the practical reality in the room is that they're just moving in circles because a handful of countries are not allowing progress." The UN standard for environment deals has been consensus, but there are fears that a unanimous agreement may be out of reach. A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said divisions were so deep that an agreement would require "bold moves" in the final days of talks. The question, he said, was "whether those moves, at that stage, will arrive too late." "Four days to get to all that seems to me to be too little." Cereals are the basis of many dishes. They can be stored for a long time, but only if they don't have pests such as food moths or other insects. Many housewives how to deal with these unwanted guests, but maybe you haven't heard about foil balls. ADVERTISIMENT Food blogger Sofia (sizovasofiaa) explained why this life hack is very effective on her Instagram page. She also shared a few other ways to prevent pests. Foil balls are put in cereal containers to scare away pests. The foil creates a sound effect that is unpleasant for insects when touched, whil the metal blocks the spread of larvae. This works particularly well in airtight containers. How to use: 1. Make small foil balls. 2. Put them directly in containers. Optionally, you can use clean coins or other small metal objects. ADVERTISIMENT Bay leaves Bay leaves have a strong aroma that repels moths and other pests. It acts as a natural antiseptic and prevents the appearance of insects. How to use: 1. Put a few bay leaves in a jar or container. 2. Change the leaves every few months to keep the flavor fresh. Hot peppers Capsicum is another effective natural remedy. Its pungent odor scares insects away. How to use: 1. Take a small dried pepper pod. 2. Put it in a container or jar. Lemon peel Lemon peel contains essential oils that have antiseptic properties. The scent of citrus is not only pleasant but also effective in fighting insects. How to use: 1. Dry the lemon peel. 2. Put it in a jar or container. 3. Change every 1-2 months. Main tips for storing cereals Store cereals in airtight containers with tightly closed lids. Pour cereals into dry jars or bags before storing them to avoid larvae. Freeze cereals before storing them (for 2-3 days) - this kills possible pests. Check for insects or mold from time to time. Spain govt defends flood response and offers new aid Madrid, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced almost 2.3 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in new aid for Spain's flood-stricken region and defended his government's handling of the deadly disaster last month. The European country is still reeling from the October 29 floods which killed at least 230 people according to the latest official toll, washing away roads and destroying homes and businesses. The disaster prompted widespread fury at elected leaders over their handling of the crisis which mainly affected the eastern region of Valencia. Under Spain's decentralised state, regions are in charge of disaster management, but the events have triggered a blame game between Sanchez's leftist administration and the conservative regional government of Valencia. "The question is whether the Spanish government has fulfilled its responsibilities and the answer is that it has done so," Sanchez told parliament. "It has done so from the outset and continues to do so and will continue to do so for as long as necessary." The central government has said the regional authorities took too long to convene an emergency coordination meeting on the storm and to send out a mass alert. The regional government sent emergency alerts to mobile phones when water was already gushing through some towns. But regional government head Carlos Mazon, of the main opposition Popular Party, has said he received "insufficient, inaccurate and late" information from the state weather agency and a central government authority responsible for monitoring flood risks. Sanchez denied state bodies did not provide enough information, saying the state weather office AEMET had warned for days of the risk of heavy rain. He also denied that Spain's decentralised system of government "has failed". "I think that some of its parts have failed and above all some people in very high positions who have not lived up to their responsibilities," he said in what was seen as a reference to Mazon. - 'Not admit mistakes' - Sanchez announced a fresh package of 60 measures for stricken citizens worth nearly 2.3 billion euros that brought the total aid provided in the wake of the disaster to 16.6 billion euros. It includes 465 million euros to help people replace damaged cars and 19 million euros to replace textbooks and other school materials. Outrage over the flood action triggered mass protests on November 9, the largest in Valencia city which drew 130,000 people. Fresh demonstrations are called for this weekend. Sanchez said he was "absolutely open" to the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to look into the state response to the floods but that it was "not yet the right time". Mazon hit back at Sanchez, saying it was "surprising" that the central government "does not admit any mistakes", and complained that part of the aid the premier announced is in the form of interest-bearing loans. Mazon has also come under fire for attending a three-hour lunch with a journalist on the day of the disaster. Sanchez added that the disaster showed "climate change kills" and lashed out at the scepticism expressed by part of the Spanish right which he said "must be rejected". Because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, scientists say climate change increases the risk of flooding from extreme rainfall. Coffee price heats up on tight Brazil crop fears London, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2024 The price of Arabica coffee hit the highest level since 1977 on Wednesday, approaching a record high as drought in top producer Brazil this year hits supplies. A pound (453.6 grams) of Arabica beans listed in New York struck 320.10 US cents, extending the commodity's rally over 2024. The all-time high is 337.50 US cents, seen in 1977. Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, faced a record-breaking drought this year which has raised significant concerns for 2025/2026 crops amid already tight supplies. This is despite "significant rains" in October, leading to an "excellent flowering", according to Guilherme Morya, senior analyst at Rabobank. He added that farmers were selling less than was needed to meet demand. Analysts said that price support came also from geopolitical factors such as disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea, potential US tariffs and future European Union regulation on deforestation. "It is clearer and clearer that this (supply situation) is going to have a significant impact on the consumer," John Plassard, senior asset specialist at Mirabaud group, told AFP. Companies are preparing to negotiate their coffee contracts early next year, with food giants like Nestle set to pass on price increases to customers. The Swiss group announced this month that it would increase prices and reduce the size of its coffee bags to protect margins. - Keep on buying - In London, some coffee drinkers approached by AFP on Wednesday vowed to keep on buying their beans, but owing to recent price hikes added that they had already begun to buy fewer cups in cafes. "I've noticed that the prices have gone up," said Julie, 34, as she held a cup of coffee not long purchased from a coffee shop. "I prefer to buy packs and brew it at home. It's rare for me to buy it in the shop, but it used to be more frequent." Nicky, 26, said she was not ready to give up purchasing cups of coffee in stores. "I would still pay for it. Maybe that's me being financially reckless." She described coffee drinking as "a lifestyle, it's how people start their day". Vietnam has also faced supply concerns this year for its cheaper Robusta bean that is used for instant coffee, as the country faced dryness during the growing period. Robusta, listed in London, is trading at around $5,200 per tonne, after reaching a record price of $5,829 in mid-September. In the Donetsk region, the occupants of the Russian army are making some progress, but the Ukrainian Defense Forces are making every effort to contain the enemy. There is not a single settlement left along the contact line. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Vadym Filashkin during a telethon. According to him, over the past day, Russian troops fired 2500 times at Donetsk region. Three people were wounded as a result of these attacks, the head of the RMA said. The occupants are destroying almost everything: "Along the front line, not a single settlement and not a single critical infrastructure facility, private municipal property has been destroyed, almost everything has been destroyed. Unfortunately, there are some advances, but our Defense Forces are doing everything possible and impossible to deter the occupier," said Filashkin. ADVERTISIMENT The head of Donetsk region added that all authorities are currently working in the region, including the police and units of the State Emergency Service. "We are working, evacuating people and helping our people," he said. According to the RMA, 3,000 people remain in frontline Myrnohrad, 300 in Chasovyi Yar, about 600-620 in Toretsk and about 600-650 in Kurakhove. It is almost impossible to bring humanitarian aid there because the enemy is shelling all access roads. Defense forces are evacuating people, but these are isolated cases. "All the people who wanted to leave these cities have left," said the head of the JFO. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Yevhen Ievlev said that the battle for Pokrovsk may begin soon, but that the preparation of the Defense Forces is much better than before. "Unfortunately, everything is heading towards that (fighting for Pokrovsk - Ed.). I really hope that what I see with my own eyes, and I hope that there are things I don't see, will allow us to hold Pokrovsk and other settlements as long as possible," the military said. The defender added that the soldiers and their command have done serious work on the mistakes in the defense. "What I see around Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk, the defense preparations are many times better than they were before," said Ievlev. In particular, the construction of fortifications has been largely taken over by the presidential vertical of power. Military administrations are in charge of this. ADVERTISIMENT "What happened a year ago and what is happening now are completely different in terms of quality. There is no need to combine infantry surpluses or shortages and the construction of fortifications into one complex. Unfortunately, everyone knows that there are not too many infantry, there is even a certain deficit," Ievlev added. According to him, the better and more defensive structures are built, the easier it is to hold back the enemy in case of infantry shortage. "Whether it's in a hand-dug dug-in dugout in a landing, or in prepared lines, where there is plenty of concrete and wood, and deeply buried and on the right lines, it's a matter of experience. Therefore, I will frankly say that in this regard I have positive expectations that we will still be able to hold the enemy on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and all other cities and every square meter of Ukraine," the military said. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Reuters said that the army of the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, increased the pace of the offensive in Ukraine and captured almost 235 square kilometers in a week. This is a weekly record for 2024 and the largest enemy breakthrough since the beginning of a full-scale war, the agency stated. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! The Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin lied when he called the missile that hit the Dnipro River on November 21 "Oreshnik". This name is an invention of the so-called president of the Russian Federation. ADVERTISIMENT The statement was made by Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Administration, in an interview with the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel. He emphasized that the North Atlantic Alliance has all the data and understanding of what weapons the aggressor used for this attack. The deputy head of the Presidential Office explained that there are standard intercontinental ballistic missiles of various ranges that are produced at the same enterprises. In particular, these are missiles classified as Yars, Topol, Kedr and Rubezh. "It's all in the classification. NATO has all the data and understands what exactly hit the Dnipro," Podolyak said. Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that the aggressor used an experimental medium-range ballistic missile "Kedr" to strike the Dnipro. Putin, calling it "Oreshnik," used the name of a research and development project to develop this weapon. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, diplomat Volodymyr Ohryzko believes that Vladimir Putin's threats to the North Atlantic Alliance will remain just that, threats. But for Ukraine, the new enemy's Oreshnik/Kedr missiles are dangerous - possible repeated firing of these weapons in their non-nuclear version should be treated "with caution, but without panic." Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! ABC chair Kim Williams has backed the broadcasters decision to dump radio presenter Sarah Macdonald from the Sydney Mornings slot despite a flood of complaints, saying changes were part of life in the media industry. Macdonalds surprise removal as host of the show part of a suite of programming changes to the ABCs 2025 line-up was last week met by fierce backlash as listeners bombarded the station and employees described festering concern that the radio divisions new bosses had misread the ABC audience. Kim Williams, chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Williams defended the decision on Wednesday as he championed change at the broadcaster, which he said needed more investment to boost its offerings of Australian documentaries, drama, childrens and education programs. Changes in media are part of life. They are part of the programming fabric of all organisations, Williams said at the National Press Club in response to a question about the backlash following Macdonalds axing. Dozens of mums, dads and bubs turned King George Square into a parking lot for prams on Wednesday morning as they gathered to sing songs and read stories in protest of Brisbane City Councils decision to cut local library reading programs across Brisbane. The rhyme time protest follows a petition, with more than 4000 signatures, filed to the council last week opposing the cut to Brisbane libraries First Five Forever programs, led by Greens state member for Maiwar Michael Berkman. Labor councillor Lucy Collier launched a second petition, after the issue attracted heated debate in council meetings last week, which has attracted an additional 1000 signatures as of Wednesday. Dr Harriet Dempsey-Jones said her local library typically saw around 25 children a day in First 5 Forever sessions she attended. Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt Dr Harriet Dempsey-Jones was one of the first mums to reach out to her local MP, Berkman, about the proposed cuts, launching the petition and highlighting the issue to parents and guardians across Brisbane. Tax the corporations properly After a decades long debate over debt and deficit in this country, I was surprised to see The Age join the economic chorus with its editorial. Debt, the result of investment, is a good thing. It is accrued by large corporations contracted to build, say, the Suburban Rail Loop. It is not the publics money. Therefore, we should be asking for the capital back from such corporations to repay the debt. Second, the comparison to Tasmania was unfair to both states. Depressed wages and GDP are owed to employers not compensating workers enough; the government cannot do anything when the majority of jobs are in the private sector. And as for the comments by Brian McNamee and Innes Willox, given Melbourne will soon supplant Sydney in population, are we really going to see large companies refuse to invest in Victoria? If hard decisions are to be made, surely we must start by taxing corporations appropriately. Anders Ross, Heidelberg The Age editorial (27/11) suggests that Victorias gross debt, which will peak at $228 billion in 2028, is unmanageable. NSWs gross debt will reach $200 billion in 2028, and continue to climb. The gross debt left by the Morrison government was almost $900 billion. The difference between Victorias debt, and that in NSW, can be explained in three words Level Crossing Removals. In NSW, Labor governments removed most of their level crossings in the last century. In Victoria, 110 levels crossing are being removed by Labor in this century and further removals can indeed be paused. The Suburban Rail Loop, a version of which NSW is also building, accounts for very little of the current debt and once the Melbourne Metro (opening 2025), the Westgate Tunnel (2026), the NE Link (2028) and the Level Crossing Removals (2028) are complete, it will be Victorias only major project up to 2050. It will never be cheaper. It will never be easier to build. It will never be less essential for a liveable 21st century Melbourne. Paul Kennelly, Caulfield North A Green Paper that all should read Thank you Shane Wright (Comment, 27/11) for shining a light on Allegra Spenders Green Paper. As the MP for Wentworth, a wealthy electorate, she has taken time to consult with many experts and provide evidence to show the average voter just how unequal our tax system is. If only we could have this simplified and mailed out to all households. Most know that our tax system is broken, but we dont have the courage to act on rectifying it. It is far too political, just ask Bill Shorten. Judith Hudson, Elwood Changing the system is the hard part Recent proposals for tax reform show that it is far easier said than done (Comment, 27/11). As prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull tried to reform the GST, but gave up when the practical difficulties of doing so became apparent. In the 2019 election, opposition leader Bill Shorten proposed changing the tax treatment of franking credits. He failed to persuade enough voters it was a good idea. In 2023, the Albanese government said it would increase the tax collected from the earnings of superannuation accounts holding more than $3 million. Over a year later, the necessary legislation is stuck in the Senate. The government has not acted on repeated calls for changes to negative gearing. The list goes on. It is easy to say the current system is unfair and places the tax burden on the wrong people, but experience shows actually changing it is far more difficult. Rod Wise, Surrey Hills THE FORUM Music therapy works Many years ago I worked in the area of acquired brain injury, where people living with an ABI received vastly different amounts of funding depending on how the injury had been sustained. I was therefore a great admirer of Bill Shortens work in introducing the NDIS, where funding was made available according to need. Unfortunately, when it comes to including music therapy in the NDIS, it seems from Shortens comments that he has not fully understood how Registered Music Therapists work, and the value of music therapy for many NDIS participants in helping them work towards their functional goals. Music therapists are highly trained allied health professionals with a masters degree, able to work with a wide range of complex clinical presentations. It is positive that the decision about possible cuts has been put on hold while more information is gathered about music therapy and its value as an evidence-based allied health profession. I would like to thank Shorten and the NDIA for listening to NDIS participants, families, researchers and music therapists during this process. Anja Tanhane, Registered Music Therapist, Kilsyth Hope from donors Thank you Claire Heaney (Comment, 26/11) for writing so honestly of your recipient experiences. I have been privileged to work with a transplant unit and I am also a donor parent. After our son died he became a tissue donor. Some weeks later we received a beautiful card of thanks from the recipient whose sight had been restored. For the past 14-plus years that card has been on our hallway table. Heaney wrote of how challenging it was that someone had to die for her surgery to proceed. These feeling were also true for many of the recipients I supported and these feelings are completely understandable. In transplantation two separate events become linked. The first is that a person dies. The second event is that after the death, families may choose to offer the organs and/or tissues for transplantation in the hope that something good will add meaning to the life of the person they grieve. Donor families hold hope that wonderful outcomes happen for recipients and their families. Transplantation is all about hope for both the donor family and the recipient. The key to all donation is communication. I encourage everyone to think about your wishes and then have a conversation with those you love, for ultimately they will be asked to make the decision to say yes, or no to donation. In the end, its all about hope. Jenny McGuirk, Bundoora A contentious new park has been scrapped, a dog poo audit has been launched, bike lanes could be removed and illegal raves along the Yarra will be tackled in a major change of direction for an inner-city council. The City of Yarras new firebrand mayor, Stephen Jolly, oversaw a 36-point plan that was passed at the new-look councils first meeting on Tuesday. Richmond resident and childrens author Elizabeth Honey at the site of the now cancelled Charlotte Street park. Credit: Jason South The move supported by seven of the nine new councillors for the area that covers Collingwood, Fitzroy, Richmond and parts of Carlton is the largest motion to come before the council in a decade and has been celebrated as a return to democracy. However, dissenting councillors and governance agencies have criticised it as a backwards step after the motion was presented in omnibus style, covering 23 disparate issues, which allowed the issues to be voted on in one bloc rather than individually. Both components will increase to 9 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, from next year. Buyers who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents are restricted in the types of dwelling they can purchase. Foreign investors are limited to new dwellings or off-the-plan sales, to help boost Australias housing stock. The combined value of approved residential real estate proposals from Chinese and Hong Kong buyers dropped from $4 billion to $3 billion last financial year. Credit: Steven Siewert Temporary residents can apply for approval to buy an established home to live in for the duration of their stay, or can also buy an established home for redevelopment if it increases the housing stock. Plus Agency managing director Peter Li said the higher fees and taxes compounded the cost of holding property in Australia as a foreigner. Loading Thats pushing foreign buyers out of the market. Even if you could afford to buy it, you have to be able to afford to keep it, and thats why people are selling, Li said. Overseas purchasers are cash rich, so they have assets overseas not just Chinese, Im talking about Persian, Lebanese, Americans, British. Normally, they sell their assets [to buy in Australia]. So the mortgage is not a big concern its the surcharges. He said foreign buyers have been declining since the introduction of fees and surcharges in 2017, especially in unit-heavy markets such as Sydneys Chatswood and Burwood. Li said they could once sell an entire development to foreign buyers before the introduction of the FIRB application fees and surcharges, but would now struggle to sell one in 10 to them. Cuts to migration levels and increasing difficulties in qualifying for permanent residency were driving foreign buyers from Australian real estate, Li said, which he did not think would improve. OH Property Groups Henny Stier noted fewer foreign buyers in Sydneys north and north shore. A lot of new builds and apartments in places like Epping have dropped if theyre not buying, then local buyers are not buying them, so theyre sitting around on the market and prices are dropping, Stier said. It was more difficult to move cash from countries like China and Indonesia where there were strict limits on withdrawals, Stier said. Stier added the Australian governments attempts to disincentivise foreign investment were working. In Melbourne, the top destination for Chinese buyer interest in Australia, foreign buyers face an 8 per cent stamp duty fee. Foreign buyers are subject to extra stamp duty costs. Credit: Paul Rovere Director at Belle Property Balwyn Robert Ding said overseas buyers were delaying property purchases until they obtain permanent residency, when the increased stamp duty no longer applies. When someones paying $4 million to $5 million [for a property], its quite a hefty fee, Ding said. What a lot of these foreign buyers do is rent or even buy something of a less substantial value. Once they get permanent residency, which usually takes about four or five years, thats when they start to buy properties. Ray White Balwyn director Helen Yan has noticed a downturn in Chinese buyers since the start of this year, when the federal government paused applications for the significant-investor visa which requires recipients to invest $5 million in Australia. Thats why the high-end property [market] has slowed down a lot, Yan said. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the number of foreigners buying in Australia has probably returned to pre-COVID levels following the post-pandemic housing boom. Foreign buying was quite weak through the pandemic years because of travel restrictions, Oliver said. That sort of slowed down through the pandemic, then there was a bounce back, and I suspect its now just settling down after that initial bounce back. Artificial intelligence chatbots ChatGPT, Googles Gemini and Metas Llama should be deemed high-risk and subjected to mandatory transparency, testing and accountability requirements, a Senate inquiry has found, with US tech giant executives facing heavy criticism for dodging its questions. Chatbots are skyrocketing in popularity throughout schools and workplaces, but the bipartisan Senate committee found that they present significant risks, and the companies building them have failed to answer key questions about the extent to which sensitive data is being used. Labor senator Tony Sheldon, the committees chair, said watching the companies dodge questions was like sitting through a cheap magic trick. Credit: SMH It also found the chatbot developers have committed unprecedented theft against Australias creative workers, using copyrighted materials to train their models without permission or payment. After nine months of hearings, the committee handed down its final report, issuing 13 recommendations including sweeping EU-style legislation that would introduce guardrails against high-risk AI use cases across the economy. The format of the room may be fairly linear bathroom, bed, balcony but thats no surprise given the reasonable price point. There are some nice flourishes throughout, however a decent speaker system for pairing your own devices, a huge TV, a mini-bar with complimentary soft drinks and an espresso machine. The decor is essentially grey, safe, and comfortable, but theres some vivid, inoffensive wall art, too. Balconies in refurbished rooms have views out to the famously scaffolded masterpiece of procrastination that is the Sagrada Familia. Food + drink The Apolo lobby bar. Breakfast is served on The Terrace, with seats inside and out. Theres a live omelette station, but the buffet options range from abstemious and healthy, to downright gluttonous. If youre in more of a rush, the Bite Box by the lobby will help you with something on the move. The Terrace also has places for dinner and while some of their local(ish) dishes are perfectly fine, Barcelona is one of the worlds great culinary cities and it seems unlikely youll have dinner here. On my visit, I was one of just two tables eating in the hotel at night. Out + about Berlin: Former German chancellor Angela Merkel recalls Vladimir Putins power games over the years, remembers contrasting meetings with Barack Obama and Donald Trump and says she asked herself whether she could have done more to prevent Brexit, in her memoirs published this week. Merkel, 70, appears to have no significant doubts about the major decisions of her 16 years as leader, whose major challenges included the global financial crisis, Europes debt crisis, the 2015-16 influx of refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the presentation of her memories Freedom in Berlin on Tuesday. Credit: AP True to form, her book titled Freedom offers a matter-of-fact account of her early life in communist East Germany and her later career in politics, laced with moments of dry wit. Merkel served alongside four US presidents, four French presidents and five British prime ministers. But it is perhaps her dealings with the Russian president that have drawn the most scrutiny since she left office in late 2021. The Russian Federation's troops are trying to deplete Ukraine's air defense resources with cheap drone strikes, but the Defense Forces counter the Shaheda not only with kinetic means (fighters, helicopters, mobile anti-aircraft batteries, anti-aircraft missile systems, etc.) but also with electronic interference. That is why some of the kamikaze drones fly to Belarus or back to Russia. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by Le Monde. According to the newspaper, Ukrainian soldiers distract enemy drones from their targets by using a satellite coordinate spoofing system used by military equipment for airborne guidance. Thanks to spoofing, the Shaheds are guided by fake coordinates rather than real ones, and therefore cannot attack the targets set by the occupiers. To recap, in early November, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that some Ukrainians may lose time on their cell phones during air raids. The press service explained that this is due to the work of our military, who counter the shelling using electronic warfare equipment and replacing the GPS navigation coordinates. As OBOZ.UA wrote: - On the evening of November 25 - at night and in the morning of November 26, the aggressor state launched a record number of 188 Shahed attack UAVs and unidentified drones from the Russian cities of Orel, Bryansk, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. - President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia is still circumventing sanctions and uses 85 foreign components in each of its kamikaze drones. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! There are few common denominators: 18 suffered from addiction to alcohol or drugs; the rest did not. Around a dozen reported being sexually abused as children. Some others, including Leleu, spoke of loving childhood homes. The profile of the rapist does not exist, said Antoine Camus, one of Gisele Pelicots two lawyers, in his closing statement last week. The men appeared before the court in groups of five to seven over 10 weeks offering only small glimpses into each mans life. Leleu was the last person in the final group. I stopped thinking and I stopped having a connection with my brain, explained Leleu, his short, wiry body weaving from side to side as he spoke. Women demonstrate to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Monday, as the trial of dozens of men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband continues. Credit: AP Like dozens of the men who came before him, Leleu pleaded not guilty to raping Gisele Pelicot. In his defence, he said Dominique Pelicot told him she had taken the drugs herself. Im sorry to Madame Pelicot for involuntarily participating in her suffering, he said before squeezing back down on his bench. Among the others in that group was Christian Lescole, 57, a firefighter and divorced father of two daughters. His partner, with whom he had planned to open a dog kennel, told the court he was an amazing man. I dont think hes capable of committing rape, she said. A court sketch of Gisele Pelicot and her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, during his rape trial in Avignon. Credit: AP Lescole is among five of the accused who also face charges of possessing images of child sexual abuse. He has been in pretrial custody for four years. I have no future left. I spent my life protecting people. I never had a problem with justice before, Lescole said. In contrast to many other defendants, he was relatively loquacious during his testimony. Loading Since the court case began in early September, Lescole has attended regularly, sitting in one of two prisoners boxes, often stroking his long beard while watching intensely. He was there in search of some existential answers, he said, because this is not me. This doesnt reflect my values. How did I get here? During the trial, he said he counted 18 men whod said theyd been offered a drink by Dominique Pelicot after arriving at the Pelicots home. He now says he believes theyd all been drugged. He told the court he had no memory after stepping inside the bedroom. I have big doubts about my free will at that moment, he said. Materially, I committed a rape, he added. But it was my body, not my brain. Joseph Cocco, 69, appeared before the judges as part of the same, final group. A retired manager of a beer company subsidiary, Cocco is one of only two defendants not charged with raping Gisele Pelicot. Instead, he has been charged with sexually assaulting her. Loading He is a father, cancer survivor and karate champion who led courses for the police. Like about half of the accused, Cocco was a swinger. He told the court he had started to swing with his former partner, the love of my life, who had recently left him after 23 years together. He said he was invited to the Pelicots home for a threesome, and Dominique Pelicot never talked about rape or drugging his wife. That night, another accused man arrived around the same time. They both were captured naked by Dominique Pelicots camera, moving around Gisele Pelicots listless body. Cocco sat on the bed, stroked Gisele Pelicots backside which he called a libertine caress and went no further. At that moment, I heard snoring, he said. I posed the question what is happening? Why is she not moving? When he did not receive answers, he left. But he didnt call the police. None of the accused did. I dont accept that I victimised Gisele Pelicot, he said. When you are trapped, you are really trapped. Loading The final week included one of the youngest defendants: Charly Arbo, a labourer at a cement company. He was 22 when he first went to the Pelicots home in 2016. While most of the men admit to having gone to the home once, Arbo went six times. Police found 47 edited video clips of those visits on Dominique Pelicots electronic devices two of which were watched by the court. Stephane Babonneau, another of Gisele Pelicots lawyers, said he struggled to understand how Arbo could not admit this was rape. He told me she was consenting, he responded, staring wide-eyed at the judges, referring to Dominique Pelicot. Arbo was reluctant to offer the court his personal story. Judges pulled answers from him like rusty nails from hard wood. Although psychiatrists described his upbringing as dysfunctional, Arbo defended his family as loving. The court heard in one video Arbo and Dominique Pelicot discussing a plan to drug Arbos mother so Pelicot could come and rape her. Arbo said he felt pressured by Pelicot to offer someone he knew, and his mother was the first thing that popped into my head. London: An original 200-year-old copy of Captain Matthew Flinders account of the first circumnavigation of Australia complete with handwritten annotations and corrections is expected to attract bids of more than six figures at a rare book auction in London next month. The pre-publication first-edition copy of the pioneering navigator and cartographers work, A Voyage to Terra Australis, is among several items among his familys collection including a mahogany writing slope and books that Flinders took on his journey to go under the hammer at auction house Christies on December 11. Matthew Flinders was believed to be on the point of death when the first copies of Terra Australis came off the press. Credit: Marija Ercegovac The British naval officer is best known as the commander of HMS Investigator, which he used to sail around Australia and map its coastline. At the time the continent was known as New Holland but, while he did not invent the name Australia, Flinders was credited it with popularising it. The book of his discoveries cemented the name in the public imagination. He died from a long illness the day after it was published on July 19, 1814. After 417 days of continuous fighting following the October 7 attacks, a rare flash of good news from the Middle East a ceasefire in Israels war against Hezbollah. The bombs, for now, will no longer rain down on Beirut, Tyre, Baalbek and the other Lebanese towns and cities that had already suffered great bloodshed. Across the Israeli side of the border, the residents of northern towns like Kiryat Shmona which photographer Kate Geraghty and I visited on a reporting trip to Israel and Lebanon last month will be granted a reprieve from Hezbollah rocket fire. An Israel Defence Forces reserve officer visits Luba Gershenzon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, last month. Credit: Kate Geraghty It has been almost a year to the day since this dangerous region could celebrate such an unequivocally positive day: the deal last November under which Hamas returned over 60 hostages from Gaza in exchange for a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners. But the ceasefire lasted only a week. Fighting in Gaza resumed, intensified and eventually metastasised into a full-scale war in Lebanon that has claimed the lives of about 3800 Lebanese people and 120 Israelis. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October last year in what it said was an act of solidarity with Hamas war in Gaza. This prompted months of tit-for-tat fire across Israels northern border and the evacuation of about 60,000 Israelis from their homes. The conflict, however, was relatively low-key and attracted far less attention than the devastating war in Gaza. A Brief History of The First 100 Years of the Automobile Industry in the United States Chapter 2 - American auto industry is born amid the snow of the great Thanksgiving Day Chicago race by Richard A. Wright It did not look promising. The Great Chicago Auto Race of 1895 had all the earmarks of a fiasco. It had already been delayed twice and when it finally started on Nov. 28, 1895, there was snow on the ground. A snow plow (pulled by a team of horses, of course,) was brought in to clear the starting area. There were disappointingly few entries and most of them were European, German-built Benz cars. Boys pelted the vehicles -- popularly called "motocycles" then -- with snowballs. But the race went on and, when it was over, an American car had beaten the best from Europe. (Cars had been in production in Europe for 10 years. No cars were yet in commercial production in the United States.) More importantly, perhaps, it had beaten the horse. The American auto industry was born. But it was an unlikely beginning. Herman H. Kohlstaat, who had made a fortune in the bakery business, took his public service responsibilities as publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald seriously and decided to drum up interest in the automobile (not yet called that), which was becoming all the rage in Europe. He announced early in 1895 that his newspaper would sponsor the first race in the United States for horseless carriages, offering $5,000 in prizes, including $2,000 for the winner. Within a month, Kohlstaat uncovered a startling fact -- the newspaper received 60 letters and telegrams from people who wanted to enter a car in the race. Some of these automobiles were imported from Europe, but a surprising number of them were being built by their owners. The publisher had discovered that there was a widespread effort in the United States to build automobiles and that most of these inventors were not aware of the work of others, either here or in Europe. Many said they wanted to enter their cars in the race, but would not have them ready by Labor Day, which was the date Kohlstaat had in mind. Since he wanted as many entries as possible, he delayed the race until Nov. 2. Excitement mounted. When the big day arrived, 80 automobiles had been entered. Two showed up. The only contestants on Nov. 2 were Frank Duryea, of Springfield, Mass., in a car he built based on designs by his brother, Charles, and Oscar Mueller in a Germanbuilt Benz owned by his father, a machine shop operator in Decatur, Ill. Most of the other 80 entrants urged Kohlstaat to delay the race one more time, until Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28. Kohlstaat was in a difficult position. A race with only two contestants seemed a bit ridiculous and rival newspapers, sensing a possible humiliation, were already picking up the scent. The Times-Herald had hyped the event and there would be spectators waiting to see a race. So Kohlstaat talked to Duryea and Mueller and they agreed to stage an exhibition for the spectators. The actual race would be delayed one more time to Nov. 28, Thanksgiving Day. The exhibition was to run from Jackson Park to Waukegan and back, 90 miles roundtrip. Frank and Charles Duryea quickly pulled ahead of Mueller's Benz, but their car frightened a team of horses at a crossroad near Evanston. The team bolted onto the road into the Duryea's path. Frank, who was driving, ran into a ditch to avoid hitting the wagon and smashed the car's differential housing. The car was pulled back to the railroad station by a horse and transported back to Springfield for repairs before the big race. The Mueller Benz won the exhibition, but the horse was still champion. Thanksgiving Day, Chicago was covered with four to six inches of snow. Several cars entered in the race either broke down or were unable to get through the snow to the starting line. But the race, looking more and more like a disaster, finally got under way. Six cars started. Two were electrics, which quickly ran out of power. So the race -- shortened because of the snow to a 55-mile run to Evanston and back -- pitted the Duryea against three Benz "motocycles." One Benz was Mueller's. Another had been entered by the R.H. Macy store of New York, which was importing German-built Benz cars and hoped to sell them in Chicago as a result of publicity from the race. The other was entered by the De LaVergne Refrigeration Co. of New York. Outside Chicago, the Duryea passed the Macy Benz, which later collided with a hack and did not finish. On the way back from Evanston, Duryea passed the Mueller Benz, then overtook the De LaVergne Benz. The Duryea crossed the finish line with no other car in sight. An hour and a half later, the Mueller Benz appeared, the only other car to finish the race. The Duryea had beaten the three German cars, but perhaps even more importantly, it had made clear the days of the horse as the prime mode of transportation were numbered. No team of horses could have done what the Duryea did. Each car carried an umpire and one of the umpires, assigned to Mueller's car, was Charles B. King, the first man to operate a car in Detroit, who had hoped to enter his own car in the race, but did not have it ready. King, incidentally, did get to drive in the race because Oscar Mueller, apparently overcome by fatigue and excitement, had passed out during the race and King drove the car to the finish line. The Duryeas built their car in Springfield, Mass., but the American car is a creature of the Midwest (as were the Duryeas they originally came from Illinois). With a few notable exceptions, most of the early automotive pioneers were from the Midwest and Great Lakes area. In fact, the industry very nearly was located in New England. After his success in the Chicago race, Frank Duryea returned to Massachusetts and began building the Duryea car. In 1896, Duryea was the biggest producer in the United States, turning out 13 units. The cars were hand-built. Mass production of machines as complicated as an automobile was still years away. The reason for the Duryeas' success where so many others failed was the efficient two-cylinder, four-cycle internal-combustion engine which powered it. New England had one more shot at becoming the motor capital before Detroit took that title. Col. Albert Pope, who had served on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's staff during the Civil War, converted his bicycle plant in Hartford, Conn., to automobile manufacture with the help of Hiram Percy Maxim. After their victory in Chicago, the Duryeas considered having Pope build their car, but Pope was not very interested. He did not think the internal-combustion engine could compete with steam or electric power. While his plant did build a few gasoline-powered cars, its production heavily favored steam and electric. By 1899, Pope was the biggest manufacturer in the country, with output of 2,092 vehicles, almost half of the cars built in the United States that year. But Pope had bet on the wrong horse. While steamers and electrics hung on as late as the '30s, they began losing out to the gasoline engine not long after the new century got under way. In Lansing, Olds had built his first steam-powered auto in 1886. He switched to internal combustion, thinking it the most promising powerplant, and he entered the Chicago race, but did not have a car ready in time that he thought would be good enough to compete with the Benz models from Europe. He did not even know about the Duryea. When Olds became the first to mass-produce autos, he powered them with internal-combustion engines. So did Henry Ford when he showed the world what mass production really was all about. The Stanleys and Dobles built some magnificent classic steamers into the '30s and electrics were still favored by a few Grosse Pointe dowagers into the '40s. But it soon became clear that the automotive mainstream would be dominated by the internal-combustion gasoline engine. Another midwesterner, Elwood Haynes, demonstrated his automobile in Kokomo, Ind., in 1894, a year after the Duryeas took their horseless buggy for its first test drive on the streets of Springfield. Haynes had not only been unaware of the Duryeas' work before he found out about it in 1895 at the Chicago race, he refused to believe that he had not been the first. In fact, for the 30 years that Haynes manufactured cars, the company's ads always carried the line: "The Haynes is America's first car." Another of the very earliest cars makers -- probably the third to go into production after Duryea and Haynes -- was Alexander Winton, a short-tempered Scotsman who built his car in Cleveland. Winton was the first to use a steering wheel instead of a tiller, he put the engine in front of the driver instead of under the car and he developed the first practical storage battery. He is also credited with signing the first franchised new-car dealer. But he is perhaps best known now for the effect he had on others. James W. Packard, a maker of electrical products (whose firm later became the Packard Cable division of General Motors) visited Winton's office in Cleveland to offer a few suggestions for improving Winton's car. Winton blew his top and said: "If you don't like the car, why don't you build your own?" Packard did and it became one of the world's great nameplates. On March 7, 1896, this report appeared in the Detroit Journal: "The first horseless carriage seen in this city was out on the streets last night. The apparatus seemed to work all right and it went at the rate of five or six miles an hour at an even rate of speed." The car was built by Charles Brady King, railroad mechanic and Chicago auto race umpire and co-driver in Mueller's Benz. Following the car intently on a bicycle through the cold, snowy Detroit streets was a lanky, 32-year-old mechanical engineer who worked for the Edison Illuminating Co. His name was Henry Ford. Copyright 1996, Richard A. Wright Published by Wayne State University's Department of Communications New 2025 Subaru WRX tS is the most advanced WRX ever with Drive Mode Select and electronically controlled dampers tuned by Subaru Tecnica International Standard EyeSight Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System on all trim levels Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System on all trim levels New Galaxy Purple color option available across WRX lineup 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged BOXER engine Standard 11.6-inch SUBARU STARLINK Multimedia Plus System including wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto compatibility Multimedia Plus System including wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto compatibility WRX base model discontinued for 2025 Starting price for WRX Premium starts at $35,750 MSRP CAMDEN, N.J., Nov. 27, 2024 -- Subaru of America, Inc. announced pricing today on the 2025 WRX, including the new STI-tuned WRX tS. The 2025 Subaru WRX lineup offers exceptional performance throughout the model range beginning with its 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged Subaru BOXER engine and Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. The new 2025 Subaru WRX tS goes further with electronically controlled adjustable dampers tuned by Subaru Tecnica International, uprated Brembo brakes, and 19-inch alloy wheels in satin gray finish paired with Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires. The 2025 Subaru WRX will arrive at retailers in early 2025 with a starting price of $35,750 MSRP. "Our customers expect value, performance and practicality with the 2025 Subaru WRX, and we're happy to deliver all of those. Few buyers opted for the base trim level last year, while nearly half of all WRX buyers opt for features found on the Premium trim level, which is why it's the entry point this year," said William Stokes, Car Line Planning Manager for Subaru of America. "For 2025, the Subaru WRX lineup reflects our buyers' preferences for features and fun at every stop, from Premium to tS." The 2025 Subaru WRX will be offered in four trim levels: Premium, Limited, GT, and tS. Last year's base WRX configuration has been discontinued. A 6-speed manual transmission is standard on all trim levels, except the GT. The Subaru Performance Transmission (SPT) is available in Premium and Limited trim levels and is standard on the GT. The 6-speed manual transmission features optimized gear ratios with refined shift quality and Incline Start Assist. The SPT offers crisp up and down shifts, including adaptive shift control to quickly respond with rev-matching downshifts under braking to maintain an ideal gear ratio around corners for corner exits and Reverse Automatic Emergency Braking. Visually, the 2025 Subaru WRX is marked by its iconic hood scoop and signature hexagonal grille flanked by compact LED headlights. The "WRX" badging stands out this year thanks to a new red badge in the grille and rear trunk lid. Galaxy Purple debuts this year as a new color available across the lineup for $395 MSRP. The new color is a rich purple hue enhanced by blue and purple metallic flake and pays a small tribute to the popular Plasma Blue tone from the third-generation WRX. Inside, the 2025 Subaru WRX is equipped with an 11.6-inch SUBARU STARLINK Multimedia Plus system with high-resolution touchscreen for audio, vehicle, and climate controls. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, SiriusXM All-Access Radio with 360L (4-month trial included), HD Radio, Bluetooth hands-free phone and audio streaming are also equipped. All trim levels (aside from tS) boast revised interior red contrast "WRX" stitching in the dash, and WRX Limited and GT receive updated interiors with bold, red contrast stitching on seat bolsters and headrests. For 2025, all Subaru WRX models are equipped with Subaru EyeSight Driver Assist Technology and DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System, including models equipped with a manual transmission. On vehicles with a manual transmission, EyeSight includes Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centering, Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Prevention, and Pre-Collision Brake Assist. (Pre-Collision Throttle Management is included on models equipped with SPT.) Also standard across the model line is the latest generation of SUBARU STARLINK Safety and Security. Available packages offer emergency services and convenience features such as Automatic Collision Notification, Enhanced Roadside Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Recovery, Vehicle Diagnostic Alerts, Remote Engine Start with Climate Control, and more. 2025 Subaru WRX Premium Starting at $35,750, the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium offers unmistakable performance and popular driver-convenience features. The Premium trim level offers 18-inch alloy wheels with dark gray finish and 245/40 R18 summer performance tires; heated front seats, exterior mirrors, and windshield wiper deicer; aluminum alloy pedal covers; LED fog lights; Keyless Access with Push-Button Start; USB-A and USB-C input charge ports for front seat occupants; USB-A and USB-C charge ports for rear passengers and a truck lid body-color rear spoiler. An optional package for the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium adds an 11-speaker Harman Kardon Speaker System with a 504-watt equivalent amplifier and a Power Moonroof for $1,865. Equipped with the SPT, the 2025 Subaru WRX Premium costs $37,100 and adds steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters with eight preselected gear ratios, Harman Kardon Speaker System, Power Moonroof, SI-Drive Engine Performance Management, and Auto Vehicle Hold. 2025 Subaru WRX Limited Building on features found on the Premium trim level, the 2025 Subaru WRX Limited adds a standard Harman Kardon Speaker System with a 504-watt equivalent amplifier; SUBARU STARLINK 11.6-inch Multimedia Navigation System with voice-activated navigation powered by TomTom (3-year free map updates); 10-way power-adjustable driver's seat including lumbar support; Blind-Spot Detection with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert; LED Steering Responsive Headlights; Power Moonroof; Ultrasuede and leather-trimmed upholstery; and body-color side mirrors with integrated turn signals. The 2025 Subaru WRX Limited costs $40,130 MSRP with a 6-speed manual transmission, and $41,680 MSRP when equipped with the SPT. 2025 Subaru WRX tS New for 2025, the performance-focused Subaru WRX tS offers increased handling capability and ride comfort thanks to new STI-tuned electronically controlled dampers. The tS ("tuned by STI") trim level is the first of its kind offered on WRX and boasts distinctive interior and exterior enhancements, including a new fully digital 12.3-inch gauge cluster, alongside its mechanical additions. The Subaru WRX tS also comes equipped with a high-performance Brembo braking system, including 6-piston front and 2-piston rear calipers in signature gold, including larger pads and rotors. The system combines enhanced stopping power and fade resistance with exceptional pedal feel. The Subaru WRX tS also comes equipped with standard 245/35 R19 Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires for increased wet and dry performance wrapping 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels with a satin gray finish. Drive Mode Select in the WRX tS features settings for the STI-tuned electronically adjustable dampers to tailor performance among Comfort, Normal, and Sport settings. The system also includes adjustable settings for the power steering, throttle response, and EyeSight system, including a user-customizable Individual mode accessible via steering wheel controls or touchscreen settings. Inside, grippy Recaro Performance Design front seats are wrapped in black Ultrasuede with contrasting blue accents and "WRX tS" embossed on the front headrests and carpeted floormats. The seat bolsters, steering wheel, door panels, and shifter trim are complemented with blue accents as well. The 2025 Subaru WRX tS costs $45,705 MSRP. 2025 Subaru WRX GT Available exclusively with the SPT, the 2025 Subaru WRX GT builds on the WRX Limited with an Ultrasuede dash panel with red stitching, Recaro Performance Design front seats, an 8-way power-adjustable driver's seat,18-inch alloy wheels finished in matte gray, and a sport-tuned suspension with Electronic Adjustable Ride Control. The 2025 Subaru WRX GT is priced at $45,705 MSRP. The 2025 Subaru WRX is assembled in Gunma, Japan and will begin arriving in retailers nationwide in early 2025. 2025 Subaru WRX Model/Trim Transmission Applicable Option MSRP MSRP plus Destination and Delivery ($1,170)i WRX Premium 6MT 11, 12 $35,750 $36,920 WRX Premium SPT 13 $37,100 $38,270 WRX Limited 6MT 21 $40,130 $41,300 WRX Limited SPT 23 $41,680 $42,850 WRX tS 6MT 33 $45,705 $46,875 WRX GT SPT 41 $45,705 $46,875 2025 Subaru WRX Option Packages Code Description MSRP 11, 13, 21, 23, 33, 41 Standard Model N/A 12 Harman Kardon Speaker System, Moonroof $1,865 Galaxy Purple Pearl Premium Paint $395 In 2025, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will travel to Moscow to celebrate May 9 with Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin. The politician said that he "gladly" accepted the invitation of the so-called Russian president. ADVERTISIMENT Fico may become the first representative of Slovakia to pay an official visit to Russia after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fico boasted about his planned trip to the aggressor country on Facebook. He noted the role of the USSR "in the defeat of fascism and victory in the brutal world war." According to the politician, Slovak citizens "respectfully remember all the anniversaries and events associated with the liberation of our territory by the Red Army in 1944-1945." His government also supports "the legacy of the fight against fascism, the historical truth about World War II and the role played by the Red Army." "In 2025, the Slovak government will take care of organizing several events, culminating in the May celebrations of the victory over fascism. In the spirit of the above, it is natural that I, as the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, am extremely interested in participating in the official celebrations... Therefore, I have gladly accepted the official invitation of the "President" of the Russian Federation Putin to participate in these important celebrations, which I will do," Fico wrote. Earlier, Fico said that it was his "personal duty" to visit Moscow on May 9, 2025. As OBOZ.UA reported, Robert Fico also called on Europe not to support Ukraine in the war against Russia. He did not rule out a quick end to the war and reminded that his Smer-SD party is against Kyiv's accession to NATO, as it would allegedly provoke World War III. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the newly elected European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen and expressed hope for further strengthening of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union. He emphasized the importance of this cooperation for Ukraine, which seeks to become a full member of the EU. ADVERTISIMENT He wrote about this on social network X on Wednesday, November 27. Zelensky expressed hope for Ukraine's future membership in the European Union, noting that this is a strategic goal of the country. "I sincerely congratulate Ursula von der Leyen on the approval of the new composition of the College of Commissioners. I wish the new European Commission success in strengthening a united Europe and enhancing the role of the EU as a world leader. We are looking forward to continuing our productive cooperation on key issues of the EU-Ukraine strategic agenda," he noted. The President emphasized that the EU membership was a strategic goal for Ukraine that the country intended to achieve. He is confident that under the leadership of the new European Commission, Ukraine will be able to approach this goal and become a full member of the EU. "We are confident that under the leadership of this European Commission, Ukraine will achieve its ultimate strategic goal - EU membership," the head of state summarized. It should be noted that on Wednesday, November 27, the European Parliament voted for the new composition of the European Commission, proposed by the current and elected President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and approved in September by the EU Council. 370 deputies were in favor, 282 were against, and 36 abstained. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Getty, Terence Patrick/Netflix We all know it can be nicer to live without brutal honesty, yet all over my For You page this year, I watched TikToker after TikToker ask their followers, How old do I look? Almost all of them were roundly humbled; 20- and 30-somethings suddenly saw decades tacked on to their age, whether because their foreheads didnt move or moved too much, because they didnt wear makeup or didnt wear the right makeup, or because they colored their hair or let it go gray. What made one person look younger in certain eyes rocketed them to middle age and beyond in others. This turned out to be the first of many signs that, in 2024, no one seemed to know how old millennials should look. Age confusion kept on hijacking TikTok. In a viral video from earlier this year, a 38-year-old presents a series of time-stamped cast photos as proof of concept: everyone on Cheers, ages 21 to 35, boasting hairlines several decades their senior; Jason Alexander, a youthful but balding 29 when he took the role of 31-year-old George Costanza on Seinfeld. But sometimes, the revelation that celebrities generally looked older in the 1980s and 90s than they do now seemed to stir up as much surprise as the realization that young stars today look young. Miley Cyrus was praised for aging like fine wine at the still youthful age of 31, and in early November, a fan remarked that Carrie Coon looked simultaneously 35 and 55 fine as hell but also old and young at the same time. (Shes actually 43, she pointed out in her response). When Nicola Coughlans fans discovered that the Irish actor most famous for playing teenagers on TV, to be fair is actually 37, the revelation landed with the thud of a million dropped jaws. This, the collective shock implied, was not what a 37-year-old is supposed to look like. But millennials not just celebrities but real people, too really do seem to be aging more slowly. Compared with those of 30 years ago, I do think people look younger and look better, says Dr. Karyn Grossman, a board-certified cosmetic surgeon and dermatologist to stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow (who at 52 is about the same age Rue McClanahan is supposed to be on The Golden Girls; its not just the 30-somethings). In Grossmans opinion, that shift is partially due to better awareness about the two lifestyle factors that can dramatically escalate aging: sun exposure and cigarettes. One sobering study attributed 80 percent of facial aging signs in Caucasian skin to UV radiation. Similarly, the chemicals in cigarette smoke break down collagen and damage skin cells for a wrinklier, rougher, less even appearance. In the past 20 years, smoking rates in the U.S. have steadily declined while the use of daily sunscreen has marginally improved. But what really changed during that time is the number of anti-aging options available. When I went into practice in 1995, Grossman recalls, we were one of a few practices in New York City, maybe two or three, that injected Botox. Anti-aging procedures were really for people who were predominantly older, women in their late 40s and 50s who were combatting more visual signs of aging. These days, there are so many things a person can do to their face before even thinking about a scalpel. In addition to sunscreen, theres tretinoin, a retinoic acid that speeds cell turnover and boosts collagen regeneration. There are exfoliating acids that mimic the effects of a chemical peel at home as well as serums targeting redness, dark spots, and volume a battery of skin-care products for every conceivable concern. Then theres a suite of in-office treatments to make our faces more cushiony, even, and tight: injectables including Botox and fillers; noninvasive procedures such as microneedling, which stimulates collagen production via tiny pinpricks all over the face; resurfacing lasers and radio-frequency facials. Anyone with a couple hundred dollars to spare can walk into a medspa for injections as casually as getting a manicure. Simply put, We have more tools that we can start with at a younger age, Grossman explains. It used to be that people waited until they got really old-looking to do something. Now, people are more proactive in not getting there. And the numbers do suggest millennials are being proactive. Over the past four years, the number of 30-somethings using filler and anti-wrinkle injectables like Botox and Daxxify has grown considerably. By 2022, use of both dissolvable fillers and anti-wrinkle injectables among those in their 30s was up around 70 percent from pre-pandemic numbers, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In 2023, this group clocked the highest year-over-year increase in dissolvable hyaluronic-acid fillers (nearly 9 percent) of any other generation. This amounts to only about 3.5 million minimally invasive procedures performed nationally on those in their 30s last year. Still, among the skin experts I interviewed, the consensus held that millennials are in fact aging especially well. Yes, people do look more youthful today versus what the 30-year-old or 40-year-old wouldve looked like in the 50s, says Dr. Shereene Idriss, a cosmetic dermatologist in New York. There is one generation that may be the exception, though. If millennials owe their relative agelessness in part to better access to preventive measures earlier on, one might expect Gen Z which gained access to the same products earlier still to look positively embryonic. But according to Idriss, Gen Z appears to be aging more rapidly than millennials, a difference that could come down to pacing. In her practice and online, Idriss (herself a dermfluencer with more than a million followers each on TikTok and Instagram) has noticed a recent trend toward maximalism: Teens and 20-somethings piling on products targeted for problems they dont yet have and clamoring for injections to forestall wrinkles that havent set in. She sees a lot of young patients treating their faces as if they were 40-year-olds at 18, she explains. Their skin has just lost its luster theyve broken their skin barrier down because theyve lost their moisture and their elasticity. On the more extreme end, she sees patients in their 20s starting with filler and Botox. But start too early with those and you risk looking puffy, frozen, distorted. According to all four skin experts I interviewed, this can age a person before their time. Earlier this summer, Dr. Daniel Barrett, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, inadvertently put that theory to the test in a viral TikTok that earned him a fair bit of criticism. In the video, Barretts staff ask him to guess the ages of several women from this years Love Island U.K. class based on their cast photos; he estimated them to be between 32 and 42 years old when really they were 24 to 26. I almost didnt release it because I dont like to make people feel bad, Barrett says of the video. But then I decided to keep it there because I thought it would raise awareness to say, look, people, pump the brakes on some of this stuff. With all of that in mind, if millennials do in fact look younger, this may just be compared with the generations sandwiching them: teens and 20-somethings who have too many interventions at their fingertips and Gen-Xers who grew up with comparatively few. Having recently watched a video of someone attempting to exfoliate their face with Mortons salt, lime juice, and carton egg white, I have no trouble believing a lot of people are doing too much of the wrong thing when it comes to their skin. Still, Im not convinced that cosmetic procedures are really the norm for either Gen Z or millennials. And what of the 30-something who hasnt dabbled in treatments? How much or how little are we bringing down the average? Can it really be true that, as a generation, millennials look so much younger? To help answer that question, I took my 35-year-old face to the Liverpool Street location of Pulse Light Clinic, a laser and skin-care center with offices throughout London, for VISIA Skin Analysis. The VISIA machine performs an in-depth scan of the patients skin, measuring the discoloration, wrinkles, texture, pores, bacteria, brown spots, redness, and sun damage that accrue over time. It then compares those percentages with its database of faces, calculating the approximate age of the persons skin relative to their actual age: their TruSkin Age score. Based on the results, clinicians can build a treatment plan targeting specific problem areas, ideally shaving a few years off that score. I didnt expect the camera to tell me I look ten years younger than I really am this tool is used to sell services, after all but I did think I was doing pretty well. Thanks to my sun-vigilant mother, I have used SPF most days since childhood, and thanks to cystic acne, Ive used tretinoin every night since my early 20s. I run my face through with microcurrents each morning in an attempt to forestall hereditary jowls, and I have dumped considerable energy and money into fine-tuning a skin-care routine that deploys antioxidants, peptides, and exfoliants in measured rotation. As I positioned my face for the scan, I felt optimistic confident, even. I rested my chin on the machines plinth as two prongs lifted my bangs out of my eyes, which were closed against three bright flashes of light. Within a minute, the machine calculated my results: 36 years old on the left side of my face, 31 on the right. Such a big difference! the clinics lead practitioner, Chrystella Kanaris-Brady, exclaimed while comparing the numbers. Its also a confusing one. I got dinged for the rosacea around my nose and chin, along with yet-to-emerge under-eye wrinkles something to look forward to but showed next to no sun damage and low hyperpigmentation. Largely for that reason, Kanaris-Brady assured me, my score was actually quite good. At least for a face that has evidently been living two very different lives. Kanaris-Brady explained that even among patients who are vigilant about sunscreen, avoid heavy smoking and drinking, and are attentive to their skin care, TruSkin Age scores typically hover around their actual age. If a patient makes an effort to protect their skin, the score may be a few years younger but more likely a year or two older. If they dont do anything, they may score about five years older. Either way, they can still end up with a face that is simultaneously two different ages simply by virtue of their habits. In my case, for example, the age gap could reflect all the driving I did as a teenager, the typically sunscreened left cheek sponging up more UV rays than the right. The only other thing I can think of is that I tend to sleep on my left side. For what its worth, Kanaris-Brady echoed the thesis that millennials occupy the anti-aging sweet spot. I dont disbelieve it, but I dont know how meaningful a difference it really is. As I press serums into cheeks at once older and younger than they should be, I wonder what I am chasing. Everything I do to my skin and I do a lot has apparently brought its age down by an average of 1.5 visually negligible years, unevenly distributed from ear to ear. Im shooting at a target that will never stop moving, attempting to clear a bar thats always resetting at a younger and younger age, even as mine advances. Ill keep layering on sunscreen, but no amount of factor 50 can stop the clock. In the end, time comes for us all. Angola still bears the scars of war. Unexploded mines, buildings riddled with bullet holes, and half-buried, rusty shell casings lie on its roads. The country is struggling to put the aftermath of war behind it, but there is one element that runs through every chapter of recent history: since its independence from Portugal in 1975, the nations musical thread has been characterized by the rise of a new style. It consists of a mix of African and Caribbean rhythms that led to kizomba, a dance with a soft cadence, elegant leg movements and an extreme connection with ones partner. Since its inception almost half a century ago, this genre has linked the countrys colonial past with the tragedy of the civil conflict, which ended in 2002, and the current situation. It has captured the reality of Angola through lyrics about the battlefield, testimonies of everyday life, romances, and expressions of joy and revelry: after all, kizomba comes from the Quimbundo language and means party or celebration. It has also branched out into new artistic fields, inoculating its rhythm into other traditional dances and into urban music. In April Angola declared it an intangible cultural heritage. Kizomba is part of our lives, but also of those who have gone to Europe or North America. It is something that belongs to every Angolan; we hear it every day on the radio, on television, in the street, while we cook If you were born here, it is more than music or dance: it is a social element, a part of your identity, explains Rui Djassi Moracen, founder of the University of Kizomba, an online platform that promotes the countrys culture. The expert does not hesitate to point to Eduardo Paim as the father of the genre. Born 60 years ago in the bordering Democratic Republic of the Congo, he is considered the creator of kizomba in the early 1980s, when he gave a twist to the semba, another native genre, adding sounds from the Antilles such as souk. I grew up listening to an infinite number of styles. And fusing these influences led to what is now called kizomba, the musician explained in an interview he gave in 2019 to Euronews. It is poetry in steps. The term is even used to write the choreography on the floor, he pointed out, speaking of the nakedness of the soul that it implies. It emerged as an exchange between Angola and European settlers. With independence in 1975, it was formulated as a cultural renaissance. During the war, until 2002, it was a sign of resistance and hope. Now it represents that heritage and the pride of the country, sums up Eddy Vents, a professor and promoter of kizomba from Guinea-Bissau who currently resides in the United States. Vents points out that the melody responds to a blend of interoceanic genres, but it was in Portugal where it expanded, recruiting fans from all over the planet. Thanks to this two-way journey, the musical genre has crossed borders and reached American and European capitals. In Madrid, Jeissy Kevin Djaffy teaches kizomba classes and organizes international festivals. It was once related to politics, and they even say that it was used as a method to send messages during the war, but now it is pure fun, says the promoter. We must bear in mind that dance is the only thing we have. We are a poor but happy continent, he points out, agreeing with Eduardo Paims opinion: Kizomba is a milestone, a reference: it is the way in which Angola imposes itself in the world. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Work together to make peoples lives better NEW DELHI : PM Modi greets people on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution IT IS the responsibility of the executive, legislature and the judiciary to work together to make the lives of common people better in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday. Addressing a special event on the occasion of 75 years of the adoption of the Constitution, Murmu also said the fundamental duties of every citizen had been clearly defined in the countrys founding document, which lay stress on protecting the nations unity and integrity, promoting harmony and ensuring the dignity of women. Constitutional ideals get strength from the active participation of the executive, legislature and the judiciary, as well as all citizens, she said. In accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the executive, legislature, and the judiciary to work together to make the lives of common people better, she added. The President said the aspirations of the people found expression in the many legislations enacted by Parliament and, during the past few years, the government took many steps for the development of all sections of society, especially the weaker ones. Such decisions have improved the lives of the people and are providing them new opportunities for development, she said. Murmu said she was happy to note that, with the efforts of the Supreme Court, the countrys judiciary was making efforts to make the judicial system more effective. Indias Constitution is a living and progressive document and the countrys farsighted Constitution-makers provided for a system of adopting new ideas, according to the needs of the changing times, Murmu said. We have achieved many ambitious goals related to social justice and inclusive development through the Constitution, she said. The fundamental duties of every citizen have been clearly mentioned in the Constitution, she said. Protecting the unity and integrity of India, promoting harmony in society, ensuring the dignity of women, protecting the environment, developing a scientific temper, safeguarding public property and taking the nation to higher levels of achievement are included among the fundamental duties of citizens, she added. With a new approach, a new identity was achieved for India in the comity of nations and the Constitution-makers had given a directive for India to play an important role in promotion of international peace and security, the president said. Today, besides being a leading economy, our country is playing this role very well as the Vishwa-Bandhu, she asserted. Independence will be jeopardised if parties place creed above country, says Dhankhar: VICE President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday invoked Dr. B R Ambedkar to say that our Independence will be put in jeopardy a second time if parties placed creed above country. He also cautioned that disturbance as a strategy threatened democratic institutions. It is time to restore the sanctity of our democratic temples through constructive dialogue, debate and meaningful discussion to serve our people effectively, Dhankhar said. The Constitutions opening words, We the People of India, carry deep meaning, establishing citizens as the ultimate authority, with Parliament serving as their voice, the vice president asserted. In contemporaneous times, with decorum and discipline cliff hanging in parliamentary discourse, Dhankhar said there was a need to resolve by reiterating the pristine glory of the Constituent Assemblys embellished functioning. Noting that the Constitution ingeniously established democracys three pillars -- Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary, each with a defined role, the vice president said, Democracy is best nurtured with its constitutional institutions being in sync, tandem and togetherness, adhering to their jurisdictional areas. In functioning of these organs of the state, domain exclusivity is quintessence to making optimal contributions in steering Bharat toward unprecedented heights of prosperity and equity, he asserted. Evolution of a structured interactive mechanism amongst those at the helm of these institutions would bring greater convergence in serving the nation, Dhankhar said. Our Constitution assures fundamental rights and ordains fundamental duties. These define informed citizenship, reflecting Dr Ambedkars caution that internal conflicts, more than external threats, endanger democracy, the vice president noted. Dhankhar said it was time to fully commit to our fundamental duties -- protecting national sovereignty, fostering unity, prioritising national interests, and safeguarding our environment. Bdesh court denies bail to Hindu leader DHAKA : A BANGLADESHI court on Tuesday denied bail to prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, arrested on alleged sedition charges, and sent him to prison, amid protests by community members in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram. 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 while travelling to Chattogram. He was then brought to Chattogram. A case was filed against Das and 18 others on October 30 at Chattograms Kotwali Police Station leader on the complaint of a leader of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which accused them of disrespecting the national flag in the citys Laldighi Maidan during a rally of the Hindu community on Oct 25. During the hearing of Das case, Chattograms Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected his bail petition. The judge said since Das was arrested from outside the port city, as per law he is required to be kept under judicial custody for 24 hours. The court then ordered that Das be taken to jail and directed the prison authorities to allow the Hindu priest to practice his religious rituals as per the Jail Code. Officials said Das was escorted to the court amid tight security as a number of his supporters, including lawyers, chanted slogans protesting his arrest. Witnesses said Das greeted his supporters gathered at the court premises with folded hands as they chanted slogans and asked them to refrain from chanting religious slogans at the scene. Local Government affairs adviser and Anti-Discrimination Students 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 north-western Rangpur city. If Bangladeshs sovereignty and independence are endangered or the country is exposed to dishonour or contempt, the government will definitely take steps, Mahmud said. Das arrest triggered street rallies in Dhaka and Chattogram by Hindus. 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. 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. Meanwhile, India on Tuesday noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Das, and urged the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples in Bangladesh. It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings, the statement said. Bangladeshs 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 Hasinas Awami League government on August 5. 2,010 incidents of attacks on minorities DHAKA, Nov 26 (ANI) ACTING General Secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Manindra Kumar Nath, on Tuesday, said that 2,010 incidents of attacks, including murder, molestation, and kidnapping, were reported against minorities in Bangladesh, affecting 1,705 families. Speaking to ANI about the ongoing situation in Bangladesh, Nath highlighted the widespread atrocities faced by Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist populations across the country. He noted that despite the scale of the violence, the interim government had not taken any steps to investigate or hold anyone accountable for these incidents. It is very unfortunate... We have seen that almost across all 64 districts of Bangladesh, there have been atrocities against Hindu populations and also against Christians and Buddhists. From that, we have gathered statistics through our organisation, which show that there were 2,010 incidents of attacks, including murder, molestation, and kidnapping, affecting 1,705 families from the community. Despite this, the interim government has not taken any steps to investigate or hold anyone accountable for these incidents, Manindra Kumar Nath said. Nath also pointed out that as a result of these atrocities, saints and monks have been protesting in various cities in the country, including Dhaka, Chattogram, and Rampur. These demonstrations, he noted, have faced attempts to disrupt them, with participants being abused and even injured during protests. As a result, even saints and monks have come forward to protest against these atrocities through various demonstrations. We have seen protests in Dhaka, in Chattogram, and a large demonstration in Rampur. There have also been attempts to disrupt these demonstrations, with people being abused during the protests. Even after Chinmoy's arrest, there was another protest where people were injured, he said. Nath stated that the protests were aimed at advocating for eight key reforms for the Sanatani people. These reforms include demands for time off during religious festivities, investigations into the atrocities, and the right to pray in religious places. Nath stressed that these demands are basic and focused on creating an anti-discriminatory society. He further criticised the Interim Government for not providing adequate representation for the minority communities and expressed concerns that the absence of such representation is hindering communal progress in the country. Bus carrying school students for picnic overturns, one killed Staff Reporter/Hingna Correspondent : A SCHOOL picnic turned into a tragedy when a private bus carrying 52 students from Saraswati Vidyalaya, Shankar Nagar, overturned on a hilly road near Deori Pendri village in Hingna tehsil on Tuesday. The mishap, which occurred around 9.30 am near Pendri Ghat, left one student dead and more than 50 others injured, some critically. The deceased, Nirvani Shilanand Bagde (15) was a resident of Plot No 27, Ambedkar Society, Takli Sim, Hingna Road. The bus (MH-40/Y-2350) was transporting Standard X students on an excursion to the HRS Hikerss picnic spot at Anji, Seloo in the Wardha district when the incident occurred at a sharp bend. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-I) Lohit Matani confirmed that the bus was following five other buses carrying students to the picnic spot when it overturned. Among the 52 students, 44 were rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), seven were taken to NIMS Hospital, and one to Platina Hospital. Tragically, 15-year-old Nirvani Bagade was confirmed dead after succumbing to her injuries at AIIMS. Two students, Jayesh Pramod Meshram (16) and Mihul Sudhir Wankhede (16) and bus driver Pramod Suresh Gaurkhede (28) have been admitted to the ICU in critical condition, while others are being treated for less severe injuries. Two teachers, who were also on board the bus, sustained injuries. Following the news of the accident, the school Principal, Pushpa Anand, along with teaching and non-teaching staff, parents, and members of school managing body, rushed to AIIMS to provide support. The bus was registered under the Nagpur Rural RTO and owned by Shree Harihar Travels. While the bus was equipped with a speed governor, preliminary inquiries suggest multiple lapses in the vehicles condition and documentation. Police are questioning the buss compliance with mandatory safety standards, including proper maintenance records and seating restraints for students. The incident has raised serious concerns about the safety of school transportation, particularly during off-campus excursions. Parents are now calling for stricter regulations to ensure that buses used for student transport meet all necessary safety requirements. Though a case under Sections 106,281,125(a), 125 (b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, read with Section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act, against bus driver Gaurkhede, Hingna Polices investigation is now focusing on whether factors such as road conditions, vehicle maintenance, or driver error contributed to the mishap. Core Issue THE core issue may not be about the usage of words such as socialist or secular in the Preamble of the Constitution of India or their introduction at a later stage; the issue may be of constitutional morality that has been trampled upon by some elements in the countrys political arena since the adoption of the Constitution in 1950. So, when the honourable Supreme Court dismisses the petitions seeking to challenge the words socialist and secular in the Preamble, the ground of rejection is the power of the Parliament to amend the statute. That, unfortunately, leaves the issue of constitutional morality aside -- though, of course, not intentionally. What the Supreme Court said on the issue needs to be seen in the right perspective. It said, in effect, that terms such as socialist or secular are integral to the Preamble and that there is no substantial ground to reconsider those after the lapse of 44 years when those terms were introduced into the Preamble as far back as in 1976. This opinion is perfectly in tune with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Yet, when those terms were introduced, the country was in the grip of a political aberration called Emergency when most of the normal functions of the machinery of governance were under complete or partial suspension. Even in Parliament, much of the Opposition strength had been eroded with big numbers of its leaders having been jailed by the Indira Gandhi Government (whose legal and moral validity, too, was in question, thanks to a judicial direction). So, when the honourable Supreme Court says that the Parliament has the power and authority to amend the Constitution, then factually, the Parliament of that moment was functional only on a partial basis. And the terms such as socialist or secular were introduced into the Preamble rather needlessly when the spirit of the Constitution was known to have embodied those nuances in the wholesome thought-process that led to formation of the structure of the Constitution. Of course, there need not be any major grounds to oppose the usage of those terms in the Preamble -- since those terms do not offend the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Whatever might have been the political purpose behind their introduction in the peculiar condition of Emergency, their presence does not actually obliterate the original meaning of the Constitution. So, the honourable Supreme Court used its power and authority to dismiss the petitions on the technical ground that the Parliament has the power and the authority to amend the Constitution. This development needs to be seen from another angle -- in the light of the current wave of Opposition allegations that the Narendra Modi Government is in a hurry to alter the Constitution. This allegation, of course, has no substance -- which has been proved on countless occasions in the past some time. Even the elections -- for the Lok Sabha, and State legislatures -- have taken place as per the Constitution, leaving no ground for anybody to make stupid allegations. It is unfortunate that a chunk of political community of India has led itself to believe that the Constitution is under threat of getting altered on the sly. Though the allegations have no truth in them, the Opposition is still pushing the narrative most wrongfully, most sinfully. For, what it is trying to achieve is present a distorted picture of the constitutional morality of the party in power. When the Supreme Court is so alert in protecting and preserving the letter and spirit of the Constitution, there need not be much to worry about on that count. Also, the nation must also understand that the current Government also holds the Constitution as sacrosanct. That is the core point. ED raids four locations in West Bengal chit fund case KOLKATA : 2 joint owners of the entity (name undisclosed) arrested SEPARATE teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were, on Tuesday, conducting simultaneous raid and search operations at four different locations in and around Kolkata in connection with the chit fund case in West Bengal. Although the ED officials are tight-lipped over the identity of the chit fund entity and its owners against whom such raids and search operations were being conducted, sources said the case was registered against them in 2017 and then the two joint owners of the entity were also arrested. However, sources said, recently the central agency officials have come across information that even after the arrest of the owners the entity had been carrying out their operations in a clandestine manner and the fresh raid and search operations were in connection with that. There are various charges against this entity which include illegal collection of public deposits under various multi-level marketing schemes alluring them of hefty returns, parking the same amount outside through the hawala route, duping the investors of not paying them the assured returns after a point of time and money laundering. As per the latest information available, the four locations where the ED officials were conducting raids include two residences of the owners of the entity, the first being at New Alipore in south Kolkata and the second at Joka in the southern outskirts of Kolkata. Sources said that besides the four locations in and around Kolkata, simultaneous raid and search operations were being conducted at the offices of the entity in a neighbouring state as well. The sources said that the investigating officials were examining different documents to identify the influential links of the owners of the entity in both these States. Each team of the raiding ED officials are escorted by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel). West Bengal has a long history of chit funds starting way back in 1980 when the Sanchaita Ponzi scam was busted. After a long silence, the menace started in 2012 with a busting of several chit-fund scams with Saradha and Rose Valley scams being the most prominent among them. Persecution on religion basis not the way of democratic nation: Sadhguru CHENNAI ; SADHGURU Jaggi Vasudev, the spiritual leader and founder of the Isha Foundation, has strongly criticised the Bangladesh government for the arrest of ISKCON priest and Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in Dhaka. Sadhguru termed the arrest as disgraceful. In a post on social media platform X, Sadhguru expressed concern over the incident, stating, It is disgraceful to see a democratic nation disintegrating into becoming theocratic and autocratic. It is the responsibility of every citizen to understand the value of having an open democracy. Persecution on the basis of religion or weakness of demographics is not the way of a democratic nation. Sadhguru also called on Bangladeshi citizens to build back a democratic nation, urging them to uphold the principles of democracy and pluralism. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is an Indian spiritual guru and founder of the Isha Foundation, headquartered in Coimbatore, India. Established in 1992, the foundation operates an ashram and yoga centre, offering educational and spiritual programmes. Sadhguru, who has been teaching yoga since 1982, is the author of New York Times bestsellers Inner Engineering: A Yogis Guide to Joy and Karma: A Yogis Guide to Crafting Your Destiny. He is also a frequent speaker at international forums. The spiritual leaders remarks come in response to ISKCONs statement on X earlier this week, which revealed that Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das, a prominent leader of ISKCON Bangladesh, had been detained by Dhaka police. The organisation strongly condemned the arrest, describing it as baseless and unjustified. To allege that ISKCON has anything to do with terrorism anywhere in the world is outrageous, the organisation stated. ISKCON further appealed to the Government of India to intervene and engage with the Bangladesh Government, emphasizing that ISKCON is a peace-loving Bhakti movement. India on Tuesday condemned the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in Bangladesh. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minorities. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was arrested at a Dhaka airport on Monday afternoon. Until a few decades ago, physical well-being, the causes of illness, and the origins of desire were not subjects that could be fully dissected by the tools of science. Instead, they were explained through stories that helped make life more bearable. Then came discoveries like high cholesterol, positive PCR tests, and low vitamin D levels, and with them, the possibility of controlling lifes parameters and even seeking happiness through data. Testosterone, a hormone primarily produced in the testicles, has long been associated with masculinity. While some may seek to downplay its significance, the popularity of testosterone supplements reveals that many men, particularly as they age, continue to view it as a vital source of energy, confidence, and sex drive. While higher testosterone levels are linked to greater muscle mass and strength traits often tied to traditional notions of manhood scientific research indicates there is no correlation between testosterone and something as elusive as sex drive. On Wednesday, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B published a study that challenges the belief that testosterone regulates fluctuations in male desire. To examine this relationship, the researchers measured testosterone levels in the saliva of 41 men over the course of a month and asked them to record their daily levels of sexual desire. Their findings revealed no positive correlation between testosterone levels and sex drive, which they interpret as further confirmation consistent with previous studies that testosterone is not linked to changes in sex drive among men with normal testosterone levels. However, the study did reveal that testosterone can help restore sex drive in men whose levels are below what is considered healthy. Additionally, women, who naturally produce much less testosterone, reported an increase in sex drive, when given testosterone supplements. But the study also found that when testosterone levels surpass certain minimum thresholds, peaks in testosterone do not lead to an increase in sex drive. The study also uncovered a result that may seem contradictory at first glance. Although no direct relationship was found between fluctuations in testosterone and sex drive, the researchers observed that when testosterone levels increased, the study participants put more effort into courtship particularly if they were single or in relationships with individuals they found attractive. James Roney, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, suggests a possible explanation for this difference in testosterones effects: In some non-human species, male sexual behavior requires only minimal amounts of testosterone. However, testosterone production peaks when males are actively competing with other males for access to females or for resources like territories that help attract females. Our results suggest a similar dynamic may occur in men: sex drive requires only minimal testosterone, but courtship and other competitive behaviors for mates may respond to fluctuations in testosterone in a more continuous manner. One of the practical takeaways from these findings is that testosterone supplements are unlikely to address low sex drive in men with normal hormone levels. We inferred this from the fact that mens sex drive was not higher, on average, on days with high testosterone than on days with low testosterone, says the researcher. Studies like this highlight once again that, while our behavior can be influenced by biological factors such as hormone levels, these factors are often shaped and altered by a variety of external influences, including personal circumstances and social context. For example, obesity is known to reduce testosterone levels, and losing 10% of body fat can significantly increase them. Testosterone levels tend to be higher in single men compared to those in stable, long-term relationships. They are also typically higher in men who do not have children, as the hormone decreases when a man spends significant time caring for children. Although higher testosterone does not directly increase sex drive, it appears to encourage the search for a partner. Several studies have shown that testosterone levels in men rise shortly after brief interactions with a potential partner, and this increase has been linked to positive effects on courtship. Once a partner is secured, testosterone levels decrease, which makes it easier to maintain a long-term relationship and, in the long term, allows the father to devote his energy to caring for his child and not to looking for new partners, or at least not as much. Evolutionary biology expert Carole Hooven, who was not involved in the study, believes these results align with earlier findings. What matters is the difference in testosterone levels between the sexes, she notes. We know that individuals who transition to the testosterone levels of the opposite sex develop the sex drive patterns [corresponding to that sex], which increase greatly when testosterone is increased to male levels and decrease when it is blocked or reduced to female levels. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Receiver to oversee disputed portion of Udaipur City Palace JAIPUR : THE district administration has appointed a receiver to oversee a controversial portion of Udaipurs City Palace following tension over Vishvaraj Singh, the new ceremonial head of the erstwhile royal family, being denied entry. The receivers appointment came after supporters of Singh clashed with those of his paternal uncle Arvind Singh Mewar, who controls the City Palace, late on Monday. BJP MLA Singh was on Monday anointed titular head of the erstwhile Mewar royal family at a ceremony in Chittorgarh fort following the death of his father Mahendra Singh Mewar earlier this month. After his anointment, Singh was scheduled to go to City Palace to have darshan of the dhuni (a religious place) and then visit the Eklingnathji temple. However, Arvind Singh Mewar -- who controls City Palace and, by extension, the dhuni and the temple -- prevented Singh from entering. Through his lawyer, Arvind Singh Mewar had published two public notices in local newspapers on Monday and warned of legal action against trespassing. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers to handle the situation after the public notices were published. Following the ceremony, Singh and a large number of his supporters reached Udaipur but were denied entry into City Palace. While Singh waited for several hours at Jagdish Chowk, a few metres from the palace gates, his supporters tried to cross the police barricades before starting a protest. Collector Arvind Poswal and Superintendent of Police Yogesh Goyal later intervened and held talks with Singh and his cousin Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, the son of Arvind Singh Mewar, separately. The talks, however, remained inconclusive. Meanwhile, three policemen were injured after stones were pelted at the palaces main gate from both sides. With tensions escalating, the Additional District Magistrate appointed Ghanta Ghar SHO Yogendra Kumar Vyas as receiver for the disputed portion between Badi Pol to the dhuni. The notice of the receivers appointment was also pasted on the palaces main gate. Following the receivers appointment, Singh returned around 1:30 am and went to his residence without having darshan of the dhuni. The receiver will now take possession of the disputed area and decide on the entry parameters. Ghanta Ghar SHO Vyas said the situation was under control and possession of the area would be taken on Tuesday, depending on the situation. Police have tightened security around City Palace and in front of all entry gates. Markets near the palace are also shut. Singh is the BJP MLA from Nathdwara while his wife Mahima Kumari is the BJPs Rajsamand MP. Shinde resigns; no clarity on next CM MUMBAI : MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Eknath Shinde resigned on Tuesday in a constitutional obligation, paving the way for appointing a new Government amidst intense negotiations within the MahaYuti alliance on who would take the top post -- BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis or Shinde -- the Shiv Sena head. Shinde, accompanied by Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, the two Deputy Chief Ministers in the previous Government, met with Governor C P Radhakrishnan, who asked the Shiv Sena leader to remain in a caretaker capacity until a new Chief Minister is sworn in. The urgency of the situation arose because the outgoing Assemblys term ended on Tuesday (November 26). The Mahayuti coalition performed impressively in the recent elections, winning 230 out of 288 seats. The BJP alone secured 132 seats, making Fadnavis the favourite for the CMs post, followed by Shindes faction of the Shiv Sena with 57 seats and Ajit Pawars Nationalist Congress Party NCP) with 41. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat indicated that clarity regarding the Chief Ministers position would emerge by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, following discussions among Shinde, Fadnavis, and Pawar with top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The three leaders will soon take an appropriate decision, which will be communicated to the media later, Shirsat said. Earlier in the day, he said, since the Assembly elections were contested under Shindes leadership, there is a general feeling among the people that he should continue as the Chief Minister but was quick to add that he was not aware of the stand of top BJP leaders regarding the Chief Ministers post. In a related development, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said in New Delhi that the BJP has decided to appoint Fadnavis as Chief Minister for a third term, although this has not been formally confirmed by the party. A BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasised that the party would not rush to announce its candidate until the distribution of ministerial portfolios is finalised. The Central leadership is in no hurry to name a candidate for the Chief Ministers post. We have secured a decisive mandate, and the priority now is to work out a comprehensive plan for Government formation which includes finalising ministerial portfolios and distribution of key posts such as district Guardian Ministers, he said. The cautious approach reflects a desire to maintain harmony among coalition partners. As the parliamentary session is underway, the Central leadership is balancing meetings with Maharashtra BJP leaders and allies while managing parliamentary affairs, the leader said. The leader also indicated that the BJP central body will appoint an observer or a team of observers who will meet the MLAs and senior party functionaries to finalise the Cabinet formula. The NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, has yet to disclose its position, though senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal recently indicated that Fadnavis would be an acceptable choice. Earlier in the day, Shinde and Fadnavis attended a memorial event in Mumbai to honour the martyrs of the 26/11 terror attack. Despite their presence together, the two leaders reportedly exchanged little dialogue, highlighting the palpable tension surrounding the ongoing political situation in Maharashtra. Rashmi Shukla reinstated as Mah DGP MUMBAI, Nov 26 (PTI) SENIOR IPS officer Rashmi Shukla on Tuesday assumed the charge as the Maharashtra DGP, a day after she was reinstated to the post following the conclusion of the State Assembly elections. The order reinstating Shukla as the Director General of Police was issued by the State Home department on Monday evening. Shukla was removed from the DGPs post on the Election Commission of Indias directives ahead of the State Assembly elections and sent on compulsory move after Congress complained about her. Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the states top police officer in the absence of Shukla. He was to hold the top post till the election process concluded. With the completion of the electoral process and announcement of election results, the Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in force on Monday, the home department order said. Consequently, the government has ended Shuklas period of forced leave and she has been asked to resume her role as DGP, it said. The BJP-led Mahayuti coalition retained power with a thumping majority in the assembly elections. An IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Shukla is the first woman to hold the position of Maharashtra DGP. Shukla had earlier served as the commissioner of the State Intelligence Department. She was embroiled in a controversy during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) governments tenure when she was named as an accused in an alleged phone tapping case. The Bombay High Court in September 2023 quashed two FIRs registered against Shukla. The great SUV heist Thieves outsmart tech to steal high end cars Staff Reporter : The Crime Branch of the City Police has caught a gang of thieves who were stealing only Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta cars. The thieves were using special gadgets to change the key software of the cars. These gadgets are so advanced that only people who work with the company could use them. The police found out about the gang after catching four people who worked together and stole cars in different locations like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Maharashtra. The arrested accused are: Shahid Iqbal, also called Chintu Abdul Latif (39), from Ansar Nagar, Mominpura; Saurabh Ashokrao Ahirwar (36), from Gadikhana; Ajitsingh Ingo Laishram (38), a car driver Bojendrasingh Shurchandra-singh Laishram (27), both from Mayai Likayi Committee Hall, Imphal, Manipur. The police have solved six cases of stolen cars in Delhi and Nagpur. They also found 11 stolen SUVs worth Rs 1.5 crore. This was shared by the Commissioner of Police (CP), Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal, at a press conference on Tuesday. He explained that many Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta cars were stolen from Nagpur in the last few months. The police have registered eight cases of car theft. The thieves were changing the car keys by using special gadgets to change the software inside the car. Sources say that to change the key, the thieves needed special software and an One Time Password (OTP) from the company. The OTP is only sent after the companys software is accessed by these gadgets. The police believe that someone working with the company might be helping the thieves or the gang may have stolen the gadgets. The police are working hard to solve this mystery. Under the guidance of DCP Detection Rahul Maknikar, ACP Crime Abhijeet Patil, the arrest was made by PI Suhas Choudhary, API Sachin Bhonde, PSI Anil Ingole, PSI Zingare, and staff including Deepak Rithe, Vilas Kokate, Ajay Shukla, Panjak Hedau, Shabhu Singh, Rahul Kusrame, Abhay Dhone, Nitin Wasnik, Sunit Gujar, Swapnil Khodke and others. Seltos, Creta sold for Rs 2.50 lakh each The leader of this gang is Shahid from Delhi. He runs a group of thieves who steal SUVs from all over India and sell them in Manipur and Nagaland at just Rs 2.5 lakh. Drivers from Manipur help to deliver the stolen cars. The drivers are even sent by airplane to different places, including Nagpur to pick up the vehicle. Once the cars are stolen, their number plates and documents are changed to make them look like they belong to another state. This helps the thieves take the cars to Manipur easily. The investigation also revealed that the thieves used special tricks to change the cars FASTag number to one with a low balance and registered in someone elses name. This helped them avoid detection while taking the stolen SUVs. Winter Session likely from Dec 9 or 17, Bidari reviews arrangements Vijayalaxmi Bidari interacting with officials. Dr Vipin Itankar and Rajlaxmi Shah also are seen, on Tuesday. Staff Reporter : The Winter Session of Maharashtra State Legislature is likely to begin either on December 9 or 17, 2024, provided Government starts functioning as per the rule. Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner Vijayalaxmi Bidari has reviewed the preparations and expressed satisfaction. After the election result, political situation has changed completely in the State. MahaYuti is trying to resolve the leadership crisis as to who will become next Chief Minister. On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde resigned and the Governor asked him to lead caretaker Government. If MahaYuti fails to form Government, then caretaker Government will continue which cant hold Legislatures session. Considering all these aspects, the session may get delayed. Bidari, in the meeting held on Tuesday, instructed officials to complete the works of cleaning and painting at Vidhan Bhavan, Ravi Bhavan, MLA Hostel, Hyderabad House etc. Public Works Department (PWD) has already started work of repairing and painting at Ravi Bhavan, Vidhan Bhavan, Hyderabad House etc. The meeting was attended by District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar, Joint Commissioner of EGS Rajlaxmi Shah, Supply Department Joint Commissioner Anil Bansod, PWD Executive Engineer Abhijeet Kuchewar, officials from Police, NMC, Health, RTO and others. Bidari asked officials to complete the work of maintainence of Chief Ministers residence Ramgiri, Deputy Chief Ministers residences Deogiri and Vijaygarh on priority basis. The departments should take care of beautification work. Bidari asked Police Department to be on toes and make proper arrangements for the morchas and agitations. Bidari also asked Police Department to make adequate arrangements of CCTV cameras so that the premises will remain under surveillance. Since majority people will be coming from outside, their health need to be well taken care of. Bidari gave necessary instructions to Health Department to keep all types of medical services ready. MP CM Mohan Yadav leads Mumbai terror attacks commemoration in UK By Aditi Khanna London, Nov 27 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav joined prominent members of the Indian diaspora and dignitaries from the UK at a sombre ceremony to mark the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks anniversary, hosted by the High Commission of India in London. The event at India House on Tuesday evening included a photographic exhibition as a tribute and visual narrative of the deadly attacks on the city on November 26, 2008. "This unfortunate incident was a painful chapter in our history. I am here to pay my respects to the souls affected by this tragedy," said Yadav. He went on to acknowledge the profound impact of the attacks on those who experienced the horror first-hand, as well as the millions who watched the traumatic events unfold on their television screens. "It is an honour to take part in the incredibly touching commemoration at the Indian High Commission as we honour the memory of the victims of that terrible terrorist attack, said UK shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel. Former union minister Smriti Irani and Lord Rami Ranger, chair of the British Sikh Association, were among those who paid tributes to the 166 innocent lives lost in the terror attack. The commemoration ceremony included soulful renditions by award-winning violinist Dr Jyotsana Srikanth and vocalist Srikanth Sharma, who performed the bhajan 'Vaishnav Jan To'. Earlier on Tuesday, the Madhya Pradesh CM showcased the state's unparalleled growth and its potential as a global investment destination at an Interactive Session on Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh gathering in London. He emphasised the state's leadership in renewable energy, with Asia's largest solar park, a thriving agricultural sector that has tripled in production over the past decade, and a robust industrial infrastructure supported by a 1.25 lakh-acre land bank. It has been a productive interaction during which UK investors have shown a keen interest in investing in Madhya Pradesh, said Dr Yadav. He underscored the state as the heart of incredible India and its commitment to fostering ease of business through a "plug and play" infrastructure offer, the elimination of over 2,400 compliances and the digitisation of investor services. Madhya Pradesh is not just a destination for investment, it is a partner in progress, offering limitless opportunities across sectors like agribusiness, renewable energy and logistics, noted Yadav, inviting the UK to partner with the Invest MP Summit in Bhopal in February 2025. Madhya Pradesh has consistently been among the top five states for ease of doing business. This success is a testament to the complex partnerships and innovative approaches the state has adopted, year after year, to simplify business processes and drive economic growth, said Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami. The chief minister's delegation turned its focus to the education and skills sector with a visit to the University of Warwick on Wednesday, following which the Europe tour will proceed to Germany on Thursday to cover a further range of investment opportunities for Madhya Pradesh in the cities of Munich and Stuttgart. Educational exposure of ideas, assumptions or hypotheses, based on proven facts" (which need not be strictly current affairs) Value in judgments are excluded, and the text comes close to an opinion article, without judging or making forecasts , just formulating hypotheses, giving motivated explanations and bringing together a variety of data The cessation of hostilities is always welcome news, but does the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon signal the end of the war? That is the hope of the Lebanese, who have endured two months of indiscriminate bombing by the Israeli army (resulting in nearly 4,000 deaths, 16,000 injuries mostly civilians 1.2 million displaced in a country of 5.4 million, and thousands of homes destroyed). It is also what the residents of northern Israel, eager to return to the homes they abandoned due to Hezbollah rocket fire (which has killed 50 civilians since October 7 of last year), wish for. However, the circumstances surrounding this ceasefire raise concerns that it may only be a temporary fix for as long as the underlying issue is unresolved: Palestine. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah (the pro-Iranian Lebanese militia that exploits the Palestinian issue to fuel support) have reached any understanding. Both sides have reluctantly agreed to halt hostilities because the cost of continuing the war outweighs any potential benefits. Hezbollah has suffered a severe blow, both from the Israeli intelligence services infiltrating its ranks (leading to the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies, and the assassination of key leaders) and from its abandonment by its powerful ally, Iran. The Tehran regime has not come to the aid of what was once touted as the crown jewel of Irans Middle Eastern ambitions, as it focuses on its own survival. Moreover, contrary to their previous stance, Iran has accepted the separation of the Gaza and Lebanese fronts a decision without which the fragile government in Beirut would not have been able to accept the agreement. The result is not a victory for Israel either. Even the relatively moderate Benny Gantz believes that they have only completed half the job. If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the extremist supremacists who support him have accepted the ceasefire, it is due to the strain the Lebanese front was placing on the army, which is still focused on destroying Gaza (and supporting settlers in the West Bank). In fact, some have suggested that the ceasefire might only be a temporary, two-month pause. Time will tell. For now, the damage inflicted on Lebanon (not only on Hezbollah and its Shia supporters) ensures that animosity and distrust towards its southern neighbor will persist for years. As we await the details and implementation of the Lebanese Armys deployment south of the Litani River, as well as the role the previously sidelined U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will play, we can only hope that the ceasefire allows the Lebanese to catch their breath. However, this will be of little use unless the international community takes responsibility not only in aiding the reconstruction of Lebanon, but also in pressuring Israel to recognize the Palestinians right to live with dignity on their land. We are still a long way from that. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, announced on Tuesday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will bring relief to an exhausted Lebanese population and prevent the country from becoming a new Gaza, but it leaves a number of loose ends that risk turning it into more of a break from hostilities than a lasting peace. The main issue is, precisely, that it will be based on a letter of guarantee from the United States assuring Israel that it will free to bomb Lebanon not only in retaliation for attacks, but also whenever it considers that Hezbollah is not complying with its side of the bargain. It will do so forcefully in the event of even the slightest lack of compliance, as Netanyahu has made clear. This is the main point that has convinced the undecided in Israel, for fear of reproducing the situation that followed the previous war in 2006: Hezbollah significantly increased its strength, its arsenal and its presence south of the Litani River (about 18 miles from the border), despite the fact that the U.N. resolution that ended the war (and is still in force) prohibited it and that 10,000 blue helmets were monitoring its compliance. The mandate of the U.N. mission was to report violations to the Lebanese army, which did nothing to prevent them, given the risk of generating a civil war. Israels self-granted right to bomb Lebanon effectively renders U.N. Resolution 1701, which prohibits it, meaningless. And there are also Israels violations of Lebanese airspace, which it has been carrying out for years and which are not mentioned in the agreement. In the text of the pact, revealed by the Lebanese daily LOrient Le Jour, potential Israeli attacks are protected by an inherent right to self-defense that has Washingtons blessing, and with Donald Trump due to take office in less than two months. The next U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee (who denies the fact that Palestinian territories are being occupied and calls the Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank neighborhoods and towns), said on Tuesday that Netanyahu is very smart to retain the right to restart the fighting if Hezbollah breaks the truce. What this means will actually be determined by Israel itself, in consultation with Washington, and if it considers that the Lebanese Armed Forces have not acted. Israeli soldiers with tanks on the border with Lebanon, Tuesday. Ayal Margolin (REUTERS) An example of this is the famous regrouping south of the Litani River by Hezbollah, an organization with political (it has lawmakers sitting in Parliament), military, educational, religious and charitable branches. And with considerable support among the Shiites of the area, who perceive it as the only force deterring Israel from invading their country, as the Lebanese Armed Forces have neither the willingness nor the ability to do so (they do not even have an Air Force). Israel has warned that it will prevent Hezbollah from regrouping south of the Litani, taking advantage of the return of civilians to homes that have not been destroyed by Israeli troops. This Tuesday, one of Hezbollahs lawmakers, Hasan Fadlallah, said in an interview with Reuters that when Israels aggression against Lebanon ends, then the Resistance that was fighting in the battlefield will itself be working to help its people [more than a million, hundreds of thousands of them now in Syria] to return and to rebuild. That is to say, without Hezbollahs participation and its willingness to adhere to the agreements provisions, it will be completely meaningless, wrote Haaretz commentator Zvi Barel on Tuesday. According to this agreement, Hezbollah will not be disarmed, he noted, and its weapons thousands of long- and short-range missiles, its arsenal of drones, its advanced ballistic technology and its entire military infrastructure will continue to exist. If the agreement is fully implemented, the organization will move further away from Israel, north of the Litani River. But it will not disappear, added this analyst. The Lebanese government, which has an interim prime minister and has been without a president for two years, will be in charge of overseeing the sale, provision and production of weapons, as well as dismantling all unauthorized facilities linked to the production of weapons and related materials, according to the agreement. The United States, Israels main ally, will chair the committee overseeing implementation, risking accusations of bias. The deal also gives Washington another mission: The United States will enhance indirect negotiations between Israel and Lebanon to achieve an internationally recognized delineation of the land border. This is precisely what the Beirut government has been demanding for years, calling on Israel to agree to negotiate their differences over the withdrawal line certified by the United Nations in 2000. The idea also figured unsuccessfully in the 2006 resolution and Israel, in a position of strength and, as Netanyahu has pointed out, now concerned with flexing its muscles against Iran, Hezbollahs sponsor, will not have many reasons to open that can of worms. Israel did agree in 2022 under supervision by White House envoy Amos Hochstein to a delimitation of maritime borders for gas exploitation that left most fields on the southern side and few on the Lebanese side. So much so that Netanyahu (then in a brief hiatus in the opposition) initially promised to denounce the agreement if he returned to power, yet he has not done so. This is not the only issue that could be put on hold when the diplomatic spotlight moves away from Lebanon and Western governments turn their attention to more urgent crises. Another pending matter is the reconstruction of a ruined country, where it is estimated that the bombings have destroyed or damaged 100,000 housing units. The Israeli army has also left 37 villages in the south of Lebanon in ruins, emulating the model used in Gaza in its advance. On November 14, the World Bank estimated that the 13 months of conflict have meant losses for the country of $8.5 billion, especially the last two months. A total of 166,000 people have lost their jobs and the GDP will shrink by 6.6% this year, for a contraction of 34% in five years of economic crisis. The sale of red snapper may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Gulf Cartel, but it has become one of the Mexican cartels most lucrative businesses. This was revealed by the latest round of sanctions from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which on Tuesday added five individuals linked to the cartel to its so-called black list. These individuals are involved in a complex scheme that includes illegal fishing, human smuggling and drug trafficking. The illegal trade has not only heightened tensions along the maritime border between the U.S. and Mexico, but it has also taken a toll on the ecosystem and the survival of other species in the Gulf of Mexico. The region has become an expansive and highly profitable territory for the black market, while drug traffickers continue to boost their earnings. Todays action highlights how transnational criminal organizations like the Gulf Cartel rely on a variety of illicit schemes like IUU [illegal, unreported, and unregulated] fishing to fund their operations, reads the official statement. U.S. authorities consider the Gulf Cartel one of Mexicos oldest and most dangerous criminal organizations, with its roots dating back to the 1930s. The cartel is based in the state of Tamaulipas, which shares approximately 230 miles of border with Texas. However, the cartel has increasingly focused its efforts on the Gulf, using it as a vast maritime corridor for trafficking drugs and people in small boats around 10 meters long that are designed to evade Coast Guard surveillance and quickly return to Mexican waters to avoid being caught. A Treasury Department infographic of the Gulf Cartel's illegal fishing operations. The United States claims the Gulf Cartel uses these boats to engage in illegal fishing for red snapper, a prized species in the Gulf of Mexico that can fetch up to $60 per kilogram in American supermarkets. The cartel operates out of Playa Bagdad, using it as a base of operations for fishing expeditions in Texas waters, where restrictions are stricter and fish are more abundant. Authorities accuse the cartel of fraudulently packaging the red snapper as a Mexican product and exporting it back to the U.S., where payments are made in dollars and profit margins are higher. The Gulf Cartel is also accused of trafficking shark species, some of which are endangered, according to Washginton. This activity earns millions a year for lancha camps. In addition, it also leads to the death of other marine species that are inadvertently caught, said the U.S. Treasury statement. At the top of the Treasury Departments sanctions list are two brothers who are plaza bosses for the Gulf Cartel: Ismael Mayelo Guerra Salinas and Omar Samorano Guerra Salinas. Beyond overseeing IUU fishing, Mayelo and Samorano manage drug trafficking operations on Playa Bagdad, authorities said. Mayelo is also identified as an active human smuggler who uses boats to transport migrants across the Rio Grande, the natural border between Mexico and the United States. Also named on the list is Francisco Javier Angulo, known as El Borrado, who controls the cartels operations in the border city of Matamoros, along with two individuals accused of running illegal piers: Raul La Burra Decuir Garcia and Ildefonso El Chivo Carrillo Sapien. Being placed on the sanctions list freezes their access to international banking systems and blocks any properties, companies, or vessels registered in their names. The Coast Guard intercepts a boat crew off the coast of Texas on Sept. 27, 2024. uscg The Gulf Cartels involvement in illegal fisheries has been under scrutiny for over a decade. As early as 2007, U.S. intelligence agencies had detected that the cartel was expanding its operations, venturing into the maritime border to capitalize on its dominance in that region. The scale of the operation has grown significantly. In 2010, there were just nine seizures of illicit fishing activities, according to official data. However, between 2020 and 2022, the number of intercepted boats surged to 321, according to the latest figures. IUU fishing and related harmful fishing practices are among the greatest threats to ocean health and are significant causes of global overfishing, contributing to the collapse or decline of fisheries that are critical to the economic growth, food systems, and ecosystems of numerous countries around the world, the statement warns. U.S. authorities have criticized Mexico for not implementing stricter measures to curb illegal red snapper fishing, issuing a negative certification against the country. This has led to restrictions on fish exports and the suspension of certain port privileges. The U.S. authorities also expressed frustration with Mexico, arguing that some fishermen have been apprehended as many as 40 times. On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the arrest of 19 Mexican fishermen and the seizure of nearly a ton of red snapper off the Texas coast. In late September, two other raids resulted in the arrest of nearly 30 Mexican fishermen from six different crews and the confiscation of more than 900 kilograms of red snapper in border waters. One video released by authorities shows the pursuit of the boat by both water and air before it was intercepted. In August, three Republican senators, including Ted Cruz, introduced a bill aimed at identifying fish caught in U.S. waters and sold as Mexican using advanced technology and chemical markers that can trace the products true geographic origin. Red snapper is one of the most well-managed and profitable fish in the Gulf of Mexico, but illegal fishing by Mexican lanchas puts law-abiding U.S. fishermen and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage, the bill sponsors argued. This time, the latest blow against illegal fishing has struck directly at the financial heart of the Gulf Cartel: illicit fishing. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions against 21 senior officials of Nicolas Maduros regime in Venezuela for their role in electoral fraud in the July 28 elections and the subsequent repression of popular and opposition protests, the Treasury Department, the State Department, and the White House announced on Wednesday. The United States has taken steps to increase pressure against Maduro and his representatives responsible for the electoral fraud that occurred on July 28 and after, and for the brutal repression we have seen in recent months, said a senior government official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. Those sanctioned include senior officials of Venezuelas intelligence and counterintelligence services, as well as representatives of the Chavista government. Its not just about holding Nicolas Maduro accountable, the official added. Officials who act illegally to prop up their regime, relying on repressive tactics, will also find themselves in the crosshairs of these sanctions. According to the Treasury Department, the Chavista government officials targeted by the U.S. include Freddy Alfred Nazaret Nanez Contreras, Minister of Communication and former president of Venezuelan national television; Anibal Eduardo Coronado Millan, Minister of the Presidential Office; and William Alfredo Castillo Bolle, Vice Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies in the Ministry of Economy. Also on the list are the director of the National Intelligence Service, Alexis Jose Rodriguez Cabello, and the head of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, Javier Jose Marcana Tabata. Their names join those of around 180 regime officials and 100 Venezuelan entities already sanctioned by the United States. Washington had announced sanctions in September against 16 other allies of Maduro, whom it had accused of obstructing the vote and violating human rights. The repressive actions by Maduro and his representatives in the wake of Venezuelas presidential election represent a desperate attempt to silence the voices of its citizens, said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith. The United States continues to target those who use violence and intimidation to undermine democratic governance and the legitimate exercise of free expression. President Joe Bidens administration has just 54 days left in power before handing over to president-elect Donald Trump and is seeking to ramp up pressure on the Maduro regime, although it is unclear what effect the new sanctions will have. Washington already announced last week, through the State Department, that it recognized opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuelas president-elect, having declared him the winner of the elections on August 1. Gonzalez Urrutia is in exile in Spain after being persecuted by Chavismo for declaring himself the winner of the elections and denouncing the fraud with which Maduro claimed victory in order to remain in power. The former diplomat, recognized as the electoral winner by the United States, the European Union, (which has not taken the step of declaring him president-elect) and Latin American countries, has assured that he plans to return to his country and take office on January 10, 2025 when the presidential inauguration is scheduled in Venezuela. He has not revealed how he plans to do so. In the conversation with journalists on Wednesday, the aforementioned senior U.S. official and others present limited themselves to specifying: We have not received a request for assistance to help the opposition leader return. They also assured that Washington did not intervene in Gonzalez Urrutias departure from the country. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Ben Feringa makes the worlds smallest machines. They are propeller-driven vehicles or four-wheeled vehicles that are about a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. In this world of nanometers, the laws of gravity no longer apply, and remarkable phenomena can be achieved by following only the laws of chemistry. In 2016, Feringa won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside French scientist Jean-Pierre Sauvage and British chemist Fraser Stoddart for their groundbreaking work in designing and producing these molecular machines, which were expected to spark a revolution akin to the industrial era. The aim of this charismatic chemist from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands is for nanomachines to be able to penetrate the human body and carry drugs where they are needed, make truly recyclable plastics and self-repairing materials. Feringa, 73, visited Madrid to give a conference at the Ramon Areces Foundation in Madrid, where he sat down with EL PAIS for this interview. Question. In your lectures, you often ask the audience where they think there are more different chemical elements, in a mobile phone or in the human body. Why? Answer. Our body is probably the most complex thing we know. Even a single cell is more complex than a whole city like Madrid. When you analyze how many chemical elements there are in the body, how many molecules, including those that make up the DNA that makes proteins, you come to a fairly small number. On the other hand, the things that we humans make reach significant levels of complexity. So its true: there are more different chemical elements in a smartphone than in the human body, but that doesnt mean that its more complex. I see here a fantastic message from Mother Nature: you can do a lot with a few basic parts, if you know how to do it. This is exactly what we are trying to learn. Its the beauty of science. Q. What are nanomachines capable of doing today? A. They are still quite primitive, and it is difficult to improve them, but after eight years of work, we have motors and molecular switches that can drill holes in cancer cells. This allows us to inject drugs into them. We are trying to make smart pharmaceuticals. We can also use these motors to make responsive surfaces. They could be used to make windows that clean themselves, or that insulate you from the cold or heat, depending on the light and the time of year. We are also creating artificial muscles and smart materials that can repair themselves. One of our challenges is to make plastics that can be recycled very easily, by applying light or electricity to them. Q. Only with light? A. Yes, we also work with photopharmaceuticals. These are compounds that have two states: on and off. The idea is to do precision therapies. Imagine you have a localized infection. We activate the antibiotic with light, and you dont get the negative side effects of these drugs on the beneficial microbes in your gut. After 24 hours, the drug is deactivated again, so you dont build up resistance to antibiotics. The same applies to cancer. We could treat small tumors that are not operable, and we would prevent the side effects of chemotherapy. Q. What stage of development are they at? A. We are going to start preclinical tests on animals. The crucial breakthrough has been that until now a harmful type of light, such as ultraviolet light, was used. Now we have shown that infrared light, which is harmless and capable of penetrating deep into tissues, can also be used to activate these molecular switches. Q. When do you think medical nanomachines will become a reality? A. Thats the big question. The batteries that power todays electric cars were developed in the 1980s, for example. It may take 20 years. But unlike when I started, there are now many teams working on this field at the same time, so Im convinced that they will come. Its not that in two decades our bodies will be full of nanomachines, but they will have a similar use as current prostheses, such as hip implants, or as sensors of the state of your body that are integrated in the skin. Q. You say that nanomachines can also help us understand how life emerged. A. Its the biggest question there is: Where did we come from? How did a few molecules come together to form a primitive cell that could replicate, that had a metabolism, and had motion? It was thanks to molecular machines with motors that biology itself had to invent to transport energy and other resources from one place to another. The simplest bacteria already had the ability to move in search of food. Motion appeared very early in evolution. Thats why the nanomachines we designed can help us understand how life first appeared and evolved. Q. This year, the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry went to experts in artificial intelligence (AI). You say that AI does not make mistakes like humans do, and that this is its great flaw. A. Failure in scientific research is important. You always learn something from an experiment that has not turned out as you expected. It is possible that AI can help us to discard experiments, for example, choosing the 50 most interesting ones from thousands of possibilities, but that does not rule out the possibility that some of those selected fail, and in fact that is important. One way to improve AI would be to give it the freedom to make mistakes and try again with a different strategy. Artificial intelligence and the robotization of laboratories are going to change science forever, but I think that in the end, we will always need the human factor and its creativity. We must also be very critical. The results that AI offers now are only as good as the quality of the data that we provide it with at the start, which is often poor or very heterogeneous. That is why we see huge discrepancies in the results. This can lead us to a way of doing science that is misleading. Q. You come from a large family of farmers. You often talk about Mother Nature and how nanomachines can show us the origin of life. Do you think there is a place for God in all this? A. I grew up in a Roman Catholic family. But as a scientist, its hard to say, oh, this is the right hand of God. I think that chemistry and biology can explain everything that happens in our cells, in our bodies. But at the same time, I wouldnt say that thats all there is. Human thought, feelings, love, human consciousness, we can explain them by the action of hormones and other molecules and electrical impulses, by chemistry. But theres always something more. For me, maybe God is all the good things that happen between humans and that we cannot express in words. Why do we appreciate each other, why do we love each other? Its a mystery. Q. Is it true that the television series The Simpsons predicted that you would win the Nobel Prize? A. In 2011, a colleague from the University of Illinois called me and told me that he had been named in a poll of favorites to win the Nobel Prize because of The Simpsons. William Moerner from Stanford University was also in the poll. I think it was a Tuesday night, just the week before the Nobel Prize was awarded. The next day, my students greeted me with the same news. I told them that for a humble researcher from the University of Groningen, appearing on American television was the highest honor I could aspire to; so if they gave me the Nobel Prize, I might not even need to go and collect it. In fact, I won the prize five years later! And Moerner won it two years earlier. I have no idea how they did it, but it was a fantastic prediction. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition For now, these are just threats, but they paint a turbulent picture of the future. More than us having Denver Police stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there. Its like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared defiantly in a recent interview with a local outlet. He was referring to the possibility of the incoming Donald Trump administration deploying federal agents or National Guard troops from other states to conduct immigration raids in Colorados capital. As a designated sanctuary city, Denver does not cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcement. Were not going to sell out those values to anyone, Johnston added. Were not going to be bullied into changing them. The response from Tom Homan, a hardliner Trump appointed as his border czar after winning the election, came on Monday. Appearing alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott a staunch ally of Trumpism on Sean Hannitys Fox News show, Homan warned that he would not let Johnston hinder his plans. Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing; hes willing to go to jail. Im willing to put him in jail, he said. Its a felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities. Its also a felony to impede a federal law enforcement officer. So if he dont help, thats fine. He can get the hell out of the way, but were going to go do the job. This standoff is the latest chapter in an escalating battle. Since Trumps election victory less than a month ago, Democratic governors and mayors nationwide have vowed to resist cooperating with his immigration agenda. Meanwhile, Trump, Homan, and other members of the president-elects circle have issued stark warnings to the officials who have spoken out against the Republicans plan to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history. Threats include imprisonment, as suggested by Homan in Johnstons case; severe cuts to federal funding for defiant states and cities, which could cripple local budgets; and the deployment of thousands of federal agents to enforce immigration laws directly in noncompliant communities. When contacted by EL PAIS, Mayor Johnston reiterated his stance in a more measured statement. In Denver, we respect the law and enforce it without fear or favor across every inch of our city. If Donald Trump tries to break the law and abuse his power, he will get no help from us. Denver is proud to be a welcoming city, and we will do everything in our power to protect those who live here. We are considering a number of options to strengthen protections for all our residents, and we continue to provide education about the rights of our immigrant community so they can best protect themselves from any unlawful actions, the statement said. A spokesperson for the mayor added that Denver would withhold further comment on a federal policy that has yet to be detailed. Migrant families in Denver, Colorado, on May 7, 2024. Hyoung Chang (Getty Images) The capital of Colorado has been a prominent target of xenophobic rhetoric from the president-elect and his inner circle since before the election. Aurora, a suburb of Denver, has particularly drawn attention. A few months ago, the town went viral due to allegation that the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua was operating in the area. Trump capitalized on this narrative by naming his strategy to deport undocumented immigrants involved in criminal groups Operation Aurora. However, Denver is far from the only city resisting the Republicans plans. Last week, Los Angeles officially declared itself a sanctuary city. Although Californias largest city has operated under sanctuary policies for decades, this legal codification strengthens its stance by explicitly prohibiting both direct and indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities. This move by Los Angeles sparked a strong response from Homan. If Ive got to send twice as many officers to L.A. because were not getting any assistance, then thats what were going to do, he said. Weve got a mandate, President Trumps serious about this, Im serious about this. This is going to happen with or without you. Similar tensions were seen on the other side of the country. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, herself the daughter of immigrants, has vowed to fight the mass deportation effort. We are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact, she said. Massachusettss largest city has reinforced its commitment through the Trust Act, which prohibits police from stopping or arresting individuals solely for immigration enforcement purposes. Homan, in keeping with his and Trumps combative tone, lashed out at Wu during an interview on Newsmax, describing her as not very smart and reiterating that harboring undocumented immigrants is a federal crime. Either she helps us [or] she gets the hell out of the way because were going to do it, Homan said. To those people who say theyre going to stop us from what theyre doing, they will not [...] Youre not going to stop us. But let me give you a word of advice. If you impede us, theres going to be consequences. Venezuelan migrants in Denver, Colorado, on May 9, 2023. Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Gr (Getty Images) The consequences Homan alluded to include cuts in federal funding to states and cities, a common leverage tactic in negotiations between Washington and local governments. Speaking again on Fox News a few days ago, Homan said: Thats going to happen. I guarantee President Trump will do that. These threats are far from hollow. The potential withholding of federal funds could have significant financial consequences. In fiscal year 2021, California received approximately $163 billion in federal grants, New York $110 billion, and Texas $106 billion. While these figures were unusually high due to pandemic-related assistance, federal funding remains a critical revenue source for states, ranking as the second-largest revenue stream in fiscal year 2022, according to a Pew analysis. Trumps deportation plan, however, is fraught with uncertainty. While the president-elect and his team have made their goals clear, the mechanisms for executing them remain ambiguous, especially given the resistance from states and cities refusing to cooperate. States like Texas and Florida have pledged full support for Trumps immigration agenda, but a significant number of other jurisdictions are pushing back, intensifying the already heated political climate. But with control over all three branches of government, Trump and his team appear determined to press forward with their agenda, undeterred by the opposition. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 18:47 | All, Japan The Sendai High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling rejecting a call by local residents to halt a nuclear reactor in northeastern Japan, stating they had not provided substantial proof there is a significant risk of an accident. "The risk of infringement on personal rights resulting from the restart of operations has not been proven to constitute a concrete danger warranting an order for suspension," Presiding Judge Moriharu Kurasawa said in handing down the ruling over the Onagawa nuclear power plant's No. 2 unit in Miyagi Prefecture. The unit restarted last month, becoming the first reactor to operate in northeastern Japan since the region was hit by the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It is currently offline for a routine inspection before its scheduled commencement for commercial operations in December. In the lawsuit filed by 17 residents of the city of Ishinomaki, the plaintiffs argued the evacuation plans prepared by the city and prefectural governments were insufficient. If an evacuation order is issued following a nuclear accident, residents will be unable to escape from areas in a 30-kilometer radius of the plant for an extended period due to traffic congestion, posing a high risk of radiation exposure, they said. The latest ruling followed one by the Sendai District Court in May last year that dismissed the plaintiffs' concerns about flaws in emergency evacuation plans for the nuclear plant, stating they were not relevant as it could not be assumed a serious accident was likely. The three nuclear reactors at the Onagawa plant were shut down after it was hit by the massive earthquake on March 11, 2011. The No. 2 reactor cleared national safety screening in February 2020 and later secured local consent to resume operation. The No. 2 unit was also the first boiling water reactor -- the same type as the Fukushima Daiichi reactors that suffered fuel meltdowns during the nuclear crisis -- to have been brought online since the 2011 disaster. Related coverage: Japan nuclear reactor in 2011 disaster-hit area restarted after halt Reactor in Japan's 2011 disaster area to stop just days after restart Japan's 2011 disaster-hit region sees reactor restart for 1st time KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 13:38 | All, Japan A chief public prosecutor in central Japan on Wednesday apologized in person to an 88-year-old man who was acquitted in a retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder case, after spending more than four decades on death row. "I am deeply sorry that you were placed in an uncertain legal status for a long time," Hideo Yamada, chief of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office told Iwao Hakamata during a visit to his house in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Yamada added that he had "accepted the acquittal and does not regard Mr. Hakamata as the culprit." Hakamata's 91-year-old sister, Hideko, was by his side as it has become difficult for him to communicate after his mental state deteriorated during decades of incarceration. "Iwao and I both think it was fate. We are happy now that his acquittal is finalized," Hideko told Yamada. Hakamata was arrested in 1966 and his death sentence was finalized in 1980. He was released in 2014 after new evidence raised doubts about his conviction and was acquitted in a retrial in September this year. The verdict was finalized with the prosecutor's decision not to appeal. Hakamata was recognized as the world's longest-serving death row inmate. The Shizuoka District Court said in the ruling that Hakamata was subjected to "physical and mental pain" during questioning and his statements confessing to the crime were "fabricated." Takayoshi Tsuda, chief of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police also visited Hakamata's house in October to apologize, promising to "conduct more thorough and appropriate investigations in the future." Hakamata was a former professional boxer and live-in employee at a miso maker when he was arrested for allegedly killing the firm's senior managing director, his wife and two of their children. They were found dead from stab wounds at their house in Shizuoka Prefecture, which had been burned down. He was indicted for murder, robbery and arson. Related coverage: Japan local police chief apologizes to man acquitted in 1966 murders Japanese man's acquittal of 1966 quadruple murders finalized Japanese man's acquittal of 1966 murders to be finalized KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 08:44 | All, Podcast How often do you use soy sauce? Three Kyodo News journalists Nakanishi-san, Toma and Peter talk about how Japan's soy sauce exports topped 10 billion yen ($65 million) for the first time on record in 2024 due to the rising global popularity of "washoku" traditional Japanese cuisine. Listen as they discuss how the condiment is viewed in other countries and learn about Japanese words that have recently been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Article mentioned in the podcast: Japan's soy sauce exports in 2023 top 10 bil. yen amid washoku boom Kyodo News presents a bilingual podcast for English learners about the ins and outs of news writing and how to translate tricky Japanese phrases into English. Have fun listening to journalists discuss recent articles as they occasionally go off on unrelated tangents. Recent episodes: Podcast [English World] Episode 72: Popular Names Podcast [English World] Episode 71: U.S. presidential election Podcast [English World] Episode 70: Cashless payments Women's bodies on the altar of violence and complicity: The unholy sacrifice KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 21:54 | All, Japan, Travel/Tourism A shinkansen bullet train adorned with characters from the popular manga series "One Piece" will start operations in western Japan next spring, its operator said Wednesday. The service will mark the 50th anniversary of the Sanyo Shinkansen Line between Osaka and Fukuoka prefectures and coincides with the 2025 World Exposition to be held in Osaka between April and October. "We want to build momentum for the Expo and provide a comfortable service," West Japan Railway Co. President Kazuaki Hasegawa said at a press conference in Tokyo. The project will start with one decorated train running between Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations. The company plans to add two more into service at a later date. The storyline of the cartoon centers on Monkey D. Luffy, who dreams of being the king of pirates as he travels the seas with his buddies in search of the treasure called "One Piece." It was officially recognized by Guinness World Records in 2015 for having the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author. The feat was confirmed again in 2022 after the series reached 500 million copies printed worldwide. Related coverage: Disney-themed bullet train starts magical journey in Japan Shinkansen - The dream super limited express marks 60 (Part 2) KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 16:28 | All, Japan A man serving a life term for murdering an elementary schoolgirl was served a fresh arrest warrant on Wednesday for allegedly killing another girl in western Japan, local police said, marking a major development in a case that has remained unsolved for 17 years. Kunihiko Katsuta, 45, is newly accused of killing a 7-year-old girl by stabbing her in the chest and stomach in front of her home in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 16, 2007, the police said, adding he has remained silent about the case. Katsuta, who was put behind bars for fatally stabbing a third-grader in Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture in 2004, was also arrested earlier this month in connection with the stabbing of a fourth-grade girl in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, in 2006. The girl survived the attack. The girl was stabbed after returning home from a nearby park and was confirmed dead at a hospital due to blood loss. Before losing consciousness, she reportedly told rescuers that her attacker was "an adult man." A lack of eyewitnesses and evidence had long stalled investigations into the case as well as the case in Tatsuno, but police questioned Katsuta on a voluntary basis in May after identifying similarities between the incidents and the case in Tsuyama. He later hinted at his involvement in the two unsolved cases. Related coverage: Man jailed for murder arrested again, hints at another girl's killing 700 Kuki-Zo people sheltered in Assam's Karbi Anglong already sent back to Manipur: Official | Diphu, Nov 27: Assam's Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council chief executive member Tuliram Ronghang on Wednesday said 700 Kuki-Zo people, who had sought refuge in the district last year due to the violence in Manipur, have already been sent back following discussions with Kuki community leaders and organisations. Ronghang said the council had covered the travel expenses for the returnees, and they were sent back in buses with security escorts. The council chief also said around 1,000 more Kuki-Zo people, including around 400 families, are currently sheltered in Singhasan Hills and Borjan areas, and efforts will be made to help them return as well. The CEM emphasised that discussions had been held with various stakeholders, including student organisations and village elders from both the Karbi and Kuki communities, to ensure the safe and peaceful return of displaced Kuki families. "We will not forcefully evict them, but we will facilitate their return after discussions with social and political organisations, including the Kuki community," Ronghang added. However, Ronghang made it clear that land allotments would only be granted to indigenous residents of Karbi Anglong who have lived in the district since its establishment or are long-standing permanent residents. "We will not allow land rights to individuals migrating from outside, especially those who came from Manipur following the violence," he said. The land documents distribution initiative, aimed at ensuring land rights for the indigenous people, will not extend to these recent migrants, he added. A meeting has been scheduled for November 28 to further discuss the matter, and Ronghang expressed hope for an amicable resolution. In contrast, J I Kathar, president of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC), criticised Ronghang for what he described as "irresponsible statements." He argued that the Kukis had come to Karbi Anglong seeking shelter and security due to displacement caused by violence in Manipur. ''The Kukis have come to the district in search of shelter and security as they were displaced due to violence in Manipur. The BJP is silent on Bangladeshis and Biharis settling in the district but are indifferent towards the Kukis who have suffered violence'', Kathar told reporters on Wednesday. Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong, part of Assam's three hill districts, are governed by the KAAC under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The districts are home to several communities, including the Karbis, Kukis, Hmars, and Thadous. Historically, there has been tension and violent conflict between the Karbi and Kuki communities, particularly over land disputes, resources, and political representation. The violence between these communities escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with militant groups from both sidessuch as the United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), representing the Karbis, and the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA)engaged in armed conflict, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people. A peace agreement signed in 2021 has helped bring an end to the long-standing conflict between Karbi militant groups and the state. PTI KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 19:14 | All, Japan, Travel/Tourism Japan plans to revise its duty-free rules for foreign visitors from the latter half of fiscal 2026, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Among the proposed changes is reimbursing the consumption tax upon their return to their home country. Currently, foreign tourists to Japan are exempt from paying consumption tax, which is levied at 10 percent, when purchasing goods totaling 5,000 yen or more, provided they intend to use the items in their home country. The revision comes after the government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba identified a series of abuses involving the illicit trade of duty-free goods with tourists allegedly selling items for profit before they return home. The Ishiba administration is expected to include the revision in its tax reform plans to be finalized in December. As part of the revision, the government is likely to deploy devices at all airports and ports with international departures across Japan to verify the purchasing history of duty-free items owned by travelers, the sources said. Foreign visitors will no longer be eligible for consumption tax exemptions if they send duty-free items from post offices in Japan, they added. Related coverage: As Japan eyes duty-free revamp, huge evasions in 9 cases highlighted Indian Coast Guard (ICG), on Monday apprehended a Myanmarese fishing boat Soe Wai Yan Htoo, carrying approx. 5,500 kg of prohibited drug methamphetamine along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone, in 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 Sunday 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 boarding party found approx. 5,500 kg of prohibited drug Methamphetamine and one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone. Subsequently, the boat was brought to Sri Vijaya Puram for further investigation. Advertisement The seizure is the biggest-ever drug haul by ICG, highlighting its commitment to safeguarding Indian territorial waters. Advertisement The ministry of external affairs (MEA) today urged the Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and minorities in Bangladesh. The MEA issued a strongly-worded statement expressing deep concern over the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote and heads the Pundarik Dham in Chittagong. Advertisement The MEA highlighted this incident as part of a worrying pattern of escalating violence and discrimination against minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh. According to the MEA, there have been numerous documented cases of attacks on minorities, including arson, looting of homes and businesses, theft, and vandalism. Temples and deities have reportedly been desecrated by extremist elements, creating an environment of fear and insecurity for minority communities in the country. It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, legal action has been taken against a religious leader engaged in peaceful advocacy, the MEA remarked. Advertisement Meanwhile, several religious organizations, led by Bangiyo Hindu Jagaran, a Bengal based organization, organised protest rallies in front of Bangladesh high commission in the city demanding immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. Unprecedented security was deployed in front of Bangladesh deputy high commission office to prevent any untoward incidents. Swami Paramatmanandaji Maharaj, West Bengal chief of Panchayeti Mahanirvani Akhada said that they will separately urge chief minister Mamata Banerjee to contact the Union government for ensuring safety and security of minorities, including Hindus and Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh. We hope CM West Bengal could speak to the PM regarding this matter as Bangladesh is our next-door neighbour and any unrest or turmoil situation in Bangladesh regarding this matter could create a bad impact also in West Bengal, said Paramatmanandaji Maharaj. Union minister and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar has written to external affairs minister S Jaishankar, urging him to intervene for the release of Swami Chinmayananda, also known as Sri Chinmay Krishna Das Prabhu. Several people were injured after protests broke out in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh. Prabhu, a monk leading protests against atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, was arrested by the Dhaka Polices detective branch on Monday at Dhaka airport. Special Commissioner of Delhi Police (Law and Order Zone-II), Madhup Kumar Tewari, on Wednesday, addressed concerns regarding an alleged attempt to reignite interest in a firing incident that occurred two months ago in Nangloi, West Delhi. Talking to media persons, Tewari emphasized that the Delhi Police acted swiftly after the incident, arresting two individuals within 24 hours. Advertisement The arrests were accompanied by the recovery of a semi-automatic pistol, a country-made pistol, and nine rounds of live ammunition, he said. Advertisement The firing took place outside a shop, and the police ensured the security of the shop owner following the incident, added Tewari. The senior official questioned the motives behind the resurfacing of the incident on social media, despite the matter being resolved promptly. He assured that the complainants are satisfied with the action taken and that the Delhi Police has implemented measures to guarantee their safety. Tewari reaffirmed the Delhi Polices commitment to preventing such incidents and stated that efforts are consistently made to maintain public safety. Responding to queries, he confirmed that attempts were detected at the station level to rekindle the matter, but the situation remains firmly under control. Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, while acknowledging that the law and order situation in the national capital has deteriorated over the past one and a half years, accused the BJP-led Central government of failure to maintain it. He said he had gone to meet a businessman in West Delhis Nangloi. Outside his shop, a few days ago, miscreants fired shots. He alleged after the arrest of two people involved in the firing, there has not been any a search to find the mastermind. Advertisement The AAP chief claimed the number of extortion calls to Delhis traders has increased with the deteriorating law and order situation. Advertisement Kejriwal said he had simply come to meet the businessman out of concern as he was once the CM of Delhi, and also being the national convener of AAP, which is a national party. The former Delhi CM said BJP workers blocked his way while he was on his way to visit the businessman. My car was blocked in the midway and was not allowed to reach his shop, while his son had to come and meet me. He alleged that Delhi at present was witnessing an atmosphere similar to what he had heard about Mumbai in the 90s when there was dominance of the underworld. He urged the Centre to improve the law and order situation of Delhi, claiming that people nowadays fear stepping out of their houses, while women also feel unsafe. KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 19:02 | All, Japan Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito on Wednesday denied growing accusations that he violated the election law by involving a public relations agency to run his social media campaign in the gubernatorial race that saw him reelected despite losing his job over abuse of power allegations. Saito reclaimed his position as governor of the western Japan prefecture in the Nov. 17 election but has come under renewed scrutiny following the firm's disclosure in a blog post on Nov. 20 that it was in charge of public relations operations for Saito's campaign in general. The blog post, written by the head of Hyogo-based PR company Merchu Inc., fueled speculation on social media that if Saito had paid the company, it could constitute vote-buying prohibited under Japanese law. In a press conference held at the prefectural government building on Wednesday, Saito also said he was unaware of the contents of the blog post. "I have not even checked it," he said. On Monday, Saito said his campaign had paid the PR firm 700,000 yen ($4,600) to produce posters along with other activities permitted under the Public Offices Election Act. He said it was his camp that ultimately decided on its social media strategy and that the PR company head had only taken part as a volunteer. Merchu's blog post said it carried out a photo shoot for Saito, proposed a slogan, made a presentation outlining his electoral pledges, and also operated a social media account that backed Saito. The company has declined to comment. Saito emerged as the surprise winner in the gubernatorial race, held after he accepted the automatic loss of his position following the prefectural assembly's unanimous adoption of a no-confidence motion against him over abuse of power. Saito received much support on social media, with posts criticizing the prefectural assembly and the mainstream media for their handling of the allegations against Saito, political analysts said. Related coverage: Ex-Hyogo governor reelected despite power abuse scandal Hyogo Gov. to rerun despite losing job following no-confidence motion Hyogo assembly adopts no-confidence motion vs governor over bullying Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, on Wednesday, claimed that people in the city are fed up with the political gimmicks of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and the Atishi Government, and are now ready to teach them a lesson. According to the BJP leader, Kejriwal was shown black flags as a mark of protest by the residents of Nangloi, Kirari, and Mundka led by local MP Yogendra Chandolia during the AAP chiefs visit to Nangloi, where he had come to show alleged political concern two months after the firing incident. Advertisement Sachdeva said West Delhis Nangloi is an area where broken roads have awaited reconstruction for years, and this monsoon, the Rohtak Road in Nangloi gained notoriety for being in the worst condition with severe waterlogging, drawing constant protests from locals. Advertisement He further said when Kejriwal announced via a social media post this morning that he would meet families in Nangloi, locals contacted the area MP Yogendra Chandolia, and responding to their appeal, he organised a massive protest joined by BJP workers and civil society groups from Nangloi, Kirari, and Mundka. The citizens raised slogans against Kejriwal and local MLAs, forcing him to abandon his visit midway and return. Sachdeva emphasised that the protestors wanted Kejriwal to carry on with his visit but they also demanded accountability for the deplorable condition of Nangloi, Kirari, and Mundka. Chandolia remarked that as Kejriwals government faces widespread criticism for its failures and corruption, the AAP chief is allegedly trying to divert public attention. The BJP MP further said that the former CM may address any issue or visit anywhere, the people of Nangloi, Kirari, and Mundka demand answers for the nearly 20 deaths caused by waterlogging in these three areas during this monsoon, and seek compensation. Anurag Kashyaps maiden directorial Paanch is finally going to see the light of the day after 22 years! After The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) raised objections, the film got canned in 2003. The film didnt recieve the green light for its violence, depiction of drug abuse, and use of strong language. Now, Tutu Sharma, one of Paanchs producers, has confirmed that the Kay Kay Menon-led title will get a theatrical release within six months. Reportedly, the film is based on the 197677 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in Pune. In his conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Tutu Sharma revealed that Anurag Kashyaps debut directorial is finally hitting theatres. He said, Paanch is definitely coming next year. I plan to release it in cinemas within six months. The film was banned and the negatives have slightly deteriorated. The process of restoring them has already started. As soon as its ready, well release Paanch. Advertisement He added, The issues (with the Central Board of Film Certification) were resolved. But then we faced some more challenges; hence, the film was lying on the cans. Also, the trend of re-runs is here now. So, one can imagine the potential of Paanch. Thats a very encouraging sign. Also, the times are such that such films are being watched, and they have an audience. Advertisement Moreover, talking about the film, the producer was all praises for the cast of the film. Not just Kay Kay Menon but even Tejaswini Kolhapure is brilliant in the film. According to me, it is Anurag Kashyaps best film to date. Many people believe that. Youll agree with me once you see it. Also Read: Kartik Aaryan takes a dig at the Singham Again clash as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 crosses 400 crores Meanwhile, apart from the celebrated actor Kay Kay Menon, Paanch also stars other critically recognised actors. The film features Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vijay Raaz and Abhinav Kashyap. Following the canning of Paanch, Anurag Kashyap went on to solidify his footing as a leading filmmaker in the industry with a string of well-received films. Starting from Black Friday, the helmed Dev D, Gulaal and Gangs of Wasseypur among others. His last directorial venture was Kennedy. Actor Ayushmann Khurrana and badminton champion PV Sindhu have called on young Indians to step up and contribute to the countrys progress through the Viksit Bharat Initiative. The appeal comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement during the latest Mann Ki Baat episode about the National Youth Festival 2025, a major event to empower the nations youth. Advertisement The highlight of this initiative is the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue, scheduled to take place on January 11 and 12, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi. Designed to inspire young minds, this event will bring together individuals aged 15-29, providing them with a chance to share their vision for a developed India directly with PM Modi. Advertisement To secure a spot, participants need to compete in the Viksit Bharat Quiz, which is open from November 25 to December 5, 2024, on the My Bharat platform. Winners will be invited to the prestigious dialogue, offering them a platform to present their ideas and engage with national leaders. Both Ayushmann Khurrana and PV Sindhu have actively promoted the initiative on social media, encouraging young Indians to seize this unique opportunity. Ayushmann, in a post on X, wrote: Quiz Khelo, PM Saab se milo! Share your ideas for a strong Bharat at the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue. Participate in the quiz on the My Bharat platform and begin your journey towards this historic event. Quiz Khelo, PM Saab se milo and share your ideas of a strong Bharat at the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue. Participate in the Viksit Bharat Quiz from November 25 on the My Bharat Platform and start your journey to be selected for the Viksit Bharat Dialogue https://t.co/XPuAHYwwHo Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) November 25, 2024 PV Sindhu echoed his sentiments, stating: In todays Mann Ki Baat, the Honble PM announced the National Youth Festival 2025. Its a platform to nurture leadership talent among youth. Mark your calendars for January 11-12 at Bharat Mandapam, Delhi, and participate in the quiz to join this incredible dialogue. To give an effective platform to the leadership talent of the youth, in todays episode of Mann Ki Baat, Honble Prime Minister has announced National Youth Festival 2025- The Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue in Bharat Mandapam in Delhi on 11th and 12th January, 2025. To be pic.twitter.com/uzvSn7Zmqs Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) November 25, 2024 This initiative aligns with PM Modis earlier vision shared during his Independence Day speech, where he emphasized the importance of inducting 1 lakh young leaders into politics, especially those without political family backgrounds. The Young Leaders Dialogue is a step towards empowering the next generation to actively shape the future of the nation. Five doctors were killed in a tragic road accident here on Lucknow Agra expressway early Wednesday. All the doctors were posted at Mini PGI Saifai, Etawah. Advertisement Police here said the speeding SUV, coming from Lucknow on the expressway, broke the divider and overturned on the other side. Advertisement The ill-fated SUV went out of control in front of Sikrori village of Tirwa at the 196 kilometre- point on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. After breaking the divider, it went to the other side and collided with the truck coming from the front. One doctor was critically injured in the accident. The injured have been referred from Government Medical College to the Saifai Medical College. The deceased medicos were identified as Dr Jaiveer Singh ( 39) of Moradabad, Dr Anirudh ( 29) of Bhadohi, Dr Santosh Kumar Maurya( 40) of Kannauj , Dr Arun Kumar (34) of Kannauj and Dr Nardev( 35) of Bareilly. The doctors were returning to Safai after attending a marriage function in Lucknow. Skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh are being selected for employment opportunities in Israel. As part of this initiative, skill tests are being conducted at the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Aliganj, with the testing process running until December 3. On Wednesday, Kapil Dev Aggarwal, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Vocational Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, visited ITI Aliganj to encourage workers participating in the India-Israel Drive 3.0. This drive aims to provide skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh with employment opportunities in Israel, boosting their careers and expanding global work prospects. Advertisement Under the India-Israel Drive 3.0, around 5,000 skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh will be sent to Israel. So far, more than 9,000 workers from Uttar Pradesh have been employed in fields like construction, mall management, and technical jobs in Israel. Workers are earning monthly salaries ranging from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh in the country. Advertisement To enhance the skills of these workers, the government is offering language and skill improvement training programmes. This will help them perform better at their workplaces and succeed in the global job market. As part of the Mission Rozgar, young people from Uttar Pradesh are being connected to global job opportunities. This initiative not only provides employment but also helps returning workers boost new job creation and entrepreneurship in the state. Under CM Yogis leadership, youth from Uttar Pradesh are advancing by learning new skills in areas like farming, industry, and software. Slamming Congress for questioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the BJP on Wednesday said the politics of the grand old party has been reduced to mere accusations and frustration. A day after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the replacement of EVMs with ballot papers, alleging that votes from SC, ST, OBC, and poor communities are being wasted, the BJP said the Congress cries foul whenever they lose in any state but has no problem with EVMs when they win elsewhere. Advertisement Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra criticised Kharges call to reintroduce ballot papers and remove EVMs and also targeted the Congress President over his remark implying that people from backward and poor communities dont know how to vote through EVMs, calling it offensive and disrespectful. Advertisement Yesterday (26 November) was Constitution Day, and on the occasion of Constitution Day, Mallikarjun Kharge said we have to remove EVMs and bring back ballot papers. Mallikarjun Kharge ji, whether you remove EVMs or not, the public has sidelined the Congress. The Congress has been sidelined in the elections of almost every state. In Maharashtra, it has been completely wiped out. On one hand, the Mahayuti has won a huge victory in Maharashtra, while on the other hand, the Congress has been wiped out, said the BJP MP. I was very surprised that a senior leader like Mallikarjun Kharge ji said yesterday that the votes of SC-ST-OBC and poor people are getting wasted due to EVM. Does Mallikarjun Kharge ji and the people of the Congress party think that the SC-ST-OBC community is so illiterate that they do not know how to vote in EVM? Such thinking of Congress is an insult to the SC-ST-OBC community, he added further. Dr Patra said Kharge claimed they would reintroduce ballot papers at any cost and send EVMs back to the residences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Opposition must note that PM Modi already has an EVM at his home-E for Energy, V for Vikas, and M for Mehnat, the BJP MP said Dr Patra explained that PM Modis tireless work, like a machine, is why the BJP keeps winning. While the Opposition blames EVMs, the real reason Congress keeps losing is RBMRahuls Bekar Management. The problem isnt with the machinery; its with the leadership. Former BJP Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday came down heavily on the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, alleging that its two-year tenure has been the worst in the states history. During its two-year tenure, the Sukhu government has pushed the state back by 20 years. This is also the most ineffective government in the history of the country, he said while addressing the media. Advertisement The Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government is completing its two-year term by stumbling and falling, he alleged. Advertisement The governments ministers and the state Congress president are unaware of the celebrations, which clearly shows a lack of coordination between the government and the party organisation, he said. The government is talking about celebrating two years, but its tenure has been marked by corruption and mismanagement. The question is how can such a failure be celebrated. This is the first government that was rejected by the Congress high command in its first year itself. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was in Shimla during the celebration of the first year of the Sukhu government, however, she did not join the celebrations, he claimed, adding that she did not consider the governments failure worthy of celebration. Their achievements over the past two years include losing the Rajya Sabha seat despite the government having a majority, as well as the Chief Minister, Minister, and CPS losing in their constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP increased its seats from 25 to 28 in the by-elections, which clearly shows that the public has lost faith in the Congress government, he alleged. The government has turned away from its guarantees. It did not provide 300 units of free electricity; instead, it stopped 125 units of free electricity. Women between 18 and 60 years are not receiving Rs 1,500 as promised. The youth have not been provided employment, and in fact, 1.5 lakh posts have been done away with, he charged, claiming that the state government is misleading the country and lying about fulfilling its guarantees in Himachal. The Chief Minister takes decisions without thinking and also withdraws them. Himachal Pradesh has become a laughing stock in the whole country, he charged, adding that the Chief Minister is only giving explanations through his cabinet ministers. Listing issues of great concern and the states approach to privatisation, he accused the state government of conspiring to sell the state. The BJP will not let it happen, he added. This government is anti-development. Under this government, neither pensions nor salaries are paid on time, he alleged. Taking a jibe at the Sukhu government, Jai Ram Thakur said that the objective of this government is a Holly Lodge Mukt Congress, with the main agenda being to sideline the loyalists of former six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who resided in Holly Lodge. BJPs Kerala president K Surendran on Wednesday threatened journalists, issuing a stern warning that no journalist who tried to insult the BJP will be spared. He added that those who gave fake news and spread it, will be properly dealt with. No journalist who tried to insult our party and movement would be spared. Those who tried to defame the party and gave fake news would be dealt with accordingly, Surendran warned. Advertisement In the last three-four days, the media has been trying to tarnish the image of a great political party in the guise of Palakkad by-election results. We will not approve any such attempt, he said, while speaking to media in Pathanamthitta. Advertisement The party will not spare even a single man who did injustice to the party and will directly deal with such people. No doubt about it, he added. Surendrans outburst against the media persons came amid reports in the media about the infighting in the state BJP which reportedly led to the defeat of party candidate C Krishna Kumar in Palakkad following erosion of votes in party strongholds. Although Surendran offered to resign, accepting responsibility for the defeat, the BJP central leadership asked him to continue. Subsequently, Surendran appeared to go berserk. Initially, he ridiculed journalists for reporting the partys internal discord. However, by Wednesday, he targeted the media persons, issuing an open threat. Surendran is also disturbed by the Congress move to bring Palakkad Municipal chairaman and 17 councillors to the party fold. Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned till tomorrow on the second day of Winter session as the opposition uproar continued over their demand to discuss various issues, including the Adani indictment and Sambhal violence. The opposition MPs gave notices on Wednesday to move an adjournment motion in both the Houses to discuss issues related to Manipur, the Adani indictment and the violence in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.Minutes after the proceedings began in the Lok Sabha, members of Opposition parties created a ruckus over the Adani bribery case. Advertisement During the Question Hour, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there is a need to make existing laws more stringent to curb vulgar content on social media platforms. He said the Parliamentary Standing Committee should take up the issue and also called for a consensus to frame more strict laws in this regard. Advertisement Earlier, Congress lawmakers Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari moved for an adjournment motion in the Lower House before the commencement of the proceedings.In a notice addressed to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha, Congress member Manickam Tagore said, I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance. His party colleague Manish Tewari also gave an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha and demanded discussion on 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. Congress Member Hibi Eden moved an adjournment motion notice in the House demanding a discussion on the deteriorating condition in Manipur. In his notice, Hibi Eden urged the government to take accountability and implement immediate measures to restore peace and justice. Earlier, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon. After Union Minister Jitendra Singhs motion was passed, BJP Member Dilip Saikia, who was in the chair, adjourned the House till November 28. In the House of Elders, Congress Member Randeep Singh Surjewala also moved an adjournment motion under Rule 267 on the US court indictment alleging bribery by the Adani Group to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders. The Bills including Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak and The Officials (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill 2024 were listed for consideration and passing. The House was adjourned briefly as members of the Congress and other opposition demanded debate of the issues. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said he has received 18 notices under Rule 267 for suspension of the scheduled business and to take up issues related to the Adani Group, violence in UPs Sambhal and rising incidents of crime in Delhi. He rejected all notices. Unhappy over the decision, Opposition Members started raising slogans. The Upper House was also finally adjourned for the day. The first day of the Winter Session commenced on November 25, with both the Houses being adjourned without conducting any business due to disruptions. Expressing deep concern at the atmosphere of insecurity being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh, the Congress on Wednesday said the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das was the latest example. The party called for the Government of Indias intervention into the matter. Advertisement Congress chairman of the Media and Publicity (Communications Department), Pawan Khera in a statement said, The Indian National Congress expresses its deep concern at the atmosphere of insecurity being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh. The arrest of the ISKCON monk is the latest example. Advertisement He added the Congress expects the Government of India to prevail upon the Bangladesh government to take necessary steps and ensure security of life and property of minorities in the country. Meanwhile, Congress general secretary and MP-elect Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a post on X wrote, The news of the arrest of a saint of ISKCON Temple in Bangladesh and the continuous violence against minority Hindus is extremely worrying. She appealed to the Central government to intervene in the matter and raise the issue of ensuring the safety of minorities with the Bangladesh government. Notably, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement on the arrest of the ISKCON priest, on Tuesday, said, We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, it said. The MEA said it was unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings. We also note with concern the attacks on minorities protesting peacefully against the arrest of Das. We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, it added. KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2024 - 08:32 | All, World The Group of Seven foreign ministers on Tuesday criticized "in the strongest possible terms" the deepening military collaboration between North Korea and Russia. In a statement issued after two-day talks in Italy, the ministers said that Pyongyang's troop dispatch to help Moscow's war efforts in Ukraine "marks a dangerous expansion of the conflict" and will result in "serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security." The G7 also reaffirmed that its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence "will remain unwavering," amid fears that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's reluctance to help Kyiv may weaken the group's solidarity after he returns to power in January. As for China, the forum of major democracies reiterated its opposition to Beijing's "militarization and coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea," as well as the importance of "peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." The group also aired concerns over China's support for Russia's defense industrial base through its exports of dual-use materials, while calling on Beijing to press Russia to stop attacking Ukraine. The meeting in the suburbs of Rome took place as the Ukraine war is entering a new dimension with North Korea's dispatch of soldiers to Russia's western border region of Kursk, fueling speculation that Pyongyang could obtain military and nuclear technologies from Moscow in return. Last week, Kyiv began using Western-provided long-range missiles such as the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System to strike deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has hit back with its Oreshnik cutting-edge intermediate-range ballistic missiles, with President Vladimir Putin also reviving threats to use nuclear weapons. The ministerial talks follow Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential race on Nov. 5. His "America First" unilateralist approach has cast uncertainty over the future of the G7's efforts to promote international coordination to address common challenges. In Monday's sessions, the foreign ministers exchanged views on the Middle East, where tensions remain high between Israel and Iran as Israeli forces continue to battle Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, respectively. The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union. Representatives from countries including Egypt, Ukraine, India, the Philippines and South Korea were invited to some outreach sessions. Related coverage: G7 foreign ministers begin talks in Italy with Middle East in focus Japan, Ukraine sign security info-sharing pact to boost cooperation North Korea's entry into Russia-Ukraine war worrisome: ex-Japan envoy Over 200 companies and 100 senior officers from the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, specializing in technology and procurement, are set to participate in the Defence Partnership Days on Thursday. Organized by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies and Indian Military Review, the event aims to strengthen collaboration between the Armed Forces and industry stakeholders. Advertisement The Ministry of Defence announced that the event is designed to foster engagement through focused business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) interactions. Advertisement General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, along with Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, will inaugurate the event. An exhibition featuring 75 companies will showcase cutting-edge technologies and solutions for enhancing national defence capabilities. Participants include Prime Contractors, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, service providers, MSMEs, start-ups, industry associations, and investors. They will have opportunities to engage with Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces procurement officers, including representatives from DRDO and the Coast Guard, in B2B and B2G meetings. The event will serve as a platform for interactions on procurement, indigenization initiatives, and strategic projects such as Make-1 and Make-2 programs. Attendees will also explore solutions for import substitution, problem statements, General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs), Requests for Information (RFIs), Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and design and development projects. This initiative aims to not only strengthen the capabilities of Indias armed forces but also provide industries with opportunities to expand their operations and align with national defence objectives. Former Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday quit as a Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly, as he tendered his resignation to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. In his resignation letter to Goel, he mentioned, As you may be aware that I had resigned as a Minster GNCTD on 17.11.2024. On the same day I had also resigned from primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party.This followed over a week after Gahlot had resigned from the council of ministers and the AAP and had joined the BJP. Advertisement The politician coming from Delhis rural belt also mentioned to the Speaker that he had already written about most of his reasons for this decision in the letter on November 17, which he had sent to the AAP national convener, which he said he had attached.He added, The main reason was the fact that AAP had begun to deviate from its moral and ethical values, thereby making it difficult for me to continue. Gahlot requested Goel to accept his resignation with immediate effect. Advertisement Meanwhile, his resignation comes close on heels of the upcoming winter session of the Delhi Assembly which is scheduled to commence on November 29. Recently, on November 23, with the approval of senior leadership of the saffron party, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had appointed Gahlot as a member of Delhi Assembly Election Coordination Committee.The former Delhi minister had also met Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda and also discussed the upcoming polls in Delhi. Elections for the Delhi Assemblys 70 seats are due in coming February. The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) over the low rate of convictions in money laundering cases, wondering for how long former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested over alleged irregularities in primary teachers recruitment in the state, could be kept in jail. Pointing to the low conviction rate in the money laundering cases, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the trial is yet to commence and, with 183 witnesses to be examined, will take a long time. Advertisement What will happen if we dont grant bail? The trial is yet to commence, there are 183 witnesses in the cases. The trial will take time How long can we keep him? That is the question. Here is a case where more than two years have gone by. How to strike a balance in such a case? the bench asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for the ED. Advertisement The bench said this as ASG Raju, opposing the bail plea, said that the charges were serious in nature and a huge amount of cash had been seized. Raju told the court that Partha Chatterjee is undergoing judicial custody in another case being probed by the CBI. At the outset, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told the bench that 73-year-old Partha Chatterjee was in jail for nearly 2.5 years, 183 witnesses are in the case and the trial is yet to start. Noting that the allegations against Partha Chatterjee are serious, the bench sought to know the status of the investigation. ASG Raju said that a chargesheet has been filed in the case. Adjourning the matter and posting it for December 2, 2024, the court sought to know the period of judicial custody and police custody Partha Chatterjee has undergone. The court asked ASG Raju to obtain clarification on whether Chatterjee was arrested for the second time by the CBI. The top court was hearing Partha Chatterjees bail plea in a case related to the cash-for-jobs scam involving the recruitment of primary teachers. In July 2022, the Enforcement Directorate arrested former Minister and TMC leader Partha Chatterjee in connection with the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) teacher recruitment scam. Chatterjee was earlier lodged at the Presidency Correctional Home in May this year. The ED had previously recovered over Rs 21 crore in cash from the house of an associate of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee. TMC subsequently suspended Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the teacher recruitment scam in the state, from the party and removed him from all party posts. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had directed the CBI to investigate the recruitment scam involving Group C & D staff, Assistant Teachers for classes IX-XII, and primary teachers. These cases pertain to the illegal appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C & D) and teaching staff. The ED is investigating the cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav today held one-to-one meetings with leading investors and industry leaders in London, United Kingdom, to discuss the vast investment opportunities in the state. He also garlanded the statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar at the Ambedkar House there on the occasion of Indias Constitution Day on 26 November. He also visited the India House in London on Tuesday and paid homage to the martyred soldiers and civilians killed in the terror attack at Mumbai on 26 November 2008. Advertisement Interacting with investors at London, the CM elaborated on partnership prospects in various sectors such as renewable energy, agribusiness, infrastructure, healthcare, IT, mining, food processing, education and semiconductor industries. Madhya Pradesh is not just a hub of opportunities for investors but also a trusted partner that will help take their businesses to new heights, Dr Yadav told the probable investors. Advertisement According to state government officials here, the CM introduced the investors to the states business-friendly policies and incentives, emphasizing the state governments unwavering commitment to creating an environment conducive to industries and innovation. He also shared his visionary approach to promoting sustainable development and innovation through the states industrial potential, which was highly appreciated by the investors. He highlighted the infrastructure, skilled workforce and other resources made available by the state government to facilitate the seamless establishment and operation of industries in the state. Dr Yadav had reached London with a delegation of state government officials on 24 November on a four-day visit. From there, he proceeded to Germany today. He would meet probable investors and industrialists in Germany and return back on 30 November. Widespread protests broke out across Tripura on Wednesday against the alleged illegal arrest of Hindu leader and ISKCON member Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu in Bangladesh. Protestors also voiced anger over the rising violence and discrimination against Hindu minorities in the neighboring country. Advertisement Tripura, which shares an 856-km-long international border with Bangladesh, has historically been sensitive to cross-border communal tensions. The current unrest highlights growing concerns among the states population about the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh, particularly under the governance of the countrys interim administration. Advertisement In Agartala, the Sanatani Hindu Sena staged a demonstration outside the office of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner. Protestors decried the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu as unacceptable and demanded his immediate release. Protestors alleged that Bangladeshs interim government is responsible for the repeated attacks on Hindu minorities and ISKCON. This is barbaric. ISKCON has contributed significantly to disaster relief in Bangladesh, yet it is under attack now, they said. Similar protests erupted at Manughat Land Customs Station in Unakoti District. Protestors there demanded a complete suspension of trade and electricity supply to Bangladesh until their demands were met. We urge the Indian government to stop all imports, exports, and aid to Bangladesh. Fundamentalism is rising there, and Hindus are not safe, said one protestor. The Forum for Protection of Minorities in Bangladesh also submitted a memorandum to the Assistant High Commissioner, condemning the atrocities and calling for the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu. Attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh have been a recurring issue, often drawing international condemnation. ISKCON, a globally recognised spiritual organisation, has previously been targeted despite its humanitarian efforts in Bangladesh, including food distribution during natural disasters. This has fueled resentment among Hindus in India, particularly in Tripura, which has a significant Bengali-speaking Hindu population with cultural ties to Bangladesh. The Indian government has also condemned the incident and asked the interim government for safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh. Protests in Tripura reflect broader anxieties over communal tensions in the region, as well as demands for stronger diplomatic and economic measures to ensure the safety of minorities in Bangladesh. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of protecting billionaire businessman Gautam Adani, who was indicted by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged bribery. Talking to reporters on the premises of Parliament, Gandhi reiterated his demand for the arrest of Adani. You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously, he is going to deny the charges. The point is he (Adani) has to be arrested as we have said, he said. Advertisement Asserting that hundreds of people are being arrested on trivial charges, the Congress leader said, The gentleman has been indicted in the US for thousands of crores. He should be in jail. The government is protecting him. Advertisement Earlier, the leader of the Opposition in the Lower House called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into alleged irregularities of the Adani Group with a demand for the removal of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch accusing her of protecting Adani. Adani should be arrested immediately. Madhabi Buch, who is his protector, should be removed (as the SEBI chief). There should be a probe against her, Gandhi said. It may be mentioned here that Congress had demanded the resignation of Buch following the Hindenburg Research report against her in August. The US-based short seller alleged that Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. The Adani Group denied the allegations made by the US DoJ and the US SEC and said all possible legal recourse will be sought. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday intensified his attack on Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, reiterating his demand for the business tycoons arrest following an indictment in a bribery case by the US. The Adani Group has denied the charges, stating it will explore legal options against the indictment. Advertisement Speaking to reporters near the Samvidhan Sadan at the new Parliament complex, Gandhi remarked, You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges. The point is that he has to be arrested as we have said. Advertisement He further accused the government of shielding Mr Adani, saying, Hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges, and the gentleman (Gautam Adani) has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores. He should be in jail, and the government is protecting him. Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari also took aim at the government over the Adani issue, highlighting what he described as larger issues at play. Tewari stated, The fact is that two indictments have been filed, one by the Attorney of the Eastern District of New York and the other by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America. So they are obviously free to make those arguments before a US Court of law. The fundamental issue is what kind of a message these indictments send regarding Indias business environment. Number two, what was the Securities and Exchange Board of India doing? If the US regulator has found evidence enough to file an indictment. If you recall, going back to the Hindenburg Report, issues with regard to the Adani conglomerate were not only in the public domain but were being agitated or adjudicated by the Supreme Court of India also. So the question is: whos going to regulate the regulators? Therefore, there are larger issues at play, and thats why we are demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament, he added. The issue of Adanis indictment was also raised in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session, with opposition members creating a ruckus over the matter on Wednesday. Both the Houses were adjourned for the day. No business was conducted on the first day of the Winter session on Monday also after the Houses were adjourned over the issue. BJP workers in Kerala are dejected, disappointed and depressed over the state of affairs of the party in the state.The BJP workers and those who love the BJP are grieved over the manner in which the present leadership is running the party in Kerala. A college professor in Kozhikode , who is a supporter of the BJP, said The present BJP leadership in Kerala does not have the political acumen and political intelligence to evolve strategies and the ability to reach out to the people, they are unable to connect with the people and also failed to rise to the expectations of their cadres. Advertisement It was because of the lack of political acumen and political intelligence that they faltered in selecting the right candidate for Palakkad bypoll, after considering the winnability and acceptability of the nominee. If a popular, noncontroversial candidate was fielded by the BJP in Palakkad, the outcome would have been different. Advertisement They(BJP leadership) are completely disconnected with the people. Thats why , the BJP state president ,after closing the polls, claimed that the BJP will win comfortably in Palakkad and the UDF candidate will be relegated to the third place. In Palakkad, there was a strong feeling running against BJP candidate C Krishnakumar from the party cadres itself. However, BJP state leadership failed to understand it, he added. BJP workers in Kerala are not happy with the statement of party state-in- charge Prakash Javadekar suggesting that there is no crisis in the state BJP over the partys dismissal performance in Palakkad bypoll. He also said that no one will resign from their responsibilities due to the defeat in the Palakkad by-election and that no one has been asked to resign We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026, Javadekar claimed. Following BJPs humiliating defeat in the Palakkad Assembly bypoll,party leaders across the state have demanded that party state president K Surendran should take the responsibility of the defeat in Palakkad and he should resign. It was in response to these demand that Javadekar said that no one will resign from their responsibilities due to the defeat in the Palakkad by-election and that no one has been asked to resign We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026, Javadekar claimed. BJP workers and sympathizers are grieved over the statement of Javedkar as he made the statement without understanding the sentiments of the workers and sympathizers across the state. Party workers are aggrieved over the manner in which the present leadership is running the party in the state. The BJP Kerala leadership has made the party a B-team of the CPI-M forgetting about the hundreds of BJP/ RSS workers killed by the CPI-M cadres. BJP workers are disappointed over the Central agencies failure to pursue high-profile corruption cases involving CPI-M leaders, including chief ministers daughter, a BJP worker in Thalassery said . We are grieved over the statement of Javadekar as his statement gives no hope of cleaning up of the party in Kerala. We want BJPs growing presence in Kerala, making waves in the states political landscape. For that an aggressive and dynamic leadership is necessary, making use of all the political opportunities reaching before the party in the state. BJP present leaderships compromises with the CPI-M are indigestible to the party cadres, he added. As regards to Javedkars claim that We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026, a BJP worker in Kannur asked , How it is possible to win Palakkad seat in 2026 without addressing the issues cropped up there in Palakkad in the BJP after the assembly bypoll results. Isnt Javadekar aware of the move by the Congress to bring as many as 18 BJP municipal councilors to its fold, he asked. A lawyer in Kozhikode claimed that the political landscape of Kerala is slowly becoming conducive to BJPs growth. For making use of the situation, the party needs a dynamic leadership The political landscape is slowly becoming conducive to BJPs growth. For making use of this situation, a dynamic, responsive and aggressive leadership is necessary. Prime Minister Modi has recently said the BJP would come to power in Kerala too.How this will be possible with the present leadership which does not have the political intelligence to address the internal discord and rebuild trust among party cadres and supporters, he said. I learned about the concept of chain migration from others on student visas like me soon after I arrived in the USA. Student visas had several limitations. Working off campus was not allowed. Wives of married students could not work anywhere. There was a limitation on how long we could stay abroad, and we had to get re-entry permits to come back. It was understood that we were to return to our home country as soon as our studies were completed. The coveted item was a green card a document which changed the immigration status from student to a permanent resident. For all practical purposes, a permanent resident has all the privileges of a citizen except for voting rights. There are several avenues to get a green card. One can convince the Immigration and Naturalization Service that one is so talented and qualified that ones continued presence in America would benefit the country. The second path requires a potential employer to sponsor the applicant by certifying that the applicant has special skills which are rare to find. The third possibility is to marry a US citizen or a green card holder. One can also get a green card if one is a child or parent of a permanent resident or sibling of a US citizen. There are other options such as seeking political asylum and financial investment in America. One can also have a child while on a temporary visa, who is automatically a citizen by birth. The child can bring the parents back when he/she becomes an adult, a long but legitimate process. There are two groups of incoming foreign nationals; one group spends a few years to complete their mission, be it education or a temporary assignment and then goes back. They do not even apply for a green card. For the second group, a green card is just an admission ticket, not only for living in America but also for gradually bringing their entire family into the country. Advertisement It typically starts with the most qualified family member getting a student visa. He/she completes a graduate degree and starts working; changing visa status (to a permanent resident or a temporary work visa such as a J visa). Once financially established, and with a green card in hand, the person sponsors parents to come, also as permanent residents. Once the parents get used to American life and conveniences, they lobby the first child, once he/she becomes a citizen, to sponsor siblings so that they can also get immigration visas. The siblings get to America even if they do not have the necessary education and/or skill set to come on their own. Advertisement If the siblings are married and have children, their spouses and children also get to come automatically. Once the siblings settle down, they are often inclined to bring their in-laws and the cycle (or the chain) continues much like a chain reaction in a nuclear explosion. On the surface, this chain migration policy seems to be fair and reasonable. It is a good scenario for the immigrant, and an appropriate gesture for the host country to entice talent from overseas countries. The relatives of the first immigrant eventually all contribute to society as productive tax-paying citizens and strengthen the community. Much has been said about a brain drain i.e., the US is draining the collective brain power of India (and other countries) by only admitting the best and the brightest, tantalizing them with the dream of an American life. I do not subscribe to this theory. It is not the US government but individual universities and companies who look for foreign resources to satisfy their selfish and immediate needs. They certainly do not want to hold on to these foreign employees permanently, unless they are exceptionally brilliant. It is not just Indian Americans but every ethnic group in the country that builds up in this way. The result is a rich, multicultural nation and hence the cliche we frequently hear, America is a nation of immigrants. However, not everyone is thrilled about the concept. Donald Trump considered discontinuing the policy for siblings and in-laws during his first term. He did not see the point of spending American resources to educate and develop foreign workforces when there are many qualified US citizens who are either unemployed or underemployed. He also had a strong argument that terrorists were coming to America under the umbrella of chain migration from Middle-eastern countries. The political debate will play out once Mr Trump enters office. But I would like to point out several not so widely discussed social aspects of chain migration. First consider the potential feuds within a family itself. All the family members immigrating on the coat-tails of the first member impose both financial and social burden on the latter, at least until they can establish themselves. Subsequent members in the chain may not be geared up to be Americanized, especially if they have not gone through an educational or professional experience in the country. They are less likely to embrace America as their own in terms of social activities, mannerisms, food and dress habits, etc. The entire extended family is then viewed as a stereotypical ethnic family. Families resulting from chain migration often prefer to live in communities heavily populated by their countrymen. As a result, neighbourhoods such as China Town or Little Tokyo pop up, which lead to racial segregation. Finally, elderly family members who are left behind in India can feel miserable both emotionally as well as physically, especially when they suffer from various illnesses with no one to take care of them. I am not enthusiastic about chain migration. Perhaps I am biased because of my own experience. Perhaps I am sad because both my parents passed away without even an opportunity to visit the US. Perhaps I envy the Indian IT engineers on H1B visas who can afford to go back and forth between India and US and live a double life so to speak, without the need for bringing anyone here as chain migrants. (The writer, a physicist who worked in industry and academia, is a Bengali settled in America.) From Iraq to Afghanistan to the US, basic freedoms for women are being eroded as governments start rolling back existing laws. Just a few months ago a ban on Afghan women speaking in public was the latest measure introduced by the Taliban, who took back control of the country in 2021. From August the ban included singing, reading aloud, reciting poetry and even laughing outside their homes. The Talibans ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, which implements one of the most radical interpretations of Islamic law, enforces these rules. They are part of a broader set of vice and virtue laws that severely restrict womens rights and freedoms. Women are even banned from reading the Quran out loud to other women in public. In the past three years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken away many basic rights from women who live there, so that theres very little that they are allowed to do. From 2021, the Taliban started introducing restrictions on girls receiving education, starting with a ban on co-education and then a ban on girls attending secondary schools. This was followed by closing blind girls schools in 2023, and making it mandatory for girls in grades four to six (ages nine to 12) to cover their faces on the way to school. Women can no longer attend universities or receive a degree certificate nationally, or follow midwifery or nursing training in the Kandahar region. Women are no longer allowed to be flight attendants, or to take a job outside the home. Advertisement Women-run bakeries in the capital Kabul have now been banned. Women are mostly now unable to earn any money, or leave their homes. In April 2024, the Taliban in Helmand province told media outlets to even refrain from airing womens voices. Afghanistan is ranked last on the Women, Peace and Security Index and officials at the UN and elsewhere have called it gender apartheid. Afghan women are putting their lives on the line facing surveillance, harassment, assault, arbitrary detention, torture and exile to protest against the Taliban. Many diplomats discuss how important it is to engage with the Taliban, yet this has not stopped the assault on womens rights. Advertisement When diplomats engage, they tend to focus on counter-terrorism, counternarcotics, business deals, or hostage returns. Despite everything that has happened to Afghan women over a short period, critics suggest this rarely makes it onto diplomats priority list. Meanwhile, in Iraq, on 4 August 2024, an amendment to Iraqs 1959 personal status law which would possibly lower the age of consent for marriage to nine years old from 18 (or 15 with permission from a judge and parents) was proposed by member of parliament Raad al-Maliki and supported by conservative Shia factions in the government. The law would have the potential of having matters of family law such as marriage adjudicated by religious authorities. This change could not only legalise child marriage but also strip women of rights related to divorce, child custody and inheritance. Iraq already has a high rate of underage marriage, with 7 per cent of girls married by 15 years old, and 28 per cent married before the legal age of 18. Unregistered marriages, not legally recorded in court but conducted through religious or tribal authorities, prevent girls from accessing civil rights, and leave women and girls vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and neglect, with limited options for seeking justice. Many womens groups have already mobilised against the law. But the amendment has passed its second reading in parliament. If introduced, it could pave the way for further modifications that deepen sectarian divides and move the country further away from a unified legal system. It would also be an especially troubling step backward in protecting childrens rights and gender equality. Meanwhile, in the US, womens access to abortion has been eroded significantly in the past few years. In late 2021, the US was officially labelled a backsliding democracy by an international thinktank. Six months later, the landmark US Supreme Court ruling of Roe v Wade, which had safeguarded the constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years, was overturned. This led to a cascade of restrictive laws, with more than a quarter of US states enacting outright bans or severe restrictions on abortion. Republican US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested, in May 2022, that women should stay celibate if they did not want to get pregnant. If only all women had that choice. In fact, in the US a sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds. One in every five American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. From 2009-13, US Child Protective Services agencies found strong evidence indicating that 63,000 children per year were victims of sexual abuse. These developments reflect a troubling pattern. There is evidence from Donald Trumps first term that there could be further erosion of womens rights in his second presidency. During his previous term there were significant attempts to weaken healthcare access, with his foreign policy reinstating the global gag rule restricting access to womens reproductive healthcare worldwide via funding conditions. If the world can tolerate the Talibans abuses, Iraqs restrictive laws and the US restrictions on abortion access, it reveals the fragility of womens and girls rights globally, and how easy it is to take them away. The UN agency, UN Women, says it could take another 286 years to close the global gender gaps in legal protections. No country has yet achieved gender equality, based on the gender pay gap, legal equality and social inequality levels. Women and girls continue to face discrimination in all corners of the world, and it seems to be getting worse. But despite everything women continue to resist. (The writer is Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University. This article was published on www.theconversation.com) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows the sea area where a safari boat sank off near Marsa Alam, a coastal town in southeastern Egypt on the Red Sea. Four bodies have been recovered, and three more survivors rescued on Tuesday, one day after the boat capsized off Egypt's southeastern coast in the Red Sea, Governor of Egypt's Red Sea Province Amr Hanafy said Tuesday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) MARSA ALAM, Egypt, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four bodies have been recovered, and three more survivors rescued on Tuesday, one day after a safari boat capsized off Egypt's southeastern coast in the Red Sea, Governor of Egypt's Red Sea Province Amr Hanafy said Tuesday. With the three survivors -- two Belgians and an Egyptian -- being rescued lately, the total number of those rescued reached 31, Hanafy said in a statement, adding that the four recovered bodies have not yet been identified. Rescue teams are still searching for 9 missing people, he said. The Red Sea Province announced on its official Facebook page on Monday that a safari boat had sunk off near Marsa Alam, a coastal town in southeastern Egypt on the Red Sea. According to Hanafy, the boat carried 44 passengers, including 13 Egyptians and 31 others from 11 countries: Germany, Britain, the United States, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, China, Slovakia, Spain, and Ireland. A total of 28 people had been rescued and are "in good health," while search operations and investigations into the incident are still ongoing, Hanafy said in a statement on Monday. The Chinese Embassy in Egypt said in a statement on Monday that two Chinese tourists had been rescued by passing vessels near the site of the incident. The embassy has contacted the two tourists, who are reported to be in good health. The embassy later confirmed with the two tourists that they were the only Chinese nationals onboard the boat. Egyptian authorities reported that the boat, named Sea Story, departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive at Hurghada Marina on Friday. The Red Sea Province's control center received a distress signal from a crew member at around 5:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) on Monday. Local authorities said the boat sunk within 5-7 minutes of its impact with the wave, leaving some passengers unable to escape cabins in time. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows the sea area where a safari boat sank off near Marsa Alam, a coastal town in southeastern Egypt on the Red Sea. Four bodies have been recovered, and three more survivors rescued on Tuesday, one day after the boat capsized off Egypt's southeastern coast in the Red Sea, Governor of Egypt's Red Sea Province Amr Hanafy said Tuesday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows the sea area where a safari boat sank off near Marsa Alam, a coastal town in southeastern Egypt on the Red Sea. Four bodies have been recovered, and three more survivors rescued on Tuesday, one day after the boat capsized off Egypt's southeastern coast in the Red Sea, Governor of Egypt's Red Sea Province Amr Hanafy said Tuesday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held important discussions with his counterparts from the US, South Korea, Japan and Italy during the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiuggi, Italy External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Italys Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani. The EAM wrote on X, A warm meeting with DPM & FM @Antonio_Tajani of Italy today. Discussed opportunities in technology, innovation, clean energy, fertilizers, railways and investments. Also exchanged perspectives on IMEC, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific. The recently announced Joint Strategic Action Plan guides our activities. Look forward to welcoming him in India in 2025. Advertisement US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken shared the details of his meeting with Jaishankar on X. He said, The U.S. and India are stronger when we are working together. Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and I met today in Italy to discuss the importance of our continued close cooperation to promote global security and prosperity. Advertisement EAM Jaishankar shared the highlights of the meeting and expressed confidence in the India-US partnership which continues to move forward. He also shared about his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul on X and noted, Appreciate our growing convergences on the Indo-Pacific, vibrant economic partnership, strong defence ties and active tech collaboration. Sharing the details of the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister, Takeshi Iwaya, the External Affairs Minister said that the two nations exchanged views on advancing our strategic partnership and cooperation in Indo-Pacific. In other developments, earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil. During the recently concluded ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held deliberations with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and the US. Amid Chinas aggressive posturing on maritime issues, India and the European Union (EU) have reiterated their shared commitment to promoting a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. India welcomed the European Unions increasing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region as both sides emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes. Advertisement India and the EU held their fifth Strategic Partnership Review Meeting last week in Brussels. The Indian side was led by Mr Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, while the EU side was led by Mr Simon Mordue, Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, European External Action Service (EEAS). Advertisement Both sides underlined the importance of the IndiaEU Strategic Partnership in addressing global challenges. They reiterated their shared commitment to promoting a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. India welcomed the European Unions increasing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. The two sides expressed their deep concern at the situation in the Middle East/West Asia and underlined the need for early restoration of peace and stability. The discussions focussed on a broad range of topics, including economic security, green transition, defence and security cooperation, migration, mobility, EU-India Connectivity Partnership, Global Gateway, and IMEC. Both sides also discussed furthering cooperation in the sphere of innovation, science and technology, including positive developments in the context of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC), and the opportunities to increase people-to-people contacts in education and research. The two sides also took stock of the ongoing negotiations for Free Trade Agreement, Investment Protection Agreement and Agreement on Geographical Indications and agreed on their importance. They welcomed cooperation at the multilateral level and appreciated the regular bilateral dialogue on economic issues, including on resilient supply chains in the context of the TTC. Both sides looked forward to a successful second TTC Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi in 2025. They looked forward to the next edition of the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue. India and the EU welcomed their partnership on global matters, enhanced cooperation in the multilateral system (including G20) and on humanitarian issues, including disaster risk management in third countries. Both sides unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border attacks. Both sides underlined the importance of the IndiaEU Strategic Partnership in addressing global challenges. Lebanons Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah during a call with the US President, Joe Biden, on Tuesday. A series of posts on X from Mikati described the proposal as a fundamental step towards restoring calm and stability in Lebanon and enabling displaced persons to return to their towns and cities. Advertisement He thanked the US and France for their involvement, and reiterated his governments commitment to strengthen the armys presence in the south. Advertisement Mikati said: While I value the joint efforts of the United States and France in reaching this understanding, I reaffirm the governments commitment to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, enhancing the presence of the Lebanese Army in the South, and cooperating with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has described the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire to come into effect on Wednesday as very encouraging news. She said the news was encouraging first and foremost for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting. Lebanon will have an opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollahs reduced influence, she posted on X. The UKs Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, calling for the deal to be turned into a lasting political solution. Starmer in a statement said: Todays long overdue ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah will provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed. The Prime Minister further added that now this deal must be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild. He said the UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence to achieve a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East, adding: We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid. Israels President, Issac Herzog, has thanked Joe Biden and his administration for its unwavering support of Israel and for tirelessly working to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Herzog wrote on X: The Israeli security cabinets decision to approve the deal is correct and important, adding that it must be clear the state of Israel will defend its citizens, any place, anyway. French President Emmanuel Macron said that a ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Lebanon should open the path for an ending of the war in Gaza. This agreement should open the path for a ceasefire too long awaited with regards to the incomparable suffering of the population in Gaza, Macron said in a video posted on X. He added that it shows that only political courage can provide everyone in the Middle East long-term peace and stability. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres said he hopes that this agreement can put an end to the violence, destruction, and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing. Separately, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called the agreement a pivotal moment to restore safety and security for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. This agreement marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), she said in a statement. The Security Council resolution, adopted in the aftermath of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, calls for a cessation of hostilities as well as respect for the Blue Line of separation between Israeli and Lebanese armed forces. Hennis-Plasschaert stressed that selective adherence to the resolution would no longer suffice. The 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will go into effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The US is expected to be a key security guarantor of the deal. American troops will not be committed to the Israel-Lebanon border but the US, France, and its allies will provide the necessary assistance to ensure the deal is implemented fully and effectively, President Joe Biden said. Under the deals terms, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border. During a 60-day transition phase, the Lebanese army will deploy to the buffer border zone alongside the existing UN peacekeeping force. Longstanding border disputes will be discussed after the 60-day withdrawal period. Importantly for Israel, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a ceasefire in Lebanon was contingent on ending the fighting in Gaza. The Israel-Hezbollah deal will not have any direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have not led to a deal. Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza, Biden said during his address on Tuesday. Asked if he would be able to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza before leaving office, Biden crossed his fingers and replied: I think so. I hope so. Im praying. As the Israeli security cabinet voted in favour of a ceasefire deal to end the fighting with the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that there are three main reasons he wants a truce now. an Israeli official told the media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that there are three main reasons he wants a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon now. Advertisement With the United States full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack, Netanyahu noted. Advertisement The first reason is to focus on the Iranian threat, and I wont expand on that. The second reason is to give our forces a breather and replenish stocks. And I say it openly, it is no secret that there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. These delays will be resolved soon. We will receive supplies of advanced weaponry that will keep our soldiers safe and give us more strike force to complete our mission. And the third reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages, Netanyahu said. The Israeli PMs speech was released after an Israeli official told CNN the security cabinet had approved a ceasefire deal. Netanyahu also said the duration of a ceasefire would depend on what happens in Lebanon. He added that Israel would resume attacks if Hezbollah violated the agreement by rearming, digging tunnels, launching rockets, or rebuilding its infrastructure near the Israeli border. With the United States full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action, he said. 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. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he had a good call with President-elect Donald Trump following the incoming US leaders announcement that he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods coming from Canada when he takes office. I had a good call with Donald Trump last night again, Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday as reported by BBC Advertisement We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth. Advertisement We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together, he continued. This is something that we can do, laying out the facts, moving forward in constructive ways, Trudeau said. Trudeau signaled a sense of optimism in working with Trump, even though the Canadian official acknowledged that the relationship between the two countries takes work, BBC reported. This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and thats what well do, Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday. He and Trump spoke over the phone on Monday evening, after the President-elect announced the proposed tariffs in a post on Truth Social. The tariff proposal made by Trump has been met with concern from Canadian officials. Doug Ford, the premier of the province of Ontario, described it as devastating. Trump also said he would impose a similar tariff on Mexico and an extra 10 per cent on goods coming from China. Trudeau sought to reassure Canadians and will hold a meeting on Wednesday with Canadian provincial and territorial leaders to discuss how to move forward. The 10-minute call was a good conversation, a Canadian official told the BBC. The two leaders discussed trade and border security, the official said, with Trudeau pointing out that the number of migrants crossing the Canadian border was much smaller compared to the US-Mexico border. Trudeau said he also immediately reached out to Ford, Ontarios premier, to schedule a meeting between the Prime Minister and Canadian premiers. In a public statement, Canadian Ministers emphasised their work on the shared border on which they said they placed the highest priority. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc also used their statement to stress the importance of the US-Canada trading partnership, saying 60 per cent of last years US crude oil imports originated in Canada. Americas northern neighbour accounted for some $437 billion (347 billion) of US imports in 2022 and was the largest market for US exports in the same year, according to US data. The 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada would be signed straight after he took office on January 20, 2025, Trump said on Monday. He described the move as an effort to get the three other countries to toughen up on the illegal flow to the US of people and drugs, specifically fentanyl. Canadas Industry Minister Francois Philippe Champagne noted on Tuesday that the tariffs will have a serious effect on the US economy, and particularly the price of energy for Americans. Ford said the proposed tariff would be devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the US. He called on the government to take the situation at our border seriously. Ford was echoed by the premiers of Quebec and British Columbia, while a post on the X account of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith acknowledged that Trump had valid concerns related to illegal activities at our shared border. The Canadian American Business Council (CABC) said we strongly oppose the proposed tariff, which the council said would undermine a North American trade agreement between Canada, the US, and Mexico that was renegotiated under Trumps first term. The CABC statement added that the move would harm businesses on both sides of the border and erode the economic and geopolitical strength of North America. Tariff hikes touted by Trump on the election trail could be a negotiating strategy, it has previously been suggested by the man picked by the US President-elect to be his new US Treasury secretary. Trumps new border tsar Tom Homan has called the northern border an extreme national security vulnerability. He has alleged that Canada is being used as a path to enter the US by people from countries deemed to sponsor terrorism. Illegal crossings from Canada to the US are vastly outnumbered by the number that take place from Mexico, another country targeted by Trumps planned tariffs. But there appears to have been a surge. One recent high-profile trial in the US shed light on smuggling operations that help foreign nationals move to North America unlawfully. A jury in the US state of Minnesota found two men guilty of helping bring an Indian family from Canada to the US in January 2022, leading to their deaths. Mark Miller, Canadas Immigration Minister, said on Tuesday that the US and Canada have a shared interest in making sure the border is manageable and controlled. He added Canada is looking at a number of measures, including deploying additional resources and bolstering the number of agents to patrol the border. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) CHENGDU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- During his 35 years at Beijing Zoo, Zhang Chenglin viewed giant pandas primarily as animals needing his services as a vet. However, his perspective changed on Tuesday at the Global Panda Partners 2024 (GPP) conference, when he realized the extent to which pandas have become both cultural icons and symbols of biodiversity. "The giant pandas have been serving as a bond that links all humanity in the world for cultural exchanges and dialogue," said Zhang, who has now retired from his post as deputy director of the zoo. The GPP, an academic, open and international platform for dialogue and exchange aimed at building consensus and jointly planning the construction of global ecological civilization, opened on Tuesday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Themed "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature," the conference brings together government agencies, professionals and the general public as panda partners, drawing more than 380 attendees from more than 30 countries and regions. Guests communicate during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Participants from various sectors discussed topics such as ecological civilization, panda culture and international cultural tourism, jointly exploring a scientific path that prioritizes ecology and pursues green development. The opening ceremony featured the release of a think-tank report on ecological civilization construction co-authored by a national high-level think tank affiliated with Xinhua, China's state news agency, and another research institution. The event is hosted by Xinhua News Agency Sichuan Branch, Xinhua News Agency News and Information Center, China Wildlife Conservation Association and Chengdu Media Group. Former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said that Chinese leadership has stressed the relationship between people and nature and has called for efforts to create a community of life for man and nature. "This echoed profoundly with the concept of sustainable development embodied in the UN Agenda 2030, in whose implementation China is emerging as a leader," she said. "Creating harmony between humans and nature is an ongoing journey, requiring collaborative efforts from individuals, communities, industries and governments," she added. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) In a video speech at the opening ceremony, Shahbaz Khan, director and representative to the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, said the giant panda is an enduring symbol of balance and resilience, which reminds people of the delicate relationship between humanity and nature. "The panda reminds us of the need for balance, not only in nature but also in the ways we engage with one another and our planet," Khan said, looking forward to continuing UNESCO's collaboration with China and other partners. "Together, we can advance our shared vision of harmony between humanity and nature," he said. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China is poised to collect Martian samples and return them to Earth around 2031, with its foremost scientific goal being the search for life signatures on the red planet, according to the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory on Wednesday. China plans to carry out its Tianwen-3 mission through two launches around 2028. The mission aims to land, collect samples and return them in one integrated operation, with the landing site also serving as the sampling location. The lab scientists, including the mission's chief scientist Hou Zengqian and its chief designer Liu Jizhong, outlined their exploration strategy in a brief article published in the November's edition of journal National Science Review. Their strategy includes considerations such as "where to sample," "what to choose", "how to sample," and "how to utilize" the collected materials. They have proposed 86 potential landing sites, primarily concentrated in the ancient Chryse Planitia region and Utopia Planitia region, which encompass diverse geological environments, such as ancient coastlines, deltas, ancient lakes and canyon systems, providing favorable conditions for the origin and preservation of potential ancient life, according to the article. The team vowed to investigate how to identify, where to find and how to preserve biosignatures, utilizing both surface and drilling sampling techniques. They also highlighted in the article the necessity of developing new instruments specifically designed for the detection of biosignatures. The Tianwen-3 mission will carry payloads developed through international cooperation, and China will collaborate with scientists from around the world to conduct joint research on Mars samples and detection data. The country also plans to probe the Jovian system to investigate Jupiter's and its moons' evolutionary history during its Tianwen-4 mission. Job Title: Finance Manager Organisation: Jhpiego Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About Organisation: Jhpiego is an international non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. The group was founded in 1973 and initially called the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynaecology and Obstetrics, but is now referred to simply as Jhpiego. About USAID Project: Jhpiego is implementing a five-year Urban Health Activity in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Activity aims to strengthen urban health systems and improve equitable health outcomes among all urban dwellers by working with districts, municipalities, and the Kampala Capital City Authority to provide quality primary healthcare services. It also focuses on optimizing available resources and enhancing private sector capacity to ensure sustainable improvements in health outcomes and a more resilient urban healthcare system. The Activity will address poor quality of care, congestion in public health facilities, uncoordinated referral system, weak community and surveillance structures, limited private sector capacity, and gaps in enabling environment results in poor health outcomes. The projects key expected results include the following: improved access to and use of quality, maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH), nutrition, and malaria services and improved disease outbreak response. Job Summary: The Senior Finance and Administration Manager will oversee financial, and administration for Jhpiego Uganda, with a focus on the USAID Uganda Urban Health Activity (UUHA). This role is crucial for ensuring efficient operations in the Jhpiego Uganda Country Office, handling day-to-day financial activities such as budgeting, financial reporting, and internal controls to uphold the integrity of Jhpiegos financial processes. The role involves ensuring financial oversight and effective grant management, adhering to USAID regulations, cost share documentation and reporting, and promoting optimal resource allocation to achieve project goals. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Manage the effective utilization of Jhpiegos financial management system to ensure accurate financial tracking and reporting and ensure compliance with Jhpiego policies, donor and legal requirements. Provide supervision, guidance and mentorship of staff and ensure team spirit within the finance team. Also work with other departments like administration to ensure optimum support and linkages. Train and mentor, the finance team and program staff as needed. Review and implement policies, procedures and systems to ensure effective internal controls are in place and are adhered to. Provide financial and accounting technical advice to all Jhpiego programs for effective program implementation. Review and monitor the progress of budgets for partner sub-agreements and recipient monthly financial reports. Review and monitor the financial records of implementing partners with support of the grants manager. Assist program staff to develop work plans and annual operational budgets for programs and the office costs. Collaborate with internal and external auditors and ensure prompt implementation of their recommendations. Prepare monthly, quarterly and/or annual management and donor reports. Perform review processes of financial documents such as payroll, vouchers, invoices, delivery notes, purchase orders and other documents to ensure the completeness, accuracy, and validity of financial data as per Delegation of Authority. Monitor disbursement of funds from the project bank account(s) to ensure compliance with Jhpiegos financial policies and procedures. Review of QuickBooks monthly financial reports and any other reports before submission to the Finance and Admin Director. Develop proposal budgets for business development for review by the Finance and Admin Director in accordance with donor requirements. Preparation of burn rates (BVA) and review of program expenditure with respective program managers monthly. Assume other duties as assigned. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: A masters degree in business administration, Accounting, Finance, or equivalent. Qualified accountant with CPA (U) (required). Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in financial management with at least 3 years in a senior management position in a reputable INGO or development agency. Ability to communicate both orally and in writing and to confidently engage with high-ranking government and donor partners. Trustworthy and track record of impeccable integrity. Conversant with USAID financial guidelines/regulations. Computer literacy, particularly working knowledge of QuickBooks and MS office. How to Apply: All candidates who wish to join Jhpiego should apply online at the link below. Click Here For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Date Posted 2024-11-26T20:11 Valid Through 2024-12-15T00:00 Employment Type FULL_TIME Hiring Organization Jhpiego Job Location Kampala, Kampala, Kampala , 0256, Uganda Related Jobs Job Title: Agriculture Specialist Organisation: World Bank Group (WBG) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About the Company: The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The World Bank provides low-interest loans, zero to low-interest credits, and grants to developing countries. These support a wide array of investments in such areas as education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management. Some of our projects are co-financed with governments, other multilateral institutions, commercial banks, export credit agencies, and private sector investors. Key Duties and Responsibilities: The primary responsibility of the Agriculture Specialist/Economist will be to provide technical and strategic support for the development and implementation of the Agriculture GPs work program in Uganda. The Agriculture Specialist/Economist will work closely with the units coordinator of the AGF portfolio in Uganda with the delivery of the work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the government, private sector, civil society and development partners. In particular, the Agriculture Specialist will: Lead activities as core team member, both in agriculture and multi-sectoral operations, assuring quality in all stages of the project cycle; Serve as an advisor to colleagues who are themselves Task Team Leaders, providing them with advice and support; Work with the Sector Leader and staff of the Agriculture and Food GP and other GPs to identify opportunities for addressing agricultural issues in Uganda as part of the World Banks Country Partnership Framework, country policy dialogue, sector investment operations, budget support operations, and other multi-sectoral projects; Identify innovative opportunities or ways to address existing needs in the agricultural and food sector, including bringing in experience from other countries; Remain current with relevant major pieces of analytical work in the profession. Lead or participate in strategic analytical work in Uganda and/or on a sub-regional level, and work with teams engaged in analytical work relevant to the Agriculture and Food GPs work program in Uganda; Represent the World Bank in fora involving the community of development partners. Provide support, either explicit or implicit, to the work of the development partners in the sector; As necessary, represent the World Bank and the Agriculture and Food GPs management at events with sectoral focus that take place in country and in the region; Develop strong client relations and partnerships, including with the International Finance Corporation, on operational matters and policy dialogue; Work with other Global Practices in representing Uganda specific issues in regional and corporate strategies; Maintain a high level and quality of engagement and dialogue with key stakeholders, including government, civil society, private sector and research/academic community on strategic and policy issues concerning agriculture and food security in Uganda. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: Masters, MBA or PhD in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Finance, Agricultural Sciences, or in a relevant discipline; At least five years of experience on agricultural development issues; Strong technical and analytical skills in the range of issues of relevance to the agriculture and food sector; Solid understanding of Ugandas governmental institutions and policies; Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving and team skills with ability to find balanced, pragmatic and implementable solutions also in a multi-disciplinary context; High level of energy, ability to work under pressure, and willingness to travel; Excellent communication skills in English, including the ability to present complex issues to World Bank management and senior Government representatives, as well as to non-specialist audiences; Previous exposure to World Bank operations would be a plus; Willingness to travel extensively in country, and in the Africa region, is vital, including to remote rural areas. NB: The World Bank is committed to achieving diversity of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. How to Apply: All suitably qualified candidates are encouraged to apply online at the link below Click Here Deadline: 11th December 2024 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Date Posted 2024-11-26T20:29 Valid Through 2024-12-12T00:00 Employment Type FULL_TIME Hiring Organization World Bank Job Location Kampala, Kampala, Kampala , 0256, Uganda Related Jobs Meets investors and British MPs of Indian origin Informs them about investment possibilities in Madhya Pradesh Bhopal: 25 November 2024 Directorate of Public Relations Government of Madhya Pradesh News CMs UK visit Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has declared 2025 as the Year of Industry and Employment to promote industrial development in Madhya Pradesh. Under this initiative, the biennial flagship event, Invest Madhya Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2025, will be organized in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh in February 2025. To promote the event and attract investors, interactive sessions on investment opportunities are being organized at national and international levels. After successful regional industry conferences across the state and interactive sessions in major cities across the country including Mumbai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Kolkata, the Madhya Pradesh government has started a six-day journey to the United Kingdom and Germany to promote the industrial development of the state and attract foreign investment. The objective of this visit is to showcase the immense potential of Madhya Pradesh in sectors like renewable energy, automobiles, electric vehicles, education, and food processing by promoting cooperation with local leaders and investors. The Madhya Pradesh delegation led by Chief Minister Dr. Yadav includes a high-level team, which includes Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Rajesh Rajoura, Additional Chief Secretary Shri Sanjay Dubey, Principal Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Shri Raghavendra Kumar Singh, Public Relations Commissioner Dr. Sudam Khade and Managing Director of MP Industrial Development Corporation Limited Shri Chandramouli Shukla. On their arrival in London on the first day, Chief Minister Dr Yadav was warmly welcomed by Indian High Commissioner Shri Vikram Doraiswami and the Indian diaspora. Expressing his gratitude, the Chief Minister said, It is a privilege to start my first international visit as Chief Minister from the UK. I thank the High Commission team for their guidance and support in making this visit highly impactful. On the second day, Chief Minister Dr Yadav met industrialists, and representatives of the British Parliament and visited major infrastructure projects like Kings Cross. Chief Minister Dr. Yadavs UK visit is turning out to be an important milestone with a prestigious welcome ceremony at the British Parliament, highlighting the growing strategic partnership between Madhya Pradesh and the United Kingdom. Baroness Verma, President of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on India (Trade and Investment), welcomed the Chief Minister and his delegation to Westminster. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav had a fruitful discussion with Baroness Verma about strengthening economic relations between Madhya Pradesh and the United Kingdom. The visit included an extensive tour of the historic Parliament House, with exclusive access to both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. This parliamentary visit symbolizes the deep democratic values shared by both countries and sets a positive tone for future cooperation in trade and investment. The presence of the delegation in the British Parliament underlines the importance of state-level diplomacy in strengthening the broader India-UK partnership. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav visited the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, Westminster, and paid floral tributes. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said, Our Regional Industry Conclave and Global Investors Summit across India have been a tremendous success, with global investors showing keen interest in the development of Madhya Pradesh. To facilitate this, I am committed to bridging the gap and we are dedicated to creating a smoother path for international cooperation. We align our vision with Mahatma Gandhis ideals of unity and progress for all. The Government of Madhya Pradesh hosted a distinguished lunch, where Chief Minister Dr. Yadav shared the states vision for development and sustainability. He highlighted Madhya Pradeshs commitment to green energy while emphasizing its leadership in Indias renewable energy revolution. Focusing on ease of doing business, the state is creating a conducive environment for growth, which offers unique opportunities in sectors such as tourism, agri-business, and agri-technology. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also shared that Madhya Pradesh is at the forefront of Indias development, combining sustainable development with immense potential in sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy and tourism. After lunch, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav visited Kings Cross Station in London, a famous railway hub known for its historic architecture and modern transportation. Famous as Platform 9 from the Harry Potter films, the station serves as a major connection point for major routes including London St. Pancras and Eurostar. Built in 1852, Kings Cross is a large British railway station which was renovated in 2012. This is an example of smart transportation and building technology. This station connects many major cities in Europe. The visit highlights the potential benefits for Madhya Pradesh, including the inspiration for the development of modern transport networks and passenger amenities in cities such as Bhopal, Indore, and Jabalpur. There is also potential to integrate diverse transportation systems and develop commercial hubs. The visit highlights the opportunities for Madhya Pradesh to adopt advanced urban development strategies, inspired by Kings Cross Station. Interaction with Indian expatriates and Friends of MP in U.K. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav interacted with Indian expatriates in the UK and Friends of MP to outline the governments vision and initiatives to promote investment and innovation for sustainable development in Madhya Pradesh. He also extended a warm invitation to the United Kingdom to join Madhya Pradesh as a partner country for the upcoming Global Investors Summit to be held in Bhopal in February 2025. This Global Investors Summit will serve as a platform for international collaboration, showcasing the states immense potential for investment and innovation. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also invited prominent investors, policymakers, members of the Indian diaspora, and the Indian High Commission. He expected support from the Indian High Commission to promote the Global Investors Summit 2025 to establish Madhya Pradesh as a major investment destination for British businesses. After three days of various interactive sessions, one-to-one meetings, and industry visits in Britain, the Madhya Pradesh delegation led by the Chief Minister will visit Germany on November 27, after touring Munich and Stuttgart. With this visit, the Government of Madhya Pradesh is committed to pursue industrial development through meaningful partnerships. By engaging with international stakeholders, the state aims to strengthen its position as a global hub for innovation and business, leading to the Vikasit Bharat Vikasit Madhya Pradesh. No: 5503e SS/Alune Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is betting big on the Indian electric mobility segment and launched ACTIVA e: and QC1 in the electric vehicle segment nationally during an event in Bengaluru. This is interestingly its first-ever EV launch in India for which bookings will begin on January 1, 2025, and deliveries will commence from February 2025 onwards. However, Honda refused to declare the pricing of the two models. Initially, HMSI outlined a capacity to manufacture 1 lakh units of EV two-wheelers in India. Both these electric scooters will be sold via HMSIs existing selected dealer network. The ACTIVA e: will be available in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru with deliveries starting from February 2025 onwards. The QC1 will be initially available in select cities from February 2025 onwards. Both the EV models will be manufactured at HMSIs Narsapura plant near Bengaluru. These models will be offered with 3-year or 50,000 km warranty along with three free services for the first year. Honda will also be providing free roadside assistance for the first year. As we enter the electric mobility space in India with the introduction of ACTIVA e and QC1 it reassures our commitment to sustainable mobility in the country. It is in line with Hondas global Triple Action to ZERO concept to realize carbon neutrality by 2050, which focuses on three areas: carbon neutrality, clean energy, and resource circulation. With our EV roadmap now in the execution phase, HMSI is committed to build one of Indias best EV ecosystems, remarked Tsutsumu Otani, Managing Director, President and CEO, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India during the event in Bengaluru. The company wants to tap the growing EV market with these two new models. Activa is our flagship product in India and has a dominant market share in the country. With ACTIVA es swappable battery technology and QC1s fixed battery set-up we aim to meet the diverse needs of our customers. Moreover, to ensure the highest level of safety for our technicians and the vehicle, we are introducing industry-first insulated tools designed specifically for the servicing of electric vehicles, said Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. Honda QC1 Mathur added that the company aims to set up around 500 battery swapping stations across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. He added that the two wheeler EV market is one of the biggest in the world and had huge potential for further growth. Honda ACTIVA e: is equipped with pristine all-LED headlight has a dual-tone seat, 12-inch diamond cut alloy wheels, flat footboard and a grabrail. Available in two variants ACTIVA e: and ACTIVA e: Honda RoadSync Duo along with five colours and will be offered in Pearl Shallow Blue, Pearl Misty White, Pearl Serenity Blue, Matt Foggy Silver Metallic and Pearl Igneous Black. It also has a 7.0-inch TFT screen that has real-time connectivity with Honda RoadSync Duo app, allowing riders to stay connected and updated. The in vehicle infotainment system supports navigation and also gets day and night modes which can optimize screens brightness and readability as per ambient light automatically. The TFT screen can be controlled by using toggle switches placed on the handlebar. The ACTIVA e: also comes with Hondas H-Smart key that gets features like Smart Find, Smart Safe, Smart Unlock and Smart Start. The ACTIVA e: also has swappable battery technology, allowing for a quick recharge to keep riders on the go. It is equipped with Honda Mobile Power Pack e: which are swappable batteries developed and maintained by Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt. Ltd. The ACTIVA e: has two such swappable batteries, each of 1.5 kWh capacity, and it is tested to offer a range of 102 km on a full charge. The swappable batteries can be exchanged with the help of designated Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: (BeX swapping stations) planned across the city for a seamless experience. It is already live in Bengaluru and Delhi and will be soon started in Mumbai as well. Besides this ACTIVA e also has an in-house developed permanent magnet synchronous electric motor that delivers 6 kW of peak power and 22 Nm of torque. It can go from 0 to 60 km/h in 7.3 seconds and has a top speed of 80 km/h. The ACTIVA e: has three riding modes, namely Econ, Standard and Sport. On the other hand Honda QC1 is being offered in five colour options including Pearl Serenity Blue, Pearl Misty White, Matt Foggy Silver Metallic, Pearl Igneous Black, and Pearl Shallow Blue. This electric scooter also has rear-view mirrors, a 12-inch front alloy wheel, a grab rail. The Honda QC1 also has a 1.5 kWh fixed battery pack that has been tested to provide a range of 80 km on a single charge. It will have a 330-watt off-board home charger that comes with an auto-cut technology for a safe and efficient charging process. Honda ACTIVA e It can be charged from 0 to 80 percent in 4 hours 30 minutes where as a full juice up will take 6 hours and 50 minutes. The QC1 has an in wheel electric motor that has a peak power rating of 1.8 kW and maximum torque of 77 Nm. It will have a top speed of 50 km/h. There are also two riding modes, Standard and Econ, that will adjust power and efficiency based on the riders preference. The Honda QC1 also has a 5.0-inch all-info LCD display that will provide all the vehicle information at one glance. It will also have a USB Type-C outlet to charge personal mobile devices on the go, along with a 26-litre under-seat storage box. The US deployed the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota at Naval Base Guam, a naval installation located on Apra Harbor, occupying the Orote Peninsula. The move part of the strategic laydown plan of the US for naval forces in the Indo-Pacific regionhas been billed as a power posture amid growing tensions with China. The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783) arrived to its new homeport of Naval Base Guam, Nov. 26, as part of the U.S. Navys strategic laydown plan for naval forces in the Indo-Pacific region. Read more: https://t.co/hpLwf7Y4ir pic.twitter.com/3Z6WFEjFED U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) November 26, 2024 Guam, the westernmost US territory in the Pacific and is closer to major Asian cities, including Beijing, plays a major role in the US military strategy and geopolitical positioning in the Indo-Pacific region. It serves as a strategic outpost in the Western Pacific, playing a crucial role in maintaining stability across the region. The US Navy said the security environment in the Indo-Pacific requires that the US Navy stations the most capable units forward. ALSO READ: US moves to dominate Indo-Pacific region as USS Preble armed with laser tech leaves for Japan deployment The presence of the new submarine will help the US enhance deterrence in the region. USS Minnesota (SSN 783) Virginia-class Block II attack submarine coming into new homeport of Guam - first Virginia-class to be forward deployed to Guam - November 26, 2024 #ussminnesota #ssn783 SRC: FB- Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 pic.twitter.com/Z2VAMFWQm3 WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) November 26, 2024 Virginia-class submarines are the US Navys next-generation attack submarines and are set to replace the aging Los Angeles-class submarines. The first Virginia-class fast-attack submarine to be forward deployed to Guam, USS Minnesota joins four Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines forward deployed in the Pacific. Capable of supporting various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, the presence of the submarine will further enhance the US Navy's operational capabilities and further strengthen deterrence efforts throughout the Indo-Pacific. READ MORE: UK greenlights sixth-generation fighter jet. Is this the future of air warfare? "This posture allows flexibility for maritime and joint force operations, with forward-deployed units ready to rapidly respond to deter aggression and promote a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," the Navy said in a statement. Hailed as the apex predators of the sea, Guams fast-attack submarines serve as the tip of the spear, helping to reaffirm the submarine forces forward-deployed presence in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, the US Navy added. On Thursday, news started circulating that soon-to-be-wed Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala sold streaming rights for their wedding to an OTT platform. According to these reports, it was sold for a whopping Rs 50 crore to Netflix. However, a source close to the couple told the Hindustan Times that these claims are false. "There is absolutely no truth to these reports. The rumours around selling their wedding film is purely speculative and far from any truth." The couple is set to marry on December 4 in Hyderabad, surrounded by close family and friends. The ceremony will take place at Annapurna Studios, which was founded by Naga Chaitanya's grandfather. Chaitanya, 38, and Sobhita, 32, were rumoured to have been dating since 2022 after they were spotted on vacation in Europe. The actors got engaged on August 8, confirmed by Chaitanya's father and Telugu superstar, Nagarjuna. "Congratulations to the happy couple! Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. God bless, the Manmadhudu actor wrote on X (formerly Twitter). A haldi ceremony for Sobhita was conducted in late October, in Visakhapatnam. Chaitanya will be seen next, alongside Sai Pallavi, in Chandoo Mondeti's Thandel, scheduled for a 2025 release. Meanwhile, Sobhita played a supporting role in Dev Patel's Monkey Man, and a lead role in Hindi film Love, Sitara. Actor Dhanush has moved Madras High Court to file a lawsuit against Nayanthara and Vignesh Sivan for alleged copyright infringement. The case pertains to use of visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the actress's Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale. The 2015 movie, starring Nayanthara in the lead, was produced by Dhanush's production house Wunderbar Films. Wunderbar Films sought the bench's approval to prosecute Netflix liked company Los Gatos Production Services India LLP within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. Netflix reports its content investments in India through Mumbai-based Los Gatos. The bench, presided over by Justice Abdul Quddhose, allowed Wunderbar's request, pointing out that other parties Nayanthara, Sivan and their Rowdy Pictures Pvt Ltd are located under the high court's jurisdiction. This comes more a week after Nayanthara posted an open letter, accusing Dhanush of harbouring vengeance against her. Dhanush reportedly sought damages worth Rs 10 crore ahead of the release of the Netflix documentary for a three-second behind-the-scenes footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. Nayanthara said Naanum Rowdy Dhaan was significant to her as she fell in love with Vignesh Sivan on the sets of the film, following which they tied the knot in June 2022. The actress earlier thanked the producers who issued no-objection certificates to use the footage from their films in her Netflix documentary. She named Shah Rukh Khan, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, AR Murugadoss in her statement. "The most precious thing I've earned in these 20 years of my career is the friendships, love and respect I've got from the ones I've worked with," she wrote. The Netflix documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale, was released on November 18. It shows her journey from her hometown in Kerala's Thiruvalla and how she entered the Malayalam film industry and later established her career in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. Actor Dhanush K. Rajas Wunderbar Films has filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court against lady superstar Nayanthara Kurian, her husband Vignesh Shivan, his Rowdy Pictures Private Limited, Tarc Studios LLP and Los Gatos Production Services India LLP for using visuals from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her Netflix documentary titled Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. In a separate application, Sreyas Srinivasan, the director of Wunderbar Films Private Ltd, has also pleaded the court to grant approval to sue Mumbai-based Los Gatos within the territorial jurisdiction of the Madras HC. Los Gatos is the unit of Netflix through which the OTT platform reports its content investment in India. The application was filed through advocates Gautam S. Raman, Maithreyi Canthaswamy Sharma and three others. As the petition came up for hearing on Wednesday before Justice Abdul Quddhose. Dhanushs Wunderbar Films represented by senior counsel P.S. Raman, sought the courts permission to sue Netflix. Senior counsels Sathish Parasaran and R. Parthasarathy who represented Nayanthara and Netflix opposed it. The judge on hearing the matter, without commenting on the primary case, allowed the application for leave. The legal dispute between Nayanthara and Dhanush came to light when the actress wrote an open letter accusing the actor-producer of sabotaging her Netflix documentary, saying he was holding personal grudge against her and her partner. The letter was posted on her official Instagram page a day before the release of her doc-drama in Netflix. In the letter she said that she had sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Dhanush and his production house to use Behind The Scenes (BTS) visuals and some of the songs from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan for the docu-drama Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. It was during the shoot of this 2015 film that both Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan came together and their love blossomed. In the open letter she said that she would respond to Dhanushs notice by legal means, which she is ought to do now after the actor-producer had approached the court. She also said that there is a moral side to their conflict and it will be defended in the court of god. She further alleged that Dhanushs ego was hurt after Naanum Rowdy Dhaan became a super hit and that his displeasure over the films success was apparent. The docu-drama released on Netflix on November 18 with three-second visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. In the affidavit filed before the Madras High Court, Sreyas Srinivasan said to the utter shock and dismay of Wunderbar Films, after nearly 10 years of the film being released and also the BTS visuals uploaded by the their official YouTube channel, Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan have included the BTS in the documentary. The use of the BTS in the documentary trailer which was released on 09.11.2024 without obtaining prior permission and consent of the applicant thereby grossly infringing upon the applicants copyrights, he said. The affidavit also noted that Nayanthara and Vignesh had replied to the legal notice through their counsel saying the BTS from from the film is not owned by Wunderbar Films as the same belonged to persons not commissioned by Dhanush to shoot the BTS footage and the same was personal in nature. The Netflix docu-drama is a never seen before glimpse into the lady super stars life, revealing about her family since her childhood, how she and her partner Vignesh Sivan got together and her journey in cinema. As Maharashtra awaits the announcement of its next Chief Minister, the BJP has come forward to clear its stance on the Bihar-model governance in Maharashtra, a demand put forth by its ally Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena, a coalition partner of Mahayuti, had called for a Bihar-model governance in the state which will enable Eknath Shinde to stay at the helm. In Bihar, where BJP and JD(U) are allies, the saffron party gave the top post to JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. However, the party has no intention of doing the same in Maharashtra. According to BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla, the BJP followed that pattern in Bihar because it had given Nitish Kumar the word ahead of the elections. "In Bihar, BJP had given a commitment to make Nitish Kumar the CM ahead of elections and honoured it. In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership," he told The Indian Express. Shukla added that the party has given no such commitment to Shiv Sena that Shinde will continue as the chief minister. Instead, the BJP maintained that the chief minister would be decided based on the electoral outcome. It was Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske who first raised the possibility of replicating the Bihar model in the state. Mhaske said the party was confident that Shinde would continue as the chief Minister as the stunning victory was the result of his leadership. However, the BJP leadership was not thrilled by the Shiv Sena's pressure tactic and is insistent on making Devendra Fadnavis the Chief Minister, the announcement of which is expected soon. The party has also informed Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar of the decision. The state legislature meeting of BJP will be held in Mumbai soon and an official announcement will be made after electing the party leader. Meanwhile, reports are that the party is in no hurry to announce its chief ministerial candidate until the distribution of portfolios is finalised. This is to avoid friction among the allies. The BJP central leadership is busy with Parliament sessions and the BJP central body will appoint an observer or a team of observers who will visit Mumbai. They will meet the MLAs and senior party functionaries to finalise the cabinet formula before announcing the chief minister. On Wednesday, West Bengal's Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, spearheaded a march of BJP legislators to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata. The protest was held in response to the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in the neighbouring country on the charges of sedition. We clearly told them enough is enough. We asked them to stop the atrocities on Hindus and attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh, LoP Adhikari, who met the deputy high commissioner along with seven other BJP legislators from the border areas of West Bengal, told the press. We told the deputy high commissioner that [your country] is ruining the good relationship between India and Bangladesh, he continued. We have seen many previous governments in Bangladesh but we never saw this kind of anti-India attitude and this kind of attacks on Hindus earlier. Dhaka not thrilled by India's response to Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest: 'Our internal matter' LoP Adhikari claimed that Chinmoy Krishna Das was protesting in Bangladesh in alignment with the spirit of the 1971 Liberation War. He cautioned that if the monk was not released, the BJP would intensify its protests with larger rallies and marches across the state. The 53-year-old also announced plans to lead a BJP demonstration at the Petrapole land port in North 24 Parganas district on December 2, aiming to disrupt the movement of all goods vehicles entering Bangladesh. Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das arrest: Bangladesh responds to Indias concern; lawyer killed amid protests Earlier in the day, BJP MLAs left the West Bengal Assembly after the days proceedings. They gathered at Exide Mor near the Rabindra Sadan metro station and proceeded to march along AJC Bose Road towards Beckbagan, carrying images of Chinmoy Krishna Das and saffron flags. The march was halted approximately 100 meters from the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission. Alongside the Leader of Opposition, the BJP delegation that met with the deputy high commissioner included Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, Gaighata MLA and Matua leader Subrata Thakur, among others. Why was Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das arrested in Bangladesh? Adhikari, the Nandigram legislator, had organised protest rallies on Tuesday. He first led a march of BJP MLAs within the assembly before heading a procession of party workers and supporters in Behala, Kolkata. Visitors learn about Chinese tea products at the booth of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Visitors learn about agricultural products of Ziyang City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) Visitors learn about cultural and creative products during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Guests select cultural and creative products featuring giant panda during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Guests attend the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Members of German Burg Chinese Chorus and Chinese students perform at the opening ceremony of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Members of German Burg Chinese Chorus and Chinese students perform at the opening ceremony of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Guests watch robotic lions dancing during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a scene of the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) A visitor learns about cultural and creative products of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) A guest views a stuffed toy giant panda during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie) A guest inquires information at the booth of Ya'an City during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Guests communicate during the Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. The event opened here on Tuesday with the theme "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature." (Xinhua/Wang Xi) Now that Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde is almost out of the race for the Chief Minister's post, cracks are beginning to show in the Mahayuti coalition. Eknath Shinde, who resigned as the Chief Minister, is apparently very unhappy about being demoted that he is making his displeasure known. While speculations are that Shinde has cancelled all public meetings, Shiv Sena leaders are now coming out in the open lambasting Ajit Pawar's NCP. Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam lashed out at Ajit Pawar and the NCP, stating that it was Pawar's interference that cost Shiv Sena the top post. "Earlier, when Ajit Pawar joined Shiv Sena in 2023, it cost our people ministerial posts," Kadam told Zee 24 Hour. He added that Shiv Sena workers wanted Shinde to retain the chief minister's post. "Ajit Pawar surrendered and supported Devendra Fadnavis for the post of Chief Minister. This affected our bargaining power," Kadam said, adding that it will be difficult for Eknath Shinde to get the post of Chief Minister due to Ajit Pawar's act. However, he clarified that the grand alliance will remain intact. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar declared that he was not in the race for the chief minister. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that Shinde may not accept the post of Deputy Chief Minister, since the elections were fought in the name of Shinde. "The election was contested under the leadership of Eknath Shinde. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah believed in Eknath Shinde and fought the battle and achieved great success. Now it is in the hands of party elites where to put the tilting measure," said Ramdas Kadam. Meanwhile, RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale, a key BJP ally, has backed Devendra Fadnavis as the next Maharashtra CM and stated that Shinde should shift to the Centre as a Union minister. Athawale said since the BJP won the maximum number of seats in the 288-member Assembly, it deserves the top post. The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced by-elections for six vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and Haryana, scheduled for December 20. Notably, Jammu and Kashmir was not included in this schedule despite having four vacant seats since the dissolution of its Legislative Assembly in 2018, raising alarms about the regions absence in the Upper House. The previous Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in February 2015, coinciding with the formation of the PDP-BJP coalition government. In that election, the alliance secured three seats, Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Shamsher Singh Manhas from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The fourth seat was won by Ghulam Nabi Azad from the National Conference-Congress alliance, while Chander Mohan Sharma from the BJP lost. Since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory in 2019, these seats have remained vacant. In contrast, the upcoming by-elections will fill vacancies caused by various resignations in Andhra Pradesh (three seats), and one seat each in Odisha, West Bengal, and Haryana. However, the ongoing exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir from the electoral process highlights the extended political vacuum in the Union Territory raising concerns regarding its representation in national decision-making bodies. The NC has decided to send party president Farooq Abdullah to Rajya Sabha. Abdullah didnt contest the assembly polls held in September and October. The election was won by the NC-Congress alliance, while the BJP emerged as a strong opposition. The NC could also send one of its senior leadersSajad Kitchloo or Ajay Sadhotrafrom Jammu who lost the assembly elections. Given the number of seats the NC has won, 42, in the 90-member assembly, the party will get three and BJP one of the four Rajya Sabha seats. Congress MLA from Channapatna C.P. Yogeshwars remarks on getting all the Janata Dal-Secular legislators to quit and join the Grand Old Party has stirred a fresh row in Karnataka. Let the party assign me the task and I will empty the JDS party within 15 days The JD(S) legislators are anxious about the future of their party, Yogeshwar had claimed during an interview to a private channel. In a show of strength, the JD(S) legislators held a joint press meet in Bengaluru, on Wednesday where they cautioned the Congress party against the partyhopper and the Man behind Operation Lotus. Yogeshwar, who was in the BJP, had planned to poach 30 Congress legislators as soon as the Congress party came to power in the state in May 2023. It is better for the Congress to exercise caution in dealing with such a person, said JDLP leader Suresh Babu. Yogeshwar who defeated NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Channapatna bypolls by 26,000 votes also claimed that the JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda and his son Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy had lost their clout in Old Mysore region- the Vokkaliga heartland. Justifying his statement, Yogeshwar had stated that the regional partys survival was at stake. The JDS lost in the bypolls fought under the leadership of Kumaraswamy and Devegowda. Kumaraswamy could not ensure his sons victory. He should give up the Vokkaliga leadership to others. The people have rejected them. So, I have asked the JD(S) MLAs to join the Congress party as there is no future in the regional party. No community is backing the JD(S) today. The Devegowda familys clout in Old Mysore region is waning. Senior JD(S) MLAs are apprehensive of the partys survival and relevance, claimed Yogeshwar, hinting that the Vokkaliga community no longer supported the party just like the minorities had drifted away from the party once considered as secular and an alternative to the Congress party. Former minister H.D. Revanna said JD(S) had survived many storms. In 1989-90, I and my father (Devegowda) lost the elections and the JD(S) had won only two seats Kolar (Byregowda) and HD Kote (Venkatesh). People had written off Devegowda. But within a year, Devegowda got elected to the Parliament. In 1994, he led the party to power in the state by winning 117 seats. All of us in the family and the party have tasted defeat. But no one can destroy the party, said Revanna. If only Kumaraswamy had listened to Modi in 2004 and 2008, the political landscape of this state would have been different. He should not have heeded to me and my father, said Revanna, referring to JD(S) forming a coalition with the Congress in 2004 and withdrawing support to the coalition with BJP in 2008. Days after his shocking defeat in the Channapatna bypolls, Janata Dal-Secular candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy acknowledged his pain over the loss and expressed his determination to rise again. Nikhil, son of Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who was picked as the NDA candidate to take on the Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwar, failed to retain the seat previously held by his father. Earlier, Nikhil, an actor-turned-politician had contested and lost from Mandya in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and Ramanagara in the 2023 Assembly polls. ALSO READ | Karnataka: No one can finish our party, JDS leaders to Congress MLA Yogeshwar A day after his opponent Yogeshwar claimed to empty out the JDS party, Nikhil penned a letter to his supporters to share his thoughts on the defeat. Calling it an unexpected and disheartening defeat, Nikhil said neither the party nor he had the temperament to sit back fearing a setback. Our party has endured numerous defeats in the past, only to rise again like a phoenix through relentless struggles. In this long journey of ups and downs, I am a small traveller. The party, under the leadership of towering figures like the revered H.D. Deve Gowda, has given Karnataka several capable leaders. "This defeat has caused me pain, undeniably. But I wont deceive myself by claiming otherwise. I did not enter this election expecting to lose and fought hard. But some factors led to our loss. I am not one to seek sympathy. My past two defeats have given me inner strength and courage. I joined the JDS-BJP leaders and workers in waging a bold battle in Channapatna, said Nikhil. Acknowledging the party workers, Nikhil said he understood the deep disappointment caused to the party workers by his defeat. I know the immense effort you all put in, working day and night in Channapatna like true warriors. You visited every household, striving for my victory. Ultimately, the people gave their mandate and I humbly accept it. Victory and defeat are part of any battle. I will not retreat in fear of deceitful politics. Let us show our strength in the next election, rebuild our party and fight for the people with renewed vigor. We are on the side of truth. Satyameva Jayate - is not just a slogan for usit is our guiding principle, said Nikhil, who also slammed Yogeshwar for his remarks. Ironically, even the victors seem restless. There is neither joy nor sincerity on their faces during the celebrations. They are preoccupied with mocking the defeated candidates and belittling the leaders of the opposite party. Their behaviour reflects a profound sense of insecurity and guilt, showing that it was not a victory of truth but one haunted by a guilty conscience, taunted Nikhil. He is consumed by undermining the opposition and hurling insults at leaders instead of dedicating his win to the people of the constituency. Such conduct only diminishes the dignity of their victory. In my defeat, I did not spew venom against them, nor will I let such bitterness take root in me, he added. Calling Yogeshwars remarks as arrogance and boastful Nikhil said his claims of emptying the JDS in just 15 days shows moral decay. Does he (Yogeshwar) think our MLAs are mere commodities to be bought in the market or sheep to be auctioned at a slaughterhouse? Elected representatives, chosen by the people, are being treated as tradable objects. Is this the state of democracy in Karnataka today? Their party MPs take oath on the Constitution, read out the Preamble, and yet openly talk about poaching legislators. Does this align with the ideals of Dr B.R. Ambedkars Constitution? They are intoxicated by victory and arrogance. Our MLAs are bound to the party and the family by a relationship that is deep and it is not just a political affiliation. Our leaders and legislators share an emotional bond. Our MLAs are not political opportunists who switch sides for self-interest or monetary gain. We are not afraid of people who dont mind betraying their supporters and their party for the sake of power, ridiculed Nikhil, referring to Yogeshwar switching over from the BJP to the Congress to contest the bypolls. Alleging the ruling Congress indulged in misuse of power and malpractice, Nikhil wondered if there should be a moment of introspection amidst all the victory celebrations. They deposited Rs 4,000 from the Gruha Lakshmi scheme into the women voters accounts just hours before voting. Is misusing government schemes for electoral purposes ethical? Karnatakas finances are shrinking due to misuse of taxpayers money for political gains. People of Maharashtra have rejected such gross misuse by the government and people of Karnataka will soon follow suit, said Nikhil. A group of Kashmiri Pandits has registered a housing society in Srinagar, seeking government land at nominal rates to facilitate their permanent resettlement in Kashmir. The initiative, the first of its kind in over three decades, reflects the community's frustration with delays in rehabilitation plans by successive governments. The Displaced Kashmiri Residents Housing Cooperative in Srinagar has been registered with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Jammu and Kashmir. The society comprises 11 Kashmiri Pandits and two Sikhs, all of whom fled the valley in 1989 due to militancy. Our goal is to integrate with the local Muslim population rather than live in exclusive townships, Satish Mahaldar, secretary of the housing society told THE WEEK. We want repatriation, not segregation. Mahaldar said they have been making efforts to return to Kashmir for some time and that separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also supported them. Mirwaiz sahab supported our efforts. He wants Kashmiri Pandits to return to their roots, he added. In 2019, the community submitted a list of 419 families willing to return to the valley, but no progress has been made since then. Many Pandits sold their ancestral properties under duress in the 1990s and migrated to different parts of the country, mainly Jammu and Delhi. Mahaldar said they want the government to provide them with land at nominal rates for constructing dwellings, adding that they plan to request 100 kanals (12.5 acres) in Srinagar as a starting point. As speculations are rife on who will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra, leaders of the Mahayuti alliance will meet the BJP top brass in Delhi on Thursday. The meeting comes a day after outgoing chief minister Eknath Shinde made it clear that the Shiv Sena will support any decision of the BJP leadership on the CM post. According to reports, the BJP is tipped to get the chief ministerial post while its two alliesShiv Sena and NCPare likely to get the deputy CM posts. The Mahayuti had followed a similar formula in the outgoing government, where BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP leader Ajit Pawar were the deputy CMs. Given the impressive performance of the BJP in the assembly electionsBJP alone bagged 132 seats in the 288-member assemblyFadnavis is most likely to be appointed as the chief minister. Fadnavis held the top post from 2014 to 2019 but later chose to play a second fiddle to Shinde after the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split and the Shinde-led faction joined hands with the ruling alliance. There were reports that Shinde was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership. The Sena leader, however, cleared the air on Monday, saying he would support any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. I called PM Modi yesterday and also Amit Shah and told them to decide (on who will be the CM post), and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take, Shinde said, addressing a press conference at his residence in Thane. Also read Devendra Fadnavis to lead Mahayuti govt? Eknath Shinde resigns as CM It is not yet clear whether Shinde would be ready to swap his position with Fadnavis or recommend somebody else from his party to the deputy CM post. Tomorrows meeting between the Mahayuti leaders and the BJP leadership is expected to give a concrete shape to the new government. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, last May, the Indian National Congress (INC) party alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hoped to change the Constitution if it managed to get a two-thirds majority in Parliament. This is a charge vehemently denied by the saffron party, which in turn said it had a clear mandate twice and changing the Constitution or ending the caste-based reservation was never on its agenda. The BJP countered the allegation by reminding the grand old party of the Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which is considered the darkest days of Indian democracy. Amid the Save Constitution campaign of the Congress party and the Modi government observing June 25 as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas, as a reminder of the day when the Emergency was imposed, the Indian Constitution has undergone as many as 106 amendments to date. Of the 106 amendments made to the Indian Constitution since its inception in 1950, as many as 76 amendments were made by the Congress governments, and 31 amendments by non-Congress governments including that of Atal Behari Vajpayee (14) and Narendra Modi (8), writes author Vikas Puttur, in his Kannada book titled Samvidaanavannu Badalaayisiddu Yaaru? (Who Changed the Constitution?) released recently. On November 26, 1949, the Indian Constituent Assembly formally adopted the Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950. However, the first-ever amendment to the statute was made as early as June 1951 by the Jawaharlal Nehru government, which added conditions to Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitutionthe right to freedom of speech and expression. This decision followed criticism in the press regarding the governments response to issues like the West Bengal refugee crisis and extrajudicial killings in Madras. Despite opposition concerns about democratic principles, the Congress government passed the amendment, citing international examples of regulating speech to prevent abuse. Parliament could now impose reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech if it disturbed public order, incited people to commit a crime, or endangered the states security. The next significant change that drew strong criticism was the 38th Amendment passed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on July 24, 1975, which enhanced the powers of the President and Governors to pass ordinances. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices, declaring the election null and void and barring her from holding an elected office for six years. While Justice Sinha dismissed the charges of bribery, he found Indira Gandhi guilty of misusing government machinery. On June 24, 1975, Justice VR Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court granted a conditional stay on Justice Sinhas verdict, allowing Indira Gandhi to continue as the Prime Minister but debarred her from taking part in the parliamentary proceedings and drawing salary as an MP. Jayprakash Narayan and Morarji Desai called for daily anti-government protests, and JP organised a big rally in Delhi. Indira Gandhi requested President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to proclaim a state of emergency. Indira Gandhi pushed for the 39th Amendment on August 5, 1975, to escape judicial scrutiny of her election by imposing restrictions on judicial review of top offices. The 42nd Amendment Act (1976) is also known as the mini Constitution as it has a large number of amendments. It altered the basic structure of the Constitution as it disempowered the President and the courts, it raised the tenure of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies from five to six years, it empowered the Centre to deploy its forces in any state to deal with the law and order situation, extended the tenure of Presidents rule from six months to one year. However, the most contentious amendment made by the Indira Gandhi government was changing the description of India from a sovereign, democratic republic to a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic and changing the words unity of the nation to unity and integrity of the nation in the Preamble. It was a strategy to remain in power. But Indira lost the 1977 elections, and the Janata Party government enacted the 44th amendment to restore the Constitution to its pre-Emergency state. On November 25, 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions to delete the words socialist and secular from the Preamble. Interestingly, during the Constituency Assembly debates on November 15, 1948, Prof K.T. Shah called for the introduction of the words secular, federal socialist union of states. But Dr Ambedkar had opposed stating that it would destroy democracy if the Constituent Assembly were to define in 1949 what Indias priorities should be for posterity. How a society should be organised in its social and economic sides are matters which must be decided by people themselves according to time and circumstances. It cannot be laid down in the Constitution. Major milestones in the form of Constitutional amendments In 1985, the anti-defection law in India was enacted through the 52nd Amendment as part of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The law aims to prevent or discourage defection by politicians as it could destabilise the governments or violate party discipline. The three-tier government came into being with the 73rd amendment that introduced the Panchayati Raj for village-level administration in 1993. In 2002, the 86th Amendment made education a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14 years. A significant amendment (61st Amendment) to the Article 326, made by the Rajiv Gandhi government on March 28, 1989, reduced the age for voting rights from 21 to 18 years. The P.V. Narasimha Rao government made a total of 10 amendments. The earlier amendments helped provide for a legislative assembly and council of ministers for the national capital, Delhi, and included both union territories of Delhi and Pondicherry as part of the electoral college for the presidential election. The other amendments included Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali as official languages, provided ST reservation in Tripura Assembly, made statutory provisions for Panchayati Raj as third level of administration in villages, provisions for setting up rent control tribunals, enabled continuance of 69 per cent reservation in Tamil Nadu by including the relevant Tamil Nadu Act under 9th Schedule of the Constitution, to protect reservation to SCs and STs Employees in promotions and placed land reforms act under 9th Schedule. The V.P. Singh government, through the 62nd amendment, extended the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and representation of the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies for another ten years, i.e., up to January 26, 2000. During his short tenure as the PM (less than a year), the Parliament passed the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. The Atal Behari Vajpayee government amended the Constitution 14 times between 2000 and 2004. The changes led to extension of reservation for SC/ST for another 10 years (up to 2010), implementation of Tenth Finance Commission report to simplify tax structures, filling up of backlog vacancies to protect SC ST reservation, relaxation of qualifying marks and other criteria in reservation in promotion for SCs and STs candidates, exemption of Arunachal Pradesh from reservation SCs in Panchayati Raj institutions, extension of usage of 1971 national census population data for state-wise distribution of parliamentary seats, amendment to protect consequential seniority in case of promotions of SC and ST employees, Right to Education until the age of 14, extension of usage of 2001 national census for statewide distribution of parliamentary seats, extending statutory cover for levy and utilisation of service tax, bifurcation of the National Commission for SC and ST into two separate commissions, reservation in Assam Assembly relating to Bodo land territory area, restriction of the size of council of ministers to 15 per cent of legislative members and to strengthen anti-defection laws and inclusion of Bodo, Dogri, Santali, Maithili as official languages. During his two terms as the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh brought six amendments, which included 27 per cent reservation for the OBC in government and private educational institutes and special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region (Article 372J). The Constitutional amendments during the Narendra Modi regime have led to the formation of a National Judicial Appointments Commission, the exchange of certain Enclave territories with Bangladesh, the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections, extension of SC/ST reservation another 10 years up to 2030, removal of reservation for Anglo Indians, restoration of power of the state governments to identify OBCs, and 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. Kerala submitted a revised proposal to designate 8,590.69 sq. km across 98 villages in 29 taluks, spread over 12 districts, as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). This revision was based on suggestions verified by the Local Self Government Department and was submitted on November 2. Initially, a High-Level Working Group chaired by K. Kasturirangan identified 13,108 sq. km in Kerala to be declared as ESA. In December 2013, the Union government sought feedback from state governments on modifying ESA boundaries based on physical verification. A three-member committee formed by the Kerala government, led by Dr Oommen V. Oommen, recommended 9,993.7 sq. km across 123 villages as Kerala's ESA. Of this, 9,107 sq. km was forest land, while 886.7 sq. km was non-forest area. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change accepted this recommendation in its first draft ESA notification of 2014. The latest draft notification, released on July 31, 2024just a day after the Wayanad landslidesalso designates 9,993.7 sq. km as ESA in Kerala. This is the sixth draft notification. In 2018, the state government decided to propose limiting the ESA designation to protected forest areas and reserve forests, excluding inhabited areas, plantations, water bodies, and isolated forest patches. Subsequently, the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Center identified 8,656.46 sq. km in 92 villages as ESA. Later, district-level monitoring committees conducted inspections, and the ESA extent was revised to 8,711.89 sq. km across 98 villages. Congress MP V.K. Sreekandan raised the question in Parliament in this winter session to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change about Keralas proposal to limit ESA designation to 8,711.89 sq. km in 98 villages, focusing solely on forests and protected areas. The Union governments response confirmed that Keralas latest proposal reduced the ESA by 121.29 sq. km, based on suggestions from the Local Self Government Department. To address concerns raised by stakeholders, including six state governments, the ministry has formed an expert committee led by Sanjay Kumar, former Director General of Forests, to finalise the draft notification. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Wednesday that the Shiv Sena will fully support the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to name the next Maharashtra CM. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Thane, Shinde said he had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to decide on the next chief minister and that his party would abide by that decision. I called PM Modi yesterday and also Amit Shah and told them to decide (on who will be the CM post), and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take, Shinde said amid reports that he was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the ruling Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership. #WATCH | Thane | Maharashtra caretaker CM Eknath Shinde says, "I Thank all the voters of Maharashtra for supporting Mahayuti and giving us a landslide victory. It's unprecedented... Amit Shah and PM Modi have fulfilled the dream of Balasaheb Thackeray to make a common Shiv pic.twitter.com/E3bIow5yVL ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 According to reports, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who served as the deputy chief minister under Shinde, is likely to be named as the new CM. Our Shiv Sena will fully support the BJP's decision to name the next Maharashtra CM. There is no speed breaker from our side, Shinde asserted. Asked about who will be the deputy chief ministers in the new cabinet, the Shiv Sena leader said it will be discussed in his meeting with Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday. The modalities of forming the next government will be finalised in the meeting, he added. #WATCH | Thane: Maharashtra caretaker CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde says, "For the past 2-4 days you must have seen rumours that someone is miffed. We are not people who get miffed...I spoke with the PM yesterday and told him that there is no obstruction from our end in pic.twitter.com/IvFlgD5WQI ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 Shinde thanked the people of Maharashtra for the landslide victory of the Mahayuti alliance in the assembly polls. I campaigned extensively, used to sleep for 2-3 hours before starting campaign work next day, he said. Among the Mahayuti parties, the BJP bagged 132 seats to become the single largest party in the state while Shiv Sena and the NCP won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. Shinde claimed that he had worked as the chief minister not to become popular but for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra. I am a worker forever; for me, CM is not Chief Minister but Common Man, he added. Shinde also thanked the BJP leadership for its support during his two-and-a-half year tenure as the chief minister. "We worked to take Maharashtra to Number 1 spot from Number 3 in six months of my becoming CM. I am not disappointed. We fight and don't cry, said the Shiv Sena leader. Shinde tendered his resignation as CM to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan on Tuesday. The governor has asked him to continue as caretaker chief minister until the new government is formed. After 14 months of fighting and 3,823 deaths, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday. The peace deal, brokered by the United States and France, was passed by the Israeli security cabinet in a 10-1 vote. The fighting came to an end at Israeli local time 4 am. The deal was announced by US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. "This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again," he said, adding that civilians on both sides will soon be able to return to their communities safely. I applaud the courageous decision by the leaders of Lebanon and Israel to end the violence. It reminds us that peace is possible. And so long as that is the case, I will not for a single moment stop working to achieve it. pic.twitter.com/MF57EXflzk President Biden (@POTUS) November 27, 2024 Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the deal by stating that Israel would still respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah. "We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory," Netanyahu said. "In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively." Stating that the pact would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies, give the army a rest, and isolate Hamas, the Prime Minister claimed the war has weakened Hezbollah, setting it back decades by eliminating its top leaders and destroying weapons and terror infrastructure. This is the full statement by Benjamin Netanyahu, with English subtitles, on the ceasefire deal, Gaza, Iran, and many other issues Israel is focusing on. Have a listen.pic.twitter.com/R7qNW6wU2M Vivid. (@VividProwess) November 27, 2024 What the pact entails As per the current pact, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days. While Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat some 40 kilometres from the Israel-Lebanon border, the IDF will withdraw from Lebanese territory. Lebanon's army will take control of the border with Israel and will deploy at least 5,000 troops to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure near the south of the countrys Litani River. The United Nations peacekeeping troops and a multinational committee will monitor Hezbollah's movements. This time, there will be an enforcement mechanism chaired by the US which will also have France as a member. The committee made up of diplomats and military personnel who will adjudicate complaints from either side regarding potential ceasefire violations. The panel will also work to ensure that the Lebanese army is properly trained and equipped to ensure the ceasefires implementation The 2006 pact and its pitfalls The current pact was negotiated on the basis of the 2006 UN pact called 'Resolution 1701' that came into place following the Second Lebanon war which stipulated that only armed group in the area south of Lebanons Litani River should be the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon called UNIFIL. The UN also set a so-called Blue Line as part of the pact which saw Israeli forces withdraw from southern Lebanon, the area which now serves as a border. However, Israel claims that Hezbollah never withdrew, and UNIFIL was never able to perform that task. The UN forces did not prosecute violations that happened after. "The idea here is that unlike in 2006, where the international community reached an agreement and then abandoned the scene, here we remain committed to be on the ground, day to day, to watch what's happening," a senior Biden administration official told The Jerusalem Post. The international community is determined to learn from the mistakes of the past when Hezbollah was the only organisation involved in the reconstruction of Lebanon, the official added. The Times of Israel quoted a US official who said the enforcement committee will not be "mailbox" like it was in the years following the Second Lebanon War. "Instead, it will operate as a live messaging service, making sure that whenever there is a view of a violation specifically a serious violation it is addressed immediately," the official added. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to keep expanding economic and trade exchanges with the Netherlands while adhering to the principle of mutual benefit, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday. During a phone call with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Li said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China-Netherlands relations have developed steadily and rapidly, and cooperation in various fields has been continuously expanded, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples. China is ready to maintain close exchanges with the new Dutch government and work together to uphold the positive momentum in promoting the bilateral relations, he said. Openness and practicality are valuable lessons drawn from the development of China-Netherlands relations, Li said, adding that China is ready to maintain close high-level exchanges with the Netherlands, strengthen dialogue and communication, continue to consolidate political mutual trust, so as to provide a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations. For his part, Schoof said that China plays an increasingly important role in global affairs, and the Netherlands attaches great importance to its relationship with China. Bilateral relations, particularly in terms of economic and trade cooperation, have seen strong growth. The Dutch government firmly adheres to the one-China policy, recognizing that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, Schoof said. The Netherlands is ready to serve as a gateway for China's cooperation with Europe, and looks forward to further strengthening cooperation in economic, trade, and other fields to advance Netherlands-China relations. Bangladesh has rebuked India for its response to the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari on sedition charges, stating it was the country's "internal matter" and the facts were misrepresented in the incident. Dhaka's response comes as the Ministry of External Affairs raised concern about the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das. India, while urging Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, said several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities' homes and business establishments are being reported in the country. To this, Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) immediately released a statement, rebuking India for misrepresenting facts. It said India's response stands contrary to the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighbouring countries. "It is with utter dismay and a deep sense of hurt that the Government of Bangladesh notes that the arrest of Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been misconstrued by certain quarters since Sri Chinmoy Krishna Das has been arrested on specific charges," said MOFA. Dhaka's statement added that the statement does not reflect the harmony that exists among the peoples of all faiths and the commitment and efforts of the government and the people. Meanwhile, local media reports revealed the details of the sedition case against the monk, which accuses Chinmoy Das and 18 others of sedition. The case details hint that at Laldighi Maidan, a religious flag associated with Iskcon was reportedly placed over the national flag. This amounts to "desecration" and "contempt for the countrys sovereignty." This is being described as "treasonous activities aimed at destabilising the nation by fostering an anarchic environment." The video of the said act had gone viral on social media. However, a case was filed by Mohammed Feroze Khan, a former BNP member. Khan was later suspended from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and placed in police custody for his safety following the incident. Though there were reports that ISKCON expelled Chinmoy Krishna from the organisation, the sources denied it. Iskcon members suggested that the allegations and counter-allegations are part of internal conflicts, asserting that Chinmoy continues to head a prominent ISKCON institution in Chittagong. Donald Trump, the US president-elect, has nominated Indian-origin public health expert and economist, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH, the country's top public funder for health research, oversees a budget of $47.3 billion. The Stanford University professor of health policy is Trump's first Indian American pick for a top administrative post. Who is Jay Bhattacharya? Born in 1968, Jay Bhattacharya hails from Kolkata and completed his medical studies at Stanford University in 1997. He got a PhD in economics from Stanford in 2000. I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! https://t.co/FrLmYznhfw Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) November 27, 2024 Bhattacharya, a physician, head Standford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His latest research is on Covid-19 epidemiology and has published 135 articles in peer-reviewed journals in medical, economic and public health fields. I'm so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine. pic.twitter.com/NakHavsblX Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 27, 2024 Responding to Trump's appointment, Robert F Kennedy Jr said, "I'm so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment." He added that Bhattacharya is the ideal pick to restore NIH as the international template for "gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine." Bhattacharya said he is honoured and humbled by Trump's nomination, adding that they will reform American scientific institutions so that "they are worthy of trust again". "(We) ...will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!" he added. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Google has roped in the former head of consumer sales at Apple India Mitul Shah to lead its Pixel smartphone devices and services business in the country, according to a social media post. Google has appointed Shah as Managing Director for Google Devices and Services in India. "I am happy to share that I've started an exciting new journey with Google as Managing Director for Devices & Services Business - leading Pixel's sales and expansion efforts in India," Shah said in a post on LinkedIn. Google has partnered with Foxconn and Dixon to manufacture Pixel smartphones in India. "It's an honour to be part of a company that's at the forefront of innovation, and I'm particularly thrilled to be working on a product that has the potential to put the magic and power of AI in the pockets of millions of people across my beloved country," Shah said. People have been asking him for the reason for switching from Apple, he added. "This is not a switch. This is a continuation of the mission of putting the world's best technology in the hands of fellow countrymen and women. I couldn't be more fortunate to have an opportunity to deliver the transformative power of AI and meaningful experiences to Indian consumers, with an immensely committed and talented team," Shah said. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Following are the top business stories at 2040 hours: DEL12 BIZ-2NDLD ADANI-CHARGE * Gautam Adani faces no bribery charges: Adani Group New Delhi: Embattled billionaire Gautam Adani and his aides have not been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an Adani Group entity said on Wednesday, adding that they faced three other charges, including securities and wire fraud that are punishable with monetary fines. * DCM70 BIZ-PMEDRIVE-SUBSIDY * Govt notifies second phase of PM e-Drive to extend subsidies on cargo three-wheelers New Delhi: Buyers of cargo electric three-wheelers will continue to avail the subsidy benefit as the government has advanced the second phase of incentives for such vehicles under the Rs 10,900-crore PM e-Drive Scheme. * DEL39 BIZ-LD-STOCKS * Sensex rises by 230 pts on gains in Adani stocks, select blue-chips Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex climbed 230 points in a volatile session on Wednesday following gains in Adani group stocks and foreign fund inflows. * DEL65 BIZ-LD RUPEE * Rupee falls 11 paise to settle at 84.40 against US dollar Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 11 paise to close at 84.40 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid uncertainties surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump's trade policies and an increase in crude oil prices. * DEL52 RSQ-AIRLINES-HOAX CALLS * Airlines received 994 hoax bomb threats till Nov 13 this year: Govt New Delhi: Airlines received 994 hoax bomb threats this year till November 13 and robust protocols are in place to handle such threats, the government has said. * DCM32 LSQ-RATION SHOPS * Govt has no plan to hike margins for ration shop dealers: Joshi New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Food Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said the Centre has no immediate proposal to increase the margins for fair price shops (FPS) dealers under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). * DEL49 BIZ-GOLD-PRICE * Gold gains Rs 650 to Rs 78,800 per 10 grams; silver sees steepest single-day jump New Delhi: Bullion prices rebounded after two days of sharp fall with silver logging its steepest single-day gain of Rs 5,200 to hit Rs 95,800 per kg on Wednesday amid strong global trends and buying rush from local jewellers. * DEL37 BIZ-STOCKS-LD ADANI * Adani Group firms surge; Adani Total, Adani Power soar nearly 20 pc New Delhi: Shares of all Adani Group firms ended sharply higher on Wednesday, with Adani Total Gas and Adani Power soaring nearly 20 per cent, bouncing back from the previous day's fall. * iPhone 16 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are two of the most sought-after flagships in the market. Know how to pick one and purchase it on Easy EMIs by shopping on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Pune, Maharashtra, India (NewsVoir) For over a decade, Apple and Samsung have been locked in a fierce tussle for smartphone supremacy. Both brands command respect and reverence; while Samsung offers handsets in various segments, Apple reserves its phones for the flagship segment. In January 2024, Samsung launched the latest Galaxy S24 series phonesits flagship series powered by artificial intelligence. Not to be left behind, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series handsets in September 2024, driven by its proprietary Apple Intelligence (AI). Shoppers looking to purchase a premium device from either brand can shop on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network and benefit from Easy EMIs and exclusive offers. One of the biggest challenges, however, comes with the iPhone 16 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comparison. While the former offers the highly coveted iPhone experience, the latter brings unmatched performance to the table. The base variant of the iPhone 16 Plus (128GB ROM) is available for Rs. 89,900, while the top-spec variant costs Rs. 1,19,900. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultras price starts from Rs. 1,29,999 for the base variant (256GB ROM), and the top-end model (1TB ROM) costs Rs. 1,59,999. So, which device offers the best price-performance balance? The iPhone 16 Plus has been built for Apple Intelligence (AI), offering unrivalled convenience. The device has also been equipped with groundbreaking privacy protections, ensuring no one can access user data. Another new feature of the iPhone 16 Plus is the Camera Control function, which gives users quick access to camera tools and allows them to take perfect shots in an instant. The model also comes with an improved ultra-wide camera with autofocus for capturing incredibly detailed macro images. Moreover, the latest-gen Photographic Styles provide users with unparalleled creative flexibility, allowing them to truly stand out in every shot. Powered by the A18 chip, the iPhone 16 Plus guarantees uncompromising performance, as the chipset supports console-level gaming and powers advanced photo and video features. All of these features, plus an optimised battery and premium design, make the iPhone 16 Plus a truly remarkable handset. Coming to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the smartphone is widely considered the most powerful device currently available. The AI features redefine the mobile experience, giving users more control over everyday tasks, such as editing photos or searching for an item. On the other hand, the 200MP camera sets the industry standard for image quality. Supporting this cutting-edge camera is the new ProVisual engine, which enhances colour tone, reduces noise, and brings out detail. On the display front, users get an incredible 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen that boasts a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. The Vision Booster further improves the visual experience by enhancing contrast and colour for an immersive viewing experience. Powering the mobile phone is the potent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor that clocks up to a staggering 3.39 GHz, making the device an incredible, future-proof smartphone. The iPhone 16 Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra debate is quite compelling. However, picking a clear winner is difficult, as both devices have their unique selling propositions. While the iPhone 16 Plus introduces new features and significant upgrades over its predecessor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra pushes the boundaries of smartphone technology but comes with a hefty price tag. Customers looking to own either of these flagships can shop on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network and purchase the device on Easy EMIs, with long tenures and exciting offers, such as zero down payment on select models. Benefits of shopping on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Whether you wish to buy the iPhone 16 Plus or the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you will benefit immensely by shopping on the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network. Here are some of the key advantages: Competitive prices: By shopping at any of the Bajaj Finserv partner stores, you can enjoy excellent value for money with competitively priced flagship phones. Easy EMIs: Buying your preferred smartphone is simple with Easy EMI plans, allowing you to choose a repayment period that suits your budget. The repayment tenures range from 1 to 60 months, making EMI payments ultra-convenient. Zero down payment: For select models, you can benefit from a zero down payment option, eliminating the need for upfront payment while finalising the purchase. You can opt for financing options, including Easy EMI and zero down payment schemes, for financial ease and convenience. Split the cost of the iPhone 16 Plus or the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra into Easy EMI to enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience. Bajaj Finance Ltd. (BFL, Bajaj Finance, or the Company), a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv Ltd., is a deposit taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC-D) registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is classified as an NBFC-Investment and Credit Company (NBFC-ICC). BFL is engaged in the business of lending and acceptance of deposits. It has a diversified lending portfolio across retail, SMEs, and commercial customers with significant presence in both urban and rural India. It accepts public and corporate deposits and offers a variety of financial services products to its customers. BFL, a thirty-five-year-old enterprise, has now become a leading player in the NBFC sector in India and on a consolidated basis, it has a franchise of 69.14 million customers. BFL has the highest domestic credit rating of AAA/Stable for long-term borrowing, A1+ for short-term borrowing, and CRISIL AAA/Stable & [ICRA]AAA(Stable) for its FD program. It has a long-term issuer credit rating of BB+/Positive and a short-term rating of B by S&P Global ratings. To know more, visit www.bajajfinserv.in. (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 New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) As part of the India-UK Cyber Programme, the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has launched the Cyber for HER hackathon, supported by the UK Government, aiming to enable aspiring young women to gain better opportunities in cyberspace and further support cyber workforce development in India and beyond. The Hackathon will occur in two phases: a virtual phase focused on non-technical cyber awareness assets, followed by an in-person competition in Delhi featuring Capture the Flag challenges centred on technical areas like Reverse Engineering and Mobile Security. "Cyber for HER is a capacity-building initiative for women aged 18 to 23 from India to build cyber skills and put them to the test to win attractive prizes and recognition," DSCI said in a statement. Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection in India, setup by nasscom. ** BITS Pilani, ABSTC sign MoU to advance research, innovation BITS Pilani on Wednesday said it has inked an agreement with Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company to foster academic and research collaboration. The collaboration will propel scientific and technological advancements toward human resource development in areas of mutual interest, BITS Pilani said in a statement. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both organisations will collaborate on several key initiatives, which would include joint research in basic and applied sciences, research proposal submission to national and international funding bodies, and the exchange of expertise through workshops, conferences, and symposiums. "This MoU marks an important step in bridging academic research with industrial application. Our goal is to spur creativity and provide significant solutions. In this regard, collaborating with a progressive company like ABSTC will enable us to accomplish our objectives. Together, we strive to progress in science and nurture future researchers and innovators," BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor Prof V Ramgopal Rao added. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) India is likely to have 777 GW power generation capacity, including 500 GW clean sources and about 277 GW fossil fuel-based, to meet the projected peak demand of about 335 GW by 2030, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "Accordingly, the percentage of clean sources of energy in the total installed capacity is likely to be 64.4 per cent by 2029-30," Minister of State for New & Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The minister said that to meet the projected peak demand of 334.8 GW and energy requirement of 2,279.7 billion units of the country, as per the National Electricity Plan. He added that the installed capacity for the year 2029-30 is likely to be 7,77,144 MW comprising of fossil-based capacity of 2,76,507 MW and non-fossil-based capacity of 5,00,637 MW along with a battery energy storage capacity of 41,650 MW/208,250 MWh. The coal-based capacity will be 2,51,683 MW and the gas-based capacity will be 24,824 MW, the minister said. The non-fossil fuel-based include hydro 53,860 MW, Pumped Storage Projects (PSP) 18,986 MW, small hydro 5,350 MW, nuclear 15,480 MW, solar 2,92,566 MW, wind 99,895 MW and biomass 14,500 MW. In line with the Prime Ministers announcement at COP26, the government is working towards achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, the minister said. As on October 31, 2024, the minister said a total of 211.40 GW non-fossil power capacity has been installed in the country, which includes 92.12 GW solar, 47.72 GW wind, 11.33 GW bio-power, 52.05 GW hydro power and 8.18 GW nuclear. With the achievement of 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030, India will be one of the largest clean energy producers, he stated. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) With the raising of Rs 10,000 crore from infra bonds, SBI's total fundraise has touched Rs 50,000 crore so far during the current financial year. The country's biggest lender State Bank of India earlier this month had raised Rs 10,000 crore through its seventh infrastructure bond issuance. The bank garnered Rs 5,000 crore AT1 Bonds, Rs 15,000 crore Tier 2 Bonds and Rs 30,000 crore Long Term Bonds till date during FY25 at a very competitive rate, SBI said in a statement. All these issues have attracted overwhelming responses from investors and were oversubscribed by more than 2 times against the respective base issue size, it said. SBI Chairman CS Setty said that wider participation and heterogeneity of bids demonstrated the trust investors place in the countrys largest bank. The investors were across provident funds, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, banks etc, it said. These bonds are of 15 years tenor except for the AT1 Bonds which is perpetual. Last month, SBI mobilised fund via Additional Tier 1 bonds. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Godrej Properties on Wednesday launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) to sell equity shares to investors for raising up to Rs 6,000 crore to fund its growth plan. Last month, the company's board approved raising of up to Rs 6,000 crore through the issue of securities. In a regulatory filing, Godrej Properties informed that the QIP Placement Committee authorized the opening of the issue on November 27, 2024. The panel also approved the floor price for the QIP issue, being Rs 2,727.44 per equity share. Godrej Properties' share price closed at Rs 2,833.05 apiece on Wednesday, down 2.35 per cent from Tuesday. The company is one of the leading developers in the country. It has a major presence in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and Bengaluru. It has entered into Hyderabad market recently. In the last fiscal, the company's sales booking jumped 84 per cent to a record Rs 22,527 crore, the highest among listed realty firms in 2023-24. Godrej Properties has set a target of achieving Rs 27,000 crore worth of sale bookings. During the April-September period of this fiscal, Godrej Properties' sales booking value grew 89 per cent annually to over Rs 13,800 crore. This is the highest-ever booking value achieved by Godrej Properties during the first half of a fiscal year. To expand its housing business, Godrej Properties acquires land through outright purchases as well as forming partnerships with landowners for joint development. Godrej Properties has added 8 new land parcels in the first six months of this fiscal with a total estimated saleable area of about 11 million square feet and a total estimated booking value potential of around Rs 12,650 crore. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) A total of 33 supercomputers with a combined compute capacity of 32 petaflops have been deployed in the country till November 21, 2024 under National Supercomputing Mission, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Petaflop is a unit of measuring the calculating speed of a computer. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Jitin Prasada in a written reply to Lok Sabha said India now has the capability of designing, developing and manufacturing supercomputing technologies indigenously, which will reduce dependency on imports of supercomputing technologies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on September 26, 2024 dedicated three PARAM Rudra supercomputers to young researchers, scientists and engineers of the nation, facilitating advanced studies in physics, earth sciences, and cosmology. The three supercomputers were deployed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific research, Prasada said. "With the commissioning of three PARAM Rudra supercomputers, as of November 21, a total of 33 supercomputers with a combined compute capacity of 32 petaflops, have been deployed across various academic institutions, research organizations, and research and development labs, including prominent institutions like IISc, IITs, C-DAC, and other institutions from Tier-II and Tier III cities under NSM, the minister said. According to Top 500 Global Supercomputing List, US tops the chart in terms of supercomputers installed with an estimated total capacity of around 6,475 petaflops. PARAM Rudra supercomputers deployed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata have been designed, developed and manufactured entirely within the country. The minister said that Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT- 1Petaflop) deployed in Pune will leverage the supercomputer to explore astronomical phenomena, and Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC- 3 Petaflops) in Delhi will enhance research in fields like material science and atomic physics. "SN Bose Centre for Basic Sciences (SN Bose- 838 Teraflops) in Kolkata will drive advanced research in areas such as physics, cosmology, and earth sciences," Prasada said. The supercomputers have been developed, deployed and manufactured under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) which started in April 2015 with a budget outlay of Rs 4,500 crore for seven years. Prasada said that under NSM, an ecosystem has been established with the focused goal of achieving self-reliance in supercomputing, encompassing the design, development, and manufacturing of supercomputers, as well as the creation of a complete system software stack and associated applications. "This approach is in line with Prime Minister's vision of...Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) through research, science for self-reliance," the minister said. DAMASCUS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting 10 official and unofficial border crossings between Syria and Lebanon after midnight Wednesday, Syrian state media and monitoring groups reported. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli aircraft struck official crossings at al-Arida in the countryside of the northwestern province of Tartus for the first time, as well as Daboussieh and Jousieh in the countryside of the central province of Homs. Unofficial crossings in Wadi Khaled in rural Homs and three bridges over the al-Kabir River, which separates Syria and Lebanon, were also targeted, according to the watchdog group. Syrian state television reported that 10 people were injured at the al-Arida crossing, with three in critical condition. A report from Sham FM radio reported one death and several injuries at the Daboussieh crossing in Homs. In rural Damascus, Israeli jets targeted unofficial crossings in the areas of Juroud Qusaya and Juroud Nabi Sheet near the towns of Serghaya and Zabadani. No immediate information on casualties was available. With the latest strikes, the majority of land crossings between Syria and Lebanon have been rendered out of service, according to the Observatory. The escalation could sever any possible supply routes for Hezbollah from Syria, said the Observatory, as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is expected to go into effect on Wednesday. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Centre has blocked 6.69 lakh SIM cards and 1.32 lakh International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers reported by police authorities to check cyber crimes in the country, Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday. In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the central government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers appearing to be originating within India. "Such international spoofed calls have been made by cyber criminals in recent cases of fake digital arrests, fedex scams and impersonation as government and police officials," the minister said. Directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking of such incoming international spoofed calls, he said. "Till November 15, 2024, more than 6.69 lakh fake SIM cards and 1.32 lakh IMEIs as reported by police authorities have been blocked by the government of India," he said. The citizen financial cyber fraud reporting and management system under I4C has been launched in year 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters, he said. "So far, financial amount of more than Rs 3,431 crore has been saved in more than 9.94 lakh complaints," he said. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Singapore Airlines' jumbo A380 aircraft rolled back at the Delhi airport after parking on Monday, an incident in which a cabin crew suffered a minor bruise, and later, the plane was towed back safely to its designated parking bay. The aircraft was operating flight SQ406 from Singapore to the national capital on November 25. In a statement on Wednesday, an airline spokesperson said the plane "experienced a rollback after parking" at the airport, and the pilot immediately applied the brakes to halt the aircraft. Generally, after a plane lands and reaches the parking bay, the pilot first applies the toe brakes and then the parking brakes before switching off the engine. Later, the ground staff keep chocks on the front and back sides of the aircraft wheels. Once that process is complete, it is communicated to the pilot, who then releases the parking brakes. Chocks are broadly wedges that are used to ensure there is no movement of wheels. Also, some parking bays might have a slight slope to ensure that water does not get collected in that area. A source in the know said the A380 aircraft rolled back for around 15-20 seconds, and possibly, the parking brakes could not be immediately applied due to a technical glitch. "Once the aircraft was stationary, the pilots informed air traffic control, and ground staff safely towed the aircraft back to its designated parking bay. All passengers disembarked the aircraft normally, with no injuries reported. "One cabin crew member suffered a minor bruise on her thigh, received medical attention, and was cleared to return to duties," the airline spokesperson said and apologised for any inconvenience caused by the incident. A senior commander said the rollback of the aircraft after parking could have happened due to three possible scenarios. One scenario could be that the pilot concerned had applied only the toe brakes and forgot to apply the parking brakes. Another possibility is that there was a miscommunication between the ground staff and pilot wherein the parking brakes were released before the chocks were placed, the commander said. According to the commander, a third scenario could have been that the chocks were placed only in front of the wheels, and when parking brakes were released, the plane rolled back. Many years ago, aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) issued a circular asking airlines to ensure that seat belt signs should be kept on till the parking brakes are released and also ensure that there is no movement of the aircraft. Such practices will further enhance the safety of passengers. With seat belts on, the chances of passengers getting hurt due to sudden movement of the plane are reduced. Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 27 (PTI) The Kerala government and Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited have agreed to a supplementary concession agreement for the Vizhinjam International Port Project. The state cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, approved the draft supplementary concession agreement. This approval comes after the withdrawal of arbitration proceedings. After consultations with the legal department and the Advocate General, the cabinet gave its approval for the deal, according to a CMO release here on Wednesday. Under the new agreement, the second and final phase of the Vizhinjam Port, originally set for completion in 2045, will now be finished by 2028. Unlike the previous arrangement, this agreement will ensure the completion of all phases of the port. As a result, Adani Ports will bring in new investments worth Rs 10,000 crore within the next four years. Once completed, the port's minimum capacity will reach 3 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). The project timeline has been extended by five years, taking into account such COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as the Ockhi cyclone, and floods. Due to delays, a penalty of Rs 219 crore has been imposed, with Rs 43.8 crore to be paid to the state. The remaining amount will be withheld until 2028. If the project is not fully completed by 2028, the five-year extension will be cancelled, and the withheld amount will be collected by the government. Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Filmmakers Rachael Antony and Laurence Billiet's "The Giants" won the best of festivals award at the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF), which recognised Megha Acharya's "Miles Away" as best Indian feature film at its 2024 edition. The jury, spearheaded by actor-activist Dia Mirza, also recognised "ORCA: Black & White Gold" by Sarah Norenberg as best international feature, Spencer MacDonald's "A Body Called Life" best international short, Ayush Ray and Ritam Sarkar's "Junk-e" best Indian short. Best student film award went to Mayuresh Hendre's "Saving the Bone Swallower", best animated to "Wild Summon" by Karni and Saul and best in environment journalism to "Camels of the Sea" by Urja. The festival, which began on November 22 and concludes on December 8, will showcase an impressive lineup of 72 films from across the globe, shining a spotlight on critical environmental issues through the power of storytelling. Other than Mirza, the festival jury also includes writer C.S. Venkiteswaran, filmmaker Swati Thiyagarajan and naturalist Yuvan Aves. "ALT EFF is not just a film festivalits a movement that fosters awareness, inspires action, and celebrates the planet we all call home. This years winners and the entire slate of films reflect the resilience, creativity, and urgency of filmmakers addressing environmental issues. We are thrilled to present a rich variety of stories that are not only visually captivating but also profoundly impactful in their message," said festival found Kunal Khanna. Arusha (Tanzania), Nov 27 (AP) The World Health Organisation's regional director-elect for Africa died while receiving medical treatment in India, Tanzania's parliament speaker said Wednesday. Plans to repatriate the body of Tanzania's Dr Faustine Ndugulile, 55, were underway, Speaker Tulia Ackson said, adding that funeral plans would be announced later. She didn't disclose Ndugulile's ailment. No other details were available. Ndugulile served as a member of parliament for Kigamboni Constituency in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. He was also the East African country's health assistant minister between 2017-2020 and the information and communication minister until 2021. He was elected as the WHO's African director in August and was set to start his new role in February 2025, following Dr Matshidiso Moeti who served in the role for two terms. In his acceptance speech, Ndugulile expressed a firm commitment to advancing the health and well-being of people in Africa. Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed condolences on social media platform X, calling his death devastating," while WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus wrote that he was shocked and deeply saddened by his death. Several Tanzanian legislators also posted on X, saying Ndugulile was a humble man. Godbless Lema, a former opposition legislator, wrote: When in parliament, Ndugulile wasn't as harsh as his colleagues in the ruling party." WHO regional directors have a five-year term and are eligible for reappointment only once. (AP) NPK NPK Paris, Nov 27 (AP) Marine Le Pen's trial is ending with one key question: will France's leading far-right figure be able to run in the next presidential race? Defence lawyers are speaking Wednesday for the last time at the trial in Paris on charges of embezzling European Parliament funds. The Paris court is expected to render its verdict in the spring of next year. It could declare Le Pen ineligible to seek public office if it finds her guilty. That could throw her political future into disarray and upend the election race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron, scheduled in 2027. Le Pen's National Rally party and 25 of its officials, including her, are accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay instead staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, violating the 27-nation bloc's regulations. The National Rally was called the National Front at the time. Le Pen and other co-defendants denied wrongdoing. Paris prosecutors have requested a 2-year prison sentence for Le Pen. In addition, they asked for a 5-year period of ineligibility to run for office with immediate effectiveness" independent of whether she files an appeal or not. Such a verdict would be the worst-case scenario for Le Pen. A leading candidate for the presidency For over a decade, Le Pen has worked at making her party more mainstream, dulling its extremist edge to broaden its appeal to voters. She has already positioned herself as a candidate to succeed Macron, having finished runner-up to him in 2017 and 2022. But the trial could prove to be a major and possibly decisive hurdle. Le Pen pleaded not guilty. However, she appeared in recent weeks to anticipate a guilty verdict, telling the panel of three judges: I feel we didn't succeed in convincing you. In court, Le Pen has been a forceful presence. Outside the courtroom, she's repeatedly expressed irritation at charges she says are unfounded. A measure of the potential gravity of the case for Le Pen is the time and energy she has devoted to the hearings. She often stayed late into the night as nitty-gritty courtroom debates about the role and financing of parliamentary aides dragged on. Le Pen argued all the work done by aides was justified and above board. She said their missions had to be adapted to the MEPs' various activities, including some highly political tasks related to the party. Prosecutors denounced Le Pen's central role Prosecutors spoke of the unprecedented dimension of the alleged embezzlement and its "organized, maximized, systemic and systematic nature. They alleged that Le Pen was central in what they called a system for her party to save money at the expense of the European Parliament. They also said some of the well-paid jobs contributed to finance the comfortable lifestyle of Le Pen's family and friends. They made from the European Parliament their cash cow, prosecutor Louise Neyton said. If the Parliament had not rung the bell, they would have continued. Their only regret is they have been caught!" EU money was used to pay her bodyguard Hearings showed that some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen's bodyguard who before used to be her father's bodyguard as well as her personal assistant. Le Pen's sister, Yann, is also accused of having been paid as an EU parliamentary aide when she was instead in charge of organizing the party's big events. Others worked as aides to party officials they had no employment contract with. The verdict could weigh on French political life Prosecutor Nicolas Barret acknowledged that a verdict rendering Le Pen ineligible to seek public office is "not without consequences, obviously for those convicted, but also for (France's) public and democratic life. Yet the judicial authority merely takes note of fraudulent behavior and is not at the origin of the situation, he insisted. Prosecutors requested a guilty verdict for all of Le Pen's co-defendants, including various sentences of up to one year in prison and a 2-million euro fine for the party. A potential appeal could lead to another trial for the case in 2026 just before the next presidential race. (AP) ZH ZH ZH London, Nov 27 (AP) British counter-terrorism officers arrested six people Wednesday as part of an investigation into activity linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party known as the PKK, police said. Four men and two women arrested in London were detained under the Terrorism Act of 2000, the Metropolitan Police said. The PKK, a separatist movement seeking an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkiye, is on the list of suspected extremist organizations banned by the UK. This activity has come about following a significant investigation and operation into activity we believe is linked to the terrorist group PKK," Acting Cmdr. Helen Flanagan said. These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group. Police were searching the Kurdish Community Center in the Haringey area of north London and seven other locations across the city. Police said they didn't believe there was a threat to the public. (AP) GRS GRS New York, Nov 27 (AP) Last time Donald Trump was president, rumours of immigration raids terrorised the Oregon community where Gustavo Balderas was the school superintendent. Word spread that immigration agents were going to try to enter schools. There was no truth to it, but school staff members had to find students who were avoiding school and coax them back to class. People just started ducking and hiding, Balderas said. Educators around the country are bracing for upheaval, whether or not the president-elect follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally. Even if he only talks about it, children of immigrants will suffer, educators and legal observers said. If you constantly threaten people with the possibility of mass deportation, it really inhibits peoples' ability to function in society and for their kids to get an education, said Hiroshi Motomura, a professor at UCLA School of Law. That fear already has started for many. The kids are still coming to school, but they're scared, said Almudena Abeyta, superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools, a Boston suburb that's long been a first stop for Central American immigrants coming to Massachusetts. Now Haitians are making the city home and sending their kids to school there. They're asking: 'Are we going to be deported?' said Abeyta. Many parents in her district grew up in countries where the federal government ran schools and may think it's the same here. The day after the election, Abeyta sent a letter home assuring parents their children are welcome and safe, no matter who is president. Immigration officials have avoided arresting parents or students at schools. Since 2011, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has operated under a policy that immigration agents should not arrest or conduct other enforcement actions near sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals and places of worship. Doing so might curb access to essential services, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas wrote in a 2021 policy update. The Heritage Foundation's policy roadmap for Trump's second term, Project 2025, calls for rescinding the guidance on sensitive places. Trump tried to distance himself from the proposals during the campaign, but he has nominated many who worked on the plan for his new administration, including Tom Homan for border czar. If immigration agents were to arrest a parent dropping off children at school, it could set off mass panic, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. If something happens at one school, it spreads like wildfire and kids stop coming to school, she said. Balderas, now the superintendent in Beaverton, a different Portland suburb, told the school committee there this month it was time to prepare for a more determined Trump administration. In case schools are targeted, Beaverton will train staff not to allow immigration agents inside. All bets are off with Trump, said Balderas, who is also president of ASSA, The School Superintendents Association. If something happens, I feel like it will happen a lot quicker than last time. Many school officials are reluctant to talk about their plans or concerns, some out of fear of drawing attention to their immigrant students. One school administrator serving many children of Mexican and Central American immigrants in the Midwest said their school has invited immigration attorneys to help parents formalise any plans for their children's care in case they are deported. The administrator spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Speaking up on behalf of immigrant families also can put superintendents at odds with school board members. This is a very delicate issue, said Viridiana Carrizales, chief executive officer of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that trains schools on supporting immigrant students. She's received 30 requests for help since the election, including two from Texas superintendents who don't think their conservative school boards would approve of publicly affirming immigrant students' right to attend school or district plans to turn away immigration agents. More than two dozen superintendents and district communications representatives contacted by The Associated Press either ignored or declined requests for comment. This is so speculative that we would prefer not to comment on the topic, wrote Scott Pribble, a spokesperson for Denver Public Schools. The city of Denver has helped more than 40,000 migrants in the last two years with shelter or a bus ticket elsewhere. It's also next door to Aurora, one of two cities where Trump has said he would start his mass deportations. When pressed further, Pribble responded, Denver Public Schools is monitoring the situation while we continue to serve, support, and protect all of our students as we always have. Like a number of big-city districts, Denver's school board during the first Trump administration passed a resolution promising to protect its students from immigration authorities pursuing them or their information. According to the 2017 resolution, Denver will not grant access to our students unless federal agents can provide a valid search warrant. The rationale has been that students cannot learn if they fear immigration agents will take them or their parents away while they're on campus. School districts also say these policies reaffirm their students' constitutional right to a free, public education, regardless of immigration status. (AP) GRS GRS Jerusalem, Nov 7 (AP) A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants began early Wednesday morning, after Beirut residents endured the most intense day of Israeli strikes since the war began. Many wondered if the agreement to stop fighting would hold. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced Tuesday. At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country's north. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire marks the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas' attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south. In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 1,04,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Here's the Latest: Lebanon sees quiet, but recovery could be slow BEIRUT As the ceasefire went into effect early Wednesday, much of Lebanon was quiet for the first time since late September, following weeks of intense overnight strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon. Some celebratory gunshots could be heard in parts of Beirut's southern suburbs, battered over the past two months. Israel's Arabic military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has warned displaced Lebanese not to return to their villages in southern Lebanon, but some videos circulating on social media show displaced Lebanese defying these calls and returning to villages in the south near the coastal city of Tyre. Israeli troops are still present in parts of southern Lebanon after Israel launched a ground invasion in October. Lebanese have also been displaced from other parts of the country, notably the southern Beirut suburbs and the eastern Bekaa province. It's unclear how long it will take cash-strapped Lebanon to rebuild these bombarded neighbourhoods. The war has displaced some 1.2 million people, according to the Lebanese government. Israeli military says its evacuation orders in south Lebanon are in still in effect JERUSALEM As the ceasefire took effect early Wednesday, Israel's military warned people with homes in areas of south Lebanon that it ordered evacuated to stay away for now. Israeli military spokesman Col Avichay Adraee issued the warning on the social platform X. You are prohibited from heading towards the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area, Adraee wrote, using an acronym for the Israeli military. For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area. There were no immediate signs of renewed fighting as the ceasefire took hold early Wednesday morning. Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon begins The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants has begun as a region on edge wonders whether it will hold. The ceasefire announced Tuesday is a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. An international panel led by the United States will monitor compliance. The ceasefire began at 4 am Wednesday, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut since the start of the conflict that in recent weeks turned into all-out war. French president calls planned ceasefire a new page' for Lebanon PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah marked a new page for Lebanon and called on its leaders to elect a president without delay. In a video message on X, Macron said restoring Lebanon's sovereignty depends on ending the presidential vacuum. It is the responsibility of Lebanese authorities and all those in senior political roles, he said. Residents of Lebanon's capital flee Israeli strikes BEIRUT Ahmad Khateeb, a musician and artist who performs in a renowned theater in Beirut's Hamra neighbourhood, fled to the city's seaside promenade with seven members of his family after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for four targets in central Beirut, including one close to his area. This is the first time this area in Ras Beirut, Hamra, has received such a threat. This neighbourhood has historically been a refuge for everyone, Khateeb told The Associated Press. Outside the American University of Beirut Medical Centre in Hamra, dozens of people sought refuge, hoping the hospital would not be targeted. Among them was Rima Abdkhaluk, who sat on a sidewalk with a backpack at her side. I was at home having lunch when I received a call from (relatives) in Syria telling me they were about to hit Hamra, she said. She quickly packed her belongings and left with her mother. She convinced the hospital's staff to allow her mother inside while she waited outside on a piece of cardboard. Israeli jets struck Beirut's Mar Elias neighbourhood as Abdkhaluk was speaking to The Associated Press. She held her hands tightly together and prayed. I just need to see where they hit, she started saying frantically. Asked about the expected ceasefire, Abdkhaluk was skeptical. I don't believe it. Israel can't be trusted. Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill at least 42 people in the final day before a ceasefire with Hezbollah BEIRUT The Health Ministry in Lebanon says 18 more people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across the country, bringing the total death toll on Tuesday to at least 42 people. Eleven people were killed by Israeli bombing in eastern Lebanon, four were killed by strikes on border crossings between northern Lebanon and Syria, and three people were killed in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said early Wednesday. In the hours before a ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel launched its most intense wave of strikes on the capital Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict. Strikes have targeted what Israel said were Hezbollah-related targets in several other parts of the country as well. Israel's military issued a record number of evacuation warnings in Beirut, sending people fleeing from their homes. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens across the country's north. UN chief welcomes ceasefire in Lebanon UNITED NATIONS The United Nations chief welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, and hopes it can end the violence and suffering of people in both countries, the UN spokesman says. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Hezbollah to swiftly implement all commitments under the agreement, and take immediate steps toward fully implementing the 2006 UN Security Council resolution that ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said late Tuesday. Resolution 1701 called for the deployment of Lebanese forces throughout the south, which borders Israel and is now mainly controlled by Hezbollah, and it calls for all armed groups including Hezbollah to be disarmed. Neither has happened in the past 17 years. Trump team was kept in the loop as negotiations unfolded, Biden administration official says WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump's senior national security team was briefed by the Biden administration as negotiations unfolded, according to the senior US official. The official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity in a White House-organised call, added that the incoming Trump administration officials were not directly involved in the talks, but that it was important that the incoming administration knew what we were negotiating and what the commitments were. The official said all fire will stop from all parties at 4 am local time. The next step would be what the official described as a phased withdrawal by the Israeli military. As the Israelis pull back, Lebanese national forces will occupy the territories. The process is slated to finish within 60 days. Lebanese forces is supposed to patrol the area and remove Hezbollah weaponry and infrastructure there. Palestinian president urges action to halt the war in Gaza UNITED NATIONS Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for urgent international intervention to stop what he described as an ongoing genocidal war in Gaza. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but not Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas. The US and others want a reinvigorated Palestinian Authority to run Gaza when the war ends. In a speech on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Abbas accused Israel of repeating what happened to the Palestinians in 1948 and 1967 displacing them and seizing their land and resources. Abbas demanded to know how long the world will remain silent and refuse to compel Israel to abide by international law. The speech to UN member nations was read by Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour. Lebanon's prime minister welcomes Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire BEIRUT -- Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the US-brokered ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah, describing it as a crucial step toward stability, the return of displaced people to their homes and regional calm. Mikati made these comments in a statement issued just after US President Joe announced the truce deal. Mikati said he discussed the ceasefire agreement with Biden by phone earlier Tuesday. The prime minister reaffirmed Lebanon's commitment to implementing UN resolution 1701, strengthening the Lebanese army's presence in the south, and cooperating with the UN peacekeeping force. Trump's pick for key adviser credits the president-elect with helping cement Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire WASHINGTON Rep Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump's designate to be national security adviser, credited Trump's victory with helping bring the parties together toward a ceasefire in Lebanon. Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump, he said in a post on X on Tuesday. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won't be tolerated. I'm glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East. Israel airstrikes keep pounding Lebanese capital in the war's biggest wave of attacks BEIRUT Israeli jets targeted a building in a bustling commercial area of Beirut for the first time since the start of the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel. The strike on Hamra is around 400 metres from the country's central bank. A separate strike hit the Mar Elias neighbourhood in the country's capital Tuesday. There was no immediate word on casualties from either strike, part of the biggest wave of attacks on the capital since the war started. Residents in central Beirut were seen fleeing after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for four targets in the city. Hezbollah official says the group hasn't seen a final ceasefire agreement BEIRUT Hezbollah has said it accepts the ceasefire proposal with Israel, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah's political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state of Lebanon, he said. Any violation of sovereignty is refused. Among the issues that may 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. G7 leaders endorse Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire and insist Israel follow international law FIUGGI, Italy Foreign ministers from the world's industrialised countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region. At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn't refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity. (AP) NPK NPK Jerusalem, Nov 27 (AP) Long-displaced residents of south Lebanon started returning to their homes amid celebrations hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group took effect early Wednesday morning. The ceasefire has brought relief across the Mediterranean nation, coming after days of some of the most intense airstrikes and clashes since the war began, though many wondered if the agreement to stop fighting would hold. Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement, which was announced Tuesday. Hundreds of cars made their way into southern Lebanon, defying a warning from the Israeli military to stay away from previously evacuated areas. At least 42 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country's north. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire marks the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas' attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south. In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 1,04,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Here's the Latest: Gaza residents hope for ceasefire after nearly 14 months of grueling war KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Palestinians said Wednesday they hoped there would be a ceasefire in Gaza now that Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a truce. But some feared that Israel would be more heavy handed with Gaza now that its forces were freed up from the fighting against Hezbollah. The situation will be worse, because the pressure will be more on Gaza, said Mamdouh Yonis, a man currently living in Khan Younis after being displaced from the southern city of Rafah, told The Associated Press. Palestinians in Gaza are desperately waiting for a ceasefire agreement that would end the war between Hamas and Israel. It's already killed over 44,000 people according to local authorities, who don't distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count. They agree to a ceasefire in one place and not in the other? Have mercy on the children, the elderly and the women. We are sitting in tents and now it is winter, said Ahlam Abu Shalabi, a woman displaced from Gaza City. Turkey welcomes ceasefire in Lebanon ANKARA, Turkey Turkey welcomed the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, expressing hope that it would lead to a lasting truce. In a statement issued Wednesday, Turkey's Foreign Ministry also called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to force it to strictly comply with the ceasefire and compensate for the damage it has caused in Lebanon. Israeli military says it fired at cars in Lebanon after they approached restricted area TEL AVIV, Israel The Israeli military said Wednesday that its forces opened fire in Lebanon on a number of cars that approached an area it said was restricted, as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to take hold. The military said the vehicles drove away. It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries as a result. The Israeli military has warned residents of previously evacuated areas of Lebanon that had been evacuated, but displaced people have been streaming south to their homes. The military said soldiers remained in position in southern Lebanon and that the air force was ready to act if needed. It said Israel's aerial defense array was also at the ready for any ceasefire violations. France highlights its role in brokering deal FIUGGI, Italy - France's foreign minister underlined his country's role in brokering an agreement that ended fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group alongside the US, saying the deal wouldn't have been possible without France's special relationship with its former protectorate. It's a success for French diplomacy and we can be proud, said the minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking hours after the ceasefire went into effect Wednesday. It is true that the United States have a privileged relationship with Israel. But with Lebanon, it's France that has very old ties, very close ties, the minister added. It would not have been possible to envisage a ceasefire in Lebanon without France being involved on the front line. France will be involved in monitoring the ceasefire, Barrot noted, with 700 French soldiers deployed as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, that has been patrolling the border area between Lebanon and Israel for nearly 50 years. Lebanese military warns people returning homes in south Lebanon to wait for Israeli troops to leave BEIRUT The Lebanese military asked displaced people returning to southern Lebanon to avoid frontline villages and towns near the border where the Israeli military is still present until the troops withdraw. Thousands of people have been returning to other previously evacuated areas in south Lebanon in defiance of an Israeli warning to avoid all previously evacuated areas. Many of those areas were hit by strikes just hours before the ceasefire took effect. Iran welcomes ceasefire DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iran welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, Tehran's main militant partner in the Mideast. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei praised the ceasefire in a statement Wednesday morning. Baghaei said that Iran still sought a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But like Hezbollah, it's dropped the demand that a ceasefire also take place at the same time in the Gaza Strip. He also called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try the criminals of the occupying regime, referring to Israel. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's former defense minister. Celebrations and relief as displaced people return to Tyre TYRE, Lebanon Displaced people started returning to the coastal city of Tyre on motorcycles and in cars early Wednesday, defying an Israeli military warning to stay away from previously evacuated areas. Ahmad Husseini said returning to southern Lebanon was an indescribable feeling and praised Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon's negotiations with Washington. He made us and everyone proud. Husseini, who earlier fled a town near the coastal city, spoke to The Associated Press while in his car with family members. Meanwhile, sporadic celebratory gunfire could be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honked the horns of cars some piled with mattresses and residents cheered. A couple of men shouted slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September. Hussein Sweidan said he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon, he said. (AP) NPK NPK VIENTIANE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Service Center and Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) met to review the progress of their collaboration with development partners to strengthen micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Laos. They gathered in Vientiane province for a consultation conference aimed at assessing past plans and activities, particularly the implementation of the socio-economic development plan for 2025 to 2030, according to the LNCCI's report on Wednesday. The event focused on drafting joint activity plans in collaboration with provincial SME service centers and development partners. The SME Service Center is a key pillar of the LNCCI's strategy, facilitating activities to promote SMEs in line with the policies set by the Party and government. Since 2019, SME service centers have been established in six provinces: Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bolikhamxay, Savannakhet, and Champasak. At the meeting, representatives from each provincial SME service center presented reports on their past achievements and collaborated to develop joint activity plans. These plans aim to foster the growth of the business sector by strengthening services for SME entrepreneurs. The centers also facilitate the exchange of advice, lessons learned, and information on trade, investment, finance, markets, and access to capital. Additionally, they focus on encouraging innovation to improve products and services, enhance competitiveness, and create added value in line with market economy mechanisms. The SME Service Center serves as a hub for promoting and supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises in Laos. It coordinates efforts between the government and the business sector, providing essential information and strengthening the overall business environment. Dhaka, Nov 27 (PTI) The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has urged the Bangladesh authorities to promote "peaceful coexistence" for Hindus in the country as it "strongly" denounced the recent arrest of the prominent community leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. Das, the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from Dhakas Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday as he was about to fly to Chattogram to join a rally. He was denied bail and sent to jail by the Chattograms Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate court in a sedition case on Tuesday. In a statement on Tuesday, ISKCON Bangladesh General Secretary Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari said, "We express our serious concern and strongly denounce the recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das... We also condemn the subsequent violence and attacks against Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh." "We urge the government authorities to promote peaceful coexistence for the Sanatani community," he said. Underlining that Bangladesh is "our birthplace and ancestral home", the statement urged the interim government of Bangladesh led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus "to ensure justice for all and to allow every citizen to practice their religion freely in accordance with their beliefs and conscience". The statement said Das has been a vocal advocate for the protection of minority groups in Bangladesh and it is essential to uphold his right to free speech and to support his efforts to encourage others to defend this right. "Ensuring justice and fair treatment for him is crucial," it said, adding that Das and the Sanatam community deserve justice as citizens of Bangladesh and any form of discrimination against them must not be tolerated. Das was also a member of the ISKCON, which recently expelled him. ISKCON Bangladesh demanded that the Bangladesh government must identify and hold accountable those responsible for the attacks on the Sanatani community; protect the civil rights of Das and other Hindu members; and implement immediate and effective measures to maintain peace and harmony among all communities in the country. The statement said ISKCON in Bangladesh is dedicated to safeguarding the religious freedoms and rights of minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. "We have consistently urged the interim government and other leaders to ensure constitutional protection for minorities and to facilitate their full and unrestricted participation in society. We call on the government and administration to take prompt and effective actions in consultation with leaders of the Sanatani community to address these concerns," it said. ISKCON Bangladesh said it hopes the government will recognise the situation and take peaceful actions to restore harmony and guide the nation toward communal unity. "We encourage everyone to practice religious tolerance and avoid any provocative actions," the statement said. Bangladeshs 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 Hasinas Awami League government on August 5. Colombo, Nov 27 (PTI) Sri Lanka's newly-elected Parliament will take up two key debates next week, including one on the government's policy statement, the first such discussion under the National People's Power (NPP) government following its resounding victory in the November parliamentary election. The debate on the government's policy statement, presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during the inaugural session, will occur on December 3 and 4, followed by a vote. Additionally, the debate on the interim vote on account for the first four months of 2025 is set for December 5 and 6, after which it will be presented for parliamentary approval. The vote on account will lead to the formal presentation of the 2025 budget on February 17. The new parliament of Sri Lanka - the 10th parliament since 1978 - was convened on Thursday last for the first session after the landslide victory of the ruling NPP, which created history by winning 159 seats in the 225-member assembly. President Dissanayake made his policy statement last week while opening the new parliament where his NPP has an absolute majority. He made the current program with the IMF for economic recovery the cornerstone of his immediate economic policy. Last week, the government won approval for the third review of the program started under the previous regime. The fourth tranche is to be released soon after the IMF board approval. Dissanayake also stressed his governments intent to clean up public life by holding those responsible for past bad deeds accountable. Several corruption cases against the former regime high-ups have been reopened since he won the presidency in September. London, Nov 27 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav joined prominent members of the Indian diaspora and dignitaries from the UK at a sombre ceremony to mark the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks anniversary, hosted by the High Commission of India in London. The event at India House on Tuesday evening included a photographic exhibition as a tribute and visual narrative of the deadly attacks on the city on November 26, 2008. "This unfortunate incident was a painful chapter in our history. I am here to pay my respects to the souls affected by this tragedy," said Yadav. He went on to acknowledge the profound impact of the attacks on those who experienced the horror first-hand, as well as the millions who watched the traumatic events unfold on their television screens. "It is an honour to take part in the incredibly touching commemoration at the Indian High Commission as we honour the memory of the victims of that terrible terrorist attack, said UK shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel. Former union minister Smriti Irani and Lord Rami Ranger, chair of the British Sikh Association, were among those who paid tributes to the 166 innocent lives lost in the terror attack. The commemoration ceremony included soulful renditions by award-winning violinist Dr Jyotsana Srikanth and vocalist Srikanth Sharma, who performed the bhajan 'Vaishnav Jan To. Earlier on Tuesday, the Madhya Pradesh CM showcased the states unparalleled growth and its potential as a global investment destination at an Interactive Session on Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh gathering in London. He emphasised the states leadership in renewable energy, with Asias largest solar park, a thriving agricultural sector that has tripled in production over the past decade, and a robust industrial infrastructure supported by a 1.25 lakh-acre land bank. It has been a productive interaction during which UK investors have shown a keen interest in investing in Madhya Pradesh, said Dr Yadav. He underscored the state as the heart of incredible India and its commitment to fostering ease of business through a "plug and play" infrastructure offer, the elimination of over 2,400 compliances and the digitisation of investor services. Madhya Pradesh is not just a destination for investment, it is a partner in progress, offering limitless opportunities across sectors like agribusiness, renewable energy and logistics, noted Yadav, inviting the UK to partner with the Invest MP Summit in Bhopal in February 2025. Madhya Pradesh has consistently been among the top five states for ease of doing business. This success is a testament to the complex partnerships and innovative approaches the state has adopted, year after year, to simplify business processes and drive economic growth, said Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami. The chief ministers delegation turned its focus to the education and skills sector with a visit to the University of Warwick on Wednesday, following which the Europe tour will proceed to Germany on Thursday to cover a further range of investment opportunities for Madhya Pradesh in the cities of Munich and Stuttgart. Peshawar, Nov 27 (PTI) At least 10 more people have been killed and 21 others injured as sporadic clashes continued between Sunni and Shia tribes despite a cease-fire brokered between the two warring communities in Pakistan's restive northwest, police said on Wednesday. The latest violence took place on Tuesday in Kurram district, bordering Afghanistan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. At least 10 people died and 21 others injured in the sporadic tribal sectarian violence, police said. The clashes between Alizai and Bagan tribes in Kurram district started on Friday last week following Thursday's attack on a convoy of passenger vans near Parachinar in which 47 people were killed. At least 37 people were killed and several others injured in the tribal sectarian violence over Friday and Saturday, police said. Nobody has claimed responsibility for Thursday's convoy attack. A seven-day cease-fire was brokered between the Shia and Sunni communities on Sunday following meetings between a provincial government delegation and elders from both sects. However, despite the cease-fire, sporadic clashes are continuing, police said. There was sporadic fighting on Tuesday in Ghozaghari, Matasanagar and Kunj Alizai areas. Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud said that a grand jirga (tribal council) comprising elders from Hangu, Orakzai and Kohat districts will visit Kurram for fresh mediation to end hostilities. Kohat division Commissioner will lead the peace delegation, he said. Meanwhile, Dr Mir Hassan Khan, Superintendent of the Kurram district headquarters hospital, said the closure of roads leading to Parachinar following Thursday's attack has resulted in a shortage of medicines. It is becoming difficult for doctors to treat people due to sa hortage of medicines and people are losing their lives, he said. Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan. Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram. Although the area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant groups previously targeting the Shiite minority, the current violence is connected to a land dispute. Dublin, Nov 27 (AP) From his poster, there's not much to distinguish Gerry Hutch from the slew of other independent candidates hoping discontented voters will propel them into Ireland's parliament in an election on Friday. We need change, and I'm your man, it says. On the streets of Dublin, some voters agree - despite the candidate's unusual CV. Prosecutors say Gerry the Monk Hutch heads an international crime group involved in robbery and drug smuggling. He was acquitted last year of murdering a gangland rival. This month he was bailed in Spain's Canary Islands on money-laundering charges and allowed to return to Ireland to run for election. I'd love if he got in, said Derek Richardson, an unemployed Dubliner unimpressed by the big-party politicians. There's plenty of other gangsters out there in suits. Around the world in this record-breaking election year, voters have decided that something in their country is broken, and punished incumbent governments. That sentiment also ripples through the campaign in Ireland, where rival centre-right parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail took turns running the country for a century before forming a coalition administration in 2020. If some voters are turning on them, the anti-politician mood also is hitting left-of-centre opposition party Sinn Fein, which not long ago appeared destined for power. With voters set to fill all 174 seats in the Dail, the lower house of parliament, opinion polls suggest voters' support is split into five roughly even chunks - for Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, several smaller parties and an assortment of independents running the gamut from left-leaning to far right. Restaurant worker Anne-Marie Kerry saw the appeal of independents - even Hutch, the alleged gangster. They're all criminals anyway, she said. Housing crisis The issue that comes up most on the campaign trail is housing. Apartments and houses are expensive - prices rose by 10% in the year to August - and there are not enough to go around. A housing commission set up by the government says Ireland has a housing deficit of up to 256,000 homes. Rents have soared, and many young teachers, nurses and other key workers can't afford a place of their own. Eoin O'Malley, associate professor of political science at Dublin City University, said the cost of living squeeze means people in their 20s are talking about emigration, even though there are plenty of jobs in Ireland. People are feeling that they can't settle down so they are going abroad to get their career going, he said. So there's a fear among middle-class parents that My children will never come back again.' It's not just the young who are feeling the pinch. Carole York is 73 and has fought a five-year battle to avoid eviction from the rural home near Waterford, 160 km south of Dublin, that she has turned into a sanctuary for rescued ponies. She says the landlord encouraged her and promised a long-term let, but then decided he wanted her out so he could sell the valuable property. There are many, many elderly people who are in a similar position to me, who are just being turfed out because of the way prices of property are just going through the roof in this country, she said. York says she never had the slightest interest in politics until this election. Now, she'll be voting for a party that promises to stand up for renters, such as Sinn Fein or the smaller Labour Party. Immigration challenges Immigration has risen up the political agenda as new arrivals transformed a country long defined by emigration. About 20% of Ireland's population was born outside Ireland, and 120,000 foreigners moved to Ireland in the year to April, the biggest number since 2007. Recent arrivals include more than 100,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East and Africa. This country of 5.4 million has struggled to house all the asylum-seekers, leading to tent camps and makeshift accommodation centres that have attracted tension and protests. A stabbing attack on children outside a Dublin school a year ago, in which an Algerian man has been charged, sparked the worst rioting Ireland had seen in decades. Unlike many European countries, Ireland does not have a significant far-right party, but anti-immigrant independent candidates are hoping for election in several districts. Others take a more measured view, including Hutch, who says he supports immigration, but that migrants should work and not sponge off the state. The country's overloaded with refugees, and it's not right, said Caroline Alwright, who sells fruit and vegetables in Dublin's Moore Street outdoor market. I'm not racist, by no means, but we have to look after ourselves, because no one is looking after us. She says she's voting for an independent candidate, and I'll never be Fine Gael or Fianna Fail again. Coalition likely The main political parties are trying to defuse the discontent, touting plans to get a grip on immigration and build many more houses. Ireland's government has one advantage over many others: money, in part from 13 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in back taxes that the European Union ordered Apple to pay Ireland. The government initially opposed that payment, because low taxes are one of the key sweeteners Ireland has used to attract investment from major foreign companies. The threat posed by tariff-loving President-elect Donald Trump to Ireland's economic model has not come up much on the campaign trail, though Prime Minister Simon Harris has said his Fine Gael party is setting aside a very significant amount into future funds to protect our country from any economic shock. Harris is hoping to remain as prime minister, or taoiseach, but his campaign has been weakened by gaffes. His brusque treatment of a disabled care worker he met last week became the kind of viral political moment that politicians dread. Fianna Fail, led by Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, has the edge in most polls, and the leader looks relaxed on the campaign trail. Encountering handshakes and selfie requests in the shops of Dublin's affluent Clontarf area, he acknowledged that there is a need for new policies - but not new governing parties. Martin said "this government has weathered some very significant shocks to the economy, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But we managed to bring the Irish economy back," he told The Associated Press. Why go back to the starting point again? Sinn Fein, which aims to reunite the Republic of Ireland and the UK territory of Northern Ireland, topped the popular vote at the last election in in 2020 but was shut out of government because neither Fianna Fail nor Fine Gael would work with it, citing its leftist policies and historic links to the Irish Republican Army. In recent months its poll ratings have plunged, due in part to a disconnect with its working-class voters over immigration. Party officials say Sinn Fein has gained momentum during the three-week election campaign, but its path to power remains limited by a lack of coalition partners. Analysts say the most likely election outcome is another Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald insisted the party could win, and implored voters considering independent candidates to think again. Do you want a change in government? she said while campaigning in Dublin. If that is what you desire, then Sinn Fein is the party to vote for. I want to reassure people that it can happen. I'd go further than that and say, it's in your hands. It can't happen without you. (AP) SCY SCY Washington, Nov 27 (AP) Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released and are returning to the United States, the White House said Wednesday, announcing a diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration. The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained by China. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years, the White House said in a statement. The release comes just two months after China freed David Lin, a Christian pastor from California who had spent nearly 20 years behind bars after being convicted of contract fraud. US-China relations have been roiled for years over major disagreements between the world's two largest economies on trade, human rights, the production of fentanyl precursors, security issues that include espionage and hacking, China's aggressiveness toward Taiwan and its smaller neighbours in the South China Sea, and Beijing's support for Russia's military-industrial sector. The release of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China has been a top agenda item in each conversation between the US and China, and Wednesday's development suggests a willingness by Beijing to engage with the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House in January. Trump took significant actions against China on trade and diplomacy during his first term. He has pledged to continue those policies in his second term, leading to unease among many who fear that an all-out trade war will greatly affect the international economy and could spur potential Chinese military action against Taiwan. Still, the two countries have maintained a dialogue that has included a partial restoration of military-to-military contacts. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met this month to discuss potential improvements. In a separate but related move, the State Department on Wednesday lowered its travel warning to China to level two, advising US citizens to exercise increased caution from the norm when travelling to the mainland. The alert had previously been at level three, telling Americans they should reconsider travel to China in part because of the risk of wrongful detention of Americans. The new alert removes that wording but retains a warning that the Chinese government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law. The Biden administration had raised the cases of the detained Americans with China in multiple meetings over the past several years, including this month when Biden spoke to Xi on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru. Politico was first to report the men's release, which it said was part of a prisoner swap with the US. The White House did not immediately confirm that any Chinese citizens had been returned home. Li, a Chinese immigrant who started an export business in the US, was detained in September 2016 after flying into Shanghai. He was placed under surveillance, interrogated without a lawyer and accused of providing state secrets to the FBI. A UN working group called his 10-year prison sentence arbitrary and his family said the charges were politically motivated. Leung was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges. He was detained in 2021, by the local bureau of China's counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and social controls to fight the spread of COVID-19. After Leung's sentencing, the US recommended though without citing specific cases that Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions. Swidan had been jailed for 12 years on a drug charge and, along with Li and Leung, had considered by the State Department to be wrongfully detained. (AP) GSP Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) NCP spokesperson Amol Mitkari was rebuked by his party colleagues after he took exception to a political consultant putting his arm around Ajit Pawar. A photograph showed Naresh Arora, a consultant, putting his arm around the NCP chief to congratulate him after the party's impressive showing in the Maharashtra assembly elections. The Nationalist Congress Party has hired Arora's marketing and political campaign management firm. "How dare he put his arm around Ajit Pawar," Mitkari posted on X on Tuesday, which prompted the NCP's official X handle to clarify that it was his personal opinion. Mitkari, a member of the Maharashtra legislative council, responded saying he expressed the party workers' sentiments. "How dare he put his arm around Ajit-dada," he wrote again. Pawar's elder son Parth then chided him, writing on X that it was unfortunate that despite being a party legislator, Mitkari took an anti- party stand regarding Arora and his firm DesignBoxed. "My father and NCP president Ajit Pawar doesn't endorse or align with Mitkari's views in any manner. He is strongly urged to refrain from making such comments or providing media bytes on this matter," Parth said. Pune, Nov 27 (PTI) The investigation into the suicide of a 15-year-old boy showed that he was allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed by a 26-year-old sales executive, Pune Police said on Wednesday. Police booked the man on various charges including abetting suicide, an official said. The boy hanged himself at his house on October 15. "The investigation showed that an unidentified person had sent messages to the boy threatening to make his photos and videos public. Police tracked down the accused," a police officer said. The investigation showed that the man, who works as a sales executive, had sexually assaulted the teenage boy and recorded the act on his mobile phone, he said. "The accused later started harassing the boy by sending him the photos and videos on his phone, leading to the teenager killing himself," the officer added. A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. No arrest has been made. Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) The Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates who faced defeat in the recent Maharashtra assembly polls have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said. Many losing candidates of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) pointed fingers at the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during their interaction with party head Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday. Thackeray took stock of the lacklustre performance of his party at a meeting held at his residence in Mumbai. The poll verdict last week saw the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, retaining power with a massive mandate, pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to margins. The Mahayuti won 230 seats and MVA only 46 in the 288-member House. The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) emerged as the largest party in the opposition camp by winning 20 seats, followed by Congress which bagged 16 constituencies, while the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) sits at the bottom with a tally of 10 seats. Talking to PTI on Tuesday, Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan, who lost the election from Chandivali assembly constituency in Mumbai, said he held a discussion with Thackeray, who also said he has got complaints from his party workers that EVMs could have been tampered. "We are getting complaints from different parts of the state expressing doubts over the results. In a democracy, complaints need to be verified and many of us, including myself, (who faced defeat) are in the process of applying for the verification," Khan said. As per the Supreme Court's judgement on April 26 this year, the burnt memory/microcontroller in 5 per cent of the EVMs - the control unit, ballot unit and the VVPAT - per assembly constituency shall be checked and verified by a team of engineers from manufacturers of the EVMs, after the announcement of results, for any tampering or modification, he said. A written request for this has to be made by candidates who are in the second or third position behind the highest polled candidate. Such a request has to be made within seven days of declaration of the result, Khan said. A candidate making the request will have to pay the expenses of Rs 41,000 which will be refunded in case the machine is found to be tampered with, he said. The microcontroller is a one-time programmable chip embedded into the three units of EVM-Ballot Unit, Control Unit and the VVPAT - at the time of manufacturing, as per the SC. A Sena (UBT) MLA from Mumbai has claimed there were discrepancies between the votes polled and the votes counted in the EVMs. "Almost all candidates raised doubts over the EVMs," the legislator said. Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) NCP leader Sunil Tatkare on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah will take the final decision on who would be Maharashtra's next chief minister. Suspense over who would get the top post continues after the ruling Mahayuti coalition's spectacular success in the assembly elections, results of which were declared on November 23. "The decision on the chief minister's post will be taken by PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah....It will be taken in two-three days. After that the process of government formation will start," said Tatkare, speaking to the media in Delhi. The Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, had not decided any formula for the CM post, he said. The MP from Raigad also slammed the Opposition for blaming Electronic Voting Machines. "It takes courage and large-heartedness to accept a defeat. The Opposition can not digest the fact that people have rejected them," he said. The Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the elections, bagging 230 of 288 assembly seats. KIGALI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and 18 others injured in November as a result of flooding, landslides, and lightning caused by torrential rains across Rwanda, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. The rains also destroyed or damaged houses, classroom blocks, plantations, and roads, the ministry said Tuesday in an update covering Nov. 1-24. The hardest-hit districts include Gakenke, Gasabo, Rutsiro, Gisagara, Kamonyi, Gatsibo, Ngororero, and Rusizi, it said. Philippe Habinshuti, the ministry's permanent secretary, urged people living in high-risk zones to relocate to safer areas. In May last year, floods and landslides struck western and northern Rwanda, resulting in the death of 135 people. Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 (PTI) The Odisha government has removed the names of over 1.77 lakh dead beneficiaries from the public distribution system (PDS) since June 15, 2024, the assembly was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra said no false ration card has been detected in Odisha since June 15, 2024. The names of 1,77,068 dead people have been detected in the PDS database since June 15, which have been deleted, he said. Patra said the highest number of 24,579 names were deleted in Ganjam district, followed by 14,436 in Balasore district, 12,990 in Bhadrak district, 12,139 in Cuttack and 11,736 in Kendrapara district. The names of 1,77,068 migrant labourers/workers have been included after removing the dead people's names, the minister said. This has been done according to the directions of the Supreme Court of India, he said. Replying to a question by BJP legislator Tankadhar Tripathy, Patra informed the House that the state government has been providing free rice to a total of 3.26 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and 10.03 lakh people under the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS). The Centre is providing 22.44 lakh metric tonnes of rice to Odisha to meet the requirement under NFSA. Similarly, the state government is distributing around 60,000 metric tonnes of rice under its SFSS, he said. So far, a total of 6,19,836 beneficiaries have applied for new ration cards in Odisha, he added. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) A Project Implementation Agreement has been signed between the Ministry of External Affairs and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to execute new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles, an official statement said. The agreement was signed on Tuesday, the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The Wilmington Declaration released at the Quad Leaders' Summit in Delaware in the US on September 21 stated that the Quad countries will work together, through policy and public finance, to operationalise their commitment to catalyse complementary and high-standard private sector investment in allied and partner clean energy supply chains, it said. "To this end, India has committed to invest USD 2 million in new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles," it added. On November 26, the Project Implementation Agreement (PIA) was signed between the MEA and the ISA to execute the projects in these Indo-Pacific countries. The ISA, as the Project Implementing Agency, would provide programmatic assistance to Comoros, Fiji, Madagascar and Seychelles with financial support from India, according to the statement. According to a study undertaken by the ISA, the countries under consideration for solar projects have energy issues related to perishability of agricultural products, unreliable electricity supply in health centres and for irrigation purposes in remote areas where grid power supply or solar mini-grids are not available yet, the MEA said. Based on discussions with the project recipient countries, solar projects in the areas of cold storage, solarisation of healthcare facilities and solar water pumping systems are under consideration, it said. The successful execution of these projects is expected to enhance energy access, create employment and provide reliable and quality power supply in these Indo-Pacific countries. "Unequal access to reliable and secure sources of energy and electricity has inhibited holistic economic development and social justice for nations and communities across the world. Solar energy is a viable solution to help these countries address climate change-related challenges," the statement said. The latest round of clean energy investments by India in these countries shall help strengthen the commitment of the Quad to address the challenges posed by climate change and facilitate their transition to a clean energy economy for the people, planet and our shared prosperity, the MEA said. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) India and the European Union held three key meetings during which they assessed the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation, took stock of the ongoing FTA negotiations and underscored the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine. They reiterated their shared commitment to promoting a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and India welcomed the EU's "increasing engagement" in the Indo-Pacific region, the Ministry of External Affairs said. India and the EU held the 5th Strategic Partnership Review Meeting on November 22 in Brussels. The Indian side was led by Secretary (West) in the MEA, Tanmaya Lal, and the EU side was led by Simon Mordue, Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, European External Action Service (EEAS). The 10th India-EU Foreign Policy and Security Consultations and the 10th India-EU Energy Panel were also convened on November 21. Lal also met Stefano Sannino, Secretary General, EEAS. The meetings were held during the 20th anniversary year of the India-EU Strategic Partnership and in the backdrop of intensification of engagement between India and the EU and its member states, the MEA said in a statement. "The meetings assessed the full spectrum of the bilateral cooperation between India and the EU and the implementation of the detailed commitments set out in the 'India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025' agreed during the 15th India-EU Summit in 2020. The exchanges also focused on future priorities for India-EU ties and the new impetus in relations," it said. "The commitment by President von der Leyen in the Political Guidelines for 2024-2029 to develop a new India-EU strategic agenda was welcomed," the statement said. The discussions focused on a broad range of topics, including economic security, green transition, defence and security cooperation, migration, mobility, India-EU Connectivity Partnership, Global Gateway, and IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), the MEA said. "Both sides also discussed furthering cooperation in the sphere of innovation, science and technology, including positive developments in the context of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), and the opportunities to increase people-to-people contacts in education and research," it added. They also took stock of the ongoing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Investment Protection Agreement and Agreement on Geographical Indications and agreed on their importance. The two sides also underscored the "need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law and consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter", the statement said. "They expressed their deep concern at the situation in the Middle East/West Asia and underlined the need for early restoration of peace and stability," it added. Both sides also underlined the importance of the India-EU Strategic Partnership in addressing global challenges. "They reiterated their shared commitment to promoting a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. India welcomed the European Unions increasing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region," it said. "Both sides emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes," the statement said. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress will focus on "people's issues" in the ongoing winter session of Parliament and it does not want the proceedings to be disrupted over "one issue", deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said Wednesday. While the Congress is vociferously raising the issue of industrialist Gautam Adani being charged in an alleged bribery and fraud case in the US, the Trinamool Congress said it will be focusing on issues like deprivation of central funds to West Bengal and the situation in Manipur. "TMC will sharply focus on 'people's issues' to raise in Parliament," Dastidar said. The remarks come as the Adani issue was raised in both Houses for the second day, and both Houses were adjourned without transacting much business. "TMC wants Parliament to run. We don't want one issue to disrupt Parliament. We must hold this government accountable for its multiple failures," Dastidar told reporters. The party, which is a part of opposition's INDIA bloc at the national level but not in electoral alliance with any of the parties, said it continues to be a part of the bloc but its outlook is different. "We will take on the BJP but our outlook on how to take on the BJP can be strategically different..." Dastidar said. "TMC does not have an electoral alliance with any party, but we win," she said. She also said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be attending the swearing in of Hemant Soren as Jharkhand chief minister. In a meeting of the working committee of the Trinamool Congress on Monday, the issues to be taken up in the winter session of Parliament were discussed. While MGNREGA and other central funds being stopped for the state remains the key issue that the party is looking at raising, issues like price rise, unemployment, and fertiliser shortage are also in the list. The situation in the Northeast, and the continuing violence in Manipur are also on the list, as is the delay in clearance for the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill. A party source said the issues were decided in the meeting of the TMC's working committee on Monday, as it was felt that these issues are important for people. The TMC had skipped an INDIA bloc meeting on Monday where the alliance's leaders took a decision to demand a joint parliamentary committee into issues surrounding the Adani Group, as well as the opposition meeting held on Wednesday called to discuss issues to be raised in the ongoing session. The party will also be raising the pending Aparajita bill, which has been referred to President Droupadi Murmu by Governor CV Ananda Bose. TMC leaders have also sought time from the president to meet her to discuss the bill, which provides that seeks capital punishment for rape convicts if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state, and life sentence without parole for other perpetrators. The West Bengal assembly had unanimously passed the bill on September 3. Srinagar, Nov 27 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has given PDP legislative party leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Para seven days to respond to a "breach of privilege" notice issued over his speech in the House early this month. Para, a first-time member of the legislative Assembly, is accused of breach of privilege by National Conference MLA Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi. "The office is in receipt of a communication from Gurezi addressed to the Speaker in which it has been stated that Para, during his speech on Motion of Thanks on the Lieutenant Governor's Address on 8th of November 2024, has levelled some allegations and used derogatory remarks against him. Accordingly, the matter was placed before the Speaker, who desired to seek comments from Para in the first instance before proceeding ahead in the matter, Qazi Mushtaq Ahmad, under-secretary in J&K legislative assembly secretariat, said in a communication to Para on Tuesday. The letter asked Para to furnish his response in the matter within seven days so that the same could be placed before the Speaker. Jammu, Nov 27 (PTI) National Conference leader Rattan Lal Gupta on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the "dual power mechanism" in Jammu and Kashmir, and claimed it was hindering the region's development and was being detrimental to the nation as well. He emphasised the urgent need for a streamlined governance model and pointed out the surge in terrorist activities as a "glaring example of the administrative failure" under the setup. "Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive region and the dual power mechanism currently operating here is not viable. We have two power centres functioning simultaneously, which has led to confusion within the administration," the provincial president of the JKNC said. Gupta claimed this divided governance approach was creating obstacles rather than providing solutions. "A sensitive region like Jammu and Kashmir requires a single, empowered voice that reflects the will of its people," he added. The NC leader cited media reports that claimed that eight out of 10 districts in the Jammu region have witnessed terror incidents this year, leading to 44 deaths. Expressing concern over the "deteriorating" security situation in the Union Territory, Gupta urged the government to enhance the efficiency of intelligence agencies to counter the escalating threats. "The dual power system has not only created confusion but also weakened the region's ability to address security challenges effectively. The people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve peace and stability, and that can only be achieved through coherent and unified governance," he remarked. Demanding an immediate restoration of statehood, the NC leader underscored that the elected government, headed by Omar Abdullah, would be best positioned to address the aspirations and concerns of the residents of Jammu and Kashmir. "Our leader Omar Abdullah is a dynamic and visionary leader who truly understands the pulse of Jammu and Kashmir. An administration under his guidance would provide the clarity and direction that is currently lacking. A return to statehood, with an elected government at the helm, is essential for the wellbeing and prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir's citizens," he said. "Statehood must be restored immediately to ensure that the mandate of the voters and aspirations of the people are respected and realised," Gupta added. New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) A leading drone manufacturer in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology domain on Wednesday announced the successful delivery of a "one-of-its-kind" logistics drone to the Indian Army, aimed at enhancing its capabilities in challenging terrains. The Sabal 20 logistics drone has been manufactured by EndureAir Systems. The firm announced the "successful delivery of one-of-its-kind Sabal 20 Logistics Drone to the Indian Army", saying it marks a "significant milestone" in enhancing the logistics capabilities of the defence forces operating in challenging terrains, according to a statement issued by the company. The aviation technology company was incubated on the corridors of IIT-Kanpur in 2018, with the objective to provide world-class drone technology that is best suited for both defence and civilian applications, it said. "Sabal 20 is an electric unmanned helicopter based on variable pitch technology, designed specifically for aerial logistics, capable of carrying payloads of up to 20 kilogram, equivalent to 50 per cent of its own weight, with scalable options for future requirements," it said. Building on the legacy of the Chinook helicopter, Sabal 20 features high efficiency of large rotors and the exceptional load-carrying capability of a tandem rotor configuration, the firm said. This design ensures remarkable stability, superior high-altitude performance, minimised turbulence risk and outstanding lifting capacity across diverse terrains, the statement said. "We are honoured to contribute towards the progress of the Indian Army, modernising its logistics capabilities. With EndureAir's Sabal 20, we reaffirm our commitment to providing indigenous, innovative UAV solutions that empower our armed forces and support their mission-critical needs in diverse environment, ensuring operational excellence," Abhishek, director and co-founder of EndureAir, was quoted as saying in the statement. Sabal 20 is engineered to meet rigorous operational demands, supporting missions such as long-range deliveries, high-altitude operations and precision logistics, the firm said. This delivery underscores EndureAir's dedication to supporting India's defence sector through the "Make in India" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiatives, fostering self-reliance and advancing UAV manufacturing. Sabal 20 reflects the company's vision of blending innovation with purpose to address real-world challenges, it added. Hyderabad, Nov 27 (PTI) The Telangana High Court on Wednesday sought a report from the state government by December 2 over the recent incidents of students taking ill after consuming mid-meals in government schools in the state. Taking a serious view of the incidents, a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao directed submission of the report with details of the incidents, reasons and the remedial measures initiated by the authorities. The court's directions came while dealing with a PIL on the issue. The counsel of the petitioner submitted that three incidents of students falling ill after consuming mid-meal in government schools in Narayanpet and Karimnagar districts were reported during the past few days. On 22 students of Zilla Parishad High School in Maganoor in Narayanpet district, who were hospitalised on Tuesday after complaining of stomach aches and others, the government counsel informed the court that a group of students who fell ill ate snacks purchased from outside the school. He said the government has already taken steps, including monitoring and suspending some officials over the recent incidents. The petitioner had sought directions for implementation of the midday meals as per menu in government schools till 8th class, among others. The top lawyer on Donald Trumps transition team investigated a longtime adviser to the president-elect over allegations he used his proximity to Trump to score payments from those seeking roles or influence in the new administration. The review conducted by lawyer David Warrington recommended that Trump aides sharply constrain adviser Boris Epshteyns access to the president-elect, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal matter. The personnel drama spotlights the unusual and often-disorganized cast of characters around Trump who contributed to the chaos of his first term, some of whom are part of the transition to the second as he looks to build out his administration before he takes office on Jan. 20. Among those Epshteyn is alleged to have sought payments from is Scott Bessent, Trumps nominee to be treasury secretary. Bessent mounted a months-long campaign to win the job but was opposed by Epshteyn allegedly after the hedge fund executive didnt agree to pay him a substantial retainer. The review also examined a complaint from former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned in scandal but has expressed interest in joining Trumps administration. Greitens signed a declaration last week recounting a Nov. 7 conversation with Epshteyn that alleged that his overall tone and behavior gave me the impression of an implicit expectation to engage in business dealings with him before he would advocate for or suggest my appointment to the President. This created a sense of unease and pressure on my part. Epshteyn isnt accused of doing anything illegal securing fees for access to senior government officials is the bread and butter of Washingtons lobbying establishment but the investigation appeared designed to weaken or eliminate his prominent position within Trumps orbit. The president-elect has long chafed at those he viewed as using him for their own personal gain. As is standard practice, a broad review of the campaigns consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others, said Trump communications director Steven Cheung. We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again. Veterans of other presidential campaigns and transitions said such a review was anything but standard, and Cheung did not comment on Epshteyns role going forward. Epshteyn, who served briefly in a mid-level role in Trumps first White House, became a central player in Trumps life after he left office in 2021. He was one of the architects of Trumps legal team and strategy as the former president faced an array of criminal and civil threats after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Epshteyn himself was indicted on state charges in Arizona related to alleged efforts by Trump allies to subvert that election and has pleaded not guilty. He holds the title of senior counsel and senior adviser to Trump, but even before the review he was not expected to take a role in the incoming administration. I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team, Epshteyn said in a statement. These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again. Eric Trump, the president-elects son who went to college with Epshteyn, told Fox News that if the reported allegations were true, his old friend might not be around the campaign much longer. Listen, I have known Boris for years, and I have never known him to be anything but a good human being, Eric Trump said Monday. So, that said, I will tell you, my fathers been incredibly clear. You do not, you do not do that under any circumstance. And, believe me, there will be repercussions if somebody was. The investigation into Epshteyn was first reported by the conservative website Just the News. I suppose every President has people around them who try to make money off them on the outside. Its a shame but it happens, Trump told the website. But no one working for me in any capacity should be looking to make money. They should only be here to Make America Great Again. During the 2022 midterms, some in Trumps orbit also represented candidates seeking his endorsement, leading to accusations that aides were profiting off their proximity to the former president. (AP) by Rabbi Yair Hoffman In a remarkable display of moral clarity and courage, Rabbi Yosef Garmon stood before Pope Francis this week and delivered a powerful defense of Israels conduct in Gaza that every world leader needs to hear. As a former tank commander who served in the 9026 Battalion and now leads humanitarian efforts in Latin America, Rabbi Garmon brings unique credibility to this crucial conversation. The meeting came at a critical moment, as the Pope faced controversy over reported comments suggesting Israel should be investigated for genocide. Rabbi Garmon, drawing from his firsthand military experience, masterfully cut through the diplomatic niceties to speak truth to one of the worlds most influential religious leaders. Look at my fellow soldiers who died from our unit, the Rabbi told the Pope, his words carrying the weight of personal loss. They died because we entered Gaza only to search for the terrorists and to protect the innocent. This wasnt just rhetoric it was testimony from someone who had witnessed Israels extraordinary efforts to minimize civilian casualties, often at great cost to its own forces. Rabbi Garmons most powerful moment came when he highlighted the stark reality of Israels military restraint: Israel has the capability to end the war in one day and erase Gaza entirely, but it did not act that way and risked its soldiers to prevent the killing of innocents. This statement encapsulates what many fail to understand about Israels approach to this conflict its commitment to protecting civilian life, even at the cost of putting its own soldiers at greater risk. The impact of Rabbi Garmons words was immediate and profound. The Pope acknowledged that his earlier statements had been taken out of context and emphasized the shared threat of religious extremism. More importantly, the Popes response revealed a crucial gap in his understanding while he regularly receives materials about the conflict from Palestinian sources, Israels perspective often goes unheard in Vatican halls. This courageous confrontation echoes the biblical account of Yehudah approaching the Egyptian viceroy in defense of his brother Binyamin. As the Seforno teaches, Yehudahs approach represents the ideal model of hishtadlus appropriate human effort and initiative. Just as Yehudah combined respectful dialogue with unwavering moral conviction in his plea for justice, Rabbi Garmon demonstrated similar qualities in his Vatican meeting. Like Yehudah, who was willing to risk everything to protect his brother, Rabbi Garmon spoke with both diplomatic sensitivity and uncompromising clarity in defense of his fellow soldiers and the State of Israel. As both a military veteran and a religious leader, Rabbi Garmon represents a unique bridge between the moral and tactical realities of this conflict. His current role heading The Humanitarian Coalition adds another layer of credibility to his words. Here is a man who has seen war firsthand, yet dedicates his life to humanitarian causes exactly the kind of voice needed to cut through the misleading narratives that too often dominate international discourse. Rabbi Garmons intervention at the Vatican serves as a model for how those who value the lives of Klal Yisroel can effectively engage with world leaders: combining personal experience, moral clarity, and an unwavering commitment to truth. His words remind us that sometimes the most powerful defense is simply stating the facts with courage and conviction. In an era where Israel faces increasing international criticism, we need more voices like Rabbi Garmons voices that can speak from personal experience about Israels commitment to protecting innocent life, even as it defends itself against terrorism. His exchange with the Pope demonstrates that direct, honest dialogue can help bridge even the widest gaps in understanding. In speaking to a world leader, Tabbi Garmon also fulfilled the Mitzvos of efforts of Pidyon Shvuyim listed by the Rambam: 1] Lo saametz es Levavcha Do not tighten your heart(Dvarim 15:7) 2] veLo Sikpotz es yadcha Nor shall you tighten your hand (Dvarim 15:7) 3] Lo saamod al dam rayacha Do not stand idly by your brothers blood (VaYikra 19:16) 4] Lo yirdeno beferech leainecha Do not let him go down in excessive labor in front of your eyes (Vayikra 25:53) 5] Pasoach tiftach es yadcha lo You shall surely open your hand for him (Dvarim 15:8) 6] Vechai achicha imach And your brother shall live with you (Vayikra 25:36) 7] Veahavta lerayacha kamocha love your friend as yourself (Vayikra 19:18) 8] Hatzel lakuchim lemavais Save those taken toward their death (Mishlei 24:11) This moment at the Vatican should be remembered not just as a diplomatic exchange, but as a template for how to advocate on the world stage: with dignity, authenticity, and an unwavering commitment to truth. The author can be reached at [email protected] Displaced people on their way home are pictured in southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Calm prevails over the border areas in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), according to Lebanese security sources. The main roads in various Lebanese regions, now open, are witnessing heavy traffic after a large number of the displaced quickly returned to their towns in southern and eastern Lebanon to check on their homes and properties. (Str/Xinhua) BEIRUT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Calm prevails over the border areas in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), according to Lebanese security sources. The sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua that the Israeli army on Wednesday attacked towns and villages in the western Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and the border town of Khiam in southern Lebanon, and then stopped its airstrikes about 10 minutes before the ceasefire went into effect. The main roads in various Lebanese regions, now open, are witnessing heavy traffic after a large number of the displaced quickly returned to their towns in southern and eastern Lebanon to check on their homes and properties. The sources told Xinhua that roads in frontline villages and towns adjacent to the Blue Line separating Lebanon and Israel are still closed. "Many roads leading to the border areas are still cut off as a result of holes caused by Israeli airstrikes and the Israeli army firing large quantities of cluster bombs while Israeli forces are still inside them," they added. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army said in a statement that it is "working to take the necessary measures to complete the deployment in the south according to the Lebanese government's mandate and to carry out its missions in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) within the framework of Resolution 1701." It called on citizens of the frontline villages and towns to "wait for their return" following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and adhere to "the instructions of the military units deployed in the area to preserve their safety." It also called on those returning to other areas to "be careful of unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects left behind" by the Israeli army. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict which, according to Lebanese health authorities, has killed 3,823 people and wounded 15,859 others in Lebanon as of Tuesday. The ceasefire ensures that the Lebanese army will take control of the territory near its border with Israel over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from the region, and civilians will return home. This photo shows vehicles stranded in a traffic jam while moving towards the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Calm prevails over the border areas in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), according to Lebanese security sources. The main roads in various Lebanese regions, now open, are witnessing heavy traffic after a large number of the displaced quickly returned to their towns in southern and eastern Lebanon to check on their homes and properties. (Str/Xinhua) A car carrying displaced people on their way home is pictured in the Bekaa region, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Calm prevails over the border areas in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), according to Lebanese security sources. The main roads in various Lebanese regions, now open, are witnessing heavy traffic after a large number of the displaced quickly returned to their towns in southern and eastern Lebanon to check on their homes and properties. (Photo by Maher Kamar/Xinhua) A displaced man gestures while driving on his way home in the Bekaa region, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Calm prevails over the border areas in southern Lebanon on Wednesday as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), according to Lebanese security sources. The main roads in various Lebanese regions, now open, are witnessing heavy traffic after a large number of the displaced quickly returned to their towns in southern and eastern Lebanon to check on their homes and properties. (Photo by Maher Kamar/Xinhua) The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor asked judges on Wednesday to issue an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmars military regime for crimes committed against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who took power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in 2021, is accused of crimes against humanity for the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. Nearly a million people were forced into neighboring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes. From a refugee camp in Bangladesh, the courts top prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that he intends to request more warrants for Myanmars leaders soon. In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law, the British barrister said. The allegations stem from a counterinsurgency campaign that Myanmars military began in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. Hlaing, who heads the Myanmar Defense Services, is said to have directed the armed forces of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, as well as national police to attack Rohingya civilians. Khan was in Bangladesh where he met with members of the displaced Rohingya population. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar, including about 740,000 who fled in 2017. Rohingyas face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, with most denied citizenship. Myanmars government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as one of the countrys 135 lawful ethnic minorities, instead calling them Bengalis, with the implication that their native land is in Bangladesh and they are illegally settled in Myanmar. Human rights groups applauded the decision to seek a warrant. The dire situation of the Rohingya has received less attention as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have grabbed headlines. The ICC prosecutors decision to seek a warrant against Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing comes amid renewed atrocities against Rohingya civilians that echo those suffered seven years ago. The ICCs action is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity, said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister for Myanmars opposition National Unity Government, established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats in 2021, said on X that ICC judges should swiftly issue the warrant and that governments should act and enforce this warrant to uphold justice and international law. She posted that the ICC action represents a critical moment in Myanmar history. Thet Swe, a spokesperson for the military regime, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Khans request now goes to a panel of three judges who will weigh the evidence provided and determine if a warrant should be issued. There is no deadline for a decision. A request for an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin took less than three weeks in 2023 but judges issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas military chief more than six months after Khan asked. Myanmar does not belong to the global court, but Bangladesh does. In 2018 judges at the court ruled the prosecutor could look into crimes which were completed on the territory of a member state, such as forcible deportation. In 2019, Khans predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, formally requested to open an investigation into the situation and judges gave the green light for investigations into any crime, including any future crime committed at least partly in Bangladesh or another court member state and linked to the Rohingya. The move paved the way for Khan to pursue crimes beyond forcing men, women and children over the border and into refugee camps. The request comes days after a powerful rebel group seized a key trading town in northeastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government. The military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyis government in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmars ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations highest court, advanced a separate case against Myanmar brought by Gambia alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya. Five European countries and Canada have asked the court to back Gambia in the proceedings. (AP) A police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter in an Australian court Wednesday. A jury found Kristian James Samuel White guilty in the trial in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. White, who is on bail, could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later. Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when the officer discharged his Taser at her in May 2023. Nowland fell backward after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital. Police said at the time that Nowland sustained her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the devices debilitating electric shock. Whites employment is under review and is subject to legal processes, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters after the verdict. The court has found Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer. This should never have happened, Webb said, as she offered her deepest condolences to Nowlands family. The states police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January and no changes to it were made, she added. In video footage played during the New South Wales Supreme Court trial, White was heard saying nah, bugger it before discharging his weapon, after the officers told Nowland 21 times to put the knife down. White, 34, told the jury he had been taught that any person wielding a knife was dangerous, the Guardian reported. But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected arguments by Whites lawyers that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat posed by Nowland, who weighed about 100 pounds (45 kilograms). The prosecutor argued that Whites use of the Taser was was utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive, local news outlets said. The extraordinary case provoked debate about how officers in the state use Tasers, a device that incapacitates using electricity. Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma, was survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. (AP) By Rabbi Yair Hoffman A Yeshiva is looking to build. They have the property. They have the plans. They are securing the funding. And now they wish to hire a lumberjack to chop down the tree. The problem? A tree. A fruit-bearing tree to be precise. Not that this little tree is preventing them from moving forward, but at least it is a halachic issue that should be addressed. The prohibition of chopping down a fruit tree is called Bal Tashchis (Dvarim 20:19)- and it is discussed in the tractate Bava Kamma (91a). Indeed, the Gemorah tells us that there is also a danger associated in cutting down a fruit tree. At first glance the prohibition seems to be music to the ears of environmentalists. Here is a seemingly made-to-order Torah prohibition against the developers! What could be better? A look at the Poskim, however, may yield slightly different conclusions. Clearly, there are some exemptions, or heterim. These heterim may not necessarily be universally acceptable and it may be that they can only be combined with other ways of mitigating the prohibition. The rationale for these exemptions lies in the fact that the action is not considered destructive in nature, and therefore does not fit the parameters of the prohibition in Dvarim. Lets explore a few of these exemptions that are found in the Poskim. OLD AND WORN OUT The Rambam tells us (Malachim 6:9) that if the fruit tree is old and is producing very little fruit to the point that it is no longer economical to harvest it one may chop it down. Nowadays, a regular homeowner is simply not equipped to spray and care for older trees. As a consequence the fruits produced by older trees are small, diseased and often severely damaged by insects. If a tree has reached an age when these factors are true and pruning the tree would no longer address the issue, the Rambam would permit cutting it down. It is preferable, however, to do it through a gentile rather than the Jew himself (Shaivet HaLevi Vol. II #47). GREATER LAND VALUE Another exemption that might apply to our Yeshiva in question deals with economic issues. Even if the tree is producing adequate fruits, if the value of the land is clearly in excess of the value of the fruit tree on the land then it would be permissible to uproot the tree as well according to the Chsam Sopher (YD 102). The reason why it may not necessarily apply to the case of the Yeshiva is that perhaps it is not clear that land value as a home is less than a commercial building. The Chsam Sopher is clear that if the land value with the tree surpasses the value of the land with the improvement then the prohibition still applies. Our society is blessed with land developers who do this for a living. Some take an existing building with land, knock it down and build tracts of homes with yards. Others take it the other way where they combine a few houses, knock them down and put up a building. In the case of our Yeshiva it may not be clear which way yields the greatest market value. JUST NEEDING THE PROPERTY A third exemption is a bit more controversial. The Rosh, Rabbi Asher Ben Yechiel, writes (also Bava Kamma 8:15) that even if the value of the future developed land will not be greater than the unimproved land leaving the fruit tree on it, it would still be permitted if the person requires the land for his use. The TaZ (YD 116:6) rules in accordance with this Rosh and thus permits someone to chop down a tree in order to build his house on it. The TaZs Chevrusa, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Krochmal of Cracow, Poland, was also a student of the Bach just like his study partner the TaZ. In his responsa, the Tzemach Tzedek (the original one), he disagrees with his former study partner and proves from a Tosfos in Bava Basra that the Roshs view is not correct. THROUGH A GENTILE We know that in regard to Shabbos violations one may not instruct a gentile to do something for you. This is known as the prohibition of Amirah LeAkum. Does this prohibition apply to other prohibitions as well? Generally speaking we are machmir, stringent in these matters, which is why we do not allow a gentile barber to cut off our sideburns or to use a razor on on our beards. It should be known, however, that this too is a debate. Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger the Rebbe of Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch (Responsa Binyan Tzion #61) recommends that when a tree is destroyed it should be done through a gentile. This position is found in the Pischei Teshuva too. Other Poskim, however, disagree with this leniency and say that it is still considered a Grama (See Erech Shai, e.g.)- an indirect cause which is forbidden. TREE-ECTOMY TRANSPLANT Another leniency that is mentioned by Rabbi Yaakov Emden (Sheilas Yaavetz Vol. I #76) involves the complete removal of the tree along with the nourishing dirt and replanting it elsewhere. The Chsam Sopher (YD 120), however, does not allow use of this rationale alone but only in combination with one of the other leniencies cited earlier. The issue as to whether one may rely upon this leniency may depend on the fact that not every time that a tree is transplanted does it necessarily take. Indeed, a prominent Hatzolha member in far Rockaway has no less than ten dead trees out of forty or so, where the re-planting had failed. This may be a case of safaik issur a possible prohibition, of which there is a debate whether it is prohibited biblically or rabbinically. FOR A MITZVAH The Shiltei Gibborim, in his commentary on tractate Avodah Zarah (81a), writes that there is no prohibition in destroying a fruit tree if one is doing so for the purpose of a Mitzvah. This is cited in the Beer Chanoch, by Rav Chanoch Peterkofsky. He further states that we find such a concept in Tosfos Bava Metzia (32b) regarding giving honor to a king where the prohibition of destroying a fruit tree is set aside. The Shaivet haLevi (Vol. II #46), Rav Shmuel HaLevi Vosner, writes explicitly that one may destroy a tree in order to build a Yeshiva. He explains that this is even permitted according to the reason of the Arizal who states that there are souls that have been incarnated into fruit trees in order to receive merits. Rav Vosner explains that the souls receive nachas by virtue of the fact that their place has now been used for an expansion of holiness. It is clear, however, that since this exemption is not mentioned by the other Poskim that they disagree with the leniency of the Shiltei Gibborim. DO THE EXEMPTIONS COVER THE DANGER TOO? It is also not clear if the exemptions relieve a person of the dangers associated with destroying the tree as well as the prohibition, or whether the exemptions just cover the prohibition itself. This too is a debate. Rabbi Yaakov Emden (Sheilas Yaavetz Vol. I #76) writes that the danger associated with such an action still exists even when the prohibition has been removed because of the exemption. The Darchei Teshuvah (YD 116:51), however, cites numerous authorities who disagree with the Yaavetz. Nonetheless, better safe than sorry, so the Poskim do recommend that one either do it through a gentile or perform a complete tree-ectomy and transplant that tree with all the nourishing soil to other property. CONCLUSIONS Rav Chaim Epstein, a Rosh Yeshiva in Brooklyn and a Talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler zatzal had an opportunity to expand his Yeshiva but refused to do so because of the existence of a fruit tree. Rabbi Yaakov Bender, SHlita, his brother-in-lawm related to this author that Rav Epstein did not wish to rely upon the leniency. In all probability, he was concerned about the Yaavetzs view that the danger still exists. So what should the Yeshiva do? If the removal of the tree is absolutely necessary for the building, it should be replanted by a gentile elsewhere. It is perhaps even more preferable to conduct a sale of the land similar to one that is done for Pesach, and have the gentile perform the action while a gentile owns the land. The sale could be for a value much much higher than the value of the land since there is no problem of Onaah overpricing regarding land. Only a small down payment has to be given by the gentile. (Be very careful, however, because at times the lumberjack that is hired may be Jewish.) This way, utilizing the replanting of the tree elsewhere, doing it through a gentile, and having the actual land owned by a gentile, one avoids the prohibition in three different ways. It should be noted that there are no limitations as to where the tree can be replanted. The author can be reached at [email protected] Pope Francis clarified that the remarks attributed to him in excerpts from an upcoming book that Israel should be investigated for genocide in Gaza were taken out of context, Ynet reported. Speaking at a meeting with an interfaith delegation at the Vatican on Monday, he said: I didnt claim that Israel committed genocide. I was shown materials from the war, and I said that if this is true, then it needs to be investigated. I understand what is happening in Gaza. I think Hamas should no longer exist in the world but the war should also not be prolonged. One of the members of the delegation, former Chief Rabbi of Guatemala Rabbi Yosef Garmon, who served as a tank commander in the 9026 Battalion in fighting in Gaza and the north, said to the Pope: You cannot say that Israel must be investigated for genocide. Look at my fellow soldiers who died from our unit, Rabbi Garmon continued. They died because we entered Gaza only to search for the terrorists and to protect the innocent. Israel also protects the Palestinians and liberates them from Hamas. Any other country would bomb them from the air and eliminate this threat in one day. Israel has the capability to end the war in one day and erase Gaza entirely, but it did not act that way and risked its soldiers to prevent the killing of innocents. You should investigate those who call to investigate Israel not the other way around. Druze religious leaders from Hurfeish, a Druze town in northern Israel, were also part of the delegation. They told the Pope that the Druze community in Israel suffers from terrorism and recounted the story of the 12 children killed in Majdal Shams in the northern Golan by a Hezbollah rocket. Pope Francis repeated that his words were taken out of context. He also claimed that Palestinians constantly send him material about the war but Israel does not. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, ending over a year of conflict along Israels northern border. The fighting, initiated by Hezbollah after Hamass October 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, had resulted in massive death, destruction and displacement on both sides. The ceasefire comes after months of escalating violence that displaced some 60,000 northern Israeli residents and caused widespread damage in Lebanon. The Israeli security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-to-1 vote late Tuesday. The deal, brokered with U.S. involvement, includes a 60-day transition period during which Israeli forces will withdraw from southern Lebanon. In their place, the Lebanese Army will deploy 5,000 troops, including at 33 posts along the Israeli border. Hezbollah is required to vacate southern Lebanon and dismantle its military infrastructure. A U.S. side agreement allows Israel to respond to any ceasefire violations. Both sides continued attacks leading up to the ceasefire. The IDF carried out airstrikes on 20 Hezbollah targets in Beirut, including command centers and weapons depots, while Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel. The IDF said it intercepted several missiles aimed at northern Israel. Elsewhere, Syrian state media reported alleged Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanon-Syria border, causing casualties and damaging humanitarian resources. The U.S. also conducted a separate strike on an Iranian-aligned militia in Syria, responding to earlier attacks on its personnel. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDFs Arabic-language spokesperson, urged Lebanese civilians not to return to evacuated villages yet, emphasizing safety concerns. Despite warnings, displaced Lebanese families reportedly began returning south shortly after the ceasefire took effect. Gunfire was heard in Beirut, though it was unclear if it was celebratory. Hezbollah, while agreeing to the truce, expressed concerns over Lebanons sovereignty. A senior Hezbollah official stated that the group would evaluate the deals terms before fully endorsing it. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) A senior Hamas official announced the groups readiness to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, following the start of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon early Wednesday morning. We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners, the official told AFP, accusing Israel of blocking progress toward a deal. The announcement comes as international mediators expressed cautious optimism that the Lebanon ceasefire, which ended months of conflict with Hezbollah, might pressure Hamas to pursue peace. U.S. and Israeli officials have previously expressed hopes that Hezbollahs withdrawal of military support would weaken Hamass position. However, obstacles remain. Jerusalem accuses Hamas of refusing to meet demands regarding hostages, while mediators cite Israeli conditions to maintain troops in Gaza as a sticking point. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) DF forces shot warning shots on Wednesday morning at Hezbollah terrorists who approached Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village overlooking Metula, only hours after a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect at 4 a.m. The head of the Metula Local Council, David Azoulay, reported: Just a few minutes ago, eight Hezbollah vehicles and a motorcycle arrived in Kfar Kila. The IDF fired warning shots to drive them away. Nothing has changed since October 7. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz ordered the IDF to respond forcefully to the presence of any Hezbollah members, issuing a statement saying: In light of the entry of Hezbollah members into Kfar Kila, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz instructed the IDF to operate decisively and uncompromisingly against such phenomena. Any identified Hezbollah member approaching restricted areas at entry points should be arrested, and if they pose a threat to IDF forces, they should be targeted. The IDF later stated that several suspected terrorists were hit by IDF fire in Meiss al-Jaba. Earlier, the IDF spokesperson stated: In the last hour, IDF forces identified several vehicles in Lebanese territory with suspects in a restricted movement area. The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects distanced themselves. The Air Force is prepared to operate throughout Lebanese territory, and the air defense system is on full alert. As of now, there is no change in the Home Front Commands instructions. The IDF will act against anyone who tries to violate the ceasefire agreement and will not allow harm to the security of Israeli citizens. IDF forces are still operating in southern Lebanon but will gradually withdraw within 60 days in the hope that the Lebanese army will enforce ceasefire violations. However, it is well-known that Hezbollah has long infiltrated the Lebanese army and it has proven incapable of controlling Hezbollah in the past. MK Avigdor Lieberman wrote: Hezbollah members roaming in Kfar Kila near Metula are clear evidence that no arrangements can be made with terrorists. You do not negotiate with terrorism you eliminate it. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) French President Emmanuel Macron has not acted as a friend to the Jewish state since October 7, instead acting with audacity by repeating lies about Israels actions in Gaza and even calling for an arms embargo on Israel. This hypocritical double standard belies its status as a major arms exporter to brutal autocracies in Africa and the Middle East. There are many questions regarding the reasons behind Macrons stance on Israel, including Frances suspect ties with Iran and its deep involvement in Lebanon, its former protectorate. France has raised millions of dollars for Lebanese humanitarian needs, much of which ends up in the hands of the murderous Hezbollah terror organization, which is officially part of the Lebanese government. France issued a characteristic anti-Israel statement following the Hagues approval last week of the arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, saying that it takes note of the ICC pre-trial chambers decision and reiterates its commitment to the independent work of the court, adding that for many months it has also sounded the alarm about the unacceptable nature of civilian losses in the Gaza Strip. In the wake of the statement that implicated that France, a leading Western country, would arrest the Israeli prime minister if he entered the country, Netanyahu refused French involvement in a ceasefire unless France publicly announced it would not honor the ICCs arrest warrants. Biden spoke to Macron over the weekend and he agreed to address the matter. In private conversations, French diplomats told their Israeli counterparts that Netanyahu would not be arrested if he visited France. However, Netanyahu insisted that he will maintain his veto on France until Paris publicly disavows the arrest warrants. Behind the scenes, senior Israeli officials applied heavy pressure on France to release a public statement, and according to Israeli media reports, the US even threatened: If you dont issue a declaration that Netanyahu will not be arrested Paris will not be able to be part of the agreement. Sure enough, with its own interests in mind, France forgot about Israels so-called war crimes and issued a statement on Wednesday declaring that it will not abide by the ICCs arrest warrants and Netanyahu can visit France without fear of being arrested. In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry reaffirmed Frances commitment to international justice but added that Netanyahu has immunity since Israel is not a member of the ICC. Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will need to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest, the ministry stated, adding that Paris intends to continue working closely with Netanyahu. Channel 12 commentator Amit Segal responded: A complete victory over the ICC. The only significant sanction that Israel feared is crumbling, and this by the French. As a reminder, this is not related to Netanyahu and Gallants personal interests they werent issued arrest warrants for tax evasion but due to the fact that [Netanyahu] is the Prime Minister of Israel. The dismissal of the warrants against them is a very significant event and thwarts yet another formidable weapon that has been aimed at Israel for years and has restricted its actions. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) France is continuing to send motoring fines, in particular speeding tickets, to UK motorists despite there being no explanation as to how authorities are getting hold of drivers' addresses in Britain. French outlet The Connexion has flagged that a 'mystery' remains on how UK motorists are continuing to receive fines after a data-sharing agreement between the two countries ended in recent years. Since Brexit, there hasn't been an information sharing agreement between France and UK. And yet, records show a rise in the number of fines sent to British drivers between 2022 and 2023. The 2023 road traffic violations annual report from The French Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) shows that last year 62,780 fines were sent to drivers in the UK an increase of 5 per cent from 59,836 issued in 2022. French outlet The Connexion has flagged that a 'mystery' remains on how UK addresses are continuing to receive fines, even though the data-sharing agreement between the two countries ended with Brexit It's likely that in many cases fines are passed along by rental firms who have the address details of the driver at the wheel of a rental car that's snapped. But in other cases it is British drivers in UK-registered cars who get a surprise fine on their doorstep. 'Partner countries' (of which there are 20) including Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands the worst offenders had fines in the hundreds of thousands, yet Britain was the highest 'pays non partenaires' (non-partner country) listed. Compared to the other two non-partner countries listed, Bulgaria and Greece, the UK fines were huge. Fines received in Bulgaria and Greece were just 5,853 and 2,920 respectively. With its partner countries, France exchanges vehicle registration data, including postal addresses, of vehicles caught on camera committing offences. Yet as The Connexion points out, the UK released itself as a partner nation in 2021 when Brexit discontinued the EU agreement. The 2023 Road traffic violations annual report from The French Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) shows that last year 62,780 fines were sent to the UK a rise from 59,836 in 2022 Drivers complaining about receiving speeding fines from France via online forums is a mix of motorists who were at the wheel of French rental cars and those using their own UK-registered vehicles on the other side of the Channel A spokesman for France's Securite Routiere department confirmed to The Connexion that the UK is no longer a partner and said 'there is therefore no exchange of information with this country' but didn't clarify how fines are sent to UK private addresses. The ONISR report states that 'the part played by the municipal police in controlling motoring law rules not including parking via the use of the PVe ['electronic' fines] is now very significant.' The PVe records the offence digitally and sends the fine to the registered owner's home and is replacing physical tickets. One The Connexion reader told the paper that her husband got 'two speeding fines travelling to the Saint-Malo port and back'. 'The fines came to our UK address, which came as a shock. We paid them, but we were under the impression that there was no agreement and DVLA should not have given them our address.' Online forums show a mix of drivers receiving speeding fines issued when driving both French rental cars and their own UK-registered vehicles on the other side of the Channel. With its partner countries France exchanges vehicle registration data, including postal addresses, of vehicles caught on camera committing offence, but the UK isn't a 'partner country' Five EU countries have accused Transport for London (TfL) of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of European drivers to issue low emission and ultra-low emission fines in the capital On the flip side, five EU countries have accused Transport for London (TfL) of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of European drivers to issue low emission and ultra-low emission fines in the capital. Reported by The Guardian at the start of the year, TfL issued more than 320,000 penalties since 2021. There is no information-sharing agreement in place (as already mentioned with French-issuing speeding fines) but there was a data agreement in place pre-Brexit for driving offences. This did not though cover pollution charges. European governments described it as 'possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history'. TfL told the Guardian that 'local laws' allowed authorities to share vehicle owner information with the UK for the enforcement of traffic regulations. EU countries argue that national laws allow the UK to access personal data only for criminal offences, not civil ones which ULEZ falls under. This is Money has contacted the Securite Routiere for comment. Just Eat Takeaway.com will delist from the London Stock Exchange as the Dutch food delivery app looks to cut costs and complexity. The value of the group's London-listed shares have plunged almost 85 per cent since the February 2020 debut at 77.40 each, as waning post-Covid demand and aggressive expansion efforts have eaten away at its bottom line. Just Eat told investors this morning it would quit London at the end of this year 'in order to reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining' the listing. The group, which will not seek shareholder approval for the move, also highlighted 'low liquidity and trading volumes' of its London-listed shares. Just Eat shares will keep being traded on Amsterdam's Euronext exchange. The group becomes the latest household name to quit the London Stock Exchange, following the likes of TUI and Paddy Power owner Flutter, as boards and investors have grown impatient with poor share price returns. On your bike: Just Eat quits London to focus on Dutch listing Just Eat has been particularly affected by weak demand in the US. Last month Just Eat sold US unit Grubhub for $650million - an eye-watering discount to the $7.3billion it paid for the struggling US food delivery business just three years ago. Just Eat said on Wednesday: 'The company hereby gives notice that, in order to reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs associated with the disclosure and regulatory requirements of maintaining the LSE listing, and in the context of low liquidity and trading volumes of the shares on the LSE, it has requested that the FCA cancel the listing.' What does it mean for shareholders? Just Eat shares take the form of CREST Depository Interests (CDIs) when trading in London. CREST is an electronic system for holding investments and settling transactions for UK and Irish stocks, and a CDI is a UK investment representing an investment on a non-UK exchange. Just Eat said shareholders who hold CDIs 'are urged to consult their own investment advisers and brokers on the actions that can be taken'. This includes the steps to convert their holdings of CDIs into holdings of shares that can be traded directly on Euronext Amsterdam. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has been closely following the situation between Lebanon and Israel, and welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached by relevant parties, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that the Israeli security cabinet has approved a ceasefire in Lebanon. The Lebanese government has welcomed this decision. When asked about China's comment on this matter, spokesperson Mao Ning said China has been closely following the situation between Lebanon and Israel and has consistently called on all parties to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Mao said China supports all efforts that contribute to easing tensions and achieving peace, and welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached by relevant parties. At the same time, China believes that the failure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza is the root cause of the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. All parties should work together to promote an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, Mao added. Pets at Home Group shares nosedived on Wednesday after the retailer warned of an 'unusually subdued' pet retail market. Britain's largest pet supplies company said the pet retail industry's slowing growth rates will likely 'persist through the remainder of this year' due to cautious consumer behaviour. As a result, the Cheshire-based business, which runs around 457 pet care centres and 444 veterinary practices, anticipates its underlying pre-tax profits increasing 'modestly' this fiscal year. Pets at Home shares slumped by 14.2 per cent to 237.8p by early afternoon, making them the FTSE 250 Index's biggest faller. Total revenue increased by just 1.9 per cent to 789.1million in the 28 weeks ending 10 October, as retail sales flatlined at 696.3million. However, its vet arm saw sales soar by 18.6 per cent to 92.8million thanks to a healthy rise in subscriptions, visits, and average transaction values. Forecast: Pets at Home shares dived on Wednesday after the retailer reduced its profit outlook amid an 'unusually subdued' pet retail market The number of active Pets Club members tipped up by 3 per cent to 8.1 million, while new Vets Group pet registrations averaged 18,000 weekly sign-ups. Combined with lower operating costs, this helped boost Pets at Home's underlying pre-tax profits by 14.1 per cent to 54.5million. Lyssa McGowan, chief executive of Pets at Home, said: 'We are operating in an unusually subdued pet retail market, which we now expect to continue through H2. 'We are confident this will be temporary, and growth will return to historical norms with the longer-term attractive outlook for the UK pet care market unchanged.' Yet Pets at Home warned that Chancellor Rachel Reeves's recent Budget announcements on the National Living Wage and National Insurance would add 18million to its costs from the next financial year. From April 2025, minimum hourly pay for workers aged over 21 will go up by 6.7 per cent to 12.21. The minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds is also increasing by 16.3 per cent to 10 per hour. Concurrently, employers' NI contributions will rise by 1.2 percentage points to 15 per cent, while the threshold at which NI applies to employee earnings is declining from 9,100 to 5,000. 'We will continue to proactively mitigate these impacts where possible, maintaining a tight grip on costs as we have done for many years,' Pets at Home told investors. The company's trading update comes as the Competition and Markets Authority conducts a wide-ranging investigation into the veterinary services industry. It began the probe following concerns that consumers could be overpaying for medicines or prescriptions and lacked sufficient information to help them choose the best vet practice or the right treatment for their needs. In addition, the CMA said there could be too much market concentration, partly owing to sector consolidation over the past decade. Six businesses - CVS, IVC, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners - have bought about 1,500 of Britain's 5,000 vet practices, according to the CMA. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: 'Pets at Home has expressed confidence its growth strategy in the veterinary space won't be affected, but there is a risk that, like a postie who's turned his back on an aggressive pooch, the company faces an unexpected bite from the competition authorities.' People learn about a lightweight aluminum autoparts integrated solution at the booth of CITIC Group in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Themed "Connecting the World for a Shared Future," the expo, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, kicked off in Beijing on Tuesday. The 2024 expo has introduced 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 is being 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. Through static display, dynamic demonstration and interactive experience, visitors are allowed to better understand cutting-edge achievements and applications of digital, networked and intelligent technologies. A drone model is exhibited at the booth of CITIC Group in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) Bullet train models are exhibited at the booth of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People view an AI-driven bartending system at the booth of Siemens in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People view the sand table model of an automated terminal system at the booth of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Hongyan) People visit the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu) People view the sand table model of an automated terminal system at the booth of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) A model of China's home-grown super-large-diameter shield tunneling machine "Jinghua" is exhibited at the booth of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu) People visit the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu) Visitors view a model of China's home-grown super-large-diameter shield tunneling machine "Jinghua" at the booth of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People view the model of an automated production line at the booth of China General Technology (Group) Holding Co., Ltd (Genertec) in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) People learn about a lightweight aluminum autoparts integrated solution at the booth of CITIC Group in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, a senior UN official said in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement marks the starting point of a critical process, anchored in the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), to restore the safety and security that civilians on both sides of the Blue Line deserve, said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon. The UN statement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the nation's security cabinet approved a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The ceasefire is expected to take effect on Wednesday morning. Considerable work lies ahead to ensure the agreement endures, Hennis-Plasschaert said, adding, "Nothing less than the full and unwavering commitment of both parties is required." It is clear that the status quo ante of implementing only select provisions of resolution 1701 (2006), while paying lip service to others, will not suffice, she noted. "Neither side can afford another period of disingenuous implementation under the guise of ostensible calm." Hennis-Plasschaert commended the parties on "seizing the opportunity to close this devastating chapter." "Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today's achievement," she said. UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, his spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday. The UN chief hopes that this agreement can put an end to the violence, destruction and suffering the people of both countries have been experiencing, the statement said. Guterres urges the parties to fully respect and swiftly implement all of their commitments made under this agreement, and undertake immediate steps towards the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) both stand ready to support the implementation of this agreement, in line with their respective mandates, the statement said. The UN secretary-general's statement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the nation's security cabinet approved a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The ceasefire is expected to take effect on Wednesday morning. In a separate statement, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said that the ceasefire agreement marks the starting point of a critical process to restore the safety and security that civilians on both sides of the Blue Line deserve. "Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today's achievement," she said. VILNIUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The black boxes from the DHL cargo plane that crashed in Vilnius on Monday morning are to be sent to Germany to be decoded, authorities announced Wednesday. Laurynas Naujokaitis, head of the Lithuanian Justice Ministry's Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Division, said that investigators expect to have the first data from the black boxes this week. A pilot was killed and three other people were injured in the crash near the airport in the Lithuanian capital, the country's Fire and Rescue Department said on Monday. The Boeing 737-476 (SF) plane, which belonged to Spanish airline Swift Air, was flying from Leipzig, Germany, on behalf of German shipping company DHL when it crashed into a residential building near Vilnius airport. It should not be difficult for specialists to extract all the data from the black boxes as they did not suffer major damage, Naujokaitis said, although this information is not made public. Investigators from Germany and Spain will assist local authorities in determining what caused the crash, Naujokaitis said on Monday. Police have conducted preliminary interviews with the plane's crew. According to officers, the crew did not report any fire on board before the aircraft hit the ground. HARBIN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 45 people have been punished for their roles in a coal mine gas explosion in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province that left 11 people dead and six others injured a year ago, local mine safety authorities said. The gas explosion in Shuangyang Coal Mine in the city of Shuangyashan on Nov. 28, 2023, was a major work safety incident caused by improper operations in serious violations of laws and rules, chaotic safety management and inadequate safety supervision, according to an investigation report released by the Heilongjiang branch of the National Mine Safety Administration. The investigation found that the explosion was directly caused by an excessive concentration of gas and sparks from a power cable failure following the natural discharge of gas and ventilation failure underground in the mine shaft. Shuangyang Coal Mine is run by Longmay Shuangyashan Mining Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Longmay Mining Holding Group, a major state-owned coal producer in Heilongjiang Province. The explosion also caused a direct economic loss of 19.5 million yuan (about 2.7 million U.S. dollars). Of the 45 people, six employees of Shuangyang Coal Mine have been detained or put under police investigation. They will receive Party and administrative disciplinary penalties following their judicial punishments, said the investigation team. Thirty-eight people, including senior officials of Shuangyang Coal Mine, Shuangyashan Mining Co., Ltd., Longmay Mining Holding Group and safety watchdogs, will be subject to Party and administrative disciplinary punishments. One electromechanical maintenance worker will be fired, the investigation team said. The investigation team added that one person was exempted from any punishment as he died from the explosion. Shuangyang Coal Mine was given administrative penalties, including a fine, according to the investigation report. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni will pay a state visit to Vietnam from Thursday to Friday, at the invitation of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, said the Cambodian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. "During the state visit, His Majesty the King will hold royal audiences with Vietnamese leaders to exchange views on cordial relations in line with the spirit of good neighborliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term stability between the two countries," the ministry said. The visit will mark a significant milestone in the two countries' enduring relations and contribute to deepening the bonds of excellent relationship and beneficial cooperation between the two neighboring countries, it added. The monarch's entourage will include Deputy Prime Minister and Royal Palace Minister Kuy Sophal and Srey Nory, director of the Royal Cabinet of the King, as well as high representatives from the Senate and the National Assembly, the ministry said. Like everyone else who reads this blog . . . We can't be blamed for wanting a more immediate and far more strict penalty . . . Check-it: Jackson County judge sentences KC man to 40 years in prison for murder of pregnant woman A Jackson County judge today sentenced a Kansas City man to 40 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Shayla Curts, 22, and her unborn child, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today. Emmett C. Williams, dob: 2/15/1989, had in June pleaded guilty to two counts of Murder 2nd Degree and two counts of Armed Criminal Action charges. On Tuesday, the judge sentenced the defendant to 25 years on the murder convictions and 15 years on the Armed Criminal Action convictions. According to court records, on Dec. 6, 2022, KC police officers were dispatched to the 4900 block of Bellefontaine Avenue on a reported shooting. Officers found the victim, Shayla Curts, dob: 3/12/2000, deceased at the scene from a gunshot wound. Witnesses placed the defendant at the scene at the time of the shooting. One reported hearing a gunshot when the victim and "EW" were in residence. A shell casing was located in the residence. The defendant told police the victim often antagonized him with her words and normally he ignored them. This time, she was on the couch as he was walking past her when he decided to pull a 9mm handgun and shoot her in the head. Police located the weapon later in a wooded area. The shooting took the life of Curts and her unborn child. ################## Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . KSHB: Man sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing woman because she 'antagonized' him KCTV5: Kansas City man who killed pregnant woman sentenced to decades in prison Once again on Tuesday we delve into the discourse inspired by biz lady, presenter, model & hottie Lindsey as we share pop culture, community reporting and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . So Many Turkeys Flying Thanksgiving travel off to busy start at KCI The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday, Nov. 26, through Monday, Dec. 2. Show-Me Captivity Crackdown 'Chimp Crazy' Missouri zoo owner should face criminal contempt charges, federal judge says "Tonia Haddix has violated numerous orders of this Court and seeks to make a mockery of the rule of law by admitting and boasting on television, on the internet, and on other means of public communications, about her violations of the Court's orders," U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry wrote. Rock Chalk Cleanup Imagine saving the Kansas River from literal tons of trash. This group is making it happen Friends of the Kaw volunteers dig 2 to 6 tons of battery cases out of sandbars each year. They tackle items as big as septic tanks. Now they're eyeing an ambitious cleanup target for 2030. Taco Tradition Concludes Perez family to close Kansas City-based Perez Food Products after 85 years The Perez family announced Tuesday it plans to close the doors to Perez Food Products following an 85-year run of providing products to Kansas City customers. Drinking Games Redux . . . 28 Kansas City Holiday Pop-Up Bars in 2024 - IN Kansas City Magazine Everywhere you look, Kansas City spaces are getting festive facelifts. With them come new drinks and classic vibes. Ah, we love a holiday pop-up. Here's a running list of holiday pop-up bars in Kansas City this year. If we missed one, email digitaleditor@inkansascity.com. 1. Christkindlmarkt at The Campground At The Campground's annual Christkindlmarkt, you can... Hottie Knows How To Keep Warm Lindsey Pelas Wears Nothing Beneath Her Open Fur Coat Lindsey Pelas is thrilling fans in her open fur coat as she goes shirtless for an eye-popping display of her jaw-dropping curves. Holy Land War Paused Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal to halt war in Lebanon expected within hours Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah have apparently reached an agreement to end their year-long war in Lebanon. MAGA Demands Credit Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump's win The Biden administration kept incoming President-elect Donald Trump's administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that is slated to go into effect early Wednesday. Vlad Strikes Again Key Russian air defence system hit in Ukraine Atacms strike In a rare admission, Russia's defence ministry says its equivalent of the US Patriot system was damaged. Russian Tech War Against U.S. Russia-linked hackers exploited Firefox and Windows zero-day bugs in 'widespread' hacking campaign | TechCrunch The Russia-aligned RomCom gang exploited the vulnerabilities to target hundreds of Firefox users across Europe and North America. Life Lessons Await US colleges warn foreign students over Trump immigration crackdown Top colleges have issued travel advisories urging students and staff to return to the US before inauguration day. Billionaire Bust Social Bust?!? Elon Musk's Plan to Keep You on X Is Even Dumber Than You Think He says he wants to stop "lazy linking." The truth is, he wants to keep you trapped on X forever. More Munchies Down By River City Market Coffee takes on turnover with upcoming Murmuration Eatery and Cocktail Bar Murmuration Eatery & Cocktail Bar to open this winter in Kansas City's City Market. Local Rain On The Way Overcast, highs upper 40s today with showers for some Wednesday Mostly clear skies, light winds, and high temperatures topping out around average in the mid to upper 40s. We'll see increasing cloud cover throughout the day helping prevent temperatures from dropping below freezing. And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Moving forward we notice federal funds quickly evaporating in Kansas City and thereby demanding critical decisions concerning local resources. But here's our gripe tonight . . . KANSAS CITY MAINSTREAM NEWS ALWAYS FEATURES PROTESTS TO KEEP FREEBIE BUS RIDES BUT NEVER OFFERS ANY COUNTERPOINT!!! Activists expose this dearth of local reporting resources and stage eye-catching demonstrations in order to promote their agenda. However . . . Anybody who has climbed aboard a Kansas City bus in the past few years can attest to the extreme decline in quality. Moreover . . . Here's why this blog is more important than most other media outlets . . . We're the only news-y outlet willing to point out that DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES & MUNICIPAL BORROWING FROM TRANSIT FUNDS is the driving force behind the "free transit" distraction. The term "transit-orientated development" is a euphemism for a practice that's tantamount to theft and so many homeless vagrants riding the bus merely serve as a nice cover story. That's our opinion backed up by dozens of news stories we've shared over the years. However . . . Tonight we wanted to share a passage and a BRILLIANT summary that deserves attention: "Several years ago, Kansas City decided to make its public transit free for all. After all, the purpose of local government is to just give things away for free, isnt it? For several years, the pandemic-related free federal money train has allowed this free transit plan to continue, but that train is coming to a stop. Now, Kansas City leadership has some decisions to make. The transit authority has considered ending the free part of the ride before, and now it is time to do away with it once and for all. "Nobody is suggesting funding the entire transit system with fares. Subsidizing transit is an accepted part of urban economics, but that doesnt mean you should make it free. 'Subsidized' transit means you help low-income workers, encourage alternate transportation to large events, and help offset traffic problems. 'Free' means you get homeless people sleeping on the bus and cuts to bus lines because you dont have enough funding. 'Free' results in fewer people using transit because the bad aspects of free are what matter most to people." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Show-Me: Its Time to End Free Transit in Kansas City Developing . . . GFH Financial Group has announced the launch of Outlive, an innovative real estate developer and creator of master planned communities and mixed-use projects with a focus on health and well-being, which will operate across the Mena region and Europe. Unveiling the project on the opening day of Cityscape Bahrain, a key real estate and property event being held at Exhibition World Bahrain in Sakhir, GFH said Outlive leverages the combined expertise and capabilities of the Group and its management team with proven expertise in development, design and conceptualization of living communities. The new venture will operate in Europe and the Mena region with a particular focus on the growing and attractive Saudi as well as the UAE markets where there is strong demand for such focus and need for communities that deliver well-being attributes in addition to physical appeal, it stated. Outlive addresses six key wellness dimensions: Social connection, Environmental stewardship, Physical health, Emotional awareness, Mental engagement, and Spiritual wellness, all working together to create a holistic approach to human wellbeing. On the novel project, Hisham Al Rayes, the Chairman of Outlive and GFH Group CEO, said: Outlive represents our initiative to create differentiated communities where wellness and sustainability go hand in hand. This venture reflects our commitment to our region by creating unique and differentiated real estate offering. Walid El Hindi, the Board Member and Managing Director of Outlive, said: This is not just a real estate company - its an opportunity to create people-centric communities, fostering connections, and a profound sense of belonging. While sustainability in real estate centers on creating buildings that care for the planet, wellness real estate focuses on crafting places that care for the people. In line with its mission, Outlive is also bringing senior living to the region by developing supportive environments specifically designed for older adults, stated El Hindi. "These premium communities will provide personalized services and foster social connections, promoting a dignified and fulfilling lifestyle catering to seniors," he noted. 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"China has reiterated its firm stance on G7's false China-related remarks this year," said Mao at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on a statement adopted recently by the G7 foreign ministers. Since the G7 countries seek to establish constructive and stable relations with China to jointly tackle global challenges, they should act on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, instead of smearing China, said Mao. On the Ukraine crisis issue, China's position has always been fair and square, said Mao. China has worked to promote peace talks and never provided weapons to either party in the conflict, strictly controlled the export of dual-use items and even civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and has opposed the use of UAV for military purposes, Mao said. At the same time, normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia should not be interfered with or coerced by any third party, Mao added. The so-called "overcapacity" narrative has been proved false by many facts and figures, Mao noted, adding that relevant countries should keep an open mind and adhere to fair competition. On issues relating to the East China Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong, among others, China's stance is consistent and clear, Mao said. "We firmly oppose the G7 undermining China's sovereignty and interfering in China's internal affairs, and urge the group to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and basic norms governing international relations, and mind their own business," she added. Mao said that at present, global peace and development are facing unprecedented challenges. "As a responsible major country, China remains committed to fairness, morality, openness and inclusiveness, benefiting the world through its own development," she added. "China urges the G7 countries to stop indulging in geopolitical games, abandon narrow-minded zero-sum thinking and make tangible contributions to the solidarity and cooperation of the international community," Mao said. BEIRUT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Wednesday that the army would reinforce its presence in southern Lebanon, urging Israel to withdraw from Lebanese-occupied territories in accordance with the ceasefire deal reached with Hezbollah. In a televised speech following a cabinet meeting on the first day of the ceasefire, Mikati said the Lebanese government is committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions, especially those concerning strengthening the deployment of the army and security forces south of the Litani River. Mikati said that Lebanon is keen on preserving its sovereignty by sea, land, and air, refuting any possible violations. "I also demand that the Israeli enemy fully commit to the ceasefire resolution, withdraw from all areas and sites it has occupied, and implement resolution 1701 in total," he said. In his speech, Mikati praised the Lebanese army and healthcare workers for their efforts. "Lebanon deserves all our effort, patience, and faith, and tomorrow will be bright and full of hope and solidarity for all its people," he said. According to the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home. By Nicole Lyons, November 27, 2024 From left, Rep. Louis Riggs, R-District 5; Laurel Hogue, vice provost for Online and Learning Engagement; Tim Crowley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; and Clarinda Dir, Workforce and Professional Education manager, pose for a photo on Nov. 7 at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Officials from the University of Central Missouri (UCM) recently spoke about the universitys unique workforce development programs during a hearing held by the Missouri House of Representatives Special Interim Committee on Workforce Innovation and Technology. Tim Crowley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; Laurel Hogue, vice provost for Online and Learning Engagement; Clarinda Dir, Workforce and Professional Education manager; and David Pearce, executive director for Governmental Relations, traveled to Jefferson City on Nov. 7 to present about UCMs program offerings. The interim committee has hosted six hearings and heard from 33 organizations, including only a handful of higher education institutions. Interim committees meet when the House is not in session. Rather than working on specific legislation, interim committees research topics and bring in expert witnesses. UCM officials also testified to the Missouri House Workforce and Infrastructure Development Committee on May 8. We were incredibly honored to be asked to provide testimony twice this legislative session, Pearce said. The realization is they like what were doing in the Innovation Campus to meet workforce needs. One aspect that really resonated was how we work closely with businesses to meet their workforce needs and understand their skill competencies. The presentation focused on the UCM campus in Lees Summit, which includes the Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC) program, the Center for Workforce and Professional Education, courses for undergraduate and graduate degrees, and dual-credit programming. The Missouri Innovation Campus program is an accelerated degree program that decreases the time and cost of earning a bachelors degree. It aims to reduce the skills gap while retaining talent in the Kansas City region. UCM collaborates with Metropolitan Community College, the Lees Summit R-7 School District and dozens of business partners to make the MIC program possible. Theyre graduating from high school at the same time that theyre graduating with an associates degree from Metropolitan Community College and then transitioning to finish their last two years, Hogue explained. So they are graduating from the University of Central Missouri two years after high school and at 20 years old, all while they are in a three-year, year-round paid internship with some of the largest companies in the Kansas City area. The committee members were particularly interested in UCMs partnerships and the two-year review cycle with businesses and faculty to ensure industry competencies are relevant. There are seven pathways for high school juniors to choose from, all focused on business and technology. You guys have struck the template, Committee Chairman Rep. Louis Riggs, R-District 5, said of the MIC program and UCMs partnerships with MCC and Lees Summit R-7. We need to be doing what youre doing the whole darn state needs to be doing this. Dir spoke about UCMs workforce certificate programs, which range from entry-level to professional. All certificate program students participate in Corebuilders, which helps develop soft skills that correlate to success in the work environment. UCM is delving further into youth programming with high school pilot programs in partnership with Kansas City area school districts, offering certificate programs in health care, project management and warehousing. We can come in and do a certificate class theyre in special classes that will allow them to graduate high school with their diploma, but they will also have a career certificate, Dir said. A lot of these students, once they get in a field they are interested in, they excel. Rep. Michael Johnson, D-District 23, complimented UCM for allowing the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (MDHEWD) and the Full Employment Council (FEC) to use office space in the MIC. Dir said it benefits the community to have those entities in the area. UCM's emphasis on workforce development and innovation extends beyond its programs to its role as a stakeholder institution in BioNexus KC, a regional leader in advancing health care innovation. UCM's collaboration with organizations like BioNexus KC reflects its commitment to fostering interdisciplinary partnerships and aligning educational initiatives with industry needs to expand the life sciences potential in the Kansas City area. To view the Nov. 7 hearing, click here. For more information about the Missouri Innovation Campus, visit ucmo.edu/mic. For more information about UCMs Workforce Development and Professional Education, visit ucmo.edu/workforce. Udaku Special Marriage is often regarded as a sacred institution, but in some countries, the commitment extends beyond the vows, reflecting deeply rooted cultural, religious, and societal values. While divorce rates are rising globally, a few nations stand out for their remarkably low rates. Lets explore seven countries where marriage endures and uncover the secrets behind their lasting unions. 1. India: The Marriage Stronghold With a divorce rate of approximately 1%, India boasts one of the lowest rates globally. In India, marriage represents more than a bond between two individualsit is a union of families. A societal emphasis on lifelong commitment and the stigma surrounding divorce play a significant role. Arranged marriages, where families assess compatibility, remain common and often result in stable unions. While urbanisation and modernisation have led to a gradual rise in divorces, the national rate remains impressively low. 2. The Philippines: A Divorce-Free Zone The Philippines stands out as a country where divorce is illegal (except for Muslims under specific conditions). Couples seeking to end their marriages can only pursue annulments, which are both costly and lengthy, acting as a deterrent. A deeply Catholic nation, the Philippines views marriage as a sacrament, and the Church strongly opposes separation. Despite these challenges, many couples rely on their faith and family networks to navigate marital difficulties. 3. Vietnam: Tradition and Harmony With a divorce rate of around 1.9%, Vietnam's Confucian values play a significant role in prioritising family harmony and collective well-being. Marriage is often viewed as a partnership benefiting the extended family, with societal pressure encouraging couples to resolve their differences. Economic interdependence, particularly in rural areas, also discourages separation, fostering enduring unions. 4. Malta: Faithful to Its Roots Malta, a predominantly Catholic nation, has a divorce rate of about 0.8%. Notably, divorce was only legalised in 2011 and remains relatively rare. Catholic teachings heavily influence marital values, emphasising lifelong commitment. While modern attitudes are gradually changing, many couples in Malta continue to view marriage as a binding union, often seeking counselling or family mediation to resolve issues. 5. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Faith and Family Bonds With a divorce rate of just 0.6%, Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the countries with the lowest rates globally. Its religious diversity, encompassing Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity, reinforces strong marital and family values. Divorce carries a social stigma in many communities, further discouraging separation. Couples often lean on extended family networks for support, helping maintain stability in their relationships. 6. Qatar: Marriage as a Sacred Institution In Qatar, Islamic teachings prioritise reconciliation before divorce, contributing to a relatively low divorce rate. While divorce is permitted in Islam, it is generally regarded as a last resort. Couples are encouraged to resolve disputes through family intervention and counselling. Additionally, the financial and legal implications of divorce can act as deterrents in a society where family reputation holds significant importance. 7. Ireland: A Slow Embrace of Modernity Ireland's divorce rate is among the lowest in Europe, partly due to its Catholic heritage and historically restrictive legal framework. Divorce was only legalised in 1995, and the Churchs influence continues to shape societal attitudes. While modern views are slowly emerging, many Irish couples still honour traditional marital values, making divorce less common. What is it that keeps divorce so rare in these countries? Here are the key factors: 1. Faith as the Foundation In many of these countries, religion is more than a belief systemit is a way of life. Whether it is Catholicism in Malta or Islam in Qatar, faith provides not only moral guidance but also emotional support during turbulent times, encouraging couples to weather challenges together. 2. Tradition as the Pillar In these societies, marriage is not merely a personal choice but a community affair. It often represents the pride and unity of two families. Divorce risks disapproval not only from ones partner but from an entire network of loved ones, making the stakes much higher. 3. Legal and Economic Hurdles In the Philippines, where divorce is illegal, and other nations with complex or expensive legal procedures, couples are often compelled to navigate their challenges rather than part ways. These hurdles, though restrictive, often encourage reconciliation. 4. The Power of Extended Families Marriage in these cultures is rarely a solitary journey. Parents, siblings, and even neighbours often step innot to intrude but to offer guidance and support. This extended network acts as a safety net, helping couples rebuild and move forward. Low divorce rates reflect the enduring nature of marriage in these societies, but they do not necessarily indicate perfect unions. In many cases, couples remain together due to societal pressures or structural barriers rather than personal fulfilment. Nonetheless, these countries offer fascinating insights into how cultural and religious values influence marriage, showcasing the profound ways in which traditions and beliefs shape the ties that bind. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Georgia's South University turns 125 South University (SU) has completed 125 years of establishment, and to celebrate the occasion the university has planned a time capsule ceremony and reception at its historic Savannah campus on December 5, 2024 Wednesday November 27, 2024 9:36 PM , ummid.com News Network Savannah (Georgia): South University (SU) has completed 125 years of establishment, and to celebrate the occasion the university has planned a time capsule ceremony and reception at its historic Savannah campus on December 5, 2024. The event will be hosted by the Chancellor Dr. Steven Yoho and the Executive Leadership Team of South University. The South University was founded in December 1899, and since then it has grown from a single location in Savannah - the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia, to serving over 10,000 students across 11 ground campuses and online curricula. The university offers a wide range of programs, from associate to doctoral levels, focusing on fields such as healthcare, business, and technology. South University Time Capsule The symbolic time capsule, containing artifacts from South University's 11 campus locations and online division, will be designed to symbolize the unity of South University across cities and through the university's many years since inception. The time capsule will be displayed in SU Savannah's welcome center until its reopening ceremony, scheduled to take place on the university's 150th anniversary in 25 years. As South University prepares to mark this significant milestone, the time capsule represents a tangible connection between the institution's rich 125-year-long history and its promising future. "This time capsule embodies our journey reflecting on our fulfilling past while looking forward to the next chapter of South University's mission," said South University Chancellor Dr. Steven K. Yoho. South University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Safety of Minorities: India, Bangladesh trade charges against each other India and Bangladesh are trading charges against each other over the safety of minorities in the two countries Thursday November 28, 2024 0:32 AM , ummid.com News Network New Delhi/Dhaka: India and Bangladesh are trading charges against each other over the safety of minorities in the two countries. India on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari - a monk associated with Sri Sri Ravi Shankars International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Dhaka. Chinmoy Krishna Das is facing sedition charges. He has been charged with sedition following allegations of disrespecting the national flag of Bangladesh in a rally in Chittagong's New Market area where ISKCON flags were raised over and above the national flag, according to local media reports. Following the ISKCON monks arrest, India expressed concerns, and urged Bangladesh to ensure safety and security of Hindus in Bangladesh. We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote. This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities' homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, the ministry said. It is unfortunate that while the perpetrators of these incidents remain at large, charges should be pressed against a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings. We also note with concern the attacks on minorities protesting peacefully against the arrest of Shri Das, the Indian Foreign Ministry said. We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, the ministry said. Unwarranted interference Terming Indian Foreign Ministrys statement on the ISKCON monks arrest unwarranted interference, Bangladesh asked India to ensure safety of the minorities in the country. We believe such statements amount to unwarranted interference. It appears that India is trying to escalate the situation. India should focus on ensuring the safety and rights of its own minority communities, Information and Broadcasting Adviser Nahid Islam, said. We urge India to act responsibly and not subscribe to the false propaganda of the Awami League, he added. Earlier, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry had said Indias unsubstantiated statement misrepresented the incident, and also went against the spirit of friendship and understanding between the two neighboring countries. Relation between India and Bangladesh is tense ever since Sheikh Hasina was dislodged from power following mass protests led by the students organisations. Sheikh Hasina is currently staying in India. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. DHAKA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi interim government has requested Malaysia to take necessary measures as early as possible to supply refined palm oil to Bangladesh ahead of the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan. Sk Bashir Uddin, adviser to the Bangladeshi Ministry of Commerce, made the request when he met Malaysian Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani Tuesday, the second day of his two-day visit, the national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported here Wednesday. In response, the Malaysian minister promised to take immediate effective measures after discussing this with local businessmen, said a press release Wednesday. Malaysia is the world's second-largest palm oil producer and Bangladesh is one of the major markets in South Asia. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home THE 2025 Ranking: 02 from Muslim World, None from India among Top 200 Universities Only two universities from the Muslim world figured in the list of Top 200 Universities of the World whereas the dismal performance of the Indian universities continues if the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 are any indicator Wednesday November 27, 2024 3:19 PM , ummid.com News Network [King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals of Saudi Arabia is one among the top 200 universities in the world.] THE 2025 Ranking: Only two universities from the Muslim world figured in the list of Top 200 Universities of the World whereas the dismal performance of the Indian universities continues if the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 are any indicator. The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 - in its 21st year, has a record 2,092 universities from 115 countries and regions in its list up from 1,907 last year. The list of top 200 universities of the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 are dominated by the United States like previous years. The only consolation this year is for the countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Brazil that figured for the first time in the list of top 200 universities. According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 released recently, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and Abu Dhabi University have figured in the list of top 200 universities in the world. In the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking 2024 , King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals was placed in the 201-250 rank band. As per the THE Ranking 2025, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals has jumped to 176th rank. Abu Dhabi University of the UAE was also placed in the 201-250 band in 2024. The university however improved its performance to rank 191 in Times Higher Education (THE) 2025. Top 200 Universities of the World The University of Oxford takes the top spot for a record-breaking 9th consecutive year in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025. Oxford has beaten Harvard Universitys previous record of 8th consecutive years at the number one spot from 2004 to 2011. The U.S. has the most institutions ranked with 174, followed by Japan with 119, and joint third are UK and India with 107 each. However, the reputation of the UK higher education sector is increasingly fragile as its top universities have declined for the second year in a row as the sector faces a severe financial crisis. The UK recorded the worst year-on-year decline in research reputation among large countries (with at least 50 ranked institutions). UK universities received 19 per cent of votes (for teaching and research combined) in the survey in 2016, compared with 15 per cent today. U.S. universities dominate the top 10 taking seven spots. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now the highest-ranked US university in second place, its best-ever performance, while Stanford University dropped from second to sixth. The country has 23 universities in the top 50, 38 in the top 100 and 55 in the top 200 more than any other country. But the global reputation of US universities is at a record low. American universities received 47 per cent of the votes (for teaching and research combined) in THEs 2016 reputation survey and this dropped sharply to 38 per cent this year - the steepest long-term decline of any country. Also, seven countries are ranked for the first time. They are Bahrain, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mongolia, Paraguay, Rwanda, Syria and Uzbekistan. 107 Indian Universities listed in THE 2025 A total of 107 universities from India have been listed in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 - down from 124 in the 2024 ranking. Also, none of the Indian universities figured in the list of top 200 universities of the world. The best performaning university in the THE World Universities Rankings 2025 is the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. It is placed in 251-330 rank band. Aligarh Muslim University AMU that was placed in 601-800 rank band in 2024 is in the same place. Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) was placed in the 501-600 rank band last year and it remains there. Also Read: No Indian University in Top 20 List of QS Asia Rankings 2025 The worrying performance is of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The JNU was in 601-800 rank slab in THE 2024 World Universities Rankings. It has however been placed in 801-1000 rank slab in THE World Universities Rankings 2025. Jamia Hamdard University Delhi has also been placed in the 801-1000 rank band. On the other hand, B. S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology which was recently in news for its ranking among the top 10 universities in India - as per the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2024 , is placed in 1501+ rank slab. Othe Indian universities that figured in the THE World Universities Rankings 2025 are Anna University, Mahatma Gandhi University, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences all in 401-500 rank slab. IIT Indore, UPES, Amity University, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), BITS Pilani, Chitkara University, IIT Patna, Indian Institute of Informational Technology Hyderabad, KIIT University, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Symbiosis International Uiversity and others have been placed in 601-800 rank band. Top Universities in Muslim Countries In terms of numbers, a total of 29 universities of Saudi Arabia have been included in the THE World Universities Rankings 2025. But,Turkey continues to be top listed country with 91 of its universities getting mention in THE World Universities Rankings 2025. Rank-wise the best university in Turkey is Koc University placed in 351-400 band. The best university in Egypt is Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) placed in 501-600 bracket. E-JUST was placed in 601-800 band last year. On the other hand, Cairo University and the renowned Al Azhar University are in the 801-1000 slab - same as the last year. King Abdulaziz University has been ranked in 351-400 group, and Alfaisal University in 601-800 rank slab, King Saud University (KSA) 251 to 300 rank slab, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University 601 to 800 rank slab, and also Quaid-i-Azam University Pakistan, has been placed in the 401-500 band. Along with Quaid-i-Azam University, as many as 47 universities of Pakistan have found the place in 2025 THE ranking. Bangladesh has a total of 17 universities listed by THE 2025 Rankings with the top ranking university in Bangladesh being Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (801 to 1000). Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. People mourn over the body of a victim following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on a school sheltering displaced people, and a residential house in Gaza City, the Palestinian civil defense said Wednesday. "The Israeli army killed 10 Palestinians by attacking al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City," Mahmoud Basal, spokesman of the civil defense, told Xinhua. All the casualties were transferred to the hospital, Basal said. "We were shocked that the army attacked the school where we live. We rushed to rescue the casualties, but could not because of a lack of equipment," Mohamed Ahmed, a local resident in the school, told Xinhua. Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential house in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, killing seven people, including women and children, Basal said. The Israeli army has yet to comment on the attacks. Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. According to Gaza-based health authorities, the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 44,249. People conduct rescue work following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) People mourn over the body of a victim following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) People conduct rescue work following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) People conduct rescue work following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) People conduct rescue work following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) People conduct rescue work following an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabeen school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) The in-depth cooperation between China and Madagascar in agriculture, especially in the field of hybrid rice, gives Madagascar the confidence to achieve self-sufficiency in food. Tahiana Razanamahasoa, a Madagascan senior official has said in an interview with Xinhua. #GLOBALink Is there a hidden agenda at Newsweek targeting Olivet University, the Christian college now thrust into controversy? Olivet University, a bastion of Christian higher learning, is battling a storm of serious accusations, from financial missteps to human trafficking. At the heart of the controversy is Naveed Jamali, Newsweek Editor-at-Large, whose suspected involvement in triggering inquiries with questionable claims has come under the microscope. The Genesis of the Allegations From Newsweek On June 28, 2022, Naveed Jamali fired off an email to the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), lighting a fuse on an inquiry into Olivet University. In the email, he alleged federal probes into money laundering, trafficking, and visa fraud. While these claims stray from the BPPE's purview, they led the bureau to initiate a probe into the university's compliance with state educational standards. Further emails reveal Jamali's active efforts to push other regulatory bodies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state agencies in California and Tennessee, to wrongfully scrutinize Olivet. His correspondence with New York State Education Department (NYSED) officials, highlighted below, shows a pattern of leveraging unverified accusations to provoke investigations, aligning with his reporting for Newsweek. Questionable Tactics and Unethical Practices Jamali's approach raises serious concerns about journalistic integrity. In an email dated June 28, 2022, he offered to share "off-the-record" information with NYSED officials, implying he possessed unpublished details that might sway their opinion. This blending of investigative journalism with active advocacy undermines the principle of impartial reporting. By positioning himself as both a provocateur and reporter, Jamali blurred the line between objective journalism and personal agenda. Moreover, Jamali's claims lacked substantiation. Despite repeated references to federal investigations, there is no evidence in the disclosed communications or reports to support the allegations of trafficking or financial misconduct. The investigation by the BPPE, detailed in Document 2, Page 3, eventually shifted focus to routine compliance checks on educational quality, far removed from the sensational claims initially made by Newsweek. A Pattern of Media Manipulation The controversy surrounding Olivet University is part of a larger pattern. A deeper dive into Newsweek's reporting reveals a recurring trend of exaggerated and misleading narratives targeting the institution. For instance, the magazine published stories accusing Olivet of "human trafficking," only to quietly reframe these allegations as "labor trafficking" without acknowledging the lack of evidence for the original claim. This rhetorical shift, as noted in other analyses, demonstrates Newsweek's tendency to amplify unverified allegations while avoiding accountability. One example of this pattern is a civil lawsuit brought against Olivet by four former students. Newsweek's coverage of the case, led by reporters including Jamali, hinted at collusion between the publication and the plaintiffs' legal team. This close coordination, coupled with Newsweek's previous reporting on similar themes, raises questions about the integrity of its coverage and the potential orchestration of narratives to fit a predetermined agenda. Regulatory Fallout and Legal Battles Jamali's email to the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education directly influenced the bureau's decision to assign special agents to investigate Olivet, as acknowledged by an investigation report obtained by the International Business Times. Following surprise site visits to Olivet's campuses, the BPPE filed an accusation against the university in March 2023. Jamali and another Newsweek reporter, Alex Rouhandeh, quickly published an article announcing California's move to shut down Olivet. This sequence of events underscores Newsweek's dual role in initiating and amplifying regulatory action. The repercussions for Olivet have been severe. The university has faced heightened scrutiny from multiple state agencies, as well as reputational damage fueled by Newsweek's reports. In response, Olivet has filed defamation lawsuits against the publication, alleging a coordinated campaign to tarnish its credibility and disrupt its operations. A Covert Inner Circle? The allegations against Newsweek extend beyond the actions of individual reporters. Critics point to a covert inner circle within the publication that appears to drive these stories, possibly as part of internal power struggles. One theory links the attacks on Olivet to Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad's business interests, suggesting that the university became collateral damage in a larger corporate conflict. This theory gains traction when considering the disproportionate focus on Olivet by Newsweek, compared to other media outlets. Despite the gravity of the allegations, no other major publication has reported on them with the same intensity or frequency. This exclusivity raises concerns about Newsweek's motives and whether the narrative has been manufactured to serve ulterior purposes. Conclusion: A Manufactured Crisis? The ongoing investigations into Olivet University appear to stem not from evidence-based concerns, but from a deliberate campaign by Newsweek to stir controversy. Naveed Jamali's role as both instigator and reporter exemplifies the ethical dilemmas inherent in such practices. For a publication that claims to uphold journalistic integrity, Newsweek's actions raise serious questions about its credibility and motivations. Olivet University's legal battle against Newsweek and Jamali may ultimately shed light on these practices. Until then, the case serves as a cautionary tale about the power of media to shape perceptions and the importance of accountability in journalism. As this story unfolds, University Herald will continue to investigate the implications of this controversy, striving to uncover the truth behind the headlines. Authorities may have likely stopped a school shooting after arresting a student who made threats on his social media. The Illinois college student, Peter Bumba, was arrested after he posted threats targeting Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The incident happened early on Monday morning, and law enforcement and campus security responded quickly to the situation. According to KCCI, Bumba is a junior majoring in music education at Luther College and admitted to making the threatening posts, which referred to a violent anime series and suggested that he would harm a large number of the student body. Investigation and Arrest The Decorah Police Department became aware of the threat at 1:31 AM when Luther College Security reported the posts on Instagram. The language of the threats included mentions of killing "80% of the students at Luther." Police took 20-year-old Bumba into custody after determining the credibility of the threat. Under questioning, he admitted to authoring and posting the threatening messages. As a result, Bumba was charged with terroristic threats, a class D felony. After he was detained, he was put behind the cell bars at the Winneshiek County Jail. There was also an in-depth search of his room and his vehicle. Luckily enough, there were no weapons in his custody after the investigation. Police confirmed that there is no immediate threat to Luther College or the community. The quick response of campus security and law enforcement has ensured that the situation did not escalate further. Authorities stated they are committed to providing a safe environment for Luther College students and staff. School Shooting in the US This year alone, as of the 2nd week of November, there have been 76 school shootings in the US. This data comprises 24 on college campuses and 52 on K-12 grounds, which unfortunately resulted in 36 deaths and over 100 injuries. CNN keeps track of these shootings using data from multiple sources, checking these reports against school and police records to ensure accuracy. All shootings on school grounds, such as buildings, fields, and buses, are included if at least one person (other than the shooter) was injured. School shootings have surged since the pandemic, and 2022 was particularly deadly, with the Uvalde, Texas tragedy standing out. Student and teacher activism has risen in response, though some teachers have quit over safety concerns. The highest rates of shootings have been reported in the Southern states since the year 2008. Washington, DC has the highest rate per capita, and Texas accounted for the greatest number of incidents overall. Five states, such as Vermont and Wyoming, reported no school shootings. Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, on Wednesday visited Watan Kor and held an important meeting with the Provincial President of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao regarding worsening law and order situations in the province PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, on Wednesday visited Watan Kor and held an important meeting with the Provincial President of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao regarding worsening law and order situations in the province. During the meeting, the Governor extended an invitation to Sherpao to participate in an All Parties Conference (APC) scheduled for the first week of December. The APC will focus on the deteriorating law and order situation in the province and aims to bring together political leaders to formulate a comprehensive strategy to address the growing security concerns, the Governor said. Governor Kundi emphasized the need for collective efforts to tackle the challenges of lawlessness and violence that have intensified in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He stressed that political unity was crucial to overcoming these issues and ensuring peace and stability in the province. The Governor appreciated the role of the Qaumi Watan Party in representing the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and acknowledged its contribution to provincial politics. He also expressed the hope that the QWP would actively participate in the APC and provide valuable input in discussions aimed at finding lasting solutions to the security challenges facing the province. In the meeting, they also discussed to fight the case of KP rights with federation. Sikandar Sherpao, while thanking the Governor for the invitation, assured his full cooperation in the efforts to restore peace and address the law and order concerns in the province. He emphasized the importance of a joint approach and the need for all political forces to come together for the betterment of the province. (@FahadShabbir) The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday dispatched its 21st consignment of humanitarian aid, consisting of 17 tons of relief supplies, to support war-affected populations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday dispatched its 21st consignment of humanitarian aid, consisting of 17 tons of relief supplies, to support war-affected populations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. In collaboration with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), NDMA sent an aid shipment consisting of around 17 tons of supplies, including blankets, food, and medicines. This humanitarian aid, dispatched under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was flown via a chartered 777 aircraft from Chaklala, Rawalpindi to Damascus, Syria, for the war-affected people of Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Under the instructions of the prime minister, a total of 1,756 tons of relief items have been dispatched to the affected people of Gaza (1,273 tons), Lebanon (372 tons) and Syria (111 tons). The send-off ceremony held at Chaklala was attended by Ibrar Malik, MNA, senior officials from NDMA, MOFA and PAF. The chief guest emphasized the urgent need to provide relief to the war-affected population, considering the ongoing conflict and the needs of the affected communities. He reaffirmed the Government of Pakistan's commitment to supporting the brothers and sisters in distress and stressed the importance of collaboration by welfare organizations and the Pakistani public in strengthening these efforts. The Government of Pakistan continues to send relief supplies based on the needs of the war-affected populations of Lebanon and Palestine. On the instructions of the prime minister, a special account named "Prime Minister's Relief Fund for Gaza and Lebanon," for collection of donations from the public to aid their brothers and sisters in Gaza and Lebanon who are facing war emergencies. President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko Wednesday met with General Syed Asim Munir, NI(M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), in Islamabad RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko Wednesday met with General Syed Asim Munir, NI(M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), in Islamabad. The discussion encompassed matters of mutual interest, prospects for defense cooperation, and regional security dynamics, said an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release. The COAS emphasized Pakistans appreciation for Belaruss contributions to global and regional affairs, expressing a desire to strengthen and expand bilateral ties. President Aleksandr Lukashenko praised the Pakistan Armed Forces for their significant role in fostering regional peace and stability, as well as their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. (@FahadShabbir) Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, terming protests on occasions of national importance as not a good tradition, on Wednesday, stressed that in politics, national interests must be preferred over personal gains KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, terming protests on occasions of national importance as not a good tradition, on Wednesday, stressed that in politics, national interests must be preferred over personal gains. Sharjeel Memon, while speaking to the media outside the NAB court in Karachi, appreciated efficient role of Interior Minister Mohsan Naqvi in dealing with the situation through a well planned strategy. During the protest, the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi mobilized the entire government machinery and did everything to incite the violence as PTI sought casualties to exploit for political purposes, he said adding, However, the interior minister remained active and, through a well-planned strategy, prevented PTI's objectives from being realized. Bushra Bibi and CM KP, announced on the container, they would take PTI founder with them, but they were the first to flee when the police took action, he noted and urged the public to reject violence for political gains. He also criticized the misuse of the government machinery while referring to statements attributed to some MNAs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa revealing that the CM KP provided them with government funds to fill vehicles for the protest. Sharjeel said protest is everyone's right but protesters should not be armed with weapons or tear gas guns and compared the protest to the events of May 9, stating that PTI intended to orchestrate similar incidents. Senior Minister pointed out that PTI organizes protests on significant events, such as the visit of the Chinese President, negotiations with the IMF, and now the visit of the President of Belarus. He alleged that those who fund PTI aim to incite protests in Pakistan during critical moments. No country allows armed groups to attack police and security forces or to set fire to government property therefore those who took up arms must be brought to justice, he emphasized. The purpose of a protest is not to hold the country or the Federal capital hostage with armed groups. He warned that if such actions are tolerated, armed groups could emerge anywhere in the future. PTI members should seek relief through legal channels, Sharjeel Memon suggested and said that PPP leadership, too, have been attending court proceedings for years, and despite having a government in Sindh, they never resorted to such actions. (@Abdulla99267510) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) says workers have been shot directly and condemns their killings and operation against them ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Nov 27th, 2024) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday announced the end of its protest in Islamabad after the governments grand operation and crackdown at D-Chowk. A PTI spokesperson stated that, under the current circumstances and in light of the governments plans, the peaceful protest is being called off temporarily. The spokesperson added that future actions would be decided as per the directives of PTI founder Imran Khan. They condemned the brutality against peaceful protesters in Islamabad, claiming that the identities of eight martyred workers have been confirmed. The spokesperson alleged that workers were shot directly and strongly condemned their killings and the operation against them. Meanwhile, during a grand operation against violent protesters, police arrested more than 400 individuals in Islamabad. According to a police spokesperson, Rawalpindi police conducted an operation in the areas near 26 Number Chungi, and arrested over 400 miscreants. Across Punjab, nearly 800 individuals involved in unrest have been apprehended. The spokesperson further revealed that a large cache of weapons and wireless devices was recovered from the suspects, along with slingshots and ball bearings. The arrested individuals are accused of attacking police, vandalism, and arson. During the operation in Islamabad, PTIs Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur reportedly fled the scene in a vehicle, along with other protesters. Sources stated that the two were present near Kulsoom Plaza in Blue Area, accompanied by a small number of PTI protesters. As the operation began, Bushra Bibi and Gandapur fled from the D-Chowk area, reportedly in the same vehicle via Jinnah Avenue. The police sources said that that security forces intercepted vehicles belonging to Gandapurs guards, but the main vehicle carrying Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin managed to evade capture. The vehicle was reportedly headed toward the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, with Islamabad police in pursuit. As the leadership fled, the protesters abandoned their vehicles on Jinnah Avenue and 7th Avenue and fled the areas. In an attempt to prevent fleeing protesters from crossing into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Attock Bridge, linking Punjab and KP, was sealed. The containers were reinstalled at Attock Khurd, and heavy police deployment was made at key points. Earlier, Rangers cleared D-Chowk, pushed the protesters back from Jinnah Avenue and beyond Khaybar Plaza. Police and Rangers successfully regained control of the Red Zone. Throughout the day, the clashes and chases occurred between PTI workers and law enforcement in Islamabads Red Zone. The protesters armed with gas masks, sticks and slingshots removed some containers using ropes and overturned others. They also pelted stones and targeted police with slingshots. During the protests, the four Rangers and police personnel were martyred while over 100 officers sustained injuries. NOWSHERA VIRKAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) Assistant Commissioner Nowshera Virkan, Jawad Hussain Pirzada, has instructed traders to comply with the ban on plastic shopper bags on the special instructions of Deputy Commissioner Gujranwala, Naveed Ahmed on Wednesday. According to AC office sources, a meeting was held with traders to discuss implementation of the Suthra Punjab program, focusing on cleanliness, encroachment, and plastic bag use. Traders were convinced to keep garbage cans outside shops and adhere to the court order banning plastic bags. APP/mud/378 MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia has ordered journalists of the German media ARD to leave the country in response to German authorities' closure of Russian broadcaster Channel One's office, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday. "In response to the unfriendly actions of German authorities, which were taken against Russian correspondents ... as a mirror measure, it is prescribed to German correspondents to hand over their accreditation certificates and leave the territory of the Russian Federation," Zakharova said at a media briefing. She added that Russia will be ready to issue accreditation to new ARD employees after Germany creates conditions for the work of Russian journalists and resumes activities of Channel One's office. Earlier in the day, Russian media reported German authorities were closing Channel One's office in Berlin, requiring a correspondent and a cameraman of the broadcaster to leave Germany in early December. The broadcaster provided a document by the German authorities, which reportedly stated that "the activities of Channel One represent a significant immediate threat to public order and security in Germany and the EU as they pose a threat to the process of the formation of the public opinion and decision-making in the member states." Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) Voting by more than half the world's population in 2024 elections has left many liberal democracies facing crises of confidence, political fragmentation and heightened polarisation, with some observers fearing new wind in the sails of authoritarianism. The bumper election year was headlined by the November polls in the United States, democracy's self-described "shining city upon a hill", where Donald Trump emerged victorious. Many post-vote analyses have focused on the economic drivers for the public's rejection of the Democratic party incumbents. Trump's repeated threats to undermine the rule of law also appear to have done little to discourage voters. The Republican has vowed to bring to heel a justice system that had targeted him with multiple investigations and trials, to punish hostile media outlets and even name civil servants on the basis of their ideological allegiances. If Trump does everything he has said he will, "the United States will see the most intense assault on checks and balances and civil liberties in its peacetime history", political scientist Larry Diamond wrote in Foreign Affairs. "We are at a dangerous moment, not only in the US but in many other places," Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told AFP. For the past two decades, the Western democratic model installed since 1945 and reinforced following the collapse of the Soviet bloc after 1989 has been on the back foot. The US-based organisation Freedom House has highlighted increased violence and suspected or confirmed manipulation around many elections worldwide. Elsewhere, some so-called "hybrid" systems saw powerful incumbents retaining their position but faced with determined, organised and new opposition. India's Narendra Modi and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered setbacks at legislative and municipal elections respectively. Even in more competitive democratic systems, such as in Europe, "we are seeing increasingly polarised and fragmented politics", Bergmann said. Germany's governing alliance between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals collapsed this month, with little clarity about how a new government will look following new polls in February. And in the neighbouring Netherlands, a fragile four-way coalition is battling internal division as it tries to stay afloat following the previous government's 2023 implosion. France, where monolithic parties of left and right for decades took turns at power, has also seen its political landscape shattered since centrist Emmanuel Macron surged to the presidency in 2017. His snap election surprise in summer has produced a parliament almost evenly divided between three blocs -- a united left, centre-right and far right. With all sides at daggers drawn on almost every subject, reform efforts have been paralysed. - 'Halt change' - The volatile state of Western democracies can be explained by a "crisis of confidence in political parties and in the media that is unprecedented since 1945", said Bertrand Badie, an international relations expert at French university Sciences Po. Voters were reacting to "a drought in what's on offer in politics", he added. "What were Macron or Kamala Harris offering in France or in the US beyond preventing their rivals -- Trump or the far right led by Marine Le Pen -- from taking power? This creates a big problem with legitimacy." Defiance towards traditional parties and incumbents has added to the attraction of populist and far-right parties. Those made big gains in June's European elections as seen in votes in Germany, France, the Netherlands, as well as in Italy and Hungary prior to 2024. Many voters are opting for politicians promising the toughest action on issues including immigration and purchasing power. Personality is vital too, with Hungary's Viktor Orban and Trump managing to project implacable authority. "The world and societies are going through a major transformation. Liberal globalisation has not brought answers for millions of people concerned about sometimes radical changes in the way we live alongside others, travel or produce," said Gilles Gressani, head of French geopolitical magazine Le Grand Continent. "In consequences, there's increasingly strong demand to halt change -- and because that seems increasingly unlikely, the illusive temptation to withdraw" behind national borders, he added. Kuala Lumpur, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) A Malaysian court on Wednesday allowed corruption charges in one of several cases linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund against jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak to be dropped, his lawyer said. Najib is currently in jail after being convicted in one of five cases related to 1MDB from which billions of Dollars had been allegedly pilfered. He will face another trial from December 2. Charges dropped Wednesday relates to payments of 6.6 billion Ringgit ($1.48 billion) allegedly made to Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company. "The court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges," his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told AFP. "The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years from the initial charges being read, that are relevant to our client's preparation of his defence," Farhan said. Similarly, Farhan said the Kuala Lumpur High Court also dropped charges against Najib's ally and former treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah. However, prosecutors can seek renewed charges if they were to disclose the crucial documents that had been withheld from Najib's defence, as the court's decision on Wednesday did not amount to a full acquittal. Najib, in October, issued an apology that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund. Allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a super-yacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in 2018 elections. The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered. Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia's pardons board. His 1MDB audit tampering trial ended with an acquittal at the High Court in 2023. In October, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that 71-year-old will have to defend himself against four counts of abuse of power linked to 2.27 billion ringgit in alleged bribes and 21 counts of money laundering, involving Tanore Finance Corp. The trial is slated to get underway on December 2. Another money laundering trial over 27 million ringgit in funds is set to commence in April 2025. The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates. Najib, the UK-educated son of one of Malaysia's founding fathers, had been groomed for the prime minister's post from a young age. He set up 1MDB after coming to power in 2009 to bolster economic development, but the fund amassed billions of dollars in debt. But Najib's reputation has been battered not just by 1MDB but other graft controversies. Najib was linked to allegations of huge kickbacks in a 2002 purchase of French submarines while defence minister, a case later connected to the 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman -- Altantuya Shaariibuu -- involved in the deal. He steadfastly denied wrongdoing. 2024 Vietnam-South Korea Investment Forum Seeks Greater SME Engagement, R&D Collaboration The Vietnam-South Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024 discussed expanding SME collaboration and integrating Vietnamese SMEs into global value chains. The Vietnamese government urged South Korean businesses to support this integration and establish R&D centers in Vietnam. The Vietnam-South Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024, held in Hanoi, marked another step in deepening economic and business ties between Vietnam and South Korea. Focused on the theme Trust and Cooperation: Strategies for Sustainable Development of SMEs, the forum highlighted the strategic role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in fostering innovation, enhancing value chains, and accelerating bilateral trade and investment. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh reaffirmed Vietnams commitment to facilitating South Korean investments in high-priority sectors, such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biotechnology, and smart cities. He called on South Korean businesses to support the integration of Vietnamese SMEs into global value chains and to establish research and development (R&D) centers in Vietnam. The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted Vietnams appreciation for South Koreas expertise and innovation in high-tech industries and SME development, noting the significant potential for collaboration in areas such as technology transfer, production capacity building, and sustainable growth. Vietnam: A preferred destination for Korean investment In the first half of 2024 alone, South Korean investors contributed US$1.4 billion, a 16 percent year-on-year increase, making South Korea the fourth-largest investor in Vietnam during the period. Last year, there were around 500 projects from South Korean investors with a total value of over US$5 billion. The Foreign Investment Agency anticipates a new wave of South Korean investments worth tens of billions of dollars in the coming years. Overall, South Korea is among Vietnams largest foreign investors, with investments surpassing US$87 billion across nearly 10,000 projects as of June 2024. This accounts for 18 percent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam, reflecting the robust economic partnership between the two nations. South Koreas total investments in Vietnam are heavily concentrated in the processing and manufacturing industries, which make up over 70 percent of its investment portfolio. Additionally, the real estate sector has garnered significant interest, accounting for more than 12 percent of the investments. Other sectors attracting South Korean investment include construction, energy, accommodation, and food services, collectively representing around 3 percent. Beyond FDI, South Korea is a significant contributor to Vietnams development through official development assistance (ODA), particularly in urban transport infrastructure, clean energy, education and training, and information technology. Vietnam accounts for 20 percent of South Koreas global ODA commitments, further cementing the bilateral relationship. The Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), effective since December 20, 2015, aims to enhance trade, services, and investment while complementing the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA). The VKFTA offers detailed rules of origin, including specific regulations for certain goods and exemptions from certificates of origin for low-value imports. It also incorporates commitments such as National Treatment (NT) and Most Favored Nation (MFN) status in trade services, offering broader sector access compared to WTO and AKFTA provisions. In terms of investment, the VKFTA provides protections through NT and MFN treatments and includes mechanisms for dispute resolution via administrative courts and arbitration. Additionally, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTA) between Vietnam and South Korea, effective since September 11, 1994, has facilitated economic cooperation by offering clear tax guidance and eliminating double taxation. The DTA fosters a stable tax environment, promoting cross-border trade and investment while strengthening economic ties between the two nations. Trade engagement In 2023, bilateral trade between Vietnam and South Korea totaled US$76 billion, positioning South Korea as Vietnams third-largest trading partner, following China and the United States, and its second-largest source of imports. By the first half of 2024, trade turnover between the two countries had already reached US$38.4 billion. Technological collaboration and value chain integration A key highlight of the forum was the Korea-Vietnam Global Technology Transfer initiative, aimed at facilitating the export of South Korean innovation to Vietnamese companies. Supported by platforms like the Global Smart Tech Bridge, the initiative has already connected 53 Korean SMEs with 19 Vietnamese firms, resulting in eight successful partnerships. Kim Woo Soon, head of the Technology Innovation Policy Division at South Koreas Ministry of SMEs and Startups, described the initiative as a significant step in revitalizing technology exports. Deputy PM Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasized the importance of such collaborations, particularly in sectors like semiconductors, where South Korea holds global leadership. He urged South Korean firms to leverage Vietnams youthful, digitally adaptable workforce by investing in talent development and vocational training programs. SMEs: A pillar of economic growth The forum placed a strong emphasis on the role of SMEs, which form the backbone of both economies. In Vietnam, SMEs account for 97 percent of businesses, contributing over 40 percent to GDP and employing 60 percent of the workforce. Similarly, in South Korea, SMEs represent 99 percent of enterprises, generate 46 percent of GDP, and employ 81 percent of the workforce. Nguyen Van Than, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of SMEs, highlighted the opportunities for joint ventures, technological innovation, and mutual capacity building. He noted that collaboration between Vietnamese and South Korean SMEs would unlock immense potential for both nations, creating a sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership. Successful models and prospects During the forum, leaders from both nations discussed successful South Korean business models, such as Samsungs smart factories and farms, which could serve as benchmarks for Vietnamese enterprises. Kim Ki Mun, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ), emphasized that these models could guide Vietnamese businesses in improving efficiency and embracing innovation. Korean enterprises are ready to transfer technology, share expertise, and invest in joint ventures that promote long-term growth. The forum also included discussions on Vietnams semiconductor ambitions. South Koreas leadership in semiconductor technology presents an opportunity for collaboration in training Vietnamese talent and establishing domestic production capabilities. Attracting semiconductor investments requires government-to-government cooperation, remarked Kim Ki Mun, emphasizing the need for strategic agreements to address the complexities of the sector. Strategic agreements and investments A total of 15 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed during the forum, covering areas like smart technology, production, human resource training, and product distribution; of these, five MoUs were signed between Vietnamese and Korean business associations. These agreements are expected to further deepen bilateral cooperation and encourage South Korean firms to expand their presence in Vietnam. South Koreas Deputy Minister of SMEs and Startups, Kim Sung Seop, noted Vietnams strategic importance due to its dynamic workforce and adaptability to digital transformation. He expressed optimism about the synergy between SMEs from both countries, calling it a driving force for future economic growth. Shared vision for the future Looking ahead, Vietnam and South Korea aim to achieve US$100 billion in bilateral trade in the near term and US$150 billion by 2030. Initiatives like the K-Startup Center in Hanoi and the Global Smart Tech Bridge are expected to play a crucial role in achieving these goals by fostering innovation and strengthening business networks. The Vietnam-Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024 underscored the shared commitment of both nations to fostering harmonious benefits and shared risks, creating a foundation for sustainable economic growth. With strengthened ties and a focus on innovation, Vietnam and South Korea are poised to achieve new milestones in their economic partnership. Vietnam Briefing has developed into a premium source for insight on doing business in Vietnam. It publishes business news concerning foreign direct investment into Vietnam, including the most important tax, legal and accounting issues. The Vietnam Briefing Magazine was first published in 2009, and is contributed to by investment professionals based in Vietnam. HOUSTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham on Tuesday said the largest red state will provide more land for the mass deportation operation planned by the incoming Donald Trump administration. "We have 13 million acres around the state, and if there's something that meets the federal government's needs, we want them to be able to utilize that," Buckingham told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday. She said her office is identifying property to be ready for the Trump administration when they take office in January. The new project is called "Jocelyn's Initiative" after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl from Houston who police say was killed by two Venezuelan men who were in the country illegally. Buckingham wrote in a letter to Trump last week that the state would offer 1,402 acres of land in the Starr County "to be used to construct deportation facilities." In an interview with Fox News, Buckingham said she is "100% on board" with the president-elect's promise on mass deportation. In comparison, Democratic governors of California and Arizona, two other states bordering Mexico, reportedly have pledged not to aid the Trump administration's mass deportation plans. Trump confirmed last week he would declare a national emergency to launch his mass deportation plans as soon as he enters office in January. The president-elect's vow to carry out mass deportations is certain to encounter logistical and legal challenges, like the ones that stifled promises from his first campaign once he assumed office, said a report from The Texas Tribune. A report by the international NGO Equality Now says the definition of rape in 25 African countries has allowed many perpetrators to go unpunished. Such narrow definitions, it says, often allow charges against accused rapists to be reduced to lesser crimes with lower penalties. The findings are part of a 46-page study uncovering gaps in legislation, implementation, and access to justice for rape victims in 47 African countries. The report says globally, 35% of women have experienced either physical or sexual violence, and that about 33% of women in Africa have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. High rates of sexual violence have been documented during conflicts in Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, says the report, which adds that in those countries, rape was used as a weapon of war to denigrate, disempower, and demoralize communities. Sally Ncube is a regional representative for southern Africa at Equality Now. She told VOA via a messaging app from Zimbabwe that narrow legal definitions of rape have long promoted impunity for perpetrators in many countries. "For example, rape committed within an intimate partner relationship or relegate these violations to lesser offenses with lesser penalties which create a hierarchy of abuse and sending a confused signal about the absolute right of each individual to bodily autonomy," Ncube said. The report names 25 African countries where the legal definition of rape may be too narrow. They include Cameroon, South Sudan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Mozambique and Malawi. Zione Lapani coordinates the victim support unit at the Blantyre Police Station in Malawi. She told VOA about a case in which a married woman complained to police after her husband sexually abused her. Lapani said they did not open a case after a discussion with the couple that established that the man forced himself on his wife after being denied sex for so long because of some family matters. "We said, 'No, this is not very big because there was something inside both of you which you didn't communicate.' This no longer rape but just because the man was tired because the lady was giving punishment to the man," said Lapani. An Equality Now report about gaps in family laws released earlier this year found that Malawian customary law presumes perpetual consent to sex within marriage and that a wife can deny her husband sex only when she is sick or legally separated. Ncube said African governments should ensure that the crime of rape meets international human rights law standards. "By providing clear definitions based on consent rather than just force," said Ncube. "That all forms of penetration that are sexual in nature are included no matter how slight they are, and that there is no form of hierarchy in punishment in form of rape of penetration." However, the report says Rwanda has taken significant steps to promote a victim-centered approach to investigating and prosecuting sexual violence cases. It also says Senegal has taken a similar approach by establishing "law shops" offering judicial, legal and psycho-social services. And in Malawi, the courts have started giving stiffer punishments to convicted rapists. For example, in 2021, a high court in southern Malawi sentenced a 33-year-old man to 40 years in prison for raping a 9-year-old child. Israel and Hezbollah approve a deal to end the fighting between them. Russia unleashes its biggest drone attack yet on Ukraine as Moscow waits for Donald Trump to take office. Plus, a look at Trumps pick for secretary of defense, and reaction to his controversial plan to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, there is no indication the deal will hasten a truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, where Israel is battling the Palestinian militant group Hamas. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. Several of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees and appointees were targeted with "violent threats," including bomb threats and "swatting," a spokesperson for the U.S. president-elect said Wednesday. The threats were made Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and law enforcement and authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those targeted, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Leavitt did not say who was targeted, and she did not elaborate on the nature of the apparent threats. Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Leavitt said the attacks "ranged from bomb threats to 'swatting'" when a false crime is reported to induce a heavy, armed police response at someone's home. The prospect of punishing new U.S. tariffs will hang over the deliberations at China's highest-level economic meeting when the Central Economic Work Conference of the Chinese Communist Party convenes for its annual session next month. A key function of the meeting will be to set the nations growth target for 2025, a task made more challenging by the prospect of tariffs that could stunt the crucial export sector. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened repeatedly during his election campaign to swiftly impose a 60% tariff on Chinese-made goods. He wrote on his Truth Social account late Monday that he will impose an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of [Chinas] many products coming into the United States of America. Most of the Chinese government advisers interviewed for a Reuters report this month recommended that Beijing maintain an economic growth target of 5.0% for next year, the same target as 2024. Some said the country would have to launch stronger fiscal stimulus measures to offset the impact of new U.S. tariffs after Trump takes office in January. Cai Shenkun, an independent commentator in the United States, told VOA Mandarin that Beijings 5% target is clearly based on political necessity, rather than a market perspective. After securing an extraordinary third term as president last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping "will have to give the CCP an explanation and a vision, Cai said. He must make a good gesture. If he does not maintain the 5% target, his ruling position will be greatly threatened. Si Ling, a financial scholar in Australia, said in a phone interview with VOA Mandarin that if China wants to achieve its goal of doubling the size of its economy from 2020 to 2035, the annual economic growth rate must reach 4%. China has taken into account the uncertainty factors, like external shocks when Trump pledged to impose high tariffs. China must face the sudden decline in GDP growth, said Si. Reuters reported last month that China's economy is likely to expand 4.8% in 2024, missing the government's 5% growth target, and could slow to 4.5% in 2025. Si said the growth of China's current GDP is dependent on exports and investments. If Trump fulfills his promise to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods, the impact on China's economy will be profound, he said. China's advantages in industrial products exports, brought by high state subsidies, will be completely wiped out due to high tariffs," Si said. "Can the domestic market digest the industrial products intended for export? Many of these industrial enterprises have already begun to reduce their production scale. This means more people will lose their jobs. Local debt and real estate woes Independent commentator Cai warned that overreliance on stimulus measures may exacerbate local government debt problems. Private capital does not dare to invest anymore. State-owned enterprises can no longer play the role of investment pioneers," Cai said. "Maintaining the 5% target means printing a lot of cash, pouring it into the market, issuing a lot of treasury bonds and increasing the fiscal deficit. This is the only way. But it will have a great negative impact on the stability of the RMB currency value. A new wave of property market challenges will likely occur in the next 10 years, Cai said. In the past, people saw property as a means of asset appreciation or value preservation. Now the future housing market looks dark to everyone. If we continue to build houses, who will buy them? In the end, it may only lead to an avalanche-like bubble, which will burst completely." Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said last month that unless China's economy shifts from an export and investment-driven model to a consumer demand-driven model, its economic growth may slow to well below 4%. Israel and Lebanon have signed a ceasefire agreement after more than 13 months of conflict. According to the deal, Hezbollah troops will move north of the Litani River and Israeli troops will withdraw from south Lebanon. The Israeli Cabinet voted Tuesday to approve the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which will take effect on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Speaking on Israeli TV, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel retains freedom of movement to attack the Iran-backed Shia militant group if it violates the ceasefire. Netanyahu said, If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terror infrastructure near the border, we will attack. The prime minister said Israel has set Hezbollah back decades by assassinating leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as thousands of other Hezbollah fighters and destroying much of Hezbollahs attack capability. According to the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah will move its soldiers north of the Litani River as called for by U.N. Resolution 1701. Israeli troops will gradually withdraw from south Lebanon, and acting Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati said 5,000 Lebanese soldiers will be deployed there. Netanyahu said the ceasefire will enable more than 60,000 residents who have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel to return. More than a million Lebanese have also been displaced on the other side of the border. But some are skeptical that the ceasefire will really mean the end to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Middle East expert Eitan Shamir of Bar Ilan University said Israel has achieved its objectives in the fight against Hezbollah. We are at a point of diminishing returns, Shamir said. A lot of effort, getting some casualties, we will probably get more casualties if we continue. On the other hand, most of the damage has already been done to Hezbollah. The idea from the get-go was not to completely destroy Hezbollah and getting it to a situation where it has to surrender. From the minute this campaign was launched, there was an understanding that Hezbollah will continue to be a serious actor in Lebanon. The big question is how the ceasefire deal in Lebanon will affect the fighting in Gaza. Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to fight in Gaza until Hamas is annihilated and all remaining hostages, living and dead, are returned. China declined on Wednesday to comment about the marriage of the son of jailed former leader Bo Xilai to an individual from Taiwan, saying only that it opposed "malicious" speculation about the matter. Public discussion is taboo in the case of Bo, once considered a contender for top leadership but jailed for life in 2013, and the issue of his son's marriage is made even more sensitive by the poor state of China's ties with Taiwan. Asked about the wedding at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said he could not comment. But he added the government "was opposed to maliciously hyping it up." Pressed by a reporter on further questions about the son, Bo Guagua, Chen said he had nothing more to say about "that marriage." The father was found guilty of corruption and abuse of power in a dramatic fall from grace linked to the killing of British businessman Neil Heywood. The mother was found guilty of murdering Heywood and is also in jail in China. Last week, Taiwan's government said Bo Guagua was visiting the democratically governed island, which China claims as its own, though Taipei rejects the sovereignty claims, following his marriage to a Taiwanese citizen. Reuters has not been able to contact the Oxford- and Harvard-educated Bo Guagua for comment. He has lived outside China and kept a low profile since his parents were jailed. It is not known if he has returned to China during that time. Reuters has also not able to confirm whom he had married. Wednesday's news conference was carried live online by state media, but the official transcript omitted the question about Bo Guagua. Wednesday marks the 74th anniversary of the start of the battle of Chosin Reservoir, a key moment in the Korean War. On November 27, 1950, Chinese forces launched a surprise attack on American troops that lasted 17 days in freezing weather. VOA Mandarin has an exclusive interview with Robert Harlan, one of the survivors of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir (Lake Changjin). Harlans experience is different from what was depicted in a Chinese epic movie: The Battle on Lake Changjin, commissioned by Chinas Communist Party in 2021. See the full story here. SUVA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Fijian police have seized more than 400 plants believed to be marijuana during a raid in a farming area in Savusavu on Vanua Levu Island, Fiji's second largest island. The Savusavu Operations team carried out the operation on Tuesday as part of a bigger attempt to target known cultivation areas, reported Fiji Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday. Police chief of operations Livai Driu said the owner of the farm is yet to be known, as the investigations are underway. Driu said law enforcement operations are continuing to ramp up their efforts against the illegal drug trade, which remains a difficult issue. Two years ago this week, Chinese university students marched in the streets in cities across China holding blank sheets of paper as a silent dissent against the governments harsh pandemic policies. On the anniversary of the White Paper Movement, exiled Chinese dissidents worldwide have drawn attention to pressing issues such as Beijings transnational repression of dissent, escalating political persecution in Hong Kong and mainland China, and the ongoing struggles faced by exile communities. See the full story here. The Financial Times newspaper reports that Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun is under investigation for corruption, part of a broader corruption probe in the Peoples Liberation Army. A spokesperson for Chinas foreign ministry dismissed the report during a regular press briefing Wednesday but that did not stop online discussions among Chinese-speaking users on Weibo. See the full story here. The European Parliament has put forward a motion for a resolution addressing the increasing and systemic repression against women in Iran. The proposal, introduced on Wednesday, highlights various instances of repression, violence, discrimination, injustice and human rights violations against women by the Islamic Republic in Iran. See the full story here. To compensate for heavy losses on the battlefield, Russia is actively recruiting soldiers from developing countries. After reports that Russia used deceptive tactics to recruit hundreds of fighters from Yemen, VOA Russian spoke to experts about how Moscow is recruiting soldiers from as far as Colombia and Brazil. Researchers say the Kremlin is trying to staff up its military and recruit more soldiers using any means available. See the full story here. Border crossings between Lebanon and Syria were targeted with strikes late Tuesday, Lebanon transportation minister Ali Hamieh said. Sana, Syria's state media, confirmed the strikes, which Hamieh said came just after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced. Israel had increased raids on these crossings and had sealed off those roads to Syria, according to Reuters. Syrian state TV said 10 people were injured, three of them critically. Israel did not immediately comment. Earlier Tuesday, Syrian state news reported that two villages in Syria's Homs province were hit with strikes in what it described as Israeli aggression. A website affiliated with the Syrian opposition reported that "the air defense is confronting Israeli missiles in the skies of Homs," according to Ynetnews.com. Syrian state television said blasts had been heard near Homs city and their source was under investigation. Israel has conducted strikes against Iran-linked organizations in Syria for years. However, Israeli attacks on Syria have grown following Israel's war in Gaza that began in October 2023 and the ongoing hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. The U.S. military also hit an Iranian-linked site in Syria on Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command said. The site was a weapons storage facility and was in retaliation for an attack on Monday on U.S. forces. Last week, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported there have been more than 150 Israeli strikes on Syria this year. SOHR said the strikes targeted Iranian-back militants in Syria's provinces. Iran is a major supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, building a significant military presence in Syria in recent years, supported by dozens of proxy groups, including Hezbollah and several Iraqi militias. Local media reports in Syria last week said that amid increased Israeli strikes, Iran sent 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, has offered 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. Some information provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse. The Lebanese Army said Wednesday it was sending more troops to southern Lebanon to help oversee the first hours of the new ceasefire between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military. The truce, after nearly 14 months of fighting, appeared mostly to be holding. But the Israeli military said it shelled two villages in southern Lebanon, Khiam and Kfar Kila, with its soldiers opening fire after identifying a vehicle in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanon and forcing it to turn around. Thousands of people displaced by the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict streamed south out of Beirut on jam-packed roads, returning to their homes in towns and villages, many of which have been destroyed or heavily damaged by Israeli strikes. The masses strapped suitcases, mattresses, blankets and other belongings to the rooftops of their cars, inching along roadways and hoping for a return to their former lives. But the Israeli military warned civilians against returning to some areas where its forces are still positioned. U.S. President Joe Biden said in a social media post that the United States, which helped broker the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire, would in the coming days make another push for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza. Biden said the truce in Lebanon brings us closer to realizing a future Ive been pushing for my entire presidency where the Middle East is at peace, prosperous, and integrated across borders. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a televised address: It is a new day, on which the page is turned on one of the harshest periods of suffering that the Lebanese have lived through in their modern history. Mikati called on Israel to respect the terms of the agreement, but did not mention Hezbollah, which is designated as a terror group by the U.S. and other Western governments. It is not under the Lebanese governments control, but under the terms of the ceasefire, the militant group is supposed to retreat from southern Lebanon to north of the Litani River. Israel killed several of Hezbollahs longtime leaders during the months of fighting and continued to shell what it said were Hezbollah strongholds until the last hour before the truce took effect. The United States, along with France, played a key role in brokering the ceasefire, which Israels Security Cabinet approved late Tuesday. Biden called the ceasefire a critical step to end the violence in the Mideast. He said that Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas militants in Gaza, have paid a heavy price in more than a year of fighting Israeli forces. He said the Israeli-Hezbollah agreement is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities." But Biden, speaking at the White House, warned, "Let me be clear, if Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defense consistent with international law, just like any country, in facing a terrorist group pledged to that country's destruction." Biden said that with Hezbollah agreeing to end its attacks on Israel, Hamas has a choice to make. Their only way out is to release the hostages [it is holding in Gaza], including American citizens." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he favored a truce with Hezbollah so Israel could focus its attention on the broader threat posed by Iran, refresh its forces and isolate Hamas in its ongoing fight against Israel in Gaza. Netanyahu vowed that if Hezbollah renews its attacks on Israel or rearms itself, Israel will immediately resume its bombardment of militant sites in Lebanon. The length of the ceasefire will depend on what happens in Lebanon, Netanyahu said. With the full understanding of the United States, we are preserving full military freedom of action if Hezbollah breaks the agreement and seeks to arm itself, we will attack. VOA State Department bureau chief Nike Ching, United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer and White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Nearly two years after one of Indias biggest conglomerates was hit by allegations of wrongdoing by a U.S. investment firm, it is again in the eye of a storm as it faces charges of fraud, which analysts say are far more serious. The latest allegations by the United States could dampen investor confidence in Asias third largest economy at a time when the country is wooing foreign investment. They have also triggered a political storm in India with opposition parties demanding a probe into the allegations against an influential business tycoon whose $135 billion empire spanning seaports, airports and energy - has a massive imprint on the Indian economy. An indictment filed in New York last week charged Gautam Adani, the founder of Adani Group, with duping investors by concealing that a huge solar energy project was being facilitated by an alleged $250 million scheme that involved bribing Indian officials to obtain lucrative contracts. The company in question, Adani Energy Green, is building a massive solar energy plant in the western state of Gujarat and plans to generate enough energy to light up millions of homes. Adani Group has strongly denied allegations made by U.S. authorities against Gautam Adani and other top officials. The charges came after the conglomerate endured accusations of engaging in stock market manipulation and fraud. The allegations were made last year by a U.S. investment firm, Hindenburg Research. Indian regulators, who investigated the charges, said they found no wrongdoing. Analysts say the new indictment in the U.S. poses a far bigger challenge. Its one thing for allegations to come from a short seller firm or from media outlets, according to Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centers South Asia Institute in Washington. But this is a case of the U.S. government coming out with a long and detailed indictment. Its a whole other order of magnitude. Gautam Adani, 62, is a college dropout from a middle-class family who has led a dizzying rise in his conglomerates fortunes, especially since he began in the 1990s expanding into infrastructure. He has built power plants, airports, roads and renewable energy projects in India as the country pushes to bridge an infrastructure deficit for its growing economy. Besides Adanis huge presence in India, his global ambitions have taken his companies to other countries, including Australia, Indonesia and Israel. After Donald Trumps recent U.S. presidential election victory, in a post on X, Adani congratulated Trump and announced plans to invest $10 billion in energy and infrastructure projects in the U.S. The U.S. indictment already is impacting the conglomerates push to expand his energy and infrastructure business overseas. A day after the charges became public, Kenya announced it is scrapping airport expansion and electricity deals worth about $2.5 billion with Adani Group. The indictment also has cast a cloud over planned projects in Sri Lanka, as government officials on Tuesday said the finance and foreign ministries will review infrastructure projects awarded to the Indian conglomerate. Adani has a contract to develop a deep seaport terminal in Colombo. The controversy will affect the reputation of Adani Group, say analysts. Definitely the charges will trigger mistrust in the Adani Group. There will also be an increase in borrowing cost for them, so they will need to work that much harder, according to Shriram Subramanian, founder of corporate governance advisory firm InGovern Research Services. But it wont be debilitating in the long run because they have a good track record in executing projects. The U.S. charges will raise questions about business practices and norms in India and could hurt the countrys effort to woo businesses looking to set up factories and facilities in countries outside China. In the immediate term, it could give some investors cold feet, as they may not want to risk their reputations investing in a country where Adanis clout and reach is so expansive across the economy, according to Kugelman. This would be especially bad timing for New Delhi, which wants to capitalize on many foreign investors desire to relocate production and other business out of China. Kugelman pointed out that the setback to the investment climate in India is likely to be temporary because the key drivers impacting foreign investment in India multiple growth sectors, large consumer markets, a fast-growing major economy will remain in place. The U.S. indictment has also turned the spotlight on accusations made for several years by Indias main opposition Congress Party and by other critics that the tycoons dramatic business expansion has coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modis rule. Parliament was disrupted for a second day on Wednesday as opposition parties demanded a discussion on the indictment. He should be in jail and the government is protecting him, Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters outside parliament. At a protest on Monday, Congress Party activists held placards reading, Modi and Adani are one and Modis friendship is costing the nation. The government has not commented on the charges. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has pointed out that the charges involved bribing officials in four states that were not governed by them, but by opposition parties. Political analysts say the latest controversy over Adani is not likely to hurt Modi. This issue has been raised for a long time, but it has not impacted the prime minister in any way. The opposition has not been able to convince the people about their case, according to political analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. At the moment, people simply look at it as a case of one group being favored over another by the government, which many people feel is not unusual in India. Southeast Asia could see a new wave of factories moving in from China to evade the soaring tariffs U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed to impose on the worlds second-largest economy, trade experts tell VOA. But the trade surpluses the region has built up with the United States and its heavy use of Chinese inputs for its own exports may blunt the benefits, they add. A number of firms with factories in China, both Chinese and foreign owned, moved their plants to Southeast Asia to skirt the tariffs Trump imposed on the country as high as 25% on some goods during his first term from 2017 to 2021. For his second term, which starts in January, Trump has threatened to push tariffs on all imports from China up to 60%. If that happens, the speed of relocation will increase, and we will almost certainly now be looking at a world of bifurcated supply chains, said Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at Singapores ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. What that means is a world where most important manufactured goods are produced not once but twice using two sets of supply chains, he added, one for the U.S. and possibly European markets and another for everyone else. And whereas the first wave of relocations mostly brought Southeast Asia factories hungry for lots of cheap labor, he said the second could bring in factories that rely more on equipment, technology and other capital for making machines, electronics, cars and the like. Countries that can closely replicate the costs and conditions in China will benefit, and at the moment a lot of those countries are in Southeast Asia, Menon said. Other countries can benefit if they respond to this opportunity, but at the moment Southeast Asia is the closest competitor. Aat Pisanwanich, an associate professor at Thailands Center for International Trade Studies, agreed. Facing even higher U.S. tariffs than before, factories in China will come to Thailand and other ASEAN countries more than [during] Trump 1, he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to Trumps first term. Memon said most of the factories that left China for Southeast Asia after Trumps first round of tariffs settled in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and that those fleeing a second would follow suit. He added that Cambodia and Laos both very close with China as well as Indonesia could start to attract more interest as well. Some of the sub-regions largest industrial park developers and operators have reportedly begun preparing for an expected influx already by expanding their sales teams and hiring more Chinese speakers. But trade experts say Trumps take on tariffs, and on international trade in general, also poses risks for Southeast Asia that could dull, or even outstrip, the potential rewards. Trump has repeatedly railed against the trade surpluses many countries besides China have built up with the U.S. and suggested bringing them down with higher tariffs on their goods as well, or with other trade restrictions. That could prove problematic for many countries in Asia, and Vietnam especially, says Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation, a Singapore-based research group focused on sustainable global trade. Trump called Vietnam almost the single worst abuser of the global trade system in 2019, when the countrys annual trade surplus with the U.S. stood at $55.8 billion. It has soared well past $100 billion since then. Thats put Vietnam quite high up in the crosshairs for retaliation this time, and that makes it a less popular location for firms because you dont want to move out of China into Vietnam, only to find yourself hit with more tariffs and other kinds of trade restrictions because youre now in Vietnam and theyre trying to reset the trade balance, said Elms. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all now have trade surpluses with the U.S. in the tens of billions of dollars as well. The other major risk the region faces, experts say, is the growing attention the United States is paying to imports not only from China but from anywhere else with a large share of Chinese inputs, and the added trade curbs they too might face in Trumps second term. That would present a real problem for Southeast Asia, because you can move manufacturing you can sew a T-shirt in the region, you can make a phone case in the region, whatever, that goes to the United States but a lot of the raw materials, parts and components in those products, whether it's fabrics or plastics or screws or whatever it is thats in the product, is imported from China, said Elms. Aat, of the Center for International Trade Studies, said factories that move to Southeast Asia to make exports but continue to draw heavily on Chinese inputs also crowd out producers across the sub-region that could be supplying them instead, leaving local economies with little to gain from their arrival. And even if Southeast Asian countries avoid the added U.S. tariffs or trade curbs many fear, they may still face the 10%-20% levy Trump has proposed imposing on all U.S. imports across the board. Elms says its also not clear how much of what Trump has said about tariffs he will actually follow through on, and how quickly, making the choice firms will face on whether to move out of China all the more difficult. Some of them will be dusting off the relocation plans they shelved after Trump left office in 2021 for another look now that he is headed back to the White House, she said. Whether they execute those is still, I think, an open question, she added. There are so many factors that matter, but theres a reason why firms are so heavily located in China, and its because China just continues to have a speed and a scale that is hard for anywhere else to match. Rather than move, Elms said some of those firms may end up choosing instead to absorb higher tariffs, if they can, or to focus on other markets besides the U.S. While that could give regional trade within Asia a boost, Aat and others fear it will flood Southeast Asia with cheap Chinese goods that undercut local producers. All three experts said Trumps tough talk on tariffs ultimately holds more peril than promise for the countries of the region. In the short term, of course they will benefit from the massive relocation, if theres an increase in this relocation, said Menon. But eventually, as these things work themselves out, this is not going to be very beneficial. Russia launched its largest drone strike on Ukraine overnight with 188 drones, Ukraine's air force said Tuesday. Ukraine's military said it shot down 76 Russian drones in the overnight attacks that targeted areas across the country and damaged critical infrastructure facilities. The air force said Russia also used four missiles in the aerial assault. "Unfortunately, there were hits to critical infrastructure facilities, and private and apartment buildings were damaged in several regions due to the massive drone attack," according to an air force statement. The attack coincided with a push by Russia on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where Russia claimed to have gained nearly 240 square kilometers in the past week, for a total of about 600 square kilometers in November, Reuters reported, citing the Russian army and other analysts. For its part, Ukraine reporting repelling Russian troops from Kupiansk, a logistical center in Kharkiv, for the third time, according to Reuters. "The only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian launchers directly on Russian territory," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. "That is why the ability to strike Russian territory is so important to us. This is the only factor that can limit Russian terror and Russia's capacity to wage war in general," he added. Countries that have given Ukraine weapons to fight Russia have been reluctant to give Ukraine permission to launch those weapons directly into Russia, but Zelenskyy said he is "grateful to all the partners who understand this and convey it to other partners." "Nearly 200 Russian drones against Ukraine in one day that is nearly 200 proofs that Russian ambitions are utterly detached from any ideas of real peace," Zelenskyy said. Ukraine's president said rescue operations are still underway in Sumy, where Russia's barrage of drones targeted a vehicle service station. The president said two people had been killed in Sumy and "one person is likely still trapped under the rubble." Ukrainian air defenses shot down drones in the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions. The power grid of Ternopil in western Ukraine, about 134 miles east of Poland was hit in the attack. "The consequences are bad because the facility was significantly affected and this will have impact on the power supply of the entire region for a long time," the governor of Tenopil, Vyacheslav Nehoda, said in a televised address. Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk, said on Telegram that one drone hit the center of Nikopol. Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down 39 Ukrainian aerial drones overnight. Most of the drones were shot down over the Rostov region, with other intercepts taking place over Bryansk, Belgorod, Kursk, Oryol, Voronezh and Russia-occupied Crimea. Officials in Rostov, Bryansk and Voronezh said on Telegram there were no reports of damage or casualties from the attacks. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters. The U.S. is telling Ukraine that it needs to draft more soldiers to bolster its outmanned forces in its nearly three-year fight against Russias invasion, saying Kyiv should cut its conscription age from 25 to 18. "The need right now is manpower," one U.S. official told reporters on Wednesday. "The Russians are in fact making progress, steady progress, in the east, and they are beginning to push back Ukrainian lines in Kursk, the Russian region that Ukraine captured in August in an attack that surprised Moscow. Ukrainian mobilization and more manpower could make a significant difference at this time as we look at the battlefield today, the official said. More than 1 million Ukrainians are now in uniform, including National Guard and other units. The U.S. official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration said they probably will need more than that. The official said the pure math of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight, a position echoed in other Western capitals that have armed Ukraine. In April, Ukraine cut its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25, a change that was expected to add 50,000 troops, far short of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was needed then. Some Ukrainians have expressed concerns that cutting the draft-eligible age for men to 18, the age for mandatory draft registration in the U.S., would take more young adults out of the workforce and further harm the countrys war-ravaged economy. The U.S. official said the administration of President Joe Biden, who leaves office in less than two months, believes that Ukraine also can optimize its current force by more aggressively dealing with soldiers who desert or go absent without leave. Additionally, Ukraines European allies have emphasized that the shortage of Ukrainian troops may soon make it untenable for Ukraine to continue to operate in Kursk. The situation in Kursk has been complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops who were deployed there to help Moscow try to recapture the land Ukraine seized nearly four months ago. The extent of continued U.S. support for Ukraines war effort is uncertain as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office January 20. Trump has vowed to end the war before he takes office but not said how. On the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russian forces launched 89 drones in a wave of overnight attacks that left three people injured in Ukraines capital, Kyiv. Ukraine said it shot down 36 of the unmanned aircraft. Serhiy Popko, head of Kyivs City Military Administration, said on Telegram that falling debris from a destroyed drone damaged a building. Russias Defense Ministry said it shot down 47 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea, Russia-occupied Crimea and elsewhere. There were no reports of major damage from the Ukrainian attacks. The only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian launchers directly on Russian territory, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Tuesday. Escalation in warfare At the United Nations on Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council discussed the latest escalation in the war, including Russias use of a new intermediate range ballistic missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Over the last few days alone, 495 UAVS [i.e., drones] were launched by Russia, along with Iskandar ballistic missiles and Kh-59/69 guided air to surface missiles, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council. Kyslytsya said stronger sanctions are required against Moscow, and he urged countries to provide Ukraine with increased military assistance. Russia must understand that its every attempt to expand the war will have consequences, he said. The Russian envoy said any escalation should be laid at the feet of Kyiv and its U.S. and Western backers, who have recently authorized Ukraine to use Western-made missiles deep inside Russia. The West from that moment, provoked a regional conflict in Ukraine that has now taken on a global nature, Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said, adding that every wave of escalation from the West is going to be decisively responded to. Washingtons envoy said it is providing Ukraine with hundreds of additional Patriot and AMRAAM missiles to strengthen its air defenses in light of Russias expanding war. The United States will continue to surge security assistance to Ukraine to strengthen its capabilities, including air defense, and put Ukraine in the best possible position on the battlefield, U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Robert Wood said. Diplomats also expressed concern at the entry into the war of thousands of North Korean troops on the side of Russia. In return for sending its troops, my government assesses that the DPRK has received from Russia, not only economic benefits, but also anti-aircraft missiles and equipment to reinforce its weak air defense systems, South Korean Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said. He said Russias support for North Korea would embolden it to intensify its pursuit of nuclear weapons, further destabilizing the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK is preparing to transfer even more ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, Ambassador Wood warned. We also have information a large number of DPRK-origin 170-millimeter long-range self-propelled artillery pieces and 240-millimeter long-range multiple rocket launchers are being introduced into the conflict. He said Washington also has information that Russia has transferred air defense systems to North Korea. VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from New York. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters. People visit the Iran Conmine 2024 in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 26, 2024. The four-day Conmine 2024, the 18th International Exhibition of Mining Industries, Mineral Industries, Mining Machinery and Equipment, and Road Construction, concluded here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Shadati) Exhibitors talk with each other during the Iran Conmine 2024 in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 26, 2024. The four-day Conmine 2024, the 18th International Exhibition of Mining Industries, Mineral Industries, Mining Machinery and Equipment, and Road Construction, concluded here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Shadati) Six southern African countries have voiced disappointment with new efforts by the British Labour Party government to introduce a bill that seeks to ban the importation of wildlife trophies from Africa. Representatives from the six nations have now requested a meeting with British government officials to discuss the issue. The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was among a list of proposed laws that went for a first reading in the House of Commons in October. The second reading is in January. The Labour Party came into power this year promising to eliminate hunting in the United Kingdom within five years. Steve Reed, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, introduced the bill that had collapsed under the Conservative government. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe requested an urgent meeting with Reed. In a letter addressed to him on Monday, the countries' envoys want to know if the government will support the bill. U.K.-based Adam Hart, professor and conservation scientist at the University of Gloucestershire in England, says the reintroduction of the bill is counterproductive. "It is disappointing that the government are bringing the bill back. It is going to waste more parliamentary time," said Hart. "If it is passed, it will have no conservation benefits whatsoever as has been shown in recent analysis. No hunted species is threatened by trophy hunting. In fact, trophy hunting is instrumental in protecting the habitat and their species in many cases." The southern African countries are concerned that a group of animal welfare organizations, some from Africa, support the proposed ban. The nations argue the lobby undermines their position on hunting as the affected countries. Hart said the meeting between the nations' representatives and Reed is important. "It is also disappointing that the government doesn't seem to want to listen to nations that are much more successful than the U.K., and they are not willing to take the advice of those people or even listen to them," said Hart. "So hopefully, they will take this meeting, and they will consider what is going on in the nations that the largely populist agenda is going to affect." Conservationists opposed to animal hunts argue the killings could drive endangered species to extinction. Botswana-based conservationist Neil Fitt supports trophy hunting but says it should be done ethically. "Trophy hunting is a viable contributor to ecosystem management from financial and animal numbers point of view," said Fitt. "It is definitely a tool which is in the toolbox for management and needs to stay there, provided quotas are issued on a scientific basis. Not all have been in the recent past, and that hunting is undertaken ethically." Botswana, with the largest elephant herd in the world at more than 130,000, has been at the forefront of a campaign against efforts by the United Kingdom and other European nations to ban hunting trophies from Africa. Southern Africa is home to some of the world's largest wildlife populations, including more than 230,000 elephants. Fitt said it is up to the southern African countries to convince the U.K. and the rest of the world that trophy hunting is sustainable. "Should Britain and/or others stop the importation, to be honest, that is absolutely up to them as a sovereign state," said Fitt. "We as an independent sovereign state do not like to be told what we can do. What we need to do is demonstrate which I hope the people are trying to do the viability of it, the ethics and the sustainability for the whole environment of our country and other countries." With more than 6.4 million hunters, Europe is a major importer of hunting trophies from Africa. Sweden is asking a Chinese vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate an investigation into recent breaches of undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday, but stressed he was not making any accusations. Two subsea cables, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, were damaged in less than 24 hours on Nov. 17-18, prompting German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to say he assumed it was sabotage. Sweden, Germany and Lithuania all launched criminal investigations last week, zeroing in on Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15. A Reuters analysis of MarineTraffic data showed that the ship's coordinates corresponded to the time and place of the breaches. The ship now sits idle in international waters but inside Denmark's exclusive economic zone, closely watched by Danish military vessels. "From the Swedish side we have had contact with the ship and contact with China and said that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters," Kristersson told a press conference, adding it would help facilitate the investigation. "We're not making any accusations but we seek clarity on what has happened," Kristersson said. China's foreign ministry said the communications channels with Sweden and other relevant parties were "unobstructed," when asked about Sweden's request. "I would like to reiterate China's consistent support working with all countries to maintain the security of international submarine cables and other infrastructure in accordance with international law," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular news briefing on Wednesday. Western intelligence officials from multiple countries have said they are confident the Chinese ship caused the cuts to both cables. But they have expressed different views on whether these were accidents or could have been deliberate. U.S. Naval Intelligence assesses that both incidents were an accident, according to a U.S. official, but officials from other countries have said sabotage cannot be ruled out. Katja Bego, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House, told Reuters that, while between 150-200 such breaches occur every year and the overwhelming majority are accidents, geopolitical tensions in the region meant an investigation was probably warranted. "Investigating incidents like this can take a long time, and even if the culprit is found, as appears to be the case here, proving intent is incredibly difficult," she said. "Neither sabotage nor an accident can be ruled out at this point." Russia last week said suggestions it had anything to do with the breaches were "absurd." Kristersson said he was hopeful that China would respond positively to the request to move the ship to Swedish waters. China's foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing has maintained "smooth communication" with all parties involved. Last year a subsea gas pipeline and several telecoms cables running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea were severely damaged, and Finnish police have said they believe the incident was caused by a Chinese ship dragging its anchor. But the investigators have not said whether they believe the damage in 2023 was accidental or intentional. When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump described him as a True fighter for America First policies. Zeldin, the statement added, spent eight years in Congress as a vocal advocate on foreign policy, border security, military affairs, combating antisemitism, environmental issues and energy policy. Shortly after the announcement was made, Zeldin, a native from Long Island, New York who is married with twin daughters, took to the X social media platform, leaving no doubt about his priorities for his new role. He promised to restore US energy dominance, revitalize the auto industry, bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. Environmental record Zeldin, who has a law degree from Albany Law School, has vowed to protect access to clean air and clean water. While in Congress, he voted in favor of limiting the presence of toxic substances known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, in drinking water. He stood against offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to protect coastal communities and marine wildlife from oil spills. Environmental organizations have also highlighted Zeldins support for the Great American Outdoors Act, which increased funding for maintenance of public lands and waters. The League of Conservation Voters, or LCV, however, noted in reaction to Zeldins nomination that during his four terms in Congress, he voted in favor of environmental legislation just 14% of the time. The LCVs voting tracker shows Zeldin rejected most of the legislative proposals related to climate change. The Republican never served on committees with oversight of environmental policy, but he was part of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, a short-lived bipartisan effort tasked with building a constructive dialogue on climate change. WATCH: US climate changes regulations to be scaled back under Trump's EPA pick Change of priorities At this years United Nations Climate Change Conference, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for countries to move away from burning fossil fuels, the primary cause of global warming. "The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side," Guterres said. Under Democratic President Joe Bidens administration, the EPA has set limits on the production of oil and gas and prioritized the production of clean and renewable power in a bid to fight climate change. The EPAs website currently states that understanding and addressing climate change is critical to the agencys mission of protecting human health and the environment. President-elect Trumps economic vision for the country will now take precedence. "We will blast through every bureaucratic hurdle to issue rapid approvals for new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, new power plants, new electric plants and reactors of all types, Trump told attendees at The Economic Club of New York on September 5. Zeldin expressed similar views when running for New York governor in 2022. We should reverse the states ban on the safe extraction of natural gas. Approve new pipeline applications, he said during a campaign event. If confirmed to the Cabinet post, Zeldin says he will move swiftly to implement Trumps economic agenda and roll back a wide range of Biden-era environmental protections on Day One. "There are regulations that the left wing of this country have been advocating through regulatory power that ends up causing businesses to go in the wrong direction, he told Fox News on November 11. Climate action in US The Trump administration will have broad power to reverse several EPA rules including those curbing carbon emissions from power plants or vehicles. However, climate action in the United States wont come to a complete halt, according to Carbon Direct policy analyst Zara Ahmed. "Consumers can choose to purchase a low-emissions vehicle. States can choose to enact their own regulations about emissions, she told the Reuters news agency. Some information is from AP, AFP and Reuters. Journalists in Afghanistan are forced to navigate an environment of censorship and tight restrictions under Taliban rule, the United Nations has said. From the Taliban takeover on August 15, 2021, to September 30 of this year, the Taliban have detained journalists 256 times and 130 cases of torture and poor treatment have been documented, according to the report published Tuesday by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA. The report documents the arbitrary arrests, torture, and violence that journalists have been subject to since 2021, according to Freshta Hemmati, of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization. They are working under the severe pressure of censorship and restrictions, she told VOA. The Taliban-led foreign ministry said that the figures in the report were exaggerated and that journalists are detained only for violations of law, the Reuters news agency reported. The ministry cited crimes including defaming the government, false or baseless reports, and providing material to media outlets against the system, Reuters reported. The UNAMA report found that journalists and media workers in Afghanistan often face unclear rules on what they can and cannot report. This leads to the high risk of arbitrary detention for what the Taliban deem as criticism. Analysts who spoke with VOA said that the report reflects the media suppression in Afghanistan and is a hallmark of the Taliban rule. The aim of multiplying the arrests is to instill fear in the whole media community and to provoke self-censorship and submission," Celia Mercier, head of Reporters Without Borders South Asia Desk, told VOA in an email. Since the Taliban resumed power, they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Their administration has not been officially recognized by any foreign government. Within three months of the takeover, around 40% of Afghan media outlets disappeared, according to the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, or RSF. The takeover led to a large exodus of journalists. Those who remain risk being targeted, according to Beh Lih Yi, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. CPJ has documented cruel assaults and beatings of journalists by Taliban forces. Often, journalists and their families choose to remain silent about a detention for fear of retribution. All these repressive measures of the Taliban are aimed at creating a chilling effect on the press and deterring journalists from continuing their reporting, Beh told VOA in an email. The restrictions have especially impacted women journalists in Afghanistan, Hemmati, of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization, told VOA. After the Taliban takeover, eight in 10 women journalists stopped working, according to RSF data. The Taliban foreign ministry, in its response to the UNAMA report, said women were free to work if they met conditions, such as covering their faces and working separately from men. Watchdogs have called on Afghan authorities to uphold press freedom by respecting the countrys media law, ratified nearly a decade ago. This law outlines the right to free expression in the country, with the goal of protecting journalists, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center. The UNAMA report called on the Taliban to improve conditions for media. We urge the de facto authorities to ensure the safety and security of all journalists and media workers as they carry out their tasks, and to fully recognize the importance of women working in the media sector, Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the secretary-general and head of UNAMA, said in the report. Afghanistan is ranked at No. 178 out of 180 on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 signals the best environment. In 2021, before the Taliban takeover, the country ranked 122nd. Sahar Azimi of VOAs Afghan Service contributed to this report. Three Americans detained in China for years have been released and will be returning to the United States, the White House announced Wednesday. We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the Peoples Republic of China, a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement. Its a diplomatic win for President Joe Biden who will be leaving office in January. With the mens release, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in China have been returned, the spokesperson added. The three had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years, the spokesperson said. Biden and his aides have raised the issue of the three Americans with Beijing repeatedly, according to U.S. officials. In his last in-person meeting on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru earlier this month, Biden also spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping to press for their return. During his term Biden has brought home over 70 Americans unjustly detained around the world. Rights groups say more than 40 others are still being held hostage or wrongfully detained in over a dozen countries. The United States has dismissed Russias warning that it will take every measure necessary if South Korea provides lethal weapons to Ukraine. Patrick Ryder, press secretary for the Department of Defense, said Tuesday that it's a little bit of gaslighting there, when asked during a press briefing about Russia warning South Korea against providing weapons to Ukraine. Russia obviously invaded Ukraine, Ryder said. They could end this war today by withdrawing their troops from Ukrainian territory and restoring peace and stability to the region. Gaslighting refers to a situation where an aggressor tries to manipulate others into questioning their own judgment. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller made similar remarks on Monday during a press briefing, stressing that Russia is entirely responsible for the deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia. It is Russia and Russia alone that is responsible for the very real security concerns that South Korea and the United States and Japan and any number of other countries have about the movement of DPRK troops to join the fight in Russia against Ukraine, Miller said. DPRK is the short form of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea. Russias warning On Sunday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with the countrys state news agency TASS that Seoul must realize that the possible use of South Korean weapons to kill Russia citizens will fully destroy relations between our countries. Rudenko continued, saying, We will respond in every way that we find necessary. In response, the South Korean government condemned the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang and said it would take phased countermeasures" against the two countries cooperation. We will watch closely how Russia and North Korea develop their military cooperation, and we will continue to take a step-by-step approach based on that development, said Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for South Koreas Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs, leaving open the possibility of arms support for Ukraine. U.S. experts say Russia is anxious to persuade South Korea not to support Ukraine. Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told VOA Korean Service on Tuesday by phone that Russia is trying to coerce South Korea with saber-rattling. Rudenko is claiming that [Russia] is going to give technologies to North Korea, but the Russians have been already doing it, Bennett said. He could be claiming that theres going to be a war on the Korean Peninsula, but does Russia have any ground forces that can support such a thing? The Russians really dont have extra military forces. Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and now a professor at Angelo University in Texas, said Russians are very wary of South Korean weapons coming into Ukraine, adding that it could help reverse Russias advancement in its war against Ukraine. South Korean arms are on par with the kind of arms that the United States makes, Bechtol told VOA Korean Tuesday on the phone. So, the stuff that theyre going to send the Ukrainians, whatever that may be, thats going to help the Ukrainians in their fight against the Russians. North Koreas involvement South Korea has been mulling supplying weapons directly to Ukraine amid reports that North Korean soldiers are now engaged alongside Russian forces in battles against Ukrainian troops. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol suggested in a November 7 press conference that the government could provide weapons to Ukraine, depending on the degree that North Korean troops participate in the war between Russia and Ukraine. "If the North Korean military gains experience in modern warfare, it can be a fatal problem for our national security," Yoon said. "We need to change the way we provide [to Ukraine] in stages depending on the degree of involvement of the North Korean military. "We do not rule out weapons support," he said, adding that defensive rather than offensive weapons would be considered first. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been escalating in recent years, as North Korea has been ceaselessly ramping up its nuclear and missile capabilities, making provocative threats against the neighboring South. In the meantime, a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov met Yoon at the presidential office in Seoul on Wednesday. Although details of the meeting were not disclosed, it is widely believed that the delegation from Ukraine has requested weapons. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 21 security and Cabinet-level officials aligned with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro for what the Biden administration says are anti-democratic actions and violation of human rights perpetrated since the countrys July 28 election. The group includes 15 leaders of the Bolivarian national guard, national police, national intelligence service members and the general directorate of military counterintelligence, who according to a high-level representative of the administration have targeted innocent civilians for repression and reprisals. In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is acting again today to hold Nicolas Maduro and his representatives accountable for undermining the electoral process in Venezuela and repressing the Venezuelan people. Blinken said Maduro and his representatives continue to falsely claim victory in the election while his security apparatus has engaged in widespread abuses, including killings, repression and mass detention of protesters. International election observers have cast doubt on official results from the July 28 election. The U.S. and Venezuelan opposition parties maintain that Maduro lost the election to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who fled to Spain after Venezuelan authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. The U.S. says it has now sanctioned 180 current or former Venezuelan officials for repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in a desperate and illegitimate attempt to cling to power. The State Department said it also has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on nearly 2,000 people for their role in undermining the electoral process or in acts of repression in Venezuela. The Biden administration, according to a senior official who spoke to reporters on Wednesday, has given Nicholas Maduro and his representatives every opportunity to do the right thing. Instead, the official said, Maduro and [his] representatives decided to use violent repression and defeat power at all costs. This is not something the United States will stand for, and nor will other countries in the region. The U.S. has not yet imposed sanctions on Venezuelas oil production or energy sector something that has shown in the past to bring the government to the negotiating table. As for the possibility of imposing energy sanctions, just because we have not taken an action so far does not mean that we will not take an action in the future, explained a senior administration official Wednesday. A top U.S. lawmaker has pledged to work with rights groups as a special advocate for Dang Dinh Bach, a Vietnamese climate activist and political prisoner, and called on Hanoi to immediately release Bach from jail. Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announced that he will advocate for Bach through the Defending Freedoms Project, part of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, according to a statement exclusively obtained by VOA Mandarin Service. Vietnams communist government maintains its clutch on power by crusading hard against good faith dissenters like Dang Dinh Bach, breaching the fundamental political, social and civil rights of their people, Raskin said in the statement. Mr. Bachs continued unjust detainment is an affront to global human rights law and climate activism around the world, and I am honored to sponsor his case through the Lantos Commissions Defending Freedom Project. Mr. Bach should be released immediately, Raskin said. VOA asked the Vietnamese Embassy in the U.S. for comment about Bach's case but has not received a response. Bach is an environmental lawyer and co-founder and former executive director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center. The LPSD is a Vietnamese nonprofit organization that works with local communities to protect the environment and promote human rights. Bach was arrested in 2021 and convicted of tax evasion a year later. He was allowed to meet with his lawyers only 10 days prior to the trial and is serving a five-year sentence at a prison in Vietnams Nghe An Province. Human rights advocates call the tax invasion charge fraudulent. Authorities shut down LPSD after Bachs arrest. The Defending Freedoms Project was launched in 2012 in collaboration with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and Amnesty International USA. It has since expanded to include Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Scholars at Risk, PEN America and the Senate Human Rights Caucus. According to DFP, members of Congress sponsoring a prisoner receive a detailed toolkit for advocacy, which includes writing letters to prisoners and their families, giving speeches and publishing op-eds. They can also initiate legislative actions, hold discussions or hearings and petition executive departments such as the State Department and the White House for support. By taking on a case, lawmakers can help secure releases, reduce sentences, improve prison conditions and raise awareness of unjust laws. In Vietnam, more than 160 political prisoners are in jail, according to Human Rights Watch. Bach is one of several climate activists imprisoned in Vietnam after advocating for the countrys move away from coal-based energy. His case has received widespread attention from human rights groups and environment groups. Dang Dinh Bach is a dedicated rights defender focused on climate issues, currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Vietnam on dubious charges of tax evasion, said Kat Cosgrove, deputy director of policy and advocacy at Freedom House. Since 2021, Vietnamese authorities have frequently used this charge to target and silence local activists, and these charges appear aimed solely at stopping Mr. Bachs vital work and weakening civil society, she said. Maureen Harris, senior adviser for International Rivers and coordinator of the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, called on the international community to speak out for Bach. Environmental human rights defenders like Bach are critical to the battle against climate change. Vietnam's government should stop persecuting climate leaders. I hope that the international community stands up for Bach and calls on the Vietnamese government to end his wrongful incarceration, she said. The U.S. State Department, the European Union and the United Nations have previously issued statements calling not only for Bachs release but other climate activists wrongfully imprisoned in Vietnam. In May 2023, the U.N. Human Rights Councils Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion finding Bach's imprisonment in "violation of international law." The group called for his immediate release and expressed concern about a "systemic problem with arbitrary detention" of environmental defenders in Vietnam. Volkswagen will exit its controversial plant in China's Xinjiang region, after years of investor pressure to abandon its presence in the region, where rights groups have documented abuses including mass forced labor in detention camps. Volkswagen and its Chinese partner agreed to sell the asset to a Shanghai government-owned buyer, the German car maker said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by Reuters. The move will bring to an end years of mounting investor pressure to abandon VW's presence in the region, where rights groups have documented abuses including mass forced labor in detention camps. Beijing denies any such abuses. The transaction value of the deal was not revealed. The significance of the plant, which previously assembled Volkswagen's Santana vehicle, has dwindled in recent years after the carmaker cut jobs, leaving about 200 employees to just conduct final quality checks and handing over vehicles to dealers in the region. Volkswagen has denied reports that it kept the plant open as a condition from Beijing to keep producing across China, its largest market where sales have been flagging. The German automaker and SAIC will sell the plant to Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Certification (SMVIC), a subsidiary of state-owned Shanghai Lingang Development Group, which will take on all the plant's employees. The decision to free itself from the plant comes as Volkswagen is battling to boost flagging sales in China amid intense competition and sluggish demand. Europe's car companies also have to contend with the impact of a potential trade war between Beijing and the European Union after the EU imposed anti-subsidy import tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. The VW brand, which has lost its title as the best-selling brand in China to BYD, is working with Chinese partners like Xpeng to develop new models better suited to Chinese consumers, aiming for over 30 new electric or hybrid models by 2030. Under the deal, SMVIC will also take over SAIC/VW's test tracks in Turpan Xinjiang and Anting in Shanghai, they added. Following the deals, Volkswagen will no longer have a presence in Xinjiang. At the same time, Volkswagen will extend its partnership with SAIC by a decade to 2040 and the joint venture aims to release 18 new models by 2030, including two extended range models for Chinese consumers in 2026. VW said earlier this year it is talking to SAIC about the future direction of its business activities in Xinjiang and considering various scenarios. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledged Monday to quickly impose tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada the countrys top three trade partners raising the prospect of trade wars and higher prices for U.S. consumers. Trump used a series of posts on his Truth Social account to announce the moves, including saying on his first day in office he will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 percent tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. He said the tariffs would remain in place until Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Trump said Mexico and Canada have the ability to easily solve this long simmering problem. He also complained about what he said was Chinas role in the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America, Trump wrote. China responded by saying no one will win a trade or tariff war. "China believes that China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature," Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China's embassy in the United States, said. The United States, Mexico and Canada signed a new trade deal during Trumps previous term in office, a deal that will be up for review in 2026. The deal does allow for national security exemptions for restrictions. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed trade and border security after Trump announced his plans Monday, a Canadian source familiar with the situation said. The new U.S. leader does not take office for two months, leaving space for negotiations and potential changes to the Trump administrations plans. Trumps nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, wrote in a Fox News op-ed last week that tariffs can be a useful tool for achieving the presidents foreign policy objectives, including getting another government to boost defense spending or take action on drug trafficking. Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a joint statement late Monday stressing the close ties between the U.S. and Canada, including Canadian energy exports to the U.S. and cooperation on stopping drug trafficking. "Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, particularly for American workers. Today, Canada buys more from the United States than China, Japan, France and the UK combined," the statement said. Tariffs are paid by companies that import the products, meaning that if implemented, those costs could be passed on in the form of higher prices for people buying a range of goods including gas, cars and food Trump used tariffs as part of his economic agenda during his previous administration, with a particular focus on goods from China. The Chinese government responded with its own tariffs on U.S.-made products. He also focused on security at the U.S.-Mexico border, ordering the construction of a more extensive network of border walls and demanding the Mexican government take steps to remove migrants from areas near the U.S. border. Trumps latest demands come at a time when arrests for illegal crossings at the border have been declining, with figures from October showing arrests were near four-year lows. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with a delegation from Japan's Kansai business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- It is hoped that the Kansai business community of Japan will continue to seize China's development opportunities for mutual benefit and win-win results, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said on Wednesday. He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a meeting in Beijing with a delegation from Japan's Kansai business community. Noting China and Japan's deep integration in terms of industrial and supply chains and their broad common interests and cooperation space, He encouraged Japan's Kansai business community to continue to grasp China's development opportunities, and deepen practical cooperation for mutual success and win-win outcomes. Leaders of the delegation expressed their appreciation for China's achievements in economic and social development -- and their willingness to contribute more to achieving mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Abrahams on the set of Hot Shots! Photo: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection Jim Abrahams, a frequent collaborator of Jerry and David Zucker and the writer-director of such films as Airplane!, Top Secret!, and Hot Shots!, died of natural causes at the age of 80, his son Joseph confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on November 26. Abrahams got his first break in the industry co-writing with the Zucker brothers, who were his childhood friends, the sketch-heavy The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977. The trio (who came to be dubbed ZAZ) went on to write and direct Airplane! in 1980, a disaster-movie spoof starring Leslie Nielsen that has cemented itself as an American comedy classic and armed dads near and far with one of the most quotable jokes in cinematic history. Abrahams worked with the Zuckers on Police Squad! (1982), Top Secret! (1984), Ruthless People (1986), and The Naked Gun (1988) before going on to direct Big Business (1988) and write and direct the Hot Shots! films in 1991 and 1993. Most recently, he was a writer on Scary Movie 4 in 2006. Born to Louise and Norman Abrahams in Shorewood, Wisconsin, in 1944, Abrahams had an eye for absurdist comedy early in his career. With the Zuckers, he founded the Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison in 1971, where ZAZ perfected their brand of improv comedy and film parody. Abrahams had three children Joseph, Jamie, and Charlie with his wife Nancy, with whom he co-founded the Charlie Foundation to Help Cure Pediatric Epilepsy. On Airplane!s legacy, he said in a 2016 interview with Vulture, Its impossible for us to answer these kinds of questions seriously. The whole point is to not take things seriously. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Karwai Tang, Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images Marilyn Manson is no longer suing Evan Rachel Wood. The shock-rocker dropped a defamation suit against Wood over her abuse claims against him, Rolling Stone reported. Manson will additionally pay more than $300,000 in attorneys fees for Wood. Attorneys for Wood said Manson first attempted to settle the suit earlier this year, but Wood did not agree to keep the settlement confidential. Marilyn Manson whose real name is Brian Warner filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career, attorneys for Wood said. But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed. An attorney for Manson said he is pleased to drop the case in order to close the door on this chapter of his life. Mansons lawsuit had already been gutted last year, under Californias anti-SLAPP lawsuit, which protects people like abuse victims from lawsuits being used as an intimidation tactic. In January, a judge ordered Manson to pay Wood $326,956 in attorneys fees to defend the charges struck from his case. He then appealed the case in August. Wood was the first and most prominent person to accuse Manson of sexual abuse, including rape, in 2021. More than a dozen women have come forward with other allegations since Wood spoke out, and in 2022, she made a documentary about her allegations. One of the claims struck from the lawsuit last year was Mansons accusation that Wood recruited women to make accusations against him. In their new statement, Woods lawyers noted that a court found Mansons claims were meritless. Photo-Illustration: Vulture Spoilers for Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and The Last King of Osten Ard below. Eight years before George R.R. Martin published A Game of Thrones, Tad Williams released The Dragonbone Chair, the first installment in what would become a highly influential fantasy series called Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. In 1988, when The Dragonbone Chair came out, the genre was not quite the juggernaut it is now; Dungeons & Dragons was the subject of fundamentalist panic, and romantasy was not yet a glimmer in a publicists eye. But there have always been nerds, and Williamss books found their people including Martin, who has said the series was one of the things that inspired him to write his own. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn consists of three massive books originally four, as the last book, To Green Angel Tower, was split into a more manageable two volumes. Set in a world called Osten Ard, the series follows the granddaughter of a dying king, Miriamele, and a kitchen boy named Simon as they try to stop her corrupt father, Elias, from ascending the throne. The Dragonbone Chair was a critical and commercial success, and when the series finale, To Green Angel Tower, came out in 1993, it made the New York Times best-seller list despite its enormous length. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn proved there was an appetite not only for epic fantasy but for the complexity that Williams brought to the genre. Kitchen boys with high destinies are common enough, but Simons adventures strike at the deepest myths of the empire he inhabits. In time, Simon discovers that the tale of Miriameles grandfather, Prester John, and his throne, the vaunted Dragonbone Chair, is based in part on a lie: The old king had never slain a dragon as hed claimed. Instead, the dragon was killed by Simons own royal ancestor and Simon himself later follows suit, killing another in the north. The world of Osten Ard is not morally ambiguous; there is right, and there is wrong. Compare it to Middle-earth, though, and its more gray than Tolkiens black-and-white. Though Ive read and loved fantasy since I was a child, I didnt hear of The Dragonbone Chair or its sequels until I was in my 30s, after browsing the internet to find classics I hadnt read. I picked them up in 2020. My grandfather was dying of COVID, the world was locked down, and all was bleak. I flew home to be with my family as my grandfather passed, and I downloaded the first book because it is 800 pages long and wouldnt fit in my suitcase. Then I devoured it. And its sequel, The Stone of Farewell, and its finale, To Green Angel Tower. In fact, I read the entire series in about two weeks. Soon, I learned that Williams had revisited this world in a new series, called The Last King of Osten Ard, which he began to release in 2017. The final book, The Navigators Children, came out earlier this November. People sometimes claim that fantasy is about escape. I dont agree. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn opened up a new world as my own shrank, but I didnt read the books to flee my own reality, and I dont think they would have let me if I tried. The world that Williams built is not always as grim as our own pandemic era, yet it is beset by its own terrors. There are dragons and trolls in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, along with important swords and a race of long-lived elflike people called the Sithi, but Williams subverts the usual tropes. The trolls are not mindless antagonists but have their own society, and two in particular become great friends to Simon and Miriamele as they try to save Osten Ard from Elias and his evil adviser. The Sithi arent merely wise guides or mighty warriors, either. Their wisdom has limitations, they have reasons to resent mankind, and they are marked forever by strife with their cousins, the Norns. Royal or noble blood neither corrupts or sanctifies a person, and while prophecies exist, they can also mislead. Though Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn ends with Simon and Miriamele on the throne of an empire, the new series questions the notion of empire itself. Miriamele and Simon are middle-age now, and their kingdom is in trouble again. When The Navigators Children opens, Miriamele and Simon are separated not by choice, but by war, and both believe the other to be dead. Their castle is on fire; the blackened hulk of the Dragonbone Chair is nearly all that remains. Thats a dreadful jest, as Miriamele puts it, because Simon, known as the commoner king, loathes the thing. In The Navigators Children, absolute power corrupts all it touches. There is an enemy queen, Utukku, to fight, and though she has inexplicable abilities, the underlying evil is the rage that consumes her and powers her total rule. Although she has loyal servants who prosper off slavery and exploitation, they are capable of independent thought and deed. Toward the end of the book, it becomes clear that Utukku plans to destroy the world and with it, her own people. Death is a kindness, she tells them, because there is no future for them without her. The Navigators Children is as much a tale of emancipation as it is the exploits of Simon and Miriamele and their circle. At nearly 800 pages long, the book is a commitment, but not a difficult one. Its readability owes much to Williams and his prose, which is lyrical but not cloying, and to his storytelling, which is propulsive without sacrificing character development or narrative tension. As a result, the world of Osten Ard feels lived-in, relatable even at its most alien. There are traces of Tolkien here, but Williams took the genre in new directions and continues to do so with The Navigators Children. With few exceptions, the villains are obviously and deeply flawed but not intrinsically evil and thus exist on the same moral spectrum as the heroes, who are good because of the choices they make rather than their destiny or lineage. A strain of anti-authoritarianism runs throughout Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and in The Navigators Children, it moves to the fore. By the end of the book, Simon and Miriamele have begun to dismantle their empire. They plan for their grandson, Morgan, to return power to the kingdoms conquered by Prester John, and there is talk of a council of nations. Democracy isnt on the horizon, but theyre shifting away from imperial power toward a more cooperative future. The Navigators Children isnt social commentary, but no book exists in a void, either. I read it in another bleak moment, a week after Donald Trump won reelection. Our future, like that of Osten Ard, is ambiguous. To Williams, a wise ruler knows when to give up power, and he leaves readers to imagine what that new world might become. Theres something reassuring about that uncertainty. I dont look to Williams or to the fantasy genre for easy comforts, and indeed there are none in Osten Ard. Instead I find a challenge, and that is useful now. When I feel the pull of despair, I remember the work of progress is long and uneven. Our happy ending might not be definite, but neither is our doom. Williams had already established himself as a genre star well before the publication of The Navigators Children. Hes an international best-selling author, and by 2023, his collected works had sold over 30 million copies worldwide. As The Last King of Osten Ard concludes, he may be poised for even greater prominence. A television adaptation of his sci-fi Otherland series was in development as of last year. Studio interest in fantasy remains insatiable following the global success of HBOs Game of Thrones, albeit with mixed results, so its not hard to imagine the panoramic Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn on screens someday. Whether theyre ever adapted or not, Williams is worth reading especially when the hour is dark. An earlier version of this post misstated the publication year of The Dragonbone Chair and the title of George R.R. Martins A Game of Thrones. The boldness of Iranian girls and women is the inspiration and essence of Mohammad Rasoulofs new film. Photo: Neon This review was published on November 27, 2024. On January 23, 2025, The Seed of the Sacred Fig was nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. Midway through The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Islamic Revolutionary Court investigating judge Iman (Missagh Zareh), whose name means faith, is losing his grip. The gun he was responsible for as part of his job has disappeared, and his family claims they dont know where its gone. Hes overwhelmed by all the Woman, Life, Freedom protestors coming through his court, and the many death sentences hes been forced to sign. And the daughters he thought he had raised piously are shocking him with their sympathy for those women taking off their government-mandated headscarves and marching in the street. The boundaries hes built between his personal and professional lives are collapsing, so much so that when he stops at a red light on the drive home, he thinks he sees his eldest daughter driving a car next to him, with her hair out, makeup on, and visible tattoos. She stares right at him, an unapologetic figment of his fears. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a political thriller, a horror movie, and an ode to that unrepentance. The boldness of Iranian girls and women is its inspiration and its essence. The Seed of the Sacred Fig was shot in secret in Iran and finished in Germany, where director Mohammad Rasoulof fled to avoid more prison time for his regime-criticizing films. (Rasoulof has been imprisoned twice, for charges including filming without a permit and propaganda against the system.) Its set in Tehran in fall 2022, when protests broke out after 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini died while in the custody of the countrys religious police. Allegedly, Amini was arrested for not wearing the hijab correctly and, allegedly, she had a heart attack at the police station. For the thousands of people who flooded the streets chanting Zan, Zendegi, Azadi, the Persian words for Woman, Life, Freedom, and who know how viciously the government can punish women for being perceived as immoral, that story didnt fly. The nearly three-hour-long, exquisitely tense The Seed of the Sacred Fig prioritizes the perspectives of the young women who led that movement, and who have since been further stifled for their participation in it. (Pockets of resistance remain, like this woman who recently undressed on a college campus as part of an anti-hijab protest.) The film starts off as a domestic and workplace drama. Iman has recently been promoted to a judge within the Iranian court system that investigates crimes against the state, and the high-profile (and controversial) nature of the job means that his family will be moving to a bigger apartment in a more protected neighborhood. That change, says his wife Najmeh (played by Soheila Golestani, who in real life was jailed during the protests and remains unable to leave Iran), is the perfect opportunity to tell their two daughters, early-20s Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and teenage Sana (Setareh Maleki), what Iman does for a living, and to stress how the responsibilities of his new position affect them, too. They will need to be irreproachable, Najmeh says no questionable selfies or social-media posts; no dyed hair, nail polish, or waxed eyebrows; and no friends who could reflect poorly on the family, like Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi), a college classmate of Rezvans whom Najmeh is convinced is a bad influence. As the protests break out and Sadaf gets caught up in them, the schism between the parents and their daughters grows. They have opinions, questions. Theyre getting bored, Najmeh warns Iman of their daughters, who have begun obsessively watching Instagram videos of the protests and scoffing at the state-run medias description of the dissenters as thugs destroying property without cause. But Iman cant imagine that his daughters would ever seriously break away from their parents opinions or act against their orders. Until the gun Iman was given by his employers for self-protection disappears. Then, all Iman can imagine is that his daughters are capable of anything, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig shifts into a reflection of Imans paranoia and a mimicry of the inquisition techniques he uses at work. He sends Najmeh, Rezvan, and Sana to a colleague who specializes in psychology and body-language techniques to judge whether theyre telling the truth about not knowing where the gun is. He upends their bedroom and searches through everything they own. He tries to turn them against each other, he confiscates their phones, and hes shocked when their response isnt acquiescence, but dissent. In Rasoulofs films, the effort it takes to stand up to the state is herculean, while following the law is an act of compartmentalization. In his last film, There Is No Evil, he probed at this difference in four vignettes about men responsible for enacting death sentences. Rasoulof has said that when he was in prison in 2022, the guards around him watched the film over and over again, and told him how much it lined up with their own experiences and feelings. The Seed of the Sacred Fig leaves less room for its viewers to feel for its male subjects, almost all of them government agents who do what theyre told, whether thats emotionally tormenting young women or signing off on execution orders. Instead, it proposes that tradition and patriarchy are two intertwined poisons feeding off the youth and vigor of their subordinates (like the Ficus religiosa invasive weed the film is named after). Thanks partially to actual protest footage filmed by Woman, Life, Freedom participants, theres a thoroughness to the way the film presents the perspectives of the young women living in the country: that cosmetics and visible hair dont make your faith any less secure, that friendships between women arent dangerous, that people should be able to share their opinions about their rulers and their government without the threat of harm. It seethes in a way no celebrity statement or haircut-cutting video, well-intentioned as they may be, could match. Rasoulof has talked about purposefully making his films less allegorical as his career has progressed, preferring to present his stories about oppression and totalitarianism plainly, so that his resentments are indisputable. Here, Rezvan and Sana frankly state their desire for independence (both young actresses are fantastic, but they especially shine in confrontations with their parents). When Rezvan points out to Iman at the dinner table that hes never spoken to any of the dissenters hes so judgmental toward, Rasoulof centers her in the frame and lets her state her case for treating women as human beings. When Iman turns his wifes already politicized hair against her by dragging her down a hallway with it, Najmeh calls her husband a brute, unknowingly echoing what their daughter Sana called the cops attacking women. Those scenes are direct enough in ideology and presentation that you feel how the power dynamics on Irans streets and in this familys home are in violent, roiling flux but are beginning to shift in favor of the repressed. By the time Rasoulof does indulge in some artistic flourish by zooming in on the bloody buckshot Najmeh spills down the familys bathroom sink after giving first aid to a protestor, or shifting the POV to Sanas eyes behind a blindfold in an interrogation cell, The Seed of the Sacred Fig has made the stakes clear enough that these moments arent distractions, but emotionally devastating complements. The film still has a touch of the absurd, but its the despondent kind, like Imans office being decorated with cardboard cutouts of people like Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani, assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in 2020, and littered with blindfolded prisoners in stress positions, standing silent as Iman and his colleague Ghaderi (Reza Akhlaghirad) walk around them. Neither turns to look at or acknowledge the prisoners and their plight. These mens complacency, The Seed of the Sacred Fig argues, isnt just a selfish act of self-preservation. It should be cause for their downfall. Grandes borderline-Method commitment to being Glinda is admirable and hilarious, but whats the larger endgame here? Photo: Universal/Everett Collection Austin Butler did not always sound like Elvis. We know this as a fact. That didnt make his Elvis awards-season run, in which he used his Elvis voice for eight months straight, any less fun. Nor does it make it any less funny that hes seemingly still stuck in Elvis mode. Theres a rich history of actors making a strange commitment to character during their press tours, awards-related or otherwise: Jim Carrey becoming Andy Kaufman, Bradley Cooper becoming Maestro, whatever random voice Tom Hardy decides to do every year. When this happens, often the characters in question are based on real people for whom the actors have adopted a reverential mimicry that teeters on possession on and off set. This awards season, not only is this happening again, but the walls of Method performance and press tour have blurred together. All of this raises two pertinent questions: Has Ariana Grande become Glinda the Good Witch? And does Ariana Grande think Glinda is real? For two years, weve watched Grande transform into Glinda. Yes, shes blonde, but the embodiment transcends that. As Grande told Teen Vogue, I needed to disappear into this role. Glinda first portrayed onscreen by Billie Burke in Victor Flemings adaptation of The Wizard of Oz and first played onstage in Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth is defined by a few broad-strokes character traits: a saccharine sweetness, a penchant for public good, and always wearing pink. Glinda, as she exists in Wicked, is still a good witch, so to speak, but is motivated by popularity: a true-blue cool girl who couldnt be more self-conscious. Shes doe-eyed and eager and preening with Grande adopting a mid-century affectation, a la Gloria Grahame in Oklahoma! Theres a kind of tongue-in-cheek girlishness to the character that Grandes taken on in interviews. Shes innocent, but not that innocent; kind-hearted, but not that kind-hearted; funny, but knows shes being funny and wants to make sure youre laughing with and not at her. Part of what feels so dramatic about Grandes Wicked press tour is that theres ample evidence of what she was like before all this. While her voice and intonation arent markedly different, shes definitely pitched herself up in her regular speaking voice. We know, by now, that Grande is rarely ever not in pink, but her commitment unlike, say, Margot Robbies in Barbie goes deeper than red-carpet fashion. Once you watch Wicked, it becomes clear that Grande is performing a full-body extension of her character on the press trail a hammy personality akin to the likes of Barbra Streisand or Sutton Foster. Whereas past leading musical ladies have tried to contour their character to their own personality (consider, perhaps, when Emma Watson made sure Belle was wearing boots and not heels), Grande has taken Glindas affectations as her own. Just as she spends much of the movie on the verge of tears, so too has she spent most of the press tour crying. Grandes commitment to form and character is admirable and hilarious, depending on your tolerance for all things pink and green, but whats the larger endgame here? Is she going to be doing this for the next calendar year? Is she, like Austin Butler before her, stuck like this forever? For what its worth, Grande has a solid chance of nabbing an Oscar nomination for her scene-stealing performance. Could she actually win? If they gave out Oscars for press tours, very possibly. When it comes to acting, however, the Academy historically prefers to honor a body of work, or a display of environmental or prosthetics-related suffering, or, most ideally, an actor who walks away with their whole movie. Pop stars who give excellent turns in major films fare worse no ones really broken the mold since Cher won for Moonstruck. Lady Gaga lost for A Star is Born; neither Justin Timberlake nor Jennifer Lopez could get nominated for The Social Network or Hustlers. Does anyone even remember that Taylor Swift popped up in a David O. Russell movie? But weve never seen a pop star embrace a part more wholeheartedly than Grande has. Maybe this is the exact alchemy needed for her to walk away with Best Supporting Actress early next year. More than anything, however, she seems to be having a lot of fun with all this pink and all these little jokes. After a long explanation of Glindas motivation on Las Culturistas, Grande interrupts herself as she starts to tear up. Oh my God, annoying! she says, rolling her eyes at herself, and for just a second, it feels like were all in on the joke. CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II discussed on Wednesday in Cairo regional developments, especially in Palestine and Lebanon, according to a statement released by the Egyptian presidency. They reaffirmed the necessity to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. Both leaders stressed their firm rejection of any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause or displace Palestinians from their land. They stressed that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, is essential for implementing the two-state solution and serves as the main guarantee for restoring stability in the region. They also welcomed the newly-enforced ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, reiterating their keenness to Lebanon's stability and sovereignty and rejection of any assault. The two leaders urged all parties to take responsibility for de-escalating the current tensions in the region. ENTERPRISE Regular unleaded gasoline is selling at some of the lowest prices in recent years in Wallowa County. Regular was selling for $3.899 at Goebels Service Station in Wallowa on Monday, Nov. 25, $3.939 at Pauls Service Station in Joseph and $3.999 at the two stations in Enterprise. Diesel, as usual, was going for a bit more, selling on Monday for $4.199 at Chevron in Enterprise and $4.299 at the Enterprise Texaco. The motorist organization AAA Oregon/Idaho reported on Tuesday, Nov. 26 that the average price of a gallon of gas in Wallowa County was under $4, at $3.959. Wallowa County still had the highest-priced gasoline in Oregon, but thats not unusual. The average price of gas in Oregon as of Tuesday was $3.559, AAA reported. Nationally, the average was $3.067. Oregon has the fifth most expensive gas in the nation; the West Coast typically has some of the highest gas prices in the United States. Gas prices in Oregon ticked up slightly over the past week, as the bomb cyclone in the region triggered worries about power outages in Puget Sound refineries, AAA said. But Thanksgiving gasoline prices still are at their lowest level since 2020, when the Oregon average was $2.59 and the national average was $2.12. (By contrast, the Oregon average last Thanksgiving was $4.08.) AAA Oregon/Idaho reported that unleaded fuel in Pendleton sold for $3.402 last week; the week before, it was $3.412 a gallon. A month ago, it was $3.57 and a year ago it was $3.829. Marie Dodds, director of government and public affairs for AAA Oregon/Idaho, said she expects fuel prices to continue to drop, for several reasons. Factors such as the September switch from the more-expensive summer blend of fuel to the winter blend, the current glut of supply in the oil market and the relatively low price of $60 to $70 for a barrel of oil are driving the decline, Dodds said. Another possible element in lowering fuel prices in the coming year is President-elect Donald Trumps plan to revive the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day back in the White House, people familiar with the president-elects plan have said, even though no companies are trying to build it anymore, according to politico.com. However, Dodds said the occupant of the White House at any one moment has little to do with the daily price of fuel. Those kinds of things dont have a dramatic impact right away, Dodds said. Even when a president says drill baby drill, you have to look at those things with a microscope. She said if Trump is successful in his plan to reopen the pipeline, it likely will take a while to have an effect. Dodds didnt have a firm prediction on the future of oil prices, but she believes they will continue to decrease. I dont have a crystal ball that works very well, but I think it will keep going for some time, she said. AAA reports about 80 million Americans planned to travel more than 50 miles from home for the Thanksgiving holiday, about 2 million more than in 2019. Rome inaugurates new exhibition space on Via del Corso. An iconic painting by Marc Chagall will go on public display in Rome from 27 November until 27 January as part of cultural celebrations for the Vatican's Jubilee Year 2025. The White Crucifixion, painted by the Belorussian-born French painter in 1938, can be admired for free at the new Museo del Corso on the city's central Via del Corso. The masterpiece, on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, comes to Rome thanks to a collaboration between the Vatican and Fondazione Roma, the foundation behind the new museum space which was inaugurated on Tuesday. The painting by Chagall, who died in 1985 aged 97, can be seen every day from 10.00 to 20.00 at the Museo del Corso which unites Palazzo Cipolla with Palazzo Sciarra. The Vaticans chief Jubilee organiser, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, in front of Chagall's The White Crucifixion, at the Museo del Corso on Tuesday. Photo Giubileo 2025. "There is no work that can better interpret the spirit of the Jubilee", Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri said, adding that the painting "expresses at the same time the tragedies of war and violence and the light of hope, of brotherhood between peoples". Father Alessio Geretti, curator of the exhibition, noted that the work was painted by Chagall "immediately after the Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) with the aim of denouncing the hatred and horrors of the 20th century perpetrated against the Jewish community." The Art Institute of Chicago states that Chagalls painting linked "the martyred Jesus with the Jewish people being persecuted across Europe and implicitly compares the Nazis with Jesuss tormentors." The painting, a favourite of Pope Francis, was exhibited at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in 2015. The Jubilee is set to attract around 32 million pilgrims and tourists to the Eternal City next year. NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The ninth annual meeting of the Africa Economic Zones Organization (AEZO) opened in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, Wednesday to accelerate industrialization and foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent. The three-day meeting was held under the theme "Building Inclusive and Sustainable Economies: The Role of African Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Attracting Impactful Investments & Redefining Competitiveness," with more than 300 participants, including policymakers, operators, representatives of financial institutions, and United Nations officials, to address the challenges faced by SEZs. Juma Mukhwana, principal secretary for the State Department of Industry in Kenya's Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, said that SEZs are the tool to help Africa expand its industrial base because they are key drivers of manufacturing, job creation and sustainable growth. "Kenya has recorded economic gains since the establishment of SEZs in 2015 with more than 10 licensed zones spread across the country," Mukhwana noted. According to him, the zones have attracted more than 100 billion Kenyan shillings (about 772 million U.S. dollars) in both local and foreign investments as well as created 7,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. Ahmed Bennis, the secretary general of the AEZO, the umbrella body of economic zones, said that there are currently more than 220 economic zones in Africa comprising free ports, export processing zones and industrial parks across the continent. Noting that Africa can become an attractive destination for FDI through the harmonization of SEZ regulations and tax incentives, Bennis added the zones can become manufacturing hubs that can benefit from trade liberalization as a result of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Olufemi Ogunyemi, managing director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, said that SEZs can help Africa achieve economic transformation through diversification of the industrial base and a shift from export of raw materials to value-added products. Charles Jackson Itembe, the director general of Tanzania's Export Processing Zone Authority, said that SEZs hold a lot of promise for Africa because they offer facilities that can help the continent improve its industrial competitiveness. By David Young and Cillian Sherlock, PA Taoiseach Simon Harris has insisted he is not aware that any member of his team tried to get RTE to take down a viral social media clip of a much-criticised encounter with a disability care worker. The Fine Gael leader was asked about the controversy in the first question posed during Tuesdays televised election debate on RTE Prime Time. Mr Harris apologised over the weekend for his handling of the discussion with Charlotte Fallon while canvassing in Kanturk in Co Cork on Friday evening. Micheal Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Simon Harris with presenters Miriam OCallaghan and Sarah McInerney during the final TV leaders debate at RTE studios in Donnybrook, Dublin (Niall Carson/PA). The Taoiseach was accused of dismissing concerns that Ms Fallon raised about Government support for the disability sector during the exchange filmed by RTE in a supermarket. Mr Harris rang Ms Fallon on Saturday and said he unreservedly apologised for the way he treated her. However, focus has since shifted to Fine Gaels interactions with the national broadcaster about the social media video. At the outset of Tuesdays TV debate, co-host Miriam OCallaghan directly asked the Fine Gael leader whether a member of his party contacted RTE to ask for the clip to be taken down. I have no knowledge of that whatsoever, because this clip was entirely appropriate, said Mr Harris. It was a very important moment on the campaign. And RTE and indeed many media outlets have been with me throughout the campaign, covering many interactions that Ive had with many, many people right across this country. The Taoiseach said the approach by his team member was part of the normal contact that happens between party politics and broadcasters on a daily basis. Mr Harris partner-in-government in the last coalition, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, said he was not aware of the approach to RTE by Fine Gael. Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin during the final TV leaders debate at RTE studios (Niall Carson/PA) I didnt realise this had happened, he said. I think Simon has given his explanation to it. Im not sure its as normal or as usual. I just get on with it every day. But, again, I think, you know, Im not au fait with the details behind all of this, or the background to it. The video didnt come down, and it was seen by many, many people. And I think it illustrates that out there, there are a lot of people suffering in our society. Notwithstanding the progress weve made as a country, a lot of people are facing a lot of individual challenges, and our job as public representatives and as leaders in travelling the country is to listen to people, hear their cases, to understand the challenges that they are going through in their lives. And when we go about in election campaigns, we have to open up ourselves to criticism and to people calling us to account. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald had earlier on Tuesday described reports of the Fine Gael approach to RTE as chilling. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders debate (Niall Carson/PA) However, at the start of the debate, she was asked about a media-focused issue related to her own party, namely the controversial manifesto proposal for an independent expert review of RTEs objectivity in its coverage of the war in Gaza and other international conflicts. Mr Harris previously branded the proposal a dog whistle to conspiracy theorists while Mr Martin said it was a dangerous departure. Ms McDonald defended the idea during the RTE Prime Time debate. Politics and politicians should not try to influence editorial decisions or try and have clips taken down because they are inconvenient to them, she said. There has to be distance, there has to be objectivity. But I would say I am struck by the very defensive reaction from some to this (the review proposal). The BBC, for example, a peer review looked at their coverage on migration. Politicians didnt put their hands on it, and rightly so. I think in a world where we have to rely on quality information, especially from the national broadcaster, which is in receipt of very substantial public funding, that has to be the gold standard of reliability. I think peer reviews like that are healthy. By Cillian Sherlock, PA Independents do not provide stability to coalitions, Roderic OGorman has said as part of a drive for support for his Green Party. Mr OGorman said it was looking likely that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail would be returned to Government, but added that they would need support to make up a majority. The Green leader said this could result in right-wing independents or small populist parties padding out the numbers. Roderic OGorman, left to right, with Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA) He said it was clear to him that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail wanted a coalition partner that represents the path of least resistance, adding that the Green Party fights hard. He added: My sense is certainly the mood music from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is that theyd like an easier life in the next government and my concern is they use these small populist parties and right-wing independents. Mr OGorman, who has been minister for integration in the coalition since 2020, argued that the Green Party could continue to provide stability to government at a time when economic shocks may be around the corner. Donald Trumps presidential election victory in the US has brought heightened concern that his administrations proposals around corporation tax and tariffs would significantly impact Irelands economic model. As the public makes up its mind before polls open on Friday, he said: Our message to voters today is: Dont allow us to sleepwalk into a Conservative government in this country. We know that the Green Party provided the direction of the last government on climate, on public transport, on support for families and children. He added: The polls are really close right now, its looking likely that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will be returned to government but theyll need something extra there. And there is a very real possibility of right-wing independents or small populist parties propping up the next government. Mr OGorman singled out independent candidate for Tipperary Mattie McGrath (Damien Storan/PA) And just in the same way as the Green Party provided a progressive direction over the last four-and-a-half years, small parties, populist parties could provide a very negative, a very regressive direction going forward. In particular, he singled out independent candidate for Tipperary Mattie McGrath, who has clashed with the government in the Dail several times, and Peadar Toibin, who founded the Aontu party after a split with Sinn Fein on abortion rights. We could have the very real possibility of the likes of Mattie McGrath as environment minister in the next number of years, rolling back on the key changes that the Green Party implemented, he said. We could have had Peadar Toibin as minister for health, rolling back the reproductive rights that women have won over the last five years. Mr OGorman debating Aontu leader Peadar Toibin (Niall Carson/PA) Mr OGorman said a coalition relying on independents would be unstable when compared with the Greens record in government. At a time when we may see economic turbulence, we may see the implications of the new government in the United States, that sort of instability is absolutely the wrong thing for Ireland right now, he said. A spokesperson for Mr McGrath said Mr OGormans crocodile tears could fill a swimming pool, as he criticised the Greens record on immigration and fuel costs. The spokesperson said: If in government, the Rural Independents would prioritise common sense, target waste reduction, and ensure that the voices of rural Ireland, working people, the voiceless and less well-off are front and centre in all decision-making. Mr Toibin has been contacted for comment. 15 candidates will appear on the ballot paper, in alphabetical order, for the Waterford constituency as the 2024 General Election gets underway this Friday, November 29. The debates, the interviews and the canvassing are almost at an end. So the question now remains, who is best placed to serve Waterford's interests? We have incumbents in Fianna Fail's Minister of State Mary Butler, Sinn Fein's David Cullinane, the Green Party's Marc O Cathasaigh and Independent Matt Shanahan. Vying to join them in Dail Eireann or topple them from their seat are Fine Gael Senator John Cummins, Sinn Fein Cllr Conor McGuinness, Social Democrat Cllr Mary Roche, Labour's Sadhbh O'Neill, Aontu's Dr Ronan Cleary, the Irish People party's John D Walsh, People Before Profit's Patrick Curtin, and Independents Killian Mangan, Aaron Joyce, Frank Conway and Mark O'Neill. Mary Butler and John Cummins have argued that Waterford has not been left behind, and that significant government investment has been forthcoming for the Deise, anchoring that on the North Quays development and progress on cardiac care and South East Technological University. Others sing a different hymn, citing that it is not enough and that any investment that makes its way to Waterford follows agonising, years-long delay. The South East Economic Monitor backs this reality up, with Waterford an outlier in terms of national regional investment - the December 2023 report showed a widening economic gap with the rest of the country. On the key issues of cardiac care - we still don't have 24/7 cover for cardiac emergencies, despite political promises; and with regards to SETU, we have not seen infrastructural development on the Cork Road campus since the noughties, as another government comes and goes. Waterford Airport has been a particular sticking point - 12 million in one-off investment for a solid business case denied us. So where will change come from? The same people rising up the ladder? Is the champion Waterford needs among them? Or do our best interests lie with alternative representation, such as with Sinn Fein, the party promising change and the only party running two candidates in Waterford on this occasion? Last time out Waterford voted overwhelmingly in favour of David Cullinane - where are the hearts and minds of those voters this time? One thing is certain. Waterford, with a burgeoning regional city at its heart, is fed up of being carved the smallest slice of the government pie. Expectations are high of the new team in Leinster House to turn matters around. Further interviews & analysis in this week's Waterford News & Star print edition and online By Cate McCurry, PA The Fine Gael leader said he is not sure whether he will allow party colleague John McGahon to canvass with him in Co Louth. Simon Harris said he needs to reflect on having John McGahon with his canvass team if he visits the county ahead of Fridays election. Mr McGahons candidacy has been criticised by members of other parties. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has been canvassing ahead of the General Election on November 29 (Grainne Ni Aodha/PA) He 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 and he was ordered to pay damages. It is not clear whether Mr Harris will visit the Co Louth consistency in the coming days. Asked if he will allow Mr McGahon to join the Fine Gael canvass team, Mr Harris said: Im not sure is the honest answer. John McGahon is a duly selected Fine Gael candidate. "Hes on the ticket, as is councillor Paula Butterly, and its up to the people of Louth to decide if they wish to vote Fine Gael which candidate to support. Ive made it very clear my view in relation to violence, and Id need to reflect on that. So Im not sure is the honest answer. Asked if he would ask tell Mr McGahon to leave if he appeared, Mr Harris said: No, we are not in that space at all. Earlier this week, Mr Harris was asked if voters in Louth should vote for Mr McGahon. He said he understood why people were horrified over a video of the incident, adding he was very angry about the matter. I abhor violence. He went through a process, he was found not guilty. If he was found guilty it would be a very different situation, he added. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its barely gone 7am in Britain when Professor Alice Roberts joins me on Zoom, and within minutes shes reeling off extraordinary facts about evolutionary biology and lifes biggest questions. Not that I should be surprised: Roberts, an academic, broadcaster and author who specialises in human anatomy, evolution, archaeology and history, is your genuine polymath. Even at 7am. For years, shes also specialised in sharing her knowledge with mainstream audiences through her many TV roles, on documentaries including Time Team, Digging for Britain and Coast (just a handful of the 100 or more shes appeared on) and in her bestselling books, such as The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being and Ancestors, this years Crypt and her first childrens book, 2023s Wolf Road. In 2012, the University of Birmingham appointed her as Professor of Public Engagement in Science, and in 2020 she won the inaugural Royal Society David Attenborough Award for outstanding public engagement with science; Roberts is adept at making complex ideas accessible. Her evident enthusiasm for all things historical certainly helps. This month, shes in Australia with her live show From Cell to Civilisation: Humankind, Genetics and Archaeology, in which she will aim to answer some of humanitys biggest questions: who are we? Where do we come from? And what does it mean to be human? Questions that historically, humanity has tried to answer, after a fashion, with religion and philosophy. Shes done live shows before, usually around her book releases, but this one, she says, is more theatrical. Im really excited for this one because its a chance to really bring this subject matter alive, in a very exciting way visually and theatrically, she says. Its definitely not a lecture. It does, though, seem wildly ambitious to cover the emergence of the human species and the story of life on Earth in one evening? Just a bit ambitious, Roberts agrees with a laugh. Theres lots of science, but if it was going to be a show about the flowering of human civilisation, I thought I may as well go large. Advertisement She says she was inspired by similar live tours that her friend, physicist Brian Cox, has done. He does incredible stage shows, and this one is produced by the same company. Brian does the origins of the universe and I thought, well, Im not going to be quite that ambitious, I will just do the origin of life on Earth and the human species. As well as tracking the evolution and connectivity of all living things, from the first spark of life more than 3 billion years ago, and examining some of Earths earliest civilisations, the show features some brand-new findings about evolution, which Roberts describes as incredible. With both the study of human evolution, and evolution more generally, it almost seems as though, Oh, well, you know, Darwin and Wallace lets not forget Wallace kind of cracked how evolution worked. But Darwins book On the Origin of Species people only ever just say that, but the book is actually On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. They cracked how evolution worked, but actually, we are still learning. Professor Alice Roberts with Time Teams Matt Williams. Credit: When Darwin wrote The Descent of Man (which always annoys me because obviously, women are in the results, Roberts says), there were no recognised human fossils, so he suggested that our earliest ancestors were probably from Africa. And he was right. Because now weve got all this incredible fossil evidence, she says. What Darwin couldnt have known, though, was the origins of the expansion of Homo sapiens across the world. The last time Roberts was in Australia, in 2008, she was filming the BBC documentary The Incredible Human Journey, for which she and the programs team were following up then-new research suggesting humans had reached Australia before they had made it to Europe. Advertisement We went out on a bit of a limb, but this research was based on archaeological finds from a couple of Northern Territory rock shelter sites that had obviously been used by people, and the ochre pigment [there] was dated to 60,000 or 65,000 years ago, Roberts says. There were some archaeologists saying rubbish ... theres no way modern humans could have got to Australia by that point it was contentious because modern humans didnt get to Europe until 50,000 years ago. In 2008, there were only a couple of bits of evidence, but I felt that was enough to depend on. Since then, she says, there has been more and more evidence, from both archaeological finds and genetic research. Professor Alice Roberts and her team went out on a bit of a limb with their speculation about human settlement in Australia. Credit: Getty Images TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO ALICE ROBERTS Worst habit? Licking my paintbrushes! Greatest fear? That any harm might befall my children. The line that stayed with you? Life is a copiously branching bush, continually pruned by the grim reaper of extinction (Palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist) Stephen Jay Gould. Biggest regret? I try to live without regrets. Favourite book? Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Or George Eliots Middlemarch. The artwork/song you wish was yours? Arthur Rackhams Meeting Of Oberon and Titania. If you could time travel, where would you go? Back to the Bronze Age to take a look at what they were doing, and then back to the 21st century again all my family and friends are here! From Cell to Civilisation will also address more abstract subjects such as what sets humans apart from apes. Anatomically, its quite boring, she says big brains, small teeth and long legs but it gets interesting when trying to discover when humans started to think. Unfortunately, though, thoughts dont fossilise, so it is, Roberts explains, difficult to pinpoint. I think once you start to get cave paintings, youre looking at a mind which is, I think, very similar to ours, but its difficult. These are the big questions, she says. People have always asked them, and people have had limited ways of answering them, so in the past, theyve tended to turn to religion and philosophy for the answers. But now weve got this powerful thing called science, where actually we look for evidence, and I think were closer to answering the question of who we are and where we came from. Roberts, who originally studied medicine and anatomy, worked as a junior doctor before becoming a lecturer in anatomy, and then studied osteoarchaeology (Looking at old bones) before completing a PhD in palaeopathology. Advertisement Shes at her happiest on archaeological digs, and says her favourite find was excavating an undisturbed Neolithic tomb on Orkney Island in Scotland as part of the BBC series Digging for Britain, earlier this year. Weve always thought that there were strange things going on inside those Neolithic tombs, with bodies being rearranged and bones being brought in and out, and thats exactly what we found in this tomb that was undisturbed for millennia, she says. It was incredible! I tell her that I was happy with the trilobite collection I amassed during the period of childhood when I was determined to be a palaeontologist. We love trilobites, she says encouragingly, explaining that while they have no direct living relatives, they are essentially just giant wood lice. Weve got some lovely ones at the University of Birmingham. Because they are found close to Dudley in the Black Country, we call them Dudley Bugs. Loading In the half-hour or so we talk, Roberts enthusiastically discusses everything from sexism in the scientific field Ive experienced the whole shebang in academia over the course of my career to the rise of bizarre conspiracy theories such as flat-earthers. It is an interesting one, isnt it? Because you can see that for yourself. All you need to do is get on a boat and look at the horizon ... She is, though, heartened that people are engaging more with the sciences. Audiences attending live shows about science almost feels like a Victorian-era throwback to the 19th-century boom in science publishing and lectures. I think we get so entranced by new technology that, sometimes, the old ways of doing things can fall away for a time. Weve got so many amazing ways of communicating science now weve had radio and television for a while and there are fantastic documentaries on television and they still draw huge audiences, she says. Advertisement A Man on the Inside Netflix Has a television leading man ever had a better second act to his career than Ted Danson? A huge star by the time Cheers stopped serving drinks in 1993 after 11 seasons of sitcom success, Danson has developed both a delightful screwball wit and a dramatic gravitas this century. The former has given us Bored to Death, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Place, the latter impressive seasons of Damages and Fargo. His latest show is the ideal distillation of everything Danson delivers. Ted Danson (standing) in The Man on the Inside. Credit: COLLEEN E. HAYES/NETFLIX Working once again with The Good Place creator Michael Schur, Danson plays Charles, a widowed and retired engineering professor whose life in San Francisco has reached the clipping-articles-from-the-newspaper-and-sending-them-to-his-daughter phase. When the worried Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) suggests her father find a project, the former academic applies for a freelance gig with a private investigator, Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada). She needs an undercover operative to pose as a nursing home resident and snoop around. Told over eight half-hour episodes its a perfect weekend binge A Man on the Inside has a giddy comic energy. Low-key by nature, Charles revels as a spy, complete with surveillance gadgets and a cover story. If hes not that good at his new job, much to Julies droll annoyance, that does create a patina of tension to contrast the humour. The crime Charles is investigating at Pacific View is a theft of a residents heirloom jewellery, as opposed to elder abuse. Theres only larceny in this building. Like almost 600,000 other Australians, I was born in China. Despite having lived here for 15 years, as a dissident, I am still tracked and harassed by the Chinese government. I want to offer a warning to our government and my fellow citizens about our relationship with the Asian superpower. Chinas ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, told Australias National Press Club on Tuesday that Australia and China are friends, not foes. But friends are people who share common values. The truth is there is a fundamental ideological divide between our two nations, and what we value. Chinas ambitions are not merely defensive, but rather aggressively expansionist. Currently, in the face of this fundamental difference, Australia still clings stubbornly to its engagement policy with China, in political, economic and social spheres. Artist and Age cartoonist Badiucao. Credit: Simon Schluter The governments initial objective of this policy was to influence China through exchange and dialogue in an attempt to help open up its politics and its economy, and push it towards greater democracy and adherence to international law. The hope was that this would bridge the gap between the two countries political systems and ideologies, preventing conflict and ensuring peace. At the same time, Australias economy would benefit from the further liberalisation of Chinas market. However, Chinas decades of military expansion and diplomatic coercion show the policy has failed. Human rights have deteriorated further, with crackdowns in Hong Kong, and internment camps and the genocide of the Uyghur population and other minorities in Xinjiang. He became the breadwinner of the family when his daughter was born and his wife gave up her career to be the girls full-time carer. A dance school teacher told Perth District Court the girl was small, even by the standard of other students. The family moved to the wealthy Perth suburb of Floreat five years ago and purchased a four-bedroom house for almost $2 million. Department of Communities staff told the court that when they visited the home to check on the girl, it looked cluttered and cockroaches were seen scuttling out of the front door where they stood speaking to the father. The father refused to allow them inside and, away from the jury, the court was told the house was filthy and unhygienic, with piles of used sanitary towels sitting in corners. Despite this, the father tried to convince the jury he suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. While the husband was earning good money, the wifes family were also wealthy, and the girls grandfather wanted to pay for her to attend a prestigious girls school which commands fees of up to $28,000 a year. But the parents refused, instead choosing to homeschool the girl. The mothers relationship with the girls grandfather was rocky. She claimed he was abusive to her when she was a child, and would not allow him to be left alone with her daughter. However, the girl was later placed in his care by the Department of Communities, where she stayed until her 18th birthday, when she returned home to live with her parents. The mother also testified that she had little to do with her siblings, and claimed her daughter was hospitalised in part because her sister and their father had both spoken to the department about the girls emaciated appearance. When the mothers sister raised those concerns with her, she cut off contact. The girl was also, for some time after her parents were arrested, placed into the care of her uncle, who soon after relinquished that care because of the parents ongoing involvement. Outside court, it was also mentioned that the girl was unable to do much for herself and needed constant care and help with day-to-day activities, such as washing and taking care of her hygiene. She was 17 years old at the time. Prosecutors said that after the womans own mother died, she isolated herself and her daughter from the rest of the family. None of her family came to court throughout the four-week trial. What the jury werent allowed to hear One element of the case that was kept from the jury was the suggestion the girl was wearing nappies as a teenager. Both the prosecution and defence agreed to withhold the information, but some witnesses almost blurted it out on a number of occasions. The jury was also not allowed to hear why the girl herself did not enter the courtroom to give evidence. On November 14, the girls mothers lawyer called her as a witness to tell her side of the story. The girl was hospitalised after the Department of Communities investigated concerns from a dance studio. It was a much-anticipated moment, but she did not make it into the courtroom. The jury was told the girl had changed her mind. After coming to court with a support person, the 20-year-old had a panic attack and could not give evidence. Black confronted the mothers lawyer Michael Perella, asking whether he had ensured the girl received her own legal advice before coming to court. He replied that he had only recommended she did. Black asked Perella whether the girl was told what to wear for the occasion by her mother, and noted she was wearing a relatively child-like dress and ballet flats. Perella denied that was the case, and attempted to apply to have the trial aborted because of the turn of events. Black blasted the lawyer for suggesting such a vulnerable person be brought to court in the first place. If she was shocked that her daughter was in floods of tears, [the mother] must not know her daughter very well at all, the judge said. She refused to allow the trial to be vacated. The impacts of infantilisation can be profound and far-reaching, Stambulich said. In the short term, children may experience delayed emotional development, poor self-esteem, and significant difficulties in peer relationships, she said. They often struggle with basic decision-making skills and age-appropriate social interactions. The long-term consequences can be even more severe, potentially leading to chronic dependency, persistent relationship difficulties, anxiety and depression, and significant challenges in managing adult responsibilities. Many adults who experienced infantilisation struggle with boundary-setting and may have difficulty establishing their own independent identity. During the trial The girl was 14 when this photo was taken. The trial itself may have been arduous for the jury, who were initially told it would be finished in seven days. Instead, it dragged on for weeks, in part due to attempts by the mother to have the trial thrown out twice midway through proceedings, the court was told the woman was too unwell to attend and listen to the evidence. She was given a brief reprieve to recover, but Black insisted she return and could keep a sick bag at her side in case she needed it. They couple sat side by side for four weeks but did not appear to communicate once. As the jury read out their guilty verdicts, the father sat straight-faced, as he had the entire trial, while his wife sobbed, even after being asked to stop by the judge because of the noise. Their relationship had been examined throughout the trial, with accusations of manipulation, control and verbal abuse from the husband to the wife. He didnt deny that on the stand. But it was accepted throughout the trial that both parents loved their daughter very much. Stambulich said parents who infantilised their children often had limited insight into their behaviour and its impact. They typically rationalise their actions as necessary protection or expressions of love and care, she said. These parents may minimise or completely deny any harmful effects of their parenting style, viewing their actions as beneficial rather than potentially damaging to their childs development. The mother told the jury her daughter would always be her little girl. She had made sure of that by limiting her ability to grow in height and mature like a girl of her age should have, and limiting her ability to mix with other girls her age, to develop age-appropriate interests and have any level of independence. When the father of the girl was presented with photos of her looking small, frail, sick and severely underweight, he told the prosecutor she was thin but not overly so. Do you have problems with your eyesight? he was asked. The father of alleged fraudster Jack Endersby has vowed to fight claims he swindled his own mother in a deal over the sale of her northern suburbs home. WA Police allege Scott Endersby entered an agreement with his mother Lyn Newby to buy her Kingsley home in 2016, paying the 76-year-old $600,000 for the property. Jack Endersby with his grandmother Lyn Newby. But police claim Newby later uncovered paperwork which indicates the home sold for $150,000 more than Endersby had led her to believe. She took the matter to police, culminating in her 54-year-old son being charged with fraud earlier this month. TOKYO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan is experiencing a surge in mycoplasma pneumonia cases, with an average of 2.84 patients per medical institution reported nationwide for the week ending Nov. 17, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. This marks a significant rise from previous weeks and the highest figure since the current tracking system was introduced. Mycoplasma pneumonia, a bacterial infection often seen in children, spreads through droplets or contact and presents symptoms like persistent cough, fever, fatigue, and headaches. While many cases resolve without severe complications, some can progress to serious pneumonia requiring hospitalization. Fukui Prefecture reported the highest regional average at 8.83 cases per medical institution, followed by Aomori (5.0), Kyoto (4.71), and Hokkaido (4.59). Major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka also recorded elevated rates of 4.32 and 3.17, respectively. Public health authorities are urging citizens to adopt preventive measures, such as wearing masks, practicing hand hygiene, and consulting doctors if symptoms persist. Moscow: Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month, analysts and war bloggers have said. Russian troops swept through swaths of Ukraine at the start of the war before being pushed back to its east and south. The 1000-kilometre front line has been largely static for two years, until the latest, smaller advances that began in July. The Russian army has captured almost 235 square kilometres over the past seven days, a weekly record for 2024, according to a report by independent Russian news group Agentstvo. Russian army snipers change their position while fighting with Ukrainian armed forces at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Credit: Russian Defense Ministry/AP Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of the occupied territory in Ukraine, it said. What started the Israel-Hezbollah conflict? Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on October 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages since. Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon in the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the countrys north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. What is Hezbollah? Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant group that emerged in the early 1980s during the 15-year Lebanese civil war. Its ideology calls for the destruction of the Israeli state and pledges allegiance to Irans supreme leader. Lebanese police stand in front of a portrait shows the late Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Credit: AP It has been behind a number of deadly terror attacks around the world and has been declared a terrorist organisation by Australia, the US, Israel, the United Kingdom, the European Union and several countries across the Arab world. The radical group, which constitutes a political party and a military arm, receives hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as substantial training and weapons from Iran. The name Hezbollah translates to party of God or party of Allah. While it is designated internationally as a terrorist group, its political wing in Lebanon has also developed a substantial social services network for its supporters. However, political support for Hezbollah has fallen, with the group and its allies losing their parliamentary majority in Lebanons most recent 2022 election, when they secured 62 seats in the countrys 128-member parliament. Will this force a Gaza ceasefire deal? Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah good news and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. They, too, deserve an end to the fighting and displacement, Biden said. The people of Gaza have been through hell. Their world has been absolutely shattered. Far too many civilians in Gaza have suffered far too much. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. What are the reactions from around the world? While France and Biden brokered the ceasefire, Donald Trumps team says the US president-elect should take credit. Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump, Mike Waltz, Trumps pick for national security adviser, said in a post on X, shortly before Israel signed off on the agreement. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos wont be tolerated. Im glad to see concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East. French President Emmanuel Macron said it was the culmination of efforts undertaken for many months with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities, in close collaboration with the United States. Loading Lebanons Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw. Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong says it should be the catalyst for an end to conflict in the Middle East. Weve been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for over 11 months now, and we see every week the death toll rising, more children, more women, she said. Washington: Mexico and Canada have hit back at Donald Trumps tariff plans, warning about the potential economic impact and urging the president-elect to choose co-operation over the prospect of retaliatory trade wars. In an ominous but unsurprising development this week, Trump announced on social media that he intended to slap heavy tariffs on Americas neighbours and top trading partners as soon as he returns to the White House in January. Donald Trump speaks on the southern border with Mexico in August. Only a fraction of his beautiful wall was built during his first term and mainly to replace older dilapidated sections. Credit: AP On Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) he also tapped former first term administration official and lawyer Jamieson Greer to be his top trade representative to help oversee the policy and rewrite trade rules in Americas favour. Under Trumps plan, a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed on Canada to the north and Mexico to the south unless they crack down on drugs and illegal immigrants coming across the border. Building on recent successes in implementing trade facilitation measures, the Namibian National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) convened its National Technical Working Group on Coordinated Border Management (CBM) from 04 to 15 November 2024 in Windhoek, to finalize its inter-agency standard regulatory framework for CBM in Namibia. The framework was developed in collaboration with the WCO and with the support of the WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme, using a blended approach to capacity development that included virtual engagement via the WCO CLiKC! platform during six weeks. The remote sessions were followed by two weeks of in-country support to complete business process modelling and data modelling, facilitating CBM implementation and finalizing the inter-agency standard regulatory framework. In his opening remarks, Sam Shivute, Commissioner of the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA), underlined the importance of the initiative, emphasizing the need for all agencies to come together and to take a whole of government approach to trade facilitation to the benefit of all Namibians. He also stressed the critical role of the NTFC's CBM Working Groups work in establishing the foundation for CBM in Namibia through the development of the regulatory framework. The Commissioner further expressed his appreciation for the continuous multi-year support from the United Kingdom-funded WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme. The inter-agency standard regulatory framework, supported by both data and business process modelling, is a key preparatory step for clarifying the roles and interactions between border regulatory agencies. It aims to reduce border delays and facilitate legal trade. By applying both techniques, areas of duplication are identified, and strategies are developed to reduce duplication and harmonize processes and data requirements at the border. The CBM National Technical Working Group also focused on harmonizing and standardizing documentary requirements across government agencies to enable digitalization and ensure a coordinated information flow (CIF). This exercise, leveraging the WCO Data Model (WCO DM) App, resulted in a comprehensive and harmonized national data catalogue aligned with the WCO DM to facilitate communications and interoperability of digital systems among border agencies. By the end of the two weeks in Windhoek, a draft of the inter-agency standard regulation (framework) had been completed and ready for consultation within each border authority. In addition, 75% of the data sets for the CIF were finalized and prepared for review and approval. CBM in Namibia has made significant progress towards implementing CBM as stipulated in the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). However, NamRAs Sam Shivute noted: We will not be judged by starting something but rather by the results and successful completion. He also highlighted the support and engagement of all Namibian border authorities and stakeholders in ensuring the successful implementation of CBM. The WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme looks forward to continuing its partnership with NamRA for sustainable Customs and border reforms. See here for more information on the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme. For more information on WCO capacity building, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org. SYDNEY, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Astronomers in Western Australia (WA) said they have made a discovery that could explain a rare astrophysical event known as long-period radio transients. In a new study, a team from the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in WA discovered the longest-period radio transient ever detected, said a news release on ICRAR's website on Tuesday. Long-period radio transients are a class of rare astrophysical events that emit pulsations of very bright radio energy. How they generate radio waves has been an ongoing mystery for astronomers. The pulses typically last tens of seconds and occur in intervals ranging from minutes to an hour. The new pulse, given the name GLEAM-X J0704-37, occurs every three hours and lasts 30-60 seconds, making it the longest-known such phenomenon. It was discovered in deep space from low-frequency data gathered by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in outback WA. While every other known transient was found in our own galaxy surrounded by stars, making it difficult to determine what is generating the radio waves, GLEAM-X J0704-37 was found on the outskirts of the galaxy in a relatively empty region of space 5,000 light years away. Researchers Natasha Hurley-Walker and Csanad Horvath from the Curtin University node of the ICRAR were able to pinpoint the source of the radio waves to one specific low-mass star by using telescopes in South Africa and Chile. Hurley-Walker said the low-mass star, also called M dwarfs, could not have generated the amount of energy detected alone. "Our data suggests that it is in a binary with another object, which is likely to be a white dwarf, the stellar core of a dying star. Together, they power radio emission," she said. Further analysis of archival data from the MWA revealed that GLEAM-X J0704-3 has been active for at least 10 years since the telescope started observing. The team is now working on follow-up observations to conclusively explain long-period radio transients. On 20 November 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO) Regional Office for Capacity Building for the Asia/Pacific region (ROCB A/P) in Bangkok, Thailand, brought together distinguished delegates from the regions Customs administrations to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This event, co-organized with Thai Customs, marked the milestone achievement of two decades worth of efforts to build the capacities of WCO Member Customs administrations in the A/P region. On this occasion, the WCO Secretary General, Ian Saunders, conveyed his congratulations through a video message in which he acknowledged the ROCB A/Ps contribution to the modernization and development of Customs administrations in the region, by supporting the WCO's capacity-building activities and promoting the dissemination and implementation of WCO tools. He also expressed his gratitude to Thai Customs, as the ROCB A/P host administration, as well as to China, Hong Kong (China), Japan and Korea for seconding Attaches to support the ROCB A/Ps work. Following the Secretary Generals address, the Head of the ROCB A/P, Jun Tajima, delivered his welcoming remarks, echoing the message of appreciation to Thai Customs as the host of the ROCB A/P, while stressing that the ROCBs achievements were the result of the collective work carried out by the Office. He also delivered an insightful presentation highlighting the ROCB A/Ps most significant achievements over the past two decades. The WCO Vice-Chair for the Asia/Pacific region, from Hong Kong (China) Customs, reflected on the ROCBs accomplishments in enhancing regional cooperation and promoting knowledge sharing among the regions Customs administrations. He concluded his intervention by commending the Offices role in bringing the region closer together, while reaffirming the important part played by the ROCBs host administration in these successes. The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) jointly held the 44th Meeting of the WCO-UPU Contact Committee in Brussels, Belgium from 19 to 20 November 2024. This year, the Committee continued its work in the 2022-2025 cycle with members and observers from both organizations. The meeting was hosted by the WCO in a hybrid format, with the registered participation of experts from 71 Customs administrations, 29 Designated Postal Operators and four international organizations. In his opening remarks, Pranab Kumar Das, WCO Director of the Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, extended a warm welcome to all members and observers attending the meeting. The Director highlighted key issues of common interest related to postal traffic and called for further collaboration through the sharing of experience and the leveraging of collective knowledge throughout the meeting. The UPU Secretariat emphasized the importance of close cooperation between Customs and Posts in addressing Electronic Advance Data (EAD) requirements and streamlining Customs processes within the postal supply chain. The Committee was briefed on the Regional Post-Customs Strategy Meeting for the Latin America Region, held in Oranjestad, Aruba on 22 and 23 August 2024. The regional meeting enhanced cooperation between Customs and Posts at the strategic, policy and operational levels, by sharing best practices necessary for the development of policies, regulations and associated project plans related to EAD, e-commerce, and their implementation. Experts from Customs administrations, Designated Postal Operators, and partner international organizations provided guidance on addressing common challenges and identifying potential solutions in the following areas of common interest: capacity-building workshops; EAD requirements; securing cross-border e-commerce and trade facilitation; and the strengthening of security and safety measures to combat the illicit movement of goods on the postal supply chain, including drug smuggling, wildlife trafficking, and IPR infringements. Given the mutual understanding of the value and necessity of facilitating EAD exchange between Customs and Posts and improving data quality and compliance with Customs declarations, the Committee endorsed the new guidelines on the exchange of EAD and data quality. The new guidelines will be submitted to the competent bodies of each organization for adoption. The 45th Meeting of the WCO-UPU Contact Committee is scheduled to take place in the fall of 2025. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China has always been a staunch supporter of the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights. In a congratulatory message to a UN meeting marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Xi also noted that China has always supported all Palestinian factions to strengthen unity and achieve internal reconciliation. VIENTIANE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Laos recorded a trade deficit of 154 million U.S. dollars in September, marking the ninth straight month of trade deficit in 2024. According to the latest figures from the Lao Trade Portal website, the total value of trade in September amounted to over 1 billion U.S. dollars, of which 455 million dollars was for exports and 609 million dollars for imports. Laos' main export products included mixed gold, electric equipment, rubber, paper, salt, wood shaving, copper ore, banana, sugar, and cassava. The country's main imports included diesel, mechanical equipment, land vehicles, electrical appliances, steel, finished chemical products, vehicle spare parts, plastic products, beverages, and gasoline. China, Vietnam and Thailand are among the leading export destinations for Lao products. Meanwhile, major import sources to Laos included Thailand, China and Vietnam, according to the report. During the Lao government's monthly meeting for November, participants discussed measures to address pressing economic and financial issues. The government is emphasizing its efforts to curb the import of locally producible goods. Efforts to balance import-export dynamics and strengthen domestic production capabilities for export are also being explored. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit *Update (Thursday, November 28, 2024 - 4.45pm): This person has now been identified. Previous press release: Gardai in Galway are appealing to members of the public to assist them in identifying the body of a man which was recovered from the water at Claddagh Quay on Sunday, 17th November, 2024. The man is estimated to have been aged in his 60s, and 5ft 7 inches in height. He was of a medium build, 78-80kg. He had blue eyes and a full head of red/grey hair. He had a grey full beard, with the moustache part of the beard slightly red. He had black rimmed glasses on his person. The man is believed to have had an Irish accent. He was wearing a grey tweed suit jacket and trousers, a blue/white striped shirt with a flowery print along the seams where the buttons are and inside the collar. He wore size 10 black laced dress shows, Asos brand. Superintendent Paudie OShea of Gaillimh (Galway) Garda Station said: "Extensive enquiries have been carried out but there has been no positive identification of the deceased to date. "I am appealing to owners of guest houses, landlords, hotels, hostels, B&Bs and Airbnbs to check if anybody left their premises and may have left property behind." Gardai are not treating the death as suspicious. Anyone with information is asked to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. Taoiseach Simon Harris has told the Western People that if he is returned to power after Fridays general election he will deliver the railway extension from Athenry to Claremorris in the lifetime of the next government. The Taoiseach was speaking at a Fine Gael media event at Ireland West Airport on Sunday morning. Mr Harris said that he was really pleased that the present government got the strategic rail corridor review published. My partys manifesto is very clear in wanting to progress it in the lifetime of the next government, Mr Harris said, and has specifically called out parts of it that will benefit Mayo. When put to him that there was an abundance of reports, but an absence of clear commitment, he said it was his intention to get the next phase opened in the lifetime of the next government. The first phase of what is known as the Western Rail Corridor, the section between Limerick and Galway, reopened for rail passenger services in 2010. Politicians and business and community groups have campaigned for the reopening of the next phase, between Athenry and Claremorris, for many years, citing the imbalance in regional infrastructure and access, which disadvantaged the west and north-western parts of the country. Further phases would see the railway reopening to Collooney in Co Sligo. Direct connectivity of Knock Shrine and Ireland West Airport would require land acquisition, and their delivery possibilities are less clear. Mr Harris statement is the first clear signal that the project will go ahead and is welcome news for the region. The Taoiseach also said the next government would invest in Ireland West Airport and road infrastructure. Knock Airport has a majorly important role to play in terms of our airport infrastructure in this country, Mr Harris said. We are an island nation and we are really dependent on our airports. I think people can judge my partys commitment to this on the basis of the additional funding we have already allocated to this airport. I think about 15m has been invested here since 2021, and I want to assure the people of Mayo and the people of the Northwest, that that commitment to the airport and investing continues. AMMAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 6th Arab Water Conference opened on Wednesday at Jordan's eastern shores of the Dead Sea to tackle challenges in water resource management across the Arab region. Under the theme "Governance Towards Achieving Sustainable Development in Water," the conference is attended by government officials and specialists from across the Arab world. Jordan's Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud stressed at the opening ceremony the need to develop effective policies to promote an integrated management approach for Arab water resources, including the sustainable coordination of efforts to manage surface water resources and shared basins. Despite tangible successes made so far, the region still faces persistent challenges such as global warming, worsening water scarcity, the depletion of water resources, and regional conflicts, he said, urging collective efforts to implement joint Arab water initiatives and raise awareness about the importance of water conservation. Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of Economic Affairs at the Arab League Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Maliki stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation among all Arab states to achieve Arab water security and preserve Arab water rights. He also highlighted the need to enhance adaptation policies, reduce the risks of water-related disasters, and strengthen innovation in water technologies and sustainability. The two-day conference features several general sessions, discussion panels, scientific sessions, official meetings, and an exhibition. There was a real carnival atmosphere at Ireland West Airport on Sunday for the Fine Gael conference. It was a mix of a day at the races, the post-church, pre-meal, part of a wedding or an indoor Electric Picnic. It was a mini Ard Fheis, of sorts, with food and beverages, candidate stickers and posters, smiles and handshakes. Sal and Paddy Heneghan, from Castlebar, provided a beautiful soundtrack to the event on the harp and the pipes. You cant beat live music. Nina Carberry, the shiny new MEP, was the MC, and she wooed the home crowd by telling them that Mayo held a special place in her heart. From the winners enclosure at Ballinrobe Races to hearing my name read out in Castlebar at the European election count, announcing me as a new MEP for the Midlands North West Constituency, the retired champion jockey said. This campaign is now on the home straight, she said, and what you can feel at the doors on the canvass is energy. When she said that with one last push, the party could achieve those three seats in Mayo, the four seated candidates felt the eyes of the room on them as everyone wondered which one would be the unlucky one. Taoiseach Simon Harris addresses the Fine Gael faithful at a rally in Ireland West Airport Knock on Sunday. Also pictured are, from left: Cllr Mark Duffy, Alan Dillon TD, Keira Keogh, Martina Jennings, Iar Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Nina Carberry MEP. Picture: John Corless Introducing Iar Taoiseach Enda Kenny was one of the keynote speakers and he was in terrific form. To succeed in politics, Kenny said, you need commitment, ambition and energy. You have to want it. Politics, in Ireland, is a hard task. Gradually the essential requirements list was getting longer. He said nobody was talking about ghost estates and unemployment now. The country has moved in a decade, from being jump-started by AJ Chopra and the Troika to being one of the top twenty wealthiest countries in the world, he said, and the audience signalled their agreement with generous applause. Kenny spoke about the economic difficulties other countries were experiencing and the threat posed by Russia. Irish people need to focus now on where we are, on what we have and what the future might be. We need politicians who bring decisiveness, clarity and energy. This is no time to be messing around with parties who dont know how to run their own affairs never mind run a country, the former Taoiseach said. And again, the faithful applauded. Kenny praised Simon Harris as was to be expected. After all, he is the current party leader and the Taoiseach, but also, it was Kenny who first brought Harris into the cabinet ten years ago. He said Harris was able to bring people with him. Bringing people with you is the most important element of politics. By now, the four candidates were probably wondering how many more necessary ingredients they would need to possess and display, before they could dismount from the stools and bolt to the less demanding task of knocking on doors. Kenny described the candidates as the best quality team he had seen in a long time. We didnt get Sam, he shouted, but we have Simon and I want you to give him a big Knock welcome, a big Mayo welcome, and go out on Friday and get these candidates elected, all four of them if possible, and if not, certainly three out of the four. And as the audience applauded and Kenny and Harris shook hands and swapped places, we were back again to selecting three out of the four. Simon Harris was well-received by the audience. He had suffered a double blow in the days immediately before the Knock gala after controversially walking away from a care worker without properly engaging with her issue (an act that was widely broadcast and viewed on social media) and had subsequently apologised. Fine Gael also dropped in voter popularity in an opinion poll published on Sunday morning. While he was contrite in his repeated apology on the former, he dismissed the latter as all experienced politicians do when polls dont favour them at any given time. The poll on election day is the one that counts. That sort of thing. Like all experienced politicians, he made promises, too, of course. Lots of them, from childcare to healthcare, agriculture to education. He said Fine Gael would cap childcare fees at 200 a month per child or 600 for a family with three or more children, reduce taxes, ensuring nobody on the average wage would pay the higher rate of tax, abolish the Universal Social surcharge on the self-employed, and link social insurance benefits more closely to earnings like pay-related parental leave. On agriculture, the party would fight for the retention of Irelands Nitrates Directive derogation with a Cabinet Committee on Water Quality, deliver a comprehensive farm succession policy and provide financial supports to farmers working to help address the climate crisis. Fine Gael would pursue energy independence by making Ireland a Green Energy Leader expanding renewable energy sources, while ensuring security of supply and avoiding bill shocks, and create a new Department of Infrastructure, Climate and Transport to deliver essential projects like energy, water, roads and public transport necessary to support the delivery of housing for a growing population. These policies, he said, would create 300,000 more jobs. And once again the eyes of the audience were on the four, wondering which three would be part of that 300,000. Last year when US President Joe Biden visited Ballina and, from outside St Muredachs Cathedral, addressed thousands of people encircled at every possible vantage-point around the loop of the two bridges, I thought of those who at a time of endemic, overwhelming poverty had dreamed of building a cathedral in Ballina. Almost two hundred years ago in two years time, in 2027, the cathedral celebrates its bicentenary on a wintery May day the then archbishop of Tuam, Oliver Kelly, laid the foundation stone. The previous evening, Kelly had arrived in Ballina as The Ballina Impartial reported on a handsome Pheaton (carriage) drawn by two ponies of exquisite beauty, and so admirably matched, that the most discriminating eye could scarcely point out a show of difference. He stayed overnight in the Tyrawley Hotel (more recently the Greyhound Inn) and participated in a High Mass at noon the following day. Plans to proceed the short distance from the Ardnaree chapel to the site of the new cathedral were delayed until 3pm by a series of heavy showers when the procession of 24 priests, three bishops, numerous altar-boys, the architect, Dominic Madden, the contractor and sundry other officials moved to the new site. Prayers and rituals ordained by the Rubric of the Roman Catholic Church were said and the archbishop blessed the foundation stone which is now over the front door of the cathedral though the date is incorrect! When President Biden addressed the crowd from a platform in front of the cathedral, the foundation stone reminded me of those who had gathered on that May day in 1827 and what they could possibly make of the President of the United States of America and the entourage that had accompanied him from the New World. I wondered too what the real architect and driving force behind the cathedral, Bishop John MacHale, without whose vision and purpose the cathedral would not have been built until centuries later, would have thought! And all those who over the years had a role in building what is now, by common consent, Ballinas signature building. The original idea of building a cathedral came from Peter Waldron, bishop of Killala (1814-'24). The year was 1822 and Waldron wanted a replacement for, in his own words, the miserably small, squalid chapel in Ardnaree, then the only Catholic Church in the parish. A committee was appointed, collections were held, plans were drawn up but Waldron, in fragile health for some years (and unable even to attend the laying of the foundation stone) lacked the energy to drive the project. The arrival in 1824 of Lahardane native, John MacHale, as coadjutor bishop up to then a professor of theology in Maynooth College changed the whole landscape. MacHale was just 34 at the time, full of energy and of ideas and Waldron effectively handed over the cathedral project to him. MacHale was the right man in the right place at the right time. Originally a site was acquired on the other side of the Moy what is now Walsh St but MacHale had his eye on the present site and cajoled the landlord into parting with it. He sought funds within the diocese from priests and people and outside the diocese by way of direct contribution or through sponsorship. He even went to Rome in 1831 hoping to get a contribution from the pope but he had to make do with the gift of a chalice now resting in the Tuam archives! There were criticisms of the cathedral project, specifically what seemed a strange decision to build a cathedral in one parish in a diocese of 24 parishes with very few churches, apart from a number of thatched cabins around which people gathered to attend Mass. But MacHale believed that a cathedral would encourage the building of parish churches, even though much of the money to achieve that end had been siphoned into the cathedral project. No doubt too, in the years leading up to Catholic Emancipation (1829), MacHale was aware of the need to make a clear statement that the Catholic Church was alive and well, despite the poverty of its members and the persecution of their faith in Penal Times. By any estimate, the cathedral was a stunning achievement. One of the first cathedrals built in rural Ireland in modern times (years before Tuam cathedral) it must have seemed to the people one of the wonders of the world: its impressive site; its architectural design; its exquisite ceiling based on the Chapel of the Minerva in Rome; its splendid mosaic in the sanctuary; the stained glass windows executed and installed by Franz Mayer & Co, Munich & London; its carved fonts; and its beautifully appointed interior with the original confessionals, baptistry, mosaic walls and Bernard Lysters carpentry work. The historian, Emmet Larkin, described it as one of the more remarkable achievements in pre-Famine Ireland: The accomplishment consisted in not merely that the cathedral was so aesthetically pleasing in terms of its structure and site, but that such an architectural monument could be raised in what was the poorest part of Ireland and apparently daily becoming even more poor. In 1834, Bishop John MacHale, the dynamic force behind the cathedral, was appointed Archbishop of Tuam and by this time the building was roofed even though there was as yet no glass in the windows! However, MacHale had used his trip to Rome in 1831 to acquire a beautiful new altar as well as 14 Stations of the Cross and other artefacts that were used in time to complete the interior and are still extant to this day. It wasnt until the end of the 19th century, because of the Great Famine and other difficulties not least the perennial poverty of the people, before the cathedral was completed in all about 70 years since the blessing of the foundation stone in 1827. * A fund-raising candlelit concert in the cathedral, hosted by former RTE presenter Eileen Dunne, and featuring Eurovision winner, Eimear Quinn, tenor, Alan McGinty, St Muredachs Cathedral Choir and more takes place on Friday, November 29th, at 8pm. Tickets, priced at 30, are available on line from www.ballinaparish.org or Parish Office at 096 70555. All proceeds go to St Muredachs Cathedral Restoration Fund. By David Young, PA The President of Ireland has led tributes to former government minister Gemma Hussey, who has died at the age of 86. The first female to hold the position of minister for education, the former Fine Gael TD was a strong advocate for womens rights. It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Gemma Hussey this evening. Gemma was a true champion of equality, a trailblazer for female leadership in politics and a dear friend. My heartfelt condolences go to her family and friends. pic.twitter.com/c5hjyRpxTb Frances Fitzgerald (@FitzgeraldFrncs) November 26, 2024 President Michael D Higgins said: A lifelong committed feminist, Gemma Hussey was a passionate advocate and inspiration for the vitally important increase in the number of women serving in our political system. As a dedicated and effective government minister, she set a stirring example of the key role which must be held by women in politics. In introducing aural and oral exams and establishing the National Parents Council as minister for education, she put in place lasting reforms which have benefited all those who have grown up in Ireland in the succeeding decades. Throughout her career, she remained true to her principles and advocated for social reforms at a time when not all of the causes she supported were popular with all parts of Irish society. Gemma Hussey was a pioneering presence for women in politics as the first female Minister for Education. Read my statement here... https://t.co/cmyCIQtfbK via @rte pic.twitter.com/zHJ6kKhSCI Norma Foley T.D (@NormaFoleyTD1) November 26, 2024 President Higgins said that after her departure from the political front line, Ms Hussey remained an incisive commentator and an always valuable voice on the political system. May I express my deepest sympathies to Gemmas children Rachel, Ruth and Andrew, and to all her family, friends and former colleagues, he added. Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris called her a trailblazer. He noted she was Fine Gaels first female cabinet member. Gemma was a passionate progressive for womans rights, education reform and Irelands place in the world, particularly the potential of European Union membership, he said. Gemma was a TD for my own native Wicklow, where her long service and delivery is remembered to this day. But above all Gemma was a patriot, a Fine Gael stalwart and a kind and generous person. I was one of the people lucky to enjoy her company, her advice and her good humour. To all of her family, colleagues and friends, l am truly sorry for your loss. May she rest in peace. Current Education minister Norma Foley also paid tribute, describing Ms Hussey as a pioneering presence for women in politics. She was a courageous and determined politician who showed the way for women at the highest level in politics, said the Fianna Fail minister. She was highly regarded for the work she did in steering and guiding the development of the Irish education system. Reading, PA (19601) 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. JERUSALEM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to take decisive measures against Hezbollah fighters entering border villages where Israeli troops may still be active. In a statement, Katz highlighted the recent infiltration of Hezbollah members into the Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila, instructing the military to respond "forcefully and without compromise" to such incidents. He further emphasized the need to prevent Hezbollah members from accessing areas in southern Lebanon where the IDF has restricted movement. IDF troops will remain stationed in parts of southern Lebanon as outlined in the ceasefire agreement, which takes effect Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). The IDF has announced that it will notify civilians when it is safe to return to their villages in southern Lebanon, following the withdrawal of its forces under the agreement. TEHRAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the cessation of the Israeli "aggression" against Lebanon. In a statement released by the ministry on the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which took effect Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), Baghaei expressed Iran's "decisive" support for the Lebanese government and people, stressing the necessity to immediately stop the war against Gaza and Lebanon. He noted that Israel's "warmongering and crimes, which have had the all-out support of the United States and certain European governments," have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and the displacement of millions of people in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The ceasefire agreement was approved by Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night, the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement. According to the deal, the Lebanese army will take control of the territory near its border with Israel over the next 60 days and Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from the region. NAIVASHA, Kenya, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has witnessed a sharp decline in terrorist attacks and violent extremism countrywide amid heightened vigilance by communities and security personnel, senior officials said Wednesday. Raymond Omollo, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, noted that in the last two years, the threat of terrorism in Kenya has subsided, though sporadic cases of improvised explosive device attacks in counties neighboring Somalia remain a concern. Security agencies are on high alert to thwart terrorist attacks ahead of the festive season, Omollo told a forum in Naivasha, a resort town about 90 km northwest of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. He said that enactment of punitive legislation, combined with public awareness and retraining of security officers, will be key to nipping violent extremism and banditry in the bud. Kibiego Kigen, the director of the National Counter Terrorism Center, said several counties have rallied behind the prevention of violent extremism model bill to help eradicate the vice. "We have partnered with the Council of Governors and the County Assembly Forum in supporting this critical bill as part of addressing terrorism issues," Kigen said. KABUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 450 individuals who were drug users have made a full recovery and rejoined their families after receiving treatment at a rehabilitation center in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, the office of Deputy Minister of Interior for Counter-Narcotics said in a statement on Wednesday. After a three-month medical treatment and rehabilitation, as well as receiving professional and vocational training in areas such as car repair, electrical appliance maintenance and plumbing, the recovered addicts have been reunited with their loved ones, the statement added. Meanwhile, 40 people struggling with drug addiction have been shifted to drug rehabilitation centers in northern Balkh and southern Helmand provinces for treatment, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement. The Afghan caretaker government has banned poppy cultivation and drug trafficking in an effort to keep the nation from drug menace and addiction. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has seen increases in both inter-regional trips and cargo throughput at ports in October as pro-growth policies are taking effect, official data showed Wednesday. Some 5.84 billion inter-regional trips were made last month, up 6.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Transport. In the first ten months of 2024, the number of inter-regional trips climbed 5.5 percent year on year to 54.93 billion, the data showed. The country's cargo throughput at ports climbed 3 percent year on year to 1.53 billion tonnes last month. Specifically, foreign trade cargo throughput at ports rose 5.5 percent from a year ago. The commercial freight volume increased by 3.9 percent year on year to 5.02 billion tonnes in October, while road cargo rose by 4.2 percent year on year. Fixed-asset investment in China's transport sector amounted to 3.06 trillion yuan (about 425.1 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-October period, according to the ministry. BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to facilitate cross-border travel, welcoming people from all countries to visit and experience its diverse charm and share in its development dividends, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday. Mao made the remarks at a recent daily press briefing when asked to comment on China's increasing popularity among foreign tourists and the country's expanding visa-free travel policy. She said that China has implemented visa exemption policies for 38 countries since the end of last year and now has comprehensive mutual visa exemption policies with 25 countries. It has also taken measures to make work and life more convenient and comfortable for foreigners resident in China. Chinese cities and provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong have improved their mobile payment, bank card and cash services, as well as services that increase the ease of online shopping and transportation for foreign visitors, Mao said. She also noted that Chinese telecom operators have improved foreign services and launched new packages to make it more convenient for foreign visitors to access 5G networks in the country, and that administrative authorities in various Chinese cities have opened special, one-stop services windows through which foreigners can handle their work and residence permits more easily. China welcomes people from all over the world to experience its charm and share in the dividends of its development, she said. 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... BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent congratulations to a UN meeting held on Tuesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Noting that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East issue and concerns international fairness and justice, Xi said the pressing task is to comprehensively and effectively implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions to end the war as soon as possible and ease the regional situation. The fundamental way out is to implement the two-State solution and promote the political settlement of the question of Palestine, establish an independent Palestinian state enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and ensure the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence and their right of return, Xi said. Xi stressed that China has always been a staunch supporter of the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, and has always supported all Palestinian factions in strengthening unity and implementing the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity to realize internal reconciliation. China firmly supports Palestine in becoming a full UN member and supports the convening of a more broad-based, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference, Xi added. Xi said that China will continue to work with the international community to end the war and stop the killing, support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Gaza people, and bring the question of Palestine back to the right track of the two-State solution to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement at an early date. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen] BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong here on Tuesday, calling for further synergizing development strategies and boosting bilateral cooperation. Commending the remarkable achievements Singapore made during Lee's tenure as prime minister, Xi spoke highly of Lee's long-time support for China-Singapore cooperation. The two sides established an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership last year, setting a strategic course for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said. Noting that next year will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, Xi called on the two countries to strengthen high-level exchanges, further synergize development strategies, and deepen cooperation in various fields, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to regional peace and prosperity. As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu Province, Xi said the industrial park represents a vivid example of bilateral cooperation and bears witness to Singapore's deep involvement in China's reform and opening up. "China will always focus on running its own affairs well, and has confidence in maintaining sound economic momentum in the long run and achieving high-quality development," said Xi. China welcomes Singapore to continue being a forerunner in cooperation with China, advance major cooperation projects, seize the opportunities brought by digital and green development, and write a new chapter in bilateral cooperation in the new era, said Xi. Xi said that amid risks and challenges, not a single country can be immune, while upholding solidarity, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness is the right path to tread. China is ready to work with Singapore to practice genuine multilateralism, follow the trend of economic globalization, uphold international fairness and justice, reject bloc confrontation and division, and build an Asian community with a shared future, Xi added. Recalling his China visit last year, Lee said the bilateral relations have since been further strengthened, and the meeting of the bilateral cooperation mechanism has been successfully held. He said Singapore has full confidence in China's future, adding that the country will continue deepening cooperation with China and take an active part in Chinese modernization. Lee went on to say that under the current complex international situation, all countries should have a long-term vision and stay committed to multilateralism to jointly address risks and challenges and better benefit the people. The two sides also exchanged views on major issues of common concern, such as China-U.S. relations and the regional situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Xiang] (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Wang Shasha Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen] BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in Beijing on Tuesday, saying China is willing to make empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change a priority in its cooperation with these countries. China will work with Pacific Island countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, uphold fairness, justice and the common interests of the Global South, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi told Mata'afa. Noting that Samoa was among the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China nearly five decades ago, Xi said the two countries have maintained traditional friendship, mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. He said China supports Samoa in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, and exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China will continue to provide assistance to Samoa in its economic and social development, and tap the potential of economy, trade, investment, agriculture and fisheries to achieve common development, Xi said. Xi stressed that China does not attach political strings to its assistance to the Pacific Island countries, and China's policy toward Pacific Island countries is open and inclusive, without targeting any third party or engaging in geopolitical competition or spheres of influence. Mata'afa said Samoa hopes to learn from China's experience in achieving modernization, especially in poverty reduction and green development. Thanking China for its long-time valuable assistance to Samoa, Mata'afa said Samoa firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi. Samoa regards China as an important strategic partner and looks forward to taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year to further advance bilateral relations, Mata'afa said. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Xiang] (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Wang Shasha The 12338 hotline is a nationwide hotline, set up by the All-China Women's Federation, to help women protect their rights and interests. Since the hotline was introduced, in March 2005, women's federations, at all levels across China, have leveraged the hotline to help women address their problems. Shenzhen 12338 Service Center, under Shenzhen Women's Federation, has created new ways to carry out that work. In February 2024, a young, twenty-something woman, named Shanshan, from Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong Province, called the hotline for help. Why? She had a child, with her husband, Zijun, who was grumpy, often violent with Shanshan, and even cut off her access to their child. Shanshan filed for divorce, and she sought and gained custody of the child. Zijun filed an appeal, and continued to prevent Shanshan from seeing the child. "I haven't seen my child for a long time. They won't let me. Please help me," Shanshan pleaded, desperately, during her call to the hotline. Employees with Shenzhen 12338 Service Center paid attention to Shanshan's case. They offered psychological counseling, and they encouraged Shanshan to become self-reliant. After Shanshan calmed down, the hotline's workers explained China's Anti-Domestic Violence Law to her, and they explained what she could do to deal with domestic violence. As Shanshan was facing financial difficulty, Shenzhen Women's Federation asked a legal-aid lawyer to provide free legal services to Shanshan. The lawyer helped Shanshan with her case, and helped Shanshan secure visitation rights to the child. The federation also helped Shanshan find a job, which helped resolve her financial difficulty. In June 2024, Shanshan presented a banner to the service center. It read: "Thank you for your care and legal assistance, your help makes me feel warm." Shenzhen 12338 Service Center has developed a team to help women protect their rights and interests. The team is composed of officials from Shenzhen Women's Federation, members of the federation's executive committee, employees of the federation, volunteers, legal-aid lawyers, and psychological counselors. Among its many functions, Shenzhen Women's Federation provides professional legal services to in-need women and/or children. In September 2022, the federation worked with Shenzhen Lawyers Association to establish a team of legal-aid lawyers tasked with protecting women's and children's rights and interests. During 2023, the team provided 227 legal services, for a combined 1,500 hours of service, and helped women and/or children deal with 557 legal cases. To ensure in-need women and/or children receive meticulous psychological services, the federation transfers phone calls for such services to psychological counselors working in specialized, district-level service stations. In 2024, with assistance from 179 service stations, the federation handled 1,419 phone calls for psychological services, and provided 7,739 counseling and crisis-intervention and/or -evaluation services. In addition, the federation conducted 631 publicity activities. All of the efforts, combined, benefitted 108,800 women and/or children. Shenzhen Women's Federation, by leveraging its 12338 Service Center, and providing professional legal and psychological services, to women and/or children, has solved the group's pressing problems that concern them the most, protected their rights and interests, and promoted social harmony and stability. (Source: Women Voice) Editor: Cui Rui BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Panasonic's annual business policy presentation in 1986 remains unforgettable for Tetsuro Homma, who joined the company in 1985 and now heads its operations in China. The event, hosted in an Osaka gymnasium, marked the first and only time that he saw Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, in person. "At that time, he had difficulty walking and needed assistance to enter the venue, and his speech had to be translated by a secretary. But when he appeared in the gymnasium, there was thunderous applause," recalled Homma, executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings Corporation and group chief executive for China & Northeast Asia. The 130th birth anniversary of Matsushita falls on Nov. 27 this year. Matsushita was among the earliest foreign entrepreneurs to support China's reform and opening-up, actively promoting the business of Panasonic in China, bringing advanced technologies and management experience. He passed away in 1989 at 94. In December 2018, during the 40th anniversary celebration of China's reform and opening-up, Matsushita was posthumously awarded the China Reform Friendship Medal. Matsushita visited China twice, in 1979 and 1980, traveling through 45 cities, according to Panasonic. He keenly realized the importance of young Japanese who understood Chinese language, culture and history for the future development of the group. Hence, in 1981, Panasonic started a program to teach employees the Chinese language, becoming one of the first companies in the Japanese industry to send young employees to study in China. Homma was selected to participate in this program in 1986, when his Chinese fluency was limited to saying "hello." "At the end of the 1980s, during my first visit to Shanghai, Pudong was just empty land, and Puxi had no overpasses. There were hardly any cars on the streets," said Homma, who once doubted the value of learning Chinese. However, by 1994, when he was directly involved in marketing in China, the country had entered a period of rapid development, with vigorous construction everywhere. Reflecting on his experiences over the past 30 years, Homma praises Matsushita's foresight and wisdom in facing the Chinese market. "At Panasonic, Chinese has become the second foreign language after English, and many employees are learning it," he said. "When I joined Panasonic in 1985, the China business accounted for less than 1.5 percent of the group's revenue; today, that figure has grown to 23 percent. Without the growth of the Chinese market, there would be no Panasonic Group today. This is the greatest realization of my career," Homma said. In April 2019, Homma was appointed to take charge of Panasonic's Northeast Asia market. In 2020 and 2021, Panasonic's Northeast Asia business achieved double-digit growth. He believes this was due to developing products tailored to the local market, adding that mutual learning and joint progress with Chinese entrepreneurs have strengthened his confidence in future cooperation. "The number of young people in Japan is steadily declining. This presents a significant challenge to sustaining Japan's R&D capabilities, and I feel a strong sense of urgency to address it. That's why we aim to further nurture Panasonic's Chinese workforce to support our global business," he said. According to Homma, Panasonic has 50,000 employees in China, including 10,000 in research and development, as well as information technology. These teams are responsible for over half of the design, manufacturing and delivery of products for the Japanese market. "I firmly believe they will play an even more critical role in supporting Panasonic's global operations." He noted Panasonic's newly launched ALPHA washing machine and dryer, featuring a button-free design controlled by a single rotary knob, as exemplifying this success. "The entire project was led by a group of dynamic, young Chinese professionals. It took less time to move from concept to market, and I couldn't be prouder of their achievement," said Homma. "In the past five years, we've worked tirelessly to build an 'In China, For China' strategy. Moving forward, Panasonic's Chinese team is committed to developing a team that serves not just China but the global market," Homma said. "With China's robust supply chain and highly efficient R&D capabilities, we are confident that these efforts will not only meet local demand but also drive Panasonic's global growth," he added. A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) JIUQUAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) A modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket carrying two test satellites blasts off from a commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 27, 2024. China on Wednesday successfully launched the modified ZQ-2 Y-1 carrier rocket into space. The carrier rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent two test satellites into planned orbits. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) Last month, a motion by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was discussed in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt to mark the double anniversary of the Bauhaus UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025 and 2026. In it, the AfD condemns the Bauhaus and its history as an aberration of modernism and calls on the state government to reject a one-sided glorification of the Bauhaus legacy and instead to establish a serious and cultural-historical overall picture in a critical debate that illuminates all aspects of the Bauhaus. Bauhaus school building by Walter Gropius in Dessau The AfD is not interested in a critical examination of the Bauhaus, which has existed for a long time. The motion is evidence of their provincial backwardness and ignorance when it comes to the history and impact of the Bauhaus and aims to turn the debate on art and culture in the direction of a national cultural heritage, as the director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation put it. Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, the AfD Saxony-Anhalt parliamentary groups cultural policy spokesperson, who formulated the Bauhaus motion, is categorised as belonging to the extreme right wing of the AfD. Another AfD parliamentary group motion on education policy points in the same Nazi blood and soil direction: Future needs originstrengthening homeland and national heritage in the curriculum is its title. The motion An aberration of modernism criticises the alleged historical building sins of the Bauhaus, as its purist aesthetics and functional reduction were often not reconciled with the quality of life of the residents. The emphasis on sobriety and minimalism had often led to impersonal architecture, which was perceived as cold, forbidding and unattractive. Particularly in relation to social housing and public buildings, it can be described as misanthropic. Anyone who is even slightly familiar with the concepts of the Bauhaus knows that its artists and designers focussed on the people whom their products were intended to serve and please. The AfD, on the other hand, complains about an allegedly universal aesthetic that aims to standardise art and design, in which individual and regional characteristics are lost. The radical simplification and functionalisation of the living environment often contradicted traditional and culturally anchored ideas of living spaces and caused alienation of people from their environment. Of course, the tirade also includes side-swipes at communism, which, in the view of the applicants, is epitomised by Hannes Meyer, Walter Gropius successor as Bauhaus director. His concepts of functional housing construction for the needs of the residents were responsible for the ideologisation of art and architecture, which had and could continue to have negative social effects in the long term. The AfD is particularly disturbed by the internationalism of the Bauhaus. The spread of its uniform and interchangeable style has led to a global uniformity and the dilution of regional characteristics. In its choice of words and ideological orientation, the AfDs motion could be taken from the writings of the notorious advocate of traditional pitched roofs and Bauhaus critic Paul Schulze-Naumburg, who espoused a conservative architectural style in the cultural debates of the 1920s and 30s and ultimately ended up with the Nazis with his ideas of popular housing construction based on racial ideology. In 1925, the Bauhaus School of Art, Design and Architecture was forced to give up its first location in Weimar, Thuringia, and move to Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt, not least because of Schulze-Naumburgs agitation. In Thuringia, where a state government of the Social Democrats (SPD) and Communist Party (KPD) had been deposed by the Reichswehr (Imperial Army) in November 1923, an arch-conservative minority government came to power in 1924, whichfor the first time in Germanywas tolerated by the Nazis and other nationalist members of parliament. It withdrew funding from the Bauhaus. Dessau, an industrial and working-class town, gave the Bauhaus a fresh start and enabled it to develop creatively. The most famous Bauhaus buildings to this day were constructed therethe Meisterhauser (Masters Houses), the large school building designed by Walter Gropius with its grandiose glass front, a large housing estate and the arboretum houses. Bauhaus Meisterhaus in Dessau The achievements of the Bauhaus in all its diverse fields of work continue to have an impact to this day and have survived the hostile attacks of right-wing conservatives, Nazis and Stalinists through to post-modernist currents. Despite the fascination it still arouses today, however, there can be no question of glorifying the Bauhaus, as the AfD insinuates. For many years now, the Bauhaus has also been the subject of critical academic research into its historical complexity and contradictions, its many different forms and its historical development. This year, for example, an exhibition in Weimar highlighted the entanglement of Bauhaus members with National Socialism (Nazism). Many of them had continued their careers under the Nazis or adapted to them in order to secure their existence. However, the Nazis were by no means unanimous in their assessment of modernism at the beginning. There was a wing of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) that held modern architecture and contemporary art, even Expressionism, in high esteem, which did not prevent it from being ostracised as degenerate art. More than twenty Bauhaus representatives ultimately lost their lives in the Nazi concentration camps. Many others, including Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe, were able to flee abroad. The latter had also initially tried to get involved with the new rulers. Why is the AfD so angry with the Bauhaus? It is not just the modern design that this art school developed and propagated, or the simple, functional architecture that largely characterised the 20th century. Rather, it was the interaction of all forms of artistic work and the creative power that could unfold in the collective work of the Bauhaus teachers and students, which represented an alternative to the eclecticism and individualism that prevailed in the profit-orientated cultural sector of capitalism. The equality of all types of creative labour and their logical interlocking within the modern world order, as Gropius once defined the basic idea of the Bauhaus, stands for a progressive concept of art that is diametrically opposed to that of the AfD. It is this artistic aspiration with which the Bauhaus confronted the needs and problems of society, and it is still a contemporary and forward-looking approach today to place art and design at the service of a human society striving for peace, solidarity and equality. The Bauhaus was founded in the revolutionary spirit of optimism after the First World War. The fact that it developed into a myth of the 20th century and still fascinates people today is not least due to the fact that it was not a place where artists, designers or architects could only realise themselves and shape their students in their own image. Its creativity, which can be seen in the exhibits in the Bauhaus museums, stemmed not least from the pedagogical concept, which went back to Walter Gropius and was interpreted in different ways, but the main features of which were adopted by very different artists and architects. It was no coincidence that the founding manifesto of the Bauhaus was adorned with a cathedral drawn by Lionel Feininger, the Cathedral of Socialism. Bauhaus Estate Dessau-Torten The state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt rejected the obviously nonsensical AfD motion, although the fact that the Bauhaus buildings in Dessau attract well over 100,000 tourists from all over the world every year certainly played a role, as Barbara Steiner, the director of the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, pointed out. It was not the first attack by the AfD on cultural institutions that do not correspond to its backward-looking, German nationalist world view and from which it would withdraw funding if it were in a position to do so. In the Suddeutsche Zeitung, Peter Laudenbach, its Berlin theatre critic, warned against the AfDs right-wing cultural campaign against works of art and cultural institutions. Although such AfD motions had not yet had any influence on government action, the depictions of a bogeyman were not without consequences: After the AfD polemicised against a festival for new music in Saxony-Anhalt and submitted motions to cut funding for the Maxim Gorki Theatre and the Friedrichstadtpalast in Berlin, the respective artistic directors received death threats. Laudenbach seems to assume, however, that the other parliamentary parties are seriously opposing the AfD. But they too are increasingly focussing their policies on nationalism and militarism and are making massive cuts in the cultural sector. These are hitting the independent cultural scene in particular, especially social and multinational projects. Cultural workers, academics and students who condemn the genocide in Gaza are already being persecuted and discriminated against under the slanderous accusation of antisemitism. The cuts in the cultural sector, a consequence of the pressure to slash costs in favour of the military budget, are being justified with arguments that are also put forward by the AfD. A widely publicised online petition calling for a general election in Britain is a right-wing political initiative. As of writing, it has gathered more than 2.7 million signatures. There are any number of legitimate reasons to demand a general election. Starmers rabidly militarist and right-wing Labour government is launching war against nuclear-armed Russia, backing genocide in Gaza, supporting Israels military assault on Lebanon, persecuting and deporting refugees in record numbers, and imposing brutal austerity on millions. But the petition has nothing to do with opposing any of these crimes. Petition to Call a General Election [Photo: Screenshot: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions] Started by pub landlord Michael Westwood on Saturday, the petition has been promoted by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and fascist oligarch Elon Musk. The petition calls for a general election because the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election. Westwood voted Conservative in the general election and has told TV news anchors that the Conservative government ran a steady ship on Brexit, the pandemic, and war in Ukraine against Russia. He owns three pubs in the West Midlands and has condemned the governments 6.7 percent increase to the minimum wage and 1.2 percent rise in national insurance contributions paid by employers. He has welcomed support from far-right circles. Michael Westwood (right) being interviewed on the right-wing Talk TV show [Photo: Screenshot: Talk TV] Richard Tice MP, deputy leader of Reform UK, tweeted his support for Westwoods petition early Sunday morning: Lets make this the biggest petition ever. Farage shared the petition a few hours later. Britains right-wing tabloids, led by the Express and Daily Mail, leapt on board with articles promoting the viral election petition. Muskappointed by fascist President-elect Donald Trump to head a Department of Government Efficiency, earmarking $2 trillion in spending cutstweeted his support for the petition: The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state. Westwood described Trumps election victory as inspiring, telling the Express: 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. The petition certainly highlights widespread opposition to Starmers government, elected barely five months ago on just 33 percent of the popular vote. Starmers support has plunged further since, by 49 points, giving a net approval rating of -38. It is the biggest post-election fall for a new prime minister in modern British history. Nevertheless, as the New Statesman reports, the overwhelming majority of signatories are not [from] population centres, nor cities but rural, shire England. A heat map captured on Sunday from the UK governments petition website shows North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Essex deep red, with the Statesmans statistical analysis showing this is a Reform petition. As of writing, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and other major cities have recorded significantly fewer signatures than elsewhere. But Labour voters and others have signed the petition in growing numbers, citing a range of concerns, from Starmers militarist escalation against Russia, to the governments nakedly pro-business austerity measures. This testifies to significant political confusion enabling far-right forces to capitalise on broad social anger and distress. Central responsibility for this dangerous political vacuum rests with Jeremy Corbyn and his allies who have blocked the development of an organised left-wing and socialist opposition in the working class. Britains complacent middle class pseudo-left organisations continue to furnish Corbyn with socialist credentials even as he reiterates his opposition to a mass socialist party to challenge and defeat Starmers right-wing, militarist government. Jeremy Corbyn speaking at a rally in London , February 3, 2024 Corbyn has maintained silence on Westwoods petition. To comment would highlight the dreadful consequences of his own abject surrender to Starmers government, handing political initiative to the far-right. Corbyn and his backers (the Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Party, Revolutionary Communist Party) all called for a vote for Starmers government (outside of the few constituencies contested by candidates protesting the Gaza genocide). In stark contrast to Corbyns political prostration, the underlying sentiment in the working class has shifted to the left. Ipsos polling in September-October found 73 percent of the British public support an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, with 81 percent citing concern for Palestinian civilians. Musks promotion of the Westwood petition shows how Trumps election victory is being used to strengthen far-right tendencies in Britain, including Reform UK, Tommy Robinson and similar fascist dregs. Corbyn would sooner watch this growth of political reaction than risk galvanising mass working class opposition to the Labour government and British capitalism. The most important task facing genuine socialists is to uphold the political independence of the working class and to elaborate a socialist programme to oppose the drive by imperialism to world war, mass austerity and dictatorship led by the Starmer government. The most reactionary response to such right-wing populist initiatives as the Westwood petition is to obscure the class lines. This is and always will be the preserve of George Galloway. Galloway has seized on the petition, describing it on his talk show as The most remarkable petition ever launched in the history of the British Isles. He continued: Some fools complain about the provenance of the petition. They dont like the fact that Nigel Farage of the Reform Party are heavily prominent in it Who cares who started the petition? It has captured the zeitgeist. The only zeitgeist Galloway is interested in capturing is that found in the sewer. His X feed is a torrent of posts promoting economic nationalism, anti-immigrant scapegoating, religious backwardness and fascism. His frequent retweets from Elon Musk, Sahra Wagenknecht and Steve Bannon are interspersed with posts denouncing the Gaza genocide, NATOs war on Russia, state censorship and Labours alliance with the super-rich, offered as part of his advocacy of a left-right alliance against the Globalist elite. George Galloway presenting his talk show on March 5, 2023 [Photo: screenshot from video/Goerge Galloway/YouTube] Galloways histrionics about Westwoods petition are absurd. He has apparently forgotten the Chartist movement (1836-1848), that mass movement for democratic and social reform described by Leon Trotsky as the genuinely proletarian revolutionary tradition of the British working class, presenting in condensed and diagrammatic form the whole gamut of proletarian strugglefrom petitions in parliament to armed insurrection. But if we limit ourselves to online petitions, Galloway is still wrong. The largest online petition in British history is the 2019 petition calling for a second referendum on Britains exit from the European Union. It gathered 6.1 million signatories, including over 4 million in just 48 hours. Internet traffic was so high the governments website crashed multiple times. The Socialist Equality Party called for an active boycott of the Brexit referendum in 2016, describing the Remain and Leave campaigns as both headed by Thatcherite forces that stand for greater austerity, brutal anti-immigrant measures and the destruction of workers rights. We upheld the unity of British workers with their class brothers and sisters worldwide, advocating the United Socialist States of Europe. Galloway stood at the forefront of efforts to promote Thatcherite Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg as freedom fighters. Galloway trumpeted his political alliance with then UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, declaring that Britains finest hour was during World War II When we all went forward togetherMr. Churchill and Mr. Atlee and Mr. Bevan Thats what we are doing here tonight. Mr. Farage and me Left, right, left, right, forward march. Galloways support for Brexit served to embolden the far-right in the UK and across Europe, while weakening the political defences of the working class. As the SEP warned, those advocating a Left Brexit were aiding a right-wing stampede: Having helped release the genie of British nationalism, they are politically responsible for its consequences. Opposition in the working class toward the Starmer government and its agenda of world war and mass austerity is deepening. It will take explosive forms, sooner rather than later. But everything depends on establishing the political independence of the working class, firmly opposing its subordination to reactionary class interests, as part of the worldwide struggle for socialism. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka are holding a public meeting entitled, Elections in US and Sri Lanka: Political lessons for the working class, at the Mahaweli Center in Colombo at 4 p.m. on December 7. The election of fascist Donald Trump as US president marks a political earthquake with far-reaching consequences in the US and globally. His election was the result, not of any popular support for his openly fascist policies, but of the bankruptcy of the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate Kamala Harris who maintained an open contemptuous disregard for the burning social issues confronting the vast majority of workers and youth in the US. Trumps election underscores the utter degeneration of the American democracy and a turn by the ruling class towards autocratic forms of rule. During the election campaign, Trump openly declared that he would act as a dictator once he takes office. Trump will establish a government of, for and by the financial oligarchy to carry out a social counter-revolution against the working class and targeting his political opponents, above all socialists and Marxists. He is nominating a cabal of fascists and billionaires as well as his aides and acolytes to fill all the top positions in his administration. Trumps installation is taking place amid the escalation of US-led wars in Ukraine against Russia and in the Middle East, as well as advanced preparations for US conflict with China that are morphing into a global war. Trump has rapidly ditched his anti-war posturing of the election campaign and continues this reckless plunge towards nuclear Armageddon. The US working class will not passively accept Trumps massive attacks on its social and democratic rights, setting the stage for major clashes with the new administration when it takes office on January 20. The only means for defeating fascism, ending the dangers of world war and defending social and democratic rights, is through the independent mobilisation of the working class in the US and around the world in the fight for socialism. That was what the SEP candidates for US president and vice-presidentJoseph Kishore and Jerry Whitecampaigned for against both the Democratic and Republican candidates, as well as the various other capitalist parties and their pseudo-left apologists. Similar processes are underway globally, including in Sri Lanka. The coming to power of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led (JVP) National Peoples Power (NPP) government bears striking similarities with the election of Trump. The JVP/NPP is in no sense a socialist or Marxist party, but is deeply rooted in Sinhala chauvinism and the defence of Sri Lankan capitalism. Its fascistic tendencies, already evident in its murderous patriotic campaign in the late 1980s against the Indo-Lanka Accord, will come to the fore as it seeks to impose the diktats of big business and international finance capital. Working people did not vote for the right-wing, pro-capitalist policies that the JVP/NPP will implement. Rather, Dissanayakes victory reflects the intense popular hatred for the countrys traditional ruling parties and the desperate hope that he will somehow alleviate the suffering already faced by broad masses of the population. These illusions will be quickly exposed. The JVP/NPP has already jettisoned its campaign promise to renegotiate the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and agreed to implement its drastic austerity measures in full. These will include further tax hikes on workers, cuts to health and education spending, and the wholesale restructuring and privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), threatening 500,000 public sector jobs. Dissanayake is preparing the state apparatus to crack down on the inevitable working-class opposition. He has already ditched the election pledge to abolish the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. At the same time, he has signalled the further integration of Sri Lanka into the war preparations of US imperialism throughout the Indo-Pacific against China. Like its sister party in the US, the SEP in Sri Lanka intervened in the presidential and parliamentary election to politically prepare and mobilise workers for the class battles ahead. Its candidates fought for the political independence of the working class from all bourgeois parties and their pseudo-left apologists on the basis of a socialist program against war, austerity and dictatorial methods of rule. As part of its fight to unite workers in Sri Lanka and internationally, the SEP opposed the communalist and chauvinist politics that permeates the entire Colombo establishment. We urge all workers and youth wanting to fight fascism, war and austerity to attend our public meeting to discuss the urgent tasks that confront the working class in the wake of the US and Sri Lankan elections and the socialist and internationalist strategy necessary to fight for the interests of working people. Date & Time: Saturday, December 7, 4 p.m. Venue: Mahaweli Center, Colombo Bar-headed goose wing flapping in Hadinaru lake, Mysore [Photo by Vinay bhat / CC BY 4.0 The panzootica pandemic in animal speciesof the highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 of avian influenza is cutting a swathe through wild and domestic bird populations internationally, and has now jumped into numerous mammalian species, including humans, several times. The virus has spread to every continent except Australia, where scientists estimate it may arrive in the southern hemisphere by spring via migratory birds from Antarctica. Scientists have warned that bird flu poses an enormous danger of a human pandemic, which could easily dwarf the devastation wrought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 903 people have become infected with H5N1 since 2003. Of these, 463 died, a lethality rate of 51 percent. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with a much lower infection fatality rate, has killed over 27 million people. If a bird flu pandemic does develop, it would likely have a catastrophic impact globally. Most strains of avian influenza found in wild bird populations have a low pathogenicity (LPAI) with no ill effect on the infected animals. There are two highly pathogenic strains (HPAI), H5 and H7 that are extremely lethal. The virus that has reached panzootic levels and is of most concern is H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. A clade consists of viruses that have a common ancestor. Dr. Michelle Wille [Photo: Doherty Institute] In a comment titled, Chickens, ducks, seals and cows: a dangerous bird flu strain is knocking on Australias door, senior research fellow at the Doherty Institute Dr. Michelle Wille maps the development of the panzootic from its first detection in a goose in China in 1996. The virus became established in wild bird populations and poultry, where it killed most of the birds it infected. It is spread through the migration of wild birds. By 2003, the virus had become endemic in poultry in Southeast Asia. In an important communication by H. Chen et al., from the Joint Influenza Research Center at Shantou University in China and published in Nature in July 2005, H5N1 virus outbreak in migratory waterfowl, presciently warned that the virus constitutes a major pandemic threat to humans. The communication described a mass-death event that occurred on 30 April 2005 of mostly bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) at Qinghai Lake in western China. By May 4, bird mortality was more than 100 per day. By May 20, approximately 1,500 birds were dead. The authors warned that the virus had the potential to migrate over the Himalayas. Chen et al. stated, There is a danger that it might be carried along the birds winter migration routes to densely populated areas in the south Asian subcontinent, a region that seems free of this virus, and spread along migratory flyways linked to Europe. This would vastly expand the geographical distribution of H5N1. In fact, this is what occurred, with the virus spreading to Europe and Africa in 2005. In 2014, the virus again entered Europe and then spread to North America, and in 2016 it re-entered Africa. In 2020, a major shift occurred when outbreaks in wild birds and poultry increased dramatically. Dr. Wille stated, In 2021, reports streamed in of mass mortality events in Europe and the virus rapidly travelled the world. The world was in the grip of a panzootic a global pandemic in animals. By October 2021, the virus crossed the Atlantic and reached North America. A year later the virus travelled the length of South America. In October 2023, the virus was detected in brown skuas, scavenging birds in sub-Antarctic islands. In February this year, it was detected in Antarctica. The avian influenza virus is made up of a single strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA) with a genome consisting of eight gene segments. The virus can evolve very rapidly as it has a huge propensity to mutate. When one virus is in a host cell also occupied by another type of virus, it can acquire genes from the other virus in a process known as reassortment, giving the virus the potential to make great evolutionary leaps. Although the avian influenza virus is mostly restricted to birds, the H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has infected numerous mammal species including humans. This has usually occurred in scavenger species when it eats a dead infected bird. When the virus crosses over into non-avian species, which is known as a spillover event, this increases its chances of evolving to enable infection within the species. The more times this occurs, the greater the probability. The H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b is known to be very lethal, with the panzootic killing a huge number of wild birds, poultry and mammals. Some bird species may have been driven to the edge of extinction. An assessment by Ashley Banyard and his team at the Influenza and Newcastle disease work group, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, United Kingdom, published in an OFFLU bulletin in December 2023, Continued expansion of high pathogenicity avian influenza H5 in wildlife in South America and incursion into the Antarctic region, outlined the devastating impact in South America. Although the virus only arrived in South America in October 2022, within one year it had killed 597,832 birds of at least 82 species and 50,785 mammals of at least 10 species, with most of the deaths occurring in Peru and Chile. Most of the mammals killed were South American sea lions (Otaria byronia), with approximately 32,000 deaths, and southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), with approximately 17,000 deaths. This gives a glimpse of the horrific slaughter of wildlife internationally, most likely in the millions. The next step was the sub-Antarctic islands where the virus was detected in October 2023 in the South Georgia part of the Scotia Arc among several bird species. The first bird found with the virus was the brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) although numerous other infected species have been found since. A microscopic photo of H5N1 Bird Flu virus (gold). [Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] A groundbreaking paper published in Nature in April 2022, Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk, shows that climate change increases the probability of spillover events in which dangerous viruses come into contact with human populations, thereby increasing the risk of pandemics. This occurs when animals that naturally harbour viruses are driven from their natural habitats due to the ravages of climate change. Importantly, scientists have determined that the genetic changes in the bird flus genome, that have accelerated the development of the panzootic, have been driven by climate change. A comment by wildlife ecologist Diann Prosser at the Eastern Ecological Science Center located in Maryland Laurel US and her team, published in Nature Microbiology in November 2023, titled, Climate change impacts on bird migration and highly pathogenic avian influenza, stated that Climate change patterns appear to parallel an unprecedented global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). They note that Three HPAI expansion events demarcating spread from a source region to a new, previously uninfected continent have coincided with EWEs (extreme weather events) and an increased amount of virus in the source region. In 2005, the avian influenza spread out of Asia and was followed by increased outbreaks in Asia that were associated with extremely low temperatures in Europe and earlier frosts that altered the migration of wild birds. In December 2014, the H5N8 virus spread from Asia to North America, with a large expansion of outbreaks preceding Super Typhoon Nuri that moved up the coast of Asia and across the Bering Strait to the North American Pacific Flyway. The expansion of H5N1 to the Americas, following the 20212022 winter transatlantic introduction of H5N1 from Europe to North America, was associated with cyclone storms in this period. Prosser et al. continued, writing: Phylogenetic analyses have shown high virus sequence identity between source and introduction regions, supporting the hypothesis of wild bird dispersal of HPAI, whether from natural migration patterns where species from cross-continent wintering grounds share breeding locations (for example, Iceland or Bering Strait region), or from rapid EWE-induced vagrant bird movements. The current outbreak in US dairy cows poses an enormous threat to human populations. This threat is being expanded by the US ruling elites program of trashing basic public health measures in the interests of big business with the continuing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Forever COVID is being expanded to avian influenza, but with even more lethal consequences if it becomes a pandemic. The US dairy cattle outbreak was first detected in March and has now extended to 15 states across 650 dairy cattle herds. The inexorable spread of the virus is shown in California, the largest dairy producer in the US, where 248 cattle herds have been affected just in the last month. The recent detection in Oregon of the H5N1 strain among pigs this October raises very serious concerns, as pigs are known to harbour numerous viruses and, as well, present the virus with a rich environment for reassortment. Over 40 humans have been infected so far in the US, mostly people who were in close contact with cows. In Canada, a previously healthy teenager has now been hospitalized for over a week with H5N1, requiring a ventilator in order to breathe. Principled scientists are raising the alarm. The editorial of the npj viruses journal published in May stated: Further adaptation of HPAIV H5N1 to cattle must be prevented. Stringent measures such as testing regimes (e.g. via bulk milk diagnostics), strict transport controls, quarantine measures and optimized milking hygiene must be implemented. In addition, much more basic epidemiological data is needed . It should also be considered that the most efficient virus shedding cows should be isolated or even euthanized. A Science journal editorial published in July, titled, Stop H5N1 influenza in US cattle now, raised the alarm and warned, Although the H5 2.3.4.4b virus seems poorly optimized for infection or spread in humans, with fewer than 20 cases since 2016, influenza leaves no room for complacency. However, these appeals are falling on deaf ears. Official complacency is a vast understatement. Indifference and even a eugenicist-style welcoming of the consequences of a devastating pandemic are more apt descriptions of the sentiments dominating in ruling circles. Even such basic requirements of testing and sequencing of viruses infecting affected animals is not being done in anywhere near a timely or rigorous manner, meaning scientists are flying blind to the scope of the virus. The developing avian influenza panzootic and the growing possibility of a pandemic bring to the fore the existential questions for humanity of climate change and the destruction of public health, both of which must be stopped in order to control the growing threats. President elect Donald Trumps recent selection of anti-vaccine zealot Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as his appointment of Great Barrington Declaration co-author Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and television doctor Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), alongside other vicious opponents of public health to fill out the health agencies, clearly demonstrates that public health will be further eviscerated for the interests of big business, neutering the potential of science to solve these crucial questions for the future of humanity. Although principled scientists are raising the alarm, they are powerless to effect any change by themselves. In order to meet these challenges, the working class must unite with these principled scientists to fight for a socialist program to defend the health, safety and future of humanity. DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group and allied factions launched a major attack on Syrian military positions in western Aleppo on Wednesday, a war monitor reported. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, HTS and factions from the al-Fatah al-Mubin operations room advanced in western rural Aleppo, seizing control of strategic points in Qubtan al-Jabal and Sheikh Aqil near the 46th Regiment. The attack was marked by intense exchanges of artillery and rocket fire between government forces and HTS-aligned factions. Syrian government forces shelled the rear positions of the factions around the city of Atarib, Darat Izza, and surrounding villages, the observatory said, adding that a Russian warplane also conducted airstrikes using vacuum missiles. There were no immediate reports of casualties. On Tuesday, the western countryside of Aleppo witnessed a significant displacement of civilians from Atarib and nearby villages, driven by HTS military buildups near the front lines, according to the observatory. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly the Nusra Front, is considered a terrorist organization by Syria, Russia, and several other countries. On Wednesday, November 6, Facebook announced the suspension of the World Socialist Web Site in Portuguese page based upon the concocted accusation of falsification of identity, which it specified as: Creating a Page or profile that appears to belong to a brand or company or Pretending that a Page or profile has commercial relationship to a company, celebrity or public figure. Notice from Facebook on the removal of the WSWS in Portuguese page. [Photo: Facebook] Clearly, none of these claims apply to the WSWS in Portuguese page. The page was created in 2019 by supporters and readers of the WSWS in Brazil and had close to 900 followers. Its activity was dedicated to sharing Portuguese-language articles posted on the World Socialist Web Site, and it accordingly presented itself under the news and media website category with a link directing its readers to the WSWS Portuguese site. Facebook did not bother to indicate any specific activity that supposedly violated its policies. Despite claiming that its decision to suspend the page was open to challenge, our pleas have resulted only in the indefinite removal of the page without further explanation. In an appeal by email to Facebooks administration sent on November 12, WSWS writer and the pages administrator Guilherme Ferreira wrote: Since the creation of the page [in 2019], our activity has maintained the same pattern, with publications from the World Socialist Web Site and others related to the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), which is responsible for the WSWS. The relationship between the WSWS and the ICFI, in turn, can be seen in the pages presentationThe WSWS, published by the ICFI, is the political voice of international socialismand has been since its creation in the description of the pages profile photo. For all these reasons, we would once again like to appeal Facebooks decision to remove the World Socialist Web Site em Portugues page and have it reinstated. We would also like further clarification on the suspension and removal of the page that took place last Wednesday, November 6, because, as we said, they happened without any basis. Ferreiras appeal remains unanswered. This act of brazen censorship was taken at a point of extreme escalation of the global political crisis in which the WSWS represents a unique source of political insight and perspective. As the imperialist governments are taking ruthless decisions that escalate the risk of global nuclear war, as the worlds bourgeoisie resort to fascism and dictatorial forms of rule, and as brutal economic shocks face the working class in every country, the suppression of sources of critical information and socialist ideas becomes a life-and-death issue for the capitalist oligarchy that controls Facebook and other mass social media. Specifically concerning Brazil, the shutdown of the WSWS Portuguese Facebook page coincided with the aftermath of municipal elections that revealed a massive rejection of a political establishment that is evolving sharply to the right. It directly preceded the revelation of explosive information about the fascist dictatorial conspiracy involving former President Jair Bolsonaro and a network deeply ingrained in Brazils military, a threat about which the WSWS and the Socialist Equality Group (GSI) has systematically warned the working class as it was downplayed and stifled by the official media and political parties. Facebooks censorship of the WSWS in Portuguese page is an anti-democratic attack that represents a dangerous precedent against socialist and independent political thinking throughout the world. We urge workers and youth and all left-wing and democratic organizations to publicly denounce this arbitrary act and demand that Facebook reverse it. In an article in the Washington Post on November 15, international health officials expressed alarm over the global impact of the appointment of outspoken anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) as President-elect Trumps nominee to head the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at campaign event in November 2023. [AP Photo/Meg Kinnard] As the WSWS has noted, among Trumps far-right cabinet selections, the nomination of Kennedy, who has no scientific or medical background, is the most brazen so far. No other individual could be less qualified or more inadvisable for this position, the WSWS declared, akin to placing Al Capone at the head of the Department of Justice. Kennedy is an anti-vaccination zealot and has also opposed pasteurization, water fluoridation and other long-established scientific practices. He has questioned federal agencies charged with vaccine production and safety, promoted false claims linking vaccines to autism and challenged official lists of recommended vaccines for children. He founded and chaired one of the most prominent anti-vaxx groups, Childrens Health Defense (CHD), a multi-million dollar superspreader of online anti-vaccine misinformation. The Washington Post article, headed Global health experts sound alarm over RFK Jr., citing Samoa outbreak, delivered a blunt warning about the dangers Kennedy poses, pointing to his interference in the Pacific Island nation of Samoa prior to a devastating 2019 measles epidemic. Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma, director general of Samoas Health Ministry, told the Post that Kennedy will use his position to empower the global anti-vaccine movement and may advocate for reduced funding for international agencies. He warned that Kennedy will be directly responsible for killing thousands of children around the world by allowing preventable infectious diseases to run rampant. Samoas disastrous measles epidemic was first declared by the government of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi in October 2019, after cases spread from a wave of infections in New Zealand. The disease exploded in Samoa: in a population of 200,000, more than 5,700 were infected and 83 died, almost all of them young children. Hospitals were overrun and a state of emergency declared. In December, police were deployed to impose a nationwide quarantine as the epidemic ran out of control. A massive vaccination campaign was belatedly launched but the government faced mounting public anger over its failure to prevent what was an entirely foreseeable and preventable outbreak. Relatives of children who died maintained the authorities must have known that people were at grave risk of infection but had failed to act. Tuilaepa blamed the victims mindset, telling the media the people had a lackadaisical attitude. In fact, Samoa was warned repeatedly to improve measles vaccination rates several months before the arrival of the epidemic. According to Radio NZ, in March 2019 the World Health Organisation and UNICEF had identified Samoas extremely low vaccination rates as a key risk amid the global resurgence of measles. Samoas low immunisation levels were exacerbated by a medical mishap in July 2018 that killed two babies, prompting widespread distrust in vaccinations. Two nurses were prosecuted and jailed for negligent manslaughter after mistakenly diluting the powdered vaccine with a dose of anaesthetic instead of water. Following the deaths, the countrys vaccine program was placed on hold, while vaccine opponents, including Kennedys CHD, spread misinformation, exploiting the deaths to question the safety of vaccines. The vaccination rate for newborn children plummeted from the 60-to-70 percent range to just 31 percent in the year prior to the outbreak. In this environment Kennedy turned up in Samoa, four months before the measles outbreak, agitating against vaccinations. He met with anti-vaccine advocates, publicly supported them and lending credibility to those responsible for vaccine hesitation among Samoans. Kennedy and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, were treated like royalty, travelling in a government vehicle, meeting officials and joining Tuilaepa among other distinguished guests at the countrys 57th Independence Celebration. The World Health Organisation (WHO), while not naming names, declared that anti-vaccine groups had been stoking fears with a social media campaign, noting that this is now being measured in the lives of children who have died in the course of this outbreak. Kate OBrien, director of the WHO immunisation department, told the Guardian that misinformation about vaccines had a very remarkable impact on the immunisation program in Samoa. According to Mother Jones, last July 2 Kennedy acknowledged his trip had been arranged by a prominent Samoan anti-vaxxer, coconut farmer Edwin Tamasese, and paid for by CHD. Its purpose, he claimed, was to discuss with officials the introduction of a medical informatics system that would allow Samoas health officials to assess, in real time, the efficacy and safety of every medical intervention or drug on overall health. This would include questioning the value of vaccinations. Tamasese was subsequently arrested and charged with incitement against a government order. He had described the vaccination program as the greatest crime against our people and absurdly claimed vitamin C could cure infected children. Samoas Communications Minister Afamasaga Rico Tupai told TVNZ: The anti-vaxxers unfortunately have been slowing us down. On a CHD blog post, Kennedy later called Tamasese a medical freedom hero and dismissed the outbreak as mild. While in Samoa, Kennedy met with Taylor Winterstein, a prominent Samoan-Australian influencer. On Instagram, Winterstein wrote: I am deeply honoured to have been in the presence of a man I believe is, can and will change the course of history. In a cynical pitch to the deeply religious Samoan community, she declared Kennedys visit was divinely timed and added hashtags used by anti-vaxxers. As the death toll rapidly escalated, the anti-vax advocates doubled down on lies about the cause and promoted bogus cures. Kennedy wrote to the Samoan government, calling on the health ministry to determine, scientifically, if the outbreak was caused by inadequate vaccine coverage or alternatively, by a defective vaccine. The anti-vaxx campaign also spread across the Pacific and into New Zealand where the outbreak originated. Thousands of people in the southwestern Pacific, where poverty and poor health are endemic, contracted the disease. New Zealands outbreak was the worst in 20 years, with 2,014 notified cases between January and November. Of these, over two-thirds were in South Auckland, home to large Pacific Island populations. Helen Petousis-Harris, a New Zealand vaccinologist, told the Associated Press in October 2023 that the crisis of low vaccination rates and scepticism in Samoa had created an environment that was ripe for the picking for someone like RFK to come in and assist with the promotion of those views. Local and regional anti-vaccine activists took their cues from Kennedy who, she said, sits at the top of the food chain as a disinformation source. The anti-vax operators had amplified the fear and mistrust, which resulted in the amplification of the epidemic and an increased number of children dying. Speaking to the Washington Post, Lawrence O. Gostin, a leading expert in public health law at Georgetown Law, declared he had never seen a darker day for global health than after the election of President Trump. Citing the incoming administrations hostility to science as well as scepticism of vitally important public health interventions and antipathy toward international agencies such as the WHO, theres going to be a huge assault on international cooperation in global health, he said. Gostin also warned that if countries can no longer trust that our scientists are experienced and wise, and that theres [not] politics intertwined with science, therell be no gold standard to look toward. Petousis-Harris added that small countries such as New Zealand relied on big and powerful US regulatory agencies. No way could we go through the same process independently for the same medicine. I dont think people realize how vital that is, she explained. Kennedys nomination is proceeding unchallenged, even as dangerous new strains of COVID-19 are circulating globally, along with a highly infectious bird flu. His elevation to head the HHS will, the WSWS has warned, represent a massive social retrogression, akin to sending the United Statesthe worlds richest capitalist countryback to the Middle Ages. To that can be added, not only the US but the entire world. On November 19, during the last day of his official visit to the Philippines, outgoing US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin posted on X that he had visited the Command and Control Fusion Center on the island of Palawan where he met with some American service members deployed to US Task Force Ayungin. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, right, greets United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Philippines Western Command (WESCOM) in Palawan Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. [AP Photo/Philippine Department of National Defense] Over the past year, Washington has deployed medium range missiles to the Philippines, committed $US500 million dollars in additional military funding, pledged to double investment for basing US forces in the country, and has directly supervised armed confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea by drones. Every action has openly targeted China. Task Force Ayungin is yet another provocation, directly integrating Philippine maritime activity in the disputed South China Sea under the coordination of the Pentagon. Even the name of the joint task force is immensely provocative. Ayungin is the Philippine name for a disputed atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal, known to the Chinese as Renai Jiao and to the Vietnamese as Bai Co May. It is claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Washington has long maintained the pretense that it takes no stance on claims of territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea and postures as being concerned only with the defense of freedom of navigation. Washingtons actual interest is neither the freedom of sea traffic nor any particular territorial claim, but preparing for war with China. Under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines, former colony of the United States, is serving as a leading proxy in US war plans in the region. The Second Thomas Shoal, where the rusting hulk of a World War II US naval vessel was grounded on a submerged reef, is at present the most dangerous flashpoint in the geopolitically volatile South China Sea. In 1999, the Philippines scuttled the BRP Sierra Madre on the atoll, creating a low budget military outpost against China. Less than a dozen Philippine marines are stationed there. By diplomatic manoeuvre and military deployment Washington has brought tensions over the South China Sea to the brink of armed conflict, particularly between the Philippines and China. Manilas routine missions to rotate personnel and resupply the BRP Sierra Madre turned into sharp confrontations, even collisions, with Chinese Coast Guard vessels. On June 17, a Philippine Naval vessel and a Chinese Coast Guard ship deliberately collided during a resupply mission. Several Philippine sailors were injured in the collision and one lost his thumb. The Chinese coast guard boarded the Philippine ship and confiscated the sailors weapons. Alarmed at how close to war the confrontations were becoming, Manila and Beijing negotiated an agreement for the regular peaceful resupply of the BRP Sierra Madre. China stated that it did not object to provision of basic supplies, provided that no additional construction materials for the shoring up and improving of the decrepit facility were delivered. In other words, Philippine troops could be peacefully sustained on the ship until it collapsed into the South China Sea. Washington, however, sought not the maintenance of the status quo, but the continued creation of the architecture of war. US drone pilots operating from basing facilities occupied by US troops under the terms of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) have been secretly participating in the dangerous resupply missions for the past year, providing aerial coordination, and almost certainly military command, and footage of the confrontations for the press. The collision on June 17 occurred under US coordination. Stars and Stripes reported that a command force of US marines deployed in Northern Australia were given a warning order to prepare to support the Philippine mission. Washington is on the brink of a direct military confrontation with China. Task Force Ayungin institutionalizes the apparatus for such a confrontation. Within a week of the resupply agreement between China and the Philippines, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson visited the Philippines Western Command (Wescom) on the island of Palawan, the nearest major island to the Second Thomas Shoal and much of the South China Sea. Wescom houses the Antonio Bautista Airbase, which is one of the sites designated for US basing under EDCA. US troops at Wescom began overseeing the training of Philippine soldiers for rotation and resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre. These are the arrangements that have now been named Task Force Ayungin. The only reason to conduct this military activity, given the resupply agreement between China and the Philippines, is to prepare for the improvement and development of the existing military structures on the Second Thomas Shoal and the deployment of additional troops there. Washington is deliberately undermining a fragile peace deal and instigating what will entail direct armed conflict in the South China Sea. While Carlson oversaw the Wescom developments, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Manila at the end of July and pledged $US500 million in additional military funding to the Philippines and announced that the US would be doubling its investment in basing facilities under EDCA. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin travelled to Wescom where he unveiled a number of new unmanned surface drones, four MANTAS T-12 USVs, and at least one T-38 Devil Ray supplied by Washington as part of the funds announced by Blinken. The T-12s can carry a payload of up to 64 kilograms and, according to US Naval News, can conduct surveillance, swarming operations, and electronic warfare. The T-38, over 11 meters long, carries a payload of nearly 2,000 kilograms. The US has supplied similar drones to the Ukrainian Navy for use in the Black Sea. Austin pledged that the US would deliver many more platforms like this to the Philippines. A Filipino reporter asked Austin if these integrated military activities would continue under the incoming Trump administration. Austin replied that he could not speculate about this. After the press conference, Austin tweeted his announcement of Task Force Ayungin. The outgoing Biden administration is establishing facts on the ground by a giving public name to the apparatus of war it was constructing against China. Through Task Force Ayungin, Washington is overseeing and directing the confrontations with China. The collisions and brinkmanship in the South China Sea over the past several years have originated in the Philippines and have been instigated by Washington. They are poised for escalation. At a minimum Task Force Ayungin will coordinate the schedule of confrontation, synchronizing Manilas resupply missions with Washingtons larger geopolitical machinations. It will train the military personnel for ensuing confrontations and collisions. Such training will likely include preventing ships from being boarded, possibly by use of arms. US drones will fly over the missions, providing aerial coordination and command. Embedded reporters will be sent on the military provocations to breathlessly document the conflict and the supposed aggression of China. Sources involved in and close to the transition team of fascist President-elect Donald Trump warned CNN last week that they will pursue an aggressive strategy toward Latin America. Nicolas Maduro at August 2024 election campaign rally [Photo by Confidencial/Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 This would reportedly include a reactivation of catastrophic economic sanctions against Venezuela to oust the government of Nicolas Maduro. One source said that, in order to force countries to take back migrants and otherwise comply with US diktats, Everything is on the table. Once the president re-establishes credibility and consequences, its not something taken lightly Trumps selection of Florida Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state gives more than a hint of what is on the table. Under Trumps first term, Rubio was one the architects of the maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on Venezuelas oil sector that starved the country of needed foreign reserves to buy food and medicines, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and millions of refugees. At the time, Rubio insisted that a US military intervention had to be considered, claiming to the fascistic publication Breitbart that the Maduro regime has become a threat for the region and even the United States. While Trumps cabinet is full of like-minded war hawks against China, Rubio represents a faction of the political establishment particularly concerned with securing control over the largest oil reserves in the world located in Venezuela, and other strategic resources and geostrategically vital positions in Latin America in preparation for escalating the military and economic conflicts globally. This is what he meant when he said during a Senate hearing in 2022, We simply cant afford to let the Chinese Communist Party expand its influence and absorb Latin America and the Caribbean into its private political-economic bloc. That would leave our country worse off and ensnare the people of Latin America and the Caribbean into a generation of suffering and repression. So Im hopeful that our nation will begin to address this threat head on and seriously revitalize our engagement in the region. More recently, Rubio was a vocal opponent of the agreement reached between Caracas and the Biden administration to organize Venezuelas July 28 presidential elections in exchange for temporary exemptions to sanctions, even though it was clearly a US ploy with plans to allege fraud regardless of the result. Last week, rejecting the declaration of Maduro as the winner by Venezuelan election authorities, Bidens secretary of state, Antony Blinken, declared on X that the US-backed candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, had won resoundingly and was president-elect. The day before, the US House of Representatives approved with bipartisan support a bill banning the US government from dealing with any individual or entity with commercial links to Caracas, freezing new Venezuelan assets and imposing other sanctions. It will now go to the Senate. These latest moves set the stage for a major escalation of the conspiracies to oust Maduro on the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20. In 2019, the first Trump administration had similarly declared US puppet Juan Guaido as interim President, but failed to rally the Venezuelan military leadership to carry out a coup to place him in office. The CIA gang around Guaido nonetheless stole Citgo, the valuable US subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company, and organized the failed landing of a mercenary force led by an ex-Green Beret to kidnap the Venezuelan leadership. Gonzalez and his Unitary Platform have failed even more miserably than Guaido at instigating a coup; however, from Blinken to Rubio, US imperialism knows only the language of economic devastation, subversion and war to counter its falling economic hegemony. Demonstrations of any significant size against the alleged election fraud by Maduro in July lasted only a handful of days. By September, Gonzalez had signed a cowardly statement acknowledging his election defeat to avoid an arrest warrant and was allowed by the Venezuelan authorities to flee the country aboard a Spanish Air Force plane. The fascistic leader of the US-backed opposition coalition, Maria Corina Machado, whose candidacy was disqualified by the courts and who also faces arrest warrants, recently told the New York Times that she avoids stepping outside of her hiding place supposedly within Venezuela. The election of Trump has nonetheless emboldened the hopes of the coup plotters in Venezuela for an even more nakedly neo-colonialist approach. Machado applauded Trumps selections of Rubio for secretary of state and representative Mike Waltz for national security advisor, indicating that their teams are in permanent contact. Maduros ouster, she argued, would be an enormous foreign policy victory in the very, very short term for the Trump administration. Machado, who has long advocated for US sanctions and a foreign military intervention, has also been working closely with the Argentine government of fascist President Javier Milei in preparing provocations against the Maduro administration. Like Milei, she belongs to the fascistic Madrid Forum and advocates vast privatizations, social cuts and the naked rule of the financial oligarchy. Since Saturday, Machado and the Milei administration launched a campaign claiming that the Venezuelan police sieged the Argentine embassy where six of her closest confidants have sought asylum. Gonzalez Urrutia, after being feted for two months in European capitals, announced last week that he plans to return to Venezuela to be inaugurated as president on January 10, the constitutional date for the transition of power. For his part, President Maduro called Blinkens decision ridiculous and insisted that he won the elections and plans to begin his third term on January 10. As usual, reflecting the subservient interests of the Venezuelan capitalist class that he represents, Maduro has combined demagogic bluster with appeals to the incoming Trump administration. On Thursday, Maduro said that the US-backed opposition wanted to carry out a coup and warned: Do not underestimate the Venezuelan people because we have here in Venezuela and on this continent our popular, military and police fusion. You will regret it. The same day, he announced a new chapter of his governments powerful alliance with Iran without providing any details. Maduro had also congratulated Trump for his victory and called for a win-win situation, adding absurdly that I did not hesitate for a second to solidarize myself, and to wish him good health and a long life when the fascist billionaire faced two assassination attempts. Of course, Trump would not only solidarize himself with any assassin of Maduro but will likely raise the price on his head. In fact, a member of Trumps inner circle is Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of military contractor Blackwater, who launched Ya Casi Venezuela, a fundraiser for bribing Venezuelan military officials or others to detain or kill the Venezuelan leadership. Undoubtedly this was a topic of discussion when Prince attended Trumps Mar-a-Lago Resort earlier this month for the Conservative Political Action Committee gala, which starred Argentinas Milei. Five days later, Prince wrote on X: Leave now criminals or face unmerciful judgment We @yacasivenezuela are like Santa Claus. We are making a list and checking it twice. Soon the Free people of Venezuela will remember who's been naughty and who's been nice. Important note below: after January 10 you are just criminal targets and retain zero diplomatic protection. He tagged Maduro, his wife, Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and Attorney General Tarek William Saab. The second Trump term will be overseen directly by oligarchs who want to lift all restraints on employing the resources of the American state to recolonize the world at the service of Wall Street and crush opposition abroad and at home. During a recent interview, Prince advocated for putting the imperial hat back on, to say, were going to govern those countries [incapable of governing themselves], glorified Israels pager explosion terrorist attack in Lebanon and denounced the American military-intelligence apparatus for becoming too risk-averse. Elon Musk, the main sponsor of Trumps campaign, brazenly celebrated the 2019 coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia, writing: We will coup whoever we want. His company Tesla has major stakes in the worlds largest lithium reserves in Bolivia now controlled mainly by Chinese companies. In the days since it was revealed that a Sydney high school has taken disciplinary action against a student for wearing a Keffiyeh to his year-12 graduation, opposition has been voiced by students and workers. The boy of Palestinian descent had worn the traditional scarf at the event marking the end of his studies at Condell Park High School, a working-class school in south-western Sydney. School officials demanded he take it off and then banned him from his formal, which is being held tomorrow night. The boys family has filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleging racial discrimination, demanding an apology and an overturning of the sanction on the boy attending the formal. As an International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) statement this week explained, while the growing restrictions on the Keffiyeh are unquestionably racist, much more is involved. This is part of an attempt to outlaw widespread opposition to the Gaza genocide and the complicity of the Australian government. More broadly, there is a bid to clamp down on anti-war and oppositional sentiment, amid a descent into war everywhere, including Australias frontline role in the US-led preparations for a disastrous conflict with China. Students and supporters protest outside Condell Park High School on November 26, 2024 Up to 100 people attended a protest outside Condell Park High School yesterday, condemning the attack on the boy and demanding that it be overturned. A statement was read on behalf of the boy by one of the speakers. It explained: I wanted an apology and to be allowed to attend the formal. This request was sent to the school, the department and the minister. The response came over three weeks later, in a letter from the departments lawyers, they said that the school had done nothing wrong. They also said that in order for them to allow me to go to the formal, I had to agree not to wear my keffiyeh at the formal and to drop any and all claims against the school and the department. The statement is both courageous and highly revealing. It demonstrates that what is involved is not simply overzealous school officials, but a deliberate policy from government and the state apparatus. The minister referred to by the boy would be Prue Car, who not only holds the education portfolio, but is also the deputy premier, i.e., the second highest figure in the New South Wales (NSW) Labor government. That government has been at the forefront of a clampdown on hostility to Israels mass murder of the Palestinians, including with attempts to ban protests, major police mobilisations and even raids targeting anti-genocide activists. The NSW Labor administration, in turn, is collaborating closely with the federal Labor government. It has virulently attacked the mass opposition to the historic war crimes, while assisting them politically, diplomatically and organisationally. The widespread opposition to the attack on the boy has evidently triggered something of a crisis for the NSW authorities. The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar had offered to meet with the boy and his family. An anonymous department spokesperson told the Herald that the education bureaucracy was working towards a resolution to enable all students to celebrate their achievements at the school formal in a safe, respectful and harmonious environment. That is a doubling down. If the education authorities told a Jewish student that he could not wear a yarmulke because it might offend others, they would rightly be denounced as racist. The suggestion that a Palestinian scarf could threaten safety and harmony is no different. Members of the IYSSE participated in the protest, calling on students to turn to the working class, including teachers, in a fight against authoritarianism, the genocide and the broader eruption of imperialist militarism. They explained that to secure a decent future, young people must take up the fight for a socialist alternative to the deepening capitalist barbarism. A parent at the school told the IYSSE: I am a mother of a student at Condell Park High and I witnessed the student go up on stage wearing his heritage on his shoulders and I am a mother that also has Palestinian heritage. Both my parents are Palestinian, both grandfathers are Palestinian, one had to leave for Lebanon, and here we are now, still fighting for it. My daughters here today wearing her great-grandfathers keffiyeh. Schools have been told that they are to be impartial. Even at my time working at other schools, students were told they could face-paint, but they werent allowed to have anything Palestinian. How can you be impartial about genocide? You cant. How can you shut up to it? Other students got up on that stage that day, showcasing their heritage, wearing whatever they wanted, feathers, capes etc. Nothing was said to them. I know last year a student got up holding a Samoan flag, nothing was said to him. So why has this Palestinian issue happened? Were not being antisemitic; we are not against anyone thats Jewish. Its their religion. As a Muslim, I respect their religion, I expect my religion to be respected as well. Theres a major difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Do not get them mixed up. A student said: This is a Lebanese area. Its in a population where the majority of people are Arab. There are Palestinians, Lebanese, Muslims and Arabs. They take away our right to acknowledge our pain at whats happening in Palestine. Its horrible. Her friend added: There are so many things at our school that are wrong but to deliberately ban someone for supporting their culture? The student was at the school for 5 years and they ban him from the formal over a piece of cloth that has such a deep meaning. But they cant stand for it. Why? Because they are supporting genocide? On Monday, the IYSSE campaigned in Condell Park, alerting residents to the nearby attack on civil liberties. There was substantial anger. Kate, an early childhood education worker, said: Were migrants ourselves, so were really up for multiculturalism and social equality. It doesnt matter what your background is, it doesnt matter what culture youre from, youre supposed to be respected here, free to express yourself and your opinion. Were worried for our children as well, because in the future they might face this. We have our own cultural dress that they might want to wear. What are they going to do? We thought Labor was more to do with humanitythis is not something wed expect that Labor would do. Deniz, who works in security, said: Its completely crazya year 12 kid! Wheres the democracy? For this to affect a 17-year-old attending a graduation is absolutely ridiculous. Its very extreme. If the keffiyeh is a sign of antisemitismits very dangerous for a government to say that. Whenever they bring antisemitism to any formula, everything stops. People need to be allowed to express their feelings, in a peaceful way of course. The protests have gone on for 13 months and nothings happened. Did they impact on the government, on policy change? No. Because the government is very firm on what they stand for. Sarah, said: Every individual has the right to dress and express their thoughts as they please, and represent their culture or religion or any identity however they want. Its an end-of-year function, that student has the right to wear what he feels comfortable in. If you discriminate against one group, then it becomes a domino effect on everyone else. Although Sarah was really surprised that this happened here, where its 90 percent Middle-Eastern culture, she agreed that the working class was targeted in the crackdown on democratic rights. Minh, a third-year electrical apprentice, said: I had no idea of this happening. To me, its just unbelievable. Its not acceptable. The kid should be allowed to represent his ideas instead of being punished like this. Ethically, its wrong. The formal is a once-in-a-lifetime event, its a very big deal for a 17-year-old. To defend democratic rights, fight genocide and war and build the socialist movement, we urge students and youth to contact the IYSSE today. Get in touch with the IYSSE: Email: iysseaus@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/IYSSEaustralia Twitter: @IysseA Instagram: @iysse.aus On Monday, felony grand jury charges filed against President-elect Donald Trump over his role in the failed January 6, 2021 coup were dismissed by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan following a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith. This was followed on Tuesday by a federal appeals courts dismissal of the case against Trump regarding his withholding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Special counsel Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington. [AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin] In addition to those cases, Trumps sentencing regarding the hush money case in New York has been indefinitely delayed, as has Trumps criminal case in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state. On November 18, the Georgia Court of Appeals announced that it had canceled arguments set for December 5 concerning Trumps efforts to kick Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis off the case. Neither Willis nor the Court has given a formal explanation for the cancellation. In sum, Trump will face zero repercussions or jail time for any of the felonies for which he has either been convicted or indicted. In his filing calling for charges against Trump to be dismissed, Smith pointed to Trumps reelection and wrote that since 1973, ... the position of the Department of Justice is that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting President. But while that might be the position of the DoJ, there is, in fact, no law or constitutional stipulation that prevents it from continuing the case. Smith wrote that he consulted with the Departments Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to see if they had altered their position. This attempt to provide a legalistic cover for an abject capitulation ignores the nature of the charges against Trumpthe first president in US history to organize a coup to overturn a national election and seize power as president-dictator. Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. [AP Photo/Julio Cortez] Smith wrote that 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. In other words, the top Biden administration lawyers, including presumably Attorney General Merrick Garland, told Smith not to prosecute Trump. This is of a piece with Attorney General Garlands two-faced approach to holding Trump accountable. Garland did not appoint Smith as special counsel to investigate Trump over his efforts to overturn the election until November 2022, nearly two years after the attack and well after hundreds of low-level fascist foot soldiers had already been indicted and convicted for their crimes. Smith added that the while the prohibition is categorical, it 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. Smith concluded his filing by asking that the charges be dismissed without prejudice, which Judge Chutkan granted. Without prejudice means that the case could, theoretically, be revived after Trump leaves office (assuming that he does leave office), although several of the charges will have exceeded the statute of limitations. More importantly, the glacial pace at which the courts and the DoJ moved against Trump following the coup attempt testifies to the indifference of the American ruling class to the defense of the democratic rights of the population. The fact that Trump is free to return to the White House four years after the attack on the Capitol is entirely the responsibility of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Prior to, during and after the attack, the number one priority of the Democrats was not to expose and hold to account Trump and his fascist co-conspirators throughout the Republican Party, on the US Supreme Court, and within the military-intelligence-police apparatus but to forge a national unity behind an agenda of global war, beginning with the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. The move to dismiss the charges follows Trump and Bidens two-hour meeting in the White House earlier this month. At that meeting Biden discussed with Trump the outgoing administrations plans to intensify the war against Russia, including allowing Ukraine to fire US long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory, to which Trump clearly assented. Emerging from the meeting, he praised Biden and agreed there would be a smooth transition. An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile is fired during a joint military drill between U.S. and South Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. [AP Photo] War is the Democratic Partys main priority. Protecting the population from the threat of fascism, a word that has disappeared from its lexicon following Trumps election, is not its concern. This is why after the coup attempt Biden and then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for a strong Republican Party, even though a majority of the party backed Trumps dictatorial scheme. Following the failed coup, the Democrats did everything they could to cover up the widespread support Trumps scheme had, and retains to this day, within key pillars of the capitalist state. To this end the Democrats, with Republican Liz Cheney at the helm, commissioned the sham House Select Committee on January 6, which refused to investigate and expose Trumps allies in the Pentagon, who deliberately delayed sending troops to the besieged Capitol, and on the US Supreme Court, including Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The dismissal of charges against Trump over his many crimes disproves the claim that the United States has a government of laws, not of men, with Trump standing above the law. In fact, Smiths request for dismissal was foreshadowed by the US Supreme Courts ruling last July in Trump v. United States, which, as the World Socialist Web Site wrote at the time, places the president above the law and effectively transforms the commander-in-chief into a dictator, who can commit crimes with impunity. The Courts decision, handed down by the far-right majority, including three justices hand-picked by Trump, ruled that Trump was immune from prosecution for any official acts he carried out as president. Dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor observed that the court had effectively created a law-free zone around the President. When the president uses his official powers in any way, under the majoritys reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navys Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune, Sotomayor wrote. Julys Supreme Court ruling, like the January 6 coup, was not an aberration. It was rather another chapter in the ongoing and protracted breakdown of the democratic forms of rule in the heart of world imperialism. This process, which has been analyzed by the WSWS for decades, includes the 2000 stolen election for George W. Bush, in which the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling halted the counting of votes in Florida. At the time, the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board observed: The crisis of the 2000 election reflects the growth of social contradictions to such a point of intensity that they can no longer be adjudicated within the existing political and constitutional framework. Most fundamental is the enormous growth of social inequality, which has reached proportions not seen in the US since the 1920s. The division of America between a fabulously rich upper crust and the vast majority of the population is, in the end, incompatible with democratic forms of rule. Inequality in the United States, and with it the attacks on the democratic and social rights of the working class, have only intensified. As of 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the top 10 percent in the United States controlled 60 percent of all wealth, up from 56 percent in 1989. Over the same time period, according to the CBO, the share of wealth controlled by the bottom 50 percent of the population remained stagnant at 6 percent. As the WSWS wrote following Trumps election victory earlier this month, the election of a fascist marks the violent realignment of the American political superstructure to correspond with the real social relations that exist in the United States. The Democrats will not resist this realignment but seek conciliation with Trump in the service of genocide and imperialist war. The fight to defend democratic rights requires a break with Trumps enablers in both parties and the independent mobilization of the working class against the capitalist systemthe source of war, fascism and inequality. On November 13, the Paris prosecutors office demanded a five-year prison term, a 300,000 fine and five years ban on participation in elections against Marine Le Pen over her partys use of European parliamentary assistants to do party work. This transparently political decision aims to keep Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election. No advance will emerge in the struggle against fascism, genocide and war from such a decision. This struggle require the mobilization of the working class against imperialism and the capitalist state machine. Nothing of the kind is involved here. There is no need to sympathize with Le Pen to see that the prosecutors decision is anti-democratic. It is an insult to millions of voters, including many workers, who vote for Le Pen or her National Rally (RN) out of disgust with President Emmanuel Macron or the big business Socialist Party (PS). It reveals the intense factional struggles inside the ruling class amid the escalation of the NATO war in Ukraine against Russia, the Gaza genocide, and Trumps victory in the US presidential election. The courts are not waging a struggle against far-right reaction. They have normalized violent police repression of workers under the control of far-right forces like Frances monarchist interior minister, Bruno Retailleau. The ruling class is setting up a far-right police state regime, with or without Le Pen and the RN. By attacking the RN on this trumped-up pretext, the French capitalist state is above all creating a precedent that will be used against more dangerous opposition, on its left, in the working class. The European parliament brought this suit against the RN because it paid parliamentary assistants of RN legislators with European Union (EU) funds, but these assistants allegedly did not assist the legislators but instead did general party work. As she came out from the hearing, Marine Le Pen spoke to the television cameras to denounce the prosecutor: The only thing that interested the prosecutor was Marine Le Pen and how to demand her exclusion from political life ... and then the National Rally, to try to ruin the party. Indeed, the prosecutor also demanded a 2.3 million fine against the RN. Speaking to TF1 television, Le Pen said, What they are demanding is my political destruction. RN Vice-President Sebastien Chenu denounced a prosecutor who is on a political mission. In a letter sent to RN supporters, RN President Jordan Bardella wrote that the courts want to deprive millions of French people of their vote. As the trial began, one RN official told the media: There were no embezzlement or personal enrichment, unlike in the case of Francois Fillon. It is a debate about the duties of the parliamentary assistant of a member of the European parliament. We think its normal that such a person do politics, work for the party. Its a complicated suit, which most people dont really care about. It is apparent that the Paris prosecutors office has demanded a disproportionate penalty, if one compares this case with the sentences imposed in similar cases that affected other bourgeois parties. In the first months of Macrons presidency, one of his allied parties, the MoDem, obtained several ministerial positions and many deputies in the French National Assembly with substantial numbers of parliamentary assistants. After a six-year investigation, a trial began in October 2023. In February 2024, MoDem leader Francois Bayrou was acquitted, while MoDem officials Michel Mercier, Jean-Luc Bennahmias, Janelly Fourtou, Bernard Lehideux, Anne Laperrouze, Alexandre Nardella, and Jean-Jacques Jegou received suspended prison sentences, fines and bans on running in elections. The MoDem received a fine. There was also Penelopegate, the scandal launched by a January 2017 article in the Canard enchaine weekly that revealed that the wife of Francois Fillon, then a presidential candidate, had been paid as a parliamentary assistant of her husband and of M. Joulaud. This article led to an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor. Initially, in June 2020, Fillon was condemned to five years in prison for embezzlement of public funds, and his spouse to three years suspended sentence for complicity. In April 2024, the Appeals Court confirmed the guilt of the parties involved in the Fillon case. However, it eliminated Fillons sentence, arguing that his prison sentence was not correctly motivated and that he did not necessarily need to reimburse all of the salaries paid to his wife to the Assembly. Behind the treatment of Le Pen, the head of a reactionary neo-fascist party that has been on the final round of the last two presidential elections and could win in 2027, there lie broader political considerations. Le Pen has repeatedly declared her suport for Trump, and her hostility to Berlin and the EU. As the French and European bourgeoisie fears explosive trade conflicts with the United States under Trump, the idea of monitoring Le Pen, either in prison or via an electronic bracelet, no doubt interests many French cops and politicians. The prosecutors actions are not a victory for a defense of democratic rights against fascism. Instead, it will tend to reinforce the sentiment of the RN electorate, reinforced by the demobilization of workers struggles by the union bureaucracy, that the RN is the only genuine opposition party, persecuted by the state. But this only hastens the rise of the RN and the broader ruling elites move to the far right. Indeed, the various trials launched on one or other grounds against Trump, after he organized an attempted putsch by a far right mob on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, did not prevent his re-election this year, as the Democratic Party had systematically downplayed the significance of his attempted coup. The rising influence of the far-right in capitalist regimes around the world confirms that the defense of democratic rights is inseparable from the struggle of the working class for socialism, in France and internationally. Almost three months after state elections in Thuringia, the Christian Democrats (CDU), the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the Social Democrats (SPD) presented a coalition agreement on Friday. If the party committees vote in favour, which is considered likely, CDU leader Mario Voigt will be elected as the states new Minister President in December. The 126-page coalition paper confirms what we wrote in an earlier article about the BSW, a right-wing breakaway from the Left Party, Wagenknechts new party is not an alternative to the establishment parties, but an attempt to build new props for capitalist rule in the midst of the deepest global crisis of capitalism. The Thuringia coalition has agreed on a drastic austerity programme that goes hand in hand with a massive beefing up of the states repressive apparatus and the adoption of the refugee policy of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). As the three parties only have 44 of the 88 seats in the state parliament, they are reliant on the support of at least one of the 32 AfD or 12 Left Party deputies in the event of a vote. The decisive paragraphs of the coalition agreement can be found at the bottom of page 118, in the chapter State budget and finances, where it states that in view of a structural budget deficit of over 1.3 billion euros, we will take immediate measures to consolidate the state budget. With a total budget of 13.5 billion, this means cuts of 10 percent. The debt brake, preventing additional borrowing, is to be maintained. Shifts in the budget and prioritisation of expenditure will be essential in order to set up spending that complies with the debt brake, the coalition agreement states. This means that higher expenditures, e.g., for the agreed recruitment of 1,800 additional police officers, must be offset by additional savings in other areas. The paper does provide for a modernisation of the debt brake and some accounting tricks, such as longer repayment periods for emergency loans. But such measures will not be nearly enough to plug the huge budget gap, let alone finance additional expenditure. Against this backdrop, large parts of the coalition agreement read like a wish letter to Father Christmas. One gets the impression that each party was able to write whatever they wanted into it in order to fool their voters. Yet everyone knew that the promised measures would fall victim to the red pencil. The first chapter, Education, science and innovation, pompously promises to make Thuringia the leading education state in Germany. After-school care fees are to be abolished, all-day programmes expanded and a healthy, warm and free lunch in schools and kindergartens introduced. The recruitment of additional teachers is intended to ensure the basis for 100 percent teaching coverage at all schools. Most recently, ten percent of lessons in Thuringia were cancelled due to a shortage of teachers. Universities, science, culture and sport are also to be promoted, medical care improved and Thuringia strengthened as a state of innovation and growth, of good work and good wages by supporting large and small companies. At the moment, the average salary for full-time employees in Thuringia, in the former East Germany, is around a fifth below the national average. There is not a word in the coalition agreement on the question of how all these promises are to be financed from a shrinking budget. However, the coalition partners are obviously expecting massive resistance if the scam is exposed. There is no other explanation for the great emphasis they are placing on strengthening the state security apparatus and taking action against refugees. The chapter on migration is pure AfD policy. It promises a change of direction in migration policy and aims to divide the working class by scapegoating refugees and asylum seekers for the social crisis and systematically persecuting them. We will create orderly and regulated processes by accelerating the search for people obliged to leave the country who have absconded and by bundling and accelerating appeals in asylum procedures, the coalition agreement states. Persons with little prospect of remaining are no longer to be distributed to the municipalities, but rather held in community centres in the state. People who are required to leave the country should not be entitled to the full amount of social benefits and the limited payment card given to asylum seekers and refugees in lieu of cash benefits should be implemented quickly throughout Thuringia. A centralised state immigration authority is to be created in order to bundle all measures more effectively. The coalition agreement promises that we will reduce irregular entry into Germany and is fully in favour of the Fortress Europe policy. It calls for the expansion of the list of safe countries of origin, in particular to include Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which is turning Europe into an impenetrable fortress, and asylum procedures at the EUs external borders. In order to suppress political and social resistance and to hunt down and deport migrants, the state surveillance and repression apparatus is to be massively upgraded. In addition to the recruitment of 1,800 additional police officers over the next five years, the coalition agreement promises: We will bring the Thuringia police force up to date with additional vehicles and modern equipment, such as digital end devices, body-cams and the testing of the use of remote electro-pulse devices [TASERs] as well as a pilot project for the use of dash-cams. Thuringias Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as the domestic secret service is called, is also to be strengthened. The previous state executive under Left Party politician Bodo Ramelow had originally promised its abolition since it was shown to have set up and financed the far-right structures from which emerged the neo-Nazi NSU terrorist group responsible for numerous murders, and had allowed them to operate for years, with so-called state-financed undercover agents playing a supportive role. But in the end, Ramelow left the domestic secret service intact and merely replaced its top management. Now this right-wing extremist agency is to be given greater resources in terms of personnel, organisation and technology in order to be better capable of acting. The use of undercover agents, as had been widespread in the case of the NSU, is to remain explicitly possible, while the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also to be given access to the internet and phone traffic data of known extremists and the authorisation to conduct online searches. We defend our constitutional state and our democracy against all threats to the free and democratic basic order from extremism, hate crimes and hate speech, whether analogue or digital. We therefore resolutely oppose all forms of extremism through prevention and repression, reads the explanatory statement. This is an undisguised threat against any political opposition. Media coverage of the coalition negotiations in Thuringia focussed primarily on the BSWs demand it distance itself from the war in Ukraine in the preamble to the coalition agreement. At times, conflicts arose between Wagenknecht and the Thuringia BSW chairwoman Katja Wolf, who was satisfied with a weaker formulation. But even on this issue, Wagenknecht has dropped her mask. Although this was always just a symbolic gesture, as foreign and military policy is decided by the federal government, there can no longer be any talk of a rejection of the war or of German arms deliveries to Ukraine. The preamble now only mentions the joint desire for a diplomatic initiative to end the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukrainea formulation that Ukrainian President Zelensky could also accept. With regard to the stationing of new American medium-range missiles in Germany, which the BSW had also called to be rejected, it now states: We take a critical view of stationing and their use without German involvement. The coalition agreement itself is fully committed to a strong Bundeswehr (Armed Forces): We stand by the Bundeswehrs task of protecting Germany and its citizens. We are committed to the Bundeswehr bases in Thuringia. In order to remain a sustainable location for the Bundeswehr, we want to put an end to the backlog of refurbishment work and realise necessary construction projects as quickly as possible. In Brandenburg, where coalition negotiations between the SPD and the BSW are about to be finalised, the BSW is also backing away from its anti-war rhetoric. According to a report in Tagesspiegel, it has given up its demand for an end to the Russia sanctions and its opposition to the establishment of new defence companies and the International Aerospace Exhibition in Schonefeld. The Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Thuringia Association of Family Businesses and the German Confederation of Trade Unions have welcomed the coalition agreement between the CDU, BSW and SPD. They will work closely with the new government to enforce austerity measures against the working class. Wagenknecht founded her party less than a year ago, and it has now entered two state governments. That is a historic record. But its downfall promises to be even more rapid. Rarely before has a party shown its true colours so quickly. Elevenlabs AudioNative Player US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products from day one of his second term as president, unless Washington and Wall Streets continental trade pact partners stop the invasion of America by illegal aliens and drugs. A boy looks through a border wall separating Mexico from the United States Tuesday, November 26, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. [AP Photo/Gregory Bull] Trump has made a similar threat against China, only in that case the levy would be 35 percent. The imposition of Trumps trade war measures would roil the North American and world economy, to say nothing of dramatically intensifying US imperialisms across-the-board economic, diplomatic and military-strategic offensive against China. His trade war targets would be compelled to reply in kind, imposing their own tariff restrictions. This would rapidly plunge the world into a trade war akin to that which erupted in the Great Depression and helped trigger the Second World War. The countries now in Trumps trade war crosshairs are Americas three largest trade partners. In 2023, they accounted for more than $1.32 trillion in US imports, some 45 percent of all US imports, (with Mexico having a 16 percent share, Canada 15 percent and China 14 percent). They also accounted last year for over $820 billion (41 percent) of US exports, double the share that went to the European Union. These figures only begin to suggest the extent to which Canada, the US and Mexico are highly economically integrated and the immediate and massively disruptive impact the imposition of tariffs would have on production chains, workers jobs and consumer prices in all three countries. For both Canada and Mexico, the US is far and away their largest trade partner. More than three-quarters of all of Canadas exports go to the US. The percentage is even greater for Mexico. In threatening to impose punitive tariffs, in defiance of the provisions of USMCA (the successor to NAFTA) and World Trade Organization rules, Trump is signaling to the world that he will ruthlessly pursue the predatory interests of US imperialism against both those designated as strategic rivals and Americas ostensible allies and partners, with wanton disregard for all legal constraints. This Tariff, declared Trump in a Monday afternoon statement, will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Canada is in many respects Washingtons closest imperialist ally. Yet Trump, blithely threatened to crash its and Mexicos economy by way of a social media post on his Truth Social platform. By threatening his USMCA partners with trade war, Trump is seeking to extort concessions on trade, investment and access to energy resources that will increase the wealth and strengthen the geo-strategic position of the US capitalist oligarchy. He and his America First acolytes also want to bully Ottawa and Mexico City into bringing their border security and foreign policies more in line with Washingtons aims and interests, and in Canadas case make it commit hundreds of billions more to future military spending. Trumps tying of his trade war threat to his rabid denunciations of an alien invasion is not just a means of providing a bogus pseudo-legal pretext for him to impose tariffs, citing national security clauses in trade law that, prior to his first administration, were rarely if ever deployed. He wants to compel Ottawa and Mexico City to provide unstinting political and logistical support for the war on immigrants that his administration intends to unleash from the very first day, with the stated aim of deporting millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom have lived in the US for decades. This anti-immigrant witch-hunt is central to Trumps entire fascistic agenda. It is to serve as the pretext for deploying the National Guard and military to Americas major cities to suppress protests that will inevitably erupt as his administration implements its plans for a social counterrevolution, including $2 trillion in budget cuts, tax cuts for big business and the super-rich, and the removal of all regulatory restraints on capital. Trump and his advisers also clearly see the war on immigrants as an integral part and lever for advancing their plans to create a Fortress North America, with militarized external and internal borders, and directed both against American imperialisms foreign rivals and, to use Trumps words, against the enemy at homethat is, the working class. On entering the White House in 2017, Trump threatened to scuttle NAFTA entirely. Then, through brinkmanship negotiations with Ottawa and Mexico City, he refashioned it into USMCAa commercial bloc that is both more transparently under US hegemony and more explicitly directed at waging trade warfirst against China but also against Europe, Japan and other powers. Trumps tariff threat has spooked Canadas Liberal government and the entire capitalist elite. On Monday evening Prime Minster Justin Trudeau telephoned Trump to placate him and had what his aides insist was a good conversation. An emergency House of Commons debate is to be held Tuesday evening, and a meeting of the prime minister and all 10 provincial premiers will convene Wednesday. The response of Canadas imperialist bourgeoisie to the increased pressure being placed on it by its US partners and rivals will be to lash out still more aggressively against the working class at home and in pursuit of its predatory interests on the world stage. On Tuesday, Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada will intensify its collaboration with the US Homeland Security Department and is considering providing the RCMP and Border Security Agency with more resources, including more helicopters and drones. Even before Trumps latest threats, the Canadian ruling class had spelled out the need for a radical shift to the right to ensure Canada was behind Trumps wallsas the Globe and Mail, the traditional voice of the financial elite, put itand remained competitive. This class war agenda includes: intensified austerity, corporate tax cuts at least equal to those made by Trump, a doubling of military spending within the next four years, and other measures helpful to Washington. Leading Canadian politicians have also been calling for Canada to seek a separate bilateral trade deal with Trump at Mexicos expense. This has been accompanied by angry denunciations from Liberal ministers that Mexico is serving as a backdoor for China to penetrate the North American market. In Mexico City, the reaction to Trumps tariff threat has been similarly panicked. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pleaded that Mexico is already doing Washingtons bidding. Despairingly, she has pointed to her governments efforts to limit Chinese imports, deployment of troops to block hundreds of thousands of migrants from making their way to the US border and collaboration with US authorities to stanch the drug trade. Workers in the US, Canada and Mexico must unite in a common struggle against North Americas twin imperialist powers and their Mexican bourgeois clients to defend the jobs and democratic and social rights of all, and in opposition to the wars the US and its imperialist allies, Canada included, have instigated in a drive to repartition and plunder the planet. Whatever the conflicts between North Americas rival ruling classes, they stand united in seeking to place the full burden of capitalisms systemic crisis onto working people. The mobilization of the working class and the forging of its fighting unity requires an unrelenting struggle against the reactionary national-based trade union apparatusesfrom the AFL-CIO and the UAW in the US to the CLC and Unifor in Canada. They have systematically divided the working class along national lines with reactionary campaigns to defend Canadian and American jobs, and are fully integrated into the war plans of imperialism. It also demands that workers urgently take up the defense of immigrant workers, unequivocally opposing the scapegoating and victimization of immigrants, be it by Trump, Trudeau, the Quebec ethno-chauvinists or the Mexican authorities. With world capitalism descending into trade war, the cesspool of rival chauvinisms and war, more than ever the watchword of the working class must be Workers of the World, Unite! JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal by a vote of 10-1. The ceasefire takes effect on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). The Lebanese army will take control of its territory over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home, according to the deal. In a televised speech ahead of bringing the draft to his cabinet for a vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "set Hezbollah back decades" through the war and vowed to strike the Lebanese armed group if it violated the ceasefire deal. The ceasefire deal, brokered by the United States and France, will provide the conditions needed for a return to calm in Lebanon, said U.S. President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a joint statement on Tuesday, pledging to work together to ensure the deal is fully implemented. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he welcomed the ceasefire deal, according to a statement released by the Council of Ministers, Lebanon's cabinet. STRATEGY RETUNED? The ceasefire deal could bring temporary stability to the region and possibly pave the way for negotiations with Hamas, said Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Netanyahu's strategy toward Hezbollah differs from his approach to Hamas. While the goal with Hamas involves its complete destruction -- both militarily and in governance -- Israel's objective with Hezbollah is to push its forces back from the northern border and weaken its operational capacity, he said. A ceasefire with Hezbollah may allow Israel to concentrate its military efforts on the ongoing war in Gaza and the dismantling of Hamas, as well as to achieve a hostage deal with Hamas, he added. At this stage, Israel seems to have decided that Hezbollah has been weakened sufficiently, and there's no point in pursuing an all-out campaign to eliminate every last Hezbollah fighter, said Eitan Shamir, managing director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. However, Shamir was pessimistic about a broader peace deal in the Middle East happening. "It's worth noting that the war in Lebanon is not just a direct conflict with Hezbollah; it's also an indirect confrontation with Iran...This ceasefire, in a sense, represents a de-escalation with Iran," he said. BROADER PEACE ON HORIZON? The ceasefire deal has fueled speculation about the prospects for peace in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 44,000 Palestinians as of Tuesday, according to figures released by Gaza-based health authorities. "The conflict in Gaza is far from over. Much work remains to find a resolution there, but this ceasefire may enable Israel to divert resources and attention toward concluding its campaign in Gaza," said Shamir. "A deal in the north might give Netanyahu more freedom to act in the south. It's a matter of waiting to see how things unfold," said Eyal Zisser, a Middle Eastern affairs expert at Tel Aviv University. "In any case, achieving a ceasefire in Lebanon must come first, followed by Gaza," he noted. Just hours before Netanyahu's television speech, Israel launched intense airstrikes on central Beirut, targeting several neighborhoods and sparking widespread panic, according to local media. TV footage from local TV channel Al Jadeed showed civilians fleeing the targeted areas by car and on foot, causing traffic jams and further chaos across the city. Less than six hours before the ceasefire was expected to take effect, air defense sirens were sounded in several areas in northern and central Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces said the sirens were activated following the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon, which the Israeli Air Force successfully intercepted and no casualties were reported. CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani held talks in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss joint efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Egyptian presidency. During the meeting, they also discussed efforts to release hostages and detainees, as well as the delivery of relief aid into the Gaza Strip, the statement added. They stressed the importance of concerted efforts to support the Palestinian people and preserve their legitimate rights to establish an independent, sovereign state in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and to safeguard the Palestinian national interest. They also called for serious steps to provide necessary humanitarian support to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The Qatari Prime Minister expressed his country's appreciation for Egypt's ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. He added that Qatar looks forward to enhancing the outcomes of the ministerial conference that Cairo will host, which aims to strengthen the humanitarian response in Gaza as an effective step in supporting the Palestinian people. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. (AND NO SPAM!) Just click here. Thanksgiving is upon us and, three weeks after Election Day, America STILL does not know the makeup of the incoming U.S. House. Pathetic! As of Tuesday at 1:35 p.m., the Associated Press reports, Republicans have won 219 seats to the Democrats' 213. At this writing, three seats remain uncalled: Republican Congressman John Duarte leads Democrat Adam Gray by 207 votes in California's 13th District, with 98% of ballots tallied. (For God's sake, after 21 days, where the Hell are those other votes?) In CA-45, Democrat Derek Tran is 581 votes ahead of GOP Congresswoman Michelle Steel. Iowa's First District finds Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks edging Democrat Christina Bohannan by 797 votes. If these margins hold, the new House should include 214 Democrats, 221 Republicans, and a four-seat GOP majority. But wait! Florida Republican Matt Gaetz just ditched his seat after abandoning his nomination for U.S. attorney general. Republican Mike Waltz (FL-6) departed to become President Donald J. Trump's National Security Adviser. These resignations have triggered January 28 primaries and April 1 general elections. These vacancies shrink the expected Republican conference to 219 seats. It gets worse: Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R - New York) is Trump's choice for United Nations Ambassador. Assuming a quick Senate confirmation, she would leave the House and commence diplomacy on January 21. GOP seats: 218. Kathy "The Hack" Hochul New York's hapless, colorless Democrat governor is in no rush to comfort Republicans. She likely will maximize GOP anxiety by scheduling the latest-possible special election, 90 days hence: Tuesday, April 22. If everything goes smoothly, the Republican House must govern between Inauguration Day and April Fool's Day with 218 seats and three vacancies. If all 214 Democrats stay united, as does the GOP, Republicans can afford no more than one defection, lest they drop beneath the 217 votes needed to pass anything. This will turn every decision from adopting budgets to approving each day's Congressional Record into a Hitchcockian thriller. If just two Republicans oversleep, get sick, or endure flight delays, major legislation could crash and burn. Any one or two Republicans also could hijack the entire House until securing whatever ransom buys their cooperation. Republicans also could squander "safe" special elections. For a cautionary tale, recall how Senator Jeff Sessions (R - Alabama) left in 2017 to become Trump's first attorney general. His seat, in a stalwart-Republican state, was a lock. And then hints and allegations emerged about GOP nominee Roy Moore's unusual habit of courting females as young as 14. "I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother," Moore assured Fox News host Sean Hannity. Suitably appalled voters sent liberal Democrat Doug Jones to the Senate from Alabama! Consider another hazard: House Speaker Mike Johnson's surprisingly weak leadership has earned the scorn of GOP representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Add their Nays to Gaetz's and Waltz's absences, and the Louisiana Republican could lack the votes to re-gain the speakership. If so, the House will drift like a ghost ship for days or even weeks until a new captain arises. Meanwhile, Trump's America First legislative agenda would bob aimlessly among the waves. It would help if Gaetz reconsidered and took his seat. He should chair a Special Committee on Federal Injustice to detail DOJ's long train of abuses and usurpations. Thus, Gaetz could mitigate, by one seat, the fine mess left by Congressman Richard Hudson (R - North Carolina) and the National Republican Congressional Committee. They should have secured a victory commensurate with Trump's sweeping triumph and Senate Republicans' 100% re-election of incumbents and conquest of four Democrat seats. Hudson and the NRCC failed Trump and Republicans nationwide by botching an excellent opportunity to win a robust working House majority. Trump and Senate Republicans romped. Hudson and the NRCC barely survived. Forthcoming details of their incompetence and pettiness will expose them as this Thanksgiving's biggest turkeys. 2025 Deroy Murdock TAIPEI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of 40 students and teachers from seven Chinese mainland universities arrived at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday, kicking off their nine-day visit to the island. Invited by the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, the delegation is led by Qiu Yong, chairman of the Communist Party of China committee of Tsinghua University. Qiu said in an address that he expects more opportunities for young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to meet, understand each other, and build friendships. He stressed that the connection between the two sides of the Strait will never be severed and the bonds of affection will never be obstructed. The delegation comprises members from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University, Fujian Normal University and Beijing Sport University. The delegation will visit six universities in Taiwan including Taiwan University, Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, and Chengchi University, as well as Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School. Their itinerary also includes visits to historical and cultural sites on the island. In April, Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, led a group of young people from Taiwan to visit the mainland. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has had a busy year as a member of the Royal Family. Described as Princess Kate's "royal sister," Sophie stepped into a new role earlier this month when she led the Armistice Service at England's National Arboretum solo. She's also been described as the "Royal Family's secret weapon," as she's reportedly extremely professional. Now, Duchess Sophie is taking over an important royal role from another family member. On Monday, Nov. 25, the charity Plan International UK announced that Duchess Sophie would be taking over as their royal patron. Sophie's late father-in-law, Prince Philip, previously held the role. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Announcing the exciting news, Plan International UK wrote on X, "As a champion of women's rights, The Duchess has witnessed first hand the impact conflict and crisis can have on young women and girls. We look forward to working with The Duchess to raise awareness of the barriers facing girls around the world." Kate Middleton and Duchess Sophie wearing black dresses and hats smiling at each other on Remembrance Day In a press release, Plan International said of Sophie's appointment, "A vocal champion of women's rights, The Duchess visited the Chad-Sudan border last month to witness firsthand the impact of the conflict and met with young women and girls supported by Plan International UK. More than 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Sudan, with women and children a high proportion of those arriving as refugees in Chad." The press release continued, "The Duchess is committed to continuing her work in this area, as part of her new role as Patron of Plan International UK. Her Royal Highness will support the charity's work to end violence against women and girls in conflict and crisis settings and help to raise greater awareness about the barriers facing girls around the world." Duchess Sophie on the balcony with Princess Kate and Princess Charlotte The CEO of Plan International UK, Rose Caldwell, said of Sophie's new position, "We are delighted that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh has agreed to be the new Patron of Plan International UK." Caldwell continued, "Too many girls around the world are unable go to school, feel unsafe, are not in control of their own bodies and are held back by outdated, unfair stereotypes. By becoming our Royal Patron, The Duchess is demonstrating the power of standing with girls around the world, so they can create change in their own lives and beyond." Netflixs newly released documentary, Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, is well timed. Its a powerful reminder to customers ahead of the Black Friday shopping bonanza that landfills and waste sites around the world are filling up with unwanted clothes, tech, and household goods According to the Or Foundation, a not-for-profit trying to reduce textile waste featured in the film, more than 15 million unwanted clothes are sent to Ghanaone of the worlds largest importers of used clothesevery week from around the world. Former Apple employee Nirav Patel states that globally, approximately 13 million phones are tossed out daily. The film argues that companies are keeping consumers in a vicious shopping cycle: alluring advertising encourages people to buy ever more, and products are designed to fall apart quickly, further reinforcing the cycle. Employees of Apple, Amazon, and Adidas acknowledge that brands are focused on consumption, and their jobs were to keep selling more goods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TIME speaks with the films director Nic Stacey and producer Flora Bagenal to better understand the problem, but also the process of bring this documentary to life. TIME: There have been numerous environmental docs in recent years, some of which do touch on global waste. So, in 2022, when you decided to work on this project, what was your vision and what was the gap that you were seeing in the storytelling that you wanted to fill? Stacey: The pitch was to create a film about the environment and the consequences of consumerism for people who maybe never actually thought about it before. I didn't come to this as someone who had a lot of knowledge on the subject but was very interested. The idea was to try and take the language of advertisingthe colorful fantastic world that is used to sell stuffand turn that back on itself and create something that would have a wider appeal. Its an incredibly dark subject but we wanted to also find some hope in it, and help people take back the power and break this cycle of consumerism. The former employees of Apple, Amazon, and Adidas featured in the film did work at those companies, take home significant pay, and then after years, if not decades of work, decide that they wanted to pivot. But they did to some degree benefit from the model. Is there any way around this, particularly in the U.S. where corporate culture is a big part of the economy. How can we get more people working at companies to make change if theyre tied to their employers success? Stacey: It is tough. But Maren Costa, the Amazon user experience designer, is particularly interesting because she did really try and change the system from the inside. [Costa ran activist group Amazon Employees For Climate Justice before being let go.] Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We wanted to feature that struggle that people go through all the time when they're in a company and they're up against the machine. Its really tricky. But, I want to inspire people, and remind them that speaking up can lead to change. There will be people who watch it hopefully who may also be more open to their employees raising those kinds of questions in the future, which are small wins. It's just enabling people to speak up. The goal of these large companies, particularly publicly traded ones, is to maximize profits at the end of the day. How do we embed sustainability into that model and is it even feasible given the business model theyre operating in? Stacey: We interviewed Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, who did try to make change but ultimately if you are the CEO it is incredibly difficult to sell to the shareholders this idea that you maybe don't grow as fast, dont make as much money. Thats where I think people that we elect have responsibility. It's a negotiation, we need to start thinking about the long-term health of our civilization essentially. Bagenal: I think that specific question is a really big problem that we face as the whole world and it requires some big thinking and different ways of doing stuff and kind of dismantling systems as well as building new ones. Were you surprised when you started doing some of the groundwork for this just how massive this problem is? Stacey: Its shocking and its ridiculous the level of stuff that we produce and more than that it's the realization that we're so unaware of the amount of things that we're producing. We had a section in the film where we tried to illustrate with computer graphics the production numbers. For example, every hour, 2.5 million shoes are produced! We wanted to bring that to life for people to see. Because it's a huge number and I think people are very aware of their own consumption but you rarely think about what happens when you kind of expand that out to the number of people in the U.S. or in Europe and what the impact of that is. What has been the response to the film? Have any of the companies featured reached out to you? Stacey: No we havent heard from any of the companies featured yet. We would love to hear from them and are open to conversation. We were unsure about how it would be received and it seems to have just hit such a chord especially among younger people. On TikTok, theres just so much content that's been generated around the film. It feels like it's kind of unlocked or given people permission to talk about this subject in a way that maybe they haven't had before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bagenal: We were nervous about what the companies would say and we intentionally featured a lot of different brands to show people that this is truly a system problem. Its not just one company. Its the whole system. What was the most eye-opening part of this for you personally going through this process? How has this film impacted you both? Stacey: For me, it was going to Ghana to see the work of the Or Foundation, which has been trying to clean up all the textile waste eating up the countrys coastline. Its a really jarring sight to see the beach completely covered in discarded clothes. Also, Paul Polman says that we talk about throwing things away or giving things away but away is just another place on Earth and that really resonated with me. Bagenal: We had a lot of discussions on the shoot about the kind of transient ownership in the world. A company or manufacturer puts something together. They then pass it to you when you pay money for it. And then you pass it onto someone else or a waste collector when youre done with it. But its just being exchanged hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other thing that really has changed for me is noticing how much of our culture and public space is given over to selling. Weve allowed it because it makes money and it is hard to let go of that. Here in the U.K., [local government] councils make money from advertising. Television broadcast companies make money from advertising. Individuals make money for their content. So how do we fix this? How do we curb all this waste aside from asking consumers to buy less, repair, or buy secondhand? Stacey: I hope that companies and people in positions of power in large companies will watch the film, take a pause and see that the lifespan of products is a huge issue and that companies need to creatively think about ways that they can extend the lives of the products they make. And we need policy change; governments can help put legislation in place to manage the end of life of a product. Was there anything you wanted to include the film that you ran out of time and couldnt include? Stacey: We spoke to a clothing manufacturer in Hong Kong who told us about a test that they would do on each new garment about 15 years ago: theyd wash the garment 50 times to test how it performs, if it holds up well, and then manufacture the rest of the lot. But now, they dont do that any more. Speaks to how we dont think about the lifespan of goods anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bagenal: Also, we didnt get into it with this doc but there are countless people who are affected by waste issues near dump sites, and the pollution theyre exposed to. Theres a whole other film in there. Contact us at letters@time.com. Sharon Stone is slamming Americans she characterizes as "uneducated." Stone made a series of controversial comments about the state of American politics during a panel discussion at the Torino Film Festival in Italy, according to video footage posted Sunday on YouTube. In an apparent reference to President-elect Donald Trump, Stone said, "We have to stop and think about who we choose for government and if, in fact, we are actually choosing our government or if the government is choosing itself." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stone supported outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election earlier this month. She added: "You know, Italy has seen fascism. Italy has seen these things, you guys. And you understand what happens. You have seen this before." Stone also told the crowd that "my country is in the midst of adolescence. Adolescence is very arrogant. Adolescence thinks it knows everything. Adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant. And we are in our ignorant, arrogant adolescence." "Americans who don't travel, who 80% don't have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivete," Stone said. "What I would say is that the only way that we can help with these issues is to help each other." Sharon Stone characterized "uneducated" Americans as "ignorant" and arrogant" just weeks after the 2024 U.S. presidential election during a panel discussion in Italy. In the Nov. 6 election, Trump beat Harris, executing a fully-fledged political comeback for a figure shrouded in years of controversy, winning every single battleground state that was up for grabs and the U.S. popular vote in the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stone is known for her controversial viewpoints on topics in Hollywood, including her defense of friend and embattled actor Kevin Spacey. After Britain's Channel 4 released a documentary "Spacey Unmasked" that detailed sexual assault allegations leveled at the two-time Oscar winner earlier this year, Stone expressed her support for Spacey. "I can't wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will," Stone told The Telegraph, adding that it's "terrible" that past aspiring actors "are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him." Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Taijuan Moorman This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sharon Stone calls Americans 'ignorant' and 'arrogant' after Trump win If you read the recent article in The Clarion-Ledger about five places that every Mississippian should visit, you may have walked away thinking this place or that should have been included. And you were probably correct. After all, Mississippi is a culturally diverse state with a rich history in the arts, music, cooking, architecture and so many more aspects that no single list could include them all. Plus, it was a list of five places, not every place of significance in the state. Even though it won't scratch the surface of what Mississippi has to offer, here are five more places that every Mississippian should visit and while you're there, drive around, do a little exploring and see what else you may find. The grave of the Witch of Yazoo The legend of the Witch of Yazoo was made famous by Mississippi author Willie Morris in he 1971 novel Good Old Boy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local lore says the sheriff found the witch as she tortured fishermen she lured from the Yazoo River, and the sheriff chased her through the swamp. When he caught up with her, she was about to drown in quicksand, but before she died she vowed to return in 20 years and burn the town to the ground. In 1904 there was a fire in Yazoo City that burned most of the town and fierce winds that fanned the flames were attributed to the witch. What is said to be her grave is a small plot located in Yazoo City's Glenwood Cemetery. It is bordered by heavy chains and, according to legend, local residents who visited the grave the day after the fire found the chains to be broken. The grave is easy to find as there are markers directing visitors to it. You can also see Morris' grave. He's buried 13 paces away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Explore Mississippi: Five places every Mississippian should visit Vicksburg National Military Park The Vicksburg National Military Park is said to possibly be Mississippi's most renowned historical attraction. More than 1,400 memorial monuments, tablets and markers are located in the 1,800-acre park to honor soldiers who served on both sides of the Civil War in a city that played a significant role in the war. There are 141 cannons on the grounds along with historic buildings along with nine fortifications, bridges and the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The gunboat USS Cairo is also housed there along with artifacts recovered during its excavation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Visitors can experience the park by driving the 16-mile tour road or through a guided tour. There is also a 12.5-mile hiking trail that offers wonderful views of the park. For more information, visit www.visitvicksburg.com. More: This small MS town has some of the best burgers and people drive for miles to get them The ghost town of Rodney Rodney was once a flourishing town, but is now a ghost town with few remaining buidlings. However, structures such as the Mt. Zion Baptist Church still attract sight-seers. Located in Jefferson County, the remains of the town of Rodney offer a glimpse into life almost 200 years ago. By 1830 the town was prosperous and growing. It was situated along the Mississippi River and served as an important shipping point. After the Civil War the town went into decline. The river changed course, the town was damaged by fire in 1869 and a railroad was constructed that bypassed the town in 1880. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, there is little left of the town, but the remains attract visitors on a regular basis even though they are located on private property. Mount Zion Baptist Church, Rodney Presbyterian Church and Alston Grocery Store all attract sight-seers and date back to the early to mid-1800s. Rodney is located at the vicinity of the intersection of Rodney Road and Muddy Bayou Road. More: Want to rent a tiny house with a view of water? They're coming to Mississippi state parks Doe's Eat Place Doe's Eat Place in Greenville is famous for steaks, but be sure to try their signature salad and hot tamales. When it comes to food, Doe's Eat Place in Greenville is one of the most iconic restaurants in the state. The restaurant came from humble beginnings as more of a lunch stand started by Doe Sign, Sr. in 1941 in the same 1880s house where it is today. It was a place where people could grab lunch, but in time people began to bring steaks for Signa to cook and it evolved into the landmark it is today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The restaurant uses the highest-quality meat it can find and claims to cook the best steaks you'll ever eat. That may seem like a big claim, but according to Signa's grandson, also Doe Signa, the restaurant's reputation has drawn stars including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. People come for more than just steaks. The signature salads are made the same as they have been for decades with lettuce, tomato and onion topped with a garlic, lemon juice and oil dressing. The tamales are a tradition as well and made using a generations-old family recipe. For more information, visit www.doeseatplace.com. Ship Island and Fort Massachusetts Located due south of Biloxi, Ship Island is home to Fort Massachusetts, which according to the National Park Service Gulf Islands National Seashore, was completed in 1886. Its purpose was to protect commerce and serve as a fuel and supply depot for small coal-fueled gunboats and the ocean-going fleet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's now a destination for tourists to explore the the historic military structure and enjoy miles of beaches. Ship Island Excursions offers boat rides from Jones Park in Gulfport to the island and guests are treated by dolphins that play in the boat's wake. The island also offers beautiful beaches where visitors can relax, swim in emerald green water and hike around the island. However, unless you have a boat capable of making the trip, you'll have to wait until March 16, 2025 when Ship Island Excursions resumes its seasonal ferry service. For more information, visit www.msshipisland.com. Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Here are 5 more places every Mississippian should visit Most 14-year-olds spend their time hanging out with friends, studying for classes and maybe participating in an extracurricular or two. At age 14, William Cabaniss wasn't much different, aside from one thing: he was also a nonprofit founder and CEO. Growing up in East Tennessee, Cabaniss had observed the effects of hunger firsthand, he said. Seeing the impact that hunger could have on someone cemented food insecurity as a top issue for Cabaniss, even at an early age. Fast forward to March 2020, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cabaniss had started watching the news again, he said, and he started thinking about ways he could help his community. He'd been baking frequently while stuck at home, and inspiration for "a unique way where I could make a difference struck one night as he was working on a batch of homemade vanilla brownies. Launching the organization Cabaniss spent the remainder of that spring researching for the nonprofit that would become Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow. He learned about the process of making pure vanilla extract, shipping a product and building a website. The organization officially launched in May 2020, with each purchase of Cabaniss' vanilla extract helping to provide meals to East Tennessee families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I never would have dreamed that it would lead to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit thats still in operation almost five years down the road, Cabaniss, now 18, told Knox News. Making an impact Since the organization began, Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow has provided 631,215 meals to families experiencing food insecurity with the help of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. Cabaniss chose to have funds raised by vanilla sales be directed to Second Harvest because they are extremely effective at turning monetary donations into tangible meals, he said. I knew that I wanted to make the biggest difference that I could, and Second Harvest was the way to accomplish that, Cabaniss added. Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee provides groceries to those who need them in 18 counties, where food is distributed through a variety of partner agencies and programs. They had the ability to stretch those donations the furthest," Cabaniss said. "They approach hunger from so many different angles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow continues to be a means for people everywhere to support an important cause. Today, folks from all 50 states purchase the vanilla. But this year, the nonprofit also looks a little different. Cabaniss started college this fall at Vanderbilt University, where he is studying business and pre-law and his hard work has helped give him this opportunity. In September, Cabaniss was awarded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a national award given to 15 winners each year, all young people ages 8 to 18 who have made a positive difference in the world. As a prize winner, Cabaniss received $10,000 that he was able to put toward his education. The award, he said, "is a huge honor." Even away at college, Cabaniss is continuing to uphold the mission of Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow. While he's gone, his team at home helps fulfill orders with vanilla he made over the summer, and when he returns home for the holidays, he plans to make more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im still just 18 years old, and its weird that I have a 501(c)(3), but Im very proud of that. Its a culmination of a lot of efforts from me, but its also a testament of what happens when a community comes together, Cabaniss said. Vanilla can be purchased online at www.vanillafeedstomorrow.com. Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe. William Cabaniss, founder and CEO of Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow, poses behind a display of his vanilla extract. A bottle of vanilla extract sold by Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow is shown. Vanilla beans are chopped to make vanilla extract, which is sold by Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow to combat food insecurity. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Local nonprofit CEO started it at 14. Now it's helped feed thousands PANAMA CITY Lucy, a pocket bully serving with the Panama City Fire Department, is a contestant for the First Responder Therapy Dog Award. The city is hoping residents will vote for Lucy before Dec. 4, so she can place among the top 10 finalists. Lucy joined members of the media at the Panama City Central Fire Station on Wednesday morning with her handler, Amanda Scoggin. Scoggin is a driver and engineer for the PCFD who usually works out of Panama City Fire Station 2 on Beck Avenue. Amanda Scoggin, a driver/engineer with the Panama City Fire Department - and unofficial therapy dog handler - sits with Lucy, the department's therapy dog, on a fire truck in Panama City. Scoggin said Lucy is the only fire department therapy dog in northwest Florida. Despite her prestigious position, Lucy came from humble beginnings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lucy originally belonged to a breeder who was going to get rid of her because she couldn't have puppies anymore, Scoggin said. When she met Lucy, she knew she was destined for greater things and adopted her. Firefighters from the Panama City Fire Department pose with Lucy, their combat stress therapy dog, in Panama City, Florida, on Nov. 27, 2024. Scoggin was introduced to fire department therapy dogs while on a deployment to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. When she saw the impact that therapy dogs had on the firefighters there, she saw to it that Lucy could get all the training she needed to bring that capability to Panama City. "I talked to every handler that would talk to me and got as much advice as I could get. I was looking for dog trainers on the way home from that deployment," Scoggin said. "As soon as we got back we started training, going to obedience schools, getting that therapy certification and then we sought the state certification for crisis response so we could then deploy and try to offer the same services that we were impacted by." On top of providing support to other firefighters, Lucy helped Scoggin through tough times in her life. Scoggin said Lucy helped her through some low points between COVID-19 and injuries from a bicycle accident. A firefighter with the Panama City Fire Department reaches out to Lucy, the therapy dog, in Panama City, Florida, on Nov. 27, 2024. "We've gone from not being able to provide this service, to providing this service, and now being nominated for an award," Scoggin said. "I'm incredibly proud of her, she's come a long way, and I've come a long way. It's just been a great journey together." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scoggin sometimes meets with other therapy-dog handlers in Panama City, and together their canines make their rounds in hospitals, nursing homes, elementary schools and the Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans Nursing Home. On top of her local impact, Scoggin said Lucy has the potential to make a statewide impact in times of crisis. Lucy is considered a state asset, similar to the department's response teams that deploy during hurricanes. She previously deployed to Punta Gorda after Hurricane Helene, where she provided mental health support to first responders in the aftermath of the storm. Lucy, the Panama City Fire Department's therapy dog, poses for a photo in Panama City, Florida, on Nov. 27, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Unfortunately, first responders have quickly risen to almost the same level as military as far as PTSD and suicide is concerned, so this is a big issue with us," Scoggin said. Scoggin talked about the PCFD's partnership with the Second Alarm Project, which is a nonprofit that focuses on the mental health and wellness of first responders. She said between the organization and various studies, they have found therapy dogs to make a positive impact on first responders' wellbeing. Scoggin added that petting a dog releases endorphins and reduces stress, which she thinks could improve firefighters' mental health. A staff member with the Panama City Fire Department pets Lucy, the department's therapy dog, on Nov. 27, 2024. With everything that Lucy can provide, Scoggin hopes residents cast their vote. If Lucy wins, she will get a basket of treats from Chewy, a monetary donation that will help with vet bills and training, and the competition organizers will donate to the First Responders Pack Foundation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To vote for Lucy, go to the first responder paws award section on FHE Health's website. Voters will need to scroll down until they see Lucy and enter their email in the form to place their vote. This article originally appeared on The News Herald: You can vote for PCFD's therapy dog to win an award NORTH TEXAS Twenty-three-year-old Alison Pickering knew to watch out for peanuts. It was a discovery her family made the day she came home from preschool with hives. "She said, 'well, a friend of mine shared with me a chocolate Jiff sandwich.' And I was like, 'Oh!'," recalls her mother, Joy Pickering, "and it became evident she had a peanut allergy." "She would feel it in her lips and in her throat and so we would take trips to the ER," her father, Grover Pickering, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thankfully, those trips to the hospital were rare. "She was always very very careful. She rarely ate cookies that were not mine," Joy Pickering said. Her parents said that caution was evident as she prepared for a first date just days before her graduation from Tarleton State University in Stephenville last year. Alison, they said, chose a restaurant she'd been to before. She ordered the mahi-mahi, a dish she'd previously eaten there. "She would repeatedly go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes, you know. And that was a common thing," her father said. What Alison and even the wait staff didn't know, the Pickerings said, was that the recipe had changed. Peanut sauce had been added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "She took a few bites, realized something was wrong," said Grover Pickering. "She did her Epipen. The ambulance came. She actually walked to the ambulance talking to them, but somewhere along the way things went downhill." Alison never woke up. "It's tragic and it doesn't need to happen to anyone else," he said. Raising awareness about food allergies The Pickerings are now on a mission to raise awareness of the seriousness of food allergies. "We would love to see more done to make wait staff and patrons aware," said Joy Pickering. The Texas Legislature last year passed the Sergio Lopez Food Allergy Awareness Act to improve training and communication among restaurant kitchen workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pickerings are calling for clear, consistent communication at restaurants and comprehensive training for all restaurant staff. They're also interested in working with the Texas Restaurant Association. "To determine what guidelines could be put in place to help restaurants have better communication to their customers as far as ingredients, much like labels on grocery store items you buy," Grover Pickering said. It's a message they're certain will spare others from the loss they suffered. "I know we're going to save lives by doing this," Joy Pickering said. Missing hiker found after nearly six weeks in the Canadian wilderness Saturday Sessions: Bayker Blankenship performs "Tennessee Sunset" Saturday Sessions: Bayker Blankenship performs "300 Miles" Meet the man who goes on extreme day trips as a hobby covering thousands of miles in just 24 hours. Michael Cracknell, 35, spends his spare time traveling across Europe reaching as far as Switzerland and Athens from his home in West Sussex. And he does it all in one day so he doesnt have to take any time off work and still has another weekend day to recover. A photographer by trade, Michael, from Haywards Heath, is also the founder of the Extreme Day Trips Facebook group which has more than 250,000 members. Michael Cracknell, 35, spends his spare time traveling across Europe reaching as far as Switzerland and Athens from his home in West Sussex. Michael Cracknell / SWNS He uses the group founded in October 2022 to organize trips with others, while members also share their experiences with like-minded people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michael said of his first trip: There were people that were quite skeptical and told me I couldnt possibly do anything in a day. I wanted to prove that you could. It just grew from there and exploded into what it is today. I am very surprised by how popular it has become. I had no clue this would happen. It is all done in a day, so you dont have to take any time off work and you still have one day of the weekend left to recover, do your shopping and your washing. Then you can go to work on Monday and say oh I popped over to Athens at the weekend and you havent used any holiday days. A photographer by trade, Michael, from Haywards Heath, is also the founder of the Extreme Day Trips Facebook group which has more than 250,000 members. Michael Cracknell / SWNS I wasnt very keen on being away from home for long periods of time so the day trips were the perfect answer to traveling for me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cracknell says his love for one-day trips began in 2002 when he was training to be a pilot and visited Toulouse with his father. In 2020 he reignited his passion for 24-hour adventures and booked a load of trips, before the Covid 19 pandemic put a pause on his hobby. After starting his Facebook group, he says a post went viral where he planned a day trip to Benidorm for under $125, which he says is his cheapest trip yet. This year he began bringing people from the group on trips with him taking 20 people to Switzerland just last weekend. Mr Cracknell says his love for one-day trips began in 2002 when he was training to be a pilot and visited Toulouse with his father. Michael Cracknell / SWNS So far, he has planned around 12 trips with roughly 15 people on each of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cracknell is unsure on how many holidays he has been on since he began, but he says it is quite a lot. He added: I have been all over Europe on day trips since 2022. People love the trips and they enjoy themselves. I dont charge I just plan it, and people book for themselves. I cant believe how good the community is. They are just so grateful and they cant believe we have done it in a day. And there are now well over 100 people that I have done that for. I have made many friends from this. The friendships which are forged from there are incredible. Most of the time when you get back you are absolutely tired. You are still buzzing from the day, but you certainly sleep well that night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You kind of get used to it but for new starters the tiredness can be overwhelming. For 2024, Mr Cracknell says he has one more group trip planned in two weeks time to Switzerland with 2,500 people having applied to visit the country with him. Michael Cracknell / SWNS Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When reminiscing on his favorite trips, Cracknell also mentioned visiting Athens with his father and two brothers. In what he says was a really special day the family flew to the Greek city and visited all the tourist sites in 24 hours for only $185 each including dinner and activities. The planner says that with a train to Edinburgh alone costing more than that, it is a no brainer to take part in his fun packed trips abroad. For 2024, Cracknell says he has one more group trip planned in two weeks time to Switzerland with 2,500 people having applied to visit the country with him. He added: I love Switzerland so much. The public transport there is so much more reliable than what we have here. The key to cheap trips is to book flights as far in advance as you can during a sale. GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- "We fled the Israeli shelling and death in Gaza, but now we are drowning in rain and seawater," lamented Abbas Lafi, a displaced Palestinian now residing in Khan Younis. The 50-year-old father of seven told Xinhua that he woke up late at night, only to find his family floating on the water, with mattresses and belongings inside their tent, just a few months after it was erected on the coast of the Mawasi area in Khan Younis of southern Gaza. Although the tent was too dilapidated to protect them from winter's cold or summer's heat, Lafi tried to remove the water from it and save everything that could be saved, as he explained that it was difficult for them to replace mattresses or blankets due to the lack of necessary humanitarian aid. Musab Sahweil, another displaced man in Khan Younis, shared a similar plight after fleeing his home in the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. "The rain and the raging seawater took everything -- my tent, mattresses, clothes," said the 39-year-old father of three, sitting next to his destroyed tent, tears welling up. With only the belongings they could carry after being awakened by the flooding, Sahweil's family headed to his brother's tent, which was somewhat far from the beach. Before the war, Sahweil was working hard to build his house. "The Israeli army destroyed my house and my dream of living a better life," he said. "The war made me homeless and helpless, unable to support my family." Near Sahweil's tent, Sharifa Alwan, a 42-year-old mother of four, sat on a mattress floating on the water, hugging her newborn baby. "What have we done to deserve this punishment? Why should our children suffer so much?" Sahweil questioned. Lafi, Sahweil, and Alwan were among tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who set up tents and took refuge along southern Gaza's beaches after the Israeli army warned them to leave their homes in the north. Thousands of their tents have been drowned and destroyed by strong winds recently hit the coast of the Gaza Strip. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced on Monday that around half a million people in Gaza are at risk of flooding. "Temperatures are dropping and rain is starting. There are no safe shelters, blankets or warm clothes for people to seek some respite," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on social media platform X on Tuesday. "Winter in Gaza means people will not only die because of air strikes, diseases or hunger. Winter in Gaza means more people will die shivering because of the cold, especially among the most vulnerable including older people and children," Lazzarini said. MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, Maine - Superlatives apply here. Most dramatic scenery. Highest point. First place to see the rising sun. Acadia National Parks Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the United States. It is the first place in the continental U.S. to see the rising sun in winter. The panoramic view of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands causes people to search for superlatives beyond beautiful, incredible, fabulous and outstanding. Eons ago, glaciers sculpted the volcanic landscape. From atop this granite peak, we look far into the distance. We watch lobster boats and windjammers depart Bar Harbor. The Schoodic Peninsula juts into the bay. Mount Katahdin rises in the far distance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Acadia National Park covers most of Mount Desert Island, the largest of Maines 3,000 islands. Motorists drive the 27-mile Loop Road to reach the major attractions such as Thunder Hole, a shoreline cavity that captures the tide and sends water skyward like a geyser, and Jordan Pond, a mirror-clear lake that covers 187 acres. Ocean Path Trail yields views of the rocky coastline on the way from Sand Beach to Otter Point. Some visitors avoid hiking by boarding carriages and letting pairs of horses do the work. Carriage roads blend harmoniously into the fir-forested landscape. The roads and 17 stone bridges were financed and erected in the early- to mid-1900s by John D. Rockefeller Jr. The philanthropist was a driving force in creating Acadia National Park. Scenery on the west side of the national park, known as the quiet side, is equally spectacular with its open ridgelines and peaks clothed in hardwood and hemlocks. Paddleboarders love the smooth surface of Echo Lake; swimmers like the sand beach at the southern end. The Bass Harbor Head Light Station in Tremont is one of three lights managed by Acadia National Park. Nearby, two trails lead to coastal tidal pools of remarkable purity. Not to be overlooked, Acadia National Parks Schoodic Peninsula lies beyond Mount Desert Island. It is on the mainland, south of Winter Harbor. Only 10 percent of the national parks visitors venture here, so it provides a more isolated experience. Waves crash into evergreen-topped headlands that rise above cobblestone beaches. Granite shelves streaked with dark basalt edge the peninsulas tip. Bar Harbor Will Smith yanks a lobster trap from the bottom of Frenchman Bay to pull up a catch of several lobsters. He bands their claws shut and then passes around the wiggling creatures to the two dozen passengers on the Lulu. Everyone on this excursion is aboard to learn about and experience the lobstering trade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Multicolored buoys punctuate the bay, each displaying the colors of the various owners of the traps tied below. Woe be the lobsterman who pulls up a buoy not his own. Smith navigates to various traps, plucking lobsters from the cold water, and then steers toward Egg Rock Island. In addition to being the site of the Egg Rock Island Light, the isle is a favorite gathering place for harbor and gray seals. They rest in the sun on the shoreline boulders, occasionally barking and grunting but otherwise not showing much interest in the boat as it passes. Bar Harbor is filled with vacationers, especially along Agamont Park and the docks where schooners and excursion boats depart frequently. Shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors, hotels and attractions cluster along the streets sloping to the harbor. Small inns and private homes buffer the business district. We stay at the pleasant Little Fig Hotel, set amongst cafes and cottages. Traditional wood-shingle houses, many with window boxes fizzing with flowers, add to the attractiveness of this New England town. We learn more about the towns history while participating in a Bar Harbor ghost tour, a creepy venture that begins at Ledgelawn, a three-story, haunted mansion. Three ghosts are said to reside there including one of a little boy who hugs visitors legs and tugs at their shirt sleeves. A special light Artists and photographers often speak of the perfect light found along the Maine coastline. They strive to catch the glow filtering through clouds or reflecting from the bays. They gather at dawns early light or dusks diminished shimmer to capture the beauty of the ragged coast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many prominent American artists created their most iconic works here. Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and three generations of Wyeths (N.C., Andrew, Jamie) are among the many artists with strong ties to Maine. The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland features a collection of more than 15,000 works, most of which were produced by American artists. The Wyeth Foundation for American Art shares a substantial portion of its collection with this institution. Many people regard Rockland as the Art Capital of Maine because, in addition to the Farnsworth Museum, this city of 7,000 supports the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and more than 20 galleries. Main Street and adjoining blocks comprise the arts and shopping district, just a few steps from the harbor. We have a magnificent view of the harbor from the patio roof of the five-story 250 Main Hotel. Sailing yachts bob in the harbor. Shipbuilding structures and warehouses line the waterfront. The Rockland Harbor Trail directs walkers to docks, parks and seafood restaurants. We hop aboard the ketch Morning in Maine. The 55-foot boat glides past the Breakwater Lighthouse as it leaves Rockland Harbor. The lighthouse is situated at the end of a nearly mile-long granite breakwater. Despite the unusually warm day, we spot plenty of people walking from the mainland to the lighthouse along the top of the breakwater. After getting passengers to help hoist the sails, Capt. Tyler Waterson chases the fickle breeze. We sail past the Owls Head Lighthouse on an 80-foot bluff above Penobscot Bay. A few seals catch our attention, but the real enjoyment is breathing the salt air, sharing the bay with historic schooners, catching the wind and feeling the ketch fly through the water. Portland, Maines largest city The charm of Portland is walking about the harbor and Old Port district. Here luxury yachts share marina slips with fishing boats. Passenger ferries depart from a bustling main terminal. To add to the commotion, restaurants, bars and gift shops further enliven the noisy, festive scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two-mile Eastern Promenade stretches from the wharves to East End Beach and beyond. The historic Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad carries riders along a big part of that scenic route. Within walking distance of the waterfront, the Portland Museum of Art boasts the largest collection of European art in Maine, and also features the works of noted American artists. A vestige of the Gilded Age, Victoria Mansion is open for guided tours. Upon entering, visitors gape at a commanding staircase under an immense glowing chandelier and stained-glass sunroof. The furnishings, many of which are original to the home, exude elegance. We stay nearby in the citys upper West End at The Francis Hotel. Built in the 1880s, the 15-room inn was once a Victorian mansion. We leave behind busy Portland and escape via a short ferry ride to Peaks Island. The 740-acre island is a residential enclave; however, it offers a few seafood restaurants, grocery store, library, post office and bike shop. Walking, bike riding and beachcombing are the main activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our final venture in Maine is to Cape Elizabeth where the Portland Head Light towers over a solid granite promontory. The sparkling white beacon is the most photographed seascape in Maine; and, for many, it is the favorite among the states 65 lighthouses. Linda Lange and Steve Ahillen are travel writers living in Knoxville, Tennessee. The opulent dining room in Victoria Mansion glows in the light of an Anglo-French chandelier. Open for guided tours, the house in Portland, Maine, contains most of its original furnishings. It was built in 1860 as a summer residence for a wealthy New Orleans hotelier. Lobster boats and pleasure crafts glow in the evening light at Rockland, Maine. The city is home to the countrys largest windjammer fleet, and it serves as the gateway to Penobscot Bay. Whale, dolphin and puffin tours depart from the port. The Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth reigns over Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. The tower was completed in 1791, commissioned by President George Washington. The surrounding 90-acre Fort Williams Park provides picture-perfect views of the light station coastline. Hikers set off on a trail around Jordan Pond, the deepest lake in Acadia National Park in Maine. Glaciers sculpted Penobscot Mountain and Pemetic Mountain, leaving a U-shaped valley that became Jordan Pond. North Bubble and South Bubble Mountains are in the distance Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A quiet life awash in sea-salty breezes awaits people on Peaks Island, one of hundreds of islands, large and small, in Maines Casco Bay. A short, inexpensive ferry ride from Portland takes people to a relaxed existence of strolling, biking and lounging in the sun. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Travel: A splendid light shines on Coastal Maine's dramatic scenery It's an annual debate around the Thanksgiving dinner table for many families: what's the best side dish? What about the best dessert? While it may not settle things, new Google data shows some consensus by state. Last week, Google Trends released the most-searched side dishes and desserts in each state. The data, which was compiled over the span of a week earlier this month, found the most popularly searched side dishes across the country were casserole, vegetables, pasta/grains and stuffing. The most-searched baked goods included cake, cookies, pie and bread. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are the results for Vermont. Thanksgiving table with roasted turkey, sliced ham and side dishes More: Side dish Thanksgiving recipes if you're looking for something new, plus turkey cooking tips What is Vermont's most searched Thanksgiving side dish? Google searchers in Vermont, like those in many other states around the country, have been looking for green bean casserole. Across the country, some of the unique side dish searches included ramen noodle salad in Nebraska and pineapple stuffing in New Mexico. See the map: A map of most searched side dishes this week from Google Trends analytics. What is Vermont's most searched Thanksgiving baked good? Although Vermont residents love a pie, Google searchers have been looking for recipes for a different baked good instead. According to Google Trends data, oatmeal cookies was the most searched Thanksgiving baked good in Vermont earlier this month. See the full map: A map of most searched baked goods this week from Google Trends analytics. But, when it comes to pie, pumpkin recipes ruled over apple in the search data leading up to the holiday. This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: What's VT's top Thanksgiving side, dessert based on Google searches? We at Come Cruise With Me get a lot of emails about cruise lines changing itineraries. Sometimes they do this due to weather: It's important to remember that cruise lines will always make the choices they need to keep passengers, crew and ships safe. Over the past few days, we've been asked about a change Royal Caribbean has made for multiple Symphony of the Seas sailings. The ship is skipping San Juan and Saint Martin and replacing those stops with Labadee, Haiti, and Falmouth, Jamaica. Related: Norwegian Cruise Line cancels nearly 40 upcoming sailings Many of the emails we received are angry at the cruise line and use terms like "bait and switch," while others accuse the cruise line of making the change for profit reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Others wonder why the cruise line decided to take them to Haiti when it's under a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning from the U.S. State Department. This is an excerpt from an email we received recently. Good evening. I am writing to make you aware that Royal Caribbean is forcing itinerary changes making customers go to Labadee Haiti which is under a level 4 DO NOT TRAVEL ban. Other countries with this level 4 ban are North Korea and Ukraine. My DEC 1-8 cruise itinerary to San Juan was changed today to Labadee Haiti. I was told today I cannot get fair compensation in the form of a rescheduled future trip and I have no choice but to go to Haiti or lose all of my money. ...Not to mention even if it was safe RCL is basically doing a bait a switch taking a more expensive cruise and switching it for one of their lowest priced cruises without any compensation. ...They are putting profits before the safety of US citizens. I can understand the passenger's anger over losing ports that they had hoped to visit. It's unfair, however, to accuse the cruise line of making the change for profit reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Symphony of the Seas and other large ships can't stop in San Juan right now due to unexpected problems at the port. Weve recently been advised by the port authority in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that due to technical issues with the pier and the work that must be done and cleared by the [U.S. Coast Guard] for accepting a ship of our size, well have to adjust our itinerary for our sailing, Royal Caribbean said in a letter to affected passengers. Be the first to see the best deals on cruises, special sailings, and more. Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter. Royal Caribbean's Labadee private destination is nowhere near where the fighting is occurring. Image source: Daniel Kline/ComeCruiseWith.com Here's why Labadee is a replacement option When Royal Caribbean learned it could not visit San Juan, it looked for other available ports. And since it had an open day at its Labadee private island, it switched the ship to that stop, and the distances being traveled forced the swap of Saint Martin for Falmouth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People are worried because the State Department has been explicit about Americans not visiting Haiti. In addition, earlier this month the Federal Aviation Administration banned flights to the island nation after three planes were shot at when they were landing. On the surface, the State Department's warning leaves little wiggle room. "Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care," the warning is headlined. In reality, the fighting in Haiti is nowhere near where Royal Caribbean brings passengers. That's something the U.S. government has been clear on as well. The US Embassy has recognized Labadee as a cruise-exclusive area with private security, low crime, and a place where only standard precautions are needed, Royal Caribbean told CruiseHive. ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise Royal Caribbean does not share specific security plans for Labadee, but the resort is fenced in and protected by private security. The cruise line also has assets that would let it know if any forces, ships or caravans were heading toward Labadee, giving it plenty of time to evacuate the island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's easy to understand a passenger's anger when a planned port is pulled. No cruise line, however, does that to be mean or to make more money. Itinerary changes happen when they have to, and Royal Caribbean, along with the other major cruise lines, would never put passengers in harm's way. Are you taking a cruise or thinking about taking one? Visit our Come Cruise With Me website to have all your questions answered. Nov. 26TURTLE RIVER A 19-year-old man has died and a woman has been injured following a two-vehicle crash on Tuesday morning near Turtle River. According to a release from Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs, dispatch received a report of the crash at approximately 10:40 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the intersection of Bemidji Road Northeast and Island View Drive Northeast. Upon arrival, deputies determined that two single-occupant vehicles were involved in a crash at the intersection, approximately 11 miles north of Bemidji. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An adult female was transported to the Sanford Emergency Department in Bemidji. An adult male was pronounced deceased at the scene and was extricated from his vehicle, the release said. The crash is currently under investigation by the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office. The condition of the female is unknown at this time. The names of those involved are being withheld pending family notification. The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office was assisted at the scene by the Bemidji Ambulance Service, Bemidji Fire Department, North Country First Responders, Minnesota Department of Resources Conservation Officers and the Minnesota State Patrol. RICHMOND, R.I. (WPRI) One person is dead and another was seriously injured in a rollover crash that happened on I-95 in Richmond Wednesday afternoon, according to Rhode Island State Police. Troopers were called to I-95 North near Exit 7 just after 2 p.m. following reports of a two-car crash. An investigation into the crash revealed that a vehicle in the right lane was rear-ended, causing both to veer off the highway and rolled over into the woods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speed appears to be a factor in the crash, according to police. The driver and passenger who were in the first vehicle suffered minor injuries and were treated by first responders. Police said the driver of the second car was brought to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries. The passenger in the second car was rushed to Kent Hospital and later pronounced dead. Troopers temporarily shut down I-95 North and diverted traffic onto Route 138, causing backups on both sides of the highway. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact Rhode Island State Polices Hope Valley Barracks at (401) 444-1068. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SEE ALSO: 14 crashes reported on RI highways overnight Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) A community is in mourning and calling for safer infrastructure in their neighborhood after a man was struck by a vehicle and killed on Colley Avenue in Norfolk Tuesday night, police said. Norfolk Police said the man, later identified at 61-year-old Leo B. LaRue, was suffering from life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he later died. The driver of the car stayed at the scene. The call for the crash came in around 8:50 p.m. Leo was a great guy, said business owner James Holley. I mean, he lived right down the street. Never met a stranger. Super nice guy. He rode his bike back and forth to work, worked over in Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and rainy days, cloudy days, sunny days, he was just a really nice guy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The latest incident involving a pedestrian or cyclist comes as local officials caution them to be mindful of traffic signals, using marked crosswalks and just to use extreme caution when crossing the road. And residents say traffic can be a problem in this neighborhood. Youll notice that when theres an issue on Hampton Boulevard, a lot of the military traffic thats traveling back to Portsmouth will clog up Colley Avenue, Holley said. Problem with Colley Avenue is you have parking on both sides of the street. You have a lot of pedestrian traffic and theres a lot of students. So you have bicyclists, you have a number of different obstacles that can create some issues. Holley said his family also noticed drivers speeding in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My daughter even mentioned to me today that people dont even pay attention to it, Holley said, and its sad. So, distracted driving, people going too fast, everybodys in a hurry. We just really, really need to slow down. Cyclist Corey Logan said neighbors have been calling for change to the roads for years, but they havent seen enough. Lots of people for years have been saying that the city needs to change the infrastructure, not just change the paint, not just put up a sign, but provide physical separation between traffic and pedestrians and cyclists or to reduce speeds across the board, Logan said. While hoping for change that will make it safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike, people in the neighborhood wont soon forget the man who never met a stranger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That sign right there, Holley said, pointing up at the University Pizza sign and reading from it: We love you, Leo. Check with WAVY.com for updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Nov. 26One person was injured Monday morning after a crash at an intersection in northern Albert Lea. Destiny Deluna, 28, was reportedly taken by ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea with a suspected minor injury, according to police. She was the passenger in a 2020 GMC Sierra, driven by Sidney Hargis, 26, of Kiester. Police stated Hargis was southbound on Bridge Avenue, approaching Sykes Street, when he reportedly ran the red light and struck a 2022 Chevy Express van driven by Jay Dokken, 53, of Alden that was heading east on Sykes Street. Hargis was cited for failure to obey a traffic signal. A 1-year-old remains at Childrens Hospital in critical condition after police say he was found unconscious after being badly abused by his mothers boyfriend. Channel 11 spoke to the paternal grandmother who describes the baby as a happy, go-lucky child who didnt deserve this. Carla Darrell is horrified after what happened to her 1-year-old grandson, Kybrel. It wasnt good he was on all kinds of machines. He was beat like a man. A man beat my grandson, said Darrell. He didnt do nothing. There was nothing possible he couldve did to do this to him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to state police, the California Borough Police Department was originally called to a home along 3rd Street on Saturday afternoon after the 1-year-old stopped breathing. The little boy was rushed to the hospital where he was put onto a ventilator because his brain was deprived of oxygen and swelling. The little boy also suffered a stroke and has a broken vertebra in his neck. Police say the mothers boyfriend, Lyndon Henderson had been watching Kybrel while his mother was at work. If someone wouldve called my son to come get his son he would have went and got his son to watch him, Darrell said. Nobody else had to watch him. We wouldve watched him. When questioned by Belle Vernon troopers, the 24-year-old told authorities that he watched the child when his girlfriend went to work early Saturday morning. Henderson told authorities that the child fell off the couch onto the floor after spinning him around in circles and placing him on the couch. The criminal complaint quotes the doctor who treated Kybrel saying: The brain injury sustained by the victim is 100% unequivocally the result of child abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henderson was arrested Sunday night for assaulting the child. He remains in the Washington County Jail under no bond. I dont believe he belongs out of jail. He belongs there. He belongs where he deserves. He deserves in there, said Darrell. Kybrel was also placed on a feeding tube today and is in a medically induced coma as he recovers. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Roger Williams University School of Law Professors Nicole Dyszlewski and Natasha Varyani discuss their research into racial covenants and redlining, and how the practices permanently shaped neighborhoods across the Northeast. Then R.I. Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff discusses the latest Hunger in Rhode Island Status Report report that shows an increase in food insecurity in the state. READ: The 2024 Status Report on Hunger HELP: The RI Community Food Bank Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S.-proposed 60-day ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is "designed to be" permanent, will take effect at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday local time (2:00 a.m. GMT). Serial killers are often some of the most unsuspecting people. Would a sweet-presenting preachers wife plot to kill her entire family? Would a couple spend their dates on a killing spree? Yes and yes. However, the most shocking thing about these suspects is that theyre Black. Among the plethora of Netflix crime documentaries, youd think the only serial killers to exist had white skin. Im here to inform you that is simply not true. Now, Black serial killers may not be as popular or widely known as your typical Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy or Jack The Ripper, but they exit. Though seemingly rare, their crimes are just as heinous and claimed hundreds of innocent lives - one man catching an alleged 90 bodies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because of the disparity if press coverage, Black serial killers were nearly always able to fly under the radar. I bet you cant think of any off the top of your head. Scroll on and youll leave familiar with 16 of them. Billy Chemirmir Photo: Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News (AP) Between 2016 to 2018, over 20 women were killed in their Texas retirement homes. Police assumed they died of natural causes because they were all older than 70 years old. However, it was none other than Billy Chemirmir, a former health care worker originally from Kenya. He was finally caught after one 91-year-old lady was able to survive his attack and reported to the police what happened, per PEOPLE. Authorities discovered Chemirmir used his job to target wealthy, older women to rob and kill them. He was charged with 22 counts of murder although he was convicted on two of them. He was also found guilty on two unrelated murder charges. He was sentenced to life in prison but after one year of serving his sentence, he was reportedly killed by another inmate, according to AP News. Eric Adams Photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Police said connected Adams to the fatal shooting of five women and the critical injury of a teen girl. In a release, police said a woman in her 40s and another woman in her 50s were found shot to death at an apartment. Amidst the investigation, the police department stated officers received word of a 13-year-old girl who had been transferred to the hospital in critical condition from gunshot wounds. The cops then scoured the apartment building for anymore shooting victims and found the remains of two women and a man - all of whom had been shot to death. However, by the time officers tracked him down in North Vegas, Adams fatally shot himself with his weapon. Henry Louis Wallace Photo: Charlotte Observer (AP) Wallace, also known as the Taco Bell Strangler, raped and murdered 11 Black women in the span of four years in the 90s. Most of the victims were women he knew such as friends and co-workers at the Taco Bell he managed in Charlotte, NC. Ol boy even attended some of their funerals. It wasnt until Wallace killed two women back-to-back in the same building that the police were onto him. He was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to death. Roberta Elder Photo: YEN News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The wife of Reverend William M. Elder was not only responsible for his death but also the death of two of his children whom she poisoned with her cooking. She was charged for their murders but during her trial, it was found that her killings didnt stop at her household. She was accused of killing up to 13 people including two ex-husbands, three of her own children, a grandson, a cousin and her own mother. She was sentenced to life in prison. Collins Jumaisi Khalusha Photo: Kenyan National Police Who Kenyan National Police considered a psychopathic serial killer was arrested after being connected to a series of killings dating back to 2022. They became aware of the killings after discovering a series of remains of women ages 18 through 30 just last week. Police said they were found mutilated, stuffed in sacks and discarded near a dump in Kware. One victims phone helped police track down Khalusha at a club where he was arrested. Police say he confessed to luring in the victims, killing them and disposing of their bodies - all 42 of them including his wife who he confessed to making his first kill. Anthony Robinson Photo: Harrisonburg Police Department The 37-year-old targeted a woman in Mechanicsburg, Pa. named Monica White in 2020. She told PEOPLE they dated for a few weeks until she cut him off after he displayed a series of concerning behavioral patterns. After their breakup, he was blasted in the news after being connected to the alleged murders of six women across the DMV. Police said each of the victims connected with Robinson through a dating app, were killed and then dumped with a shopping cart. He was charged with first-degree murder in two of the murders in 2022, per WTOP News. Keith Gibson Photo: Delaware Department of Justice (AP) The 41-year-old was already on probation for manslaughter ahead of his killing spree, per WHYY News. Delaware police said in 2021, he began with killing Leslie Ruiz-Basilio during a robbery at a Metro by T-Mobile store in Elsmere, Del. A month after the killing, he murdered Ronald Wright during a street robbery. The police caught him days later, sticking up a Rite-Aid. However, Gibsons name popped up in Pennsylvania police systems connecting him to a slew of crimes that occurred in Philadelphia around the time the two victims were killed. He was sentenced to seven life terms, per NBC Philadelphia. Samuel Little Photo: California Department of Corrections (AP) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Little is known as the most prolific serial killer not just because of his crimes but because he confessed to a large number of unsolved murders just two years before he died. Little had been killing since the 50s but was sentenced for good in 2014 for killing three women in the 80s. His DNA was then connected to another string of strangulations. In an interview with a Texas Ranger, he confessed to unsolved killings in over a dozen states bringing the total up to 93 people dead. Maury Travis Screenshot: ABC News The infamous Videotape Killer was linked to the murders of 12 sex workers in St. Louis by investigators, per Fox 2 Now. He would lure women to his home with money or drugs, then tie them up and kill them. After committing each murder, Travis would discard the bodies along the road and carried on this heinous act for three years. Police identified Travis after tracing his steps through a series of interactive maps and found his home. Bloodstains covered every part of his house and various womens items were recovered in the basement along with several videotapes of him torturing, abusing and raping his victims. Travis committed suicide in his jail cell before he could be convicted. Eddie Lee Mosley Screenshot: Fort Lauderdale Police Dept Dubbed as the Rape Man, Mosley was accused of terrorizing the women of South Florida in the 70s. DNA linked him to dozens of murders and rapes in the Fort Lauderdale area. He was charged three times for rape and was found not guilty in two cases and entered a plea deal in the third, per Sun Sentinel. Two innocent men were even convicted for Mosleys crimes, one of them being the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once the police got to him in the late 1980s, he was declared unfit to stand trial and was secluded to mental hospitals until he died in 2020. John Floyd Thomas Screenshot: CBS News The insurance claim adjuster turn serial killer was named the Westside Rapist for the terror he brought on women from Inglewood to Claremont, Ca. His targets were older women between the ages of 50 and 90. He would break into their homes, rape them and choke them to death. Thomas was finally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for seven murders but remains a suspect in another 15 unsolved killings, per LA Times. Harrison Graham Screenshot: Wikicommons Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One summer in 1987, Grahams neighbor complained to their landlord about a stench coming from Harrisons apartment. He was ordered to vacate the premises but refused and boarded up his doors and windows. He then fled from the fire escape and the landlord called the police to break into the apartment. What they found were two dead Black women, blood splatters and a slew of skeletal remains. Bones and body parts of other victims were found in bags. For the following week, Harrison ditched the police until his mother convinced him to turn himself in. When he was arrested, he confessed to the killings of seven women and was convicted in each case. He received the death penalty but was ordered to serve life in prison first, meaning he wouldnt actually be executed. Chester Turner Photo: Nick Ut (AP) Over a span of 11 years, Turner killed 10 women in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 10 counts of second-degree murder and the superior court judge said the evidence showed Turner would strangle each woman to death for his own sexual pleasure, a nature of cruelty rarely seen in murder trials. By 2014, he was sentenced to death after being found guilty in the killings of an additional four women, per Los Angeles Daily News. Paul Durousseau Photo: The Florida Times-Union, Rick Wilson (AP) Durousseau was a cab driver in Jacksonville when he raped and killed a 26-year-old woman. Following her death, Durousseau took the lives of six other women all under the age of 25. He was finally arrested in 2003 on five counts of murder but DNA linked him to his first killing, upgrading his punishment to the death sentence. In 2021, he had his death penalty conviction overthrown to serve life in prison instead, per News4Jax. Lonnie Franklin Jr. Photo: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP (AP) The Grim Sleeper was known to target young Black women who struggled with drug addiction. Franklin was found guilty of killing nine women and one teenager in 2016 and sentenced to death. His killing spree lasted from 1984, all the way to 2007 ; he kept souvenirs from his victims including their jewelry or pictures of them. He was finally arrested in 2010; prosecutors speculated he may have been behind even more murders. Before his execution date, he died in 2020 in his prison cell, per People. Wayne Williams Photo: AP File (AP) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1981, Williams was arrested for the murders of two adult men. However, during his trial, prosecutors suggested he was also behind a string of 22 murders of children in Atlanta. Though he maintained his innocence, forensic evidence from his home and vehicle connected him to several victims. He was sentenced to life in prison, though many people still believe he is innocent. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) The Berkeley County Coroners Office has identified a 16-year-old male among the victims killed in Tuesday nights double shooting in Cross. The coroner has positively identified a 16-year-old male from Cross and Mr. Kee Juan D. Middleton, 25, of Cross as the victims killed on Spiers Landing Road. The Coroners Office reports they were notified at 10:07 p.m. of a fatal shooting in the Cross community where two people were found deceased. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Berkeley County Sheriffs Office said law enforcement received reports of the shooting around 7:30 p.m. Deputies later located another victim who was transported to the hospital with injuries. Berkeley County EMS, Berkeley County Sheriffs Office and Central Berkeley Fire & Rescue responded to the incident. The Sheriffs Office says detectives are looking into a person of interest in relation to the shooting. The Berkeley County Sheriffs Office and the Berkeley County Coroners Office are investigating. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) The Bakersfield Police Department is asking for the communitys help in finding a missing at-risk 16-year-old boy. Keshawn Gooden, 16, was last seen in the 1200 block of 40th Street on Monday at about 2 p.m. Police say Gooden is considered at risk due to no prior reported history of running away. Police describe Gooden as 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black polo shirt, gray jean pants, black Nike shoes and possibly occupying a gold or tan 2003 Toyota Camry with the California license plate of #9ATP892, according to police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information regarding Goodens whereabouts is asked to contact the Bakersfield Police Department at 661-327-7111. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. 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: Cynthia L. Brown. Image courtesy Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum. We want to remember Cynthia L. Brown, 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. WILMINGTON, Ohio (WDTN) An 18-year-old girl was killed in a crash in Clinton County Tuesday evening. Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol were sent out to investigate a two-vehicle crash on I-71 near US-68. The crash occurred around 6 p.m. on Nov. 26. Man hospitalized after crash into two trees Preliminary investigation shows a 2017 Subaru Legacy was traveling southbound when it struck another southbound vehicle, a 2022 Ram pickup. Troopers say the impact forced the Ram into the right lane and the Subaru into the median. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver of the Subaru, a 21-year-old male, was sent to the hospital for his injuries. His passenger, identified as Makell Rhineheart, 18 of Chillicothe, was also transported to the hospital, where she later died. No occupants in the Ram were injured. OSP was assisted on scene by the Clinton County Sheriffs Office, Wilmington Fire and EMS, and Port William EMS. The crash remains under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated. The initial story erroneously said that Nancy Anderson's killer, Tudor Chirila, was convicted of the crime, but Chirila actually died while awaiting trial. This has been corrected in the current text. Strolling the warm sands of Honolulus Waikiki Beach quickly became part of 19-year-old Nancy Andersons routine when she moved by herself from Colorado to Hawaii in the fall of 1971. A recent high school graduate, Anderson thought moving to a new place would help her figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She was trying to find herself, says Mary Schiattone, one of Nancys nine siblings. She knew Hawaii is beautiful and if youre going to go anywhere, why not Hawaii? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Oct. 21, 1971, Nancy jetted off to the lush island of Oahu, stepping off the plane and into her new life with a suitcase and money shed saved from a job as a waitress and by working at a donut shop. In Honolulu, Nancy found an apartment on Aloha Drive to share with a roommate, got a job at McDonalds and made lots of new friends. Nancy, like the rest of our family, was raised to be trusting and kind, says Mary. But that could also lead to being naive because we didnt understand there could be real evil in the world. Less than three months after moving to Waikiki, the effervescent young woman with so many hopes for the future came face-to-face with unspeakable evil. On the afternoon of Jan. 7, 1972, her roommate, Jody Spooner, 18, woke up from an afternoon nap to the sound of running water in Nancys bathroom. When she entered her roommates bedroom, she found Anderson dead on the floor. Initially, Spooner thought it was suicide. But police who arrived on the scene immediately suspected murder: Anderson had been savagely stabbed 63 times and died from a knife wound to the heart. It was unimaginable, says her brother Jack Anderson. A beautiful 19-year-old girl with her whole life in front of her. Why? Who would do such a thing? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That very question haunted Nancys family and police in Hawaii for more than 50 years, eventually making Andersons unsolved murder the states oldest cold case. Now, the mysterious slaying is featured in The Aloha Murder, the next episode of People Magazine Investigates, airing on Investigation Discovery on Monday, Dec. 2, at 9/8c and streaming on Max. (An exclusive clip is shown below.) The episode goes behind the scenes of the search and capture of Nancys killer, a case that was re-opened in 2019 when the victims brother, Jack Anderson, reached out to renowned forensic genealogist CeCe Moore of Parabon NanoLabs in Virginia, for help. Related: Hawaii 19-Year-Old Was Found Slain in Home 50 Years Ago and Suspect Was Just Charged After Son Provided DNA Using state-of-the-art DNA analysis, combined with traditional detective work, Moore and Honolulu police identified a long-ago Honolulu neighbor of Andersons, Tudor Chirila, then 77, as a suspect. He was arrested in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was beyond anything we could possibly even dream of after all these years, says Nancys older sister, Carol Sampson. This was him. This is who killed our sister. The Dark Side of Paradise If anyone had the wherewithal to move to a city 4,000 miles from home without knowing a soul there, it was Nancy. She would walk into a room and people would gravitate towards her like a magnet. She had more friends than you could count. She was an extrovert. Outwardly, living in a lush, oceanside oasis seemed to agree with Nancy. She had a lot of fun with the people she was getting to know, says Carol. But her sisters sensed something darker was going on when, back home for Christmas that year, Nancy told them, If anything ever happens to me, remember this name, says Mary, who can only recall a two-syllable name of unknown ethnic origin. It told me Nancy was fearful. A week later, on Jan. 8, Nancys sisters attended a memorial service on the sixth anniversary of their fathers death and faced more heartache: When they returned home from church, they were told about Nancys murder. I remember the blood-curdling scream mom let out when she heard the news, says Mary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, in Hawaii, police launched their investigation, first questioning Nancys roommate. She said she didnt hear the attack in the bedroom next door because of the water that was left running in Nancys bathroom. Detectives then located two young cutlery salesmen who made a sales call at the apartment earlier that day and contacted a man with whom Nancy had been on several dates. Everyone had alibis. With no further leads to pursue, police eventually moved on to other cases, and Nancys case went cold. But Nancys siblings never stopped longing for justice. In 2001, their mother Thelma passed away at 75. She deserved a peaceful death an answer as to who killed Nancy, says Jack. That year, Sampson successfully petitioned the Honolulu police chief to reopen the case. Nearly two decades later, after discussing a promising new investigative technique called genetic genealogy at a family reunion, Jack searched online for genetic genealogists and learned about CeCe Moore, a pioneering DNA sleuth who, at that time, had helped to solve dozens of cases. (Today she and her team have helped solve more than 300 rape and murder cold cases.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: How Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore Solved 109 Criminal Cases with DNA: 'It's About Families' When Jack sought her help, Moore immediately agreed to take on Nancys cold case. Its not typical that a family reaches out to me, says Moore. It definitely made me very emotionally invested. Moore got to work using DNA left behind at the crime scene. The killer had apparently cut himself during the violent knifing and left behind blood stains on a towel. Moore compared a DNA profile provided by police with profiles in genealogy databases and then compiled a family tree of people who shared DNA with the likely suspect. She narrowed her search to an individual who lived near Nancy in the early 1970s Chirila, a university teaching assistant living in Waikiki. Furthermore, Moore discovered through a records search that Chirila had gone on to have troubles with the law. He had once been arrested for kidnapping his girlfriend who was trying to break up with him, she says. (The charges were later dropped.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Honolulu police tracked Chirila down in Reno, Nev., where he once served as a state deputy attorney general. Police, armed with a search warrant, gathered a DNA sample from him at his apartment, which gave them the evidence they needed. "After 50 years, we finally had a match," says Moore. Chirila was charged with Nancy Anderson's murder and extradited to Hawaii to stand trial. But on Dec. 25, 2023 Christmas Day Chirila died in a hospital after refusing to eat, drink or take medications for two days. Though Chirila was never convicted, Nancys siblings see his death in custody as vindication. If we do nothing else in our lives, says Carol, I think I can say, Nancy, we did this for you. Theres been justice for you. People Magazine Investigates: The Aloha Murder airs on ID on Dec. 2 at 9/8c and streams on Max. Read the original article on People Congress has a long list of pressing priorities including funding the federal government to prevent a shutdown that it is likely to put off until 2025. One new item packed on that to-do list: legislation introduced by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace to ban transgender women from womens restrooms, and transgender men from mens restrooms, on any federal property. The South Carolina lawmaker proposed this bill after launching a campaign to remove newly-elected Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware from womens restrooms on Capitol Hill. After House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a rule that effectively matched her initial proposal, Mace expanded her proposed bill to restrict the ability of all trans Americans to use restrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms on federal property across the country. If passed into law, how would such a bill be enforced, and what would be the consequences? And what is the atmosphere like right now for transgender lobbyists and advocates who work on the Hill? The 19th spoke with multiple experts to find out. Where would such a law apply? Such a far-reaching law would mean widespread discrimination against all transgender people, experts say, although Maces rhetoric has singled out trans women. It would have the potential to expose trans and nonbinary people to harassment and discrimination at national parks, courthouses, IRS buildings like taxpayer assistance centers, Social Security Administration offices, and some post offices and Native American lands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If enforceable, this federal ban would exclude trans people from spaces that are meant to be among the most accessible to Americans, said Kelly Dittmar, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden University and the director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). I would assume in this case, were talking about Smithsonians and other federal buildings, museums, landmarks, things that should be accessible to the population in part because they are government funded or run, she said. The language in Maces proposed bill would restrict bathroom access in any building, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States (including the Department of Defense and the United States Postal Service), or any other instrumentality wholly owned by the United States, or by any department or agency of the District of Columbia or any territory or possession of the United States. As the Washington Post reports, this proposal would likely impact the public libraries, recreation centers, and public schools of Washington, D.C. which is home to a large population of LGBTQ+ residents and is slated to host World Pride in 2025. How likely is it that this ban will become law? Maces bill is unlikely to advance until the new Congress is sworn in this January, as the Senate is currently adjourned until December 2, and members are preoccupied with major defense and agricultural measures. When and if this bill does come into play, it would have to overcome a potential filibuster by Senate Democrats, despite Republicans holding a majority in each chamber. It is also unclear how much support Mace holds for this bill among Republicans. How would this law be enforced? There are no details in Maces proposal about how nationwide restrictions on trans Americans bathroom use would be enforced, and her office did not respond to a request for comment. To understand what such a ban would look like in practice, experts point to state bathroom bans that have percolated, and largely failed to become law, since 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These state bathroom bans provide few, if any details about how they would be enforced because they dont need to private citizens are often meant to be the enforcers, said Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ+ legislation. The way that the laws are de facto enforced is often through the emboldening of private individuals to police other peoples bathroom use, he said. Theres no written enforcement because the proponents of these bills know that just by talking about this, let alone enacting these laws, that they are emboldening individual people themselves to enforce these bathroom bans. A recent example that takes this formula to an extreme can be seen in Odessa, Texas. A new expansion of the West Texas towns ordinance allows individual citizens to sue transgender people caught using bathrooms that match their gender identity and seek no less than $10,000 in damages, per the Texas Tribune. Deputizing private citizens to enforce this kind of law enables high rates of harassment and violence against transgender people as well as cisgender people, Casey said, particularly women who do not conform to traditional ideas of femininity. Whats going on at Capitol Hill? Are trans people banned from bathrooms there? All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms are reserved for individuals of that biological sex, Johnson said in a statement on Wednesday. The policy appears to apply to all transgender people working at the Hill or simply visiting the building complex. Johnsons office did not respond to a request for comment confirming this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnsons statement also does not explain how the new policy will be enforced. Maces original bill proposed that the House sergeant-at-arms would enforce a bathroom ban, but Johnsons announcement made no such reference. His office did not respond to a request for comment on the new rule. Without any clarity on enforcement, trans lobbyists and advocates like Caius Willingham, a senior policy analyst at Advocates for Trans Equality, are forced to wait and see whether they will be policed for trying to do their jobs and what the consequences of noncompliance could be. Unlike members of Congress, these employees dont have access to private facilities and when working on the Hill, alternative options are few and far between. The Capitol grounds are massive. Some buildings dont even have a single, single-occupancy bathroom. So practically, if Im going to spend the day on the Hill meeting with legislators and staff, which is core to my job, I may have to be strategic about what bathrooms I use, he said. I might have to run outside, to find a restroom outside the Capitol building. The broader implications of a federal bathroom ban would essentially extend this ban to all of D.C., he said, considering how many people work in federal buildings. Is this legal? Within the courts, there has been a split in opinions: Last year, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Florida policy banning transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. However, in 2021, the Supreme Court handed a win to trans advocates by keeping in place a 4th U.S. Circuit Court decision that found a Virginia bathroom ban unconstitutional. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Across the country, two states Utah and Florida ban trans people from using bathrooms and facilities that match their gender identity in all government-owned buildings, K-12 schools, and colleges, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Breaking that law is a criminal offense in Utah and Florida. Seven other states have passed laws restricting trans Americans bathroom usage only in K-12 schools. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress broad jurisdiction over its own internal rules and procedures. But Maces proposed federal bathroom ban could run afoul of recent Supreme Court precedent, said Barbara Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia. The majority opinion In the Supreme Courts 2020 decision in Bostock vs. Clayton County, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender identity constitutes unconstitutional sex discrimination. I dont think theyve looked at this in light of the law whatsoever, Comstock said. So I think this is just an embarrassing stunt which does raise attention to the challenges and discrimination faced by transgender Americans. Who is actually endangered by trans people using the bathroom? Research shows that trans people, not cisgender people, are actually the ones who experience violence and discrimination when using the restroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that many trans people avoid public restrooms out of fear of how they may be treated. 26 percent of over 27,000 respondents said that in the previous year, they had been denied access to restrooms, had their presence in a restroom questioned, or were verbally harassed, physically attacked or sexually assaulted in a restroom. Research from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, in 2018 found that expanding non-discrimination laws to include transgender people does not affect the number or frequency of criminal incidents in restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms. While Mace and other Republican lawmakers have claimed that banning trans women from womens restrooms will protect women, empirical evidence does not show that including trans people actually leads to safety or privacy incidents. Willingham said that when he worked in the House as a legislative assistant to Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington from 2021 to 2023, his identity as a transgender person was never made an issue. He watched as members of Congress would share transphobic rhetoric at hearings and floor debates and then treat him, an actual trans person, with respect. It was a jarring experience. Its really frustrating to see things go backwards in Congress, he said. My experience working even across the aisle was extremely positive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The post The 19th Explains: How bathroom bans on federal property would impact trans Americans appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. Two people from Davenport are in Scott County Jail after police say they burglarized multiple storage units over several months and sold hundreds of items to pawn shops. Adriana Hines, 29, was arrested on Monday, Nov. 25, on a warrant issued earlier that day. She faces charges of: 17 felony counts of third-degree burglary 1 misdemeanor count of third-degree burglary 1 felony count of ongoing criminal activity 1 misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit non-forcible felony Adriana Hines (Scott County Jail) Cody Vondran, 30, was also arrested on Monday, and faces charges of: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 19 felony counts of third-degree burglary 1 felony count of conspiracy 1 felony count of ongoing criminal activity Cody Vondran (Scott County Jail) A string of burglaries in Davenport storage units 10:36 a.m. April 4: Davenport Police responded to Storage Rentals of America, 2501 N. Lincoln Ave., for a burglary of several storage units within the facility. According to the criminal complaint, Hines originally had a storage unit within this facility, became delinquent for non-payment and abandoned her unit. Arrest affidavits say investigators determined that Hines and Vondran broke into several storage units within the facility. Detectives executed search warrants on two units at StorageMart, 6520 Northwest Blvd., that were associated with Hines and Vondran, and found stolen property in these units that linked the two with the burglarized units. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2:36 p.m. Sept. 3: Davenport Police responded to the same Storage Rentals of America location for a report of storage-unit burglaries, affidavits show. Officers investigated and determined that Vondran originally had a storage unit within this facility. Detectives executed a search warrant at a unit at All Kinds of Storage, 2103 Buffalo Ave., which was associated with Hines and Vondran. Detectives found stolen items belonging to several storage-unit burglary victims. About 5 p.m. Sept. 18: Hines and Vondran forced entry into four storage units at Greenwater Storage, 2201 Buffalo Ave., by cutting the locks off the units, affidavits say. Hines allegedly stole property from the storage units and placed it in Hines unit. Hines and Vondran appear on surveillance video cutting the locks off of the storage units, entering them and taking the property inside. About 3:36 p.m. Oct. 21: Davenport Police took a report of a burglary from Budget Storage Rentals, 6520 Northwest Blvd., affidavits say. Hines originally had a storage unit at this facility, but the unit became delinquent and went back to facility ownership. Hines allegedly used false information and obtained an additional storage unit inside the facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An investigation revealed that Hines and Vondran were breaking into numerous storage units within this facility, police say in affidavits. Detectives executed a search warrant on a unit at All Kinds of Storage, 2103 Buffalo Ave., that was associated with the couple, and found items belonging to numerous storage unit victims. About 1:16 p.m. Oct 24: Davenport Police responded to Budget Storage Rentals, 6520 Northwest Blvd., for a burglary of several storage units within the facility, affidavits say. Hines originally had a storage unit within the facility, became delinquent for non-payment and was turned over to the facility. Hines used a false identity to obtain another storage unit within the property, police say in affidavits. Hines and Vondran are seen on surveillance video breaking into a unit and moving property within another, according to affidavits. They stored the stolen property in other units. Detectives executed search warrants on the units and found stolen property that linked Hines and Vondran to burglaries at several units at this facility. About 3 p.m. Nov. 4: Davenport Police were called to All Kinds of Storage for a burglary to a storage unit. The victim noticed a different lock on his storage unit when he dropped off his rent check. He returned, removed this lock, entered his unit and noticed the theft of items including a black-and-yellow Champion generator, police say in affidavits. Officers investigated and determined that Hines and Vondran were involved in numerous burglaries of storage units within the facility, and learned the two had a storage unit within the facility where they stored the majority of stolen property from the burglaries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vondran, who is in a relationship and lives with Hines, reportedly pawned the generator at QC Pawn, 3559 W. Kimberly Road, on the same day as the incident, affidavits say. About 9:30 a.m. Nov. 18: Davenport Police responded to All Kinds of Storage, 2103 Buffalo Ave., for a report of storage unit burglaries. Officers were told that a unit had been broken into and several items were missing. The owners of the storage unit responded and found Hines, who said she was going to her unit. The owners received consent to inspect the unit with Hines. During the inspection, they took a photo of the unit and sent it to all the owners of units in the complex. The owner of one unit said he saw a shoe that was in the front of the storage unit and said he knew this shoe belonged to his son and was stolen from his unit. He said this shoe was a specific shoe released only to his sons team at North Dakota State, according to affidavits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers obtained a search warrant for the unit and found several items from other units in this storage unit. Officers contacted the people renting the units and asked them to check them. All the victims reported that their units were broken into, affidavits show. Things were thrown around and some of the units had new locks placed on them by someone else. These locks had to be broken off to gain entry to the units. Affidavits say officers also found items that had been stolen from three other storage facilities, including Budget Storage Rental, Storage Rentals of America and Greenwater Storage. Hines and Vondran have units at all of these storage facilities under their names, as well as fictitious names. Officers found other peoples belongings from their storage units in these units. Hines and Vondran were seen on camera at 2201 Buffalo Avenue stealing items from other storage units. During this time period, Vondran sold 330 items to pawn shops throughout the area while Hines sold 31 items at local pawn shops. 2:30 p.m. Nov. 18: Davenport Police took a report of a burglary at Budget Storage Rentals. According to the criminal complaint, officers determined that the couple broke into numerous storage units within this facility. Detectives executed a search warrant at All Kinds of Storage that was associated with Hines and Vondran, and found stolen items belonging to numerous storage unit victims. Hines and Vondran are both in the Scott County Jail on a combined cash-only bond of $55,000 each. They have preliminary hearings on Dec. 6 in Scott County Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Videos purporting to show a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian oil refinery may actually have been of a wayward civilian An-2 biplane. Whatever the exact circumstances were, the incident highlights the continued utility of the anachronistic, but venerable An-2, with or without a pilot. Clips, seen below, showing what looks to be an An-2 passing very low over an oil refinery in the city of Salavat in Russias Bashkortostan region, as well as anti-aircraft guns firing at it, first began circulating on social media earlier today. Drone attack on Russian oil refinery in Salavat, Bashkortostan, region of Russia is reported. 1300km from the frontline. UPD. False alarm. As it is now reported, a civilian An-2 flew into a restricted area over the oil refinery and was fired upon by Russian air defense. pic.twitter.com/wn6PS5OuqI Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) November 26, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plane seen in the videos has a wing configuration and overall shape that align with the An-2, also known by its NATO reporting name Colt, and what sounds like a radial piston engine can be heard in some of the footage. It is possible that it is another biplane type, such as a crop duster, but An-2s are still in use in Russia for commercial and military purposes. Two Russian An-2s seen flying together in 2012. Artem Katranzhi/Wikimedia Commons While what exactly led the apparent An-2 to pass over Salavat remains unknown, that it was initially identified as a drone is not surprising. Salavat is around 720 miles (close to 1,160 kilometers), at closest, from the border with Ukraine, and some 808 miles (approximately 1,300 kilometers) from the front lines of the fighting in that country. However, Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to launch very long-range attacks with kamikaze drones, including ones converted from crewed aircraft, against targets hundreds of miles inside Russian territory, including in the capital Moscow. Russian facilities related to oil and natural gas production have also been especially prime targets for Ukrainian drones. With ample space inside for additional range-extending fuel and explosives, the An-2 could be a good candidate for conversion into a one-way attacker. A map showing the general location of the city of Salavat in Russias Bashkortostan region. Google Maps The idea of repurposing An-2s, an aircraft that Antonov first began producing in 1947 in what was then Soviet Ukraine, as weaponized drones is not new, either. During its war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020, Azerbaijan employed the biplanes with certain modifications as semi-uncrewed decoys. Pilots would get the aircraft aloft and locked onto a set course before bailing out. The planes would then fly along that route until they were shot down, ran out of fuel, or otherwise crashed. This, in turn, created complications for Armenian air defenders who had to try to determine if the Colts were real kamikaze drones and make the decision about whether or not to expend valuable anti-aircraft resources to try to knock them out. Engaging the pilotless biplanes would also expose air defense positions and give Azerbaijans forces other opportunities to glean information about Armenias capabilities and standard operating procedures. The video below reportedly shows Armenian air defenses shooting down an Azerbaijani An-2. In March 2022, soon after Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine, signs emerged that it was massing An-2s, possibly to employ them in a similar fashion to how Azerbaijan used them against Armenia. There are no clear indications that Russian forces subsequently employed those aircraft in any configuration in relation to the conflict in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Examples of the Y-5, a version of the An-2 built under license in China, have also been more recently adapted into uncrewed cargo-carrying platforms, ostensibly for civilian use, but with potential military applications. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even when employed in its intended role as a crewed light transport plane, the An-2 continues to be relevant in a military context, as TWZ has highlighted on multiple occasions in the past. With its metal-framed, but fabric-covered wings, the biplane has a relatively small radar cross section for its size. It can fly extremely slow and low, helping further to evade detection, even in certain circumstances by aircraft high above with look-down-shoot-down radars. The plane has impressive short takeoff and landing capabilities, as well. For these reasons, North Korea notably maintains a fleet of An-2s to help deposit commandos behind enemy lines, either by parachute or after landing on short stretches of fields or highways, during the opening stages of conflict on the Peninsula. South Korea has its own An-2s to help its forces train against those threats. North Korean An-2s drop commandos during training. North Korean State Media One of South Koreas An-2s. Hywel Evans Other armed forces globally, including several within NATO, also continue to fly crewed An-2s, which have the further benefit of being relatively easy and cheap to operate and maintain. An An-2 belonging to the air force of Latvia, a NATO member. Latvian Armed Forces There continues to be attempts to iterate on and improve upon the An-2s design, but no such effort has been met with the same kind of success. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether or not more details emerge about the An-2 flight over Salavat, the videos highlight the staying power of the rugged, increasingly ancient-looking design crewed or uncrewed being included in military service. Contact the author: joe@twz.com Tanzanian voters line up to collect their ballots at a polling station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Emmanuel Herman) DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanians on Wednesday cast their votes to elect members and leaders of local authorities. The civic polls were preceded by seven days of campaigns for the local government leaders from various political parties, including the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi. Posts being vied for included 12,280 village chairpersons, 4,264 street chairpersons, 63,886 hamlet chairpersons, 230,834 village council members, and 21,320 street committee members. Among the voters were President Samia Suluhu Hassan who cast her ballot in the Chamwino district of the Dodoma region, and Vice President Philip Mpango who voted in his native village of Buhigwe in Kigoma region, western Tanzania. Other leaders, including Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, and Deputy Prime Minister Doto Biteko, voted in their native regions. On Tuesday night, Hassan addressed the nation on the eve of the civic polls, saying local governments played a crucial role in building a strong nation with sustainable development. "Through the leaders we elect, we establish a foundation for accountability, quality service delivery to citizens, and proper management of public resources," she said. "This is an opportunity to ensure we build a society characterized by stability, unity, and progress." In late October, Mohamed Mchengerwa, minister of state in the President's Office responsible for regional administration and local governments, said at least 31,282,331 Tanzanians, equivalent to 94.83 percent of eligible voters, had registered to vote in civic elections. A Tanzanian voter casts her vote at a polling station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Emmanuel Herman) Tanzanian voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Emmanuel Herman) FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Two Florence County men are facing multiple counts of sex crimes involving minors in a pair of unrelated cases being prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office. Thomas Hampton Young, 18, of Florence, was arrested Monday on three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He could get 10 years in prison for each count if hes convicted, Attorney General Alan Wilsons office said. Robert Decosta Hunter, Jr., 39, of Pamplico, was arrested Tuesday on three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He could face 50 years in prison if convicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both men are being held without bond, according to Florence County Detention Center online records. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with Attorney General Alan Wilsons office made the arrests, with help from investigators with the Florence County Sheriffs Office and U.S. Secret Service, both of which are members of the task force. The arrests came after investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to Wilsons office. Investigators had Young possessed child sexual abuse material and that Hunter possessed and distributed similar files. * * * Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY Two of the highest-ranking leaders of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Bloods Gang were just sentenced to long stretches in the federal pen. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Dwight Reid, a/k/a "Dick Wolf," and Christopher Erskine, a/k/a "Beagle," were both sentenced to 35 years in prison, for their leadership of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Bloods Gang ("Gorilla Stone"), a brutally violent street and prison gang that operates across the country, according to federal law enforcement agencies. The latest sentences means that all 21 defendants, including the gang's founder and prison leader, the gang's street leader, and a long list of "godfathers" and "godmothers," are paying the price for their crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reid, the gang's highest-ranking member, is the gang's founder and prison leader. He was sentenced on May 21. Erskine, the gang's street leader, also known as the "Sun," is the gang's second highest-ranking member, and was sentenced on Tuesday. The sentences were imposed following a nearly three-week trial last year. "Dwight Reid and Christopher Erskine are the two highest-ranking members of Gorilla Stone, a ruthless gang, and are responsible for terrible violent acts and trafficking dangerous narcotics across the country and state, including throughout the New York State prison system," Williams said. "Reid and Erskines convictions and lengthy sentences, as well as our successful prosecution of many of the gangs most senior and violent members, send an important message to gang leaders that they will be convicted and sentenced to significant terms in prison." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reid founded Gorilla Stone over 20 years ago. The gang has members across New York, including throughout New York City, Westchester, upstate New York, and the New York State Prison System, and all over the country including Florida. Gorilla Stone is made up of crews (or "caves," as they are called by the gang members). The gang has been linked to a September 2020 broad daylight murder of a teenager on a busy Poughkeepsie street and an October 24, 2020 gang-related shooting outside of a Miami strip club, in which two rival gang members were shot and seriously wounded, requiring one to be airlifted from the scene. The Gorilla Stone gang has also been tied to shootings and attempted murders, including an August 8, 2018 shooting in Brooklyn, July 5, 2020 gang shootings at a house party in Miami, and a July 20, 2020 drive-by shooting in New Rochelle. A June 12, 2020 gunpoint drug-related robbery in Peekskill and a vicious January 12, 2018 face slashing of a rival gang member on 125th Street in Manhattan outside a subway station, have also been connected to the street gang. Feds say that in addition to traditional sources such as the proceeds of nationwide narcotics trafficking (both inside and outside of prisons), Gorilla Stone is involved in organized and sophisticated fraud schemes, including a fraudulent unemployment benefits scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 52-year-old Reid, of the Bronx, and 41-year-old Erskine, of Brooklyn were convicted after trial of racketeering and narcotics offenses. All 21 defendants in the Gorilla Stone case before the presiding judge have been convicted. 18 defendants have been sentenced and three defendants have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing. There are 18 defendants, including numerous godfathers and godmothers, who have been sentenced so far. Reid, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison; Brandon Soto, a/k/a "Stacks," who was sentenced to 35 years in prison; Erskine, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison; Ahmed Walker, a/k/a "Ammo," who was sentenced to 235 months in prison; Godmother Naya Austin, a/k/a "Baby," who was sentenced to 234 months in prison; Godfather Donavan Gillard, a/k/a "Donnie Love," who was resentenced to 19 years in prison; Godmother Brinae Thornton, a/k/a "Luxury," who was sentenced to 210 months in prison; Jarrett Crisler, Jr., a/k/a "Jayecee," who was sentenced to 207 months in prison; Caswell Senior, a/k/a "Casanova," who was sentenced to 188 months in prison; Robert Woods, a/k/a "Blakk Rob," who was sentenced to 188 months in prison; Godfather Brandon Nieves, a/k/a "Untouchable Dot," who was sentenced to 110 months in prison; Jamal Trent, a/k/a "Trap Smoke," who was sentenced to nine years in prison; Dezon Washington, a/k/a "Blakk," who was sentenced to 97 months in prison; Roberta Sligh, a/k/a "Trouble," who was sentenced to eight years in prison; Jordan Ingram, a/k/a "Flow," who was sentenced to eight years in prison; Stephen Hugh, a/k/a "Chino," who was sentenced to seven years in prison; Isaiah Santos, a/k/a "Zay," who was sentenced to seven years in prison; and Shanay Outlaw, a/k/a "Easy," who was sentenced to three years in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three additional defendants have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing: Godfather Deshawn Thomas, a/k/a "Don," Godfather Walter Luster, a/k/a "Shells," and Neiko Crudup, a/k/a "JhitRilla." Williams praised the investigative work of the FBI Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which is comprised of special agents and task force officers from the FBI, U.S. Probation, New York State Police, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, New York City Police Department, Westchester County Police Department, Westchester County District Attorneys Office, Putnam County Sheriffs Office, Rockland District Attorneys Office and the Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Greenburgh, White Plains, Peekskill, Ramapo, and Clarkstown Police Departments. 2 More 'Untouchable Gorilla Stone Bloods Gang' Shotcallers Go Down originally appeared on the New Rochelle Patch Authorities are searching for whoever shot two people on the 710 Freeway during a suspected road rage incident in East Los Angeles early Wednesday morning. Authorities learned of the incident when two people inside a Toyota Prius arrived shortly after midnight at Los Angeles Community Hospital on Olympic Boulevard suffering from gunshot wounds. The victims said they had been shot at while driving on the 710 Freeway transition road to the 5 Freeway before continuing on to the hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both patients were in stable condition, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson told KTLA. Officers investigate a possible road rage shooting in East Los Angeles on Nov. 27, 2024. (KNN) The motive for the shooting was under investigation but CHP officers believe that road rage was a factor. The shooting prompted a SigAlert for the closure of several lanes on the 710 Freeway at the 5 Freeway interchange. The lanes were closed for several hours while officers searched for evidence but have since reopened. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting and no description of the suspect vehicle has been released. Investigators believe there were other vehicles in the area at the time of the shooting and are asking that anyone with information come forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ST. LOUIS A 20-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for a fatal shooting in July 2022 in the citys Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. According to the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office, Davon Griffin-Curry, 20, was sentenced for the fatal shooting of Rickey Jemore Lathan, 35, on July 12, 2022, in the 2500 block of Semple Avenue. Reportely, Lathan was in his front yard with his 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter setting off fireworks around 11 p.m., and a bottle rocket shot across the street and hit the house of Griffin-Currys grandparents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Griffin-Currys grandfather, Ronald Curry Sr., rushed out of the house angry and confronted Lathan. Davon and his young brother, Devin Griffin-Curry, ran out from behind their house firing 9 mm weapons. Davon and Devin hit Lathon 10 times, and he died at the scene. Devin, 16 at the time of the shooting, stood trial as an adult and sentenced to 22 years in prison for second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Davon received a life sentence plus five years to be served consecutively for the fatal shooting. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Was the 2024 presidential election close? It certainly didn't feel that way on election night and in the days immediately after. It became clear that President-elect Donald Trump was on pace to win relatively early in the evening. Interactive maps of election results showed the entire country shifting right. By Thursday, Trump had won 51 percent of the votes that had been counted thus far, more than 3 percentage points ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris. Headlines declared that Trump's victory was "resounding" and a "rout." His allies proclaimed it was a "decisive win" and claimed a mandate. But ballots were still being counted. As we've gotten more data and had the time to put the 2024 election in perspective, the truth has become clear: Yes, the 2024 presidential election was close. With more ballots counted, Trump's national popular vote lead is down to 1.6 points, and Harris could have won if she had done just a couple of points better in just a few states. Any argument that the 2024 election was a "landslide" is misleading. It relies on a combination of recency bias and using the wrong measuring sticks. The right way to measure an election's closeness Let's go through those measuring sticks one at a time. The most obvious one pointing to a Trump landslide is the margin in the Electoral College. After months of punditry about how the 2024 election could be one of the closest elections of all time, Trump ended up winning all seven major swing states, which came as a surprise to many Americans (although it shouldn't have been, since we and many other analysts cautioned that a sweep was a possible, even likely, outcome). Assuming there are no faithless electors, that will give Trump a healthy 312-226 electoral-vote margin when the Electoral College convenes on Dec. 17. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But because of its winner-take-all nature, the Electoral College isn't a good measure of closeness. Imagine an election where one candidate wins every state and district 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent. That candidate would romp to a 538-0 victory in the Electoral College, but that election was obviously still very close. The same principle was at play in the 2024 election: Trump won six of the seven major swing states (Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) by 3.2 points or less. And he won Wisconsin by just 0.9 points, Michigan by just 1.4 points and Pennsylvania by just 1.7 points. That's important because if Harris had won those three states (plus all the states and districts she actually did win), she would have gotten exactly 270 Electoral College votes. From this way of thinking about the election, you can see that Pennsylvania was the decisive state in the 2024 campaign what we at 538 call the "tipping-point state." PHOTO: Pennsylvania was 2024's tipping-point state. (Amina Brown for 538) In other words, if Harris had done just 1.8 points better across the board or even just in those three states (although that's not usually how elections work) she would be the president-elect right now. Trump's win in historical context That's a pretty close election by any standard but we can see just how close it is by putting that number into historical context. There have been 20 presidential elections since the end of World War II, and in only six of them was the tipping-point state decided by a smaller margin than Pennsylvania was decided by this year. Granted, two of those elections were 2016 and 2020: In both of those years, the tipping-point state was Wisconsin and was decided by less than 1 point. In that sense, it's understandable that 2024 felt like a big win for Trump: It was relatively big for him. But it certainly wasn't big if you take the historical long view, or even the medium view: In the two presidential elections before Trump came on the scene, former President Barack Obama won Colorado (the tipping-point state in both 2008 and 2012) by much bigger margins than Trump won Pennsylvania by this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And in fact, the same is true if you look at the Electoral College margin, Trump's main claim to landslide status. His likely 86-electoral-vote margin over Harris is larger than the 77 electoral votes he won by in 2016 or the 74 electoral votes that President Joe Biden won by in 2020. But it's smaller than the 126 electoral votes that Obama won by in 2012 and the 192 electoral votes that Obama won by in 2008. And once again, it is only the 14th-biggest Electoral College victory since the end of World War II. Another way to assess the closeness of an election is, of course, the national popular vote. While the popular vote doesn't affect who actually wins the election, it can be relevant in discussions of how big of a mandate the winner has to govern. By this measure as well, 2024 was a historically close election. Since the end of World War II, only three elections had popular-vote margins smaller than Trump's current 1.6-point lead: 1960, 1968 and 2000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has a couple of rebuttals to this. The first is that he is only the second Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since 1988 (the other was then-President George W. Bush in 2004). In an era in which the American electorate is typically slightly Democratic-leaning, that is an impressive accomplishment but it doesn't make the 2024 election a "landslide" in absolute terms. The second is that his 1.6-point popular-vote win represents a 6.1-point shift toward Republicans from the 2020 election. That's certainly a notable shift in only four years; the country hasn't changed its mind so quickly since racing 9.7 points to the left between Bush's 2004 win and Obama's 2008 win. But most of that movement is because Biden set a relatively high bar for Democrats by winning the 2020 popular vote by 4.5 points; if Biden had won by just, say, 1 point instead, the shift toward Trump wouldn't stand out. High expectations for Democrats in the popular vote, along with the widely circulated maps showing big swings toward Trump in virtually every county in the country, may have played a big role in setting those early narratives that Trump had notched an overwhelming win. Another was probably the media's repeated warnings before the election that it might take days to project a winner. While that very easily could have come to pass, we may have overemphasized the point. It was also always possible that a winner would be projected on election night, which is of course what happened. After it took until the Saturday after Election Day for media outlets to project that Biden had won the 2020 election, the relatively early projection in 2024 (ABC News projected him as the winner at 5:31 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday) probably made Trump's win seem more decisive. But once again, that's recency bias at play. The 2024 election actually took longer to project than all but three presidential elections since 1976. Apart from the interminable 2000 (when the race came down to a recount in Florida that didn't end until Dec. 12) and 2020 elections, only 2004 kept us in more suspense. PHOTO: The 2024 election took longer to project than most. (Amina Brown for 538) All in all, the idea that Trump won an overwhelming victory in 2024 is less grounded in the data and more based on a sense of surprise relative to (perhaps miscalibrated) expectations. Why perceptions of the 2024 election matter The debate over the closeness of the 2024 election may seem academic Trump won; who cares if it was a landslide or not? but it could have a very real impact on the ambitiousness of Trump's second term. Boasting about the scope of his win, Trump claimed in his victory speech that "America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate" to govern a narrative that caught on in the media and with many voters, too. In a mid-November poll from HarrisX/Harvard University, 71 percent of registered voters said that Trump had a mandate to govern, including 50 percent who said he had a "strong mandate." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is just the latest in a long line of presidents-elect trying to convert electoral success into political capital to pass their agendas. There's just one problem: Political scientists who have studied the idea of presidential mandates generally agree that they're made up. It's basically impossible to ascertain what voters had in mind when they went to the ballot box and whether a candidate's win was an explicit endorsement for a specific policy or approach to governing. And according to research by 538 contributor Julia Azari, a professor at Marquette University, there is no relationship between how often a president-elect claims a mandate and how big their victory was. In fact, Azari even found that presidents are more likely to claim mandates when they are in a politically weak position, as a sort of act of desperation to claim that their policies have public support. But research has also found that, much like Tinker Bell, mandates can exist if enough people believe that they do. According to political scientists Lawrence Grossback, David Peterson and James Stimson, when there is a media consensus that an election carries a mandate, Congress responds by passing major legislation. Azari and Peterson have further found that politicians themselves, like Trump, can push Congress to action as well, simply by insisting that they have a mandate. And per Azari, when a president-elect insists that he has a mandate, it is often accompanied by major expansions of presidential power. In other words, regardless of how close the 2024 election was in reality, Trump's claims to a mandate suggest that Republicans are planning to govern like they won in a landslide. The 2024 presidential election was close, not a landslide originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Shannon Dions 92-year-old mother, Doris Gleason, was murdered at a Dallas-area retirement home. Two years later, Dion learned that health care worker Billy Chemirmir, a serial killer, had killed her mother. Chemirmir, convicted of two murders, was killed in prison last year. Now, Dion and her organization, Secure Our Seniors Safety, is sharing her mothers story to raise awareness of the dangers facing vulnerable family members. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. A 24-year-old California man was electrocuted and died while hanging Christmas lights on Thursday, according to officials. Antonio Pascual was hanging Christmas lights the morning of Nov. 21 on a roof in Escondido, the San Diego County Medical Examiners Office said in a news release. He was hanging the lights near a high voltage powerline and when he threw the lights over the powerline, he was electrocuted. Someone called 911 and when paramedics arrived, they found Pascual hanging upside down from a tree, the medical examiners office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paramedics tried to save him and took him to the nearest hospital, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The medical examiner ruled his death a high voltage electrocution, according to the news release. Man was trapped for an hour, loved ones say According to Juan Pascual, who started a GoFundMe fundraiser in honor of the 24-year-old, Antonio Pascual was trapped in the tree for an hour because first responders had to wait for the power company to turn off the power. By then, it was too late to save him, the fundraiser read. Local officials did not immediately respond to USA TODAYs requests for comment Tuesday afternoon, but San Diego Gas & Electric or SDG&E said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the company is saddened by what happened to the man. "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and the public," the company said in the statement. "Our hearts go out to this person's family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. Out of respect for the family involved and ongoing investigation, we cannot share specific details at this time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When asked about how customers can protect themselves when working around power lines, SDG&E said it's important to: Be aware of your surroundings, especially when working in close proximity to overhead electric lines. Keep all machinery, equipment and materials such as scaffolding, tools, boat masts, fruit-picking poles, antennas, satellite dishes, pool skimmer handles, metal ladders and people in the area at least 10 feet away from the lines. If you think lines are in the area you're working in, call SDG&E at 1-800-411-SDGE. Depending on what you're doing, SDG&E may be able to turn off the electricity, cover the lines or move them temporarily while you complete your work. As for Pascual, his family would like to transport him from California to Guatemala, his birthplace, for burial. Thats also where his mother lives, the GoFundMe read. According to the organizer, Pascual took good care of his mother and family, and Christmas lights will forever mean something special to his family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was a brother, a son and (an) uncle, the fundraiser read. He had so much to live (for), only 24 years old. Forever young he will remain. This story has been updated with new information. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California man electrocuted while hanging up Christmas lights The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest released its finalists for its People's Choice Award. The winner of the contest, hosted by London's Natural History Museum, will be announced in February. The finalists include photos of wolves, polar bears, langurs, and other animals in the wild. The Natural History Museum in London hosts an annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest, inviting wildlife and nature photographers from around the world to participate. The competition celebrates the natural world's beauty while highlighting the challenges facing animals in the wild today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every year, a jury selects winners across multiple categories, including Animal Portraits, Under Water, and Urban Wildlife, while members of the public get to vote for a People's Choice Award winner. This year, a panel of judges shortlisted 25 images from 59,228 entries for its People's Choice Award. Now, people worldwide can view these images and vote online for their favorite pictures until 29 January 2025. "The People's Choice Award allows members of the public from across the globe to join the jury and vote for their winning image, inspiring everyone to connect with the natural world," Douglas Gurr, the director of the Natural History Museum, said in a statement. The winning image and the four runners-up will be announced in February 2025 and displayed online on the website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The top five People's Choice Award images will also be displayed on voting screens at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in South Kensington until 29 June 2025. Here are the shortlisted images from this year's contest. "Curious Connection" by Nora Milligan A chimpanzee in Loango National Park in Gabon. Nora Milligan/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Milligan was trekking through the Loango National Park forest in Gabon when she saw this chimpanzee. Her group "heard the call of a chimp first, then the leaves around them started to rustle, and a group of chimpanzees appeared," the Natural History Museum wrote on its website. "As she [Milligan] peered through her viewfinder, a large male paused and looked down at the group, craning its neck forward, and its eyes seemed to widen as if to get a better look," the museum added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Edge of Night" by Jess Findlay A barn owl at a barn outside Vancouver, Canada. Jess Findlay/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Photographer Jess Findlay spent several nights observing an owl's behavior near Vancouver, Canada, to plan this shot. The museum described how he used an invisible beam to trigger a flash when the bird left the barn, while a slow shutter speed captured the "ambient light cast on the clouds and barn." "It was a complicated setup but, to Jess's amazement, it worked the first time," the museum wrote. "No Access" by Ian Wood A Eurasian badger looks at badger graffiti in St Leonards-on-Sea, England, UK. Ian Wood/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Locals in St Leonards-on-Sea in England had been leaving out food scraps for foxes, "but Ian [Wood] noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage," wrote the museum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "After seeing a badger walking along the pavement by this wall late one night, he decided to photograph it." He relied on the glow of a lamppost to light the scene. "Icy Repose" by Sue Flood A Weddell seal rests on an ice floe. Sue Flood/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Sue [Flood] watched this Weddell seal from aboard a rigid inflatable boat in Neko Harbour of the Antarctic Peninsula," read the museum caption. "So as not to disturb its peaceful slumber, Sue used a long lens to record this serene portrait." "Snuffling Sengi" by Piotr Naskrecko A four-toed sengi in Mozambique. Piotr Naskrecki/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Photographer Piotr Naskrecki watched this sengi for weeks at Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, and noticed it took the same path every day as it searched for food. Since sengis are "extremely shy and skittish," the museum wrote, Naskrecki used a remote camera to capture this image. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Whiteout" by Michel d'Oultremont A stoat in the snow in Belgium. Michel d'Oultremont/Wildlife Photographer of the Year The Natural History Museum wrote that Michel d'Oultremont had hoped for years to take a photo of a stoat camouflaged in the snow eventually, he got the opportunity in his home country of Belgium. "He lay in the snow with a white camouflage net covering all but his lens," the museum wrote. "This curious stoat came out of its snowy hole and sat up from time to time, observing its territory just before setting off to hunt." "Earth and Sky" by Francisco Negroni A double lenticular cloud above the Villarrica volcano in Chile. Francisco Negroni/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Photographer Francisco Negroni regularly visits the Villarrica Volcano, one of Chile's most active, in Pucon. Every visit is "quite an adventure never knowing what the volcano might surprise you with," he told the museum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this photo, which was taken during a 10-day trip to the area, he captured the powerful moment the volcano's lava illuminated a stack of lenticular clouds. "Wolf Pack" by Arvind Ramamurthy An Indian wolf pack in Bhigwan, India. Arvind Ramamurthy/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arvind Ramamurthy was taking photos of a wolf pack playing in fields in Bhigwan, India, when "one of them came and sat down at the edge of the agricultural crop, and one by one, four others joined it. They paused for a few seconds before they ran off again, playing and chasing one another." the museum's caption read. "Scanning the Realm" by Aaron Baggenstos A puma in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Aaron Baggenstos/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The museum touted this image by Aaron Baggenstos as "a symbol of hope," showcasing how wild animals and humans in this case, gauchos, or sheep farmers can co-exist. It was taken in the Torres del Paine National Park, which has promoted ecotourism in the region. "The gauchos view pumas more positively because they're attracting tourists, which is good for income," the museum wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the farmers' sheepdogs scare pumas away, forcing them to prey on wild animals, rather than the sheep. "There is hope that humans and pumas can live alongside one another," the museum wrote. "Togetherness" by Ivan Ivanek Red-shanked douc langurs in Vietnam. Ivan Ivanek/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Red-shanked douc langurs critically endangered primates only found in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are known for their red "stockings." Photographer Ivan Ivanek found a small group of the monkeys after surveying the area for several days. Then, one evening, "he saw these two mating. Compared to other species of monkey he'd seen mating, it was an unexpectedly gradual and graceful affair!" wrote the museum. "The Arrival" by Brad Leue Floodwaters surge toward a salt lake in South Australia. Brad Leue/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Leue was in a helicopter when he witnessed a striking scene: floodwaters surging towards Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, Australia's largest inland lake, against a backdrop of a dust storm and rain. The floodwaters had traveled over 1,600 miles from Queensland toward South Australia. "Timing was imperative to photograph this once-in-a-decade natural event," the caption read. "Annoying Neighbour" by Bence Mate A European roller takes on an owl in Kiskunsag National Park in Hungary. Bence Mate/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Little owls and European rollers come into contact with each other at Kiskunsag National Park in Hungary because their nesting areas and food sources are similar. Mate spent 27 days watching from a hide to capture this interaction. "During the short mating season, the male roller makes a sport of annoying other birds that stray into its breeding area. It makes a surprise ambush, flying at full speed behind them," the museum wrote, adding, "The little owl seemed nonplussed by the spectacle." "Fallen from the Sky" by Carlo D'Aurizio Dead butterflies and moths in a stream in Italy. Carlo D'Aurizio/Wildlife Photographer of the Year When D'Aurizio visited the San Bartolomeo Valley in the Majella National Park in Italy where he's been many times he thought he'd see butterflies and dragonflies. What he didn't expect, though, was what the museum called "a sad collage of dead insects calmly floating in the water." "To this day, Carlo has no explanation of why the insects died," its caption read. "Aspen Shadows" by Devon Pradhuman Gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Devon Pradhuman/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Pradhuman watched a pack of wolves on the prowl for something to eat in Yellowstone National Park. Seeing them head for the aspens, he thought it would make a striking image. "The wolves walked right past these trees and then continued to follow the tree line, eventually disappearing over the hillside," the Natural History Museum wrote. "A Good Scratch" by Mark Williams A beluga whale rubs against a river bottom. Mark Williams/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Williams captured this image of a beluga whale rubbing its body on a river bottom along the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. It was taken in an inlet, where the waters are shallow and belugas gather to exfoliate their skin, hide from predators, and socialize with each other, according to the museum. "Nicknamed 'the canaries of the sea,' they produce a series of chirps, clicks, whistles, and squeals that Mark found otherworldly," the museum wrote. "Meeting in the Marsh" by Michael Forsberg A biologist nears an endangered whooping crane in Louisiana. Michael Forsberg/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Forsberg, a biologist, approached a whopping crane in Louisiana and moved with "cat-like quickness" to check the bird's health, quickly replacing a faulty transmitter that helps scientists keep track of the birds, per the Natural History Museum. "This experimental population was reintroduced in Bayou Country in 2011. In the 1940s there were roughly 20 whooping cranes in the region. Since then, numbers have climbed to over 800," the museum wrote. "Sneak Attack" by Erlend Haarberg A polar bear cub ambushes a northern fulmar. Erlend Haarberg/Wildlife Photographer of the Year "In the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, a walrus carcass had attracted a female polar bear and her two cubs," wrote the museum. "But one of the cubs was more interested in playing in the water than eating. The cub was having fun diving under the water and resurfacing, playing with the seaweed and kelp." Haarberg watched the bear cub attempt to ambush a northern fulmar several times, without success. "Slap Shot" by Savannah Rose A beaver slaps its tail in Wyoming to warn its relatives. Savannah Rose/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Rose captured a beaver's tail smack after years of attempts. She finally found success in a pond in Jackson, Wyoming. "As she approached the shoreline, a beaver cautiously cruised by after emerging from its lodge," the museum wrote in its caption, adding, "It cocked its tail up and brought it down with a resounding crack." The tail smacks are a way for the creatures to warn their family members about a newcomer to the area, the museum wrote. "The Brave Gecko" by Willie Burger van Schalkwyk A giant ground gecko takes on a pale chanting goshawk in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Willie Burger van Schalkwyk/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. In this photo, Willie Burger van Schalkwyk captured a brave giant ground gecko taking on a southern pale chanting goshawk that was attacking it in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. "Unfortunately, there was no hope of survival, but Willie was impressed by the gecko's bravery," the Natural History Museum wrote. "Forest of Dreams" by Samuel Bloch A northern giant petrel in its nest on Enderby Island in New Zealand. Samuel Bloch/Wildlife Photographer of the Year. "Northern giant petrels are large seabirds. They're used to flying above the waves for weeks without encountering land," the Natural History Museum wrote in its caption of the photo. "Samuel [Bloch] was surprised to find this seabird in such a woody environment. Like many other seabirds, it breeds on islands where there are fewer predators." To avoid disturbing the bird, the photographer clicked this image swiftly from afar. "Spiked" by David Northall A bloodied honey badger attacks a Cape porcupine. David Northall/Wildlife Photographer of the Year This photograph shows the moment a honey badger covered in blood and quills, but undeterred returned to finish off its prey, a Cape porcupine, in Botswana. "Honey badgers are famously ferocious," reads the caption. In the end, the honey badger won the battle, dragging the porcupine to its den, the museum wrote. "Drifting Dinner" by Noam Kortler A decorator crab on top of a sea squirt. Noam Kortler/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Kortler was on a night dive near Komodo Island in Indonesia when he saw a decorator crab on top of a sea squirt. "The sea squirt provided the crab the perfect stage to feed on drifting plankton," the museum wrote in its caption. Kortler used flash photography, creating the effect of spotlighting the crab. "Concert in the Forest" by Vincent Premel A Surinam golden-eyed tree frog puffs out its cheeks in French Guiana. Vincent Premel/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Premel captured a Surinam golden-eyed tree frog puffing out its cheeks as it prepared to call for a mate in French Guiana's first rains. "The call of the Surinam golden-eyed tree frog is so powerful it can be heard hundreds of meters away," the museum wrote. "Evening Song" by Christian Brinkmann The singing Eurasian songbird in Munster, Germany. Christian Brinkmann/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Brinkmann captured this striking image of a songbird against fairground lights in Munster, Germany. "During a popular fair in Munster called the Send, an interesting atmosphere arose behind the castle," the museum wrote. "The evening mood was gentle, and Christian [Brinkmann] had singing birds on one side and party music on the other. "In front of the fairground lights, this Eurasian blackbird posed for its song." "Unsold" by Jose Fragozo A young cheetah cub hisses while waiting to be sold in Ethiopia. Jose Fragozo/Wildlife Photographer of the Year Farmers in the Somali Region capture cheetah cubs, accusing them of harming their livestock, and sell them to traffickers. If the traffickers are unable to sell them, the cheetahs are killed, and their parts are sold for Chinese bone wine and other products. This cheetah cub "was captured from her home plains" and was then "transported for several days on the back of a camel to the northern coast of Somaliland," the museum wrote. "After hissing at the camera, the cub started chirping, calling out for its mother," it added. Read the original article on Business Insider On Nov. 27, 1998, a Metro bus plunged off the Aurora Bridge in Seattle. The bus driver, a passenger, and the gunman who shot the driver and himself were killed. The video included in this story shows the crash scene from overhead and includes an interview with Laethan Wene, who survived the crash. Wene was 24 when he was on bus No. 359. He was interviewed by KIRO 7 the night of the crash and was interviewed again for a story on the 20th anniversary of the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Below is a summary of the incident from HistoryLink.org and author Patrick McRoberts: Metro bus plunges off Seattles Aurora Bridge after driver is shot on November 27, 1998 On November 27, 1998, in the worst bus accident of Metros 25-year history, the driver of a southbound Route 359 express bus is shot twice as the bus begins crossing the Aurora Bridge, which crosses the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. After shooting the driver, the shooter, Silas Garfield Cool, 43, originally of New Jersey, turns his .380 automatic handgun on himself. The bus drops 50 feet into the Fremont neighborhood, killing one passenger and injuring 32 others. The driver, Mark McLauglin, 44, passenger, Herman Liebelt, 69, and the shooter die. The bus, a southbound Route 359 express, crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic and plunged 50 feet, landing first on the roof of an apartment building before tumbling to the ground. Had the bus traveled a few hundred yards farther it would have dropped more than 160 feet into the ship canal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to Cool and the driver, Mark McLauglin, 44, another passenger, Herman Liebelt, 69, died as a result of the accident. Thirty two passengers were injured. No clear motive for the shooting could be determined, although there were signs that Cool had been experiencing emotional problems and had become severely withdrawn. Nov. 27A second Dayton man accused of following family members leaving a funeral for a 14-year-old homicide and shooting at them pleaded guilty to his role. Thomas Michael Peck Jr., 20, pleaded guilty Monday before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O'Connell to a lesser included offense of attempted felonious assault, according to court documents filed Tuesday. Peck, originally charged with felonious assault, faces up to three years in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His co-defendant, Daviontay Maurice Travis Hunter, 21, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to felonious assault. O'Connell immediately sentenced him to two to three years in prison. Hunter and Peck had been scheduled to be tried together and Peck's attorney filed a motion to sever their trials. However, Hunter reached a plea agreement six days after the motion was filed so O'Connell ruled the motion moot, according to court documents. Dayton police were dispatched around 4:50 p.m. March 25 to the 1500 block of Watson Street for a shots fired complaint. Three people said their vehicle was shot four times when they left the funeral for family member Corey Prater and were followed by a Chrysler 300 reportedly driven by Peck who was accompanied by Hunter, according to an affidavit filed in Dayton Municipal Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Witnesses identified Mr. Peck and Mr. Hunter as the individuals who shot at (the) vehicle, which was occupied at the time of the shooting," the document stated. It is not clear whether the shots fired incident was connected to the deadly shooting nearly two weeks earlier. Prater and 17-year-old Javonta Morgan were shot and killed the evening of March 14 in the 1600 block of Miami Chapel Road, near Louise Troy Elementary School, during a fight involving a group of boys, a 911 caller reported. A 14-year-old boy is facing murder charges in Montgomery County Juvenile Court. The Dayton Daily News is not naming him because his case is not in adult court. by Yen Samnang The 2024 Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year highlights a strong commitment to peaceful cooperation and mutual prosperity, establishing a solid foundation for enduring diplomatic relations between the two countries. In 2023, Cambodia and China elevated their bilateral relations within the "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation framework that is centered on six priority areas, including people-to-people exchanges. Cultural diplomacy refers to the exchange of ideas, information, art, language, and other aspects of culture among nations and peoples in order to foster mutual understanding. In this sense, the people-to-people exchange year is considered as an essential pillar for cultural interactions between Cambodia and China and as a way to foster mutual understanding and forge strong bilateral ties. This initiative showcases Cambodia's rich cultural heritage internationally and provides a platform for co-organizing diverse cultural activities, such as art exhibitions, traditional music, dance performances, and culinary festivals. Events like When Shaolin Meets Bokator at Angkor in April exemplify how such programs celebrate cultural diversity, deepen mutual appreciation, and enhance cultural diplomacy. Beyond cultural engagement, the exchange year opens opportunities for various societal groups, including youth, artists, academics, and local communities. By fostering inclusivity, it strengthens grassroots ties, reinforces social bonds, and nurtures long-term interstate relations. In fact, the Cambodian government has recognized the importance of cultural diplomacy in fostering economic growth and enhancing national identity. As such, within the framework of people-to-people exchanges, the two sides can promote joint cultural tourism initiatives to showcase the diverse heritage of both countries. Also, they can further promote cultural exchange programs, foster bilateral artistic collaboration, and facilitate educational initiatives to further promote mutual understanding. This approach will not only strengthen cultural links but also yield economic benefits through increased tourism and the exchange of expertise in various cultural and artistic domains. The tourism industry is key to Cambodia's economy. It has created billions of U.S. dollars in revenue and generated numerous local job opportunities. In 2023, Cambodia welcomed approximately 540,000 Chinese visitors, a number likely to grow with the exchange year's activities. Increased tourist arrivals and investment, combined with free trade agreements, are expected to spur job creation, infrastructure development, and long-term economic growth. Looking ahead, the people-to-people exchange year lays the groundwork for sustained cultural engagement and long-term cooperation. The enhanced cultural diplomacy resulting from this strategic initiative will set the stage for building a high-quality, high-level, and high-standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era. As both countries continue to navigate the complex dynamics of globalization, cultural diplomacy remains a strategic avenue for promoting peace, understanding, and shared prosperity in the region and beyond. Editor's note: Yen Samnang is a research fellow at the Asian Vision Institute, an independent policy think tank based in Cambodia. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Xinhua News Agency. Three American citizens who had been detained for years in China were released, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. They are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. The three Americans were back in the United States, having returned through Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio in Texas, an administration official confirmed Thursday. The official declined to provide further information, citing privacy concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Li, 62, who is from Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in 2018 on espionage charges his family says are baseless. Swidan, a Texas businessman in his 40s, had been detained since 2012 and was sentenced to death with a reprieve in 2019 after being convicted on drug-related charges that a United Nations working group said had no evidential basis. Li and Swidan were considered wrongfully detained by the State Department. Leung, an American in his 70s who also has permanent residency in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being found guilty of espionage by a court in eastern China. Leung, who was detained in 2021, had been a member of a pro-Beijing group in the United States and had been pictured with senior Chinese officials, according to Hong Kong and Chinese news outlets. Kai Li. Their release was part of a prisoner swap for Xu Yanjun, an officer of Chinas Ministry of State Security, and Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national, a U.S. government official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Xu was arrested after an alleged attempt to steal technology from GE Aviation, an American aircraft engine supplier. Ji was accused of spying for the Chinese government. Biden told reporters Thursday that he has spoken with the three Americans. "Im really happy theyre home," Biden said. The White House has not said who, if anyone, was being freed in exchange for the U.S. citizens. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that three Chinese citizens who were wrongly detained by the U.S. had safely returned to China. The senior official as well as another U.S. official said the release had been in the works for months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he had worked closely over the years with Lis son, Harrison Li, to speak directly to the highest levels of the Chinese and U.S. governments to advocate for Mr. Lis release and safe return to his family in Huntington, New York. Even when it felt like there was no hope, we never stopped believing that one day Mr. Li would return home, he said in a statement Wednesday. I look forward to welcoming Mr. Li back home to New York very soon. For the families of all three freed Americans, this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for, he added. The news was first reported by Politico. Mark Swidan. The announcement on Wednesday follows the surprise release in September of American pastor David Lin, who like Li and Swidan, had been classified by the State Department as wrongfully detained. He had been jailed in China since 2006 after being sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors prisoner rights in China, estimates there are about 200 American detainees, more than in any other foreign country, including Americans who are imprisoned as well as those who are prevented from leaving the country while a case is under investigation. With the return of Li and Swidan, all Americans officially designated as wrongfully detained in China have been released, the State Department spokesperson said. Peter Humphrey, a British advocate for foreigners detained in China who was imprisoned there for two years himself after being convicted on what he says were false charges of gathering illegal information, disagreed with that characterization. According to his research, he says, there are closer to 300 Americans detained in China, and none have had a fair and impartial and transparent trial, which are the basic criteria under U.S. law for a citizen to be declared arbitrarily detained by a foreign state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beijing says all cases are handled in accordance with the law. The Chinese Foreign Ministry added that the government had always firmly opposed the U.S. using political motives to oppress and persecute Chinese citizens. Thanks to the persistent efforts of the Chinese government, three Chinese citizens who were wrongly detained by the U.S. have safely returned to China, spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing in Beijing. This once again proves that China will never give up on its own people. Mao said a fugitive who had been hiding in the U.S. for many years had also been deported back to China. John Leung. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This shows that justice is inevitable there is no place that can forever be a safe haven for criminals, she said. Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others had repeatedly raised the issue of the detained Americans in meetings with Chinese officials, including Bidens meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru earlier this month. In a statement on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised their efforts. Negotiations aimed at securing the release of unjustly held Americans are among the most difficult and wrenching tasks that our diplomats face, and they have shown unceasing dedication culminating in todays release, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But families of Americans detained in China had been frustrated by the slow pace of progress, particularly as major prisoner exchanges were negotiated with Russia and other countries. In September, Swidans mother, Katherine Swidan, and Harrison Li were among relatives who appeared before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to press the Biden administration to do more. I have now spent a third of my life missing my dad, Li said at the hearing. Every day, I wake up and shudder at the thought of him crammed into a tiny cell with as many as 11 other people. Li said that in the last eight years, his father had suffered a stroke, lost a tooth and spent more than three years essentially locked in his cell 24/7 due to Chinas zero-Covid pandemic restrictions. He also expressed concern that efforts to release his father and others could be slowed by the change of administration in January. Other families who appeared at the hearing are still waiting for the return of relatives detained in China, including Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While they share in the joy over the three Americans release, Humphrey said, Theyre also saying, Now, what about us and what about everyone else? CORRECTION (Nov. 27, 2024, 6:32 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Kai Lis age. He is 62, not 70. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com The White House said Wednesday it had secured the release of three Americans who had been detained in China as part of a prisoner swap with Beijing. A spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed in a statement that Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung had been freed. Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years, the spokesperson said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks to this Administrations efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home, the spokesperson added. The three U.S. citizens were released in exchange for an undisclosed number of Chinese nationals who were being detained in the United States. Li and Swidan had both been designated by the State Department as wrongfully detained. Swidan was arrested in 2012 on drug-related charges, while Li had been held since 2016 on espionage charges. Politico first reported the prisoner swap. Biden officials had raised the issue of wrongfully detained Americans during multiple meetings with Chinese officials over the course of the past four years, including earlier this month when President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Peru. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden White House has secured a number of Americans detained abroad through prisoner swaps throughout his administration. Some of the most notable exchanges have come with Russia. Those swaps freed Americans Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Updated at 10:15 a.m. EST Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Three Americans have been released after spending years imprisoned in China, the White House said Wednesday. Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung were released and would soon "return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years," a spokesperson for the National Security Council said. The Americans released by Beijing are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained by China. A plane carrying the three men from China landed late Wednesday night at a military base in San Antonio, Texas. In a statement Thursday, China's foreign ministry said three Chinese citizens "who were wrongly detained by the United States" were released and returned to China. The ministry also said a fugitive who had been sought by Beijing for crimes and had been living in the United States had been returned to China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a social media post Wednesday night, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he'd spoken with the three Americans "as they traveled home to the United States just in time for Thanksgiving. I told them how glad I was that they were in good health and that they'll soon be reunited with their loved ones." The Biden administration has repeatedly raised the issue of wrongfully detained Americans with Chinese officials. President Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the issue on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, earlier in November. Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the release of wrongfully detained Americans during multiple meetings over recent months. "Thanks to this Administration's efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home," the National Security Council spokesperson said. Mark Swidan has been detained in China since 2016. Swidan, a 48-year-old Texas businessman, was on death row in China. He had been behind bars since 2012 after being charged with narcotics trafficking. Swidan has denied the charges, which the U.S. says are trumped-up. The State Department categorized him as wrongly detained, and has previously raised concerns about his health. His family said earlier this year they feared Swidan might take his own life while detained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Li, 60, has been held in a Chinese prison since September 2016. He had a stroke in prison, according to John Kamm, executive director of Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group that pushes for the release of people detained in China. Harrison Li holds a photo of his father, Kai Li, as he poses for a photo, Jan. 23, 2024, in Palo Alto, Calif. / Credit: Jeff Chiu/AP Leung, 78, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison for espionage in May 2023. Few details have been shared about the case. In a statement addressing Li's release, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer credited Mr. Biden's "personal engagement with President Xi" with securing the release of all three men. "For the families of those Americans newly freed by the Chinese government, this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for," Schumer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David Lin, a 68-year-old American pastor imprisoned on fraud charges for 18 years, was released by China in September. Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Former Navy secretary says Trump's Defense Secretary pick will make the military "weaker" Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) Police are investigating after one child died and two other children were hurt in a drive-by shooting on Swan Avenue Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson for East Baton Rouge Emergency Medical Services said first responders transported two patients in serious condition. A third patient was sent to the hospital in critical condition. Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse confirmed that the victims were children. He is asking the community for tips and surveillance camera video in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is just completely unacceptable that we have three young lives that are affected by this, said Morse. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome released a statement saying in part, we are joining our hearts together as a community and praying for each of these young people and their families. This is a developing story. Further details about the victims and the shooting were not immediately available. Read Broomes full statement. Our hearts are broken by the news that three young children were shot today during a targeted shooting on Swan Avenue in Scotlandville. We understand that all three children were transported to a local hospital, and we are joining our hearts together as a community and praying for each of these young people and their families. There are no words to express how much pain the choice of some adults to engage in this violence that injured innocent children has brought these childrens family members, their young friends, classmates and teachers, and our entire community. You each remain in our prayers continually. Our Baton Rouge Police Department is working every lead in this case diligently, and we will not rest until any perpetrators of this violence are brought to justice. We need your help as a community to share any information you believe may be helpful in solving this case. Certainly, we all want to see a safe holiday season that allows us to celebrate and not to mourn. And as a community we join our hearts together in that earnest prayer at this time. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement East Baton Rouge Schools Superintendent LaMont Cole released the following statement. Today we are heartbroken and devastated to report that three of our beloved students were shot in a horrific act of violence. Tragically, one of these children has lost their life. We extend our prayers and deepest condolences to the families and friends affected by this senseless act. As a community, we must come together to address and combat the violence that continues to threaten our youth. Every child deserves to feel safe and secure, not just their schools but in their neighborhoods as well. It is imperative that we work collaboratively to end this cycle of violence, particularly when it involves our children. On behalf of the board and the entire EBR Schools family, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and all those impacted by this tragedy. We will continue to provide support to our students and staff during this difficult time and urge everyone to stand together for peace and safety in our community. East Baton Rouge Schools Superintendent LaMont Cole If anyone has information that could help law enforcement, contact the Violent Crimes Unit at 225-389-4869 or Capital Region Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867. Anonymous tips can also be made online. VIDEO: Baton Rouge police hold teen boy while mother hits him with belt Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com. COLES COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) One person is dead following a crash in Coles County Tuesday evening. The crash happened just after 6 p.m. on County Road 1000N just east of the intersection with County Road 1300E. The Coles County Sheriffs Office said it was a head-on collision, which killed one of the drivers. UPDATE: Multiple crews respond to accident in Champaign Co. The deceased driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash; she was identified as Shaquan D. Petty, 30 of Greenville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A juvenile passenger in Pettys car was treated on the scene before being taken to HSHS St. Johns Hospital in Springfield. The juvenile was later transferred to the St. Louis Childrens Hospital. The other car was occupied by a senior couple from Oakland, ages 74 and 68. The woman was extricated from the vehicle and both were transported from the scene by EMS for medical treatment. County Road 1000N was shut down for almost five hours; it was closed at 6:15 p.m. and eventually reopened at 11 p.m. The crash is being investigated by the Coles County Coroners Office, Coles County Sheriffs Office and Illinois State Police. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. HENRY COUNTY, Va (WFXR) The Henry County Sheriffs Office said it has arrested a man from Ridgeway after an ongoing online child sex abuse investigation that began in August 2024. On August 28, an investigation began when a tip regarding possible child sex abuse was received by the Southern Virginia Internet Against Children Task (SOVA-ICAC) from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip allegedly identified material that was sent by private messages on a social media platform depicting suspected child sexual abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Protecting kids from sextortion online After allegedly linking the messages to an IP address through a request for emergency disclosure, investigators obtained a court order for subscriber information and allegedly confirmed the account belonged to 36-year-old Nicholas Sean Trumble of Ridgeway. On Wednesday, November 20, the Sheriffs Office served a search warrant at a residence on Glen Oak Circle in Ridgeway. During the search, a cellular phone in Trumbles name was allegedly seized. On Tuesday, November 26, forensic examinations of the device allegedly revealed downloaded images and videos of children being sexually abused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumble was then taken into custody by the Henry County Sheriffs Office on Thursday, November 27. 36-year-old Nicholas Sean Trumble has been charged with the following: 1-Counts of 18.2-374.1:1 Possession of Child Pornography (1st offense) 17- Counts of 18.2-374.1:1 Possession of Child Pornography ( 2nd or subsequent offense) Trumble is currently being held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center without bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Court records show a third person has been charged with murder in connection with a deadly gang-related shooting that occurred in southwest Bakersfield in 2018. Milo Lomar Sullivan Jr., 25, is currently in the custody of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, serving time for robbery and gang participation convictions. An arraignment date for Sullivan in the murder case has not been set, records show. He was charged Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His co-defendants Christopher Nathaniel Kenney, 25, and Tyrell Cheadle, 29 have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail. All three are accused in the shooting that killed Jeremy Charles Littlejohn and wounded four others outside a garage on Chandler Court, south of Wilson Avenue and west of Wible Road. Kenney later appeared in a rap video posted to YouTube that investigators say featured a reenactment of the shooting. Kenneys DNA was found on shell casings at the scene, according to court documents. Cheadle is due back in court next month. Kenney has a status conference set for January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. The Kings Mountain Police Department announced a break in the case of a deadly robbery that happened at an ATM last month. Authorities said four suspects were arrested. Theyre all facing charges of murder and attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon. Police identified the suspects as 38-year-old Dominick Anthony Singleton of Norwood, 29-year-old Jamal Delkeis Cunningham of New London, and 28-year-old Malek Isaiah Thomas of Charlotte, and 20-year-old Damareon Laron Dockery of West End. Dominick Anthony Singleton, Jamal Delkeis Cunningham, Malek Isaiah Thomas, Damareon Laron Dockery The victim was 29-year-old Richard Walter Henderson of Charlotte. Police said he was shot and killed on Oct. 30 while working at an ATM on E. Kings Street. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police had been looking for suspects after tying a black SUV to the crime scene using surveillance video. It turned out that the car was a rental. Channel 9s Ken Lemon learned from police that a woman used a service to rent out her car to make some extra money. She got it back and had no idea the people who rented it used it to follow the ATM technician. It was the slightest mark on the rented SUV that unraveled the murder case. Someone spotted the SUV in Charlotte two days after Henderson was shot and killed. Then, the FBI used phone records to trace the suspects steps before and after the shooting, according to Kings Mountain police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police chief Gerald Childress said he called Hendersons mother right after the arrests. I did want to try to get this done so I could have her some good news before Thanksgiving, Childress said. The FBI is trying to determine if these four men are connected to similar ATM robberies in the region. (VIDEO: Everybody is a target: CMPD investigates series of ATM robberies) SYDNEY, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A man has been killed and two people hospitalized after a tree branch fell onto a car in southeast Australia. Police in the state of Victoria said on Wednesday that emergency services were called on Tuesday night to a camping area in the town of Yarrawonga, about 220 kilometers north of Melbourne, following reports a tree branch had fallen on a moving vehicle amid strong winds. The driver of the vehicle, a man who has not yet been formally identified, died at the scene. A teenage male suffered injuries considered non-life-threatening and was hospitalized for treatment while a woman was also taken to hospital for observation. Damaging storms swept across the region on Tuesday night. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for northeast Victoria, including Yarrawonga, on Tuesday evening, warning of damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall. President-elect Trumps team to lead the nations health agencies is rapidly coming together. Trump first tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Then, he announced televisions Mehmet Oz was his pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In a string of announcements late Friday, Trump nominated former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Janette Nesheiwat as the next surgeon general. Almost all have been highly critical of the agencies they would run if confirmed, and experts say the nominees represent a complete overhaul of the vision and priorities of key agencies for health care and public health. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are four takeaways: Largely positive reaction from GOP Senate Republicans have been reserved about their reactions to Kennedys nomination to lead HHS but are signaling that they are receptive, despite some misgivings about his views on abortion and the food system. The reactions to the other controversial nominees including Oz and Weldon have been largely positive. Congratulations, Dr. Dave Weldon! I have no doubt you will bring an exceptional skillset and much-needed change to the CDC! Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) posted on the social platform X. Very excited to hear that Dr. Oz will be CMS Administrator in the Trump Administration. Outstanding pick, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the likely chair of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), said he was glad to hear Oz was Trumps pick for CMS. It has been over a decade since a physician has been at the helm of CMS, and I look forward to discussing his priorities. This is a great opportunity to help patients and implement conservative health reforms, Cassidy, himself a physician, said in a statement on X. The HELP Committee has jurisdiction over HHS nominees, so any pick will need to be approved by the panel before advancing to the Senate for confirmation. Weldon will be the first CDC director nominee to go through the Senate confirmation process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have firmly advocated for reforming the CDC. I look forward to learning about Doctor Weldons vision for the CDC, Cassidy wrote on X. Key moderates, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have not weighed in on Weldon, Makary or Nesheiwat. Collins campaigned with Oz when he was running for Senate against now-Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and last week spoke positively about having a physician run CMS. Some Democrats speaking out, but not all When Trump announced Kennedys nomination, Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) were some of the first of many Democrats to blast him. There is no telling how far a fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set back America in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else, Murray, a member of the HELP Committee, said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wyden, who is Senate Finance Committee chair, said Kennedys outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children. Murray also spoke out against Weldons nomination for CDC director, raising concerns about his history pushing debunked claims about vaccine safety. We need a leader who has real experience in public health, not someone who has spent years promoting vaccine misinformation and junk health plans, Murray said. To every one of my colleagues considering this nomination, I cannot drive home enough: this isnt a game, this is not a political role without consequence, it has real power over whether Americans can get basic information and care to keep their families safe. But other Democrats have been largely silent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hasnt spoken up about any of Trumps health nominees. Other HELP members such as Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) havent reacted. Finance Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Kennedy poses a danger to public health, scientific research, medicine, and health care coverage. But she hasnt weighed in on any of Trumps other picks. Trumps nominees arent likely to pick up much, if any, support among Democrats. But the lack of open antagonism so far could be a sign that senators will let Republicans fret about the more controversial picks internally, rather than vocally oppose them. The Make America Healthy Again agenda comes into focus Trumps picks suggest a major shake-up of the health agencies, remade to fit the vision of Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kennedy has promised to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture as he implements his view for Make America Healthy Again. Public health experts said Trumps picks signal a move to prioritize chronic disease over infectious disease. Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease, Trump said in a statement when he announced Weldons nomination. The current Health of Americans is critical, and CDC will play a big role in helping to ensure Americans have the tools and resources they need to understand the underlying causes of disease, and the solutions to cure these diseases. During his presidential campaign as an independent, Kennedy said he wanted to give infectious diseases a break for about eight years. Experts said focusing on chronic illnesses is important but shouldnt be at the expense of infectious disease. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I sincerely want this administration to be successful in making America healthy again. Chronic diseases are important- but you cant die from cancer when youre 50 if you die from polio when youre 5, Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general during the first Trump administration, wrote on X. Any idea that we can take a four-year timeout from infectious diseases is naive and dangerous, said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert. Chronic diseases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, but you dont fix that in four years. Theres no magic pill. If you can take all the right steps, itd be a generational effort. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, pointed to current outbreaks of bird flu, measles, pertussis (whooping cough), and food-borne illnesses such as listeria. Infectious diseases are not gone, Benjamin said. People have both chronic diseases and infectious diseases, and you cant separate the two. Vaccine skeptics Kennedy was Trumps first public health pick and is the one public health experts remain the most concerned about. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But many Democrats and public health experts who raised the alarm about Kennedy are concerned Weldon will help bolster an anti-vaccine agenda. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, said he worries Kennedys vaccine skepticism will be the driver of much of what the agencies try to accomplish on chronic illness. RFK Jr. and Dave Weldon are of the belief that disorders like autism and developmental delays are because of vaccines and CDC hasnt made that clear because theyre hiding the truth. Their job is to tear these agencies apart and give Americans the real data. Which is of course is all nonsense, Offit said. Weldon served 14 years in Congress, representing the 15th District of Florida, where he was an outspoken critic of CDC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also pushed a false claim that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is linked to autism. He introduced a bill in 2007 that would remove vaccine safety research from the CDCs purview and move the work in an independent HHS agency. Theres concern Weldon and Kennedy could try to purge the agencies of career scientists and install loyalists. The thing most of us are waiting on, with real concern, is per Kennedys comments, will there be mass firings at CDC, NIH, FDA? If in fact that happens, that would be by far the most concerning aspect of the administration, Osterholm said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Joslyn Garrido hasn't been seen since Monday, Nov. 25, the New York City Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE NYPD Joslyn Garrido Joslyn Garrido A Florida woman is missing after jumping from a private ambulance outside a medical center in New York City, police have said. On Monday, Nov. 25 at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time, it was reported to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) that Joslyn Garrido, 40, of Kissimmee, Florida, had vanished after she was last seen in front of 1300 York Avenue, per a release obtained by PEOPLE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The address matches that of the Weill Cornell Medical Center, but it has not been confirmed why she was there. A police source confirmed to PEOPLE that she escaped from the back of a private ambulance and that she was in the city visiting her sister at the time. Related: Woman Finds Brother Who Went Missing 25 Years Ago After Spotting Him in News Article NYPD Joslyn Garrido Joslyn Garrido Police added in the release that the missing woman was last seen wearing blue scrubs and gray sweatpants. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The individual is described as a female Hispanic, with a light complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, and weighing 150 pounds," the NYPD said. Google Maps A photo of the Weill Cornell Medical Center A photo of the Weill Cornell Medical Center Police are asking the public for information surrounding the missing woman. "The New York City Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating the following missing person who went missing in the confines of the 19th Precinct," the NYPD said in the release. Police added, "Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)," stating that the public could also submit their tips via the NYPD Crimestoppers website or on X (formerly known as Twitter). "All calls are strictly confidential," the release concluded. Nov. 26A Nashua man was sentenced Monday to 46 months in prison for his role in orchestrating a conspiracy to harass and intimidate two journalists working for New Hampshire Public Radio and their family members, prosecutors said. Eric Labarge, 46, also was sentenced in Boston to three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. He also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and pay restitution of $34,139 to the victims, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston. "Mr. Labarge was the ringleader of a targeted, terror campaign that caused the victims journalists exercising the First Amendment rights and the families incredible fear and emotional harm," U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Mr. Labarge's terror campaign sent ripples of fear throughout the journalism community and violated the bedrock principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights," he said. Last July, Labarge pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and using a facility of interstate commerce; one count of conspiracy to commit stalking using a facility of interstate commerce; one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce and aiding and abetting; and two counts of stalking through interstate travel and aiding and abetting. Labarge was the third person sentenced in connection with the case. Tucker Cockerline of Salem and Michael Waselchuck of Seabrook received prison sentences of 27 months and 21 months, respectively Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Keenan Saniatan, of Nashua, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Dec. 6. All three of those men are in their 30s. The attacks came after NHPR published an expose detailing allegations of sexual and other misconduct by a former New Hampshire business person, according to prosecutors. The vandalism included spray painting a derogatory word and causing vandalism at the homes of two reporters in April 2022, prosecutors said. BEACH PARK, Ill. A 5-year-old boy is dead and a toddler is in critical condition after a head-on crash in the northern suburbs. According to the Lake County Sheriffs Office, deputies reponded around 5 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a serious crash on Green Bay Road, just north of Hart Street in Beach Park. Preliminary investigation revealed that a 24-year-old man from Waukegan, driving a Chevrolet Malibu, was traveling southbound on Green Bay Road and according to witnesses, was illegally passing other southbound vehicles by driving in the northbound lanes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to officials, two children were passengers inside the Chevrolet. The Lake County Sheriffs Office reports that while traveling in the wrong lane, the Chevrolet collided head-on with a GMC Sierra in the northbound lanes, driven by a 57-year-old man of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The 57-year-old man sustained serious injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The 24-year-old man also sustained serious injuries and required extrication from his vehicle by emergency crews. A 2-year-old boy, seated on the 24-year-old drivers lap, was critically injured and transported to Lurie Childrens Hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Man charged with first-degree murder in I-80 road rage shooting Before being transported to a hospital, the 24-year-old driver told deputies that no one else was in the Malibu. However, deputies later found a critically injured 5-year-old boy beneath debris behind the drivers seat. The 5-year-old was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Lake County Coroners Office has identified the victim as Symere McKnight, of Zion. An autopsy was conducted and results indicate that Symere died from Blunt Force Injuries. Officials said preliminary findings revealed that neither child was properly secured in a child safety seat at the time of the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriffs Office. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Americans were among those believed to be aboard when the Nov. 25 disaster unfolded Egyptian Press Center via AP Rescuers transport a survivor after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea, in Marsa Alam, Egypt, on Monday, Nov. 25. Rescuers transport a survivor after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea, in Marsa Alam, Egypt, on Monday, Nov. 25. Egyptian authorities say five people aboard a tourist boat that sank in the Red Sea and left four dead on Monday, Nov. 25, have now been rescued. In a translated statement on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the Egyptian Armed Forces said that nine people have been found from the Nov. 25 disaster. The Navy continued its efforts in the search operations in the accident area south of Marsa Alam city in the Red Sea Governorate, where the efforts resulted in finding (9) persons of different nationalities, authorities said, including (5) alive and rescuing (4) deceased persons. Medical aid was provided to the survivors in cooperation with the executive authorities of the Red Sea Governorate, and the Navy continues its efforts to find the rest of the missing person. Stringer/picture alliance via Getty Rescuers and ambulance cars wait on the beach for possible survivors after a boat sank at a harbour in Marsa Alam. Rescuers and ambulance cars wait on the beach for possible survivors after a boat sank at a harbour in Marsa Alam. Related: Victims of Sicily Yacht Tragedy Formally Identified, Authorities Say Some Were Searching for Air Pockets in Final Moments Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Medical aid was provided to the survivors in cooperation with the executive authorities of the Red Sea Governorate, and the Navy continues its efforts to find the rest of the missing persons, the Egyptian Armed Forces added. With the announcement of the five rescued, the total number of survivors currently stands at 33 of the 44 originally on the boat as of Nov. 26 with seven remaining unaccounted for, BBC News, The New York Times and Sky News reported. Amr Hanafi, the governor of the Red Sea region, said the five survivors who were rescued included two Belgians, one Swiss, one Finnish and one Egyptian national, according to Sky News. The news outlet also reported one of the rescued Belgians saying, "It was very nice to be back." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Associated Press, BBC News and U.K. newspaper The Times, the yacht Sea Story sank within 5-7 minutes after it was hit by high waves near the Sataya Reef. At the time, thirty-one tourists and 13 crew members were on board for a five-day diving trip. Related: Yacht Sank in Sicily Due to Endless Chain of Errors,' Ship Maker's Owner Speculates: Everything Was Predictable The Telegraph and Reuters reported that the yacht left Porto Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday, Nov. 24, and was expected to arrive at Hurghada Marina on Friday, Nov. 29. According to the media outlets, a distress call was made to the Red Sea governorate at about 5:30 a.m. local time after the boat left Marsa Alam. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The vessel is believed to have been struck by rough winds overnight on Nov. 24, according to BBC News. The Egyptian Meteorological Authoritys forecast warned of high waves in the Red Sea and suggested against maritime activity on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Brother of Sicily Yacht Sinking Victim Still Thinks About the Passengers' Final Moments: Its Terrifying (Exclusive) In addition to carrying people from Belgium, Switzerland, Egypt and Finland, the boat included nationals from the U.S., Britain, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Norway, Ireland and China, Reuters reported. None of the victims have been identified at this time. The Sea Story was constructed in 2022 as a four-deck vessel and registered in Safaga, Egypt, said the boats manufacturer Dive Pro Liveaboard. The company mentioned on its website that life jackets are present in each cabin and two safety rafts onboard to carry 25 people each. PEOPLE contacted the Egyptian Armed Forces and Dive Pro Liveaboard on Wednesday, Nov. 27, for additional information. Thanksgiving means family, friends, food and packed airports. The holiday rush is in full swing across the US as last-minute travelers try to reach their destinations in unappetizing weather conditions. Wherever you are, we hope you enjoy this festive, albeit busy, time of year! 5 Things AM will return bright and early on Monday. Heres what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. 1. Tariffs Trade is a key issue for President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to slap new tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China starting on the first day of his administration. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded Wednesday, saying that neither threats nor tariffs will solve the immigration or illegal drug issues in the US. Sheinbaum added that the economic strength of North America lies in maintaining the business relationship between the two countries, which allows them to be more competitive compared to other economic blocs. If Trump follows through with his tariff plan, several common goods will get more expensive for Americans, including gas, produce, cars and alcohol, economists say. 2. Middle East Displaced residents began returning to their homes in Lebanon today after a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect. The truce could bring an end to the 13-month border conflict that has killed thousands. The deal stipulates a 60-day halt in hostilities, which negotiators have described as the foundation of a lasting truce. In that time, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat 25 miles from the Israel border, while Israeli ground forces should withdraw from Lebanese territory. But there are questions about how long the truce may hold. Israel insists that it will take military action in response to any breach of the agreement. That could reignite the conflict, putting US-backed diplomatic efforts in jeopardy. 3. Disney settlement Disney has agreed to pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit that it paid female employees less than their male counterparts in similar roles for nearly a decade. The settlement agreement stems from a 2019 lawsuit filed by LaRonda Rasmussen. She claims she learned that six men with the same job title earned substantially more than her, including one man with several years less experience, who was earning $20,000 a year more than she did. About 9,000 women, who were both former and current employees, joined the lawsuit. Disney disputed the allegations and didnt admit fault. 4. Anti-obesity drugs Millions more senior citizens and lower-income Americans could obtain coverage for costly anti-obesity drugs under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by the Biden administration. Some 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries and about 4 million Medicaid recipients would gain access to these medications, which can cost as much as $1,000 a month for the uninsured. Some Medicare enrollees could see their out-of-pocket costs drop by as much as 95%. Although Medicare by law is not allowed to cover drugs for weight loss, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says it is proposing to reinterpret the statute to allow coverage for the treatment of obesity as a chronic disease. The expanded coverage could potentially go into effect in 2026. 5. Cargo plane crash German leaders raised the possibility that a fiery cargo plane crash in Lithuania on Monday was the result of sabotage or hybrid warfare. The plane that crashed was a Swiftair aircraft operating under contract for DHL, the logistics company told CNN. It was flying from Leipzig, Germany, and was due to land at Vilnius Airport when it crashed a few kilometers from the runway. Asked on Monday whether the crash was the result of hybrid warfare, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF: We are looking at this closely, we cant say at the moment, but it could be so there are very many bad forms of hybrid warfare that we are seeing in Germany. Meanwhile, Lithuanian authorities downplayed the prospect of nefarious activity, insisting that no evidence pointing to sabotage had yet been uncovered. BREAKFAST BROWSE Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice finalists announced A prowling puma, a hunting polar bear cub and a ghostly barn owl are among the shortlisted images for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Peoples Choice Award 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subway CEO John Chidsey is stepping down at the end of the year Chidseys departure marks another entry on the list of fast food chain CEOs who have stepped down this year, including Starbucks, Chipotle, Shake Shack and Wendys. Lilo & Stitch live-action movie to crash into theaters next summer Disney released a new teaser trailer for the upcoming live-action version of Lilo & Stitch. The film will hit theaters in the summer of 2025. Huaweis new Chinese smartphone takes on Apple and Android Huawei unveiled a new flagship phone boasting entirely homegrown software that aims to give users an alternative to Googles Android or Apples iOS. Former CEO says dont obsess over your career path Indra Nooyi, highly regarded in her role as PepsiCos CEO from 2006-2018, shares some career advice in this short video. QUIZ TIME How well do you know Thanksgiving facts and foods? Dont be a chicken; test your knowledge with CNNs Thanksgiving quiz! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey is typically the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner. Which US state raises the most turkeys? A. Arkansas B. Indiana C. Minnesota D. North Carolina Take me to the quiz! TODAYS NUMBER $2.5 million Thats how much a painting of a dog by British artist George Stubbs is expected to fetch at a London auction next week. The 18th-century artwork titled The Spanish Pointer was first auctioned in 1802, when it sold for just 11 or $14. TODAYS QUOTE I am proud of the race we ran, and your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented. Vice President Kamala Harris, addressing a group of her supporters during a call on Tuesday. The leaders of Harris presidential campaign in a newly released interview blamed a variety of external factors for the Democrats defeat three weeks ago. TODAYS WEATHER Check your local forecast here>>> AND FINALLY Hear Thanksgiving message from NASA astronauts in space NASA astronauts delivered a Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station where they showed what they will be having for their Thanksgiving meal. Watch the video here and have a happy holiday! For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Cash rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrest of ten suspects wanted for various crimes in Abilene. Police are seeking these suspects for the following offenses: Savion Guerrero Aggravated Assault Tisha Moeller Tamper with Government Record Alfredo Robles-Cortez Exploitation of Elderly Owen Goins Assault Family Violence Enhanced Justin Reynolds Burglary of Habitation Gary Bishop Assault Family Violence Continuous Louis Robinson Assault Family Violence Deshannon Cheateam Theft of Firearm, Assault Family Violence, Possession of Marijuana Adriana Jaramillo Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver Aaron Joel Esmerado (FEATURED FUGITIVE) Assault on a Peace Officer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CrimeStoppers is offering $500 cash rewards for information that leads to the capture any of the suspects, and a $1000 cash reward for information that leads to the capture of the featured fugitive. Cash rewards will only be given if the information is received during the week their mugshots are aired on Abilenes Wanted Criminals. Abilenes Wanted Criminals is a police-run social media segment that will highlight wanted suspects from around the City each week. Episodes will be posted to the Abilene Police Departments YouTube page or APDs PIO Youtube page. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. [Source] South Korea has confirmed intelligence suggesting casualties among North Korean troops deployed to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. Ukrainian media, citing Global Defense Corp., reported that about 500 North Korean soldiers were killed in a Storm Shadow missile strike targeting Russian positions in the Kursk region. North Korea is believed to have sent over 10,000 troops to Russia, with many stationed in Kursk for training and support roles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A separate strike injured a North Korean general and killed several officers in the same region, according to Ukrainian intelligence. While neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged the deployment, U.S. and South Korean officials allege North Korea has also supplied munitions and artillery to bolster Russia's efforts. Trending on NextShark: 500 North Korean soldiers reported killed in Ukraine war Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! I tell ya, I was sweating. On the last Friday in October, I got word from our partners at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin that our fundraising total for the annual Stock the Shelves campaign was simmering at about $36,000. A lot of money, sure, but well short of goal and just over half of the $66,000 our partners the Greater Fox Cities Chapter of Credit Unions and Mike and Mary Salsieder put forward as a match. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We published our last planned article on that Sunday, and as the remaining days of the month threatened to slip by, I asked Greg Borowski, executive editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, to write a column, asking readers one last time to participate in this year's campaign. "The generosity out there is overwhelming," he wrote. "But the need is staggering. Please help us help our communities." And ya'll you came through. Taima Kern, editor of The Post-Crescent In those last few days, you nearly doubled what we raised in the first three weeks combined. We ended the month with $70,633.74 in donations from readers across the state. Add those totals together, and we're at $136,633.74. Now multiply that by four, as each dollar we collected will help pay for four meals, and we've got our final number: 546,534 meals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than half a million meals. Now that's great news. "Everyone on our team is thrilled to hear these numbers and is grateful for the support from our readers," said Borowski, who also oversees the Green Bay and Appleton newsrooms. "We know the money will be put to good use, right in our communities. At the same time, we know the need is not seasonal. We'll continue to write stories about efforts to combat hunger, and hope our readers will continue their support as well." In our Wednesday edition, you'll find a page thanking each and every one of the nearly-400 donors (or pairs of donors, as several donations are attributed to married duos) whose names we know, as well as a general thank-you to the 104 donors who chose to withhold their names, but not their kindness. Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. News Department. We also had more than 65 donations made in tribute to someone (or several someones) special. I'm so honored that you chose our campaign as your way to remember them. I want you to know that I read every name, out loud, and sent my thanks into the air, to find them wherever they are. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some people even gave more than once. All told, we recorded 581 individual donations. If gathered together, they'd only fill up 0.7% of the seats at Lambeau Field. But the people benefitting from their kindness would fill up the stadium nearly seven times over. "This years Stock the Shelves funds will be used to purchase turkeys to distribute to our neighbors in need this Thanksgiving season," said Liz Wollenberg, chief systems and strategy officer for Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. "We will leverage our relationships with food vendors and manufacturers to secure the best price and stretch donor dollars even farther to make a large impact for families this holiday." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's important to remember, however, that while we can help put a turkey on a table this month, we are in no way "solving" food insecurity for our communities. It takes consistent work, from everyone, to make an ongoing difference. "The Greater Fox Cities Chapter of Credit Unions chooses to join forces with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin each year because we believe that food insecurity is not just a statistic its a reality that affects our community members daily," said Lynn Hopfensperger, on behalf of the chapter. "We are passionate about fundraising for this cause because everyone deserves access to healthy food, especially during the holidays. We recognize our responsibility to help combat this pressing issue locally. The match we provide reflects our commitment to amplifying our impact, ensuring that every dollar raised translates into meaningful support for those in need." Stock the Shelves logo Additionally, staff from our newsrooms in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Appleton will take a day to volunteer at the Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin food banks next month, adding our hours to the tens of thousands of hours put in by volunteers across the 35 counties they serve (the organization tracked nearly 50,000 volunteer hours last year). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are so blessed to be able to help focus resources on making a difference thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for entrusting us with your kindness. Taima Kern is editor of The Post-Crescent in Appleton, one of 11 daily papers which make up the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Reach her at tkern@gannett.com or 920-993-7104. This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Wisconsin readers, newspapers help raise enough money for 546,000 meals MEXICO CITY, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Moody's Analytics on Tuesday lowered its economic growth forecasts for Mexico for 2025 and 2026, in light of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Mexican exports. The analytical arm of the credit rating agency estimates that Mexico's economy will grow 0.6 percent next year, lower than the 1 percent growth forecast earlier, and expand 1.6 percent in 2026, down from the previous projection of 2.5 percent. Mexico's "economic growth will be adversely affected by lower trade, investment and remittances" while the financial sector will be shaken by risk aversion and volatility, Moody's said in a report. Trump's policies on trade, immigration and national security will lead to increasing risks for Mexico's economy over the next four years, said Moody's. Foreign direct investment will also be affected, while Trump's proposed plan to deport large numbers of undocumented Mexican workers will hit remittances, the report said. A decrease in the flow of remittances will contribute to economic slowdown in Mexico, as it will affect the consumption of lower-income families who mostly receive remittances, said the agency. Trump, who will serve a second presidential term starting January 2025, threatened on Monday to impose a 25 percent tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada, two of the United States' largest trading partners. Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, grew 3.3 percent in 2023, according to the most recent official figures. Benton County elections officials will begin a mandatory recount in the race for a seat on the Benton PUD Commission after final ballot counts show the two candidates are just six votes apart. Challenger Mike Massey leads 12-year incumbent Commissioner Barry Bush by 0.01% of votes cast. Massey has 23,797 votes and Bush trails with 23,791. Massey told the Tri-City Herald on Tuesday that he feels very confident hell keep his lead. Recent recounts have shown Benton County elections to be accurate to their first tally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every vote counts. I appreciate all those folks who have supported me, he said. Barry Bush Bush told the Herald he doesnt believe hell find the votes to overcome Massey, but declined to comment further. County election departments are required to conduct mandatory machine recounts under Washington state law whenever the vote difference is less than 2,000 votes and less than 0.5%. County election staff will begin the recount 8:30 a.m. on Monday. Its estimated it will take four days and will be complete by Thursday, Dec. 5. The election certification is at 11 a.m. Dec. 10. Mike Massey Benton County PUD Benton PUD is governed by a three-person elected board. The District 3 seat that Bush and Massey are sparring over includes neighborhoods in south Kennewick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bush was elected in 2012 and recently served as board president. Hes worked in energy and agriculture businesses, and was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Massey is a Benton County Republican Party state committeeman who works as a general manager for food processor South Basin Packing. He also has experience in the banking industry. Both candidates ran on similar issues, vowing to protect energy generation provided by the Lower Snake River dams, support the construction of modular nuclear reactors and fight a plan to build the states largest wind farm along 24 miles of the Horse Heaven Hills. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) One person is dead after being struck by a car Monday. According to Dayton Police, the crash occurred before 6:30 p.m., as crews were dispatched to the intersection of E. Third St. and Keowee St. on report of the crash. On scene, officers located a man, identified as a 67-year-old male, who had been struck by a vehicle. The man was transported to an area hospital, where he later succumbed to injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 18-year-old girl dies in crash along I-71 An initial investigation indicated that the man was walking westbound in a crosswalk on the southside of the intersection of E. Third and Keowee St. while the do not walk signal was initiated. The vehicle was traveling north on Keowee St. The driver of the vehicle did not stop and identify themselves. The crash remains under investigation. The Dayton Police Department notes that this was the 14th fatal crash of the year investigated by their office, and the 18th fatality reported in these cases. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. State officials on Tuesday announced $6 million in grants for cranberry bog and coastal wetland restoration projects to help rebuild biodiversity in Massachusetts. The grants from by the Department of Fish and Games Division of Ecological Restoration will help 12 communities increase resilience to climate change for people and nature, restore crucial wildlife habitat, and improve water quality, Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement on Tuesday. Coastal resilience is a top priority for the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Nature-based solutions like these are important for our coastal communities as they adapt to sea-level rise, stronger storms, flooding, and erosion, state EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper said in a statement. We are excited to support projects that not only restore ecosystems but also prepare us for the impacts of climate change. These initiatives will enhance our ability to store and sequester carbon with nature and help us meet our net-zero goals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With each of these projects, we will heal our ecosystems from human impacts, knit together disconnected habitats and enhance resilience, and support imperiled species, like the salt marsh sparrow, DFG Commissioner Tom OShea said in a statement. We are excited to support these on-the-ground efforts by municipalities and non-profit partners toward our shared goals to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and create resilient communities for future generations. Pinnacle Bogs in Plymouth will be restored thanks to a $740K grant through DERs Cranberry Bog Restoration Program. Pinnacle Bogs in Plymouth will be restored thanks to a $740K grant through DERs Cranberry Bog Restoration Program. DER is awarding $6 million to 12 recipients through two programs: DERs Wetland Restoration Program, which restores degraded coastal and freshwater wetlands, and DERs Cranberry Bog Restoration Program, which restores abandoned or retired cranberry farmland back to wetlands and streams. This funding will support projects at various phases of restoration, from early planning and design to construction and completion. The following projects were awarded funding through the states Cranberry Bog & Wetlands Restoration programs: Town of Chatham; Frost Fish Creek Wetland Restoration: $300,000 This project will re-establish more natural tidal exchange, improve water quality, and restore the health of the wetland in Frost Fish Creek by redesigning undersized culverts under Route 28 in Chatham. This award will support the planning and design phase of the project. Buzzards Bay Coalition; Jacks Marsh Wetland Restoration: $300,000 This project will improve tidal exchange in a tidally restricted system and facilitate future salt marsh migration to restore a wetland on a retired coastal cranberry bog. This award will build upon ongoing analyses and support the planning and design phase of the project. Mass Audubon; Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary Wetland Restoration: $350,000 This project will restore degraded salt marsh habitat in the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary which continues to face threats from erosion, sea level rise, and disrupted sediment migration. This award will support comprehensive data gathering, assessment, and preliminary design for the project. Town of Plymouth; Pinnacle Bog Restoration: $740,000 This project will restore 21 acres, including 13 acres of cranberry bogs, to improve habitat, provide recreational opportunities, and improve water quality. This award will support construction for the project. Cape Cod Conservation District; Bayview Bogs Restoration: $570,000 This project will create, restore, and connect wetland and upland habitats, create recreational opportunities, and advance climate resiliency on 89 acres, including 44 acres of wetlands. This award will support final design plans and the first phase of construction for the project. Nantucket Conservation Foundation; Windswept Bog Wetland Restoration: $940,000 This project will restore 40 acres of cranberry bogs and connect them to 200+ acres of other conservation lands, improving habitat and providing enhanced recreational opportunities. This award will support construction for the project. Buzzards Bay Coalition; Agawam River Bog Restoration: $300,000 This project will restore, diversify, and connect 230+ acres of habitat to enhance aquatic organism passage, improve recreational access and environmental education opportunities, and increase public safety. This award will support planning and design for the project. Harwich Conservation Trust; Sand Pond Bogs Restoration: $150,000 This project will restore 36+ acres of retired cranberry bogs and associated stream channel and reconnect these systems to the Herring River Watershed. This award will support planning and design for the project. Orleans Conservation Trust; Namequoit Bog Restoration: $100,000 This project will restore 23 acres, including 17 acres of retired cranberry bogs, and reconnect these systems to their adjacent aquatic habitats and tidal flows. This award will support planning and design for the project. Buzzards Bay Coalition; Stuart Bogs Restoration: $1,640,000 This project will restore 65 acres of cranberry bogs and reestablish ecological connection to a 500+ acre conservation complex. This award will support construction for the project. Buzzards Bay Coalition; Mattapoisett Bogs Restoration: $70,000 This project will restore 57 acres of cranberry bogs and restore ecological connection to Tripps Mill Brook. This award will support construction for the project. Barnstable Clean Water Coalition; Marstons Mills Experimental Bog Restoration: $540,000 This project will restore 17 acres of cranberry bogs via a variety of restoration techniques. This award will support construction for the project. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Northbound drivers traveling through Butler County might have to reroute due to a ramp closure tonight. At 10 p.m. on Nov. 26, the Ohio Department of Transportation will close the ramp from I-75 north to State Route 129 west in Liberty Township. During the closure, crews will conduct maintenance to the pavement of the ramp. Drivers needing to get around the ramp closure and onto the S.R. 129 can utilize either Cincinnati-Dayton Road to S.R. 129 or the Liberty Way interchange. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ODOT expects the closure to be lifted around 5 a.m. on Nov. 27. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Charles Alexander, 43, took his non-custodial daughter and led police on a chase as she begged him not to kill her, police records show Ohio Amber Alert Charles Alexander, Oaklynn Alexander Charles Alexander, Oaklynn Alexander A 911 call between an armed man and Ohio police dispatchers has revealed the moments of terror endured by his non-custodial daughter, who repeatedly begged him not to kill her. The 7-year-old girl, Oaklynn Alexander, was returned to her family physically unharmed following the incident earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation began on Nov. 11, when Charles Ryan Alexander took his non-custodial daughter from her grandmother's house in Jefferson County, Ohio, after he tried to pick up the child from her school and failed, the Medina County Sheriff's Office said at a press briefing, streamed by WKYC Channel 3. An Amber Alert was issued with Alexanders vehicle description, and later that evening, the Brunswick Division of Police located Alexander and his daughter, the sheriff's office said in a press release. When police tried to stop him, Alexander fled, prompting a car chase, per the release. Police deflated the tires of his vehicle and he stopped in a parking lot in nearby Medina township. He engaged in several conversations on the phone with dispatchers, threatening to kill himself and the child, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In audio recordings of the 911 call released by Medina County authorities, Alexander is heard threatening law enforcement by saying he's armed, while telling his daughter calmly that she would be going to heaven. I will shoot us both, stand back! he is heard yelling during the call, while the girl in the background is heard begging him please dont. I wanna talk to her mother, Alexander says to a dispatcher, later adding: If you're listening, Ashley, you shouldve called. As the child asks him questions, her voice in a calm panic, he tells her they would be both going to heaven. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How do you know were going to heaven? she asks. Well both go, he says calmly. I am going to heaven? she asks, before saying, "No!" When she starts choking up, he says, Cause youre a good person. I don't want to go to heaven today, she says, her voice rising in panic, choking up. I didn't want it to happen either, I just wanted to talk to your mother, Alexander says flatly. Related: Ohio Dad Killed by Police After Sparking Amber Alert by Abducting Daughter, Who Was Found Safe One of the 911 dispatchers interrupts to say: Stay here, later adding, I know you didnt want to hurt [your daughter] and you didnt want it to be like this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lets not do anything we cant undo, she calmly tells him. While the dispatchers tried to negotiate with him, the child is heard repeatedly asking about "going to heaven." At one point, she cries out in panic: I dont want to go to heaven today! Im not going to die, she repeatedly says. 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 911 dispatcher tries to calm Alexander down by empathizing with him: Just keep talking to her if you dont want her to be scared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lets not do anything that is going to make it even more unfair to her, cause you love her, I know you do, she says. He was later fatally shot by officers and the child was rescued, per Medina County police. NEW JERSEY (PIX11) AAA predicts a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel period, with an estimated 80 million people traveling for the holiday. The vast majority nearly 72 million will drive to their destinations. More Local News The Jon Bon Jovi service area in South Amboy was busier than usual on Tuesday, with many people leaving today to try and beat Wednesday traffic. We started this morning around 6 oclock, said Fred Funk, who is driving with his wife from Alton, New Hampshire to South Jersey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marguerite Heaton-Colella and her husband are traveling from Atlantic City to Astoria, Queens with their three rescue dogs. We have to be prepared with doggie bags, which I have in my pocket, said Heaton-Colella. And we have to have treats and we have to have stops. Herb and Grace Swanson, traveling to Toms River from the Catskills, have been traveling for Thanksgiving for many years. Wednesday is usually heavier traffic, said Herb Swanson. Extra service added for Thanksgiving and Black Friday: MTA Regardless of when you travel, be prepared to see more police out patrolling. We are going to be on the lookout for aggressive drivers, distracted drivers especially on our highways, said Chief John Russo, President of the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police. Theyre going to be so much more congested than they are on a normal day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The price of traveling should be a little easier on peoples wallets. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in New Jersey is $2.99, down roughly 30 cents from the same time last year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) An Abilene is thankful that her 13-pound Chiweenie, Buddy, is alive. Buddy was attacked by three pit bulls, who chewed through her backyard fence to get in. As a result of the attack, Buddy suffered about eight puncture wounds and injured ligaments in his ribs. This all began Saturday evening on Sherman Drive when resident Patricia Ditmore heard a hammering sound in her backyard. She said she went outside to investigate and found two fully grown pit bull dogs on her property. After informing her neighbors about the situation, Ditmore learned that one of them was out of town, but they mentioned that their son was going to fix the fence where the dogs had broken through. Although the fence was patched up, it was clear that this was not a permanent solution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What does a robotic dog do at Dyess Air Force Base? The next evening, on Sunday, November 24, she heard the most awful screams she had ever heard. Going outside, she saw her dog, Buddy, being attacked by three pit bulls. I went to the backdoor, and I saw these three huge pit bull dogs on top of Buddy. They were biting and everything, so I ran out there, threw a chair from the patio, and then I threw another one. There was a pipe, and I picked it up, and I started hitting them on the head, and two of them kind of went away, explained Ditmore. Ditmore explained that she managed to get herself and Buddy inside the house before going back outside with her pistol. She fired three shots but missed. Neighbors heard the gunfire and came over to help her take Buddy to the emergency veterinarian. The police and animal control were called, and one neighbor stayed behind to speak with them. Animal control then visited Ditmore at the emergency vet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They put staples and stuff on him about eight places there. The ribs werent broken, but they bit in-between the rib and got the ligaments and stuff, added Ditmore. City of Abilene talking sh*t: How dog poop ends up in our water Ditmore told KTAB/KRBC that she was informed nothing could be done immediately until an investigation is completed, which could take six days or even longer due to the holiday. However, Ditmore hopes that local and state regulations regarding dangerous dog attacks can be changed to expedite the process. She is concerned about the possibility of the dogs breaking in again or harming someone. They gave me this piece of paper, and they said because those dogs committed unproved acts that caused bodily injury to a person or serious bodily injury to a domestic animal. Apparently, because it didnt hurt me, and it was not a serious injury to Buddy, they werent going to do anything. I have family coming in two days who will be outside, and I have to worry about pit bull dogs; three of them, thats a pack. So, are they going to attack my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren? added Ditmore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She is calling for the word serious to be removed from subchapter D because, to her, it doesnt matter if its a person or a domestic animal. A bite is a bite, whether its one or fifty. Hopeful policy changes like this are addressed by removal at the time of the call to Animal control and the police department. They told me they couldnt do anything about it, and Im going. You cant take those dogs away, three aggressive pit bull dogs, and I have to take a gun outside just to go out my backdoor. They need to address it immediately, not go to a board. I have to write a letter to the board to tell them that I need to take the pit bull dogs, 3 of them, out of our community, added Ditmore. Ditmore has submitted a report to the Animal Services Division, aiming to inform other residents of Abilene about the dangers associated with dangerous animals and the relevant code policies. KTAB/KRBC has attempted to contact the owners of the three dogs involved, but they have declined to comment. In the meantime, Ditmore is relying on support from her family and friends. She wants the situation to be resolved quickly and a secure fence installed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abilene dog park to reopen before Thanksgiving Abilene Police Department Public Information Officer Rick Tomlin sent KTAB/KRBC this statement on 11/26/24 in regard to the incident: Police Dispatch received an animal call on 11/24/24 at 5:44 p.m. from a homeowner in the 1700 block of Sherman Drive, referencing her dog, which was reportedly injured when her neighbors dogs went into her backyard. Because of this, the homeowner wanted to have the neighbors dogs removed from their domicile. When Animal Control arrived, the aggressor dogs were in their own yard, so AC did not witness them being outside of their own yard. Animal Control informed her that they would have to investigate further and would not remove the animals at this time. The homeowner would first need to provide a written statement to Animal Control about this incident so that they can further investigate and proceed. The homeowner has not provided the required written statement. Once she does this, the investigation can proceed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)An apartment complex in Wichita that offers affordable housing for people with disabilities is in the middle of renovations. The Timbers does not have funding for the final construction phase. They have few options if funding doesnt go through. The Timbers old apartments, built about fifty years ago, are being knocked down and rebuilt. The Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas, which runs the apartments, is building new ADA-compliant ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The big project is being completed in three phases. However, sufficient funding sources are scarce for a project of this scale. The new construction started with a need for renovations in the old. We had a number of the buildings that had significant foundation issues, and the floors were actually dropping, the concrete floors were separating from the footing, so we need to have some emergency repairs done, said Patrick Jonas, President and CEO of Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas. Kansas middle school students share touchdown with classmate When the process of repairs started, it quickly became apparent that the problem was deeper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be much more cost-effective to actually demo the buildings and start from scratch, Jonas said. The new units are ADA-compliant, but theyre also costly. The whole project costs about $32 million. Funding for the third and final phase isnt on hand yet. We always have concerns about securing funding, Jonas said. Phase 3 will cost an estimated $8 million. The goal is to obtain that from the low-income housing tax credit program. Theres a good chance that everything will have to be put on hold if were not successful in that application, Jonas said. Alternatives are few. Between federal home loan bank, the City of Wichita, and perhaps taking on an additional second mortgage would be the only way to get this done, but its not practical, Jonas said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Residents say that with the lack of accessible housing in the area, renovations are needed. We went through other places left and right. There wasnt no other place like this that was accommodating, said Joshua Friedel, a 12-year resident of The Timbers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged Tuesday that the city bears responsibility for a madmans stabbing spree that left three New Yorkers dead but said the mental health and justice system failures go deeper. A measured Adams called for Washington, Albany and the City Council to take action and fix the broken mental health system that didnt help the mentally ill Ramon Rivera, 51, before he allegedly randomly stabbed three people to death last week. If we dont do something about it, we could see incidents like this taking place, Adams said during his weekly off-topic briefing at City Hall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Can the city do more? Youre darn right we can, he said. But our federal government can do more, our state government can do more, our (City Council) partners across the hall can do more, we all could do more. The mayor also gently swatted aside outrage over the early release of Rivera a homeless man with a lengthy rap sheet just a month before the Nov. 18 spree. He said a technicality had allowed Riveras good time release, despite his assault of a correction officer. Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday the city and all levels of government could do more after the last weeks serial stabbing spree. Stephen Yang As Adams spoke, City Hall distributed a timeline of Riveras months-long stint in New York Citys jails, leading up to his ultimate release in October. Rivera, who has a long criminal history, was arrested in February on a burglary charge. In May, he assaulted a corrections officer in a Bellevue Hospital psych ward an incident previously reported by The Post. The stabbing spree left three people dead, and sparked a debate over mental health and public safety. Dean Moses The mayor also gently swatted aside outrage over the early release of Rivera a homeless man with a lengthy rap sheet just a month before the Nov. 18 spree. Matthew McDermott Adams said because this assault unfolded before Rivera was sentenced to 364 days in jail in the burglary case, it actually couldnt be used against him when officials tallied up deductions for his Oct. 17 release on good behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also noted that prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office had requested and a judge granted that Riveras 90-day sentence for assaulting the guard be served at the same time as his punishment for the burglary conviction. City Hall officials said theyre still reviewing whether the good time loophole is a policy issue or a law and whether it can be changed. Adams account of unavoidable technicalities leading to Riveras release wasnt as clear-cut as he presented, some law-enforcement sources contended. A measured Adams called for Washington, Albany and the City Council to take action and fix the broken mental health system that didnt help the mentally ill Ramon Rivera, 51, before he allegedly randomly stabbed three people to death last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors with Braggs office had bundled Riveras burglary felony charges into a single case, keeping him in jail rather than state prison. And a judge didnt look a Riveras long criminal record, including out-of-state charges, when considering the lenient sentence, the sources contended. But Adams argued that regardless of how long Rivera served, he still would have posed a danger. He needed help, you know, he said. If he would have got out 90 days later and stabbed three people, its as bad. Even though Rivera exited the jail system stabilized, having received mental health help, that safety net of care fell through during his brief month of freedom Adams said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rivera ended up at the Bellevue Mens Shelter, a congregate homeless facility in Manhattan thats far from an ideal setting to monitor mentally ill peoples care, medication and potential drug use, said Brian Stettin, the mayors senior adviser for severe mental illness. There is a need for a robust residential option that we are working diligently to create, and I expect its something the mayor will have more to say on in the future, Stettin said. Rep. Ritchie Torres argued in a letter that Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul are complicit in the spree. The hint of support for more residential care for mentally ill people could signal a turnaround from the mayor who has repeatedly pushed for more power to remove disturbed individuals from the streets against their will. A City Council source said lawmakers have advocated for more funds to cover supportive housing, or post-jail release care, but have been stonewalled by City Hall. There are currently only 180 such beds in the city, and a request for another 320 has languished, according to the source. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the first time [the mayor] has talked about this. I wish he would talk about more than just involuntary commitment with the state. We need them to add more beds, the source said. Adams remarks about Rivera and mental health unfolded as potential gubernatorial or mayoral hopeful Rep. Ritchie Torres held a news conference reiterating his stance that the jailbirds early release is a failure that squarely belongs to the city. Even though Rivera exited the jail system stabilized, having received mental health help, that safety net of care fell through during his brief month of freedom Adams said. Obtained by the Post Torres called Riveras release an act of cruelty, both against a mentally ill man and the general public. The city must have a policy of prohibiting early release for those with serious mental illness and those who pose a risk, not only to themselves but to the general public, he said. If Ramon Rivera had never been released early, and if he had been made to serve his full 12-month sentence, then the three New Yorkers he murdered would still be alive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Torres, a Democratic congressman who represents a Bronx district, also laid blame on the federal government. He called for the feds to repeal a policy excluding Medicaid funds from going to institutions for mental disease. The federal government must unlock federal funding for inpatient psychiatric care, he said. Adams said he had reached out to Torres over the congressmans letter deeming the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul complicit in the stabbing spree, but the rep hadnt returned his message. Torres said he had received message from an unknown number and signed Eric asking him to call. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I know a lot of Erics, he said. Later Tuesday, Torres posted on X that hed had a productive talk with Adams about Riveras case. I had a productive conversation with Mayor Eric Adams, who reassured me that the City is reexamining the good behavior policy that led to the early release of Ramon Rivera, the post said. I fully support the Mayors efforts to build mental health institutions in the City. The shortage of inpatient psychiatric care has become too glaring to ignore. Additional reporting by Joe Marino This photo taken on Nov. 27, 2024 shows a billboard with a slogan welcoming the return of the remains of 43 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who died during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. The city is prepared for the return of the remains of the fallen soldiers from the Republic of Korea. It was the 11th such repatriation since 2014, following a handover agreement signed between the two countries. (Xinhua/Li Gang) This photo taken on Nov. 27, 2024 shows an LED billboard with a slogan welcoming the return of the remains of 43 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who died during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. The city is prepared for the return of the remains of the fallen soldiers from the Republic of Korea. It was the 11th such repatriation since 2014, following a handover agreement signed between the two countries. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong) This photo taken on Nov. 27, 2024 shows an LED billboard with a slogan welcoming the return of the remains of 43 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who died during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. The city is prepared for the return of the remains of the fallen soldiers from the Republic of Korea. It was the 11th such repatriation since 2014, following a handover agreement signed between the two countries. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong) Lawmakers and advocates said they have high hopes for a bill that would reduce the number of primary violations that allow police to pull motorists over. Photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew Cortez/U.S. Marine Corps. Vennieth McCormick said he wasnt afraid to jump out of planes while in the Army, but he acknowledged there is one thing that has scared him: Being pulled over by police during traffic stops. The 60-year-old business owner from Baltimore City described several times being stopped by police throughout Maryland, most recently in August 2023 in Baltimore County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive never gotten a ticket or warning in any of those stops, McCormick said in an interview Friday. I deal with it. Theres nothing I can do about it. But lawmakers can do something about it, say advocates, with the reintroduction of a bill that would reduce the number of reasons police have for pulling someone over. Vennieth McCormick talks about the times when hes been pulled over by police during a discussion on proposed safer traffic stops legislation Nov. 19 at Catonsville Library. Photo by William J. Ford. Blacks accounted for 32% of the state population in 2023, but 43% of the nearly 482,300 vehicle traffic stops reported by 131 law enforcement agencies, according to the Governors Office of Crime Prevention and Policys traffic safety dashboard. Whites made up 57% of the state population but accounted for 39% of all traffic stops that year. Sen. Charles Sydnor (D-Baltimore County) said one of the main fears hes heard from law enforcement officials has been that traffic stops are among the most dangerous tasks they face. Thats one of the reasons he plans to introduce a bill with a companion bill in the House sponsored by Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) that would cut back on the number of primary violations that allow police to make a traffic stop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The question becomes, if you are talking about public safety, wouldnt you want your police officers only engaged when theres a real public safety need? Sydnor said of the need for his bill. This put officers out of harms way, even our citizens. Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees disagrees. DeWees, the president of the Maryland Sheriffs Association, said officers who stop drivers for violations such as an unregistered vehicle or faulty equipment arent about whether a person is Black or white, but its simply a matter of right and wrong. What people need to understand it is not a constitutional right to be able to drive a vehicle on state or local roads. Its a privilege that the state of Maryland grants you, DeWees said. If you dont do those things, then the police are going to stop and hold you accountable by writing orders and doing certain things to make sure you do comply with the social contract in being able to drive your vehicle and have the privilege to drive a vehicle on a roadway, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DeWees said in an interview Tuesday that the sheriffs association plans to try and stop and this ridiculous legislation. Currently, state law lists a number of primary violations that allow an officer to pull a driver over, as well as a number of secondary violations that the driver can be cited for but only after being pulled over for another, primary violation. The proposal by Sydnor and Phillips would downgrade a number of current primary violations to secondary status, with an eye toward reducing the number of reasons for a nonsafety-related traffic stop. Sydnor said the bill is still being drafted, but violations that would be downgraded to secondary status under the proposal include: Driving an unregistered vehicle or driving with expired registration that have been expired for at least three months; Driving without a functional headlight, brake lights, or taillights; Driving without mirrors, or obstructed or damaged mirrors; Window tint; Failure to illuminate a license plate; Driving in a dedicated bus-only lane; Excessive noise; Failure to signal a turn, lane change, stop, or start (due to equipment not functioning or otherwise); and Littering on roadways. Whats the purpose? Sydnor, who said he and his wife have been pulled over by police while driving Its not a good feeling credited the Maryland Office of the Public Defender for helping to educate the public about his proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Public Defender Natasha Dartigue held a Safer Traffic Stops for All virtual briefing last week. Documents presented highlighted fewer nonsafety traffic stops would let officers redirect resources to focus on dangerous driving and serious safety concerns, but also decrease racial disparities in traffic enforcement. The Governors Office of Crime Prevention and Policys traffic safety dashboard show the racial disparity in traffic stops was similar in 2022 to 2023: Of the 505,603 traffic stops reported by 128 law enforcement agencies in 2022, Blacks still accounted for 43% of all stops, versus 40% of white drivers. The dashboard also showed that equipment- and registration-related violations accounted for nearly 44% of traffic stops, the two highest violations reported, in both 2022 and 2023. The public defenders office noted two states Virginia and Oregon approved statewide changes to limit police traffic stops for minor offenses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A few hours after Dartigues Nov. 19 virtual briefing, her office hosted a discussion on the proposed legislation at Catonsville Library attended by Sydnor, Baltimore County Democratic Dels. Sheila Ruth and Aletheia McCaskill and a few dozen other residents. The event also featured a panel that included Tyrone Powers, a former FBI agent and Maryland state trooper who now runs a consulting company. Powers said one way to make change is for people of color to work in law enforcement or the legal profession. We get angry with the [criminal justice] system and we say, I dont want to be involved with that, Powers said. But you have to be in these positions to [improve it]. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McCormick, who was also part of the panel, said he supports the legislation. But he said in a later interview that any change i the law needs to include the possibility of punitive action for officers who violate it. For example, he said if an officer receives a certain number of written infractions for not adhering to the law, then that person should be fired. If you dont put any meat or teeth behind it, then whats the purpose? he said. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Cars without drivers are making their way to New Mexico roads. But some advocates want to ensure people are safe. None of us are against the driverless tech; we just want to make sure its done right, said Mike Sievers, a local attorney with experience in motor vehicle safety. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, there have been 130 crashes from 2021 to 2022 involving driverless cars. In 2021, New Mexico lawmakers passed a statute allowing self-driving vehicles to be tested on public roads, but with few requirements. One of those requirements is letting the NMDOT know about the testing just five days beforehand. Advocates told lawmakers theyd like to see a new bill passed with more teeth to it. Theres no doubt that that technology will advance someday, but as of right now, that technology isnt at a point to where its safe for New Mexico highways, they told lawmakers. Story continues below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some companies like Torc Robotics in Albuquerque are testing self-driving semi trucks on I-40 and I-25. Advocates want stronger regulation to include having a human on board to monitor the self-driving technology, requiring proof of risk minimization to the public, and the submission of safety data to the state. However, some are still skeptical about that data. Some of the data that these companies are going to present arent necessarily accurate to the fact of the real-world situation, said one advocate. They test these on sunny days; they dont test them during snowstorms. Advocates also touched on the impact the growth of autonomous vehicles can have on the New Mexico workforce. The job impact for this state, this is a poor state, and these are high-paying jobs, said Tracy McCarty, a former long-haul driver whose family also owned a local trucking company here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They also suggested lawmakers create separate legislation to support the changes in the workforce. They suggested creating a workforce recovery fund that would provide financial support and job training opportunities to workers who lose their jobs to driverless vehicles. They also suggest creating a driver displacement severance clause requiring companies to provide resources for displaced workers due to the changing technology. These are jobs that cover families with insurance, and just a standard of living, a lot of people in this state dont have pensions for life. These are things the state cant afford to lose, said McCarty. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. TAHLEQUAH, Okla. Cherokee Nation officials announced a tentative agreement with the State of Oklahoma on Tuesday to amend and extend their motor vehicle tag compact for another 10 years. The agreement will take effect on January 1. Were all Oklahomans and drive on the same roads and bridges, said Gov. Kevin Stitt in a prepared statement. Stitt said he appreciated the cooperation of Cherokee leadership in reaching an agreement, especially regarding the ability to collect tolls on turnpikes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our goal throughout this process has been a compact that continues to benefit Cherokee Nation citizens and Oklahoma communities and ensures our tribe continues to serve and provide for our citizens, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. The agreement must gain approval from the Cherokee Nation Council and the Oklahoma Legislatures Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations, which is expected before the end of the year. The new compact is a government-to-government agreement that will protect the rights of our citizens and ensure we can continue to provide essential funding for public schools, roads, and law enforcement agencies., Hoskin said. The proposed compact includes: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cherokee Nation continues to operate its seven tag offices, where tribal citizens can purchase Cherokee Nation tags. Cherokee Nation citizens who live outside the Cherokee Nation will have the flexibility to utilize state tag offices or Cherokee Nation tag offices. However, they will be subject to payment of fees and taxes provided by the Compact. Cherokee Nation will share driver information for PlatePay billing and easy accessibility by law enforcement. As part of the compact agreement, the Cherokee Nation will pay a $2 million PlatePay fee over three years, and all outstanding toll fees assessed through November 30 for Cherokee plates will be waived in exchange. Cherokee Nation will continue uploading registration information to the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (OLETS) for public safety. The five counties with portions outside the Cherokee Nation (Tulsa, Wagoner, Rogers, Muskogee, and Mayes counties)commonly known as the expanded jurisdictionwill move from the previous compact model to the new at-large model. Over the next four years, all at-large vehicles tagged under the previous compact will be exempt from Oklahoma renewal requirements and can continue registering with the Cherokee Nation. Following this period, at-large Cherokee citizens can renew at a state tag office or at a Cherokee Nation tag office. Additional funds Oklahoma secures from taxes and fees associated with vehicles principally garaged outside the Cherokee Nation will be expended in a manner consistent with Oklahoma law for infrastructure, education, and other public purposes. The Cherokee Nation will continue to receive a remittance from at-large tag sales and related rebates. The Cherokee Nation will continue to allocate funds each year from the sales of Cherokee Nation car tags for public schools, road improvements, and law enforcement, as more specifically outlined in the compact. For more information on Cherokee Tags, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing to pressure from cattle ranchers and soybean growers to cut down trees and expand agriculture. Their efforts run counter to those of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who returned to power last year and has made significant strides in curbing Amazon deforestation. They also threaten Brazils commitment to halt deforestation by 2030. Loss of forest is the countrys largest source of carbon emissions. We are detecting a well-coordinated wave of setbacks. The efforts to reduce deforestation remain highly fragile in some regions, said Alice Thuault, executive director of Instituto Centro de Vida, an environmental nonprofit based in Mato Grosso state. A coalition of organizations that keeps watch on supply chains, the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi), also referred to the trend as a major setback. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brazils nine Amazonian states are crucial for preserving forest. Together, they manage almost 220,000 square miles (564,000 square kilometers) of conservation lands and 12,600 square miles (32,600 square kilometers) of public forests that have no protective designation, a total area roughly the size of Ukraine. In Acre state, a law approved unanimously in August allows the privatization of almost 347 square miles (900 square kilometers) of protected forest, an area approximately the size of New York City. The stated goal is to legalize the status of people who have illegally moved into five forested conservation units. The state and its leading farmers organizations are finding common cause with Brazils communist party and state lawmaker Edvaldo Magalhaes. In a speech in August, he said the new environmental legislation, which also lowers penalties for illegal deforestation, will benefit 40,000 small farmers. He said it will increase protected forest area, although he has not said how. Magalhaes didn't return requests for an interview. Acres new legislation has garnered strong support from agribusiness organizations, which have long advocated for loosening rainforest protections. The more forest, the more poverty, said Assuero Veronez, president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Acre, during a speech in the state parliament in April 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Veronez, a cattle rancher who migrated from Brazils Southeast to Acre, argues that forests don't generate income and they occupy land that could be used for agriculture. That hectare of forest there is soil underneath it. If we cannot remove the forest, we cannot produce, he said. Veronez did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press. Passage of the legislation prompted Acre Environment Secretary Julie Messias to resign. The new legislation poses serious risks and may not be constitutional," Messias said. It's crucial for people to get legal status, but that has to be done consistent with Brazil's laws on forest conservation, she said. Acre Governor Gladson Cameli signed the law, but delayed its implementation until January 1 to evaluate whether it is legally binding. The prospect that the protected areas in Acre could be privatized led to a surge in deforestation, according to a satellite image analysis requested by the AP from the nonprofit Amazon Institute of People and the Environment. From August to October, illegal deforestation in four protected areas surged more than threefold over the year before, to roughly the area of six Central Parks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The damage was much worse in neighboring Rondonia state, where the Assembly and local government are in court seeking to annul 11 conservation units and reduce two others. In two of them alone, Guajara-Mirim and Soldado da Borracha, fires that were deliberately set destroyed a combined area of 668 square miles (1,730 square kilometers), an area slightly larger than Greater London, according to MapBiomas, a network of non-governmental organizations that monitors land use. Rondonia state prosecutor Pablo Viscardi said the fires are the work of people who want to gain legal title to the land. They use forest fires to consolidate the land-grabbing and/or prevent the regeneration of areas they were expelled from, he told the AP. In Rondonia and also in neighboring Mato Grosso, authorities have also ended an important piece of environmental legislation. In the historic Soy Moratorium of 2006, traders and oil producers agreed not to buy soy beans grown on recently deforested land. Environmental groups including Greenpeace and U.S. commodity giant companies Cargill, Bunge and ADM were parties. Now the laws in Mato Grosso, Brazils largest soybean and beef-producing state, and Rondonia, force traders and oil producers to exit the agreement. Another Amazonian state, Para, is pushing a similar initiative. According to Directa, a law consulting company, the bill closely resembles the ones in Mato Grosso and Rondonia, suggesting a coordinated effort to undermine the soy moratorium. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics of the moratorium, which include Brazils top soy producer associations, argue that the agreement is illegal because it goes beyond Brazils anti-deforestation laws. In a statement, the government of Mato Grosso said it ceased incentives under the soy moratorium because the state already enforces the worlds strictest environmental regulations and companies that violate national laws will face penalties, just as they would in other countries. Brazil is the worlds fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with almost 3% of global emissions, according to Climate Watch, an online platform managed by World Resources Institute. Almost half of Brazils carbon emissions come from deforestation. The Amazon is a vital climate regulator, contains the most biodiverse forest in the world plus one-fifth of the worlds freshwater. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Ahead of Thanksgiving, the holiday travel season has just begun. Several agencies anticipate this will be the busiest Thanksgiving travel rush ever. In a press release last week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it was "prepared for the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record." Between Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Monday, Dec. 2, the agency expects to screen 18.3 million people a passenger volume increase of about 6% from 2023 and 17% from 2022. People are also reading: FAA warns of flight delays ahead of Thanksgiving: Track Tuesday's schedule to, from Texas Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trend isn't limited to air travel. The American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts a record of nearly 80 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from their homes for Thanksgiving. This estimate is up 1.7 million from 2023 and 2 million from 2019. "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," said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel. "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." How much does a gallon of gas cost in Texas right now? As of Tuesday, Texas had one of the lowest averages gas prices in the country. AAA recorded the average gallon of gas in the Lone Star state cost $2.638, compared to the day's national average of $3.067. Only two states had lower averages: Mississippi ($2.629) and Oklahoma ($2.517). In a breakdown of counties, Far West Texas reported higher gas prices than the rest of the state, while the Panhandle had among the lowest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More holiday news: 1st Thanksgiving actually happened in Texas plus 2 other ties with the holiday LIST: Texas gas prices by metro - Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 AAA recorded the following gas prices (per gallon, regular gasoline) in Texas metros, updated Tuesday: Abilene : $2.606 Amarillo : $2.427 Austin-San Marcos : $2.653 Beaumont-Port Arthur : $2.606 Brownsville-Harlingen : $2.551 College Station-Bryan : $2.653 Corpus Christi : $2.618 Dallas : $2.650 El Paso : $2.805 Fort Worth-Arlington : $2.654 Galveston-Texas City : $2.618 Houston : $2.614 Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood : $2.511 Laredo : $2.584 Longview : $2.609 Lubbock : $2.423 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission : $2.555 Midland : $2.627 Odessa : $2.573 San Angelo : $2.702 San Antonio : $2.689 Sherman-Denison : $2.600 Texarkana (TX only) : $2.638 Tyler : $2.570 Victoria : $2.542 Waco : $2.557 Wichita Falls: $2.557 Nationwide low gas prices could see instability Earlier this month, AAA said that the nationwide average cost of gas was $3.08 per gallon, which neared lows the country had not seen since May of 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, AAA noted that impending Tropical Storm Sara, which could turn into a hurricane, may stall gas prices, which got progressively cheaper in late October and early November. "Some of the early tracking models have her heading toward Florida by the middle of next week, so stay tuned," stated Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, noting the volatile nature of gas prices. Despite the unpredictable weather, gas prices had stabilized in ways that had not been seen over the past several years. "In some ways, this is the most normal year the gas market has seen in a long time, and current prices reflect that. COVID and major fuel sanctions against Russia really threw the market, and gas prices, upside down for a while. But the trends we're seeing now resemble what was happening in 2019 and earlier," Paredes stated. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Thanksgiving 2024 travel: Texas has some of the lowest gas prices Do you have hope, and how does that feel? Im sitting at my kitchen counter, talking to a bespectacled blue owl named Claire. She stares at me unblinkingly from the computer screen. Yes, I reply, somewhat uncertainly. I ramble on for a few more seconds something about how hope comes from family, and friends, and what that feels like before pausing. Have I spoken for long enough? Claire appears satisfied with my response. Thank you, she says stiffly. Now we will move on to secrets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After secrets, she asks whether I have anger (yes!), how it makes me feel (... angry?), whether I have fear (I do ), and lastly, emotional pain (who doesnt?). Finally, Claire informs me that the interview is over. Soon, Ill receive the results of my $180 mental health risk assessment as determined by artificial intelligence. Im not the only one to have my mental health assessed by AI. Clairity an AI app which can apparently detect mental health issues through voice recordings is used by school-based clinicians at around 80 schools across Greater Cincinnati and, according to Clarigent Health, which developed the app, in universities, doctors offices, mental health centers, and juvenile justice programs in California and North Carolina, in addition to Ohio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But nearly a decade after researchers first hailed the technology as a scientific breakthrough in mental health, its difficult to say whether Clairity ever met its intended goal of helping prevent youth suicide. None of the Cincinnati schools that tested the technology, from 2016 onward, were able to attest to the AIs effectiveness. And clinicians and school administrators contacted by The Enquirer could not provide data showing how well the app worked, independent of the research funded by Clairitys developers. While trained on a majority white population, the app is being used on kids of all races and backgrounds, which has some experts questioning its effectiveness. Still, Clarigent is trying to expand it to more kids. A Spanish-language version of Clairity, and another algorithm that will analyze kids' language to determine their risk for committing violence, are currently in the works, according to Clarigent CEO Don Wright. An offer schools couldnt refuse The arrival of the youth mental health crisis left schools desperate for solutions. In 2021, a rise in suicides made it the second-leading cause of death for kids between the ages of 10 and 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After a student died by suicide at Three Rivers Local School District, former superintendent Craig Hockenberry said his community was devastated. If theres anything that we can do to prevent it, it was a win-win, Hockenberry said. It didnt matter what the program was. Enter Mason-based startup Clarigent Health with Clairity, a solution that seemed too good to be true. According to the Clarigent, Clairity could empower clinicians to pick up on the subtlest signs of suicide risk and help youth who were suffering. While anyone can now buy a Clairity assessment from its website for $180, schools who enrolled in Clarigents study could access it for free. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clarigent Healths technology was first developed by Cincinnati Childrens, where a researcher named John Pestian spent over a decade analyzing the language of suicide. Cincinnati Children's denied several requests for an interview with Pestian and directed all questions about Clairity to Clarigent. After analyzing more than 1,300 suicide notes and collecting interviews of suicidal teenagers treated in Cincinnati Childrens emergency department, Pestian developed an algorithm to find patterns in the ways that people express suicidality through speech. The machine learning algorithm would use this data to then make predictions about whether someone was contemplating suicide. The impressive computing power of artificial intelligence, according to Pestian, could identify patterns in someone's voice data on a scale that humans never could. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These are things you just don't pick up in conversation," he told The Enquirer in 2016. According to his research, the algorithm could identify not only words, but also nonverbal cues such as pauses and tone, that indicated suicidality. No matter how smart we are, no matter how good we are, no matter how well-trained we are, the amount of information required for any given decision is moving beyond unassisted human capacity, Dr. Tracy Glauser, child neurologist and associate director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, said at a 2023 panel hosted by the hospital. Thats been our driving force." The result of Pestians research was Clairitys predecessor, an app first known as Spreading Activation Mobile, or SAM, then as MHSAFE. The idea was that guidance counselors could download the app on their phones and use it to quickly identify kids who were at high risk of attempting suicide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All schools needed to gain access to the technology was to enroll kids in the study, with parent and student consent. The first was run by Cincinnati Childrens in the 2016-17 school year, and the second, by Clarigent Health in 2019-2020. Where suicide prevention felt precarious and unpredictable, these apps offered certainty, science and hard numbers. Their legitimacy was bolstered by experts at Cincinnati Childrens. Moreover, this cutting-edge technology, supported by almost a million dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, would be provided to schools at zero cost. We all kind of dropped our pencils, said Hockenberry. If they could do it with a potential suicide, they could potentially catch a school shooter, he remembered thinking. Schools have 'no data' to provide on AIs effectiveness The Enquirer requested records from nearly 50 school districts in southwest Ohio and 15 in Northern Kentucky. Documents showed that Deer Park High School and four Cincinnati Public Schools the School for Creative and Performing Arts and Dater High, Walnut Hills High and Aiken High schools tested the 2016 version of the app. In the 2019-20 school year, Three Rivers Local School District and Lebanon City Schools also used Clairity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But none of the districts had data to share on the AIs efficacy. Most said that it was private, accessible only to the clinician and the family of the child. The School for Creative and Performing Arts was one of the schools that tested an early version of Clairity, an AI-powered app designed to detect mental illness through voice data. Todd Yohey, former superintendent of Oak Hills Local School District and Lebanon City Schools, said he was reasonably optimistic about the algorithm. But he wasnt sure how many kids were actually exposed to the app, and the school had no data about its usage. We had hundreds of students that were seen by the clinicians, said Yohey, who worked with Cincinnati Children's to embed their clinicians within his schools. I dont know if they used the app. Hockenberry, now a superintendent in a Youngstown suburb, left Three Rivers before Clairity was launched. "I don't know of any of the outcomes," he said. Ben Crotte, a former school-based counselor at SCPA, remembered testing an early version of Clairity in 2016. Ben Crotte, a former school-based therapist at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, estimates he recorded conversations with between 15 to 20 students with their consent and their parents as a part of his participation in the SAM research. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While he didn't receive the app's recommendations in real time, Pestian later told him that the AI identified two of his students as high risk for suicide, which Crotte already knew. The app seemed to nail them and identify them very well," Crotte said. Still, Crotte said he didn't recommend hospitalization for either student. Had he received the app's results during his sessions, he wonders whether he may have felt more pressured to recommend hospitalization, which he described as clinically unnecessary at that time. Ben Crotte with therapy dogs Tiki and Violet at Animal Companion Counseling, the mental health nonprofit he now runs in the West End. Best Point, a nonprofit provider of childrens mental health services, participated in Cincinnati Childrens early research in 2016, and now its clinicians use Clairity as a standard screening tool for kids ages 12 and up in around 80 schools across Cincinnati. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We felt confident that it had been trialed and tested, Debbie Gingrich, chief program officer of the organization, said. Learning to use Clairity has been a learning curve for Best Points clinicians, Gingrich said, but Clairity has helped them identify kids at risk that they would not have otherwise expected. Gingrich did not reply to multiple emails requesting data on the number of kids whose suicide risk would have gone undetected without Clairity's help. Court tries Clairity, discontinues contract after 2 years Hamilton County was the first in the country to use Clairity in its juvenile court. Headlines announced the partnership, which signaled AIs potential to help solve an intensifying youth mental health crisis, with fanfare and excitement. We are proud to be the first court in the country to use these cutting-edge tools to better understand and serve our children, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers, then a senior judge of Hamilton County Juvenile Court, in 2021. The court signed a $20,000 contract with Clarigent for the 2021-22 fiscal year and hoped the algorithm would help the court with referrals for mental health services and treatment interventions. Staff from the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Assessment Center used Clairity on over 200 kids in juvenile court. Some kids in juvenile court arent as forthcoming about how they're feeling, said Deanna Nadermann, the court's director of behavioral health services and special projects. She saw how Clairity could help reach those kids and speed up the referral process for children behind bars. For those kids, and others suffering from mental health issues, Nadermann said it's a long process to cut through the red tape of getting them admitted to inpatient care. Megan Taylor, a licensed social worker and manager of the courts assessment center, which helps connect kids to counseling, therapy, and case management services, shared Deannas excitement. I think we all thought this was going to be this great thing, Taylor said. Megan Taylor, manager of the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Assessment Center, was excited to use Clairity to help more kids get mental health care. Taylor, who oversaw the team of six staffers who would be using Clairity with their clients, remembers Clarigent Healths training for the app to be simple and intuitive. But in practice, it was anything but. There were technical glitches and issues with staying connected to WiFi. They bought Kindles and microphones to help with the recordings, Nadermann said, but her staff still ran into problems. Clairity peppered users with errors, saying it couldnt pick up the speaker, that the speaker wasnt talking long enough or was speaking for too long. Half the time it wouldn't work, Taylor said. The app would just spin and just buffer and buffer. And the way Clairity phrased questions were confusing to some of the kids. Do you have emotional pain? Taylor remembers one of the questions asked. They were like, what? Staffers at Hamilton County Juvenile Court used fuzzy mics to record the data Clairity needed to assess suicide risk in their clients, but it didn't always work. Taylor doesn't blame Clarigent Health for the difficulties her staff faced, which she mostly chalks up to the court's unreliable WiFi networks. The challenges of working with kids in juvenile court are unique, she added, so Clairity might work better in a hospital setting with staff who are clinically trained. Clarigent said it tried to work with court staffers on the IT issues and safety protocols preventing youth from being positioned close to the device "presented unique challenges." Data provided by Clarigent Health shows Clairity assessed the mental health of 222 youth in juvenile court. One-third were labeled as having medium to high risk for suicide. But its difficult to determine whether Clairitys evaluations were consistent with staffers evaluations, or if those youth would have received mental health help anyway, because the court did not collect data on the apps outcomes. Nadermann said she was disappointed that Clarigent Healths recommendation for medium and high-risk kids was to then administer a suicidality questionnaire. Why don't I just do that assessment at the beginning? The court discontinued its contract with Clarigent after its second year. Can AI predict suicide? Experts weigh in, discuss racial bias People tend to be open with their clinicians about their suicidal ideation, said Jordan DeVylder, associate professor of social work at New York University. But clinicians have a lot of trouble predicting those who will act on those thoughts. That's where the appeal of these kind of machine learning approaches comes in," DeVylder said. Computers are good at detecting subtle differences in people's voices, and DeVylder is confident in AIs ability to detect suicidal language. But hes worried about the ethical implications of using AI thats too good at its job. Is it ethical to mandate treatment for someone who didnt even actually talk about suicide based on an algorithm alone? he asked. WiFi issues often prevented Hamilton County Juvenile Court staff from using Clairity in this detention center. Another potential limitation to consider is the bias of the training data. There's not a lot of research on how nonwhite people express mental illness through language, and most machine learning algorithms are trained on white people, said Sunny Rai, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Pennsylvanias department of computer and information science. That's true of Clairity, too. According to an Enquirer review of research provided by Clarigent Health, three of the four studies on Clairity that published racial demographics had study populations that were 74% white or higher. Rai's research used machine learning to show that Black people and white people express their depression differently on social media. While the white participants with depression in Rai's study tended to use more I pronouns that indicated excessive self-focus, the same was not true for Black participants. Still, Clarigent CEO Don Wright maintained that Clairity's algorithm "is not biased." (He did not provide data or results of the 2021 NIH-funded study that he said proved that to be the case). Later, in a statement, the company said it "takes active steps to mitigate bias" by regularly testing its AI for "fairness and unintended biases", among other things. If the data the algorithm is trained on is not representative of the population it will be used on, the use of AI to detect suicide risk is both scientifically and ethically dubious, said Augustine Frimpong-Mansoh, professor of health care ethics at Northern Kentucky University. Professor Augustine Frimpong-Mansoh, acting chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Philosophy at Northern Kentucky University, says Clairity's use poses both scientific and ethical concerns. There are also questions about informed consent. Parents desperate to get their child mental health treatment may have agreed to Clairity being used without understanding the risks, he said. They are likely to go along with whatever you have told them and sign on to it," he said. Its also impossible to know whether Clairity is actually helping schools prevent suicide because there's no way to know whether a student who was flagged would have taken their own life, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. Companies like Clarigent, Marlow said, are taking advantage of schools and their fears and their incredibly strong desire to keep kids safe. Its based more on hope and adoption of marketing slogans than actual tested data," he said. What AI said about my mental health Im a 25-year-old woman whose first language is Korean. Most people Clarigent Health trained its models on do not look or speak like me. And yet, I couldnt shake my curiosity about the apps abilities. Would the AI be able to pick up signs of mental illness that I myself wasnt aware of? Maybe 11 minutes of hearing me ramble would be enough. Following my interview with Claire, the next step of my screener was connecting with a therapist whod reveal my results through phone or video call. No appointment and no waiting, promised the email from Clarigent. But the video call link buffered for 15 minutes, and the therapist who answered the phone was confused about why I called (I think theres an AI thats supposed to tell me whether Im depressed?). She put me on hold. When she returned, she apologized, explaining that Clairity is a new service. The AI detected anxiety, she says, but no depression or suicidality. When I later asked Clarigent for documentation of my results, the company told me Clairity detected no signs of mental illness anxiety or otherwise. How great would it be if that were true? If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. This story was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism s 2024 National Fellowship Kristy Hammam Fund for Health Journalism and supported in part by an engagement grant. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Schools use this app to prevent suicide but does it work? AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) Thanksgiving is Thursday, and for many, its just another day without food. Most people say, this is what we have, this is what we can do in the Salvation Army, were a little different. We say, This is the need. Now lets figure it out, Salvation Army Captain Michael Good said. The group is seeing a huge increase in demand. Their soup kitchen serves 70 to 100 people a day. The Blessings Closet provides food, diapers, and essentials. They also offer utility help and support kids education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rent has gone up, utilities have gone up, food has gone up and but yet their pay has stayed the same, he added. The shelter is at full capacity every night. They offer 44 beds for men, women, and families. Were almost at capacity with our womens dorm men dorms, Shelter Manager Mario Williams shared. We do have a few rooms for family rooms at the moment, but we see more of an increase in women. During the holidays, they ramp up services. Events like Come to the Table will serve 700 meals in Aiken on Thanksgiving. Theyll provide turkeys, pies, and more. They also help thousands of children and people in nursing homes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hurricane was already devastating to so many, Good said. So what were seeing is those that were already hurting the holidays have the potential to push them over the edge. Its not just the holidays, Williams said. A lot of times we get forgetting about once the holidays are gone. The shelters LifeNav program helps people move from homelessness to self-sufficiency. They need both donations and volunteers. We need volunteers when it comes to here at the shelter. We get a lot of people showing up for soup kitchen during the holidays. A lot of people are off, a lot of people. This time its a lot tough financially, and so we see an increase when it comes to meals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A community Thanksgiving meal will take place Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church on Chesterfield Street North. Theyre accepting food and monetary donations. Contact AikenSC@uss.salvationarmy.org or you can give online, 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 WJBF. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a new method that significantly improves the process of harvesting water from the air, and also dehumidifying spaces. These technologies play a crucial role in ensuring a more comfortable and sustainable future for humanity. The team has made the desorption process of water-adsorption polymers more efficient. This breakthrough addresses a key challenge in atmospheric water harvesting and desiccant air conditioning systems. Efficient desorption from air at lower temperatures Water-adsorption polymers are essential in many atmospheric water harvesting systems and air conditioning units. However, a major challenge has been the need for high temperaturesaround 212F (100C)to remove the water from these polymers so they can be reused. This requirement consumes a lot of energy and limits their practical use. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Osaka Metropolitan University team developed a liquid moisture adsorbent which requires only around 95 Fahrenheit (35C) temperature to desorb the water. The team was led by Graduate School of Engineering student Daisuke Ikegawa, Assistant Professor Arisa Fukatsu, Associate Professor Kenji Okada, and Professor Masahide Takahashi. This breakthrough could make these systems more energy-efficient and widely applicable, particularly in areas with limited energy resources. The key to this innovation lies in the combination of two types of copolymers: polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polypropylene glycol (PPG). PEG is highly effective at adsorbing water, while PPG adsorbs water slightly less efficiently. The researchers used a mixture of these two materials. This created a transfer mechanism that breaks down water clusters, making it easier to release the water from the polymer. Applications for a sustainable future The team's findings could have significant impacts on various sectors, especially in regions with scarce water resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This technology has the potential to be applied not only to water supply in arid regions and places with limited energy resources, but also to ensuring access to water in times of disaster and emergency, said Fukatsu. In addition to providing clean water in underserved areas, its benefits extend beyond that. It could also play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new system is designed to operate with significantly less energy compared to traditional methods which harvest water from air. As a result, it can contribute to a reduction in the carbon footprint associated with both water harvesting and dehumidification processes. By using less energy, the system not only helps in improving water accessibility but also supports the global effort to mitigate climate change. Professor Takahashi added, Improvements to this technology are also expected to lead to reductions in greenhouse gases and more efficient use of water resources. From now on, we will aim to improve the liquid moisture adsorbent and increase the efficiency of the entire system in order to make it practical. Potential for widespread impact This marks a major step forward in the field of atmospheric water harvesting and energy-efficient air conditioning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the technology continues to improve, it holds the potential to revolutionize the way we gather water from air. This is particularly true in areas where water is scarce and energy resources are limited. The research was published in the journal ACS ES&T Water. Airline rewards programs are popular among frequent flyers. But now, several of them are being scrutinized by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Transportation wants to make sure theyre fair, and that youre getting the rewards you deserve. We need to make sure any practices related to those points and miles are fair and above board, said Sec. Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Department of Transportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Currently, the Transportation Department is examining the rewards programs for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. The agency has requested information from these carriers about their rewards programs, practices, and policies. I say this not just as a policy maker but as a passenger, a lot of us love our points and miles and theyve almost become part of our savings, but they dont have the same protections that cash savings in a bank do, said Buttigieg. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said they want to know how customers are impacted by the various aspects of these program like the potential devaluation of earned rewards, hidden pricing, and extra fees. Weve heard complaints and concerns about a lack of transparency or the sort of bait and switch where youre told if you get this credit card or do this, youre getting a trip to Hawaii but when you try to actually book it is just impossible, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Department of Transportation, the four airlines have until December 4 to submit all the requested information as part of this probe. Airlines For America represents the four carriers involved in this DOT probe. In a statement, the trade group said theres competition among airlines for customers, these loyalty programs are a way to thank travelers. U.S. carriers are transparent about these programs, and policymakers should ensure that consumers can continue to be offered these important benefits, said Airlines For America in a written statement. These rewards programs are basically currencies unto themselves, said Ted Rossman, Senior industry analyst at Bankrate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rossman said there are two major categories for travel rewards programs: the ones directly connected to a specific airline or a more general travel card. He said both have their advantages. If youre really loyal to a certain airline, maybe you should go all in on their card, said Rossman. But if youre more of a free agent who kind of, you know, maybe you dont travel that much, or when you do, its more price or schedule dependent, and youre not that loyal, then youre better off with a general purpose card. While airlines loyalty programs can be beneficial, Rossman warns the rewards are often tied to spending. So you earn more miles when you spend more but also the more expensive the ticket, the more miles its going to take to get the free ticket, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, Rossman added that travel rewards are usually more complicated than cash back rewards. Weve actually found in our research that cash back credit card rewards are Americans favorite benefit because its very simple, its straightforward, its universal, said Rossman. I mean, who couldnt use more cash, right? Full statement from Airlines for America (A4A): Consumers have the power of choice when selecting an airline for a trip, and carriers want to reward travelers for their return business and brand loyalty. Because there is fierce competition among airlines for customers, loyalty programs are a way carriers can say thank you to travelers. Millions of people enjoy being a part of various loyalty programs, which allow them to accumulate rewards to apply toward travel or other benefits. U.S. carriers are transparent about these programs, and policymakers should ensure that consumers can continue to be offered these important benefits. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) "neutralized" a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an operation in northern Iraq, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday, quoting anonymous Turkish security sources. Sadiye Muhammed Ahmed, codenamed "Hevi," was reportedly "neutralized" in a pinpoint strike in northern Iraq's Sinjar region. She had allegedly been active in PKK's activities in Syria and Iraq since 2001, according to the report. In a separate operation by the Turkish military in northern Iraq targeting the PKK, eight other PKK members were killed in the Gara and Metina regions, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralize" to imply the alleged terrorists have either surrendered, been killed, or been captured. The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. Turkiye regularly conducts military operations in northern Iraq, where the group's headquarters and hideouts are located. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) Attorney General Steve Marshall has signed a letter urging Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. The act would require social media platforms to use their strongest safety settings by default, rather than requiring kids to opt in. Marshall said the current measures dont go far enough. There is research studies that are coming out now that demonstrate that significant use of social media and particularly exposure to certain messages can cause depression, anxiety, and bad self image, said Marshall. The bill also allows parents to help with that exposure by better monitoring what their kids see online. That would be the baseline, said Marshall. States ought to have the opportunity as well to regulate it even more if they choose to. That would be a policy choice that we could make, but believe its an appropriate area for Congress to be able to weigh in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What you need to know before traveling this Thanksgiving But Aaron Mackey, director of free speech and transparency litigation at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that same regulation could give way to censorship. How do you actually create a rule where an online service allows youth to access information that says like heres how you get help if youre being bullied, or if youre the victim of harassment, without actually just sort of blocking people, he said. He said media sites wont be able to separate harmful from helpful information. So I think the aim of KOSA is sort of self-defeating in that its implementation will result in actually limiting young adults and childrens ability to access information when theyre in a moment of acute crisis, said Mackey. Attorney General Marshall disagrees. Its not censorship when were talking about young people and parents being able to engage in what their kids are doing, said Marshall. This is about protecting children online and making sure the content they are seeing is appropriate for the age of those kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Senate passed a version of the Kids Online Safety Act earlier this year, while the House of Representatives has yet to take up the bill. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) The Alabama Legislature will begin its 2025 session in February, and there are a growing number of pre-filed bills waiting for lawmakers attention. The bills include measures dealing with issues of the day like immigration law enforcement, custody rights and library board composition. There have also been bills filed since October dealing with law enforcement, elections and even the Star -Spangled Banner. North Alabama law enforcement agencies receive more than $7M through grant programs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A measure proposed by Alabama Sen. Marika Coleman, D-Birmingham, Senate Bill 24, would make police body and dashboard camera videos a public record, subject to Alabamas open records law. Under current law, if a law enforcement agency approves it, a person who is seen in a police recording can view the recording, or if they are deceased, it can be made available to the persons family or counsel. Law enforcement agencies currently can deny even the familys access if the agency determines the release would hamper an ongoing investigation. Another bill, House Bill 58, would create a Class A misdemeanor penalty for a person who does not inform a law enforcement officer they are carrying a concealed weapon when the officer asks about it. Under current law a person has a duty to inform the officer when asked, but there is no penalty, according to the bill sponsored by Alabama Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa. Get breaking news, traffic and weather alerts directly to your smartphone. Download the News 19 App Alabama Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, is proposing a constitutional amendment in Senate Bill 13 that would require public K-12 schools to broadcast or sanction the performance of the first stanza of the Star-Spangled Banner at least once a week during school hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two other House bills deal with future elections. House Bill 64, sponsored by Alabama Rep. Ontario Tillman, D-Bessemer, would make Election Day a state holiday. House Bill 59 would require each Alabama county to establish one voting center to allow for voting in the week leading to election day. Alabama Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville is sponsoring HB 59. Other pre-filed bills include: House Bill 7, which focuses on immigration enforcement; House Bill 53, which focuses on narrowing custody; and Senate Bill 6, which relates to the appointment of library boards. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) An Alabama man charged with killing four people in September has now been charged with capital murder in a separate quadruple homicide that took place in July, according to law enforcement officials. Damien McDaniel, 22, has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the July 13 mass shooting outside of a nightclub in Birmingham that left four people dead and 10 others wounded, Officer Truman Fitzgerald announced at a press conference Tuesday evening. McDaniel is also accused of three separate fatal shootings that took place on three separate days in August and September. Another man, Hatarius Woods, 27, was also charged with capital murder in connection with the July mass shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These individuals started back in July, and they did not stop from September, said Fitzgerald. We often say on these crime scenes that we have a few select criminals that add to this crime and give Birmingham a bad name. Woods and McDaniel are allegedly responsible for approximately 30% of all homicides that took place in the city between July and September, Fitzgerald said. Attorneys for Woods and McDaniel did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Including the charges announced Tuesday, McDaniel is accused of killing 11 people and wounding 29 others in five separate incidents over two months one of those charges is in connection with the Sept. 21 mass shooting outside of a different nightclub, where four people were fatally shot and 17 others injured. Fitzgerald said on Tuesday that there were multiple shooters in the September mass shooting, and the investigation is ongoing. The September shooting was Birminghams third mass shooting of the year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Birmingham surpassed the decades-long homicide record set in 2022 after a fatal shooting Sunday marked the 145th homicide in 2024. In a 30-minute long video released Tuesday night, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sat in front of a table with 145 guns on it to represent the number of homicides in the city since the beginning of the year. He implored state legislators to help him address the rampant gun violence across the city. Even if I give you more officers on our streets, people are still legally allowed to drive around with these types of guns, Woodfin said, gesturing to the guns in front of him. Woodfin said he supported the Second Amendment but also wanted to let voters across the city decide whether to place more restrictions on gun permitting. If I was a betting man, I would believe the residents of Birmingham have had enough of this and want to see more gun safety laws in place that protect people in Birmingham, but that has to come from a level higher than me, Woodfin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ___ Safiyah Riddle 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. Nov. 27This Thanksgiving, instead of turkeys, households in Toksook Bay are each getting 100-pound portions of various meats, delivered this month through a military assistance program that is growing more popular in Alaska. The small community of some 600 people along the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta was hit hard in 2022 by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok as it battered much of Western Alaska. Two years on, many communities are still physically and economically recovering, including Toksook Bay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are 50% complete," said Robert Pitka with the Nunakauyarmiut Tribe, which is overseen by the local traditional council. "We still have fish camps that need fixing, we still have homes that need repair." During the storm, Pitka said, many households lost electricity. Stores of wild food put away for winter spoiled, and damaged equipment prevented hunters from being able to go out for fall time prey like moose. As part of their recovery, the tribe decided to use federal emergency relief money to buy 14,000 pounds of frozen chicken, pork and beef from a butcher shop in Eagle River. Earlier this month, the Alaska National Guard started transporting 50-pound boxes of the frozen meat from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to Toksook Bay by way of Bethel under the military's Innovative Readiness Training Program. "The IRT program pairs U.S. communities that have an unsourced requirement, usually medical services, construction, cybersecurity or transportation, with military units that can provide the services while simultaneously gaining real-world readiness training," Alan Brown, director of public affairs for the Alaska National Guard, said in a written statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The program is run out of the Defense Department, and was started during the Clinton administration in the early 1990s. It deploys military services and personnel to fill unmet civilian needs when doing so can be used as a training exercise to give units more experience, according to the Defense Department. The program has been utilized more frequently in Alaska the last few years, according to Brown. In 2024, there were four other IRT missions in the state. Usually the work is carried out by Alaska National Guard units. But not exclusively. According to Brown, one recent IRT deployment involved building materials flown to Nuiqsut on the North Slope by the Kentucky Air National Guard. "Training wise, the Toksook Bay mission provided aviators, load masters, crew chiefs and logistics specialists valuable reps in rapidly moving a large quantity of palletized provisions," Brown said in the statement. Alaska National Guard cargo planes moved the meat from JBER to Bethel, and then helicopters flew most of the cargo to Toksook Bay last week, the Guard said. Crews had to pause their work because of poor weather. According to Pitka, the last delivery was made on Monday. "It's all completed, the mission is accomplished," Pitka said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tribe applied to the IRT program on the advice of federal and state organizations it meets with regularly on recovery coordination. Pitka said they submitted their application this spring and understood it could take up to two years for it to go through, "but it was approved sooner than we thought." He estimated that the partnership saved the tribe upwards of $30,000 it would have otherwise paid in freight costs to move the meat more than 500 miles. It's a help to have food to distribute to families in the community, Pitka said. But the town's recovery is far from complete, with lumber and building supplies staged to keep up repairs on homes and fish camps in the months ahead. "There's still more work to do," Pitka said. TIRANA (Reuters) - Opposition leader Sali Berisha was released from house arrest following a ruling from an Albanian court on Wednesday, while he awaits trial on corruption charges, just as popular protests against his detainment intensified. Berisha, 80, has been detained since December 2023 and was indicted in September when prosecutors filed charges, accusing him of using his influence in his first term as prime minister between 2005-2009, to help his son-in-law win a lucrative construction contract. Berisha, who is the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, denies the charges and says they are part of a political vendetta against him by the ruling party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His house arrest has sparked regular anti-government protests, including on Tuesday, when police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked main roads in the capital Tirana. "The court ruled to revoke the measure of house arrest for the defendant Sali Berisha," Elsa Lita, spokeswoman of the Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime told Reuters. Berisha was president from 1992 to 1997, immediately after the fall of communism in Albania, and then was prime minister from 2005 to 2013. The United States in 2021 barred Berisha from entering the country, saying he had been involved in "corrupt acts" including misappropriation of public funds and using his power to enrich relatives. (Reporting by Florion Goga, writing by Fatos Bytyci, editing by Edward McAllister and Bernadette Baum) TIRANA, Albania (AP) An Albanian court on Wednesday released from house arrest former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is charged with corruption. The Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime, which covers cases involving senior officials and politicians, revoked its order for Berisha's house arrest, issued almost a year ago, without giving any reason. Berisha's parliamentary immunity was removed in December 2023 and he was placed under house arrest after he violated an earlier order to report to the court every two weeks. He was also barred from traveling abroad, but that order was struck down last week by the Constitutional Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Berisha, 80, hailed hundreds of supporters waiting for him at the Democratic Partys headquarters shouting his name. Today we are nearer than ever to our triumph, the Democratic Partys return to power, he told the crowd, repeating the partys call to the governing Socialists to create a technocratic caretaker cabinet to take the country to free elections. During his period of house arrest, Berisha stayed in his apartment in downtown Tirana. Though he was banned from communicating with other people than his family and lawyers, every evening he gave speeches to small groups of supporters gathered outside his building. Depriving Berisha of communication and physical presence to lead his party was a daily issue in Albania's politics because hes the leader of the main opposition party. A parliamentary election will take place next spring. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In October 2023, prosecutors put him under investigation for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, privatize public land to build 17 apartment buildings in the capital, Tirana. In September this year Berisha was formally charged with corruption in connection with a property deal. He has denied the charges, describing them as political repression ordered by Prime Minister Edi Rama of the governing left-wing Socialist Party. Berisha was prime minister from 2005-2013 and served as president from 1992-1997. He was re-elected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in the 2021 parliamentary elections. The United States government in May 2021 and the United Kingdom in July 2022 barred Berisha and close family members from entering their countries because of his alleged involvement in corruption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of the Democratic Party and their supporters in an opposition coalition have been holding protests over the arrests of their leader Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. The opposition accuses the government of corruption and wants it to be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet before the 2025 parliamentary election. The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence wont help the country integrate into the 27-nation European Union. In October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on aligning with the EU on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption. Albania aims to join the bloc by 2030, according to Rama. ___ Follow Llazar Semini at https://x.com/lsemini Nov. 26Shoplifting has dropped in the city for the first time in "at least three years," Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said during a news conference inside Cottonwood Mall on Tuesday. Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said the number of reported shoplifting offenses decreased from 6,326 this time in 2023 to 6,205 as of Tuesday. Gallegos noted the data was raw numbers and didn't reflect all shoplifting reports, which continue to be added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an attempt to further combat shoplifting, Police Chief Harold Medina said during the news conference that APD will have plain-clothes officers and undercover detectives at the malls beginning Black Friday and through the holiday season. Keller said the city still has a "long ways to go" in tackling crime in general but attributed the decrease in shoplifting to business owners installing cameras and putting up fencing alongside the effectiveness of a new law targeting repeat shoplifters. Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, said she co-sponsored a bill during the 2023 Legislature that gives prosecutors the ability to aggregate the retail market value of multiple shoplifting cases and charge a suspect with a more serious, second-degree felony if the total value of merchandise is more than $20,000. "The key word used was 'aggregate,'" Matthews said. "We basically said if you shoplift over a period of time, we're going to add up all the times you had shoplifted whether or not it was in the same store, as long as it was within a certain time period." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the law went into effect in July 2023, there have been 61 felony arrests related to shoplifting, Medina said. Many of those charged under the statute have been struggling with substance abuse and stealing to feed their habit, he acknowledged. The faster that they can get help, the faster that the property crime rates could go down, Medina said. Shara Brown, who went to Cottonwood Mall while visiting family Tuesday, told the Journal she no longer lives in the Albuquerque area, in part because of the high property crime. Coworkers told stories of "people walking into retail places and literally grabbing a handful of stuff and walking out with security watching them and that just gives an overwhelming sense that even the security can't handle things," Brown said. "Criminals are more likely to do things if they don't feel there's a risk," she said. "Right now, there's a feeling that it's not taken seriously. It's a 'victimless crime.' It adds to a feeling of lawlessness." WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administrations (ABCA) Enforcement Division along with officers from the Metropolitan Police Department issued a closure order to another cannabis business. On Tuesday, a closure order was issued to Peace in the Air, located at 2118 18th St. in Northwest D.C. and the business doors were padlocked. DC shuts down 2 more dispensaries, night club Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ABCA said the closure order is part of its ongoing efforts to shut down unlicensed cannabis retailers who are in violation of a cease and desist order. ABCA said Peace in the Air was posing a credible and imminent danger to public health and safety. So far, 14 illegal cannabis businesses have been shut down in the District. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. A San Bernardino man has been charged with murder after prosecutors say he ran a red light while driving under the influence, T-boning a vehicle and killing two toddlers inside the car. On Wednesday, Alexis Jose Garcia, 28, was charged with the murders of the two sisters, 3-year-old Alinah and 4-year-old Neveah Flores, in a hit-and-run collision Sunday night in Rialto. He faces seven felony counts two for murder, two for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one for hit-and-run resulting in death, and two related to causing injury while driving under the influence according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors are seeking sentencing enhancements for Garcia because he was found with a blood alcohol content above 0.15%. The legal limit for drivers over 21 is 0.08%. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 27, and prosecutors have filed motions recommending no bail. Here we have yet another tragic DUI-related death that was completely preventable and born out of selfish and reckless behavior, San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Jason Anderson said in a statement. "There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to get behind the wheel intoxicated." Rialto Police Department officers responded to a traffic collision at Riverside and Walnut avenues at 11 p.m. Sunday. A speeding Dodge Ram had run a red light, broadsided a Honda Accord and caused it to hit a tow truck, police said. Both sisters were killed in the collision, which sent one child flying out of the car and scattered toys and clothes across the intersection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those two little girls should be writing their letters to Santa," Anderson said, "but instead their family is dealing with the unthinkable task of writing their eulogies." The parents, identified by friends as Valencia and Marky Flores, both survived the crash and were transported to a hospital, police said. Garcia, the alleged driver of the Dodge, fled the scene and was found by Rialto police officers about a quarter of a mile away, where it appears the truck became disabled, authorities said. Garcia had a passenger inside the car at the time of the collision who was not injured, police said. A GoFundMe has been launched to support the Flores family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Their father is currently undergoing surgery for a broken femur and will be unable to work until completely healed," wrote organizer Ciara Yanez. "We are asking for prayers and donations to help with any medical/funeral expenses for them and their two daughters." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Nov. 26Travelers have another option to get to Florida and for under $50. Allegiant is now flying from Portsmouth International Airport to Sarasota. The new flights will operate up to three times weekly. Allegiant was offering one-way fares on the new route Tuesday for as low as $43.50 to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, according to a Union Leader review of Allegiant's website. "The addition of new routes is a testament to the success of our existing service in these communities," Drew Wells, Allegiant's chief revenue officer, said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Allegiant announced 44 new nonstop routes, tying for its largest single expansion in service. Allegiant also flies from Portsmouth to Orlando Sanford International Airport, Punta Gorda Airport, and seasonally to St. Pete Clearwater International Airport, all in Florida, according to the Portsmouth airport website. Breeze Airways also flies from Portsmouth to Orlando and Fort Myers in Florida. NANJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Since 1964, when east China's Jiangsu Province dispatched its first medical team to Zanzibar in East Africa's Tanzania, 847 medical workers in 34 batches have provided diagnoses and treatments for some 8.3 million locals so far, according to the Jiangsu Commission of Health on Wednesday. In the past 60 years, Jiangsu medical professionals have performed over 240,000 different kinds of surgeries and saved about 40,000 seriously ill patients in Zanzibar. Jiangsu also donated many medical imaging devices, such as MRI, CT and X-ray machines, to Zanzibar Mnazi Mmoja Hospital. Since 2009, Jiangsu has also helped Zanzibar establish eight technical centers for laparoscopic surgery, cleft lip and palate surgery, gastrointestinal endoscopy, and maternal and infant treatment, with proven technologically advanced and effective medical treatments. In Zanzibar, cervical cancer is the leading cancer among women of reproductive age. Since 2018, Jiangsu has launched a project on cervical cancer screening and sent seven teams of medical professionals to Zanzibar to conduct on-site screenings. The project's target of 32,000 screenings is estimated to be completed this year. Over the years, Jiangsu's medical teams and experts have been at the forefront of combating regional diseases and major public health crises. From 2016 to 2019, the Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases led a three-year project to help control and eliminate Zanzibar schistosomiasis, helping reduce its morbidity rate from 8.92 percent to 0.64 percent within the project's demonstration area. In August, Tanzania's Zanzibar authorities praised the Chinese aid project for the control of schistosomiasis, saying it has helped eliminate the disease in the Indian Ocean islands. Currently, the Chinese medical teams in Zanzibar have shifted their focus from offering short-term aid to sharing their expertise and introducing the latest treatment methods to local doctors. The medical workers also guide them in conducting clinical diagnoses, examining patients, and interacting with patients more effectively. Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Amazon workers in more than 20 countries will strike and protest starting Friday through Monday in actions organized by the Swiss-based UNI Global Union. It's to raise awareness of what participants describe as Amazon's "anti-worker and anti-democratic practices." According to UNI Global Union, thousands of Amazon employees and allies on six continents, including the United States, will participate in a campaign called "Make Amazon Pay." "Amazon's relentless pursuit of profit comes at a cost to workers, the environment and democracy," said UNI Global Union General Secretary Christy Hoffman in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "{Jeff] Bezos' 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 -- can't be stopped." Hoffman added that workers are taking action to demand "that Amazon treat them fairly, respect fundamental worker rights and stop undermining the systems meant to protect us all." Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards countered by saying in a statement, "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." UNI Global Union and workers participating in work actions are calling for Amazon to improve pay, respect their right to join unions, pay its fair share of taxes and commit to real environmental sustainability. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Make Amazon Pay group, warehouse workers and delivery drivers will strike in Germany. Protests will happen in major cities in dozens of other nations. On Nov. 14, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruled that Amazon can no longer force its workers to attend anti-union meetings designed to undermine support among workers for joining unions. That ruling overturned the 1948 Babcock rule, which had allowed companies to force their workers into these mandatory captive-audience meetings. The NLRB rules that requiring workers to attend anti-union gatherings violates protections offered by the federal labor law that allow them to choose whether, when and how to participate in a debate about union representation -- including not attending them at all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Nov. 7, the NLRB said the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union proved six incidents of unfair labor practices by Amazon in Bessemer, Ala. As a result, the board ordered set aside results of a union election at that facility and said workers should have a third vote to be able to freely choose whether to join a union free of Amazon's unfair anti-union labor practices. UNI Global Union represents more than 20 million workers in service sector industries in 150 countries. It launched Make Amazon Pay on Black Friday 2020 with the help of 30 unions and civic groups. On the same day Amazon workers will be protesting in more than 20 countries, they can also watch the documentary about their efforts to unionize in Staten Island, Union, on Black Friday for free. The filmmakers behind Union, which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, are using the platform GATHR to self-release their film direct-to-audiences from Black Friday to Giving Tuesday (thats November 29 through December 3). More from IndieWire Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beginning Friday, Union will be available to rent digitally during a five-day window with Amazon workers having the opportunity to rent it for free thanks to GATHRs pay-it-forward model. Head to unionthefilm.com to preorder the movie and learn more. Level Ground Productions supervised a self-distributed release for Union back in October, with directors Stephen Maing and Brett Story, along with their producers opening the movie in theaters across 20 markets. Union has played at a variety of festivals during its run, including IDFA, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Visions du Reel, and more. Producers Samantha Curley and Mars Verrone said in a statement, The current landscape for independent documentaries means distributing your film is part of making it. Were embracing self-distribution by finding creative and innovative release strategies that mirror the ethos of the film and the spirit of its protagonists. GATHR is a great option for us because it doesnt rely on a corporate streamer to reach audiences, we can offer free rentals to Amazon workers, and we can profit-share rental revenue with our partner organizations. At the end of the day, we hope to reach a broad audience, while also providing an important case study for the field at large. Last year, Amazon reported $9.8 billion in sales on Black Friday. Amazon workers in the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, Turkey, and elsewhere are planning Make Amazon Pay demonstrations on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, according to NBC News, to hold Amazon accountable for labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy, per organizers from UNI Global Union and Progressive International. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More about Union courtesy of the filmmakers: Through intimate cinema verite, Union chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in todays globalized economic landscape. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem waves to the crowd during a rally with Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. The rally was hosted by the Buckeye Values PAC. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) This is what South Dakotans should do, the governor said, emphasizing should. I was perplexed. It was March 23, 2020, almost two weeks since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in the state. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem was conducting a news conference about an executive order listing 20 things that should be done. People should engage in social distancing. Businesses should prevent customers from congregating in close quarters. Health-care facilities should postpone elective surgeries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Noem used the word 13 times in her 12-minute news conference. In these frightening early days of a global pandemic, speculation and misinformation were rampant. Clear communication from the governor was paramount. Another baffled reporter whod called in to the news conference asked Noem about her choice of words. Is that a legal requirement, or is that advice? Its telling them what they should do, Noem replied. I pressed her further. To put the finest point possible on it, you said youre telling organizations, cities, etcetera, what to do, but it sounds like its still their choice? I asked. Youre not necessarily ordering something with the force of law? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am telling them what they should be doing in this state, Noem said. At the time, I chalked this oddity up to the ramblings of an overwhelmed governor. Noems ambiguity foisted difficult decisions on local officials. Some imposed their own legal restrictions on people and businesses, only to backtrack weeks or months later under a hail of protest from their loudest critics. All the while, Noem and her health advisers floated above the fray. The governor eventually took her hands-off approach to the extreme of going maskless at a mask factory, while South Dakota was suffering one of the worlds worst COVID-19 death rates. When criticism came, Noem combatively touted the states open and comparatively less-devastated economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the pandemic wore on, Noems lack of clarity that day back in March 2020 proved to be a pivotal moment. Until then, she was relatively unknown nationally as a rural-state governor and former congresswoman. By leaving her pandemic orders murky, she was eventually able to proclaim she never shut down her state. That attracted the attention of then-President Donald Trump, giving Noem the standing to invite him to a July 2020 fireworks show at Mount Rushmore. He accepted, and she nurtured the relationship all the way to a pick as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in Trumps second administration. Now, Im left wondering if Noems use of should was a bumbling error or a shrewd calculation. This article was concurrently published with The Washington Post as part of a compilation of opinions on Trumps Cabinet picks. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Mike Sfraga, then chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, speaks on April 10, 2024, at the Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage. He later became U.S. ambassador-at-large for Arctic Affairs. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) Earlier this month, a crowd gathered at a Fairbanks venue to celebrate the confirmation of U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs Mike Sfraga an Alaskan and the first-ever person to hold the newly created position. Mike Sfraga, chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and a scientist with experience at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has been chosen to be the nations first Arctic ambassador-at-large. (Photo provided by U.S. Arctic Research Commission) Sfragas confirmation was a priority of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who pushed for the creation of the Arctic ambassador post and was seen personally lobbying her colleagues on the Senate floor during the vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It took more than a year after Sfragas nomination for the U.S. Senate to confirm him, amid opposition from some Republicans. But now, not even three months in, he may soon be out of a job. Sfraga was appointed by President Joe Biden, and its typical for politically appointed ambassadors to resign their posts during presidential transitions; others, like those serving as ambassadors to Kenya and South Africa , have already announced their departures. Sfraga, a geographer who has also worked at a think tank and University of Alaska Fairbanks, has not publicly made such an announcement. A spokesperson for Sfraga declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for Murkowski. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a brief interview that Sfragas fate is likely up to Donald Trump. The tradition is, when a new administration comes in, most ambassadors, they just resign or step down, said Sullivan, who missed Sfragas confirmation vote due to a trip to the United Nations. But I have no idea. I truly dont. Sfragas nomination faced close scrutiny from some Republicans, who criticized his links to Russia and China. Republican U.S. Sen. James Risch of Idaho, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said Sfraga had spoken at one Russian government-sponsored conference headlined by Vladimir Putin and also at a panel sponsored by a sanctioned, state-owned Russian energy company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sfraga, at a Senate hearing, called Russia half of the Arctic and said that because the region is a small community, you must engage. Indeed, at one of those conferences, President Putin did provide a keynote address, he said. But I had no interaction with President Putin at all. Among those voting against Sfragas confirmation was the man who would be his new boss, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, whom Trump has chosen to be the new Secretary of State. Many of Sfragas friends and allies are hoping to see him remain on the job. Fran Ulmer, a former Alaska lieutenant governor who served with Sfraga on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, said Sfraga has spent many years working on Arctic issues and science, and establishing relationships with officials from other nations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has a kind of credibility with them that would help the U.S. when it comes to pursuing a particular Arctic agenda, she said. Those relationships matter, and those relationships dont happen overnight they happen over years. So, it would be to the next administrations advantage to have someone in there who has that kind of credibility but also those connections. Another friend of Sfragas, Mark Myers, a federal government veteran who is a former head of the U.S. Geological Survey, said that if you were to bet, the bet would be against him. But has some strong support, added Myers. Myers said the Fairbanks celebration of Sfragas confirmation drew dozens of people, including some from Alaskas university system and the military and even Murkowski, who teleconferenced in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At his core, he is our neighbor, our friend and he is just so important, Murkowski told the audience, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Nathaniel Herz welcomes tips at natherz@gmail.com or (907) 793-0312. This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe at this link. American Airlines Group Inc. is pulling the plug on one of its newest international routes at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier confirmed that it will end its nonstop service between Charlotte Douglas and Tulum, Mexico, on Feb. 13. Travel blog The Points Guy was the first to report on the route cut. American began flying to Tulum from CLT on March 28, launching that service as a year-round route. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to CBJ, an American spokesperson said the decision was made as part of a continuous evaluation of our network. Read the full story on the Charlotte Business Journal at this link. (VIDEO >> Channel 9 Video Vault: Witness describes plane crashing in front of her car in 1994) AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) Interim Amherst Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren has been appointed chief by Town Manager Paul Bockelman. Stromgren began his career with the Amherst Fire Department 42 years ago as a student firefighter, moving through the ranks from professional firefighter/EMT, captain, to assistant chief. He has been serving as interim chief since the retirement of former chief Tim Nelson in June. Holyoke Police chief finalist interview open to public Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stromgren attended Amherst-Pelham Regional High School and has been active in the community as a member of several organizations. He is a graduate of Greenfield Community College, UMass Amherst, received Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Certification from the National Fire Academy, and is a Massachusetts Credentialed Fire Chief through a program at the Massachusetts Fire Academy. I am excited to begin this next chapter in my decades long career here at the Amherst Fire Department, said Stromgren. I look forward to leading our exceptional team as we continue to serve the residents of Amherst. Lindsay Stromgren is the leader who can best guide the Town of Amherst Fire Department in the coming years, said Bockelman. Lindsay brings extensive professional firefighting experience in both operations and administration; advanced educational training in fire science; and a strong commitment to maintaining high quality services and aligning the department with the needs, goals, and desires of the Town of Amherst. The appointment will be reviewed and considered by the Town Council at its meeting on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. By Emilie Madi, Haider Kadhim and Ahmad Fahmy BEIRUT/TYRE (Reuters) - The cars began lining up at daybreak, snaking their way slowly through narrow lanes lined with collapsed buildings. A truce had finally ended hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, and residents of Beirut's suburbs were itching to go home. With mattresses stacked atop their cars and yellow Hezbollah flags fluttering out of some of their windows, thousands of people displaced by months of fierce bombardment on the capital's southern suburbs dashed back to their homes in the first hours after a ceasefire came into force. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The residential and commercial neighbourhoods had been upended by Israeli strikes, including in the final hours before the halt to hostilities began. Entire buildings had been toppled, their roofs now slanting to the floor with thick concrete slabs, wires and broken household items littering the floor. A man could be seen carrying a toddler on the sloping roof of a building, stepping around roof shingles, satellite dishes and crushed water tanks rolling towards the ground. Among those returning home was Zahi Hijazi, a 67-year-old who originally hails from southern Lebanon but had been living in Beirut's suburbs for decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Our life savings... All this destruction," said Hijazi, as he stepped into an apartment littered with shattered glass and broken furniture. The entire building had been destroyed in a previous Israel ground invasion in 1982, during Lebanon's civil war, displacing Hijazi for 13 years before he could rebuild and move back in. He was displaced again in late September, as Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes on Lebanon after a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah mostly along the border strip. Hijazi told Reuters he was worried about who would help him rebuild this time around. Even before the war, Lebanon had been suffering a severe economic crisis that had crippled savings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I want to live. This is my house, it's 40 years old. Every corner in the house, everything in this house, means something to me," he said. 'WHAT IS GONE, IS GONE' Relief was palpable - one woman was clapping as she drove into the neighbourhood and a young man could be seen on the upper floor of a building, sticking out two thumbs-up from a massive hole left by bombardment. But many said their homes would be unliveable for the near future because Israeli strikes had damaged the neighbourhoods' water and electricity networks, and that they did not know what could unfold after the 60-day ceasefire comes to a close. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In the end, what is gone is gone," said Ramez Boustany, a 62-year-old technician assessing the damage in his apartment. "We don't know what will happen in the future whether there will be war again, or there will be a third world war, or things will end here and they will have an agreement. We really don't know." The World Bank has said at least 100,000 housing units across Lebanon have been damaged or destroyed by the hostilities. Thousands more headed to their villages in southern Lebanon, their cars adorned with Lebanese flags and posters of slain Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's suburbs on Sept. 27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some were held off from reaching their villages by the Lebanese army, which had urged residents not to venture into areas where Israeli troops were still deployed. "There's nothing like the soil of the south and the scent of the south," said Khedr, a Lebanese man heading south with his family via Tyre, a coastal city also hit hard by Israeli strikes. But the widespread joy was tempered hours later, when Israel's military spokesman said troops would enforce a curfew barring anyone from entering most of southern Lebanon after 5 p.m. local time until 7 a.m. "We will inform you when it is safe to return home," the statement said. (Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson) BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A cease-fire agreement that ended the almost-14-month, Hezbollah-Israel bloody conflict, is likely to secure calm and stability along the border as both enemies forcibly accept the new reality on the ground, Lebanese military experts said. The agreement, announced Tuesday by U.S. President Joe Biden, required months of complicated negotiations to achieve a formula that allows a strict implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, backed by U.S. guarantees and an enforced-monitoring committee to deal with violations. Resolution 1701, which ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, was never respected by either party. On Wednesday, it emerged as the only available option not only to end the raging war, but also maintain lasting calm along the border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A weakened Hezbollah, the large destruction by Israel of several Lebanese regions and most importantly an Iranian green light were main factors that led to the militant group's acceptance to stop the war. More than 3,823 people have been killed and 15,859 were wounded in Lebanon since October 2023. Israel, for its part, came under considerable pressure in the battlefield, with Hezbollah still fighting its forces advancing in southern Lebanon and firing rockets and drones into Israel, some reaching Tel Aviv. But the turning point was the U.S. emerging determination to end the war, with Biden reportedly warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against turning down the American proposal to end the devastating conflict or face a U.N. Security Council resolution that could be tougher for Israel. The arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant added to the pressures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal, Biden said, was intended to be "a permanent cessation of hostilities," whereby the Lebanese Army and security forces will deploy to take control of the border area within 60 days. Hezbollah will not be allowed to rebuild its infrastructure. Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces during that period, and civilians on both sides of the border will return to their homes and businesses. Biden promised that the United States, France and others will provide the necessary assistance "to make sure this deal is implemented fully and effectively" and the conflict, the deadliest between Israel and Hezbollah in decades, not "just another cycle of violence." That would be a real challenge for Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, who did not object to the truce deal when briefed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Lebanon's side, Hezbollah accepted to retreat to the north of the Litani River with its heavy weapons and the government committed to implementing Resolution 1701 by deploying the Army that will be the only force in charge of security in the southern border area, backed by the U.N. peacekeeping force. "I guarantee 100% that Hezbollah will abide by the agreement and will not commit the mistake it made on Oct. 8, 2023 [when it attacked Israel in support of Gaza]," Hisham Jaber, a Lebanese military expert and former army general, told UPI. Jaber said Hezbollah will not repeat "this mistake that led to all these catastrophes, whether they [the group] recognize that or not." He was referring especially to the Sept. 17 sophisticated pager attacks by Israel and the assassination of Hezbollah long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah 10 days later. He empathized that there will be no Hezbollah heavy weapons in the area south of the Litani River, as "there is no need for them at all." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for the group's military presence north of the Litani River, he said "this is an internal issue not related to Israel or Res. 1701." The fully armed Hezbollah is already a source of great tension and division among the Lebanese. He emphasized that the Lebanese Army, which is in a stronger position now that Hezbollah is weaker, will not be "a policeman executing the demands of Israel." It will, rather, be "fully cooperative with the UNIFIL and the monitoring committee." The monitoring committee, led by the United States, with support from France, will have the delicate task of monitoring violations. The agreement provides for Israel and Lebanon "to exercise their right to self-defense." Jaber argued that the "self-defense" clause doesn't give Israel the right to decide alone on attacking Lebanon in case of any breach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States, however, provided Israel with a letter of guarantees, published by the Ynet website, that allows Israel to conduct flights over Lebanon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes only -- without breaking the sound barrier. It also recognizes Israel's right to respond to "threats coming from Lebanese territory in accordance with international law." How remains the big question. According to retired Lebanese Brig. Gen. Hassan Jouni, the cease-fire agreement was achieved as a result of favorable "international, regional and local circumstances." "These circumstances would definitely lead to its implementation and confirm its viability," Jouni told UPI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal was made possible thanks to a joint decision by Biden's democratic administration and President-elect Trump, and "Netanyahu had to bow to the U.S. will." Iran's approval, the steadfastness of Hezbollah fighters in the battlefield and the failure of Israel's defense system to stop Hezbollah's rocket firing pushed Tel Aviv to admit that it was unable to secure the return of its displaced citizens to northern Israel and to destroy Hezbollah, according to Jouni. "Implementing Res. 1701 and the commitment of both parties should be serious this time, with the presence of an empowered monitoring committee," he said. Such a serious commitment to the U.N. resolution will "limit Hezbollah's military role to the maximum .... Reaching the border [with Israel] is no longer possible." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dropping its weapons is another issue that undoubtedly would require a deal with Iran, he argued. Stripping Hezbollah of its military might remains Israel's primary goal. Even though it has dealt heavy blows to the Iran-backed militant group, killing its top commanders and destroying a great bulk of its infrastructures, Israel has failed to dismantle it. Preventing Hezbollah from rearming and refunding is another major goal for Israel, which has been relentlessly attacking any suspicious arms or money shipments heading to Lebanon from inside Syria. Would Hezbollah be able to support Iran in case it is attacked, being it is most powerful force in the region? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Would they open the [southern] front again? I say they would abstain from doing that, against their will," Jaber said. The chances to restore calm along the Israel-Lebanese border and avoid another war, at least for the near future, are possible today more than ever, but considerable challenges and risks persist. "I think we are approaching a long-term stability until the region enters the phase of big settlements," Jouni said. "I don't think there is a possibility for another flare-up on this front." Nov. 27Anchorage police said Tuesday that they were ramping up patrols of the U-Med neighborhood and urged the public to remain vigilant after a man was wounded by gunfire near the University Lake Park trail system the previous evening. As of Tuesday afternoon, no one had been taken into custody or arrested in the shooting reported just after 10:45 p.m. Monday, police said. They described it as an isolated incident and said other encounters have not been reported. A witness said a man he did not know fired multiple rounds at him and another person as they stood outside the Alaska Native Medical Center campus near the trails. The man appeared to lure them over by yelling for help, said the witness, who was not hurt. The other man was shot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He "self-admitted" at the hospital for treatment, police said. The wounded man is reportedly in stable condition. In an update midmorning Tuesday, the police department said more than 30 officers searched for 3 1/2 hours overnight without finding a suspect. Residents should expect to see an increased police presence in the University-Medical District and on adjoining trails, Deputy Chief of Operations Brian Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. Some officers are out on fat-tire bicycles on the trails, he said. Asked if the public should be concerned about an armed gunman who appears to have randomly targeted strangers, Wilson said he "understands that feeling and that concern" but detectives just don't have enough information at the moment to provide more details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're trying as fast as we can to go through evidence to get answers," he said. "In the meantime, all we can do is have a heightened presence so everyone understands that we're out there, we're taking it seriously." Wilson said he'd recommend people in the area "be vigilant. Always be looking out. Travel in pairs and groups when you can. Keep earbuds out of both your ears. Hear and see and be intentional in what you're doing." Police spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak in an update Tuesday afternoon said there was still no suspect information to release and detectives were still following up on leads. "The motive, and any relationship between the parties involved, is under investigation," Wozniak said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said officers will be patrolling neighborhoods, public spaces and schools in the area on Tuesday and through the holiday week. The area includes heavily trafficked facilities at the University of Alaska Anchorage and both ANMC and Providence Alaska Medical Center campuses. It also includes trails and the University Lake dog park. "While the current information regarding the suspect is quite limited, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities or concerns to the police immediately," police said. They urged anyone who seees anyone who might be suspicious to call 911 rather than engaging with them. University of Alaska Anchorage police issued an alert about a "possible shooting" at the Alaska Native Medical Center campus just after midnight. The alert described the suspect as a man wearing all black with a camouflage brim hat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anchorage police had not released any suspect information by the end of the day Tuesday. Wilson said it appeared the university police received initial information that allowed them to distribute a description. The initial suspect description was preliminary, Wozniak said in an email Tuesday evening. The department "has worked that lead and we do not believe it to be accurate at this time." Gambell resident Nikolai Avalnun, 21, said he was one of the men the shooter fired at Monday night. Avalnun said he was smoking outside ANMC patient housing when he and another man heard someone calling for help from the woods. The other man went to check on that person and had taken maybe 10 steps when "the shooter took aim and started shooting," Avalnun wrote in a message. "He shot so fast and they hit all around us." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bullets whizzed by his head and hit the ground as Avalnun ran, he said. "First time I feel the air pressure of bullets on my hair." Avalnun said he did not recognize the man with the weapon. "He called for help and then he aimed at us," Avalnun said, saying it appeared the man tried to lure them closer so he could kill them. Avalnun said the man who was wounded late Monday was doing well on Tuesday. "He was able to run away with a bullet wound," he said. The two men had just met, he said. "But we're real close now." The incident triggered a lockdown at Alaska Native Medical Center that was lifted by around 3 a.m. Tuesday, a hospital representative said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the initial search, Anchorage patrol officers searched University Lake Park and adjacent trails on foot and also used drones to search the area, police said. They said special operations units including SWAT, crisis negotiation and Mobile Intervention Team units responded to the area just after 12:15 a.m. An update just before 2:45 a.m. said officers had broken down the perimeter and detectives would continue to process the scene. The police update Tuesday also included a list of safe trail practices including staying alert and traveling in groups if possible. Police are coordinating with Alaska State Troopers and the university police department as well as hospital and university security. The department is interested in hearing from members of the public who may have video footage from the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, particularly if they have cameras pointed to the trail system, Wozniak said. Police asked anyone with surveillance footage of the area or other information regarding the shooting investigation who has not yet spoken to officers to call APD Dispatch at 311 (option 1) or 907-786-8900 (option 0). Anonymous tips can be submitted online at anchoragecrimestoppers.com. Nov. 27Leaders of the Anchorage School District said Wednesday that they will shrink their proposed "rightsizing" plan that originally called for shuttering seven elementary schools over the course of three years. Instead, under the revised proposal, four schools would be closed and on a shorter time frame in May 2025, at the end of the current school year. The four that are still slated for potential closure are Baxter, Lake Hood and Nunaka Valley elementary schools in Anchorage, and Fire Lake Elementary in Eagle River, ASD Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said in a prepared statement midday Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three facilities removed from the proposed closure list are Bear Valley, Tudor and Wonder Park elementary schools. "For the past several weeks, the ASD leadership team has gathered valuable feedback from the community, helping guide further analysis of the buildings initially recommended for rightsizing," Bryantt wrote. After the original school closure proposal was put forward by the district Nov. 1, opposition from parents, students and some quarters of the community was fierce. The seven schools on the initial list serve approximately 1,300 students, all of whom would have been shifted into other schools once their facilities closed. "Significant amounts of school staff and community feedback informed the Administration's decision to remove three schools from the initial list of seven schools that were initially recommended for closure," Bryantt wrote in a memo submitted to the school board that was also signed by Chief Operating Officer Jim Anderson and Chief Academic Officer Sven Gustafson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The district plans to repurpose each of the buildings at the four schools on the updated closure list to serve existing charter schools, Bryantt wrote in the memo. [Previously: Anchorage School Board still 'wide open' on proposed school closures] The district says the changes are necessary to contend with massive financial shortcomings and a shrinking student population in the municipality. According to school district officials, there are 6,453 fewer students attending Anchorage schools now than there were in 2010, a contraction of 13%. "This decline is the result of general out-migration in the Anchorage Municipality coupled with a decline in birth rates across the city," according to the district's memo. Simultaneously, more students and families are enrolling in homeschool programs, "which further reduced the number of students who receive instruction in the District's school buildings each day." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three schools have been closed in the last several years, two of them on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, along with Abbott Loop Elementary in 2023. "The District's limited resources are not robust enough to meet the needs of all students, and this strain is especially apparent in very small schools," Bryantt wrote in the district's memo. "Though the District recognizes the advantages to having small schools, the State does not support the resources needed for the District to provide the same academic levels of service to all schools." The three elementary schools removed from the closure plan were spared for different reasons, according to Bryantt's memo. Vacant classrooms at Bear Valley Elementary are on track for expanded child care use, meeting "facility repurpose efforts"; plans for where Tudor Elementary students would relocate if their school closed faced logistical hurdles that made the recommendation for closure "unsupportable"; and further analysis indicated that Wonder Park, initially selected for enrollment and design reasons, could have its capacity fully utilized if it absorbed all of Nunaka Valley's pre-kindergarten classrooms, Bryantt said in the memo. One rationale for dropping the timeline from three years to one was "to reduce the impact to morale for schools." District and school board officials have also said that a key part of successfully transitioning students out of Abbott Loop before it fully closed was investing time in preparing them for the change to a new facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "With a smaller number of schools affected, the District can effectively support the transition of the four closing schools in one year," Bryantt wrote in the memo. School Board President Andy Holleman said he respects that the district put out its initial idea for a closure plan but refined it after going to the community to gather more information that it hadn't been aware of. "Closing schools hurts parents and kids, so our goal is to do as least damage as possible while we're still trying to get the right numbers of kids in the remaining buildings," Holleman said. "We were gonna cause some harm we did not see coming." Holleman said unless something changes in local demography and funding from state lawmakers, decisions about reducing the district's footprint through building closures are going to continue to take place in Anchorage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We could be doing this every two years or so," he said. "Our buildings are just serving too few students right now and we have to do better." The modified proposal will go before the Anchorage School Board during a work session on Dec. 3. The school board's vote on whether or how to implement the plan could take place as soon as Dec. 17. The News in Brief Thursday, November 28, 2024 The European Parliament has strongly condemned the recent parliamentary elections in Georgia, citing widespread allegations of electoral fraud and violations of democratic norms. In a resolution adopted on 27 November 2024, the Parliament criticized the actions of Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party, holding it accountable for the systemic backsliding in the country's democratic process.The European Parliament's resolution highlighted numerous credible reports of election violations, including ballot stuffing, vote-buying, voter coercion, and violence. Observers noted that the ruling party had created an atmosphere of fear, especially targeting opposition figures, civil society, and media. This environment, exacerbated by government-led disinformation campaigns, raised concerns about the fairness of the electoral process. Furthermore, the Parliament called for a full investigation into these allegations and expressed its refusal to recognize the election results.The resolution also criticized Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) for failing to ensure a fair process and for disregarding calls from civil society and opposition groups to annul the election results.Moreover, the European Parliament expressed its concern over Russia's interference in the elections, particularly through the promotion of divisive rhetoric by the Georgian Dream party, which aligned with Russian propaganda narratives. The Parliament called on Georgian authorities to resist foreign influence and to ensure transparency and fairness in future elections.The leaders of the Coalition for Change have appealed to Parliament, requesting the cancellation of mandates for their deputies. Each member submitted individual statements calling for the removal of parliamentary authority in the name of Shalva Papuashvili. On November 25, the 11th convocation of Parliament, dominated by the Georgian Dream party, recognized the authority of all 150 members, including 19 from the Coalition for Change.Nana Malashkhia, the coalition's top candidate, stated that they have no intention of engaging in any formal legal relationship with the "so-called parliament". She acknowledged that the Georgian Dream party may not fulfill their request. Zurab Japaridze, another coalition leader, added that if their demand is not met, they will continue submitting statements as needed.Nika Melia clarified the coalition's position, explaining that their actions are not about rejecting the representation of the people or voters. Instead, they aim to delegitimize the current Parliament, with the ultimate goal of isolating the Georgian Dream party and pushing for new elections. A Lebanese refugee expresses joy upon a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, in Al Horjelah, Syria, on Nov. 27, 2024. Some Lebanese refugees have begun to prepare to return home to Lebanon following the end of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua) CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Countries in the Middle East on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, hoping that the deal would facilitate broader de-escalation in the region. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. According to Lebanese health authorities, the conflict in Lebanon has killed 3,823 people and wounded 15,859 others as of Tuesday. Israeli authorities say Hezbollah's rocket strikes have killed 45 civilians over the past year, and at least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed amid the operations in southern Lebanon. In a televised speech following a cabinet meeting on the first day of the ceasefire, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Israel to "fully commit to the ceasefire resolution, withdraw from all areas and sites it has occupied, and implement resolution 1701 in total." Under the ceasefire, which took effect on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), the Lebanese army will take control of the territory near its border with Israel over the next 60 days. Meanwhile, Israel will gradually withdraw its troops from the region, and civilians will be allowed to return to their homes. In response to the ceasefire, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "the deal will contribute to start a stage of de-escalation in the region by fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, including the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and extending its control over all Lebanese territories." It should pave the road for halting the Israeli "aggression" in Gaza, the statement said, urging an immediate ceasefire in the Strip, unimpeded access to humanitarian aid for Palestinians, and an end to unjustified violations in the West Bank. It said that "negotiation and restoring rights rather than the military solution can settle crises in the region." "We welcome the successful conclusion of the negotiations to establish a ceasefire in Lebanon and hope that the ceasefire will be permanent," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, noting Turkiye's commitment to back efforts that foster stability and its readiness to support "the establishment of internal peace in Lebanon." "It is imperative for the international community to exert pressure on Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire and to provide reparations for the damages it has caused in Lebanon," it said. "We take this opportunity to recall that in order to ensure regional peace and stability, a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire must be declared in Gaza as soon as possible, and Israel must cease its aggressive policies," it added. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it hopes the ceasefire will contribute to putting an end to the violence, destruction, and suffering faced by the Lebanese people, stressing Iraq's continued support for the Lebanese government and people and its keenness to enhance regional stability. Noting the importance of intensifying global efforts to avoid a new escalation, it said the international community should also take serious and urgent steps to stop the ongoing massacres and attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza. Welcoming the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire in a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed Iran's "decisive" support for the Lebanese government and people and stressed the necessity to immediately stop the war against Gaza and Lebanon. Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said at a press conference that Iran welcomes the ceasefire but vowed that it will definitely respond to Israel's attack late last month on its territory. He was commenting on the remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the truce deal would allow Israel to "focus on Iran's threat." In a statement on the social media platform X, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry welcomed the ceasefire, saying the kingdom appreciated all international efforts put forth in this regard. It noted that Saudi Arabia hoped the truce would lead to the full implementation of Resolution 1701 and the safe return of displaced persons to their homes. The Palestinian presidency said that it hoped this step "will help stop the violence and instability the region is suffering from as a result of Israeli policies that are leading the region to a comprehensive explosion." The presidency also stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735, which calls for an "immediate, comprehensive, and thorough" ceasefire in Gaza and enable the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities there. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) also welcomed the announcement of the agreement. "We will cooperate with all relevant partners to implement the cessation of hostilities," UNIFIL said in a statement, adding, "We will continue performing our mandated tasks and have already begun adjusting our operations to the new situation." In a statement released by the UN Information Center, Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon Imran Riza was quoted as saying that the ceasefire offers "a much-needed reprieve and hope for civilians who have endured over a year of immense suffering." The UN will continue to support the Lebanese government and partners by assisting all affected populations, those displaced, sheltering in collective shelters, or remaining in conflict-affected areas, Riza stressed. Lebanese refugees express joy upon a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, in Al Horjelah, Syria, on Nov. 27, 2024. Some Lebanese refugees have begun to prepare to return home to Lebanon following the end of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua) Vehicles carrying people returning home are stranded in a traffic jam in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. (Str/Xinhua) Displaced people return to their home after the ceasefire in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. (Str/Xinhua) Displaced people drive to their homes after the ceasefire in al-Zahrani area, southern Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua) Displaced people drive a car on their way home in al-Zahrani area, southern Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua) Displaced people are on their way home after the ceasefire in the southern suburbs of Beirut in Lebanon, on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict tied in great part to the ongoing one in the Gaza Strip that has killed 44,282 Palestinians as of Wednesday. (Str/Xinhua) Nov. 26ANDERSON An Anderson Police Department detective has been arrested on three counts of child solicitation and official misconduct. Joshua Senseney, 50, 100 block of Nursery Road, was arrested Monday following an investigation by the Indiana State Police at the request of the APD. The case has been turned over to a special prosecutor in the Grant County Prosecutor's office. If convicted, Senseney faces a possible sentence of one to six years on each count of child solicitation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anderson Police Chief Mike Lee said Senseney, a detective in the APD's Criminal Investigations Division, was placed on paid administrative leave when department administrators were made aware of the investigation. The investigation started when the department was informed that Senseney was sending inappropriate text messages to two male juveniles. A probable cause affidavit filed by Detective David Preston indicates that Senseney had made contact with five boys. During a Kids Talk forensic interview, one of the 14-year-old boys said he knew Senseney when he attended Highland Middle School, where Senseney was a school resource officer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the interview, the boy said Senseney provided them with money to buy snacks, once in the amount of $45 and a second time with $20. Included in the probable cause affidavit are several text messages sent by Senseney that were sexual in nature. Senseney told Preston all the text messages were a joke between him and the five boys. Several of the text messages sent by Senseney requested the boys show them naked pictures of themselves and indicated an interest in performing sex acts. Senseney also sent text messages concerning the boys' sexual activity, favorite positions and asking whether they had sexual relations with girls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a release provided by APD spokesman Caleb McKnight, Senseney's case will be presented to the Safety Board for review and official action. Among actions the board could take are continuation of administrative leave with or without pay, pending the outcome of the case; and discipline that could include termination of employment with the department. Under Indiana law, officers are entitled to a hearing before the safety board if requested. Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863. MANHATTAN (KSNT) Manhattan drivers should anticipate multiple road closures for Thanksgiving Day due to a local 5k race. The Riley County Police Department (RCPD) posted on social media on Nov. 25 warning people that several streets will be closed throughout Manhattan on Thanksgiving for the annual Turkey Trot 5K. (Photo Courtesy/Riley County Police Department) Winter Wonderland will light up before Thanksgiving Starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 28, the race will go from Aggieville in front of Rally House, move through the City Park and along Poyntz Avenue to the mall. Police advise residents to plan any trips throughout the area accordingly during Thanksgiving morning while runners are out and about. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The Choose How You Move transit plan proposed by Mayor Freddie OConnell intentionally misled voters in violation of state law, a new lawsuit filed in Davidson County Chancery Court says. The lawsuit was filed by the Committee to Stop an Unfair Tax and former Metro Councilmember Emily Evans, a committee member, and states the mayors plan is unlawful and contained misleading ballot language. Read the full complaint here Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Further, they contend that the ballot initiative is invalid because it is not financially feasible and should be declared void under applicable state law. They say the mayors plan is in violation of the states IMPROVE Act and seeks to use revenue for purposes which are not authorized. The Tennessee General Assembly passed a tax cut in 2017 titled the Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy Act, also known as the IMPROVE Act. The lawsuit argues the purpose of the law, in part, was to address mass transit problems in Tennessee and included a mechanism for local governments to levy a local sales tax of up to 0.5% for such projects. SEPTEMBER: We dont want another tax increase: Group gives out free yard signs opposing Nashville transit plan But the IMPROVE Act contained narrow definitions of a public transit system as well as a Transit Improvement Program. Both definitions specifically refer to mass transit systems that are intended for shared passenger transport services to the general public, the lawsuit states. The complaint argues mayors plan did not use those definitions in its marketing for the Choose How You Move plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rather, the mayors office used the term transportation improvement program, which is not the same as defined in state law. The mayors term included many projects which are not authorized under the IMPROVE Act, according to the complaint. Those included some of the things outlined in the mayors plan, such as any sidewalk, bike-lane, road or highway that the public may use for transportation on a daily basis, even though those items are not included in the definitions under the IMPROVE Act. The Committee also said part of OConnells transit plan marketing strategy has always included the implication that large contingency of Nashvillians rely on public transportation, which simply is not supported by the statistics. Per the Committee, only about 1% of Nashville residents rely on public transportation to commute to work on a daily basis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Mayor used the term transportation instead of transit because he knows very few Nashvillians use Nashvilles mass transit system or ever will, the lawsuit states. RELATED: Mayor Freddie OConnell declares victory for massive transit plan Further, the complaint states the ballot language fail[ed] to clearly explain the initial and recurring cost of the Choose How You Move plan. The ballot language said the plan was estimated to cost $3.096 billion; but the plan itself said actual funds spent on the implementation from 2025 to 2029 were closer to $6.934 billion. The Mayor, his allies and his administration ultimately convinced the voters into erroneously believing that the increase in sales tax could be used to improve transportation conditions in Nashville generally, the complaint reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Per the ballot language, sales tax collections for the Choose How You Move plan will begin as of Feb. 1, 2025, according to the complaint. They ask the court to declare the referendum void, to permanently block the mayors office from using collected tax revenues for any of the plans stated purposes and to award them all court costs and attorneys fees. Mayor Freddie OConnell provided a statement to News 2: The overwhelming majority of Nashvillians, 66%, agree that our city deserves a transportation system befitting a modern major city and approved the Choose How You Move referendum. We are moving forward with implementation of the program which was fully vetted by attorneys, accountants, the Metro Council, and ultimately the people of Nashville. Nashville Mayor Freddie OConnell Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Democrat Derek Tran won election to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday, defeating Republican Rep. Michelle Steel. Tran, a U.S. Army veteran and the son of Vietnamese refugees, will represent the 45th District, anchored in Orange County, which is home to a large Vietnamese American community. Steel previously flipped this seat in 2020, two years after a Democrat captured the seat in the 2018 midterms. The Associated Press declared Tran the winner at 4:03 p.m. EST. AUSTIN (KXAN) The end of the year marks a time of celebration and family fun, but theres also an unfortunate trend that looms over the holiday season an increase in burglaries. On Tuesday, the Austin Police Department held a press conference to inform the community about the increase of burglaries that happen around this time of the year. Police said November and December typically see 11% more burglaries than at any other point in the year. The good news is those crimes have seen a slight drop over the last few years. However, police recommended those with any home security systems should have them updated and ready to go. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, police discussed another common trend that is seen around the holidays, which is mail and package theft. According to APD, thefts are about 50% higher in December compared to the rest of the year. Police continue to encourage the public to stay vigilant over the coming weeks. Unfortunately we cant be everywhere. And its going to take a community effort. Thats why we highly recommend you do your part whether thats making sure your house is equipped with cameras and things of that nature so we can potentially catch these people after the criminal act has taken place, APD Cpl. Jose Mendez said during the press conference. Police also recommend shipping expensive packages to a safe and trusted location, or have friends and neighbors monitor or pick up those packages due to most of those thefts happening when people are away from home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. An appeals court on Tuesday agreed to dismiss charges related to Donald Trumps alleged mishandling of classified documents, effectively ending Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump. Smith's office on Monday sought to dismiss charges, first made in June 2023, against Trump on allegations that he willfully retained national defense information after he left office and that he directed the deletion of security video at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The special counsel's office had also filed Monday to dismiss charges against Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Trump attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling on Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for Smiths office declined to comment. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had initially dismissed the documents case against Trump in July on the grounds that Smiths appointment as special counsel was illegal. Federal prosecutors in August had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to restore the case. The conclusion of those cases two of four criminal cases against Trump had been expected once Trump was re-elected due to long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president cant be prosecuted. NBC News reported last week that Smith and his team had planned to resign before Trump's inauguration. He is expected to file a formal report on his charges before stepping down. The two remaining criminal cases, the New York case involving hush money payments and a Georgia election interference case, are also in limbo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elects attorneys have argued that presidential immunity protections should guard Trump against sentencing in a New York case, where he was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election. A New York judge ruled last week postponed Trump's sentencing in that case which was previously scheduled for Nov. 26. The Georgia case, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, has also been held up over conflict of interest allegations against Willis made by Trump and his allies. Trump has continued to argue that Smiths prosecutions were politically motivated and pleaded not guilty in both of the special counsel's cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "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," Trump wrote in a post on X on Monday. " 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." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Just in time for Thanksgiving, students at a school in Mercer County collected and donated tens of thousands of items to people in need. Students at Tri Star Career Compact, a career technical training school in Celina, collected more than 38,000 items for local community members in need. All donations were dropped off by students to the C.A.L.L. Food Pantry in Celina and AGAPE Food Pantry in St. Marys. Photos from the educational facility show collected items included peanut butter, soup, toilet paper, wipes, yams and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The school reports the junior welders brought in the most items to donate. Great job to all students & staff for your hard work and dedication, said Tri Star Career Compact. Many families will be positively impacted by the generosity of our communities. Click here to learn more about Tri State Career Compact. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GENEVA, Nov.27 (Xinhua) -- Global Internet usage continues to rise, with 5.5 billion people estimated to have Internet connection in 2024. Digital connectivity, however, remains tightly linked to the level of overall development, according to a flagship report issued Wednesday by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Entitled "Facts and Figures 2024", the report shows that this year, 227 million more people have gained online access compared to 2023, accounting for 68 percent of the global population. This leaves 2.6 billion people without Internet connection in 2024, accounting for 32 percent of the population, with 1.8 billion of them living in rural areas. In 2024, the report shows, 93 percent of the population in high-income countries is estimated to be using the Internet, while in low-income countries, it is only 27 percent. According to the report, 5G coverage is estimated to reach 51 percent of the global population in 2024, with significant disparities between high- and low-income countries: 84 percent and 4 percent, respectively. In 2024, the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions has been catching up with the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions, while fixed broadband remains a luxury for many; the average monthly mobile-broadband traffic per user in high-income countries has been 16.2GB, eight times higher than in low-income economies, according to the report. An Arizona fire department employee was indicted on 15 charges related to child pornography, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Agustin Sauceda, an employee of the Eloy Fire District at the time, was charged with nine counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography, five counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, the Department of Justice said. The indictment alleged that Sauceda, a 38-year-old Casa Grande resident, produced child pornography of a female minor between August 2022 and July 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators with the Department of Homeland Security discovered Sauceda's activities on June 1 while searching file-sharing site BitTorrent. They identified the IP address associated with the files containing child pornography as Sauceda's, according to court documents obtained by The Republic. The materials sent through BitTorrent appeared to show multiple minors with ages estimated to range from three to 10, the documents state. While executing a search warrant at Sauceda's home, investigators found a black "go bag" with a phone with thousands of child pornography files saved to an internal SD card. The report indicated that 3,000 files were of a single girl, confirmed to be a minor by her mother. Her mother said she was regularly at Sauceda's residence, according to the report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the files showed the girl in the bathroom of Sauceda's residence, and investigators found a hidden camera in this bathroom, according to the court documents. Sauceda faces a maximum of almost 400 years in prison and millions in fines. Each charge carries a lifetime of supervised release, the Justice Department added. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Agustin Sauceda indicted on 15 charges of child pornography A 38-year-old man will be serving prison time in a case where authorities said he spent more than two years making threats on social media against government workers, including sexual assault threats. Rio Verde resident Michael Lee Tomasi was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison and three years supervised release after pleading guilty on Aug. 13 to one count of making threats against public officials, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Tomasi was ordered to forfeit weapons he owns, including an assault rifle, handgun, shotgun, gun magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition, the DOJ said. According to the DOJ, Tomasi's guilty plea relates to an Aug. 26, 2023, threat he made to kill FBI agents when he posted on social media: "Shoot the FBI first and ask questions later" and for the FBI to "come to my house and see what happens. Shoot before they even pull their guns out of their trunk and you shoot to kill." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From May 2021 through November 2023, while residing in Colorado and Arizona, Tomasi posted on social media his desire to incite violence and threatened multiple people and groups, including a city district attorney, a state court judge, a member of Congress and other federal officials and law enforcement officers, the DOJ detailed. NBC News reported that the FBI arrested Tomasi in December 2023 at his home and found he had 5,000 rounds of ammunition, a Smith & Wesson AR-15-style rifle, six loaded magazines and body armor. "After making vile threats to execute and sexually assault FBI agents and employees, state and local law enforcement officials, and other public servants, Michael Tomasi told the FBI to 'come to my house and see what happens' what has happened is that he will spend 15 months in federal prison," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. The Arizona Republic previously reported that Tomasi faced up to 10 years in prison on these charges. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Michael Lee Tomas sentenced to prison after threatening FBI LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A bill filed Tuesday morning at the Arkansas State Capitol could be a beacon of hope for many with loved ones battling Alzheimers. The legislation is geared towards state and public school employees who currently are not covered for Alzheimers or dementia-related diseases. Bill filed in Arkansas to allow off-farm sales of raw milk Now that the FDA has approved treatments for patients in the early stages of Alzheimers, Rep. Julie Mayberry (R-Hensley) is asking the general assembly to provide coverage to this group of workers through this bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayberry said that only Medicaid and Medicare currently provide coverage outside of private companies. The legislation specifically asks the general assembly to find that the cost of managing the complications of late-set Alzheimers disease, primarily due to delayed diagnosis and access to care outweighs the cost of early treatment. Without insurance, however, treatment is a high price many families can not afford to pay. Dr. Jeanne Wei, Director of The Reynolds Institute on Aging at UAMS, said the cost of the 26-week treatment plan is usually around $26,000 before insurance. She has seen patients receive the complete treatment over the past year and said while still early in the process, the medicines benefits appear significant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For those who are eligible and they decide to enroll, I can tell you things have gone very well, Wei said. They and their family believe that they are doing better. Bills filed in Arkansas legislature to remove fluoride from drinking water The doctor emphasized that while the treatments are not cures for the disease, this is the first sign of hope there has been in the history of Alzheimers and dementia diseases. A diagnosis that was once a clear indication of the end of the road nearing for someone is now something manageable, if caught early. Were not promising that its going to reverse, because no one ever said it would, but we are hopeful that itll help them maintain their current level of function for a longer time, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David Cook with the Alzheimers Association added that allowing more families to access these treatments will have broad impacts. From a financial perspective, it delays the high cost of putting your loved one in a long-term care setting. Cook said the treatment gives the patient time to participate in life and be a part of loved ones memories. It gives the patient more time to participate in life, more time to attend graduations, weddings, to watch grandbabies and great-grandbabies being born, Cook said. Its certainly a monumental time in our disease space. Physicians now have tools in their hands not just to manage symptoms but to treat that underlying biology of the disease, and that is the hope that for the very first time in history: We actually have treatments. Bill proposed in Arkansas legislature to aid drivers with autism Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill proposes that any state or public school employee health plan offered, issued or renewed in 2026 would include this coverage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. Arkansas Republican Sens. Joshua Bryant of Rogers and Missy Irvin of Mountain View present bills proposing regulations on cryptocurrency mines to the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Editors note: An earlier version of this story inadvertently omitted part of Attorney General Tim Griffins statement. A federal judge in Little Rock has temporarily stopped Arkansas officials from enforcing two laws that target businesses and property owned by Chinese nationals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining order Monday after a hearing on a request for a TRO and preliminary injunction filed Nov. 19 by lawyers for Jones Eagle LLC, a company that operates a digital data center near Dewitt that mines crypto currency. Jones Eagle filed suit against the state, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward and Attorney General Tim Griffin on Nov. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The suit claims the two laws violate the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by denying due process, illegally discriminating against a person based on national origin and depriving a person of just compensation for taking property. Bakers order enjoins state officials from enforcing Act 636 of 2023 and Act 174 of 2024 against Jones Eagle or Qimin Jimmy Chen, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in New York. Chen controls the firm through Eagle Asset Holding Inc., which owns a majority stake in Jones Eagle, according to court documents. The order is effective for 14 days, after which a court hearing on the companys request for a preliminary injunction and a possible extension of the restraining order will be held. Act 636 prohibits ownership of property in Arkansas by companies or individuals connected with the Chinese government and several other countries considered adversaries of the United States. It gives the state agriculture department authority to investigate allegations of such ownership and directs the attorney general to take action to force the divestiture of the property through judicial foreclosure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Act 174 amended the law regulating digital asset mining operations, also known as data centers, and prohibits ownership by foreign-party-controlled interests connected to the same countries listed in Act 636. The case Wards office referred two companies in December 2023 to Griffins office for action under Act 636. In a letter to Griffin made part of a press release from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Ward wrote about Jones Digital LLC, the previous name of Jones Eagle. The letter notes that a growing number of businesses had created digital asset operations across the state in 2023. One of these facilities is located on agricultural land near the city of DeWitt and is operated by Jones Digital LLC. A review of Jones Digitals ownership indicates that the entity may have significant ties to China. Further, it is believed that the individuals or entities involved in the ownership of Jones Digital LLC may also have significant ownership interest in other digital asset or crypto-mining operations in other parts of the state under different names. In a statement attached to Jones Eagles request for a restraining order, Chen says that once he learned of the referral to Griffins office, he provided the attorney general with documents showing that his firms operation is on two acres of leased land. He also says hes tried to meet with the attorney generals staff to offer proof of his U.S. citizenship and of his ownership of the company, but has been refused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court documents show he filed suit because he believes the attorney general is prepared to take steps against his company that will further harm his business and reputation. The documents refer to an investigative subpoena Griffins office filed in circuit court in Baxter County that suggests imminent substantive enforcement proceedings. Chens lawsuit alleges that the investigation and referral by Wards office were based solely on his Asian name and violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against him and his business by virtue of his nation of origin and racial identity. The states enforcement efforts threaten the companys ability to service its customers and, thus, hinder its ability to thrive, Chen says in the affidavit attached to the TRO motion. In a statement Tuesday, Chens Little Rock attorney Alex Jones said that because a TRO is usually only granted when a Court believes that a party is likely to succeed on the merits, we are cautiously optimistic that the Court will grant the preliminary injunction. The TRO and preliminary injunction will prevent further harm to our client while we prepare for a trial on the merits where we will get to fully present our case as to why the laws are unconstitutional and reflect legislative overreach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Griffin in a statement said he would continue to vigorously defend the constitutionality of Acts 636 and 174. I have been investigating a number of crypto mining operations and other entities with possible Chinese ownership and simply seeking the facts. I have cleared some entities, but not all of the entities have cooperated fully, Griffin said in the statement. People demonstrate and call out words of encouragement to detainees held inside the Metropolitan Detention Center after marching to decry Trump administration immigration and refugee policies on June 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Ahead of Januarys presidential inauguration, Arkansas nonprofits that serve immigrants and refugees are focused on education, legal action and committing to their regular work in anticipation of immigration policy changes. On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to reinstate policies from his first term, which could include a travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries, suspending refugee travel and reinstating a public health policy that barred migrants from claiming asylum during the pandemic. Trump has also pledged to enact mass deportations and end parole programs that allow immigrants to work and live in the U.S. legally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were ready for January 20th raids, said Mireya Reith, founding executive director of immigrant advocacy group Arkansas United. Arkansas Immigrant Defense, a nonprofit law firm that serves survivors of human trafficking and violence who happen to be immigrants, created a guide on how to prepare for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The guide was developed in partnership with organizations in Mississippi where ICE raids at poultry plants on the first day of school in 2019 left many children without parents, a situation that can leave kids vulnerable to trafficking, Executive Director Leo Tucker said. Arkansas United is likewise trying to share information with immigrants around the state by revisiting tactics deployed during the pandemic, specifically organizing virtual events, as a way to reach more people. Arkansas is a legal service desert for immigrants, Reith said, so her nonprofit is trying to fill that gap by working with attorneys in other states to host virtual clinics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now we just have to get our defenses, she said. Family defense is the number one thing. Getting those know-your-rights materials out there, getting as many people to do those family preparedness plans, power of attorneys is going to be critical. Education is a crucial piece of preparation, but Reith said delivering that information to every corner of the state, especially in hard-to-reach communities, is a challenge. The newcomer population thats probably the most vulnerable in this moment is everywhere because they are who are in the poultry factories, theyre the migrant workers and theyre also the ones that are still very isolated, she said. Critics of current immigration policy tend to focus on migrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Most migrants dont want to break the law, Reith said, but they dont have enough avenues to pursue legal migration, especially when they leave their home country to escape violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When folks are making decisions around fleeing, it really is about survival and not in any disrespect to laws, she said. Thats why so many of our immigrants when theyre here, they get [Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers], they become taxpayers, they do everything possible to contribute to their communities. And the reality is we have a need as the economy. We have needed immigrant workers to supplement our workforce, and employers are part of that immigration chain. In Arkansas, where 5% of residents are foreign-born, immigrants account for about 15% of the construction workforce and paid $1.3 billion in taxes, according to 2022 data from the American Immigration Council. Arkansas Immigrant Defense is focusing its efforts on obtaining work permits for clients, which provides self-sufficiency, Tucker said. Additionally, Arkansas children under age 19 with a work permit can also access health care via AR Kids First, they said. A work permit is so important for a survivor because then theyre not going to be dependent upon some exploitative breadwinner or some trafficker breadwinner because they can stand on their own two feet, Tucker said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The last four years have been the best for immigrants, particularly women and children survivors, Tucker said, because President Joe Biden made it easier for survivors of trafficking and violence to obtain work permits though things like U nonimmigrant status (U visa), which helps immigrants obtain lawful status if theyve suffered abuse as victims of certain crimes or if they assist in the investigation of criminal activity. Obama was really anti-immigrant, Trump was way more anti-immigrant than Obama, and Biden made it such that child survivors who were applying for something called Special Immigrant Juvenile statushe made it such that anyone whos applying for this form of relief for abandoned, abused and neglected and trafficked children, these children get a work permit so much faster now, Tucker said. Trafficking survivors make up about 80% of the firms caseload, but Arkansas Immigrant Defense will also be filing renewals for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in the coming weeks. Created through an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012, the program allows certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to live and work in the country legally. The Trump administration moved to end the program, and its fate currently lies in the courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lead paralegal Mayra Esquivel said it was a really hard thing to accept that immigrants will again be facing challenges they encountered during the first Trump administration, but Arkansas Immigrant Defense is committed to continue helping clients however it can. We just dont know [who will be affected], Esquivel said. All we can do is just mentally prepare and take it one step at a time, and also continue to inform ourselves as much as possible on these new policies. That commitment to serving clients is shared by Canopy Northwest Arkansas Executive Director Joanna Krause, who said the refugee resettlement nonprofit will continue what she calls the long welcome, providing services that help families integrate into the community over five years, at which point refugees become eligible to apply for citizenship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Canopy NWA welcomed its first client in 2016, just before Trump assumed the presidency and changed the countrys refugee resettlement policy. Having dealt with challenges in Trumps first term, Krause said Canopy NWAs been preparing for the incoming administration for some time. Since the Refugee Act in 1980, the U.S. has admitted more than 3.2 million refugees, according to the U.S. State Department. Of the roughly 100,000 refugees who came to the U.S. in fiscal year 2024, nearly 350 resettled in Arkansas, according to the Refugee Processing Center. Trump slashed the annual cap on refugees to a record low of 18,000 during his first term, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Refugee resettlement is a humanitarian program, and it had not been viewed in such a partisan way until the Trump administration Krause said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Refugees biggest fear during Trumps second administration is that theyll be separated from family members who are unable to travel before he takes office because its common for families moving to the U.S. to travel at different times, she said. I know theyll be reunited eventually. Even if there is a pause, Im very confident refugee resettlement will resume, but it could mean many more months or even potential years of time passing, and thats just so hard, Krause said. Refugees have a pathway to citizenship, but there are many different types of temporary legal immigration statuses that could be at risk, such as humanitarian parole, which has been granted to immigrants from countries like Ukraine and Afghanistan, she said. Canopy NWAs resources are directed toward refugee resettlement, but Krause said they can provide some services and programs to other immigrants that fall under the Office of Refugee Resettlement umbrella, such as those entering the country under humanitarian parole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a challenge that Canopy will face, and other organizations who serve different types of immigrants we have to make sure that were staying current on policy changes because were expecting a lot of changes to happen, she said. And that takes a lot of time and energy for us as a team to make sure that were really well-informed so that we can serve all of the people who we can and get the message and the word out about when these rapid changes might come down. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) On Wednesday afternoon, authorities announced they deployed a less-lethal Taser on a convicted felon carrying a handgun at a Mt. Juliet shopping area. The Mt. Juliet Police Department (MJPD) posted on social media platform X shortly before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27 that police activity in the Paddocks shopping area was related to an armed man in crisis who resisted officers but was taken into custody. Officials shared a lengthier post less than an hour later, saying an officer was investigating a report of a suspicious person in the shopping area and discovered the man was listed as a missing person in crisis out of Nashville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Operation Safe Shopper underway as reports of shoplifting increase 20% in Mt. Juliet According to police, the man had been reported missing on Friday, Nov. 22 after refusing a probation search related to his felony status and making concerning statements. During the encounter in Mt. Juliet, law enforcement said the officer noticed the 25-year-old was carrying a handgun. When the officer tried to safely disarm and detain him, the man reportedly resisted arrest. A less-lethal Taser was successfully deployed, ensuring the situation was brought under control without serious injury, the MJPD stated. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Further investigation revealed the individual was not only in possession of heroin and methamphetamine, but he had allegedly just stolen merchandise. Authorities said the man whose identity has not been released is a convicted felon with prior felony drug charges out of Nashville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This situation highlights the professionalism and dedication of our officers in protecting our community, the MJPD wrote on social media. We are grateful for the safe resolution to a potentially dangerous situation! Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The Army Cadet Force is at risk after its budget was cut by 50 per cent, the groups chiefs have warned. The organisation teaches secondary school children skills from camping and community volunteering to first aid. The programme, which is funded by the Ministry of Defence, aims to bolster social mobility and mental and physical health of its cadets. A total of 371 Army cadet forces operate in schools across the UK, with 222 in state schools in England alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But a real terms cut of more than 20 million in government funding since 2020 has led to a reduction in the activities and training already on offer for children and has driven volunteers out of the organisation. Cadet forces must not be degraded or lost In an open letter, the heads of 25 Army cadet forces across the country have now urged the Government to restore the funding and warned it must play a role in ensuring the positive impact of our cadet forces is not degraded or lost. The 165-year-old organisation has 74,000 young cadets as part of detachments in communities and schools. Supporters of the scheme say it provides a unique pathway for young people to explore military careers at a time when the Armed Forces are facing a recruitment crisis. The MoD offered 26.4 million in funding to the Army Cadet Force for the 2024-25 financial year, a drop of 50.4 per cent in real terms on the 2019-2020 budget allocation of 40.6 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an open letter, the group of Honorary Colonels and the presenter Lorraine Kelly, the National Honorary Colonel, said: The Army Cadet Force has inspired and transformed the lives of countless young people. Providing essential life skills, a foundation for their adult life and enhanced career prospects. Lorraine Kelly, the presenter, has been the Army Cadet Forces National Honorary Colonel since 2019 It added: For our cadets, the taxpayer and society as whole, we ignore opportunity cost at our peril and we implore both Government and the Ministry of Defence to ensure that funding for our cadet forces are restored and, as we move forward, are increased to match the commitments made. Not just because it is in the interest of the taxpayer, but for the enduring benefit of our cadet forces and the societal impact they deliver. The letter continued: Although sponsored by, and funded through the Ministry of Defence, and despite the clear role of defence in addressing the issue going forward, Government too must play a role in ensuring the positive impact of our cadet forces is not degraded or lost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes after it emerged that the Department for Education cut the additional 1.1 million grant to support Army cadet instructors in state schools. There are also concerns that the organisations finances will be cut further as part of the Strategic Defence Review, which will examine Britains readiness to fight future wars, with a submission made on behalf of the Army Cadet Force to the MoD. Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister, said that the decision to make the cuts is as short-sighted as it is damaging. Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister, said being in the cadets can ignite a passion for joining the military - Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images He added: For many cadets, this experience ignites a passion for joining the Armed Forces, turning what might have been a distant prospect into a viable aspiration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cadet programmes introduce young people to the values of service, discipline, teamwork and resilience that are fundamental to military life. Simon Banks-Cooper, the Honorary Colonel for the Humberside & South Yorkshire Army Cadet Force, told The Telegraph: Despite extensive awareness of our cadet forces, understanding of their effect, rather than activity, is less developed. The cadet experience raises self-efficacy and facilitates social mobility, and is transformational in terms of employability, life skills and life outcomes. Whether delivered in the community or in school, the effect is socialised, permeating the organisation, the community and society itself, whilst also delivering a financial return on investment to the taxpayer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added: Collectively, our cadet forces contribute significantly to the Government agenda, such as its growth mission and breaking down barriers to opportunity, as the cadet experience is especially beneficial for those young people facing the greatest challenges in life. So, I am disappointed at both the ongoing and most recent cuts to funding, which now appear not to have had a full impact consideration, and I hope that an increased awareness of the many benefits to all the stakeholders of our cadet forces, including each government department that benefits, will lead to a restoration of funding, so that their full future potential can be realised. An MoD spokesman said that the concerns raised by the Honorary Colonels were being taken extremely seriously. Were proud of the work of the cadets and the opportunities that they offer thousands of young people across the UK, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being in the cadets helps young people learn new skills, enhance their confidence and maximise their potential. We take the concerns raised in the letter from the Honorary Colonels extremely seriously and thank them for their continued support. 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. Nov. 26An Arnold man charged in the fatal stabbing of his mother last summer has been ruled competent to stand trial. Brian Rebold, 38, has been in jail since he was charged with criminal homicide and first-degree murder Aug. 4 in connection with the death of his 73-year-old mother outside her Liberty Avenue home. Police said Rebold stabbed his mother multiple times during a dispute. According to court records, the body of Diana Rebold was found wounded in the street with her son standing nearby. Police said Rebold confessed to stabbing his mother in the throat and back. Detectives also identified multiple stab wounds to her head. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The homicide case against Rebold has been on hold for months as defense attorneys questioned his mental competency after concerns arose during a detainer hearing. Prosecutors sought to revoke Rebold's parole on an unrelated terroristic threats conviction. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears on Tuesday said an independent psychologist determined Rebold was competent to assist lawyers in defense of the pending revocation case and the new homicide charges. Rebold is scheduled to appear before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. in late January for a preliminary hearing in the murder case. Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr said prosecutors will seek to accelerate the hearing. Rebold pleaded guilty last April to the one misdemeanor count of terroristic threats and was sentenced to time served to 23 months in jail, was paroled and ordered to participate in a mental health treatment program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In court documents made part of his guilty plea, Rebold reported earlier this year he had previously been diagnosed and was being treated for schizophrenia. According to court records, Rebold has other prior convictions related to acts of violence, including convictions for assaulting three people at the New Kensington YMCA in 2020 and for an assault while incarcerated at the county jail last year. He pleaded guilty to the assault at the jail in July, just two weeks before the fatal stabbing, and was sentenced to 8 to 23 months behind bars. He was paroled after given credit for time served. Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com. ARVADA, Colo. (KDVR) A man from Arvada is counting his blessing after narrowly avoiding what he believes could have been a road rage incident. On Monday, Nov. 25, Robin Johnson said he got a call from his daughter whose car had broken down in Lakewood near Wadsworth Boulevard. He headed that way in his 1985 Chevrolet Blazer immediately. Where to expect snowy roads, winter driving conditions for Thanksgiving week Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, he stopped at the intersection of W. 26th Avenue to make a left turn. The traffic was just heavy going north, Johnson said. Me and the car thats facing me are looking at each other like, Heh okay. You know how you sit at a light. Finally, the traffic cleared just enough for him to make his turn. By the time I got an opportunity to make a left, out jumps behind this car, another car heading north, to where I had to lock up my truck to keep from hitting them head-on, Johnson said. Johnson said he waited for the car to pass and traffic to clear again, then went on his way. He said it was rattling, but shrugged it off as a near-miss and kept his eyes open, looking for his daughter. But he didnt get far on 26th before a blue four-door sedan pulled up next to him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, theyre trying to ram me, sideswipe me and push me to this, onto the sidewalk. At this time Im like, Whoa, whats going on here? Johnson said. Johnson recalled stopping on the side of the road before he got to some parked cars, but now he was effectively trapped. I looked into the car through my windshield and I see two people roll down windows and all three of them, including the driver, point guns at me, Johnson said. I immediately threw it in reverse on my car and I stepped on it and looked back until almost hitting somebody behind me. Dont let this be you: Aurora police catch drivers without tags, licenses Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He ducked in his car, waiting to hear gunshots ring out. Next thing, I see them proceed backwards to me and thats when they just rammed my vehicle and yelled out some slang words. Not English-speaking words, Johnson said. Now, Im like, Okay, what do we do? You know, you pause. And then they just took off. Once they left, he peeled away from the curb, his mind set on finding his daughter. She was just a few blocks away and once he met up with her, he called the police. The cops even said, Youre lucky this happened here and not where she was because she wouldve witnessed something probably horrifying. I really thought they were going to shoot, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As someone who has lived in Colorado his entire life, he said he has never had anything like this happen before. Not this kind of gun-pulling, aggressive attack of road rage per se, carrying into weapons pulled, Johnson said. Nobody deserves this. Nobody. Be vigilant. Be very vigilant because you dont know where it can happen. The Lakewood Police Department told FOX31 they are investigating the incident. There is no update yet on suspects and none have yet been identified. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. JERUSALEM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons from Egypt to Israel using a drone. The drone crossing into Israeli territory was carrying four rifles, five cartridges, and hundreds of bullets, the IDF said, adding the weapons and ammunition were transferred to security forces for further investigation. It was downed by the IDF's Caracal Battalion, which is tasked with carrying out routine security missions in the Egyptian border area. The Egyptian side has not commented on this yet. (FOX40.COM) California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty claimed victory in the Sacramento mayoral race Tuesday following the latest round of election results released by the county. Results on election night showed his opponent, Dr. Flojaune Cofer, behind by nearly 9 percentage points. That gap closed as more results were released, but the latest few rounds have seen Cofers vote share stuck at 49%. Tuesdays results showed Cofer the closest shed been since election night with 92,678 votes (49.22%) to McCartys 95,310 (50.78%), a difference of just 2,632 votes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The county estimates that there are less than 8,624 votes that remain to be counted, though not all of those are necessarily from voters eligible to vote in the City of Sacramentos mayoral race. I am honored to be the next Mayor of Sacramento, McCarty said in a statement posted to social media. Thank you to my incredible supporters and campaign team, whose dedication and hard work made this victory possible. I also want to congratulate Dr. Cofer for running a spirited and passionate campaign. It is clear that voters want to see change and I am ready to start the hard work needed to move Sacramento forward, McCarty said. Achieving this will require a collaborative effort with our city council, local elected officials, business leaders, labor groups, nonprofits and our broader community. As I said often during this campaign if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Cofer released a statement on social media saying she wanted to wait for all votes to be counted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am deeply committed to the democratic process and to amplifying the voices of every Sacramentan, Cofer said. Thats why Im waiting until every single vote is counted before making any statements about the outcome of this election. Current Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who had backed McCarty for mayor, was on air with FOX40 when McCarty declared victory and offered him some advice. My advice to him is to understand that the job of mayor is very different than the job of legislator, McCarty said. You are the symbol of everything for the people. Two: work hard and focus on the neighborhoods, focus on continuing to grow Sacramento in the right 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 FOX40. I have not always supported assisted dying. I shared many of the principled concerns that Ive heard from colleagues over the years. But it was my constituents, in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, who changed my mind. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I listened to deeply upsetting stories from Suttonians about the painful and undignified deaths of loved ones. Its not just been those who have witnessed how barbarous the current legal situation can be; it has also been those who are dying and want the opportunity to choose how to end their days. Ive also had the chance to hear from those further afield: doctors and legislators in places where assisted dying has been made legal. They faced much the same clamour of opposition to changing the law as we have seen here. Doctors faced opprobrium for acknowledging that a prohibition on assisted dying was causing real harm to their patients. Legislators were told that a vote on assisted dying opened the door to the most horrendous outcomes, that they would regret this vote for the rest of their political lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But they havent. Far from it. They have almost unanimously asked themselves: what took us so long? The laws now active in 10 US states, every state in Australia, and New Zealand have created safety, transparency and reassurance around end-of-life decisions. Every year, a small number of dying people have gone through rigorous assessments with their doctors and been prescribed a medication to end their own lives. Two doctors have assessed them on their mental capacity, their prognosis, and the independence of their decision. These laws are working well. In all those jurisdictions not a single case of abuse has been evidenced. The number of people who use those laws remains low around one per cent of deaths; and around a third of those who go through the entire assessment process dont end up using the medication. They, like so many others, see assisted dying as a safety net, as an insurance against the possibility of suffering in their final days. None of those laws, based on the core principle that a person must have a terminal illness and mental capacity, have expanded their eligibility criteria. Not one of them has been repealed. Surely if those laws were as disastrous as we are being told, there would be some effort to restrict them further or get rid of them entirely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kim Leadbeaters Bill takes those safety measures that are proven to work and builds on them. She builds in greater protection than anywhere else in the world. Her Bill will include oversight from the High Court, ensuring not only that the doctors have fulfilled their legal obligations, but that any further concerns can be investigated. More than a dozen additional safeguards are built in to her Bill which do not exist now for people in the United Kingdom. The last big free vote on an issue of conscience in the House of Commons was the legalisation of same-sex marriage. I was inundated by constituents letters urging me to oppose the Bill. The Conservative benches voted in the majority against it, only passing with the support of our then coalition colleagues and the opposition. Since then, I have lost count of the number of colleagues who regret voting against the legislation. Their friends and family members who have found joy in being allowed to marry the person they love, such a simple thing, have made them ask why they ever questioned it. What took us so long to recognise that gay and lesbian people deserve the right to marry one another? I hope that my loved ones will never need to use an assisted dying law. But I know that I would want that choice for myself, and I know many of my colleagues feel the same. I know that the majority of my constituents would want that choice. Ultimately this is a matter of individual liberty, of choice, of trusting people to make decisions for themselves, rather than the state determining what choices we can make. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hope that we will vote in favour of assisted dying on Friday. This is a vote of principle, a Second Reading, and if it passes, we will then go on to discuss in detail every line of the Bills content. Im confident that, should this pass, in the years to come, we will ask ourselves: why did we wait so long to listen to our constituents and create this law? Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell is Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield 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. Britains proposed law to legalise assisted dying has been voted on by MPs today and passed its first hurdle in the House of Commons. The Bill will now go through further scrutiny, and if it passes as law, would allow terminally ill people to end their lives. Its an option already available to more than 200 million people across the world, including those in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well as 10 American jurisdictions and Victoria in Australia. The Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who has introduced The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, insists that in Britain assisted death would include the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world. Whats the difference between assisted dying and euthanasia? Assisted dying is when a terminally ill, mentally competent, patient receives lethal drugs from a healthcare professional to end their life. This is at the patients request and involves the patient administering it themselves. The Bill passing through the House of Commons today means it could be on its way to becoming law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending a persons life to relieve suffering. The patient may not be terminally ill. It can be voluntary, where the person makes a conscious decision to end their life, or involuntary, where the person does not give their consent (for example, they may be in a coma). It is illegal under English law. How would one initiate the process of assisted dying? The first step would be to discuss your wishes with a doctor, presumably your GP, who will become, in the terms of the Bill, the coordinating doctor, guiding you through the assisted dying pathway. Somewhat controversially, the Bill will allow doctors proactively to suggest assisted dying to their patients. The legislation states that while doctors are not obliged to raise it, they can use their professional judgement to decide if and when to discuss the issue with a patient. They must, however, also detail the patients diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options and the possibilities for palliative and hospice care. Who will be eligible? Candidates for assisted dying must be residents of England and Wales and must be registered with a GP for at least 12 months. This is to stop suicide tourism, with people coming from overseas to end their own lives in the UK. They must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months, yet also have the mental capacity to make the choice. According to the Bill, it must be deemed to be a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure. Those deciding to end their lives will need to be terminally ill with six months to live, and go through a rigorous three-week process, declaring their wish to die in front of witnesses and seeking doctors approvals and a ruling from a High Court judge. The Bill specifically excludes those with disabilities or mental illness alone. What will be the process of assisted dying? The candidate must make two separate declarations of their wish to die, which must be signed in front of a witness. Afterwards, their co-ordinating doctor plus another independent doctor will be responsible for assessing their eligibility. The Bill deems that you must have the mental capacity to make the decision, your condition must be terminal and that you will die within six months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To make an informed judgement, the doctors will consult with specialists in the particular condition and arrange an evaluation of the patients mental capacity. There will need to be at least seven days between each doctors assessment. Then a High Court Judge will hear from at least one of the doctors and might also question the patient or anyone else they deem appropriate before ruling that they should be allowed to self-administer a fatal medication. Then a further 14 days must pass after the judge has made the ruling before they can go ahead with their wish to end their life. How quickly do you die? According to a guide prepared by the University of California San Francisco, people who take these medications typically fall into a deep sleep within 10 minutes, followed by a coma, respiratory depression and death shortly afterwards. Death typically occurs within two to five hours, although it can happen very quickly. The University of California San Francisco prepares loved ones for the dying experience, warning them that their relative or friend will exhibit symptoms of dying that dont cause them to suffer but can be startling for loved ones to witness. These can include deep gasping breaths, gurgling sounds and changes in facial colour to pale or blue. How long would the process or pathway take? At least three weeks, given the required seven days between the doctors assessments and 14 days following the judges ruling. It could take longer, depending on the availability of the doctors and the judge, although there will be flexibility if the person is likely to die sooner. The dying persons decision must be confirmed at every stage and they could change their mind at any time. How would people end their life? There are strict protocols within the Bill to ensure the safe prescribing, transportation and administration of all medication. The medication must be self-administered: Neither a doctor nor anyone else can administer the medication to the terminally ill person. If they choose not to self-administer, the medication is immediately removed from their possession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is different from certain other jurisdictions, where a fatal medication can be administered by doctors if you are unable to do it yourself. The assisted dying process must be overseen by a trained medical practitioner who will be expressly forbidden from taking any action to end the persons life. The medication will be prepared by a doctor unlike in Victoria, Australia, where patients receive a powder in a locked box, which they must mix up themselves. The Bill states that a doctor can prepare the substance for self-administration and also prepare a medical device enabling the person to self-administer. They can also assist the person to ingest or otherwise self-administer the substance. But the decision to self-administer the approved substance and the final act of doing so must be taken by the person to whom the substance has been provided. The Bill isnt specific about where the medication should be taken but information guidelines provided to patients in California and Victoria, suggest the medication can be taken at home, or in a hospital or hospice. Patients in those jurisdictions are encouraged to think carefully about where they take it, who is with them and the arrangements for their body afterwards. What is the approved lethal substance? The Bill does not specify a medication. It simply says that the Secretary of State will be required to state one or more drugs. In other countries where assisted dying is legal, high doses of the barbiturates pentobarbital and secobarbital are the preferred medications. Patients will most likely be required to take anti-nausea medications beforehand and drink juice or lick lollipops to counteract the bitter taste and soothe any burning sensations. Who advocated the Bill? Dame Esther Rantzen, who has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, advocates the Bill, maintaining it will give those suffering from terminal illness the dignity of choice. Dr David Nicholl, a neurologist and human rights activist, believes it will improve the quality of conversation between doctors and patients. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh wrote in the Bulletin for the Royal College of Surgeons that there is clear demand for assisted dying in this country despite good palliative care as is shown by the fact that many people (who can afford it) go to Switzerland for an assisted death. Indeed, Dignitas helped 571 Britons to die between 1998 and 2023. The new law would only apply to England and Wales, although a separate bill is being discussed in Scotland and legislation is underway in Jersey and the Isle of Man. Who opposed the Bill? There are many opposers to the Bill. Dr Gordon Macdonald, the chief executive of campaign group Care Not Killing, believes that safest law is the one we already have, while Dr Gillian Wright, a former palliative care doctor, maintains that the Bills safeguards are too difficult to manage. Paralympian and House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson told the BBC that she fears for the impact on vulnerable and disabled people, as well as the risk of coercive control and the ability of doctors to make a six-month diagnosis. A Telegraph poll shows readers are divided equally on the matter, with 47 per cent against the Bill and 53 per cent in favour. When will the change in law happen? Any change in the law would not be implemented until next year at the earliest. There is still a way to go before the Bill becomes law. Now that it has passed the first debate and vote in the Commons, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 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. Assisted dying is like turning off a life support machine, the MP behind a Bill to legalise the practice has said. Kim Leadbeater said deciding whether to allow a terminally ill person to kill themselves would be similar to removing life-sustaining treatment during palliative care. The Labour MP used the example to justify her bid to change the law ahead of a crunch Commons vote on the proposals on Friday, which will mark the first time MPs have debated the issue in the House since 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plans are facing mounting opposition from across the political spectrum, with four former prime ministers now known to be against the legislation. Ms Leadbeater has described her Bill as the most robust in the world, with its three layers of scrutiny in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge. But critics have raised fears of coercion and a slippery slope to more lax restrictions on eligibility. Lord Thomas, the former Chief Justice, has also warned the legislation does not address how evidence in favour of someones assisted death should be put before the judiciary. Asked how she would respond to this on Wednesday, Ms Leadbeater likened assisted dying to other delicate matters already dealt with by judges, such as turning off a terminally ill persons life support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Ive spoken to a number of judges about this, and again, once this goes through, if it passes second reading, which I desperately hope it does, then we will work with legal professionals. Well work with the judiciary to make sure that the process is robust. Judges do these sorts of cases in other very delicate matters all the time. So they look at things like turning off life support machines for terminally ill people. So this is not going to be... it will be a new area of work for judges, but they are used to making these difficult and complex decisions and being part of this process. The debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is scheduled for Friday, with MPs free to vote with their conscience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it faces an early hurdle after a cross-party group of MPs put forward a wrecking amendment that could see the legislation scrapped before a vote is held. Labours Anna Dixon, one of the MPs backing the bid to scupper the Bill, said more time was needed to weigh up the evidence. But Ms Leadbeater warned against getting bogged down in procedure, insisting MPs should focus on their duty to change things. She described the attempt to delay the debate in the Commons as disappointing, adding: We have a duty to change things in this House, so we can get bogged down in procedure and how many hours and who gets to speak and who doesnt get to speak. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But lets go back to the issue that we need to solve. Ms Leadbeater also lashed out at those who use the term assisted suicide instead of assisted dying, arguing it is offensive to some patients. I think the assisted suicide expression itself is quite offensive to some people, because this is not people who want to end their lives, its people who are dying, she said. And we have to think about that, and thats why its about assisted dying. And the concept that we should take them away from the heart of the conversation I find really upsetting. The people Ive met, they want to live, they want to live, but they know theyre going to die, and all they want to do is take control of what that looks like. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes after The Telegraph revealed Boris Johnson, Baroness May and Liz Truss are all against the proposed legislation. Last week Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, called for a palliative care commission instead of legalising assisted dying. Rishi Sunak, Lord Cameron, Sir Tony Blair and Sir John Major have yet to comment. Sir Keir Starmer is yet to reveal his position, but previously said he favoured a change in the law. 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. Lonely at the Top The dismal failure of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft left two NASA astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station this year, meaning they won't be able to return home until this coming February. At that point, their return will be more than half a year overdue. This is something that fellow NASA astronaut Frank Rubio can sympathize with. He too was once left marooned on the orbital outpost, when the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that brought him there couldn't carry passengers on its return trip due to a radiator leak. What was supposed to be a six month rotation turned into longer than a year. It's the price you pay for being the elite of the elite. As a family man, some of the sacrifices Rubio's had to make were especially gut-wrenching, like not being there for his son's high school graduation or his daughter's send-off to college. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And don't even think about the holidays: Christmas and Thanksgiving were pretty much a write-off. "There's a little bit of disappointment in knowing you miss those things as a father," Rubio told The Washington Post in a new interview. Star Stuck Originally, the currently-stranded NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams were slated for just an eight day mission. But it will now last at least eight months. Their ride, the ill-fated Starliner, sprung helium leaks on the way there, while its thrusters malfunctioned. It was deemed too dangerous to carry any passengers and instead went barreling back to Earth empty-seated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another Starliner will not be coming to the rescue. That honor will be going to a SpaceX Dragon Crew capsule which is still months away. Unfortunately, Wilmore and William's winter festivities will have to be spent in the confines of the ISS, eating the astronaut equivalent of a TV dinner. "I think it's important to acknowledge it's not the ideal situation," Rubio told WaPo. "We're all humans, we all have expectations that kind of set the tone for things. So when you're expecting an eight- to 15-day mission, and you get the news that it's going to be longer, it's always going to be a little bit hard, mostly for personal reasons." Nightmare Layover Life as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station can be lonely, claustrophobic, tedious, and even grueling. You have to work out two hours everyday to stave off muscle atrophy that comes from living in microgravity. You look at the same "walls of computers, walls of cables," everyday, Rubio described. Your sole respite is the stunning view of Earth from a room called the cupola and that's about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "You only get to look out the cupola for a few minutes a day... so the monotony is something that you fight," he told WaPo. "You almost just block out the fact that it is repetitive and it is monotonous, because it is your job." Yeah, that's rough. To our stranded spacefarers: hang in there. More on NASA: NASA Says You Will Have to Ask the Russian Space Program About the Horrid Smell on the Space Station Director Mohammad Rasoulof, photographed this month in West Hollywood. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times) About a half an hour before the start of my conversation with exiled Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, he gets tragic news from his home country. Kianush Sanjari, a journalist and activist who hed spent time with in prison, has committed suicide by jumping off a building. He perceived his body as his only weapon of protest, the visibly upset director tells me via an interpreter while sitting in the empty restaurant of a West Hollywood hotel. He takes a moment to compose himself. I ask him if we should reschedule, but he decides to continue with the interview. Pushing through the unthinkable has become a necessity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the years, Rasoulof, 52, had been a recurrent target of Iranian authorities because of the content of his movies, which denounce the Islamic governments violent repression, permeating all aspects of life for its citizens. Since 2010, hes been convicted several times, banned from making films and has spent multiple stints behind bars. To avoid a recent eight-year jail sentence that included a flogging, Rasoulof fled Iran in May after the regime demanded he pull his latest hard-hitting drama, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which he filmed in secret, from the Cannes Film Festival, where it had been chosen to compete. He refused to comply and took off. Read more: The six best movies we saw at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival After a treacherous journey through an undisclosed route over the mountains on foot, followed by multiple stops over the course of 28 days, he eventually made it to safety in Germany. His movie is now that countrys Oscar entry for international feature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rasoulof, who today holds German travel documents, was profoundly touched by the German committees decision to select his film. They simply chose to listen to the world, he says. Its a huge gesture of support for all filmmakers who are working under duress. In The Seed of the Sacred Fig, set amid the real-life 2022 protests sparked by the death of young student Mahsa Amini while in police custody, the corrosive rule of the Iranian state divides a family across ideological lines. Asked by the government to serve as an investigating judge, Iman (Missagh Zareh), a lawyer, is forced to sign off on death sentences. Plugged into the unrest via social media, his two young adult daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), refuse to remain silent. In the last 15 years Ive had very much to do with interrogators, the censors, the judicial system and the security apparatus of Iran, Rasoulof says. And I saw commonalities among all of these different people. What they all shared is their submission to power. It was the experience of making his debut feature, 2002s The Twilight, that ignited Rasoulofs career-long commitment to dissident art. That film, a docufiction about a prison inmate who marries while still serving his sentence, featured people playing themselves, re-creating the real situations they experienced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During that shoot, Rasoulof spent a few days living in prison with his actors, never imagining he would return as a convict himself a few years later. I might be the only filmmaker who's experienced so many different ways of being in prison, he says with a laugh. Not only as an observer, but also as an actual prisoner. They're quite different. At the time, Rasoulof, then in his late 20s, still believed that his work could spur a meaningful dialogue at home. The Twilight earned him the only award hes ever received in Iran from the preeminent Fajr International Film Festival. As his original stories began to take on the system more overtly, however, their public exhibition was prohibited. I just thought I was a critic who could help everything improve, that I could show through my films what I was seeing and that those in power would be affected and start changing things, he recalls. But as I got closer to the end of that film, I realized how naive I was, because structural power can be so much stronger than individual will. A line of dialogue from his 2011 drama Goodbye, about an Iranian woman desperately trying to leave the country, might be interpreted as Rasoulofs own sentiment: When one is a stranger in ones own country, it is better to be a stranger in a foreign land. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He tells me he doesnt identify with that impulse. My daily life was full of empathy, because I only saw [people] I thoroughly selected, Rasoulof says. But I know lots of people who, in order to make ends meet, don't have this luxury. Therefore, their life is much more violent. "Being a gangster of a certain experience since I've been to prison, I know who I can talk to," Rasoulof says, wearing his status like a badge of honor. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times) Distrust among the Iranian people, instilled by the regime, is a key tactic to maintaining its grip. It separates people, it destroys protest movements and it comes at no cost at all for them, says Sacred Fig actor Maleki via interpreter on a Zoom call alongside her co-star Rostami. In the wake of the Mahsa Amini demonstrations, both actors like their director, exiled in Europe decided to no longer take part in projects that required them to wear Irans compulsory hijab. If I am to act in only one film in my life, it better be something that I really believe in, Maleki adds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Casting actors to make a film in secret (at the risk of jail time or worse) is no trivial task. The strategies he employs, Rasoulof says, are akin to those employed by drug traffickers. Of course, we were only smuggling human values, he says half-jokingly, still amused to be put in that position. First, one of his colleagues would ring up a potential performer and take the temperature by saying: We're working on this short film and some aspects will not be quite in compliance. If you take part, you might get harassed a bit. What do you think? They would proceed based on their response. Rasoulof has become very good at identifying fellow freethinkers. Being a gangster of a certain experience since I've been to prison, I know who I can talk to, he says, relishing his defiant status. I mention its endearing that he is able to mine humor from these ordeals. There's no other way to keep going, Rasoulof replies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even once people were vetted and on board, the production couldnt let its guard down. Setareh and I both read the script before we started the shoot, but because of the security conditions, we were not allowed to take the script home with us, ever, recalls Rostami. Two people who eventually became part of the crew told me that they initially thought [the film] was a ruse devised by the regime to discover who wanted to work in underground cinema, remembers Rasoulof. Then my negotiator told me that he didn't trust those same two crew members. He thought we shouldn't bring them on because they were a risk. Loyalty was paramount. A loyal person who didnt yet know exactly what they were doing was more valuable than a seasoned professional whom they couldnt trust. Though Rasoulof admits hes had to sacrifice artistic quality at times, hes willing to pay that price. Being able to deflect censorship has its own value, he says. I had two choices: either not to make films, because I had no interest in making them under the dictates of censors, or make films this way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: The 27 best movie theaters in Los Angeles Rasoulof has no doubts that his film, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, will find its way to Iranian audiences through social media apps like Telegram. He encourages it, but he does mind the way its screened. I just request people kindly dont watch it on a mobile phone, but to make sure that they've got a nice big screen they can watch it on, he says, smiling. On the recent U.S. presidential elections, Rasoulof says that at least here, people have the choice to choose this dark time, as long as those who choose the dark time are the majority, however slim. In Iran, conversely, a small minority has taken the whole country hostage, leaving the population with no choice on whether to choose its own darkness or not. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The good news for Americans, he thinks, is that, hopefully, the Trump administration will only last a limited time, and the possibility to choose better in the future still remains. That right to self-determination and to amend or make mistakes is absent in Iran. For Iranians at the moment, the only hope is that another power may help us from outside, he says. Because the Islamic Republic, first and foremost, represses its own people. During this uncertain chapter in his life doing Hollywood interviews as a fugitive Rasoulof revels in a newfound normalcy hed never encountered before, derived from seemingly insignificant things. In Iran, whenever I was about to open the door to leave the house, I'd take a deep breath, and think, There might be people outside to take you away, he recalls. Now I never have to worry about this when I open my door, and that gives me great joy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That sense of safety, however, comes at a great emotional cost, familiar to anyone whos been uprooted from a place they once knew. I adore Iran and its culture, he says. That's the place where I got to know life, where I got to know what humanity means. It's the window I was granted onto the world. Away from their home country, Rasoulofs brave artists find solace in one another, holding on to hope for a new dawn in Iran. For me, home now is us standing together in solidarity as human beings and not leaving one another alone, Maleki says, wiping tears from her face. For me, home means being able to send a message to someone and say, Come and have some tea with me. In the world that Rasoulof still believes can exist, that invitation will one day lead them back to Iran. Sign up for Indie Focus, a weekly newsletter about movies and whats going on in the wild world of cinema. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The chamber where the Utah Department of Corrections carried out execution by lethal injection is pictured. (Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Corrections) COLUMBIA The death row inmate convicted for a 2003 standoff that left two officers dead is asking the state Supreme Court to halt his pending execution while an Abbeville County court determines whether he is mentally competent. Steven Bixby, 57, is one of four inmates who have exhausted their normal appeals processes and could receive an execution warrant in the coming months. If the high court sticks to its five-week schedule of executions when the process resumes Jan. 3, Bixby would be scheduled to die May 16. Steven Bixby. (Provided/SC Department of Corrections) His attorneys filed in both Abbeville County and the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bixby was convicted in 2007 of killing two police officers four years earlier during a daylong standoff on his familys Abbeville property. After state transportation officials tried to use eminent domain authority to expand a highway over a piece of the property, Bixby and his father stationed themselves at the houses windows and shot at anyone who approached. The deadly shootout on Dec. 8, 2003, ended with Bixby and both of his parents permanently removed from the property. Bixbys mother, Rita Bixby, was sentenced to life in prison for planning the ambush. His father, Arthur Bixby, was found unfit to stand trial because he had dementia. Both died in 2011, his mother in prison and his father in a mental institution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the states high court agrees to the stay, Bixby would join two other inmates who have no remaining appeals but are waiting decisions about whether they are competent for execution. Gary Terry, sentenced to death for raping and killing a woman in 1997, is awaiting a decision from a Lexington County judge as to whether the state can execute him. And John Wood is awaiting a hearing to determine whether he is competent to die for shooting and killing a Highway Patrol officer in Greenville in 2000. What happened? Tensions began days before the shooting, when Department of Transportation officials discovered someone had tampered with the surveyors stakes marking the expansion of S.C. Highway 72. The Bixby family told officials they did not believe the department actually held a right of way on the small corner of their property that officials planned to take over, according to court documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That weekend, the Bixbys repeatedly told friends and acquaintances they would resort to violence to keep transportation officials off their property. At one point, Bixby told a neighbor that theyll take my land over my cold, dead body, the neighbor later testified. Bixby told an ex-girlfriend that if anybody comes in the yard, we will shoot, and if the shooting starts, I wont come out alive, she testified. Fearing the situation might get violent, transportation officials asked local police officers to come with them to the meeting they had scheduled with the Bixbys that Monday morning. Sheriffs Deputy Danny Wilson, a 37-year-old father of five, was the first to arrive, around 9 a.m. Bixby shot Wilson as he approached the door, then dragged his body into the house, where Bixby handcuffed him and read him his Miranda Rights, he later said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Transportation officials arriving later found Wilsons car in the driveway but no sign of him. They circled the block a few times, noticing peepholes cut into the blinds. Other police officers arrived, and Bixby shot at them again through the windows. One shot fatally wounded Constable Donnie Ouzts, a 63-year-old father of two whose body other officers retrieved. For more than 12 hours, the Bixbys exchanged gunfire with local and state law enforcement officers. Using robots, police were able to survey the scene and see that Bixbys father had been injured. At around 11 p.m., Arthur Bixby surrendered to police, and Steven Bixby gave himself up soon after, according to court documents. Their bullet-riddled house stood as a reminder of the carnage until 2018, when an Abbeville resident bought the property in a tax lien sale and signed the deed to the county to demolish it. Bizarre and paranoid Previous evaluations found that Bixbys beliefs were unusual but did not veer into mental illness, meaning he could stand trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bixby and his family had extremist views about government authority and the U.S. Constitution, often aligning with those of the sovereign citizens movement of people who believe the law does not apply to them, according to court documents. Under the U.S. Supreme Courts determination, which finds inmates incompetent only if they are unable to grasp what their execution means or the link between their crime and the punishment, Bixby would still be eligible for execution, wrote forensic psychologist Richart DeMier, who evaluated Bixby between January and May for his defense team. But under the South Carolina Supreme Courts definition, Bixby should not face the death chamber, DeMier wrote in a report submitted to the high court as part of Tuesdays filing. South Carolina has two methods of determining competency. An inmate cant be executed if they dont understand the court proceedings, what they were tried for, the reason for their sentence, or what their sentence means. An inmate can also be found incompetent if they do not have sufficient capacity or ability to rationally communicate with their attorneys, according to the high courts decision in a previous competency case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During conversations with DeMier, Bixby was able to understand what execution meant and why he was sentenced to death, though he contended that his crime was justified. But his inability to understand the evidence against him makes him unable to understand the case, and his bizarre and inaccurate beliefs about the legal system have made him unable to communicate effectively with his attorneys, DeMier wrote. Bixbys attorneys cant trust any information he gives them about his background or his relationship with his parents because he refuses to engage with any potentially negative conversations about his parents and downplays his siblings reports of abuse, DeMier wrote. Bixby has also developed belief in bizarre and paranoid concepts, the evaluation found. The inmate told DeMier that he believed prison officials had injected him with a tracking device, that death row inmates are traded like hogs on the stock market, that he often found divine messages in numbers that he used to justify his crime, that officials destroyed his school and medical records, that the blood found on his clothing contains the DNA of Christ, and that crime scene photos show that an angel was present, DeMier wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Bixbys bizarre beliefs have apparently rendered him totally unable to understand the most basic legal procedures available at this stage of his case, DeMier wrote. Both of Bixbys parents showed symptoms of mental illness. Arthur Bixby was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and Rita Bixby was often described as volatile and paranoid. Corrections staff reported that she experienced delusions, according to court documents. The content of the delusions was not specified, but it is evident that many of Mr. Bixbys unusual beliefs were learned from his mother, DeMier wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two inmates have been executed since the state resumed in September carrying out death sentences. Executions were halted for years as the prisons agency struggled to resupply the drugs used for lethal injection. Legislators changed the default execution method to electrocution and added firing squad as an option, which the state Supreme Court upheld as constitutional in July. Lethal injection is also an option again after a law keeping all information about the supplier secret allowed officials to purchase more. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) District Attorney Jared Williams made the case for more funding to hire staff to get cases to court. For him, the 2025 budget is a winner. The win is for the victims in our community for those who are impacted by crime. Its everyones concern and its everyone responsibility and Im so grateful that the commission worked together to find a solution, said Williams. After missing last weeks deadline, city leaders approved the 2025 budget after the city administrator presented $1 million in new spending cuts, with commissioners directing those funds to the district attorneys office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have a pretty large jail population, and the fact of the matter is well never be able to move cases unless theres personnel in place to be able to help us with that, said Commissioner Jordan Johnson. Commissioners didnt accept another recommendation from the administrator that would have slashed $750,000 to non-government organizations like Safe Homes, The Arts Council and the museums. I am glad the governing body has approved for us to proceed with the budget without reducing our NGOs and that funding will actually come from contingency to make sure we continue to balance the budget, said City Administrator Tameka Allen. The administrator said work will continue on a new payment plan for the Sheriffs Office for commissioners to consider, but for now, the 2025 budget is a done deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We can also come back after the first of the year and look at move some things around. Im pleased with today, said Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight. Commissioners have next years budget one where a tax increase is -not- recommended. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Spanish King Felipe VI in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 25, 2024. At the invitation of Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) MADRID, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji expressed China's commitment to advancing China-Spain relations and fostering a relationship that supports the steady, long-term growth of China-Europe ties, during his official goodwill visit to Spain from Saturday to Wednesday. Zhao, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), met in Madrid with Spanish King Felipe VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and held talks with Pedro Rollan, president of the Spanish Senate, and Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, during the five-day visit. When meeting with Spanish King Felipe VI, Zhao conveyed to him the cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping, underscoring that in 2018, President Xi paid a successful state visit to Spain, ushering in a new stage of high-level development of bilateral relations. Zhao praised the strong bilateral ties and emphasized that China is committed to collaborating with Spain to deepen their traditional friendship, uphold mutual understanding and respect for each other's core interests and major concerns, achieve new cooperation achievements, and tackle global challenges like climate change together, ultimately striving for shared development and prosperity. Highlighting the close exchanges between the two heads of state and steady growth of the state-to-state ties, the Spanish King asked Zhao to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi. The King said as next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership, Spain will deepen its cooperation with China in areas such as trade and investment, new energy, climate change, culture, education, and the promotion of each other's languages, bringing fresh momentum to the growth of their relationship. When meeting with Sanchez, Zhao said Spain is an important strategic partner of China in Europe. China appreciates Spain's adherence to the one-China principle and is committed to strengthening their friendship, deepening mutual trust, and enhancing cooperation, while steadfastly upholding its policy of opening up. The top Chinese legislator pledged to enhance cooperation in economy, trade, investment, culture, and tourism, while highlighting the potential for further progress in areas such as electric vehicles, clean energy, advanced materials, and the green and digital economy. He stressed the need to establish a fair, safe, non-discriminatory, and predictable business environment for enterprises. China has always regarded Europe as a key priority in its diplomacy and an important partner in achieving Chinese-style modernization. China is willing to promote the high-level development of China-Spain relations to contribute to the steady and long-term growth of China-Europe relations, said Zhao. Sanchez said Spain abides by the one-China policy. Extending welcome for China's investment, the prime minister called for more cooperation in such fields as trade, electric vehicles, agricultural products, culture and sports. Spain is willing to play an active role in the European Union (EU) and push for better development of EU-China relations, said Sanchez, adding the Spanish side will strengthen coordination with China on international and multilateral affairs, uphold the authority of international law, and work together to safeguard global peace and stability. When holding talks respectively with Rollan and Armengol, Zhao said that exchanges between legislative bodies constitute an important part of the state-to-state ties. The National People's Congress of China is willing to strengthen exchanges with the Spanish Senate and the Congress of Deputies at all levels, promote mutual learning on legislation and supervision, and timely formulate, revise and approve legal documents conducive to bilateral cooperation. Zhao underscored the readiness to advance the exchanges between the two countries' legislators, and cement bilateral collaboration within multilateral frameworks such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He also explained the People's Congress system, China's fundamental political system. Rollan said that Spain cherishes its enduring friendship with China and is committed to being a trustworthy friend. Praising the exemplary role of China-Spain investment cooperation on the global stage, he expressed hope for further cultural exchanges to enhance mutual understanding and reinforce the friendship between the two nations. Armengol said that the Spanish Congress of Deputies is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the National People's Congress of China, and the Spanish deputies hope to actively participate in friendly exchanges between Spain and China. Zhao also visited Barcelona, where he met with Salvador Illa, president of the regional government of Catalonia, and visited there a joint venture founded by Chinese carmaker Chery and its Spanish partner Ebro, voicing his hope for deepening cooperation between the two countries at the local level and jointly promote green development. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 25, 2024. At the invitation of Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, holds talks with Pedro Rollan, president of the Spanish Senate, in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 25, 2024. At the invitation of Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, holds talks with Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 26, 2024. At the invitation of Armengol, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Salvador Illa, president of the regional government of Catalonia, in Barcelona, Spain, Nov. 23, 2024. At the invitation of Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, visits a joint venture founded by Chinese carmaker Chery and its Spanish partner Ebro in Barcelona, Spain, Nov. 23, 2024. At the invitation of Francina Armengol, speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Spain from Nov. 23 to 27. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) (Bloomberg) -- Australias plan to ban social media for children under the age of 16 is expected to pass parliament within days after it was signed off in a truncated Senate inquiry, even as lawmakers from across the political divide expressed discomfort at the rushed nature of the bills. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Senates Committee on Environment and Communications said in a report released late Tuesday that the legislation should be passed, with amendments to prohibit tech giants from requesting government-issued identification such as passports for age verification. This was despite submissions from almost all of the worlds largest social media providers, including Meta, TikTok and X, expressing serious concerns about the bill. Elon Musks X Corp. foreshadowed the possibility of legal action when it labeled the policy as potentially unlawful. Subscribe to The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple, Spotify, on YouTube, or wherever you listen. Following the inquirys recommendation, the legislation is expected to come to a vote in Parliament by Thursday evening, when it will likely pass due to support from the center-left Labor government and the center-right Liberal-National opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However there is growing concern among some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the speed at which the bills have moved. Opposition Senator Matt Canavan said in a dissenting opinion in the report that the legislation had been forced through the Parliament with a haste not befitting its radical and unprecedented nature. Canavan said in total the bills to ban children from social media will have had less than one week of public scrutiny. The public first saw the legislation to ban children under 16 from social media last Thursday, submissions closed on Friday, a public hearing was held on Monday and the committees report is due on Tuesday. The bill is likely to be voted on by the end of this sitting week, he said in his dissenting opinion. Joining Canavan in opposing the bills is the left-wing Greens Party, which said the speed at which the laws were being put into place was rushed, reckless and goes against expert evidence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the proposed law, social media platforms will be responsible for policing the ban on children under age 16 from having accounts on popular services such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. It is unclear at this stage how services will verify the age of users. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has experimented with a new, rapidly laid temporary airfield surface, which should make it easier to conduct expeditionary aircraft operations, something that is of increasing relevance across the Indo-Pacific region. The trial, which used a temporary surface known as Dura-Base, involved an RAAF F-35A stealth fighter at RAAF Base Tindal, a remote installation south of Darwin, in Australias Northern Territory. Dura-Base comprises heavy-duty mats that can be locked together, providing a continuous stable surface. The F-35A involved was from the RAAFs 75 Squadron, resident at Tindal, and one of three frontline RAAF squadrons now flying the jet, along with an operational training unit. Australia has 72 F-35As on order. Ground crew lay the temporary surface known as Dura-Base at RAAF Base Tindal, in Australias Northern Territory. Australian Defense Force While the RAAF confirms that Dura-Base can be used for the rapid construction of taxiways, aprons, and other hardstands, even in remote areas, a conventional runway is still required for the actual takeoff and landing, with published photos showing the F-35A using the Dura-Base strip as a taxiway to access an existing runway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trial at Tindal was conducted by a team from 65 Air Base Recovery Squadron and was coordinated by RAAF Headquarters Air Capability Enablers Branch. Embedded in the team at Tindal were personnel from U.S. Air Force air base recovery and engineering squadrons. RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory. Google Earth A 2,000-square-meter [21,500-square-foot] apron was built in a matter of days and then successfully tested by a 75 Squadron F-35, explained Flying Officer Georgia Foristal, the construction lead for the trial at Tindal. This was the first known use of Dura-Base for a fifth-generation aircraft, Flying Officer Foristal added. It is worth noting at the point that RAAF Base Tindal has also been selected for upgrade work, funded by the U.S. government, which will include an expanded apron with space for six B-52 bombers, squadron operations facilities, and maintenance infrastructure. Once completed, the air base will be much better able to host bomber detachments, as well as tankers and fighters, with work also addressing fuel and munitions storage and mission planning buildings. You can read more about the plans for the base here as well as its possible involvement in recent U.S. airstrikes on Yemen, here. Part of the plans for the modernization work at RAAF Base Tindal, showing six B-52s on the new apron. sam.gov RAAF Tindal seen in May of 2024 with the new apron for supporting U.S. bombers under construction. Google Earth Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The type of matting used in Dura-Base is already used by the oil-drilling industry, specifically when a temporary load-bearing work platform needs to be set up on low-strength soils. That same technology has now been proven capable of supporting military aircraft. Squadron Leader Sean Jamieson, of the Air Capability Enablers Branch, explained: Because of its performance, Dura-Base was an ideal product to trial as a rapid aircraft taxiway and apron expansion capability for temporary operations in areas normally difficult for expedient pavement construction due to remoteness. As well as the recent trial with the F-35A, it has previously been demonstrated that Dura-Base can handle the much larger and heavier C-17A airlifter. This experiment was carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back in 2007. Other trials have involved a U.S. Air Force KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft. An earlier Dura-Base trial involving a U.S. Air Force KC-135E tanker. JWA Oilfield Supplies On the one hand, the RAAF sees Dura-Base as a potential repair solution, something that would help keep a traditional air base operating even if it were to sustain damage during a conflict. This is of particular relevance in the north of Australia, which is an area of increasing strategic importance amid growing tensions with the Chinese military in the wider region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Squadron Leader Jamieson described Dura-Base as a very promising ADR [airfield damage repair] capability for Australia that will be used in a number of future applications. Aviators from 65 Air Base Recovery Squadron assembling Dura-Base at RAAF Base Tindal. Australian Defense Force FLGOFF Michael Thomas Meanwhile, outside of established airfields, Dura-Base is being eyed as a means of helping generate airpower even in areas that dont have such well-established air bases or ones that are not properly equipped to support sustained military aircraft operations. These could include temporary airstrips set up in northern Australia, as alternatives to established air base infrastructure. Beyond Australias own borders, Dura-Base would have clear utility for the kinds of agile operations that are increasingly seen as critical to supporting airpower in the Indo-Pacific region during any major contingency, especially during a future conflict involving China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this respect, its also notable that the U.S. military was involved in the experiment at Tindal since its also evaluating new ways of ensuring that its aircraft can effectively operate in expeditionary-type campaigns, including in more contested environments. Working with the USAF members was a very positive experience and further enhanced interoperability between the RAAF and PACAF [Pacific Air Forces] regarding airfield damage repair capability, Flying Officer Foristal noted. A RAAF F-35A, EA-18G Growler, and F/A-18F Super Hornet fly alongside a U.S. Air Force B-52H from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron based at Guam during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21. Australian Department of Defense There already exist similar types of temporary runway surfaces, most notably the AM-2 matting that has been in use for decades, including by the RAAF, as well as by the U.S. Marine Corps, to create ad-hoc airstrips in the jungles of Vietnam. AM-2 aluminum planks are unloaded for onward transit to the temporary airstrip used by the U.S. Amrien Corps at Chu Lai, South Vietnam, in May 1965. National Archives Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Dura-Base offers advantages over this, according to Squadron Leader Jamieson, at least for taxiways and aprons. Although AM-2 matting has been successfully used since the 1960s, Dura-Base was demonstrated to be faster and easier to install, he said. In particular, the new type of matting needs very little in the way of surface preparation before being laid. While AM-2 consists of aluminum planks, Dura-Base is much easier to handle, primarily being made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which also helps minimize the impact on the ground. According to JWA Oilfield Supplies, which provides Dura-Base to the oil industry in Australia, its possible to lay 400 linear meters (1,300 feet) of the matting in a single day. An F-35A from 75 Squadron taxis at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory. Australian Defense Force LAC Brandon Murray Using an RAAF F-35A to prove the Dura-Base concept is interesting as this is an aircraft that usually requires some highly specialist infrastructure and maintenance demands. It also reflects the U.S. Air Forces efforts to introduce the stealth fighter to austere airfield operations in the Indo-Pacific. Back in 2021, TWZ reported on an exercise on the island of Guam where F-35As were joined by F-16s operating from an austere airstrip at the northwest end of the island. A U.S. Air Force F-35A taxis during austere operations on Andersen AFBs Northwest Field. U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Jonathan Valdes Montijo This exercise was part of the U.S. Air Forces continuing efforts toward developing its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) initiative. This seeks to provide dispersed operating locations that can be accessed by U.S. Air Force combat aircraft during a crisis. The strategy is largely a result of the growing threat posed by Chinese missile and air attacks in the Pacific theater. Central to this is also moving aircraft rapidly and unpredictably between locations to stay outside of the enemys targeting cycle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, the RAAF, the U.S. Air Force, and other allied air forces that operate in the Pacific region are faced with the likelihood that a major conflict with China would see established bases damaged if not wiped out by ballistic missiles or by other means. With relatively few major air bases in the region, facilities like RAAF Base Tindal and Andersen Air Force Base on Guam would be among Chinas highest-priority targets, were it to go to war with either of these countries. U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptors assigned to the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron along with Royal Australian Air Force F-35As from 75 Squadron and a KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft from 33 Squadron, demonstrate a show of force by conducting an elephant walk at RAAF Base Tindal, Australia, July 31, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Spencer Tobler This reality has pushed the U.S. military to look for alternative options, including the forward bases at Wake Island and Tinian Island. Australia, too, is looking at ways to ensure airpower can be generated even if access to major air bases is denied or reduced. It can be imagined that an existing runway, or even a highway strip, from which F-35s also now operate, including with the U.S. Marine Corps, could, with the addition of Dura-Base, rapidly add taxiways, aprons, and aircraft servicing areas, transforming an austere airstrip into a much more functional installation, even if only temporarily. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overall, the growing importance of the Joint Strike Fighter within allied air forces means the stealth jet is increasingly involved in testing such concepts. As well as the recent experiment at Tindal and the U.S. Air Forces exercise at Guams Northwest Field, the U.S. Marine Corps is also increasingly focused on austere operations for both its short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs and its F-35C carrier-capable variants. Marine F-35Cs have been put through their paces for Pacific-style expeditionary operations during maneuvers at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in 29 Palms, which you can read about here. A U.S. Marine Corps F-35C about to catch a mobile arresting gear on an expeditionary runway at 29 Palms. James Deboer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Furthermore, there has been a recent suggestion that the ship-based Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear, known as EMALS and AAG, respectively, could be adapted for use on land. This would have clear implications for the kinds of expeditionary campaigns that would be fought in the Indo-Pacific theater, without access to large traditional runways. While there are various options for pursuing austere aircraft operations in the Indo-Pacific, they primarily focus on aircraft deployments that are more agile and less predictable, involving small packages of aircraft flying from remote locations, and potentially moving on again quickly. These kinds of operations also have relevance elsewhere in the world, most notably in Europe, where Russia can hold established NATO air bases under threat from missile attack. While it remains to be seen whether the RAAF or perhaps even the U.S. Air Force begins to use Dura-Base on a more regular basis, the recent trial at RAAF Base Tindal further underscores air commanders growing aspirations to make airpower more survivable and flexible. Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com Australia's Senate passed legislation Wednesday that, once signed by the country's leader who has strongly endorsed it, will ban children under the age of 16 from using most social media platforms. The new law will give Australia the tightest restrictions of any democracy in the world on children's use of hugely popular social media apps. The Senate passed the bill by 34 votes to 19 on Thursday, a day after Australia's House of Representatives passed the same bill by a sweeping margin of 102 votes to 13. Australia's major parties in the House all supported the bill, which will see social media companies such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for failing to prevent people under 16 from creating accounts on their platforms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, has called for the bill to be delayed. In a statement posted online Tuesday, Meta said it was "concerned the government is rushing this legislation without adequate consultation or evidence and there are still many unknowns with respect to its implementation." "The Government's approach will likely require each app provider to collect personal identification or biometric data from all Australians in order to prevent under 16s from accessing their services, an inefficient and burdensome process for everyone," a Meta spokesperson said. Meta also pointed to a policy it introduced earlier this year on its Instagram platform, Instagram teen accounts, which limits who can contact teenagers via their accounts and attempts to moderate the content that young users see. In a post shared last week on the X platform that he owns, tech billionaire Elon Musk also condemned the Australian bill and said it seemed to him "like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians." Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discusses legislation that would make 16 the minimum age for children to use social media, at a press conference in Canberra, Nov. 7, 2024. / Credit: Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP Other independent bodies and non-profit organizations have also taken aim at the bill, voicing concern that young people's human rights could be restricted by it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CEO of the Save the Children charity Mat Tinkler said in a statement earlier this month that while he welcomes government efforts to protect children from harm online, the solution should be regulating social media companies, rather than introducing a blanket ban. "We are asking the government to reconsider this legislative approach and instead use the momentum of this moment to hold the social media giants to account, to demand that they embed safety into their platforms rather than adding it as an afterthought, and to work closely with experts and children and young people themselves to make online spaces safer, as opposed to off-limits," Tinkler said. The Australian Human Rights Commission, an independent government body, expressed its own "serious reservations" over the proposed law in an analysis published last week. "There are less restrictive alternatives available that could achieve the aim of protecting children and young people from online harms, but without having such a significant negative impact on other human rights. One example of an alternative response would be to place a legal duty of care on social media companies," the analysis said. "We also need to help children and young people to better navigate online spaces by ensuring the national curriculum includes a specific focus on teaching digital literacy and online safety." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected criticism of the proposed law as he addressed the parliament Monday. "There are common sense exemptions. We want to make sure that young people can continue to access health and education related services Headspace, YouTube, Google Classroom as well as messaging services and online games," he said. The Australian leader added that there would be "very strong and strict privacy requirements to protect people's personal information, including an obligation to destroy information provided once age has been verified." Despite the criticism, the legislation remains popular among Australians, according to recent polling data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A YouGov survey released Tuesday showed 77% of Australians back the ban on under-16s, and 87% of said they supported the introduction of stronger penalties for social media companies that fail to comply with regulations. Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Former Navy secretary says Trump's Defense Secretary pick will make the military "weaker" Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The Australian Senate was debating a ban on children younger than 16 years old from social media Thursday after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported the age restriction. The bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. It is likely to be passed by the Senate on Thursday, the Parliaments final session for the year and potentially the last before elections, which are due within months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The major parties support for the ban all but guarantees the legislation will become law. But many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences. Unaligned Sen. Jacqui Lambie complained about the limited amount of time the government gave the Senate to debate the age restriction, which she described as undercooked. I thought this was a good idea. A lot of people out there thought it was a good idea until we looked at the detail and, let's be honest, there's no detail, Lambie told the Senate. Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms, Kovacic told the Senate. This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit, she added. Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minor Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support. This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off, Shoebridge told the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly carried the bill 102 votes to 13. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland urged senators to pass the bill which she said reflected the Australian community's view. The ... government is on the side of supporting parents and protecting young people, Rowland told the House. Once the legislation becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced. The platforms complained that the law would be unworkable, and urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how young children could be excluded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of general elections due by May. The government hopes that voters will reward it for responding to parents' concerns about their children's addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents. Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines parental authority to make decisions for their children. Opponents of the bill also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety. Austrian Ambassador to Ukraine Arad Benko has said that Austria is prepared to welcome more refugees if the situation in Ukraine worsens. Source: Arad Benko in a comment for Suspilne Details: Benko said that Ukrainians are highly motivated to integrate into Austrian society, are learning German and joining the labour market, which is why Austria sees no issue with welcoming more refugees. Quote from Benko: "Integrating and welcoming Ukrainian refugees is relatively not an issue, because Ukrainians are really keen to learn the language. They gladly integrate into the [labour] market. Of course, 80% of refugees are women with children, so thats a bit more difficult. But I think if theres a need, Austria is a hospitable country and I see no issues. If there is a new wave [of refugees], Austrians have a big heart and will welcome Ukrainians." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: On 25 June, the Council of the European Union extended temporary protection to more than 4 million Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression until 4 March 2026. On 4 September, Switzerlands Federal Council decided to extend the special protection status S for Ukrainian refugees until March 2026 until March 2026 and to extend the relevant support measures for those covered by it. On 23 October, Germany's Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, suggested reviewing the legal status of Ukrainian refugees to reduce social welfare costs and encourage more Ukrainians receiving benefits to join the workforce. According to a survey by the Munich-based ifo Institute, almost a quarter of Ukrainian refugees in Europe do not want to return to Ukraine in the long term. Immediately after fleeing, almost 60% of refugees wanted to return to Ukraine as soon as they felt safe again. "Over time, this figure has fallen sharply by an average of 4.7 percentage points per 100 days," the surveys authors reported. Support UP or become our patron! TUNKHANNOCK, WYOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Its a crime that is often hidden in plain sight, and it can happen anywhere, even in northeastern Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, law enforcement, educators, healthcare professionals, and more gathered for the NEPA Task Force Against Human Trafficking Regional Training Program. If I can save just one life with my story, everything that I have been through is worth it, Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) Training Specialist and Survivor Leader Kelley Alsobrook said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alsobrook is a survivor turned training specialist and activist and works with TAT. She shared her story with more than 200 people at Tuesdays regional training program, organized by the NEPA Task Force Against Human Trafficking. Fundraiser held for Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center The conference helps professionals better identify and combat the ongoing epidemic. Experts say its a crime where victims are often hiding in plain sight, in places like hotels, grocery stores, and even rest stops. Is that person able to look you in the eye? Does that person have any bruises on them? Are they fearful? Or do they come off extremely brash? Alsobrook explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The setting of rural Wyoming County emphasized that human trafficking can take place anywhere, and, anyone can fall victim. What were seeing more and more is elders. Were seeing adult children moving into their parents homes, taking over their homes, putting their parents out to work, sex and labor, and the parents will never admit to anybody its happening, said City of Baltimore Director of Forensic Nursing Debra Holbrook. Holbrook works directly with victims. These are our neighbors, these are the children in our communities. These are the kids were teaching in school, theyre our patients. Theyre people you know, Holbrook continued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tuesdays event serves as a reminder: when it comes to helping victims, compassion and collaboration, go a long 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 PAhomepage.com. LOS ANGELES Authorities are asking the public for help Wednesday in locating an at risk missing 16-year-old and her infant daughter who disappeared in Palmdale. Antonia Cocom Ajqui was last seen with her 3-month-old daughter Katarina Lucia Chovon Cocom in the 37900 block of San Carlos Way at around noon Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department posted in a special bulletin on X. Investigators believe Antonia may have been headed to the 300 block of South Westlake Avenue in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles but did not provide any further details about the disappearance. Antonia Cocom Ajqui (L) and her daughter Katarina Lucia Chovon Cocom are seen in an image provided by law enforcement. (Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department) She was described as standing 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 114 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Antonia was last seen wearing a red shirt, black pants and white shoes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Katarina is 1 foot 10 inches tall and weighs 11 pounds. She is bald with brown eyes and was last seen wearing a pink onesie, according to the Sheriffs Department. Family members are concerned for the well-being of Antonia and Katrina. Authorities asked that anyone with information on their whereabouts contact the Sheriffs Departments Palmdale Station at 661-272-2400. Those who prefer to provide information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or by reaching out on the L.A. Crime Stoppers 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 KTLA. Authorities are searching for an inmate who escaped from a New Hampshire hospital Wednesday morning. John Pownall escaped from Exeter Hospital around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday morning despite the 57-year-olds court order to remain at the facility until medically able to return to the Rockingham County Jail, according to the Rockingham County Sheriffs office. Authorities say 36-year-old Ashley Gustafson helped Pownall escape from the hospital and field in a white KIA sedan with a New Hampshire license plate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say Pownall removed his ankle monitoring device in a CVS parking lot in Stratham, New Hampshire. Both individuals have arrest warrants out for them. Anyone with knowledge of their whereabouts is asked to contact the police and to not approach them. 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 OSLO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Lebanon this week, and called for negotiations to be launched on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict which, according to Lebanese health authorities, has killed 3,823 people and wounded 15,859 others in Lebanon. The ceasefire will take effect on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), and over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army will regain control of its territory, while Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home. "The hostilities have caused immense death, human suffering and destruction...The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is extremely challenging, with over 1.2 million people displaced from their homes. I hope this agreement will make it possible for the displaced in both Lebanon and Israel to return to their homes," Eide said in a statement. "It is now crucial to initiate meaningful negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, to ensure that the people of Gaza will receive lifesaving humanitarian aid, and to secure the release of the hostages," added the foreign minister. Meanwhile, the Dutch government also welcomed the ceasefire deal on Wednesday. "It's important for all parties to commit themselves to it now, so that the situation can de-escalate and citizens on both sides of the border can return home safely," Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on social platform X. Also on X, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the agreement is "a vital step towards ending hostilities and regional de-escalation. It is important that all parties commit to the ceasefire to achieve a lasting security, stability and peace." The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said the ceasefire is a "crucial step" in achieving regional stability. "This shows that with will and commitment peace is possible - let this also inspire efforts in Gaza," the ministry said on its X account. The ministry stressed that it is vital to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon, and implement the United Nations 1701 resolution adopted in 2006, which calls for the full cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese political group Hezbollah. Slovenia's foreign ministry also stressed the need to support the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese armed forces. On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden issued a joint statement announcing the achievement of the deal. "The announcement will create "the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line," the statement said. "The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented, and enforced, and remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence," they noted. Heathrow has threatened to abandon plans for a third runway unless Sir Keir Starmer urgently supports the project, the airports chief executive has said. Thomas Woldbye warned that Heathrow was not able to afford to keep investing money in the proposed development without knowing whether the Government was fully on board. The Heathrow boss said: We need to get around the table and say, do we want this? And we need to do that relatively fast because we cannot keep spending money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That requires discussion. Its not just Heathrow, its the airlines, its the Government, its Parliament, its everybody around this. We cant do that just as a single company. We are the tactical executors on the plan but transportation strategy is a government issue. Mr Woldbye said he needed to know by next year whether the Prime Minister was prepared to support the third runway, which has been in the offing for two decades. He said: It would be my ambition that, by the end of next year, we will have taken a decision. Otherwise, we keep on talking about it and spending money and time and effort on it, and I think thats not worth it. Many Labour MPs have voiced their opposition to a third runway owing to the impact it would have on carbon emissions and noise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Government has said the plan would have to meet certain criteria to address these concerns, without saying exactly what those would be. Mr Woldbye admitted a third runway would make it a bit more challenging for Britain to meet carbon targets, although he stressed that the airports expansion could support the Governments goal for growth. Heathrow doesnt need the Government to agree on every detail of the project but would require enough commitment to convince its owners to press ahead, Mr Woldbye said. He said: Id have to be able to put it to the shareholders that if we do this, the Government will back us. I think wed need something quite tangible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heathrows backers include Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, the Qatar Investment Authority, Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund and French private equity firm Ardian. Mr Woldbye, who took over at Heathrow 13 months ago, said there was positive momentum in discussions with the Government, which comes after Rachel Reeves suggested earlier this year that she would support airport expansion more generally. The Heathrow chief was speaking at the Airlines 2024 conference. Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, speaking at the same conference, reiterated her support for airport expansion in principle, while adding that it is obviously incumbent on airports to demonstrate their compliance with climate targets when submitting applications. The Government was contacted for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heathrows owners have also shown quite strong support [for the third runway] given the right conditions, Mr Woldbye said. The airports passenger capacity currently sits at around 85m, although that could swell to 95m following work to expand Terminal 2 and Terminal 5. Still, that would deliver an annual capacity gain of less than 1.5pc over the 12 years it would take to build a new runway, well short of the anticipated growth in the air travel market. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By most accounts, President-elect Donald Trump bungled the federal response to COVID-19, publicly downplaying concern about a virus that he privately admitted was deadly stuff. Its going to disappear. One day its like a miracle it will disappear, Trump said in Feb. 2020, at the same time he was admitting to journalist Bob Woodward that the virus was spreading fast and was more lethal than even your strenuous flus. Dr. Jay Bhattacharaya, Trumps pick to lead the National Institutes of Health and oversee some $47 billion in research funding, agreed with Trump at the time; the public version, at least. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a March 2020 essay he co-authored with a fellow Stanford University scientist, Bhattacharaya, an epidemiologist at Stanford University, argued that COVID-19 was far less deadly than people feared. Although today The New York Times describes him as a doctor who opposed lockdowns, he inadvertently made the case for them in The Wall Street Journal only to then try and knock that case down. If its true that the novel coronavirus would kill millions without shelter-in-place orders and quarantines, then the extraordinary measures being carried out in cities and states around the country are surely justified, Bhattacharaya wrote. But theres little evidence to confirm that premise and projections of the death toll could plausibly be orders of magnitude too high. Bhattacharaya argued that public health experts were almost certainly overstating the danger of the novel coronavirus, suggesting the fatality rate was far below what we were being told. If the number of actual infections is much larger than the number of cases orders of magnitude larger then the true fatality rate is much lower as well, he wrote (it could make the difference between an epidemic that kills 20,000 and one that kills two million, he explained). Thats not only plausible but likely based on what we know so far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indeed, the actual mortality rate, he argued, is likely one-tenth of the flu mortality rate of 0.1%. COVID-19 would go on to kill more than 1.2 million Americans, according to the CDC, and the mortality rate, even after vaccines and repeat infections, is still worse than the flu. While Bhattacharaya was right that a 20,000- or 40,000-death epidemic is far less severe a problem than one that kills two million, he was wrong that this would be that sort of outbreak. And critics argue his solution, premised on the virus being far less deadly than it proved to be, would have killed many more by letting COVID-19 rip through the country as all but the elderly and immunocompromised went about their regular business. Critics of early 2020 lockdowns, like Bhattacharaya, point to similar mortality rates in states with leaders who adopted different approaches. Early on, for example, New York and California were worse off than Florida in terms of COVID-19 deaths evidence, to some, that there was no downside to letting everyone enjoy a pre-vaccine happy hour at Applebees. But a 2023 study published by The Lancet found that state governments uses of protective mandates were associated with lower infection rates, as were mask use, lower mobility, and higher vaccination rate, while vaccination rates were associated with lower death rates. And while Florida had a lower death rate than some blue states, a lead author of the study noted that was because Floridians continued to follow best practices wearing masks, avoiding public gatherings even after their political leaders began telling them not to. (Post-vaccine, Floridians, vaccinated at lower rates, are dying more often.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In other words, Bhattacharayas claim to fame in conservative circles that he was an early, prescient critic of draconian lockdowns requires ignoring that he grossly underestimated the danger of COVID-19 and that his advice, if followed, would have resulted in millions more pre-vaccine infections and ensuing deaths. Now, though, Bhattacharaya is set to be a key player in shaping any future response to a viral outbreak, winning the race to lead NIH after earning the support of Peter Thiel, a far-right billionaire who previously sponsored Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Robert F Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist who Trump picked to lead the Department of Health (Bhattacharaya has not expressed flat opposition to vaccines but has instead cherry-picked studies to suggest their benefits are in doubt, while ignoring those that affirm they save lives). If confirmed, he will be well positioned to steer billions of dollars in funding toward researchers who share his biases and away from those pursuing the sort of science no longer favored in Washington. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Speaking to The Washington Post earlier this year, Bhattacharaya framed his agenda in populist terms, claiming he would change how scientific research is funded to reduce the power of officials like the now-retired Anthony Fauci. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I would restructure the NIH to allow there to be many more centers of power, so that you couldnt have a small number of scientific bureaucrats dominating a field for a very long time, he said. Whether the new bureaucrats will be interested in ceding their power, or amassing it for themselves remains to be seen. Elizabeth Jacobs, a cancer and nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, summed up much of the scientific communitys feelings about a self-styled renegade leading NIH. This is bad news for public health, she commented. Every step Trump takes in his nominations, she added, is to dismantle community institutions. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) A Bakersfield urologist has been accused of gross negligence and incompetence in connection with the 2022 death of a patient during surgery, according to a report filed with the state medical board. The allegations against Dr. David Horovitz could lead to the revocation or suspension of his license. The accusation was filed Friday by Reji Varghese, executive director of the Medical Board of California. The board will consider the allegations at a future hearing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A message left for Horovitz on Tuesday was not immediately returned. On Feb. 18, 2022, Horovitz performed surgery on a 63-year-old man at Mercy Hospital to remove a cancerous growth from a kidney. During surgery, which was performed robotically, a vascular structure was inadvertently injured and Horovitz could not find the source, according to the accusation. He took several steps to try to control the bleeding, but it worsened, the document says. He called for help from vascular surgeons, according to the accusation. While waiting, Horovitz fired a stapler at what he believed was the patients main renal artery the vessel supplying blood to the kidney, the document says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He hit the aorta, according to the accusation, cutting off blood flow to the lower extremities. The filing says an entire section of the aorta was missing. Vascular surgeons were unable to repair the aorta despite multiple grafts, according to the accusation. Patient 1 died after approximately 12 hours of surgery. The accusation says firing a stapler without clearly identifying the renal artery was an extreme departure from the standard of care, adding surgeons must be aware of other structures in the area including the aorta to avoid injury. A stapler should never be fired when anatomy is obscured by bleeding, the filing says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The accusation says Horovitz instead should have continued holding pressure until the vascular surgeons arrived or converted from robotic to open surgery. But Horovitz didnt know how to proceed to open surgery without a skilled bedside assistant to provide pressure, the filing says. A second person wasnt necessary, the accusation says. Horovitz could have used the robotic arm to provide pressure something he didnt know, according to the accusation. Due to (Horovitzs) unfamiliarity with the conversion to open algorithm, a series of missteps occurred that resulted in disaster, the accusation says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. The heads of government of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, and Sweden agreed to strengthen their support to Ukraine in the coming months to counter Russia's full-scale war during a summit in Harpsund on Nov. 27. Baltic and Nordic countries as well as Warsaw have been Kyiv's staunchest supporters since the start of the all-out war, providing the country with military, financial and humanitarian aid. "Ukraine must be able to prevail against Russias aggression, to ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace," the nations' joint statement read. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In the coming months, we will step up our support, including to the Ukrainian defense industry, and we will invest in making more ammunition available to Ukraine." The announcement come at a critical time, as Moscow's forces make their fastest gains in months in Ukraine's east and North Korean troops are stationed in Russia's Kursk Oblast. The countries described Russia as "the most significant and direct threat to our security in the long term." According to the statement, the countries support expanding sanctions against Moscow and strengthening their defense and resistance against conventional and hybrid attacks. "We will work together to constrain, contest and counter Russias aggressive and highly confrontational actions as well as to ensure its full international accountability for the crime of aggression," the statement read. Read also: Norway may increase aid to Ukraine to $2.7 billion in 2025 Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) A Baton Rouge police officer was hurt in a crash on Airline Highway Tuesday morning. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, a motor officer was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries after a car pulled out in front of him from a private driveway in the 9500 block of Airline Highway. The crash happened around 10:20 a.m. We ask that you keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers as we wish for his speedy recovery, BRPD said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Louisiana Traffic Records Data Report, there were 392 serious injuries in motorcycle accidents in 2023. 2 hurt after 18-wheeler overturns, catches fire in East Baton Rouge Parish, LSP says Latest News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com. HONOLULU (KHON2) We always talk about Black Friday but dont forget the day after is the lesser-known Small Business Saturday. Its probably more important because its a day to support local business in your communities. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You According to Cameron Nakashima with the Better business Bureau, here are some really cool ways to support local: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 by American Express and it encourages us to celebrate local businesses at a time when many of us are focused more on national chains. So far, it has made a big economic impact for small businesses and for their communities. According to American Express, for every dollar spent at a small business in the United States, approximately 68-cents is reinvested back into the local economy. LIST: Whats open and closed in Hawaii for Thanksgiving, Black Friday The BBB encourages shoppers to participate because many of the businesses they work with and accredit are small local shops that are worth supporting and celebrating! Look up events and deals in your area. Find out what local events are happening in your area on the Small Business Saturday website or visit your local chamber of commerce or merchants association. Invite your friends and family. Unlike Black Friday, this isnt a blitz so plan to take your time at the stores and make it a whole thing and invite a friend or family member to join. Dont just shop small, eat small! Small, independently owned restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops would love to invite new customers while theyre out and about. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) The Broome County Sheriffs Office is currently looking for Joshua Cleveland on an outstanding warrant and is asking the residents of Broome County for assistance. Cleveland is wanted for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree and Bail Jumping in the Second Degree. Cleveland is described as a white male with brown hair and hazel eyes. He is five feet eleven inches tall and weighs approximately 160 pounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cleveland was last known to frequent the Taylor Avenue area of the Village of Endicott. Anyone with information on the location of Cleveland is asked to contact the Broome County Sheriffs Office. Tips may be submitted electronically or by phone and will remain confidential. The Broome County Sheriffs Office can be contacted at their tip line at (607) 778-1196 or Warrants Division at (607) 778-2923 or (607) 778-2933. Information can also be submitted on their website, gobroomecounty.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34. BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) United Way of Southern West Virginia was making preparations on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, to help those who need a warm and safe place to stay overnight during the cold weather. The Beckley Community United Methodist Church at 217 South Heber Street in Beckley will serve as a warming center, beginning on December 1, 2024. United Way Executive Director, Trena Dacal said the center will open when the temperature dips to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, while also considering the wind chill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beckley psychiatrist offers advice for facing holiday gatherings after an election She said people who need a warm place to spend the night during nights below 15 degrees are welcome at the church fellowship hall. Anyone in need of shelter, whether they be housing insecure, or having issues in their home with heat, or if they just need a safe, warm place to shelter overnight, it will be open on those nights the weather standard is met. We encourage anyone who needs that shelter to come out, said Ms. Dacal. What are the top 10 Police dog breeds? Those who want to volunteer may email Dacal on the United Way of Southern West Virginias website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS. RIGA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Baltic Air Policing Mission on Wednesday ended its deployment in Latvia with a ceremony at the military airbase in Lielvarde. During the Mission in Latvia, which lasted from March to November, fighter jets were scrambled from the military base 54 times in response to alert calls. The mission will now return to Estonia's renovated Amari base, where Dutch F-35 fighter jets will be deployed in December. This was the mission's first rotation in Latvia, as the Amari base was undergoing renovation. NATO member states have been taking part in the Baltic air policing mission on a rotational basis since March 2004, when the Baltic states were admitted to the Alliance. By David Ljunggren and Kyaw Soe Oo OTTAWA (Reuters) -The exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition is advising people in the Eastern European nation not to protest against elections in January, saying it is too risky to intervene in a ritual expected to hand President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term. Lukashenko's election win in 2020 triggered unprecedented demonstrations by protesters accusing him of rigging the poll. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police quelled the protests and human rights groups say some 30,000 were detained for various periods of time. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in 2020 and later went into exile, said she feared another crackdown if people went out into the streets this time. "We can't allow protests at the moment, because for four years people experience such brutal repressions," she told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday in Ottawa. "These so-called elections are not the trigger that people need. So I'm asking people not to sacrifice themselves," she said. If Belarusians were forced to go to the polls, she said, they could choose an existing option on the ballot form allowing them to vote against all the candidates - in effect not registering a vote for anyone standing for office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We ask them to put this tick in front of 'Against Everybody' ... if you are not forced to go to the polling station, you can ignore (the election)," she said. Lukashenko and his supporters deny he has rigged elections and say the overwhelming majority of voters back him. "I don't decide whether or not I am in power or not. ... The people entrusted me with this high office," he told reporters in July 2023. The Belarus interior ministry last week said police would conduct drills ahead of the election to ensure that "manifestations of extremism and terrorism" were prevented. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement issued to Reuters on Wednesday, Tsikhanouskaya said: "We are not asking people to give up but rather to continue protesting in safe and meaningful ways ... I am not encouraging people to take to the streets." The Belarus interior ministry last week said police would conduct drills ahead of the election to ensure that "manifestations of extremism and terrorism" were prevented. Lukashenko, 70, who has been in power in the former Soviet state since 1994 and is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is running for a seventh term in office on Jan. 26. Tsikhanouskaya, who is now based in Lithuania and has a heavy security presence, called on the international community not to recognize the results and said democracies "might be braver", in particular by imposing more sanctions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I understand it might somehow disturb (the) comfortable life of citizens of your countries, but sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice a little bit of comfort for bigger aims," she said. Despite the police presence, and the fact that 500,000 people left the country of 9 million after 2020, people are forming underground movements in acts of defiance against Lukashenko, she said. "Our fight, our task is to weaken him economically, to weaken him politically," she said, predicting that as soon as the repressions ended, people would be in the streets again. "When the moment comes, believe me, people will be vocal, people will be visible." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since July, Lukashenko has issued six sets of pardons for political prisoners. Human rights groups say more than 1,200 detainees labeled as political prisoners remain in detention. Tsikhanouskaya's husband Syarhei Tsikhanouski has been in jail since 2020 after being barred from taking part in the election that his wife contested instead. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Philippa Fletcher) Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at a news conference, Dec. 12, 2023 | Jon King Elected officials and candidates for office are permitted to use money from their campaign finances to pay for caregiving costs including child care under an interpretive statement Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued Monday. More than 30 states currently permit the usage of campaign dollars towards child care costs and proponents for allowing that usage argue that moms in particular are in need of such reimbursements Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Women are expected to be primary caretakers and the challenges and lack of infrastructure in government for a person to be a primary parent has kept women out of office, Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder of Vote Mama, a political organization working to increase the number of moms in office, told States Newsroom earlier this year. Though more than 80% of women will become moms by age 44, according to the Pew Research Center, less than 8% of state lawmakers are moms of children under the age of 18, according to Vote Mamas research branch. Running for office presents unique challenges when youre a parent of a small child and while I loved bringing my son with me to campaign events last year, it also takes a toll, Benson said in testimony submitted to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2023 in support of allowing campaign finances to be used for child care costs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As legislation was being considered last year to implement the specification in Michigans campaign finance laws, Benson stated that she believed that Michigan law implies that child care costs are a permissible expenditure and specifying it would be a gamechanger for parents to run for office. At the request of a handful of moms of minor children currently serving in the Michigan Legislature, Benson issued an interpretive statement allowing campaign finances to be used for child care costs, but also for direct caregiving responsibilities for candidates and office holders who care for elderly or disabled loved ones. As with other expenditures allowed under the states campaign finance laws, the costs associated with caregiving have to be directly related to campaign or officeholding activities, incurred to fulfill those purposes. The interpretative statement further clarifies that caregiving expenses must be directly incurred as the result of campaign or officeholding activities. For example, if a person had already been paying for two days of child care a week, but needed four days of care in order to campaign or serve, the previous two days of care are not eligible for reimbursement from campaign funds. The statement does not codify the caregiving expenses clarification into Michigan law, but outlines that Benson, as head of the Michigan Department of State, finds such expenses as permissible expenditures under state law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between commuting to the state Capitol building and going out into the community to talk with the people she represents, State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) told Michigan Advance earlier this year theres a lot of mom guilt in trying to be there for your kids and still be able to accomplish your goals. Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) getting sworn into the Michigan Senate as her daughter also raises her hand behind her (Courtesy of Stephanie Chang) As the mother of two young daughters and the first Michigan Senator to give birth while serving in the Senate, I am very familiar with the challenges that come with running for office while caring for young children, Chang said in a news release Tuesday. Secretary Bensons ruling will help open up doors for more parents to run for office, those who might have previously dismissed the idea of running for office because of the challenges and cost of childcare. Chang and other mommy legislators from across the political aisle spoke with Michigan Advance ahead of Mothers Day this year about the challenges of being a mom and a lawmaker and the value of having moms at the law making table on issues like child care, education, health care and civil rights. Michigan is on the high end of representation for state lawmakers who are moms of children under the age of 18, Vote Mamas research branch found this year, with 20 moms currently serving in the legislature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the 100 years since the first woman was elected to the Legislature, there have been 27 women legislators who served while being mothers of school-aged children, according to Michigan Capitol Commission records. When it comes to men, the Advance found in May that at least 27 men currently serving in Michigans Legislature are fathers of school-aged children. There are different expectations for mothers versus fathers, State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) told Michigan Advance ahead of Mothers Day, saying women are questioned and expected to do things that arent expected of men who are also parents. Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) and her daughter Noa on the campaign trail (Courtesy of Mallory McMorrow) When I first ran for office, kicking off my campaign just a month after my husband and I got married, I was questioned about my family plans and told in no uncertain terms by at least one voter that a young mother couldnt be a dedicated legislator, McMorrow said in a news release Tuesday. This ruling removes a barrier to bring us one step closer to a truly representative democracy ensuring that parents of young children especially mothers can be fully present and dedicated to their voters and constituents without having to choose between their families and public service. NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) Law enforcement officers with the New Bern Police Department are looking for a suspect involved in a hit and run. Officers responded to the scene of Neuse Boulevard and Colony Drive on Tuesday to assist with a car crash involving a pedestrian. The pedestrian was walking along the edge of Neuse Boulevard when a car hit them. The car proceeded to drive away towards NC Highway 43. The victim was taken to CarolinaEast Medical Center and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The police department asks that anyone with knowledge on the situation come forward and call (252) 672-4291 or (252) 633-2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Ukraine may have lost between 60,000 and 100,000 soldiers killed over nearly three years of Russia's full-scale invasion, with around 400,000 soldiers likely to have been seriously wounded. Source: The Economist, citing data from Western intelligence agencies, defence officials, open sources and the UALosses website Details: Journalists highlight that all the data and reports mentioned are difficult to independently verify. Moreover, these figures may not always account for soldiers who are missing in action or those who are presumed dead, adding uncertainty to the reported casualty numbers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "Nevertheless, they offer an approximation of the death toll. They suggest that at least 60,000-100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died so far. Perhaps a further 400,000 are too injured to fight on. These numbers do not include civilian deaths, on which there is strikingly little data. Many tens of thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed." Ukraine's losses. Red marks indicate the dead, pink marks the killed or wounded. Infographic by The Economist. The Economist also refers to data from the UALosses website, which states that at least 60,435 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "The figures suggest that more than 0.5% of Ukraines pre-war population of men of fighting age (18-49-year-olds) have been killed. The data from UALosses are not comprehensive and not all soldiers ages are known. The actual share of men who have died in the war is higher. The share of those too injured to keep fighting is even greater: assuming that six to eight Ukrainian soldiers are severely wounded for every one who is killed in battle, nearly one in 20 men of fighting age is dead or too wounded to fight on." Infographic by The Economist. The publication reports that Russia has lost around 200,000 soldiers killed during this period. Journalists emphasise that the number of casualties in both countries, as a percentage of their total populations, is higher than the combined US losses during the Vietnam and Korean wars. Quote: "Their combat death toll is fast approaching Americas losses in the second world war. Russias losses in Ukraine since 2022, not including deaths of foreign fighters it has recruited, dwarf the number of casualties from all its wars since 1945 combined." Background: Earlier, The New York Times reported that Russia continues to suffer massive losses in its aggressive war against Ukraine. Specifically, in October, the number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers was the highest since the start of the full-scale invasion. However, journalists emphasised that the Russian army cannot be considered exhausted, as, during the first half of 2024, Russia was able to mobilise around 900 people daily. As of the morning of 27 November, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces estimated Russian losses at 735,000 killed and wounded. In February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during Russia's full-scale invasion. Support UP or become our patron! Editor's note: The article was updated with Elon Musk's response. U.S. President Joe Biden is quietly asking the U.S. Congress to greenlight an additional $24 billion in assistance to Ukraine and to replenish provided weapons before he leaves office, Politico Pro reported on Nov. 26, citing an obtained document. The news comes amid the Biden administration's efforts to ship in as much aid to Ukraine as possible before Donald Trump, who has criticized military support for Kyiv, takes office in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roughly $16 billion of the sum would be used to restock U.S. arsenals, while the remaining $8 billion would go to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the outlet wrote. The USAI is a Pentagon-led program for supplying arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies. Two congressional sources confirmed the information for Politico and said that Congress received the request on Nov. 25. The White House suggested that Congress could include the assistance in its effort to avert a government shut down next month, according to the document obtained by Politico. The report aligns with earlier statements from Biden's team that the White House would seek Congress' approval for additional aid for Ukraine in 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Biden shifts policies to strengthen Ukraine ahead of potential peace talks, WP reports In recent days, the Biden administration has made a series of decisions aimed at giving Kyiv leverage in future negotiations. These steps included approving the delivery of anti-personnel mines and granting permission for Ukraine to launch U.S.-made long-range ATACMS at targets within Russia. The request for additional funding has already received pushback from critics of Washington's pro-Ukraine policy. Republican Senator and Trump's ally Mike Lee said that "Congress must not give him (Biden) a free gift to further sabotage President Trumps peace negotiations on the way out the door." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is not normal," said billionaire Elon Musk, seen as an increasingly influential figure in Trump's inner circle, in a post on X. He also said the reported move is "Funding the forever war." Trump said he would seek to get the U.S. "out" of the war and bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. While the details of his plan remain unclear, some reports indicate it might entail Ukraine ceding territory and at least temporarily foregoing its NATO aspirations. It remains unclear whether the funding request will be successful, as Congress namely the Republican-led House of Representatives stalled an earlier $61 billion assistance bill for months before finally approving it in April. The November elections reinforced Republican control over the legislature, as the party also secured the majority in the Senate. The new Congress will be sworn in in early January. Read also: Frozen Russian assets face uncertain future under Trump Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. US President Joe Biden has called on Congress to provide an additional US$24 billion to strengthen military support for Ukraine. Source: New York Post with reference to Politico.Pro Details: According to the report, the White House Office of Management and Budget proposed that this financial assistance be included in the package to avoid a funding freeze by the next presidential administration. Out of the total amount of US$24 billion, US$8 billion has been earmarked to finance US companies' contracts to supply arms to Ukraine. Another US$16 billion will be used to replenish the US military arsenal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, some Republicans have already expressed their disagreement with this step, criticising the request. "Joe Biden just gave away 4.7 billion in your taxpayer dollars by unilaterally forgiving loans to Ukraine. Congress must not give him a free gift to further sabotage President Trumps peace negotiations on the way out the door. Any Biden funding demands should be DOA [dead on arrival]," Senator Mike Lee of Utah wrote on X (Twitter). Joe Biden just gave away 4.7 billion in your taxpayer dollars by unilaterally forgiving loans to Ukraine. Congress must not give him a free gift to further sabotage President Trumps peace negotiations on the way out the door. Any Biden funding demands should be DOA. https://t.co/xnEu8hUA6P Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) November 26, 2024 Background: The day before, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States would provide Ukraine with everything it needs to "fight through 2025". On 20 November, the administration of US President Joe Biden submitted a statement of intent to Congress to cancel half of Ukraine's economic aid debt approximately US$4.65 billion. Support UP or become our patron! Israel agreed on a cease-fire deal aimed at ending 14 months of fighting with Hezbollah. "Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump," said Florida Rep. Mike Waltz. `The White House fears Trump will take credit for bringing an end to the Gaza war, a report said. Donald Trump's team has claimed credit for the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, which took effect in Lebanon on Wednesday morning. The agreement, aimed at ending nearly 14 months of fighting, was described by President Joe Biden as "designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the terms of the deal, Israel's military will withdraw from Lebanon over a 60-day period while Hezbollah moves its forces north and the Lebanese army deploys to the south. Mike Waltz, the President-elect's national security advisor, posted on X that "everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump." Waltz continued by saying that Trump's victory sent a "clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won't be tolerated." According to the Associated Press, a senior Biden administration official said that Trump's team was kept informed about negotiations as they unfolded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The official added that the incoming Trump team was not directly involved in the talks. Richard Goldberg, an advisor at the Washington group Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told the AP that Iran which would have had to give its approval to Hezbollah for the deal factored Trump's presidency into the agreement. "There's zero doubt that Iran is pulling back to regroup ahead of Trump coming into office," said Goldberg. "It's a combination of Israeli military success and Trump's election the ayatollah has no clothes and he knows we know." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu' said in a televised speech that Israel would attack Hezbollah if it broke the terms of the cease-fire or gave any inkling of preparing to attack again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With only 54 days in office, Biden now hopes to redouble his efforts for a cease-fire in Gaza. "They, too, deserve an end to the fighting and displacement," he said. "The people of Gaza have been through hell. Their world has been absolutely shattered. Far too many civilians in Gaza have suffered far too much." However, with time running out, there is fear in the White House that it will be Trump who will take credit for bringing an end to the war, according to The Times. The World Bank Group estimates that the total damages incurred due to the war in Lebanon are around $8.5 billion, of which $5.1 billion are economic losses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "President Trump has been crystal clear that his support for Israel and his commitment to peace in the Middle East is steadfast. Hezbollah understands this is their best opportunity to get a more favorable deal done," a representative for the Trump-Vance transition team told Business Insider. "Iran-backed proxies clearly see the clock ticking as President Trump will soon return to the White House with a strong national security team, including Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, and Pete Hegseth, with US intelligence led by Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe. President Trump rightfully predicted that actors in the region would make moves toward peace because of his historic victory and that's exactly what we are seeing take place." Representatives for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider In a major reversal, on Nov, 17, U.S. President Joe Biden succumbed to the calls of Ukraines loudest supporters in Washington and Europe by authorizing Kyivs use of U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) deeper into Russia. The move was the most dramatic change to Washingtons Ukraine policy since the Nov. 5 election, but hardly the only one. A week earlier, the Biden administration announced that U.S. contractors would be allowed inside Ukraine for the first time since the war began to maintain Kyivs fleet of U.S.-made F-16 aircraft. And on Nov. 19, Biden ordered the transfer of anti-personnel mines to buttress the Ukrainian armys defenses in the east. The expanded permissions and new weapons, however, come too late to give Ukraine an advantage on the battlefield or more leverage at the negotiating table. Instead, their primary effect may be to trigger serious escalation that leaves Kyiv weakened and the United States worse off. With Biden on his way out and President-elect Donald Trump hoping to quickly end the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has less incentive than ever to be restrained in the face of what he views as a dramatic, aggressive U.S. policy shift. There should be no illusions that employing longer-range missiles or anti-personnel mines will be a panacea for Ukraine. As Biden administration officials acknowledge, lifting restrictions on ATACMS missiles will not change the course of the war. With the lack of Russian targets Russia has relocated 90 percent of its aircraft out of ATACMS rangeand the limited amount of ATACMS available in U.S. stocks, deeper Ukrainian strikes into the Russian interior are unlikely to squeeze Moscows supply lines to the extent that its offensive operations are significantly impacted. Expanded permissions, however, might instead speed Ukraines own military breakdown by encouraging Kyiv to invest more of its scarce resources in fending off Russian forces in Kursk, where the Ukrainian army has lost approximately half of the territory it captured in August. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anti-personnel mines, on the other hand, could support Ukraines shift to a defensive strategy. But with its overstretched military barely holding on, it is not clear these mines will arrive in sufficient quantities or fast enough for Ukraine to make effective use of them before winter temperatures freeze the ground solid. Moreover, it is Ukraines severe manpower shortage, not the lack of specific types or quantities of weapons, that is the most serious constraint on its ability to halt Russias advances in the Donbas. For this reason, sending U.S. contractors into Ukraine will also offer few benefits. It will not free up enough personnel to address Kyivs need for frontline soldiers and will only marginally speed equipment repairs. Bidens decision wont save Ukraine, but it already seems to have affected Russian President Vladimir Putins calculations in ways that hurt rather than help Kyiv. Putin has taken the opportunity to increase punishing air strikes on Ukrainian cities, forcing a temporary closure of the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. It was likely no coincidence that Russia used an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile inside Ukraine days after Kyiv began using U.S.-supplied ATACMS inside Russia. Putins subsequent statement suggest this, and additional new weapons may be used more extensively going forward. This would be devastating for Ukraine, promising additional economic destruction to the country and leaving the country worse off when settlement talks begin. Ukraines use of ATACMS may destroy more Russian military targets further from the frontline, but it wont prevent Russia from ramping up drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, targeting Ukraines energy infrastructure more heavily or surging forward on the eastern front more furiously. After all, when cornered, Putin doesnt de-escalatehe doubles down. This is what happened in the fall of 2022, when a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv compelled Putin to announce a partial mobilization to stem the bleeding and reinforce the Russian armys ranks. This shouldnt be a surprise; Putin started the war, and his legacy will rise and fall depending on the wars outcome. Russias escalation wont stop inside Ukraine either. Putin may not turn to nuclear weapons, but he is likely to ramp up horizontal escalation outside the Ukrainian theater. This threat has grown more acute in the wake of Bidens policy changes. Moscow will now view the United States and Europe as direct combatants in the war and respond accordingly. Indeed, the U.S. intelligence community cited this risk as a reason to refrain from providing ATACMS to Kyiv in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These fears are more than just speculation. Since February 2022, for instance, Russia has repeatedly used unclaimed sabotage operations in Europe to cause disruptions to civilian and military infrastructure that test European willingness to bear costs on behalf of Ukraine. The latest incident in this campaign may be the severing of two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, though definitive attribution has yet to be made. U.S. policymakers should assume that Russia will now step up these activities, and not just in Europe. Russia could even take steps that have long-term implications for the United States and its ability to protect allies in the future by, for instance, accelerating its sharing of sensitive weapons and expertise with other U.S. adversariesmore advanced missiles and better targeting data with the Houthis, submarine technology with China, and satellite know-how with North Koreaor increasing its recruitment of foreign mercenaries. At a time when Ukraine is at its weakest, Bidens last minute policy changes come too late to shift the balance of power on the battlefield. Russia will now be even more resistant to calls for a diplomatic settlement than it was in the past and more willing to retaliate inside and outside Ukraine. No policy decision is cost-free, and neither is this one. The wars consequences could soon become immeasurably more dangerous. Daniel R. DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a syndicated foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Jennifer Kavanagh is a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. President Biden on Tuesday said the U.S. will make a new push for a ceasefire in Gaza in the coming days, after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to pause their fighting in and around the border with Lebanon. Biden said the agreement to end the fighting across the Israeli-Lebanon border is set to start at 4 a.m. on Wednesday local time. In announcing that both sides had agreed to a ceasefire, Biden from the White House said the U.S. will continue to push for a similar deal to end fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza so the hostages be released and the end of the war without Hamas in power, that becomes possible, Biden said in remarks at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added that he is praying for a deal between Israel and Hamas. Biden has two months left in the White House before President-elect Trumps upcoming inauguration. Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza. They too deserve an end to the fighting and displacement. The people of Gaza have been through hell, their worlds absolutely shattered, Biden said. Far too many civilians in Gaza have suffered far too much and Hamas has refused, for months and months, to negotiate a good-faith ceasefire and a hostage deal. The president said that the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, who have been fighting for nearly two months, reminds us the peace is possible and that it brings us closer to what he has been pushing for in the Middle East, which is peace across borders and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Israel has conducted several strikes inside Lebanon including in and around its densely populated capital Beirut. It took out several Hezbollah leaders in the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The terms of the deal include a 60-day truce where Israel will gradually withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah will withdraw its troops north of the Litani River in Lebanon. During that time, the Lebanese army and State security forces will deploy to the areas of the border zone, and a new enforcement mechanism, overseen by the United States, France and others, will be aimed at ensuring that Hezbollah cannot rebuild its infrastructure. Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the expected agreement and said Israel had pushed the Iranian-backed, U.S.-designated terrorist group Hezbollah back decades. He said calm on the northern border is needed to focus attention on Iran, provide rest for troops and replenish stocks, and isolate Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Laura Kelly 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. RIYADH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The first phase of Riyadh Metro was launched on Wednesday, a significant step to reshape the Saudi capital's public transport landscape. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inaugurated the project, which is expected to become Riyadh's public transport network backbone. The Riyadh Metro includes six train lines spanning 176 km and 85 stations, including four main hubs. The SPA reported that three lines will open to the public on Dec. 1, with "gradual launches" completing the network across the city. During the inauguration, the king said the Riyadh Public Transport Project, which spans metro and bus networks, was launched following studies conducted by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City on the capital's current and future public transport needs. Riyadh Metro is the second metro system in Saudi Arabia after the first metro line in Mecca, which operates only during the Hajj season. Once fully operational, the Riyadh Metro is expected to be the largest in the world to be completed in a single phase, and the world's longest driverless metro line. It is tailored to meet Riyadh's social, environmental, and urban requirements, which is expected to significantly contribute to the city's urban mobility needs, the SPA said. U.S. President Joe Biden has reversed key policies on providing advanced weapons to Ukraine, including longer-range missiles and antipersonnel land mines, as Kyiv faces mounting pressure on the battlefield and a potential need to negotiate with Russia. Many U.S. officials now acknowledge that Ukraine could be pushed into talks within months and might be forced to cede territory to end the war, the Washington Post (WP) reported on Nov. 26. In mid-November, Biden authorized Ukraine to use the ATACMS to strike deeper inside Russia, a decision aiming at strengthening Ukraines negotiating position. His administration previously resisted supplying such weapons over concerns of escalating tensions with Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The changes come amid significant challenges for Ukraine, including battlefield losses, reports of North Korea sending troops to support Russia, and Donald Trump taking office in January. Trump has vowed to end the war within 24 hours, but officials worry his administration would cut off aid to Ukraine, undermining its ability to resist Russian aggression. Bidens aides argue that evolving conditions on the ground have driven his decisions to provide weapons, but critics, including former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker, say the delays emboldened Moscow. "It gives Russia a sense of impunity," Volker told the WP, adding that earlier support could have bolstered Ukraines position. "They know they have a sanctuary. They know we dont want to escalate, and they can go ahead and carry out the war, conduct strikes and do outrageous things." European allies, while welcoming the recent weapons transfers, have expressed frustration that the assistance did not come earlier when Ukraines position was stronger. Many now believe that peace talks may involve territorial concessions, and discussions have begun on potential security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian aggression, according to the WP. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged NATO allies to increase support for Ukraine ahead of Trumps return to office, emphasizing the need to reinforce Kyiv before the U.S. political landscape shifts further. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will continue to shore up everything were doing for Ukraine to ensure it can effectively defend itself," Blinken said during his one-day emergency visit to Brussels on Nov. 13. Read also: Taiwans former president urges US to prioritize aiding Ukraine over Taiwan, Politico reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The US gave Ukraine permission to strike Russia with US-provided long-range missiles. But the late hour on this decision limits the impact. Russia has used Western hesitancy and the time provided by delays to move many targets out of range. President Joe Biden is letting Ukraine strike inside Russia with its long-range missiles as he rushes aid to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, but the move has come so late that warfare experts don't expect it to make a huge difference. As the West debated, Russia was given time to prepare while Ukraine was left to fend off attacks with a hand tied behind its back. Even now, there are still some limitations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in the US, told Business Insider: "It's way too little, years late. It's been a truism that Ukraine has needed the capability to strike the Russian rear for many years at this point." Targets moved Ukraine used its MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, a Lockheed Martin weapon with a maximum range of about 190 miles, to hit Russia for the first time this month. It then followed with Storm Shadows. Damage was done, but this capability would have had more of an effect earlier in the war. Matthew Savill, a former intelligence analyst at the UK Ministry of Defence who's now a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said that "many of the best targets helicopters and glide-bomb-armed aircraft attacking Ukrainian cities and troops in the north or in Kursk have largely moved to airbases outside the range of ATACMS." A Russian warplane carrying a glide bomb. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP Ukraine's military tried to strike those key targets, such as ammunition depots, airfields, and fighter-bombers, with its domestically produced long-range drones to curb Russian glide-bomb attacks, but missiles would have had a greater effect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A senior Biden administration official told Politico in August that Russia had already moved 90% of the planes that launch glide bombs at Ukraine's civilian infrastructure out of ATACMS range. And a central European defense official told Reuters this month that Russia had moved many of its air assets out of range of Western weapons. Michael Bohnert, a warfare expert at the RAND Corporation, told BI that Biden's change wasn't "too little, too late" but that "the delay will definitely limit the effectiveness of ATACMS strikes." "Had Ukraine been able to destroy several squadrons of Su-34 and Su-35 fighters early in the year, then Russia would have significantly less capacity to employ glide bombs against Ukrainian positions and civilians," he said. Ukraine has been hit by thousands of guided glide bombs over the course of the year. Earlier in the year, ISW had a map that identified nearly 250 potential ATACMS targets inside Russia. Many of those may no longer be viable targets. A pattern of late aid The US and other allies have been repeatedly criticized for slowness and hesitancy in giving Ukraine aid and permissions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soldiers in Ukraine have said Western aid coming in "tidbits" means they can't plan long-term, not knowing what will arrive and when. One American fighting in Ukraine told BI that "it feels like everything that we've been getting has been either too late or it's just enough to barely hold on." Ukraine usually gets what it needs eventually, but rarely when it really needs it. And the weaponry, such as F-16s and advanced tanks, are often given in amounts so small that they can't make a substantial difference. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said as much, matching analyst assessments. A Ukrainian air force F-16 fighter jet in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky The head of NATO has also been critical of member countries, saying they could do more to help Ukraine. There's been a hesitancy that comes from a fear of escalation. Barros argued that the "Russian red lines are part of Russian reflexive control efforts that seek to trick the US and partners into accommodating Russian interests and counter Russian aggression in wars Russia started." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said that "Putin is not entitled to a veto over US or NATO policy on the basis that he can threaten us." Hitting Russia Biden's decision may be late, and the impact may be limited. But that doesn't mean there won't still be an effect. Bohnert said that Ukraine could now use its Western weapons to try to "disrupt logistics and mobility of Russian and North Korean forces counterattacking in Kursk," giving Ukraine's forces more freedom of maneuver. Ukraine advanced into Russia's Kursk region in August, where its military is now fighting Russian and North Korean troops. Savill said that Biden's decision "still leaves plenty of opportunities to strike military headquarters and ammunition or supply locations supporting Russian and North Korean troops" but that "this would be a reduced impact from when the Ukrainians first requested these weapons." A US ATACMS firing a missile into the East Sea during a South Korea-US joint missile drill. South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images A rush to help Ukraine Biden has boosted support for Ukraine ahead of Trump's inauguration by rushing aid out, loosening restrictions, and offering greater financial support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump hasn't announced a plan but has been critical of US aid to Ukraine. Some, including in Ukraine, are optimistic that Trump could end the war. But Trump has also hinted at seeking a peace deal, something that could try to push Ukraine to do things it doesn't want, such as giving territory to Russia. Savill said of Biden's missile decision that "the impact may be more political, albeit with a narrowing window of opportunity." He said Ukraine needed to "convince the incoming US administration that they are still worth backing in President Trump's transactional view, a 'good investment,'" adding that "they will want to convince him to link his and US credibility to a 'winning' outcome, not a major compromise that sees the US 'lose.'" Politically, "the signs are not positive on this front," he said, as big Trump allies have criticized the ATACMS move, especially after Russia signaled its discontent with an unusual new missile strike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And realistically, the decision delays on the Biden administration's part have probably hindered Ukraine's ability to show strength for political gain, Savill said. "It is unlikely that the Ukrainians can have a major impact in such a short period of time (under two months) until the next administration is formally in place and with an uncertain but probably small stockpile of ATACMS," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider Aikido Technologies, an offshore floating wind technology startup based in San Francisco, California, has successfully demonstrated the assembly of its unique folding platform in under 40 hours. According to its press release, the startups approach speeds up the assembly process by 10x while also reducing the costs of deploying offshore platforms. The demand for clean energy has increased the number of wind energy installations that can work around the clock and supply power. While setting up onshore wind farms can limit the use of land sources, offshore wind platforms can tap into the higher-speed winds of the sea and generate higher energy outputs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Equipment manufacturers are building bigger wind turbines than ever before to tap into higher wind speeds. However, these turbines must be installed in deeper waters, increasing installation costs. Floating offshore turbines offer a lower-cost option over the sea-bed installation of wind turbines, and startups like Aikido are taking this technology to the next level. What does Aikido do? Founded in 2022, Aikido is developing innovative solutions for the offshore wind turbine industry. It has developed a floating-specific wind turbine that can reduce the cost and weight of the floating platform by as much as 25 percent. The rotor design is adapted for operation on a floating platform, while the nacelle can be transported horizontally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The startup has also designed a semi-submersible platform, Aikido One, to transport a fully assembled floating turbine to its installation site. Once at the side, the platform only needs to be ballasted with seawater, and the turbine can soon be made operational. Backed by Bill Gatess Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, the startup aims to support domestic production of floating wind turbines and platforms while finally reducing assembly footprint by as much as 75 percent. Building wind turbines 10x faster Aikidos design also uses pin joints, enabling serialized production of the 13 steel components that go into its platform. This feature allows the structure to be folded up during assembly and shipping, occupying two-thirds less space in a shipyard or port. As part of its developmental efforts, Aikido awarded Morrison Fabrication in Harvey, Louisiana, a contract to build a 1:4 scale 100kW floating wind platform earlier this year. As per a recent press release, the contractor completed the final structural assembly of the platform in less than 40 working hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The construction of the Aikido One platform has set a new standard in the floating wind industry: final structural assembly in under 40 working hours, said Sam Kanner, CEO of Aikido, in the press release. Working hand-in-hand with the entire Morrison team on this project has been a delight, and we have learned not only how to better design our technology but how to better build it. Additionally, the platform and its components can be transported on conventional barges and used in smaller ports in the US or anywhere else in the world. The company is confident it can replicate this design feature even at a 15-MW scale. While this can help reduce costs and construction time, it also presents an opportunity for a larger number of ports and vessels to participate in the offshore wind industry and energy transition. As America gears up for the year's end and a change in administration, the topic of public health has dominated many conversations throughout the election season, but one facet has been noticeably absent: bird flu. Human infections of the H5N1 virus have sharply risen in the last few weeks, alarming many public health experts are wondering and worried what this means for another possible pandemic like COVID-19. This week, public health officials detected bird flu in a sample of raw milk sold in California. According to a press release by the California Department of Public Health, the public is being advised to avoid consuming one batch of cream top, whole raw milk produced by the brand Raw Farm. The news comes after public health experts have warned that drinking or accidentally inhaling raw milk containing the bird flu virus may lead to illness. It also comes at a time as the countrys incoming Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to promote the consumption of raw milk. Just this past summer, Kennedy bragged to an audience at an event that he only drinks raw milk, and more recently, claimed the Food and Drug Administrations so-called war on public health includes suppression of raw milk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bird flu crisis began several years ago but ramped up last April when dairy cows started becoming infected. Since then, 55 human cases have been reported across several states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of these infections occurred in farmworkers who came into contact with infected cows or poultry, with the exception of three cases that are mystifying health officials. The first is a case in Missouri in which health officials have yet to track the origins of the infection. The second is a Canadian teenager who has remained hospitalized in critical condition with bird flu, again with unknown exposure and stark in its severity. (No other bird flu infections in this crisis have required hospitalization.) The third is a case of a child in California, also with an unknown source of the infection. Since last spring, public health officials have publicly criticized the Biden administration for not properly handling and monitoring the situation, but they dont have faith that the situation will improve under a Trump administration, either. In fact, they imagine things will only intensify, just like how the Trump admin botched the response to COVID. If the Biden administration is not doing a good job, you can only imagine when you have certain individuals who are much more hostile towards these types of government action, it will get worse, Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Salon in a phone interview. It would be important for the Trump administration, as it's rolling out its team that's going to be heading CDC, HHS, USDA, that they talk about bird flu and how their plan may differ, and how they're going to correct the deficiencies that are occurring currently. Adalja added that the new Secretary of Agriculture is going to have to address bird flu, given that it spreads so much in factory farmed animals. Recently, news broke that Trump picked Brooke Rollins as his agriculture secretary, who has been influential in two right-leaning think tanks. "Brookes commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none," Trump said in the statement. Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. But part of the problem in managing H5N1, Adalja said, has been the conflict between public health and the farm economy. Currently, the approach to monitoring bird flu in dairy cows is fragmented and depends on each state's cooperation. The CDC only mandates testing for herds if theyre traveling from one state to another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What I think has constrained this entire outbreak response from the beginning is the fact that dairy cattle farmers do not want anything to impact their short-term economic interests, Adalja said. But theyre sacrificing the long-term for the short-term because they're not understanding that, if this [virus] becomes endemic in cattle, that's a major [financial] problem. And if it continues to affect humans and threaten their workforce, that's a major problem. Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan, of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, told Salon hes concerned about proposed cuts to staff at various government agencies and how that will affect the future of bird flu monitoring. For example, Kennedy has claimed that he will gut the FDA once in power. Elon Musk, co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency which is not an official government agency but acts as an advisory group to the Trump admin has said they will recommend reducing headcounts to cut costs at federal departments. Cuts to these agencies could severely diminish their capacity to monitor and respond to emerging infectious diseases, Rajnarayanan said. The ability to conduct epidemiological studies and implement public health measures relies heavily on its workforce, reducing capacity may lead to significantly slower response times and create unnecessary gaps in surveillance thereby increasing the risk of a disease spreading undetected among both animal and human populations. One of the biggest fears regarding this outbreak of H5N1 is if human-to-human transmission is occurring. Rajnarayanan said one primary indicator of human-to-human transmission will be the occurrence of clusters of cases where individuals have not had direct contact with infected animals. He pointed to the recent California case as an example. Notably, the CDC states its risk assessment for the general public is low. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The CDC, FDA and USDA must work together seamlessly to manage outbreaks, Rajnarayanan said. Staff reductions could disrupt this collaboration, as seen during the current H5N1 outbreak where farmers and local officials have expressed reluctance to cooperate with federal health officials due to concerns over jurisdiction and trust. A weakened CDC, Rajnarayanan added, could exacerbate current tensions between the farm and public health sector, making it harder to implement necessary biosecurity measures on farms. Regarding an ideal response from the next administration, Rajnarayanan said hed like to see more biosecurity measures, comprehensive surveillance, and investments in research, as well as the development of rapid testing, therapeutics and vaccines. Adalja said hed like to see the next administration be much more aggressive with active cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of being reactive, being very proactive, and saying we're going to assume that this is widespread, that it's not just in the 600 plus herds that have been identified, he told Salon. And encourage states to do testing of asymptomatic cows that are not meant for interstate travel. The previous Trump administration, Adalja said, was destroyed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Infectious disease should be top of mind. They should have this realization about how important infectious disease emergency response is, Adalja said. This is something that the HHS and CDC nominees need to be asked about, this is one of the pressing infectious disease threats right now even if this doesn't cause a pandemic, they need to get this right, put systems in place. HONOLULU (KHON2) Avian influenza is spreading in the islands for the first time and Hawaii Department of Agriculture officials said Hawaii is the last of the 50 states to detect the disease. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Local experts said the risk remains low for humans, but it is still smart to remain vigilant. Local veterinarians said some avian flu variants are not so bad, while others are aggressive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Protecting yourself from avian flu during fallen seabird season And the one we have right now is highly aggressive and especially extremely devastating to the poultry industry. It can kill almost all the birds in a flock very quickly when it gets into it, said Feather & Fur medical director Dr. Brian Walsh. Positive samples of avian flu from the Wahiawa wastewater facility were confirmed on Thursday, Nov. 7 and avian flu was detected just over a week later at a Wahiawa duck sanctuary. This otherworldly hiking tour definitely had us begging for more Officials confirmed on Monday, Nov. 25 that a wild duck on Oahus north shore also tested positive for the virus human symptoms should look something like a regular flu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nausea, fever, again, the risk of getting infected from infected animals is low. Unless you have that close contact, said UH assistant microbiology professor Dr. Michael Morris. Hawaii Department of Agriculture officials have not confirmed why the infected duck on the North Shore was tested, other than saying that the sample was dropped off to them by a federal wildlife biologist. Experts said the disease likely came here through an infected bird that migrated. What was celebrated in Hawaii before Thanksgiving came? And so some duck managed or some bird of some sort, we dont really know, migratory bird brought it to Hawaii. So, the odds of it having just gone only to that one sanctuary and not gone anywhere else is pretty low, said Dr. Walsh. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts said that the risk to humans is still relatively low in Hawaii, but they still advised folks to call authorities before handling any dead animals especially dead birds by themselves. So I mean, this the general, it would be just the general common sense thing. You know, avoid dead birds, avoid wild birds, Dr. Walsh said. I would say call your local state authorities. Let them handle it, Dr. Morris said. That is the concern, is over time with enough exposures, right, you could have an avian influenza jump from a bird to a cow, a cow to a human and so on. And so that is the concern. That is why the state and federal authorities have, you know, taken care of the infected animals. Federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are also involved in the local response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Surrounded by 145 firearms taken off the street by Birmingham police, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin spoke out against gun violence in a 30-minute-long video Tuesday. Woodfin said the city is seeing the worst of the gun violence epidemic. What you need to know before traveling this Thanksgiving I care about decreasing gun violence in our city. I care about decreasing crime. I care about saving lives, but its going to take more than one man, said Mayor Woodfin. Were coming up on an unfortunate milestone this year in 2024 of having homicides at a rate not seen since 1933. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Woodfin started the video off reflecting on his own experiencing with gun violence, losing a brother and witnessing his sister shot a young age, as well as losing two cousins and a classmate this year alone. Each of these guns you see took somebodys life, said Woodfin. These are victims who will not get a chance to see their family members on Thanksgiving. With help from Birmingham Police Officer Skinner, a demonstration was shown in the video of how the firearms were often used. According to Officer Skinner, most were bought from pawn shops or across the state line in Georgia and sold to criminals on the street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Woodfin said he is calling on both state and country legislatures, as well as the community to make a change. This is a solvable problem in our city. This is a solvable problem in our state. This is a solvable problem in our country, but its going to take all of us, said Mayor Woodfin. Mayor Woodfin said the city will continue to use tax dollars to make conflict resolution resources available to youth in the community and recruit officers as the department faces a shortage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The community safety partnership division of the Birmingham Police Department is hosting a winter coat drive. According to the BPD, until Dec. 20, the department is taking donations of new coats in youth sizes from 5T- XXL. Coats can be dropped off at the north precinct, south precinct, east precinct, west precinct or BPD Headquarters. City of Birmingham offering warming station starting Nov. 29 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more information, click here or contact the community safety partnership division at 205-297-8248. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The Birmingham Police Department is joining forces with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office from Tuesday through Dec. 31. Operation Close Out is a public safety campaign whose aim is to keep residents safe through the holidays. While the police department has conducted the operation in years past, it is the first time it has joined forces with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office. Our crime centers will be combined working together sharing information making sure that all of our streets are safe, said Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway. Were looking to work together, share information and to make sure that we have a zero tolerance for any criminal activity that will be taking place during the holiday season. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Suspect in Five Points South mass shooting indicted in separate murder case in Birmingham Birmingham Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett said 50 law enforcement officers will be assigned to work this detail, cracking down on violent as well as property crimes through the end of the year. The Birmingham Police Department has investigated 134 homicides in 2024 versus 126 for all of 2023. We will look at our data, well look at where the calls for services are going, Pickett said. Of course, we already know where some of the peak opportunist areas are for criminals like shopping centers, things of that nature, so well be focusing in on those locations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pickett said theyll be able to redeploy resources as needed and the public will notice an increase police presence. Residents are encouraged to report any criminal activity they observe to the BPD at 205-328-9311 and emergencies to 911. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Islamist-motivated attackers in Germany often choose knives as their weapon of choice because firearms are harder to get, a leading expert from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) told the Funke media group. "Even in raids and searches, we very rarely find assault rifles or guns," said Sven Kurenbach, the head of BKA's department focused on Islamist-motivated terrorism and extremism. "It's different in France or Belgium, where Islamist terrorists have repeatedly used firearms," said Kurenbach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The crucial factor, he said, is that access to weapons in Germany is much more strictly regulated. "Additionally, firearms even on the illegal black market are not cheap and the - often young - Islamist perpetrators usually have little in financial resources." Kurenbach went on to say that investigators are now more successful in having terrorist propaganda deleted from the web due to regulations obliging platforms to delete such content quickly. The average deletion rate is around 90%." From our point of view, this is an extremely good result," he told the media group. Kurenbach however also called on the operators to adjust their algorithms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is because the platforms' algorithms often repeatedly bring new jihadist content to the profile pages of young users once they have shown an interest in it," explained the expert. "In extreme cases, anyone interested in components that can be used to make bombs is shown new and cheaper offers." The authorities in Lithuania say there is no research facility in the country that can analyse the black boxes of the cargo plane that crashed near Vilnius airport on Monday. The flight data recorder and the voice recorder of the Swift Air aircraft, which was flying from Leipzig to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on behalf of German logisitcs giant DHL, will therefore be taken abroad for examination, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said on Wednesday. It is likely that the evaluation will be carried out by one of Lithuania's "European allies," he said on Lithuanian radio. He did not provide any further details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigators hope that the evaluation of the flight recorders will provide important insights into the cause of the crash. The cargo plane crashed in a residential area shortly before the planned landing near Vilnius airport early on Monday morning. One of the four crew members was killed. The Lithuanian authorities have launched an investigation into the crash and recovered the flight data recorder from the completely destroyed aircraft on Tuesday. The two black boxes record flight data and the conversations in the cockpit respectively. GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hamas said on Wednesday that it is ready to cooperate with any ceasefire efforts in the Gaza Strip, following a ceasefire deal struck between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. "We are following the progress of the agreement in Lebanon, to express our commitment to cooperate with any efforts to stop the fire in Gaza," the movement said in a press statement. The statement added that the movement is concerned with stopping "the aggression against our people within the parameters we have agreed upon nationally, which are the ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the return of the displaced, and the achievement of a real and complete prisoner exchange deal." In the statement, Hamas called on Arab and Islamic countries and "the forces of the free world" to take serious action and pressure the United States and Israel to stop "their brutal aggression against our Palestinian people." Israel's security cabinet approved on Tuesday night a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah taking effect on Wednesday morning. CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) The day after Thanksgiving is one of 12 legal holidays in West Virginia and is meant to honor one of the most impactful people in West Virginia history. Although most people use the day for Black Friday shopping or relaxing after a day of eating turkey and pie, in West Virginia, it is observed as Lincolns Day to honor the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. Not only was Lincoln instrumental in West Virginias statehood, he is also credited with making Thanksgiving a national holiday, according to the National Archives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just a few months after West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Congress passed a proclamation recommended by Lincoln that made Thanksgiving an annual holiday on the last Thursday of November. Although it had been celebrated as early as George Washingtons presidency, it was dictated by a presidents annual proclamation and was often held on different dates or even in different months. West Virginians to watch for in the 2024 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade After some controversy in the 1930s and 40s, it was later amended to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Lincolns role in advocating for West Virginias admission into the Union during the Civil War further solidified his connection to the state. The commemoration of Lincoln Day stands as a tribute to his contributions and the significance of Thanksgiving, bridging historical events that shaped the nation, a press release from Gov. Jim Justice said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1867, after Lincolns assassination, West Virginia took land from Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, and Putnam counties to create Lincoln County in his honor. Although Lincolns Day is a West Virginia state holiday and a paid day off for public employees and the day after Thanksgiving is recognized as a holiday in 20 states, it is not federal holiday in the U.S. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. Pam Berman and her guide dog Brian use ride shares to get all over the city. Sometimes its a good experience, but on a regular basis, calling for a car can be extremely stressful. Its so upsetting to have someone yelling at you and you feel stranded, said Berman. On a regular basis, those in the blind community say ride share drivers are turning them away because of their guide dogs. A blind woman named Leslie says she deals with it on a weekly basis with her guide dog Omega. In mid-November, she got picked up by an Uber driver who clearly did not want to take them. The driver repeatedly yelled, No pets and tried to physically remove Leslie from his car. Leslie captured the encounter on her cell phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She is not a pet, sir, she is my guide dog, Leslie told him, saying she would report the driver to Uber. Those in the blind community say drivers commonly tell them theyre allergic, scared of dogs, or have a religious exemption. Disability rights attorneys say those arguments are not valid under the law. Veterinarians report alarming trend: Dogs getting sick from marijuana exposure People with disabilities who use service animals of any kind have a right to have their service animals with them, said Paul Mollica, an senior attorney with Equip for Equalitys civil rights division. Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990, guide dogs are federally protected service animals and cannot be excluded from places of public accommodation, which includes any form of transportation, even ride shares. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Illinois, the Service Animals Access Act and White Cane Law provide further protection. That puts both the provider of the services and, potentially, the driver in risk of fines or even jail for depriving someone of their right of access. You need to treat the animals as if they were a cane or an oxygen tank or any other medical device, said Mollica. The companies know they can be liable. In 2021, Uber was ordered to pay $1.1 million to a blind woman in California who was discriminated against more than a dozen times with her guide dog. The company tried to argue it was a technology company using independent contractors, but a judge ruled the company is still subject to the ADA. Uber does offer a pet option, but its more expensive. PACE Paratransit is available for those with disabilities, but is not as convenient. Users tell WGN News they must schedule a ride a day in advance and often times share the van with multiple other passengers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historically, they could be really late, said Berman. Paratransit is dehumanizing and awful. WGN News also spoke with Melissa Carney, a graduate support manager with Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Given how widespread this issue is, I think a government entity on a federal level needs to step in and hold the companies accountable, said Carney. Carney has also had bad experiences with her guide dog Aron. 10 Years Since Laquan McDonalds Murder: Whats changed and what hasnt? There have been times where drivers are yelling at us and he literally starts shaking and that is heartbreaking for me as a handler, said Carney. Other times, simply because a driver wants to get rid of us and get us out of their car, they will leave us at the wrong destination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carney joined hundreds of others with the National Federation of the Blind at a rally in October at Uber headquarters in San Francisco. The energy was palpable, said Carney. To see so many people unifying around this particular issue sent a very powerful statement. They would like to see the companies better train drivers and penalize those who break the law. Its very frustrating because we all know our rights, but apparently these drivers are either unable or unwilling to learn them and Uber and Lyft do not hold them accountable, said Leslie. Those affected can file complaints directly with the ride share companies. Here in Chicago, you can also reach out to the Commission on Human Relations and the Department of Justice on a federal level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WGN News reached out to Uber and Lyft for comment. A spokesperson for Uber said: We believe that Uber plays an important role in making transportation more accessible, and want all riders with disabilities to have safe and positive experiences on the platform. Denying service because of a riders service animal or assistive device is strictly prohibitedour policy is outlined in our Community Guidelines, and we regularly send reminders that this behavior is unlawful, and may result in permanently losing access to the platform. Were always improvingthis year, we introduced a new driver education module and launched a pilot program for a feature that enables riders with service animals to self-identify on the platform. We remain dedicated to working with the disability community to create a more accessible platform. Just go out and do something: 59-year-old Chicago grandpa inspires millions to get fit In addition, Uber said it has a zero-tolerance policy for confirmed cases of knowing service denial because of a riders service animal or assistive device, and that when signing up for the Uber platform, drivers agree to transport service animals and assistive devices in compliance with the ADA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company is also taking part in local driver education events in partnership with the organization Seeing Eye. Uber also recently sent all drivers in the U.S. a new service animal education video reminding them it is illegal to deny someone a ride because of their service animal. Riders can report violations on the app or by calling a new hotline at 18337158237. A spokesperson from Lyft said: Discrimination has no place in the Lyft community. We strive to provide an inclusive and accessible platform for riders, including those who rely on service animals or mobility devices. We continually update our practices to improve accessibility for riders and are proud to be working directly with advocacy organizations in the community. We are currently piloting a Service Animal Opt-In feature which allows riders to disclose that they travel with a service animal when requesting a ride. This feature is a significant step in our broader mission to ensure that riders feel safe and supported on our platform. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, Lyft says drivers who knowingly decline to accommodate a person with a disability will face deactivation from the platform. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. STEWART COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) Authorities said they discovered a body in Kentucky Lake after receiving a report about an overdue boater Tuesday evening. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) said the preliminary investigation indicates 63-year-old Mark Powell had launched a small Jon boat from Piney Campground to work on a duck blind. Water emergency in Benton County after deadly crash While responding to the report about the overdue boater on Tuesday, Nov. 26, the TWRA said its officers arrived at the Stewart County lake and found Powell dead in the water near the duck ramp. His vessel which was only equipped with a trolling motor was located against the bank about 65 yards from the ramp. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No additional details have been released about this incident. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com According to the TWRA, this marks the second boating-related death on Kentucky Lake and the 22nd such fatality on Tennessee waterways for 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. An Oklahoma City police officer remains on paid administrative leave after being charged with misdemeanor assault and battery that reportedly left a woman with a knot on her head and the inability to use her left arm for several days. Rasaun Gordon, 29, faces the charge in Oklahoma County District Court. An attorney for Gordon could not immediately be reached for comment. About 3:25 a.m. on Sept. 15, Gordon responded to a noise complaint at a residence in the 5500 block of Rockwood Avenue. There, he found several people listening to music and drinking alcohol in the driveway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police bodycam footage shows how a confrontation unfolded when Gordon cursed while telling the group to go inside the residence. One person collected a cooler while others stayed where they were. What happened in the incident, bodycam footage One of the people, Llulisa Carranza, is described as the only person in the group who spoke English well, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by an officer with the Oklahoma City Police Departments Internal Affairs unit. While holding a can of beer, she told Gordon not to speak to the group in the manner in which he did. Gordon told her the group shouldnt be waking people up at 3 a.m. Carranza said they werent waking anybody up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then why did I get called? Gordon asked. Because shes racist, Carranza said, in regard to a neighbor calling about the noise. Gordon said the caller was a male. Gordon and Carranza argued about public intoxication. Carranza is heard saying she pays Gordon. I pay taxes too, stupid, Gordon is heard saying. The group moved toward the garage as Carranza said she understood her rights. Gordon told her she was about to be arrested. Be the first to know: Sign up for breaking news email alerts Its called disorderly conduct. Look it up, he said. Gordon is heard calling Carranza a smart a--. He tells Carranza if he is called to the residence again, she and the others would go to jail. While Carranza was in the garage, Gordon, who at one point was several feet away, is seen walking toward her as the argument continued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There were numerous opportunities for (Gordon) to disengage and leave the residence once they complied, the Internal Affairs officer wrote in the affidavit. Carranza stepped just outside the garage and Gordon became irritated at Carranza for being argumentative, according to the affidavit. He quickly approached Carranza as she stood near the back of a vehicle with her arms crossed. Go ... inside now, Gordon is heard saying as he appears to forcefully shove Carranza back into the garage. Carranza went several feet backward, before she fell to the ground and struck her head on an object in the garage, according to the affidavit. After shoving Carranza, Gordon grabbed a male individual near the garage by the shirt and pulled him toward the garage Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was not acting in a manner consistent with being a threat to the defendant or anyone else around, the affidavit states. (Gordons) actions were not consistent with the physical arrest of a compliant person. The shove exceeded any reasonable force authorized in this incident. After getting back on her feet, Carranza quickly approached Gordon and demanded his badge number. Gordon told Carranza she was under arrest for touching his shoulder, which did not occur, the affidavit states. Gordon walked Carranza to the grass where he conducted a leg-sweep takedown. He then appeared to turn Carranza on her stomach and forcefully twist her left arm behind her back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congratulations, you just bought yourself a ticket to jail, Gordon is heard saying. Gordon handcuffed Carranza and placed her into his police vehicle. She told Gordon she hoped he had his camera on. Gordon told Carranza she was under arrest for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Gordon later attempted to release Carranza on the scene and denied her eight separate requests to speak to a supervisor, according to the affidavit. Sergeant placed on administrative leave following incident Instead of transporting her to jail, Gordon took her to a detox where she was tested with 0.046% blood alcohol level, according to the affidavit. The legal blood alcohol content limit in Oklahoma is 0.08%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gordon allegedly did not complete a police report documenting the arrest or use-of-force incident. The defendant did not report the incident to his supervisor, the affidavit states. The defendant merely added comments to the computer aided dispatch system and was dishonest with what was documented. Carranza sought medical treatment. She was diagnosed with a bone contusion and swelling on an elbow. She sustained a contusion on her head with a knot that remained for more than 10 days, according to the affidavit. The affidavit states Carranza was unable to use her left arm for daily tasks for more than 10 days. She maintains a limited range of motion on the elbow and requires physical therapy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police released the following statement Monday: The Oklahoma City Police Department has completed an investigation into an allegation of misconduct involving Sergeant Rasaun Gordon. At the outset of the investigation, Sgt. Gordon was placed on paid administrative leave, a status that remains in effect. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the findings were submitted to the Oklahoma County District Attorneys Office, resulting in the filing of a state misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against the officer. In the interest of transparency and public trust, the department has released body-worn camera footage of the incident. The Oklahoma City Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and accountability. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC officer remains on paid leave during assault and battery case ROBERTSON COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44) An Aggie student-led off-campus Bonfire in Robertson County set for this Friday is being postponed due to an ongoing burn ban. Robertson County Emergency Management says the county will not be lifting the burn ban for the foreseeable future. The Bonfire Facebook page says it respects and supports this decision. The Bonfire Facebook page says the Stack Site will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. Visitors are invited to tour the Stack, share old Army stories, take photos, and get motivated for this weekends game against the University of Texas. The area is a no-alcohol site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Bonfire Facebook page, the final logs will be placed Tuesday evening to finish the 2024 season. The page says Aggies are as motivated today as they have been all semester. When the area is safe to burn, many Aggies will be welcome to the site. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. DANIA BEACH, Florida (AP) As immigration remains a hotly contested priority for the Trump administration after playing a decisive role in the deeply polarized election, the Border Patrol agents tasked with enforcing many of its laws are wrestling with growing challenges on and off the job. More are training to become chaplains to help their peers as they tackle security threats, including the powerful cartels that control much of the border dynamic, and witness growing suffering among migrants all while policies in Washington keep shifting and public outrage targets them from all sides. The hardest thing is, people dont know what we do, and weve been called terrible names, said Brandon Fredrick, a Buffalo, New York-based agent some of whose family members have resorted to name-calling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, he served as a training academy instructor for Border Patrol chaplains, whose numbers have almost doubled in the last four years. It's an effort to help agents motivated by the desire to keep the U.S. borders safe cope with mounting distress before it leads to family dysfunction, addiction, even suicide. Chaplains academy trains agents to tackle emotional distress During the latest academy, held at a Border Patrol station near Miami, Fredrick evaluated pairs of chaplains-in-training as they role-played checking on a fellow agent who hadnt reported for work. They discovered hed been drowning in alcohol his angst at being deployed away from his family for the holidays at one of the borders hotspots. The training scenario was achingly real for the South Florida-based agent role-playing the distressed one he had struggled when relocated for 18 months to Del Rio, Texas, away from his two children and also for Fredrick, who overcame alcoholism before becoming a chaplain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Interacting with chaplains can reduce the agents' reluctance to express their emotional trials, Fredrick said. My mission every day is that theres not a young agent Fredrick suffering alone, he added. Fredrick, a Catholic, has been an agent for more than 15 years and worked tragic cases like a smuggling attempt where an Indian family froze to death at the Canada-U.S. border. Confidential support, with a side of faith Unlike the police or military, which recruits faith leaders for help with everything from suicide prevention to dealing with the unrest after George Floyds murder, the Border Patrol trains mostly lay agents endorsed by their faith denominations to become chaplains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After graduating, they join about 240 other chaplains and resume their regular jobs but theyre constantly on call to provide largely confidential care for their 20,000 fellow agents well-being. While most chaplains are Christian, Muslim and Jewish agents also have been trained recently. The chaplains dont offer faith-specific worship and only bring up religion if the person theyre helping does first. Im not there to convert or proselytize, said academy instructor Jason Wilhite, an agent in Casa Grande, Arizona, and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A chaplain since 2015, he was previously involved in the agency's nonreligious, mental health-focused peer support program after a fellow agent died in a car accident. Agent Jesus Vasavilbaso decided to join the Border Patrol's peer support program after witnessing the trauma of repeatedly responding to calls from lost and dying migrants in the unforgiving desert southwest of Tucson, Arizona. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sometimes you go home and keep thinking you didnt find them, he said. Thats why its so important we check on each other all the time. Training to deal with deaths at the border At the most recent chaplain academy, which lasted 2.5 weeks, the 15 chaplains-in-training mostly from the Border Patrol, plus a few Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management officers practiced real-life scenarios, including responding to a deadly wreck involving agents and notifying a spouse their loved one died on the job. Chris Day, a chaplain since 2017, evaluated trainees trying to comfort an agent who kept screaming that it was all his fault his partner was killed. In the training scenario, their car crashed as they chased someone crossing the border illegally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Day praised the trainees' efforts to get the agent to talk, but advised them not to say, 'I understand.' Because you dont. Later, Day told the class he had helped an agent who watched the smugglers he was chasing smash their car into a family, gravely injuring a toddler. He said the agent had ugly cried" at the scene and kept repeating that his child was the same age, so Day took him aside briefly and followed up after. We hugged it out, said Day, a Baptist with a Psalm verse tattooed on his right arm. He also has helped the wife of an agent who killed himself, and prayed for migrants who request it. More than 100 migrants have died so far this year in New Mexico's desert, where Day is stationed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The smells and visuals stay with you forever, Day said. We have empathy for people coming across. Combining vigilance with empathy on and off duty Trying to comfort migrant children in their custody, including the thousands who cross the border alone, is also a wrenching task for agents. At the academy, Trinidad Balderas, a father and medic in McAllen, Texas, and Yaira Santiago, a former schoolteacher who runs a Border Patrol migrant processing center at the other end of the southern border in San Diego, California, said they both seek to provide some calm in the chaos of the children's situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One tries to give them support within the limits of what your work allows. I always have the biggest smile, Santiago said. Border Patrol assistant chief and chaplaincy program manager Spencer Hatch highlighted the need to maintain both the hypervigilance of law enforcement and the humanitarian instinct to empathize with migrants and fellow agents. He also taught strategies to protect the agents families from spillover trauma. Divorces increase when agents are redeployed during migrant surges some up to 9 times over 18 months during the record border crossings early in the Biden Administration. Many agents children are scared to reveal their parents job especially in border communities. They might be going to school with children of cartel members, or of undocumented migrants, or those who see the Border Patrol as keeping people from living the American dream, in Hatchs words. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a really hard thing to deal with, as things tend to flip from one side to the other, and were still in the crossfire, he added. Hatch uses as a case study of moral injury, a 2021 incident in Del Rio where agents on horseback appeared in some viral photos to be whipping immigrants with their reins which a federal investigation later determined hadnt happened. For one picture to be taken out of context and to have the highest levels of government shaming those people, that was very disheartening. That hurt all of us, Hatch said. Wrestling with moral standards and a higher calling Dealing with that dissonance of enforcing immigration laws, including rescuing migrants, and hearing their jobs demonized by the public, is a major challenge, said Tucson-area chaplain Jimmy Stout. He was one of first four chaplains when the program was started through a grassroots effort at the southern border in the late 1990s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We go over this on day one, Stout said. Is what theyre doing meeting their personal standards? For the agents who got their chaplain pins last week, those standards now involve a higher calling, too. Class speaker Matt Kiniery, a father of three who joined the Army after 9/11 and the Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, in 2009, decided to become a chaplain after an on-duty car wreck so bad the doctor called his survival miraculous. The guy upstairs has got something for you. I took that to heart, Kiniery said. Chaplains helped his wife Jeanna then, and the couple is now eager to support his new role. Even in moments of uncertainty, your presence is often enough, the 6-foot-5 agent told the graduating class, before his voice broke. Several instructors in the audience wiped away tears. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. DENVER (KDVR) The No. 1 television show on Netflix, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? premiered on Monday, and the Boulder Police Department has since spoken out about the case. The docuseries debuted on Nov. 25 on Netflix as an investigative series about JonBenet Ramsey, a 6-year-old who was reported missing from her home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. The family of the beauty pageant star later found her dead in the basement of the home. JonBenet Ramsey cold case review leads to recommendations Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One day after the series aired, the police department posted an annual update on X, which they said comes as the date of JonBenets murder approaches. While the update usually comes in December, the department said this update came early due to the increased attention on this investigation. Boulder PD speaks on JonBenet Ramsey case While the department never mentioned the docuseries specifically, the post on X referred to many claims that were brought up in the three-episode documentary series. The docuseries ultimately suggests many errors made in the investigation, including faulty DNA evidence and false accusations of the family members. The series alludes to many possible suspects toward the end of the show and steps that should be taken next in the investigation. The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuingto include DNA testingis completely false, the department said on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While this claim has been made by many throughout the years, the department addresses another claim made by the series. New series starring Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will explore JonBenet Ramsey cold case In Episode 3, the series said the following: In 2023, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation assembled a panel of experts to conduct a cold case review of the JonBenet Ramsey murder. However, the Boulder police said differently. Additionally, it was the Boulder Police Departmentnot the Colorado Bureau of Investigationwho convened the Cold Case Review Panel in December 2023 as part of its investigation efforts, said the department on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boulder police also released a five-minute video about updates in the case, in which Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the agency welcomes any documentary that brings attention to the case and hopes the recent attention will spark more tips. Redfearn also said they had an open dialogue with the family and remain open-minded on the case. Redfearn also provided an update on where the cold case stands today. JonBenet Ramsey case updates As for the current investigation, Redfearn said the department is still working through tips that the cold case panel gave the department last year, but like any major investigation, the police cant share any more with the public without compromising the case. JonBenet Ramseys father writes to Polis about DNA evidence Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So much of how law enforcement works has changed in the last 30 years. There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that couldve been done better, and we acknowledge that is true. However, it is important to emphasize that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1997, our goal is to find JonBenet Ramseys killer, said Redfearn. The department said the homicide case can be reviewed on its website. Anyone with any information on the case can contact detectives at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or by calling the Boulder Police tipline at 303-441-1974. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DENVER (KDVR) The death of 6-year-old beauty pageant star JonBenet Ramsey, which has captivated many over the last nearly 30 years, has again caught peoples attention thanks to the newly released Netflix docuseries, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? Some of the claims made in the show, however, may not be what they seem, according to police. The docuseries debuted on Nov. 25 on Netflix as an investigative series about JonBenet Ramsey, who was reported missing from her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 26, 1996. Her family later found her dead in the basement of their home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JonBenet Ramsey cold case review leads to recommendations One day after the series aired, Bolder Police posted an annual update on X. While the update usually comes in December, the department said this update came early due to the increased attention on this investigation. Boulder Police speak on the JonBenet Ramsey case While the department never mentioned the Netflix docuseries specifically, the post on X referred to many claims that were brought up in the three-episode documentary series. The docuseries ultimately suggests many errors were made in the investigation, including faulty DNA evidence and false accusations of the girls family members. The series alludes to many possible suspects toward the end of the show and steps that should be taken next in the investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuingto include DNA testingis completely false, Boulder Police said. While this claim has been made by many throughout the years, the department addresses another claim made by the series. New series starring Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will explore JonBenet Ramsey cold case In Episode 3, the series said the following: In 2023, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation assembled a panel of experts to conduct a cold case review of the JonBenet Ramsey murder. However, the Boulder police said differently. Additionally, it was the Boulder Police Departmentnot the Colorado Bureau of Investigationwho convened the Cold Case Review Panel in December 2023 as part of its investigation efforts, said the department on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boulder police also released a five-minute video about updates in the case, in which Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the agency welcomes any documentary that brings attention to the case and hopes the recent attention will spark more tips. Redfearn also said they had an open dialogue with the family and remain open-minded on the case. JonBenet Ramsey case updates As for the current investigation, Redfearn said the department is still working through tips that the cold case panel gave the department last year, but like any major investigation, the police cant share any more with the public without compromising the case. JonBenet Ramseys father writes to Colorado governor about DNA evidence Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So much of how law enforcement works has changed in the last 30 years. There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that couldve been done better, and we acknowledge that is true. However, it is important to emphasize that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1996, our goal is to find JonBenet Ramseys killer, said Redfearn. The department said the homicide case can be reviewed on its website. Anyone with any information on the case can contact detectives at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or by calling the Boulder Police tipline at 303-441-1974. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BOWIE, Md. (DC News Now) Bowie police hosted a turkey giveaway to make sure families had a holiday meal for Thanksgiving. (Tim Reid/DC News Now) Officers from the Bowie Police Department were spreading some early Thanksgiving cheer Tuesday, giving away turkeys and household items like towels and cleaning supplies. Thanksgiving holiday travel rush continues amid one of the busiest travel days Families came to the Bowie police station and officers also drove their mobile units out to neighborhoods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bowie police officers told DC News Now that the giveaway puts smiles on their faces. It feels awesome here in the City of Bowie, Sgt. John McMaster with the department said. Thanksgiving is about generosity and kindness and giving back and it feels good to be part of that and as a police officer its not just about protecting and serving, it is about fostering a connection and supporting those in need. The police department has hosted this giveaway for several years. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. CAPE TOWN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- South African authorities have warned the public and travelers of rabies in dogs, Cape fur seals, and wildlife in the country as the traditional Thanksgiving holiday season approaches. The alert was issued Tuesday by three government departments, including the Department of Health, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of South Africa. "Collectively, the departments wish to alert members of the public about high-risk rabies areas in South Africa where the disease occurs in dogs, Cape fur seals and other animals," read the notice. Rabies is a deadly viral disease that affects all mammals and can spread from animals to humans. According to the NICD, the virus is transmitted in the saliva of infected animals through bites, scratches, and licks. It affects the brain and is fatal once a person or animal shows clinical signs, but it can be prevented through the vaccination of animals and immediate medical attention in people exposed to an infected animal. Multiple reports of attacks on humans by aggressive Cape fur seals, also known as South African seals or brown fur seals, have been reported over the last few months along the Cape coastline in South Africa, said the notice. The Cape coastline refers to the coastlines of several regions in South Africa, including the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape, and Cape Town. "This is the first incidence of rabies being maintained in a marine mammal population. The public is urged to take note of this new risk of rabies in Cape fur seals and keep a respectful distance from these animals," it said. Meanwhile, according to the notice, there have been human deaths attributed to rabies from dogs in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West provinces of South Africa this year. "The public is urged to stay away from stray animals and not to touch animals they don't know," said the notice. "If a person suspects that an animal has rabies, this should be reported to the local state veterinary office, local welfare authority, wildlife rescue center, Protected Areas Management Authority, or the police." Brazil's national police said that former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro "directly and actively participated" in plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election along with his supporters, according to an official report made public on Tuesday. Bolsonaro, who was president from 2019 to 2022, was also "fully aware" of an alleged plan by soldiers to kill Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the election, as well as Lula's vice president and a Supreme Court judge, said the report, which is now with Brazil's Public Prosecutor's Office. "The evidence obtained during the investigation shows unequivocally that the then president of the Republic, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, planned, acted and had direct and effective control of the executory acts carried out by the criminal organization that aimed to carry out a coup d'etat and abolish the democratic rule of law, a fact that was not consummated due to circumstances beyond his control," the report says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Brazil's federal police said the former president had worked with allies in "a criminal organization" to try to remain in power after his election defeat to Lula. On Monday, Bolsonaro rejected the accusation. "I never discussed a coup with anyone," Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia. "If someone were to come to discuss a coup with me, I would ask: 'What about the day after? How would we look to the world?'" Bolsonaro went on to say that what he did consider were "all possible moves...within the constitution." The Public Prosecutor's Office must now decide whether to follow the recommendation of the federal police and press charges against Bolsonaro and 36 other suspects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The police also accused top military officials of involvement in the plot. In addition to Bolsonaro, the accused include former general and head of the cabinet for institutional security Augusto Heleno, former defence minister Braga Netto and former president of the secret service Alexandre Ramagem, the police said. All are accused of crimes of violent abolition of the democratic constitutional state, a coup d'etat and the formation of a criminal organization. On January 8, 2023, supporters of former military man Bolsonaro, who refused to recognize Lula's election victory, stormed the Congress, the government headquarters and the Supreme Court in Brasilia, causing significant damage. 36,718 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? 36,718 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect information from the Bristol, Virginia Police Department. BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) One person was arrested after a shooting in Bristol, Virginia on Tuesday. According to a release from the Bristol, Virginia Police Department, officers responded to the 1400 block of Elm Street regarding a shooting just before 7 p.m. Upon arrival, the victim of the shooting reportedly left the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police then located Joseph A. Desandro, 37, walking near the area where the shooting happened. Desandro was taken into custody for possession of a schedule II drug, the release stated. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Crime Watch During an interview with Desandro, police determined he and the victim were at another home on Elm Street where arguments between several people were occurring. The victim reportedly left the home and was confronted by Desandro, who police say shot the victim one time. Around three hours later, the victim was found in Bristol, Tennesse. They were taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Wednesday, the victim is still hospitalized. Desandro was charged with the following, according to police. Malicious Wounding Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon Reckless handling of a firearm Possession of a schedule II drug Intoxicated in public He is being held at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail without bond. Desandro is set to appear in court on Dec. 2. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Shes home. Brittany Martin, the South Carolina woman who spent nearly four years in prison after being arrested at a George Floyd protest in June 2020, has been released. Martin, 36, had been separated from her five children and husband for nearly 1,000 days before her release on Wednesday morning. She was transferred from the Illinois Department of Corrections last week to South Carolina for an unexpected homecoming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im so grateful. Im just so thankful, Martin told Capital B in a phone interview on Wednesday. Im still in shock right now. It still feels so unreal at this moment. It hasnt settled in with me yet that Im free. Her husband, Eric Kennedy, drove 14 hours south from Lincoln, Illinois, to Sumter, the county they once called home, with the couples five children for the reunion. Martin and her family moved there after she was sentenced to four years in prison for protesting and raising her voice at police officers. Martin was indicted by a grand jury after being accused of instigating a riot and other charges for her actions during a protest in 2020. She was released seven months early. I walked the whole 2 years, with my integrity, my dignity and my respect I kept my head up, Martin said. I went through so much pain, and I have seen so much pain over the last 2 years. It hasnt done nothing but truly humble my spirit and humble my soul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martin, was convicted of breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature. The jury acquitted her of violent offenses that included five counts of threatening the lives of those police officers. She continues to maintain her innocence. Martin and her family, like millions of others around the world, left their homes during the pandemic to protest the police murder of George Floyd. Kennedy, 38, was also arrested while protesting at the same event in June 2020; charges against him were dismissed. Kennedy, like many other civil rights and prison reform activists, has questioned the legality of his wifes charges from the beginning. Legal advocates argued that Martin was being made an example of, and her conviction was meant to send a message about the consequences of protesting in South Carolina. Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, told Capital B hours before Martins release early Wednesday morning, that she is sharing a sigh of relief with Black mama and freedom fighter Brittany Martin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martins attorneys say her conviction could be added to the list of 1,822 other Black men and 105 Black women whose convictions have been overturned since 1989, according to the National Registry of Exonerations database. Following multiple requests from Black Lives Matter Grassroots for Martins release, Capital B spoke to her on the phone in February from prison. At the time, Martin asked the public to help her survive her time behind bars. She had just been transferred 900 miles from home to Lincoln, Illinois, without her familys knowledge, after protesting jail guards cutting off her locs, and alleged mistreatment such as being underfed while she was nearly 8-months pregnant during her time in a Sumter County prison. Give that same energy that I was given when I was out there. The same love, candor and care, Martin said, adding that is what I need for my life to be saved so that I can come out and celebrate that moment with everyone, of my exoneration. Advocates say they will continue to fight in court for Martins conviction to be overturned, arguing that she was exercising her constitutional right to protest and speak her mind, regardless of the tone she used. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to hear Brittanys appeal and reverse her conviction, even if she is released, said Paul Bowers, a spokesman for the ACLU-South Carolina, in an email to Capital B. The purpose would be both to clear this conviction from her record and to protect the rights of protesters in our state going forward. As a returning citizen, Martin may face a list of challenges when it comes to adjusting to having a felony on her permanent record, while also tending to her mental, physical, and emotional health. She was separated from her five children, one of whom she gave birth to while incarcerated. During the 925 days that Martin was in jail, the number of Black people killed by police officers continued to average well over 250 per year since Floyd. To be clear, her release is not justice. Brittany should be celebrated for standing in the name of #GeorgeFloyd, not maligned and caged, Abdullah said in a text message. The criminal system of injustice continues to prove how utterly irredeemable it is and demonstrates the urgency of the fight to make Black Lives Matter. These kids need their momma Kennedy received confirmation on Monday morning from the South Carolina Department of Corrections of Martins arrival at the prison. Martin was transferred back to the Sumter County prison, where she was first sent following her conviction in May 2022. Eric Kennedy hugs Brittany Martin after her release from prison Wednesday. It has been a journey, Kennedy said. Im ecstatic. (Courtesy of Melina Abdullah) Kennedy says its surreal that shes finally getting out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has been a journey, Kennedy told Capital B on Monday morning. He received instructions from prison officials on when to arrive at the prison Tuesday night for her pickup Im ecstatic. Abdullah said she and the organizations Charleston chapter were outside the prison to greet Martin with her family and trial attorney, Sybil Rosado. After being showered with gifts wrapped in holiday wrapping paper and enjoying the giggles of her toddler who she named Blessing Martin returned to the Sumter County courthouse Wednesday afternoon to meet with her parole officer. While there, Martin was shocked to see two of the officers who had testified against her, but she said she was proud of how she reacted. This is how I know God has changed me. God has grasped me, and kept me and healed me. Because I didnt feel not one bit of anger, said Martin, whose 18-year-old son was murdered before her trial started. I didnt feel not one bit of malice in my heart. I didnt feel no hatred. I just looked at him and laughed [in] my head and said, How you doing, sir. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the officers, who was a woman, embraced her with open arms and apologized, Martin said. When Martin went back to the car, she cried for the first time. Before this moment, Martin had two other chances to get out of prison before her parole eligibility date of May 15, 2025: the first in May before a parole board, which denied her release, and the second in a rare case when the ACLU became involved in her criminal case. The national nonprofit civil rights organizations South Carolina chapter filed an appeal on the grounds that Martins First Amendment rights were violated by Sumter Countys prosecution that appeal was denied in July. In the appeal, they also highlighted the racial disparity in Martins sentence, which ACLU lawyers said was excessive. Read More: South Carolina Punished a Black Woman for Protesting. Her Supporters Demand Her Release. Brittany has remained faithful and strong throughout her unjust imprisonment and unimaginable abuses, said Abdullah, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter. What a tremendous honor it is to fight alongside her and her loving and courageous family and community that has sustained her throughout this period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before Martins release, Kennedy said he had been financially strained because he had to uproot the entire family to keep the children especially their young child, whom she was still nursing close to their mother. Despite Kennedys efforts, he said communication with Martin was infrequent because prison officials had put her on restricted status more than once following her sentencing. But now, Martin wants to pause to be with her children, husband, and family to catch up on lost time. And she wants to enjoy their giggles. Nevertheless, Kennedy says he held onto his faith that his children will close out 2024 with their momma back home. I really cant believe this day has come. The post Brittany Martin, Convicted for Protesting Police Brutality, Is Home at Last appeared first on Capital B News. BRYAN, Texas (FOX 44) The Bryan Police Department is actively investigating four incidents of shots being fired at various locations across the city. The first report occurred on Thursday, November 21, between East 29th Street and Goessler Street, from a physical interaction between a group of individuals in the area. No victims or suspects were found when officers arrived. The second report occurred on Friday, November 22, between Barak Lane and Oakridge Drive. The report involved two vehicles at the intersection. Multiple shots were exchanged from two vehicles leaving the scene. Police say both involved vehicles have been found and persons of interest have been identified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The third report also occurred on Friday, November 22, in the 1900 block of Sibsa Way. Police say multiple suspects were involved. One victim was struck by gunfire while sitting in a parked car and sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound. The fourth report occurred on Tuesday, November 26, in the 1900 block of Fawnwood Drive. One victim was struck by gunfire inside of the home. Police say the victim sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound. One in custody, three detained in search warrant connected to shooting The department says its investigation into the four shots fired calls indicate that all of the incidents are connected. All of the incidents are related to a known group of individuals who are carrying out these violent acts against one another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say the investigations into these incidents are active and continue to develop information and leads that require follow-up. Additional staffing has been dedicated to address these incidents. If you have any information about any of these incidents or the identitiy of the suspects, you can call the Bryan Police Department at (979) 209-5300 or Brazos County Crime Stoppers at (979) 775-8477. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. Seattle Public Schools may have put aside, for now, plans to shut down four elementary schools, but the districts crushing budget deficit isnt going anywhere. Tuesday night, Gina Topp with the SPS Board of Directors held a community meeting at the West Seattle Library. The budget crisis was a key topic with Topp saying theres a lot of work ahead to figure out where nearly $100 million is going to come from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve spent our rainy-day fund, weve taken a loan from ourselves, weve cut the easier things not that anything is easy to cut and now were left at a spot where we have $100 million budget deficit and were going to have to make some very difficult decisions, said Topp. For funding, the district is looking at two levies up for renewal, along with trying to get more money from the state. I was just at a meeting this past week with other school board directors across the state as we talked about how we planned to advocate to the legislature to make sure that we get the funding we need to operate our schools, said Topp. Sanislo Elementary PTA vice-president Kelly Alleen-Willems echoed those concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It sounds like an impossible problem, and quite frankly, its pretty clear that a lack of funding at the state level is the problem. This isnt a Seattle issue, this is a Washington state issue and Im excited for us to go to Olympia and start to hold our legislators accountable, said Alleen-Willems. At the community meeting, parents shared worries about what they call dysfunction in the district. Topp agreed the district needs to rebuild trust with families. I think we could do that with transparency engagement and hopefully the two-way sharing of information, said Topp. Up next for the school board is a budget meeting set for December 18. Cruisers for the North Dakota Highway Patrol sit parked in the Capitol parking lot on April 26, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The North Dakota Highway Patrol will have a new superintendent on Sunday. Lt. Daniel Haugen was named interim superintendent of the North Dakota Highway Patrol by Gov. Doug Burgum on Wednesday, according to a governors office news release. However, Haugen will only be under the interim superintendent title until Dec. 15. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov.-elect Kelly Armstrong announced Haugen will serve as the permanent superintendent once his administration transitions into power. Lieutenant Haugens career is the embodiment of the dedication, leadership, and vision necessary to ensure the safety and security of all North Dakotans, Armstrong said in a news release. With his proven record of fostering community trust and advancing public safety, I am fully confident he will excel as Superintendent of the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Haugen will replace the outgoing superintendent, Col. Brandon Solberg, who is retiring from law enforcement to become the director of facility management for the Office of Management and Budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a news release, Burgum expressed his gratitude for Solbergs service to the state. Haugen, a Marine veteran, joined the Highway Patrol in 2000 and, during his time on the force, served as the training director for the North Dakota Law Enforcement Training Academy. He also received three Colonels Awards for Excellence and the North Dakota Peace Officers Associations Life Saving Award. Most recently, Haugen served as the field commander for the southwest region of the Highway Patrol, which includes Dickinson and Bismarck. I am deeply honored to serve as Superintendent of the North Dakota Highway Patrol and grateful to Governor-Elect Armstrong for this opportunity to serve in his administration, Haugen said in a news release. Together, we will build on the Patrols legacy of excellence, ensure public safety, and strengthen our partnerships with communities across the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Haugen, a Langdon native, received an associates degree in criminal justice from Bismarck State College and is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff & Command. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PRAGUE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Czech coalition government failed to reach an agreement on the need to appoint a national coordinator for the euro adoption, Deputy Prime Minister Vit Rakusan said on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting. Rakusan's Mayors and Independents (STAN), one of the ruling coalition parties, has called for setting up the post. "Unfortunately, we did not agree on the need to appoint a national coordinator for the euro," Rakusan said on social media platform X. "I regret this because although the euro does not (yet) have the support of the majority of the public, doing nothing is rarely a good strategy." He called on continued debates on the euro adoption with experts and the public. Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said in a statement that the cabinet discussed the analysis submitted by the National Economic Council of the Government (NERV) on the benefits and risks of the Czech Republic's entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II). According to NERV's recommendations, the country should only enter the ERM II at the moment when there is agreement on the date of adoption of the euro. The ERM II is a mechanism for fixing the participating currencies against the euro within a fluctuation band. It is a preparatory phase for euro adoption, and a member state of the European Union (EU) has to spend at least two years in ERM II before joining the eurozone. In 2004 when the Czech Republic joined the EU, it committed to entering the eurozone once it satisfies the euro convergence criteria. According to Stanjura, the country should meet most of the conditions for joining the eurozone this year, except the two-year membership of the ERM II. "I fully agree with one of the NERV's conclusions, that there should be political agreement or wider public support for entering the ERM II," he said. "The decision to adopt a common European currency should ideally be taken at the beginning of the mandate of one of the next governments so that the entire process is led by the same cabinet," the minister added. Students prepare to ride bicycles in the gymnasium at Will-Moore Elementary School in Bismarck, North Dakota, during a celebration of the All Kids Bike program on Nov. 25, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum flashed his biking acumen and his inner child this week during the states rollout of the All Kids Bike program. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. 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 because of 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. 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) This article first appeared in the North Dakota Monitor, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network. NEW YORK (PIX11) 80 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or farther this holiday week, which is a record number, according to AAA and the Transportation Security Administration. In fact, this will be the busiest Thanksgiving ever, in terms of air travel, according to TSA Administrator David Pekoske. More Local News Its similarly busy across a variety of modes of travel, where PIX11 News found people readying themselves for a worst-case scenario, but largely pleased that it hasnt been a nightmare at least so far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ian Feldman was about to board an NJTransit train down to the Jersey Shore with his daughter in order to visit relatives as part of their Thanksgiving week vacation. He said that there was a theme to their travels. We figured it was going to be really busy, so we left early, Feldman said. Theyd planned ahead for high volumes of fellow travelers. Stephanie Shifflett was in the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, waiting to board an Amtrak train to Virginia. She and her group of traveling companions said that they were staying calm, despite some travel setbacks they described as minor. AAA predicts record-breaking Thanksgiving travel Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their trains departure time was moved about a quarter-hour later than originally scheduled, but Shifflett didnt seem to mind. If on the busiest travel day, were delayed by 14 minutes, she said, were okay. Thats what weve got right now. The delay was how their trip began, but the group was confident that their journey across six states and the District of Columbia wouldnt be delayed any further. Fingers crossed, Shifflett said. Meanwhile, Aneesh Anand, another rail passenger, mentioned that his chosen mode of transportation, while not perfect, was at least as good as others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was talking to some friends, he said, and they were like at the airport, and its like 45 minutes to get through security. Their description contradicts what David Pekoske, the head of the TSA said, about the airport security experience. He told the Associated Press that his agency had enough screeners this holiday week to get passengers through most airport security checkpoints nationwide within 30 minutes. Extra service added for Thanksgiving and Black Friday: MTA At the New York regions airports on Tuesday, most flights were on time. However, there were concerns that a variety of factors could affect travel times, including an air traffic controller shortage at Newark, and snow and rainstorms expected to affect airports from the Great Lakes region to ours later this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One more issue involves the Thanksgiving holiday occurring so late in the month this year. The late date puts the autumn holiday closer to the winter holiday season, which tends to promote people spreading out their outbound travel across the week. They then tend to all return during the coming weekend, making airports, train stations, and bus stations that much more crowded. Ian Feldman, the Jersey Shore-bound NJTransit passenger, offered advice regarding the situation. Do not travel on Sunday and Monday, he said. Were headed out on Saturday to avoid the Thanksgiving rush. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 27Champaign * 2600 block of North Prospect Avenue: Man stole several items from business at 10 a.m. Nov. 19. * 500 block of South Elm Street: Victim reported two homeless people whom he let spend the night in his apartment stole from him at 6:25 p.m. Nov. 19. * 600 block of South Neil Street: Business burglarized at 1 a.m. Nov. 20. * 2000 block of North Neil Street: A juvenile ran from an investigative stop and was detained before being released to a guardian at 12:36 a.m. Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * Fifth and White streets: A potential theft was reported, and two subjects were stopped during the investigation. One lied about his date of birth due to having four warrants and was arrested at 11:46 p.m. Friday. * 1600 block of West Springfield Avenue: A woman broke into a house to retrieve items after being issued a trespassing notice at noon Saturday. * 2100 block of North Prospect Avenue: An employee became upset after being fired and threw food and property and broke a cash register before leaving at 9:09 a.m. Sunday. * 2000 block of North Neil Street: A man was arrested for stealing from his employer at 5:50 p.m. Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * 1100 block of North Third Street: Officers responded to a report of shots fired at 7:42 p.m. Sunday. Urbana * 200 block of North Vine Street: An individual whole stole from a business and discovered to have another warrant out for his arrest at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19. * 2000 block of Vawter: Street Residence fired upon at 6:09 p.m. Nov. 19. * 1000 block of Kerr Avenue: One offender damaged a victim's vehicle, and another allegedly made threats over the phone to another victim at 7:50 p.m. Nov. 19. * 600 block of Park Street: A woman who had a warrant for her arrest hit two nurses at a hospital at 12:40 p.m. Nov. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * 1800 block of Philo Road: Three individuals stole multiple bottles of alcohol at 4:22 p.m. Nov. 20. * 400 block of North Lincoln Avenue: A man was scammed out of a large amount of money by an unknown offender at 5:10 p.m. Thursday. * 1800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue: A man assaulted two women with a knife and beat one of them, then fled toward Chicago before police arrived at 6:12 p.m. Thursday. * 100 block of South High Cross Road: Man stole from a store at 1:10 p.m. Saturday. * 100 block of South High Cross Road: Woman took cash from a business by returning items she had not purchased at 3 p.m. Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * 400 block of West Park Street: Man interrupted offenders in the process of attempting to steal his vehicle, and they fled at 7 p.m. Saturday. * 100 block of South High Cross Road: Someone stole from a business at noon Sunday. * 1800 block of Philo Road: Man stole from a business at 5:53 p.m. Sunday. * 100 block of South High Cross Road: A woman who had previously trespassed in a store entered again and stole items. She admitted to planning the theft before entering the store at 7:18 p.m. Sunday. University of Illinois * North Goodwin Avenue: Officers assisted the Champaign County Sheriff's Office in pursuit of a fleeing subject at 3:01 a.m. Nov. 19. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)The Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office, in partnership with the Shreveport Police Department, is hosting its 13th Annual Clean Out Your Closet for Christmas drive. This holiday initiative aims to support families in need by collecting clothing and hygiene items for distribution through the Salvation Army and Providence House. Community members are encouraged to donate clean, damage-free clothingeither new or gently usedas well as new socks, underwear, and hygiene items like toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and shampoo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donations will be accepted through December 17 at several drop-off locations, including Sheriffs Safety Town, the Caddo Correctional Center, Government Plaza, and the Communication Center. We just like to give people and kids more options. Whether theyre going on a job interview, or they just want to hang out with family and friends, normally when you dress nice you feel good inside, and thats our goal to put a smile on family faces this year, said Corporal Carlos Chenevert of the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office. For more information or to get involved, contact Cpl. Carlos Chenevert at carlos.cheveret@caddosheriff.org, or call 318-698-SAFE. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. The owner of Bar Stella was arrested Tuesday morning outside his restaurant on suspicion of shooting bullets into the walls and ceiling of his apartment above the establishment, authorities said. Gareth Kantner was taken into custody around 12:25 a.m., accused of negligent discharge of a firearm, LAPD Officer David Cuellar told The Times. Officers arrived at the 3900 block of Sunset Boulevard where Bar Stella and other restaurants owned by Kantner are located and heard gunshots coming from an apartment above. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When police went inside, they saw numerous bullet holes in the walls and ceiling of the residence, according to police. No one was injured, and there were no victims, Cuellar said. Kantner, who owns Bar Stella as well as the next-door French bistro Cafe Stella, was arrested without incident. A neighbor who requested anonymity told The Times she woke up around midnight when she heard three distinct gunshots. Police helicopters flew over the neighborhood, and officers in riot gear descended on Sunset Boulevard and shut down a portion of the street by Intelligentsia coffee shop, which also sits below Kantner's apartment, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It took a few hours for the boulevard to calm down. Around 2 a.m., the woman said, she went down to Sunset Boulevard and saw about half a dozen police officers arresting Kantner. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. When he was running for governor in 2017, Gavin Newsom tapped into the simmering rage of California liberals, at one point boasting on the campaign trail: "You want resistance to Donald Trump? Boy, bring it on, Donald." That swagger helped Newsom cruise to election in 2018 and crystallized his reputation as a national leader of the anti-Trump resistance. Whether California's next governor will follow Newsom's lead is less clear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The crowded field of Democrats running to succeed Newsom in 2026, and others weighing campaigns, are still triangulating how best to position themselves against President-elect Trump and whether that's a posture that California voters even want. Some candidates have echoed Newsom with a strident tone. The week Trump was reelected, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, who is considering a run for governor, stood in front of the Golden Gate Bridge and vowed use "the full force of the law" to defend Californians against the new administration. "If Trump attacks your rights: I'll be there," Bonta said. "If Trump comes after your freedoms: I'll be there. If Trump jeopardizes your safety and well-being: I'll be there." State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who entered the governor's race last year, said the state would fight any efforts by the Trump administration to undo LGBTQ+ student protections or dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. And Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis promised in a social media post that California will "never waver in our protection of the freedom to control our bodies, to marry who we love and to create opportunities for immigrants and ALL our families." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The slight rightward shift of California's voters this year has given other candidates pause. Preliminary election results suggest that several counties won by President Biden in 2020 tilted toward Trump this year, including San Bernardino County in Southern California, Butte County in Northern California, and a broad swath of the San Joaquin Valley through Merced, Fresno and Stanislaus counties, a Times analysis shows. Voters also handed resounding losses to the criminal justice reform movement, voting Dist. Attys. George Gascon and Pamela Price out of office and approving a tough-on-crime ballot initiative with overwhelming support. "Is firing up the Trump resistance really the right move given what has just happened?" said Sarah Anzia, a political scientist and public policy professor at UC Berkeley. "I would think this would call for some introspection and consideration of why Trump has grown in popularity in a state like this." Former state controller Betty Yee, who entered the gubernatorial race in March, has pointed in fundraising emails to the state's "shift toward Trump." As the statewide vote continues to be tallied, the shift appears to be just shy of 5 points; Biden won 63.5% of California voters in 2020. Harris currently has 58.6%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "That's a fairly significant slide right, and while it's easy to chalk up the votes of millions of Californians to hate or falling for Trump's deception, the fact is that more young people and more Black and Latino families voted for Trump than ever before," Yee wrote. In another message, she wrote that "Latinos of all ages, and young people the literal future of California, two groups that politicians have leaned on for decades turned away from the Democratic Party in a historically poor showing this election." Navigating those subtle shifts in the electorate may be tricky, however, and overcorrecting too far to the right may prove just as treacherous. Although he performed better in California in 2024 than 2020, Trump remains very unpopular with most Golden State voters. Historically, the party not in the White House also makes big gains in the next general election which will be 2026, when Californian's will elect a new governor. So attacking Trump may be fruitful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Toni Atkins, the former state senate leader who is among a half-dozen candidates who have launched their 2026 gubernatorial campaigns, described the focus on Trump as a sort of necessary evil. Everyone is jumping on "the anti-Trump bandwagon," she said, which is a distraction from major California issues such as the rising cost of living but critical to the state's ethos. Atkins was the leader of the state Senate during the first Trump administration, and led the campaign for Proposition 1, which enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She said Trump's reelection changes "the whole nature of this run for governor." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We need to be worried about what it means for California," she said, "because he came at us the first time." State Sen. Toni Atkins, right, speaks during a governor's candidate forum in San Francisco in September alongside Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is also running to replace Gavin Newsom. (Josh Edelson / For The Times) California sued the federal government more than 100 times during the first Trump administration, challenging the president's authority on immigration, healthcare, education, gun control, consumer protection, the census, the U.S. Postal Service, civil rights issues and other topics. On the campaign trail, Trump has recently derided Newsom as "Newscum" and called California and its Democratic leaders "radical left lunatics." He's also zeroed in on some of the state's highest-profile leaders, including Senator-elect Adam Schiff and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, calling them "enemies from within." But California still needs the White House's support in many areas, including health insurance for low-income residents that requires federal healthcare waivers, and emergency disaster funding during natural disasters like wildfires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a poll conducted by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times in late October, more than half of registered voters said they had no preference among the candidates who have already entered the race. Among those who do, their favorites haven't yet announced their campaigns. U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), who has not said whether she will run, would be the first or second choice of 13% of voters, the poll found. Two Republicans said to be weighing campaigns, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and state Sen. Brian Dahle, who ran against Newsom in 2022, were the first or second choice of 12% and 11% of registered voters, respectively. Kounalakis and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa each have 7% support, and so does Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has not said whether he will run. Republican commentator Steve Hilton, also said to be weighing a bid, would be the first or second choice of 6% of voters. Thurmond, Atkins and Yee had support from fewer than 5% of registered voters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the political environment for the 2026 campaign appears to be in flux, there may be lessons from the last time Californians picked a governor while Trump was in the White House. In 2018, Villaraigosa ran a campaign that hewed toward the middle, focusing on equal access to education, fiscal restraint and his strong record as mayor on supporting law enforcement and protecting the environment. Newsom campaigned on a bedrock liberal and expensive agenda, including proposals for a state-sponsored healthcare system, universal preschool and increased funding for higher education. Villaraigosa failed to make it out of the primary. Newsom won back-to-back terms. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. LOS ANGELES (KSNW) A California woman has been accused of operating brothels she disguised as skin care spas. Our sister station KTLA in Los Angeles reports that the Ventura County Sheriffs Office began investigating earlier this year when they received information that the Swan Spa located in Thousand Oaks was a commercial sex establishment. Detectives soon identified three other locations: one in nearby Newbury Park and two in neighboring Orange County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement California man arrested for allegedly smuggling meth-caked clothing through LAX Detectives were able to positively identify multiple male individuals suspected of purchasing commercial sex at each of the four locations under investigation, according to the sheriffs office. The department says they identified a 44-year-old woman who benefited financially from the operation. She was arrested on charges of pimping, pandering and money laundering and is being held on $100,000 bond. The Ventura County Sheriffs Office says the FBI assisted them in the investigation, which is still 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 KSN-TV. In a recent interview with Guangming Online, Henrique Nobrega, president of the Brazil-China Friendship Association, reflected on the enduring and dynamic relationship between Brazil and China as the two nations celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties. He expressed a deep sense of honor regarding the warm response from Chinese President Xi Jinping and underscored the significant role of mutual respect in strengthening the bilateral relationship. Nobrega noted that the positive and steady growth of this relationship over the years was largely due to Chinas continued efforts, particularly in areas like economic collaboration and mutual support. As he put it, I feel deeply honored by President Xis reply to our letter. It represents a recognition of our efforts, and it is very important to us. He also observed that since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago, the partnership has continuously evolved, marked by growing exchanges in trade, culture, and diplomacy. China's Role in Global Development Reflecting on the broader context of the relationship, Nobrega highlighted how Chinas economic rise has not only benefitted its own people but has had a significant positive impact on developing nations, including Brazil. One key example he pointed to was the collaborative effort between China, Sinovac, and Brazils Butantan Institute to produce the CoronaVac vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized that this cooperation demonstrated the vital role that strong international relationships play in responding to global crises: "Chinas exceptional development over the past decades has extended a helping hand to other developing countries. For instance, the joint production of the CoronaVac vaccine showed the importance of such a relationship for peoples health and humanity." The Belt and Road Initiative: Shared Growth Nobrega also highlighted Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a clear indication of the countrys vision for a shared future, built on mutual benefit. He explained that the BRI goes beyond benefiting only China, focusing on creating long-term, sustainable partnerships with developing nations like Brazil. The BRI is a mutual benefit. Its about building partnerships that help all involved. It ensures developing countries receive investments, particularly in infrastructure, which is critical for their development, Nobrega said. He believes that Brazil stands to gain significantly from this initiative, particularly in terms of infrastructure improvements, which have long been a priority for the country. Technological Collaboration and Innovation Looking forward, Nobrega is optimistic about the potential for further collaboration between Brazil and China, especially in technology. He acknowledged that China is already at the forefront of global technological innovation, with cutting-edge advancements in space exploration and patenting. China is at the technological frontier today, with rockets and satellites launched into space. Chinese universities lead the world in patents and innovations, surpassing even the most established American, European, and Israeli institutions, he said. For Nobrega, this presents a unique opportunity for Brazil to learn from Chinas technological expertise and to collaborate in areas like research and development, space exploration, and tech innovation. Strengthening Cultural and People-to-People Connections Beyond economic and technological cooperation, Nobrega emphasized the importance of cultural exchanges in furthering Brazil-China relations. He discussed the active role of the Brazil-China Friendship Association in promoting people-to-people connections, noting that such exchanges have helped foster deeper understanding and respect between the two nations. Our contribution is not only in carrying out projects or receiving delegations. Its about connecting people, he said. He also reflected on how many Brazilian officials, after visiting China, were surprised by the countrys remarkable development, returning with a newfound appreciation for Chinas progress. A Bright Future for Brazil-China Relations As the two countries look to the future, Nobrega expressed confidence that the next 50 years will be even more promising. He believes that Brazil-China cooperation will expand into new areas, particularly in tourism, education, and cultural exchanges, while continuing to strengthen trade and technology ties. The next 50 years will be excellent. Our cooperation will continue to grow, and we will not only gain from this relationship in terms of trade and technology but also in culture and human exchange, he said. In closing, Nobrega shared a message of hope, quoting a Brazilian poet: "We dont make friends; we recognize them." For him, this sentiment encapsulates the deep bond of mutual respect that exists between the two nations and reflects a vision of continued collaboration and peace through diplomacy. JUBA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's transitional unity government should speed up the unification and deployment of forces to pave the way for the registration of opposition parties with armed wings, peace monitors said Wednesday. Charles Tai Gituai, chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission, the body that monitors the peace agreement, said opposition parties such as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance have been barred from registration. "The Political Parties Act 2022 prohibits registration of political parties with armed wings. It is therefore essential for the parties to the agreement to expedite the completion of unification of forces to enable those currently with armed wings to register and participate in elections," Gituai said in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. He was speaking during the ongoing eighth Governors' Forum, an annual event that brings together governors of the 10 states to discuss issues of governance, security and the economy. Gituai disclosed that as of June 30, 29 political parties had been fully registered by the Political Parties Council, one of South Sudan's electoral institutions. He, however, noted that the exorbitant registration fees amounting to 75,000 U.S. dollars have barred some political parties from registering as the country prepares for the first-ever elections in December 2026. According to Gituai, about 7,000 forces out of the 55,000 unified forces that graduated in August 2022 have so far been deployed. "The rest of the organized forces have not been deployed. The unification of Phase II forces and the Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration process have not yet commenced. The Strategic Defense and Security Review Board is yet to submit its validated policy documents to the principals. In addition, the unification of the mid-level echelon command is still pending," he said. Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, said that they have identified six immediate action points that are critical for demonstrating political will and a collective commitment to implementing the peace agreement. Haysom noted that these actions include the deployment of unified forces, starting Phase II of their joint training, and agreeing on the middle command structure, as well as making a start on civic education, commencing preparatory work for voter registration, and amending the National Security Services Bill to expand civic and political space. (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg President-elect Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico until fentanyl and undocumented migrants stop flowing over US borders. Canada says it has a plan to boost border security and points to US government data that show most of the problems come from Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agents captured an average of 1,810 pounds of fentanyl a month at the US-Mexico border from January 2022 to October 2024, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics. On the northern border, an average of 1.8 pounds a month was seized over the same period. Still, Canadian government officials were quick to insist theyre working closely with the US to combat the scourge of fentanyl. The synthetic opioid is such a potent drug roughly 50 times stronger than heroin that only a few grains can be deadly. And precursor chemicals, which are often legal, are also an issue frequently mentioned by officials. Last month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they had busted the countrys largest-ever super lab in the west coast province of British Columbia. The lab contained fentanyl and precursors in large enough quantities to produce tens of millions of potentially lethal doses, police said. They also arrested a group with alleged connections to Mexican drug cartels. The Canadian government has said criminal investigations and intelligence have identified China as the main source of fentanyl and its analogues entering the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US and Canadian authorities are sharing intelligence in the fight against fentanyl, Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for border control, said Tuesday. This work is done literally on a daily basis between law enforcement in Canada and the United States. The government has been talking with police and Canadas border agency about acquiring new technologies, drones, helicopters, additional human resources necessary, LeBlanc said. Port Problems Transnational organized crime is active in British Columbias ports, and Canada is clearly a source and a transhipment stop for vast quantities of drugs, Peter German, a former deputy commissioner for the RCMP, said in a report commissioned the city of Delta, British Columbia, which abuts the border with the state of Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now our ports are well-protected we have electronic fences and security guards to keep people out. But the concern is whats going on inside the ports with respect to allegations of organized crime, German said in an interview. We question why Canada stopped having a ports police force in 1996. There is no question the US sees far more drug trafficking, illegal immigration and human trafficking at the Mexico crossing, German said. Its a huge issue on the southern border. I suspect the northern border pales by comparison, but that doesnt mean its not an issue, he said. US Customs and Border Protection data show the number of migrants attempting to get into the US from Canada without authorization is about a tenth of those trying to enter from Mexico. Encounters at the northern land border totaled almost 199,000 during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, compared with more than 2.1 million at the southern border. Those figures include people who are trying to get through regular border entry points but who lack the necessary paperwork or are deemed inadmissible for other reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of people encountered by US border patrol trying to sneak into the US from Canada outside of regular ports of entry was 24,000, versus 1.5 million at the southern border. Thats according to US border agency statistics for the same 12-month period. Its the equivalent on a yearly basis of a significant weekend at the Mexico border, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said. Nevertheless, Canada takes the issue seriously because we have a job, and its not to make our problems the Americans problems. We need to secure the borders to remove this argument from Mr. Trump, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said. From Mexicos perspective, it has worked to stem the tide of illegal migrants. Acting at the behest of the US, it clamped down on transit routes and rounded up migrants who congregated near the border, sending them to the south of the country. Restrictions on asylum put in place by the Biden administration earlier this year have also curtailed crossings into the US. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Canada, Miller recently announced a tightening of the immigration system after the number of temporary residents including foreign students surged to record highs. A man on a Canadian student visa allegedly planned to kill Jews in New York on Oct. 7 this year, while a Minnesota jury found two men guilty in connection with a human smuggling scheme that brought people to Canada, then sent them on foot across the US border where an Indian family froze to death. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, the front-runner to win the next Canadian election in 2025, said the visas of 4.9 million temporary residents are set to expire next year. (In fact, there are 4.9 million visas expiring, but multiple visas may be held by the same person.) The government has not made clear how it will enforce departures of those who arent allowed to stay, he said. --With assistance from Brian Platt, Danielle Balbi, Derek Decloet, Laura Dhillon Kane and Mathieu Dion. (Adds to Poilievres comments in final paragraph to reflect that multiple visas may be held by individuals.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. A Canadian coroner has recorded 428 cases of doctors breaching assisted dying guidelines since 2018. Dirk Huyer, Ontarios chief coroner, recorded hundreds of cases of doctors and nurses breaching medical guidelines around assisted suicide, and recorded a pattern of not following legislation, documents seen by The Telegraph show. In multiple cases, clinicians confessed to not waiting for the minimum period before administering lethal drugs and not recording assisted dying as patients cause of death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one incident, described as horrible by the coroner, a patient was forced to suffer tremendously after a physician gave him the wrong drugs. Last year, a quarter of all assisted dying providers in Ontario had at least one case of alleged non-compliance. Unregulated wild west The number of infractions has led experts to warn of an unregulated wild west of assisted dying in Canada. MPs in the UK will vote on Friday about whether to legalise the practice. Much of the debate in the UK has centred on whether adequate safeguards can be put in place to prevent terminally ill people from being forced into choosing an assisted death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the proposed legislation a person who is expected to die within six months can be approved for an assisted death provided they have the approval of two independent doctors and a high court judge. However, Canadian medical experts have warned of a slippery slope when it comes to enforcing safeguards. The fact that Ontarios violations remain largely undisclosed further erodes public trust and demonstrates that critical safeguards are not easily enforceable, said Dr Ramona Coelho, a family medicine practitioner based in London, Ontario. UK lawmakers must learn from Canadas failures to ensure the safety and protection of their own citizens. No doctors charged Under Canadian law, assisted dying providers are required to assess whether people who request euthanasia are eligible, to uphold safeguard against abuse and to keep records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet despite Ontarios coroner uncovering hundreds of violations of these rules, no doctors have been charged, the New Atlantis reported, despite the coroner accusing one a blatant violation in a private meeting of Ontario nurse practitioners. Instead, the coroners office has deemed nearly all cases as requiring no more than an informal conversation with the physician or an educational or notice email. Until 2017, patients required a 90-day assessment period to be eligible for an assisted death, followed by a 10-day waiting period before euthanisation. This applied in all but extreme circumstances such as if they are on the verge of losing capacity to consent or an imminent natural death. However, coroner documents first reported by The New Atlantis journal show physicians expedited deaths because of persistent requests and inconvenient timing of the death in relation to other familial life events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Huyer said the coroners office will review its process of determining eligibility for Maid in response. Pattern of non-compliance In one 2017 case, a Medical assistance in dying (Maid) provider brought the wrong drugs to the home of a patient and was forced to leave the dying persons bedside for two hours to obtain the correct medication. It was horrible, Dr Huyer noted. The family and the deceased person suffered tremendously. The College of Physicians and Surgeons regulator said it was disturbed by the practitioners failures and said the doctor continued to underestimate the magnitude of providing medically-assisted death and the responsibility attached. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to this and a number of other rule breaches by physicians, the Ontario coroners office in 2018 introduced a new five-tier monitoring system to tackle what Dr Huyer called a pattern of Maid providers not following legislation. Speaking in a private webinar of Ontario nurse practitioners, he said: We see a pattern of non-compliance, we see a pattern of not following legislation, a pattern of not following regulation, and frankly we cant just continue to do education to those folks if theyre directly repeating stuff that weve brought to their attention. Responding to a request for comment, Dr Huyer said: The vast majority of issues are isolated and the overall approach to the Maid provision is deemed appropriate. Despite introducing the new system, issues with compliance have rapidly increased from 76 instances in 2020 to 428 identified in total by 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These included instances of patients not having the correct documentation, as well as doctors not providing assessment notes on how the decision to prescribe assisted dying was reached and not recording deaths as assisted, according to the coroners office. Other breaches included doctors not carrying out the recommended capacity assessments and not waiting the mandatory 10-day timeframe, which has since been removed, to administer an assisted death. In 2023 alone, the Ontario coroner identified 178 cases of physicians breaching guidelines an average of one every other day. In certain instances where patients were not terminally ill, medical practitioners reported that they were not experts in the illness afflicting the patient, yet no outside expert was consulted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr Huyer described these cases as a learning opportunity in a conference presentation, the New Atlantis reported. Assisted deaths total not reported Meanwhile, many clinicians didnt fill in all the necessary paperwork for assisted deaths despite a requirement to do so from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. It comes after The Telegraph revealed last month that assisted dying is being used by patients in Canada because they are poor and lack housing. The first official report into assisted deaths in Ontario found vulnerable people face potential coercion or undue influence to seek out the practice. Dr Isabel Grant, professor of law at District of Columbia University, said: Safeguards are meaningless if they are unenforceable and thus far they have been largely unenforceable in Canada because of the lack of any oversight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the colleges and coroners dont do their part in regulating this practice, the result is an unregulated wild west of ending the lives of disabled people who may perceive themselves as an emotional or financial burden on loved ones or who may be vulnerable for other reasons. Dr Coelho said: With over 400 violations recorded in Ontario alone the province with the most robust monitoring and oversight its clear that this problem likely extends nationwide. Rebeccca Vachon, the programme director for Health at Cardus, a Canadian Christian think tank, said: The way that the legislation and the policy were set up have these inherent weaknesses. Youre relying on self-reporting by doctors, and the ambiguity around many of the eligibility criteria creates a situation where you can easily have these kinds of abuses. Dr Huyer was approached for comment. 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. Republican lawmakers are racing to embrace Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamys push to chop up the federal government even if their actual authority is still murky and the effort poses a potential threat to congressional power. While President-elect Donald Trumps so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wont formally get started until January, the team behind the office has already been meeting with GOP lawmakers, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Ideas that Musk and Ramaswamy are floating include cutting regulations, reducing the size of the federal workforce and mounting a legal bid to bypass Congress on spending cuts. What has emerged from the early DOGE-Capitol Hill discussions is a growing number of Republicans eager to work with the office, including not only MAGA favorites like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, but also incoming Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs chair Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. Ernst, a one-time Trump critic who has recently huddled at Mar-a-Lago, is spearheading a dedicated DOGE caucus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of those Republicans have previously pushed to cut spending, making DOGE an opportunity to bear hug one of Trumps first big initiatives and also advance their own long-held goals. One group of outliers appear to be appropriations committee leaders, the senior lawmakers who control Congress power of the purse and would nominally be crucial to executing any DOGE recommendations. They face a potential challenge to their power, with Musk and Ramaswamy floating the possibility of circumventing Congress in their bid to slash the federal bureaucracy. Further complicating things is the fact that DOGE, though created by Trump, won't be a formal part of the government and is poised to act in a pure advisory fashion. What follows is a run-down of how Republican House members and senators are jockeying for influence in the DOGE era. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) Less than four years ago, 11 Republicans joined with Democrats to remove Greene from congressional committees over a series of incendiary comments and actions . This January, shell be leading the new House Oversight subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, which is being tasked with helping Musk and Ramaswamy at DOGE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It will give one of Trumps loudest allies on Capitol Hill an official perch where she can coordinate with the administration, drive her own policy ideas and pressure recalcitrant GOP colleagues. Greene said in a statement that her subcommittee will work hand in hand with President Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the entire DOGE team. House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky said in an interview that Greene would be a good match with Musk and Ramaswamy given her previous experience as a small business owner. Greenes ascendance comes as Speaker Mike Johnson pushes for her to be a more active player in the GOP conference, which could work to his benefit as he tries to shore up support for keeping his gavel in January. Greenes subcommittee is expected to target wasteful spending, come up with ideas for reorganizing federal agencies and identify ways to eliminate bureaucratic red tape, said a person granted anonymity to discuss the panels plans. Greene is lobbing a more direct warning, saying the subcommittee would help expose people who need to be FIRED. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Comer said the Oversight Committees jurisdiction of the federal workforce would be a big area of overlap with Trumps DOGE team. Musk and Ramaswamy indicated in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this month that they would try to get around protections that make it harder to fire federal employees. They are also considering pushing for a five-day return to office as a way to thin the federal workforce. Comer and Greene have already met with Trumps incoming DOGE team, including Ramaswamy, according to a person briefed on the discussion, who added that the Trump officials are supportive of the Oversight Committees endeavor and are already working together. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) Ernst is making an early bid to position herself as a lead Senate DOGE ally, where large swaths of Trumps agenda still face pockets of GOP opposition and a Democratic filibuster. Ernst is leading a new DOGE caucus and outlining trillions in potential spending cuts or savings, arguing that DOGEs mission is in line with her long-running Squeal Awards that target government waste. The House has its own DOGE caucus , spearheaded by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ernsts move to align herself closely with DOGE, and by extension Trump and his allies, comes after she lost the race for Senate GOP conference chair earlier this month to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Ernst met with Ramaswamy late last week at Mar-a-Lago, where she pitched him on ways to curb federal spending. Ramaswamy publicly thanked Ernst and said that DOGE officials look forward to partnering with the Senate to downsize government. Ernst then posted a photo on social media from over the weekend with Trump and Musk, saying she met with the incoming president to discuss his Cabinet. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) In the Senate, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will have the largest area of overlap with DOGE. Paul, a libertarian-leaning, small government Republican, will be its chair. Paul has long been a gadfly for leadership and often pushes efforts to cut spending, which have routinely gotten votes on the Senate floor but been rejected by even some of his GOP colleagues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paul during a recent Fox News interview, said that he was all in on helping DOGE, adding that weve already forwarded them 2,000 pages of waste that can be cut. Hes also pledged to give advice to Trumps DOGE team about using recissions to clawback already approved government funding, which would require congressional signoff. Cagey appropriators Republican lawmakers who are responsible for crafting and spearheading funding legislation arent totally shutting the door on DOGE as it encroaches on their turf. Musk and Ramaswamy are floating the possibility of circumventing Congress on steep cuts by mounting a legal challenge against the Impoundment Control Act, which places limits on a presidents ability to unilaterally withhold funding. They believe the Supreme Court, which has three justices nominated by Trump, would be favorable to them. Key appropriators arent embracing that plan, but arent yet fighting back. Instead, in interviews with POLITICO, Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and other members of the panel said they are waiting to see the details of what Trump is proposing and how realistic the plans from his allies are. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am not concerned at all, said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a member of the Appropriations Committee. I learned a long time ago, stay calm, well deal with all these issues as they come. Look, what are we even talking about? Is this something real? Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report. A Delaware court judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News filed by a Jan. 6 rioter who said the network falsely identified him as an FBI informant. U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Hall granted Fox News' motion to dismiss the suit filed last year by Ray Epps. Now based in Utah, Epps alleged his life was upended after former Fox host Tucker Carlson repeatedly described him as a federal agent who helped instigate the attack on the Capitol, which was an attempt to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carlson described Epps as a principal in a false flag operation in which the government incited the Jan. 6 riot, an unfounded conspiracy theory. He made the false comments about Epps on his program over a period of nearly two years and in a series called Patriot Purge that streamed on Fox Nation in 2022. In her remarks from the bench, Hall said Carlson did not act with malicious intent. Fox News welcomed the judge's decision, which is the third consecutive defamation case to be decided in favor of the network after the record $787-million settlement it paid to Dominion Voting Systems in April 2024. Dominion said its business was damaged by false claims Fox News presented regarding voting fraud in the 2020 election. Fox News chose to settle the case rather than have its executives and on-air talent take the witness stand in a trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A separate defamation suit filed by Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the federal Disinformation Governance Board, was dismissed in July. Another case brought by Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, was thrown out on Tuesday. Read more: Fox News settled Dominion defamation case for $787 million. Should it have apologized as well? Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment, the network said in a statement. Epps was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor charge for his role in the riot. Former prime-time host Tucker Carlson is seen in the studio on the set of his show on Fox News in New York in 2018. (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times) Epps testified under oath to the House committee investigating the attack that he had no involvement with the FBI, which has also stated publicly that he had no association with the bureau. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit claimed Epps and his wife received threatening voice mails, emails and text messages because of Carlson's comments. Epps told the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes" that the lies ruined his Arizona-based business and led to death threats. Carlson's prime-time program was pulled from the Fox News lineup on April 24, 2023, the day after Epps appeared on "60 Minutes." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. UPDATE: The missing person has been found. Original story below. (KRON) The Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office is searching for a missing woman who was last seen Saturday. Her car was spotted on Tuesday in Redwood City, the sheriffs office said. Shelley Doughton, 67, lives in Scotts Valley a town just north of Santa Cruz. She left her home on Saturday at about 7:30 a.m. and was last seen then. Contra Costa County murderer attacked 2 prison guards: CDCR Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doughton is believed to be driving a teal Chevy Silverado with the New Mexico license plate NSH360. Image from the Santa Cruz Sheriffs Office. The car was seen in Redwood City on Tuesday, but the sheriffs office does not know if she is still in that area. On Saturday, the car was in the Carmel/Monterey area. Doughton is 5-foot-4 with blue eyes and blonde/gray hair. Authorities are concerned due to her medical history. Anyone with information is asked to call (831) 471-1121. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26A driver whose car rolled down an embankment south of Moscow, Idaho, on Monday died in the crash, an Idaho State Police news release said. The driver, who has not been identified by police, was northbound on U.S. Highway 95 when he approached stopped traffic in a construction zone. He swerved and hit a Chevy Silverado in front of him. The car then rolled down the embankment, the news release said. The driver was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to ISP. The driver of the Silverado was uninjured and cooperated with police. A sign displays the names of South Dakota's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar) A company proposing a carbon dioxide pipeline should have conditions on its potential permit after it failed to address concerns about crossings with a crude oil pipeline, said the company that operates the oil pipeline. Dakota Access LLC, which is controlled by Energy Transfer Partners, operates the Dakota Access Pipeline. It transports crude oil 1,172 miles from North Dakota to Illinois. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Summit Carbon Solutions plans a 2,500-mile pipeline to capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants across five states and transport it to North Dakota for underground storage. The project would capitalize on federal tax credits incentivizing the prevention of heat-trapping carbon emissions. The routes of the existing and proposed pipeline cross eastern South Dakota. Summit recently reapplied for a permit after being rejected last year by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. In a new filing with the commission, Dakota Access said Summit has not provided sufficient details such as maps, depths and safety measures about its proposed crossings of the Dakota Access Pipeline, known by the acronym DAPL. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Summit has largely refused to talk to Dakota Access about pipeline crossing agreements and necessary mitigation measures to prevent damage to DAPL, Dakota Access attorneys wrote. To address the concerns, Dakota Access asked for 12 conditions if Summit receives a permit. The conditions include prohibiting heavy equipment or vehicles from operating directly on DAPLs right-of-way without protective measures, requiring abrasive-resistant coating to be applied to the carbon pipeline at crossings, and mandating that Summit monitor all crossing locations and notify Dakota Access at least 48 hours in advance of any construction activity near DAPLs right-of-way in South Dakota. Alternatively, Dakota Access has requested that state regulators delay Summits permit proceedings until an agreement on crossing terms is reached. Summit Carbon Solutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brian Jorde, an attorney for landowners opposing the carbon pipeline, said in a news release that Summits failure to work with Dakota Access is problematic. The theme has been clear in South Dakota and across the region Summit does not respect the law, they dont respect the will of the people, and they think they can force themselves on and through South Dakota, Jorde said. Summit already has permits in Iowa and North Dakota. A decision is pending in Minnesota, and Nebraska has no state permitting processing for carbon pipelines. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A sign displays the names of South Dakotas three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar) A company proposing a carbon dioxide pipeline should have conditions on its potential permit after it failed to address concerns about crossings with a crude oil pipeline, said the company that operates the oil pipeline. Dakota Access LLC, which is controlled by Energy Transfer, operates the Dakota Access Pipeline. It transports crude oil 1,172 miles from North Dakota to Illinois. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Summit Carbon Solutions plans a 2,500-mile pipeline to capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants across five states and transport it to North Dakota for underground storage. The project would capitalize on federal tax credits incentivizing the prevention of heat-trapping carbon emissions. The routes of the existing and proposed pipeline cross eastern South Dakota. Summit recently reapplied for a permit after being rejected last year by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. In a new filing with the commission, Dakota Access said Summit has not provided sufficient details such as maps, depths and safety measures about its proposed crossings of the Dakota Access Pipeline, known by the acronym DAPL. Summit has largely refused to talk to Dakota Access about pipeline crossing agreements and necessary mitigation measures to prevent damage to DAPL, Dakota Access attorneys wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To address the concerns, Dakota Access asked for 12 conditions if Summit receives a permit. The conditions include prohibiting heavy equipment or vehicles from operating directly on DAPLs right-of-way without protective measures, requiring abrasive-resistant coating to be applied to the carbon pipeline at crossings, and mandating that Summit monitor all crossing locations and notify Dakota Access at least 48 hours in advance of any construction activity near DAPLs right-of-way in South Dakota. Alternatively, Dakota Access has requested that state regulators delay Summits permit proceedings until an agreement on crossing terms is reached. Summit Carbon Solutions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brian Jorde, an attorney for landowners opposing the carbon pipeline, said in a news release that Summits failure to work with Dakota Access is problematic. The theme has been clear in South Dakota and across the region Summit does not respect the law, they dont respect the will of the people, and they think they can force themselves on and through South Dakota, Jorde said. Summit already has permits in Iowa and North Dakota. A decision is pending in Minnesota, and Nebraska has no state permitting processing for carbon pipelines. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X. Nov. 27CUMBERLAND The ability to forgo political differences and bring projects to fruition was highlighted Tuesday as Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin was praised in GOP-led Mountain Maryland. Cardin, elected to the Senate in 2006 after spending 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 to 1986, last year announced his plan to retire. On Tuesday, he was at The Rosenbaum building on Baltimore Street for his Western Maryland farewell tour that included an earlier stop in Oakland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Maryland Sen. George Edwards, R-Washington/Allegany/Garrett, said he and Cardin, despite their opposite political parties, have been friends for at least 40 years. "We put those things aside," Edwards said and thanked Cardin for his frequent visits to and support for Western Maryland. "He knows the area, he knows the people." Cardin, 81, talked of his long history with Mountain Maryland that started with visits to the area when he was a student at the University of Pittsburgh and later included ski and hiking trips with his children. He said he enjoyed working with leaders in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's been a real partnership," Cardin said. "When I come here we don't always agree on issues," he said. "We compromise, and we listen to each other." Roughly 40 people were at the gathering, including state Sen. Mike McKay; Frostburg City Administrator Elizabeth Stahlman; Cumberland City Council members Rock Cioni, Eugene Frazier and Laurie Marchini; and David Jones, the next president of Allegany College of Maryland. The gathering was held in the Rosenbaum's atrium, where Chris Hendershot, who owns the building with business partner Garrett Eagan, said state and federal dollars were key to the structure's renovations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is truly a public (and) private partnership," Hendershot said. Cardin congratulated Hendershot and Eagan for their work, which includes bringing businesses to downtown Cumberland. "This is exciting," Cardin said. "There's a lot going on here." Robin Summerfield, Cardin's Western Maryland representative for roughly the past 17 years, said he was "very proud of the services (Cardin) provided" to local projects, including improvements to U.S. Route 219 and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Local historian Al Feldstein was at the event to express gratitude for various programs, including highway improvements that Cardin made happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm here to thank him not just on the federal level but on the state level," Feldstein said. "I've always liked him." Allegany County Commissioner Bill Atkinson said Cardin helped secure funding for local projects to move forward. "He has embraced our area," Atkinson said. "We're gonna miss him." Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com. MADRID, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and three seriously injured in an explosion in a factory in Ibi, a town in southeastern Spain, on Wednesday. Spanish government delegate for the region of Valencia Pilar Bernabe confirmed the deaths in the blast at the Industrias Climber factory in Ibi, around 35 km from Alicante. Bernabe said that 39 people were in the building when the explosion happened at around midday, causing the roof and part of the walls of the building to collapse and trapping several people under the debris. As well as the deceased, three people were seriously injured by the explosion and have been taken to nearby hospitals in Alicante, Valencia and Alcoy. Meanwhile, a large rescue operation involving seven fire engines, seven ambulances, a medical helicopter and local police has been launched. Three more people suffered minor injuries in the blast. The mayor of Ibi Sergio Carrasco said two victims were from his town and the third from nearby Xixona. He said the three were "young people," and announced a period of official mourning. Authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the explosion, with the first hypothesis being that a boiler exploded. Industrias Climber specializes in packaging for food production, such as expanded polystyrene, and according to Spanish media has not suffered any safety incidents in the past. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) One person is in custody after police say a caregiver assaulted a disabled person multiple times during his shift at a health care residence. Authorities say the victim was brought to the hospital after another caregiver noticed dried blood and a laceration on the top of his head. The caregiver says she reviewed video recordings from an indoor camera to figure out what happened, and discovered Donya Lindsey, a caregiver from a previous shift, assaulting the victim two separate times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previous recordings from three other dates also show Lindsey assaulting the victim however, officials say the motion-detecting camera only goes back two weeks. After a investigation, Lindsey was charged with the following: 3 counts of Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Disabled Person 3 counts of Battery Against a Disabled Person He is currently being held at the Warrick County Detention Center. Donya Lindsey (Courtesy: Warrick County Detention Center) Eyewitness News. Everywhere You Are. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Hello, is Seymour Butz there? A damning new probe shows the cash-strapped MTA dropped a mind-boggling $250 million on an emergency subway intercom system where 50% of the calls are pranks and critics questioned why its even needed since nearly everyone has a phone anyways. The MTAs quarter-billion-dollar boondoggle has attracted mischief-makers like moths to a flame with thousands of monthly prank calls ranging from attempting to place McDonalds orders to reporting a plane landing on the tracks of an underground station, according to an investigation by the MTA Inspector Generals Office and sources. According to a probe, about 50% of the calls on the MTAs emergency subway intercom system were pranks. Jack Forbes/NY Post Count me as being not surprised, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said of the debacle under the troubled transit agency which recently helped push through a hated congestion toll in Midtown Manhattan, crying poverty for upgrades and expansions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The MTAs $252.7 million Help Point system was completed in 2018 and includes a network of 3,016 emergency intercoms across all 472 stations in the citys sprawling subway network. But a newly released audit from the MTA IG revealed that just 28% of the 140,698 calls made through Help Point between May 2023 and October 2023 were from subway riders in need of assistance and a staggering 50% were deemed mischief. Alarmingly, the auditors found that NYC Transit was unaware of the extent of the issues with the system, including nearly 1,200 unanswered emergency calls. Investigators also found a significant number of emergency calls experienced long delays before being answered, in part because of NYC Transits practice of answering calls in the order received without prioritizing emergency calls over those just seeking information. The MTA spent $250 million on the Help Point intercom system. Aristide Economopoulos The Help Point system is important for public safety, and an immediate response to genuine emergency calls is crucial, MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said in a statement. This system is in need of significant improvements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Noting the agencys pledge to try to correct the systems manifold issues, Cort added, And I appreciate NYC Transits cooperation with our audit and acceptance of our recommendations. While the Help Point pranksters might not quite stoop to Bart Simpsons level with the Seymour Butz joke, a source told The Post that some examples of their impish behavior include: Someone calling from an underground station and saying an airplane just landed on the tracks. Someone who tried to place a McDonalds order. Somebody asking if they could get free rides. Someone asking for somebody to bring him water. Some of the practical jokers are so prolific making multiple calls in a row on multiple consecutive days that the operators answering the calls know them by name, the source said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One dedicated trickster also was so committed to his craft that he rode from station to station, hitting the emergency call button at each Help Point before getting back on the train, the source said. According to an MTA IG report, just 28% of the 140,698 Help Point calls between May 2023 and October 2023 were from people in need of assistance. Robert Mecea Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some critics wondered why the agency even still has the system and is spending more dough to upgrade it under an ongoing capital-improvement program given that cell phones can relay 911 calls. An MTA spokeswoman acknowledged in a statement that Help Point is used to supplement police presence and the 911 system thats accessible to anyone with a phone essentially admitting the pricey intercom network was rendered obsolete by the smartphone revolution before the first unit was installed. The rep added that the agency has closely reviewed the IGs recommendations regarding help points and are evaluating ways to improve their effectiveness. As of mid-2024, an MTA capital project estimated to cost $79.2 million was under way to upgrade multiple communication systems, including Help Point, station booth equipment and customer assistance intercoms, the IG report said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The upgrade began in 2018 and was meant to be completed by 2020 but was pushed out to the end of this year. Fossella and other local pols critical of the new congestion-pricing told The Post they werent surprised by the high-price, low-value project by the MTA, which is tens of billions of dollars in debt. Sadly, too many have become immune to the failures, Fossella said of New Yorkers and the MTA. Not only is 70% of the Help Point system used as a toy, but also too many emergency calls are left unanswered. And, to add insult to injury, emergency calls that are answered are not prioritized. Whats the solution? More money, of course, he said dryly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican whose district includes parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn, also put the MTA on blast for its wasteful spending. This is yet another example of government waste by the chronically cash-strapped MTA that abuses taxpayers by shoveling money down their black hole, she told The Post. Instead of treating commuters like bottomless ATM machines and hammering them with a congestion tax, they should get their own books in order and start cutting ineffective programs like the Help Point system that serve no purpose in todays age where most everyone owns a mobile phone. Maybe what we really need is Kathy Hochul to ask Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to create a DOGE at the MTA to identify and cut the waste, she said, referring to the billionaire businessmen tapped by President-elect Trump to stamp out government inefficiency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Straphangers also questioned the usefulness of the intercoms. I never had to use them before. I feel like thats a waste and calling 911 is better because [authorities] can respond, said a Bronx 17-year-old named Lazaro, who was waiting for a train at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station in Brooklyn. If its a Help Point, it will be someone on the line. It wont be as immediate. If you call 911, theyll be there instantly, the young straphganger said. A Cobble Hill, Brooklyn resident named Liz, 54, who works for the city doing policy analysis, said shes not surprised at all that Help Point have been monopolized by pranksters, whom she suspects are motivated by curiosity. They just want to know if theres a human response. Its human curiosity and kids, she said of the prank calls. She says if she had an emergency, shed probably call 911 instead. PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WKBN) A New Castle man who pleaded for his role in a drug ring that distributed drugs in three states was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 37 months in prison. Luis Rivera Otero, 37, received the sentence from U.S. Judge Arthur J. Schwab in the U.S. Western District Court of Pennsylvania after pleading guilty July 23 to a single count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Rivera Otero was one of 17 people indicted in March accused of helping bring drugs from Puerto Rico to be sold in Western Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A news release from Eric Olshan, U.S. Attorney For The Western District of Pennsylvania, said Rivera Otero was responsible for getting five packages of drugs through the mail and delivering them to someone in return for money. The indictment alleged that the members of the ring were sending drugs through the mail to be delivered. A sentencing memorandum by the government asked for a five-year prison sentence, saying that Rivera Otero was partly responsible for bringing up to five kilograms of cocaine to the Lawrence County area. A sentencing memorandum by Rivera Oteros attorneys said that their client has a history of substance abuse from his teenage years and works two jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two other defendants in the case have pleaded guilty but have yet to be sentenced. The government said the drugs the ring received were mainly distributed in and around New Castle and also Youngstown. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26The cause of a weekend fire that killed two people and leveled a home 9 miles southwest of downtown Coeur d'Alene is still under investigation. Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jeff Howard said the sheriff's office will release the names of the deceased after the Kootenai County Coroner's Office identifies them. Fire investigators will be back at the scene early next week to collect more evidence, according to an updated sheriff's office news release Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriff's office dispatchers received several phone calls about 7:25 p.m. Sunday reporting a possible explosion and fire in the 8600 block of West Carnie Road, which is off U.S. Highway 95 in the Mica Flats area, according to the initial sheriff's office release. Firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded and found the home fully engulfed in flames. Several hours later when the fire was extinguished, rescuers searched the property. One of the victims was found during the search, and the second victim was found hours later in the rubble in a subsequent search, the sheriff's office said. Idaho State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl said his office, with help from the sheriff's office, is investigating the origin and cause of the fire. The house burned to the ground, with scraps of metal and other rubble remaining. Yellow caution tape roped off entrances to the property Tuesday. After almost 14 months of deadly bombings, the skies above southern Lebanon and northern Israel were quiet Wednesday as a ceasefire negotiated by the United States took effect. If the truce succeeds between Israel and Hezbollah the powerful, Iran-backed, Lebanese militant and political group it will be a rare moment of diplomatic success in the multifront conflict raging across the Middle East. President Joe Biden said the ceasefire, which he announced Tuesday, is intended to be permanent, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that he will not hesitate to attack Hezbollah again if it rearms or strikes Israel again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sounds of warplanes, missiles and artillery were replaced with dancing and singing in parts of Lebanon as news of the ceasefire was announced late Tuesday. Despite the nascent truce, it is not clear when people in Lebanon and Israel will be able to return home. We are happy because we will return to our country and homeland in the south, Hala Saeed, a Lebanese woman displaced from her home, told The Associated Press. Some Lebanese people packed belongings onto their cars and started to return home despite Israeli warnings to stay away. However, even amid the jubilant scenes of flag waving and music outside her shelter in the Lebanese city of Sidon, there was more than a hint of sadness and caution. Our joy is very great, Kamal al-Haj Ali, another displaced resident, told the AP. Of course we cannot forget the sadness of our martyrs, the people of our villages, the blood is still on the ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the war in Gaza has received the most international attention, the conflict in Lebanon has spawned a parallel humanitarian crisis, with 3,500 people killed and 1.2 million displaced in Lebanon. In northern Israel, 60,000 people have been forced from their homes, with 80 soldiers and 50 civilians killed, according to local officials. The ceasefire, brokered by Washington as well as France, effectively reinstates an old agreement that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon but was never fully implemented. Under United Nations Resolution 1701, Israeli forces are set to leave southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah will withdraw to north of the countrys Litani River, around 18 miles from the border with Israel. They will be replaced by 5,000 troops from the Lebanese army, which is not officially a party to the conflict. Netanyahu said the ceasefire was an opportunity to focus on Iran without elaborating what that meant for Israel's archenemy as well as regrouping his own forces after they seriously weakened Hezbollah's command structure and missile arsenal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But he cautioned that Israel would respond forcefully if the terms of the ceasefire were violated. He did not say when those displaced by the fighting might be able to return to their homes in northern Israel. Many felt they had little choice to move after Hezbollah began to fire on Israel, destroying homes and buildings and turning once thriving communities into ghost towns. It is unclear when residents, placed into hotels and other temporary accommodation, will able to return. For Lebanon, the agreement presents the opportunity for respite after more than a year of violence, which as well as the death and displacement has also devastated public services and infrastructure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the 207 health care centers in Lebanon's conflict zone more than 100 have been forced to close, according to the U.N.s refugee agency (UNHCR). The crisis has also spilled into neighboring Syria, with 280,000 Syrians who had fled their own war into Lebanon now going back across the border, once again on the run for their lives, the UNHCR said in a briefing last month. Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon's parliament, nonetheless urged people on Wednesday "to return to your hometowns, as they represent the nations collective identity and voice. Heeding her advice, some loaded up cars with their belongings and started to head home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Israeli military, which has not yet withdrawn from southern Lebanon, said the opposite. Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Forces Arab media spokesman, gave an urgent warning to the residents of southern Lebanon in a post on social media. You are prohibited from moving towards the villages that the IDF has asked to be evacuated or towards the IDF forces in the area, he said. For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area. We will inform you when it is safe to return to your homes. This point of contention has already threatened the fragile peace. The IDF said it fired shots at vehicles driving toward a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanon. The suspects, as the IDF called them, turned around, although it was not clear whether anyone was injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agreement has nonetheless been widely welcomed, from the European Union to Middle East powers such as Egypt and Turkey. The Palestinian militant group Hamas also praised the deal, saying in a statement Wednesday that it had shattered Netanyahus illusions of defeating the resistance forces or disarming them. The truce says nothing of the ongoing violence in Gaza, however, where more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israels military assault against Hamas, according to local health officials. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told MSNBC Wednesday that the administration would be trying another push at a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory, after a year of similar failed attempts. President Biden intends to begin that work today by having his envoys engage with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and other actors in the region, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel launched that offensive after the Hamas militants launched the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 250 kidnapped. The next day, Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel, which returned fire in an exchange that has continued ever since. Nahariya, northern Israel, seen here Wednesday, is one of the areas affected by the conflict. Inside Israel, people were divided on the ceasefire agreement. Some 37% of people are in favor of the terms, 32% oppose them and 31% dont know, according to a snap poll Tuesday by the Channel 12 television station. Backing was even lower among supporters of Netanyahu's coalition: 20% support, 45% oppose, 35% dont know. Ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was the sole member of Israels war Cabinet to oppose the deal. He posted to X late Tuesday that the agreement was a serious mistake, saying that it would not help Israelis return to their homes in the north of the country and would not deter Hezbollah. He said that it in fact will miss a historic opportunity to strike them hard and bring them to their knees. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is now in force, but many residents of Israels northern communities refuse to return home, while those who have remained say the deal is unlikely to bring permanent peace. The Israeli security cabinet voted on Tuesday to approve the United States-brokered deal, ending more than a year of hostilities that have killed thousands. CNN visited the border town of Shtula on Wednesday just hours after the ceasefire took effect. The frontline community is just a few hundred feet away from the Lebanese border, and was once home to some 300 residents, many of whom fled after the war began last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours into the ceasefire, Shtula remained a ghost town, with only a handful of residents living there. While CNN was in the town, a few blasts resembling outgoing artillery could be heard nearby. At one point, CNN also heard bursts of small arms fire in the distance. The town is one of the most dangerous places in northern Israel, having faced the threat of Hezbollahs anti-tank missiles for months. Residents worry that the threat will persist beyond a ceasefire. Israeli army tanks and bulldozers are pictured on the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on Wednesday. - Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images Ora Hatan, who remained in her home in Shtula, said the morning of the ceasefire deal was unusual after months of relentless artillery fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We wake up to the quiet morning. After one year, its unusual, Hatan told CNN. Its peaceful; were not woken by the bombing and running to the shelters. When CNN visited the border town in July, it was given just three minutes by the Israeli military to enter and exit the town, as the risk of artillery fire was too high. Hatans fears have not, however, subsided with the ceasefire deal. I dont know how long it will hold this agreement, she said. Nobody knows. But unlike other northern residents who would have liked to see Israel deepen its military offensive in Lebanon and establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, Hatan said she does not know what option the Israeli government had other than to reach a deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What other option that we have? To arrive to Beirut? The 60-day ceasefire aims to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, a nearly two decade-old agreement that stipulated that the only armed groups present south of the Litani River should be the Lebanese military and UN peacekeeping forces. This means that neither Israeli forces nor Hezbollah fighters are permitted to operate in southern Lebanon. While the resolution was established in 2006, both Israel and Hezbollah have accused one another of breaching it multiple times since. Tuesdays deal was hailed by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who also sought to reiterate that Israel retains the right to self-defense if Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the Lebanon ceasefire deal needs to ensure the safety of residents in northern Israel. The emerging arrangement will have to meet only one test guaranteeing full security for all residents of the north, he posted on X Tuesday. Hezbollah will come back bigger and stronger While mediators hope the ceasefire deal and Resolution 1701 could form the basis of a lasting truce, many northern Israelis are less optimistic. Before the ceasefire deal came into effect, some residents of the northern city of Nahariya were skeptical of the viability of a ceasefire deal between their country and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Nahariya is just six miles (10 kilometers) from the border with Lebanon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guy Amilani, a resident of nearby Kibbutz Eilon who was in Nahariya for the afternoon, said he hoped a ceasefire would now bring peace, but did not believe any cessation of hostilities would be permanent. It will be two years of quiet then they (Hezbollah) will start to shoot again, he said. Then in 30 or 40 years, my kids will guard the Kibbutz gates from whatever evil will come. An Israeli security official said Wednesday that residents of northern Israel can decide for themselves when to return home, adding that the decisions will vary between different communities and their proximity to the border. Issues relating to reconstruction and damage will also affect when people can return, the official added. Damaged buses are seen after a rocket fired from Lebanon struck the main bus station overnight on Wednesday in Kiryat Shmona, Israel. - Amir Levy/Getty Images In September, Israel added a new objective to its ongoing war, turning its focus to the Lebanon border and the thousands of evacuated citizens. It came as officials and residents of Israels northern region grew increasingly vocal about the need to return to their homes, piling pressure on the government to act against the threat of Hezbollahs rockets from southern Lebanon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 62,000 people have been displaced from northern Israel since Hezbollah began firing at the Israeli-held Shebaa Farms the day after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, triggering more than a year of tit-for-tat strikes. The war has also displaced more than 94,000 Lebanese across the border, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Hezbollah has said it fired in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza as Israel began bombarding the strip in response to the October attacks, which killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and saw another 251 taken hostage. I cant tell anybody to come back in this reality On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told mayors of Israels northernmost communities that he will not immediately push residents to return to their homes following the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, according to a mayor who attended the meeting. He said he understands that right now we cannot go back, but no one is telling us we have to go back, Kiryat Shmona mayor Avihay Shtern told CNN. He understands that theres still work to do until we can go back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The meeting between Netanyahu and the mayors was a contentious one, coming after several mayors including Shtern slammed the ceasefire deal as a surrender agreement. I left very frustrated, Shtern said, adding that Netanyahu did not manage to convince him that the agreement would leave his community safe. Shtern said he feared Hezbollah would re-infiltrate southern Lebanon and once again pose a threat to Israels northern communities. An Israeli soldier rides in a military vehicle, after a ceasefire was agreed by Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, near the border between the two countries on Wednesday. - Ronen Zvulun/Reuters While Shtern acknowledged that the Israeli military dealt a severe blow to Hezbollah in recent months, he did not believe it would be enough to keep Hamas from regrouping and posing a threat to his community again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I cant tell anybody to come back in this reality, he said. On Wednesday, Shtern said in a video statement: No one is coming home, there is no decision to return. Ori Eliyahu, a formerly displaced resident of Shtula who returned to the border town two months ago, panned the Israeli government as a joke for negotiating a ceasefire agreement. Theyve done nothing. An anti-tank missile was shot here two days ago, Eliyahu said Tuesday. While he has returned, he said residents with children were unlikely to do so distrusting the deal with Hezbollah. Of course we do not trust them (Hezbollah), he said. CNNs Nadeen Ebrahim in Berlin and Dana Karni in Jerusalem contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Whatever happened to Hezbollahs solidarity with its jihadist brothers in Gaza? That was the pretext for launching its war of aggression against Israel the day after Hamass October 7 orgy of murder, rape, kidnapping and torture. Yet despite the Hezbollah leaderships cast iron guarantees that the Lebanon front will not stop before stopping the aggression on Gaza, it seems they couldnt even be bothered to mention the Gaza Strip in their desperation for a ceasefire. Nothing could be more telling of the once hubris-filled Hezbollahs sorry state after a year of mauling by Israel. Their leaders have been taken out by the dozen, huge numbers of fighters cut down, rockets and launchers blown to smithereens and all of the village strongholds in southern Lebanon razed to the ground. Many terrorists have fled for their lives into neighbouring Syria in the face of the IDF bulldozer. This has become the fate of the fanatical and murderous gangsters that until recently were thought of as the most powerful paramilitary force the world had ever seen. The blow that this ceasefire represents to the Iranian regime is every bit as great. Hezbollah, painstakingly built up at enormous expense over 40 years, was their flagship, the most important part of the ring of fire put in place to burn Israel to death. The vessel may not yet have been sunk but it is certainly filling up with water. Manning the pumps rather than continuing to fire broadsides was seen by the ayatollahs as the best way of salvaging something from the wreckage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the IDF continued to hammer Hezbollah, its remaining leadership also feared uprising by rival factions in Lebanon, where long standing animosities have been held at bay by its hitherto unchallenged stranglehold on the country. Its not clear whether that might yet materialise but you can imagine the fear such a prospect would seize in the Supreme Leader and his henchmen who themselves are having to hold off growing dissent at home. Adding to the woes of Hezbollah and its Iranian masters is the imminent arrival of Donald Trump in the White House. He is going to usher in a new era in Middle East relations with every probability of less restraint towards Iran and its terror proxies. Recognising that peace and stability is achieved not by fear but by strength, Mike Waltz, Trumps choice for National Security Adviser, says: We will not tolerate the status quo of Irans support for terrorism. So much for Hezbollah and its puppeteers in Tehran. But why is Israel agreeing to a ceasefire while it holds the upper hand over the terrorist gang that forced tens of thousands of citizens to evacuate from their homes in the north? There are two major issues, both to do with US pressure. First, if this ceasefire had not been secured, it is probable that Joe Biden would have allowed through, and even himself orchestrated, a binding UN Security Council Resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities, potentially accompanied by a UN-mandated arms embargo on Israel. It would have been his cynical last ditch effort to rescue something at least from his woeful legacy on foreign affairs. Second, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to during his speech on the ceasefire, the Biden White House has been imposing a partial arms embargo against Israel that included vital munitions and combat equipment including 2,000 pound bombs. After more than a year fighting a war on seven battlefronts that is a significant constraint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite Bidens efforts to hogtie Israel, there is still more work to be done against Hezbollah. Therefore the current ceasefire can best be seen as a diplomatic bridge between Joe Bidens White House, intent on appeasing Tehran, and a Trump administration that is likely to be much more supportive of Israels defensive needs. Nowhere will that be more important than over the Iranian regime. As well as directing, funding and arming the war against Israel, Tehran has been behind proxy attacks against US forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, strikes on Saudi Arabia and the UAE and assaults on international shipping in the Red Sea. Twice since last April, Iran has launched major missile attacks directly into Israel. As with its actions in Gaza and Lebanon, Israels response to those was constrained by US pressure. More dangerous still, Tehran is on the cusp of achieving a nuclear capability to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the world. But Iran is now exposed more than ever before. The primary purpose of Hezbollahs massive arsenal of rocketry, more extensive in number than most sovereign nations possess, was to deter against Israeli or US military assault on Tehrans nuclear weapons programme. That deterrent is largely gone and the IDF substantially destroyed Irans air defences in its retaliatory strikes in October. That means Israel is in an unprecedented position to put a stop to the Iranian menace. Decisive action against the Islamic Republic was a red line for Biden. But we must hope that Trump will give Jerusalem a fair wind, both to scuttle Irans nuclear project and to put some more holes into Hezbollahs rotting hull. 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. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Some military members at a Las Vegas area military base experienced recent cell phone and internet outages, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned. The service interruptions occurred at Creech Air Force Base multiple days throughout October and November and affected some personal devices and a commercial internet network supported by one service provider, according to 432nd Wing Public Affairs. There was no impact to operations and no military communications systems or networks were affected, the public affairs department wrote in an email. While service providers have no obligations to Creech AFB or the Department of Defense, Creech mission support leadership reached out to seek a timely solution conducive to all parties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Creech Air Force Base is located near Indian Springs, about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas. AT&T confirmed some of its wireless customers in the Indian Springs area may be experiencing service disruptions caused by an outage outside the companys network. We have been in contact with the local carrier, who is working to resolve the issue, so that we can fully restore service as quickly as possible, according to a statement. A fiber cut, caused by a third-party, may have also caused disruptions for customers in the area last week, a spokesperson wrote in an email. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Israel and Hezbollah have brokered a ceasefire that went into effect early Wednesday morning in the Middle East. Dr. Ori Yehudai, an associate professor at Ohio State University who teaches about the history of the conflict in the Middle East, said the war between Israel and Hezbollah started on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out. Yehudai has family living in Israel who are impacted by the ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CHIPS Act funding approved for Intel plant in central Ohio My family lives in the north, very close to the Lebanese border and theyve been living in a war zone since the beginning of that war in October 2023, he said. With the ceasefire in effect, the hope is that life goes back to normal for people in Lebanon and northern Israel. Yehudai said this is a clear de-escalation in the Middle East, but the war between Hamas and Israel is still ongoing. He said this ceasefire may lead to even more violence in Gaza. It could allow Israel to fight in Gaza even more easily because Israel would not have to use part of its forces in Lebanon, Yehudai said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is exactly what Palestinian American Rawan Eldadah is afraid of. She was raised in central Ohio but most of her extended family was living in Gaza when the war broke out. Eldadah said many family members were able to evacuate to Egypt, but some remain in the war zone. Scarcity of food, no place to be safe, its a constant state of survival, running from home to home just trying to survive every day, Eldadah said. Qualified immunity proposal moves closer to Ohio ballot More violence in Gaza is not just a concern at this point for Eldadah and her family. She said its something they believe will happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its an anticipation, Eldadah said. We understand that thats what is going to happen and Im fearful for the safety of my family as well as everyone else in the land. Everyone believes its so far away but it really is here at home in America with our American citizens. Both Eldadah and Yehudai said they want their family members to be safe during this ongoing conflict. Yehudai said he believes the ceasefire is a positive development in the Middle East. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NAPLES, Italy, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Italian politicians and experts have called for more cooperation with China in scientific and technological innovation areas to jointly tackle global challenges such as climate change. Addressing the opening ceremony of the 13th China-Italy Science, Technology and Innovation Week here on Tuesday, Anna Maria Bernini, Italy's minister of universities and research, noted that scientific and technological innovation cooperation has always been a key driving force in advancing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. She urged both sides to tap their respective strengths, enhance dialogue and sharing, and work together to tackle global challenges. Bernini told Xinhua that Italy is committed to improving sci-tech cooperation with China by sharing good practices, instead of imposing restrictions on Chinese universities or companies. Since its inception in 2010, the innovation week has been successfully held 12 times across various cities in both countries. It has become a key platform for collaboration between the governments, enterprises, and research institutions, facilitating over 6,200 technological matches in total. Riccardo Villari, president of the City of Science in Naples, highlighted the longstanding efforts of China and Italy in scientific and technological cooperation, noting that the two countries have managed to reach approximately 10 agreements each year during the annual Innovation Week, which was held on Nov. 26-28 this year. "Science has no borders and should benefit all of humanity," he said in an interview with Xinhua, "Climate change, sustainability and digitalization are potential areas that both countries can further enhance collaboration in the future." China's role in combating climate change is pivotal, according to Gianmaria Sannino, an expert from the Division for Climate Change and Air Quality at Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. He stated that with its resources and strong mobilization capabilities, China could drive significant global progress in addressing climate change. "Both Italy and China have long coastlines and have conducted extensive oceanographic studies. We could collaborate to advance emission reductions through solutions like offshore energy," Sannino told Xinhua. "Sustainability is a very fruitful collaborative research area between Italy and China," said Alessandro Simeone, associate professor from the Department of Management and Production Engineering, Polytechnic of Turin (Politecnico di Torino). Both sides can also leverage technologies like digitalization and AI to develop human-centered products that improve life and work for older generations, as many countries, including China and Italy, are facing the challenge of an aging population, Simeone added. European budget airline giant easyJet reported a record-breaking summer for profits on Wednesday. Its CEO told Bloomberg it benefited from engine choices and an all-Airbus fleet. Boeing delays have hampered rival Ryanair, while Wizz has grounded planes for engine inspections. The boss of easyJet said avoiding problems at Boeing and Pratt & Whitney has helped it achieve record profits, and buck the trend among Europe's low-cost carriers. CEO Johan Lundgren spoke to Bloomberg TV on Wednesday as easyJet reported blockbuster earnings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The European budget airline reported a record-breaking summer, with pre-tax profit up by one-third since last year to 610 million ($768.35 million). Meanwhile, profits fell at its biggest rivals, Ryanair and Wizz Air. "I think that in all fairness, all the manufacturers, whether that is Airbus or Boeing, are struggling with their supply chains as well," Lundgren told Bloomberg TV. "To the extent that the engine choices that we've made and also then going with Airbus, it's a better alternative than some of our competitors are having," he added. Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, reported third-quarter profits down 18% compared to last year. It operates a fleet made up entirely of the Boeing 737. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In its earnings report, Ryanair criticized Boeing, saying delays to new planes meant it had to rely on savings from fuel hedging. The planemaker reduced its output of 737 Max jets amid a seven-week strike and increased regulatory scrutiny following January's Alaska Airlines blowout. Both easyJet and Wizz Air have all-Airbus fleets but use different engines. Earlier this month, Wizz reported its half-year net profit was down 21.3% to 315.2 million euros ($331.4 million). The Hungarian budget airline said it had 41 planes grounded for engine inspections. Wizz uses engines from Pratt & Whitney which last year announced 1,200 engines would need to be removed for inspections. It said a "rare condition" contaminated the powder metal and could cause cracks to form on critical engine parts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The engine type is a popular choice for the short-haul Airbus A320 family. While easyJet uses the same planes, it instead fits engines made by CFM. EasyJet didn't completely escape supply-chain problems, however. This year, restraints on raw materials and skilled labor have hampered the aviation industry. Lundgren told Bloomberg TV the airline had 16 deliveries this financial year rather than the 19 it expected. "But we're managing the growth trajectory anyway, and we can allocate those within the network to make sure we have the capacity where the demand really is," he added. Read the original article on Business Insider A polling location in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A challenge to Missouris voter ID law will proceed to the state Supreme Court following a Cole County decision upholding the 2022 legislation, opponents said Tuesday. The decision by Circuit Judge Jon Beetem found the individual voters and organizations that sued the Missouri NAACP and the League of Women Voters were unable to show they had been harmed by the application of the law and lacked standing to bring the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And addressing the particulars of their challenge, Beetem wrote the burdens were not onerous on any individual voter. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US The law requires voters to show a Missouri or federally issued identification that includes a photo, the holders date of birth and an expiration date. Identification that has been expired for less than a year is acceptable. The individual plaintiffs and/or Missouri voters generally do not have a legally protectable interest in avoiding the everyday burdens of getting an expired license renewed, Beetem wrote. Any of the individual plaintiffs alleged injuries in this regard are generalized grievances shared by the population as a whole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court will argue that Beetem applied the wrong standard to his analysis, said Denise Lieberman, director of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition and one of the lead attorneys on the case. The focus should be on the sometimes insurmountable burdens that thousands of Missourians face obtaining the documents to secure the needed identification, she said. The court got the test wrong, Lieberman said. It is the burden of the state to demonstrate it has no other way to advance its interests than through a law that burdens voters in this way. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who was the defendant in the case, praised the result as a victory for election integrity. To maintain a secure system for voting, it only stands to reason that a photo ID should be essential, Ashcroft said in a news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The timeline for the appeal is uncertain. The ruling will not be final for 30 days, so the high court will not start setting a schedule until that time. If the law is overturned, it will also end the two week period of no-excuse absentee voting that proved its popularity this year. The early voting period was part of a compromise deal to allow the voter ID measure to come to a vote in the Missouri Senate. Establishing a government-issued photo ID as the only acceptable form of identification for voting is a longstanding goal of Republican politicians in Missouri. Prior to the 2022 law, voters could also present a county-issued voter ID card, a student identification card, a birth certificate or a recent utility bill with their name and address as proof in order to vote. After the courts rebuffed earlier attempts to enact a photo ID law, Republicans in 2016 placed a constitutional amendment on the ballot that specifically allowed it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE That vote was followed in 2017 by a law that allowed a voter who did not have a photo ID, but who had one of the other forms, to have their ballot counted if they signed an affidavit of their identity. The Missouri Supreme Court overturned that law in 2020. The law challenged in the decision issued Monday has been in effect since 2022 while the case has been argued. A voter who does not have proper identification can cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted if they return to the polls with their ID or if their signature matches the one on file. To succeed in their challenge, Beetem wrote, the plaintiffs had to prove that there is no set of circumstances under which the challenged provisions of (House Bill)1878 are constitutional. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were unable to do so, he wrote. None of the individual plaintiffs had been denied a ballot at any election and the issues they raised inability to obtain documents proving a name is misspelled or the expiration of an ID and the trouble involved in renewing it have not been barriers to voting, he wrote. The issues raised, he wrote, do not present a substantial or severe burden upon the right to vote. The state has an interest in protecting elections and the public confidence they are fair, Beetem wrote. There was no evidence, however, that photo ID had prevented cheating. There was evidence that possible voter impersonation has been brought to the attention of local election authorities, Beeem wrote. However, no credible evidence was adduced of any voter impersonation which would have been prevented by requiring photo ID. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beetem missed that voters lose confidence in elections if they are uncertain if their vote will be counted, Lieberman said. Missouri has had a voter ID law on the books since 2002 and it worked fine because it allowed voters to show a range of forms of valid ID, including a voter registration card, she said. The organizations backing the challenge said the case needs to be appealed so it is easier for Missourians to vote. Theres no evidence of voter impersonation in Missouri, so these extreme restrictions dont make our elections any safer or more secure, said Marilyn McLeod, president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NAACP sees the law as a discriminatory act aimed at lowering turnout among people in minority groups, older adults and students, Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri NAACP State Conference said in a news release. While these laws aim to fix an imaginary problem, he said, the disenfranchisement from the unnecessary and burdensome legal obstacles they create for voters is very real. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) In a meeting this upcoming Tuesday, the Champaign City Council will vote to appoint a new City Manager. WCIA previously reported that after 11 years as Champaigns City Manager, and over 30 years of service to the city, Dorothy Ann David announced she plans to retire Dec. 20. They will vote to appoint Joan Walls as the next City Manager on Dec. 3. Walls has served as the Deputy City Manager for the past 11 years and has over 24 years of experience with Champaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Champaign Co. organizations team up for turkey giveaway Walls joined the City in 2000 as the Assistant to the Chief for Community Services/Public Information Officer in the Police Department. In 2006 she was promoted to Deputy City Manager for Community Relations. Before serving the City of Champaign, Walls was the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Danville. Our city organization has a long legacy of developing leaders from within. Over her 24 years with our city, Joans contributions to the community and our organization have been impressive. She is a servant leader who has shown her heart for this community time and time again. Joan understands the City Councils vision for our future, and she possesses the creativity and enthusiasm to move our city forward, said Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen. We have the utmost confidence in Joans leadership. I cant think of anyone who is more highly qualified or better prepared to serve as our next City Manager than Joan Walls, and I will happily support her appointment at Tuesdays meeting. Walls is a member of many clubs and organizations in Central Illinois. This includes International City/County Management Association, the Illinois City/County Management Association (ILCMA) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, a member of the Big 10 Cities Network, a Board Member of the METCAD 911 Policy Board, and an Executive Committee Member for the Champaign County Community Coalition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Understand the universe better; U of I launches AI resource I love this community. It is an honor to be considered by the City Council to serve as Champaigns next City Manager, Walls said. I am deeply grateful to the Mayor and City Council for their continued support and confidence in my ability to lead the city organization. I look forward to engaging with our elected officials, residents, businesses, and community partners to ensure we meet the evolving needs of our growing community. I am excited to work alongside our amazing city staff to build upon our standard of excellence in public service. Walls received a Master of Science in Educational Psychology from Eastern Illinois University. She received a Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University in Administration of Justice. She shares our values as a city organization. She was part of the creation of those values and building them, Feinen said. And so, its kind of a seamless transition and allows city business to continue forward. And she will put her own spin on things, there is no doubt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Walls is appointed on Dec. 3, she will become Champaigns next City Manager on Dec. 21. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ITN Productions will release a fast-turnaround documentary on Channel 5 about Frances mass rape trial that shocked the world. The Pelicot Rape Case: A Town on Trial follows a wider examination of the circumstances surrounding Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, a 72-year-old woman drugged by her former husband, Dominique, and abused for a decade by at least 70 strangers he had recruited online. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mass rape trial sparked outrage around the globe with Ms Pelicot waiving her right to anonymity, becoming a feminist icon in the process, so the admitted criminal behavior of her husband could be heard in court in Avignon, France in the full glare of the media. French prosecutors demanded that Dominique Pelicot be jailed for 20 years, the maximum available sentence. Meanwhile, the lawyers for 33 of the perpetrators have made a special plea that their clients were acting under diminished responsibility. The Channel 5 program will air on Dec. 11 in the U.K., spotlighting the her brave response from a psychological, legal and cultural perspective. Clips from the documentary include an interview with an alleged rapist, which is visually and vocally anonymized. Our news heritage and the agility of our production teams means ITN Productions is uniquely placed to produce a rigorous, detailed documentary tracking the impact of these disturbing crimes as the trial unfolds, said Ian Rumsey, ITN managing director of content. Securing exclusive on-camera access with one of the alleged rapists has been part of our commitment to telling the wider story of Gisele Pelicots astonishing bravery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jeremy Daldry is executive producer on The Pelicot Rape Case: A Town on Trial. Anna Davis and Oliver Price are producer-directors for ITN Productions. It was commissioned by Denise Seneviratne, at Channel 5. Post-production is by ITN Post. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CLEARFIELD, Pa. (WTAJ) A Houtzdale man was charged Tuesday, almost one year to the day a Clearfield couple called 911 for the overdose death of their 33-year-old son. Bruce Raab, 44, was charged with drug delivery resulting in death and related charges stemming from an investigation that began after the overdose death of Justin Moore. According to the criminal complaint, Moores parents called 911 Monday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2023, after finding their son cold, stiff, and not breathing. Clearfield Regional police responded to find Moore in his bed, cold and turning blue. According to charges, Moores mother handed over a tablet she said he used to access Facebook Messenger to try and buy drugs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New details: You know Im just playin Johnstown teen said before shooting student Through the investigation, police said Moores mother called to inform them she had Moores phone which allegedly had numerous messages between him and Raab. According to the complaint, a conversation between the two began that weekend. Investigators said numerous keywords were used to indicate Moore was looking for drugs. Charges show that Moores last message was a thank you to Raab shortly before the 911 call came in from his father that day. While investigating, police said Raab was pulled over for a traffic stop where paraphernalia was seen in plain view, the complaint reads. Raab agreed to a search where five different cellphones were found, full of messages to what police said were known dealers and buyers, again using keywords to indicate drugs such as ball, bun, go, and down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators noted in the charges that they tried to speak with Raab at Clearfield County Jail on May 27, noting he was in jail on unrelated charges. Raab agreed to talk, however, police said he was not very forthcoming with any answer before ending the interview within 30 minutes. A similar situation happened when they tried to talk to Raab at that jail in September, then again in November, this time police said he ended the interview within a few minutes. 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. Raab, who is in Clearfield County Jail on other charges, was arraigned in the death of Moore where bail was denied by Magisterial District Judge Joseph Morris. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. WALDORF, Md. (DC News Now) After a second-grade student was hospitalized due to their jacket getting caught on a hook in the bathroom while horseplaying with another student, a meeting was held for parents Tuesday night to voice their concerns. One parent who did not want to be identified spoke with DC News Now after the meeting which was held at Paul Barnhart Elementary School, where the student attended. I think the school should be held accountable. As a parent and a grandmother, myself this was very upsetting and very sad and it is going to take a lot of healing and support for the childs family and mental support for the child to get back some normalcy, the parent said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Charles County parents demand accountability after student was hospitalized More than 50 people attended the meeting and many parents want to see increased safety measures put in place. Barnhart is a really great school but it was an unfortunate situation and a little negligence from teachers and staff I went to Barnhart 4th and 5th grade and I feel it is a great school, a parent said. The boys parents claim their child was hung in the bathroom by another student but school leaders said the students involved were horseplaying. The Charles County Sheriffs Office said investigators reviewed the school security video and conducted interviews. They said there is no evidence of any racial, biased or discriminatory motivations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement School community raises concerns after incident in Charles County school bathroom sends student to hospital One parent said the school is already making some safety upgrades. They did say they already removed the hooks off the bathroom stalls and they also said they might implement a buddy system and one parent said her child will not be participating in that, another parent said. School leaders did not want to comment after the meeting. The case is still under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Charlie Rose has settled a lawsuit from three former CBS employees who accused the former anchor of repeated sexual harassment. Lawyers for the accusers and Rose moved to dismiss the case on the eve of the trial. Terms of the settlement werent disclosed. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement signed by the accusers provided, by a lawyer for Rose, they said the case was about workplace interactions. They added, Through the process of years of litigation, the parties have come to better understand each others points of view. On reflection, and after having the benefit of discovery, we realize that different people could interpret the conduct in different ways, and therefore we have resolved the claims. We do not assign any bad motive or ill intent to Charlie Rose. Rose, who co-anchored CBS This Morning, was fired in 2017 on the heels of a Washington Post report that claimed more than two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct from 1986 to 2017. A trio of women Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal and Chelsea Wei subsequently filed a lawsuit in New York state court alleging blatant and repeated sexual harassment and unlawful retaliation. CBS quickly settled the case. According to the complaint, Harris worked as a broadcast associate for CBS This Morning before taking a job as an associate producer for Rose from 2016 to 2017; McNeal worked as Roses executive assistant in 2017; Wei worked as a news associate, executive assistant and anchor assistant from 2015 to 2018. They alleged Rose repeatedly caressed them at times touching their shoulders, arms or legs and made unwanted sexual advances. Rose maintained that his conduct constituted routine workplace interactions and banter. In a filing earlier this month, his lawyer Kenneth Goldberg said that he intended to contest the accusers credibility at trial. He pointed to internal company records indicating that Wei advised a CBS human resources officer that she experienced nothing sexually inappropriate while working for Rose and that Harris wrote to Rose that her interactions with him were always professional and respectful, though she noted to her therapist that the harassment was very subtle. He also cited a document showing that McNeal confided in her therapist at the time that she had 0 personal experience of sexual harassment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier in the case, the women argued that workplace sexual harassment covers less-well verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature even isolated, gender-based comments and conduct. In an affidavit testifying about her experience with Rose, Harris said that she would regularly be summoned to his corporate offices. He would sit on the bench outside the broadcast studio and would require me to sit next to him, she stated. On at least one occasion, I was wearing a skirt and, as I sat down, Rose intentionally placed his hand on the bench so that my buttocks landed on his hand and he kept his hand under me. On at least one other occasion, I was wearing a skirt and, after I sat down on the bench, Rose sat down and intentionally slid his hand under my buttocks. The court barred the women in 2019 from pursuing claims of retaliation but allowed the discrimination claim to proceed. With the settlement, the two sides avert a trial that was scheduled to start this week. This proceeding is discontinued with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cant be refiled, stated a court document filed on Nov. 24. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lawyer for the women didnt respond to a request for comment. Rose now maintains a YouTube channel in which he interviews guests, whove included Francis Ford Coppola and James Earl Jones. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Nov. 26CHAUMONT The bridge over the Chaumont River on Route 12E once again has traffic flowing in both directions. The $26.12 million project broke ground in late October of 2022 and has since had traffic lights to direct motorists when it was safe to cross which resulted in, at times, lengthy delays for drivers. Now, the wait is over. "It's a big day," Kenneth Bibbins, state Department of Transportation assistant commissioner of operations, said Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials are expecting to come back to the bridge in the spring for a dedication ceremony to name the bridge after Jefferson County Sheriff Deputy Michael J. Finerson. Deputy Finerson was 24 when he was shot Sept. 9, 1970, while responding to a domestic fight on Weaver Road in the town of Watertown. "I am very much looking forward to coming here in the spring to dedicate the bridge to Deputy Finerson," Bibbins said. "It's great to have a nice, shiny new bridge that we can dedicate to someone who made such a sacrifice." Bibbins also said that the old seven span bridge has now been replaced with a contemporary force span bridge "that is built to last." As weather patterns continue to change, the bridge has been manufactured to take those changes into consideration and will be able to sustain ice jams and wave action, reducing future maintenance cost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bridge also features wider sidewalks and Americans with Disability Act-compliant ramps so everyone can use the bridge. Pathways have also been added for anglers in addition to a face lift for the parking lot with a bench to look over the water. "As we open the new bridge to its full width today, we're marking a significant project milestone," Bibbins said. "This investment into Jefferson County is a signal that the region is open for business. The new Chaumont bridge will truly be a bridge to a bright future. A future where commerce thrives, tourism flourishes, and this community grows stronger." Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, who was a Jefferson County legislator when the project first started, complimented those who helped get the project to where it is at now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "To the residents of Chaumont, the town of Lyme, and all the others beyond, sometimes disturbances like this are annoying, but if we're going to make progress, we have to go through some of these moments in time where we have a little disruption, a little inconvenience, but you're better off today than you were a couple years ago," he said. Bibbins said more construction is on the way for the bridge, though, as in the spring officials will do roadway reconstruction, drainage installation and more. Traffic at times will be directed by a flag person for "days in a row" during the day, Bibbins said. Gov Kathleen C. Hochul said in a news release the project shows the state is continuing to prioritize improving travel, protecting the environment and helping grow the economy "For those living in the region and those visiting the North Country, this new bridge will make it easier to take advantage of all the scenic wonders this area has to offer," she said in the news release. CHICAGO Fifteen City Council members on Tuesday sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson proposing slashing municipal government spending to pre-pandemic levels. In 2020, the city budget was $11.7 billion. The Chicago budget for 2025 proposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson exceeds $17 billion. To avoid layoffs and furloughs, Johnson has proposed raises property taxes, but City Council rejected his initial request. Were trying to get the administration to shift their priority, said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward). They started out saying, Were going to raise revenue to fill this deficit and then well talk about cuts to fill the gap thats left over. We want to flip that around. We want to do cuts first, and government efficiencies, and then well talk about revenue to fill whatever the residual gap is. Voters dont like direction of Chicago budget negotiations, alders opinion poll shows Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deeply concerned: Mayors budget risks compliance with CPD consent decree Chicago mayor proposes lower property tax hike after first effort killed by City Council Budget officials: Mayors plan to balance budget with property tax increase prudent Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) said the budget talks cant be just a conversation about new revenue. Taxpayers in Chicago are wiped out, he said. To help identify areas to cut, Riley sent city budget officials an email requesting information about municipal salaries, current headcount and the number of vacancies the mayor plans to carry over to the next year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to know if its realistic that they will be filled next calendar year, Reilly told WGN, adding that hes not received a response to his request. Behind the scenes, small groups of alders have exchanged ideas with the mayors budget team, but so far the mayor is holding to his commitment not to slash jobs. Hopkins said he expects very few if any cuts to currently filled union positions but said there may be some vacant union positions that could be lost through collective bargaining. But theres a lot of management jobs that are not union jobs that were created in the last five years, he said. We have to look at every one of them, and my suspicion is many of them are not justified in the post-pandemic era. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alders who signed Tuesdays letter include Hopkins, Reilly, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward), Ald. Peter Chico (10th Ward), Ald. Marty Quinn (13th Ward), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward), Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward), Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward), Ald. Felix Cardona (31st Ward), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward), Ald. James Gardiner (45th Ward), and Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward). The City Council has until the end of the year to approve a budget for 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 WGN-TV. JERUSALEM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Wednesday filed a notice with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague of its intention to appeal the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said Israel also requested to delay the execution of the arrest warrants, which were issued last week. "Israel's notice of appeal reveals in detail how the decision to issue the arrest warrants was baseless and devoid of any factual or legal basis," the statement said. "Israel denies the authority of the ICC and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants," it added. The ICC issued the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of committing "crimes against humanity and war crimes" between at least Oct. 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024, in Gaza. Editors note: This story includes graphic descriptions of violence that some readers may find disturbing. Whoever duct-taped JonBenet Ramseys mouth shut, bludgeoned the 6-year-old Colorado girl and strangled the child beauty queen in her own home has evaded capture for almost 28 years. Now, a new Netflix documentary series reexamines the gruesome December 1996 killing and suggests modern technology might help solve the homicide that has riveted and perplexed the country for decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey features lengthy interviews with JonBenets father and namesake, John Bennett Ramsey, who has lived under a cloud of suspicion despite being formally cleared in 2008. Our big frustration almost from Day 1 is that we knew the police did not have the capacity or the capability or the experience to deal with this case, Ramsey, now 80, told CNN Tuesday. While researching the case, director Joe Berlinger was stunned by just how trampled the crime scene was. But even after the initial, botched police investigation, Berlinger said he believes advanced technology, such as genetic genealogy, can solve the crime. Heres what we know about the quest for JonBenets killer, including the overseas arrest of an innocent man and how investigators are trying a new strategy after 21,000 tips: The little girl was a local celebrity and may have drawn unwanted attention By age 6, JonBenet had amassed more titles and tiaras than many beauty queens several times her age: Little Miss Colorado. Little Miss Charlevoix. Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl. Americas Royale Miss. National Tiny Miss Beauty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The kindergartener was already wearing high heels and following the footsteps of her beauty queen mother, Patricia Patsy Ramsey, a former Miss West Virginia. A week before her death, JonBenet was featured in a Boulder Christmas parade with her name displayed along the side of her float. Her father later told CNN that may have been a mistake. On the night of December 25, 1996, JonBenet, her brother Burke and their parents returned home from Christmas dinner at a family friends house. Patsy Ramsey tucked her daughter into bed. The next day, JonBenets lifeless body was found in the familys basement with a cord around her neck. A cryptic ransom note and a grisly discovery The morning after Christmas, Patsy Ramsey went to the kitchen to make coffee. On her way down the spiral staircase, she found a lengthy, bizarre ransom note. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The note was written on paper taken from Patsy Ramseys notepad. It demanded a peculiar amount of money $118,000 the same amount John Ramsey received for his Christmas bonus as president of Access Graphics. Its still not clear why that exact dollar amount was demanded, or by whom. Fearing her daughter had been kidnapped, Patsy Ramsey called 911. Investigators found no immediate signs of forced entry into the familys upscale house. Police taped off the Ramseys' home in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1996. What started as a kidnapping investigation turned into a murder investigation. - Karl Gehring/Liaison/getty images For several hours, no one could find JonBenet. Officers didnt properly secure the sizeable home, and family friends came and went freely. Eventually, John Ramsey and a friend went down to the basement and opened a cellar door. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JonBenet was there. I saw her immediately, John Ramsey told CNN in 2016. And it was a rush of relief. I thought, God, I found my child. And then I pretty quickly realized that she may not be alive. JonBenet had a rope embedded deep into her neck. At the end of the rope was a broken paintbrush that looked like it was from Patsy Ramseys art set. There was also evidence the 6-year-old had been sexually assaulted. The coroner who performed JonBenets autopsy said the child died from suffocation in conjunction with forcible trauma to her skull. JonBenet had an 8.5-inch skull fracture. Almost three decades later, its still not clear why someone wrote a ransom note describing a kidnapping when the killer left JonBenets mutilated body in the house. We were aghast after the botched police response, JonBenets father says Law enforcement and forensic experts have said local authorities made mistakes in the early hours and days of the investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Failing to secure the house while people drifted in and out meant the crime scene had been compromised. Potential evidence was not promptly collected to eliminate the possibility of contamination. John Ramsey said he believes police spent too long focusing on him and Patsy rather than looking for whoever actually killed their daughter. We knew they were totally focused on Patsy and I, and we were aghast, he told CNNs Kate Bolduan Tuesday. But I said to them, OK, great. Lets work through that and then dont stop there. Well, they did stop there. And our big frustration with the police all along has been that theyve refused help from the outside that could have helped. But Boulder police have reiterated their efforts to find JonBenets killer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said in a statement posted on X Tuesday. 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. Last year, Boulder police announced a new strategy in trying to resolve the case that has haunted the community for decades. Boulder Police Department (BPD) convened a panel of outside experts (Colorado Cold Case Review Team) to review the JonBenet Ramsey homicide investigation, the department said in December 2023. The purpose of the review was to generate additional investigative recommendations and determine if updated technologies and/or forensic testing might produce new intelligence or leads to solve the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This week, police refuted the notion that detectives arent using every investigative tool possible. The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing to include DNA testing is completely false, Boulder police said Tuesday. Additionally, it was the Boulder Police Department not the Colorado Bureau of Investigation who convened the Cold Case Review Panel in December 2023 as part of its investigation efforts. A grand jury voted to indict her parents but no charges followed After two years of public fascination, rampant speculation and no suspect arrested, the Boulder County district attorney convened a grand jury in 1998. The grand jurors met regularly over 13 months to hear testimony from law enforcement and civilians including JonBenets brother, Burke, who was in the house at the time of his sisters death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But John and Patsy Ramsey were not asked to testify. The grand jury voted to indict the parents on charges of child abuse resulting in death and being accessories to a crime though that news didnt come to light until more than a decade later, after the district attorney declined to file charges. In 2013, the Boulder Daily Camera broke the news that grand jurors voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey back in 1999. But at the time, District Attorney Alex Hunter said there was insufficient evidence. And in an extraordinarily rare move, the countys top prosecutor went against the grand jurys wishes. There had never been a circumstance quite like this, Stan Garnett, another former Boulder County district attorney, previously told CNN. A grand jury had returned a true bill, the DA had refused to sign it and it remained secret for a long time. And eventually its existence became known. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Back in 1999, the grand jury didnt have DNA findings that emerged in 2008. Over the years, DNA testing improved and eventually led authorities to clear the Ramseys of suspicion in JonBenets death. Forensic scientist Dr. Angela Williamson said a DNA sample had been taken from the crotch of JonBenets panties, where the girls blood was found. The DNA of an unknown male was detected but the DNA didnt match anyone who had been near the scene or who had handled her body. The results excluded John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey didnt live to see the 2008 apology from a Boulder County district attorney clearing her and her husband of suspicion in their daughters death. She died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006. Modern DNA technology reveals a new clue More than a decade after JonBenets death, a test using touch DNA or trace DNA from JonBenets long johns indicated the same unknown male made contact with the young girls underwear, Williamson said. Whoever committed this offense must have pulled down her long johns but then they pulled them back up, because she was found dressed, Williamson told CNN. Technicians tested DNA on both sides of the long johns waist band. Its the same DNA, Williamson said. Its the same male thats in the underpants thats on the side of the long johns. But the identity of that male remains a mystery. A teacher claims he killed JonBenet Only one arrest has been made in connection with JonBenets death but it turned out to be the wrong man. In 2006, teacher John Mark Karr was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand. The 41-year-old repeatedly said he loved JonBenet and was with her the night she died. He also insisted her death was an accident. Thai police escort American teacher John Mark Karr at the Thai Immigration Department in Bangkok on August 17, 2006. At the time, Karr was a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey case. - SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images Karr allegedly told an investigator that he had drugged JonBenet and sexually assaulted her before accidentally killing her. But soon after his arrest and return to Colorado, prosecutors said DNA evidence proved he had nothing to do with her death. The district attorney decided not to charge him. New DNA techniques fuel hope for answers In the decades since JonBenets death, detectives have probed 21,000 tips, traveled to more than a dozen states and spoken with over 1,000 people in connection with her killing, Boulder police said. JonBenet Ramsey won many of the child beauty pageants she competed in. - SARTIN/SIPA/Sipa USA Despite myriad dead ends, authorities have not given up on finding JonBenets killer. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said if critical evidence or information emerges, JonBenets killer could be brought to justice. The challenge is finding that elusive information. Whether it is DNA or other evidence, the district attorney said, more is needed to solve this murder. Both Berlinger and JonBenets father said they hope genetic genealogy will help bring JonBenets killer to justice. Certain cold cases in recent years have been solved because of that, Berlinger said. Golden State Killer, Green River Killer there have been a lot of advances, particularly with genealogical DNA. Investigative genetic genealogy combines DNA analysis from a lab with genealogical research, such as tracing a persons family tree via GEDMatch a free website where people can upload their DNA raw data files. Investigators can take an unknown suspects DNA profile and upload it to a public database to learn about the suspects family members. Investigators can then use the genealogical information and other evidence to build back through the family tree and identify potential suspects. Police arent saying what investigative avenues are currently being pursued. A grieving fathers relentless search for justice Since Patsy Ramsey passed away 18 years ago, John Ramsey has remarried and moved to Utah. But the agony of JonBenets death follows him everywhere. John and Patsy Ramsey, shown in May 1997, pleaded for the public's help in finding their daughter's killer. A $100,000 reward was established for information leading the the killer's arrest and conviction. - Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images Despite helping with the Netflix documentary, John Ramsey said he doesnt intend to watch it. I dont think Ive ever watched any of the broadcasts that Ive participated in over the years its hard to watch that stuff, he told CNN. My wife Jan is watching it. She will be my filter and say, Well, you watch this part, but dont watch this part. Itll be too hard for you emotionally. Ramsey said he doesnt expect the grief to subside for his family. This has not gone away from our life for 28 years. CNNs Julie In, Faith Karimi, Eric Levenson and Andi Babineau contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Sioux Falls man will spend over a decade behind bars after pleading guilty to a list of charges. KELOLAND News first reported on 58-year-old Brad Hicks in September when he admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography. The U.S. Attorneys Office says he had over 3,000 images and over 700 videos. Man and woman charged with abusing a 5-year-old Hicks also admits to resisting a federal officer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court documents say he came out of his home with a gun during a standoff and authorities had to use gas to get him to turn himself in. Hicks was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervision. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) The Childrens Museum of Evansville is inviting the public to the North Pole for Christmas Time. The cMoe Goes to the North Pole event will be held at the Old National Bank Atrium on December 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.. Nikki Myers, cMoe Director of Advancement, was on Eyewitness News Daybreak on Wednesday to explain the event, and how you can purchase tickets. You can view the full interview in the video player above. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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). CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WCMH) A Chillicothe teenager is dead after a crash in Clinton County Tuesday evening. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the two-vehicle crash happened on Interstate 71 near U.S. Route 68 in Clinton County at approximately 6 p.m. A 2017 Subaru Legacy was driving south on I-71 when it hit a 2022 Ram pickup truck, police said. The impact sent the Subaru into the median and the pickup truck into the right lane. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A passenger in the Subaru, Makell Rhinehart, 18, of Chillicothe, was taken to Clinton Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver of the Subaru, a 21-year-old Chillicothe man, was taken to Clinton Memorial Hospital for treatment. None of the occupants in the pickup truck were injured. The crash remains under investigation. Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Clinton County Sheriffs Office, Wilmington Fire and EMS, and Port William EMS. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. China is reportedly investigating a third successive defence minister on suspicion of corruption. Dong Jun, promoted to the position in December 2023 following the ousting of his predecessor Li Shangfu, has been targeted in a wider anti-corruption probe of the Chinese military, according to the Financial Times. The investigation has been instigated on the orders of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, the paper reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinas foreign ministry described the report as chasing shadows an idiom for going after something thats unfounded when asked about it during a routine news conference on Wednesday. Since becoming defence minister, Mr Dong has overseen the improvement of US-China military relations and conducted three diplomatic tours for the Chinese government, including holding talks with Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defence, at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore in June. The latest investigation is part of the Chinese Communist Partys anti-corruption purge that began last year. At least nine generals, including Mr Dongs predecessors Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, and seven defence industry executives, have been removed from office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Li, who was only in office for seven months, was ousted as Chinese defence minister last October amid a spate of alleged offences, including bribery. He has not been seen in public since. Mr Wei, his predecessor, was also expelled from the Chinese Communist Party because of alleged corruption charges. The party said both men had received huge sums of money in bribes and had tried to seek personnel benefits for others. In an official statement, the party accused the pair of betraying the trust of the party, polluting the political environment of the military and causing great damage to the image of its senior leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Analysts have described the alleged investigation against Mr Dong as a sign the anti-corruption purge is going deeper into the Chinese military. Lyle Morris, a senior fellow for foreign policy and national security at Asia Society, wrote on social media platform X: This is not a normal shake-up and I think more are coming. Others said the anti-corruption probes against three consecutive Chinese defence ministers reflects an unstable command and control structure within the military. Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at Australian National University, told The Telegraph: This could make long-term policy planning and readiness for fighting very difficult, if not impossible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Victor Shih, an expert in Chinese politics at the University of California in San Diego, told AFP fierce competitions for top positions in the military may lead to endless cycles of arrests, new appointments and recriminations. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali, Laurie Chen WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -The fate of Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun remained unclear on Wednesday, as two U.S. officials told Reuters that he was being investigated for corruption while another urged caution. The Financial Times first reported that Dong was being investigated as part of a wide-ranging anti-corruption probe that has roiled the top ranks of the People's Liberation Army. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that a Chinese investigation into its strategic rocket forces had expanded to other issues in the military and procurement. The official added that the investigation into Dong was significant because Chinese President Xi Jinping had appointed Dong himself. But another senior U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, urged caution on reports about his investigation without offering details on whether the report was accurate. Dong would be the third consecutive serving or former Chinese defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When asked at a daily press briefing about the report, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said it was "chasing shadows". China's defence ministry did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment. China's military underwent a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with at least nine PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body to date. Dong, a former PLA Navy chief, was appointed defence minister in December 2023. His predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed after seven months into the job. Dong last week declined to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defence ministers in Laos citing U.S. actions over Taiwan, a move the Pentagon chief said on Wednesday was unfortunate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. officials said they were not concerned about military-to-military relations between Washington and Beijing if Dong was removed, adding that China would be able to quickly put in place a successor. As defence minister, Dong is responsible for China's military diplomacy with other nations. He oversaw a recent thaw in U.S.-China military-to-military ties, with both nations holding theatre-level commander talks in September for the first time. But he was not promoted to the six-member Central Military Commission (CMC), China's highest-level military body, during a major Communist Party plenum earlier this year, where personnel reshuffles would normally be announced. China's defence minister has traditionally been a member of both the CMC, which is headed by Xi, and the State Council, China's cabinet-level executive body. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dong was not appointed to the State Council either during a government reshuffle in March. "Frankly nothing would surprise me anymore," said Dennis Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University and former U.S. intelligence analyst. "The history with these investigations in the PLA are that once the string of corruption is pulled many other threads are revealed and the sweater unravels." Dong's two immediate predecessors, Li and Wei Fenghe, were expelled from the Communist Party in June for "serious violations of discipline", a euphemism for corruption. A Communist Party statement at the time said the pair "betrayed the trust of the party and the Central Military Commission, seriously polluted the political environment of the military, and caused great damage to ... the image of its senior leaders". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pair were also found to have received huge sums of money in bribes and sought to provide "personnel benefits" for others, the statement said, such as promotions or higher rankings in the military. Reuters exclusively reported last year that Li was under investigation for suspected corruption in military procurement. Wei had disappeared from public view after he was replaced in March 2023 during a planned cabinet reshuffle. Wei was head of the strategic People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force from 2015-17. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali, Erin Banco, Michael Martina, and Laurie Chen; Editing by Tom Hogue, Neil Fullick and Sandra Maler) (Bloomberg) -- US officials believe China has placed its current defense chief under investigation for corruption, the Financial Times reports in what would be the latest shocking development roiling the worlds largest military by number of personnel. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Admiral Dong Jun faces the inquiry as part of a broader probe into graft, in the Peoples Liberation Army, the newspaper reported, citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation whom it did not name. Dong attended a gathering of military leaders from around the world last week in Laos, where he declined to meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. China placed the blame on the US, urging it to immediately correct mistakes on Taiwan and to respect Beijings core interests. Chinas Defense Ministry didnt immediately reply to a faxed request for comment. Dongs two predecessors have also gotten into trouble due to graft probes. Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched a sweeping purge of the military in the summer of 2023 that was partly focused on the Rocket Force, which manages the nations expanding nuclear arsenal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. This photo taken from Israel's side of the Israel-Lebanon border on Nov. 27, 2024 shows destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua) European countries have welcomed the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal, calling for regional de-escalation. OSLO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Lebanon this week, and called for negotiations to be launched on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday night approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, paving the way for an end to a nearly 14-month conflict which, according to Lebanese health authorities, has killed 3,823 people and wounded 15,859 others in Lebanon. The ceasefire will take effect on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), and over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army will regain control of its territory, while Israel will gradually withdraw, and civilians will return home. "The hostilities have caused immense death, human suffering and destruction...The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is extremely challenging, with over 1.2 million people displaced from their homes. I hope this agreement will make it possible for the displaced in both Lebanon and Israel to return to their homes," Eide said in a statement. "It is now crucial to initiate meaningful negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, to ensure that the people of Gaza will receive lifesaving humanitarian aid, and to secure the release of the hostages," added the foreign minister. Meanwhile, the Dutch government also welcomed the ceasefire deal on Wednesday. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in West Bekaa, Lebanon. (Photo by Maher Kamar/Xinhua) "It's important for all parties to commit themselves to it now, so that the situation can de-escalate and citizens on both sides of the border can return home safely," Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on social platform X. Also on X, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the agreement is "a vital step towards ending hostilities and regional de-escalation. It is important that all parties commit to the ceasefire to achieve a lasting security, stability and peace." The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said the ceasefire is a "crucial step" in achieving regional stability. "This shows that with will and commitment peace is possible - let this also inspire efforts in Gaza," the ministry said on its X account. The ministry stressed that it is vital to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon, and implement the United Nations 1701 resolution adopted in 2006, which calls for the full cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese political group Hezbollah. Slovenia's foreign ministry also stressed the need to support the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese armed forces. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the press at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong) On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden issued a joint statement announcing the achievement of the deal. "The announcement will create "the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line," the statement said. "The United States and France will work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure this arrangement is fully implemented, and enforced, and remain determined to prevent this conflict from becoming another cycle of violence," they noted. (Bloomberg) -- China is continuing to buy US soybeans, confounding some traders who had expected the flow of shipments to slow down ahead of a potential trade war between both countries. Most Read from Bloomberg A Chinese state buyer picked up at least eight cargoes last week to build national reserves, according to traders familiar with the sales. Sales equivalent to about two cargoes were also concluded this week, the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recent purchases carry the risk that they could still be sailing to China as a major trade dispute with the US erupts after Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The Asian nation is the worlds largest soybean importer. On Monday, the President-elect roiled markets after pledging to slap an additional 10% tariff on goods from China and 25% tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada. Such a move would likely trigger similar retaliation. China has recently stepped up soybean purchases in Brazil, but its still picking up American cargoes for supplies that will be put in reserve. US soybeans can usually be stored for longer because of their low moisture content. Now, China is not going to source 100% of their soybeans from Brazil, said Jake Hanley, senior portfolio strategist at Teucrium, a firm that owns exchange traded funds on agricultural commodities. Theyre going to want to keep their foot in the door in multiple places. The US is the second largest exporter in the world for soybeans, so I dont see China going away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For now, China is still buying. American exporters sold 132,000 metric tons of soybeans to China in the 2024-25 marketing year. Thats on top of more than 5 million tons sold since the election, USDA data showed an amount equal to about 5% of Chinas annual imports. Arid conditions at the end of the US growing season were ideal for drying down crops. Thats lowered the moisture content and made American supplies even more appealing to Chinese state-run buyers planning to boost national reserves. Still, the cargoes sold last week risk being stuck at sea if tariffs are put into place before vessels arrive. --With assistance from Hallie Gu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. (NewsNation) China has released three American prisoners who were detained for at least eight years, White House officials confirmed Wednesday. Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung were freed after years of talks between U.S. and Chinese officials, according to Politico, which first reported the prisoner swap. Fugitive on FBIs Most Wanted Terrorist list captured after more than 20 years on run Full details of the swap were not immediately clear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The news comes about two months after China released 68-year-old California pastor David Lin, who was detained for almost 20 years. We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the Peoples Republic of China, a State Department spokesperson said. Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years. Thanks to this Administrations efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home. Actor Mel Gibson who has repeatedly called for the release of Swidan posted a video thanking those who helped secure his release, including NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas. The number of Americans considered wrongfully detained has sky-rocketed since 2012, according to the James Foley Legacy Foundation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This story is developing. Download our NewsNation app for 24/7 fact-based unbiased coverage. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Nov. 27 (UPI) -- China released three American detainees Wednesday after striking a deal for a prisoner exchange with the Biden administration. Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung were released from Chinese custody after being detained for several years, as first reported by Politico. In exchange, the United States agreed to release unidentified Chinese nationals who remain in U.S. custody. The United States also agreed to lower its travel advisory on China to level two. A level two advisory urges travelers to "exercise increased caution," according to the U.S. Department of State. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swidan, 48, had been detained in China for trafficking narcotics since 2012, according to CBS News. He was on death row. Li, 60, was imprisoned in 2016. He had a stroke while incarcerated. His son, Harrison Li, told CNN in 2023 that he was concerned his father would die in prison. Leung, 78, was sentenced to life in prison for espionage last year after being arrested in 2021. "We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung from detention in the People's Republic of China," a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said, according to CNN. "Soon, they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years. Thanks to this administration's efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home." In September, China released U.S. citizen David Lin in another prisoner exchange. The News China is set to switch on one of the most powerful sources of X-ray light in the world. The High Energy Photon Source near Beijing is essentially a circular track around which electrons will be beamed at incredibly high energies, creating laser-like X-ray beams that can then be used to capture images of materials at the atomic scale. Once the $657 million synchrotron gets its operating license, Chinese scientists hope to use the machine to study proteins and other tiny biological structures, like viruses. Its like getting a major new telescope. You can see things that were not observable before, a quantum materials scientist at MIT told Science. A mysterious Chinese vessel with a large open flight deck and three superstructures, which TWZ was first to report on, looks to have made its maiden voyage. Details about the flattop, which currently has various commercial-style rather than military markings and is unlike any other established Chinese Navy vessel class, are still scant. There remains a possibility that this could be a first-of-its-kind ostensibly civilian research ship. A video, which appears to show the vessel sailing under its own power, along with a still picture of the ship taken from the port side, has emerged online. Both are seen in the social media post below, which erroneously identifies it as a Type 075 amphibious warfare ship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ship has a distinctive arrangement with three island-like structures along the starboard side of the flight deck. Toward the bow end, there is a smaller island with a bridge and a traditional mast on top with what appears to be radars and potentially other sensors. In the middle, there is a longer and taller multi-storied island that has an enclosed mast structure on top with a ball radome at the tip. Masts of this kind often have additional sensors and systems installed along their slab-sides. It also has a rear-facing bridge, something typically seen in multi-island carrier layouts as a way to separate flight operations from the other tasks of sailing the ship. The last island structure toward the stern end contains a series of exhaust stacks. Another view of the mystery flattop showing its three island configuration and its masts. Chinese Internet capture via X The still picture shows an open space at the stern, which might point to the presence of a well-deck with a gate that folds down when in use. An open space toward the stern on the port that looks like it could be tied to an elevator to move aircraft and other equipment between the main deck and a hangar deck on the port side has been previously seen with a lifeboat inside. What appears to be a crane for launching and recovering small boats and other payloads that stows inside a space inside of the hull is also visible. A closer look at the port side of the ship showing what may be a crane stowed in a space on the side of the hull. Chinese Internet via X Pictures that have previously emerged have also shown the state-run China State Shipbuilding Corporations (CSSC) logo at least on the port side of the exhaust stack structure and what may be the ships name Zhong Chuan Zi Hao in Latin script with Chinese characters above it on the side of the hull at the bow. There are no obvious military-style markings, such as a hull number. The flattop was built at Guangzhou Shipyard Internationals (GSI) facilities on Longxue Island, just southeast of the city of Guangzhou. GSI is a CSSC subsidiary. cssc drone carrier pic.twitter.com/ZHvxGOwTid Dr China Bore (PhD) (@Mcb18125448) November 8, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new video and picture of the flattop away from the dock is the latest evidence of the extremely rapid pace at which the vessel has been produced. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs that TWZ previously reviewed shows construction started sometime after May of this year and the ship was launched sometime between Sept. 10 and Oct. 9. A satellite image of Guangzhou Shipyard International taken on Oct. 23, 2024, showing the new class of Chinese ship with a large flight deck. PHOTO 2024 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION The ships purpose and who its expected operator might be remain murky. As TWZ previously wrote: A new class of light aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ship, or even a sea base-type vessel could offer the PLAN valuable additional operational capacity. A simpler design built more to commercial standards, and with an air component centered on crewed helicopters and drones, could also make a lot of sense for supporting certain missions. This might include presence operations, particularly in and around the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Such a ship could be useful for supporting anti-submarine warfare and amphibious operations, too. Just being able to build these ships at an additional shipyard could help the PLAN further accelerate its expansion of naval aviation and other capabilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, there may also be another uniquely Chinese explanation behind the appearance of the new vessel with its large flight deck in Guangzhou. Since at least 2022, a screenshot said to be from a Chinese government tender has been floating around the internet. A machine translation of its Chinese-language text shows a call for a large-scale special deck operation ship for maritime survey and other test/research activities with some kind of flight deck featuring a double-island superstructure. There is also a demand for a through-type straight deck and a dock compartment at the stern, which could refer to a floodable well deck like those found on many amphibious warfare ships. Stated requirements include that the vessel be 200 meters long, have a flight deck 25 meters wide, have a displacement of 15,000 tons, be capable of hitting a top speed of at least 16 knots, have a range of 5,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots, and a maximum at-sea endurance of 40 days. A non-military vessel configured like an amphibious assault ship something no country in the world currently operates would be able to employ aerial drones and crewed helicopters, and watercraft (crewed and uncrewed) to conduct scientific or other civilian missions. At the same time, it would inherently be capable of serving as a dual-use platform to support military missions like those previously described if called upon. You can find TWZs full previous analysis here. A satellite image taken on Sept. 10, 2024, showing the new big deck mystery ship still in dry dock at GSIs yard. PHOTO 2024 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is also still the possibility that the mystery flattop could be some kind of bespoke training, test, and/or demonstration platform, which CSSC could also use to help prove out other future designs. With the curious carrier now at sea, more details about its design and purpose may begin to emerge. Indications so far point to something unique found nowhere else in the world. Contact the author: joe@twz.com The News Chinas defense minister is under investigation for corruption in the latest graft scandal to hit the Peoples Liberation Army. Dong Jun, who was appointed in December 2023, is the third consecutive serving or former defense minister to face investigation for alleged corruption; his predecessor Li Shangfu was ousted after just seven months. A bar chart showing the Corruption Perceptions Index for select countries SIGNALS Xi Jinping isnt some Stalin-like figure but his anti-corruption drive has got out of hand Sources: Reuters, BBC, South China Morning Post The news isnt surprising, a former US intelligence analyst told Reuters: The history with these investigations in the PLA is that once the string of corruption is pulled many other threads are revealed and the sweater unravels. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has sometimes capitalized on crackdowns to gain a political advantage, but his fears about corruption arent delusional, a China expert told the BBC. That said, observers say Xis anti-corruption drive has nevertheless seen a rise in fabricated claims: The Chinese Communist Party has almost been encouraging reports of cadres misconduct or complaints about pretty much anything, a Beijing-based political scientist told the South China Morning Post. False accusations are wasting resources, dampening morale, and deterring officials from raising legitimate concerns, the outlet reported. Corruption is undermining Chinas military goals Sources: Financial Times, Bloomberg Xi is broadening his probe into PLA graft, the Financial Times reported: Xi had earlier removed senior officials in charge of rocketry and nuclear weapons programs, while a former foreign minister was removed in 2023. US military sources told the FT that the investigations were undermining Xis confidence that China would achieve its goal of being capable of invading Taiwan by 2027. US intelligence has indicated that widespread corruption inside Chinas Rocket Force was responsible for missiles filled with water instead of fuel, among other problems, Bloomberg reported. A Chinese ship is suspected of severing two critical internet cables in the Baltic Sea in an act of sabotage that may have been orchestrated by Russia. Investigators believe that the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, deliberately severed the two key cables last week by dragging its anchor along the Baltic seabed for more than 100 miles. The investigation is now focused on whether the captain of the 225-metre-long bulk carrier was directed to carry out the suspected sabotage by Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A senior European investigator told the Wall Street Journal: Its extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way. The incident has caused concern among Western nations that Russia is engaging in what the White House described as hybrid warfare, an accusation that the Kremlin denies. The latest damage to cables in the Baltic Sea occurred in Swedish waters between Nov 17 and 18, according to the authorities. The vessel had been making its way from Ust-Luga, in Russia, to Port Said, in Egypt, through the Baltic Sea, when the incident occurred. Yi Peng 3 anchored under surveillance by a Danish naval patrol vessel in the Kattegat Strait - MIKKEL BERG PEDERSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK Investigators believe that the bulk carriers anchor was purposefully dropped on to the seabed, cutting the 730-mile fibre optic cable C-Lion1 the only such direct connection between central Europe and Finland at about 9pm local time on Nov 17. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A second cable was then cut between Germany and Finland at about 3am the following day after the carrier travelled about 111 miles, investigators suspect. Swedish authorities launched an investigation into suspected sabotage before Danish navy ships pursued the Yi Peng 3, forcing it to anchor in the Kattegat Strait. Since then, the Yi Peng 3 has been surrounded by Nato warships in international waters for a week. Under international maritime law, the Nato ships cannot force the vessel to sail to one of their ports, so Swedish and German authorities are understood to be negotiating with the vessels owner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They hope to obtain access to the vessel and question its crew over the suspected sabotage. Western officials do not believe that Beijing was behind the incident but suspect that Russian intelligence agencies orchestrated the incident, which the Kremlin denies. A Kremlin spokesman said: These are absurd, unsubstantiated accusations. One of the cables that was cut was the 730-mile fibre optic cable C-Lion1 - imaginima/iStockphoto Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Months after the invasion a series of underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that transported Russian gas to Europe. Western officials initially believed that Russia was behind the blasts but suspicions were later raised that Ukraine may have been involved. It has not yet been fully established who was behind the suspected sabotage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In October last year, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after being damaged by Newnew Polar Bear, a Chinese cargo ship. Bruno Kahl, the head of Germanys foreign intelligence, said that an increase in these incidents could lead to Nato invoking the alliances Article 5 mutual defence clause. He said: The increasing ramp up of the Russian military means a direct military confrontation with Nato becomes one possible option for the Kremlin. In response to the latest incident, Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, called for a policing mission to be established in the Baltic Sea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alongside his counterparts from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, Mr Tusk told a press conference: We share the assessment of the security situation, including concern for critical infrastructure and strategic resources along the Baltic Sea. Mr Tusk said the specialised police force was necessary to counter threats in the region. Chinas foreign ministry has denied any responsibility in the matter. The Telegraph has contacted the owner of the vessel for comment. 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. TAIPEI, Taiwan China deployed military aircraft and ships to track and monitor a U.S. Navy plane transiting the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing said, as the two nations continue to spar over self-ruled Taiwan. The U.S. Navys 7th Fleet said in a statement a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew through the straits international space in accordance with international law. The transit upheld navigational rights for all nations and demonstrates the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added. The U.S. is Taiwans most important supporter and arms provider, and American military ships and aircraft regularly transit the waterway separating China from self-ruled Taiwan. Beijing claims the East Asian island as its own territory and threatens to annex it, by force if necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China says it tailed a US military plane through the Taiwan Strait China criticized the U.S. mission and said it endangered regional peace and stability, according to a statement by Col. Cao Jun, spokesperson for the Peoples Liberation Armys Eastern Theater Command Air Force. China sends military ships or planes near Taiwan almost daily. On Monday, Taiwans Defense Ministry reported a Chinese balloon over the sea north of the island. Last month, China sent a record one-day total of 153 aircraft, 14 navy vessels and 12 Chinese government ships near the island as part of military drills in reaction to Taiwans president rejecting Beijings claims of sovereignty. SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Three passengers of a Tesla Cybertruck were killed and another was injured in a collision early Wednesday in Piedmont, the U.S. state of California, police said. Piedmont police responding to the scene found a Cybertruck fully engulfed in flames. Police said they attempted to extinguish the fire but failed due to the intensity of the flames. Of the four people inside the truck, three died at the scene and the fourth was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, police said, adding an investigation into the crash is underway. A spokesperson for the Alameda County Coroner's Office said Wednesday that it could take weeks to identify the victims, as they were "not identifiable." BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) Theres a local little cafe in Mahoning County that is unlike anything else in the valley and its the perfect time of year to visit it. Christmas Cafe in Boardman is wonderfully unique and completely Christmas-themed. Its the brainchild of owner April Mason who has roots in Youngstown and says the cafes mission is very simple. We make people happy, said Mason. We bring back that nostalgia from when you were a kid and you come in here and you see all of the posters on the wall. The records. And it brings you back to Grandma and Grandpas house when you were a kid takes you away from the day-to-day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sprawling cafe is unlike anything else locally with its colorful, bright decorations, eclectic Christmas trees, an array of nutcrackers, festive holiday tunes, and just about as much nostalgia as one would think. Its the perfect place to stop in, grab a beverage or milkshake, something to eat, and even enjoy events Mason throws throughout the year. In December, we have our phenomenal, ugly sweater party. The Grinch will be here. Hes coming back. He was such a hit for Christmas in July. We had to bring him back, said Mason. But we also have arts and crafts here where you can book some time for you and your family to come in and do arts and crafts in Santas workshop. The cafe also serves up its own specialties of food, pastries and drinks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have two signatures: our peach cobbler and Christmas tree waffles. And our mega milkshakes. Youve never had a milkshake until youve come to the Christmas Cafe, said Mason. Our signature coffee is our Secret Santa. If you can figure out whats the secret, Santa will give you a free one. We also have our coffee flights. You can get a flight of coffee of our signature, like our Secret Santa, or White Christmas. We have the best chili anywhere and customers really, really love our Christmas tree Chicken and waffles. But where did the notion of a Christmas Cafe originate? For me, what it was, is I moved to the area, back to the area. I lived here years and years ago. Although Im a California girl who lived years ago, kids were born here, said Mason. But when I moved back here last year, my friend called and she said, April, how are you feeling? And I said, Oh, I dont know, because, you know, Im new, Im new in town. And so I said, Ive got to go listen to Christmas music because Christmas music makes me happy. Mason says driving around enjoying holiday music is what spared the idea as it dawned on her it wasnt just Christmas that made her happy, but the memories of past Christmas as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Christmas Cafe was born out of my grandparents. My most memorable times as a child was with my grandparents, and I find that seniors dont get the due diligence that they deserve for all of the wisdom that they have, said Mason. And I dont believe in throwing them away because I miss my grandparents. And being here, when you see the posters on the wall and you see the Christmas trees and the records thats Carrie and Moses Mason. This is what my grandparents home looked like during Christmas time. Mason also says she wanted a place where people could put down their phones and connect to each other. I figure with all thats going on in the world, all the technology, people are more disconnected than they ever have been, said Mason. Can we open up something that will cause people to connect not just 30 days after Thanksgiving, but the entire year? The Christmas Cafe also hosts a Sip and Paint event in its newly opened Santas Workshop room. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We can hold about 65 people there. We do arts and crafts. We have the daycares that come in and bring the kids for field trips. So we have a lot of things that can be done there. Book clubs, said Mason. Once again, we cater to our seniors, so were getting ready to start Senior Bingo. But what you are truly getting at Christmas Cafe no matter what you order is an experience. I just felt like I didnt want people just to come here and sit and just eat. I wanted them to have an experience. We have a case of games over there. When you come in, while youre waiting for your food, you grab Perfection. You grab Sorry. You grab checkers or even the kids come here and they grab Twister and they put the twister on the floor and they play, said Mason. So this is just a place where you can come back and relax and just enjoy, get away from everything thats going on in the world. No matter where you go in the Valley, theres nothing like Boardmans Christmas Cafe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a lot of Christmas enthusiasts around. People have come from Canada, New York, and California, just to come here because they love Christmas that much. We have the best customers, said Mason. Our customers come in and say, I start putting my Christmas tree up in April and I have nine Christmas trees. Like this is a place for the Christmas enthusiast and theyre everywhere. Christmas Cafe is located at 7939 California Avenue in Boardman. Call (234)338-XMAS and find them 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 WKBN.com. Nov. 27Shopping local is more than a catch phrase this holiday season as local merchants and businesses seek to make up for lost ground as a result of Hurricane Helene. While Black Friday worked its way into the American culture in the last 20 years, local businesses leaders hope Haywood County residents show the same enthusiasm for the ensuing Small Businesses Saturday. "This year, of all years, is probably the most critical Western North Carolina has ever seen for shopping local. Especially in Haywood County, many of our small businesses rely on travel and tourism economy," said Haywood County Tourism Development Executive Director Corrina Ruffieux. "Of course, travel and tourism was hit pretty hard by Helene. We're looking forward to a fantastic shopping season to lift those small businesses, those entrepreneurist and our local artisans those who create one-of-a-kind gifts." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helene obliterated the busiest time of the year for many merchants, who stake much of their profits from capitalizing on the October tourism blitz. Without the blitz, many area businesses now put their hopes of survival in the hands of locals. With county officials urging visitors to avoid Haywood County in the immediate aftermath of the storm, which coincided with the peak of the fall tourism season, even those not physically damaged by the flood were economically injured. Haywood County Chamber of Commerce President David Francis, who previously served as county economic development director, said the need for supporting small businesses is stronger than ever. "Not taking away from Shop Small Saturday, but after Helene it's got to be shop small every day. It's got to be shop small in Haywood County from now until Christmas Day, then we have to pick right back on up December 26th and start again," Francis said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While larger retailers have a role in Haywood County and provide quality jobs to the economy, buying local creates a unique bond between residents and entrepreneurs, as well as directly contributes to the local tax base. Francis believes Hurricane Helene only exacerbated a growing issue with mega-corporations such as Amazon gaining more influence over local and national economies year after year. "We've got to remember, before we click to go to Amazon or whatever online retailer, that we have tremendous businesses here," Francis said. "Supporting our business community is supporting your community. We don't have these great, nice things in Haywood County without it. We have a lot of tourist support, but we need to make sure we have that local support, too." For Waynesville Town Councilman Jon Feichter, who also sits on the Downtown Waynesville Commission, whether shopping for a Christmas ornament or visiting a downtown restaurant, Feichter suggests just strolling through downtown Waynesville. There is always a new business or service to discover, even for those who lived in Haywood County their entire lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Downtown Waynesville has traditionally been the center of commerce certainly for Waynesville and a lot of times in years past for the county as a whole. Things have kind of dispersed, if you will, but there is a lot to offer downtown that many folks don't know about," Feichter said. "We have more wonderful restaurants than you can shake a stick at and all of the shops. There is a lot of really neat stuff happening downtown. I encourage folks who may not have been down there in a while to come down. It's a pretty happening place." While Waynesville seeks a local retail resurgence to make up for lost tourism revenue, tourism season in neighboring Maggie Valley is ramping up thanks to last week's opening of the Catalooche Ski Area Resort. But the shops won't make it without local support, as well. "It's been tough. We were blessed to not have been effected (by Helene) as much as some other places in the county, but the lack of tourism in October has caused a lot of anxiety for our businesses, of course. We're all hoping the holidays, and the winter season, can get some attention for us and get some visitors coming back our way," Maggie Vallue Chamber of Commerce and Area Visitors Bureau Executive Director Teresa Smith said. One significant initiative among business leaders this holiday season is the sale of the Haywood Strong Christmas merch. Along with showing a bit of civic pride in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the merch including ornaments, beanies and car magnets is also generating revenue for the small business recovery grant fund. Visit GiftHaywood.com. CENTRAL NEW YORK (WSYR-TV) As Christmas approaches, many cities and towns throughout Central New York are hosting tree-lighting celebrations. NewsChannel 9 has compiled a list of tree lightings around the region for people wanting to get into the Christmas spirit. Camillus Camillus Christmas Tree Lighting (Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.) The Village of Camillus will be hosting their tree lighting in front of Village Hall at 37 Main Street, with the festivities kicking off at 6 p.m. Santa will be making an appearance as he rides in on a Camillus Fire Department engine, and local Girl Scouts will be leading Christmas carols. Canastota Canastota Parade of Lights (Nov. 30 with festivities starting at 8 a.m.) People celebrating the holidays in Canastota with their Parade of Lights can kick off the celebration at 8 a.m. with breakfast with Santa. There will also be wagon rides and train rides. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tree lighting will happen at 6 p.m. at Key Bank, following the Christmas parade. More information can be found HERE. Homer Light of My Life tree lighting countdown (Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.) The Hospice Foundation of Cortland County will be holding its annual tree lighting countdown on Friday, December 6th at 6:30 p.m. on the Village Green in Homer. The event will have memory boards to honor and remember loved ones. In addition, there will be cookies, hot chocolate and holiday music by the Homer Congregational Church. Santa will also make an appearance at the tree lighting escorted by the fire department. Jordan Christmas in Jordan (Nov. 30 with festivities starting at noon) Jordan will be hosting a day of holiday festivities on Saturday, Nov. 30. The fun day will include a pancake breakfast, chili cook-off, story walk and crafts, Jordan Historical Society museum open house, scavenger hunt, tree decoration contest, a community wagon light-up parade, and of course the Jordan Christmas Tree Lighting. Oswego City of Oswegos Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony (Nov. 30 at 3 p.m.) The City of Oswegos Annual Tree-Lighting Ceremony will be held at Civic Plaza on 13 West Oneida Street this year. The event will feature a visit from Santa Claus, horse-drawn carriage rides, and intricate ice sculptures. At 6 p.m., the tree lighting will unfold as the winners of the childrens coloring contest will illuminate the tree. The celebration will end with a fireworks display at 6:05 p.m., launched from the Pedestrian Bridge over the Oswego River. Rome Tree of Lights 2023 in Rome (Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m.) This years Tree of Lights ceremony will take place at Rome Health. The event will start with a reception at 6:30 p.m. honoring the Rome Health Womens Imaging Center employees. The tree lighting will begin at 7 p.m. in front of the hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donations for the Tree of Lights can be made HERE. All money donated goes to the Rome Twigs for the purchase of hospital equipment. Syracuse Home for the Holidays Tree Lighting 2024 (Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.) The City of Syracuse will be hosting its tree-lighting event starting at 6 p.m. in Clinton Square with performances from Sydney Irving and TrumpTight315 with the tree-lighting set to happen around 7 p.m. 95Xs Marty and Shannon will be returning to host this years event. The Southside Christmas Committees annual tree-lighting at Beauchamp Library (Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.) The Southside Christmas Committee will be hosting its annual tree-lighting at Beauchamp Library starting at 6 p.m. The event will have the Elk Lodge Drum Line and the Kirk Park Cheerleaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Elk Lodge has volunteered to serve hot chocolate, donuts, and cookies, all of which are being donated by them. Key Bank will also be donating pizza and wings. Tipperary Hill Tipperary Hill Tree Lighting (Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m.) The Tipperary Hill Neighborhood Association will host its tree-lighting celebration at the Tipperary Hill Heritage Memorial, located at the corner of Milton Avenue and Tompkins Street. On top of the tree lighting, you can enjoy Christmas songs from carolers and a visit from Santa. Watertown Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony (Dec. 6 at 6 p.m.) The City of Watertown will host its annual Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday, Dec. 6. The lighting will be held at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The parade will then happen right after the tree lighting. It will go down Washington Street from Green Street to Stone Street. Viewers can enjoy the parade on either side of Washington Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New this year, after the parade, attendees can meet Santa in the lobby of City Hall. If there are any tree-lighting events that we are missing, please let us know below: Submit a form. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. A youth leader at a notorious church in Redlands has been sentenced to 175 years to life in prison for sexually abusing three young members of the congregation. Abraham Jatnel Coronado was found guilty last Friday of 13 felony counts of sexual abuse against the young church members. Coronado was a youth leader at a La Luz Del Mundo church in Redlands and oversaw an off-site church property known as Ebenezer Ranch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office, Coronado was often left in charge of children without parental supervision and the children would often spend the night in his trailer located on the ranch. Coronado, the DAs Office said, was well respected and known to have a close relationship with the Church headquarters main leaders. For several years, Coronado used his position to prey on young boys in his care, prosecutors said. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 17. The first victim to come forward was abused by the church leader when he was a teenager. He testified during the trial that Coronado repeatedly sexually abused him, and in a recorded conversation between the two, Coronado never denied the abuse and said he wanted this [sex] to happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first victim reported the abuse in 2021 after seeing Coronado taking another young victim under his wing, concerned that he would continue to victimize other children at the ranch. The second victim testified that Coronado groomed him from a young age to become his boyfriend and would often isolate the child from other children at the ranch. The victim testified to experiencing many acts of sexual abuse at the hands of Coronado that began when around 2010 when he was only 13. When he turned 14, Coronado became more forceful and raped the child, he testified. A third victim testified that Coronado would slap his buttocks, rub his chest, and rub his pelvis against him in a sexual manner when he was between the ages of 12 and 13. The victim said hed never experienced an adult behaving like that toward him. Coronado eventually admitted to the sexual abuse of the children, acknowledging he was aware of their age at the time and his position of power over them. In an apology letter written to his victims, Coronado said he was sorry that his stupidity caused them such suffering and humiliation. Naason Joaquin Garcia appears for a bail hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on July 16, 2019. (Credit: KTLA) La Luz Del Mundo is a controversial megachurch headquartered in Mexico that has been mired in allegations of sex abuse perpetrated by church leaders. In 2019, Naason Joaquin Garcia, the religious organizations main leader and a self-proclaimed apostle of Jesus, was arrested at LAX and eventually pleaded guilty to charges of sexual abuse of a child. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence for those crimes at the California Institution for Men in Chino Last year, Garcia was indicted for allegedly possessing child pornography on his tablet, which was found during his arrest at LAX. Despite the controversies, convictions and prison sentences, Garcia remains an important figure in La Luz Del Mundo and has, on occasion, continued to preach to his congregation from behind bars. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Frederick City Council on Thursday approved a plan to divert funds from various stormwater projects toward a single project to minimize the impact of flooding from storms, near Motter Avenue in the downtown area. Katie Barkdoll, the city's director of budget and administration, said the city received $3.9 million in federal funding in May 2021 for stormwater improvement projects as part of the coronavirus stimulus package under the American Rescue Plan Act. The funds have been used to plan and design projects, though Barkdoll recommended using the remaining $2.2 million balance to fund the Motter Avenue project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This would divert funds away from other projects based on or around Kline Avenue, the downtown area, North Market Street and West Patrick Street toward a project that she said "is ready to go to construction." "While most of these projects are currently in design, we are not going to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to issue construction contracts on those projects," Barkdoll said. "The ARPA funds have to be either obligated or spent by the end of this calendar year or we have to return them to the federal government." New funding will need to be found for the design, planning and construction of the other projects that seek to manage stormwater elsewhere in the city. Barkdoll said that would likely happen in the fiscal year 2026 budget cycle. The total budget required to cover the Motter Avenue project bid will be $7.2 million, according to city documents. The diverted funds supplement existing funding sources to cover the total cost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following a question about the possibility of the city needing to repay the federal government from Councilmember Ben MacShane, Barkdoll said that between the stormwater funds being redirected and the capital improvements special ordinance the council approved earlier in the meeting, there would be no reason to repay ARPA funds to the federal government. The special ordinance transferred $2.0 million of ARPA funds originally allocated to improve parks, housing and other projects to the city's general fund. This would create a surplus of government revenue, which the ordinance would also transfer to the capital improvements program to keep the projects funded, according to city documents. Following Thursday's actions, all ARPA funds will be used, according to the documents. "We will not be returning any money," Barkdoll said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Councilmember Katie Nash said she was concerned about how difficult it can be to connect the "why" of a project to funding sources with so many moving pieces. She expressed hope that projects could be more straightforward in the future. "I appreciate the work that you do, because I know that you're always working and you're always burning the candle at both ends," Nash said of the city's staff. "It's just trying to figure out how do we find ourselves in this place over and over again?" Taeko Wakasono, manager of engineering for the city, said that coordinating with contractors and other work for the Motter Avenue project would begin immediately, though ground would not be broken until the spring time when weather improves. Wakasono added that the construction could take 24 months to complete. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The council approved two measures required to implement this action unanimously. Chris Colville, president and CEO of the YMCA of Frederick County, said during public comments at the meeting that while she supported the Motter Avenue stormwater project, she was disappointed by how slow the process has been. Colville said the YMCA experienced flood damages in September 2015, which required self-funding $1.8 million in damages and paying an additional $350,000 for further flood mitigation. She said the city ignored evidence from certified engineers that the stormwater management system in that part of the city was "antiquated and undersized." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added that the YMCA then experienced $1.6 million in damages during a May 2018 flood. The Army Corp of Engineers then partnered with the city to study and develop a solution. Colville said each step took a year and only confirmed what engineers hired by YMCA found in 2015. "Six years have passed since [the] 2018 flood and the YMCA is still waiting for the city to put a shovel in the ground," she said. "Waiting over six years to identify the problem, create a solution, secure funding, in my opinion, is unacceptable." Colville called for streamlining processes to solve community problems. A city of Frederick spokesperson couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday. LIPSCOMB, Ala. (WIAT) A small Jefferson County city is unsure how it is going to continue paying its employees and bills. The uncertainty comes because of lawsuit filed by the Alabama Attorney Generals Office for illegal gambling in which the city is listed as a defendant. It alleges the city failed to enforce gambling regulations and profited illegally from gambling operations. As of right now, the city is essentially shut down. The mayor said shes unsure if it will be able to make payroll next week for the citys 25 employees. City workers are volunteering to continue working with the hope this can be resolved quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, names the city and the owner of Jays Charity Bingo as defendants. The fact that you see machines that were stolen from another illegal operation showing up at a facility there demonstrates the blatant disregard that certain individuals have for the law, said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. We have a responsibility to enforce it, and that is what we intend to do. A temporary restraining order has frozen the assets of the city, leaving it unable to pay bills, payroll or spend any money. Marshall said he tried to contact the city and resolve the issue before the asset freeze. We were proactive in reaching out to local officials to be able to talk about the seizure and then the release of certain funds, Marshall said. The fact they didnt choose to respond back to us is an issue for them and not for the AGs office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Suspect in Five Points South mass shooting indicted in separate murder case in Birmingham Lipscomb Mayor Tonja Baldwin said she never heard from the attorney generals office. I have no idea what hes speaking of, Baldwin said. But we are represented with attorneys, and thats who he should have been trying to contact. I have no idea if they tried to contact me or not because anybody that answers city phone is going to say, Call the attorneys office.' With its assets frozen, the mayor said she has no idea if the city will be able to pay employees next week. In the meantime, employees are volunteering to continue working with the hope a resolution is found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats the dedication and love for the city that we have, Baldwin said. The AG office should have never been contacted in the first place, but they were. It happened, and we have to deal with it. To help city employees, Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson provided them with groceries free of charge Tuesday. Baldwin said she plans on addressing the Lipscomb City Council at the Dec. 13 city council meeting about the asset freeze. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller in September 2021. As President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office again, Keller is planning to defend Albuquerque's "sanctuary city" status against renewed federal challenges. (Photo by Sharon Chischilly for Source NM) President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations as he takes office again in January. The City of Albuquerque has a law on the books that would prevent the local government and law enforcement from participating. But Mayor Tim Keller is steeling himself to take on renewed federal challenges to the so-called sanctuary city status. Keller describes himself as an obvious Democrat, even if his office is technically non-partisan. He told KUNM he is very concerned about the incoming Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive seen the Trump show before and, more than most cities, we are prepared and I am prepared to stand up for the City of Albuquerque, he said. He said he is committed to the city maintaining local control. That includes defending the Immigrant-Friendly Policy passed in 2018 against Trumps immigration agenda. Among other things, the law prevents the city from questioning or disclosing a persons immigration status or using its resources to enforce federal immigration law, including detention. The Pew Research Center estimates that, in 2016, around 25,000 undocumented immigrants were living in Albuquerque out of the approximately 60,000 believed to be in New Mexico. The organization estimates a similar number of unauthorized immigrants were in the U.S. in 2016 as 2022, its most recent comprehensive data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last time Trump was in the White House, city officials in 2020 accused the federal government of threatening to withhold public safety funding because of the policy. Trump tried to essentially bribe or bully us with federal grant money, Keller said. And so, were aware of those tricks. And I think were definitely going to be able to stand our ground in Albuquerque. Last time, the funds were eventually released. Keller said this time his tactics will include telling the public what the feds are up to and continuing to apply for federal funding with a disclaimer that the city wont be breaking its own law to qualify for it. And the third thing is were going to ask for help from the state and from the county, he said. And so, if there are funds that end up not being released, were going to say that part of standing together means helping each other with funding. City councils sanctuary city debate The sanctuary city status has also faced challenges from within Albuquerques city council. Over the summer, conservative councilors Brook Bassan and Renee Grout proposed amending the policy to allow for cooperation with federal authorities in cases where people are accused of violent felonies, or human or drug trafficking. It narrowly failed on a 4-5 vote. Progressive Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn was among those who voted it down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That proposal was fear mongering at its best, Fiebelkorn told KUNM. There is already in place plenty of legislation and policies that say that, If you live in Albuquerque, no matter where youre from, if you are breaking our laws there will be ramifications for that. There is no reason to single out one part of our community as criminals that have to have special policies against them. She insisted any future efforts to weaken the policy will not survive either, even after the expected shift in federal policy. I think it would be a foolish thing to try in the City of Albuquerque, she said. I think, just earlier this year, we showed that we will always overcome any kind of proposals that are meant to demonize or harm our undocumented neighbors. Trump recently posted on his social media platform Truth Social that it is true he plans to declare a national emergency to use military assets to carry out mass deportations. Fiebelkorn said she thinks that would be easier said than done in Albuquerque. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is an alarming thought. And all I can say is that any kind of action like that in our city would be met with pretty substantial push back, she said. Quite frankly, protest against [it] would be very huge. And I would be out there with everyone else. While the amendment failed, conservatives hold a majority on the city council. That includes Council President Dan Lewis. Though, he took issue with that characterization of the council, since the seats are technically non-partisan. Id [say] the majority of the council has a lot of common sense, he said. He pushed back on Fiebelkorns assessment of the reform effort. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How is acknowledging that there is a public safety benefit of cooperation fear mongering? I mean, that was simply the amendment, he said. And I think its good policy. While not planning on proposing another policy change himself, Lewis said he would support one. How much agency does the city have? Lewis said it is not likely that the federal government will withhold funds because the city maintains its policy as is, since doing so would be unconstitutional. Still, he said, having an idiot mayor that makes statements like hes made? I dont think its helpful. He declined to answer whether he would be in favor of the federal government sending the military in to assist with local deportations, saying he did not believe his stance on the matter was relevant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well, I mean, I dont need to support or take a stand against that, he said. You know, Im a city councilor. A city councilor, and even a mayor, doesnt have the ability to prohibit something in that regard. Mayor Keller said his administrations resistance worked last time and it would be willing to do everything it can again, including making legal fights. That would be a very difficult situation, he said. And Im not sure what else a mayor could do, but Id be open to it. Keller may not be alone in challenging new federal immigration policies. In cities like Denver and Boston, mayors have also promised to keep protecting immigrants. Nov. 26Manchester school board members have approved an increase of $558,000 in the district's regular transportation budget to fund a specialized transportation program administrators feel will save the district money in the long term. "Specialized transportation" refers to transportation services designed for students with disabilities, often using adapted vehicles, trained staff or additional support to transport them to and from school, as required under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) A pilot specialized transportation program was launched on Oct. 21, serving the greater Nashua area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Manchester officials say the initial goal is to establish four to six total routes (Nashua/South, Concord/North, Seacoast/East, Goffstown/West) to expand the service. "Doing so will allow for a potential significant reduction in Specialized Transportation Expenditures for FY 25 and beyond," school officials wrote in a memo to school board members. Vehicles and personnel need to be acquired to accomplish the goal, and the transportation department has issued an Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase of 14 passenger buses. The district has four 30-passenger buses already in service in case a route exceeds the 14-passenger capacity. Delivery of vehicles is expected prior to or near Feb. 1. The school district proposes hiring an additional 12 drivers (two have already been hired to support the initial pilot of the initiative). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For a new driver, the time frame from initial application to ready to work ranges from 1-3 months depending on the nature of the certifications and training needed. An analysis of the program shows vehicle acquisition costs are "to be determined" based on RFP results. Using a $100 per vehicle daily operation cost, district transportation officials say the total cost if all six routes run daily is $54,000. Each additional driver increases the cost to the district by $350 per day, with a total cost of 12 additional drivers for the remainder of the school year (120 days) pegged at $504,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The total fiscal impact for the rest of the school year for the proposal is projected to be $558,000. School officials say the average cost per Manchester student, per day for specialized transportation is $300, with an annual cost for each student around $52,500. If the new program is launched for the second half of the 2024/25 school year, school officials project a cost reduction of $26,250 per student. Serving 24 students, a new specialized transportation program is projected to cost $630,000, resulting in a net savings to the district of $72,000. If 30 students participate, the net savings are $229,500; 40 students project a net savings of $492,000; and 50 students would result in an estimated $745,500. "I don't think the general public really understands the cost that's associated with this part of our budget in terms of transportation," said school board member and former Mayor Bob Baines. "I know one of the first conversations I had with Committeeman (Jim) O'Connell was this is just unsustainable, the direction we were going in. So I want to thank everybody that's been involved in this entire effort and the reassurances that you've given us that we're trying to meet the needs of all of our students." Nov. 26Concerned community members gathered at the City Council chambers in opposition to sharp fee increases being proposed for dumping at the St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill. Area residents and business owners appeared at Monday's City Council meeting to voice concerns with city officials about the potential impact of recently-proposed landfill fee changes on local haulers. City officials had voiced support during a work session Nov. 11 to raise the per-ton rate from $32 to $125 and increase the minimum fee for average personal vehicles from $10 to $32 in order to extend the life of the landfill. "It was kind of a surprise to us and it wasn't a very pleasant surprise," said Terry Peterson with Redgate Disposal. "I sure hope we can come up with a resolution that is mutually beneficial to everyone involved." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sentiment was echoed by others in attendance who expressed shock at the sudden proposal, with many asking for additional time to work with city officials to determine a manageable path forward with the landfill nearing critical capacity. "It's gonna have a negative impact on St. Joe, potentially putting a lot of haulers out of business," Aaron Armstrong said. In light of public concerns, city officials announced Monday they will take a closer look at the proposed free structure and push back implementation of increases to allow for additional community discussion. St. Joseph will hold a public forum in the City Council chambers on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. to discuss the landfill and review findings of a life-expectancy study conducted by consulting firm SCS Engineers. A public work session will then follow the forum for further discussion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Council had initially planned to introduce the rate hike ordinance for first reading on Monday to make new rates effective as early as January 2025. City Council is now expected to hold off on a formal vote for raising rates until January 2025. "We've been listening to the public and also trying to resolve our issues that we've got," Mayor John Josendale said. "Right now what we're looking at is and in hearing what everybody's been talking about ... we're looking at probably a five tier system." Early discussions have favored a five-tier system based on the type of vehicle being used to haul waste plus the per-ton rate, with average cars and SUVs placed into the lowest tier one. Remaining tiers: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tier 2: Pickups and trucks with trailers Tier 3: Garbage packing trucks Tier 4: Roll-off containers, dump trucks and semis Tier 5: Large transfer haulers The decision to raise landfill disposal rates was made after SCS unveiled eye-opening findings from a study showing the city had experienced a near 50% increase in the rate of dumping over last five years, putting the landfill on pace to reach full capacity and close by next July if not addressed. Consultants attributed the waste increase to St. Joseph's dumping rates being the cheapest in the state and one of the lowest in the entire country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with deterring outside dumping from large transfer station haulers, fee increases are being proposed to provide additional time for construction of the next landfill cell. Long-term plans call for the construction of six additional cells over the course of the landfill's life. In an effort to boost the speed and efficiency of certain operations at the landfill, city council members also approved a resolution Monday to purchase an additional weighbridge scale for $76,400 from W H Scale Co., Inc. "There has been somewhat of a bottleneck on that with the number of people that are coming into the dump, it takes longer to come in and out for trash haulers," Josendale said. NEW YORK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Educators around the United States are bracing for upheaval, whether or not President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally. Even if he only talks about it, children of immigrants will suffer, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday, citing educators and legal observers. If "you constantly threaten people with the possibility of mass deportation, it really inhibits peoples' ability to function in society and for their kids to get an education," Hiroshi Motomura, a professor at UCLA School of Law, was quoted as saying. If immigration agents were to arrest a parent dropping off children at school, it could set off mass panic, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, told the news agency. Many school officials are reluctant to talk about their plans or concerns, some out of fear of drawing attention to their immigrant students. One school administrator serving many children of Mexican and Central American immigrants in the Midwest said their school has invited immigration attorneys to help parents formalize any plans for their children's care in case they are deported. Immigration officials have avoided arresting parents or students at schools, according to the report. Since 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has operated under a policy that immigration agents should not arrest or conduct other enforcement actions near "sensitive locations," including schools, hospitals and places of worship. Nov. 26MORGANTOWN The second half of 2024 has seen Morgantown's Land Reuse and Preservation Agency acquire a list of vacant and dilapidated properties in Greenmont as the city looks to bring new life to its oldest neighborhood. That effort continued last week when the LRPA approved the purchase of 625 Pennsylvania Ave. and accepted the donation, with conditions, of 612 Arlington St. and 300 Overdale St. The Pennsylvania Avenue property continues a run of purchases along the problematic lower Greenmont street specifically targeted by the city with $600, 000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding LRPA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unlike some of the Pennsylvania Avenue properties, the body had no issues tracking down the owner. The property belongs to Adelheid Schaupp, the Greenmont advocate and business owner who's volunteer efforts on the agency's behalf has spurred much of the recent activity. She sold the.04-acre vacant parcel to the LRPA for $25, 500. Complicating the matter somewhat is the fact that while the details of this transaction were being finalized, Schaupp applied for and was appointed to the agency as an official member. The body unanimously approved the purchase as its first order of business before inviting Schaupp to take her seat at the dais. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LRPA Chair David Satterfield said the agency has made significant progress along Pennsylvania Avenue but is running out of money. So far, the LRPA has been able to acquire more than a half dozen properties along the street. Some of them have been empty lots ; others included dilapidated structures identified by the neighborhood as magnets for unwanted activity. "As you can well imagine, $600, 000 runs a bit short, " Satterfield said. "Part of what we're going to talk about ... is the agency needs to work with city council and other stakeholders to do some planning and say, 'Is the $600, 000 the full amount we're going to have ? Is this an ongoing program ? Do you want us to take the parcels that we have purchased or closed on or have commitments toward and stop there ? Is there something else you want to do ?" While the clock strikes midnight for ARPA dollars on Dec. 31, there's more money coming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city announced in October that it had $2 million in congressionally directed spending on the way, likely in the spring.. That money, the city explained, is to be used specifically in lower Greenmont. When asked, the city didn't address whether or not some or all of the $2 million would be allocated to the LRPA to continue its efforts, explaining, "This is still in the planning and development phase." Satterfield said he'd like to see the agency work with the city on a long-term planning effort in the first quarter of 2025. As mentioned, the agency also voted to accept two properties through donation 300 Overdale St. and 612 Arlington St. as part of its most recent meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the city can, and often will, waive any outstanding fees or liens it has against a property if the owner donates the land, there are issues like outstanding taxes or legal matters that the city won't take on. To that end, all donations are accepted "subject to any outstanding liens, defects or encumbrances." In the case of 300 Overdale St. the inclusion of the vacant adjacent and adjoining property was also a condition of the agency acceptance. "I'm extremely pleased to see this on here. I had no idea this was even in discussion to be donated, " Schaupp said. "This has been a problem property for a long time in Greenmont." SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) A local band is headed to Chicago for Thanksgiving. The Pride of Shawnee Marching Band will represent the city of Springfield on Thursday by playing at the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade. Departing from Shawnee High School this morning, this years trip is the first that the band has ever taken for the Chicago parade. Led by Band Director Sarah Smith, the band makes good on the invitation they received a little over a year ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a huge accomplishment for our students, our band program, and our district, said Smith last year. Participating in the parade is an opportunity of a lifetime one we will never forget! We are excited and proud to represent Clark-Shawnee, the Springfield Township community, and the state of Ohio. The parade is expected to draw over 400,000 people along with a broader audience via stream the parade will be available to watch live on Pluto TV or Paramount Plus. The band is expected to play between 10:10 and 10:25 a.m. Fair to say that there may be some nerves Thursday, but the band seems poised for the task. This is our big finale, said Ayden Haynes. Feels real right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kind of what he said, Sara Wilson says referring to Haynes. Big reward at the end. The Chicago Thanksgiving Parade was established in 1934. In 2007, a bit over 70 years later, the parade was televised for the first time, airing to viewers across the nation. In terms of ratings, it is the second-biggest televised parade on Thanksgiving behind that one. More than 3.5 million people tuned in last year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Happy Wednesday, Utah! Its a cold start in the Beehive state with a few morning lake-effect snow showers scattered around the state. The bottom line? Scattered early morning snow showers, then partly sunny and chilly conditions Wednesday afternoon These could very well impact your Thanksgiving travel plans this morning, especially if you plan on driving through mountain routes. The good news is the wet weather clears up by Wednesday morning, so Thanksgiving Day will be dry, but on the chillier side. Our Wednesday afternoon will feature partly sunny skies with highs in the 30s north and 50s across the south. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overall, we can expect Thanksgiving highs in the 30s to low 40s for most of the region and warm spots in the 50s. If youre braving the lines for shopping on Black Friday, the weather will be sunny, but expect the cold weather to stick around. Early morning Friday temps will be in the 10s and 20s north, and 20s south, and daytime highs will be in the 30s north with 40s and low 50s across the south. Things improve slightly in the temperature department for the weekend into next week with highs in the low 40s north, and mid to upper 50s across the south. It looks like a dry pattern sticking around through the rest of November and the beginning of December! Well keep you updated on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. 1 /2 COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JOEL GUZMAN /RELEASED A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew refuels at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, in January 2016. The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man experiencing stroke symptoms from a cruise ship 50 miles off of Oahu early Tuesday morning. 2 /2 U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JOEL GUZMAN /RELEASED A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew refuels at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, in January 2016. The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man experiencing stroke symptoms from a cruise ship 50 miles off of Oahu early Tuesday morning. U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JOEL GUZMAN /RELEASED A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew refuels at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, in January 2016. The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man experiencing stroke symptoms from a cruise ship 50 miles off of Oahu early Tuesday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man experiencing stroke symptoms from a cruise ship 50 miles off of Oahu early Tuesday morning. Honolulu watchstanders received a notification at 10 a.m. Monday from the senior doctor aboard the Zaandam, a Holland America Line cruise ship, requesting the medevac, due to a 32-year-old man experiencing symptoms of a stroke. At the time, the ship was about 330 miles northeast of Oahu. The duty flight surgeon recommended a medevac. The USCG launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Air Station Barbers Point, which met with the Zaandam at 3 :15 a.m. Tuesday. At that time, the Zaandam was about 50 miles east of Kaneohe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The helicopter crew hoisted the ailing man and a nurse aboard and transported them to The Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. The patient is reported to be in stable condition. 0 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our. Having trouble with comments ? . SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) This evening will be quiet for any travel plans you may have. With partly cloudy conditions tonight, lows will fall to the teens. Thanksgiving will bring another chance at light snow and flurries. Highs ranging from the teens in northeast South Dakota to the low 30s in southwest KELOLAND. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well continue to try to time disturbances that will run through the upper plains through the holiday weekend. Moisture is limited so expect light accumulations, if any. It will remain cold for the holiday weekend. Were thinking highs will be in the teens and 20s with overnight lows falling to the single digits. Throw in any amount of wind, and the wind chills will easily fall below zero during the mornings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Wednesday: The area of high pressure will move northeast of Alabama on Wednesday sending the old cold front north as a warm front. This will warm Central Alabama up as clouds increase throughout the day. High temperatures will be in the upper 60s. Wed Night Thursday: A cold front will move into Alabama Wednesday night and continue into Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Showers and storms will move across the region overnight into Thursday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There will be a chance for strong to possibly severe storms with gusty winds, hail, and a tornado. The severe storm timing will be between 2 AM and Noon Thursday. SPC has placed Central Alabama in a Level 1/5 Marginal Risk. That means the overall threat is relatively low, but certainly not zero. Make sure you have ways to get alerts to wake you up or let you know if a storm is impacting your Thanksgiving commute. The CBS42 App can give you alerts specific to your GPS location, making it a great tool to stay informed if youre traveling on Thanksgiving. The rain and storms will end Thursday afternoon with lingering clouds and cooler high temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Friday: It will turn MUCH cooler on Black Friday with a breezy. Expect plenty of sunshine with highs in the upper 40s. Bundle up if you are going shopping early! Friday night will be clear and cold with lows in the upper 20s. Weekend Outlook: A reinforcing shot of colder air will arrive this weekend. Saturday will be sunny and very chilly with highs in the upper 40s. Saturday night will be mostly clear and cold with lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s. Sunday will be sunny and chilly with highs in the middle 40s. More cold air arrives Sunday night with lows back down into the lower to middle 20s for Central Alabama. It will be a frigid Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. NEW LONDON, Conn. (WTNH) A lot of progress has been made since the former First Congregational Church collapsed on Jan. 25 in downtown New London. [I] turned to walk down State Street and it was just a cloud of dust, New London Mayor Michael Passero said. The mayor has watched the demolition at 66 Union St. from his office window, and hes now looking forward to seeing something built where the historic church once stood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ECHO, or Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities, bought the property and took over the leftover debt from the Engaging Heaven church for the citys demolition of the property. ECHO is seeking zoning approval for the 17,000 square foot building, with commercial and retail space on the first floor and 46 apartments above that. It doesnt replicate historic architecture, but it take nuances from a lot of buildings, said Julie Savin, the CEO of Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities. The new building also reuses the granite from the fallen church. Theyve designed a building that really fits into our historic downtown, Passero said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New London church announces grand opening at new location, 9 months after collapse The Bravado Barber Shop is right across the street. [It] definitely help the business, but it will help the community, said Tyrese Moody, who works at the barber shop. Makes it look more cleaner and nicer [for] more people. The church has long been a landmark in the area. Something should be there to fill that space up because that church been there for years, said Glenn Pena, who lives across the street from the site. So, now its not there now it feels like somethings missing. A public hearing on the proposal will be held at the Dec. 5 planning and zoning commission meeting. Thats when people will be able to weigh in on what could eventually fill the soon to be empty lot on Union Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If approved, the nonprofit will move forward with trying to secure funding for construction. That allows us to borrow less and if we borrow less we can set aside some units where we can charge less and thats our model, Savin said. ECHO would like to break ground next fall. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. (Bloomberg) -- Colombias government said it would cut the 2024 budget by 5.6% in an effort to comply with spending limits amid lower-than-expected tax revenue. Most Read from Bloomberg President Gustavo Petros administration announced it was slashing spending this year by 28.4 trillion pesos, or $6.4 billion, due to a drop in tax revenue. In a statement, the Finance Ministry said the move represented the governments commitment to spending limits, know as the fiscal rule, which is estimated to reach 5.6% of gross domestic product this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cut is below a previously considered reduction of 33 trillion pesos and includes a 20 trillion cut announced in June. Flooding in several areas of the country prevented higher reductions, the ministry said. It could be that a smaller cut generates some noise, but even so, this one is sufficient to comply with the fiscal target, Alejandro Arreaza, an economist at Barclays, said by email. Colombias dollar bonds rose to session highs following the news, with notes maturing in 2053 trading at the highest levels in a month. The Colombian peso reversed losses. Fiscal concerns have been at the top of creditors minds ever since Petro failed to reach an agreement with legislators over the countrys 2025 budget in September. Lower-than-expected tax revenue and mounting spending needs are putting pressure on the governments accounts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A new bill that increases money transfers to the regions is currently making its way through Congress, creating further uncertainty over the countrys fiscal sustainability. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. This month marks the 135th anniversary of Washingtons statehood. It was on November 11, 1889 that we became the 42nd state of the union. After Colorado was admitted in 1876 as the 38th state, thirteen years would pass until four more states -- North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington -- were welcomed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889. As you probably learned in high school civics, our state (named for our first president) was designated a territory in 1853. Thats when Chief Sealth (aka Chief Seattle), a member of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, negotiated land use and ownership with Governor Isaac Stevens. Chief Sealth stood head and shoulders above this diminutive (and often controversial) territorial governor, who measured only 53. Throughout my childhood, whenever I went to Seattle to visit my grandparents, Id make note of the bronze Chief Sealth statue at the corner of 5th Avenue and Denny Way. His extended right hand conveyed a spirit of peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A few years ago, I stopped at Chief Sealths grave in Suquamish. It was there I learned that the man after whom Washingtons largest city is named died a Christian. Some 15 years before his death, Chief Sealth was inconsolable after one of his sons died on the battlefield. A French missionary who had settled in Washington Territory drew near to the Native American leader and explained the tenets of Christianity. The grave of Chief Sealth, also known as Seattle, who the city was named after, at the Suquamish Memorial Cemetery in the town of Suquamish. Sealth embraced the good news and converted to Roman Catholicism. Upon his baptism, he took a Christian name. As his grave marker indicates, for the last years of his life he was called Noah Sealth. It was a name that had prophetic implications. Much like the Old Testament shipbuilder, Chief Sealth disregarded the protesting voices of the surrounding community and followed a vision he believed had been given him by God. Several weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting Amber Cantu, the famous chiefs six-generation-great-granddaughter. As I have interacted with Amber and researched her own journey, Ive discovered that the last years of Chief Sealths life were marked by a tangible consequence of his conversion. This once powerful warrior became known as a man of peace. Greg Asimakoupoulos Amber, who takes much pride in her connection to Chief Sealth, believes that her famous ancestor recognized the significance of building bridges of friendship. Although many within the local tribes questioned the trustworthiness of the settlers ambitions and goals, Amber holds to the belief that Chief Sealth understood the need to cooperate and extend goodwill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amber celebrates the covenant relationship the chief had with Seattle pioneer David Denny. She also believes that these two men along with other spiritually sensitive leaders in the infant city saw a vision for Seattle. It was a vision that celebrated ethnically diverse peoples capitalizing on our areas rich natural resources and strategic geographic location. Although Chief Seattle died 23 years before Washington Territory became Washington State, it is his great-granddaughters belief that he would not be surprised by the influence our state would have in its earliest decades (and continues to have now). This month, as Washington commemorates this milestone anniversary of statehood, I am aware that Chief Sealths passion for peace and a cooperative spirit would serve the Pacific Northwest well. In this season of political division and spiritual apathy, the courage and faith of some modern-day Noahs would offer hope. In a graveyard of buried dreams and unfulfilled goals for our region, the headstone of the chief reminds me of what is possible. As I read my Bible, I am inspired by those individuals who were willing to act on what they believed to be inspired truth as opposed to caving the voices of the crowd. In addition to Noah, Im thinking of people like Daniel, Esther, Gideon, Ruth, Job and Stephen. May their tribe increase! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pastor Greg Asimakoupoulos is a retired minister and chaplain and a descendant of one of the founding families in Poulsbo. He writes an occasional column for the Kitsap Sun. This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Chief Sealth's legacy of faith and peace impacted Washington's start DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group and allied factions launched a major offensive on Syrian military positions in the western countryside of Aleppo province on Wednesday, resulting in territorial gains and 89 deaths, according to a war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the HTS and factions from the al-Fatah al-Mubin operations room seized control of 21 villages, towns, and strategic sites in less than 12 hours since the start of the operation, dubbed "Deterring Aggression." It noted that 89 combatants died in Wednesday's clashes, including 52 fighters from the HTS and its supporting factions and 37 soldiers from the Syrian government forces. Additionally, five Syrian soldiers were captured by the HTS, which has also seized weapons depots, armored vehicles, and heavy weapons, it said. In response to the offensive, Russian warplanes conducted airstrikes using vacuum missiles on the rear positions of the factions around the city of Atarib, and Syrian government forces shelled Atarib, Darat Izza, and surrounding villages with hundreds of artillery shells and rockets, the observatory reported, adding that Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out 26 airstrikes during the clashes. A day earlier, the military buildup of the HTS prompted significant displacement of civilians from Atarib and nearby villages in the western Aleppo countryside, according to the observatory. The HTS, formerly the Nusra Front, is considered a terrorist organization by Syria, Russia, and several other countries. Key commitments from NATO's July summit in Washington, including air defense systems and other military support, have not yet been fully implemented, President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Nov. 27. This significantly affects the motivation and morale of our people," he said, emphasizing the need for timely delivery of promised support. Zelensky also raised concerns about Russias use of new ballistic missiles, urging NATO partners to provide specific air defense systems that are readily available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The recent authorization of long-range strikes against military targets in Russia has helped. But the pressure on Russia must be maintained and increased at various levels," Zelensky added. The two leaders also discussed strengthening Ukraines ties with the United States and other allies, ensuring the execution of existing agreements, and advancing efforts for Ukraines eventual invitation to NATO. While Ukraine didnt get a firm commitment to join NATO at the alliances summit this year, the 32 allied countries did declare Ukraines path to membership irreversible. Along with air defense systems, Ukraine was promised $43 billion in funding, a NATO representative in Kyiv, and new bilateral security agreements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: NATO-Ukraine Council convenes following Russias use of Oreshnik missile Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Nov. 26A City Council panel voted against a bill that would require landlords to provide cooling to tenants though the legislation could come back. The proposed ordinance was sent to the full council with a "do not pass" recommendation by the Finance and Government Operations Committee on a 3-2 vote Monday night. The committee meets biweekly and is made up of five of the nine city councilors who are tasked with working on legislation with representatives from Mayor Tim Keller's administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's no secret it's hot in Albuquerque in the summer, and cooling for renters is a basic necessity. City Council should give this bill a chance in full council and hear directly from residents about the issues that matter to them, not hide from the debate and kill this bill in committee," Staci Drangmeister, a spokesperson for the mayor, said in a statement Tuesday. While voted down Monday, the bill can be reintroduced and brought for a vote at a City Council meeting. "I'm working with advocates to determine the best next steps toward protecting renters in our community," Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn told the Journal on Tuesday. City code and state tenant rights do not say renters must have access to cooling, which is why Fiebelkorn introduced the bill. State law does require landlords to provide heating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proposed bill would require that every room in a rental unit to be kept at 80 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. "We're setting ourselves, in a sense, up for failure in that we're requiring an 80 degrees or below, but an evaporative cooler is only good for a 10- to 15-degree difference," Councilor Dan Champine said during Monday's committee meeting. Champine said he also believes there are homes in the city that don't have the electrical capacity to have a swamp cooler updated or central air installed. TLC Plumbing estimates installing central air in New Mexico costs anywhere from $7,000 to $18,000, and the cost tends to be higher when converting from a swamp cooler. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was also concern expressed by Councilor Louie Sanchez, the committee chairman, that renters would have to foot the bill for upgrades made to units. Fiebelkorn said the cost to provide cooling should be paid by landlords because it's a basic right. "We expect that there is heating in a house or any rental unit. ... All this is saying is there are some basic human rights that everyone shares, including running water, heating and cooling. You have to be able to be safe and healthy in the unit you are renting," Fiebelkorn said. Sanchez asked Fiebelkorn what other cities in New Mexico have a similar law. She responded she wasn't sure but mentioned that the entire state of Arizona and the city of Dallas require cooling for all tenants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to Arizona and Dallas, Houston requires landlords to provide cooling to tenants, and New York City is working on a "sustainability plan" that would set a maximum indoor temperature by 2030. "Totally different climates. OK," Sanchez responded. Both Dallas and Phoenix Arizona's largest city had significantly more 100-degree days than Albuquerque in 2023, when the city hit 17, its highest number in over 40 years. However, New Mexico and Arizona are considered to be arid or semi-arid climates, according to New Mexico State University and Arizona State University. Sanchez, Champine and Council President Dan Lewis voted against the bill. Fiebelkorn and Klarissa Pena voted for it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee also heard an amendment by Councilor Renee Grout who is not a member of the committee that removed the 80-degree or lower requirement. Her amendment also eliminated the bill being specific to landlords, instead making cooling in some form a requirement for every dwelling. The amendment passed on a 3-2 vote, with Sanchez, Champine and Lewis in favor and Pena and Fiebelkorn against. While she said she appreciated the amendment, Fiebelkorn said it would have "unintended consequences." She said she believes the lack of specificity around the kind of cooling units required and the elimination of it being landlord-specific would hurt the tenants the bill aimed to help the most. Distance from a community college is a key factor for students when deciding what to do after high school and can lead them to leave their hometowns for college or not to pursue a degree at all, a recent study found. Black, Hispanic and low-income students are more likely to forgo college altogether when they are not close to a community college, which can have long-term effects on their earnings. Living far from a community college, in contrast, often nudges White, Asian and higher-income students to enroll in a four-year university instead, the study found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The research study, released last month by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, looked at Texas students who graduated from a public high school between 2013 and 2017, tracked those who enrolled at a Texas public college and monitored their progress toward getting a degree. The researchers zeroed in on those living in community college deserts, or places where students public high schools were more than a 30-minute drive from the nearest community college. Black and Hispanic students face unique barriers going to and completing college. They are more likely to have caretaking responsibilities that often lead them to stay at home. Those who enroll are often the first in their families to attend college. Access to transportation also plays a big role when students are making plans for life after high school. The cost of gas and car payments can increase the financial burden of attending college and can be enough to make high school students decide not to pursue a degree or college students to drop out, said Riley Acton, a researcher with Miami University in Ohio. We do in this country provide transportation to children up through grade 12. And then when it gets to the post-secondary level, students generally are on their own for transportation, Acton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the expansion of online learning, changing what higher education looks like in Texas. The researchers said its unclear to what extent remote learning can help improve access to higher education in community college deserts like rural areas. Students can take remote classes to avoid long commutes but they often struggle with limited access to reliable broadband and tools like a reliable laptop, Acton said. The reports findings also underscored the damage school closures can have on students college plans. Thats particularly relevant in Texas after lawmakers overhauled the states funding system for community colleges last year to provide a lifeline to many small or rural colleges struggling to stay open. Policymakers can and do change where college campuses are located, either through opening new campuses, merging campuses, etc., Acton said. Our results suggest that expanding community college options in historically underserved areas [like] lower income areas, areas with large black and Hispanic populations could be a really good and potentially cost-effective way to expand access to higher education in Texas. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Treyvon Frederick, a longtime friend of Brandon Durham, spoke emotionally during a press conference at Las Vegas City Hall. (Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) The fatal shooting of a 43-year-old father inside his own home by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after he called police to report a break-in is receiving national attention and prompting calls for action. Brandon Durhams family, friends, and community organizers are calling for the officer responsible, 26-year-old Alexander Bookman, to face criminal charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement National civil rights attorneys Lee Merritt and Cannon Lambert are representing the Durham family. Merritt has represented other high profile cases, including the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was murdered by two white men who claimed Arbery looked like a suspect in a string of local burglaries. He is also co-counsel for the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. An arrest warrant should be issued immediately for the arrest of officer Alexander Bookman, Merritt said at a news conference last week reported by KNTV. On Nov. 12, Durham called emergency dispatchers to report a home invasion, telling them he was hiding with his 15-year-old daughter. When Bookman and two other responding officers arrived at the home, they heard yelling and banging from inside the home, prompting Bookman to kick in the front door, said Assistant Sheriff Dori Korean at a news conference last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In body cam footage released by police, Bookman can be seen walking down a hallway in the home before finding Durham struggling with a woman holding a knife and wearing a ski mask. In the video, Bookman yells drop the knife seconds before shooting Durham, causing him and the intruder to fall down. Bookman can then be seen shooting Durham five more times while ordering him to put your hands up. Durham was pronounced dead at the scene, and the intruder, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, was arrested. Bookman is currently on paid leave while Metro investigates. Durhams family, friends, and community activists have expressed outrage over the deadly shooting. On Saturday nearly a hundred protestors marched on Las Vegas City Hall, demanding swift action against the officer who shot and killed Durham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement last week, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said an investigation could take months and it would be inappropriate for him to express an opinion regarding whether criminal charges are going to be filed. I simply do not have all the information yet. In a statement to the AP, general counsel for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association union, David Roger, said Bookman was not at fault for the shooting. During the protest on Saturday, NAACP Las Vegas branch president Quentin Savwoir urged Las Vegas residents to contact Wolfson and other elected officials and demand justice for Durham. It wont get better until we demand better, Savwoir said. I dont know that you can look at that video any other kind of way, other than to say that Brandon Durhams life was taken erroneously and he was murdered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Treyvon Frederick, a longtime friend of Durham, reflected on the emotional toll of the fatal shooting on the community. Im asking the people to speak, to scream his name, to blow up these phones, to do what yall gotta do, to put this officer, to put this perpetrator in jail for the rest of their natural born life. Im broken. The family is broken, Frederick said. I want justice for him, he continued. Frederick also asked people to remember Durhams brave actions to protect his daughter during the home invasion, before he was fatally shot. His daughter got to live with hearing her daddy get murdered. Are yall understanding this? She gotta hear it for the rest of her life. Gotta see it, envision it. Listen to it. Play it on repeat. Its on the internet, the world seeing her daddy get murdered, Frederick said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Elizabeth Glover, a sociologist and NAACP member said the shooting of Durham by a police officer is a reminder of the systemic issues that remain in law enforcement, and advocated for cultural training to address racial bias and improve police-community relations. Glover asked Las Vegas residents to speak to their state representatives about prioritizing a police reform bill during the upcoming legislative session, asking people to get their support on the record before the Dec. 10 prefile deadline. Ask yourself, what can you do and how can you serve otherwise? Again, if youre not a part of the solution, you are a problem, Glover said. HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) A vigil was held on Tuesday night for the mother and son who died last week after being shot in Hartford. 20-year-old Jessiah Mercado and her four-month-old Messiah were killed during an argument about a car. The suspect, Lance Morales, was detained and arrested in Puerto Rico, where he currently awaits extradiction. A 20-year-old mother and a four-month-old baby, how innocent cannot be, and we are devastated behind this loss, thats why people are out here tonight expressing their concerns about our city, Rev. Henry Brown of Mothers United Against Violence said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Family, friends and community members gathered to remember the tragic lives lost. I saw family members I saw members of mothers united, of compass of ROCA of ACTC saying We need to Deescalate this, we dont need any more body bags we dont need anybody else ending up in a hospital because of this,' Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said. Watch the full video in the 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 WTNH.com. LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) The Longview Fire Department held a grand opening Tuesday afternoon for their new station that will serve a growing area of the city. Longview overnight house fire causes about $40K in damages Station 8, located on 5922 Lou Galosy Way, was funded by a 2018 legislation that approved $52 million for public safety. Longview leaders said they are excited to support an area that is rapidly growing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Longview Fire Chief J.P. Steelman said the new station is a night and day difference compared to the previous one. Instead of a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, the fire department held a hose uncoupling with members of the community present. People were able to see inside the new facility that is just off George Richey Road. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. A community is mourning the unexpected death of a firefighter. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Sean Reese worked as a firefighter for the Indian Joint Fire District and died unexpectedly, according to an online obituary. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He worked in the Indian Joint Fire Districts Unit 13. The Indian Joint Fire District posted a tribute to Sean on its Facebook page. From a young age, Sean dreamed of becoming a firefighter, spending countless hours at the firehouse alongside his father, Tim. In April 2009, while still a high school senior, Sean answered the call to serve his community, patiently waiting until he turned 18 to officially join the ranks. In addition to obtaining a Level 1 Fire Certification, Sean was also a rescue diver. Sean served with courage, honor, and an unwavering dedication to public servicequalities that defined his life and his commitment to helping others in ways few can imagine. His absence leaves a profound void, and he will be deeply missed by all who knew and served alongside him. Rest Easy Brother, We Will Take It From Here. Funeral services have not yet been announced. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] The Jacksonville City Council approved on Tuesday night more than $1 million to help house more homeless people. It comes as the city is cracking down on the new statewide ban on public sleeping. As of last week, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said more than 300 people have been warned, and more than 21 people have been arrested. Officers have been citing people Monday through Friday around downtown Jacksonville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What I dont want is homeless being picked up and taken straight to jail. We need to bring a compassionate approach, Council Member Raul Arias said. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The passage of the bill Tuesday will put $1.3 million towards adds 110 beds spread across three different downtown shelters. Trinity Rescue Mission will be the first to expand with 44 new beds. But Arias said the bill does nothing to solve the homeless problem in the rest of the city. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] If were only addressing it downtown, its going to push the homeless problem across the city. We have to tackle it from the outside in. Not just inside. Otherwise we will have homeless issues across the city which we currently do, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than $3 million total has gone towards homeless initiatives this year, including helping Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department with its program to help the homeless population. We are considering this as a pilot program. But in the future, I made it very clear that any other dollars that we are taking have to be given to the entire community, Arias said. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. The claim: Swiss church is having confessions heard by AI Jesus A Nov. 20 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) alerts people to a purported new offering at St. Peters Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland. "NEW - A church in Switzerland is now using an AI hologram of Jesus to take confessions from worshippers," the post's caption reads. The post was shared 50 times in six days. Other Facebook users made similar claims. More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page Our rating: False The setup is an art installation, not a substitute for confession, according to the church that set it up and religious experts. Catholic Church law says confession must be done in person with a priest. The installation warns users to not divulge any personal information, which is a critical element of confession. Art installation encouraged dialogue, not confession At St. Peters Chapel in Lucerne, a monitor showing an animated Jesus sits on the priests side of a divider in a confessional booth, according to The Guardian. The image of Jesus is powered by an AI model trained to discuss religion and scripture with visitors. Advertisement Advertisement But while equipment was set up inside a confessional, the website announcing the project refers to it as an art installation" called "Deus in Machina," not as a genuine place for confession or reconciliation. Marco Schmid, a theologian who is affiliated with the chapel, likewise told The Guardian the installation was an "experiment" and "not a confession." A media report including a demonstration of the installation bears that out, and experts speaking with USA TODAY said under Catholic Church law an AI system cannot offer confession. Before a person can even begin communicating with the installation, it warns, Do not disclose personal information under any circumstances, according to a translation of the disclaimer from Deutsche Welle, an English-language German news outlet. The report shows that users must also press a button to confirm they understand the project's limitations. Rev. Thomas Rausch, a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University, told USA TODAY the installation is in no way a substitute for or equivalent to the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation. He noted that Catholic Church canon laws 965 and 966 say that only a priest may hear confession. Advertisement Advertisement Confession, or Reconciliation as it is usually termed today, is an ecclesial sacrament, always private, celebrated with a penitent and a priest who has been authorized by the Church to proclaim Gods forgiveness, he wrote in an email. AI is a non-ecclesial, impersonal set of technologies which assembles collections of data into a programmed readout. It has nothing to do with a sacramental encounter. Ulrich Lehner, a theology professor at Notre Dame, also told USA TODAY that confession has to be performed in person with a priest. He said the idea of virtual confession has been discussed for centuries and knocked back down by the Vatican each time. Fact check: Fringe group, not Christians, classified as extremist on ADL website When social distancing was required during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, scholars determined that churches were not allowed to offer reconciliation over Zoom or other platforms. In response, the Church improvised to allow people to go to confession with innovative solutions like drive-up confessions. Advertisement Advertisement David DeCosse, a religious studies professor and ethics expert at Santa Clara University, told USA TODAY that directly divulging sins to a priest is a crucial part of confession that would make using AI for confession impossible. "It's almost a textbook case of the limits of AI in terms of all that we miss when we depart from the bodily, the interpersonal, the face, the subtleties and feelings of human memory, he wrote in an email. A link to an article included in the Facebook post reiterated the false claim but provided no evidence to support it. USA TODAY reached out to some of the social media users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive responses. One user who did respond offered no evidence to support the post's claim. Our fact-check sources Advertisement Advertisement Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here. USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta. UPDATE: This story was updated to add additional information. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'AI Jesus' is art installation, not place for confession | Fact check NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Africa has tripled to 35 million by 2023 since the adoption of a landmark treaty 15 years ago to address the issue, according to a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC). Released on Tuesday evening, the report noted that this figure accounts for nearly half of the world's total IDPs. IDMC Director Alexandra Bilak said the displacement situation in Africa is absolutely critical, but not hopeless. "There are many good examples on the continent of governments working to address its root causes. It's important for them to keep ownership of this issue and the international community to support their efforts." The report, titled "Internal Displacement in Africa: An Overview of Trends and Developments (2009-2023)," acknowledges progress by African governments but concludes that these efforts remain insufficient. Rising conflict and violence continue to drive the majority of displacement, with disasters also contributing to an increasing number of forced displacements. According to the report, out of Africa's 35 million IDPs, 32.5 million were displaced by conflict and violence, with 80 percent concentrated in just five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan. The IDMC said the adoption of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, or the Kampala Convention, in 2009 marked a milestone in addressing internal displacement. When it entered into force on Dec. 6, 2012, it became the first and only legally binding regional treaty addressing all causes and phases of internal displacement. Bilak said addressing displacement and helping people rebuild their lives require not only short-term relief but also long-term investments. "To reverse the trends and keep the promise of the Kampala Convention alive for the next 15 years, governments must redouble commitments to addressing displacement's underlying drivers through peace-building, climate action, and sustainable development," he said. While some African countries have developed national policies and invested significantly in protecting and assisting IDPs under the convention, the report pointed out that escalating conflicts and a changing climate have made it difficult for governments to keep pace. "Helping them find solutions to their displacement is part and parcel of reaching a country's development goals," added Bilak. U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, speaks to the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 26, 2024, in Brandon, South Dakota. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) BRANDON, S.D. Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, signaled Tuesday hes willing to push back against potential attempts by President-elect Donald Trump to expand presidential power over federal spending. Every president is going to come in and try to do as much as they can by executive action as possible, Thune said. Congress, in some cases, is going to be the entity that sometimes will have to put the brakes on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thune spoke Tuesday to the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and also took questions from reporters. He said Republicans in Congress will work with Trump to achieve shared policy goals. The things we want to achieve at present are by and large the same, Thune said. How we get there is another matter, and well have to work through that. Trumps pick for his budget director, Russ Vought, served in the same role during the first Trump administration. Vought has since outlined an aggressive vision for presidential power in Project 2025, a 922-page document from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Vought wrote. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has meanwhile tried to assert greater control over the Cabinet selection process, calling for the Senate to recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process. Thune said Tuesday he plans to immediately begin committee hearings on Cabinet nominees when Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025. Thatll give the Senate a head start vetting Trumps nominees before his inauguration on Jan. 20. After Trump is sworn in, Thune expects some nominations to quickly hit the floor of the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees cant report them out until the president is officially sworn in and theyre officially nominated, Thune told the audience Tuesday in Brandon. But they could do hearings. Thune told South Dakota reporters after the event that even though some questions have been raised about nominees, they deserve a fair process where senators question them on their background, qualifications and whether they ought to be in these really important positions. Thune said he has not taken recess appointments off the table if Democrats try to obstruct or delay the confirmation of nominees when they reach the Senate floor, particularly if theyre well regarded and they have bipartisan support. Top priorities for Republican senators heading into the new session of Congress, Thune said, include extending Trumps 2017 tax cuts and securing the nations southern border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thune said he plans to begin drafting a budget reconciliation resolution to push an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, key provisions of which expire at the end of 2025. The reconciliation process allows tax and spending bills to pass the Senate with 51 votes, instead of the 60 needed for most Senate legislation. Republicans will control 53 seats in the new Senate and will also control the House. Failing to extend the tax cuts would lead to a $4 trillion tax increase, Thune said. States Newsrooms D.C. Bureau contributed to this report. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X. U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, speaks to the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 26, 2024, in Brandon, South Dakota. Photo by Makenzie Huber | South Dakota Searchlight BRANDON, SOUTH DAKOTA Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, signaled Tuesday hes willing to push back against potential attempts by President-elect Donald Trump to expand presidential power over federal spending. Every president is going to come in and try to do as much as they can by executive action as possible, Thune said. Congress, in some cases, is going to be the entity that sometimes will have to put the brakes on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thune spoke Tuesday to the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce in the small town of Brandon, South Dakota and also took questions from reporters. He said Republicans in Congress will work with Trump to achieve shared policy goals. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The things we want to achieve at present are by and large the same, Thune said. How we get there is another matter, and well have to work through that. Trumps pick for his budget director, Russ Vought, served in the same role during the first Trump administration. Vought has since outlined an aggressive vision for presidential power in Project 2025, a 922-page document from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Vought wrote. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure. Trump has meanwhile tried to assert greater control over the Cabinet selection process, calling for the Senate to recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process. Thune said Tuesday he plans to immediately begin committee hearings on Cabinet nominees when Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025. Thatll give the Senate a head start vetting Trumps nominees before his inauguration on Jan. 20. After Trump is sworn in, Thune expects some nominations to quickly hit the floor of the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees cant report them out until the president is officially sworn in and theyre officially nominated, Thune told the audience Tuesday in Brandon. But they could do hearings. Thune told South Dakota reporters after the event that even though some questions have been raised about nominees, they deserve a fair process where senators question them on their background, qualifications and whether they ought to be in these really important positions. Thune said he has not taken recess appointments off the table if Democrats try to obstruct or delay the confirmation of nominees when they reach the Senate floor, particularly if theyre well regarded and they have bipartisan support. Top priorities for Republican senators heading into the new session of Congress, Thune said, include extending Trumps 2017 tax cuts and securing the nations southern border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thune said he plans to begin drafting a budget reconciliation resolution to push an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, key provisions of which expire at the end of 2025. The reconciliation process allows tax and spending bills to pass the Senate with 51 votes, instead of the 60 needed for most Senate legislation. Republicans will control 53 seats in the new Senate and will also control the House. Failing to extend the tax cuts would lead to a $4 trillion tax increase, Thune said. States Newsrooms D.C. Bureau contributed to this report. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X. WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH) The Connecticut Foodshare is sending off its last turkey of their Thanksgiving for all campaign. Helping Local Families: Gr8 Thanksgiving Food Drive Returns The organization reached its goal of distributing 50,000 Thanksgiving meals to families in need across the state. On Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz traveled to Wallingford to thank the staff at the food share for all their hard work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are 50,000 folks in our state tomorrow who are going to have a Thanksgiving meal who otherwise wouldnt necessarily have one, Lamont said. And thats thanks to each and every one of you and the incredible generosity of the people of Connecticut. News 8 partnered with Connecticut Foodshare for the Gr8 Thanksgiving Food Drive, collecting 441 turkeys, over 5,500 pounds of non-perishable items and more than $3,200 in monetary donations. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) Connecticut election officials Wednesday announced the states general election results have formally been certified. Although the election ended for most voters on November 5th, this certification is another step in the process of finalizing an election, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said in a statement. I am grateful to the registrars, town clerks, polling place workers and those that played an important role in ensuring a fair, transparent and secure 2024 election. Torrington to recanvass some ballots Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The certification ceremony was open to the public- it included Treasurer Erick Russell and Comptroller Sean Scanlon, who both also signed the Board of Canvassers Documents for the 2024 election along with Thomas. The certifying of election results is an essential act of accountability and democracy, Russell said. Trust in the electoral process is the underpinning for how we shape our shared values and all of the work we undertake as one state, in service of the common good Scanlon said certifying the will of voters regardless of which party wins is a founding principle of our democracy. CT Democrats express concerns following Trumps win Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am honored to participate in that process today, and I am grateful to the hardworking public servants and volunteers who helped ensure the safety, fairness, and transparency of our democratic process in Connecticut and all those who came out to make their voices heard, Scanlon said. Thomas said Connecticut had 76% turnout for the Nov. 5 election. The 2024 Statement of Vote will be published on the Secretary of the States website later this year, the office said. The statement includes vote totals and turnout and registration statistics. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NORTHEAST HARBOR, Maine (AP) When Donald Trump was elected president this month, Caroline Pryors mind turned immediately to the man who lives down the road Leonard Leo. Few people in America have done more to advance conservative causes than Leo. Years ago, the then-unknown conservative lawyer began executing a plan that has helped reshape the U.S. courts and Republican politics, an effort that culminated in Trumps first term with the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices. The success moved Leo out of the shadows, turning him into a hero to conservatives and a villain to liberals. But for his neighbors on a sparsely populated island off the coast of Maine, the equation is more complicated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The conservatives presence despite significant charitable giving to local nonprofits and big spending locally has generated fissures in a place known for tranquility. That anxiety has only spiked since Trumps victory. It feels very personal, said Pryor, a 65-year-old island resident. Leo draws protesters Those feelings were on display on a brisk morning in October, just two weeks before Novembers election. With sunlight flickering through the yellowing leaves, Pryor and a dozen other people mostly women gathered outside Leos estate. They came armed with a cartoonish life-sized puppet of Leo, a rainbow arch for runners to pass through and blue and pink chalk with which they scribbled slogans You Are Amazing, Leonard Leo Is Not across the road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are making people on the island aware of who he is, and they might question taking his money, Mary Jane Schepers, one of the protesters, said as she urged runners to flip off Leos home. In response to written questions, Leo responded: While I disagree with them and with what some of them do and say, they are people created by God with dignity and worth and their presence has been an invitation to pray for them." He declined an interview request. Money sparks controversy Leo, 59, and his family have vacationed on Mount Desert Island for decades. In 2018, he purchased a $3.3 million, 8,000-square-foot Tudor-style estate in Northeast Harbor, one of Mount Desert Islands wealthiest towns. Backlash swiftly followed Leos arrival. The protests grew near the end of Trumps first term and spiked after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He felt he could come here, and it would be a place to get away from the negative attention for his politics, said Murray Ngoima, a regular protester. Leo told AP that the protests have strengthened our conviction to be as active as possible in helping various institutions on the island. He and his wife, Sally, gave over $50,000 in 2020 to the Island Housing Trust, an organization seeking to boost the amount of affordable housing on the island, according to the trusts annual giving report. They made similar donations over the next three years, trustrecordsshow. Leo and his wife were also listed as donors to the Mount Desert Island Hospital. The Leos have also been listed as regulardonorsto theNortheast Harbor Library. Those donations have raised suspicion, with protesters urging the groups to return the money and comparing the donations to the way Leo has used the money to influence Republican politics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is a wolf in sheeps clothing, said Susan Covino Buell, an island resident. Buell, 75, resigned her position on the housing nonprofits campaign committee when Leo got involved. The trusts executive director did not respond to a request for comment. Anti-Leo activists also penned an open letter urging the hospital to return the donation. Mariah Cormier, a hospital spokesperson, said the institution accepts charitable donations that aid in strengthening the health and vibrancy of our community. Leo dismissed the idea he and his wife were aimed at buying acceptance. People who have taken the time to actually get to know me personally can judge for themselves why I do what I do, Leo wrote. It isnt just Leos philanthropy that is controversial. His business at local establishments presents a quandary for shop owners and service workers. Many said they oppose Leos political positions, but they need his money to sustain their enterprises. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leo, a devout Roman Catholic, has also used money to influence the islands Catholic churches. Sacred Spaces Foundation, a nonprofit that counts Leo as its president and sole member, purchased St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Northeast Harbor for $2.65 million in 2023 from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, according to records obtained from the county government. Leo is a regular at another parish, Holy Redeemer, a large stone sanctuary in Bar Harbor. His presence has driven off some longtime congregants, residents said. Asked about people leaving the island church, Leo wrote he was thankful for every person who takes the time to come to Holy Redeemer." He isnt going anywhere Not everyone is upset about Leos Maine move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since 2020, Leos network has funneled over $1 million to conservative causes in the state, including around $800,000 to a policy institute that funds a conservative website and over $300,000 to a conservative state representatives political network. Those donations have only deepened the opposition to Leo among his most frequent protesters. Though energized, they have come to accept that they may never drive Leo from the island. He is succeeding, admitted Bo Greene, a 63-year-old who lives in Bar Harbor, citing the way nonprofits have taken his money. We are making him uncomfortable, and he hates us, she said. But he is still here. ___ Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York. (KRON) An inmate who was convicted of murder in Contra Costa County recently attacked two prison guards, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said. Ronald D. Yandell, 62, was being escorted to his cell inside California State Prison Sacramento when he allegedly pulled out an improvised weapon on November 22. CDCR officials said Yandell attempted to kill two guards with the weapon. One of the officers deployed three applications of pepper spray. Yandell dropped the improvised weapon (and) was placed in restraints, a CDCR spokesperson wrote. Ronald Yandells 2022 prison mugshot was released by the CDCR. Yandell has been locked up for two decades. He is serving a life sentence with possibility of parole for first-degree murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes now facing new charges, attempted homicide, for the November 22 incident. The case was referred to the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office for felony prosecution. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A contractor who was hanging holiday lights on a tree outside a Wellesley home Wednesday has been rushed to the hospital after being seriously shocked, officials say. Hell be pretty lucky if he survives, you know, he took a big hit, thats primary lines up there, thats some heavy volts, said Officer Tim Gover, one of the first responders on scene. Gover says the contractor, who was hired by a resident, was installing the lights outside a Falmouth Circle home around 10:00 a.m. using a 34ft long pole. He may have come into contact with the electrical line of the nearby utility pole, delivering a life-threatening shock, according to the town of Wellesley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was on the ground walking close, he was probably about 5 feet from the tree, he was putting the lights on the end of the pole, his partner was holding the string of lights and as they started walking forward, thats when we figured he actually came in contact with the pole, said Officer Gover. Officer Gover says the worker was zapped and collapsed after coming in contact with a primary electrical line. His coworker jumped to give him CPR until first responders arrived with an AED. Got out the AED, we hooked up the AED, ended up shocking him 3 times which is a lot to be shocked in the field, said Officer Gover. The Wellesley Fire Department, Wellesley Police Department, Wellesley Municipal Light Plant and a paramedic ambulance with the Needham Fire Department all responded to the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say the man suffered cardiac arrest, and First responders were able to reestablish the mans pulse after delivering several shocks from the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) in between rounds of CPR. The man was then rushed to Newton Wellesley Hospital before being transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment. We hope for the familys sake, were all praying for him here that he does pull through, said Officer Gover. Officer Gover says this tragic accident should remind everyone to stay away from utility poles while decorating for the holidays. Especially on a moist day like today you know, it was raining before, it was humid, the electricity can jump and again were not sure if thats what took place here or he actually touched the line, said Gover. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wellesley Police, Fire, and WMLP Department extend our thoughts and prayers to the victim and his family during this tragic incident, the Town of Wellesley shared in a statement. Boston 25 News reached out to the contractors company to see how hes doing, but they had no comment. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was contacted and investigators are working alongside the WMLP and Wellesley Police to investigate the incident. 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 Some members of Donald Trumps transition team are reportedly frustrated that Kash Patel and Cliff Sims, both MAGA insiders, appear to be using their positions to promote themselves for deputy director of the CIA. Patel and Sims are both going head-to-head for the No. 2 position at the CIA, Politico reports. The CIAs deputy director wields immense influence over the intelligence community but does not have to be confirmed by the Senate, unlike cabinet members. However, some transition team members in their orbit are frustrated that the men are advocating for themselves while making staffing decisions, Politico reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue that a lot of us have is that these people are involved in staffing national security jobs, and at the same time theyre also promoting themselves for the same roles, an unnamed insider told Politico. Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokesperson and soon-to-be White House press secretary, denied Politicos reporting. This story is 100% false, Leavitt said in a statement to The Independent. The fake news is clearly trying to sow division between two of President Trumps most loyal supporters. President Trump is choosing brilliant people to serve on his team, and those decisions will continue to be announced as he makes them. Kash Patel is vying against Cliff Sims for the second-highest CIA position, Politico reports (REUTERS) Patel previously served as a National Security Council official, senior adviser at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is a Trump loyalist who has railed against the so-called Deep State. Even among the most staunch MAGA loyalists, he is viewed as a controversial figure. On Steve Bannons War Room podcast last year, Patel said a team of all-American patriots in all levels of government in the next Trump administration will come after members of the press that he claims have lied about American citizens and helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. Were going to come after you, whether its criminal or civilly, well figure that out, said Patel, who joined the Trump administration in 2019 as an intelligence official. Were putting you all on notice, he added. And Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why were tyrannical. This is why were dictators, because were actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patel has also reportedly been considered for other administration roles. Sims, meanwhile, is a former communications strategist for Trumps White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He published Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House in 2019, which recounted his time in Trumps administration. Cliff Sims published Team of Vipers, a book about the first Trump administration, in 2019 (CNN) The book angered Trump during his first term. A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction, Trump tweeted in January 2019. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sims then sued Trump, arguing the government was stifling his First Amendment right to disclose unclassified information regarding which he learned during his tenure as a federal employee, Politico reported. He later dropped the lawsuit and returned to the administration to serve as a senior adviser to the director of national intelligence in October 2020, according to Politico. ST. LOUIS A convicted felon admits to defrauding investors of more than $830,000 and illegally acquiring dozens of guns with the help of a woman in the St. Louis area. According to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the suspect, Dennis Latour, 41, admitted to creating a scheme in June 2022 that defrauded two investors for over $830,000 as a part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors say that Latour made false claims to the two victims that he made successful investments in the cannabis industry and that they could join in by piggybacking on his investments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to prosecutors, Latour received money from the investors and instead used the money from the victims to fund his personal lifestyles by purchasing items including firearms, vehicles, and jetskis. Officials say one victim lost a total of $718,271 and the other lost $112,340. Several inches of snow expected in the St. Louis region Saturday Prosecutors say Latour was also involved in a scheme involving a woman that helped him purchase multiple firearms, despite him being a convicted felon who is barred from having one in his possession. Prosecutors say Latour received assistance from Jennifer Keegan, 50, in purchasing multiple firearms after a submitted application was rejected due to concerns about his criminal history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to prosecutors, Keegan admitted to purchasing multiple firearms for Latour beginning in Feb. 2023. On March 1, 2023, prosecutors say Keegan and Latour purchased a Barrett rifle and another rifle from a retailer in St. Charles. Three days later, Keegan purchased another two rifles from a sporting goods store in St. Charles. Prosecutors say on March 21, 2023, Keegan purchased five additional firearms from a sporting goods store in Springfield, Missouri. The next day, she returned to the same store and bought a pistol. On April 4, 2023, prosecutors say Keegan went to pick up a rifle and two pistols from a gun store in Pevely after purchasing them online. According to prosecutors, Latour was with Keegan when she went to pick up the firearms and was in possession of a pistol. Fifteen days later, the duo returned and purchased a shotgun. According to prosecutors, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted a court-approved search of a Des Peres home the couple shared, in which they found 27 firearms in a vault room and an additional two pistols in the couples bedroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Latour pleaded guilty on Nov. 20 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of conspiracy to purchase one or more firearms for a convicted felon, and 13 counts of wire fraud. Latour faces a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine each for the felon in possession charge and conspiracy charge. Latour faces an additional sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both for the wire fraud charges. Keegan pleaded Monday to one count of conspiracy to purchase one or more firearms for a convicted felon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Latour is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2025. Keegan is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. *Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evanss full statement can be read at the bottom of this article. COOK COUNTY, Ill. (WGN) A Cook County judge is not currently hearing domestic violence cases after Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said a womans death in a domestic violence incident should not have occurred. Evans made the assertion in a statement shared with WGN News Tuesday. The woman in question 54-year-old Lacramioara Beldie was killed on Monday, Nov. 18, when her husband, Constantin Beldie, stabbed her to death before taking his own life in the citys Portage Park neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previous Coverage: Advocacy group calls for Cook County judge to be reassigned after two domestic violence deaths Court documents showed he was charged in another attack against Beldie in October, where he was accused of approaching her in an alley, physically beating her and throwing her to the ground before she escaped while he tried to drag her into his vehicle. During the court proceedings that followed, prosecutors asked for Constantin Beldie to be held on pretrial detention, but the judge presiding over the case Thomas Nowinski denied the request and released Beldie on electronic monitoring. Months earlier, Nowinski made another critical decision in a high-profile domestic violence case. He rejected a pregnant womans emergency protective order before 11-year-old Jayden Perkins was stabbed to death trying to protect her from Crosetti Brand, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, Evans said, Lacramioara Beldies tragic death is one that should not have occurred and that in light of anonymous threats made to Judge Nowinski, he is not currently hearing cases involving domestic violence or orders of protection. Evans added Beldies death has revealed gaps in policies and procedures when it comes to domestic violence cases in Cook County, and the Office of the Chief Judge is actively investigating whether any employees failed to follow policies and procedures during Beldies case. Moving forward, Evans pledged to provide additional training for all Cook County judges who hear domestic violence cases and petitions for orders of protection, improve electronic monitoring processes and protocols, strengthen collaboration with new Cook County States Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke, ask for Cook Countys electronic monitoring vendor to improve the process of victim enrollment in its service, and provide additional training to Cook County employees on the electronic monitoring software. Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans full statement on Lacramioara Beldies death: Lacramioara Beldies tragic death is one that should not have occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Early findings in our preliminary examination of this case indicate the court was provided incomplete information about the case, and made the best decisions it could with the information provided to the court at that time. This unfortunate situation has revealed gaps in policies and procedures that the Office of the Chief Judge is addressing to assure no other victim of domestic violence meets this fate. My office is currently investigating to determine whether any employee failed to follow policies and procedures in this case. We pledge to provide additional training to all judges who hear domestic violence cases and petitions for orders of protection, including the Pretrial Division judges who hear these cases on weekends. My staff is working to strengthen the electronic monitoring processes and protocols, which are most effective when domestic violence victims who have requested an order of protection are able to participate in the technology by installing software on their phones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will also be reaching out to States Attorney Elect Eileen ONeill Burke to strengthen collaboration between our offices to ensure that this service is available to every individual who requires it. I have also asked our electronic monitoring vendor to improve and speed up the process in which the victim enrolls in the service, and to provide additional training on the software to our employees. Every day, Cook County judges work to protect the community from violent offenders while also respecting the constitutional rights of the accused. This involves making difficult decisions with the best information they have. While the higher courts have authority to review those decisions, interdivisional judicial transfers and assignments are never a result of a judges independent decision-making. However, in light of anonymous threats made to Judge Nowinski, he is not currently hearing cases involving domestic violence or orders of protection. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HARARE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe seeks to leverage China's manufacturing expertise to develop value chains rooted in the southern African country's vast mineral wealth, a senior official from Zimbabwe's ruling party has said. Christopher Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party Politburo member and the party's secretary for information and publicity, told Xinhua in a recent interview that China has played a pivotal role in bolstering Zimbabwe's industrial ambitions. He noted that Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector has gained significant momentum following a major investment in the iron and steel industry by China's Tsingshan Holding Group, a company specialized in nickel and stainless steel production. Through its local subsidiary, Dinson Iron and Steel Company, Tsingshan began pig iron production in June at the plant in Manhize, located in Zimbabwe's Midlands Province. This milestone marks a critical step in reviving the African nation's once-thriving steel industry. With abundant iron ore, rich chrome deposits, and high-grade coking coal, Zimbabwe is now positioned to become one of the region's leading producers and exporters of steel products, Mutsvangwa said. "The future of the steel industry is one of the very brightest in the world, and we see China's experience, China's prowess in steel production coming to Zimbabwe." By leveraging Chinese investments, Zimbabwe aims to shift from exporting unprocessed or semi-processed minerals to producing steel and value-added products for the global market, said Mutsvangwa, who emphasized Zimbabwe's potential role in the global green transition, driven by Zimbabwe's lithium reserves and China's advancements in manufacturing new energy vehicles. "This is a very, very big opportunity, and we expect big Chinese companies to bring their latest technology in battery making, in electric vehicle making, in steel fabrication, to come to Zimbabwe and the region so that the region can help the world, save the world by supplying carbon-free mobility to the global populace," he said. Mutsvangwa underscored the ripple effects of mining sector investments, which he said would bolster other industries, including transportation. "The scope is wide, we just want more Chinese investment, and the disadvantage, of course, was that we are a little bit far from the sea. But now, with the investment in mining, a lot of infrastructure is going to be built to satisfy the mining industry," he said. Chinese equipment has already transformed Zimbabwe's gold mining sector, creating a model that Mutsvangwa believes can be replicated in other industries, saying that the success Zimbabwe has seen in gold mining, powered by Chinese machinery, drives prosperity for young miners. This success can be extended to other sectors. He said Zimbabwe is also exploring the supply of irrigation equipment from China to enhance the African country's agricultural sector. "China is a world leader now in drip irrigation and water saving. So, there is a lot of scope for Chinese agricultural equipment to find its way into the Zimbabwe market. Chinese mining equipment has changed the gold industry of Zimbabwe. So, we can do the same now with agriculture," added Mutsvangwa. Though Evanston voters heartily approved a 2022 referendum to adopt ranked choice voting, also called instant runoff voting, starting with its April 2025 local election, a Cook County judge scuttled those plans with a Nov. 12 ruling. A nonprofit group called Reform for Illinois sued Cook County Clerk Cedric Giles office, arguing that it was not taking steps to bring ranked choice voting into effect, and Judge Maureen Ward Kirby ruled that the clerks office does not have the authority to execute ranked-choice voting. She dismissed the lawsuit. There is currently no certified voting system that exists that would enable the Clerks Office to implement ranked choice voting, Sally Daly, a spokesperson for the clerks office, said in an email to the Chicago Tribune/Pioneer Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The implementation of ranked choice voting would require statutory changes to the states existing election code, she said. Ranked choice voting requires voters to rank their selections of candidates for public office. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, they are declared the winner. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated from the tabulation of votes, and election officials perform a recount. Multiple candidates could end up being eliminated through the process until one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. David Melton, the board president of Reform for Illinois and an attorney, sued Giles office in July after what he saw as inaction from the clerk in implementing ranked choice voting in Evanston, a measure approved by a whopping 82% of Evanston voters in 2022. Melton said that after voters approved the referendum, his group, officials from the city of Evanston and the clerks office were in communication on how the city could implement ranked-choice voting for Evanstons municipal elections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those discussions were stalled after (former Cook County clerk) Karen Yarbrough died (on April 7), but after that, we resumed with then her interim successor, Mr. Giles, and we got nowhere, he said. Eventually, our patience ran out, Melton said. In July, Melton and Reform for Illinois filed the lawsuit against the clerks office in the Cook County Circuit Court with the aim of enacting ranked choice voting in Evanston. In her recent dismissal of the case, Ward Kirby ruled that Evanstons ranked choice voting is vague, ambiguous, and not self-executing, effectively blocking the city from moving ahead with the new voting concept. In Ward Kirbys dismissal, she said that the clerks office could not implement a voting system not approved by the Illinois State Board of Elections and that it was cost prohibitive to do ranked choice voting with paper ballots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Melton contends that because Cook County uses Dominion Voting Systems to provide its voting machines and equipment, the Cook County clerk has the authority under the Illinois Constitution to purchase a ranked choice voting system from Dominion without the need to purchase sets of hardware that would be only used by Evanstonians. Melton said he is considering appealing the courts decision, but that doing so most likely wont have an impact before the 2025 municipal elections. Former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan wrote in an opinion in 2005 that municipalities that have home rule have the authority to adopt ranked choice voting through referendum for municipal officers, which in Evanston would be the mayor, city council and city clerk, Melton said. Evanston has home rule, a type of local government that grants greater powers and is typically in effect in municipalities with more than 30,000 inhabitants, Evanstons response Other suburban municipalities in the Chicago area have also approved ranked choice voting through referendum or are considering a referendum for it, including Skokie, Oak Park, Berwyn and Naperville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In June, after Yarbroughs death, the Evanston City Council passed an ordinance to push the clerks office to work with the city to troubleshoot a ranked choice voting ballot before the April 2025 municipal election. At the time, Mayor Daniel Biss said the clerks office did not raise any concerns on ranked choice voting. According to previous reporting, Biss was against the idea of suing the clerks office in favor of pursuing a working relationship. A letter obtained by Chicago Tribune/Pioneer Press from the clerks office to Melton on July 22 reveals that the clerks office informed Evanston officials in both oral and written communications (in December 2023) that ranked choice voting is not currently provided for under the Illinois Election Code and that there is no voting system that exists that is certified by the Illinois State Board of Elections that would enable the Cook County Clerks Office to conduct ranked choice voting. In response to the courts dismissal of ranked-choice voting, Evanstons Communications and Engagement Manager Cynthia Vargas said, The City of Evanston is reviewing the courts ruling and looking into the citys next available steps for ranked choice voting, including potential legal action to defend our rights as a home-rule municipality. Possible political implications? Melton said he suspects that the clerks offices refusal to introduce ranked choice voting for Evanston could be political. Giles is past chair of the Proviso Township Democratic Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The main reason theyre not doing so, and Im just speculating here, but I believe that the Democratic Party of Cook County is against ranked choice voting because they feel it would undercut the partys ability to obtain fees from candidates for slating and undercut their power in primary elections, Melton said. I believe the clerk is opposing this on orders from the Democratic Party of Cook County, he said. Daly, of the County Clerks office, responded, The accusation from the party who lost on the legal merits of the case is baseless. The Clerks office followed the law, as the Court ruled. Nancy Tomhave, who lives in St. Pauls Hayden Heights neighborhood, wont be taking calls from some loved ones on Thanksgiving, and not for lack of trying. Carolyn Ross, who lives across the city near Dale Street and Interstate 94, is largely in the same boat. The two women, one in her 70s and the other in her 80s, still rely on CenturyLink landlines, and both have had no access to their phone service for weeks. At first you think, OK, itll be a couple days, but its been since early November, and this is the end of the month, said Ross, who uses a cellular phone sparingly. Theyve given no explanation. None whatsoever. And they just sent me a bill. Charles Oliveira, who runs Discount Auto Glass at 510 University Ave. W., usually takes customer calls on three business lines. All have been down since Nov. 9, though hes set one of them to now forward calls to his cell phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was given five dates the phones were to return, Oliveira said on Wednesday. None of those dates were ever met. . I was told somebody from the local area would contact me, and nothing like that has ever happened. Every time I call customer service, its 45 minutes before you can talk to anybody. Im missing calls left and right. If youre a landline phone user without access to your landline for the holidays, youre in good company. Copper wire theft CenturyLink blames the two extended St. Paul outages, and others, on multiple cases of copper wire theft throughout the Twin Cities. The outages have had disproportionate impact on older subscribers who may not use cellular phones, and come at a difficult time for senior shut-ins and families trying to reach elderly relatives as the holiday season opens and winter sets in. In late October, underground wires snatched from beneath a manhole cover on Minnehaha Avenue East left some 600 accounts on St. Pauls East Side without landline service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was unclear when and where the Dale Street and University Avenue-area outage originated. These crimes have severely hampered our ability to restore service due to the extensive damage caused during the theft, said Mark Molzen, a CenturyLink global services director based in Phoenix. In some instances, we have repaired service only to be the victim of copper theft again in the same location, he added. Crews are working as quickly as possible to restore service. We recognize the inconvenience this causes and appreciate our customers patience. Ross, a Summit-University resident in her 70s, said shes received multiple notices from CenturyLink over the past three weeks promising phone service will return shortly. Every other day they send a note and a message, and it pushes out further and further, Ross said. I just got one that said it wont be on until Nov. 30th. No service after weeks CenturyLink customers said theyve received reduced phone bills after weeks without phone service, but the discounts which only arrive after complaining to an out-of-state call center operator come as low as the single digits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I did receive my bill from CenturyLink and called them about getting credit for the two weeks we had no service, said East Side resident Cheryl Hanzlik. They ended up giving me a $7 credit when I should have received much more than that, but when you deal with people outside the U.S., I took what I could get. Tomhave, a retired Xcel Energy worker who lives near White Bear Avenue, said shes been without landline service since Oct. 22 and her phone bill was discounted $20 for the inconvenience. I dont carry my cell phone with me like the young people do, she said. Im older and I have landline phones all over the house. I get so angry that CenturyLink does not contact us, added Tomhave, who finally got in touch with a Minnesota-based customer agent on Wednesday. How hard is it to inform us? I have had people worried about me as they just hear a busy line. Related Articles WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) A former Corewell Health employee is accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bone grafts and selling them. According to court records, Stephen Jacobsen of Allendale confessed to the thefts and to selling the grafts and other medical supplies. The records dont say who was buying the stolen grafts. Jacobsen is charged with embezzlement over $100,000 from Corewells warehouse in Walker, where he worked. He turned himself in on Tuesday for his arraignment in 59th District Court in Walker. Stephen Jacobsen appears in a Walker courtroom on Nov. 26, 2024. A police report obtained by Target 8 show Corewell security caught him in the act on Oct. 24 after setting up surveillance cameras in the warehouse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stephen is on video carrying an empty box and entering aisle #30 where smaller boxes of bone grafts are stored, the report states. Stephen can be seen looking around, then removing boxes of bone grafts from the storage shelves and placing the into the larger box. The video then shows him taking more grafts from another aisle before loading it all into his pickup parked outside, the police report says. Before security confronted him, Jacobsen did it again in early November, stealing another 10 bone grafts, according to the police report. Hes accused of taking $693,000 worth of bone grafts and other medical supplies this fall alone. He later admitted it had been going on for six of seven years, according to the police report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to his LinkedIn page, he was a supplier performance analyst at Corewell and had worked for the health system for 15 years. Corewell Health officials declined to comment. Jacobsen refused to comment after the hearing. His attorney, Clint Westbrook, told the judge that Jacobsen was a lifelong Michigan resident with no criminal history. He said he already has a new job. Jacobsen is free on a $25,000 cash bond. He is expected back in court in December for a hearing to determine if theres enough evidence for trial. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The man who was shot and killed on the Las Vegas Strip on Monday has been identified by the Clark County Coroners office as Michael Wilmot, 50, of Las Vegas. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso. Wilmot, an Uber driver who had two passengers in his vehicle, was shot in a road rage incident after he got out of the vehicle and walked to the other car, and banged on the drivers side door window, Las Vegas Metropolitan police said. Uber driver killed in road rage shooting on Las Vegas Strip Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nov. 25 shooting occurred in front of the Palazzo at the Venetian resort. Police said Wilmot and the suspect, a 24-year-old woman who hasnt been publically identified, had been engaged in a road rage incident. After the shooting, police said the woman left the scene before officers arrived. Police identified the suspects license plate and found her at a home near Washington Avenue and Torrey Pines Drive where she was taken into custody. Metro said it submitted the investigation to the Clark County District Attorneys Office for self-defense review. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. UPDATE 11/29/24 9:07 p.m.: The Muscogee County Coroners Office confirmed on Friday another person has died in connection to a shooting at Canaan Drive on Wednesday. Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan says DaiJohn Ross, 18, was pronounced dead at Piedmont Columbus Regional at 8:19 p.m. Ross was the second victim to die in connection to the shooting at the 8300 block of Canaan Drive on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) The Muscogee County Coroners Office confirmed on Wednesday morning an 18-year-old was killed in a shooting on Canaan Drive. According to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan, JMauri Taylor was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:38 a.m. in the 8300 block of Canaan Drive. Police say another person is in critical condition at Piedmont Columbus Regional in connection to the shooting. Officers responded to the scene at 12:35 a.m. on Wednesday. This investigation is being lead by CPDs violent crimes unit. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Michael Dahnke at 706-326-3556 or MDahnke@columbusga.org. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The first community-wide notification dinged people's cellphones more than five hours after the family of a 6-year-old with autism reported him missing. An alert was sent to some landlines before that but with fewer people using landlines that alert may have only had a limited impact, police said. After an intensive search overnight on Nov. 20 and into the next day, Joshua Al-Lateef Jr. was found dead in a pond near his West Chester Township home. His death has been preliminarily ruled an accidental drowning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joshua's family has launched a petition to create the "Joshua Alert," a system similar to an Amber Alert, to help when children on the autism spectrum go missing. "It is our heartfelt belief that if an alert system similar to 'Amber Alert' but specified for missing children with spectrum disorders the 'Joshua Alert' were instituted, we might have had a fair chance of finding our son in time," the Change.org petition states. As of Tuesday, more than 4,000 people had signed the petition. Children with autism are prone to wander and can be drawn to water. The risk of drowning for autistic children is more than 160 times greater than the general child population, according to the National Autism Association. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since 2015, at least three children on the spectrum have died in drowning incidents in the Greater Cincinnati region. Amber Bradford of College Hill is Joshua's aunt. She said after seeing how the situation unfolded, she thought a new, more rapid alert system might have saved her nephew's life. Volunteers gather to locate a missing 6-year-old boy, Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., in West Chester on Thursday. She said hearing Joshua's parents scream after they got the news he was gone is something she'll never forget. "It is the most devastating thing," Bradford said. "I would never wish it upon anyone." She said the critical missing child alert system in Ohio is not sufficient, and had people in the community been alert soon after the 911 call was placed, maybe he could have been found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The community support was amazing," she said. "People wanted to take part and help. Unfortunately, it was too late." How did the alerts happen when Joshua went missing On top of social media posts from police and media coverage, citizens were alerted to Joshua's disappearance three times in three different ways. One of the alerts was the first of its kind in Butler County. Within a few hours, West Chester police issued a "reverse 911 call" that reached about 4,000 landline telephone numbers, according to Captain Seth Hagaman. However, he added that police knew this would have limited impact as few people use landlines. Emergency personnel, local and federal law enforcement agents park at the to help locate missing 6-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., in West Chester on Thursday. Next, West Chester police worked with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency to issue an IPAWS alert. That stands for Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. That alert went out around 11 p.m., Hagaman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The night of Joshua's disappearance was the first time the system had been used in a live emergency but agency director Jim Bolen said his agency had trained repeatedly to use it. The IPAWS alert sends a message to every cell tower within a specified area designated by the agency and the towers send the alert to every cell phone in their range, Bolen explained. The alert is also given a time frame, so any new phone entering the designated area during that period also gets alerted. At some point during the first night Joshua was missing, Hagaman spoke with Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation about issuing an endangered missing child alert. The state must issue these types of alerts. He said the investigators told him the reverse 911 calls and IPAWS alert had already accomplished everything the state alert would do. Also, the state's endangered missing child alert does not send alerts directly to people's phones like an Amber Alert. The missing child alert is sent to law enforcement across the state and to media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite these limitations, an endangered missing child alert was issued just before noon the day after Joshua went missing. Hagaman said it was issued out of an abundance of caution. Emergency personnel, local and federal law enforcement agents park at the to help locate a missing 6-year-old boy, Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., in West Chester on Thursday. Hagaman said West Chester Police also requested an Amber Alert early in the search. Amber Alerts are specifically meant for children thought to have been abducted. "We always call and ask, but were declined for an Amber," he said. Hagaman said state officials are "rightfully" protective of Amber Alerts because they don't want the public to get desensitized to receiving alerts. What Joshua's family wants Joshua's family says children on the autism spectrum need a rapid alert system designed for them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Children with autism are likely to wander off or bolt from safety an event prompted by either a specific distraction, a desire to escape an overwhelming situation, or the simple curiosity to explore," the family's petition states. "The reality of this vulnerability necessitates immediate responses when these children go missing. By implementing a 'Joshua Alert,' authorities will be signaled immediately when a 911 call is made, and the search for the missing child can commence without delay," it states. Other resources for children with autism EmPath for Autism, a Monroe-based nonprofit, distributes "JagTag" tracking bracelets for children who are prone to wandering. In the wake of Joshua's death, the organization has paused its program because thousands of families filed applications. On Monday, the organization put out a call for volunteers to help process all the applications. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hagaman said tracking tags like AirTags or Tiles can also help, and his officers have even purchased some for families in the area who have children that often wander. The West Chester Police Department is also encouraging residents to use its "People with Disabilities Database." People who have loved ones with autism spectrum disorder, dementia, Alzheimer's or other disabilities can enter their information in the database so police know right away if an emergency occurs. Hagaman said his department is also working through what lessons can be learned from Joshua's disappearance and death. "As a process of constant improvement, we go over every major event to see if there's anything we could do differently or any new tools we can use," he said. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Family of 6-year-old who died wants special alert for autistic kids Nov. 27The Albert Lea City Council on Monday voted unanimously to approve sending in a letter of support for passenger rail options throughout southern Minnesota. Albert Lea is part of a group of several communities in the southern part of the state requesting a renewed effort for passenger rail, which could eventually connect to a system that goes from Minneapolis to Dallas. The state is in the middle of updating its state rail plan for 2025. The letter states the city supports prioritizing passenger rail between the Twin Cities and Albert Lea and the Twin Cities and Mankato as phase one projects in the state plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also requests the same phase one designation for the existing Canadian Pacific Railroad/former DM&E rail line that connects Mankato and Albert Lea and could expand to additional cities, including Waseca, Rochester and Winona. In other action, the council: Approved a variance to maximum height requirements for Green Acres Milling, which is building a new oat processing facility at 460 14th St. The new structure, which City Planner Megan Boeck described as being similar to a grain elevator, would be about 1,441.5 feet above sea level, or a 41.5 feet variance from city ordinance. The building height itself is 115 feet with equipment height of 25.5 feet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Approved 2024 lead service line replacement project contracts throughout the city. The Albert Lea Utilities Department is taking part in a federal and state effort to reduce lead in drinking water by replacing remaining water lines made of lead or galvanized material. Lead was commonly used for water service lines in the early 1900s. The federal government banned the use of lead materials in new plumbing systems in 1986. Property owners and the city of Albert Lea have replaced many of the lines over the past several years. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring each state to replace all remaining lead water lines. The goal is to eliminate lead water lines by 2033. City Engineer Steven Jahnke said the city received about $1.6 million in grants for the project, and will apply for additional grants to pay for the rest of the project. The city is only the third in the state with the program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said 1,400 letters went out to property owners where the city knew there were lead lines or where it was unknown. From this first round of grant funding, funds will be used to verify unknown lines and replace 170 lead lines at no cost to the property owners. The council previously passed a resolution awarding bids to two low bidders for the project, Platinum Plumbing Solutions LLC of Albert Lea and BCM Construction Inc. of Faribault. Mayor Rich Murray abstained from the vote because of a family tie to one of the companies. Approved a development agreement with Turning Point Real Estate for 821 Jefferson Ave. The council agreed to sell the property for $30,000, which is about equal to the amount of repairs made, City Manager Ian Rigg said. Plans by the company call for turning the property into a three-unit apartment building with two one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom. Nov. 26Mike Miller's departure as city manager leaves Muskogee City Council with the task of seeking a replacement while planning a spring tax vote. Council members unanimously approved a joint separation agreement after an executive session Monday. The departure takes effect Jan. 3, Miller said. According to a city media release, the council will begin seeking a new city manager in the coming weeks. Miller is to help with a smooth transition before he leaves, the media release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Patrick Cale said assistant city manager Roger Kolman will act as city manager until a new one is hired. Kolman was Coweta city manager for six years and held the position at Glenpool and Anadarko before that, according to Kolman's LinkedIn profile. City officials also are working with a 40-member committee to plan a potential capital improvement sales tax election. James Gulley, who oversees committee meetings, said the city wants final recommendations by Jan. 31, so it can choose projects for a sales tax election. Projected election date is May 13. The election must be called 60 days before the election. Cale said he has confidence in the council, city staff and the community in seeing the election through. "We're up for it," Cale said. "We'll be OK." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mayor said he did not know what prompted the joint separation agreement or how it was reached. He said Miller told him about it a couple of days ago. "He said he was going to notify his staff first," Cale said. In the city's media release, Miller said he loved serving Muskogee. "The City of Muskogee has the leadership in place to continue our success," Miller said. "Muskogee has been more than just a workplace for me. It has been a home, a community, and a place of growth. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and will always cherish the relationships I've built here. I look forward to seeing the continued progress of this wonderful city." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miller was hired in August 2016 after serving as assistant city manager. Ward IV council member Tracy Hoos said Miller's dedication to Muskogee residents and city staff "truly set him apart as a remarkable leader." "His tireless advocacy and commitment have left an indelible mark on our community," Hoos said in the media release. "He will be deeply missed by all who have had the privilege to work alongside him." Did you use Right to Buy? Get in touch: money@telegraph.co.uk Council tenants are racing to use Right to Buy ahead of Labours plans to significantly cut the number of homes available on the scheme. Local authorities have reported a surge in demand since the Budget, when Rachel Reeves announced a cut to the maximum saving from 136,400 to just 38,000, with further reforms to be confirmed in the coming months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Councils told The Telegraph they have received hundreds of applications in recent weeks as buyers rushed to reap the savings. Right to Buy, which was founded by Margaret Thatcher, allows tenants who have lived in a council property for three years or more to purchase it from their local authority at a discounted rate. This period is poised to rise to 10 years under reforms led by Angela Rayner, the Housing Secretary, who benefitted from the Right to Buy scheme herself. A spokesman for Derby City Council told The Telegraph: We have received a significant response to the Governments announcement, receiving 367 Right to Buy applications since the announcement was made. Derby council added: This increase is in line with the level of applications received by our neighbouring local authorities. A number of different council teams are involved in processing these applications and we are currently putting plans in place to meet the increased demand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Council bodies have also confirmed a surge in applications. London Councils, which represents a collective of 32 boroughs, said: We are indeed hearing from boroughs of a significant increase in Right to Buy applications. A spokesman for the District Council Network, which oversees 169 district and unitary councils, also confirmed that some of its members had experienced an increase in applications. Earlier this week, City of Lincoln Council said it had received 77 applications since October 31 from council tenants asking to buy their homes. Typically, the city council only receives 50 applications a year. Darren Turner, director of housing and investment at Lincoln Council, told the BBC: There has been a surge where people are concerned the unlimited timeframe would end and would be less favourable than it is now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve had around 100 applications [this financial year], but we dont expect all of them to go through to completion. We believe after losing a lot in one lump there will be a short-term deficit, but it should smooth back out as fewer people apply in coming years. On Nov 21, the maximum Right to Buy discount was slashed to pre-2012 levels, from 136,400 to just 38,000 the maximum discount in place when Labour was last in government 15 years ago. But more changes are set to come in. In 2007, Angela Rayner used the scheme to buy her former council house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for 79,000 after claiming a 25pc discount. She later sold the property for 48,500 more than she paid for it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite reaping rewards from the scheme herself, Ms Rayner has said she will consider pulling new council homes out of the schemes purview entirely. Last week, Ms Rayner said leaving the Right to Buy scheme untouched while trying to build more social homes was like trying to fill a bath when the plugs not in. Other changes will include extending the time before you can sell a Right to Buy property from five to 10 years, and setting a target to replace all future sales on a one-for-one basis. Councils have argued the scheme has etched 2.2bn in their collective finances, arguing that they have not been able to afford to replace houses sold pushing up social housing wait lists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New Labour cut Right to Buy discounts in 1999, and again in 2003, down to 16,000 outside of London and the South East where they remained at 38,000. Sales bottomed as a result, falling from the 1m-high recorded in the first decade of the scheme to just 2,340 by 2009. In the last financial year, following the Tories changes to the scheme to make it more generous again, 10,896 homes were sold through Right to Buy. 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. CCTV: The second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) opened yesterday with the theme Connecting the World for a Shared Future. The proportion of foreign exhibitors is higher than the first CISCE. The event is widely welcomed by companies from all countries and exhibition booths are once again in high demand. Can you share more with us on that? Mao Ning: The second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) opened in Beijing yesterday. Premier Li Qiang had a dialogue with exhibitors and delegates, and Vice President Han Zheng attended and addressed the opening ceremony. This years CISCE attracted close to 700 exhibitors from 69 countries and international organizations. Over 60 percent of the exhibitors are Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, and the proportion of foreign exhibitors rose from 26 percent at the first CISCE to 32 percent. As President Xi Jinping noted, maintaining the resilience and stability of global industrial and supply chains is a vital guarantee for promoting the development of the world economy. In global industrial and supply chain cooperation, China has long been not only a participant and beneficiary, but also a staunch defender and contributor. We have made positive contributions to the growth of the world economy. Currently, the world economic growth remains anemic and moves of protectionism and overstretching the concept of security disrupt global industrial and supply chains, increasing the costs of companies, lowering economic efficiency and hindering common development. China will continue to take concrete actions to keep global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded, and work with all countries to jointly build an open world economy. Reuters: Sweden is asking a Chinese ship to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate the Swedish investigation into a recent damage to undersea fiber optic cables in Baltic Sea. Does China plan to send the Yi Peng 3 back into Swedish waters? Mao Ning: As weve noted before, China has unimpeded communication channels with relevant parties, including Sweden. Let me say again that China always advocates working with other countries to keep global undersea cables and other infrastructure safe and secure in accordance with international law. Rudaw Media Network: China has expanded its visa-free policy allowing visitors from a variety of countries into China without a visa. When will China issue tourist visa to Iraqi passport holders and when will Iraqi passport holders can travel to China without a visa? Mao Ning: China attaches high importance to cross-border travel and stands ready to, on the basis of visa facilitation policies and measures announced previously, continue providing more facilitation for foreign nationals, including Iraqi citizens, to travel to China. Dragon TV: China recently rolled out measures to facilitate cross-border travel. Last week, a new batch of countries were added to the visa-free list. We noticed that China is becoming an increasingly popular destination for foreign tourists. Places in China have become trending searches on multiple tourism platforms, and the number of reservations for tours to China surged on many foreign e-commerce tourism platforms. Can you give us more details? Mao Ning: China has extended the visa-free policy to 38 countries since the end of last year and so far has realized comprehensive mutual visa exemption with 25 countries in total. We have also made Chinese visa application more efficient and easier by improving the visa application form, canceling visa reservation, expanding the scope of fingerprinting exemption, lowering visa fees and other measures. While streamlining the procedure of travelling to China, we are also committed to making life and work in China more convenient and comfortable for foreign friends. Places including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province improved payment services, including by mobile devices, bank cards and cash, to make online shopping and transportation more problem-free for foreign friends. Chinese telecom providers, by opening new shops, improving foreign language services and launching new packages, have enabled foreign friends to access and use 5G network more conveniently. More cities have set up special windows to provide one-stop service to help foreign nationals to get work permit and residence permit faster. We will make continued effort to facilitate cross-border travel. We welcome friends from all countries to visit China, experience the countrys glamour and share in the dividends of Chinas development. AFP: A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon took effect on Wednesday after more than a year of fighting that has killed thousands of people. Does China have a comment on this? Mao Ning: China is closely following the current situation between Lebanon and Israel, and has always been calling on all parties to earnestly abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1701. We support all efforts conducive to deescalating the tensions and realizing peace, and welcome the ceasefire agreement reached by relevant sides. In the meanwhile, China believes that the protracted fighting in Gaza is the root cause of this round of turmoil in the Middle East, and all parties need to work together to realize a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza at an early date. Xinhua News Agency: The G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting Statement said the group seeks constructive and stable relations with China and stands ready to cooperate with China to address global challenges. In the meantime, the group asks China to stop supporting Russias defense industry, plays up the allegation of Chinas overcapacity and makes irresponsible remarks on issues related to the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong. Do you have any comment? Mao Ning: Since the beginning of this year, weve made clear Chinas solemn position on the G7s erroneous remarks related to China on multiple occasions. Given that the G7 members say they seek constructive and stable relations with China and stand ready to cooperate with China to address global challenges, they should champion the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit and act on their words accordingly rather than smear and attack China. China has been objective and just on the Ukraine crisis and actively promoted talks for peace. China has never provided weapons to parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, even drones for civilian use, and opposes using civilian drones for military purposes. The normal economic ties and trade between China and Russia should not be disrupted or coerced by any third party. The so-called allegation of Chinas overcapacity has been proved a false one by a large number of informative facts and statistics. We hope relevant countries will keep an open mind and pursue fair competition. Chinas position on issues related to the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong is consistent and clear-cut. We firmly oppose the G7 undermining Chinas sovereignty and interfering in Chinas internal affairs. We urge G7 countries to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations and look after their own affairs. As we speak, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace in our world and international peace and development are facing unprecedented challenges. As a responsible major country, China always upholds fairness and justice, advocates openness and inclusiveness and brings benefits to the world through its development. We hope the G7 countries will stop indulging in geopolitical games, discard the narrow zero-sum mindset and make concrete contributions to international solidarity and cooperation. AFP: Trump said on Monday he would be slapping China with a 10 percent tariff above any additional tariffs. Does the Foreign Ministry have any additional comments on this? Mao Ning: The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson has responded to that yesterday, which you may refer to, and I have nothing more to add. NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's tourism marketers have vowed to capitalize on the Lamu Cultural Festival, set to begin on Thursday in the coastal town of Lamu, to boost tourism. June Chepkemei, chief executive officer of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), said that more than 30,000 local and international tourists are expected to attend the three-day annual festival, a major tourism event celebrating coastal Lamu's heritage and traditions in a carnival atmosphere. "The Lamu festival is a major draw that consistently attracts thousands of visitors to the Kenyan coastal region. Its significance as a cultural icon is undeniable," Chepkemei said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. She said the cultural event is indicative of the coastal appeal not just for beach holidays but also for the unique cultural immersion and experiences on the heritage, history, and traditions of Lamu. Each year, the Lamu Archipelago, a cluster of islands along Kenya's north coast, comes to life during the annual Lamu Cultural Festival that displays its rich Swahili heritage, receiving visitors from Europe, North America, and Asia as well as regional visitors including domestic ones to join the revelry and experience Lamu's vibrant culture, music, food, competitions, and handicrafts. Chepkemei emphasized KTB's commitment to supporting community-driven events that boost local economies, adding that the agency is mapping out a list of festivals across Kenya to promote different regions and thereby enhance the marketing of diverse attractions. Lamu Governor Issa Timamy said the festival has evolved over the years, saying that this year's edition promises to be bigger and better, particularly with enhanced international exposure. "We have positioned the Lamu festival as our island's hallmark event that showcases our people, heritage, and traditions in all their color and grandeur," Timamy said. Marked by traditional dances, displays of handicrafts and unique competitions on water and land, Swahili poetry, donkey races, dhow races, henna painting, and musical performances, the Lamu Cultural Festival reveals an important part of Swahili culture with a rare and wonderful opportunity to experience the island's unspoiled beaches, medieval ambiance, architecturally magnificent old town, gracious population, and traditions of an enchanted island where history continues to live. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) Hurricane Helene ripped through the region almost two months ago, and a lot of progress has been made with recovery and rebuild, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy told News Channel 11 that many people in the community are finding a place to call home after having their houses washed away. We have houses under construction, and with the anticipation of having another eight to ten start after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, said Grandy. Thats a really good start on getting people back in homes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roads across Washington County are still covered in debris, something that is a top priority for county leaders. TDOT has authorized the contractor that they contract to clean up state routes, to clean up county routes as well, said Grandy. That debris not only includes vegetated materials and construction debris, but also all that silt thats everywhere along the roads. Disaster Recovery centers are still open across the county, with FEMA representatives working to get people the assistance they need but for those who not qualify, Grandy said they are working on a plan to help those people. Theres a long term recovery group thats been established, said Grandy. That is going to be working into the future to match the needs of those victims from the flood with the resources that have been made available through volunteers, donations, church groups and other community resources so that these people can get back on their feet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unicoi County is also making progress, as all of its roads are open, but minor paving and resurfacing work still needs to be done. Were in this for the long haul, and the improvements weve seen, but theyll be seen in a lot smaller things on a daily basis, said Unicoi County Mayor Garland Evely. The county also has all its Disaster Recovery Centers open, and Mayor Evely said they have two things that are their top priority in recovery efforts. The next steps currently, like I said, is the Industrial Park, getting that road in and access into those industries, said Evely. The second priority is getting the wastewater treatment plant back to normal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our wastewater treatment plant is still up and running now, said Evely. But were still having issues with that. The road to recovery is long, Evely said it could take years before the county really gets back to normal. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg on Tuesday delivered a withering assessment of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianis conduct during a court hearing over the $148 million he owes for defaming two Georgia election workers. The decorum of the former Donald Trump lawyer has certainly changed from when I sketched him 44 years ago as a prosecutor, Rosenberg told CNNs Kaitlan Collins. Hes losing it, said Rosenberg, whose depictions of Giuliani in court showed him furiously pointing and sat angrily with his arms crossed. He was wild and I feel bad for anyone who represents him. He blurts out orders at his lawyers who are at the podium and hes interrupting all the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Giuliani was yelling at his attorney and shouting orders at him while he was talking to the judge, Rosenberg recalled. At one point in the hearing, Giuliani claimed he couldnt pay his bills. But Rosenberg said, I didnt really feel sorry for him. Im sure hes managing OK, and these women who hes defamed are not seeing much of it at all. Giuliani was in 2023 found liable for defaming poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss after he falsely claimed theyd tampered with 2020 election ballots in a bid to rig the result against Trump. Watch the interview here: Related... Recently released, beautifully drawn courtroom sketches are giving us a vivid depiction of just how out of control Rudy Giuliani is right now. Artist Jane Rosenberg, who has sketched the likes of Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and Jeffrey Epstein while they were on trial, appeared on CNN Tuesday to discuss her experience sketching Donald Trumps embattled crony. His decorum has certainly changed from when I sketched him 44 years ago as a prosecutor, Rosenberg said. Hes losing it. He was wild. I feel bad for anyone who represents him. He blurts out orders at his lawyers who are at the podium, and hes interrupting all the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rosenbergs sketches show Giuliani looking absolutely incensedbrow furrowed and arms crossed in one; finger pointing sharply at someone in another. Rosenbergs sketch captures Giulianis outburst about how broke he is right now. The former New York City mayor was ordered to pay $148 million to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers he defamed after Donald Trump lost the state in 2020. Hes already handed over his luxury watches, a diamond ring, and a 1980 Mercedes-Benz, and claims he has no cash left to fulfill the judgment. Brandelyn Clark Cronkite News LOS ANGELES As COVID-19 is expected to surge this winter, communities across the Southwest face rising hospitalizations and new, resilient variants. Infection rates can be even more severe for marginalized populations in these states. Limited health-care access and historically low vaccination rates amplify the burden on these communities and underscore long-standing health disparities. Following a summer surge, this new wave serves as a stark reminder of how these inequities continue to put vulnerable groups at greater risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is deploying mobile vaccine clinics to bring updated Moderna and Pfizer shots directly to high-risk areas. Meanwhile, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) continues to lead efforts on the ground through its network of promotores for Latino and Indigenous individuals. These community health workers help increase vaccination rates and provide essential health education. Mar Velez, LCHS director of policy, spoke about the high stakes for families in these vulnerable areas. At the height of the pandemic, a lot of Latino and Indigenous workers were still going into work, still having to go in person. Many of us are the sole provider of our families, and so we need to show up to work. Its very much a similar situation now where folks are going into work, facing person-to-person interactions, and those infections are impacting us disproportionately, Velez said. Were the ones that are out there on the front lines. The likelihood of us becoming infected is that much greater. We dont have the luxury of staying at home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several factors are expected to drive a winter surge in the Southwest, including the circulation of new variants like KP.2 and KP.3. Though more contagious, they are not particularly severe. The week of Aug. 10, the percentage of U.S. individuals testing positive for the virus reached its highest point since January 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases, emergency department visits and hospitalizations for COVID-19 are currently declining nationally, with a positivity rate of 3.8% in California, Arizona and Nevada on Nov. 9. The CDCs epidemic trend modeling suggests that COVID-19 cases are likely increasing in California and Arizona. These trends are based on data from emergency department visits and provide insights into whether infections are growing or declining at the state level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though death rates are down, experts say the statistics are still alarming and that in marginalized communities, the illness never really left. Latino and Indigenous communities are still feeling the impacts and the consequences of the pandemic. Those infections and hospitalizations that are happening now are impacting communities of color, Latino and Indigenous communities disproportionately, Velez said. Health disparities in marginalized communities are rooted in systemic factors such as discrimination and unequal access to social resources such as housing, education and employment. These inequalities lead to higher rates of chronic diseases and limited health-care access, while cultural, language and trust barriers worsen the challenges. To address these disparities, the county public health departments Mobile Vaccine Team organizes pop-up clinics in areas of high need, prioritizing seniors, people experiencing homelessness, and those without health insurance, according to a media representative from the county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between October and December last year, the team facilitated 3,643 events and administered over 31,000 vaccine doses at no cost. This year, 338 free mobile vaccine events are scheduled, along with in-home appointments for residents who are unable to visit vaccination sites. Additionally, the county offered back-to-school clinics in underserved areas to provide updated COVID-19 and flu shots. Arcenio Lopez is the executive director of the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP). The organization provides essential services and works closely with marginalized communities, including migrant populations. He highlighted the longstanding funding disparities community-based organizations face. These groups, which have long advocated for financial support for programs that serve marginalized communities, often see funding only in response to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For years, weve been saying theres these organizations who need financial support to develop programs, to do these initiatives, to do outreach and education. Those CBOs (community-based organizations), nonprofit organizations and groups that are doing the work are always the last to receive funding, Lopez said. When we (ask for) government grants, they say there is no money. But, interestingly, when COVID happened, everyone was trying to send money to organizations. Marginalized communities often struggle with distrust toward outsiders, particularly in health-care settings. This mistrust, heightened during the pandemic, created challenges for health initiatives. Many hesitated to engage with health services due to a history of exploitation and communication barriers. Lopezs and Velezs organizations address this by relying on trusted community members who share the same language and experiences as the people they serve. These peer-to-peer models have proven effective in overcoming resistance and improving receptivity to health initiatives, particularly vaccinations, by cultivating trust in a way outsiders cannot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A study by LA-based nonprofit Cedars-Sinai found that COVID-19 vaccinations significantly reduced disparities in disease incidence between low- and high-income communities in Los Angeles. Although lower-income communities initially had lower vaccination rates, the impact of vaccination was more significant and helped reduce income-related disparities. Everything we do at LCHC is informed by and requires community participation. Without the participation of our communities, then its not as effective, Velez said. Policy work is never perfect, but its even less perfect if we dont have impacted voices at the table. We cannot design policy solutions without the participation of our community because we often get it wrong (or) were not able to address the issues that are most important to our communities. It is at the heart of what we do. Nov. 27A Claremore group assembled to address short-term needs after the May tornado is now shifting to support survivors' long-term recovery. Claremore & Rogers County Disaster Assistance formed just after the May 25 tornado struck Claremore. The volunteer group has connected disaster victims to resources and given out checks to help people cover needs like bills or groceries. Debbie Long, mayor of Claremore and a founding member of CRCDA, said she has found people still need help six months after the tornado hit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I think we all started by thinking, 'Oh, we'll help for a couple months, and then everything will be good,'" Long said. "But the more we helped, the more we realized this is going to go beyond a couple of months because you can get the immediate stuff done, but some of these people are going to be needing help for a year or two." Long said CRCDA is now becoming an official group that will meet regularly. The group hosted two informational sessions in the last week where people could learn about the group's plans and sign up to an email list. Anyone interested in joining should send an email to crcdacare@gmail.com, Long said. During the tornado recovery process so far, CRCDA has leaned on community volunteers and local contractors to assist residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In changing gears to the long term, the group is partnering with Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. Oklahoma VOAD is a nonprofit with members involved in many aspects of disaster recovery, from supplying food and shelter to providing emotional and spiritual care. "We could do it by ourselves, but having VOAD as a resource just in themselves lets us have knowledge and education and resources we probably would not have thought of," Long said. Dana Parker is the disaster response coordinator for the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church, a VOAD member. Parker presented at the informational meeting on what putting together a long-term recovery group looks like and how VOAD can help. Parker said VOAD members would sit in on CRCDA meetings and offer help, including money, where it's needed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said VOAD members bring in specialized knowledge that would help CRCDA better assist survivors. For example, she said Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster could assess a survivor's home and come up with a list of materials needed to restore it. "What we try to do is make sure everyone's needs are identified, and then we can respond together," Parker said. CRCDA has so far worked with survivors directly. Parker said VOAD would supply the group with case managers who would determine survivors' needs and then present these needs to the group at meetings. Parker said case managers would protect survivors' identity, describing them at meetings with demographic characteristics instead of their names. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma is seeking a contract with the state to provide Rogers County survivors with case management services. Paul Louderback, the organization's disaster response and preparedness coordinator, said the role of case managers is to determine which of VOAD's portfolio of resources survivors may need. "We help disaster survivors walk through the recovery process, whatever that may be," Louderback said. "We can help with financial resources; ... we don't have all of these ourselves, but with our partners, we can provide them." Louderback said Catholic Charities is reaching out to people in Rogers County affected by the tornado. He said people should know the organization is not calling to scam them; instead, it's there to check up on survivors and see what they need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Long said CRCDA has some funds set aside for its transition to a long-term group, but they're not enough. The group had previously asked people to donate through Destiny Life Church in Claremore, but Long said CRCDA is now tapping the Tulsa Community Foundation as its fiscal sponsor. She said details will become available soon on how to donate through the Tulsa Community Foundation. "Trying to raise money six months after tornado, you know, [people are] past thinking about that because you drive around, things look better," Long said. "But you don't realize there's still so much more out there that needs to be done, and that's going to take financial resources." DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Crews have responded to a reported fire in Dayton. According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, firefighters were called at 2:32 p.m. to the 800 block of N. Main Street for a reported fire. Heavy smoke is visible on the ODOT cameras at I-75 at Riverview Avenue and I-75 at S.R. 4. OHGO OHGO This is developing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. This is a crime. And it was a crime of epic proportions. Thats what the prosecutor for the State of Iowa vs. Lance and Staci Seastrand told Our Quad Cities News. The Seastrands were convicted of stealing half a million dollars from Lances dad. On Tuesday, Our Quad Cities News learned from court documents that the case against Staci Seastrand was dismissed. Lance Seastrand (L) and Staci Seastrand (Clinton County Sheriffs Office) Meanwhile, the victim Lance Seastrands father has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars that he probably will never see again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If somebody assaults you, you can heal, said Lisa Maidak, assistant county attorney. And you can pick up your life where you left off. If somebody takes away almost every dime that you have, its gone. Its gone. The chance of you getting it back is not likely. I think that what happens is sometimes when a family member is cheated by another family member, theyre not wanting to contact law enforcement because they still have that son or that daughter thats committing those crimes against them, and theyd rather have the relationship than to have the money, said Maidak. Not in this case. The victim reported to authorities in Clinton County his money was dwindling and he didnt know why. Wolf said, as a result, detectives from the Clinton County Sheriffs Office specifically Detective Deputy Scott Wainwright worked with Wolf on a forensic examination of all of the accounts of the victim to make sure they knew what was going on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wainwright pored over financial records. Lance Seastrand was his fathers power of attorney. Court documents show several financial transactions benefiting the Seastrands. A lot of the money was being spent in casinos. This went into hundreds of thousands of dollars, said the prosecutor. Both of the Seastrands pleaded guilty to charges. A Clinton County judge gave them suspended prison sentences, placed them on probation and ordered them to pay restitution. We want to set an example of deterrence, Wolf said. People believe that, as they get older, they actually believe theyre better at financial decisions. Studies show us that, actually, as we age, were far less accurate in our financial decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clinton National Bank President Jennifer Boysen explains how good banking can help. Unfortunately, based on our tracking record, 99.9 percent of the time when we think its fraud, it has been, she said. Ricci Aquilani is a senior vice president at the bank, where he oversees compliance and security. He agrees. Our regulators do check to see and make sure that we are monitoring (customers) account activity, knowing what their normal patterns should be, he said. An SUV and half a million: What they took and when On Dec. 20, 2021, Lance Seastrands father reported from 2019 to the end of 2022, Lance Seastrand and Lances wife, Staci Seastrand, took advantage of Lances father while Lance sered as his power of attorney. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Lance was power of attorney, he and Staci stole over $500,000 by funneling the older mans money to joint bank accounts, affidavits say. The couple spent the money at several casinos, and to pay for bills that did not benefit Lances father. Lance Seastrand, as power of attorney, started taking money from his fathers IRA account at the local bank in 2020 in the amount of $172,930.31. During this time, Lance Seastrands father had an agreement with his son he could take some money from the account to remodel the basement; however, his father did not know how much money Lance Seastrand had taken. When Lance Seastrands father and another person were interviewed, they estimated about $2,000 of materials were purchased to refinish the basement mainly shower tiles and drywall. Lance and Staci Seastrand did not hire someone to complete the basement project. They hung the drywall and added the tiles to the shower, affidavits say. In 2021, the amount of money taken was over $58,000, effectively closing out the remaining balance in the IRA. Lance Seastrand elected not to withhold federal or state taxes on the final withdrawal of $21,322.17, affidavits show. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Affidavits say Lance Seastrands father had another IRA with Allianz Life Annuity Insurance. On May 13, 2019, Lance Seastrand, as power of attorney, became an authorized signer on his fathers local bank account without his fathers knowledge. The company would mail letters to the father about the subsequent transfers. He did not see these letters. The Seastrands were living with Lance Seastrands father while the following transfers occurred, and they would pick up the mail from the mailbox: July 27, 2019 : An electronic request was made to Alliance asking, need to make annual withdrawals but need assistance setting it up. Thank you, according to affidavits. Sept. 9, 2019: Documents from Allianz showed an electronic beneficiary change on the account of Lance Seastrands father to Lance M. Seastrand as the primary beneficiary. The father did not authorize or have any knowledge of this money being transferred and spent on things that did not benefit him, affidavits show. Sept. 9, 2019 : $21,000.00 to be transferred to the local bank account, according to affidavits. July 9, 2020 : $21,000.00 to be transferred to the local bank account, affidavits show. A pril 13, 2021 : A withdrawal request for $62,500, affidavits say. June 29, 2021: A withdrawal request for a $25,000, according to affidavits. July 9, 2021: A withdrawal request for $21,000.00, affidavits show. J uly 28, 2021: A written request for $15,000.00, with the name of Lance Seastrands father, who did not sign this form it was not his signature, affidavits say. Sept. 15, 2021: A withdrawal request for $15,000 was signed with the name of Lance Seastrands father, who did not sign this form it was not his signature, according to affidavits. Oct. 18, 2021: A withdrawal request for $8,750 was signed with the name of Lance Seastrands father, who did not sign this form it was not his signature, according to affidavits. Oct. 26, 2021: A withdrawal request for $6,250.00 was signed with the name of Lance Seastrands father, who did not sign this form it was not his signature., affidavits show. Nov. 4, 2021 : A withdrawal request for $46,666.66 was signed with the name of Lance Seastrands father, who did not sign this form it was not his signature. Lance Seastrand used his power of attorney status as the reason for the initial withdrawal of an IRA to transfer the money into a joint account with his father, affidavits say. Nov. 22, 2020: A check is written for $16,500.00. Pay to is Staci Seastrand, who endorses the check. The check is deposited into another financial institution. The account owners at the other institution are Staci L. Seastrand and Lance M. Seastrand, affidavits say. Nov. 6, 2020. : A check was written out of the joint account with George for $16,500.00 was Pay to Staci Seastrand and signed by Staci Seastrand. This check was deposited into Blackhawk Bank, dated Nov. 24, 2020. Staci and Lance Seastrand own the account. Around this period, the bank documents indicate they are at the Gold Strike Casino in Robinsonville, Mississippi, according to affidavits. April 23, 2019: Lance Seastrands father bought a 2018 Kia van for around $27,072. Lance Seastrand, as power of attorney, signed this check. Purchasing the van provided reliable transportation for Lance and Staci to use for themselves, and Lance and Staci could drive (the father) to his appointments, affidavits say. On Dec. 27, 2021. Lance Seastrand applied for a replacement title to the van, and he had instructions for the new title to be mailed to his new address in Mississippi, depriving his father of the vehicle. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. LONDON (AP) A criminal investigation has been launched after the U.S. Air Force reported that drones were spotted flying over English military bases, a British official said Wednesday. The U.S. Air Force reported several incursions occurred in the past week at four bases where the American forces operate. The drones were monitored and unspecified mitigation measures were underway. Ministry of Defense Police and local authorities are investigating the activity alongside U.S. forces, Defense Minister Vernon Coaker said in Parliament. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We take any safety issue seriously and maintain robust measures at Ministry of Defense sites, Coaker said. This includes counter-drone capabilities. Anyone convicted could face up 14 years in prison under national security laws, Coaker said. Though it is unclear whether the drones had a hostile intent, the incidents come at a time which saw the most significant escalation of hostilities in Ukraine since Russias full-scale invasion nearly three years ago. Ukraine struck targets inside Russia with intermediate range missiles supplied by the U.S. and Britain after President Joe Biden authorized use of the weapons. Soon after, President Vladimir Putin said his country had the right to strike nations that allow their weapons to be used against Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The flights, which began Nov. 20 and included several incursions Tuesday, were spotted over or near RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell in eastern England as well as RAF Fairford in southwestern England. Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which the U.S. Air Force describes as the foundation of its combat capability in Europe. Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and Feltwell is a hub for housing, schools and other services. Fairford is home to the 501st Combat Support Wing Headquarters and the 420th Air Base Squadron. Coaker said a drone was also sited Friday flying about 250 meters (273 yards) from the Royal Navys flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as it entered the German port of Hamburg. (Bloomberg) -- While altcoins have seen increasing inflows this month amid Bitcoins record-breaking rally, the shadow of the 2021 crypto bubble still hangs over much of the sector. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bitcoin reached an all-time high just shy of $100,000 on Friday before pulling back from the milestone. The largest token by market value has surged since the presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who touts himself as pro-crypto, and the announced resignation of US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, as the industry anticipates a more friendly regulatory environment. Altcoins, or alternative cryptocurrencies, have followed some of the moves of Bitcoin, with many more than doubling in price from the start of the year. Still, many remain far off their all-time highs. In the past, altcoins have tended to outperform Bitcoin during rallies and vice-versa during bear markets because theyre usually more volatile and thinly traded. In 2021, altcoins such as XRP soared to fresh highs during Bitcoins earlier record run, but the tokens fell even further the following year after the collapse of crypto companies like FTX and Celsius. Since then, altcoins have been underperforming market bellwether Bitcoin, but have begun to see volume and price increases in November. Some crypto investors are hopeful altcoins could reach or surpass those 2021 prices, but James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, said hes skeptical of a big rally, especially if the new Trump administration introduces a national Bitcoin reserve. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has put forward a bill called the BITCOIN Act that would call on the US to sell some of the Federal Reserves gold to acquire 1 million Bitcoin for a strategic stockpile. It will just be different this time and thats partly because theres still a lot more potential positive price effects on the political dividend, the election dividend particularly around the BITCOIN Act, Butterfill said in an interview. If that gets enabled, I think that will lead to resurgence in the Bitcoin dominance. Solana is the only of the major altcoins that were around during the last major rally to reach a new all-time high this year. Nikolay Karpenko, a director at crypto trading firm B2C2, said theres potential for this rally to be different than 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The industry really matured a lot in these three, four years, we passed through the crypto winter, a lot of the players have much more robust systems in place, risk controls, he said. We see more strategic investors coming in, more institutional coming in to the space, so from that perspective we have a lot of potential. Whether altcoins can reach 2021 highs next year remains to be seen, but Karpenko says that theres a good chance as there are a lot of stars aligned. So far this year, four of the five major altcoins have seen gains near or above 100%, with only Ether lagging. While altcoins are seeing growth in trading, more than 60% of altcoin trading volume this month has been concentrated in the five most traded altcoins compared to less than 50% earlier this year, according to Dessislava Aubert, a research analyst at data provider Kaiko. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the reasons for this is that some outcomes are driven by idiosyncratic factors, Aubert said in an interview. Solana has been driven a lot by enthusiasm around ETF approval. Doge as well, of course it has had its own driving factors around payment features on it and Elon Musk. Musk will be co-leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trumps administration, with the acronym paying homage to the token. If more altcoins receive approval for exchange-traded funds under a Trump administration, that could increase institutional interest in some of these coins. But all altcoins may not see the same growth and price potential. Butterfill expects that an increase in altcoin prices wont happen across the board because the market is now staring to look toward fundamentals for cryptocurrency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is this correlation between Bitcoin and altcoins, but as the market continues to mature, I think people will start to differentiate between different assets and look at them more critically, he said. Even with these gains so far, altcoins still come at significantly lower cost than Bitcoin. Ether, the next closest in value, trades at around only 4% of the price of Bitcoin. Bitcoin snapped a four-day slide on Wednesday, and was trading about 2.5% higher at around $93,900. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. WINDHOEK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Namibians went to polling stations Wednesday as the country's eighth presidential and National Assembly elections commenced, with renewed hope for improved development and social progress. Voting began nationwide at 7 a.m., local time. Rameke Tjihaze from Karibib in the Erongo Region is a first-time voter. The 22-year-old man beamed with excitement when taking part in the southern African country's democratic process. "The election comes at a time when young people, especially, need to vote for parties that will address the challenges we face," he said. Meanwhile, David Shilongo, a pensioner from the Oshana Region in northern Namibia, cast his ballot for the fourth time. He was curious to see how voters would show loyalty to political parties and the rising popularity of newer parties. Namibia is believed to have its most contested general elections in 2024, with political parties ambitious to bring changes through their manifestos to tackle pressing issues. A total of 15 candidates are competing in the presidential elections, with 21 political parties and associations vying for 96 parliamentary seats. Namibian Vice President and South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said that the ruling party aims to overcome various challenges, particularly youth unemployment. The southern African country is currently grappling with a high unemployment rate of 33.4 percent, according to Namibia Statistics Agency. "Unemployment has a ripple effect on livelihoods and labor issues. Our focus is also to ensure that Namibians benefit from natural resources, especially with the emergence of the oil and green hydrogen industries," she said. Panduleni Itula, leader of the Independent Patriots for Change, mentioned that their party manifesto covers economic empowerment, employment creation, business climate reform, and agricultural transformation, among other issues. As president of the official opposition party, the Popular Democratic Movement, McHenry Venaani sought to tackle the high unemployment rate and enhance effective governance. While various parties have promoted gender parity in the distribution of parliamentary seats, the landscape is evolving at the presidential leadership level, which is seen as a commitment to the gender equality agenda, according to political expert Marius Kudumo. The 72-year-old veteran Nandi-Ndaitwah is contesting to become Namibia's first female president in the 2024 general elections, which can spark hopes of following in the footsteps of other African countries, such as Liberia, Malawi, and Tanzania. Johanna Iileka, a voter in her 30s from Khomas Region, anticipated significant changes in parliament due to the forthcoming ministerial appointments. "These elections will not only mark a great achievement for the party with the female presidential candidate but also for all Namibian women," she said. In rural Namibia, local leaders hope for impact at the grassroots level. Joshua Seibeb, chief of the Tsoaxudaman Traditional Authority in Otjimbingwe, Erongo Region, expressed hope that the election results and the new parliament would accelerate rural development by improving basic services and addressing water shortages for citizens. Polling stations are scheduled to close at 9 p.m. across 121 constituencies. De Wet Siluka, spokesperson for the Electoral Commission of Namibia, said that the commission has registered 1.45 million voters for the 2024 presidential and National Assembly elections. Rebecca Patience Muyenga, a presiding officer in Rundu, Kavango East Region, stated that the voting process ran smoothly, with a good turnout. Meanwhile, Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, who cast his ballot Wednesday morning in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, emphasized that it is a duty and privilege for every Namibian citizen to vote. "I urge all Namibians to go out and cast their votes in a respectable and peaceful manner," he said. Two people face charges in connection with the suspected abuse of a Bristol child who suffered more than a dozen rib fractures and other injuries. Rebeccalyn Tortora, 28, of Bristol and Michael Tortora, 32, of Wolcott were both arrested last Thursday and charged with one felony count of risk of injury to a child, according to the Bristol Police Department. The warrant affidavit supporting their arrests said the charges stem from an investigation that was launched after Rebeccalyn Tortora took the child to his pediatrician on Nov. 13, 2023, and was instructed to take the child for bloodwork and later to the Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford for unknown bruises. The police department began investigating upon receiving a suspected child abuse or neglect referral from the Connecticut Department of Children and Families on Nov. 15, 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The relationship between Michael and Rebeccalyn Tortora and the child is not made clear in a redacted version of the warrant affidavit. They are only identified as family members who took care of him. At the hospital, medical staff conducted a full skeletal survey on the victim and reportedly found healing rib fractures, a tibial corner fracture and a wrist fracture, the warrant affidavit said. The child had visible bruising on his chest and right arm. The doctors believed the injuries were suspicious and of nonaccidental trauma, police wrote in the warrant affidavit. When police and a DCF investigator spoke to Michael Tortora, he allegedly said he was told following the childs visit with a pediatrician that the boys injuries stemmed from him growing quickly, according to the warrant affidavit. He could not recall an incident where the child could have injured himself, and said he was concerned and wanted to ensure the boy did not get hurt any further, police wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Rebeccalyn Tortora spoke to investigators, she also alleged that the pediatrician attributed the childs bruising to growing rapidly and initially told her not to worry about it, according to the warrant affidavit. It wasnt until the most recent visit that she was informed to seek additional medical attention, she said. Rebeccalyn Tortora also expressed concern for the child and said she was not sure how he could have suffered his injuries, the warrant affidavit said. She signed a release allowing police to have access to the childs medical records from CCMC. According to the warrant affidavit, a DCF caseworker learned during the investigation that no mention was made of the bruising during one of the childs visits with a pediatrician and that it wasnt until after the bruising was documented that the doctor made a referral to CCMC, according to the warrant affidavit. When police inspected the childs hospital records, they reportedly showed that the boy was found with 14 fractures to a number of his ribs that were in the healing process and an additional four possible fractures that were also healing, according to the warrant affidavit. Doctors tested for a genetic bone disorder and other underlying medical conditions that could have led to the child fracturing easily, alleging that the boys injuries were inflicted, the warrant affidavit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Based on the doctors findings, DCF placed the child with his aunt, according to the warrant affidavit. Follow-ups with the child found that he has healed and continued to heal and thrive in this environment, indicating his injuries were allegedly the result of abuse, the warrant affidavit said. No additional injuries were found after the boy was removed from the care of Michael and Rebeccalyn Tortora, police wrote in the warrant affidavit. When a detective reached out for a follow-up interview with Michael Tortora, an attorney responded on his behalf and said his client would not be giving any further interviews, the warrant affidavit said. Rebeccalyn Tortora also declined to be interviewed and said she wanted to consult a lawyer, police wrote. Both suspects posted a $50,000 bond following their arrests. Rebeccalyn Tortora is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Jan. 17, while Michael Tortora is expected to face a judge on Jan. 22. HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Wednesday the election of U.S. President Donald Trump meant more of the same for Cuba and said his communist-run government does not fear its northern neighbor. "The results of these elections are nothing new for us," Diaz-Canel told state-run media on a visit to a town in Cuba's Cienfuegos province. "The country is ready. We will continue on, without fear, trusting that with our own effort, with our own talent, we can get ahead." The brief statement, broadcast on Cuba's midday newscast, was the first official reaction to Trump's election by the island's government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump doubled down on the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba by the United States during his first administration, ordering restrictions on travel to the island, as well as clamping down on remittances and immigration. He also placed Cuba once more on a list of nations that the U.S. says sponsor terrorism, a move that piled additional financial sanctions on the island. The hard-line measures effectively snuffed out what he called a "terrible and misguided deal" struck with Havana by his predecessor, Barack Obama, during a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two countries. The fresh sanctions also contributed to an unprecedented economic crisis in Cuba, with shortages of food, fuel and medicine that have stoked a record-breaking exodus from the island. Trump's nomination of Marco Rubio, an outspoken critic of the island's government, as secretary of state suggests Trump will maintain a similar approach during his second administration, which begins on Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diaz-Canel on Wednesday left the door open to negotiation with the U.S., but only on "equal terms," he told local reporters. "We have always stated that we have nothing against the people of the United States and that we are willing to dialogue on equal terms with the U.S. government," he said. "Without impositions, with respect and nothing that affects our sovereignty or our independence." (Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) Nearly two months after the devastating floods in Cocke County, donations continue to pour in. A group of students and faculty from Cumberland County High School made the nearly three-hour drive from Crossville donating supplies, toys and food for those impacted by the floods. Those from the school that made the trip got a first hand look at some of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Cocke County woman collecting campers for displaced families after Helene flooding Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It brings the world into perspective. So much you see or hear on your news every night, youre divided and all the hate and all that, Aaron Daenell with the CCHS Future Business Leaders of America club said. Being able to come out and show what is really going on in the world and whats going on in our community and in the state of Tennessee. It really helps bring the world in and sheds a different light on whats going on around you. I think its really eye-opening because yes, you see it on the news, you see it as an event, a natural disaster that happened, FBLA member Ciandra San Inocencio said. Actually going out to these locations and talking to the people is completely different because there is a life behind that and youre talking to a person who has been affected. The donations delivered to Greene and Cocke Counties were gathered in less than a month, a true testament to the Cumberland County community. We are really thankful to be from a place that comes together as a community, not only for people in our community but state and nation wide, Maryselle Lea with the Schools Future Farmers of America club said. This is not the first time we have hosted a drive like this and been overwhelmed with outpouring of support not only from our school system but also our community as a whole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Townhall meeting of East TN nonprofits focused on youth outreach I think it really shows just how well the community can come together, FFA member Kayleigh Bolin said. Whenever youre looking outside of the community to a perspective point, youre kind of like well whats the community like? I think events like this show that Cumberland County is the place to be if youre looking for community. The group even brought extra gifts for one mother and son as they move into their new tiny home after their home was swept away during the flood. They gave me a ton of stuff and one thing that I love the most is this Bible that they gave me, Korbin Hurst said. Its a true blessing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its amazing that they would even come, Korbins mom Samantha said. Theres good people in this world and I thank them very much. See more top stories on WATE.com While in Cocke County, the group heard some stories from those who lived through the flood. The groups goal was to have a newfound perspective of the devastation caused and being able to provide help to their neighbors in East Tennessee. The group telling 6 News they plan on doing another trip closer to Christmas to bring more supplies to the area. They also brought nearly 50 pre-made meals for the food pantry to give to those in need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. A 19-year-old woman died when she was struck by a falling tree as she was riding her bicycle in the eastern Dutch city of Lochem during a severe storm, police reported on Wednesday. The country was hit by winds gusting up to 120 kilometres per hour during the afternoon and evening. Trees were uprooted and traffic disrupted, police reported. On Wednesday, Dutch airline KLM cancelled more than 70 flights as a precautionary measure due to Storm Conall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokeswoman for the airline told the ANP news agency that the flights in question were European flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The airport's website showed that more than 50 inbound flights had been cancelled on Wednesday, while the majority of flights that did land were delayed. ANP reported that the weather led to traffic jams, train delays and the cancellation of ferry services between the mainland and the Wadden Sea islands. The storm is expected to move towards Germany next. Some Washington, D.C. residents are taking their Airbnbs off the market for President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration in protest. Residents are calling on Airbnb hosts to either blackout the dates around Trumps inauguration or increase the prices and donate the proceeds to liberal causes, The Washington Post reports. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president on January 20. Resident Stacy Kane, an Airbnb host who has led the charge, is circulating a letter among community groups and local government officials explaining the cause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The blackout will show Trump supporters who are coming into the DMV that we do not welcome hate, misogyny, or intentions to take over D.C., Kanes letter reads. Kane told the Post she wants to try to make any kind of difference that we can in the situation we find ourselves in as D.C. residents and just as human beings right now. Workers prepare a media riser for the 2025 presidential inauguration outside the White House. Donald Trump has made his disdain for Washington, DC clear, once calling it filthy and crime-ridden' (Getty Images) So far four people have signed up, Kate said, and only two provided their email addresses, according to the Post. Others are skeptical of how widespread Kanes initiative will be. Stuff like that always happens, Elliott Ferguson, CEO of Destination DC, told the Post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People will stay lets protest and some will, but most wont, he added. Theyll try to find a way to maximize revenue. For many DC residents, Trumps second inauguration is especially personal after he made his dislike for the nations capital clear, once calling it filthy and crime-ridden, and threatening a federal takeover of the District. CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT I HAD TO FLY TO A FILTHY, DIRTY, FALLING APART, & VERY UNSAFE WASHINGTON, D.C., TODAY, & THAT I WAS THEN ARRESTED BY MY POLITICAL OPPONENT, WHO IS LOSING BADLY TO ME IN THE POLLS, CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IT WAS A VERY GOOD DAY! he wrote on Truth Social last August. Trump once faced charges in Washington D.C. for crimes connected to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including his alleged role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, all charges were dismissed after Trump won a second term in the White House. The president-elect also faced off against Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2020, when protests broke out over the murder of George Floyd. Trump said Bowser had lost control of the city, and declared a multi-agency lockdown. Then, Trump and several staffers walked by St Johns Church which was vandalized after riot police cleared largely peaceful demonstrators in nearby Lafayette Square using tear gas. There, Trump stood silently and was photographed holding up a Bible, which some speculated was upside down. Bowser subsequently ordered Black Lives Matter to be painted on a street near the White House in giant yellow letters. BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry named District Attorney Tony Clayton as the new chair of the Southern University Board of Supervisors on Wednesday morning. Claytons new role goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. I have known Tony for a long time and there is no one better suited for this position. As a graduate of Southern University, he knows exactly what it takes to bring the Universitys education to a higher standard and properly train students for the workforce. I look forward to his great work, said Landry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clayton graduated from Southern University in 1988 and Southern University Law Center in 1991. He has served as the chairman and vice chairman of the universitys board of supervisors. In 2020, he was elected district attorney for Iberville, West Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee parishes. He previously served as first assistant district attorney and chief of felony trials for the 18th Judicial District Office. Louisiana governor calls on censure of LSU law professor after Trump election comments Governor Landry is serious about education, and bringing education to a higher standard in Louisiana. I stand ready to implement this agenda and grow Southern Universitys education and workforce standards, said Clayton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The boards next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 29, in New Orleans. Latest News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com. POTTSVILLE The state will not seek the death penalty in the case of a 20-year-old Port Carbon man accused of killing two New Philadelphia teens nearly 14 months ago. Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael OPake revealed during a status conference that he decided to forego pursuing a capital case against Lamour Curtis Branch, who remains jailed on charges he killed Hunter Mock and Angelito Xavier Caraballo in a wooded area in October 2023. * Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Angelito Xavier Caraballo (FILE PHOTO) * Hunter Mock (FILE PHOTO) Show Caption 1 of 2 Angelito Xavier Caraballo (FILE PHOTO) Expand OPake said he made the decision previously, but consulted with the mothers of the two slain teens. I really always strongly felt like he deserves it, said Tanya Evans, Caraballos mother, who said the district attorney contacted her weeks ago to inform her of the decision. Pennsylvania has not staged an execution since July 1999 when House of Horrors killer Gary Heidnik, who tortured and murdered women in his Philadelphia basement, died by lethal injection. Evans said she realized that since no one had been executed in 25 years it likely wasnt going to happen if Branch is convicted of killing her 16-year old son and 18-year old Mock. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OPake declined to elaborate on his decision in the case. I think it would be hard for them to get it, added Kate Mock. I dont feel like a quick and easy death would be sufficient. During Mondays status conference with President Judge Jacqueline Russell counsel for Branch requested 60 additional days to file pretrial motions. OPake did not object. Branch waived his right to a formal arraignment in October when he pleaded not guilty. State police charged Branch with murder, aggravated assault and other charges stemming from the Oct. 8, 2023, killings of Mock and Caraballo. Their bodies were found in a wooded area off Ferndale Road about a mile east of Route 209. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mock had been shot in the head, and Caraballo stabbed. LAMOUR C. BRANCH (FILE PHOTO) Branch was charged in June in connection with the deaths. He has been in jail since December when Russell revoked his bail for violating conditions of a Sept. 4 bail release by failing to meet with his probation officer and also failing to appear for a Dec. 5 hearing in a burglary case. Branch initially denied being at the scene of the October 2023 murder, but later admitted it, according to state police. Search warrants show that he told police about going with Mock and Caraballo and another man to New Philadelphia to take turns firing a gun. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He claims the other man shot Mock. The bodies of Mock and Caraballo were found after a friend of the two teens called state police at Frackville Oct. 10, 2023, to report she had found the victims at The Sanchez, the nickname for an old mining area. During a June press conference at Frackville state police barracks, OPake said he was confident the person responsible for the deaths of Mock and Caraballo was in custody. We feel that the appropriate charges are now going to be heard by the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, he said at the time, and I believe today is the first day that we can hope to bring justice to the victims in this matter and bring peace to the family and closure to the family. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Wednesday on the Daily 8, were looking at a Kalamazoo shooting that left two people injured, a potential new hotel at the Ford Airport, the return of Velvet Peanut Butter to Michigan and more. You can watch the full Daily 8 for Nov. 27, 2024, in the video player above or check out any of the stories mentioned below: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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 Monday 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. "She had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her," the former journalist's friends shared Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic Dan Rather and wife Jean Rather in March 2014 Dan Rather and wife Jean Rather in March 2014 Jean Rather, an artist and the wife of former television anchor Dan Rather, has died. She was 89. Rather's death was announced by Dan's friends on his official Facebook page on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The cause of death was cancer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family, they wrote, adding that Rather died at their Austin, Texas, home that morning. Paul Bruinooge/getty Jean Goebel and Dan Rather in April 2017 Jean Goebel and Dan Rather in April 2017 She had been on hospice care for some time, but the news still comes as a shock for those of us who knew and loved her, the post continued, asking all to keep the Rather family in their thoughts. Jean lived a full life as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist and a true Texan," the statement read. Related: Celebrity Couples Together for More Than 50 Years Rather was surrounded by her family, as well as her artwork, according to the statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After graduating from Smithville public schools, Rather began her career and met Dan while working at a radio station in Houston. Throughout their nearly 67-year marriage, the couple lived in various parts of the world, including Dallas, Washington, D.C., London and New York City. Guy DeLort/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Jean Rather and Dan Rather in December 1982 Jean Rather and Dan Rather in December 1982 The Rathers moved back to Texas in 2021. Jean was a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm. She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile," the statement continued. Dan made Rather feel as though she was living out her dreams as a real-life Cinderella, the statement read. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jean was a tremendous mother and grandmother, making every game, cheering on every win, putting Band-Aids on every skinned knee, and serving as a confidante and friend to all her family members, the tribute continued. Although Rather presented herself in a modest way, she was still a very accomplished artist with paintings displayed across the U.S. at colleges and in galleries, the tribute noted. Cindy Ord/Getty Jean Rather and Dan Rather in June 2023 Jean Rather and Dan Rather in June 2023 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rather is survived by her husband, Dan, son Danjack and daughter Robin, along with their partners and children, and extended family members. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin. While speaking to PEOPLE last June about the documentary Rather, Dan, 93, shared that his wife "was absolutely committed" to him during his decades-long career in journalism that took him all across the globe. "The first year I was with CBS News, I was home 41 days out of the year. Forty-one days out of the year. Very hard to hold a marriage and a family together then," he recalled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dan said Rather's "fighting heart" was the glue in their relationship. 'Whatever it takes, we're going to make it work.' And maybe the saving grace was ... [that] when I was home, I tried to hit the off switch. I tried to make every hour count with my children, Robin, my eldest, and Dan, my youngest. They grew up with it. And again, all credit to Jean to whom I've been married for 66 years now." NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan African countries should explore innovative health financing models to enhance their response to the growing disease burden on the continent, suggested African executives at a virtual forum Wednesday. The forum, convened by Africa Health Business, a Pan-African healthcare consultancy, and Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, was held under the theme "Health as an investment: Sustainable resourcing for comprehensive, outcome-based delivery of quality healthcare services." Senior policymakers, industry executives, investors, researchers, and campaigners attending the event agreed that addressing the financing gap is crucial to improving health outcomes across Africa. Amit Thakker, executive chairman of Africa Health Business, based in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, said that adequate financing for the health sector will lead to improved life expectancy, economic growth, and social cohesion across the continent. Thakker observed that every U.S. dollar invested in health could generate an additional 35 dollars for African economies while expanding access to essential services such as childhood immunization, safe motherhood, and early diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. "Investing in health will create wealth for African nations. Their gross domestic product will expand because of increased lifespan and productivity of the workforce," Thakker said. Micheal Njapau, director-general of the National Health Insurance Management Authority of Zambia, observed that with declining external funding for Africa's healthcare systems, governments should leverage domestic resources and enhance the accountability and governance of state-run health insurance schemes. According to Njapau, fiscal and regulatory incentives are key to encouraging the adoption of public medical insurance schemes among low-income populations, who have been most affected by infectious diseases. He called for stronger public-private partnerships to address the underfunding of Africa's health sector, which is grappling with shrinking fiscal space, recurrent outbreaks, conflicts, geopolitical uncertainties, and the effects of climate change. Angela Gichaga, chief executive officer of Financing Alliance for Health, a Nairobi-based health financing lobby, said that policy harmonization, political goodwill, and fiscal reforms are essential to stimulate investment in Africa's health sector. Gichaga urged governments and industry to invest in the social determinants of health, including education, clean drinking water, sanitation, and nutrition, which contribute to sustained economic growth, peace, and stability. Our records of the human genome may still be missing tens of thousands of 'dark' genes. These hard-to-detect sequences of genetic material can code for tiny proteins, some involved in disease processes like cancer and immunology, a global consortium of researchers has confirmed. They may explain why past estimates of our genome's size were way larger than what the Human Genome Project discovered 20 years ago. The new international study, still awaiting peer review, shows our library of human genes very much continues to be a work in progress, as more subtle genetic features are picked up with advances in technology, and as continued exploration uncovers gaps and errors in the record. Human genome sequencing methods. ( NIH These overlooked genes have been hiding away in regions of our DNA thought not to code for proteins. These regions were once dismissed as 'junk DNA' but it turns out small bits of these sequences are still being used as instructions for mini-proteins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Institute of Systems Biology proteomicist Eric Deutsch and colleagues found a large cache of them by searching genetic data from 95,520 experiments for fragments of protein-coding sequence. These include studies using mass spectrometry to investigate small proteins, as well as catalogues of protein snippets detected by our own immune systems. Instead of the long, well-known codes that initiate the reading of DNA instructions for protein creation, indicating the starting point of a gene, these 'dark' genes are preceded by shorter versions which have allowed them to be overlooked by scientists. Despite these missing parts in their start sequences, the non-canonical open reading frame (ncORF) genes are still used as a template to create RNA and some of those are then used to make small proteins with only a handful of amino acids. Previous studies have shown cancer cells contain hundreds of such tiny proteins. "We believe the identification of these newly-confirmed ncORF proteins is immensely important," the team writes in their paper. "Their proteins may have direct biomedical relevance, which is manifested in the growing interest in targeting such cryptic peptides with cancer immunotherapy, including cellular therapies and therapeutic vaccines." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the genes that encode these cryptic peptides are transposons that move around our genomes, including sequences inserted into us by viruses. Others are what the researchers call aberrant. For example, some of the proteins known to exist from mass spectrometry evidence have only ever been located in cancer samples, so their associated genes may not naturally belong in our bodies. "Thus, it remains possible that certain ncORF peptides reflect aberrant proteins whose existence is deemed out of context with the canonical proteome," Deutsch and team explain. Out of the 7,264 sets of these non-canonical genes identified, the researchers found at least a quarter of them could create proteins. This amounted to at least 3,000 new peptide-coding genes to add to the Human Genome, and the team suspects there are tens of thousands more, all missed by previous proteomic techniques. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's not every day that you get to open a research direction and say, 'We might have a whole new class of drug targets for patients,'" University of Michigan neurooncologist John Prensner told Elizabeth Pennisi at Science. The tools the team have developed will help other researchers to continue to uncover more of this dark genetic matter. This research is awaiting peer review on bioRxiv. Related News Washington state has sadly reached a new milestone: data breaches have reached an all-time high since the Attorney Generals Office started tracking them. Bob Fergusons Office released new data showing just how bad data breaches are in the Evergreen State. In 2024, over 11.6 million data breach notices went to Washingtonians, which is 5 million more than the previous all-time high in 2021. According to the AGs Office, its also significantly up from 2023. Because it is extremely lucrative and it is being employed from small organized crime rings, CEO of CyberStreams Dave Henderson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The data also shows in the past year, cyberattacks and ransomware attacks were the most common type of breach, making up 78% of all reported breaches. Henderson says these data breaches impact more than just big companies like Starbucks, but small businesses and nonprofits throughout Western Washington. I will wager that its in the tens a day, Henderson said. In 2022, the Associated General Contractors of Washington were victims of a ransomware attack after their information had been compromised and hackers asked them for $200,000. It was a pretty traumatic experience for a lot of us, CFO Kelly Barber said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barber says that ever since the attack, they have beefed up their own cybersecurity to ensure it never happens again. And its ongoing. You just have to stay on top of it. You gotta update your hardware. You gotta update your software, Barber said. Barber also argues the importance of cybersecurity insurance. He believes having it makes a world of difference in how businesses and nonprofits bounce back from any hacks. Take it seriously. Train your staff. Discuss it, Barber said. Nov. 27The Artpark & Company Board of Directors has removed the interim label and named Dave Wedekindt as Artpark's new president. "It has been my pleasure to lead this organization through its 50th anniversary season, and I am honored to be selected to continue in this role," Wedekindt said. "Artpark means so much to not only me, but several generations of people in our community and beyond, and it is exciting to build an even brighter future together with our board, New York State Parks, staff, and many other stakeholders." Wedekindt joined Artpark in 2018 as director of marketing & sales, bringing extensive experience in performing arts marketing, sales, communications, programming, sponsorship and development to the organization. He was promoted to vice president of concerts & marketing in 2021, then to vice president in 2022, and recently as interim president in April. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joanne Bauer, Artpark Board president, said an extensive and thorough search was undertaken for the new president. Wedekindt was chosen due to his proven leadership, deep community connections, and strong alignment with Artpark's mission, according to Jonathan Dandes and Daniel Montante, co-chairs of the search committee and Artpark Board members Wedekindt was previously the director of marketing for the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts in Amherst for 15 years, preceded by five years as associate director of marketing for the CFA. He started his career as associate director of development for Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. A strong advocate for the arts, he also serves on the board of directors of MusicalFare Theatre and is past president of the board of directors for Arts Services Inc. He holds an MBA from the University at Buffalo and BS in Business Administration from SUNY Fredonia. A lifelong Western New Yorker, Wedekindt resides in Amherst with his wife Susan. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) On this day in history 233 years ago, President George Washingtons cabinet held its very first meeting. Five men gathered on Nov. 26, 1791. The cabinet was composed of Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. On This Day | President John F. Kennedys assassination Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While it is a staple in todays political climate, the cabinet is not actually mandated by the Constitution or by any established law. In an article posted to Mount Vernons website, Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky said that the cabinet was created after the fact by President George Washington as a means of responding to the perils and pitfalls of governing in an uncertain time. Historians said that the cabinets early days were filled with tension especially between Jefferson and Hamilton as they debated whether or not there should be a national bank. Vice President John Adams did not attend the cabinet meetings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Washington, D.C. Attorney General announced Monday that a lawsuit had been filed against a nonprofit leader who is accused of misusing more than $75,000 in charity funds. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued Brandon Anderson who is the founder of Raheem AI for violating the Districts nonprofit and workers rights laws. The lawsuit alleges that Anderson used thousands of charity funds from Raheem AIs for his own benefit and failed to pay the organizations sole District-based employee the wages they had earned. Officials said the employee was also forced to sign an illegal non-compete clause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not only did their financial abuses violate fundamental principles of nonprofit governance, but Anderson and Raheem AI failed to pay their employee the wages they had earned. My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law, cheating taxpayers, or stealing from their workers, said Attorney General Schwalb. Anderson founded Raheem AI in 2017 and served as the board member and Executive Director. The organization was created to improve transparency and accountability in policing. FCPS failed to protect its student-athletes: 3 FCPS School Board Members outline next steps to address the Hayfield football situation According to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Anderson diverted $75,000 of nonprofit funds and used them on luxury vacation rental services that allowed members to stay in high-end mansions and penthouse apartments. This lawsuit alleged Anderson spent thousands of dollars on resorts, hotels, and Airbnbs for his personal travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said Raheem AIs board placed Anderson on leave in April 2024 after the employee informed them of his illegal activities. However, neither Anderson nor the organization restored the misused funds or compensated the employee for owed wages and damages. In addition, the OAG said Anderson and Raheem AI failed to oversee the organizations money. The lawsuit states the organization did not have a treasurer since 2020, giving Anderson unrestricted control of its finances. Under the law, District nonprofits are required to have at least a President and separate treasurer to manage the operations and finances. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Investigators are working to learn what caused a fire to ignite at a home in Washington, D.C., that left multiple people displaced the day before Thanksgiving. The DC Fire and EMS Department (DCFD) said that around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, firefighters were called to an alarm in the 2600 block of Bowen Road SE. Shooting in Laurel leaves 1 dead, police say Once on the scene, crews located a fire on the second floor of a single-family home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fire was extinguished and no one was hurt. Officials said the American Red Cross is assisting four people. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is mourning the death of an officer. On Wednesday, Nov. 27, MPD announced the death of officer LaCarsha Garrett. The department said Garrett died after her courageous battle with illness. Photograph of officer LaCarsha Garrett. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) ZooLights to transform Smithsonians National Zoo into winter wonderland for holidays Garrett was a 16-year MPD veteran, serving the force since 2008. She was a member of the seventh districts administrative staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones during this difficult time, wrote MPD. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said a business with branches across the country will have to issue refunds after it tricked people into buying jewelry. Harris Jewelry is accused of targeting military service members, promising credit score improvement if they purchase from them. The court ordered the store to reopen its claims to process to submit forms for refunds. The deadline to submit claims is December 21. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To get more information on how to submit a claim, click here. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) The last day to help a child receive the Christmas they deserve through the Salvation Army Angel Tree is approaching. Major Joe Burton with the Wichita Falls Salvation Army said the angel tree has a childs name on it with a request for what they would like for Christmas. Just pick a child from the tree and check their list. Salvation Army of Wichita Falls begins annual Angel Tree drive Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burton said Donors can get their Angels a few gifts from the list or all of them if theyre able. After Donors purchase the gifts, drop them off at the Salvation Army, located at 403 Seventh Street, by December 9. And the reason we choose that date is because theres a process. Once all the gifts come in, they have to be put in bags and so on and so forth to get ready for our toy shop, which will take place on [December] 19, Burton explained. So, when the families come on the 19, they will receive the gifts that either someone has gotten off the tree or a corporation has adopted. We just want to make sure that everybodys taken care of. Visit the Salvation Armys Angel Tree website for more information about how the Angel Tree campaign works. Close Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. A rabies exposure in Merced County has now been confirmed as fatal. Last week, the countys department of public health reported a Fresno County resident had been exposed to the deadly virus in a possible bat bite and was being treated at a hospital. Fresno Countys Department of Public Health on Tuesday confirmed that the person has died. That person has been identified by a family friend as 60-year old Leah Seneng, an artist and art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos. A GoFundMe has been organized to help pay for funeral and other expenses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The department shared little information about the patients identity on Tuesday and pointed questions about the specifics of the case to officials in Merced County, where the exposure was believed to have occurred. The department did give a timeline of the exposure. Officials believe the person was first exposed in late October. They showed up at a Fresno hospital Nov. 18. They died four days later. A friend speaking on behalf of the Seneng family, Laura Splotch, said Wednesday that the bite happened Oct. 14 and that the bat had been in Senengs classroom. So far, Mecerd County health official have not confirmed many details about the exposure, but in a email to The Bee said it has been focused on investigation, contact tracing and community education since it became aware of the incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As with any disease, the office said, close contacts/family members are notified and offered preventative care as theyre identified. This includes post-exposure prophylaxis. Were unable to comment further until the investigation is complete. Typically, it takes four to eight weeks for symptoms of the virus to become present in humans, during which time a vaccine can be administered. But once symptoms appear, the virus is almost always fatal, said Fresno County Deputy Health Officer Trinidad Solis. That can happen fast. Usually the symptoms quickly progress, Solis said. The virus attacks the nervous system. Once it gets to the brain, it becomes hard for the patient to eat or walk and eventually they will end up comatose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Seneng may have been experiencing some symptoms several days prior to going to the hospital, according to the health department. Rabies is deadly, but rare While rabies can be deadly, cases especially fatal ones are extremely rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fewer than 10 rabies deaths are reported in the United States each year. The last reported rabies death in Fresno County was in 1992. In that case, a 10-year-old boy was bitten by a dog during a visit to India, according to a story in The Fresno Bee. He was admitted to Valley Childrens Hospital after feeling ill and died after two weeks. Fifteen hospital emergency-room workers were given anti-rabies shots as a precaution against exposure. Prevention is key The health department took the opportunity to warn residents of the dangers of rabies whether from bats or other wildlife and offered suggestions on how to stay safe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We really want the public to know that prevention is key, said Joe Prado, the departments assistant director. Among the suggestions: Vaccinate your pets. Rabies is rare in domesticated animals. Avoid touching wildlife, especially animals that are acting abnormally. For instance, if they are interacting with humans. If you get bit, wash the area immediately with soap and water and get to a medical provider as soon as possible. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a seminar themed "Atoms for a Better Home and Global South" in Vienna, Austria. (Chinese Permanent Mission to UN and other International Organizations in Vienna/Handout via Xinhua) VIENNA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China hosted a seminar at the United Nations (UN) in Vienna on Tuesday to promote the use of nuclear technologies for global development, especially development in the Global South. The seminar, themed "Atoms for a Better Home and Global South," was jointly hosted by China's permanent mission to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, the China Atomic Energy Authority and the China National Nuclear Corporation. The event was held on the sidelines of the ongoing ministerial conference on nuclear science and technology of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, told the seminar that since China proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) three years ago, more than 100 countries and over 20 international organizations have actively supported and participated in the initiative, and over 80 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI. China has actively promoted international development cooperation in the field of the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology at Vienna's multilateral platforms, Li noted. Li added that he believes the joint efforts of China and other international organizations can help bring more development success stories to the Global South. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the seminar that the China-proposed GDI is of great significance in guiding the international community to seek common development and improve the well-being of people around the world. Noting China's indispensable support for the IAEA, Grossi said he expects that China, as a leader in nuclear science and technology, will continue to actively participate in global development cooperation and make greater contributions to building a safer and better world. Nearly 300 participants, including representatives from international organizations in Vienna, senior government officials and experts, attended the seminar. This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows a seminar themed "Atoms for a Better Home and Global South" in Vienna, Austria. (Chinese Permanent Mission to UN and other International Organizations in Vienna/Handout via Xinhua) The death toll from clashes between militants and Syrian government forces in north-western Syria has risen to 57, a monitor group said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 31 Syrian soldiers were killed in the fighting that broke out in the north-west of the country in Aleppo governorate. The UK-based monitor group said an alliance of Islamist rebel groups had attacked positions of the Syrian armed forces in rural areas west of Aleppo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Syrian army responded with airstrikes on military targets belonging to the extremist Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is considered one of the strongest armed groups in north-west Syria, as well as civilian targets. The Observatory said at least one minor was among the fatalities. Earlier, the war monitor said at least four civilians were killed and 12 others were injured, including eight children, in rural areas near Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria. It added that rebels are still advancing into government-controlled areas west of Aleppo. A devastating civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the help of Syria's allies, Russia and Iran, President Bashar al-Assad has since regained control of two-thirds of the country, but the north-west is still under the control of opposition forces. Conor McGregor's longtime fiancee, Dee Devlin, made it very clear in a series of social media posts that she is standing by her man following a high court's decision against the UFC star in a high-profile sexual assault case. Last Friday, a 12-day civil trial concluded with a jury ruling that McGregor is liable for a 2018 sexual assault of a woman at a Dublin hotel. As a result, McGregor was ordered to pay approximately $250,000 in damages to the victim, Nikita Hand, who said McGregor and his friend, James Lawrence, had sex with her against her will while she was intoxicated during two days of partying. The jury found only McGregor liable. On Tuesday, Devlin, who is the mother of McGregor's four children, attacked Hand's character in a series of messages on her Instagram Stories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Imagine a WOMAN, with her own boyfriend and child, texting provocative pictures of herself to another woman's man with a family and child on the way," Devlin wrote. "This woman claims to know me, yet still went ahead and sent messages and pictures of herself over and over to my man? Really? Whilst out on a 3-day bender, texting excuses to her own child at home where mammy is on a Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, Sunday night night into Monday morning. All the while out of her face in a hotel room, dancing around a hotel carpark. What sort of WOMAN are you!!! "My sons will be warned women like you exist in the world." Devlin, who accompanied McGregor on the final day in court, pointed to one specific aspect of the trial as she questioned Hand's version of events. Surveillance footage showed McGregor and Hand in the hotel and elevator appearing to be affectionate with each other. Hand claimed she was intoxicated while that went on and was taken advantage of, but Devlin went in on her. "CCTV DOES NOT LIE," Devlin wrote. "I look forward to the day the world will see the footage of you on that night and the carry on of you. Not a bother on you having the time of your life. This is the real evidence, video footage no one knew was being taken in the moment which you miraculously don't remember? To me, it looks like you're the one sexually assaulting in the lift. To me, it looks like everyone is trying to get away from you." Nikita Hand arrives at court, on the day she attends Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor's civil trial on allegations of sexual assault, in Dublin, Ireland November 19, 2024. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne In her final message, Devlin addressed McGregor's unfaithfulness to her after he admitted to having sex with Hand during the trial, although he maintained it was consensual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Conor and I dealt with these issues privately many years ago, as should be done in a relationship, and we have come out stronger than ever," Devlin wrote. "We have four beautiful children now whose smiling faces and happy hearts are a testament to who he is and who we are!" In a statement, McGregor, 36, expressed regret for cheating on Devlin and reaffirmed his intention to appeal the jury's decision. McGregor has faced consequences outside of the damages he's been ordered to pay. On Tuesday, Proper Twelve-parent company Proximo Spirits announced it will no longer feature McGregor in association with the brand. IO Interactive also announced that McGregors character will be removed from the popular Hitman video game series. As of this writing, the UFC hasn't commented publicly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McGregor hasnt competed in the UFC since a July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier in which he suffered a gruesome broken leg. McGregor was scheduled to return against Michael Chandler this past June at UFC 303, but he was forced to withdraw after breaking his toe in training a month before the fight. Related Proper Twelve drops Conor McGregor after sexual assault ruling Overreaction Time: On Conor McGregor's new low, Jon Jones' pound-for-pound status, more! Conor McGregor issues statement on sexual assault civil trial loss: I should have shut the party down Conor McGregor scrubbed from Hitman video game after sexual assault ruling This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dee Devlin rips Conor McGregor's rape accuser in scathing message: 'What sort of woman are you!!!' A Delta Air Lines flight heading to Atlanta from Paris, France was diverted to an Irish airport after a passenger became unruly. According to a statement from Delta, Flight 83 was diverted to Dublin, Ireland for the passenger to be removed. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The company said it has zero tolerance for unruly behavior and will work with law enforcement authorities to that end. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The operator of the Dublin Airport, daa, confirmed the plane landed there around 10:30 a.m. local time and took off about an hour later to continue to Atlanta. According to FlightAware, the flight arrived in Atlanta around 3:40 p.m. Video shared with Channel 2 Action News from the Dublin Airport shows a man being escorted off of the plane in handcuffs and being placed into a van by the An Garda Siochana, Irelands National Police Service. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details about what caused the passengers behavior was not available, and the passenger was not identified. The delayed flight comes as the busiest travel weekend of the year arrives for the Thanksgiving holiday. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) denounced Pakistans chief of army staff Wednesday for allegedly killing citizens and confiscating death records from medics in an effort to subdue growing protests in the nations capital. Horrified by reports of an attempted cover-up of the alleged killings of peaceful protesters by Asim Munirs regime in Pakistan, Khanna wrote on social platform X. The US must impose visa bans and asset freezes on senior officials in the military regime, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Guardian reported army officials unleashed tear gas and open gunfire on civilians in Islamabad amid protests to release former Prime Minister Imran Khan from prison. Khan has been held in prison for nearly a year on more than 100 charges that he claims were spurred by political opponents. Demonstrators led by Khans wife, Bushra Bibi, raided the capital Tuesday, burning shipping containers. This spurred violent pushback from the military, which was given shoot to kill orders, according to The Guardians reporting. Later on Tuesday, officials instated a power blackout as a operation to move the crowd out began. The minister for information and broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, said there had been no firing on PTI party protesters and no fatalities. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement that officers had bravely repulsed the protesters as reported by The Guardian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, other numbers suggested at least 17 people were dead. All records of dead and injured have been confiscated by authorities. We are not allowed to talk. Senior government officials are visiting the hospital to hide the records, one doctor told the outlet on the condition of anonymity. Pakistan reopened the capital Wednesday after four days of a lockdown, sparking a global response from lawmakers. The brutal repression of protesters in Pakistan and growing political violence is an attempt to suppress democracy and human rights, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote on X. I stand with the brave Pakistanis who are rising up and protesting for change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LOS ANGELES (AP) Democrat Derek Tran ousted Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel in a Southern California House district Wednesday that was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice on Capitol Hill. Steel said in a statement that like all journeys, this one is ending for a new one to begin. When she captured the seat in 2020, Steel joined Washington state Democrat Marilyn Strickland and California Republican Young Kim as the first Korean-American women elected to Congress. Tran, a lawyer and worker rights advocate and the son of Vietnamese refugees, declared victory earlier this week. He said his win is a testament to the spirit and resilience of our community. As the son of Vietnamese refugees, I understand firsthand the journey and sacrifices many families in our district have made for a better life." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The contest is one of the last to be decided this year, with Republicans now holding 220 seats in the House, with Democrats at 214. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in California's 13th District, where Democrat Adam Gray was leading Republican Rep. John Duarte by a couple of hundred votes. Steel held an early edge after Election Day, but late-counted ballots pushed Tran over the top. Steel filed a statement of candidacy on Monday with federal regulators, which would allow her to continue raising funds. It wasnt immediately clear if she planned to seek a return to Congress. In the campaign, Tran warned of Republican threats to abortion rights. Steel opposes abortion with exceptions for rape, incest or to save the life of the pregnant woman, while not going so far as to support a federal ban. Tran also warned that President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House would put democracy at risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Capitol Hill, Steel has been outspoken in resisting tax increases and says she stands strongly with Israel in its war with Hamas. As our greatest ally in the Middle East, the United States must always stand with Israel, she said. She advocates for more police funding and has spotlighted her efforts on domestic violence and sexual abuse. The largest demographic in the district, which is anchored in Orange County southeast of Los Angeles, is Asian Americans, and it includes the nations biggest Vietnamese community. Democrats hold a 4-point registration edge. Incomplete returns showed that Steel was winning in Orange County, the bulk of the district. Trans winning margin came from a small slice of the district in Los Angeles County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-to-1. Derek Tran, a first-time Democratic candidate, has flipped a toss-up California House seat, narrowly defeating GOP Rep. Michelle Steel, who conceded on Wednesday after a protracted vote count. Tran had declared victory early this week, and currently leads by roughly 600 votes. Steel, a two-term congressmember, had been an elusive target for Democrats, occupying an Orange County district that had backed President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The race ended up being the most expensive House battle in the country, with at least $46 million spent by the campaigns and an array of outside groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats hoped Tran was the right candidate to dislodge Steel, given his background as the son of Vietnamese refugees. Tran sought to use his biography to make inroads with the districts influential Asian American and particularly Vietnamese voters, a group that Steel, a Korean American, had performed well with in the past. Tran centered his campaign on assailing the incumbent Republican for her previous support for a national abortion ban. Steel countered with attacks on Trans pre-campaign resume, including a handful of cases where he represented politically unsympathetic clients in wrongful termination lawsuits. Democrats forgot to read the fine print on a bill and spoon-fed a huge victory to Republicans who want to kill the IRS. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the IRSs tax enforcement fund, which allowed the IRS to better audit corporations and the wealthiest households, is now $20 billion in the redleaving the funds future up in the air. In 2022, when Democrats had a trifecta hold over the government, they put $80 billion toward the IRS, which was supposed to help the agency hire, modernize, and enforce through the next decade. When Republicans took the House back in 2023, they started making cuts to that fund to protect their rich friends and corporate interests, placing a $1.4 billion cut and then another $20 billion cut into deals they made with Biden last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This years stopgap funding billmeant to keep the government open through December 20kept the same $20 billion cut in the text. Congressional Republicans noticed that the Democrats didnt notice its inclusion and watched silently with glee as yet another massive slash was made to one of the most important agencies we have. Our concern right now is that because of this risk to the IRS and the uncertainty of it, the IRS is going to potentially have to make dramatic decisions about stopping hiring, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told the Journal. They are running low on enforcement dollars today. Adeyemo also noted that the cuts will force the IRS to do 2,000 fewer large corporate audits over the next five years and 6,000 fewer audits of wealthy individuals. Democrat Lesly Munoz, left, defeated Republican incumbent Tracy Cramer. (Campaign photos) Oregon Democrats appear to have eked out a supermajority in both the state House and Senate, with a narrow win confirmed in a rural Woodburn-based House seat late Tuesday. Tuesday was the deadline for voters to fix missing or mismatched signatures on their ballot envelopes. Campaign staff and volunteers for Rep. Tracy Cramer, R-Gervais, and Democratic challenger Lesly Munoz have spent days tracking down voters to make sure their ballots were counted in the closest race for an Oregon House seat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Munoz, a labor organizer from Woodburn, appears to have prevailed by just 161 votes out of more than 20,800 cast in the 22nd House District in northern Marion County. Her victory doesnt just mean Democrats regain the seat they lost two years ago it gives House Democrats the three-fifths majority needed to increase taxes or pass new taxes without Republican support. Thats especially notable heading into the 2025 session, as lawmakers work to craft a multi-billion-dollar transportation funding package. Munoz described her victory as a win for farmworkers in a statement issued by the farmworkers union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, which supported her campaign with bilingual calls and canvasses. The district is the only majority-minority Oregon House district, and nearly 48% of its residents are Hispanic. Farmworkers need a seat at the table in our state legislature, Munoz said in a statement. Recently farmworkers won the same overtime protections all other Oregon workers enjoy, and now we have a voice in Salem to fight for equal rights in other areas. Democratic leaders in the House cheered the news, with House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, saying Oregonians sent a clear message by electing Democrats that they want everyone to have the freedom and opportunity to succeed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Democrats will protect what makes Oregon special and show that this state is for everyone. We take this responsibility seriously, Bowman said. In the 2025 session, we will improve the lives of all Oregonians with a focus on affordability, making government work and keeping Oregonians safe. Its time to get to work delivering results for working people and protecting Oregonians basic rights and freedoms. Munoz trailed Cramer in initial results published Nov. 5, but she overtook the Republican incumbent as Marion County processed more ballots. The county, home to Oregons capital, was slower to count ballots than some other jurisdictions because of a high number of write-in votes that take election workers more time to process, county clerk Bill Burgess told the Capital Chronicle earlier this month. Burgess said Tuesday that campaign staff were observing ballot counting and that Cramer had asked about a recount. Under state law, recounts occur automatically if the gap between the top two candidates is less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the total votes cast in this case, about 42 votes. Otherwise, candidates can pay for recounts. A spokesman for Cramer didnt immediately return a call or text message Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Correction: Lesly Munoz works for the Oregon Education Association. An earlier version of this article listed an incorrect employer because of information provided by the Oregon Working Families Party, which co-nominated Munoz. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Oregon senators gather on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the state Capitol for the first day of the legislative session. (Ben Botkin/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon Democrats appear to have eked out a supermajority in both the state House and Senate, with a narrow win confirmed in a rural Woodburn-based House seat late Tuesday. Tuesday was the deadline for voters to fix missing or mismatched signatures on their ballot envelopes. Campaign staff and volunteers for Rep. Tracy Cramer, R-Gervais, and Democratic challenger Lesly Munoz have spent days tracking down voters to make sure their ballots were counted in the closest race for an Oregon House seat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Munoz, a labor organizer from Woodburn, appears to have prevailed by just 161 votes out of more than 20,800 cast in the 22nd House District in northern Marion County. Her victory doesnt just mean Democrats regain the seat they lost two years ago it gives House Democrats the three-fifths majority needed to increase taxes or pass new taxes without Republican support. Thats especially notable heading into the 2025 session, as lawmakers work to craft a multi-billion-dollar transportation funding package. Munoz described her victory as a win for farmworkers in a statement issued by the farmworkers union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, which supported her campaign with bilingual calls and canvasses. The district is the only majority-minority Oregon House district, and nearly 48% of its residents are Hispanic. Farmworkers need a seat at the table in our state legislature, Munoz said in a statement. Recently farmworkers won the same overtime protections all other Oregon workers enjoy, and now we have a voice in Salem to fight for equal rights in other areas. Munoz trailed Cramer in initial results published Nov. 5, but she overtook the Republican incumbent as Marion County processed more ballots. The county, home to Oregons capital, was slower to count ballots than some other jurisdictions because of a high number of write-in votes that take election workers more time to process, county clerk Bill Burgess told the Capital Chronicle earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burgess said Tuesday that campaign staff were observing ballot counting and that Cramer had asked about a recount. Under state law, recounts occur automatically if the gap between the top two candidates is less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the total votes cast in this case, about 42 votes. Otherwise, candidates can pay for recounts. A spokesman for Cramer didnt immediately return a call or text message Wednesday. 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. by Dames Alexander Sinaga JAKARTA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- On Wednesday morning in the eastern part of Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia, a kindergarten-turned-polling station saw a flood of voters participating in the country's first-ever nationwide simultaneous regional elections. Minutes before the voting officially started at 7 a.m. local time, many voters had already lined up, waiting to cast their ballots. To attract more voters, the polling station provided local street food stalls with Betawi-themed decorations. Betawi is the native inhabitants of Greater Jakarta, home to over 11 million people. "We want to make it unique, traditional-looking and exciting for residents here so that they are encouraged to cast their vote in our country's first-ever simultaneous elections across all regions," Noer Ali, head of the polling station's working committee, told Xinhua. "Anyone should be happy and peaceful, not to spread hatred because we vote for different candidates," the 52-year-old added. He also said that some who were not registered at the polling station also came over just to gather and get free Betawi traditional snacks, such as kerak telor, glutinous rice cooked with egg and served with fried shredded coconut, and ketupat sayur, the vegetable rice cakes served in coconut milk soup. The elections were conducted in the country's 37 provinces, 93 cities, and 415 regencies, spanning over 17,000 islands and three different time zones. More than 204 million voters cast their ballots at polling stations to elect a total of 545 pairs of candidates. Chandra Gunawan arrived at the polling station at around 8 a.m. with his parents. The 17-year-old was one of the 280 voters registered to vote at that station, and among the total of 8.2 million voters in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. The Jakarta gubernatorial race has three candidates, which are former popular West Java provincial governor Ridwan Kamil, former Vice Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency Dharma Pongrekun and former cabinet secretary Pramono Anung. Chandra later expressed enthusiasm about taking part in the electoral event by showing his inked finger, marking that he had voted. "This is very exciting for me. My first electoral participation happened in my country's first-ever nationwide simultaneous regional elections," he said after taking selfies with his parents at the station. Voting began at 7 a.m. Jakarta time and concluded at 1 p.m., with vote counting starting immediately and expected to continue until Dec. 16. Indonesia's election commission has not yet announced the specific dates to release the results. However, the inauguration of elected governors and vice governors is scheduled for Feb. 7, 2025, while mayors, regents, and their deputies are set to be sworn in on Feb. 10, 2025. A Colorado dentist accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shake also allegedly plotted to kill an Aurora police detective who investigated the case, a department spokesman told CNN. James Craig, 45, faces two additional felony charges including solicitation to commit first-degree murder, according to a court filing by prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office. Craig attempted to convince a fellow inmate to commit the murder, according to the complaint. The document does not disclose the intended target, but Aurora police confirmed to CNN it was one of the detectives who investigated the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James Craig previously entered not guilty pleas to first-degree murder and other charges in the death of his wife, Angela Craig. James Craig enters a Colorado courtroom in 2023. - Christopher Oquendo/Daily Mail The new charges were first reported by CNN affiliate KUSA. Neither the complaint nor the police department identified the detective. The 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office declined to provide more information on the charge, saying on X, We are unable to comment further due to the pending case. The new charges were filed by prosecutors one day after Craigs defense attorney withdrew from the case. Court records show Craig has not yet retained a new attorney. Craig allegedly ordered poisons Craigs wife Angela, 43, complained of severe headaches and dizziness on the evening of March 15, 2023, and was declared medically brain dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, Aurora Police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The arrest warrant affidavit for her husband said that was Angela Craigs third visit to the hospital that month. Her husband allegedly made multiple searches on his work computer in the weeks leading up to his wifes fatal illness, looking for undetectable poisons and how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human, the affidavit states. Angela Craig went to the hospital with dizziness two days after a package of arsenic was delivered to the couples home, investigators said. Investigators say Angela Craig texted her husband, I feel drugged, after having a protein shake. James Craig texted back, Just for the record, I didnt drug you, according to a court document. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police began investigating James Craig in the death of his wife after a business partner informed them Craig had ordered potassium cyanide to be sent to his dental practice, their affidavit said, drawing the concern of the partner because the chemical is highly lethal if ingested. After his wifes death, James Craig told the victims sister he did not want an autopsy performed, according to the affidavit. An autopsy was conducted despite his concerns, and the Arapahoe County Coroners Office found that Angela Craig ingested lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, listing arsenic poisoning as a significant condition related to her death, CNN affiliate KUSA reported. Defense attorney withdraws on eve of trial The judge in the case approved the request of Craigs former attorney, Harvey Steinberg, to leave after a closed-door hearing last week. Steinberg cited two rules of professional conduct in his request to withdraw, prosecutors said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first rule states, the client persists in a course of action involving the lawyers services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent, and the second rule states the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant or with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement. Jury selection for the trial was scheduled to begin last Thursday, the day his attorney withdrew. It has been postponed indefinitely until he has new counsel. Craigs next court hearing is scheduled for December 16. CNNs Raja Razek and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report. This story was reported by Andi Babineau in Denver and written by Andy Rose in Atlanta. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com DENVER (KDVR) Police are working to develop information about the suspect involved in a shooting that sent one victim to the hospital Tuesday evening. The Denver Police Department said in a post on X around 10 p.m. that officers are on the scene of the shooting near South Broadway Street and Iowa Avenue. Police said one victim was taken to a hospital with an unknown extent of injuries. The department said police are investigating and working to develop suspect information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No further information was immediately available. This is a developing story and this article will be updated. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. This article was originally published in Florida Phoenix. During the 2023-2024 school year, Florida schools removed nearly twice as many books than the year before following challenges from parents and community members. Schools removed 732 titles during the 2023-2024 school year, on top of 386 removed the year before. Twenty-three districts contributed to the list, with Clay, Indian River, and Volusia counties making up significant portions. Education is at a Crossroads: Help Us Illuminate the Path Forward. Donate to The 74 The removals stem from state laws requiring school boards to adopt protocols for screening books deemed to be pornographic or contain sexual content. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida book removals have been the subject of lawsuits claiming censorship and limiting freedom of expression. There are no books banned in Florida, and sexually explicit materials do not belong in schools, Florida Department of Education Communications Director Sydney Booker said in an email to the Phoenix. She added that of the more than 700 books on the list, some of the same titles have been counted in multiple districts. The number of book challenges may have been too high in the eyes of legislators. A law passed earlier this year, after the reporting period for the above data, could lower the number of challenges in the years to come. HB 1285 limits nonparents living in a school district to one book challenge per month. PEN America report Less than two weeks ago, PEN America released its tally of books that had been removed from Florida school libraries during the 2023-2024 school year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By PEN Americas count, schools removed about 4,500 books from Florida libraries. The methodology between the freedom of expression advocacy organization and the state differs, though. PENs list includes books temporarily removed while awaiting a final decision from the school board, and administrative removals, another method to take books off shelves. The states count includes only books removed by school boards and does not include books removed pending challenges. By PENs tally, Florida removed more books than any other state during the previous school year. One lawsuit filed by major book publishers and several authors of removed books argues state definitions of pornographic and describes sexual content are unconstitutional and have resulted in censorship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The publishers argue that vagueness and ambiguity result in overbroad interpretations of [the laws] prohibition on content that describes sexual conduct and chill protected speech. The Florida Department of Education stands by the limitations put on school libraries. Once again, far left activists are pushing the book ban hoax on Floridians, Booker said. The better question is why do these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit materials. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X. DES MOINES, Iowa Nearly six million Americans are taking domestic flights during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), and the Des Moines International Airport had a smooth start. The week of Thanksgiving is the busiest travel period for airports, and Wednesday is projected to be the busiest day. Sarah Hoodjer with the Des Moines International Airport said there will be 51 flights going out on Wednesday, while there were 42 flights that went out of Des Moines last Wednesday. Hope Ministries accepting food donations for Thanksgiving meals Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) previously told WHO 13 News that the busiest time of day for the Des Moines International Airport is between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. every day. With the increased volume of travelers on Wednesday, the airport had limited problems. Only one flight was delayed before 7 a.m., which was an American Airlines flight to Washington D.C. Despite the airport being known for having small lines, if any, officials recommend passengers get to the airport two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight. Hoodjer also expects an increased volume of travelers this weekend, as more than 100 flights are expected to land in Des Moines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. It was a secret mission, but he didnt forget to bring the stuffing. On Nov. 27, 2003, President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and thank them for defending the American people from danger. The 43rd president said he went to thank them for defending the American people from danger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Per newspaper reports, the unannounced visit brought wild cheers from battle-worn soldiers, stunned the nation and even surprised the presidents parents, who had been expecting him at the Thanksgiving table at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Bush, the first U.S. president to visit Iraq, promised that guerrillas testing Americas commitment will not be rewarded with a U.S. retreat. Bush spent the day with about 600 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne in the mess hall at Baghdad International Airport. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, added his own drama to the surprise. Billed as the special guest along with coalition forces commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Bremer opened the program by telling the soldiers it was time to read the presidents Thanksgiving proclamation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He asked if there was anybody back there more senior than us to read the presidents words. Bush emerged from behind a curtain as cheering soldiers climbed on chairs and tables to yell their approval. The president shed a few tears. I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere, he joked after an 11-hour overseas flight. Thanks for inviting me to dinner. Wearing an exercise jacket with a 1st Armored Division patch, Bush then worked the entire room and dished out but did not sit down to eat sweet potatoes and corn from the chow line. Through the years, U.S. presidents work hard to keep some trips a secret. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, when President Bill Clinton flew into Pakistan in March 2000, he switched planes during his departure from India and took an unmarked plane to Islamabad. Franklin Roosevelt used a double to wave to crowds in the U.S. while he was meeting with Winston Churchill in Newfoundland in 1941. In 1952, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower left New York on a 47-hour flight to Korea, under cover of darkness and great secrecy, in an attempt to expedite the end of the Korean War, which he would inherit in the White House. In October 1862, President Abraham Lincoln made a surprise visit to Gen. George McClellan at the freshly bloodied battlefield of Antietam in Maryland, where Union and Confederate soldiers had fought to a standoff in a battle that cost both sides a total 23,100 casualties. It stopped Gen. Robert E. Lees surge northward, however, and gave Lincoln the chance to order the emancipation of slaves in the South. More recently, then-President Donald Trump paid a surprise Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, serving turkey and thanking the troops in 2019. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about Bushs surprise visit, why U.S. presidents travel under cover of secrecy and the unique relationship the commander and chief has with his military troops: Bush visit to Iraq buoys U.S. troops Secret trips a presidential prerogative Iraqis unmoved by big visits President Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq Bush makes surprise visit to Baghdad, meets with prime minister At Camp David for Thanksgiving, Bush calls service members U.S. soldiers serve food to fellow troops as they celebrate Thanksgiving Day at a U.S. military camp in Iraq. | Mohammed Ameen, Associated Press First ladies discuss support for U.S. troops, veterans (From left): Meg Krawchuk, associate professor in Oregon State University's College of Forestry, and Shannon Murray, program director of the Elliott State Research Forest, survey an old growth stand. (Jennah Stillman/Oregon State University) On Earth Day in 2022, President Joe Biden stood among cherry blossoms and towering Douglas firs in a Seattle park to declare the importance of big, old trees. There used to be a hell of a lot more forests like this, he said, calling them our planets lungs and extolling their power to fight climate change. The amount of carbon trees suck out of the air increases dramatically with age, making older trees especially important. These trees are also rare: Less than 10% of forests in the lower 48 states remain unlogged or undisturbed by development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president uncapped his pen, preparing to sign an executive order to protect mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. I just think this is the beginning of a new day, Biden said. But two years later, at a timber auction in a federal office in Roseburg, this new day was nowhere to be seen. As journalists and protestors waited outside, logging company representatives filed through a secure glass door to a room where only qualified bidders were allowed. Up for sale this September morning were the first trees from an area of forest the Bureau of Land Management calls Blue and Gold. It holds hundreds of thousands of trees on 3,225 acres in southern Oregons Coast Range. Forests here can absorb more carbon per acre than almost any other on the planet. A week after Bidens executive order, the Blue and Gold logging project had been shelved. Now it was back on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The BLM is moving forward with timber sales in dozens of forests like this across the West, auctioning off their trees to companies that will turn them into plywood, two-by-fours and paper products. Under Biden, the agency is on track to log some 47,000 acres of public lands, nearly the same amount as during President Donald Trumps first term in office. This includes even some mature and old-growth forests that Bidens executive order was supposed to protect. An Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica analysis found the bureau has allowed timber companies to cut such forests at a faster pace since the executive order than in the decade that preceded it. Environmental activists protest outside the Bureau of Land Management office in Roseburg, Oregon, during a timber sale. The auction itself took place behind closed doors and only qualified bidders were allowed in. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) The BLM still reports to Biden until Trump takes office again in January, and its unclear what changes, if any, the new administration will make. Outgoing presidents often use this lame-duck period to take additional action on the environment and to protect public lands. In a statement, White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez wrote that the Biden-Harris Administration has made unprecedented progress toward the climate-smart management and conservation of our nations forests. He did not specifically answer questions about why Bidens actions didnt slow the BLMs cutting of old forests or about any further protections the administration is planning now. At the timber auction that September morning, the bidders emerged 80 minutes after they started. For $4.2 million, the administration had just sold off the first 561 acres of Blue and Gold, an estimated 83,259 trees. Blue and Gold project One of the most accessible patches of forest in the Blue and Gold project is 30 minutes up the highway from Roseburg. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On a recent fall afternoon, Erich Reeder, a BLM wildlife surveyor who had just retired from the agency after 23 years, led the way there. The sun was out as he drove into the Coast Range, but soon after he turned off the highway and followed a single-lane road along the banks of Yellow Creek, trees shaded the way. Ribbons marked the edge of the area that will be logged. Reeder walked past them and into the forest, stepping lightly through sword ferns and over moss-covered logs, pausing to look down at a paper map or straight up at the varied canopy above. Erich Reeder, a retired BLM wildlife surveyor, in the forest above Oregons Yellow Creek, an area slated for future logging. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) In planning documents for Blue and Gold, the BLM describes this part of the forest as being composed of young, tightly packed trees with no remnants of older forest. But the trees here did not match that description. They were widely spaced. There were no stumps, no signs of previous logging. The forest was tall and wild, with large branches and multiple layers of canopy and understory. Native tree species including chinkapin oaks, western hemlock, western red cedar and grand fir intermixed with the dominant Douglas fir. Many of the biggest trees had thick, wrinkled bark, indicating old age. Youre familiar with tree farms? Reeder asked, describing the monoculture rows timber companies often plant after clear-cutting. This was the opposite. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For some endangered species, old-growth forest matters immensely. Marbled murrelets, rotund coastal birds sometimes described as flying potatoes, nest only in the large, mossy branches of old trees. Spotted owls, which were at the center of the 1990s timber wars in this part of Oregon, require similar habitat to survive. Old trees also matter for climate change, as Biden noted in his Seattle speech. The larger a tree is, the more carbon it absorbs. Data from the U.S. Forest Service shows that in forests older than 200 years in Oregon, on average, the trees hold more than three times as much carbon per acre as young industrial timber plantations. Ultimately, leaving forests intact keeps more carbon out of the atmosphere than logging them and planting new ones. Down the hill toward Yellow Creek, Reeder pulled out a measuring tape at the base of one particularly large Douglas fir. Its diameter: 86 inches. If it was chopped down, Reeder could lie across the stump with more than a foot to spare. In the planning documents, the BLM estimated the trees in this area were around 90 years old. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yeah, this is a little bit older than 90, Reeder said dryly. He put its age at 400 to 600 years. Erich Reeder (left) and Madeline Cowen, an organizer with the environmental group Cascadia Wildlands, measure an old-growth tree in the Yellow Creek area. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) BLM officials believe federal law forces them to keep chopping trees. Its part of a balancing act between resource extraction and other priorities, like recreation and conservation. We are a multi-use agency, spokesperson Brian Hires wrote in response to questions from OPB and ProPublica. We are committed to forest health and providing the timber Americans need. Across the country, the agency manages 245 million acres, including vast territories of desert and juniper trees, along with rangeland it leases out to ranchers. Among its holdings in Oregon are 2.4 million acres of green forests. A big portion of these are known as O&C lands because they once belonged to the Oregon and California Railroad until a deal with Congress went wrong. The federal government took them back, resulting in a giant checkerboard of alternating public and private squares. The O&C Act of 1937 says the federal government must manage these lands for permanent forest production under the principle of sustained yield, helping local economies while also protecting watersheds and providing recreation opportunities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The timber industry interprets the 1937 act as primarily a logging mandate, and it has sued the BLM for setting aside too many O&C acres for conservation. This view is shared by local counties that historically received part of the BLMs sales revenues to pay for schools and roads and that still rely on the industry for jobs. Trees cut on federal lands cant be shipped overseas and typically go to local mills. And its not just the mills, says Doug Robertson, executive director of the Association of O&C Counties. Its everything that supports the mills: all of the manufacturing, the trucking, and on and on. But how much logging the O&C Act mandates is subject to debate. The act directs the BLM to set its own quotas for timber sales, and it does so. In 2016, the agency drew up a regional logging plan with annual targets for each district in Oregons Coast Range, taking care, in theory, to avoid sensitive habitat for species like the spotted owl. It protected three-quarters of the O&C lands from regular logging, and even in those areas where logging would be allowed, there were new prohibitions against cutting the biggest, oldest trees. There were problems with the bureaus approach, however. It created logging maps based on a database of tree ages that local staff in Oregon warned didnt accurately capture the old-growth forest that serves as owl habitat. A leaked 2014 memo by a BLM wildlife biologist suggested that the bureau field verify all stands before deciding which areas could be cut, meaning it should visually inspect them instead of relying on data alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres no evidence agency officials followed this recommendation. They used the database in developing the 2016 plan and again in recent years in deciding which Blue and Gold areas would be up for sale. The BLM also has tried to avoid detailed environmental reviews as it moves to log in new areas, saying it sufficiently considered impacts in 2016. Over and over, conservation groups have sued to demand full reviews, which can be required by federal law. Over and over, courts have decided against the bureau, in most cases directing it to redo its analysis before logging can continue. The BLM lost at least three such lawsuits between 2019 and 2022, with judges ruling that it failed to take a hard look at impacts or calling its decisions arbitrary and capricious. This approach could have ended with Bidens Earth Day executive order. It called for a national inventory of mature and old-growth forests, an analysis of the threats to them, and future regulations to protect them. But all of these prescriptions ultimately have proved too vague to bring about change. Unlike the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, the biggest federal forestland manager in Oregon and the country, responded to Bidens order by proposing to update management plans for all national forests with new regulations for protecting old growth. These plans outline how a forest will be managed like logging parameters, species protections, restoration projects and road maintenance. The updates will include a prohibition on cutting old growth solely for commercial reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The BLM, on the other hand, said nothing about changing its current forest plans. Hires, the agency spokesperson, wrote that Bidens executive order builds on the bureaus existing efforts to protect mature and old-growth forests, offering further clarity but not a new direction. The BLM did issue a new rule stating it is working to ensure that these forests are managed to promote their continued health and resilience. But the rule does not include hard stipulations protecting them from logging so the logging continues. OPB and ProPublica compared the agencys forest database for Oregon to its timber records and found that in the past two years, the BLM oversaw logging in more than 10,000 acres of forest it labeled as at least 80 years old the age at which the BLM and Forest Service consider western Oregons conifers to be mature. The average number of acres of older forest logged annually since the presidents executive order is already higher than in any two-year span since at least 2013. On Dead Horse Ridge, in a part of Oregons Coast Range known as Blue and Gold, clear-cut private lands meet forested public lands. Soon, much of this whole area could be logged. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, a pair of appellate court rulings called into question the idea that the O&C Act is little more than a logging mandate. Judges affirmed the BLM and its parent agency, the Department of Interior, have significant discretion in determining how much to cut and where. The Departments duty to oversee the lands is obligatory, reads a 2023 opinion from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but treating every parcel as timberland is not. For now, tree sales set in motion in 2016 are still in motion. The bureau does not expect to revisit its logging plan for Oregons Coast Range until 2028 at the earliest. The list of areas to be cut, including Blue and Gold, remains unchanged. And it is likely the incoming administration will look to expand logging on public lands. Project 2025, a transition plan prepared by Trump allies at The Heritage Foundation, mentions the O&C Act by name and recommends that the new Administration must immediately fulfill its responsibilities and manage the O&C lands for permanent forest production to ensure that the timber is sold, cut, and removed. Since Bidens executive order, environmental groups have sued the BLM at least four more times for avoiding full environmental reviews of logging projects. In two of these cases, the bureau again lost in court. A third case ended in a settlement, with the bureau agreeing to pause operations and redo its environmental analysis. The newest case, filed three days before the timber auction in Roseburg, is over Blue and Gold. To give access to loggers within the Blue and Gold project area, the BLM plans to improve existing roads like the one pictured here, which would include clearing underbrush and potentially cutting trees. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) Environmental groups in Oregon cant challenge every BLM logging project. We just dont have the capacity, said attorney Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands, one of three groups that filed a joint lawsuit to stop the plan for Blue and Gold. This one stands out, he said, because of the apparent age of the forest. Blue and Gold is also the only logging project known to have been paused in response to Bidens executive order, then reinstated. Heather Whitman, the BLM district manager in Roseburg, says the bureau remade the logging plan for Blue and Gold after she decided to pause it. The project now relies more on forest thinning and less on methods that, to a layperson, can look much like clear-cuts. Quite a bit changed, she says. But Blue and Gold still depends on the same database of forest ages as before, and, as the new lawsuit points out, questions about the datas accuracy remain. In 2022, the bureau declared the forest above Yellow Creek to be 60 years old. In 2024, after restarting the project, the bureau inexplicably revised the forests age to 90 years. A dozen other areas had their ages jump around, too. A handful are said to be younger now than they were two years ago. After all that, nearly as many acres of Blue and Gold will be logged as would have been before. Roseburg officials wrote that the project must proceed because of their districts ongoing need to produce timber volume. Trees greater than 40 inches in diameter or older than about 175 years are, in most cases, protected under the BLMs 2016 management plan for Oregons Coast Range. But if logging does go forward here, the intact forests these trees now anchor will be transformed, says Reeder, the retired BLM surveyor. The older trees themselves, more exposed in the landscape, could be more vulnerable to windstorms. The soil around them could dry out. The BLM estimates that after logging, the risk of wildfires a focus of Bidens Earth Day speech will go down in Blue and Gold in the long term, but that for decades some areas of forest will have a higher fire risk. If burned, the trees stored carbon will be released back into the atmosphere. Because the BLM skipped a comprehensive environmental review of Blue and Gold, it did not look in detail at how the project will affect carbon storage and climate change. The new lawsuit claims that the bureau also skipped detailed analyses of other potential impacts, including heightened landslide risk and invasions of nonnative plants. The BLM did carry out a quicker initial review of likely impacts to the ecosystem, including hiring a contractor to search the forest for endangered spotted owls. But it was rushed at the beginning, recalled Tom Baxter, one of the owl surveyors hired to do the job. First image: Tom Baxter, who has been a spotted owl surveyor for 14 years, at his home in Dexter. Second image: Spotted owl survey markers in the Yellow Creek area. (Leah Nash for ProPublica) Baxter said the contractor he worked for was called in just weeks ahead of the survey. As a result, his team was shorthanded. Then the BLM had the surveyors fan out across the entire project area, instead of focusing on the parts of the forest most likely to have owls a peanut butter approach that he says spread the team too thin. We were wasting our time in places where I knew there werent going to be spotted owls, Baxter recalled. What the bureaus initial review does show is that the Blue and Gold project will destroy 119 acres of prime spotted owl habitat and downgrade another 1,539 acres. The logging will periodically cloud the waters of Yellow Creek, where threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon go to spawn. And it could kill or harm up to 13 endangered murrelet chicks. But the BLM, summing up its findings in a notice published two weeks before the first trees went on sale, concluded that there would be no significant impact on the environment. Cady, the Cascadia Wildlands attorney, disagrees. For conservation groups, Blue and Gold is just the latest logging project that Bidens executive order failed to stop. There is a massive disconnect between the administration and whats happening on the ground, Cady said. Agnel Philip of ProPublica contributed data analysis. Read more about OPB partnerships. Detectives in Westmoreland County are searching for a man and woman wanted in a check scheme targeting local banks. Warrants are out for Anita Bolin and Angel Molina. Police say Bolin used another womans identity to open an account at a S&T Bank branch in Shadyside. Molina allegedly claimed to be her grandson. According to police, Bolin was able to deposit a treasury check and withdraw almost $5,000. She allegedly tried to open an account at an Allegheny Township bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Bolin and Molina are charged with theft, forgery and identity theft. Anyone with information is asked to contact the detective bureau at 724-830-3287 Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a variety of measures to forge ahead with a solar neighborhood that was approved earlier this year. Members voted to exempt the city solar farms project from zoning regulations, allowing the city to place the arrays in areas zoned for other purposes. The project will convert land into solar panel farms, which are expected to generate enough energy to offset the electricity used by the city's 127 municipal buildings. Council member Angela Whitfield-Calloway questioned the legality of the move in a meeting last week. The proposed solar farm ordinance will open the city of Detroit to civil litigation by any private solar farm investor seeking to build a solar farm in any residential area in the city, Whitfield-Calloway said. Im fighting on behalf of those who did not want the solar farms I have questions about the constitutionality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the zoning law does not apply to municipal government, according to Conrad Mallett, the citys top attorney. What we are saying as it relates to government is if its done for or on behalf of the city of Detroit, then the zoning laws do not apply. That is not a premise that involves, at all, the Constitution, Mallett said. If we were to unfairly make a distinction between the citizens, then the citizens would have a claim that they were not being treated equally under the law. The fact that the government is not subject to zoning does not implicate a constitutional right held by a private citizen. Conrad Mallett Whitfield-Calloway and council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero voted against it. City Council also approved two land swap packages for the project. One involves an agreement with Perfecting Church to transfer 61 parcels of city land "and three additional parcels" in the Seven Mile neighborhood, in exchange for 31 parcels from the church. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perfecting Church, a religious nonprofit corporation, is in a decadeslong process of building a new megachurch at 19170 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. The group acquired many vacant parcels in the project area with the goal of building housing. A pedestrian walks past the unfinished development project Perfecting Church near the intersection of Woodward and Seven Mile in Detroit on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. A spokesperson for Perfecting Church could not be immediately reached. Councilmembers also voted to swap several parcels with the Arab American and Chaldean Council, which provides various services, including employment programs, health care, counseling and youth programs. Council President Pro Tem James Tate voted against the land swaps. He said the body did not have enough time to have "the level of discussion" to have some questions addressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tate added that he is "not putting any blame on anyone, but it was just the way that the schedule worked out." "The other concern I would say that I had is that we haven't seen actual plans for the entities that are seeking the land swap. In addition to that, one of them just seems very unbalanced in terms of the numbers, but I know that it was indicated that the actual cost could possibly equal out, not necessarily equal out, but not be as far as it appears in terms of the actual transfer of properties," Tate said. Detroit filed dozens of eminent domain lawsuits to acquire land needed for the solar project. The filings, as of September, represented less than 10% of at least 900 parcels needed for the first phase of the project, according to Trisha Stein, the city's chief strategy officer, adding that remaining parcels are in the process of being voluntarily acquired by the city. Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit solar neighborhood plan: Council OKs zoning exemption The entrance to Hendersonville Mobile Estates. The mobile home community was flooded during Hurricane Helene. One tenant lost her life. (Photo: Greg Childress) HENDERSONVILLE On the morning that Hurricane Helene dumped historic rainfall on western North Carolina, Robert Tallman found himself trapped on the porch of his home in a Hendersonville mobile home park for low-income seniors. Robert Tallman (Photo: Greg Childress) Tallman also manages the park Hendersonville Mobile Estates just off of Spartanburg Highway. His ordeal began after he walked onto the porch of the old farmhouse/rental office where he lived in an efficiency apartment to warn tenants that it was time to evacuate to higher ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats when a big gust of wind blew the door shut, he said, and a bookcase fell over and blocked the door from inside so he could not reenter the house. A picnic table pushed around by swirling wind blocked a rear entrance. So, a few hours later, locked out of the house and standing in chin-deep flood waters with rain still falling, the 79-year-old Tallman had what he thought was a final conversation with God. Well, Lord, I guess Ill be talking to you in a few minutes face-to-face, because its up to my chin and its still pouring, Tallman said. Just then, it was like he [God] turned it off. The rain stopped and a glimmer of sunlight came through and I said wow, fast answer, thank you sir. Life in a FEMA motel Tallman and others forced to leave the mobile home park are now living in hotel rooms paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and thats where theyll be on Thanksgiving likely feasting on dinners provided by churches and nonprofits. The residents have lived in a FEMA motel as it is referred to for more than a month. They moved in after temporary shelters set up to house displaced residents right after the storm closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of them [tenants] are still dazed, kind of like a fish out of water, flopping around, Tallman said when asked about the general mood of people in the hotel. We went from being in comfortable housing and with food and everything to essentially street people with no transportation, no place to live, nothing. Of course, the FEMA motel is not home, Tallman said, but tenants from the mobile home park and others displaced by the storm are grateful for shelter. More importantly, they are thankful for life. There were many that died, but were alive, Tillman said. We may not have anything, but of course, we didnt have much to begin with, so we didnt lose that much, but were alive and all the rest is replaceable. Merrie Slusarczyk (Photo: Greg Childress) An existing affordable housing problem is worsened About two-thirds of the mobile home parks 70 or so residents were impacted by the storm, Tallman said. Low-lying areas in the park suffered the greatest damage. Some units have been condemned and its unclear whether theyll be replaced. Homes on higher ground appear untouched. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The loss of any of the parks rental units will deal a big blow to the affordable senior housing in Hendersonville, Tallman said. The owner has worked to keep rents low, he said, with many tenants paying under $500 a month. Seniors were having a horrible time getting housing and this location is optimal because you know as we age, we cant drive like we used to and everything is convenient and affordable, Tallman said. This is a centralized place that they can walk to the grocery store, to the doctors clinic. They can walk to nearly anything they need and if they want to go somewhere, they can get on the bus and go anywhere in town they need to go. In Henderson County, 44% of renters have difficulty affording their home, according to the North Carolina Housing Coalition. Families are considered cost-burdened when they spend more than 30% of income on housing and utilities. Low-lying areas of Hendersonville Mobile Estate flooded during Hurricane Helene. (Photo: Greg Childress) Help comes too late for one resident Tallman was rescued by first responders in boats after about eight hours in the water. Help came too late, however, for tenant Vicki Allen and her dog Sophie. Allen was standing on her porch attempting to leave when strong winds and rushing water snapped it loose from her mobile home. She and Sophie were swept away in the fast-moving water. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We found Sophie wedged in a tree behind one of the trailers and after the water receded, we found Vicki [Allen] out behind the workshop, Tallman said. Tallman had sternly warned Allen to stay put until the rescue boats arrived. Hed been in contact with rescuers off and on with a cell phone he placed on a ledge just out of reach of the rising water. I told her to not get into that water, because it was super contaminated and that it was moving faster than any professional swimmer can swim, Tallman said. I said, if you get into that water, youre a dead person. Merrie Slusarczyk and Allen were friends. The night before the park flooded, Slusarczyk invited Allen to ride out the storm with her, but Allen declined. Slusarczyk lives in a part of the park that was mostly unharmed by the storm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She [Allen] wouldnt go to peoples houses, she was funny, said Slusarczyk, who also warned Allen to wait for rescue boats. The 1940s-era mobile home park has flooded before but never to the extent that it did during Hurricane Helene, Slusarczyk said. I didnt realize how bad the storm was going to be, no one did, Slusarczyk said. Weve always had flooding, were on a flood plain, but weve never had to totally evacuate. The recovery continues Throughout hard hit parts of Hendersonville, large piles of storm debris and spoiled household goods serve as reminders of the havoc Helene wreaked on the small city of approximately 15,500 that is 33 miles south of Asheville. At nearly every turn, dump trucks and earth moving equipment are busy with clean-up efforts. Amid the chaotic, harried recovery, businesses and residents appear to be making considerable progress toward a return to normalcy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mobile home park is a short walk from Southside Square shopping center, which saw heavy flooding during the storm. The retail center is anchored by a Harris Teeter, which is closed for repairs. A mobile pharmacy has been set up in front of the grocery store so that customers can still pick up prescriptions. Across the parking lot from the Harris Teeter, a UPS Store was doing brisk business from the sidewalk on a damp Wednesday morning. Inside the gutted store, workers were busy making repairs. Storm debris and ruined household goods are common throughout disaster areas. (Photo: Greg Childress) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UPS store manager Corey Stanford said it is important for the store to continue to operate because its the only one in Hendersonville. We do hundreds and hundreds of shipments on any given day, and it would really be a disservice to the community if we werent here, Stanford said. Weve been open pretty much since a week after the storm and operating on a temporary basis [from the sidewalk] but we should be fully opened next week. At the Henderson County Disaster Recovery Center in the Blue Ridge Commons complex on Asheville Highway, a steady stream of residents pour in each day to sign up for state, federal and local aid. The complex houses FEMAs disaster recovery operations. Initially, residents showed up to apply for the FEMAs $750 Serious Need Assistance, which is a direct payment to disaster survivors to use for emergency needs in the days after the storm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The needs have changed as the recovery effort has begun to move to next phase. Theres a lot of people in hotels right now, and so, we had a housing crisis in this community before the storm, we had a lack of affordable housing and that hasnt gotten better, so piecing together what that mid-range temporary housing is going to be is a need, said Sarah Kowalak, a Henderson County emergency management planner who co-manages this disaster center. La-Tanga Hopes (Photo: Greg Childress) Kowalak said that residents are now coming to the center for help with rebuilding private roads and bridges, which FEMA can help them with. Disaster survivors are still seeking help with major repairs because many of them did not have flood insurance, she said. La-Tanga Hopes, a public affairs specialist with FEMA, said the agency at one point saw 300 to 400 disaster survivors per day at the Henderson County recovery center. Since the beginning of the disaster Hopes said FEMA has accommodated and provided services and funding to 135,000 people. America being America Tallman chuckles when told that Slusarczyk calls him a hero. If you want to talk about unsung heroes, think of all the poor people who got hit like this and they went back to America being America, Tillman said. Youve got neighbors helping each other get back on their feet and get back going. This photo taken on Nov. 27, 2024 shows a sign in front of a duty-free shop in Tokyo, Japan. Japan plans to revise its duty-free system for foreign visitors starting in the latter half of fiscal 2026, addressing concerns over misuse of the current framework, Kyodo News cited sources on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) TOKYO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan plans to revise its duty-free system for foreign visitors starting in the latter half of fiscal 2026, addressing concerns over misuse of the current framework, Kyodo News cited sources on Wednesday. Currently, foreign tourists are exempt from Japan's 10 percent consumption tax on purchases exceeding 5,000 yen (about 33 U.S. dollars) if the goods are intended for use outside the country. Under the proposed changes, consumption tax exemptions provided at the point of sale will instead be reimbursed after tourists return to their home countries, according to the report. The revisions aim to combat the illicit resale of duty-free goods in Japan, a problem identified by the government under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The Ishiba administration intends to include the revisions in its tax reform plan, set for approval in December. To enforce the new rules, devices to track and verify the purchase history of duty-free goods will be installed at airports and ports nationwide. Additionally, foreign visitors will lose eligibility for tax exemptions if they mail duty-free items from Japanese post offices, the report noted. 30 years ago on Nov. 28, Jeffrey Dahmer died in prison while serving 16 consecutive life sentences EUGENE GARCIA/AFP/Getty Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer's death bore an eerie similarity to the first murder he committed. On Nov. 28, 1994, the serial killer who bludgeoned a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks to death in 1978 suffered the same fate at the hands of fellow inmate Christopher Scarver while serving 16 consecutive life sentences at a correctional facility in Wisconsin. Dahmer had raped, murdered and dismembered at least 17 boys and young men in Milwaukee, and engaged in cannibalism and necrophilia with some of their bodies, before getting caught in 1991. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The gruesome details of Dahmer's slayings, as well as the tragic failed attempts to report his murders sooner, shocked and captivated the world when his crimes were finally discovered. He was eventually convicted of 15 murders in Wisconsin and sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences in prison in February 1992, with the 16th conviction and life sentence coming later. He was not convicted of one of his 17 confessed killings due to lack of evidence though he didn't live long enough to serve much time. Related: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: How the Serial Killer Was Caught Heres what to know about Jeffrey Dahmer's death in prison 30 years ago. How did Jeffrey Dahmer die? Milwaukee County Sheriff's Dept./AP Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer Fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat Dahmer and a second inmate, Jesse Anderson, to death at Columbia Correctional Institution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scarver, who is serving a life sentence for murder, told the New York Post in 2015 that Dahmer would sculpt human limbs from food and use ketchup for blood, unsettling other prisoners. Scarver kept his distance from Dahmer, who typically had a guard with him at all times because of his conflicts with other inmates. On Nov. 28, 1994, Scarver, Anderson and Dahmer were left unattended and unshackled to clean the gym bathroom. While Scarver was filling his mop and bucket, one of the men poked him in the back, but he didn't know who it was. "I turned around, and [Dahmer] and Jesse were kind of laughing under their breath," Scarver recalled. "I looked right into their eyes, and I couldn't tell which had done it." The men then split up, and Scarver, who had reportedly kept a newspaper clipping about Dahmer's crimes in his pocket, grabbed a 20-inch, 5-pound metal bar from the gym. Scarver followed Dahmer into a staff locker room and confronted him about the crimes outlined in the newspaper clipping. "I asked him if he did those things 'cause I was fiercely disgusted," Scarver told the New York Post, adding that Dahmer was "shocked." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: He Got Away From Jeffrey Dahmer. But Tracy Edwards Couldn't Escape the Trauma, His Attorney Says He described what happened next: "He started looking for the door pretty quick. I blocked him. He ended up dead. I put his head down." Scarver said he then quickly went to another locker room where Anderson was working and did the same to him. Guards found Dahmer on the bathroom floor with severe head wounds from being hit with the bar and from his head being slammed into the wall. He was hospitalized and pronounced dead an hour later. Scarver committed both murders within about 20 minutes. As for why he did it, Scarver said his motivation went beyond Dahmer's behavior behind bars. "He crossed the line with some people prisoners, prison staff," Scarver claimed. "Some people who are in prison are repentant but he was not one of them." When did Jeffrey Dahmer die? Carver murdered Dahmer on the morning of Nov. 28, 1994. Prison guards found him on the bathroom floor at around 8:10 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later. Where did Jeffrey Dahmer die? Allan Y. Scott / AP Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer Scarver bludgeoned Dahmer to death at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisc. How old was Jeffrey Dahmer when he died? Born on May 21, 1960, Dahmer was 34 years old when he died. What were Jeffrey Dahmer's last words? Marny Malin/Sygma/Getty Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dahmer's last words aren't publicly known. At his sentencing, he expressed remorse for his crimes and said he took "full responsibility" for the rapes and murders of his victims. "I hope God has forgiven me," Dahmer said, according to The Washington Post. "I know society will never be able to forgive me. I know the families of the victims will never be able to forgive me for what I have done." Dahmer said he had turned to his faith after the killings, telling the court he "created a holocaust" when he strayed from a higher power. I should have stayed with God. I tried and I failed, he said. He also addressed the multitude of statements from the families and loved ones of his victims. "I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families, and I understand their rightful hate," Dahmer said. "I have seen their tears and if I could give my life right now to bring their loved ones back, I would do it." How did the public react to Jeffrey Dahmer's death? Bill Waugh/Pool/AP Catherine Lacy and Rose Colon Catherine Lacy and Rose Colon Dahmer's murders traumatized the families of his victims and many others in the Milwaukee community, but the public reaction to Dahmer's death was divisive. While many were happy to know that Dahmer's reign of terror came to a definitive end, others were upset that he wasn't alive to suffer in prison for the atrocities he'd committed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann told The New York Times after Dahmer's death: "This is the last sad chapter in a very sad life. Tragically, his parents will have to experience the same loss the families of his victims have experienced." Regarding Scarver, he added, "I hope there will be no economic returns or celebration as a folk hero for the man that killed Jeffrey Dahmer." Related: Jeffrey Dahmer Victim's Cousin Says Netflix's 'Monster' Is 'Retraumatizing' Family: 'For What?' Dahmer's own parents were even split in their response to his death. According to The Washington Post, Dahmer's mother, Joyce, wanted to preserve her sons brain for scientific studies into his behavior, while his father, Lionel, wanted it cremated with the rest of his body. In the end, both Dahmers body and his brain were cremated, per the Los Angeles Times. Many believed that the Milwaukee police failed the gay and Black communities by not catching Dahmer sooner despite warnings from the killer's Black neighbors. Glenda Cleveland, Dahmer's former neighbor, reported him to the police several times to no avail. In May 1991, Cleveland's daughter, Sandra Smith, and niece, Nicole Childress, called 911 for 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone after spotting him naked, bleeding and barely conscious in the street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dahmer convinced the responding police officers that Sinthasomphone was his boyfriend who had had too much to drink. He killed the boy after the officers left. If police had conducted a background check on Dahmer at the time, they would have learned that Dahmer was actually on probation for sexually assaulting Sinthasomphone's older brother three years earlier. How have Jeffrey Dahmer's crimes been portrayed in the media? EUGENE GARCIA/AFP via Getty, Courtesy Of Netflix Dahmer's combination of serial killing, necrophilia and cannibalism has fascinated true crime fans for decades, inspiring the graphic novel and film My Friend Dahmer starring Ross Lynch and Ryan Murphy's series Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story starring Evan Peters. Family and friends of Dahmer's victims have spoken out about how the multiple TV and film portrayals of the killer and his slayings were "retraumatizing" them. If you had told me a year ago that Donald Trump was going to skate away from all the legal trouble he was in, I would have laughed in your face. I was confident after all his years of ripping people off and not paying taxes and taking the Fifth (nearly 450 times in one day in 2022, remember that one?), the law was finally going to catch him. You could get away with that stuff as a rich and powerful (if bankrupt) real estate mogul; but once you run for office, I thought (and wrote), youve entered a new arena, where accountability is more real and fancy lawyering cant brush away obvious facts. I couldnt have been more wrong. OK, he didnt totally skate. He was convicted in the Stormy Daniels case. He was scheduled to be sentencedbe prepared to wince hard hereTuesday. As in yesterday. Imagine that reality for a few seconds. But we live in a different reality, thanks to Trumps election victory. And that reality isnt only about the past. Its very much about the future, because the lesson Trump is going to take away from these legal experiences is that he can do anything he wants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before we get to that, lets review the cases, criminal and civil. On the criminal side: Yes, he was convicted in the Daniels hush-money case. Judge Juan Merchan, in delaying sentencing last week, gave Trumps lawyers until next Monday to file a motion seeking to dismiss the case. Manhattan Dristrict Attorney Alvin Bragg will fight such a move, but it would hardly be shocking to see Trumps lawyers win this one. The voters elected the guy president. Second, as we learned this week, Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is closing up shop. Third, the Fulton County, Georgia, prosecution looks to be dead, thanks in part to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williss insanely horrible judgment in having an affair with a special prosecutor working on the Trump case. Fourth and last is the classified documents case. I need only say two words about that: Aileen, and Cannon. The three civil cases arent dead. The first is the $83 million defamation judgment against Trump for E. Jean Carroll, which Trump has appealed. The second is the judgment won by New York Attorney General Letitia James over Trump inflating the value of his real estate. That verdict was $454 million. Trumps bond was whacked down to $175 million. It also is under appeal. Finally, the Central Park Five are suing Trump over comments he made about them in his one debate with Kamala Harris, so that ones just getting started. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Civil suits can proceed against presidents (remember Paula Jones and Bill Clinton?). But they have to be conducted in such a way as to not interfere with the presidents performance of his I choke on this word in reference to Donald Trump, but: duties. And they may just get tossed on appeal anyway. (Meanwhile, if youre keeping count, Trump is also in court as a litigant; hes suing CBS, ABC, CNN, and Simon & Schuster.) Its just staggering. The man called Georgias top election official and said, in essence, go find me 11,780 votes. Next, he very obviously incited an insurrection against the United States. Then, after that failed, he walked out of the White House with 13,000 government documents, at least 300 of which were classified, and spent months ignoring entreaties from the FBI to allow the bureau to conduct a quiet review. Trumps defenders say these were politically motivated prosecutions. I suppose I can see why some people would think that, especially with propaganda news outlets relentlessly driving home that interpretation. But in reality, if anything, the legal system showed restraint with respect to Trump. He could have been prosecuted for a number of things that the system just let go. They could have come after him on obstruction of justice with respect to the Mueller report. Another one was his destruction of who knows how many presidential records, in clear violation of the Presidential Records Act. Remember that story? There was a range of unprosecuted potential campaign finance violations. He probably, let us say, pushed the limits of the law every single week he was in office. Thats who the man is. Thats who hes always been. He acts with complete impunity and disregard for the law, and he dares prosecutors and potential plaintiffs: Come at me, take your shot. And his lawyers just delay, delay, delay. His lawyers on these cases havent been geniuses. Theyve been pretty lousy. But theyve taken every opportunity the system allows defense lawyers to seek delays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everybody blames Merrick Garland. And everybody isnt wrong. Why it took the U.S. attorney general until November 2022 to appoint a special counsel on the January 6 case remains a mystery. If hed moved a year earlier, would it have made a difference? Im not saying he shouldnt have, but the available evidence suggests to us that either: (1) Trumps lawyers would still have been able to delay; (2) hed have been convicted, but it wouldnt have mattered, and indeed would have helped him make his case about what a martyr he was; and (3) hed have been exonerated. Trump was lucky. Insanely lucky. How did the classified documents case get assigned to the person who has to be the hackiest judge in that circuit, whose shamelessness in every single thing she did was just jaw-dropping? How did he get a Supreme Court that announced in February of an election year that it would hear arguments about presidential immunity, but then scheduled those arguments for late April, eight weeks later, and issued its ruling on July 1, nine weeks after that? Well, we know how he got that courthe appointed a third of it. But how they managed to make the nation wait for 17 weeks is still mind-blowing. Of course, given how the court ruled, it wouldnt have mattered. And now, were going to have a President Trump who is about to see criminal cases against him dismissed and civil cases potentially won on appeal, and who has been told by the Supreme Court that he can do pretty much anything he wants to do as president because as long as he dresses it up as an official act, its legal. Its not illegal if the president does it, Richard Nixon infamously told David Frost. Scorn and obloquy were heaped on Nixon, and properly so, for making that egregiously un-American statement. Well, now, thanks to Donald Trump and John Roberts and crew, its an American statement. And the only lesson Trump will learn from all this is that he can do anything. Which, alas, is the right lesson. Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal team filed a motion comparing his case to Donald Trump's legal battles, arguing for his release before Thanksgiving. They cited free speech protections and claimed that the rapper's constitutional rights were violated. This came after accusations he used social media to influence potential jurors. Sean "Diddy" Combs faces federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution after his arrest in September. Diddy's Lawyers Cite Donald Trump Case In Bid For Release, Defend His Right To Speak Out MEGA In a court filing on Monday, Sean "Diddy" Combs' legal team made a controversial comparison between the rapper's case and ex-president Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles in an attempt to secure his release from jail before Thanksgiving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They referenced a ruling from Trump's election interference case, highlighting the protection of free speech under the First Amendment. "Only a significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice will support restricting Mr. Trump's speech," the rapper's lawyers noted per the Daily Mail. They then argued that Diddy has "a greater constitutional claim than other trial participants...to speak out against the prosecution and the criminal trial process that seek to take away his liberty." The lawyers went on to urge the court to apply "Trump's heightened standard when considering Mr. Combs' speech here." Diddy's New Bail Package Proposal MEGA Diddy currently faces federal charges, including racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the rapper's arrest, he has been locked up at the Brooklyn MDC jail and has also been denied bail on two occasions for posing a flight risk. Ahead of Thanksgiving Day, Diddy has sought bail again, presenting a comprehensive package that supersedes what he offered in his previous bail attempts. As part of the package, the music mogul reportedly offered a "$50 million bond secured by the equity in Combs and his mother's Florida homes, implementation of a 24/7 monitoring service by approved security personnel." According to a report, the rapper also included additional conditions, such as prohibiting himself from having "internet or phone access outside of meetings with legal counsel, a pre-approved visitor list consisting of select family members, and surrendered passports belonging to the rapper and his family members." The Rapper Was Accused Of Trying To Sway Potential Jurors MEGA The latest legal motion was filed in response to accusations that the "Bad Boy" mogul attempted to sway potential jurors by orchestrating a "public relations campaign" using his children's social media accounts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The allegation arose from a video posted on November 4, showing Diddy's children celebrating his birthday. In the clip, his son Justin Dior Combs, 30, along with six other children, including his two-year-old daughter Love, gathered around a birthday cake to sing him "Happy Birthday." In the background, Diddy's voice could be heard for the first time since his arrest. The disgraced rapper expressed his love and gratitude, saying: "I love y'all so much. I can't wait to see y'all. I just want to say I'm proud of y'all, especially the girls. I mean all of y'all, but just for being strong." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added: "Thank y'all for being strong and thank y'all for being by my side, supporting me. I love y'all. I have the best family in the world. My birthday. I'm happy. Thank y'all for giving me this call. I love y'all." According to Business Insider, Diddy used a prohibited app, ContactMeASAP.com, to arrange for videos featuring his children to be posted online. Federal Prosecutors Argued Against Diddy's Release On Bail MEGA Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the ruling, federal prosecutors filed a motion that the rapper poses a "serious risk of obstruction, danger, and flight" in a bid to get his fourth bail attempt denied. They stated that Diddy has attempted to obstruct his sex crimes case by making efforts "to publicly leak materials he views as helpful to his case" and initiating "media campaigns that are, in his own words, aimed at tainting the jury pool." The filing also alleged that Diddy violated rules prohibiting contact with individuals not on his approved contact list, including witnesses relevant to his case. To avoid being caught, he reportedly used the telephone accounts of at least eight other inmates. He paid for the access through other inmates using "payment processing apps and BOP (Bureau of Prisons) commissary account deposits." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, prosecutors claim that while incarcerated, the "Finna Get Loose" rapper made an overwhelming 128 calls and texts over four days to a witness, allegedly attempting to convince her to support him. The Rapper Claims Feds Edited A Video Of Him Assaulting His Ex To Make It Harder To Get Bail MEGA Prior to Diddy's recent bail hearing last Friday, the rapper's legal team filed new docs in which they accused federal prosecutors of "mischaracterizing and concealing critical facts" to get the rapper's bail request denied. According to the documents obtained by TMZ, Diddy's lawyers alleged that the prosecutors had shown the presiding judge an edited video of an altercation between Diddy and his ex Cassie, which was caught by the camera in the hotel where it occurred. The incident occurred in 2016, and the video of it went viral earlier this year amid Diddy being investigated by the authorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diddy's lawyers also claimed that the prosecutors had the unedited version of the video but chose to alter it to present their "most powerful evidence of danger and obstruction." They went on to say that the intention behind such an underhanded tactic was to make Diddy look even more dangerous than the unedited video portrayed. Prosecutors have shot down Sean Diddy Combss insistence that he should be afforded the same free speech rights as President-elect Donald Trump when the rap star tried again to be released on bail following his indictment on sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for prostitution charges. After Combs was accused of trying to influence jurors from jail in an orchestrated online and phone campaign through friends and family, his attorneys argued in a filing Monday that he should have the same rights Trump enjoyed when he badgered law enforcement officials publicly and online in the election interference case following the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The case against Trump, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith is being dropped because there is no precedent for such an action against a sitting president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Combss attorney cited the District of Columbia Appeals court decision in United States v. Trump last December in which the court ruled that the former president could only be constrained in his attacks in the case in the event of a significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice. Attorneys for Sean Diddy Combs have argued he should be afforded the same First Amendement rights Trump enjoyed when he attacked officials in the election interference case against him. (2018 Invision) The court ruled that Trump is free to make statements criticizing the current administration, the Department of Justice, and the Special Counsel, as well as statements that this prosecution is politically motivated or that he is innocent of the charges against him. Combss attorneys argued that the court should apply Trumps heightened standard when considering restricting their clients speech. But prosecutors in the Brooklyn case werent buying it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a response filed later Monday they argued that Trumps judges faced the unique task of balancing the right of a current candidate for the presidency to speak publicly about his charges against the publics right to a fair trial. They said that Combss communications are not protected by the First Amendment. The defense team filing was in response to US District Court Judge Arun Subramanian, who last week asked both sides to explain if Combs public communications do or dont constitute obstruction of justice. Combs has already been denied bail twice. The judge said Friday that he would decide on his latest bail application sometime this week. Combss trial is set for May 5. (WJET/WFXP) With the rise of digital creators and the growing prevalence of influencers across all social media, a new study by the United Nations examines both the positive and negative aspects of digital creators impact. These findings are part of a newly released report by the United Nations titled Behind the Screens, which surveyed 500 digital creators across 45 countries in an anonymous online survey, with 20 in-depth interviews being held with 20 digital content creators. The report covers the shortfalls of digital content creators from lack of fact verification to undisclosed sponsored content. The report continues going into detail about the experiences and the credibility of these content creators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A central idea in news is reporting the facts and the report emphasizes the need for creators to prioritize accuracy when reporting. While journalists have formal training to assess a sources credibility, less than 1.5% of digital content creators are journalist professionals. Over 41% of the creators say that they base the credibility of a source on its popularity, including the amount of likes or views it receives. This is followed second by the information being shared by another trusted friend or expert. However, 62% of these creators do not take steps to independently verify the information before reporting it. A third of the creators say that they have been directly targeted by hate speech, but nearly 30% chose to ignore it and not report the interaction. I am also experiencing some online harassment now, though Ive grown used to it over timeBut when I report these issues, the platform asked me to provide evidence that is impossible for me to obtain legally, so they just dont handle it, said mega-influencer ZHANG Zhaoyuan. Meanwhile, the unverified content that has been posted about me has already impacted [my] life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Looking at disclosures with sponsored content, a large majority of creators do disclose these sponsorships and partnerships. However, 7% reported that they present this content as if it is not sponsored. A third of the creators only recommend products they use and openly communicate this fact to their audience. The study showed the need for enhanced media and information literacy among content creators around the world. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Greenville, S.C. (WSPA)- Dancing on Ice? Well leave it to the professionals this weekend at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville for Disney on Ice Lets Dance! is Disney on Ices newest show. This will be the first time Greenville has received one of the new shows right out of the gate. This show has all new costumes, a completely redesigned stage and new props. This is the first and only Disney on Ice production that features Frozen 2 and you can expect Lion King, Moana, The Little Mermaid and Wish. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the first production to highlight some of the villains from Disney. Expect skating, special effects, singing, dancing, acrobatics. WHEN: Wednesday, November 27 7:00 PM Friday, November 29 10:30 AM & 2:30 PM Saturday, November 30 10:30 AM & 2:30 PM Sunday, December 22 10:30 AM & 2:30 PM TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased at DIsneyonIce.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 WSPA 7NEWS. President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department last Thursday as he wound down his whirlwind of Cabinet announcements ahead of his second term. While former federal prosecutors noted that Bondi, who was Trump's former defense lawyer, is a seasoned litigator and thus more qualified to be attorney general than former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration for the role last week, some told Salon that that upside also makes Bondi's nomination as a fierce Trump loyalist all the more cause for concern. "My first instinct is,' Well here's someone who is at least qualified,'" Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, told Salon in a phone interview. "She's had a few problems of her own, but she has decades of criminal law experience. She was a Florida A.G., so she can certainly, certainly be the Attorney General of the United States, whereas Matt Gaetz should not be anywhere even near the Department of Justice." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bondi's nomination came just hours after Gaetz's withdrawal amid a firestorm that spawned from resurfaced claims he paid to have sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied the allegations, and the release of a report on the House Ethics Committee's investigation into the matter was blocked last week. Bondi previously served as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019 and is currently a partner at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, chairing its corporate regulatory compliance practice. Still, legal experts had mixed reactions to the Trump pick, citing her allegiance to the president-elect and her comparatively minor controversies. "Although Bondi has a much stronger record as a lawyer than Gaetz, including her experience as a prosecutor, that likely means she may be more effective in implementing Trumps promised goal of turning the DOJ on his political enemies," argued Temidayo Aganga-Williams, a partner at Selendy Gay PLLC in New York and former assistant U.S. attorney. Trumps selection of Bondi confirms "that the next Trump DOJ will be bound to the president instead of being bound to the rule of law," he added in an email. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bondi has spent the last decade vehemently defending Trump, lambasting the officials who have investigated him and repeating his stolen election claims. As she awaits confirmation from the Senate, whether she will follow through on promises she made in media appearances to probe federal prosecutors and FBI agents she deemed out-of-line has come into focus, NBC News reports. The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted the bad ones, Bondi said last year in an interview on Fox News following Trump's indictment in Georgia for allegedly plotting to overturn the state's 2020 election outcome. The investigators will be investigated. She went on to dub the prosecutors who filed charges against the president-elect in his criminal cases members of the "deep state" a reference to a false theory that DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents schemed to undermine Trump. Without citing evidence, the former Florida prosecutor declared that since they now had a "spotlight on them they can all be investigated." Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former federal prosecutor, told Salon that, while Bondi's political ideology and support of Trump aren't disqualifiers, her comments are "very troubling" and "reckless" given that there is no evidence of any misconduct in the Trump prosecution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Calling out for criminal prosecution of people who have simply been doing their job, I think, is a distortion of the facts and a violation of law, and it has given me great pause," she said in a phone interview, noting that she hopes to see rigorous questioning from the Senate on what Bondi meant in those statements. "If indeed she simply wants to use the Justice Department as a tool of revenge for Donald Trump, I think that would be disqualifying," McQuade added. Aganga-Williams voiced a similar concern, calling the comments "incredibly dangerous" and arguing that they turn public servants into the "unfair target of the very government they've served." But Rahmani indicated he was skeptical of Bondi's ability to follow through on her comments or execute Trump's push to investigate those who have investigated him. What Bondi could feasibly charge the prosecutors who indicted Trump with is unclear, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Whether it's Gaetz or Bondi or whomever, what can Jack Smith and others really be prosecuted for? There's not an easy answer," he said, noting prosecutors' immunity from civil lawsuits and the lack of any evidence of a civil rights violation they could be charged with. "There's no clear charge that she could use to go after folks," Rahmani said, adding: "I don't think judges, even Trump-appointed judges, would put up with that. I think those cases would be dismissed pretty quickly." On Friday, the Washington Post reported that Trump intends to fire special counsel Jack Smith and the team of prosecutors that helped him indict Trump on charges of illegally retaining national security documents and attempting to subvert the 2020 election results. Smith moved to dismiss the case and appeal against Trump on Monday. While Rahmani speculated that Smith and his team are likely worried, he also questioned whether Trump will actually stay true to his word. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Trump has made all sorts of promises. He's delivered on some. He hasn't on others," Rahmani said. "You never know with him. He's a little bit of an enigma when it comes to these types of things, but if he's gonna go through on that promise, Pam Bondi is going to be the one that's executing it." Also of concern for McQuade and Aganga-Williams was Bondi's boosting of Trump's election fraud claims. The former district attorney traveled to Philadelphia and held news conferences where she amplified false allegations of widespread ballot fraud and insisted the election had been stolen, according to NBC News. We know that ballots have been dumped, Bondi said. Weve heard that people were receiving ballots that were dead, the thing that is happening all over the country. The former state attorney general later acted as a defense lawyer for Trump during his first impeachment proceedings, claiming the 2019 probe was a "sham" and that he was unfairly investigated. She also made an appearance at Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan last spring over charges of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment made to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 presidential contest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I think the Senate needs to satisfy themselves [as to] what her view of that was because simply pushing an agenda designed to undermine public confidence in the electoral system is a danger to democracy and not something we would expect by an attorney general whose job it is to uphold the rule of law," McQuade said. Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed Trump's claims of election fraud and declined to launch DOJ investigations into them over a lack of evidence. The then-president then attempted to appoint Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ official who backed his 2020 claims, as acting attorney general, but the effort was thwarted when a half dozen senior Justice Department officials threatened to resign. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. McQuade also raised ethics concerns around Bondi's potential confirmation, encouraging the Senate to "carefully" probe her handling of a $25,000 political donation she received from Trump in 2013. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bondi and then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who had also received a donation from Trump, had both declined to join a lawsuit in 2016 accusing Trump University, a company that wasn't an accredited college or university but offered real estate training courses, of tax fraud. Bondi's office had received 22 complaints of fraud against the company only one of which she said later her office considered credible and she opted not to pursue a case. A spokesperson for Bondi later confirmed she had solicited Trump's donation. Later that year, the Internal Revenue Service found Trump's gift to Bondi violated tax laws in response to a complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Trump paid a $2,500 fine, while a Florida ethics panel later cleared Bondi of wrongdoing. I will not let any money from anyone affect what I do, Bondi said, per the Washington Post, at a 2016 news conference in defense of her handling of the situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the donation was a violation, it shouldn't necessarily be disqualifying for Bondi, argued Rahmani, who previously served as the director of enforcement for the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. McQuade added, however, that the Florida ethics panel's decision, while valuable, also may not rise to the same rigor and standard of probing as seen at the federal level. She also said she hopes Trump follows through in having his nominees, including Bondi, undergo FBI background checks to ensure they're all fit to serve. Still, Trump's spate of nominees makes clear that the president-elect is demanding loyalty from them Bondi included, Aganga-Williams and Rahmani both argued. Rahmani added that he hopes her "experience carries the day," though he said he doesn't expect Bondi will stand up to Trump as Barr did. While McQuade said she worries that, if confirmed, Bondi would be interested in carrying out Trump's calls for "revenge against his political rivals," she's also hopeful that Bondi's past comments amount to "political rhetoric and not an actual plan." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm also hopeful that there are enough guardrails in the system to prevent that" like career prosecutors balking at efforts to charge anyone who hasn't committed a crime, the grand jury and trial systems, and judges, she added. Aganga-Williams, however, said he expects Bondi's execution of the attorney general role, should she be confirmed, to be "exactly what Trump wants it to be and not what the rule of law demands it to be." "She has shown her willingness to support Trumps lies, including by supporting his false claims about fraud in the 2020 election," he added. "Someone who is willing to lie on behalf of a candidate will only be more dangerous when doing so on behalf of a president." Bondi did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Action News Jax spoke to members of the dive team that found a car submerged in a local pond with human remains inside. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] We reported this weekend the remains could belong to a New York couple that disappeared in the 80s. A tip from a sonar team based in the Carolinas, working on the Romer case, led the Sunshine State Sonar team to this location. The team believed they had found the vehicle the Romers were last seen driving before checking into the Royal Inn on April 8th, 1980. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you have a vehicle in front of a pond at the hotel where they went missing, thats something that needs to be taken care of, Co-Founder, Sunshine State Sonar - John Martin said. John Martin and his team with Sunshine State Sonar dove into the pond in Brunswick on Friday night, relying on their instincts as they searched by feel in the dark water. I grabbed the biggest object off that seat, came to the surface, and sure enough, I had a femur bone in my hand. Thats when we stopped. This was a crime scene, Martin said. The team then recovered multiple personal items from the car, including jewelry and even a pair of womens shoes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This was a custom-made Lincoln Continental, so a piece of the backseat had the initials engraved in the backseat, Martin said. Rumors of bodies being hidden in the pond had circulated for decades among former guests of the Royal Inn, which its behind the pond. Many now said those rumors were true. To be bodies back there is just crazy, a former hotel guest said. I didnt believe it when they first told me, and now that its popping off, it is madness, another former Hotel Guest said. Charles and Catherine Romer were a wealthy new couple, traveling through southern Georgia. They disappeared on April 8, 1980, and were never heard from again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite a previous search of the pond after the Romers disappearance, Martin believes authorities at the time didnt have the proper equipment to fully search the area. Since its founding in 2022, Sunshine State Sonar has helped solve several cold cases. We have solved 12 cases in a brought 14 missing people home in those 12 cases, Martin said. The investigation is ongoing, but this discovery brings the hope of finally solving a case that has haunted Brunswick, Georgia for over four decades. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly of Cambodia on Wednesday approved the draft budget of 37,950 billion riels (about 9.32 billion U.S. dollars) for the government spending in 2025, down from 9.54 billion dollars in 2024. A total of 102 lawmakers, who were present at the parliamentary session, unanimously passed the draft bill. Speaking during the assembly session, Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth said the budget next year is equal to 18.14 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). "Cambodia's economy is forecast to grow by 6.3 percent in 2025, pushing up the nation's GDP to 209,163 billion riels, or about 51.39 billion U.S. dollars," he said. Pornmoniroth, who is also a deputy prime minister, said the GDP per capita was projected to hit 2,924 dollars in 2025. According to the budget bill, to meet the 2025 expenditure, the government has planned to borrow 2 billion SDR (Special Drawing Right), or around 2.6 billion dollars, from friendly countries and development partners as well as to raise more funds from sovereign bond issuance. Nov. 26Jurors this week convicted a man linked by DNA evidence to the 1994 attack of a woman who had been jogging in the bosque when she was dragged to a secluded area, then tied, beaten and raped. The victim, 43 when she was attacked, died in 2013, long before her decades-old rape kit was matched in 2022 to Gilbert Contreras, 58. Prosecutors said the woman was jogging near the Rio Grande Nature Center on Nov. 26, 1994, when Contreras beat her with a rock, tied her with strips of her own clothing and raped her twice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case went cold, and the woman never fully recovered or felt safe again before her death, prosecutors said. Jurors on Monday convicted Contreras on two counts of criminal sexual penetration resulting in great bodily harm or mental anguish and one count of kidnapping. His trial began Thursday in 2nd Judicial District Court. He faces up to 72 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 6 before Judge Courtney Weaks. Albuquerque police said at the time of Contreras' 2022 arrest that the woman's rape kit became part of a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits that for years remained untested. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2016, Tim Keller then state auditor, now Albuquerque's mayor announced that an audit found New Mexico had 5,302 untested rape kits dating to the 1980s. Two scientific laboratories began testing the kits in 2019, leading to multiple arrests and convictions. The 1994 case began when a passersby found the woman bloodied and tied up near a bosque trail, according to a Metropolitan Court criminal complaint. The woman told police she was jogging on the trail when a man attacked her, threatened to kill her and dragged her to an isolated site before raping her. Decades later, Albuquerque police got a hit in the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, that matched Contreras. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subsequent to the 1994 attack, Contreras had been arrested and convicted of robbery, sexual assault, child abuse and aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer. In 2012, Contreras was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty in a case where he shot up his own home in Deming to try to frame someone else. "Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing: he's willing to go to jail," Tom Homan said of Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto/Shutterstock; Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/Getty Tom Homan and Mike Johnston Tom Homan and Mike Johnston Tom Homan, who was tapped to serve as the "border czar" in Donald Trump's upcoming administration, has already threatened a liberal lawmaker with incarceration if he resists Trump's mass deportation plan. Homan, 62, is a former Border Patrol agent who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump's first term. Though he will not be an official Cabinet member in Trump's new administration, he "will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin," according to the president-elect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Donald Trump Confirms Plan to Declare a National Emergency to Carry Out Mass Deportations On Monday, Nov. 25, Homan issued a threat against Denver Mayor Mike Johnston after the Democratic leader promised to protect migrants in his city when Trump takes office and called on others to join him in protesting mass immigrant round-ups. "Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing: he's willing to go to jail," Homan told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "I'm willing to put him in jail." Johnston has said that he's "not afraid" of going to jail for pushing back against the Trump administration's immigration policies, though he hopes it wouldn't come to that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Matt Gaetz Withdraws as Donald Trump's Attorney General Pick amid Sex-for-Hire Allegations Bob Daemmrich/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Tom Homan, Trump's new "border czar," on Nov. 26, 2024 Tom Homan, Trump's new "border czar," on Nov. 26, 2024 As a sanctuary city, Denver has been accommodating to immigrants in terms of jobs and legal aid, but Trump put a target on the metropolitan area when he called the nearby city of Aurora a "war zone" and claimed that Venezuelan gangs were taking over apartment buildings. I dont know what the hell is going on in Denver, but were going to go in and were going to go and were going to fix it," Homan told Hannity. "If you dont want to fix it, if you dont want to protect his communities, President Trump and ICE will. 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. Homan said that if cities or states are noncompliant with new immigration and deportation policy, federal funding would be withheld from them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Pete Hegseth, Trump's Nominee for Defense Secretary, Refutes Newly Revealed Police Report of Alleged Sexual Assault Case Johnston is not the only politician to oppose the upcoming Trump administration's deportation plans. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have both taken a similar approach and have vowed to protect their cities' people. "If you come for my people, you come through me," Pritzker said. DOWAGIAC, Mich. (WOOD) Police say a Dowagiac man has been charged after allegedly pulling out a gun and shooting at another person during a fight. Around 11:20 p.m. Friday, officers responded to the 300 block of W. Telegraph Street, near Hamilton Street, for a report of a victim with a gunshot wound, according to a release from the Dowagiac Police Department. Investigators say it started when three people were physically fighting. The suspect identified as Marcus Haskins of Dowagiac pulled out a concealed handgun and started shooting at the victim, police say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to the release. Police say Haskins ran away from the scene, but he was taken into custody shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday. He was charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent and five counts of felony firearm, according to the Dowagiac Police Department. Authorities say Haskins remains in jail on a $300,000 bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. What a wild ride it's been. On Tuesday evening, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he'd nominate Stanford University professor Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Bhattacharya, a medical doctor and highly credentialed health and economics researcher, is a conventional, qualified pick to head up the federal government agency responsible for distributing some $47 billion in health research grants. His nomination is nevertheless remarkable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bhattacharya made a name for himself during the COVID-19 pandemic as an arch-critic of lockdowns, mandatory masking, coercive vaccine policies, and other restrictive measures to combat the spread of the virus. He was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for focused protection of vulnerable populations, and against society-wide restrictions of the general public, as a strategy for ending the pandemic. The Great Barrington Declaration provoked immense controversy when it was first published in October 2020. After its release, then-NIH Director Francis Collins sent National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci an email dismissing Bhattacharya and his co-authors as "fringe epidemiologists" and demanding a "swift and devastating published take down" of the declaration's premises. Collins' email was representative of the imperious attitude of public health officials at the time: Criticism of the government's restrictive approach to the pandemic was to be crushed, not debated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federal public health officials would successfully urge social media companies to suppress the spread of Bhattacharya's online commentary. Bhattacharya would later be a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's "jawboning" efforts. That Bhattacharya is now being nominated to head an agency that sought to discredit him and suppress his speech is nothing short of revolutionary. It's a late-in-the-game triumph for critics of the heavy-handed public health establishment's approach to the pandemic. Risky research and lab leaks. Bhattacharya's nomination to head NIH will also have major implications for the funding of so-called "gain-of-function" research and investigations into COVID-19's possible origins in an NIH-funded Chinese lab. In their past roles as NIH and NIAID directors, Collins and Fauci were longtime proponents of a particular type of "gain-of-function" research that seeks to enhance the properties of a virus as a means of predicting what the next pandemic-causing pathogen will be and developing countermeasures to stop its spread. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their agencies doled out generous grants to researchers conducting this type of work in Wuhan, China. Many of these grants arguably violated White House-level policies restricting funding to, or requiring more risk-benefit scrutiny of, gain-of-function research. When a pandemic did emerge in Wuhan, China, Fauci derided credible speculation that NIH-funded research was responsible for COVID-19's creation as a fringe conspiracy theory. In the pages of Reason, Bhattacharya criticized Fauci for "self-serving" and "lawyerly" denials about the type of research NIH was supporting in Wuhan. He's also critical of this research generally. He's on the board of directors of the group Biosafety Now, which advocates for much tougher restrictions on this work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An NIH helmed by Bhattacharya will likely be much more circumspect about funding gain-of-function research on potential pandemic pathogens. We only know as much as we do about a potential lab leak origin of COVID because of the dogged work of Congressional investigators and investigative journalists, who've often had to sue government agencies to make public records on NIH-funded research available. Under Bhattacharya's leadership, the agency will likely be much more transparent and forthcoming with documents about the work it was funding in Wuhan. Ceasefire: Last night, news broke that both Israel and the militant group Hezbollah had agreed to a U.S.- and French-brokered deal to cease their war in southern Lebanon. The ceasefire was scheduled to go into effect early this morning local time. Reuters reports that the deal seems to be holding for now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to White House officials, the plan is for Israeli troops currently in southern Lebanon to withdraw back to Israel over the course of the next 60 days. Over the same time period, the Lebanese army will reoccupy the areas vacated by Israeli troops. The ceasefire agreement does not affect the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Scenes from D.C.: In case you missed it, President Joe Biden continued the annual tradition of pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving at a White House ceremony on Monday. Join me as I pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a ceremony on the South Lawn. https://t.co/Ca54auHIgX President Biden (@POTUS) November 25, 2024 It's a cute ritual (that apparently got its start as a classic Ronnie Reagan evasion of questions about the Iran-Contra scandal). As Reason's Billy Binion argued back in 2022, it'd be even cuter if the president pardoned some people who don't deserve to be in federal prison as well. QUICK HITS The U.K.'s Labor government waters down its green energy targets, reports Politico. The city of San Francisco is demanding that local cafe owner Hilda Mendez remove several tables and chairs, plus a few cacti, she has in front of her business until she applies for the proper permits. Getting those permits could take up to six months reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Failure to remove the tables could result in daily $100 fines. Mendez worries that her business will fail without additional outdoor seating. Do they have no heart? Organ transplant charity uses its organ transplant jet for personal trips. The American Prospect does some conspiratorial dot-connecting between the "abundance agenda" and evil corporate money. The post Dr. Jay in the House appeared first on Reason.com. Happy Tuesday. Heres your Tuesday Tech Drop, a curated list of the past weeks top stories from the intersection of politics and the all-inclusive world of technology. Drake brings lawyers to a rap battle Rapper Drake who once dismissed artists who take legal action with the lyric, a cease-and-desist is for hoes seems to have had a change of heart after taking a lyrical drubbing from Pulitzer-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar this summer. In a petition filed Monday in New York, Drake launched a legal attack against his own record label, Universal Music Group, and Spotify, which he accuses of harming him by allegedly boosting Lamars song They Not Like Us, a scathing diss track aimed at Drake and his associates. (Lamar is also signed to UMG.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drakes petition, which seeks information to support a potential lawsuit, claims that UMG and Spotify engaged in a high-tech scheme using bots, reduced licensing fees and paid influencers to boost the song illegally. A second petition, filed in Texas, alleges UMG engaged in a pay-for-play scheme with iHeartMedia to help boost the song, which the petition also claims defamed Drake. UMG provided NBC News with a pretty scathing response to the first suit: 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 Tuesday to NBC News, but its website says the platform has practices in place to prevent artificial streaming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As you might imagine, Drake resorting to the courts for help in the midst of a rap beef has been met with some pretty savage mockery. After all, Drake himself has put baseless claims about other artists, including Lamar, in his tracks, and hes used social media influencers to hype his music. And hes also taken advantage of shifts in the infrastructure of the music industry throughout his career, so in some ways, it seems Drake is raging against the machine that made him. Now it looks like a messy legal battle is on the horizon, which could shake loose all sorts of details about the inner workings of the music industry. One thing is for certain: Drake has made history as the first rapper to take legal action against Big Tech for the L he took during a beef. Newsom drives Musk mad California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a plan to counter President-elect Donald Trumps threats to undermine investment in electric vehicles. But the plan could exclude Elon Musk, and Musk is outraged. Read more at The Daily Beast. Trump seeks an AI czar Axios reports Trump is searching for someone to serve as his AI czar and lead his administrations efforts around artificial intelligence. Musk, who seems to have his hand in every aspect of the incoming Trump administration, is reportedly involved in this decision, as well. Remember last week when Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote that their department of government efficiency would rely on advanced technology to root out government waste? Axios suggests the AI czar is going to help with that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more at Axios. The crypto Congress CNBC dropped a report on the hundreds of millions of dollars the cryptocurrency industry plunged into this years elections, and its success in buying the most pro-crypto Congress in history. Read more at CNBC. Trumps FCC is MAGA to the bone Trumps pick to lead the Federal Communications Committee wont stop issuing threats. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has spent his first couple of weeks in the spotlight threatening media companies broadcast licenses and has vowed to end what he portrayed as governmental lawfare against Musk. Read more at Mediaite. 60 Minutes explores AI exploitation Sunday nights episode of 60 Minutes featured a story on the disturbingly exploitative gigs, outsourced to countries across the globe, that involve employees training artificial intelligence tools to recognize items. Watch the segment below: This article was originally published on MSNBC.com President-elect Donald Trumps choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services sent a shudder through the global health community. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy will hold considerable sway over US health policies, and his reach will extend well beyond the nations borders. Kennedy has listed multiple domestic issues he wants to take on in the federal government food supplies, fluoride, raw milk and psychedelics among them but hasnt said much publicly about his plans for the global mission of HHS. Health experts fear that he could undercut decades of work to control the spread of infectious diseases such as measles, polio and HIV; hamper international research collaborations; and scuttle current efforts to increase global coordination and cooperation ahead of future pandemics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to concern that Kennedy will continue to share false or harmful information, health experts said that many of his stated beliefs run counter to longstanding global health goals and that as head of HHS, he could slash the agencys budget. The US is the worlds largest funder of global health programs, according to the nonprofit health policy and research group KFF. In fiscal year 2024, the US spent $12.3 billion on global health, and roughly one-seventh of that about $1.6 billion was funneled through agencies within HHS, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Ultimately, the secretary is the CEO of the largest health, medical and scientific enterprise in the world, said Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as US surgeon general under President George W. Bush. The world depends on us, for our science, for our emergency capabilities, for our ability to surge and help others, Carmona said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University, says that funding is critical for at least three reasons: friendship with other nations, defense and early warning against threats that could come into the US, and development. Healthy populations, he points out, buy American goods. Global health is not charity. Global health is really strategic investment, del Rio added, saying he hoped Kennedy would find a way to maintain those investments. Anti-vaccine views on an international stage Kennedy is an environmental lawyer turned medical science and vaccine skeptic. He has promoted false claims about vaccination for years and founded the nonprofit Childrens Health Defense, which promotes anti-vaccine material. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He tempered his talking points on the campaign trail, saying that people who want vaccines should be able to get them, but still suggests that safety and risk information is hidden when its summarized on government websites such as the CDCs and the US Food and Drug Administrations. As recently as last summer, Kennedy claimed in interviews that thimerosal, a preservative in some vaccines, was linked to brain damage and autism in children. The CDC notes that studies have not found any evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of many vaccines. - IMAGINESTOCK/Moment RF/Getty Images He has taken aim at vaccines used outside the United States, too. In an interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan last year, Kennedy called the whole-cell DTP vaccine a vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis thats no longer used in the US but is used in many other countries such as India and those in Africa very dangerous, an assertion that is not supported by science. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres already some pockets of skepticism and people who are deeply into conspiracy theories, but having an official from the United States make those statements over and over again could have just drastic and terrible impact, said Kathleen Sebelius, who served as HHS secretary under President Barack Obama. Some experts said that despite his softer message on the campaign trail, theres no sign that Kennedys views on vaccines have changed. He is probably the most anti-vaccine person Ive ever spoken to, said Dr. Peter Hotez , a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine. In 2017, shortly after Kennedy announced that Trump had asked him to chair a commission on vaccine safety and integrity an assignment that never materialized Hotez was asked by NIH leaders to speak with Kennedy about his stance on vaccines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hotezs daughter, Rachel, has autism, and he is the author of a book explaining why vaccines did not cause her condition. Hotez said he began a series of long but futile phone calls with Kennedy about vaccines. He just was not interested in any real facts. He had his mind made up. You couldnt convince him of anything. It was just an exercise of frustration, Hotez said. Reduced efforts against infectious disease? In 2023, Kennedy said he would tell the nations health agencies to give infectious diseases a break, according to NBC News, and instead focus on tackling chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But one of the main assertions of Kennedys book The Real Anthony Fauci and of the health freedom movement he embraces is that the risk of infectious diseases and pandemics is exaggerated by pharmaceutical companies and scientists who are on their payrolls for profit. Over the years, Fauci has received royalty payments for therapies they has invented, but he has said that he donates those payments to charity to avoid any potential conflict of interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mary Holland, CEO of Childrens Health Defense, the organization Kennedy founded, says Kennedys goal of focusing on chronic diseases at home will probably extend to the rest of the world, too. People are sick with chronic health conditions, and I think that will be his focus, is chronic health problems, not focusing on what might be the next infectious disease outbreak, she said. Critics say Kennedys previous statements make them suspect he might abandon important infectious disease efforts that affect the globe, like the fight against HIV and AIDS. Kennedy has said he doesnt think AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Instead, he says, AIDS comes from wearing down the immune system with drug use, which is not true. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About half of the nations global health budget is spent on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, according to KFF. Critics say that having Kennedy at the helm of the HHS would almost certainly erode vaccine coverage further, allowing infectious diseases that had been tamped down to make a comeback. Measles is a case in point. Measles is highly contagious and can be fatal, but vaccines are highly effective at preventing infection. Despite this success, the Covid-19 pandemic and misinformation have caused vaccination rates to drop, threatening progress toward eliminating the disease. Worldwide, measles cases rose 20% from 2022 to 2023, according to the latest report from the World Health Organization. Kennedy is no fan of Covid-19 vaccines, either. In 2023, he tweeted that the Covid shots are a crime against humanity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Studies have estimated that in their first year of use, the Covid-19 vaccines an achievement under the first Trump administration saved more than 14 million lives worldwide. Through February, the United States has donated nearly 700 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to 117 countries, according to the US State Department. Its not clear whether the US would continue these kinds of vaccine donations under a second Trump administration. He will cause disease and death if he is allowed to be confirmed, Sebelius said of Kennedy. She points to the emerging H5N1 bird flu epidemic as one particularly precarious situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Avian flu is already jumping from birds to livestock and from livestock to farm workers in the United States, and it is spreading, Sebelius said. At HHS, Sebelius said, she doesnt see Kennedy accelerating efforts to find effective tests, treatments and vaccines. If anything, hes going to slow it down or dispute it or disregard what the scientists are telling him is coming, and the US could export the next pandemic to the world, she said. Backing away from pandemic preparedness Many experts fear that Kennedy, like Trump, will favor ending US support for WHO, which coordinated the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as many other health initiatives around the world. The US is one of its largest funders. If the US stopped funding WHO, it would really hollow out the organization, said Lawrence Gostin, a professor and chair of global health law at Georgetown University. Kennedy reportedly wrote a letter this year congratulating Slovakian officials who refused to join 190 other countries in signing updated International Health Regulations in May. The IHR is a legally binding agreement governing how countries are expected respond and cooperate in the face of public health threats, including pandemics. The independent Slovak news site Dennik N reported in October that Kennedy sent a letter praising Peter Kotlar and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico for their decision to protect Slovak sovereignty. Kotlar, an orthopedist, issued a pandemic review report this year questioning the safety of Covid vaccines as well as the origins of the pandemic. I commend their call for an investigation into the origins of covid-19 and their advocacy of stopping vaccination against covid-19, Kennedy wrote, according to Dennik N. Neither Kennedys spokesperson nor Trumps transition team responded to requests for comment. Although the International Health Regulations were updated a major step toward better pandemic preparedness another effort to harmonize the international response to future pandemics, called the Pandemic Treaty, is still being negotiated. According to Gostin, who helped draft the treaty, wealthy countries want greater speed and transparency from developing nations in sharing information and biological samples during a pandemic, while poorer nations are asking for technology transfer and help with infrastructure like vaccine manufacturing facilities so they can have equal access to vaccines and treatments during future outbreaks. Right now in Geneva, theres a pall on the negotiations and deep anxiety, Gostin said. If the details cant be worked out before Inauguration Day, he said, the effort could collapse. Theres a very strong belief in international diplomatic venues that Trump will just simply withdraw the United States and also try to convince our allies or other authoritarian leaders to pull out, Gostin said. Which might mean that after three years of intense negotiations and all the suffering we had with Covid, that wed have nothing to show for it. Holland agreed that Kennedy probably wouldnt support the pandemic treaty, and in the view of Childrens Health Defense, some elements could make a pandemic more likely. It sounds nice, like a treaty to cooperate against pandemics, she said. But some of the iterations were really to increase high-security biological laboratories around the world, which we know leaps happen all the time from these labs. If a new pandemic emerges with Kennedy at the helm of HHS, Gostin says, the world almost certainly wont be prepared. The whole point of a treaty is to prepare and to have vaccines, which he is against, Gostin said. He lacks the major qualification for being an HHS secretary, which is fidelity to science and to health, and he cant be the steward of the nations largest health agency. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A man accused of leading police on a cross-state chase from New Hampshire into Massachusetts Wednesday has been taken to the hospital with serious injuries after crashing during the pursuit. Members of the New Hampshire State Police Special Enforcement Unit and other troopers were using a state police airp0lace to conduct traffic enforcement on I-95 in Greenland when they spotted a dark-colored vehicle traveling around 100 mph. An officer on the ground attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver kept speeding south. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State police in New Hampshire notified Massachusetts State Police shortly before noon that a vehicle was fleeing south into Bay State at a high rate of speed after failing to stop for authorities, an MSP spokesperson told Boston 25 News. An MSP trooper with the Newbury barracks joined the chase on Route 95 southbound before pulling back for safety reasons within a few minutes, MSP say. The fleeing car then crashed at the Exit 76B off-ramp while trying to pull off the highway. He suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to MSP. The driver will be summonsed to court at a later date for criminal charges stemming from the portion of the incident in Massachusetts, MSP says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services responded to the crash scene. The identity of the driver remains under investigation and criminal charges in both states will follow. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The driver of a dump truck who was traveling with his truck bed raised when he hit a road sign and then the Route 141 overpass bridge Wednesday morning has been cited, Delaware State Police said. The man, a 44-year-old from Glenolden, Pennsylvania, was ticketed for careless driving. A first offense carries a minimum fine of $25 and maximum of $75, according to state law. Delaware law says "each subsequent, like offense occurring within 3 years of a former offense" carries a $50 to $95 fine. What happened on I-95 Wednesday morning? According to the Delaware Department of Transportation and state police, the man merged onto I-495 at Exit 2/Terminal Avenue a little before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning. He had the bed of his 2020 Peterbilt dump truck raised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said this was "due to an unknown reason." Once on I-95, the man first hit the bottom of a "large" sign just north of the Route 141 overpass. This caused debris to fall onto the road. THE SAGA: After hours of delays, I-95 reopens after dump truck strikes bridge Despite hitting the sign, the man continued south before hitting the Route 141 overpass. The impact dislodged the dump bed, which fell into the right shoulder of I-95. The man then stopped. Another dump truck was driving behind the man and swerved to avoid crashing into him. That caused the second driver to swerve across all I-95 south lanes, hit two guardrails that separated the I-295 south access lane onto I-95, hit a third guardrail and then stop in "a large drainage ditch," police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Due to the debris from the crashes, five additional vehicles were damaged. They included: a Honda Accord, a Ford Taurus, a Hyundai Santa Fe, a Mazda 3 and a Cadillac 350. Police said the debris caused "a varied amount of damage to their respective vehicles." Interstate 95 was closed after a dump truck crashed into a bridge on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. The driver of the first dump truck suffered minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital, while the second driver, a 31-year-old man from Newark, wasn't hurt. The driver of the Honda Accord, a 19-year-old woman from Middletown, also suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital. Traffic snarled for hours ahead of Thanksgiving The crash occurred at probably the worst time possible on the busiest travel day of the year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While it happened early in the morning, I-95 didn't reopen until about 10 a.m. Hours later, traffic was still very heavy. The crash came as more Delawareans than ever are planning to travel for Thanksgiving this week, according to recently released AAA predictions. YOUR WALLET MAY BE HAPPY: Traveling for Thanksgiving? Delaware gas prices lower this year than last While AAA estimates that only 217,000 First State residents will travel for Thanksgiving, that's still almost a quarter of the state's population. Of that, more than 91% of travelers, or more than 198,000 Delawareans, will be driving. That's 1.8% more drivers than last year. Why was the dump bed raised? State police said it remains unclear why the dump bed was raised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, it's unknown if the truck had a bed alarm that indicates when it's raised. Many dump trucks do. Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on X at @izzihughes_ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Driver of dump truck cited following I-95 Thanksgiving eve crash VIENTIANE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Laos welcomed 3.3 million foreign visitors in the first 10 months of 2024, a 19 percent increase from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism. From January to October, Thailand, Vietnam and China were top sources of foreign tourists to Laos, according to the ministry's latest report. To bolster tourist numbers during Visit Laos Year 2024, the government has approved visa-free entry and extended the duration of stay for tourists from certain countries. Under the Visit Laos Year 2024 campaign, tourism authorities and operators have improved services at hotels, guesthouses, and restaurants, and added facilities at tourist sites to provide a better visitor experience. Speaking at the ongoing eighth ordinary session of the National Assembly's ninth legislature, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said that in 2025, the government will promote tourism by targeting specific groups and collaborating closely with all sectors of society, with a particular emphasis on strengthening the partnership between the government and the private sector. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A 54-year-old Iowa man will face charges related to a crash which resulted in minor injuries to a South Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Tuesday. The South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS) says charges are pending against the Iowa man who failed to move over for a highway patrol vehicle carrying out a traffic stop on I-29 in Union County west of Vermillion. Yankton mall gains 3 major retailers Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The names of those involved have not been released, but DPS says the man was driving north in a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado. At this time, the trooper began to merge into the northbound lane with his lights activated, and was hit by the Chevy. The patrol vehicle came to rest in the east ditch, and the Silverado came to a rest in the median. The trooper was treated and released from a Vermillion hospital. The pickup driver was not injured. The driver was cited for failure to move over for an emergency vehicle, the DPS said. The Union County Sheriffs Office is investigating 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 KELOLAND.com. WESTLAKE, Ohio (WJW) Westlake police are investigating a serious crash. According to police, officers responded to a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a pole at about 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday at Crocker and Center Ridge roads. Winter storm watch: Click here for live updates Police said the driver was still in the vehicle, along with an open bottle of tequila and open containers of THC products. Courtesy: Westlake Police Department According to police, the 30-year-old driver began nodding off during field sobriety tests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and failure to control. I-Team: Attorney who sued Deshaun Watson, Sean Diddy Combs, now being sued on allegations of extortion Police said the driver refused a sobriety test. The drivers license was immediately suspended, according to police. The driver has not been identified. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who fatally struck a pedestrian in downtown Los Angeles early Wednesday morning. The crash was reported in the area of 6th Street and Los Angeles Street around 5 a.m., a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed. Arriving officers located a 50-year-old male victim down in the roadway. A hat is left behind at the scene of a fatal hit-and-run crash in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 27, 2024. (KTLA) Shoes are left behind at the scene of a fatal hit-and-run crash in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 27, 2024. (KTLA) Police respond to a hit-and-run crash in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 27, 2024. (KTLA) The unidentified man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, the spokesperson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Video showed the victims shoes and hat lying in the street as investigators worked the scene. The driver abandoned the vehicle at the scene and fled on foot, according to police. No further details about the crash or suspect description have 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. Several high-profile billionaires and backers of President-elect Donald Trump are waging a public battle against crewed aircraft and tanks, arguing that drones can do the job better, and more cheaply. Recent public comments from tech investors with interests in uncrewed technologies who also have Trumps ear and helped fund his campaign could point to a major new effort in Trumps Pentagon in which several expensive weapons programs could face the ax in favor of pilotless planes and driverless vehicles. The worlds richest person, Elon Musk, who is co-leading an advisory group aimed at cutting government waste, is emerging as one of the loudest voices promoting the use of drones to replace high-dollar, and often troubled, crewed fighter jets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a series of posts on X over the past week, the Tesla founder said manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones. He also shared a video of Chinese drones and said, Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35. Venture capital investor Marc Andreessen, who donated millions to the Trump campaign and whose firm Andreessen Horowitz has started to invest in small defense startup companies, said on his podcast recently that the country that wins the drone war and the technology war underneath that is going to have the best military. Andreessen said a former special forces officer recently told him that if you take 40 men and drones, you can basically do almost anything now drones are getting more smart and they're able to operate in swarms and so forth. Musk and Andreessen are not the only tech evangelists and financiers in Trumps orbit; several others have been nominated, or are reportedly vying for positions in his government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has selected businessman John Phelan as his nominee to lead the Navy. Phelan, a Trump donor, leads the private investment firm Rugger Management but has no previous ties to the Navy. Still reportedly in the mix for deputy secretary of defense is Trae Stephens, who co-founded defense tech startup Anduril Industries with Palmer Luckey, who has also backed Trump. Billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg, who is co-chief executive of Cerberus Capital Management, which has invested in several defense companies, is also reportedly in the running to be the Pentagons No. 2. Could DOD accelerate the fielding of drones? Absolutely, said Byron Callan, a defense industry analyst at Capital Alpha Partners. Its not a question of either/or however, it's a question of the right mix of crewed and uncrewed. He noted that Musks social media posts knocked 3 or 4 percent off Lockheed Martins stock price the day after it happened, though it's recovered a little bit. These debates are going to happen, and these comments matter and they'll cause stocks to move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the defensive side, Andreessen added that defending against small drones imposes a real cost on an enemy, as the U.S. Navy found out this year in the Red Sea when its ships spent months using $4 million missiles to shoot down Houthi drones that cost several thousand dollars. You can defend against one drone with a $20 million missile, Andreessen said. You can't defend against 10,000 drones and so you need counter drones. While the Pentagon is spending billions to develop new aerial and sea-based drones including the Replicator program which aims to build thousands of cheap, expendable drones for use in surveillance and combat missions there are no plans to get rid of crewed aircraft. And its not just crewed aircraft that are in the sights of some high-powered investors. Former Google chief Eric Schmidt, who was chair of the Pentagons Defense Innovation Board for much of Trumps first administration but is not currently an adviser or donor, said last month that the Army should get rid of its "useless" tanks and replace them with AI-powered drones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I read somewhere that the U.S. had thousands and thousands of tanks stored somewhere give them away. Buy a drone instead, he said at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia. Schmidt is the founder of a startup called White Stork that is looking to develop AI-enabled drones for military use. One defense industry adviser who was granted anonymity to discuss the potential state of play in the industry said that potentially, defense policy made by investors means theyre going to have a huge bias towards investable companies and tech instead of the companies and platforms that are actually used in war. If the incoming administration makes good on its promise to slash the number of crewed weapons systems, theyll have a fight on their hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking in Washington this month, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo said smaller uncrewed platforms cant replace crewed ships and fighter planes and wont get the job done in the enormous space of the Pacific. Everybody is stuck in this paradigm of either or, Paparo said, noting that the example of massive drone use in Ukraine doesn't necessarily translate to all theaters. If you think thats all of it and we can quit on everything else in the Pacific, you know, how are we going to sustain everything else if we completely give up on air and maritime superiority in the Pacific? Striking a sarcastic tone, Paparo added that, Oh, lets just quit on everything. Weve got some drones. All right, well [China]s got 2,100 fighters, he continued. Theyve got three aircraft carriers. They have a battle force of 200 destroyers. Oh well, roger, weve got a couple drones. No problem. You know, weve got that Ukraine thing licked. In response to President-elect Donald Trumps announcement that he plans to place new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, Mexico says it's considering retaliatory tariffs on American goods. NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd and Washington Post senior national political correspondent Ashley Parker join Jose Diaz-Balart to discuss the pros and cons of Trumps negotiations and the influences that could affect them. HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KETK) An East Texas man has been sentenced after being found guilty for the murder of a missing person, whose body was found in 2022 in a hand-dug grave. Mugshot of Steven Clowdus, courtesy of the Henderson County Jail. More than two years after a missing persons body was found, Steven Clowdus will now begin his prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of murder, tampering or fabricating physical evidence and intent to impair a human corpse. Greenville PD speaks on officers death after he was shot, ambushed Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On May 26, 2022, authorities were notified of a missing persons body and truck that were found at a residence off Highway 85 just outside of Seven Points. When officials arrived to the scene they located a truck that was cut into several pieces and uncovered a hand-dug grave containing the missing persons body. Shortly after, officials identified the missing person as Jimmy Dean Oldfield who went missing earlier that month, however the sheriffs office was notified on May 15. Mugshot of Dalan Clowdus, courtesy of the Henderson County Jail Mugshot of William Hux, courtesy of the Henderson County Jail. Investigators collected evidence that also led to the arrest of William David Hux and Dalan Clowdus who are now pending trial. Bullard man admits to having 2-year-old stepson in vehicle while delivering narcotics, officials say Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hux is being charged with engaging in organized criminal activity with intent to murder and tampering or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair. Dalan has been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity with intent to murder, tampering or fabricating physical evidence and intent to impair a human corpse. According to court documents, Steven received 50 year sentences for each charge but will serve them concurrently at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A piece of film history has been destroyed by vandals. The gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge used in the 1984 film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol was smashed in a graveyard in Shrewsbury, England. The vandalism has promoted an investigation from authorities, with locals baffled as to why someone would destroyed the beloved prop. Police in West Mercia said that the stone had been vandalized sometime between Thursday and Sunday, which was when town council clerk Helen Ball said she was notified of the damage. Ball told the BBC that the stone is a popular tourist attraction that locals were proud of, and that the community has expressed outrage over the damage on social media. She also said that the gravestone creator's daughter had reached out and lamented how upset her father was about the incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Were now left with a gravestone thats in multiple pieces," she explained. "I think its one of those things thats very dear to everybodys hearts. It happened in a graveyard, and the disrespect that has been shown is evident." In the film, the prop was used in the scene in which the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge, portrayed by actor George C. Scott, to the graveyard. Wiping the snow off the gravestone, he famously sees his own name, helping to inspire him to become a better man. The better part of the Clive Donne-directed movie was filmed in the Shropshire town, and the stone has sat in the graveyard next to St. Chads Church for the past four decades. Ball said that town council staff would be determining whether the gravestone can be repaired. In the meantime, the incident had been reported to police and authorities are reviewing CCTV footage for any clues to who caused the destruction. "Theres not much to see other than broken bits of the gravestone. You cant see that it says Ebenezer Scrooge at the moment because its so damaged. Its hugely disrespectful," she added to the Associated Press. "If the ghosts of past, present and future would like to visit in the middle of the night and drop them and break them in pieces, I think that would be a perfect punishment." Between 60,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the full-scale war, and 400,000 more are too injured to fight on, according to estimates by The Economist published on Nov. 26. Kyiv has largely avoided revealing the full extent of its military casualties, with President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledging only in February that 31,000 Ukrainian fighters have been killed. Basing its calculations on leaked or published intelligence reports, defense officials, researchers, and open-source intelligence, The Economist wrote that Russia and Ukraine lost a greater share of their population than the U.S. during the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Almost one in 20 Ukrainian fighting-age men have been killed or injured because of the war, The Economist wrote. In September, the Wall Street Journal provided similar estimates, positing that Ukraine had lost 80,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded. The outlet estimated Russia's losses at up to 200,000 killed and 400,000 injured. The exact figures for both sides are nearly impossible to establish as Kyiv and Moscow are secretive about their casualties. The last figure provided by Russian authorities was 5,937 killed soldiers as of September 2022. In turn, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces put Russian overall losses at over 735,000 as of Nov. 27. The losses Russia suffered in the full-scale war are believed to be greater than during all the wars since 1945 combined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to The Economist, civilian casualties are even more difficult to establish but likely reach many tens of thousands. The U.N. mission in Ukraine verified that 11,743 civilians were killed as of the summer, but the number is likely higher due to Russia barring access for monitors to occupied territories, namely to areas that likely saw the heaviest civilian casualties like Mariupol. Read also: Ukraines population dropped by 10 million after Russias 2014 invasion, UN says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. "If you have a baby and a toddler, youre looking at more than $2,600 a month for someone to watch your kids so you can work enough to pay for child care." (Getty Images) A reader with a Danish relative emailed last week to point out how differently Denmark and the United States view taxation, specifically when it comes to investments in people and families. Despite the high individual tax rate in the Scandinavian nation, the reader wrote, there is an understanding that the contribution is not only immediately and personally beneficial but nourishing for communities over the long term. It funds health care, child care, elder care, education, and so many other services that make living in society infinitely better than the cold and lonely alternative. Isnt that something a nation of people who gratefully pay taxes because they see, every day, the better place the money builds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a bit of a scale difference, sure: Denmark has a population that is roughly equal to that of Wisconsin. Also, Ill bet there are plenty of those 5.9 million Danes who arent exactly grateful to pay taxes and Denmark has its own domestic problems. There is no nation-state paradise on Earth, nor is there a perfect system for funding and delivering services. And the fact is that even in these divided times America still has an awful lot going for it. That doesnt mean, though, that we shouldnt be looking around for better ways. And one of the things Denmark does better than us is child care. Lets start with a snapshot here in New Hampshire. Last week, the Carsey School of Public Policy at UNH released an analysis with a stark headline that still managed to be a bit of an understatement: High Child Care Costs Strain NH Family Budgets. The assessment from researchers Tyrus Parker and Jess Carson is worth your time, and it pulls you in right off the bat with this sentence: In 2023, the average price of full-time, center-based care for an infant and a 4-year-old in New Hampshire was nearly $32,000 a year. Thats just the beginning of the financial nightmare for young families here, as Nicole Heller of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute outlined in a recent commentary for the Bulletin. Add in the cost of housing and other expenses, and the idea of remaining or becoming a Granite Stater starts to feel like a pipe dream, especially for the fresh adults of Gen Z. The broad stroke is this: If you have a baby and a toddler, youre looking at more than $2,600 a month for someone to watch your kids so you can work enough to pay for child care. Alternatively, in a two-parent household, one parent stays home with the kids and the family tries to make a go of it on one salary. Either way, its not a great system in fact its the kind of structural problem that ripples out and blows up lives and local economies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We all know how important the 0 to 6 developmental years are for our kids we know it experientially and through reams upon reams of data. So to make something as crucial as child care unattainable or unavailable for most young families is the kind of shortsightedness that helps sink nations. And that takes us to Denmark. In 2022, Scandinavia Standard published a piece titled Outside In: Exploring Childcare in Denmark that invited two women one Danish and the other an American expat to compare how each perceived the Danish child care system. Among the American mothers biggest gripes was this: We had a situation where the teachers were complaining because our daughter didnt want to take her food out of her lunchbox. All the kids were supposed to take it out and put it on the plate and then eat off the plate, but Rainey was just eating it straight out of the lunchbox. If that sounds like a ridiculous cultural thing to complain about, thats because it is. And the American mom was well aware of that. She was invited to go negative, for the sake of the comparison article, and thats the best she could come up with. The Danish mom, for her part, offered that shed like to see a smaller ratio between adults and the kids they watch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cost, believe it or not, wasnt on either list of grievances. Thats because Denmark subsidizes child care at about 75 percent, meaning the Danish government contributes roughly $23,000 annually per child in early childhood care. The U.S. government spends about $500 per child each year. Republicans like things to be left to the states, as we know, and that includes dealing with the runaway costs of child care, addressing the shortage of child care slots, and guaranteeing child care workers a living wage. As that $32,000 figure from the Carsey School suggests, its not going all that well. New Hampshire has tried to chip away at the problem, especially for low- and moderate-income families, by expanding eligibility for the NH Child Care Scholarship program. But as NHFPI noted in January, the program is helpful only if those who qualify know it exists. The New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship program, the brief stated, has been historically underutilized, with nearly half of families surveyed reporting they never heard of the program. (If youre one of those families, or if you know one of those families, please visit NH Connections.) Lawmakers did pass the modest Senate Bill 404 this past session, which expanded child care professionals eligibility for the scholarship program. And House Bill 1056 created exceptions in which a child may remain in day care for more than 13 hours. Another made a tweak that would not have sat well with our Danish mom: HB 1407, signed by the governor, created a waiver for larger ratios in licensed child care facilities for infants and toddlers. There were a few other small changes that passed into law, including adjustments to certifications and licensing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other measures, like HB 1611, to establish a child care workforce fund for retention and recruitment, hit the party-line wall: That one died by a single vote in the Republican-majority House. House Republicans were much bigger fans of HB 1213, to remove the immunization requirements for child care agencies. That bill is a lot of things, but a step forward on child care is not one of them. The Senate sent it to interim study. Child care should be one of a handful of issues along with housing and funding for public education that annually dominates legislative debate because every single one of us, whether we have children or not, is affected and harmed by inaction. Instead, I fully expect State House Republicans to give most of that energy and urgency to their push for parental rights. Alleviating any piece of a familys child care burden and thus helping to boost a strained New Hampshire workforce will probably have to wait until were certain that parents are empowered to keep Howard Zinn off a class syllabus. Im not sure what a real child care solution looks like within the political reality of 21st-century America. We seem light years away from the Denmark model, despite the occasional moonshot proposal. U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, for example, has a pitch to cap child care costs at 10 bucks a day for the majority of American families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The California Democrat estimates the annual cost of such a program at $100 billion, and so youll likely hear that we cant afford it. In fact, any plan that doesnt ultimately deliver piles of cash to boardrooms and shareholders would be, Im sure, deemed unaffordable. This rich nation of ours, this nation that spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on the military (No. 1 on the list and more than the next nine nations combined), will say it doesnt have adequate funds to invest in the very people it exists to serve. Meanwhile, the burden created by our collective failure to build a truly supportive and community-nurturing child care system will grow heavier. And that is how and why pillars crumble. PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn has highly praised China for its significant contributions to socio-economic development in the Southeast Asian country, said a Cambodian foreign ministry's press release on Wednesday. Sokhonn, who is also a deputy prime minister, made the remarks during a meeting in Phnom Penh with Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin on Tuesday. "The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated China's significant contributions to Cambodia's development, particularly in trade and investment, tourism, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure projects," the press release said. He also thanked China for providing exceptional health services and warm hospitality to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk, a gesture that symbolizes the deep trust and strong ties between Cambodia and China. According to the press release, both sides affirmed their commitment to successfully implementing the consensus and commitments made by the leaders of the two countries to advance key projects, such as the "Fish and Rice Corridor," the "Industrial Development Corridor," the modern agricultural development project, and mixed energy project. They also expressed their commitment to promoting the building of a high-quality, high-level, and high-standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era, serving as a model for mankind, it added. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region and beyond, underlining the importance of dialogue and collaboration to address global and regional challenges, the press release said. On Saturday afternoon, at 4:17, Donald Trump used his Truth Social to announce the last of his cabinet secretaries, Brooke Rollins for USDA, finishing naming the 15 positions far faster than any other incoming president. His speed might be because hes been here before, so he knows what hes doing, which is definitely fine, or hes not having the normal FBI background checks on the picks, which is not definitely fine. Whatever the reason for Trumps speed to set up his second cabinet, the Senate cannot be hasty and must give the nominations careful scrutiny and reject those who are not qualified. The flameout of the comically unfit Matt Gaetz for attorney general wasnt due to a Senate vote. The Senate never voted on Gaetz and no committee hearings were held. That process wont start formally until the new Senate is sworn in on Jan. 3 and the Republican-led chamber wont confirm anyone until Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Partisans and political allies are to be expected, as are Rollins and the AG substitute, Pam Bondi, but all of the nominees must be qualified for the jobs they are to assume. If you need a mnemonic device to recall the cabinet in order of rank and line of succession (which is also the order that each department was created) we use this: See the dog jump in a circle; leave her home to entertain every visitor here. Translated it is: State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. Our biggest concerns are about Defense, with Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, and HHS, with vaccine-denier Bobby Kennedy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hegseth has never managed anything a fraction of the size of the Pentagon in terms of its budget or personnel. His views on women on combat (hes against) are at odds with settled U.S. policy and a 2017 police report with sexual assault accusations and a confidential financial settlement with the woman at issue are troubling. He has yet to show that he can do this job. As for RFK Jr., there is no question, he must not be the health secretary. He believes vaccines cause autism. They do not. Reasonable people may differ on getting a COVID shot (a vaccine created in record speed by the Trump administration which has saved millions of lives) but every child must be vaccinated against deadly illnesses like measles. Kennedys quack theories, from the perch atop HHS, will reduce the measles vaccine rates and it will kill children, guaranteed. Not on the mnemonic roster is director of national intelligence, a Senate-confirmed post that Trump wants to be filled by Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, who has swung from the Bernie Sanders left to the Trump right, with a disturbing admiration for aggressive U.S. foes like Russias Vladimir Putin and Syrias Bashar al-Assad. She is not to be entrusted with the nations secrets and the Senate must reject her. Vice President Kamala Harris said shed name a Republican in her Cabinet if she was elected (maybe Liz Cheney?), which used to be the norm to have someone from the other party. Trump never said anything about choosing a Democrat, but he has picked RFK Jr. and Gabbard. We are all for bipartisanship, but no thanks. _____ They're known as the gales of November, and they conjure images of hurricane-force winds, towering waves, ice-cold temperatures, and bobbing ships. The gales of November, also known as the "witches of November," can whip up dangerous waves. Also known as the "witches" of November, they occur between mid-October and mid-December, when storm tracks collide over the Great Lakes, creating unpredictable and violent weather. They've left the bottom of the lakes littered with wrecked ships. Maritime historians estimate they are responsible for roughly half of the shipwrecks. Heres what to know about the fierce winds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the fall in the Great Lakes region, warm air pushes northward from the Gulf of Mexico, while cold air moves south from the Arctic. When these air masses collide, they create drastic changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure over short distances, said Craig Hill, a researcher at the University of Minnesota-Duluths Large Lake Observatory. These conditions can drum up gale-force winds that in turn create large waves. Experts estimate that more than 6,000 ships lie on the bottom of the Great Lakes. Nearly half of all shipwrecks occurred in October and November, when the notorious fall storms move into the region, according to estimates from a database compiled by Brendon Baillod, a maritime historian from the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, along with 20 other historians. The devastation was especially staggering in the mid- to late-1800s. According to data compiled by Baillod and other Great Lakes maritime historians, Lake Michigan accounted for 26.5% of all shipwrecks, closely followed by Lake Huron at 26.1% and Lake Erie at 23.8%. Lake Ontario saw 12%, while Lake Superior had 11.5%. Few storms haunt the region like the White Hurricane of 1913, a storm that caused what is still considered the largest inland maritime disaster in U.S history. From Nov. 7 to Nov. 10, 1913, two storm tracks collided over the Great Lakes, one bringing cold air and the other warm, creating a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure. Today its what weather forecasters call a bomb cyclone. The storms ferocity left about 40 ships sunk or stranded and it's estimated more than 275 lives were lost. The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald marked a major turning point in the shipping industry. The ship sunk in 1975, claiming the lives of all 29 crew members. It has been immortalized in an enduringly popular song by the late Gordon Lightfoot. Newer ships are better designed, and advancements in weather forecasting, including satellite technology, have made it easier to predict and track storms, helping ships avoid dangerous conditions. In addition, commercial traffic on the Great Lakes has significantly decreased over the decades. More: More than 3 times as many shipwrecks were discovered in Lake Michigan last year as ever before. Why? More: What you should know about the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Milwaukee-linked ship that sank and inspired a classic Gordon Lightfoot song More: Gordon Lightfoot on the Edmund Fitzgerald wreck: 'I didn't want it to be forgotten' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at clooby@gannett.com or follow her on X @caitlooby. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Half of Great Lakes shipwrecks happened during gales of November. Yet another eerie twist has emerged in the search for Hannah Kobayashi, the 31-year-old who disappeared after missing a connecting flight at LAX earlier this month. The U.S. Sun revealed Tuesday night that cops are investigating a pair of strange Venmo payments she made on Nov. 9the same day she was scheduled to arrive in New York for a bucket list trip and photography assignment. Those paymentsfor unknown amountswere sent to a Jonathan Taylor and a Veronica Almendarez within an hour of each other, her account shows. Her payment to Almendarez included a note with a bow and arrow emoji for her payment, while she labeled her payment to Taylor simply reading. Hannah Kobayashi sent a pair of Venmo payments shortly before she disappeared. The Sun reported that a source said the payments were for a tarot card reading, which is something the spiritual Kobayashi was supposedly into. Internet sleuths tracked down a TikTok account thats believed to belong to Taylor and flooded it with comments, but its since gone private. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to the November payments, Kobayashi had only made public payments on the money-sending platform on four other occasions this year. She has no prior payment history with either Taylor or Almendarez. No suspects have been named in her disappearance. Kobayashis aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told the Sun that the family is aware of the mystery payments. The LAPD has not publicly addressed Kobayashis Venmo account and has remained largely mum about its search in general. Pidgeon told the Daily Beast this week that family members are focusing their efforts on downtown Los Angeles after police told them there was reason to believe she was still somewhere within the metro area of 18 million. Hannah Kobayashi was captured by security cameras on Nov. 8 inside Los Angeles International airport. The last sighting of Kobayashi came on Nov. 11, when security cameras captured her at a Metro station and back at the airport, though authorities insist she did not board a flight. Prior to that, cameras captured Kobayashi with others at a shopping center in downtown Los Angeles and near its Crypto.com Arena, where the Lakers play. Family says she now hasnt been heard from for weeks, however, and her cellphone has either died or been shut off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Adding to loved ones confusion is how Kobayashi acted before she went off the grid. Namely, the up-and-coming photographer is said to have sent cryptic texts to loved ones that didnt sound like how shed usually talk. She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity, Pidgeon said to KTLA. Strange, cryptic messagesthings about the matrix, it was so unlike her. And then all of a sudden, no more communication. Pidgeon immediately traveled to Los Angeles from her home in northern California to search for her niece once she stopped answering by phone. Other loved ones did the same, with her aunt flying in from New York and her dad from her native Maui. Events in LA have been organized to rally support for finding Hannah and raise awareness about her mysterious case. More tragedy struck the family over the weekend after Kobayashis father, the 58-year-old Ryan Kobayashi, took his own life in a parking lot at LAX. His body was found around 4 a.m. Sunday13 days after he first arrived in the city to search. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pidgeon told the Daily Beast that the elder Kobayashi died of a broken heart after tirelessly looking day and night for Hannah. He couldnt take it, Pidgeon told the Beast. He loved his daughter endlessly. The dual tragedies have not slowed the 45-year-old Pidgeons determination to find her niece. The grief-stricken aunt fears Kobayashi may have been abducted or trafficked out of Los Angeles, but, for now, shes still focussing on searching every inch of the city in addition to passing out fliers and holding rallies. She said previously that Ryan Kobayashi had been going as far as searching the citys seediest neighborhoodsincluding the infamous Skid Rowin hopes of any clues. Pidgeon is far from alone in her efforts. People across the nation have chipped in to help in the search, with a GoFundMe raising nearly $40,000 by Wednesday afternoon. Hannah, we are tirelessly searching for you, Pidgeon said in a plea shared with the Beast. We are keeping hope alive. We are sharing your name. We are making people pay attention to you. We love you with everything that we are and I need you to not give up hope because were not giving up hope until we find you. A Finnish tourist was rescued by the Egyptian navy after a tourist boat capsized in the Red Sea on Monday, according to the governor responsible for the region, Amr Hanafi. Of the original 44 people on board, 33 survivors have been rescued and four bodies recovered, according to Hanafi. Seven people are still missing. The chances of finding them alive after two days of searching are rapidly decreasing. Survival in the open sea is possible without water for several days, but severe hypothermia and cardiac arrest remain significant risks, even in waters with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier, Hanafi had said that around 20 holidaymakers from European countries were on board the vessel. Germans were also on board, according to the Foreign Office. According to Hanafi, the multi-deck boat, which was caught in rough seas, was struck by a large wave and eventually sank off the Egyptian coast, about 80 kilometres from Marsa Alam, a popular holiday resort for divers.. Hanafi said there were no technical defects, but some passengers reportedly did not manage to get out of their cabins in time. The vessel, named Sea Story, set off from Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to dock in Hurghada, a beach resort city further north, after a five-day trip involving diving excursions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hanafi wrote on Facebook that a large wave hit Sea Story and caused it to capsize, citing descriptions given by the crew and tourists after the accident. The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had forecast bad weather over the Mediterranean and Red Sea for Sunday and Monday and recommended suspending sea travel on those days. Local media had described the weather conditions as "unstable." Wisconsin voters line up outside of a Milwaukee polling place on Nov. 5. Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde is one of the Republican politicians who sowed doubt about the integrity of this years election. (Andy Manis/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump may have quieted his lies about widespread voter fraud after his win earlier this month, but the impact of his effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections lingers on. Although this post-election period has been markedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, there were isolated flare-ups of Republican candidates borrowing a page from Trumps playbook to claim that unsatisfactory election results were illegitimate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Senate challenger Eric Hovde spread unsubstantiated rumors about last-minute absentee ballots in Milwaukee that he said flipped the outcome of the race. Though he conceded to incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin nearly two weeks after the election, his rhetoric helped stoke a spike in online conspiracy theories. The Milwaukee Election Commission disputed his claims, saying they lack any merit. In North Carolina, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters last week he feared that the vote-counting process for a state Supreme Court seat was rigged for Democrats. Karen Brinson Bell, the head of the State Board of Elections, skewered Berger for his comments, saying they could inspire violence. And in Arizona, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, who has spent two years disputing her defeat in the 2022 governors race, hasnt acknowledged her Senate loss. While she thanked her supporters in a video posted to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, she stopped short of conceding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans disinformation campaigns have caused Americans confidence in elections to plummet and exposed local election officials to threats and harassment, and some observers worry about a return of the GOPs destructive rhetoric the next time they lose. We have to turn this rhetoric down, said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy for Common Cause, a voting rights group. There cannot be this continued attack on this institution. Still, many politicians who either denied the 2020 election results or criticized their local voting processes won election. In Arizona, for example, voters chose state Rep. Justin Heap, a Republican, to lead the election office in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and the largest jurisdiction in the critical swing state. Heap ran on a voter confidence platform and suggested at a Trump rally that Maricopas election office is a national laughingstock. Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice. Bondi, a Republican, served as an attorney for Trump while he disputed the results in 2020. She could use her position as U.S. attorney general to prosecute election officials involved in that election, as Trump promised in an X post in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the rhetoric around stolen elections has been somewhat muted among the GOP ranks since Trumps victory, conservatives attempted to flip the election denial script on Democrats in at least one race. We have to turn this rhetoric down. Jay Young, Common Causes senior director of voting and democracy In Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey refused to concede defeat until last Thursday, two weeks after The Associated Press called the race for Republican challenger David McCormick. Casey lost by fewer than 16,000 votes, less than half a percentage point. Casey said he wanted to see the results of an automatic recount and various court cases filed on his behalf, but Republicans jumped on his refusal to bow out quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who resisted pressure from Trump in 2020 to find votes after he lost the state, lambasted Casey for not conceding the Senate race. Election denialism needs to end, now, Raffensperger wrote in a statement. We are a country of laws and principles, not of men and personalities. Do your job! Follow the law. Accept election results or lose your country. Even as Republicans mostly toned down their rhetoric this year, some left-wing social media accounts repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that Starlink, the internet provider owned by billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk, changed vote counts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those posts, however, arent comparable to GOP election denialism, according to the University of Washingtons Center for an Informed Public, which fights strategic misinformation. While the claims are similar, the rumoring dynamics on the left are markedly different due to the lack of endorsement or amplification by left-leaning influencers, candidates, or party elites, the center posted last week. Young, of Common Cause, said its clear that election disinformation of any kind has a devastating impact on the local officials tasked with administering the vote. Threats to election workers continued even after Election Day. Bomb threats were called into election offices in California, Minnesota, Oregon and other states, forcing evacuations as workers were tallying ballots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But this was just a slice of the onslaught many officials faced over the past four years. Local election officials need the resources to beef up the way they fight disinformation and physical attacks, Young said. We should be doing better by them, he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE One expert said election disinformation of any kind has a devastating impact on the local officials tasked with administering the vote. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) President-elect Donald Trump may have quieted his lies about widespread voter fraud after his win earlier this month, but the impact of his effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections lingers on. Although this post-election period has been markedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, there were isolated flare-ups of Republican candidates borrowing a page from Trumps playbook to claim that unsatisfactory election results were illegitimate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Senate challenger Eric Hovde spread unsubstantiated rumors about last-minute absentee ballots in Milwaukee that he said flipped the outcome of the race. Though he conceded to incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin nearly two weeks after the election, his rhetoric helped stoke a spike in online conspiracy theories. The Milwaukee Election Commission disputed his claims, saying they lack any merit. In North Carolina, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters last week he feared that the vote-counting process for a state Supreme Court seat was rigged for Democrats. Karen Brinson Bell, the head of the State Board of Elections, skewered Berger for his comments, saying they could inspire violence. And in Arizona, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, who has spent two years disputing her defeat in the 2022 governors race, hasnt acknowledged her Senate loss. While she thanked her supporters in a video posted to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, she stopped short of conceding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego. Republicans disinformation campaigns have caused Americans confidence in elections to plummet and exposed local election officials to threats and harassment, and some observers worry about a return of the GOPs destructive rhetoric the next time they lose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to turn this rhetoric down, said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy for Common Cause, a voting rights group. There cannot be this continued attack on this institution. Still, many politicians who either denied the 2020 election results or criticized their local voting processes won election. In Arizona, for example, voters chose state Rep. Justin Heap, a Republican, to lead the election office in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and the largest jurisdiction in the critical swing state. Heap ran on a voter confidence platform and suggested at a Trump rally that Maricopas election office is a national laughingstock. Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice. Bondi, a Republican, served as an attorney for Trump while he disputed the results in 2020. She could use her position as U.S. attorney general to prosecute election officials involved in that election, as Trump promised in an X post in September. While the rhetoric around stolen elections has been somewhat muted among the GOP ranks since Trumps victory, conservatives attempted to flip the election denial script on Democrats in at least one race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to turn this rhetoric down. Jay Young, Common Causes senior director of voting and democracy In Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey refused to concede defeat until last Thursday, two weeks after The Associated Press called the race for Republican challenger David McCormick. Casey lost by fewer than 16,000 votes, less than half a percentage point. Casey said he wanted to see the results of an automatic recount and various court cases filed on his behalf, but Republicans jumped on his refusal to bow out quickly. Last week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who resisted pressure from Trump in 2020 to find votes after he lost the state, lambasted Casey for not conceding the Senate race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Election denialism needs to end, now, Raffensperger wrote in a statement. We are a country of laws and principles, not of men and personalities. Do your job! Follow the law. Accept election results or lose your country. Even as Republicans mostly toned down their rhetoric this year, some left-wing social media accounts repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that Starlink, the internet provider owned by billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk, changed vote counts. Those posts, however, arent comparable to GOP election denialism, according to the University of Washingtons Center for an Informed Public, which fights strategic misinformation. While the claims are similar, the rumoring dynamics on the left are markedly different due to the lack of endorsement or amplification by left-leaning influencers, candidates, or party elites, the center posted last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Young, of Common Cause, said its clear that election disinformation of any kind has a devastating impact on the local officials tasked with administering the vote. Threats to election workers continued even after Election Day. Bomb threats were called into election offices in California, Minnesota, Oregon and other states, forcing evacuations as workers were tallying ballots. But this was just a slice of the onslaught many officials faced over the past four years. Local election officials need the resources to beef up the way they fight disinformation and physical attacks, Young said. We should be doing better by them, he said. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. Wisconsin voters line up outside of a Milwaukee polling place on Nov. 5. Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde is one of the Republican politicians who sowed doubt about the integrity of this years election. (Andy Manis/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump may have quieted his lies about widespread voter fraud after his win earlier this month, but the impact of his effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections lingers on. Although this post-election period has been markedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, there were isolated flare-ups of Republican candidates borrowing a page from Trumps playbook to claim that unsatisfactory election results were illegitimate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Senate challenger Eric Hovde spread unsubstantiated rumors about last-minute absentee ballots in Milwaukee that he said flipped the outcome of the race. Though he conceded to incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin nearly two weeks after the election, his rhetoric helped stoke a spike in online conspiracy theories. The Milwaukee Election Commission disputed his claims, saying they lack any merit. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In North Carolina, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters last week he feared that the vote-counting process for a state Supreme Court seat was rigged for Democrats. Karen Brinson Bell, the head of the State Board of Elections, skewered Berger for his comments, saying they could inspire violence. And in Arizona, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, who has spent two years disputing her defeat in the 2022 governors race, hasnt acknowledged her Senate loss. While she thanked her supporters in a video posted to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, she stopped short of conceding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans disinformation campaigns have caused Americans confidence in elections to plummet and exposed local election officials to threats and harassment, and some observers worry about a return of the GOPs destructive rhetoric the next time they lose. We have to turn this rhetoric down, said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy for Common Cause, a voting rights group. There cannot be this continued attack on this institution. Still, many politicians who either denied the 2020 election results or criticized their local voting processes won election. In Arizona, for example, voters chose state Rep. Justin Heap, a Republican, to lead the election office in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and the largest jurisdiction in the critical swing state. Heap ran on a voter confidence platform and suggested at a Trump rally that Maricopas election office is a national laughingstock. Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice. Bondi, a Republican, served as an attorney for Trump while he disputed the results in 2020. She could use her position as U.S. attorney general to prosecute election officials involved in that election, as Trump promised in an X post in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the rhetoric around stolen elections has been somewhat muted among the GOP ranks since Trumps victory, conservatives attempted to flip the election denial script on Democrats in at least one race. We have to turn this rhetoric down. Jay Young, Common Causes senior director of voting and democracy In Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey refused to concede defeat until last Thursday, two weeks after The Associated Press called the race for Republican challenger David McCormick. Casey lost by fewer than 16,000 votes, less than half a percentage point. Casey said he wanted to see the results of an automatic recount and various court cases filed on his behalf, but Republicans jumped on his refusal to bow out quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who resisted pressure from Trump in 2020 to find votes after he lost the state, lambasted Casey for not conceding the Senate race. Election denialism needs to end, now, Raffensperger wrote in a statement. We are a country of laws and principles, not of men and personalities. Do your job! Follow the law. Accept election results or lose your country. Even as Republicans mostly toned down their rhetoric this year, some left-wing social media accounts repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that Starlink, the internet provider owned by billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk, changed vote counts. Those posts, however, arent comparable to GOP election denialism, according to the University of Washingtons Center for an Informed Public, which fights strategic misinformation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the claims are similar, the rumoring dynamics on the left are markedly different due to the lack of endorsement or amplification by left-leaning influencers, candidates, or party elites, the center posted last week. Young, of Common Cause, said its clear that election disinformation of any kind has a devastating impact on the local officials tasked with administering the vote. Threats to election workers continued even after Election Day. Bomb threats were called into election offices in California, Minnesota, Oregon and other states, forcing evacuations as workers were tallying ballots. But this was just a slice of the onslaught many officials faced over the past four years. Local election officials need the resources to beef up the way they fight disinformation and physical attacks, Young said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We should be doing better by them, he said. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Voters wait in line on Nov. 5, 2024, at a polling location in Chandler. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror President-elect Donald Trump may have quieted his lies about widespread voter fraud after his win earlier this month, but the impact of his effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections lingers on. Although this post-election period has been markedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, there were isolated flare-ups of Republican candidates borrowing a page from Trumps playbook to claim that unsatisfactory election results were illegitimate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arizonas Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes declared that election denialism was dead after he certified the results of the Nov. 5 election on Monday, but fellow Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes disagreed. Mayes pointed out that she was still dealing with a challenge to her narrow win of the 2022 race for attorney general. Obviously we are all aiming toward a return to normalcybut I am not convinced we are there yet, Mayes said on Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX And the atmosphere in Arizona bears that out. The first piece of proposed legislation filed in the Arizona Senate ahead of the 2025 legislative session is aimed at speeding up the reporting of election results, a concern that was born out of election fraud conspiracy theories. Arizona has been slow to count its ballots for well over a decade with an average count time of 13 days in Maricopa County where 60% of the states registered voters live over the past 16 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Count times in the Grand Canyon State only came under intense scrutiny after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, and his supporters falsely claimed that longer tabulation times increased the likelihood of election fraud. And Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Arizona Kari Lake, who has spent two years unsuccessfully disputing her defeat in the 2022 governors race, hasnt directly acknowledged her Senate loss. While she thanked her supporters in a video posted to X, the platform formerly called Twitter, she stopped short of conceding to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego. In Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Senate challenger Eric Hovde spread unsubstantiated rumors about last-minute absentee ballots in Milwaukee that he said flipped the outcome of the race. Though he conceded to incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin nearly two weeks after the election, his rhetoric helped stoke a spike in online conspiracy theories. The Milwaukee Election Commission disputed his claims, saying they lack any merit. And in North Carolina, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters last week he feared that the vote-counting process for a state Supreme Court seat was rigged for Democrats. Karen Brinson Bell, the head of the State Board of Elections, skewered Berger for his comments, saying they could inspire violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans disinformation campaigns have caused Americans confidence in elections to plummet and exposed local election officials to threats and harassment, and some observers worry about a return of the GOPs destructive rhetoric the next time they lose. We have to turn this rhetoric down, said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy for Common Cause, a voting rights group. There cannot be this continued attack on this institution. Still, many politicians who either denied the 2020 election results or criticized their local voting processes won election. In Arizona, for example, voters chose state Rep. Justin Heap, a Republican, to lead the Maricopa County Recorders Office, which oversees several components of early voting in the largest jurisdiction in the critical swing state. Heap ran on a voter confidence platform and suggested at a Trump rally that Maricopas election office is a national laughingstock. Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice. Bondi, a Republican, served as an attorney for Trump while he disputed the results in 2020. She could use her position as U.S. attorney general to prosecute election officials involved in that election, as Trump promised in an X post in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the rhetoric around stolen elections has been somewhat muted among the GOP ranks since Trumps victory, conservatives attempted to flip the election denial script on Democrats in at least one race. We have to turn this rhetoric down. Jay Young, Common Causes senior director of voting and democracy In Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey refused to concede defeat until last Thursday, two weeks after The Associated Press called the race for Republican challenger David McCormick. Casey lost by fewer than 16,000 votes, less than half a percentage point. Casey said he wanted to see the results of an automatic recount and various court cases filed on his behalf, but Republicans jumped on his refusal to bow out quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who resisted pressure from Trump in 2020 to find votes after he lost the state, lambasted Casey for not conceding the Senate race. Election denialism needs to end, now, Raffensperger wrote in a statement. We are a country of laws and principles, not of men and personalities. Do your job! Follow the law. Accept election results or lose your country. Even as Republicans mostly toned down their rhetoric this year, some left-wing social media accounts repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that Starlink, the internet provider owned by billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk, changed vote counts. Those posts, however, arent comparable to GOP election denialism, according to the University of Washingtons Center for an Informed Public, which fights strategic misinformation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the claims are similar, the rumoring dynamics on the left are markedly different due to the lack of endorsement or amplification by left-leaning influencers, candidates, or party elites, the center posted last week. Young, of Common Cause, said its clear that election disinformation of any kind has a devastating impact on the local officials tasked with administering the vote. Threats to election workers continued even after Election Day. Bomb threats were called into election offices in California, Minnesota, Oregon and other states, forcing evacuations as workers were tallying ballots. But this was just a slice of the onslaught many officials faced over the past four years. Local election officials need the resources to beef up the way they fight disinformation and physical attacks, Young said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We should be doing better by them, he said. Contributing reporting by the Arizona Mirrors Caitlin Sievers and Jerod MacDonald-Evoy. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 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. ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) A high-level sex offender from Elmira will spend 12 years in prison for having hundreds of files of child sex abuse materials. Donald Campbell Sr., 62, was convicted of possession of child pornography following a prior conviction, United States Attorney Trini E. Ross announced. Campbell was sentenced to 144 months in prison following the conviction. Previous: Elmira sex offender allegedly found with 400 images of child porn Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities say Campbell used the internet to download and distribute pictures and videos of child sex abuse between July 25, 2022, and January 9, 2023. He had several devices, including a cell phone and an SD card, that contained more than 600 images depicting abuse. Some of the images Campbell possessed showed prepubescent children under the age of 12 being subjected to violent sexual abuse, and some showed an infant being sexually abused. At the time of the crimes, Campbell was already registered as a level-three sex offender (the highest risk level) in New York State due to two prior felony child pornography convictions from December 2004 and March 2019. Campbells most recent conviction and sentence was a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's efforts to participate in the BRICS align with its aspirations for greater engagement within the Global South and recognition of the group's growing influence, a Malaysian official said on Wednesday. The grouping rather than being a military alliance is a platform for international trade and cooperation, and Malaysia's participation in the grouping follows its membership in several intergovernmental organizations including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told parliament in a briefing on the country's foreign engagements. "BRICS is also championing the agenda Global South in addressing global development imbalances. It also coincides with Malaysia's aspirations to highlight the importance of the Global South and strengthen multilateral economic cooperation," he said. "BRICS are complementary and value-adding, and strengthening more confidence, discretion, and understanding between countries. Malaysia's participation in BRICS provides an opportunity to strengthen the country's position at the global level," he said. Mohamad Hasan also asserted that Malaysia will not recognize and participate in unilateral sanctions and instead calls for fair and open trade. "As a trading nation, it is important that Malaysia has good relations with all countries, in our efforts to explore trade and investment opportunities," he noted. Elon Musk's SpaceX is leading the charge against the NLRB in court, mounting a constitutional challenge that could all but gut the agency. Illustration:Jianan Liu/HuffPost; Photo:Getty Images Last week, attorneys for SpaceX and Amazon began arguing cases in federal appeals court that could upend the U.S. collective bargaining system thats been in place since the New Deal. The aerospace company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, and the worlds largest online retailer have both been accused of violating their workers rights. To defend themselves, they now claim that the structure of the agency enforcing the law, the National Labor Relations Board, is unconstitutional. Powerful employers mounted similar and ultimately unsuccessful legal challenges against the NLRB after its founding 89 years ago during the Great Depression. But there is one crucial difference today: a right-wing judiciary shaped by President-elect Donald Trump thats steadily chipping away at the regulatory state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The repercussions could be immense. The NLRB oversees private-sector union elections and investigates thousands of allegations of illegal union-busting every year. Although it barely has enough funding to enforce a highly imperfect law, the labor board is often all that employees have to turn to when companies violate their rights to form unions or speak up about working conditions. Other employers accused of breaking labor law have adopted the arguments of SpaceX and Amazon, and a slew of similar cases are working their way through the federal court system. The question could eventually end up before the Supreme Court, where a conservative supermajority could all but gut the agency with an aggressive ruling in corporations favor. The litigation falls against the backdrop of a new Trump administration that may fire the boards Democratic members before their terms are up, or decline to defend the agencys constitutionality in court. Though workers and unions are accustomed to a corporate-friendly takeover of the board following a GOP presidential victory, they now face the prospect of the board falling into dysfunction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Legal experts said a Supreme Court ruling against the agency on constitutional grounds could require Congress to step in and fix things a bleak prospect for a legislative body that can barely avoid government shutdowns and will fall under complete GOP control in January. Its quite up in the air what the future holds here, said Wilma Liebman, a former Democratic member of the NLRB. These cases are going to make their way up through the court. Its an open question of how far the Supreme Court will go. A Perilous Place The constitutional challenges worry not just unions and their attorneys but many of the workers whove turned to the board for help. The NLRB has no ability to fine employers or seek damages for workers whove been illegally fired or retaliated against, and its cases often drag on for years due to appeals. But it still can serve as a check against companies worst behavior and deliver some justice to employees whove been wronged. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erin Zapcic, who helped lead a union organizing effort at Medieval Times, said her blood ran cold when she learned about the SpaceX case. Zapcic and her co-workers accused the dinner-theater chain of trying repeatedly to break their nascent union. The general counsel found merit in many allegations and filed complaints against the company, but the union fell apart before much of the litigation was resolved. Medieval Times, which denied the charges, settled one case and agreed to read a notice on employees rights at its California castle hardly a great concession, but to Zapcic a victory on principle. She views the SpaceX and Amazon lawsuits as a remarkable show of corporate arrogance. Musk is the richest person in the world, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the second-richest. Youve got these billionaires who know that any kind of punishment enacted by the NLRB is going to take forever and amounts to a slap on the wrist, she said. And yet any time theyre being held accountable for their own illegal activity, their answer is to turn around and say this board shouldnt exist in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congress passed the law establishing the labor board in 1935, to create order around collective bargaining at a time of economic and social upheaval. The independent NLRB has a bipartisan five-member board in Washington that reviews decisions handed down by administrative law judges. It also has a prosecutorial arm led by a general counsel. The president gets to nominate the general counsel and new board members as their staggered terms end, reshaping the agencys agenda when the White House changes hands. The cases brought by SpaceX, Amazon and other employers attack the board on several grounds. They claim that the board members and administrative law judges are unconstitutionally protected from removal by the president, and that the way the NLRB handles unfair labor practices violates the employers right to a jury trial. SpaceX also challenges the constitutionality of how the board seeks court injunctions against employers accused of breaking the law an argument that could have serious ramifications for other federal regulators as well. Amazon is accused of refusing to bargain with the Amazon Labor Union, which won a historic election at one of the retailer's New York City warehouses in 2022. The union is still without a contract. Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images SpaceX is represented by Morgan Lewis, a management-side law firm best known for helping employers avoid unions. Two of the firms partners, Harry Johnson and John Ring, are themselves former NLRB members, a fact thats outraged supporters of the agency as its come under attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Liebman, the former board member, called it particularly galling. Are they going to disgorge the salaries that they made? she wondered. Johnson and Ring didnt respond when asked via email if they had such plans. Jennifer Abruzzo, the boards current general counsel appointed by President Joe Biden, has called the lawsuits a distraction from the companies own alleged lawbreaking. Her office has accused SpaceX of illegally firing several workers because they had criticized Musk, and Amazon of refusing to bargain with the Amazon Labor Union after its groundbreaking 2022 election victory at a New York warehouse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are the only federal agency that enforces the only federal labor law in this country. It would be chaos if the agency was not allowed to perform its functions and do it properly, she said last month. The agency could probably deal with an adverse ruling on the jury-trial question, perhaps by narrowing the remedies workers can receive when their rights have been violated, said Sharon Block, a former Democratic NLRB member whos now a professor at Harvard Law School. Which would be terrible, Block added, but wouldnt torpedo the agency. A ruling aimed at the system of administrative law judges could be more problematic, she said. My concern would be if you got a decision where it wasnt clear what the path was to remedy whatever the court found to be the constitutional infirmity, and if it would take legislation to fix, Block explained. Then were in a pretty perilous place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any dysfunction inflicted by the Supreme Court or the Trump administration could benefit employers by slowing down or stopping altogether the charges against them. Individual workers or fledgling unions seeking the boards help would probably pay the highest price, since theyre waging battles without much legal or political firepower. Workers at Trader Joes have gone to the board again and again as theyve tried to get a new, independent union, Trader Joes United, its first contracts at a handful of unionized stores. An administrative law judge recently ruled that Trader Joes broke the law by withholding 401(k) increases from union stores and telling workers to remove union pins, charges the company denies. Sara Beth Ryther, a Trader Joes employee in Minneapolis and vice president of the union, said it can be frustrating how long such a case takes to litigate. But she said its validating to know that government officials investigated their claims and found in their favor, and that justice is at least being served. Ryther has testified in board proceedings, given affidavits and enjoyed seeing the arguments of high-priced corporate attorneys fall flat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The prospect of not having that, I would say its disheartening, she said. Trader Joes, which is also represented by Morgan Lewis, has defended itself in board proceedings by arguing in part that the NLRBs structure is unconstitutional. It hasnt yet made that claim in federal court. Ryther said an incapacitated board would deal a major blow to employees spirits. It feels as if, right now, that little shred of governmental safeguard is integral to our morale, she said. A Pandoras Box Despite his glaring conflicts of interest as SpaceXs owner, Trump ally Musk now has the president-elects ear and could end up advising him on NLRB matters. That includes whether to fire board members, who to replace them with and whether the Justice Department should defend the agency against Musks lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps only labor pick so far is surprisingly moderate: For labor secretary he has tapped outgoing Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican who has supported pro-union legislation. But his approach to the NLRB may be far less gentle, especially given Musks history with the agency. SpaceX has called the labor boards structure the very definition of tyranny. Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project, a nonprofit that tracks corporate influence on the executive branch, said he finds Musks cost-cutting advisory role to Trump particularly concerning, since it wont have the same kind of oversight as a Senate-confirmed Cabinet position. He doesnt believe Musks influence bodes well for workers or the NLRB. He hates unions almost as much as he hates trans people, Hauser said. (Musk has a long history of making derogatory comments about transgender people, including his own child.) Even before it faced an existential legal threat, the labor board was struggling to fulfill its mission due to insufficient funding from Congress. Caseloads have risen dramatically amid a post-pandemic organizing wave, as more workers file union election petitions and unfair labor practice charges. When the agency faced a comparable caseload 13 years ago, it had 62% more field staff, according to the general counsel. Mike Bilik, executive vice president of the union representing NLRB employees, said the agencys attorneys and examiners are swamped with cases and barely have time to return calls. The backlog has made it hard to ponder how the challenges to the boards constitutionality might shake out. Given Musks promise of broad government cuts and a GOP trifecta that will shape federal spending many employees are asking if they will have jobs at all. The board is going into this already so unbelievably kneecapped. Were hobbling into this era, Bilik said. Every time you look, theres more cases than youve ever had. In the meantime, more employers are adopting the NLRB-is-unconstitutional line in their defense against union-busting charges. That includes the company that owns the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which is accused of illegally cutting employees health care and other benefits. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon, of the Western District of Pennsylvania, recently took a swipe at the broader constitutionality challenge when the newspaper tried to wield it. She wrote that while the argument might not be outlandish by contemporary standards, she would rather not ignore nearly a centurys worth of settled jurisprudence. Although respect for stare decisis appears less in vogue as of late, there is something to be said for tradition, the Obama appointee wrote. The employers looking to undercut the labor board might want to be careful what they wish for. After all, the status quo has worked quite well for companies that resist unions. The labor movement has been shrinking for decades, with union density recently hitting a historic low. Organizing unions through the NLRB process has grown so difficult that labor groups have spent years trying to develop alternate routes. Meanwhile, a breakdown in the law could cut both ways. Unions that no longer felt protected might pursue illegal strikes or boycotts that the NLRB helps guard against. It would be a Pandoras box that, once open, its unclear what would happen, said Joseph McCartin, a labor historian at Georgetown University. McCartin noted that working-class disaffection helped propel Trump to his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. And though Trump has promised to gut the federal government, McCartin has a hard time seeing how neutering an agency that protects workers wouldnt lead to even more instability and discontent. I would say rip down labor law at your peril, he said. Lets see what happens. The person soon to be in charge of cutting federal spending is blasting a Lockheed Martin jet made in Fort Worth. Billionaire Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, said Tuesday, Nov. 26, on X that the U.S. should pull the plug on the Lockheed-Martins F-35, made in Fort Worth. Some US weapons systems are good, albeit overpriced, but please, in the name of all that is holy, let us stop the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program! he wrote. This issue of American weaponry's poor quality has much wider implications, too. Many American foreign aid arrangements are ultimately rooted in enriching an arms industry that is financially headquartered in the U.S. but invested in conflict on a global scale. Take the example https://t.co/aLthNfLPXg Alana Newhouse (@alananewhouse) November 25, 2024 The comment was one of several criticisms Musk made of the fighter, which is expected to cost the federal government more than $2 trillion over its life span, according to Defense News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk and fellow-billionnaire Vivek Ramaswamy to head up his new Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE (yes, like the crypto currency.) They will pave the way for Trumps administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies, Trump said in a statement. Cybersecurity is at a premium at Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in west Fort Worth. Musk ultimately aims to cut $2 trillion in annual federal spending, but in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he and Ramaswamy wrote that they plan to start with cutting $500 billion in federal spending that is not authorized by Congress. Musk shared a video on Sunday, Nov. 24 that appears to show a large group of drones made by China, captioning the post, Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35. In another post on Monday, Nov. 25 Musk wrote: The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes. And manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway. Will just get pilots killed. The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes. And manned fighter jets are https://t.co/t6EYLWNegI Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2024 Lockheed Martins F-35 program supports more than 49,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Fort Worth area generates $9.4 billion in annual economic impact. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a federal contractor, the companys F-35 plays a crucial role in the Department of Defenses ability to meet current and future U.S. national security goals, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. But the program has seen production issues and rising costs as the Air Force and Navy plan to use the jets less. The F-35 has not met their readiness goals for the past six years, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Asked about Musks post in light of his expected role in Trumps administration, the company said it is looking forward to working with the incoming president and Congress. 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, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Incoming U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth, said he will fight for the continuation and expansion the F-35 program. He is taking over the district represented by Kay Granger, who is retiring. Goldman said he respects much of who Musk is and the innovations hes brought to the world, but that this is an area where they disagree. He praised the brilliance of what the F-35 and the capabilities of what the F-35 has been able to do for Israel in the war with Hamas. Musk might change his mind were he to have a conversation with the Israeli government, Goldman said. Im going to fight like hell to make sure those cuts arent made, Goldman said. All that still has to go through Congress. Sen. John Cornyn, Republican representing Texas statewide, was not available for an interview on Nov. 26. Spokespersons for Rep. Marc Vesay, a Fort Worth Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican also representing Texas Statewide, did not immediately return requests for comment. The Department of Defense also did not immediately return requests for comment. The Star-Telegram has reached out to Musk through communication teams at SpaceX and Tesla. Elon Musks X filed a limited objection to The Onions bid to purchase Alex Jones InfoWars out of bankruptcy, claiming it had superior ownership over the outlets X accounts. The objection, filed Monday in a Texas bankruptcy court, attempts to block the parody news site from running Jones or InfoWars X accounts and objected to them being included in The Onions bid on Jones media operation. Xs lawyers pointed to the platforms terms of service in its filing, saying any accounts were exclusive property of X and not its users. X account holders simply own the content they submit, post or display on X, the filing claimed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company, as the owner of the platform, grants each user a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and nonexclusive license to use the software provided, the lawsuit added. That means, according to Xs lawyers, the company should retain the InfoWars account, as well as ownership of Jones account, which has 3.3 million followers; a judge will be deciding whether Jones personal X account is included in any selloff tied to his bankruptcy. X clarified it does not object to the proposed sale as a general matter, merely the transfer of the social accounts as part of any deal. Musk bought X, then known as Twitter, in 2022 for $44 billion. He reinstated Jones account, after he had been booted from the platform in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Onion announced it had bought InfoWars earlier this month, but the deal has been held up in recent weeks. The outlets bid now hangs in the balance, with U.S. bankruptcy judge Christoper Lopez on Monday scheduling a hearing for December on whether the deal goes through. Jones liquidated his assets and declared bankruptcy after he was ordered to pay a $1.5 billion defamation settlement to the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. Jones had said on his show that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, in which 20 children were murdered, was staged by the government in order to grab guns. Its as phony as a $3 bill, Jones said about the shooting. He also called the parents crisis actors who were faking their grief. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was later sued for defamation by a number of Sandy Hook families. In a court deposition, Jones said he wasnt trying to cause pain and suffering to the families with his comments. He also said the parents and the kids were now being used to destroy the First Amendment. The post Elon Musk Claims Superior Ownership Over Alex Jones, Infowars X Accounts as The Onion Pursues Acquisition appeared first on TheWrap. No Accountability Ever the center of attention, Elon Musk through his social media site X, formerly Twitter has managed to barge his way into the ongoing sale of Infowars to The Onion. In case you're not up to speed, the satirical publication recently declared that it was buying Infowars, the website founded by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in a bankruptcy auction. But the sale has hit a few snags, and a big one has come from the Musk camp. On Monday, lawyers representing X submitted a court filing arguing that The Onion couldn't buy Infowars' X accounts, because X not Jones' media brand owns them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, the lawyers wish to emphasize, X owns all accounts on the platform. "X Corp.'s [terms of service] make clear that it owns the X Accounts, as the TOS is explicit that X Corp. merely grants its users a non-exclusive license to use their accounts," Musk's lawyers wrote in the filing submitted to a federal court in Texas, as quoted by Axios. This Means War Jones was ordered to pay over $1.5 billion in damages to the victims' families of the Sandy Hook mass shooting, after he claimed that the horrendous tragedy was a hoax. Both Jones and Infowars declared bankruptcy, with their assets being liquidated to go towards the families, who helped arrange the sale of Jones' website to The Onion. If Musk has it his way, however, its accounts on X may not be Jones', Infowars', or the families' to sell. Users are merely granted a "license" to accounts on the platform, X is asserting, but they do not own them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As someone who's adopted a conspiratorial, Infowars-esque worldview in recent years, Musk's intentions for interfering with the sale are suspect. He personally intervened to restore the X accounts of both Jones and Infowars, which were suspended under previous ownership, and even appeared to promote their posts across the website. Musk has also frequently tweeted about how much he hates The Onion, accusing it of being "woke." Instead, he has championed The Babylon Bee, the Christian right's answer to the satirical publication. Social-fight X's legal filing disclaims that it solely opposes the sale of the X accounts, and not the sale overall. But with the primary Infowars account boasting over 600,000 followers, it's undeniably a major draw of the acquisition. Maybe Musk, a devout culture warrior, can't stand the idea of his "woke" enemies puppeting the corpse of what was once a major arm of far right media. Or it could be that this is just X's way of reminding us who's in charge of its territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's worth noting, though, that Musk has used this trick for political aims in the past, as Axios notes, when he seized the handle @America for his America Super PAC to back Donald Trump. More on Musk's platform: Checkmarked X Users Caught Promoting Sites That Sell Child Sex Abuse Videos Elon Musk blew up in a post on X after California Gov. Gavin Newsom floated the possibility of providing tax credits for buyers of electric vehicles that might not include Tesla. This is insane! complained Musk, who has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to head a new federal efficiency department to cut waste from the government. Newsoms office announced Monday that it plans to relaunch Californias subsidy of up to $7,500 in tax credits for buyers of electric vehicles if Trump cuts the same EV federal tax credit, as hes expected to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Californias potential plan would likely not include Musks cars because the program would be aimed at helping carmakers with smaller market shares, both Bloomberg and The New York Timesreported. Tesla accounted for 56 percent of new EV sales in California during this years third quarter. Newsoms office has not yet confirmed that Tesla would be carved out from the program. California Gov. Gavin Newsoms possible plan to cut Tesla buyers out of new EV tax credits is driving Elon Musk nuts. (AP) Musk complained in his post that Tesla is the only EV company that makes its cars in California. Teslas biggest factory in the country is still its operation in Fremont, California, even though Musk moved Teslas headquarters to Texas in 2021. California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, whose district includes Musks Fremont factory, noted on X: Tesla makes over 550,000 vehicles in Fremont in my district & employs over 20,000. Lets not play politics with keeping manufacturing in California. It would be foolish to exclude Tesla. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk in July supported elminating tax credits for electic vehicle buyers, many spectulated because it would hurt competitors at a time Tesla had already captured the leading EV market share. Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla, he wrote. Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been given a position in Donald Trump's administration by the US president-elect, has responded to President Joe Biden's request to Congress for an additional US$24 billion in assistance to Ukraine, to include weapons and to replenish US stockpiles. Source: European Pravda with reference to Musk's comment on (Twitter) Details: Musk responded to the news about Biden's request for "another US$24 billion for Ukraine", writing, "This is not ok". Screenshot: Musk on X Background: Earlier, Politico reported that US President Joe Biden had asked Congress for an additional US$24 billion in military assistance to Ukraine and for the replenishment of US weapons sent to Kyiv. Two-thirds of the requested amount, US$16 billion, was intended for the replenishment of US stockpiles, while the remaining US$8 billion would go towards the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, under which the Pentagon signs contracts with US companies to arm Ukraine's defence forces. Elon Musk played a key role in Donald Trump's victorious US presidential election campaign, investing tens of millions of dollars in it. Musk has also been present during Trumps conversations with foreign leaders, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also spends much time at the elected president's residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. Musk will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration alongside former US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Support UP or become our patron! After fantasizing about buying MSNBC and installing Alex Jones on the liberal media network, Elon Musk inserted himself into a legal battle to try to block The Onion from obtaining any X accounts belonging to the bankrupt conspiracy theorist. On Monday, attorneys for X which Musk owns filed a narrow objection to the sale of InfoWars that would prevent the satirical news outlet from taking ownership of Joness accounts on the social media platform. Xs terms of service make clear that it owns the X Accounts and that X merely grants its users a non-exclusive license to use their accounts, attorneys for the company wrote in a federal bankruptcy court filing in Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement X Corp. is compelled to file this Objection to make clear that X Corp. does not consent to the sale or any other transfer of the non-assignable X Accounts, which in turn, means the X Accounts cannot be sold or transferred at this time, attorneys argued. Joness accounts may not be sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred as part of the Sale nor can any X account, including any maintained personally by Jones, including the Jones X Account, be sold to any third party, they wrote. Elon Musk is inserting his X platform into a legal fight between Alex Jones and control of InfoWars after satirical publication The Onion won a bid for the conspiracy theory website and its assets. (REUTERS) Days earlier, Donald Trump Jr. joked that Musk should buy MSNBC, to which the worlds wealthiest man replied, How much does it cost? Right-wing media figures have been frothing over the prospect of MSNBCs parent company Comcast spinning off its cable networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, with podcaster Joe Rogan vying for Rachel Maddows job. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk then shared an image on X of a soldier labeled Elon Musk, dropping a grenade labeled Alex Jones, into a hole named MSNBC. Jones also jokingly congratulated Musk for officially buying MSNBC. The Onion and families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims announced the purchase of InfoWars properties earlier this month years after Sandy Hook families sued Jones for defamation for calling the massacre a hoax. A massive defamation verdict prompted Jones to file for bankruptcy; he faced a $1.5 billion defamation judgment related to his statements about the 2012 massacre, in which a gunman fatally shot 26 people, including children between six and seven years old. Following The Onions winning bid, Jones filed a complaint to challenge the sale, alleging a conspiratorial negotiation and agreement involving the courts bankruptcy trustee and a flagrantly non-compliant Frankenstein bid that was allowed to win, despite a competing offer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones alleges, without evidence, collusion and bad faith in an attempt to mislead the Court and disqualify its only competition in the auction, bankruptcy trustee Christopher R. Murray wrote in response. He called the motion a disappointed bidders improper attempt to influence an otherwise fair and open auction process. The bankruptcy judge overseeing the transfer has scheduled a hearing on December 9 to hear arguments to disqualify The Onions bid or allow the company to move forward with its purchase. The long-running satire publication intends to re-launch InfoWars as a satirized version of itself. The joint bid from Global Tetrahedron and the Connecticut families has been selected as the winning bid for InfoWars, The Onions CEO Ben Collins told The Independent earlier this month. The sale is currently underway as part of the standard processes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Musk a close ally of president-elect Donald Trump who is recommending steep cuts to the federal budget and mass firings of government workers is going to be very involved in this, Jones said on a broadcast earlier this month. The cavalry is here, he said. Trump is pissed. The trial of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other French right-wing nationalists on suspicion of embezzling European funds is set to end on Wednesday, with verdicts expected in early 2025. The central accusation in the trial is that Le Pen's National Rally party received money from the European Parliament for parliamentary assistants who were actually working either partly or wholly for the party itself. A total of 28 defendants are accused in the case, which is said to involve a sum of almost 7 million ($7.3 million). Le Pen paid back 330,000 to the European Parliament last year. However, her party emphasized that this was not an admission of misconduct. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The allegations, which relate to the years 2004 to 2016, have dogged Le Pen and her party for years. A guilty verdict for Le Pen would have severe consequences, with the public prosecutor demanding a five-year ban on her running for public office if convicted, which would dash her hopes of running again in the next presidential election in 2027. The prosecution has also demanded that the sentence be applied immediately after the verdict is handed down, rather than after a potentially lengthy court process. In addition, it has called for her to be sentenced to five years in prison, three of which would be suspended, and fined 3,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Le Pen has always denied the accusations. "I absolutely don't feel I have committed the slightest irregularity, the slightest illegal move," she said on the first day of her hearing. The court case is viewed as a major setback in the party's efforts to normalize its image. The right-wing nationalists were considered frontrunners in the early parliamentary elections in June, although they ultimately finished in third place. Le Pen is credited with moderating the party's previous radical positions, making it more appealing to mainstream voters. Looking for a way to take a break from shopping on Small Business Saturday? Two local Bay View businesses are putting on The End festival Saturday, Nov. 30, where guests can enjoy wine, local food trucks and more. For us, The End is a celebration of the past year in wine and food; its a way to pay homage to our favorite flavors in a hedonistic setting said Jordan Burich, Voyagers owner and one of the festivals organizers. Attendees will be able to sample more than 85 wines while listening to live music at the festivals second iteration, according to a Nov. 1 press release shared with the Journal Sentinel. Sugar Maple will also be serving up some of its seasonal brews. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burich is hosting the event alongside Adrienne Pierluissi, owner of Sugar Maple in Bay View. The End is going to be a great chance to invite some new folks into our space, to pour some darker seasonal beers, to dance, and to clink some glasses together, Pierluissi said. Heres what to know: When is The End festival? Date: Saturday, Nov. 30 Location: Voyager, 422 E. Lincoln Ave. Time: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. How much is admission? Tickets for the festival are $40. Attendees will also receive a commemorative tasting glass and wine order guide. You can purchase tickets here. Tickets will also be on sale for $55 at the door, according to the press release. Do I have to be 21 to attend? Yes, all attendees must be 21 and up. The End Festival 2024 Vendors: Pallino Burger and Cocina Filipina food trucks will be on-site at the festival, according to the press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The event will feature live performances from several artists, including Collections of Colonies of Bees, Joe Crocket and an all-day DJ set by Spacecrime. More artists will be announced, according to the events website. More: Things to do in Milwaukee the weekend after Thanksgiving This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here's what to know about The End festival in Bay View ENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) The Enfield Police Department is asking for the publics help in finding a man who has active arrest warrants. Enfield Police seek to identify shoplifting suspect Jamel Altimimi has active arrest warrants out for him, according to the Enfield Police Department. The department posted the information on social media calling it #wantedwednesday which features individuals who are wanted by police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If anyone has any information on Altimimis whereabouts, you are asked to contact the Enfield Police Department routine line at 860-763-6400. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent inconsistent decisions on peace in the region overshadow his statements that he could restore relations with official Baku in a short time. Although Nikol Pashinyan has stated dozens of times since 2024 that "we are ready to sign a peace document," he has followed each statement with an illogical claim, causing the process to be stalled. Nikol Pashinyan's character is more reminiscent of a stage person. Many experts have come to this conclusion when commenting on his opinions. Even today, within the Pashinyan administration, his decisions are not taken seriously. For example, when news broke two weeks ago that Pashinyan had dismissed six of his ministers, some commentators attributed this to his ministers giving less importance to Pashinyans decisions that frequently lose their power. Tit for tat in hard talks towards looming peace The reason for the delay in peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia is that Armenia still has territorial claims against Azerbaijan in its constitution and declaration of independence. Although the initial reaction when official Baku informed the Armenian leadership of this was positive, later Baku's demand was reacted with a similar claim from the other side. Although Nikol Pashinyan officially admitted in his statement in the Armenian parliament that his country's constitution contains a clause regarding claims against the territories of a neighbouring state, after a while the Armenian prime minister came back with a claim that could confuse the public. His claim was more like a tit-for-tat in which he was assertive about Azerbaijan's territorial claim against Armenia, citing the Azerbaijani constitution as an unfounded reason. Nevertheless, all the facts confirm that Pashinyan's claim is not stated in any clause of the Azerbaijani constitution. It is known that Armenia returned 4 enclaves belonging to Azerbaijan in April 2024. At the same time, Armenia knows that 4 additional enclaves should be returned to Azerbaijan and has officially confirmed this within the framework of the peace agreement document that is still pending. In addition, the peace document also includes a clause on the opening of communication lines between Azerbaijan and Armenia, that is, the Zangazur Corridor. However, Baku, wanting to continue the process quickly, postponed the discussion of the Zangazur Corridor issue until after the peace agreement. And how did Yerevan act in response to this? Both the demand from Baku to change the constitution and the appeal to the International Court of Justice regarding Yerevan's known crimes in the formerly occupied Garabagh are obviously burdens for Armenia. To free himself from this burden, the Pashinyan administration should have responded with some pretext. Nikol Pashinyan, following in Baku's footsteps, is withdrawing his baseless constitutional claim against Azerbaijan in an attempt to supposedly contribute to peace talks. He even said that he had withdrawn his unfathomable appeal to the international court against Azerbaijan for unknown reasons; even knowing that it was Armenia that committed murders in Garabagh and caused material and moral damage to the country during the thirty-year occupation. Why Pashinyans dove of peace is much like a bellicose jingoist? Pashinyans reflection on peace in the South Caucasus does not concur with his presentation about Armenia as a dove of peace in the region. He acts more as a belligerent government leader than a peacemaker, given his growing appetite for arming Armenia. The fact that Armenia's military spending has skyrocketed in recent days and accounts for 6 per cent of the country's GDP does not bode well. Pashinyan, thanks to his loan debts and a large part of the country's revenues, brings howitzers, lethal weapons and heavy artilleries to the country every month. Despite the delimitation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Yerevan still agrees to the activities of the European Union Mission (EUMA) near the border. Armenia's ambiguous position towards Azerbaijan is reflected in many of its recent steps. For example, Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyans calling the borderline with Azerbaijan a front line during his recent visit to the border area, as well as the information circulating about Armenia's construction of a new military unit in the village of Qarakilse (Sisian), raises serious questions. Armenian PM and his peace dove, which he said was preparing for peace with a month left before the end of the year, is it preparing to rain down bombs or is it peace in the air? Fingers crossed... A pedestrian walks on a waterlogged road in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 26, 2024. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua) COLOMBO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed, nine were injured, and six were missing due to floods in Sri Lanka, said the Disaster Management Center (DMC) on Wednesday. The floods have affected 230,743 people and destroyed more than 600 houses, Director General of the DMC Udaya Herath told a press conference. A total of 165 relief camps have been established, he said. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to deliver relief services to people in disaster-affected areas by prioritizing on-site data collection over solely relying on technological information, the President's Media Division said. Cars run in the rain in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 26, 2024. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua) Cars run on a waterlogged road in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 26, 2024. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua) This photo shows a surging Kelani River due to heavy rainfall in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nov. 27, 2024. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua) ENFIELD, CT. (WWLP) The Enfield Police Department is seeking the publics help in identifying a shoplifting suspect. Enfield police intercept $15,000 woman sent in FTC scheme The suspect who was involved in a shoplifting incident is pictured below. Enfield Police Department If you have any information, contact mgolowiejko@enfield.org. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. A convicted robber now has some in the law enforcement community behind his fight for freedom. 62-year-old Paige Spears was convicted of an armed robbery that was in Ferguson in 1988. He was 27 years old at the time and was with another man who reportedly had the gun. There was no report of a shot being fired or anyone getting hurt, but Spears was sentenced to life under an old three-strikes-and-youre-out law. It was a law Missouri changed shortly after Spears was convicted, but it was not made retroactive to include people like Paige Spears. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paige is stuck there because it was in effect when he committed the crime, retired Sgt. John Frank said. Hes been rehabilitated. He actually teaches the rehabilitation classes nowfor the penitentiary. Frank is part of a group in law enforcement taking up the convicts cause. Its a group that operates a police podcast called The Brighter Side of Blue. His colleagues didnt buy it at first. Retired Major Dan Howard told us, We have 105 years of police experience, and ones still active, so that number is only going upof putting bad guys in jail, and here comes retired Sgt. Frank wanting us to get a robber out of jail, and he did his research, and you know, this guy deserves to be out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Community mourning death of teen killed by stray bullet He really laid out all the facts, and at that point we were all just like, Yeah, yeah, this guy needs to be out of jail,' Another retired police officer, Tom Sawyer, added. Howard continued, So we would like him to come out and make room for another bad guy. Get one of these carjackers and fill his cell. Under the current law, Spears would have been eligible for parole 10 years ago. Instead, hes not up for parole for more than a decade. We spoke to him by phone from prison. Ive never had, uh, this type of support, you know, really trying to fight to help me get out of prison, he said. Im so used to being incarcerated by law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spears 88-year-old mother, Betty Cummings, said she should be preparing to spend the holidays with her son, but hopes maybe theres still a chance. I am so happy that someone, you know, comes up and wants to help him. Ive been let down so much, she said. Spears only chance for freedom at this point is clemency from Missouris governor. Frank says theres a request right now in the governors office. Weve called to see if its being considered. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Turkey welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah militia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the capital Ankara on Wednesday. Erdogan separately called for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip. All parties, especially Israel, must now comply with their obligations, Erdogan said in a speech to his parliamentary group. Turkey will continue to do everything it can to stop the killing in the Gaza Strip and ensure a lasting ceasefire, added the Turkish president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A ceasefire brokered by the US and France came into force at 4 am (0200 GMT). According to media reports, Israeli ground troops are scheduled to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. Hezbollah, in turn, is to withdraw from the Litani River about 30 kilometers north of the border. ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey was ready to help in any way possible to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire agreement that has come into effect in Lebanon. Turkey, which has fiercely criticised Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, has previously said it discussed a potential truce in Gaza with Palestinian militant group Hamas and gave the group recommendations on how to proceed with the negotiations. On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States would again push for an elusive ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza "with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are stating that, as Turkey, we are ready to provide any contribution for the massacre in Gaza to end and for a lasting ceasefire to be achieved," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament. Asked about Biden's remarks, a Turkish official told Reuters a ceasefire in Lebanon without a truce in Gaza was not enough to achieve regional stability, adding Ankara was ready to help reach a deal in Gaza, just as it had supported previous efforts. "We are again ready to help achieve a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution in Gaza," the official said. While Ankara has repeatedly traded insults with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, it has not officially severed ties with it. Unlike Israel and its Western partners, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and regularly hosts some of its senior members. (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Daren Butler and Gareth Jones) ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) Escambia County Animal Welfare rescued a kitten from a drainage pipe on Monday. According to a county news release, Escambia County Animal Welfare received a phone call from the Escambia County Sheriffs Office whose employees heard the kitten meowing for help. Mobile County School Board members happy with 2024 report card The kitten lost his way in a drainage pipe near the Escambia Regional Juvenile Detention Center Monday morning, and and a deputy heard the kitten but called animal welfare for assistance because she couldnt find the kitten. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the release, Lead Animal Welfare Officer Sgt. Merideth Roberson responded to the call and struggled to find the kitten but heard the meows echoing from the drainage pipe. Sgt. Roberson couldnt successfully set a humane cat trap, so she instead played videos of a mother cat calling for her babies to lure the kitten closer. I could hear it loudly, but I still couldnt see it, Sgt. Roberson said. I played mama cat noises again, then I saw his beady little eyeballs way at the end of the tunnel. Sgt. Roberson ultimately went into the drain because she thought it was the best way to rescue the kitten. Deputies got a ladder and gave her a walkie-talkie to communicate with her. Pensacola business temporarily closed after car crashes into building Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I started crawling down the tunnel, and the kitten takes off running, Sgt. Roberson said. I go to turn back around and leave, because I dont think Im going to be able to catch it but then I turned back around and saw it was trapped at the end of the tunnel. I was able to snatch him up and then army crawl back to the ladder. I was a little scared crawling down in there, Sgt. Roberson continued. Im just super thankful that Ive had the opportunity to do things like this and that Ive received training to do my job the best that I can do. (Escambia County Animal Welfare) (Escambia County Animal Welfare) (Escambia County Animal Welfare) (Escambia County Animal Welfare) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The release said the kitten is a little underweight and seemed distressed but is overall in good health. FDOT reconfiguring North Palafox Street what drivers should know Escambia County Animal Welfares veterinarian evaluated the cat, who is now named Pipes, and gave him a clean bill of health. Pipes will soon be available for adoption at the Escambia County Animal Shelter, the release 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 WKRG News 5. The News The European Parliament voted to approve European Commission President Ursula von der Leyens nominations for the blocs top policy roles Wednesday after weeks of infighting among left-leaning and right-wing groups. The vote marks the first time since 1999 that no countrys nominee for the European Commission has been rejected, Politico reported, coming after the European Unions right-wing, centrist, and center-left factions managed to hash out a deal that saw the EUs conservative bloc vote for the Commission despite having originally opposed von der Leyens bid for a second term. SIGNALS Despite von der Leyens optimism, the center may not hold Sources: Financial Times, The Guardian, Atlantic Council Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the vote, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it demonstrated that the center is holding in Brussels, yet she will preside over the most rightwing commission in decades, the Financial Times noted. Von der Leyen lost support from the Greens in the vote, who protested a Commission nominee belonging to Georgia Melonis hard-right Brothers of Italy party, Politico noted. Ultimately, her Commission suggests she may be further inclined to cooperate with the broader far-right, a columnist argued in The Guardian ahead of the vote. In a shift from her first term, emboldened hard-right politicians are more eager to influence EU policy rather than just play spoiler to it, a Europe expert at the Atlantic Council wrote. New Commission needs to understand that security is everything Sources: Financial Times, European Council on Foreign Relations EU foreign policy going forward needs to treat security as everything, the director of the EU Institute for Security Studies argued in the Financial Times. That means establishing a council dedicated to Europes defense, setting aside the first day of every summit to discuss security matters, and convening regular meetings of national security advisors, he argued. Being more proactive and decisive on security issues like the Russia-Ukraine war could ultimately help the new Commission convince EU citizens that they are better protected within the union, a Europe expert argued for the European Council on Foreign Relations. EUs antitrust agenda risks becoming contradictory Sources: Reuters, Bruegel, Center for European Policy Analysis Von der Leyen wants to revise the blocs competition policy in a bid to help companies scale up and compete in global markets. But she has been criticized for contradictory messaging, and protecting domestic firms from competition risks putting them at a disadvantage once they get big enough to try and face international rivals, an economics expert argued in Bruegel. Tech could be key focus point: Washington is overtaking Brussels as the worlds most hardline tech enforcer with its crackdown on Google, while the EUs Digital Markets Act, which was designed to curb big technology companies from stifling competition, yet has not encouraged innovation, a tech expert argued in the Center for European Policy Analysis. By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) - A growing number of Norwegians would like their country to join the European Union, although the "no" camp still holds an edge, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the last referendum Norway held on the question. The Nordic country last said "no" to joining the European bloc, on Nov. 27-28, 1994. It also voted against membership in a 1972 referendum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, since 1994, Norway has been part of the European Economic Area (EEA), allowing the free flow of people, goods, services and capital between the the European bloc and non-EU states Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Some 46.7% of Norwegians said Norway should not join the EU, while 34.9% said it should and 18.4% were undecided, according to a Sentio poll published in the daily Nationen. Opposition to membership has declined from more than 70% in 2016 and is now at the lowest level since 2009, while support is up from around 20% in the last decade, Nationen said. Times of crisis tend to push Norwegians to be more pro-EU, but overall they remain satisfied with being outsiders, with only a "shock" able to change opinions, said Kjetil Alstadheim, author of the 2024 memoir "Everyone Got it Wrong: On Norway as an EU Nation". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If you have a trade war and a bird flu pandemic, something on top of that, it might (change opinions)," he said. Overall there is little political debate about joining, he added, as the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, as well as the top trade union and main business organisation, all oppose opening a new debate. "They do not want to become David Cameron," he said, referring to the 2013 promise by Britain's then-prime minister to call a referendum on leaving the EU. "Their fear is that, if you start a new debate now about EU membership, it will endanger the cooperation that Norway has through the EEA agreement," Alstadheim said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Norway is not part of the EU's customs union, the common agriculture and fisheries policies, the monetary union, trade policy, foreign and security policy and justice and home affairs. The early November survey polled 1,000 individuals, Nationen said. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Alex Richardson) The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the new European Commission in a majority vote. The team of 26 commissioners is to start work on December 1 under the leadership of already re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The EU's legislative chamber confirmed the new commission with 370 votes in favour, 282 votes against and 36 abstentions. Ahead of the vote, von der Leyen said that improving the bloc's competitiveness will be among the first priorities of her second mandate. The new EU commission still needs to be approved by the member states, but the step is considered a formality. (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has a new team in place, just in time to prepare for the return of Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to confirm her team of 26 commissioners, who will take office by Dec. 1. Charged with rejuvenating Europes competitiveness, the EUs executive arm will first need to figure out if it will be able to boost financial and military support for Ukraine if Trump pulls back US aid. And as the EU risks a trade confrontation with Beijing, it may have to cope with another one with Washington. Von der Leyen told the European Parliament Wednesday that her new commissions first initiative will be a Competitiveness Compass that would frame our work for the rest of the term by focusing on closing the innovation gap with the US and China, a decarbonization plan and increasing security while reducing dependencies. Our freedom and sovereignty depend more than ever on our economic strength. Our security depends on our ability to compete, to innovate and to produce, she said. And our social model depends on a growing economy while facing demographic change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Von der Leyen announced that she will be personally leading a strategic dialogue on the future of the car industry in Europe to bring together all the players and come up with solutions as this industry goes through a deep and disruptive transition. She added, Together we have to make sure that the future of cars will continue to be made in Europe. Her new team is taking over just as many of the EUs traditional political leaders particularly in Germany and France are struggling to remain in power and confront the rise of populist forces. Those dynamics could end up giving additional leverage to von der Leyen, EU officials said. One of her most influential vice presidents is expected to be Teresa Ribera, a Spanish socialist who will take over a broad portfolio including competition and the climate transition. Frances Stephane Sejourne will be a vice president responsible for industrial policy. Estonias Kaja Kallas will become the blocs foreign policy chief. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maros Sefcovic, a Slovak diplomat who will be the longest-serving member of the commission, will be responsible for trade, economic security and EU-UK relations. And former Portuguese finance minister Maria Luis Albuquerque will have the financial services dossier. One of the commissions most difficult initiatives will be coming up with a long-term budget for the 2028-2034 period that would garner the unanimous backing of the 27 EU leaders. Von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, has also said that the overarching priority for the next five years will be boosting the regions productivity given the ground lost in the global race against US firms and the aggressive competition from China. Along with Portugals Antonio Costa, the incoming president of the European Council, von der Leyen will have to find a way to persuade fiscally conservative nations to pour in funds to cover an annual investment gap of around 800 billion ($841 billion) for needs including defense and clean-tech development, according to an estimate from former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fragile Coalition To get to this point, von der Leyen had to navigate the thorny politics of the fragile coalition in the parliament that gave her a second five-year term earlier this year. Lawmakers from mainstream parties and the Greens, who backed her in July, ended up approving her college of commissioners, together with members of the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists Party. In the days leading up to the vote, von der Leyens center-right European Peoples Party, the largest group in the parliament, and the Socialists clashed over the confirmation of Ribera following her handling of the worst floods in Spain in decades. The EPP also backed Italys Raffaele Fitto for a commission vice presidency, a move initially highly contested by the Socialists. Some lawmakers remain concerned that von der Leyen constructed her next commission with overlapping portfolios that could lead to clashes, which in turn could give her more room to make final decisions herself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In her first term, von der Leyen expanded the power of her post, spearheading a muscular response to the Covid epidemic and charting the blocs strong response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. In her second five-year term, she will likely need to rely more on her team to take the lead on how to boost Europes competitiveness, an EU diplomat cautioned. (Updates with von der Leyen leading car dialogue starting in sixth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Senior EU officials have expressed relief at the announcement of a ceasefire on Tuesday between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, writing on X, called the announcement "very encouraging news" especially for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting. "Lebanon will have the opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollah's reduced influence." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called the ceasefire agreement "a relief in the devastating situation in the Middle East." In a post on X, he praised France and the United States for their mediation efforts, but noted that "it is now crucial that the ceasefire holds." At the same time, Borrell, who is from Spain, urged Lebanon's political elite to fulfil their responsibilities and elect a president, stating that "the Lebanese are entitled to regain full sovereignty on the country's affairs, w/out external interference." ISTANBUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish intelligence and police captured three Uzbek nationals in Istanbul, accusing them of killing an Israeli-Moldovan civilian who resided in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Turkish sources on Tuesday. Turkish sources said the arrest was conducted at the request of the UAE as the three Uzbek citizens fled the country after being confirmed as the perpetrators of the murder. The Turkish intelligence and police "quickly" launched a covert operation against the suspects, tracked their flights, and monitored their movements after they arrived in Istanbul. The suspects' taxi was stopped for a traffic check and they were arrested and subsequently extradited to the UAE. Zvi Kogan, a former Israeli soldier, was a rabbi and emissary of the Jewish religious movement Chabad in the UAE. The UAE intelligence and security authorities found the body of Kogan on Nov. 24, three days after the rabbi went missing. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office then said Kogan was killed in a "heinous antisemitic terror incident." European Council President Donald Tusk speaks to President Trump after welcoming him at the E.U. headquarters, as part of the NATO meeting, in Brussels on May 25, 2017. Credit - Emmanuel DunandAFP/Getty Images European leaders see Donald Trumps return to the White House as a spur to the continents independence amid the potential weakening of a partnership that has shaped the world for most of the last century. We cant depend on U.S. voters every four years for our security, Benjamin Haddad, Frances Minister Delegate for European Affairs, tells TIME. Trump will defend U.S. interestsits normal. Its now time to wake up and defend ours. That sentiment, expressed in recent years by French President Emmanuel Macron and others, has gained a growing resonance in the weeks since Trumps victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, who had vowed to maintain the historical relationship embraced by President Joe Biden and every other post-war U.S. President save for Trump. In European capitals, observers say the shock many Europeans experienced after the 2016 election has given way to a more muted stoicism in 2024. Trumps trademark unpredictability notwithstanding, Europeans are more clear-eyed about what they can expect from a second Trump termin part because hes already made his intentions clear. In wide-ranging interviews with TIME earlier this year, Trump pledged to take Europe to task on issues such as trade (European Union is brutal to us on trade) and defense spending (I want Europe to pay). He also vowed to end the nearly three years of fighting between Russia and Ukraine in as little as a dayan aim that some fear could involve forcing Kyiv to cede territories that Moscow has claimed as its own. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read More: What Trumps Win Means for the World We are much better prepared, because we know what awaits us, says Nils Schmid, a German lawmaker and foreign policy spokesperson for the ruling Social Democrats. As far as we can be prepared for an unpredictable president, but still. European unity is, of course, key in dealing with this. Among Trumps longstanding complaints is that Washington disproportionately foots the bill for European defense, a gripe thats grown as the U.S. provided military support for Ukraine after Russias invasion. Europe is already on it. Several European foreign ministers have called on countries to play a still greater role in assuring our own security, including by surpassing the current NATO defense spending targets and reinforcing Europes industrial base. The sentiment was echoed by many of their defense counterparts, who this week pledged to ramp up their own military support for Ukraine. The view is that we cant be credible on Ukraine and expect Trump to take into account our sensitivities unless were willing to put a lot more money on the table, says Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group consultancy. In doing so, he says, Europe will not only be better positioned to influence Trumps thinking on Ukraine, it will also hand the president an early win by allowing him to claim responsibility for pressuring the E.U. to shoulder more of the financial burden for Ukrainejust as he did on defense spending within NATO during his first term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Georgina Wright, deputy director for international studies at the Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne, says such thinking indicates a shift in mindset within the bloc toward the transactional thinking that defines Trumps approach to foreign policy. I think theres much more realization on the European side that you need to have a credible offer, she says. If Europeans are going to ask the Americans for guarantees and security, a continued presence in Europe, but also to be kind to them on trade, they know that theyre going to have to offer something in return. That thinking extends beyond security. On trade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has reportedly floated the idea of buying more U.S. liquified natural gas as a means of avoiding Trumps punishing tariffs. If the tariffs come anyway, the thinking goes, the strategy can shift to retaliatory tariffs on American-made goods, such as Kentucky bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and Levis jeans. Observers are confident that the E.U. can remain united on trade: When faced with something thats going to hit the whole of the E.U., even when it hits some member states more than others, theres actually a default to band together, Wright says. Support for Ukraine also appears solid. Despite opposition from Hungarys Viktor Orban, the bloc has provided 122 billion euros, or $131 billion, in military and financial aid. But Europes two biggest powers are embroiled in domestic troubles. Germanys government collapsed earlier this month amid disputes over spending and how to address the gaping hole in the countrys budget; it is preparing to hold fresh elections on Feb. 23, meaning that the next government wont be in place til months into the incoming Trump administration. France, meanwhile, is currently embroiled in a debt crisis that threatens to plunge its government, as well as the eurozone, into crisis. A weakened Berlin and Paris doesnt necessarily mean a paralyzed E.U., Wright notes. But Trump may optas he did during his first termto bypass European institutions and deal with national leaders directly. This is where Europes chosen interlocutors will be key: Among those seen as key in getting through to the president includes Mark Rutte, the reformer Dutch premier-turned-NATO-chief whose rapport with Trump during the presidents first term earned him the moniker the Trump whisperer. Another is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose conservative credentials have earned her plaudits within the MAGA movement, including from Trumps incoming efficiency czar, Elon Musk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most all European leaders appear to recognize that the incoming Trump administration presents an opportunity for Europe to pursue greater autonomy. Do we want to continue to exist, to carry clout, or just be the passive theater of great power rivalries? Thats the question that Europeans must answer, Haddad, of France, says. In 2016, there was collective denial, that this was an accident of history, that things would go back to normal. Now its time to wake up from our vacation from history. Others caution that a more self-reliant Europe need not push away American security guarantees on which the continent remains very much dependent. Schmid notes that calls by Macron for the E.U. to overhaul its security architecture in large part by relying less on American nuclear deterrence and more on Frances own nuclear stockpileinvites a continental version of the same risk that U.S. voters have twice driven home. The French always push it too far, Schmid says. I think there's a large majority among European governments that prefer to have both a rock solid U.S. commitment to Europes security and a strong European defense. But exchanging the U.S. nuclear umbrella for the uncertainty of the outcome of the next French presidential election is not so promising. More from TIME Write to Yasmeen Serhan at yasmeen.serhan@time.com. Europe needs a massive defence spending boost, Ursula von der Leyen has said. European nations are spending on average 1.9 per cent of GDP on defence, the EU Commission president said, pointing out the contrast to Russias 9 per cent spend. Speaking in the European parliament, Mrs von der Leyen said member states had five years to address the disparity. There is something wrong in this equation. Our defence spending must increase, she said, as she warned that freedom for Europe would be expensive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our fight for freedom may look different to generations past. But the stakes are just as high. And, honourable members, these freedoms will not come for free, Mrs von der Leyen said in her address. It will mean making difficult choices. It will mean massive investment in our security and prosperity. And above all it will mean staying united and true to our values. Ursula von der Leyn said the people of Ukraine are heroically fighting for freedom - Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images She added that we want Ukraine as part of the European Union and vowed to back Kyiv in Vladimir Putins war for as long as it takes. Mrs von der Leyen was referring to an earlier claim by Putin that the Russian Federation is set to spend 9 per cent of GDP on defence this year, the biggest spend since the Cold War. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russian Duma also announced last week that it had approved a 2025 federal budget, which allocated a record 6.3 per cent of GDP for defence. All of the EUs member states excluding Ireland, Malta and Austria are members of Nato and as a result have committed, or already spend, 2 per cent of GDP on defence. Eight Nato members are projected to miss that spending target for 2024: Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain. The re-election of Donald Trump, a critic of Nato, has fuelled discussions in the EU about taking on more responsibilities for European defence, such as major spending increases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Germany, the blocs richest member state, is struggling to keep up with the 2 per cent GDP target in part due to a budget crisis that led to the collapse of Olaf Scholzs coalition government earlier this month. The Scholz government announced in 2022 a 100 billion (800 million) special defence fund in response to the Russian invasion, but it has mostly been allocated, raising questions over expenditure for 2025 and onwards. In Britain, the Labour Government has vowed to set out a path to spend 2.5 per cent GDP on defence. In October Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, said she would grant an additional 2.9 billion to the Ministry of Defence next year. In her speech, Mrs von der Leyen also drew parallels between the fight of Europeans against the Nazi regime and the challenge posed by Russia today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I believe that our generation of Europeans must once again fight for freedom and sovereignty. For the freedom that the people of Ukraine are heroically fighting for, she said. For the freedom to shape our own future in a confrontational and unstable world. But this freedom is not just an abstract word. It is about Europeans knowing that their families will be safe. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (Bloomberg) -- European countries still buying Russian gas are rushing to find a way to keep paying for supplies after Dec. 20 that wont violate surprise US sanctions. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Washington last week put sanctions on Gazprombank, which some central European nations use to pay Moscow, raising the risk of a cut-off of gas. The US has been gradually tightening measures to choke off revenue for President Vladimir Putins war effort, but up to now Gazprombank had been exempt because of the potential impact it would have on security of supplies for Europe. While the US hasnt said why it has decided to impose those particular sanctions now, its clear that the tectonic plates of how Europe gets and pays for gas from Russia are moving.Before the sanctions, the gas market had been focused on whether a deal can be hammered out to keep gas flowing west through Ukraine in the new year. The US sanctions in their current form mean is that even if an agreement is found, European countries might not be able to pay and gas flows could stop anyway. The countries that will be most acutely affected are Slovakia and Hungary, which still rely on Russian gas delivered under a long-term contract with Gazprom PSJC. Hungary has warned that the US sanctions jeopardize energy security, elevating the risks of an early halt of Russian gas through Ukraine. Slovakia hasnt formally commented yet but its biggest gas company Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel AS has been vocal in pushing to find a solution to keep flowing through Ukraine next year.Austria could be impacted too as it still receiving supplies through Slovakia even after the countrys biggest utility OMV AG was cut off from Gazproms supply this month after stopping payments following an arbitration award.Its a problem for some companies who were using the bank for gas transactions, said Gunvor Group co-founder and chief executive officer Torbjorn Tornqvist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another country concerned about the sanctions is Turkey, which delivers Russian gas to Europe through the Turkstream pipeline. The country is in talks with the US about a waiver to allow it to keep using Gazprombank to pay for gas imports.That opens the possibility for Turkey to become an intermediary for European companies to continue paying for gas. Europe was already bracing for the potential end to flows of Russian gas through Ukraine when a transit deal expires at the end of the year. European gas futures are at the highest for a year as the global supply outlook tightens. There are ways that European companies can continue buying Russian pipeline gas without violating the sanctions against Gazprombank, according to Fernando Ferreira, a director of the geopolitical risk service at consultancy Rapidan Energy Group. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control could give Gazprombank a general license authorizing energy-related transactions as a measure of last resort to avoid energy disruptions, Ferreira said. Other major Russian banks, like Sberbank PJSC, Alfa-Bank AO, VTB Bank PJSC and state corporation Vnesheconombank hold such licenses through April 30 next year, according to OFAC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another option could involve Gazproms clients in Europe paying for gas through the already authorized Russian banks - although Moscow may have to approve changes to payment details in Gazproms remaining export contracts. One complication is that specifying another payment mechanism can act as a contract reopener, leading to protracted renegotiations over other terms, Energy Aspects Ltd. analysts wrote in a note last week. The US could also give limited authorizations to specific Gazprom clients to continue payments via Gazprombank. Unlike general licenses, company-specific licenses are not public, enabling Washington to dial back sanctions discreetly, Rapidans Ferreira said. Such waivers have previously been handled out companies operating in Venezuela, for example. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres also a possibility that US President-elect Donald Trump could either lift the sanctions or grant a last resort extension out to the end of April after he is inaugurated on Jan. 20 around a payment date for Gazproms clients for supplies in December. We cannot predict, but its possibly and likely, Victor Gao, Chairman of the China Energy Security Institute, said in an interview in London this week. Overall the US relationship with Russia may be revolutionized after Trumps return, he said. The European Commission, the EUs executive arm is closely monitoring the impact of the sanctions, according to a spokesperson. Discussions are ongoing with US counterparts and both sides are ready to work together as necessary for more specific mitigation needs before Dec. 20 to limit any potential disruption to imports, according to a spokesperson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It remains unclear how the restrictions on Gazprombank will impact payments linked to liquefied natural gas exports, which account for a significant chunk of Russias revenues selling gas abroad. Russia currently exports the super-chilled fuel mainly from Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2. The sanctions exempted transactions related to the Sakhalin-2 to the north of Japan through June 28, 2025. The Japanese government has remained committed to receiving liquefied natural gas from the project, calling it an important project for the countrys energy security. --With assistance from Elena Mazneva, Zoltan Simon, Slav Okov, Anna Shiryaevskaya, Daniel Hornak and Archie Hunter. (Updates with CEO comment in eighth paragraph.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Senior EU officials expressed relief at the announcement of a ceasefire on Tuesday between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, while French President Emmanuel Macron sees it as a chance to stabilize Lebanon. The Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia to end more than a year of fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. The deal, brokered by the United States and France, is based on the United Nations resolution 1701, which marked the end of the last Lebanon War in 2006 but was never fully implemented. Hezbollah fighters are to return behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometres north of the de facto Israeli-Lebanese border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is to come into force on Wednesday at 4 am (0200 GMT), after which fighting would stop for 60 days. Israeli jets continued to pound parts of Lebanon late Tuesday, including launching more strikes on residential areas of Beirut. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, writing on X, called the announcement "very encouraging news" especially for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting. "Lebanon will have the opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollah's reduced influence." The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called the ceasefire agreement "a relief in the devastating situation in the Middle East." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a post on X, he praised France and the United States for their mediation efforts, but noted that "it is now crucial that the ceasefire holds." At the same time, Borrell, who is from Spain, urged Lebanon's political elite to fulfil their responsibilities and elect a president, stating that "the Lebanese are entitled to regain full sovereignty on the country's affairs, w/out external interference." Macron described the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah as a chance to stabilize Lebanon. "The cessation of hostilities offers the Lebanese the opportunity to embark, with the support of their partners, on a lasting recovery for the country," the French leader said in a video address posted on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He called for the "immediate election" of a Lebanese president and a reform of the country's institutions to allow it to recover financially. The French president said France "will spare no effort" to support the ceasefire and would so so with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, "in which we play a central role with a number of partners." Macron emphasized that this agreement does not mean the war in Gaza should be forgotten. He said Frnace "will continue its efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities, the release of hostages, the massive influx of humanitarian aid and, of course, a just and lasting political solution involving two states." France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a plenary session of the G20 summit. Alexandre Durao/G20 Brasil/dpa The European Parliament is expected on Wednesday to confirm the members of the new European Commission - the EU's executive arm - for a five-year mandate likely to be marked by major economic and geopolitical challenges. The European Union's legislative chamber is to vote in Strasbourg on whether to confirm the team of 26 European commissioners as a whole, which is to work under the leadership of the already re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The powerful EU executive is the only EU institution that can propose new laws, which are then negotiated by the European Parliament and EU member states. Multitude of challenges for new commission The new commission, which is to start work on December 1, will have to face multiple domestic and global crises. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Von der Leyen's new team is to focus on economic and security issues as the bloc struggles to remain economically competitive versus China and the United States, as well as rearm in the face of Russian revanchism. The incoming top EU diplomat, Kaja Kallas, will have to deal with stalling support for war-torn Ukraine - which is also a candidate to join the EU - and the bloc's dwindling influence on other conflicts. Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will inherit a trade spat with Beijing over state subsidies and tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, as well as the bloc's struggle to keep up with major industrial competitors. As executive vice president for climate and competition policy, Spain's Teresa Ribera will have to find ways to stick to the bloc's ambitious climate target of reaching zero net emissions by 2050 despite a sobering economic outlook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The start of von der Leyen's first mandate as commission president in 2019 coincided with the height of the global climate movement and produced groundbreaking climate and environmental EU legislation called the Green Deal. Five years on, a significant sign of the bloc's changing priorities is the creation of an EU Defence Commissioner position for the first time, to be held by former Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius. The European Parliament is expected on Wednesday to confirm the members of the new European Commission - the EU's executive arm - for a five-year mandate likely to be marked by major economic and geopolitical challenges. The European Union's legislative chamber is to vote in Strasbourg on whether to confirm the team of 26 European commissioners as a whole, which is to work under the leadership of the already re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The powerful EU executive is the only EU institution that can propose new laws, which are then negotiated by the European Parliament and EU member states. Multitude of challenges for new commission The new commission, which is to start work on December 1, will have to face multiple domestic and global crises. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Von der Leyen's new team is to focus on economic and security issues as the bloc struggles to remain economically competitive versus China and the United States, as well as rearm in the face of Russian revanchism. The incoming top EU diplomat, Kaja Kallas, will have to deal with stalling support for war-torn Ukraine - which is also a candidate to join the EU - and the bloc's dwindling influence on other conflicts. Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will inherit a trade spat with Beijing over state subsidies and tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, as well as the bloc's struggle to keep up with major industrial competitors. As executive vice president for climate and competition policy, Spain's Teresa Ribera will have to find ways to stick to the bloc's ambitious climate target of reaching zero net emissions by 2050 despite a sobering economic outlook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The start of von der Leyen's first mandate as commission president in 2019 coincided with the height of the global climate movement and produced groundbreaking climate and environmental EU legislation called the Green Deal. Five years on, a significant sign of the bloc's changing priorities is the creation of an EU Defence Commissioner position for the first time, to be held by former Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius. Drawn-out nomination process Wednesday's confirmation vote comes almost six months after the European elections in June and follows weeks of political wrangling between capitals and the political factions in the European Parliament. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Von der Leyen had asked EU member states to each nominate at least one female and one male candidate for her team, but many countries defied her and put forward a single male candidate in pursuit of a senior economic portfolio in the commission. After repeated and mostly unanswered pleas to capitals to nominate more women, von der Leyen in September presented a team of 10 female and 16 male commissioner designates to the European Parliament. The nominations were followed by lengthy public hearings and backroom talks to secure the backing of all candidates by a majority of EU legislators. The appointment of far-right Italian politician, Raffaele Fitto, as a commission vice president, was initially met with serious resistance from centre-left and liberal factions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In return, conservative and right-wing lawmakers threatened to block the appointment of socialist Ribera who has been accused of failing to deal with the recent severe flooding in the Valencia region as the current Spanish environment minister. However, last-minute negotiations between the large political groups in the European Parliament paved the way for the contested nominees to take office. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to make the European Union more competitive in her second term as head of the EU executive arm. "Our freedom and sovereignty depend more than ever on our economic strength," she told the European Parliament. "Our security depends on our ability to compete, to innovate, and to produce. Our social model depends on a growing economy while facing demographic change," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There will be a "joint plan for decarbonization and competitiveness," von der Leyen said, to balance the EU's climate commitments against business concerns around bureaucracy. Von der Leyen also said her legislative programme will focus on catching up with the United States and China in new businesses and technologies and making the EU more self-sufficient and secure. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday urged higher defence expenditure in an address to European Union lawmakers in the French city of Strasbourg. "Russia is spending up to 9% of its GDP [gross domestic product] on defence. Europe is spending on average 1.9%. There is something wrong in this equation," she said, ahead of a confirmation vote for her new team of EU commissioners. "Our defence spending must increase," von der Leyen added. "War is raging on Europes borders ... We have no time to waste, and we must be as ambitious as the threats are serious." Everett Police arrested a 43-year-old man after a workplace dispute led to a shooting at a home on Sunday evening. According to police reports, the suspect, Anthony Carlos Gutierrez, is accused of shooting his manager in the face during a discussion at the managers home. The incident happened around 5:09 p.m. on Sunday when the victim called 911 to report being shot by an employee. Police responded to a home in Everett, where they found the victim in a nearby back house. The victim, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the cheek, was taken to Providence Hospital for treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the police report, Gutierrez had visited the victim to discuss child support paperwork. The victim stated that Gutierrez appeared upset and confused during their conversation. The situation escalated when Gutierrez allegedly drew a firearm and shot the victim. The victim ran to a back house with his girlfriend and child, locking the door before calling 911. Officers secured the scene and found evidence of the shooting inside the home, including bloodstains and spent shell casings from a .22-caliber firearm. SWAT teams later searched the residence but did not locate the suspect. Police traced Gutierrez to the Tulalip Casino using information from the victims construction company, which reported unusual activity on a company credit card. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gutierrez had rented a room at the casino, where officers apprehended him and discovered a magazine for a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun in his possession. Gutierrez was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on a charge of first-degree assault. The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments about a partial veto that purports to extend school funding increases for 400 years, without legislative approval, by vetoing seven words, five digits and a hyphen. As Justice Brian Hagedorn exclaimed during the argument, It is crazy. We allow governors to unilaterally create law that has not been proposed to . . . [the legislature] at all. It is a mess of this Courts making. Over the years, conservative and liberal justices have permitted governors to amend appropriation bills, after legislative passage, by vetoing individual words, digits, punctuation marks, and other bill parts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kristin Brey: How Tony Evers turned 2 into 402. Short history of Wisconsin budget veto And governors of both parties have used that power to create new laws that the legislature did not approve. This practice is crazy, because the text and design of our state Constitution do not permit governors to amend appropriation bills. This is what the court should do to clean up this mess. Go back to first principles found in Wisconsin Constitution The Wisconsin Constitution is based on the premise that the people have a fundamental right to make their own laws. This is why it vests the legislative power . . . in a senate and assembly, provides for the election of representatives to those bodies, and requires that every bill shall have passed the legislature, before review by the governor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Constitution also prescribes an enacting clause for all laws of the state, which declares that the people of the state . . . represented in senate and assembly, do enact [the bill] as follows. We are not alone in the cosmos. Why isn't UFO hearing tearing up Google trends? These constitutional provisions establish that it is the constitutional function of the legislature to give the approval and consent of the governed.to proposals for legislation. They preclude the Courts idea that governors may amend appropriation bills, after their passage, to create new laws without legislative approval. Consider purpose of the 1930 Amendment to state constitution A 1930 constitutional amendment declares that appropriation bills may be approved in whole or in part . . . and the part approved shall become law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a response to the legislatures 1929 adoption of the executive budget system, which requires that all appropriations must be bundled into a single biennial budget bill. As I explained in a March 2008 article in the Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine, The Origin and Evolution of Partial Veto Power, the author of the amendment said it would permit governors to veto separate items and block any appropriation which . . . two-thirds of the members of both houses do not think ought to pass over his objections." Editorial: Hovde's election claims are false. He's blaming Milwaukee without evidence. The principal sponsor declared it would permit governors to veto single items . . . without vetoing the entire bill. The change, he said, is merely giving back . . . the power [to veto separate bills] we took away . . . when we passed the budget system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The amendment was designed to prevent the legislature from increasing spending for some items, and adding new ones, that governors would be constrained to accept, despite their objections, instead of vetoing the entire state budget. Thirty-seven states already had similar item vetoes. Respect the text of the constitutional amendment The text of the 1930 amendment gives governors a power to approve, a word that standard dictionaries define as to judge and find acceptable. That is not what governors do when they use partial vetoes to amend an appropriation bill. Second, the Courts interpretation has permitted governors to insert the text of their amendments after the enacting clause of appropriation bills, despite the representation of the clause that all of the bill has actually been enacted by the people. Finally, the constitutional text permits governors to divide an appropriation bill into only two parts: a part approved, which shall become law, and a rejected part, which shall be returned to the house in which the bill originated, with objections, for reconsideration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These constitutional commands reflect an understanding that each of those parts may consist of one or more separate items. More: Town hall conversations showcase desire to find common ground across Wisconsin One permits governors to concur in approving the enactment of itemsin their entirety, and the other prescribes the return of any rejected items for reconsideration,as if they were separate bills. Neither uses the word part to authorize amendments of appropriation bills, after they have been passed and enacted, by the people. It is evident that the court should overrule its prior decisions insofar as they permit governors to amend appropriation bills without the approval and consent of the governed, as given by their legislative representatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fred Wade is a Madison attorney and author of The Origin and Evolution of Partial Veto Power, Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine (March 2008). This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Governors of both parties have abused partial budget vetoes | Opinion KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The pragmatic attitude of business communities across the world, particularly those in the Global South, will allow the global economy to weather current tensions and lead to eventual stability, a Russian official said on Wednesday. Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexey Gruzdev said that despite attempts by certain countries to contain and sideline others, major economies of the emerging multilateral world order are confident that economic prosperity, trade and global cooperation will overcome isolationist and disruptive tendencies. "I have never lost trust in the business (communities) because they are more about practical things and it is for the national interest for those who are flexible, open and cherish trust and mutual benefit," he told Xinhua on the sidelines of the "World of Opportunities: Russia-ASEAN" International Business Forum here. Gruzdev said Russia is seeking to expand its cooperation and trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a wide range of fields, such as energy, food security and healthcare, especially with Malaysia which will take over the group's chairmanship starting in January 2025. "We are actively working with ASEAN countries to develop and expand our collaborations in sectors such as medicine and nuclear energy, with promising discussions already in progress. We encourage not only major companies but also small and medium enterprises to engage in these discussions through platforms like this forum to explore new possibilities," he said. Meanwhile, Alexander Stuglev, chief executive officer of the Roscongress Foundation, said countries of the Global South and groups such as ASEAN are striving to maintain neutrality and avoiding bloc confrontation while working to develop trade and economic links, which bodes well for the global economy. "Many countries like Malaysia are working to become partners and working for sustainable economic development," he said. "I am confident that our platform will continue to thrive both here in Malaysia and across ASEAN, and I want to emphasize the critical importance of the region. I greatly appreciate a constructive, neutral approach taken by ASEAN companies, which has proven to be a solid foundation for partnerships, driving successful results in investment, trade, and resource development," he said. Organized by the Roscongress Foundation and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, the two-day forum began on Tuesday, focusing on global challenges and projects. When lake-effect snow hits regions of the Great Lakes during late fall and winter, you start to hear meteorologists use terms like "feet of snow," "whiteout conditions," "blizzard" and "travel trouble." That's because lake effect often results in significant snowfall. While the intensity can vary, lake effect can create challenging conditions with heavy, localized snowfall that can significantly impact transportation and daily life. "Lake-effect snow develops when cold air moves over a relative warm, large body of water, most typically found in the Great Lakes," AccuWeather Snow Expert Grady Gilman explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This process begins when cold, dry air, typically from Canada, sweeps across warmer waters. Lake-effect snow events typically occur from the late autumn to the first part of winter when the Great Lakes are still unfrozen and the waters are warm, relative to that colder air flowing across the region. As the frigid air moves over the lakes, it absorbs warmth and moisture from the water, transferring these elements to the lower atmosphere. This process causes the air to rise and condense into clouds, which can develop into narrow bands capable of producing intense snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour or more. The narrow bands also mean some areas can get buried in snow, while little to no snow may fall just a few miles away. "Additionally at the ground surface, a body of water has less friction than land, so when air flows from over the open bodies of water of the Great Lakes and then inevitably over land, i.e low friction to high friction, the additional friction of land causes 'frictional convergence', which compresses and condenses the moist air which increases precipitation," Gilman added One of the biggest lake-effect snowfall events on record hammered areas near Buffalo, New York, with 5 feet of snow in a span of two days back in November 2014, resulting in the deaths of more than a dozen people. Hundreds of roofs collapsed, nearly a thousand motorists were stranded and food and gas shortages occurred due to impassable roads. A band of storm clouds moves across Lake Erie and into Buffalo, New York on Nov. 18, 2014. (Photo credit: Associated Press) Tom Kitson of Ayr, Ont., with companions Dug and Champ, waits for a friend outside a convenient store on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in West Seneca, N.Y. A new blast of lake-effect snow pounded Buffalo for a third day piling more misery on a city already buried by an epic, deadly snowfall that could leave some areas with nearly 8 feet of snow on the ground when it's all done. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) Dashcam footage shot by extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer showed intense snowfall and whiteout conditions rivaling any blizzard. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Buffalo described snow total disparity in the November 2014 snow event, saying, "Over 5 feet of snow fell over areas just east of the City of Buffalo, with mere inches a few miles to the north." A car is weighed down by heavy snow in the south Buffalo area on Nov. 22, 2014, in Buffalo, New York. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) Brian Cintron walks in his snow-bound south Buffalo neighborhood on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in Buffalo, N.Y. A new blast of lake-effect snow pounded Buffalo for a third day piling more misery on a city already buried by an epic, deadly snowfall. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) Another, more recent lake-effect snowstorm of epic proportions dumped nearly 7 feet of snow across parts of New York in November 2022. Orchard Park received the highest storm total snowfall with a staggering 77 inches of snow over a 24-hour span. Locations "downwind" of the lakes are where lake-effect snow typically occurs, with the general wind flow being west to east. This means places like Buffalo, Watertown and Syracuse, New York; Cleveland; Erie, Pennsylvania; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana; are all prime locations. But lake-effect snow can happen anywhere there is a large amount of relatively warm water that can collide with cold air. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Lake-effect snow sometimes falls more than 100 miles downwind of the Great Lakes. The mountains of New York state, western, central and northern Pennsylvania, the West Virginia mountains and western Maryland can all get a visit from lake-effect snow," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski explained. The Great Lakes are notorious for lake-effect snow due to their locations relative to cold air outbreaks and warmer summer months, but even smaller lakes like the Great Salt Lake of Utah and the Finger Lakes in New York can produce lake-effect snow given the winds are in a favorable direction and the difference in temperature from the air to the lake water is great enough. "Lake-effect snow can be extremely dangerous due to the intensity of snow it can produces, where upwards of 6 inches an hour can happen, but also due to the sudden changes in conditions a shifting lake-effect snow band can cause from even the subtlest change in wind direction," Gilman noted. "One location can have zero visibility and total white-out conditions while a few miles down the road it is partly sunny. In a matter of miles, a traveler can go from blue skies and visibility to the horizon to blizzardlike conditions with near-zero visibility." Lakes aren't the only places this snowy phenomenon can occur, Gilman elaborated. There's also sea-effect snow. "Sea-effect snow is also a common phenomenon in parts of the world, namely Japan, where the same mechanisms are in place as lake-effect, but the moisture source instead of a lake is the sea." The Chesapeake Bay and southeastern Massachusetts, especially Cape Cod, are both areas in the U.S. that can receive ocean-effect snow when all the necessary ingredients are aligned. Evictions could spike across Oklahoma CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) Housing experts predict Oklahoma could see a surge in evictions over the next two months. Oklahoma already has one of the highest eviction rates in the country and the pandemic relief funds to prevent evictions has expired, which could lead to a heightened spike. In October, more than 4,000 people across the state were evicted from their homes. Lindsay Lewis has been living in her Norman apartment for four years. A few weeks ago, she was notified of a problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first thing I got was a five day notice out of the blue, said Lewis. The grandmother has been living off a fixed income. She said miscommunications under former management at the complex led to fees she did not know she had missed. We worked out a payment plan and we had all that settled but unfortunately he (the manager) slipped a message on my door, said Lewis. Corporate decided not to accept the payment plan and is going through with the eviction. What Oklahomans should know about the new vehicle pre-registration process Lewis will soon join a growing list of Oklahomans looking for a new place to live. According to data from Shelterwell, Oklahoma County has the highest eviction rate in the state followed by Tulsa, Cleveland, and Canadian Counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meghan Mueller, CEO of the Homeless Alliance, said with the pandemic relief funds now expired, the state could see eviction rates accelerate. A lot of people who maybe right on the edge the last couple of years as those resources expire and run out. Theyre, again, kind of falling over that cliff, said Mueller. Mueller said policy change was a good place to start. Our Landlord Tenant Act hasnt been updated for decades and is quite favorable to landlords, said Mueller. She said the Homeless Alliance hears from many Oklahomans who were handed an eviction asking about their options. She said it also leads to obstacles for those already on the street. Many of them have evictions in their histories. And those evictions can actually be barriers to getting out of homelessness, said Mueller. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The ex-CEO of a international freight company pleaded guilty to allegedly conspiring to illegally export U.S. goods to federally prohibited Chinese companies that may of gotten to North Korea, the U.S. Justice Department said. Richard Shih, 77, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to violate export laws related to the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 by the alleged shipment of goods to Chinese companies on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List, the Justice Department announced in a release. It carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in a federal prison. He awaits sentencing by a federal judge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The DOJ named Shih as the founder and former chief executive officer of an unnamed California-based international logistics and freight forwarding company with offices in Grapevine, Texas. However, multiple public information sources linked Richard Shih as the president of Express Line Corp., a freight company in business nearly 40 years located in Inglewood, Calif., with an office in Grapevine and other locations around the world. According to court documents, Shih and Express Line had a pre-existing business relationship with the Chinese freight forwarder Seajet Company Limited. Seajet had been placed on the Entity List in September 2018 for "unlawfully procuring and diverting" items of American origin to the communist-run North Korea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was alleged Seajet took part in activity "contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States," according to the Justice Department. It later included to the Entity List the addition of Seajet's Chinese transliterate alias Hisiang Logistics Company Limited in June 2021. Meanwhile, a specific license was required to export goods from the United States to Seajet and Hisiang, officials say. According to the Justice Department, Shih and Express Line knew that Seajet was on the Entity List and that Hisiang was the established alias for Seajet. The department said federal officials "repeatedly" attempted to educate Shih and Express Line about the Entity List and its corresponding laws. "[t]here is nothing else changed such as company address, structure and policy etc," read part of an email by Seajet to Shih in explaining the alias Hisiang, which then was forwarded by Shih to his own employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But nonetheless, Shih and others allegedly continued to export and transact items to Seajet and its affiliates supposedly from September 2018 to May 2022. In evidence was 34 international wire transfers to accounts held by Express Line. DOJ contends that in that timespan Shih's company had allegedly conducted more than 1,000 shipments of items from the United States to Seajet and its alter-ego Hisiang. Company records revealed an account code assigned to Seajet for a shipment to Hisiang yet Express Line continued to do business regardless. The company allegedly used funds to pay for various expenses on the transactions, such as air carriers and trucking companies all the while keeping part as profit. The FBI and the federal Bureau of Industry and Security investigated the case. And prosecuting the case was Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer for the Northern District of Texas and trial attorney David J. Ryan of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. Buildings stand on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus July 22, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images) This story originally was originally co-published by KFF Health News and WyoFile. William Lopez remembers clearly the day in June 2017 when he says he was asked to call the spouse of a college friend who had just died and ask for her eyes. The spouse hadnt responded to calls from other employees at the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, he said. As Lopez recalled, his supervisor thought a friends personal number would have more success. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lopez refused. I went for a walk, he said. Even without Lopezs help, the eye bank that procures corneas from deceased donors in Wyoming and Colorado eventually collected his friends corneas, Lopez said. Lopez, who had entered the field to help people, became increasingly disillusioned during his three years working with the eye bank, despite rising from a technician to the distribution manager, and ultimately quit. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Checking the donor box on a drivers license application, people may picture their heart, kidneys, or other organs saving another persons life should the worst happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They are less likely to consider that tissues corneas, tendons, bone marrow, skin, bone are also covered by that checked box. In fact, donated tissues are collected much more frequently than organs, and corneas are the most commonly transplanted body part in the U.S., with nearly 51,000 transplants last year, according to the Eye Bank Association of America. Organ and tissue donations are guided by different rules, with less transparency and what critics identify as more self-policing in the tissue donation industry. In Wyoming and Colorado, where the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank estimates it collects eye tissue from about 2,500 deceased donors a year, that has contributed to a tense work environment resulting in damaged or wasted tissues due to accidents, four former eye bank employees say. I think theres an urgent need for stricter oversight of the donation process in general, particularly for eye and tissue banks, said Janell Lewis, who worked at the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank for 12 years, managing public relations and overseeing fundraising before she quit in February 2023. John Lohmeier, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, declined to be interviewed for this article. In a prepared statement, he said he couldnt comment on personnel matters or specific incidents raised by the former employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But generally, he wrote, there are internal procedures that have been in place and continue to be followed to investigate and/or report any incident that would impact health and safety concerns. Lewis, Lopez, and two other former eye bank employees recalled one or more of the following problems during their time at Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank: Removal of eye tissue from the wrong body Damage or destruction of corneas due to improper removal Removal of corneas from a donor with a high-risk family history that could endanger a transplant recipient Lack of transparency about whether errors were being reported to federal agencies Pressuring and bullying of technicians High turnover and brief training of low-paid and inexperienced technicians The windshield of the eye The cornea is considered the windshield of the eye. It is a clear dome that protects the eye from contaminants, maintains fluid balance, and filters light. Recipients of cornea donations typically need transplants because of trauma, infection, or other conditions that cause blindness or blurred or cloudy vision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank is one of about 60 eye banks operating in the U.S., which leads the world in corneal transplants. New technicians often arrive at the eye bank untrained, sometimes with only a high school diploma, to perform the grim job of removing corneas from recently deceased corpses for about the same wages many fast-food workers earn. But what eye bank technicians may lack in education and training, they generally make up for with a strong belief in the mission, according to the former employees. They said they joined the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank because they wanted to help restore peoples sight. The nonprofit employs about 70 people across Colorado and Wyoming, according to a tax filing submitted in 2023. Those records also show a net income of less than $1 million and more than $16 million in assets. Lohmeier was paid about $142,000. Organs vs. tissue Organ donations fall under the purview of the Health Resources and Services Administration, and public data details performance and financial transaction records of organ procurement groups. Tissue donation is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as national industry groups, and tissue bank transactions, performance, and outcomes are not available to the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres no reason tissues and organs should be treated differently, said Robert Dickson, medical director for the Washtenaw County Tuberculosis Clinic in Michigan. A patient in his county died from a bone graft contaminated with tuberculosis just a couple of years after a contaminated bone graft killed eight other patients. We dont believe that weve proven ourselves to be not capable of regulating ourselves. Marc Pearce, president and CEO of the American Association of Tissue Banks He compared the tissue regulatory environment to the Wild West and called it a major public health concern. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its fundamentally no different from an organ transplant. Youre taking tissue from one deceased patient and putting it into a living recipient. But it is not regulated and not tested as rigorously, he said. Marc Pearce, president and CEO of the American Association of Tissue Banks, said such cases are very rare. We dont believe that weve proven ourselves to be not capable of regulating ourselves, he said. FDA officials disagree that the tissue industry is largely self-regulated, pointing to federal rules that require certain organizations to register with the agency and provide a list of human cells or tissues they recover, store, or distribute. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rules set donor eligibility requirements, and the agency inspects tissue establishments, including eye banks, said spokesperson Carly Pflaum. The FDA has implemented a tiered risk-based approach for the regulation of human cell, tissue and cellular and tissue-based products, Pflaum wrote. KFF Health News and WyoFile months ago requested reports of adverse events associated with the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, but the FDA has yet to provide them. FDA dashboards show the eye bank has not issued a recall since 2017, and inspections since at least 2009 have not resulted in any official action. The tissue industry is largely self-monitored and the performance of eye banks is tracked internally, whereas the federal government publishes annual performance reports for organ procurement groups. Health care providers are not required to report to the FDA adverse events resulting from tissue transplants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Organ transplant providers are required to report safety events in recipients within 72 hours to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which operates under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That includes an organ going unused because it was delivered to the wrong location. They have 24 hours if, for example, the recipient gets an infection or disease that may have been from the new organ. Other countries have public registries detailing the outcomes of corneal transplants, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. A similar registry in the U.S. could help monitor outcomes for patients and identify adverse events from transplant procedures, eye doctors and researchers wrote in the journal Ophthalmology Science. Tissue bank industry groups are responsible for much of the oversight of their dues-paying members. Transplanting surgeons may report adverse reactions to the tissue bank, which generally then conducts a review and submits a report to the FDA and the Eye Bank Association of America or the American Association of Tissue Banks. Nearly all eye banks in the U.S. are members of the Eye Bank Association of America, which inspects member banks at least every three years as part of its accreditation process, but such inspection reports arent publicly available. Safety is paramount, association president Kevin Corcoran said, and the associations medical standards require eye banks to request patient outcome information from transplanting surgeons a few months after surgery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to make sure we dont have an eye bank that is slipping in their performance or failing to recover tissue, he said. He declined to comment on any individual eye banks performance or release quality or transplantation data, complaints filed, or investigations undertaken. No investigations have resulted in corrective action, he said, in the 13 years he has been at the association. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank is an accredited member of the association. Balancing mission and stress Several of the former employees were hesitant to speak about the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank because they didnt want to sully the reputation of an industry they believe is essential for improving peoples lives and honoring the wishes of the dead. But they described a high-pressure environment that they said led to many of their colleagues leaving and errors that reduced the number of successful retrievals. Mackenzie Urban started recovering corneas as a technician for the eye bank in 2019 after finishing her bachelors degree. She saw it as a temporary job as she applied for medical school. But within a year of recovering her first cornea, she said, enough employees had left that she became the senior recovery technician and was training others. She used limes for the training, guiding her students on how to use a scalpel to remove the peel without nicking the fruit beneath. Success meant lifting the peel off the lime without any juice spilling out. If youre stressed, youre going to shake, Urban said. Outside factors can compound the challenges of performing the delicate procedure. Maybe the coroner had drawn fluid from beneath the cornea, making collection much trickier, she said. After a person has been dead for about 24 hours, the eyes tend to deflate to the point of uselessness, adding time pressure to collecting donations, Urban said. Sometimes, Urban said, another technician would be working on a body simultaneously, so that the entire body was moving around while she was trying to do the delicate procedure. Interactions with grieving families could be intense, too. Sometimes, families would hug her, thankful that something good would come of their loss. Other times, they were hostile, such as the time one relative of a potential donor told her to Cut your own f****** eyes out, you b****, she recalled. Urban appreciates the work the eye bank performs and doesnt regret her time there. She said she respected that they had a real commitment to serving the community and keeping prices low. (Its illegal to sell human body parts for transplant, but companies get reimbursed varying amounts for the expenses of harvesting, preparing, and shipping tissues.) But the workplace culture made it untenable for her, she said. For example, Urban said, she was reprimanded and told that she needed to buck up or get out because she declined to harvest corneas from a person who died from an unknown cause. The body was purple from the neck down, covered in oozing blisters and with opaque flecks in the eyes, Urban said. When Irish eyes are smiling The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank has international contracts and ships corneas to Japan and the U.K., among other destinations. It became the exclusive eye tissue provider for Ireland when that country stopped collecting corneas over fears of transmitting mad cow disease. That means anyone who has received a cornea transplant in Ireland in the past two decades likely now sees thanks to a person who died in Colorado or Wyoming, according to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Lohmeier, the eye bank CEO, said local needs are prioritized for donations, while international shipments help fulfill the eye banks mission and ensure that all viable corneas are transplanted, giving the gift of restored sight. The U.S. is one of the few nations with a cornea surplus. FDA inspection reports confirmed that the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank procures more tissue than its geographic area can use. The demand for international orders contributed to the high-pressure environment, Lopez said. Employee turnover and the stress of the job resulted in the collection of corneas of poor quality, Lewis said. Local hospitals inquired about why so many corneas werent being transplanted, she added. The leading reason was recovery errors that damaged the tissue, Lewis said. Lohmeier disagreed that there was a significant decline in corneas being placed. We do not believe this description accurately reflects the state of corneal recovery and transplants, he said. Internal records showed that about half of recovered corneas in November 2022 had moderate to heavy stress. The Eye Bank Association of America does not have comparable national data. The closest figure it tracks is the proportion, among tissues that were prepared but not transplanted, that were unable to be transplanted because of damage during processing; in 2022, it was a quarter. Ashi Moore, who used to lead the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Banks quality assurance department, said she once filed a report to the FDA after a donors eye tissues were removed despite a family history indicating a high risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The disease, which should have been disqualifying for donation purposes, is a fatal brain disorder that can be transmitted through infected tissue. The issue was caught before the corneas could be placed in someone elses eyes, but it should never have gotten to the point that the corneas were removed from the body, Moore said. At least once, a technician retrieved corneas from the wrong body, according to Moore and other former employees (The FDA was unable to provide records to confirm that report by publication). Moore said she should have been told about the case of mistaken identity immediately but said she wasnt made aware of it until after the eye banks leaders handled the situation themselves. She said she couldnt find evidence that the eye bank had reported the error to the FDA. It was one of the major reasons she decided to leave the organization, though she had derived a strong sense of purpose from working at the eye bank, she said. When Lewis resigned, officials at the nonprofit eye bank offered her $5,000 to sign a severance agreement with a nondisparagement provision. She declined. Lewis said she would like to see states hold tissue recovery agencies to the same standards as other organizations that handle corpses, such as hospitals, coroners, and funeral homes. And if they fail to meet those standards, they need to be held accountable to build public trust, she said. Lewis and Lopezs negative experiences with the eye bank had another consequence. Each decided they no longer wanted to be an organ or tissue donor. After witnessing and experiencing so many issues, I no longer feel comfortable with the potential of my family having to go through that when the time comes, Lewis said. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places, and policy. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF, an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The former FBI informant accused of making false claims that sparked the GOP impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden was indicted last week on federal charges accusing him of hiding millions of dollars of income when doing his taxes. Alexander Smirnov is charged with three counts of evasion of assessment and three counts of false or fraudulent tax return after he allegedly received more than $2 million in income from multiple sources between 2020 and 2022, according to the indictment obtained by HuffPost. Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant charged with lying to officials about an alleged multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son, Hunter Biden, and a Ukrainian energy company, in federal court with his attorneys, Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff. Wes Rand/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Prosecutors alleged in the document that he used this income to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and a woman referred to as a domestic partner. Part of Smirnovs purchases included a Las Vegas condominium, a Bentley, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of clothes, jewelry and accessories bought at high-end retailers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smirnov allegedly concealed the millions of dollars he received by creating and filing false income forms in his and his partners names, according to the indictment. The former informant was charged earlier this year with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record after federal prosecutors accused him of lying to the FBI, according to a previous indictment. Smirnov had claimed that an executive of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, relayed information to him about payments made to Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, around 2015. The claims became central to Joe Bidens impeachment inquiry in Congress in September of last year. However, according to the indictment, when Smirnov was interviewed by FBI agents that same month, he changed his story and promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials. Smirnov has pleaded not guilty, and that case also remains pending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement shared with HuffPost, Smirnovs attorney said he intends to vigorously fight these allegations with the same intensity as he has fought the original indictment. Related... WASHINGTON A former FBI informant whose false claims about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were at "the heart" of the Republican impeachment inquiry against the president has now been indicted on tax charges. Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant charged with lying to the FBI about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, has now been indicted on 10 separate tax-related charges. The new indictment states that Smirnov received more than two million dollars in income from multiple sources in 2020, 2021, and 2022 and bought a $1.4 million Las Vegas condominium, a Bentley, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of clothes, jewelry and accessories for himself and Domestic Partner purchased at high-end retailers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smirnov's attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said he "intends to vigorously fight these allegations with the same intensity as he has fought the original indictment." The charges against Smirnov, who had been a confidential human source for the FBI since 2010, were brought by David Weiss, the special counsel on the Hunter Biden case, which resulted in convictions on gun charges in June and tax charges in September. Before Smirnov was indicted, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said his claims were "the heart" of Republicans' impeachment inquiry against the president. Biden has denied any wrongdoing. In February, federal prosecutors said that Smirnov claimed some of his information came from "officials associated with Russian intelligence." Prosecutors said Smirnov was "actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials" in Nov. 2023. Russia had sought to aid Trump's campaign, and even paid right-wing influencers, according to a separate indictment returned in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. District Judge Otis Wright also issued an order in Smirnovs false statements case today, ahead of a trial that is now set to get underway on Jan. 8, 2025. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Mark Lillienfeld, a former Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department homicide investigator, has been deemed ineligible for rehire after a police officer who attended one of his training lectures last year accused him of making racist comments and repeatedly giving a Nazi-like salute during the class, according to an internal affairs report. The officer, who is Black, also alleged Lillienfeld joked that she and another Black officer in the class would be the most likely suspects if anyone jumped him in the parking lot after the May 2023 lecture. Following a probe, this year the Sheriffs Department decided to put a Do Not Rehire designation in Lillienfelds personnel file, according to a department statement this week and the 40-page report released this month. Though the report contains little information about the investigators' reasoning, it includes summaries of nearly three dozen witness interviews followed by three pages outlining the policy violations alleged and discipline recommended. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tom Yu, the attorney representing Lillienfeld, said the allegations against his client were completely baseless and questioned why the woman who complained a Los Angeles Police Department traffic investigator took the class in the first place. The city of Los Angeles would be a safer place if she spent that kind of energy and time on her own caseload, Yu told The Times. The investigation was purportedly about a race or gender-based discrimination when my client has already retired and has no standing to appeal or grieve the one-sided investigation. The California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training which oversees law enforcement training standards statewide said in a statement Tuesday that it found out about the incident only recently. The commission currently approves instructors based on information submitted by local agencies, the statement said, and it doesnt have a way to get rid of instructors whom it deems inappropriate. The Commission met last week and discussed this regulatory matter and are planning to make changes so that in the future we do have the ability to remove instructors such as this, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the meantime, the commission said, the Sheriffs Department and other agencies should be doing their due diligence on checking who their instructors are and if there are prior incidents. This is not the first time Lillienfeld has run afoul of department policies. In 2008, internal affairs records show he was given a written reprimand for referring to a woman as a broad and repeatedly using profanity during a different training lecture. After retiring in 2016, he began working as an investigator for the Los Angeles County district attorneys office, where he was later caught on camera posing as a deputy in order to sneak contraband fast food to an inmate at Mens Central Jail. Read more: Sheriff rehires corruption investigator accused of posing as deputy in bizarre jail incident Afterward, the Sheriffs Department temporarily banned him from the jails. After Alex Villanueva became sheriff in late 2018, he rehired Lillienfeld to join his public corruption squad, which, among other things, criminally investigated a Times reporter who was leaked a list of problem deputies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lillienfeld left the department again in January 2023 after Villanueva lost reelection. This year, during an inquiry into the public corruption squad, Lillienfeld testified that the incident at Mens Central Jail was part of a plan to overturn a wrongful conviction by winning the trust of the real killer and coaxing out a confession. By the May 2023 training incident, Lillienfeld was working as an outside vendor. The Sheriffs Department said this week it will not hire him as an instructor for future classes. The complaint that spurred the investigation and Do Not Rehire designation stemmed from a two-week homicide investigator course held at a Holiday Inn in La Mirada. Though the state covered payments to guest lecturers, the Sheriffs Department designed the curriculum and planned the speakers. On the first day of class, May 8, Lillienfeld delivered a morning lecture on the mind-set of homicide investigators followed by an afternoon lecture on case management and interacting with witnesses. About 30 officers and deputies from across Southern California attended the training. The Sheriff's Department redacted all of their names in the report, as well as that of the Los Angeles police officer at the center of the complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Ex-members of L.A. County sheriff's alleged 'secret police' testify to oversight commission At the beginning of the course, according to what the LAPD officer later told investigators, the sergeant who oversaw the training warned the class that some of the instructors were old school and were a little rough around the collar. (When investigators later interviewed the sergeant, he said he did not recall saying anything to that effect, according to the report.) Throughout the entire lecture, Subject Lillienfeld was rude, condescending, unprofessional, and made inappropriate comments to several students in the class, investigators wrote in their summary of the officers interview. They said the officer told them she believed Lillienfeld targeted Asian and Black students with off-color jokes, once calling the only two Asian students Chinamen and repeatedly making fun of a womans name. The officer also told investigators Lillienfeld talked a lot of crap about the Los Angeles Police Department and how its investigations were messed up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the lecture, the report says, Lillienfeld also clicked his heels together and extended one of his arms out like Hitler, while saying something that sounded like hike or height. The woman told investigators she wasnt sure whether it was intended to be a Nazi salute because shed seen Nazi salutes only on television. She said that she thought Lillienfeld might have been doing it as a joke or because of a nervous condition but that it felt inappropriate because it looked like something white supremacist groups do," according to the report. At the end of the class, she alleged, Lillienfeld apologized to her and the other Black woman a Menifee Police Department officer and thanked them for letting him make fun of them. Then, she told investigators, Lillienfeld allegedly told class participants that if they saw him outside in the parking lot with two bullets in the back of his head, they should look to the two Black women as the suspects. The Los Angeles police officer later detailed her concerns to a Sheriffs Department detective who was monitoring the class, and the detective alerted the sergeant who had coordinated the class. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the sergeant pulled the officer aside to talk, she didnt give him many details because she wasnt sure if she could trust him. Still, the report says, she told the sergeant she was offended by Lillienfelds presentation, especially the comments hed allegedly made singling out the two Black women as hypothetical suspects. The Menifee police officer told investigators that she remembered Lillienfeld was funny, but that she didnt find the humor offensive or feel singled out by his jokes. She recalled hearing him say something about one of the Asian students, but couldnt remember what. She said she didnt remember seeing him give a Nazi salute. Read more: 'Do Not Rehire': Panel finds Villanueva violated county discrimination, harassment policies And though she told investigators she remembered hearing Lillienfelds comments about the Black women jumping him, she said she thought it was just a joke and wasnt offended. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several months later, when internal affairs investigators interviewed more than two dozen other officers and deputies who attended or monitored the class, almost all said they didnt recall seeing anything inappropriate. Some said Lillienfeld was funny, and several spoke highly of his lecture. One said Lillienfeld kept putting his foot in his mouth when talking to the two Black women. Another a La Verne police officer whose name was also redacted said Lillienfeld repeatedly did a weird thing during class in which he would click his heels together and throw up his arm in a way the officer described as a Nazi salute. Lillienfeld did the salute two or three times during his lecture and at one point said Sieg Heil as he did, according to what the officer told investigators. The officer said he thought Lillienfeld did the Nazi salute while trying to make a point regarding one of the investigations he taught, but he couldnt remember the specifics. After the class ended, the Los Angeles police officer detailed her concerns in her class evaluation, which sparked the internal investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When investigators tried to interview Lillienfeld in April, the file says, he immediately started recording them, then asked several questions about the case before refusing to do the interview. That same month, according to state commission records, Lillienfeld began working as a detective for the South Pasadena Police Department. It's unclear whether he still works there. Lillienfeld's case marks at least the second time in recent months that a high-profile former department member has been hit with a "Do Not Rehire" designation. In January, The Times reported that Villanueva had also been deemed ineligible for rehire after officials found he discriminated against L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman. Villanueva later sued the county over that decision. In September, a federal judge tossed out the case, though Villanueva has since refiled and the case is pending. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is unlikely to bring a peace deal to Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin still believes he can achieve all his goals, ex-Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Politico in an interview published on Nov. 27. According to Ukraine's former diplomacy chief, Ukraine is a "personal obsession for Putin" but also a way to "show to the world how the West is incapable of defending itself or what it stands for." Trump has criticized military support provided to Ukraine by the Biden administration and pledged to get the U.S. "out" of the war. While the details of his plans remain elusive, some reports indicate this would entail forcing Ukraine to cede territory and at least temporarily give up on its NATO accession plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's approach is more likely to starve Ukraine of weapons and cause the front to collapse, allowing Russian forces to move up to the cities of Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Poltava, Kuleba said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also cannot sign a peace deal that would recognize occupied territories as Russian and forego Kyiv's NATO aspirations, as such a step would be against the Constitution and Zelensky's political end, Kuleba believes. Zelensky recently told Fox News that Ukraine would never recognize Russian occupation but admitted that Crimea would have to be liberated through diplomatic means. He also appealed to the international community to help bring about a diplomatic and just end of the war next year. While voicing hopes that Putin will make a mistake in handling Trump that will antagonize the soon-to-be U.S. president, Kuleba said that Europe's stance will be decisive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leading European countries like the U.K., France, and Poland pledged to ramp up their support for Kyiv. The situation in Germany, Ukraine's largest European donor, remains uncertain as the country is heading toward snap elections in February. The ex-minister also complained that while Russia found allies willing to send their own troops, like North Korea, Kyiv's partners are unwilling to even commit sufficient weapons. Kuleba concluded that, unlike Russia and Ukraine, the West does not have a clear goal and does not know what it is fighting for. Read also: What we know about Trumps plans for ending Russias war against Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) speaks to the media as he exits Manhattan federal courthouse on July 16, 2024, in New York City. Jurors found Menendez and two co-defendants guilty on all counts in a wide-ranging bribery scheme. (Adam Gray | Getty Images) Attorneys for former Sen. Bob Menendez and two businessmen convicted last summer of bribing him want a federal judge to vacate their convictions and order a new trial, saying an evidentiary error prosecutors recently revealed deprived the men of a fair trial. Prosecutors alerted the defense and Judge Sidney H. Stein two weeks ago that they accidentally uploaded nine documents to a laptop jurors could consult during deliberations that had fewer redactions than Stein had ordered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in a flurry of filings Wednesday, defense attorneys say they since have found two more insufficiently redacted exhibits given to jurors including one in which Menendez co-defendant Fred Daibes referenced Adolf Hitler. The defense attorneys also complained that prosecutors wiped the laptop clean, without their knowledge or consent, making it impossible for a forensic review that could determine if jurors reviewed any of the 3,074 exhibits that had been there, and which ones. Menendezs attorneys called prosecutors goof undoubtedly prejudicial because the documents at issue could have eliminated a skeptical jurys reasonable doubt. The pall cast over Senator Menendezs convictions by the revelation of the governments error and the attendant prejudice to Senator Menendez is more than sufficient basis for this Court to vacate all counts of conviction and order a new trial, they wrote. They also urged Stein not to accept prosecutors contention they made an innocent mistake in uploading the wrong exhibits. Prosecutors fiercely fought to get the documents introduced as evidence because they deemed them very critical to their argument that Menendez was acting as a foreign agent for Egypt when he signed off on billions in U.S. funding and military sales to Egypt. Uploading them for jurors review without Steins ordered redactions could amount to recklessness that warrants court sanctions, they added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Had prosecutors blurted out the contents of the Unredacted Exhibits during closing, there is no doubt this Court would have ordered an immediate mistrial, Menendezs attorneys wrote. The only question here is whether a different remedy is warranted, because the government slipped this very critical evidence to the jury via a laptop, rather than a summation. The answer is no. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan on July 16, 2024. (Adam Gray | Getty Images) The drama over the documents comes just days after Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who brought the case, said he would resign next month. President-elect Donald Trump had already announced that he picked former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton to lead the office. Defense attorneys have asked for fuller discovery in the matter. Prosecutors have until Dec. 6 to respond. In a letter to Stein sent earlier this month, prosecutors insisted the mistake caused no harm because jurors who deliberated less than three full days probably never saw the documents in dispute, given that the laptop contained thousands of pages of exhibits and theyd heard nine weeks of testimony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All the defense attorneys blasted that argument, though, saying it insulted jurors by assuming they ignored Steins directive to deliberate carefully. The government declares that the Court need not worry, because the jury probably did not bother looking at these violative exhibits, Menendezs attorneys wrote. But the government offers nothing for this Alfred Neuman defense which is premised on the jury ignoring this Courts instruction to review the summary charts underlying exhibits. The only proper remedy here is vacatur on all counts. Besides, attorneys know jurors consulted the laptop because early in their deliberations, they alerted the judge they had a technical problem and needed a cord to help them view the laptops contents on a TV screen in the jury room. For the convictions to stand, prosecutors must prove not presume their error was harmless, said attorney Lawrence Lustberg, who represented Menendez co-defendant Wael Hana. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A criminal defendants Sixth Amendment rights are violated when a jury considers incriminating evidence that was not admitted at trial, Lustberg wrote. Indeed, courts have consistently reversed convictions under circumstances like those present here, where information that should have been redacted was provided to the jury. The wrinkle in this wrongly introduced evidence is that it centers on a constitutional protection known as the speech or debate clause, which protects legislators from liability for actions they take in the course of their jobs. A 1992 federal ruling in a money-laundering case against a congressman from Georgia held that harmless-error arguments dont excuse a violation when the speech or debate privilege is invoked, Menendezs attorneys argued. This Court expressly prohibited any evidence of past legislative activity, including involvement in the provision of any particular military aid to Egypt, Menendezs attorneys wrote. The Unredacted Exhibits squarely crossed that line, however, and allowed the jury to infer bribery from Senator Menendezs legislative acts exactly what the Speech or Debate Clause is meant to prevent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Hana and Daibes arent protected by that clause, their attorneys argued that the evidentiary gaffe harmed them too because prosecutors argued all the defendants actions were part of a single, overarching scheme in which the businessmen would benefit by bribing Menendez and his wife, Nadine, with gold bars, cash, a luxury car and more in exchange for his influence. Attorneys for Daibes had portrayed the Edgewater real estate developer during the trial as a longtime, dear friend of the Menendezes who gave them gold and other gifts because he was generous. But one of the unredacted documents at issue is a text from Daibes to a Qatari official that referred to an antique Mercedes Benz Daibes had bought that he referred to as his Hitler car, because it was believed to have been commissioned by Hitler or used by his generals, Daibes attorneys wrote. The prejudice to Mr. Daibes could not be more obvious, his attorneys wrote. A Palestinian-born American citizen, conversing with an Arab, and making reference to Adolf Hitler would certainly lead a contemporary jury to question his character. One of the exhibits uploaded to jurors laptop included this text from Fred Daibes to a Qatari official that referenced Adolf Hitler a reference the judge had ordered be redacted. (Screenshot from Bob Menendez motion) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX KIEV, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has received a new loan of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars from the World Bank, the country's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. The funding includes 1.6 billion dollars from the United States, and will support the country's essential social and humanitarian expenditures, it said. Since the start of the full-scale conflict with Russia, Ukraine has secured more than 100 billion dollars in foreign financial assistance. LONDON (AP) Former U.K. Conservative Party leader William Hague has been elected chancellor of Oxford University, one of the most prestigious positions in British academia, the university said Wednesday. Hague was elected in an online vote by staff and alumni of the 800-year-old university. He will replace Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, who has held the post since 2003. Hague beat contenders including former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and Elish Angiolini, the former top law officer in Scotland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The university said Hague will be inaugurated early next year and will serve a 10-year term. The chancellor is the universitys titular head and presides over key ceremonies, as well as overseeing the election of the vice-chancellor, the universitys day-to-day leader. Hague is an Oxford graduate who began his political career at the Oxford University Conservative Association. Elected Conservative leader at the age of 36 after the party lost power to Labour in 1997, he resigned after the party's thumping election defeat in 2001. Hague said being elected chancellor, a post that stretches back to the 13th century, was the greatest honor of my life. What happens at Oxford in the next decade is critical to the success of the U.K., he said in a statement. NEW YORK (AP) Bob Menendez asked a judge Wednesday to set aside guilty verdicts that forced his resignation from the U.S. Senate and grant a new bribery trial. Lawyers for the New Jersey Democrat said in papers filed in Manhattan federal court that a recent revelation by prosecutors that improper evidence was put on a computer used by jurors during deliberations means that a new trial is unavoidable. The 70-year-old Menendez was convicted in July of 16 charges, including bribery, in part based on an allegation that he accepted bribes in exchange for approving military aid to Egypt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He awaits a Jan. 29 sentencing. Menendez resigned from the Senate in August. At trial, prosecutors said Menendez accepted gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen in return for favors. Earlier this month, prosecutors revealed in a letter to Judge Sidney H. Stein that they had discovered that some factual information that the judge had ruled should be excluded from several trial exhibits was instead inadvertently loaded onto a computer used by jurors to reach their verdict. In their letter, prosecutors said incorrect versions of nine government exhibits were missing some redactions ordered by Stein to ensure that the exhibits did not violate the Constitutions Speech or Debate Clause, which protects speech relating to information shared by legislators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors argued in their letter that no action was necessary in light of the error for several reasons, including that defense lawyers did not object after they inspected documents on that laptop before it was given to jurors. They also said there was a reasonable likelihood that no jurors saw the erroneously redacted versions of the exhibits and that the documents could not have prejudiced the defendants anyway because they were of secondary relevance and cumulative with abundant properly admitted evidence. Lawyers for Menendez, though, said in their submission Wednesday that the exhibits contained the only evidence in the record tying Menendez to military aid to Egypt, an otherwise-missing fact at the very center of the central charge against him. In light of this serious breach, a new trial is unavoidable, despite all the hard work and resources that went into the first one, they wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawyers criticized the government's attempt to shift blame for the error onto them by saying they viewed the laptop's contents and approved it. That is both factually and legally outrageous, they wrote. The defense had only a few hours to review a laptop that contained nearly 3,000 exhibits; it had the right to expect that the government had not mislabeled non-introduced and constitutionally barred exhibits as admitted ones. If this were treated as a waiver, that would give parties the incentive to intentionally try to pull a fast one. By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is preparing a $725 million weapons package for Ukraine, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday, as the outgoing president seeks to bolster the government in Kyiv before leaving office in January. According to an official familiar with the plan, the Biden administration plans to provide a variety of anti-tank weapons from U.S. stocks to blunt Russia's advancing troops, including land mines, drones, Stinger missiles and ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The package is also expected to include cluster munitions, which are typically found in Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets fired by HIMARS launchers, according to the notification, seen by Reuters. The formal notification to Congress of the weapons package could come as soon as Monday, one official said. The contents and size of the package could change in the coming days ahead of Biden's expected signature. It marks a steep uptick in size from Biden's recent use of so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the U.S. to draw from current weapons stocks to help allies in an emergency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Recent PDA announcements have typically ranged from $125 million to $250 million. Biden has an estimated $4 billion to $5 billion in PDA already authorized by Congress that he is expected to use before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The United States has not exported landmines in decades, and their use is controversial because of the potential harm to civilians. Although more than 160 countries have signed a treaty banning their use, Kyiv has been asking for them since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022 and Russian forces have used them on the front lines. The landmines that would be sent to Ukraine are "non-persistent" landmines, with a power system that lasts for just a short time, leaving the devices non-lethal. This means that - unlike older landmines - they would not remain in the ground, threatening civilians indefinitely. Russian forces currently are making gains in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month, analysts and war bloggers said this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States expects Ukraine to use the mines in its own territory, though it has committed not to use them in areas populated with its own civilians. Trump on Wednesday tapped Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who presented him with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, to serve as special envoy for the conflict. Quickly winding down the Ukraine war was one of Trump's central campaign promises, though he has avoided discussing how he would do so. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Mike Stone; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) By Erin Banco and Phil Stewart NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. decision to allow Ukraine to fire American weapons deeper into Russia has not increased the risk of a nuclear attack, which is unlikely, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasingly bellicose statements, five sources familiar with U.S. intelligence told Reuters. But Russia is likely to expand a campaign of sabotage against European targets to increase pressure on the West over its support for Kyiv, said two senior officials, a lawmaker and two congressional aides briefed on the matter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A series of intelligence assessments over the past seven months have concluded nuclear escalation was unlikely to result from a decision to loosen restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S. weapons. That view has not changed following President Joe Biden's changed U.S. stance this month on weapons, said the sources, who were granted anonymity to speak freely about sensitive intelligence. "The assessments were consistent: The ATACMs werent going to change Russias nuclear calculus," said one congressional aide briefed on the intelligence, referring to American missiles with a range of up to 190 miles (306 km). Russia's launch of a new ballistic missile last week, which analysts say was meant as a warning to Washington and its European allies, has not changed that conclusion. One of the five U.S. officials said while Washington assessed that Russia would not seek to escalate with its nuclear forces, it would try to match what it views as U.S. escalation. The official said fielding the new missile was part of that effort. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. officials said the intelligence has helped guide an often divisive debate over recent months inside Biden's administration about whether Washington loosening restrictions on Ukraines use of American weapons was worth the risk of angering Putin. Officials initially resisted such a move, citing escalation concerns and uncertainty over how Putin would respond. Some of those officials, including in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department, feared lethal retaliation on U.S. military and diplomatic personnel and attacks on NATO allies. Others were specifically worried about nuclear escalation. Biden changed his mind because of North Korea's entry into the war before the U.S. presidential election, U.S. officials have said. Some officials now believe the escalation concerns, including the nuclear fears, were overblown but stress that the overall situation in Ukraine remains dangerous and that nuclear escalation is not out of the question. Russia's ability to find other covert ways of retaliating against the West remains a worry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia's hybrid response is a concern, said Angela Stent, director of Eurasian, Russian and East European studies at Georgetown University, referring to Russias sabotage in Europe. The chance of escalation was never not there. The concern now is greater. The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the intelligence assessments. REACTION AND COUNTER-REACTION Since August, when Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Moscow and Kyiv have been locked in a cycle of escalating moves and counter-moves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia has enlisted help from North Korea, which sent between 11,000 and 12,000 soldiers to help its war effort, according to the United States. The same day as Ukraine's first strike under the relaxed U.S. policy, Russia changed its nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike. Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in U.S. officials' thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. CIA Director William Burns has said there was a real risk in late 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Even so, the White House moved forward with Ukraine aid, sending billions of dollars' worth of military assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The concerns faded for some officials as Putin did not act on his threats but remained central to how many in the administration weighed decisions on how the U.S. should support Kyiv. In May, the White House allowed Ukraine to use American missiles in limited circumstances to strike across the border but not deep inside Russia, citing risk of escalation by Moscow, marginal tactical benefit and a limited supply of ATACMs. One of the intelligence assessments from early summer, drawn up at the White House's request, explained that strikes across the border from the Ukrainian city Kharkiv would have limited impact because 90% of Russian aircraft had been moved back from the border out of distance of the short-range missiles. But the assessments also noted while Putin often threatens to use nuclear weapons, Moscow is unlikely to take such a step in part because they do not provide a clear military benefit. Intelligence officials described the nuclear option as a last resort for Russia and that Putin would resort to other means of reprisal first, noting Russia was already engaged in sabotage and cyberattacks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, some officials inside the White House and Pentagon argued that allowing Kyiv to use the missiles to strike inside Russia would put Kyiv, the U.S. and American allies in unprecedented danger, provoking Putin to retaliate either through nuclear force or other deadly tactics outside the war zone. Pentagon officials worried about attacks on U.S. military bases. THE NORTH KOREA FACTOR The introduction of North Korean troops convinced the administration, particularly a group of officials at the White House and the Pentagon concerned about escalation, to allow the long-range strikes, said a senior U.S. official. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia was making battlefield gains and the North Korean troops were viewed internally as escalation by Moscow necessitating a response from Washington, the official said. Given the early intelligence assessments downplaying the risk of nuclear escalation, the nuclear fears were overstated and the decision to allow wider use of ATACMs came too late, said a senior U.S. official and a lawmaker, citing Russia's recent advances. Intelligence sources say Moscow's most robust and successful reprisal operations are likely to come through sabotage. Russian intelligence services have launched a massive international effort in Europe to intimidate countries who support Ukraine, one European diplomat said. A U.S. official added Moscow was actively looking to advance its "gray-zone" warfare against the West and that Russia has an extensive network of agents and it exploring options for using them. (Editing by Don Durfee and Rod Nickel) By Douglas Gillison and Pete Schroeder (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer finance watchdog is moving ahead with rulemaking in the final weeks of Joe Biden's Democratic administration, in a bid to advance consumer protections before President-elect Trump overhauls the agency, said three people familiar with the agency's thinking. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hopes to finalize a ban on including medical debt in credit reports, a proposal championed by Vice President Kamala Harris, and to propose restrictions on data brokers which track and collect personal data, said one of the sources who has direct knowledge of the matter. On a Nov. 8 call with reform advocacy groups, CFPB director and Biden appointee Rohit Chopra said the agency was still considering adopting more regulations, according to the other two sources with direct knowledge of the call. The sources asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive policy matters. The decision by Chopra to keep rulemaking, which Reuters is the first to report, is a blow for firms that had hoped the agency would shelve efforts to curb their businesses after Trump's Nov. 5 victory. It also defies congressional Republicans, who have called for agencies to cease rulemaking, and contrasts with the Biden administration's bank regulators who told Congress last week they will stop work until Trump takes power in January. A CFPB spokesperson said Chopra attended the call to listen to the groups' concerns but did not share his plans. "Director Chopra has not made any decisions about what the bureau may finalize before the change in administrations but we are continuing to work," said the spokesperson, adding the CFPB is an independent agency which carries out its work regardless of political cycles. The agency, which under Chopra has pursued major rules, has at least seven other pending proposals, including curbs on fees lenders charge on overdrafts and transactions declined for insufficient funds, and rules governing paycheck advances. 'DELETE CFPB' Created following the 2008 mortgage crisis to protect consumers from predatory lending, the CFPB has been repeatedly targeted by Republicans and industry groups who argue it is a politically unaccountable impediment to free enterprise. Trump has not outlined plans for the CFPB, but Democrats worry his administration and a Republican Congress will weaken the agency. On Wednesday, billionaire Elon Musk and investor Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with slashing government costs, called for the CFPB to be deleted. Ramaswamy separately said all last-minute rules merit "special scrutiny" and could be rescinded. (SOUTHERN COLORADO) Winter weather moves in late Tuesday night, Nov. 26. Heavy snow will continue to fall across the mountains, making travel difficult to nearly impossible. Portions of the Central Mountains and the San Juans are expecting several feet of snow by the time this event is done on Wednesday evening. One of the main reasons for such significant snow numbers is due to the abundant moisture in place. Our jet stream, the highway of winds floating above us, is picking up lots of moisture straight from the Pacific Ocean. The highway is taking that moisture and depositing it straight into the Rocky Mountains. What that means for the region is heavy snow up in the mountains and smaller accumulations at the lower elevations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A light rain/snow mix will start in the Denver Metro late Tuesday night; eventually, that mixture will drift further south, up over the Palmer Divide. Monument and Woodland Park will certainly see the activity first. Timing is generally expected around midnight for this first phase. Early Wednesday morning, much of the Pikes Peak region will be dealing with the bulk of this storm system. This will lead to a particularly difficult Wednesday morning commute, especially if a snow band manages to set up right over the city. A snow band is in an intense pocket (or band) of snowfall that brings greater amounts of precipitation and at a faster rate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With this system, there are still a few questions regarding temperatures; models are picking up on a tight rain/snow line which means that warmer temperatures could influence snow totals. If the precipitation doesnt transfer to snow quick enough, then lower amounts will be expected. If the cooler air wins right away, then higher end snow totals will be possible. By dinnertime on Wednesday, most of the viewing area will be done with the snow as the energy drifts further south. Light flurries will remain possible for the rest of the day on Wednesday with a clear Thanksgiving in sight. Although our holiday looks to remain mostly snow-free, be on the lookout for some very chilly temperatures. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. As holiday spending heightens, so too do reports of fraud. Before you click add to cart, experts give advice on how to keep your bank account and packages safe. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the shopping season coming up, you dont want to be taken advantage of. Thats why experts warn consumers to purchase with caution. For most people, the holiday season is a time for giving. For others, its a time to take advantage of peoples generous spirits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Travel experts urging drivers plan ahead of anticipated busy week for Thanksgiving The Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Mercyhurst University cyber expert Christopher Mansour said shoppers need to be aware of scams before making a purchase. Online purchase fraud actually makes up about 70% of the reports that we receive at BBB scam tracker, said Caitlin Driscoll, public relations director, BBB of Western Pennsylvania. Online scams are more likely to result in a monetary loss than any other category of scams. Thats because these so-called bad actors are getting better at tricking shoppers by creating more authentic phishing scams, especially on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News We used to say watch language in the email you would notice if theres a mistake, that this is fake but the generative AI and artificial intelligence back actors are leveraging that to avoid those mistakes, Mansour told us. You really have to research before you buy to know exactly who youre dealing with even if you think that it is a popular well-known retailer, Driscoll said. Its best to practice cyber hygiene. Mansour explained to try not to fall victim to urgent notifications, avoid clicking on risky links, and when you visit unfamiliar sites, use a credit card when making purchases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local business collecting Christmas donations for older veterans Gift card scams, phishing emails, delivery text messages and even charity fraud are also heightened during the holidays. Both experts agree that if it seems too good to be true it probably is. If you believe youve been scammed they say its important not to panic. You can call the FDC, you can call the law enforcement agencies that can help you you can call your bank immediately for example, Mansour added. Dont hesitate to check with the Better Business Bureau before you make a purchase from a company or website you are not familiar with to find out their rating, Driscoll said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erie City Mission passes out thousands of Thanksgiving dinners to those in need And if you believe youre smarter than these bad actors, think again. Driscoll said last year, online purchase scams were identified as one of the top riskiest scams for all ages to be targets. Learn more about how to report a scam with the BBB 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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. Elon Musk sharply criticized the F-35 stealth jet and its builder, Lockheed Martin. Musk could target the expensive program as part of his efforts to cut federal spending under Trump. Congress has historically valued the stealth fighter flown by three military branches despite its problems. Just weeks after President-elect Donald Trump tasked Elon Musk with cutting government spending, the SpaceX CEO criticized the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program: the F-35. Musk called the jet's design "shit" and derided the "idiots" making the fifth-generation stealth fighter, which is widely considered a cornerstone of US airpower. His comments suggest he could be eyeing the $2 trillion F-35 program, and possibly other fighter jets, for potential spending cuts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To do so would be an uphill battle. He would likely need to first convince Trump, who has for years repeatedly celebrated the F-35 for its high-end stealth capabilities. Then he would need to gain support within the Pentagon and Congress, which controls its funding. Elon Musk has been tasked to find ways to cut federal spending. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images DOGE could target defense spending and the extremely expensive F-35 Trump has tapped Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, charged with targeting government waste. Defense spending is a big potential target for the initiative. It is the largest discretionary spending category in the federal budget, with the Pentagon's fiscal year 2024 budget of $824.3 billion. And the Department of Defense recently failed its seventh audit in a row. The F-35 has had many problems. It suffered setbacks in development, and it continues to face cost overruns and readiness issues, with availability declining even as the program costs rise. Earlier this year, a government watchdog report found that the program will cost over $2 trillion over its lifetime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In posts on X this week, Musk sharply criticized both the stealth fighter jet and, indirectly, its manufacturer: US defense giant Lockheed Martin. He said drones can now replicate the effect of crewed aircraft on the battlefield. He also wrote that the F-35 fighter's design "was broken at the requirements level because it was required to be too many things to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes." The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program. US Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr. Some defense analysts say the combat-proven aircraft is still a vital capability in America's arsenal one that can't just be replaced by drones. The multirole fighter jet is flown by the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, with three different versions for operating off traditional runways, big-deck amphibious assault ships, and aircraft carriers. It was designed to execute air combat, ground attack, and other missions. The plane first took flight nearly 20 years ago and is expected to serve until 2088. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to Musk's comments, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said 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." They added that Lockheed looks forward "to a strong working relationship with President Trump, his team, and also with the new Congress to strengthen our national defense." A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on Musk's criticisms of the F-35 when asked about them at a Tuesday media briefing. The F-35 is a combat-proven aircraft whose sophisticated design has come with challenges. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class August Clawson Any proposed cuts to the F-35 program could face opposition in Congress from lawmakers who have historically supported it for the spending it brings to many districts in the form of factory jobs. In fact, the House's defense spending bill for the 2025 fiscal year called for more F-35s than what the Pentagon initially requested. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for information on whether it plans to reduce or end the F-35 program. How Musk could save money on the F-35 program Michael Bohnert, a licensed engineer at the RAND Corporation, told BI the F-35 fighter is "cost-competitive" with global alternatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bohnert said taking away the pilot wouldn't really change costs, and it would require multiple drones to begin to recreate the capabilities of an F-35. The ultimate costs of those platforms could end up being more expensive and, ultimately, still less capable. A better way to save money, he said, would be to improve the cost efficiency of munitions and automate maintenance. The F-35 delivers a range of capabilities that would be tough to replicate using uncrewed aircraft. US Navy/Cmdr. Darin Russell Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Augmenting F-35s with unmanned systems would be valuable, but unmanned systems are no replacement," he said. Canceling the fighter altogether "would be one of the biggest gifts imaginable for America's enemies," he said. Stacy Pettyjohn, director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security, told BI that the US can't replace crewed aircraft with drones in the near term anyway. The technology isn't advanced enough yet. She said that the Pentagon has not yet fielded fully lethal autonomous weapons "that are sophisticated and can make sense of their environments, decide what to do, and act fully on their own." "Almost all of the drones that exist today are remotely piloted or at most semi-autonomous," she said. "Developing the autonomy responsibly and then deciding that we have trust in it to send it on extremely consequential missions that is the long pole in the tent." Read the original article on Business Insider Claim: Sears' mail-order catalogs from the 1950s and 1960s offered dogs, ponies, monkeys, and other animals for purchase. Rating: Rating: True Context: Sears offered live animals through its mail-order catalogs from 1956 to 1964. However, some versions of those catalogs possibly including an alleged 1956 Sears Christmas book featured in popular TikTok videos did not include animals for sale. It's easy to find almost anything for sale on the internet now, but in the mid-20th century, consumers often turned to mail-order catalogs from department stores like Sears for their shopping needs including family pets particularly around the holidays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A series of TikTok videos posted in fall 2024 claims to show a 1956 Sears holiday catalog featuring live animals for sale via mail order. Comments on the videos are equal parts nostalgia and surprise, with posts such as, "Kids now a days will never experience the joy of looking through the toy catalog and circling the things you wanted for x-mas!" Another user wrote, "Yep. Had a neighbor who bought a monkey. It would get loose and my brother would have to climb the trees to get it!" "My parents must have torn out the pet pages. I don't remember them," someone else posted. (moretoysmorejoys on TikTok) It's true that Sears used to sell animals via mail order, based on a review of catalog archives, newspaper clippings and the book "Pets in America: A History" by historian Katherine Grier. From monkeys and donkeys to common pets like dogs, birds and fish, live pets were offered in Sears catalogs issued between 1956 and 1964. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, some versions of Sears catalogs during that era possibly including the alleged 1956 Sears Christmas book featured in the TikTok videos did not include animals for sale. (Sears Christmas books were holiday catalogs the retailer produced between 1933 and the early 2000s.) According to a 1955 article by The New York Times, Sears' 1956 spring/summer catalog was the first to feature animals: Sears Roebuck & Co. said today its 1956 spring and summer catalogue For the first time in any Sears catalogue live Mexican burros for the children are offered. The Chicago and Kansas City edition also list hamster, mynah birds and four varieties of monkeys. Of the monkeys the catalogue says, "we include collar and chain with each monkey for easier handling." (1956 Sears spring/summer catalog, courtesy christmas.musetechnical.com) By the 1960s, mail-order animals had long been a viable business, according to "Pets in America: A History." Of Sears' foray into the industry, Grier wrote: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most startling experiment in mail-order pets took place almost a half-century later, however, when Sears Roebuck and Company and Spiegel, which called itself "The Nation's Pet Shop," both offered full pet departments in their catalogs. The spring and summer 1958 Spiegel Home Shopping Book not only offered forty-six different breeds of pedigreed puppies but also raccoon cubs, descented baby skunks, mynah birds and several species of monkeys. Sears added toucans, fancy pigeons, and flying squirrels to the list. Shetland ponies and Mexican burros ("$67.50 cash. Only $13.50 down") were available for purchase on installment by both companies, just like the appliances, tools, and furniture offered elsewhere in their catalogs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ("Pets in America: A History" by Katherine C. Grier). The trend only lasted a handful of years. Beginning with Sears' 1963 fall/winter catalog, only monkeys, mynah birds and hamsters were offered no other types of pets based on the catalog archives. And by the following year, the catalog featured only pet supplies, no live animals. Why Only Some Sears Catalogs May Have Sold Animals Combing through an online archive of Sears catalogs published between 1956 and 1964, as well as editions available via the Internet Archive, Snopes found a 1956 Christmas book though its pages did not match those in the TikTok videos, nor list animals for sale. We reached out to the original poster of the footage to seek evidence to confirm the alleged catalog's authenticity. In fact, there does not appear to be any online evidence of pets for sale in Christmas books that Sears issued between 1956 and 1964. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Sears' biannual catalogs during that time catalogs the retailer issued in the spring/summer and fall/winter months included pets for sale. (1956 Sears fall/winter catalog, courtesy christmas.musetechnical.com) It's possible that some Sears catalogs in the 1950s and 1960s offered animals for sale while others didn't because they were printed in different locations. An area might have a different availability of animals or local restrictions on such sales compared with others. For example, the aforementioned clip by The New York Times said two editions of a catalog had different animals to offer, saying, "The Chicago and Kansas City edition also list hamster, mynah birds and four varieties of monkeys." The covers of the alleged 1956 Christmas book in the TikTok videos and the 1956 Christmas book we found are nearly identical. There's just one difference: They list different addresses for where they were supposedly printed. The purported book on TikTok lists 925 S. Homan Ave., Chicago, Illinois. That was the headquarters of Sears Roebuck & Co. until 1973 and where the printing plant for catalogs was located for many years, according to the National Historic Landmarks Program. Meanwhile, the version of the 1956 Christmas book available on the Internet Archive features an address of 2465 Utah Ave., Seattle, Washington a former location for Sears' mail-order operations. (The location is now the Starbucks Center, or Starbucks Coffee Company's corporate headquarters.) (1956 Sears spring/summer catalog, courtesy christmas.musetechnical.com) Snopes reached out to Transformco, Sears' parent company, for information regarding Sears' history of mail-order pets and why some catalogs in the 1950s and 1960s offered them while others didn't. We also reached out to the administrators of the online database of Sears catalogs. We will update this report if we receive responses. Sources: 1956 Sears Christmas Wishbook Catalog. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/1956-sears-christmas-wishbook-catalog. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Catalogs & Wishbooks. https://christmas.musetechnical.com/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024. Grier, Katherine C. Pets in America: A History. Harcourt, Inc, 2006. History of the Sears Catalog. http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/history.htm. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024. National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL). 6 June 2011, https://web.archive.org/web/20110606051600/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1755&ResourceType=Building. Starbucks Coffee Co. and Nitze-Stagen Complete Major Renovation: Former SODO Center Renamed. 16 Sept. 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160916161446/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/starbucks-coffee-co-and-nitze-stagen-complete-major-renovation--former-sodo-center-renamed-starbucks-center-75961282.html. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Sears Christmas Wish Book, A Holiday Tradition. http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/history_wishbook.htm. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024. "Want to Buy a Monkey? Sears, Roebuck Has 'Em." The New York Times, 28 Dec. 1955, p. 36, https://www.nytimes.com/1955/12/28/archives/want-to-buy-a-monkey-sears-roebuck-has-em.html. STRASBOURG, France, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the new team of the European Commission, led by Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, who will serve her second five-year term as president. Lawmakers voted 370 in favor, 282 against, with 36 abstentions, giving the green light to the 27-member executive team. The new Commission is set to take office on Dec. 1. As President Joe Biden's term comes to an end, social media users are falsely claiming that his administration spent billions of dollars on the construction of just a handful of electric vehicle charging stations. Multiple high-profile figures, including sitting members of Congress, have promoted the claims. The claims misrepresent funding set aside by the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, for a national network of publicly available electric vehicle chargers. Biden has set a goal of creating 500,000 such chargers by 2030. Here's a closer look at the facts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CLAIM: The Biden administration spent $7.5 billion to build eight electric vehicle charging stations. THE FACTS: That's incorrect. The $7.5 billion figure refers to the total amount allocated through the 2021 law to build a network of charging stations across the U.S., not the amount that has already been spent. There are currently 214 operational chargers in 12 states that have been funded through the law, with 24,800 projects underway across the country, according to the Federal Highway Administration. A charger, often called a charging port, provides electric power to one vehicle at a time through a connector, which is plugged into the vehicle. Stations are physical locations that can have multiple chargers. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called the claims spreading online false in a series of X posts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement $7.5B has not been spent, nor anything like that, he wrote, adding that federally funded chargers are built by individual states, not the federal government, and that most will be built in the second half of the 2020s. The total $7.5 billion in funding consists of $5 billion distributed through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, or NEVI, and $2.5 billion distributed through the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, or CFI. NEVI funds, as determined by a formula, go annually to departments of transportation in all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, from 2022 to 2026. The funds will be available until 2030. Each year, 10% of NEVI funding is set aside for states and local governments that require additional assistance. CFI provides grants to states and other localities through an application process. It funds electric vehicle charging, as well as other alternative fueling infrastructure, with a focus on underserved and disadvantaged communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Michael Rulli, a Republican from Ohio, was among multiple high-profile figures who falsely claimed this week that the entire budget has already been spent. Pete Buttigieg will leave his post as Transportation Secretary having spend $7.5 BILLION to build 8 EV charging stations, he wrote in an X post that had received approximately 62,900 likes and shares as of Wednesday. His legacy will be squandering billions on something nobody wants, while millions struggle to afford the things they need. Rulli's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. By early this year, only four states Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Hawaii had opened stations funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, The Associated Press reported in March. A Washington Post article published the next day said this amounted to just seven stations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Loren McDonald, an independent analyst tracking the electric vehicle charger buildout, told the AP that when assessing the progress that's been made it's important to understand that some states have extensive experience constructing electric vehicle charging infrastructure while others have little to none. He explained that Wisconsin, for example, had to pass a new law in order to comply with federal requirements. This is a federal program, but at the end of the day, it's completely dependent on the states, he said. And so the real criticism probably needs to be directed at the states that are moving slowly or how the program was structure. But I don't know how else you would have done it. Asked whether the federal government could do anything to help states move faster, McDonald suggested that it could have provided them with more guidance on how to manage their individual buildouts. All 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have access to two rounds of NEVI funding totaling nearly $2.4 billion, according to the Federal Highway Administration. As of Friday, 37 states have access to their third round of funding, for an additional $586 million total. The agency explained, however, that this does not represent money that has already been spent just the money that is available to fund projects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Federal Highway Administration has announced more than $1.3 billion in awards through CFI and funds set aside by NEVI with $779 million in grants currently available under both programs. This also represents money that is available for projects rather than money that has been spent. There are currently more than 203,000 publicly available charging ports across the U.S., with nearly 1,000 being turned on every week, according to the agency. This is more than double the number available in 2021. In addition to NEVI and CFI, funding sources include federal tax incentives and private investments. __ Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck. By Stephanie van den Berg THE HAGUE - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity over the alleged persecution of the Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority. Here are some facts about the ICC: WHEN WAS THE ICC SET UP AND WHY? The court was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It can prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by other actors. It has 124 member states. Its budget for 2024 was about 187 million euros ($197 million). WHAT IS THE ICC INVESTIGATING? The ICC is conducting investigations from the Palestinian territories to Ukraine and African states such as Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya to Venezuela in Latin America and Myanmar and the Philippines in Asia, according to its website. It says there have so far been 32 cases before the court, with some cases having more than one suspect. ICC judges have issued at least 59 arrest warrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HOW MANY PEOPLE HAS THE COURT CONVICTED? ICC judges have issued 11 convictions and four acquittals. Twenty-one people have been held in the ICC detention centre in The Hague and have appeared before the court and 30 people remain at large. Charges have been dropped against seven people due to their deaths. Of the 11 convictions, only six have been for the court's core crimes of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the others were for crimes such as witness tampering. The six convicted men were all African militia leaders from Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Uganda. Terms ranged from nine to 30 years in prison. The maximum possible term is life imprisonment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WHO IS ON THE COURT'S ARREST WARRANT LIST? The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is accused of being criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and using starvation as a weapon of war in the Gaza conflict. It also issued a warrant for Netanyahu's former defence chief Yoav Gallant and for Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif. The warrant for Masri lists charges of killing, rape and hostage-taking during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel that triggered the Gaza war. The Israeli leader dismissed the decision as "anti-Semitic" and said the accusations were absurd and false. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also on the list is Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. In March 2023, after the court issued the warrant, the Kremlin said the move was meaningless. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its invasion of Ukraine. WHICH COUNTRIES ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE ICC? Although the court is supported by many United Nations members and the European Union, other countries such as the United States, China and Russia are not members, arguing the ICC could be used for politically motivated prosecutions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Myanmar is not a member of the court but in 2018 and 2019 judges ruled the court had jurisdiction over alleged cross-border crimes that partially took place in neighbouring ICC-member Bangladesh, such as deportation and persecution, and said prosecutors could open a formal investigation. Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as an ICC member state in 2015. This, together with a ruling by judges, means the court can look at potential war crimes carried out by Hamas fighters in Israel and by Israelis in the Gaza Strip. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Garment worker rights group Fair Wear has joined forces with the European Outdoor Group (EOG) to improve working conditions and rights for workers in the outdoor apparel sector. The EOG represents the outdoor apparel industry in Europe and counts more than 143 businesses among its membership. As part of the partnership, Fair Wear will make its Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Academy platform available to EOG members to assist in implementing human rights due diligence across their organizations. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Designed to align with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards, the platform offers tailored learning modules, tools and guidance for improving human rights in the garment industry. HRDD Academy also will help brands prepare to comply with new legislation and regulatory frameworks such as the EUs Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which was approved by the Council of the EU in May. By partnering with EOG we hope to significantly expand the reach of our HRDD Academy and the positive impact on the working conditions in the outdoor industry, said Victoria Lauer, HRDD Academy coordinator, Fair Wear. Over the coming year, Fair Wear will work closely with EOG through in-person events and digital consultation to help its outdoor apparel industry members to improve worker rights and working conditions. This partnership is a crucial step forward for the outdoor industry in Europe, said Katy Stevens, head of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, EOG. As an industry, we are committed to ensuring our supply chains are both responsible and sustainable, and our collaboration with Fair Wear helps us achieve these goals by placing workers rights at the heart of our industry values. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with its push to improve conditions for workers, the EOG has made moves to hold its members accountable on sustainability goals as well. In January, the organization voted to make it mandatory for its members to commit to the United Nations Race to Zero initiative by the end of 2024 or face being dropped from the group. Program participants pledge to cut carbon emissions to achieve net-zero status by 2050. EOGs membership includes Arcteryx, Patagonia, ONeal and The North Face, among others. Amsterdam-based Fair Wear has partnered with a number of brands and groups in the global apparel industry, such as Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), Filippa K and Ganni. The nonprofit partnered with the Social & Labor Convergence Programwhich spun out of Cascale in Februaryto reduce audit fatigue when reporting human rights compliance by minimizing duplicative social compliance assessments. A military family in South Carolina is suing Fort Jacksons privatized housing provider after they say sewage contaminated their home, allegedly causing a life-altering bacterial infection in their 4-year-old son. Travis Wilson, a chaplain in the Army, and his wife, Jaclyn Wilson, filed a complaint Nov. 18 against Fort Jackson Housing LLC and Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management LLC in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina for negligent maintenance of upkeep of military housing, including sewage overflow and hazardous pollution, according to the complaint. The couple and their six children moved into Fort Jackson housing in South Carolina on Dec. 22, 2022. At move-in, the couple claims they were given a 7-year maintenance history that didnt accurately represent the houses conditions, specifically that the report failed to mention previous tenants complaints about sewage backflow, according to the complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shortly after the family moved in, sewage in the upstairs bathroom overflowed, according to the complaint. Jaclyn Wilson said she reported the problem to maintenance, but after workers arrived, the complaint alleges, they closed the bathroom door and told her that they would return shortly, never materializing. The sewage began leaking through the ceiling and into the kitchen below, with a putrid smell wafting through the home, the complaint states. When the workers returned at a later unspecified date, they told the family the backflow problem had been fixed, according to the complaint. However, several months later, in March 2023, the complaint states, there was a relapse in sewage leakage, with overflow again dripping through the ceiling into the kitchen below. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Five more military families sue privatized landlord alleging mold, vermin, lead paint and raw sewage The maintenance workers returned, this time removing the toilet only to leave it in the tub for several weeks, the complaint states. During this time, the couple claims workers left a sewer pipe exposed. Eventually, the family relocated to a hotel. The family returned at a later date to find the toilet still in the tub and the sewer pipe still exposed. At the time of the alleged sewage leaks, the couples 4-year-old son often played on the houses floors. In March, around the time of the second leak, the couple noticed he had become lethargic, according to the complaint. When his face began drooping, the couple became alarmed and took him to the emergency room, where they were informed that he was fighting a bacterial infection affecting his brain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doctors were so worried about the childs health that they transferred him to a hospital nearly 400 miles away in Birmingham, Alabama, according to the complaint. There is something showing in the scan, and you need to leave for Birmingham now, doctors informed the Wilson family, according to the complaint. After eight neurologists evaluated the child, they determined the boy was experiencing acute disseminated encephalitis, a rare inflammatory disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord. The doctors also informed the family that the disease is typically caused by a bacterial infection, the complaint states. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and sometimes seizures. The disease can also affect motor skills and negatively affect speech and vision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The couple claims in their complaint that the bacterial infection was caused by the sewage overflow from their military housing. They are seeking monetary damages in an amount to be proven at trial, as well as punitive damages, according to the complaint. The couple is also suing the housing organizations for the emotional distress they experienced as a result of their childs sickness. At the time of the complaints filing, the child is still dealing with symptoms of the disease. Balfour Beatty Communities, one of the largest privatized military housing companies in the United States, manages Fort Jackson Housing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The health and well-being of our residents is our top priority, a spokesperson for Balfour Beatty Communities said in an emailed statement. As this matter is the subject of litigation, we will not comment beyond saying that we think the claims are entirely without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously. Fort Jackson Housing declined to comment. The Wilson familys complaint isnt the first time Balfour Beatty Communities has come under fire for subpar military housing conditions. In December 2021, the housing contractor was ordered to pay over $65 million in fines and restitution for defrauding the U.S. military. Instead of promptly repairing housing for U.S. service members as required, BBC lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses, said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in a Justice Department release at the time. The family of Ajike Owens is calling on the state to change the Stand Your Ground law, and theyve launched a fund to help with their fight. It comes just two days after Susan Lorincz was sentenced to 25 years in prison for her death. Lorincz shot Owens in June of 2023 in their Marion County neighborhood. Initially, Lorincz was not arrested because of Floridas Stand Your Ground law. Watch: Ocala woman who shot and killed neighbor sentenced to 25 years Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Owens mother told Channel 9 she is preparing a fight for change in that law, calling it a free pass to shoot and kill without regard for human life. AJ, as her family and friends called her, was a 35-year-old mother of four young children, ages 3, 7, 9, and 12, when she was shot and killed steps away from her home in Ocala. Lorincz told police she was in fear for her life and under the states Stand Your Ground law she had a right to protect herself. Watch: Prosecutors use Susan Lorinczs own words against her, rest case It sparked yet another debate about this states controversial law. AJs family held a news conference on Wednesday to explain how a newly created fund, Standing in the Gap, will help with efforts to fight for change in the states Stand Your Ground law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the money raised will go beyond that, providing assistance to families who lose loved ones to racial violence. Lorinczs Stand Your Ground defense was dismissed when police determined Lorincz shot Owens while inside of her home, firing through a locked metal door after she called 911. Watch: Watch detectives interrogate Marion County woman accused of fatally shooting neighbor through door The two had an ongoing feud that stemmed, in part, from what neighbors described as a history of Lorincz harassing Owens children and using racial slurs. The family attorney said this is just the latest example of why the law needs to be reviewed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Owens family will have their first fundraising event for the fund during Art Basil in Miami next week. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. The Arizona Farm Bureau, the largest organization in the state advocating for the agricultural industry, recently welcomed a new president. John Boelts, a Yuma County producer of fresh vegetables, melons, grains, and forage crops, will finish the last year of Stephanie Smallhouses two-year term. Boelts told The Arizona Republic he will run for election next year. The Republic talked to Boelts about his goals and vision for the Farm Bureaus future. The co-owner of Desert Premium Farms served for the past seven years as Smallhouses first vice president and also served twice as Farm Bureau president for his county. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This interview was edited for clarity and length. What motivates you to step into this position? I'm a collaborative leader, I like to work with folks to accomplish mutually beneficial things. We have a deep bench at the Arizona Farm Bureau, a lot of great volunteer leaders from all across the state. So I'm very excited to have the opportunity to continue working with all of them to get some of these important changes to public policy and improve the opportunities for agriculture in our great state. Internally within the Farm Bureau, it's super important that agriculture works together. Some folks use groundwater, others like myself are using water from the Colorado River, and other folks in the central part of the state use SRP or CAP. How you feel about water depends on how deep you are in the stream. There are a lot of interests, my interest is to make sure that we all collaborate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outside of the Farm Bureau, there are some key efforts that we're undertaking to work on water and land issues. On groundwater issues, we need to work with the Arizona Department of Water Resources to help improve the situation like the Wilcox Basin. That's going to also take some work with the legislature to get some of the legal frameworks for water regulation improved. What are some of your biggest goals? The number one issue is that the general public doesn't always understand why or how their food is affordable and available to them on a daily basis. A big part of our work is to help them understand what our needs are on labor and water so they can understand how key it is for agriculture to have those resources, and how the public benefits from that. Once we improve that understanding, it will be blatantly obvious to folks why we need what we need. Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, fruits and nuts don't harvest themselves. It takes a lot of hard-working people. And there are people who want to come and do those jobs. We need to have a legal mechanism for those folks to be able to do that. That's key for us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similar situation with water: Why are you farming in the desert and doesn't that use a lot of water? That's probably the most important and key question that we get asked. We love having those questions because it gives us the opportunity to share with folks why it's so important to produce the crops we do in the desert. That those crops don't grow well in other places, and they're much more expensive to produce in other places. We grow them in the desert because that's the best place to grow them. I think once we lay the work with the population, then it's easier to talk to elected leaders. We also have to work with state and federal partners on public land use and state land use for ranchers and folks operating there. You have a lot of special interests who aren't very interested in folks producing food and fiber in this country, and they'd rather see forest land and state land turn back to wildlands and not have them be working lands, and the pendulum swung the other direction in the last 40 to 50 years. It's definitely time for us to swing it back in the other direction. How do you think the second Trump administration and changes in U.S. Department of Agriculture leadership will shape the opportunities and challenges for Farm Bureau members? The Farm Bureau is a nonpartisan agriculture advocacy organization. So, you know, we worked hard with the last administration just like we will work hard with the incoming administration. Each administration has different initiatives and priorities. It doesn't matter the administration. We always have some challenges and then we always have some opportunities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the first Trump administration, there was an effort underway to have the USDA house an agriculture-specific guest worker program. And we have that today under H-2A but we have to work with five to six federal agencies to bring guest workers into this country temporarily to perform tasks that no Americans are doing. And that's the existing law. We're not sure if the new Trump administration will be desirous of streamlining that process, but we sure hope so. We sure hope Congress will embrace that as well. Agriculture simply doesn't have enough people to do most any of the jobs we're trying to accomplish, whether it be growing, harvesting, packaging or trucking. What are your thoughts on the critical state of many of our groundwater basins and how Arizona agriculture can improve managing this resource? I think the message is loud and clear from these regions around the state. They want to be the masters of their destiny. And right now, we don't have any public policy that enables them. We have top-down state-level management. We must work with the Legislature and the governor to craft new legislation that provides the right tools for the job. I mean, you don't take a sledgehammer to do heart surgery. If you're using the wrong tool for the job, you're probably going to have a bad outcome. We absolutely need legislation, and it needs to be drafted by people who are involved, who are stakeholders and water users. That's not just agriculture. Homeowners and other folks have a stake in that as well. People who live in the communities, city planners. But agriculture certainly needs to have a big voice. What excites you about the future of farming and ranching in Arizona? Farming and ranching are not an easy business. They're often intensive, heavy time investments for the rate of return, but an important and necessary business for people to be in. I've watched over the last decade or so as Arizona's agricultural productivity has grown to nearly a $31 billion industry. We're an important part of Arizona's economy. People need to eat and wear clothes every day. I'm very bullish on the future. I think there are unique opportunities here in Arizona to grow businesses and have a bigger impact. I look forward to all the opportunities we will have to collaborate with people to make it so, going forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clara Migoya covers agriculture and water issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to clara.migoya@arizonarepublic.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Q&A with AZ Farm Bureau's new president on labor, water and land ST. ANNE, Ill. (WCIA) FS Grain is building a new, efficient way to loan train cars shipping grain to major markets. Instead of never-ending, straight railroad tracks, a 1.5-mile oval is being built near St. Anne. The goal is to increase accessibility and accommodate high demand. From the Farm: Fertilizer and Tariffs Cory Winstead, General Manager of FS Grain, spoke with Stu Ellis about the project, its local benefits and how it will connect Central Illinois to the rest of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Local businessman, farmer and philanthropist De Willard, who died Nov. 13 at age 93, left an outsized impact on the people around him. Born DeWalt Willard, but known as De, he founded what is now known as Willard Agri-Service, a supplier of liquid fertilizer, nutrient management and other agricultural services and products. Willard also owned commercial real estate in Frederick and several automobile businesses, including Ideal Buick-GMC. One of the best things you could do around De Willard was listen, Conrad Robert Aschenbach, a car dealer and business partner with Willard, said in an interview. That was one of the smartest things I ever did around De: Listen carefully to what he was saying, because you were going to learn something, I can promise you that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aschenbach said he considered Willard a mentor, always there with advice, encouragement and a calming demeanor. Once, facing a difficult business decision, Aschenbach said, Willard settled his worries through a combination of personal anecdotes and a knack for understanding people and understanding their needs. His stories let me know that, look, youre going to be OK, Aschenbach said. He trusted in the wisdom and experience of his mentor. Willards business career began with his passion for agriculture. He said in a 2019 documentary that he worked fields in the summertime in Poolesville starting at age 12. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I always loved the farm, Willard said in the film. Having saved money working a 25-cent-per-hour grocery store job, he purchased seed and borrowed equipment to plant corn on the family farm. To harvest his first crop, he decided to purchase a pull type John Deere 12A combine. To complete the purchase, he said, he wrote a check that he did not at that moment have the funds to cover. He gave the Leesburg Grain and Feed Company a check for $1,650 for the combine, even though he only had $1,350 in the bank. Willard then asked Helen Tatie Willard Pumphrey, his aunt, for a loan to make up the difference, which she granted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The check for the combine cleared and Willards business career was launched. I took in $1,250 from that combine in the next two weeks, so I was able to pay my aunt back pretty quick, he said in the film. And I thanked her. He launched what was then known as the Willard Chemical Company in Frederick in 1970, with a focus on the innovative technology of liquid fertilizer, according to his son Billy Willard, CEO of Willard Agri-Service. Liquid fertilizer allowed farmers to save labor and time through no-till farming, Billy said. Without plowing the soil, farmers could get all of the plant food and crop protection to the land that was required. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was just the right products and the right technology for the right time, Billy Willard said. And thats how it took off here and not only Frederick, but Montgomery County also. Willard AgriService, now with five locations, serves farms in six states. Billy Willard said the company has continued to innovate, including with HighQ, an analysis tool to help farmers improve decision-making, by following his fathers lead on focusing on the needs of customers. He said his father had De-isms for such situations. If we cant bring a product or service to the farm gate to our customer thats going to help him put additional dollars in his pocket the farmer [De] would say, Then we got no business being on this farm, Billy Willard said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People deal with people, people dont deal with companies, De said in the documentary. It taught me that personal relationships are critical to be successful. In response to a business proposition, Billy said, he remembered his dad using his turn to speak at a meeting to say, We need to do whats best for the customer. Billy said his dad was always a farmer at heart who chased his deep curiosities through being an avid reader. He never stopped looking ahead, Billy Willard said. Billy said this forward-thinking approach extended to all of Des business ventures. He was always looking for new ideas as well as investing in things for the long haul. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Philanthropy was another form of investment he enjoyed and an outlet for his curiosities, said Betsy Day, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Frederick County. Day said De was an active participant in the charity, creating three different funds: The De Willard Family Fund gives out grants based on the proceeds of the endowment fund to meet the needs of the Community Foundation. The Maryland Master Farmers Scholarship Fund, created with three others, provides scholarships to Frederick County residents pursuing degrees in agriculture-related fields. The DeWalt Willard Charitable Gift Fund allowed De maximum flexibility, according to Day, to support whatever he felt was needed in the community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were going to miss his sense of curiosity about whats going on in the community and what he can do to help, Day said. She added that he was always interested in considering how best to assist special needs or challenges in the community, so long as the requester had good answers to his questions. When you saw his name as a donor to projects, you just knew that it was a quality project because he asked all the right questions, Day said. Another trait she said she admired in De was his sense of humor. Day said that when she would say Its so good to see you to De, he would respond Its good to be seen. She laughed recalling those moments. Thats what were going to remember De for, Day said. Because it was always good to be seen and he had this wonderful sense of humor that was matched by his sense of generosity and his sense of community. SARAJEVO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A cross-border investigation spanning several years has this week dismantled a large-scale criminal network smuggling cocaine from South America into the European Union (EU). Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, said on Wednesday that a multinational law enforcement team had arrested 11 suspects on Tuesday: two in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), one in Croatia, and eight in Serbia. One of the suspects is wanted by an EU member state for past crimes, Europol said. The operation involved law enforcement agencies from BiH, Croatia, and Serbia. Seized assets included weapons, luxury vehicles, expensive watches, and over 1 million euros (1.06 million U.S. dollars) in cash. Four additional suspects from the group have already been imprisoned, while international warrants have been issued for three others. The network employed various maritime routes and tactics to traffic drugs. It was linked to a seizure of over half a ton of cocaine, worth 50 million euros, at the port of Ploce, Croatia, in March 2021. The drugs were hidden in a modified cargo container, highlighting a trend whereby traffickers target smaller EU ports. The network relied on bribing corrupt customs officers to bypass inspections. One officer was arrested during the operation. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollar) FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Mayor Lioneld Jordan is seeking reelection and Molly Rawn is attempting to dethrone him as the mayor of Fayetteville in one of the many runoff races across Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. Neither candidate was surprised the race is going to a runoff, but both are confident in their chances of winning. I feel real good, Jordan said. I think were going to win this runoff race. I really do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im optimistic, but there is still a lot of work to be done, Rawn said. Since it was announced the race was going to a runoff, both campaigns have continued to knock on doors, meet with voters and canvass leading up to the first day of early voting for the runoff election Tuesday all in an attempt to reignite their base and win over undecided voters or those that cast a ballot for Tom Terminella or Adam Fire Cat Nov. 5. Jordan, Rawn lay out platforms for Fayetteville mayor candidacy Jordan, who has held the position since 2008, said he offers stability in uncertain times, pointing to his experience as a strength. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im reliable, Jordan said. Im dependable. Rawn says her leadership style differs from Jordans, adding shes excited about that opportunity to get to give back to Fayetteville. I see a sense of urgency in our challenges, Rawn said. I think we need to act quickly, and Im not afraid of acting quickly. Im not afraid of being decisive. Im not afraid of breaking ties, and so I just think bold and decisive leadership is what people have found that I offer and what theyve gravitated toward. On Election Day, Jordan led all four candidates with 16,609 votes, which was 46.92% of the 35,395 total votes cast. Rawn finished second with 36.92% of votes, while Terminella garnered 12.39% of the vote and Cat received 3.76%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terminella and Cat will not be on the ballot in the runoff election. Early voting is available at the county clerks office at the Washington County Courthouse Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Monday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The date of the runoff election is Dec. 3. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. The FBI said on Wednesday it is investigating threats made against US President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for posts in his future administration. "The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners," the FBI said in a statement. "We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement," it added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Swatting" relates to hoaxes aimed at causing major law enforcement operations. Trump's designated White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the incidents had occurred on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Law enforcement had acted quickly to ensure the safety of those concerned, she said. "With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us," Leavitt said. Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, named as the future US ambassador to the United Nations, said a bomb threat had been made targeting her home in New York state. She was informed of the threat while driving with her husband and three-year-old son from Washington to Saratoga County. Police had reacted immediately with the highest professionalism, she said. By Will Dunham (Reuters) - The way the dinosaurs relinquished their long dominance is well known. An asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, triggering a horrific mass extinction. But the way the dinosaurs - modest creatures initially - came to supremacy is less well understood. New research that relied heavily on fossilized feces and vomit - evidence of who is eating what and who is eating whom - provides new clarity on how dinosaurs bested the competition during the Triassic Period. The study focused on a region in Poland with extensive fossils from this pivotal time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First appearing roughly 230 million years ago, dinosaurs were at first overshadowed by other animals including large crocodile relatives - both terrestrial and semi-aquatic - and various plant-eaters including elephant-sized ones related to mammals and four-legged armored reptiles. By about 200 million years ago, dinosaurs reigned, their main competitors extinct. "We approached the rise of dinosaurs in a completely novel way. We analyzed feeding evidence to deduce the ecological role of dinosaurs across their first 30 million years of evolution," said paleontologist Martin Qvarnstrom of Uppsala University in Sweden, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The earliest dinosaurs and close relatives were opportunists, eating foods including bugs, fish and insects. Subsequently, larger and more specialized dinosaur predators evolved along with herbivorous dinosaurs apparently better adapted than competitors to exploit new plants that arose when the climate became more humid. Feces fossils are called coprolites. Vomit fossils are called regurgitates. Together they are called bromalites. So why study this stuff? By examining undigested food - plants and prey - in bromalites, researchers can discern feeding patterns of various species and reconstruct an ecosystem's food webs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of bromalites were examined, primarily coprolites. "We studied over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of fossilized feces," said study senior author Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, a paleontologist and geologist at Uppsala University and the Polish Geological Institute. How can researchers tell who left the feces or vomit? Skeletal fossils and footprints showed what animals were present at a given time. And the researchers deduced who produced a given coprolite based on factors including its size and shape, the type of undigested food and the nature of the digestive systems of living relatives of these extinct animals. Take, for example, the 20-foot-long (6-meter) four-legged meat-eater Polonosuchus, a type of reptile called a rauisuchian that was related to crocs and was an apex predator alongside the early dinosaurs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We know that today's crocodiles and alligators digest food for a long time and thoroughly. In their feces, undigested bones are very rarely found. Such coprolites - large, sausage-shaped, with highly digested mass - we found in a site where bones of Polonosuchus were also found," Niedzwiedzki said. "In contrast, in sites where there were bones and tracks of predatory dinosaurs, we found coprolites containing a lot of undigested remains. Some of them are full of pieces of bones, fish remains, and there are also teeth. You can see that all this passed through the digestive tract quickly and was not digested in the crocodile way," Niedzwiedzki added. Early members of the dinosaur evolutionary lineage were omnivorous, like 7-foot-long (2-meter) Silesaurus. "The first dinosaur relative in the area, Silesaurus, was an opportunistic little thing that ate bugs, fish and plants. Some of the insects were amazingly well preserved," Qvarnstrom said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Big herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs began appearing late in the Triassic, which ended 201 million years ago. Environmental changes linked to Earth's increased volcanic activity precipitated a wider range of plants that ever-larger herbivorous dinosaurs exploited. This proliferation of big plant-eating dinosaurs encouraged the evolution of larger carnivorous dinosaurs. The large non-dinosaur meat-eaters disappeared before the start of the subsequent Jurassic Period, completing the transition to dinosaur dominion. By 200 million years ago, meat-eating dinosaurs 26 feet (8 meters) long were present, alongside plant-eating dinosaurs 33 feet (10 meters) long. Smok, a 20-foot-long (6-meter) strong-jawed carnivorous dinosaur relative, lived about 210 million years ago. Coprolites showed Smok's predilection for bone-crushing, obtaining nutritious marrow in a feeding trait associated with much later dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The coprolites of herbivorous dinosaurs offered surprises. "Another interesting and very mysterious discovery was the finding of geochemical signals in the coprolites from burnt plant remains, as well as pieces of charcoal. Did the dinosaurs eat charcoal from burnt plants? Ferns, whose remains are in coprolites, may be toxic, and the charcoal may have neutralized these toxins," Niedzwiedzki added. (Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis) CROTON, N.Y. (AP) A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a defamation lawsuit against Fox News by a former Donald Trump supporter who said he received death threats when the network aired false conspiracy theories about his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Raymond Epps, a former Marine, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent causing trouble near the Capitol that day so that it would be blamed on Trump fans. U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall in Delaware granted, without comment, Fox's motion to dismiss the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Epps was the subject of a 60 Minutes interview in 2023, shortly before filing his lawsuit. He claimed that he and his wife sold an Arizona ranch where they lived and moved because of the harassment they faced because of the reports. Epps had named Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox in April 2023 for reasons never fully explained, as being the most active promoter of the conspiracy theory. At the time, Carlson hosted Fox's most popular show. In a statement, Fox News on Wednesday cited two other defamation lawsuits against the company that were also recently dismissed. They involved former Biden administration disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz and Tony Bobulinski, one of Hunter Biden's former business partners. Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski and now Epps cases, Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment, the network said. NEW YORK Federal investigators have raided the Queens home of the Rev. Alfred Cockfield II, an influential pastor who runs a political action committee he formed to support Eric Adams 2021 run for mayor, the Daily News has learned. The Far Rockaway home of the pastor was raided about two weeks ago as part of an investigation led by the Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office, two sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. It wasnt immediately clear what investigators took from Cockfields home, and a spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace declined to discuss what prompted the raid. Cockfield didnt immediately return a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the New York Times, the raid was part of an investigation into Striving for a Better New York, a PAC that Cockfield launched in 2021 to support Adams. City Hall referred questions to Adams lawyer, Alex Spiro, who could not immediately be reached for comment. Although the Cockfield PAC was launched to support political causes aligned with Adams agenda, public disclosures show it pays Cockfield a six-figure salary. The PAC also contributed $60,000 to a charter school in Brooklyn operated by Cockfield, filings show. The PAC also paid six figures in compensation to Brianna Suggs, Adams longtime campaign fundraiser whose home was raided in November 2023 as part of the federal investigation into the mayors Turkish government connections that resulted in his recent indictment on corruption charges. Cockfield has long been close with Adams and other politicians, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who appointed the pastor to the Long Island Power Authoritys board of trustees in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More recently, Cockfield appeared with Adams outside Gracie Mansion on Sept. 26 with a group of faith leaders voicing solidarity with him in the wake of his criminal indictment. Adams has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges brought by outgoing Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. A number of Adams former top aides have also been ensnared in federal probes. The news outlet The City reported that Weihong Hu, a campaign fundraiser for Adams, hired Cockfield to help her with city government business matters as she sought to develop a hotel in Queens early in the mayors City Hall tenure. One of Hus hotels was raided by the feds last week, also in connection with an investigation led by the Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office. It isnt clear if the hotel raid is part of the same probe that prompted the search of Cockfields home. The Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office is also conducting an investigation during which they raided properties associated with Winnie Greco, a key adviser to the mayor who is close with Hu. A federal judge has ordered New York City to draft plans to hand over management of its Rikers Island jail complex to a third-party receiver after holding the city's Department of Corrections (DOC) in civil contempt for failing to meet more than a dozen requirements to improve conditions in its violence-wracked jails. In an opinion and order issued Tuesday, Chief U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Laura Taylor Swain wrote that she was "inclined to impose a receivership" after finding that violence and death inside Rikers has not improved since New York City agreed to a court-enforced reform plan in 2015. In fact, "the use of force rate and other rates of violence, self-harm, and deaths in custody are demonstrably worse," Swain wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swain found the DOC in contempt of 18 different provisions of the consent agreement. That agreement was the result of a class action lawsuit filed in 2012 by the Legal Aid Society of New York alleging rampant brutality by guards against jail detainees. In a press release, the Legal Aid Society commended the court's "historic decision" to find the DOC in contempt. "The culture of brutality on Rikers Island has resisted judicial and political reform efforts for years," the Legal Aid Society said. "As the court found, the City has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to provide the oversight necessary to ensure the safety of all individuals housed in local jails." In recent years, chronic violence, corruption, and negligence inside Rikers exploded to record levels. The crisis at Rikers has been one of the most high-profile examples of bureaucratic indifference to unconstitutional suffering in prisons and jails across the country. Losing control of Rikers would be a huge embarrassment for New York City, but it would come after years of active resistance by city officials and prison guard unions to efforts to clean up the island jail. In 2021, a New York state judge ordered a pretrial inmate released from Rikers after he presented credible video evidence that he'd been forced to perform in a "fight night" organized by gang leaders while guards watched on. A New York state senator said lawmakers touring Rikers that same year saw a man trying to kill himself. A public defender who toured the jail told The Intercept that inmates in one segregated intake unit were locked in small showers and given plastic bags to defecate into. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court-appointed monitoring team repeatedly documented widespread security lapses, failures to help inmates who were trying to commit suicide in plain view of officers, and a small guard rotation working double and triple shifts. While New York City opposes putting Rikers in receivership, in court filings it largely did not dispute the Legal Aid Society's arguments that it was in contempt of the consent agreement. Nor could it. Swain concluded that the plain facts showed the DOC had failed to mitigate daily violence, excessive force, poor conditions, and lax suicide protocols in its jails. "The record in this case makes clear that those who live and work in the jails on Rikers Island are faced with grave and immediate threats of danger, as well as actual harm, on a daily basis as a direct result of Defendants' lack of diligence, and that the remedial efforts thus far undertaken by the Court, the Monitoring Team, and the parties have not been effective to alleviate this danger," Swain wrote. Swain had previously rejected calls from the Legal Aid Society to place Rikers under federal receivership to give time for leadership shakeups at the DOC to take effect, but Swain wrote this week that she has lost confidence that the court can trust the city to work in good faith: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The last nine years also leave no doubt that continued insistence on compliance with the Court's orders by persons answerable principally to political authorities would lead only to confrontation and delay; that the current management structure and staffing are insufficient to turn the tide within a reasonable period; that Defendants have consistently fallen short of the requisite compliance with Court orders for years, at times under circumstances that suggest bad faith; and that enormous resourcesthat the City devotes to a system that is at the same time overstaffed and underservedare not being deployed effectively." Swain has ordered the court monitoring team and both parties in the lawsuit to draft memos including proposed frameworks for a third-party receivership of Rikers, along with legal arguments in favor or opposition, by January 14, 2025. The post Federal Judge Tells New York City To Brace for Takeover of Rikers After Contempt Finding appeared first on Reason.com. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A federal lawsuit has been filed against a Tennessee law that requires users wanting to access adult content to upload various forms of identification. A nonprofit known as Free Speech Coalition (FSC) filed the suit in federal court in West Tennessee Tuesday, stating Tennessees Protect Tennessee Minors Act runs afoul of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. FSC was joined by Deep Connection Technologies, Inc., JFF Publications LLC, and a Tennessee adult entertainer known as MelRose Michaels. The law was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly last session and signed by Gov. Bill Lee in June. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts It has since raised concerns from some First Amendment advocates who warn the law may have wider-reaching impact than initially expected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the law, websites in Tennessee that have one-third or more content that could be harmful to minors must verify the age of each user every 60 minutes through uploading a state ID or other methods. Those who violate the law are subject to both criminal and civil penalties, including court costs and attorneys fees and potentially 15 years imprisonment and $10,000 fines. Now, providers are in the untenable position of abiding by the Acts terms and enduring the constitutional infringement, or violating them and risking ruinous civil and criminal liability, the suit claims. The groups claim the law is vague and overbroad, which constitutes a chilling of the free speech of online content providers and the availability of certain material to those entitled and wishing to receive it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Act is riddled with vague words, phrases, and requirements, they claim in their suit. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Further, the groups claim the two largest computer operating systems, Microsoft and Apple, already include parental control features straight out of the box. Internet browsers also have parental control options, the suit claims, and parents have further options by obtaining supplementary software like Bark or NetNanny. Those supplemental software enable parents to block access to sexually explicit material on the internet, prevent minors from giving personal information to strangers via email or chat rooms, limit childrens screen time, or keep a log of their childrens online activity, the suit reads. Additionally, the groups say the 60-minute time limit exists only for the purpose of shaming the adult viewer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They ask the court to permanently block Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from enforcing the law and declare the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Supremacy Clause. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. A 24-year-old Federal Way man has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping a pregnant woman at gunpoint and taking her to Mexico. Daniel Lopez was arraigned Tuesday after he was indicted in federal court. Lopez is accused of abducting the woman from her Auburn home in October. Court documents state her husband reported her missing the next day. He told police that his wife had been alone at their apartment when a 17-year-old friend of his was supposed to drop off $2,000 that he borrowed. When the husband returned home, the front door was open, and his wife was gone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office, two people told police they saw the woman leaving with two men, and one of them had a gun. Police later identified him as Lopez, thanks to surveillance footage in the area. With help from the FBI, authorities tracked Lopez to Houston, Texas, and arrested him. The woman told law enforcement that she and the teen were taken from the apartment by gunpoint and driven to Tijuana. When Mexican immigration authorities found her, they transported her to Guatemala where she has family members, according to court documents. The 17-year-old is still missing. The Auburn Police Department, the FBI, and the DEA are continuing to investigate his exact whereabouts. A trial for Lopez is tentatively set for Feb. 3, 2025. He faces up to life in federal prison if convicted. AT&T customers are being urged to stay cautious as thieves are using cellular data to track and steal deliveries, particularly iPhones. Police report a nationwide surge in package thefts by organized criminal groups targeting FedEx shipments of new AT&T iPhones, sometimes resulting in violence. "Criminal actors obtain cell phone tracking and delivery location information before the deliveries, providing competing organized theft groups the opportunity to intercept the delivery and steal cell phones from delivery personnel or consumers," according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by ABC News. "Violent encounters with criminal actors are escalating as subjects use various tactics, techniques, and procedures to obtain the devices." VIDEO: Thieves targeting iPhone deliveries this holiday season (ABCNews.com) There has been a minimum of 77 reported incidents of theft in Northern Virginia alone, highlighting a troubling trend in the area, according to local authorities. In addition, the New York Police Department said it is investigating at least 55 similar theft cases, warranting close attention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This surge is not isolated, as similar incidents have emerged across various states, indicating a broader, more widespread issue that may require a coordinated response from law enforcement agencies nationwide. "We work with law enforcement agencies and parcel carriers to protect our deliveries from these sophisticated criminals," AT&T said in a statement. MORE: Black Friday 2024: Shop top deals from Amazon, Hulu, Saatva and more To elude law enforcement, the thieves have adopted the guise of delivery personnel, according to authorities. They cleverly utilize DoorDash bags and don Amazon or construction vests to blend seamlessly with legitimate couriers. Alarmingly, they often strike just moments after packages are left on doorsteps, snatching them away before anyone notices, police warn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Chicago, a man and woman duo were caught on video stealing packages along Damen Avenue in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood last week. Cameras have captured three different thefts and appear to involve the same people, according to ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago. The video shows a woman walking to the front door and dancing on the walkway. She then grabs a package from the porch and runs to a waiting car parked across the street. The homeowner is alerted to the delivery and shouts at the thief, but it's too late, according to WLS. In another video obtained by WLS, a man grabs a package with one arm, then picks up another package on the front steps before returning to a similar gray vehicle used in a previous theft. Both women said they filed reports with the Chicago Police Department and hope somebody recognizes the man and woman in the videos. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They've got the same M.O. They come up, cigarette hanging out of their mouth, both of them. It looks like a husband-and-wife duo, like a Bonnie and Clyde," a victim told WLS. "They're just going over to these people's houses. They don't even know what's in these packages; so, I'm not sure what they're doing with them. Are they selling them or what?" Investigators are trying to understand how criminals identify and target specific houses. "We have rigorous safety and security programs in place and regularly remind our team members of the importance of both personal and package safety," FedEx said in a statement. FedEx deliveries of AT&T iPhones targeted in nationwide theft ring originally appeared on abcnews.go.com MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis remains a distant prospect as the battlefield situation continues to escalate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on Tuesday. "Judging by what is happening on the battlefield, we are still far from a political and diplomatic resolution of the crisis. Washington and its allies remain fixated on achieving a strategic defeat for Russia," Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian government's official newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Lavrov described recent missile strikes on Russian territory as an "escalatory move," adding that Moscow's warnings about responding proportionately to such actions had been ignored. "No escalation on the part of the enemy will force us to retreat from achieving the goals. As President (Vladimir) Putin has said, we are prepared for any turn of events but always prefer to resolve disputes through peaceful means," he said. Federal authorities have arrested an Arizona man after he allegedly posted videos online threatening to kill President-elect Donald Trump and his family. In the videos, posted on Facebook in recent months, Manuel Tamayo-Torres issued an array of bizarre and outlandish claims about Trump, but he also apparently brandished an AR 15-style rifle and other weapons in the videos, and in August he recorded his trip to an arena in Glendale, Arizona, as Trump was holding a campaign rally there, according to charging documents filed in the case. While the charging documents only refer to Trump as "Individual 1," they say Tamayo-Torres made "vague yet direct threats" against "the president-elect," and sources familiar with the investigation separately confirmed Tamayo-Torres' alleged threats targeted Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Due to security concerns, Trump likely won't golf again until after election: Sources "[Y]ou're gonna die," Tamayo-Torres allegedly said in a video he posted on Thursday. "[Y]our son's gonna die. Your whole family is going to die. ... I'm going to put a hole in your face." The clip was one of "numerous" rambling and curse-laden videos he's posted "on a near-daily basis" in recent months claiming that "Individual 1" kidnapped and sex-trafficked his children, according to the charging documents. It's unclear if Tamayo-Torres actually has children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier in November, Tamayo-Torres allegedly posted a video threatening "Individual 1" while holding up "what appears to be a white AR 15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine inserted into it," charging documents said. In another video, according to the charging documents, Tamayo-Torres said he witnessed "Individual 1" and the Secret Service kidnap his daughter. The video was posted Aug. 23 from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where Trump was holding a campaign rally that day. PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Rome, Ga., March 9, 2024. (Mike Stewart/AP, FILE) During the rally, Trump noted that he was "nearly assassinated" a month earlier, when a Pennsylvania man, Thomas Crooks, opened fire on him with an AR 15-style rifle during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Authorities have yet to identify a clear motive in that attack. Trump told rallygoers there are "risks incurred by leaders who stand up to the corrupt political establishment." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "When you stand up, you bring on some trouble for yourself, but you have to do what's right," Trump said. While investigating the more recent alleged threats from Tamayo-Torres, an officer from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force found photos on Facebook that showed Tamayo-Torres holding a bullpup-style shotgun, a rifle, and the AR15-style rifle seen in one of his videos, according to charging documents. Tamayo-Torres was arrested Monday near San Diego, where he anticipated moving soon, court records indicate. MORE: 911 calls from Trump assassination attempt in Butler County released Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though he was arrested in California, the charges against him were filed in Arizona. He was charged with one count of making threats against a president or president's successor. He was also charged with four counts of making false statements during the purchase of a firearm, after he allegedly lied on federal forms a year ago while trying to buy a pistol from a Phoenix gun store. He swore on those forms that he had not been previously convicted of a felony, but he had been convicted of assault in 2003 in San Diego, so he was legally prohibited from possessing firearms, the charging documents said. As of Tuesday evening, court records did not list an attorney representing Tamayo-Torres. Feds arrest Arizona man who allegedly threatened to kill Trump, visited campaign rally in August originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Dallas influencer who took her business feud wayyy too far just got some more bad news about what shell have to do to pay for her crimes. A federal judge sentenced 35-year-old Ashley Grayson to 10 years in federal prison for the 2022 murder-for-hire plot. Prosecutors said Grayson was an internet business influencer who gained popularity around her online courses she built. However, in 2021, she had a fallout with another woman who ran a similar business based out of Southaven, Miss. Grayson suspected the woman was trolling her and contacted an old associate to help handle the problem. Prosecutors say in September of 2022, Grayson flew the associate out to Dallas to discuss a business opportunity. In that discussion, she offered a $20,000 bounty for the killing of the Mississippi businesswoman, another woman who gave Graysons business negative press and also her ex-boyfriend. She also offered another $5,000 to expedite the killing of the rival businesswoman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scheme was busted when the associate faked the murder attempt and swindled Grayson out of another $10,000. However, the associate was never planning on carrying out the killing. They took the money and sent a recording of Grayson promising to pay for the murder to the police. In July of 2023, both Grayson and her husband, Joshua, were charged of one count of use of interstate facility in commission of murder-for-hire. Joshua was acquitted but Grayson was found guilty, per the Justice Department. Shes now set to spend the next 10 years behind bars in federal prison. This murder-for-hire plot underscores the strength of joint federal law enforcement efforts to ensure the safety of the citizens in our community, said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office, Memphis Resident Agency. This sentence demonstrates the commitment of the FBI and our partners to investigate violent crimes and root out those who seek to prey on the public. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WKRN) A felon is back behind bars for the third time this year for his connection to a shooting at an Antioch carwash that injured an innocent bystander, police said. The incident took place on Friday, Nov. 22 at Dirty Car car wash in the 500 block of Bell Road, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). Witnesses at the car wash reportedly told officers that two men exchanged gunfire before they both fled the scene in their vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS | MNPD: 1 injured in shooting along Bell Road MNPD said detectives reviewed surveillance video from the car wash and observed 41-year-old Ladon Ervin exit his Jeep Grand Cherokee and confront another man. The video reportedly captured Ervin punch the man, pull out a handgun and fired at the ground toward the mans feet. According to police, thats when the other man is then seen pulling out a handgun, resulting in both him and Ervin firing shots at each other. Detectives said they are still working to identify the second gunman. After fleeing the car wash, Ervin reportedly drove himself to Southern Hills Medical Center to be treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. At the hospital, officers recovered a handgun and ammunition from his vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, a man who was approximately one quarter mile from the car wash was struck in the ear by shrapnel as he was walking on the sidewalk outside Extreme Cuts Barber Shop in the 400 block of Bell Road, authorities reported. MNPD seeks 2 for questioning in connection with Antioch murder He allegedly told police that he heard a loud bang and realized that he had a graze wound to the ear. Detectives added they found a projectile fragment in the immediate vicinity from where the man was standing. Police reported Ervin was released from the hospital on Tuesday, Nov. 26. He was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and felon in possession of a weapon. Records show the 41-year-old is being held in Metro Jail on a $190,000 bond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to MNPD, this marks the third time Ervin has been arrested this year. He was previously arrested in July and charged with aggravated assault for his involvement in an April altercation at TNTs Billiards Bar & Grill on Bell Road. | READ MORE | Latest headlines from Nashville and Davidson County During the April incident, security at TNTs reportedly refused to let him in the building because he did not have an ID. Ervin was later released for that incident on a $50,000 bond; however, police said he was released on a $14,000 bond prior to that for a February arrest for DUI and felon in possession of a weapon. The police department added that Ervin is a registered ex-con for several weapon and drug offenses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Just a few months ago, the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services (or IDS) sent out a memo to attorneys informing them of the potential for a statewide funding shortfall. The organization connects people who need a public defender with private attorneys outside the public defenders office. Weve always relied on a healthy roster of lawyers to take those clients cases on, and that list has been dwindling, said Mecklenburg County Chief Public Defender, Kevin Tully. Tully says ten years ago, they had roughly 115 lawyers on the general misdemeanor list to take on cases his department couldnt handle. That list now only has 11 attorneys on it. He says the pay at $65 an hour and delay in payments is deterring attorneys from signing up. Man shot and killed in northeast Charlotte, no suspects yet: CMPD Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This last July bar exam, we received only one application, Tully told Queen City News. So, the rate of lawyers, new lawyers, willing to sign up is not keeping up with the loss of lawyers, he said. There is some promise; Last week, the North Carolina General Assembly approved a bill dedicating $8.2 million in the budget to be used for timely payments to private assigned attorneys. IDS was asking for $12 million, but its Executive Director tells Queen City News the funding will be tremendously helpful and is a recognition of the need. Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area >> Latest stories here That need has increased. A quarterly financial report by IDS, cites the uptick of murder cases during the pandemic now coming to trial as a reason for higher demand for public defenders. The lack of resources hurts. It hurts both sides, Tully 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. Nov. 27STERLING Sterling could gain some much-needed additional housing in 2025 at no cost to the city. The Sterling Industrial Development Commission met with city officials and Tyler Tarlton, Lou Pignatelli Sr. and Lou Pignatelli Jr. of Tarlton & Pignatelli LLC on Tuesday to discuss the company's interest in developing eight duplexes on vacant properties across Sterling. Tarlton said the developments would be completely paid for using private funding. Tarlton is a real estate developer who moved to Rock Falls from Houston. He said he had been working with the Pignatellis to bring the project to the city of Rock Falls for about a year before deciding to move it to Sterling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There's a tremendous need for housing here," Pignatelli Sr. said. "This is a small but significant step toward the right direction. We're ready to move quickly. It's an opportunity where we can bring a lot of things together to make this a very attractive, comfortable development for families in Sterling." The SIDC approved a motion to recommend the sale of vacant properties in the 200 block of West Seventh Street to T&P for $1. If all goes according to plan, Tarlton said construction on the first four duplexes would begin at this location in December, with an expected completion date of next summer. The SIDC tabled a motion to approve a recommendation to sell properties in the 900 block of First Avenue to T&P for redevelopment, as the city is currently in talks with another developer for those sites. The city is giving that developer time to gather information but will reassess the situation in early 2025, as the city cannot hold the property for one developer over another without a right of first refusal agreement. However, that did not deter T&P from trying to secure a location for its second set of duplexes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We looked at something in the area of Lynn Boulevard and 16th Avenue that would suffice," Tarlton said. However, those properties were not on Tuesday's agenda and will have to wait for a future meeting. Tarlton and the Pignatellis are not looking to become long-term landlords from the project. Tenants will have the option to purchase or rent to own the pre-fabricated properties. "That gives somebody the opportunity to still achieve the American dream," Sterling Alderman Jim Wise said. "If you're literally talking of having eight units up by this time next year, that's quite a step in the right direction of providing workforce housing, which is greatly needed in this area." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sterling City Manager Scott Schumard agreed. "We need housing on every level," Schumard said. "They're eager to get going right away. Part of this was done because we didn't have anybody filling in those gaps, and right now we have somebody interested in filling in the gap." The city has been looking for a way to deal with its aging housing stock, and Mayor Diana Merdian urged other developers to follow T&P's lead. "I encourage developers to view Sterling as an inviting destination for their projects encompassing commercial, retail, residential and other developments," Merdian said. "I appreciate the efforts of the city staff in fostering growth and building strong relationships with external developers." All parties plan to meet again at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3. AKRON, Ohio (WJW) The Akron Fire Department responded to a house fire with people trapped early Tuesday morning. Crews arrived to 965 Hancock Avenue to find heavy smoke and flames visible from the front window of the homes ground floor. 9 indicted in illegal bar scheme across Northeast Ohio According to a press release, neighbors informed first responders that an elderly female was still inside the residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Firefighters rescued the woman through a rear window. She was taken to a hospital for evaluation. I-Team: Attorney who sued Deshaun Watson, Sean Diddy Combs, now being sued on allegations of extortion There is no word on her condition. The American Red Cross was called to assist the displaced residents, which included three adults and three children. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) The Oklahoma Fire Department says crews responded to an overnight house fire in northwest Oklahoma City, rescuing one person and a cat. Fire officials arrived on scene just before 1 a.m. near Northwest 23rd and Western with a visible small fire on the front corner of the home. One person and a cat were rescued without injury. Thanksgiving travel kicks off in Oklahoma OKCFD respond to vacant home fire in NW OKC, Image courtesy KFOR No word on the cause of the fire. Authorities confirm this is not the first time fire officials have been called to the vacant home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (WHTM) There is good and bad when it comes to social media, but a recent online challenge going around is just downright dangerous. Theres a trend going on right now where folks on Tik Tok and other social media platforms are being encouraged to either draw pictures on a mirror or on some sort of a surface with isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol is more commonly known. And then light it on fire, said Brett Graham, the Deputy Fire Chief of the Lower Paxton fire department. The other thing that folks are doing is actually pouring the isopropyl alcohol on themselves or on their clothing and lighting it on fire in hopes that it burns out or burns into the shape that theyve created before it actually burns their skin. Close Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now abc27 Evening Newsletter An 11 and 14-year-old from Erie recently attempted this so-called challenge and ended up in the hospital with second- and third-degree burns just last week. Those kids ended up in the intensive care burn unit on a ventilator with, you know, third degree burns across most of their body, Graham added. So absolutely devastating. And their life will you know, their lives will not be the same again. While Graham doesnt understand the psychology to social media challenges like this, I think theres people on social media that maybe subscribe to the idea that, you know, we can see how far we can get people to do things. You know, we put an idea out there and see how far it goes. And unfortunately, when were younger and were less mature, we dont think of the consequences of our actions. So, we make choices that arent always, you know, in our best interest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Graham warns kids, Just because you see something on social media doesnt mean that its a good idea. And for parents, he adds, this might be a good time to monitor what your kids may be looking at 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 ABC27. UPDATE: The cemeterys owner, Jeff Roberts, said Wednesday that the number of affected headstones was closer to 170, about 50 more than were known the day before. He said crews had worked to get 27 of them back upright by 1 p.m. Wednesday. We will continue working the remainder of the workday today and will dedicate resources again on Friday and every business day until the job is complete. We are reaching out to families whose monuments need replacing to let them know. We regret that this situation occurred and feel for the families who are affected, Roberts said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier coverage is below: ***** MEMPHIS, Tenn. More than 120 headstones at a Memphis cemetery were knocked over by freshly fired employees, the cemetery owner says. WREG counted about 125 overturned headstones at New Park Cemetery off Horn Lake Road as Memphis Police investigated the scene Monday evening. The damage potentially totals tens of thousands of dollars. The cemeterys owner says hes taking all the steps he can to get things fixed as soon as possible. The cemeterys owner told police that three employees were fired Monday afternoon but clearly they werent going quietly. The owner claims the employees got into a company work truck without permission and drove recklessly through the historic cemetery, knocking over the headstones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A police report says that at one point, the Owner got into his personal vehicle in an attempt to catch all three suspects. He was able to recover the cemeterys work truck, and signed a refusal to prosecute. Family members claim cemetery moved loved ones remains We spoke to the owner about the situation. He asked not to be shown on camera, but said he hates it happened and is taking steps to make repairs. As to why he chose not to prosecute, he said he was concerned they could do more damage in the moment. But that decision is subject to change. He said his team is going through and figuring out how many headstones were damaged. The team had a meeting Tuesday morning to figure out how to contact the affected families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also said hes made calls to a company to let them know they might need more headstones for those that have been damaged, as well as to a temp agency to let them know they will need help to get the affected headstones up again. Hes hopeful it can be done by Christmas. 74-year-old faces 6-hour ordeal on MATA buses As for why those three employees were fired in the first place, the owner declined to say why. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) More than 120 headstones at a Tennessee cemetery were overturned by freshly fired employees, according to the cemeterys owner. Nexstars WREG counted about 125 overturned headstones at the historic New Park Cemetery in Memphis as police investigated the scene Monday evening. The damage potentially totals tens of thousands of dollars. The owner, who asked not to be identified on camera, said hes taking all the steps he can to get things fixed as soon as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told police that three employees were fired Monday afternoon, and after they were let go, they got into a company work truck without permission and drove recklessly through the cemetery, knocking over the headstones. A police report states that at one point, the owner got into his personal vehicle in an attempt to catch all three suspects. He was able to recover the cemeterys work truck, and signed a refusal to prosecute. Worlds oldest man has died in England at 112 The owner told WREG that he hates it happened and is taking steps to make repairs. As to why he chose not to prosecute, he said he was concerned they could do more damage in the moment. But that decision is subject to change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said his team met Tuesday morning to figure out how to contact the affected families. The owner also said he contacted a company to let them know they might need more headstones to replace the damaged ones. He reached out to a temp agency as well for help getting the affected headstones up again. Hes hopeful it can be done by Christmas. As for why those three employees were fired in the first place, the owner declined to elaborate. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. This story has been updated with new information. JACKSON, Tenn. Police in Jackson say four adults and a 2-year-old child were found shot inside a vehicle Tuesday afternoon. The 2-year-old later died from injuries after the shooting, police reported the next day. One person is in custody. Police are still investigating and asking for tips. Jackson Police responded to a shots fired call on Wallace Road just before 4. They found the victims inside an SUV. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The five victims were taken to a nearby hospital, and some were airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, police said. Fired employees blamed for 120 overturned headstones at Memphis cemetery Police used surveillance video to identify the suspect vehicle as a white sedan. They asked anyone with information to call the Jackson Police Department at 731-425-8400 or Crime Stoppers at 731-424-8477. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. President-elect Donald Trump has nearly completed his nominations for Cabinet and key government roles in his next administration but the battle is hardly over. On Tuesday evening, he nominated Jay Bhattacharya, a physician who during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic argued against lockdown measures, to be director of the National Institutes of Health. This comes after Trump nominated Marty Makary, who once said that only 20 percent of Americans needed to receive a Covid-19 vaccine for the US to reach herd immunity, to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Trump also nominated Glen Weldon, a former Florida congressman who had promoted the debunked theory that a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines causes autism, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Trumps nominees will now need to be confirmed by the Senate, which Republicans control with a 53-seat majority. Trump got a reality check last week when Matt Gaetz, the embattled former Republican congressman, pulled his nomination for attorney general after it became clear he would face Senate opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his presidency, Joe Biden had to grapple with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the conservative Democrats-turned-independents, when he wanted to pass anything. Now Trump may face his own bloc of opposition within his party. Here are the Republican senators who could be a roadblock to Trumps agenda. Senator Susan Collins of Maine will hold immense power as the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the Trump presidency. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Susan Collins Maine Democrats may loathe the Maine Republican for frequently insisting during Trumps first term that she was very concerned about his actions, and for voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh whom she later claimed misled her on his desire to overturn Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court in 2018. But Collins has occasionally shown opposition to Trump. She opposed the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020 and voted to convict the president-elect after his actions on January 6. This time around, she clearly had reservations about Gaetz becoming attorney general. As chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, she works with Democrats to write the budget. Collins hails from a state with ranked-choice voting so she does not have to fear a challenge from the right. A pro-choice moderate Republican who often wins Democratic voters, Senator Lisa Murkowski will likely frequently clash with Trump. (Getty Images for JDRF) Lisa Murkowski Alaska No Republican senator seems more annoyed at having to answer questions about Trump and his right-wing shenanigans than Murkowski. Like Collins, she voted to convict Trump in 2021, supported Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination and opposed the Republican repeal of Obamacare in 2017. Last week, she told The Independent she wanted to know more about Robert F Kennedys stance on vaccines and autism. Murkowski is not up for re-election until 2028, and Alaska recently voted to keep ranked-choice voting, which insulates her from a MAGA primary challenge. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (center) will likely break with Trump on topics like the war in Ukraine while John Curtis, to his right, will likely make breaks on Trumps nominations. (Getty Images) John Curtis Utah Curtis will succeed Mitt Romney and in many ways, is a natural successor to him. Like Romney, Curtis is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, a group thats historically expressed skepticism of Trump, despite the fact they remain rock-ribbed Republicans. As a congressman, Curtis founded the Conservative Climate Caucus, and would occasionally vote with Democrats, such as when he voted for the Respect for Marriage Act. But hes often voted in step with the rest of his party, even opposing the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Romney brokered. Mitch McConnell Kentucky Now this might surprise some people. The longtime Senate majority leader is in many ways responsible for Trumps two presidencies, from blocking Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016 to voting to acquit Trump after January 6. But now that he will no longer lead the Republican conference, he is more free to strike out on his own. In addition to his criticism of some of Trumps nominees, he will be chairman of the influential Senate Rules Committee and lead the Appropriations Subcommittee for defense spending. McConnell will likely use the latter perch to defend what he wants to be his legacy item: supporting Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin. At 82, he is unlikely to run again. Thom Tillis-North Carolina Of all the senators on this list, Tillis is the most endandgered. He hails from the swingiest of swing states and has always survived in tight races. During the Biden presidency, he brokered deals on everything from codifying protections for same-sex and interacially married couples to infrastructure to guns. He seemed less than enthused about voting to confirm Matt Gaetz, saying his nomination would lead to a popcorn-eating confirmation. Thats made him a target for some on the MAGA right, and he will likely face a primary challenger when he is up for re-election in 2026. He could easily be in a tough race against a strong Democratic challenger such as outgoing Governor Roy Cooper. This article was amended on 28 November 2024. It originally stated that Marty Makary is Donald Trumps nominee for surgeon general, but that was incorrect. He is Trumps nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration. It was supposed to be treasury day at Mar-a-Lago, or so President-elect Donald Trumps team thought. As top aides last Thursday scurried about and continued the work of building out an administration from Trumps West Palm Beach residence, there was at least some expectation that morning that the next major announcement would be a pick for treasury secretary. Then everything changed. Ill be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General, now-former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz posted on social media. Trumps DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gaetz withdrew as it became clear that sexual misconduct allegations and a related House Ethics Committee investigation were going to make nearly impossible for him to get confirmed as the nation's top law enforcement official. He will not be returning to Congress. Trumps team didnt flinch and quickly found another attorney general pick who had two traits held by both Gaetz and an increasing number of early administration staff and appointees: loyalty to Trump and strong Florida bona fides. Just six hours after Gaetz withdrew his name, Trump announced he had picked former two-term Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a staunch Trump ally who helped him spread baseless claims the 2020 election was stolen. Two Floridians separately tapped to serve in the important role of attorney general is a snapshot of how the early days of Trumps second go-around in the White House will be heavily influenced by staff and political appointees from his adopted home state, as well as elevating some of the states most prominent lobbyists. Its a direct reflection of how Floridas role on the national political stage has been reoriented in recent election cycles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once the nations largest swing state, Florida is now stocked with Trump allies and a comfortable home turf for Republicans. Its a state Trump won by more than 10 percentage points, up from his three-point win in 2020. Florida became a government in exile for Trump world, said Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power, of Trump making Mar-a-Lago central to his post-White House political life. Mix that with the conservative successes we have had in Florida, and the fact the state has a very deep Republican bench on the federal level, its no surprise it has become the epicenter. For Trump, Bondi's pick was a no-brainer. It made sense from the first moment Gaetz withdrew, said a Trump ally familiar with the process. Trump has liked her going back to 2016, and I think they were always going to find a place for her in the administration. This just opened that door. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It happened so quickly because it made so much sense, the person added. Bondis swift selection was also an indication of how Trump views the role of attorney general, especially as he prepares a flurry of Day 1 executive actions, many of which are expected to face legal challenges. You need an Attorney General on Day 1 to be able to executive your plan, a Trump official said. That might not be the case for all Cabinet departments, but that is the case here. At least five Floridians have been tapped by Trump for prominent jobs, including including Gaetz and Bondi, Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, Florida Rep. Mike Walz for national security adviser, and former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida has a huge talent pool, so none of this surprises me, said Florida-based lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who raised money for Trumps campaign and himself was announced as a managing director at Washington-based lobbying shop BGR Group after Trump won. I am kind of surprised other states are not pushing back harder, but they just are not. But that kind of makes sense to a degree, Iarossi added of the state Trump won easily. Trump is not trying to just reward states who helped him politically, but find people who are loyal to him and philosophically aligned. Hes trying to get things done. Some of Trump's top White House aides are also Floridians. His chief of staff will be Susie Wiles, a longtime Florida operative who led Trumps first two campaigns in that state, and James Blair, a longtime Wiles deputy, who was tapped to serve as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs. Its the continuation of a Florida-flavored presidential campaign that was led by Wiles, featured Blair as its political director, Florida-based pollster Tony Fabrizio served as a top pollster and longtime Florida GOP operatives Brian Hughes, Danielle Alvarez and Alex Garcia in various senior level advisory roles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The common thread through them all, for the most part, is Wiles. She has long been one of Trumps top advisers, serving as his Florida campaign co-chair during his first two races, and co-chair of the national campaign during his 2024 run. Much of the Florida influence, beyond the fact that Trump himself lives in the state and has personally gotten involved in its politics, was driven by her, as she hired trusted deputies and past associates to fill out the campaign, and now the early days of the administration. Susie brings with her a Florida approach without question, said Brian Ballard, a Florida-based lobbyist and Trump fundraiser. She is a national player, but clearly has major Florida roots and connections. The many people from Florida you see going to the administration, are in no small part because of her. Ballards firm, Ballard Partners, previously counted among its lobbyists both Wiles and Bondi, who joined the firm after she was term-limited out of her post as Florida attorney general. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, after Trumps election victory, Continental, a Miami-based lobbying firm led by Carols Trujillo, who served as ambassador to the Organization of American States during Trumps first administration, opened its first Washington office. That office will be led by Katie Wiles, the daughter of the presidents new chief of staff. Its not just those guys, a longtime Florida lobbyist told NBC News. You can see it in several areas, as more and more Florida heavyweights join Trump world, its going to have a positive impact on Florida lobbyists, even those who may not have a traditional DC footprint. Its the way of the world, the person added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com House Republican candidate and Florida state Sen. Randy Fine (R) said Tuesday that progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) should consider leaving Congress if he is elected. The Hebrew Hammer is coming, Fine, who is Jewish, wrote in a post on the social platform X. [Rashida Tlaib] and [Ilhan Omar] might consider leaving before I get there. Fine included the hashtag BombsAway. The firebrand candidates comments were made in a repost of the Republican Jewish Coalitions endorsement of Fine for Floridas 6th Congressional District. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American member of Congress, and Omar have been vocally supportive of Palestinians throughout the Israel-Hamas war following the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Both lawmakers are Muslim. Fine is known for his staunch pro-Israel views and has faced backlash for a series of inflammatory remarks regarding the war. When a Turkish American activist was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank earlier this year, Fine wrote in a post on X: Throw rocks, get shot. One less Muslim terrorist. Fire Away. In 2019, Fine referred to a Jewish constituent who defended a forum titled Palestine/Israel, Opening the Dialogue as Judenrat, a term referring to Jews who collaborated with Nazis during the Holocaust. The comments were made on Facebook, according to the Jerusalem Post and the Orlando Sentinel. Fine launched his bid for the states 6th District on Tuesday. The seat is currently held by Rep. Mike Waltz (R), who will leave the House to serve as President-elect Trumps national security adviser. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump called on Fine to run for the seat Monday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. FLORISSANT, Mo. In early November, Missouri experienced record-breaking rainfall, with the City of Florissant battling over 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. Citizens are dealing with what they say are repeat problemssewage backups. With the massive number of water-damaged properties stacking up across the area, Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery held a Sewer Backup Support and Resource Fair Tuesday night in attempts to help his constituents. When my residents have an issue, thats my issue, and so really these people are hurting, and were a very large city, 52,000 people, but I got a good portion of my city that really are hurting and need resources, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Impassioned citizens packed City Hall to speak with representatives from the City Engineering Division, Community Development, and the Metropolitan Sewer District Tuesday night. Hanifah Saalik is a Florissant resident whose property has dealt with massive backup flooding. They just would not compensate me; everyone else on my street was compensated except me, so Ive been frustrated. When this happened again now, like this time, we thought we were coming to a town hall meeting, and thats not what this is; this is like a sales pitch, Saalik said. Residents voiced frustration about miscommunication, alleged gaslighting, and blatant neglect from their provider. MSD was also present to gather feedback and educate the public on their options. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Community mourning death of teen killed by stray bullet The sewer system is getting overwhelmed with more water than it was ever designed to handle, and a lot of it because of issues on private property. We do have programsif the backup was caused by an issue with the public service system or if it was just too much water, but were seeing a lot of people who are separated from the sewer system and still have issues. Unfortunately, those are not related to infrastructure, and it becomes a private property issue at that time, Bess Mccoy, an MSD ProjectClear spokesperson, said. Florissants Sewer Lateral Insurance Program covers repairs from the main sewer line to 5 feet from a homes foundation, excluding landscaping, decks, and structures. But it applies only to single-family homes and small multi-family units. Saalik commented, I just want to make sure that they do the right thing. Florissant needs to do the right thing, and MSD needs to do the right thing by the people that stay in Florissant. Were gonna get more rain; you know people have to have a place to stay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We spoke to multiple citizens who said they are absolutely fed up and some are even ready to file lawsuits, but Mayor Lowery reiterates that this is not a city government issue; these problems allegedly fall under MSDs umbrella. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for a new mission, a rotorcraft lander designed to explore Saturn's moon Titan. The new mission, codenamed Dragonfly, will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing search for the building blocks of life, NASA said on Monday. The contract, with value of approximately 256.6 million U.S. dollars, includes launch services and other mission related costs, according to NASA. 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. 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, according to NASA. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says fluoride should be removed from drinking water, but experts say the naturally occurring mineral is safe and improves oral health Getty Earlier this month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, under false claims, that fluoride is harmful and that President-elect Donald Trump and his administration will remove fluoride from drinking water. Trump has since tapped Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after previously saying that he would let the anti-vaccine activist do whatever he wants with government health agencies after hes sworn in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although it is not yet known what policies are to come, Kennedy has claimed on X, formerly Twitter, that fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease. Science does not support these claims. Heres everything to know about fluoride and whether its dangerous. What is fluoride, and is it safe? Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in water, soil, rocks, plants and air. It is safe when consumed in suitable amounts and is widely considered one of the biggest public health breakthroughs of the 20th century, as it strengthens teeth and prevents cavities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since 1945, it has been added to local water supplies in the U.S. to help improve oral health in a cost-effective and equitable way. When communities use fluoride in their drinking water, it benefits the children who live there, especially those who lack access to dental care. In a statement shared in October, the American Dental Association said that they, along with other major health organizations "continue to endorse community water fluoridation at optimal levels to help prevent tooth decay." "Even in an era with widespread availability of fluoride from various sources, other studies show that community water fluoridation prevents at least 25% of tooth decay in children and adults throughout their life span." Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., the president of the American Dental Association, said. "The scientific weight of sound evidence around the benefit of community water fluoridation is clear and compelling." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 72.3% of the U.S. population in 2022 received fluoride in their community water supply. While water fluoridation is not mandatory, the CDC recommends fluoride concentration in drinking water of 0.7 milligrams per liter. Images by Fabio / Getty Images Pure water has a neutral pH, although drinking water may be slightly acidic or basic, depending on dissolved mineral content and other trace chemicals. Are there any health risks from consuming fluoride? Fluoride is safe and effective when used properly, but can be hazardous at high doses, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In August, the National Toxicology Program published a review of research about the association between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition. Researchers concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams per liter are associated with lower IQ in children. However, that is twice the amount of fluoride that U.S. health officials recommend in community water supplies, and experts note that the data is based on studies outside the country. Other studies that link fluoride exposure to health effects like arthritis, thyroid disease and more were also conducted outside the U.S. and involved levels well above the U.S. recommendations. The World Health Organization also found that at higher levels, fluoride can cause negative effects like tooth enamel and skeletal fluorosis following prolonged exposure to high concentrations. Skeletal fluorosis is a rare but serious condition that causes joint pain and stiffness and bone weakness. Experts emphasize that it is very difficult and unlikely to reach dangerous fluoride levels in water or over-the-counter products such as toothpaste. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, the CDC says health experts "have not found convincing scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with any potential adverse health effect or systemic disorder such as an increased risk for cancer, Down syndrome, heart disease, osteoporosis and bone fracture, immune disorders, low intelligence, renal disorders, Alzheimer disease, or allergic reactions." What will happen if fluoride is removed from water in the U.S.? If community water fluoridation is ended in the U.S., the biggest and most immediate impact will be seen in an increase in dental cavities, especially among children. Water fluoridation is often referred to as a public health miracle because it helps so many across all socioeconomic groups avoid the devastating effects of dental disease, Dr. Athanasios Zavras, professor of Public Health and Community Service at Tufts University School of Medicine and chair of the schools Department of Public Health and Community Service, told Health. Groups that consume high levels of carbohydrates will bear the burden of such increase disproportionately, Zavras added. Normally, this time of year, the Worcester County Food Banks freezer is stocked with turkeys. But for the first time in its 42-year history, the Bank, one of four in the Commonwealth, has instead distributed more than 8,000 supermarket gift certificates. Some food pantry partners dont have storage capacity, said Food Bank CEO Jean McMurray. Some clients dont like turkey. And by not distributing frozen turkeys that frees-up space in our cooler and freezer. The food bank stocked that extra space with seasonal vegetables, including squash, yams and cranberries. But none of those items remained in the cooler for very long. McMurray said its gotten to the point that no sooner does food come in, than it goes out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overall, weve seen an increase in need of 29% more people this year than last year, she said -- an increase the Food Bank cant fully cover. As it is, the facility distributes food sufficient for thousands of families every day. Not only is the need growing, but the demographic requiring assistance is changing, too. McMurray said even prosperous communities, such as Westborough, have hungry people -- some of them long-time residents barely scraping by. Their (property) taxes could be increasing, they live on a fixed income if theyre retired, she said. Theyre struggling. These people are our neighbors. They might live next door, around the corner. They could even be members of our own families. And theyre often ashamed and reluctant to turn to a food pantry for help. McMurray said shes spoken to clients in tears who expressed they never thought they would be in such a position. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the cold, rainy Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Jeremiahs Inn, a food pantry in Worcester, has run into a problem. Like all pantries in the area, it is supplied by the Food Bank -- but that supply is not infinite. I had to close early today, said Erin Birdie Quaiel, nutrition center coordinator. I had to close four hours early. Im seeing people not just from Worcester, but all over Worcester County. The reason for the early closure: pantry shelves that are virtually bare -- save for some canned peas and canned pumpkin. Its to the point where theres just not enough capacity and not enough money and not enough food out in the system, Quaiel said. Were all getting really desperate right now. And our community is desperate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quaiel said the number of families seeking food assistance at Jeremiahs Inn has increased threefold since the fall of 2023, to 1,300. In the time shes been working there, Quaiel said produce distribution has increased 527%. And as you can see, I have nothing to offer for produce today, she said. Thats just how desperate the need is. As Quaiel spoke, would-be clients knocked on the locked door. Even though the pantry was closed, she answered. Its really hard to have to look mothers in the face who are trying to feed their kids and tell them sorry, I dont have anything to offer you -- you have to go somewhere else, she said. Its heartbreaking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But is hunger in Massachusetts inevitable? Some statistics suggest that may be the case -- especially the impossible cost of housing. But McMurray believes its a problem that can be fixed using a systemic approach. Massachusetts took one step in that direction by raising the minimum wage, she said. McMurray is also enthusiastic about a new, multi-agency partnership to end hunger in the state called Make Hunger History (makehungerhistoryma.org). It brings together more than 350 organizations committed to solving food insecurity. We do believe hunger is a solvable problem here in Massachusetts, she said. Were not saying its easy. But its solvable. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Preparing Thanksgiving dinner requires significant time and effort, so its crucial to ensure the family meal isnt compromised by food contamination. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have launched investigations into several food items following illness outbreaks and concerns about potential contamination. Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, here are the recalled food products that everyone should be aware of. Some Brands Have Recalled Organic Carrots Canva The FDA has announced a voluntary recall of organic carrots from Grimmway Farms in California following an investigation into an E. coli outbreak. The recall covers multiple sizes and brands of both whole and baby organic carrots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The affected organic whole carrots were sold from August 14 through October 23, 2024, under various brands, including 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Marketside, Natures Promise, O Organics, Presidents Choice, Simple Truth, Trader Joes, Wegmans, and Wholesome Pantry. Organic Carrots: Which Companies Are Recalled? Canva The recalled organic baby carrots, with specific best-if-used-by dates between September 11 and November 12, 2024, were sold under brands such as 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Grimmway Farms, Kroger, LIDL, Marketside, Natures Promise, O Organics, Presidents Choice, Raleys, Simple Truth, Sprouts, Trader Joes, Wegmans, and Wholesome Pantry. The recall for organic whole carrots has also been expanded to include additional bag sizes, including Bunny Luv 50-pound bags, Cal-Organic 15-pound and 50-pound bags, and Good & Gather 1-pound bags. While the FDA noted these products are likely no longer available for sale in stores, they may still be found in consumers homes. More Companies That Have Pulled Organic Carrots From The Shelves Canva Other companies that sourced organic carrots from Grimmway Farms are also initiating their own recalls in response to the E. coli outbreak. These companies are pulling affected products from shelves to ensure consumer safety, further expanding the scope of the recall. Customers who purchased these products should check the specific brands and packaging details to verify if they are impacted by the recall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers and should not eat recalled bagged organic whole or baby carrots," the FDA wrote in the notice, per Fox. "If you have these products in your home, do not eat or use them, throw them away, and clean and sanitize surfaces they touched," the agency recommended. "If you purchased organic whole or baby carrots and stored them without the original packaging and dont know what brand they are, you should not eat them and should throw them away." Ground Beef Canva Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wolverine Packing Co., based in Detroit, Michigan, has recalled ground beef products due to potential E. coli contamination. The USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall on November 20, involving nearly 168,000 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated. The affected fresh ground beef products have a use by date of November 14, 2024, while the frozen products have a production date of October 22, 2024. These products were primarily shipped to restaurants across the country, and the FSIS has expressed concern that the contaminated meat may still be present in consumers refrigerators or freezers. "Restaurants are urged not to serve these products," the agency stated in the recall announcement. "These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase." Ready-to-Eat Meat Canva Yu Shang Food, Inc., based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has recalled nearly 73,000 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products due to potential listeria contamination. The recall was reissued by the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on November 21. The recall includes all RTE products that are still within their shelf life and were produced before October 28, 2024. Consumers are advised to check any affected products for safety, particularly those that may still be within their expiration dates. ST. LOUIS Rain moves into the region this afternoon into this evening before ending before midnight. Rain may briefly mix with some wet snow along I-70 in southern Illinois, but no accumulation is expected. The roads will be wet for the afternoon and evening drives. Temperatures will be in the 40s today and drop into the 20s to low-30s overnight tonight after the rain exits. Even colder air will follow the Wednesday rain for Thanksgiving and Friday, with daytime temperatures in the 30s to lower 40s and overnight lows in the teens and 20s. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snow is likely Saturday with a clipper system that will drop across the region. This snow looks to be light in most areas, but there is a chance for an hour or two where snowfall rates may increase in a very narrow band near the Missouri River. Accumulations are expected to range from as little as a dusting to upwards of 2 inches. This will create some minor to moderate travel impacts for a couple hours as temperatures are forecast to be cold enough for the snow to stick. The current timing would be sometime from noon to 6 p.m. That timing could change. Temperatures this weekend will be quite cold, in the 20s to lower 30s. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Waco, Tx (FOX 44) A former Catholic priest who served in the Central Texas area and who is in jail charged with sexual assault was denied a bond reduction in a Tuesday hearing. In light of the denial, the bond for Anthony Odiong will remain at $5.5 million. Odiong is currently in the McLennan County Jail on three grand jury indictments of sexual assault and one pending potential indictment of possession of child pornography after being extradited from Ave Maria, Florida following his arrest on July 16, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In March of this year, an investigation began into Anthony Odiong after police said what they felt was a credible report was filed for a possible sexual assault in 2012. This investigation has since identified nine survivors of Anthony Odiongs possible abuse. Additionally investigators say two positive identifications to offspring have been made with additional offspring possibly yet to be confirmed. Police say an investigation into potential financial crimes has also begun. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon police said that during the bond hearing prosecuting attorneys presented laboratory DNA evidence showing Anthony Odiong with a certainty of >99.99% as the biological father of offspring created as a direct result of alleged sexual assault Anthony Odiong committed against a known survivor. Anthony Odiong served as a Catholic priest at St. Peters Catholic Student Center in Waco, Texas, as well as St. Marys of the Assumption in West, Texas, from 2007 to 2012. Investigators say they also know that Anthony Odiong served in Luling, Louisiana from around 2015 to 2023. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. CHICAGO Danny Soliss testimony in Michael Madigans corruption trial continued into day three on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said Madigan and his top aide ran a criminal conspiracy to enrich themselves. The government said they took official actions to benefit Private developers in exchange for bribes or other favors. Secret video recordings were played in court on Tuesday, showing that Madigan wasnt shy about seeking out new business when it came to his private law firm, asking then Alderman Danny Solis, six years ago, to help him make contact with the New York developer of the old Chicago Post Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines One guy you mentioned who Im trying to get a connection to is Skydell, Madigan could be heard saying on the recording. Madigan made his intentions clear, with FBI mole Danny Solis secretly recording his 2018 request. Jurors saw the smiling Madigan on video, unable to disguise his eagerness to reach Harry Skydellm the powerful New York developer of the $600-million Old Post office renovation. Solis responded that Alderman Ed Burke and his private law firm failed in their bid to do Skydells tax appeal work. Burke was convicted on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges, with Soliss cooperation helping the Feds bring Burke down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a 200-to-300 million dollar project, Danny Solis told Michael McClain in a secretly recorded conversation. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Solis testified at Chicagos Federal Courthouse regarding a 2017 conversation with Michael McClain over a potential Chinatown development. But its not going to happen, Solis said. Unless the city can first acquire the land. The private conversation at Chicago City Hall was secretly videotaped by Solis, who was wearing a wire for the FBI. McClain was sent to Solis by Michael Madigan recommending a consultant to broker the Chinatown land deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She has relationships with both the governor and Mike (Madigan) through me. But we need to keep that confidential, McClain told Solis. But the less said about the Speaker the better. Because itll get shut down. The fear was that Madigans nemesis Governor Bruce Raune would kill the land swap if he knew the Illinois Speaker of the House had anything to gain. Cook County Chief Judge says Lacramioara Beldies death should not have occurred Another secret recording captured Madigan and Solis with a separate group of Chinatown developers who were looking to rezone and build a major real estate project. Jurors in the corruption trial saw and heard Madigans partner with his private law firm pitching a proposal to do the developers tax work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was an example that prosecutors alleged in a 23-count racketeering and bribery indictment that Madigan and McClain ran their private and political operations like a criminal enterprise. The blockbuster trial is now in its sixth week of testimony. Direct questioning of Solis, the former chairman of Chicagos powerful Zoning Committee, is still underway by prosecutors. It is not clear when defense lawyers will begin what is expected to be days worth of cross-examination. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. A former Duluth youth pastor has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting multiple young girls during his time at the church. Jackson Michael Gatlin, 36, was sentenced to 156 months in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to five counts of criminal sexual conduct on Nov. 6. He must also register as a sex offender. Charges had been filed against Gatlin in early 2023 after multiple women came forward saying they had been sexually assaulted by him when they were children, the youngest being 12 at the time of the abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gatlin worked as a youth pastor at Duluth's Vineyard Church, where his parents, Michael and Brenda Gatlin, were senior pastors from approximately 2006 until his suspension and termination in 2023. St. Louis County Jail One of the earliest recorded sexual abuse cases dated back to 2007, when the victim was 16. She says he brought her to his home and assaulted her. She managed to escape and call her mom, and when her mother brought this incident up to Brenda Gatlin, she allegedly responded by saying: "We know your daughter has issues," and hung up the phone. The Vineyard Church has since released a statement regarding the Gatlins, saying that after investigation, they found "extensive abuse" by both Jackson and his parents, including sexual misconduct, cover-ups, "abuse of pastoral or spiritual power," and emotional abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We want to say to all survivors of abuse that we hear you and believe you. It is never your fault," the church's statement read. "You are not alone. We are praying for you, and we call our community to a time of prayer and lament." While Jackson serves time behind bars, civil lawsuits have also been filed against him and his parents, Duluth Vineyard and Vineyard USA. This was an exploitation of innocence and faith that will have a lifelong impact for many women in this community," Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Mike Ryan said. "While no sentence could undo that impact, this story has now been punctuated by the strength and resilience of the women who did not rest until Jackson Gatlin was brought to justice. WASHINGTON A former FBI informant who is charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Bidens family has been indicted in a new case on federal tax charges. The tax indictment against Alexander Smirnov was unsealed this week in California federal court, months after his arrest on charges that he fabricated a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company. The indictment brought by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss charges Smirnov with tax evasion and filing false tax returns, accusing him of concealing millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smirnovs attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in an email Tuesday that their client intends to vigorously fight these allegations with the same intensity as he has fought the original indictment. Smirnovs trial was recently pushed to Jan. 8 in the case charging him with lying about the Biden family. Smirnov has denied the allegations in that case. Prosecutors have alleged that he falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016. Smirnov told his handler that an executive claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems, according to court documents. Prosecutors say Smirnov in fact had only routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he expressed bias against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate. Hunter Biden is scheduled to be sentenced next month in two separate criminal cases accusing him of a scheme to avoid at least $1.4 million in taxes and lying on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018. Ryan Straw appeared in an ad endorsing Republican Daniel Cameron for governor in 2023. (Screenshot) A former top Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police official and lobbyist who played a prominent role in passing a sweeping anti-crime bill in the Kentucky legislature this year is reportedly under investigation over missing funds from a local FOP lodge in Louisville. WDRB reported Wednesday that correspondence received by the Louisville TV station showed the state FOPs general counsel telling members that former Kentucky FOP vice president Ryan Straw resigned this month from his position after members of an investment club he started were unable to recover money theyd given to Straw. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Straw, according to the state FOPs general counsel, is also the subject of a claim that he withdrew $49,000 from a local Louisville FOP lodge leaving it nearly broke, per the TV stations reporting. A spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed to the Lantern that police took a report last week and that an open investigation was passed over to the FBI. An email sent to a spokesperson for the FBI office in Louisville was not immediately returned. Attempts on Wednesday afternoon to reach Straw at a phone number and email listed for him were not immediately successful. Straw played a notable role as a lobbyist for the FOP in advocating for the successful passage in this years legislative session of House Bill 5, known as the Safer Kentucky Act, an omnibus anti-crime bill that was touted by most Republicans but criticized by stakeholders across the political spectrum. Straw was compensated $14,000 by the Kentucky FOP for his lobbying efforts in this years legislative session, according to Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission records. Correction: This story previously misstated the amount of funds that Straw received for lobbying in this years legislative session. WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has tapped Jamieson Greer, a trade lawyer, to be the next U.S. trade representative, completing the selection of his economic team. "Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the country's massive trade deficit, defending American manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and opening up export markets everywhere," Trump said in a statement on his own social media platform Truth Social. Greer, currently a partner at the law firm King & Spalding, served as the chief of staff to the former U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer. Also on Tuesday, Trump selected Kevin Hassett, a longtime adviser and a fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, to lead the National Economic Council. The position does not require Senate approval. From 2017 to 2019, Hassett served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a three-person panel that reviews economic data. "Kevin played a crucial role in helping to design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017," Trump said in another statement. Hassett returned to the White House in 2020 to serve as Trump's senior advisor. Trump also chose Vince Haley, who served as a speechwriter and adviser during his first term and on the campaign trail, to lead the Domestic Policy Council. The position does not require Senate approval. Trump's economic team has taken shape. Last week, he tapped hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be the next treasury secretary. He selected Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, to be commerce secretary. The trade representative, treasury secretary, and commerce secretary are all Cabinet-level positions that require Senate confirmation. MERIDEN, Conn. (WTNH) A woman who worked as a climate specialist at a Meriden middle school has been charged after allegedly exchanging inappropriate text messages with a student, according to police. Tamara Johnson, 37, turned herself in last week after being contacted by police. She has been charged with risk of injury to a minor/impairing the morals of a minor. She has been released on a $25,000 surety bond. Johnson exchanged what police describe as inappropriate text messages with a Lincoln Middle School student. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a job description from Meriden Public Schools, a climate specialist works to create positive school environments. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) The owners of a now-shuttered Surfside Beach dispensary purchased large amounts of marijuana from other states before repackaging it for sale as legal South Carolina products, newly filed court documents allege. In October, the town council voted unanimously to revoke Delta Dispensarys business license following the arrests of Jason and Sabrena Papotto on two charges each of distribution of marijuana and distribution of marijuana in proximity to a school or park. Surfside police said the arrests culminated a three-month investigation focusing on the sale of unregulated and untested substances that were presented as hemp. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SBPD-forfeiture-detailsDownload Jason Papotto defended himself in front of Surfside Beachs town council during an Oct. 10 hearing where his business license was revoked. These folks know the character of our family, Jason said. Were not out here to hurt nobody. We have the least shady store in this whole town. Thats the truth about it. Asset forfeiture documents filed Thursday in Horry County Common Pleas Court provide more detail about what authorities say happened over the course of that probe. On July 12, a plainclothes Surfside Beach detective posed as a customer and requested $40 worth of flowers from Jason Papotto, who pulled them from a vacuum-sealed bag before weighing them out and packaging them for sale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The substance was then sent to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division lab for testing, which revealed the product contained 19.4% THC far above the states legal limit of .3% THC. A Myrtle Beach police dog intercepted a package containing 3.2 pounds of marijuana headed to the Highway 17 dispensary, according to court documents. On July 31 and Aug. 27, the detective again posed as a customer to buy products, which both tested over the legal limit. In all, officers seized: 16 brown tinted jars containing marijuana 11 glass jars containing 146 pre-rolled marijuana joints 41 vacuum-sealed bags containing 9.4 pounds of marijuana along with certificates of analysis forms that showed the THC levels ranged from the high teens to the low thirties 25 individual boxes containing pre-rolled marijuana blunts $12,403 in cash thousands of baggies, smoking devices, digital scales and packaging materials Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two weeks after revoking the Papottos license, town leaders approved a six-month ban on new vape, cannabis and tobacco stores. * * * 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. ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) The Winnebago County Public Safety Building in downtown Rockford will undergo a $32 million redevelopment to modernize the underused facility, which had been previously considered for demolition. The Winnebago County Board elected to repurpose the Public Safety Building in December 2021, which previously housed the Rockford Police Department, Winnebago County Sheriffs Office, the Winnebago County Jail, and other offices of county governance. The jail has remained unused since 2007, when it and the Sheriffs Office were moved to the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center, at 650 West State Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rockford Police Department moved into three district headquarters, now located at 1045 W. State Street, 557 S. Newtowne Drive, and 1410 Broadway. On Wednesday, the Board announced an award of contract to Ringland Johnson Construction to transform the 200,000-square-foot structure at 420 West State Street. Officials in the past have said the cost to maintain the building was roughly $1.6 million a year. Funding for the project will come from nearly $24 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, and the remainder covered by the Countys Capital Improvement Plan budget. The Board said the building will undergo mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades, a complete renovation of the first and second floors to house the new Family Court Center, and have its third and fourth floors made ready a state-of-the-art police training facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The creation of centralized family courts and the relocation of the Domestic Violence Assistance Center, along with supervised childrens waiting areas and the Jury Assembly, will significantly improve the justice system experience for many citizens in our community, said Hon. John S. Lowry, Chief Circuit Judge, 17th Judicial Circuit. Ringland Johnson was chosen for the development after a request for proposals was made in April 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. Nov. 26Former Spokesman-Review executive editor and University of Idaho media ethics professor Steven Smith admitted in a court hearing Tuesday to sexually exploiting minors and possessing child pornography. Smith, 74, kept his eyes trained on the floor as he entered the courtroom. He shuffled his feet as if shackled, but he was not. He occasionally smiled as he whispered to his attorney, but he did not peer out into the gallery, which contained only a victim-witness advocate, detectives, a friend of his ex-wife and detectives who investigated the case. Smith, who taught journalism at the University of Idaho from 2010 -20 and was the executive editor at The Spokesman-Review from 2002 -08, was originally charged with 11 counts of first-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct when he was arrested in July 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He pleaded guilty Tuesday to the amended charges of one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of possession of child pornography possession. Smith was linked to the crimes last year from a CashApp account registered in his name. He was using the account to send money to 10-, 11- and 14-year-old girls in exchange for naked photos and videos of themselves, court records say. Investigators wrote in their reports that some of the images found on his devices were of 5-year-old girls being assaulted by men. Spokane County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Emily Sullivan said in the hearing Tuesday that prosecutors were working closely with federal agents and attorneys because child exploitation cases often cross state lines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Smith is sentenced to 10 years or more, "the federal interests will be met," she said. As part of the agreement, Smith will also have to pay $1,000 for every image of a child he had in his possession and will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison, presumably at age 84. Offered a chance to make a statement, Smith demurred and instead allowed the judge to use the investigator's statement of facts to serve the purpose. He answered Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren assertively and finished by saying, "I appreciate the opportunity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I plead guilty to all charges," Smith said after the judge read through the documents. He kept his eyes aimed at the floor as he exited the courtroom in handcuffs. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. Dmytro Kuleba, the former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, has warned against hopes for peace between Russia and Ukraine due to the future efforts of US President-elect Donald Trump and stressed that the Kremlin regime continues to pursue its original goals. Source: Kuleba in an interview with Politico; European Pravda reports Quote: "Putin still believes he can snuff out Ukrainian statehood and crush Ukraine as an independent democracy, and he thinks hes one step away from exposing the West as weak... Ukraine is a personal obsession for Putin, but crushing Ukraine is also a means to accomplish his grand goal to show to the world how the West is incapable of defending itself or what it stands for." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Kuleba stressed that the Russian ruler is not really interested in genuine negotiations. Kuleba said that he sees no chance of success for Trump's plans to quickly end the war, as Putin now hopes to exhaust the West and eventually get his way. The former Ukrainian foreign minister said that he has no idea how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could agree to "peace" with the demands that Moscow will definitely make. "The Russians keep the Donbas, they keep Crimea, no NATO membership. Can Zelenskyy sign? He cannot because of the Constitution. And because it will be the end of Zelenskyy politically," he said. He also stressed that if Trump starts forcing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia by radically limiting military aid, the situation could deteriorate catastrophically. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The front line in the Donbas will collapse and the Russians will be at the gates of Dnipro, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia. That will be the most dangerous moment for Ukraine in this war," he said. Kuleba noted that it is also important to know how the European partners will act and to what extent they will be able to cover the shortage of American weapons. He regretted that the West as a whole still lacks awareness of the importance of the consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine and a clear understanding of its own goals. "You cannot win a war where Russia clearly knows what its strategic goal is in every detail; [where] Ukraine knows what its strategic goal is in every detail; but [where] the West, without whom Ukraine cannot win, does not know what it is fighting for. This is the real tragedy of this war," Kuleba said. Background: Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants to end the war between Russia and Ukraine "in 24 hours." But as far as is known, he has not had any specific plans to implement this. At the same time, media reports suggest that the idea of freezing the frontline on the current contact line with the demilitarised zone and a 20-year moratorium on Ukraine's accession to NATO are among the proposals. In the first days after the US presidential election, Zelenskyy stressed that the idea of any concessions to Russia was unacceptable for Ukraine and would be "suicide for the whole of Europe". Later, he estimated that the war would "end faster" under Trump. Support UP or become our patron! (WFRV) The former Washington County school resource officer convicted of bestiality in September was sentenced in court today. District Attorney Eric Toney announced today that Steven Rosales, a former School Resource Officer with the Kewaskum Police Department, was sentenced on three Class H felony counts of bestiality. The charges come from Rosales reportedly sending text messages to someone claiming he had sexual relations with a dog. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scam warning: Impersonator posing as Waupaca County deputy The court imposed a sentence of two years of initial confinement and three years of extended supervision for each count, to be served concurrently with one another but consecutive to any other sentences. A press release from Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney states that Rosales was convicted on three counts of bestiality. Click here to read the original story from Local Five. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) Forsyth County officials are pursuing misdemeanor charges against two men tied to the so-called Pfafftown Compound after months of missed deadlines to clean up the property. The compound, located on Pfaff Lane, has been a source of frustration for neighbors, who describe it as an eyesore and embarrassment. Despite a cleanup order issued in July, progress has been slow with two county-imposed deadlines passing without the property being cleared. The county has now drafted criminal summonses for Edwin Blankenship, who lives on the property, and his brother Christopher Blankenship, who owns the deed and lives next door. Officials say the case will now move to the courts unless the property is cleaned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve reached the point where a judge must make that determination unless they finish the work that needs to be done here before they are standing before that judge in district court, said Minor Barnette, director of Forsyth Countys Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection. Neighbors say the situation has disrupted their lives and brought unwanted attention to the area, especially with family visiting during the holidays. Its unacceptable! Someone needs to be held accountable for it! This has been going on for a very long time, and theres still not any progress on it! said Glenn Nandelstadt, who lives near the property. Edwin Blankenship acknowledged he missed the deadlines but argued he has made efforts to address the countys concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They gave me a certain time, and I didnt make that time. Thats short, cut and dry. But progress has been made, so I dont know why they wouldnt say, Lets give him another week, Blankenship said. However, neighbors are skeptical. You let it get that bad, and youre still not being accountable for yourself! Nandelstadt said. Be a man! Take care of your property! What youre doing there is wrong, and you know it! The county plans to present the criminal summonses to a magistrate by Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP. NEW YORK (AP) Using fossilized feces and vomit samples from Poland, scientists have reconstructed how dinosaurs came to dominate the Earth millions of years ago. Researchers aren't sure whether dinosaurs' rise over the course of 30 million years happened because of luck, skill, climate or some combination. But they came away knowing this: It was not a sudden thing, said study co-author Martin Qvarnstrom from Uppsala University. The new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, analyzed hundreds of dino droppings to reconstruct who was eating whom 200 million years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first dinosaurs were go-getters, Qvarnstrom said, eating whatever they could including insects, fish and plants. When climate conditions changed, they were quick to adapt. Plant-eating dinosaurs, for example, ate a greater variety of greens than other vegetarians of the time, so it was easier to expand their palates when wetter conditions gave rise to new plant species. Since the studys findings were limited to Polish fossils, Qvarnstrom said hed like to see if their ideas hold steady against fossil records from around the world. It's not uncommon for scientists to study ancient fecal matter to understand creatures of the past, said Emma Dunne, a paleobiologist at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. But fossilized feces can resemble blobs or chunks of rock, and they are not always found near fossils of the animal that made them which makes it hard for scientists to know where they came from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this study, researchers found fish scales, insect bits and bone shards nestled within the droppings. They are a really unassuming, quite plain part of the background, said Dunne, who was not involved with the new research. But they hold so much delicate, fine information. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. A New York judge tossed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov by Tony Bobulinski, while also ordering the GOPs Biden impeachment witness to pay Tarlovs legal fees, Mediaite reported. The comment in question occurred during a March 20 episode of The Five, in which Tarlov, the shows resident liberal co-host, said, Tony Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump Super PAC. Thats as recent as January. After receiving a notice from Bobulinskis attorney threatening legal action, Tarlov cleared things up the next day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I would like to clarify a comment I made yesterday during our discussion of Tony Bobulinskis appearance at the congressional hearing. During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing, I said that Mr. Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January, Tarlov said. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees and he denies that they were. Yet that statement, according to Bobulinskis lawyer, was insufficient, as he followed up with another request for a complete retraction and apology. Fox replied by saying that Tarlovs correction was accurate, and that they wouldnt be making another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bobulinski then sued Tarlov for $30 million. In dismissing the case, Judge J. Paul Oetken wrote that Bobulinski didnt show that Tarlovs initial comment had damaged his reputation as a businessman. The New York Court of Appeals has held that, for a statement to qualify as defamation per se under the professional conduct exception, the statement must specifically reference conduct that is incompatible with a persons profession, rather than a more general reflection upon the plaintiffs character or qualities, he wrote. Noting that New Yorks anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to prevent frivolous lawsuits that chill free speech, applies, Oetken approved Tarlovs request for her attorneys fees to be paid for by Bobulinski. Fox News, in a statement to the Daily Beast, praised the judges ruling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FOX News is pleased with the courts landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantinos meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marked the first federal court decision to award attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP statute, a network spokesperson said. Bobulinski, who pushed unproven claims during House Republicans fruitless impeachment effort of President Joe Biden, is a former business associate of the Biden family. By Laman Ismayilova The 10th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is being held in the Portuguese city of Cascais under the theme "United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future". Themed "United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future", this year's forum marks 20th anniversary of the Alliance of Civilizations. High-Level Meeting of the UNAOC Ministerial Group of Friends has been organized within the forum. Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli addressed the event themed "20 Years of Dialogue for the Sake of Humanity: Reflecting on the Lessons Learned and Paving the Way Forward". In his speech, Adil Karimli pointed out that Azerbaijan, a multinational and multi-confessional country, makes great contributions to intercultural dialogue. Since 2011, the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue has been held in our country six times in partnership with the Alliance of Civilizations within the framework of the "Baku Process" initiated by President Ilham Aliyev in 2008. The 10th UNAOC Global Forum in Cascais, Portugal has gathered members of the UNAOC Group of Friends, political leaders, representatives of international and regional organizations, religious leaders and faith actors, the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, arts and media, as well as donor agencies and foundations, who address the global issues pertinent to peace and security and call for restoring trust and for uniting in peace. In Cascais, participants have an opportunity to reflect on the twenty years of the Alliance of Civilizations' initiative, announced by Spain at the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2004, and how UNAOC grew into a vibrant and well-established United Nations entity. NEW YORK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. wildlife officials finalized a recovery plan for imperiled populations of Canada lynx on Wednesday and proposed new habitat protections in the southern Rocky Mountains for the forest-dwelling wildcats threatened by climate change and human activities. "The fate of the plan is uncertain under President-elect Donald Trump: officials during the Republican's first term sought unsuccessfully to strip lynx of protections that they've had since 2000 under the Endangered Species Act," said The Associated Press in its report about the development. Almost 7,700 square miles (20,000 square miles) of forests and mountains in Colorado and northern New Mexico are covered under the habitat proposal. That's a change from previous U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policies that left out the southern Rockies and concentrated instead on recovery efforts elsewhere, including Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota and Maine. Areas of protected habitat also are being added along the Idaho-Montana border. Protected areas in Wyoming would be sharply reduced under Wednesday's proposal, according to the report. Wildlife officials said they were removing some locations where officials consider lynx unlikely to thrive in the future, while adding new areas considered more suitable to their long-term survival. Lynx are elusive animals that live in cold boreal forests and prey primarily on snowshoe hares. Climate change is melting away their snowy habitat and could decrease the availability of snowshoe hares, according to the report. By Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) -The future for French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government looks bleak, with his struggles to push the 2025 budget through a polarised parliament increasingly likely to end in the toppling of his fragile coalition. Barnier's government could fall before Christmas, and perhaps even by next week, if far-right and leftist foes force a no-confidence motion that he is likely to lose, according to a dozen sources from across the political spectrum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even if Barnier survives, the sources said, he will only do so by caving in to demands to soften spending cuts, further weakening the country's fragile public finances and denting investor appetite. Much remains in flux, with Barnier's team in non-stop negotiations with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN), which props up his administration, and other parties to avoid plunging France into its second political crisis in six months. In a TV interview on Tuesday, Barnier described the current situation as "extremely concerning," predicting "extremely serious and turbulent conditions on financial markets" should his government fall. "The government will fall," President Emmanuel Macron reportedly told allies, according to a Tuesday story in Le Parisien that the Elysee swiftly denied. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investors reacted skittishly on Wednesday. The risk premium for French government debt rose to its highest level since the euro zone debt crisis of 2012, while bank shares dragged down the CAC 40. BUDGET BLUES The budget bill lies at the heart of France's political malaise. It seeks to rein in France's spiralling public deficit through 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts. But it has proven to be kryptonite for Barnier's right-wing government. The bill was rejected by the deeply divided lower house - rendered nigh-on ungovernable by Macron's ill-fated decision to call a snap election that delivered a hung parliament - and is currently being debated in the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With his options dwindling ahead of a mid-December deadline, Barnier said on Tuesday it was likely he would invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the text to be adopted without a vote. Such a move would invariably trigger a no-confidence motion against the government. For weeks, Le Pen and her supporters have been ratcheting up the pressure on Barnier, saying they will vote to bring down the government if their demands to shield households, small-businesses and pensioners from the squeeze are not met. Writing in Le Figaro newspaper on Tuesday, Le Pen appeared to lay the groundwork for toppling the government, denying public-sector salaries would go unpaid and rejecting rivals' depictions of her party as "artisans of chaos." TRIAL AND ERROR Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Le Pen's imperilled political fortunes may be influencing her decision-making, sources said. Widely seen as the front-runner in the 2027 presidential election, she now faces the possibility of being barred from competing after prosecutors sought a mandatory five-year ban from public office for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme. She denies the allegations. An aide to centrist lawmaker Gabriel Attal, Barnier's predecessor as prime minister, said Le Pen's threats to topple the government were a bid "to eclipse the trial saga." After leaving court on Wednesday, Le Pen denied the legal case had any bearing on her political decision-making, telling reporters she was calm ahead of a verdict due on March 31. A senior RN party leader told Reuters there was still no definitive plan on what course of action to take. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, a decision to topple the government, most likely in cahoots with the left, is not without risk for Le Pen's far-right party, which has moved from the fringes to the mainstream and is wary of being blamed for the resulting chaos. More than half of French people believe a no-confidence vote that unseats the government should be avoided, according to an Elabe poll for BFM TV released on Wednesday. If Barnier's government fell, 63% of those polled said they would be in favour of Macron resigning. "If we can avoid censure we will avoid it," RN lawmaker Thomas Menage told Reuters. "But if by mid-December (Barnier) has not listened to the 11 million French people who voted for us ... we will responsibly vote to topple this government." Barnier's team has already signalled it is willing to water down the bill, with Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin acknowledging this week that the deficit might be slightly higher than the 5% of output originally foreseen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barnier's best hopes of survival may come from splintering the leftist block the RN would need to bring down the government, targeting more moderate members of the Socialist Party (PS) such as former President Francois Hollande. "PS lawmakers must see where they stand in relation to (the hard-left) France Unbowed party," a Barnier aide told Reuters. "Everyone will do what they think is right." Hollande was circumspect about his plans, telling Reuters it was up to the prime minister to respond to the Socialist Party's proposals. (Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Juliette Jabkhiro and Gabriel StargardterWriting by Gabriel StargardterEditing by Rachel Armstrong, Christina Fincher and Rod Nickel) BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) The owners of a mobile coffee shop in Boardman cut the ribbon to welcome customers on Wednesday morning. Coffee Run is a fully restored mobile trailer operated by two best friends, Darla Schafer and Anna Luongo both former baristas. They dreamed of opening their own coffee shop, and now its a reality. They say coffee is at the heart of everything they do. I dont think that we even have an account of how many hours we spent between looking for the trailer, making decisions about our menu, making decisions about what kind of cups that we were buying like everything was very well-thought-out. It was definitely, at least, a year-long adventure, said Schafer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because Coffee Run is a mobile business, its location changes often. Follow them on social media to see where they are heading next. The mobile trailer is also available to serve at events and even weddings. Brian Oehlbeck contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Nov. 26DALEVILLE As small towns and police departments across Indiana encounter rising fuel and maintenance costs, many are exploring creative ways of saving money. That was the case for Todd Bertram in 2019. Bertram is the police chief in Bargersville, a town of nearly 9,600 residents about 20 miles south of Indianapolis. Five years ago, he was tasked with cutting costs in his department to enable the town to hire two additional police officers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other than officer salaries, maintenance and fuel for the department's dozen police cruisers were its top expense. Bertram began to explore options and hit upon the idea of switching the department to all-electric vehicles. "That's how it got started," Bertram said. "I took the savings to (the town council), and they let me hire the two cops." Since then, Bargersville has added a dozen more Tesla Model 3s to its fleet. Bertram estimates the town is saving more than $80,000 annually in fuel costs and has added six officers to its police force since 2019. Bargersville spends about $400 a month to charge 13 cars, compared with $3,100 a month to fuel that many Ford F-150s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The town of Daleville reached out to Bertram, asking what a transition to electric vehicles would look like in terms of savings and other considerations. Town Council President Adam Jones said the town spends an estimated $3,000 per month on fuel for its fleet of police cruisers. Daleville was expected to receive its first Tesla on Monday, according to Police Chief James King, who along with Jones has spearheaded the town's research into the new technology. The town's first Tesla police cruiser will be issued to an officer with a K-9 who uses a police vehicle the most frequently. If the experiment yields less than desirable savings, the initiative will be discontinued, according to Jones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If town officials are satisfied, the police department's fleet will gradually be replaced with Teslas. Each vehicle is expected to cost from $40,000 to $50,000. The first Tesla will be customized with police equipment and outfitted for the K-9, which will bring the overall cost to an estimated $67,000. The town council decided to use $20,000 of its $200,000 in Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds, which are collected through a state income tax, to help purchase the car. The remaining costs are expected to be covered with funds from the town's redevelopment commission and a $5,000 grant from a local concrete firm. At a recent town council meeting, Jones addressed a concern voiced by one of the town's residents that the Tesla likely will be replaced well before the battery reaches the end of its eight-year lifespan. Each Tesla, he said, comes with an eight-year, 120,000-mile warranty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement King said the department usually trades in its cars when they reach the same mileage. Doing so, he said, helps keep maintenance costs down. Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254. Daniel Andreas San Diego is alleged to have planted a series of bombs in San Francisco in 2003 Haraz N. Ghanbari/ AP Photo A photo of Daniel Andreas San Diego on FBI's most wanted terrorists list A photo of Daniel Andreas San Diego on FBI's most wanted terrorists list A fugitive listed on the FBI's Most Wanted list has been arrested in Wales after 21 years on the run. On Tuesday, Nov.26, North Wales Police revealed that Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, had been arrested on Monday, Nov. 25. He is wanted in connection to series of bombings in San Francisco in 2003. National Crime Agency officers have arrested one of the FBI Most Wanted fugitives in North Wales, the police statement read. Daniel Andreas San Diego was detained in an operation supported by Counter Terrorism Policing, officers from the North Wales and Cheshire Armed Alliance Policing Team and North Wales Police yesterday, and now faces extradition to the US to face charges. 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. FBI Daniel San Diego Daniel San Diego Related: Massachusetts Fugitive Known as 'Bad Breath Rapist' Arrested in California After 16 Years on the Run Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI stated that San Diego is wanted in connection with an August 28, 2003 incident where "two bombs exploded approximately one hour apart on the campus of a biotechnology corporation in Emeryville." "Then, on September 26, 2003, one bomb strapped with nails exploded at a nutritional products corporation in Pleasanton," the FBI added. "San Diego was indicted in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, in July of 2004." The Los Angeles Times reported that the first two bombs were planted at biotech firm Chiron Inc. The outlet added that the first bomb went off in the early hours of the morning and the second went off an hour later. Due to the second bomb being located ahead of the explosion, however, the area was cleared ahead of time. FBI Daniel San Diego Daniel San Diego Related: Fugitive Nicknamed The Devil Captured 20 Years After Ohio Killing While Working as Police Officer in Mexico Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Per the outlet, an arrest warrant was issued on Oct. 5, 2003, but San Diego disappeared before entering custody. A $250,000 reward for information was offered by the FBI in 2006. San Diego was then put on the FBIs Most Wanted Terrorist List in 2009. Daniel San Diegos arrest after more than 20 years as a fugitive for two bombings in the San Francisco area shows that no matter how long it takes, the FBI will find you and hold you accountable, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. Theres a right way and a wrong way to express your views in our country, and turning to violence and destruction of property is not the right way, he added. UPDATE (11:44 a.m.): The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office has indicated that a bomb threat targeting former Congressman Matt Gaetz could be linked to threats against people tapped for President-elect Donald Trumps new administration. An updated OCSO Facebook post about the Gaetz threat now includes paragraphs from a Fox News report about the other incidents. Nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them, prompting a swift law enforcement response, Fox News Digital reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump nominated Gaetz, a Republican from Northwest Florida, as his new administrations attorney general. However, the former congressman withdrew as a nominee last week. Trump selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department after Gaetzs decision, according to the Associated Press. Tuesdays attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, according to Fox News. PREVIOUS REPORTING OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) A family member of Congressman Matt Gaetz received a bomb threat at their home targeting Gaetz, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4 of 5 suspects charged in murder of Cailee Knight seek youthful offender status OCSO officials said the bomb threat referenced a Gaetz family members mailbox at their Niceville home. The threat referenced Gaetz, but he does not live in the home where the threat was made. Man has non-life-threatening injuries after shooting: Mobile police Officials said the mailbox was cleared, and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched, but nothing was found, according to OCSO officials. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Several officials whom President-elect Donald Trump has picked to join his incoming administration were targeted by bomb threats and swatting attacks, his transition team said Wednesday. Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them, Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. The FBI said in a statement that it was aware of those incidents and is working with our law enforcement partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swatting typically involves a false 911 report of an emergency at a location to elicit an aggressive police response and can turn deadly. NBC News reported that three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the swatting attack said the threats were not credible, and that no devices or physical threats were found. Leavitt did not name the people who received those threats, but they did not involve Trump or Vice President-elect JD Vance, the officials told NBC News. However, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., have said they were targeted. Stefanik, Trumps pick for United Nations ambassador, said she received a bomb threat at her home in Saratoga County, New York, while driving there from Washington, D.C. on Wednesday morning. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism, her office said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gaetz, whose nomination for U.S. attorney general imploded last week amid allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, also confirmed that he was the target of a bomb threat, NBC News reported. (Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. A Justice Department probe concluded last year, without bringing charges against him. The House Ethics Committee separately investigated the matter but has not publicly released its findings.) A bomb squad was sent to the former congressmans home in Florida, and the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office said no bomb-related devices were found. There have been a string of violent threats and swatting attacks against public officials in the past year amid a divided political climate. Many of those targeted have been public figures whom Trump has railed against, or those considered to be his political foes, including several Democrats as well as the Biden White House and special counsel Jack Smith. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Police took a Gary man into custody on Monday after a routine traffic stop for an improper headlight turned into a scuffle with an Indiana State Police trooper in which the suspect laid on top of a police K9 after the dog bit him because he fled from police, according to a release. The K9, Zero, was not injured, police said. Trooper Ben Beers with the Lowell Post initiated a traffic stop on a gray 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee on Monday at the intersection of Burr Street and 10th Avenue in Gary for an improper headlight, a minor traffic offense, according to a release from Sgt. Glen Fifield, the Lowell Posts public information officer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the traffic stop, police determined that the driver, Shelley O. Cooper Jr., 33, had a suspended license. Police also detected the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle, and observed a red plastic cup in the center console that appeared to have an alcoholic beverage in it. Beers had the driver exit the vehicle to perform field sobriety tests and conduct further investigation. After the driver exited the Jeep, the trooper attempted to conduct a pat down of the driver for his safety; however, the driver refused to cooperate, and a struggle took place between the trooper and the driver, police said. During the struggle, the driver pulled away from the officer and began to run from the traffic stop. He turned back towards Beers and began to reach into his waistband and attempted to pull a handgun from his pants, police said. As he did so, he dropped the gun and again began to run from the trooper. The driver was eventually taken into custody after being bitten by K9 Zero, Beers assigned K9, and also after being hit with a stun gun by Beers. During the altercation and after being bitten by K9 Zero, the suspect intentionally laid on top of the K9 with all of his body weight in what appeared to be an attempt to injure the K9, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cooper sustained minor facial injuries from the fall after being hit with the stun gun. He was checked by Gary EMS and transported to Northlake Hospital for treatment and then later transported to the Lake County Jail. According to an online court docket, Cooper is charged with one count of resisting law enforcement using a vehicle, a Level 6 felony; four Class A misdemeanors, including striking a law enforcement animal, driving while suspended with a prior in the past 10 years, resisting law enforcement, and unlawful carrying of a handgun; and a Class B misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. During the investigation, it was determined that Cooper was also a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, police said. Cooper is scheduled for an initial hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 16 before Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan. NEW YORK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) has bounced back strongly in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are anticipating another record influx of applications this year, reported Bloomberg News on Wednesday. For example, at Howard University, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' alma mater, applications topped 36,000, a record for the 2024-2025 school year. And North Carolina A&T State University, Morehouse College, Hampton University, Alabama A&M University and Morgan State University have all hit new highs in enrollment, applications or waitlists, according to the report. "Figures for this year's freshman class are the first since a historic Supreme Court decision effectively barred schools from weighing race in admissions," it noted. "The decision persuaded some Black students to seek out institutions for not only their academics, but also for a place where their cultural identity is affirmed." HBCUs have become more visible on the national stage in recent years, serving as hubs for community activism during the Black Lives Matter movement of the 2010s and the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in 2020, it added. "For decades, HBCU enrollment mirrored the national trend line -- climbing to a peak around 2010 before beginning to drop." Gazprom, Russias state-controlled gas company, is planning for a scenario in which no natural gas will flow to Europe through Ukraine after Dec. 31, 2024, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters. Kyiv has indicated it will not extend the transit deal, ending over 50 years of gas flows from Siberia to central Europe a vital revenue stream for Russia since the Soviet era. Ukraine earns up to $1 billion annually in transit fees but has said it does not intend to renew the agreement. Moscow, however, has expressed willingness to continue using the Ukrainian route. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow remains ready to pump gas through Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite these signals, Gazproms internal planning assumes no Ukrainian transit next year, the source said, adding that the company expects Russian gas exports to Europe and Turkeytermed "far abroad"to decline by 20% in 2025. Due to the loss of the Ukrainian route, exports are projected to drop to just under 39 billion cubic meters (bcm) from the more than 49 bcm expected this year. The expected drop excludes gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline, which is forecast to reach 38 bcm in 2025. Turkish supplies via the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines are not expected to decline. Russias gas exports to Europe via Ukraine have already fallen significantly, with only 15 bcm delivered through this route in 2023. That figure represents just 8% of peak Russian gas flows to Europe in 2018-2019. The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline transported about 14.65 bcm of gas through the Sudzha entry point in Russias Kursk region to Slovakia in 2023, accounting for roughly half of Russias remaining European gas exports. The war in Ukraine and the 2022 explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany have severely disrupted the energy link between Russia and Europe. EU gas consumption fell to 295 bcm in 2023, with Europe increasingly reliant on U.S. liquefied natural gas supplies to meet demand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Europe, Azerbaijan not close to deal on gas route via Ukraine, Slovakias SPP says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Local community kitchens have a little extra help this holiday season. A small club of students with big hearts are ready to set the table this Thanksgivingcooking up batches of food for those in need of a little extra cheer. I just think the community is really great. I have a lot of friends in this club. I met a lot of new people, and its just really fun to do something hard together as a group and give back to the community together, says Mary Muller, a co-president of the Beyond Soup Club. The Beyond Soup Club at Harley School in Rochester has the teens taking the helm. They held their own bake sale to raise the funds, then loaded up shopping carts with everything they needed to make chili, mac salad, and corn bread. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every morsel made Saturday went to those helped by the St. Peters Kitchenone of many organizations that the students connect with themselves in order to serve those who need their kindness most. Especially for clubs like this, I feel like the biggest thing is you have to be confident. You have to be able to reach out to other organizations and really stand up and do what you think is right, because I feel like thats kind of how we got here, Muller says. Its really easy to get caught up in like, oh, what if its difficult? If you dont find a club that you like or want to participate in, then make one. It seems like its a lot and its really complicated, but as you get started and you get into it, it really doesnt feel that hard, says Luna Clark, another co-president of Beyond Soup. I think its good to go out and do something good that can make people happy and thats the most you can do. The Beyond Soup Club was revived at the Harley School in 2022 by two tenth grade students invested in community outreach. The club began serving food again in January of that year post-pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The schools kitchen will be bustling again for the winter holidays, as the students have cookie giveaways planned in December and want to host at least five food giveaways this school year. Generation ROC: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. LUCEDALE, Miss. (WKRG) After a runoff election Tuesday, incumbent Wade Whittington was declared the winner of the George County School Board District 5 seat. Whittington earned more than 60% of the vote. Were excited to be continuing with working with the children and, the George County school district and all, Whittington said. It was a tough race and all very, very tough race. But you know, both candidates, myself and our opponent, you know, did a lot of work. 4 of 5 suspects charged in murder of Cailee Knight seek youthful offender status Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He ran a tight race against his opponent Della Maples-Morgan. I ran a very clean campaign, and I stuck to my morals and my, you know, my faith, and it just wasnt Gods will, Maples-Morgan relayed. And better luck next time, I guess. This comes after the general election where both candidates received 902 votes each. George County Circuit Clerk Chad Welford said that voter turnout was better than expected for the runoff. Mobile cracks down on aggressive solicitation among other issues District three and five, like I said, have a school board race, and their turnout is a little bit better than average on a runoff, Welford said. And, theyre working hard. And you can tell by some of the precincts the numbers are higher than we anticipated in that runoff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the things I want to do is to help, influence and bring back the, you know, the word of God into the schools, Whittington said. The final vote was 352 for Whittington to 256 for Morgan. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning announced theyd be awarding nonprofits with up to $1.65 million to fund programs that close opportunity gaps and provide long-term positive outcomes for children up to age 8 and their families. The grant program from DECAL is open for applications, with any organizations and government entities in good standing with DEAL able to apply through Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. DECAL is investing in communities across Georgia to address local needs and build community support for early education innovations, said DECALs Deputy Commissioner of Quality, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr. Bentley Ponder. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to the department, the Community Impact Grants are used to encourage collaboration between different sectors of the state for developing community-specific solutions for families to have high-quality early learning and the tools needed for long-term success. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each of the grants to be awarded will be used to fund projects for 24 months, beginning March 1 2025 and ending Feb. 28, 2027. DECAL officials said there will be three types of grants that can be provided, each with different amounts and with certain limits. TRENDING STORIES: Those grants are: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Dec. 2, officials will host an informal webinar at 3 p.m. to go over the types of Requests for Proposals the grants will use for consideration on awards. Registration for the webinar can be filled out online here. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] GEORGIA (WRBL) Servicemembers and veterans in Georgia who were deceived or defrauded by Harris Jewelry are encouraged to request a refund up until the deadline of Saturday, Dec. 21. About 3,780 Georgia servicemembers and veterans were misled and defrauded by Harris Jewelry, according to Attorney General Chris Carr. The majority of those people were stationed at Fort Moore in Columbus. Thousands of Georgias servicemembers and veterans fell victim to Harris Jewelrys deceptive acts, and we want to ensure they receive the financial relief theyre rightfully owed, said Carr. We wont allow anyone to take advantage of our military families, and we encourage all Georgians who are eligible to submit their refund requests as soon as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Active duty servicemembers and veterans who purchased items from Harris Jewelry, paid for a Lifetime Jewelry and Watch Protection Plan, and have yet to file a claim are able to submit refund requests until the deadline. This comes after the federal court found Harris Jewelry violated a prior settlement agreement by prematurely closing the claims portal. The court then ordered the portal be re-opened. Carr announced in 2022 the State of Georgia had joined a multi-state, $34.2 million settlement agreement to resolve allegations of Harris Jewelry deceiving and defrauding 46,000 U.S. servicemembers and veterans nationally. The allegations specifically entailed: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Made false or unsubstantiated claims that financing jewelry purchases through the company would result in higher credit scores; Misrepresented that the protection plan was required to finance purchases; Failed to provide written disclosures and meet authorization requirements for contracts as required by law; and Violated the Military Lending Act The agreement required Harris Jewelry to stop collecting $21,307,229 in outstanding debt held by 13,426 servicemembers; to provide up to $12,872,493 in refunds to 46,204 servicemembers who paid for protection plans; and to vacate judgments against 112 consumers totaling $115,335.64 and delete any negative credit entries reported to consumer reporting agencies. Attorney General Chris Carr Anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to a scam or deceptive business practice can call the Attorney Generals Consumer Protection Division at (404) 651-8600 or file a complaint online at this link. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Georgian fighter Spartak Lekiashvili, who was wounded in Ukraine, has died while undergoing treatment in France. Source: SOVA portal with reference to the confirmation of the French Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda Details: The ministry reports that procedures are currently underway to transfer the body. Spartak Lekiashvili was wounded in an explosion in Bakhmut in May 2023. He was first treated in Ukraine, then in Georgia and France. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lekiashvili was hospitalised in Rivne. He had been in a coma for three months. His limbs were paralysed. He had to be transported to a European clinic to avoid having his leg amputated. In October 2023, it was reported that the health of the Georgian soldier wounded in the war in Ukraine was deteriorating. After being wounded, the 24-year-old soldier lost his eyesight and fell into a coma. Background: It was reported in October that a Georgian volunteer, Mamuka Kekelia, had been killed in action in Ukraine. At the end of August, it was reported that Georgian soldier Viktor Kipritidi had also been killed in action. In total, more than 60 volunteer soldiers from Georgia have been killed on the front line in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. Support UP or become our patron! Former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera on Tuesday condemned Donald Trumps mass deportation plans as a horror that would tarnish the reputation of the nation. On MSNBCs The Beat, host Ari Melber questioned Rivera about Trumps proposed immigration crackdown, which Rivera had repeatedly warned about prior to the election. The president-elect has said he is prepared to declare a national emergency and use military assets to enforce his mass deportation program once he takes office. What do you say to Donald Trump, someone who you knew for so many years tonight? Melber asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well, Im not sure he would take my advice on it, Ari, but let me be unequivocal about it, Rivera said. He described plans to send immigrants en masse to detention camps so unpleasant that people will be dying to get out, to go home. He added, I think thats the thinking. It is an obscenity and everything I said pre-election, I say now in bold letters. This is horrifying, what they have planned. Geraldo Rivera and Trump were once friends, but their relationship soured after the president-elect refused to acknowledge he lost the 2020 election. Jared Siskin via Getty Images Can you imagine a vast holding area? he continued. Just think of the Japanese internment in World War II. This is going to be that in a much faster scale, and the more people that they crowd into these places, the more horrifying its going to be, and it will weigh on the conscience of every American. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told the host, When you can look through a barbed wire fence and you see people that look just like you, and many of them in the in the country for a long time, to people with the mixed families ... Then he added, This is going to be a horror, a horror! And its really going to, I think, tarnish the real, the reputation of the nation. Is there a problem with undocumented immigration? Obviously, but there must be a more humane solution than the one proposed. Rivera was friends with Trump for years but turned on the Republican after he refused to concede the 2020 election. In October, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, calling Trump a sore loser and revealing they had last spoken when Trump called him at home on Nov. 13, 2020, for advice about the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rivera has, however, been positive about some of Trumps highly controversial Cabinet picks, saying on Monday he was delighted by the selection of some of his old associates from Fox News. Related... Russia may launch an attack on NATO territory in the coming years, Bruno Kahl, chief of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has said. Source: Zeit Online, citing Kahl at the German Council of Foreign Relations in Berlin, as reported by European Pravda Details: Kahl asserted that Russia is "preparing for war with the West" and military conflict is becoming a "possible option" for the Kremlin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kahl believes the Russian military will be capable of "attacking the West" in terms of personnel and resources by the end of the decade. However, the German intelligence chief believes it will be a limited operation rather than a large-scale attack on European NATO countries, such as an invasion of the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen with the goal of "clearing territory", or of the Baltic countries under the guise of protecting Russian minorities. The aim of such efforts would be to render collective security commitments under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty ineffective and undermine NATO, Kahl explained. According to German intelligence assessments, the Russian leadership doubts "whether the obligation to provide assistance under Article 5 would remain in effect in emergency situations". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If such views prevail in the Russian leadership, the risk of a military conflict in the coming years will also increase," Kahl said. However, he also believes Russia will attempt to divide NATO even before a war breaks out by winning individual member states over to its side, for example. Vladimir Putin "will test the Wests red lines and escalate further," Kahl added. Background: NATO and its member nations have repeatedly warned of the potential of a military conflict with Russia. General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, believes that regardless of how the war in Ukraine ends, the Russian army will be stronger after it than it is now. Support UP or become our patron! Germany's armed forces have handed over the leadership of the NATO air surveillance mission over the Baltic states to the Netherlands after a nine-month stint in charge. "NATO air policing is of the utmost importance for the security of the people in Latvia and the Baltic states," said German Air Force chief Ingo Gerhartz at a ceremony at the Latvian air force base in Lielvarde. Germany took over the role in March 2024, deploying up to five Eurofighter jets and changing contingents of around 200 German soldiers to Latvia for the task. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Germany is and remains a reliable friend and partner of all Baltic states. And the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) stands firmly by the side of Latvia and the entire Baltic region," said Gerhartz, who himself flew to Latvia in a Eurofighter. The Air Fore says German pilots had to scramble a total of 54 times in this area on NATO's eastern flank during the nine months of the mission. During these deployments, unidentified aircraft without transponder signals or radio contact were detected in international airspace over the Baltic Sea mostly Russian military aircraft. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do not have their own fighter jets. NATO has therefore been securing the Baltic airspace since 2004. To do this, the allies regularly deploy fighter jets and personnel to the Baltic states in north-eastern Europe. Inspector of the German Air Force Ingo Gerhartz (C) presents badges to soldiers during the handover ceremony for the NATO Air Policing Mission. The German Air Force hands over responsibility for monitoring the airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the Netherlands. Alexander Welscher/dpa Arthur J. Gallagher has acquired Shepard Insurance Group, a retail insurance broker based in Connecticut, US. The deal consideration was not revealed. Shepard Insurance will continue to operate from its base in Old Greenwich, Connecticut under the leadership of Gallagher Northeast region retail property/casualty brokerage operations head Brendan Gallagher. Established in 1979 by Steve Shepard, Shepard Insurance focuses on offering home, flood, construction and life insurance services. The company caters to high-net-worth clients in the north-eastern US as well as Florida. Arthur J. Gallagher CEO and chairman J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr. said: "Shepard Insurance Group is well regarded for their client service and will expand our high-net-worth offerings in the north-east. I am delighted to welcome Steve, Kyle and their associates to Gallagher." The latest deal continues Gallaghers buying spree. Recently, the company acquired THB Chile, a retail insurance broker based in Santiago, Chile, which specialises in property/casualty, life and health benefits, as well as reinsurance services. Earlier this month, it expanded its US footprint by acquiring Peabody Insurance Agency, which serves commercial and personal lines clients in Michigan, with a focus on manufacturing, construction and multi-family real estate sectors. Gallagher also acquired Scout Benefits Group based in Oklahoma City, which specialises in employee benefits consulting services. The Scout Benefits team, including Tiffany Davis and Todd Davis, will continue to operate from their current location, reporting to Leah Vetter, head of Gallagher Central region employee benefits consulting operations. Gallagher, based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, has a global operation spanning nearly 130 countries. "Arthur J. Gallagher buys Connecticut broker Shepard Insurance Group " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. Germany and Turkey plan to increase cooperation on renewable forms of energy, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the German-Turkish Energy Forum in Berlin on Wednesday. "The time for action has come," Habeck, a member of the Greens, said. "We have made great progress over recent years, and Turkey has big plans for decarbonizing its industry," he added. Engaging in constructive dialogue, particularly in challenging times as these, was important, Habeck said. Germany had to diversify its economic and trade relations, he said. "This is the lesson that Germany has learnt from the Russian invasion of Ukraine." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said energy was one of the most important aspects of cooperation between the two countries. He proposed extending the cooperation to the minerals sector. German and Turkish businesses signed memorandums of understanding on the use of renewables in the presence of the two ministers. German wind turbine company Enercon and Turkish project developers Is Enerji and Polat Enerji confirmed plans to supply and install turbines of up to 2,500 megawatts for wind farms in Turkey and other countries in the region. The two countries have been working together on the energy transition since 2013, with the focus on renewable energies, energy efficiency and green hydrogen. The German government has so far approved arms exports to Israel worth at least 131 million ($137 million) in the current year, according to information recently released by the Economy Ministry in Berlin. The German government has not authorized any war weapons exports since the beginning of March, the ministry said in response to a parliamentary question from a lawmaker of the populist BSW party made available to dpa. According to the latest figures, the German government allowed arms deliveries to Israel worth 23.6 million between October 18 and November 19. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Of this, the entire value is accounted for by 'other military equipment'," according to the ministry. Up to 17 October, the German government authorized arms deliveries to Israel worth at least 107.5 million, according to previous answers to parliamentary questions. This brings the total since the beginning of the year to 131.1 million. The German government last issued licences for war weapons exports to Israel in February. War weapons are explicitly designed for warfare, such as rifles, rockets, warships, bombs or ammunition. "Other military equipment" includes helmets and protective vests and unarmed vehicles. However, certain components for weapons systems may also be included. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The delivery of weapons to Israel has been a matter of dispute in Germany for months. Last year, the government had approved arms deliveries to Israel worth 326.5 million, including weapons of war worth 20.1 million. The majority of export licences were issued after the terrorist attack by Palestinian extremist group Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war. Germany's conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz expects little to pass parliament ahead of early elections in February, dousing hopes from ministers to pass economic reforms in the coming weeks. Merz, who is running to replace German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, told Deutschlandfunk public radio on Wednesday that only small legislative projects could realistically be implemented in the coming months before the vote. "There is still a little way to go, but not much will happen in this election period," said Merz, a centre-right Christian Democrat (CDU). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scholz, a centre-left Social Democrat (SPD), has made repeated appeals to Merz's CDU/CSU bloc to work together on legislation. Scholz's fractious three-party coalition collapsed earlier this month, leaving his government without a majority in parliament, making help from the opposition even more important if Scholz and his ministers hope to pass proposals through parliament. "We have passed a whole series of laws together, but it will not be easy to pass a few things at the last minute, so to speak," Merz said. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens this week urged Merz to back measures to lower electricity prices for industrial producers in the country as a way of boosting Germany's stagnant economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Merz expressed scepticism about Habeck's plans on Wednesday. "Of course we are looking at this without prejudice, but I have my doubts as to whether this is actually possible," said Merz. The since-collapsed coalition was deadlocked over budget issues, with former finance minister Christian Lindner adamantly refusing to allow government borrowing to finance investments and avoid deep cuts. Germany's conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz expects little to pass parliament ahead of early elections in February, dousing hopes from ministers to pass economic reforms in the coming weeks. Merz, who is running to replace German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, told Deutschlandfunk public radio on Wednesday that only small legislative projects could realistically be implemented in the coming months before the vote. "There is still a little way to go, but not much will happen in this election period," said Merz, a centre-right Christian Democrat (CDU). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scholz, a centre-left Social Democrat (SPD), has made repeated appeals to Merz's CDU/CSU bloc to work together on legislation. Scholz's fractious three-party coalition collapsed earlier this month, leaving his government without a majority in parliament, making help from the opposition even more important if Scholz and his ministers hope to pass proposals through parliament. "We have passed a whole series of laws together, but it will not be easy to pass a few things at the last minute, so to speak," Merz said. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens this week urged Merz to back measures to lower electricity prices for industrial producers in the country as a way of boosting Germany's stagnant economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Merz expressed scepticism about Habeck's plans on Wednesday. "Of course we are looking at this without prejudice, but I have my doubts as to whether this is actually possible," said Merz. The since-collapsed coalition was deadlocked over budget issues, with former finance minister Christian Lindner adamantly refusing to allow government borrowing to finance investments and avoid deep cuts. Scholz sacked Lindner earlier this month, prompting Lindner's business-friendly liberal Free Democrats (FDP) to quit the government. Scholz has announced a confidence vote in December, which is expected to pave the way for an early election on February 23. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No deal has been reached on the German government budget for 2025, leaving parliament unable to consider spending decisions. Merz, whose CDU/CSU bloc holds a strong lead in opinion polls, said he hopes to hold swift coalition talks after the election and to quickly form a government capable of taking action. However, he cautioned that delivering a real economic "turnaround" will not happen so quickly. Merz's comments attracted swift criticism from Scholz's SPD. Dennis Rohde, who oversees the budget for the party, accused Merz of displaying "his lack of expertise and government experience" with his comments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Of course, with the CDU/CSU we could immediately provide tax relief for citizens, decide to invest in infrastructure, such as the railroads, and help companies with energy prices," Rohde said. Even without a 2025 budget, all those steps would be possible with serious engagement and cooperation from the CDU/CSU, according to Rohde. "But it doesn't seem to be Merz's will for electoral reasons," he said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday expressed his relief over a newly agreed ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant Islamist movement Hezbollah. "Finally" an understanding has been reached, Scholz said in a post on X. "It is important that everyone sticks to what has been agreed so that people on both sides of the border can live in safety again." A ceasefire brokered by the United States and France came into force at 4 am (0200 GMT). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to media reports, Israeli ground troops are expected to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. Hezbollah fighters will in turn withdraw behind the Litani River, which flows about 30 kilometres north of the Israel-Lebanon border. A Duluth high school was briefly placed on alert Tuesday after a fight broke out among multiple students, with a 14-year-old girl ultimately arrested. The school resource officer at Denfeld High School in Duluth responded to the incident at noon, trying to assist staff members in separating several students who were fighting. Duluth police have not shared the cause of the fight. Google Maps Police did say that one staff member and two police officers were assaulted, with three other staff members being injured by a "chemical irritant." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the fight, the school went into a brief "hold" until the situation was resolved. A 14-year-old female student was taken into custody and taken to the Arrowhead Juvenile Center for pending charges of probation violation and more, The incident is being actively investigated, and police have released no further information. Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcements latest version of events, and may be subject to change. Related: The best Black Friday deals from Target, Walmart, Scheels, Best Buy, and others Nov. 26Not everyone receiving food at Thanksgiving dinner distributions Saturday was in need. Josie Craft came to the Alpha Phi Alpha giveaway to get a meal for a neighbor in need. "It means a lot to help people who don't have a lot," Craft said as she waited in a drive-thru line that stretched along Third Street. Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members distributed scores of frozen turkeys and bags of side dishes at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center. It was the fraternity's annual Dr. Jewell L. Daniels dinner box giveaway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fraternity member Troy Stoutermire said it is a duty and honor to serve. "It's what Alpha men do to serve the community," Stoutermire said. "This is one of the ways we give back." Ricki Wilson said she was getting a turkey for a neighbor whose husband passed away. "She has no family," Wilson said. Almost immediately after the fraternity's distribution, four Muskogee churches began handing out meal boxes and meat vouchers during the annual Hands Halting Hunger. Participating churches were New Hope Assembly, Timothy Baptist Church, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church and Ash Street Baptist Church. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cars filled four lanes of New Hope's parking lot, waiting for distribution to start at 11 a.m. The set-up kept the cars from lining up on U.S. 64. Steve Acuff said he was getting food for his family of four. "Everything's tight now," Acuff said. "Everything is expensive, whatever helps. Everything happens at the holidays. We got to save for Christmas." Church volunteers waited by meal bags filled with yams, green beans, stuffing and other side dishes. Right at 11 a.m., cars started moving in two lines while volunteers put bags in their seats and gave out vouchers. Pastor Jordan Dunn said he didn't know if anyone getting the food would give it to others in need. "But it very well could," he said. Join ICT and IndiJ Public Medias 2024 End of Year Campaign in honor of Mark Trahants 50-year legacy in Indigenous journalism. Help us reach our goal of $75,000 by Dec. 31 to celebrate and amplify Indigenous voices. Donate here! Deusdedit Ruhangariyo Special to ICT Around the world: Quebec is faulted for decades of inaction on Indigenous education; US and Columbian leaders strengthen their countries ties on biodiversity and conservation; a program in New Zealand empowers Indigenous graduates; and the European Union adopts regulation to prevent forced labor affecting Uyghurs. CANADA: Quebec faulted for educational neglect Quebec's auditor general released a critical report highlighting significant shortcomings in the province's education system for Indigenous students, CBC News reported on Nov. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recently released report reveals that few school service centers in Quebec's public system have made efforts to improve the academic success of Indigenous students. It also criticizes the Education Ministry for not establishing a framework to support these initiatives. According to Statistics Canada, 31.4 percent of Indigenous people in Quebec age 24 to 35 do not hold a diploma or certificate, compared to 9.3 percent of non-Indigenous Quebecers. Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc noted that the Education Ministry has recognized this disparity since 2005 but "has still not set any objectives or targets for the success of Indigenous students, something it has done for other groups of students among whom it has noted a gap in achievement." The gap in Quebec is wider than the national average, where 18 percent of Indigenous people in the same age group lack a diploma or certificate. Denis Gros-Louis, head of the First Nations Education Council, pointed to systemic barriers as a significant obstacle to the success of Indigenous students. "There's a disconnect from the Ministry of Education about our realities, our needs, and the ministry is, as the report says, almost a contributor to increasing the gap among our Indigenous students compared to Quebec public system students," he said. Gros-Louis explained that challenges arise when students transition from their communities to the public system, facing language barriers and a lack of cultural understanding from peers and school staff. "As soon as all the good work we're doing is fulfilled and our students graduate, then there are systemic barriers especially to get into post-secondary," he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report highlights a lack of a comprehensive strategy for Indigenous education, insufficient services tailored to Indigenous children, inadequate teacher training on Indigenous realities, and insufficient funding dedicated to Indigenous education. Ian Lafreniere, the minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit, acknowledged the issue as a "priority" for his office. "It's been taking up a large part of my programs. We announce a lot of money in that, but maybe it's going to take time to see the success of it," he said, without specifying the programs involved. The auditor general also emphasized that numerous recommendations have been made over the years to address the education gap, yet successive governments have failed to implement effective measures. COLOMBIA: US-Columbia ties strengthened U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Consular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor recently concluded a weeklong visit to Colombia, strengthening U.S.-Colombia ties through discussions and initiatives on biodiversity, Indigenous empowerment, and combating wildlife trafficking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Accompanied by the acting U.S. ambassador to Columbia, Francisco Palmieri, they met with Colombian Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo and Acting Environment Minister Mauricio Cabrera Leal to discuss supporting Indigenous communities, bolstering climate resilience, and preserving Colombias biodiversity. Emphasizing the global importance of the region, they called for collaborative efforts in environmental stewardship and equity. According to a press release from Haalands office, a key focus of the trip was addressing illegal wildlife trafficking, a transnational crisis threatening biodiversity and global security. The delegation met with the Colombian National Police to strengthen cooperation against the illegal trade of protected species. Since 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Lima office has partnered with Colombia to disrupt trafficking networks tied to the United States. Haaland also engaged with Colombian Indigenous leaders and Afro-Colombian youth, highlighting the Biden-Harris administration's Indian Youth Service Corps. This initiative offers Indigenous youth education and employment opportunities tied to conservation, fostering a workforce focused on environmental and cultural preservation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trip culminated in Colombia's Amazon region, where Haaland and Cantor showcased U.S. efforts to promote biodiversity conservation with local communities and businesses, aiming to create sustainable livelihoods and economic stability. Following President Bidens historic visit to Brazils Amazon rainforest, Haalands trip underscored the importance of international collaboration in addressing climate change, conserving biodiversity, and empowering Indigenous communities, forging a more sustainable and equitable future. NEW ZEALAND: Empowering Indigenous graduates Charities competed at a philanthropic pitching event featuring a program supporting Indigenous kids' transition from school to college, the National Indigenous Times reported on November 21. Elise Djerrkura, a Yolngu woman from Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory, felt lost after finishing school. Having spent four years in Sydney at boarding school, she knew she wanted to stay in the city but didnt know how to take the next step. Thats when she turned to Bandu, an organization supporting Indigenous youth in their transition from school to higher education and work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I knew I wanted to work, but I had no idea how I could find a job, so just reaching out to Bandu helped a lot," Ms. Djerrkura said, according to National Indigenous Times. "They go out of their way to help each of us to get a job and into uni. They just want to see us succeed." Bandu, a registered charity and social enterprise, helps young Indigenous people navigate the often daunting post-school landscape. The organization assisted Djerrkura in finding her first job in Sydney and provided ongoing support as she adapted to the workforce. They also helped her apply to universities, where she plans to study law in 2025. "You've got that Indigenous support at school, and then Bandu is that same support for students leaving school," she said. "Because it was my first job, I struggled a bit, but they were always there to support me." Bandus co-founders, Aidan Porter and Edward Morgan, created the program after seeing the obstacles Indigenous students face when transitioning from school. "Without this support, students stop pursuing tertiary education and employment," Morgan said, according to the National Indigenous Times. "Its not a lack of motivation or ambition, its uncertainty about what to do and how to do it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bandu provides what Morgan calls "wraparound care" to guide families and students through the process. "Its absolutely crucial that someone is there to bounce ideas off," he added. On Thursday, Morgan and Porter will pitch Bandu to the 10x10 Philanthropy in Sydney, aiming to secure funding and raise awareness. "We need financial support, but more than that, we want to share the stories of our students who are paving the way in their families and communities," Morgan said, according to the National Indigenous Times. CHINA: EU fighting forced labor The European Union has passed regulations prohibiting the sale of products made with forced labor, a step that activists believe could help address the abusive practices affecting Uyghurs in Xinjiang, as well as those occurring in North Korea and other countries around the world, Radio Free Asia reported on Nov. 21. The European Union officially approved the Forced Labor Regulation on Tuesday, marking the culmination of a four-year decision-making process. According to the EU, approximately 27.6 million people worldwide are subjected to forced labor, with most cases occurring in private industries and some imposed by governments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new regulation mandates that all EU members ban the sale of products or components made entirely or partially through forced labor. It will target perverse incentives enabling companies to benefit from forced labor in their supply chains, the EU stated, according to Radio Free Asia. However, effective enforcement will require member nations to significantly expand their capacity to investigate and ban such products, Human Rights Watch noted. The regulation was first proposed in 2020, coinciding with the EUs negotiations on an investment agreement with China. According to Radio Free Asia: The European Parliament decided there was no way it would approve such an agreement as long as the EU didnt address forced labor in the Uyghur region, said Helene de Rengerve, a senior advocate at Human Rights Watch. In response, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the creation of a targeted instrument, leading to this weeks approval. Implementation of the regulation will not begin until 2028. Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, called the decision a big win for human rights activists. Although not country-specific, she emphasized that the rule largely responds to forced labor in the Uyghur region. Wang acknowledged the EUs regulation is weaker than the U.S.s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which presumes forced labor for Xinjiang products unless proven otherwise. Under the UFLPA, companies must demonstrate no links to forced labor, whereas the EU does not make this presumption, she explained. Despite these differences, Wang described the EUs step as significant. The first priority is acknowledging regions at the highest risk of forced labor. Without this acknowledgment, monitoring and enforcement become challenging, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China continues to reject allegations of human rights abuses as interference in its domestic affairs. Nonetheless, Beijing faces growing international criticism for its policies toward Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslim minorities. My final thoughts My final thoughts are in Quebec, where the shocking gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in education access, outcomes and attainment is a failure of systemic equity. That speaks to decades of abandonment and a failure to seize opportunities, especially with so many Indigenous youth age 24 to 35 (31.4 percent) still lacking a diploma or certificate compared with only 9.3 percent of their non-Indigenous counterparts. That inequity is not just a wasted opportunity for Indigenous communities but has also made the province weaker overall by limiting social and economic progress. To address this will take decisive joint effort by both the provincial government and Indigenous leaders, educators and people. They will need to come together to create, and implement an all-encompassing strategy that will work toward closing the education gap. Such a plan would feature clear targets, quantifiable outcomes and procedures of accountability so that progress is both steady and visible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indigenous students are part of a cultural reality that education systems must recognize. The curricula will need to represent their histories, languages and traditions in ways that make these students feel both reflected as well as valued. Training educators with respect to Indigenous realities will make them even better capable of providing culturally sensitive and effective assistance and understanding among peers and staff. More investment is needed in education, especially for programs that provide targeted support services, language instruction, and mentorship. Resources for educational quality should be equitably funded, enabling schools serving Indigenous peoples to deliver a quality education. It will also facilitate pathways by eliminating systemic barriers to post-secondary education, including access to scholarships and a streamlined process for entering programs. Support and scale up self-determined Indigenous education initiatives. Such programs become instrumental in connecting indigenous knowledge with contemporary pedagogical standards, providing students the avenue to excel as both their cultural selves and as successful members of the greater academic community. Not only does bolstering these initiatives benefit Indigenous communities, it strengthens the education system at large. Quebec can no longer afford to sustain this injustice. Our equitable education is a right not a privilege, and addressing these disparities will reinforce the province's social fabric. If we want a future in which students of all backgrounds can thrive and become productive members of a more equitable society, we must take bold, inclusive action now. 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. Nobody can predict the future, but it's not hard to imagine increasing pharmaceutical sales. In 2022, prescription drug spending in the U.S. climbed more than 8% to reach $406 billion. It's a lot but still less than one-third of the amount soaked up by American hospitals. It might not feel like it when you pay the bill, but prescription drugs give healthcare systems a tremendous return on their investment. With this in mind, it's no wonder billionaires are buying up shares of one of America's largest pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Start Your Mornings Smarter! Wake up with Breakfast news in your inbox every market day. Sign Up For Free In the third quarter, Jeff Yass and the Susquehanna fund he manages raised its Pfizer stake to 10.3 million shares. Igor Tulchinsky more than doubled the size of WorldQuant Millennium Advisors' Pfizer stake by purchasing 1.2 million shares. Tulchinsky and Yass make lots of bets every quarter, and many of them don't work out. Before blindly following these billionaires, let's look at some of the reasons Pfizer's stock price has fallen about 49% since the end of 2022. Why Pfizer's been beaten down Shares of Pfizer have been under pressure because the company is getting close to some patent cliffs. The main patent protecting Eliquis, a drug it markets in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, expires in 2026. Sales of the next-generation blood thinner are still on the rise and responsible for about 9% of total revenue. Pfizer has settled with several drug manufacturers that will hold off launching generic versions of Eliquis until April 1, 2028. In the meantime, it could lose exclusivity for Ibrance in the U.S. market in 2027. Ibrance sales are responsible for about 6% of total revenue, and a loss of exclusivity is only part of the problem. The blockbuster breast cancer treatment is already losing market share to similar drugs from Novartis and Eli Lilly, called Kisqali and Verzenio, respectively. Sales of these competitors bounded forward, but Q3 Ibrance sales fell 10% year over year. Pfizer's prostate cancer treatment, Xtandi, earned approval to treat early-stage prostate cancer patients in 2023. Q3 sales shot 28% higher to $561 million, but these gains could evaporate in a few short years. The main U.S. patent protecting Xtandi's exclusivity expires in 2027. Reasons to buy Drug patents don't last very long compared to other forms of intellectual property. Big pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer constantly funnel profits from their present blockbusters toward the next generation of products. Donald Trump is reportedly considering appointing a former staffer he once described as a boring gofer to a top intelligence role. Cliff Sims, who previously worked as White House director of message strategy, is one of two candidates tipped to become deputy CIA director, alongside Kash Patel, who held defence and intelligence roles in Mr Trumps first administration. Mr Sims published a tell-all memoir about the infighting in the first Trump White House called Team of Vipers, and sued the then-president when he tried to enforce a non-disclosure agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politico reports there is bad blood between Mr Sims and Mr Patel as they compete for the number two position at the CIA, one of the most sought-after national security posts which has not yet been filled. Kash Patel is one of two candidates tipped for a top intelligence role - Rebecca Noble/Getty Images North America One figure involved in the transition team said there was a suspicion that Mr Patel was leaking damaging stories about his rival to cement his position. There is also said to be frustration among the Trump team that the pair are taking advantage of their positions as they help interview candidates for the role. The issue that a lot of us have is that these people are involved in staffing national security jobs, and at the same time theyre also promoting themselves for the same roles, one individual told the news outlet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, said the story was 100 per cent false. The fake news is clearly trying to sow division between two of president Trumps most loyal supporters. President Trump is choosing brilliant people to serve on his team, and those decisions will continue to be announced as he makes them, she continued. Sims positive about Trump in memoir Mr Patel has been linked to other potential jobs in the administration including deputy FBI director and a senior role in the justice department. Although Mr Sims was scathing about his former colleagues in his time in the White House, he was positive about Mr Trump, claiming: Its dang near impossible to spend one-on-one time with Donald Trump and not end up liking him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, the then-president lashed out on social media at his former aide following the books publication in January 2019. A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction, Mr Trump wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess! Officials described the president as very ped off and really hopping mad after reading early excerpts and leaks of the book. Mr Sims began legal proceedings against Mr Trump a month later, alleging that his team had sought to enforce non-disclosure agreements he had signed at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit was eventually dropped and Mr Sims, who returned to the administration in an intelligence role, was reconciled with his former boss when Mr Trump realised his coverage in the book was largely positive. 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. Fort Pierce, Florida A collection of 37 gold coins with a combined value estimated at more than $1 million have been recovered after they were stolen by salvagers back in 2015 from a famous 18th century shipwreck off Florida's Treasure Coast, state authorities announced Tuesday. A professional treasure hunter has been charged in connection with the case. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced the recovery in a news release, calling it a "major milestone in a long-standing investigation into the theft and illegal trafficking of these priceless historical artifacts." As required by state and federal law, the recovered artifacts will be returned to their "rightful custodians," the agency added. The suspect, Eric Schmitt, is facing charges of dealing in stolen property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The coins were aboard the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, a convoy of 11 ships filled with treasure from the New World that were lost to a hurricane in July 1715. The shipwreck gave Florida's Treasure Coast its name. Schmitt spoke to "CBS Mornings" in July 2015 after his family's business, Booty Salvage, helped find the coins while searching in shallow waters off the coast of Fort Pierce. Stolen gold coins came from 1715 sunken fleet off Florida's east coast / Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission "It's definitely a passion. You gotta want to do this," Schmitt told CBS News at the time. "...Mostly what we find is garbage on a daily basis beer cans and lead sinkers and bullets." In 2015, members of the Schmitt family, working as contracted salvage operators for a company called "1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels," uncovered 101 gold coins worth $4.5 million, FWC said. Fifty-one of these coins were reported correctly and adjudicated, but 50 coins were not disclosed and were subsequently stolen. FWC investigators, in collaboration with the FBI, launched an investigation on June 10 for the missing coins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Evidence linked Schmitt, to the illegal sale of multiple stolen gold coins between 2023 and 2024, FWC said. Authorities executed multiple search warrants, recovering the stolen coins from private residences, safe deposit boxes and auctions, FWC said. Five stolen coins were reclaimed from a Florida-based auctioneer, who unknowingly purchased them from Schmitt. Advanced digital forensics identified metadata and geolocation data linking Schmitt to a photograph of the stolen coins taken at the Schmitt family condominium in Fort Pierce, officials said. Furthermore, Schmitt took three of the stolen gold coins and placed them on the ocean floor in 2016 to be found by the new investors of Queens Jewels, the agency said. The FWC worked with historical preservation experts, including Mel Fisher-Abt. to authenticate and appraise the recovered artifacts. Booty Crew recovered items from sunken ships in 1517 off Fort Pierce. / Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Investigators are attempting to recover the remaining 13 stolen coins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This case underscores the importance of safeguarding Florida's rich cultural heritage and holding accountable those who seek to profit from its exploitation," FWC Investigator Camille Soverel said in a statement. The gold coins had been minted in Lima, Peru, between 1697 and 1712. Seven days after departing from Havana, Cuba, the 11 ships of the fleet were lost in a hurricane on July 31, 1715, along with at least $400 million worth of gold and jewelry. One of those, ships, Urca de Lima, opened to the public in September 1987 in Fort Pierce and is protected as part of the Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves. For centuries, people have been searching the area for the shipwreck's treasure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CBS News reported in 2015 that the state of Florida gets 20% of the profits of treasure hunting off the top. The Schmitt family, as a subcontractor, was to split the bounty 50-50 with Queens Jewels, LLC, the company that owned the rights to the wreckage at the time. "The more we do this, the bigger the finds we make, so I kind of less believe in luck and more believe in our hard work," Schmitt told CBS News in 2015. Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides New White House rule would make weight loss drugs available for people on Medicare and Medicaid SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)A Texas-based chicken restaurant is extending their stay in the South. Golden Chick opened a new location in Shreveport on Monday. The Golden Chick menu features hand-breaded fried chicken, cripsy tenders, sandwiches, raspberry lemonade, and more. The Shreveport restaurant will have Golden Chicks new regional meal, the Geaux-laden Roast Plate, on the menu. Only available for Louisiana restaurants, the plate includes two pieces of Golden Roast Chicken, a side of dirty rice, and a freshly baked Yeast roll for $6.99, available now through January 31 in-store, online, and on Golden Chicks mobile app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first Shreveport restaurant is located at 6229 Greenwood Road; according to their news release, a second location will open soon. Ono Hawaiian Grill joins Shreveport Downtown restaurant scene Golden Chick has been active within the Texarkana community for years now, but weve now officially crossed the border into Shreveport, said Mark Parmerlee, CEO of Golden Chick. While there has yet to be a physical Golden Chick location in the city, being so close to the Louisiana border has allowed us to build brand familiarity over the years and anticipation from the community for the opening of the restaurant. Were thrilled to give Shreveport a taste of Golden Chick! For something zesty or sweet, Golden Chick is highlighting its limited-time-only Lemon Pepper Wings and Churros for Charity now through Dec. 31 with 50 cents from each order of the crispy dessert being donated to select schools around every location. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout December 10, Golden Chicken will continue its grand opening celebrations, during which guests can win an RTIC cooler and have a photo opportunity with the Golden Chick mascot, Clucky. Golden Chick has locations in Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Sulphur, Louisiana. For more information, you can follow their social media. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg US consumers face significant consequences from President-elect Donald Trumps proposed tariffs on Canada, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., with the bank casting doubt over its implementation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 25% levy on all products from Canada proposed by Trump would likely raise the price of fuels in the US, Daan Struyven, the head of commodities research for Goldman, said during a roundtable interview. The tactic is reminiscent of the first Trump term and could be a negotiating tool, he added. Tariffs could in theory lead to some pretty significant consequences for three groups of people: US consumers, US refiners, and Canadian producers, he said on Wednesday. Given the focus from Trump to lower energy costs, we think Canada tariffs are somewhat unlikely. The US imports almost 4 million barrels of Canadian crude a day, which allows American producers to export more of their own oil. The chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said tariffs would result in higher gasoline and energy costs for US consumers. Other points from the briefing include: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iranian oil flows are at risk from tightening of sanctions OPEC appears to be defending a price floor of $70 a barrel OECD inventories are 4% lower than historical average levels China and the US could continue to refill their strategic stockpiles Goldman reiterated its 2025 Brent oil forecast of $76 a barrel Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Despite initially selecting Tuesday nights meeting to vote on a recently strengthened version of Good Cause Eviction legislation, Rochester City Council President Miguel Melendez announced that vote will now be pushed back to December. I believe it is important to act in December so that my Council colleagues can vet the full package of resolutions in coordination with the report, and with that due diligence, give this important legislation their full consideration, Melendez announced. Earlier this month, Rochester City Council released a new report, offering an updated version of the Good Cause Eviction legislation that was initially introduced back in June. The new version redefines a small landlord, who would be exempt from this legislation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the state, a small landlord is defined as someone who owns 10 units or less. When Rochesters initial proposal came through City Council, that exemption was criticized by some advocates who said it would leave a good percentage of the city out of these protections. The new report recommended dropping that number from ten to one for the City of Rochester. Rochester City Council report details refined Good Cause Eviction legislation Currently, nine cities in New York State have what we call the strongest version of Good Cause Eviction allowed by law, said Oscar Brewer, a local housing advocate. All units are covered. Theres no LOC (Letter of Credit) loophole. LOC loophole: A landlord can hide properties on their LOC and say, I dont have ten units I only got one unit. Were not bashing landlords; were just asking for basic tenant rights. Housing advocates rallied outside Rochester City Hall Tuesday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Tuesday nights vote was officially pushed back to December at the direction of Melendez, not every city councilmember agreed with that decision. In a statement released Tuesday night by councilmembers Stanley Martin, Mary Lupien and Kim Smith, they called the move disappointing and frustrating. Since our body came together to unanimously introduce Good Cause in June, over 300 families have faced evictions that could have been prevented by the passage of Good Cause, nearly 100 more since our October Council meeting. The lack of urgency by the Council President around protecting families and keeping them in their homes, especially as we enter the holiday season, is especially hard to sit with, they announced. Landlords in our area who News 8 has spoken with in the past on the matter remain split. Freedom First Real Estate Investors Association President Matt Drouin said these protections would do more harm than good. The proposed legislation does nothing to positively improve housing affordability or to improve housing quality in our community. It does have an immense amount of impact on public safety and quality of life because it essentially makes evictions due to tenants staying beyond their agreed upon contract date illegal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If there is a tenant that exhibits behavior, behavior such as drug dealing and domestic violence/disturbance the only realistic way for a landlord to remove that tenant is through holdover eviction. Otherwise, under Good Cause, it would require a landlord to build a civil case admissible in court against a bad tenant. Good Cause Eviction, according to its supporters, aims to protect renters from rate hikes, unfair evictions and guarantee lease renewals to those who pay rent on time. Rochester City Council is expected to put it up for a vote during its Dec. 17 meeting. Should it pass, Melendez said he intends to create a task force to oversee its implementation in the city and create an educational campaign for city residents to fully understand what it means. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. A Republican running to fill a soon-to-be-vacant seat in the House of Representatives appeared to threaten the chambers only two Muslim women Tuesday, telling them they should consider leaving before I get there. In a message to Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Florida state Sen. Randy Fine added the cryptic hashtag #BombsAway. Fine is running to replace Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who is set to step down in Floridas 6th Congressional District to be President-elect Donald Trumps national security adviser. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has endorsed him in the race. The Hebrew Hammer is coming, Fine, who is Jewish, tweeted of his candidacy for the House, addressing the remarks at Tlaib and Omar, who he added, might consider leaving before I get there. #BombsAway Tlaib, the only member of Congress of Palestinian descent, and Omar have been critical of Israels 13-month siege of Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 attacks last year. Both have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the conflict and criticized the number of casualties. Local officials said most recently that 44,000 have died in the Israel-Hamas war and, earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that roughly 70 percent of those who have been killed are women and children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fine is a staunch supporter of Israel and also has a history of making crass remarks about Muslims. Earlier this year, he referred to Muslim occupiers when mentioning the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, praising Israelis who stormed the holy site. He accused President Joe Biden of hiring Muslim terrorists to work IN the White House because he appointed a man of Palestinian descent, former diplomat and UN worker Maher Bitar, to work on intelligence policy. Fine has repeatedly called Biden, who has transferred billions of dollars in military funding to Israel, Jihad Joe. Last year, Fine said a person would be a fool not to fear American Muslims. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Republican has recently run afoul of a court for his behavior. In October, a Florida judge found him in contempt for making obscene gestures, including giving the middle finger and mouthing expletives during a virtual court hearing that took place in August. A screenshot contained in court records from the Brevard County Clerk of the Court shows Florida state Sen. Randy Fine giving the finger to a virtual court hearing. He also wore a t-shirt for one of his past runs for office during the hearing, which was for a case in which a critic of Fine tried to have him removed from a GOP leadership race ballot. The case was later dismissed. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Tuesday that Hollywood figures who call Americans ignorant for voting for President-elect Trump are goofy and have an unwarranted sense of superiority. In an interview on Fox Newss Hannity, host Sean Hannity asked Kennedy for a response to what he described as a lot of the Hollywood elite calling the American people deliberately ignorant, pointing to recent comments from Alec Baldwin and Sharon Stone. Heres what I think. I think these people are goofy. They have the right to their opinion, but they are just goofy, Kennedy said in response. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They hate George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head, he continued. They think our kids ought to be able to change genders at recess. They carry around Ziploc bags of kale to give themselves energy. To me to each his own to me, kale tastes like Id rather be fat, Kennedy added. Kennedy suggested celebrities making those comments are out of touch with reality. Now, these people are entitled to their opinion, but they have an unwarranted sense of moral and intellectual superiority, Kennedy said. They think they are smarter and more virtuous than the American people. And they think were not real people. But we were, and we are real people, and in this last election, we got real mad, and we sent a message clearly, unequivocally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And my message to all my friends and my enemies in America is, happy Thanksgiving and stay deplorable, my friend, Kennedy added, in a nod to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons damaging campaign line from 2016. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill into law that will ban Ohios students from using school restrooms that dont align with their sex assigned at birth. DeWine announced his decision Wednesday after the Ohio Senate voted on Nov. 13 to concur with the Ohio House and pass the legislation. The ban had previously stood on its own as House Bill 183 and was folded into Senate Bill 104, which amends Ohios College Credit Plus program, when the House approved the bill in June. S.B. 104 requires academic institutions to set separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations based on students biological sex, meaning the sex listed on a students birth certificate. The bill, which also prohibits the construction of any all-gendered restrooms in schools, will go into effect in 90 days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ACLU of Ohio has long argued against S.B. 104s harmful anti-trans provisions, and said the bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender. S.B. 104 is a cruel invasion of students rights to privacy, which could result in unwarranted governmental disclosures of private, personal information, said Jocelyn Rosnick, ACLU of Ohio policy director. All Ohioans deserve to access the facilities they need, in alignment with their gender identity, without fear of harassment or bullying. Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, said Wednesday S.B. 104 puts vulnerable trans kids at risk for abuse and harassment, and that this legislation has been built off of propaganda about trans communities. Were going to see a lot of youth who are going to be terribly impacted, especially as theyre going back to be with families that may not be accepting, said Steward. And this law is sadly exacerbating that issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), one of S.B. 104s primary sponsors, argues the bill protects women and noted it allows for certain accommodations, such as allowing students to use single-use restrooms. The bill also includes exemptions for custodians or an individual responding to an emergency to enter a restroom that does not align with their sex, for children under age of 10 being assisted by a parent or guardian, and for a person with a disability who is being assisted. [The bill] addressed the concern from many Ohio parents about their local schools allowing the opposite sex into shared restrooms or locker rooms, said Brenner. I support protecting women, and our daughters, by simply providing the specific facilities reserved for them. Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) said Wednesday he took initiative to propose the bill after he heard from constituents and school superintendents who want protection for their students in restrooms. I dont think its compassion to affirm someones confusion, Bird said of those who say the bill is anti-trans. Gender dysphoria is a real thing, and we need to be compassionate with people who are experiencing that. And its not compassionate to affirm the confusion that they may be feeling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senator Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati) said she originally supported S.B. 104 when the legislation focused solely on improving the states College Credit Plus Program. By amending the bill to include the bathroom provision, Ingram said the Statehouse is making an entire group of individuals feel less safe by ostracizing them. When I chose to co-sponsor this bill, it was about College Credit Plus, and of course, I was hoping there would be additional modifications focusing on the disparity of accessibility of this program, said Ingram. I had to take my name off this legislation because the Republican caucus has decided to again amend in harmful legislation that has nothing to do with the original intent of this bill. Sen. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) argued it is common sense policy to allow only biological males to be able to use only male bathrooms and biological females to be able to use only female bathrooms. I voted to protect our school children across Ohio by ensuring biological males do not use the same restroom with girls, said Antani. This is common sense policy that will ensure the safety and security of our school children. No young girl should be forced to go into the same restroom with a biological male. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Gov. Reynolds says Lt. Gov pick coming soon, discusses banning phones in schools DES MOINES, Iowa On Tuesday morning Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds pardoned two turkeys named Caitlin and Clark at the governors residence at Terrace Hill. After the annual event, the governor answered questions from local reporters about the lieutenant governor vacancy, the prospect of banning phones in schools and the incoming Trump administration. Gov. Reynolds said that shes done with interviews in the search for the states new second-in-command. Former Lt. Gov Adam Gregg left the office in early September to become the new President and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Really soon, in the next couple of weeks probably, well have a decision for you, said Reynolds. Im not going to give you the number that weve interviewed, but weve talked to several people. Reynolds wouldnt comment on if the pick would be traditional or not for her lieutenant governor. She also discussed the election results from earlier this month leaving both chambers in Iowas Legislative body with super majorities for the Iowa GOP. Reynolds went on record saying that she would introduce a bill to do something about phone use in school buildings. What to expect for Thanksgiving travel weather Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to just give a lot of respect to the really large number of school districts that have already implemented the policies, that have listened to the parents, that have listened to the educators that are in the classroom, you know, every day with these kids and they see the distractions, said Reynolds. So, I want to supplement that and enhance that. I dont want to really step on anything that theyve done. So, itll probably be more of a floor is what were looking at. The governor added examples that other schools are exercising for limiting phone use, one was only allowing students to be on phones during the lunch hour; another was from arrival to dismissal phones were not allowed to be out. Once the new session starts at the beginning of 2025, Iowa families will have a better idea of what this policy could look like. In national political talking points, Reynolds said the Trump Administration should do what it can before taking office to curb illegal immigration, approving of Trumps talk of using tariffs on imports from China, Mexico and Canada. And so hes, because hes not the president, hes the president-elect. Hes using every vise that he can to say, this is going to stop, were going to go back to where it was when I was president before, were going to secure the border and were going to put policies or executive orders in place that does that. Those are the same policies that on day one, President Biden and Harris completely eliminated, said Reynolds. And you can see the results of that. And so, you know, until he is sworn in, hes got to do what he can to help deter another huge migration of illegal immigrants into this country. And so, you know, well see how it works, but thats, Im sure thats what hes trying to do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reynolds did not mention how the tariffs may impact the Iowa farmer or consumer. Latest Iowa News: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. There aren't as many famous brands in the financial sector as in, say, consumer electronics. Finance tends to be a fairly straightforward without cool new products. There are exceptions, though, and payment card giant Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is one of the very few. Mastercard's fame comes from its ubiquity as the No. 2 payment card brand (behind leader Visa) on the planet. Millions of Americans have at least one Mastercard credit or debit card in their possession, and this monster presence makes the company powerful and important. Yet its popularity has slipped a bit recently after its share price peaked just north of $530. Let's explore whether this relative weakness makes its stock a buy now. Start Your Mornings Smarter! Wake up with Breakfast news in your inbox every market day. Sign Up For Free Great growth and mighty margins Although Mastercard (like Visa) is often referred to as a credit card company, that isn't entirely appropriate. Yes, its branding adorns many such instruments, so many people assume it is the entity also issuing the credit packed into them. Mastercard is not, in fact, the issuer -- outside entities, typically banks, are the ones providing the credit. Mastercard is responsible for processing the transactions, and shifting the funds where they need to go. Since it doesn't have to trouble itself with evaluating and monitoring creditworthiness, Mastercard (and Visa too, while we're at it) can be a relatively lean operation managing those particulars. It takes a small slice of every purchase for this work. That makes for a powerful and high-margin business, since there are a vast number of Mastercard transactions being made globally 24/7. Last year the company reaped more than $25 billion in revenue on these tiny slices; this gives you an idea of just how huge its business is these days. That number is only set to grow, in both the immediate and long-range future. We're in the midst of a long-term consumer transition from cash purchases to those made by other means, most notably payment cards. The U.S. is far along with this transition, but in more traditional parts of the world it's taking more time. Regardless, when folks change their habits from physical currency to plastic, Mastercard is often the beneficiary. This makes Mastercard -- and, again, Visa -- a mighty company in an enviable position, as an already high-margin business facing years of bottom-up growth from a social trend. The company's performance bears this out. In the third quarter it collected $7.4 billion in net revenue, which was 13% higher on a year-over-year basis. Non-GAAP (adjusted and not compliant with generally accepted accounting principles) net profit increased even more, notching a 15% gain to $3.6 billion. It's worth noting that the resulting net margin was a very substantial 49%. Donald Trump's new DOGE commission, tasked with cutting spending, has floated laying off federal workers. Government employees said they were preparing by networking and freshening their resumes. Amid the concerns with DOGE, some employees said there could be benefits to its aims. Federal employees are reporting mixed feelings about President-elect Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency and its ideas to cut costs by laying off workers and enforcing return-to-office mandates. Some are worried, some are optimistic, and most are considering their other career options, 10 people who spoke with Business Insider said. Most asked for anonymity for fear of professional repercussions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're just workers. We work in a nonpartisan way," one Department of Health and Human Services employee said, adding that they were nervous, especially because they recently bought a home. "It kind of feels like we're being villainized." On the other hand, Jesus Soriano, who's been a program director at the National Science Foundation for 13 years and is president of the agency's American Federation of Government Employees union, said that while employees were scared, there were "reasons for optimism with DOGE." Trump said his picks to lead the unofficial commission, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, "are technologists." "They have both of them in their own fields translated science into products that have tremendous impact on the public and that contribute to America being a preeminent powerhouse," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk is the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and other various companies, and Ramaswamy started a tech-focused pharmaceutical company called Roivant Sciences. In the wake of the DOGE Commission, many government workers said they were updating their resumes, networking more, or assessing new career options regardless of their political beliefs. "Everyone is putting their ducks in a row," a Department of Housing and Urban Development administrative worker of 10 years who worked under Trump's first term told BI. "You can't be lackadaisical, regardless that the government may take forever to do something. You better be one step ahead at all times." While it's still unclear how exactly DOGE would cut government spending, Musk and Ramaswamy have pledged to eliminate some government agencies, which could mean laying off thousands of federal workers, and compel others who have been working from home to return to the office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal government is the largest employer in the US, paying more than 2 million civilian workers. The Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Defense are among the top employers, with workers earning average salaries near $100,000. Just under half of all workers across 24 agencies were telework-eligible as of May 2024, according to an Office of Management and Budget report. "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," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote about their cost-cutting plans in a recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. Brian Hughes, a Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, told BI the administration "will have a place for people serving in government who are committed to defending the rights of the American people, putting America first, and ensuring the best use of working men and women's tax dollars." He didn't offer any details on cuts. Soriano, the National Science Foundation program director, said government workers were "still scared." He said five colleagues he'd talked to were actively seeking new jobs or opting to retire. Increased efficiency is a welcomed idea. In-office mandates, not so much. Trimming government spending and improving efficiency is an idea often discussed on both sides of the political spectrum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Ronald Reagan pursued a similar goal with the Grace Commission, a team of 160 private-sector executives who proposed more than 2,000 cost-cutting measures. President Bill Clinton also attempted to reduce federal spending and improve government efficiency with the National Performance Review, led by federal employees. The efforts had mixed results. Many proposals from the Grace Commission that relied on congressional acts didn't end up happening, while executive orders were successful in reducing the head count of federal workers. Clinton's panel similarly succeeded in cutting 300,000 federal workers but managed to get only a quarter of proposals that required legislative action through Congress. An operations manager at the US Postal Service who has worked in the department for 27 years told BI every company had inefficiencies, and "that's what we all strive to decrease." He has concerns, however, about people stepping in to make suggestions for the Postal Service without having "tribal knowledge" of the department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If you're just going to be appointed to this type of commission or committee with no knowledge of what exactly the Postal Service does, then that could potentially be a problem," he said. DOGE's intent to eliminate remote work is also a concern for some workers. The HUD employee, who'd been working remotely, said return-to-office enforcement would "absolutely" be enough to cause them to resign. They're preparing for layoffs under DOGE by looking at other employment opportunities, and they said their colleagues at HUD were taking similar steps. Joyce Howell, an attorney at the Environmental Protection Agency who's been at the agency for more than 31 years and serves as executive vice president of its AFGE union said the incoming administration had stoked concern about layoffs at the EPA and fears that its mission could be compromised. "We have town halls once a month, and we've actually broken our Zoom account in terms of the number of people attending," she said of union meetings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in the Journal op-ed that the commission would target more than $500 billion in what they called unauthorized government spending. They said federal employees who were laid off would be offered early retirement. At a town hall in October, Musk said he would consider giving laid-off workers up to two years' severance. An employee at the Food and Drug Administration said it wasn't that easy: "We're here to support a mission. We have families to feed, and it's not as easy as just quitting our jobs," the FDA employee said. "We're just normal, everyday people we're being portrayed as inefficient, lazy people," they added. "It feels like they're coming for us just for their own agenda, not realizing that we're the backbone of the federal government." Another federal-government lifer said many workers like them people who'd been there for years were nervous they might be the first to go. The career tenure of a median federal government worker was 6.5 years in 2024, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, well above the median 3.5 years private workers have spent in their roles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One senior official at the Commerce Department said they anticipated a civil-servant brain drain. "The scientists are the most concerned," the official said, with those in climate, meteorology, and environmental science particularly worried. The Department of Education has meanwhile been singled out as an entire agency that could be on the chopping block. Sheria Smith, the president of the AFGE union at the Department of Education and a civil rights attorney at the agency, said department elimination was "on the lower end of concerns" because it would take time and need to go through Congress. Rather, being turned into a "Schedule F" workforce, which allows government agencies to reclassify workers and remove certain protections that make them easier to fire, could mean employees who aren't "aligned with the executive wholly" could be laid off based on performance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And given the widespread denigration of the Education Department and return-to-office threats, people are most likely looking for other work. "I'd be surprised if they weren't," Smith said. Are you a federal worker willing to share your story? Contact these reporters at aaltcheck@businessinsider.com, asheffey@businessinsider.com, jkaplan@businessinsider.com, and gweiss@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider Transgender students from kindergarten through college at Ohio public and private schools will be banned from using multiperson bathrooms that fit their gender identities under a new bill signed into law on Wednesday by Gov. Mike DeWine. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] DeWine signed Senate Bill 104 into law on Wednesday. The bill amends enacts the Protect All Students Act, which requires public and private schools, colleges and universities to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations for the exclusive use of either males and females, based on ones gender assigned at or near birth, in school buildings and other facilities used for school-sponsored events. It contains no enforcement mechanism. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DeWine signed the bill over the objections of Democrats, teachers unions, and civil rights groups, the Associated Press reported. The ACLU of Ohio was among the groups that had lobbied for a veto, condemning the measure as a violation of the right of privacy of LGBTQ+ Ohioans that will make them less safe, according to the Associated Press. It revolves around safety, security, and, I think, common sense. It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable, state Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), the bills co-sponsor, said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Water cascades from a fountain on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at Southern University in Baton Rouge. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator) Gov. Jeff Landry has chosen career prosecutor Tony Clayton as chairman of the Southern University System Board of Supervisors, a role hes previously held on the panel. Tony Clayton Clayton, who will become chair effective Jan. 1, is the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, which encompasses Iberville, West Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee parishes. Hes held the elected position since 2020, before which he worked with the office as first assistant and chief of felony trials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to that, he worked in the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorneys office and was a Louisiana Supreme Court-appointed judge for the 19th Judicial District. Clayton is also founding partner in a Port Allen law firm. The governor counts Clayton among his allies in his push for stricter criminal justice measures, with Clayton appearing several times before legislative panels in support of Landrys proposals. I have known Tony for a long time and there is no one better suited for this position, the governor said in a statement. As a graduate of Southern University, he knows exactly what it takes to bring the Universitys education to a higher standard and properly train students for the workforce. I look forward to his great work. Governor Landry is serious about education, and bringing education to a higher standard in Louisiana. I stand ready to implement this agenda and grow Southern Universitys education and workforce standards, Clayton said in the same statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clayton graduated from Southern University in 1988 and from its law school in 1991. He will lead the 16-member board that oversees the main campus in Baton Rouge and satellite schools in New Orleans and Shreveport. Clayton replaces current chair Myron Lawson, a Baton Rouge insurance broker who has sat on the Southern University System board since 1998. Claytons appointment is the latest for Landry under a law approved earlier this year that gives him discretion to choose state commission and higher education board leaders on his own SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX While not releasing details, Gov. Kim Reynolds said she plans to introduce legislation in 2025 to restrict cell phone usage by students in Iowa classrooms. (Stock photo from Westend61 via Getty Images) Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to propose banning cellphones in Iowa K-12 schools as a top priority heading into the upcoming 2025 legislative session. The governor first announced her intent to bring up the issue in the January 2025 Condition of the State address last week during an interview with the Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau. Speaking at Terrace Hill Tuesday, Reynolds said she did not have a finalized proposal on restricting cellphones in schools, but that she plans to work with schools and school districts that have already implemented similar policies on what a statewide measure would look like. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several school districts around the state, including Ankeny, Ames, Dallas Center-Grimes and Ottumwa school districts, have implemented differing levels of cellphone bans. Some restrict phones in schools for the entire day, while others restrict their presence in classrooms. Other districts, including Des Moines and Iowa City, are considering similar proposals, with the Des Moines School Board scheduled Tuesday to discuss policy banning cellphones in classrooms. Reynolds said she wants to give a lot of respect to the districts, educators and parents that have already done work on this issue across the state in finding the best policy for their schools. Theres been different variations, so whatever I put forward, I want to make sure that Im respecting the hard work thats already gone into place by the school districts that have stepped up and implemented it, and really the process that they went through to do that, the governor said. So I want to supplement that and enhance that, I dont want to really step on anything that theyve done. So itll probably be more of a floor, is what were looking at, but just to encourage people to move in that direction. Multiple states already have laws in place restricting cellphone use in schools. KFF Health News reported in September that eight states have such policies in state law. Indiana, Florida and Louisianas state laws have already been implemented heading into the 2024-2025 school year, while Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio and South Carolina will be implemented in 2025. California also passed a law that is set to go into effect in 2026. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another nine states have pilot programs or had their state education departments recommend policies banning or restricting cellphone use in schools. Twelve additional states, including Iowa, have considered statewide policies banning cellphones in schools during previous legislative sessions. These policies have gained traction on a national level as educators report struggling to control phone usage in the classroom, as well as studies showing links between social media use and higher rates of depression and anxiety among adolescents. Reynolds said many communities and parents have advocated for school cellphone restrictions and she has heard positive stories about higher student engagement from schools that have implemented these policies. Even at schools that allow students to use their phones over lunch periods, Reynolds said there are stories that many students are no longer taking out their phones. They really, really are starting to reconnect with the (other) kids and being kids, Reynolds said. And thats what they, you know, should be doing. They should be learning while theyre in the classroom, that should be where their full attention is at. And when theyre with the kids in the lunchroom or whatever, during the breaks then talk. Lets get back to communicating and having a conversation with each other. Weve gotten so far away from that, I think thats part of the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Skyler Wheeler, the House Education Committee chair, did not say whether he or other GOP House lawmakers would support a cellphone ban policy, but that the caucus would consider the issue in 2025. House Republicans look forward to discussing this issue this session, Wheeler said in a statement. We want to make sure we discuss this with all stakeholders, including parents, and ensure the learning environment is as focused on education as possible. What Were Tracking Chilly Thanksgiving Day Cold weekend ahead Few snow showers on Saturday As the rain continues to move out of northeast Kansas, temperatures will fall into the mid-20s. We will hang onto a fair amount of clouds over night with a gradual clearing by early morning. Winds will be from the northwest and could gust up to 25 mph. Todays system brought a blast of even colder air for the holiday. Thanksgiving itself should remain mostly dry as of now, but temperatures will suffer as we struggle to even get out of the upper 30s. By Friday morning, low could drop into the upper teens, definitely a cold one for those planning on Black Friday shopping! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another quick-passing system could bring a few snow showers to the area on Saturday. Right now, the best chance for that will over our northern and northeastern counties. KSNT Storm Track Ashton Rizzo Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GREENVILLE, Texas (KETK) An officer was killed in the line of duty on Monday, the Greenville Police Department said. Bullard man admits to having 2-year-old stepson in vehicle while delivering narcotics, officials say The police department, located east of Dallas, announced that at around 7:40 p.m. Officer Cooper Dawson conducted a traffic stop that led to a pursuit in the 3500 block of Pickett Street. While the suspect ran, Dawson was ambushed and shot multiple times. Picture of Officer Cooper Dawson Despite his critical condition, Dawson allegedly returned fire and hit the suspect. Dawson and the suspect were taken to Hunt County Regional Hospital. Later, Dawson was airlifted to Medical City Plano, where he died of his injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dawsons death marks the first line of duty death for the Greenville Police Department in more than 100 years. The department said Dawson was a highly respected member and his dedication to public service and commitment to protecting the community will never be forgotten. Injuries reported after UT Tyler stairwell collapse We are heartbroken over the loss of Officer Cooper Dawson, who selflessly put his life on the line to serve and protect our community, Greenville Police Chief Chris Smith said. We ask that you keep Officer Dawsons family, our department and the Greenville community in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. Details regarding memorial services and how to support Dawsons family is expected to be released in the coming days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A press conference was held on Tuesday at around 4:30 p.m. At the request of the police department, Texas Department of Public Safety is also investigating the shooting. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) On Tuesday, a group asked a Davidson County judge to pause a rule that would essentially ban hemp flower in the state. The petition asked a Chancery Court judge to pause putting the rule into effect until pending legal challenges to play out. All fresh grown, organically grown, flower, said Rodney Croteau, Owner of Green Daisy in Franklin, showing News 2 some of the products he sells. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS: New hemp rule could leave industry in ashes, farmers, retailers say If you have a question about the business, Croteau is the guy to ask. Green Daisy is a family-owned business run by Croteau, his wife and his son. They started the business five years ago after his wife went through health problems. Croteau said a majority of their customers tell him they use the products for health reasons. Lately, though, hes asked himself why and how he would move forward if a new rule goes into effect. Flowers and vapes [are] a significant portion of my business and most of us in this industry, Croteau said. It will, quite frankly, put a lot of people in jeopardy of losing their businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rule, announced in September, prohibits products with more than 0.3% THC-A. When burned, THC-A turns into THC, the chemical that produces a high. Over a third of my business sales is from these products THC-A flower and a lot of the vapes, so its a significant impact that will obviously impact us tremendously from a financial standpoint, Croteau added. And more importantly, my folks, my customers that rely on this medicine for various health issues. Hemp growers have also said the rule would have harsh consequences. In the petition filed on Tuesday, Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association explained those in the industry would suffer irreparable harm. Further, the petition contends that many would be forced to go out of business, and others will have to lay off much of their workforce. This overreach with the THC-A flower is just a way of trying to ban a lot of these good products that these people need, Croteau added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, lawmakers went back and forth on the issue. House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said all the rules are necessary in order to ensure consumers are protected. We wanted products to be available out there that are hemp-derived that, quite frankly, is not like what I see on the billboards now, [that say] Real weed: buy it now in Tennessee.' Lamberth said at the time. Middle Tennessee law enforcement agencies ramp up presence to combat retail theft Lawmakers hashed out the controversial rule for hours, but concluded they wouldnt have the power to toss out one singular rule without getting rid of all the others until the next legislative session. However, owners like Croteau said that there are regulations in place to make sure the industry doesnt get out of hand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve put common sense things in place like child-proof packaging, Croteau said. You cant have certain types of images [or] anything that would appeal to children. Edibles is really the risky area when it comes to kids and access and the regulations they are putting in place [are] going to restrict that. Retailers await the the judges decision before the rule takes effect in late December. In the meantime, Green Daisy is taking donations to help with the court battle, which they said would happen should the rule go into effect. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. HIDEOUT, Utah (ABC4) Deputies with the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office say they have recovered the gun believed to be used to kill a 61-year-old man in a road rage incident near the Jordanelle Reservoir about two months ago. Patrick L. Hayes was found dead on the morning of Sept. 26 under what authorities called suspicious circumstances. Hayes was reportedly found near the Ross Creek Trailhead outside of his car on the shoulder of the freeway. Based on the ongoing investigation, the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office said Hayes appeared to have been involved in a road rage incident. Detectives believe Hayes may have left his car, approached another vehicle with a metal baton and pocket knife in hand and aggressively called out the other driver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ultimately, the driver of the second vehicle appears to have shot and killed Mr. Hayes, the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office said in an update to the investigation. At this time, we are analyzing evidence as to whether Mr. Hayes was attempting to enter the vehicle. While authorities have recovered the gun believed to be used, investigators did not disclose where the gun was found. Investigators with the Wasatch County Sheriffs Office said they have submitted further evidence to the State Crime Lab for analysis. Investigators are reportedly investigating all possible crimes and considering all defenses related to Hayes death, including homicide and the possibility of self-defense. Importantly, our hearts go out to the family and friends of Mr. Hayes. They have been cooperative, kind, and helpful throughout the investigation, the Wasatch County Sherrifs Office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wasatch County Sheriffs Office did not provide any further information, saying they would provide another update once the results of the evidence analysis is 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. Shoppers across Gwinnett County can expect to see more police officers and patrol vehicles in and around malls and shopping centers this holiday season. The Gwinnett County Police Department has ramped up its holiday patrols, a long-standing tradition, but with a renewed emphasis on visibility this year. Were asking more officers to participate in this detail, said Sgt. Collin Flynn. We want people who may be here for any illegal purpose to know, Hey, the police are here. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Police told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that the goal of the enhancement detail is simple: prevent crime before it happens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shoppers are likely to notice police cars parked in highly visible locations at popular spots like the Mall of Georgia, Sugarloaf Mills and The Shoppes at Webb Gin. Sgt. Brett Shirley emphasizes that the sight of officers doesnt necessarily mean a crime has occurred. Instead, its a proactive measure. Were keeping an eye out for anything thats suspicious, Shirley said. If we are on the scene and see it in progress, then hopefully we can catch the subject. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police are also educating shoppers on how to avoid becoming a victim. Police caution against loading expensive items in cars and making them visible to potential thieves. At the end of the day, youre making yourself a target when you do that for someone who may break into the car, said Sgt. Flynn. At the Mall of Georgia, the additional police patrols come on top of additional off-duty officers and in-house security guards. Any opportunity we have to strengthen our relationship with Gwinnett County police were happy to be part of it, said Erika Bridges, a Mall of Georgia spokesperson. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese automaker BYD is asking its suppliers to cut their prices, in a sign that a brutal price war in the world's largest auto market is set to escalate. Citing a leaked email dated Nov. 26 from BYD, Chinese digital news outlet thepaper.cn reported on Wednesday that the Chinese electric vehicle giant had asked one unidentified supplier to reduce its prices by 10% from Jan. 1. Reuters was unable to verify the email, screenshots of which were widely shared on social media. BYD did not respond to a request for comment. However, a BYD executive on Wednesday said on his Weibo account that the Chinese automaker sets price reduction targets for suppliers when making large-scale purchases. These were negotiable and not mandatory, he added. "Annual price negotiations with suppliers are a common practice in the automotive industry," BYD's Brand and Public Relations Department general manager Li Yunfei said in his post. He did not refer to the leaked email. BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war that Tesla started in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles, even though most of BYD's cars are sold in China. BYD topped Chinas auto sales rankings with a 15.8% share of the overall market in the first nine months, while its sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids accounted for more than a third of the countrys total, industry data showed. BYD was second only to the combined sales of VW's two joint ventures in China last year. A separate news report by the China Securities Journal newspaper published on Wednesday said that SAIC Motor's Maxus unit had also sent a letter to its suppliers this week asking them to help it reduce costs by 10% to cope with the price war and oversupply in the market. SAIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. (Reporting by Liz Lee, Beijing newsroom and Brenda Goh; Editing by Sonali Paul, Saad Sayeed and Kim Coghill) SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Habitat for Humanitys Home for the Holidays Gala will be held on Friday, December 6. The organization is one of the oldest nonprofit ministries, creating a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Here at home, the Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity celebrates 41 years of bringing people together to build homes, community and hope. Zerik Samples, Chief Executive Officer of Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity and Corine Ackerson-Jones, 2024 Gala Chairwoman, join WSAVs Tina Tyus-Shaw for a look ahead at the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For more information on the Home for the Holidays Gala, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. The rules update pitted school administrators and board members against the State Board of Education and the Department of Education. (Dana Wormald | New Hampshire Bulletin) After a two-year process, lawmakers approved a broad package of state rules last week governing how public schools should operate. But many public school educators say they arent happy. Known as the minimum standards for public school approval, the rules govern virtually every aspect of public school administration, from class sizes to curriculum requirements. They must be updated every 10 years or they will expire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This years update has divided lawmakers along party lines and pitted school administrators and board members against the State Board of Education and the Department of Education. The department, which crafted the rules, says they provide flexibility for school districts around curriculum and other areas, and create new opportunities for innovative types of learning in public schools. Critics who include teachers unions, the New Hampshire School Administrators Association, and the New Hampshire School Boards Association say the rules dilute the states curriculum requirements for schools by removing some specific mandates. That could pave the way for schools in lower-income, higher property tax towns to cut back on instruction in order to contain costs, critics say. Our specific concerns remain as well including the removal of class size maximums, the removal of subject area requirements, and inconsistent application of competency terminology and differentiated instruction, wrote the Manchester Board of School Committee in a Sept. 23 letter to the State Board of Education asking that it reject the latest changes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR) met Thursday and approved the final rules on a party-line vote, with Republicans voting in favor of the rules and Democrats opposing them. Heres a guide to major changes in the rules. A focus on competency-based instruction Under the new rules, high school students will still need 20 credits in order to graduate. But the types of classes and the way in which they are assessed will be slightly different. According to the current rules, in order to pass a course, a student must demonstrate knowledge and skills on an assessment approved either by the school district or the Department of Education if no school district exists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new rules have different metrics: Students could complete either a collection of evidence demonstrating their achievement of competency, or an assessment approved by the school district or state department. The approach adheres to a broader philosophy held by the National Center for Competency-Based Learning, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New Hampshire that has advised the Department of Education under a contract and helped craft the new rules. The centers president, Fred Bramante, joined State Board of Education members for a series of listening sessions across the state in 2023 to talk about the competency-based approach and explain its benefits. Moving forward, the rules echo the philosophy: Credits shall be awarded for achievement of competencies. Credits shall not be awarded based on time spent achieving these competencies. Bramante says the format will ensure that instruction is thorough and not constrained to an assessment or a number of hours of class time. But some educators have complained that the approach is not always feasible for every schools budget, and that the standards for what counts as competency can be vague. Expansion of extended learning opportunities The new rules also include a greater emphasis on extended learning opportunities, part of a policy shift in recent years that aligns with the school choice movement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Extended learning opportunities (ELOs) allow students to obtain credits for classes outside of the school classroom. A program known as Learn Everywhere implemented in 2020 allows the State Board of Education to approve programs that can count toward credits, without the power for local school boards to override the decision. And while the current rules include a basic requirement for school boards to pass policies laying out how the school district will engage with students on creating and supporting ELOs, the new rules go into more detail over how the school district should implement ELOs. The use of the word opportunity extends beyond ELOs; in the section of the new rules outlining middle school and high school curriculum requirements, subject areas and courses are referred to as learning opportunities. The new rules require school boards to require a program of studies with learning opportunities offered to high school students in arts education, English language arts, mathematics, science, and a number of other common subjects. State Board Chairman Drew Cline and department officials say the change is rhetorical. Critics have claimed it is part of a shift toward external private sector educational opportunities for students. A change to class size determinations One of the most contentious changes in the new rules involves class sizes. Currently, the states rules state that class sizes shall be capped at certain amounts for different grade levels: 25 for kindergarten to grade two, and 30 for grades three to 12. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new rules are somewhat more nuanced. They include the same caps, but they also say the local school board shall establish student-educator ratios that promote student learning for each learning opportunity and learning level based upon school safety policies, content, instructional method, (and) the characteristics of learners. By changing the language from shall be to shall establish ratios based upon, critics say the department has given wiggle room for school boards. State Board Chairman Drew Cline says that interpretation is false. Addressing the legislative committee, Cline said an earlier version had removed the class size caps and allowed school boards much more flexibility a move meant to respond to the post-pandemic reality for many school districts. But after pushback, the State Board relented. We incorporated the existing class size caps into the rule, and they are still there, he said. Subject descriptions aligned to curriculum frameworks The current rules describe a number of curriculum areas for specific subjects, such as arts education, mathematics, and English language arts, and lay out specific requirements for each subject that school boards are required to follow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new rules largely eliminate those lists of required elements. Instead, they simplify the direction to school boards. Each schools arts education program shall have (competencies) and curriculum aligned to K-12 Curriculum Framework for the Arts, April 2001 edition, as referenced in Appendix II, the new rules for arts education state. In a Nov. 19 letter to the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, Milton Superintendent Karin Cevasco argued that by taking the required elements out of the rules themselves and requiring that districts align to the existing standards, the state could be creating the conditions for schools to have looser standards. Elimination of content area standards will further the divide of the haves and the have nots in our state, Cevasco wrote. Children in property rich town will have access to curriculum resources that are proven to set high standards for future success, while students in property poor towns will fall further behind with the elimination of the Arts and any curriculum resource deemed too rich for the teaching of science, math, and literacy. The State Board of Education is supposed to update the academic standards for each of those subjects as well. Cline said the board is planning to do so, but has been slowed down by the process of updating the minimum standards. Each subject can take a while, he said; the board started work on the social studies framework before the pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The academic standards are not as stringent as the rules passed by JLCAR last week and are not as high a priority, Cline said. Its a conveyor belt, right? he said. So every state board meeting, we have new rules that have expired or are going to expire that we have to update, and thats a lot of work. Security police officers for the Hanford nuclear site will not be reporting to work Wednesday after the Hanford Guards Union Local 21 contract expires at 5:30 a.m. The union and Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, a Department of Energy contractor at the nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington, have been negotiating a new contract for the Hanford Patrol without reaching agreement. HMIS President Amy Basche sent a memo Tuesday afternoon to all Hanford site employees saying it had a contingency plan in place to provide security staff for Hanford until a new agreement is in place. Hanford Mission Integration Solutions is in charge of the Hanford Patrol, which provides 24-hour security at the Hanford nuclear reservation. The Hanford Patrol, an armed protective force, provides security for the 580-square-mile site adjacent to Richland. Duties include protecting radioactive materials and classified materials, providing active shooter response, and deterring and responding to radiological and toxicological sabotage events by terrorists or others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The patrol also staffs secure entrances to the site and aids the Hanford Fire Department, including controlling accident scenes and providing first response services in medical emergencies until fire department staff arrive. The number of Hanford guards is not made public for security reasons. No negotiating sessions have been agreed to by both sides and none are currently scheduled, but both sides said they want to continue discussions as soon as possible. Dave Donovan, vice president of the International Guards Union of America Regional Council 1, said Local 21 most recently gave HMIS a counter offer that included a two-week extension of the contract for Hanford police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HMIS declined the extension and is locking the union guards out starting Wednesday, he said. An offer for a bargaining session also was declined by HMIS, Donovan said. HMIS said it declined to bargain Tuesday, Nov. 26, because the two sides were far apart and HMIS needed the day to prepare for the contract expiration. It declined the two-week extension, instead agreeing to give union members five days to vote on HMIS best and final offer. The guard members voted down the offer. Hanford Mission Integration Solutions is in charge of the Hanford Patrol, which provides 24-hour security at the Hanford nuclear reservation. The Local 21s three-year contract expired Nov. 1 but has had extensions until Wednesday, Nov. 27. Hanford Guard bargaining issues At issue in the contract negotiations are pay and morale issues, said Chris Hall, president of the Hanford guards union and a Hanford guard who works as a sniper and on the special response team. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current contract has not provided the union resolution to grievances, he said. It currently has four arbitrations with HMIS, one of them 18 months old without resolution, he said. In addition, Local 21 wants language in its contract covering medical autonomy after a COVID vaccine mandate during the pandemic, Hall said. Security requirements and monitoring are also of concern, he said. Guards are required to have DOEs high level Q clearance and are subject to the Human Reliability Program, in which their actions, such as spending and travel are monitored, Hall said. Changes were made to the program about a year ago that can affect security clearance for guards that would leave them unable to be armed and therefore unable to work, he said. The union was not notified of the changes, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Security clearances are an important part of national security requirement to ensure appropriate protection for national level assets, HMIS said. Local 21 wants additional pay for the security requirements, which would still not bring guards up to the pay of some other union workers at Hanford, Hall said. The economy is been the worst in the past 15 years and Local 21 members need better pay than was negotiated in its expiring contract, he said. Were just trying to catch up, he said. The Hanford Patrol will not report to work after what it calls a lock out as its contract expires. Shown is the patrols Special Response Team during a training exercise. Hall questions how a new, temporary security force can keep Hanford workers, firefighters and the Tri-Cities area community as safe as the Hanford Patrol, with guards who have a deep familiarity with the site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It could take longer to respond to medical emergencies, for example, he said. We want to make sure we get back out there and keep protecting the material on the site and the employees as well as the community the way weve been doing for years, he said. The Hanford site produced plutonium for the nations nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War. It still has radioactive materials and contamination as environmental cleanup continues. Picketing at Hanford entrances HMIS declined to say who would be providing security and other Hanford guard services starting Wednesday, saying it was a security issue. Like all DOE sites handling security sensitive materials, HMIS has a contingency plan to ensure required staffing to prevent disruption to the Hanford Sites security posture, Basche said in her memo. With no agreement in place, HMIS has begun implementing this plan. The Hanford vitrification plant is under construction in the center of the nuclear reservation. It will be used to glassify radioactive and hazardous chemical waste now stored in underground tanks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Workers may notice changes in Hanford Patrol personnel, but critical positions will be staffed by qualified personnel, she said. There may be picketing at some buildings in Richland and at the Yakima Barricade entrance to the secure portion of Hanford and the old Wye Barricade, she said. HMIS employees and visitors are asked to use those gates, she said. But the current Wye Barricade and Rattlesnake Barricade entrances are neutral gates not designated for picketing. They may be used by employees and visitors of other Hanford site contractors or the Department of Energy, she said. HMIS continues to negotiate in good faith with the Hanford Guards Union, said HMIS spokesperson Renee Brooks. Ensuring the safety and security of Hanford is our number one priority, and we will continue to ensure that national security interests are protected, and that Hanford operations continue to be safe and secure until HMIS and the union reach an agreement. (NewsNation) The disappearance of Hannah Kobayashi has taken a tragic turn, with experts suggesting she may have been snatched and her father dying by suicide during the search, according to law enforcement and search professionals. Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer and Dog the Bounty Hunter told NewsNation they believe Kobayashi, 30, may have been taken by a stranger after unusual circumstances surrounding her last known movements in Los Angeles. There was always communication with the family, she actually took special steps to charge [her phone] so it was working, she said. The disappearance of Hannah Kobayashi Kobayashi was last seen on Nov. 11 after missing a connecting flight from Maui to New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was reportedly seen at the Grove shopping mall and at a LeBron James event before sending cryptic text messages claiming she had been tricked and that Deep State hackers had stolen her funds. The family said they found the texts suspicious and her phone appeared to have been turned off after sending them. Kobayashi was then seen again the following day at Los Angeles International Airport, speaking to a ticket agent. Later that day, Kobayashi was captured on surveillance exiting the subway system near the stadium where the LA Lakers play. That metro stop is not on the same line that goes to LAX, meaning she would have had to change lines to get to that area. Was Hannah Kobayashi taken? Coffindaffer said law enforcement is carefully reviewing extensive surveillance footage from the airport and train station where Kobayashi was last seen. Hannah Kobayashi was on a trip from Maui to New York when she disappeared. (Kobayashi family) Hannah Kobayashis family said they received suspicious texts before she disappeared. (Kobayashi family) Hannah Kobayashi missed her connecting flight in Los Angeles. (Kobayashi family) Hannah Kobayashi was spotted at the Grove Shopping Center in LA. (Kobayashi Family) Surveillance video showed Hannah Kobayashi at the Los Angeles airport. (Kobayashi family) I think she could be in the hands of a stranger taking advantage of her, Coffindaffer told NewsNations CUOMO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hannah Kobayashi: Timeline of Hawaiian womans disappearance Dog the Bounty Hunter, whose daughter knew Kobayashi, suggested she was potentially snatched and expressed hope she is still alive. He also noted the text messages did not sound like Kobayashis typical communication style. All women, beware, he said. There are things happening that are unbelievable. Searching for Hannah Kobayashi Though police have not made many public appeals for assistance, Coffindaffer noted that Kobayashi was in areas where there is significant video surveillance they could be reviewing to find her. The search has been further complicated by the death of Kobayashis father, Ryan, who took his own life after spending 13 days searching for his daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Los Angeles Police Departments Missing Persons Unit, Kobayashi is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes and fair skin with freckles as well as a tattoo that says knife on her forearm. Authorities continue to investigate the disappearance. Anyone with information is urged to contact local law enforcement. NewsNations Anna Kutz contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. The missing persons case of Hannah Kobayashi, a 30-year-old woman from Hawaii who seems to have disappeared after missing a flight in Los Angeles in early November, has caught national attention as her family tries to piece together exactly what happened using a combination of social media posts, Venmo transactions, security footage and mysterious text messages. Hannah was traveling from her home in Maui to New York to visit an aunt and fulfill a photography job, according to various media interviews with her family. She allegedly missed two connecting flights out of the Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8 and Nov. 11. Her family has told several news outlets that Hannah has not communicated with them since Nov. 11. In an interview with NewsNation on Nov. 23, Hannahs aunt Larie Pidgeon said that Hannah had sent her mom a detailed itinerary for her stay in New York, including places where she wanted to eat, museums she wanted to visit and a photography assignment that had been on her bucket list forever as a career opportunity. Pidgeon added that Hannah allegedly paid a couple thousand dollars for a hotel reservation in New York as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hannahs sister Sydni told CNN that Hannah and her then boyfriend had booked the flights to New York together and also made plans to visit an aunt in upstate New York. They broke up after booking the flights and agreed to go ahead with the trip separately. The ex-boyfriend, who has not been publicly named, successfully boarded the Nov. 8 connecting flight to New York and has been extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation, according to Hannahs family. Pidgeon told USA Today that on Nov. 11, the family started getting texts from Hannahs number that said she didnt feel safe, that someone was trying to steal her funds, that someone was trying to take her identity. Pidgeon added that the messages sent to family and friends included weird things, calling us babe, things that werent quite the normal way that she speaks. "She texted [a friend] that she was scared and that she couldnt come back home or something," Sydni told HawaiiNewsNow. "It was just really weird texts. It doesnt sound like her like theres just something off about it. So I wasnt too sure. I dont know if its her or if someone else was texting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of her last texts allegedly said, I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening. I'm heading back to the airport to get to NYC. I might need some help getting there." In addition to texts, the family also didnt recognize the names of two people Hannah sent money to over Venmo on Nov. 10 transactions that Yahoo News was able to verify since Hannahs Venmo account is public. The family also says there is security camera footage showing Hannah and an unknown stranger at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, allegedly on Nov. 11. "It has been confirmed that she did leave the airport on 11/11 in the evening and that she boarded the Metro," Pidgeon told CBS News. "She was not alone. She was with an unidentified person. That causes us extreme alarm because that correlates with the timeline of her going missing. So, our focus now is on the Pico Metro station." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yahoo News has reached out to several of the family members. If you see Hannah, please call 911 immediately, reads a statement from the family shared on Facebook. Please obtain a photograph if possible. Your prompt action is crucial. If youre able to safely keep eyes on her until law enforcement arrives, please do so. What we know about the search for Hannah Kobayashi Hannah first missed a connecting flight from Maui to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8, and it is not clear why. The family said they had seen security footage of Hannah leaving the airport on Nov. 8 and then again at the Grove shopping center on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, which is about 12 miles north of LAX. On Nov. 11, Hannah posted on her public Instagram account about attending a Nike event at the Grove and was even spotted on a strangers YouTube video about the event that was filmed on Nov. 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hannah then returned to LAX on Nov. 11 but did not board a flight. That was the last time anyone received messages from Hannahs cellphone number. On Nov. 15, the LAPD missing persons unit made a poster describing Hannah and stating that she was last seen at LAX on Nov. 11. The family also filed a report with the FBI. A group of people gathered in Los Angeles after the missing person report was filed in order to search nearby areas to see if they could find Hannah. Her father, Ryan, was one of them. Theres a lot of people looking for you Hannah, Ryan told the NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu. So, if you get this, if you see anything, just go to the police, go to anybody. Theres a lot of people out there that care and love you, Hannah. What happened to her dad, Ryan? After spending two weeks helping search for his daughter, Ryan was found dead on Nov. 24, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The county coroner's office confirmed Monday that he died by suicide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kobayashi family said in a statement that Kobayashi tragically took his own life after tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days. The family of Hannah Kobayashi is urgently pleading with the public to maintain focus on the search for her, the statement continued. Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger. Jean Rather, the beloved wife of news anchor Dan Rather, has passed away. Known for her creativity and partnership with Dan, Jean led a remarkable life. The details surrounding her death have been shared on Facebook, and now, many fans want to know what happened. Here is more about the passing of Dan Rathers wife, Jean. Dan Rathers wife Jean passes away at 89, claims report Jean Rather, artist and wife of legendary CBS anchor Dan Rather, has died at the age of 89. Her passing, attributed to cancer, was announced on November 26 through a heartfelt statement on Dans official Facebook page. Surrounded by loved ones and her treasured artwork, Jean passed away at the couples home in Austin, Texas, where she had been receiving hospice care. Despite her illness, the news left family and friends deeply saddened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Born Jean Goebel in Smithville, Texas, Jean lived a full and varied life. She met Dan while working at a radio station in Houston, and the couple married in 1954. Their 67-year marriage took them worldwide, from Dallas and Washington, D.C., to London and New York City. In 2021, they returned to Texas. Throughout their marriage, Jean was a constant support to Dan, described by the family as a steadfast advisor and rock who faced every challenge with grace. In addition to her roles as wife and mother, Jean made her mark as an artist, with her paintings displayed in galleries and private collections across the country. Her dedication extended beyond the canvas, serving eight years as vice chair of the New York City Art Commission and participating in boards such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Despite her achievements, she remained modest and focused on supporting her family. Jean Rather is survived by her husband, Dan, their children, and extended family members. The post What Happened to Jean Rather? News Anchor Dans Wife Passes Away appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Senior advisers to Kamala Harriss campaign joined the liberal podcast Pod Save America this week to offer their takes on why their candidate suffered a crushing defeat this electionand seemed to have no real humility about where they went wrong. Stephanie Cutter, one senior aide who sat down for the joint interview, said the vice president was correct in her refusal to set herself apart from President Biden during the presidential race. Cutter said that Harris felt like she was part of the administration, so why should she look back and cherry-pick some things that she would have done differently, when she was part of it? Cutter added that the thinking within the campaign was that if Harris broke with Biden on a specific issue like immigration, stories would come out from administration staffers questioning why she didnt take different stances in meetings or challenge specific policies to the president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eventually, Harris settled on a prevailing campaign strategy that vice presidents almost never break with their presidents, with the exception of Mike Pence with Donald Trump. Cutler and the podcast hosts, former Obama administration staffers Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor, then laughed over a murder and ripping up the Constitution exception. Harris Campaign Senior Advisor @StefCutter explains why Kamala Harris was unwilling to differentiate herself more from Joe Biden on policy. In an exclusive interview with PSA, top Harris campaign staff reflect on the 2024 election. Out now wherever you get your podcasts. pic.twitter.com/iqyjycjEWs Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) November 26, 2024 The clip has drawn indignation and vehement criticism on X for being tone-deaf to voters concerns. Twitter screenshot Monica Marks @MonicaLMarks: This is startlingly bad politics. Any seasoned politician should understand that lockstep personal loyalty can & must take a backseat to winning when the numbers clearly show that people want more differentiation from a candidate. Twitter screenshot David, Historian Martial Artist @DavidLeftyMA: Centrists trying to unpack why the Democrats lost: (meme: guy in a hot dog suit with the caption "We're all trying to find the guy who did this") Twitter screenshot Adam McKay @ZombiePanther2: This timidity, lack of situational understanding & deference to power is THE reason people like this are hired and advance in the DNC ecosystem, legacy news, corporations etc. Select schools, communities & mentors cultivate this nibble around the edges approach. (quote tweet of Pod Save America) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One commentator pointed out that there was a good example of a vice president who broke with a president besides Trump and Pence: Hubert Humphrey with Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 election, amid Americans outrage and exhaustion over the Vietnam War. Jeet Heer @HeerJeet To be clear, what is being said here is that a clean break from Biden would have helped Harris but she didn't out of loyalty to Biden and also because if she did Biden's staff would have leaked against her. The question then is: why was loyalty to Joe Fucking Biden more important than winning the election? (Also can someone tell Cutter about how Humphrey's poll numbers surged after he broke with LBJ on Vietnam -- but he broke too late to change the results of the election). (quote tweet of Pod Save America) There are many policies in which Harris could have and should have broken with the Biden administration during her campaign, whether it was over steadfast U.S. support for Israels war on Gaza or the flawed approach to immigration. But Cutters revelation about the Harris campaigns internal discussions show that theres also a greater problem: groupthink among Democratic staffers and party leadership. Until the Democrats can express a willingness to dump so-called conventional wisdom and aggressively address the issues voters care about, they wont be able to win again. The hosts of Pod Save America dont seem to be getting it. Kamala Harriss campaign aides have revealed that the hit YouTube show Hot Ones turned down their offer off an interview with the vice president during her presidential election campaign. Speaking about what went wrong for Harris for the first time since her loss to Donald Trump, campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon and senior campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter told the Pod Save America podcast that the Democrat had struggled to catch a break on some non-political podcasts. Its my understanding that you guys wanted to do a bunch of the larger, more popular, not specifically political, podcasts. Can you talk a little about why that may not have happened? host Dan Pfeiffer asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pfeiffer gave the example of Hot Ones, in which A-list celebrities answer questions while eating spicy chicken wings. Everyone from Ariana Grande to Jennifer Lawrence to Will Smith has been filmed taking on the so-called Wings of Death on the popular show. Cutter revealed that the popular show refused an interview with the Democratic candidate. Harris campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon shares what went wrong for the Democrats campaign on Pod Save America (Pod Save America/Crooked) I think if I remember correctly on Hot Ones that they didnt want to delve into politics, she said. And thats across the board, Dillon chimed in. I do think we had a lot of support in a number of, you know, athletes and others that were just not super interested in getting their brand caught up in the politics of this campaign and I dont think [Trump] had the same problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dillon conceded that Trump was able to tap into some cultural elements in ways the Harris campaign could not, hinting at the president-elects three-hour appearance on Joe Rogans podcast. I think that that had an impact on us that there were places that we knew we had support that we desperately wanted to go and have conversation that we thought would be interesting and relevant and fun, and we couldnt get there, she said. Harris appeared on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, along with All the Smoke. She was also a guest on Charmalagne Tha Gods The Breakfast Club, and Club Shay Shay. Trump, meanwhile, sat down with podcasters like The Nelk Boys and Theo Von. He also went on Logan Pauls Impaulsive podcast, where he was gifted a t-shirt featuring his Fulton County, Georgia mugshot. The president-elect also joined Kick influencer Adin Ross on his show in August and, towards the end of the campaign, he appeared on Rogans podcast, where he reached an audience of nearly 40 million. Stephanie Cutter said Hot Ones didnt want to delve into politics (Pod Save America/Crooked) Cutter added that when Trump appeared on popular podcasts, the conversation wasnt political. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We did lots of outreach to many of the same podcasts that he went on. Ultimately, you know, as we said with everything in this campaign we had to pick and choose because of the limitations on time, Cutter said. Trumps 18-year-old son Barron and his friend Bo Loudon were reportedly responsible for getting Trump to appear on Rosss show and helped advise the 78-year-old how to reach young bro voters. Earlier this week, Donald Trump Jr suggested that his father was considering opening up the briefing room to podcasters like Rogan when asked if it was time to take away seats belonging to traditional media. Were gonna break some news here, Trump Jr replied. Because I literally had this conversation withI was flying backI was on the plane with my father, I think it was coming back from the SpaceX launch with Elon [Musk] last week. And we were talking about the podcast world and some of our friends and Rogan and guys like you. Trump Jr said his father was considering his options given how the media has behaved. (NewsNation) A DNC finance committee member said the Harris campaign was self-congratulatory during a call with top donors Tuesday, making no mention of what the party could have done better. Lindy Li, a member of the DNC finance committee, told NewsNation she was stunned that there was no sort of postmortem or analysis of the disastrous campaign. It was just patting each other on the back, Li said. They praised Harris as a visionary leader, and at one moment during the call, she was talking about her Thanksgiving recipe. Best Prime Day Deals for 2024: Best Black Friday deals to shop from home Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Top holiday discounts under $100 Apple products marked down for Black Friday BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. The Harris campaign appears to have imploded following her Election Day loss to President-elect Donald Trump, and the internal strife has led some staffers to leave altogether. The campaign is now $20 million in debt, per a source familiar with the campaign. Obama, Pelosi did not want Kamala Harris to be nominee: Democratic megadonor Li, on behalf of confused voters and disappointed donors, has been speaking out about the partys financial woes and frustrations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She called party leaders detached from reality after they discussed how more than $1 billion was spent during the nearly 110-day campaign during an interview with Pod Save America Tuesday. They failed to mention that hundreds of millions of dollars went to them and their friends right through these consulting firms. These consultants were the primary beneficiaries of the Harris campaign, not the American people, Li said. Li said the many in the inner workings of the party share similar frustrations in the aftermath of the election. Kamala Harris disqualified forever over Democratic overspending: Donor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Harris campaign can still raise money to recoup some of these debts and pay those who still need it. According to the Federal Election Commission, some House and Senate campaigns end with outstanding debts, such as those owed to campaign vendors. Roll Call, in March 2023, reported that 18 members of the House and Senate started the year with campaign committees with at least $100,000 in unpaid bills. If they [the DNC] dont have an explanation as to what happened with the billions of dollars and why hundreds of millions went to consultants, ice cream, private jets, celebrities, I dont think donors are going to be willing to give again, Li said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. As the festive season approaches, UK shoppers could face delays in receiving their orders due to a critical shortage of delivery drivers. A recent report by Esendex, based on analysis of over 82,000 job vacancies, highlights significant regional disparities in delivery workforce availability, raising concerns for retailers during the Golden Quarter. The study reveals that the UK has the highest vacancy rate among the analysed regions, with 29,225 open delivery roles, equating to 42.1 vacancies per 100,000 people. Chris Gorman, Head of Commercial Transformation at Esendex, emphasised the potential repercussions: Our data reveals that the UK is facing a significant risk of delivery disruptions. With demand set to rise sharply, the pressure on delivery systems will intensify, especially in cities like Bristol and Manchester, where job shortages are most acute. Regions and cities at risk The report identifies England as the region most affected, with 43.7 delivery job vacancies per 100,000 people. Within England, the South West has the highest shortage rate at 33.8, while Bristol emerges as the city most at risk, with 98.0 vacancies per 100,000 residents. Conversely, London and Liverpool demonstrate greater stability, with the capital boasting the lowest vacancy rate in the UK at 13.1 per 100,000 residents. Esendex attributes this to more robust logistics infrastructure in these urban centres. Beyond the job shortages, the report also outlines regional differences in handling peak shopping periods like Black Friday and Christmas. For instance, while cities such as Manchester report over 230 open vacancies, areas like Northern Ireland and Wales are less affected, each accounting for fewer than 1,000 total delivery job openings. Solutions for retailers To mitigate delivery delays and maintain customer satisfaction, Esendex suggests leveraging real-time communication tools like SMS and WhatsApp for Business. These platforms enable businesses to provide timely updates, manage expectations, and foster customer confidence during the busiest retail period. Transparency is key, Gorman advises. By proactively engaging with customers through automated updates, businesses can alleviate service pressure and set themselves apart in a competitive market. As the UK faces over 20,000 unfilled delivery roles and increasing ecommerce demand, the emphasis on clear communication and strategic planning will prove essential in navigating this holiday season "Driver shortages in the UK may disrupt holiday deliveries" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday thanked supporters during a virtual call and vowed that the "fight's not over" in her first remarks since conceding defeat to President-elect Donald Trump three weeks ago. "The fight that fueled our campaign, a fight for freedom and opportunity, that did not end on Nov. 5. A fight for the dignity of all people? That did not end on Nov. 5," Harris said. "A fight for the future, a future in which all people receive the promise of America? No. A fight that is about a fight for the ideals of our nation, the ideals that reflect the promise of America? That fight's not over." "That fight's still in us, and it burns strong," Harris later added. "And I know this is an uncertain time. I'm clear-eyed about that. I know you're clear-eyed about it, and it feels heavy. And I just have to remind you: Don't you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5 and you have the same purpose that you did and you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The grassroots call came immediately after Harris held a call with her campaign's finance committee. The finance call was attended by more than 400 donors, according to a source familiar. PHOTO: Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wave to the crowd after speaking at the campaign rally at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Aug. 20, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Kamala Harris raised $1 billion-plus in defeat. She's still sending persistent appeals to donors On the grassroots call, Harris also briefly discussed the historic sum of money that ran her campaign, though she did not address what went wrong as she and her campaign face intense scrutiny over how they could raise that money and lose to Trump so resolutely. "The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted. It is not what we work so hard for," Harris said. "But I am proud of the race we ran. And your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris said that over the course of those 100-plus days, her campaign raised $1.4 billion, much of which was from grassroot donors: "Nearly 8 million donors contributed an average donation of about $56." "You gave all that you could to support our campaign. Because of your efforts -- get this -- we raised an historic $1.4 billion, almost $1.5 billion from grassroots supporters alone, the most in presidential campaign history," she said. PHOTO: Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris pauses while speaking on stage as she concedes the election, at Howard University, Nov. 6, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) MORE: Harris campaign leadership urges staffers not to speak with reporters: Sources "Being involved can make a difference, and that remains true. And that's one of the pieces that I just want us to please take away -- that our fight for freedom and for opportunity and for the promise of America, it included, for example, nearly almost 4 million first-time contributors to our campaign because of the work you did, of helping people know that they can be engaged and that they're not outside, that they're inside, that we're all in this together," she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris was joined by her former running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on both calls -- a rare appearance from the two, though Harris joined the call from San Francisco and Walz from Minnesota. Walz on the grassroot donor call also spoke to supporters' feeling of loss following the election and repeated Harris' claims that she is not finished with fighting. "I think all of us saw the possibility, and I know there's a bit of a feeling of loss because we saw what a real leader looks like," Walz said. "She did deliver the best of our better angels," he added. "She delivered a vision where all of us mattered. She did it with grace and dignity and continues to do that every single day. She is still in this fight. She is doing it every single day. She is not done with her current job. She's not done being part of it with all of you." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris' and Walz's remarks follow some postelection analysis from Harris campaign senior officials during an episode of "Pod Save America" that aired on Tuesday, including some reaction to finances. Harris campaign Chairwoman Jennifer O'Malley Dillon said that during the cycle, the bulk of the campaign's spending was used to reach out to "very-hard-to-find voters," including low-propensity and young voters, while investing across all swing states because polling reflected that each was in play. "We were trying to, yes, spend more resources on digital ... because we're trying to find young people, we're trying to find these lower-propensity voters that were tuned out to politics," O'Malley Dillon said. "We had some unique things that we had to do in this race that I think were really critical to do early and spent a lot of resources at an earlier stage than we would have to," she added, noting those resources were spent on both advertising and field programming. "We saw, up until the very end, that ... every single state was in such a margin of error. There was nothing that told us we couldn't play in one of these states." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the podcast, O'Malley Dillon and senior campaign adviser David Plouffe accused the Trump campaign of coordinating with its super PACs, a practice that is not legal, but noted the Democrats need to take note and do the same. "We have to stop playing a different game as it relates to super PACs and the Republicans. Love our Democratic lawyers. I'm tired of it, OK? They coordinate more than we do. I think amongst themselves, I think with the presidential campaign, like I'm just sick and tired, OK? So, we cannot be at a disadvantage," Plouffe said. "I think our side was completely mismatched when it came to the ecosystem of Trump and his super PACs and ours," O'Malley Dillon said. "We had a super PAC that was helpful, very important and necessary for the work that they did because they were the kind of central recipients of a lot of the funding on our side and they staked a strategy and a plan, and we clearly could see it, and we knew what it was [going] to spend, but we did not have the ability to have people come in with us early. And so every ounce of advertising, every ounce of carrying these strategic imperatives, of defining the vice president and trying to bring down Trump's numbers, all sat with us as a campaign," O'Malley Dillon added. PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris debate for the first time during the presidential election campaign, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images) MORE: What New Jersey and Virginia's governor's races could mean for Democrats Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris has rarely been seen since she delivered her concession speech at Howard University the day after the election. She attended the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery a week later and was seen making her first return to the White House a day after that. The vice president also spent the last week on vacation in Hawaii. Walz, in the month since the election, has remained almost entirely out of the national spotlight, resuming his duties as the governor of Minnesota. He delivered his final speech of the 2024 campaign cycle on Nov. 8 from suburban Minneapolis, joining a chorus of fellow Democratic governors who said they would protect their states from threats to reproductive freedoms, citizenship and other things under the Trump administration. The former vice presidential nominee also said he'd work to find common ground with swaths of people who voted "for the other side" on Nov. 5. Harris and Walz remained mostly separate on the campaign trail in the roughly 15 weeks she had him as her running mate. The governor was present at Harris' concession speech at Howard University the night after the election but did not speak or publicly interact with her. Before that, the two held a joint rally on Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, their first event together since late August, when they were seen together in Savannah, Georgia, on a bus tour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to that, their last time at a rally together was in Milwaukee for programming linked to the Democratic National Convention in August. Harris, Walz join campaign finance calls, declare the 'fights not over' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) Within the next week, Harrison County will be receiving a reusable 20-feet commercial-grade Christmas tree set to be placed in the Clarksburg courthouse square that will cost nearly $18,000. In a county commission meeting last week, commissioners voted 2-1 to purchase the tree, with the funding set to come from gambling funds raised at local hot spots. The tree is set to come from Bloomington, Minnesota, according to Harrison County Commission President, Susan Thomas, and the cost includes a star for the top and lights. Commissioner David Hinkle said the tree is expected to be used for 10 to 15 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont agree with the price of the tree. [] I think that that money could have better been spent somewhere else, right now I cant tell you where, because there is so much need. [] Just think this is a little extravagant, I think we couldve gotten a smaller tree, Thomas said. But Hinkle, who voted for the tree believes it will be beneficial to the community. [The courthouse square] used to be a spot that people used to come and enjoy during the holidays and I think thats something that wed like to see happen again to help revive our community, Hinkle said. Clarksburg church selling 12,000 sq ft building its members built over 100 years ago According to Hinkle, the county commission has discretion over its share of the gambling funds the state distributes, and he estimates that after this purchase, there will be around $200,000 left in those funds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hinkle defended the purchase saying its no different than other lighting the city of Clarksburg has bought in the past for decorations or how Christmas trees that other cities around the area have set up. We dont have any way to mount a fresh tree, we used to bring in fresh trees back years ago. They would put one on the courthouse plaza, there was an underground system that held a fresh tree but we had to tear up the plaza and redo it and when they redid it, they did not want to go back with trying to support a live tree, said Hinkle. Some members of the community have not taken the move well either, with some believing that the funds could be better spent helping the unhoused population in the area. Hinkle responded by saying: We just gave away close to $800,000 of opioid funding to nonprofits in the county to help with several different organizations. I dont know how much it had to do with homeless but we had no input from the money that we gave awayfrom the community when we did that, said Hinkle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hinkle said the goal is to put the tree up in the next week and hold a lighting for it. An official date for this lighting has yet to be announced. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. Harvey Weinstein is being subjected to medical negligence in one of the countrys most notorious jails, his attorney said in a legal notice filed Tuesday against the New York City Department of Correction. Weinsteins attorney alleges that the disgraced film producers medical treatment at Rikers Island amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and that the facility is like a gulag where the prisoners are treated like animals. Weinstein is being held at Rikers while he awaits retrial next year after his felony sex crimes conviction in New York was overturned. In a statement accompanying the filing, which seeks $5 million in damages, attorney Imran H. Ansari wrote: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IVs, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions and susceptibility to illness. The statement added: The disregard to Mr. Weinsteins medical needs is an example as to why Rikers Island has been under the intense scrutiny by officials and the public, and is the subject of federal oversight. New York Citys mayors office, Department of Correction and public hospital system did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment. Weinstein, 72, has dealt with a string of medical issues in recent years. He reportedly was undergoing treatment for bone marrow cancer last month. Weinstein was transferred to Rikers after a New York state appeals court overturned his landmark sex crimes conviction in April and has since been to Bellevue Hospital several times for a range of medical treatments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rikers Island is known as one of the most violent and dangerous jails in the U.S., with a trail of human rights abuse allegations. In 2019, New York City officials agreed to shutter the facility by August 2027, but the city appears unlikely to meet that deadline. On Wednesday, a federal judge found New York City and its Department of Correction in contempt of the court over the worsening conditions in its correctional facilities, including Rikers, and said she was inclined to remove the facilities from the citys control. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) The holiday season is here, which means shopping is in full swing. Youre being encouraged to shop small and support local businesses. Weve been so lucky that the people who are around here and our supportive of us, Gabriel DaSilva, owner of DaSilva Gallery & Frame Shop in New Haven, said. Mystic promotes Small Business Saturday Ellie Greenberg visited the DaSilva Gallery & Frame Shop in New Havens Westville neighborhood to pick out the perfect frame for her friends painting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I just wanted to give her painting a beautiful frame and they were recommended to me by a fellow interior designer, Greenberg said. To kick off the holiday shopping season, city officials, business owners and representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration highlighted the importance of shopping small. If we want our small businesses to be there next year, we have to invest in them, Catherine Marks, district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, said. Investing in them means coming out and shopping small. They took a walking tour on Tuesday, stopping at businesses on Whalley Avenue and encouraging residents to do the same. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It makes us feel a sense of community and important to our customers and to be apart of it all, Marina Kydes, manager at Odeon Boutique, said. In New Haven, there are nearly 700 active small businesses located across the city with many relying on the holiday shopping season for a high percentage of their annual sales and revenue. SBA said with every dollar you spend, 67 cents stays right in the community. Because one small business is owned by someone in the community, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said. Often times, their family members work there as well. They hire local people to work there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Businesses rely on the support of residents all year long. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HAWARDEN, Iowa (KCAU) A group of high school girls presented a film on Tuesday about the historic flooding that happened in Siouxland earlier this summer. Around 60 members of the Hawarden community came together to West Sioux High School. They watched a documentary called Voices of the Flood that recounted the big weather event that impacted many communities in northwest Iowa. It took three months to film, edit, and produce. KCAU 9 spoke to one of the eight creative media students about what it was like taking this project on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So our creative media class decide that we should take it on and make the video of it and we got support from all of our teachers, all of our staff members and all the students that were able to do it, senior Brittany Finven said. Sioux Citys city council looks ahead to 2025 The girls spent hours interviewing, getting video, and editing the documentary. Their teacher, Rylee Van Noort, said shes proud of the girls taking on this project. I had every girl turn in something different, and all put forth effort into creating this, she said. There wasnt girls just kind of hanging out, everybody had a voice in creating this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A big round of applause was given for the documentary after it wrapped. This is the first year of the revamped creative media course. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A Hebron Town Council member has been charged with a felony count of domestic battery, according to court records. Shane Spagnola, 48, of Hebron, was charged on Nov. 22 with domestic battery in the presence of a child younger than age 16, a Level 6 felony. Spagnola, a Democrat, represents Ward 1 on the town council and was elected in 2023, taking office in January. He is liaison to the towns fire department, according to the towns website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was booked into the Porter County Jail on Tuesday, according to jail records. He had an initial hearing before Porter Superior Court Judge Christopher Buckley on Tuesday during which his bond was reduced to $1,500, according to an online court docket, and remained in jail as of Wednesday afternoon. Hebron Police were called at 6:23 p.m. on Nov. 20 to Spagnolas residence in the 100 block of Beech Court for a dispute, according to charging documents. A relative told police they were having a verbal dispute with Spagnola about finances that escalated into a physical altercation during which an 11-year-old was present, charges state. Spagnola swung his arm across a countertop and struck multiple objects, according to the charges, when Spagnolas arm and the objects struck the relative. The relative allegedly suffered scratches to their neck and chest, and left arm pain. Katelyn Midkiff and her father, Bill, were at their kitchen table when a thunderous noise gave way to chaos. On the morning of Sept. 27, their home was consumed by a landslide in the wake of Hurricane Helene. It was one of more than 2,000 landslides in western North Carolina. "There was a loud sound behind us," Katelyn Midkiff said. "Then it was like we were getting thrown and pulled at the same time." Mud and debris from the landslide trapped them for three hours. Bill, a liver transplant patient, sustained severe injuries, including a broken neck and fractured back. He had no access to his anti-rejection medication in the pile of destruction that once was his home and land. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The dishwasher hit me in the face," he said. "The refrigerator would have killed me, but it's up against the tree right now." The mud and debris were so thick, their neighborhood was cut off from the rest of the region. Bill and his daughter were eventually rescued by a Blackhawk helicopter. Bill Midkiff and his daughter had to be rescued by a Blackhawk helicopter crew. / Credit: Midkiff Family The hill their house had stood on for 30 years was cut away by the power of the storm. The land washed down the river. Their house was crushed against the trees and rocks, landing far downhill from where it was just hours earlier. As the family recovers, they have learned they should not rebuild. The threat of future landslides makes it too dangerous. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The geologist's perspective Jennifer Bauer, a principal geologist with Appalachian Landslide Consultants, has been instrumental in mapping the landslides and assessing the risk of rebuilding. Bauer uses specialized maps to identify areas that glow in bright purple on her rugged laptop. These "purple zones" show areas where landslides, known in geology as "debris flows," are likely to start. The zones make up 13.3% of the mountainous counties in western North Carolina, which adds up to approximately 1,296 square miles. Geologists are mapping the landslide risk in certain areas of western North Carolina to assess whether or not people should rebuild their homes. / Credit: CBS News If all those areas were combined into one land mass, it would be nearly as large as the state of Rhode Island. This conclusion is based on advanced LiDAR scans taken from airplanes, satellite imagery and on-the-ground data, according to Bauer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's important for people to understand that there are lots of safe places to build and some that are not," Bauer said as she toured impacted neighborhoods with CBS News. The impact of climate change Stronger and wetter storms driven by climate change are intensifying the severity and frequency of landslides. "Since the 1980s, the hurricane record has shown a more active period in the North Atlantic Ocean," according to NASA research. "On average, there have been more storms, stronger hurricanes, and an increase in hurricanes that rapidly intensify." Ed Williams, a retired water quality biologist, and his wife had hoped to build a home on their land in western North Carolina. They're now changing their plans to build a smaller home on a different part of the property to ensure greater safety. Landslides overtook everything in their path, leaving a trail of devastation. / Credit: CBS News "The last time a storm like this even came close to this much rain was in 1916, over 100 years ago," Williams said. "We know now with climate change that a lot more storms are coming in from the Gulf of Mexico that we haven't seen in the past. So those storms from the Gulf tend to be the ones that dump a lot more rain up here." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The economic and emotional toll For many, the financial and emotional toll of these landslides is insurmountable. Many homeowners are hoping FEMA will assist in buying them out, but it's too early to know how much financial assistance they can expect. Some told CBS News that FEMA buyouts, while helpful, often fall far short. In November, the Midkiff family met again with FEMA at an abandoned retail store inside a mall in Asheville, North Carolina. They filled out paperwork to have FEMA pay them fully for the home and land, but they may have to wait a very long time before they see a check that large. Homeowners face the decision to rebuild or move after landslides destroyed their homes. / Credit: CBS News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Midkiffs, like many others, face the grim reality of abandoning their cherished homes. Often, this uncertainty leaves homeowners in limbo, unsure of where to safely rebuild. "There are many homes below the purple zones that could be impacted by future landslides," Bauer said. Community resilience Despite the devastation, the community is resilient. "There's something about seeing people come together, to work on rebuilding a place that means so much," Williams said. Landslides turned homes into piles of rubble in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. / Credit: CBS News As recovery efforts continue, geologists like Bauer are working tirelessly to identify safe areas for rebuilding. Still, the scars left by the landslides are a reminder of the risks of living on land that keeps moving in big rainstorms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The landslides of 2024 mark the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for the Midkiffs, Williams and others. "I can't really, can't think of anywhere else that I'd want to live," Williams said. "So, we're going to figure out a way to do it. There's a lot of great places out there, but this is home for us, and this is where we want to be." Woman donates kidney to twin sister Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides New White House rule would make weight loss drugs available for people on Medicare and Medicaid HONOLULU (KHON2) A mom doing whatever she can to protect her children could use some help through KHON2s Laulima Giving Program. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Mom has two little girls, ages two and five. They recently moved back to Oahu to escape domestic abuse and moved into a bedroom at a family members home. Her five-year-old has a learning disability but is trying to adjust to kindergarten. Mom brings her youngest to a family members home to be watched so she can go to work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How you can help this family of 10 recover from hardships, tragedy Recently, her car has been breaking down and the familys home caught fire, though thankfully, it wasnt destroyed. Her two-year-old loves Barbies, swimming, playing at the park and playing dress up. Her five-year-old loves to swim, play at the park and dress up too, but she also loves to sing. Moms request is for a blowup pool for the girls to play in the yard. Theyre also hoping to move into her uncles studio at his house, once the fire damage is repaired. For that, she would appreciate a couch, a dining set, kitchen appliances and anything to resupply the studios kitchen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the spirit of laulima, our many hands working together, we can help this family in rebuilding their life in a safe place and give the girls a happy holiday season. 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 H240063-3. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. CHICAGO (WGN) Dr. Shivanjali Shankaran, an infectious disease specialist with Rush University Medical Center, joined WGN Evening News to talk about the latest trends when it comes to how people are getting sick during the holiday season, and what Chicagoans can do to help reduce the spread of different illnesses as we approach Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza and more. WGNs Dina Bair hosts the talkback with Dr. Shankaran. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Elon Musk Pushes Brain Implant Production as $14.7 Million Texas Facility Takes Shape Neuralink, Elon Musks brain-implant company, is hiring big. They're looking for manufacturing technicians and microfabrication specialists to help "boost production." Job listings popped up on Neuralink's website recently and hiring events have also been held at their California and Texas facilities this month. Don't Miss: This push signals that Neuralink is gearing up for large-scale production, which is earlier than is typical for most medical device companies. Tinglong Dai, a professor at Johns Hopkins, told Business Insider, "That's wild for a company that's only implanted two devices in their trial." But it's not entirely shocking, given Musk's style. Dai pointed to Musk's history with Tesla's "production hell." He said the experience might be driving Neuralink's rapid manufacturing ramp-up. According to Musk, the company's implants are designed to be a Fitbit in your skull. Initially, the tech aims to help people with neurological disorders. Long term, Musk says it could allow users to send messages or play video games just by thinking about them. See Also: The global games market is projected to generate $272B by the end of the year for $0.55/share, this VC-backed startup with a 7M+ userbase gives investors easy access to this asset market. Jobs and Pay Neuralink is offering $22 an hour for manufacturing technicians in Texas. Those roles focus on producing brain implants and accessories and might require working weekends or long hours. In California, wages are higher between $28.85 and $44.23 an hour for technicians building the R1 Surgical Robot, which automates the implantation process. This hiring push is part of a broader effort. Neuralink has over 30 job openings on its careers page, with more than 600 people already working there. Many of these employees previously worked at Tesla or SpaceX. Neuralink's ambitions don't stop at hiring. The company is expanding its physical footprint. They filed plans for a $14.7 million, 112,000-square-foot facility near Austin, Texas. Construction details hint at a big move toward ramping up production capacity. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing you can become an investor for $0.80 per share today. Neuralink isn't without challenges. Reuters reported earlier this year that the FDA approved human trials for the implants after rejecting an earlier bid in 2023 due to safety concerns. Issues included overheating and problems with wires connected to the brain chip. So far, two patients have received implants. One of them experienced complications with loose wires. However, the company was approved to begin clinical trials in Canada this week. The company posted on X that it is looking for clinical volunteers with quadriplegia due to ALS or SCI. By Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -With the bodies of its fighters still strewn on the battlefield, Hezbollah must bury its dead and provide succour to its supporters who bore the brunt of Israel's offensive, as the first steps on a long and costly road to recovery, four senior officials said. Hezbollah believes the number of its fighters killed during 14 months of hostilities could reach several thousand, with the vast majority killed since Israel went on the offensive in September, three sources familiar with its operations say, citing previously unreported internal estimates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One source said the Iran-backed group may have lost up to 4,000 people - well over 10 times the number killed in its month-long 2006 war with Israel. So far, Lebanese authorities have said some 3,800 people were killed in the current hostilities, without distinguishing fighters from civilians. Hezbollah emerges shaken from top to bottom, its leadership still reeling from the killing of its former leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and its supporters made homeless en masse by the carpet bombing of Beirut's southern suburbs and the destruction of entire villages in the south. With a ceasefire taking hold on Wednesday, Hezbollah's agenda includes working to re-establish its organisational structure fully, probing security breaches that helped Israel land so many painful blows, and a full review of the last year including its mistakes in underestimating Israel's technological capabilities, three other sources familiar with the group's thinking said. For this story Reuters spoke to a dozen people who together provided details of some of the challenges facing Hezbollah as it seeks to pick itself up after the war. Most asked not to be named to speak about sensitive matters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hassan Fadallah, a senior Hezbollah politician, told Reuters the priority will be "the people." "To shelter them, to remove the rubble, to bid farewell to the martyrs and, in the next phase, to rebuild," he said. Israel's campaign has focused largely on Hezbollah's Shi'ite Muslim heartlands, where its supporters were badly hit. They include people still nursing casualties from Israel's attack on its mobile communications devices in September. "I have a brother who was martyred, a brother-in-law who was wounded in the pager attacks, and my neighbours and relatives are all either martyrs, wounded or missing," said Hawraa, a woman from south Lebanon with family members who fight for Hezbollah. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We want to collect our martyrs and bury them ... we want to rebuild our homes," said Hawraa, who stayed in her village until she was forced to flee by the Israeli assault in September. She declined to use her full name, citing safety fears. The Israeli offensive displaced more than 1 million people, the bulk of them from areas where Hezbollah has sway. A senior Lebanese official familiar with Hezbollah thinking said the group's focus would be squarely on securing their return and rebuilding their homes: "Hezbollah is like a wounded man. Does a wounded man get up and fight? A wounded man needs to tend to his wounds." The official expected Hezbollah to carry out a wide-ranging policy review after the war, dealing with all major issues: Israel, its weapons, and the internal politics of Lebanon, where its weapons have long been a point of conflict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Iran, which established Hezbollah in 1982, has promised to help with reconstruction. The costs are immense: The World Bank estimates $2.8 billion in damage to housing alone in Lebanon, with 99,000 homes partially or fully destroyed. The senior Lebanese official said Tehran has a variety of ways to get funds to Hezbollah, without giving details. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally, is urging wealthy Lebanese Shi'ites in the diaspora to send funds to help the displaced, two Lebanese officials said. The officials also expected significant donations to come from Shi'ite religious foundations across the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a detailed request for comment for this story. Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'THE RESISTANCE' WILL CONTINUE Hezbollah has indicated it intends to keep its arms, dashing hopes of Lebanese adversaries who predicted the pressures generated by the war would finally lead it to hand them to the state. Hezbollah officials have said the resistance - widely understood to mean its armed status - will continue. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Palestinian ally Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023. Israel went on the offensive against the group in September, declaring the aim of securing the return home of 60,000 people evacuated from homes in the north. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the resulting devastation, Hezbollah's Fadlallah said the resistance put up by its fighters in south Lebanon and the group's intensified rocket salvoes towards the end of the conflict showed Israel had failed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says its campaign has set back Hezbollah decades, eliminated its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets, neutralised thousands of fighters, and obliterated its infrastructure near the border. A senior U.S. official said Hezbollah was "extremely weak" at this moment, both militarily and politically. A Western diplomat echoed that assessment, saying Israel had the upper hand and had almost dictated the terms of its withdrawal. The ceasefire terms agreed by Israel and Lebanon require Hezbollah to have no military presence in an area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, which meets the Mediterranean Sea some 30 km (20 miles) from the frontier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hezbollah, which approved the deal, has not declared how it intends to help implement those terms, including whether it actively hands its arms to Lebanese troops who are deploying into the south, or leaves the weapons for soldiers to find. Israel complains Hezbollah, which is deeply rooted in south Lebanon, never implemented the same terms when they were agreed to end a previous war in 2006 war. Israel says the group was preparing for a large-scale assault into northern Israel, pointing to its military build-up at the frontier. Andreas Krieg of King's College in London said Hezbollah had retained considerable capability. The performance of its "core infantry fighters in southern Lebanon and rocket attacks deep into Israeli territory in recent days showed the group was still very, very capable," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "But Hezbollah will be very much bogged down in the effort of rebuilding the infrastructure and also, most importantly, securing the funds to do so, he said. 'REPAYING THE DEBT' Hezbollah has been handing out cash to people affected by the hostilities since they began, paying $200 a month to civilians who stayed in frontline villages, and offering more as people were forced to flee the areas, according to recipients. Since the start of the escalation in September, Hezbollah has been paying around $300 a month to help displaced families. The group has made no secret of the military and financial support it gets from Iran, which shipped huge sums of cash to in 2006 to aid the homeless and help rebuild. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hezbollah supporters say more will be on the way. One, citing conversations with a local Hezbollah official, said the group would cover a year of rent for the homeless in addition to furniture costs. Addressing the Lebanese people in an October sermon, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "the destruction will be replaced... repaying the debt to the wounded, bleeding Lebanon is our duty...". The World Bank, in a preliminary estimate, put the cost in damage and losses to Lebanon at $8.5 billion, a bill that cannot be footed by the government, still suffering the consequences of a catastrophic financial collapse five years ago. Gulf states Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia helped pay the $5 billion reconstruction bill in 2006, the last time Hezbollah and Israel went to war. But there has been no sign that these Sunni-led Arab states are ready to do so again. Hezbollah conducted a lot of reconstruction work after the 2006 war, financed by Iran and using its construction wing. The project was directed by Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, a Hezbollah leader killed by Israel 11 days after Nasrallah, in a sign of the bigger challenges it will face this time round. "For Hezbollah the priority is to guarantee the loyalty of the Shiite community. The destruction has been enormous and it will impact the organization," said Mohanand Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center. (Reporting by Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Frank Jack Daniel) The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement is preparing a popular mass funeral for their late leader Hassan Nasrallah who was assassinated by an Israeli strike in September, a Hezbollah official said Wednesday. "We are preparing for the funeral of the two martyrs, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, which will be a popular and political referendum to adopt the approach of resistance," the deputy leader of Hezbollahs political council, Mahmud Qomati, said during a press conference. A date was not initially given, but sources close to the movement said it will be soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The organizers wanted to give Nasrallah's supporters enough time to come to terms with the current circumstances after the ceasefire with Israel came into force, the sources said. Many of them were forced out of their homes and are currently returning. Nasrallah, the long-time leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli attack in a suburb of the capital Beirut in late September. Safieddine, Nasrallah's cousin, was also assassinated by an Israeli strike in October in Beirut's southern Suburbs as well. He was the head of the group's executive council and a possible successor of the late Nasrallah. Rain and snow moves into northern New Mexico Wednesday as colder air moves into the state for Thanksgiving Day. It has been a much windier and warmer day across New Mexico Tuesday, with more of the state climbing into the 60s and 70s. Westerly winds have been gusting over 40 mph at times in western and eastern parts of the state with even stronger winds across mountain peaks. Snow has also been moving into the San Juan Mountains, with heavy snow falling above about 9,000. Overnight, winds will actually pick up for areas along and east of the central mountain chain. The strongest wind gusts will be along and east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where up to 70 mph gusts will be possible through Wednesday morning. Gusty winds return again by Wednesday afternoon. A cold front will be moving in form the north starting early Wednesday morning. As this front moves south through the day, it will bring light rain and snow to areas along and north of I-40. The best chances for any precipitation will be in the northern mountains where a couple inches of snow will be possible and over 6 across mountain peaks. The Albuquerque Metro could see a spotty shower Wednesday afternoon, but no accumulation of rain is likely. Temperatures will be dropping quickly behind the front as well, and a backdoor cold front Wednesday evening will drop temperatures even more. Late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, drier air will move into northern New Mexico while a couple spotty showers and light higher elevation snow will be possible down to the Sacramentos and Roswell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drier air returns to the entire state for the afternoon of Thanksgiving, but it will be a chilly afternoon. Winds will also be lighter. Dry air will stick around for at least the next week across New Mexico with a steady warming trend. High temperatures will hover right around and slightly above average into the weekend and next week. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Nov. 26AUSTIN The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) invites the greater El Paso community to come celebrate the reintroduction of desert bighorn sheep into their once-native range at Franklin Mountains State Park. TPWD will be hosting a public event on the afternoon of Dec. 4 at Franklin Mountains State Park in El Paso. The pinnacle of the event will be the first release of desert bighorn sheep into their historic range as part of a long-term restoration project. Desert bighorn sheep once roamed the Trans-Pecos mountains in healthy numbers in the late 1800s. However, by the early 1960s, due to unregulated hunting, resource competition from domestic sheep/goats, and disease, native desert bighorns were extirpated from the West Texas landscape. SHELBY, Ohio (WJW) A woman was killed after she was hit by a vehicle Tuesday morning in Richland County. Man sentenced in stabbing of clinic worker in Maple Heights According to a press release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Barbara Warner, 61, was walking near the edge of Mickey Road around 6:30 a.m. when she was hit by an unknown vehicle. Warner was taken to a hospital where she died. The crash remains under investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Whether traveling by plane, train, or automobile, it is important to be extra prepared for the busy travel days ahead. More than 300 Amtrak passengers headed to the train station in East Lansing this morning to travel to Chicago. Last year, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reported that more than 22,000 customers traveled to Michigan during the Thanksgiving travel period. People line up to travel from East Lansing to Chicago./ WLNS Michael Frezell, spokesperson for MDOT, says the East Lansing station has volunteers to assist travelers before they head out. He says traveling by train is convenient for everyone, including families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One thing is they dont have to go through security checks. Its very convenient that people can just pull right up to the station and get on the train and head to their destination, said Frezell. Get to the train station early, says Frezell. Check Mi Drive Map on the MDOT website to check for road conditions, weather, and snow can happen at any time so people need to be aware of that before traveling. Jared Becker, volunteer and station host at the East Lansing station says today is the busiest day of the year and expresses the importance of helping everyone get on the train on time to those heading to Chicago. Be patient, its going to be a long trip. We want to make sure families are together and we will bring them to the front of the line so they arent separated from their children, said Becker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. (FOX40.COM) The city of Vacaville recently spent over $22,000 to clean up illegal homeless encampments throughout the area, according to the Vacaville Police Department. These illegal encampments can quickly develop into public health issues due to the presence of biohazard material, illegal drugs, and drug paraphernalia, VPD said. The large-scale accumulation of waste and property can also threaten critical waterways in the city. Family rescues woman trapped underwater after rollover car crash in canal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said once an illegal encampment is found in the city, occupants are contacted and they attempt to work with the individuals to find a better (legal) living situation. After the area is clear of people, cleanup efforts begin. Sometimes cleanups are performed by city employees, however, the most recent encampment cleanup required a private contractor because of the large accumulation of property and the presence of biohazard material, according to VPD. The cost was more than $22,000 for one location. Homicide arrest made in fentanyl-related death in Sacramento County VPD said it handles several illegal encampment clean-ups throughout the year and works closely with local unhoused individuals to access resources. Officers encourage residents to report illegal encampments to VPDs non-emergency number at 707-449-5200. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. SARATOGA COUNTY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) The Upstate New York home of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik was the target of a bomb threat Wednesday morning, her office said in a statement. Stefanik whos serving her fifth term for New Yorks 21st Congressional District and was re-elected this month to a sixth term has been appointed to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by President-Elect Donald Trump. Stefaniks office said the congresswoman, her husband and their three-year-old son were not at the home during the Nov. 27 scare, but were en route from Washington, D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday at the time they were notified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism, said the spokesperson. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7. Stefanik was one of several of President-Elect Trumps administration nominees to receive some sort of threat. Former Congressman Lee Zeldin, who previously ran for New York Governor, also received a threat. Zeldin wrote: A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Trump spokesperson calls describes these as violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. The attacks, the Trump campaign wrote, ranged from bomb threats to swatting calls. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us, wrote Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SpaceX's inaugural Bandwagon rideshare mission launch took place in April 2024 from Kennedy Space Center (pictured), where Exolaunch deployed 4 customer satellites for HawkEye 360 and Satellogic. Photo credit: SpaceX Providing the integration and deployment of 22 customer satellites, Exolaunch builds on its long-term collaboration with SpaceX, partnerships with smallsat operators and vision of expanding global access to space DENVER, November 27, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exolaunch, a global leader in launch mission management, integration, and satellite deployment services, is ready for its next major launch: the Bandwagon-2 Rideshare mission with SpaceX. Building upon the success of the inaugural Bandwagon mission earlier this year, Exolaunch will once again integrate and deploy satellites into orbit for a diverse range of international customers. The Bandwagon-2 mission is scheduled to lift off no earlier than December 2024 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Bandwagon-2 is a unique mid-inclination rideshare mission, offering a rare orbital opportunity for diverse satellite deployments. As part of this mission, the launch campaign at Vandenberg Space Force Base is currently underway for Exolaunchs roster of 22 customer satellites, including 15 cubesats and 7 microsatellites. Exolaunchs customers represent a broad spectrum of space exploration, with missions originating from countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Djibouti, Finland, Mongolia, and the United States. This is Exolaunch's seventh mission in 2024, after successfully deploying 83 satellites into orbit across the Bandwagon-1, Transporter-10, and Transporter-11 Rideshare missions with SpaceX, two dedicated missions with Rocket Lab, and ESAs Ariane 6 maiden flight. Exolaunchs flight-proven satellite separation hardware will play a critical role in this mission. The CarboNIX microsatellite separation rings and EXOpod Nova deployers will ensure the safe and reliable deployment of over 700 kg of customer payloads into orbit. Additionally, Exolaunch will fly its versatile EXOport adapter, enabling the accommodation and deployment of multiple customer satellites on a single launch. Known for their lightweight yet robust designs, these systems offer unmatched precision and safety during satellite deployments, minimizing shock and vibration to ensure payload integrity. These systems are engineered to perform in the most demanding space environments, renowned for their reliability and effectiveness across numerous missions. Exolaunchs continuous innovation in satellite separation technology solidifies its leadership in the smallsat launch segment, delivering trusted solutions to customers worldwide. Beyond cutting-edge deployment hardware, Exolaunch provides comprehensive launch procurement and top-tier mission management expertise, ensuring seamless operations from start to finish. From the initial contract to final deployment, Exolaunch guides customers through the complexities of their launch planning, global shipping and logistics for sensitive space hardware, managing regulatory compliance, integration, and more. With a decade of experience in managing high-stakes satellite missions, Exolaunch is a trusted partner in navigating the technical, logistical, and legal challenges of getting payloads into space. This all-inclusive service guarantees that customer satellites are delivered safely and on time, ready for integration and launch. Historically, homeschooling rates in Missouri hovered around 3% roughly one in 30 students (Getty Images) Over the past few years, education in Missouri has undergone a quiet but seismic shift. Whats most interesting about this change is that its happening outside of schools. Today, 1 in 16 school-aged children in the state are homeschooled, according to new research by Amy Shelton and myself. That puts the number of children educated outside of traditional public and private schools at 61,000 an immense increase from pre-pandemic levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Historically, homeschooling rates in Missouri hovered around 3 percent roughly one in 30 students. Our research shows the rate of homeschooling has nearly doubled since the pandemic began. And these numbers may be conservative. Why is a study needed to count homeschool students? Missouri is one of 20 or so states that either dont collect or dont publish official homeschooling counts. While state education agencies meticulously track public school enrollment to allocate billions of dollars in funding, they rarely track private school or homeschool students with the same rigor. Missouri provides little to no direct funding to private schools or homeschool families, so the lack of detailed data has persisted. Even in states that require some form of homeschool registration, many students were unaccounted for during and after the pandemic. A previous analysis by the Associated Press and Stanford University found that hundreds of thousands of students nationwide were missing from school rosters and student registries after 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For homeschooling families, however, these children arent missing theyre at home, receiving education under their parents guidance. Often right at the kitchen table, or in the family living room or perhaps in a virtual school or in a pod with other homeschooled children. The definition of homeschooling is changing, too. Theres no question, the pandemic-era school shutdowns sparked this dramatic shift. All of a sudden, every family had a taste of being their childrens primary educator. The data shows that many parents liked how that felt, and stuck with it years after brick and mortar schools reopened. Also, in the post-pandemic world of remote work, many families who perhaps were always interested in homeschooling are now able to make it work. So why hasnt data shown these numbers before? Some families, unfamiliar with registration requirements, likely fell through bureaucratic cracks and didnt show up in official enrollment counts. Others live in states like Missouri, where no registration is required. Our study fills the gap by synthesizing data from six reliable sources, including federal census data, state education reports, and surveys by the PRiME (Policy Research in Missouri Education) Center at Saint Louis University, where Shelton and I conduct our research. The results paint a consistent picture: Homeschooling in Missouri has reached unprecedented levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To put it into perspective, the 61,000 homeschooled students in Missouri today equal the public-school enrollments of the school districts in St. Louis and Kansas City, combined. In rural areas, homeschoolers now often outnumber private school students. The question is whether this surge is temporary. Evidence suggests its not. Nationwide, homeschooling rates spiked during the pandemic. But in Missouri, even after schools reopened for full, in-person learning, homeschooling rates remained steady. Public school enrollment fell from 879,493 in 2019, dropped to 859,166 the following year. Preliminary fall 2024 enrollments show no sign of a rebound. Overall population trends dont explain this drop; birth rate and census data show no sudden decline in Missouris school-age population. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Polling provides further clarity. The U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey and PRiME Center polling consistently estimate Missouris homeschool rate at around 6% since 2022. This equates to roughly one in sixteen students, and over time, the share of Missouri children who experience homeschooling at some point could approach one in ten. There are many opinions about homeschooling, just as there are many ways to homeschool. Regardless of perspective, the facts are undeniable: Homeschooling is no longer a far-and-few situation. Its a substantial and growing part of Missouris educational landscape. Not long ago, the image of education was familiar and predictable: Students boarding yellow buses or stepping through the doors of red brick buildings. But in Missouri, that picture has changed. We now know that for tens of thousands of families, school is happening right at home. Love it or hate it, this appears to be a permanent change in the Missouri education landscape. DES MOINES, Iowa Theres an opportunity on Wednesday to help make Thanksgiving better for some people in the metro. Hope Ministries in Des Moines is accepting donations for its most needed holiday food items including dinner rolls and cookies. Our holiday meal outreach is a true community effort, so it takes all kinds of contributions. It takes financial contributions. It costs us $2.36. Weve averaged that out over all the meals that we provide per meal, and it takes food contributions, said Kathy Coady, Chief Development Officer at Hope Ministries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanksgiving reunions at Des Moines International Airport The organization prepares Thanksgiving meals and delivers them throughout the community. It also hosts a free Thanksgiving dinner at its Hope Cafe on November 28th from noon to 1:00 p.m. Reservations are already full for the in-home meal deliveries, but all are welcome to come to the dinner at Hope Cafe no reservations are required. If youd like to donate, here are the items needed: Dinner rolls Cookies Ground beef Pork loin Bacon Ham Green beans Mixed veggies Condiments Dressings You can drop them off between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Wednesday at Hope Cafe, 1310 6th Avenue. You can also donate money here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hope Ministries provides a Christmas dinner meal as well. They begin taking reservations for Christmas meal deliveries on December 2nd. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. Murder victim Wendy Buckneys kindness, laughter and spirit touched the lives of so many, said her family - Wales News Service A convicted double killer told a jury that he hoped they suffer a brain injury as he was found guilty of murdering his retired horsewoman neighbour. Brian Whitelock, 57, attacked 71-year-old Wendy Buckney with a kitchen knife, a broken table leg and wooden shelving during a sustained assault in her home in Clydach, near Swansea, in August 2022. Swansea Crown Court heard Whitelock had been jailed for life in 2001 for murder and manslaughter and released from prison in 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was convicted by a jury who deliberated for around 30 minutes following a two-week trial. Following the guilty verdict, Whitelock shouted at the jury from the dock and had to be escorted from the courtroom. He said: I hope you all suffer a brain injury. I hope you all suffer what I went through. You are all bang out of order. Mr Justice Griffiths adjourned the case for sentencing on Dec 20. He told the jury: I apologise for that disgraceful behaviour, you can be quite certain that Mr Whitelock is in a safe place from whence he can do you no harm. It took a jury just 30 minutes to find Brian Whitelock guilty of murder - Wales News Service Ahead of Whitelocks outburst, the judge had asked if he wanted a barrister to represent him during the sentencing. The defendant said: Whats the point? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the trial, Christopher Rees KC, prosecuting, said Whitelock had a long history of drug addiction and violence. Mr Rees said Ms Buckney must have suffered greatly at the hands of Whitelock before her death, having sustained multiple stab injuries, sharp force injuries and blunt force injuries. He added: You will also hear evidence of sexual assault upon her whether this was done by the defendant before, during or after his attack upon her is impossible, forensically, to say. Whitelock, who represented himself during the trial, told jurors he had no memory of the incident and was suffering from a brain injury at the time after he slipped over while out fishing. Painful and heartbreaking journey In a statement, Ms Buckneys family said: Todays verdict brings some measure of justice for Wendy who was taken from us far too soon. While nothing can bring her back, we are grateful that the truth has been heard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wendy was a very much-loved sister and aunty whose kindness, laughter and spirit touched the lives of so many. Our lives will never be the same without her, but we will continue to honour her memory every day. This has been a painful and heartbreaking journey for our family. We thank everyone who has supported us during this incredibly difficult time, and we ask for privacy as we continue to grieve and heal in the wake of this tragedy. Det Ch Insp Matt Davies, of South Wales Police, added: We are pleased to hear of the guilty verdict, concluding what has been a thorough investigation into Brian Whitelocks senseless murder of his defenceless victim. The family of Wendy Buckney have been through a terrible and traumatising ordeal due to Whitelocks actions. With this verdict and the upcoming sentencing, I hope that they feel some closure. 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. Attendees of the Donald Trump rally on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024 in Albuquerque. Some hopefuls to lead the New Mexico Republican Party say they want to model the President-elect's approach to electoral victory. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) The New Mexico Republican Party is seeking a new leader after its chairman Steve Pearce announced this week he would not seek reelection. After six years as the face of New Mexicos opposition party, Pearce, a former U.S. representative and gubernatorial candidate, will no longer lead the party. The news was first reported by the Albuquerque Journal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Six people are vying to replace him. They are Amy Barela, an Otero County commissioner; John Brenna, the Valencia County Republican Party Executive Committee chairman; Robert Kwasny, who lost the GOP primary for Bernalillo County Clerk; Mark Murton, a former Army officer and former manager at Sandia National Laboratories; Mick Rich, who previously ran for the U.S. Senate; and District 29 state Sen. Joshua Sanchez. Republican party members will elect their new leader, along with other party officials, on Dec. 7 at the 2024 Biennial Convention. In interviews with Source New Mexico this week, four candidates to lead the state GOP were careful to remain diplomatic in their critiques of Pearces leadership but acknowledged they must do something different if they want to gain power in the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barela, the partys vice-chair, positioned herself as the only candidate with expertise in its structure and rules. She said she has an aggressive plan to flip New Mexico red by registering more voters and building the party from the bottom up. Statewide, the Democratic Party takes the largest slice of those registered at 42%, while Republicans account for about one-third of the electorate. A quarter of voters decline to state any party affiliation, Libertarians make up just more than 1% and all other parties are just less than 1% combined. We just need to increase our voter registration drives, and be where were not, Barela said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rich, a construction contractor who ran twice for the U.S. Senate, said Republicans need to unify across geographic and economic divides, and broaden their voting base. A Republican that can win in the southeast, or in northwest New Mexico, cant win in the Rio Grande Valley, he said. Weve got to recognize that were going to support the Republicans that may not be just like us, but we have the same basic goals, and the same beliefs. Rich cited his experience as a private contractor working with other companies on complex projects makes him able to bring people together. The goal is to save our state, to turn it around, he said. Weve got to put aside our differences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reached for comment on Wednesday, Murton said he was making numerous phone calls to connect with supporters and couldnt do an interview until next week. I do have a vision, Murton said. Well see if it matters after the 7th, but even if it doesnt, Im workin at the Bernalillo County level to up our game a little bit, systematize things a little more. Kwasny said Friday the party needs an overhaul. Theyve been so used to having the Democrats dominate them that I think a lot of them have kind of given up and expect that theyre not going to win, he said. But the Republican trifecta in Washington, he said, shows an unquenchable appetite for a party that connects with voters through digital means. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Voicemails and messages left for the two other GOP chair candidates on Wednesday went unreturned. Republican performance in 2024 Republicans were able to gain two seats in the statehouse. One very close race for a spot in the House of Representatives is awaiting an automatic recount. But the GOP remains the minority in the New Mexico state government. Democrats control the governors office and comfortable majorities in both legislative chambers. Rich criticized the partys performance in the 2024 elections, which he called disappointing and attributed to a lack of unity and effective leadership. Donald Trump did it, and we can do it, Rich said. We cant keep doin it the way weve been doin it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barela said Pearce has grown momentum, putting New Mexico closer than its ever been to being controlled by Republicans. I hope to continue the momentum he built upon and strengthen it with the grassroots, she said. Kwasny said if elected, he would create overarching goals that would overcome party infighting. Following Pearces lead Barela said she would carry on Pearces policy platform structure. She wants to make changes to the platform but said it would take working with newly elected officials. She also wants to adopt President Trumps plan to make sure that we include all New Mexicans in progressing New Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rich praised Pearces fundraising and statewide candidate tours in 2018 but stressed the need for new strategies to win elections. By the end of the campaign, we were a team, we were supporting each other, we had each others backs, he said of the 2018 race. Every time theres an election, we need to start that at the beginning, not the end. Kwasny praised Pearces weekly podcast but said the website where it lives needs to clamp down on dissenting views from Democrats in the comment section. Im all for free speech, but when youve got somebody thats actually doing this on purpose and its got nothing to do with free speech or any kind of cohesive thought, just emotional outbursts they need to be blocked, he said. Breaking from Pearce Barela said Republicans need the right messaging to convince New Mexicans they want to lower consumer prices and lift state regulations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am more of a grassroots activist, and I think I reach the people and the counties well, she said. Rich said if elected as party chair, he plans to gain support for boosting the GOP in the state from Washington within six months, though he would not go into detail. Its going to be something that would be good for all of New Mexico, for Republicans, and it would be good for the President, he said. Kwasny criticized the partys lack of assistance for candidates and said there should be a candidate training program like the one Democrats have, called Emerge New Mexico, but with very different goals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I can fix it and we have to in a year, because weve got a mayoral race in 2025 both in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, we should be able to win that, he said. Update Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 at 11:44 a.m.: This story has been updated with comments from an additional NMGOP chair candidate. PARIS, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) Erin Frank, the Marketing and Communications Director at Horizon Health was honored with the 4 Under 40 Hospital Leadership Award. Frank was one of four rural Illinois hospital professionals to receive the award. The Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) presented the awards at its annual conference on November 14 in Champaign, Illinois. Frank has many accolades to her name that helped win her the award over her 17-year career with the company including recruiting several new physicians and healthcare providers, leading the rebranding of the hospital to Horizon Health, establishing partnerships with nearby schools and organizations, and more. Erins expertise in strategic and operational planning is unmatched, said Ollie Smith, Horizon Health president & CEO. She is a dedicated, enthusiastic, and motivated leader who ensures Horizon Healths compass points back to its mission, vision, and values. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ICAHN is a network of 59 small, rural hospitals dedicated to strengthening the operations of its members by collaborating with each other. The ICAHN has been nationally recognized for administering several state, federal, and private, healthcare programs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday called on displaced Lebanese to return to their homes across the country, after the ceasefire between Israel and the pro-Iranian Shiite Hezbollah militia came into force. We thank the displaced and the people who have welcomed them with compassion and solidarity, Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said in a televised speech. Berri negotiated the ceasefire with US envoy Amos Hochstein on behalf of Hezbollah. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Return to your land ... even if you live above the rubble," Berri said. "We turn the page today on a historical moment that was the most dangerous for Lebanon and threatened its people and history," he added. A ceasefire brokered by the United States and France came into force at 4 am (0200 GMT). According to a draft of the ceasefire which was published by local media, Israeli ground troops are expected to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. In turn, Hezbollah is to withdraw behind the Litani River about 30 kilometres north of the border. Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that residents of certain areas were still prohibited from returning to their villages. The Israeli army had already fired warning shots in the morning when vehicles carrying suspected Hezbollah members entered the area of Kafr Kila near the border with Israel. HOBBS, New Mexico (KMID/KPEJ) The Hobbs Police Department is asking for the publics help in identifying two individuals as part of a shooting investigation. According to HPD, the two individuals are wanted for questioning regarding the shooting took place in Hobbs on Sunday, November 17. Hobbs man arrested after shooting leaves two injured If you recognize these individuals, or have any information, please contact the Hobbs Police Department at 575-397-9265 or Lea County Crime Stoppers at 575-393-8005. The first tip made to Crime Stoppers that leads to an arrest or case closed may be eligible for a cash reward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. A vaccination with the drug lenacapavir offers an effective protection against a HIV infection, according to newly published research from the pivotal phase-three study "Purpose 2". The option to vaccinate against HIV only every six months is a genuine breakthrough, said Astrid Berner-Rodoreda from the University Hospital of Heidelberg in response to the finding, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Lenacapavir, a relatively new drug, provides lasting protection against HIV infection and requires a booster injection be given every six months. This marks a stark contrast to current HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs such as Truvada, which have to be taken daily as a tablet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having to be vaccinated twice a year is much more convenient than having to remember to take a tablet every day, says Berner-Rodoreda. Tablets raise suspicions In addition, tablets have been known to attract attention. Especially in some countries severely affected by HIV, there is a risk that others will assume you are HIV-positive when you start taking tablets daily. An injection administered only twice a year is much easier to keep secret. Therefore, there is no question that lenacapavir is a "huge relief" for many people, Berner-Rodoreda said. Like the previous study, Purpose 1, the evaluation was terminated early due to the promising results, in order to be able to make the drug available to all subjects, according to the manufacturer Gilead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company now plans to apply for approval of lenacapavir as HIV protection in numerous countries. Efforts are also being made to ensure that it is available in poorer countries. Similar protection level The drug will be offered prophylactically to people at high risk of HIV infection. It inhibits the life cycle of the virus at several stages of infection. Max von Kleist from the Free University of Berlin explained that in terms of efficiency, lenacapavir is comparable to Truvada. Both offer excellent, almost complete protection. The results of the two "Purpose" studies suggest that there are proportionately more infections in the control groups that were given tablets, but the data is misleading, explained the head of the Mathematics for Data Science research group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In many cases, the tablets were not taken regularly or were not taken at all, especially towards the end of the study period. It is not surprising that infections then occur. Lenacapavir is already approved in the EU for the antiviral treatment of certain patients who are already infected, but has not been launched by Gilead for preventative purposes. It is currently unclear in exactly which countries it will be available in this capacity. In any case, it is of great importance, especially for poorer countries, such as for women in sub-Saharan Africa. Will it be affordable for those who need it most? There is a problem in terms of cost, however. When used to treat existing infections, lenacapavir costs around $42,000 per year in the US. At this price, it would be beyond unaffordable for people in poorer countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is crucial that access nevertheless be provided for such countries where the drug is really urgently needed, says Berner-Rodoreda. Activists have been protesting against Gilead, arguing they are leveraging a monopoly on HIV drugs for profit. The question of who should be given lenacapavir and under what circumstances must be carefully considered in each case, von Kleist says. This is because there is a risk of a drug resistance developing, as there generally is with such active ingredients. The particular problem with lenacapavir is that the active ingredient can still be detected in the body for about a year after vaccinations have been stopped. "This promotes the development of resistances." A pathogen can become resistant if the dose of an active ingredient is insufficient to eliminate it. Follow-up treatment It may be necessary to continue taking Truvada for a year after stopping lenacapavir to prevent the development of resistance in the event of infection during this period, according to von Kleist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The risk of this happening with Truvada is low. It disappears from the body within a week of stopping treatment. "Purpose 2" included almost 3,300 HIV-negative people who had sex frequently. Two people in the lenacapavir group (approx. 2,200 subjects) and nine in the group treated with Truvada for comparison (approx. 1,100 subjects) became infected with HIV, according to the journal. Lenacapavir thus reduced the risk of infection by 96% compared to the background incidence. Both drugs were generally well tolerated. In July, promising results from the Phase III "Purpose 1" study were presented at the International AIDS Conference in Munich and in the NEJM. Around 5,300 HIV-negative girls and young women in South Africa and Uganda were involved in the study. Among the 2,100 participants who were injected with lenacapavir twice a year, there were no infections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In control groups with around 3,200 participants who had taken other drugs for prevention, there were 55 HIV infections. Cure still not possible The HI virus weakens the immune system and makes the body susceptible to various illnesses. The resulting condition is called AIDS. With early diagnosis and treatment, those infected have a practically normal life expectancy. However, in most cases the infection cannot be completely eliminated, which is why lifelong use of virus-inhibiting medication is necessary. According to a UN report presented on Tuesday, the number of HIV infections is increasing in 28 countries. Worldwide, 39.9 million people are living with the virus, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN programme UNAIDS. In 2023, 630,000 people died in connection with AIDS and 1.3 million people were newly infected with the HI virus. The $30 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News and The Five host Jessica Tarlov from Hunter Biden whistleblower Tony Bobulinski was dismissed by a New York judge Tuesday. Bobulinski, a former business partner of the Biden family, was ordered to pay Tarlovs legal fees after originally filing the suit in March after Tarlov said he had past legal fees paid for by a super PAC connected to President-elect Donald Trump. Before the Court is Tarlovs motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and motion for attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP law, District Judge J. Paul Oetken wrote. For the reasons that follow, the motion to dismiss is granted. And because the Court concludes that the mandatory fee-shifting provision of New Yorks anti-SLAPP law applies in federal court, Tarlovs motion for attorneys fees is also granted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge Oetkens dismissal denied Bobulinski and his legal teams demands for $30 million in compensatory, special and punitive damages. Fox News is pleased with the courts landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantinos meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP statute, a Fox spokesperson told TheWrap. Bobulinski also fails to adequately allege that Tarlovs statements tended to injure him in his capacity as a businessman, Oetken said. The New York Court of Appeals has held that, for a statement to qualify as defamation per se under the professional conduct exception, the statement must specifically reference conduct that is incompatible with a persons profession, rather than a more general reflection upon the plaintiffs character or qualities. The legal battle began when Tarlov said on her Fox News show The Five that Tony Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump Super PAC. Thats as recent as January. Bobulinski and his attorney Stefan Passantino filed the lawsuit the following week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a matter of fact that since 2020, when Mr. Bobulinski first started speaking publicly against the Biden family, he has spent over $500,000 of his own money on legal fees, the complaint read. Neither President Trump, nor any persons or entities affiliated with President Trump, have ever paid for any of Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees during this time. The plaintiffs also wrote a letter to Fox News demanding a retraction of the comment from Tarlov. She addressed it on the March 21 episode of The Five. I would like to clarify a comment I made yesterday during our discussion of Tony Bobulinskis appearance at the congressional hearing. During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing I said that Mr. Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC, Tarlov continued. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees and he denies that they were. The post Hunter Biden Whistleblowers $30 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News, Jessica Tarlov Dismissed by Judge appeared first on TheWrap. By Jody Godoy and David Shepardson ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge Alphabet's Google illegally dominated online advertising technology in seeking a second antitrust win against the company. The closing arguments in Alexandria, Virginia, cap a 15-day trial held in September where prosecutors sought to show Google monopolized markets for publisher ad servers and advertiser ad networks, and tried to dominate the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers. Google rigged the rules of the road, said DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum, who asked the judge to hold Google accountable for anticompetitive conduct and added Google is "once, twice, three times a monopolist." Another DOJ lawyer Julia Tarver Wood compared the case to the Charles Dickens novel "A Tale of Two Cities" and said U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema had to decide whether to adopt the DOJ or Google version of the state of the ad market. Google lawyer Karen Dunn said DOJ had not met its legal burden and was asking Brinkema to disregard antitrust and overrule key precedents. "The law simply does not support what the plaintiffs are arguing in this case," Dunn said. She argued DOJ was ignoring Google's legitimate business decisions and that the online advertising market was robust. The company argues the government had cherrypicked a narrow slice of the online market and did not account for aggressive competition. Alphabet shares were up 1.4% in afternoon trading. Publishers testified at trial that they could not switch away from Google, even when it rolled out features they disliked, since there was no other way to access the huge advertising demand within Google's ad network. News Corp in 2017 estimated losing at least $9 million in ad revenue that year if it had switched away, one witness said. If Brinkema finds that Google broke the law, she would consider prosecutors' request to make Google at least sell off Google Ad Manager, a platform that includes the company's publisher ad server and its ad exchange. Google offered to sell the ad exchange this year to end an EU antitrust investigation but European publishers rejected the proposal as insufficient, Reuters first reported in September. Analysts view the ad tech case as a smaller financial risk than the case where a judge ruled Google maintains an illegal monopoly in online search, and where prosecutors have argued the company must be forced to sell its Chrome browser. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York and David Shepardson in Alexandria, Virginia; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Jonathan Oatis and Chizu Nomiyama) A New York federal court on Tuesday dismissed a $30m defamation lawsuit from a former Hunter Biden business associate against a Fox News anchor. In March, Tony Bobulinski sued Jessica Tarlov, one of the hosts of Foxs The Five, after she said on air that month that Bobulinskis legal fees to retain lawyer Stefan Passantino had been paid by a Trump Super PAC, after Bobulinski testified as part of the Houses inquiries into the Biden family. The following day, after Bobulinskis attorneys reached out to say this wasnt correct, Tarlov issued a clarification on air. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing I said that Mr. Bobulinskis lawyers fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January. What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC, she said. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees and he denies that they were. As one lawmaker noted during the hearing in question, the Save America PAC paid the firm representing Bobulinski $10,000 earlier that year. After the clarification, Bobulinski continued to assert Tarlov had described him inaccurately and filed suit. Lawsuit claimed Fox News host Jessica Tarlov hadnt done enough to retract statement on Hunter Biden critic (CAA) Tuesdays ruling found that Tarlov could dismiss the complaint and was entitled to legal fees under a novel application of New Yorks anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statute in federal court, a law designed to fend off lawsuits aimed at burdening opponents with excessive legal costs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "FOX News is pleased with the courts landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantinos meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP statute, Fox News said in a statement to The Independent. The Independent has contacted Bobulinskis attorney for comment. Tony Bobulinski testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing (AP) In the Tuesday ruling, District Judge J. Paul Oetken found that Bobulinkski hadnt shown Tarlovs statements had damaged his reputation, even though the initial one was inaccurate. The court pointed out that Bobulinski had voluntarily associated himself with Trump in the past, including attending a presidential debate as his guest and hiring a former Trump White House official as his attorney. Connecting Bobulinski to the formerand futuredemocratically elected President of the United States simply cannot be grounds for an average Americans hatred, distrust, or ridicule, the judge wrote. Hurricanes often leave a trail of death and destruction in their wake. However, the impacts of these severe weather events continue long after the storm has passed. A study published in Nature confirms a reality AccuWeather has been emphasizing for decades: The effects of hurricanes are more far-reaching and longer lasting than commonly reported. This hurricane season has been particularly destructive, with 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes, two of which made landfall in the United States. The immediate death toll and financial impact have been devastating, but the long-term effects are even more concerning. Susie Davis embraces a fellow church member as people gather at Pack Square Park for a Hurricane Helene Vigil on Tuesday October 22, 2024 in Asheville, NC. The area is still recovering from the deadly hurricane. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images) AccuWeather Executive Chairman and Founder, Dr. Joel N. Myers, highlighted the discrepancy between reported and actual damage. "This trend is continuing. The damage from severe weather is greater than is often reported: The suffering and the impact health-wise, economically, and so on," he explained. According to Dr. Myers, government agencies and other sources frequently underreport the human and financial costs, often considerably so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Hurricanes and even tornadoes, the long-term effect of any disaster is harmful to longevity because people then experience the trauma," Myers added. "They may lose possessions, they may have less money as they rebuild for later health expenses and retirement. All these have a negative impact on longevity." As Scientific American notes, the study revealed that an average hurricane has killed 7,000-11,000 extra people in the United States beyond what's reported after the disaster. Death tolls reported immediately after a hurricane fail to account for the long-term effects on families' health and well-being, Dr. Myers pointed out. Children find a stuffed animal in the pile of supplies and clothing at a relief center in Black Mountain, North Carolina, on October 21, 2024, as the community rebuilds after Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) According to the study's authors, from 1950 to 2015, tropical storms and hurricanes led to an estimated 3.6 million to 5.2 million excess deaths, surpassing fatalities from traffic accidents or infectious diseases. These storm-related deaths disproportionately affect certain groups, notably young individuals and Black populations. The authors highlighted this as a significant yet under-researched factor impacting health in the United States. Dr. Jonathan Tan of the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the prolonged health impacts on lower-income communities with limited resources. "After a natural disaster or an extreme weather event, communities, particularly with limited resources, may experience prolonged health impacts because they're just more vulnerable to recover from," he noted. These impacts can include housing instability, food insecurity, and a lack of access to quality medical care, both in the short and long term. TOPSHOT - Robert Haight looks around his destroyed house after it was hit by a tornado in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 9, 2024, as Hurricane Milton approached. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) In the wake of Helene, for example, families may have to live in damaged or mold-riddled homes before they can afford to make repairs. "People may have to use their savings for repairs, leaving less money for their health care for years. People may be forced to move and live farther away from crucial social support networks which can dramatically affect their mental health. "It's devastating to the individuals, and it's devastating to the local and state governments, too," said study co-author Rachel Young, an environmental economist at the University of California, Berkeley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Myers added that other estimates are often too low, focusing only on what is covered by insurance, which can be as little as 5-10% of the total economic loss. "Businesses fail, jobs are lost, people move away, houses are destroyed, and all of it's not covered by insurance. It has a negative impact that. That money is gone forever and it has a long-term effect." With the true cost of hurricanes extending far beyond the immediate aftermath, bringing devastating long-term health, economic and social impacts, particularly to vulnerable communities, Dr. Myers continues to urge a more comprehensive understanding and response to severe weather events. Hundreds of volunteers and nonprofit agencies are coming together to make sure people hard hit by this years hurricane season have a Thanksgiving dinner. That includes giveaways like one in Asheville, North Carolina, where residents waited in line for hours to snag one of 1,500 free turkeys ahead of the holiday. We saw people moved to tears, just thanking us, said Micah Chrisman from MANNA FoodBank, a group that sponsored the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And so it just really shows how much folks are really looking for resources in their community. Its estimated that more than 125,000 homes were damaged in September by flooding and other impacts from Helene in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Many are living in tents, trailers, hotels, or with family and friends. For Some, The Holiday Brings A Sense Of Normalcy About 300 Helene survivors showed up for a free Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 16 at Fenders Farm in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Usually in fall the farm has pumpkins, corn mazes and other fun. But much of the property was destroyed by the storm. It will be years before things get back anywhere near normal, owner Carrol Fender said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Fender said things like Thanksgiving help. For two months, many people have survived on prepared food handed out by the many aid groups that descended on the region. And thats great, Fender said, noting people are very thankful for those efforts. But that is not like having a good hot meal cooked right there and dipped out of the pot while its hot, getting to sit with your friends and neighbors. A 600-Mile Drive To Help The event at Fenders Farm was put on by a handful of volunteers from a group called Western NY Community Support. They drove more than 600 miles from Buffalo, their vehicles loaded with donated homemade pies and kids stocking stuffers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their trip was inspired by a previous visit shortly after the storm, where they got to know local residents and those helping them. I was so amazed at the spirit of the people. None of the folks are resentful or upset. Jeannie D'ambrosio, the groups treasurer, said. I don't know that I could have had that spirit if I had lost absolutely everything. MORE ON WEATHER.COM -Thanksgiving Travel: What To Know On The Road And In The Air -What's Your Snowiest Month? -Travel Tips From A Meteorologist's Perspective Weather.com staff writer Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between. The News The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for Myanmars junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, for suspected crimes against humanity against the countrys largely Muslim Rohingya minority. The courts judges will now convene to decide whether the request is reasonable, a process that is expected to take up to three months. One million Rohingya began fleeing Myanmar in 2017, after a military campaign that UN officials have described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Most now live in camps in Bangladesh. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Myanmar denies the allegations, saying the attacks were carried out against militants that were attacking police posts. The ICC prosecutors request comes as violence against the Rohingya community has reignited, a human rights counsel told Reuters, noting it is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity that has fueled the unrest. Other human rights groups and Rohingya representatives praised the announcement, with one leader describing it as a rare day of celebration, Reuters reported, while Myanmar authorities have yet to respond. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmars military leader for crimes committed against the persecuted Rohingya minority group. In his request for the warrant, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan alleged that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya in both Myanmar and parts of Bangladesh between August 25 and December 31, 2017. As a result of the violence, the ICC estimated that more than one million Rohingya were forcibly displaced from Myanmar many fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Min Aung Hlaing is the leader of Myanmars powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, which seized power in 2021. Since then, he has served as the military ruler of the country. The investigation, which has been in development since 2019, implicates the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians, Khan said in a statement. Myanmar has routinely defended itself from accusations of genocide, saying its crackdown was aimed at Rohingya rebels who had carried out attacks. Khan made multiple visits to Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, where he heard testimonies from various Rohingya refugees who he said made urgent pleas for justice to be reached. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The request from Khan is pending approval from the ICC judges before it can be enacted. But even If the warrant is approved, the ICC could be limited in its jurisdiction as Myanmar is not among the 123 member states of the court. However, member countries could be obligated to transfer Min Aung Hlaing into ICC custody if he enters their territory after the warrant is issued. Khan added that the court will remain focused on obtaining a warrant in the coming weeks and months and will file additional applications for arrest on the matter. We will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law, Khan said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khans application was welcomed by rights groups. Human Rights Watch (HRW) applauded it as a step toward accountability and ending decades of impunity. Past United Nations investigations have presented evidence that the military carried out mass rapes, murders, and set fire to villages. It has also called for the countrys generals to face an international tribunal on charges of genocide, The UNs former High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in 2017 the military operation against the Rohingya appears to be a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. In 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) enacted provisional measures compelling Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the Rohingya. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane and Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf meet to certify the 2024 general election results Nov. 26, 2024, at the Idaho Statehouse. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun) The Idaho State Board of Canvassers voted unanimously Tuesday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to certify Idahos 2024 general election results. The Idaho State Board of Canvassers officially signed off on results of the Nov. 5, 2024, election after noting that none of the election outcomes changed following the county certifications and a random audit of ballots in eight Idaho counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to none of the outcomes changing, none of the races in Idaho were within the 0.5% margin that qualifies for a free recount, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said. Ive been involved in elections for a very long time, McGrane said during Tuesdays meeting of the Idaho State Board of Canvassers. This was truly one of the smoothest elections that Ive ever been part of from leading into the election to going through it and I think its really a credit to so many different people for us to be able to hold an election like this. I think the preparation and the very, very cooperative relationship that we have with the counties and the county clerks offices has just been huge. The Idaho State Board of Canvassers consists of McGrane, Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth and Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Record number of Idaho voters voted in 2024 general election Tuesdays vote to certify Idahos election results also makes the 2024 general election the largest election in state history in terms of the number of voters who voted. Official numbers released following the canvass show that 917,469 voters cast ballots, beating the previous record of 878,527 from the 2020 general election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Idaho law allows voters to register to vote and vote on Election Day. Final, official 2024 general election results showed there were 121,015 same-day registrations on Election Day. The number of same-day voter registrations this year was so large that if all 121,015 voters who participated in same-day voter registration created a new city, it would have been the third-largest city in Idaho, just between Meridian and Nampa. Turnout for the 2024 general election came to 77.8%, trailing the 2020 general election record turnout of 81.2%. Certifying Idaho election results sets stage for Electoral College to meet The vote to certify Idahos election results Tuesday helps set the stage for the Electoral College process used to officially vote for the president and vice president of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The purpose of todays meeting, really, is to certify the results as official, McGrane said. So up until this point, all of the results have been unofficial for the state of Idaho. That includes everything from the presidential race, federal races and state races. Now that Idahos election results are official, state officials will send the results to Washington, D.C., McGrane said. Then, on Dec. 17, Idahos electors will officially cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump in the electoral college. Idaho has four electoral college votes one for each of its members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and all four of Idahos electoral votes will go for Trump. Election audit uncovers poll worker errors, disorganized records On Nov. 15, the Idaho State Board of Canvassers selected eight random Idaho counties for the audit, the Sun previously reported. The counties selected were Latah, Bingham, Elmore, Bear Lake, Custer, Minidoka, Clearwater and Jerome counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Nicole Fitzgerald said the audit results matched the unofficial election results completely in Bingham and Minidoka counties. But there were small discrepancies, poll worker errors, hand counting errors, labeling or organizational errors that the audit uncovered in six of the counties audited. None of the discrepancies the largest of which involved 12 ballots in Elmore County was large enough to change the outcome of any of the elections, McGrane said during the Idaho State Board of Canvassers meeting and again during a follow up interview with the Sun. For example, in Bear Lake County, Sen. Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs, lost one vote as a result of the audit, while his Democratic challenger Chris Riley gained one vote in the audit. Election officials on Tuesday attributed the difference to a hand counting error on election night in Bear Lake County. The error did not change the outcome. Final election results show that Harris defeated Riley by a margin of 20,907 votes to 6,062. In Custer County, Republican Sen.-elect Christy Zito, lost one vote in the audit and her Democratic challenger David Hoag gained one vote due to what Fitzgerald described as an error in the hand-counting process on election night. That difference did not change the outcome either. Final election results show Zito won 17,750 votes to 6,859 votes. In Elmore County, the audit was off by 12 ballots. Fitzgerald said there were 2,183 ballots reported in the five Elmore County precincts selected for the audit. But auditors only counted 2,171 ballots in the audit, Fitzgerald said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 12-vote discrepancy was likely due to issues and inconsistencies with the resolution board process on election night, Fitzgerald said. The resolution board comes in when a ballot is rejected as unreadable by voting machines due to an issue such as damage, stains, tears or some other issue where the resolution board is called in to take a look at the ballot to determine voter intent. What appears to have happened was that those ballots were just not very carefully labeled or organized on election night, Fitzgerald said during Tuesdays meeting.It was really difficult for our audit team to determine which ballots belonged in the audit count. After Tuesdays meeting to certify election results, McGrane told the Sun some of the notes and records connected with the resolution board process in Elmore County were handwritten instead of printed. McGrane told the Sun he believes all votes were counted properly and the issue came down to organization and record keeping and not being sure which ballots should be part of the audit count, which was a partial audit of Elmore County and the seven other counties, not a full audit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McGrane and Fitzgerald said they do not believe a full audit is necessary in Elmore County, but they said state election officials will follow up with Elmore County election officials about the discrepancies. We are going out there and meeting with them so we can identify some opportunities for process improvement, Fitzgerald said. The 12 vote discrepancy would not have changed the outcome of any election in Elmore County. The closest race Elmore County was involved in was a District 8 Idaho House race that Rep.-elect Faye Thompson won over her closest rival, Democrat Jared Dawson, by more than 9,800 votes in an election that included three other counties. All but one county level election was uncontested in Elmore County during the 2024 general election. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Using 2021 data, the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee's last report found Idahos maternal mortality rate nearly doubled in recent years and most of those deaths were preventable. (Getty Images) Newly reassembled after Idaho lawmakers let it disband, a group of Idaho medical experts is preparing a report about pregnant moms who died in 2023. The Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee met Thursday for the first time since being disbanded in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees next report is due to the Idaho Legislature by Jan. 31, as required in the new Idaho law that re-established the group. The review committees purpose has been to identify, review and analyze maternal deaths in Idaho and offer recommendations to address those deaths. The committees last report, using data from 2021, found Idahos maternal mortality rate nearly doubled in recent years and most of those deaths were preventable. The committee was previously housed in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. But the new law that reinstated it placed the committee under the Idaho Board of Medicine, which licenses doctors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee is working to first address maternal death cases in 2023, and will then look into 2022 cases, Idaho Board of Medicine General Counsel Russell Spencer told the Sun in an interview. Thats because the Legislature would like the most up to date information available, Idaho Board of Medicine spokesperson Bob McLaughlin told the Sun in an interview. Idaho has several laws banning abortion. In the 2024 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers didnt amend those laws, despite pleas from doctors for a maternal health exception. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX How Idahos Maternal Mortality Review Committee works The review committee, under the Department of Health and Welfare, analyzed de-identified medical records, health statistics, autopsy reports and other records related to maternal deaths. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees work was not intended to imply blame or substitute for institutional or professional peer review, according to a Health and Welfare website. Rather, the review process sought to learn from and prevent future maternal deaths. The reinstated committee, under the Board of Medicine, will still analyze de-identified cases. The cases will not be used for disciplinary actions by the Board of Medicine, the boards website says. An advisory body to the Board of Medicine, the review committee is meant to identify, review, and analyze maternal deaths and determine if the pregnancy was incidental to, or a contributing factor in, the mothers death, the Board of Medicines website says. The boards website says the committee report will provide insights into maternal death trends and risk factors in Idaho year over year. Next Idaho maternal mortality report to include 2023 data The review committee hasnt yet fully reviewed or published findings from Idaho maternal deaths in 2022 and 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2023, 13 Idaho maternal death cases were identified for review, and 15 cases were identified in 2022, Spencer told the Sun. But he said the actual number of maternal death cases to be reviewed could be reduced, for instance, if the person wasnt pregnant or if the death occurred outside of the year the committee was analyzing. Spencer told the Sun the committee has already reviewed seven of the 13 maternal death cases identified in 2023. The committee will also work to ensure that each case is correctly associated with maternal mortality, he said. If so, then it will go in front of the committee, and the committee and the committee will determine whether it was related to the pregnancy or if it was incidental to the pregnancy, Spencer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee plans to meet three times this year, including last weeks meeting, he said. The committee will likely review 2022 data in the first half of 2025, while it awaits the 2024 data, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email. It usually takes a full calendar year to receive relevant documents, input data, and have committee meetings, he said. We are doing everything in our power to review 2022s data as soon as possible, along with the cases from 2023 and the expected cases for 2024 coming to us in 2025. The Idaho State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 23, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) How Idaho lawmakers reinstated the committee In summer 2023, Idaho became the only U.S. state without a maternal mortality review committee, after state lawmakers let the committee disband by not renewing it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2024, the Idaho Legislature reinstated the maternal mortality review committee through a new bill, House Bill 399, that widely passed both legislative chambers before Gov. Brad Little signed it into law. Work to revive the review committee started soon after Little signed the new bill into law on March 18, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email before the meeting. The Idaho Board of Medicine hired a coordinator for the review committee, who started Aug. 5, and worked to ensure the committee had access to data to conduct the work, such as receiving information to start case review from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfares Bureau of Vital Statistics and working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to execute a data sharing agreement and memorandum of understanding for its database, McLaughlin told the Sun. Idaho Medical Association CEO Susie Keller said in a statement that the association was grateful to the Legislature for reinstating this important health care resource for women and families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The medical association commends the Idaho Board of Medicine for meeting the challenges of re-establishing the review committee, Keller added. Whos on the committee now? The reinstated Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee includes a mix of health care professionals, including doctors, midwives, a nurse and a paramedic. The members are: Dr. Andrew Spencer, a maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialist Faith Krull, a certified nurse midwife Jeremy Schabot, deputy director of training and safety at Ada County Paramedics Dr. John Eck, a family physician in Boise Joshua Hall, the Nez Perce County coroner Dr. Julie Meltzer, who specializes in OB/GYN care Krysta Freed, a licensed midwife Linda Lopez Dr. Magni Hamso, the medical director for Idaho Medicaid Dr. Spencer Paulson, a pathologist Tasha Hussman, a registered nurse Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Thursday, the committee named Eck as chair and Spencer as vice chair, on voice votes without any opposition. The committee then entered executive session where the public is not allowed to attend to review cases. The previous iteration of Idahos Maternal Mortality Review Committee conducted most of its work in executive session, similar to other states, McLaughlin told the Sun in an email. To do its work, the (Maternal Mortality Review Committee) must review records of hospital care, psychiatric care, and other medical records, all exempt from disclosure under Idaho law, McLaughlin said. We also want to encourage open and free discussion among the members of the committee, which an executive session helps to promote. Two past committee members re-applied, but werent selected Four of the review committees current members had served on the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee when it concluded its final report in 2023, including Hamso, Meltzer, Freed and Krull. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But two doctors who had previously served on the committee applied and were not selected. Both of those doctors Dr. Stacy Seyb and Dr. Caitlin Gustafson have been involved in lawsuits against the state of Idaho or state government agencies related to Idahos abortion bans. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US Upon request, the Idaho Board of Medicine provided the list of committee applicants to the Idaho Capital Sun. But McLaughlin said the Idaho Public Records Act did not allow the state medical licensing agency to provide a more specific answer about reasons applicants werent selected. The head of the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, in a statement, said the organization was deeply invested in the review committees work. The IAFP is deeply invested in the continued work of the (Maternal Mortality Review Committee) in its new iteration and hopes to see the high-quality data analysis and reports that were provided by previous (review committees). This work is crucial to supporting maternal health and well-being in Idaho, organization executive director Liz Woodruff said in a statement. Russ Barron, administrator of the Board of Medicines parent agency called the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, made the appointments in consultation with the Board of Medicine, McLaughlin told the Sun. Committee members were selected based on their education, training and clinical expertise, the Board of Medicines website says. Asked why some past review committee members werent selected to serve on the new committee, Spencer told the Sun, theres nothing wrong with anybody who wasnt on. Spencer said he couldnt discuss reasons why specific people werent selected. Were very, very grateful for everybody whos ever served on this committee. We had enough interest in the committee that we were able to fill the different slots with people who hadnt served before and provide new perspectives, he told the Sun. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Idaho Supreme Court building in downtown Boise. (Courtesy of the Idaho Supreme Court) This story was first published by Idaho Reports on Nov. 27, 2024. The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that a second attempt to execute an Idaho death row inmate would not violate his Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The Wednesday decision affirms an earlier district court decision, rejecting an appeal by Thomas Creech. Thomas Creech has been on death row since 1983 for the beating death of fellow inmate David Jensen in 1981. (Courtesy of Christine Hanley/Federal Defender Services of Idaho) Creech, 74, survived his first execution attempt in February after the execution team failed to establish vein access and called off the execution. A November death warrant expired due to a separate stay from the federal court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the February attempt, the Idaho Department of Correction established a new policy that would allow the execution team to access a central vein for lethal injection administration. A central vein is a major vein in the body, usually in the chest, neck or groin. Access to a central vein requires the insertion of a catheter. A peripheral vein, like those located in the arm or hand, is closer to the skins surface and is commonly used for tasks like a blood draws or establishing an IV line on a patient. Creech is on death row for the 1981 beating death of fellow inmate David Jensen in Ada County. He claimed another execution attempt would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, violating his Eighth Amendment constitutional rights. The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously sided with the district court, writing Creech has not alleged that the state will inflict unnecessary pain during an execution using central line IV access. Instead, he provides anecdotal evidence of difficulties encountered by other states during central line insertions. The state has not yet issued a new death warrant for Creech, as the federal stay is still in place. ISC-Creech SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX On Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called US President Donald Trump. The Azerbaijani leader congratulated Trump on his re-election as President of the United States and expressed confidence that the American people's choice would play an even more important role in ensuring global security. The words of the Azerbaijani president that, during his first term, Donald Trump paid special attention to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States attracted significant attention. There is no exaggeration in these words. During Trump's presidency, there were no crises between Washington and Baku, unlike the almost constant tensions during the four years of the Democratic administration. The Biden administration's complete lack of a pragmatic approach to the region has led to a deterioration in US relations with its traditional and reliable partner in the South Caucasus. Donald Trump is often criticized for running politics like a businessman, but the previous US administration lacked even this kind of pragmatic approach. In April 2018, while congratulating Ilham Aliyev on his re-election as president, Trump wrote: "I look forward to working with you on many areas of mutual interest for the American and Azerbaijani peoples. Together, we can make progress in combating terrorism, creating new jobs, and improving energy security in Europe." In 2019, in a message to Azerbaijan's president in connection with the opening of the International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition, the US president wrote that "Azerbaijan has never been as prosperous or as connected to the global economy in its history as it is today. The oil and gas produced in Azerbaijan, including the Southern Gas Corridor, continue to enhance stability in global energy markets." "It's time to expand the success of your country," Trump wrote, promising US support and expressing a desire to continue cooperation. Relations between the two countries were not limited to ceremonial pleasantries, but were always filled with practical content. The two sides demonstrated mutual understanding. One example is Trump's reaction to the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War. Despite the fact that Armenia's European supporters, as they say, were in an uproar, Washington remained aloof from the Western hysteria. The American Armenian community was outraged and felt insulted. When asked about what was happening in the South Caucasus, Trump famously said that resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was "an easy case," and promised that the United States would work on it. "I call it an 'easy case.' We'll figure it out. Go and tell that to your people... Its easy if you know what you're doing," Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire. Trump indeed knew what he was doing, choosing the most appropriate stancenon-interference. In his first term, Trump championed the "America First" doctrine, which was highly unconventional for the United States. Many are now wondering whether this approach will persist, and what policy the US will adopt toward our region. It is unlikely that this policy can be worse than the one pursued by the previous administration, with its obvious and shameless pro-Armenian bias. Although Trump's team includes many pro-Armenian figures, the president himself remains the decisive factor. Moreover, Trump is, first and foremost, a businessmanan experienced and successful one and only secondarily a politician. His approaches, therefore, should be pragmatic. Even his showdown with China is not the result of ideological differences, but rather a desire to suppress a serious business competitor. Azerbaijan cannot be considered a direct economic competitor to the United States, but it can once again become a reliable partner in this part of the world. The Afghan campaign is over, but security issues are still far from resolved. At the same time, there is hope that under Donald Trump, the US will stop interfering so crudely in the internal affairs of other countries and fueling conflicts. Answering questions from participants of the Second Shusha Global Media Forum, President Ilham Aliyev recalled one important aspect of Trump's policy: "Under his leadership, America did not start wars. There was no Vietnam, Korea, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria none of these, as they say, to be continued. This was not the case during that period. It is worth treating this with great respect." The Azerbaijani president's assessment is sincere. He also said: "During Trump's presidency, we had very fruitful cooperation based on mutual respect and recognition of each other's support in various areas. Our relations with the United States remained fairly stable, despite the ups and downs that were not initiated by us. There were high expectations from Azerbaijan that were not fulfilled... Nevertheless, we have always viewed these relations as strategic and important and have sought to be as useful as possible, including our participation in the so-called peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan." It should be noted that in early November, President Ilham Aliyev already sent congratulations to his newly elected American counterpart. The message emphasized that during Trump's first term, bilateral partnership had developed based on mutual trust and support. Special mention was made of Trump's constant and resolute backing of Azerbaijan's energy strategy. "Using the enormous potential of our cooperation with the United States, we are determined to further expand and deepen our bilateral partnership in all areas, including political, economic, energy, security, green and digital transitions, and others. We believe that during your new presidential term, relations between Azerbaijan and the United States will further strengthen, and new areas of cooperation will emerge," the president wrote. It's not about the size of a country, but about its capabilities and the authority of its leader. These aspects are perfectly combined in Azerbaijan. The country's place on the world stage is evident from the recently concluded COP29, and President Ilham Aliyev's authority is indisputable even among Azerbaijan's adversaries. During the Shusha Media Forum, President Ilham Aliyev also highlighted another important aspectDonald Trump's clear position on traditional values. "I think that the absolute majority of the Azerbaijani people not only share this position but actively promote it and implement it in practice," he said diplomatically. Trump has never hidden his stance on the new gender policies of the West. In 2022, after the Biden administration announced that Americans could choose their gender on their passports (!), Trump said at a student forum that there are only two gendersman and woman. Recently, news about Trump's plans to ban transgender people from joining the military caused quite a stir. He had issued a similar decree in 2018 during his first term. This time, the decree will be stricter and will require the dismissal of all non-traditional military personnel, including veterans. Americans also support Trump's position, as evidenced by a poll conducted several years ago, which showed that 75 percent of U.S. citizens agreed with Trump's approach to gender issues. Moreover, the views of the head of such a powerful country as the United States on this matter are of interest to the East. Support for traditional values is a strong point of Trump's policy, which resonates with countries and leaders who do not wish to join the ideological excesses promoted by influential Western circles in recent years. Azerbaijan has always openly opposed the distortion of traditional values. This is one of the reasons why Baku faces external pressure. There has never been a need to actively fight against non-traditional values in Azerbaijan, as society itself has always rejected them. They simply do not take root here. However, President Ilham Aliyev has had to endure the "blows" of external forces and propaganda, making statements that are unpopular from a Western perspective. In his inaugural speech earlier this year, the president stated that "the state and every family must be tasked with educating our youth in the national spirit, based on traditional values, and completely eliminating 'progressive' and foreign values from our society." Few dare to speak out against these unhealthy trends. In addition to President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Erdogan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i?, and others speak out boldly. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is equally determined, stating that "the dominant world ideology fears traditional family values because they represent human identity." And she's right. Traditional values form the foundation of a healthy society. A few years ago, Hungary passed a law defining marriage as exclusively a union between a man and a woman. This law sparked outrage in the European Union and among LGBT activists, and Orban still cannot forget this "non-European" behavior. Vu?i?, too, ignores the EU's protests, stating that "the republic is developing traditional values, and I will not approve any legal act supporting the LGBT community while I hold the office of head of state." Unfortunately, the topic of LGBT rights, which is very personal and even medical in nature, has become a significant influence in international politics in recent years, turned into a sort of "passport" to the so-called "civilized world." This pass is denied to countries that do not want to corrupt their societies. Just look at Georgia, where a storm has erupted over the law banning LGBT propaganda, with the Biden administration actively pressuring the Georgian government. This is why the stance of the new US administration is so importantnot only on traditional values but on many other aspects of the international agenda. Although the world is no longer the same as it was four years ago, relations between Azerbaijan and the United States under Donald Trump were characterized by stability, mutual respect, and a commitment to traditional valuesdistinct from the policies of the previous US administration. Azerbaijan, thanks to its strategic position, energy capabilities, and commitment to traditional values, remains a reliable partner for countries seeking constructive cooperation. Trump's second term may mark a new phase in strengthening bilateral ties, opening up opportunities for further cooperation in security, economy, energy, and the protection of universal values. The North African country of Morocco has drafted regulations for the crypto sector, its central bank's head said Tuesday. Abdellatif Jouahri, governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, did not provide many details about these regulations in a speech. The country previously banned crypto in 2017. "In this regard, Bank Al-Maghrib, with the participation of all stakeholders and the support of the World Bank, has prepared a draft law regulating cryptoassets, which is currently in the adoption process," he said at an international conference in Rabat. Morocco will also continue to explore whether or not central bank digital currencies - which are digital tokens issued by central banks - can contribute to the country's policy objectives like financial inclusion, he said. The country launched its CBDC project three years ago, though Jouahri did not share much detail about this effort either. "It is a long-term endeavor that must take into account the national socioeconomic context, the evolution of the regional and international environment, as well as the impact on some of the missions of the central bank, particularly monetary policy and financial stability," he said. African nations have been exploring how to regulate the sector in line with western countries. South Africa launched a licensing regime for firms last year, while Nigeria has lately been prioritizing an enforcement-based approach, as exemplified in its treatment of the Binance exchange and compliance chief Tigran Gambaryan. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a major tool in a number of fields. Now, one lawmaker is looking to regulate how insurance companies use the technology. AI is being used in health care in a variety of ways, but increasingly, health insurance companies are using claims administration and adjudication of a claim, approval or denial, looking at whether or not theyre suspending a claim, maybe theyre going to change your medication, State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) said. Anti-abortion groups sue Pritzker, other state officials over state law requiring insurance policies to cover abortion care Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morgan is sponsoring a bill that would give the Illinois Department of Insurance oversight including if companies use AI to deny a claim or insurance coverage. It would also require companies to tell people if the technology is being used in that process. We have to make sure that were not creating a new barrier between patients and their doctors and their health care professionals, getting access to the medications they need or the services and the surgeries that their doctors prescribe for them, Morgan said. The proposal, filed Monday, would stop insurance companies from denying, reducing or terminating someones insurance plan or benefits solely based on artificial intelligence making that decision. The decision would have to be reviewed. Morgan said theres more accountability and transparency when an employee at an insurance company denies a claim for not being medically necessary, but said thats not necessarily the case with AI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If AI is doing it in a black box, we really run the risk of manipulation of the data, manipulation of claims and denials, again, where the decisions can be made based on decisions that have nothing to do with whether its appropriate medically, Morgan said. This isnt the first piece of legislation in Springfield aimed at regulating AI. During the spring session, lawmakers passed a law creating a pathway for artists and music studios to take legal action if a digital replica of them was released publicly without their consent. Another law passed last year allows people to take legal action against someone for knowingly creating or distributing a deepfake of them without their consent, including people who do it as a form of harassment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Community members, workers, and diners are mourning the immense loss of a beloved Massachusetts restaurant owner. Steve Uliss, founder and owner of Fireflys BBQ in Marlboro, passed away suddenly, the popular eatery announced in a heartfelt post on Facebook on Monday. Uliss is remembered by those who knew him as a talented chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur, as well as a loving husband, father, employer, mentor, and friend to many. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was relentlessly innovative and resilient. As a community member, he was continuously engaged, fully committed, and constantly generous, the restaurants post stated. His vigor, humor, love, and kindness will be sorely missed by all. The Uliss family and the Fireflys BBQ team expressed great appreciation for all of the outpouring of love and support that they have received. Steves presence was larger than life and he made an impact on everyone he met. Fireflys would not be what it is today without Steve, but also without all of you, the restaurant added in the post. We look forward to continuing to honor Steves legacy through his passion and love for his customers and this community. Thousands of people have commented on and reacted to Fireflys post, expressing condolences and sharing memories of Steve and times spent dining at the restaurant. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW TALLINN, Estonia (AP) Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Gorinov appeared in court on Wednesday for a second trial for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, an independent news site reported. The new trial against Gorinov, a 63-year-old former member of a Moscow municipal council who is suffering from a chronic lung condition, is the latest in the unrelenting crackdown against dissent that the Kremlin unleashed after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Gorinov is already serving a prison term for public criticism of the full-scale invasion he was the first known Russian sent to prison under a law that essentially bans any public expression about the war that deviates from the official narrative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In July 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army at a municipal council meeting by voicing skepticism about a childrens art competition in his constituency while saying that every day children are dying in Ukraine. The authorities launched a second case against him last year, according to his supporters. He was accused of justifying terrorism in conversations to his cellmates about Ukraine's Azov battalion, which Russia outlawed as a terrorist organization, and the 2022 explosion on the Crimean bridge, which Moscow deemed an act of terrorism. Gorinov vehemently rejected the accusations Wednesday, independent news site Mediazona reported. It quoted him as telling the court that he merely said the annexed Crimean Peninsula was Ukrainian territory and called Azov a part of the Ukrainian army. I am far from the ideology of terrorism, Gorinov was quoted as saying. He said "nothing else has been proven during the investigation, there is just some kind of rubbish written (in the indictment). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gorinov's trial was held in the Vladimir region, where he is serving time. Photos from the courtroom, published by Mediazona, showed a weary Gorinov in the defendants cage, holding a hand-written placard saying: Stop killing. Lets stop the war. He had part of a lung removed before prison and struggled with respiratory illnesses behind bars. The arrest, conviction and imprisonment of Gorinov a low-profile activist has shocked many. In written comments to The Associated Press from behind bars in March 2023, Gorinov said authorities needed an example they could showcase to others (of) an ordinary person, rather than a public figure. According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that tracks political arrests, some 1,100 people have been implicated in criminal cases over their anti-war stance since February 2022. A total of 340 of them are currently behind bars or have been involuntarily committed to medical institutions. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The Dayton Police Department says they will be increasing security downtown ahead of the Dayton Holiday Parade on Friday. On Nov. 29, people from all over the Miami Valley will head to downtown Dayton to experience the 2024 Grand Illumination Parade. City officials say they expect a major turn out this year. In an effort of caution, Dayton police say they will be increasing their presence downtown while the parade and holiday festival are underway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition they will also have more officers on the ground to assist with traffic. We will have a large number of foot patrol just standing at different locations, said Major Christopher Malson, DPD Comm. Division Commander. We will also have our officer responses team riding the bikes inside the parade. Well have additional police vehicles that have officers stationed in them. The increased security measures are a precaution after shots were fired during the holiday parade two years ago. While no one was injured in the incident, DPD is planning ahead to make sure everyone can feel safe during festivities this year. Police say while the event is expected to be a little crowded, its important for drivers to be patient when getting to their locations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26A Pittsburg County man indicted for possessing a grenade that went off and injured himself and two others in September 2023 pleaded guilty in federal court this week. The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Jerry Brandon Pearce, 55, Indianola, entered a guilty plea of one count of possessing an unregistered explosive device. Court records show Pearce was originally indicted in September 2023 with felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possessing an unregistered explosive device. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pearce's guilty plea comes nearly a month after his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss in the case. The motion states the Second Amendment and previous federal court rulings and arguments made Pearce's indictment for possessing a firearm and ammunition was unconstitutional. "The key point here being that merely having committed some prior felony is not a basis to permanently disarm someone who has not otherwise demonstrated a danger to society if they are armed," the motion states. "Therefore, this Court should hold that there is no historical tradition supporting the permanent, perpetual disarmament of persons who have been alleged to have committed crimes like Mr. Pearce." According to an incident report obtained from the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded Sept. 4, 2023, to a residence on North Nale Road near Indianola for a report of an explosion with injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PCSO Deputy Kyle Halyard wrote in his report when he arrived at the residence, Pearce was being transported by emergency responders to a nearby ball field to be flown by medical helicopter to Tulsa for his injuries and that two other people who were injured were driving themselves to the hospital in McAlester. Halyard wrote he entered the residence to make sure no other people were injured and "a large amount of blood as well as several severed fingers presumed to belong to Jerry Pearce." A witness told investigators Pearce had owned the grenade for a long time and believed it to be inert, the affidavit states. She said Pearce was showing off the grenade when it went off and after she was able to see again from the bright flash, she saw people tending to injuries and that Pearce's clothing was on fire, the report states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "At that Point Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers on scene stated that they had notified one of their troopers on the bomb squad that was also a part of the ATF task Force," Halyard wrote in the report. "Due to the firearms stated to be in the home as well as what was described as a pineapple grenade, and the suspect Jerry Pearce being confirmed as a convicted felon ATF stated that they would be taking over the case." ATF Resident Agent in Charge Ashley Stephens told the News-Capital after the incident that agents from the Tulsa ATF Field Office were called out to assist in the investigation by PCSO. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason A. Robertson accepted Pearce's plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. Pearce was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing. ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- November is National Native American Heritage Month, and one student at OCTECH is working to raise awareness about the Native American genocide and misrepresented history. Maudicel Chavez, an Indigenous student leader, and Junior at OCTECH worked on a passion project for several months, highlighting four topics she chose to cover. Those topics included broken treaties, boarding schools, Navajo code talkers, and traditional Regalia. The main reason I decided to bring this topic up is because as a Native American, going through the educational system, they never bring up topics about the Native Americans, and when its ever mentioned, its misrepresented, such as Columbus, Chavez said. Christopher Columbus didnt discover America. There were Native Americans here, and he thought he landed in India, but in reality, he didnt, which is why through a lot of legal documentation Native Americans are called Indians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chavez said that over the year, she began working on her project, but had been doing research since last year. That research included a trip during the summer, in which Chavez stayed with her grandparents on her mothers side while attending a camp for Native Americans. Chavez said that while she was there, she took Navajo language classes, and interviewed a medicine man and philanthropist, a rug weaver, and a basket weaver, all while immersing herself in the culture. Chavez said that overall, the inspiration behind the passion project and her efforts to raise awareness was her family, and the understanding to acknowledge her heritage. My inspiration for this project is mainly my family I grew up on the Navajo reservationsurrounded around the understanding to acknowledge my heritage. Chavez said. I grew up understanding how proud my grandparents were, despite all the things that life doesnt really offer towards a Native Americanand I wanted to shed a light on that reality. When sharing some of her familys history, Chavez said her great-grandmother, who lived on Black Mesa, was forced to leave her home after the enactment of the Navajo Hopi land settlement. That settlement, according to the U.S. Department of Interior, states that To date, all Hopi families that were residing on Navajo land have been relocated and a number of Navajo families are still in some stage of the relocation process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats their home, thats where they came from, this is the only life that they have lived, and youre being told you have to relocate, you have to leave, Chavez said. This is a reality, and it still goes on to this day, not just with her story, but my maternal grandfatherhe went through the boarding school system. That reality was something Chavez said she wanted to shed light on; and with the support of ECISD, Odessa College, OCTECH principal Mr. Miller, advisors, and Student Activity Directors, she was able to do so. Chavez presented her project to classmates at OCTECH, OC students, and even had her essay, Why I dont Celebrate Columbus Day and Thanksgiving as a Native American, posted throughout the school halls for people to read. You can read her essay in its entirety below: UntitledDownload Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I never thought that anybody would care to hear what I have to say. But at the same time, it makes me realize that there are people that are willing to hear what I have to say, and all it took was some courage, Chavez said. Elyssa Orona Garcia, Director of Student Activities at Odessa College helped Chavez coordinate events to put on for the school and said it all began after Chavez told faculty and staff what she wanted to do. This all started [after] we had a student from OCTECH sit down with a big group of us and kind of just told us what her experience is, what her family experience was Garcia said. I set up a meeting with her to see how can we share this story with our students on campus. How can I help you present your project to others and not just be limited to OC Tech? So me and her sat down [and] she told me what her goals were. With the help of Garcia, Chavez planned four educational events surrounding National Native American Heritage Month. Those events included a broken treaties presentation, a sand painting event, a throat singing presentation, and the showing of a movie on boarding schools, with special guest Dr. Ramona Klein, a boarding school survivor and advocate, who spoke with OCTECH students about the impact of boarding schools and resiliency. You can learn more about Dr. Ramona Klein at this website. Maudicel Chavez & Dr. Ramona Klein at Boarding School presentation event Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From finding the courage to speak out, to organizing educational workshops and special events that celebrate the heritage, history, and contributions of Native Americans, Chavez said she is continuing her work and project fueled by passion. You can learn more about Chavezs passion project, by visiting, OCTECHS Human Rights Facebook Page. Chavez is affiliated with Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization that focuses on human rights, in which she will participate in a Write for Rights campaign that will get in contact with Texas House Representatives and Senators. Chavez said she will also focus on her very own Human Rights Club that she established in mid-September. Chavezs club is actively participating in getting donations and can be found here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As an early college high school student with Dine heritage, I felt a profound connection to these topics and a strong desire to share their significance with others. The funds raised allow guest speakers, performers, and event materials to be paid, Chavezs GoFundMe reads. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. Cross-border payments company Tranglo has further deepened its reach to seven African countries, aiming to enhance financial inclusion across the continent. This move supports payouts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, and Zambia. It is said that high remittance fees have traditionally impeded financial inclusion in the region. Tranglo's solutions are said to be designed to reduce costs and simplify the process of cross-border transactions. With the expansion of its payout network, Tranglo is addressing the financial access gap, especially in regions with sparse traditional banking facilities. At the launch, Tranglo has enabled individuals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Senegal, and Zambia to send and receive funds in their local currencies through e-wallets. In Mali, the service supports bank transfers, allowing recipients to receive money. The e-wallet option has also been made available in Morocco. Tranglo Group CEO Jacky Lee said: Africas dynamic growth in remittances and mobile adoption highlights the need for reliable and affordable cross-border payments. With this expansion, Tranglo partners can now provide payout services to millions of unbanked or underserved individuals across these countries, facilitating secure access to funds for essential needs and economic growth. Tranglo assists financial institutions and businesses with Tranglo Connect, its proprietary cross-border payments solution. This platform integrates payout and partner services, streamlining the entire payment process through direct API access. With Tranglo Connect, companies can payments to over 100 countries. Earlier this month, Tranglo extended its services within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), launching in Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. This expansion caters to the growing demand for remittance services in the GCC region. "Tranglo expands cross-border payments to seven African countries " was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. When Haiti orphanage founder and author Mitch Albom heard that U.S. commercial flights into the troubled Caribbean nation were banned for 30 days after gangs shot at three commercial planes and the main international airport was shuttered, his thoughts immediately went to his kids. Five of the children at Alboms Have Faith Haiti Mission & Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, including a 4-year-old with severe developmental problems, had pending medical appointments in the United States and no way out. I have seen how close you can be to death with a kid, said Albom, who finally found a way out for the children on a helicopter to Cap-Haitien provided by HERO Client Rescue, a crisis response group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Haiti is once again in the throes of chaos and the intensified gang violence is leaving both locals and foreigners with few options to get out. In response to the alarming level of violence, foreign embassies and international aid groups are reducing their staffs in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations International Office for Migration told the Miami Herald that it has relocated a very low number of support staff but most of its people remain in Port-au-Prince to assist with stepped up operations as the agency confronts an unprecedented displacement crisis due to gang violence. The agency said the violence has led to the highest number of people fleeing their homes 41,000 people in 10 days since January 2023. More than 700,000 Haitians were homeless because of gang attacks over these last three years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The violence is forcing families to abandon their homes, often for the second or third time, the agency said. Displaced people face dire conditions with limited or no access to water, food, sanitation and healthcare. Hindering efforts to leave the country, the airspace between Haiti and the Dominican Republic remains closed as well, amid simmering diplomatic tensions between the two neighbors that share the island of Hispaniola. Some government officials have been relying on a helicopter provided by Taiwan to move security forces around the country to get out of Port-au-Prince. Others with deep pockets have paid thousands of dollars for one of just six seats on a private helicopter, on which each passenger is only allowed to bring a 20-pound backpack. The closure of the capitals domestic and international airports means flight operators need to apply for a permit from Haitian aviation authorities. If the aircraft are licensed in the U.S. they need a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In some cases, staff like those working for the World Bank are temporarily relocating to Cap-Haitien, in the north of the country, where the small international airport was recently exempted from the FAAs ban and offers the only way in and out of Haiti. Last week three privately chartered helicopters ferried World Bank staffers from Port-au-Prince. The organization told the Herald that the temporary relocation of staff and their dependents was done on a voluntary basis as a precautionary measure. The choppers set down at the top of a mountain in Petion-Ville, the wealthy Port-au-Prince suburb that was later targeted by gangs in the middle of the night. Over the course of the day, residents said choppers landed at least 17 times. On Friday, the State Department deployed two U.S. government aircraft to Port-au-Prince, one to evacuate embassy staff and another to watch from above as diplomats boarded. It was the fifth time since 2019 that the embassy, which has been closed for routine visa appointments since the pandemic, evacuated staff from Haiti. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, a U.S. Air Force C-130 landed in Port-au-Prince to evacuate U.S. citizens. There were accusations of favoritism and lack of transparency after U.S. citizens registered with the embassy said they had not received any updates about evacuation flights. The State Department said Monday said that U.S. citizens in need of assistance should contact the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince at acspap@state.gov, or call 202-501-4444 from abroad or 888-407-4747 in the U.S. and Canada. People with experience in Haiti say things are worse than they have been all year. Gang disruptions, roadblocks and the recent attempt to invade Petion-Ville, an area that had been insulated from the armed attacks, have made movement around the capital even more dangerous. With all the violence in Port-au-Prince, we cant get to any places; you cant even get to a hospital, said Albom, who had the kids stay at another orphanage in Cap-Haitien for two nights until they could send a plane to evacuate them to the U.S. Most of the hospitals or therapy places are either closed or its too dangerous to try to drive there, if they even have any staff and are open. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FAAs 30-day ban on U.S. carriers flying to Haiti is supposed to end on Dec. 12. But even if the ban is lifted, it is unclear when regular commercial air traffic will resume. American Airlines announced it wont resume daily service between Miami and Port-au-Prince until Feb. 12. On Tuesday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq dismissed reports that the agency was leaving Port-au-Prince. However, he said that due to the significantly deteriorating security situation the U.N. is adapting its operations to ensure the continued delivery of critical humanitarian program. We continue supporting the Haitian people and authorities, with critical humanitarian assistance and political support, he said. Operators of charities, like Albom, say it is becoming increasingly difficult to function in the capital safely and to get children out to the U.S. for care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its doubly frustrating to know that theres care available here and you just cant get there from here, said Albom, who has other kids in need of help who cant get visas from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince because of cutbacks in consular services. Its like your hope has an expiration date, and thats crazy because hope should never expire. U.S. lawmakers plea for kids Earlier this week, five Republican members of Congress wrote to Haiti Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime asking for his approval for the evacuation of approximately 70 Haitian children currently in adoption procedures with American families. Among the children are a dozen kids being adopted by their Haitian-American blood relatives, the lawmakers wrote. The letter was signed by representatives August Pfluger of Texas, Mike Flood of Nebraska, Cory Mills of Florida, John Curtis of Utah and Andy Ogles of Tennessee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Department of State has communicated its willingness to collaborate with the Haitian government to allow the children to enter the United States. It has been relayed to us that the Haitian government is unable or unwilling to allow for these children to leave Haiti without a full and final adoption and a Haitian passport, the letter said. Haitis child welfare office has argued that it wants to avoid a repeat of the situation after the devasting earthquake in 2010, when some children were taken out of the country and trafficked. Due to the recent events, we are asking for emergency measures to be taken to get these children to their American families while the adoption is finalized. These American families have a deep love for their Haitian children, the lawmakers wrote. THE HAGUE (AP) International Criminal Court prosecutor requests arrest warrant for head of Myanmar's military regime. As humanity dreams of becoming a star-faring civilization, the challenges of long-duration space travel loom large. One potential solution to this challenge is hibernation, which scientists believe could help astronauts endure long journeys between stars. NASA has been investigating this idea for years, even studying the hibernation patterns of Arctic ground squirrels. However, recent research from a team in Germany, led by Gerald Kerth at the University of Greifswald, has focused on bats for insights into effective hibernation. Interstellar dreams The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explores the role of erythrocytes, a specific type of red blood cell, in the hibernation process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hibernation is a crucial biological strategy for many mammals, allowing them to conserve energy and survive in the face of scarce resources. If humanity is to travel to neighboring starssuch as Proxima Centauri, which is 4.24 light-years awayit must contend with the reality that even at near-light speed, such journeys could take decades. Thus, hibernation could become essential for future space missions, enabling astronauts to "sleep" through the long stretches of travel time. Kerth and his research team conducted extensive analyses of the erythrocytes from both hibernating bats (specifically, Nyctalus noctula) and non-hibernating bats (Rousettus aegypticus), as well as human blood samples. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Understanding how these blood cells adapt during hibernation is vital, as hibernating animals still require a functioning blood supply to deliver oxygen to their tissues even as their body temperatures drop significantly. Bat blood The research team noted that blood cells alter their shape in response to changes in pressure and blood vessel sizes. This prompted them to investigate whether the extreme conditions during hibernation might also trigger changes in blood cells. What they discovered was compelling: as the internal temperature of the hibernating species fell from 99F to around 73F, the structure of erythrocytes across all species examined significantly transformed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cells became less elastic and more viscous, indicating a physiological adaptation to conserve energy in cold conditions. Interestingly, the study revealed a significant distinction: while bat erythrocytes continued to transform as temperatures plunged to 50F, the human blood cells stalled in their response at lower temperatures. This suggests that bats possess unique adaptations that enable them to withstand extreme cold, a trait that could be harnessed for potential human applications. Human hibernation While applying hibernation techniques to space travel is a long-term goal, the immediate implications of this research could be revolutionary in medicine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scientists believe that understanding how to manipulate the mechanical properties of human blood cells could optimize circulation for pharmaceutical purposes. Current surgical techniques, such as deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA), already utilize controlled hypothermia to stop brain function during complex surgeries temporarily. Kerth highlighted the importance of this research, indicating that while the prospect of hibernation for humans is not just around the corner, the findings represent a significant step forward. "There are benefits of putting humans at low temperatures during interstellar flight," he stated, emphasizing the researchs long-term potential. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ultimately, this study illustrates the profound insights the animal kingdom can offer about survival strategies and physiological adaptations. By learning from bats' hibernating abilities, scientists may pave the way for humans to traverse the cosmos. In the future, hibernation may become a crucial aspect of interstellar exploration. The Iowa Board of Medicine regulates the state's medical profession as part of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. (Photo by Getty Images, board seal courtesy the State of Iowa) The Iowa Board of Medicine has dismissed charges of professional incompetence that it previously filed against a heart surgeon who practiced in Sioux City. Citing the incredibly difficult nature of this decision, the board said it could not reach a consensus on allegations that Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo performed unnecessary heart surgeries on patients who were at too great a risk of dying from the procedures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On April 28, 2023, the board charged Ciuffo with professional incompetence, engaging in a practice that is harmful or detrimental to the public, and knowingly making misleading or untrue representations in the practice of medicine. At the time, the factual basis for those charges was kept secret in keeping with an Iowa Supreme Court ruling that says the basis for disciplinary charges against licensees is not to be made public until a case is finalized. Newly disclosed board records show that in Ciuffos case, the board eventually narrowed the undisclosed factual basis for the charges to allege that Ciuffo had performed unnecessary surgical procedures, demonstrated a pattern of poor patient selection, and chose to operate on patients who had a prohibitive risk for surgery. He was also accused of demonstrating a pattern of giving patients unrealistic expectations prior to their surgery and with failing to obtain informed consent prior to surgery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, Ciuffo sought a continuance in the board proceedings against him, arguing in part that the board had not turned over to him all of the relevant information in the case during the discovery phase of the proceedings, in which each side shares information with the other. When the board refused to reschedule the hearing, Ciuffo took the matter to court. In June, Polk County District Court Judge Coleman McAllister found that the board, in denying Ciuffos request for a continuance, had given no indication it had even considered Ciuffos argument there was good cause for such a continuance. The judge issued a stay in the proceedings, preventing the board from moving forward with its scheduled hearing at least until it issued a ruling showing it had considered Ciuffos specific arguments for a continuance. Attorney objects to anonymous, ludicrous claims The board then reconsidered the request for a continuance and denied it again, which meant that the states case against him which included 30,000 pages of documents within the boards investigative file proceeded toward a hearing scheduled for late October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That triggered another round of objections by Ciuffos attorney, Mike Sellers, who argued that because Ciuffo does not, and has not practiced, in Iowa for several years there was no public interest in forcing this matter to a hearing when serious matters of improper planned introduction of improper evidence have been assured by the state. Sellers also argued Ciuffos license and his career are on the line in these proceedings. The state has repeatedly declared its intent to introduce anonymous complaints that contain ludicrous opinion comments by unknown persons, rambling videos of prior informal investigative interviews years ago, and declared its plan to introduce inadmissible evidence. Board records indicate that Ciuffos disciplinary hearing took place over three days late last month. According to the board, the state offered expert opinions from two experienced cardiothoracic surgeons who reviewed medical records in eight cases and concluded Ciuffo failed to meet the standard of care in three of those cases because the patients were at too great of a risk of an adverse outcome to allow surgery. The board says Ciuffo then presented the expert opinion of what it describes as numerous cardiothoracic surgeons with similar or greater experience than the states experts, each of whom suggested Ciuffo acted appropriately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ciuffo also testified as to the substantive conversation he had with the patients or their families in obtaining their consent for surgery, provided corroborating evidence from previous patients as to his explanations of the risks involved. Board records show that at the conclusion of the hearing, the board members were divided, and a majority of them failed to find the state had met its burden of proof. With respect to performing surgeries on patients with a prohibitive risk of surgery, the board said it failed to reach a consensus with the exception of one patient who had a 73% chance of dying from the procedure, but an even greater risk of dying without it. The board concluded the alternative (to surgery) for this patient was passing away in the near future. The board concluded that even if Ciuffo had failed to meet the standard of care in that particular case, the misjudgment didnt warrant the filing of charges. Civil case naming Ciuffo was dismissed by court At most, the board said in dismissing the charges against Ciuffo, a majority of the board shared a concern about Dr. Ciuffo offering (one patient) a surgery given the exceptional risk of the heart surgery with little prospect of any meaningful recovery. The board added that such an isolated incident, where the facts show the decision was made in good faith with informed consent did not amount to a serious deviation from the standard care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In May 2022, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that Ciuffo was referenced in a federal civil lawsuit that alleged he had provided substandard care for patients and manipulated patient-outcome data at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center. Through his attorney, Ciuffo said then that the allegations made against him in that lawsuit were outrageous and completely false. The claims were part of a lawsuit filed by Cynthia Tener, a registered nurse, against her former employer, MercyOne. Tener, who was the Siouxland Medical Centers director of the cardiovascular service line, alleged she faced retaliation after raising concerns regarding Ciuffos conduct and his treatment of patients an allegation that Mercy denied. Ciuffo was accused of keeping patients alive via ventilators, heart pumps and feeding tubes for at least 30 days after surgery to improve his ratings in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database a charge Ciuffos attorney said was demonstrably false. Teners lawsuit was dismissed two months after it was filed, with the judge in the case noting the False Claims Act, under which she sued, allows for claims related to fraud, not malpractice. Ciuffo now practices in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to board records. Water from Peas Creek flows over the road at Ledges State Park in Boone County on Nov. 16, 2024. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) A remarkably dry September and October sent Iowa into drought conditions that still cling to many of Iowas counties, despite decent rain from the end of October through November. The recent improvements have been enough to ease some concerns of freezing streams and rivers and improve soil moisture conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At its worst, towards the end of October, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 51% of the state in severe drought conditions and 100% of the state in some level of drought. The most recent, report from Nov. 19, shows significant improvements to drought conditions, with just over 2% of the state in severe drought, 60% in moderate drought conditions and nearly 7% of the state in no drought conditions. Drought conditions have improved significantly since the end of October. (Maps courtesy of U.S. Drought Monitor) Iowa precipitation levels in October were an inch less than normal levels, but from Oct. 27 through Nov. 25, the whole state logged above-average precipitation, according to the state climatologist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The crop progress and condition report from Monday showed 66% of Iowa topsoil has adequate or better moisture, which is also a big improvement from that of a month prior. While farmers welcomed the rain, it has limited their work, as theyve only had three to four days suitable for field work each week. A crop update newsletter from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach urged farmers to carefully monitor moisture conditions before resuming field work, to avoid compacting the soil. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In October, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources expressed concerns from the fisheries department of low stream flows through the winter months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Iowa streams and rivers dont have enough water flowing through them during prolonged periods of freezing temperatures, it could cause fish to freeze to the bottom. DNR Fisheries Biologist Scott Grummer said stream flows are still low in northwestern Iowa, but overall have improved. Were still not probably what normally we should see this time of year, but theyre improving quite a bit, Grummer said. Otherwise wed be in real dire straits. Grummer said the U.S. Geological Survey streamflow maps now show only a handful of streams that are at levels he would worry about. A month ago, he said there were quite a few streams that concerned him. U.S. Geological Survey streamflow maps show most streams and rivers in Iowa are flowing at higher rates that are less concerning as the state enters winter. (Map courtesy of USGS) Grummer said while conditions have improved, it also depends on the type of winter Iowa has. Lower air temperatures will mean thicker ice and lots of snow can lower oxygen levels in the streams, which can also be bad for fish and other wildlife. It really comes down to the duration of winter and how cold it is, Grummer said. A lot of it just kind of depends on Mother Nature from here on out. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira LISBON (Reuters) -Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Tehran reserves the right to react to Israeli airstrikes last month on Iran but is also taking account of other developments in the region. Araqchi told reporters during a trip to Lisbon that Iran welcomed Tuesday's ceasefire agreement in Lebanon and hoped it will be permanent. The ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under an agreement brokered by the United States and France. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked whether the ceasefire could lead to an easing of tensions between Israel and Iran, he said: "It depends on the behaviour of Israel." "Of course, we reserve the right to react to the recent Israeli aggression, but we do consider all developments in the region," he said. Israel struck targets in Iran on Oct. 26 in retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage against Israel on Oct. 1. Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said in an interview published on Sunday that Tehran was preparing to respond to Israel. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Hezbollah had been "set back decades", Araqchi said the armed group had not been weakened by Israel's killing of many of its leaders since January and by its ground offensive against the group since early October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said Hezbollah had been able to reorganise and fight back effectively. "This is the main reason why Israel accepted the ceasefire ... every time they (Hezbollah) lose their leaders or their commanders, they become bigger in both numbers and their strength," he said. His remarks echoed comments by a senior Hezbollah official, Hassan Fadlallah, who said the group would emerge from the war stronger and more numerous. In a post on X, Araqchi said: "Hezbollah once again shattered (the) myth of Israel's invincibility. High time for Israel to accept defeat in Gaza too." Separately, Iranian state media said Iran's foreign ministry had rejected as "baseless" a statement by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries demanding that Tehran cease all support for Russia's war against Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow and Tehran have deepened their military and economic cooperation. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira; Additional reporting by Dubai newsroom; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Rod Nickel and Daniel Wallis) The Iranian government has welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah militia. Iran will continue to support "the government, the people and the resistance in Lebanon," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai said in Tehran. Now is the time to exert pressure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza too, Baghai added. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 with Iranian support in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the following decades, it developed into a powerful political and military organization that penetrated the Lebanese state and its institutions. Through a network of welfare services, influence over security forces and control of smuggling routes, it gradually weakened the state and created its own parallel structures. However, the militia has been left severely weakened after two months of war with Israel in southern Lebanon, and lost several of its top commanders - including its leader Hassan Nasrallah - in targeted strikes in Beirut. You can see the changing face of Ireland on Main Street in Letterkenny, the largest town in County Donegal, where one in every 100 people is an asylum seeker. People from Nigeria, Sudan, the Middle East and South Asia walk past the shops. It is common to hear Ukrainian spoken on what is said to be the longest street in Ireland. Five years ago, there were just two accommodation centres in County Donegal, which, like the rest of Ireland, is in the grips of a chronic housing and rental crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, there are eight accommodation centres for migrants, including hotels, ex-student accommodation and an old casino dotted around Main Street. Some now call it Letterkenya, as the town, and Ireland as a whole, struggles to come to terms with its transformation from being a place of emigration to immigration. Those on the front line of a broken asylum system prefer to say that Donegal means fort or safe place of the foreigners an ancient reference to Viking settlers. About 500 anti-immigration protesters marched on Dublin in September for the re-opening of parliament - PAUL FAITH/AFP Paul Kerman, of the Donegal Intercultural Platform, said: Weve probably got 2,000 to 3,000 people living in just the town of Letterkenny, who werent here three years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats brought a lot of changes and different ethnicities Letterkenny wasnt used to. Exact figures are hard to come by, but the NGO estimates the 20,000 population has grown by about 7,000 people since 2022. Not all of those are newcomers, with returning emigrants and other nationalities also included in the 2022 census figures thought to be skewed by the pandemic. Roughly 8,000 Ukrainians came to Donegal after Russias illegal invasion, although some have left or moved to private accommodation, Mr Kerman said. They have been joined by about 2,000 people from elsewhere seeking asylum. The impact on housing, healthcare and schooling has exacerbated tensions in the 17th century market town, which is a short drive from Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Nolunga Shologu is a community links worker with the NGO. She moved to Letterkenny in 2002 from South Africa and is now an Irish citizen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I came, people were kind, very nice and curious. In the last three years, you see people whose attitudes are changing, the 60 year-old said. Nobodys happy. People are claiming that people are taking their houses, their jobs and stuff like that. It is not a nice experience for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Irish voters head to the polls on Friday for a snap general election dominated by the countrys housing crisis, the cost of living and immigration. Letterkennny is in some ways, a microcosm for the country, Mr Kerman, 67, said. In 2020, the year of the last general election, there were just 2,195 claims for international protection, the Irish term for asylum, in Ireland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the EUs statistics agency, that leapt to 11,115 in 2022 and 12,550 in 2023. As of September this year, there were 19,885 claims. That does not include the more than 100,000 Ukrainians who have been welcomed to Ireland, a country of 5.2 million people. Struggling to find state housing for the new arrivals, the government in Dublin turned to Donegal, which had large numbers of tourist accommodation. Dublin has the most by head count, according to department of integration figures released in January, but Donegal has the highest concentration of asylum seekers in all of Irelands counties with 1,004 per head of population. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Far-Right groups have declared Ireland is full and are standing independent candidates across the country, including in Donegal. In November 2023, there were anti-migrant riots in Dublin and there has been a string of protests, arson attacks and violence at asylum centres across the country. There have been arson attacks in Donegal. In April 2023, far-Right protesters broke into a hotel on Main Street housing Ukrainian refugees, filming them and shouting abuse before being dispersed by police. Housing is the number one issue here The staff were very upset, said Mr Kerman, who was at the scene. They were saying they couldnt believe this was happening in our Letterkenny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sinn Fein held a commanding lead in the polls for two years ahead of the centre-Right governing coalition parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, thanks to its laser focus on housing. After Simon Harris replaced the unpopular Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, he moved fast to outflank Sinn Fein on immigration; clearing tent cities in Dublin and cutting benefits. In June, Fine Gael overtook Sinn Fein, and defeated it in local elections, before calling this weeks snap vote. The gambit looked like a certain winner until, after a gaffe-strewn campaign, polls on Monday had Fine Gael drop to third behind Sinn Fein in second and Fianna Fail in first. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before a knife edge election, with the three major parties all within 2 per cent of each other, housing remains the top issue in Letterkenny. Driving into the town, you can see crumbling houses; the legacy of a defective concrete blocks scandal that dominates local politics in Donegal and has exacerbated the crisis. Housing is the number one issue here in Donegal, said a 55-year-old woman on Main Street, who did not wish to give her name but showed photos on her phone of the cracks in her house. Ours is not even the worst. Some have it in the foundations. Some houses have to be demolished, she said, after a car campaigning for Charles Ward, an independent standing on the platform for 100 per cent government compensation, drove past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You could have got a house in Letterkenny five years ago for 500 to 600 euros a month. Now it is anywhere between 1,600 and 2,000. What we would have thought of for Dublin five years ago is now here, Mr Kerman said. But Ireland had a housing crisis long before it experienced the rise in immigration, he added. It means Letterkennys long history of emigration continues to this day, despite Irelands strong employment figures. Donegal is still losing young people. Theres still a massive emigration to both Australia and the United States, said Patrick Sweeney. The 49-year-old solicitor recently moved back to Letterkenny with his wife Karima, who has opened a pharmacy on Main Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the staff at the towns recently upgraded hospital were from non-Irish backgrounds, he added. The rise in immigration has put pressure on Irelands creaking healthcare system. In Letterkenny, there are long waiting lists to register with a GP. The Irish economy is performing well and the government, which launched a giveaway budget ahead of the election, has a large surplus buoyed by an EU ordered clawback of billions in back taxes from Apple. But it remains reliant on private contractors to provide asylum accommodation and the housing crisis will take many years to solve, even if the next government boosts the current modest targets for new homes. Experts believe Ireland is about 300,000 homes short, a shortfall of up to 15 per cent in the housing stock, which 14 years of Fine Gael in government has failed to redress. Outside Sweeneys Pharmacy, a few steps from Main Street, a queue of asylum seekers was forming on Tuesday for basic medical checks. An ambulance was parked on the street outside to help migrants unable to see a doctor. The Irish government really needs to step up, said Eileen McClelland, 44, who had volunteered to help. Irish people are very welcoming but the time will come when they say enough is enough. 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. At least 18 people have been killed in fighting between Islamist rebels and Syrian government troops in north-west Syria, activists and a monitoring group said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said members of Hayat Tahrir al Sham, an Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda, attacked several positions of the Syrian armed forces in the countryside west of Aleppo. The war monitor said at least 14 members of the Syrian armed forces were killed in the fighting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Syrian army responded with airstrikes on military targets of the extremists, as well as residential areas. The Observatory also reported that at least four civilians were killed and twelve others were injured, including eight children, in rural areas near Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria. A devastating civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Today, the country is divided, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad controlling two thirds of the country again with the help of his allies Russia and Iran. A political solution to the conflict is still not in sight. LONDON (Reuters) -The London branch of Australia's Macquarie Bank has been fined 13 million pounds ($16 million) for "serious failings" after an employee recorded more than 400 fictitious trades and concealed trading losses, the markets regulator said on Tuesday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Travis Klein, a relatively junior trader based at the bank's London metals and bulks trading desk, successfully bypassed three internal controls for over 20 months between 2020 and 2022. The fictitious trades cost Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) an estimated $57.8 million to unwind but did not affect customers or the market overall, the FCA said. "If MBL had taken timely action to plug these gaps in their systems and controls, this cost could have been substantially reduced or avoided altogether," it noted. Macquarie said it had self-reported the incident in 2022, noting it had been an isolated event, had not affected clients or the market and had not been financially material to the group. "We have focussed significant resources on addressing learnings from the incident and implemented a series of improvements to our control environment in response to the incident," the bank said in a statement. It qualified for a 30% reduction in the penalty for cooperating with the investigation. Klein, meanwhile, has been banned from the financial services industry for acting dishonestly and without integrity and would have been fined 72,000 pounds if he had not faced serious financial hardship, the FCA said. Reuters was not immediately able to contact him for comment. ($1 = 0.7956 pounds) (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Kirstin Ridley in London; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mark Potter) An Israeli military representative has confirmed the planned troop withdrawal within 60 days as part of a ceasefire with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. It is a gradual process, he told journalists on Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, "after 60 days there will be no Israeli ground troops left in Lebanon." However, this is conditional on the pro-Iranian Shiite militia Hezbollah adhering to the agreements. "If we see Hezbollah returning or trying to rebuild its capabilities not only in southern Lebanon we will prevent it," the spokesman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any attempts at arms smuggling would also be rigorously suppressed. He said it was the responsibility of the Lebanese government to ensure the ceasefire held. "There is the possibility of a new reality in Lebanon," he said. "Hezbollah has brought disaster upon Lebanon." The News A ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, brokered by the US and France, took effect on Wednesday, as Lebanese civilians began returning to their destroyed homes. Under the initial 60-day agreement Israeli troops will withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah will move its forces and heavy weaponry further away from the Israeli-Lebanon border. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, US President Joe Biden stressed while announcing the ceasefire at the White House on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement International leaders largely praised the deal, which Reuters described as a rare feat of diplomacy, while Lebanons caretaker prime minister urged Israeli forces to comply with the agreement, expressing hope for a new page for Lebanon including the election of a new president. SIGNALS Ceasefire not expected to bring long-lasting peace Sources: CNN, The Jerusalem Post, Financial Times The casefire is not expected to bring lasting peace, experts agreed. Israel has reserved the right to attack again in the event of any breach of the terms, which could reignite hostilities, CNN noted, while The Jerusalem Post added Hezbollah may already be rebuilding its forces, and could make a comeback in the next few years. One difference with previous peace agreements is the introduction of a US-led system meant to identify and call out violations of the terms, the Financial Times Middle East editor noted, though its functioning remains unclear. Ultimately, it is likely to be a tenuous peace a band aid that could come unstuck at any moment, he wrote. For Gaza, achieving a ceasefire may be tougher Sources: The Guardian, The New York Times, Politico, Euronews Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Hamas official expressed hope that the ceasefire would make way for efforts toward peace in Gaza, and with 55 days left in office, Biden is racing against the clock of history to make it happen, The New York Times noted. No one has any idea what will happen after Jan. 20, so I think the time is right, one former senior administration official told Politico. This is a golden opportunity and we should not let it slip by. But peace in Gaza appears more elusive than ever, Euronews noted. Earlier this month, officials from Qatar, one of the primary peace brokers between Israel and Hamas, withdrew their mediation efforts, formalizing what was already clear to some analysts: There simply isnt that will to have a breakthrough. Markets rally on ceasefire announcement Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters After taking a hit over fears for US President-elect Donald Trumps tariff plan, markets soared on the ceasefire announcement as geopolitical risks lowered, Bloomberg reported. The S&P 500 hit a high for the 52nd time this year. Oil and gold prices have also gone down this week as investors showed hope that geopolitical tensions would reduce, including between Israel and Iran, a major energy producer. The US is also likely to reduce sanctions on oil coming from Iran following the ceasefire, which could further impact prices, an analyst said in a note reported by Reuters. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect early Wednesday morning, after the Israeli and Lebanese governments approved a U.S. proposal to halt the fighting in a truce that President Biden called a permanent cessation of hostilities. Ahead of the ceasefire deadline, 4 a.m. local time, Israel and Hezbollah traded intensive rounds of back-and-forth of rocket fire and strikes. The truce, which included mediation by France, halts 14 months of fighting since Hezbollah began attacking Israel following Hamass terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The terms of the deal require Israel to gradually withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon over a period of 60 days and Hezbollah to retreat from southern Lebanon to north of the Litani River. The Lebanese Armed Forces and Lebanese security forces are tasked with patrolling the territory of southern Lebanon to enforce that Hezbollah cannot reconstitute in the territory. The deal builds on a 2006 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon from United Nations Security Council 1701 that called for no Hezbollah or armed group presence south of the Litani River and was supposed to be monitored and enforced by a U.N. peacekeeping mission, but that was never successful. To overcome that failure, the terms of the latest agreement focus on the Lebanese Armed Forces and Lebanese security forces to ensure enforcement, and have established a multinational monitoring force, chaired by the U.S., to deter any violations of the agreement. The United States, together with France, are going to be joining an existing mechanism referred to as the tripartite mechanism. This is something that was created shortly after the 2006 war to include UNIFIL, the U.N. force in Lebanon, and Israel and Lebanon, a senior Biden administration official told reporters Tuesday night. It will now the agreement states that it will be reformulated and enhanced to include France and to be chaired by the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There will be no U.S. combat troops in the area but American diplomats and military personnel will be part of a team receiving any complaints of violations from either side. The idea here is that, unlike in 2006 where the international community reached the agreement and then abandoned the scene, here we remain committed to be on the ground day to day, watch whats happening, and to let everybody know, whether its Hezbollah or other organiza other terrorist organizations, that the world is watching, the official said. Still, the agreement allows Israel freedom of self-defense if there is a direct threat. President Biden, who announced the deal Tuesday evening, said achieving the truce in the north of Israel allows space for a renewed push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip where efforts to establish a truce face the additional challenge of securing the release of approximately 101 hostages held by Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 is warning thousands of people returning to their homes in southern Lebanon not to break freshly imposed curfew conditions following the ceasefire deal. Prime minister Keir Starmer has renewed a push for a ceasefire in Gaza after an agreement struck between Israel and Hezbollah raised hopes for peace in the wider region. We must seize this opportunity to build trust, de-escalate tensions and push for a wider ceasefire, Sir Keir said just after midday during PMQs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Waves of people are returning to their homes in southern Lebanon despite warnings from Israeli and Lebanese military to hold off after the breakthrough agreement. This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon, said Hussein Sweidan, a resident returning to the southern city of Tyre, one of the areas bombed by Israel on Tuesday. But the mood was different in Israel, where many people believe the ceasefire is not strong enough and are hesitant to return to communities in the countrys north. The Hamas group says it is ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel after the truce between Benjamin Netanyahu and the Iran-backed militant group began early on Wednesday. Key Points Hamas ready for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah begins Israel says it will attack with might if Hezbollah breaks truce US envoy says ceasefire permanent and Israeli forces will leave in 60 days Iran welcomes ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon Waves of Lebanese return home despite warnings France says it will work with Netanyahu despite arrest warrant 16:50 , AP Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement France said it intends to continue to work in close collaboration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite an arrest warrant being issued for him by the worlds top war crimes court. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants last week for Mr Netanyahu, his former defence minister and Hamas military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza. France will work with Benjamin Netanyahu despite the ICC arrest warrant (AP) Since then, French officials have replied vaguely to questions about whether France would arrest Mr Netanyahu should he visit the country. The French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, told parliament this week that France would rigorously respect its obligations under international law, a position echoed again by Frances Foreign Minister in a broadcast interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in a subsequent written statement, the French Foreign Ministry argued that Mr Netanyahu and others affected benefit from immunity because Israel is not a member of the court. It said this would be taken into consideration if the ICC was to ask us for their arrest and handing over. The statement cited the historic friendship that links France and Israel and described them as two democracies committed to the rule of law and respect for professional and independent justice. It added: France intends to continue to work in close collaboration with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East. The ceasefire in pictures 16:30 , Angus Thompson Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy towards southern Lebanon, securing areas previously occupied by Hezbollah (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) A destroyed mosque in the town of Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved) UNIFIL peacekeepers secure the area in Khardali, southern Lebanon (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement IDF chief of staff warns Hezbollah approaching Israeli soldiers will be targeted' 16:10 , Angus Thompson IDF army chief of staff, general Herzi Halevi has issued a statement saying enforcing the agreement with Hezbollah will be more decisive than the fighting that preceded it. The top commander warned Hezbollah members who approach IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon will be targeted. IDF army chief of staff, general Herzi Halevi (AP) We do not intend to wage months of war and remove residents from their homes without now returning them safely, he said in a statement posted online, adding forces from the northern command would be the first to confront people who returned to forbidden areas. There are units in the air around the clock, and naval units that gather information and are also capable of attacking in the western sector. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The general said the IDF was very determined to enforce the rules under the new arrangement in Lebanons south. Israel-Lebanon ceasefire explained: What is deal struck between Hezbollah and Israel and will it hold? 15:50 , Angus Thompson In the early hours of Wednesday morning a breakthrough ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect after 13 months of almost daily fire exchanged across the Israeli-Lebanon border and weeks of a intense ground and airstrike operation. While residents of Beirut and southern Lebanon celebrated, returning to their neighbourhoods in droves hours after intense Israeli bombardments despite warnings from the Israeli military to stay clear the mood was different in Israel, with some northern communities fearful of going home and believing the deal didnt go far enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now the IDF is warning residents in southern Lebanon against moving towards their positions, with a spokesman saying, our forces will deal with any movement that violates this agreement firmly. So, what is the deal that has ended the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and will it hold? Read this useful explainer here Israeli forces impose curfew on residents in southern Lebanon 15:29 , Angus Thompson Israel is placing residents in southern Lebanon under a strict curfew, warning them they forbidden from moving south from the Litani River overnight. In an urgent notification posted on social media platform X, IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said Lebanese people were barred from moving south towards villages the Israeli military had asked to be evacuated, or towards Israeli forces in the area. # #_: . . (17:00) pic.twitter.com/XFEK9vb8uL (@AvichayAdraee) November 27, 2024 Any movement towards these areas exposes you to danger, he said, adding that between 5pm today and 7pm tomorrow, local time, it was absolutely prohibited to move south from the Litani River. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those who are north of the Litani River - are prohibited from moving south, he said. Those who are south of the Litani River - must remain in their places. We remind you that the IDF is still deployed in its positions in southern Lebanon according to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and our forces will deal with any movement that violates this agreement firmly. UN Resolution 1701 is at the heart of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal. What is it? 14:55 , Kareem Chehayeb In 2006, after a bruising monthlong war between Israel and Lebanons powerful Hezbollah militant group, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted for a resolution to end the conflict and pave the way for lasting security along the border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But while there was relative calm for nearly two decades, Resolution 1701s terms were never fully enforced. Motorists wave the flag of Hezbollah as they parade in Beiruts southern suburbs (AFP via Getty Images) Now, figuring out how to finally enforce it is key to a US-brokered ceasefire deal approved by Israel on Tuesday. Almost two decades after the last war between Israel and Hezbollah, the United States led shuttle diplomacy efforts between Lebanon and Israel to agree on a ceasefire proposal that renewed commitment to the resolution, this time with an implementation plan to try to bring the document back to life. What is UNSC Resolution 1701? What does the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire mean for Gaza? 14:25 , Mark Almond Wednesday morning in south Beirut started as daybreak has for much of the last two months with explosions and gunfire. This time, however, it was peace breaking out that was being marked by the volleys. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As has happened so many times before, Hezbollahs supporters wanted to celebrate fighting Israel to a standstill, regardless of the cost. An injured child receives treatment in a Gaza hospital (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Cynics are probably not wrong to say that this ceasefire will only be temporary. However, it could endure for a long time if it suits the calculations of the power brokers on either side and their foreign backers. This ceasefire will likely hold, for now. But it is hardly likely to be a harbinger of a wider peace. Read Mark Almonds full analysis here Biden says deal brings Middle East closer to peace 13:50 , Angus Thompson US president Joe Biden took to X a short time ago to say the breakthrough deal with Israel and Hezbollah brought the region closer to lasting peace. Yesterdays ceasefire brings us closer to realising a future Ive been pushing for my entire presidency where the Middle East is at peace, prosperous, and integrated across borders, he said. US president Joe Biden says the deal brings the Middle East closer to lasting peace (AP) The deal was brokered by Biden who called it a historic moment for the world. Despite this, Trumps incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was quick to credit the president-elect for the deal. Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump, Waltz wrote in a post on X. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos wont be tolerated. Im glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East. Foreign secretary David Lammy touts UK pressure 12:54 , Angus Thompson Foreign secretary David Lammy has said the ceasefire offered hope to the Lebanese and Israeli civilians displaced from their homes by rocketfire over the past year. He said the international community must seize the momentum towards lasting peace in the region, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Foreign secretary David Lammy says a ceasefire offers hope to those who have been displaced (PA Wire) The UK was the first G7 country to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezballah in September and we have worked relentlessly since with our allies and partners to apply pressure to end this conflict since. We strongly urge all parties to use this agreement to open a pathway to a lasting peace, he said in a statement issued late on Monday. He assured the UK would support the UN in maintaining peace along the Blue Line demarcating Lebanon and Israel, adding Lebanese forces were the only legitimate military force in Lebanon. The devastation from this conflict is appalling and the human suffering must be addressed. The UK has played a leading role in addressing the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, announcing 15m in humanitarian support in autumn to provide essential medical supplies, emergency cash assistance, shelter and access to clean water. We will continue to play our part to support those in need, he said. Keir Starmer pushes for wider ceasefire 12:26 , Kate Devlin Prime minister Keir Starmer has addressed parliament for the first time since the ceasefire agreement. We must seize this opportunity to build trust, de-escalate tensions and push for a wider ceasefire, he said just after midday during PMQs. Prime minister Keir Starmer is calling for a wider ceasefire in the Middle East (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire) Soon after news of the agreement, representing a major breakthrough in ending hostilities in the Middle East, Sir Keir said it was long overdue and urged for it to be the start of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid, he said earlier. Hezbollah aerial unit commander killed in Beirut, IDF claims 12:11 , Angus Thompson The IDF says it killed a Hezbollah commander who directed missile attacks against Israel during its intense bombardment of Beirut yesterday. In a lengthy, published statement, the Israeli Defence Force said it had eliminated Jaafar Ali Samaha, who it said commanded many aerial acts of terrorism, including the firing of cruise missiles at Israel. In addition, he was responsible for coordinating the outlines between the various units in Hezbollah. Samaha served as the deputy commander of the unit (127) and was a senior member of it for over ten years, the statement said. It said its attack, part dozens of strikes against the Lebanese capital and southern areas, dismantled the chain of command of Hezbollahs air unit. UK Jewish leaders welcome ceasefire 11:39 , Angus Thompson The Board of Deputies of British Jews has issued a statement welcoming the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah and calling for peace in Gaza. Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said the UK organisation expressed its gratitude to the USA, France, and others who helped facilitate the agreement. We hope that in due course communities on both sides of the border will be able to return safely to their homes and livelihoods, Mr Rosenberg said. We pray that this breakthrough leads quickly to a wider cessation of hostilities in the region, including in Gaza, with the release of the hostages, aid and relief to Gazan civilians, and moves towards lasting peace and security between Israel, the Palestinians and the wider region. Israel firing at suspects in southern Lebanon 11:14 , Angus Thompson Israeli forces in southern Lebanon have been firing at suspects across a number of areas, with the defence force asserting on social media it will enforce any violation of the ceasefire. In recent hours, IDF forces have been firing at suspects identified in a number of areas in southern Lebanon, the IDF posted on X. The military earlier said it had established positions in southern Lebanon, where it also fired warning shots at people entering currently restricted areas. The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects moved away, the IDF said. , 04:00 . . . , >> (@idfonline) November 27, 2024 Tories cautiously welcome ceasefire 10:30 , Kate Devlin UKs shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel says the opposition cautiously welcomes the US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah while recognising there is a long road ahead. The Conservatives reaction to the major breakthrough in the Middle East comes after prime minister Keir Starmer said it was long overdue and urged for it to be the start of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel has cautiously welcomed the deal (PA Archive) Ms Patel said that Hezbollah moving back behind the Litani River, in Lebanons south, and Isreal having the ability to deal with immediate threats from Hezbollah is clearly key. We have consistently called for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and the broad outline of this deal appears a step in the right direction, she said. A huge international effort will be needed if this agreement is to endure. If it works, it could bring long awaited relief for many and potentially a pathway to sustainable peace across the Blue Line. She said the key to ending the Gaza conflict was the release of Israeli hostages. Hamas should release all remaining hostages immediately and unconditionally, she said. Trump team claims credit for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire 10:02 , Rhian Lubin Donald Trumps team has tried to claim credit for the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire hours after President Joe Biden announced it from the White House. The Biden administration reportedly briefed the president-elects national security team to inform them of the agreement and the commitments made, but Trump officials were not directly involved in the negotiations, according to a senior Biden administration official. US president-elect Donald Trump and outgoing president Joe Biden (Getty Images) The deal, which marks a major breakthrough in the devastating conflict that has gripped the Middle East, was actually brokered by Biden who called it a historic moment for the world. Despite this, Trumps incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was quick to credit the president-elect for the deal. Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump, Waltz wrote in a post on X. His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos wont be tolerated. Im glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East. Read the full story here Celebratory gunshots in Beirut after Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire brokered 09:24 , Holly Patrick Gunshots were heard in Beirut, Lebanon, in the early hours of Wednesday (27 November) in an apparent celebration at the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Footage showed smoke rising from the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes fired before the ceasefire took hold at 4am local time on Wednesday. US president Joe Biden, who brokered the deal and spoke to Israel and Lebanons leaders shortly after it was announced, said the ceasefire was designed to be permanent. Lebanese celebrations in pictures 08:56 , Angus Thompson Droves of people are returning to their homes in Lebanon, with the streets filled with traffic and residents of bombed out areas celebrating, and waving flags. Here are the images from the ground following the breakthrough ceasefire. A woman carries a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as she returns to Dahiyeh, in Beirut (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Flags are waved amid banked up traffic as people return home following the ceasefire (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Women hug one another after returning to their neighbourhood (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved) Celebrations in Lebanon, while many Israelis subdued 08:25 , AP Sporadic gunfire was heard at a main roundabout in the Lebanese southern coastal city of Tyre, where Israeli jets had struck on Tuesday, as returning residents honked their car horns and others cheered. This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon, said Hussein Sweidan, a resident returning to Tyre. People celebrating in the Lebanese city of Sidon (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) He said the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. But the mood was different in Israel, where many people believe the ceasefire is not strong enough. I think it is still not safe to return to our homes because Hezbollah is still close to us, said Eliyahu Maman, an Israeli displaced from the northern Israeli city of Kyriat Shmona, which has been hit hard by the months of fighting. Waves of Lebanese return home despite warnings 08:15 , AP Waves of Lebanese people have begun to return to their homes in the south of the country despite warnings from the Israeli military to hold off. Israels Arabic military spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned displaced Lebanese not to return to their villages, while the The Lebanese military asked displaced people returning to southern Lebanon to avoid frontline villages and towns near the border, where Israeli troops are still present. Lebanese families are returning to their homes in the south of the country, despite warnings to hold off (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved) However, videos circulating on social media show Lebanese returning to villages in the south near the coastal city of Tyre, one of the areas bombarded by Israeli jets on Tuesday. Thousands of people have already begun driving south on the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, with their belongings and mattresses tied on top of their cars. Traffic was gridlocked at the northern entrance of the port city of Sidon. Israeli strikes have left Lebanon with 6.7bn in damages 08:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Israels strikes on Lebanon targeting Hezbollah have left the country with damages worth an estimated 6.7bn, according to the Associated Press. At least 100,000 homes have been destroyed in Lebanon, while in Israel around 5,683 acres of land have burned. Israels attacks have killed more than 3,800 people in Lebanon and forced 1.2 million to flee their homes, the countrys health ministry said. Hezbollahs missile strikes have killed more than 80 Israeli soldiers and 47 civilians in Israel. Gunfire heard across Beirut as ceasefire takes effect 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Beirut after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah took effect this morning. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israels military. Streams of cars began heading to southern Lebanon, which borders Israel, after the ceasefire, Reuters reported. The ceasefire promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year. In pics: Lebanese citizens reclaim streets as ceasefire takes effect 07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Motorists wave the flag of Hezbollah and the portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah as they parade in Beirut's southern suburb (AFP via Getty Images) Motorists wave the flag of Hezbollah as they parade in Beiruts southern suburbs (AFP via Getty Images) People wave Lebanese and Amal movement flags (REUTERS) Hamas ready for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza 06:50 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar The Hamas group says it is ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel following a truce between Benjamin Netanyahu and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners, a senior official of Hamas told AFP. US president Joe Biden on Tuesday said over the coming days Washington will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza with the hostages released and the end of the war without Hamas in power. Xi Jinping urges Gaza ceasefire 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Chinese president Xi Jinping has reportedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza during his visit to the Brazilian capital. Mr Xi expressed concerns about the spread of the conflict in Gaza, and called for a ceasefire and an end to the war at an early date, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. Lebanese army preparing to deploy south 06:23 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Lebanons army this morning said it is preparing to deploy to the south of the country, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect. The army also asked residents of border villages to delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws. Netanyahus arrest warrant will throw the very future of the ICC into question 06:00 , Alexander Butler Netanyahus arrest warrant will throw the very future of the ICC into question Iran welcomes ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon 05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Iran welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon, the countrys foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement this morning, shortly after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah took effect. The ceasefire calls for an initial 60-day halt to fighting and requires Iran-backed Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the US would monitor compliance, according to reports. What to know about ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah 05:00 , Alexander Butler US envoy says ceasefire permanent and Israeli forces will leave Lebanon in 60 days 04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar US envoy Amos Hochstein told Al Jazeera that the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was permanent. He said the Israeli military on the ground in the first two-three km from the border will remain in place and the Lebanese army will redeploy back down to the south. The first Israeli forces will leave over the next several days, or first couple of weeks, and gradually, over 60 days, they will all depart, he said. But there is a lot to do in these 60 days. The Lebanese army cannot deploy that many forces that quickly all across the south when they havent been there in such a long time. UKs Starmer says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal will bring relief to civilians 04:00 , Alexander Butler British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will provide some measure of relief to civilian populations in Lebanon and Northern Israel and urged progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier, US President Joe Biden said a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France. Biden, who gave remarks at the White House shortly after Israels security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote, said he had spoken to Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanons Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border would end at 4 a.m. local time (2am GMT). We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid, Starmer said in a post on X. Foreign Minister David Lammy said the ceasefire must be a turning point that builds momentum towards a lasting peace in the Middle East. Israel says it will attack with might if Hezbollah breaks ceasefire agreement 03:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israel will respond with might if the Iran-backed group violates the ceasefire. If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack, Mr Netanyahu said. For every violation, we will attack with might. His office said Israel appreciated the US efforts in securing the deal but reserves the right to act against every threat to its security. Ceasefire deal approved by Israels security cabinet 03:00 , Alexander Butler Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus security cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect. The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington. Biden called the ceasefire in Lebanon good news, but its not clear how the truce will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In the hours before Israel agreed to the ceasefire, residents of Beirut endured the most intense wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and its southern suburbs since the start of the 13-month war. Israel was apparently signaling it intended to pummel the country before any ceasefire takes hold. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the countrys north. Israel asks evacuated residents of Lebanon not to return yet 02:59 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Israel has warned residents evacuated from southern Lebanon not to head home yet due to the ongoing military deployment in the region. Residents were warned in the first half-hour of the ceasefire, which began a short while ago at 4am (local time) today, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, which Israel insisted was part of the deal but Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah begins 02:52 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militants began early this morning as a region on edge wondered whether it would hold.The ceasefire announced Tuesday is a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. A view shows Beirut's southern suburbs and surroundings, after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah took effect (REUTERS) Watch: Biden calls for peace in Gaza after Lebanon ceasefire announced 02:00 , Alexander Butler Israeli strikes hit north Lebanon crossings with Syria for first time, minister says 01:00 , Alexander Butler Israeli strikes late on Tuesday targeted Lebanons three northern border crossings with Syria for the first time, Lebanons transport minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters. The strikes came moments after US President Joe Biden announced that a ceasefire would come into effect at 4am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday to halt hostilities between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel. Hamieh said it was not immediately clear whether the roads had been cut off as a result of the strikes. Israeli raids on Lebanons eastern crossings in recent weeks had already sealed off those routes into Syria. Syrian state media Sana had said Israeli strikes targeted the northern crossings between Syria and Lebanon but it was not immediately clear what side of the border was hit. Syrian state TV reported that 10 people were injured, including three critically, in an Israeli strike on the Arida border crossing, with the wounded transported to nearby hospitals, while casualties were also reported in a separate Israeli strike on the Dabousieh border crossing with Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately comment but has previously stated that it targets what it says are Iran-linked sites in Syria as part of a broader campaign to curb the influence of Iran and its ally Hezbollah in the region. What to know about ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah 00:01 , Alexander Butler What to know about ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah Read the full story: Israel approves ceasefire deal with Hezbollah Tuesday 26 November 2024 23:00 , Alexander Butler Israeli ministers approve ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon Biden to push for Gaza ceasefire after Israel-Lebanon deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 21:56 , Alexander Butler US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday his administration was pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it is possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalize relations. The US will make another push, with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, he said. Biden also wants the hostages released and to end the war without Hamas in power. Biden made the comments as he announced an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire at the White House. He added the US remained prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia, to include a security pact and economic assurances, together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Biden says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire will take effect Wednesday morning Tuesday 26 November 2024 21:40 , Alexander Butler A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. The accord, clearing the way for an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, Biden said in remarks at the White House. Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border will end at 4am local time (2am GMT), Biden said. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, he said. What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again. Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over a period of 60 days as Lebanons army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there, Biden said. Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities, he said. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib earlier said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw. Watch: Biden Calls For Peace In Gaza After Lebanon Ceasefire Announced Tuesday 26 November 2024 21:24 , Alexander Butler Ceasefire deal approved by Israels security cabinet Tuesday 26 November 2024 21:01 , Alex Ross Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus security cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect. The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington. Biden called the ceasefire in Lebanon good news, but its not clear how the truce will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In the hours before Israel agreed to the ceasefire, residents of Beirut endured the most intense wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and its southern suburbs since the start of the 13-month war. Israel was apparently signaling it intended to pummel the country before any ceasefire takes hold. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the countrys north. Read the full story here Tuesday 26 November 2024 20:30 , Alexander Butler Netanyahu approves US plan for ceasefire with Lebanon Watch: Netanyahu backs US plan for ceasefire with Lebanon Tuesday 26 November 2024 19:59 , Alexander Butler Israeli security minister rejects ceasefire proposal Tuesday 26 November 2024 19:55 , Alexander Butler Israels far-right security minister has rejected the US ceasefire plan backed by Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening. Itamar Ben-Gvir branded the ceasefire plan a historical mistake and said Israel needed a security belt north of the border. This is not a ceasefire. Its a return to the concept of silence for silence, and weve already seen where it leads, he said. In order to leave Lebanon, we must have our own security belt. We have already seen it, that we must not trust anyone but ourselves. Otherwise, the missiles will be launched at Manara, Avivim, Kiryat Shmona, the entire north and the entire State of Israel, and finally we will have to return to Lebanon again. This is a historical mistake! Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the ceasefire plan, endorsed by Benjamin Netanyahu, as a historical mistake (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Israeli strike kills at least 13 at school sheltering displaced in Gaza City, medics say Tuesday 26 November 2024 19:30 , Alexander Butler An Israeli air strike killed at least 13 Palestinians at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said on Tuesday. They said that dozens of people were also wounded in the Israeli strike that hit the Al-Hurreya School in the Zeitoun neighborhood, one of the oldest suburbs of Gaza City. Later on Tuesday, an Israeli air strike on a house also in Zeitoun suburb killed seven people and wounded others, medics said. Another strike killed at least one man in the southern city of Rafah, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israel on Tuesday to 21. Netanyahu will respond to any violation of ceasefire Tuesday 26 November 2024 18:53 , Alexander Butler Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was ready to implement a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah. In a television address, Netanyahu said he would put the ceasefire accord to his full cabinet later in the evening. Israeli TV reported that the more restricted security cabinet had earlier approved the deal. We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory, he said. In full coordination with the United States, we retain complete military freedom of action. Should Hezbollah violate the agreement or attempt to rearm, we will strike decisively. He added that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire -- to focus on Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest, and finally to isolate Hamas, the militant group that triggered war in the region when it launched an attack on Israel from Gaza last year. He said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict. We have set it back decades, eliminated ... its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters, and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border, he said. Netanyahu to present ceasefire plan to cabinet Tuesday 26 November 2024 18:22 , Alexander Butler Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed a US plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah in a significant breakthrough to resolving the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Mr Netanyahu said he would present the plan - widely expected to include a 60-day ceasefire - to his full cabinet for approval tonight. Addressing Israel, he said: Hezbollah is no longer the same it has gone back dozens of years - we have killed Nasrallah, we have killed all senior commanders in the organisation we have destroyed many missiles and rockets. We also destroyed the infrastructure of terror that has been built for many years near our borders. The ground is trembling in Lebanon That is why tonight I will bring to the cabinet approval an outline for a ceasefire in Lebanon - the duration of the ceasefire will depend of what is happening. Antony Blinken defends Beirut attack, says missiles going in both directions daily Tuesday 26 November 2024 17:29 , Angus Thompson US secretary of state Antony Blinken said both sides in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict were exchanging daily missile fire when asked about Israels bombardment of Beirut at the G7 meeting. [It] only underscores how urgent it is to get the ceasefire, and its why weve been working so intensely on bringing it to a conclusion, Mr Blinken said. US secretary of state Antony Blinken (AP) Thats the single most important thing to make an immediate difference, to stop the rockets and missiles flying in both directions. He acknowledged that Israel was attacking Beirut, but every single day, Hezbollah has been launching projectiles into Israel and northern Israel, as its done virtually every day since October 7 [2023], which is how this problem started. Benjamin Netanyahu set to speak at 6pm Tuesday 26 November 2024 16:20 , Angus Thompson Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to deliver a national address at 6pm UK time following a meeting with his national security cabinet. Mr Netanyahu is widely expected to announce a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah after terms were brokered by the US government to end one conflict engulfing the Middle East after the 7 October, 2023, Hamas attacks against Israeli communities plunged the region into a multi-front war. Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak at 6pm, UK time (AP) According to reports, the ceasefire would see Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Lebanese troops would move into the area, a Hezbollah stronghold. However Israel has warned that it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it breach the terms of a deal. Footage of Israels largescale assault on Beirut Tuesday 26 November 2024 16:15 , Angus Thompson Israel is undertaking a massive, deadly bombardment of Beirut ahead of a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah. Seven killed and dozens injured in central Beirut strike, Lebanon says Tuesday 26 November 2024 15:59 , Reuters, Angus Thompson Lebanons ministry of public health says seven people have been killed and 37 others have been injured in an Israeli strike in the Nuwairi area in Beirut. The update comes as the Israeli Defence Force continues to pummel the Lebanese capital, issueing several evacuation orders for sections of the city over the past few hours ahead of a ceasefire agreement expected to be secured later today. Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said on Tuesday. They said that dozens of people were also wounded in the Israeli strike that hit the Al-Hurreya School in the Zeitoun neighborhood, one of the oldest suburbs of Gaza City. Israeli troops reach Litani River in southern Lebanon Tuesday 26 November 2024 15:30 , Angus Thompson Israeli troops have reached the Litani River area of southern Lebanon, according to the IDF. In a statement released earlier today, Israeli forces said their 91st Division pursued Hezbollah sites and weapons hauls in complicated, built-up and mountainous areas in southern Lebanon from which terrorist plots were taken towards the northern settlements. In the area of the Litani river, the battle team of the Alexandroni brigade, including the reserve forces of the 769th brigade, the Golani patrol and the Sheldag unit raided following intelligence indications of many terrorist infrastructures that were hidden along the route of the complex terrain, the statement said. Israeli troops in the Litani River area of southern Lebanon (Israeli Defence Forces) Israeli defence minister approves continued operations amid ceasefire talks Tuesday 26 November 2024 15:00 , Angus Thompson Israels Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has approved the continuation of the military offensive on the northern front of the conflict as Israeli forces carry out a major bombardment of Beirut and southern Lebanon while facing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire. Israel earlier said it was carrying out large scale airstrikes on Beirut in a major bombardment of the Lebanese capital, releasing footage of its airforce striking 20 targets it said were Hezbollah strongholds. The IDF also released a lengthy statement in which it claimed to have eliminated a Hezbollah commander who had carried out attacks against Israels northern settlements. G7 countries up pressure on Israel to accept ceasefire Tuesday 26 November 2024 14:40 , Reuters Foreign Ministers from the G7 democracies have upped the pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement. In a draft statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Italy, the G7 ministers urged Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians, and condemned increasing settler violence in the West Bank. The ministers also condemned recent attack on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and expressed their support for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, saying it plays a vital role. Israeli soldiers outside UNWRA headquarters in Gaza earlier this year (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Large-scale strikes over Beirut and Hezbollah commander eliminated Tuesday 26 November 2024 14:13 , Angus Thompson Israel says it is carrying out large scale airstrikes on Beirut in a major bombardment of the Lebanese capital ahead of critical ceasefire talks. The Israeli Defence Force has posted a statement on social media platform X accompanied by black-and-white, aerial footage of explosions across a large area of Beirut. 20 terrorist targets in 120 seconds, part of the statement said, adding that Hezbollahs money management and storage facilities were attacked in the air raid. 20 -120 : " , . >> https://t.co/BrjMJR7rUZ pic.twitter.com/H7yYQsueEj (@idfonline) November 26, 2024 The IDF also released a lengthy statement in which it claimed to have eliminated a Hezbollah commander who had carried out attacks against Israels northern settlements. In the last week and in a precise activity, the commando fighters identified a squad of armed terrorists with the help of observation devices. Directing fire from the air and from the ground, a number of terrorists were killed, including the commander of the sector in the area where the forces operate, the statement said. The commander of the sector in Hezbollah led terrorists and shooting towards the settlements of the north, including the city of Matula. The IDF statement said anti-tank missiles and a rock launcher were found following the operation. Analysis: Israel poised for ceasefire with Lebanon - but anger remains over surrender Tuesday 26 November 2024 14:01 , Bel Trew Massive explosions from Israeli warplanes set Beiruts skies ablaze again on Tuesday, as the UN warned of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. But amid the escalating violence a glimmer of hope emerged: the potential end to a devastating conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has claimed thousands of lives since it erupted 14 months ago in the wake of the devastating Gaza war. Smoke plumes from the site of an Israeli airstrike carried out in Beirut on Monday (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Israeli government sources told The Independent that Israel was poised to approve a US-France plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah. Reports suggested Israels security cabinet was expected to convene as early as Tuesday evening to sign off on the proposal in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It seems very positive, one official told The Independent. The pressure is mounting - the European Unions top diplomat Joseph Borrell said on Tuesday that there were no excuses for Israel to refuse the ceasefire, adding that all its security concerns had been addressed and that Lebanon would fall apart if it was not pushed through. But in northern Israel, news of the proposal sparked outrage among hardline local mayors whose populations have been evacuated further south. Concerns have also risen about resistance from far-right members of Netanyahus cabinet, who may also attempt to block the deal. Read Bels full analysis here Seven injured in strikes in Tyre, Lebanese health ministry says Tuesday 26 November 2024 13:46 , Angus Thompson, Reuters Lebanons ministry of public health says seven people have been injured following Israeli strikes on the towns of Srifa and Bazourieh in the coastal area of Tyre, in the countrys south. The update was made on X as Israel continues is bombardment of Beirut and dozens of targets in southern Lebanon. Earlier, Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed hope at a conference in Rome that a deal to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could be sealed by Tuesday night. He said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the United States could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes. Fresh evacuation orders as Beirut strikes continue Tuesday 26 November 2024 13:26 , Angus Thompson Israeli forces are not letting up on their attack on the Lebanese capital, issuing another evacuation alert for the southern Beirut area of Ghobeiry a short time ago. IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X that residents in buildings specified on an aerial map accompanying the warning should evacuate immediately. You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, and the IDF will work against them forcefully in the near future for your safety and the safety of your family members, Mr Adraee said. # 6/6 pic.twitter.com/UxXlDhBOVX (@AvichayAdraee) November 26, 2024 The latest pictures from Beirut airstrikes Tuesday 26 November 2024 13:09 , Angus Thompson A building has been demolished and a cemetery damaged in imagery that shows the destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut. The bombardments are the latest in a series of strikes as Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire ahead of the discussion of a ceasefire in Israels national security cabinet later today. People stand next to a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Chiyah area in southern Beirut (EPA) This image shows a damaged cemetery at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the Beirut (AFP via Getty Images) The cemetery was struck in Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah sites (AFP/Getty) Airstrikes hit dozens of Hezbollah targets this morning, IDF says Tuesday 26 November 2024 12:48 , Angus Thompson Israeli fighter jets have bombed dozens of Hezbollah targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon, according to the IDF, as fighting intensifies in the lead-up to a ceasefire deal being struck between the sides later today. In a series of statements posted on social media platform X, the Israeli Defence Force said it acted on intelligence to attack buildings used by Hezbollahs coastal missile unit, military headquarters, and other infrastructure this morning. Smoking pluming from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut on Monday (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) All of the targets that were attacked were deliberately placed by Hezbollah in the heart of the civilian population, another example of the terrorist organization Hezbollahs cynical use of Lebanese citizens as a human shield, the IDF said, adding it took steps to warn the civilian population ahead of the strikes. Before the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including early intelligence gathering, accurate observation, and advance warnings for the evacuation of the population in the area. The IDF said it also targeted weapons, anti-tank missile, and air-defence depots in the Bint Jabal area in the countrys south, and in the early morning attacked 30 sites in the south that included Hezbollah weapons caches and military headquarters. Additional weapons depots associated with the Nasser unit, which is responsible for many terrorist attacks against the northern settlements and the IDF forces, were also attacked, the IDF statement said of the unit operating on the conflicts southern front. Israels deputy foreign minister says ICC warrant encourages evil Tuesday 26 November 2024 12:24 , Angus Thompson Israels deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel has slammed the recent arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a political decision that only serves the interests of Israels enemies. In a broadcast speech, Ms Haskel said the warrant deprived the most threatened country in the world of its right to defend itself. Sharren Haskel unfurls an Israeli flag at a demonstration by students of Oxford University earlier this year (New Hope) Israel has been attak from six different fronts from a few countries that are surrounding it and are far away, she said, adding the ICC has made itself a vessel at the disposal of extremist groups. From a political perspective, it actually encourages the axis of evil. She said the fact that both Hamas and Iran congratulated the issuing of the warrant, which also targeted Mr Netanyahus former defence minister Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu can secure majority needed for ceasefire deal: former Israel justice minister Tuesday 26 November 2024 12:03 , Angus Thompson Israels former justice minister Yossi Beilin has told news broadcaster Al Jazeera prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to secure the majority needed to land the ceasefire deal when he meets with the national security cabinet later today. There are some ministers, especially the lunatic ones, who will be against any ceasefire anywhere in the world, but they are not threatening neither the decision nor even the government, Al Jazeera has reported Mr Beilin as saying during an interview from Tel Aviv. CNN is also reporting Mr Netanyahu has agreed in-principle to the deal. It comes after Israels national security minister and far-right party leader Itamar Ben Gvir warned a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah is a big mistake. Al Jazeera has reported Beilin as saying many Israelis opposed a ceasefire. This is understandable, because as long as Hezbollah is an armed militia in Lebanon, it takes hostage the government of Lebanon ... and is a threat on Israel, he said. No support, no mercy: Gazans fear greater onslaught without similar deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 11:44 , Nidal al-Mughrabi The prospect of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah without a similar deal with Hamas in Gaza has left Palestinians feeling abandoned and fearful that Israel will focus squarely on its onslaught in the enclave. The Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel in October of 2023, triggering the Gaza war. Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Al-Farooq mosque, in Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip (REUTERS) But while diplomacy focuses on Lebanon, Palestinians say they feel let down by the world after 14 months of conflict which has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 44,000 people. It showed Gaza is an orphan, with no support and no mercy from the unjust world, said Abdel-Ghani, a father of five who only gave a first name. I am angry against the world that has failed to bring one solution to the two regions ... maybe, there will be another deal for Gaza, maybe. Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman, said he and others had high hopes that Hezbollah would remain steadfast until the end, but it seems they couldnt. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire without a deal for Gaza would be a blow to Hamas, whose leaders had hoped the expansion of the war into Lebanon would pressure Israel to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. IDF soldier injured in border region drone attack Tuesday 26 November 2024 11:34 The Times of Israel is reporting rocket and drone fire into border communities in the countrys north has seen two elderly people and a soldier injured. According to the national news oulet, the Israeli Defence Force reported shooting down a Hezbollah drone that went into Golan Heights, near the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border, early on Tuesday morning. However, a female IDF soldier was taken to hospital after being seriously wounded in a drone attack on the Mount Hermon area hours later. Imagery of Beirut airstrikes emerging Tuesday 26 November 2024 11:17 , Angus Thompson Imagery has emerged of the Israeli airstrikes in southern Beirut this morning ahead of an impending ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. The photo shows sections of the city up in smoke, after the Israeli Defence Force issued an evacuation warning ahead of the targeted strikes. Hezbollah has kept up rocket fire into Israel as pressure mounts on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the terms of a deal that could pave the way for greater piece in the region. Imagery of the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes ahead of an impending ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah (AFP/Getty) Israel strikes Beirut suburbs ahead of ceasefire deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 10:59 , Angus Thompson Israel airstrikes in southern Beirut have demolished sections of Hezbollah-controlled suburbs, as the militant group also kept up rocket fire into Israel. The IDF issued an evacuation warning on social media platform X earlier this morning, telling all residents in some southern suburbs, you are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future. For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters, the post said. The IDF released a map, telling residents it was targeting Burj Al-Barajneh and the pond enclosure. # : pic.twitter.com/8rw4zjAnj2 (@AvichayAdraee) November 26, 2024 Israels UN ambassador says nation could still strike Lebanon under deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 10:47 , Reuters, Angus Thompson On Monday, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, asserted Israel would maintain an ability to strike southern Lebanon under any agreement. Lebanon has previously objected to Israel being granted such a right, and Lebanese officials have said such language is not included in the draft proposal. However, two Israeli officials told Reuters news agency Israel had a side agreement with the US allowing it to take action in Lebanon against imminent threats. Israels UN ambassador Danny Danon (Getty Images) Meanwhile, the Israeli Defence Force has this morning continued its warnings of the threats it says Hezbollah poses, posting on social media platform X the militant political group endangers UN peacekeepers, Israeli and Lebanese civilians alike. The IDF has reported Hezbollah fired rockets toward the northern Golan Heights, near the Israel-Syria-Lebanon border, damaging a UN outpost. A message was sent to the UN prior to the event, advising that all UN personnel enter/stay near protected areas, the post this morning said, adding the IDF conducted an inspect after the strike. It was concluded that the damage was in fact caused by the fallout from Hezbollahs rockets which were launched toward northern Israel. Israel will have zero tolerance towards breaches of deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 10:30 , Angus Thompson Israels defence minister, Israel Katz, says the nation will show zero tolerance towards any infraction of an impending ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, as Israel demands the UN enforce the terms of the agreement. Any house in southern Lebanon that is rebuilt and established as a terrorist base will be destroyed, every armament and terrorist regrouping will be struck, every attempt to smuggle weapons will be thwarted and any threat to our forces or to Israeli citizens will be destroyed immediately, Katz has reportedly told the U.N.s special co-ordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, according to Reuters. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will chair a security council meeting later today, where the deal will be considered, but Katz rhetoric in the lead-up to the discussion signals it is likely to be approved. Israel says any deal with Lebanon will maintain its ability to act to remove the threat of Hezbollah, while Lebanon has said it will send 5,000 troops into the border region to maintain piece. Israeli minister and far-right leader Ben Gvir urges against ceasefire deal Tuesday 26 November 2024 10:11 , Angus Thompson Israels national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has warned a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah is a big mistake and that the agreement would be a missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah. The leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit took to X yesterday to announce his grievances over the impending deal as the international community ramps up pressure for Israel to agree to the terms, which would see Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Lebanese troops to move into the border region, a Hezbollah stronghold. An agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake. A historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah, he said. I understand all the constraints and reasons, and it is still a grave mistake. You have to listen to the commanders fighting in the field, listen to the heads of the authorities. He said it was forbidden to stop when Hezbollah was beaten and longing for a ceasefire. As I warned before in Gaza, I warn now as well: Mr. Prime Minister - it is not too late to stop this agreement! We must continue until the absolute victory! . . , . , . , , . (@itamarbengvir) November 25, 2024 No excuse, warns EU foreign policy chief Tuesday 26 November 2024 09:52 , Reuters The European Unions foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is urging Israel to back the ceasefire deal, which he says has all the necessary security guarantees for Israel. Speaking at a G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Italy, Mr Borrell said there was no excuse for not implementing the deal with Hezbollah, adding pressure should be exerted on Israel to approve it immediately. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is urging Israel to back the ceasefire agreement (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All right reserved) No more excuses. No more additional requests, Mr Borrell said. He said he discussed prospects for a deal in a recent trip to Lebanon and one of the sticking points was whether France should be included in a committee monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire, which the US is due to chair. He said the Lebanese have specifically asked for Frances involvement, but the Israelis have misgivings. This is one of the points that are still missing, he said. Israel will use forceful action to prevent any Hezbollah fighters returning to south Lebanon border villages following the ceasefire deal, its defence minister has warned. Israel Katz has ordered Israeli troops to act forcefully and without compromises against developments of this kind. He added that Hezbollah members must be prevented from reaching areas in southern Lebanon where the IDF is operating, warning that if they endanger the IDF troops, they must be hit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel has warned Lebanese residents not to rush home as the staggered withdrawal of IDF troops will take up to 60 days. The Israeli military fired warning shots at a vehicle that was travelling in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory, early on Wednesday morning, just hours after the peace deal came into effect. The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects moved away, the IDF said in a statement. It warned that it will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the agreement. Thousands of vehicles filled roads on Wednesday morning as displaced residents attempted to return to their homes in southern Lebanon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ceasefire in Lebanon has prompted renewed hope of a truce in Gaza with Joe Biden, the US president, announcing a fresh round of peace talks on Wednesday. Mr Biden wrote in a statement on X: Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power. He has blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, saying that they refused negotiations for months and months. The US president also called on Israel to be bold in turning tactical gains against Iran and its proxies into a coherent strategy. 12:57 PM GMT Thank you for following todays live coverage from the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Well be back soon with more updates and analysis from the Middle East. 11:59 AM GMT Lebanese PM hopes for new page for Lebanon after ceasefire deal Lebanons prime minister Najib Mikati has called for unity as the ceasefire breaks up what he called the most cruel phase in Lebanese history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cost of damage to housing in Lebanon is estimated at $2.8 billion, with more than 99,000 housing units partially or fully destroyed, according a World Bank report. In Beiruts southern suburb alone, a stronghold of Hezbollah, Israeli strikes have demolished at least 262 buildings, according to the American University Beirut Urban Lab. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated two months ago when Israel went on the offensive against the Iran-backed group, after being ignited by the Gaza conflict in October 2023. Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati - AFP 11:25 AM GMT Hamas is committed to a ceasefire in Gaza Hamas appreciates Lebanons right to reach an agreement that protects its people and hopes that it will pave the way to reaching a deal to end the war in Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France But international efforts to halt the 13-month-old war between Hamas and Israel in the Palestinian territory of Gaza have ground to a halt. Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said blamed the failure to reach a ceasefire deal that would end the Gaza war on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly accused Hamas of foiling efforts. Hamas showed high flexibility to reach an agreement and it is still committed to that position and is interested in reaching an agreement that ends the war in Gaza, said Mr Abu Zuhri. The problem was always with Netanyahu. A Gazan child is seen amongst the rubble in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Gaza city, where an Israeli strike cause heavy destruction to the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings - Anadolu 11:03 AM GMT Telegraph readers weigh in on the ceasefire Our readers have shared their reservations about the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which began this morning. 10:36 AM GMT Whats happened so far? A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah began this morning after both sides accepted a peace deal brokered by the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agreement, which came into effect at 4am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday, brought to end the conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that killed thousands since it was ignited by Hamas Oct 7 massacre last year. Missile attacks by both sides were recorded until shortly before the deal came into effect but no major activity has been reported since the truce deadline. Late last night, Israel issued evacuation orders for parts of Beirut four hours before the ceasefire deadline, striking shortly before the deadline. For your safety and the safety of your family members, refrain from moving to the area. We will inform you when it is safe to return home, the IDFs Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. A girl waves the portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah as she arrives in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Wednesday - AFP 10:05 AM GMT World leaders increase calls for ceasefire in Gaza after Lebanon truce The international community welcomed the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement that came into effect overnight, and expressed hopes that it could also pave the way toward an end to the war in Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frances President Macron said the Lebanon ceasefire should open the path for an ending to the war in Gaza. Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio. Egypt, which has been a key mediator in Gaza, also welcomed the ceasefire, saying it should be a prelude to ending the fighting in Gaza. It also stressed that only diplomacy, not force, could end the conflicts in the region, calling for the start of a process that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement @sahouraxo/X 09:27 AM GMT 5,000 Lebanese troops will replace Hezbollah The Lebanese army is expected to deploy 5,000 troops to the south under the agreement, replacing Hezbollah fighters. However, there have been questions raised about whether they would confront Hezbollah if necessary, which could further aggravate tensions in a country where sectarian divisions run deep. The Lebanese army has also said it does not have the resources - money, manpower and equipment - to fulfil its obligations under the deal. Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon - AP 09:09 AM GMT Iran praises Hezbollahs glorious victory The Iranian embassy in Beirut has congratulated Hezbollah on what it termed a glorious victory against Israel. We congratulate Lebanon, its people, and its courageous resistance on this glorious victory achieved by Lebanons loyal sons against the aggressor Zionist regime, the embassy said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The promise of victory, given by the master of the martyrs of resistance, Hassan Nasrallah, has been fulfilled thanks to his great sacrifices in pursuit of the dignity, independence, and honour of this nation and its people, it added, referring to the former leader of Hezbollah. Earlier today, Irans foreign ministry said it welcomed the cessation of Israels aggression against Lebanon. The result of Israels warmongering, backed by the full support of the United States and some European governments, necessitates that the international community tries to protect peace and stability in the West Asia region and put effective pressure on Israel to halt its war against Gaza, a spokesman told reporters in Tehran. 08:51 AM GMT IDF fires warning shots at Lebanese vehicle with several suspects The Israel Defence Forces has released a statement saying that in the last hour it fired on a vehicle with several suspects that was travelling in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory. The forces fired to prevent their arrival in the area, and the suspects moved away, it says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the statement, the IDF said it has been operating in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the agreement. When the deal was first announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not hesitate to strike if Hezbollah broke the terms. Lebanese citizens celebrate with flags as a convoy of vehicles sweep through Beirut - Anadolu 08:43 AM GMT Pictured: Israeli troops and tanks leave Lebanon The ceasefire deal outlines that Hezbollah and Israel will have 60 days to remove its fighters and weapons from the region and the Blue Line - the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel - and the Litani river, about 30km to the north. The US and France are joining the existing tripartite mechanism that was charged with monitoring violations of previous conflicts, which involves Unifil, Lebanon and Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel would maintain full freedom of military action in Lebanon with the United States full understanding. Netanyahu cited moves like the group attempting to arm itself, rebuilding infrastructure or using rockets as reasons to attack. Israeli troops and tanks return to Israel after leaving Lebanon - Shutterstock 08:33 AM GMT Things feels safer: Israeli residents react to ceasfire Moshe Tal, a resident of Haifa which has come under fire over recent weeks, said the ceasefire offered a sense of relief, albeit tentative. I have to drive to work in Nazareth today so at least for today, things feel safer, the lawyer told The Telegraph, the usually short drive having been treacherous amid daily barrages from Lebanon. But its good for Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] who only cares about Bibi right now, he added as calls for the Prime Minister to resign continue across the country in the wake of the Hamas atrocities of October 7. Smoke rises over Beiruts southern suburbs from Israeli strikes that occurred just before the ceasefire - REUTERS 08:30 AM GMT Hamas appreciates Hezbollah position A Hamas official has said the group appreciates Hezbollahs position and right to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel. Speaking to Reuters, the unnamed official said they also hoped for a deal to end the war in Gaza, insisting that Hamas had been flexible in negotiations to date. Experts have warned that a ceasefire deal in Lebanon would likely have no impact on Israels war in Gaza, especially while Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages. Lebanese residents fire celabratory shots into the air as ceasefire with Israel takes effect - REUTERS 08:22 AM GMT Thousands will join the resistance, says senior Lebanese MP Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanons Al Jadeed TV that the group would emerge from the war stronger. Thousands will join the resistance ... Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through, said Mr Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanons parliament. Lebanese Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah - REUTERS 08:19 AM GMT Thousands flock back to homes in southern Lebanon Thousands of residents have begun to drive home to southern Lebanon as Israeli forces prepare to withdraw. More than a million people have been displaced across Lebanon as a result of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, with many of those in the south of the country. Israel has warned residents not to rush home as the staggered withdrawal of IDF troops will take up to 60 days - and the military has already reported firing at vehicles that got too close to Israeli positions. 08:10 AM GMT IDF fires at vehicles in Lebanese territory The Israeli Defence Forces fired at several vehicles inside Lebanese territory, just hours into the ceasefire. In the past hour, IDF forces identified several vehicles in Lebanese territory with suspects in a restricted movement area, it said in a statement. The forces fired to prevent their approach to the area, and the suspects retreated. Its not clear who was in the vehicles, but there have been widespread reports of people trying to return to their homes in the south of the country. The IDF has warned, however, that they should wait until Israeli forces have withdrawn from certain areas. The complete withdrawal of Israeli forces could take as long as 60 days. 07:58 AM GMT Hello and welcome to our live coverage Were bringing you the latest updates from the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel has informed the International Criminal Court that it will contest arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over their conduct of the Gaza war, Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday. The office also said that U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had updated Netanyahu "on a series of measures he is promoting in the U.S. Congress against the International Criminal Court and against countries that would cooperate with it". The ICC issued arrest warrants last Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence chief, and Hamas military leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli military response in Gaza. Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. "Israel today submitted a notice to the International Criminal Court of its intention to appeal to the court, along with a demand to delay the execution of the arrest warrants," Netanyahu's office said. Court spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah told journalists that if requests for an appeal were submitted it would be up to the judges to decide Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The court's rules allow for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution that would pause or defer an investigation or a prosecution for a year, with the possibility of renewing that annually. After a warrant is issued the country involved or a person named in an arrest warrant can also issue a challenge to the jurisdiction of the court or the admissibility of the case. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Stephanie Van Den Berg in The Hague. Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Mark Potter) CAIRO (Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Wednesday it shot down a drone that was carrying weapons and crossed from Egypt to Israel. When asked about the latest drone incident, Egyptian security sources said they had no knowledge of such an incident. In two separate incidents in October, Israel also said it downed two drones smuggling weapons from Egyptian territory. Israeli officials have said during the war in Gaza that Palestinian militant group Hamas used tunnels running under the border into Egypt's Sinai region to smuggle arms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Egypt says it destroyed tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago and created a buffer zone and border fortifications that prevent smuggling. (Reporting by Cairo newsroom, additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Chizu Nomiyama) By Avi, Ohayon and Emily Rose NAHARIYA, Israel (Reuters) - For the first time in months on Wednesday, sirens warning of incoming attacks from Lebanon were not heard in northern Israel, but many residents were nonetheless outraged by the government's ceasefire with the Hezbollah armed group. The deal, which promises to end a cross-border conflict that has killed thousands since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, is seen as a major achievement by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration but has stirred anger and apprehension in Israel's north. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israel maintained its right to act in case Iran-backed Hezbollah broke the terms of the deal. "What do I say? That it's very bad, real bad," Nahariya resident Levana Karsenti told Reuters of the agreement. "They (the government) did nothing and our soldiers were wasted away for nothing. Bibi (Netanyahu) should pack himself out of the government quickly, even though I supported him. He needs to go home urgently." Many residents of northern Israel fear Hezbollah may try to launch a ground assault, similar to the Hamas attack on Israel's south on Oct. 7, 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hezbollah strikes have killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Some 60,000 people evacuated from homes in the north have still not been directed to return. The bulk of the damage in Israel has been inflicted in areas adjacent to the Lebanese border, pummeled by Hezbollah rockets. The deal should have included a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon, the mayor of the northern city of Kiryat Shmonah, just three km (1.8 miles) from the border, told Reuters. Because Hezbollah uses civilian homes to hide weapons and launch attacks on Israelis, said Mayor Avichai Stern, Israel would not have a legitimate basis for countering Hezbollah activity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These are military bases ... for the purpose of attacking the northern border communities, and therefore it is impossible to accept their continued existence," Stern said. ISRAEL WILL NOT ALLOW ANOTHER OCT. 7, OFFICIAL SAYS Lebanon's military, tasked with ensuring the ceasefire lasts, has asked residents of Lebanese border villages to delay returning home until the Israeli military withdraws. While the ceasefire largely held on Wednesday morning, Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A government official told Reuters that Israel had not prioritized the threat of infiltration in the deal because it is confident that the military gains Israel has made would give it enough warning time if Hezbollah forces were to try to launch a large-scale ground invasion like that of Oct. 7, 2023. Israel has also destroyed enough Hezbollah infrastructure near the border that any infiltration attempt would be spotted and Israeli forces would have ample time to react, the official said. At least 73 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Israel, the Golan Heights, and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli authorities. "We are ready for any development and any violation of Hezbollah," a security official said. "We will not allow, not in Lebanon and not in Gaza, to have another 7 of October" but said "those are crucial days now" and that the ceasefire would need to be watched and measured on the merits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The security official said the residents "need to feel and decide when it's safe" to return to their homes. (Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Avi Ohayon in Nahariya, Editing by William Maclean) The Israeli military has recorded several incidents in the hours since the ceasefire with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah came into force on Wednesday. It was not clear whether these would be considered violations of the agreed ceasefire. In a statement, it was said that the military had identified suspects in southern Lebanon and fired shots in their direction. A military representative said there had been several incidents in the meantime. "These are isolated incidents that happen in the first few hours or days until people understand what is happening on the ground." At the same time, he said, if Israeli troops are threatened, "they will shoot." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A ceasefire brokered by the United States and France came into effect at 4 am (0200 GMT). According to media reports, the Israeli ground troops are to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days. Hezbollah is to retreat to behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometres north of the border. HAI PHONG, Vietnam, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vietnam Fintech Summit 2024 (VFS) took place on November 26, 2024 at Pullman Hotel, Hai Phong. This is an activity within the framework of the National Creative Startup Day 2024 event series organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in coordination with the People's Committee of Hai Phong City with the common goal of promoting connectivity, joining hands to develop the Vietnamese creative startup ecosystem (Together accelerating Viet Nam's startup ecosystem), increasing the attraction of domestic and foreign resources to develop the type of enterprise operating based on the exploitation of intellectual property, technology and new business models (startups). A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us at the Vietnam Fintech Summit 2024! We are grateful to our distinguished partners, co-hosts, community partners, and media partners for your invaluable support in making this event a success. Your collaboration, expertise, and dedication to advancing the fintech ecosystem were key to the summits impact. The VFS event was co-organized by the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) and the Fintech Community - Techfest Vietnam, in collaboration with two leading technology communities in Asia - APAC DAO and Tech Vietnam Advocates, bringing together hundreds of leaders, entrepreneurs and financial technology experts at home and abroad, joining hands to promote innovation and sustainable development in the Fintech field. According to the welcoming speech of Dr. Pham Hong Quat, Director of the Department of Market Development and Science and Technology Enterprises, Ministry of Science and Technology, this year's event has been upgraded from a community event to an international event, with depth and expertise, helping to further promote the innovation ecosystem in Hai Phong in particular and Vietnam and the region in general. Potential for Fintech Development in Vietnam As one of the fastest growing Fintech markets in the region, Vietnam currently stands out with over US$19 billion in total electronic payment transaction value and is the second largest market in ASEAN in terms of Fintech financial volume. The Fintech market value in Vietnam has increased from US$0.7 billion in 2016 to US$4.5 billion in 2022, with transaction volume increasing by more than 150% during this period and currently serving over 29 million users (according to Vietnam Plus) The Vietnam Fintech Summit International Conference provides an ideal opportunity for Fintech startups to gain a deeper understanding of the Vietnamese financial market and connect with leading financial technology experts from around the world. With many in-depth discussions and panels revolving around Fintech industry topics such as Open Banking trends, Open API cooperation, technology applications in cashless payments, the role of technology in expanding access to financial services for end users, and AI applications in the financial sector, more than 15 leading speakers from Prudential AI Labs, TMA Solutions, Indonesia Fintech Association, MBBank, Credos Partners and AthenaFS shared practical lessons and international experiences to promote sustainable development and open up many cooperation opportunities in Vietnam's Fintech ecosystem. JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) Wednesday is a big travel day for people who are going to their Thanksgiving plans. At Albert J. Ellis Airport, only a couple of flights were delayed Wednesday morning. Flights out of the airport only go to Charlotte and Atlanta. AAA representatives said that nearly six million people will fly across the country this Thanksgiving, which would be a new record. Its a 2 percent increase from last year and an 11 percent increase from 2019. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miguel Medina and Brena Cruz were two people catching their flights Wednesday, set to land in California. They are both excited for their favorite parts of Thanksgiving. You already know, the food. My moms food, especially, like I said, first place shes like the best cook, Miguel Medina said. I just praise her food, Im just going to say that. For me, its the family because we all gather around and eat the food and then we have like a little party with it too, Brena Cruz said. Experts said the best way to avoid any trouble is by getting to the airport early and packing anything that may be needed in a carry-on incase of delays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. The public prosecutor has demanded prison sentences of between 4 and 20 years for the 51 defendants in the trial concerning drugging and years of sexual abuse in southern France. The public prosecutor's office on Wednesday demanded the maximum sentence of 20 years for aggravated rape only for the main defendant in the case, Dominique Pelicot. He confessed in the court in Avignon to having drugged and abused his then-wife Gisele for almost ten years, and to having strangers rape her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regarding the other 50 accused men, the public prosecutor charged one only with sexual violence and demanded four years in prison. In its three-day plea, the prosecution demanded a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18 years in prison for rape for all the others. "The experience was so extraordinary that there will be a before and an after," said prosecutor Laure Chabaud. "We can hope for a real and profound awareness of the defendants of the acts and especially of the question of consent." The mammoth trial has been rocking France since September. The defence begins its closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon. The court plans to deliver its judgment shortly before Christmas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gisele Pelicot believes she was raped almost 200 times over a period of almost ten years. A number of videos and photos of her then-husband are said to corroborate the assaults. Investigators suspect that, in addition to the 50 co-defendants, around a dozen other men were involved in the crimes, but they could not be identified. Japanese electric provider Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is tapping into clean energy for bitcoin mining, bringing about a greener way for the cryptocurrency market, reported Bitcoin Magazine. TEPCO is the largest energy provider in Japan, supplying over 270 million people with energy, according to Bitcoin Magazine. The company created a subsidiary called Agile Energy in 2022, which is now using excess energy from wind and solar power to help generate bitcoin mining, per Bitcoin Magazine. Clean energy production, like wind and solar, have fluctuations in when energy is being produced. For example, solar farms will generate much more energy on a sunny day than when it's cloudy, and wind energy may produce more energy in the evenings when it is windier, as explained in a report from the MIT Climate Portal. When there is an excess of energy, finding ways to use it or store it is important to ensure clean energy is being used as efficiently as possible. Do you think our power grid needs to be upgraded? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind TEPCO is using excess clean energy to power the energy-demanding practice of cryptocurrency mining. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the annual amount of electricity used for cryptocurrency mining is equivalent to the amount of electricity needed for all of Utah and West Virginia and more in a year. NFT Evening estimated that the electricity needed to mine one bitcoin is enough to power 61 U.S. homes for a year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Therefore, understanding how energy-intensive the practice of cryptocurrency mining is, it is a great opportunity to tap into excess clean energy. Clean energy, like solar and wind, does not release dirty pollution like energy from oil and coal does. Companies that use clean energy are supporting cleaner air and water globally, with positive impacts like healthier air quality, and stronger ecosystems. While there are many ways for individuals to support the production and use of clean energy, it is much more impactful for major corporations, especially energy providers, to commit to using clean energy, like TEPCO. Other examples of this include REI and Intuit's help in producing new solar farms, and Toyota funding a capital venture firm specifically focused on clean energy solutions. "Green energy producers have to operate their businesses on the assumption that part of the power they generate is wasted," stated Kenji Tateiwa, Agile Energy President, to Bitcoin Magazine. "If bitcoins were to provide a new source of income for similar power producers, who are being exposed to overinvestments, that would prompt more green energy to be produced." 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. Jean Rather, a visual artist and the wife of journalist Dan Rather for 67 years, died Tuesday from cancer, her family announced. She was 89. Jean was a steadfast advisor and rock of true Texas grit during every storm. She was also the kind of wife who could meet presidents, kings and queens, draft dodgers, criminals, and corporate suits every day with equal ease and a stunning smile, the family wrote in their obituary, posted on Facebook. Born in Smithville, Texas, in 1935, Jean Rather started in radio, according to her family, but became a painter and collage maker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She attended art classes at American University and Mary Mount Manhattan College. Through careful study of master artists paintings and sculpture in museums in England, France, Italy, Russia, Israel, Greece, Turkey, and Southeast Asia, Jean created a unique contemporary philosophy and style, the family said. Jean was a tremendous mother and grandmother, making every game, cheering on every win, putting Band-Aids on every skinned knee, and serving as a confidante and friend to all her family members, the family also said. Among her artistic endeavors, Jean Rather served as Painter Member and the Vice Chair of the Art Commission of the City of New York for 8 years. She also served on multiple nonprofit boards, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, UT Press, and the Harry Ransom Center. Shes survived by Dan Rather, 93, and their son Danjack and his partner, Ann Prunty, and grandson Martin in New York; daughter Robin and her partner, Mike Marler, and grandson Andy in Austin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In lieu of flowers, the Rather family suggests donations to the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin. She never forgot where she came from, never lost her Texas roots, and never wavered from her fierce independence and endless creativity, the Rather family wrote also. The post Jean Rather, Artist and Dan Rathers Wife of 67 Years, Dies at 89 appeared first on TheWrap. Nov. 27The Illinois Supreme Court last week disbarred one lawyer and suspended 10 others from the practice of law, their offenses ranging from filing faulty time sheets to aggravated battery. But one case was a rerun of an earlier case reported in this space in which a veteran Cook County lawyer faced a virtual lifetime license suspension for flirting with and asking out female employees and lawyers at the Will County Courthouse. Robert E. Lewin, a lawyer for 50 years, considered the penalty unduly harsh and asked a state Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission review panel to reconsider. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It lessened Lewin's penalty, although he's still on the equivalent of double-secret probation. In its initial finding, a review panel recommended that Lewin's license be suspended for six months or until further order of the court. That "until further order" finding is a killer, because it requires lawyers to wait months or years to get their licenses back if they ever do and go through an evidentiary hearing to demonstrate their fitness for reinstatement. Under the revised order, Lewin's license is still suspended for six months, but it's to be followed by an 18-month period of probation with conditions he must meet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What specifically was Lewin's sin? The Skokie resident was something of a geriatric babe hound at the courthouse library who possessed a ribald sense of humor out of place in professional situations. Further, even after warnings, he continued his rhetorical byplay. During a plea-bargaining session, he asked a female prosecutor if "flirting" or "begging" would "be more effective." He complimented a courthouse worker, telling her she had a "nice dress, but it would be better if it was off." He asked female courthouse employees out, gave them candy and discussed his personal life with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He told one group that he had met a very pretty female law student that "if I was 55 years younger" he would have asked out. Lewin appeared not to understand why the commission accused him of engaging in unethical, sexually harassing behavior. He explained that he was simply being friendly and jocular and came from an older generation that viewed that kind of interaction in a more benign light. His explanation enraged the three-lawyer hearing panel. "The fact that (Lewin) is from an older generation does not provide even the slightest excuse for sexually harassing women today, and (Lewin) should know better than to offer that as an excuse," the hearing panel stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judging Lewin's plight in that context, it's easy to see how an inflamed panel recommended the equivalent of ending his legal career. In his appeal, Lewin, this time represented by counsel, argued the proposed penalty was "unduly harsh" and asked that the "until further order" provision be dropped. The panel in a decision endorsed by the Illinois Supreme Court agreed, concluding "the conditions of probation will help to ensure that (Lewin) is willing and able to comply with the ethical rules." It said a "period of probation, rather than a UFO sanction" will better satisfy the disciplinary goals because it will help Lewin "change his behavior while he continues to serve the community." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The conditions include completing the commission's "professionalism seminar," submitting to 25 hours of sexual-harassment training, working under a "mentoring attorney" when his suspension is over "with a primary focus on (Lewin's) communications" and enhancing his familiarity with the "use of technology or obtain help doing so." The commission noted Lewin "practiced law for more than 40 years without any blemishes on his record" and contended that its sanctions will help ensure he does not "engage in misconduct in the future." Podbro-in-chief Joe Rogan marveled Tuesday at Democrats purportedly scrambling to create their own equivalent of his show to counter a perceived right-wing man-o-sphere, saying he was once on their side. Im sure theyre scrambling to try to create their own version of this show, he said on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. This is one thing that keeps coming up: We need our own Joe Rogan. But they had me. I was on their side. The libertarian-leaning Rogan endorsed President-elect Donald Trump the day before this months election, after hosting Trump, his running mate JD Vance, and billionaire MAGA backer Elon Musk for separate sit-down interviews on his wildly popular show in the days leading up to the vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rogan has supported progressives in the past. During the 2020 election cycle, he endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders bid for the Democratic nomination. At the time, Sanders took flack from members of the party establishment for appearing on Rogans show and touting the podcasters endorsement, but he also got Rogan to voice support for progressive policies like universal health care. They had you and they drove you away, said Rogans guest Tuesday, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Rogan also invited Vice President and then-Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to appear on his show, but the two failed to agree on a time or conditions for an interview. Accounts of how the potential appearance fell through have varied, even from inside the Harris campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris campaign senior adviser Stephanie Cutter said on the Pod Save America podcast Tuesday that it was a scheduling issue. She noted that Harris ran a truncated campaign after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, leaving her with unusually limited free time. Rogans show tapes in Austin, Texas, which would have meant potentially sacrificing time in a swing state. But Jennifer Palmieri, a senior adviser to Harris husband, Doug Emhoff, told the Financial Times earlier this month that backlash from progressive staff who didnt want Harris to appear on Rogans show is what ultimately nixed any chance of her appearing. Rogan has frequently spread conspiracy theories, COVID-19 misinformation, and pseudoscience, leading to harsh rebukes from progressive critics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Veteran Democratic Party strategist James Carville accused staffers unwilling to get over that of throwing a hissy fit in a YouTube video Tuesday. Media commentators have indeed fretted since Election Day about the role Trumps appearances on podcasts and online streams with large, young male audiences played in his victory. On Rogans show, Andreessen compared the 2024 election to the 1960 election, which is mythologized as the first national vote where television played a major role. Republican candidate Richard Nixon refused to wear makeup for a televised debate, which made his stubble appear prominently on black-and-white screens and his sweat under the studio lights especially visible. The appearance was said to be highly damaging to his campaign, and he went on to lose to John F. Kennedy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think there is a fully, internet-native way to run these campaigns, Andreessen added, noting the 2024 race, or possibly another election in the near future, could be remembered as the first internet election. Whether Democrats or progressives can replicate or find a way to rival the the dynamics of online conservative mediawith or without a Roganis unclear. Independent journalist Taylor Lorenz, a former Daily Beast reporter who has covered the online world for nearly a decade, wrote earlier this month that, unlike in the liberal ecosystem, conservative media in America is well-funded and well-organized, with billionaire backers and moneyed political committees willing to invest in right-wing media and content creators. Without a network of culturally relevant influential content creators boosting and translating their messaging, the Democratic Party is rapidly losing credibility among younger, predominantly male audiences who have become ardent supporters of influencers that promote a distinctly conservative worldview, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brendan James, a co-host of the American history podcast Blowback and a former producer of the left-wing Chapo Trap House podcast, told Fast Company that right-wing success in streaming and podcasting is a continuation of dominance in radio and TV news going back through Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, which has now made figures like Rogan and Ben Shapiro as influential in the conservative movement as their talk radio forebears. The liberalsthe center-left, if you likehave never matched that in radio, James added. Their natural turf is Hollywood and, generally speaking, the music and culture industries. And thats no small thing (the right remains jealous of it), but its a very different kind of influence than talk radios direct political messaging. OLATHE, Kan. Dozens of Johnson County, Kansas election workers say they havent been paid following the election. A processing error seems to be the cause. A Johnson County woman who worked the polls during the election said she and several others still have not been paid three weeks after Election Day. Lone survivor in triple fatality Warrensburg crash gets special visit from Chris Stapleton We were all doing our civic duty, first time Election Day poll worker Rebecca Horton said. We held up our end of the deal, but they havent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Johnson County Election website said election worker clerks get paid $150 a day and $25 per training session. The county said election workers who work advance voting receive a paycheck prior to Election Day. Thats supposed to include Horton, who started training on Oct. 12. Horton said people poured in the Downtown Olathe Library for advanced voting, where she worked eight days from about 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. But about a month later, Horton said shes not seen a cent and that she knows at least four other poll workers who have not been paid. Shes retired and sympathizes with those on fixed incomes, depending on this money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These people came, worked hard, they were elderly, left late at night and they really got nothing out of it so far, Horton said. Thats not right. Working for you, we asked Johnson County, whats the hold up? Johnson County Assistant Director of Public Affairs and Communications Andy Hyland said the Election Office has processed two rounds of election worker pay for advance voting. However, Hyland said, Due to a processing error in the election worker management system, 42 election workersmost of whom worked during advance votinghave not received any payment this election cycle. Hyland said election workers will be able to pick up their full paycheck at the election office starting Monday, Dec. 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mom says Independence police pointed gun at teen son, mistaking him for chase suspect Election workers who are still owed pay and do not pick up a check at the office by Wednesday, Dec. 4, will receive their checks in the mail, according to Hyland. Horton said she would consider working on the polls again next year. But said she needs to see the results of the pay situation first. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will host Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leads of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), at the Capitol on Dec. 5, he announced Wednesday. Looking forward to hosting @elonmusk and @VivekGRamaswamy next week on Capitol Hill to discuss major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings& revive the principle of limited government, Johnson wrote in a post on social platform X. @realDonaldTrump has made this possible! Trump launched DOGE to slash excess regulations and to cut wasteful expenditures. Musk and Ramaswamy will advise federal departments and agencies on best spending practices as an external partner to the White House Office of Management and Budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Senate has already created a corresponding DOGE Caucus, which Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst (R) is set to lead. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will chair the Houses Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee within the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Its a bad time to be waste, fraud, or abuse in Washington! #MakeEmSqueal, Ernst posted on X after the announcement. It is unclear how much cooperation the effort will get from Democrats, though Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) suggested his party would be interested in working with DOGE to reduce defense spending. When it comes to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse and opening the 5 primes to more competition, there are Democrats on HASC who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE, Khanna posted on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His words received a nod from Musk, who responded, Cool! Some Democrats and other observers, however, have been skeptical of Musk and Ramaswamys goal of cutting federal spending by $2 trillion annually. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26Iowa House Rep. Jon Dunwell visited a number of precincts on Election Day in order to get a feel for what the turnout was like, but a number of witnesses have told Newton News his conversations with poll workers and voters waiting in line may be considered election misconduct. Dunwell vehemently denies this. According to Iowa Code 39A.4, election misconduct primarily covers illegal acts that occur on Election Day, such as loitering, congregating and electioneering within 300 feet of polling places. Electioneering is when a person tries to persuade others to vote for or against a particular political party or candidate. However, Dunwell said he was not wearing or distributing any election materials during his visits to precincts in Newton, Colfax and Kellogg. The Republican could not recall just how many precincts he visited on Election Day, but he insisted all topics of conversation were completely innocent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dunwell said, "I didn't campaign. I had nothing on me. Just shook hands and checked to see what the voter turnout looked like. I asked poll workers questions and talked to a couple people about the weather and the rain. It looked like good turnout. In Kellogg, one city council member knew who I was so I just said hello." Witnesses at the Jasper County Church of Christ, the old Union Hall building, saw Dunwell speaking with two poll workers in the kitchen area, which is primarily only used for volunteers to store their food and have a more secluded area to enjoy a quick meal. The witnesses did not hear what they discussed. But they did remember him smiling and waving as he left. Others in the Kellogg precinct at city hall said they saw Dunwell speaking to people in line waiting to vote. Again, they did not hear the conversation, but they felt like Dunwell, as a candidate appearing on the ballot, should not be talking to prospective voters. Dunwell told Newton News he was not at any one precinct for more than seven minutes at a time. Dunwell said it is no different than what he has done during past elections. Despite being on the ballot, Dunwell did not feel like it was inappropriate for him to visit precincts to ask about the voter turnout. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I've done it every time I've been involved with an election to just check out voter turnout," Dunwell said. "I was not at a place longer than a few minutes." The representative of Iowa House District 38 added that he did not identify himself or introduce himself to voters nor did he talk about elections or ask people who they were voting for. Dunwell went on to say the subjects of his conversations never ventured into anything related to Republicans or Democrats. "I don't think there was anything wrong with it," Dunwell said to Newton News this past week. "I wasn't campaigning. Very disappointed. This is the Democratic Party again. Very disappointed. I get harassed on a regular basis. There was nothing wrong with it. I was just checking polls." DUNWELL SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE HARASSING HIM Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking on the harassment he faces, Dunwell recalled a recent incident where a political sign of his was posted on the city right-of-way outside his office space in downtown Newton. Dunwell was out of town when this occurred. Dunwell guessed someone was trying to return a sign and it was put in the grass. "I have to deal with the same person who wrote a letter to the city telling them I've got a sign in the right-of-way when there are 10 million signs across the city that have been in the right-of-way," Dunwell said. "I didn't put it up. The election's done. Someone was returning a sign. That's the kind of thing I put up with." Dunwell said these types of things happen all the time to him. He suggested these recent complaints raised against him are coming from the local Jasper County Democratic Party. Dunwell said other election experiences have also been used against him, like when he first ran against Wes Breckenridge. "Someone who couldn't read that never voted in their life wanted to vote," Dunwell said. "I went up to the auditor at that time (Dennis Parrott) and I said, 'This person wants to vote. They need some help with their ballot.' And then the auditor himself said to me, 'You can help them.'" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite some resistance from a poll worker, Dunwell listened to Parrott and filled out paperwork to assist the individual with their ballot. Dunwell said he did not tell the person who to vote for and that the individual voted for people he would never have voted for. Dunwell said he read the ballot to them. "Wouldn't it be interesting that next year there was a bill that passed through that said a candidate can't help someone vote? Now, again, I don't have a problem with that," Dunwell said. "I just asked the auditor for some help. Who can help this person read? The auditor said, 'You can go ahead and do it, Jon.'" But Dunwell said the experience led to him being harassed. "I'm annoyed at the continued process I tend to go through with that group of people," he said. "I just think they're not nice people. That's all." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement COUNTY AUDITOR IS AWARE OF DUNWELL'S VISITS Jasper County Auditor Jenna Jennings, who is the commissioner of elections, was notified that a candidate had possibly walked into a precinct, looked around for a bit, talked to some people and then left on Election Day. The complaint was second hand and the individual did not follow up with Jennings to verify. Since then she has been told this happened at multiple locations but that the candidate never asked any questions regarding the election. To her knowledge, the candidate spoke with people he knew outside the scope of the election and did not wear anything that would have identified himself as a candidate. Jennings said she always tells her precinct election workers that there is a fine line on what is OK and what is not OK behavior at polls. If someone is chanting for a specific candidate, raising a scene and wearing clothing promoting a candidate, she said precinct workers have the right to ask that person to leave. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These rules, she added, apply for candidates and non-candidates. She reasoned it might be wise for visitors of precincts to register as a poll watcher. But it is important to note that, according to guidance from the Iowa Secretary of State's Office, candidates and elected officials on the ballot cannot be poll watchers. POLL WATCHERS, POLL WORKERS AND ELECTION TRAINING The Secretary of State's Office defines poll watchers as people who have official permission to be at a polling place or in the room where absentee ballots are being counted on Election Day. Poll watchers are also called observers or challenging committees. Anyone can be a poll watcher unless prohibited by law. Poll watchers can observe, but not interfere with, the elections process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jennings said her volunteer poll workers are trained before every election on the equipment, procedures of the election and how to handle difficult situations. They are told if they feel comfortable taking care of a situation they can, or they can call the auditor's office staff to resolve any possible issues. In escalated incidents, poll workers are to call 911 immediately. The auditor's office works closely with Jasper County Emergency Management Agency leading up to the election on different scenarios that may happen. The auditor's office also held exercises with the sheriff's office and surrounding law enforcement. Extra officers were available on Election Day and had frequently driven by polling locations periodically to make sure things were running smoothly, Jennings said. "I discourage any behavior that voters may question," Jennings said. "I think if you are following the proper procedures, we don't have issues. If you want to check out multiple polling locations and watch the flow, simply fill out the poll watcher form and present it to the poll workers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ELECTION MISCONDUCT IN THE NEWS Behavior of elected officials at polling places was scrutinized this past election cycle when Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand handed out pizzas to people voting early at the Polk County Election Office in Des Moines. Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register reported that an election misconduct complaint had been filed. According to Rood's reporting, a Republican political consultant alleged Sand participated in unethical and potentially criminal behavior. The complaint was submitted to the attorney general, secretary of state, public safety commissioner, Polk County sheriff and Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Although Sand was not up for re-election and did not appear on the general election ballot, Luke Martz of Riverfront Strategy Group suggested the state auditor is a staunch supporter of Democratic congressional district candidate Lanon Baccam, who later lost the race against Republican Zach Nunn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to Election Day, Newton News published an article in which Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson discouraged "any voter place shenanigans" regarding both voter intimidation and electioneering. Nicholson said polls are for people to come and feel safe, do their business and vote and then leave. Election crimes like election misconduct are handled not by county attorneys in Iowa but rather the state attorney general. The Attorney General's Office has exclusive jurisdiction when prosecuting election crimes. County attorneys can still handle riots, unlawful assemblies, failures to disperse and disorderly conduct. JOPLIN, Mo. If youve ever made a Thanksgiving meal, you know that it takes a lot of work and sometimes more than a day to prepare. Thats why a group of volunteers, led by Charlie Brown, set up shop inside the kitchen of the Salvation Army of Jasper Newton County in Joplin. Brown is the general manager of an area Starbucks and is tasked with making the holiday meal that will be served at the Armys Joplin location on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is his 13th year of being part of the generosity. It all kind of started when my mom passed away and I picked it up and met some people here and it just became part of my holiday tradition, its great to meet new people and help out our community and you see a lot of the same people here every year and they recognize you and they really appreciate that we take time out of our day to care for them, said Charlie Brown, Volunteer Chef, Salvation Army of Jasper Newton County. The meal will be served on Thursday, beginning at noon, for anyone in the community who would like to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) As Arkansas ranks worst in food insecurity across the nation, Joses Bar and Grill are hosting their fifth annual turkey drive. Doug Allen, owner of Joses, wanted to combat the issue that his family struggled with during his childhood. I remember going hungry. I remember the embarrassment. I remember not inviting my friends over just cause I was embarrassed that we didnt have any food to feed them, says Allen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where to get a free Thanksgiving meal in NWA, River Valley The restaurant owner remembers how lucky his family was growing up to have neighbors who checked on them and encouraged others to do the same, raising awareness of the impact food insecurity has on your community. Being the 5th annual turkey drive, Joses started with around 525 turkeys to pass out to families who came to their pop-up drive-thru. The event was set from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. but opened early due to traffic building on Highway 412. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. An Allegheny County judge denied bail to a man suspected in a random shooting after listening to the victim during a court hearing on Tuesday. I so wanted to unmute myself and say Tell us who the other people were and then maybe you can get your bail, Bob Long told Channel 11. From Indiana, Long joined by Zoom for todays bond hearing for Rashawn Hall. He still wears a patch, after losing his eye while he was in Pittsburgh for business. Its when police say Hall randomly shot him when they were both getting onto the Parkway West. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man who lost his eye in shooting on Parkway West shares story Im scarred for life. There still isnt any feeling on this side of my face. It causes a lot of problems, Long said. Hall was arrested for the shooting, and investigators tell Channel 11 there was at least one more person in that car. That person has never been identified. During the defense attorneys arguments to release Hall from jail to a home monitoring system she implied that her client was not the shooter, and was just driving the car while someone else fired the shots. Despite an hour of testimony, the judge decided to deny bond because he said there arent any conditions that would ensure the safety of the community meaning Hall will remain behind bars until his trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a decision Long agrees with. Im not trying to be vindictive here. Im not worried about my own safety. Its the people of Pittsburgh, he said. Halls trial is scheduled for March 2025. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW A judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of Hunter Biden, against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov over comments about his legal fees. The defamation suit, which sought $30 million in damages, alleged Tarlov defamed Bobulinski during a March episode of The Five when she said his legal fees were paid by a super PAC supporting President-elect Trump. Tarlov the next day corrected her comments, saying on-air, What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinskis legal fees, and he denies that they were, she added at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the case Tuesday and ordered Bobulinski to pay Tarlovs attorney fees. Fox News is pleased with the courts landmark decision, which not only dismissed Tony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantinos meritless allegations against Jessica Tarlov, but also marks the first federal court decision to award attorneys fees under New Yorks anti-SLAPP statute, the network said in a statement. Bobulinski briefly worked with the younger Biden, though the deal they worked on together was never completed. He was also a key GOP witness as House lawmakers worked to connect the president to his sons business dealings during impeachment proceedings. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Arkansas cannot enforce two recently passed laws that block foreign ownership after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Monday. U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker issued the order after Jones Eagle LLC filed a suit against Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward and Attorney General Tim Griffin. The suit maintained that the two laws, Act 636 of 2023 and Act 174 of 2024 violated the 14th and 5th Amendments because they acted upon perceived Chinese ownership. Arkansas attorney general investigation determined Chinas government does not own Ft. Smith property Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order is in effect for 14 days. According to the filing, Jones Eagle is controlled by Qimin Jimmy Chen, who immigrated to the United States as a child. Chens attorneys assert that he was being threatened with enforcement of acts 636 and 174 for opening a crypto mining site near DeWitt. Baker granted the temporary restraining order, halting the enforcement of the two acts, citing the potential for irreparable harm, including the refusal of the attorney generals office to protect Jones Eagles confidential business records or meet with Jones Eagle. She also cited possible damage to Chens business reputation. Arkansas secretary of agriculture asks attorney general to investigate possible Chinese ownership of Sebastian County business Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baker also pointed out that Jones Eagle will likely succeed in its suit, including the unconstitutionality of the two acts. The judge acknowledges that she has no full record since Ward and Griffin have not yet filed their responses. The order also halts the attorney generals investigation into Jones Eagle. Chinese seed company ordered to divest Arkansas land holdings pays $280,000 fine Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated Arkansas would fight the restraining order. Arkansas has the only law in the country thats successfully kicked a Communist Chinese company off our farmland and a judge just blocked it, the governor posted on social media. Our foreign adversaries have no right to American land. We will appeal this ruling and protect our state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Act 636 became law shortly after the 2023 Chinese spy balloon incident that generated public concern about foreign espionage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) A federal judge has ruled against attorneys for victims of alleged serial rapist Sean Williams on two evidence-related motions, but questions about a Johnson City police officers finances and anothers cell phone records could still resurface. Jury finds Sean Williams guilty on all 3 counts of child porn production Magistrate Judge Jill McCook ruled days after a Nov. 6 motion hearing in the federal civil lawsuit that multiple women (Jane Does) first filed in June 2023. The suit alleges the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) corruptly enabled Williams to engage in serial drugging and raping of women in his downtown apartment over several years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last Wednesday, plaintiffs filed a Third Amended Complaint to the suit that could open the door for a reversal on their denied requests. The City of Johnson City and all individual defendants in the lawsuit have so far denied all of its allegations, even as events surrounding Williams actions and criminal cases have evolved with significant bearing on the Jane Does suit. In the recent motion hearing, plaintiffs attorney Vanessa Baehr-Jones had argued that lawyers be allowed to ask JCPD officer Justin Jenkins about his financial records during a pending deposition. Jenkinss attorney, Keith Grant, responded that because his client had been dismissed as a defendant in August, questions about his financial transactions wouldnt be relevant to the case and would only be intended to harass and annoy him. In her opinion about the Jenkins deposition, McCook wrote that since Jenkins isnt currently a defendant, questions about his finances were not relevant at this time. In the case of David Hiltons cell phone records, McCook ruled on Nov. 20 that plaintiffs couldnt have call logs for seven separate date ranges they claim are important junctures in the Williams case between June 2020 and March 2024. Baehr-Jones had argued that if multiple officers were conspiring to protect Williams, calls and messages could yield some evidence of that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorneys for the City of Johnson City said the request was too broad. Even though Baehr-Jones argued that access to all numbers in the call logs was important because of the possibility that some alleged conspirators could have used burner phones, McCook wrote that they didnt submit any such evidence. She encouraged attorneys on both sides to work together and agree on a narrower request. Plaintiffs may still have path to probe financials Whether questions about Jenkinss finances and desired access to officer David Hiltons personal cell phone will eventually be allowed hinges on the plaintiffs recently filed amended complaint. It seeks to reinsert Jenkins as a defendant and includes allegations absent in the previous version that he benefited financially from protecting Williams and engaged in money laundering. OUR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE SEAN WILLIAMS CASE McCook wrote that if Judge Travis McDonough, who is over the case, allows an amended complaint with Jenkins as a defendant she may revisit this decision upon an appropriate motion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baehr-Jones and other plaintiffs attorneys have long argued that much of the evidence key to their case is circumstantial, particularly since actors in a criminal conspiracy are highly unlikely to testify truthfully in depositions. Theyve said that makes it important that judges allow them broad latitude in issuing subpoenas as they work to piece together threads which they argue already support their corruption claims. Those claims center around alleged financial benefits that the recent amendment claims went specifically to Jenkins and another investigator, Toma Sparks as Sean Williams allegedly perpetrated his crimes with impunity despite multiple sexual assault complaints against him. Corey Shipley is a former federal prosecutor who now practices mostly civil law. He told News Channel 11 that judges changing their minds about whether to allow certain evidence or deposition testimony can actually help protect the process in civil cases. The discovery process is always a fluid process, Shipley said. What may be considered not allowable at the beginning of a lawsuit can always change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said Rule 26 of the rules of federal procedure, regarding disclosures and discovery, is designed that way. Shipley also said that circumstantial evidence is supposed to be given the same weight by jurors as direct evidence. The judge now making these rulings on whether or not certain people can be deposed, whether or not certain people will continue on as defendants tells me that the court is trying to navigate and narrowly tailor this litigation into getting it ready for trial, Shipley said. Because there comes a point in any litigation the court will say enough is enough. You all have been posturing for x number of days, x number of years, heres my decision. We have to try this case sooner or later.' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Jane Does suit was filed less than two months after Williams was arrested in Cullowhee, N.C. on April 29, 2023. That arrest came almost two years after Johnson City officers failed in their attempt to serve a federal warrant on him for being a felon in possession of ammunition. A separate federal lawsuit by former assistant U.S. attorney Kat Dahl, filed in June 2022, claims police had dismissed her efforts beginning in November 2020 to get JCPD to more aggressively investigate Williams. Dahl, brought in on the ammunition case after a woman had fallen from Williams fifth-floor window (she survived) on Sept. 19, 2020, quickly learned of the sexual assault allegations. She also grew concerned that items found in Williams apartment during a search after the fall pointed to potential criminal sexual activity, including against children. Dahl alleges JCPD terminated her role in retaliation for her efforts. JCPD never initiated any sexual assault charges against Williams nor, despite Dahls urging, got a follow-on search warrant to look at computers and hard drives that had been seized. Williams had other hard drives and other digital devices when Western Carolina University police arrested him. As they searched those for evidence of drug transactions, members of that department came upon files showing Williams sexually assaulting women and children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the allegations in the new Jane Does complaint is that JCPD purposefully avoided searching the drives in Johnson City, which they still possessed until they were given to the FBI last summer, as part of the alleged conspiracy. McCooks ruling on the Jenkins question came Nov. 18, just four days after a jury quickly convicted Williams, 53, of sexually exploiting three children on separate dates for the purposes of producing child pornography. Williams could be sentenced to up to 90 years total on those counts. He also faces multiple state child rape charges based on the same incidents, and local authorities have indicated they will likely bring rape charges in at least some of 60-plus alleged sexual assaults of women. The evidence of those alleged crimes is purported to be on the digital files seized in North Carolina, and video of Williams sexually assaulting two different unconscious women mothers of the child victims was played for jurors as part of Williams recent federal trial. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. CHICAGO A Cook County judge who made a controversial decision to release a man on electronic monitoring weeks before he killed his estranged wife is not hearing domestic violence cases due to threats he has received, according to a statement from the chief judges office. Judge Thomas Nowinski on Oct. 9 denied a Cook County prosecutors petition to detain Constantin Beldie, 57, on accusations that he threw her to the ground and held her in his car, finding that the state didnt meet its burden under the law for Beldie to be held in jail. Six weeks later, Beldie killed Lacramioara Beldie, 54, before he was found dead, according to police, setting off an outcry from advocates against domestic violence who called for Nowinski to be reassigned. In a lengthy statement released by Chief Judge Tim Evans Tuesday evening, Evans said the death revealed gaps in policies and procedures the office is seeking to address to better protect victims of domestic violence. He also said he is reaching out to incoming States Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke to strengthen collaboration between the two offices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My office is currently investigating to determine whether any employee failed to follow policies and procedures in this case, the statement said. We pledge to provide additional training to all judges who hear domestic violence cases and petitions for orders of protection, including the Pretrial Division judges who hear these cases on weekends. Evans, though, in the statement, indirectly pointed to the prosecutors on the case, and said that a preliminary examination of this case indicate the court was provided incomplete information. A court transcript of the Oct. 9 proceeding showed that Nowinski criticized the case work, calling it a little sloppy. He wrote that judges make difficult decisions with the best information they have. While the higher courts have authority to review those decisions, interdivisional judicial transfers and assignments are never a result of a judges independent decision-making, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But because of anonymous threats, Evans said, Nowinski is not hearing cases involving domestic violence or orders of protection. Nowinski also faced sharp criticism because he denied an emergency protective order for the mother of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins against Crosetti Brand, who is accused of stabbing Jayden to death in an attack on his mother. Evans said his office is working to strengthen electronic monitoring protocols, including for technology that allows victims who have sought an order of protection to install software on their phone. ____ A federal judge has declined to postpone Rudy Giulianis court proceedings over his assets handover to the former Georgia election workers he defamed, rejecting the disgraced lawyers request for a delay so that he could attend Donald Trumps inauguration as president. At a testy hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday, NBC News reported, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman said Giulianis social calendar was not an adequate reason to postpone the Jan. 16 trial, during which Giuliani is set to challenge Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss claims to some of his assets. Giulianis lawyer, Joseph M. Cammarata, had argued that Giuliani consults regularly with the president-elect and has a political right to be at Trumps inaugural events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the hearing, an irate Giuliani erupted at the judge, claiming he could not pay his bills because his assets are tied up due to Moss and Freemans efforts to collect on the nearly $150 million defamation judgment against him. The implications you are making against me are wrong, Giuliani told Liman, who had said that Giuliani was not complying with court orders to surrender his assets. I have no car, no credit card, no cash, everything I have is tied up. They have put stop orders on my business accounts, and I cant pay my bills. The former New York City mayor has been embroiled in a battle with Freeman and Moss over his assets as part of the defamation judgment that the mother and daughter had won against him late last year. Giuliani has dragged his feet on handing over his property to the women provoking the ire of Liman, who earlier this month ridiculed Giulianis claim that he did not know where his assets were.Giuliani has since turned over some of his belongings, including a 1980 Mercedes-Benz but not its title. The womens attorneys also have said that even though they have received access to his New York City apartment, Giuliani still has not delivered the keys, stock, or proprietary lease, according to a court filing. Giulianis Manhattan apartment is estimated to be worth more than $5 million. Giulianis trial, which is scheduled to take place four days before Trumps inauguration, will center on whether he must surrender his condo in Palm Beach, Florida, and his four World Series rings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Giuliani is appealing both the asset turnover order and the defamation verdict itself. Meanwhile, he has continued to falsely accuse Freeman and Moss of tampering with ballots during the 2020 election, prompting them to seek further penalties. (Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman has said the womens request was an effort to deprive Giuliani of his right to free speech.)Outside the courtroom after Tuesdays hearing, Giuliani again lashed out at Liman, claiming that his background is serious left-wing Democrat even while acknowledging that the left of left of left judge had been appointed by Trump. Have you figured out what side hes on? Are you too dumb to see what side hes on? Giuliani told reporters. He also reiterated that he does not regret defaming Freeman and Moss. I do not regret it for a minute, he said. I regret the persecution that Ive been put through. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com A judge in Delaware has dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News that was brought by an Arizona man at the center of a conspiracy theory about what sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Ray Epps, a former U.S. Marine, sued Fox last year alleging the network knowingly promoted what his attorneys said were destructive conspiracy theories about his involvement in the riot. Epps was sentenced earlier to a year of probation for his role in insurrection, after admitting to engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds after storming the Capitol. Epps had been at the center of a conspiracy theory that he was a federal agent and egged on the violence to paint supporters of former President Trump in a negative light. The theory had been promoted by a number of right-wing media figures in the months that followed the attack, including former Fox host Tucker Carlson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eppss case was dismissed a day after Fox notched another win in court when a judge in New York dropped a defamation case against host Jessica Tarlov brought by Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of President Bidens son Hunter Biden. Fox in a statement Wednesday celebrated the two decisions and a third earlier this summer that it successfully fought against Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the short-lived Department of Homeland Security disinformation board. Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment, the network said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. CHICAGO Six years ago, Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis sat in House Speaker Michael Madigans office to break the news that he would not be seeking re-election to the City Council. But dont worry, Solis told Madigan, he still had a few months left in office, and there were major new real estate developments going up in his ward, and that would mean plenty of tax-appeal business for the speakers private law firm. Theres a couple more in the South Loop, and theres some in the, in the West Loop. So, I figure I can still help you a lot, Solis said in the Nov. 23, 2018, conversation, which was secretly recorded as part of Solis cooperation with the FBI. Im committed for that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Madigan replied enthusiastically, OK, thank you, before moving almost immediately to something Solis had been wanting. Do, do you want to go forward now on one of those state appointments? Madigan asked. Prosecutors allege that the pivotal conversation, played Wednesday for the jury in Madigans corruption trial, is proof of a corrupt quid-pro-quo scheme in which Solis introduced the powerful Democratic speaker to developers in his ward in exchange for Madigans help securing him a six-figure state board appointment. The speaker appeared relaxed and jolly during the meeting, which took place three weeks after the 2018 general election in which Madigans bitter rival, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, had been vanquished by Democrat JB Pritzker. In the background in Madigans office was a life-size punching bag printed with Rauners face. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before getting down to business, the two exchanged some reaction to the election, including Jesus Chuy Garcias ascension to the U.S. House. I like Chuy, Madigan said. But a progressive? prompting them both to laugh. What Madigan did not know was that Solis had been cooperating with the FBI for more than two years and was recording the meeting with a hidden camera. Six days later, agents would raid the City Hall office suite of their Democratic colleague, then-Ald. Edward M. Burke. The video was played for jurors Wednesday toward the end of Solis direct examination, which in total lasted about 16 hours over four days of Madigans corruption trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Solis is a crucial prosecution witness, and his cross-examination, slated to begin Monday after an extended break for Thanksgiving, is expected to be grueling. The trial, which began Oct. 8, is expected to last until mid-January. Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces a wide array of 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. For months before that November 2018 meeting, Solis had promised to connect Madigan with real estate developers in his 25th Ward who could give business to Madigans private tax law firm. At the direction of the FBI, Solis also asked Madigan if he could get Solis appointed to a lucrative seat on a state board or commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Madigan told Solis to get him his resume. I wanted to have a meeting with Pritzker the week after next, Madigan said. (I want to) let Pritzker know whats coming, doesnt have to be in writing, and Ill monitor what goes on with the boards and commissions. Solis arranged to have his resume, along with his daughters, sent to Madigan a couple of weeks later. Then, in January 2019, Solis cover was blown. Thanks to a slip-up in the clerks office at the Dirksen U.S Courthouse, a 120-page FBI search warrant affidavit detailing Solis own misdeeds was left unsealed and made public, leading to Solis being outed as a mole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Did you ever hear from Madigan again? asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur. No, Solis said. Solis has testified to a dizzying number of alleged schemes involving Madigan, all of which overlapped during his time as a cooperator. Madigan allegedly hoped to get legal business from a group of developers who would need a plot of land in Chinatown transferred from the state to the city, and tasked McClain with trying to get the supporting legislation through. He requested Solis help getting his son Andrew a job interview; he asked Solis for a connection to developers of West Loop real estate projects; and he apparently took steps to help Solis get a seat on a state board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of that, prosecutors allege, is part of a long-running scheme of corruption in which Madigan used his own power to enrich himself and his allies. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, have framed it as perfectly legal political favor-trading. Solis credibility is sure to be under attack as soon as cross-examination begins Monday. The head of the powerful Zoning Committee began cooperating in 2016 only after FBI agents confronted him with evidence theyd gathered of his own extensive misdeeds. And in exchange for his lengthy and singular level of cooperation, prosecutors struck an equally unprecedented deal, in which Solis will avoid having a conviction on his record and can continue to draw his city pension. Recordings played Wednesday revealed just how strange Solis position was in 2018. He was a key cooperator in investigations against both Madigan and Burke, both of whom were Democratic powerhouses with side jobs as property tax attorneys, competing at times over the same big-time developers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burke, as detailed in his corruption trial last year, was eager to get business from the New York-based group behind the renovation of the massive Old Post Office project in Solis ward. Lead developer Harry Skydell ended up promising Burke business on some of his other local properties instead, the evidence showed. In October 2018, Madigan called Solis and said he had read about Skydells company buying a building at 1 S. Wacker Drive. That may be an opportunity for me, Madigan told Solis in a recording played for jurors. All right, I can call him right away, Solis said. Solis reached Skydell a few days later, and told him Madigan had noticed he made a bid for the property on Wacker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yes, thats the property that Burke has, Skydell said. Oh! Solis said, and laughed out loud. Regardless, when Solis spoke to Madigan later that month, he said Skydell was eager to give Madigan the tax business. Ive got good news, he told Madigan in a meeting secretly recorded on video. I talked to Harry, hes on board, hes gonna give you that project. That was not true, Solis testified Wednesday, but the government had directed him to say it. And right after giving Madigan the good news, Solis asked about the state board seat. Yeah, Ive got it in my notes, Im gonna sit down with Pritzker, Madigan said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Excellent, excellent, Solis said. The board seat was another fiction, Solis has previously testified. He was not actually interested in a position on a state commission, but his government contacts directed him to ask Madigan for that favor to see how he would respond. Solis was outed as a cooperator before Madigan could make any successful moves to get him appointed. Burke, the citys longest-serving alderman and powerful chairman of the Finance Committee, was convicted last year and is serving a two-year prison term. The jury Wednesday also heard the end game in the saga surrounding the transfer of a Chinatown parking lot in order for developers to proceed with a hotel project on the site. Solis has testified about efforts that Madigan orchestrated, mainly through McClain, to pass legislation in 2018 that would transfer the triangular-shaped parcel from the Illinois Department of Transportation to city control. In exchange, Madigan hoped to win business for his law firm from the developers, Solis has said. But the thorny political issues surrounding the transfer proved too much for even Madigan to overcome in part because Rauner was likely to oppose it if Madigans fingerprints were on it. In a face-to-face meeting on Oct. 26, 2018, Solis confirmed with Madigan that they were going to push the Chinatown amendment in the upcoming veto session but warned the speaker that the local state representative, Democrat Theresa Mah, had taken a neutral position. A week later, Madigan and McClain talked about a potential sponsor for the bill, with the speaker recommending Ed Burkes brother, then-Democratic state Rep. Dan Burke. That day, McClain left Dan Burke a voicemail saying they wanted him to pick up the bill as a favor to Solis. But more problems quickly arose. On Nov. 21, 2018, McClain left a voicemail for Solis saying a group of Chinese business people had circulated petitions opposing the deal and taken the 3,000 signatures they gathered to then-Secretary of State Jesse White, who has made the decision to be with the Chinese people and against the development. Im just letting you know weve got all of a sudden a huge hurdle I didnt expect from the Chinese community, McClain said on the voicemail, which was played in court. Two days later, Madigan called McClain and told him the Chinatown deal was not gonna go forward. Yeah, I kind of figured that, McClain said. I left a message for Solis, but he hasnt called me back. Yeah. He was here today to, to tell me, Madigan said, asking later, Why would they be against (it)? McClain said these Chinese business guys dont want the competition. I know its hard to believe, but at the end of the day, its probably about money, McClain said, sharing a chuckle with the speaker. ____ Justin Trudeau was seen dancing at a Taylor Swift conference while riots were breaking out in Montreal - @sahmd9/tiktok Montreal, Canadas second-largest city, experienced horrific rioting last week. Violent protestors, including pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas and anti-Nato activists, smashed windows, clashed with police officers, and set vehicles ablaze, while there were reports of heinous anti-Semitic incidents. The mayhem went on for several hours, and led to the arrest of three people. Canada has experienced some large-scale protests in the past, including during the 3rd Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001 and just before the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto. Those demonstrations were largely linked to the anti-capitalist and anti-globalisation movements. Now, the situation is far more sinister. Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiment created scenes in Montreal reminiscent of what has recently occurred in major European cities such as Amsterdam. What was Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeaus immediate reaction? Nothing. He apparently had (ahem) a very important social engagement that evening: a prized ticket to the Taylor Swift concert in Toronto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No, Im not joking about this. Photos and videos were posted on social media that showed Trudeau singing, dancing and trading friendship bracelets. He seemed to be surrounded by mostly teenage girls at the concert and also appeared to be acting like one. X/@laurenilissa13 Putting aside the PMs lousy taste in music, his initial non-reaction to the violence on Montreals streets was disgraceful. It was the sort of hateful and violent behaviour that a leader should immediately respond to and condemn. Not because he or she can specifically do anything in that moment, but because its the right thing to do. (He finally got around to issuing a statement on November 23, a day after the riot). Justin Trudeau wore friendship bracelets at the concert - @sarahelizabth13/x Moreover, Trudeau has represented the Montreal-based riding of Papineau since 2008. It was therefore incumbent on him to say something anything about the lawlessness and hatred that occurred in his own political backyard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A formal statement could have been released while Taylor Swift was performing. A brief interview could have been arranged to provide his instant reaction. He could even have left the Toronto concert at any time due to the gravity of the situation in Montreal or not attended to begin with. But the situation is made worse by Trudeaus approach towards tackling the dangerous rise in anti-Semitism in Canada more generally. At some points, it has veered shockingly close to appeasement. Pro-Palestinian protestors were seen marching through Montreal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indeed, some noticeable cracks in the Liberal governments relationship with Jews and Israel have appeared over the years. The absence of any specific mention of Jews in the plaque for Ottawas National Holocaust Memorial in October 2017. Largely abandoning Canadas support for Israel at the United Nations since 2019. Honouring a Nazi in parliament in September 2023. Backing a non-binding UN resolution in December 2023 that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, in effect suggesting that Israel should give up its fight to dismantle Hamas and rescue the hostages. Condemning anti-Semitic attacks against Jewish homes, schools and businesses on occasion, but doing next to nothing to stop this racist behaviour from festering and spreading. In the most recent example, Trudeau suggested that Canada would comply with the International Criminal Courts arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. We are one of the founding members of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, Trudeau told reporters on November 21. As Canadians, we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international court. Sorry, prime minister, but no country is obliged to follow without question the diktats of a foreign court accused of heinous anti-Israel bias. President Joe Biden flat-out rejected abiding by these warrants for his remaining time in office. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has close political ties to Donald Trump, issued a stern warning to any ally that chooses to enforce them: the US will crush your economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Justin Trudeau should take a cue from Canadas closest friend, ally and trading partner. Put down your dancing shoes, grow a pair and do something to stop the spread of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments in our country. Michael Taube, a columnist for the National Post, Troy Media and Loonie Politics, was a speechwriter for former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper 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. Escambia Boys Base, a facility of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. (Via DJJ) This is the second of a two-part series. Read part one here. A new Department of Juvenile Justice education program run through the Florida Virtual School is projected to cost significantly more than budgeted, in part because officials underestimated the number of students requiring special education accommodations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The situation arose from the states reorganization of education programs for juvenile offenders last year. SB 7014 created the Florida Scholars Academy to administer mostly online instruction to each of the 38 residential centers housing students for the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Insufficient staffing and unclear lines of responsibility between educational and custodial staff, advocates say, have led to misuse of state-issued computers by students to surf social media and pornography websites, as detailed in DJJ records. The academy, operated by Florida Virtual School (FLVS) under the direction of Superintendent Julian Cazanas Jr., delivers instruction virtually and in person in classrooms year-round within the facilities. Students may study toward a high school diploma or its equivalent, a college or university degree, or to earn industry-recognized credentials of value. According to FLVS, the school expects to spend about $30.4 million this fiscal year, adding nearly $7 million on top of its budget, with much of the increase going toward salaries. FLVS reported it ran about $2 million under its $9.7 million budget during its first fiscal year ending in June. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dividing the projected program costs of about $30.4 million by the number of students (1,860 as of September), the program could end up spending about $16,350 per student in the current fiscal year, if it secures the funding to match its expected need. Average total per pupil spending for traditional Florida public school students in 2023 was $10,646, with the state providing about $8,620 per student and the rest coming from federal aid. However, those students do not receive instruction year-round and typically require fewer special educational services. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Florida Department of Juvenile Justice HQ in Tallahassee. (Photo by Michael Moline/Florida Phoenix) No-bid contract DJJ offered potential vendors a chance to inquire about the program in May 2023 and eight responded. FLVS was not one of them. However, the department never formally solicited bids and ultimately gave the assignment to FLVS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida Virtual previously operated only online, but the partnership charted a new path. Florida Virtual School was contacted by the Department of Juvenile Justice due to our proven track record of delivering high-quality virtual instruction and curriculum to students across the state for 27 years, FLVS said in an email to the Phoenix. The DJJ awarded FLVS a three-year contract to purchase laptops and hire nearly 200 employees. The contract, for now, is worth about $56 million total, including $9.7 million to ramp up the system before it launched in July and $23.4 million for each of the first two years of instruction. In September, the joint Legislative Budget Committee, which holds authority to approve deviations from the formal state budget, authorized DJJ to spend $3.13 million from federal grants to further enhance the Florida Scholars Academy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Funding the $7 million still needed as of November will be up to teamwork from the DJJ and Florida Virtual. Our current projections are $30.4 million, and we are working closely with the DJJ to align the budget with additional funding streams, which includes federal and state grants, to ensure that we have the resources necessary to provide students with an outstanding education, FLVS said in an email to the Phoenix. The department requested federal grant money for its 2025-2026 budget too, as well as an additional $4 million, which includes $400,000 for internet/network services specific to the education program operated by the FSA. The school has now identified additional technology services and how to better support students with special education accommodations, administrators told DJJ after its first quarter of delivering instruction to students. Paradigm shift As we have come up and operationalized and understood what is the correct level of FLVS full-time staff versus potentially what we had set out. Contracted services, were going to see a little bit of that paradigm shift as we go through and set those up. Weve also identified specifically some services that were going to need in the IT world, as well as [students with special education accommodations] and how we will actually support those, FLVS representative Tiffany Kinzer told Scholars Academy trustees during their November meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An FLVS spokesperson told the Phoenix by email that the school realized after starting operations that the number of students requiring education accommodations was bigger than originally forecast, which requires more resources. Since the launch, FLVS said, it has been able to identify that about 60% of the approximately 1,900 students who require education accommodations. Before FLVS took over, the number reported to the school was 20% of students, they said. According to FLVS, it employed five certified exceptional student education specialists to serve the Florida Scholars Academy statewide as of October. We are working closely with the DJJ to align the budget with additional funding streams, which includes federal and state grants, to ensure that we have the resources necessary to provide students with an outstanding education, FLVS told the Phoenix. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The DJJ issued the following statement Tuesday: The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is proud to offer educational opportunities for thousands of students in our care through the Florida Scholars Academy. We are unwavering in our commitment to improving the future of each child and dedicated to providing the best possible education for these students. By partnering with Florida Virtual School, a statewide public school district, we can collaborate with proven leaders in education while ensuring accountability through our robust oversight and monitoring process. As a new statewide school system, we have invested funds to upgrade outdated infrastructure in our facilities, to enable access to fiber-optic internet. It is important to note that funding from last years budget is available to help offset these expenses. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Laptop damage One added expense has involved damaged computers. Alyssa Richardson, a behavioral analyst contracted to work in DJJ residential facilities, told the Phoenix that she knows a student who has broken 10 laptops since the July launch of FSA and has witnessed students throwing computers to avoid schoolwork. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These kids are being given a laptop, its being broken, its being destroyed, and Florida Virtual is saying, Well, because thats how were educating them, were just gonna give them another one, Richardson said. Now, it could take months before they get [replacements]. So, one, now we have a kid sitting doing no education, having access to nothing. And two, I mean, how much does [10] laptops, one kid, in one facility cost? This is taxpayer money. When students lost laptop privileges, according to some DJJ incident reports, they received paper and pencil assignments. Lack of oversight of education would he unsettling in any setting, but especially when academic progress is factored into discipline and sentencing. I noticed that as these youth were going up to talk to their [juvenile probation officers] and judges for release dates and transition days, they were getting in trouble for failing grades or refusal for having bad behaviors, horseplay, messing around with each other instead of doing schoolwork, Richardson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Richardson said her time working in Youth Opportunities Investments facilities, a nonprofit organization housing DJJ youth, came to an end after she told a parent that their child was not receiving his individualized education plan. (She continues to work within the system for other contractors, she said.) When asked how many technology devices the program has purchased to operate FSA, FLVS told the Phoenix in an email that it has implemented numerous technology devices and security measures to ensure our network remains secure. The school did not say how many devices have been purchased for or destroyed by students, citing the confidential nature of cybersecurity. According to the current year DJJ budget, FLVS was allocated about $21,000 for equipment items costing less than $5,000 each, which includes the purchase of laptops. The departments first quarter financial report shows FLVS had spent $54,254 more than the annual allocation for equipment. The school forecasts that in the second quarter it will spend $405,000 in that category. The department has gone over budget in the first quarter in two other categories: contract staff including consultants, and training. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an email, FLVS said those over-budget items were a result of expenditures that were meant to be made during the previous fiscal year but delayed until July, during the current fiscal year. DJJ was allocated $153,800 for the year for contracted staff/services/consultants, and in the first quarter spent $257,477 on that category. The school was allocated $75,275 for trainings/seminars for the year and, through the first quarter, has spent $78,096. Leadership The five-person Floride Scholars Academy Board of Trustees includes Hall and two lobbyists, Chris Moya and Nathan Hoffman; Dan McGrew of TSG Advisors, which helps organizations navigate increasingly complex governmental waters or seek to improve their own outcomes; and former State Board of Education Chair Marva Johnson, who now works for Charter Communications. Cazanas started as superintendent of Florida Scholars Academy after serving as an administrator at a charter school and FLVS. The bulk of his career, though, he spent at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, overlapping with Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.s time there as a teacher and administrator. In 2005, Cazanas was reprimanded for gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude after he grabbed [a student] by the shirt and struck him in the face without permission and against [students] will at Miami Lakes Middle School in 2002, according to state documents. Cazanas neither admits nor denies, but elects not to contest the allegations set forth, according to a settlement with the department and former Education Commissioner Jim Horne of alleged violations of the states professional code of conduct and failure to protect a student from harm. FLVS told Florida Phoenix that Cazanas has passed a level 2 background check in the last five years, a requirement to work in DJJ residential facilities. The checks include scanning of federal and state records. Hall was senior chancellor of the Florida Department of Education from 2019 to 2021 before DeSantis appointed him as DJJ secretary. Hall did not respond to questions about solicitation of bids for the contract and what has driven the program over budget. Let us know what you think... The bumbling amateurishness that so defined Kamala Harriss failed presidential campaign appears to have already seeped into her next political act. After laying low Obama-like in Hawaii, the vice-president re-emerged yesterday in a baffling video released on the Democrats X account, apparently part of a misguided attempt to boost the morale of her devastated fan base. Rather than looking refreshed from her holiday, Harris looked worn-out and she sounded it, too. In her first public appearance since her concession speech on Nov 6, Harris seemed bleary-eyed and out of focus. She also resorted to the simplistic and confusing homilies made (in)famous on the campaign trail, declaring dont you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire. Harris is already being touted for a possible run for governor of California in 2026. If so, she desperately needs to work on her delivery. In yesterdays video, it was so lacking in coherence or even rationale that some viewers questioned whether she was even sober. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At this point, does it even matter? Sober-thinking is clearly greatly needed among the Democratic establishment right now, which still seems to believe that it was the campaign itself and not the partys flawed candidate that led to Donald Trumps triumph. During an appearance on the Pod Save America podcast, broadcast yesterday, former Harris staffers Jen OMalley Dillon, David Plouffe, Quentin Fulks, and Stephanie Cutter deployed Harris-levels of word (if not thinking) salad to exonerate her from being the architecture of her own political demise. The truth is, we really thought this was really a very close race, OMalley Dillon, the Harris campaign chairman explained, as if Harris and her team were the victims of faulty polling rather than a bad candidate. Plouffe went on to complain that Trumps approval ratings were frustratingly high as if they hadnt realised how Trumps popularity might work against Harris when she ousted Joe Biden from the candidacy. If this sounds silly and sophomoric thats because it is. Harris didnt lose because the polls betrayed her or because her challenger was more likeable. She lost because she never really made a clear case to the American people for voting for her beyond her race and gender or not wanting Trump back in the White House. The inability of her handlers to recognise this weeks after the election reflects the myopia and delusional thinking that cost Harris the presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Democrats do not need to focus on what made Trump so popular they need to drill down on what made Harris so unpopular. Her failed border policy. Her far-Left stances on gender ideology. Her unwillingness to directly engage with the press including a possibly campaign-killing decision not to appear (like Trump) on the Joe Rogan podcast. Mostly, the Democrats need to finally accept that most voters even those committed to the identity battles the Left holds dear are far more interested in quality education, affordable groceries, and an end to Americas drug crisis. Even the hardest-core progressives cannot focus on challenging abortion restrictions if theyre too busy clipping coupons to afford milk. Such demands become that much harder when that milk is locked inside market coolers to prevent it from being shoplifted by fentanyl addicts. Americans dont need Kamala Harris to help them feel better about her defeat. They need to feel better about the root causes of that loss including the state of the economy. Trump managed to tap into these feelings and is running with them all the way to the Oval Office. For Democrats to stand a chance of booting Republicans from the White House in 2028, they need to stop telling Americans how to feel and ask them why they feel the way they do. David Christopher Kaufman is a columnist for the New York Post 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. Kamala Harris has reemerged following her election defeat to Donald Trump to deliver a message of hope to her supporters. Harris, who has been lying low since she lost the race for the White House earlier this month, shared a defiant address on Tuesday night where she told her supporters: Dont let anyone take your power. You have the same power that you did before November 5. And you have the same purpose that you did, Harris said in the 30-second clip shared on the Democratic partys X account. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So dont ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you. Harris has been in Hawaii with her family and senior aides following the election, as she and her husband Doug Emhoff prepare to vacate the Naval Observatory in Washington DC the official residence of the vice president. Harris told her supporters they have the same power as they did before November 5 (@TheDemocrats/X) As for her next move, Harris reportedly told aides that she wants to keep her options open. Sources close to the Harris family told Politico that the vice president has vowed to stay in the fight and may even run for governor of California in 2026. The sources said Harris would be pondering her path forward over the coming holiday season, but has told allies and advisers she doesnt want to rule anything out, including the possibility of running for president again in 2028. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She doesnt have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months, one former campaign aide told the outlet. 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. While Harris has been avoiding the spotlight, some of her top campaign staffers have broken cover for the first time to share what they believe went wrong. Campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon and senior campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter told the Pod Save America podcast that they believe Harris failed to tap into a certain culture where Trump succeeded. Harris campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon appeared on the Pod Save America podcast to dissect the election loss (Pod Save America/Crooked) Its my understanding that you guys wanted to do a bunch of the larger more popular, not specifically political, podcasts. Can you talk a little about why that may not have happened? host Dan Pfieffer asked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He gave the example of Hot Ones, in which A-list celebrities answer questions while eating spicy chicken wings. I think if I remember correctly on Hot Ones that they didnt want to delve into politics, Cutter replied. And thats across the board, Dillon chimed in. I do think we had a lot of support in a number of, you know, athletes and others that were just not super interested in getting their brand caught up in the politics of this campaign and I dont think [Trump] had the same problem. Dillon conceded that Trump was able to tap into some cultural elements in ways the Harris campaign could not, hinting at the president-elects three-hour appearance on Joe Rogans podcast. I think that that had an impact on us that there were places that we knew we had support that we desperately wanted to go and have conversation that we thought would be interesting and relevant and fun, and we couldnt get there, she said. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A Jackson County judge has sentenced a Kansas City, Missouri man for the 2022 shooting death of 22-year-old Shayla Curts and her unborn child. Jackson County Judge Sarah A. Castle on Tuesday sentenced 35-year-old Emmett C. Williams to 40 years in prison. Williams pleaded guilty back in June to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action. The judge sentenced Williams to 25 years on the murder convictions and 15 years on the armed criminal action convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to court documents, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, Kansas City police officers responded to a shooting at a house near E. 49th Street and Bellefontaine Avenue. Andrew Lester fit for trial following mental health evaluation When officers arrived at the scene, they located the victim suffering from a bullet wound to the head. She was confirmed dead at the scene. Court documents say one witness told detectives Williams came to his home to hang out in an upstairs bedroom. Curts went down stairs to the living room. A few minutes later the witness said Williams said he was leaving, and about a minute later there was the sound of a gunshot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The witness said he went downstairs, saw the deceased victim and the front door open. He then saw somebody running north on Bellefontaine, according to court documents. The witness told detectives there was never an altercation between the suspect or victim that night. Court documents say Williams called 911 early Wednesday morning to turn himself in. He told detectives the victim was always antagonizing him, and that he is typically unaffected by them, court documents say. Williams said he recently suffered the loss of multiple family members and had not been managing those emotions well. He told detectives that mental health issues and illegal drug use caused him to snap. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android This time, she was on the living room couch as he was walking past her when he made the decision to pull a gray, 9mm Jimenez firearm and shoot her. Police located the weapon later in a wooded area. Family members said Williams and Shayla Curts were not friends. They said the suspect made several advances toward her, which she rejected. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Gov. Laura Kelly speaks to reporters on Nov. 25, 2024, at her residence. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is awarding clemency at a higher rate than her predecessors, most recently pardoning two men convicted of drug crimes who show strong signs of rehabilitation and have already served their time in prison. Kelly granted pardons Friday to Richard McMichael and Anthony Mitchell, whose crimes are separated by more than a decade. Their applications were evaluated based on a number of factors, including their offenses, criminal histories and time spent in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the largest factors taken into consideration is a persons commitment to rehabilitation, making amends, and positively contributing to society, Kelly said in a news release. Granting these pardons will give a second chance to two individuals who have taken responsibility for their actions and are working to move on with their lives. Before Kellys administration, granting clemency was rare. Earlier in November, Kelly granted clemency to six men and a woman, pardoning five of them and commuting the sentences of two. In 2021, she pardoned three and commuted sentences for five out of 200 applications. In November alone, she has issued the same number of pardons as her four predecessors combined during their gubernatorial tenures. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, pardoned one person before resigning in 2009. Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, pardoned four people. In 2017, Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, pardoned one man. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Republican, in 2019 pardoned a man and a woman and commuted a sentence for a woman while denying 21 other applications before leaving office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellys recent announcement brings her clemency total to 10 pardons and seven commutations. McMichael pleaded guilty in 2018 in Douglas County to charges related to dealing alprazolam, more commonly known by its brand name Xanax, possessing drug paraphernalia, and aggravated battery, according to court records. He served his five-year sentence and was released in March. The governor said McMichaels pardon was warranted because of his exemplary conduct while incarcerated, educational and occupational success, and his return to life as a law-abiding citizen. She added that he has paid his debt to society and shown that he is deserving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mitchell was convicted in 2005 in Wyandotte County District Court for cocaine possession. He served a year of probation, and in 2010, the conviction was expunged from his criminal record. According to the governors signed pardon, Mitchells application showed evidence of deserving a pardon through good conduct in the intervening 19 years since his last conviction. Granting clemency, an executive power embedded in the Kansas Constitution, involves meticulous and thorough evaluations from the three-member state Prison Review Board, the Kansas Department of Administration and the governors legal team, the governor said. The governor is under no set timeline to grant clemency, and her review of applications is ongoing, according to the announcement. Correction: Richard McMichaels last name was misspelled in a reference in an earlier version of this story. Kayla Lowmiller shows off her collection of animal bones on Nov. 18, 2024. Lowmiller, 16, was selected to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, an honors-only event connecting top high school students to medical professionals. (Chloe Anderson for Kansas Reflector) MAIZE Kayla Lowmiller darts from the pile of bones on her bedroom floor to the shelves next to her bed, trading a raccoon skull for a preserved black widow spider. The problem with a lot of wet specimens is they just slosh around, she said. With spiders, a lot of people will pin and dry them, but then their abdomen dries out. So I did my research and found out how to preserve them fully. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taxidermy is one of Kaylas many talents. The 16-year-old Maize High School student lists a few others on her pink and purple resume: She can cross one eye at a time, shes a talented artist, she overcame her individualized education program for dyslexia, and she was the 2022 Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen. She also was selected to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, an event in Boston hosted by the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists every June. The congress is an honors-only program for high schoolers pursuing careers in medical research. The three-day gathering aims to pave the way for top students by connecting them with medical school deans, scientists, physicians, Nobel laureates and National Medal of Science recipients. A week after Kaylas mom submitted her name, Nobel Prize winner and molecular geneticist Mario Capecchi nominated Kayla, selecting her from around 450 applicants. You have to have qualifications to be nominated, you have to have a certain GPA and you have to aspire to be a future doctor, said Kaylas mom, Kimberly Lowmiller. When I saw that, I thought, Ooh, I should see if she could qualify. And she did. Holding a cat skull that she found, Kayla Lowmiller poses for a portrait with her cats Nemo (left) and Salem on Nov. 18, 2024. Both of her cats are rescues. (Chloe Anderson for Kansas Reflector) Around 4,500 students nationwide were invited to attend. Kayla is the only one from her school district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kayla, whos a junior at Maize High School, has known for years that she wants to be a veterinarian. When she was 3 years old, her mom said, Kayla saw a robin eating a worm. She walked up to the robin and took the worm from its mouth, saving the worm from being eaten. The robin just sat there, Kimberly said. And I said, You have a gift to connect with animals. Kayla already has volunteered countless hours at various animal shelters, and shes enrolled in veterinary program classes through Wichita State University. Her top choices for college are Kansas State University and WSU, but shes looking forward to attending the congress and gathering more information about scholarship opportunities and specific professors. This experience will help to shape your future and give you the tools you need to make meaningful contributions to the medical field, Gov. Laura Kelly wrote in a letter to Kayla. It is young people like you, with your determination and passion, who will shape the future of health care in our country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the future needs some reshaping. According to a 2022 analysis by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, the U.S. will need an estimated 70,000 new veterinarians in the next eight years. Only 53,000 veterinary students are projected to graduate by 2032, filling 76% of that need. The lack of easily accessible veterinary care is prevalent in Kansas. In 2023, 60% of Kansans reported they perceived a shortage of large-animal vets. In the southwest corner of the state, 4% of people surveyed reported that the nearest care was over 45 miles away. She saves a lot of animal bones and keeps them under her bed, said Kaylas mom, Kimberly Lowmiller, with a laugh. We call her Wednesday Addams. (Chloe Anderson for Kansas Reflector) Kaylas goal is to work in a clinic where she can work with every type of animal, including domestic, large and exotic. I like to have a lot of variety with it, she said. Thats the main reason why I picked animals. As much as I love people, once you go down the medical route, you have to stick to one plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For now, Kaylas focused on balancing her workload both in and outside of school, where shes enrolled in several advanced placement classes on top of her college credits. Shes also involved in Maizes art club, drama club, the veterinary medicine club and the National Honors Society. When she has time, she volunteers and takes commissions for her artwork in addition to working part-time at Pizza Hut. She has always been extremely driven, Kimberly said. If she says she wants to do something, we just get out of the way and let her do it. LOS ANGELES Outgoing Rep. Katie Porter obtained a temporary restraining order against an ex-boyfriend, telling the court that his persistent abuse and harassment, including sending her and her family and staff more than 1,000 text messages and emails over three months, has caused significant fear for [her] personal safety and well-being. In a petition for a domestic violence restraining order, filed Tuesday with the Orange County Superior Court, Porter alleged Julian Willis, her romantic partner of several years, sent a litany of abusive messages with the intent to cause significant harm to her public image. On Tuesday afternoon, a judge approved an order requiring Willis make no contact and stay away from Porter and her children until the next hearing in mid-December, according to court documents reviewed by POLITICO. He also granted her request that Willis not contact her current or former employees or co-workers about her. The judge denied Porters request for restraining orders for adults she does not live with, including her mother, noting that they would have to apply for their own restraining orders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the missives detailed in the filing are threats to call Child Protective Services to remove her children from her custody, attempts to extort her of thousands of dollars and defamatory false allegations including that she had genital herpes. (Porter submitted test results to the court to prove she does not have that sexually transmitted disease.) Porter, in her declaration, said that Willis is dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues, which have led to Willis undergoing two involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations since 2022. Porter said Willis had taken steps to address these issues, including attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings and staying in a sober living house in spring 2023. But she has personally witnessed him continue to abuse substances, she said in court papers. I have observed him misusing prescription painkillers, snorting Ritalin, and abusing cannabis and nicotine patches, she wrote. He has also previously disclosed to me his use of cocaine and nitrous oxide (whippets). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Willis, 55, told POLITICO in a telephone interview Tuesday that Porter sought the restraining order to preempt him from suing her and seeking protection for himself and her children and to prevent him from going to the media. This is her way of combatting all that, Willis said. He said hes been sober for over three years, but copies of text messages filed in court along with Porters declaration purportedly show him acknowledging substance abuse and recommitting to sobriety in 2022. He provided copies of communications with the University of California Irvine Police Department claiming she was aggressive and violent toward him and her children in mid-August. He asked police to supervise his move out in those communications. Porter, through a spokesperson, said she was out-of-state on the day Willis moved out and got no indication, from Willis or her neighbors, that the police had been present. POLITICO has independently requested copies of these reports from UC Irvine. Shes a monster, Willis added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The filing comes in the waning days of Porters final term in the House, after she ran unsuccessfully for Senate this year. The Democrat, who rocketed to national fame as a crusader against corporate power, is set to return to her post teaching law at University of California, Irvine, in January. But Porter, 50, has remained firmly in the public eye, including actively campaigning for fellow Democrats in November, positioning herself to run for governor in 2026 when Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is termed out. Her potential return to political life looms large in Porters declaration. He has already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information about me and my children. As a prominent political figure, this threat poses a serious risk to my career and personal reputation, she wrote in the declaration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Porter said she told Willis to move out of her home and stop contacting her in late August, even threatening court intervention to force him to leave. He moved out on Aug. 23 but continued to send up to dozens of messages a day, according to the legal filing. Willis said his goal was to force her into prolonged psychiatric treatment and threatened to punish the fuck out of you, she said in the declaration. If you dont fully comprehend what is transpiring, right now, let me spell it out for you. The noose is tightening around Katies neck, Willis wrote in an email Monday to Porters son and ex-husband, which he then forwarded to her attorney, according to the filings. He stated he would bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces. Porter included that email and copies of dozens of other texts and emails in a 22-page document accompanying her declaration. The messages include contemporaneous mention of Willis hospitalizations and outreach from work associates, including at least one member of Congress, reporting that they received disturbing messages from Willis. Willis outreach extended to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her husband. Warren was Porters mentor at Harvard, and Willis requested to speak with the senator about the situation, according to court exhibits and other documentation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Porter requested a judge issue a no-contact and stay-away order, requiring Willis to keep at least 100 yards distance from her home, workplace and childrens schools. She also requested the restraining order cover her three children, whose ages range from 12 to 18, and her 78 year-old mother. Porter also said that Willis has contacted dozens of current and former work colleagues who say they find the messages disturbing, threatening or abusive, and named 15 co-workers or family members that she requested Willis be ordered not to communicate with. This is a very unfortunate situation," Porter said in a statement to POLITICO. "Mr. Willis has suffered from well-documented mental health and substance abuse issues. As the records filed today show, those issues have gotten increasingly worse since I ended the relationship and asked him to leave my house. In recent weeks, his threats against my family and my colleagues have escalated in both their frequency and intensity, and I feel I must ask for this order from the court. I sincerely hope he can get the help he needs. Willis had previously made headlines in July 2021 after he was involved in a violent scuffle at a Porter town hall in Irvine, which was disrupted by far-right protesters. Willis was arrested and given a citation before he was released. Porter later had harsh words for the Irvine police response, calling the force a disgrace in a leaked text exchange between her and the citys mayor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Porters personal life has been subject to public scrutiny before. She proactively released the filings from her divorce with ex-husband, Matthew Hoffman, to the Huffington Post, after a whisper campaign about the end of her marriage threatened to upend her first House run in 2018. Porter filed a restraining order against Hoffman in 2013 after he allegedly punched a wall next to her, shattering a light switch plate. He then filed a reciprocal restraining order, alleging that Porter was also verbally and physically abusive. (One allegation, that she dumped a bowl of boiling potatoes on his head, got a burst of media coverage during this years Senate race.) In her 2023 memoir, Porter wrote about her internal conflict over speaking out about the end of her marriage. While she saw it as a political necessity, her children struggled with the public airing of the details of the end of her marriage. She said her decision was the only thing in that Ive done in politics that Im ashamed of. Being a real person and having a real life is in fundamental conflict with American politics. There is no way I couldve kept my privacy about domestic violence in my family and gotten elected. There were real costs to telling my story, and even as I pretended otherwise, I knew I was making a choice between my kids and my campaign. Emily Schultheis contributed to this report. KANSAS CITY, Mo. People who are homeless around Kansas City will soon have more options to help get through the winter months. Kansas Citys Cold Weather Plan goes into effect starting Sunday, December 1, where a handful of shelter operators get money from the City of Kansas City to stay open overnight. View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4 Its cold out there and its going to be cold the rest of the week so were ready to those life-saving things that need to happen, said Hope Faith Executive Director Doug Langner. But also, were really excited about some of the next steps to connect people from shelter to housing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shelters like Hope Faith will stay open from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. from December 1 through March 1 for people who need a place to stay. There will also be shelters at Unity Southeast, Hope City, True Light, Heartland, Shelter KC, City Union Mission, and A Turning Point KCK. At the same time, Langner says Hope Faith is in the final stages of getting federal grant money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a 24/7 Low-Barrier Shelter at Hope Faith. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android The $4.6 million grant would cover most of the $5.8 million construction cost. The gap is being made up with private fundraising and Langner says theyd be ready to break ground as soon as the money is there and planning process is approved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our construction people say once were able to get that funded, were open in ten months, said Langner. So that is not a huge build out time, but also for us, wed like to get going. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. KANSAS CITY, Mo . Theres just more than a month left for local governments to figure out how to spend American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds, first given out in 2021. While many metro municipalities have started to make final decisions before the Dec. 31 deadline, Jackson County still hasnt figured their situation out. Lone survivor in triple fatality Warrensburg crash gets special visit from Chris Stapleton Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If leaders cant agree on how to spend it, the funds will go back to the federal government. Democratic County Executive Frank White told FOX4 off camera Tuesday, he believes some sort of deal can be made. Wednesday, Nov. 20, he spoke to FOX4 on camera for more than 10 minutes. I think we can probably avoid that, White said when asked what he thought the likelihood was that the county would have to give back the remaining $70.4 million in ARPA funds. I mean thats the goal is to continue to talk, continue to meet and see if we can come to some resolution, but the goal is not to send it back. The goal is to save it and put it to the best use in our community. ReStart CEO Stephanie Boyer says shes frustrated White vetoed ordinances earlier in the month dealing with the allocation of ARPA money. White says they passed without collaborating enough with his office. ReStart helps the homeless in Kansas city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, people are out here struggling and suffering, living in their cars, living on the street, you know, not able to get their children to school, not having access to enough food, Boyer said in an interview with FOX4 Tuesday. Its not okay. Its absolutely not okay. Boyer says her entity stands to gain anywhere between $750,000 to $1.1 million as long as the county doesnt give it back. Boyer says she has two other projects that shed like to get funding for. It is not that there is not a need, right? She said. I mean, were getting ready to consider a larger capital campaign of $30 million. If you need somewhere to put the money, theres places to put the money. Joes Blog: The 2024-25 Winter Forecast Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Boyer said part of the at least $750,000 shed get would be used for a new housing development for low-income households. The other portion of it would be used to sustain the womens shelter at their location just east of downtown. We currently do have capacity to serve more women in that program, but weve literally been waiting for a year on this funding to be approved to be able to do that, which has left a lot of women on the street vulnerable to a lot of situations and a lot of trauma that they would not have to had endured, she continued. The next time the county legislature meets is Monday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. A Kansas City man convicted of murder in the fatal shooting a pregnant mother of two in 2022 was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday by a Jackson County judge. Emmett C. Williams, 35, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of second-degree murder, as well as two counts of armed criminal action, in the death of Shayla Curts, 22. Williams shot Curts in the North Town Fork Creek neighborhood of Kansas City around 8 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2022, according to court documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witnesses told detectives that a man later identified as Williams had visited Curts that night at a home in the 4900 block of Bellefontaine Avenue. Curts was sitting on the couch, exchanging insults with Willliams, when he shot her in the head with a 9 mm handgun, according to court documents. Williams later attempted to ditch the handgun in a nearby patch of woods before turning himself in to Kansas City police. He told detectives that he had known Curts for several years and that she often antagoniz[ed] him throughout their relationship, court documents state. Curts family remembers her as energetic, independent, artistic and wise. The young mother enjoyed drawing, painting and creating from a young age. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The world lost a beautiful soul the day that she died, Curts grandmother Leesa Grauel previously told The Star. Curts is survived by her children Mars and Winter, as well as two older sisters. She had planned to name the baby Soleil. Previous reporting by Bill Lukitsch and Jenna Thompson contributed to this article. Nov. 26Before travelers get to the dinner table this Thanksgiving, they'll face what could be the busiest travel period on record. According to the Transportation Security Administration, agents expect to screen 18.3 million people traveling through airports from Tuesday through Monday, Dec. 2, an increase of approximately 6% from this time in 2023. Starting his travels in Chicago, flyer Kendall Crilly said he's experiencing a surprisingly smooth flying experience as he walked through Kansas City International Airport at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I see the pictures on the news of all of the problems everywhere else, but as long as the weather held out, everything was fine here," Chrilly said. Traveler Gwendolyn Taku is headed to Indiana this holiday season and was leaving KCI Tuesday. "I believe it's going to go smoothly, so I'm really not nervous. America has created an opportunity for us to be more thankful and I'm just thankful for my family," Taku said. The three busiest travel days are likely to be Tuesday and Wednesday just before Thanksgiving and Sunday after the holiday. According to Justin Meyer, Deputy Director of Aviation at KCI, the airport is working to secure a safe travel experience for all travelers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We've really worked with our partners to staff up ourselves, so there is additional workforce on the arrival curb and that ensures traffic keeps moving," Meyer said. "Here at the security checkpoint, we also have additional staff to make sure those lines keep moving as well." According to TSA, the average security wait time was 1.9 minutes for passengers with TSA PreCheck and 3.8 minutes for passengers without. The longest wait times were on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with an average of 2.1 minutes for passengers with PreCheck and 5 minutes for those without. Meyer said a handful of people are missing flights not because of air delays, but due to the increase in infrequent flyers. He advises passengers to bring a valid ID and most importantly arrive two hours ahead of board time to leave time for any unexpected circumstances. "Certainly we're encouraging passengers to plan in advance, look at their flight times and make sure everything's running on schedule," Meyer said. "We encourage people to downloaded the airlines app, because you'll get push notifications there before anything else, if there's any delays or other inconveniences." UPDATE: The missing 18-year-old has been located safe. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Kansas City Police Department is searching for a missing/endangered 18-year-old. He was last seen near 29th Street and Tracy Avenue around 8 p.m. Tuesday. He has black hair and brown eyes. View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at fox4kc.com It is unknown what type of clothing he was wearing. If located, call 911 or notify the KCPD Missing Persons Section at 816-234-5043. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that he faces total humiliation on the world stage with his plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on the brink of collapse in the next 48 hours. With Sir Keirs national security adviser Jonathan Powell heading to the US in a late bid to dissuade Donald Trump from vetoing the controversial deal, doubts have now also been raised by the new prime minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who has expressed doubts about the deal struck with his predecessor. After a meeting with Mr Powell earlier this week, Mr Ramgoolam said: I informed them that I wished to have more time to study the details with a panel of legal advisers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Previously he had described it as high treason and a sellout because the UK and US would still be allowed to use an airbase on the islands in the Indian Ocean. The new Mauritian governments first cabinet meeting will take place on Friday, when they are expected to look at whether to continue with the deal which is due to be completed next summer, leaving the entire agreement on the brink. However, even if they do agree to stick with it, Mr Trumps team are hardening their opposition to what they consider to be a major security risk for the West. Donald Trumps team are seeking assurances from Keir Starmer that the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will not be completed before his inauguration (Getty) The UK prime minister and his foreign secretary David Lammy have insisted that they had no choice but to hand over the islands, including Diego Garcia where the UK and US have their major airforce base, to Mauritius because of a ruling by the International Court of Justice. Mr Lammy has doubled down claiming that the deal is good one guaranteeing the use of the airbase for the next 99 years. But the government has refused to publish details and costs of the deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Tory shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who has been pressing for answers on the plan, told The Independent: If this deal collapses it will be a total humiliation for Starmer and Lammy. Mr Lammy told MPs on the foreign affairs select committee that he is confident the deal will be agreed but conceded the new Mauritian government needed time to study it. He said: We have only just engaged with the new government in Mauritius, there was an exchange of letters between the prime minister and the new leader of Mauritius. We have got to give them time to get into the arrangements, but I hope we can sign the treaty. He dismissed previous comments on high treason as being words during an election campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked about the incoming Trump administrations opposition, he noted: The national security agencies in the United States think this is a good deal. The state department think this is a good deal. Most important the Pentagon and White House think this is a good deal. David Lammy insisted that the handover would go ahead (PA Wire) Mr Lammy also declined to say whether alleged phone hacking by the previous government, revealed by The Independent, was a problem in the negotiations but told MPs it was being investigated properly. On Wednesday night, culture secretary Lisa Nandy told ITVs Robert Peston she was confident Mr Trump would not veto the deal. My experience of President Trump last time he was in office is that his team was very pragmatic... theyll see that that is in our mutual interest, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Independent revealed this week that the Trump team has been seeking assurances that Sir Keir would not try to accelerate the deal to get it completed before his inauguration in January. Joe Bidens outgoing administration backed the deal but following an intervention from Nigel Farage and legal advice sent by Brexiteers to Mr Trump, the incoming president has been looking for a way to veto it without embarrassing Sir Keir. Meanwhile, Mr Powell, who negotiated the plan to hand over the islands earlier this year, is to travel to Washington in a bid to persuade Mr Trump not to tear up the agreement. With security concerns over the crucial joint UK/US base on Diego Garcia, there are also fears the deal will allow China access to the islands to build their own rival base. Mr Trumps pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned in October that the agreement posed a serious threat to US national security by ceding the islands to a country allied with China. The Chagos Islands decision impacts the Diego Garcia airbase (DOD/AFP/Getty) Stephen Doughty, the minister for North America, said earlier this month that Mr Trumps team would be briefed on the details of the deal to allay any concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Independent understands that Mr Trumps transition team has requested legal advice from the Pentagon over the agreement. Mr Farage warned the next presidents team viewed the deal with outright hostility and would try to challenge it, telling MPs: Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet as far as America was concerned. The issue dates back to 1968, after which Mauritius argues it was forced to give up the Chagos Islands in return for independence from Britain. They had been the administrative centre for the islands in the British empire even though they are more than 1,000 miles away. Thousands of people were forcibly displaced from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s in a scandal widely condemned as shameful. Kelly W. Hill, a career mortgage banker and marketing director who had been involved with various philanthropic endeavors, died Nov. 1 from liver disease at her New Windsor home. She was 61. Kelly was light-hearted and had a great sense of humor, said James D. Ball, who retired this year after serving for a decade as president of Carroll Community College. She wanted to help market our students, and she always wanted to know the impact and details of how we got things done. Kelly Williar, daughter of David W. Williar, a businessman, and Lois K. Schley, a banker, was born in Westminster and raised in Hampstead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A North Carroll High School graduate, she earned associate degrees in business administration and exercise science from Carroll County Community College. She was a member of two business societies, Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Beta Gamma. In 1990, Ms. Hill began her banking career with the old Mercantile Mortgage Corp. as a loan settlement administrator. After leaving Mercantile, she worked for Fountainhead/Old Kent Mortgage Co. in Timonium as a mortgage loan processor. From 1995 to 1997, she was a mortgage processor supervisor at Bankers 1st Mortgage Co. in Owings Mills, and from 2000 to 2003, she was marketing director of Masonry Homes Inc. in Manchester, which was owned by her former husband. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms. Hill later served as marketing director from 2012 to 2015 for Sidney Willoughby Run in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She returned to banking in 2015 when she joined BB&T Bank, where she worked opening new accounts and selling services until retiring in 2017. Philanthropy became the most important thing in her life, her mother said. As a member of Shiloh United Methodist Church in Hampstead, she participated in the Zimbabwe Volunteers Mission, where she helped build schools. The girls were shoeless and had no uniforms, Ms. Hill told The Carroll County Times in an interview. They lived with their grandmother because their parents had passed away from AIDS. I paid their school fees for a number of years and bought them uniforms, shoes and socks I wanted them to feel like a part of their schoolmates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She traveled to Africa five times. Ms. Hill was the past president of the Carroll Hospital Center Auxiliary and the Carroll Community College Foundation. Related Articles She was campaign chair for our first major gifts campaign. Our goal was $4 million, and we exceeded that, Ball said. The money went for student scholarships and to support new programs and technology. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was named National Philanthropist of the Year in 2008, and two years later, local Philanthropist of the Year. She was the recipient of the Carroll Community College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019. She was an active member of the New Windsor Lions Club and attended St. Paul United Methodist Church. Ms. Hill was also a diehard Ravens and Elton John fan. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Dec. 4 at Eline Funeral Home, 934 S. Main St., Hampstead. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her father, David W. Williar, of Sykesville; her brother, David W. Williar Jr., of Westminster; a sister, Lauren Myers, of Westminster; a stepbrother, Benjamin Sherman, of Frederick; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her stepfather, Ivan Sherman, and stepmother, Tanya Williar. Have a news tip? Contact Frederick N. Rasmussen at frasmussen@baltsun.com and 410-332-6536. Obion Creek is in West Kentucky. (Jackson Purchase Resource Conservation and Development Foundation, Inc. ) Kentucky wildlife management officials are swapping land in West Kentucky to benefit a prospective nuclear fuel enrichment company looking to establish itself in McCracken County. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) leaders in a release say the department is turning over 665 acres of its 6,425-acre West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area to Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), an Australian company that seeks to use lasers to enrich uranium left over from hundreds of thousands of depleted uranium tails at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In exchange, the KDFWR is receiving 1,043 acres near the Mississippi River in Fulton County to expand its existing 4,258-acre Obion Creek Wildlife Management Area. That land was purchased by the Paducah-McCracken County Industrial Development Authority and funded by GLE. Rich Storm, the KDFWR commissioner, said in a statement the land swap was a creative and carefully constructed exchange that will benefit both wildlife and nearby communities. The additional acreage on Obion Creek WMA will provide much needed public hunting access, hiking, wildlife viewing and other wildlife related opportunities in an area where these are not readily available, Storm said. The department said the expanded wildlife management land in Fulton County should be open to hunting and fishing by next spring, and the land being given to GLE in McCracken County would remain open for public use through Feb. 28, 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former gaseous diffusion plant created uranium waste when enriching uranium for nuclear weapons in the 20th century and eventually for commercial nuclear power plants until closing in 2013. WKMS, the public radio station in Murray, reported GLE hopes to enrich and reuse the leftover tails as fuel for nuclear power in what would be a potentially $1 billion facility creating hundreds of jobs and be the first commercial operation in the world using laser-enrichment technology. The public radio station reported GLE had struck a deal earlier this year giving the Australian company the option of acquiring land owned by the KDFWR. WKMS also reported GLE hopes to test their laser-enrichment technology by the end of the year. The 665 acres that GLE is receiving is adjacent to the former gaseous diffusion plant. We greatly appreciate the collaborative efforts of our community and state partners in Kentucky that have been instrumental in finalizing this land acquisition, said GLE CEO Stephen Long in a statement. We are excited to continue our partnership with the commonwealth as we work towards a commercialization decision and maintaining our deployment target date of no later than 2030. Want a chance to snatch up that elusive Pappy Van Winkle Kentucky bourbon next month? You now have the chance to bid on two bottles at auction and it's all because of criminals and a new state law. The Kentucky Legislature passed a law last year that legalized the auction of alcohol confiscated by law enforcement. (It must be in its original, unopened packaging.) Proceeds go to the newly created Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Corporation, which provides financial resources to support alcohol responsibility in schools, universities and organizations. Now, the state's first ever confiscated alcohol auction is open. You can bid on bottles at the state's Alcohol Beverage Control website through Dec. 11. Advertisement Advertisement Two 10-year-aged Pappy Van Winkle bottles are up for auction. The high-end bourbon often makes headlines because its small production and award winning status makes it hard to find. And if you can get your hands on a bottle, it can cost anywhere from around $600 to over $10,000, depending on the fierce second market where it's sold. As of Wednesday afternoon, bids for the bottles were over $1,000. But the item with the highest bid is a bottle of the limited-release Maker's Mark Breeders Cup signed by legendary jockey Mike Smith. Smith made a name for himself in the 1990s and won the first of his record 27 Breeders Cup races in 1992, according to the National Museum of racing and Hall of Fame. The bid for the bottle was $13,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement People without the funds to spend thousands of dollars on bourbon can also place bids on well-known, other high-end bottles such as Blanton's, Old Fitzgerald and Evan Williams. Most of the alcohol is bourbon because, well, this is the Bluegrass State, but there's also a bundle of alcohol available that includes vodka, rum and wine. And a few alcohol-related items including an Old Fitzgerald porcelain decanter from 1973 are also up for grabs. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: You can now bid on high-end bourbon thanks to criminals, new state law The Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) launched its first online auction of confiscated alcohol on Wednesday. While selling vintage spirits is better than pouring them down the drain, the state shouldn't use the proceeds to fund a private corporation. The Kentucky ABC was granted the power to dispose of its inventory via public auction under House Bill 439, which Gov. Andy Beshear (DKy.) signed into law in April. All money raised by the public auction is donated to the Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Fund, which provides "educational information and materials that deter or eliminate underage drinking" to Kentucky high schools, colleges, and universities. The fund also raises revenue by collecting one percent of the excise tax on malt beverages and one percent of the wholesale tax on malt beverages and microbreweries. The fund is not directly administered by the Kentucky ABC, but by the Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Corporation (AWARE), a state-sponsored nonprofit whose board of directors includes: the president of the senate, the speaker of the house, the secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet, and the commissioner of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (or their designees). AWARE receives private contributions, which must be matched with money from the fund. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kentucky ABC confiscates alcoholic beverages for violations described in Kentucky Revised Statutes 241-244. For example, licensed vendors may not sell or deliver malt beverages, distilled spirits, or wine between midnight and 6 a.m. or on Sunday, unless otherwise permitted by local ordinance. Another cause for seizure is the mere possession of liquor while driving through a dry county. Considering 39 of Kentucky's 120 counties are dry, it is possible that some of the auction items that are in ABC custody unjustly (though legally) and should be returned to their original owners. Regardless of how the ABC comes to stock its inventory of confiscated liquor, the Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Fund and Corporation are redundant and costly. The ABC spent just shy of $8 million for fiscal year 2024; Kentuckians don't need more resources allocated toward duplicative state-funded programs. Even if the corporation's educational activities are so vital as to justify state support, the auction, which limits items to in-person pick-up in Frankfort, Kentucky is inefficient. Refusal to ship reduces the number of interested buyers to those who are willing to drive to Frankfort, meaning fewer bids, lower auction prices, and less revenue for AWARE. The responsibility to educate young people about the dangers of excessive drinking rests squarely with the parents and civil society, not the state and state-sponsored nonprofits. Instead of passing laws to permit the auctioning of confiscated liquor, Kentucky legislators should dissolve the Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Fund and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The post Kentucky Seizes People's Booze, Auctions It Off To Fund Anti-Booze Group appeared first on Reason.com. A Bronx woman is thankful for her freedom after spending nearly 14 years in prison on a faulty murder conviction. Instead of eating another prison meal at the upstate correctional facility where she languished for nearly a quarter of her life, Kimberly Hanzlik, 59, will sit down on Thursday for a real Thanksgiving meal with her grateful family. Theyll have a lot to be thankful for, said Irving Cohen, the determined lawyer who worked pro bono for seven years to help secure her release. Shes doing really well. Its been a long time since I had somebody released from the court. Its quite exciting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Bronx judge vacated Hanzliks sentence on Tuesday after evidence used to tie her to the murder of a man 25 years ago was ruled unreliable. Hanzlik had been sentenced to 20 years to life after she was convicted in 2011 for allegedly tipping off her boyfriend, gunman Joseph Meldish, that his intended target, Thomas Brown, was sitting in a Bronx bar on March 21, 1999. But new evidence uncovered by the Bronx DAs office brought into doubt whether Hanzlik was even at the Throgs Neck bar when the murder took place. That wasnt the only mistake made that night, according to prosecutors. Thomas Brown wasnt there, either. The killer gunned down the wrong guy. He shot Browns brother, Joseph, by mistake in front of Josephs wife. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators say Meldish wanted to murder Thomas Brown over a loan dispute. According to court documents, Meldish entered Frenchys Tavern and shot Joseph to death in the crowded bar before escaping in a car driven by David Thiong, a local drug dealer. The case went cold for about a decade, when Thiong, who was facing drug charges in Westchester County, agreed to testify against Hanzlik and Meldish. The getaway driver told detectives that Hanzlik scouted the bar and came out and told Meldish where his target was sitting. Hanzlik was convicted in 2011 of second-degree murder. Seven years later, new evidence surfaced, with an unsealed transcript of the getaway drivers guilty plea casting doubt on Hanzliks participation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The murder victims wife, Eileen Brown, never mentioned any suspicious female lookout until she met with detectives in 2007, eight years after the shooting. Ive been working on this case for seven years, Cohen said. It meant a lot to me. No one could understand how the conviction was still in effect. Despite the injustice, Cohen said Hanzlik remained a model prisoner, training service dogs for police departments. He said Hanzlik, a Bronx Hall of Science graduate, developed a drug habit that put her in with the wrong crowd, including Meldish, a reputed mob hit man. On Tuesday, a judge vacated the conviction, dismissed the indictment, sealed the case and freed her from prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms. Hanzlik served 13 years in prison based on trial testimony that would not meet todays threshold of credibility given the discovery of new information, which casts doubt on the integrity of her conviction, and we cannot stand by it, said Bronx DA Darcel Clark. Cohen, who said he would seek compensation from the state on Hanzliks behalf, said his client and her family are elated. She walked out into the street for the first time in 14 years, Cohen said. It makes me feel good about what Ive done. The Dutch airline KLM cancelled more than 70 flights on Wednesday as a precautionary measure due to an expected storm in the Netherlands. A spokeswoman for the airline told the ANP news agency that the flights in question were European flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The weather service has issued a weather alert for large parts of the country due to the expected storm. It warns of major traffic problems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From late afternoon, violent winds with gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour are expected along the North Sea coast and in the Wadden Sea area, initially from the west. The storm is then expected to move east across the country during the evening. Automatic gunfire is making up a larger share of total gunshots than in previous years in Milwaukee, according to newly released data. Police and experts say the increase, while still only a small portion of gunshots in the city, is driven by machine gun conversion devices, more commonly known as switches. The devices alter semiautomatic weapons, often handguns, into the legal and practical equivalent of automatic weapons. They fire quickly and are difficult to control and their rise undermines a recent positive shift in violent crime from record-breaking years in Milwaukee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what to know about gun switches in Milwaukee, the rise of automatic gunfire and the technology that detects it: Milwaukee police use ShotSpotter to detect bursts of automatic gunfire ShotSpotter, a police technology that detects gunfire in Milwaukee, activated 869 instances of automatic gunfire last year in the 11 square miles of the city that it covers. Thats an average of more than two bursts of automatic gunfire every day. IN-DEPTH COVERAGE: 20 bullets in a second: Behind the rise of automatic gunfire in Milwaukee The trend comes as total gunshots detected in the city have declined. Gunfire peaked in 2021, before beginning to dip the following year, the data shows. In 2021, the technology activated 17,003 suspected gunshots, 16,126 in 2022 and 14,686 in 2023. Experts say machine gun conversion devices, known as 'switches,' are behind the increase in automatic gunfire Police and experts believe machine gun conversion devices, commonly known as gun switches, are driving this increase. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milwaukee Police Captain Phillip Simmertt II said the department is seeing guns with switches, not fully automatic weapons that were originally manufactured that way. He said the department has increasingly found more and more of the switches on crime scenes each year in recent history. The trend is happening nationally, too. A report from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released last year showed a 570% increase in recovered gun switches from 2017 to 2021 when compared with the prior four years. Milwaukee Police Captain Phillip Simmert, with the department's fusion team, explains the NIBIN machine, a ballistics investigative device at the at the Milwaukee Police Administration Building in Milwaukee on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. The number of switches recovered by Milwaukee police keeps rising Police records show switches have been found in increasing numbers each year since 2019. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The department only recovered one gun switch in 2019. By 2023, that figure jumped to over 80 and, through Oct. 1 of this year, Milwaukee police recovered over 90 switches. Modified guns with switches can fire up to 20 bullets in one second Gun switches are dangerous because they turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. Federal authorities have said modified weapons can fire up to 20 bullets in one second. In Milwaukee, the danger of uncontrollable gunshots was made clear in a recent homicide. A confrontation between two family members led to one intending to fire a modified gun at the other's legs, but the recoil was so strong they struck them in the abdomen and killed them, court records show. Switches can be imported or created using a 3D printer Switches are often imported from China or can be 3D printed, experts say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In two recent court cases in Milwaukee, defendants used the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba to import the switches. In one instance, the shipping container was a puzzle box, which looked like a cipher, and held 10 switches, according to court records. The latter method, 3D printing of the devices, is likely the more common source of switches currently, said Tom Chittum, senior vice president of forensic services for SoundThinking, in an interview. SoundThinking is the company that created ShotSpotter If someone is caught with a switch, it's a violation of federal law Experts say practically, guns with switches are effectively the same thing as manufactured automatic weapons. Legally, switches are classified as machine guns under the National Firearms Act, even if they arent installed into a weapon, according to the ATF. That means If someone is found with one, it is automatically a violation of federal law. ShotSpotter's accuracy has been questioned nationally but officials in Milwaukee still rely on it ShotSpotter is a detection technology the Milwaukee police use to respond to gunfire. It listens for gunshots, triangulating where they occur and alerting police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Company representatives and police say ShotSpotter can differentiate between semi-automatic gunfire and those it tags as fully automatic. The system compiles statistics on each category based on the audio it detects. ShotSpotter is used in more than 100 cities nationwide. The company has faced scrutiny over its accuracy claims, its potential for racial bias depending on where local officials place the sensors and its effectiveness in deterring and solving crime. Some cities have canceled contracts, at times citing cost, but in Milwaukee, city officials and police leaders have routinely promoted the benefits of ShotSpotter and used it to guide some public safety initiatives. 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: Switches in MIlwaukee linked to rise in automatic gunfire, police say Question : I am retired military and tried to get onto Bellows with two Canadian friends, and they were denied entry. Whats happening ? Is that the same for all island military bases ? Answer : Foreign National Guests will NOT BE ALLOWED base entry unless /until they have been properly vetted through Security Forces. Requests are accepted only within a three (3 ) month to thirty (30 ) day window, according to the website for Bellows Air Force Station, which is renowned for its beach, cabins, camping and other recreational activities in coastal Waimanalo, while also being a military training site. Detailed instructions on seeking entry to Bellows for friends from Canada or other countries are posted at. The website describes a multistep process that would include you (the sponsor ) and your foreign guests submitting acceptable proof of identity for verification. For you that would be a copy of your Department of Defense ID (as a military retiree ), and for them it would be a copy of their passports, the website says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These requirements have been in force at Bellows AFS for many years, according to the customer service representative we spoke to Monday. She did not know whether the entry process for noncitizens is the same at all military bases on Oahu, so we have sought answers from military public information officers. Well publish more information when we hear back from them. On a related note, Bellows has recently updated its ID card policy for base entry, even for day visits, according to its website, which states that all patrons over the age of 18 (must ) have their ID scanned upon entering the Bellows AFS front gate. These new procedures may cause slight delays in entry. Q : How many undocumented immigrants are in Hawaii ? Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. A : About 51, 000, 46 % of whom are from the Philippines, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan think tank. MPIs estimate is based on data as recent as 2019. Read more at. Q : Regarding the FEMA homes for Maui fire survivors (), how long will those last ? A : The modular homes have been built to last 30 years or more. It is the first time that FEMA has built temporary homesknown as Alternative Transportable Temporary Housing Unitsthat meet local and international building codes, according to a news release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA says it can reallocate units once they are no longer needed as temporary housing for fire survivors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Q : If a fire victim declined a FEMA home earlier, can they get one now ? A : No. If FEMA offered you a housing option that would meet your household needs and you turned it down, you are no longer able to rejoin the Direct Housing Program and cannot live in a Direct Lease unit or an Alternative Transportable Temporary Housing Unit, the agency says. Q : Last week or so, there was dramatic video of a bus in a sinkhole. I think it was on Maui. What caused the sinkhole ? A : It was Nov. 20 in Kahului, when the rear tires of a Maui Bus got stuck in a sinkhole caused by the break of an aging 12-inch water main, according to a news release from Maui County. The passengers and driver exited the bus safely, after which the vehicle was extricated from the sinkhole and the water main was repaired, the news release said. The bus driver had tried to drive through water pooled on Lono Avenue near West Kamehameha, not realizing the pavement was broken underneath. In the incidents aftermath, Maui Countys Department of Water Supply encouraged motorists to avoid driving through pooling water during flooding, water main breaks and other infrastructure incidents, the news release said.------------Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email kokualine @staradvertiser.com.------------ PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo plans to build its first state-owned ammunition factory and drone design lab, to prop up the country's defence industry, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday at a cabinet session. Kurti revealed plans to form an inter-ministerial commission to oversee development of the facility and lab and emphasized the need for a self-sustaining defence industry to support a big ramp-up in weapons and arms for the military due to growing tensions with Serbia. Kurti has repeatedly said his country should be ready to face any threat from neighbouring Serbia, which still considers Kosovo part of its territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A military "that has been armed so much in such a short time as ours needs to ensure and guarantee full operational capability and overall sustainability," Kurti said. Ejup Maqedonci, the defence minister, said he would chair the commission and said they had received a feasibility report from state producers in Turkey and were finalizing the project. He said that given the current security situation in Ukraine and Middle East, there was a global need to replenish ammunition and weapons stocks. NATO still has a force of more than 4,000 peacekeepers mainly in the north part of Kosovo where in the past two years the country has seen its worst ethnic tensions since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kosovo has a light armed force but since Kurti came to power in 2021, he has stepped up the defence budget and in July 2023, Kosovo bought a batch of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones. Early this year, the U.S. State Department approved a sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Kosovo for an estimated $75 million. Kosovo's defence policies are in line with NATO and it aims to join the alliance, four of whose members still do not recognize Kosovo as a state. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Bernadette Baum) A helicopter drops flame retardant on the Cow Valley Fire in eastern Oregon on July 12, 2024. (Matt Fisher of Umatilla Task Force/Northwest Interagency Coordination Center) The 2024 fire season cost Oregon emergency response agencies nearly $350 million, and the state leaders are struggling to find a way to cover outstanding bills. Gov. Tina Kotek announced Tuesday following reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting that shell call a special session of the Legislature on Dec. 12 to appropriate at least $218 million from the states general fund to cover remaining fire costs. Lawmakers will already be at the Capitol for committee hearings during that time. More than half of the $350 million in outstanding debts will eventually be covered by disaster relief funds from the federal government, according to a news release from Koteks office, but the state wants to pay those owed as soon as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, explained that its about ensuring state agencies dont burn bridges with private contractors who stepped in to help with fire prevention or response work this year. We contracted with people, and we are obligated to pay them, and we will want many of those people to bring their machines, their aircraft, their bodies back next fire season, Marsh said. Nearly 2 million acres burned this summer and fall more than three times the 10-year average mostly in eastern Oregon grass and shrub, with about 25% of it in forestland, according to the Wildland Mapping Institute. More than one-third of all acres burned have been on private land, and about 62% was on federal land. At least 42 homes and 132 other structures were burned. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal wildfire reimbursements to California as a form of political gamesmanship. Asked whether Kotek is seeking more money to prepare for potential federal withholding, Anca Matica, a Kotek spokesperson, said its not part of the current issue being solved by the special session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state needs to pay its bills as expeditiously as possible, Matica said in an email. Kotek declared a state of emergency in response to wildfire threats and invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act a record 17 times. This mobilized structural firefighting resources coordinated by the Oregon State Fire Marshals office to local communities. The state fire marshal is on the hook for more than $34.5 million of the money owed by the state, and about 65% of that is owed to firefighting personnel. The federal government is expected to reimburse about $17.25 million of the $34.5 million, according to the state fire marshals office. Incoming House Republican leader Christine Drazan of Canby expressed frustration in a news release that Kotek did not talk with her or her peers before announcing the special session, but she said Republicans are willing to work cooperatively to solve the funding issues. Drazan lost the 2022 gubernatorial race to Kotek, and the two frequently butted heads in the House when Kotek served as speaker and Drazan as minority leader. Evidently, the Governor will be communicating via press release rather than a phone call. That is her prerogative, Drazan said. Despite this bizarre approach to leadership, Republicans welcome the opportunity to solve this problem by ensuring the people who work to protect Oregon communities during wildfire season are paid for their service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Administrative Services, responsible for tracking spending, did not respond to a request for a list of outstanding payments from the wildfire season by Tuesday afternoon. Fire agencies already got $47.5 million from the Legislatures Emergency Board in September to cover some outstanding costs, and the Oregon State Treasury rejected the Department of Forestrys request for a $60 million loan last month, according to reporting from Willamette Week. Wildfire protection and response costs in Oregon are generally split between private and public forest and range landowners and Oregonians via the states general fund. Costs for 2024 were projected to be about $136 million. Fighting wildfires of the magnitude we saw this season required a tremendous level of resources that even wildfire experts couldnt foresee, said House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, in a statement. CORRECTION: The Oregon State Fire Marshals Office owes more than $34 million in outstanding payments, not nearly $200 million, as previously reported. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In a visit to Astoria, Gov. Tina Kotek emphasized a commitment to build more housing and reduce homelessness on the North Coast and across Oregon. For the past several years, Clatsop County has had among the highest per-capita rates of homelessness in the state. Mondays visit served as an opportunity to see some of the local successes in tackling the issue. The Democrat toured the Columbia Inn and the Owens-Adair Apartments, projects that emerged with the help of efforts at the state level. Kotek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Tina Kotek tours the Owens-Adair Apartments. The Columbia Inn, a shelter on Marine Drive run by Clatsop Community Action for individuals and families facing homelessness, was acquired by the county last year through the states Project Turnkey 2.0. The initiative, which Kotek helped launch when she served as state House speaker, has provided grant funding to turn vacant hotels and motels into shelters. The Owens-Adair Apartments offer 46 units to low-income seniors and people with disabilities near downtown. Now, the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority is looking to expand that work with the Owens II, a development next door that would roughly double the available units. Over the past few years, plans for the Owens II have been a source of debate and neighborhood opposition. Hsu-Feng Andy Shaw, the housing authoritys executive director, said the project faced geotechnical concerns that ultimately led them to scrap plans for an underground parking garage. Without the help of Senate Bill 1537, which Kotek backed during the last legislative session with a focus on prioritizing affordable housing, the project likely wouldnt have gotten a grading and erosion control permit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the efforts on the state level, Kotek attributed the progress in Clatsop County to relationship-driven outreach and collaborative partnerships between local governments, law enforcement and social services agencies. She noted the transformation shes seen since signing an emergency order on homelessness on her first day in office, when the county had zero year-round shelter beds. Clatsop County was not initially part of the governors emergency declaration, but was added later. That is an incredible start, Kotek said. That is an incredible amount of work to be done in the last 24 months less than 24 months and thats because of the hard work here in the community. But that work hasnt come without challenges. Koteks visit came just days after Oregon Housing and Community Services released a first-of-its-kind report on housing in Oregon, indicating that demand continues to outpace supply, costs continue to exceed wage increases and the state remains at the top of the list for unsheltered homelessness in the nation among families with children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That need is certainly a reality in Clatsop County Shaw said the waitlist for the Owens-Adair Apartments is roughly 300 people. To hear about the waitlist for this facility for our older citizens here in Clatsop County needing this type of housing, its pretty shocking, Kotek said. Kotek said she sees unique challenges for housing on the North Coast, including a lack of available land. Coastal communities also have a high number of second homes that often dont fall into the category of workforce or affordable housing. Infrastructure also poses a challenge. We have a lot of communities around the state, regardless of housing, (that) need new water and sewer, Kotek said. Im going to invest as much as I can for water and sewer projects that are going to bring in new housing or maintain existing housing, because that has to be the priority right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kotek highlighted the recent work shes done with the state Legislature to allocate roughly $100 million toward water and sewer infrastructure to help spur housing development. She added that she sees a path forward by prioritizing affordable and workforce housing for families around the state. As the governor looks to release her budget in December, she said the focus will be on maintaining and sustaining the commitments the state has already made to communities working to provide a continuum of care to people facing homelessness. Looking to the upcoming legislative session, she has a similar focus. My message to Legislature is going to be, lets build on the progress we have and stay the course on the things we know that are working, in that case, housing, homelessness, behavioral health, our education initiatives, Kotek said. I dont think we need to be flashy. We just need to be consistent, and I think right now thats what were going to need to see in our budget. As she continues to navigate housing and homelessness across the state, Kotek said the issue wont be a quick fix. The jobs not done, the governor said. Were building a statewide system that is a bare minimum to help folks who are unsheltered get into housing, and we have to then maintain that and pivot to putting more into production. This is a multiyear issue. Its not going to get solved overnight, so were going to continue to push. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. KAMAS, Utah (ABC4) New evidence has been revealed in the Kouri Richins murder case claiming that she requested fentanyl from more than one person prior to the death of her husband. Kouri Richins was charged with aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide after being accused of poisoning her husband with fentanyl. Her case gained notoriety as she was arrested in 2023 shortly after she wrote a childrens book on grief. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge denies Kouri Richins bail a second time, drops two charges Throughout the case, prosecutors have claimed Kouri Richins obtained fentanyl from an acquaintance later identified as housekeeper Carmen Lauber. During the preliminary hearing, a detective testified to interviewing Lauber several times and said it was determined Lauber had allegedly procured an opiate for Richins and counterfeit fentanyl pills. According to recently unsealed search warrants, Richins also asked a handyman working on her properties for fentanyl weeks before her husband Eric Richins death. The document which was unsealed on Tuesday says detectives interviewed the man earlier this year and he divulged that [Richins] asked him if he could procure both fentanyl and propofol for her. The man allegedly showed police the text messages between him and Richins and sent copies of those messages to detectives. The document did not make mention of him procuring the drugs, only noting that Richins had asked him to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities said the handyman has since died in a traffic incident, but his phone is in the custody of the Heber City Police as part of a separate investigation. Prosecutors have asked for the cell phone to be used as evidence, and they noted Heber officials have agreed to release the phone if served a warrant. Kouri Richins complete timeline in murder case A separate search warrant unsealed on the same day claims there is reason to believe there may be additional journals or written recordings made by [Kouri Richins] inside the Richins home. The document says authorities believe this due, in part, to comments made in Kouri Richins recorded jail calls and messages and statements from Eric Richins family. The Richins home is managed by Eric Richins sister who gave police permission to search the home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trial is set to take four weeks and is tentatively scheduled for April 28 through May 22, 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 ABC4 Utah. Wednesdays Top Stories Wednesdays Five Facts [1] APD gears up for holiday shopping season with plan to fight retail crime Legislators passed a law in 2023 that helps keep retail criminals behind bars, thieves can now face a felony charge instead of a misdemeanor for repeat offenses. Since the new legislation went into action, APD said theyve sent 61 of these felony cases to the DAs office. Starting Black Friday, APD Chief Harold Media said there will be an increase in patrols in major shopping areas like Uptown, Coronado Center, Cottonwood Mall, and Winrock. He said officers in uniform and in plain clothes will be on the lookout for thieves and to keep shoppers safe. [2] Advocates push NM lawmakers for stricter regulations on self-driving vehicle testing In 2021, state lawmakers passed a statute allowing self-driving vehicles to be tested on public roads, but with few requirements. Some companies like Torc Robotics in Albuquerque are testing self-driving semi trucks on I-40 and I-25. Advocates want stronger regulation to include having a human on board to monitor the self-driving technology and the submission of safety data to the state. They also suggested creating a workforce recovery fund that would provide financial support and job training opportunities to workers who lose their jobs to driverless vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [3] Snow/Rain in the north, mild weather in southern New Mexico Afternoon temperatures will be mostly higher than yesterday in southern areas, except for the northern two-thirds of the region because of chilly rain activity. As the Jet Stream to the north moves south more clouds with chilly rain showers will ensue today before Thanksgiving, [4] Intel in Rio Rancho receives $500M to expand facility Intel in Rio Rancho is receiving half a billion dollars from the federal government for a massive expansion, bringing advanced technology, upgraded facilities, and more jobs to metro area. The $500 million comes from the CHIPS & Science Act. Intel says the money will go toward modernizing operations and opening more areas for manufacturing within the plant. Intel also stated the investment will add 700 manufacturing jobs, [5] Albuquerque Luminaria Tour returns for 59th year The annual Luminaria Tour is returning for its 59th year. The popular tour takes guests through some of the most festive neighborhoods in Albuquerque, including Old Town and the Albuquerque Country Club. The event consists of five time slots that guests can purchase tickets for. Each tour lasts 45-minutes. Tickets go on sale November 29, at 8 a.m. People are encouraged to get their tickets early as the event usually sells out quickly. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Juliana Krumpak (17) and Gracie Callow (16) combined to score 33 points in McDonalds 54-14 win over Valley Christian. Kurmpak drained a trio of triples while hauling down 4 boards and finishing with 5 steals. Callow collected 4 caroms and had three steals. The Eagles were led by Brooklyn Barnettes 6 points. Valley Christian will host Campbell on Monday (Dec. 2). McDonald (2-0) will meet Mineral Ridge next Friday (Dec. 6). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Gearing up for another Trump presidency, Los Angeles County supervisors will funnel millions in funding to beef up support for immigrants and transgender residents, who could be targeted by the incoming administration. The governing board of the deep-blue county passed a flurry of resistance-themed motions Tuesday in response to the incoming presidents anti-transgender rhetoric and his pledge to carry out mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally. I have a sneaking suspicion this is the first of what will be many [motions] that will come forward as the new administration rolls out their ideas for what will be best for making America great again or not, said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, adding that it was surreal to find California back on the defense against a Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One motion, put forward by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, asks for $5.5 million in ongoing funding for legal services for immigrants. The motion, which passed 4 to 0, would also create a county task force focused on federal immigration policy and develop a campaign to educate immigrants on their legal rights. "We know in the coming months it's going to become more difficult for many of our friends and our neighbors, said Solis, noting that her office has already seen a ramping up in calls from desperate people in need of legal services. We've seen this playbook and we know what the consequences can be. L.A. County is home to an estimated 800,000 immigrants who live here illegally, according to USCs Equity Research Institute, or about 1 in 12 county residents. Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the boards sole Republican, abstained from the vote after noting there is already an immigration crisis under the Biden administration, with some migrants landing in tents on Skid Row. She said she visited the area recently and met a 15-year-old mother who had just come across the border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These families say the conditions on Skid Row are better than what they came from, said Barger. I just want to be careful to frame this for what it is we already have a serious crisis taking place right now. Read more: Children on Skid Row: Four migrant families form a tenuous community Many advocates Tuesday praised the county for moving swiftly to put some money behind its pledge to remain a safe haven for immigrants. Sometimes, localities will issue resolutions that just have nice words, said Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center, who said her organization met with Solis team almost immediately after Donald Trump was elected to suggest additional protections the county could enact. The county actually has concrete things they will do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city of Los Angeles, meanwhile, is moving forward with a plan to make it a sanctuary city by forbidding city employees from being involved in federal immigration enforcement. L.A. County took a similar step during Trumps first term, prohibiting county sheriffs from transferring people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a judicial warrant. But that has done little to ease the fears of many immigrants wary of deportation, advocates told the board Tuesday. Since the election, we have heard from numerous families paralyzed by uncertainty, said Diego Rodrigues, chief operating officer of Alma Family Services , a community organization. Including children terrified of seeing their parents deported or themselves taken away from the only country they know and love. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another motion, from Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, which passed unanimously Tuesday, would create a pilot program to support organizations serving transgender people in L.A. County, funded with $7 million over two years. Such an investment had long been sought by advocacy groups such as the TransLatin@ Coalition, founded by transgender women in L.A. The pilot program is expected to include $4.5 million for groups that provide a range of services to the "trans, gender-expansive and intersex," or TGI, community, preferably organizations led by TGI people. A Horvath spokesperson said the money would come from the county general fund. It will also include $2 million for an outside administrator who will process grant applications and help bolster the training and capacity of organizations that receive the money, as well as $500,000 for a program ombudsperson, according to the proposal. Read more: L.A. 'sanctuary city' law won't prevent deportations. But 'we are hardening our defenses' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outside the county building ahead of Tuesday's vote, dozens of people rallied and waved flags in support of the transgender "wellness and equity" initiative. June Paniouchkine, legislative affairs coordinator for the TransLatin@ Coalition, said the money would go to groups that "are going to empower our community to be housed, to be fed, to be employed, to be healthy, to have equal access" to government resources. "We know that there's a political force who are trying to diminish us and devalue us, but we are here to say, 'Hell, no,'" TransLatina@ Coalition President and Chief Executive Bamby Salcedo said to cheers and shouts. The move comes as President-elect Trump has argued that the U.S. should recognize only two genders male and female that are assigned at birth. He has pledged to stop federal money from being used for gender transition, which could limit access to medical procedures for transgender people who rely on programs such as Medicaid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And Trump has vowed to cut off Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youths. Medicaid and Medicare are major sources of funding for healthcare facilities. Horvath, who introduced the proposal for the L.A. County pilot program, said it was "about putting action to our words that we not only stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, but give them the tools and resources needed to thrive." The measure drew little criticism at the Tuesday meeting. One person argued in written comments that the pilot program was discriminatory and that the funding should instead be earmarked to support small-business owners. Barger said she was not questioning the validity of the proposal but had concerns about the process behind it, including the parameters surrounding which groups could receive funding and how the $7-million figure was reached. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The real need could be much higher," said Barger, who ultimately voted with the rest of the board to back the proposal. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles County prosecutors have asked for a time extension to file a response to Lyle and Erik Menendezs petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a separate legal issue not connected their ongoing requests for resentencing. According to a filing entered into the record Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Amy Wilton, the Assistant Deputy head of the Habeas Corpus Litigation Team, has asked the court to delay the deadline for the D.A.'s response to the petition until December 20, 2024. That dates comes after incoming District Attorney Nathan Hochman takes office on December 2. Wilton explained to the court that her team "is in the final stages of the briefing process and requests a short continuance to properly complete necessary pre-filing edits to the informal response." Related: Menendez Brothers' Elderly Aunts Plead With Judge to Release Their Nephews The deadline for the DA's response to the writ filed on May 3, 2023, had been set by Superior Court Judge William Ryan for Tuesday, Nov. 26. At the time, prosecutors were asked to explain whether explosive evidence of sexual abuse that was kept from a jury deciding the fate of two of California's most notorious killersErik and Lyle Menendezat the brothers' 1996 retrial, which ended in their conviction. In the writ filed by attorneys Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, Wilton wrote the Menendez brothers' lawyers: "allege Petitioner Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, in 1988 regarding sexual abuse; and a declaration purportedly from a witness alleging that he was sexually abused by Petitioners' father," Jose Menendez. [Geragos is the co-owner of Engine Vision Media, the parent company of Los Angeles] The witness referenced in Wilton's filing has been identified as Roy Rossello Diaz, a former member of the iconic boy band Menudo, that Jose Menendez anally raped him. Related: Father of Missing Hawaiian Artist Hannah Kobayashi Found Dead Near LAX Rossello told the producers of the Peacock documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed that he shared a limousine with Menendez after a concert in New York City when he was 14 that took them to a mansion in New Jersey where he was given wine, and then lost consciousness and woke up back in his hotel. He was bleeding from the anus. He was in unbearable pain for a week. That new evidence, the writ for habeas corpus, proves the brothers acted in imperfect self-defense when they shot their parents dead on Aug. 20, 1989, in the family's Beverly Hills mansion. On Monday, the Menendez brothers were in court for the first time in decades to watch as their elderly aunts made impassioned pleas at a status conference for a resentencing push in the case, one supported by Gascon, who announced in October that he believes the boys were abused and should be paroled. The outgoing D.A. recommended to the court a new sentence of 50 years to life, which could make them immediately eligible for parole because they were less than 26 years old when they killed their parents. Related: The World Will See the Menendez Brothers (Virtually) Monday as Lawyers Push for Resentencing On Monday, however, Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he could not move forward with the hearing scheduled for Dec. 11 due to the amount of evidence he needed to go through. He postponed the hearing to Jan. 30. The judge in that separate proceeding pushed the sentencing hearing to Jan. 20, 2025. Lyle, now 56, and Erik, 53, are currently imprisoned at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, an arduous journey for Baralt, who testified that she is battling colon cancer. I would like to be able to see them and hug them, not in the jail," said 85-year-old Teresita Baralt, Jose's older sister. "I want them to come home so I can hug them and see them." Kitty's older sister Joan VanderMolen, who turned 93 Tuesday, also said she wants her nephews home and spoke about the unrelenting sexual, emotional, and physical abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents before the sensational murders took place. The brothers attorneys have submitted papers requesting clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who indicated that out of respect for Hochman, he will wait for the new top prosecutor to review the case. Their case has taken on international interest with a Ryan Murphy Netflix drama series that the Menendez family has panned. COLORADO (KRQE) La Plata County Jail is ending a 30-year agreement with the City of Durango, which allows them to send their inmates there. The city now has 30 days to negotiate new terms or lose the ability to use the jail for certain inmates. This was all discussed at the La Plata County Commission meeting Tuesday morning. Theres not an intent to not house City of Durango inmates, said Sheriff Sean Smith of the La Plata County Sheriffs Office. Were strictly trying to make sure we have our liability covered and that we have tools necessary to manage the population when we get to that point. Roswell mayor: Full recovery from flooding may take 3 to 4 years Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In February of 1994, the La Plata County Jail and the City of Durango entered into an agreement that the county jail would house city inmatesmeaning people who violated city codes in Durango, like camping in public places. For 30 years, the two entities have been amending and renewing that contract; but now, concerns of overcrowding, liability, and financial stress have led the jail to want a new agreementthat means, ending the old contract, which the jail needs the La Plata County Commissions approval to do. The city has an opportunity to not disrupt its abilities to house city prisoners at the jail by executing a new IGA (intergovernmental agreement) prior to December 26th, 2024, which is 30 days from the date of the attached letter, said Chuck Stevens, La Plata County manager. If they cant reach an agreement by then, La Plata County would no longer house city prisoners, Stevens said Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sheriff was quick to explain: people who violate Colorado state law would still be housed in their jail. This is not cutting off the jail to the city of Durango Police Department. This is simply saying that this municipal set of ordinances that their court enforces is whats potentially impacted, Smith said. Smith said all of this was triggered when the jail had more than 200 inmates in August, despite only technically being allowed to house 195 a day; also, increasing liability concerns and rising costs to house inmates amid financial challenges in the county. It highlighted for us the fact that we didnt have all the current agreements we wanted, Smith added. Negotiations in recent months between the county jail and the city to reach a new agreement have stalled; so Monday, the commission voted unanimously to send the city the termination letter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the commission meeting, the presiding judge of the Durango Municipal Court expressed concern that losing the agreement would leave them without the ability to enforce the citys laws, especially for repeat offenders. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Its become a Black Friday tradition almost as hallowed as the predawn crowds of bargain hunters outside Best Buy or Target: During one of busiest shopping seasons of the year, thousands of Amazon workers in more than 20 countries, including major cities across the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany and Japan, will be striking to demand action on labor rights and climate targets. The Make Amazon Pay movements days of resistance, which are poised to run from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2, will mark the UNI Global Union and Progressive International-helmed undertakings fifth go-around. Since 2020, it has amassed the participation of more than 30 workers unions, environmental organizations and civil society groups. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This years demonstrations will see thousands of warehouse workers from the German cities of Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund, Graben, Koblenz, Rheinberg and Werne head for the picket lines. Amazon packaging and shipping employees in New Delhi will be rallying over what they say was a disregard for worker wellbeing during a brutal heatwave that sent temperatures soaring past 122 degrees Fahrenheit in July. In Bangladesh, garment workers will be swarming the streets to call on the e-tail Goliath to sign the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, the successor to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh that coalesced following the deadly collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013. Over in France, the Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizens Action will be hitting the sidewalks of several cities to urge Amazon to pony up its fair share of taxes. Amazons relentless pursuit of profit comes at a cost to workers, the environment and democracy, said Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union, which is based in Switzerland. [Jeff] 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 justicefor union representationcant 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. Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokesperson, said that the groups represent a variety of interests and while its always listening and looking at ways to improve, it remains proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits and engaging, safe work experience it provides its employees. Even so, the Whole Foods owners reputation for resisting its workers efforts at organizingsometimes aggressively soisnt unfounded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, lawyers for Amazon stood in federal appeals court questioning the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board, which has challenged the e-commerce juggernaut for what it describes as the improper influence of unionization elections through the now-banned captive audience meetings, including at an Alabama warehouse that a federal judge ruled should get a third opportunity to vote. In September, the board issued Amazon with a complaint charging it with using unfair labor practices to interfere with the organizing efforts of California Delivery Service Partner drivers represented by a Teamsters Local in Palmdale despite being legally bound to recognize and bargain with the union as a joint employer. On Tuesday, Amazon drivers at its DGT8 facility in Atlanta also formed a union with the Teamsters, which they demanded recognition of in a March on the Boss held in the morning. They said that theyre fighting for better pay, safe working conditions and a voice on the job. Amazon workers deserve so much more from a company that makes billions of dollars in profits every year, said Trent Knight, an Amazon Teamster at DGT8. Many of us can barely afford to pay our bills and make rent each month, yet were the reason Amazon is one of the most profitable companies in the world. With this union, were taking a step to finally get the pay, benefits and respect we deserve. Hards pushed back, saying that the Teamsters are continuing to intentionally mislead and misrepresent the facts. The truth is that there are multiple independent small businesses that deliver on our behalf from this facility, and none of them are Amazon employees, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Workers in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom are likewise facing intimidation and retaliation for exercising their right to unionize, Make Amazon Pay said. It also pointed out that Amazon had to correct its declared European Union lobbying expenditure for 2023 following complaints by several transparency organizations that it was underreporting the figure by millions of euros, and that the companys apparent refusal to participate in public hearings led the European ParliamentAmazon refutes thisto revoke its lobbyists permanent access badges in February. Amazon is everywhere, but so are we, said Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-general coordinator at Progressive International, an activist mobilization platform with more than 70 member groups under its wing. 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. Labour has been accused of shutting the door on tenants with bad credit, the elderly and individuals moving from abroad to work or study in Britain. Matthew Pennycook, the Housing Minister, said in parliament on Tuesday that the Government would ban landlords from being allowed to charge more than one months rent upfront. Mr Pennycook told MPs that demands for extortionate rent in advance can exclude certain groups from renting altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But critics warned that prohibiting the practice could worsen the rental crisis as landlords have less protection against potentially risky tenants. Paying rent in advance can act as a form of insurance for landlords when tenants cannot pass credit checks, have low or sporadic incomes, fail referencing checks, or have no access to a guarantor. Estate agents and landlord support services said that getting rid of the option altogether would just exclude more people from Britains rental market. In opposition earlier this year, Mr Pennycook, then shadow housing minister, tabled an amendment to the Torys Renters Reform Bill to stop landlords and estate agents from asking for more than five weeks of rent upfront. The amendment, though it never made it into the old bill, could now form part of Labours new Renters Rights Bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Julie Ford, director of landlord support service Gothard Rowe, said: Getting rid of rent advance payments will discriminate against a lot of people, such as those with bad credit but who have savings and can pay rent upfront. It will also discriminate against overseas people who wont be able to pass our credit system. If youre not allowing rent to be paid upfront to show goodwill, youre actually shutting the door on an awful lot of people. Its a double-edged sword. Rent in advance can be seen as discriminatory for those who dont have the cash, but if you remove it, along with Section 21 and fixed-term tenancies, landlords will just be a lot more picky. Ms Ford said the Government will need to tread carefully, so as not to create more discrimination in a bill intended to help rather than hinder tenants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Renters Rights Bill, once enacted next summer, will also replace all fixed tenancies with rolling tenancies, and stop landlords from being able to use no-fault evictions via Section 21. Timothy Douglas, of estate agency trade body Propertymark, said his concern is the student market. He added: Especially international students who cant get guarantors. Youre also scuppering tenants on a work placement, or elderly tenants on lower incomes but who have savings. Murray Lee, of northwest London agent Dreamview Estates, said he often helps tenants who dont fit the box for references. He added: Initially, it puts you off taking them. Some are coming for work from overseas, in between changing jobs, or dont quite reach the income figures but can pay rent upfront. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you take that option away from them, they just wont be able to rent here anymore. Ones without guarantors wont have a leg to stand on and wont have anywhere to go. We helped a gentleman recently coming in from abroad who had a work contract that started in November and he wanted to come in September. We took six months rent in advance from him. He wouldnt have been able to come here otherwise. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was approached for comment. 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. Matilda told such dreadful lies, It made one gasp and stretch ones eyes. In the Hilaire Belloc poem, Matilda, tired of play, tiptoes to the telephone and summons for immediate aid the London fire brigade. Her aunt eventually succeeds in persuading the attending fire fighters that they are not needed, and even then she had to pay to get the men to go away. A few weeks later a real fire breaks out, but every time Matilda shouts fire, they only answer little liar. The poem ends with Matilda, and the house, burned to the ground. Read my lips no new taxes or borrowing, Rachel Reeves told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can be confident we are not going to come back again and do another Budget like this, she promised business leaders. Where have we heard that before? Less than six months ago, as it happens, during the run up to the last election. Reeves repeatedly claimed that everything had been fully costed, and she would not need to raise taxes beyond a limited number of targeted measures detailed in the manifesto. As is now obvious, it was a false prospectus. Reeves should therefore not be surprised to learn that her latest pledge has been received with almost universal disbelief. She promised the most pro-business Treasury ever, the fastest rate of growth in the G7, a boom in investment and infrastructure spending, and in a so-called smoked salmon offensive, she had spent months convincing corporate Britain that it had nothing to fear from a Labour government. Some of them even bought it, disillusioned as they were with a Tory government that had enacted Brexit without a clue as to what to do with it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All that Labour bridge-building is now turned to dust amid a triple whammy: a 25bn increase in employers National Insurance contributions, a steep rise in the national living wage and a jobs-destroying, business-stifling increase in employment rights. Political honeymoons are often short-lived, with the demands and compromises of Government soon knocking the shine off the warm glow of electoral success. But this one has happened in double-quick time, taking even those of us who had warned of likely disappointment by surprise. The warning signs were there all along. Its what happens when political leaders win power on the basis of a long list of what they would not do, while leaving the detail of what they might be planning deliberately vague so as not to frighten the voters. As it is, Labours leadership doesnt seem to know what it wants to do with its election victory in any case. It is as if winning was an end in itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Such as it is, Labours economic strategy seems to be in the long British tradition of simply attempting to muddle through while simultaneously answering supposed social unfairnesses by lining the pockets of the partys public sector paymasters. Government proposals for getting Britain working again have meanwhile fallen woefully short of the tough love needed to properly address the problem and stem the rising tide of disability benefits. Reasonably sensible, though still inadequate, measures for dealing with the issue proposed by Mel Stride, the last governments work and pensions secretary, have been scrapped and replaced with as far as one can see no more than a lot of hot air. With the jobs market already clobbered by National Insurance and minimum wage increases and private sector employment opportunities in free fall, the Governments target of an 80pc employment rate or an extra 2m in work looks hopelessly delusional. Its more likely that pigs would fly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The shame of it all is that with such an overwhelming majority, Labour has a real opportunity to address some of the core weaknesses and pathologies at the heart of the UK economy. It appears instead to have chosen the path of weak-minded compromise and indecision. The Chancellor is right to insist that fixing the public finances must be a priority, but if this is done in a way that stifles growth, it cannot ultimately succeed. At the CBIs annual conference, the Chancellor suggested that it was all very well complaining about her tax raising, but nobody has suggested credible alternatives. Poppycock. Whacking employers for an extra 25bn in taxes was not an unavoidable necessity. It was a political choice which spared the Government the embarrassment of having to more directly breach its manifesto promises by increasing levels of personal taxation. A further option would have been the hard yards of reducing government spending after the let rip policies of the pandemic, which seem to have intractably added another 2pc points of GDP to ongoing state spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The basic problem with the UK economy is easily diagnosed. For many decades now, we have been spending way beyond our means. We consume and import too much, and we save, invest and export too little. The wonder is that this imbalance has not already been more severely punished by markets. In part, its because of the stop gap of North Sea oil and gas. And it is also because of that great dynamo of wealth and tax generation, the City. Sadly, the first of these props is now in steep decline cheered loudly in its demise by the Government and weighed down by regulatory overkill and the delusions of Brexit, the second is fast losing its competitive edge. In a week that saw the demise of Northvolt, one of Europes supposed answers to Chinas virtual monopoly of battery supply, it is folly to think that the planned green energy transition can act as a substitute either in terms of jobs or growth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I say all this not just as a cry of despair, but to point out that these weaknesses are the result of decades of poor policy. You dont have to go full Teutonic hair-shirt to correct the UKs imbalances and deficiencies, but it does require a degree of economic realism and hard-headed determination that is largely lacking in todays political leadership. We cannot forever carry on with a mindset that sees the solution to every problem as another state handout, more taxation, more borrowing and more spending. Eventually, there will be an almighty crisis that brutally forces change on a mollycoddled nation, where everywhere you look there is some seemingly deserving case with its hand held out for a wodge of taxpayer pounds. To turn on the radio each morning is to listen to one grievance ridden cause after another demanding state support and/or compensation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be well never to get to such a ruinous state of affairs that markets impose their own, uncompromising solutions, but evasive action is nowhere to be seen. Another five years of muddling through should just about get us there. 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. LAGRANGE, Ga. (WRBL) Police officers were called to the 400 block of Daniel Street in LaGrange after gunshots were fired at a home Tuesday morning. Officers came to the scene around 7:46 a.m. on Nov. 26. The victims of the shooting say a single round entered through their home and hit the kitchen wall. No injuries were sustained, according to LaGrange police. The LaGrange Police Department asks anyone with more information to call them at 706-883-2603. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) Detectives with the Greenville Police Department are seeking help from the public in finding a suspect wanted for child abduction. Jacquea Dynette Cox faces charges including felony child abduction and obstruction of justice. A court ordered her 1-year-old baby, Giovanna Jordan, to be in custody of the state. Law enforcement are looking for 1-year-old Giovanna Jordan. (Photo courtesy of Greenville Police Department) Officers said both Cox and the childs father, Joseph Typaige Jordan, have not cooperated with law enforcement or the Department of Social Services and they withheld information regarding the childs location. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jordan was found in Winterville earlier Tuesday and was charged with felony child abduction and obstruction of justice. Cox and the baby have not yet been found. Anyone with information on Coxs or the babys location is asked to call (252)-329-4300. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) A New Mexico man received what lawyers are calling the largest medical malpractice payout in history. A jury decided this week that he will receive more than $400 million in damages for botched penile injections. The $412,005,149 verdict was against NuMale Medical Center on Wyoming and Paseo for what attorneys called fraud and unfair business practices. According to the lawsuit, the man in his 70s sought treatment for fatigue and weight loss at NuMales Albuquerque clinic in 2017. Special prosecutor appeals dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attorneys said the clinic misdiagnosed him and unnecessarily treated him with invasive erectile dysfunction shots, causing irreversible damage. This corporate scheme manipulates and uses fear as a tactic to convince these men to do this, Nick Rowley, a trial lawyer, told KRQE News 13. The lawyers said their client went through multiple rounds of medication and procedures, and he underwent surgery by an unqualified physician assistant. In a statement, the attorneys said this unprecedented verdict sends a powerful message that medical providers cannot prioritize profits over patients well-being without being held accountable. NuMale Medical Center told KRQE News 13 that they disagree with the verdict and intent to pursue all available legal remedies, including appeal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) Lawyers in southeastern Bangladesh boycotted courts Wednesday to protest the killing of a colleague in a daylong violence over the arrest of a prominent minority Hindu leader. Hundreds of followers of Krishna Das Prabhu clashed with security officials and Muslims after a magistrate denied him bail and ordered him detained on sedition charges Tuesday pending further proceedings. Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5, an interim government has been struggling to ease tension in the South Asian nation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hindus and members of other minority groups say they have faced more attacks than ever since Hasina fled to India following a massive uprising against her 15-year rule. The government says the threat to Hindus has been exaggerated. Around 91% of Bangladeshs population is Muslim, with Hindus making up almost all of the rest. The violence on Tuesday began as police attempted to transport Prabhu, also known as Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, to jail. His supporters surrounded the van carrying him, forcing it to stop for hours. To disperse the crowd, police fired teargas, stun grenades and charged them with batons, leaving scores injured. Muslims also joined the security officials and attacked the Hindu protesters. A Muslim lawyer, Saiful Islam Alif, was killed in an alley as he was reportedly leaving the court area as violence raged. It was not clear who killed him. Prabhu's Hindu group denied the allegation it was responsible and demanded an investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, president of the Chattogram District Bar Association, told The Associated Press that the lawyers in the city were protesting the killing and would boycott the courts on Thursday as well. He blamed the authorities, especially police, for failing to prevent hours of violence. We want security for us. He was killed in broad daylight. Police and other security officials were there, but he was killed. We cannot allow such incidents to continue, Chowdhury said. On Wednesday, thousands of mourners joined the funeral prayers for the slain lawyer. Authorities said that security officials arrested at least six suspects after verifying video footage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The press office of the interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, said that another 21 people were arrested in Chattogram in connection with attacks on police and vandalism. Prabhu is a prominent Hindu leader and a respected figure. He is a member of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group. He is also associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, widely known as the Hare Krishna movement, and acts as a spokesman for the group in Bangladesh. On Tuesday, India expressed deep concern over the violence and Prabhu's arrest. Bangladesh said it was its internal affairs. (Bloomberg) -- Far-right leader Marine Le Pens finance chief said Wednesday her lawmakers have not yet decided if they will vote to bring down the French government in a no-confidence motion over the budget. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Le Pens National Rally is set to cast the deciding votes in a ballot to censure the government that is likely to take place in the coming weeks as Prime Minister Michel Barnier attempts to adopt the 2025 budget. The prospect of a government collapse has fueled investor concern over the political and financial outlook for France. The gap between French 10-year bond and safer German equivalents widened as much as four basis points to 90 basis points on Wednesday, the highest since 2012. Censuring the government is grave and should not be taken lightly, National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy said at a press conference at the French parliament. Barnier will probably have to use a constitutional provision known as 49.3 to bypass a parliamentary vote and adopt next years budget, as his government lacks a majority in the lower house. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But using the tool could lead to a no-confidence vote, which would need the backing of both the far right and the left-wing alliance New Popular Front to succeed. While political opposites, both groups have criticized Barniers budget proposals. What Bloomberg Economics Says... If the government were to fall in the coming weeks, Macron would have to reappoint a new cabinet since no new elections can take place before July. It is unlikely at this stage that he would consider resigning to facilitate an early presidential election. Antonio Barroso and Eleonora Mavroeidi. For full insight, click here Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The far-right lawmakers comments come just hours after Barnier warned that there would be a serious storm in financial markets if the budget is rejected and he is voted out of power. Tanguy said the warning unnecessarily fuels fears as there are options for legislation to ensure the state keeps functioning if the budget bill fails. The National Rally would back such emergency laws to allow the state to continue to collect taxes, he added. The lawmaker said the budget debate is not yet over and there is still room for significant changes to bills as they move between the French Senate and the National Assembly. Claiming that censure has already been decided on by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella would be false and irresponsible as it closes the door to final negotiations, Tanguy said, referring to the partys chiefs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from James Hirai. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. STAR-ADVERTISER / NOV. 12 Oahu Transit Serv ices Inc., the private company that manages the citys bus system, suffered a cyberattack in mid-June. The breach caused disruptions to the bus system and HOLO card services for about two weeks. STAR-ADVERTISER / NOV. 12 Oahu Transit Serv ices Inc., the private company that manages the citys bus system, suffered a cyberattack in mid-June. The breach caused disruptions to the bus system and HOLO card services for about two weeks. A crippling cyberattack that targeted TheBus and The Handi-Van earlier this year wound up costing the city $100, 000 or more in lost fare revenues, Honolulu officials indicate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nearly a half-year later, Oahu Transit Serv ices Inc., the private company that manages the citys bus and paratransit system, said its still working on implementing cybersecurity measures to protect its fleet as well as its ridership. Over several days in mid-June, OTS said, thebus.org website, HEA (also known as Honolulu Estimated Arrival ) and related GPS services were inoperable due to the cyberattack. The city Department of Transportation Services said on June 18 that there was a cyber breach and that OTS was working with the proper authorities to investigate and handle the situation. HOLO card readers on TheBus and TheHandi-Van were also affected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Skyline rail operations were not affected by the breach, and, at the time, train riders were required to tap their HOLO cards at the fare gates, DTS said. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Initial and unconfirmed reports said the breach was the result of DragonForce ransomwarewhich extorts money from victims by first locking companies or agencies out of their own computer systems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But during a June 18 news conference, Roger Morton, DTS director, told reporters OTS had not paid any ransom and that officials were unclear exactly what kind of cyberattack crippled the city systems. Still, there was an indication from an outside entity that it was a result of an outside actor that had entered the system, he said at the time. OTS cybersecurity experts jumped in to try to remedy the situation, and very quickly the phone system, which had been down Saturday morning was restored so that regular operations from the users continued with some minor Saturday interruptions. By Saturday afternoon everything was running normally as far as regular operations, said Morton, who added that the Honolulu Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies were informed of the cyberattack. What still does not operate normally is connections which require an external connection to other systems. All in all, the impact of the cyberattack on the citys transit system was apparent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OTS President and General Manager Robert Yu told the City Councils Public Infrastructure and Technology Committee last week that the cyberattack caused disruptions to the bus system and HOLO card services for about two weeks. Since that time, Yu said, OTS has looked at adding new firewalls to prevent cyberattacks and implemented additional cyber monitoring security features. The breach also resulted in training our employees on the importance of looking at emails and making sure its the proper email that you recognize the sender, he said Thursday at the meeting. OTS is considering the use of a product that will recognize a first-time email sender to our network, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the software will send a message to the first-time sender asking for verification before the email could come through our system, Yu told the committee. And we think thats one of the better security features that we want to look at. OTS is looking at multifactor authentication, too, he said. Thats one of the things that weve been rolling out, he added. Its going to the office staff ; any employees working remotely need to have (an ) MFA. Yu said that type of authentication system would be needed for OTS to potentially buy cyber insurance. At the meeting, Andria Tupola, committee chair, asked how much revenue the city lost during the two-week period in June. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About $100, 000, Yu replied. And with this possible insurance youre going to get, in the event that happens again, would they cover the loss ? she asked. It all depends on what the exceptions are, Yu said. Tupola then asked whether OTS had purchased insurance. As soon as we get our MFA up, then we will look into it, Yu replied. Tupola also queried whether the cyberattack came through an email. Without sharing many details, Yu asserted one email came through an OTS email server, while another server was affected in a similar way. Although Yu pegged the loss of transit revenue at $100, 000, Kaneohe resident Donald Sakamoto told the committee it was much more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sakamoto cited DTS Director Morton recently informing the Honolulu Rate Commission that the city lost approximately $300, 000 in fare revenue due to the cyberattack. Im kind of worried that that much money was lost in that two-week time, Sakamoto added. After the meeting, OTS told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser there was only one cyber breach at its facility. We estimated revenue lost at around $100, 000 using data provided by the Department of Transportation Services HOLO card contractor, Ulu HI-Tech, an OTS spokesperson said. There have been no cyber breaches on OTS since the June incident, the spokesperson said. And they confirmed that no ransom was ever paid over the breach at OTS either. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meantime, high-tech data systems operate most of Honolulus transit operations, according to Morton. Just from DTS perspective, we have a number of data systems that we operate or have operated for us, he told the committee. First and foremost, we have our OTS system, which they operate themselves. OTS is not part of the city system, he added. They have their own IT department ; they have cyber professionals within that group, Morton said. He stressed that much of the citys transit system is largely protected from cyberattacks. He also said Skylines Hitachi Rail system is a very comprehensive data rail system that keeps our trains running without an operator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We operate all of our parking meters with an outside vendor ; those are all connected through data systems, he said. We have our very sophisticated traffic signal control system, which goes around the island and controls all the traffic signals. Morton said the traffic signal system is not connected to any other system ; its not part of the internet or anything like that. Honolulus online outage in June recalls a prior, suspected hack into TheBus online system about three years before. On Dec. 9, 2021, an alleged cyberattack targeting OTS disabled the online servers to both administrative and operating access for TheBus and TheHandi-Van, according to DTS. While most resources related to operations of TheBus and TheHandi-Van were restored in that incident, email servers were shut down. In what was later investigated as a ransomware attack, Honolulu city officials collaborated with transit agencies in other U.S. cities targeted by hackers affiliated with Russia. The FBI, HPD and U.S. Secret Service also looked into the prior incident.------------Star-Advertiser staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report.------------ The Lebanese Army on Wednesday said it was taking the "necessary measures" to implement the ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. The country's military - which has attempted to remain neutral in the fighting - is to be stationed on the border as part of the ceasefire agreement to ensure that Hezbollah units remain north of the Litani River, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The Lebanese Army is to cooperate with peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to complete the mission, it said in a post on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It further called on residents of southern Lebanon to be patient before attempting to return home as Israeli troops withdraw from the area. Long traffic jams have already formed on roads to the region, with an Israeli military spokesman warning civilians to stay away from specific areas until the ceasefire conditions are met. LEBANON , Tenn. (WKRN) The Lebanon Police Department (LPD) conducted multiple raids this month, removing deadly drugs and weapons off the streets. Lebanon police recently took to social media to post photos of a drug raid that occurred Friday, Nov. 22 after search warrants were issued at a home along Westlynn Drive. 3 men accused of climbing to the top of the AT&T building From multiple different narcotics and firearms, then we also seized multiple vehicles and over $10,000 in cash, said Zach Patton, public information officer for LPD, about the Friday incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, some residents are asking if drug crimes are becoming more common in the area. Just a week ago, search warrants turned up 2.5 pounds of cocaine, multiple firearms, more than 100 fentanyl pills, over $20,000 and multiple vehicles. The Friday incident is just one of several drug raids the police department has shared on social media this month. 14-year-old charged with carjacking by Metro police Is this something we are seeing more often in Lebanon, and is this alarming? asked News 2s Kendall Ashman. Drugs do not discriminate against any city or anybody. So unfortunately, there are drugs throughout our city. I mean, we have a long stretch of I-40, so theres a lot of drugs that are trafficked up and down I-40, explained Patton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Patton added that the departments Special Operations Division is tracking the drug activity. They have a lot of specialized training when it comes to hazmat, meth lab, and then obviously specialized training like you saw in this search warrant, he said. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee According to Patton, authorities are ultimately saving lives by getting these dangerous and deadly drugs off the streets. These are obviously some pretty bad narcotics. I mean, from this most recent search warrant, we had cocaine, fentanyl and pressed pills and we know how dangerous fentanyl can be, and thats why its so important to get these off our streets, he concluded. We do not want that here in Lebanon, and thats why our department and our officers and our Special Operations Division is doing an incredible job at being proactive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. By Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reprised his role as a key interlocutor between Hezbollah and the United States as Washington sought to mediate an end to the war with Israel, drawing on decades of experience to help clinch the deal. It has underlined the sway the 86-year-old still holds over Lebanon, particularly the Shi'ite Muslim community in which he has loomed large for decades, and has been seen as a steadying influence since Israel killed Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Addressing Lebanese in a televised speech on Wednesday, Berri said Lebanon was closing "a historical moment that was the most dangerous that Lebanon has ever experienced", and appealed to Lebanese to show unity for the sake of Lebanon. Berri rose to prominence as head of the Shi'ite Amal Movement during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. He has served as parliament speaker - the highest role for a Shi'ite in Lebanon's sectarian order - since 1992. Hezbollah's new leader Sheikh Naim Qassem endorsed Berri as a negotiator, calling him the group's "big brother." U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met Berri repeatedly during numerous visits to Beirut aiming to broker an end to the hostilities which were fought in parallel with the Gaza war and escalated dramatically in September. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It echoed the role Berri played in helping to bring an end to the last major war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. Diplomats say his role has been all the more important because Lebanon is without a president, its cabinet has only partial authority, and there are few ways to access Hezbollah, which is branded a terrorist group by the United States. "When you come to Lebanon now, he is really the only person worth meeting. He is the state," a Beirut-based diplomat said. He rose to global prominence in 1985 by helping negotiate the release of 39 Americans held hostage in Beirut by Shi'ite militants who hijacked a U.S. airliner during Lebanon's 15-year civil war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His election as speaker after the civil war coincided with Nasrallah's rise to leadership of Hezbollah. Together, they led the "Shi'ite duo," a reference to the two parties that dominated Shi'ite political representation and much of the state. A diplomat who frequently visits Berri said: "He's the trusted partner of Hezbollah, which makes him very important, but there is also a clear limit to what he can do, be it due to Hezbollah or Iranian stances." Israeli fire has hit areas where Berri's Amal Movement holds sway, including the city of Tyre. IMPROVING SHI'ITES' STANDING Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Born in 1938 in Sierra Leone to an emigrant merchant family from Tibnine, Berri was raised in Lebanon and was active in politics by the time he was at university. Many in the once downtrodden Shi'ite community applaud Berri for helping improve their standing in a sectarian system where privileges were skewed towards Christians and Sunni Muslims. A trained lawyer, Berri took the helm of Amal after its founder, Imam Musa Sadr, disappeared during a visit to Libya. Berri was behind the military rise of Amal, which fought against nearly all the main parties to the civil war including Hezbollah, which later became an ally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the civil war, Berri's Shi'ite followers joined the state apparatus and security agencies en masse, and he appeared to move in political lockstep with Hezbollah. When a 2006 U.S. embassy cable raised questions over his true feelings towards Hezbollah on its publication in 2010, he dismissed it, declaring that Nasrallah "is like myself". In 2023, Berri's Amal fighters joined Hezbollah in firing rockets against Israel in solidarity with Gaza when Israel began its offensive after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. Foreign envoys began visiting Beirut and meeting Berri to try to halt exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border, and sought to convince Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River running some 30 km (20 miles) north of the frontier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Berri told one foreign official "it would be easier to move the Litani River south to the border than to push Hezbollah north of the Litani," a source close to Berri told Reuters. But Berri's opponents have also criticised him as part of the sectarian elite that steered Lebanon into economic ruin in 2019, when the financial system collapsed after decades of state corruption. Others blame him for refusing to call a parliamentary session for lawmakers to elect a president, leaving the top Christian post in government empty for more than two years. Berri's role as a diplomatic conduit has irked Hezbollah's political rivals, such as the Christian Lebanese Forces, who say any negotiations must be carried out by Lebanon's president. (Reporting by Timour Azhari, Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily; Writing by Tom Perry, Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Timothy Heritage) CAIRO (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah on Wednesday vowed to continue its resistance and support Palestinians, including fighters, a day after a ceasefire deal between the group and Israel was announced. In the first statement by Hezbollah's operations centre since the deal was announced, the group made no direct mention of the ceasefire deal. "The Islamic resistance's operations room affirms that its fighters in all military disciplines will remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy," the group said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It added that its fighters would continue to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces beyond the Lebanese borders "with their hands on the trigger". The ceasefire deal includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon within 60 days, Israeli officials said. The deal, brokered by the U.S. and France, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years. Israel is still fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. (Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Lisa Shumaker) (Greenleaf123 | Getty Images) West Virginias largest nonprofit legal services organization is receiving a nearly $433,000 grant that will go toward developing artificial intelligence tools to help residents easily access and find legal information pertinent to their needs. The grant for Legal Aid of West Virginia a statewide nonprofit that provides free legal services and advocacy for all residents, especially those who are low-income totals $432,900 and is a Technical Initiative Grant from the national Legal Services Corporation, according to a news release. The award is one of 31 granted this year to legal organizations across 22 states, which total up to $5.9 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The money, according to the release, will help the team at Legal Aid create A Common Legal Help AI Model. It will combine information from leading law websites for commonly asked questions regarding the legal process and laws, based largely on Stanford Universitys Legal Design Lab. The aim of the project, per the release, is to increase access to legal assistance while making the information more understandable and user-friendly for those who need it. We must ensure every American has access to a fair justice system, regardless of income or background, and Legal Aid of West Virginia is an absolutely invaluable organization in this mission, said Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., in the release. Im pleased they are receiving this well-deserved funding to support technology innovation and modernization to better help low-income West Virginians navigate the legal system. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue advocating for resources to boost Legal Aids critical efforts. The Legal Services Corporation is an independent nonprofit that was founded through an act of Congress in 1974 with the goal of providing financial assistance to legal organizations serving low-income people across the country. Since its founding, the corporation has awarded 923 grants totaling more than $91 million toward technology projects for local and regional legal aid groups. Those funds, according to the release, have been successful in enhancing cybersecurity measures, building educational programs, strengthening general program capacity and supporting the work of no-cost legal representation for individuals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [The Legal Services Corporation] is proud to promote innovative solutions to the access to justice crisis, including supporting legal aid organizations efforts to embrace useful technology tools, said LSC President Ron Flagg in the release. The Technology Initiative Grants support projects that improve the delivery of legal services and information to people who need support navigating serious civil legal problems that impact their housing, debt, employment or family stability. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) As the holiday season kicks in, many Florida residents are eager to get in the spirit of decorating their homes, their offices, and even their cars. From the cute antlers and red nose on the front to elf legs sticking out from the trunk, drivers love to be creative and festive this time of year. Gold coins worth $1M, stolen from Florida shipwrecks, have been recovered: FWC Can you legally put Christmas lights in or around your car? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Florida Statutes, you technically can, as long as it doesnt fall under the prohibited lights. Prohibited lights Vehicles must not have any lamp or device displaying a red, red and white, or blue light, due to these mimicking an emergency and other authorized vehicles. Flashing lights are also a no-go, as these can disrupt normal traffic operations and necessary vehicular signals. For example, flashing lights can indicate a right or left turn, mimic emergency response lights, and be used for periods of low visibility. Family awarded $8M verdict in lawsuit against Busch Gardens What is allowed? In Florida, vehicles are allowed to have additional lighting equipment, as long as they remain within the following guidelines: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A maximum of two side cowl or fender lamps, emitting an amber or white light without glare Only one running board courtesy lamp on each side, emitting an amber or white light without glare One or more lamps or devices underneath the motor vehicle as long as such lamps or devices do not mimic emergency vehicle lights, as stated in the prohibited lights above One or more backup lamps either separately or in combination with other lamps, but cant be lit when the vehicle is moving forward Vehicles over 80 inches wide cannot have more than three identification lamps showing to the rear, emitting a red light without glare Vehicles with multiple-beam road lighting equipment must do the following: An uppermost distribution of light, or composite beam should be aimed, and of such intensity to reveal other people and cars at a distance of at least 450 feet ahead A lowermost distribution of light, or composite beam, should be aimed and of sufficient intensity to reveal other people and cars at a distance of at least 150 feet ahead, and on a straight level road, none of the high-intensity portions of the beam shall be directed to strike the eyes of an approaching driver. With this, an object or material must not alter or cover the headlamp and its visibility from at least 450 feet for an uppermost distribution of light, and 150 feet for a low distribution of light. Simple terms Florida drivers are allowed to have Christmas lights on their vehicles, as long as it doesnt interfere with the existing lights on vehicles or provide a glare to the driver themselves or other nearby drivers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To view all 2024 Florida Statutes regarding motor vehicles, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Leilani Simon, convicted last month of murdering her toddler son Quinton, has been booked into Georgias largest state womens prison. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections website, Simon is incarcerated at Lee Arrendale State Prison. A new mugshot of Simon was posted on the site. Chatham fentanyl crackdown: Woman found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after selling laced drugs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The prison is located in North Georgia in proximity to Gainesville. Earlier this week, Simons attorneys filed a motion for a new trial after she received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, plus 10 years. Prosecutors said Simon killed Quinton and threw his body in a dumpster in October 2022. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. LIBERTY, Mo. Liberty Police are investigating break-ins to cars at multiple apartment complexes overnight Tuesday. In at least one of those cases, the thieves managed to steal one familys Christmas. For the next month, many peoples cars will be filled with valuables at one time or another. Though you may think you only have to worry about it when you are out shopping, police say thieves are always looking for an easy opportunity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lone survivor in triple fatality Warrensburg crash gets special visit from Chris Stapleton Jenean Thompson and her daughter got the same shock and surprise when she went out to her car as several people living in Liberty apartment buildings Tuesday morning. We were looking at it and we saw a little suitcase and she said mom isnt that your suitcase outside the trunk of the car? And I said yes. So I went up to the car and I was thinking this cant be good, Thompson said. Thompson just arrived at Libertys Copper Ridge Apartments from Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with her daughter and grandkids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was really tired from the drive over from Virginia, so I just brought up to the apartment what I needed and left all the Christmas presents and some other things in the trunk, she explained. That included birthday presents and matching outfits for the family Christmas card. Got into the car, and I saw it had been rummaged through, and I popped the trunk, and opened the trunk and saw that all the Christmas presents I had gotten them, they were gone. The matching outfits they were gone, Thompson said. Police say thieves smashed windows and broke into at least four cars at Copper Ridge and nearby Liberty Heights. Some cars had items taken, others were merely rummaged through. But at this point only one person reported the misfortune of Christmas bags taken with gifts easily recognizable as being for children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After a cruel introduction to the Kansas City Metro, Thompson learned hard the way what police are advising as we head into the busy shopping season. Sister of woman killed in Independence police shooting shares story My advice would be to lock your car if you are in and out going in between different stores and even if you are really tired when you get home like I was and you dont feel like carrying in every little thing. You better do it, because it could be gone if you dont, she said. Liberty Police say this happened despite them actively patrolling as theyll be doing during prime time for car break-ins. They are still working to confirm the crimes at the nearby complexes were related and working to obtain surveillance video to develop a suspect or vehicle description. They advise everyone to be on alert and remove any valuables from vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Of course, it is good that the French online publication La Gazette du Caucase published an article citing the results of an investigation by the Armenian online newspaper Hetq and the Russian-language publication The Insider. According to this investigation, Russia has been sending billions of dollars worth of gold to Armenia since 2022. This revelation allows us to better understand how Armenia has become the main intermediary in the gold trade, even in the country that protects Armenia more than others. In simple terms, Armenia is actively helping Russia to circumvent EU and US sanctions. At the same time, companies connected to Armenian politicians and businessmen with ties to the Russian Federation are involved in the import and re-export of Russian gold. Among the largest importers in 2024 are enterprises linked to Khachatur Sukiasyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract party, as well as companies owned by Armen Tadevosyan, the head of Tibi Arm LLC. In January-May of this year, these firms imported gold worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian banks. It is clear that such operations could not have taken place without the consent of Armenias top leadership, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The report also notes that Armenia has become a key player not only in the gold trade but also in the diamond trade. The export of these goods is carried out with the approval of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia. It is entirely correct that the La Gazette du Caucase article concludes by questioning the position of countries like France, which imposes sanctions on Russia while continuing to support Armenia. However, there is one point I strongly disagree with. The claim that the investigation may lead to sanctions against those involved in the trade of Russian sanctioned goods is overly naive and erroneous. For a variety of reasons. First, none of the leading French or, more broadly, European and American media have reported on this issue. Predictably, journalists from Le Figaro and Le Monde have adopted an "ostrich position" on the matter. These outlets specialize in futilely searching for a speck in Azerbaijan's eye, while simultaneously ignoring the beam in Armenia's. Yes, these publications, like many others in France and across Europe, have actively participated in anti-Azerbaijani information campaigns. This began with the smear campaigns surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, the first-ever European Games, Formula 1 races, and the COP29 climate summit. And how loudly they screamed during and after Azerbaijans brilliant victories in the 44-day war and in the one-day anti-terrorist operation in Azerbaijans Karabakh region! However, my focus here is on the peak moments of anti-Azerbaijani hysteria in these media. They have spread lies and nonsense about our country and continue to do so without cause. These lies have shaped a distorted image of reality in French society, where Armenia is not seen as the country that has occupied 20% of Azerbaijan's territory for over a quarter of a century, but as a victim of "Azerbaijani aggression against the Karabakh Armenians." French politicians, led by President Emmanuel Macron, repeat the same narrative, playing along with Armenias propaganda. Macron, the same person who called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the 44-day war, spreading Armenian fake news and trying to halt the victorious advance of the Azerbaijani army on its own territory, is now silent. After the publication of Armenias role in helping Russia circumvent EU and US sanctions, Macron has nothing to say. Predictably, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is also silent. In 2021, he made an illegal visit to the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan to meet with the leaders of the Karabakh junta. He made this trip alongside French presidential candidate, and later the head of the Ile-de-France region, Valerie Pecresse. This lady, of course, is also silent, ignoring information about how Armenia is helping Russia bypass Western sanctions. All the members of the French Senate are also silent. This is the same Senate that, immediately after the end of the 44-day war, adopted a useless resolution "recognizing the independence" of the fictitious entity known as "Artsakh." All of them, I must note, have placed themselves in an absurd position. They claimed to support increased political and economic pressure on Russia, but remain silent after revelations that Armenia has been helping Russia evade sanctionsexactly what these politicians have been advocating against. Is this hypocrisy? Not at all. This is French politics, in all its squalor, falsehood, and double standards. DEMING, N.M. (KRQE) An Automatic License Plate Recognition system helped law enforcement track down an individual who they say hit and killed a bicyclist in Deming on Nov. 23, according to New Mexico State Police. The incident happened on State Road 11 near milepost 8, police said. A passing driver noticed debris and a bicycle in the dirt off the shoulder of the road and stopped to check the area. They called 911 when they saw a man, later identified as 69-year-old Kevin OLeary, dead near his bicycle. Special prosecutor appeals dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police put out an alert to look for a red vehicle that may have front-end damage. Border Patrol and Customs notified NMSP that a vehicle matching that description had crossed into Mexico immediately following the crash at the Columbus Port of Entry. The driver of the red Cadillac sedan was identified as 33-year-old Noel Ronquillo Jr., and he was taken into custody without incident in Deming on Nov. 25, police said. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident. ALPR technology has been widely praised for improving law enforcements ability to track and capture criminals, said New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler in a news release. In just a short time, this system identified a vehicle that was involved in a homicide, leading to an arrest. If not for this technology, this case might not have been solved so swiftly, and a dangerous offender might have still been on the street. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Nov. 26LIMA A Lima man is suing the Allen Metropolitan Housing Authority for reportedly failing to follow its own procedures when the agency miscalculated his past-due rent in the wake of a job loss. Attorneys for Barry Henderson, 64, say the Lima man is at risk of losing his home at Furl Williams Apartments after Met Housing issued a termination notice in April. The housing authority says Henderson owes $2,000 in retroactive rent for reportedly failing to report a change of income when he started receiving unemployment insurance and Social Security payments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. Northern District Court in Toledo Nov. 20, alleges Met Housing "erroneously claimed (Henderson) had not reported a change in income" when "in fact, (Henderson) reported his change in income twice." Henderson, who survives on $9,600 from Social Security as his sole income, must pay a minimum of $1,000 plus his monthly rent now set at $232 to qualify for a repayment plan and stay in his apartment. "We're concerned he's not the only person this is happening to," said Jennifer Martinez, an attorney for the Toledo-based Advocates for Basic Legal Equality law firm, which is representing Henderson. Conflicting accounts of an error Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henderson applied for housing through Met Housing when he moved to Lima in 2014, according to the lawsuit. The housing authority added Henderson's name to the wait list and found a temporary home for him at the Lima YMCA, where Henderson lived until an apartment became available three years later. Henderson finally moved into an apartment at Furl Williams Apartments in 2017 through Met Housing's Section 8 voucher program. The housing authority limits rent payments for Section 8 participants to 30% of their monthly income, to keep rent affordable. But participants must report any changes to their income within 10 days if the change exceeds 10% of their income on file, which allows Met Housing to recalculate the tenant's rent, according to Dalton Smith, an attorney for Met Housing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith says Henderson promptly reported when he lost his job in October of 2022. The housing authority lowered Henderson's rent to the minimum $25 a month. Henderson disclosed his intent to apply for unemployment insurance, Smith said, but failed to notify the housing authority when he started receiving unemployment payments two months later. Henderson's attorneys dispute this account, saying he reported both changes to Met Housing. The housing authority discovered Henderson had been receiving unemployment and Social Security during his annual rent re-examination the following year, Smith said. The agency recalculated Henderson's rent to recover what he should have paid, though it initially miscalculated the arrears at $4,800, Smith said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The housing authority later lowered the arrears to $2,000 when it discovered the error, which Smith said was due to calculating what Henderson would have earned if his unemployment lasted for 12 months. Henderson couldn't pay, so Met Housing sent him a termination notice in April, according to the lawsuit. Attorneys for Henderson allege the housing authority did not follow proper procedure when Henderson requested an informal hearing to discuss the issue Smith denies this and say Met Housing's restrictive repayment policy requires tenants like Henderson to pay substantial amounts to remain eligible for a repayment plan. "Most of the folks who are involved in this program could not come up with $1,000 of loans," Martinez said. "They might need to pay down ($1,000) to get on that repayment plan. We think that policy is unreasonable and it's unfair, and it puts people that the housing authority is supposed to be supporting in an untenable position of never being able to come up with enough money to get on these repayment plans and protect their benefits." Featured Local Savings LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) The Limestone County Sheriffs Office is looking for a 30-year-old man they believe is responsible for a series of truck thefts. Authorities say there are warrants issued for the arrest of Tommy Kaye Thompson III, 30, of Athens and deputies are working to locate him. Second murder suspect arrested in Kentucky for Lakeview Drive shooting According to LCSO, Thompson is the suspect in an investigation into multiple thefts involving Ford F250 and F350 vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Below is a picture of Thompson provided by LCSO. Tommy Kaye Thompson III (Photo: Limestone County Sheriffs Office) The sheriffs office is asking for the publics help locating Thompson. Anyone with information on where Thompson may be located is urged to contact LCSO Investigators Wilson, Evans, or Pierce at (256) 232-0111. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BARTONVILLE, Ill. (WMBD) A Limestone High School employee was indicted for his alleged connection to an inappropriate relationship with a student there. Peoria County Court records stated that Ronnie Baskin, 37, was indicted for criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The indictments state that he knowingly committed sexual acts with a person between the ages of 13 and 17. Limestone High School employee arrested for criminal sexual assault Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Bartonville Police Department arrested Baskin on Nov. 8 after investigating the relationship between Baskin and a student, with the school administration. He had a non-teaching role at the school. Baskin is being detained pending the outcome of the trial. He will next appear before a judge during his arraignment on Dec. 5. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. The Lithuanian government has allocated 5 million to install solar power plants in Ukraine after Vilnius approved a programme to support the country's energy sector. Source: Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, as reported by European Pravda Details: Rasa Kairiene, head of the Development Cooperation Department at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, stated on Wednesday that equipment for solar power plants must be reliable and safeguarded against cyber attacks and, therefore, should be of European production. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "When selecting solar power plants, we have to ensure the reliability of the equipment to be installed and the cyber security aspects so as not to create additional dependencies for Ukraine. So, during the procurement process, we will try to include this requirement that the equipment needs to be originally from the EU or the European economy," she told Lithuanian ministers on Wednesday. Lithuania's Foreign Ministry reported that Ukraine's energy capacity has been cut by more than half since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Lithuania's total support for Ukraine will have reached 1.45 billion by the end of this year, the Foreign Ministry said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: Reports indicated that Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action was allocating another 65 million to repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure. During her visit to Kyiv on 4 November, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced the allocation of 200 million in additional winter aid for Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Month by month, the savings that Rosaline George scraped together in her years as a journalist and local government employee have been dwindling as the 97-year-old pays out of pocket for hourly care. "Without a caregiver," she said, "I would be dead in two days." Getting onto Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program, could be her gateway to a program that pays for home caregivers. But George learned that to do so, she would have to spend most of her Social Security check on medical expenses, leaving her just $600 a month to survive in her Hollywood apartment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In California, elderly or disabled people making too much to qualify for Medi-Cal can still access the program if they pay a "share of cost" toward their medical bills. But advocacy groups argue the rules are so restrictive that many Californians who need such help are shut out and they're making a fresh push to change it. California calculates the amount that seniors like George must fork over by taking their monthly income and subtracting a fixed amount on which they are supposed to survive, called a "maintenance need income level." "Without a caregiver, I would be dead in two days," Rosaline George, 97, says. (William Liang / For The Times) That maintenance amount has been set at $600 a month for a single adult since 1989 an amount that would be more than $1,500 in today's dollars. That means that even if someone is just barely over the income limit for Medi-Cal, which is now $20,783 annually for a single adult, getting coverage requires them to spend so much on medical care in a given month that they have only $600 left for other expenses such as rent, utilities and food. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among people who are not living in nursing facilities, only a small fraction of seniors and disabled people trying to get "share of cost" Medi-Cal 8% spent enough on medical expenses to meet the requirement in January 2023, according to the most recent data available from the state. "Its really punishing for people," said Tiffany Huyenh-Cho, the California director of Medicare and Medicaid advocacy for Justice in Aging, one of the groups that has pushed to change the requirements. "Six hundred dollars today is just not enough to live on." Older adults are typically insured through Medicare, but unlike Medi-Cal, it does not broadly cover the kind of home care that many Californians need as they age. Even for people who are beyond the income limits for Medi-Cal, however, paying for home care themselves can be prohibitively expensive. The result is that many families shoulder the work themselves, losing out on paid employment, or elderly people scrimp on needed assistance. Advocates argue that going without such support can jeopardize their health and ultimately leave them in need of more costly care in institutional settings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Out-of-pocket spending on home care could count toward the required monthly "share of cost" to get Medi-Cal, but that care must be prescribed by a clinician under specific circumstances, Huyenh-Cho said. Advocates said trying to submit such expenses can be so logistically complicated that it is unworkable. In Hollywood, George said that she receives less than $2,900 a month through Social Security a modest income but significantly above the Medi-Cal cutoff. Advocates told her that based on that income, she must spend more than $2,200 a month on medical expenses to qualify for Medi-Cal. There are ways to reduce and even eliminate that cost-sharing requirement, but they require spending. When George turned to the legal advocacy group Bet Tzedek for help, the group suggested she could purchase supplemental health insurance to bring down her "countable income." "I said, 'Just a minute, are you telling me to get rid of some of my Social Security benefits?'" George recounted. "And they said, 'Thats what Medi-Cal is saying.'" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buying supplemental health, vision or dental insurance can bring down the amount of income that is counted for the Medi-Cal program, allowing people to avoid paying a share of cost. In the San Francisco area, one family resorted to spending more than $2,100 a month on such added insurance to help a 93-year-old woman access Medi-Cal and its home care program. "Quite frankly, I think it's crazy," said Jaime, whose mother, Maria, needs round-the-clock care after suffering a stroke. The family asked not to use their last names to protect her privacy. Maria retired as the longtime owner of a diner and her Social Security checks and her husband's pension put her over the Medi-Cal income limit. Buying extra insurance costs more than half of her monthly income of under $4,200, but Maria would otherwise have to spend roughly $3,600 each month on medical expenses to be eligible for Medi-Cal. "The way I see it, the function is to get rid of the share of cost," Jaime said of the money they spend on supplemental insurance. "Otherwise, my mother gets zero benefit from purchasing that insurance." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two years ago, California state officials agreed to change the $600-a-month allocation for other needs to match 138% of the federal poverty level. (That figure, which changes annually, is the same one California generally sets as the income limit for Medi-Cal.) This year, that would amount to over $1,700 a month. The new level was supposed to go into effect in January 2025, but the plan was jettisoned amid a state budget deficit. Groups that advocate for the elderly and disabled are now asking the state to make it happen in 2026. In an October letter, Justice in Aging and other advocacy groups asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to allocate $33 million from the general fund in the next budget year and $80 million annually thereafter. In the past, state analysts had estimated the costs of the proposed change from $53 million to $151 million annually, half of which would be covered by federal funds. A Newsom spokesperson said his office was "unable to speculate" on what the governor might include in his upcoming budget for the fiscal year of 2025-26. Health policy experts anticipate that federal funding for Medicaid programs could be cut after President-elect Donald Trump takes office for a second time, which could put more strain on California to use its state dollars to maintain its existing programs under Medi-Cal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dozens of states have "medically needy" options for their Medicaid programs like California. "The key to these programs is they're for people who are low-income after considering their spending on healthcare," said Alice Burns, associate director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at KFF, an independent health policy research, polling and news organization. "A person has to document all of their healthcare spending and show that ... it has brought their income below the medically needy limit," which can be complicated process, Burns said. George, who before her retirement worked part-time on issues surrounding aging for an L.A. County supervisor, said that meeting her basic needs as a 97-year-old shouldn't require her to give up her Social Security income, benefits "that President Roosevelt gave to us." "They are telling me, 'Too bad. You're too rich,'" George said. But what is she supposed to do, she asked, when her savings have dried up? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My caregivers won't work if I can't pay them." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump is denying reports from international news organizations that claim the incoming commander-in-chief is preparing an executive order that would call for the terminations of 15,000 service members who are transgender. A spokesperson told Newsweek that no decisions had been made. Three years ago a York High School student was battling with school administrators who were poised to dead-name her during the graduation ceremony. This is what Trixie Henry told 10 On Your Side in 2022. The school just texted my mom that I would not be able to cross the stage with my preferred name and that they would use my legal name, Henry said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Henry won the battle by having her name legally changed just in time for graduation. Henry is now a 20-year-old college student who lives in Richmond. She is prepared to go to battle if Trump begins mass terminations. Opposition to transgender military service members was voiced live on WAVY-TV 10 during the senatorial debate. Republican Hung Cao was critical of a media campaign based on the life of a U.S. Navy sailor who also dresses in drag. When you are using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, thats not the people we want, said Cao who is a former Naval officer. Feeling unwanted is a burden Henry bears in liberal-leaning Richmond and on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its really just people using it to push their agenda, Henry said. Theyre using that division and that hatred to push this agenda that is separating everyone and turning people away from any real problems. Policy changes for the military would come, as most branches have failed to meet recruitment goals. Henry fears any elimination of transgender troops could be the opening salvo against the LGBTQ community and other groups. I think that the [reported] overturn of these [rights] signifies a deep sentiment within the right towards ideals of regression towards these long-held beliefs and conservatism about tradition, Henry said. I mean, its called conservative theyre trying to conserve something, and I get it. I really do understand that with our rose-colored glasses, these things in the past look so great and the future looks so scary. The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement saying in part: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Banning thousands of qualified transgender service members would make our country less safe, and is nothing more than transphobia masquerading as policy. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. It was a night of service and gratitude as the St. Charles County Police Department joined forces with a local business owner to brighten Thanksgiving for several families. A local landscaping business owner took the initiative to give back to the community by lending a helping hand to families. Teaming up with the Saint Charles County Police Department, SWAT team, and the departments Blue Line Family, they chose Sterling Heights Apartments as the distribution site to help over 180 families who could benefit from a Thanksgiving turkey. The parking lot at the apartment complex was lit with police lights and filled with families, officers, and SWAT trucks. One of those trucks was filled with 280 turkeys, each weighing about 13 pounds. Several families came out to receive a free turkey for Thanksgiving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think its a lot of opportunities that we get to interact with the community, but this is one of the rare ones that we get to do something proactive and positive for them, Cpl. Barry Bayles, St. Charles County Police Department, said. Families lined up to receive the turkeys, many expressing their gratitude to the officers for their kindness and service. Community mourning death of teen killed by stray bullet Were so excited for us that theyre doing thiswere going to have a turkey now, resident Jovita Nava said. The departments chief and several officers personally delivered turkeys to residents cars as they drove up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I appreciate it; being a mother of four, we appreciate the help, another resident, Shay Richardson, added As families headed home with their turkeys, St. Charles County Police hoped the gesture would not only fill dinner tables but also build stronger bonds for the future. Just being able to do something. As small as it may seem, it can make a difference for a lot of people, Bayles said. Once the distribution was complete, the remaining turkeys were taken to Rolling Meadows Mobile Park to serve even more families. Police hope this is the start of a tradition they can continue for years to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A Leavittsburg man accused of leading police in two states on a chase in a U-Haul truck last week that injured 14 people waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday in municipal court. Scott Pelton, 27, waived his hearing before Magistrate Donna McCollum on two counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. Magistrate McCollum then bound both of those charges over to a Mahoning County grand jury. A misdemeanor charge of criminal damage was dropped in exchange for Peltons waiver. He remains in the Mahoning County Jail in lieu of $100,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pelton also faces charges of fleeing and eluding and OVI in Pennsylvania after reports said he led Pulaski Township police on a chase in a U-Haul Nov. 20 that ended on McCartney Road in Youngstown. Pulaski police said Pelton rear-ended another car and refused to stop. The other car followed Pelton, who refused to stop until he got to the parking lot of a feed store, investigators said. When police arrived at the parking lot, Pelton would not get out of his car. Police said Pelton eventually hit the store, damaging a door, and drove away, leading police on a chase down U.S. 422 into Ohio, where he hit at least seven vehicles. Reports said Pelton hit several vehicles while driving westbound on McCartney Road, as well as a utility pole, and hit several vehicles that were parked at a car lot on McCartney Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the people taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center were two children who were in a church van as well as the driver of the van, reports said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. BEL AIR, Md. As President-elect Donald Trumps incoming administration solidifies its plan for mass deportations, local law enforcement agencies are preparing to ramp up a controversial program that allows them to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The 287(g) program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to help enforce federal immigration law and will likely be one of the ways the new administration bolsters its manpower as it seeks to launch what it calls the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. But it also may also be a flashpoint for a legal showdown thats brewing as Inauguration Day draws closer. Tom Homan, who will serve as Trumps border czar, visited Texas Tuesday to tout the forthcoming administrations plans for mass deportations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were not waiting until January, Homan said. Were going to put a plan in place and secure this nation. Homan, the former acting ICE director during Trumps first term, has promised to take the handcuffs off ICE. The 287(g) program was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1996 under then-President Bill Clinton. It authorizes ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the ability to perform certain functions of an immigration officer. Once a suspect is arrested for a crime, a trained corrections officer can access an ICE database to see more information about their immigration status and may then detain the person for up to 48 hours if ICE chooses to pick them up for deportation. Supporters of the program argue that it does not allow local officers to round up undocumented immigrants on the streets, and that any enforcement is done within an agencys jail or detention center once a suspect has been arrested for other charges. According to ICE, as of May 2024, law enforcement agencies in 21 states participated in the program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harford County, Maryland, Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler is a proponent of the program, saying he believes that local law enforcement should partner with ICE to help enforce immigration laws. He also pushed back against criticism that it would lead to undocumented immigrants being unfairly targeted. This isnt stopping people on the street saying show me your papers, Gahler said, If theyre brought in theyre arrested for something that they have committed, an act theyve committed against the citizens of our community. And at that point, theyre held accountable for the action of being in the country illegally. Gahler is no stranger to being at the center of the countrys immigration debate. He has made several trips to the southern border and worked on a high-profile murder case in his county allegedly involving an undocumented immigrant. Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was reported missing on Aug. 5, 2023, and her body was found the following day off a popular running trail. Victor Martinez Hernandez, an El Salvador native, was arrested after a 10-month nationwide manhunt. He was extradited to Maryland, where hes been charged with first-degree murder and rape. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim's mother, Patty Morin, remembers when she first learned the suspect was undocumented. I was actually very angry, she said in an interview with NBC News. I thought we had laws in place for this type of thing. But as information became more and more available, I realized that somehow something went wrong somewhere. Another supporter of the 287(g) program is Samuel Page, the sheriff of Rockingham County, North Carolina. Its a much more rural area than Mecklenburg County, where controversy over the program erupted in 2018 when a new sheriff cut ties with it. Page said his county signed up for the program in 2020 and put about a dozen corrections officers through the training. He said there have been fewer requests for ICE detainers during President Joe Bidens administration. When President Biden came in, he ended a lot of those programs that were good to protect the American people, Page said. We got to draw the line and say the rule of law is going to matter in America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 287(g) program has long been controversial. Democrats have moved to cancel agreements in various parts of the country. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes the program and argues it amounts to racial profiling while instilling fear in immigrant communities. The Maryland chapter of the ACLU has said that local police officers are wholly unprepared to act as immigration agents. This hurts those families, said Todd Shulte, the president of FWD.us, an immigrant advocacy group. This leads to worse public safety outcomes. It erodes a sense of trust in communities and hurts the economy. Even within ICE, there is debate about whether the juice is worth the squeeze, according to Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff. It may be effective for large cities, he said, where having trained corrections officers help with immigration enforcement inside jails might free up other ICE agents to search for immigrants with more serious criminal records on the streets. But in sparsely populated areas, the time and effort to train officers could be seen as inefficient. Other critics have also said the 287(g) program merely serves as a political messaging tool for conservative sheriffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps campaign platform promised to require local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. But a growing number of Democrats are vowing to defy that. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the use of city resources in immigration enforcement. Elected officials in Massachusetts are already clashing with the Trump team over immigration. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said hed be willing to go to jail to stop efforts by the president-elect that he believed were illegal or wrong. Its all setting the stage for a clash after inauguration. Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office, said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trumps transition team. On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for the 287(g) program, corrections officers in Harford County, Maryland, are preparing for changes next year with the incoming Trump administration. I believe were going to be very busy, said Sgt. Christopher Crespo. The program has been very effective. The last thing you need to do is have someone in the street commit a murder and find out that they were here illegally. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com You are the owner of this article. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) As the incoming Trump administration promises an aggressive crackdown on immigration, questions are being raised about the role local police agencies might play in enforcing federal border policies. El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said he is willing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, but that a California state law puts his officers in legal jeopardy. I want to make it clear right now that El Cajon is not a sanctuary city, and we will do everything we can to work with the federal government to help ease this immigration problem, help solve this problem, Wells said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement California Senate Bill 54, passed in 2017, restricts local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts. Wells is concerned because that law conflicts with federal orders. Trump immigration crackdown: Denaturalization just a drop in the bucket It basically said that municipalities cant work with the federal government in helping with any kind of immigration enforcement, Wells said. The Trump administration coming in, specifically Tom Homan, is saying we must comply, and that in his opinion which I happen to agree with federal law supersedes state law. Tom Homan, the president-elects pick to oversee immigration policy, has taken a hard stance against state and local officials who oppose Trumps immigration policies. Speaking to law enforcement officers in Texas, Homan warned that there would be consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a shame we have other governors and other mayors who, right out of the gate, are saying they are going to push back on President Trump and what were trying to do, Homan said. Dont cross that line. Its a felony to knowingly harbor or conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities. Dont test us. Some officials, such as Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, have openly opposed Trumps immigration crackdown. Hancock recently said hed be willing to face jail time in protest. Homan responded by saying hed put him in jail. Trump threatens tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China For Wells, the stakes are high. He says California law threatens harsh consequences for local officers who comply with federal immigration authorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State of California law says that if a police officer does his duty that were asking him to do by complying with the federal government, that police officer can be charged with a felony and lose his pension, Wells said. We need a lot of clarification; we need some unity on this. Renata Castro, an immigration attorney and founder of the law firm USA4ALL, said the battle underscores the limits of federal power in forcing local compliance. Only the federal government has the power to detain individuals for immigration violations, attorney Castro said. She also said that funding for police officers is overwhelmingly the responsibility of the state, and the state, therefore, has the power to decide how to use that resource. CBP: Border encounters in RGV drop 84% from October 2023 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Castro said it would be difficult to challenge this system. We would need a major overhaul of the American legal and constitutional rights, and of due process, in order to change this, she said. Even though Trump has a very aggressive agenda, I dont think hes going to be able to do that in the next four years. Both Wells and Castro believe the issue will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Community leaders are expressing their concerns after a 12-year-old boy was shot in west Charlotte. It occurred Monday night on Dewberry Terrace off West Boulevard. Channel 9s Eli Brand spoke with a local pastor who said situations like this are very common in that area. It is very concerning, said Pastor Annette Ross. Ross said this incident is just the latest to affect that neighborhood and her church family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the shooting occurred just after 9 p.m., and the child suffered severe injuries. It lets us know that there is more work to be done in the community as far as trying to reach more people to let them understand what love really is and how were supposed to express it, Ross expressed. ALSO READ: Charlotte-Metro one of the best places to open a small business, recent study finds Ross said her church isnt immune to crime either. She said since their church doors opened, the tym has been set on fire, stolen cars have been found in their parking lot, and litter has been thrown carelessly onto their property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But she said they are doing what they can to try and turn the situation around. If you want to win someone, youve got to show them love, and its necessary because there are so many hurting people, Ross explained. Ross said her congregation knocks on doors to speak and pray with residents, offers free groceries, and opens their doors every Sunday. Their focus right now is on the young victim, who they said never should have been hurt. The pastor said she wants an increased presence from police and city officials in this neighborhood to let residents know they are not forgotten. VIDEO: Police in Catawba County reopen 13-year-old girls 1992 murder case LONDON (AP) British counterterrorism officers arrested six people Wednesday as part of an investigation into activity linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party known as the PKK, police said. Four men and two women arrested in London were detained under the Terrorism Act of 2000, the Metropolitan Police said. The PKK, a separatist movement seeking an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, is on the list of suspected extremist organizations banned by the U.K. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group," Acting Cmdr. Helen Flanagan said. Police said they didnt believe there was a threat to the public. Police were searching the Kurdish Community Center in the Haringey area of north London and seven other locations across the city. Ishak Milani, of the Kurdish Peoples Assembly in the U.K., said the arrests were an attack on Kurds and an affront to democracy, justice and human rights. We, the Kurdish community in London, strongly condemn the recent unjust and heavy-handed raid conducted by British police on our community spaces," Milani said. We demand accountability for this raid and a clear explanation for the actions taken. LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) A London woman has been charged for allegedly running a fake photography scam. The Laurel County Sheriffs Office said 25-year-old Dakota Mackenzie Burns claimed to own Kynzie Burns Photography. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a news release, she took payments from clients but never showed up for the job. At least 11 people were scammed out of a total of $8,172. Burns is charged with theft by deception. LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS: Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Laurel County Sheriffs Office at 606-864-6600 or personal message the Laurel County Sheriffs Office on Facebook or email g.acciardo@laurelcountysheriff.gov. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GENEVA, Ala (WDHN) Geneva city departments will move shop down the road to a new city hall after over 50 years, giving the police department the chance to expand into a larger space. Although their move is now delayed because of challenges, they say it will be game-changing for Geneva citizens. After spending half a century in the Geneva city hall downtown, which was built in the 60s, the city government will move to a nearly three-million-dollar city hall in just a couple of weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its exciting; we knew we had to do it. This building we are in now is not as functional as it should be to support a good city government, so we found the funding to build a new one and made it work, said Geneva Mayor David Hayes. Ground was broken for the city hall in September 2023, and 13 and a half months later, it was mainly completed. City officials hoped to move in months ago, but there were a few setbacks. We had a huge rain delay, and then materials. We just couldnt get windows. It took us six months to get windows. A lot of things delay the process, but the end result will be fantastic, explained Hayes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Hayes says they are waiting for furniture to come in and wiring up the alarms. City officials say the new city hall will be more modern and will have the latest technology and internet. Still, the most significant change is that it will be more spacious, allowing them to safely house more records that were destroyed in a flood years ago at the current city hall and offering better services for the public. Were also going to have a huge courtroom, city council room, and an area where we can hold luncheons, said Mayor Hayes. The mayor says the new Geneva Water Department will have a drive-thru window so customers can pay bills more easily. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current city hall will be left in the hands of the police department, and they plan to remodel and take advantage of having their building rather than just a tiny corner. We will have more of a professional space for our employees, a private space for people to come in and make reports, and more space for training equipment to better our officers, said Geneva Police Chief Pepper Mock. Mayor Hayes says they are hoping to move into the new city hall within the next month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. Nov. 26DIXON In anticipation of OSF HealthCare taking over operations at KSB Hospital in Dixon on Jan. 1, 2025, a long-time OSF employee was selected as president and a long-time KSB Hospital employee was selected as vice president, according to a Tuesday news release from OSF. Jackie Kernan, who has been a part of OSF since 2009, will become president of OSF HealthCare Saint Katharine Medical Center, which will be KSB Hospital's new name. It will be the third time that Kernan has led a community hospital undergoing a merger with OSF. As president, Kernan, who is replacing KSB President and CEO David Schreiner, will take the lead aligning the hospital with OSF HealthCare's overall strategy. She will also be responsible for directing all internal operations "while continuing to ensure that high quality and cost-effective health care is delivered to all patients," the release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Jackie [Kernan] has been a trusted and respected leader for the communities of Princeton and Kewanee, and I know she will do the same for the Sauk Valley communities," AJ Querciagrossa, CEO of OSF HealthCare's western region, said. Kernan earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of St. Francis and her master of science in nursing management leadership degree from the Saint Francis College of Nursing. Kernan currently serves as president of OSF Saint Luke Medical Center in Kewanee, formerly known as Kewanee Hospital. The hospital affiliated with OSF in 2014, according to osfhealthcare.org, and Kernan became president in 2018. She also is president of OSF HealthCare Saint Clare Medical Center in Princeton, which was formerly known as Perry Memorial Hospital. That hospital officially became part of OSF in 2021, which is the same year that Kernan became president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the release, she will continue to act as interim president at these locations until a new president is named. As for vice president, Drew Fenner, former vice president and chief quality officer of KSB Hospital, was selected for the position. Fenner has been a part of KSB for over 10 years. At OSF Saint Katharine he will oversee operations and special projects, according to the release. The partnership between KSB and OSF HealthCare was made official May 10 when the two organizations announced in a news release that they'd signed a term sheet and anticipated a full merger. KSB will be renamed OSF HealthCare Saint Katharine Medical Center, in honor of Catholic Saint Katharine Drexel, as it becomes the 17th hospital in the OSF ministry, the release said. KSB Hospital, which employs 920 people, is an independent, nonprofit organization. The hospital is an 80-bed facility that offers traditional inpatient and outpatient services in downtown Dixon. KSB also operates an integrated medical group with 70 practitioners providing medical services in primary and select specialty areas at six locations in Lee and southern Ogle counties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agreement includes $40 million in funding for facility renovations, to improve access to care locally and to create seamless referrals to subspecialties. With the affiliation, KSB expects the continued employment of its staff, significant investments in building and technology and enhanced access to specialty resources in the local community. KSB began formally exploring potential partnerships back in February because of escalating operating and staffing costs, as well as changes to health care financing and how patients use health care. According to a resolution presented to the Dixon City Council on Aug. 5, KSB's board analyzed the feasibility of continuing to operate the hospital independently and found that it would likely lead to its closure. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital experienced an increase in expenses including wages, pharmaceuticals, utilities, facility costs and medical supplies. Those increased expenses were not covered by increased reimbursement rates because KSB, like other rural hospitals, serves a large portion of patients on Medicare and Medicaid, which reimburse at a lower rate than commercial insurance, according to the resolution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result, KSB operated with negative margins in 2022 and 2023. Those operating margin challenges led to the erosion of the balance sheet and in January 2024, the hospital's cash on hand dropped to five days, which made it impossible to borrow funds and reinvest in the organization, according to the resolution. OSF HealthCare, headquartered in Peoria, has 16 hospitals with 2,131 licensed beds throughout Illinois and Michigan. OSF has about 24,000 employees, known as "mission partners," across more than 150 locations. It operates OSF OnCall, a digital health operating unit; OSF Home Care Services, an extensive network of home health and hospice services; OSF HealthCare Foundation; and OSF Ventures, which provides investment capital for promising health care innovation startups. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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 20% on goods from other countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But housing economists and other experts say that could be bad news for building more affordable housing. 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, Hepp said. Construction material prices have risen 38.8% since February 2020, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of October Producer Price Index data. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) said she and her family were targeted with a pipe bomb threat at her Oregon home. Thanks to the quick response of the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office, we are safe. We deeply appreciate their dedication to protecting our community, Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. St. Helens principal arrested on felony charges Chavez-DeRemer was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Labor Department. According to NewsNation, several other people who have been nominated for Cabinet positions have also been threatened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chavez-DeRemer lost her bid for re-election to challenger and Democrat Janelle Bynum. Last week, she was nominated by Trump for the Cabinet position. In a statement, the FBI confirmed to KOIN 6 News they are investigating threats leveled at several incoming nominees with the Trump administration: The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. KOIN 6 also reached out to the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office for comment. In response, a spokesperson confirmed they responded to a threat but that further investigation is being handled by the FBI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some members of the U.S. Congressional Delegation of Oregon have also released statements condemning the violent threats. Violence and threats of any kind have no place in politics. My thoughts are with Lori and her family, said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Im [relieved] that Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer and her family are safe. Acts of political violence are a threat to the very foundation of our democracy and are meant only to divide us. Political violence has no place in our country period, Congresswoman-elect Maxine Dexter said (D-OR). Other people threatened from Trumps prospective cabinet include U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Trumps nominee for U.N. Ambassador; former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-R), who was Trumps nominee for Attorney General before he withdrew his nomination; and former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who was nominated to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Randall Blazak, who studies political violence and hate crimes, spoke with KOIN 6 News about these threats and what they could mean for our current political climate. There is an element that sees violence as a viable form of political expression, and it is threatening to society as a whole. It doesnt really achieve the goals that it set out, it usually backfires on them, as weve seen in the past, Blazak said. But it does create a kind of general climate of fear that just really makes democracy a lot harder to unfold in the normal way. Polk County to use fairgrounds for new dog shelter Below is Chavez-DeRemers entire statement following the incident: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last night, my family and I were targeted with a pipe bomb threat at our Oregon home. Thanks to the quick response of the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office, we are safe. We deeply appreciate their dedication to protecting our community, especially as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. This kind of violence harms not just the intended targets, but entire communities. It is an unacceptable way to express opposition, and it will not deter President Trump and the team he has assembled from doing the work on behalf of the American people. Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also released the following statement to the public addressing the threats: Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. These attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting. In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action. President Trump and the Transition are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) On Wednesday, Nov. 27, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called for an LSU law professor to be disciplined after he commented on the policies and regime of President-elect Donald Trump to a class. She wrote a letter to the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center asking for an investigation. Murrill is following Gov. Jeff Landry, who wrote to the LSU Board of Supervisors calling for LSU law professor Nicholas Bryner to be censured after reportedly making political comments to a class on Nov. 6, the day after the national presidential election. Law schools should defend diversity of thought and speech. Law professors shouldnt be singling out students for their political beliefs. It chills speech, it chills the academic environment, and it violates both the university and law schools policies, Murrill said in a news release from her office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LSU has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding Landrys letter. Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Randal Gaines and Young Democrats of Louisiana President Jay Braxton issued statements in a news release arguing that censure or other discipline would not be in line with protecting free speech. Whats at the center of the controversy? Landry provided a transcript of the alleged statements as part of his letter. Bryner reportedly said students who voted for President-elect Donald Trump and dont support him but do support his policies will have to prove that with their behavior. He said some students, particularly minorities, are uncomfortable in the law school. Bryner asked students to reflect on why that would be the case. He noted that he does not teach politics but does teach law and mentioned how these issues could affect students in the future. According to his staff profile, Bryner is the director of the Climate Change Law and Policy Project at LSU. He teaches: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Environmental law. Administrative law. Natural resources law and policy. Energy law and regulation. The law is going to change, and administrative law is going to change. I perceive this vote as really like a rejection of the idea that we are governed by a people with expertise. Um, there is a lot in administrative law about ensuring that the government makes rational decisions, right. Thats the arbitrary and capricious test. Is the government acting and making rational decisions? Um, is there space for, you know, reviewing whether the government has acted, uh, rationally with adequate reasons to support what its doing? Bryner said. He encouraged students to think about what that rejection of expertise means as they study and begin practicing law and how they plan to approach the issue. Whats the argument? The governor cited free speech as a concern, noting Executive Order JML 24-154. The order, signed Oct. 1, stated that higher ed institutions should protect constitutional free speech rights. Louisiana law also states students should be free from discriminatory retaliation based on their political views. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Professors are banned from imposing their stances on students and cannot make them attend rallies or engage in political activity outside the classroom. Teachers also cant make students take part in political action for a grade. Murrill cited two Louisiana laws in her letter. One is related to bribery or trying to affect how someone votes. The other prevents institutions from limiting students free speech. LSU Law bears a responsibility to uphold its commitment to fostering an inclusive and unbiased educational environment. To that end, I respectfully request that your administration investigate these allegations and take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with state law and university policy, Murrill wrote. Read her full letter below Letter_to_LSULawDownload Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com. The Court of Appeals did not answer whether it would be in the public's interest to know about school principals' disciplinary history, as the law clearly shielded such records from disclosure Lucy Letbys father threatened to hold a gun to the head of the chief executive of the hospital she worked at, a public inquiry has heard. Tony Chambers said John Letby was very angry at a meeting in December 2016 after she won a grievance procedure at the hospital. The hearing was told Letbys father was making threats about reporting doctors who had thought she was harming babies. At the meeting, Mr Chambers praised Letby for her resilience and said she could return to work at the neonatal unit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also told the inquiry he thought the deaths of the babies Letby murdered were certainly not criminal. It was heard he and other hospital bosses believed the reports of independent experts that said there were natural reasons for their deaths. 06:09 PM GMT Thats all for today The inquiry has finished for today. Tony Chambers will continue giving evidence in the morning. Heres a recap of the evidence given by the chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby worked: Mr Chambers apologised to the impacted families. Letby worked the day after doctors told Mr Chambers of suspicions she was harming babies. The hospital reported the deaths to police but believed they were certainly not criminal. Mr Chambers said Letbys unit was under significant pressure and initial investigations found nothing at all suspicious. Letbys father threatened to put a gun to the chief executives head and pulled the strings, Mr Chambers said. Mr Chambers told Letby: Lucy, dont worry, weve got your back after he felt vindicated in his support for her, later admitting this was clumsy language. Mr Chambers said he did not believe consultants were plotting against Letby and believed their accusations were based on gut feelings. The former chief executive added that he was incredibly proud of his demonstrably successful tenure at the Countess of Chester hospital. 05:41 PM GMT Letby accusations were based on gut feelings says Chambers Tony Chambers said that the consultants had only ever presented gut feelings about Letby. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quite simply all we really knew was that thered been an unexplained increase in neonatal deaths which is unusual and there was a link to a single member of staff being on duty more times than others, he said. It was always presented as a feeling rather than really strong, it was just a gut feeling. My understanding at the end of all of this was that there were two cases that remained unascertained, unexplained, and there was a view that that in itself is not unusual. 04:51 PM GMT Chambers incredibly proud of his successful tenure as chief executive Tony Chambers said that his time as chief executive of the Countess of Chester was demonstrably successful. He said he was incredibly proud of so many things that he had introduced to the hospital which had delivered benefits to patients and staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not least of all the new neonatal unit, he said. One of the final things I was able to do before I finished was to get the financial business case over the line for the new neonatal unit. Mr Chambers said he stood by the decisions he had made during the period where Letby was under investigation by the trust. I was acting in good faith, he added. I listened to the doctors when they raised their concerns. Its easy when you look at these matters in the context of what we now know following a four year police investigation, a 10 month trial, a retrial. But in 2016, and its probably the case even now, in the NHS the biggest cause of unnatural unexplained deaths in maternity neonatal units is not deliberate harm, but failure in systems of care. Tony Chambers appears at the Thirlwall Inquiry - Crown Copyright 04:35 PM GMT Chambers plotted to remove whistleblowers, counsel says Tony Chambers was accused of plotting to manage out consultants Dr Ravi Jayaram and Dr Stephen Brearey by referring them to the General Medical Council in the spring of 2017. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel for the inquiry, said referring the pair to the medical regulator was a way to get round the fact they were whistleblowers. Mr Chambers said: This was not a deliberate plan, this was not something that was being engineered or connected. The chief executive said he was exploring all options after being told by the police that doctors concerns about Lucy Letby may not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation. Wed had now what I felt to be a breakdown in the relationship between the doctors and the nurses, we were aware that the nurses felt that Letby had been treated badly, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was kind of thinking: Well if there isnt a police investigation what are we doing to do? 04:14 PM GMT We were just ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances says Chambers Tony Chambers said that he did not believe that consultants were plotting against Letby. The inquiry was shown notes from a meeting he had with medical director Ian Harvey on February 14 2017, in which Mr Harvey commented that he wondered what the doctors were plotting. I dont remember anything about plots, I dont remember any discussion about plots and they certainly werent enemies any more that we were the enemies, said Mr Chambers. We were just ordinary people trying to deal with an extraordinary set of circumstances with very little or confusing information to hand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Chambers said he was not the font of all wisdom and had relied on advice and guidance that he had received from pathologists which suggested the baby deaths were natural. All of the advice they were giving us was pointing away from deliberate harm, he said. They had arrived at those opinions without having to be guided to those opinions.We took those opinions in good faith. 03:22 PM GMT Tense meeting held before Letby returned to unit Mr de la Poer KC asked Mr Chambers about a meeting with consultants on 26 January 2017 in which they were told that Letby would be returning to the unit. He said: Im going to give you an opportunity to answer the allegation that some people have made that you behaved in an oppressive or overbearing or bullying way in that meeting. I want to give you the opportunity to say whether you recognise that description of yourself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Chambers replied: I remember it being a very tense meeting, and I dont and I didnt really understand why. He said: I didnt feel that I was raising my voice. I certainly wasnt angry. On 10 February, the consultants sent Mr Chambers a letter and said the RCPH report identified issues but they were no worse than in other similar neonatal units. They added there was still considerable doubt about why babies collapsed unexpectedly and subsequently did not respond to appropriate resuscitation measurements. 03:10 PM GMT Chambers denies misleading hospital board Mr Chambers has also been asked about comments from the former chairman of the hospital board, Sir Duncan Nichol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sir Nichol has previously said the board was misled by executives at the hospital, after being told there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual. Mr Chambers insisted: We would never mislead the board. 02:52 PM GMT Initial investigations pointed toward natural causes of death At a meeting of hospital board members on 10 January 2017, Tony Chambers said that in relation to the rise in deaths there was an unsubstantiated explanation that there was a causal link to an individual. At the inquiry, Mr Chambers defended his remarks saying: The investigations that were done to that point were seeming to be pointing away from deliberate harm and more towards natural causes of death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added: My understanding of what I was hearing and being told and reading was there was nothing pointing to unnatural causes. 02:29 PM GMT Chambers told Letby weve got your back Mr Chambers told colleagues following the grievance procedure and a review of the hospital by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child health that he had been vindicated in his support of Letby. The inquiry heard that he told staff there was lots of learning for everyone following the review. He later told her: Lucy dont worry, weve got your back. Mr Chambers said that it was clumsy language. 02:18 PM GMT Letbys father was pulling the strings after complaint Mr Chambers said that he met again with Letby on 6 February 2017. He was asked whether he felt Letby was trying to take control of what was going on by asking for an apology after she won a grievance procedure against the hospital. He replied: I think that was an attempt on her behalf, yes. There is no doubt she felt incredibly aggrieved. He added: I have to say I didnt feel like I was being manipulated at the time but with the benefit of hindsight it is fair I never really reflected on it in that way. It was her father who appeared to be pulling the strings rather than Letby herself. Tony Chambers giving evidence - Crown Copyright 01:14 PM GMT Inquiry breaks for lunch The inquiry has broken for lunch and will return at 2.05pm. 01:09 PM GMT Letbys father threatened to put gun to Chambers head The inquiry heard Lucy Letbys father threatened to put a gun to the head of the hospitals chief executive. Tony Chambers met with Letby and her parents on December 22 2016 after the nurse had won a grievance procedure against the hospital. Letbys father was very angry, he said. He was making threats, that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse by threatening GMC referrals for the doctors, hes threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things. Notes from the meeting show that Mr Chambers praised Letby for her resilience and said that she could return to work. 01:03 PM GMT Reviews into baby deaths found nothing at all suspicious Tony Chambers said that external reviews into the baby deaths at Letbys unit had not pointed to anything suspicious. Dr Jane Hawdon, a consultant neonatologist, of the Royal Free Hospital in London, was asked to review the spike in deaths and collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2016. The hearing was told that Dr Hawdons review found four cases that were unexplained while a follow-up review by pathologists at Alder Hey found two of the deaths were unascertained. Mr Chambers said: Nothing at all that was coming from Jane Hawdons review and the pathology review was pointing towards anything suspicious. Nicholas de la Poer KC for the inquiry said that Dr Hawdon did not have the full facts because she was not told about concerns over Letby. Mr Chambers added: In the spirit of trying to keep an open mind, it was not unreasonable to ask Dr Hawdon to do the review with just the case notes that she had rather than her leading her to a particular point. We were hoping that these concerns would come out through the course of the review. 12:40 PM GMT Chambers: Letbys unit was under significant pressure Tony Chambers told the hearing that Lucy Letbys unit was under significant pressure with gaps in the medical and nursing rotas. Detailing his thoughts on the neonatal unit, the former chief executive said: We had some truly brilliant doctors there who worked really hard. We also had some wonderful nurses there who too worked hard, the relationships between the two could change by a shift. What we did know, and what I knew from my own observations for doing walkabouts on the unit, is that this was a unit that was under significant pressure. This was a unit that had gaps in some of the medical rotas and this was a unit that had gaps in the nursing rotas and these were things that we were seeking to resolve. The hearing was shown sections of a report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCCH) which carried out a review into the unit in 2016 indicated that staffing levels were inadequate. Nicholas de la Poer KC, representing the inquiry, pointed out that there had been no analysis to check if staffing levels were any worse than before the deaths. Mr Chambers added: In that same time there had been a change in demand, acuity and complexity. 12:15 PM GMT Hospital bosses agreed to involve police - but Chambers took five weeks to contact them The inquiry heard neonatal consultant Dr Steve Brearey told a March 2017 meeting that the matter needed to be escalated to the police, a stance which Tony Chambers said he agreed with. However, rather than calling them as agreed on March 31, executives instead instructed a criminal barrister to advise them on what to do. Chambers told the hearing: There was never any intention not to go to the police. We sought some independent advice around that. Chambers eventually wrote to Cheshire Polices chief constable more than a month later on May 2. The first meeting with police eventually took place on May 5, prompting the start of Cheshire Polices Operation Hummingbird criminal investigation. Tony Chambers 11:37 AM GMT Hospital reported the deaths to police but believed they were certainly not criminal Tony Chambers said management had believed the reports of independent experts that showed there were natural reasons for the baby deaths. The Countess of Chester had carried out several external and internal reviews which highlighted problems on the unit and suboptimal care. The trust sent a letter to Chester Police on May 5, 2017, asking them to look into the deaths, but saying they did not believe the explanation lay in a single place, cause and certainly not criminal. Mr Chambers told the hearing The concerns that the consultants had raised with us on the June 29 had been tested through these independent expert reviews from the Royal College, from Jane Hawdon, and also later reviews with the Alder Hey pathologists. Nothing that they were saying was pointing to deliberate harm. What we were saying, we couldnt find any evidence of criminality, youre the experts, please help us. 11:24 AM GMT Chambers: Linking end of death pattern to Letby leaving unit not presenting whole story The inquiry heard the pattern of deaths had stopped in June 2016 - after Letby was removed from the unit, suggesting a hypothesis that she was the cause. However, Tony Chambers said that the unit was also downgraded in June 2016, meaning that younger and sicker babies were no longer admitted. He said it was unfair to compare the death rate before and after Letby was removed because criteria for admission was significantly different. The unit prior to 2016 was not the same as the unit post 2016, not simply because Letby had been removed but we had changed the admission criteria to the unit, he said. The reclassification and downgrade meant no babies with a gestational age of less that 32 weeks, weighing less than 800g or with a complex antenatal history would be admitted. So that was a very significant change, so the unit if youre testing the hypothesis and youre only using one criteria to test that hypothesis, youre not presenting the whole story. Trial notes show that the majority of babies on the indictment would have been admitted to the unit under the new criteria. 10:51 AM GMT Letby worked day after doctors told hospital boss they thought she was harming babies Consultants at the Countess of Chester Hospital held a meeting with Tony Chambers on June 29, 2016. However, she was allowed to work the following day. Mr Chambers said the consultants had given a subjective link to one individual. There was very objective support and rebuttal to the proposition that this one nurse was deliberately causing harm, he said. There was a very strong level of support for this individual. What was being said here was that there was a circumstantial causal link. Wrongly Id assumed that the rotas and roster patterns would have been explored. 10:39 AM GMT Letby allegations were very shocking to hear Mr Chambers said he was shocked to hear at a meeting in June 2016 that consultants believed that there was a killer on the neonatal unit. But the Chief Executive said he did not want to jump to criminality and needed to think and reflect on what else could be going on. This was the first time I was made aware of this matters, he told the hearing. These were very shocking things to hear. I listened and heard their concerns. What I do know from my experience across the NHS is that we wouldnt jump to criminality as a casual factor, we would want to explore a broader set of answers to those very difficult questions. Post mortems had been completed. There may have been a lack of agreement with the outcomes of these postmortems but they had been completed. Hearing these really challenging matters, I heard what they had to say, I needed to think and reflect on what else could be going on here. 10:31 AM GMT Chambers: I was unaware of Letby concerns until June 2016 Tony Chambers, the Chief Executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said that he was not aware that anyone had concerns babies were being murdered until the end of June 2016. Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder babies between June 2015 and June 2016. Counsel for the prosecution, Nicholas de la Poer KC, said the fact that he was not informed earlier showed the hospital was not taking concerns seriously enough. Mr Chambers said: I dont think thats a fair assessment at all. If you look at the actions being proposed and discussed these were not trivial actions, these were fairly significant important steps to help us get to a greater insight of what the concerns were and what the nature of that might be. I cant really comment on whether or not these concerns were being made very explicitly around Letbys conduct, because they were never made explicit to me after the 29th. 10:26 AM GMT Hospital boss truly sorry to families impacted The chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby worked said he is truly sorry too impacted families. Tony Chambers, who left his position at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust in September 2018, made the statement before his evidence began. Addressing the Thirlwall Inquiry, he said: Right at the outset I just want to offer my heartfelt condolences to all of the families whose babies are at the heart of this inquiry. I can only imagine, well, I cant imagine, the impact that this has had on your lives, and I am truly sorry for the pain that may have been prolonged by any decisions or actions that I took in good faith. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to take part, openly and honestly in this inquiry and hope that answers can be arrived at and recommendations made. He will be questioned by Counsel to the Inquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC. Tony Chambers arriving at the inquiry this morning - BBC Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (Bloomberg) -- Cantor Fitzgerald LPs Howard Lutnick, Donald Trumps pick for Commerce secretary, was one of the president-elects political nominees targeted by bomb threats and hoax phone calls. Most Read from Bloomberg The transition team on Wednesday said that several cabinet picks and appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting. In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action, transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Swatting is a form of harassment in which a caller falsely reports a dangerous incident to law enforcement in hopes of provoking an armed police response. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incidents and condemned threats of political violence, according to a White House spokesperson speaking on the condition of anonymity. The White House has been in touch with federal law enforcement and Trumps team on the matter and a federal law enforcement response is ongoing, the spokesperson said. New York State troopers received an email about 8 a.m. Wednesday claiming that a bomb had been placed in the mailbox of Lutnicks Upper East Side home in Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the matter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The office of Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, Trumps pick to be US ambassador to the United Nations, said she was also one of the nominees who had been targeted by a bomb threat. This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, according to the statement. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. Brooke Rollins, Trumps pick to run the US Department of Agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, who Trump named to run the Environmental Protection Agency, said they received threats. Pete Hegseth, who the president-elect named as his nominee for secretary of defense, said in a post on X that a police officer came to his home on Wednesday morning and notified my wife and I that they had received a credible pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family. We are all safe and the threat has been cleared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI in a statement Wednesday said it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees. The agency said it takes potential threats seriously, is working with law enforcement partners and encouraged people with any information to report it. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for additional details on which nominees were targeted by the harassment campaign. Leavitt said Trump and his team remained focused on their work and that dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. US political figures have increasingly been targeted in swatting-style attacks. Earlier this year, a caller using a fake number falsely claimed a fire at the White House, prompting the District of Columbia to deploy firefighters and medics to the building. President Joe Biden was spending the weekend at Camp David when the incident occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prominent Republican lawmakers including Rick Scott, a senator from Florida, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have previously reported swatting incidents. --With assistance from Chris Strohm, Justin Sink, Meghashyam Mali and Laura Davison. (Updates with Hegseth post in 10th paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The wife of convicted killer Lyle Menendez slammed the decision to delay a resentencing hearing for her husband and his brother Erik Menendez until late January. Tomorrow will be the guys 35th Thanksgiving in prison. Next month will be their 35th Christmas in prison, Rebecca Sneed wrote Wednesday on a Facebook page dedicated to Lyle. And today is Eriks 35th birthday in prison, she continued. We can wish him a happy birthday while being outraged. Enough is enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erik, who turned 54 on Wednesday, and Lyle, 56, have been in prison since 1990 for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Their case has received renewed interest after a recent documentary and a Netflix drama focused on the sexual abuse allegations against their father. Sneed announced earlier this month that she and Lyle had separated after more than 20 years of marriage amid reports of his love affair with British college student Milly Bucksey. Outgoing District Attorney George Gascon recommended last month that the Menendez brothers sentences be reduced to 50 years with parole, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. The pair appeared in court via Zoom on Monday, the first time theyve been in front of a judge in years. The resentencing hearing, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 11, was pushed back until Jan. 30 and Jan. 31. Incoming DA Nathan Hochman, who will be sworn in on Dec. 2 after defeating Gascon earlier this month, said he wants to review the evidence in the case. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) The Lynyrd Skynyrd monument in Mississippi marks where several members of the group died during a plane crash in 1977. The group had just performed in Greenville, South Carolina, and they were on a chartered plane heading to Baton Rouge to play a concert at Louisiana State University. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed into a heavy wooded area about four or five miles northeast of Gillsburg. Mississippi road signs for Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash site Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those who died in the crash included Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines, the pilot, co-pilot and eight others. Twenty people survived the crash, but they were seriously injured. The Lynyrd Skynyrd Memorial was established in 2019 to mark the site of the crash and as a monument to one of the original Southern Rock bands. The monument is another music pilgrimage site in Mississippi. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. France's President Emmanuel Macron described the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia as a chance to stabilize Lebanon. "The cessation of hostilities offers the Lebanese the opportunity to embark, with the support of their partners, on a lasting recovery for the country," the French leader said in a video address posted on X. He called for the "immediate election" of a Lebanese president and a reform of the country's institutions to allow it to recover financially. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The French president said France "will spare no effort" to support the ceasefire and would so so with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, "in which we play a central role with a number of partners." Macron emphasized that this agreement does not mean the war in Gaza should be forgotten. He said Frnace "will continue its efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities, the release of hostages, the massive influx of humanitarian aid and, of course, a just and lasting political solution involving two states." It was in September 2022 when New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a sweeping lawsuit against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. The civil case was rather devastating: The state attorney generals office pointed to more than 200 instances of alleged fraud over 10 years, announced that it was seeking massive civil penalties against the Republican and his business. The case was a striking success: A New York judge assessed the evidence and ruled earlier this year that Trump and the Trump Organization did, in fact, engage in systemic business fraud. As part of his verdict, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties against Trump and his co-defendants. The outcome is still being appealed an appeal that might actually go well for the defendant but in the meantime, the president-elects legal team apparently want New York Attorney General Letitia James to simply drop the case. Fox News Digital reported on Team Trumps latest effort to persuade the New York Democrat, in the form of a letter from D. John Sauer, who pointed to his clients historic election victory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump has called for our Nations partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country, Sauer wrote. This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle. Sauer Trumps choice to serve as the U.S. solicitor general went on to tell the state attorney general that she has an opportunity to help cure national divisions by abandoning the case that shes already won. The attorney added that the president-elect has called for our Nations partisan strife to end. Whether Sauer was able to type this with a straight face is unclear. In case readers are wondering why the fraud case wont simply evaporate once Trump returns to the White House, as special counsel Jack Smiths case already have, the answer is that this is a qualitatively different kind of case: Smiths criminal prosecutions were federal, and the U.S. Justice Department has a long-standing policy that says a sitting president cant be prosecuted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New York case, however, is a state matter over alleged civil fraud, and its unaffected by the president-elects return to power. As for Sauers pitch James should voluntarily give up on holding Trump accountable for the good of the country I have a hunch the state attorney will not find this especially persuasive. This post updates our related earlier coverage. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Todays installment of campaign-related news items from across the country. * With former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz having given up his seat, Donald Trump earlier this week publicly urged Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to run. Hours later, Patronis resigned from his position and kicked off his candidacy. * In related news, with Republican Rep. Michael Waltz giving up his seat to serve in Trumps White House, the president-elect also said hed support GOP state Sen. Randy Fine if he ran. Three days later, Fine launched his congressional campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * There are only three U.S. House races that havent yet been called, and one of the closest is in Iowa, where Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks appears to have a tiny advantage over her Democratic rival. This week, the GOP incumbent issued a fundraising appeal that accused Democrats of attempting to steal the House Majority. There is literally no evidence of Democrats trying to steal anything, and even if Miller-Meeks were to lose, Republicans would still have a majority in the House next year. * We dont yet know who the next chair of the Democratic National Committee will be, but party officials this week sketched out the process of choosing outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrisons successor. The new leader will be chosen on Feb. 1, following four public forums held throughout January. * In the wake of Trump tapping former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the next director of national intelligence, Mother Jones published an interesting report on the many political action committees that Gabbard has created. * And as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to leave office, whats the Democrats next move? Politico reported this week on a possible gubernatorial campaign in California in 2026, or a possible second presidential campaign in 2028. The vice president, the report added, has been instructing advisers and allies to keep her options open. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com In a disturbing post on X, a Trump-endorsed candidate for the House of Representatives targeted and invoked an anti-Muslim trope against two Muslim members of Congress. Florida state Senator Randy Fine, who is running to fill the vacancy in Floridas 6th U.S. congressional district, singled out Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar on Tuesday. Quote-tweeting an endorsement from the Republican Jewish Coalition, Fine posted, The Hebrew Hammer is coming. @RashidaTlaib and @IlhanMN might consider leaving before I get there. #BombsAway. Tlaib and Omar are two of just three Muslim members of Congress, and the only two Muslim women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fine has a history of using demeaning rhetoric against Muslims and Palestinians and trafficking in Islamophobic tropes. In the past, he has said that we have a Muslim problem in America and that while many Muslims are not terrorists, they are the radicals, not the mainstream. In August 2021, when Fine was a representative in Floridas state House, the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a complaint against him with the House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee, alleging that Fine violated his duty as an elected official by encouraging his constituents to run over people at Palestinian advocacy protests, call[ing] for the annihilation of the Palestinian people, and direct-messaging a Floridian to blow yourself up, among other instances of egregious conduct. In September, Fine took to X to cheer the death of 26-year-old American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an activist reportedly killed by the Israeli forces while peacefully protesting illegal settlements in the West Bank. Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway, Fine wrote. Donald Trump threw his support behind Fines candidacy last week, referring to him as an America First Patriot in a Truth Social post. In 2019, voters made Denver the first U.S. city to decriminalize the use of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in certain mushrooms. Then in 2022, Colorado Proposition 122 set the groundwork for medical centers to open up statewide to administer the substances for medicinal purposes. Brittney Wall runs Dragonfly Homes, a business that stages homes for sale, and she keeps a lot of her supplies in a U-Haul truck. She said she recently parked in a shopping center lot in southeast Charlotte overnight. It sounds risky, but she said, Its not something Ive had a problem with, and there are other vehicles that park there overnight as well. The next morning, I got a big wake-up surprise, she said. My truck was missing. It was like a magician had come and swept it away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So Action 9 went to the lot to see firsthand. It does have a sign warning about towing. But Action 9 only saw one, and its off to the side, easy to miss if you enter the lot from any other direction. I had about $4,000 worth of inventory on board, she told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke. ALSO READ: Didnt deserve this: Tow truck driver killed in east Charlotte was father to 2 Her first thought: U-Haul somehow found it and took it back. But she says the company told her no. Her second thought: a thief. So she called the police. Officers usually know because tow companies are supposed to tell them. Otherwise, police would end up investigating a lot of stolen car cases that turn out to be merely towing cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wall says officers told her a company, Kings Ton Towing, had towed it. She says she got it back, but it wasnt cheap: more than $3,600. She says she paid it because she had no choice. Not to mention, she had to return the truck at some point. This was an honest mistake, but it was a hefty price to pay for an honest mistake, she said. Action 9 tried getting in touch with the towing company and owner of the shopping center in multiple ways, but there was no response in time for this report, other than an automated one from the wrecker service. Remember, the City of Charlotte has rules for towing companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They say property owners must post warning signs. But its a gray area how prominent they have to be. Here are some of the main rules: There have to be signs on the property warning you about towing. They have to be easy to read. The tow company has to accept cash and two major credit cards. It has to have someone on-call who can release your vehicle within 45 minutes. Youre entitled to retrieve your personal property from the vehicle. ALSO READ: Residents in Spanish-speaking communities accuse tow company of preying on them In the meantime, North Carolina lawmakers are considering a bipartisan House bill addressing predatory booting and towing. This bill goes further in a lot of ways than Charlottes ordinance. Plus, it would apply to the entire state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If it becomes law: Companies would need a permit to do this kind of work and have to get it renewed every year. You have to have more training and certification to be a barber in the state of North Carolina than you do a tow truck driver, the bills primary sponsor, N.C. Rep. Laura Budd (D-Meck. Co.), told Stoogenke. Just pause a second and think about that piece. Every time companies booted or towed a vehicle, theyd have to put certain information into a database, including the address where it booted/towed the vehicle, the address where it stored the vehicle, fees, the name of the owner/supervisor who authorized the boot/tow, the name of the person who booted/towed the vehicle, the reason, and vehicle information. Companies would have to post clear signs about the parking rules. They couldnt tow your ride more than 25 miles away. The bill would create a commission. The commission that were setting up will set the maximum rates for the type of tow, Budd said. Budd also said the towing and truck industries support the legislation. VIDEO: Didnt deserve this: Tow truck driver killed in east Charlotte was father to 2 HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) The Wayne County Sheriffs Office (WCSO) says some changes are coming to the mailing system for its jail. WCSO says due to the ongoing contraband issues experienced by correctional facilities nationwide, deputies have made the decision to move to a digital mailing system for those detained in the Wayne County Jail. Law enforcement officials say the health of WCSO deputies and those detained is its utmost concern and it has announced its partnership with TextBehind is at no additional cost to the county. Former Wayne City police chief accused of public corruption Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputies say starting on December 2, personal mail will need to be addressed as: Inmate Name Wayne County Jail IL PO Box 76550 Highland Heights, KY 41076 WCSO says mail will then be scanned and delivered, once approved by Correctional Staff, to those in custody via in-cell kiosk or tablet. Legal mail will still follow the current vetting and delivery processes. Details announcing this change can be found below. (Courtesy: Wayne County Sheriffs Office) Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). As many of you know, we live and farm on the Nolichucky River, and have grown so much food that has gone through the restaurants, and out to our produce subscription subscribers for many years now. We do this farming on two separate plots about a mile from each other on opposite sides of the river. Over the years the Nolichucky has deposited trillions of tons of fertile soil all down the valley where we live which makes this all possible, but a river always comes with a risk. A when not if type of proposition stretched out over too many millennia for us to even begin to grasp, and sometimes she comes calling. Both of our farms were devastated by the flood. The mess will take years to clean up, and much of it will no longer be farmable, as the river has cut a new path, and removed up to twenty five feet of sandy bottom loam. We also leased a large chunk of this to Scotts Strawberries, who have always been so great to work with, but that is a side of business that was wiped away in total all at once, and a tough hit for us. Luckily the water fell short of our house, but we did lose structures, and it will be a good while before we will be farming in high gear, as we devote our time to clean up and soil conservation. We will be working with the local soil conservation district, as will many up and down the river, and we do have excellent people in charge of that kind of thing here in East Tennessee, so we will recover, but its a lot right now, and will require a lot of attention for the next several years as the river ebbs and flows into a new path. Once the bridges on both sides, plus several more up and down the valley were out, the ride to work for our employees at our Chuckey location (County Line Pie) was too much to ask. It went from mostly 10 minutes, to mostly 30 to 45 for our 7 employees there, and shortly after offering them positions at our other two restaurants, they all found other jobs close to home. The property was without water for over two more weeks, and so faced with uncertain timelines on bridge reconstruction and no staff, we decided not to reopen that location, and to put the building up for lease. When we started Main Street in Johnson City fifteen years ago, we were helped out by having good landlords who wanted us to succeed as we got our feet under us, and we hope to be the same for someone else out here on 107. What many of you dont know is that the King Center, the building where the Johnson City location is a tenant, was sold this spring. Then the building sold again about a month later. Our lease is up December 31st of this year, so we of course were concerned about where things may be headed. The building has always been owned by local people that we looked up to, great Johnson City business people. Now the building is owned by an out of town investment group. This right off the bat kind of goes against what we have always tried not to be or support, so After many hours spent contemplating, discussion after discussion, and new information from the new owners, we very recently reached the conclusion that we were not interested in renewing the lease under terms they were offering. As new owners do, these new folks have big plans for the building, and we wish them the best. This is just part of the business cycle. Their new plans will mean lots of work and construction, including on the first floor, as well as us not being able to keep our current footprint. Being in Pizza, we thrive on large parties, and we cant do without some space for accommodating them. To improve things, sometimes you have to make some sawdust, and we know exactly how that is, so we hope to see the King Center looking better than ever sometime in the future, but at this time, that is not something we are ready to deal with. As you can imagine, we were also not in agreement on new price per sq foot, and felt like after 15 years of doing business in the space full of unique challenges, our opinions were a bit more realistic. This subject of construction brings me to Kingsport, our Kingsport location fans will know where I am going next. First, let us say we are so grateful for the City of Kingsport for the complete Main Street overhaul. It is just a bullet you have to bite to make things better, that just like the JC situation, you have to endure some construction. The city, and the folks at Downtown Kingsport Association have been great as far as communication and support goes. They have done the best job I have seen done in a situation like this, but at the end of the day, it is something you cant really do much about in a real sense. Everyone just has to hang on for dear life, and hope you see the other side, and that the upgrades prove worth it. We have gone through it before in Johnson City. However, as the project moved down the road and settled in on our block, it went from a minor inconvenience, to a serious drop off in sales. Again, this is to be expected, but when the other two stores are also coming to a close, it makes it much more difficult to absorb. It also becomes a burden on your staff, who count on that money daily. Therefore, we are going to also hope to become helpful and inspirational building owners for someone with a good idea, and less flood mud to clean up. We will ATTEMPT to stay open in Johnson City until Dec. 15th, in order to give us time to have 15 years of stuff out by the end our lease. We say attempt, because it becomes extremely difficult to stay open once you cant hire new people. Our current employees must all do what is best for them, and we encourage that. We will ATTEMPT to stay open in Kingsport until Dec. 22nd, one week later. We let our employees know as soon as we made the decision about a week ago, and so far, they are all being terrific about it, and maybe we will be able to hang on until then, but at some point, you just run out of enough bodies to do the job, so lets hope for the best, but you might want to get one last Thai Pie if that is a thing for you. If you have an event or catering on the calendar already, it is a go or if it is for 2025, someone will be in contact. We would like to thank everyone for 15 great years in Downtown JC, 10 years in Downtown Kingsport, and 5 years in Chuckey. We put more local food on plates than every other restaurant in the tri-cities combined during that time, and look forward to continue farming for you. This is not goodbye, but see you later, as we are still involved in things in both Downtown JC and KPT, and will still be farming in Limestone. Please be kind to our staff as we wind down here, flu season is upon us, so we will be short some, and probably kind of busy, so please be patient, and tip those guys good. We love you all! We look forward to the next chapter! Nov. 26Maine on Tuesday sued several big players in the energy industry over accusations they developed fossil fuel products despite knowing about the damage to the climate caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Attorney General Aaron Frey sued BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Sunoco and the American Petroleum Institute, saying the companies and industry group deceived Mainers about the "role of fossil fuel products in causing climate change." The lawsuit was filed in Cumberland County Superior Court. Frey, who is seeking reelection, said he intends to hold the energy companies accountable for "failing to warn Mainers and concealing their knowledge about the devastating consequences of the increasing use of fossil fuels on Maine's people, economy and environment." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The result has been significant financial and public health costs, property damage and other harms, he said. "For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their own science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects," Frey said. Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. of the Los Angeles law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, which represents Chevron, said in an emailed statement that addressing climate change "requires a coordinated federal and international policy response, not meritless state court litigation attacking essential energy production." Identical claims have been dismissed by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and state courts in Delaware and Maryland, he said. Boutrous cited a Baltimore city court that said state law cannot provide a remedy to claims "involving foreign emissions." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, a Connecticut court in July rejected an industry bid to dismiss the state's climate liability case, siding with the attorney general who sued ExxonMobil in state court. In March, ExxonMobil said in a securities filing that the challenges seek "unprecedented legal and equitable relief for various alleged injuries purportedly connected to climate change." "These lawsuits assert a variety of novel, untested claims under statutory and common law. We believe the legal and factual theories set forth in these proceedings are meritless and represent an inappropriate attempt to use the court system to usurp the proper role of policymakers in addressing the societal challenges of climate change," it said. In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil said more than half of households in Maine use petroleum products for home heating, a larger share than in any other state. "These baseless claims ignore the state's historic dependence on oil and natural gas, do nothing to address the risks of climate change and waste taxpayer dollars," it said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We'll continue to fight these lawsuits and false claims and, more importantly, continue to be a leader in the energy transition by investing more than $20 billion in lower-emission initiatives from 2022 through 2027," ExxonMobil said. Natalie Gunnell, a spokesperson for Shell, said its position on climate change is a matter of public record. "We agree that action is needed now on climate change and we fully support the need for society to transition to a lower-carbon future," she said. "We continue to reduce our emissions and help customers reduce theirs as we supply vital energy the world needs today." A spokesperson said Sunoco does not comment on "pending litigation." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BP and the American Petroleum Institute did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment about Maine's lawsuit. More than 20 states, tribes, cities and counties have brought similar lawsuits. Penalties sought by Maine would be in the billions of dollars. The energy giants and American Petroleum Institute are being challenged to pay for past and future climate harms in damages, penalties, abatement and disgorging their profit. In the lawsuit, Frey said the industry has known for decades, "based on its own internal research," that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas. The industry, including the companies being sued, took the internal scientific findings seriously, "investing heavily to protect its own assets and infrastructure from rising seas, stronger storms and other climate change impacts," he said. But the companies "mounted a disinformation campaign to discredit the scientific consensus on climate change" to create doubt in the minds of consumers, the media, business leaders and the public about the impacts of climate change, Frey said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frey, who is being challenged for reelection by fellow Democrat Maeghan Maloney, the district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, reminded state legislators who will vote for the next attorney general that he stood up to President-elect Donald Trump during his first term and some conservative states on several issues. Trump has promised to overturn many, if not most, of President Biden's green energy policies on offshore wind, natural gas and oil development and other issues. Copy the Story Link The state of Maine has filed a lawsuit against five major oil companies and their top lobbying group, accusing them of carrying out a decades-long disinformation campaign about climate change and their contribution to it in order to maximize profits. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, in his lawsuit filed Tuesday in state court, accuses Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco and the American Petroleum Institute of withholding internal knowledge about fossil fuels catastrophic effects all while spinning public doubt. For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects, said Frey in a statement. In so doing, they burdened the State and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception. A car in a flooded parking lot by the Kennebec River in Waterville, Maine, on Dec. 19, 2023, amid unseasonably warm weather and storms. via Associated Press Maines lawsuit seeks a jury trial and damages that would cover the costs of past and future climate harms. The state also wants the companies to cease their ongoing deception in Maine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for Shell, in a statement Wednesday to HuffPost, said it agrees that action is needed on climate change, particularly in a transition to a lower-carbon future, but they argued that the issue should be handled in a collaborative, society-wide approach. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress, the statement said. APIs Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers also argued in a statement to HuffPost that the industry has substantially reduced emissions and our environmental footprint while also keeping energy prices down for U.S. consumers. A government graph included in the lawsuit shows a rise in global average temperature over the past several decades. This rise is called one of the most obvious signs of climate change by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources, Meyers said. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not a patchwork of courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Sunoco representative declined to comment, citing the pending litigation, and a BP representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Maines lawsuit claims that the fossil fuel industry has known for decades, based in part on its own international research, that its practices have contributed to the climate crisis through the production of greenhouse gases. Instead of warning the public, the industry, including these six defendants, invested heavily to protect its own assets and infrastructure from rising seas, stronger storms, and other climate change impacts, the lawsuit states. Exxon Mobil is called out in the lawsuit for having once publicly painted global warming as a good thing. James Leynse via Getty Images The defendants and industry, the suit states, also launched public disinformation campaigns to discredit the scientific consensus on climate change; create doubt in the minds of consumers, the media, business leaders, and the public about the climate change impacts of burning fossil fuels; and delay the energy economys transition to a lower-carbon future while maximizing profits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit cites instances going back to the 1950s when scientists and other experts internally warned the defendants about carbon dioxide emissions, produced by human activities, harming the Earths environment and sea levels. Despite this information, the suit states, the defendants issued opposing public denials. In one 1996 public report, Exxon Mobil actually painted global warming as a positive, arguing that warming would reduce mortality rates in the US and an enhanced greenhouse world would be one with more agricultural productivity. A pump jack extracts oil at a well in North Dakota. Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit also points to one peer-reviewed analysis of Exxons climate communications from 1989 to 2004, which found that the company acknowledged that climate change is real and human-caused in 83% of its peer-reviewed papers and 80% of its internal documents. Despite these admissions, 81% of the companys public advertising expressed doubt about man-made climate change, the 2017 study found. The lawsuit follows similar suits by eight other states and the District of Columbia against major oil companies, all alleging complicity in climate change. Those states are New Jersey, California, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Related... Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) this week announced a lawsuit against major oil companies and their top lobbying group, alleging they knowingly concealed the role of fossil fuels in climate change for decades. Frey said Tuesday that defendants in the lawsuit include Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute (API). In a nearly 200-page complaint, the state alleges the companies contributed to Maines financial liability by concealing knowledge of the link as far back as the 1960s. For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects, Frey said in a statement. In so doing, they burdened the State and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state said it is seeking a jury trial and damages compensating the state for both future mitigation efforts and the costs of earlier impacts. Maine is the ninth state to sue to hold oil companies responsible for the effects of climate change, none of which have gone to trial. A separate coalition of Republican attorneys general has called on the Supreme Court to bar lawsuits from five of those states, arguing they rely on powers the states do not have. The Pine Tree State has seen a number of extreme weather events in recent years in particular, with Sen. Susan Collins (R) saying at a Senate hearing last week that recent storms took out about 50 percent of our fishing infrastructure in our state. Internal communications within the industry indicate senior figures in the industry were aware of a link going back to the 1970s, including periods during which they publicly cast doubt on a correlation. The API formed a carbon dioxide task force in the late 70s including representatives from Exxon, Mobil, Shell and Chevrons predecessors, while a study published in the journal Science last year indicated Exxon scientists made projections going back decades that closely track with the trajectory of climate change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The API, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil pushed back on the attorney generals claims in statements to The Hill. This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources, Ryan Meyers, API senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not a patchwork of courts. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress, a Shell spokesperson told The Hill. Addressing climate change requires a coordinated federal and international policy response, not meritless state court litigation attacking essential energy production, Chevron counsel Ted Boutrous said in a statement to The Hill. Identical claims have been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and state courts in Delaware and Maryland. As the Baltimore city circuit court recently held, state law cannot provide a remedy to claims involving foreign emissions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well over half of the households in Maine use petroleum products for home heating a larger share than any other state, an ExxonMobil spokesperson told The Hill. These baseless claims ignore the states historic dependence on oil and natural gas, do nothing to address the risks of climate change and waste taxpayer dollars. The Hill has reached out to BP and Sunoco for comment. Updated at 11:39 a.m. EST Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Voters cast their ballots at the Quimby School gymnasium in Bingham, Maine on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Michael G. Seamans/ Maine Morning Star) More Mainers turned out to vote in 2024 than ever before, according to data collected by the Secretary of States office. With 842,447 people casting votes in both the presidential election and the race for U.S Senate this year, Maine broke previous high voter turnout records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maine was first in the country in voter turnout in 2022, with 680,909 voters casting ballots, according to the United States Election Assistance Commission, the government agency that collects statewide election data. This years data, although not official yet, also surpassed voter turnout from the last presidential election in 2020, when more than 822,000 Mainers voted. Mainers should be very proud of our record leading the nation in voter participation, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said. The final voter turnout numbers from the 2024 election will be released later this winter, as clerks across the state are still inputting same-day registration numbers, Bellows explained. On Election Day, after visiting roughly a dozen polling locations, Bellows said statewide same-day voter registration seemed particularly high. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maines numbers are in line with high voter turnouts reported nationally, with more than 153 million ballots counted nationwide, according to the Associated Press. When the final numbers are determined, it is expected to come close to the record-breaking 158 million in 2020, which was the highest turnout election since women were given the right to vote more than a century ago. According to town-by-town data, 43,9567 people voted in the 1st Congressional District race that U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree won and 402,936 people cast ballots in the 2nd District race between U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and Republican challenger Austin Theriault, which Golden won in a ranked-choice runoff and is slated for a recount beginning Monday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE KULA, Hawaii (KHON2) A major milestone was celebrated on Maui after a Kula man celebrated his newly rebuilt Kula home after losing his home in the Aug. 8, 2023, Lahaina wildfires. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Eighty-three-year-old Thomas Liu will move out of his rental to spend Thanksgiving in his brand-new two-bedroom, 860-square-foot cottage. Liu will stay in the cottage while he waits for work to be completed on his main house on Kulalani Drive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lahaina family returns home just in time for Thanksgiving after rebuilding from August fires Maui Mayor Richard Bissen joined Liu and Kumu Kaponoai Molitau for Tuesdays blessing, noting that dedication and commitment can lead to accomplishments that exceed expectations. Its not a time to celebrate any individual milestone, but rather a symbol of signs of the beginning of a devastated communitys long-awaited recovery, Liu emphasized. I only survived because of the love, generosity, kindness, support of family, friends, strangers and federal and local government. This is the second home rebuilt following the devastating wildfires. The first home in the Lahaina Disaster Area was blessed last week, offering a space for Mau and Ariel Ah Hee and their two sons a space to celebrate Thanksgiving sooner than they expected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maui County said Lius property was one of the 26 homes in upcountry impacted by the wildfires. Four building permits have been approved by the Recovery Permit Center in Kula. Nine other permits are being reviewed. Check out more news from around Hawaii The County said more survivors will return to their homes before Christmas. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) A months-long investigation has ended in the arrest of a Salem man on felony charges of theft from a major retailer in Boardman. Police were first alerted about the thefts after an inventory in March 2024 showed shortages. Surveillance video shows a man taking high-ticket items on several occasions in January and February. In all, $3,899 in sweepers and Lego sets were taken. The video shows the suspect leaving the store and putting the stolen items in his car, which did not have a license plate, and driving over to a nearby bookstore before leaving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thefts were recorded again in March on three separate occasions where police say the man was seen in the video taking sweepers and Lego sets again and other toys with a value of $6,107. In all, the suspect is accused of taking over $10,000 in merchandise. Through surveillance video and other efforts, investigators say they were able to identify the suspect as 42-year-old Richard Hill. Hill was arrested Tuesday at a gas station in North Lima on multiple theft warrants. He is scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 3. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) The man accused of defrauding investors in the Chill Can debacle that promised to bring a cutting-edge canning operation to Youngstown pleaded guilty to 23 criminal counts in the investment scheme. According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, Garry Savage, Sr. of Huron, pleaded guilty Tuesday, both individually and on behalf of his company, Coast to Coast Chill, Inc., to seven counts of securities fraud; eight counts of sales of unregistered securities; six counts of fraudulent or deceptive conduct by an investment adviser representative; and two counts of theft. All other pending counts were nullified because of the plea. Savages plea follows an investigation and criminal referral from the Ohio Division of Securities to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scheme involved diverting investor funds to pay himself and to repay other investors, as well as keep material facts from investors. According to the November 2021 indictment, Savage sold investments to 18 Ohio investors in Coast to Coast Chill, Inc., a Nevada corporation owned and operated by Savage. The funds were supposed to be invested by Coast to Coast Chill, Inc., into The Joseph Company International to build a facility in Youngstown to manufacture self-chilling beverage cans. According to the indictment, investors funds were misappropriated. The Chill Can plant stands empty in Youngstown after a lawsuit played out in court over several years between the City and The Joseph Company over the facility standing empty with no production coming to fruition. The City ultimately prevailed in the lawsuit, winning back tax incentives and other funds awarded to the project. Early this month, a sheriffs sale on the property was postponed after city leaders were unable to obtain appraisals of the propertys value. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawyers are working with the judge overseeing the foreclosure case against Chill Can and are hoping they will be permitted to use the value placed on the property by the county auditor. If the judge approves, the site could be placed back on the auction block. Savage remains in the Erie County Jail, where he has been held since August 2022. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 30, 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Colorado Springs City Council gave the final approval Tuesday for the city's 2025 budget. The final budget covers $941 million in city expenses and revenue next year, including $438 million in spending for the city's general fund. Colorado Springs' budget has increased from the $900 million budget passed for 2024 but is still down from the billion dollar budget the city had in 2023. The new budget continues some of the reductions the city enacted last year to deal with financial crunches, including limiting new department spending and keeping several unfilled positions open. To balance the budget, the city will end up pulling $3.9 million from its reserves. Budget increases planned for 2025 are largely going to the Colorado Springs Police Department. The budget adds 20 sworn officer positions to the department's authorized staffing and three civilian members of the department. Featured Local Savings Police officers and firefighters will receive a 2% pay increase next year in the final budget and civilian employees will receive an average pay increase of 2%. In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Yemi Mobolade said the final budget addressed "the most pressing needs of our residents including public safety, city cleanup, and issues surrounding homelessness." The final budget enacted by the City Council is around $2 million above the preliminary budget Mobolade presented in October. The Trails, Open Space and Parks Fund added more than $4 million in budgeted trail projects during the council review. At the same time, the council reduced how much the city spent from its reserves by cutting an increase to its insurance claims reserves and reducing the city payment to the workers' compensation fund. The City Council voted 8-1 to pass the budget on its second reading Tuesday with council member Dave Donelson as the vote against. Donelson had previously and unsuccessfully attempted to add money to the budget in an attempt to help the Pikes Peak Library District cover the cost of operating the Rockrimmon Library. A 28-year-old man from Santa Barbara County has been charged with two counts of murder in connection with an alleged alcohol-related crash in San Bernardino County that claimed the lives of two toddlers, officials announced Tuesday. The deadly three-vehicle crash occurred on Nov. 24 just after 11 p.m. at Walnut and Riverside drives in Rialto, according to Sgt. Daniel Smith of the Rialto Police Department. The girls, ages 3 and 4, were with their parents in a white Honda Accord turning left onto Walnut when a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck headed south on Riverside ran a red light and broadsided the Accord, sending it careening into a black tow truck, Smith said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The girls, one of whom was ejected from the vehicle, were declared dead at the scene, while their father was hospitalized with moderate injuries, Smith said. The girls were sitting in car seats, and their mother was uninjured. Family members identified the siblings as Neveah and Alenia Flores. The driver of the pickup truck, Alexis Jose Garcia, a resident of Buellton, fled the scene, but was located a quarter mile away, police said. Two toddlers were killed in an apparent DUI crash in Rialto on Nov. 24, 2024. (KTLA) Alexis Jose Garcia, 28, a resident of Buellton. (Rialto PD) Two toddlers were killed in an apparent DUI crash in Rialto on Nov. 24, 2024. (KTLA) Two toddlers, pictured here in an undated photo, were killed in an apparent DUI crash in Rialto on Nov. 24, 2024. (Viewer photo) Two toddlers, pictured here in an undated photo, were killed in an apparent DUI crash in Rialto on Nov. 24, 2024. (Viewer photo) Here we have yet another tragic DUI-related death that was completely preventable and born out of selfish and reckless behavior, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said. Those two little girls should be writing their letters to Santa, but instead their family is dealing with the unthinkable task of writing their eulogies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thief hits girl with car in parking lot of Southern California Target In addition to the murder counts, Garcia has been charged with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run resulting in death, driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in injury and driving with a .08% BAC or more and causing injury. Our office has also alleged multiple special allegations for fleeing after committing vehicular manslaughter, great bodily injury and driving with .15% or more BAC, prosecutors said in a news release. Prosecutors filed motions recommending no bail for the 28-year-old, who remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. GLENVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) A man was charged after multiple incidents where he allegedly threatened to shoot a woman and broke into a home in Gilmer County. On Nov. 21, troopers with the Gilmer County detachment of the West Virginia State Police received a report of threats taking place at a residence, according to a criminal complaint. Randy Dennison Troopers learned that Randy Dennison, 58, of Glenville, had come to the victims residence, and when the victim told Dennison to leave, he went to the street and then turned around and came back, troopers said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During that time, Dennison tried to push through the door, while the victim was trying to hold the door to keep him from coming in, but Dennison kept pushing on the door and then threw a budget book and hit the victim in the face, according to the complaint. Once Dennison got one foot in the residence, the victim told him that she had a gun and he needed to leave, and the victims dog then took off after Dennison and he left cussing at her while he was walking down the road, troopers said. Plea hearing set for former Buckhannon councilmans child pornography charge Two weeks prior to that incident, on Nov. 4, Dennison was in the victims residence and he pulled his 9mm pistol out, stuck it in her face and told her if she p***ed him off enough, he would shoot her in the face and not care, according to the complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dennison has been charged with wanton endangerment and assault. He is being held in Central Regional Jail on $12,500 bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. A man has been taken into custody after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement in Taunton Wednesday. Officers responded to an apartment building on Hodges Avenue for a well-being check around 9:00 a.m. Officers found the man had barricaded himself inside an apartment bathroom. The man allegedly opened fire on the officers with at least one officer returning fire back. Neither the suspect nor any officers were hit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Backup units were called to the area and nearby residents were evacuated from their homes. After around an hour of negotiating, the suspect was convinced to surrender peacefully without incident, according to Taunton police. The man was arrested and transported to the Taunton Police Station for booking. Police say the standoff was an isolated incident and that there is no ongoing threat to the communitys safety. Taunton Police would like to thank its partners, including Massachusetts State Police, Taunton Fire Department, Taunton Emergency Management, and Brewster Ambulance, who responded to the scene and assisted, a release from the department said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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 A man was arrested in Orange County for allegedly trafficking a 17-year-old girl. The suspect was identified as Taishaman Adams Arrant, 31, according to the Anaheim Police Department. On Nov. 21, police received information that a teen girl was reportedly being exploited for purposes of commercialized sex. With help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Anaheim detectives launched an investigation and worked to locate the victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities identified Arrant as the suspect and, hours later, found the teen girl and brought her to safety. The suspect was located nearby shortly after, police said. Arrant, who police discovered was a convicted felon, was arrested and booked into the Anaheim Police Departments Detention Facility. Additional details on the arrest, including the circumstances of their discovery, were not released. Taishaman Adams Arrant, 31, is seen in a booking photo from the Anaheim Police Department. On Nov. 25, Arrant was charged with human trafficking of a minor by the Orange County District Attorneys Office. He remains in custody on $350,000 bail. Anyone with additional information on the case can call Anaheim Police at 714-765-1900. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you or anyone you know has been a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 888-373-7888 or your local law enforcement agency. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Court documents reveal a Sunday morning fire that killed two at a north Phoenix mobile home was set off shortly after the jailed suspect doused his clothes with gasoline in the living room. Joel Hernandez Anaya, 22, is charged in suspicion of two counts of reckless manslaughter and two counts of attempted manslaughter, according to police. A call around 9:45 a.m. about an injured person in a house fire prompted officers to respond to a mobile home in the area of Michigan Avenue near Cave Creek Road, police said. Firefighters extinguished the fire and found two dead, later revealed to be men in their late 30s, according to police. A mobile home fire left two people dead on the morning of Nov. 24, 2024. In addition to the two fatal victims, the Fire Department on Sunday said three people escaped the flames and were hospitalized in stable condition after suffering burns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives processed the scene and questioned multiple people, leading to the identification, location and apprehension of Anaya, according to police. Anaya told police on Tuesday that he was using methamphetamine shortly before trying to remove odor from his clothes by pouring them in gasoline while in the middle of the living room just before the fire broke out, according to court documents. He told police he lit a cigarette and thought this had ignited the fire, court documents said. He was outside when there was a small explosion inside the mobile home, and he then helped one of the others inside the home to escape, court documents noted. Anaya told police the fire was accidental, expressing remorse and admitting he was using cocaine and methamphetamine, court documents mentioned. Victim identification is pending notification of next of kin. Anaya is being held on a $500,000 bond at a Maricopa County jail and has a preliminary court hearing set for Dec. 9, according to jail records. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arrest made in north Phoenix mobile home fire case where 2 died Cops in Arizona have arrested a man who made wild Facebook videos in which he said he was going to kill Donald Trump. In a spooky coincidence, as Trump took to an arena in Glendale, Arizona, in August, Manuel Tamayo-Torres recorded his journey to the site with an AR 15-style rifle. Trump spoke about how Thomas Crooks opened fire on him with an AR 15-style rifle during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania just a month earlier. [Y]oure gonna die, Tamayo-Torres allegedly said in a video he posted on Thursday. [Y]our sons gonna die. Your whole family is going to die... Im going to put a hole in your face. Tamayo-Torres issued an array of bizarre and unfounded claims about Trump, including that the 78-year-old kidnapped and sex-trafficked his children, according to the charging documents. He was charged with one count of making threats against a president or presidents successor. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A man who was extradited from El Salvador and booked for a 1991 murder in the Emerald Hills area of San Diego died Tuesday while in custody, said officials with the San Diego County Sheriffs Office. The 66-year-old man was originally booked into Sheriffs custody on Monday, Sept. 23, 2004. Years later, while incarcerated at the George Bailey Detention Facility, the man was transported to a local hospital due to shortness of breath on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Due to medical complications, he was transferred to the ICU. Sheriffs Homicide investigators were later notified on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, that the man had died while at the hospital. His name is being withheld at this time as officials try to locate and notify his family. The Sheriffs Office is working with the Consulate General of El Salvador to do so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The San Diego County Medical Examiners Office will determine the cause and manner of his death. As is the protocol for all in-custody deaths, the Sheriffs Homicide Unit responded and will conduct a thorough investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. Police issued an arrest warrant for a Saint Ann man after he allegedly brought a loaded gun to Ritenour High School on Monday. According to court documents, Carl Garmon, age not specified, got into a confrontation with a student on the schools campus when police arrived for a report of a firearm on the campus. Allegedly, Garmon was seen wearing a backpack, and before police could escort him off campus, he gave the backpack to his girlfriend and fled on foot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Garmons girlfriend gave the backpack to the officers, where they located a black 9mm pistol inside. Police issued a warrant for Garmons arrest on Tuesday. Garmons bond has been set at $100,000. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) Police have arrested a Chicago man on murder charges after he allegedly gunned down a motorist in a road rage incident on I-80. According to the Illinois State Police, troopers were called to the scene of the shooting, on the I-80 westbound entrance to I-355 around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, November 25th. Authorities said Phillip Rogers, 45, was involved in the incident and shot and killed 30-year-old Lenier Clayton, of Joliet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Claytons vehicle then crashed. Rogers faces charges of First Degre Murder and Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon. Police reminded the public to call 911 if motorists believe another driver is harassing them, or drive to the nearest police department to report it. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. At 16 months old, Talia Mutai experiments with independence, placing one foot in front of the other while clinging tightly to her mothers fingers. The activity produces so much glee that Talia wants to repeat it again and again. Her mom, Mary Mutai, operates on as much energy as baby Talia. Whether shes working as an information technology quality-assurance analyst, reporting for duty with the Air Force Reserves, cooking meals, or playing with her three children, Marys energy and love infuse the home of the family of five and the lives of others who enter her sphere. Shes a happy one, Mary says, gazing at Talia. The baby also enjoys listening to childrens music and animated shows, eating a cornucopia of food and grabbing the attention of two older siblings. Her sister, 8-year-old sister Isabelle can change a wet, but not poopy, diaper, and 4-year-old Evans Kigen, known as KiKi, cant wait until hes old enough to go to school. Included in their prayers this Thanksgiving, Mary, her husband Daniel, and the extended Mutai family will express their gratitude for Talias advancements and the fact that she is at the table to share in the bounty. To anyone who meets Talia, she appears to be a happy, well-adjusted baby, making strides on shedding infancy and barreling into toddlerhood. To her parents, their Kenyan relatives, church and work friends, and doctors and nurses who are familiar with Talias journey, the child is nothing short of a miracle. Im still surprised, Daniel said. She plays, she crawls, shes growing and is more confident. I dont have to worry anymore. It is a miracle. Talia is one of the smallest babies born in Colorado Springs to survive, let alone thrive, said Dr. Robert Kiley, a neonatal and perinatal specialist at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs. Talia had a 20% chance of initial survival when she was born July 12, 2023, at a gestational age of 23 weeks and one day and weighing 435 grams less than one pound. Shes one of the smallest three babies weve had over the last 18 years Ive been here, Kiley said. The screams of an attending doctor and then those of Mary could be heard before Talia could utter a wail after being delivered by cesarean section at Memorial Hospital North, with what Mary said were at least 10 medical professionals in the room. The attending doctor expressed anguish after discovering nearly all of the amniotic fluid had leaked out of Marys uterus, putting the baby in grave peril and necessitating immediate birth. Mary had started bleeding periodically at 18 weeks into the pregnancy, and she said doctors could not figure out what was wrong. They would later determine that the placenta had ruptured from the top of the uterus, causing bloody discharge. For five weeks, Mary was in and out of the doctors office and emergency rooms and finally was placed on bedrest. But Talia was impatient to leave the womb, which was increasingly becoming an unsafe environment. Daniel, an information technology specialist with a defense contractor and Army veteran who had been stationed at Fort Carson, made it to the operating room just in time to see his third child extricated from Marys belly. I was in so much pain because of all the hands in my stomach, Mary said. Talia had to be slowly maneuvered into a position where doctors could gently lift her out. Then the baby was immediately whisked to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, through a connecting hallway from Memorial Hospital North to Childrens Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs. When Mary saw the baby for the first time in the NICU, she screamed. Talias body was as long as the distance between Marys fingertips and her wrist. She didnt look like a baby. She looked like how a puppy when its first born, with its eyes closed and unfinished. Her whole leg was as big as my pinky finger. Mary watched as nurses tried to move Talia. It was hurting me so much to see that, I just kept screaming, Mary said. Nearly three hours later, the baby was stable. Overcoming overwhelming odds Talia faced overwhelming odds from the moment she entered the world. Her life teetered on the edge of heaven and earth during what Kiley called the tenuous and critical first few weeks in the NICU. Inside the advanced medical unit, the next breath is not guaranteed for tiny, sick babies who arrive in an unfinished state. There was one nurse that said every morning and at shift change the first thing they would do is look for Talias name on the board because of how critical she was, Mary said. It was that bad. Connected to technologically advanced equipment that breathes, supplies nutrients and otherwise keeps the minuscule systems functioning, premature babies complete their gestation in isolette incubators and rooms that simulate conditions of the womb. Later that night after Talia was born, a nurse ran into Marys room in Memorial Hospital where she was recuperating. She told Mary to get in a wheelchair, and they hightailed it to Childrens NICU. The baby was dying, Mary said. That bridge between the hospitals felt like forever. Medical workers had called code blue on Talia. Mary sobbed, prayed and screamed outside Talias room, where they were working on her. Their posture was like it was done, Mary said. The doctor came and sat with me and said we have tried, the baby is struggling. I dont think the baby can handle it. Talia had several physical issues, Kiley said. Her lungs were not fully formed and had collapsed. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. They wanted to take the baby out of the incubator so I could hold her, but I said Im not doing that. Im not giving up on her, Mary said. I said, You take care of today, God will take care of tomorrow. Mary said the doctor looked at her like, What are you talking about like the doctor was talking about science, not faith. I said, Thats OK, as long as youre still trying. Hours passed. Mary turned to Daniel and said, Do you think the doctor was right? The doctor came out again and told her they could try a different ventilator. I said, 'What are we waiting for?' Mary said. The new machine stabilized Talia, but her path to recovery still wasn't smooth. Medical attendants also had problems accessing Talias veins and arteries to monitor her condition and deliver life-saving fluids. It was technically challenging because these blood vessels are the size of the smallest piece of wire you could imagine, Kiley said. After exhausting arms, legs, head and belly button for routes, tedious bedside surgery solved the problem. She was incredibly sick at birth and was definitely the smallest baby Ive ever seen a surgeon put a line in to get fluid into her veins, Kiley said. Little bodies are at risk of needing intervention because they are susceptible to infection, brain bleeds, eye problems and feeding issues due to premature development of the intestinal system, the doctor said. It requires a large multi-disciplinary team to attend to a very small infant, Kiley said, including doctors and nurses, respiratory therapists, advanced practice providers, surgeons and support staff. They have to be available 24/7, and for babies this small we double up the nursing staff on them, Kiley said. Although theyre tiny, they take a lot of pumps, fluids and drips, and the calculations have to be really specific. You cant mess anything up because the littlest thing you do to these tiny babies could have devastating consequences. Mary and Daniel said they could feel the prayers of family and friends spiritually lifting them up through the unthinkable time. And deliveries of homecooked meals, often with familiar dishes infused with spices common to the couples native homeland of Kenya, sustained their weary bodies. Its like you dont expect whats going to happen, Daniel said. Then youre waiting to see what will happen. Coping with the sudden change of elation turning to despair when things go sideways was hard, he said. You pray, you hope, you wait, Daniel said. Your life is not like everyday life, where you can overcome things if you focus and do what is right or expected of you. We relied on support and prayer and the contributions of others. Positive attitude prevails And now, Daniel said, Talia is a blessing that brings joy and happiness. She was released from Childrens Hospital on Nov. 29, 2023, at five months old and weighing about five pounds, Mary said. Talia needed oxygen at home for another four months. Shes left with just one apparent health issue that soon will be remedied. Eye surgery in January will strengthen muscles that did not develop from being too weak from the onset, Mary said. As a mother, Mary said she can tell Talia is making developmental and mental strides in addition to physical achievements. She may be four months early, but shes truly not four months late, Mary said. She has no delays in eating or playing and thats how I keep track. She recognizes people she knows, she reacts to something scary she sees on TV. Such milestones help me understand that as much as shes a preemie, she really understands her environment. That part of Talias tale is also astounding. For infants her size and gestational age who make it, a large percentage have significant ongoing medical issues throughout their life, Kiley said. Talias parents frequently use the word miracle. So do co-workers. Its amazing, it really is like a miracle, said Air Force Col. Matt Grimes. Ive never heard of a NICU patient that age that survived. It makes me happy inside thinking about this story. As the former commander of the 34th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, which is based out of the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson Space Force Base, Grimes had been Marys boss in her role in the Air Force Reserves. The squadron is like a family, he said, and nearly all of the 95 members rallied around Mary and Daniel in their time of need, visiting and forming a meals team. Mary is one of my favorite people, said Grimes, who lives in Minnesota. Her attitude is amazing. Kiley thinks that Marys optimistic nature no doubt helped baby Talia overcome her struggles. The NICU course is a rollercoaster ride these parents go through, the doctor said. There are really hard days and some less hard days. Chief Master Sgt. Diem Villanueva, who worked with Mary at Peterson Space Force Base and now lives in Utah, said the Mutais are the most resilient family shes ever met. The way they pulled through and never lost any kind of faith and belief that the child was going to make it was incredible, she said. The child was a fighter from day one. Villanueva said she could see the pain daily on the couples faces, not knowing whether they were ever going to be able to bring their baby home. And yet they remained positive, she said. I told them you know whos going to be the boss of the family, and Mary said she (Talia) already is. Talia means Gods dew in Hebrew. The couple chose that name for their precious baby because Mary believes it signifies Gods blessings. Whether theres rain or no rain, there will be water or dew on the grass in the morning, she said. So, Gods blessings will be there all the time. HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Police in Hendersonville have arrested a man accused of committing acts involving inappropriate touching and behavior across Middle Tennessee. The Hendersonville Police Department said officers received a report on Wednesday, Nov. 20 about a man who had followed someone home from work to the area of Southburn Drive. Hendersonville police arrest man on 50 counts related to child sexual abuse Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A deputy with the Sumner County Sheriffs Office reportedly attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled. The driver later identified as 36-year-old Justin Taylor was arrested after leading Hendersonville officers on a brief foot chase, police said. Amid the course of an investigation, officials learned that Taylor had been responsible for another incident that happened on Nov. 13 in Hendersonville. During that incident, Taylor is accused of groping the buttocks of woman without her permission. In addition, investigators learned that the 36-year-old committed similar acts in Nashville at his former place of employment and in Wilson County. Taylor has since been charged for those incidents, police said. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HPD took Taylor into custody where he was charged for reckless endangerment, evading arrest, and sexual battery. He reportedly has a pending court date in Sumner County General Sessions. Anyone with information about additional incidents related to Taylor is asked to contact Hendersonville police at 615-264-5303 or Hendersonville Crime Stoppers at 615-594-4113. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. A driver was in custody after shooting at a state trooper's vehicle and crashing into three other vehicles on Tuesday night. A Department of Public Safety state trooper saw a gray Nissan sedan excessively speeding on the westbound Loop 202 near Power Road in the East Valley at about 7:30 p.m., officials said in a news release. The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle and began pursuing when the driver failed to stop. During the pursuit, DPS said that the driver, identified as 22-year-old Mesa resident Christopher Mendez, fired multiple shots at the trooper's vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DPS said Mendez exited the freeway about five miles later at Williams Field Road in Gilbert, but he was driving too fast to turn and struck three other vehicles waiting at the intersection. This caused Mendez's vehicle to roll over. He received minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. An Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesperson said Mendez would be booked on multiple felony charges once released. No other injuries were reported. No gunfire appeared to strike any vehicles. The incident resulted in road closures Tuesday night along Williams Field Road; all roads had since reopened. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Christopher Mendez in custody after police pursuit in Gilbert, DPS says ST. CHARLES, Mo. A man died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a wrong-way crash in St. Charles, police say. The crash happened around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in the southbound lanes of First Capitol Drive near the intersection of Pralle Lane. Investigators say a driver was heading northbound on First Capitol Drive before his vehicle crossed the roadway and entered the southbound lanes. The wrong-way driver then struck two vehicles, including one head-on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Automaker spying on drivers, reporting data to insurance companies The driver in the wrong-way vehicle was rushed to a hospital, but later died from his injuries in the crash. The St. Charles Police Department says the victim was a 37-year-old man from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. His identity has not yet been disclosed. As for the other two vehicles involved, one driver declined medical attention at the scene, while the other driver was rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The St. Charles Police Departments traffic accident reconstruction unit is handling the investigation into the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MADISON COUNTY, Ill. A man was rescued early Wednesday morning after being trapped inside the compactor of a garbage truck in Madison County. According to a social media post from the Hartford Fire Department, the incident occurred around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning after a garbage truck driver spotted the man waving his arms in the trucks camera. Officials say the man was unknowingly picked up by the garbage truck while in South Roxana, Illinois, and was inside the truck when the compactor had been used. According to the Hartford Fire Department, an initial assessment did not indicate any broken bones or abnormalities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon arrival at the scene, the Hartford Fire Department set up ladders and made their way into the trucks trash compartment before calling the Roxana Fire Department for assistance. The man indicated he had severe leg pain and couldnt move. More snow may impact Mondays commute Crews placed the man inside a basket, and he was lifted from the truck, lowered to the ground safely, and put inside an ambulance to be taken to the hospital, officials say. While in the ambulance, officials say the man refused to be transported to the hospital by helicopter. Emergency personnel are concerned about possible internal injuries from the compactor. The helicopter left without him, and the man was taken to a hospital by ambulance, according to officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Hartford Fire Department, there is no information on the condition of the man. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. A man identified as a suspect in a 2019 shooting was indicted by a grand jury on Friday after being transferred to Frederick County from a federal prison in West Virginia, where he was serving time for an unrelated offense. Gregory Lyte, 38, is charged with one count each of attempted second-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a violent crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The new charges stem from a shooting that took place around 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2019, outside what was then the Taco Daddy restaurant on North Market Street in downtown Frederick. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Frederick News-Post reported at the time that an argument broke out between two groups of people inside the restaurant. The two groups moved outside the restaurant and continued fighting on the sidewalk, where a man was shot in the abdomen. The man was hospitalized for his injuries, but survived, the News-Post reported. According to charging documents, the incident was captured on surveillance cameras inside and outside the restaurant. Witnesses identified Lyte as the shooter based on a still image from the surveillance video, charging documents say. A warrant for Lytes arrest was issued by the Frederick County District Court on March 4, 2019, but it remained open until his transfer from federal prison earlier this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lyte is currently being held without bail at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, online court records show. He was transferred to Frederick County from a federal correction institution in Gilmer, West Virginia, where he was serving time for distribution of crack cocaine. Lyte pleaded guilty to that charge in September 2012 and was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, according to a press release at the time from the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of West Virginia. His sentence was subsequently reduced to five years and 10 months, and he was on supervised release as of 2017, according to Stacy Bishop, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in that district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Oct. 10, 2023, Lyte was arrested by U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of New York for violating the conditions of his early release from prison in West Virginia, online court records show. His early release was officially revoked by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on Dec. 7, 2023. At that time, he was ordered to serve 20 months imprisonment, online court records show. On September 9, 2024, Lyte filed a motion asking the Frederick County District Court to issue an order removing him from federal custody so that he can face the charges stemming from the shooting. The motion indicated that Lyte was in the process of trying to utilize the various rehabilitative and reentry programs that are offered by the [Bureau of Prisons], but did not qualify due to the open case in Frederick County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Petitioner Lyte is not guilty of the accusations against him, therefore feels like the only possible way to resolve this case is to be pulled by the State of Maryland ... on a bodily writ, the motion read. According to online court records, Lytes initial appearance in Frederick County Circuit Court is scheduled for Dec. 20 at 9 a.m. An attorney was not yet listed for him as of Tuesday afternoon. NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Authorities in Nolensville teamed up with Metro and Mt. Juliet officers to arrest an ex-con with a long history of criminal activity. The Nolensville Police Department (NPD) said the incident unfolded on the evening of Nov. 10 at a storage facility. According to NPD, their prime suspect 40-year-old James Westmoreland lived inside the storage unit and had access to the facility, which he entered by using a key pad. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to investigators, a victim noticed his trailer was missing from the facility on Nov. 11. Mt. Juliet police arrest 3 accused of shoplifting without stores realizing it After viewing surveillance video, detectives noted the suspect was driving a Nissan Armada with temporary tags. Officials later learned that the Nissans driver identified as Westmoreland was convicted of aggravated assault in 2020 and served a three year sentence at Metropolitan Correctional Work Center. Detective Allison Humes with the NPD told News 2 that the missing trailer belonged to a musician and was loaded with approximately $30,000 worth of musical equipment, including amps, sound bars, sound boards and speakers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I contacted Mt. Juliet police based on a ping from an air tag that the victim had put on his trailer, explained Humes. Ground broken on Nolensville Town Square development Days after the reported theft, officers in Mt. Juliet located the trailer. However, the driver allegedly took off at a high rate of speed when they attempted to perform a traffic stop. Officials said due to danger, officers decided to discontinue the pursuit. In an odd twist, police said the victim spotted the Nissan Armada at the storage unit eight days after the incident. He reportedly called Nolensville police, who quickly responded to the facility and placed Westmoreland into custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youre saying eight days after the crime, the suspect comes back to the scene of the crime and thats where you get him? asked News 2s Andy Cordan. Thats not the most brilliant thing Ive heard. Yes sir, replied Humes. This is why we are cops and they are offenders. Humes interviewed Westmoreland upon his arrest. He allegedly claimed he was homeless and needed the trailer to help a friend move. After the musician got his trailer back, he reported much of the equipment was damaged and missing. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee In a video obtained by News 2, the victim is heard assessing the damage that was done to his trailer while at the Metro Impound Lot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am here at the impound, and I just picked up the trailer. These are his locks and they are all jacked up. He cut through everything, and this is the condition of this stuff. A few speakers here. So, the two main digital speakers that cost a lot are gone, and the whole digital mixing console, which has the MX 32, all the expensive stuff is gone, detailed the victim. James Westmoreland was booked into the Williamson County Jail and charged with theft over $10,000 and Criminal Impersonation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A Paris man accused of leading Arkansas State Police on a pursuit pleaded not guilty on Tuesday that ended in the passengers death, according to court documents. Kevin Swafford, 23, was arrested on November 16 on negligent manslaughter committed during a felony, fleeing by vehicle and exceeding the speed limit, two counts of criminal mischief in the second degree with damage exceeding $5,000 and being a habitual offender charges. ASP said in a news release that around 6 p.m. on November 16, Swafford was driving a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am at a high rate of speed and ran a red light at the intersection of Zero Street and 31st Street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Swafford ran the light, a collision involving three other vehicles occurred. Swafford reportedly fled from an ASP trooper who tried to stop him because his vehicle didnt have a license plate. During the pursuit, Swafford disregarded multiple traffic lights and traveled at a high rate of speed in heavy traffic, ASP said in the release. Arkansas State Police pursuit in Fort Smith leads to one death, one arrest Swafford and his passenger, Calvin Eubanks, 25, of Fort Smith, were ejected from the vehicle. Eubanks was pronounced dead at the scene. Swafford was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries and was later brought to the Sebastian County Detention Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two of the drivers in the other vehicles were not injured. The third was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries. Sebastian County Prosecutor Daniel Shue announced on November 21 that Swafford is charged with manslaughter, fleeing, and two counts of criminal mischief. Hes also charged as a habitual offender. Swafford is being held on a $150,000 bond. His trial date has been set for April 7, 2025. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. TRAVIS COUNTY (KXAN) A Pflugerville man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2023 death of a man in Travis County. Alian Davis pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced Nov. 13 to 20 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility, according to court records. He remained in the Travis County Correctional Complex as of Wednesday. Deputies responded to a call on Linville Ridge Lane on Jan. 13, 2023, after a ride-share driver reported a man approached their vehicle and told her to leave because he had killed someone, according to the Travis County Sheriffs Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputies found a dead man with gunshot wounds inside a residence. The man was later identified as Theodore Harris-Arnold, 25, of Pflugerville. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAC CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A 71-year-old man was handed a 55-year prison sentence Monday after being convicted on three charges related to a stabbing in Lake View, Iowa. According to a release from the Sac County Attorneys Office, James Debourgh was sentenced for first-degree burglary, willful injury, and going armed with intent. For these charges, he was given consecutive prison sentences of 25, 15, and 15 years. Sioux City man pleads guilty, sentenced for stealing from credit union James Debourgh (Courtesy: Sac County Attorneys Office) Two other counts of attempted murder and assault while participating in a felony were dropped as part of a plea agreement, per court documents. Additionally, Debourghs plea was an Alford plea, which means he accepted the courts punishment without admitting guilt outright. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The charges came as a result of an incident that took place on Sept. 24, 2023, at about 11:52 a.m. when Debourgh allegedly waited in the victims garage in Lake View without their permission. The documents state that when the victim returned home in their truck, Debourgh came out, said he was going to kill them, and approached them with a knife. Greenville Pharmacys license suspension halted by judge Debourgh allegedly reached through the window of the victims car, cutting the left side of their face. Debourgh would later allegedly admit that he was trying to kill them by stabbing them in the heart instead. Debourgh was arrested later that day and charged on five counts, including attempted murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Debourgh cannot become eligible for parole until he has served at least 10 years in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) An Austintown man who fled from a crash last September where drugs were found was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison. Eddie Pierce, 32, received the sentence from Judge Anthony DApolito in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after pleading to two third-degree felony charges of attempted possession of drugs; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and failure to stop after an accident, a first-degree misdemeanor. In a separate case, he pleaded guilty to possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and was given a six-month sentence that will run concurrent to the sentence he received in the other case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pierce was charged after Youngstown police were called at about 3:10 p.m. Sept. 7, 2023, to an accident at Glenwood Avenue and West Midlothian Boulevard. When they arrived, they were told the driver of one of the cars, later identified as Pierce, walked away. A witness followed Pierce in their car and informed the 911 Center of Pierces location. Police then found him in a truck at Hillman Street and Ferndale Avenue, reports said. Reports said police detained him and took him back to the accident scene, and when he got out of the cruiser, officers found a plastic bag stuffed with fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and Xanax stuffed between the folds of the back seat. The other driver in the accident identified Pierce as the driver who walked away, reports said. Pierce also smelled heavily of alcohol and failed a field sobriety test, reports said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When he was booked into the jail, deputies found another bag in Pierces pants that had more pills inside, reports said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. CHICAGO A federal judge has sentenced a Chicago man to more than 14 years in prison for a string of carjackings and shootings on the citys North Side in April of 2018. 30-year-old Earrious Moore, who pleaded guilty to carjacking, attempted carjacking, and firearm charges earlier this year, was sentenced to 14 1/2 years in prison, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Illinois. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said during Moores North Side crime spree, which unfolded on Thursday, April 26, he stole three cars at gunpoint and attempted to steal two others. He also shot two people during the incidents. During the final attempted carjacking, prosecutors said More shot an 84-year-old man while trying to steal his Mercedes-Benz in the 1400 block of North Lake Shore Drive. Following the final attack, Morre fled into the lobby of a nearby building, where he was then taken into custody by Chicago police. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Moores sentence was handed down on Friday by U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo during a hearing in federal court in Chicago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors did not provide an updated booking photo for Moore. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) A man was shot three times after he refused to get out of his car during an attempted carjacking in East Harlem Wednesday morning, police said. The terrifying ordeal unfolded at a gas station near 129th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem just before 8:30 a.m. The 33-year-old victim was inside a white Maserati when at least two suspects tried to carjack the vehicle, police said. More Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim was shot in the left leg, left arm, and right shoulder, according to the NYPD. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and was expected to survive. The suspects took off after the shooting, police said. Surveillance video shows one of the suspects exiting the back passenger seat of the Maserati as the victim slowly drives off. Another suspect is seen on the street. No arrests have been made. Police did not have descriptions of the suspects. 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). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lauren Cook is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City area for over a decade. She has been with PIX11 since 2020. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Family members of a 38-year-old man in the throes of a mental health crisis, who called 911 himself and was later shot dead by police on the steps of a Long Beach church in a gunbattle that left one officer injured, are demanding justice. The deadly Nov. 19 shootout unfolded in the area of Atlantic Avenue and 52nd Street where officers and SWAT teams with the Long Beach Police Department responded to reports of a man with a gun just after 3 p.m. The suspect, Brandon Boyd, a father of six, was declared dead at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After approximately two and a half hours of de-escalation attempts, the suspect and officers both discharged their firearms, LBPD said after the incident. An officer sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. The suspect sustained gunshot wounds. Brandon had his hands up and wasnt posing any threat as multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed, his sister, Tiffany Boyd, said at a Tuesday news conference. He was peaceful and in need of help. Tiffany and her extended family contend that Brandon was unjustly killed, saying he called 911 from the steps of his childhood house of worship, Iglesia del Cristo Miel Church, while having a mental health crisis. One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (KTLA) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach on Nov. 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) The way that authorities responded to his calls for help, family said, was excessive and brutal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He did what were supposed to do, which is call for help, family friend Lamikia Castillo told KTLAs Rachel Menitoff. Instead of getting help, he is now dead, and his family is left to pick up the pieces and figure this out. Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said LBPD specialized teams attempted to de-escalate the situation, tried nonlethal tactics to engage Brandon and get him to give up his gun, but that after two hours, the 38-year-old refused. Man accused of killing 2 toddlers in Southern California charged with murder Police said that eventually, Brandon pointed his gun in their direction, prompting a shootout that left him dead and an officer with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers attempted to speak with the subject who was uncooperative, Chief Hebeish said that evening. They called for additional resources including a hostage negotiator and our mental evaluation team. Brandons family counters that claim and said that mental health experts never engaged their loved one. His oldest sister, Tyerra Boyd, said that when she and two other family members tried to help reassure Brandon themselves, all three of them were arrested for interfering. We were dragged away in handcuffs, and we were thrown into a police car like we were the criminals who had just shot and killed my brother in front of us, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Boyd family is now demanding police release the 911 call made by Brandon and drop the charges against them. As for Long Beach police, officials said the department will release footage of the shootout captured on officers body-worn cameras to the public as soon as they can. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. BROOK PARK, Ohio (WJW) Police are investigating after a man was shot in and killed in Brook Park Tuesday afternoon. 9 indicted in illegal bar scheme across Northeast Ohio According to a press release from the Brook Park Police Department, officers responded to the area of Holland Road and West 130th Street after it was reported that a man was shot just after 3:10 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene they found the victim shot and killed, the release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hit-skip crash kills woman walking in Richland County The investigation is currently under investigation and no other details have yet 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 Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. DES MOINES, Iowa Police say the 70-year-old man shot and killed by Des Moines police officers Tuesday morning was armed with a pellet gun. Des Moines Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek said officers responded to 430 Grand Avenue around 6:07 a.m. after receiving a 911 call that a man with a gun was pointing it at a woman. When officers arrived, they saw the suspect and one other person inside the lobby of the building. Through the window, officers could see the suspect was holding a pistol in his hand. The suspect raised the pistol and pointed it in the direction of the officers, who fired at him. Marketing photo of brand/model of pellet gun recovered at the scene. Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Police Department. Police reported the shooting happened around 6:12 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The man who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene. Sgt. Parizek said he was a resident of the apartment building where the shooting happened. Woman in critical condition after semi hauling hogs and SUV collide on Highway 65 The investigation later determined the pistol was a pellet gun. According to police, the pellet gun did not have the orange-colored safety cone attached to it like it typically would have. The two Des Moines police officers who fired their weapons in the incident have been placed on paid administrative assignment, which is department policy following an on-duty critical or traumatic incident. Sgt. Parizek said one of the officers is a 25-year-old who has four years of law enforcement experience and has been with DMPD since 2022. The other officer is 24-years-old and has been with DMPD since 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Professional mental health resources and peer support are being provided for all DMPD employees impacted by the incident. The investigation into the incident is ongoing and more information will be released when made 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 who13.com. NEW YORK (PIX11) A shocking sucker punch during rush hour on a crowded subway train was caught on camera in Brooklyn. Passengers pulled out their phones to record as the confrontation escalated. I aint got time to go to jail today Get out of my face. Stop staring at me! suspect Timothy Barbee, 34, was overheard saying to Alexander Rakitin. More Local News The incident happened aboard a Manhattan-bound N train Monday morning, escalating into a brawl. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I didnt think he was going to hit me, even though he was being aggressive. Its insane to do that, said Rakitin, 42, who was punched in the face after an accidental brush with Barbee. Rakitin, a Manhattan-based attorney, said he tried to de-escalate the situation. Nobodys looking for a fight. Were just going to work, he said. Despite his efforts, tensions flared, and the man eventually sucker-punched him and the two went down to the floor, with Rakitin holding the other man down. There was zero chance I was going to let go. Im holding on for my life. Rakitin said he restrained Barbee on the floor for at least ten minutes. Police responded to the scene and arrested the alleged aggressor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mischief calls delay emergency response for subway Help Point system We showed the video to fellow subway riders, who all offered the same advice: walk away. Some people are short-tempered, and you cant do anything about it, one rider said. I get pushed by people, and I move on, you know, added another. People are upset and angry. You have to stay away, said a third. Mayor Eric Adams addressed transit crime Tuesday, reiterating recent safety improvements in the subway system over the last month. We witnessed over a 20 percent decrease in crime in our subway system, Adams said. Rakitin, however, pushed back on the mayors remarks. No matter how many times you say it, the subway is a dangerous place, period, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rakitin is pursuing charges against the aggressor, aiming to set an example. They should face the consequences of their actions, he said. Barbee has been charged with felony assault and was released on his own recognizance Tuesday afternoon. His attorney at the Legal Aid Society declined to comment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. A 31-year-old man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after trying to check two suitcases filled with clothing caked in methamphetamine including a cow pajama onesie, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. Authorities say Raj Matharu of Northridge checked two bags before his Nov. 6 flight to Sydney. But screening officers who X-rayed the pink and gray suitcases noticed an anomaly and flagged them for a second inspection. Inside the suitcases, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found "white or light-colored clothing items dried stiff and covered in a white residue," according to a criminal complaint filed in the Central District of California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The residue which was found on items including socks, boxers, tank tops, sweatpants, jeans, hoodies, underwear and a pair of cow onesie pajamas tested positive for methamphetamine, federal prosecutors say. All the light-colored clothing in the suitcases was caked in the residue, while other clothing items were not, authorities said. The clothing caked in residue weighed roughly 71 pounds, federal prosecutors said, and investigators estimate more than 30 pounds of methamphetamine solution had been soaked into the items. The clothing was likely "washed" in white methamphetamine and left to dry, according to a federal affidavit. Authorities stopped Matharu at his United Airlines boarding gate, where he admitted to owning the suitcases and followed officers to an inspection area, officials say. He had used his personal credit card to pay $100 to check a second suitcase, according to prosecutors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Matharu was taken into custody Nov. 7 and charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, according to the U.S. attorney's office. According to court records, he was released on a $10,000 bond secured by a relative. Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit as alleged in the facts of this case, U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement. The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on this particular tactic, but Matharu is not the first person arrested on suspicion of trying to fly with methamphetamine-soaked items. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: LAX security popped open student's suitcase, found her clothes soaked in meth, officials say On Nov. 2, customs officers at LAX found 13 white T-shirts caked in a powdery white substance in a suitcase. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine. The owner of the suitcase, whom authorities identified as British student Myah Saakwa-Mante, said she purchased the items from Target and provided receipts to prove it, but "claimed to have no knowledge of the powder, according to an affidavit filed in that case. Saakwa-Mante's ultimate destination was Brisbane, Australia. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A man who was arrested after allegedly setting a fire in Ventura earlier this month has been charged in connection with a string of violent attacks, including several stabbings and robberies, according to the Ventura County district attorney's office. Efrain Troncoso, 22, is facing 10 felony counts, including three counts of attempted murder, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery. Joey Buttitta, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said in a written statement that Troncoso is also charged with several special allegations, including infliction of great bodily injury. Troncoso has not entered a plea in court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attacks happened three weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of setting a fire outside the Banfield Pet Hospital as firefighters battled the Mountain fire, which destroyed more than 200 homes and burned nearly 20,000 acres of land. Read more: Man arrested after violent rampage in Ventura County leaves two dead, two injured Court records show that Troncoso was charged with three misdemeanor crimes including one count of recklessly causing fire to property of another, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of resisting arrest, resulting in injury to an officer. Because of the small size of the fire, which consisted of pine cones and needles, the misdemeanor crimes did not result in jail time and Troncoso was released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three weeks later, prosecutors alleged, he carried out a series of violent attacks in downtown Ventura on Nov. 23. The Ventura Police Department said that night they received a 911 call about a person who was stabbed in the back by a man riding a bicycle. As officers assisted that victim, they received a second report that another person had been stabbed in the neck multiple times. "Minutes later, a third victim was struck in the head with a metal object and robbed," Buttitta said. "As officers responded to these incidents, another 911 call reported a robbery at knifepoint." Prosecutors accused Troncoso of stealing keys from the fourth victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buttitta said the victims were taken to local hospitals and have been recovering from the attacks. Troncoso, who is homeless and remains in custody, is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 9 for a mental competency hearing. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)Shreveport police are searching for a man they suspect of stealing from a local business. Jeremy Oliver (Source: Shreveport Police Department) Police said they have a warrant to arrest Jeremy Oliver, a former employee of Pipe-U-Pull-It. Oliver is alleged to have stolen $13,035.00 from the company. The investigation into Oliver started on November 20, 2024, when detectives were contacted about an internal theft. More: Local News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company provided police with relevant documentation and surveillance footage to substantiate their claims. The evidence resulted in a warrant for Olivers arrest issued on November 27 for one count of theft. Anyone who knows where police can find Jeremy Oliver should contact them at 318-673-7300 or Caddo Crime Stoppers at 318-673-7373; tips leading to his arrest may be eligible for a cash reward. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. COLUMBIA, Miss. (WHLT) The man wanted for child exploitation and child molestation in Mississippi has been captured in Denver, Colorado. Woman convicted of attacking two Hattiesburg police officers Columbia police said David Lane Stogner was arrested on November 25, 2024, by Denver police. They said he had been on the run since 2021 after he was indicted for child exploitation and child molestation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators believe Stogner had been living in Colorado under the alias Jessie Mauldin. He faces burglary charges in the Denver area and will be extradited back to Mississippi. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. UPDATE: GULFPORT, Miss. (WJTV) Gulfport police announced Christopher Antoine Davis was located and taken into custody. GULFPORT, Miss. (WJTV) Gulfport police are searching for a man in connection to a double homicide. Police said they responded to a shooting in the 500 block of Graves Avenue just before 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 26. Officers found two deceased victims inside the home with gunshot wounds. Their identities have not been released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mississippi woman charged with sexual battery of child Investigators identified the suspect as Christopher Antoine Davis, 51. They said he entered the home armed with a gun and fired multiple shots before he fled the scene. Davis is wanted on two counts of first-degree murder. Police said he is considered to be armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts can contact the Gulfport Police Department at 228-868-5959 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) The Richmond County Sheriffs Office is looking a man wanted for questioning in reference to an identify fraud. The alleged incident happened on October 29th at the Queensborough Bank on Walton Way. According to the incident report, the victim states that he was notified by someone with Queensborough Bank that somebody identified as the pictured subject attempted to access his bank account through one of their ITM ATM machines at 2:30 P.M., and it was discovered that the ID the individual had was fake bearing the victims name. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ALSO ON WJBF: Two men arrested, charged in connection with drug distribution investigation in Burke Co. According to the victim, the unknown individual was not successful in withdrawing any funds from his account. If anyone has any information concerning the pictured subject, please contact Sgt. William Hornsby at 706-821-1023, or any On-Duty Investigator at the Richmond County Sheriffs Office at 706-821-1020 or 706-821-1080. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. The approach of the front line to the cities of Kurakhove, Myrnohrad, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar has made it nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian aid there, with civilian evacuations occurring only sporadically. Donetsk Oblast Military Administration says those willing to leave have already evacuated. Source: Vadym Filashkin, Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, during the 24/7 national joint newscast, as reported by Vilne Radio Details: As of 27 November, more than 16,000 civilians remain in the cities of Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Myrnohrad, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, near the front line; Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement in Pokrovsk, approximately 11,500 adults and 32 children (down from 12,000 adults and 51 children on 29 October); in Myrnohrad, 3,000 adults (unchanged since 10 November); in Chasiv Yar, 300 adults (less than 400 civilians reported in the Chasiv Yar hromada on 5 November). [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.]; in Toretsk, 600-620 adults (down from 900 on 4 November); in Kurakhove, 600-650 adults are staying (previously estimated at 1,000 on 6 November). Filashkin stated that delivering humanitarian aid to the cities of Kurakhove, Myrnohrad, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar is nearly impossible due to Russian fire control over access routes. He also acknowledged Russian advances in the area and urged civilians to evacuate while it is still possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All children have been evacuated from Toretsk, Myrnohrad, Chasiv Yar, and Kurakhove. Evacuations of civilians continue sporadically under significant risk, facilitated by Ukrainian military efforts. Quote from Filashkin: "The military is evacuating our people, but these are very isolated cases. All those who wanted to leave have already done so. For example, in Selydove, when the enemy entered the city, there were cases of civilians being shot. We inform people about this through our soldiers, but evacuations are happening very slowly. Elderly residents often say, These are our homes; even if we live in ruins, they are still ours. Peoples motivation differs a lot." Support UP or become our patron! MARLBORO COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Funeral arrangements were set Thursday for the mourning of McColl Mayor George Garner, who died Tuesday afternoon in a car crash. A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at the McColl Church of God. Visit Mayor Garners obituary for more information on the visitation and the funeral service, as well as opportunities to send flowers to the family. Garner crashed on Cashua Ferry Road in Darlington County. Coroner Todd Hardee initially said the crash happened while Garner was being pursued by authorities but said it was in an effort to protect the well being of Mr. Garner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marlboro Countys sheriff said Wednesday that officers were behind McColl Mayor George Garner but not pursuing him when he crashed head-on into an 18-wheeler and died. News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham News13 photo / Curtis Graham Sheriff Charles Lemon would not talk on camera to News13 on Wednesday but said deputies began following Garner after his wife had a conversation with the sheriffs office that led them to think they needed to check in on Garner. The crash happened about 2:40 p.m. about nine miles outside of Darlington. Garner, 49, was driving westbound in a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe when he veered into the eastbound lane and collided the the 18-wheeler. The South Carolina Highway Patrols Darlington County Sheriff James Hudson Jr. said the South Carolina Highway Patrols multi-disciplinary accident team, or MAIT unit, is investigating the crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement News13 also learned on Tuesday that, at the time of the crash, Garner was connected to an active and ongoing investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. A SLED spokesperson, however, said no additional information about the case was immediately available. Garners death also follows the recent resignation of the town of McColls police chief and all four of its officers earlier in the week. Now-former chief Bob Hale said in a Facebook message that a hostile work environment and inadequate funding were partly to blame. Because of the resignations, Lemon and others have been patrolling in McColl so residents will know they are safe. He said someone will be out all day and all night. Meanwhile, McColl Councilman Brian Blue posted a photo of him and Garner on Facebook on Wednesday, saying, You will be missed my friend You did your best as the Mayor of McColl Please keep his family in prayer Love you my brother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opey Hubbard, a friend of Garners, said the men attended church together and grew close over the years. I loved him dearly. I cant see him doing anything wrong, because hes always been good to me and my family, Hubbard said. And when I heard about it, I dropped down to my knees because I love him. Marlboro County E911 also paid tribute to Garner on Wednesday. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mayor George Garner. Our hearts are heavy during this difficult time, and we are keeping everyone affected in our thoughts and prayers. May you find comfort and strength in one another as you navigate this profound loss, the agency posted on Facebook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Garner was truly a remarkable individual. He consistently treated everyone with warmth and respect, and his kindness left a lasting impact on those around him, the post concluded. This is a developing story. Count on News13 for updates. * * * 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. * * * Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * * * 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. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) The Maryland Office of the Attorney General announced on Tuesday that it is delaying the release of body-worn camera footage of a police-involved death that happened in Hagerstown last month. The footage stems from an investigation into the death of a man on Saturday, Oct. 26. The man died in police custody during an officer-executed search warrant on a home in the 100 block of E. Washington St. PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Maryland Attorney Generals Office investigates after man dies in police custody in Hagerstown Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The offices Independent Investigation Division (IID) decided to delay the footages release due to additional time needed to conduct witness interviews. IID protocols say that the division will generally release body-worn or dashboard camera footage within 20 business days after an incident; however, factors such as more time needed to conduct witness interviews, technical delays caused by the need to redact information that raises privacy or safety concerns or the need to allow the family to view the video before its public release can impact when it is 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 DC News Now | Washington, DC. NEW YORK CITY (WPIX) One of the largest organized retail theft operations in the history of Queens has been busted with millions of dollars in seized stolen goods recovered, according to officials in New York City. The thieves had an eye for cosmetics, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories, according to prosecutors. Five people are now under arrest, including a husband and wife. Prosecutors say some of the merchandise was stolen from trucks heading to warehouses. Other items were stolen directly from stores like Macys, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The retail thefts stretched from stores in New York down to Maryland. Thousands of stolen goods went overseas. The alleged crime crew even operated a brick and mortar retail store in the Dominican Republic to resell the stolen merchandise at a discount, according to prosecutors. The defendants utilized social media, Instagram and other online resources to advertise for the stolen goods, both here and for abroad, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. Couple charged in ring suspected of stealing $1 million in Lululemon clothes Officials credit tougher new laws and $40 million in funds targeting retail theft for helping the case come together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Retail theft hits everyone in the wallet, as it is estimated the average American family pays an extra $500 a year to cover the lost costs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) One of the largest organized retail theft operations in the history of Queens has been busted with millions of dollars in seized stolen goods recovered. The thieves had an eye for cosmetics, beauty products, designer clothing, and accessories, according to prosecutors. Five people are now under arrest, including a husband and wife. More Local News Prosecutors say some of the merchandise was stolen from trucks heading to warehouses. Other items were stolen directly from stores like Macys, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The retail thefts stretched from stores in New York down to Maryland. Thousands of stolen goods went overseas. The alleged crime crew even has a store in the Dominican Republic to resell the stolen merchandise at a discount, according to prosecutors. Couple charged in ring suspected of stealing $1 million in Lululemon clothes Officials credit tougher new laws and $40 million in funds targeting retail theft for helping the case come together. Retail theft hits everyone in the wallet, as it is estimated the average American family pays an extra $500 a year to cover the costs of retail theft. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Members of Donald Trumps proposed Cabinet were targeted with a series of hoax bomb threats on Wednesday with one suggesting it was the work of pro-Palestinian activists. Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin, Brooke Rollins and Howard Lutnick have been identified as targets. Mr Zeldin, Mr Trumps nominee to lead the Environment Protection Agency, suggested the threat he received came from pro-Palestine activists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message, Mr Zeldin said. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as the situation develops, the former congressman added. Fox News reported that nearly a dozen figures named in the new Cabinet were targeted, and that law enforcement had visited several homes in response. Matt Gaetz who pulled himself out of the running to become Mr Trumps attorney general was also a victim. The so-called swatting incidents were not credible threats, with no devices or physical threats found, police sources told NBC News. They added that the threats did not involve Mr Trump or JD Vance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The phenomenon of swatting calling in a fake threat to prompt a heavy, armed emergency response has exploded in recent years as a tactic to intimidate targets. Last night and this morning, several of president Trumps Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them, said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, on Wednesday. She said law enforcement had acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. The threats were made a day before Thanksgiving when Cabinet members would likely have been at home with their families, rather than in Washington or at Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Stefanik away from home The FBI said it was working with local authorities to investigate the threats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An FBI spokesman said: The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. Ms Stefanik, whom Mr Trump nominated as his UN ambassador this month, revealed she had been the victim of a bomb threat but was away from home when it happened. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, her office said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New York State, County law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. This is a matter of saving the culture of Afghanistan, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf said to a parliamentary committee this morning as he pled with the UK government to house dozens of creatives in danger from the Taliban. Makhmalbaf, a decorated auteur who has been campaigning and helping around 800 Afghani creatives and their families exit the nation for the past three years, appeared in front of the UKs Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC) alongside his children, filmmakers Hana Makhmalbaf and Maysam Makhmalbaf, and Hat Trick boss Jimmy Mulville, to call on lawmakers to take action. This came after Hana Makhmalbaf made a documentary feature about the plight of Afghani creatives titled The List, which played at several festivals. More from Deadline Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mohsen Makhmalbaf stressed that accepting Afghani actors, journalists, poets and dancers into the UK would be of net benefit to the nation while simultaneously helping save lives and enrich local culture. He harked back to the situation in Afghanistan in the decades preceding the Talibans brutal 2021 takeover, over which the U.S. and European governments have been heavily criticized. This prior era was a peak for freedom of speech in Afghanistan, he said, with nearly 100 TV stations, 300 local radio stations and 100 newspapers, the majority of which have been shut down by the Taliban and the rest have become organs of the state. We need urgent help not just for saving people but for our benefit here [in the UK], he said. When artists come here they bring the sense of the culture of Afghanistan, because the Taliban is reducing and deleting their culture. Mulville, who runs one of the most successful British independent production companies, watched The List and has since been helping the Makhmalbafs with their campaign. He concurred with Mohsen Makhmalbaf that resettling creatives to the UK is for the good of British society. These people dont need us to find them jobs or accommodation they need to not be killed, to come here and to create work, he said. Through Afghanistan International [TV Station] and BBC Persia they can beam material back into Afghanistan and young people can see their culture albeit 4000 miles away but nevertheless it will be free speech. To illustrate his point, Mulville noted that the Makhmalbafs themselves fled the Iranian regime 20 years ago and have since made 12 films, put down roots and become productive members of our society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Makhmalbafs campaign saw them generate the list two months before the 2021 Taliban takeover and subsequently pressure Western governments that these people have connections with to take them in. So far, around 300 have been resettled in France, 80 in Germany and a small number have gone to the U.S. via programs set up by Harvard, Chicago and Columbia Universities. The vast majority of those who remain on the list have connections with the UK, Mohsen Makhmalbaf said, and attention has turned to the new Labour government. Mulville screened The List in Central Londo and had exploratory meetings with the previous government along with good meetings at the recent Labour Party conference. However, he said a letter to senior Conservatives from the previous government about the extraordinary situation went unanswered. The Home Office says it has so far taken in around 30,000 Afghani refugees since 2021 via its Afghan Resettlement Programme. Deadline has reached out to them for comment on the creatives. Devastating stories Hana Makhmalbaf was motivated to create The List after her father enlisted her help for a few hours to try and contact as many Afghani creatives as possible when it became clear the Taliban would soon take over. Those few hours became five consecutive weeks of working, a visibly emotional Hana Makhmalbaf told todays committee hearing. Every time I think back to those weeks my whole body is shaking. Each hour we slept one more person could die so we would feel guilty to go to sleep and would take it in turns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Makhmalbafs detailed devastating stories of creatives being persecuted by the Taliban. Hana Makhmalbaf said she was on the phone to an actress who was hiding under her burkha with muffled voice trying to get to the airport. She was saying, They are shooting at my photo on a billboard, and I was imagining what would happen if they arrested her, added the filmmaker. Mohsen Makhmalbaf told of comedians being stopped in the street by the Taliban, asked to tell jokes and then shot on the spot, or an Afghani YouTuber who jumped out of a fourth floor high rise rather than be arrested and tortured. He also said he had spoken with the former Afghanistan culture minister who had fled to the mountains but was eventually arrested. Hana Makhmalbaf delivered a final plea for these creatives to be remembered as the world moves on from those tragic events of 2021. I was talking to my father and he said to me the problem is that the world has forgotten these artists but these people havent forgotten that they are in danger and are hiding, she added. But they cant hide themselves, they were in TV, they were dancing, they are famous people in Afghanistan. The Taliban wont go to a baker first and kill them, they will go to renowned people in cinema, or poetry. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. HONOLULU (KHON2) The fight for safe staffing ratios continues on Maui. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Maui County Council member Tamara Paltin introduced a resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 26, urging Maui Health to negotiate in good faith with healthcare workers on Maui and Lanai. Kapiolani Medical Center nurses vote on tentative contract agreement Paltins resolution also calls for fair wages and working conditions, something the nurses union has been fighting for since late October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This comes after a recent three-day strike, where roughly 900 members of the United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii walked out from Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital on Monday, Nov. 4. Ratios that are grounded in a robust body of peer-reviewed evidence. Ratios that directly impact care quality, safety and overall health outcomes, said Josh Masslon, RN at Maui Memorial Medical Center. The strike line included nurses, pharmacists, administrative staff and more. I have personally witnessed a very steady push for nurses to do more with less, a decline in standards our hospital once had. We are constantly working short-staffed, workplace violence against health care workers has become rampant, were down one to four nurses, sometimes more in the emergency room, RN Jennifer Rosenblad added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, Maui Health emphasized they are committed to reaching a fair and timely agreement and has bargained in good faith to reach over 25 tentative agreements. Maui Health adheres to safe, industry-standard, evidence-based staffing protocols that prioritize patient outcomes and safety. The safe staffing ratios that the union is proposing are already in place, as publicly acknowledged by union leaders themselves. The variable staffing model we propose was developed in partnership with union members, including nurses, and nurse leaders, and includes the staffing levels the union is requesting, as well as the implementation of a patient acuity tool to ensure staffing decisions are driven by real-time patient data including a patients condition and severity of illness and the experience and skill level of the nurse. Unfortunately, the union continues to demand that inflexible, fixed ratios be mandated as the sole determiner of staffing, which does not account for other factors critical to safe patient care. This kind of rigid staffing is not mandated in any hospital across Hawaii and works against the needs of our island healthcare system and the communities we serve. Maui Health System in a statement Check out more news from around Hawaii The next bargaining session is scheduled for Dec. 11, with other dates actively being sought out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WAILUKU, Hawaii (KHON2) The Maui Police Department, along with several community organizations, will gather on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. in front of the Maui County Building in Wailuku to launch Maui Countys Impaired Driving Awareness Holiday Campaign. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The event, which marks its sixth year, will conclude with the 6th Annual Hannah Brown Memorial Impaired Driving Awareness Checkpoint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MADD warns of impaired driving as Blackout Wednesday, Thanksgiving nears Hannah Brown, a 19-year-old from Maui, was tragically killed by a drunk driver in 2019. The event is organized by the Maui Police Departments Traffic Division, the Hawaii Alcohol Policy Alliance (HIAPA), the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth, the Hawaii Public Health Institute, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the family and friends of Hannah Brown. This year, the public is urged to take extra precautions when celebrating and drinking during the holidays. Check out more news from around Hawaii The campaign is designed to change behaviors and encourage responsible decisions so that no family should have to endure the heartache of losing a loved one to impaired driving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW YORK (PIX11) City Hall officials finally laid out a clear timeline as to why the homeless man accused of stabbing three people to death more than one week ago was released from jail early before the alleged attack. Ramon Rivera was released from Rikers for good behavior despite assaulting a corrections officer and showing signs of mental health issues. The mayor explained Tuesday that the assault on the officer happened while he was being detained before sentencing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the law and current policy, it had no bearing on the early release calculation. More Local News Adams said he is now investigating whether there is a policy change he can make to prevent this from happening again, but he is also focused on broader solutions. He would like to pivot in the plan to build four borough-based jails around the city and close Rikers. Adams said half the people who end up in jails have mental health issues, and nearly one in five have a severe issue. One of those jails should be a state-of-the-art mental health facility where people can get the help they need, Adams said. It is criminal. We are locking up people with severe mental health illness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking just after the Mayor outside City Hall, Rep. Richie Torres said he supported that idea but emphasized that New York City, the State, and the federal government have failed to lead on mental health. He said the federal government must tweak laws to fund more mental health facilities and workers. Torres also said the state needs to make it easier to involuntarily commit people who are incapable of taking care of themselves. This is something the mayor has also been calling for. Finally, Torres said the citys Department of Correction never should have released Ramon Rivera from jail early ahead of the alleged stabbing spree that claimed three lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The layers and layers of government failure that led to Ramon Riveras rampage against innocent New Yorkers is evidence of a broken system, Torres said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. NEW YORK Mayor Eric Adams argued Tuesday that last weeks horrific stabbing spree in Manhattan was the byproduct of efforts to reduce the inmate population on Rikers Island. Ramon Rivera, the homeless man accused of killing three strangers during the Nov. 18 attacks, was released early from Rikers in mid-October after getting credit for good behavior while serving a one-year sentence on burglary charges. In his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon, Adams said theres a throughline between Riveras early release which came even though he had assaulted a jail guard while in custody and the constant pressure the Department of Correction faces to thin out the Rikers population before the city must by law shutter the notorious jail permanently in 2027. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its ironic, some of the same people who are critiquing what were doing right now are some of the loudest voices about open Rikers to just let everybody out. This is the byproduct of opening Rikers and just letting everybody out, Adams said, referring to Riveras allegedly unprovoked attacks. And weve heard it constantly, Why is anybody on Rikers? No one should be on Rikers. So lets be clear on what we constantly have to fight against and say: No, were not just letting anybody out. We got to do it correctly. Riveras now held without bail after being charged with stabbing a construction worker to death in Chelsea before killing a fisherman near the East River and a woman sitting on a park bench near the United Nations, all within a few hours. Adams comments came after Rep. Ritchie Torres, a moderate Democrat representing parts of the Bronx, slammed the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday, arguing their administrations share blame for the deaths of Riveras alleged victims. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a letter addressed to Hochul and Adams, Torres took particularly sharp aim at Adams Department of Correction. The worst offender is NYC DOC, which made the inexplicable and inexcusable decision to release Ramon Rivera early. The city refuses to hold DOC accountable for the early release of a demonstrably dangerous criminal who went on a stabbing spree. The end result is incompetence that is not only destructive but deadly for New Yorkers, wrote Torres, whos publicly considering either running for mayor in 2025 against Adams or for governor in 2026 against Hochul. Asked about Torres criticism Tuesday, Adams, whos politically aligned with the congressman, said he understands the lawmakers concerns, but that the reasons Rivera got released are complex. Rivera assaulted a jail guard at Bellevue Hospital while in custody before his sentencing. A quirk in the law holds that the Department of Correction can only consider whether an inmate should be given time off for good behavior based on actions taken after their sentencing and Adams said thats why Rivera got out early despite the Bellevue incident, which became a separate case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To that end, Adams said he has directed his team to sit down with the Law Department to determine whether the city can legally deny inmates early release based on actions over the course of their entire time in custody. Adams also reiterated his concerns about the long-term plan to replace Rikers with four borough-based jails. He said the plan should be modified to require that one of those jails becomes a mental health ward and also called on the state Legislature to enact laws making it easier to force people suffering from severe metal illness into treatment. We have to take the necessary action and stop lying about it, he said. Freedom Agenda co-director Darren Mack, whose organization has long been critical of whether Adams is taking the appropriate steps to comply with the law to close Rikers, said the mayor needs to think about the issues more holistically. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Adams has spent his entire administration sending hundreds more people to Rikers, especially people with serious mental illness, and its been a failure in terms of addressing public safety, and thats because Rikers doesnt address the problems anyone is facing. If anything, it worsens them, Mack said. People coming out of Rikers face yearslong waiting lists for housing and treatment. Hopefully the mayor is finally realizing its time to do something about that, not just talk about it. _____ The German branch of European missile house MBDA has published concept artwork showing its proposed missile-like RCM standoff remote carrier being launched from a warship, a transport aircraft, and a mobile ground launcher. MBDA revealed the RCM which stands for Remote Carrier Multidomain Multirole Effector for the first time at the ILA Berlin aerospace show that took place in the German capital in the summer. An earlier MBDA rendering shows three RCM or Remote Carrier Multidomain Multirole Effectors in flight. MBDA When it was announced, MBDA said the RCM would be suitable for launch from a variety of platforms, based on operational requirements, and across all branches of the armed forces. Vertical launch of an RCM from a warship. MBDA The latest renderings of the RCM, released today, include an example being launched from a warships vertical launch system (VLS), apparently a Mk 41 VLS, or similar. The German Navy already uses the Mk 41 VLS on most of its frigate classes and the system is widely used across NATO and allied navies. Although Germany has already ordered the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) as its future anti-ship and land-attack missile, this is fired from box launchers rather than from the Mk 41 VLS. RCM remote carriers are air-launched from an A400M in this rendering. MBDA The next image shows multiple examples of the RCM dropped from the rear ramp of an Airbus A400M military transport. Using transport aircraft to drop standoff munitions is a growing area of interest right now, underlined by the U.S. Air Forces Rapid Dragon air-launched palletized munitions concept. Its also noteworthy that Airbus has already conducted some experimental trials involving the release of what it described as a remote carrier flight test demonstrator. A remote carrier demonstrator, a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone, is launched from the rear ramp of a German A400M. Airbus Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, an RCM is shown being launched by a tracked mobile ground launcher, apparently an M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), which can fire 227mm artillery rockets, as well as Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles. In this rendering, seen at the top of this story, the M270 is shown with a mixed payload of artillery rockets and RCM remote carriers. This would also provide compatibility with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. As its name indicates, the RCM is intended to be used for missions in addition to standoff strike, as would be expected of a traditional cruise missile. Although it can carry a warhead for kinetic attacks, it can also accommodate an electronic warfare payload to deny the enemys use of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this way, it will provide jamming and operate as a decoy to support other remote carriers or different platforms. Beyond that, the RCM is also planned to operate within what MBDA described as an order-based effector network, in which control of the remote carrier or even swarms of them can be handed over to any operator with access to that same network. The RCM is also billed as being particularly relevant for use in highly contested and well-defended areas, with a combination of low-observable design features and can be used in GPS-denied environments, something that is a growing concern now, based on lessons from the war in Ukraine. As well as GPS guidance, the RCM will have an inertial navigation system (INS), a terrain contour matching (TERCOM) system, and an imaging infrared (IIR) seeker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The remote carrier also will have a loitering capability, meaning it can be re-targeted in flight, to attack time-sensitive pop-up targets, for example. Later versions of the RCM are planned to add a reconnaissance capability, with sensors added to acquire targeting data and provide real-time situational awareness. Specifications released by MBDA at ILA 2024 include a length of 13 feet, a weight of 750 pounds without the launch booster, and a range of more than 310 miles. The remote carrier looks very much like a standoff missile, with some low observable shaping and a faceted nose, including windows for the IIR sensors. A pair of pop-out wings are fitted above the body and the tail surfaces are very much aircraft-like, with a pair of vertical tailfins and a pair of horizontal stabilizers. Conformal intakes on either side of the body would appear to feed an air-breathing turbofan or turbojet engine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the RCM is now being very clearly pitched as a platform agnostic system, more broadly, remote carriers have been seen as a critical adjunct to the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) next-generation air combat program, which includes the crewed New Generation Fighters (NGF), as well as for the in-service Eurofighter Typhoon. An Airbus graphic shows an NGF working alongside various remote carriers. Airbus The Airbus vision for FCAS includes remote carriers being launched by larger transport aircraft motherships, with types such as the A400M bringing up to 50 small or as many as 12 heavy remote carriers as close as possible to their areas of operation before releasing. Under the FCAS initiative, remote carriers of different sizes and capabilities will work alongside crewed combat aircraft and also independently acting as complementary sensors, effectors, decision-making nodes, and cruise missiles. The published specifications for the RCM would appear to put it into broadly the same light remote carrier category as the FEANIX, from German contractor Diehl Defense, which was also unveiled at ILA 2024. According to Diehl, the FEANIX will be less than 13 feet long (perhaps even less than 11.5 feet long) and will weigh less than 660 pounds. A full-size FEANIX mockup presented at ILA Berlin in July 2024. Thomas Newdick Thomas Newdick Whats most notable about the RCM is the fact that its intended, from the outset, to carry a range of different payloads, with its modular nature lending it to a number of mission sets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, the option to launch the RCM from a range of different platforms is a significant advantage, meaning that a single remote carrier type can be acquired for various launch platforms and across different services. While MBDA has not discussed this aspect in much detail so far, remote carriers of this size are, by their nature, intended to be disposal stores. This means that, even when accommodating non-kinetic payloads, they are not expected to be recovered after their missions and reused. In this way, remote carriers can be used in large numbers, boosting combat mass, something that will require them to be affordable. Again, at this point, we dont know the kind of price tag that the RCM will come with. Its unclear when MBDA expects the RCM to be ready for service, but the rival FEANIX is expected to become operational well before the FCAS realization period of 2040+, according to Diehl, suggesting this could be in service in the 2030s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even before the FCAS arrives, Airbus wants to introduce what it calls first-generation remote carriers with the Eurofighter Typhoon as part of the manned-unmanned teaming component of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) a modernization program for the fighter. A graphic depicting Typhoon fighters working together with heavy and light remote carrier drones. One of the heavy remote carriers is seen at the left releasing examples of the light type. Airbus Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As well as air-launched applications, the fact that the RCM (like the FEANIX) can be launched from land and sea platforms, using existing vertical launch systems, is significant, especially as land forces and navies increasingly look to field longer-range missiles that can attack targets both on land and at sea. In both cases, this would require the RCM to be fitted with the additional booster thats shown in the relevant renderings. The appearance of the RCM is also timely in view of Russias extensive use of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukraine, which has lighted a major gap in the inventories of many European NATO countries. Faced with this standoff missile gap, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland launched the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) this summer Sweden and the United Kingdom both subsequently joined. This effort calls for the development of a new capability for long-range strikes, although the type of weapon being pursued is not mentioned. Its not unlikely that ELSA will eventually lead to different types of missiles being procured and the RCM could be a contender for parts of the requirement, with the added benefit that it can be used for non-kinetic roles, too. (Left to right): Defense ministers of Poland, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz; of Italy, Guido Crosetto; of France, Sebastian Lecornu; of Germany, Boris Pistorius, sign a Letter of Intent on a European Long-Range Strike Approach, or ELSA in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2024. Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT Ultimately, it seems that ELSA will seek to provide a weapon with a range of between 621 and 1,243 miles, which would rule out the RCM, but even as a ground-launched standoff weapon, the RCM could still provide NATO in Europe with a very important capability. After all, currently, only Turkey possesses a conventional ground-launched missile with a range of more than 186 miles the indigenously developed Bora short-range ballistic missile. This is in stark contrast to Russia, which has various ground-launched systems with this kind of performance, able to carry conventional or nuclear warheads. A 9M728 ground-launched cruise missile is fired from a Russian Iskander system. Russian Ministry of Defense www.twz.com No European NATO member except for Turkiye possesses a conventional ground-launched missile with a range greater than 300 km.'@Wright_T_J discusses filling this capability gap, where Russia has a distinct advantage. https://t.co/9jZh9RHnqg pic.twitter.com/ekUtqrtEQ1 IISS News (@IISS_org) November 25, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What the RCM and other similar remote carrier proposals lack in range, they make up for in terms of flexibility and versatility. In many ways, they blur the boundaries between existing standoff munitions and drones, able to deliver lethal or non-lethal effects at long distances, while at the same time outsourcing functions and capabilities that would be too much for a human pilot to handle or which would expose that pilot to too great a risk. Again, while we dont know how much the RCM is likely to cost, it clearly aligns with a growing focus on attritable or at least lower-cost air systems especially ones that can work alongside crewed fighters. A cheap long-range cruise missile-like design similar to that which the U.S. Air Force is also eyeing would very likely be of interest to various operators, especially when that same system can also be used to perform a range of other complementary missions and to do so when launched from platforms in the air, at sea, or on the ground. Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com It has been a long road for McDonalds ice cream machines, and it hasnt always been sweet. But now, the story of the eternally broken McDonalds ice cream machine finally has a happy ending. You see, McDonalds has worked with the same company to create its ice cream machines since 1956, the Taylor Company. But for the duration of this partnership, it was literally illegal for anyone other than a Taylor Company representative to fix a McDonalds ice cream machine. When machines broke, McDonalds store owners and employees were literally not allowed by the law to fix the machines themselves. Thus, it seemed like McDonalds ice cream machines were always broken. McDonalds But now, after several different petitions, the law has changed, and we can all have that delicious soft-serve whenever we want it again. The U.S. Copyright Office recently issued new exemptions. The legalese is confusing, but the bottom line is that these exemptions will allow restaurants to repair equipment used in retail-level commercial food preparation. And, yep, you guessed it, the McDonalds ice cream machines fall under that umbrella. This ruling might seem a bit frivolous, but it will offer a notable problem quick relief. Play the Dinosaur GameClick to Begin As we saw on USA Today, Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, stated, Theres nothing vanilla about this victory; an exemption for retail-level commercial food preparation equipment will spark a flurry of third-party repair activity and enable businesses to better serve their customers. And hey, we support whatever is good for the customer, especially if theres a sweet treat involved. McDonalds Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Different groups, including iFixit, have shared that it feels like McDonalds ice cream machines are not really that difficult to fix if broken. Reporter Elizabeth Chamberlain noted she saw lots of easily replaceable parts inside the contraption. In 2021, a company called Kytch was also able to create a diagnostic tool that franchise owners could use to fix their own machines without the help of outside representatives. In the end, it was the strange law and not the machines themselves that kept McDonalds ice cream broken and ice cream out of the hands of hungry consumers. Hopefully, with the new U.S. Copyright Office exemptions, our days of going ice cream-less are gone for good. The time of broken ice cream machines is over. The age of the McFlurry is now! WASHINGTON Texas will get four new members of the U.S. House in January after this years election including one member who is the delegations first LGBTQ+ member and another who will be the youngest sitting Republican in the House. The new members will be replacing some of the longest-serving and senior members of Texas congressional delegation. One other new member, U.S. Rep. Erica Lee Carter, has already started working in the U.S. House. She is the daughter of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who died of cancer earlier this year, and will finish out her mothers term which ends in early January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas has the second largest delegation in Congress, with 38 members of the House in addition to its two senators. Texans in Congress have historically wielded considerable power, including leadership posts and chairmanships of some of the most influential committees. But recent turnover among the states members has cost the state years of seniority and diluted its sway. The next Congress will swear in the House after the speaker is elected on Jan. 3. Craig Goldman - District 12 State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, on the House floor on Aug. 26, 2021. Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, promises to bring years of legislative experience to Congress, after spending more than a decade serving in the Texas House. Prior to his congressional win this year, he chaired the Texas House Republican Caucus, serving as a top lieutenant to House Speaker Dade Phelan. Border security will top much of Goldmans legislative agenda, specifically ensuring the federal government shoulders more of Texas border hardening expenses under Operation Lone Star. The state has spent over $11 billion to curb migration on the southern border, and Goldman said making the federal government pick up the tab would be his top priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want that line item in the Texas state budget to go away because its the federal governments problem, Goldman said in an interview with CBS Texas. Hell be replacing longtime U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, who has served in Congress since 1997. She is the longest serving Republican in the Texas delegation and had considerable influence in Congress as the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. The committee is in charge of allocating funding for federal programs and is one of the most powerful in the House. Granger stepped down from the chairmanship earlier this year. Like Granger, Goldman will be a voice in Congress for Fort Worths business community, which supported his campaign during a competitive Republican primary. Granger was an ardent supporter of North Texas businesses, particularly the defense sector, using her position on the Appropriations Committee to fund defense interests in the district. Goldman reiterated his commitments to the citys defense base during a primary debate in April. Goldmans win in the Republican primary was seen by some as a rebuke of the cultural far right, which has seen growing influence in Congress and Tarrant County. Goldman voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state House last year, earning him the ire of the right wing of the party. Paxton targeted Goldman in the primary and boosted his preferred candidate, business owner John OShea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Goldman defeated OShea with a well funded operation backed by major business donors. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, who served as a Granger staffer, endorsed Goldman, saying he would continue Grangers legacy of quiet but serious legislating. U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a centrist Fort Worth Democrat, said the city was breathing a sigh of relief with his nomination. Big shoes to fill, and I look forward to doing exactly what [Granger] did and advocating for all the constituents, Goldman said in a recent interview. Sylvester Turner - District 18 Former Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner speaks at Cesar Chavez High School on Friday, March 31, 2023. Credit: Douglas Sweet Jr. for The Texas Tribune Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, will replace longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who was one of the longest serving members of the Texas delegation when she died this summer. Turner served as Houston mayor from 2016 to 2024 and as a member of the Texas House from 1989 to 2016. Turner ran on a message of legislative experience, working with Republicans in both the state House and as mayor, while still advocating progressive values aligned with Jackson Lees tenure. One of his final acts as mayor was to secure the 2028 Republican National Convention in the city. He also touted his familiarity with local projects in need of federal funding. Jackson Lee was known for her voracious advocacy for federal money to go toward Houston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Continuing Jackson Lees legacy, Turner said he hopes to someday serve on the House Appropriations Committee, which decides the amount of federal funding that goes to different projects. But he acknowledges that new members hardly ever get assigned to the powerful committee and also is interested in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee or the Homeland Security Committee, both relevant to Houstons large international port. Jackson Lee was very instrumental in bringing federal resources, federal help, back to the 18th [Congressional District]. I certainly want to continue that, Turner said. The district is in need of so much. Jackson Lee was a progressive fighter in Congress, an early defender of LGBTQ+ causes and a consistent voice for civil rights. She served as a vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Turner stands by many of the same causes of Jackson Lee, but he said he would be joining the more business-focused New Democrat Coalition, which includes moderate members. Jackson Lee died after the Democratic primary, prompting the Harris County Democratic Party to select her replacement on the ballot. Turner secured the endorsement of Jackson Lees family, helping him win the crowded race to run in Jackson Lees place in the general election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turner promised to serve no more than a couple of terms, allowing a future open primary where voters will have a say in the Democratic nominee. But when asked recently how many terms he plans to serve, Turner diverted, saying I'm here to serve. I'm going to serve. Im not going to focus on that. I said I would serve as a bridge, but my focus will be on serving the people in the 18, Turner said, declining to give a number of terms he plans to be in office. Then we'll see what happens as we move forward. Brandon Gill - District 26 Brandon Gill is vowing to be President-elect Donald Trumps biggest supporter in Congress. Gill replaces longtime U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, who has represented the district since 2003. Burgess is the chair of the House Rules Committee and a high ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most coveted committee assignments for energy-rich Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In contrast, Gill will be one of the youngest members of Congress and the youngest sitting Republican at 30 years old. He moved to his district only a year before his election, though he grew up in a small town outside Abilene roughly three hours away. He has no experience in elected office. Still, Gill was able to beat out more experienced candidates in a crowded primary with the endorsement of some of the biggest names in the Republican Party. Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, Ronny Jackson and Troy Nehls all endorsed him. He proved his loyalty to Trump by running an openly pro-Trump news website and helping produce 2000 Mules, a debunked documentary that suggested the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Gill worked on the film with his father-in-law, Dinesh DSouza. Gill has presented himself as the next generation of Republicans who are repelled by political correctness. The Trump campaign made considerable outreach to younger voters this cycle, and Gill sees greater opportunity to grow the momentum. "Younger voters are looking, more than anything, for sincerity. They're looking for people who understand what they're going through," Gill said in a recent interview with Fox News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gill has already shown promise within the Republican Conference. He was elected president of the freshman class, a largely ceremonial role, and he was selected to serve on the Republican Policy Committee, taking a seat previously occupied by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw. The Republican Policy Committee helps direct the partys legislative goals. In terms of Gills own policy priorities, Trump will be the guiding light. Gill said he will work in lockstep with the incoming president, advocating his legislative agenda, including hardening the border, executing mass deportations and cutting taxes. What I'm most interested in right now is getting as much of the Trump agenda passed as quickly as possible, Gill said in an interview. We've got a mandate, but it's a mandate for the Trump agenda. There's nobody who did more to get us this congressional majority more than President Trump. Julie Johnson - District 32 State Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, speaks at the kick-off event for the Women for Allred coalition addressing the state of womens health and abortion rights in Dallas on Aug. 24, 2024. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune Democratic state Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, will be the first openly gay member of Congress from a Southern state. She will replace U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who gave up his comfortably blue seat when he ran and lost against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson first entered the state House in 2018 beating hardline Republican Rep. Matt Rinaldi, who later went on to chair the Texas Republican Party. She focused her time in the Legislature both resisting Republican bills, including anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and building coalitions with Republicans on issues such as health care. Its the kind of fighting spirit Johnson plans to bring to the U.S. House as Republicans maintain their majority next year. I have a lot of experience serving in the minority party in the Texas Legislature. I've been very effective in that environment, Johnson said. I'll absolutely take that perspective and that experience with me to DC. Johnson was endorsed by the business-minded New Democrats. She also secured the endorsement of several prominent members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Becca Balint of Vermont, Robert Garcia of California, Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico and Mark Takano of California. Johnsons policy priorities focus on both expanding economic opportunity through workforce development and Democratic social policies, including creating a national right to abortion. She credits her focus on kitchen table issues for her strong success in her district, where she won by over 23 points against Republican Darrell Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fact that I was able to win as strongly as I won as the first openly gay person in the state of Texas to the United States Congress is a testament to our campaign, which was economic-focused, which was business-focused, Johnson said. Johnson had the support of several major names in Democratic politics as she entered a crowded primary field to replace Allred, including Allred himself. Former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke and former Ambassador Ron Kirk, both Democrats who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in Texas, also endorsed Johnson. Erica Lee Carter - District 18 U.S. Rep. Erica Lee Carter, D-Houston, center, walks into Houston City Hall with her father, Elwyn Lee, and Mayor John Whitmire on July 29, 2024. Her mother, longtime Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who died on July 19, was lying in state at city hall. Credit: Douglas Sweet Jr. for The Texas Tribune Jackson Lees daughter, Erica Lee Carter, is filling the 18th Congressional District seat until the end of the current Congress. Carter was elected in a special election to serve out the remainder of her mothers term and was sworn in earlier this month. Turner will replace Carter when the next Congress is sworn in in January. Carter previously served on the Harris County Department of Education Board of Trustees and as a policy adviser to Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, focusing on voting rights, budget management and economic equality. She has also worked as a first grade teacher in Houston Independent School District. Carters short time in Congress is slated to be relatively quiet. There are less than two months left in the current Congress, with breaks scheduled for the holidays. With Democrats preparing to lose control of the Senate and White House and Republicans poised to maintain control of the House, Republicans are incentivized to stall legislation until next year when they will have a better hand in passing their agenda. Still, Carter sees room to continue her mothers legacy. She is advocating the bipartisan Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act with Sen. John Cornyn to improve safety for federal judges and the Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act with Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, to tackle child trafficking, a major problem in Houston. Both were bills introduced by Jackson Lee this Congress. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries seated Carter on the House Judiciary Committee, which Jackson Lee served on, and Carter plans to continue advocating for community project funding for Houston as Congress negotiates next years appropriations. Carter endorsed Turner in his bid for the 18th district. While she appreciates Turners comments months ago that he would only serve a handful of terms, she is not opposed to him continuing to run for reelection. I never want to take responsibility away from the voters to decide, because it's always an opportunity to express where you want your leadership to head, Carter said. The Texas Tribune answering reader questions about 2024 elections. To share your question or feedback with us, you can fill out this form. Former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has asked a federal judge to throw out his corruption conviction and grant a new trial after it was revealed that jurors were accidentally shown improper evidence while deliberating. Menendezs attorney Adam Fee wrote in court filings that the serious breach makes a new trial unavoidable. Without doubting that the error was unintentional, the responsibility for it lies exclusively with the government, and the government must accept its consequences, Fee wrote. Earlier this month, federal prosecutors revealed that nine exhibits shown to jurors during deliberations displayed material that should have been redacted, after prosecutors inadvertently loaded the laptop they used to view evidence with alternative versions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The government said the mistake should not imperil Menendezs conviction nor require any action, but attorneys for Menendez and his two co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, disagree. The evidence accidentally shown to jurors was previously barred by U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein. Prosecutors sought reconsideration of that decision and called the evidence very critical, which the defense attorneys say strengthens their argument for a new trial. Fee, Menendezs attorney, said the accidentally unredacted exhibits contained the only evidence in the record that tied Menendez to the actual, consummated provision of military aid to Egypt, an accusation at the heart of the charge he faced for acting as a foreign agent of that nation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni, meanwhile, previously wrote in a court filing that neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers noticed the mistake and that the unredacted content likely did not impact the jurors verdict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, its extraordinarily unlikely jurors even became aware of the incorrect exhibit versions while deliberating, he said. Daibes, one of Menendezs co-defendants, wrote in a separate filing that a 10th exhibit pertaining specifically to him was also improperly shown to jurors. The exhibit, a text message thread, apparently involved a reference to former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler a detail that creates prejudice to Daibes that could not be more obvious, his attorneys wrote. Menendez resigned from the Senate in August after he was convicted on all 16 counts he faced, from accepting luxurious bribes in exchange for his political clout to acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. He has maintained his innocence and vowed to appeal the verdict. All three defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The European Union and four Latin American countries are preparing for a final push to clinch a controversial free trade deal that has been under discussion for 25 years. Backed by Germany and Spain, the European Commission is inclined to sign the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, which would allow the South American countries to export greater quantities of beef, chicken or sugar to Europe without paying customs duties. However, some EU countries have been blocking the deal, with France leading the resistance. Paris is now trying to convince other European capitals to form a blocking minority - representing at least 35% of the EU's population - and oppose its adoption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU-Mercosur deal, which would cover Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and the EU's 27 member states, seeks to establish one of the worlds largest free trade zones, encompassing over 700 million people. Its primary aim is to lower tariffs and boost trade. Bolivia, a new member of Mercosur, and Venezuela, which has been suspended since 2016, are not included. Started in 1999 and agreed in principle in 2019 - yet never ratified - the pact continues to be rejected by European farmers concerned by unfair competition and price dumping in favour of South American products. Critics of the deal also argue that it lacks adequate environmental, social and health standards. EU imports from Mercosur in figures The EU is already a major market for Mercosur countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Mercosur trade bloc, in 2023, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay exported a total of almost $24 billion worth of agricultural and agri-food products to the EU. This represents 13.3% of the total exports of these four countries outside Mercosur. EU statistics agency Eurostat estimates that the four countries accounted for 12.6% of the 27 EU member states imports by value in 2023. France and its farmers mount their opposition French farmers have long expressed frustration with declining incomes and strict EU environmental regulations and have added the trade accord to their list of grievances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, farmers blocked motorways in protest at EU and national agricultural and environmental policy, ultimately prompting the government to promise broad support. French farmers also believe the EU-Mercosur deal would lead to unfair competition with a flood of meat from Argentina and Brazil entering the EU market, without it being subjected to strict EU health and environmental standards. Less than a year after their unprecedented protests, French farmers took to the streets once more, this time to oppose the accord. Starting on November 17, ahead of a G20 summit in Brazil, farmers staged protests led by the agricultural union Federation nationale des syndicats dexploitants agricoles (FNSEA). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two days later, farmers backed by the hard-line union Coordination Rurale (CR) set up a roadblock on the A9 motorway, a crucial trade route to the Iberian peninsula, near the southern French border with Spain. In a rare show of unity, the French political class has backed the widespread opposition to the EU-Mercosur deal. CR lifted the blockade on the Spanish border after a day, once French Prime Minister Michel Barnier expressed support for their plight. Your prime minister knows and respects farmers. I will do everything I can ... to uphold the very many commitments that have been made, the former agriculture minister said. Macron: France is not alone French President Emmanuel Macron hammered home his rejection of the agreement as it stands at the G20 summit, adding that France was not alone in opposing the accord. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contrary to what many people think, France is not isolated and several countries are joining us, Macron said. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusks pro-EU government on Tuesday adopted a resolution opposing the current version of the Mercosur deal. Tusk said that Warsaw would not accept the free trade deal negotiated by the EU and the Mercosur bloc in this form, joining French opposition. France and Poland jointly account for just under 24% of the EU population, meaning they would have to bring others on board to block the commission's adoption of the deal. Within the Italian government, positions on the agreement are divided. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a close ally of Italian far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said the EU-Mercosur treaty in its current form is not acceptable. However, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose conservative Forza Italia party is also part of Melonis governing coalition, was more in favour of agreeing the deal. Pro-deal countries highlight economic and strategic value While there is staunch opposition to the trade deal, many EU countries are in favour. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the deal to finally be sealed after years of negotiations, at last week's G20 summit in Brazil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At an EU trade ministers' meeting in Brussels, Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Maria Amparo Lopez Senovilla expressed confidence that an upcoming technical round of talks will be the last, and that substantial progress can be made by December. Portuguese Agriculture Minister Jose Manuel Fernandes has argued that the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur should help reduce Portugals commercial deficit with Brazil. In Sweden, both the right-wing government and most of the opposition support the EU-Mercosur deal. Swedish Agriculture Minister Peter Kullgren argues that the deal would benefit the agriculture sector in Europe, by providing more export opportunities. Whats next for the EU and Mercosur? EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said last week that negotiations on the trade deal with Mercosur are progressing, but he declined to give a timeline to conclude them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement EU negotiators and their Mercosur partners will continue talks to finalize details ahead of a Mercosur summit in Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 5 and 6. Once the commission has concluded the EU-Mercosur trade talks on behalf of the EU, the deal must still be formally approved by the European Parliament and member states, as well as by the Mercosur partners. The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, ANSA, ATA, CTK, dpa, EFE, Europa Press, FENA, HINA, LUSA, PAP, STA, and TT as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project. Germany's longtime former chancellor, Angela Merkel, presented her memoirs at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin on Tuesday, engaging in an on-stage conversation with journalist Anne Will. Merkel responded to Will's claim that her book, "Freedom. Memories 19542021," highlights minor mistakes but ignores major missteps, by admitting to falling short in providing adequate answers to climate change. She also acknowledged the German military's lack of essential resources under her 16-years of leadership. Despite self-reflection, she defended key policies, including her stance on Ukraine and Russia, as well as the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Merkel argued that affordable gas had bolstered the German economy and dismissed suggestions that the pipeline encouraged Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine. "Personally, I don't believe it was a mistake, even looking back," Merkel said. When pressed by Will on Germany's potential supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Merkel refrained from commenting, deferring the matter to current Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He has staunchly opposed sending the long-range missiles to Ukraine. The book, which she wrote together with her long-standing confidante Beate Baumann, is more than 700 pages long. It reflects on her journey from an East German physicist to Germany's first female chancellor. Merkel defends Ukraine policy Before presenting her memoirs, Merkel defended her policy on Ukraine in the podcast "Politics with Anne Will." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She stuck by her refusal to pave the way for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance NATO via a Membership Action Plan at a summit in Bucharest in 2008. The decision at the summit not to offer Kiev a Membership Action Plan has come under massive scrutiny since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "Even after a thorough examination, I come to the conclusion that it was definitely the right thing to do and that there were good reasons for it," Merkel said in the podcast. These good reasons "still hold for me today," she said. She pointed out that a large proportion of the Ukrainian population was against NATO accession at the time. "The country itself was divided," she said. In addition, Russia still had a contract to station its Black Sea fleet in Crimea for years, she argued, adding that everyone knew that Russia would have seen such a move as a provocation. The book "Freiheit. Memories 1954 - 2021" by former Chancellor Angela Merkel is available at the Deutsches Theater before the presentation of her biography. Former Chancellor Merkel wrote her memoirs together with her long-time office manager Beate Baumann. Michael Kappeler/dpa-Pool/dpa Few politicians have been more lauded during their careers and more excoriated in retirement than Angela Merkel. The former German chancellor who held the post longer than anyone except Bismarck and Helmut Kohl was seen as the towering European politician of her time before stepping down in 2021. But now her legacy is the cause of many of Germanys and the continents current difficulties. Ms Merkel new memoirs brook no criticism even if they acknowledge the odd mistake. But these were more than just a few errors. She became too close to Vladimir Putin and allowed Germany to become dependent on Russian oil and gas, which mattered when Ukraine was invaded and sanctions imposed. She allowed one million migrants into Germany in 2015 almost certainly helping the vote in the UK to leave the EU and bolstering populist parties across the continent. Defence spending collapsed and has had to be ramped up again in the face of Kremlin aggression. Trade with China rose from about 5 per cent of Germanys total to more than 20 per cent at the end of last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The German economic miracle is over, its vaunted automotive industry is struggling and debt is at a post-war high with a constitutional brake on more borrowing. The coalition government has collapsed and a general election looms in which the far-Right AfD is expected to perform well and the Social Democrat-led government turfed out. The likely winner is Merkels party, the CDU, now led by Friedrich Merz, an authentically conservative figure and rival of the former chancellor. He railed against many of her policies and may soon have the opportunity to undo the damage they caused. 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. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images The suspected mass poisoning of six tourists in Laos last week has sent shockwaves through the backpacker scene, and highlighted Southeast Asia's problem with tainted alcohol. A Briton, two Australians, two Danes and an American are all believed to have been poisoned by methanol a chemical often used to increase the potency of bootleg alcohol in the tourist town of Vang Vieng. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Southeast Asia has the "highest rates of methanol poisoning globally", said Al Jazeera , and this is often blamed on "economic pressures and weak regulations". Laos, despite its increasing popularity with backpackers, is one of the poorest nations in the region. What do we know so far? The six victims had all stayed at or visited Vang Vieng's Nana Backpackers Hostel, said the BBC. The American was "found dead in his bedroom there" on the same morning that the two young Danish women "were found unconscious in their rooms and rushed to hospital", said the broadcaster's Asia correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. The two Australians "had taken free shots" there, according to another BBC report. It's been alleged that hostel staff had been offering shots of vodka "as a gesture of hospitality", according to Associated Press. The hostel owner denied serving illegal or homemade alcohol but eight "members of the staff and management" have since been detained over the suspected poisoning, said Australia's ABC News. Authorities in Thailand, where the Australians, Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both 19, were being treated before their deaths, have confirmed that Jones died from "brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system". What is methanol poisoning? Methanol is a type of alcohol, like ethanol which we find in alcoholic drinks but it's cheaper, stronger and poisonous. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vendors often add this toxic chemical to bootlegged liquor to increase its potency. It's impossible to detect without specialist equipment because it is colourless and smells very "similar to ethanol", said Science Direct. But, when we ingest even a small amount, our body breaks it down into toxic acids. It can, within 72 hours, cause blindness, kidney failure, liver damage, and even death. Is this a widespread problem? This tragedy is the "latest of several mass poisonings", said The Times. In June, about 60 people died and more than 200 were hospitalised in India. In 2018, more than 100 died in Indonesia. There have also been cases in Brazil, Peru, Turkey and Norway. The victims are often locals, "for whom poverty makes illegal alcohol appealing", but the risk to inexperienced backpackers is growing. Over the years in Vang Vieng, people have died "after drinking from buckets of cheap booze, then launching themselves into the water from bamboo slings and ramshackle slides". Pressure from foreign ambassadors over the "growing number of deaths" led Laotian authorities to close most of the bars in 2012 which "has sadly not helped the latest victims". What will the impact be? The Laotian government officially acknowledged the mass poisoning on Sunday, promising it would bring perpetrators to justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some tourism industry figures say the deaths have "exposed the dangerous incentives driving the backpacker-focused tourism", said Al Jazeera. The business model of offering cheap alcohol to budget-conscious travellers "encourages unsafe cost-cutting practices". The poisonings have had "an immediate effect" on Vang Vieng's tourism industry, a "crucial economic driver" in the region. What else is at play here? A "critical factor" is the "absolutely abysmal" state of Laos's healthcare system, said Damien Phillips, fellow of economics think tank The Cobden Centre, in The Spectator. Almost all the tourists fell sick just a couple of hours from the Laotine capital, Vientiane, but had to be flown or driven to Thailand, "delaying urgent treatment", because Laos has "not one decent hospital". One of the world's last communist governments "has to shoulder most of the blame" for that. The "self-destructive economic policies" of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) mean the country has been "stagnating for almost half a century". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the situation is also a "damning indictment of Western development policy". Billions of dollars of foreign money and aid have gone into Laos over the past few decades, but corruption is "rife" and "millions lost in backhanders and bribes". British policymakers should note that the LPRP's "insistence on NHS-style healthcare" has also exacerbated the problem. Laos is "looking for scapegoats", but Keir Starmer "must be clear that it was Vientiane's policies that played a critical role in the death of a British citizen" and review how aid money is "propping up a failing regime". LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Metro police are investigating another road rage shooting that occurred near a Las Vegas freeway, police said. On Tuesday around 6:30 p.m., police responded to a report of a road rage incident on Rainbow Boulevard and Summerlin Parkway involving two vehicles, Metro police said. Police said one person claimed they were shot however police did not confirm if anyone was injured. An LVMPD Air Unit located the vehicles involved near Alta Drive and Jones Boulevard, Metro police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the second road rage shooting on Las Vegas road in the past two days. On Monday afternoon a woman shot and killed an Uber driver during a road rage incident on the Las Vegas Strip in a possible case of self-defense, police said. This is an ongoing story, stay with 8 News Now for updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Donald Trumps angry threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on all U.S. imports from Mexicodelivered Monday via the cautious diplomatic language of a Truth Social rantis widely being depicted as a bluff. Trump declared that once in the White House, he will impose the tariffs unless Mexico stops migrants and fentanyl from pouring into the United States. Seen as a feint, the tactic could theoretically get Mexico to halt the migrant flow, allowing Trump to pull back on tariffs later while boasting that on the border, he has already bent Mexico to his will. But amid all this parsing of Trumps intentions, a crucial fact about his new move is getting lost: At the center of it is a lie. This lie is hiding in plain sight: Its the underlying suggestion that Mexico is not doing anything to stop migrants from coming and that Trumps threat of tariffs is needed to change that. Here were getting an early glimpse of how he will deceive voters about some of his most potentially destructive designs, on tariffs and immigration alike. All this is laid bare by the sharp response to Trumps threat that new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued Tuesday. Her statement is getting attention for its barbed claim that American guns trafficked to Mexico are fueling crime and violence there among gangs supplying U.S. markets with drugs. Tragically, it is in our country that lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours, Sheinbaum noted acidly, suggesting that the two countries interrelated national challenges underscore the need for cross-border cooperation rather than Trumpian confrontation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a harsh indictment of Trumps whole worldview. But this dry bureaucratic bit also deserves note: You may not be aware that Mexico has developed a comprehensive policy to assist migrants from different parts of the world who cross our territory en route to the southern border of the United States. As a result, and according to data from your countrys Customs and Border Protection (CBP), encounters at the Mexico-United States border have decreased by 75% between December 2023 and November 2024. What this polite (and euphemistic) language says is that Mexico is already acting extensively to thwart migrants who travel through that countryoriginating south of Mexicoso they dont reach our own southern border. As Sheinbaum notes, this is partly why border apprehensions in the United States have dropped sharply of late. Its darkly amusing that Sheinbaum would cite U.S. statistics to make this point, because Trump does not allow that the reality depicted by our own data even exists. During the fall campaign, Trump endlessly repeated the lie that our open border is getting obliterated by a world-historical invasion, even as apprehensions plummeted and matched levels sometimes seen during Trumps presidency. The latest numbers show that in November, apprehensions hit a new low under Biden and sank lower than some months under Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those numbers are relatively low partly thanks to Mexico. Adam Isacson, who tracks migration for the human rights group Washington Office on Latin America, put together a chart using Mexican government data that illustrates the point. It shows that Mexican forces have been apprehending tens of thousands of migrants traveling to the U.S. through Mexico each month (and sometimes over 100,000) up through August, the last month of available data: Despite the bluster about tariffs for "not doing enough to stop migration," the security and migration forces of #Mexico (green, hasn't reported September-October yet) now encounter, in their territory, as many migrants as U.S. forces do at the border. pic.twitter.com/dPlERTr9sQ Adam Isacson (@adam_wola) November 26, 2024 As Isacson shows, another big thing keeping illegal border crossings down is Bidens CBP One app, which allows migrants to make appointments to enter temporarily via various programs in an orderly, lawful manner. (Trump will also end that program, nixing something thats contributing to reductions in crossings, because his paramount goal isnt border security, its fewer immigrants here.) The reporting bears out the bigger dynamic. As The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal document, the Mexican government is using elaborate security operations to shuttle migrants heading for the U.S. border back south through Mexico. According to The Post, Mexican officials call this El Carrousel, or the merry-go-round. Some experts see Bidens private diplomacy with Mexicos previous president as a critical ingredient in making all that happen. This cooperation, plus Bidens recently imposed restrictions on asylum seeking and the CBP One app program, are all major contributors to this years lower apprehension numbers, Isacson says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Trump wants Mexico to crack down on unauthorized migration through its territory, Isacson told me, then Biden has already gotten Mexico to do that to a greater extent than anyone has ever done before. He did it without tariffs. During the campaign, Trump simply pretended none of that was happening. Its one of MAGAs biggest deceptions, and his latest scam carries it forward. The very idea that Mexico must be bullied with tariffs into cracking down on migrants is designed to imply that its doing nothing right nowits taking advantage of us, Trump might sayand only his fearsome threats can force it into submission. This massive swindle is getting lost in the coverage. Much of it is focused on the potential consequences of tariffs, such as upending trade throughout the Americas and creating extensive hardship for U.S. industries. Thats understandable, since the damage could be severe, but you can read whole articles about this that dont inform you that Mexico is already doing much of what Trump wants it to door that this was apparently accomplished through diplomacy, without Trumpian bluster. All this paves the way for larger deceptions later. Bank on it: The moment Trump takes office, the lower apprehension numbers will magically become real metrics. Fox News will start trumpeting them, and Trump will start claiming the border has achieved pacification due to his strength. Indeed, Trump very well may credit his current threat of tariffs with forcing Mexico to make the lower numbers of border crossings a reality. Its deeply disturbing that Sheinbaums statementwhich appears partly directed at Americansrepresents a far more faithful effort to inform us about the reality of the cross-border situation than anything offered by our own incoming president. It all suggests we may not be prepared for the gale-force agitprop thats about to hit us. This holiday season, the Michigan Education Trust is offering shoppers a Black Friday deal to help build college savings. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 2, the Michigan Education Trust, Michigans 529 prepaid tuition savings program, is offering a $50 bonus to new and existing customers, according to a news release Monday. With tuition prices rising, MET is a smart, practical gift for your familys future and one that lasts a lifetime, Diane Brewer, executive director of the Michigan Education Trust, is quoted saying in the news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Michigan Education Trust allows purchasers to buy college credits at todays prices. According to the news release, for the Black Friday promotion, new customers can open a new Pay-As-You-Go MET account using the coupon code BLKFRI24 and make an initial credit hour payment to get the bonus. Existing customers, the release says, can claim the bonus by contributing $200 or more to an existing Pay-As-You-Go MET account during the promotional period. Black Friday is all about finding deals, and not just on electronics and new clothes. Education is a gift that never goes out of style, and this is one bargain you dont want to miss, Brewer is quoted saying in the release. For more information, including bonus rules and eligibility requirements, visit www.michigan.gov/setwithmet. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Education Trust offers Black Friday deal for college savings GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) An 18-year-old from northern Michigan faces several criminal charges including attempted murder for allegedly burning down the home of his exs family. According to the Crawford County Sheriffs Office, the fire was reported at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24. Four people were inside the home at the time but were able to make it out safely. Sign up for breaking news alert emails Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to investigators, a child inside the home woke up a couple of hours before the fire broke out, telling the adults that he had heard strange noises. After looking around and not finding anything, they went back to bed. An 18-year-old from Michigan faces several felony charges for allegedly burning down his exs family home in Crawford County. (Courtesy Crawford County Sheriffs Office) A couple hours later the same juvenile woke up everyone in the home stating the house was on fire, the sheriffs office said in a news release. While getting out of the burning home, a suspect was seen running away from the home. After talking to deputies with the Antrim County Sheriffs Office, a former boyfriend of one of the homes occupants was taken in for questioning. That suspect, 18-year-old Cameron Spencer, was eventually arrested. Spencer was arraigned Tuesday on eight felony counts: four counts of attempted murder, one count of second-degree arson, one count of first-degree home invasion and two counts of malicious destruction of property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The home is considered a total loss. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Multiple law enforcement agencies have started conducting anti-retail theft operations this holiday season. Some of those agencies include including the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), the Franklin Police Department (FPD), and the Mt. Juliet Police Department (MJPD). All agencies have warned that anyone caught stealing from stores or breaking into cars will be arrested and prosecuted. We want the criminals to know that if you come to Franklin and you commit this type of criminal activity, number one there is a high probability that you will get caught, FPD Public Affairs Officer Ryan Schuman said. And number two, we want them to know that they will be dealt with harshly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Operation Safe Shopper underway as reports of shoplifting increase 20% in Mt. Juliet With shoplifting cases up by 20% this year in Mt. Juliet, the MJPD said mobile surveillance towers, increased patrol and more undercover officers will be deployed as part of Operation Safe Shopper. This year, its a little bit more involved than it has been in previous years, MJPD Deputy Chief Tyler Chandler told News 2. Weve totally directed one of our undercover units to the shopping areas. That has not typically been done before. The MNPD said they would monitor the Tanger Outlets, Nashville West Shopping Center, Opry Mills Mall and the Mall at Green Hills. Officers added that they would work closely with mall security. Around 10 to 12 detectives are dedicated specifically to their organized retail crime unit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement RELATED: MNPD to increase presence at shopping centers this weekend. Heres where We do a lot of information sharing with the stores to make sure theyre aware of some of the people who may frequent the business, MNPD South Precinct Lt. Michael Warren said. The department is also working to identify multiple suspected shoplifters, including this man, who was accused of stealing an e-bike from Target on Oct. 20 on Gallatin Pike North. (Courtesy: MNPD) Detectives are also looking for this man, who they believe stole items from Target. (Courtesy: MNPD) The MNPD said this woman at Ulta Beauty in Bellevue was caught reportedly taking hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise with an accomplice. (Courtesy: MNPD) MNPD officers added that they would monitoring traffic flow near Opry Mills Mall. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Infrastructure in that area is not designed for that much traffic all at once so give yourself extra time and be patient with the traffic, MNPD Hermitage Precinct Cmdr. Ken Walburn said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities advised shoppers to park safely, keep an eye on valuables, and report anything suspicious to nearby officers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The Walker's Point Youth & Family Center will survive another year. The Milwaukee Common Council unanimously voted to award the shelter $100,000 in community development block grants Tuesday morning, catapulting the shelter beyond the $200,000 it needed to keep its doors open. "I was very heartened to have so many colleagues join me in advocating for this," said Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who co-sponsored the proposal, at the council meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An anonymous donor matched the city's one-time grant, Audra O'Connell, the shelter's chief executive officer, confirmed. "This is exciting news for us," O'Connell said. Walker's Point Youth & Family Center reached out to the Journal Sentinel earlier this month after its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fell through on short notice. The federal agency's three-year Basic Center Program grant has funded the eight-bed shelter for the past 38 years. The center is one of just two state-licensed youth shelters in Milwaukee and the only one that serves parenting teens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the Journal Sentinel article about the shelter's impending closure, community members and officials poured in donations. Hazel Scott, 17, sought refuge at the Walker's Point Youth & Family Center last year as a teenage mother. "My first day here felt like home," she said. The shelter reached about $246,000 in funds from the city, state, other organizations like United Way and the anonymous donor's matches, O'Connell said. The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families gave the shelter $23,000 as one-time bonus funding through a contract it has with the youth shelter. That funding comes from recaptured American Rescue Plan Act dollars another agency didn't spend, O'Connell said. The Zilber Family Foundation chipped in $10,000, and the anonymous donor offered to match every contribution the shelter received up to $100,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, individuals in the community are making donations every day, O'Connell said. The donations raised in the past 20 days will keep the youth shelter afloat for the next year. But the shelter still has another $400,000 to raise in case its grant application is rejected again. Nonetheless, the youth shelter plans to re-apply for the grant in the summer. If selected, the grant would take effect in October 2025. "I'm really hopeful at this point," O'Connell said. Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@gannett.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Alison Dirr contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New funds will keep Walker's Point Youth & Family Center open, for now The US Embassy in Azerbaijan has expressed satisfaction with the United States' continued support for Azerbaijan's engagement with NATO, as highlighted by US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby in a recent post on X, Azernews reports. Thanksgiving is almost here, and Milwaukee's forecast for the holiday weekend features frigid temperatures and possible flurries. Here's what to know about the Wisconsin weather forecast: How cold will it be this weekend in Milwaukee? Although the holiday itself will be mild, Thanksgiving weekend is expected to bring Milwaukee's coldest temperatures this season. Thursday should have an early afternoon high of around 35. Highs in the mid- to upper 20s, with overnight lows in the teens, are in the forecast for Friday through Sunday. According to State Climatology Office data, Milwaukee hasn't been this cold since late February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thursday is expected to be partly cloudy, with winds up to 15 mph causing things to feel more like 25 degrees. Friday's forecast features a high of 26, with an overnight low of 17. Westerly winds of around 15 mph with gusts as high as 25 mph will make daytime temperatures feel between 10 and 13 degrees. Saturday's afternoon high is expected to be around 25, and an afternoon high of 28 is in the forecast Sunday. Both days should have morning wind chills in the single digits, climbing into the low to mid-teens by the afternoon. Why is it so cold in Wisconsin this weekend? The weekend's temperatures are "solidly below normal" compared to Milwaukee's average late-November high of around 42, said Milwaukee-Sullivan NWS meteorologist Benjamin Sheppard. "We have a trough in the jet stream, leading to unseasonably cool temperatures, ... though that's not uncommon for this time of year," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The jet stream is a relatively narrow belt of strong winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere, Sheppard said. These winds blow west to east, but the belt can shift north and south, forming ridges and troughs. A trough occurs when the jet stream "swoops further south than it normally would," bringing cold air and cooler-than-normal temperatures to the affected area. Near normal temperatures today will fall to below normal by the end of the week and remain there into early next week. Dry weather is likely most places through this period. #wiwx pic.twitter.com/ppxwxnOUXx NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) November 27, 2024 Will it snow this weekend in Milwaukee? While no snow accumulation is expected in the region, Sheppard said flurries "cannot be ruled out" throughout the weekend across southern Wisconsin due to the frigid temperatures and cloud cover. "We don't expect this to be particularly impactful, but we might see a few flakes fly," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the NWS forecast, flurries are most likely after 5 p.m. Thursday, between 6 and 11 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday afternoon and evening. They're unlikely during the daytime hours Friday because cloud cover will be minimal, Sheppard said. He said the snowfall could create visibility issues for holiday travelers. "If and when snow does fall, (we recommend) just leaving space between you and the vehicle in front of you, mainly for visibility reasons," he said. "We are hoping, with the temperatures being so cold, when the snow hits pavement that's already way below freezing, hopefully, the breeze will kind of blow it to the side." Wisconsin weather warnings Wisconsin weather radar This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Thanksgiving weekend weather: Cold, flurries This month's most-anticipated restaurant openings included several new burger joints, revivals of favorite neighborhood restaurant spots and more. Here's a round-up of the latest restaurant openings and closings in Minnesota: Openings Baking Betty's (1700 Grand Avenue, St. Paul): A gourmet cookie shop has relocated from Mall of America to the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. Cookies on the menu are inspired by famous desserts, such as creme brulee, lemon meringue, pecan pie. Read more here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chick-fil-A (1530 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth): Chick-fil-A's arrival in the Northland drew massive crowds this month. Read more here. Chipotle (1425 4th Street Southeast, Minneapolis & 9246 Hennepin Town Road, Eden Prairie): Chipotle opened two new Twin Cities restaurants this month, including one in the heart of Dinkytown. Read more here. Firehouse Subs (1559 East 7th Street, Monticello): Sandwich chain Firehouse Subs opened this month in Monticello's new Union Crossing development. Read more here. Francis Burger Joint (3900 East Lake Street, Minneapolis): Juicy Lucys, buffalo fries topped with ranch dressing, fried chicken sandwiches and more have made Francis Burger Joint a Twin Cities favorite. Did we mention its entirely vegan? The restaurant's second Minneapolis location opened this month on East Lake Street. Read more here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jade Dynasty (600 West Lake Street, Minneapolis): The iconic Nankin Cafe has been closed for more than two decades, but the restaurant's potent Wanderer's Punch cocktail has returned at a new Cantonese restaurant from a member of the Wu family, Jade Dynasty. Read more from the Star Tribune here. Le Burger (4304 Upton Avenue South, Minneapolis): Linden Hills' newest burger joint is a cross between a French restaurant and a classic American diner. Read more here. Los Ocampo (2186 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul): Family-run Mexican restaurant Los Ocampo open it's new, long-awaited St. Paul restaurant this month. Founded in 2003, the restaurant is best known for its scratch-made masa cakes. Parlour Bar (200 Water Street, Excelsior): Parlour Bar's cozy new restaurant opened this week in downtown Excelsior, bringing the restaurant's famous double-patty smash burger to the west metro. Read more here. Parlour Bar in Excelsior, Minn. Photo courtesy of Jo Garrison | Jester Concepts. Russell's (656 Grand Avenue, St. Paul): The former Tavern on Grand spot is bustling again with the opening of a new American restaurant, Russell's. Keeping with tradition, walleye can still be found on the menu in the form of walleye nachos and a Ritz-cracker-crusted walleye entree. Read more here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soul Bowl 2.0 (701 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis): Soul Bowl celebrated the grand opening of its northside restaurant this month, bringing a new local dining destination to the neighborhood where the concept first launched years ago as a pop-up venture. Read more here. Closings Black Sheep Pizza (2550 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis): Black Sleep Coal Fired Pizza is closing its Eat Street location on Nov. 30 after a decade in business. The restaurant's original North Loop location remains open. Read more here. Dunkin' (15 First Avenue Southwest, Rochester): Dunkin's downtown Rochester outpost at the Kahler Hotel has closed. Read more here. Tattersall (1620 Central Avenue Northeast #150, Minneapolis): The distiller's northeast Minneapolis cocktail room is closing down Nov. 30 after nearly a decade. One last new spirit, Last Call Bourbon, is marking the end of the era. Read more here. BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) Mirabito Convenience Store is raising money for local families in need as it supports the Salvation Army. Mirabito is launching the Salvation Armys Red Kettle Campaign on Monday at the convenience store located at 33 South Washington Street in Binghamton. To launch the campaign, Mirabito is hosting a special Kick-Off Day on December 2 with a flash fuel discount from 8 a.m. to 10. Community members are encouraged to visit during this time to take advantage of the discounted fuel and enjoy the free coffee coupon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each Monday leading up to Christmas, Mirabito employees and volunteers will be ringing the bell at the South Washington St. location. They will be collecting donations to provide critical support for local families in need this holiday season. To expand the campaigns reach, every Mirabito convenience store will also feature a QR code for easy donations, available both in-store and at the pump. For more information, follow Mirabito on Facebook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34. UPDATE: as of 1:30 p.m Bryson has been located, according to Moore Police Department. ORIGINAL STORY MOORE, Okla. (KFOR) The Moore Police is asking the public for assistance in searching for a missing juvenile last seen in Southeast Oklahoma City. According to police, Bryson Shelper Bryson was last seen on November 25, 2024, around 7 p.m., wearing grey sweatpants, a dark-colored hoodie, and a black Snap-On coat with the words Snap-On in red print on the sleeve. Moore PD search for missing 14 year old Bryson Shelper Bryson, Image courtesy Moore Police Department Authorities say, Bryson is 14 years old and last seen near the Katie Ridge neighborhood on Southeast 34th & Eastern. Bryson is 55, 140 lbs, with blond hair, brown eyes with no known medical issues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Moore Police Department at 405-793-5171. Lincoln County residents warned of manhunt for homicide suspect Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. UPDATE: Rochester police said Missy McFadden has been found and is confirmed to be safe. ORIGINAL STORY: ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Rochester Police are looking for your help locating a missing woman who may be in danger. 39-year-old Missy McFadden was last seen in the area of Cataract Street around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. She is described as 58 and 160 pounds with black, curly hair. She was wearing a black coat and blue jeans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rochester Police believe she may be in danger and ask anyone with information call 911. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. BARRY COUNTY, Mo. An Exeter, Missouri man who reported his girlfriend missing is now charged with her murder. Aaron Malone, 23, is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Aspen Lewis, 24. Aaron Malone, Barry County Sheriffs Office Court records say that on Monday, Malone contacted Barry County Sheriffs deputies to report Lewis possible abduction. Investigators said when they responded to the residence, they saw a large blood stain in the roadway behind Malones truck, along with pieces of jewelry. The probable cause statement says Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers assisting with the investigation took samples of the blood stain and confirmed it was human blood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities say they obtained surveillance video that showed Malones vehicle arriving at Lewiss residence just before midnight on Sunday, and shortly thereafter, screaming could be heard. The video then shows Malone leave around 1:30 Monday morning, and then come back just after 4 am, according to court records. Before Malone arrived back at Lewis residence, authorities say he called 911. Barry County Sheriff Danny Boyd says he and another officer met with Malone and led them to Lewis body. Her body was found off a rural Barry County road, covered with leaves and sticks. Investigators say she had extensive head trauma. Malone was arraigned in Barry County Court this morning and pleaded not guilty. He is being held, without bond, in the Stone County jail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. Richard Bosarge began harvesting Mississippi oysters on his boat, the Royster, in 2007. He and other oystermen pivoted to other types of fishing when the states public reefs closed in 2019. (Illan Ireland/Mississippi Free Press) PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. On a mid-November morning, a stately white fishing boat named the Royster peeled away from the harbor and motored toward a reef less than two miles offshore. The 42-foot vessel was equipped with a triangular oyster dredge made of rope and metala common tool for scraping the shellfish off the surface of the reefs on which they grow. Over the next four hours, Capt. Richard Bosarge and his three-man crew used the dredge to retrieve oysters from the seabed and haul them back onto the boat for sorting. Muffled radio tunes mingled with the sound of clanging metal as crew members broke up oyster clusters using hatchets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bosarge could hardly contain his excitement. For the first time in five years, he and his crew were harvesting wild oysters in Mississippi waters. We never thought wed get to do this again on our reefs, said Bosarge, a Mississippi native who began harvesting oysters on the Royster in 2007. It was just something that we didnt think would ever come back. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX While Mississippis oyster catch has fluctuated for decades, the local industry was formidable at the turn of the 21st century. Between 1996 and 2003, Mississippi reported capturing over 2 million pounds of oysters during the annual harvesting season, which stretched from October through April. Those harvests were valued at as much as $7 million in a single year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But over the past two decades, a series of natural and human-made disasters have decimated Mississippis oyster population, hobbling restaurant and tourist economies along the coast. The state had not held a harvest on its public reefs since 2018. Then, in late October, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources announced that the reefs would reopen for a limited harvest beginning Nov. 13. The 10-day season would return Mississippi oysters to local and regional markets without jeopardizing the states still-vulnerable reefs, agency leaders said. It would also provide a boost to local fishermen and seafood distributors. The agency has since added 10 more harvesting days starting in December. MDMR acknowledges that it will take much more than two 10-day harvests to revive the local oyster industry, which contributed more than $23 million in sales and over 560 full- and part-time jobs to the state as late as 2009. The agency has spent years trying to bring back the reefs along the Gulf Coast, working with university scientists and other partners on a range of restoration projects. Those efforts have yielded mixed results, and many longtime oystermen have pivoted to other types of fishing since the reefs closed in 2019. To some industry veterans like Bosarge, however, the prospect of turning even a small profit during the current harvest feels worth it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were just so ecstatic to be going through the motions and capturing oysters, he said aboard the Royster on Nov. 16. We could be shrimping right now, but we just had to give this a try. Its been so long. A member of the Roysters crew measures an oyster cluster harvested from the Henderson Point reefs near Pass Christian, Mississippi. (Illan Ireland/Mississippi Free Press) Decades of decline Once a major oystering hub on the Mississippi coast, Pass Christians harbor has been quiet the past five winters. The absence of a harvest since 2018 has had ripple effects across town, affecting restaurants and tourism as well as seafood sales. Mayor Jimmy Rafferty says there was a time when over 100,000 sacks of oysters would pass through his city during oyster season. At one point, oysters were synonymous with Pass Christian, Mississippi, he explained. We had oyster festivals and things like that. We dont have that anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trouble for Mississippi oysters began in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina barreled across the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into the Mississippi coast, damaging or destroying 90% of the states public reefs. Five years later, a colossal oil spill from the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon drilling rig wiped out as many as 8.3 billion oysters across the Gulf coast. Scientists speculate, however, that Mississippi oysters might have bounced back from these disasters were it not for the 2019 Bonnet Carre Spillway openings in neighboring Louisiana. Historic rains had swollen the Mississippi River and the spillway functioned as a release valve, helping to prevent flooding in New Orleans and other communities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers left the spillway open for 123 total days, sending river water into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Sound. The influx of freshwater from the river dramatically reduced salinity levels in the estuary, killing nearly all the oysters in the western Sound and prompting MDMR to close the states reefs for the next five years. There were very few oysters left after the 2019 openings, said Jessica Pruett, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southern Mississippi who studies the states oyster population. To have that many repeated events that cause a population to have so many deathsits really hard to come back from that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pruett added that Louisiana oysters did not suffer the same kind of damage from the spillway openings because most of its reefs are located west of the area of influence. The state has continued to hold regular harvesting seasons since 2019. Data from NOAA highlights the decline of Mississippis oyster industry even before the spillway openings. In 2008, the state reported bringing more than 2.6 million pounds of oysters to shore, a catch worth about $6.9 million. A decade laterthe last year for which harvesting data is availablethat total had fallen to 31,832 pounds, valued at $183,365. During this years limited oyster season, MDMR has capped daily harvesting totals at 10 sacks per commercial vessel, hoping to prevent over-fishing on state reefs and spur future population growth. Each sack contains roughly 200 oysters and weighs 100 to 120 pounds. MDMRs strict limits may have deterred some fishermen from participating in the current harvest, Bosarge said. He plans to sell the sacks he fills aboard the Royster directly to the public for $80 each and split the proceeds among his crew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were trying to make it work, he said. If we can retail them, everybody can make a decent [wage]. Glimmers of hope The return of oyster season in Mississippi may have caught fishermen by surprise, but officials tasked with managing the states reefs have reported signs of progress leading up to the current harvest. During reef assessments conducted each fall, MDMR observed growing numbers of oyster larvae attached to adult oyster shells, agency leaders said. It takes these attached larvae, known as spat, one to three years to mature into adult oysters under the right conditions, making them key predictors of growth. Weve seen some significant improvements over the last several years with some really good natural spat sets, MDMR Chief Scientific Officer Rick Burris said. So after looking at the data we felt like a limited seasonlike were going to havewould be sustainable for the reefs and also a benefit to the industry. Royster crew members prepare to break up oyster clusters that the boats dredge has not managed to separate. Individual oysters are placed in metal baskets and transferred into sacks for sale. (Illan Ireland/Mississippi Free Press) Since Hurricane Katrina, tens of millions of dollars of state, federal and BP oil spill settlement money have been poured into revitalizing Mississippis oyster reefs. Working with local universities and other organizations, the state has lined key areas of the Sound with limestone, shells and other materials, aiming to provide hard surfaces for baby oysters to settle on. It has also experimented with various aquaculture projects, filling cages with baby oysters and suspending them above the seafloor until they reach maturity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although many of these efforts failed to deliver meaningful results in past years, the states array of restoration strategiescoupled with drier conditions that kept freshwater out of the Sound for the past two yearsappear to have laid the groundwork for future population growth, local scientists said. Weve seen data of a lot more recruitment, said Pruett, referring to the process in which baby oysters grow into an existing population. Obviously, theres adult oysters somewhere [in the Sound] that are producing larvae that are settling on the reef. So that is hopeful. Burris emphasized that more work must be done to rejuvenate Mississippis oyster industry. His agency is leasing acres of state-owned reefs to private parties,hoping to improve upkeep and harvesting numbers by allowing fishermen to manage their own oyster grounds. The approach follows the same management model as Louisiana, where oyster reefs have been leased out to people and businesses since the 1800s. Getting the private industry involved will allow each individual entity to be able to go in and plant their own acreage and harvest sustainably, Burris said. We think itll be good for the population as well as the seafood industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bosarge thinks the state should continue to moderate oyster harvesting along Mississippis Gulf Coast until the reefs have fully recovered. Though he was encouraged by the size of the oysters captured aboard the Royster, he believes limiting the catch this season is the best way to ensure there will be a longer, more profitable harvest next year. Its simple math, he said. You cant take off more than what the reef can produce. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri. Support our independent reporting network with a donation. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) A brother and sister from Clinton were sentenced on Tuesday for their actions in a murder for hire plot. According to court documents, Joshua Druid Bryan, 29, and Regan Emily Bryan, 30, sought to hire a hit man to kill their stepfather in order to obtain life insurance proceeds. Judge grants motion to continue trial in Jackson bribery scandal Prosecutors said Regan Emily Bryan was sentenced to 65 months in prison. She previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to prosecutors, Joshua Druid Bryan was sentenced to 120 months in prison. He was previously found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and murder for hire following a trial that concluded on December 15, 2023. Joshua Druid Bryan (Courtesy: Madison Co. Detention Center) Regan Emily Bryan (Courtesy: Madison Co. Detention Center) The Bureau of ATF investigated the case. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. KEMPER COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) Kemper County deputies announced a woman was arrested for the sexual battery of a child. According to deputies, the sheriffs office initiated an investigation into Adreoinna Hickman in October 2020 for the charge of sexual battery (child under 14 years of age) and child pornography. During the investigation, authorities said they were unable to find physical evidence pertaining to the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Man wanted for child exploitation in Mississippi captured in Colorado On Friday, November 22, 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) contacted the Kemper County Sheriffs Office about the video evidence. The FBI stated they located the video pertaining to Hickman and the victim. During an interview, deputies said Hickman admitted to performing the sexual acts on the child, videoing the act and sending it to another individual through a social media site. Hickman was arrested and booked into the Kemper/Neshoba Regional Jail. She made her initial appearance in court on Monday, November 25 and received a $500,000 bond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hickman is expected to appear in court on March 17, 2025. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. An opinion issued by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey states that while any statutes prohibiting abortion prior to fetal viability will no longer be enforceable in their entirety, the state can still enforce some laws (photo submitted). Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey believes the state can still enforce some abortion restrictions even after voters lifted the states ban earlier this month, though he didnt weigh in on the constitutionality of a host of laws that are currently the focus of a lawsuit. In a rare official opinion from his office, Bailey argued that while any statutes prohibiting abortion prior to fetal viability will no longer be enforceable in their entirety, the state can still enforce laws on the books related to parental consent and cases where women or children have unlawfully been pressured to abort. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bailey listed five state statutes that he said will in-part be unenforceable under Amendment 3, which enshrined abortion-rights in the Missouri Constitution. But he also included circumstances where he will vigorously enforce limitations on abortion. The unlabeled opinion was posted on Nov. 22 to the attorney generals website and was addressed from Bailey to Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe, seemingly at Kehoes request. Should Amendment 3 be construed more narrowly by courts or be amended or repealed in the future to permit greater protection of unborn life, that will automatically restore authority to the attorney general and other officials to resume broader enforcement, the opinion concluded. Bailey is a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed Nov. 6 by the states Planned Parenthood clinics seeking to strike down several targeted regulation of abortion providers laws enacted by the legislature, including a mandatory 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion and mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit does not challenge parental consent laws. Planned Parenthood leadership has said they hope to have a decision from a judge that would allow them to start performing abortions at three clinics across the state as soon as the new amendment goes into effect Dec. 5. Even before abortion was banned two years ago, most abortions in the state had ceased as a result of the TRAP laws. A hearing regarding the clinics request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Jackson County. Baileys legal team has also filed a motion requesting the case be moved to Cole County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baileys opinion does not address any of Missouirs TRAP laws. It instead lists statutes that set restrictions on abortion based on gestational age, including the states trigger law which was passed in 2019 and went into effect in June 2022, when the constitutional right to an abortion was overturned. That law, which remains until Amendment 3 goes into effect after Dec. 5, bans nearly all abortions with exceptions only in cases of medical emergencies. While Amendment 3 protects the right to all abortions prior to fetal viability, it also allows the legislature to regulate abortion after fetal viability unless needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person. 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 in pregnancy make up fewer than 1% of all abortions in the United States. The attorney generals opinion points to a 2017 law that regulates abortion after fetal viability except when a womans life is in danger due to a physical illness or injury. He does not specify which parts of that law his office would or wouldnt enforce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under this law, if a fetus is past 20 weeks gestation, a physician is required to first determine if the pregnancy was viable. They are then required to get a concurring opinion from a second physician trained in maternal-fetal medicine. Both doctors then have to report their findings to the health care facility they work at. Any physician who performs or induces an abortion upon a woman when it has been determined that the unborn child is viable shall utilize the available method or technique of abortion most likely to preserve the life or health of the unborn child, the statute reads. Baileys letter further sets the stage for debates around abortion that are expected to dominate the legislative session, which begins in January. Republican lawmakers have said they plan to give Missourians the opportunity to vote on abortion again through a legislature-proposed amendment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. In a contest where the yes side was able in effect to rewrite the ballot summary language, received tens of millions of dollars in funding from out of state, and outspent the no side 6 to 0, Bailey wrote, This tight margin suggests the result may be very different if a future constitutional amendment is put up for a vote. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US More than a year before the election, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was ordered by a judge to change the ballot summary language he drafted, which would have asked Missourians, in part, if they wanted to allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baileys opinion was published the day after former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for U.S. Attorney General. Bailey was a finalist for the position until former President Donald Trump chose former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Rudi Keller of The Independent staff contributed to this report. A judge in Missouri has upheld the states ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors and on restrictions for the treatment for adults. Judge Robert S. Carter of the Cole County, Mo., Circuit Court ruled Monday that the law did not violate the Missouri constitution and wrote that there is an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment. This comes even though every major medical organization supports such care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bans are contained in Senate Bill 49, which Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed into law in June 2023. The law took effect in August of that year after another judge refused to block enforcement of it while the lawsuit against it proceeds. The suit was brought in July 2023 by the families of three transgender people, Southampton Community Healthcare and two of its medical providers, and two organizations, PFLAG and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality. They are represented by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. Gov. Parson is named as defendant. The suit is known as Noe v. Parson, Noe being one of the anonymous plaintiffs. The law indefinitely bans gender-affirming surgeries for trans minors (genital surgery, however, is almost never performed on minors) and temporarily bans the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. The latter ban is set to expire in August 2027, and young people who were already on the treatment when the law was enacted are allowed to stay on it. Gender-affirming treatment is still legal for cisgender youth for conditions such as early-onset puberty or a disorder of sex development. The law also bans Medicaid funding for gender-affirming treatment for the purpose of transition, even for adults, and gender-affirming surgeries for incarcerated people. The statute violates the Missouri constitutions guarantee of equal protection of the law, similar to that provided in the U.S. Constitution, according to the lawsuit, and interferes with parents right to manage their childrens health care. Trans minors in Missouri will suffer irreparable harm under the law, the suit states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, issued a press release praising Carters ruling and calling gender-affirming care child mutilation. The Court has left Missouris law banning child mutilation in place, a resounding victory for our children. We are the first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level, Bailey said in the release. Im extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures. We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children. Before the legislature acted, Bailey had issued an emergency rule to severely restrict gender-affirming care. He withdrew it when lawmakers passed SB 49 and sent it to Parson, saying it was a stopgap measure until the legislature acted. But his rule had been blocked by a St. Louis County judge while a lawsuit against it proceeded. Bailey has been in a legal battle with a medical center in St. Louis, as he has sought release of unredacted records on gender-affirming care. The center has refused, and a judge has sided with it. He has won release of documents from three other health care providers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri said they will appeal Carters ruling. His decision is largely copying a brief submitted by the State and ignoring thousands of pages of a transcript not yet provided to the parties that reflects nine days of testimony in the case, which was heard in September and October, says a press release from the groups. We are extremely disappointed in this decision, but this is not the end of the fight and we will appeal. However, 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, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri said in the release. Despite heartfelt testimony from parents of transgender youth, transgender adults whove benefited from this care at various stages of life, a transgender minor, and some of Missouris most dedicated health care providers, the state has prioritized politics over the well-being of its people, the organizations added. This ruling sends a chilling message that, for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach." UPDATE (4:10 p.m.): An 18-year-old has been arrested in connection with a shooting Tuesday night, News 5 has learned. According to Mobile Police Department officials, Christian Malik Poole was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree assault and first-degree possession of marijuana. A mugshot of Christian Poole (Mobile County Sheriffs Office). Tuesday night, a man suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a shooting on Palm Street. Original Story: MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Mobile police are investigating a Tuesday night shooting that left one person injured, News 5 has learned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Traffic stop ends in 1 arrest on Airport Boulevard Officers responded to a shooting report around 8 p.m. Nov. 26 on the 600 block of Palm Street, according to a Mobile Police Department news release. INCIDENT LOCATION: There, they saw a male with non-life-threatening injuries; he was taken to a hospital for treatment, the release said. An investigation revealed that a known male shot him during an argument, police said. Mobile cracks down on aggressive solicitation among other issues The assault investigation is ongoing. This story is developing. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. BETHESDA, Md. (DC News Now) Montgomery County is solidifying its position as a hub for healthcare and technology with the grand opening of the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing. The state-of-the-art facility, located in North Bethesdas burgeoning bio-life sciences corridor, aims to transform public health through groundbreaking research and partnerships. The Institute is the result of a collaboration between the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Maryland Medical System and Montgomery County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are innovating in healthcare delivery and accelerating economic development in Montgomery County, said Brad Maron, a key leader at the institute. The local life sciences community has been incredibly welcoming and eager to partner with us. MoCo Minute | Community bank moving headquarters to Bethesda The facility will work with industry leaders and federal agencies to develop cutting-edge solutions, including life-saving clinical diagnostic tests and advanced research proposals. Demonstrations during the grand opening showcased AI applications, VR technology and pioneering research on fighting diseases. Kate Stewart, another official at the event, highlighted the Institutes broader impact: Its not just about innovation; its about improving livesboth for those who will benefit from these advancements and for the people who live and work in this community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Montgomery County continues to invest in healthcare and technology, the Institute for Health Computing symbolizes its commitment to innovation and economic growth, cementing the regions reputation as a leader in life sciences. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless. | Photo by Andrew Kennard 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 Oneida community members shared wrenching stories about loss and addiction during a community meeting last Thursday evening at the Oneida Nations Norbert Hill Center, near Green Bay, Wisconsin. During the tribes community meal and discussion, one man said he was 16 when his brother died of an opioid overdose, and he has five nieces and nephews who dont have a father. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Oneida Nation estimates it will receive about $6.5 million in opioid settlement payments between 2020 and 2037, according to an informational packet provided at the meeting. The money is the result of lawsuits against companies involved in manufacturing and selling opioids in the United States. People who attended the meeting spoke passionately about how the tribe should use the funds. Data from 2021 shows that Native Americans and Black people in Wisconsin were hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic. Native Americans died of opioid overdoses at close to three times the rate of white people, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Historical trauma, high levels of unemployment and poverty contribute to the vulnerability of Native Americans to addiction.. A total of 1,427 people died of opioid overdoses in Wisconsin in 2021. We did a little analysis of individuals that had overdosed in our community, and I want to say that more than 90% of the individuals that overdosed left children behind, Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless told the Examiner. Oneida data in a packet provided at the meeting showed 20 overdose deaths between October 2022 and September 2023. For each quarter of that year, between 380 and 516 active patients received substance abuse services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nationally, in 2022, non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people died from drug overdoses at the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group. Powless wasnt surprised by the comments people made at the meeting, he said, but their testimony will contribute toward what the tribe is trying to do. He said he never gets used to hearing stories of losing a child, a parent or another family member to an overdose. There was a few times tonight where I had to quickly regain my composure because its just so difficult to hear some of the things that people say and share, he said. We want to prevent addiction, not simply treat addiction Powless told the Examiner about a concerning trend among children 5 years old and younger who are affected by drug abuse. He mentioned Head Start and Early Head Start programs, where staff are encountering families affected by substance abuse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those areas are starting to encounter kids who are coming from homes where theres either rampant substance use or a loss of a parent due to an overdose, Powless said. Or you have kids that were born addicted. So those kids are now entering into our programs and services, and thats like a growing issue Were seeing more and more kids, and its more and more difficult to find spaces for them to get the services that they need. When you have conversations with the community about children who lost one or both parents to an overdose, you hear about those childrene experiencing challenges, including bullying, Powless said. Theres an understanding that only focusing on treatment means never overcoming the addiction problem, Powless told the crowd at the meeting. For the opioid settlement funds, the tribe is proposing an emphasis on prevention. Prevention is often underfunded, he said. Family-friendly events, programming in the school system and training about trauma and stigma are among ideas that could be funded by the settlement money. We want to prevent addiction, not simply treat addiction, Powless said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the meeting, the man whose brother died from an overdose was disappointed to see the tribe not proposing spending more settlement funds on harm reduction. The only harm reduction proposal outlined would spend $5,000 on harm reduction kits in tribal vehicles. He expressed support for having Narcan, a medicine that can treat an opioid overdose, available in more areas in the community to prevent deaths. The Oneida Nations proposals for the settlement funds arent its only plans to prevent overdoses. Narcan is distributed through the Tribal Action Plan and behavioral health services, Powless said. Yes, there is a need for vending machines, other ways to get even more [Narcan] out into the community, Powless said. But we havent talked about all of the work that is happening, and so some of that is missed in this conversation. How might the tribe use the funding? The tribe has more ideas than it can pay for with the settlement funds and is continuing to add tothe list, Powless said at the meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is not yet a final plan for how most of the money will be used, but there is agreement on a few items, he said. These include funding for future community meetings and buying equipment for Oneida Nation High School students to develop anti-opioid multimedia content. The youth voice and youth participation in this conversation has been really low, so we do want to get our youth engaged in this topic, Powless said. One person at the meeting said that to her, providing transitional housing to people with nowhere to go should be a top priority. There are different models of transitional living the tribe might use to help people overcome substance abuse. One model is called Housing First, and it welcomes people still struggling with substance abuse and can be tricky to manage, Powless said. The idea is to satisfy a persons basic needs, then help with recovery, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Powless isnt sure if the tribe will go in that direction, but he said it will at the very least provide a safe and sober place to live for people coming out of treatment. This would aim to avoid scenarios where someone goes to treatment and then returns to an environment that may lead to relapse. Its really those early days of recovery [when] people need a lot of support, Powless said. Some proposals are specific to Oneida culture. One idea Powless described involves people in recovery receiving training in the trades and then helping build a longhouse. Another idea involves hiring apprentices to learn the Great Law of Peace. One person does the majority if not all of the speaking for Oneida at Great Law recitals, Powless said, and the tribe doesnt currently have people learning to replace him. The Great Law is one of the foundations for our culture, Powless said, one of the foundations for our community We do need to pass on that information to other generations. State settlement money will help fight addiction The Oneida Nation may receive more opioid settlement funding from the state of Wisconsin. This would provide additional funding for a tribe that has more ideas about how to address addiction in the community than it can fund with its settlement money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wisconsin is due to receive over $750 million through 2038 due to national litigation against the pharmaceutical industry, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website. The state received about $31 million in opioid settlement payments in the state fiscal year 2023. (Wisconsins fiscal years run from July 1 to June 30 of each calendar year). Wisconsins 11 federally recognized tribes received $6 million for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services for tribal members. The Oneida Nation received over half a million dollars. Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Legislatures Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee passed a plan for using the state fiscal year 2025 payments. The state again allocated $6 million to the tribes. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Sioux Falls woman, accused in a crash spree, faces additional charges. KELOLAND News first told you about 33-year-old Ashlyann Saathoff on November 14th. Thats when shes accused sideswiping multiple cars and crashing into a sign and building on Minnesota Avenue. Driver faces charges in crash with SD state trooper Tuesday in court, the prosecutor said new video makes it look like some of the crashes were intentional. The prosecutor said Saathoff can be seen driving around a parking lot before accelerating into a business front doors. The prosecutor says video also shows her crashing directly into a county cruiser, then getting out of her car and dancing or celebrating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police eventually arrested Saathoff near Falls Park, where shes accused of intentionally crashing into a bridge structure. Authorities are still waiting on blood work to see if drugs were in her system. The judge set bond at $2500 cash only. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. DES MOINES, Iowa The Des Moines Police Department has released more information about an officer-involved shooting that left the suspect dead Tuesday morning. At around 6:07 a.m. officers with the DMPD responded to 430 Grand Avenue on a report of a male pointing a gun at a woman. According to DMPD, when officers arrived on scene they witnessed the suspect holding a pistol and one other person in the lobby of the building. Police said the suspect, who has been identified as a 70-year-old male and resident of the building, pointed the pistol in the direction of the officers. As a result, the officers fired their weapons, fatally wounding the male, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two officers fired duty issued firearms in the shooting, police said. Those officers have been identified as a 25-year-old who has been with the department since 2022 and has four years of experience in law enforcement and a 24-year-old who has also been with the department since 2022. Both officers have been put on administrative assignment. Des Moines man who attacked victim with baseball bat receives 25 year sentence The police department said the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has been requested to perform an independent investigation, as per department policy. Police Chief Michael McTaggart released the following statement about the shooting: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While it is the ultimate objective of the Des Moines Police Department to de-escalate tense situations, our officers, when faced with a threat against themselves or another person, are often forced to make split-second decisions during circumstances that are unpredictable and rapidly evolving. The tragic officer involved shooting this morning has an incredible impact on many people, their families, and the community, and we offer our support to all. It is important to us to notify the public swiftly during critical incidents, while balancing your need to know what occurred, and protecting the integrity of the investigation and due process for all involved. This investigation will progress and more information will be learned, and a better understanding of the circumstances will come. It is important to us, and our commitment to transparency, that the facts we learn be brought to you as they become available to share. Chief Michael McTaggart Latest Metro News: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. Boston-area Realtors are advising homeowners to be cautious about what images of their homes are posted online. The sport of scrolling through real estate listings can offer a clear picture of what every square foot of a home looks like in any zip code. Those pictures can stay on sites like Zillow and Redfin even after a property is sold. That access now has many home sellers thinking twice about what they are showing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once theyre out there, its tough to pull back, said Mark Ruane, real estate advisor with MGS Real Estate. Privacy is becoming more of an issue by the day. Ruane said its becoming increasing difficult to track these images on the internet. When a home is put up for sale, a listing agent uploads photos to a Multiple Listing Service, known as MLS. The images end up on real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin. Those sites then sell leads to everyone else in the industry, spreading those detailed pictures to a global audience. Ruane said you can get those photos blurred or removed if theyve already been published. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, he added that scrubbing those photos from the internet entirely can be tricky. These types of platforms are more invasive than ever, he said. These third-party platforms are pushing this marketing out to areas we cant even keep up with. Boston 25 News reported on the trend of homeowners blurring their properties on Google Maps earlier this month. Boston 25 News security analyst Dan Linskey also emphasized the importance of monitoring whats included in listing photos and descriptions of properties. He encouraged home sellers to make sure that valuable furniture or artwork is stashed away before photos are taken. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Linskey also offered advice for home buyers. Ive had cases where it listed in the real estate listing that there was a safe, a large safe in the master bedroom built in to keep your valuables safe, said Linskey. When someone bought that home, that was a feature they were looking for. By never clearing that off the website, the bad guys know. Linskey suggested steering clear of photos that show security features whenever possible. He said criminals can use detailed images to plan potential break-ins. We as consumers and a community have to make sure that were taking the steps we can to limit their ability to use technology to harm us, said Linskey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ruane told Boston 25 News its important to have these proactive conversations with prospective sellers and buyers ahead of time to gauge what theyre comfortable with. Over the last few months, Ive had clients who have been very sensitive to having their childrens images show up in family photos, he explained. We have to be mindful when speaking with our photographers and marketing teams to blur those images out. Boston 25 News spoke with nearly two dozen other realtors across the Boston area. Many pointed to recent instances where home sellers or buyers were vigilant about removing listing photos from the internet after a sale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats the biggest thing that my clients have been asking for is to remove interior pictures because a lot of scammers can basically leverage where certain things are within the home, said Dino Confalone, 2021 President of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. Local law enforcement in Massachusetts has seen recent cases of criminals using peoples listing photos to create fake ads. Confalone said it happened with a house he had for sale in Quincy. A scammer used all my professional pictures and tried to pretend it was for rent, he said. It was really unfortunate because a few people definitely were scammed and sent in the deposit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you already bought a home, Confalone recommends downloading the listing photos to keep them for your records or if you intend to remodel and want before-and-after shots. He said removing interior images from real estate websites afterward is a good step to play it safe. Often realtors deal with removing photos for you, so its important to follow up. Real estate experts told Boston 25 News that photos should be left on the MLS system for licensed realtors to use, but not on public sites for everyone to see. A Zillow spokesperson sent the following statement to Boston 25 News: We take privacy and security very seriously. The photos on Zillow come from sources like the multiple listing service (MLS) that real estate agents use to market homes for sale. We always encourage homeowners to claim their home on Zillow, which allows them to change or remove photos and edit their home facts. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Russia is expelling two staff members from German public broadcaster ARD, a regional branch of the broadcaster confirmed on Wednesday. The WDR, which is responsible for covering Russia for the ARD, confirmed that two ARD employees - a correspondent and a technician - must return their accreditation and leave Russia by December 16. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that the move was in response to the expulsion of correspondents from Russian state television by German authorities. Russia is expelling two staff members from German public broadcaster ARD, a regional branch of the broadcaster confirmed on Wednesday. The WDR, which is responsible for covering Russia for the ARD broadcasting network, confirmed that two ARD employees - a correspondent and a technician - must return their accreditation and leave Russia by December 16. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that the move was in response to the expulsion of correspondents from Russian state television by German authorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The German Foreign Office in Berlin denounced the move even before official confirmation from Russian authorities: "If these reports are confirmed, we would reject them in the strongest possible terms. This is out of all proportion." A Foreign Office spokesman said Russia's harsh treatment of journalists - particularly the domestic Russian press, but also foreign correspondents - is a matter of great concern. He also denied the Russian Foreign Ministry's claims that Russian television correspondents had been expelled from the country, and said that Russian journalists could report free and unhindered in Germany. "The Russian allegations are false. The German government has not closed the office of this broadcaster," a Foreign Office spokesman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The denial of residency permits to specific Russian journalists may be the issue, the spokesman acknowledged, but he stressed that local authorities in Germany's 16 federal states make decisions on such matters. Residency permits denied Immigration authorities in Berlin confirmed to dpa that four journalists from various Russian media outlets, as well as the wife of one of the journalists, had been denied residency permits. The agency cited the involvement of Russian media in spreading misinformation and propaganda to discredit Germany and the European Union, and also cited EU sanctions in making the decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In some of the cases, legal proceedings over the residency permits reportedly remain open. In response, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: "If you don't meet the requirements of residence law, then it doesn't help to work as a journalist." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on the other hand, said Russia was observing a clear tendency in European states to restrict Russian media. "Our broadcasters are not allowed to broadcast, our journalists are not allowed to work, they are being deprived of the opportunity to extend their accreditation," he was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Russian state TV station 1. Kanal had previously claimed that it had been ordered by authorities in Berlin to close its office in Berlin, allegedly because the Russian broadcaster was viewed as a threat to national security in Germany. However, it was unclear from the report what document the broadcaster was allegedly citing. Two 1. Kanal employees - correspondent Ivan Blagoi and cameraman Dmitry Volkov - are expected to leave Germany by mid-December. Blagoi suggested that the denial of his residency permit was connected to a news report he did on a German citizen who was recently arrested in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad by the Russian secret service FSB on allegations of sabotage. However, he also acknowledged that cameraman Volkov had already had problems with his visa extension last winter. Tougher conditions in Moscow Russia has made the work of foreign journalists much more difficult since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Foreign correspondents from countries designated by Russia as "unfriendly" are now only issued required press accreditations for three months, instead of one year. The dangers of reporting have also increased. A correspondent for the Wall Street Journal newspaper, Evan Gershkovich, was arrested by the FSB during a reporting trip in March 2023 on allegations of espionage. He was held in jail for more than a year, convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison before being freed in a major prison exchange deal on August 1. Shortly before the war, the Russian authorities had already closed German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle's bureau in Moscow. The Russian government justified the closure as a response to an earlier decision by German authorities to deny a broadcasting license to Russian state broadcaster RT's German-language channel. Police are investigating a drive-by shooting in Moses Lake over the weekend, and are asking for the communitys help. Luckily, nobody was injured, but no suspects have been caught. According to the Moses Lake Police Department, the shooting happened on Basin Street in Moses Lake on Saturday, Nov. 23, at around 7:30 p.m. Police say witnesses saw two individuals getting into a white or grey sedan with a loud exhaust after the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, police are asking residents in nearby neighborhoods to check for any surveillance footage from that time to aid in the investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Guerrero at 509-764-3887, referencing case number 24ML17518. A mother called police on her own child for threatening to shoot students at a local school. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As reported on News Center 7 at 11, investigators said a student at Kettering Fairmont High School had a list of student names that they appeared to have problems with. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation started when a parent came forward after they found the video on their childs phone indicating they wanted to shoot students, according to the district. The district notified families in a letter posted to social media. On Monday, Kettering police and the districts superintendent met with the students on the list and their families. The student who made the threat is being held under mental health evaluation Police said they have been in contact with the prosecutors office about any potential charges. We will continue to follow this story. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) A 20-year-old mother and her boyfriend are charged in Jefferson County in connection to the death of the mothers 4-year-old boy. According to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, deputies arrived at Childrens of Alabama on Aug. 8 to investigate the death of a 4-year-old boy. Detectives presented case information to the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office on Friday and received arrest warrants for the suspects. Suspect in Five Points South mass shooting charged in connection to second mass shooting from the summer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kayla Nash, the victims mother, is charged with felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Nash is in custody at the Jefferson County Jail under no bond. Nashs boyfriend, 20-year-old Jakobi Collins-Rogers, is facing a felony murder charge and two counts of aggravated child abuse. He is also being held under no bond at the Jefferson County Jail. Those with information on the case are urged to call the JCSO at 205-325-1450 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Angelina Jolie glides through the final days of Maria Callas' short life in Pablo Larrains Maria, a dramatic, evocative elegy to the famed soprano. Its an affair thats at turns melancholy, biting and grandly theatrical, an aria for a once in a generation star. Reality is of little consequence on the stage and in Maria. Its all about the raw feeling, which serves the movie well, more dream than history lesson about La Callas. Early on, she pops some Mandrax and tells her devoted butler Ferruccio (a simply wonderful Pierfrancesco Favino) that a television crew is on the way. Are they real, he wonders. As of this morning, what is real and what is not real is my business, she says calmly and definitively, making a feast out of Steven Knights sharp script. Its one of many great lines and moments for Jolie, whose intensity and resolve belie her fragile appearance. And its a signal to the audience as well: Dont fret about dull facts or that Jolie doesnt really resemble Callas all that much. This is a biopic as opera an emotional journey fitting of the great diva, full of flair, beauty, betrayal, revelations and sorrow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Maria, we are the companion to a protagonist with an ever-loosening grip on reality, walking with her through Paris, and her life, for one week in September 1977. The images from cinematographer Ed Lachman, playfully shifting in form and style, take us on a scattershot journey through her triumphs on stage, her scandalous romance with Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer) and her traumatic youth. In the present, at age 53, she sleeps till midday, drinks the minimal calories she ingests, goes to restaurants where the waiters know her name looking for adulation and has visions of performances staged just for her all around the city. Callas is always immaculately dressed and assured, whether reflecting to the imagined news crew (led by Kodi Smit-McPhee) or attempting to find her voice again. Her instrument had famously diminished, leaving her wondering whats left to live for. The only consistent praise she gets is from her obedient housemaid Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher). Its no secret that the destination is death. And you suspect that she knows quite well that everything will be a big dimmer when her spotlight is turned off. Larrain has made a lasting mark on cinema with his unofficial trilogy about these famous women with tragic narratives. With Jackie,Spencer and now Maria, his films are also an unintentional antidote to Ryan Murphys stranglehold of the grand dames of recent history, which are all style and scandal and little substance. And yet Larrain's films are not for everyone. If Jackie and Spencer did not speak to you, did not show those women as you hoped they would, Maria will not turn you into a believer. Three movies in, it seems that audiences are either very on board with his vision or not. There is little room for an in between. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And yet it's hard to deny that his films are incredible showcases for actors. Jolie as a movie star is somehow both omnipresent and elusive, and lately she chooses to step in front of the camera all too infrequently. Sometimes you wish she could just follow in Nicole Kidmans footsteps, for whom quantity does not seem to ever jeopardize quality, and she seems to be having fun doing it all, all the time. Perhaps its because performances like Jolies in Maria look so all-consuming. In the film, Maria scolds a fan for daring to question that she faked sickness to miss a performance. He doesnt understand the total commitment of body and soul required to make it look effortless, which is probably true. Jolie is not so dramatic, at least publicly, about what it takes to create art. But here the lines blur: Character and actor blend so seamlessly, so ferociously, that you leave not just with heightened empathy for La Callas but Jolie as well. In one of the films few regrettable scenes, shes put face to face with John F. Kennedy (no fault of Caspar Phillipson), whose wife has caught the greedy eye of Onassis. As a testament to the power of Jolie and the script, you almost forgive yet another JFK impersonation for giving her one of the great brushoffs to utter, romantic and withering all at once. Is it all a little much? Of course, but thats kind of the point of Maria. Maria, a Netflix release in select theaters now and streaming Dec. 11, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for a sexual reference, some language. Running time: 122 minutes. Three stars out of four. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) A woman was arrested for stealing packages in Northwest D.C., police announced Tuesday. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was called to the 1600 block of Fuller Street NW on Nov. 25 after receiving a report of a woman stealing packages from the entrance of an apartment building. A short time later, MPD found 62-year-old Maricia Tyson with the packages in a shopping cart. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was arrested and charged with Theft Two. Will porch pirates strike in the DMV during the busy holiday season? As the holiday season approaches, MPD sent a reminder that all police districts have Amazon lockers for residents to have their Amazon packages safely delivered to. For those ordering from different businesses, police advise you to think about a safe place to have them delivered to decrease the chances of your packages being stolen. MPD issued the following tips: Track deliveries online and confirm delivery has occurred. If you know a family member or neighbor will be home, ask them to pick up the packages as soon as they are delivered. Switch the delivery location to work where it can be received by someone and not left on the porch. See if the post office or store the product is being shipped from can hold the package for pick up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To report a stolen package, call 911 or file an online police report 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 DC News Now | Washington, DC. Its such a clever little euphemism, assisted dying. Makes the whole thing sound so kind and helpful, doesnt it? Much nicer and less bleak than assisted suicide. Or, for that matter, exciting and perfectly legal opportunity to bump off the silly old bat, save on her expensive care home fees and collect your inheritance early. Yes, assisted dying is certainly a far more palatable term than either of those alternatives. Unfortunately, however, its also a lot less honest. Which is a serious problem. Because, as a result of campaigners, commentators and MPs constantly using this soft, gentle euphemism, an alarmingly large number of people dont know what it really means. Many assume that it means palliative care, for example, or the right to refuse life-prolonging treatment (a right that patients already have). Polling makes this problem all too horribly clear. On Sunday, a national newspaper devoted its front page to a poll which supposedly showed that almost two thirds of the British public want MPs to legalise assisted dying, when the issue comes to a Commons vote on Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet a subsequent poll, published on Tuesday, presented a very different picture. Once it was explained to respondents what assisted dying entails, support for it plummeted to a mere 11 per cent. But if so many people dont actually know what assisted dying entails, how can it be said that the public wants it legalised? Supporters of assisted dying, however, persist in making this dubious claim nonetheless. Still, we shouldnt be surprised. Because much of their campaigning has been at best naive and at worst, grossly misleading. Take the revolting advert that has been plastered across the London Underground by Dignity in Dying, a lobby group that demands legalisation. It shows a healthy looking blonde woman dancing joyfully round her kitchen as if assisted suicide were some lovely treat she just cant wait to try. Then theres the blithe insistence by campaigners that the proposed new law does not represent a slippery slope, because assisted dying would solely be for patients who are terminally ill, and have been told by two doctors that theyve got less than six months to live. This claim ignores two crucial points. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First, studies have shown that, when it comes to remaining life expectancy, doctors predictions are very far from infallible. And second, legalising assisted dying has indeed proven to be a slippery slope in other countries. Take the Netherlands, where a physically healthy 29-year-old woman was granted an assisted suicide merely because she was depressed. And in the US state of Oregon, assisted suicides have been granted to people with anorexia, arthritis and even a hernia. All of which shows why MPs shouldnt fool themselves into thinking that, if they vote in favour of assisted dying, theyre just giving the public what it wants, or are simply being compassionate. Because if, once this bill becomes law, stories emerge of vulnerable elderly or disabled people being successfully pressured into suicide, these MPs will get the blame. Amid public horror and fury, theyll be told that theyve got blood on their hands. Are MPs really willing to take that risk? Then again, perhaps this whole, hideous debate is academic. After all, assisted dying would be the responsibility of the NHS. And we all know what the NHS is like. The waiting list will be so long, youll already have died by then anyway. 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. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has given the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District a low-interest loan of $640 million, which will cover the cost for the districts second phase of a project. This is a big win for our customers and St. Louis, Bret Berthold, executive director of MSD Project Clear, said. While immediate cost savings wont be felt today, securing the SRF loan through the Department of Natural Resources will save MSD customers more than $400 million in interest payments over the next three decades. The Solids Management Upgrade Project is the largest project weve ever undertaken, and it will significantly improve air quality, reduce emissions, and support a healthier future for our region. Money will be used for the second phase of MSDs project of improving air and water quality. This is completed through several hearth incinerators at Lemay and Bissell Point wastewater treatment facilities, fluidized bed incinerators that allow new air-emission requirements to be met, as well as a new sludge dewatering process and solid processing buildings at both facilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several inches of snow expected in the St. Louis region Saturday The Clean Water State Revolving Fund provided the money for the loan, and it is expected to save ratepayers over $400 million over the course of the 30-year term. Its purpose is to help facilitate these upgrades within the wastewater system, whether it be within the wastewater facility treatment centers, sewer collection extensions, or overflow corrections, along with security, efficiency, and conservation measures, according to a release. We are proud to provide MSD this record level of assistance for a massive wastewater project that will have such a positive impact for many years to come, Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Dru Buntin said. We have assistance programs for communities of all sizes so they can improve their water infrastructure. Our staff are available to assist communities with their funding application, and we can tailor a funding package to meet the individual communitys needs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace had one serious question for her Deadline: White House panelists on Tuesday: Are Donald Trump and his administration trying to populate the cabinet with men accused of sexual misconduct? The question, directed at NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, was spurred by Wallaces deep-dive recap of the several cabinet picks who have a sordid history of allegations, settlements, NDAs and, in the case of former Attorney General pick Matt Gaetz (now of Cameo fame, Wallace quipped), a scuttled House Ethics Committee investigation. Also among them: sexual assault allegations against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth, and a lawsuit citing Linda McMahon as a defendant that cites WWE events held under her and Vince McMahons purview that fostered the sexual abuse of teenagers in attendance by high-ranking employees. When youre looking at the individuals who are being tapped for these roles here, youre seeing individuals that fit that profile, Hillyard said of the pattern of misconduct allegations among the president-elects picks. And I think that it is the ultimate American question in 2024: Just how much are Americans willing to ignore to justify the means to which people believe that these individuals are conveyor belts for the policies and the types of governance that they want. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And if people view RFK and the stories and the allegations that have been levied against him, and they acknowledge that that was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s past and that that is who the man is, but if at the same time they also believe that hes going to go in there and fundamentally change the FDA and the CDC which one is more important to you? he continued. I think Americans by and large, by selecting Donald Trump and by extension people like RFK Jr. or a Pete Hegseth or Matt Gaetz, I think that they made that decision clear this month. Watch the full Deadline: White House segment below: Thats when Wallace chimed in to play devils advocate, as she called it We can debate who is the devils advocate here. Why abandon the first-time brand of the best people and hire, by any objective analysis, some of the worst people? Wallace asked of Trumps decisions since beating Kamala Harris for the presidency earlier this month. Its a good question. I think when you look at the justification of what Pete Hegseth can bring to the table, you have somebody here who fits, again, a profile for Donald Trump who plays that role of somebody who is good on TV, who can effectuate that idea of what masculinity and what strength in a military general should look like, Hillyard explained. Just go around though, I think you see him turning to people like Mehmet Oz, people who have a pedigree in their TV history here, as a means that I think overcomes perhaps what may be their resume deficits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The journalist also nodded to Trumps efforts to abandon the protocol FBI background checks on his cabinet officials, arguing that to a great extent, I think its clearly less of a priority than the other bonafides and the other presentation and the other qualities that Donald Trump believes these individuals bring to his administration. The post MSNBC Questions Why Trump Is Purposely Populating the Cabinet With Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct | Video appeared first on TheWrap. Right-wing lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene is baselessly accusing Democrats of stealing a House race as Republicans cling onto a slim majority next Congress. Incumbent John Duarte, a Republican, is facing off against Democratic challenger Adam Gray in northern California. As election workers count the ballots, Gray has pulled into a slight lead 22 days on. Now, Greene has baselessly claimed Grays lead is due to stealing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congressman John Duarte was winning but after 22 days of counting ballots he is now losing by 105 votes, Greene wrote on X Wednesday. Democrats are stealing another House seat! Elections nationwide should be one day, paper ballots, and require proof of citizenship with ID!! Merced Country Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey told The Independent there is no evidence of election fraud in this race. Everything we do is transparent, we've had observers observing this process from even before Election Day, Levey said. We've had observers every day from both Democratic campaigns and Democratic committees as well as Republican campaigns and Republican committees. I think there's, you know, maybe some misunderstanding on her part about how California processes ballots, how we ensure that the vote count is accurate and is secure, he added. Marjorie Taylor Greene has baselessly claimed Democrats are stealing an election in Northern California after the GOP candidate fell behind in the latest vote count (Getty Images) As of Tuesday evening, Gray has just 182 votes over Duarte. There are around 1,500 ballots that are still challenged, mostly because of the voters signatures, according to the Merced Country Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pair went head-to-head in 2022, and Gray lost by 564 votes, making it the second-closest vote in the nation during that midterm election. There are just three Congressional races that have yet to be called, including Duartes. In Californias 45th Congressional District, Democrat Derek Tran appears to be in the lead over Republican Representative Michelle Steel. Then, in Iowa, GOP Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks is ahead of Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan. These races have not been called by the Associated Press as of Wednesday afternoon. But, if current trends hold, Republicans could hold a razor-thin majority in the House. In this scenario, they would have started with 220, but Representative Matt Gaetz resigned from his seat after President-elect Donald Trump named him the nominee for attorney general. The former Florida lawmaker also said he would not return to Congress after removing himself from consideration for attorney general. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This sent their numbers down to 219. Representative Elise Stefanik will also resign after Trump nominated her for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The same goes for Representative Mike Waltz, who will become the national security adviser. Stefanik will require Senate confirmation, while Waltz will not. Depending on the timing of their resignations, Republicans could fall as low as 217 against 215 Democrats. That means the GOP will have little room for error in the first votes of the next Congress. However, these vacancies wont be permanent, as states will hold special elections next year to fill their seats. Once upon a time Germanys Angela Merkel was feted as the chancellor of the free world. Now a growing chorus of critics at home and abroad is chastising the former leader for everything from a faltering economy to the rise of the far-right party Alternative for Germany. Angela Who?, the Economist recently asked , declaring: Her record looks increasingly terrible. Does it? Or is Merkel being turned into a scapegoat for problems that are afflicting Western democracies more generally? In her absorbing memoir, Freedom, Merkel seeks to set the record straight. Written with the assistance of her longtime aide Beate Baumann, Merkels book chronicles her improbable journey from living in communist East Germany to becoming a four-term chancellor of a reunified Germany. As chancellor, she encountered a welter of crises, ranging from the eurozone debt crisis to President Trumps threats in his first term to exit NATO. Perhaps the surprising thing isnt that she failed to accomplish more. Its that she accomplished as much as she did. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of her steely tenacity and reserve can be ascribed to her unusual childhood. Merkel, who was born Angela Kasner on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg, traveled a few months later with her mother, Herlind, to Soviet-occupied East Germany. There they met up with her father, Horst, a Lutheran minister who had gallantly answered the churchs summons to serve its remaining parishioners in the officially atheistic East. Read more: How Haruki Murakami and other writers are grappling with our surreal post-pandemic reality Merkel, who grew up in a rural parsonage called Waldhof, quickly learned to function in a kind of twilight zone of intentions and thoughts. Merkels parents explained that the ubiquity of the Stasi, or state security, meant that it was prudent to mask her true thoughts and feelings when talking on the telephone or to fellow pupils. We learned, she writes, very early on to be careful. In 1968, when Soviet troops marched into Czechoslovakia to crush the freedoms inaugurated by the Prague Spring, Merkel was despondent: I can still feel the blow to the stomach that the news dealt me. At fourteen I learned that there are few things worse in life than shattered hope. For all her caution, Merkel could occasionally stumble. In 1973, while attending an obligatory lecture on Marxism-Leninism as part of her coursework for a physics degree, she found herself observed and denounced (for ignoring the tedious talk and doing outside homework) by an informant sitting three rows above her. Get out of here! the incensed lecturer below shouted. As her classmates silently watched, a trembling Merkel slowly walked down the stairs of the room and left. I will never forget that walk, Merkel recalls. It was humiliating pure victimization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: The history of old age in America is all about reinvention. Too bad our political culture can't keep up With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Merkel traded her position as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin to become national spokeswoman of a citizens initiative called Democratic Awakening. After it merged with the conservative Christian Democratic Party, her rise was meteoric much to the chagrin, if not fury, of many of her male colleagues in the traditionally patriarchal party. Some, it seems, had confused her self-effacing personality with a lack of ambition. Thanks to the patronage of chancellor Helmut Kohl, she was appointed minister for women and youth in 1991. She went on to win election as party general secretary in 1998, the first female leader of the Christian Democrats. A year later she created a furor by publishing an op-ed in the countrys most prominent newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, decrying Kohls acceptance of millions of Deutschmarks in illegal party donations. With Kohl sidelined, she became chancellor in 2005. Read more: Collected letters of Oliver Sacks offer a glimpse into the neurologist's mind Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From the outset, she sparred with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who had been stationed in Dresden as a KGB agent and was fluent in German. She first encountered him in June 2000, when he visited Berlin, but didnt really interact with him until 2006 in the Siberian city of Tomsk, where they discussed economic ties. After the meetings concluded, Putin took her to the airport and pointed to ramshackle wooden houses along the way, stating that the people living there had little money and could be as easily misled as the Ukrainians who, he claimed, had been bought by the American government during the Orange Revolution in 2004. I will never allow anything like this to happen in Russia, a paranoid Putin vowed. Merkel was not blind to Putins authoritarian proclivities. Given the widespread popularity in Germany of the detente with the East that began in the late 1960s, she had little choice but to continue it. Her critics who expected otherwise are sorely mistaken: The notion that she could have waved a magic wand and dispelled overnight the geopolitical threat Russia posed to Europe is a pip edream. Merkel herself notes that the conviction that Ukraine and Georgia could have been safely integrated into NATO in the mid-2000s is illusory. Even today, Berlin, for historical and strategic reasons, remains wary of provoking Moscow. If Merkel has received brickbats for her supposedly emollient approach to Russia, she also has been drubbed for her welcome of more than a million refugees from the Middle East in 2015 with the statement Wir schaffen das we will get it done. Had Merkel refused to pursue a liberal asylum policy, however, Germany would have been denounced internationally for shirking its obligation since the Holocaust to provide succor to the beleaguered. Its also the case that Germany is experiencing demographic decline and that the refugees have mostly been successfully integrated. That the Alternative Party for Germany has profited politically from attacking immigration cannot be laid solely at Merkels doorstep. The current Social Democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz, also is incurring a good deal of hostility on the immigration front. The real blunder that Merkel committed was to champion the abolition of nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. According to Merkel, We can achieve climate targets without nuclear power, and achieve technological success while giving other countries the courage to follow our example. Not so. In 2023 Germanys cabinet approved temporarily reactivating coal-fired plants to ensure sufficient energy for the winter months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More acute are Merkels assessments of her foreign counterparts. She notes, for example, that when she first met Trump at the White House in March 2017, he queried her extensively about Putin. In the years that followed, she disdainfully writes, I received the distinct impression he was captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits. Merkel never was. As the only modern German chancellor to depart office voluntarily, she exemplifies restraint and sobriety, observing in her epilogue that true freedom is not directed only toward ones own advantage; it has inhibitions and scruples. At a moment when authoritarianism is on the rise, her memoir could not be timelier. Jacob Heilbrunn is the editor of the National Interest and the author of "America Last: The Rights Century-Long Romance With Foreign Dictators." If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Tiesha Foreman said every trip to the doctor has become difficult because she never knows if her health insurance will be there when she goes to settle up. Its stressful and scary and its embarrassing because you have them looking back at you like, Why? Why are you giving us this card saying that youre covered and youre not again? Foreman told Action News Jax investigators. The Georgia mother said for months now, when she goes to pay her health insurance premium, it gets returned. The family had to pay for an MRI out of pocket and even thought an emergency surgery might not be covered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One minute I have insurance, we go to a doctor. And then a few weeks later, Im getting my premium back, and we dont have insurance, Foreman said. Read: DNA Dilemma: How to protect your data if 23andMe shuts down In January, Foreman got a tax form in the mail that amounted to a $1,700 tax bill for overpayment of federal health insurance subsidies. It was for an extra health insurance policy Foreman said she never knew about. She said an insurance broker she never met signed her up for a policy she never asked for. For three months, I kept trying to call on the phone, trying to talk to the marketplace to get them to understand I wasnt doing these applications. I didnt know who this agent was, Foreman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Ohio family discovered they had a problem when they went to the pharmacy to pick up insulin for Randy Delaneys diabetes. Read: Scammed by a scan: How to avoid getting ripped off by a QR code You can imagine my shock when they told us it was $1,096, his wife Lorie said. After months of frustrating calls, the Delaneys found their health plan had also been switched multiple times without their consent. They now worry theyll be on the hook for a giant tax bill in January. A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that some families who rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for health insurance are victims of a multimillion-dollar health care fraud scheme. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I believe this is the largest health insurance fraud case ever, Atlanta Attorney Jason Doss, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of families across the country, said. He said rogue insurance agents are exploiting a provision added during the COVID-19 pandemic that allows low-income Americans to switch coverage on the marketplace at any time, not just open enrollment. Read: Its not a solution forever: Critics question millions spent on beach renourishment The problem is, what if the bad guy owns the enrollment platform? They have the keys to the castle, Doss said. Insurance agents get paid a monthly commission of about $20 per ACA policy. If they switch a customers policy, they make money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Georgia insurance agent Callie Navrides said she has repeatedly had customers of hers switched by other agents without the customers knowledge or approval. All they need is a first name, last name, date of birth, and state, Navrides said. Navrides estimates that at one point, she had lost 40% of her clients to rogue agents. Read: Parents are crying out for change after their children with disabilities were restrained at St. Johns County Schools Each switch means potential gaps in coverage. They think theyre covered until they go to the pharmacy to go get medicine. And then the pharmacist tells them your health insurance was canceled, Navrides said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit alleges that one of the ways the agents are getting information is through social media ads promising cash cards containing free money. Foremans husband clicked on one of those ads and ended up talking to someone at a company called TrueCoverage who later switched the familys health plan. They just asked him his name and where he lived. He had no idea that this was happening, Foreman said. Read: Risky route: St. Johns County parents asking for help with dangerous bus stop The federal governments own numbers show the massive scale of this. Nearly 275,000 people in the first eight months of the year have filed complaints saying they were either changed from or enrolled in plans without their consent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its just like somebody is in there just messing with your life every day, Lorie Delaney said. The system was designed to give private companies access to the federal marketplace database. But citing anomalous activity the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services blocked two companies, Benefit Align and TrueCoverage, from the marketplace in August. Read: Holy Ghosted: Local pastor with dark past as a sex offender accused of taking money from families A whistleblower from TrueCoverage who once worked as an insurance agent there agreed to speak to us if we hid his identity. I dont like the word guilt, but I felt ashamed, and I felt embarrassed, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an affidavit as part of the lawsuit, a different whistleblower provided an internal TrueCoverage email from the senior director of quality assurance, directing agents to be vague about cash cards during phone calls. The email said they cannot give specifics about cash despite what ads are promoting. The top performers were people that were lying bluntly, and they were telling people that they were going to get that cash, the whistleblower continued. Read: Gold standard: Understanding the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens accreditation, major expansion plans But there is no free money. The federal subsidy for insurance actually goes to the insurance company, not the consumer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even worse, if your income doesnt qualify for those health plans, you will have to pay the subsidies back at tax time. What you get at the end of the year is a penalty from the IRS, Navrides said. CMS has taken steps in recent months to address the problems. In a statement, CMS tells Action News Jax, From June 2024 through October 2024, CMS suspended 850 agents and brokers Marketplace agreements for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] CMS said new security steps include blocking agents and brokers from making changes unless they are already associated with the consumers account and requiring new agents to have a three-way call with the marketplace and the consumer before allowing them to switch a plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just within the past two weeks, Foreman finally received corrected tax forms that she can use to get reimbursed for that tax penalty she had paid. Im grateful that this is all going to be able to resolve that issue. But theres many more who this is not happening for, Foreman said. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] In a statement, TrueCoverage told Gray: While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we strongly believe that the allegations are baseless and without merit. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, TrueCoverage and the other companies named in the suit even claim that the consumers who had gaps in their coverage suffered no tangible loss. Attorneys representing TrueCoverage wrote in the filing that these injuries, essentially having no health insurance, are neither concrete nor tied to any financial metric. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services full statement: CMS continues to exercise its full statutory and regulatory authority to protect the integrity of the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM), which include FFM platform and State-based Marketplaces that operate on the federal platform. CMS continues to protect consumers from unauthorized changes to their FFM enrollments. This includes reviewing and addressing consumer complaints as quickly as possible, updating Marketplace systems to prevent unauthorized changes, including unauthorized cancellations, with as little disruption to consumer access to Marketplace enrollment as possible, arming consumers with resources and information to help them avoid and report unauthorized plan changes by agents and brokers, and suspending and terminating the Marketplace agreements of agents and brokers who have engaged in fraud or abusive conduct. Beginning July 19, 2024, CMS began blocking agents and brokers from making changes to a consumers FFM enrollment, unless the agent or broker is already associated with the consumers enrollment. If a consumer would like to work with an agent or broker not already associated with their profile, the consumer must conduct a three-way call with the Marketplace Call Center and the new agent or broker. The consumer can also submit the change to their enrollment directly through the Marketplace Call Center, HealthCare.gov, or an approved Classic Direct Enrollment or Enhanced Direct Enrollment partner website with a consumer pathway. This same logic prevents agents and brokers from canceling a consumers enrollment if they are not already associated with the enrollment, unless the consumer conducts a three-way call with the Marketplace Call Center and the agent or broker. The agency continues to conduct robust oversight and monitoring of agents and brokers on the FFM and is evaluating additional technological solutions to preserve access to high-quality, person-centered, and affordable health care coverage a critical priority for CMS and the Biden-Harris Administration. In addition to these actions, CMS has proposed additional measures to prevent unauthorized Marketplace activity among agents and brokers in the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2026 Proposed Rule. This includes strengthening review and enforcement actions, expanding authority to suspend agents and brokers, and updates to consumer consent forms. Protecting the millions of people served by CMS programs remains the agencys top priority. CMS continues to leverage a broad array of resources to warn FFM consumers about potentially fraudulent agent or broker activity and misleading marketing websites. Consumers who believe they may have been the victim of unauthorized FFM agent or broker activity should call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325) to resolve any coverage issues promptly. From June 2024 through October 2024, CMS suspended 850 agents and brokers Marketplace agreements for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches. Agents and brokers who are suspended are prohibited from participating in Marketplace enrollment, including receiving related commissions. For additional information about CMS actions to prevent unauthorized agent and broker Marketplace activity, see the statement we issued Oct. 17, 2024. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he will issue executive orders imposing tariffs on imported goods from China, Mexico and Canada. Incoming border czar Tom Homan traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. NewsNation political contributor Mick Mulvaney joins The Hill to discuss the latest. Mulvaney says Trump will use tariffs as a way to solve the immigration problem. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) In the last two months, the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office has conducted two sting operations directed at arresting criminal street gang members and targeting their drug operations. In both cases, the Sheriffs Office worked with multiple federal, state and local agencies. One agency not involved in the operations was the Columbus Police Department. Representatives from multiple law enforcement agencies have stood behind Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman during the announcement of both stings. With Muscogee County taxpayer dollars primarily funding both agencies, the absence of CPD has been noticeable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Countryman was first elected four years ago, he has beefed up his investigative unit and patrol. The office has become a major player in criminal investigations, a responsibility that primarily fell on the police department for years. Operation Sweet Silence in September and Operation Strictly Business this month were multi-agency efforts involving the FBI, GBI and local sheriffs from multiple counties. Both started in the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs office announces arrests made, drugs seized in Operation Strictly Business A lot of this came when CPD was short-staffed and suffering significant morale issues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the gang problem increased the city and the county both agencies criminal street gang investigators have been making gang cases. Heres what Sheriff Countryman said about the Strictly Business sting as it pertains to the police department and Chief Stoney Mathis. On this particular case, we knew all the players we had deconflicted this case all the way to the federal level at the state level and at the local level, the Sheriff said. Countryman said the relationship between the Columbus Police Department and sheriffs office is a healthy one. The police department and I we are working on something. I will let the chief and I probably get together and bring that out on January that were going to be doing together as it relates to crime suppression. And just remind you that every case that they where the sheriffs office was not going to be involved in. But were there for them as support perimeter of whatever it is that they need. We have a great working relationship. The chief and I, we go eat lunch every month. We talk about things. We do more within an hour at a lunch table than we could do any other time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson who is the citys public safety director would like for the police department to be looped in during these high-profile arrests in the city. Oh, and lets be clear, the operation itself thrilled with the fact that were able to our folks are able to get more people off the streets like that and cut down on the number of gang members are walking around free, Henderson said. Weve seen a lot of improvement in our crime numbers going down and we need to make sure that those continue on the state the same trajectory of perspective. I worry about the safety of both the men and women of the sheriffs department and the men and women in our police department. And to me, the smoothest way and the best way to ensure the safety is for there be some cooperation, some collaboration. They dont have to work the special operation. But I would think that the police department would at least get a heads up before it actually went into operation. In May of this year, a GBI gang task force was funded by the Georgia General Assembly and began operations in July. Operation Strictly Business was the task forces first work in Columbus. The unit is far from complete, but as Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Dockins gears up over the next year, its clear they will be working with local law enforcement to tackle the gang problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kemp Georgia budget includes money for gang task force in Columbus; One former lawmaker pushed hard for it Dockins was hired back in July to ramp up the operation. As they are hiring nine new agents to work gang cases in West Georgia, Countryman pulled them into the Strictly Business Sting. Late Georgia Rep. Richard Smith pushed for the $5 million state investment to help fight the growing gang problem. This is a model for what were going for, Dockins said. When we first got here, when I first got here in July, I sat down with all the agency heads, kind of told them, you know, my thoughts and goals and it aligned with theirs as well. So, with the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office had already begun an investigation, and it was perfect timing for us to get my agents on board and work hand in hand with them on this case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Criminal street gang task force unit to begin operations in Columbus Countryman said the gang task force was a welcome addition to the operation. It was a pleasure for us to be able to work with the with the new GBI gang unit on this, Countryman said. And so when we when we start looking at the gang side of it, we want it to give the GBI involved in it, as you know, that this is something that the late Representative Richard Smith want and this is something that I really want it to, you know, do in his honor and honor his memory, because this is something that he wanted. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL. Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested retired Army Lt. Col Alexander Vindman committed treason and will pay after the former Trump impeachment witness accused the tech billionaire and close Trump ally of being unwittingly used by Russia. Vindman is on the payroll of Ukranian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, Musk wrote on his social media platform X, responding to comments Vindman made in an interview about Musks reported conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Musk added that Vindman, who played a central role in the first impeachment of then-President Trump, will pay the appropriate penalty. In a response on X, Vindman said Musks comments were false and completely unfounded accusations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He maintained he has never taken money from Ukranian oligarchs, while pointing out he runs a nonprofit to aid in Ukraines defense against Russia. I served in the military for nearly 22 years and my loyalty is to supporting the U.S. Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Thats why I reported presidential corruption when I witnessed an effort to steal an election, he wrote. You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. Im not intimidated, he added. Musks remarks vowing a penalty come as Trump has drawn scrutiny over his repeated pledges to take revenge on his perceived enemies once back in the White House. The former presidents fixation on retribution has sparked concern among critics, some of whom worry a second Trump term will lack some of the guardrails that existed in his first four years in the Oval Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tech billionaire went after Vindman, who worked as a Ukraine expert on the National Security Council and later testified in Trumps 2019 impeachment hearings, after Vindman pointedly criticized Musk in an MSNBC interview circulated online. Clearly Putin has a type. He likes narcissists and egomaniacs that he knows as a case officer can easily pander to manipulate, to do his dirty work, Vindman said in the late October interview circulated online by X users this week. Russia has been using different levers whether thats corruption networks, in this case, its influencers like Donald Trump, like Elon Musk, to kind of sow discord. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. Putin and Musk reportedly had various conversations on personal matters, business and geopolitical tensions, while sometimes involving other high-ranking Russian officials, including Putins first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko. Vindman said Musks interactions with Putin are particularly troubling since the tech entrepreneur has access to state secrets and Top Secret security clearance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its possible that some of that is seeping through, Vindman said, adding, Hes [Putin] been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, thats encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump. Musks aerospace company, SpaceX, holds contracts with the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community worth billions of dollars, while his electric vehicle company Tesla receives federal subsidies. The tech entrepreneur has reportedly claimed he holds a U.S. security clearance as part of these federal agreements. Vindman has remained a vocal critic of Trump, stating earlier this year Trump has every intention to undo American democracy if reelected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is not the first time Musk and Vindman have clashed on social media. The two got into a social media spat in 2022 when Vindman called Musk a purveyor of hate and division in response to the X platform owner labelling him both puppet & puppeteer. Vindmans twin brother, Eugene Vindman, a retired Army officer, was elected to the U.S. House earlier this month to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.). Updated at 11:02 p.m. EDT Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Elon Musk called for eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, highlighting the renewed threat under President-elect Donald Trump to a regulatory agency that has long been a target of Republicans and business advocacy groups. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies, Musk wrote in a post on his social-media platform X early Wednesday. Musks criticism is notable because he, alongside technology entrepreneur and fellow businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, has been tapped by Trump to run a new effort, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash the federal bureaucracy and reduce government spending. And Musks move signals a new stage in a long-running Washington fight over the agencys powers and very existence. The CFPB the brainchild of progressive Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the wake of the financial crisis and given the job of overseeing parts of the financial industry that interact with consumers. The agency, though, has endured a rocky political tenure, facing multiple legal challenges since its onset. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his first term, Trump took steps to largely neutralize the agency, easing the CFPBs enforcement of banks. But under President Joe Biden and Director Rohit Chopra the agency has taken an aggressive regulatory approach to consumer finance, cracking down on home foreclosures and bank overdraft fees. Earlier this year, the agency also scored a win in the courts when the US Supreme Court upheld its funding system. Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for a second Trump term crafted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls for abolishing the agency, calling it highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable, and returning the consumer protection function of the CFPB to banking regulators and the Federal Trade Commission. Chopras own future as head of the CFPB is in jeopardy. Since a 2020 Supreme Court ruling making the role at-will, the incoming president will have the power to fire Chopra if he doesnt resign first. Removing him would be a victory for businesses that have sought to weaken independent federal regulators. Musk has already demonstrated his influence over the incoming administration, including sitting in on transition meetings and calls with foreign leaders. But it is unclear how much power his Department of Government Efficiency will wield in its efforts to scale back the federal government. Trump has said it 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres the latest on Trumps transition: Midnight-Hour Regs Ramaswamy is warning the Biden administration over last-minute efforts to finalize regulations or dole out funding before Trump returns to power, saying those actions will be scrutinized by incoming officials and potentially reversed. We are acutely aware of the reality that the outgoing Biden administration is pushing out $$ and proposing new regulations at a fast pace to get ahead of Jan 20, Ramaswamy said in a post on X Wednesday. All midnight-hour expenditures & new regulations will get special scrutiny and should be rescinded where appropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Administrations, including Trumps first, routinely seek to cement their imprint on policies in the final days of a term. One high-profile example in recent days is a proposed Biden administration rule that would require the US government to cover obesity drugs for millions of Americans. Biden is also seeking to strengthen Ukraine in its fight to repel Russias invasion during his final days in office. Hes allowing Kyiv to hit military targets deeper inside Russia, approved sending anti-personnel land mines and forgave nearly $5 billion in debt. On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are also sprinting to confirm the presidents judicial nominees before the chamber flips to Republican control in January. --With assistance from Meghashyam Mali. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with details on Ramaswamy post) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have a new target in their war to make the government more efficient daylight savings time. The worlds richest person, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, took to X to push for the measure. All I want for my birthday is the abolishment of Daylight Savings Time, James Stephenson wrote on X on Wednesday. Elon Musk has bene tasked with finding government efficiences for Donald Trump (Getty Images) Musk responded, saying, Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its inefficient & easy to change, Ramaswamy responded to Musk. Florida Senator Rick Scott, whom Musk backed in a failed bid for Senate Republican leader, added: Daylight Saving Time is old, terrible and needs to go. Pass my Sunshine Protection Act to lock the clock & give everybody more sunshine! Yes! a seemingly enthused Musk wrote. It remains unclear if the incoming Trump administration would support a change to abolish daylight savings time, but it would require congressional approval as well as by the president. Daylight saving time goes from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November when Americans change their clocks forward and back one hour to have more daylight hours during spring and summer. Vivek Ramaswamy is the other half of the DOGE duo (REUTERS) Opinion on the matter is mixed, with 44 percent saying in a 2022 Monmouth University poll that they wanted permanent daylight savings time with later sunrises and sunsets. Only 13 percent said they wanted standard time to be permanent and 35 percent said they wanted to keep the clock changes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both local and federal lawmakers have argued for years to make daylight savings time permanent, but no single proposal has made it through both the House and the Senate. In 2022, the Senate passed legislation that was set to make daylight savings time permanent last year but it didnt go through the House. Bipartisan legislation introduced this year isnt expected to be successful, Forbes noted. Those in favor of permanent daylight savings time say that most Americans want more light in the hours after work and it may decrease energy use during the evenings. However, according to the American Medical Association, moving the clocks forward in March is connected to a rise in heart issues, mood disorders, and car crashes. In addition, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has said that permanent standard time is a better match for the bodys internal clock. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, in at least 30 states so far this year, lawmakers have considered legislation connected to daylight savings time, the National Conference of State Legislatures has found. States cannot make daylight savings time permanent under current federal law, but 19 states have passed legislation that would do so if the federal legislation was changed. Some of the states have also taken into account what the states around them would do. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states with permanent standard time the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands have made the same change. While other states have indicated that they would like to do the same, such as Georgia, Idaho, and Tennessee, they have said that neighboring states would have to join them, Forbes noted. By Shoon Naing and Devjyot Ghoshal (Reuters) -Just days after the United Nations accused his military of brutally driving what eventually became 1 million Rohingya out of the country, Myanmar's then-army chief Min Aung Hlaing declared his position on the minority Muslim community. "They are not the natives," he told the U.S. ambassador, according to an account of the October 2017 meeting posted on his Facebook page at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he would seek an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing - now the leader of Myanmar's ruling junta that in 2021 overthrew an elected government - for crimes against humanity over the alleged persecution of the Rohingya. Myanmar's junta said in response that the country was not a member of the ICC and did not recognise its statements. A spokesperson for Myanmar's ruling junta did not answer calls from Reuters immediately after the announcement. Reuters has requested comment from the military government by email. The prosecutor's application, which will be ruled on by a panel of three judges, comes as the veteran general finds himself as his weakest position since toppling a civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw, justified the coup on the grounds that a 2020 general election won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was riddled with widespread fraud, an accusation the NLD denied. Suu Kyi is currently in prison, serving a 27-year sentence for various alleged offences that her lawyers say she did not commit. The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing for his role in the coup and the Rohingya crackdown, including bans on travels and financial transactions and asset freezes. The dawn putsch in February 2021 also triggered a wave of pro-democracy protests that the well-armed security forces crushed with trademark brutality, pushing legions of young men and women into a grassroots armed resistance against the junta. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The anti-junta forces have steadily expanded and increasingly collaborated with established ethnic armies that have long battled the Myanmar military to wrest large tracts of territory away from the junta. In particular, a coordinated offensive launched last year by an alliance led by three powerful rebel groups called "Operation 1027" has hammered the Tatmadaw near the Chinese border and captured the northeastern town of Lashio, marking the first seizure of a regional military command in Myanmar's history. Yet, even before Lashio fell to anti-junta groups, Min Aung Hlaing was under unprecedented pressure for a series of battlefield losses, including criticism from hardline pro-military Buddhist monks, journalists and bloggers. But he remains defiant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Our people have been fighting against external invaders and various internal insurgents by joining hands with Tatmadaw," Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in August. "All our people have to support and contribute to Myanmar Tatmadaw with sacrifice of life, blood, and sweat." MAN OF FEW WORDS Min Aung Hlaing studied law at Myanmar's Yangon University in the 1970s, but steered clear of the political activism and anti-military protests that were widespread at the time to instead focus on winning a seat at the Defence Services Academy, which he finally entered in 1974 on his third attempt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He was a man of few words and normally kept a low profile," a classmate told Reuters in 2016. After graduating three years later, Min Aung Hlaing kicked off a career that went to include assignments leading elite light infantry divisions often deployed in conflict areas in the country's restive borderlands. As a special operations commander in 2009, for instance, he oversaw the deployment of an infantry division to drive armed rebels from an enclave of eastern Myanmar, leading to some 37,000 people fleeing across the border into China. In 2011, he was handpicked by Myanmar's former military ruler Than Shwe to become the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, superseding more senior officers, as the country made tentative steps towards democratic reforms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Six years later, as the Myanmar military bore down on the Rohingya, Min Aung Hlaing held a widely publicised security meeting with Buddhist community leaders in Rakhine state, the site of the 2017 crackdown. There, referring to the largely stateless Rohingya as "Bengali" - a term they regard as derogatory as it implies they are interlopers from neighbouring Bangladesh - he said their presence was a problem left over from British colonial rule. "The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job," he said. (Additional reporting by Poppy McPherson; Editing by Alex Richardson) Russia lost 1,000 soldiers killed and wounded due to the successful actions of the marines of the 36th Separate Brigade during the operation on the Kursk front. They also destroyed several pieces of Russian equipment. Source: the 36th Separate Marine Brigade Quote: "The enemy is constantly pressing with tactics of cannon fodder attacks, sometimes conducting more than ten such suicide attempts a day. Despite the superiority in numbers of the Russians and their equipment, the Mykolaiv marines demonstrate real courage and heroism, breaking the back of such attempts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the operation, the marines wounded 667 enemy soldiers and the enemy's irreversible losses amounted to 341 people." Details: In addition, the brigade's fighters destroyed 20 armoured vehicles, including airborne fighting vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, armoured combat vehicles, and multi-purpose armoured tracked vehicles, as well as 2 T-72 tanks. Another 6 armoured vehicles were damaged. In addition, 24 vehicles were destroyed, including cars, buggies, motorcycles and ATVs belonging to Russian assault groups. Using anti-aircraft missile weapons and mobile firing groups, the marines destroyed 15 UAVs of various types, including Lancets, Superkams, Zalas and Shaheds. An MTU-20 armoured vehicle-launched bridge was also damaged, which the Russians were trying to use for logistics operations. Support UP or become our patron! An aspiring TikTok creator who disappeared after a night at a Georgia strip club has been found dead, according to his family. Jiare Schneider, 31, who disappeared on November 15, was found in a car that crashed into the woods. He'd been missing since November 15, according to police, and was last seen traveling the road where he died. "This morning, a group of us gathered, and we came out here, and we went to the woods and there he was," family friend Germequa Bell told Fox 5 Atlanta. "We knew when he disappeared that something was up." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police did not comment on when the crash occurred, but a Clayton County Police Department spokesman did say that the vehicle was "deep in the woodlice, which indicates there was a fast speed approaching the intersection." "Our officers received a call from friends and family of Jiare Schneider, whos been missing from Forest Park," Clayton County Police Department spokesperson Lt Ricky Porter told Fox 5. Schneider's family members found him Sunday inside a silver Toyota 4Runner the last vehicle he was seen driving before his death. Jiare Schneider, 31, disappeared on November 15 after spending a night at a Georgia strip club and was found dead in his truck on November 26 (Clayton County Police Department) The woods where Schneider was found is approximately 25 minutes from a content creator house where he sometimes spent time. His family members theorized to Fox 5 Atlanta that he may have been visiting the content house in the hours before his apparent wreck. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Days before he was discovered, Jasnique Oliver, Schneider's sister, told Fox 5 that Jiare hadn't called his son in a few days, which she said was unusual for him. "He calls his son like every day," she told the broadcaster, noting that Schneider's young son has a chromosomal disorder that requires his parents' attention. She said that in addition to not checking in on his children, he also hadn't checked in online. Her older brother was trying to grow his presence online using the handle "Big_Homie_TooTall" to create content on Instagram and TikTok. When he hadn't posted in more than a week, his sister knew something was wrong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He wants to get himself out there, you know, whether its with his music, or whatever he wants to get into," she told the broadcaster. A friend called Oliver on Saturday to tell her that he had been missing for a week. "We are very concerned. Weve been trying to find out what happened to him for well over a week," she said. It was ultimately Schneider's out-of-town family, and not local police, who found the wrecked truck. The family said they were glad they found Schneider but expressed frustration at what they perceived to be a lack of help from local law enforcement. "Of course, [we're] relieved that we found him, but still angry that we didn't get the resources, the help that we were asking," Bell told Fox 5. The family is trying to process their loss and look after Schneider's young son. "His son, that's all we can think about," Bell said. Of all the anti-obesity policies that have been tabled in recent years, calorie labelling is the least objectionable. It is not regressive like the sugar tax or anti-competitive like the advertising ban. If its nannying, it is of the gentlest sort; a nudge rather than a shove. It would have been a nightmare for small businesses to implement, but they were given an exemption when the government made calorie counts mandatory in cafes, pubs and restaurants two years ago. You could argue that the number of calories in a meal is basic information that consumers have a right to know, even if it doesnt make any difference to what they eat. That is just as well because we now know that it doesnt change what people eat. An evaluation funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research was published this week and concluded that the introduction of the mandatory kcal labelling policy in England was not associated with a significant decrease in self-reported kcals purchased. Monitoring the behaviour of 6,578 customers in pubs, fast food outlets, cafes and restaurants before and after the introduction of mandatory calorie counts, the authors found that the number of calories consumed actually rose from 909 per meal to 983 per meal. The lead researcher Megan Polden said: People did appear to be more knowledgeable about the number of calories in their meal. But that didnt unfortunately lead to any change in the number of calories that people were actually consuming. The most obvious explanation is that people have a pretty good idea of whether a meal is healthy or not without needing to know exactly how many calories are in it. When people are eating out, they want something tasty and are not particularly worried about how many calories are on their plate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This study therefore provides a valuable service by disproving the idea that people eat the wrong food because they are ignorant. The policy worked insofar as it made people better informed, but making people better informed didnt alter their decision-making. From the perspective of public health campaigners, it was (another) failure. Once again, a naive public health policy has disintegrated upon contact with reality. In light of this failure, and given how unpopular calorie labelling is with eating disorder charities, will the law now be repealed? Of course not. Every anti-obesity policy has been a failure but they remain on the statute books. Repealing ineffective laws would be a sign of weakness. The only answer is more laws. The medicine isnt working? More medicine! The authors of the evaluation claim, with hint of desperation, that calorie labelling could have worked if it was introduced alongside other policies. Henry Dimbleby was on the airwaves on Monday demanding health warnings on breakfast cereal. And yet it was supposed to work on its own. The nanny state lobby assured us that it was evidence-based. Backed up by public health academics, the governments Impact Assessment assumed that it would lead to people consuming 41 fewer calories from out-of-home meals. This, in turn, would lead to 5.6 billion worth of savings and benefits over 25 years. Since the policy would only cost businesses half a million pounds a year to implement, this made it highly cost-effective. This was sheer fantasy. Even the study the government cited to support its claim about the 41 calories concluded that labelling of menus with calories alone had no effect on calories selected or consumed. By the time the Impact Assessment was published in 2020, two randomised controlled trials had been conducted in the UK to study the effect on calorie labelling in restaurants. The first found no overall effect. The second found no evidence that prominent calorie labelling changed daily energy purchased. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The policy went ahead anyway because politicians wanted to be seen to be doing something. Sound familiar? Calorie labelling is the smallest of examples, but consider hundreds of similar cases in every sector of the economy and you start to see how the government is slowly throttling business. The 500,000 annual cost of calorie labelling is relatively trivial, but the Impact Assessment for the ban on HFSS (high in fat, sugar and salt) food advertising, due to be implemented next October, uses the same fantasy modelling to claim that the policy will reduce energy consumption by 3.3 calories per person per day at a cost to business of 199 million per year. The costs are real. The benefits, I suspect, will once again fail to materialise. Dr Christopher Snowdon is head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs 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. NASA scientists have found the remains of a U.S. military base buried 100 feet below the surface of the ice in Greenland. Camp Century, as it was called, was a Cold War-era satellite for the U.S. Army used as a front for a planned arsenal of nuclear missiles. While the plan never came to fruition and the base was shortly abandoned, there are still thousands of gallons of nuclear waste buried beneath the ice. Over the years, weve dug up a lot of stuff buried underneath layers upon layers of ice. Ancient tools, animal corpses, World War II planes, volcanosyou name it, ice has buried it, and weve found it. During an April flight over the Greenland Ice Sheet, NASA scientist Chad Greene added a pretty surprising entrant to that list: a secret military base. After taking radar images of the ice, Greene was surprised to see what was shortly thereafter confirmed to be Camp Centurya 65-year-old Cold War United States military base buried 100 feet deep in the massive ice sheet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We were looking for the bed of the ice and out pops Camp Century, said Alex Gardner, a cryospheric scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who helped lead the project. We didnt know what it was at first. Built in secret between June of 1959 and October of 1960 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Camp Centuryalso known as the city under the icewas comprised of 21 underground tunnels spanning 9,800 feet, according to Interesting Engineering. In radar images of the site, Greene said, many of the bases individual structures are clearly discernable. To study the base, NASA used Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), a technology similar to LiDAR that is commonly used in searching for hidden structures like Maya ruins. The difference is that where LiDAR uses laser light, UAVSAR uses radio waves. The U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland agreement in 1951 to negotiate arrangements under which armed forces of the parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization may make use of facilities in Greenland in defense of Greenland and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty area, according to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. (Greenland was, at the time of the agreement, a county of Denmark). This allowed the U.S. to build bases in Greenland. Even without the -70 degree temperatures and 125-mile-per-hour winds that were possible on the ice shelf, the construction of Camp Century sounds like a total nightmare. The camp was built from 6,000 tons of material, transported via heavy bobsleds that topped out at two miles per hour. Materials were shipped to Thule, another U.S. base (this one above ice)on the sleds, that trek was a 70-hour trip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Army engineers first dug trenchesthe longest of which was a 1,000-foot-long passageway called Main Streetdeep in the snow and ice before wooden buildings and steel roofs built out Camp Century. The crown jewel of the base was one of the first PM-2 medium-power nuclear reactors that, in the freezing conditions, had to be treated with the utmost care in order to power the site. While operating at the base, scientists made major geological breakthroughs. They were some of the first to study ice cores, and soil from Greenland itself revealed an ancient history of verdant forestry and diverse wildlife. But that research was just a cover-up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Camp Century itself was not a secret. Its establishment was known, and the Army even made a promotional video for the project. The scientific research angle, as significant as the discoveries were, was merely a front for a major U.S. nuclear weapon strategy of which the Danish government wasnt even aware. Known as Project Iceworm, the plan was for Camp Century to house ballistic missiles under the Greenland ice. An additional 52,000 square miles of tunnels were plannedenough to fit 600 missiles. It would require 60 launch centers to be built, and would be manned by 11,000 soldiers living full-time in the city under the ice. If that sounds impossible on a number of levels to you, youre not alone. Project Iceworm never came to be because of a litany of obstacles, almost all of them boiling down to some version of well, this simply isnt feasible. By 1967, Camp Century was decommissioned and abandoneda frigid fossil of the U.S.s Cold War efforts. The potential nuclear weapon plan was publicized by the Danish Institute of International Affairs in 1997. So, now the remains sit alone, buried by even more ice and snow in the 57 years since the closure of the base and giving its Camp Century name even more significance. Ultimately, its just a harmless footnote in U.S. military history. Right? Well, not exactly. As is U.S. tradition during international ventures, there were some residual drawbacks. Remember that nuclear reactor that was lugged piece by piece below the ice, only to operate for 33 months? Well, during that time, it produced over 47,000 gallons of nuclear waste, according to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. When the base shut down, they removed the reactor, but not the waste, which is still lying under the iceice that is in serious peril with a warming climate. Right now, its just sitting there, frozen in time. But a study by experts has projected that the base could begin losing ice by 2090. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They thought it would never be exposed, William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at Torontos York University and the leader of the study, told The Guardian in 2016. Back then, in the 60s, the term global warming had not even been coined. But the climate is changing, and the question now is whether whats down there is going to stay down there. You Might Also Like As NASA scientist Chad Greene flew over northern Greenland with a team of engineers in April, they never expected their radar to find something manmade buried deep within the ice. Greene and his team were flying above the Greenland Ice Sheet on a NASA Gulfstream III plane, scanning the barren expanse of ice that's more than a mile deep in some areas, when their radar instrument picked up something unusual. "We didn't know what it was at first," Greene said in a statement released by NASA's Earth Observatory this week, along with new images of the discovery. "We were looking for the bed of the ice and out pops Camp Century." It turns out the team had stumbled upon an abandoned Cold War-era military base built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1959. Nicknamed the "city under the ice," the compound consists of a network of tunnels carved into the ice sheet. It was abandoned in 1967 and, over time, became buried about 100 feet below the surface as snow and ice accumulated. The base was built as part of Project Iceworm, a then-secret plan to experiment with building a missile launch site under the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Cold War, when tension soared between the U.S. and the then-Soviet Union. Camp Century, a remote, nuclear-powered installation, was built to study the feasibility of such a project, but it was never realized and the base was decommissioned under the assumption it would be buried forever under the ice. A view of the main trench into the U.S. military's base in Greenland, Century Camp, is seen during construction of the facility in a Jan. 1, 1950, file photo. / Credit: Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty While the "city under the ice" had been picked up by previous radar scans, the instruments used on the NASA flight in April provided a more detailed, if unexpected, survey. "In the new data, individual structures in the secret city are visible in a way that they've never been seen before," said Greene, who works with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Past scans had used a type of radar that points straight down at the ground and produces a two-dimensional scan of structures buried beneath the ice. Greene's flight used NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, which is able to produce maps with "more dimensionality," according to the agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A photo released by NASA on Monday showed the features of the base hidden deep under the ice, appearing as anomalies near the base of the ice sheet. A composite image shared by NASA's Earth Observatory on Nov. 25, 2024 shows, at top, a view of the Greenland Ice Sheet taken from the window of a NASA Gulfstream III plane in April 2024 and, below, imagery created using data from a UAVSAR radar unit on the plane, revealing structural elements of Camp Century, an abandoned U.S. military base buried under the ice. / Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, Jesse Allen, Chad Greene "Scientists have used maps acquired with conventional radar to corroborate estimates of Camp Century's depth part of an effort to estimate when melting and thinning of the ice sheet could re-expose the camp and any remaining biological, chemical, and radioactive waste that was buried along with it," NASA's Earth Observatory said in its article this week. "The scientific utility of the new UAVSAR image of Camp Century remains to be seen; for now, it remains a novel curiosity acquired by chance." A 2016 study of the abandoned base suggested that the facility could no longer be considered "preserved for eternity," due to climate change increasing the rate at which Arctic ice is melting. CBS News' Walter Cronkite visited Camp Century for a tour of the still-under-construction facility for a program that aired in 1961. The camp's commander, Captain Tom Evans, explained to him that the goals of the program were three-fold: "The first one is to test out the number of promising new concepts of polar construction. And the second one is to provide a really practical field test of this new nuclear plant. And, finally, we're building Camp Century to provide a good base, here, in the interior of Greenland, where the scientists can carry on their R&D activities." CBS News' Walter Cronkite is seen on the Greenland Ice Sheet during a visit to Camp Century, for a CBS documentary program that aired in 1961. / Credit: CBS The exact nature of that research and development work wasn't discussed in Cronkite's report for the CBS documentary show "The Twentieth Century." (An abridged version of that report can be viewed at the link above.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaking with 60 Minutes in 2016, as that show revisited Cronkite's decades-old trip to Camp Century, producer Daniel Ruetenik said the trip was fascinating, and he marveled at the evolution of human interest in the vast, frozen expanse of the Greenland Ice Sheet. "At the time [of Camp Century], the Cold War was considered to be the greatest threat to humanity," Ruetenik said. "And now, the area has become a destination for climate scientists trying to study changes in the environment. So, it has a second purpose now." Missing hiker found after nearly six weeks in the Canadian wilderness War in Ukraine pushes women into new roles How severe weather could impact Christmas trees ROVANIEMI, Finland As artillery units from several NATO countries confronted a fictitious enemy here last week, one adversary was very real: cold weather. Its an age-old reality for countries featuring extreme locales, including the European alliance nations of Norway, Finland, and Sweden plus member countries Canada and the United States across the Atlantic. For the Finns, the challenge of operating in Arctic conditions is woven into military doctrine, which teaches that inexperience with weather can be a greater threat to soldiers lives than lackluster fighting skills. Nested in Finlands dense coniferous forests of pine trees, north of the Arctic Circle, NATO artillery units convened here in mid-November to learn not only how to survive but how to thrive in this type of environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At times, the cold and Arctic-like conditions found here can be more threatening to soldiers than combat situations, Lieutenant Olli Taskinen, member of the Jaeger Brigade, a unit of the Finnish Army in charge of developing Arctic warfare tactics, told Defense News on Nov. 19. During their stay here, in the context of Exercise Lightning Strike 24 focused on joint long-range fire capabilities, British, French, Swedish, and American artillerymen tested themselves in a setting a majority of them have not typically been exposed to. NATO artillery units link up their fires in Europes snowy north The knowledge passed down by the Finns ranged from basic skills, such as putting newspaper under soldiers socks and boots to take off the moisture, to more complex elements, such as driving multi-ton armored vehicles on slippery roads and keeping howitzers running in temperatures capable of reaching -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For example, Taskinen noted that some weapons have a tendency to jam more in the cold, which can be fatal in the face of an enemy attack. In the weather we see here, often we opt to keep our guns frozen by leaving them outside tents if you take it inside, all the snow and ice gets inside of them and then if you go outside it freezes [again] completely Keep it completely outside or inside the tent, no in-between, Taskinen said. For bigger pieces of equipment such as the K9 155mm self-propelled howitzers, a Finnish engineer said that there is a question of timing knowing when to pre-start the engine to have it ready for action when needed. Beyond forests, Finland is also famous for being a land of lakes, with a total of 188,000 spread out throughout its territory, a challenge alongside the cold that required participants to adapt their tactic sets to survive, British Lt. Col. Pete Winton, of the multinational field artillery brigade assembled for the exercise, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Out here, communication between the different artillery units at all times is fundamental, Brigadier Rob Alston, chief of joint fires and influence at NATOs Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, said, explaining why the drill involved utilizing multiple means of transmitting data. [We do this] so that if our preferred option is not working, we are able to utilize a second or third option so that communications can always get through, he said during an interview. While the Finnish Army may have mastered the woods, this does not make it immune to problems in freezing conditions. Four of the eight K9s deployed for the exercise had broken heaters, a K9 operator, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Defense News. That meant it was as cold inside the vehicle as outside, with temperatures falling well under the freezing point on that day. Another challenge faced by participants included the long distances to cross here in Lapland. Taskinen explained that whereas many countries are accustomed to having military infrastructure located close to each other, in this region, often your destination is hundreds of kilometers away. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that Ukraine is not in a strong enough position to begin negotiating an end to the war with Russia and said any deal struck must prevent the Russians from getting what they want. In an interview with Fox Newss Brian Kilmeade, Rutte stressed the importance of striking a favorable deal for Ukraine, saying it will set a precedent for nations who have similar goals to Russia. I think thats crucial that we have a good deal because the whole world will be watching what type of deal will be struck between Russia and Ukraine when it comes to it, Rutte said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position of more strength than they are at the moment, Rutte added, so that a deal can be struck which is favorable not to the Russians and therefore to China, North Korea and Iran because they all will be watching. Rutte pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping as someone who will be following the power dynamics that emerge from any negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Hell be very much interested who comes out on top of this, Rutte said about Xi. And if it is the Russians, that will pose a threat long term, so we have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position where they can start these talks, and obviously then we have to take it step by step, make sure that Putin comes on board. Rutte, in the interview, presented himself as aligned with President-elect Trump, who said throughout his campaign that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war before he even enters office. He said he spoke to Trump last Friday and praised him for pushing NATO to spend more on defense, saying Trump is right to do so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rutte sidestepped a question on whether he is prepared to get Putin to the negotiating table or whether he expects Trump to do so saying instead that it would be a collective effort once Ukraine is in a stronger position to begin talks. We have to make sure that Ukrainians can discuss the future of their country from this position of strength, so that has to be Ukraine to the table, Rutte said. But they will only do that when they feel that they can get something out of that. At this moment, they are really on the back foot, he added about Ukraine. Rutte said he is confident that he and the Trump administration will convince Putin to negotiate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will be able to get Putin to the table because he will sense that, ultimately, it is in his interest not to continue the fight, he said. Rutte shot down the possibility of deploying NATO troops to the region as Russia gains support from allied countries militant groups. You do not want to get in a direct confrontation with allies being a party to the conflict. I dont think that is wise, Rutte continued. What you need to do is to make sure that the Ukrainians can take this fight forward, can make sure that they get in a position of strength whenever it gets to talks, and that means that we have to supply them with the weapons they need to do that, to get in a position of strength, whenever the talk starts. But then clearly, we have to make sure that the deal being struck is a good deal, and that we do not give in to Iran, China, North Korea and Russia, Rutte added. It is really crucial for the future of all of us to make sure that that doesnt happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The NATO-Ukraine Council convened at a meeting on Nov. 26 in response to Russia's use of the new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), "Oreshnik," the NATO alliance said in a news release. According to the release, senior Ukrainian military officials briefed members of the council via a video link. The meeting was held at NATO headquarters in Brussels at the ambassadorial level. Russia first launched the weapon in an attack against Dnipro on Nov. 21. Shortly thereafter, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that "there are currently no ways of countering this weapon." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Zelensky contradicted Putin's claim on Nov. 24, saying experts were currently analyzing the wreckage of the missile and working with allies to put together a suitable response. "Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO allies from supporting Ukraine," NATO Spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said earlier in a statement by the alliance, referring to the use of IRBMs. NATO added in its statement that Russias use of the Oreshnik missile is an attempt to terrorize the civilian population of Ukraine and scare those who support Ukraine in its defense against Russia's "illegal and unprovoked aggression." During the discussions, Ukraine further emphasized the need for support from NATO allies to strengthen its air defense against such future attacks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia has continued to attack Ukrainian targets ahead of an expected harsh winter amid Russia strike on energy infrastructure. Overnight on Nov. 25, Russia launched a record 188 drones at Ukraine, with Ukrainian air defenses reportedly being able to down 76 drones across 17 oblasts. On Nov. 25, delegates from NATO member states legislatures voiced their support for Ukraine becoming the 33rd member of the alliance in a resolution adopted by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Independent from NATO, the assembly has no direct role in overseeing NATO policies. Read also: NATO Parliamentary Assembly calls for Ukraines accession as soon as possible Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Navajo Nation's second lawsuit aimed at extending the time for voters to address questionable ballot signatures has been dismissed. A Superior Court judge in Apache County ruled against the lawsuit, filed after around 175 Navajo voters were given less than 24 hours to correct inconsistent signatures on their early ballots. The lawsuit sought to provide Navajo voters with additional time to resolve these issues. Relying on testimony presented by Apache County at a Nov. 19 hearing, the judge ruled that the county made reasonable and meaningful attempts to contact voters who needed to cure, or correct, inconsistent signatures on their early ballots. Based on this finding, the judge dismissed the Navajo Nations lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said tribal leaders still believe that Apache County "disenfranchised Navajos voters in the 2024 general election." Despite this ruling, we will not be deterred from holding Apache County accountable for honoring all Navajo votes in future elections, she said. On Election Day, voters across Apache County faced significant challenges as voting machines malfunctioned and provisional ballots quickly ran out. As a result, those waiting in line often endured delays of up to three hours. Some voters ultimately left without casting their votes, leaving Navajo leaders asking people to not leave before voting. The Navajo Nation filed its first lawsuit against the county late on Election Day to extend voting times by two hours. The extension was partly granted: Not all of the Navajo Nation within the affected county was granted the extension, which applied only to nine Navajo Nation chapters that were listed in the complaint submitted to the county from the Navajo Nation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cause for the problems was possibly a poll book update that took place the day before, suggested Navajo leaders. I have been working on state and federal elections for eight years this is probably one of the worst election cycles that Ive seen, said Katherine Belzowski, a Navajo Department of Justice assistant attorney general. It was a failure of democracy in Apache County and for reasons that are still unclear to us. Apache County voters deserve the right to know their vote is counted. Long delays: Navajo Nation leaders want answers about Election Day chaos in Apache County Curing ballots began after Election Day Voters had until 5 p.m. on Nov. 10 to resolve signature issues on their ballots. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice discovered on Nov. 9 that Apache County had paused early ballot processing from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8. Among the affected ballots, 143 from Navajo voters required signature corrections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By 5:20 p.m. on Nov. 9, Apache County still had 900 early ballots left to process. With only 48 hours to notify voters and allow them to address the issues, many faced significant challenges, including poor cellphone service, limited internet access, and the need to travel long distances to the Apache County Recorders Office in St. Johns. These barriers, coupled with the tight deadline, left voters with little time to take necessary action, according to the Navajo Department of Justice. I got a call from the attorney general (Ethel Branch) saying, We need some help, weve got a list and we are getting a list of folks, said Jaynie Parrish, executive director of nonpartisan Arizona Native Vote. And we went to work. We do what we do best, we worked with other organizers and broke up the list and whatever phone numbers we had we started with those first. Parrish, a voter in Navajo County, joined other volunteers in actively searching for individuals in Apache, Navajo and Coconino counties who needed to cure their ballots. She initially found the list of affected voters manageable, but it grew significantly over time, with Apache County requiring the most assistance. The list only covered ballots with mismatched signatures; a completely different process is required for ballots that were not signed at all. Theres a whole other process and protocol if they didnt sign it, Parrish said. We were like, Can we get those people who didnt sign the ballot? And they said that deadline had ended. This is not something an everyday voter is going to know. These are changes made by laws and policies at the state and county level to make it hard for people to vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She emphasized the difficulty of reaching everyone on the list, as many residents in the Navajo Nation live in remote and hard-to-access areas. As organizers, we know that whatever you get in the database it's not going to be accurate, and we know we arent going to get physical addresses, Parrish said. So we are just working off a name in a random community, hoping somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows this person, and then we have to go find them. If were lucky, well have a good description of where their home is or a GIS code, but none of that was included in the information we received. She said they were notified late on a Friday or early Saturday to help locate voters, making time crucial. Parrish said sharing the information online was not allowed, so in-person outreach was the only option. The only public action they could take was to use the radio for a public service announcement urging people to check their ballots online. Finding voters presents challenges While attempting to locate four voters in the Kayenta area, Parrish said she managed to reach only one. With just 24 hours to cure the ballots on a weekend, time constraints made it difficult to find more than one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You have to find the needle in the haystack, Parrish said. I found one voter and he lived way out, there was no phone number, no description of his house, I had to drive and start asking people along the way if they knew this person and that was the only way I could find the voter. It took me an hour by dirt road to get to his house from the Kayenta chapter house. When Parrish located a voter, she discovered they spoke only Navajo. Not a fluent Navajo speaker, she contacted the Navajo County election office for help. Fortunately, even on a Sunday at 4 p.m., someone answered her call and was able to provide translation assistance. While volunteer outreach on Nov. 10 helped 21 voters correct their ballots, about 40 voters reported not being notified about their signature issues. In addition to the delays, many Navajo voters encountered challenges in reaching the Recorders Office during the election. By mid-afternoon on Nov. 9, the Arizona Secretary of States website still indicated that their ballots had not been received by Apache County. This caused widespread concern, leading to numerous calls from voters seeking confirmation that their votes had been counted, according to Navajo Nation Speakers Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To give Navajo voters more time to fix their inconsistent signatures, the Navajo Nation filed an amicus brief on Nov. 10, in support of a case brought by the ACLU and the League of United Latin American Citizens. The case, filed in the Arizona Supreme Court, sought to extend the deadline for curing early ballots beyond Nov. 10, as over 250,000 ballots statewide had not been processed by Nov. 8. The Arizona Supreme Court declined to extend the deadline. After this ruling, the Navajo Nation filed its own lawsuit on Nov. 12, asking the court to prevent Apache County from certifying the election results until Navajo voters were given sufficient time and notice to correct any signature issues on their ballots. We hope Apache County will take responsibility for the many failures of the 2024 general election and work with the Navajo Nation to protect the rights of Navajo voters in Apache County, said Speaker Crystalyne Curley. Voter rights: Native voters can swing elections, but court ruling suppresses turnout, leaders say 'They hope we get disillusioned' During a public hearing on Election Day issues, Branch said that while serving as Navajo attorney general under former President Russell Begaye, the Navajo Nation faced challenges not only with Apache County but also across all counties within Arizona where the Navajo Nation is located. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, the Navajo Nation filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against the Arizona Secretary of State and officials from Apache, Coconino, and Navajo counties to protect Navajo voting rights in that election and to address future voter inequalities. The motion sought a brief delay in certifying election results to allow Navajo members time to fix early ballots rejected for missing or mismatched signatures. Its disappointing to be here today for this purpose and to see what happened on Election Day as well, Branch said. We had high hopes for all three of the counties that the nation is located in, we would essentially have open precinct voting and greater access to polls for our voters, to see the poor planning and poor execution, and then of course the complete debacle that happened on Election Day, it is very concerning. Branch said since Coconino and Navajo County were able to improve each year with how they conduct elections, they were hoping to see that with Apache County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the trends that we have seen in previous years, the Navajo voter turnout has grown progressively stronger, Branch said. Some of our people have tremendous barriers to access the polls. We want to make sure that if they go through the effort of making it to the polls on Election Day, then they should be able to cast their ballot and have confidence their vote will count. Parrish expressed no doubt in her mind that this entire situation constitutes voter suppression. She compared counties and questioned why Apache County couldn't follow Navajo County's example of allowing voters to vote at specific voting centers, a practice not permitted in Apache County. Coconino County voters can vote at any polling or voting center throughout the county as well. But for some reason, Apache County cannot get up to speed to do things like that, Parrish said. Theres a question about that structure, such as: Why werent ballots planned ahead of time? We have a lot of voters there. What happened to the testing of machines? Where is that shortfall? People want to know. During a podcast called Dine Situation, Torey Dolan, who was manning the hotline on Election Day, said the situation in Apache County had become so dire that they had to call a volunteer from Tuba City and Utah to assist, as the county was handling things so poorly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was rough, said Dolan, who is also an attorney. It was really bad. She said calls kept coming in, with many people asking if Apache County had received their early ballots. Dolan recalled a family calling to say they had dropped off their ballots in St. Michaels on Halloween. Since ballots are supposed to be picked up daily, she checked the Arizona Secretary of State ballot tracker, which showed that the ballots hadn't been received. Dolan said that by 8 a.m., she could tell from the way things were unfolding that litigation would be the next step, and it wasn't surprising given it was Apache County. Yes, its racism. Yes, Its discrimination, Parrish said. Yes, we are working through systems that werent built for us but this is why we have to be involved. This is why you have to vote. People who dont want us to vote, they do this through this means. They hope we get frustrated. They hope we get disillusioned. Apache County officials didn't respond to requests by The Republic for comment. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice will be hosting a second public hearing on Dec. 2 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fort Defiance Chapter House. The hearing is an opportunity for Apache County voters on the Navajo Nation to share their experiences voting in the 2024 general election. People who are unable to attend the public hearing can email their experience to general@nndoj.org. Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Navajo Nation loses lawsuit over ballot curing issues after election Last week, during a pivotal hearing before the U.S. House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, Law and Order Committee Chair Eugenia Charles-Newton delivered a compelling testimony emphasizing the urgent need for federal action to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). We must stop pretending these cases are isolated, and we must stop allowing them to be swept under the rug, Charles-Newton declared, highlighting systemic failures that leave countless cases unresolved. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She underscored the challenges posed by jurisdictional complexities, communication breakdowns, and the severe lack of resources for law enforcementfactors that collectively impede justice for affected communities. Charles-Newton drew attention to the 75 Navajo Nation members currently missing, many of whose cases remain unsolved due to jurisdictional confusion and poor coordination between federal, state, and tribal authorities. She shared the story of Zachariah Shorty, a Navajo man who disappeared in 2020. Despite being reported to local authorities in Farmington, New Mexico, jurisdictional disputes delayed action from Navajo Nation law enforcement. By the time they were able to investigate, Zachariah was found dead, and his killer remains at large. This is just one example of how jurisdictional confusion and lack of resources leave families without answers, Charles-Newton said. This must stop. We are doing everything we can with the limited resources we have, but we need Congress to act. The Navajo Nation alone spans over 27,000 square miles with a population of more than 250,000, and it is the largest Native American tribe in the U.S. We have the right to expect better protection from the federal government. Her testimony was supported by alarming statistics shared by other lawmakers. Congressman Mike Simpson noted that over two in five Native women experience rape in their lifetimes, Native Americans account for 46% of all trafficking victims in the U.S., and 19 Native Americans are reported missing for every 1,000 individualsa staggering rate that demands urgent intervention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) marked progress, Charles-Newton and other advocates emphasized that significant obstacles remain. Many cases are either declined or go unprosecuted, leaving perpetrators unaccountable. Advocates such as Abigail Echo Hawk and Cheryl Horne called for increased resources and improved coordination between law enforcement agencies, especially in rural and urban areas where Indigenous communities are often overlooked. "It's not just about jurisdiction; it's about accountability," said Echo Hawk. "Resources intended for our communities are not being distributed as they should, and we are left to pick up the pieces." Charles-Newton concluded her testimony with a direct appeal to Congress, Education and understanding are the first steps, but we must act. These cases can no longer be forgotten. She urged the federal government to take immediate responsibility, address the crisis, and ensure justice for Indigenous victims. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), a tribal citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, wrapped up the hearing by emphasizing the need for bipartisan cooperation. This is not a partisan issue; its a national issue, Cole said. The partnership of federal, state, and tribal leadership is essential if we are to make real progress in ending violence against Indigenous women and girls. About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. " Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) More people voted in the 2024 election than any other election in North Carolina history and on Tuesday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections met to certify the results of races that are not in the recount process. Before the board certified the results, state elections director Karen Brinson Bell talked about steps both state and county election officials took to ensure the accuracy of those results. RELATED: Click here for results and vote count of the 2024 election Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We did a series of queries to identify possible early voters and absentee voters who cast ballots in the election, but may not have been eligible, she said. Officials also compared some machine vote counts to hand counts and checked that the number of voters matched the number of ballots cast. In the majority of counties, Brinson Bell said those numbers varied by five or fewer votes. She said discrepancies were generally due to situations such as people accidentally putting a provisional ballot in a tabulator or leaving a polling place without voting. In one county they had nine voters who checked in and then walked out without casting their ballot. Thats particularly high, she said. In reviewing this and understanding what those differences were, we find no evidence of vote totals or ballots cast being manipulated, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The board certified all elections that are not in the process of a recount. Recounts continue for a North Carolina Supreme Court race as well as several legislative races. We are in the process of a machine recount where we feed all the ballots back through and check the totals for those contests, and then potentially we could go into a sampling where we will hand count ballots based upon a random selection, and potentially it could even go into a phase where we would hand count all ballots, Brinson Bell explained. She emphasized that the process is time-consuming. The reason why the recounts are still going is because we had such a tremendous turnout, she said. We had 5.7 million ballots cast in North Carolina and those are all being fed in individually through tabulators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a spokesperson for the State Board of Elections, Wilson County must redo its recount due to technical issues with the first recount. That is expected to take place on Monday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. BURKE COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) As recovery work continues from Hurricane Helene, there is a real worry for the states agriculture business, particularly in western North Carolina. Queen City News visited one field on Tuesday where soybeans were grown, but the flooding from Helene led to a failed crop. (The water) stopped them dead in their tracks, said farmer Billy Parton. Parton said his corn crop at another field was wiped out, with whatever remained not being safe enough for animals to eat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parton did not get the worst damage, but the damage he suffered was significant. On our soybean crop, we lost exactly 95% of it, he said. You know how the 250 acres, weve got about 25 acres, and thats when you combine them all. Cooperative Extension agents have noted the issues in the county are being reflected statewide. Every countys trying to work with their producers and especially from the agricultural standpoint, and trying to get them help, said Damon Pollard, with the Burke County office of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Other areas outside of Burke County, in addition to having similar damage and similar issues with silt and sand on crops, also had land washed away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In other parts of North Carolina, drought was a concern, which led to lower yields. Parton said he plans to recover what he can and noted that next years crops should be better now that the area is coming out of the worst effects of Helene. However, he is worried about what the storm left behind. Weve got anywhere from dumpsters to picnic tables (in our fields), he said. One farm had a boat in it. We had one farm that had two RVs. We lost 3 1/2 miles of fence. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed a bill Tuesday that would strip power away from incoming Democratic officials in favor of Republican officials and the GOP-controlled Legislature. Cooper issued the veto after both houses of the Legislature approved it last week to condemnation from critics, who complained the legislation was unveiled shortly before it received its first vote. The bill will now head back to the Legislature for a possible override. The legislation is framed as a relief measure allocating $227 million from the states savings fund to a relief fund for responding to the impacts of Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the western parts of the state in September, causing record damage estimated to cost more than $50 billion. But Cooper and Democrats have blasted the bill for also making a wide range of changes to state election law and reducing the power of the governor and other officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill would take away the governors ability to appoint members of the state election board, granting that power to the state auditor, and limit the attorney generals authority when handling out-of-state lawsuits, preventing them from taking a position contrary to any statute that the Legislature has passed. It would also eliminate the state superintendents authority to appeal decisions from the state Charter Schools Review Board. The incoming governor, attorney general and state superintendent are all Democrats, while the incoming auditor is a Republican. The bill would also require the governor to only appoint replacement state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges that are recommended by the party of the retiring justice. Republicans currently have a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court. While President-elect Trump won North Carolina in the presidential race by about 3 percentage points, Democrats otherwise saw successes in the state, winning the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general races. They also picked up a seat in the state House, breaking a Republican supermajority that has allowed the GOP to frequently override vetoes from Cooper this term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans will lose the supermajority when the new term starts in January, giving more power to Gov.-elect Josh Steins veto once he is in power. The Legislature needs a three-fifths majority to override a veto. If all current members of the Legislature vote along party lines, the veto could be overridden, but three Republicans from western North Carolina originally voted against the bill. Those members would likely have to change their votes for the override to be successful. Cooper said in a statement announcing his veto that the legislation is a sham and unconstitutional. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Nearly one month after the Montezuma Fire threatened dozens of homes, people from all the surrounding neighborhoods took the time to give a formal thank you to the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. They went over and above the call of duty, said Kathy McClelland from Talmadge. The fire burned 40 acres, threatened dozens of homes, damaged several, and one home was lost. However those living nearby believe it could have been much worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several of the fire officials told us that they actually thought we would lose 20 to 30 homes in our neighborhood before they could get the fire out, so it was because of their speedy response that we have homes and we have pets right now, McClelland said. The community says San Diego police and fire rescue crews were quick to help with evacuations and worked tirelessly to protect the area for days, monitoring hot spots. Dozens of neighbors signed cards and donated over $2,000 in food and gifts to show their appreciation. While its known that the fire originated in or near a homeless encampment, the fire department is still investigating the exact cause of the Montezuma Fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Israel is to lodge an appeal against the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday. Israel had also called on the court to postpone execution of the arrest warrants, the prime minister's office said in a statement, without providing a reason for the request. The ICC had decided to issue the warrants without factual or legal justification, the statement from Netanyahu's office said on the basis of the appeal's text, again without providing details. The ICC issued arrests warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu and the recently dismissed Israeli defence minister Gallant, as well as the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes relating to the conflict in Gaza. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) At a packed Mesquite City Council meeting Tuesday, the police union announced the passing of a vote of no confidence in their police chief alleging nepotism and retaliatory behavior, accusations city leadership disputes. MaQuade Chesley, Mesquite Chief of Police, the target of a union no confidence vote presented to city council by Mesquite Police Officers Associations (MPOA) lawyer Andrew Regenbaum. The union president, Del Schlosser, explained why a majority of the police union reached their vote. MaQuade Chesley, Mesquite Chief of Police (Mesquite Police Department) Chief Chesley has, at times, been retaliatory towards people because of comments that they made or that things that theyve brought forward. Schlosser said. There has been some hiring that is believed to be close friends, based on his own comments that they were, its the perception that it was rushed through, if you will, in the hiring processes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chesley responded to an 8 News Now request for statement regarding the vote and wrote he had made two attempts to meet with the union president to arrange a labor management meeting. Mesquite police badge (Mesquite Police Department) I take concerns raised by my officers seriously and remain committed to open dialogue to address issues and maintain a productive working environment, Chesley wrote. The police chief added he takes the concerns of his officers seriously and wrote he remains committed to an open dialogue to address issues but noted what where his priorities stand. My primary responsibility is to uphold the integrity and accountability of this department, which includes addressing misconduct detrimental to the community, irrespective of external pressures or votes of confidence, he wrote. MaQuade Chesley, Mesquite Chief of Police (KLAS) Edward Dickie, Mesquite City Manager, responded to an 8 News Now request for comment and said he was aware of the issues brought up by the MPOA members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was informed there was a vote of no-confidence regarding the Police Chief by the Mesquite Police Officer Association, Dickie wrote. However, I was not given specifics as to the vote itself, and I do not know the percentage of officers who voted for no-confidence. Dickie added following the vote he is still asking Chesley to earn back the support of those officers who at this time feel they have no confidence in him. This is a developing story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. NEWARK, New Jersey (PIX11) Travelers heading to Newark International Airport could face delays of up to 95 minutes, according to the FAA. Ground delays have been issued for the airport until 2 a.m. Thursday morning. More Local News Due to FAA issues, travelers may experience flight delays at EWR. Check your flight status and allow extra time at the airport, a representative posted on behalf of Newark Airport on Tuesday evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Staffing issues have been cited as the primary reason for the delays, according to the FAAs website. The delays come after flight officials previously warned of possible ground stops at major airports due to staffing shortages among air traffic controllers and other essential travel personnel. According to the Port Authority, almost 3.2 million people will travel through area airports this week alone. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. After a trouble-plagued application overhaul, U.S. Department of Education officials released next years Free Application for Federal Student Aid last week, more than a week before its Dec. 1 target date. After last years rollout disaster, Education Department officials claim to have improved the application process following feedback from stakeholders. More than 167,000 students have successfully submitted their FAFSA application since Oct. 1, following four rounds of testing. The department can now say with confidence that the application is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students. Already, over 650,000 more applicants are eligible for Pell Grants, and more students are receiving Pell Grants, this school year compared to last year, Miguel Cardona, U.S. secretary of education, said in a news release. We stand ready to help millions more students complete the FAFSA and get the financial aid they need to pursue their dreams of a college education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thousands of students faced numerous challenges when attempting to complete their financial aid application last year, following a form overhaul meant to simplify the application process, which instead made things more difficult. As a result, 29% fewer students completed their application in May compared with the same time in 2023. The botched FAFSA rollout leaves students in limbo. Some wonder if their college dreams will survive The department said it has made various improvements to ensure the same issues dont occur during this years application cycle. Staffing has been increased by almost 80% to ensure students and their families can connect with representatives when calling for financial aid support. More than 700 agents have been added to the departments contact center and an additional 225 agents are set to be hired in the coming weeks, to offset long wait times faced by callers last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We need a better FAFSA form to deliver financial aid to students going to college and other forms of education after high school, James Kvaal, the undersecretary of education, said. Thank you to everyone who has helped the 2025-26 FAFSA launch successfully and ahead of schedule, including students and families, Department staff, and financial aid administrators and counselors across the country. While last years technical glitches have been addressed with the FAFSA form and system now in a strong position, one group was left vulnerable in the wake of the technical errors that occurred. Students whose parents did not have a Social Security number were reported to be blocked from filling out the financial aid form, resulting in nearly 9% fewer high school seniors and first-time applicants according to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The office of Federal Student Aid suspended the identity verification process that had barred contributors without Social Security numbers from logging into the online financial aid form for the 2025-26 application. However, ahead of his inauguration in January, President-elect Donald Trumps administration has announced plans to shut down the Department of Education, posing significant threats of financial aid cuts, as well as plans to begin mass deportations. According to Stephen Barker, communication director for OneGoal a Chicago nonprofit that assists students to enroll and graduate from postsecondary programs this could leave mixed-status families vulnerable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OneGoal is looking carefully at the implications for students applying for financial aid for the first time or those from mixed-status families, Barker said, where one or more of their contributors dont have Social Security numbers. While the National College Attainment Network has signaled that students should use caution when completing their FAFSA form, Barker said OneGoal doesnt believe its responsible to advise students whether they should or should not submit their FAFSA. Instead, the nonprofit is being as transparent with students as possible about the potential risks. The Higher Education Act prohibits the use of students data for any purpose other than determining financial aid eligibility and awards to students. But with the incoming Trump administration signaling its priorities, Barker said theres no way to ensure this administration is not going to sort of supersede or overturn the rules of the Higher Education Act in order to sort of use this as a lever for accessing information. We cant imagine a scenario where thats likely, but were not policy experts, and cant say for sure what an unpredictable administration is going to do, Barker said. Were going to make sure that students have the information that they need and then theyre going to have to work with their families and their school counselors to determine if its safe for them to fill this out and provide that information. They tend to gush over each other in public, but their private dealings are often opaque. Both are brazenly transactional, and cling tenaciously to grudges. Each likes to keep everyone around him guessing. Of all President-elect Donald Trumps relationships with world leaders which are coming into sharper focus as he prepares to take office again in less than two months that with Russian President Vladimir Putin may be the most consequential, and the most fraught. Trump says his foreign policy motto will be "America first." Critics fear that Trump will be steamrolled by the former Soviet intelligence officer on Ukraine, on sanctions aimed at curbing Russian aggression, and on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whatever his course, he now has a better grasp of the levers of power in the administration he will soon lead than he did in his first term. I think maybe Trump has a better idea now of how to be president, said Kadri Liik, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, discussing Trump's past dealings with Putin. So lets see. Throughout Trumps first term in office, his ties to Putin offered an odd leitmotif: the episodes of striking public deference to the Russian leader, Trumps often-stated assertion that a personal bond with Putin benefited the United States rather than undermining it, his unabated fury over the lengthy federal investigation of Moscows interference in the 2016 presidential election on Trump's behalf. Read more: Quiet dismay, open glee: U.S. adversaries, allies around world react to historic Trump win Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Back in 2018, at a joint news conference by the two leaders in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, Trump's declaration that he believed Putin over his own intelligence agencies so alarmed a then-advisor, the Russia scholar Fiona Hill, that she later recounted being tempted to feign a health emergency or pull a fire alarm to stop him. In Trumps between-terms interregnum, he and Putin seemingly stayed in touch, with at least seven phone conversations that took place outside the purview of U.S. diplomacy, according to journalist and author Bob Woodward. This time around, Trump inherits the war in Ukraine, a conflict to which the United States is not a party, but which Putin paints as a potentially direct confrontation with any Western military partner of the Kyiv government. He will also face a loose axis of adversarial powers in which Russia is a junior player to China, but bolsters Moscows avowal that a U.S.-led world order has ended. Read more: Wartime Ukraine waits to see what's in the 'surprise box' of Trump presidency Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump-Putin relationship over the next four years could help determine how that axis tilts. After Trump won Novembers election, he and Putin enacted what some analysts described as an elaborate set piece that encompassed elements of both conciliation and jockeying for dominance. The Russian leader offered up his first public congratulations on Trumps election win somewhat offhandedly, in a question-and-answer session that followed a lengthy speech. But at the same appearance, he volunteered a compliment guaranteed to endear him to the president-elect, praising Trumps manly reaction to a July assassination attempt that left the then-candidate with a minor ear injury. Read more: Putin congratulates Donald Trump in first public comments on the U.S. election result Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then came an odd kerfuffle over who might have called whom: The Trump team let it be known there had been a congratulatory phone call, but the Kremlin then denied news reports of it. Around the same time, a widely watched program on Russian state TV aired decades-old explicit photos of former and soon-to-be First Lady Melania Trump, a onetime model, while its hosts openly smirked. Almost immediately after the election, there was a much-parsed comment from Nikolai Patrushev, a Putin aide, who gave an enigmatic reply when asked what Trumps win portended for Russia. To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations, Patrushev told the business publication Kommersant, in remarks that were amplified by the official Tass news agency. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them. Read more: Trump won't confirm he talked with Putin, and says there was 'love and peace' on Jan. 6 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While ambiguous, the comment was read by some observers as positing that Trump was somehow beholden to Moscow but was also typical of a sly, suggestive style often employed in Kremlin propaganda. Trump, for his part, spent the last few weeks unveiling a series of Cabinet picks that included some notable Russia skeptics, at least in their previous incarnations. But for one particularly crucial post the director of national intelligence, who oversees 18 U.S. intelligence agencies that gather and safeguard the nations most closely held secrets he picked Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman whose stated pro-Kremlin views have raised concerns even among Trumps fellow Republicans. The appointment to such a sensitive role of someone with so many questions around them, whose nomination has been welcomed on Russian TV, escalates the concern that many observers have, Ruth Deyermond, a senior lecturer in post-Soviet security at Kings College London, wrote in an email. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The choice of Gabbard, she said, confirms existing signals that point to a very pro-Russian White House. An early test is likely to be Ukraine. There is a broad expectation that Trump will seek to leverage a threatened weapons cutoff into a deal that might force the government in Kyiv to give up Russian-captured territory and renounce aspirations to join NATO. On Wednesday, Trump unveiled his choice of a special envoy for Russia and Ukraine: Keith Kellogg, a retired three-star general. A staunch conservative and an advisor in the first Trump administration, he has pushed for a plan under which Ukraine would have to cede some territory to end the war. But Putin might not be positioned to get his way entirely. Liik, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the Russian leader, in seeking to make Ukraine a vassal state, could overreach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin wants more than Trump is ready to offer, she said. Im not sure Trump is ready to go to those lengths, if it makes him look like a loser. Still, the president-elect can effect profound changes in the security order even if he does not follow through on every implied threat. Read more: Super spy or paper pusher? How Putin's KGB years in East Germany helped shape him During his first term, Trump routinely denigrated the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and suggested as a candidate that he would let Russia do whatever the hell they want to European allies he thought were ducking defense-spending obligations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont expect Trump to formally withdraw the U.S. from NATO, but his teams words and actions to date have already weakened it, said Deyermond. Some observers, though, say that with regard to actual policymaking, overall Russian expectations for the coming Trump presidency may be relatively low. After Trumps first win, in 2016, pro-Kremlin propaganda mouthpieces openly crowed that the victory was really Moscows, said Alexander Baunov, a senior Eurasia fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This time around, things are very different, he wrote in the digital publication Carnegie Politika. The jubilation in Moscow is far more muted. This week brought an acerbic assessment of both Trumps and Putins personality traits from none other than former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who wrote in a newly published memoir about her dealings with both of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Merkel, who stepped down in 2021, described Trump as clearly fascinated by the Russian president, adding that he seemed captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits. Putin, on the other hand, was someone who was always on guard not to be treated badly, and always ready to dish out punishments including once bringing a large black Labrador to a meeting with Merkel, knowing she was afraid of dogs. Describing one of her encounters with Trump, Merkel called him "emotional." But she counseled that a calm, dispassionate approach worked better with someone like Putin. You could find all this childish, reprehensible; you could shake your head at it, she wrote of Putins manipulative style. But that didnt make Russia disappear from the map. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. People participate in a Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City. Multiracial cultures such as Puerto Rican and Dominican may pose problems for new proposed Census Bureau survey formats that ask about race and Hispanic status separately. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) This story originally appeared on Stateline. The U.S. Census Bureau and a growing number of states are starting to gather more detailed information about Americans race and ethnicity, a change some advocates of the process say will allow people to choose identities that more closely reflect how they see themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crunching and sorting through those specific details known as data disaggregation will help illuminate disparities in areas such as housing and health outcomes that could be hidden within large racial and ethnic categories. But some experts say the details also might make it harder for Black people from multiracial countries to identify themselves. Racial data gleaned from the census is important because local, state, tribal and federal governments use it to guide certain civil rights policies and in planning and funding government programs that provide funds or services for specific groups, according to the Census Bureau. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The form will have checkboxes for main categories current census groupings include Asian, Black, African American and White, among others followed by more specific checkboxes. Under Asian, for example, might be Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese. And then there will be an empty box for people to write in more specific subgroups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Collecting more detail by allowing free-form answers, for example, will make it possible for people to identify themselves as part of more racial and ethnic subgroups such as Sardinian (an autonomous region within Italy) instead of simply Italian and include alternative names for certain groups, such as writing Schitsuumsh, the ancient language for Coeur DAlene Tribe. And the Census Bureau will for the first time include Middle Eastern/North African as a separate racial/ethnic category for respondents with that heritage. Until now, Middle Eastern people who did not choose a race were treated as a subcategory under white, based on a 1944 court ruling intended to protect Arab immigrants from racist laws banning U.S. citizenship for nonwhite immigrants. Under new federal guidelines approved in March, the bureau also will give people the option to check no race at all if they identify as Hispanic or Middle Eastern/North African. The Census Bureau already has decided to use more open-ended questions in both the 2027 American Community Survey and the nations 2030 census. But the agency is seeking public comment on the way write-in responses will be categorized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bureau wants to hear how people are likely to identify themselves, said Merarys Rios-Vargas, chief of the bureaus Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch, Population Division, in a recent webinar. The agency also is interested in whether there are missing or incorrect entries in its proposed list of possible responses. Its about peoples lives Nancy Lopez, a University of New Mexico sociology professor, said she and other experts in Black Hispanic culture think the census should have a visual race or street race question, so people can communicate how others see them as well as how they identify themselves. The answer might be Black or a yet-unrecognized racial category such as brown. A separate question on race as a visual status helps illuminate the kind of things we are interested in discrimination in housing, discrimination in employment, discrimination in education and accessing health care in public spaces, said Lopez, who is the daughter of Dominican immigrants and a co-founder of the universitys Institute for the Study of Race & Social Justice. Its about peoples lives, its about the future, its about children, its about access to opportunities and its about fairness, she added, noting that even if the federal government doesnt add such questions to surveys and the decennial census, state and universities can still do it on their own as they collect data for health care, student enrollment and other topics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NALEO Educational Fund, an organization representing Latino elected and appointed officials, supports the decision to make a race choice optional for Hispanics. Many Latinos did not see themselves in any of the categories for their racial identity, said Rosalind Gold, NALEOs chief public policy officer. Theres a large number of Latinos who feel that identifying as Latino is both their racial and ethnic identity. Gold said NALEO understands the concern some have that failing to require a race designation will obscure racial information on Black Hispanics. But her group argues that the census can get what it needs by educating the public on how to respond and by including prompts on the questionnaires to guide race choices. Black Hispanic people often see themselves as having a single racial and ethnic identity, according to several experts in Hispanic identity who spoke at a Census Bureau National Advisory Committee meeting Nov. 7. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They conceptualize themselves as belonging to one [group], said Nicholas Vargas, an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, speaking at the committee meeting. They check Black and they check Dominican and dont want to be counted as two or more, he said. In response, Rachel Marks, an adviser for the Census Bureau on race and ethnicity, said the bureau will consider that issue and other feedback on how people want to be represented before making a final decision on survey details. Its about peoples lives, its about the future, its about children, its about access to opportunities and its about fairness. Nancy Lopez, University of New Mexico sociology professor The bureau may recognize a term, Afro-Latino, that could be used to indicate both Black race and Hispanic ethnicity, according to a proposed code list from the agency, as well as Blaxican for Black Mexican and Blasian for Black Asian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of civil rights groups, called the more detailed questions a step forward but also suggested more guidance on the forms to ensure people are categorized the way they want to be. In its comment on the changes, the group noted that in 2020, some people who wrote in British under the Black checkbox were categorized as partly white even if they didnt mean that. The group also said it is concerned about a conflation of the concepts of race and ethnicity, and it asked for more research to make sure people understand how to respond. State actions Some states are acting on their own to gather more detailed data about identity. New Jersey is among the latest states to pass a law requiring more detailed race and ethnic data collection for state records such as health data and school enrollment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A similar bill in Michigan would require state agencies that gather information to offer multiracial and Middle Eastern or North African as choices; the bill remains in committee. And advocates in Oregon, which already has a law requiring detailed ethnic data collection, are asking the state for more details on Asian subgroups who face education challenges. A December 2023 report by The Leadership Conference Education Fund identified 13 other states with laws requiring more detailed state data on ethnic and racial groups, including laws passed last year in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts and Nevada. The states of California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington already had such laws, the group found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The international humanitarian organization MOAS's front-line medical evacuation operation is "on the verge of extinction" due to a lack of funding, the group said on Nov. 27, appealing to the international community to support their work. MOAS's team of all-Ukrainian medics has been evacuating and keeping alive critically injured troops during the three years of the full-scale war, with the group saying their work has saved 62,000 lives. "Now, with funding virtually exhausted, one of Ukraine's most remarkable lifesaving operations is on the verge of extinction," their press release read. The group said that without funding, it can sustain its operations only until the end of 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "MOAS is keeping soldiers alive day in, day out. It's an expensive and challenging business, and we simply can't continue into 2025 without additional funding," Christopher Catrambone, MOAS's founder who has been based in Kyiv since the outbreak of the full-scale war, told the Kyiv Independent. MOAS is now in talks with donors in North America and Europe, as well as the U.K. government, to be able to continue its work next year. "The facts are simple. If we have to stop our operation, huge numbers of Ukrainian soldiers will die. In the words of a Ukrainian general, it will be a complete catastrophe," Catrambone said separately in the press release. "Theyre overstretched and cannot do what we do. Nor can any other NGO in Ukraine. Thats why today, we are launching this urgent appeal for support. Its our last throw of the dice, its do or die." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to MOAS, the monthly cost of a 150-strong medical team with 50 "state of the art ambulances" costs $1 million, comparable to the price tag of a Storm Shadow missile. "We're incredibly grateful to all the donors who have made our lifesaving operation possible," Catrambone told the Kyiv Independent, explaining that MOAS's donors include wealthy philanthropists, tech billionaires, foundations, and smaller donors. The founder said he was unsure why the funding was drying up, suggesting that some had found other causes to support or simply lost interest in the war in Ukraine. "But what I'm focused on is getting donors now so we can continue saving lives at the medical frontline in Ukraine," he stressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: The road from death to life: Medics evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers amid intensified fighting (Photo) Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. NHS dentists are seeing fewer new patients than before a 200 million funding boost that was designed to increase appointments. The dental recovery plan launched in February this year included golden hellos of 20,000 for dentists to move to underserved areas and bonuses of up to 50 for each patient who hadnt been seen in the previous two years. But a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) published on Wednesday has revealed that just one dentist has received a golden hello, and that fewer new patients had received treatment since March than over the same seven-month period last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The watchdog also said the plan set out by the previous government would not achieve its ambition of an extra 1.5 million treatments by the end of 2024-25. Even if this goal was reached, it would still be 2.6 million fewer treatments per year than pre-pandemic levels, the watchdog added. Analysis of NHS England data by the NAO revealed that dentists had carried out about 220,000 fewer courses of treatment on new NHS patients between March and September this year than the same time last year. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee says dentistry is in crisis The average number of treatments carried out by dentists per working day was lower in every month this year compared to last. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Health officials are currently reviewing the package of measures set out in the recovery plan, which also included mobile dental vans none of which have yet been purchased, the report said. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: NHS dentistry is in a state of crisis. People across the country are struggling to access NHS dentists, particularly in rural areas. The rollout of dental vans and golden hello bonuses to under-served communities has been slow and the dental recovery plan is now unlikely to deliver its ambitions for 1.5 million extra treatments. Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Associations (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee, said the union had warned at the outset that this recovery plan was unworthy of the title. Unfunded, unambitious policies failed to make a dent in a crisis hitting millions, he said. A new government must show it is willing to learn from its predecessors mistakes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Louise Ansari, chief executive at Healthwatch England, added: What is particularly disappointing is the NAOs analysis which shows the incentive payment for dentists has failed to deliver more NHS appointments for new patients than in the same period last year. People who could benefit those who werent able to get an NHS dental appointment in the past two years are more likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds and will struggle to pay for any private dental care. The report comes as the BDA urged the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry to specifically examine the impact of the pandemic on dental services. The union said that dentistry saw a collapse in capacity seen nowhere else in the health service and is yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels of activity. Dentistry faced major problems before lockdown, but the pandemic proved a catalyst, and turbocharged them into a genuinely existential threat to the service, the BDA said in a submission to the pandemic probe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, said: No part of the health service took such a hit during the pandemic, and none has seen such a limited recovery. Yet dentistry isnt even on the menu at this Inquiry. If lessons are not learned we will see more collateral damage to core parts of our health service. An NHS England spokesperson said: The NHS is determined to improve access to dental care and thats why we are incentivising dentists to work in underserved areas. But we know there is a lot more to do and we will be working with the government to reform the dental contract to make our services better for patients. Labour pledged to deliver an extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments a year in its manifesto and reform the not fit for purpose dental contract. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Within days of winning the general election, Wes Streeting met with the BDA and promised to start delivering the appointments and begin rebuilding the service. 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. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A woman from the Town of Niagara was sentenced and a Niagara man pled guilty in connection with a kidnapping that occurred earlier this year, according to the Niagara County District Attorneys Office. Officials said 36-year-old Ashley McMillen was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of post release supervision for her role. According to Niagara County DA Brian Seaman, the pairs motive for kidnapping the 77-year-old man was to steal money to buy drugs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The defendants put this man through a horrifying ordeal, he said. Police forced their way into the victims home when they were alerted that he may be in need of help. They found him restrained, gagged and in need of medical assistance We dont know what would have happened if the police hadnt responded as they did. 32-year-old Gregory Perry pled guilty to second-degree kidnapping Tuesday morning in connection with the crime. He returns to court Jan. 21. The judge has already agreed to sentence him to 15 years in prison before five years of post release supervision. Latest Local News Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) New Mexico educators have new tools available to them thanks to New Mexico State University. NMSUs extension launched the free Learning Games Lab Toolkit in September, which aims to help teachers better support students in communicating ideas and using digital games to further their education. Story continues below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NMSU researchers hope the educational media will offer students social and emotional growth and design skills. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Lithuanian investigators have so far found no evidence that the crash of a cargo plane from Germany in Vilnius could have been caused intentionally. "Based on what we have and what we know now, there are no indications that it could have been an act of sabotage," Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told journalists in parliament in Vilnius on Wednesday, Lithuanian radio reported. "Nothing can be ruled out, but at the moment I have no arguments to say otherwise." The cargo plane crashed in a residential area shortly before the planned landing near Vilnius airport early on Monday morning. One of the four crew members was killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Lithuanian authorities have launched an investigation into the crash and recovered the flight data recorder from the completely destroyed aircraft on Tuesday. The two black boxes record flight data and the conversations in the cockpit respectively. Investigators hope that the evaluation of the plane's flight recorders will provide important insights into the cause of the crash. According to the authorities in Vilnius, they are to be evaluated in Germany. The reason for this is that there is no research facility in the Baltic state that can analyse the flight data recorder and voice recorder of the Swift Air aircraft, which was on its way from the eastern German city of Leipzig to Vilnius on behalf of German logistics giant DHL when it crashed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier, the head of the National Crisis Management Centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas told Lithuanian radio that the analysis would probably be carried out by "one of our European allies." The head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice's office for the investigation of traffic accidents, Laurynas Naujokaitis, then named Germany as the country to carry out the analysis. "We plan to send them to Germany, but we are still waiting for a response from the investigating authorities, as they are sending officials to accompany the black boxes," he told the BNS agency. Naujokaitis noted that it should not be difficult for specialists to extract all the data from the flight recorders, as they had not suffered any major damage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first data could be available as early as the end of the week, he said, at the same time emphasizing that it would not be made public. Defence Minister Kasciunas said initial analyses and interviews with surviving crew members have shown that there were no external influences on the landing aircraft. SMYRNA, Tenn. (WKRN) Authorities are investigating after a vehicle crashed into a Smyrna business Tuesday evening. According to the Smyrna Police Department, the vehicle crashed into Karins Kustard & Hamburgers in the 400 block of Lowry Street on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts Courtesy: Smyrna Police Department Police reported the codes department will respond to the business Wednesday morning to check the sites structure. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com The business took to social media Tuesday evening alerting customers they would be closed until further notice due to unseen events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It remains unclear what led the car to crash into the building or when the business is expected to reopen. No injuries were reported. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. CANTON, S.D. (KELO) In what attorneys call one of the most unique child porn cases theyve seen, a Lincoln County man will not go to prison. Tuesday, a Circuit Court Judge sentenced Rocky Hayes, 48, to 120 days on electronic home monitoring with work release. We first told you about Rocky Hayes in 2022. Thats when authorities searched his Lincoln County home across the street from an elementary school after receiving a cyber tip that he possessed an illegal video of a child being raped. Authorities arrested Hayes for possession of child pornography. At the sentencing on Tuesday his defense attorney told the judge hes never had a case like this and called it an anomaly. Here is why. The videos deemed child porn are old. Hayes says he downloaded the videos two decades ago. There were only five videos. Child sex offenders typically have thousands of images and videos. Forensic investigation of his computers found no search history for child porn, either. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A psychosexual evaluation by a doctor who specializes in sex offenders indicated Hayes is not a threat to children or the public. Hayes was given the opportunity to speak and said his life has been ruined by a legal nightmare because of something foolish he did in his 20s. He admitted the illegal files were on his computer. In a plea agreement with the Lincoln County States Attorney, Hayes pleaded no contest to one count of possession of child pornography. Along with 120 days of electronic home monitoring with work release he will pay a $1,000 fine and will be on supervised probation for four years. Hayes full sentence which was handed down is 10 years in the state penitentiary, but the judge suspended all 10 years. The charges that Hayes faced stemmed from a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Lincoln County States Attorney Tom Wollman released the following statement concerning the Hayes case. On November 26, 2024, the Honorable Rachel R. Rasmussen sentenced Rocky M. Hayes to ten years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary, with all ten years suspended. Hayes will be required to comply with the conditions of supervised probation for the next four years as part of his sentence. The Court also imposed a 120 day jail sentence with electronic monitoring authorized. Prior to pronouncing sentence, Judge Rasmussen highlighted the uniqueness of this case and the absence of evidence indicating the continued downloading of additional pornographic material. Hayes charges stem from a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. An investigation into Hayes activity was conducted by agents with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Following a search of Hayes home and office, investigators located a handful of videos identified as child pornography, as well as roughly two dozen videos identified as child exploitive material. It is believed that the child pornography was downloaded and saved to a device likely in the early 2000s and that the Defendant had possessed those same videos throughout the last roughly twenty years, transferring them from one external memory device to another. Defendants conviction for one count of possession of child pornography will require him to register on South Dakotas Sex Offender Registry. Senior Deputy States Attorney Amanda Eden, prosecutor in this case, stated This case highlights the professionalism and expertise of our investigators and the tools they utilize to combat the trafficking of child sexually exploitative material. They are vigilante in their efforts to protect our community from those who seek to sexually exploit children. Thomas Wollman Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Only in Britain could it be the case that the operator of a subterranean mass transit system is deemed an appropriate moral arbiter, while faiths and beliefs with thousands of years of ethical teaching behind them are considered interfering and dangerous. In the same month that Lord Falconer criticised religious people for daring to have an opinion on assisted dying, Transport for London green-lighted a takeover of Westminster Tubes advertising space that rendered it a sort of suicidal Winter Wonderland. In one of these ads, sponsored by Dignity in Dying, a young woman dances happily around her kitchen in silk pyjamas. It resembles an advert for Ann Summers, not for being given a massive overdose of barbiturates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This isnt presented as the sombre decision it is; irrevocably changing the relationship between the state and the individual. Its a hen-do, a bottomless brunch, Carrie Bradshaw and the girls having a cosmo. This might be less galling were TfL equally discerning elsewhere. Not so. Earlier this year a comedian was forced to remove a depiction of a hotdog from his show adverts lest it fell foul of TfLs healthy eating rules. It isnt just the absurdity of the idea that encouraging someone to eat a hotdog is dangerous while promoting actual suicide is fine, but also the way the idea is justified using the omnipresent force of emotional manipulation in our public life; twee. Ive written before about the patronising and infantilising tone of much modern advertising. But the assisted dying lobbys co-option of twee has shown it can be profoundly manipulative and sinister too. In debates, advocates often appeal (a la Esther Rantzen) to the idea that we wouldnt treat pets like this. As vets will privately admit, pet euthanasia doesnt always work perfectly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the argument is revealing in other ways. Think of old Rover, you wouldnt have let him suffer allows the brain comfortingly and conveniently to trick itself into believing that your grandparents are somehow comparable to a dog you had when you were six. Rationally, ethically, it makes no sense, but and this is where twee plays its invidious role emotionally, the heartstrings can be pulled upon. During lockdown, the twee register was used to quash dissent via a sort of enforced jollity. Government messaging veered jarringly between sentimentality and apocalyptic fear; from Captain Tom clapathon to 1984. The PM still sometimes invokes lockdown as a time of heroic sacrifice, when the only real problem was the hypocrisy of those in charge. Such views helpfully omit the unfair fines, state overreach and general misery. I detect a hint of this now, in the weaponisation of concepts like compassion and dignity (as if these belong exclusively to one side). As so often when it is invoked in public debate, #BeKind has behind it sentiments and in front of it actions that are anything but. Here it masks, among other things, various unusually well-funded lobby groups promoting the campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kim Leadbeater, the Bills sponsor, recently called for MPs to step back from the debate, ironically, in favour of people with lived experience. This is both a damning misconception of how parliamentary democracy works and depressingly simplistic bilge. No matter how carefully-constructed or philosophically sound the argument, all can be erased by pouring on it the slop of lived experience. Jess Phillips recently made an equally astonishing concession. The NHS is not in a fit enough state she admitted, but you cannot stop progress happening. This is Modernity, declaimed in cultish fashion, like Mr Gradgrind would yell facts! Former justice secretary David Gauke (who, despite his every pronouncement, some still consider a proper old-fashioned Tory) deployed a piece of logic so drippingly Whiggish that it may as well have been copy/pasted straight out of Gibbon. Gauke placed his current support in the context of the great march of history, as if all changes to the social fabric are one and the same. I look back at my personal choice on gay marriage...with a degree of pride in being part of something important, just as I view my abstention on assisted dying with regret. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet gay marriage passed partly through obvious Tory arguments for extending an ancient institution. Assisted dying, on the other hand, can only be presented as remotely conservative in the sense that it takes us back to the practices of our prehistoric ancestors, ie the ones who used to push anyone off a cliff as soon as they turned 45 lest they be a hindrance to the process of hunter-gathering. While opponents of assisted dying come from a wide political, ethical and religious range, most arguments in favour seem to boil down to exactly this point. Which is why the twee-washing has been both relentless and dangerous. Fundamentally, its advocates know they lack coherent ethical or practical arguments to counter the complex challenges posed by opponents. But they also know that we have in Parliament an emotive debate and a cohort of well-meaning but immature MPs, who may lack the time or inclination to delve deep into the opinions of legal scholars and palliative care experts, but do very much want to send something faintly comforting to a constituent whos written to them about a suffering relative. Twee is becoming our circuit override for having to think about things that are complicated, nuanced or painful. Dont worry about the big, bad world, heres Paddington. 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. With President-elect Donald Trump set to be sworn into office January 20, some social media users have claimed he is disqualified from holding public office again. In August 2023, two conservative law professors wrote an article arguing that Trump should be disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, known as the Insurrection Clause, for his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And the Colorado Supreme Court took up a case seeking to keep Trump off the ballot in that state. The Colorado court did rule Trump ineligible, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Colorados decision in December 2023. Laurence Tribe, a legal scholar and university professor emeritus at Harvard University, stated on social media that Trump is constitutionally disqualified from returning to the White House. Not that anyones going to do anything about it, but it might be good to remember that, as an adjudicated oath-breaking insurrectionist, Mr.Trump is constitutionally disqualified under Sec. 3 of 14th Am from taking the oath as president on 1/20/25 unless 2/3 of both houses lift the disqualification, he posted to Facebook, X, and Bluesky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Tribes statement acknowledges that Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, his claim that Trump is disqualified by the Constitution from taking the oath is false and missing context. Trump is not disqualified from holding public office again. There is no clear legal process to disqualify Trump, or any other officeholder-elect, under Section 3. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Tribe is correct that, if Trump were found to have engaged in insurrection or rebellion and subsequently disqualified under this section, he would be eligible to return to the presidency only if Congress removed the disqualification with a two-thirds vote in both chambers. But that would require Trump to have already been disqualified under the clausewhich is not the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In September 2023, six Colorado voters filed a lawsuit alleging Trumps actions on January 6, 2021, amounted to an insurrection and should render the former president disqualified under the 14th Amendment. A Colorado district court judge first ruled that, while Trump did engage in insurrection, he would not be disqualified from the states primary ballot because 1) it was not clear that officer of the United States applied to the president, and 2) the amendments text is not clear on how to disqualify an alleged violator. To be clear, Colorado District Court Judge Sarah Wallace wrote in her ruling, part of the Courts decision is its reluctance to embrace an interpretation which would disqualify a presidential candidate without a clear, unmistakable indication that such is the intent of Section Three. That decision was soon appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, which reversed the district courts ruling and ordered that Trump be removed from the GOP primary ballot. Colorados highest court agreed that Trumps actions on January 6, 2021, were insurrectionary, but argued the court has the authority to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The district court erred by concluding that Section Three does not apply to the President, the Colorado Supreme Court justices wrote in their 4-3 majority opinion. We conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court later rejected that legal reasoning upon appeal in Trump v. Anderson. In a unanimous decision issued in March 2024, the justices concluded that states could not independently enforce the 14th Amendments Disqualification Clause. Importantly, the Supreme Court did not determine whether Trump committed acts of insurrection, or whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is applicable to Trump or former presidents more broadlyonly that states lack the authority to make such a determination themselves. If states cannot enforce the Disqualification Clause, then who can? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to previous Dispatch coverage on the Supreme Courts ruling at the time: So who can enforce the amendment? That was not unanimous. A five-justice majority held that only Congress could disqualify a candidateand can do so only through legislation. Members of Congress could not, for example, disqualify him by refusing to certify election results. It also means that federal courts could not determine that Trump had engaged in an insurrection and disqualify him that way. In short, a majority of both the House and Senate would have to pass a lawwhich, lets be clear, is not going to happen. The other four justicescoincidentally, all the women on the courtwould have just decided that Colorado didnt have the authority to disqualify Trump and not answered the question about who else might be able to, as their two separate concurring opinions outline. A five-justice majority ruled that, because a process for disqualification under Section 3 is not outlined in constitutional text or federal law, it could be enforced only if Congress created a process to disqualify alleged violators of Section 3. Tribe told The Dispatch Fact Check that his social media statement builds on an article co-written with former U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Luttig that was published in The Atlantic 10 days after the Supreme Courts ruling in Trump v. Anderson. In the piece, Tribe and Luttig critiqued the Supreme Courts legal analysis in the case. But despite the pairs objections to the decision from the nations highest court, the ruling stands nonetheless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My tweet on Bluesky today builds on that piece but, given the length limits of the platform, obviously doesnt elaborate, Tribe told The Dispatch Fact Check. He explained further that he believed Trump to be an adjudicated oath-breaking insurrectionist because Colorados court system determined Trump engaged in insurrection on January 6, 2021, and that the Supreme Court merely ruled that states could not independently enforce the Disqualification Clause. Citing another statement he posted to BlueSky, though not Facebook or X, Tribe wrote: The Colorado courts, after a week-long trial at which Trump had every opportunity to present witnesses and to cross-examine his challengers, rendered that verdict. And SCOTUS merely held that a state cant remove a candidate from its primary on that basis, not that the verdict was flawed in any way. Because the U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on whether Trumps actions on January 6, 2021, were insurrectionarya question that Supreme Court justices did not examine in Trump v. AndersonTribe believes that Trump should be disqualified from holding office. Nonetheless, Tribes statement that Trump is constitutionally disqualified is false because there is no settled constitutional procedure to disqualify him. While there are avenues Congress could take toward disqualificationwhich itself would likely face a bevy of legal challenges and further court-wranglingno such avenues have been pursued, never mind established. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. Helping Mamas sent diapers and period products to Clinch Memorial Hospital after Hurricane Helene devastated the community in late September. Photo courtesy of Helping Mamas Clinch County had been without electricity and water for several days after Hurricane Helene tore through the state when a large van rolled up at the local hospital with a stockpile of diapers on board. The haul of baby supplies was in response to a call for help that Angela Handley, CEO of Clinch Memorial Hospital, put out on social media when it seemed to her that the rest of Georgia was unaware of how badly her community was struggling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plea for help had worked, triggering a groundswell of support and aid for a community just east of hard-hit Valdosta that Handley said had a long history of near-misses with storms and expected the same from Helene. Want to help? Helping Mamas greatest need right now is size 6 diapers. Drop-off locations in metro Atlanta can be found on the groups website, which also includes other ways to support them. Clinch Memorial Hospital is accepting gift cards that they can use to buy items for the pantry or to give to families to purchase protein. No one expected the hurricane to hit us, Handley said. So, I think everyone was just ill-prepared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the groups that stepped in was Helping Mamas, which is a Norcross-based nonprofit that serves as the states only baby supply bank and largest diaper bank. Living up to its name, Helping Mamas also dropped off period products to the storm-ravaged community. Handley said the supplies were a godsend for a community where some residents were already struggling before Helene. The period products were in such demand that the hospital rationed them out so everyone could have at least a seven-day supply. The devastation of the hurricane led to the hospital, which is a 25-bed facility, creating a permanent pantry for the community that includes food, diapers, period products and pet food. People dont realize when youre on a tight budget, there is hardly any room for error, Handley said. And then when you have a hurricane hit and the money you set aside for diapers and formula is now being spent on bottled water, going to get food or replacing food because your freezer and refrigerator did not have power for days, that can be a huge economic hit to those already living at the poverty level. A pile diaper boxes were delivered to Athens, which was one of nine communities that received disaster relief supplies from Helping Mamas after Hurricane Helene. Photo courtesy of Helping Mamas Helping Mamas founder and CEO Jamie Lackey said the nonprofit delivered more than 254,000 diapers, about 61,000 period products and more than 800 hygiene kits to residents in nine counties in the wake of Helene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think what the disaster did was really highlight this underlying problem that was already there. It was already a massive problem, and this just blew it up on such a larger scale, especially in these more rural areas, Lackey said. Lackey said many families, including middle-class households, were already struggling each day to access diapers and other essential items for their little ones. Thats why she said she started the nonprofit about a decade ago after seeing a gap in services, with no one else spearheading a coordinated effort to collect diapers, car seats, cribs and other baby items for families all across Georgia. A mother of two and a social worker, Lackey said she started gathering diapers and other infant supplies in the garage of her Snellville home. Now, the nonprofit runs a 9,000-square-foot warehouse in Norcross. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And Lackey said the need has only grown over time. Some parents have resorted to desperate options, using grocery bags or towels as makeshift diapers or trying to clean out and reuse disposable diapers. But others are left with difficult choices. Theyll choose diapers over food for their families, because they have to have the diapers so they can get child care to go to work, Lackey said. The things theyre giving up is unbelievable. And a lot of the families experience extreme isolation because they cant go anywhere if they dont have diapers for their children. And theyre having to stay at home, and theyre giving up family time, quality time, things outside of the home because they dont have access to diapers, or theyre putting everything they have financially into diapers, and they cant afford to go do anything else, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lackey said she has seen the price of diapers nearly double since the pandemic, with the cost of diapers costing about $50 per box and that is usually not enough to last an entire month. What we knew pre-pandemic is what we call the diaper gap was about 50 diapers a month. So what families were experiencing a shortage of was about 50 diapers per month. I think its much higher than that now, and we dont have the research for that just quite yet, she said. Helping Mamas is also part of the Georgia Diaper Bank Coalition, which includes three other diaper banks. That coalition is advocating for public funding to keep diaper banks stocked and ready to help and for the elimination of the sales tax on diapers. Is it going to be a massive reduction in their budget? Nope. But are they going to buy more diapers with it gone? Absolutely, Lackey said of the sales tax. To us, its more of just an acknowledgement that these diapers are essential and should not be taxed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents who are struggling to buy diapers are missing on average five days of work a month, which is about $300 of income for someone earning minimum wage, she said. This is an economic issue. It is a jobs issue for our state, Lackey said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A 25-year-old North Bend woman has been charged with felony hit-and-run after allegedly hitting a pedestrian and leaving the scene, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. Prosecutors are seeking $100,000 bail, citing concerns about her potential to interfere with court proceedings. The incident occurred early on the morning of Nov. 18, when police responded to a welfare check on Southeast Cedar Falls Way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They found a man lying on the sidewalk with critical head injuries, including a fractured skull. Medical personnel transported him to Harborview Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and was placed in intensive care. As of this writing, the man was still in ICU and in critical condition. At the scene, officers found car debris, including a side mirror, broken glass, and other parts scattered near a pool of blood on the sidewalk. Witnesses reported discovering the injured man but did not see the car involved. Later that morning, officers located a damaged car parked at a home in North Bend. It had extensive front-end damage, including a shattered passenger-side window and windshield, and matched the parts found at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A white garbage bag covered the broken passenger window, and the vehicle appeared to have been hidden from view behind another car. Police arrested the cars owner, Alejandra Pena Loza, who admitted to police hitting something while driving but claimed she thought it was a curb. She also admitted to using her cell phone while driving. Pena Loza stated that she had returned to the scene but left when she saw police cars. Prosecutors allege Pena Loza drove away after the collision and took steps to conceal the damage, raising concerns about her willingness to comply with court orders. The state is requesting bail set at $100,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pena Loza has no prior criminal convictions. Her driving record includes a 2019 speeding ticket for driving 24 mph over the limit. The felony charge against Pena Loza alleges she failed to stop, provide assistance to the injured victim, or report the accident as required by Washington law. The North Carolina Elections Board has certified the results from the November election. More than 5.7 million voters were counted, which was a 73% turnout. However, 10 races will be going to a recount. ALSO READ: Trump fills out his economic team with two veterans of his first administration That includes the race between Woodson Bradley and Stacie McGinn for the Mecklenburg County Senate seat and the Mecklenburg County House race between Tricia Cotham and Nicole Sidman. The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners and the Rowan Salisbury School Board seat five are also headed to a recount. VIDEO: What to know for Election Day in North Carolina North Carolinas voter ID law was put to the test for the first time in a presidential election this year even as it continues to be challenged in state and federal courts. Groups opposed to the requirement have long argued (and some courts have agreed) that the voter ID law could disenfranchise voters and disproportionately impact minority groups. Meanwhile, conservative groups have criticized the states voter ID law for being too lenient, as it allows voters to claim a number of exceptions to the requirement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Preliminary data from the 2024 election gives some insight into the impact of the law. What do the numbers show? All voters who did not provide photo identification were subjected to an extra step in the vote-counting process. Their ballots were researched by bipartisan county boards of elections before being counted or rejected. These voters had two options to make their vote count: fill out an ID exception form explaining why they couldnt provide identification or come to their county board of elections office later and present a valid ID. Nearly 7,000 voters cast ballots after being unable to provide an ID at the polls or with their mail-in ballot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of those, more than 2,000 were ultimately rejected. In most cases, the rejected ballots likely came from voters who did not fill out an exception form and neglected to present an ID in person later. Of the ballots rejected for ID reasons, roughly 42% came from registered Democrats. About 30% came from unaffiliated voters and 25% came from registered Republicans. Over 5.7 million North Carolinians cast a ballot in this years election. While the data shows how many ballots were thrown out for not complying with voter ID, there is no way to know how many potential voters did not attempt to vote because they did not have a voter ID. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a federal trial challenging the requirement, an expert witness for the NAACP estimated that over 100,000 voters were deterred from voting due to the voter ID requirement in the 2016 primary election, when the law was briefly in effect. Provisional ballots The ballots from voters without ID are considered provisional ballots, which have to be verified after Election Day. More than 65,000 provisional ballots were cast in the election by voters who lacked ID, showed up at the wrong polling place, or were questioned from some other reason. More than 60% of those were thrown out. The most common reason North Carolinians had their provisional ballots rejected was that they were not actually registered to vote. This accounted for about 72% of all provisional ballots that were thrown out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ID-related ballots, however, only accounted for about 5% of all rejections. The voter ID requirement wasnt the only change to North Carolinas election law that led to some votes being thrown out. In previous elections, absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day would still be counted if they arrived within three days after the election. Last year, state lawmakers eliminated that grace period and set Election Day as the deadline for all absentee ballots to be received. County boards of elections havent fully completed this years historical record for absentee ballots yet, but preliminary data shows that at least 1,700 were rejected that would have been counted under the previous grace period. Whats next for voter ID? The states voter ID requirement has been challenged in court for years and continues to face legal challenges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state Supreme Court struck down the law in 2022, when it still had a Democratic majority, with Justice Anita Earls writing even though the General Assembly had reason to know that African-American voters would be disproportionately affected by (the law), it still chose to pass a law that required the specific IDs African-American voters disproportionately lack. However, just a few months later, Republicans gained a majority on the high court after the 2022 midterms. The new court reversed that decision in April of 2023, allowing voter ID to go into effect. While the states courts have upheld the requirement, a federal case remains in progress. The NAACP sued over North Carolinas voter ID law in 2018. After years of delays, the case finally went to trial in May of this year. U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs, who has temporarily blocked the law before, has not issued a ruling in the case. NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) A North Haven roofing business is donating its time to help a charity in need. Together with some other businesses, Skyway Roofing is making sure a nonprofit in Avon is not saddled with debt. Everyone needs a roof over their head. So, the free roof installed Wednesday morning was a welcome Thanksgiving present, even though the residents may not know how to give their thanks. Nyberg: Therapy horse gets special recognition for her service Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recipient was U.S. Horse Welfare and Rescue. Susan Mitchell started it in 2013 after she saw images of horses being sent to slaughter. You see these pictures of these amazing, amazing horses that are standing in a slaughter lot that are going to be shipped to Mexico or Canada and go through a horrible death, and how do you not take them when you can? Mitchell said. The group has 15 horses now, many from private owners who simply couldnt afford to keep and feed them. Two weeks ago, Mitchell put on Facebook that two of her small barns needed new roofs. Her friend Andrea Rodnick-Case saw that post late on a Friday night. I see a post that theyre looking for a roofing company to donate their time, Rodnick-Case said. I have friends who own Skyway Roofing out of North Haven, and I jumped on the opportunity and I tagged Debbie Mahon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The domestic abuse survivor behind Desmonds Army And I immediately thought wow, this is us, were going to do it, said Mahon, the owner of Skyway Roofing. We like to donate our services at least once a year. So do some companies with whom Skyway works- ABC Supply out of West Haven donated the roof shingles, AJ Waste in Cheshire donated a dumpster for the old roofs, and Skyway donated the labor. I love animals. Cats are my thing, but the horse, whenever I hear of any animal that needs help, or animal groups, Im in there helping them, Mahon said. I think that the timing couldnt be any better. Its Thanksgiving and we all have a lot to be thankful for, Rodnick-Case said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Horse Welfare & Rescue is in the middle of a fundraiser to pay for hay for the winter, and it has an event coming up for the holiday season. Visit their website for more information. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. North Korea is expanding a weapons plant that manufactures missiles used by Russia against Ukraine, according to new research from a US-based think tank. The facility produces both KN-23 missiles (Hwasong-11A) and KN-24 missiles (Hwasong-11B), according to researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Located in the countrys second-largest city, Hamhung, the factory has been visited several times by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with North Korean state media previously touting its mass-production of tactical missiles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine has been hit by a recent surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which used North Korean weapons, according to Ukrainian military officials. Moscow and Pyongyang have also deepened their military ties to a level unseen since the Cold War, including agreeing to a mutual defense pact earlier this year and sending North Korean troops to help fight against Ukraine according to Western and South Korean officials. Now, new satellite images indicate North Korea is expanding the Hamhung facility and building what appears to be a second building for the final assembly of missiles, as well as additional housing for workers. It seems like this is an attempt to increase the throughput on that production line that theyve established, Sam Lair, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lair said researchers have seen a lot of expansion at the facility, which is called the February 11 plant by North Korean authorities, in the last few years alone. The size of the plant started to increase in 2020, and it has since undergone routine improvements like repairing old buildings and replacing roofs, he said. But the new building, likely intended for missile assembly, indicates that theyre not just improving an element of the production line, but rather, theyre trying to expand it. North Korea also appears to be scaling up the size of the workforce at the facility, Lair told CNN, based on his analysis of the images taken in October by satellite firm Planet Labs. Satellite images indicate North Korea is building what appears to be a second building for the final assembly of missiles at the weapons factory in Hamhung. - Planet Labs PBC/James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Satellite images taken in October by Planet Labs show foundations are being laid for additional housing near the missile plant. - Planet Labs PBC/James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Just outside the security perimeter of the factory, we see what appear to be new apartment buildings going up, he said. We can see the foundations in satellite imagery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new missile assembly building is roughly 60% to 70% as large as the original building, Lair estimates. State media footage from KCNA shows Kim Jong Un touring the plant in August 2023, showing off tail kits being added to Hwasong-11 class missiles, nozzles being fitted and nose cones capping off the short-range ballistic missiles, according to researchers. But that footage has since been removed from state media websites. The factory is part of the Ryongsong Machine Complex, which also manufactures goods like multiple rocket launcher shells for the North Korean military, Lair said. Attacks on Ukraine with KN-23 missiles Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles (Hwasong-11A) at Ukraine this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And strikes using North Korean missiles have killed at least 28 people and injured 213 this year, the Ukrainian prosecutor general told CNN last week. CNN has previously reported on the apparent extent of US- and European-made or designed circuitry in the guidance systems of KN-23 missiles, which North Korea obtains despite sanctions. Crucial components used in the missiles are produced by nine Western manufacturers, including companies based in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, according to a recent report by Ukraines Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), a civil society organization. Moscow and Pyongyang have both previously denied that North Korea has exported weapons to Russia, despite significant evidence of such transfers. Meanwhile, observers have raised concerns that Moscow may be violating international sanctions to aid Pyongyangs development of its military satellite program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In June, the two autocratic nations signed a new landmark defense pact, pledging to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event the other is attacked. Western officials have also warned that thousands of North Korean troops have joined Moscows forces in its attempt to seize back the Kursk region that was taken by Kyivs military in a surprise offensive earlier this year. CNNs Helen Regan, Daria Tarasova-Markina, Nick Paton Walsh and Victoria Butenko contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The United States has information that North Korea is preparing additional supplies of ballistic missiles to Russia, as well as long-range self-propelled artillery and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). In this regard, the United States is calling on China to affect North Korea to prevent an escalation of the conflict. Source: US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood at a meeting of the UN Security Council, as reported by European Pravda Details: Speaking about military aid for Russia, Wood said that last year, Russia received more than 18,000 containers of ammunition and related equipment from North Korea and "more than 100 ballistic missiles" that were used to attack Ukrainian cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote from Robert Wood: "The DPRK is preparing to transfer even more ballistic missiles. We also have information that a large number of DPRK-origin 170-millimeter long-range self-propelled artillery pieces and 240-millimeter long-range multiple rocket launchers are being introduced into the conflict." The US Deputy Ambassador reports that Russia has provided Pyongyang with air defence systems, fuel, technology, and dual-use equipment in exchange for military aid. Quote from Robert Wood: "On this we note that China has influence and capacity when it comes to the DPRK, and it is urgent it use this influence to prevent a further escalation of the conflict." North Korea and Russia intensified their cooperation after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The countries signed an agreement that obliges each party to provide immediate military aid to the other in the event of armed aggression against one of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: In recent months, there have been confirmed reports that North Korea has sent artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Russia and, more recently, its troops to fight against Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! North Korean forces are "actively supporting" Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Nov. 27. Umerov did not specify how Pyongyang aids Russian strikes on energy facilities. Throughout the all-out war, North Korea has become Moscow's leading supplier of ballistic missiles and artillery shells. Russia carried out a massive campaign of aerial attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure over the spring, similar to the one launched during the fall and winter of 2022-23. Officials have warned that Russia may continue targeting the energy grid as winter approaches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian minister arrived in South Korea earlier on Nov. 27 and discussed "joint steps to enhance security and stability" with the country's President Yoon Suk Yeol. Umerov also met with National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Pyongyang is believed to have dispatched over 10,000 troops to aid Russia's war, with the first clashes with Ukrainian forces reported in Kursk Oblast. "For the Republic of Korea, these actions pose a serious threat, as North Korean troops are gaining combat experience, which could present additional security challenges in the region in the future," Umerov said. Experts told the Kyiv Independent that a rapid supply of arms to Ukraine is unlikely due to South Korea's legal contains on providing weapons to a combat zone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A South Korean official recently said that direct supplies of 155 mm ammunition are not on the table, with Yoon commenting that Seoul is currently looking at the possibility of providing "defensive weapons," without providing details. Read also: South Korean president meets Ukraines delegation to discuss Moscow-Pyongyang ties Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) North Myrtle Beachs assistant city manager may soon be stepping into the lead role temporarily as officials continue their search for a long-term administrator. A resolution included on Mondays city council agenda recommends increasing Ryan Fabbris salary and retirement benefits retroactively to Sept. 19, when he started serving as acting city manager to replace Mike Mahaney. If approved, the move would bump Fabbris salary to $200,000. He spent nearly nine years as town administrator for Pawleys Island, joining North Myrtle Beach as assistant city manager in February 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city council last month voted 5-2 to ties with Mahaney, agreeing to a nearly $320,000 severance package. Mahaney, who was hired in 2010, was voted out of his position in September over claims that he failed to pursue hiring a grants coordinator despite multiple requests by the city council to do so. * * * 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CHICAGO Three businesses were hit during an overnight burglary spree on the Northwest Side. Zymi Bakery owner Ioannis Tasopoulos was left speechless when his employee called early Tuesday morning to tell him the shop had been broken into. Security cameras captured at least two suspects making their way inside. They broke the screen with the cameras, the register, the register open. They got away with $40, Tasopoulos said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 10 years ago, Tasopoulos immigrated to the United States with the dream of starting his own business. For the last three years, he has been selling Greek pastries and European style cakes at Zymi Bakery on Milwaukee Avenue, located on the Northwest Side of Chicago. West suburban restaurant owner dies after being struck by car in Oswego, police confirm He told WGN News he never though his bakery would become a target. I felt, like, empty you know? Its like they steal your house, Tasopoulos said. Tasopoulos was relieved no one was working when the burglars broke in after 3:30 a.m. with their faces and heads covered. One of the suspects appeared to be holding a hammer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maybe we need more protection from the police because it happened to more businesses. The guy next door, a few stores down the street, he said. Chicago police said a group of unknown suspects shattered the front glass doors at two neighboring businesses, Zymi Bakery and Phils Pizza Doro, sometime before 4 a.m. Tuesday. Another break-in with similar damage was reported about a mile and a half away at Rexs Tavern. Tasopoulos mentioned other businesses along Milwaukee Avenue have been frequently hit in recent months. He said its an unsettling feeling not knowing if burglars will strike again or who will be next. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines I spend most of my time every day here, so its difficult, Tasopoulos said. While the suspects only got away with $40, Tasopoulos said they caused about $1,000 worth in damage. No arrests have been made. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26ROCHESTER A Rochester man is charged with burglary and indecent exposure after entering a home in southwest Rochester on Monday night. According to a release from the Rochester Police Department, officers responded to a burglary complaint before 8 p.m. on Nov. 25 in the 2000 block of Woodcrest Lane SW. A 29-year-old naked man entered an unlocked home and told the people living there that he needed to use the bathroom, the release said. A neighbor told police that the man attempted to enter their home earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "He was not making sense and appeared to be high," the release said. The release said police found the man's truck on top of the guard rail near the intersection of 20th Street Southwest and Edgewood Court Southwest. The man was transported to the emergency department for evaluation and later brought to jail. He is charged with first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling, DWI and indecent exposure. Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area. After World War II, Nuremberg, Germany, was the site of trials of Nazi officials charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg trials were landmarks in the development of international law. But one of them has also been applied in peacetime: the Medical Trial, which has helped to shape bioethics ever since. Twenty Nazi physicians and three administrators were tried for committing lethal and torturous human experimentation, including freezing prisoners in ice water and subjecting them to simulated high-altitude experiments. Other Nazi experiments included infecting prisoners with malaria, typhus and poisons and subjecting them to mustard gas and sterilization. These criminal experiments were conducted mostly in the concentration camps and often ended in the death of the subjects. Lead prosecutor Telford Taylor, an American lawyer and general in the U.S. Army, argued that such deadly experiments were more accurately classified as murder and torture than anything related to the practice of medicine. A review of the evidence, including physician expert witnesses and testimony from camp survivors, led the judges to agree. The verdicts were handed down on Aug. 20, 1947. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of their judgment, the American judges drafted what has become known as The Nuremberg Code, which set forth key requirements for ethical treatment and medical research. The code has been widely recognized for, among other things, being the first major articulation of the doctrine of informed consent. Yet its guidelines may not be enough to protect humans against new potentially species-endangering research today. 10 key values The code consists of 10 principles that the judges ruled must be followed as both a matter of medical ethics and a matter of international human rights law. The first and most famous sentence stands out: The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. In addition to voluntary and informed consent, the code also requires that subjects have a right to withdraw from an experiment at any time. The other provisions are designed to protect the health of the subjects, including that the research must be done only by a qualified investigator, follow sound science, be based on preliminary research on animals and ensure adequate health and safety protection of subjects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trials prosecutors, physicians and judges formulated the code by working together. As they did, they also set the early agenda for a new field: bioethics. The guidelines also describe a scientist-subject relationship that obligates researchers to do more than act in what they think is the best interests of subjects, but to respect the subjects human rights and protect their welfare. These rules essentially replace the paternalistic model of the Hippocratic oath with a human rights approach. Four Polish women, including survivors of human experiments at concentration camps, arrive to serve as witnesses for the prosecution at the Doctors Trial. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum via Wikimedia Commons Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been the commanding general in Europe, the U.S. Department of Defense adopted the codes principles in 1953 one sign of its influence. Its fundamental consent principle is also summarized in the U.N.s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which declares that no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation. Yet some physicians tried to distance themselves from the Nuremberg Code because its source was judicial rather than medical, and because they did not want to be linked in any way to the Nazi physicians on trial at Nuremberg. The World Medical Association, a physicians group set up after the Nuremberg Doctors Trial, formulated its own set of ethical guidelines, named the Helsinki Declaration. As with Hippocrates, Helsinki permitted exceptions to informed consent, such as when the physician-researcher thought that silence was in the best medical interest of the subject. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nuremberg Code was written by judges to be applied in the courtroom. Helinski was written by physicians for physicians. There have been no subsequent international trials on human experimentation since Nuremberg, even in the International Criminal Court, so the text of the Nuremberg Code remains unchanged. New research, new procedures? The code has been a major focus of my work on health law and bioethics, and I spoke in Nuremberg on its 50th and 75th anniversaries, at conferences sponsored by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Both events celebrated the Nuremberg Code as a human rights proclamation. Jadwiga Kaminska, who survived Ravensbruck concentration camp, testifies about the experimental operations she was forced to undergo there. Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.) via Wikimedia Commons I remain a strong supporter of the Nuremberg Code and believe that following its precepts is both an ethical and a legal obligation of physician researchers. Yet the public cant expect Nuremberg to protect it against all types of scientific research or weapons development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soon after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki two years before the Nuremberg trials began it became evident that our species was capable of destroying ourselves. Nuclear weapons are only one example. Most recently, international debate has focused on new potential pandemics, but also on gain-of-function research, which sometimes adds lethality to an existing bacteria or virus to make it more dangerous. The goal is not to harm humans but rather to try to develop a protective countermeasure. The danger, of course, is that a super harmful agent escapes from the laboratory before such a countermeasure can be developed. I agree with the critics who argue that at least some gain-of-function research is so dangerous to our species that it should be outlawed altogether. Innovations in artificial intelligence and climate engineering could also pose lethal dangers to all humans, not just some humans. Our next question is who gets to decide whether species-endangering research should be done, and on what basis? I believe that species-endangering research should require multinational, democratic debate and approval. Such a mechanism would be one way to make the survival of our own endangered species more likely and ensure we are able to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nuremberg Code. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: George J Annas, Boston University Read more: George J Annas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The Central Illinois Ballet is giving a traditional production a new look. For the first time the company is adding new set pieces, costumes, and choreography to its annual production of The Nutcracker. The Artistic Director said the production is expected to feature three to four new set pieces. The show has been performed at the Central Illinois Ballet for over a decade, and it is one of the biggest highlights of the year. Jessie Williams, the artistic director, said audience members love The Nutcracker, but most dancers have already been in the production. For Williams, this would be her eighth show, which can get a bit stale. That is why she is excited to give the show new life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williams said, I have always dreamed of re-choreographing some of the most iconic pieces, my favorite being the Snow Scene and Waltz of the Flowers. So being able to take that vision that I had when I was a little girl and being able to bring it to life as a professional. Michaels The Nutcracker-inspired holiday decor is dreamy Cast members range in age; from as young as two years old up to eighty years old. Williams says that everyone was welcome in the production and that many of its cast come with little dancing experience. Some cast members took classes to brush up on their skills and learn some new ones, but the classes were not required. The Nutcracker will premiere at the beginning of December on the Illinois Central College stage in East Peoria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Check out the Central Illinois Ballet website for tickets. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW YORK (PIX11) New York City is looking to fill many positions with starting salaries over $100,000. Some positions on the careers website may require a civil service exam. To learn how to take a civil service exam in New York City, click here. No civil service exam is required for the following positions. More Local News The Department for the Aging is seeking a program director for Silver Corps, an AmeriCorps program that offers older adults a chance to develop new skills, continue their careers, and give back to their communities. Job duties include building partnerships with employers, and supervising and mentoring a team of five staff members and other support staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The position is based in Manhattan and offers a salary range of $110,000 $135,000. Applicants should have a bachelors degree and five years of full-time experience in social services, community relations, and/or public administration or management. NYC hiring: High-paying jobs with starting salaries at $150K The Teachers Retirement System of the City of New York is hiring a Deputy Director of Budget. Job duties include directing and overseeing budget staff, reviewing and approving the annual agency budget, and forecasting future budgetary needs for planning and resource allocation. The position is based in Manhattan and offers a salary of $110,111 $140,000. Applicants should have a bachelors degree including 12 credits in mathematics, statistics, accounting, or actuarial science, and four years of full-time experience implementing the provisions of a retirement plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NYC hiring fair offers jobs with salaries starting at $73K The Department of Homeless Services is seeking a program administrator for the Division of Family Services. Job duties include providing technical assistance to shelter providers and conducting high-level conferences with shelter leadership and families. The position is based in Manhattan and offers a salary of $111,127 $125,000. Applicants should have a bachelors degree and four years of experience in a large governmental agency, business firm, or civic or community organization operating in social services, including one year at an administrative or managerial level. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW YORK (PIX11) A Bronx woman has officially been charged with reportedly stealing more than $350,000 from a 100-year-old man, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday. Rosalind Hernandez served as the victims Power of Attorney from July 2023 to June 2024. More Local News During this time, she wrote over $450,000 in checks to two unknown individuals. She also purchased lingerie, clothing, haircuts, and an entrepreneurship training program subscription for herself and her niece. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hernandez also funded her Lyft account with the victims money, spending over $900 worth of trips from her account. Rosalind Hernandez allegedly stole over $350,000 from a 100-year-old man who entrusted her with his Power of Attorney. The victim relied on Ms. Hernandez for help, yet after she befriended him, she allegedly broke his trust and stole his hard-earned money for her personal greed, said District Attorney Bragg. Prosecutors say Hermadez befriended the 100-year-old man when she was employed as the building supervisor in an apartment building in Chelsea. As the man became weaker and frail, she suggested that the victim give her his Power of Attorney. The victim agreed. In the summer of 2023, the victim fell and was seriously injured, with little chance of recovery, officials said. The victim entrusted Hernandez to sell his apartment and handle his affairs in exchange for $100,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, she went on a spending spree using the victims debit and credit cards to make numerous personal transactions. Hernadez spending habits were discovered when the victim recovered from his injuries and returned to New York after visiting his family. He was able to regain access to his financial accounts. Hernandez faces one count of grand larceny in the second degree and one in the third. If you or someone else is a victim of elder abuse, contact the Elder Abuse Unit at 212-335-9007 or email EAU@dany.nyc.gov, the Manhattan District Attorneys office said. Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. New York City will not claw back funding from local public schools that enrolled fewer students than expected this fall. As our schools continue to serve our students, our top priority is to ensure that every school leader has the resources and supports to carry out their schools mission and put our children on a path to lifelong success, Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a statement Wednesday. I am proud that in direct response to feedback from our school communities, schools will not only receive funding, but also personalized supports designed to help them make the most of this funding, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The policy, known as hold harmless, started during the pandemic with federal stimulus dollars to stabilize school budgets. But as principals introduced new programs and hired additional staff, Mayor Adams has been under pressure continue funding schools at the same levels. Adams tried to end the temporary measure early on in his tenure in 2022. But the move spurred a summer of political pain for the mayor, who faced criticism from advocates, backlash from the City Council that had approved the education spending plan, and even a lawsuit that ultimately upheld school budget cuts on appeal. Last school year, the city cut the budgets of schools with lower-than-projected enrollments for the first time in four years. The city largely allots school budgets based on a per-pupil formula. If adjustments had proceeded as planned this year, about half of schools would have lost funding midyear totaling $157 million, according to a press release. Instead, principals will get to hold onto those dollars for their schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following the standard budget process, the other roughly half of schools enrolled more students than projected and, as a result, will receive additional dollars. In total, $146 million is on its way to those schools, the release said. Overall, the number of students in the nations largest school district slipped this fall by just 0.1%, the second consecutive year the system was spared dramatic enrollment declines that were exacerbated during the pandemic, education officials announced earlier this month. Last week, Adams restored two police classes and invested in cash and rental assistance programs, citing savings on migrant spending and better-than expected tax revenue. The Council has repeatedly questioned the need for the administrations cuts. The proposed sale of The Observer to a loss-making start-up must be paused to protect Britains fragile liberal journalism, former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has said. Mr Rusbridger, who was editor-in-chief of The Guardian from 1995 to 2015, is one of six former editors to warn that the deal would result in The Observer being cast off to an uncertain future. His warning comes as The Guardian prepares to offload The Observer to Tortoise Media, a loss-making start-up run by former BBC News director James Harding, in a move it argues will safeguard the Sunday titles long-term future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a letter to The Guardians owner, the Scott Trust, the six editors wrote: We are concerned to read of the widespread disquiet among Guardian and Observer journalists over the proposal essentially to give the paper to Tortoise Media, an enterprising but small start-up led by James Harding. We admire James and the work Tortoise has done, especially in podcasting, but note that his company has never, in six years, made a profit. The letter from former editors points out that James Hardings Tortoise Media has never, in six years, made a profit - Oli Scarff/AFP They branded the proposed sale a gamble, a throw of the dice, for a title which started publishing in 1791. In the letter, the editors called for a pause in negotiations to allow for a frank and open discussion about how The Observers future could be protected without a sale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Should these talks fail, they suggested a go shop period of up to three months during which the Scott Trust could seek out alternative buyers. The letter was also signed by former Observer editors Roger Alton, Jonathan Fenby and John Mulholland. Paul Webster, who stepped down as editor of The Observer earlier this month, and Will Hutton, a senior Observer columnist, were also signatories. The letter will pile fresh pressure on bosses to scrap the sale to Tortoise amid an escalating revolt by staff members, press freedom groups and high-profile cultural figures. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has branded the sale a betrayal and staff will stage a 48-hour walkout next week. Former Observer editor Roger Alton is among the signatories - Yui Mok/PA The board of the Scott Trust, the 1.3bn endowment that owns both the Guardian and the Observer, had been due to vote on the deal on Monday but opted to delay its decision amid a growing backlash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group (GMG), has warned that the status quo cannot continue and that difficult decisions will have to be made if the sale does not go ahead. But the former editors cast doubts on these claims, pointing to the 3.4m net contribution made by The Observer last year. They acknowledged that this figure did not include shared costs, which would push the title into the red, but added: We see no crisis that could possibly justify a rushed sale. Mr Harding, who is a former editor of The Times, has pledged to invest 25m into The Observer over five years. He has also vowed to retain all 70 Observer staff members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, staff have raised concerns about the viability of the newspaper under the ownership of a loss-making start-up rather than a 1.3bn fund. Two prospective suitors have already written to The Guardian board to express an interest in tabling a bid. However, the newspaper is restricted from engaging with the approaches while its period of exclusive negotiations with Tortoise is ongoing. The Scott Trust bought The Observer in 1993 in a deal widely considered to have saved the Sunday title. In 2009, Mr Rusbridger considered selling off The Observer or turning it into a weekly magazine, but ultimately decided to retain it in a slimmed-down format. The editors added: The cause of liberal journalism is a fragile one, in Britain and beyond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We urge that the Scott Trust should act with a great sense of its duty of stewardship towards a title which has such a magnificent and storied history. A Scott Trust spokesman said: We recognise the strength of feeling about the proposed sale of The Observer. Our priority is to serve our readers, protect jobs and support our staff so that The Guardian and The Observer can continue to promote liberal journalism and thrive in a challenging media environment. We want to preserve The Observers 233-year legacy and we are continuing to progress the talks to ensure the proposed agreement is the best it can be for staff, readers and the future of liberal journalism. 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 occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts have been left without electricity due to damage to the power grid, as reported by collaborators Yevhen Balytskyi and Volodymyr Saldo, the so-called governors of the oblasts. Source: Balytskyi and Saldo on Telegram Details: Balytskyi said that the power supply had been cut off throughout the "entire region" [the entire occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast ed.]. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Volodymyr Saldo, the so-called governor of Kherson Oblast, the failure occurred on the Dzhankoy-Melitopol line at 05:00. As a result, 137,000 people in 172 towns and villages in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast were left without electricity. Saldo maintains that the power supply has already been restored in two districts. The Russians collaborators did not name the cause of the power line failure. Why this matters: Ukraine is currently experiencing blackouts as Russian troops are targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Support UP or become our patron! Editors Note: The video above first aired on November 20, 2024. ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Odessa City Council got to work at the first City Council meeting since the three new members and Mayor, were sworn in; That work included a vote to authorize the removal of former City Manager John Beckmeyers contract, and the hiring of an interim City manager. On November 12, during the City Council meeting, Beckmeyer resigned and expected a payment of $700,000. The next day, however, a judge signed a temporary restraining order that blocked the payment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the Tuesday, November 26 meeting, City Council members and the newly elected Mayor, Cal Hendrick, voted to reject and terminate the contracts of John Beckmeyer. The notion to reject the contract of Beckmeyer was made by Steve Thompson. Greg Connell of District 4 was the only Council member to vote against the notion. Odessa City Council also named former City manager Richard Morton, as interim City manager during Tuesdays City Council meeting. He is planned to start Monday, December 2, according to city officials. At-large City Council member, Craig Stoker, released a statement via Facebook about the progress made at Tuesdays meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am very encouraged by the progress we made last night, but Ive also spotted a few tremendous hurdles well have to face. I am glad to have someone with Mr. Mortons knowledge of our city to help guide the process. Im also excited that he said no projects or wish list items should be placed on hold, so lets get to work! To read more from Stoker, click here. Other agenda items that were covered in the City Council meeting included the approval for Odessa Fire Rescue to purchase 35 sets of bunker gear for the suppression staff, passing a notion for the bid of North Dixie Blvd pavement reconstruction from Walnut Avenue to East 46th Street, and considering the purchase of several trucks and equipment for the Solid Waste Division. To learn more about the agenda items, visit this article, or go to the Citys website, and to watch the meeting in its entirety, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio (WJW) An off-duty firefighter who was on his way to work discovered a house fire early Wednesday morning, prompting an emergency response from multiple fire departments. Around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, the firefighter spotted the flames at a home on Miles Road near Solon Road in Chagrin Falls. Winter Storm Watch: Timing He immediately called in the fire and rushed to check the house for any residents, according to Chagrin Falls Fire Chief Frank Zugan. Courtesy: Chagrin Falls Fire Department Courtesy: Chagrin Falls Fire Department No one was in the home. Fire crews later learned the family had left before the fire broke out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When ODOT expects the roads to get dicey Firefighters believe the fire originated from the homes fireplace, located on the first floor, though the exact cause remains under investigation. A total of 40 firefighters responded to the scene. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. A custom-designed program thats thought to be the first-of-its-kind in the nation to pique the interest of high school students to consider c WACO, Texas (FOX 44) An officer-involved shooting in Waco has resulted in a vehicle crash and the arrest of one man. The Waco Police Department received a call after 1 p.m. Tuesday regarding a suspicious vehicle near the 1800 Block of N. Valley Mills Drive. As officers approached the vehicle, the driver drove toward them, when a Waco PD officer fired one round from their duty-issued firearm, which did not strike anyone. Police say the driver left and a pursuit began. Once the suspect started driving recklessly, the pursuit was terminated. Officers discovered the vehicle later crashed at N. Valley Mills Drive and Lake Air Drive, where the suspect was taken into custody. Jarvis Richardson. Former Catholic priest denied bond reduction Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspect has been identified as Jarvis Richardson, who has been charged with Evading and Failure to Stop and Render Aid. No major injuries were reported. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. When a 6-year-old boy went missing from his West Chester Township apartment, it shocked the community and prompted hundreds of volunteers to band together with first responders to find him. More than 24 hours later, searchers located Joshua Al-Lateef Jr. dead in a pond near the apartment building where he lived. The Butler County Coroners Office preliminarily ruled his death an accidental drowning. The family reported to 911 that Joshua, who was on the autism spectrum, had an affinity for water a common trait in children with autism, with accidental drowning among the leading causes of death for people with the disorder. Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., 6, went missing in West Chester Township. He was later found dead in a pond near his apartment building. West Chester Township spokesperson Barb Wilson said in a statement that the investigation into the drowning is nearly finished and there are no pending criminal charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First responders immediately searched the areas around the apartment, including the perimeters and surfaces of ponds on the property. They didn't find signs the boy had gone into the water, Wilson said. The townships emergency personnel are all trained in water rescue, she added, although other agencies typically provide dive teams for recovery efforts. More: Could a faster alert have saved 6-year-old boy with autism? His family says it might have She said that as far back as 2021, there have been no reports of children falling into any of the eight retention ponds at the Lakefront apartment complex. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This was a tragic situation and we had all hoped for a better outcome, Wilson said. Like the hundreds who came out to volunteer, the hundreds of professional search and rescue teams made every effort to find Joshua alive, before resorting to searching the deep waters of the ponds. What liability exists for owners of property with water on it? In a more than 20-year-old case involving a mother and son who drowned in a neighbor's swimming pool, the Ohio Supreme Court found that children, specifically those trespassing on someone elses property, are entitled to a greater level of protection than adults are. The courts ruling established a duty of property owners to protect children from dangerous artificial conditions that might attract a child who doesnt recognize the potential danger. However, the court found landowners must only act with ordinary care to prevent such harm and owners are not automatically liable for any injury a child suffers on their property. Rescue teams scour a pond at Lakefront at West Chester. Lakefront is an apartment complex from where 6-year-old Joshua Al-Lateef Jr. went missing. Despite our societal changes, children are still children, the ruling states. They still learn through their curiosity. They still have developing senses of judgment. They still do not always appreciate danger. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a 2019 law bulletin from the Ohio State University, courts have generally found that ponds arent inherently dangerous conditions on a property. There are exceptions, however, such as if a landowner created a perilous situation on their property or didnt take steps to protect children from danger. Property owners can do several things to reduce danger and limit their liability, the bulletin states, including: Routinely inspecting ponds for possibly dangerous conditions. Installing fencing or other barriers to prevent children from accessing the water. Locating ponds near lighting and as far as possible from neighbors, public streets and paths. Posting written and visual signs warning visitors of a ponds depth and any other dangers. Installing lifesaving equipment near ponds. Educating neighbors and visitors about ponds and their dangers. What are the rules for retention ponds? Butler County Development Director David Fehr said retention ponds, like the one Joshua drowned in, are one of two ways the county allows developers to manage stormwater runoff from their properties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a popular choice among developers to use retention ponds as theyre a more aesthetically pleasing option, Fehr said. The county requires landowners to put up fencing around in-ground swimming pools, but there are no such regulations for retention ponds. While some argue there should be rules on putting fencing around these ponds, a fence could prove to be a hindrance for first responders trying to get equipment and personnel into the water, Fehr said. Its obviously a very tragic situation, Fehr said of Joshuas drowning, but putting up fences may not necessarily be the perfect cure for that. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: No charges in West Chester boy's drowning. What Ohio law says on ponds TOPEKA (KSNT) There have been 1,217 reported UFO sightings in Kansas since 1995, according to the National UFO Reporting Center. Kansas was ranked 35th in the nation for the number of sightings. Of those observations, 46 included media in the form of photos or video. California took the top spot with 16,519. Observers have reported an assortment of strange shapes in the sky such as spheres, cylinders, chevrons, diamonds, discs, cigars, teardrops and more. Topeka had the second highest number of reported UFO sightings with 72 reports made. Wichita had the most reported sightings with 159. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other sightings in cities around the Sunflower State included: Olathe: 54 sightings. Lawrence (tie): 53 sightings. Overland Park (tie) 53 sightings. Kansas City 50 sightings. Leavenworth 23 sightings. Lenexa (tie) 22 sightings. Salina (tie) 22 sightings. Shawnee 21 sightings. Kansas developer to receive $4.9b loan for Grain Belt Express transmission line The Pentagon has recently said that most sightings can be attributed to balloons, drones, and other regular objects. The Pentagon notes that many objects lack a sufficient explanation. Earlier this month lawmakers in the House of Representatives held a hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (aka. UFOs). Much of the testimony rehashed previous claims about secret programs with an emphasis on national security, the need for scientific research without stigma and concerns about why information is being kept from both the public and Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the hearing, Pentagon insider Luis Elizondo accused a small group of government insiders of keeping the truth about UAPs from the public. Former NASA administrator Michael Gold pushed back against stigma about UAPs, noting that it discourages scientific efforts to determine what is happening. Evergy executive departs, selling $3m in stock Those who believe theyve seen something otherworldly can report it to the National UFO Reporting Center. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN) The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife announced that deer hunters can donate some meat to food banks. According to a press release, hunters who harvest a deer and would like to donate venison can bring it to one of 34 certified deer processing shops in Ohio. This is due to a partnership between ODNR and Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH). The agency said one deer has 50 pounds of venison, which equals about 200 meals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The partnership, a result of a $30,000 grant from the Division of Wildlife, allows FHFH and participating processors to donate harvested white-tailed deer to charitable organizations throughout Ohio. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill to prohibit transgender Ohioans from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity, his office said Wednesday. The new law will require K-12 and college students at public and private schools to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex assigned at birth. It also bans multi-occupancy gender neutral restrooms and prevents transgender students from sharing overnight accommodations with peers of the same gender. The measure was folded into Senate Bill 104, which will update a state college credit program. Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, thanked DeWine on X Wednesday morning for approving the legislation, two hours before the governor's office announced his decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Common sense is on a winning streak in America today," Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer said in a statement. "No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio's kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine's decision to sign this bill." The restrictions don't apply to school employees, emergency situations or people assisting young children or someone with a disability. Schools could still offer single-use and family facilities. Ohio joins at least a dozen other states with laws that restrict bathroom access for transgender people. About 3.3% of high school students identify as transgender and 2.2% are questioning, according to a survey conducted last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DeWine's decision came nearly a year after he vetoed legislation that bans gender-affirming care for minors and blocks transgender girls and women from playing in female sports. The governor faced blowback from President-elect Donald Trump and House and Senate Republicans, who voted to override his veto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued the state on behalf of two transgender girls and their families, but a Franklin County judge ruled in August that the law could take effect. The lawsuit is ongoing. ACLU of Ohio spokesperson Celina Coming said the organization is "closely considering next steps" on the bathroom law. "Transgender people are part of the fabric of Ohio; our families, our workplaces and our neighborhoods," Coming said in a statement. "Every Ohioan deserves the freedom to be loved, to be safe, to be trusted with decisions about healthcare and to access the facilities that align with their gender identity." This story will be updated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs transgender bathroom ban Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill Wednesday that requires transgender students from kindergarten through college to use a bathroom that corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, although it has no enforcement mechanism. The move came one year after DeWine vetoed another Republican-backed measure that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors. The bathroom bill requires public and private educational institutions to designate multiperson bathrooms and locker rooms for the exclusive use of either males or females. Single occupancy and family bathrooms are still permitted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least 14 states have adopted laws like the new one in Ohio restricting who can enter gendered bathrooms, according to the Movement Advancement Project. The backlash to advancements for transgender rights has been fueled by President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters who used the culture war debate to sow misinformation about transgender people and their allies. Trump claimed falsely, for example, that children might leave for school representing one gender and return home as another, having had surgery during the school day. His campaign ran ads against Vice President Kamala Harris that stoked the fire of the culture war: Kamalas for they/them. President Trump is for you. But some Democrats have also begun walking back support for trans rights. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said in the wake of Trumps electoral victory that members of his party spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have two little girls. I dont want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat Im supposed to be afraid to say that, Moulton told The New York Times, prompting a top aide to quit. In Ohio, Republican lawmakers eventually overrode the governors veto on gender-affirming care for minors, resulting in a ban that took effect in August. The lawmakers also placed restrictions on transgender girls and women in sports. Related... Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill Wednesday banning transgender students from using school restrooms that align with their gender identities. The Republican-majority state Senate pushed forward SB 104, also known as the Protect All Students Act, in a 24-7 party-line vote. No school shall permit a member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex, and vice versa, the bill reads. The bill defines biological sex as the biological indication of male and female, including sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individuals psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender. The bill adds that a birth certificate may be used as proof of biological sex if it was issued at or near the time of the individuals birth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SB 104 applies to Ohios public K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities. Other states have passed laws that seek to regulate which restrooms trans people can use, as well, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. The bill also mandates that Ohio schools cannot have restrooms or locker rooms that are open to all genders, excluding family facilities or single-occupancy facilities. Exceptions to the bill include children under 10 who are being assisted by family members, school employees whose job duties require them to enter all restrooms or people with disabilities who are being assisted. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks in Columbus in 2023. DeWine, a Republican, conducted a legal review before he signed the bill, according to The Associated Press. The American Civil Liberties Union condemned SB 104 in a statement after it passed in the state Senate, deeming it anti-trans and urging DeWine not to sign it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If allowed to go into effect, SB 104 will create unsafe environments for trans and gender non-confirming individuals of all ages. This bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender, Jocelyn Rosnick, policy director for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. Senate Democratic leader Nickie J. Antonio urged DeWine to veto the bill in a letter published Nov. 15. Sponsors of the legislation declare that the bill is about safety. However, this bill does nothing to make anyone safer. Instead, it will make trans people less safe and fail to increase the safety of all students, Antonio wrote. Theres a line between being passionate and understanding and being concerned about safety. Given that trans kids already face discrimination and bullying in schools, this bill could exacerbate the issue. The Center for Christian Virtue, which describes itself as Ohios largest Christian public policy organization, had called on DeWine to sign the bill, hailing it as preserving privacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today is a huge victory for children and families in Ohio. Amended SB104 is common-sense legislation that will guarantee the only people entering young ladies private spaces are female, not men claiming to be female, the organizations policy director, David Mahan, said in a statement after the Senate passed the bill. Mahan did not specify whether a man claiming to be female has ever entered a women's restroom in Ohio, and he did not respond to requests for comment. There is no evidence that letting transgender people use public facilities, like restrooms, that align with their gender identities increases assaults or privacy violations, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy. Another study, published in the journal Pediatrics in 2019, found that transgender youths are at higher risk of sexual assault when they are not allowed to use restrooms that fit their gender identities. Ohio House Republicans attached the legislation about restrooms to proposals regarding report card data for Ohios college credit program for high school students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, the executive director of GLSEN, which advocates for LGBTQ students, condemned the law in a statement following DeWine's signature. Extremist politicians are panicking because transgender students exist," Willingham-Jaggers said. "Bathroom bans do not work: they isolate transgender youth, exacerbate harassment and unsafe conditions, and encourage schools to engage in harmful and stigmatizing gender-policing at the bathroom door." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Sara D. Davis/Getty Images Ohio is the latest state to enact a bathroom bill that effectively bars trans people from using the bathrooms that align with their gender identity at schools. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 104 into law on Wednesday, according to local news outlet The Statehouse News Bureau. The bill was originally intended to make changes to Ohios College Credit Plus program, which allows high school students to earn college credits by taking classes at community colleges or universities. But according to the Statehouse News Bureau, Republican lawmakers in the Ohio House added the so-called Protect All Students act onto the bill in June, after a separate bathroom bill was introduced in the House. The bill mandates that institutes of higher education cannot establish gender-neutral private facilities, including restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and showers. According to the bill, all private facilities at institutes of higher education must be designated as single-sex, and people are only permitted to use the facilities that correspond to their biological sex, which is defined as the gender listed on their birth certificate, per Statehouse News Bureau. However, single-use and family facilities are still allowed. Absent any legal intervention, the bathroom ban will take effect in 90 days, per The Columbus Dispatch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear how exactly the ban will be enforced, according to the Dispatch. Rep. Adam Bird told the publication that schools are expected to come up with their own enforcement mechanism. Advocates spoke out against the passage of the bill, with the ACLU of Ohio calling it a cruel invasion of students rights to privacy in a press release that the organization published when the Senate voted to send the bill to DeWines desk on November 13. Jocelyn Rosnick, Policy Director for the ACLU of Ohio, wrote that the organization was incredibly disheartened by the Ohio General Assemblys continuous attacks against transgender and gender non-conforming individuals across Ohio, and warned that if it goes into effect, the legislation will create unsafe environments for trans and gender non-confirming individuals of all ages. Nancy Mace Hasnt Always Been So Cartoonishly Transphobic Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just last year, the representative now attempting to ban Sarah McBride from Capitol bathrooms claimed to be "pro transgender rights." This bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender, Rosnick said, adding that the ACLU of Ohio is closely considering next steps. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has already pledged to defend the law if challenged in court, according to a post on X from November 13. Despite public outcry and boycotts following the 2016 North Carolina anti-trans bathroom ban, this past year has seen bills targeting trans people's use of the bathroom that corresponds with their gender have come back to a concerning degree. According to the Movement Advancement Project, there are 17 states that either explicitly ban trans people from using the private facilities aligned with their gender identity, or have policies that define sex in ways that might impact trans peoples access to gendered facilities. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. A fatal crash on Interstate 25 Wednesday morning caused the northbound lanes between Baptist Road and Colorado 105 to close. The drivers of the vehicles involved in the first crash were exchanging information when a truck traveling at a high rate of speed collided with them, resulting in the death of one of the drivers. Snow in the Pikes Peak region has been accumulating Wednesday, with some areas of Colorado Springs seeing up to 2 inches by 11:30 a.m. Colorado Springs Airport is experiencing some delayed flights, but no cancellations as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. An Ohio man was handed a prison sentence this week for an unthinkable crime he committed exactly one year ago. Authorities say the incident stemmed from a dispute over a bag of potato chips. Seriously. The Summit Prosecutors Office says back on November 28, 2023, 43-year-old Melvin Wright Jr. was at the nightclub Lustys Adventure on Stanton Street when he caught the munchies. He happened to run into someone who could solve his problem: Jacob Hicks, who was enjoying a bag of potato chips in the peace of his own vehicle. Authorities say Wright proceeded to ask Hicks to share some with him. Now, sharing food with strangers can be a little sus. So, as you can expect, prosecutors said Hicks declined Wrights request. However, instead of walking away and finding his own dag on bag of chips as a typical person would do, police say Wright didnt take the rejection so well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, Wright pulled out a handgun and shot Hicks in the face, police said. Hicks managed to drive himself to Akron City Hospital where officers responded to and got the full story, according to the police report. Cleveland 19 News reported Hicks underwent six days of treatment recovering from his injuries. Wright pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, having weapons while under disability and illegal possession of a firearm, the report says. He was sentenced Monday to serve between nine and 12 years in prison and think about whether a bag of Lays was worth it. Oh, and the report says he has to register as a violent offender for 10 years upon release. Summit County is safer without Melvin Wright on our streets, said Prosecutor Kolkovich, via WOIO. Senseless violence has no place in Akron, and I am grateful that the survivor of this crime is continuing his courageous recovery. Thank you to my assistant prosecutors and the Akron and Metro Transit police departments for their work in holding Wright accountable. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Several Ohio mayors say their cities lost points in a national report grading municipalities for LGBTQ+ equality because of the Statehouses recent ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. While Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo each scored a perfect 100 by the Human Rights Campaigns Municipal Equality Index for 2024, the cities were docked points in the transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits category. The cities said in a joint statement, while they are proud to offer trans-inclusive health care benefits to their employees, Ohios ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth prevents young people from accessing those benefits. While several Ohio cities were able to maintain strong scores thanks to local policies and services that empower and support LGBTQ+ residents, the harm of the states anti-trans law goes beyond scorecards; it affects health care access, business attraction, tourism and reputation in cities throughout Ohio and worst of all it harms children and families who call Ohio cities home, the cities said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Voting rights amendment could be on Ohio ballots next election These mayors cited HRCs 2023 study that found 42.9% of LGBTQ+ adults in Ohio said they would move or try to move to a different state if Ohio were to pass or enact a ban on gender-affirming care. They also spoke against an anti-trans bill that passed the Statehouse this month to ban students from using school restrooms that dont align with their sex assigned at birth. These laws and proposals serve no purpose other than to encourage hate and exclusion, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said. While our city does everything we can to empower and lift up all our youth, the state law prevents parents in our city from making health care decisions for and with their child. A Franklin County judge ruled in August that Ohios contested law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth can go into effect after being on hold for several months. The ruling followed a five-day trial that took place in July after the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the measure in March on behalf of two families whose children are at risk of losing access to their healthcare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legal challenge came after the Statehouse voted to override Gov. Mike DeWines veto of the legislation. DeWine decided to reject the bill after visiting several childrens hospitals, arguing parents should make these decisions and not the government. Poll: Trumps favorability jumps post-election; plus, front-runners for 2028 Now, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said Ohios mayors play a powerful role in protecting our LGBTQ+ communities, even in the face of discriminatory legislation and harmful rhetoric. In Cleveland, we are focused on maintaining existing local protections, expanding youth mental health services, building a pipeline to housing for vulnerable populations and promoting inclusive health care, education and employment practices, Bibb said. While I am pleased that Cleveland has maintained our 100-point MEI score, we know we have work to do, and that work is ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HRCs index, which is a benchmarking tool examining the inclusivity of laws, policies and services for LGBTQ+ residents in more than 500 U.S. cities, also gave Cincinnati and Lakewood perfect scores of 100. While Dayton and Dublin achieved perfect scores in 2023s index, the cities both scored 96 this year. Nationwide, a record-breaking 130 cities scored a 100, 50% scored over 76, and 25% scored under 56. The report said the average score was 72, an increase from last years average of 71, and six cities received a zero. County could be Ohios first to ban anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy Municipalities receiving a 100 are driven by leaders supporting direct services to people living with HIV, implementing a LGBTQ+ liaison to city executives, reporting hate crimes statistics to the FBI and passing ordinances like a ban on anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. In Ohio, 12 localities have banned conversion therapy, including Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Reynoldsburg and Toledo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Toledo is proud to champion welcoming and inclusive policies that empower individuals and families to make their own choices, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. Our consistently strong rankings in studies like these are a testament to that commitment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Ohios recreational marijuana sales, which started three months ago, have reached more than $130 million, and though there has been continued growth, Ohio still falls behind other states, like Michigan. Since Aug. 6, Ohio has seen exponential growth in the sale of recreational marijuana. In the first month of being legal, the state surpassed $50 million; in comparison, Michigan made more than $290 million that same month. Darius Walters with dispensary Nar Reserve notes there are some factors keeping Ohio from becoming more competitive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I know Michigans been around for six-plus years, they have a very solid base, Walters said. Even a lot of our Ohio clientele still goes up there because it is so cheap. In addition to lower prices, Gillian McCracken with Locals Dispensary mentioned Michigan is allowed to sell certain items like pre-rolls as well as advertising, which she believes would increase Ohios sales even more. Thats definitely the number one thing people ask for, especially from out of state who are used to those pre-rolls and things like that, McCracken said. They definitely are looking for that. So hopefully thatll get them to consistently come in more often. The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control said it is working on the rule-making process regarding the sale of pre-rolls for the state and has not set a date on when new rules will be released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are still strictly following the medical compliance guidelines and weve been instructed by the DCC and we will continue to do that until we have other guidelines, McCracken said. Some dispensaries also note that over time, prices in Ohio will naturally come down and they urge customers to keep their business here instead of traveling out of state. That money youre spending on the gas, the extra $40 to $60, you could definitely put that back in your bag and youll make up for it, whether it be taxes on the adult-use side or, you know, extra flower or vapes for you on the medical usage, Walters said. Businesses thrive and survive on the community, so they keep the money local, allows us to also support other local brands and businesses. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. State Rep. Elliot Forhan, D-South Euclid, speaks with the press. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.) A Northeast Ohio lawmaker who has been embroiled in controversy for the past year is taking his accusers Statehouse leaders to court for defamation. State Rep. Elliot Forhan, D-South Euclid, lost his reelection, his law firm cut ties, and some friends left him in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its my name that has been dragged through more mud than almost anybody can imagine, Forhan said. And he is now fighting back. The Democrat is suing a slew of his colleagues for defamation, arguing that they abused their power to perform a political hit job, and a main focus is state Rep. Juanita Brent, D-Cleveland. These are not little lies, these are big, brazen, Forhan said. Multiple times at a police station to a cop, multiple times under oath at trial before a court. In late November of 2023, Brent received a protection order against Forhan. Showing up to my home unexpectedly when Ive told him that I dont want to talk to him, Brent can be heard telling Cleveland police on body camera video we obtained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Cleveland Police report is the crux of this case, which stated that Forhan allegedly came to Brents house on numerous occasions, leaving her a letter and being caught on surveillance camera. For months, both police and News Channel 5 Cleveland WEWS asked Brent for the letter and video. But during the trial this spring, Brent admitted she didnt have it. I never said that he dropped off any type of note, Brent said in April 2024. Originally, the team wrote, Petitioner is in the process of downloading surveillance videos and will produce responsive video at a later date, but in the supplemental document, the answer changed to After a diligent investigation, none. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When we asked if the police miswrote, she said no it was just someone else who said it. Cleveland Police announced in January 2024 that charges would not be filed against Forhan for allegedly stalking Brent after officers asked but did not receive evidence of the crime, according to the City of Cleveland. In her second visit to Cleveland police in November of 2023, she said someone who resembled Forhan, who she, her friend and the officer continually referred to as Forhan, kept driving outside her home. The friend told her that Forhan had come by her home the day before. She responded that she didnt know for sure, but that someone left something. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her friend once again says that a package had been left at her door, to which Brent responds, An envelope was left. Although she didnt explicitly say that it was the lawmaker who left her a letter, Forhan argued this was implied and she never corrected the record to the police or media until put under oath. A Cleveland judge cited this as one of the main reasons why he was siding with Forhan, dismissing the protection order. Its a huge feeling of relief and vindication, Forhan said. Forhan has also filed a police report against Brent for making false alarm, or filing a false report. The case against Brent is his first step to clearing his reputation, Forhan said, because his fight isnt just with law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mere days before the police reports were filed, Ohio House leadership stripped Forhan of nearly all his privileges due to allegations of abusive and violent behavior and the pattern of harassment, hostility, and intimidation of colleagues and staff. The decision to remove his duties was detailed in a 19-page dossier sent to House Democratic Leadership by Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, which we obtained and first reported. In this report, it was decided that Forhan can no longer have an office or a legislative aide or utilize most services that state representatives can access. Russo accused Forhan of harassing both lawmakers and constituents, including screaming, vulgarity and threats while being reprimanded repeatedly for months. He continues to deny this and is suing Russo and Dem staff, House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, GOP staff, Attorney General Dave Yost, and more for defamation, infliction of emotional distress, abuse of process and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brent and Yost never responded to comment, and Stephens declined to. We asked Russo about it last week. I think that Representative Forhans claims are baseless, and I feel confident that this case will show that, Russo said. But otherwise, Im not going to comment on pending litigation. But like the Brent case, Forhan is confident he will prevail. The public deserves the truth, Forhan said. He hopes that one day, he may be able to return to public office. This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE *Attached video: 2022 coverage of killer scheduled for execution 41 years after childs rape and murder TRUMBULL COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) The Ohio Supreme Court has decided to hear the states appeal that would remand a disability claim back to the local court for a man convicted of attacking, raping and killing a 12-year-old boy nearly 40 years ago. According to a press release from the office of Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins, the appeal was filed by Ohio Solicitor General Thomas Elliot Gaiser of Attorney General Dave Yosts office to review an 11th District Court of Appeals decision requiring another hearing on convicted murderer Danny Lee Hills intellectual disability claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 9 indicted in illegal bar scheme across Northeast Ohio According to the release, a three-judge panel in Trumbull County in 1986 found Hill guilty of the Sept. 10, 1985 kidnapping, torture, rape and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife. Court documents said Fife had been riding his bike to visit a friend in Warren when he went missing. His father later found him murdered in a field. Hill had claimed he was intellectually disabled when he killed Fife. He was later sentenced to death. In September of 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio set an execution date for Hill on July 22, 2026. If that date holds, it will be 41 years since Raymond Fife was killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the release, Hill has had about 30 appeals in both state and federal court, delaying his executions. All the appeals have ultimately been found to be without merit. Hit-skip crash kills woman walking in Richland County According to the release, visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove, in a 13-page opinion, denied the Hill motion. She said Hills alleged, intellectual disability has been examined and re-examined by this court in several post-conviction petitions and motions for a new trial which have ( previously been affirmed by the 11th District Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court has twice reviewed Hills intellectual disability claim about other issues. Hills behavior was also examined at length by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, 11th District Court Judges John Eklund, Matt Lynch and Robert Patton disagreed with Judge Cosgroves decision and ordered her to conduct another hearing, the release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutor Watkins maintains that it has been our strong opinion that this new order in the Hill case is not supported by established Ohio law. The type of claim that Hill is raising for a second time is not permitted unless Hill can demonstrate the fact finder would agree that he is intellectually disabled under the Atkins standard, the release said. Watkins also noted in the release that he spoke with Miriam Fife, the mother of Raymond Fife, over the phone to inform her that the Ohio Supreme Court had accepted the States appeal. Clevelands City Mission preparing hundreds of Thanksgiving meals for people in need As always, she was positive, and she earnestly hopes that her nearly forty-year journey to see this case end and to have justice for Raymond, Watkins said in the release. God only knows I have called Miriam far too many times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A plan is in place to repurpose the building that housed The Vindicator in downtown Youngstown. The building has sat empty since the last paper was published five years ago. America Makes and the Youngstown Business Incubator want to turn the building into an Aerospace and Defense Hub to help local companies secure defense contracts. A building that once specialized in 2D printing could be used to print 3D. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Vindicator sign still hangs from the brick building that anchors the Front Street section of downtown Youngstowns west end. But the sign could soon change. Artist renderings of the building call it the Youngstown Innovation Hub For Aerospace and Defense. Barb Ewing of the Youngstown Business Incubator and Kimberly Gibson of America Makes are the two women behind the hub which will work with businesses to get them aerospace and defense contracts. The United States government and the Department of Defense are spending generational dollars to revamp defense platforms, said Gibson. And ensuring that the latest and greatest technologies are being commercialized here and that the wealth can be generated here. We want to work with the early-stage companies like Ursa Major and Juggerbot 3D to help them commercialize new technologies and then we want to work with our existing manufacturing base to get more contracts, said Ewing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hub is looking to start with $80 million from a combination of federal, state and local grants. An estimated 115 jobs would be created at the former Vindicator building with average salaries of $81,000. 750 jobs could be created or sustained regionally, generating $190 million of work. That could mean making them a part of this supply chain for a very large prime defense contractor or it could mean direct parts production, Gibson said. Aerospace and defense were picked because the area is already a hub of additive manufacturing and 3-D printing. Between the fact that additive aligns with aerospace and defense, the fact that we have an existing base to work off of and America Makes relationship, it was a no brainer, said Ewing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hold-up on getting the hub started is a $26 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development. Barb Ewing and Kimberly Gibson are hoping to hear soon if the grant is approved. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A nationwide E. coli outbreak from organic carrots has impacted the San Diego area. One local person became sick from the same strain of Shiga Toxin producing E. coli, according to the County of San Diego. Coast Guard intercepts dozens of migrants on boat off San Diego coast Health officials are urging people to throw away whole bagged and baby organic carrots sold under multiple brands by Grimmway Farms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you or a loved one are feeling sick, contact your doctor as soon as possible, said Ankita Kadakia, M.D., interim County public health officer. The Shiga toxin producing E. Coli bacteria can cause serious kidney problems that require hospitalization, so it is important to get care promptly. He will remain in our hearts: 24-year-old electrocuted while hanging Christmas lights Symptoms can occur within three to four days that include stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. One person has died from the outbreak, while 39 cases, 15 of those resulting in hospitalizations, have been reported in 18 states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The county says while the carrots are likely no longer sold in stores, they may be in your home. Throw away any affected carrots and be sure to thoroughly clean down surfaces that touched the vegetables. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 27Editor's note: This archival Vault article was first published Oct. 30, 2022. MOORHEAD, Minn. The residents of Fargo-Moorhead had probably not even had their first sip of coffee that Thursday morning Oct. 30, 1941, when they picked up a special edition of The Fargo Forum the newsboy had dropped at their doorstep. The giant all-caps headline shouted "14 KILLED IN FIERY CRASH OF NORTHWEST AIRLINER HERE." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was shocking news, of course, made all the more shocking when they realized by the end of the day, not only was this the worst aviation disaster in Minnesota history at the time, but with another crash in Ontario that same day, October 30 had become the deadliest day in the history of commercial aviation up to that point. Northwest Airlines Flight 5 was a regularly scheduled, multiple-stop flight from Chicago to Seattle. It had intermediate stops at Minneapolis, Fargo, Billings and Butte, Montana; and Spokane, Washington. Its passenger list read like a "Who's Who." "Flying in 1941 was still an expensive alternative to rail travel," said Clay County archivist Mark Peihl. "Flight 5's 12 passengers reflected this. All but two were business travelers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It carried three company presidents, three sales managers, two prominent business owners, an attorney and the state chairman of a political party. (See the full list of the victims below). The pilot of the plane was 41-year-old Clarence Bates, who had logged more than 7,000 air hours. He reported no issues with the Douglas DC-3A-269, until Barnesville, when he started to notice some light ice forming on the wings, but he said later, not enough to worry about. According to reports, the plane was making a routine instrument approach to the Fargo airport around 1:54 a.m when Bates passed over Hector Field at 600 feet to see if he could break through the clouds. He circled back over the Red River into Minnesota in preparation for the landing. Later he said, "this is when the plane started to act peculiarly and I knew something was the matter." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The airport never heard from the plane again. With the airport now out of touch, reports of what happened fell upon witnesses who were in the area in those early morning hours. They watched in shock as Flight 5 crashed on the grounds of the Moorhead Rod and Gun Club, one-and-a-half miles north of Moorhead at 2 a.m. Reporters interviewed several people who were first on the scene of the crash. The Fargo Forum printed their accounts verbatim. The following audio clips are the actual words of the witnesses read by current Forum Communications journalists. The first witness on the scene was E.M. Gregory, an official with the Great Northern Railroad who tells the harrowing story of finding the dazed pilot, who had been ejected through the windshield upon impact. He had been thrown 250 feet from the plane. Bloodied and injured, Bates was trying to make it back to the plane to rescue his passengers and the rest of his crew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The couple Gregory mentioned running into was Eveline Berg, a "Fargo beauty operator" and her companion Charles Bailly of Columbus, Ohio. The two had been out at a nightclub when they heard a commotion on the outskirts of town. They got in the car to see what was going on. Help arrived in the form of Ralph Yoder, an ambulance driver who was called to bring Bates to the hospital. The weather conditions and terrain made it difficult to get the upset and incoherent Bates to the hospital. As Yoder said, one of Bates' requests was that someone calls his wife, Virginia, back in Minneapolis to tell her he was okay. She relived the night with a reporter the next day while visiting her husband in the hospital. As the paper said, in true pilot wife form, she seemed "unruffled." Of course, the person everyone wanted to hear from was Bates. When he had been brought to the hospital, he was unaware that everyone on the plane, except him, had been killed. They broke the news to the devastated pilot the next day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Considering what he had gone through, his injuries were fairly minor. He had cuts to his head and arm, cracked vertebrae, and damage to his right hand and arm. Authorities wasted no time talking to him about the crash, questioning him beside his bed at St. John's Hospital. His account of the night is terrifying feeling unable to do anything, while the plane he knew so well seemed to be unresponsive to his every move. Bates was released from the hospital a week later. After the inquiry, Bates was ruled not to be at fault for the crash. His survival proved to be a blessing for authorities working to make air travel safer. Pilots don't often survive crashes like this one. So his report of the final moments of the flight helped pinpoint what went wrong and how it could be prevented in the future. The investigators ruled that the cause of the crash was not just the ice build-up on the wings, but the inability of the plane to respond with full-power. Also at fault, they said, was the failure of the Northwest dispatcher "to recognize the seriousness of weather conditions in Fargo," and offer Bates an alternative landing site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meteorologist Daryl Ritchison, director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, said given that it was 1941 and with weather information available at the time, the pilot would have likely been easily caught off guard. "The temperature dropped from just above freezing to below freezing from midnight to 2 a.m. just before the crash," Ritchison said, "Also, light fog developed during that time frame and mist/drizzle was reported just before and during the crash period. All would attribute to icing as the plane was moving into lower altitude." Sadly, Bates would not be so lucky next time. Almost a year to the date of the Moorhead crash, on Oct. 31, 1942, (with World War II now underway) Bates was killed when the B-24 bomber he was test-flying crashed in St. Paul. * Emory A. King, 45, Fargo, president of the Dakota Tractor Company Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * Ned Wells, Fargo, 41, sales manager of the Dakota Tractor Company * A. F. Simonson, 42, of Grand Forks, owner of several businesses * Helen Ford, of Fargo and Minneapolis * Clarke W. Farup, 45, of Grafton, North Dakota, owner of Ford auto agencies * Caroline Packard, 50, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, on her way to visit her sister in Seattle * Henry G. Klopp, 68, of Spokane, Washington, president of the White Pine Sash Company, on his way to see his critically ill wife after attending his mother's funeral in Indiana * Lynn C. Carr, 34, of Highland Park, Illinois, traffic representative for Northwest Airlines Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * W. A. Metzger, age unavailable, of New York City, sales manager for Royal Typewriter Company * A. H. Brown, 60, of Billings, Montana, attorney and chairman of Montana State Republican Central Committee * Fred R. Lowell, 38, of Springfield, Ohio, sales manager for the National Supply Company * R. W. Ramsey, age unavailable, of North Canton, Ohio, president of Ramsey Lumber Company * Co-pilot, Alden Onsgard, 25, Minneapolis * Flight attendant Bernice Blowers, 25, Welcome, Minnesota * The crash was the deadliest in the state's history up to that point. The current most deadliest aviation disaster in the state occurred in 1993, when Northwest Flight 5719 crashed in Hibbing, killing 18 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * Flight attendant Bernice Blowers was engaged to be married. Her fiance' told authorities he asked Bernice to get a substitute for the flight so she could go dancing with him. But she felt it was her duty to fly. Both her engagement ring and wings were found in the wreckage. * Co-pilot Alden Onsgard left dentistry school to be a pilot because he said "there is no excitement in pulling teeth." * The plane carried more than 750 pounds of mail destined for Fargo, Montana and Washington. About 100 pounds were recovered from the wreckage and taken to the Fargo Post Office, where clerks salvaged 898 pieces readable but with marks from the fire. * Page 12 of The Fargo Forum on Nov. 2, 1941 was a lesson in contrast. Stories toward the top of the page include details of the investigation into the Moorhead crash as well as information about a very similar crash in Ontario on Oct. 30 which killed 20. But at the bottom of the page is a photo of a grandfather giving his granddaughter a plane ticket for her birthday with the headline, "Celebrate Birthdays With Plane Trip." Editor's note: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of the headline for this article incorrectly labeled this crash as the worst in Minnesota's history, when in fact it was the worst up to that point in history. Additionally, the deadliest aviation crash in Minnesota's history is currently the 1993 Northwest Flight 5719 crash in Hibbing, which killed18 people. Ever since Donald Trump was re-elected, I have been haunted by a passage in Machiavellis The Prince. Whoever becomes the master of a city accustomed to freedom, and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed himself; because, when there is a rebellion, such a city justifies itself by calling on the name of liberty and its ancient institutions, never forgotten despite the passing of time and the benefits received from the new ruler. Trump intuitively grasps this. Now master of a city accustomed to freedom, he is determined to destroy it before it destroys him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elects Cabinet nominations make this clear. They include individuals who will hunt down immigrants with the goal of expelling them (by the millions), others who will politicize the military and compromise U.S. intelligence, still others who will gut and weaponize the Department of Justice, and an entitled anti-vaxxer who will undercut many of the agencies that protect our health. In addition, his energy policies will exacerbate rather than mitigate the ravages of climate change. Finally, Trumps creation of a new office the Department of Government Efficiency, led by two untethered billionaires will shred scores of programs on which the American people rely. In short, we are watching an assault on American democracy. Our republic is eroding before our eyes. And we have been complicit. The Senate could have convicted Trump for his efforts to overturn the will of the people in the 2020 election but declined to do so. The Department of Justice could have moved far more quickly to hold him accountable for both this crime and his removal of top-secret documents from the White House when he retreated to Mar-a-Lago in 2021. The Democratic Party could have held a real primary to select a viable candidate to oppose Trump in this years election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over and over again, we have faltered. And now it is not clear we will have the ability to bring an end to Trumps relentless attack on our republic an attack that is happening in plain daylight. But Machiavellis text offers a glimmer of hope. Machiavelli, after all, lived at a similar inflection point in history. Florence, one of the great Renaissance republics, was being transformed into a monarchy even at the moment he was writing. But Machiavelli was not crafting, as many believe, a handbook for princes. To the contrary, throughout the text, he makes it clear that he believes the people can fight to preserve their freedoms. On this front, it is the second half of the sentence above that matters. Machiavelli was calling on Florentines to remember their freedoms. But we too, some 500 years later, are a people accustomed to freedom and to preserve our freedoms we have the power of calling upon on the nature of liberty and [our] ancient institutions. It is easy to recognize the liberties we are losing and will continue to lose if Trump has his way and is unchecked as seems likely by an obsequious Congress. It is urgent that we draw on our own memories of what the U.S., for all its flaws, has been. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We must remember that in our country, before Trump 2.0, the U.S. Senate exercised the right of advice and consent when it came to presidential appointments; earlier, too, the president did not enjoy blanket immunity; the office of attorney general was independent of presidential whim; women had the right to control their own bodies; immigrants could not be deported without a hearing; public health policy was determined by science; the right to vote was protected; and there was some progress (though not enough) in the pivot to renewable forms of energy. Trump knows we have these memories. This is why, driven by his own paranoia, he is seeking to destroy our liberties. He knows that the very institutions he is now attacking (the Justice Department, the Pentagon, the Senate) have the potential to hold him in check. We have to fight back. The Prince is a timely read right now. But Machiavelli understood that reading alone is not enough. What Machiavelli was seeking was an informed people who would fight for their freedoms. More than two centuries later, at the dawn of the age of democratic revolutions, the Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau understood this. In The Social Contract he observed that Machiavelli, under the pretense of instructing kings has taught important lessons to the people. Machiavellis Prince is a handbook for republicans. At the core of this handbook is the idea of liberty. Trump has every reason to fear that the American people, not only remembering but also cherishing this idea, will do everything they can to preserve the institutions that protect their freedoms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indeed, since his programs involve stripping away freedoms from nearly all Americans, it is likely that both those who supported him and those who opposed him will join together in this fight. John Jeffries Martin, a history professor at Duke University, is the author, most recently, of A Beautiful Ending: The Apocalyptic Imagination and the Making of the Modern World (Yale, 2022). Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Hardly a day passes without billionaire Elon Musk making headlines, whether it is for his companies, his controversial tweets, or his personal drama. Yet behind the scenes, Musk is quietly engaging in a much more insidious activity weaponizing the legal system to silence his critics and protect his interests, while preventing his customers from accessing the very same rights he regularly exercises. It is a classic case of Do as I say, not as I sue, and a troubling development for justice. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and owner of X, has a well-documented disdain for legal regulations and scrutiny. He has famously railed against government interference and positioned himself as a free-speech champion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But when it comes to protecting his own interests, Musk is more than willing to leverage the very systems of power he claims to oppose filing lawsuit after lawsuit to bully competitors, employees, and critics into submission. One of the more egregious examples of Musks hypocrisy lies in his aggressive use of forced arbitration to silence employees. Through this legal trickery, Musks companies compel workers to resolve disputes in closed-door, secret arbitration rather than in open court. This tactic not only shields his companies from public scrutiny but also prevents workers from banding together in class action lawsuits. Forced arbitration is particularly harmful because it denies employees the opportunity to seek justice in a fair and open forum. Disputes are resolved in private proceedings where the deck is often stacked against workers, with arbitrators frequently ruling in favor of the employer. Its a tool used to suppress claims of workplace harassment, discrimination, wage theft and, until recently, workplace sexual harassment and assault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet, while Musk imposes forced arbitration on his employees, he has no qualms about filing lawsuits of his own 23 in federal courts since July 2023, according to an analysis by Fortune. In these suits, he has gone after a range of targets, from competitors and startups to watchdog groups and even his former romantic partner, the pop star Grimes. Musks wealth allows him to file lawsuit after lawsuit, dragging his opponents through lengthy litigation battles. Musks lawsuits often seem more about personal vendettas than legitimate claims. One judge recently commented that a lawsuit Musk filed against the nonprofit watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate was about punishing the defendants for their speech. The group had published a report criticizing Musks content moderation policies on X, and, in response, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing them of causing his company tens of millions of dollars in ad revenue losses. This is not an isolated incident. Musk has sued the Department of Justice, the National Labor Relations Board and the Federal Aviation Administration just to name a few largely because these branches of government challenged his business practices or criticized his companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To paraphrase Angela Aneiros, a law professor at Gonzaga University: Musks lawsuits are fueled by his immense wealth and a desire to punish his opponents. He is not dissuaded by losing and has the resources to litigate, appeal, and relitigate until he gets his way. While Musk and his companies, such as Tesla, have repeatedly taken extreme measures to silence litigation exposing its failures, including serious allegations of racial discrimination and harassment, there have been a few instances of justice for those who have been wronged. In 2023, a jury awarded $3.2 million to a former Tesla employee who had endured racial discrimination on the job. That same year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also filed suit against Tesla, accusing the company of fostering racial harassment and retaliating against employees who spoke up. That said, it is impossible to know how many current and former employees have been denied justice through the weaponization of forced arbitration. Musks legal actions, whether pursued individually or through one of his companies, expose the hypocrisy at the heart of his philosophy. While he publicly decries government regulation and trumpets free speech, he privately uses the courts to stifle criticism and protect his own interests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a classic case of rules for thee, but not for me, and its damaging to both the legal system and the broader public trust. Elon Musks abuse of the legal system underscores the urgent need for reform. We must ensure that the courts are not a playground for the rich and powerful to silence their critics and financially crush their opponents. One critical step is to end forced arbitration, a practice that denies employees and consumers their day in court and leaves them vulnerable to corporate abuse. At the same time, we must hold individuals like Musk accountable when they use the courts to intimidate and bully others. Musks wealth shouldnt entitle him to a different set of rules. Our legal system is founded on the principle of equal justice under the law, and its time we start living up to that ideal. Lori Andrus is the current president of the American Association for Justice and co-founding partner of Andrus Anderson LLP, located in San Francisco. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The meteoric rise of hardcore nationalist Calin Georgescu in Romanias first-round presidential election over the weekend is nothing short of remarkable. Georgescu surged from just a few percentage points in polls weeks before the vote to claim over 23% of the electorate, defeating candidates from the countrys two most established parties. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and former Liberal (PNL) Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca of the National Liberal Party (PNL) finished third and fifth, respectively. Since the fall of Communism in 1989, PSD and PNL candidates have typically dominated second-round runoffs. Georgescu will now face the pro-European Union reform candidate from the USR party, Elena Lasconi, in the Dec. 1 runoff. Georgescus victory is being framed as another win for a politician sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin, following the likes of Viktor Orban in Hungary, Robert Fico in Slovakia, and the Georgian Dream party in Georgia. Georgescu has openly expressed admiration for Putin, shared panels with Russian nationalist thinker Alexander Dugin, and criticized Western and NATO policies toward Ukraine and the region. While there are elements of pro-Russian, anti-Western rhetoric in his campaign tapping into widespread war fatigue in Romania and across Europe there are broader implications to consider. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Georgescus victory is being framed as another win for a politician sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read also: Kuleba: Joe Rogan, lets talk and set the record straight on Ukraine Georgescus campaign underscores the power of social media in modern elections and the potential risks to democratic integrity. His last-minute, highly effective outreach on TikTok and other platforms connected with a broader, particularly younger, audience. While this can be celebrated for expanding political engagement, concerns remain over campaign financing and the truthfulness of such efforts. Allegations of Russian funding and bot activity similar to issues raised during Moldovas recent presidential election have raised questions about foreign interference and electoral fairness. Populism thrives in the current global political climate, fueled by concerns over immigration and the lingering effects of the cost-of-living crisis post-COVID. Georgescus campaign, like MAGA in the U.S., resonates with disenchanted voters who feel ignored by establishment parties. His messaging combines nationalism with a dose of xenophobia, appealing to socially conservative and economically strained constituencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Georgescu's campaign resonates with disenchanted voters who feel ignored by establishment parties. Georgescus rise reflects a broader trend of incumbent parties losing ground globally, from U.S. President Joe Biden and the Democrats in the U.S. to the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, and Recep Tayyip Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey to Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. In Romania, the PSD and PNL are facing unprecedented challenges, mirroring the struggles of governing parties in other democracies. Liberal politicians in Western democracies may be overestimating public support for progressive reforms. In socially conservative countries like Romania, campaigns emphasizing traditional values often gain traction by opposing liberal policies, particularly those related to LGBTQ+ rights. Putin and similar figures exploit this divide, presenting themselves as defenders of tradition while masking autocratic and kleptocratic practices. In Romania, many rural voters perceive the EU as both a source of funding and a purveyor of socially liberal policies that conflict with their values. Despite Georgescus first-round success, all is not lost for pro-EU forces in Romania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First, Georgescu secured only 23% of the vote in the first round. Even if votes from nationalist candidate George Simion are added, his total would still fall short of the 50%-plus-one needed in the runoff. Meanwhile, pro-EU candidates collectively received 58% of the first-round vote. Most parties have endorsed Lasconi, and the PSD leadership is likely to follow, aiming to maintain access to substantial EU structural funds. Read also: Opinion: Nuclear escalation fears cant override Ukraines right to defend itself Second, Romania is the largest net recipient of EU funding, with over 83 billion euros ($87.4 billion) allocated under the 20212027 budget cycle. These funds account for 3-4% of Romanias GDP annually, covering significant budget deficits. A Georgescu presidency could jeopardize these flows, as seen with Orban in Hungary. Romanian voters may hesitate to risk economic stability by supporting him. Third, Romanias history its alliance with Nazi Germany during World War II, followed by decades under Soviet control has left deep scars. While Georgescu appeals to a conservative base, most Romanians remain wary of Russia. Moldovas recent pro-EU victory in a similar election suggests a comparable outcome is possible in Romania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And finally, Romanias parliamentary-presidential system restricts the presidents authority. Without a strong party base, Georgescu is unlikely to dominate parliamentary elections, which will likely result in a fragmented legislature. A pro-EU coalition remains the most viable path to a stable majority, ensuring Romanias Western orientation endures even if Georgescu wins the presidency. Submit an Opinion Stay warm with Ukrainian traditions this winter. Shop our seasonal merch collection. Star Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement shop now Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Georgia finds itself at a crossroads. The Oct. 26 elections, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory, have brought to the surface deep concerns about the integrity of our democracy. Civil society organizations, independent media, and the international democratic community have all raised alarms about widespread irregularities during the vote violations that are hard to ignore. Moreover, the Georgian Dream party has systematically worked to silence independent voices and consolidate power. This assault on civil society, reminiscent of Russias playbook, threatens to derail Georgia's European aspirations but has not broken the spirit of our resilient civil society. The recent adoption of legislation mirroring Russia's notorious foreign agents law represents a direct attack on Georgia's vibrant civil society and independent media landscape. This law, coupled with the ruling party's abuse of administrative resources and pressure on democratic institutions, reveals a troubling pattern: Georgian Dream appears more focused on maintaining power than on fulfilling the Georgian people's European aspirations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The recent adoption of legislation mirroring Russia's notorious foreign agents law represents a direct attack on Georgia's vibrant civil society and independent media landscape." Read also: Opinion: Russia is leveraging gold and working with China to bypass Western sanctions The consequences of these actions are already visible. The European Union, concerned by the worsening democratic backsliding and violations of the rule of law, has effectively paused Georgia's integration process. It is a bitter blow for many Georgians, who have repeatedly expressed overwhelming support for European integration through peaceful protests, civic activism, and electoral participation. Amid these challenges, Georgias civil society has shown remarkable resilience. Ahead of the elections, Georgian Dream, determined to minimize independent oversight and criticism, took further drastic measures. However, these challenges have only strengthened our resolve. Georgia's civil society has decades of experience operating under pressure. We understand that our work is more crucial now than ever. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Civil society organizations in Georgia have faced significant pressure under the Georgian Dream that reflect a broader pattern of efforts by the ruling party to control political discourse and suppress opposition from civil society, undermining the critical role that CSOs play in holding the government accountable. Many CSOs report being subject to smear campaigns and negative media coverage, often being portrayed as foreign agents or enemies of the state. Employees and their family members have received anonymous threatening calls related to their work, while their offices and homes have been vandalized with insulting and threatening messages. Despite facing unprecedented pressure, our organizations have managed: to monitor electoral processes and document violations; provide crucial support to vulnerable populations, filling gaps in social services; advocate for media pluralism, judicial independence, and anti-corruption reforms; and facilitate dialogue between Georgian society and European partners. A protester holds a placard during a pro-Europe rally ahead of the parliamentary elections, which are seen as a crucial test for the country's democracy and its bid for EU membership, in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Vano Shlamov / AFP via Getty Images) The ruling partys attempts to label civil society organizations as an "enemy" deliberately misrepresent our role. We are Georgian citizens working tirelessly for our countrys democratic development. Our work serves the interests of Georgian society. The international communitys role remains vital. While Georgian Dream may attempt to isolate civil society domestically, our international partners continued support and engagement provide essential backing for democratic forces within Georgia. This support must continue and intensify, focusing on facilitating contacts between Georgian citizens and the EU, monitoring and responding to democratic backsliding, and supporting independent media and civil society organizations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Opinion: Nuclear escalation fears cant override Ukraines right to defend itself Despite the challenges we face, Georgias civil society remains committed to our European future. Our work is not just about defending specific organizations or laws; its about defending the values that Georgias democratic future depends on. We continue to fight, knowing that the road to Europe runs through a strong, independent civil society. The governments pressure tactics may create obstacles, but they will not stop us. Our message to the international community is clear: Georgias civil society stands firm. We need your continued support to overcome these challenges and restore momentum toward European integration. This struggle is not just about todays elections or a handful of laws; its about the future of Georgia as a democratic, European state. Civil society will continue to fight for a Georgia where democracy isnt just a promise but a reality. The ruling party may try to pull us backward, but we remain focused on the long-term goal: a democratic, European Georgia, where the rights and voices of all its citizens are respected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Submit an Opinion Stay warm with Ukrainian traditions this winter. Shop our seasonal merch collection. Star shop now Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Like all veteran criminal defense lawyers, I have faced unwinnable trials. Early on, a mentor offered comfort on the eve of certain catastrophe: The prosecutors, he said, will always do something to help. Over the next 40 years, that turned out to be true. The prosecutor did always gloss something over, or dwell too long on some obscure detail or overreach on some ruling. More than a few unwinnable cases ended in acquittals. But no guilty defendant has ever received more help from his prosecutors than President-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First, Attorney General Merrick Garland waited almost two years before appointing Special Counsel Jack Smith to launch an investigation. That delay allowed Trump, with the assistance of the Supreme Court and District Judge Aileen Cannon, to stall his criminal cases until trial dates drifted past the election. Garland had placed Smith in an impossible position. Now, Smith shows every sign of following Garlands model. He has invoked Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president and moved to dismiss both the Jan. 6 case and the documents case. He is folding his tent and simply retiring. Two pieces of punditry published in the New York Times after the election show what is at stake. Thomas Goldstein (End the criminal cases against Trump) and Farah Stockman (Did the Trump prosecutions damage Democrats credibility?) both argued that Trumps victory constituted a public verdict on the criminal cases against him. Both claimed, in essence, that the electorate constituted a super-jury. Who needs a trial when youve had an election? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This argument ignores the basic realities of how prosecutors prepare a case and manage the pretrial release of information. The fact is, the Election Day jury of voters had access only to the tip of an iceberg of evidence on the election interference and Florida documents cases that Smiths tardy but intensive investigation amassed. We have no access to Smiths files. But we know from the public record and news reports that he streamlined his case in an effort to get it promptly to trial, and that he interviewed and compelled testimony from numerous witnesses, both cooperative and resistant. We know that the information that he has released has been severely redacted. Smith has as any prosecutor would have reams of transcripts and documents that he has not yet disclosed. (Fani Willis, the district attorney prosecuting Trump in Georgia, certainly did not streamline her case, but she too possesses heaps of undisclosed evidence.) It could be that Smith has not released some of this evidence because of the prosecutions endemic desire to preserve as much tactical surprise as possible and to protect the privacy of witnesses who may later prove unneeded in a high profile case. In any event, the Rules of Criminal Procedure, grand jury secrecy laws and prosecutors ethical codes combine to prevent premature contamination of the trial jury pools with factual material not yet tested by adversarial scrutiny. But now Smith will have no federal trials left to protect, and his silence has become more than just discretion. As the Times commentaries made clear, silence on the part of the prosecutors fuels claims that there was never a plausible case against Trump in the first place. Postures miming reverence for the rule of law will have the effect of fostering caricatures of the Department of Justices efforts to bring the law to bear on the insurrection and the classified documents of seemingly corroborating Trumps claims that the department had been weaponized, and that he is its victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smith is authorized to compile a report, as Robert Mueller did. With the approval of the attorney general, he can release it. I expect any Smith report would be comprehensive, balanced and meticulous. If Smith releases a report, much of the public would consider it carefully. If Smith (or Garland) continue to stand mute, the public will be encouraged to see their haughty silence as a confession of a partisan prosecution. There is no way for Smith and Garland to simply freeze things into a status quo. The unredacted files that Garland and Smith leave behind will be there for Trumps new Justice Department to use, whether it is Pam Bondi (who has said that prosecutors will be prosecuted) or Todd Blanche (Trumps personal lawyer, who has been tapped for deputy attorney general). The files will be available for retaliation against witnesses and for aggressive and unchallengeable disinformation campaigns. The facts that the special counsels investigations gathered and evaluated at great expense belong to the public. The public should have them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James Doyle is a lawyer and author in Boston. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Thirty-five years after they first captured the nations attention, the Menendez brothers are back in the spotlight. This year saw the release of both a new Netflix drama series and a documentary revisiting the brothers conviction for the 1989 murders of their parents, for which they were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The documentary highlights the brothers claims of abuse, rape and torture they endured from their parents when they were young children. This renewed focus on their trauma has led them to request clemency, a move supported by advocates including Kim Kardashian and exiting Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon. On Monday they made their first court appearance in a bid for their release. The case more broadly shows the need to reconsider how the justice system addresses childhood trauma, especially given that courts are beginning to recognize the prolonged development of the brain into young adulthood and the impact of trauma on behavior. This perspective should be considered by the next L.A. County district attorney, Nathan Hochman, as he evaluates the brothers' clemency plea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: Next L.A. D.A. to roll back key Gascon policies and revisit the Menendez brothers case Decades ago, I got my start as a lawyer representing children and adolescents in New York City, advocating for their rights and fair treatment in cases involving abuse, neglect, education rights, juvenile delinquency and status offenses such as truancy. By and large, the children in my cases were seen by society and the legal system as if there was something intrinsically wrong with them. They were viewed as bad seeds who would never amount to anything incorrigible, wayward, possibly even evil. Their cases were too often considered in a vacuum. Seldom did the legal system consider the crucible of factors that can make a child capable of violent crime: barely there parents, abuse, drugs. There is a reason my field frequently refers to the revolving doors of family court. Often the very same children who come into the system as abused and neglected leave as respondents in a juvenile delinquency case or as persons in need of supervision. But there is room for greater empathy in the law, backed by support for trauma-informed judicial sentencing from our nation's highest court. Over the last quarter-century, the Supreme Court started recognizing brain development in sentencing. In 2005, Roper vs. Simmons abolished the death penalty for minors, recognizing the underdeveloped brain and sense of responsibility in juveniles. In 2010, Graham vs. Florida prohibited life without parole for non-homicide juvenile cases, emphasizing the potential for young people to reform their behavior. The 2012 ruling in Miller vs. Alabama, alongside Montgomery vs. Louisiana in 2016, banned mandatory life without parole for juvenile homicide cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many state courts have followed the Supreme Court and acknowledged that adolescent brains are still developing until the age of 26 years old, especially in decision-making and impulse control. Additionally, recent neuroscience confirms that brains can be physically altered by trauma. These insights are crucial for understanding cases such as the Menendez brothers, in which prolonged abuse would likely have affected their behavior. Read more: Abcarian: The Menendez brothers have been behind bars for 33 years. Is that long enough? The district attorneys support for the brothers clemency request is welcome in this high-profile case. But the trauma-informed justice standard deserves to be applied beyond the Menendez brothers. We cannot overlook the reality that most of those embroiled in the juvenile justice system are poor and a disproportionate number are Black, Latino or Native American, reflecting institutional racism, systemic inequities and other issues. On top of the harsh sentencing many juveniles receive, its rare that those who are already incarcerated get adequate mental health support to support rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and promote healing. So how do we build a trauma-informed justice system that applies to everyone? First and foremost, we need to make mental health services part of incarceration or juvenile detention. Legislators should pass laws requiring trauma-informed mental health services for incarcerated youth, who currently are likely to receive abysmal services if any. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Second, we should educate the bench and the bar. Judges and lawyers need training on brain science and trauma to make informed decisions in juvenile cases. We need them to understand that the brain is still developing all the way into a persons mid-20s, and a traumatized brain is especially complicated. Third, we need to do a better job across society of recognizing the links between childhood trauma and brain science. To punish and incarcerate these children and not offer psychological help is doubly cruel. We need to raise public awareness and increase empathy on this issue. New York is making strides in embracing trauma-informed justice with the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, which allows abused survivors who kill or harm their abusers in self-defense to have the entirety of their circumstances taken into account during sentencing. Its a step in the right direction. But there isnt a corollary for child abuse cases. If the Menendez brothers crime happened today, even in New York, there would be no guarantee that a history of abuse and trauma would be factored into their sentencing. The brothers' case is heartbreaking for many reasons, but perhaps most powerfully, the evidence suggests they were abused by people they loved and trusted their own parents. Their story may be unique, but the trauma and violence they say they experienced unfortunately isnt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We cannot expect a safer, more just society if we overly penalize and vilify our youngest members before they even have mature brains. In the juvenile delinquency realm, using a compassionate, science-based framework that factors age and trauma into sentencing would reflect the justice systems commitment to fairness and humanity. Melissa Breger is a professor at Albany Law School. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Democracies fall like dominoes. And while Georgias democracy recently received a colossal Russian push, we vow not to be the next domino to fall. To many in Europe, countries like Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia seem like faraway lands. But our nations are standing on the frontlines of a battle of ideas, a battle of values. Where freedom confronts tyranny. Where light meets darkness. If our domino falls, Europe is next. A woman stands among Georgian flags during an opposition protest against the results of the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) Since the Oct. 26 election debacle, which one European observer described aptly as a festival of fraud, the Russian-backed ruling Georgian Dream party has shown its hand to the world. Implementing their Putin playbook in their election theft, they are racing ahead toward creating an authoritarian regime in the spirit of their Kremlin backers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, since taking power on a mandate to bring Georgia closer to the West in 2012, they have spent the last decade doing completely the opposite. Led by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, they have pursued a platform of illiberal, democratic backsliding most notably passing the infamous Russian Law, and more recently calling to ban the opposition parties from parliament. Aware of reports that the government-controlled Central Election Committee had already been hacked by the Russians, thousands of observers and civil society did their best to protect the vote. Yet as soon as the balloting opened, the reports of widespread fraud, violence and ballot box-stuffing started to stream in. Far from a celebration of democracy, this was a glimpse of the fear society that we once knew and had hoped never to see again. Indeed, when the official farcical landslide for the ruling party was eventually announced (with results American exit pollsters HarrisX and Edison have described as statistically impossible), we had officially arrived in Orwellia. The next few days saw the great global proponents of authoritarianism from Hungary, Venezuela and even Iran recognize the ruling partys victory. Meanwhile, the rest of the free world has so far resisted. U.S. President Biden released a statement that he is deeply alarmed by the democratic backsliding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As we stand, President Salome Zourabichvili is the last official branch of power siding resolutely with the opposition, the people and the voices of freedom. Her resolve and determination are manifest in the spirit of our brave peaceful protestors, young and old, who over recent days have faced the fists and ferocious watercannons of the masked riot police. But we refuse to lie down. We understand very well what inaction and accepting this election result means. It means accepting that Georgia will not be free, will not be European and will not be prosperous. It means accepting that our young people will leave in even greater numbers, never to return; that unemployment will go up; and salaries will continue to fall. It means accepting that Georgias future is with Russia. There is, however, a solution to this crisis: to annul these illegitimate Russian elections and to call for new, free and independent elections. Indeed, our courts can still make history and respect the voice of the people and to save Georgia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if they do not, we will not stop. We will go to the streets as one, to protect our voice and our future. Acceptance is not an option. Our cries are for Europe. Our calls are for democracy. And our time is now. Georgia is one of the most Western-leaning nations in the world a country where in every survey, nearly to 90 percent of the public wants a European future. Our values are your values. We have experienced the yoke of oppression, and we demand the freedoms and rights of a liberal democracy. The forces of freedom in the region and globally must therefore know that this is their struggle too. Should we kowtow to the Kremlin, or compromise on our values, our children will never forgive us. And your children will be next. The West must make patently clear that without new, fair, internationally organized democratic elections, the ruling party will be considered pariahs by the West, with their leaders sanctioned and ostracized. After all, democracy is built on the foundations of justice. Impunity only breeds more authoritarianism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We therefore call on our western partners to join us to stand with the people of Georgia in their hour of need. This is not just about Georgia. This is about the future of western democracy. Nika Gvaramia is the leader of the Coalition for Change, Georgias largest opposition party. He spent over 400 days in jail as a political prisoner. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Donald Trumps election has brought the fears of Ukraine and its European and American supporters to fruition. The incoming president and many of his nominated cabinet have expressed deep doubts about the war, openly questioned Washingtons support and open-ended commitment to Kyiv, and intimated that change was both necessary and forthcoming. What that change looks like is, as of this writing, unknown, but the auguries suggest a slowing or ending of aid and the pursuit of a resolution with or without Kyivs involvement. Waiting to see what that policy becomes is untenable. Ukraines supporters in the U.S. and Europe need to get ahead of the political curve and recalibrate the message to both the incoming administration and the American public. This necessitates a sustained effort the United Kingdom did not convince the Roosevelt administration why it should support London and Europe against Hitlers Germany with one reception or one op-ed in a broadsheet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The key for Trump, as in the Second World War, is how support for Ukraine is sold. The arguments and narratives about the war (and Americas role in the world) implicitly understood and shared by the Biden administration are not those of Trump and his closest advisors. Rather than attempt to convert these officials to true believers, Ukraines supporters should lean into Trumps proclivities and self-image. Trump sees himself as a businessman and dealmaker, and this should be embraced, not fought against. The only thing the incoming president hates more than no deal is a bad deal for him. Any deal with Vladimir Putin one which could well exclude the Ukrainians themselves would be a bad deal and not worth the paper on which it is printed. A temporary respite or pause would only increase the longer-term costs of resolving this conflict. Ukraines allies need to lean into this reality. A Ukrainian collapse needs to be presented as potentially Trumps Afghanistan circa August 2021 but without the bombast. Trump hates losing, and the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is rightly viewed both by himself and the American people as a failure. Portraying a Ukrainian collapse or the collapse of continental resolve in a similar light is one way to communicate to Trump the gravity of the situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Equally, Americas European allies need to better directly connect continental stability with continental economic productivity and, therefore, American prosperity. The disconnect between security and economics, afforded by the relative hitherto peace in Europe, has manifested in questions about Americas commitments across the Atlantic vividly illustrated in Trumps candidacy and campaign. At the same time, Americas European allies need to clearly, and simply, demonstrate what they are doing for their own security and defense to both the president and the new Congress. Ukraine and European security are inextricably linked and showing progress on the latter will make supporting the former, arguably, easier, or at least less costly. Of the 32 NATO member-states, 23 now meet the 2 percent of GDP spending obligations. That is no longer enough and should be the sub-floor, not the floor. Meeting the standard is not passing, it is not failing, anything above that level is where the passing marks appear. Linking increased spending with a concomitant decrease in American commitments will also help sell the European case e.g. NATO is doing X so America can do less of X. Europes efforts must also be clearly and directly connected to Americas desired rebalancing to the Indo-Pacific the more strategically important of the theatres. The more NATO member-states demonstrate they are increasingly responsible for their own security in Europe, the more enabling it is of Americas pivot to the Indo-Pacific. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Equally, the more NATO member-states can show they are supportive of and recognize the strategic threat from China, the better. Doing more at home, enabling America to do more in the Indo-Pacific, and being more supportive of that theatreeven rhetorically will help make the case for Trump in Europe. The messaging effort must also look beyond President Trump and to Congress more broadly. There remains a large contingent of supporters of Ukraine in the incoming House and Senate. Trump may inherit an imperial presidency, but that does not mean the legislature is without voice or involvement in national security and foreign policy. The American people are, here, important too. When it is explained, Americans understand why Ukraine and Europe matters to them and their prosperity. The problem is that Bidens administration abandoned its efforts to communicate Ukraine (and most other issues) to small-town America. This must change if America is to continue supporting Ukraine and Europe. There is no guarantee, of course, that these messaging efforts are successful will Trump have a Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) moment, where he enters office, receives the briefs, and changes his mind? Likely not, but that does not mean it is without hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The desire to end the war is noble but ending it on favorable terms for the United States, Europe, and Ukraine, whilst avoiding the risks of escalation must drive policy not just the naked pursuit of an end. Joshua C. Huminski is senior vice president for National Security and Intelligence Programs at the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress and a George Mason University National Security Institute senior fellow. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Be honest if you were president, and your son ran afoul of the law, youd likely try to pull some strings to help him, if not pull the ultimate string and pardon him. Most parents would, no matter what their kid did. President Biden is no different, and as such he should pardon his son Hunter. More than that, President-elect Donald Trump should publicly give him permission and encouragement, so as to take away any political stigma the act might otherwise carry. Hunter Biden is a degenerate or at least he was. A lot of people believe the cocaine found at the White House was his, just because it sounds like something the former junkie would have done. Without evidence and conviction, Hunters innocence in that case has to be assumed he deserves the same presumptions all Americans are due. But again, he was a degenerate you wouldnt want anywhere near your life. Only he knows if hes still that person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unless you are the child his family ignores or someone he has cheated on or ripped off, Hunter Biden has done nothing to you personally. I get that maybe you dont like his father, and I dont either, but so what? If Hunter has turned his life around, good for him. And I hope he has. That doesnt make him any less of a tax cheat, which he has been convicted of. It doesnt make him less a violator of federal gun laws, which he was also convicted of. But that said, his father is president and should pardon him. Not because Hunter deserves it though maybe he does if hes reformed but because thats what a parent should do. What kind of father would fail to pardon his kid? Joe Biden promised he wouldnt, and maybe he wont, but he should reconsider. And Trump should publicly bless the idea or even say hell do it himself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I remember when the first Trump term started and Trump announced that he did not support pursuing Hillary Clinton for storing classified material on her illegal, unsecured private server. It was like George W. Bush announcing in 2001 that he wanted to look forward, not back, thereby sweeping the crimes of the Bill Clinton administration the campaign contributions from China, the money raised from a Buddhist monastery where residents had taken a vow of poverty and renting out the Lincoln Bedroom, etc. under the rug. This is not that. Hunter was never president. Hes the son of a president. A prison term for Hunter doesnt help anyone or solve anything. And while it might seem funny or amusing, it would just look mean. Hunter has been convicted. Even though a pardon wipes that away legally, it cannot wipe away the knowledge of every person in this country that those crimes happened. OJ Simpson was legally not guilty of murder, but everyone knew he did it. By Trump telling Biden to pardon or grant clemency to his son, Trump will appear magnanimous, not at all the heartless, selfish monster Democrats and the media accuse him of being. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You know Joe wants to do it. If he does it without Trumps blessing, it will just be another distraction the incoming administration does not need. Trump is a lame duck already since he cant run for reelection, he needs as much good will as possible to get done what he can in the first 100 days of his administration, because the campaign for the midterms will start sooner than you think. This can put a little more fuel in the tank to help that along. Trump can just say, I know hes guilty and he did horrible things, but I understand a fathers love for his kids. He appears to have turned his life around, and I hope he has. For that reason I support President Biden granting clemency to his son. It makes Trump the bigger person and gives him at least partial credit for what is likely to happen anyway. Derek Hunter is host of the Derek Hunter Podcast and a former staffer for the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Trumps announcement that he plans to impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, and an extra 10% on all Chinese goods on top of existing tariffs, has all the hallmarks of a classic Trump policy proclamation. He considers it a brilliant stratagem, while in reality its a terrible idea that he may not even enact. And what he does plan to do may be even worse. This is an economic story with serious real-world consequences, few of them good. But its also a performance, full of bluff and bluster and a preview of the corruption that will be a hallmark of his second term in office. During the campaign, Trump said he wanted to impose tariffs of 10%-20% on all imported goods, and up to 60% on goods coming in from China; this proposal is just the start. Were these tariffs actually put in place and again, the jury is still out on whether Trump will actually follow through they would be devastating to the American economy. In 2023, we imported just under $900 billion worth of goods from Mexico and Canada, everything from avocados to lumber to auto parts. Putting a 25% tariff on all of it would amount to a sales tax of $225 billion or increased costs of about $1,800 per American household. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps proposal would also trash the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the free-trade accord Trump himself signed in 2020, and inevitably produce retaliation from the affected countries; Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already said that if Trump imposes these tariffs, Mexico will respond in kind. We saw that in the first Trump administration as well: When he imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded by cutting off imports of American agricultural commodities. American farmers who rely on exports had their livelihoods threatened, so the Trump administration paid them off. In the end, 92% of the revenues brought in by the tariffs which were essentially paid by American taxpayers went right into bailouts of farmers, to the tune of over $60 billion. If the affected population had been people Trump didnt want to help lets say, minority populations living in cities he may have let them suffer (recall that he initially refused to approve disaster aid to California in 2018 until aides explained how many residents voted for him). But he was happy to have Americans subsidize a bailout for farmers, because rural voters are essential to his base. You can call this approach transactional, or you can call it corrupt. To me, the worlds most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariffs. Its my favorite word, Trump has said, and now he is promising tariffs much more comprehensive than those implemented during his first term. That experience gives us a guide to how his future tariffs will be deployed. As soon as tariffs were enacted in his first term, his administration was besieged by lobbyists, who filed thousands of requests for special exemptions and carve-outs to allow their clients to import goods and parts without paying the tariffs. And who found favor with the Trump administration? According to one study, companies that had donated to Republican candidates were more likely to get their exemption requests approved; one of the researchers called it a very effective spoils system. While small businesses lacked the resources to file for exclusions, bigger corporations and their chief executives could expend the time and money necessary to claim carve-outs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, offer an illustrative case study. Throughout Trumps first term, Cook buttered Trump up with personal attention, something other CEOs who found Trump personally repugnant were more reluctant to do. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, Cook tailored a strategy to massage Trumps ego over a series of meals and meetings in which he would explain how Apples interests dovetailed with Trumps. Thats why hes a great executive, because he calls me and others dont, Trump would later say. The strategy paid off with tax breaks and changes to Trumps tariff plan that kept the iPhone safe from price increases that would go into government coffers rather than Apples. In a second term, Trump wont just be doling out favors; hell also deliver punishments. During the campaign he told a fictional story about how John Deere was planning to move jobs to Mexico, but likely changed its plans after he threatened the company with tariffs so high it wouldnt be able to sell the equipment it made there in the U.S. The story may have been false, but the message was clear: Trump will not hesitate to single out specific companies with penalties (and ensuing abuse from his army of online trolls) if he doesnt like what theyre doing. Weve seen before how personal Trumps view of the economy is: There are good companies and bad companies, within good industries and bad industries, and the determining factor is whether they treat him like the king he imagines himself to be. Firms looking at this history might reasonably decide that making good products isnt enough to succeed; they also must win the goodwill of a petty and mercurial president, just as companies do in dictatorships around the world. And since everyone knows that Trump is not above a personal payoff, they might feel it wise to put money directly in his pocket. There are multiple ways to do so: They could book rooms at his resorts (as many did in his first term), or boost the price of his stock in the Trump Media & Technology Group with a large purchase of shares, or invest in his sketchy crypto enterprise, or perhaps buy a few thousand Trump Bibles or Trump sneakers or Trump watches. This president makes it easy to grease his palm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump believes that tariffs can do almost anything force other countries to their knees, bring prosperity to the nation, even restore your sense of manly virility. Best of all, they can provide an avenue for him to reward those who please him, hurt those who fail to bend the knee, and maybe even use his office to make a few more bucks. As corrupt as Trumps first term was, it could pale in comparison to the second. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Hindu priests chanting sermons and holding prayers for an American presidential candidate is a rare sight. But the world witnessed just that in 2024, when Hindu priests in New Delhi prayed for a Trump victory. Granted, there were prayers for Vice President Harris as well, particularly in her ancestral village. While wishes and prayers for Harris are understandable given her moms roots in southern India and the perspicuous ethnic solidarity, priests gathering for what has now become a ritual-like ceremony for a Queens-raised New York businessman of German and English ancestry is something worth pondering. From Trumps first presidential campaign in 2016 to the most recent in 2024, members of the Indian right, strategic thinkers and even analysts of U.S.-India bilateral relations in India have largely been bullish on a Trump presidency a position one would not find in most parts of Europe, Southeast Asia or even Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While large parts of Europe went into panic mode on Nov. 5, Indians were elated with the news that the former President would once again be in the Oval Office as the 45th president of the United States. But why? The U.S.-India relationship is built on three solid pillars: immigration and the resulting diaspora, trade and commercial ties and lastly, defense and security cooperation. Presidents from George W. Bush to Joe Biden have all sought good relations with the worlds largest democracy. And unsurprisingly, the bilateral partnership has been on an upward trajectory. Since the early 2000s, trade has expanded significantly, Indian migration to the U.S. has grown exponentially and security cooperation across advanced technological and conventional domains has expanded over increasing concerns about Chinas aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific. That said, not all administrations in Washington or New Delhi have created a conducive environment for unfettered growth. As weve witnessed with the recent turbulence in the relationship over the alleged killing of a Khalistani separatist, the bilateral partnership is often caught in a myriad of Cold-War era differences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Measuring by those standards, the Biden administrations relationship with India was among the worst in the last two decades. Quad meetings were postponed, the shipping of defense orders to New Delhi was delayed and New Delhi was pressured (unsuccessfully) to choose a side between Russia and Ukraine. Contrast this with the first Trump administrations management of ties with New Delhi. Trump and Modis personal relationship seen in events such as Howdy Modi drove the partnership to new heights. Moreover, multilateral initiatives such as the Quad found new resonance in the four nations of Japan, Australia, India and the United States. The synergies over multilateral initiatives and security deals underscored the deepening strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi under Trump 1.0. Nonetheless, issues surrounding trade and immigration proved to be thorns in the partnership. President-elect Trumps first administration witnessed tariff wars and tiffs with allies and partners. India was not spared. The trade imbalance between the two economies coupled with Indias protectionist policies were sources of tension between the two countries during the first administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly, highly restrictive legal immigration policies, while not a significant government-to-government challenge like trade, certainly made it difficult for Indian information technology companies to avail visas for their workers. While these were irritants, none of the Trump administrations policies were perceived as challenging Indias sovereignty or overtly working against its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region as the Biden administrations policies have on more than one occasion. From the Biden administrations recognition of the government formed in Bangladesh after the ouster of their prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to its diplomats engaging in virtue signaling on Indias domestic politics, the administration has practiced, in the words of Prof. John Mearsheimer, liberal hegemony. On the other hand, President-elect Trump expressed concerns and solidarity with religious minorities, including Hindus in Bangladesh. From Vietnam to India to Mexico, Global South nations will have issues with Trump over trade and immigration. However, interestingly, they have been more perturbed by the Biden administrations involvement in their domestic affairs. India is just one among many nations in the Global South constantly challenged on their democratic credentials by Westerners. Paradoxically, Westerners championing liberalism and democracy tend to evoke greater anti-imperialist sentiments in former colonies than the Westerners that advocate restraint and realism in foreign policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Indian diaspora in the U.S. has largely voted Democratic, including in the recently concluded elections. But if Trump walks the talk on expanding high-skilled legal immigration, he will be rolling the red carpet for a historically democrat voting community to join the Republican Party. Indian civil society and the strategic community are ecstatic about Trumps nominations for several key high-level posts from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State to Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) as national security adviser to Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. All of whom have consistently championed greater ties with India, through thick and thin. For New Delhi, Trumps transactional foreign policy, involving defense and security deals without all of Bidens values-evangelism would be a welcome policy shift. Furthermore, an administration in Washington open to engagement with Russia may reduce New Delhis headache of dealing with calls from the Western world to sever its own ties with Russia. It may be premature, but all signs point to an enhanced U.S.-India partnership under Trump 2.0. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Akhil Ramesh is the director of the India Program and Economic Statecraft Initiative at Pacific Forum. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ORANGE CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The queen for next years Tulip Festival in Orange City has been announced. Jaelye Woudstra, a senior at Unity Christian High School, was crowned on Monday. She will reign over the 84th annual festival from May 15-17, 2023, according to a release. Remsen man wins $100K from scratch game The crowning event was held as a Queens Tea, which Jaelye and four fellow 2025 Tulip Court members Ava De Jong, Faith Elgersma, Mackenzie Huizenga, and Bridget Plender attended. After introductions, questions, and presentations from these candidates, three pageant judges ultimately selected Jaelye to be queen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the release, she will serve as ambassador alongside her court at media and public appearances during the spring leading up to the festival. The Orange City Tulip Festival is an annual event celebrating the towns Dutch heritage. To learn more, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. I ordered the same sandwich from two chains and compared them based on taste and value. I ordered a turkey sandwich with the same toppings from Subway and Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The Subway sandwich was larger and had more sauce, but I liked Potbelly's bread more. Nothing hits the spot quite like a classic turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and all the fixings. However, not all turkey sandwiches are created equal. To determine which chain has the best turkey sandwich, I decided to test them from two popular brands: Subway and Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Founded in 1965, Subway long held the title of the largest fast-food chain in the world, although it's now second to McDonald's, Food & Wine reported. Still, there are more than 20,000 Subway locations in the US compared to Potbelly's more than 400 locations. I tried both chains' classic turkey sandwiches on their own and also determined what it would cost to get each sandwich with a drink and a bag of chips to round out the meal. Here's how the same turkey sandwich from Subway and Potbelly Sandwich Shop measured up. From Subway, I ordered a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, mustard, mayo, and oil, as well as a bottled soda and a bag of chips to complete the meal. My meal from Subway. Erin McDowell/Insider The foot-long sandwich came to $11.89. When combined with the other items, my total meal came to $17.17, not including taxes and fees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I decided to compare the sandwiches alone since I couldn't order the same drink or chips from both chains. I ordered my sandwich on multigrain bread. The turkey sandwich from Subway. Erin McDowell/Insider I thought the sandwich was a good size for the price. It looked promising I could see the mustard and mayonnaise spilling from the side of the sandwich. The turkey sandwich from Subway. Erin McDowell/Insider The 6-inch sub would have been more than enough to satisfy me for lunch, but I was happy the sandwich was large enough to split with a friend or for me to save the other half for later. Inside the sandwich, the layers of meat, cheese, and toppings were laid out methodically. The turkey sandwich from Subway. Erin McDowell/Insider Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It definitely looked like a lot of care went into crafting the sandwich to ensure that each bite contained all of the ingredients. Overall, I was impressed by the turkey sandwich from Subway and liked the ratio of all the ingredients. The turkey sandwich from Subway. Erin McDowell/Insider As I predicted, I could taste every part of the sandwich in each bite. The ingredients, especially the lettuce, tasted fresh, though I thought the tomato slices could have been a little thicker. There was a lot of sauce slathered on the sandwich, which I liked, and the mustard added a lot of flavor. However, I thought the bread felt on the lighter side and didn't have a lot of flavor to it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I ordered the same sandwich from Potbelly Sandwich Shop, plus chips and a drink. My meal from Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Erin McDowell/Insider The sandwich came to $13.69, making it a little more expensive than the sandwich from Subway. I also added chips and a drink, so the entire meal cost $21.57, putting it at $4 more than Subway's. Despite being the same price, the turkey sandwich from Potbelly was smaller than the one from Subway. The turkey sandwiches from Subway (left) and Potbelly Sandwich Shop (right). Erin McDowell/Insider The two sandwiches couldn't have looked more different. Whereas the Subway sandwich (pictured left) came on flat-looking multigrain bread, the bread Potbelly used was crusty and appeared to be of a higher quality. I couldn't see sauce spilling from the sides of the Potbelly sandwich, but I could see large slices of onion and tomato. The sandwich from Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Erin McDowell/Insider Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was excited to see how the actual taste of the sandwiches would compare. The inside of the Potbelly sandwich definitely looked a lot less organized than the one from Subway. The sandwich from Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Erin McDowell/Insider The ingredients were laid out less methodically, and I worried that each bite wouldn't include all the ingredients at once, which is what I prefer. Though the sandwich was smaller, I thought the Potbelly turkey sandwich was slightly more dense and each bite more filling due to the thick, crusty bread. The sandwich from Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Erin McDowell/Insider There was also a generous serving of lettuce, onions, and tomato that really helped make the sandwich stand out. However, I thought it was a little light on the sauce I couldn't really taste the mayonnaise or mustard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overall, I was impressed by both turkey sandwiches. However, if I was only going to order one again, I would probably stick with Subway. A side by side of the turkey sandwiches from Subway and Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Erin McDowell/Insider The sandwich delivered on price, size, and flavor and I loved how they weren't afraid to hold back on the sauces. Read the original article on Business Insider Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Oregon authorities have called off their search on Thursday for a 61-year-old woman who went missing last week in the Mount Hood National Forest with her two dogs. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office had been searching for Susan Lane-Fournier since Friday after the woman failed to appear for work. Four teams worked on the ground over the weekend and into Monday and Tuesday, while drones looked from the air. "Investigators are continuing to gather more details and establish a timeline leading up to her disappearance," the sheriff's office said in a statement on Facebook. " This remains an active missing person investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Based on the weather conditions and the likelihood of survivability, the decision was made to suspend operations after all four volunteer search teams returned from the field." The sheriff's office said volunteers, K-9 teams and drones spent more than 800 hours searching for Lane-Fournier, who was known by her nickname Phoenix, with no luck. "Investigators are looking to speak with anyone who saw Susan Lane-Fournier before her disappearance or who has information about her whereabouts the week leading up to her disappearance," the sheriff's office said. It is believed Lane-Fournier, of Brightwood, Ore., had gone hiking with her two dogs and never returned. Her employer reported her missing Friday when she did not appear for work. Police found no clues when they visited her home the same day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Saturday, authorities found her pickup truck along East Salmon River Road, near the Green Canyon Way Trail in Mount Hood National Forest, southeast of Portland. "We just want to find Phoenix," her friend Cari Gesch, told the Bradenton Herald. "That's all we want to do, regardless of the outcome. We just want to find Phoenix." Christina Sydenstricker-Brown, a caregiver in an Oregon Department of Human Services group home and president of AFSCME Local 1246, stands outside the Oregon State Capitol on Sept. 30, 2024. The union, which represents about 650 group home workers, has launched a vote of no confidence in Oregon Department of Human Services Director Fariborz Pakseresht. (Ben Botkin/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Hundreds of Oregon Department of Human Services employees who work in group homes that serve vulnerable Oregonians are voting on whether they support their boss. Oregon AFSCME Local 1246, which represents about 650 workers in the departments Stabilization and Crisis Unit, has started a vote of no confidence against Oregon Department of Human Services Director Fariborz Pakseresht. The unit serves nearly 100 Oregonians in group homes from Portland to Eugene with developmental and intellectual disabilities and mental health needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vote, which started Saturday, Nov. 23, and ends on Sunday, comes amid the agencys plan to shutter two of its 20 group homes, one in Lebanon and another in Portland. A strong vote of no confidence, while symbolic, would send a message to the agencys top brass and the public that patience is wearing thin among rank-and-file workers who have concerns about the management and direction of their unit. The union said Pakseresht has failed to address concerns that workers repeatedly flagged in the last two years about the units management and finances. These closures could have been avoided if leadership had taken action when concerns were first raised, said Christina Sydenstricker-Brown, president of Local 1264 and a group home worker in the agency. The closures, planned for the end of January, also come amid a tumultuous relationship between the units workers and agencys managers in the past year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the past two years, this unit of the agency has publicly voiced concerns about a range of issues. Workers fought for incentive pay when they work extra shifts, even after lawmakers appropriated the funding for that purpose. They also have raised concerns about staff safety and burnout as they work double shifts and face low morale. The agencys plans to shutter the two group homes has stoked concerns among workers and union leaders about more cuts, which would jeopardize care for Oregonians and limit services. The unions release said workers have seen critical failures in leadership and financial mismanagement leading up to the closure of the two homes. With the uncertainty about the future, Sydenstricker-Brown said, union members and workers have strong support to cast a vote of no confidence in the agencys director. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They have the right to vote, and its private, but most of them are just sharing it because they dont care at this point, she said in an interview. And they feel like this isnt fair to the individuals. It isnt fair to us. Whos lying, whats really going on, whats really happening? We just need to have a real conversation. Asked about the unions statements and vote, Pakseresht provided the Capital Chronicle with a statement that there are no other planned closures. Paksereshts statement didnt directly address the vote, but he said the unit fulfills a critical need and the program will not end despite the two home closures. After an assessment of the physical conditions and operational efficiency of these homes, ODHS determined that consolidating and closing the two vacant homes would allow our staff to provide better care to residents and allow us to focus on services and supports instead of covering the cost of maintaining those homes, Pakseresht said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two homes that will be shuttered can serve up to nine people total. With the closures, the program can serve 91 people in 18 group homes instead of 100 people in 20 group homes. Currently, 86 people are enrolled in the program, the agency said. Budget pressures cited In a Friday email to staff, Pakseresht said the unit could face budget reductions in the next two-year fiscal period, though no decisions have been made. The unit is on a list of possible budget reductions set by lawmakers, he said, citing rising costs for the unit. If reductions are needed, there would be a comprehensive planning process before any changes are made, Pakseresht said in the email. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overtime costs have increased from $3.6 million in fiscal year 2014 to $14.6 million in fiscal year 2024. Costs per resident have increased from about $40,000 a month in 2016 to more than $103,000 a month. Overall, the unit is on track to exceed its current budget by an estimated $20.5 million, he said, adding the agency needs a financially sustainable model for that work. Concerns remain Even so, the closures of two homes still raise concerns among other union leaders and professionals who serve vulnerable Oregonians. Dr. Simrat Sethi, a staff psychiatrist at the Oregon State Hospital and President of AFSCME Local 3327, which represents physicians at the psychiatric hospital, said its critical for the unit to continue running at full capacity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Closing SACU, in whole or in part, could have detrimental effects on our community, Sethi said. We need every residential bed in the community. This is the wrong time to be closing any beds as the patients would likely end up in the already overloaded emergency rooms, community psychiatric units and then possibly at the Oregon State Hospital. Ballots will be counted Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, speaks to reporters on Oct. 9, 2024. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) The Clackamas County Sheriffs Office confirmed Wednesday that it responded to a threat against U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican selected by president-elect Donald Trump to lead the federal Department of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer tweeted that she received a pipe bomb threat on Tuesday at her Happy Valley home, and that she and her family were safe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This kind of violence harms not just the intended targets but entire communities, she tweeted. It is an unacceptable way to express opposition, and it will not deter President Trump and the team he has assembled from doing the work on behalf of the American people. A spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office confirmed that the office responded to a threat and that the FBI is handling an investigation, but declined to answer other questions. A spokesman for Chavez-DeRemer did not immediately respond to questions. The FBI said in a statement that it was aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees. We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement, the statement continued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that several officials received violent, un-American threats ranging from bomb threats to swatting, a term that describes prank calls intended to cause a large number of heavily armed police officers to show up at an address to respond to a non-existent threat. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and Trumps pick for ambassador to the United Nations, also reported receiving a bomb threat at her home. Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, another New York Republican tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said on X that he was a victim of a pipe bomb threat with a pro-Palestinian themed message. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SHELBY, Ohio (WJW) Police have identified the man who is allegedly responsible for a hit and run that left one woman dead in Richland County. According to an updated press release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Mansfield post of the OSHP received multiple tips after the fatal hit and run that happened on Mickey Road around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday in Shelby. When ODOT expects the roads to get dicey Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the OSHP, 61-year-old Barbara Warner was walking near the edge of the roadway when she was hit by an unknown vehicle. She was then taken to a hospital where she died. Because of the tips, officers were able to locate the vehicle, a Ford Edge, and the driver involved in the crash. Kaleb Fisher, 24, was identified by police and arrested Tuesday afternoon in Mansfield, the release said. Top-rated pizza joints, according to FOX 8 viewers Fisher is now at the Richland County Jail, according to the OSHP. He was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and 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. Nov. 25Three young engineering students belonging to the OSU chapter of Engineers Without Borders are helping to bring safe drinking water to communities in Africa and Central America. Trinity Young, an industrial engineering student and president of the chapter, talked to locals in the Stillwater Frontier Rotary on Nov. 21 about ongoing water projects abroad in Sierra Leone and Guatemala. She also discussed their local projects for the ALS Association in Oklahoma and Habitat for Humanity. Young said that while most of their time is spent on international projects, they helped build two homes for Habitat for Humanity in Stillwater, and they went to the homes of those dealing with the challenges of ALS to help them with devices and perhaps home modifications for example, an alert system to call someone if the ALS sufferer takes a fall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Young said their chapter was growing and has about 30 students now. Fabian Vega is currently the vice president of the chapter and he is studying electrical engineering. His group has been working on a water pipeline in El Rancho, Guatemala, with work having begun before the pandemic that was then put on hold when they could not travel there. Post-pandemic their work could not progress as a travel warning was put on the country by the U.S. State Department. Then, almost in summer, a breakthrough: Vega and others traveled to the country in May to meet with their partners there. "Last summer we were finally able to talk about connecting our water pipe to the tanker that is on top of a mountain," Vega said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While meeting with parents and students in El Rancho, the engineering students were asked to help design and build a safe (from weather and theft) computer lab, which members of the EWB OSU chapter have agreed to do. Colby Magee is a mechanical engineering student. He was with the group that went to Guatemala in May. While the pipeline is not yet on, it has been designed to help 300 households, or about 1,000 people, he said. Their time there was twofold, Magee said: To meet with the people who lived there and talk about the importance of clean water, and to implement final plans to bring them clean water. The pipeline in El Rancho that will bring water to individual houses was constructed using four pipelines that run over two miles, and the group said it was technically challenging. The lines will run from a concrete tank at the top of a mountain where a hydraulic pump pulls water from a well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Young said EWB students were encouraged after traveling to Guatemala because they got to see how their designs work in the community. "It means that our projects are really paying off," she said, we are "providing value to their community through our skillset" and that is gratifying. She said their work keeps relationships strong between countries and between students. Another water project EWB OSU is working on will be in the nation of Sierra Leone in West Africa along the coast. The project there has yet to receive an official go-ahead, but designs are in the works for a water filtration system. "Getting water is not the issue anymore their community now needs good water," Young said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The problem is that there are many pit toilets in the region that pollute ground water with cholera and E. coli, she said. The filtration system being designed is a new prototype unique for that area, a type of biosand filtration. "We're working with Sierra Leone to figure out what they need," Young said. The case was settled six years after Rose's ex-staffers Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal and Yuqing "Chelsea" Wei sued him for sexual harassment Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Charlie Rose attends New York Magazine's 50th Anniversary Celebration at Katz's Delicatessen on Oct. 24, 2017 in New York City. Charlie Rose attends New York Magazine's 50th Anniversary Celebration at Katz's Delicatessen on Oct. 24, 2017 in New York City. Charlie Rose has settled his sexual harassment lawsuit. On Sunday, Nov. 24, Roses ex-staffers Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal and Yuqing "Chelsea" Wei filed a stipulation of discontinuance of the lawsuit they filed six years ago, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. A judge signed off on the request a day later, declaring that the motions are resolved, and the action is disposed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The women sued CBS News and Rose in 2018, claiming he subjected them to repeated, ongoing and unlawful physical and verbal sexual harassment, including sexual touching, sexual comments and sexual advances. CBS settled their suit that same year, but the women went on to pursue the case against Rose, now 82, despite his attempt to have it dismissed in August 2018. Tacitly recognizing the weakness of their factual allegations, Plaintiffs seek to bolster their threadbare and conclusory claims by exploiting the #MeToo Movement and bootstrapping the accusations of sexual harassment made by third parties against Rose in articles published by The Washington Post, his filing read. Plaintiffs are not alleged to have had any knowledge of a single one of those accusations set forth in the articles. These hearsay accusations do not and cannot supply the missing link to the legally deficient claims. A judge later denied the motion for dismissal. Related: Charlie Rose Conducts First Interview Over 4 Years After CBS Firing, Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Jemal Countess/Getty Charlie Rose Charlie Rose The lawsuit was filed shortly after the Washington Post published a piece in November 2017 sharing the stories of 27 additional women who accused the longtime journalist of sexual misconduct. The alleged incidents date back to 1976, and were allegedly reported to the network as early as 1986. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rose, who was later fired by CBS and had his long-running interview show on PBS canceled, responded to the report via email to the Post at the time, saying, Your story is unfair and inaccurate. In 2019, a fourth woman, Gina Riggi, filed her own sexual harassment lawsuit alleging that Rose was verbally abusive and frequently made derogatory comments about her weight. That case is still ongoing, and Rose has denied the claims. Related: Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell Slam Co-Anchor Charlie Rose Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations CBS via Getty Charlie Rose Charlie Rose During a deposition in November 2019, Rose did admit to flirting with the sexual harassment accusers, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. He was asked if he physically touched his former CBS This Morning co-anchors, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell, and replied: "All of us would in one way or the other touch each other, on the arm, hug each other." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added that hugs and kisses on the cheek occurred when the colleagues were greeting each other, saying hello or if we were saying goodbye, but also stated that there may have been some special circumstances when he also kissed female employees on the lips, per the deposition. When asked if he engaged in flirtatious behavior with King and ODonnell, he said, Yes. 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. He also said he hugged and kissed two of the former employees, Brooks Harris and McNeal, and flirted with Wei using "conversations about China." When questioned about whether he thought this behavior was inappropriate, Rose said, "No one seemed to object." (Bloomberg) -- UK opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said her Conservative Party would introduce a cap on migrant numbers if elected, conceding that the previous Tory government failed to deliver on its promise to reduce numbers. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Badenoch also said her party would review every policy, treaty and part of our legal framework including the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act. She said the Tories would also review the route to gaining a British passport, and migrants access to public services and welfare. Her comments in a speech in London came a day before official statistics are published on Thursday that are likely to show net migration falling in the 12 months to June partly due to policies introduced by the Tories when Rishi Sunak was prime minister, including blocking many migrant students and workers from bringing family members with them. The impact of those policies, however, came too late to be seen before Julys general election, in which the Conservatives slumped to an historic defeat to Keir Starmers Labour Party. Immigration was prominent in the vote, as Sunak and the Tories failed to deliver on promises to bring down net migration. Net arrivals soared to a record 764,000 in 2022, leading many former Conservative voters to defect to the anti-immigration Reform UK party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Immigration has remained near the top of the political agenda, as concerns around the number of arrivals and the pressure they are putting on public services escalated into far-right violence over the summer. Hotels housing asylum-seekers, and other businesses and charities offering services to migrants, were targeted by rioters and suffered arson attacks and vandalism. I want to rebuild the trust between the Conservative Party and the British people, Badenoch said. I know we have got a lot of work to do, but the first step is to accept that mistakes were made, and to learn from them. In a recognition that the Conservatives had lost votes to Reform in the election, both Badenoch and rival Robert Jenrick focused on immigration in their bids to become Tory leader. Badenochs promise to review the ECHR and how it impacts British immigration policy is likely a nod to Jenricks campaign pledge to withdraw the UK from the convention if he became prime minister. Still, Badenoch has repeatedly said leaving the ECHR would not be a silver bullet to reducing migrant numbers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Badenoch declined to say where she would set the migration cap. Previous attempts by the Conservatives to limit migration have not gone well in 2019 they abandoned ex-premier David Camerons pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands, and the party has struggled to show how it would counter the economic damage of capping numbers. What we will do now is explain how you will get to those numbers, not just stating the numbers, Badenoch said, adding that her focus would be people arriving to do low-income jobs. The Health and Care Visa route, a policy initiated by the last Conservative government to address huge vacancies in the social care sector, has accounted for a significant rise in migration. Badenoch did not expand on how she would reduce the care sectors dependence on low income migrants. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2024 Bloomberg L.P. ROCHESTER, N.Y. A Bergen man is facing more weapon charges after over 100 firearms were uncovered in a months-long, multi-agency investigation. On September 29, 2024, the Genesee County Sheriffs Office and the New York State Police searched several locations in Genesee and Orleans County, which led to over 100 3-D printed weapons being recovered. New York State Police released a photo of the weapons. Some of the items include silencers, ghost guns, ammo-feeding devices, and unfinished frames. New York State Police released this photo of the firearms recovered following a months-long investigation with the Genesee County Sheriffs Office. (Photo/New York State Police) 35-year-old Peter Celentano is charged with the following: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First-degree criminal possession of a weapon (CPW) Possesses ten or more firearms Third-degree CPW possesses a large capacity ammo feeding device (708 total counts) Third-degree CPW possesses a firearm silencer (Two counts total) Fourth-degree CPW possesses a ghost gun (105 counts total) Fourth-degree CPW possesses an unfinished frame (199 counts total) Unlawful wearing of body armor Prior to this arrest, investigators said Celentano was charged with illegal possession of machine guns after machine gun devices and receivers were found at his Rochester Street home, two properties associated with him in Lyndonville, and at an apartment in Medina. He has been held since this arraignment. Celentano was arraigned at Orleans County Centralized Arraignment and has bail set to $50K cash and $100k bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A bill promising hurricane relief and changes to powers held by state officials was rejected by North Carolinas governor on Tuesday. Roy Cooper called Senate Bill 382 a sham. The legislation was passed by lawmakers in Raleigh last week. It had been introduced and passed by Republicans at the General Assembly within two days. State Rep. Danny Lambeth, (R Forsyth County) told the House that relief for Hurricane Helene victims was needed urgently. MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS NC General Assembly We need to continue to work on the disaster component, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Republican supermajority sold the legislation as being a bill focused on Helene relief, pointing to its allocation of more than $200 million in additional funds. But Democrats all voted against it, arguing SB 382 contained unconstitutional changes to powers held by state officials, including the attorney general and the governor. Today is the biggest abuse Ive seen since Ive been here, and that is saying a lot, argued minority leader Robert Reives. In his veto message, Cooper said the bill claimed to be for disaster relief while taking appointment powers from top state officials. Two Democrats were elected to take office in the two affected roles in January. Lawmakers are set to return to Raleigh next week, and an override vote is expected. The GOP has the votes they need in the Senate 30 but appear three short in the House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reps Mike Clampitt, Mark Pless and Karl Gillespie are all from western North Carolina and all voted against SB 382. None have said if they plan to change their votes. If no Democrats cross over, Republicans need all three on board to override the veto. What the Republicans will certainly try to do is to flip those three Republicans back to their side; future speaker Destin Hall has said he thinks he has those votes, I think obviously Roy Cooper and the Democrats are going to try to do the opposite, try to get them to hold the line, said Chris Cooper, a professor at Western Carolina University. Were all just going to have to see what happens. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) Dog-related issues lead to a new mailbox requirement that leaves residents of an Owensboro neighborhood frustrated. On November 12, the United States Postal Service sent a letter out to residents of the Trinity Hills neighborhood detailing a new mailbox requirement. The letter states all residents are required to put a up a mounted box beside the driveway. It also says this is due to an ongoing dog-related issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Requirements for the mailbox are included in the letter, along with instructions on how to install them. A 69-year old resident, who keeps his mailbox right beside his door, expressed his frustration as he did not have to worry about injuring himself during the colder months if his driveway ices over. Another resident says he will be building his own mailbox to save himself money. The letter sent to residents including the requirements can be seen below: Eyewitness News. Everywhere You Are. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Professor Helen Moore, the President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, proclaims on her college website that Corpus is a close-knit yet outward-looking community where talented people from all backgrounds are encouraged to flourish. It seems strange, then, that such a cosy community should also be a crucible for vigilantism, which in January reportedly drove Alexander Rogers, a 20-year-old student, to suicide. The inquest into Mr Rogerss death, conducted by the coroner for Oxfordshire, Nicholas Graham, recently found that a sexual encounter took place between Mr Rogers and a female student after she invited him to her room late one evening and asked him to stay the night. The morning after, the inquest also found, she felt uncomfortable about it. She did not, according to the coroner, intend to make a complaint, but she shared her feelings with college friends. They quickly decided among themselves that Mr Rogers had done wrong. They did not think it appropriate to speak to the college authorities about it, nor to the police, and it was heard that retribution began immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rumours were circulated and Mr Rogerss peers began to shun him. Two days later he attended a college party, where, as the coroner also noted, he was physically assaulted by another student. The next afternoon, as the coroner observed, two of Mr Rogerss friends visited his room, told him that he had messed up and that they would no longer be spending time with him, with the implication that his other friends would be doing the same. When they left he was distraught. They never saw him again. The next morning Mr Rogers wrote two letters: the first to his family, which should of course remain private; the second to friends at Corpus (including the two who had visited him the day before) telling them that he loved them and that he wanted them to be happy. He died a few hours later. Corpus has tried, on an institutional level, to handle the aftermath of Mr Rogerss death sensitively; but none of that will be able to bring him back. The coroner also recorded that a report commissioned by the college from Dr Dominique Thompson, a young peoples mental-health expert, identified a culture at Corpus in which there was a rush to judgement without knowledge of all the facts and pile-on might occur where a group would form a negative view about another individual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The coroner accepted that had Corpus known about the nature and extent of the culture that has arisen they would have taken formal steps to address it, but Corpus is a tiny college, with no more than 300 undergraduates. How could its President have been unaware of the prevailing culture of the institution over which she presides? Pastoral care of students is not a trifling matter and it must be properly overseen. Experienced and proactive senior welfare officers will know their students and be trusted by them; they will make it their business to be visible and to know what is going on around them. In an effective system students will know senior members of the college well enough to speak to them in an emergency, rather than have to rely on a list of people on a website telling students that they are there. They will also know how to manage, and indeed supervise, the Junior Common Room welfare officers. As a former student of mine observed earlier this week, junior welfare officers frequently create more problems than they solve. The idea that undergraduates should be given formal care of the wellbeing of their peers shifts the onus of responsibility very dangerously indeed, particularly if there is no obvious governance over their activities, or appropriate training provided. The reporting around the inquest powerfully indicates that in the lead-up to Mr Rogerss death several policies were infringed. Corpus now has a chance to implement real and lasting change, as long as it does not take the traditional Oxford route of saying this must never happen again and then doing nothing at all while waiting for the relevant cohort to graduate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It requires sincere and experienced leadership to effect governance changes which are long overdue; the Oxford colleges, to say nothing of the entire university sector, have a duty to keep their students safe including, when necessary, from each other. It is high time that duty was fulfilled. 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 party of Pakistans jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday called off a protest in the capital Islamabad after a crackdown by security forces, in which hundreds of supporters were arrested and the rest were forced to flee. Thousands of Khans supporters led by his wife converged on Islamabad on Monday from his stronghold province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the north-west, vowing to force the government to release him. The protesters turned violent and killed at least six members of the security forces as they headed to camp outside the countrys parliament. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thousands of police and paramilitary troops in riot gear began an operation shortly before midnight to dislodge the protests. Khans supporters and protest leaders fled the capital after resisting the tear-gas shelling and rubber bullets for around two hours, his party said. The party claimed six protesters were killed, but hospitals in the city said they received two bodies of civilians and several dozen people with bullet wounds. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the government was forced to order the crackdown after Khans party challenged the state, adding that it had plans to storm the parliament. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schools remained closed in Islamabad for a third day on Wednesday while traffic on the streets was light as roads were reopened after a security lockdown since Saturday. Khan, who governed Pakistan between 2018 and 2022, has been in jail for more than a year after he was convicted on several graft charges: He faces trial on many counts. Khans party governed the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, from where his supporters periodically initiate protests for his release. A Palos Hills man was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison after pleading guilty this summer to illegally exporting firearm parts to Israel, according to a news release from the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago. U.S. District Judge John F. Kness on Nov. 21 sentenced Amin Betuni to 46 months in federal prison. Betuni, 37, pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to knowingly and fraudulently exporting firearm parts. He faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He admitted in the plea agreement to shipping the firearm parts to individuals in Israel on at least three occasions starting in early November 2022. The parts included rifle barrels, gas blocks for rifles and bolt carrier groups. Betuni put false information on the shipping labels and concealed the firearm parts in packages containing auto parts or George Foreman grills, according to his plea. During a search of Betunis home in December 2022, officers found more than 1,200 rounds of assorted ammunition, a shotgun, rifle and handgun, additional bolt carrier groups, and three firearm conversion devices, also known as Glock switches, which equip firearms to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger, according to the plea. Prosecutors had, in an Oct. 23 court filing, asked that Betuni be sentenced to 60 months in prison, saying he created a sophisticated smuggling scheme designed to evade detection by law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The government said shipments of firearms components were sometimes wrapped in metal slag or foil to evade detection, but were spotted through X-ray examination by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Prosecutors said that Betuni sometimes labeled firearms shipments as containing automotive parts. Prosecutors said a search of Betunis electronics recovered photos of Betuni and his children holding various rifles with drum magazines attached. The government, in its filing seeking a longer prison sentence, said the search of Betunis home also recovered $20,000 in cash as well as about 28 pounds of marijuana sealed in 1-pound packages. In an Oct. 23 filing in Betunis case, his attorney asked that he be sentenced to either probation or no more than 15 months in prison. His lawyer said that Betunis life has been full of misfortune, abuse, true poverty and neglect, and, as the father on sons 6 and 7 years old, he could not be more ashamed of his transgression. BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) A Panama City woman was arrested in connection with a fatal drug overdose on Tuesday. According to the Bay County Sheriffs office, 37-year-old Amber Grant sold 0.3 grams of methamphetamine and 0.3 grams of fentanyl to a victim on September 10, 2023. The victim died from the apparent overdose the next day, authorities said. Special market supporting small businesses coming to Panama City Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators confirmed in an autopsy that fentanyl was the primary factor of the fatality. Grant reportedly admitted to frequently selling drugs to not only the victim but to other people in the county. Deputies arrested Grant, who is being held in the Bay County Jail on a $100,000 bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. A man who discovered the parachute believes a man who executed a similar hijacking was D.B. Cooper Federal Bureau of Investigation D.B. Cooper D.B. Cooper A parachute that might have been used by the skyjacker who called himself D.B. Cooper could potentially help authorities solve the mystery of the infamous plane hijacking. In November 1971, an unidentified man who is now known by the moniker D.B. Cooper boarded a plane in Portland and told a flight attendant he had explosives in his bag. He demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the plane landed in Seattle, he was given the money and then instructed the pilot to fly to Mexico before parachuting out of the plane near the Oregon border. He was never found, though nearly a decade later a boy found $5,800 of the money near the Columbia River. But a suspect has never been publicly named and the mystery officially remains unsolved, though several names have been suggested as the potential culprit. Related: New Evidence Discovered in D.B. Cooper Skyjacking Case Uncovers 'a Compelling Person of Interest' One name that has been considered a longtime possibility is Richard Floyd McCoy, who perpetrated a nearly identical hijacking a few months after the Cooper incident. McCoy was later identified as the suspect and was convicted of aircraft piracy and sentenced to 45 years in prison, though he maintained his innocence, according to the FBI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in 1974, McCoy escaped custody and was later killed in a shootout with FBI agents in Virginia. Though their father has been dead for 50 years, McCoys children believe their father was also the man responsible for the D.B. Cooper hijacking, according to Cowboy State Daily. Dan Gryder is an aviation YouTuber who believes McCoy is D.B. Cooper and has been in touch with his children. Gryder told Cowboy State Daily for a Nov. 24 story that he found a parachute rig he believes was used by Cooper during the hijacking at a North Carolina property belonging to McCoys mother. 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. That rig is literally one in a billion, Gryder said, saying that it was a modified military surplus rig. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: D.B. Cooper Skyjacking Mystery: Man ID'd as the Hijacker in Upcoming Documentary Is a 'Viable Suspect,' Says Retired FBI Agent The paper reported that McCoys children had long suspected their father but did not say anything to protect their mother who they believe helped their father. Their mother died in 2020, which is when the Cowboy State Daily reported they spoke to Gryder for the first time. Following his discovery of the parachute, Gryder said he was subsequently contacted by the FBI, with whom he and McCoys son, Rick, met in September 2023. Gryder reportedly said the parachute, harness and skydiving logbook were taken into evidence by the FBI. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The parents of a 17-year-old who was killed in a drunk driving crash in 2023 have sued a Springfield bar and accused them of negligence. In July 2023, Rogersville teen Gavaan Vehr was a passenger in an SUV when it went off the side of the road and overturned. The driver of the vehicle, then 18-year-old Benjamin Sugg, left the scene of the crash, but later admitted he was intoxicated when law enforcement made contact with him hours later. Now, online court documents show that Gavaan Vehrs parents, Amber Munnik and Christopher Vehr, have filed a lawsuit against Club Rodeo and one of its bartenders, accusing the business of negligence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man sentenced to 7 years after Rogersville crash leaves teen dead The lawsuit alleges that Club Rodeo served Sugg despite the fact he was underage, and served him in excess, which rendered him intoxicated and continued to serve him alcohol after he was visibly intoxicated and extremely impaired. Documents also say the bar failed to stop serving Sugg, and failed to properly remove Benjamin Sugg from the business premises and prevent him from getting behind the wheel. The lawsuit also claims that Club Rodeo failed to provide proper procedures, monitoring, supervision, training or instruction to its employees, servers and agents with respect to serving intoxicating beverages Sugg was charged with DWI causing the death of another and leaving the scene of an accident following the crash. He pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to seven years in the Missouri State Department of Corrections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. GREENVILLE, SC (WSPA) A suspect accused of shooting two people in a Greenville parking garage is also accused of shooting into a Greenville County home. According to the Greenville County Sheriffs Office, on November 8, a shooting occurred at Kentmont Lane near Greer. Deputies said 21-year-old Jakee Shamar Edward Austin shot into an occupied residence, causing damage to the property. No one was injured. Austin was originally arrested by the Greenville Police Department for a shooting that took place November 23 in a downtown Greenville parking garage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Along with the Greenville Police Departments charges, the Greenville County Sheriffs Office has now charged Austin with assault and battery, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and discharging a weapon into a dwelling. Austin is currently being held in the Greenville County Detention Center on no bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. An unruly passenger accused of trying to force open a plane door and injuring an attendant mid-flight last week prompting fellow passengers to duct-tape him has been charged in federal court, a federal prosecutors office said. Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya, 29, was charged with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation in connection with actions hes accused of taking during a November 19 flight from Milwaukee to Dallas, the office of the US attorney from Texas northern district said Tuesday. The tussle on American Airlines Flight 1915 is the latest example of apparent air passenger misbehavior a problem thats worsened for airlines since before the pandemic, with at least 1,854 incidents reported this year to the Federal Aviation Administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The November 19 incident began as the defendant told a flight attendant that he wanted he needed to exit the aircraft now, according to a report from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety. Witnesses told law enforcement they heard Olaiya tell the flight attendant he was captain of this flight, the US attorneys office said in a news release. As the man grew agitated and the situation got more tense, the flight attendant called to the back of the plane and signaled to nearby passengers for help, the public safety report says. Olaiya charged the flight attendant in an attempt to access an aircraft door, which the attendant tried to shield with her body, federal prosecutors said. She hurt her neck and wrist in the encounter, according to the public safety report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Able-bodied passengers rushed to assist her, the US attorneys office said in its news release. They subdued Mr. Olaiya and duct-taped his wrists and ankles. Doug McCright told CNN affiliate WDJT that he was a passenger on the plane and bear-hugged Olaiya from behind and pinned him to the ground. The interveners held him down for the flights duration about 30 minutes according to the public safety report and an account McCright posted online. He was bound and determined, he wanted off that plane, McCright told WDJT. I was bound and determined, he wasnt getting off that plane. Because the plane was close to its destination, the pilots decided to continue to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, the US attorneys office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the plane landed safely, FBI and airport Department of Public Safety agents boarded it, detained the passenger and took him for a mental evaluation, the public safety report said. The FAA will investigate the incident aboard the Airbus A319, it told CNN. CNN has been unable to identify an attorney for Olaiya. The FBI said it arrested Olaiya, and that he has made an initial court appearance. If Olaiya is convicted, he would face up to 20 years in federal prison, according to the US attorneys office. The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we thank our team members and customers for managing a difficult situation, American Airlines told CNN in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unruly passengers posed a serious problem to airlines before the pandemic and its even worse now. The FAA has a zero-tolerance policy for unruly passenger behavior, which surged to a record high in 2021, with nearly 6,000 incidents reported. Reports have declined significantly since then, but 2023 still saw more than 2,000 incidents, FAA figures show. In 2023, just over 400 enforcement actions were initiated and $7.5 million in fines were levied against such passengers. Just last month, a man was charged in the unprovoked beating of a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight after he repeatedly punched the person until blood was drawn. In September, a passenger allegedly tried to choke a flight attendant and said he was going to kill everybody aboard a Frontier Airlines flight. The plane was diverted, and the man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, court records show. CNNs Josh Campbell, Christine Sever, Pete Muntean and Marnie Hunter contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a church that is the largest provider of homeless services in Travis County, alleging its South Austin headquarters has become a magnet for drug and criminal activity and poses a drastic threat to the surrounding neighborhood, including an elementary school. Paxtons lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction that, if approved, would force Sunrise Community Churchs Homeless Navigation Center to close. Drug activity and criminal behavior facilitated by this organization have hijacked an entire neighborhood, Paxton said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The church, located on Menchaca Road just south of Ben White Boulevard, began offering homeless people services in 2015. Its center is funded in part by tax dollars, with the city having contributed more than $2.5 million since 2021, according to financial records. Just last week, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved $350,000 to help fund services there. David Frye, who has been homeless for three years since losing his job, organizes his belongings Tuesday next to Joslin Elementary School, which is across Redd Street from Sunrise Community Churchs Homeless Navigation Center in South Austin. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the church, seeking to force it to close the homeless services center. The center has become the subject of growing complaints from residents who have reported finding needles, trash and feces nearby. Its proximity to Joslin Elementary School has been of particular concern. Included in Paxtons lawsuit Tuesday are police reports, affidavits from several residents and links to local media coverage that details those concerns. Sunrise Executive Director Mark Hilbelink said in a statement the center will continue to do its work and is committed to being a good neighbor to all residents, businesses and Joslin Elementary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a church, he said the centers mission is to take care of the poor, and that a laundry list of state and federal laws, including the U.S. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, would protect the center from the lawsuit. People stand on the sidewalk outside the Sunrise Community Churchs Homeless Navigation Center. Sunrise Executive Director Mark Hilbelink says the centers mission is to take care of the poor, and that numerous laws, including the U.S. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, should protect the church from a state lawsuit. These laws have been tested in court on multiple occasions, always with the same result: churches are protected to do work that is an expression of their religious practice, Hilbelink said, adding that it was regrettable that Paxton would file the suit the week of Thanksgiving. Paxtons suit alleges that residents met in May of this year at a community event where some called on Sunrise to move operations elsewhere. Along with the temporary injunction, Paxtons office called for Sunrise to not be allowed to operate within 1,000 feet of a school or playground and to remain closed for one year. We will shut this unlawful nuisance behavior down, Paxton said in his statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Sunrise is not a homeless shelter, it provides free meals, showers and computer access to people experiencing homelessness and helps them find housing and health care both on-site and as part of its mobile program. Last week, the center announced an expansion of another service a hotline that helps connect homeless people to housing options. It will now be available 12 hours per day, up from four hours. According to Sunrises website, it has helped more than 4,275 people find affordable housing. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas AG Paxton sues Austin church that provides services to homeless The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority is awarding laptops to two Erie organizations to help advance digital literacy in our region. The Erie County Public Library along with the Arts Council of Erie are getting a total of 90 laptops 70 for the library, and 20 for the Arts Council of Erie. YMCA of Greater Erie making changes to benefit local families The computers will be made available for public use and support educational programming and were acquired by a grant writer from the countys economic development department Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are excited to have those 70 laptops. Theyre going to be distributed through all of our locations. Well keep some here at Blasco where we do training courses, help patrons with access to equipment as well as internet access. They can use those laptops here as well as at our branches. We also plan on putting together a mobile lab that will travel with our bookmobile, said Jessica Spitulski, executive director of the Erie County Public Library. State representatives Pat Harkins and Bob Merski said this program looks to bridge the digital divide and enhance digital literacy in PA. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 26ANDERSON A Pendleton man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison on a charge of attempted murder in a 2022 attack on his girlfriend. Joel Meyer, 44, was found guilty last month of attempted murder, aggravated battery and criminal confinement following a five-day bench trial before Madison Circuit Court Judge Angela Warner Sims. Judge Sims on Tuesday sentenced Meyer to 40 years on the attempted murder conviction and 10 years on the criminal confinement charge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state's case was presented by deputy prosecutors Jennifer Haley and Jesse Miller. The case was investigated by Officer Scott Bertram of the Pendleton Police Department. In 2022, Pendleton police officers responded to an address on Carrick Glen Boulevard on a report of a man lying in a driveway with a significant injury. When officers arrived, the man was gone, and officers eventually made contact with Meyer at the back door. Meyer refused to allow officers entry to the residence and also refused to allow officers to check on Meyer's then-girlfriend, who officers suspected was inside the residence. After entering the residence, officers found Meyer on the floor with significant cuts to both arms. They found his girlfriend lying in a bed with extensive injuries to her face, neck, arms, shoulder and wrists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While providing medical care, officers noticed the smell of natural gas and determined that Meyer, reportedly, had left the gas stove running without being ignited. Meyer's girlfriend had a pacemaker, and she sustained significant injuries near the pacemaker leads, losing her medical alert bracelet in an apparent struggle. She was eventually transported to an Indianapolis hospital by Lifeline because it was determined there was bleeding on the brain as a result of the beating. Meyer had threatened suicide on several prior occasions if she were ever to leave him, and police found evidence of a significant altercation and battery after Meyer's self-inflicted wounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At trial, Meyer claimed his girlfriend's wounds were the result of a fall or falls. A search warrant executed on Meyer's phone produced several videos of Meyer battering his girlfriend, pushing her down and making her crawl on her knees to apologize. Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863. (WHTM) A young girl in Pennsylvania who survived a crash received an early holiday gift. Penn State Health presented 8-year-old Laykin Ryan of Pottsville, Schuylkill County with an adaptive bike. This took place on Tuesday at the rehabilitation hospital in Derry Township. The crash happened in February and left Ryan paralyzed from the waist down. Her grandmother died and her younger cousin was injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The healthcare organization says the bike is designed to enhance Ryans independence and mobility. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Local Business Beat This bike she will grow with it will grow with her, physical medicine and rehab nurse coordinator Nancy Lokey said. So this is probably the only bike shell ever really need. We knew she needed to be back on a bike, John and Ashley Ryan, Laykins parents said. So this was kind of one of the right place, right time deals. And she was fortunate enough to get that bike. and shes looking forward to being back out in the neighborhood with all of her friends and just, just having fun and being a kid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Penn State Health says an anonymous donor foundation paid for the bike. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The Pentagon is unlikely to use all of the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to arm Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office, according to two US officials and three defense officials. The administration has less than two months left to use nearly $7 billion, part of a larger package authorized by Congress earlier this year to help Ukraine in the war with Russia. The funding allows the Defense Department to draw from its own stockpiles to send weapons, but shortages have limited how much the US can send to Kyiv in recent months. For months, the US has run into the limits of its ability to replenish its own weapons inventories, which limited what the Biden administration has been able to send Ukraine. The US has been growing its capacity to produce critical munitions, such as 155mm artillery shells, since virtually the beginning of the war nearly three years ago, but the ramp up in production is not yet complete. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pentagon had pledged to use all of the remaining authority to provide the military aid as the situation has grown more urgent given the size of Russian attacks on Ukraine, including the recent first-time use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile with multiple warheads. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. Last week, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the administration is committed to using the full authority that Congress has allotted to us. State Department officials briefed Congress this month that the administration is still working to allocate the remaining funds, according to a congressional source familiar with the matter. But with only 55 days left until President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the US still has $6.8 billion left in authority to ship weapons directly from US inventories to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is unlikely to continue providing the same level support to Kyiv, and CNN reported Wednesday that his pick to be national security adviser, Mike Waltz, is weighing several proposals to end a war that the president-elect claimed on the campaign trail he could end in one day. In the time the administration has left, one defense official said the size of the individual military aid packages is likely to increase but acknowledged using the remaining funds within such a short time is going to be a challenge. US official says Ukraine should lower recruiting age to 18 Earlier Wednesday, a senior Biden administration official said Ukraine should lower the recruiting age for its military to 18 years old from where it currently stands at 25, calling the need critical. The official argued that the most urgent need is not weapons but fresh manpower to train so that current troops can be rotated out and those who have been killed can be replaced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As you look at the battlefront and the needs, the progress that the Russians have made, particularly in the east, the physics of it, the pure math of it is you need bodies, said the official. You need manpower. You need soldiers. The US has been able to authorize military aid packages totaling approximately $750 million per month recently, according to one US official. This fall, DoD increased the size of the military aid packages at the request of Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said. Were basically trying to do everything we can to leave everything on the table and put Ukraine in the strongest position, the official said. Now, the administration is working to increase that amount to about $1 billion per month in the time remaining, a second US official said, but that will still leave billions unused. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both officials said there are still large quantities of weapons and equipment that will arrive in Ukraine before the start of the Trump administration on January 20, including hundreds of air defense missiles. Then it will be up to the new administration to decide whether to continue to flow weapons to Kyiv or use the remaining authority to send new military aid packages. In September, Biden committed billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House. But the US was not able to send all of the aid at once, instead breaking it down into smaller packages announced approximately every two weeks. As part of the surge in security assistance that President Biden announced on September 26, the Department remains committed to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to fight Russian aggression through the end of the Administration, a defense official told CNN. The Biden administration has continued to announce military aid packages twice a month, but the US is still far short of the pace required to use the remaining money. In the previous two months, the US announced a total of $1.9 billion in Ukraine assistance across five different aid packages, a number that would have to triple to use whats left to give from the Biden administration. The last package, announced on November 20, was worth $275 million and included much-needed artillery rounds and drones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden led a concerted effort to convince some skeptical Republicans in Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to pass a supplemental funding bill in April that included $61 billion in aid for Ukraine. Its going to make America safer. Its going to make the world safer. And it continues Americas leadership in the world, Biden said upon signing the bill on April 24. The US announced a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine that same day. But the value of aid packages quickly dipped, as the stockpiles of weapons and equipment the Pentagon was able to send Kyiv dwindled. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Thats it, then. Anyone who held out any hope that Britains benefit dependency was about to be tackled can finally relax: its not going to happen. Ever. It should have happened under the last Labour government, but it didnt, and for all the same reasons that this Labour government wont do anything either: establishment push-back, resistance from the poverty industry, threats from rebellious back benchers who fret about getting mean emails from discontented constituents. And if something was ever going to be done about the genuine scandal of the nearly 10 million people in Britain who are economically inactive a euphemistic description for what everyone knows is going on it was only ever going to happen under a Labour government, for the same reason that genuine reform of the NHS can only happen under Labour: because voters distrust it slightly less than the Conservatives on these areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What were talking about, of course, is forcing yes, forcing, with all the politically incorrect and offensive implications of that word people who exist on state benefits to go to work or lose those benefits. Its as stark and as simple as that. Yes, we can dress the process up in more suitable, less aggressive language: encouraging claimants to explore new pathways, help them to discover their own true potential, to empower (horrid word) them to make a contribution that will enhance their own and their families lives, etc. But at the root of the problem is a mass of people a mass of unprecedented, disastrous and unsustainable size most of whom should be in work and paying their own way instead of letting those in work pay for them, and contributing tax to the nations coffers. When I have addressed this issue in previous columns, or indeed, when I spoke about it as an MP, I spoke hesitantly, fearful of causing offence, careful not to say anything that might cost me the votes of the very people who might lose out if the government took me at my word and actually did something about the problem. I vividly recall a meeting of my local Labour Party branch to which a full-time, publicly-funded employee of one of the many charities that had been set up by the previously mentioned poverty industry had been invited to speak. In my defence, I had arrived late, harassed after a long and tortuous journey from London and was most decidedly not in the mood to open up another front in my low-key but frequently intense feud with my local activists over government policy. So when the opportunity arose for me to challenge this young, idealistic and woefully misguided woman about her preferred remedy to Scotlands widespread poverty, I simply sighed, rolled my eyes, said nothing and focused instead on which carry-out restaurant would receive my patronage before heading home to the warm embrace of my family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The comment that riled me then, and has done so ever since, was to the effect that people had a human right (she actually used those words) not to work while maintaining the right to benefits. And that, in a nutshell, is why, 20 years later, this new Labour government will do no more than what Keir Starmer has announced, an inaccurately-described radical plan to get Britain back to work by tinkering at the edges of the benefits system, making Jobcentres a bit easier to navigate and offering support to claimants to retrain if they feel they want to if its not too inconvenient for them, what with their busy lives and everything. And just in case there was any prospect of these proposals being taken seriously, there will be an inevitable consultation period next year, during which all those well-paid advocates of the poverty industry will do their damndest to make sure that whatever proposals finally make it into government policy, they wont change a thing. The consequences of this inaction and it is inaction, however much its disguised as the opposite will be a dreadful worsening of Britains economy and of the plight of millions of individuals, families and homes. It will mean a chronic and permanent imbalance in the relationship between what the state pays out and what it receives in tax revenue. The status quo cant be sustained but it can be extended long enough to allow the current crop of politicians retire and bequeath their failure to the next generation of legislators, which is all the success they can reasonably hope for. And yes, we all know that the biggest drain on state largesse is pensioners, and thats a really clever and fascinating counter-argument to those who say we really ought to do something about those of working age who dont work, rather than deal with people who have worked and paid contributions for the last 40 years. So slow hand claps and congratulations all round. And yes, this government will clamp down on benefit fraud, as if every single one of its predecessors hadnt come up with that solution to the problem. Its a bit like opposition parties claiming they can increase public spending by eliminating waste: it sounds fine but it never happens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was always no more than a faint hope that a Labour government with a three-figure majority would risk doing something unpopular and necessary, but for a moment I genuinely thought it might actually happen, that there might emerge a generation of political leaders who had more courage than my own did. Thatll teach me to hope. 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. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) A Peoria man was indicted Tuesday for shooting and killing a woman after she ran over to protect her neighbor from him. In mid-August, 20-year-old Jakaiden Rynearson ran over to Zaneta Winters home. Winters had been screaming for help before being shot, allegedly by her boyfriend, Stevie Linwood, Jr. Rynearson was shot several times and was in the hospital for many weeks before dying in late October. Linwood, on Tuesday, was indicted by a Peoria County grand jury for first-degree murder in connection with her death. He already faces charges of first-degree murder for Winters death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If convicted of both murders, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, as mandated by state law. She heard somebody in need of help, says mother of Peoria woman shot in August By all accounts, Rynearson, 20, had gone to the house on North El Vista Avenue on Aug. 11 to help Winters. At Linwoods pretrial detention hearing in August, a prosecutor said that Linwood told police he and Winters were arguing that day about alleged infidelity. They were at the home on North El Vista Avenue with their son, 7, when the argument got violent. Winters was found in the doorway of the house with a gunshot wound to the head. Linwood allegedly told police things got blurry after Winters tried to run out of the house, yelling for help. Linwood said he fired once at Winters and then left the house, according to court records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UPDATED: Man accused in latest deadly shooting faced murder counts previously He said he also shot at Rynearson. Both women were not breathing and were unresponsive when police arrived. Linwood allegedly told detectives that he ditched the gun after he left and he went to the liquor store to get something to drink because he knew he was going to be arrested, according to court records. He will next appear in court on Dec. 4 for a pretrial conference with his jury trial set a week or so later. Given the new charges, that trial will likely be pushed back until well into next year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. Danville-Pittsylvania County Habitat for Humanity is looking to launch its new program to help seniors in January. Known as Aging in Place, the initiative is designed to aid residents 65 and older with small repairs and upgrades so they can have a safer space at home. The local chapter of the national nonprofit organization is working with the Southern Area Agency on Aging to make it happen. They are basically doing our vetting process for it, Danville-Pittsylvania County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Krystal Davis told the Register & Bee during an interview last week. Once an application is completed, itll be handed over to the Southern Area Agency on Aging. In turn, that group will send back a list so the local Habitat organization can prioritize it. Itll start on a small scale with upgrades limited to $1,000 a project for things like wheelchair ramps, handrails, grab bars in showers, cabinet pulls, raising toilets and widening doorways. There is obviously a greater need for bigger scale projects, Davis said that hopefully will come in time. For now, the plan is to complete one project per month. Although the projects seem small, in the end, it can be major for someone living alone with no access to help. Dave Motley, Habitats construction coordinator, gave an example. His friends father has Parkinsons disease and couldnt get around the house. So they put rails throughout the home where he could hold onto something. It made it so much easier for him to get around the house, Motley said. Thats what we are looking to do, he continued. Making it safer and easing the burden on them so they can stay in their house a little longer. Motley is working toward becoming a certified Aging in Place specialist, something that will help him better size-up a situation. Well be able to go in there and access whats going on and what needs to be done, he explained to the newspaper. It was Motley who first brought the idea up in his interview before being hired earlier this year. I will tell you, this is his love, Davis said. Hes worked on similar projects with impact camps with youth in the Lynchburg area. Its just a huge impact to someones life to put in something simple, he said. After Davis came on as the executive director, she was all in on the Aging in Place program, Motley said. It took a few months to get it rolling after presenting it to the board of directors. They were supportive from the get-go, Davis said. Theres already funding available courtesy of Carter Bank and Atlantic Union although Davis is continuing to build the coffers for the project. Theres also a partnership potential with the Pittsylvania Baptist Association, which would help provide the labor. We use volunteer services, Davis explained of the Habitat model. Its just the materials we are essentially having to pay. Thats one reason why Motely wants church groups to be part of it. Sometimes its hard to find volunteers for new home projects, mainly because of whats perceived to be involved. People get overwhelmed, Motley said just thinking about it. However, when they were something like building a wheelchair ramp, thats something thats easier to understand in their minds. Plus, theyll get to interact with the homeowners on the repairs, something in itself that may mean more to a person who lives alone. Id tell the kids to just sit down and talk to these people, Motely said of his previous experience running camps. Just the fact that someone was having a conversation with them. The results can be huge. Its big for morale that someone actually cares. For example, in one of the camps he was involved with, an elderly lady was having problems getting a remote to work. With a young crew of kids helping, it was easy to find a tech-savvy teen to get the handheld device up and running again. I think she was more happy to have her remote control working, Motley said, showing that its the small things that can make a difference. Beyond helping with the repair or improvement, Habitat will essentially become the eyes for the Southern Area Agency on Aging, alerting that organization of other issues that may be in the home. When we get in there, we may say, hey these people dont have heat, Motley explained. If they are struggling with food insecurity, that agency is the one that offers Meals on Wheels. Its really a holistic approach, Davis said. Its not just about those home repairs, she explained. Its about the family as a whole and what other resources are available in our area. Down the road, Davis would like to expand the program and bring on other help, like an occupational therapist. That person could provide a better view of the day-to-day access a senior may need and pinpoint what other modifications are would help, large or small. Thats what occupational therapists do, she noted. Our end goal is to really put a huge impact into the community, Motley explained, stressing its not just Danville but the county as well. Right now, Habitat has a tough time reaching Pittsylvania County because of logistics. The thing is, we dont have any land, Davis said. We cant build in Pittsylvania County unless someone donates. Until we have some land there, its really hard for us to get a foothold there, she continued. So with this program, this is going to give us the ability to try to serve those residents in the county, so that they know they are part of our service area, too. Motley said hes ready to get going on the Aging in Place projects. Once we start this, this thing is going to explode, he said. There is so much need out there. To learn more, visit danvillehabitat.org/services/aging-in-place, email info@danvillehabitat.org or call 434-793-3630. By Neil Jerome Morales and Mikhail Flores MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' embattled vice president on Wednesday accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr of seeking to remove her from office, after the national police filed a formal complaint accusing her of assault and coercion. In the latest turn in a dramatic fallout between two influential political families, police said Vice President Sara Duterte was involved in recent incidents in the lower house of Congress and at a hospital in which she was responsible for direct assault, disobedience, and grave coercion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Duterte, the daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been the subject of a heated congressional enquiry into her spending as vice president and education minister, during which she has evaded questions and clashed repeatedly with lawmakers. She denies wrongdoing. Tempers flared when one of her aides was detained at the complex of the lower house and transferred to a government hospital for medical attention, with Duterte's security team accused by police of pushing a police officer. "The PNP remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold justice and ensure that all individuals are held accountable under the law, regardless of their position," Philippine National Police chief Rommel Francisco Marbil said. Duterte told a press conference the complaints "do not hold water". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I believe we reached the point of no return," she said of her relationship with Marcos. "It is clear that they are really going after me. They want to remove me from power." 'NO THREAT' Duterte has been embroiled in a bitter row with Marcos and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, since the collapse of a formidable alliance between their two powerful families that helped Marcos win the 2022 election by a huge margin. On Saturday, she said she had hired an assassin to kill the president, his wife and Romualdez, in the event that she herself were killed, prompting a strong rebuke from Marcos. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Law enforcement officials on Tuesday summoned Duterte for questioning over the statement, which she said had been taken out of context to create a false narrative that Marcos' life was in danger, calling her remarks a "conditional act of revenge." Duterte has not specified any threat to her life and on Wednesday said: "There is no active threat if I do not get killed." The intensification of the row between the Philippines' two most senior office-holders comes just weeks after Duterte's mercurial father was the subject of marathon legislative enquiries into thousands of killings during the notorious "war on drugs" that defined his 2016-2022 presidency. During those hearings, the Marcos administration for the first time signalled it would cooperate with any international effort to arrest the ex-president, who is under International Criminal Court investigation for possible crimes against humanity. Rodrigo Duterte told the hearings he was solely responsible for the bloody crackdown and willing to be go on trial. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty) (Bloomberg) -- The Philippine police filed a complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte and her security detail over an alleged assault, prompting her to claim she is being persecuted and that her relations with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are now beyond repair. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The police allegations relate to events during the transfer of Dutertes chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, to a government hospital from the House of Representatives, where Lopez was detained, according to a police statement. Multiple charges were filed over unlawful acts related to the assault, disobedience, and coercion that occurred during the incident, it said. They are really going after me, Duterte said in a livestreamed briefing shortly after the charges were announced. They really want to remove me from my position and the threats against me are true. Just two years after they won election on a joint ticket, Dutertes relationship with Marcos has completely fractured, and she last week claimed that in the event of her death, she had arranged for the killing of the president, his wife and his cousin, the house speaker. Her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, on Monday called for the military to correct fractured governance, remarks that some interpreted as a call for the army to intervene, even as he said he wasnt calling for a coup. For its part, the police said todays action was about the rule of law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Philippine National Police remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold justice and ensure that all individuals are held accountable under the law, regardless of their position, police Chief General Rommel Marbil said. Sara Duterte has also been summoned separately by the National Bureau of Investigation to appear on Friday and explain her remarks that she had approached someone to kill Marcos. Dont worry about my security because Ive already talked to someone, Duterte said in livestreamed remarks on Facebook last week. I told him if I get killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez, she said, using the initials of the president, whos known as Bongbong. I told him, dont stop until you have killed them and then he said yes. She has since said her comments were taken out of context. Tossing the word assassin into this issue makes things even more terrifying and especially because I never used that term during my recent consternation against the Marcos administrations failure to serve the Filipinos while it masterfully persecutes political enemies, she said in a Facebook post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Duterte was asked about the possibility of patching up relations with Marcos. I really believe that we have reached the point of no return, she said. --With assistance from Ditas Lopez. (Adds Duterte response in headline, first, third and final paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. More than 40 years after one of the most horrific tragedies in Pennsylvania history, one family might finally get the closure theyve been looking for. The 1985 Philadelphia bombings claimed the lives of at least 11 men, women, and children. But although authorities said all of the victims bodies were returned to their families, this 12-year-old girl somehow got lost in the rubble. Researchers have now identified the body recently discovered under the University of Pennsylvanias museum as 12-year-old Delisha Africa, according to Newsweek. Museum officials announced Africas identity and also said they informed the childs remaining relatives of the discovery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are committed to full transparency with respect to any new evidence that may emerge, Penn Museum said in a statement. Confronting our institutional history requires ever-evolving examination of how we can uphold museum practices to the highest ethical standards. Centering human dignity and the wishes of descendant communities govern the current treatment of human remains in the Penn Museums care. Africa was one of five children killed when Philadelphia police bombed the headquarters of MOVE a Black back to nature movement on May 13, 1985. The bombing also caused a devastating fire which spread to dozens of row homes in the West Philadelphia neighborhood. MOVE founder John Africa born Vincent Leaphart was killed along with several of his followers and their children, according to West Philadelphia Collaborative History. MOVE, originally named the Christian Movement for Life, is a communal organization that advocates for nature laws and natural living. The Black liberation movement notably conflicted with police on two deadly occasions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1978, a confrontation between MOVE and police resulted in the death of an officer, and eventually nine MOVE members were sentenced to prison for the crime, according to NPR. As of 2024, two of the nine convicted MOVE members have been released. The 1985 bombing marked the second deadly confrontation between the movement and officials. The tragedy was widely criticized by the public, but despite the outrage, no criminal charges were ever brought against Philadelphia police or city officials. However, several civil lawsuits were filed which resulted in survivors of the bombings being awarded $1.5 million, according to AP News. For nearly 40 years, the City of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Museum have refused to treat the MOVE Bombing victims or their families with the even most basic level of respect and decency and this latest revelation is just the most recent in a long line of atrocities Black folks in America have had to live with, said Strom law firm attorneys Bakari Sellers and Daniel Hartstein. We are disgusted and disappointed but, unfortunately, we are not surprised. The shocking discovery of Africas remains comes three years after another bombing victim, 14-year-old Katricia Dotson, was uncovered at the same museum, according to the New York Times. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WDCW) A Virginia pilot and a rescue dog he was transporting were killed after a plane he was flying crashed in New York on Sunday, authorities said. Two other dogs, however, were later found to have survived the crash, which happened in the snowy woods of the Catskill Mountains, authorities said. According to the Greene County Sheriffs Office, the pilot, identified as 49-year-old Seuk Kim, from Springfield, was flying a Cessna T210L plane from Maryland to Albany just after 6 p.m. when it crashed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities said the plane went down in a remote location in the town of Windham, about 35 miles southwest of Albany. The flight was carrying three dogs and was associated with a not-for-profit group that transports rescue animals with help from volunteer pilots, Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said. Deputies said that responders found Kim dead at the scene along with one of the dogs. Another dog, a Labrador-mix puppy, was found alive with two broken legs, and the third dog had minor injuries. A guide to adopting pets in New York City The dog with the broken legs, named Whiskey, was taken to a veterinary hospital in Connecticut, according to the nonprofit Kim was delivering the dogs to, the Animal Shelter of Schoharie County. The other dog found safe was an 18-month-old Yorkie terrier mix named Pluto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tributes to Kim poured into an online memorial Monday, with fellow dog rescuers thanking him for his flights, and for coordinating pilots across the country. Over the years, Seuk helped to save the lives of hundreds of animals who would have otherwise been euthanized due to overcrowding at animal shelters, Maggie Pryor, director of the Animal Shelter of Schoharie County, said in a statement. A statement from Kims family said he was originally from South Korea and came to this country with little but a dream, and through hard work and perseverance, he built a life of meaning and generosity. He was a kind, selfless individual who always went out of his way to help others, no matter the circumstances, the statement said. His legacy will live on in the countless lives he touched, both human and animal, it added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement See it: Dogs march through Tompkins Square Park in Halloween costumes The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash. Visibility was poor on Sunday, and Kim sought permission to change his altitude due to turbulence before the crash, Kusminsky said. The plane crashed in woods a couple of miles from the nearest road. Rescuers located the wreckage before midnight in woods covered by about a foot of snow, according to the sheriff. 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 PIX11. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) With Thanksgiving just days away, local airports are busy with travelers rushing to get to their turkey day destination. Illinois State Police Illinois State Trooper Jayme Bufford wants to reiterate safety for those traveling during the holiday season. Make sure youre putting your family and your friends and things first, and youre not going to drink and drive, she said. Make sure you get that sober driver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bufford also mentioned what law enforcement have done in past years that they want to see changed. During the holiday period in 2022, we issued one-hundred and fifteen citations and then that increased in 2023 with one-hundred and thirty-nine DUI citations, she said. So it has increased a little bit. Central Illinois Regional Airport In Bloomington at Central Illinois Regional Airport, people travel to see family, or go where its warm. For some, it can be a sentimental moment. I think one of our favorite things here is seeing the people hug, said Melissa Beaver, manager of marketing and communications for the airport. Once they get off the plane and come through the security area, they hug their family members and friends when they come off the plane. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The same travel advice stands as always: lock your cars, and make sure you arrive on time among other precautions. But there are other holiday safeguards to be aware of as well. The Nutcracker returns with a new look Peoria International Airport Over in Peoria, traveling is the same as it is in Bloomington, people going to their destinations or returning home. Gene Olson, director of airports at Peoria International Airport, has holiday advice for travelers that not everyone may think of. We see people traveling with gifts starting in Thanksgiving, going all the way through Christmas, he said. Its important to remember you dont want to wrap your gift before you get on the plane because if youre going through TSA, and they need to open that package and if youve already wrapped it, theyre going to have to destroy your wrapping paper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Olson also said the Peoria International Airport is expecting more than 50,000 travelers this month. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign, said its difficult for his party to win the swing states, in his first postmortem interview since President-elect Trumps victory earlier this month. In an interview on Crooked Medias Pod Save America, hosted by former Obama aides, Plouffe joined his 2024 campaign colleagues to reflect on what went wrong in the race. Its always worth reminding people: Its really hard for Democrats to win battleground states, OK? Lets look at Pennsylvania: 25 percent of the electorate is liberal, roughly, 34 percent is conservative, Plouffe said. So in every battleground state, theres more conservatives than liberals. The Democratic strategist said even though Vice President Harris won liberal voters by a greater margin than Trump won conservative ones, and won moderate voters, she did not win moderates by enough to close the gap in the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Pennsylvania, if exits are to be believed, Trump won conservatives 91-8. Harris won Liberals 936. Moderates, Harris won 56-43. But you kind of got to win 60 percent of them, right? Plouffe said. So, you know, for Democrats to win battleground states, to Quentin and Jens point, it is a false choice. He added that Democrats have to perform well across all demographics. You want to maximize your base, of course. And that was a place where we spent enormous time, a lot of resources. Thats critical, Plouffe said, noting that turnout was strong in Milwaukee but fell short in Philadelphia and Detroit. So thats not good. Thats part of the equation. Youve got to couple that with dominating in the middle, he continued. Not just winning it a little. We have to dominate the moderate vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plouffe also noted Democrats cant afford to lose any more of its base going into future elections. And I think as we look ahead to 26 and 28, particularly where you have seen drift amongst noncollege voters generally, particularly those of color, specifically, you know, we obviously have to get some of that back. We cant afford any more erosion. The math just doesnt fing work, okay? But, I dont think this is a permanent realignment, but the point here is to win battleground states. Yes, of course you have to maximize your turnout and your vote share amongst liberal voters if youre a Democrat, he added. That was a huge focus. Youve got to win the center. Harris campaign Chair Jen OMalley Dillon, among other advisers, also joined the podcast to discuss the loss. In a call with top donors Tuesday, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), defended their roughly three-month campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland said on Wednesday that it had detained a German citizen and charged the suspect with brokering and exporting dual-use goods to Russia. "The German citizen traded in specialist machines used in the technological industry, which - through his company - were illegally sent to Russian military plants involved in the production of weapons," the Internal Security Agency said in a statement. "The suspect pleaded guilty and filed a motion for voluntary submission to punishment." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A German foreign office source said the embassy in Warsaw was in touch with Polish authorities and working urgently to get details. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has already applied a raft of packages of sanctions against Moscow to diminish the Kremlin's ability to finance the war. The measures span across sectors and include some 2,200 individuals and entities. The sanctions include a ban on selling to Russia certain dual-use goods and technologies that have both civilian and military applications. The Internal Security Agency statement did not specify the article of the criminal code under which the suspect was charged and it was not immediately clear what penalty he faces. (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw and Rachel More in Berlin, Editing by Ros Russell) Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has proposed joint monitoring of the Baltic Sea by the navies of the Baltic NATO states following damage to undersea communication cables in the region. "Baltic Air Policing already exists for the airspace over the Baltic Sea," Tusk said before a meeting in Stockholm with the heads of government of the Nordic and Baltic states on Wednesday. "I will convince our partners of the necessity to immediately create an analogous formula for the control and security of the Baltic Sea waters, a naval surveillance," said Tusk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This should be a joint endeavour of all Baltic Sea countries that feel threatened by Russia, he said. Damage to two communication cables was discovered in the Baltic Sea within a short period of time a week-and-a-half ago. The cables run between Helsinki in Finland and Rostock in Germany and between Sweden and Lithuania. The cause of the damage in both cases is still unknown. Swedish police have launched an investigation into possible sabotage, and other countries are also investigating the incidents. Investigators are particularly interested in the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, which is thought to have passed both locations at the times of the cable breaks. The meeting in Sweden is the first of the Nordic-Baltic heads of government since 2017. Poland is attending for the first time ever. Karol Nawrocki, the head of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), says his institution can start exhumation work in Volyn within 24 hours. [The Volyn (Volhynia) 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.] Source: Karol Nawrocki's statement, cited by European Pravda and Polish news portal RMF24 Details: At a press conference on Wednesday, Karol Nawrocki recalled that the IPN "has been consistently fighting since 2017 to ensure that all the results of exhumations and excavations in Volyn Oblast are true." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote from Karol Nawrocki: "In 2017, the IPN sent the first request for search and exhumation work. This request concerned a number of settlements (). Between 2017 and 2024, we sent nine such requests. The Ukrainian side accepted none of these requests." Nawrocki says that if the public declarations of politicians are not just political declarations, then the Institute of National Remembrance, the only institution that is ready to take up exhumation work in Volyn, is waiting for official confirmation and a response to the requests. Karol Nawrocki stated that the IPN has both people and equipment at its disposal, so if there is an official decision on this issue, and not just a declaration, trained teams will go to Volyn Oblast. Quote from Karol Nawrocki: "The Bureau of Search and Identification at IPN is ready to conduct a real search in Volyn within 24 hours. So we are waiting for official confirmation of this information." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president of the IPN also claims that the search can begin despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. The war has no impact on the effectiveness of the Institute of National Remembrance, he added. On Tuesday in Warsaw, Polish and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Radosaw Sikorski and Andrii Sybiha issued a joint statement on exhumations, which have become a tension point in relations between the two countries. Background: Warsaw said that resolving historical disputes would be one of the prerequisites for Ukraine's accession to the EU. The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said that it plans the search and exhumation of Polish remains in Rivne Oblast in 2025, responding to requests from Polish citizens. Support UP or become our patron! (Bloomberg) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Kyiv has agreed to allow the exhumation of ethnic Poles killed in World War II massacres, clearing the path to resolve a rift between the two countries. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The breakthrough over the 80-year-old massacres in territory now belonging to Ukraine took place at a meeting between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Warsaw on Tuesday. A resolution could help address an issue thats emerged as a potential stumbling block for Kyivs ambitions to gain rapid accession to the European Union. Sikorski tied accession to progress on the issue, angering President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Poland will hold the EUs six-month rotating presidency in the first half of next year and said it wants to move swiftly with the initial phase of talks. Ukraine wont block the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia massacre, Tusk said in a post on X social media platform. Our ministers are starting to work on the details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An estimated 100,000 people, including woman and children, perished in the 1943 massacres of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists in the Volhynia region. While Kyiv recognizes the atrocities, it has also called on Warsaw not to politicize the issue and to seek ways for a peaceful settlement. We are working now to put together practical mechanisms to conduct search and exhumation works, Sybiha told reporters on Tuesday. Weve received assurances from our Polish colleagues that Ukrainian memorials in Poland will receive due attention. --With assistance from Volodymyr Verbianyi. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2024 Bloomberg L.P. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Police have arrested a suspect wanted in connection with a mans death in a north Columbus city park. Arrested Tuesday was 21-year-old Daveon Murphy, who is accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Anthony Wise Monday night in Weinland Park, located between North 4th Street and Summit Street, adjacent to an elementary school. Gov. DeWine signs Ohio anti-trans bathroom bill Police said that around 8:30 p.m., an ongoing conflict escalated between Wise and a group of other individuals. Witnesses reported that the group was gathered at a shelter house before Murphy allegedly pulled out a gun and began firing. Wise was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:10 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Murphy, charged with murder, was issued a $2 million bond in Franklin County Municipal Court. He is next scheduled to appear before a judge on Dec. 6 for a preliminary hearing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. California police made a huge arrest this week following the heist of a cargo train to the tune of over $200,000. The thieves were found with several pairs of Nikes and Air Jordans. The seven arrested individuals reportedly intercepted a cargo train traveling through the Mojave Desert in Amboy, Calif., and drove the loot 190 miles to Anaheim, Calif, per CBS News. They stored the goods in a U-Haul truck which was discovered by CHP Border Divisions Cargo Theft Interdiction Program this past Friday (Nov. 22), according to California Highway Patrol (CHP) Border Division. Police discovered the stolen sneakers and tools the thieves used to break into the train containers. One specific pair of sneakers found among the stolen goods was the Columbia Air Jordan 11s, which were set to come out soon. The seven thieves have been charged with felony grand theft of cargo and are awaiting trial. This has been a year full of tracking down thieves in impressive fashion. Last week, retired four-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah ran down on thieves who stole his phone; the key part of this was that he chased them on foot while they drove away in a car. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Times reported he and his wife, Tania Nell, were out and about when a white van appeared, and two men quickly snatched his phone and sped off. Farah ran after the van at full throttle, according to a witness present. Upon catching up to the van, the thieves handed over his phone without any pushback from Farah, but the police view the situation differently as they are now conducting an investigation. More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) Last week Mayor Kelly received a call from Police Chief Hutto saying he would be retiring on December 27th. Mayor Kelly said he expected Tuesdays special meeting to be standard retirement protocol. I thought we were going to listen to Chief Huttos retirement request, approve that request and be happy for him. But apparently, that wasnt the case. Theres apparently people asking me questions about when am I going to replace him? As soon as we have somebody that will do the work and that may take a couple of months. Water pipe break closes Cherry Street in Millville Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Residents voiced concerns about how city officials have no leads to fill the police chief position. And thats not their only concern. The police forces numbers have dwindled down in the last few weeks. It does sound like weve had more resignations than just chiefs. So can you tell us or can Chief Hutto tell us how many weve had in the last month or are leaving in the next coming months? Kelly admitted two other officers had left recently. One took a county job for more money. The other tendered his resignation effective Tuesday, November 26th, leaving for more money and better hours. So theres only three that have left, including the chief? asked a City of Parker resident from the crowd. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three and two, and two have said when they find a job earning more money, that has a better schedule theyre going to go too, said Mayor Kelly. So well be down five of how many? responded the resident. And well have four or five left, said Mayor Kelly. So half of our police department, retorted the resident. Kelly responded saying the resident should let Hutto retire in peace. Huttos wife responded. Three. you will have three left, and no dispatcher because she quit Friday, she said. Kelly claims the dispatcher quit last Friday for a family emergency, and said he was shocked by Mrs. Huttos reaction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont know why she was angry today. She just I dont know I would be happy, but she, I dont know why I think that I the people in the room, theres a lot of animosity among about ten of those people in this room. Some suggested disbanding the police force and having the Bay County sheriffs office to take over law enforcement. The sheriffs office already handles some of Parkers dispatch duties for $100,000 a year. Kelly says he plans to lean on the sheriffs office for help and dismissed the idea of disbanding the police force. I will not let the people of Parker suffer. In other words, Im not going to get to the day where they dont have enough law enforcement to keep them safe, said the Mayor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Council members voted to start the search for Huttos replacement. Kelly asked Hutto if he would stay on if the search ran beyond December 27th. Bay County secures state grants to enhance military base infrastructure So I would also have to modify my retirement with the state at that point to either go into the drop program or to recall my retirement. And currently there is time to still do that. But the other concern is, is that you know, trying to rebuild the department based on, you know, some of the issues that Im aware of is is going to be kind of difficult. Its hard to find police officers usually takes several months to be able to hire individuals. And you know, we do have some folks that are leaving. And its going to be its going to be difficult as as we move forward, said Police Chief Hutto. Mayor Kelly said job postings for two police officers and one dispatcher recently opened, and we can expect to see a job posting for the police chiefs position by the end of Tuesday. Weve been unable to find any of the postings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. Hermilia Villarreal and Sarah Christina Villarreal were found dead in a Laredo, Texas, home National Gun Violence Memorial Hermila G. Villarreal (left); and Sarah Christina Villarreal. Hermila G. Villarreal (left); and Sarah Christina Villarreal. Authorities in Texas believe a Texas woman fatally shot her grandmother before turning the gun on herself. Officers discovered two people with gunshot wounds on Sunday, Nov. 24, at a residence in Laredo, Texas, the Laredo Police Department confirms to PEOPLE. The victims were identified as 74-year-old Hermilia Villarreal and her 26-year-old granddaughter Sarah Christina Villarreal, Jose Espinoza of Laredo PD tells PEOPLE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hermilia and Sarahs killings have also been archived on the National Gun Violence Memorials list of gun violence victims. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. A family member called police on Sunday evening to report a person with a gun, Espinoza says, after which shots were fired. Responding officers found the apartments door open, with the two bodies inside. One of the women was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was taken to the hospital, per Espinoza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police believe Sarah shot Hermilia before shooting herself; both victims died from gunshot wounds, Espinoza says. Authorities are still investigating, and say tensions were building up in the family prior to the shooting. Sarah has a prior history of mental illness and investigators are looking into whether it may have "played a role," per Espinoza. "We're trying to get more information as to what escalated to this point," he says. "It's very unfortunate that it was two members of the same family who lost their lives." The holiday season sees an uptick in family violence and mental health struggles, Espinoza says, adding that authorities are "reinforcing [to the community] that there is support out there." If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. A New Hampshire mother is accused of driving under the influence while her two 11-month-old infants were in the vehicle, according to police. On Monday at 4:00 p.m. Manchester police responded to a two-car accident on Boynton Street, Manchester police said. Responding officers found a Hyundai Elantra with significant front-end damage on the passenger side and a Honda Pilot with minor damage. EMTs on the scene reported to police that the Hyundai Elantra was being driven by 37-year-old Shannon Lurvery and her twin 11-month-old infants were not properly secured in the car seats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Manchester police say Lurvery appeared agitated and was uncooperative with officers. Officers determined Lurvery was intoxicated. A police department spokesperson said Lurvery struggled with officers who arrested her. Lurvey is facing charges of aggravated DUI with a passenger under 16, endangering the welfare of a child, and resisting arrest. The infants were transported to a local hospital for observation before being released to a relative. The driver of the Pilot was not hurt in the crash. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Columbus police have identified the victim of a fatal shooting Monday night near Weinland Park. Police said Anthony Wise, 20, was shot Monday night at approximately 8:29 p.m. on the 1200 block of North 4th Street. He was taken to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:10 p.m. According to police, the shooting appears to be the result of an ongoing conflict between Wise and a group of others who were seen with Wise before the shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The shooting happened when the group was gathered in the Weinland Park shelter house when a male suspect produced the gun and started firing, police said. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Columbus police at 614-645-4221. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Police have arrested a Murfreesboro man in connection with a fatal crash that killed an Army veteran on Sept. 24 at West Main Street and Castle Heights Avenue in Lebanon. Terry Elmore, 41, is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide for his involvement in the crash that killed Juanita "Marie" Pedigo Birdsong, 58, according to police. The crash happened during the evening hours and involved three vehicles. Birdsong, who was also a wife and mother, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Juanita "Marie" Pedigo Birdsong Elmore sustained severe injuries and was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was arrested by the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office and booked into the Wilson County Jail on a $400,000 bond, police said. Marie Birdsong was born in Dallas, according to her obituary. She is survived by her husband of 23 years, David Birdsong, and three children. Marie Birdsong served in the U.S. Army before beginning a career in health care information technology, and she loved the color pink, her obituary said. The case remains open, but further details weren't immediately available as of press time for this story. Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Police: Charges filed in Lebanon crash that killed Army vet with kids Sydney, Australia A police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter in an Australian court Wednesday. A jury found Kristian James Samuel White guilty in the trial in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. White, who is on bail, could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later. Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when the officer discharged his Taser at her in May 2023. Nowland fell backward after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital. Police said at the time that Nowland sustained her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the device's debilitating electric shock. An undated file image from family video shows Australian great-grandmother Clare Nowland, who died of injuries sustained in a fall when she was tasered by police at her nursing home in New South Wales. / Credit: Reuters White's employment is under review and is subject to legal processes, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters after the verdict. "The court has found Claire Nowland died as a result of the actions of a police officer. This should never have happened," Webb said, as she offered her "deepest condolences" to Nowland's family. The state's police reviewed its Taser policy and training in January and no changes to it were made, she added. In video played during the New South Wales Supreme Court trial, White was heard saying "nah, bugger it" before discharging his weapon, after the officers told Nowland 21 times to put the knife down. White, 34, told the jury he had been taught that any person wielding a knife was dangerous, the Guardian reported. But after an eight-day trial, the jury rejected arguments by White's lawyers that his use of the Taser was a proportionate response to the threat posed by Nowland, who weighed about 100 pounds. White and other officers were called to the nursing home by staff who told them a woman was "armed with a knife." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said they urged Nowland to drop the serrated steak knife before she started moving toward them "at a slow pace," with her walking frame, prompting White to fire his taser at her. The prosecutor argued that White's use of the Taser was "utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive," local news outlets said. The extraordinary case provoked debate about how officers in the state use Tasers, a device that incapacitates people using electricity. Nowland, a resident of Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma, was survived by eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Lawyers for Nowland's family filed a separate civil suit last year against the New South Wales state government, seeking damages on behalf of her estate for alleged battery and assault. The suit was settled on private terms in March this year. Australian businessman and Cooma community advocate Andrew Thaler holds up his phone showing a photo of Clare Nowland, on May 19, 2023. / Credit: Reuters Cooma businessman and community advocate Andrew Thaler, speaking on Australian television not long after the incident, said Nowland was, "about 5-foot-2 and weighs all of 43 kilos [about 95 pounds], she can't walk on her own without walking assistance." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The use of a Taser, when a kind word was all she needed, if she was confused which is what happens with people who have dementia she needed kind words and assistance and help," Thaler said. "She didn't need the force of the law." Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides New White House rule would make weight loss drugs available for people on Medicare and Medicaid Inside 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki's vision for the company: It "will transform health care" Police officer Kristian White was convicted in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday, Nov. 27 Google maps Yallambee Lodge in Cooma, Australia Yallambee Lodge in Cooma, Australia A police officer has been found guilty of manslaughter after he used a taser on a 95-year-old woman at a nursing home in Australia. Senior Constable Kristian White, 34, was convicted at the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday, Nov. 27 over the death of Clare Nowland, whom he tasered for being armed with a steak knife at Yallambee Lodge in Cooma on May 17, 2023, per multiple outlets including ABC News Australia, CNN and 7 News Australia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White was convicted after days of deliberation from a 12-person jury, according to the outlets. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in New South Wales. The incident happened after White and another officer were called to the nursing home at around 5:00 a.m. on May 17, 2023, over concerns that Nowland had been seen holding two steak knives and walking into the rooms of other residents, reported ABC News Australia. The officers then exchanged words with the elderly lady who reportedly had dementia for around three minutes, during which they warned her that they were armed with a taser, the outlet added. Tragically, Nowland refused to drop a steak knife she was holding and stood up. At this point, White said "bugger it" and used his taser. Chris Dyson / BACKGRID Senior Constable Kristian White Senior Constable Kristian White Related: 95-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Dead After Australia Police Tase Her: Report Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ABC News Australia reported that Nowland fell and hit her head after being tasered and was transported to Cooma Hospital in New South Wales where she died a week later from an inoperable brain bleed. I felt it was my only option at the time to ensure a safe resolution of the incident," White who was suspended from duty after the incident said in court on Wednesday, per CNN. "I completely understand it was going to cause her some sort of injury and pain, but I felt that the risk had elevated to the point that it required a resolution I was not going to gamble on the risk of having her out in the corridor. Chris Dyson / BACKGRID Senior Constable Kristian White Senior Constable Kristian White Related: Gunman Enters Elder Care Home, Kills Mother and 5 Other People: Reports Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said following the verdict that Nowlands death was a terrible tragedy and should never have happened. She added that Whites employment is now under review and subject to a legal process that will continue in the oncoming days. 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. Nowlands family was present in court on Wednesday. In a statement they said that they "will take some time to come to terms with the jurys confirmation that Clares death at the hands of a serving NSW police officer was a criminal and unjustified act, reported 7News Australia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield called Whites actions utterly unnecessary," according to CNN. "This was not a mere breach of the standard of care. This was such an utterly unnecessary and obviously excessive use of force on Mrs. Nowland that it warrants punishment for manslaughter, he said. White was released on bail and will be sentenced at a later date, according to multiple reports. PEOPLE has reached out to the NSW Police and Supreme Court for further comment. CHAMPION, Ohio (WKBN) The Champion Police Department is seeking information on a hit-skip crash. In a Facebook post Tuesday, Champion Police posted a picture of a person believed to be involved in the crash. They said the subject was driving a silver SUV. If anyone recognizes the individual call police at 330-847-9363 or send a message. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DENVER (KDVR) Here in Colorado, people are reacting to President-elect Donald Trumps proposal for higher tariffs. While some believe he could be using the tariffs as a bargaining tactic, Governor Jared Polis said he is taking the proposal seriously. Trumps latest tariff plan aims at multiple countries. What does it mean for the US? Governor Polis is urging the President-elect to find a different way to let countries know he is serious about illegal immigration, warning them that his proposed tariffs could have many unintended consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He talked about this during the campaign, I thought it was just hopefully campaign rhetoric, but its not, he says hes going to do it. A 25% tax on all imported items from Mexico and Canada, the governor said in an interview with FOX31. Governor Polis is taking President-elect Trumps proposed tariffs seriously, worried about what they could do to Colorado consumers. 63% of our vegetables imported from Mexico, 46% of our fruits and nuts. All of those groceries costing 25% more if he carries through on this and it would destroy American jobs. Were talking about our farmers, our ranchers here, we export potatoes from the San Luis Valley to Mexico. They are already talking about their president and retaliatory tariffs. Thats because if we do it to them, theyll do it to us. There is no winner in that game, Polis said. The governor said the tariffs would also impact manufacturers in the state. If you look at almost any manufacturer here in Colorado, it uses parts from across the world. If those parts all cost 25% more to get here, a lot of that manufacturing is going to move overseas where they dont have to pay that tariff. The second thing its going to do is destroy that market overseas in Europe, in Canada, in Mexico for made-in-Colorado and made-in-America products, Polis said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps threat to impose tariffs could raise prices for consumers, colliding with promise for relief While the governor wants the president-elect to find a different way forward, the leader of the supply chain program at the University of Denver believes this strategy is about punishing countries for crimes related to immigration. He tied the tariffs to the border. Which is very different than the way hes looked at tariffs in the past. The tariffs in the past, especially with China, it is a competition issue relative to being able to make things in the United States, where what he is focusing on in Mexico and Canada seem to be more related to immigration, said Jack Buffington, University of Denver Director of the Supply Chain Program. North American companies also have a trade agreement in effect that experts said could be compromised if these tariffs are imposed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its supposed to be a free trade zone where if something is made in Canada and shipped to the United States, or something is made in Mexico and shipped to the United States, there shouldnt be any sort of import tax or tariffs associated with this. Well, this really unprecedented because you are changing the whole nature of that agreement and again it kind of ties to this theme that its not related to products as much as it is related to immigration policy, Buffington said. Governor Polis said it is too early to say if the tariffs could impact the state budget. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski has said that checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border are part of critical infrastructure and protesters should refrain from blocking them. He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in charge of issues concerning the border. Source: Radosaw Sikorski during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Warsaw, as reported by European Pravda with reference to Ukrinform Details: Sikorski said that border checkpoints and approaches to them "are critical infrastructure and should not become sites of protests". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote from Sikorski: "We have to carefully examine the scale of protests that our courts allow." Background: Polish farmers went on strike on the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing on 23 November over the Polish governments failure to fulfill their demand to keep agricultural tax in 2024 at the level of 2023 and concerns about the EU signing a free trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). The farmers have since suspended their protests until 10 December and said that the protests will extend across all of Polands eastern border if their demands are not met. Support UP or become our patron! WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that he would urge Baltic and Nordic countries to take joint action regarding security of Baltic Sea waters during a two-day trip to Sweden. In the face of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO countries are taking joint action to protect themselves, including joint control of airspace over the Baltic countries within the framework of so-called "air policing." "I will convince our partners of the need to immediately create an analogous formula when it comes to the control and security of the Baltic waters, to 'navy policing', a joint undertaking of the countries that lie on the Baltic Sea and that have the same sense of threat when it comes to Russia," Tusk said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tusk will take part in a meeting of the prime ministers of the Baltic and Nordic countries on Wednesday and Thursday, and will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The talks will cover transatlantic relations, regional cooperation on security and a common policy towards the war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Bernadette Baum) (KRON) California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a proposal Monday that would implement a state rebate for electric vehicle purchases in response to the incoming presidency of Donald Trump who will likely end the Biden-implemented federal tax credits. If the federal tax credit ends, prospective EV buyers in California can still get money back under Newsoms proposal. However, EV giant Tesla is likely excluded from that rebate. The exclusion of Tesla an automaker that has proven massive success in California has pitted San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan against fellow Democrat Newsom. Mahan said Tuesday that Newsoms proposal has no economic rationale, adding that the move is a political stunt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Strongly disagree with excluding Tesla from the proposed program to support EV adoption in Californiawe want to encourage economies of scale to lower the cost of electric vehicles, Mahan wrote in an X thread. Trying to punish (Tesla CEO) Elon Musk by excluding the #1 best-selling EV, Tesla, from a program designed to support EV adoption has no economic rationale. Visa cutting over 200 Bay Area jobs just ahead of holidays LEFT: California Governor Gavin Newsom RIGHT: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. (Getty Images) Newsom says California could offer electric vehicle rebates if Trump eliminates federal tax credit Mahan said he hopes other California leaders will step in so EVs can be more affordable statewide. The mayor of the Bay Areas largest city added that he wants Tesla, which has a plant in Fremont, to grow even more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ro Khanna agrees with Mahan. The Democratic congressman said it would be foolish to exclude Tesla in a viral post on X. In 2023, the best-selling new vehicle in California was the Tesla Model Y, and it wasnt even close. The Tesla Model 3 was the second-best seller. Tesla accounts for more than half of EV sales in the state. Musk called the exclusion of his company insane, he posted on X in response to a Bloomberg headline. Some have said that Newsoms decision is a political move to prevent Tesla from having even more success given Musks relationship with Trump. Mahan and Khanna have accused their governor of playing political games. Newsom Denies Targeting Tesla Newsom denies his proposal was specifically targeting Tesla, the governors office told KRON4. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A potential Tesla exclusion is about giving more EV makers a better chance to grow in California, according to Newsoms office. The proposal includes a potential market cap which makes any applicable automaker subject to that cap to foster market competition. The proposed market cap would apply to any EV maker not just Tesla. It will most likely apply to Tesla since the company has the highest sales of any EV brand across the state. Pushing for market competition has been part of several government rebate programs dating back to the George W. Bush administration in 2005. California had a Clean Vehicle Rebate Program that gave EV owners up to a $2,000 rebate to go along with the $7,500 from the federal government. That ended in 2023 when state funds for the program were exhausted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Caltrain riders can take special Billie Car to Billie Eilish concert in San Jose More California Leaders Weigh In Despite Newsoms denial of specifically targeting Tesla, politicians still view the governors proposal as a move against Musks EV company. California congressman Kevin Kiley (R) called Teslas exclusion petty. This is despite Tesla being the only automaker making cars in California and employing over 40,000 Californians, Kiley posted on X. It is stupid, petty, corrupt, and counter-productive. Classic Newsom. Mahan and Khanna, are rooting for Teslas success as the company employs more than 20,000 many of whom live in the politicans areas of jurisdiction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The (Tesla) plant employs over 20,000 people many of whom live in San Jose. Average pay is nearly $100,000 per year. We want to keep these good jobs in California, not drive them away with political stunts, Mahan said. 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 KRON4. Rain is coming in south San Diego, which means higher water levels in the polluted Tijuana River and, potentially, even worse air quality. Now, residents worry that the home air filters newly provided by San Diego County won't be enough to curb the noxious air from the rising river. And despite increased federal and state attention in recent weeks, local officials and residents say that solutions are still elusive and distant in the wake of the November elections and Gov. Gavin Newsom's refusal to declare a state of emergency over the situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last month, Newsom visited the decrepit facilities at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Diego and the refurbished San Antonio de los Buenos plant in Baja California for the first time. After years of deferred maintenance, the plant in San Diego received an additional $103 million in the 2024 federal budget for repairs that will take years. The Baja plant is expected to start processing sewage soon, and once both plants are online and fully operational, sewage flows are expected to be reduced by 90% when combined with other measures. Other federal agencies are also investigating the health concerns of nearby residents who have been suffering respiratory illnesses and unexplained stomach bugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived last month to conduct a health survey. Local officials and more than 500 residents have signed a petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to declare the river a Superfund site and look into the presence of hazardous waste in the riverbed. "Thanks to our partnership with international, federal, and local partners, we are making real progress," Newsom said in a statement last month after his visit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For its part, the county Board of Supervisors voted last month to purchase $2.7 million worth of air purifiers for residents, with the money ultimately coming from the California Air Resources Board. Unanswered calls for a state of emergency Some critics argue that the politicians haven't acted with the necessary sense of urgency. Newsom met with Baja Gov. Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda, San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas and the International Boundary Waste and Water Commission, but local officials and residents felt snubbed. "It feels like it was just a photo op," said Marcus Bush, a council member for National City and a member of the Air Pollution Control District who signed the petition to the EPA. No San Diego County mayors or media outlets were invited to Newsom's news briefing; when asked, the governor's office offered no explanation. "I would like to give our governor the benefit of the doubt," Bush said, but added, "Why aren't you taking calls or info?" He wondered aloud whether Newsom was dodging questions about his refusal to declare a state of emergency for the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All 18 San Diego County mayors signed a letter this year asking Newsom to declare a state of emergency. The California Coastal Commission also voted unanimously to ask the Biden administration to declare a federal state of emergency, but under federal law, such requests must come from the governor. Newsom has rebuffed those entreaties, and the White House seems no closer to making any significant moves forward. In letters addressing the California Coastal Commission and mayors of San Diego County, Newsom's office asserted that declaring a federal state of emergency would not accelerate the repairs needed at the sewage plant. The office also said that it did not consider the situation at the river to fit the definition of a natural disaster under federal law. Residents have argued that a state of emergency could bring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clean up and divert the river. Last year, heavy rainstorms washed into the river thousands of tons of debris that took nearly five months to clear and broke several pumps in the sewage system. Some have asked for more efficient trash skimmers that could help prevent waste from clogging the treatment plant. "Everyone agrees that raw sewage in a river is an environmental and health emergency in crisis, but [Newsom and Vargas] are also actively doing things that undermine the emergency," Bush said. The Superfund split Muddying matters further, the county supervisors voted last month to delay consideration of a petition asking the EPA to declare the river a Superfund site. Vargas, who represents the south San Diego district most affected by the noxious odors, voted in favor of the delay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The petition was introduced by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who represents the area along the coast just north of the Tijuana River's mouth. After the vote, Lawson-Remer joined other local officials to file the petition anyway. "I moved forward because I think it's urgent," she said in an interview. It "would be nice for the Board of Supervisors as a whole to act, but it's not necessary." In the board meeting last month, Lawson-Remer said she was concerned about more pollutants in the river than just sewage. Toxic chemicals and heavy metals have been detected that could be leaching into the sediment something local officials are not equipped to clean up on their own. A petition is the first step in a lengthy process that could take years, even if the EPA decides the river is eligible for a Superfund designation. Vargas did not agree to be interviewed. But in the Board Meeting and in public statements, she cited concerns that moving too hastily to petition the EPA could negatively affect property values and local businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Voice of San Diego news site reported that Vargas voted against the EPA petition out of concern that a Superfund designation could halt her project to clean up the South Bay to create parks for underserved communities. "I support the spirit of this board letter," Vargas said last month. But "this has the potential to delay local efforts already in progress and negatively affect the limited recreational space that we already have in South County." The board voted voted 3 to 2 to extend consideration of the petition by 90 days and have the county gather feedback and information. Lawson-Remer said the reasons Vargas cited for the delay don't hold water. "The health of our families and health of our children is by far the No. 1 concern," she said. "Property values are secondary." An uncertain future Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre has been to the White House twice to speak with Brenda Mallory, the chair of President Biden's Council on Environmental Quality, to ask for assistance. She plans to make one last plea in person next month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President-elect Donald Trump previously authorized $300 million to stop the cross-border pollution as part of the U.S-Mexico-Canada trade agreement in 2020. But Trump's vow to cut federal budgets when he takes office in 2025 has Aguirre concerned about a reduction in disaster relief funding. Lee Zeldin, Trump's choice to lead the EPA, is also expected to scale back regulations. "If he dismantles the EPA ... good luck to all of us, because I don't know what the strategy will be," Aguirre said. A damaged local economy Meanwhile, residents say that the pollution has already hurt the local economy. Visitors to Imperial Beach have steadily fallen with beach closures due to the contamination, according to numbers provided by the mayor's office to just under 700,000 in 2023 from 2.1 million in 2018. Local restaurateur Gabriel Uribe has run Baja Oyster and Sushi Bar for 25 years in Imperial Beach, a few miles from his ranch, where he also hosts outdoor parties for quinceaneras and graduations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guests have left Uribe's parties early because the air reeks of rotten eggs, he said, and the air filters from the county won't solve all his problems. "That is like just a Band-Aid on a wound that needs stitching," he added. Uribe, who signed the EPA petition, worries that his property's value could be affected if a Superfund site is declared, or even that his property could be taken through eminent domain. But he wants officials to act urgently to address his health concerns. "My chest is wheezing. I have an irregular heartbeat," said Uribe, who's gone to the emergency room because he couldn't breathe. Deborah Vance, who runs a real estate agency in Imperial Beach, said her business has already been affected by the pollution as prospective buyers have been unwilling to purchase property in the city. She struggled to sell four listings in Imperial Beach this last year, a slowdown that had been unheard of in the past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's beyond impactful," she said of the pollution. All of the agents who worked with her, she added, have quit or moved on. "It's devastating." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Following Donald Trumps election victory, two senior figures in the Catholic Church gave very different reactions. In one corner was Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the United States Catholic Bishops conference, who soon after the result was interviewed by Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), a Catholic media outlet known for being sympathetic to Trump. Broglio, who is archbishop for the military services, seemed relaxed about the election result and spoke about why he thought Catholic voters had swung behind Trump. He raised no substantive concerns about Trumps proposals to deport migrants, despite Pope Francis making welcoming migrants a persistent theme of his pontificate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Striking a different tone was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy Sees secretary of state. He diplomatically wished President-elect Trump much wisdom following his victory, urged him to be a president for the whole country but pointed out that Trump did not have a magic wand to solve global problems. Parolin warned against going to extremes on migration, saying the Vatican supports solving problems in a humane manner. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, far left, meets with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, far right, at the Vatican on October 11, 2024. - Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/Reuters The different responses point to the challenge facing Pope Francis and the Vatican as it seeks to navigate the second Trump presidency. All of this has become even trickier terrain given the swing in support for Trump by Catholic voters along with a church hierarchy that has historically sided with Republicans on issues such as abortion, religious liberty, and gender identification. Ahead of the 2024 election, the bishops once again insisted that abortion is the pre-eminent priority. While the pope has spoken out strongly on abortion, he has refused to engage in a culture war approach. His continued refusal to do so, along with his insistence on a merciful, open church that welcomes LGBTQ people, has seen him face unprecedented attacks from inside the US church. Some of the anti-Francis opposition often overlaps with support for Trumpian politics. Now theres a new difficulty. CNN exit polls showed that Catholics made up roughly 22% of the electorate nationwide in the 2024 election and that Trump won them by about 58% to 40% against Vice President Kamala Harris. The polls show a heavy swing to Trump from 2020, when President Joe Biden narrowly won over Catholic voters 52% to 47%. Trump also carried swing states with high concentrations of Catholic voters, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin. A monk from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, left, recites a prayer with anti-abortion activists near a Planned Parenthood clinic on February 3, 2024 in New York City. - Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images Trump and Francis divided on key issues Nevertheless, Trump and Pope Francis visions couldnt be further apart. While Trump proposes mass deportations of migrants, Francis describes driving migrants away as a grave sin and their exclusion criminal. Where Trump pushes a more isolationist America first foreign policy, including confrontation with China, the Vatican has recently signed a four-year extension to its agreement with Beijing over bishop appointments which is understood to give Chinese officials some say over who the Pope appoints in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And where Trump is a climate skeptic, Francis has made protection of the natural world a major theme of his pontificate. While there are likely to be tensions, the Vatican will also seek out points of agreement with the Trump administration, the most obvious one being the war in Ukraine, where the pope has called for a negotiated peace and which Trump has pledged to end. During the last Trump administration, however, there was a full-blown diplomatic row when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the popes approach to China and was denied an audience with Francis, while in the lead-up to the 2016 election the pope described Trumps plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border as not Christian. The Holy See always tries to work with elected leaders, no matter who they are, but there is certainly a space between what Pope Francis sees as important moral issues and the way President Trump has spoken about those same issues, Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of Jesuit media outlet America and a member of the Vaticans department for communications, told CNN. Members of the Catholic Church hold a binational Mass in memory of migrants who died during their journey to the US at the Mexico-US border, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on November 9, 2024. - Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters The clearest example is the way the pope speaks about the infinite human dignity of migrants and refugees and the way President Trump refers to them as animals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before the election, the pope criticized both Harris and Trump, saying that US voters had to choose between the lesser of two evils. But it was telling that he said that both policies from Harris that were pro-choice, and from Trump that he said were chasing away migrants were against life, a distinct approach from the US bishops leadership who placed abortion as the pre-eminent concern. Catholic Church in US more conservative When President Joe Biden became the second Catholic US president, several bishops pushed for him to be denied communion due to his pro-choice stance. Yet JD Vance, the incoming Catholic vice-president, who was received into the church in 2019, so far has been given a far easier ride despite his support for Trumps rhetoric on migrants. The failure to condemn when you are in such an authoritative position is a huge signal to Catholics, Mary Jo McConahay, a Catholic journalist and author of Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right, told CNN. McConahay says that in the 1980s the US bishops had developed a prophetic voice, speaking out on nuclear weapons and the Reagan administrations support for autocrats in Central America. Her book charts the rightward shift among the US hierarchy which has been combined with opposition to Francis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are wonderful exceptions, but the leadership (of the bishops) remains, I would say, comfortable with president-to-be Trumps manner and policies, she said. Martin points out that the move to a more conservative church in the US has been a gradual process which began with the appointment of largely conservative bishops during the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It was not an overnight phenomenon, Martin added. During his pontificate, Francis has sought to restore the balance, particularly through his choice of cardinals, and during Trumps second term of office is expected to appoint a new Archbishop of Washington DC, a crucial appointment. Pope Francis talks with US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican, on May 24, 2017. - Alessandra Tarantino/Reuters Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bishops in the US have also spoken out strongly on migration and McConahay points out that on this topic they are largely in line with Francis. Migrants are, of course, the lifeblood of the Catholic Church in the US, as shown by the Los Angeles archdiocese, the largest numerically and the most ethnically diverse in the country. The question is whether bishops will now speak up boldly and consistently against Trumps policies. This is where the rubber is going to hit the road, McConahay said. Ironically, if Trump does start deporting migrants and cutting public funding for Catholic charities, the US bishops could end up much more closely aligned with Francis agenda. The hopes that Catholics placed in Trumps anti-abortion stance have been dashed as he stepped away from the issue during the election. (It) may be that a Trump presidency pushes the US hierarchy closer to Pope Francis and the Vatican, David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, New York, told CNN. But Gibson says the church in the US is now facing an existential crisis given that Catholic leaders had been so aligned to Republicans based on pro-life causes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its as critical a moment for American Catholicism as it ever has been, he said. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet the Pope in the Vatican. While the Biden administration and the pope had their differences, Francis and the Catholic president had a warm relationship. Blinken will bid the pope farewell as the beginning of an uncertain new era beckons. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) In todays health headlines, how can you prepare to have positive interactions with family members, and what is the best way to respond to challenging conversations? Psychologist Robin Stern, co-founder and senior advisor to the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence director at Yale School of Medicine, explains what gaslighting is and shares tips for dealing with difficult conversations. Watch the video above to learn more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WASHINGTON, DC (KTAL/KMSS) East Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran introduces a resolution honoring the Possum Trot community and their acts of kindness which shaped a generation. The community received national attention this summer with the release of the movie, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot. It was inspired by the acts of Reverend WC Martin and his wife Donna three decades ago. The couple had two children and adopted four more, all while encouraging families in their church to do the same. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before long, 22 Families had adopted 77 children across East Texas. Twins walk from Shreveport to Center, Texas to highlight need for change in foster care system This story has been retold in the recent film The Story of Possum Trot. Which is a story of inspiration for all of us to give more, to love more, to do more for those around us, said Rep. Moran. Thank you, Revered and First Lady Martin, for living out your faith and for changing the destinies of so many young peoples lives. You are remarkable. During Morans speech on the house floor, he said Donna Martin had special inspiration for wanting to adopt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mrs. Martin was inspired to adopt after the death of her beloved mother, Murtha, who had raised eighteen children, said Moran. She stated, And the Holy Spirit said, Think about those other children out there that do not have what you had with your mother. I was overcome with such warmness. I walked back into the house, picked up the Yellow Pages and called an adoption agency. Thats how it began. It concluded with 77 children finding loving homes in a community that simply decided that they would do what they could and give all that they had for the benefit of the most vulnerable and needy among them. According to the Martins, most adopted children have grown to become thriving adults. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (NewsNation) Four companies that produce 97% of the frozen potatoes for the U.S. and generate an estimated $68 billion each year are facing multiple lawsuits claiming they conspired to spike the price of french fries, hash browns, tater tots and other spud-related products. Canada-based McCain Foods Ltd. and Cavendish Farms Corp., along with American companies Lamb Weston Holdings and J.R. Simplot Co., are named in the class action suits, which were filed in Chicago. The first suit, filed last week by a Pennsylvania grocery store chain, alleges the companies gouged customers and restaurants and spiked the price of their potato products by 47% between 2022 and 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mexico suggests it would impose its own tariffs to retaliate against any Trump tariffs A second complaint was filed Sunday in a Chicago federal court by another group that made similar allegations, referring to the companies as a potato cartel. What is the potato cartel? The four companies named in the lawsuits are considered the four dominant processors of frozen potatoes sold in the United States, the documents state. McCain and Cavendish Farms are headquartered in Toronto and New Brunswick, respectively, while Lamb Weston and J.R. Simplot are located in Idaho and together have collectively produced nearly all of the frozen potatoes sold in the United States. The Financial Post reported that McCain Foods claims that one in four french fries eaten in the world is produced by the company. McCain reported $14 billion in global revenues in 2023, according to the report. Cavendish Farms is reportedly the fourth-largest frozen potato producer in the world. What are they accused of? Collectively, the potato cartel is accused of sharing access to sensitive material and engaging in antitrust practices by using data aggregation services that allowed the companies to artificially fix the prices of frozen potato products. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuit filed last week by the Pennsylvania retailer claims that beginning in 2021, the companies conspired to fix the prices of their products above competitive levels. They then changed pricing methods to collectively impose strong-arm price hikes with no worry customers would defect to competing potato producers, the suit said. The prices of these products jumped by 47% between 2022 and 2024, according to both lawsuits. How did they allegedly pull it off? The lawsuits claim that the potato producers initially raised prices to address increased costs between 2021 and 2022. However, beginning in 2022, the complaints allege that input costs peaked and then fell steadily by 33%, according to the Financial Post report. Despite the drop in input costs, all four companies continued to increase the price of their products to uncompetitively high levels, court documents state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The spike in potato prices was so similar across the board that one restaurant owner stated it was amazing how all of the major suppliers of french fires were raising their prices at the same time and by the same amount, the lawsuit filed last week states. Armed with the same access to each others data and other sensitive information as well as a direct line of communication to each other, the potato cartel moves prices skyward in lockstep harming all purchasers of potatoes in the process, the lawsuit filed on Sunday in Chicago stated. Bird flu found in batch of raw milk: California health department The complaints allege that McCain was one of the ringleaders of the cartel and that company officials tore up contracts in 2022 and increased prices to ensure it would see a 30% sales margin. The complaint also states that company officials were aware of the pricing scheme. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one of the lawsuits, a former Lamb Weston vice president claimed he had never seen margins like the ones the companies saw in the history of the potato industry. McCain did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NewsNation but told Fortune that it strongly disputes the allegations found within the lawsuits. A Lamb Weston spokesperson also claimed that the lawsuits are without merit, Fortune reported. All of the companies were linked to the National Potato Council, which is a lobbying group that refers to itself as the voice of U.S. potato growers. Another organization, Potatoes USA, which was also named as a defendant in the second lawsuit, provided a way for all of the members of the potato cartel to communicate with one another, court documents claim. The lawsuit also says that the organization provided all of the companies with joint marketing information, updates on export information, and a means for all of the accused parties to exchange data. How much more did your frozen potatoes cost? This year alone, prices rose 5.5%, according to Fortune, which cited data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations food index. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 47% jump over the last four years came during a period when Americans remained alarmed and upset about the prices of groceries. A Pew Research poll showed in October that 75% of Americans are concerned about the price of food and other consumer products. In a letter from Potato USAs CEO that was released in October, 45% of restaurants had raised prices, and half of those restaurants expected to see more increases in the future. The organization also reported that retail sales of frozen potatoes rose by almost 15% between July 2023 and July 2024. Do not wash your turkey and other Thanksgiving tips to keep your food safe Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the high cost of groceries continues at a time when Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on products produced in countries like Mexico and Canada due to border concerns and drug trafficking. The 25% proposed tariff for Canada could directly affect the two frozen potato companies based in Canada. What happens next? Both lawsuits seek monetary damages from the defendants, and a court order seeks an end to the price-fixing scheme. Two of the companies have denied the allegations, while the other two have not responded to requests for comments from various media organizations. The Financial Post reported that the court must decide if the case meets the standard for class action status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If so, anyone who has been affected by the alleged wrongdoing will be contacted. The report said that if the companies are found to be liable, any damages awarded will be split between consumers and retailers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (NewsNation) Four companies that produce 97% of the frozen potatoes for the U.S. and that generate an estimated $68 billion each year are facing multiple lawsuits claiming they conspired to spike the price of french fries, hash browns, tater tots and other spud-related products. Canada-based McCain Foods Ltd. and Cavendish Farms Corp., along with American companies Lamb Weston Holdings and J.R. Simplot Co., are named in the class action suits, which were filed in Chicago. The first suit, filed last week by a Pennsylvania grocery store chain, alleges the companies gouged customers and restaurants and spiked the price of their potato products by 47% between 2022 and 2024. Best Prime Day Deals for 2024: Best Black Friday deals to shop from home Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Top holiday discounts under $100 Apple products marked down for Black Friday BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. Mexico suggests it would impose its own tariffs to retaliate against any Trump tariffs A second complaint was filed Sunday in a Chicago federal court by another group that made similar allegations, referring to the companies as a potato cartel. What is the potato cartel? The four companies named in the lawsuits are considered the four dominant processors of frozen potatoes sold in the United States, the lawsuit states. McCain and Cavendish Farms are headquartered in Toronto and New Brunswick, respectively, while Lamb Weston and J.R. Simplot are located in Idaho and together have collectively produced nearly all of the frozen potatoes sold in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Financial Post reported that McCain Foods claims that one in four french fries eaten in the world is produced by the company. McCain reported $14 billion in global revenues in 2023, according to the report. Cavendish Farms is reportedly the fourth-largest frozen potato producer in the world. What are they accused of? Collectively, the potato cartel is accused of sharing access to sensitive material and engaging in antitrust practices by using data aggregation services that allowed the companies to artificially fix the prices of frozen potato products. The lawsuit filed last week by the Pennsylvania retailer claims that beginning in 2021, the companies conspired to fix the prices of their products above competitive levels. They then changed its pricing methods to collectively impose strong-arm price hikes with no worry customers would defect to competing potato producers, the suit said. The prices of these products jumped by 47% between 2022 and 2024, according to both lawsuits. How did they allegedly pull it off? The lawsuits claim that the potato producers initially raised prices to address increased costs between 2021 and 2022. However, beginning in 2022, the complaints allege that input costs peaked and then fell steadily by 33%, according to the Financial Post report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the drop in input costs, all four companies continued to increase the price of their products to uncompetitively high levels, court documents state. The spike in potato prices was so similar across the board that one restaurant owner stated it was amazing how all of the major suppliers of french fires were raising their prices at the same time and by the same amount, the lawsuit filed last week states. Bird flu found in batch of raw milk: California health department Armed with the same access to each others data and other sensitive information as well as a direct line of communication to each other, the potato cartel moves prices skyward in lockstep harming all purchasers of potatoes in the process, the lawsuit filed on Sunday in Chicago stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The complaints allege that McCain was one of the ringleaders of the cartel and state that company officials tore up contracts in 2022 and increased prices to ensure it would see a 30% sales margin. The complaint also states that company officials were aware of the pricing scheme. In one of the lawsuits, a former Lamb Weston vice president claimed he had never seen margins like the ones the companies saw in the history of the potato industry. McCain did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NewsNation but told Fortune that it strongly disputes the allegations found within the lawsuits. A Lamb Weston spokesperson also claimed that the lawsuits are without merit, Fortune reported. All of the companies were linked to the National Potato Council, which is a lobbying group that refers to itself as the voice of U.S. potato growers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another organization, Potatoes USA, which was also named as a defendant in the second lawsuit, provided a way for all of the members of the potato cartel to communicate with one another, court documents claim. The lawsuit also says that the organization provided all of the companies with joint marketing information, updates on export information and a means for all of the cartel members to exchange data. Court documents allege company officials communicated via text message rather than email to avoid leaving a paper trail. How much more did your frozen potatoes cost? This year alone, prices rose 5.5%, according to Fortune, which cited data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations food index. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 47% jump over the last four years came during a period when Americans remained alarmed and upset about the prices of groceries. A Pew Research poll showed in October that 75% of Americans are concerned about the price of food and other consumer products. In a letter from Potato USAs CEO that was released in October, 45% of restaurants had raised prices, and half of those restaurants expected to see more increases in the future. Do not wash your turkey and other Thanksgiving tips to keep your food safe The organization also reported that retail sales of frozen potatoes rose by almost 15% between July 2023 and July 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the high cost of groceries continues at a time when Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on products produced in countries like Mexico and Canada due to border concerns and drug trafficking. The 25% proposed tariff for Canada could directly affect the two frozen potato companies based in Canada. What happens next? Both lawsuits seek monetary damages from the defendants, and a court order seeks an end to the price-fixing scheme. Two of the companies have denied the allegations, while the other two have not responded to requests for comments from various media organizations. The Financial Post reported that the court must decide if the case meets the standard for class action status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If so, anyone who has been affected by the alleged wrongdoing will be contacted. The report said that if the companies are found to be liable, any damages awarded will be split between consumers and retailers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) Customers were livid when electricity bills hit mailboxes across the state in July and August. Many registered substantial increases in the cost of lighting and cooling their homes. Anger over dramatically higher bills quickly ignited a blame game between policymakers, utility companies, and regulators. But what actually drove up costs this summer? News 8 sat down with the governor, a top Republican lawmaker, executives at Eversource, the state attorney general, and the chairman of the states utility regulator to examine how a mixture of public policy and a particularly hot summer ignited a political firestorm. Every person News 8 spoke with agreed on one point: high temperatures led to a spike in electricity usage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The biggest increase in costs was the hottest weather weve had and air conditioning on, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) said. A senior Eversource executive concurred. Most of what customers felt in July and August was an increase in usage. It happens every summer, Steve Sullivan, Eversources president of Connecticut electric operations, said. State Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich), the top Republican senator on the legislatures Energy and Technology Committee, echoed Eversource and the governor on the issue of usage. It was very hot in the summer, so usage went up, Fazio said. However, the three men also agreed that another factor drove up rates over the summer: the public benefits charge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The public benefits charge is one of four categories visible on a ratepayers bill. The other three categories are: Supply, which represents the cost of generating electricity. Transmission, which represents the costs of the expansive regional system of high-voltage wires that bring electricity from power plants to local communities. Local delivery, which represents the cost of bringing electricity from substations to customers homes and businesses. Eversource, the states largest utility, is in the transmission and local delivery business. It does not generate power and does not determine the public benefits portion of the bill. PURA denies Connecticut gas suppliers rate increase Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 60 different charges fund dozens of government-mandated programs in the public benefits portion of the bill. This summer, several of those programs attracted significant attention. One was responsible for the lions share of the increase in the public benefits portion of the bill: the costs associated with the states 2017 deal to purchase electricity from Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford. State legislators conceived the deal to ensure the long-term viability of the Millstone plant, which supports nearly 4,000 jobs, and hedge against the sometimes volatile natural gas market. Simply put, the Millstone deal set a fixed rate for purchasing nuclear power. At times, ratepayers benefit from the difference between that fixed rate and the price of natural gas. Other times, ratepayers are on the opposite end of the nuclear hedge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When gas is very cheap, we pay a price for that, Lamont explained. When gas is expensive, when Putin invades a country, we get a credit. When natural gas prices are lower than the Millstone rate, we lose and its not a good deal in those moments, state Attorney General William Tong said. Tong voted against the Millstone deal when he was in the state legislature. As state attorney general, he frequently locks horns with utilities. 68K sign petition asking Gov. Lamont to take action on energy bills This summer, ratepayers felt the effects of cheap natural gas prices falling below the fixed Millstone rate. A report from the Connecticut Office of the Consumer Counsel, an independent state agency that advocates for utility customers, stated that the year-to-year increase in the cost of the Millstone contract was just under $300 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Marrissa Gillett, the chairman of PURA, the combination of hot summer weather and the increases in the public benefits portion of the bill formed a perfect storm. Another significant cost embedded inside the public benefits portion of the bill was the states pandemic-era shutoff moratorium. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state leaders instructed utilities not to turn off power for those experiencing financial hardship. Over four years, the cost of those unpaid bills built up and is now being shouldered by all ratepayers. Lamont defended the decision to halt shut-offs while conceding to critics that the moratorium lasted too long. During the worst of COVID, when people were not working having a hard time paying their bills the idea that you were gonna shut off their power, I think, was not the right decision, Lamont said. So, we did extend the moratorium, and now were paying that off. Do I think the moratorium went on a little bit too long? I do. But itll be over, that moratorium payment, within five or six months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The higher-than-expected bills that landed in ratepayers mailboxes this summer triggered a public debate, led by Republicans, over the future of the public benefits charge. Fazio, the GOPs de facto point man on energy issues, railed against the dozens of other programs funded by the public benefits charge. Those programs include a slew of renewable energy subsidies and efforts to boost energy efficiency and weatherize the power grid. Fazio argues that green energy programs, including funding for electric vehicle charging stations, should be removed from ratepayer bills and instead funded through the states normal budgeting process. Asking ratepayers to pay for the programs on their monthly bills, Fazio and other Republicans argue, is a backdoor tax to fund Democratic environmental priorities. If you look at Connecticuts electricity rates in particular, we have the third highest in the country after Hawaii, which is an island, and after California, which has lost its mind, Fazio said. My thesis is that Connecticut state policies are inflating the cost of electricity here to the point that were higher than our neighbors, higher than all but two other states in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lamont and many of his Democratic allies dont fully buy Fazios argument that removing some or all programs from the public benefits charge would meaningfully impact bills. Asked about Fazios proposal to remove the cost of electric vehicle charging stations from the public benefits charge, Lamont said, Lets talk about that in the general session [of the legislature], but its not really enough to make a big difference. Lamont has maintained that many of the proposals put forth by Fazio and the Republicans following the shock of this summers bills are largely cosmetic. The real challenge, Lamont argues, is that Connecticuts demand for electricity is outpacing its supply of affordable energy. We have a long-term problem, Lamont said. Our long-term problem is that demand is picking up, and supply is not so much. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lamont said a large part of Connecticuts problem is its unique position at or near the end of the energy supply chain. Well, its easier in the other states! Lamont exclaimed. If youre in Oklahoma, youve got a hundred acres, you can put up a bunch of windmills. If youre in Texas, you put a straw in the ground and up comes natural gas. Were sort of at the end of the supply chain. Connecticut currently gets a large portion of its energy from natural gas. Expanding the supply of natural gas, however, is a daunting challenge. At this point in time, its actually a very tough issue, Sullivan said. It would be extremely difficult to get a new gas supply line into our area. If we did that, that would really lower our natural gas prices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Political opposition to new natural gas infrastructure effectively halted plans for a new gas-fired plant in Killingly. Lamont remains largely focused on collaborating with regional governments to increase renewable energy capacity online. The governor highlighted Connecicuts collaboration with Rhode Island on an offshore wind project scheduled to come on line next year. That will be helpful, Lamont said. Lamont also said he was engaged in talks with the governor of Maine to bring in more solar and hydroelectric power. Eversource-owned Yankee Gas requests $209 million rate increase Republicans like Fazio are quick to point out that renewable sources are typically more expensive than natural gas. Solar and wind power are also intermittent sources of electricity. We need to look at expanding the existing supply chain and pipeline to bring more affordable, reliable sources of energy inputs like natural gas, Fazio said. One area where Fazio and Lamont seem to agree is on the promise of nuclear power. Both men still support the 2017 Millstone deal and are optimistic that Connecticut can lead in further investments in nuclear power. I think most serious people about energy think it was a good decision, Fazio said. I think the Millstone deal was the right thing for Connecticut, Lamont said. It gives us always-on, carbon-free power. If we did not have that, wed have much more spiking of electricity prices because wed have a bigger shortage. Lamont added that he believes capacity at Millstone could be expanded further, and that lingering public concerns about safety are largely based on fears no longer relevant given advances in nuclear power. I think theyre doing it much more safely than they did it 50 years ago, Lamont said. Weve had Millstone for fifty years in this state with no mishaps really managed well. The locals like it, and I think theres room for capacity there. We need strong regulatory infrastructure in order to protect the public safety, and thats been there a long time, Fazio said. I mean, the fatality rate society-wide among different sources of energy, nuclear is by far one of the safest over 50 or 60 years. Of course, these proposals to expand Connecticuts energy supply take time. In the near term, the fight to lower rates is largely the purview of the various entities tasked with regulating and scrutinizing the utilities. Unlike the debates over the future states energy supply, the debate over utility regulations yields few points of agreement between the principal participants. Numerous entities regulate utility giants like Eversource at the state and federal levels. PURA, the states principal utility regulator, has jurisdiction over the costs associated with local distribution. PURAs role in that is to take in all of the evidence and then essentially make factual and legal determinations and ultimately decide what the rates are that the utility can charge pursuant to the law, Gillett, the PURA chairman, said. Whenever utilities request a rate hike, PURA hears arguments from various interested parties, including the Office of the Consumer Counsel and the state attorney general. Were in there basically under the hood, and were looking at every cost they ask for, Tong said. Does that seem right to us based on our experience? Is it well documented? Is it justified? Upset over your Eversource bill? Youre not alone While PURA portrays itself as a quasi-judicial entity carefully adjudicating rate cases, Eversource says the regulator has clearly picked a side. Every sign that we get from our regulator is drive investment down, lower your costs of that delivery piece of the bill,' Sullivan said. In Eversources telling, rate cases that result in greatly reduced rate hikes often impede the utilitys ability to make investments in the future reliability of the grid. The choice to not make significant investments now, the company argues, could eventually come home to roost for ratepayers. You have to constantly be making consistent investments in order to keep that system as strong and as reliable as it can be, Sullivan said. If you cap that investment or have an intention to drive that investment down, then its very difficult to stay on that trajectory of improving our reliability. The perceived hostility of Connecticuts regulatory environment has led Eversource to include a regulatory risk premium charge in a recent rate hike request for subsidiary company Yankee Gas. Given the financial uncertainty created by the regulatory atmosphere in Connecticut and subsequent credit downgrades that ratings agencies like Moodys have given to utilities in Connecticut, a regulatory risk premium is necessary to help attract investors so that we can access the low-cost capital needed to maintain safe, reliable service which keeps costs stable for customers, an Eversource spokesperson wrote. The state attorney general offered a sharp counterpoint. Let me translate that for you: They dont like that were holding them accountable, Tong said. They dont like that the regulatory system is working, and now theyre asking us to pay a premium because were holding their feet to the fire? Give me a break. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) More than a year after a consulting firm gave the City of Portland a list of recommendations to theoretically help the city and its police force learn from its costly and questionable response to the racial justice protests and ensuing riots of 2020, the firm gave the Portland City Council an assessment of PPBs progress since the summer of 2023. Independent Monitor LLC Attorney Nicholas Mitchell presented the firms assessment to the Portland City Council on Nov. 21. According to the report, the City of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau made some progress in following the firms recommendations for improvement. We are pleased to report that in the last year, the City and the Portland Police Bureau have taken meaningful but in some cases preliminary steps to implement the Recommendations, Mitchell stated in the report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Search for Susan Lane-Fournier enters fourth day Some of the recommendations made to the city in 2020 included a dramatic reduction of PPBs reliance on crowd dispersals like tear gas, the rebuilding of a mutual-aid network between local police agencies and clarifying its public order and use-of-force procedures. Although PPB addressed some issues related to crowd-control techniques used in 2020 with added training, PPB has not yet documented any changes in its own policies, Mitchell said. We again emphasized in the phase two report, that we believe that the changes in approach related to those issues should be formalized in PPB policy, which has not yet been completed, Mitchell told city commissioners. FILE In this Sept. 5, 2020, file photo, police use chemical irritants and crowd control munitions to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Portland, Ore. A year after Portlands police department underwent significant budget cuts amid demands to defund the police, the city is looking to spend more than $5 million for police investments, including hiring more officers and buying body-worn cameras. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Beaverton man allegedly struck grandpa with baseball bat, charged with attempted murder Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other improvements made since the recommendations, Mitchell said, include the implementation of officer-worn body cameras and an updated philosophy that reduces the use of crowd-control munitions. In May of 2024, BBP destroyed its surplus of 9,624 expiring crowd-control munitions, which were ordered during the 2020 protests. PPB replaced the expired munitions with a smaller order. A lack of available video and embedded plain-clothes officers, among other things, led PPB to rely too heavily on crowd dispersals instead of targeted crowd interventions in 2020, he said. Mayor Ted Wheeler said at the Nov. 21 meeting that PPBs recent improvements are setting an example for police departments across the country. I think we are not only rebuilding from 2020, I think were now setting the standard for other police bureaus around the nation, Wheeler said. As we go forward, obviously well continue to experience challenges. This is as much an art as it is a science. Its through learned experience, and some of that experience is learned the hard way and we will continue to refine our efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city council unanimously accepted the latest report provided by Independent Monitor LLC and Wheeler thanked the firm for its assessment. Sometimes I disagree with your assessments, but I do believe that these reports have given us tangible issues to discuss concrete ways of talking about what is and is not working and how we can improve things, Wheeler said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. (COLORADO SPRINGS) Pikes Peak State College (PPSC), in partnership with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to develop an undergraduate research program with gene-editing technology. PPSC said the grant comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and aims to help develop course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). The CUREs will use CRISPR-Cas gene-editing technology. This project is unique because it brings research opportunities directly to community colleges. By training our partners in CRISPR techniques, they can offer the experience to all their students, providing equal access and inspiring more to pursue careers in science, said Dr. Amber Marean. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Students will have the opportunity to disable a gene in yeast and investigate the resulting physical or metabolic changes, making complex molecular biology techniques accessible in a classroom setting while allowing for diverse research questions, according to PPSC. Over the next five years, PPSC and UCCS will host annual summer workshops for two-year college faculty across the Midwest region. Participants will learn how to implement the research experience at their institutions, offering more students the chance to explore scientific research early at their college. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding Wednesday after President Joe Biden said the agreement to end fighting across the Israeli-Lebanon border was "designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities." The war has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and created a humanitarian catastrophe with some 1.2 million displaced from their homes. Around 80 Israeli soldiers and 50 civilians have died, and 60,000 forced from their homes. Biden said Tuesday the United States and its partners, including France, "will make sure this deal is implemented fully" after it came into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday (9 p.m. ET Tuesday). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Let me be clear, if Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal, and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defense consistent with international law," the president said from the White House. Rescuers and residents search for victims Tuesday at the site of an Israeli strike that targeted a building in Beirut. He stressed that the agreement is in Lebanon's best interest and supports its sovereignty, adding that its people, like the people of Gaza, deserve an end to the violence and displacement. "The people of Gaza have been through hell. Their world is absolutely shattered," Biden said, adding that Hamas' only way out of the war with Israel is to release the hostages. He said that the agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah "reminds us that peace is possible." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Say that again: Peace is possible," the president said. "As long as that is the case, I will not for a single moment stop working to achieve it." The U.S. Secretary of Defense also celebrated what he called a "historic moment" as the deal took effect. "This diplomatic resolution will enable tens of thousands of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border, and to put an end to the violence and destruction of this conflict," Lloyd Austin said in a statement. Before Biden announced the agreement Tuesday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that his Cabinet had approved the U.S.-brokered deal, 10 ministers to one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Israel appreciates the U.S. contribution to the process, and reserves its right to act against any threat to its security," Netanyahu said. A senior U.S. administration official said that when the deal goes into effect, all fire will stop from all parties and that Israel's phased withdrawal will begin. Israeli troops in Lebanon will hold their positions and a 60-day period will start in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment toward the south, the official said, adding that the process will not happen overnight or in several days. "Where as the Lebanese military deploys and reaches the south, the Israeli military will withdraw," the official said, adding that that in 50 to 60 days, all Israeli troops will be gone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had recommended that his Cabinet agree to the deal with Hezbollah, which began trading fire with Israel a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Israels military offensive in the Gaza Strip since then has killed more than 41,000 people, according to health officials in the enclave. Hezbollah says it is supporting the Palestinian resistance; Israel sees it as another attempt by Tehran to attack the Jewish state. Israel also killed several of Hezbollahs most powerful leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, under whose stewardship the group became the most powerful Iran-backed paramilitary group in the Middle East. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders had promised not to stop their attacks on Hezbollah until the 60,000 residents of northern Israel who have been driven from their homes can return safely. Around 90 Israeli soldiers and 50 Israeli civilians have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023. More than 3,820 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli bombing since the fighting started, according to Lebanons health ministry, a campaign that has displaced some 1.2 million people and unleashed a humanitarian crisis. A World Bank report estimated the cost of physical damage and economic losses due to the conflict in Lebanon at $8.5 billion. In this multifront war in the Middle East, the Lebanon conflict has become a key focus for Israel in recent months. Thats partly down to Hezbollahs mighty missile arsenal, bigger than any other non-state group in the world and thought to be capable of overwhelming Israels missile defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden said that with the time he has left in office, he remains committed to working toward his vision for an integrated, secure and prosperous region, all of which, all of which strengthens Americas natural security. He said that he was hoping and praying for cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and to create "a future where Palestinians have a state of their own, one that fulfills these peoples' legitimate aspirations; one that cannot threaten Israel or harbor terrorist groups with backing from Iran. A future where Israelis and Palestinians enjoy equal measures of security, prosperity, and, yes, dignity." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. helped broker a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon, paving the way for the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. At a press conference at the White House, Biden said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Najib Mikati of Lebanon, and that theyd both agreed to a proposal to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Biden said President Emmanuel Macron of France helped negotiate the deal. The ceasefire is set to begin at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Biden said. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden said the Lebanese Army and State Security Forces will deploy and take control of their own territory once again over the next 60 days, as Israel gradually withdraws its forces, with the goal of allowing the Lebanese and Israelis displaced by the fighting to return home. If Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defense consistent with international law, just like any country when facing a terrorist group pledged to that countrys destruction, Biden said. Hezbollah started firing rockets at Israel from Lebanon the day after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Several towns and cities in Northern Israel were evacuated because of the attacks, affecting 60,000 people, according to the Israeli government. In July, a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 Druze children and teenagers in Northern Israel. In recent months, Israel has intensified its response to the rocket fire, launching attacks against Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon but also in Beirut and other population centers. More than 3,700 people in Lebanon have reportedly been killed since the latest fighting began, while 80 Israelis have been killed, according to NPR. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In September, Israel targeted Hezbollah fighters directly through explosives in their pagers and walkie-talkies. Lets be clear: Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either, nor did the United States, said Biden on Tuesday. Biden said he sent military assets into the Middle East following the Hamas incursion in 2023. The U.S. military assisted Israel in repelling direct attacks from Iran in recent months and has also worked to give direct aid to the residents of Gaza. At the press conference, Biden expressed sympathy for the people of Gaza, who also deserve an end to the fighting and displacement. The people of Gaza have been through hell. Biden said Hamas has refused, for months and months, to negotiate a good-faith ceasefire and a hostage deal. He said the only way for fighting to end in Gaza is for the hostages to be released. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) President Joe Biden announced from the White House Tuesday that Israel and the terror group Hezbollah agreed to the U.S.-led ceasefire deal. Peace is possible, President Biden said. The fighting across the Lebanese border will end, will end. The agreement, which the president said takes effect Wednesday morning, aims to create safe enough conditions over the next two months to allow people to return to their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, as heavy fighting still continued Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All told this has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades, President Biden said. An international committee led by the U.S. will help monitor both sides compliance with the deal, but the Pentagon would not say what that entails. I dont want to get ahead of the process here, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said ahead of the presidents announcement. Israels deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, struck a different tone if Hezbollah violates the agreement. We will react immediately, Haskel said. President Biden said he has hope coming out of this deal but made a point to say Israel maintains its right to defend itself if Hezbollah breaks the agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While this ceasefire deal would not directly impact Israels war with Hamas in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken remains hopeful for indirect ramifications. Hamas will know that it cant count on other fronts opening up in the war, Blinken 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. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) Two Florida leaders are already emerging as potential frontrunners to replace Former Congressman Matt Gaetz and current U.S. Representative Mike Waltz in D.C. Floridas Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and State Senator Randy Fine of Brevard County already have some powerful backing in the race for these two coveted congressional seats. Both State Senator Randy Fine and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis received endorsements from President-elect Donald Trump before either made their announcement to run public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many are wondering if these endorsements will lead them to the finish line. Political analysts share that the speedy Special Election process and endorsements are no coincidence for the Republican party. The Republican-held majority in the House of Representatives is very slim and they need every vote to count when they select the next speaker of the house, said Newsom. St. Pete political analyst Tara Newsom shares that its important for the republican party to show unity and be in lockstep with President-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CFO Patronis and State Senator Fine took to X after the Trump endorsements. Patronis shared he is ready to serve and Fine asked Floridians to join him in his fight for Congressional District 6. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power acknowledges the Trump endorsements but reminds folks that there are other GOP candidates. Theres other people in the race and we, as the Republican party, stay out of that. But well be prepared to defend that seat when it comes to the general election, said Power. Florida Democratic chairwoman Nikki Fried shared that Florida Democrats are fielding candidates for both districts as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Power adds the GOP will be prepared to fight to return republican members to Congress. President Trump won in a landslide and the house is a little bit narrower. Every house seat we give up, we want to fill up as quickly as possible. So we can return that full republican majority, said Power. Two Special Elections are now set by Floridas Secretary of State. The qualify period for both districts will be December 5th through the 6th. All eyes will be on possible candidates as the state continues to reach election deadlines. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Firefighters helped rescue a dog from a house fire in North Bothell on Tuesday. Pretzel the dog was able to escape safely after Bothell Fire crews knocked down the fire, which started up around noon. According to firefighters, Pretzel was taken to the vet by Bothell PD Animal Control and is expected to recover. Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue, Eastside Fire & Rescue, Shoreline Fire, and Bellevcue Fire Department also helped with mutual aid. The principal of an Oregon high school has been indicted by a grand jury after being accused of failing to protect her students from two teachers who have been arrested on sexual abuse charges, according to reports. Katy Wagner was charged with two counts of criminal mistreatment and four counts of official misconduct stemming from the ongoing scandal, according to an indictment filed Tuesday and obtained by local news outlets. The indictment, filed in Columbia County Circuit Court, asserts that Wagner "did unlawfully and knowingly withhold necessary and adequate physical care from the students of St. Helens High School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes following the arrest of one current and one former St. Helens High School teacher on sexual abuse charges. Choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, and Mark Collins, 64, were both detained following a two-month investigation launched by the St. Helens Police Department regarding allegations of sexual abuse at the school. St Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner has been indicted by a grand jury in Oregon after the arrest of two teachers accused of sexually abusing students (St. Helens School District/ Facebook) Stearns was subsequently indicted for seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sexual abuse. Collins was indicted on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse. Both men have pleaded not guilty and are currently being held at the Columbia County Jail, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a court document filed Tuesday, the grand jury indicted Wagner on two felony counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, two counts of first-degree official misconduct, misdemeanors, and two counts of second-degree official misconduct, which are also misdemeanors. Wagner is accused of failing to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting requirements under state law and having "consciously disregarded the fact that the violation created a risk of the commission of a sex crime against a vulnerable person." She was placed on administrative leave, along with Superintendent Scot Stockwell, as of November 15. In a statement on Tuesday, Dr Steve Webb, who has been appointed as acting superintendent, said: I understand that the community of St. Helens is hurting, anxious, and, in many cases, angry. Many of you are outraged that the system failed to protect this communitys children and that some adults allegedly failed to act when informed of misconduct. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to echo the words of a St. Helens parent who recently spoke at a public meeting and whose comments were reported by the media: Families do not give us their students. They do not give us their children. They give us their babies. It is a sacred trust, and we have a moral obligation to honor it with reverence. That trust has been broken. The district has significant work ahead to repair relationships and rebuild trust. Healing this pain will take time, decisive action, transparent communication, and community engagement. Dr Steve Webb was appointed as acting superintendent following the launch of a police investigation into the scandal by St Helens Police (St Helens School District) Webbs words echoed a statement released by staff members at St. Helens High School on November 15 that acknowledged the events had damaged trust in the school. Feelings of disappointment, betrayal, fear and shame around these events are affecting everyone students, families, community members and staff alike, the statement read. To say the least, we are ALL struggling right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are working right now. We are meeting, listening, asking so many questions, and trying to figure out a way forward that can bring this school together in the wake of a crisis that should never happen to any school. But it did. We want you to know that we are in this together. We, like you, are ready for change. The coming days, weeks, and months are not going to be easy. There is much repair and rebuilding of trust to be done. When President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his Cabinet last week, the pro-life movement took immediate offense. Mike Pence, Trumps former vice president, called Kennedy the the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history. The founder of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said she had concerns. A week later, some top pro-life activists and organizations have changed their tone. Instead of attempting to derail the nomination, theyve settled on a different approach: trying to change Kennedys mind. In recent days, a number of pro-life advocates have made efforts to engage with Kennedy, urging him to reconsider his views on reproductive rights and providing him with pro-life talking points. A cohort of abortion opponents have privately lobbied Kennedy, Politico reported; Chad Connelly, CEO of Faith Wins, said his group has done the same. I think youre going to see a real deep effort by a lot of the pro-life groups to get in front of him, to make sure hes got all the facts, Connelly said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To these pro-life advocates, Kennedys flip-flopping positions on abortion is viewed as a potential strength. I find hope in the fact that Kennedy has been moved by the truth in the past, Lila Rose, the founder of Live Action, wrote in a blog post. Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat before leaving the party last year, identifies as pro-choice, though his statements on abortion policy have been muddled. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Kennedy said he supported a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, though his campaign later walked back the statement, saying he misunderstood the question. In an October 2023 interview, Kennedy, who is Catholic, told the Deseret News he would not support any federal ban on abortions. My stance is that every abortion is a tragedy, he said. But Ive spent my life advocating for bodily autonomy and bodily independence. And I dont think the government is the right entity to be telling women what they should be doing with their bodies. He noted the government should spend an equivalent amount of energy assuring mothers who wish to carry their babies to term have the resources to do that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kennedy declined an interview for this story. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. | Alex Brandon Pro-life activists find themselves in new territory in the post-Dobbs political environment. In the 2024 election, Trump won four states Arizona, Missouri, Montana and Nevada where voters simultaneously approved abortion rights measures. Trumps stance on abortion throughout the race was squishy: he backed off of his previous support for a federal ban, instead supporting each states ability to determine legality. Late in the campaign, Trump pledged his administration would be great for women and their reproductive rights. The stance was a shift from his previous position, said Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. In 2016, Trump promised he would overturn Roe; after his hand-picked Supreme Court appointees did so, he tacked back to the middle, and it actually got him more votes in 2024, Burge said during a panel event hosted by Georgetown Universitys Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life on November 12. If anything, 2024 convinced me the pro-life movement is probably weaker today than it was at any point in the last 50 years, Burge added. Election a wake-up call for pro-life movement Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum, said the election was a wake-up call for the pro-life movement. People got kind of lazy when Roe was overturned, she said. They thought all was well now. And when these amendments were put up in their states, they werent ready. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the legality of abortion is left up to states, the federal government through HHS still oversees abortion-related standards, like regulations on chemical abortions, funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and abortion reporting requirements in relation to Medicaid. The idea of Kennedy leading the agency is worrisome to Ruzicka. I have great concerns great, great concerns, she said. Its tragic not to have someone thats not pro-life to be the head of an agency that has to do with the health and welfare of the people. In recent days, pro-life groups have emerged with two major demands from Kennedy, CNN and Politico report: installing pro-life advocates in senior HHS positions, and restoring anti-abortion policies from Trumps first term. But pro-life activists simultaneously believe that if they can get in Kennedys ear, they can convince him to further adjust his stance on abortion. Rose wrote that Kennedy needs to be shown the full truth about abortion. Connelly, whose organization trains pastors to engage in the political process, said his group has been intentional about reaching out to (Kennedy), through the campaign. He expects Kennedy to be amenable to their requests and chalks Kennedys perceived antagonism to the pro-life cause as ignorance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He probably doesnt know about the freedom of conscience stuff, Connelly said. He probably doesnt know about the abortion pills coming in the mail and violating state and federal law, and things like that. In the end, though, pro-life leaders are hoping it will be Trump, not Kennedy, who calls the shots. Activists hope to see a return to Trump-era standards by restricting abortion pill access and preventing taxpayer dollars from funding abortion procedures. President Trumps first-term pro-life accomplishments are the baseline for his second term, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told U.S. News & World Report. In a memo sent to Trumps transition team, F. Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, encouraged Trump to, at a minimum, swiftly reverse these changes made by the Biden administration. The Instagram page of lawmakers representing Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party in the German parliament was hacked on Wednesday, with pro-Palestinian content temporarily posted on the account. One image showed the the slogan "Free Palestine" over a clenched fist in the Palestinian colours. An adjacent illustration showed a small boy balanced on a large orb holding the Palestinian flag amid rubble, with ominous black birds hovering overhead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The site had been hacked, a spokeswoman for the parliamentary group confirmed to dpa. The posts have since been taken down and control over the site has been restored, she said. Images of the hack were posted on social media platform X by German journalist Thilo Jung, among others, and continued to circulate online. The latest posts from Tuesday on the restored CSU Instagram page include images of CSU parliamentary leader Alexander Dobrindt on a visit to Israel. In one of the images, he can be seen shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the respective national flags in the background. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Dobrindt in northern Israel," another image reads. "Fight Hezbollah, defend Israel's right to exist." The CSU has dominated politics in largely Catholic Bavaria for decades. The party is in long-term alliance with the Christian Democratic Union, which campaigns on a conservative platform throughout the rest of Germany but stays out of Bavaria. A progressive advocacy group is asking Democratic leadership to remove Rep. Richard Neal as the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee over what appears to be a corrupt influence campaign by corporate interests through his son Brendan Neal. Patriotic Millionaires, a coalition of high-net-worth individuals who advocate for progressive tax policies, said in a letter to senior Democrats that recent reporting by POLITICO on Richard Neal and his sons business practices brings to mind the Abramoff scandal and reeks of old-school corruption that the party should not tolerate. POLITICO reported that Brendan Neal received $196,340 from his fathers campaign and business contracts from tax lobbyists with interests before the Ways and Means Committee. Those lobbyists had clients that notched legislative wins in Richard Neals legislation, including tax deductions for trial lawyers and tax breaks for certain kinds of insurance contracts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Morris Pearl, chair of Patriotic Millionaires, wrote in an Oct. 28 letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and four other members of House Democratic leadership that the report is particularly relevant as Democrats head into 2025 negotiations over trillions of dollars in expiring tax cuts. Though Democrats will likely be sidelined in the tax legislation given that Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, Democrats will be looking to portray the GOP's tax policies as giveaways to the wealthy and special interests. If the Ways and Means Chair is a poster child for that corruption, and not a champion against it, Democrats will begin that fight on the defensive, and be unable to deliver on a central campaign promise to tax billionaires and corporations, Pearl wrote. In an accompanying email sent from Pearl to Jeffries office, which was forwarded to POLITICO, Pearl also requested a meeting with Jeffries to discuss his concerns either in New York City or Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pearl said he has yet to receive a response from the recipients of the letter, including from Jeffries office. Members of House Democratic leadership, including Jeffries, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Neal, an 18-term member of Congress who chaired Ways and Means for four years beginning in 2019, rejected the contention that Brendan Neals lobbying and corporate ties present a conflict of interest for his father. As our office has repeatedly told POLITICO, Brendan Neal doesn't have any business before the Ways and Means Committee, nor has he, said Dylan Peachey, a spokesperson for Neal, in response to the letter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ranking Member Neal's focus is squarely on fighting for working families and fighting Republican control and exposing Trump's Billionaire Cabinet for who they are. Brendan Neal likewise told POLITICO for its special report that he has always followed ethics rules and doesnt lobby his father. In addition to his work for his fathers campaign committee and tax lobbyists with interests before Ways and Means, Brendan Neal also had business dealings with the tax lobbyist for Blackstone, around the same time the private equity giant was lobbying against proposals to end favorable tax treatment of private equity income. Richard Neal chaired Ways and Means then. Our tax code is a reflection of our nations values, and Democrats need a Chair who will be a champion for working people and the middle class, a barrier to corporate interests carving up our tax code, and free from the appearance of corruption, wrote Pearl. Representative Neal is clearly not that person, and it is your duty, as the leaders of the party, to replace him, Pearl said. Nov. 26A special prosecutor isn't giving up on the dismissed criminal case against actor Alec Baldwin. Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey filed a notice Nov. 21 saying she intends to appeal Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer's July dismissal of the case as well as Sommer's denial last month of a motion asking the judge to reconsider her ruling. The notice doesn't include Morrissey's reasoning for the appeal, which state law requires be filed within 30 days of the notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baldwin faced a fourth-degree felony charge in connection with the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was struck by a bullet fired from a gun Baldwin was holding during a walk-through of a scene of his movie Rust at Bonanza Creek Ranch south of Santa Fe. Sommer dismissed the case midtrial after finding prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense. A spokeswoman for Baldwin's legal counsel declined to comment on the notice Tuesday. Morrissey filed a lengthy motion several months later asking the judge to reconsider her dismissal and language in her order finding Morrissey "elicited false testimony" during her cross-examination of Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office crime technician Marissa Poppell. Sommer denied the motion last month. Morrissey didn't respond to a call and email seeking comment for this story Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of July 16, the First Judicial District Attorney's Office had spent at least $759,697 prosecuting the cases against Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. The office received emergency funding from the state Board of Finance and a legislative appropriation to cover the costs associated with the prosecutions after District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said she couldn't afford to do so out of her own budget. Carmack-Altwies didn't respond to inquires Tuesday seeking an up-to-date accounting of Rust prosecution costs and whether she'll seek additional funding to continue litigating the case against Baldwin. The District Attorney's Office has generally declined to comment on the case since Carmack-Altwies stepped down as second chair in 2023, following a ruling by Sommer that Carmack-Altwies could prosecute the case herself or hire a special prosecutor but not both. However, filings in an unrelated case indicate the Baldwin ruling and prosecutors' reaction to it have bled over into an unrelated child rape case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In that case, the state asked Sommer to excuse herself, arguing the judge's findings that Poppell and Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Alexandria Hancock had participated in the suppression of evidence and/or given false testimony meant the judge was biased against the two women, who were also key prosecution witnesses in the case. If the judge would not recuse herself, Deputy District Attorney Haley Murphy argued in the motion, the court should limit the extent to which the defense could use the judge's findings in the Baldwin case to cast doubt upon the truthfulness of the two. And, Murphy suggested, "there should be an independent arbitrator of the issues related to the admissibility of the Court's ruling as it will arise in numerous cases pending in the First Judicial District." Public defender Jennifer Burrill argued the court should take the District Attorney's Office off the case instead. "The State's extensive involvement in the Baldwin prosecution appears to have colored the district attorney's ability to be objective towards the compromised law enforcement witnesses who were part of the Baldwin investigation," she wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burrill wrote the two women could be criminally charged but that rather than charging the women or asking another prosecutor's office to determine if charges were warranted "the district attorney has doubled down on defending the honor" of witnesses whom the court found had given false testimony or participated in the suppression of evidence. Carmack-Altwies did not respond to emails Tuesday seeking comment on the allegations in Burrill's motion. Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Protests to free former Pakistan PM Imran Khan paused Wednesday as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned protesters that extreme measures will be used if they enter the capital Islamabad. The warning followed midnight raids by Pakistan security forces to disperse protesters who stormed Islamabad and demanded Khan's release from jail. Thousands of protesters gathered on the outskirts of the city. Despite the warning, some clashed with security forces at the edge of a high-security red zone amid reports of tear gas and mass arrests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khan's PTI party said on X Wednesday the protests are called off "for the time being." The PTI X statement said, "A massacre has unfolded in Pakistan at the hands of security forces under the brutal, fascist military regime led by the Shehbaz-Zardari-Asim alliance. The nation is drowning in blood. Today, armed security forces launched a violent assault on peaceful PTI protesters in Islamabad, firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible." The statement added, "Pakistan is experiencing its darkest hour since the massacre in East Pakistan in 1971. The rulers have learned nothing from history and are prepared to destroy the country to cling to their illegitimate power." The PTI claimed several members of their party died during the security crackdown and called for an investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the BBC, two hospital sources said they had taken in four bodies of civilians killed by gunfire, but the broadcaster was unable to verify the claim. The BBC report noted that at least four security officers and two civilians died in the clashes. On Tuesday, thousands of demonstrators who support Khan as he faces corruption charges broke through barricades, killing four security service members as they moved toward the center of Islamabad. A PTI convoy of vehicles drove through the security lines Tuesday. Security forces fired Live rounds, as well as tear gas, and authorities arrested more than 4,000 protesters during the deadly clashes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khan was ousted as prime minister by a 2022 no-confidence vote in the National Assembly. He was stripped of a seat in Parliament days after winning it. In January, Khan and his wife, Bib,i were convicted of corruption and sentenced to 14 years in prison. They were collectively fined $5.3 million for keeping or buying official state gifts to Pakistan and reselling them for personal gain. Khan claimed that and other criminal legal proceedings against him are politically motivated. Content Warning: This story discusses suicidal ideation. 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 PROVO, Utah (ABC4) A year ago, Mosaics in Provo opened its doors, offering resources and a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ+ community but after a series of threats and setbacks, it could be forced to close its doors if it cant get financial help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mosaics is not only a bookstore but also serves as the headquarters for the non-profit United Drag Alliance. Bookshelves at Mosaics. (Dean Mauchley) Bookshelves at Mosaics. (Dean Mauchley) Bookshelves at Mosaics. (Dean Mauchley) Mosaics offers resources such as free books, a food pantry, mental health services, a free thrift market, and events in its venue. In April and July, Mosaics faced two separate bomb threats, directed at Drag Story Hour events held by drag queen and co-founder Tara Lipsyncki. Police didnt find any devices either time. In addition to these threats, Lipsyncki and their family were forced to move out of their family home after being doxxed by a far-right hate group, according to an Indiegogo fundraiser started for Mosaics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lipsyncki is additionally facing health challenges, resulting in them needing to take a step back from day-to-day operations. That, plus the toll from threats, has forced the United Drag Alliance to ask the community to help keep Mosaics doors open. The goal of the fundraiser is to raise $200,000 to continue services and programming at Mosaics. Isolated and polarized Sadie Croker, who works at Mosaics and helps plan events, said the bookstore has become an important space for many. The LGBTQ community in Utah County especially is very isolated and polarized. Its not a very accommodating or friendly environment for us, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She described how many in the LGBTQ+ community will have their found family of a few friends, but Mosaics allows individuals to find others with whom they can connect, expanding their circles through social events. To survive, people kind of have to hunker down, Croker said. Theyve got their found family, their five queer friends, that they just sort of stay in hiding and stay safe. The idea is to build a bridge between all of those different isolated parts of our community, so that is reaching across age boundaries or reaching across racial lines, because very often youll find people in the queer community here and theyll just be with other people who are exactly like them, who are their exact same age or are in their same community. Mosaics offers a free thrift market through its partnership with the Animist Coalition. (Dean Mauchley) Croker described that at a recent open mic night, participants shared poetry and songs together freely expressing themselves and their experiences at the venue. There really arent that many opportunities to have that connection with people to be in a space where you really arent worried about being judged and youre not worried about the things that make you different. Youre just feeling supported and accepted and treated like youre a normal person, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where Mosaics truly makes a difference is in giving people of all backgrounds the opportunity to all come together in the same room, she said. At the end of the day, its not really about us. Its not about our nonprofit or our bookstore or us making money. The people are already out there. The love is already out there. The suffering is already out there. To me, its really about getting those people together, and sort of being the envoy for people to find each other, because I do think that we really need that, she said. I owe them everything Elisha Gonzalez, a guest, vendor, and performer at Mosaics, shared with ABC4 how she found a home through the bookstore. When I was on the brink of fully realizing and internally accepting my attraction to women, my severe, treatment-resistant depression was at an all-time high, Elisha said. I was raised to believe being attracted to the same gender was one of the worst things a person could ever be. My depression was making me feel I was a huge disappointment to my loved ones, and that I should take my life to make everyone else comfortable/not have them deal with knowing my orientation. That included my two kids. I was terrified they would be bullied at school because of it. I still am. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the first time she went to Mosaics was to watch a drag lip sync battle in hopes of boosting her spirits. The second she walked through the door, Gonzalez shared, she felt at home. After the event, I chatted with Tara Lipsyncki because I knew I forever wanted to do everything I could to help their cause and help others feel at home there just as much as I did. Tara is the first person to who told me I belonged in the LGBTQIA2S+ community, and that they wanted to support me in any way they could, Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said that Mosaics has given her multiple opportunities to sell her art, and that it provided a safe space to perform drag for her first time. She said shes visited the bookstore multiple times for its social events, to visit with employees, and read a book in a quiet space. She also visited on her birthday to feel at peace and at home. Mosaics provides this space to help their community in so many ways, and to feel safe in a world that doesnt often feel safe anymore. Mosaics cannot close their doors. I dont know what I would do without them, but I do know that if I never met the wonderful people of Mosaics, theres a high chance I wouldnt be alive today. I owe them everything, Gonzalez said. The future of Mosaics Dean Mauchley, the director of the store and functions said Mosaics has served as a place to connect people who live in different areas of the state who may not always get the chance to meet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mosaics builds the bridge between the bubble that is Utah County and the bubble thats Salt Lake and builds those bridges of, How can we support each other? Because we really are not too far apart, Mauchley said. Were just a 30-, 40-minute drive, but its a vastly different world that were all living in . I think thats really where the benefit comes from in having Mosaics here and where it can really thrive if we have that understanding and that camaraderie. Mauchley shared that Mosaics is grateful for all the donations so far, especially as they helped the bookstore stay open through the end of December. Going forward, Mauchley hopes enough can be raised to keep Mosaics where its at. If not, they hope to find another accessible Utah County space. Murals on Mosaics windows painted by Artistically Sam. (Dean Mauchley) Theres still a lot of variables happening, and its still all up in the air, but we are here until the end of the year and we would love to see anybody come by and be part of our community events, they said. Mauchley said whatever happens to the physical space of Mosaics, the United Drag Alliance will remain resilient. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As we figure out what makes the most sense for us as Mosaics being owned by United Drag Alliance, we will find a way, Mauchley said. We will find a way. Its not a lost cause if you donate What were looking for is that longevity and how we can create that within this logistical community and beyond. The fundraiser on Indiegogo closes at the end of this week. But, if youre still looking to donate beyond that time frame, you can also do so at the Mosaics website and store. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Developers floating public support to help transform downtown Detroit's Renaissance Center face an uphill battle in Lansing, where a growing chorus of state lawmakers has voiced concerns over corporate subsidies. General Motors and Dan Gilbert's Bedrock real estate firm unveiled a plan Monday to demolish two towers in the office complex, renovate the remaining ones and create new open space on the riverfront. The announcement prompted a swift response from Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah urging state officials to support the vision. "We can leverage our assets such as the Detroit RiverWalk and Dan Gilbert's personal investment, and plan for our continued growth or retreat with negative consequences for Detroit and Michigan," he said in a statement Monday. "We call upon Lansing to help realize the extraordinary partnership and philanthropic investment that is on the table." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But a bipartisan coalition opposed to public funding for the RenCen redevelopment has already emerged. Incoming Republican House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, who has changed his tune on corporate subsidies, described the idea that taxpayers would pay for the RenCen project as insulting. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, told the Detroit Free Press she opposes $250 million in public support. The district she represents includes part of northwest Detroit, where she said residents have pushed for investments in their neighborhoods and wouldn't see any impact from the proposed redevelopment. RenCen proposal: 'We've lost our damn minds' Under the concept proposal unveiled ahead of the Legislature's lame-duck session, two of the building's four 39-story office towers would be demolished while the remaining two office towers would be renovated or repurposed, with one converted to housing and the other refurbished office space. The central, 73-story Marriott hotel tower would lose some rooms and gain housing. The changes come amid reduced demand for office space in the wake of the pandemic and as GM prepares to move its headquarters several blocks north, to Dan Gilbert's Hudsons Detroit tower. That building was backed by significant public investment on the promise that it would attract new jobs and by extension, income tax revenues to Detroit. With GM named an anchor tenant, it's not clear whether that will occur. Frequent critics of corporate subsidies haven't stopped money from going from state coffers to companies in the past. But they appear to have the support of more lawmakers skeptical of the RenCen proposal. State Rep. Donni Steele, R-Orion Township, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, has consistently opposed requests to give state economic development grants to companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "People keep on following the shiny object," she said. The RenCen is the latest example, she said. "And it's a big shiny object." A conceptual rendering shows fewer towers in the Renaissance Center's future. State Rep. Dylan Wegela, has often split with his Democratic colleagues to vote against corporate subsidies and said in response to the latest RenCen proposal "we've lost our damn minds." "The nerve that this corporation and this billionaire have to ask for public assistance for a project that they're going to profit off of is absolutely absurd," Wegela said, referring to GM and Gilbert. McMorrow: We need stricter criteria, and GM wouldn't qualify Steele and Wegela, however, said they're not sure how far-reaching opposition to public support for the RenCen in Lansing may ultimately end up being. Asked whether she expects House Republicans to be uniformly against the funding, Steele said, "I would say that, but every time I say that there's just somebody that shows me that I'm completely wrong." Wegela said, "Lansing has a way to getting people to do things they don't agree with." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Debates over how best to spur economic development in Michigan have dominated the current legislative session. As frustrations have brewed in Lansing, McMorrow joined other Democratic architects of a legislative proposal to require state economic development officials to carry out a more extensive review before awarding funds and fund transit, housing and community development projects in addition to corporate subsidies. McMorrow introduced Senate Bill 559 to require state economic development officials to weigh new criteria. "I will say that we had built language into (the economic development) reform about considering net job losses of any company asking for public funding, and given the layoffs from GM just announced, they would not qualify to receive funding under that proposed language which I still believe in even if the legislation has not passed," McMorrow said in a text message. GM cut the jobs of about 1,000 workers Friday, including some in Michigan. State Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, who has collaborated on the proposed economic development overhaul echoed McMorrow. "Which is why I've been saying all along that our package would in no way give money to this project," he said, referring to the RenCen redevelopment. "I think the Renaissance Center is certainly a very important icon in Detroit, but I also have a lot of concerns about public dollars being used to support private redevelopment unless there's a significant public benefit to that redevelopment," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The status of any potential request for public funding is unknown, and the specific funding sources developers may try to tap is also unclear. "While there is nothing to announce from a state perspective at this time, we join those excited about the continued resurgence of Detroit as an ideal destination for people and business alike. It would be premature to speculate on what funding request may come to the state or where the funding could come from," Otie McKinley, a spokesperson for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said in an email. House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, whose district includes the RenCen, and state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, expressed excitement about the vision for the future of the site in separate statements but didn't commit to heeding calls for public support in their initial reactions. "The proposal for redevelopment changes to the Renaissance Center is still under review," Tate said. "I look forward to hearing more about this proposal," said Brinks. City leaders call for 'public-private partnership' Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's press secretary Stacey LaRouche said in a text message that the governor's office is reviewing the matter. Jeff Wiggins a spokesperson for state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township said in a text message that the senator has had no discussions with Whitmer, MEDC or Democratic legislative leaders about any RenCen proposal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement GM spokesman Kevin Kelly told the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday there are other options if the state funds fall through. "There are a number of options that we will explore as we seek public support for the project," Kelly said. "We're not going to get into specifics." In interviews with local media outlets, Bedrock has said the majority of public funding would likely come primarily from state sources, but Detroits top officials have also indicated a willingness to kick in city support. In response to a Free Press inquiry, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said "we will need a public/private partnership to get this done," and City Council President Mary Sheffield said she was "looking forward to further exploring a potential public-private partnership." Both applauded the proposal, with Sheffield calling it "a rare and clear path for growth" and a "transformation most cities could only dream of." Neither provided details about what shape city taxpayer support could take. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Detroiters spoke out against the proposal during the public comments period at Tuesday's city council meeting. Activist Meeko Williams said the plan is not worth public investment because it involves eliminating two towers and much-needed hotel space. GM, he added, was "wrong" for leaving behind the iconic structure in the first place. "I dont understand tearing things down and then you beg for more money," Williams said. "We don't have money as it is right now." Downtown Detroit: Main RenCen tower stays, 2 others to be demolished, in proposed revamp of Detroit complex Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detroit resident Marguerite Maddox, meanwhile, urged "do not tear down the RenCen look into low-income housing." Council member Angela Whitfield-Calloway has suggested the same. In a statement this summer, the District 2 representative proposed converting the top levels of the 39-story office towers to create 2,000 new housing units, 400 of which would be set aside as affordable for people living at 80% of the Area Median Income under a city ordinance. Subsidies could be provided to achieve deeper levels of affordability, she said. "The future of Detroit looks better with the existing four (office) towers of the Renaissance Center reused and repurposed," the statement said. "Detroit deserves better." Whitfield-Calloway declined to comment on the conceptual plan proposed Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Staff writers Dana Afana and Jamie L. LaReau contributed to this report Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen. 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: Public funds for RenCen revamp sees skepticism in Lansing Nov. 26MITCHELL Local leaders are sounding the sirens on the risks to rural ambulance service around Mitchell and working on a potential ambulance district with taxing authority to help keep emergency medical services running to rural Davison and Hanson counties. Leaders with the Mitchell Fire and EMS division met with the Davison County Commission on Tuesday and held a roundtable at the Mitchell Public Safety building to get the word out about plans to create an ambulance district. If successful, it intends to produce about $700,000 and serve 7,000 rural residents who are currently not paying for ambulance services in the rural areas around Mitchell. Currently the ambulance service for Mitchell is funded solely by the city but serves a much larger area, more than 900 square miles between Mount Vernon and Alexandria, from Ethan and north of Mitchell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mitchell Fire and EMS Chief Dan Pollreisz said the plan is coming together to help address staff shortages. Under normal circumstances, the full-time firefighters and paramedics working in Mitchell would have eight to a shift but the minimum is six. As Mitchell workers are responding to more and more calls and alerting additional off-duty workers to respond, that runs the risk of nobody being back at the Public Safety building to take the next call, something Pollreisz said happened more than 600 times in the last year. In the wrong situation, that could mean life and death. Amy Storm, who lives outside Ethan and a part-time ambulance worker with the Mitchell EMS and a volunteer EMT for the Ethan and Mount Vernon fire departments, said Mitchell's paramedic staff are friends and neighbors and they want to help the community. But they are being stretched thin to cover a population base of 26,000 people counting the city of Mitchell and outlying areas and the calls can stack up quick with vehicle crashes on Interstate 90 and medical emergencies. "If you tell me that there was nobody coming, I'm not going to lie, it would be a lot for me to take," she said. "I just feel bad for these guys because as first responders, you hear it when you talk to them. Their drive and their love is to go out and help people. And I think if we had to tell them that you can't respond outside of the city limits, I know that that would weigh on them." Pollreisz said it's painful to consider that there's residences that can be seen from Walmart on the south end of town that aren't in the city limits and might be subject to the end of ambulance service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In South Dakota, fire and law enforcement services are considered essential services but emergency medical services are not, so ambulance services are not supported through state government funding. And thusly, no ambulance service in the state is obligated to answer an emergency call. Only 13 states in the country consider EMS services as essential and South Dakota is left in the cold. Today, a much larger share of city's calls now go to emergency medical services. A study last year showed 87% of the Mitchell Fire/EMS Division's calls are for ambulance services. "The fire service has done a good job of putting ourselves out of business with fire prevention, sprinklers, alarms, all that stuff, public education," Pollreisz said. "On the EMS side, it's people's health and accidents, and we can't do anything about that." The goal of the rural ambulance district would be to help the Mitchell staff increase in size. Currently, there's a goal of eight staff members per shift and operating at a minimum of six working per shift. The $700,000 figure for six new employees is drafted upon salaries, benefits, the cost of equipment for both fire and EMS duties, Pollreisz said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Currently, the Mitchell Fire/EMS Division serves all of Davison County and the western two-thirds of Hanson County, which includes the county seat of Alexandria. The eastern third, including Emery and Farmer are served by the McCook Ambulance Service, which is a private organization. There has been discussion about getting all of Hanson County on board with the district, which is to be determined. A coalition of supportive local governments is forming. Municipal leaders in Alexandria, Ethan and Mount Vernon have indicated they will back a resolution to join a new district. On Tuesday, the Davison County Commission didn't take formal action on a resolution but was unanimous in supporting the effort. Davison County Commissioner Chris Nebelsick, who represents the most rural of the commission's five districts, said he doesn't want there to be any ambiguity about ambulance coverage for rural residents. "If I need help, I want to know the calvary is coming," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue would be subject to voters in the affected district boundaries, which would likely include rural areas outside of Mitchell. A potential public vote on the issue could take place in the spring of 2025. If approved, the ambulance district could begin collecting taxes in 2026. More public education and outreach is expected in the meantime. The exact tax impact hasn't been decided. One cost estimate is about 40 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, Pollreisz said, and that's based on getting all areas of Davison and Hanson counties on board. He said that would be very similar to taxes applied to rural fire districts, including his living in Ethan. He said it comes out to about $4 a month, but taxes can be different based on ag land or commercial property. Such districts are capped at 60 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, officials said. What happened: The abuse occurred at Dailuo Peak in Mount Wutai in Shanxi province. In the video, the puppy can be seen imitating visitors by climbing parts of the 1,080-step stairs and bowing down to pray on each step. Then, a man believed to be the puppys owner shows up and begins shoving and kicking the dog in an apparent attempt to make it go home, resulting in the pooch falling down the stairs. Douyin users criticized the man in the video, with one writing, You may not like them, but please do not harm them! Another commented, Without a kind heart, whats the use of prayer? Claiming the potential for missing absentee ballots has obscured election results, Minnesota Republicans say they will file a lawsuit to contest a southwest metro state House race recount where the Democratic-Farmer-Labor incumbent won reelection by just 15 votes. Its the latest challenge by Republicans after this Novembers election gave the state a House tied 67-67 between the parties. If they prevail and go on to win the race, Republicans will secure a majority in the chamber. GOP leadership announced their intent to challenge the results of the House District 54A race Tuesday after last weeks recount found Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, had defeated Republican challenger Aaron Paul by one more vote than the original count. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, House Republican Speaker-Designate Lisa Demuth said her party is challenging the results because of ongoing questions about potentially missing absentee ballots in the city of Shakopee something Scott County officials continue to investigate. The recount may be over, but the investigation into the 21 missing ballots in District 54A is still ongoing, she said. Enough ballots remain missing to potentially sway the outcome of the election. In a statement, House DFL campaign spokesperson Sorcha McGuire told the Pioneer Press they didnt expect the GOP challenge to prevail. Rep. Brad Tabke won the election in District 54A by both the count on Election Night and in the recount, she said. We have seen nothing that should cause doubt about the result of the recount and we expect Rep. Tabke to again prevail in an election contest. Discrepancy in the count Last week, county elections manager Julie Hanson identified a discrepancy in the count of ballots, in which 21 more absentee records than ballots were counted in the City of Shakopee, according to a news release from Scott County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Scott County canvassing board certified the results of the recount on Monday, but according to officials they are only charged with auditing and verifying the ballots they have in their possession. The canvassing board has very limited authority in this situation, any remedy sought after certification is not part of the canvassing boards role, County Administrator Lezlie Vermillion said in a news release. Its now up to a court to decide what happens next. Paul has until next Monday to file a challenge. As of Tuesday, he hadnt submitted anything in court. Divided House The Minnesota House will be in a partisan tie in January if this years election results hold, and leaders of both parties continue to negotiate power sharing. But District 54A isnt the only race where Republicans are pursuing legal action to challenge the results. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In District 40B, which covers parts of Roseville and Shoreview, Republican Paul Wikstrom has filed a lawsuit challenging the residency of DFL opponent Curtis Johnson. A partial recount Monday in House District 14B confirmed Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, defeated Republican challenger Sue Ek. The Sherburne County recount found Wolgamott won by 190 votes one fewer than the initial count. Related Articles By Barry Porterfield | bporterfield@pvdemocrat.com All the moves have been taken for Tom Pyle to step in right now to start serving as the next Garvin County commissioner for District 2. It took some time after Pyle won a race for the office earlier this month as he was appointed last week to serve out the remaining term of the now retired Gary Ayres before starting his own full term in early January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pyles official appointment came from Governor Kevin Stitts office, which was needed because of the unexpired time remaining on Ayres term. I appreciate everybodys support, Pyle said moments after being sworn into office Monday. Now its time to get started. Leading the oath of office ceremony November 25 was District Judge Leah Edwards as Pyles wife, Molly, joined him in a county courtroom in Pauls Valley. The charge to get Pyle in the office was led by Garvin County Clerk Lori Fulks, who said only having a first deputy and not a commissioner in place slowed some things up for District 2 over the last few weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has been appointed effective immediately, Fulks said last week. This means he can run the show now. Theyre been in limbo for months. They need to start buying stuff. They need to start getting things done. They can do that now that hes been appointed. Pyle was formally sworn in as the new District 2 commissioner in a ceremony on Monday, November 25. The oath was administered by Garvin County Associate District Judge Laura McClain. Pyle has been a District 2 employee for the last 12 years after he was hired by Shon Richardson, who served as the District 2 commissioner for nearly a dozen years before stepping down in 2016. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was Richardson and Pyle who faced off during the recent November 5 general election. Pyle won the race by finishing with about 68 percent of the vote, which came to 2,542 votes, while Richardson collected 1,197 votes in the election. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley speaks during a rally featuring former President Donald Trump on Sept. 8, 2023, at The Monument in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) Prior to President-elect Donald Trumps ill-fated choice of Matt Gaetz as his first pick for U.S. attorney general, Trump and his team had been getting advice for several years from a group of Republican state attorneys general that includes South Dakotas Marty Jackley. Jackley said the America First Attorney General Advisory Council has convened through calls and meetings, including gatherings at Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida with various Trump transition staff members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a recent interview with South Dakota Searchlight, Jackley, whos also a former U.S. attorney for South Dakota, had little to say about Gaetz. At the time of that announcement, I had not met Congressman Gaetz, so I didnt really have an opinion formulated, Jackley said. I want to be fair to him. I never had the opportunity at the time of that announcement to meet him. Gaetzs tenure as the expected nominee lasted eight days. During that time, he resigned his seat as a Republican congressman from Florida. All the while, debate swirled about investigations into his alleged drug use and payments for sex, including with an underage girl. Gaetz ultimately withdrew himself from consideration as Trumps nominee. Trump has since said hell nominate Republican former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Jackley said hes known her since 2009. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im happy that the president has looked to the state attorney general community and Attorney General Bondi, he said. Somebody that has the prosecutorial experience to lead the Department of Justice in a different direction. Following are excerpts from Searchlights interview with Jackley, edited for length and clarity. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX How did you find yourself in this advisory role with the Trump team? Well, a couple of years ago, through America First [America First Policy Institute], a group of us attorney generals were put together on what I would call the America First Attorney General Advisory Council. That includes occasional calls. It includes occasional meetings together. Most recently, several of us gathered at Mar-A-Lago. And really, the focus is not on politics, but the rule of law and providing advice, like several other advisory groups do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That focus, at least for me, has always been, what is the rule of law? What relationships can be better established between federal, state and local prosecutors? What is the role of the Department of Justice? I openly talk about having been a U.S. attorney. I care deeply about the Department of Justice. I left being a partner in a law firm to be a part of that. And Ive seen it go away from a direction that I would hope that it is brought back to. And I believe that Attorney General Bondi is the right person for that, to have it more focused on the rule of law, public safety and protecting relationships between all prosecutors. What do you mean when you say youve seen the Department of Justice go a direction you dont like? Ill use an example. Recently, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland came to South Dakota. He never reached out to the attorney general. He never reached out. I was the outgoing chairman of the attorney generals. There was no discussion about the things that you and I just talked about: How can there be stronger federal partnerships? The type of conversation that you would expect is, How are federal and state relations? Theyre good in South Dakota. I feel that my relationship with the U.S. attorney is very strong. We are one of the few states that Im aware of that our attorney general forensic lab in Pierre does some of the evidence forensic testing for the FBI. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and Moody County Sheriff Troy Wellman speak to reporters after a hearing in Flandreau on June 20, 2024. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Certainly, Ive built and maintained strong relationships with our tribes. I would have liked to see a conversation about how can federal, state and tribal authorities work together and what can we do to partner? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And so, thats an example. Another example is, there seems to be a lot of special prosecutors. I think if you look from my approach as attorney general, you dont see me doing that. Sometimes when youre the attorney general, you have to make the hard decisions, and the danger of a special prosecutor is they can get political, they dont have proper oversight at times, and I think Jack Smith demonstrated that. There were concerns about things that he brought, and then right after an election he dismissed them. [Smith prosecuted Trump for election interference and mishandling classified documents, and recently dropped the cases for the time being, saying it would be unconstitutional for his office to continue prosecuting the incoming president.] If you look at me as an example, I once as attorney general had to indict a Republican United States Senate candidate [Annette Bosworth, convicted of a dozen felony counts of election law violations in 2015]. I did not do that at election time, despite some criticism from the public and from the media. I waited until after the election to bring that indictment. It resulted in a conviction, but I didnt want to affect an election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And so, those types of examples are what many of us attorney generals want to see the Department of Justice get back to: working with local, state and other federal prosecutors, U.S. attorneys, to bring public safety, and to protect basic freedoms, and to not be overly political. What happened during your trips to Mar-A-Lago? Ive gone the last two years, and as part of that trip, using an example, we had an opportunity to gather and talk with several of us and leadership of what I would call the Trump transition about these various topics the rule of law, what we as attorney generals would advise and like to see. I think that location is just generally where a lot of the transition is taking place. Why do you like the choice of Pam Bondi as nominee for U.S. attorney general? Ive had the opportunity to serve with Attorney General Bondi. She came to South Dakota for the Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner in 2017. I want to speak for myself: Im happy that the president has looked to the state attorney general community and Attorney General Bondi, somebody that has the prosecutorial experience to lead the Department of Justice in a different direction. What do you think picking Gaetz and then Bondi says about the president-elects judgment? I feel strongly that he made the right choice in Attorney General Pam Bondi. And I look forward to the support that I foresee the attorney general community giving her during the confirmation process, and I look forward to serving with her once again in her now role, once confirmed, as attorney general of the United States. Whats next for the state attorney general group advising Trump? I dont know that this advisory role will change. I believe in the Department of Justice and what it stands for, and I hope and I believe that the direction will focus more on those things Ive talked about: the relationships with the prosecutors in the field, the rule of law, not having politics play such a role in the actions of the Department of Justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I, first and foremost, am the attorney general of South Dakota, and that is my utmost interest, and to the extent we can be advisers on other issues, to me, the border is exceptionally important. Every day I come to work, I witness what an open border does with methamphetamine, fentanyl, the illegal gun trade and the other dangers that affect almost every household in South Dakota. I think the attorney general plays a very important role in that nationally. I would say human trafficking is another area Attorney General Bondi was strong on. That along with opioids. And so those are the points that I will advocate that, I believe, affect us here in South Dakota that the Department of Justice and the presidential administration should focus on. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The sixth time was the charm for a group trying to end qualified immunity in Ohio as a proposed constitutional amendment cleared a major hurdle. Far too often in Ohio, people have our rights violated by our governments and we have no recourse, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity Kyle Pierce said. What it will do is just basically paralyze government, Director of Government Affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio Michael Weinman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Qualified immunity comes from a Supreme Court ruling decades ago that makes it so public officials like police officers, university employees or social workers cannot be taken to a civil court unless they violate a clearly established constitutional right, and the legal standards were clear enough that any reasonable official would know they were acting in an unlawful manner. Weinman said qualified immunity is a necessary protection for state employees like law enforcement and said the amendment would make recruitment difficult because officers will be worried about frivolous lawsuits. Youre going to take a step back and say, Hey, look, is this something I really want to do if putting myself, my family, my home, my cars, you know, college funds in jeopardy because of some frivolous lawsuit, he said. The proposal would not require government employees to pay out of pocket for any civil case, but it would be the government employer, like a municipality or specific department, that would pick up the costs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If theyre not training their personnel and if they dont have protocols in place that respect our rights, then thats the problem with the government employer right there, Pierce said. If youre making those decisions within the scope of the law, you should be protected, Weinman said. The proposed amendment eliminates proscutorial immunity. There is no way to ever sue a prosecutor for anything they do in their capacity as prosecutor, Pierce said. They can lie. They can get witnesses to lie. They can withhold exculpatory evidence. They can prosecute people they know to be not guilty. Pierce said the group is working to build a bi-partisan coalition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group still needs approval by the ballot board, which must happen within the next nine days. After that, they can start collecting signatures. Pierce said the goal is to make it on the ballot this November, which means the group will need almost 500,000 signatures before July 1, 2025. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Bravery comes in many forms. In Tehran, a woman named Vida Movahed stood on a box in the street, her hair uncovered, holding her white headscarf in front of her. This protest against the mandatory wearing of a hijab, enforced by Irans so-called morality police, resulted in a jail term in 2017 for promoting corruption and depravity. For that, she can count herself lucky: others who have taken a stand against the Islamic Republic have been shot, tortured or killed. Yet women continued to follow Vidas lead. And, across the country, mass protests have broken out against the governments corruption and cruelty. Rage Against the Regime: Iran (BBC Two) is a two-part documentary featuring interviews with ordinary people who have fought for change, many of whom have suffered terribly as a result. All speak from exile. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the revolution of 1979, Iran has been ruled by the Supreme Leader currently Ayatollah Khamenei. The reason for all our miseries, said one contributor. The film traced the wave of protests back to 2009, when anger over the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spilled out into the streets, and a woman named Neda Agha-Soltan was shot dead. Her dying moments were captured on a mobile phone and went viral. Social media has played a major role in the uprisings, showing the world what is happening and spurring on the protesters. Another video showed a union leader urging striking workers to stay resolute. This was another courageous act: he had just been released from custody after being tortured by security forces into making a false confession. They had expected him to go back to his men and tell them to call off the strike, but he did not. For this, he has paid a great price: he was forced to leave the country and has not seen his wife and children for the past five years. The testimonies kept coming: a male protester recalled being stripped, beaten and raped in a detention centre; another described the death of his brother, who had been shot at a rally and in his last moments asked to hear a Leonard Cohen record. He sacrificed his life for freedom, the brother said. The Iranian people, many of them young, continue to fight but the government responds only by cracking down harder. The overriding emotions were anger at Khamenei and his ruthless Revolutionary Guard, and sadness at the oppression of a country that all of them deeply love. Telling the story of Irans last 45 years through these voices was a simple but devastatingly effective device. 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. Proponents of ranked-choice voting are recalibrating after Americans across the country broadly rejected measures intended to implement the system. It wasnt all bad news for advocates of the voting method: A measure aimed at repealing the system looks on track to fail in Alaska, where it was approved just four years ago. And in Washington, D.C., voters approved ranked-choice voting. But overall, election reform measures that would have set up ranked-choice systems or done away with partisan primaries or, in some cases, both had a bad night in November. Such measures failed in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota on Election Day, prompting organizers to look for new routes to grow their movement, such as educational efforts and action through state legislatures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We see a lot of opportunities still ahead, said Deb Otis, director of research and policy at FairVote, a nonpartisan group backing ranked-choice voting. We know that the path to reform isnt always a straight line. And the movement is still on a growth streak, but were going to sometimes hit roadblocks. In retrospect, this was always going to be a tough year for these kinds of ballot measures, Otis added. I think in a crowded presidential year that sucked up a lot of the oxygen, voters may have defaulted no to these new concepts in democracy reform. Nick Troiano, executive director of the election reform nonprofit Unite America, which has championed open primary efforts, also chalked up the losses to the unique rejection election at the presidential level this cycle as well as to spending from opponents of the measures to plant all sorts of doubts in voters minds. Ranked-choice systems are currently in place statewide in just two states: Alaska and Maine. Ranked-choice voting and open primary efforts accounted for 6 percent of ballot measures this cycle, and 8 percent of ballot measure contributions, according to an analysis from Ballotpedia just ahead of Election Day. In Colorado, detractors spent nearly half a million dollars opposing the states proposal for a top-four open primary and ranked-choice general election voting though that sum was notably a fraction of the $14.6 million spent in favor. The Colorado Sun puts that figure closer to $19 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another factor organizers cited behind their 2024 losses was voter confusion about what exactly the election reforms propose, and how to fully participate when theyre implemented. Between the confusion and the massive Trump vote, we really took a shellacking, said Jim Jones, a former Idaho attorney general, former justice on the state Supreme Court and supporter of Idahos election reform proposal. In the Gem State, a measure would have opened up a top-four primary and set up ranked-choice voting in the general election, but roughly 7 in 10 Idahoans opposed it on Election Day. Jones attributed some of the opposition to voters who may have been comfortable with nonpartisan primaries but were wary of a stark switch to ranked-choice voting, which has drawn criticism from national Republicans, including the president-elect, and Democrats alike. That might suggest organizers need to take smaller steps in the coming years, such as advancing open primaries through state legislation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think were going to kind of assess our position, but I doubt that we would try an identical ballot measure like that, Jones said of this years push. In Colorado, advocates suffered another defeat when their ballot measure was rejected by voters. The measure would have required all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, to run under one ballot for the same office. The top four finishers would head to the general election, where voters would rank them by choice. Sean Hinga, the Colorado legislative and political director for the American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was against the proposed ballot measure. He noted when youre trying to pass a statewide ballot measure that applies to governors and legislators, it is just a different scenario than running in a city election and said ranked-choice voting requires an immense amount of voter education. I think most of the groups that were opposed to this were really worried about the impact on voters, especially voters of color and underserved communities, and if we could see that it could be implemented without harming those communities, without harming voter engagement, he noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There were some bright spots, however, for advocates. In Washington, D.C., a ballot measure passed allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in either partys primary and allowing voters to rank their top five picks for office. People all over our country are demanding more of their politicians, and so tools like ranked-choice voting and systems where primaries are letting more people in and participating so that more people can participate in the democratic process people are demanding those things, said Lisa Rice, who led efforts to pass D.C.s measure. The initiatives success in D.C. voters approved it by a whopping 73 percent is particularly notable given the city is largely Democratic, and the ballot measure was opposed by both the citys Democratic Party and top officials such as Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). Rice explained that her group was able to convince voters to pass it by explaining that independents made up a notable faction of the city, despite D.C.s blue leanings. And she noted that primaries were actually taxpayer-funded, not expensed by the political parties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of people did not understand that these are publicly financed elections. But when you say, We all pay. We should all be able to vote in the most consequential election in this city, a lot of people go, Oh my God, that makes sense, Rice said. Otis said the success in both D.C. and Alaska furthers the narrative that, where voters have used ranked-choice voting, they like it. A proposed repeal of Alaskas relatively new ranked-choice system is headed to a recount, local outlets reported this week, after the measure appeared to fail by just a fraction of a percentage point. Otis is optimistic about potential paths forward for the election reforms in states where they lost this cycle. In Alaska, for example, voters defeated a ranked-choice voting initiative back in 2002, then approved the change nearly two decades later. But FairVote is looking now to the municipal level to make more inroads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next statewide movement, I would hope, comes in a state where a number of voters already have it at the city level, or have tried it out for something like presidential primaries, Otis said. When we get a municipal win, it does two great things: It delivers better local elections and also acts as a building block for larger wins in the future. Richard Pildes, a New York University law school professor who has advocated for states to follow in Alaskas footsteps, emphasized the expansion in recent years of ranked-choice voting at the local level. In Oregon, for example where voters rejected a ballot measure to make the change statewide ranked-choice voting is already in place in Portland, Corvallis and elsewhere. I think people may be more comfortable with incremental change, Pildes said. If you look below the state level, you see more and more cities and towns that are using ranked-choice voting, and so people are going to get more experience with the system and, depending on how they evaluate that experience, become more supportive of it at the state level. At the same time, organizers need to do more education and engagement with voters, so that when they see this on the ballot, they understand what the reforms are intended to accomplish, Troiano said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While advocates are assessing their next moves, opponents of ranked-choice voting and open primaries have also taken steps to expand their footprint. In Louisiana earlier this year, Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed legislation that transforms the states jungle primary system into a closed primary system for certain offices in 2026. The states prior system has all candidates running for the same office listed under one ballot, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate outright won at least half of the vote, the top two finishers advanced to the general election. Meanwhile, in Missouri, advocates were able to successfully pass a ballot measure that would ban ranked-choice voting. While Americans are frustrated with politics, I think most Americans are just fine with the traditional way of voting, said Trent England, executive director of the anti-ranked choice voting group Save Our States, in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advocates acknowledge they face an uphill climb to change voting systems, but theyre projecting confidence for the long haul and assessing this years results as they look for new inroads. Theres clearly widespread dissatisfaction with how government doing these days, Pildes said. And in periods of significant dissatisfaction, there are openings for political reform. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Rapid City man was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for murder. Brent Kertzman, 65, was sentenced for the first-degree murder of Julie Fisk, 54. In September, Kertzman pleaded guilty to bludgeoning Fisk to death and setting fire to her home on February 20, 2024, after their relationship ended. 51-year-old charged in Saturday stabbing Fisks children released the following statement: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We appreciate the hard work and diligence of the litigators, investigators, first responders, and victim advocates who ensured this case moved smoothly. Their efforts have brought us some peace during this process. The love and support of everyone involved are deeply felt and greatly appreciated. Our mothers memory remains strong, and we sincerely hope that anyone in a similar situation reaches out and seeks help. Last month, after speaking with the victims family, the State agreed not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for Kertzmans guilty plea to first-degree murder. Pennington County States Attorney Lara Roetzel said that while the State was fully prepared to seek the death penalty, the familys desire for closure and their wish to avoid the trauma of trial was pivotal to reaching this agreement. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. NEW YORK (PIX11)The spirit of giving was vibrantly showcased Tuesday morning at Fat Joes annual Thanksgiving food drive in Washington Heights. Hundreds of families received essential items for the holiday at his UP NYC store, which provides a lifeline to those in need within the community. More Local News Many attendees, like Percy Mitchell, expressed their gratitude for the support. I dont get food stamps, and in America, a lot of people are down on their luck, and Im one of them, Mitchell said, emphasizing the importance of the food drive. Im trying to cook for some of my neighbors in my building, some of my older neighbors, and then for myself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fat Joe, the Grammy-nominated rapper behind the initiative, highlighted his personal connection to the cause. You know, when I was a kid, my mother struggled a lot; I remember her borrowing from family members so that we could have a Thanksgiving meal, he recalled. This background drives his commitment to helping others, making this event particularly meaningful for him. The food drive featured a wide array of Thanksgiving essentials. I was on line since like nine oclock because I knew it would be a lot of people, Tia Thomas, a food recipient, said. Thomas efforts paid off as she received a turkey, various Goya products, and staples like rice and beans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fat Joe partnered with local businesses such as Krasdale Foods, C-Town, Bravo, Goya, and ShopRite to maximize this years impact. A representative from ShopRite noted that they were giving away 600 turkeys at this location alone and planned to distribute over 1,200 turkeys across multiple sites. Fat Joe acknowledged the ongoing struggles many families face in the community. Every year, it seems like the people are struggling just a little bit more. His dedication to making a difference is unwavering. I cant forget these people; I will not forget these people, he affirmed. As his influence grows, so does his commitment to uplifting those around him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fat Joes efforts reached over 5,000 families throughout New York City this year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. RAYNE, La. (KLFY) A 41-year-old Rayne man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the sexual abuse of a child that occurred over two years, according to Louisiana State Police. Julian Trey Aucoin III faces three counts of first-degree rape and one count each of sexual battery and indecent behavior with juveniles. He was booked into the Acadia Parish Corrections Facility. Aucoin was previously charged with first-degree rape and other charges in Dec. 2023, indecent behavior with a juvenile and computer-aided solicitation of a minor in April 2021, and sexual battery of a juvenile under 13 years of age in June 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a news release, his most recent charges stem from an investigation that began on Nov. 4, after LSPs Special Victims Unit received a complaint involving the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 13. Aucoin was accused of abusing the child. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered Aucoin participated in numerous acts of forced sexual contact with the minor over the span of two years. Based on their investigation, a warrant for Aucoins arrest was obtained, state police said in the news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case remains under investigation. LSPs Special Victims Unit works to rescue and seek justice for victims of crimes involving the exploitation of children and the trafficking of humans for sex or labor. State police said the public plays an important role in identifying suspects accused of those crimes. The public is urged to report criminal or suspicious activity. LSPs online reporting system is available to the public through an anonymous reporting form that is submitted to the appropriate investigators. The form can be found by visiting http://la-safe.org/ and clicking on the Suspicious Activity link. Latest News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com. The Republican Partys majority in the House of Representatives is looking meager. Three House races remain outstanding as of Wednesdaytwo toss-up races in Californias 13th and 45th districts and one in Iowas 1st district thats leaning Republican, according to CBS. But if current results hold, the GOP will have a record-small majority220 seats to Democrats 215CNN data journalist Harry Enten reported Wednesday morning. You have to go all the way back since the Herbert Hoover administration to find an even smaller majority after November elections, he observed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the majority could grow even narrower with the resignation of one Republican representative and the likely resignations of two more. Representative Matt Gaetz has already resigned from his seat after Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general. Gaetz has since withdrawn as Trumps pick in light of sexual misconduct allegations but said he does not intend to join the upcoming Congress. Representatives Elise Stefanik and Mike Waltz, whom Trump has nominated to join the incoming administration, are expected to resign in January. Those resignations would deflate the GOPs majority to 217215. In that event, CNN anchor John Berman noted, in the weeks or months before the vacated seats are filled, a single Republican defector could sink a bill. Enten observed that that has not been the case in 100-plus years. This is just the latest development throwing cold water on Republican narratives about a 2024 landslide. While Trump crowed about his purported unprecedented and powerful mandate on election night, as more votes have been counted, it has become clear that Trump did not win a majority of the popular vote, and his popular-vote margin over Kamala Harris has shrunk considerably. More than 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars have been seized through the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex as part of a multiagency law enforcement investigation, making it the largest counterfeit musical instrument seizure on record, authorities announced Tuesday. Africa Bell, port director for the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport, provided no details about suspects or details of the case because it remained active but said that the products worth more than $18 million if they were legitimate were probably destined for e-commerce. Several red, black and orange electric guitars sat on stands and rested on tables as U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced the seizure during a morning news conference in Carson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These guitars you see on display around me and behind me may look real to you, but trust and believe they are not," Bell said. "They are fraudulent, and they are part of a massive attempt to con the American consumer." The 3,000-plus Gibson guitars seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were likely destined for e-commerce, according to authorities. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Bell said while most shipments comply with U.S. importation laws, many do not. Read more: California hails $544 million in illegal weed seizures. But it's just a drop in the bucket "Finding contraband illicit goods and revenue owed to the United States government in this massive amount of cargo arriving here every day is like trying to find the smallest of needles and the largest of haystacks," she said. "It's a significant undertaking. This past fiscal year we prevented the entry of over $2 billion worth of counterfeit products into the United States. This is the highest recorded value to date." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case is being investigated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The chamber of the Maine House of Representatives during the first session of 2024 in the State House in Augusta. (Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star) After a flurry of recounts, the final results for the more than 180 seats in the Maine Legislature are mostly in. Every seat in the Maine House of Representatives and Senate was up for reelection on Nov. 5. Most of the results were clear in the days following the election, but the Maine Department of the Secretary of State recounted the results for eight legislative races seven House districts and one Senate district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recount requested for House District 44 is still outstanding as of Wednesday, since it needed to be rescheduled. A new date for the recount has not been announced. Even without that final race result, Democrats are securely in control of both chambers, as they were last session. However, they will have a tighter majority in the 132nd Legislature with only a five seat margin over Republicans in the Senate and three in the House. Maine Senate The Maine Senate will have 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Democrats were able to maintain their majority because every incumbent in the Maine Senate that ran more than two-thirds of members was reelected. There were initially two recounts requested for the upper chamber, but only one, for District 8, took place. That recount confirmed that incumbent Democrat Mike Tipping will serve another term after winning by 132 votes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outgoing state Rep. Raegan LaRochelle, a Democrat, withdrew her request for a recount in District 15, which she originally requested after trailing Republican Dick Bradstreet by fewer than 200 votes. The outgoing Republican state representative will move to the Senate to take over the seat vacated by Matt Pouliot. Bradstreet isnt the only Republican who was able to successfully maintain control of a Senate seat targeted by Democrats. The seat vacated by Eric Brakey in Androscoggin Countys District 20 will stay red because Bruce Bickford prevailed against former state Rep. Bettyann Sheats. Republicans were also able to narrow the majority Democrats held last session by flipping a few seats. For example, Susan Bernard won the open seat in District 1 in Aroostook County, which was held by outgoing Democratic Senate President Troy Jackson. And Republican Scott Cyrway flipped the open seat in District 16. Maine House of Representatives The House will have 76 Democrats, 73 Republicans and two independents so long as William Pluecker maintains his victory in the outstanding recount again maintaining a tight majority to uphold this leg of the Democratic trifecta. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several districts flipped to Republicans, but Democrats also picked up seats in the Maine House to maintain their narrow majority. For example, Democrat Kilton Webb won District 98, previously held by Republican Joseph Galletta, who was defeated in the primary by Guy Lebida. And Democrat Wayne Farrin unseated Edward Polewarczyk, the Republican incumbent in District 47. Independent Sharon Frost also usurped a Republican seat by defeating two-term incumbent Daniel Newman in District 58. Meanwhile, Republicans Russell White, Steven Bishop and Mark Cooper defeated Democratic incumbents in Districts 13, 17 and 107. Republican Quentin Chapman also flipped an open seat in District 88. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The FBI may have just gotten the biggest break yet in the decades-old, unsolved case of D.B. Cooper, the man who hijacked a flight from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA and successfully escaped with $200,000. A pair of siblings in North Carolina, whose father was one of a long list of suspects in the case, recovered a parachute identical to the one used in the caper. On Nov. 21, 1971, Cooper, dressed in a smart suit and carrying a suitcase, ordered a bourbon and lit a cigarette after boarding the flight. Shortly after takeoff, he handed a flight attendant a note that said he had a bomb and provided a list of demands. In addition to the $200,000 in ransom money (equivalent to about $1,500,000 in 2024), he asked for four parachutes to be provided to him when the plane landed in Seattle. Cooper also requested that the flight crew to refuel the aircraft and begin a second flight to Mexico City. But about 30 minutes after taking off in Seattle, Cooper deployed the aircraft's staircase and parachuted into the night over southwestern Washington. It's never been clear whether he survived the jump, but in 1980, a small amount of the ransom money was discovered along the banks of the Columbia River near Vancouver, WA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chante and Rick McCoy III found the parachute, which belonged to their father, Richard Floyd McCoy II, years ago in a storage unit. However, they waited until the death of their mother in 2020 to come forward with the evidence, lest she be implicated in the crime. The pair then reached out to retired pilot, skydiver, and YouTuber, Dan Gryder, who has spent the past 20 years investigating the case. Gryder recently told the Cowboy State Daily that he believes the parachute unequivocally belonged to the mysterious D.B. Cooper. "That rig is literally one in a billion," he said of the parachute, which is identical to one of the four housed in the Washington State History Museum. "Cooper demanded four parachutes during the hijacking," museum director Derek Nguyen told Newsweek. "When the exchange was made in Seattle, he was provided with four parachutes. He jumped from the plane with two parachutes and left two behind on the plane. We have one of the two parachutes left behind on the plane in our collection." Further connecting the dots, McCoy II was arrested in April 1972 after pulling off a similar hijacking in Utah just five months later. He was subsequently tried and convicted, and sentenced to 45 years in prison. However, two years later he escaped from prison and was killed in a shootout with police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gryder also documented his findings in a two-part series on his YouTube channel, Probable Cause, released in 2021 and 2022. Though the FBI officially closed the case in 2016, after watching the videos, agents reached out to Gryder and McCoy III in order to inspect the parachute. "Although the FBI will no longer actively investigate this case, should specific physical evidence emergerelated specifically to the parachutes or the money taken by the hijackerindividuals with those materials are asked to contact their local FBI field office," the the federal agency said in a 2016 press release. Gryder said in his series that investigators told him that a possible next step would be to exhume McCoy II's body and attempt to get a DNA sample that could provide a match to recovered evidence. WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) Sen. Jack Reed hosted a free financial aid workshop at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) Tuesday evening for students and their families. The seminar provided high schoolers with information about scholarships, grants, loans, Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and federal tax benefits to assist with college costs. Students dont have to wait until they are accepted to college to start the financial aid process, Reed explained. I want every student to understand their options when it comes to paying for college. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether it is institutional-based scholarships, Pell Grants or some type of other financial aid, every student who plans to attend college next year needs to complete the FAFSA, he continued. RELATED: Tuition increases approved for CCRI, RIC The workshop connected students and their families with financial aid experts for personalized assistance in the process of filling out this years FAFSA, which determines the amount of federal assistance a student is eligible to receive. The FAFSA is required for Rhode Island students interested in applying for the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship or the Rhode Island Hope Scholarship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reed said common errors made while completing the FAFSA can potentially cost students tens of thousands of dollars when it comes to receiving financial aid. Throughout the workshop, the experts outlined the loan and grant application process and provided insight into what college-bound students can expect when applying for financial aid. The experts also talked about the process of paying back student loans, as well as the tax benefits available to assist with college expenses. I will continue working to make college more affordable and the financial aid process easier for students and families, Reed said. Increasing need-based financial aid for qualified students is a smart investment that helps todays students become the leaders and innovators of tomorrow. Biden highlights efforts to support free community college programs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reed and other lawmakers introduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act earlier this year, which would double the grant amount and make it even easier for students to qualify. Right now, the current maximum Pell Grant award is $7,395. This workshop comes after the U.S. Department of Education announced a phased rollout of the newly updated FAFSA for the upcoming 2025-26 school year. The new FAFSA is currently open to students during an expanded beta testing period ahead of its official launch on Dec. 1. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. A ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to be holding on Wednesday as Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia halted fighting, with displaced residents returning home despite warnings that breaches of the deal could result in the conflict reigniting. Almost two months after Israel launched its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France took effect at 4 am (0200 GMT). The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah - which began in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas - has left thousands killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, while residents of northern Israel were also forced to flee due to constant rocket fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours after the ceasefire came into force, long traffic jams had already formed on roads to southern Lebanon as civilians rushed to return home, even as an Israeli military spokesman cautioned civilians to stay away from specific areas until the ceasefire conditions are met. Clean-up operations were also beginning in Beirut, where acting Public Works Minister Ali Hamie said construction work was under way to reopen roads from the centre of the Lebanese capital to the bombed-out southern suburbs. Eyewitnesses said excavators and clearing vehicles were already at work removing rubble in the suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that suffered extensive damage from Israeli airstrikes. Displaced residents were returning to the area, with one woman telling dpa: "I lost my house, but I feel victory that I am back to the rubble of my house." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amid the emotional scenes, a Lebanese TV reporter who was displaced from her own home cried on air as she witnessed the rush of returning families. Hard work ahead While affected civilians, Lebanese officials and governments around the world reacted with joy as the ceasefire took hold, the path to a lasting peace in the region remains difficult, as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip. Under the terms of the deal, Israel is to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days, while Hezbollah fighters are to return behind the Litani River, some 30 kilometres from the border, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the last war in Lebanon in 2006 but was never fully implemented. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reports say that a total of 10,000 soldiers from the Lebanese Army - which has remained neutral in the conflict - are to be stationed in the border area. The agreement is also to be monitored by a group of states led by the United States, along with France, Lebanon, Israel and peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the Lebanese government was determined to implement the terms of the UN resolution and demanded that Israel comply with the terms of the ceasefire. In a post on X, the Lebanese Army said it was taking the "necessary measures" to implement the ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Images showed convoys of army vehicles heading for southern Lebanon, where they are to be deployed south of the Litani River, the army said. The situation in the region remains tense, with the Israeli military reporting several incidents following the ceasefire. A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: "These are isolated incidents that happen in the first few hours or days until people understand what is happening on the ground." If Israeli troops are threatened, he said, "they will shoot." Nonetheless, an Israeli representative confirmed that if all goes to plan, "after 60 days there will be no Israeli ground troops left in Lebanon." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The withdrawal is conditional on Hezbollah adhering to the agreements, the spokesman said. He said it was the responsibility of the Lebanese government to ensure the ceasefire held. "There is the possibility of a new reality in Lebanon," he added. Speaker calls for displaced Lebanese to return home The ceasefire deal was formally announced on Tuesday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden. It was negotiated on behalf of Hezbollah by Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, who held lengthy talks with US envoy Amos Hochstein. On Wednesday, Berri celebrated the agreement and called on displaced Lebanese to return to their homes across the country, despite warnings by the Lebanese Army for civilians to remain patient as Israeli troops withdraw from the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We thank the displaced and the people who have welcomed them with compassion and solidarity," Berri said in a televised speech. "Return to your land ... even if you live above the rubble." "We turn the page today on a historical moment that was the most dangerous for Lebanon and threatened its people and history." Further global reaction Reaction also continued to pour in from across the region and worldwide. Iran - the principal backer of the Shiite Hezbollah movement - welcomed the ceasefire and said it would continue to support "the government, the people and the resistance in Lebanon." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yemen's Houthi movement, another Iranian-backed ally of Hezbollah, said the ceasefire was a sign of the strength of the anti-Israel alliance. "The Israeli enemy would not have accepted the ceasefire if it had not met with massive resistance," said a Houthi spokesman. Several Arab states also issued statements welcoming the deal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all parties must comply with their obligations with regards to the ceasefire, while also calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also chimed in, arguing that it was "important that everyone sticks to what has been agreed so that people on both sides of the border can live in safety again." Lebanon awoke to a ceasefire on Wednesday as Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia halted fighting, with displaced residents returning home despite warnings that a new outbreak of violence could erupt from any breaches of the agreement. Almost two months after Israel launched its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France took effect at 4 am (0200 GMT). The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah - which began in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas - has left thousands killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, while residents of northern Israel were also forced to flee due to constant rocket fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours after the ceasefire came into force, long traffic jams had already formed on roads to southern Lebanon as civilians rushed to return home, even as an Israeli military spokesman cautioned civilians to stay away from specific areas until the ceasefire conditions are met. Clean-up operations were also beginning in Beirut, where acting Public Works Minister Ali Hamie said construction work was under way to reopen roads from the centre of the Lebanese capital to the bombed-out southern suburbs. Eyewitnesses said excavators and clearing vehicles were already at work removing rubble in the suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that suffered extensive damage from Israeli airstrikes. Displaced residents were returning to the area, with one woman telling dpa: "I lost my house, but I feel victory that I am back to the rubble of my house." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amid the emotional scenes, a Lebanese TV reporter who was displaced from her own home cried on air as she witnessed the rush of returning families. Hard work ahead While affected civilians, Lebanese officials and governments around the world reacted with joy as the ceasefire took hold, the path to a lasting peace in the region remains difficult, even as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip. Under the terms of the deal, Israel is to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah fighters are to return behind the Litani River in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the last war in Lebanon in 2006 but was never fully implemented. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reports say that a total of 10,000 soldiers from the Lebanese Army - which has remained neutral in the conflict - are to be stationed in the border area. The agreement is also to be monitored by a group of states led by the United States, along with France, Lebanon, Israel and peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the Lebanese government was determined to implement the terms of the UN resolution and demanded that Israel comply with the terms of the ceasefire. In a post on X, the Lebanese Army said it was taking the "necessary measures" to implement the ceasefire, which was believed to be holding on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The situation in the region remains tense, with the Israeli military reporting an incident following the ceasefire. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said soldiers had "identified a vehicle with several suspects in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory." "IDF troops fired to prevent them from advancing, and the suspects left the area," the statement added. "The IDF will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the ceasefire agreement and will continue to protect the citizens of Israel." Israeli broadcaster Kan reported that eight vehicles and a motorcycle with Hezbollah members had entered the area of Kafr Kila near the border with Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Defence Minister Israel Katz announced he had instructed the army to take decisive and uncompromising action" in response to the incident. If Israeli troops were in danger, they would have to attack, he warned. Speaker calls for displaced Lebanese to return home The ceasefire deal was formally announced on Tuesday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden. It was negotiated on behalf of Hezbollah by Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, who held lengthy talks with US envoy Amos Hochstein. On Wednesday, Berri celebrated the agreement and called on displaced Lebanese to return to their homes across the country, despite warnings by the Lebanese Army for civilians to remain patient as Israeli troops withdraw from the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We thank the displaced and the people who have welcomed them with compassion and solidarity, Berri said in a televised speech. "Return to your land ... even if you live above the rubble." "We turn the page today on a historical moment that was the most dangerous for Lebanon and threatened its people and history," Berri added. Further global reaction Reaction also continued to pour in from across the region and worldwide on Wednesday. Iran - the principal backer of the Shiite Hezbollah movement - welcomed the ceasefire and said it would continue to support "the government, the people and the resistance in Lebanon." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yemen's Houthi movement, another Iranian-backed ally of Hezbollah, said the ceasefire was a sign of the strength of the anti-Israel alliance. "The Israeli enemy would not have accepted the ceasefire if it had not met with massive resistance," said a Houthi spokesman. Several Arab states also issued statements welcoming the deal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all parties must comply with their obligations with regards to the ceasefire, while also calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also chimed in, arguing that it was "important that everyone sticks to what has been agreed so that people on both sides of the border can live in safety again." Outgoing Rep. Katie Porter has received a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend after she told a court that he had sent over a thousand messages to her, her family, and her staff, intending to cause significant harm to her image. According to the Tuesday court filing, Porter said that the abuse and harassment by Julian Willis, whom she had dated for several years until August, had caused her significant fear for [her] personal safety and well-being, Politico reported based on the legal documents. In one threatening message, Porter alleged, Willis made the defamatory claim that she had genital herpesPorter submitted STI test results to the court that showed otherwise. In others, he threatened to call Child Protective Services to ask them to take away Porters children. He also allegedly tried to extort her for thousands of dollars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The California Democrat, who has garnered media attention for fearlessly grilling corporate executives during congressional hearings, made an unsuccessful bid for the Senate this year. She continued to campaign for other party members after losing her race. Her name has been floated as a possible successor to Gov. Gavin Newsom when he reaches his term limit in 2026. Porter made a name for herself in Congress for her fearless grilling of corporate executives during hearings. Porters political future appeared to factor in as a motivation for the restraining order. He has already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information about me and my children, she wrote. As a prominent political figure, this threat poses a serious risk to my career and personal reputation. Porter said in the filing that Willis struggled with substance abuse and mental health challenges that necessitated two involuntary psychiatric stays since 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have observed him misusing prescription painkillers, snorting Ritalin, and abusing cannabis and nicotine patches, she wrote. He has also previously disclosed to me his use of cocaine and nitrous oxide (whippets). She had asked Willis to move out and stop contacting her in August. While he eventually did so later that month, the onslaught of texts and emails has yet to stop, Porter alleged. She said that her family, staff, and colleagues, including at least one Congress member, had reported receiving disturbing messages. Willis had told Porter that his goal was to push her into prolonged psychiatric treatment, threatening to punish the fuck out of you, according to the filing. If you dont fully comprehend what is transpiring, right now, let me spell it out for you. The noose is tightening around Katies neck, Willis wrote on Monday in an email to Porters son and ex-husband, per the petition. Willis added that he would bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces. Porter alleged that Willis had sent disturbing messages to her family, staff, and colleagues. This is a very unfortunate situation, Porter told Politico. Mr. Willis has suffered from well-documented mental health and substance abuse issues. As the records filed today show, those issues have gotten increasingly worse since I ended the relationship and asked him to leave my house. In recent weeks, his threats against my family and my colleagues have escalated in both their frequency and intensity, and I feel I must ask for this order from the court. I sincerely hope he can get the help he needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Willis, however, maintains that Porter filed for the restraining order in an effort to preempt his own impending lawsuit against her and to prevent him from going to the media. He alleged to Politico that she had been aggressive and violent This is her way of combatting all that, Willis said, adding: Shes a monster. On Tuesday, a judge granted Porter the restraining order, barring Willis from making contact with her or her children until a hearing in mid-December. Although Porter had asked for the order to apply to contact with additional adults other than herself, the judge ruled that they would have to file for their own restraining orders against Willis. House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks spoke to reporters following an event in Indianola Oct. 18, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks reelection win for Iowas 1st Congressional District was confirmed Wednesday as the recount requested by Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan concluded. The Associated Press called the race at 3:07 p.m. Wednesday, several weeks after the Nov. 5 general election. As of the latest updates from the AP, Miller-Meeks won with unofficial results showing her at 206,955 votes to Bohannans 206,157 a 798-vote margin, slightly smaller than the 802-vote gap reported when Bohannan requested the recount earlier in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The recount process was conducted in all 20 counties in the 1st Congressional District over the course of seven days, with the final two counties Johnson and Keokuk counties finishing their recounts Wednesday. There were no changes to the vote totals during the recount process in Keokuk County, according to the local county auditors office. In Johnson County, Miller-Meeks lead dropped by two votes and Bohannans dropped by six, according to county auditor staff. Bohannan conceded the race in a Wednesday statement, congratulating Miller-Meeks on her victory. She thanked election officials and volunteers for their efforts during the election and recount process as well as thanking Iowans for their patience as the recount was conducted. Although this is not the result we wanted, I am so proud of our campaign, Bohannan said. We exceeded all expectations and turned a district that many pundits thought was unwinnable into one of the very closest races in the country. I am honored by the roughly half of Iowans in this district people of all political parties who voted for me to be their next congresswoman. Although I wont be able to represent them in Washington DC this January, I want them to know that I will continue our important work of putting Iowa first. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the conclusion of the 1st Congressional District recount, all recount processes for 2024 elections in the state have concluded. Three legislative races were also brought to recount from the 2024 election with results showing two Democratic incumbents, Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Waukee, and Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, keeping their seats, as well as confirming the loss of incumbent Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, to Republican Mike Pike. With these recounts over, Iowas federal delegation will continue to be all Republican. Republicans will also hold a trifecta of control at the Iowa Statehouse, with supermajorities in both the state House and Senate. Miller-Meeks gave her victory speech at her Election Night watch party and has criticized Bohannan for pursuing a recount. She, alongside the House GOP campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, have criticized Bohannan for not conceding the race earlier because of the cost to the state, claiming the process had cost $21,000 as of Tuesday. Mike Marinella, a NRCC spokesperson, released a statement congratulating Miller-Meeks on her reelection Wednesday. Congratulations to Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks on her incredible victory, Marinella said. As a doctor, veteran, and Congresswoman, Congresswoman Miller-Meeks has always answered the call to service. Rep. Miller-Meeks record speaks for itself, and she will continue to deliver valuable results for veterans, farmers, small business owners and families across Southeast Iowa. The Iowa State Capitol on Feb. 13, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Incumbent Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, kept her lead over Republican challenger Nathan Ramker in the recount for Iowa House District 98 that concluded Tuesday. The Scott County Auditors Office confirmed Wednesday that the recount board elected to let Election Day results, that showed Kurth ahead of Ramker by 45 votes, stand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ramker has conceded the race. Speaking with the Iowa Capital Dispatch Wednesday, the Republican candidate, a CBD shop owner from Blue Grass, said nothing really changed through the recount process, but that he plans to run again in 2026. Having started the race as a newcomer and late in the campaign season in 2024, Ramker said he believes he will have a better shot at the seat in the future. The House District 98 recount was the final state legislative race recount to conclude. In all three of the races, the candidates ahead on Election Night maintained their leads Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Waukee, stayed ahead of Republican challenger Mark Hanson in Iowa Senate District 14, and Republican Mike Pike defeated incumbent Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, in Senate District 20 as the recounts concluded. Kurth thanked Scott County election workers for conducting a smooth recount process, and said she was ready to return to the state Legislature. Though she and Trone Garriott, a fellow Democrat, came out ahead during the recount processes, Republicans will enter the 2025 Iowa legislative session holding trifecta power. As House Republicans grew from a majority to a supermajority in the 2024 general election alongside keeping their existing supermajority in the Senate Kurth said she is anticipating a tough road ahead for Iowa Democrats at the Statehouse. Its going to be more difficult, Kurth said. Ive seen the number in my caucus decline with each session, and each session, things have gotten rougher, tougher. So I anticipate well see that thing. Well work hard to find common ground on some of the issues, and on others Im sure were going to be in real opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A recount also concluded Wednesday in Iowas 1st Congressional District, with Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks declared the winner by the Associated Press over Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan. This story has been updated to reflect the results of the Iowa Congressional District recount. Israel approved a ceasefire deal with Lebanons Hezbollah militants Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., tells The Hill that he is only slightly optimistic about any similar agreement being reached between Israel and Hamas. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. In 2023, more than 1 in 5 adults in all U.S. states and territories had obesity. November is Diabetes Awareness Month For the first time in over a decade, the United States 2024 had a decline in obesity rates FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Data gathered from the Central Disease Center and the American Diabetes highlights a health crisis in Arkansas. Data put together by LookMeds, shows Arkansas ranking No. 5 with higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Key Findings for Arkansas: Obesity Prevalence: 40% Diabetes Rate: 12.3% Heart Disease Mortality Rate: 224.1% Stroke Mortality Rate: 46% Arkansas is 3rd in obesity and 4th in highest rate of heart disease mortality. Arkansas earns an F on March of Dimes report card for infant, maternal health The report states Investing in initiatives, improving access to nutritious foods and creating safe exercising spaces can help build healthier communities. 2023 CDC data shows that three states had obesity prevalence higher than 40% including Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia. Young adults were half as likely to have obesity as middle-aged adults, the CDC data states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the first time in over a decade, the United States 2024 had a decline in obesity rates, according to CDC's National Center for Health Statistics report. The survey shows that in 2020 an estimated adult obesity rate was at 41.9%, but now the estimates are 40.3%. The report also shows severe obesity rates are increasing from 7.7% to 9.4%. In the past year, demand for drugs made for weight loss and diabetes has increased leading to supply shortages for Ozempic and Wegovy. The Biden administration recently proposed Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight-loss drugs like Wegovy Zepbound and Ozempic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "People can lose as much as 15% to 25% of their body weight on the drugs, which imitate the hormones that regulate appetites by communicating fullness between the gut and brain when people eat," the Associated Press wrote about the recent news. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. Energy costs and CEO paychecks remain high even as average Hoosiers struggle to pay bills, according to a new report. (Getty Images) In one years time, the states biggest utility companies disconnected 174,015 Hoosier households, turning off the lights and heat at a time when energy costs are growing faster than Hoosier paychecks. The numbers come from a new report released by the Community Action Poverty Institute and Citizens Action Coalition earlier this month with a focus on electricity needs, a component of overall energy consumption, and investor-owned utilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reports authors were highly critical of CEO compensation packages and lucrative profit margins at the states five biggest utility providers, including: Indiana Michigan Power Company, AES Indiana, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Duke Energy Indiana and CenterPoint Energy Indiana. The U.S. Energy Information Adminstration reported that the combined profits of these investor-owned companies was $3.8 billion from residential electricity in 2022, while the average CEO compensation package was $18 million, according to the report. At the same time, low-income households dedicate 7% or more of their income toward electric costs, on average, and are six times more likely to have their utilities disconnected. In all, just over 13% of Hoosier households were disconnected at least once every year and nearly half, or 48%, of households earning less than $20,000 annually forgo other household needs to pay for electricity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, women-led or minority households are more likely to be electricity burdened, meaning theyre more likely to spend a greater portion of their income on utilities. We all need a home for our families that can be a safe temperature in summers and winters, and where we can cook and refrigerate food as part of our daily routine. High electricity costs threaten these essential functions by forcing consumers to choose between food, healthcare, and electricity in the midst of both a cost of living crisis and climate change, said Zia Saylor, a researcher at the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute. This publication highlights how high electricity costs exacerbate energy burden and draws attention to policy solutions including statewide affordability assistance and limitations on disconnections. Such solutions include expanding energy assistance program funds as well as a state-implemented cap on energy bills at 6% of a households net annual income. A growing concern Last week, lawmakers listed reducing energy costs as one of their key priorities ahead of the 2025 session, which is set to begin in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Majority Leader Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, praised the work of his colleagues in previous sessions but identified ongoing frustrations in regards to energy policy. Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray jokes with colleagues on Organization Day 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Weve seen the cost of that power continue to creep up which we need to keep a very, very close eye on becaukse we need to make sure Hoosiers can pay their gas bills and their electric bills, Bray told reporters. Bray said legsilators needed to also keep future power demands in mind. In May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration ranked Indiana 29th in the nation for its utility expenses, putting it below neighboring states like Ohio and Illinois. Overall, energy costs in the Hoosier State have grown by 33% between 2012 and 2022, compared to the national average of 19%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three of the investor-owned companies at the center of the report CenterPoint, Duke and NIPSCO have submitted petitions to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for rate increases in 2023 and 2024. While utility companies are prohibited from disconnecting homes if temperatures dip below freezing, that protection doesnt apply to during excessive heat events, which can be deadly. Due to changing climate conditions, extreme weather is becoming more common. Heating and cooling accounts for just under one-third, or 31%, of electricity consumption, according to the report. While the federal government offers a program to offset energy costs, only an estimated 16% of eligible homes or 109,750 households receive support from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program due to funding restrictions. Some utilities may also offer their own crisis funding to consumers, with varying qualifying criteria. Potential solutions and recommendations The burden of such expenses varies by county an additional concern for lawmakers seeking to address costs, according to the executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Guaranteeing uninterrupted access to utility services for all Hoosiers, regardless of income or zip code, is a moral imperative for our State. We should strive to adopt policies that lift people up and afford everyone the opportunity to live a dignified life and participate in society in a meaningful way, said Kerwin Olson in a release. As this report displays, Indiana has a long way to go. We are hopeful that policy makers will use this report as a roadmap to begin crafting public policy that ensures the most vulnerable amongst us are protected from loss of these essential services. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US The report recommends expanding the federal energy assistance fund, including reforming the financial eligibility guidelines to capture more energy burdened Hoosiers. State intervention could come in the form of a payment cap at 6% of a households net annual income. Researchers said coupling such a state initiative with existing poverty reduction programming, such as food assistance, would reduce administrative costs and pointed to other states that have already implemented such efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another initiative adopted by other states: expanding disconnection moratoriums to include other inclement weather. The report concluded by acknowledging the need for further research into energy costs and poverty, including health impacts. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Getty Images photo by fhm. For the past several months, most of the controversy over proposed high-voltage power lines in three Maryland counties has centered on property rights and the potential disruption of many residents carefully cultivated rural lifestyle. But now a leading environmental organization is out with a study warning that the proposed power lines, which would run from a nuclear power plant in southern Pennsylvania through Baltimore and Carroll counties to a transmission station in Frederick County, could imperil valuable forest land and waterways in the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report, by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), concluded that under the proposed route for the transmission line, more than 500 acres of protected land, including vulnerable forests and high-quality watersheds, would be threatened by the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. The CBF, a regional environmental group, used geospatial data to analyze the transmission lines potential impact on wetlands, forests and habitat. If done thoughtlessly, this project would be a huge backslide on Marylands robust environmental investments, Gussie Maguire, a Maryland staff scientist at CBF, said in a statement. But we are not powerless. Maryland can and must enforce strict regulations to minimize and mitigate the environmental losses from this project, and ensure support for affected communities. The 70-mile power line project, which was sought by PJM, the operator of the regional electric grid, has triggered outrage and fears throughout the region, and a range of community leaders and elected officials have mobilized in an attempt to defeat it. But there is still no formal proposal yet: The project developer, PSEG, a New Jersey-based utility company, is expected to submit an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission, the states utility regulator, by the end of the year. The unofficial route of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, which would bring power from Pennsylvania, across Maryland to Frederick County. Map courtesy Chesapeake Bay Foundation. PJM, which controls the electric grid in Maryland and a dozen other states, plus the District of Columbia, is seeking the higher-powered transmission line to compensate for an anticipated shortage of electric transmission into the region, due to the scheduled closures of coal-burning plants and the growing demand for power from data centers and other sources especially in Northern Virginia, which is already a data center hub. The energy deficit in Maryland is projected to grow exponentially unless additional infrastructure like the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is built, PJM has asserted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Numerous property owners in Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties have expressed fears that the project could wind up in a government-sanctioned taking of part or all of their land, and have also fretted that the transmission lines could disrupt local agricultural operations and the areas rural character. The CBF study may add more fuel to the opponents fire. Among its findings: The proposed route runs through 514 acres of protected area, including Maryland agricultural preservation foundation easements (a vast majority at 374 acres), Forest Conservation Act acres, and a portion of Gunpowder Falls State Park; It would run through 483 acres of Tier II watershed a classification of high-quality watershed acres that, according to CBF, represent the cleanest water and most valuable habitat in Maryland; Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would impact 377 acres of forest cover, at a time when state climate goals call for expanding forest lands; It would interrupt 47 acres of wetlands; and, It could threaten 125 acres of riparian buffer, the vegetation surrounding streams and other bodies of water. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said its survey data was derived from information released by PSEG, and assumes a 150-foot-wide easement around the length of the transmission line. The proposed 500,000-volt transmission lines area of impact would be roughly 70 miles long and 550 feet wide. PSEG still needs to submit a permit application to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) before the project can proceed. That application is expected before the end of 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One question is whether the project will be classified as necessary utility infrastructure, which would make it exempt from Marylands Forest Conservation Act, including conservation and reforestation requirements. However, the Public Service Commissions permit could include conditions that effectively minimize the lines environmental harm wherever possible and enforce mitigation requirements where avoidance is not possible. Even before a proposal is formally submitted to the PSC, executives at PSEG are defending the proposed alignment, arguing that theyve paid careful attention to the environmental, public health and community impacts. The proposed solution is community-informed, reliable and mitigates impact to individuals, communities, and wildlife as much as possible while delivering a cost-effective solution for Maryland and PJM electric customers, Jason R. Kalwa, project director at PSEG, said recently. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a related development, Gov. Wes Moore (D) last week joined the legion of politicians who have weighed in on the project. Moore, who has no direct say over the fate of the proposal, said he has asked leaders of PSEG and PJM to discuss the transmission line with him. I appreciate and respect the many Marylanders who have voiced strong opposition especially the farmers, small business owners, and residents whose livelihoods stand to suffer impact, Moore said in a statement. As I have said from the start, I share grave concerns about how the study area for this project was determined, the lack of community involvement in the planning process, and the lack of effective communication about the impacts of this project. The single most important factor remains wholly unclear: the projects comprehensive benefit to Marylanders. Earlier this fall, Moore, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Delaware Gov. John Carney, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Democratic leaders of other PJM states calling on the grid operator to work collaboratively with them on transmission planning. Together, we recognize that energy and economic development goals are not mutually exclusive and that progress depends upon true partnership to achieve growth, Moore said. To be clear: We need sustainable and cost-effective infrastructure to ensure the reliability of our grid and build the economy of the future in our state. But the approach must be one that puts people first. At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in new Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas-controlled civil defence force reported on Wednesday. Ten people were killed when a school building in the city of Gaza was bombarded, a civil defence spokesman said. Seven others were killed in an attack on a residential building in the al-Zaytun district in the north of the coastal strip. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the reports. The military always emphasizes that it is taking action against the Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is trying to spare civilians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The health authority controlled by Hamas announced that more than 44,200 people have been killed and more than 104,700 injured in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war almost 14 months ago. The information, which cannot be independently verified, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in new Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas-controlled civil defence force reported on Wednesday. Ten people were killed when a school building in the city of Gaza was bombarded, a civil defence spokesman said. Seven others were killed in an attack on a residential building in the al-Zaytun district in the north of the coastal strip. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that a senior Hamas member had been killed in the strike, adding that the man had led and participated in attacks on IDF troops in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A large quantity of weapons had been stored in the room that he used, the IDF said. The health authority controlled by Hamas announced that more than 44,200 people had been killed and more than 104,700 injured in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war almost 14 months ago. The figures, which cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Speaking to dpa on Wednesday, a Hamas representative said that the militant organization was insisting on its previous conditions for a ceasefire. He said that although Hamas respects the decision by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah to pause hostilities, the Palestinian people were not willing to give up their resistance against Israel, despite the suffering in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hamas' conditions have remained unchanged since the beginning of the Gaza war. Among other things, it says the release of around 100 hostages as demanded by Israel is dependent on the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. Israel wants to leave its troops in strategic positions in the sealed-off territory. In the massacre carried out by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023, around 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage to Gaza. According to estimates, about half of the approximately 100 remaining hostages are believed to be alive. An aggressive Republican campaign to pump hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into private education is continuing across the country, even after voters in three states rejected the idea. Texas lawmakers are poised to debate a universal school voucher program next year, following Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts scorched-earth campaign to oust GOP lawmakers who thwarted his top priority. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee and state legislative leaders have already reintroduced a school choice bill to provide thousands of students private education scholarships after a similar bill floundered last year amid resistance from rural lawmakers. And North Carolina Republicans this month used the waning days of their legislative supermajority in the state House to override departing Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto of a bill that will inject upwards of half a billion dollars in new annual spending into a private school scholarship program that has tens of thousands of students waiting to participate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It came in over budget because so many families decided to avail themselves of this, Tim Moore, North Carolinas House speaker and a representative-elect, said of the states growing initiative. That says a lot right there about the popularity of the program. Its a clash between legislative will, labor groups, and voter discontent over a policy trend thats already swept through much of the country. Teacher union leaders are scrambling to beat back new school choice bills in state legislatures measures they believe decimate funding for public schools. Theyre also organizing resistance to federal private school tax credit legislation endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump that has a path to approval in a Republican-controlled Congress. Unions hope they can copy a playbook that marshaled voters on Nov. 5 to reject a measure that would have enshrined a constitutional right to school choice in Colorado, deny a bid to authorize public funding for private education in Kentucky, and repeal a key portion of a Nebraska school voucher law. We had a lot of learning from very different states that we know we can apply in the fights that lay ahead, National Education Association President Becky Pringle said. You can believe that we will remind those elected leaders, This is what the voters said. Ignore it at your peril. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The election results in Kentucky highlight voter discord over the issue. Roughly two-thirds of the states voters backed Trump, but nearly the same proportion rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to fund private schools with public funds. That lopsided defeat for private school choice held throughout Kentuckys seven biggest counties (five of which backed Trump) and its most rural areas. In rural Clay County, for example, approximately 9 in 10 voters backed Trump while 66 percent opposed the private school measure. Whats struck me is how much the choice community has really minimized this, said Frederick Hess, education director at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. When Trump is winning Kentucky by plus 30 or 35, and half of those voters are voting down the choice referendums, I think youve got to ask yourself whats going on. Policies that use taxpayer money to subsidize families private tuition, homeschooling expenses, and other education-related costs have proliferated throughout the country in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 30 states have enacted some kind of school choice program, including at least thirteen that had so-called education savings account programs on their books by the middle of this year, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures accounting of one popular program type. Arizona set a new standard for its program in 2022 by making it available to any family in the state, regardless of their income which has resulted in nearly one in 20 students participating. But theres still room for growth and Texas is poised to be the biggest battleground. The American Federation for Children, a school choice organization founded by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that spends heavily in state legislative races, said it spent more than $8 million in the Texas primary and general elections to cement a voucher-friendly state House majority to support what could eventually become the nations largest statewide school choice program. Abbott, the Texas governor, says he now has 79 votes in the state House to support a voucher bill, three beyond whats required to approve legislation in that chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I made sure that we would elect Republicans to the Texas House of Representatives in sufficient numbers to be able to pass a school choice plan just like the Texas Senate has passed many times, Abbott declared during a post-election news conference at a Christian private school where he boasted a tidal wave of support for his endorsed House candidates. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who serves as president of the Texas Senate, called on Abbott to prioritize school choice legislation as an emergency item next year, a move that would allow lawmakers to approve such a bill within the first 60 days of the states forthcoming legislative session. Unions are vowing to resist the Texas proposal. We'll be using every tool that we have available to us, including legal challenges, to resist the Texas effort, Pringle told reporters earlier this month. We fought this battle in Texas before, and we will continue to fight it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tennessees governor and Republican lawmakers will revisit a statewide voucher proposal that failed earlier this year. This time, bicameral bills to authorize up to 20,000 public-funded private school tuition scholarships include potential sweeteners to coax potential holdouts, such as $2,000 public school teacher bonuses and tax tweaks to support public school construction projects. The NEA also expects North Dakota lawmakers to debate their own law, more than one year after Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, who has since been nominated by Trump to be interior secretary, vetoed a private school tuition subsidy bill. Theres little evidence that the referendum defeats are causing Republicans to reconsider their support for expanding voucher programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its important not to over interpret the referendum results, said Michael Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute. The teacher unions are a very effective political machine and its not hard when youre voting over these things in direct democracy to demagogue the issue. But Petrilli, a school choice proponent who opposes subsidizing wealthy households through broad voucher programs, said lawmakers could be overestimating their political support when such initiatives dont have much to offer suburban or rural-dwelling households that might be happy with their local schools or have no other option. The kiss of death in these debates is to play into the mindset that this is somehow about hurting public education, he said. There could be a real backlash here Youre going to piss a lot of people off by writing big checks to wealthy families. And despite anti-voucher energy at the polls, conservative lawmakers still have an advantage in states like North Carolina where voters cant channel their views through ballot box referendums. Folks go and they vote for their legislators, and the legislators enact policies, Moore said of North Carolinas system. And I would say educational access was a key component of a lot of campaigns, and with that being a key message, Republicans maintained very comfortable majorities. The Minnesota Capitol Building. Courtesy of Minnesota House Public Information Services. Republicans are contesting two general election results with legal action, hoping to tip the tied 67-67 Minnesota House in their favor. On Tuesday, House Republicans announced they intend to file a lawsuit over the election results in House District 54A, which encompasses Shakopee. Democratic-Farmer-Labor Rep. Brad Tabke is leading the race over his GOP opponent Aaron Paul by 15 votes after a recount last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Speaker-designate Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, in a statement said there were inconsistencies in vote reporting and 21 missing ballots. House Republicans are taking action to ensure that every legal vote counts and that the election is decided by the people of District 54A without interference, Demuth said. Its unclear what has caused potential vote count discrepancies. There are a few potential reasons for a discrepancy, and not all of them involve the ballots being missing. For instance, an elections official may have made a mistake on a computer menu option and marked a batch of ballots as accepted when they meant to reject them due to signature issues or any of the other reasons a ballot can be rejected. In that case, the ballots would be tallied as accepted in the computer system but never actually tabulated as votes because election workers rejected them, creating the discrepancy. In a statement on Wednesday morning, Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said the discrepancy appears to be a result of human error. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The preliminary investigation into the 21-ballot discrepancy hasnt been determinative thus far, and it appears likely to be the result of human error that occurred during the collection of early absentee ballots at the City of Shakopee. This unfortunate situation resulted in a level of confusion that should not have occurred, Hocevar said. The House will be evenly split after the GOP successfully flipped three DFL seats earlier this month. House leaders are currently negotiating a power-sharing agreement, but Republicans are eager to take full control. In typically safe DFL House District 40B, which includes Roseville and Shoreview, GOP candidate Paul Wikstrom filed an election contest against DFL opponent Curtis Johnson. Earlier this month, Johnson won the race for the House seat by 30 points, but in court filings Wikstrom alleged that Johnson doesnt live in the district. House candidates need to be a resident in the House district for which they are running for at least six months before an election. In an affidavit, Wikstrom alleged that Johnson has a Little Canada home he primarily lives in not in the House district and rents a Roseville studio apartment in the district to make it appear like he lives there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson didnt immediately respond to the Reformers request for comment about the allegations disputing his residency. Wikstrom in his affidavit stated that his campaign created an investigative team to monitor Johnsons whereabouts and alleged that Johnson would regularly come and go from his Little Canada home. He detailed the measures his campaign took to determine whether Johnson lived in the Roseville apartment. Wikstrom said his team called Xcel Energy and Comcast to see if the Roseville apartment was hooked up to electricity and internet, and they were given the impression that the apartment didnt have accounts set up for either. One campaign staffer went to the Roseville apartment and saw that the door was dusty and lacked evidence of any recent activity or markings indicating dust being wiped away from use, the affidavit states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another campaign staffer in October went to Johnsons Roseville apartment and took photos underneath the door, which ended about an inch above the ground, according to the affidavit. What was visible was bare and didnt have furniture, according to the affidavit. Wikstrom said Johnson should be denied his election certificate based on the residency issue. Proving a candidate is not a resident can be difficult. The most recent residency challenge was in 2016, when Republican Rep. Bob Barrett was banned from running because he didnt live in his district. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Two neighbors of a Kentucky plant that was the site of a massive explosion are suing the company, saying the blast earlier this month damaged their homes and caused emotional trauma. Edward Roberts and Ana Carolina Gomez Bridge filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Givaudan Flavors Corporation and its parent company, Givaudan U.S. They say the company was negligent leading up to the Nov. 12 explosion of a cooking vessel inside the plant that destroyed the building, killed two workers and flung debris into nearby yards and homes. The two residents live in the same home that backs up to the plant. Givaudan failed miserably to operate their business responsibly, and the consequences were catastrophic," Tad Thomas, a Louisville lawyer representing the two residents, said in a media release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company has said they are liable for damages to the surrounding homes. The companys president, Ann Leonard, said in a community meeting last week that it is likely the plant will be moved out of the neighborhood and rebuilt elsewhere. Last week, the family of one of the plant workers who died in the blast hired lawyers who said they are exploring a lawsuit. Another lawsuit filed against the company last week was from a food delivery driver who was in the area when the explosion happened. Charles Fowler said in the lawsuit that the blast triggered post-traumatic stress disorder from his service during the Iraq war. Dozens of homes around the plant had their windows shattered, and the percussion from the blast knocked pictures off walls and cracked drywall in some homes. Some residents at the community meeting told the company their children were traumatized by the sound. In 911 calls obtained by The Associated Press this week, residents complain of a loud sound and smoke after the afternoon explosion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In one call, a woman reported that she heard some sort of explosion outside her home. It shook the house, she said. In another call, a man reported that a building just like exploded nearby and described in detail what he heard and saw. There was a huge blast, he said. The lights flickered and theres a bunch of smoke coming out of the plant. It smells like something blew up, he added. According to the latest lawsuit, Roberts was in the basement when the blast happened, knocking out windows and causing foundation damage. Both Roberts and Bridge said they have been experiencing physical pain and suffering, and Bridge has suffered severe emotional distress, requiring her to pursue necessary therapeutic care and treatment, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also says that employees had warned the company about the vessel overheating, but Givaudan failed to take any corrective action and continued operations. Nov. 26City leaders are hearing from concerned residents about potential fee increases at the St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill and perceived mistreatment of a local waste management company. Numerous residents sent identical emails addressed to Mayor John Josendale and City Council members throughout the day on Tuesday. "Mayor Josendale and City Council: Tell the City Manager and all city employees to immediately STOP harassing and retaliating against ABC Disposal Services LLC, its employees and owner for just exposing the truth about the city landfill. They are hard working people just trying earn a living, run a business and do good by their customers. The city's behavior is shameful and needs to STOP NOW! DO YOUR JOB and hold city employees accountable! Make them FINALLY tell the FULL truth about what is happening at the city landfill. If they won't do it, hire people who will be honest and transparent with the taxpayers," the email read. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The emails come after concerned community members gathered at Monday's city council meeting in opposition to fee increases being proposed for dumping at the landfill. News-Press NOW spoke with Joshua Reinert, owner of ABC Disposal, who is leading much of the opposition on Tuesday afternoon, but he declined to be interviewed for this story. The City of St. Joseph released a statement Tuesday evening about the proposed rate increase. "The subject of raising tipping fees at the St. Joseph Landfill was discussed by the City Council at a recent work session. That meeting has since raised much public discussion, some factual and some speculation, on what options have been, and will be, ultimately considered by the City Council. The Landfill is regulated by the Department of Natural Resources and must comply with all guidelines and regulations set forth by the DNR. Any proposed increase will fall under our approved operational state-issued permit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result of this public discussion, many comments and perceptions have surfaced from both waste haulers and the public. The city will not engage in, or respond to, speculative comments or questions. Those that are substantiated by fact will be addressed. The City Council takes any proposed rate increase, on any city service, very seriously and will consider the effect on both operations at the city and the customer who pays for the service before making any decision. What may be the best option for one, may have a detrimental outcome for the other. The City Council must weigh both the short-term and long-term effects of their decision, and that decision will be based on facts. The subject of a proposed landfill rate increase is in the development stage, and all options will be considered, however nothing has been determined at this time. A work session will be held on Tuesday, December 3, from 4-6pm, in the Council Chamber at City Hall. The public is invited to attend and gather information about the proposed rate increase from 4-5pm, followed by a City Council discussion from 5-6pm. An ordinance with a proposed rate increase will be on the City Council agenda at its December 9 meeting, with a vote occurring on the January 6, 2025, City Council agenda," the statement said. As News-Press NOW previously reported, the decision to raise landfill disposal rates was made after SCS unveiled eye-opening findings from a study showing the city had experienced a near 50% increase in the rate of dumping over last five years, putting the landfill on pace to reach full capacity and close by next July if not addressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Easton man who uses the St. Joseph landfill weekly to drop off construction waste said he understands the city's need to address landfill space. "I understand because we've been using this for over 30 years , and I've just seen how fast it's filling up," Hal Myers said. But he stressed the need to keep it economical for nearby residents. "Keep it affordable for the locals and then charge everybody coming from outlying areas a little more," he said. "That's my opinion." I have two children, and neither of them wants kids. I understand and respect their decision. But I'm still coming to terms with the fact I won't have grandchildren. I will never be a grandmother. I'm not being dramatic; this is just a fact. I'm 45 years old, and I have two children, ages 25 and 18. Neither child plans on having any kids of their own. In fact, the older one is so sure about not having kids that she scheduled herself for surgical sterilization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I know many of their friends also have similar feelings about being a parent. And who can blame the younger generations for not wanting kids? With the climate crisis, divisive politics, and school shootings, I often wonder why anyone would want to bring a child into the world right now. Birth rates are down, and I understand why In the United States, the birth rate has been decreasing fairly consistently over the past decade and has recently reached a historic low. But it's not just here the birth rate is down in Japan, France, Italy, South Korea, and many other places, too. It's projected that by 2030, at least one in five US residents will be 65 or older. As the US Census Bureau demographer Jonathan Vespa said in a press release, that would be the first time in US history that older people would outnumber children. In light of those statistics, it seems many others may be joining me over here on the grandchildless side of the demographics. I actually never gave much thought in the past to the idea of being or not being a grandmother. Though I wasn't pining away for my future grandchildren, it also always seemed like a given. The natural order of things, if you will. I thought I'd grow up, have kids, be a grandma, then die. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I thought it was simple, but it isn't. My kids would be great parents, but I respect their choice to remain child-free My kids are awesome; they're such cool people with unique outlooks on the world, and I think they both would have made amazing parents. But I'm 100% on board with their reasons for not wanting any offspring. When they told me they might not want to have kids, it wasn't a shocking revelation. They've pretty much always said they didn't want to be parents. When they were younger, I assumed they'd change their minds as they aged. And mostly, I didn't have any major feelings about it. As it became clear it wasn't a phase, that neither of them would be having kids in the future, I still didn't have strong feelings. I know they're making reasonable, logical conclusions. My future looks different from how I thought it would There are still times, however, when I see the older version of myself hanging out on my front porch, yelling at a gaggle of grandchildren to get out of my flowerbeds. (Note: I don't have any flowerbeds, either.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each time I see that version of myself, I'm reminded that she'll never be me. But it isn't grief exactly. It's more like a jarring type of confusion. My brain has to revise the list of things I thought I'd do: grow up check; have kids check; be a grandma nope. It's like my brain is buffering, trying to compute the data. There's still part of me that thinks that checklist is the way it's "supposed to be." But my life won't turn out that way. A lot of our lives won't. Maybe we'll all collectively mourn, or maybe all of us grandchildless old women will find that we actually like not having to spend our waning years entertaining toddlers again. Maybe we'll all handle it differently. Who knows? Just because it's a milestone we thought we'd reach when we were younger doesn't mean we can't reimagine what our lives can be. Instead of grandparenting, perhaps, we'll spend our 50s, 60s, and 70s traveling the world, learning to paint, or overthrowing the patriarchy. It sounds as if we'll have a lot of free time on our hands to do whatever we want to do. Read the original article on Business Insider ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) The Rockford Fire Department is looking to use its share of a million-dollar casino tax revenue pool to replace old equipment and gear to better protect its staff. The first piece of equipment is in agreement with AirOne, a company that provides new self-contained breathing apparatuses. These deliver clean, fresh air to firemen when they are in situations with contaminated smoke or gas. When were exposed to different environments and chemicals, it breaks down the equipment, Division Chief Todd Monahan said. This will ensure that our members are having the highest level of safety to perform their duties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief Monahan also said that the department needs new thermal imaging cameras because the current ones are 10 years old. What they do is they allow us to seek out differences in temperature within a space, Chief Monahan said. If we have hidden fire within a confined space, it allows us to help locate those quicker, but in addition, it helps us locate residents and victims with inside of a burning building. Ninth Ward Alderman Bill Rose said it is a no-brainer when it comes to helping our first responders. Our fire department is nationally recognized; its one of the better fire departments in the state of Illinois, Rose said. That equipment also protects them. A lot of times they come into contact with carcinogens on the job and those types of things, and so sometimes the equipment and the maintenance of that equipment keeps those carcinogens off the equipment and keeping them safe when they go home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief Monahan said the community should know their tax money is being well spent. That money is going to be well spent, Chief Monahan said. Its going to be providing the necessary tools, equipment and the PPE that our members wear every day. The firefighters are very busy, and everything has through its wear and tear. Things break down and things become less reliable. It becomes necessary over time. The items will need to be officially voted on by the full council on Monday, December 2. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. A white-tailed buck in a field. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management plans to conduct an aerial survey this winter to calculate a new estimate for the state's deer population. (Photo by Dean Birch) If the number of deer brought by hunters to Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM)-operated biological check stations during the first weekend in November is any indication, its going to be a good hunting season. The DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded a total of 236 harvested deer checked in at the states six stations on Saturday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 3, the first weekend of muzzleloader season. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats almost as many as the 245 brought to check-in stations over the first weekend of muzzleloader season and the first weekend of shotgun season combined last year. Hunters must check in the deer they kill during the first two days of each firearm season so that state biologists can collect tissue samples and data to learn more about the overall health of Rhode Islands deer herd. The first weekend of shotgun season is Dec. 7 and 8. Deer taken with archery equipment must also be brought to check-in stations. I think we could potentially break our record harvest this year, said DEM Principal Wildlife Biologist Dylan Ferreira. The states record deer harvest of 2,937 was in the 2008-2009 winter season, Ferreira said. Last year, the deer harvest was 2,794. Statewide deer harvest in Rhode Island from 1977 to 2023. (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Fish and Wildlife) Ferreira said 215 deer taken by hunters on opening weekend were shot with a muzzleloader while 21 were archery kills 12 by hunters using a vertical bow and nine by crossbow. In all, 173 males and 63 females were checked. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The biggest deer was an eight-point buck weighing about 200 pounds killed on Nov. 2 in Scituate by a hunter using a vertical bow, Ferreira said. Seventeen DEM staff members assisted by 12 volunteers worked over the weekend at the six check-in stations. Heres the breakdown of deer checked in at each one: 68 at George Washington Management Area in Chepachet 68 at Arcadia Management Area at Wood River in Exeter 29 at Carolina Management Area: Pine Hill Road, Richmond, (41.46618, 27 at Smithfield Sportsman Club in Smithfield 24 at Great Swamp Management Area in West Kingston 19 at Tiverton Rod and Gun Club in Tiverton State biologists take samples of teeth and lymph nodes from each deer. The lymph nodes will be sent to a laboratory at the New Bolton Center Diagnostic Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine to test for the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, moose, reindeer that has spread to more than half of the states in the continental United States. Infected deer become unable to eat and show a lack of fear of humans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So far, CWD has not been detected in Rhode Island. This year is the 23rd year of testing for the disease. Good weather helped usher in muzzleloader season, which runs each year from the first Saturday in November through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving falling later in the month this year, muzzleloader season is an extra weekend longer this year. Early November finds deer are in the middle of their breeding season, or rut. Bucks are generally more active and easier to hunt. But an abundance of acorns this year has meant deer dont have to roam as much for food, Ferreira said. Lot of acorns, more than I can ever remember, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DEM officials are planning to conduct an aerial monitoring survey this winter to calculate the size of the states deer population, which some estimates put over 20,000. In 2004, the deer herd across Rhode Island was estimated at nearly 16,000. There were 1,347 deer vehicle collisions reported to DEMs Division of Law Enforcement in 2023, an 11% decrease compared to 2022 when 1,544 deer auto strikes were reported. In 2023, the number of reported deer auto strikes was equivalent to 49% of the total reported hunter harvest. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott speaking at the Jan S. Platt Library in Tampa on Oct. 24, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix) Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has demanded that President Biden drop any idea of removing Cuba from the list of nations the United States considers state sponsors of terrorism. While there is no direct information indicating Biden is poised to do that, the Naples Republican said that advocates pushing the president to act before he leaves office in January are trading in dangerous territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Calls at the 11th hour of the Biden administration from communist-sympathizers in the Democrat[ic] Party for President Biden to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list are not just ignorant, but dangerous, Scott said in a statement his office released Monday. The Biden-Harris administrations years of appeasement toward the illegitimate, communist Cuban regime has fueled terrorism and instability in the Western Hemisphere and put Americas national security at unacceptable risk. Removing the Castro/Diaz-Canel regime from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list ignores the fact that it harbors terrorists, provides a secret police force to Maduro to oppress the Venezuelan people, and hosts a Chinese Communist Party spy station 90 miles from Florida, he added. Scott was reacting to a letter sent by 18 Democratic House members earlier this month to Biden referencing recent widespread blackouts and an escalating energy crises in Cuba to not only remove the terror designation, but also to expedite emergency humanitarian aid and technical assistance, issue safe harbor letters to address overcompliance with sanctions, suspend sanctions impeding aid, and facilitate energy infrastructure repair and modernization. Regardless of the Cuban governments stance, it is imperative that the U.S. government demonstrates a willingness to aid the Cuban people directly, a section of the letter reads. The Cuban governments frequent attempts to blame the U.S. for the islands problems should not deter us from offering the assistance necessary to alleviate suffering of the Cuban people and prevent further regional destabilization. Four countries on list The State Department did remove Cuba from a short list of countries that the U.S. alleges are not cooperating fully in its fight against terrorism in May, which some observers said could foreshadow broader review of that nations status, but no such announcement has occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the twilight of his first term as president, Donald Trump redesignated the communist island as a state sponsor of terrorism for repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists. That move took place after President Barack Obama removed Cuba from that same list in 2015, following an extensive State Department review after Obama announced he was normalizing relations with the Caribbean nation. Many of the moves by the Obama administration were rescinded by Trump, as the more than 60-year economic embargo continues against the island nation of approximately 11 million that sits 90 miles away from Key West. Cuba is one of only four countries that the State Department has tagged with that designation, along with North Korea, Syria, and Iran. Being on the list of state sponsors of terrorism is not helpful to a country commercially, financially, economically, politically, or militarily, said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It isnt good, because generally the first results are that banks just dont want to touch you, and they dont want to touch any accounts that deal with you. So, you could be a U.S. company, a Spanish company, a Canadian company, and if you have legal transactions with Cuba, with travel, food & agriculture, selling vehicles if a bank compliance department sees the word Cuba in a document, they could freeze the account and say, Come talk to us later. And then for banks overseas, if they have U.S. connectivity, they dont want to deal with you either. So, it isnt good. International push In September, nearly three dozen former world leaders, including Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, the former President of Argentina, and Dilma Rousseff, former President of Brazil, wrote a letter to Biden urging him to remove Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. Perhaps the biggest move the Biden administration has taken toward advancing U.S.- Cuban policy was the announcement by the Department of Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control in late May to allow independent private sector entrepreneurs who are Cuban nationals (known as pymes, from the Spanish pequena y mediana empresa) to open, maintain, and remotely use U.S. bank accounts for the first time. Al Fox, founder of the Tampa-based Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation, which advocates for normalizing Cuban-American relations, says that while its possible Biden could remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, its not likely, because Trump would likely rescind the move by executive order immediately upon taking power on Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What I would tell Sen. Scott is that theres not a scintilla of evidence that Cuba has committed an act of terrorism against the United States or anyone else, he told the Phoenix. The reverse is true. We have committed acts of terrorism against them. Jetliner bombing Fox referred to the case of Luis Posada Carriles, the CIA-trained Cuban exile who was a suspect in the 1976 Cuban jetliner bombing that killed all 73 people on board. A November 1976 F.B.I. report obtained by the National Security Archive showed that a trusted informant had placed Posada at two meetings at which the bombing was plotted, The New York Times reported. Posada was involved up to his eyeballs in planning the attack, a retired counterterrorism specialist for the FBI told the Times in 2005. Posada was tried before a military tribunal in Venezuela at the time of the attack but later acquitted. He insisted he was innocent of the bombing. (Posada died in 2018). In placing Cuba back on the state sponsors of terrorism list, the Trump State Department said in a statement that [f]or decades, the Cuban government has fed, housed, and provided medical care for murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while many Cubans go hungry, homeless, and without basic medicine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, traveled to Havana to conduct peace talks with the Colombian government in 2017. Citing peace negotiation protocols, Cuba has refused Colombias requests to extradite ten ELN leaders living in Havana after the group claimed responsibility for the January 2019 bombing of a Bogota police academy that killed 22 people and injured more than 87 others. Cuba also harbors several U.S. fugitives from justice wanted on or convicted of charges of political violence, many of whom have resided in Cuba for decades. Beyond irresponsible Hillsborough County Republican state Rep. Danny Alvarez says its beyond irresponsible for Biden to consider removing Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. Whatd Id like to see is for him to show us the evidence that they have made any moves to rectify their atrocious record on human rights, political imprisonment, international espionage, or physically engaging with our enemies against us like China with their recent espionage base, and the fact that they allow the Russians to come into their bay and park there on a regular basis, said Alvarez, the son of Cuban immigrants, in a phone call. We saw what happened when Biden reenabled Iran, that literally destabilized that entire region, and now he wants to help stabilize one of our enemies 90 miles away from our shores on his way out. For once, I would like to see Biden put Americas interests first instead of those who actively work against us. Its clear that they have no clue why they lost the White House so resoundingly, and now hes doubling down on his anti-American policies on his way out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Scott and Miami Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar filed legislation at the beginning of the current Congress to prevent Biden from normalizing relations with Cuba unless freedom and democracy are restored on the island. Who benefits? Fox says that after 63 years of the economic embargo, its past time to question who benefits from those sanctions. There are a handful of people in Miami. They have the power, and they have the money, he said, referring to the powerful Cuban exile community in South Florida that has been influential in shaping Cuban-American relations for generations. Theyre very clever. They understand how the American system works better than Americans understand. And so what they did very simply is they came to the U.S. in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, and they gave money to American politicians to write special laws that at the time only applied to Cubans. Venezuelans then took a page out of their book many years later and they did the very same thing. So, it begs the question that when you have Rick Scott and Nancy Pelosi agreeing on the policy towards Venezuela and Cuba its for one of two reasons: because number one, its the right thing to do. Or two, it is the cheapest form of politics. And thats what this is all about. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In their letter sent to Biden, the 18 House Democrats acknowledged that even if the president removes Cuba from the terrorism list, that executive action would be subject to reversal by the incoming presidential administration. But they insisted that should not deter us from acting to avert further suffering and damage to United States interests. Even temporary relief can save lives and permit the Cuban people a chance to insulate themselves and their families from further vulnerability. We urge your administration to act swiftly to implement these measures and mitigate the growing crisis in Cuba while advancing U.S. interests in the region, they wrote. Among those on the letter are New Yorks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesotas Ilhan Omar, and Washingtons Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Photo by Alex Potemkin | Getty Images An Arizona man will spend a year and three months in prison for making violent threats online against elected and federal officials. On Monday, United States District Judge Dominic Lanza sentenced Michael Lee Tomasi, a 38-year-old resident of Rio Verde, to 15 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. He will also be required to pay a $100 fine for publishing threatening social media posts last year on patriots.win, an online forum for supporters of President-elect Donald Trump. In his posts, Tomasi called for the execution of a congressman, wrote about his urge to rape a congresswoman and threatened to kill FBI agents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Shoot the FBI first and ask questions later. They are terrorists that deserve nothing but to be shot on site, Tomasi wrote in one such post in August 2023. Any FBI have a problem with that come to my house and see what happens. Shoot before they even pull their guns out of their trunk and you shoot to kill. When FBI agents arrested Tomasi in December, they found more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, several firearms, including an AR-15 style rifle and body armor. Lanza ordered that the ammunition and weapons will not be returned to Tomasi. Attorney General Merrick Garland applauded Mondays sentencing and thanked FBI agents for bringing Tomasi to justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After making vile threats to execute and sexually assault FBI agents and employees, state and local law enforcement officials, and other public servants, Michael Tomasi told the FBI to come to my house and see what happens what has happened is that he will spend 15 months in federal prison, Garland wrote in a news release. Originally charged with three counts of threatening federal officials and three counts of making interstate threats, Tomasi faced a maximum of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. In the end, he pled guilty to one count of making threats against public officials. FBI Director Christopher Wray criticized the attacks against agents and officials that work on behalf of the publics interest. I take it very personally that anyone would threaten FBI personnel who work tirelessly to protect the American people from a variety of threats and often put themselves in harms way while carrying out their duties, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino warned that threats against public officials will not go unpunished and said theres a clear difference between freedom of speech and violent statements. Civil discourse and civic dialogue are fundamental to a democratic society, he said. But the incitement of violence is not: We will continue our efforts to prosecute those who make true threats against public officials and law enforcement officers. Over the past decade, studies have found a marked increase in political violence and threats targeting public officials, particularly locally elected figures. Experts attribute that rise to heightened partisanship and an increase in violent political rhetoric. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Nov. 26A Rochester man faces multiple charges after he allegedly fired a gun into the air outside a Dover pub last weekend. Alexander Tibbetts-Cullen, 28, was charged with nine counts of reckless conduct and being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon, in connection with the Nov. 23 incident, according to a news release from Dover police. Police were called to the area of Cara's Irish Pub, 11 Fourth Street, around 12:30 a.m. for a report of shots fired. There were no reports of injuries, but officers recovered nine shell casings outside the bar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witnesses told police that a man, later identified as Tibbetts-Cullen, had been involved in a disturbance inside the pub and was told to leave. After he left, he allegedly fired a handgun into the air, according to the news release. Tibbetts-Cullen was taken into custody Tuesday morning and was being held at Strafford County House of Corrections. Dover police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Detective Sgt. Matthew Harnish at 603-742-4646, or contact the anonymous Dover CrimeLine at 603-749-6000, or online at: dovernhcrimeline.org. Nov. 26ROCHESTER The Rochester Fire Department held one of several training sessions at the First Alliance Credit Union's 37th Street Northeast location on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. The location at 320 Alliance Place NE off of 37th Street Northeast is being demolished in December. After water damage in 2023, the building closed due to structural concerns. The Credit Union plans to build a new location on the site as well as sell a portion of the site for development, according to an August 2024 statement from the Credit Union. "We are very appreciative of the opportunity to partner with a trusted community organization like First Alliance Credit Union," RFD Assistant Fire Chief Caleb Feine said in a statement. "We are always seeking hands-on training for our firefighters, the exercises and drills we will be able to complete in the First Alliance Credit Union building will build their skills and ultimately help save lives." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Seven Rochester firefighters and a teacher founded First Alliance in 1932. From its humble beginnings in a downtown firehouse, First Alliance Credit Union has grown into a trusted resource for countless families across Southeast Minnesota with over 20,000 members across 14 counties, according to the statement. They have locations at 501 16th St. SE and 2483 Commerce Drive NW in Rochester as well as locations in Byron, Stewartville and Lake City. The Credit Union also hopes to salvage valuable materials and reuse some infrastructure from the 37th Street building. "We are honored to host this essential training for the Rochester Fire Department," First Alliance Credit Union President/CEO Brent Rempe said in a statement. "It feels especially meaningful to give back to the very organization that played such a pivotal role in our founding. Supporting Rochester Fire Department isn't just about the presentit's about honoring the legacy of those who built this credit union from the ground up." ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Rochesters Bravest Firefighters are releasing a spicy calendar for their annual charity calendar event! Rochesters Bravest Charity Calendar project has been running since 2018 as an off-duty initiative in effort to give back to the community. Through the last 6 years, the charity raised and donated over $80,000 to several local charities including 13thirty Cancer Connect, Avenue D Recreation Center, School of the Holy Childhood, Best Buddies of Western New York, Bivona Child Advocacy Center, and Big Brother Big Sisters of Greater Rochester. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This year proceeds from calendar sales will benefit the local nonprofit Willie Bee Foundation dedicated to supporting families of children with life-threatening illnesses. The event will be held on December 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the Fairport Brewing Company and Meadery on University Avenue. For just $20, you can get a ticket to the event along with a calendar. You can also get a calendar every Saturday and Sunday at the public market beginning December 7 through December 28. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) Rockford police say they didnt pursue a Grand Rapids teenager when he and two friends fled from officers because they werent sure there was a third person involved. A search dog on Friday led searchers to 16-year-old Cortez McConer Jr.s body in a swampy area south of Rockford. The death was ruled an accidental drowning, with police suggesting he died not long after he was last seen on Oct. 26. Missing Grand Rapids teens death ruled accidental drowning Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rockford Department of Public Safety Sgt. Brandon Boelema told News 8 that his agency got involved after a car stolen out of Ottawa County turned up in the parking lot of the McDonalds on E. Division Street near Wolverine Boulevard. No one was inside at the time, but Rockford officers and Kent County sheriffs deputies soon stopped someone in the parking lot of the adjacent Family Fare. They called in a dog, who tracked down a second suspect. Boelema said the two teens police caught were uncooperative, with the first suspect initially saying he was alone and then that only he and one other were involved. The sergeant said there was conjecture that a third person may have taken off, but no one could confirm that. The two teens who were caught wouldnt say so and there was no indication in the stolen car of how many people may have been in it. Rebecca Craig, McConers cousin, said police should have continued searching for Cortez after the traffic stop. If a kid came to you and said it was another kid that was with us and they was running with us, why didnt yall go back out there? she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Grand Rapids Police Department previously said it was at least a couple of days before the teens reached out to McConers family and said he had been with them. GRPD first confirmed to News 8 on Oct. 29 that a missing persons report had been filed for him. GRPD added Wednesday that it was days after that report was filed that it learned he had been in the stolen car. No one knew that Cortez was up in Rockford until his friends made contact with the family and said Hey, Cortez was with us. That was three or four days later that it was brought to my attention that these kids spoke up, GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom said over the weekend. His department sent out a release Nov. 18 detailing where McConer had last been seen and its search area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teen mourned at vigil after body found near Rockford Boelema said Rockford DPS didnt find out McConer was missing until Nov. 2 when the family conducted a search in the area. At that point, an officer spoke to McConers mother, who confirmed he had been with the other two teens on Oct. 26. GRPD was the lead agency on the case because McConer lived in the city and it took the missing persons report. Boelema said Michigan State Police, GRPD and Kent County deputies led search efforts because they have more resources than Rockford DPS, which is a much smaller agency, and because the search area near where the second suspect was found was in Plainfield Township, outside of Rockfords jurisdiction. He said it was his understanding that there was some sort of search underway every day until McConers body was found. McConers cousin Rebecca Craig said she has questions about Cortezs death and where he was found. She is calling for more transparency from the police departments. Where is the video footage? We have yet to this day to be able to see the video footage, Craig said. If yall were in a foot chase with him, my question to you guys would be where is the footage? Cortezs story is a reminder of the pain Craig is going through searching for her older cousin, Donald Hunnicutt, who was reported missing from the Kentwood area in September 2022 and still has not been found. Determining the correct jurisdiction is involved in that case as well. They were saying it was on the border line. They didnt know either. I had to push the issue to figure out is it Kentwood or Grand Rapids? Now here we go in a whole different scenario. Is it Grand Rapids or Rockford? Craig said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Grand Rapids police chief previously said that because McConer is believed to have died shortly after he was last seen, there was nothing that we could have done sooner that would have made a difference in the case. McConer was mourned Monday at a candlelight vigil at Godwin Heights High School in Wyoming, where he was a student. Principal Chad Conklin recalled him as a beacon of light, bringing joy, kindness and connection with everyone around him, remembering his laughter, compassion and care for others. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Nov. 27A Claremore man has started an organization for LGBTQ people and their allies in Rogers County. It's called Rogers County Pride, and people can join by becoming members of the Rogers County Pride (RCP) group on Facebook. Founder Bob Sweet said RCP is the first organization of its kind in Rogers County; Rogers State University has an LGBTQ group called RSU Pride, but only RSU students can join. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sweet said he founded RCP because it's important for LGBTQ people to unite and be visible together. He said queer people can't make change happen from the shadows. "Being in this community is dangerous, to say the least, and the only way we can beat that is to be known, be seen, show that we're here, that we're part of the community and we're going to stay," Sweet said. "Continuously hiding behind stuff is not going to help our plight at all." Sweet said RCP hosts monthly social gatherings at Claremore Lake. Ron Parker, a member of the group and worship leader at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Claremore, said the gatherings haven't attracted many people so far but will hopefully grow as more people join the Facebook group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Nothing wrong with having a new friend, someone who's going through the same shared experiences, right?" Parker said. RCP also tabled at the One Love, One World, One Pride Festival in September in Owasso. There, Sweet said, he shared information about the group and helped people register to vote. He said RCP hopes to host its own pride festival in Claremore next June; Sweet said that to his knowledge, this would be Claremore's first Pride event. "[It's] scary," Sweet said. "I know how well-loved we are." Sweet said he also hopes to form RCP into a direct action group that advocates for LGBTQ rights at the local, state and national levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sweet said Oklahoma is one of the worst states for LGBTQ rights, and queer people in Oklahoma are not safe as long as Gov. Kevin Stitt, State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the state's congressional delegation are in office. "[We must] put some people in office who actually understand how to love other people, not just how to tear them down and destroy them," Sweet said. "I would love to see the entire Oklahoma delegation turn over ... and that's really hard for me to say. I have been a lifelong Republican." On the national level, Sweet said LGBTQ people need to educate themselves on and resist Project 2025, a set of policy proposals created by the conservative Heritage Foundation to implement during a Republican administration. Though President-elect Donald Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, many of his allies have endorsed it, and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has close ties to the Heritage Foundation's founder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sweet said he fears Project 2025 because of how it seeks to eliminate workplace and health care protections for LGBTQ people, especially transgender people. "Project 2025 actually outlaws us," Sweet said. "It makes our life illegal ... we go back to the 1960s where homosexuality was against the law in almost every state, no protections and no rights." Julie Smith, a member of the board of One Love, One World, One Pride, said it's revolutionary for Rogers County to have an organization for LGBTQ people. She said her group will continue to support RCP and watch it grow. "I think every place needs to have some sort of LGBTQ+ community to be able to talk to or just have a shoulder or ear to listen to," Smith said. "...It's definitely going to be a really positive thing for Rogers County and for Oklahoma in general." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sweet said any person who thinks LGBTQ rights are important should consider joining RCP. "There's strength in numbers, and the more active people we have, the faster we can start working on the attitudes in this county," Sweet said. ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Its been six months since multiple tornadoes struck the Northwest Arkansas region, leaving seven people dead while also destroying homes and businesses. The scars of the 1.7-mile-wide EF2 tornado that struck the city of Rogers can still be seen when driving through town. Rogers mayor Greg Hines says the event was by far the most devastating natural disaster he has seen. However, the city is recovering well, and adapting to a new normal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NWS: EF2 tornado confirmed in Rogers As they approach a year since the storm, he hopes the city will continue to be able to support those who have not yet recovered. [There was] over 33 million dollars in damage to city-owned facilities. So, thats a lot of remediation, thats a lot of cleanups, thats a lot of projects to put together, and so I think what people will start to see in Q1 and Q2 of 2025 is that building back process, Hines said. As Rogers continues to recover and adapt, Hines says he hopes the city will continue to be able to support those who still need assistance. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) Belvidere Police arrested Matthew Barnett, 41, for allegedly robbing First National Bank last Saturday after searching his residence in Roscoe. On November 26, officers responded to the 500 block of Merilot Drive for a search warrant for Barnetts residence. He was soon after taken into custody. Photo: Belvidere Police Belvidere Police responded to a bank robbery on South State Street last Saturday morning in Belvidere. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 10:45 a.m., Boone County 911 received a call from the First National Bank located at 1725 South State Street from security. The bank had been robbed, according to a Belvidere Police Department press release. The teller said the suspect entered the bank and handed them a note demanding money, police reported. The male suspect was given the money and left the bank in a Kia sedan with temporary plates, according to the release. Photo: Belvidere Police Barnett is charged with committing the bank robbery and is currently being held in the Boone County Correctional Center. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. NEW YORK Rudy Giuliani lashed out at a Manhattan federal court judge Tuesday claiming he didnt have enough money to pay his bills amid collection efforts from the Georgia mother and daughter election workers he baselessly accused of ballot fraud. The outburst came when Judge Lewis Liman expressed skepticism over the former mayors excuses for failing to comply with obligations to surrender assets to Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Shaye Moss, the workers he must pay nearly $150 million after being found liable for falsely accusing them of rigging the 2020 election. Liman who recently threatened Giuliani with sanctions for refusing to turn over assets to Freeman and Moss, including his stake in his Upper East Side condo expressed frustration that Giuliani had provided them with his 1980 Mercedes-Benz and the keys but not the paperwork, saying it was meaningless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Your client is a competent person. He was the United States attorney for this district. The notion that he cant apply for a title certificate for the car is the judge said before Giuliani cut him off. Every implication that youve made is against me! Giuliani said, claiming he had applied for it. Responding to the judges skepticism that Giuliani is indigent, Giuliani said he had no access to his assets, claiming, Im not impoverished. Everything I have is tied up. I dont have a car. I dont have a credit card. I dont have cash. I cant pay my bills, Giuliani claimed. Liman then warned Giulianis new lawyer in the matter, Staten Island defense lawyer Joseph Cammarata, about continued outbursts, saying there should be no higher priority for your client right now than complying with the courts orders and that if he wanted to speak, he could get on the stand and do so under oath. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Next time, hes not going to be permitted to speak, and the court will have to take action, the judge said. Hes either represented by counsel, or hes permitted to proceed (as his own lawyer). He cant have hybrid representation. Earlier in the hearing, Liman cut loose Giulianis original attorneys in the matter and denied efforts to push back his upcoming trial so he could participate in Donald Trumps inauguration. The trial set for Jan. 16 relates to collection efforts by Freeman and Moss. It will concern his continued possession of his Palm Beach, Florida, condo, which hes claimed is his homestead and cannot be taken away from him, and his Yankees World Series rings, which he claims he gifted his son, Andrew. Hes been forced to give up to the two women almost everything else he owns of value in a turnover order he is appealing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After granting a motion from his former attorneys, Kenneth Caruso and David Labkowski, to withdraw from the case for undisclosed reasons, Liman declined to allow any more delays, telling Cammarata that his client could not fire his lawyers and restart the clock by hiring another. My client regularly consults and deals directly with President-elect Trump on issues that are taking place as the incoming administration is afoot as well as (the) inauguration, Cammarata unsuccessfully argued in a bid to delay the trial. My client wants to exercise his political right to be there. Liman said Giulianis social calendar does not constitute due cause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, Giulianis now-ex-lawyers said they had moved to step down from the case due to a difference of opinion. Cammarata, in court, insinuated theyd abandoned Giuliani. We took on the representation in New York to help Rudy. We have a difference of opinion as to how best to do that, Caruso and Labkowski said in a statement to the Daily News. The former Trump lawyer filed for bankruptcy after he was hit with the staggering judgment in December automatically freezing all civil matters against him but the matter was thrown out when he failed to be forthcoming about his finances. The collection efforts by Freeman and Moss are among a long list of civil actions facing Giuliani, who has been stripped of his ability to practice law, in addition to a host of criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona related to his alleged efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, to which hes pleaded not guilty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Freeman and Moss asked the Washington, D.C., judge who presided over their defamation trial to hold Giuliani in contempt for continuing to defame them in a pending request. In two recent broadcasts of Americas Mayor Live, he referred to them as quadruple counting ballots. They said those were among several recent examples of him continuing to malign them, including after his last Manhattan court appearance. Giuliani said he didnt have enough money to order a taxi home outside the courthouse on Tuesday. He criticized President Joe Biden and his family at length, decried the Trump-appointed Liman as a serious left-wing Democrat, and told the Daily News he did not wish to clarify recent remarks about not regretting his defamation of Freeman and Moss. I do not regret it for a minute, he said. -------- A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. The Only Real Accountability We Got I hope it goes down as more than a footnote to history that the most substantive accountability any higher-up in Trump World received for their roles in trying to subvert the 2020 election was imposed by two Black women, the election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, whose $148 million defamation judgment against Rudy Giuliani offers the only genuine taste of schadenfreude from the coup attempt. Giuliani was back in federal court yesterday, where, as the NYT put it, he lost his lawyers and his temper. In addition to getting smacked around by a federal judge for his courtroom outburst, Giuliani was taken to task once again for his dilatory efforts to surrender assets to Freeman and Moss to satisfy their enormous judgment against him for lying about them trying to commit election fraud during the 2020 vote count. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With his original lawyers allowed to withdraw from the case, having cited an unspecified dispute over professional ethics, it was left to Giulianis new lawyer to shut his client up in front of the judge, to no avail. The judge warned that Giuliani, himself now disbarred in New York and D.C., would face sanction for any further outbursts. The judge refused to delay a trial set for January over the disposition of some of Giulianis assets, a delay Giuliani has sought so he could attend Donald Trumps second inauguration. The irony of course is that Giuliani got himself in this mess while representing Trump, who failed to pay him. Giulianis claims against the Trump campaign for unpaid bills is one of the assets hes having to surrender. Giulianis outburst in court was mostly about how cash-strapped he now is, thanks to Freeman and Moss, a pity party he replayed outside of court: Painful While Special Counsel Jack Smith has dismissed his cases against Trump and is expected to leave his position before Inauguration Day, Special Counsel David Weiss a Trump administration holdover who is still the U.S. attorney for Delaware looks set to continue his work into Trump II, having filed new tax charges against a former FBI informant separately charged with lying about bribery allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden. IMPORTANT Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) has put a hold on the promotion of the Lt. Gen. Chris Donahue, who was the last American soldier on the ground in Afghanistan, a move that has reinforced fears among officers that they could face retaliation for carrying out orders by the Biden administration, the WSJ reports. Trump Is Already Breaking The Presidential Transition A few new developments on Trump acting out his transgressive impulses via the presidential transition: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump Team Signs Long-Delayed Agreement : The Trump transition has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House. The Trump teams unprecedented delay in signing these agreements, weeks after being declared the winner of the election, had alarmed former officials and ethics experts who warned it could lead to conflicts of interest and leave the new government unprepared to govern on Day One.Politico Still Dragging Feet : But the Trump team is still refusing to accept several typical trappings of the presidential transition process, including federal funding, equipment and office space as well as official government background and security checks for his transition staff. The agreement does not include an ethics pledge for the president-elect, required by the Presidential Transition Act, stating that Trump will avoid conflicts of interest while in office.WaPo Security Clearance Free-For-All: Donald Trumps transition team is planning for all political appointees to receive sweeping security clearances on the first day and only face FBI background checks after the incoming administration takes over the bureau and its own officials are installed in key positions, according to people familiar with the matter.The Guardian Dont Sleep On Russ Vought Weve been telling you for months about Russ Vought, the presumptive nominee for another run as Trumps OMB director. If youre late to the party, TPMs Josh Kovensky has a refresher: Across public speeches, little-noticed interviews, and secretly made recordings, the Trump functionary-turned-MAGA policy influencer has spent several years enunciating his belief: America was founded as a Christian nation, and is intended to be governed that way. Trump II Clown Show Anti-lockdown Stanford Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: director of the National Institutes of Health Robert Lighthizer protege Jamieson Greer: U.S. trade representative Former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett: director of the White Houses National Economic Council Peter Thiel associate Jim ONeill: deputy secretary of Health and Human Services Trump Transition Miscellany Loyalty Over All Else : Trumps Cabinet is almost complete just three weeks after his reelection, offering an unusually quick window into his plans and priorities for a second administration. After years of complaining about first-term staff members who resisted his ideas and ultimately denounced him, Trump has prioritized loyalty over traditional expertise in some positions and has elevated some supporters with little direct or managerial experience in the areas they are set to lead.WaPo So Long, Student Loan Debt Forgiveness: President-elect Donald Trump is poised to pull the plug on President Joe Bidens yearslong push to cancel student debt for tens of millions of people as Republicans sweep into power in the coming months.Politico House GOP Will Have A 1-Vote Margin Deep Into 2025 Its looking like once all the counting is complete, the House GOP will hold a 220-215 majority but with resignations and appointments to the new Trump administration, that margin will shrink to 217-215 for the early months of 2025, as narrow a margin as it gets. Cooper Vetoes GOP Power Grab In North Carolina The GOP supermajority in the North Carolina legislature is expected to override Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto of their effort to take power away from statewide offices won by Democrats in the recent election. What Capitulation Looks Like Walmarts sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are re-evaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups.AP A Tough Read Sarah Wildman, who lost a daughter to pediatric cancer, summons the strength to try to nudge us away from our deep cultural aversion to the reality of death and dying so that we might be more humane with each other and with ourselves: Medical teams may fear death, but so does society, in a cycle of suppression and evasion that ultimately fails us all. It is why so many of us feel so alone when death and grief come. Thank You As we head into the holiday weekend, I want to offer my thanks to Morning Memo readers for your support, consistency, and feedback this year. I know for many of you its been difficult to stay engaged with politics, whether you do so as an active participant or as on outside observer. Some editions of Morning Memo, like yesterdays, have been hard to write. But Ive been able to trust that you expect me to give you the news you need to know rather than pander to what you might like to hear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of Morning Memo subscribers its free, but many of you opt to receive Morning Memo via email has grown by 70 percent since this time last year. Welcome, to the newer folks! Its good to have you here. My main regret this year has been letting the tone of Morning Memo become too grim at times. TPM has always brought a sense of the absurd to our coverage of American politics, but its been a challenge lately to frame the absurdity in the breezy, ironic, and occasionally humorous way that youve become accustomed to. I did make a conscious decision in the late summer to steer Morning Memo in a more earnest direction. I wanted to be able to look back in 10 or 20 years on the Morning Memos written during the stretch run of the 2024 election and not regret having missed the mark by failing to warn adequately of the stakes, by getting tangled up in trivialities, or by losing perspective on the big picture. The result at times was a tone that veered toward dour. In the aftermath of the election, Im still working on shifting that tone back to one that takes the work seriously but not myself. Thanks for your patience as Morning Memo reboots for Trump II. Morning Memo will be back on Monday. Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know! Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani lashed out at a federal judge Tuesday during a hearing concerning the $148 million defamation judgment won by a pair of Georgia poll workers, telling him: I cant pay my bills! Judge Lewis Liman said Giuliani has not been complying with his previous order to surrender assets, according to The Guardian. While Giuliani turned over some watches and a convertible, he hasnt provided the keys or title. A car without a title is meaningless, Liman told Joseph Cammarata, Giulianis new lawyer, who joined following the exit of two others Tuesday. Your client is a competent person. He was the US attorney in the district. The notion that he cant apply for a title certificate... Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Giuliani cut Liman off: I did apply for it! What am I supposed to do, make it up myself? He continued: The implications you are making against me are wrong. I have no car, no credit card, no cash, everything I have is tied up, they have put stop orders on my business accounts, and I cant pay my bills! Liman then told Giuliani that his lawyer should be speaking for him. Giuliani then shot back: Somebody has to tell the truth! Rudy Giuliani That prompted Liman to give a warning to Cammarata. Next time, hes not going to be permitted to speak. And the court will have to take action, he said. According to The New York Times, Cammarata asked for a delay in the trial, which is set for Jan. 16, for several reasons: to determine whether Giuliani could keep his Florida condo and Yankees World Series rings, to prepare for another court appearance in Washington, D.C., regarding a potential finding of contempt of court due to Giuliani continuing to lie about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the two 2020 election workers, and to allow Giuliani to attend Donald Trumps inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Liman rejected the request. You cant restart the clock by firing one counsel and hiring another, he told Cammarata. He has already received multiple extensions, and missed multiple deadlines. Outside court, Giuliani complained that Liman is about as left-wing as you get. Liman was nominated to the bench by Donald Trump. A final rule now allows kidney and liver transplants between donors and recipients who both are HIV-positive, expanding the potential donor pool. Until this rule, such transplants were only allowed as part of clinical research. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in announcing the change, said it marks a significant step forward in increasing the availability of life-saving organs for all patients regardless of their HIV status, while continuing to reduce barriers and stigma for people with HIV. The change, prompted in part by the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, means institutional review board approval and a clinical research requirement is no longer needed when both donor and recipient are HIV-positive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Research shows that kidney and liver transplants between donors and recipients with HIV can be performed safely and effectively, assistant secretary for health Adm. Rachel L. Levine, a physician, said in the written statement. This policy change reflects our commitment to following the evidence and updating our approaches as we learn more. By removing research requirements where they are no longer needed, we can help more people with HIV access life-saving transplants. The rule applies specifically to kidney and liver transplants, where Health and Human Services officials said evidence is robust. They reported that the HOPE Act expansion was driven by a large body of evidence, much of which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and HHS, including recent findings from an NIH-funded study demonstrating noninferiority of kidney transplants between donors and recipients with HIV compared to transplants from donors without HIV to recipients with HIV. A proposed revision thats in a public comment period would similarly expand access to heart, lung and pancreas transplantation. HIV treatment has changed dramatically, which has in turn changed the rules around transplants to and from those with the virus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its gone from a death sentence to a completely manageable disease, Christine Durand, a professor of medicine and oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told The Washington Post. She led a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed organ transplants between donors and recipients with HIV was safe. This study really shows without a doubt that theres no differences between receiving a kidney from a donor with HIV versus without HIV, Durand said. In addition to reducing stigma, this can help reduce inequities for people with HIV. Tackling the waiting lists As of September 2024, more than 103,000 men, women and children were waiting for a transplant of some type, including nearly 90,000 who need a kidney and more than 9,400 in need of a liver. Seventeen patients die every day while listed for transplant, according to Organdonor.gov. A new person is added to the list every eight minutes. Need is far greater than the number of transplants done each year. But research and innovation have broadened the life-giving possibilities for people who need organs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Africa had already been doing HIV-positive kidney transplants when in 2016 Johns Hopkins became the first U.S. hospital to perform a transplant where donor and recipient were both HIV-positive, with the blessing of the United Network for Organ Sharing, per the hospitals transplant center. Time magazine reported at the time that as many as 600 people with HIV died each year and their organs could likely save more than 1,000 people. Earlier laws had said their organs could not be used, until the HOPE Act, which passed in 2013, allowed such transplants as long as it was part of clinical research. Can people with hepatitis C donate organs? Access to organ donation has been expanding for different populations as medical breakthroughs are made. For instance, with the advent of medication that can cure hepatitis C, livers from people with the disease are sometimes donated, then the recipient is treated afterwards, which greatly expanded the pool of livers available for transplant. Initially, those livers were only available to people who had hepatitis C and needed a new liver; now some are transplanted to patients who do not have the virus but are willing to take the organ, then be treated for the disease. In a Mayo Clinic article, Dr. Surakit Pungpapong, a transplant hepatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, said the average wait is much shorter if a patient is willing to take a liver with hepatitis C. Patients have nearly two times the chance of getting a transplant compared with the national average. This means fewer patients are dying at our medical center while on the wait list. Between September 2022 and June 2024, Belarusian companies exported microchips worth over US$125 million to Russia. Source: an investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center, reported by The Moscow Times Details: Approximately US$400,000 worth of the components were of Western origin, despite the sanctions in place. These supplies were made through complex schemes involving companies connected to the self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's close allies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over nearly two years, around 10,000 microchips of American and European origin were sent to Russia. These include Intel products used in the operation and navigation of aerial bombs, Su-35S and Su-34 fighter jets, Korsar UAVs and Kalibr missiles. One major supplier was Alexvit Ltd., owned by Sergei Borysiuk, former Belarusian State Customs Committee Deputy Head. The company is closely linked to Viktor Sheiman, a long-time Lukashenko ally and former head of the Presidential Administration. Between September 2022 and June 2023, Alexvit Ltd. exported 131 microchips from the US, Germany and Finland to Russia. Another supplier, OFS-Export, sold over 1,200 microchips to Russia from October 2022 to February 2024. This firm is reportedly tied to Alexander Shakutsin, owner of the Amkodor holding company, sanctioned by the EU as one of Lukashenko's "wallets". Logistics company Vostok, owned by Aliaksei Matvieiev and linked to businessman Sergei Teterin (also under EU sanctions), exported over 1,500 US-made microchips to Russia between December 2022 and March 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The largest supplier of Western microchips was Pervyi Kontinent (First Continent), established two months after the start of the war. From January to June 2024 alone, it sold 1,665 microchips to Russia worth US$155,000. The company is owned by Ilya Tarasyuk, previously connected to Belarus's military-industrial complex. Background: In July, The New York Times reported that in 2023, Russia restored its imports of Western semiconductors to levels seen at the end of 2021, creating networks of front companies in Hong Kong, China, Turkiye and other countries. However, tighter US sanctions in 2024 significantly reduced these flows through Hong Kong and China. NYT revealed that since the beginning of the war, over 6,000 companies have facilitated the delivery of prohibited chips to Russia, amounting to around US$4 billion. Support UP or become our patron! Russian forces are concentrating troops in the area of the Kinburn Spit in Mykolaiv Oblast to reinforce defences and prevent Ukraine's defence forces from crossing the Dnipro River. Source: Colonel Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Defence Forces of Ukraine's South, during the national joint 24/7 newscast Quote: "Our intelligence revealed that they are likely amassing forces there to strengthen their defences. They are fortifying positions, transferring defensive weapons to prevent Ukraines defence forces from crossing the Dnipro River, landing troops on Tendra and Kinburn Spits particularly on Kinburn and maintaining control over this part of the Dnipro Rivers mouth and its islands, where fierce fighting is ongoing." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Regarding the situation near the Antonivka Bridge over the Dnipro River, which connects Kherson to the left bank, Voloshyn confirmed that the Russians are practicing crossing manoeuvres with small infantry groups, though no large-scale water crossings are currently taking place. Quote: "They are training... but these are crossing exercises involving small infantry groups, up to the size of a squad. They are also using river boats from their Dnipro flotilla for these exercises. Essentially, as they conduct small-scale infantry assault actions on land in the steppe zone, they are trying to replicate similar actions in this riverine and island area of the Dnipro River." Support UP or become our patron! Ukrainian drones and missiles attacked the seaside city of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Nov. 27, the city's Russian-installed proxy head, Mikhail Razvozhayev, claimed. Russian air defenses shot down two missiles and five drones, Razvozhayev said, claiming that the Ukrainian projectiles were downed over the water. Drone debris also reportedly fell near the Kacha highway. The pro-Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported explosions and active air defense in Sevastopol, as well as near the Belbek military airfield and elsewhere on the occupied peninsula. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The channel also shared a photo of the Nakhimov Naval Academy with smoke coming from behind it. The authenticity of the footage or the cause of the smoke could not be immediately verified. The Mash Telegram channel alleged that around 40 drones, Neptune missiles, and unidentified cruise missiles were flying toward the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula. All projectiles were shot down, the channel wrote. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian military and industrial targets in Sevastopol and elsewhere in Crimea during the full-scale war. Read also: Russian Defense Ministry admits that Ukraine hit airbase in Kursk Oblast with ATACMS Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. MOSCOW (AP) Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has revoked the accreditation of two employees with the German ARD broadcaster and ordered them to leave the country in what it described as a retaliation to German authorities' move targeting two journalists from Russia's state TV. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, told a briefing in Moscow that it may issue accreditation to other ARD employees if German authorities allow journalists from Russia's Channel One to work in Berlin. German foreign ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner denied the federal government had shut Channel One's office, as the Russian broadcaster has claimed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal government has not closed the office of this broadcaster, Wagner told a news conference. Russian journalists can report freely and unhindered in Germany. I can only surmise that this has to do with questions of residence status, said Wagner, adding that such issues are not dealt with by German federal authorities and state authorities make their decisions independently. Berlins state immigration office said that on Nov. 22 it refused residence permits for the head of Channel Ones bureau and for a cameraman with the channel. It said the decision could be appealed. Channel One has been under European Union sanctions since December 2022 as tensions soared between Moscow and the West over Russias military action in Ukraine. The EU sanctions prevent the channel from broadcasting in Europe but do not affect the presence of staff who work for it in Berlin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move followed decisions to refuse German residency for a Brazilian citizen working for Ruptly, a Russian state-owned video news agency, and for the head of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency's local office and his wife. Germanys Foreign Ministry denounced the expulsion of the ARD employees as unacceptable and the reasoning for it wrong, saying on social platform X that local authorities had made decisions on residence status that could be appealed, and that is the difference between a legal process and Russian arbitrariness." WDR, the regional ARD branch that is responsible for the public broadcasters reporting from Russia, confirmed that correspondent Frank Aischmann and a technical employee had their accreditation revoked. This is a drastic step, WDR program director Jorg Schonenborn said in a statement. With this, our ability to report from Moscow is again being limited. For nearly three years, we have been dealing with intimidation and restrictions to our reporting from Moscow. Russia has lost 1,580 soldiers killed and wounded over the past day, bringing the total number of its combat losses to over 735,000. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 27 November 2024 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses ed.]: approximately 735,410 (+1,580) military personnel; 9,449 (+14) tanks; 19,304 (+48) armoured combat vehicles; 20,830 (+24) artillery systems; 1,255 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems; 1,005 (+1) air defence systems; 369 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft; 329 (+0) helicopters; 19,616 (+64) tactical and strategic UAVs; 2,765 (+0) cruise missiles; 28 (+0) ships/boats; 1 (+0) submarine; 30,126 (+84) vehicles and fuel tankers; 3,687 (+4) special vehicles and other equipment. The information is being confirmed. Support UP or become our patron! Russia is demonstrating its readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine, declaring its unwillingness to freeze the frontline or come to a compromise. Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW) Details: Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, claimed that the Kremlin is supposedly open to negotiations but strongly rejects any "freezing" of the frontline or the creation of demilitarised zones. He insisted that the only way to achieve peace is by "removing" the reasons that "forced" Russia to launch a full-scale invasion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "Demonstrating that Russia continues to uncompromisingly demand Ukraine's full capitulation. The Kremlin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine relinquish areas of the four Ukrainian oblasts that the Kremlin has illegally annexed and that Russian forces do not currently occupy." Details: According to analytical forecasts by the ISW, the Russian command may be planning a new offensive in the southeastern part of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. While this oblast is not part of the illegally annexed territories, its capture could contribute to Russias long-standing aim of fully occupying Donetsk Oblast. The ISW has also recently indicated that Russian military commanders are likely intending to advance into the far southeastern part of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to pursue their objective of taking complete control of Donetsk Oblast. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 26 November: Russian officials continue to demonstrate that the Kremlin aims to seize more territory in Ukraine than it currently occupies and is unwilling to accept compromises or engage in good-faith negotiations, no matter who mediates such talks. The Russian military's rate of advance since Fall 2024 has notably increased recently compared to its rate of advance in 2023 and the rest of 2024, but recent Western media reports comparing recent Russian gains to those at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion continue to mischaracterise the gradual and tactical nature of Russia's recent advances. US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby confirmed Ukraine's usage of US-provided ATACMS against Russia amid official Russian confirmation of recent Ukrainian ATACMS strikes. Russian forces launched a record number of drones against Ukraine on the night of 25-26 November as Russians continue to increase their use of decoy drones in long-range strike packages targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in order to overwhelm Ukrainian air defence systems. Russian state media reported that the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) replaced former Russian Southern Military District (SMD) and Southern Grouping of Forces commander Colonel General Gennady Anashkin with Eastern Military District (EMD) acting commander Lieutenant General Alexander Sanchik. Russian forces continue to execute Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) amid a surge of recent Russian war crimes. The Russian State Duma is preparing the legal mechanisms to remove the Taliban from the Russian governments official list of banned terrorist organisations. Ukrainian forces recently regained lost positions near Kreminna, and Russian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Velyka Novosilka. A Russian milblogger complained on 25 November that Russian forces often operate artillery without coordinating between different Russian elements, highlighting significant communications issues between armoured vehicle and infantry units. Russian authorities continue to incentivize service in Ukraine through one-time payment offers, likely in order to avoid conducting another partial involuntary reserve callup. Support UP or become our patron! MOSCOW/BERLIN (Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday that it would expel one correspondent and one cameraman from Germany's ARD in a symmetrical response to German moves against journalists from Russia's Channel One that Berlin denied undertaking. WDR, a regional arm of ARD responsible for the broadcasting association's news output from Russia, criticised Russia's decision to strip the two German journalists of their permits to work in the country. "This is a drastic step. It restricts our ability to report from Moscow once again. We have been dealing with intimidation and restrictions on our reporting from Moscow for almost three years," said WDR programming director Joerg Schoenenborn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WDR is assessing how it might continue its work in Moscow, it said in a statement Pushing back against Russia's version of events, a German foreign ministry spokesperson denied that the Channel One office in Berlin was being shuttered, and said the Russian journalists' departure was related to residence law matters. "Russian journalists can report freely and unhindered in Germany. A whole series of Russian journalists are also accredited with the Federal Press Office," the spokesperson told a regular government news conference. Residence law falls within the competences of the regional states, or Laender, which make decisions independently of the federal government in Berlin, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The spokesperson said the government was in close contact with German media in Moscow because of concerns that Russia was taking "very vehement" action against journalists. REPORT FROM RUSSIA Channel One had reported that Germany was closing its Berlin bureau and that two Russian journalists, a correspondent and cameraman, working for the channel had been ordered to leave Germany on security grounds. "In response to the ban by German authorities on the presence and work of Channel One correspondents, we are forced to take reciprocal measures against journalists from the Moscow office of the German media group ARD," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said the two ARD staff had been ordered to hand over their accreditation documents and to leave Russia. However, Zakharova said Moscow would consider accrediting new ARD journalists if Germany provided conditions for their Russian counterparts from Channel One to carry out "normal work" there. (Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Miranda Murray, writing by Felix Light and Mark TrevelyanEditing by Gareth Jones) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is continuing work to put its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile - part of its strategic nuclear arsenal - on combat duty, state news agency TASS said on Wednesday. The RS-28 Sarmat missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks. In September, arms experts said Russia appeared to have suffered a catastrophic failure in the missile's latest test, leaving a deep crater at the launch silo. (Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Andrew Heavens) Russia actively uses at least six Tu-160-type bombers that Ukraine gave to Russia in 1999 as a payment of gas debt, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Schemes' investigation showed on Nov. 26. The investigation also identified pilots flying the planes and launching missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia regularly uses its strategic aviation to attack cities and infrastructure across Ukraine. Ukraine handed over Tu-160 supersonic heavy bombers in 1999 as part of a larger debt payment for Russian gas. The journalists identified the planes by comparing their old serial numbers in archives and aviation registries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement RFE/RL was also able to identify some pilots flying these planes against Ukraine, like Oleg Skytskyi, a serviceman of the 22nd Aviation Division, which Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) says is "responsible for numerous victims and destruction in Ukraine," one of them likely being launching a missile that killed an RFE/RL journalist in Kyiv on April 28, 2022. In the 1999 arms transfer, Kyiv transferred to Moscow eight Tu-160 and three Tu-95MS heavy bombers, as well as 575 Kh-55 cruise missiles, with Russia writing off $275 million in gas debt, 10% of the assets' real value. The transferred Kh-55 missiles were also used against Ukraine, an earlier investigation by Radio Free showed. The Tu-160 strategic bombers are among the biggest warplanes ever operated, but they are only sparsely used due to maintenance problems. They were the latest heavy strategic bombers designed in the Soviet Union, capable of carrying conventional and nuclear weaponry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their last use was on Nov. 17, when Russia launched one of the largest aerial strikes on Ukraine, killing seven civilians and damaging its energy grid. Read also: Ukraines drones have a reputation for low cost. Buntar Aerospace wants to make them boutique Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Russian missile attack on Nov. 26 struck a residential building and kindergarten in the city of Sumy, leaving at least two people dead, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported. The Russian missile, which was reportedly launched at a vehicle service station, also struck a nearby multi-story residential building and caused damage inside a nearby kindergarten, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. One more person may still be trapped under the ruble at the site of the attack as emergency services continue their work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attack on the city also damaged 13 cars, Suspilne reported. The attack on the regional capital comes as Russia shelled Sumy Oblast 120 times on Nov. 26 in 21 attacks on the region, according to the regional military administration. An explosive dropped from a Russian drone also injured one person in the town of Velyka Pysarivka. Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region's vulnerable border settlements experiencing multiple attacks per day. Russian strikes against Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent months, amid fears that Russia may launch a new attack on Sumy Oblast in the coming months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Russian missile strike on a residential building in Sumy on Nov. 17 killed 11 people and injured another 89. A source in Ukraine's General Staff said on Nov. 23 that nearly 60,000 Russian army personnel are currently stationed in Kursk Oblast, planning to reach the border with Sumy Oblast in an attempt to create a "buffer zone" there as Ukraine looked to do with its surprise incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast in August. Russia continues its onslaught of drone and missile attacks ahead of an expected harsh winter amid Russia strike on energy infrastructure. Overnight on Nov. 25, Russia launched a record 188 drones at Ukraine, with Ukrainian air defenses reportedly being able to down 76 drones across 17 oblasts. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches record 188 drones against Ukraine overnight, Air Force says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian strikes against Ukraine killed at least two civilians and injured at least 17 over the past day, regional authorities reported on Nov. 27. Russia attacked Ukraine with 89 Shahed-type drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles overnight, the Air Force reported. Thirty-six were shot down by air defenses while 48 were lost across Ukraine, likely thanks to electronic warfare means, the statement read. Five drones reportedly flew to Belarus, Russia, and occupied territories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the drones targeted the capital city of Kyiv overnight. Two people were injured when drone debris fell on a non-residential building, the city's military administration reported. Drone debris also damaged houses and apartment buildings elsewhere in Kyiv Oblast. Russian attacks against Sumy Oblast killed two people and injured one, the regional military administration reported. The two fatalities were reported after a Russian missile struck a residential building and kindergarten in the city of Sumy. One civilian was also injured during Russian attacks against the Velyka Pysarivka community near the Russian border, officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Donetsk Oblast, two people were injured in the village of Zhovte, and one in the town of Pokrovsk, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported. Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast injured 11 people, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A high-rise building, 10 houses, a gas pipeline, a car repair shop, a garage, and cars were damaged. Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, and Zhytomyr oblasts were also attacked, but no casualties were reported. Read also: Once liberated Kupiansk braces for worst as Russian troops approach, and future Western support looks uncertain Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (NewsNation) A Russian module bringing cargo to the International Space Station delivered more than just supplies on Saturday it brought a stench. When astronauts opened the Progress 90 resupply spacecraft, they were greeted by small droplets and an unexpected odor, the International Space Station confirmed in an X post. They promptly closed the hatch, cutting the craft off from the rest of the Poisk module. 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, ISS post continues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earth bids farewell to its temporary mini moon Communications between the crew and Houston called the smell toxic, according to a Russian Space Web review. The Roscosmos craft has nearly three tons of food, fuel and supplies aboard, NASA said in a press release about its launch. Its expected to stay docked for six months before burning up in Earths atmosphere with ISS trash aboard. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TULSA Without state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters present, a Tulsa County judge heard arguments to dismiss a libel lawsuit filed against Walters by the superintendent of one of Oklahomas fastest-growing school districts. Attorneys for Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller say Walters knew, or should have known, he wasnt telling the truth when he called called Miller a clown and a liar and said Millers district was being investigated for financial improprieties. Two days before making those comments during a news conference, Walters signed a document reaffirming the good standing of every school in the Bixby district, Miller's attorneys said. But Walters attorneys countered by saying the lawsuit should be dismissed, citing both the principle of sovereign immunity which says official acts of the state are immune from lawsuits and because they believe Miller, who like Walters is considered a public figure in a legal sense, hasnt proven Walters showed actual malice in making that statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of Walters attorneys, Chad Kutmas, said if District Judge Daman Cantrell allows the case to move forward, it would open the floodgates for every thin-skinned politician to file similar lawsuits. Walters attorneys have maintained that he was acting within the scope of his official duties when making the comments about Miller after an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on July 31, although they acknowledged during the hearing Walters used colorful language in doing so. Miller attended the Tuesday hearing with two of his attorneys. Walters chose not to attend his whereabouts were unknown, although at least two tweets were posted on whats labeled as his personal account on social media platform X during the time in which the one hour, 45-minute hearing was held. One of those tweets concerned Communist China and the other concerned the elimination of the federal Department of Education. Comments made by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters during a news conference after a July meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education have drawn a libel lawsuit. Cantrell said he has 30 days, which would be until Dec. 26, to make a ruling on the motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, which would mean it couldnt be filed again. While Walters attorneys want the case thrown out, Millers attorneys believe the case should move forward. Cantrell is the third judge assigned to the case. Two others, Tracy Priddy and William LaFortune, previously recused themselves from hearing the lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walters is a defendant in at least 16 lawsuits in state and federal court, facing allegations of defamation, wrongful termination, open-meeting violations and overstepping legal boundaries in the creation of administrative rules and mandates, among others. More: Ryan Walters' national media blitz continues as state education board meeting is canceled Bixby superintendent targeted by Walters after questioning timing of Title I funding notices The lawsuit filed by Miller was the latest in a back-and-forth between himself and Walters. Since 2018, Miller has served as the superintendent of Bixby, a suburb south of Tulsa. He was named as a region superintendent of the year in 2020. While working in the Sand Springs Public Schools district, Miller was the state assistant superintendent of the year in 2018. During his time as a teacher and administrator in Jenks Public Schools, Miller was named as the state middle school principal of the year in 2014. That fall, he was a finalist for the national principal of the year award. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On X on July 27, Miller questioned why there has been a long delay in the Oklahoma State Department of Education informing school districts as to how much their federal funding allocations under Title I might be. After his post, Millers counterparts from districts across Oklahoma said they, too, wondered about the delays but had received no answers from the state agency, which Walters oversees. Title I money is allocated based on the number of low-income students served by schools. Those numbers, provided to districts by the agencys past administrations in late spring or early summer, are vital in helping districts plan budgets and determining how many teachers they could hire. The fiscal year began July 1. After the board meeting four days later, Walters verbally lashed out against Miller and hinted of potential financial improprieties within the Bixby district. Hes a liar, Walters said when asked about Miller. I mean, hes really a true embarrassment. He knows every year when he gets the Title I funds, and were dealing with all kinds of financial problems with his district that were hoping to address right now. So you know, Rob Robs a clown and a liar. So he knows that. Same time every year at least late August. Its the same way its been every year for, my team tells me, over a decade. So he knows that has been communicated to districts. Robs never reached out, never indicated theres an issue. Theres not an issue. He made it up. So he wants his name in the press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Be the first to know: Sign up for breaking news email alerts In response, the Bixby district released a clean annual audit and said Walters had engaged in baseless defamation of district employees. Miller demanded an apology for Walters personal insults, which has yet to be received. Miller subsequently sued Walters in both his personal and professional capacities. Attorney produces letter renewing Bixby accreditation, dated two days before Walters' outburst At the latest hearing, one of Millers attorneys, Michael Barkett, produced a letter he said was signed by Walters on July 29, two days before the board meeting. That letter, Barkett said, noted the reaccreditation of every school site in the Bixby district without deficiencies, which is one of the highest ratings any school site or district can receive. Barkett said Walters signature on that letter is proof Walters knew, or should have known, there were no financial issues with the Bixby district before Walters claimed just that. Financial issues within a district can result in a lower level of accreditation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kutmas dismissed the significance of the accreditation letter, saying to me it means nothing. Stay informed: Sign up for The Oklahoman's Daily Briefing newsletter Barkett told reporters after the hearing he thought it went well and that he wasnt surprised Walters chose not to attend. He pushed back against Walters' claims that he should be exempt from the suit. There is no sovereign immunity for acts of a government employee that are in bad faith, Barkett said. I think that necessarily, maliciously, falsely defaming somebody is in bad faith and outside the scope of government employment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walters three attorneys Kutmas, Joel Wohlgemuth and Hannah Roberts exited the courtroom, looked at a group of reporters interviewing Barkett and turned to leave the Tulsa County Courthouse via another route, avoiding questions from reporters after the hearing. (This story updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.) This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters' lawyers ask judge to throw out libel lawsuit against him SADIEVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) A father was arrested in the early hours of Nov. 23 after his son and nephew jumped from the bed of his pickup truck as he was driving, reportedly in fear for their lives. Lexington man allegedly hit stranger in the head with gun in road rage incident Just before 8 p.m. on Nov. 22, Scott County authorities said they were dispatched to Loves Travel Stop on Porter Road in Sadieville in response to a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian, according to a citation. Deputies arrived to find a boy in the back of an ambulance with minor injuries. The boy was taken to UK hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, per court documents. He reportedly told law enforcement that 40-year-old Austin Brooks, his uncle, had been drinking and wanted to get more beer. The boy and another child got into the bed of Brooks pickup truck and became increasingly frightened for their safety as Brooks began to get closer to the highway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A citation noted the children tried hitting parts of the truck and screaming to get Brooks attention before finally jumping out of the pickup truck. The boy was hurt, and Brooks son sustained serious physical injuries to his body and head and was in a coma with a possible brain injury. The boy reportedly told law enforcement that after the pair jumped, Brooks drove away and didnt return to the children. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Austin Brooks, 40, was lodged in the Scott County Detention Center on Nov. 23. (Scott County Detention Center) Brooks was arrested just after midnight on Nov. 23 and charged with: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First-degree wanton endangerment Endangering the welfare of a minor Leaving the scene of an accident or failure to render aid to prevent death or serious physical injury He was lodged in the Scott County Detention Center. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. WACO, Texas (FOX 44) Due to challenges presented by increasing food costs, The Salvation Army of McLennan County helped by offering Thanksgiving meals to anyone in need. A Thanksgiving meal was once again offered at its Community Kitchen on Thursday. This was the 133rd this holiday meal to be served in Waco. The event took place from 11 a.m. 1 p.m. at 300 Webster Avenue. The Salvation Army of McLennan County said the public could help by donating frozen pies, desserts, and cookies. They donated these tasty treats at 4721 W. Waco Drive between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The organization was happy to announce that all of the volunteer positions for the Thanksgiving meal were filled. However, they are looking for volunteers to support the upcoming Christmas meal on December 25. For more information about this event, or if you would like to volunteer, you can email dinah.mills@uss.salvationarmy.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 KWKT - FOX 44. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nexstars 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. ROME (Reuters) - A partnership involving Italy, Britain and Japan to build an advanced front-line fighter jet will likely be extended to Saudi Arabia, the Italian foreign minister said on Wednesday. The three countries agreed in December 2022 on the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the first major defence industry collaboration merging the separate next-generation fighter efforts of the countries. "The deal we have with Britain and Japan ... I think will now be extended to Saudi Arabia," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, the three countries said they were discussing a broadening of the project, following a meeting in Brazil between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Japanese and British counterparts Shigeru Ishiba and Keir Starmer. The partners aim to see the combat aircraft in flight around the middle of next decade. Firms including Leonardo, BAE Systems and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been involved in the project. Reuters previously reported that Saudi Arabia was among the candidates to become a junior partner in the GCAP, as it would bring money and a lucrative market to a project expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. (Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Alexander Smith) Video: A 2021 WSAV NOW interview with Bennie Mitchell III SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) The director of It Is Well recently received the Hall of Fame award at the World Class Film Awards, an international competition. The awards took place in Puebla, Mexico, to celebrate talent in the independent industry. The documentary by Savannah native Bennie Mitchell III pays tribute to his late father, an activist who helped preserve Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy in Savannah. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To all of the artists, the sacrifices that you made, I dedicate this to you, Mitchell said in his acceptance speech at the awards gala ceremony. Because not everybody sees the sacrifices, the blood, the sweat, the money that you put into your passion. It Is Well is available on Amazon Prime and Tubi. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A trail on St. Phillips Island. (Provided/SC State Parks) COLUMBIA Anyone who needs a break from Black Friday shopping can visit South Carolinas 47 state parks for free Friday, the states parks department announced. This is the fourth year the agency has offered the deal. The idea for a free post-Thanksgiving hike was inspired by outdoor retailer REI, which in 2015 began closing its doors on Black Friday in order to give employees more time to spend outside instead of dealing with massive crowds. The retailer used the slogan #OptOutside, which South Carolinas parks department altered to #OptOutsideSC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The promotion encourages people to spend some time in the great outdoors the day after Thanksgiving, reads a post on the parks departments website. The most expensive admission is at Charles Towne Landing, which is $12.50 for an adult ticket. Entry to other parks typically ranges from $3 to $8. Three historic homes will also have free tours, though nearly all slots at the Rose Hill, Redcliffe and Hampton plantations had been booked as of Tuesday. The departments annual Dashing Through the Parks scavenger hunt will begin Thursday, meaning visitors can use their free day of park access to complete missions through the Goosechase Interactive Experiences app. Anyone who earns at least 50 points by completing tasks will win a prize pack, including a blanket, gloves and sunglasses. Earning 80 points puts players in a drawing for state park gift cards, according to the agency. The scavenger hunt runs until New Years Day. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, holds up Wednesday, June 26, 2024, with white gloves the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award given in fall 2023 to the five bipartisan "sister senators" who helped block a near-total abortion ban. Of the five, only Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro, (far left) will return in 2025. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) The problem with the South Carolina Legislature is women: There arent enough of them. The House and Senate are largely boys clubs and have been for a long time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the recent elections, women make up only 13% of the House and Senate. Meanwhile, women comprise 51.4% of the states population. In other words, our Legislature is laughably unrepresentative of South Carolina. Governing bodies should reflect the people they serve. Our House and Senate do not. The problem becomes acutely obvious when a Legislature that is 87% male dictates abortion laws. Women have a voice in South Carolina politics, but its drowned out by the mansplaining boys. Elections this year drove our Legislature even further toward a full-blown bro-ocracy. We went from having 27 women in the state Senate and House to only 22 women, according to Rutgers Universitys Center for American Women and Politics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the women defeated this year were the three Republican sister senators who helped block a near-total ban on abortion. A six-week ban ultimately became law. With no Republican women in the state Senate, lawmakers could enact a total ban or at least stronger restrictions on abortion next year. Our state ranked 47th in the nation in the percentage of female legislators before Nov. 5. We may rank even lower now. Women get things done Women bring distinct perspectives and life experiences to the Legislature, inspiring a richer policy conversation. Women in state legislatures nationwide tend to be less hyper-partisan and more pragmatic than men. Theyre consensus-builders, said Jean Sinzdak, associate director of Rutgers center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The antidote to many of South Carolinas ills could be pretty simple: We need more women in state elected office to broaden the debate and expand the practical answers to our problems. As Margaret Thatcher famously opined: If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman. Think of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer telling her male-dominated Legislature to stop dithering and bickering over road issues. Fix the d roads! she said. Research has shown that female legislators file more bills, pass more laws, and bring more dollars back into their districts. Former Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy, one of the ousted sister senators, had the Senates most winning record, with 14 of her bills becoming law in 2023-24, according to the Gazette. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, female legislators bring an array of issues to the table that men often completely overlook. Consider this: When state House Speaker Murrell Smith and four House GOP caucus leaders, all men of course, recently penned their top legislative priorities for next year, there was not a word about the sort of crucial issues female legislators often emphasize, such as domestic violence, childcare, food programs for children, and healthcare for struggling families. South Carolina has the nations sixth-highest rate of domestic violence. As for childcare, U.S. News in 2022 ranked South Carolina near the bottom for affordability. These are the sort of issues women care about because they often touch their lives directly or at least indirectly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Women, as the traditional caregivers of society, tend to be compassionate and practical-minded on healthcare and family issues. If women had a stronger voice in the Legislature, South Carolina might have expanded Medicaid for struggling families long ago. Our state remains one of only 10 states that have refused to expand Medicaid. Not surprisingly, several of those states are, like South Carolina, are at the bottom in legislative gender parity. South Carolina also ranks among the worst states in the nation for children, according to the annual Kids Count. Id bet a Legislature dominated by women would actively address childrens issues and, for an encore, theyd fiercely advocate for the summer food program for poor kids that Gov. Henry McMaster refuses to support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what are the priorities of GOP caucus leaders? They plan to focus their energies on school vouchers and historic income tax cuts. The real education crisis In short, if women dominated the Legislature, Id wager that theyd govern differently and more humanely. GOP leaders, in announcing their legislative goals, spoke about controversial school vouchers, which have produced mixed results in other states. But they completely neglected to address the real crisis in K-12 public education: The teacher shortage that left more than 20,000 students without a highly qualified teacher in the classroom last school year. If women had a stronger voice in the Legislature, theyd probably draw more attention to South Carolinas high rate of gun violence which devastates families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its true that women dont necessarily march in lockstep. And we shouldnt vote for a candidate merely for her gender. Theres no reason that male lawmakers cant address issues often important to women: Childcare, domestic violence, childrens well-being, education, health care and gun violence. But they dont, at least not adequately. Its pretty clear the reason we elect fewer women to state office is because we, like other conservative Southern states, often cling to traditional gender roles. That means minimizing women in public elected office even as they make gains in the private sector. That leaves us poorer and lingering at the bottom of most national rankings of well-being. The lessons are clear: When we marginalize womens voices, we all lose. Let us know what you think... KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) An African man who perpetrated a lucrative online romance scam that coaxed a victim in Knoxville into sending him more than a quarter million dollars was sentenced to federal prison on Thursday. Wigbert Bandie, 34, of Accra, Ghana, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 63 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Dog treats distributed to Tennessee recalled for potential salmonella Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was also ordered to pay more than $2 million of restitution to 11 victims. Bandie was confined to home detention in New York last year. Bandie and other co-conspirators assumed fake online identities to trick victims, who were primarily elderly, into entering friendships and romantic relationships. According to a U.S. Department of Justice release, Bandie played various roles to convince the victims to send them money under the guise of emergency financial assistance or a non-existent investment opportunity. See more top stories on WATE.com Victims, located across the United States, lost amounts ranging from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. One victim who resided in Knoxville lost over $280,000 over the course of several months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other co-conspirators functioned as money mules to move the funds from the U.S. to overseas through bank wire transfers or through the mail. Khadijah Adams, of Linden, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced in September to 60 months in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. HOLMEN, Wis (WLAX/WEUX)Its a sight you wouldnt expect to see in your neighborhood, but residents in Holmen woke up to a school bus that had crashed into a home. Thankfully, no students were on board. First News at Nines Dashal Mentzel was on the scene and has more information from local law enforcement as they continue investigating. Early Tuesday morning, residents and law enforcement in Holmen arrived at a frightening scene where a Holmen school bus had crashed. After going off the road and striking a utility pole, more than half of the bus ended up inside a house on State Street in Holmen. Holmen Police Department Patrol Officer, Aaron Hintz, explains, At about 6:20 a.m. this morning, we got a call of a traffic crash involving a school bus versus a building. We arrived on scene and found the school bus had actually struck and entered the house. The Holmen Police Department says cleaning up the accident scene has taken plenty of help. Hintz adds, Several La Crosse County Sheriffs Office deputies were here assisting initially. Wisconsin State Patrol, Holmen Fire Department, Xcel Energy, La Crosse Fire is up here doing some structural integrity checking of the residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While there hasnt been much information released about the crash, the Holmen Police Department says more will be known about the incident once the scene is cleaned up. Hintz says, Once the bus is removed, there will be an inspection by Wisconsin State Patrol. Theyll do a full inspection on the bus to see if theres any mechanical issue. The bus driver was the only occupant on the bus. The driver was uninjured, however, a resident inside the house was trapped. That person was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries. The crash took place less than half a mile from Viking Elementary School, where the districts buses are located. The school district of Holmen says the bus was on a private route when the crash happened. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX2548 & WIProud. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Lawmakers are getting a jump on what promises to be a heavy workload for the 83rd Legislative Session in Carson City. So far, 160 bills have been filed. Among the proposed laws are several aimed at schools, ranging from curriculum to student safety. Theres also legislation to toughen penalties for crimes involving older victims. And some of the bills restrict the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in campaign ads. 8 News Now offers this early look at some of the bills you will be hearing about when lawmakers convene in February. Last session, more than 1,000 bills were submitted, so follow our coverage and stay informed on what your representatives are doing. Bills in the Nevada Assembly are designated AB followed by a number, and Nevada Senate bills carry the SB before the number. School bills SB52: Read by Grade 3 requirements. Starting in the 2028-29 school year, Nevada law will require students to achieve reading skills before they can move on from third grade. With SB52, lawmakers are providing some alternative paths for promotion to fourth grade. Good-cause exemptions will be evaluated if a school principal submits a recommendation to the school district superintendent. The bill also allows a good-cause exemption based on a portfolio of the students work and mastery of academic standards in reading for grade 3. SB59: Suspending a teachers license. This legislation would add sexual impropriety with, or grooming, certain pupils to the conditions that warrant suspending a teachers license. The bill also restricts teachers with a suspended license from seeking employment with another school district. AB48: School assignments when bullying is involved. Lawmakers want to change what happens when schools try to separate bullies from their victims by reassigning schools. Instead of the victim always being sent to a new school, this legislation would make it possible to reassign the bully. Crimes against older victims SB50: Tougher on property crimes. Nevada law takes a hard line against crimes against older people, and this legislation would add to that by making theft an offense where restitution requirements apply. Parole or probation would not be considered until 80% of restitution is paid. SB60: Tougher sentencing. Another proposal seeks to expand the list of crimes that require tougher sentences when the victim is 60 or older, or falls under the vulnerable person classification. The list would grow from just burglary to residential burglary, home invasion, theft or attempted theft, forgery or attempted forgery, larceny or attempted larceny, fraud or attempted fraud, and engaging in a deceptive trade practice. The penalty for residential burglary would be doubled from its current 1-10 years to a sentence of 2-20 years. Online safety for minors SB63: Establishes the Nevada Youth Online Safety Act. This legislation would take steps to improve online safety for kids by requiring social media companies to verify the age of users, and in some instances requiring the consent of a parent or guardian. Sections of the law would require companies to disable features for those under 13. Other legislation: SB54: Respite care for homeless people. A change in how Nevada administers Medicaid could allow the government to pay for respite care if required for a homeless person. SB56: DUI testing window. This legislation would give law enforcement more time to administer blood draws or breath tests when they suspect someone is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Instead of the current standard, two hours, law enforcement would be allowed to perform the tests within three hours. SB62: Bias crimes. This legislation would establish some offenses as bias crimes linked to the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of a person or group of persons. The prohibited acts are misdemeanors not rising to the level of hate crimes: tampering or interfering with personal property with the intent to annoy or inconvenience, offensive physical contact, or threats. SB69: Tax abatements. Companies that get tax breaks for locating in Nevada would have to meet certain requirements for notifying local governments in addition to current requirements to work with state officials. The legislation states plainly that any documents to meet the requirements are not available to the public, ensuring secrecy for the big companies and the deals they enter into allowing them to avoid taxes. AB44: Prohibitions on price gouging. Its not enough to protest when businesses try to make a little extra money when they think they can get away with it. Lawmakers have to define what qualifies as price gouging, and thats what AB44 tries to do. The bill specifies essential goods and services including food, medicine, and shelter, and defines what rises to the level of price gouging: The price for which results in the person paying more than $750 for the good or service over a 30-day period or $9,000 for the good or service over a 1-year period. AB55: Tracking impairment deaths. The coroner would be required to do a blood test for impairment involving a traffic death. The information would be tracked in a database available to law enforcement agencies and other appropriate persons. AB63: Assistance after wrongful convictions. This legislation would allow for wrongfully convicted people to get college tuition, medicare and housing assistance with a limit of $100,000 in a calendar year. AB70: County voice in renewable energy. The massive solar development happening now in Nevada has left counties powerless to control how federal land is being used and often on the hook to provide fire protection and infrastructure. This legislation would require counties to be heard in the approval process. AB73: Synthetic media disclosures. Disinformation, deepfakes, and other concerns make it hard to trust what you see and hear in politics. Nevada lawmakers will take on the issue with AB73, which requires campaign ads that have synthetic media a term related to AI creation or manipulation be disclosed and on a public list. Violations would result in a $50,000 fine. AB79: Abuse of PAC money. Money collected by political action committees (PACs) cant be used for just anything. But it might surprise you what it can be used for including, in some cases, child care costs, care for an elderly parent. This bill lays out requirements and makes the elected public officer report the use of unspent contributions on a campaign finance report. Other requirements dictate how the money must be handled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More information on these bills is available online at https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/83rd2025/Bills/List. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Dr. Stephanie A. Fryberg Founding Director, Research for Indigenous Social Action & Equity Center (RISE) at Northwestern University Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University In our data-driven world, numbers often masquerade as irrefutable facts. Yet, for Native communities, data can be a double-edged sword capable of both empowering and erasing. The importance of gathering accurate and comprehensive data cannot be overstated, but it is equally crucial to recognize and challenge flawed information, particularly concerning historically marginalized groups. The recent 2024 general election exit polls provide a pertinent example of this issue. While these polls are intended to capture voter preferences and sentiments, they often fall short in accurately representing Native American voices. Our analysis of the 2024 exit poll dataset indicated that Native voters were underrepresented, with a small sample size creating misleading conclusions about electoral preferences. The media, tasked with informing the public, is not immune to data illiteracy, particularly when it comes to Native Americans. The aftermath of the 2024 general election has starkly illustrated how journalists fall victim to erroneous data, propagating narratives that rely on polls with questionable methodology that would not hold up to scientific rigor. This misrepresentation is not merely an academic concern; it has tangible consequences for our communities. All too often, Native peoples are either excluded from datasets or represented by such small sample sizes that meaningful conclusions become impossible. This systematic underrepresentation in research and statistics leads to a significant gap in our understanding of Indigenous communities' unique challenges and needs, effectively rendering our experiences invisible. For example, while exit polls indicated shifts in voter preferences among various demographics, the lack of robust data on Native voters raised serious questions about our actual electoral impact and priorities. This statistical invisibility perpetuates harmful stereotypes and omission from critical policy decisions, effectively erasing Native experiences from the national conversation. Consequently, policies and interventions based on such incomplete data often fail to adequately address the realities faced by Native communities, perpetuating cycles of inequity and marginalization. As consumers of information, we all have a responsibility to approach data with a critical eye, especially when it pertains to underrepresented groups. Recognizing the limitations of many polls and advocating for more inclusive data collection methods can help ensure that the voices of Native communities are heard and considered in future electoral processes and policy discussions. As a Native scientist and a researcher, here are some key questions I ask when evaluating data about my people: Who conducted the research? Look for the authors of the research or the data source. Many news channels use a third party firm to conduct their research and/or polling. Make sure to look for the source of the information and not just the headline. The 2024 general election exit poll was conducted by Edison Research on behalf of several national news organizations none of which were Native-led. Native-led research and collaborative efforts with tribal governments and Native organizations provide more comprehensive and authentic insights, highlighting the complex realities of Indigenous communities through culturally informed and contextually grounded data collection methodologies. While representation is crucial, it's not a guarantee of unbiased or high-quality research. There have been instances where a small sample of individuals from within a community has been used to make broad, potentially misleading claims about the entire group, highlighting the importance of scrutinizing research methodologies. What is the sample size? In this case, a sample size is the total number of people who were surveyed as part of the data set. If there are a total of 9.7 million Native American and Alaska Native people in this country, does the sample size seem representative? The exit polling that followed the 2024 general election had a sample size of approximately 229 individuals who self-identified as Native. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States, each with different cultures and practices. This sample is far too small for larger insights into Indigenous voting patterns. Small samples, such as this one, can lead to unreliable conclusions that misrepresent the attitudes and experiences of Native Americans. What are the demographics of the poll? When evaluating polls or surveys, it's crucial to consider whether people from rural or tribal communities are adequately represented in the sample. Standard census data often falls short in capturing these populations accurately, particularly in remote or reservation areas. For instance, the U.S. Census has historically undercounted Native Americans living on reservations, sometimes by significant margins. This underrepresentation in baseline data can lead to skewed results in polls that rely on census information for their sampling frameworks, potentially misrepresenting the views and experiences of entire communities. Census data, often touted as the gold standard for polling integrity, consistently fails to adequately represent Native peoples, perpetuating a cycle of statistical invisibility. To rectify this systemic oversight and ensure accurate insights, polling methodologies need to prioritize far-reaching and diverse data collection strategies that authentically capture the complexities of Indigenous experiences. In the case of the 2024 general election exit poll, individuals were asked to self-report different facets of their identity such as age, ethnicity, geographic location, income, and more along with their voting behavior. With 80 percent of respondents to the 2024 exit poll identifying as urban or suburban, we know that many of our tribal communities were underrepresented similarly to how we are omitted from the decennial Census data. Where and how were people surveyed? Our Native communities are not one dimensional. We live in all corners of the country, from remote villages to urban centers to checkerboard reservations. Taking a close look at the representation in the diversity of Indian Country and how it is represented on a map is important. Methods that work in urban centers may fail to capture the experiences of those living on rural reservations, often in remote locations with lack of access to technology and high speed internet. Exit polling in 2024 was conducted at 279 election-day polling places and 27 early in-person voting locations, as well as via phone, text, and email. None of the polling was done on tribal land. By asking these questions, we can begin to distinguish between reliable data and information that misrepresents Native experiences. This critical approach is essential not just for us as media consumers, but for journalists, policymakers, and researchers as well. Proper representation requires thoughtful and culturally sensitive approaches to data collection, particularly in the context of national elections. Pollsters and researchers face unique challenges when working with Native communities, as evidenced by the exit polls that employed flawed methodologies in an attempt to capture Native voter preferences. "None of the polling was done on tribal land." Dr. Stephanie A. Fryberg Historical mistreatment and exploitation have fostered deep-seated mistrust in many tribal contexts. Overcoming this barrier demands building long-term relationships, engaging communities as partners, and embracing transparency throughout the research process. The recent exit polls highlighted significant issues, such as small sample sizes and inadequate representation of individuals living on reservations, which routinely alienate Native voices from important discussions by misrepresenting our realities and perspectives, ultimately perpetuating a cycle of ignorance and omission in national discourse and policy-making processes. A one-size-fits-all approach is doomed to failure; instead, methodologies must be tailored to specific tribal contexts to ensure that the data reflects the diverse realities of Indigenous peoples. To truly understand and evaluate survey data on Native communities, we must demand transparency in the research methodologies employed. This includes scrutinizing how questions were framed, who was involved in designing the survey, and how data was collected and interpreted. This transparency allows for critical examination of potential biases and ensures that Indigenous perspectives are accurately represented. However, to truly improve data quality and representation we must amplify Native-led research efforts. Increasing Native involvement in designing and conducting polls and research can dramatically improve cultural relevance and community trust in the process. This shift not only gathers more accurate data, but also empowers Native communities to correct and shape the narratives told about them. The stakes are high. Flawed data has real-world consequences for Native communities, while accurate, culturally sensitive data collection can drive positive change, inform effective policies, and empower Native voices in the national discourse. As we strive for a more equitable society, we must recognize that data is not neutral. It reflects the biases, limitations, and priorities of those who collect and interpret it. By demanding better data about Native peoples, supporting Native-led research initiatives, and honing our ability to spot problematic data, we take crucial steps toward a more accurate and just representation of Native experiences in our national conversation. Dr. Stephanie A. Fryberg (Tulalip) is the Founding Director of the Research for Indigenous Social Action & Equity Center (RISE) and Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University. Bridging the fields of social and cultural psychology and Indigenous studies at the RISE Center, Dr. Fryberg and her team conduct rigorous research to understand Indigenous experiences, uplift Indigenous voices, and address the systemic disparities facing Native communities. To learn more about RISE and Dr. Frybergs work visit https://sites.northwestern.edu/rise. This opinion-editorial essay does not reflect the views of ICT; voices in our opinion section represent a variety of reader points of view. If you would like to contribute an essay to ICT, email opinion@ictnews.org. More information about our guidelines: Submission guidelines. A New York federal judge denied Sean "Diddy" Combs' request to be released on bail, finding "by clear and convincing evidence" that the hip-hop mogul is potentially dangerous and "that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community." Judge Arun Subramanian decided "there is compelling evidence of Combs's propensity for violence," including video obtained by CNN from the 2016 Intercontinental Hotel incident with protege Cassie Ventura. While the defense argued the footage was edited and manipulated the judge said, "There is clearly violence even in the version of the footage submitted by Combs." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both federal prosecutors and Combs' attorneys submitted their final letters about whether the music mogul should be allowed out on bail on Monday. This is the fourth time he was denied bail. PHOTO: Sean 'Diddy' Combs attends Sean 'Diddy' Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming's Yardfest at Howard University, Oct. 20, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images ) Prosecutors argued that Combs' attempt to influence witnesses while in jail "constitutes obstruction" of his criminal case. They also called out Combs' "recent efforts to influence the jury pool" through a social media campaign organized by his children. MORE: Attorney for many Diddy accusers sued for alleged 'extortionate plot' Combs' attorneys said their client's conduct was protected free speech, meant to combat "outrageous claims about Mr. Combs" by "government agents, plaintiffs' attorneys, and others with questionable motives." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge also cited text messages between Combs and Ventura from the hours and days following the encounter. "I have a black eye and a fat lip. You are sick for thinking it's OK to do what you've done," one message said. "I still have crazy bruising," said another. Combs proposed home confinement in a three-bedroom Upper East Side apartment with 24/7 private security, limits on visitors and restrictions on his communications. Still, the judge said, "Given the nature of the allegations in this case and the information provided by the government, the Court doubts the sufficiency of any conditions that place trust in Combs and individuals in his employlike a private security detailto follow those conditions." MORE: Sean Combs' lawyers say video of alleged assault on girlfriend was 'manipulated' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last Friday, the defense called the proposed conditions "far more restrictive" than Combs faces in jail. They included limiting phone calls to lawyers, restricting visitors other than lawyers and specific family members, keeping a visitation log, and avoiding contact with witnesses or potential witnesses. However, federal prosecutors have said there are no conditions that can reduce Combs' risk of tampering with witnesses or shaping the opinions of potential jurors. In court last Friday, prosecutors summarily said that Combs "cannot be trusted" to follow the rules of a pretrial release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge sided with the prosecution's argument. In his decision, Subramanian cited "evidence supporting a serious risk of witness tampering," including Combs' calls and texts with witnesses, and his flouting of jailhouse rules, like using the phone access codes of other inmates at MDC-Brooklyn. "[Combs'] willingness to skirt BOP rules in a way that would make it more difficult for his communications to be monitored is strong evidence that the Court cannot be reasonably assure[d] as to the sufficiency of any conditions of release," Subramanian said. Subramanian is the fourth judge to deny Combs bail after a federal magistrate, the prior district court judge assigned to the case and an appeals court judge. Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail as judge declares hip-hop mogul poses serious danger originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Youre invited to take part in a workshop or a survey that is part of research about data classification for Australian industry. .Whether you intend the workshop or not we encourage you to assist our research by completing a survey on our registration page invite below. CSIROs Data61 and the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (Aus3C) invite you to share your insights and experiences in one of our upcoming workshops or via a survey. We want you to help us develop a Voluntary Data Classification Framework (VDCF) for the Australian industry a key measure under the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy. Findings from the study will help inform the design of a Voluntary Data Classification Framework that considers the needs of, and provides benefits to Australian industry. Voluntary Data Classification Framework Workshop Dates and Times (Local Times unless Specified) Sydney - Tuesday 3rd December - 9:30am - 12:30pm Hosted at UTS, Broadway 2007 Brisbane - Wednesday 4th December - 9:30am - 12:30pm Hosted at UQ, St. Lucia 4072 Virtual - Monday 9th December - 1:30pm - 4:30pm (Syd/Melb +11:00 GMT) Melbourne - Tuesday 10th December - 9:30am - 12:30pm Hosted at NBN, Docklands 3008 Adelaide - Thursday 12th December - 1:45pm - 4:45pm Hosted at Aus3C, Lot Fourteen 5000 Dont miss out FREE WORKSHOP - REGISTER HERE also please complete survey whether your register or not Sean Diddy Combs was denied bail a third time on Wednesday, with a judge citing risk of witness tampering and evidence of violating regulations that prevent him from communicating with third parties. The decision was made by Judge Arun Subramanian after a hearing in New York that weighed the conditions of ensuring safety in the community. Council for Combs had offered a $50 million bond backed by equity in his homes, the promise of security monitoring and assurance that he would not interfere with investigations surrounding his charges. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ruling stated that there is evidence of supporting a serious risk of witness tampering, and that Combs contacted witnesses even after his grand jury testimony in June 2024. The judge also stated that there is evidence that Combs violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during his pretrial detention to obscure his communications with third parties. According to the ruling, Combs paid other inmates to make calls to those not on his approved contact list, and asked family members and defense council to facilitate three-way calls to make them more difficult to trace. Because of the aforementioned infractions, the court determined that his willingness to skirt BOP rules in a way that would make it more difficult for his communications to be monitored is strong evidence that the Court cannot be reasonably assured as to the sufficiency of any conditions of release. At a hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik had said that Combs cannot and will not follow rules and cannot be trusted. She also claimed that his council was not able to control their client. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Combs is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. after being arrested on Sept. 16 by Homeland Security on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Combs remains behind bars until his trial in May of next year. If found guilty of racketeering, Combs could face life in prison. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CHICAGO Chicago police offered new details Tuesday on the search for a man who officers say has been missing from the citys South Side for nearly three years. According to Chicago police, 34-year-old Mark Brown Jr., who is also known to go by the names Markey and Key, has been missing from the Woodlawn neighborhood since Feb 27, 2022. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Officers said the missing man was last seen by family members in the 600 block of West 76th Street, in Auburn Gresham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said the missing man was last spotted wearing a purple and a black puffy jacket with black jeans. Brown, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs around 175 pounds, has brown eyes and short Black dreadlock braids. Search continues for man missing from South Side for nearly 3 years Police said Brown is also known to have large tattoos on his face and neck. A photo provided by Chicago police shows the missing man with a mustache, but it is unclear if he had one at the time of his disappearance. Police offered new details about the man in an updated news release that was sent out on Tuesday afternoon. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 34-year-old Mark Brown Jr. is asked to contact the CPD Area One SVU Office at 312-747-8380 or dial 911. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those with information that could help authorities in their investigation can also leave a tip at CPDtip.com. Tips can be filed anonymously. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The search for Susan Lane-Fournier began after authorities were unable to find the 61 year old at her home on Nov. 22 when she did not show up for work Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Susan Lane-Fournier, the woman who disappeared in Oregon with her two dogs Susan Lane-Fournier, the woman who disappeared in Oregon with her two dogs Authorities in Oregon have called off the search for a woman whose truck was found after she disappeared with her two dogs. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) announced on Tuesday, Nov. 25, that the search for Susan Lane-Fournier had been suspended after four days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crews began the search after sheriffs deputies were unable to find the 61 year old at her home on Friday, Nov. 22 after her employer said she didnt come to work. The next day, authorities said a "community member reported seeing Susans white 1992 Ford F-250 parked along E. Salmon River Road near the Green Canyon Way Trail south of Welches. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Related: What Happened to Hannah Kobayashi? What We Know About the Hawaii Woman Who Went Missing After Not Getting on a Connecting Flight But as of Tuesday, Nov. 26, the search for Lane-Fournier, who also goes by the name Phoenix, has been called off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Based on weather conditions and the likelihood of survivability, the decision was made to suspend operations after all four volunteer search teams returned from the field, the sheriff's office said in an update. Dozens of different volunteers assisted with the search for Lane-Fournier, spending more than 800 search hours looking for the missing woman, according to the sheriffs department. Lane-Fourniers friend Cari Gesch was the one who spotted her truck on Saturday, Nov. 23, according to NBC affiliate KGW, Gesch told the outlet that Lane-Fournier is an experienced hiker and described her as the most kindest, most loving person she knew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Brother of Fla. Woman Missing in Spain Says Family Members Still Have Hope: We Miss Her "We're just all concerned," Gesch said at the time. "It's not like her to not show up to work, not call and no one's seen or heard anything. ... She's a little bit eccentric but everyone up here on this mountain is a little bit eccentric. Gesch also called Lane-Fournier's dogs "her protectors, adding, Those were guard dogs. I mean, if anybody would get near her, they would lose their minds. 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. Shortly before the search was called off on Nov. 26, Lane-Fourniers son Dakota Lane told ABC affiliate KATU that he and others were not giving up hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's better to assume and not act than assume and act and we're just trying to remain calm, stoic and hope for the best, Lane said. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Related: 17 Missing After Newly-Built Tourist Yacht Capsizes During 5-Day Trip on the Red Sea Though the search has been suspended, the sheriff's office said investigators still want to speak with anyone who saw Lane-Fournier before her disappearance or who has information about her whereabouts the week leading up to her disappearance. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Lane-Fournier or her dogs is asked to contact the Clackamas County Sheriff's Offices non-emergency dispatch line at 503-655-8211. Search teams spent hundreds of hours looking for a 61-year-old woman and her two dogs in the wilderness near Mount Hood before calling off efforts, Oregon deputies said. But her friends and community wonder if she was ever there to begin with. Authorities stopped search efforts for Susan Lane-Fournier, known as Phoenix, Tuesday, Nov. 26, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lane-Fournier never showed up to work Friday, Nov. 22 and has been missing ever since. Rescue teams spent four days in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, which is in the Mount Hood National Forest, trying to find any sign of the missing woman from Brightwood and her two dogs. But because of weather conditions and the likelihood of survivability, operations were called off, deputies said. Phoenixs wolf-dogs who are also missing Susan Lane-Fournier Posted by Christen Nicole on Sunday, November 24, 2024 Multiple teams spent over 800 search hours looking for Lane-Fournier and her animals. In addition to on the ground teams, drones and police dogs were used, deputies said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputies said her case hasnt been closed. Investigators are looking to talk to anyone who saw her before she vanished. Anyone with information can call the sheriffs office non-emergency dispatch line at 503-655-8211. Tips can also be made by calling 503-723-4949 or by submitting an online tip. Reference case number 24-024698. Susan Phoenix Lane-Fourniers truck is pictured abandoned near the trail. Community wonders if she was in forest Lane-Fourniers community has a lot of questions about her disappearance, with some wondering if she was ever in the wilderness to begin with. None of us ever believed she was up that trail. Suspension of the search just confirms that. Our focus continues to be finding her, her friend Cari Gesch told McClatchy News Nov. 27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gesch was hiking the Old Salmon River Trail on Saturday, Nov. 23, when she spotted her friends white 1992 Ford F-250 parked suspiciously along Salmon River Road, McClatchy News reported. At this point, Lane-Fournier hadnt shown up for work that day or the day before, Gesch said. She worked at the Hoodland Bazaar in Welches and was a beloved member in the community. The discovery of her abandoned truck sparked search efforts for the missing woman in the wilderness area, deputies said. But Gesch said it was a strange area for Lane-Fournier to bring her dogs to as the trail is popular, and her dogs are not people friendly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were her protectors. Those were guard dogs. I mean, if anybody would get near her, they would lose their minds, Gesch previously told McClatchy News. Although search teams have been halted, Gesch said the community is continuing to share her missing person flyer and post them around the area. Missing person flyer for Susan Phoenix Lane-Fournier. We are not giving up on finding her and getting justice for her if necessary without impeding the investigation, Gesch said. Welches is about a 45-mile drive southeast from Portland. NEWS RELEASE: Sheriff's Office continues searching for missing hiker in the Mt. Hood National Forest near Welches CCSO... Posted by Faithfully Found on Monday, November 25, 2024 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teacher clings to log in stream for hours before death, OR cops say. Heart is broken Lost hunter tries to start fire with binoculars for warmth in Colorado, rescuers say Lost hiker wearing only shorts spends cold night in concrete tube, Arizona cops say SEASIDE The Seaside City Council agreed to pursue a model ordinance for regulating flood plain development during a meeting Monday night. The agreement comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed local jurisdictions that they would be required to commit to new preimplementation compliance measures by Dec. 1. FEMA has been working to bring the National Flood Insurance Program into compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency has required cities to either adopt a model ordinance that considers impacts to species and habitat, conduct a habitat assessment and mitigation plan for development on a permit-by-permit basis, or prohibit development in flood plain areas. The new federal plan isn't expected to be implemented until 2027. Local government leaders on the North Coast have been critical of the process and have warned residents and businesses about potential impacts. The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners has committed $25,000 to the Oregonians for Floodplain Protection litigation fund. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A second person has been arrested and is facing two felony charges in connection to the fatal Murray shooting on Thursday, Nov. 21. Jackson Baka Issa faces charges of felony obstruction of justice and soliciting/encouraging an unlawful transaction of a firearm, a third-degree felony. 22-year-old facing murder charges after fatal shooting in Murray On Nov. 21, police in Murray responded to a call of shots fired at 4460 S. Fairbourne Ave. Witnesses told police at the scene that three males, identified as Pirawn Mula, 22, Issa, 24, and another male identified by his street name Jafari went and confronted the victim, identified as Panoum Jangjuol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say Jangjuol and Mula got into an altercation which led to Mula shooting and killing him. Jangjuol was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Issa, Mula, and the other male left the scene before the police arrived. Mula was arrested on Nov. 22 and booked in the Salt Lake County Jail. Issa was located by Murray police on Nov. 25. During Issas arrest, police found a 40-caliber handgun on Issas person and booked it for examination. Along with the weapon, police say they found Issa was on probation and violating his probation by not contacting his probation officer. Police booked Issa into Salt Lake County Jail on the aforementioned charges and have asked for continued detention due to him being a witness to a homicide and a fugitive of justice. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. The children of Richard McCoy II, a convicted skyjacker, believe their father might be DB Cooper, the mysterious figure behind a famous 1971 skyjacking. This case is the only unsolved skyjacking in US history, but new evidence has now emerged. Months after the Cooper incident, McCoy committed a similar skyjacking involving a parachute jump. His children, Chante and Richard III (Rick) have long thought the similarities pointed to their father, and now they may have proof. Decades-old parachute Chante and Rick kept quiet for years because they thought their mother, Karen, might have helped with both crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With both parents now deceased, the siblings feel free to share their suspicions. They claim to have found a modified parachute used in the escape. That rig is literally one in a billion, said Gryder, who released a YouTube series discussing the case. His series attracted the FBI's interest again. The FBI reportedly now has the parachute and harness found in a storage shed on family property in North Carolina, along with a skydiving logbook that Chante believes shows DB Cooper's movements in Oregon and Utah. This is the first real action the FBI has taken on the case since it closed in 2016. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After reviewing the new evidence, the FBI searched the familys property for four hours with over a dozen agents. The unique changes made to the parachute might be crucial for solving this decades-old mystery. The FBI knows that the original parachutes were altered by Earl Cossey, a skydiver who worked with them until his murder in 2013. If the new parachute matches Cosseys alterations, it could help find out who DB Cooper really was. DB Cooper The mystery of DB Cooper has become legendary, and amateur detectives have discussed many theories in books and documentaries. One book from the 1990s, "DB Cooper: The Real McCoy," even suggested that McCoy was the culprit, but it was pulled from publication after Karen sued for libel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On November 24, 1971, DB Cooper, who called himself Dan, bought a one-way ticket to Portland using cash and got on Northwest Orient Flight 305 without showing ID. He handed a flight attendant a note saying he had a bomb. Cooper opened his briefcase to show what looked like a bomb and demanded $200,000, several parachutes, and a refueling truck in Seattle so he could fly to Mexico City. Once Cooper's demands were met, the flight, which should have been 30 minutes, became a two-hour loop over Puget Sound while ground crews prepared. Cooper let the 35 passengers and some crew members go and then dictated the flight path and settings to the remaining crew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After finishing the negotiations, Cooper and the four remaining crew members took off again. Somewhere over Washington, Cooper opened the rear staircase and parachuted out of the plane, but no one knew exactly when or where he jumped. Efforts to find him yielded nothing, and experts have struggled to pinpoint a search area because of the many unknowns involved in the night jump. CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Authorities are asking for the publics help in locating a missing 11-year-old girl from the Charlotte area. Elisa Oziah Moore was last seen on foot around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, leaving her home in the 11000 block of Gold Pan Road in east Charlotte. She was carrying a pink and black backpack with the writing Justice on it and was wearing light-colored pants and a jacket with crocs. Shes described as 52 tall, weighing 200 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moores family is very concerned for her safety and well-being, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said on Wednesday. Anyone who has information about Moore is asked to call 911 immediately. This is a Developing Story . Check back for updates Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. UPDATE: Boston police have located 14-year-old Arrihanna Limas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Boston Police Department are seeking the publics help in searching for 14-year-old Arrihanna Limas. Limas was last seen on Tuesday, November 26, leaving for school at 20 Warren Street in Brighton. Limas was reportedly last in contact with her mother at 11:00pm that evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the time, Limas was staying with an unknown friend who possibly lives in the area of Bird Street in Dorchester. Limas was last seen wearing a black and white sweater with blue jeans. If you or someone you know has any information regarding Limas whereabouts, Boston police are asking you to call 911 or Detectives at 617-343-5619. For those who wish to report anonymously, call CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800 (494) -TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463). This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Wavelink, an Infinigate Group company and a leader in providing enterprise solutions to the channel, has recently expanded its SecurePath industry employment initiative from Adelaide to Melbourne, continuing efforts to connect emerging cybersecurity professionals with industry leaders. The initiative, originally launched in Adelaide, responds to Australias pressing need for skilled cybersecurity experts. Estimates indicate a shortfall of around 16,600 cybersecurity professionals by 2026, making programs like SecurePath critical in closing the gap.[1] The inaugural SecurePath event was held in Adelaide last year, connecting over 100 students from the University of South Australia and TAFE SA with Wavelink and its partners, and Fortinet. This year, the event returned to Adelaide, drawing between 90 and 100 attendees, and expanded into Melbourne, where it welcomed more than 100 Victorian students from institutions like Melbourne Polytechnic, Federation University Australia, Holmesglen Institute, and Swinburne University. Across both cities, students engaged with Wavelinks diverse network of partners, including Optimus Systems, Bridged Group, Honeylight Consulting, BluBiz Solutions, Arxis, Wireless Communications, Compnow, Iocane, Vocus, Subnet, Comunet, and Duco Limited. The initiative helps students kickstart their careers in cybersecurity, particularly those who have completed Fortinet NSE4 training as part of their core curriculum. Timed to align with the end of their studies, the recent events featured a speed-networking format that let students engage directly with representatives from Wavelinks partners. Nick Touzeau, chief operating officer, Wavelink, said, Wavelinks partners face challenges in finding skilled cybersecurity talent consistently, particularly as the demand for security professionals continues to rise. Wavelink created the SecurePath initiative to help partners access fresh talent and bridge this skills gap. This initiative also lets Wavelink contribute to Australias cybersecurity community and job market by supporting the next generation of professionals. Trent White, chief technology officer, Wireless Communications, said, The shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals in Australia is a real challenge for businesses like Wireless Communications. The SecurePath program offers a unique setting where we can connect with graduates in a social environment, helping us identify potential hires who fit the Wireless Communications culture. Last year, we hired three students directly from the Adelaide event, and theyve quickly become valuable members of our team. Its a great way to turn informal conversations into future job opportunities, and were excited to build more genuine connections with people who are passionate about cybersecurity. One student, who attended the first Adelaide event and now works at Wireless Communications, reflected on the experience. Cooper Laheney, ICT Support Engineer at Wireless Communications, said, Breaking into cybersecurity can be tough, especially for students looking for their first role. This event made it possible to meet and speak directly with companies in my city, giving me a clear understanding of what they expect. The insights I gained helped me transition from student to professional. I recommend any tertiary student looking to get a career in cybersecurity to attend and take advantage of the networking opportunities this event offers. Wavelink is committed to continuing the SecurePath initiative, seeking to broaden its impact while addressing the cybersecurity skills shortage in Australia. For more details, visit the Wavelink website. About Wavelink Wavelink, an Infinigate Group company, is a fast-growing Australian IT distributor providing leading-edge cybersecurity and mobility enterprise solutions to the channel. Wavelink is renowned for its trust and significant recognition in the Australian market. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Melbourne, Wavelink employs over 60 staff nationally. The company offers a diverse portfolio of market-leading vendors that provide partners with complete solutions via technology expertise, local market knowledge, comprehensive enablement and support programs as well as a range of industry-leading services. For more information, visit www.wavelink.com.au. [1] https://www.austcyber.com/resources/sector-competitiveness-plan-2019/chapter3 Travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Nov. 26, 2024. Credit - Lokman Vural ElibolAnadolu/Getty Images Why is flying so expensive these days? A Democratic congressional panel blames junk fees. In a 55-page report, the majority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released on Tuesday its findings after a year-long inquiry into five U.S. airlines ancillary fees, which the report said have led to higher costs and worse experiences for consumers and, in some cases, tax avoidance by the airlines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our investigation has exposed new details about airlines exploiting passengers with sky high junk fees, said the subcommittees chair, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in a statement. This report pulls back the curtain on tactics like dynamic pricing that burden travelers and boost airline revenue. Executives from the five airlinesAmerican, Delta, United, Frontier and Spiritwill testify at a hearing on Dec. 4. As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend, Blumenthal said, we regret that travelers will be charged millions of dollars in fees that have no basis in cost to the airlines but simply fatten their bottom lines. Takeaways from the report The report, which was based in large part on information provided to the subcommittee by the airlines, found that the practice of unbundling, or charging separately for goods and services that were once included in the price of a ticket, has led to billions of dollars in revenue for the airlines, while obscuring and raising costs for consumers. The five airlines in question are making more money from seat fees than ever before, the report asserts, highlighting how such fees didnt exist at most airlines two decades ago. Now, passengers face extra charges for things like seat selection and additional legroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And while ancillary fees are meant to be optional, the report suggests that some fees are charged for aspects of travel that are not reasonably avoidable, such as families that include minors sitting together or low-fare passengers having any carry-on baggage. In some cases, ancillary fees appear to be used by airlines to avoid a federal aviation transportation excise tax of 7.5% of the amount paid for taxable transportation. The tax helps to fund the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Airlines are exempt from paying the tax on separable, nontransportation charges, but different airlines differ on what they consider to be nontaxable charges, resulting in a significant shortfall for the trust fund. Nontaxable charges, however, are meant to fulfill three criteria: that they are not reasonably necessary to the air transportation itself, are optional, and that the amount charged bears a reasonable relation to the cost of providing the service. The report alleges that some airlines charge ancillary fees that do not meet these criteria while also not paying the transportation tax on them. The report says that all the airlines were reluctant to provide info on the costs incurred to provide fee-based services, telling the subcommittee that they dont track that information. The report alleges that many fee-based services are in fact unconnected to the actual cost of providing that service, especially in the case of dynamic pricing, in which airlines use algorithms to constantly adjust fee prices based on customer data. Such a practice also obstructs customers ability to compare prices across airlines, though the report also notes that mergers and consolidations of airlines over the years have already limited consumers options and allowed the remaining companies to raise costs across the board, including ancillary fees. Consolidation has also resulted in a worse customer experience, the report says, citing a massive increase in complaints about air travel. Overall, the report concludes with three recommendations: that Congress require airlines to provide more granular fee data to the Department of Transportation and strengthen requirements for airlines to be transparent to customers about fees; that the Department of Transportation investigate and punish potential abuses of incentive-based collection of ancillary fees, citing how Frontier and Spirit airlines have paid gate agents a commission for spotting passengers who may have violated airline bag policies and forcing them to pay a bag fee or miss their flighta practice the report says may inappropriately encourage abuse of discretion; and that the Treasury Department ensure that the transportation tax rules are uniformly understood and enforced, particularly when it comes to airlines ancillary fees. How the airlines have responded Delta and American Airlines referred TIME to industry lobby group Airlines for America, which dismissed the report as just another holiday travel talking point in a statement. The report demonstrates a clear failure by the subcommittee to understand the value the highly competitive U.S. airline industry brings to customers and employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Airlines for America argued that a la carte rather than one-size-fits-all pricing benefits consumers and has democratized air travel by lowering costs so that Americans of all income levels can afford to fly because they are offered a choice of services that they can forgo based on their own needs and desires. The group added that all its members comply with all laws and regulations, including those on taxes and fees. Any suggestion otherwise is uninformed and inaccurate. Delta also provided a separate statement, saying that it has voluntarily responded to the Subcommittees sweeping requests, including providing documents and information, responding to numerous rounds of requests and follow-ons, and providing a senior level employee and subject matter expert at the Subcommittees request for a lengthy interview to discuss ancillary fees and that it looks forward to the continued dialogue with the Subcommittee including appearing at next weeks hearing. Delta added that, next to safety, its number one priority is taking care of our people and our customers and includes our commitment to providing a choice of fare products that best meets our customers specific travel needs. In separate statements provided to TIME, Frontier and Spirit, the two ultra low cost carriers (ULCC) of the group, appeared to acknowledge their airport practices addressed by the report. Frontier said its gate agent incentive policy is meant to ensure compliance with bag size requirements so that all customers are treated equally and fairly, including the majority who comply with the rules, while Spirit similarly said that its airport policies ensure Guests are treated fairly and equally. Both airlines also said they comply with IRS rules. Frontier added that its unbundled services model has democratized air travel, enabling millions of individuals, families, and small businesses who otherwise would not or could not afford to travel the opportunity to travel by air. It has also had the additional competitive effect for consumers of inducing other airlines, particularly non-ULCC airlines, to reduce their fares and to introduce new, lower-fare products into the marketplace. United Airlines declined to comment. Contact us at letters@time.com. Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics teams latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In todays edition, two of our Capitol Hill experts, Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp V, break down the key senators to watch in the confirmation battles over Donald Trump's Cabinet. Plus, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki takes a break from election data to dive into the polling around what Americans plan to serve at Thanksgiving this year. Programming note: From the Politics Desk is taking a holiday break the rest of the week. Well be back in your inbox on Monday, Dec. 2. Have a happy Thanksgiving! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. The key senators to watch in the fight over Trumps Cabinet By Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp V President-elect Donald Trump is poised to kick off his second term by sending the Senate an unconventional slate of nominees for powerful executive branch positions, seeing his 2024 victory as validation of a voter desire for disruption. But how much disruption will Americas cooling saucer tolerate? The Senate will be split 53-47 in favor of the Republicans next year, meaning they can lose no more than three votes to confirm nominees without requiring some bipartisan support. A 50-50 tie can be broken by Vice President-elect JD Vance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are the key senators to watch in the nomination battles. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine: The five-term centrist intends to run for re-election in 2026 after Trump lost her state by 7 points. Trumps Cabinet picks present an opening for Collins to further demonstrate her independent streak if she chooses to vote against some of Trumps more controversial picks. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska: The moderate has already shown a willingness to be outspoken on Trumps Cabinet picks, dismissing Matt Gaetz as an unserious choice for attorney general before he withdrew from consideration. Murkowski is also a rare Republican who supports bringing back the abortion rights protections included in Roe v. Wade, which could play a role in health care-related positions. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: McConnell is the ultimate free agent as he relinquishes the job of Senate Republican leader after a record 18 years. His quarrels and disagreements with Trump are well documented. As GOP leader, McConnells style was usually to read the political winds within his party and follow them. Now, he doesnt have to. The Cabinet nominees could be an opportunity for him to flex his muscle and use his vote to shape Trumps agenda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.: Tillis faces re-election in 2026 after winning his first two elections by less than 2 points. Hell need to balance appealing to a general electorate in a purple state with securing renomination from a GOP base that has shown a willingness to veer to the right. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.: Fetterman has also carved out a unique identity by breaking with his partys left through his unrelenting support of Israel despite the civilian casualties caused by its military campaign in Gaza and his remark that Democrats lost ourselves when it came to key issues like immigration. In a party thats currently doing some soul-searching, his voice could play a major role in that conversation for Democrats. Also on the list: Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah; and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. Read more from Sahil and Frank What Americans will be feasting on this Thanksgiving By Steve Kornacki It turns out theres still something out there that can transcend the countrys deep political and cultural divides and bring Americans together: a big old Butterball. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A new Economist/YouGov poll finds that 67% of Americans who will celebrate Thanksgiving this week plan to have turkey on their plates. And, in a refreshing break from every single political poll during the presidential campaign, the crosstabs in this survey find nothing but consensus on this meal choice. * Theres no gender gap: 69% of men and 66% of women say theyll be feasting on turkey. * Nor is there a racial gap: 69% of white and Hispanic Americans will have turkey, as will 68% of African Americans. * And theres not even a meaningful partisan divide: 73% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats say turkey will be part of their meal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of course, Thanksgiving typically involves stuffing yourself silly with more than just turkey. And there are five other dishes that lesser majorities of Americans report they will also be noshing on. * Mashed potatoes: 56% * Bread or rolls: 55% * Pie: 54% * Gravy: 51% * Stuffing: 51% Curiously, when it comes to these items, some small partisan fissures do begin to emerge. Sixty-five percent of Republicans will have mashed potatoes, while only 50% of Democrats plan to. And gravy will be served to 59% of Republicans and only 46% of Democrats. Why the tastes of partisans would diverge at all on these two foods is, alas, beyond our remit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for whatll make up the rest of Americans Turkey Day menus, theres plenty of variety, but no consensus: * Green beans: 40% * Sweet potatoes: 39% * Cranberry sauce: 38% * Corn: 33% * Macaroni and cheese: 27% * Ham: 26% * Brussel sprouts: 10% And then theres what may be the most puzzling group of Americans the 2% who say they will be having Thanksgiving meals but wouldnt include a single one of the foods listed above. Maybe the pollsters should have added turducken to the list? Todays top stories We have a deal: President Joe Biden announced that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a United States-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon. Read more Tariff time: Trump said that his incoming administration would slap new tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada and China, solidifying a key campaign promise that could have a major impact on trade. Read more Planning ahead: As his team starts to plan for the inauguration in January, Trump is hoping for fewer protests and less divisiveness this time. Read more New health proposal: The Biden administration plans to require Medicare and Medicaid to offer coverage of weight loss medications for people seeking obesity treatment. Read more Post-Dobbs landscape: Contrary to expectations, the number of abortions in the U.S. went up after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, due to a network of providers who prescribed and shipped abortion pills. Read more Navigating Trump: Politico reports that progressive lawmakers are weighing a new approach to Trump, looking to work with him on his populist proposals. Read more Thats all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback likes or dislikes email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com And if youre a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Serbian higher court on Wednesday released former minister Goran Vesic, who had been detained last Thursday in connection with the collapse of a railway station roof that killed 15 people and sparked a wave of protests. The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof caved in on Nov. 1 in Novi Sad, killing 14 and injuring three. One of those hurt later died of their injuries. Opposition leaders and the public have taken to the streets repeatedly, blaming the accident on government corruption and nepotism that resulted in shoddy construction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ruling coalition denies those charges, but President Aleksandar Vucic said those responsible must be held to account. Last Thursday, 11 people including Vesic and the head of the railway company were detained on suspicion of committing a criminal act against public safety. But on Wednesday, the Higher Court in Novi Sad said in a statement it had "lifted detention" for Vesic since evidence presented by the prosecutors did not show reasonable grounds for suspecting that he had committed a criminal offence. Vesic resigned immediately after the disaster in Novi Sad. Trade Minister Tomislav Momirovic, who was transport and infrastructure minister at the time of the railway station reconstruction, resigned as well. The other 10 people remain in detention, including two, both women, who have been placed under house arrest. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Alex Richardson) CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A newly sworn-in firefighter is being honored for his service with the National Guard, Charlotte Fire announced on Tuesday. Gabriel Howard, 22, missed graduating with his fellow firefighter recruits on Nov. 8. Where was he, you might ask? Howard was in the western part of the state, serving as a sergeant with the NC National Guard in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. CFD: Gabriel Howard wears his Charlotte Fire recruit helmet with pride, reflecting his commitment to service. His dual role as a firefighter and National Guard member showcases his dedication to helping others in times of need. CFD: Captain Jason Cook pins Gabriel Howard with his Charlotte Fire badge in a heartfelt ceremony. The moment symbolizes Howards official entry into the fire department following his deployment. On Tuesday, Nov. 26, Howard was pinned with his Charlotte Fire badge at CFD Headquarters, marking the start of this second career. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CFD says the ceremony was not only a personal accomplishment for Howard but was also important to honor those who have helped shape him throughout the years, in particular Howards grandfather. Howard joined the National Guard at 17 years old with a desire to serve while being near to his grandfather. He raised me from a young age, said Howard. Hes older now, so I try to stay close and help him as much as I can. Sergeant Howard works in vehicle maintenance for the Guard, making sure that anything from Humvees to supply trucks is ready to go. Active duty is a little different, though. During state active duty, you do whatever is neededwhether thats water rescues, managing food pantries, or logistical support, Howard explained. CFD: During Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, Gabriel Howard worked tirelessly with the National Guard to support North Carolina communities. His role included logistical support, ensuring supplies and resources reached those in need. CFD: Gabriel Howard takes the firefighters oath, pledging to serve the community with honor and integrity. This solemn moment at Charlotte Fire Headquarters marks the beginning of his new chapter as a firefighter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the wake of Helene, he has been managing fuel supplies as well as making sure soldiers and equipment get where they need to be. Howard says missing his CFD graduation was bittersweet. It was tough, but I was glad my classmates could enjoy the moment, he said. Howard was able to watch a livestream of the ceremony, getting to see his classmates of the last six months take this important step. Gabriels commitment to both Charlotte Fire and the National Guard shows his character, said Howards training officer, Captain Jason Cook, who pinned the young firefighter. Hes the kind of firefighter who puts others first, whether thats in the station, on a fire scene, or in a disaster zone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both roles are about helping people, Howard said about his dual career. Whether its in a disaster zone or responding to emergencies here in Charlotte, its all about being there when someone needs you. Always smiling: Light the Knights recognizes Levine Childrens Hospital teen patient Howard previously spent two years as a firefighter in Hickory before pursuing a career with Charlotte Fire. Ive always wanted to work with an organization with experienced firefighters and diverse opportunities. Charlotte Fire is one of the best, he said. He is now stationed at the newly designated Special Operations station, Firehouse 43. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im looking forward to learning more about Special Ops, said Howard. Its exciting to be part of a station where I can expand my skills and serve in new ways. CFD says Firehouse 43 is the perfect fit for what Howard wants to do with chances to learn advanced training and prepare to face difficult emergencies. CFD: Gabriel Howard is joined by Charlotte Fire leaders before receiving his badge in a special ceremony. The event highlighted his resilience and dedication, as he missed his recruit class graduation to serve during Hurricane Helene. CFD: Gabriel Howards formal uniform underscores the significance of his badge pinning ceremony at Charlotte Fire Headquarters. This moment marks the culmination of months of hard work and his unwavering dedication to public service. Gabriel represents the best of what it means to be a firefightera servants heart, a strong work ethic, and a commitment to community, said CFD Chief Reginald Johnson. His journey, from caring for his dad to serving in the Guard and now joining Charlotte Fire, is a testament to the values we hold dear. Howard emphasizes the importance of teamwork, though. My classmates, my National Guard colleagues, and now my Charlotte Fire creweach group has shaped me. Im grateful for their support and for the chance to give back alongside them, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Charlotte Fire is accepting applications for its Firefighter Recruit Program through Dec. 9. For more information, CLICK HERE. Click here for more heartwarming news across the Carolinas Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Several Arab countries have welcomed the ceasefire deal between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, hoping it would lead to further de-escalation in the region. Egypt and Qatar have expressed the hope that it would lead to another deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip. Both countries, along with the United States, have acted as mediators for months between Hamas and Israel with the aim of reaching a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. Iraq said it hopes the deal puts an end to the "violence, destruction and suffering of the Lebanese people." Along with Jordan, it called for international steps to stop the aggression on Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia praised the ceasefire, hoping it would protect "Lebanon's sovereignty and stability and the return of those displaced to their homes." Hezbollah's allies in the region, Yemen's Houthi rebels and Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia, have praised the Lebanese group's steadfastness and solid resistance. Several of President-elect Donald Trump's planned Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were subjected to bomb threats and "swatting" attacks Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team said. The nominees and appointees "were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. These attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting," transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Swatting is when a hoax call is made to police claiming a life-threatening situation is taking place. It is meant to draw SWAT teams to a location and can lead to deadly outcomes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three senior law enforcement officials briefed on the swatting incident involving multiple Trump allies told NBC News that these were not credible threats. No devices or physical threats were found and some of the threats may have come in over social media, the officials said. The threats did not involve U.S. Secret Service protectees such as Trump or Vice President-elect JD Vance. The FBI said in a statement it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. The Trump statement did not identify exactly who or how many incoming officials were subjected to the hoax but said "law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted." "President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action," the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the threats and that the administration "is in touch with federal law enforcement and the President-elects team, and continues to monitor the situation closely. Federal law enforcements response, alongside state and local authorities, remains ongoing. The President and the Administration unequivocally condemn threats of political violence. Among those who said they were targeted are Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's pick to be ambassador to the United Nations; former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who's been selected to head the Environmental Protection Agency; Brooke Rollins, Trump's pick for the Department of Agriculture; and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Trump choice for U.S. attorney general who withdrew his name from consideration last week. Rep. Elise Stefanik Stefanik's office said in a statement that Stefanik, R-N.Y., her husband and their three-year-old son were driving home from Washington "when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism." Zeldin, a former New York GOP congressman, said in a statement that a"pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rollins tweeted that "a threat was issued against our home and family. Thanks to the swift efforts by the @fortworthpd, we were unharmed and quickly returned home." Gaetz, R-Fla., confirmed to NBC News that he was also among the targets. A bomb squad reported to his home in Florida in response to the threat. Initially, a bomb-sniffing dog was brought to his home by the sheriff but was inconclusive, which led to the bomb squad being called in. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said "no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results." Gaetz said he was not home at the time but a family member was. The details of the Gaetz threat were first reported by Punchbowl News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pete Hegseth, who is Trump's pick for defense secretary, said in a post to X that a police officer informed him Wednesday morning that there was a "pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family." Hegseth added that his family is safe "and the threat has been cleared." "I will not be bullied or intimidated. Never," Hegseth continued. "President Trump has called on me to serveand that is what I intend to do." Leavitt's statement said the threats would not slow them down. "With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us, she said. The same tactics have been used in the past against some of those who've been viewed as Trump adversaries, including the judge who presided over his civil fraud trial in New York, the judge who presided over Trump's federal election interference case and the prosecutor who brought that case, special counsel Jack Smith, as well as the district attorney's office in Georgia and New York that brought criminal cases against Trump. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned the incidents. "Violence has no place in our politics. Period," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a post to X. "Law enforcement will work to keep everyone safe, and those responsible must be held fully accountable." Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said in a post to X that the threats were "extremely dangerous and completely unacceptable." "Praying for the safety of President Trumps cabinet nominees and administration appointees," Tuberville added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Sharon Stone has hit out at ignorant American voters who supported President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election. The Basic Instinct star, 66, made the remarks on Monday (November 25) at a panel discussion at Italys Torino Film Festival, where she was honored with a lifetime achievement award. During the event, Stone was asked about the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which happened to fall on the same day as her award. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to stop and think about who we choose for government, she responded. And if, in fact, we are actually choosing our government or if the government is choosing itself. You know, Italy has seen fascism. Italy has seen these things. You guys, you understand what happens. You have seen this before, she continued. My country is in its adolescence, Stone added. Adolescence is very arrogant; adolescence thinks it knows everything; adolescence is naive and ignorant and arrogant, and we are in our ignorant, arrogant adolescence. We have not seen this before in our country. She further explained: Americans who dont travel, who 80 percent dont have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivety. What I can say is that the only way that we can help with these issues is to help each other. Sharon Stone calls out ignorant, arrogant Trump supporters (Getty Images) The longtime activist and philanthropists comments come shortly after Alec Baldwin shared similar sentiments at a special screening of his 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Americans are very uninformed about reality, whats really going on, the 66-year-old Rust star told the audience. With climate change, Ukraine, Israel you name it. All the biggest topics in the world, Americans have an appetite for a little bit of information. Both Hollywood actors had previously voiced their support for Trumps opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Im all in for Kamala Harris, Stone said in August. Its not only because shes a woman and because we see clearly in businesses that women leaders are better leaders, and that men who hire women within their companies do better. Meanwhile, Baldwin, who earlier this year was dismissed of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, shared his support of Harris earlier this month. One candidate, I dont think has the bonafides [sic], doesnt have the passion, doesnt have the belief to do whats necessary, he said in an Instagram video. And the other candidate, although they may not dot every i or cross every t, in terms of environmental protection, theyre far better than their opponent. Chloe Tan, 30, quit her first job out of college as an auditor. She decided to help out at her parent's eatery, which serves Chinese home-style dishes. Seven years later, she expanded the business and opened New Station Rice Bar. As a young adult, Chloe Tan followed the same path as many other Singaporeans in her generation: Go to college, get a degree, and then work a stable 9-to-5 job. But three months into her first job as an auditor, Tan quit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I just remember not really liking it and not being excited," Tan, who has a degree in accounting, told Business Insider. At the same time, she wanted to help her aging parents retire. They had spent the past three decades running a food store selling zi char, or Chinese home-style dishes. So, upon quitting, Tan decided to help out at their shop, New Station Snack Bar. It didn't bother her that, at first, she had to take a pay cut of around 30%. "That was where our childhood was," she said, recalling how, as kids, she and her siblings would help with menial tasks like bringing napkins to customers or recommending dishes to eat. This time around, however, her contributions to the eatery were different. For the next three years, Tan worked as a cashier, managed accounts, and did marketing. She was comfortable but felt like she wasn't doing anything fruitful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Things changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. During lockdown, Singapore's offices and schools were closed, and dining at restaurants was not allowed. In three days, Tan, with the help of her friends, launched a website and arranged island-wide food delivery. Singapore's land area is 284 square miles, about the same size as Austin, Texas. The struggles she faced during the pandemic showed her what she was capable of. "It kind of ignited a passion and a fire in me like, hey, you know what? Maybe I can do more things with my life," she said. It was at this point in her career that she knew she could expand her family's business. Her accounting skills came in handy Putting her accounting skills to use, Tan started to work backward to figure out how much she could afford to lose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She invested around 40,000 Singapore dollars, or $30,000, in her business. She kept costs low by opting for secondhand goods and was lucky to receive free equipment from some retiring chefs. After almost two years of planning and renovation, Tan opened her restaurant in February this year. Located in Fortune Centre, an old mall in central Singapore, her shop is a 10-minute drive from her parent's restaurant. As a sister outlet, Tan named her new business after her parents' eatery: New Station Rice Bar. Tan named New Station Rice Bar after her parent's stall, New Station Snack Bar. Erin Liam Initially, her parents didn't take her seriously Tan recalled her dad asking why she made her life difficult by expanding their family business. "My father referred to his own business and said, 'Hey, my business is now OK. It's not like it's not making money. Are you not happy with that?''" she recalled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it wasn't about the money. "I didn't want to waste my 20s just being too comfortable where I was," Tan said. When she worked at their eatery, her parents discouraged her from setting foot in the kitchen. "They felt like it was not where a lady should be around. There's fire, there's smoke, and to be honest, it's not a very nice environment," Tan said. If she wanted to be in the food and beverage business, she should manage accounts or do marketing not cook, they said. Her parents were also hesitant about teaching her how to cook. But Tan was determined. She harnessed the help of a zi char chef from Hong Kong, whom she only knows as Chef Wing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over three years, she consulted Chef Wing in person to learn how to develop recipes, cook dishes, and craft menus. She had two main takeaways as his apprentice: respect for your customers and respect for the ingredients. "I learned that the thing about F&B is that as long as you put effort into it, people will be able to taste the value," she said. The lessons she learned were proven right Almost 10 months since she opened the 500-square-foot restaurant, New Station Rice Bar has seen a steady flow of customers. Students from a nearby art college pop in for an after-school snack, while office workers visit the store for lunch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like her parents, Tan sells zi char dishes. However, unlike traditional zi char eateries, Tan keeps her menu lean, with only six main dishes ranging from SG$8.50 to SG$9.50. She's also modernized her dishes by deviating from traditional recipes. The chicken in her signature curry chicken rice, for example, is made with Japanese-style breadcrumbs, and the curry has a thicker consistency. But the most popular dish is salted egg chicken rice also a bestseller at her parents' restaurant. For this, she fries small pieces of chopped chicken and slathers it in a creamy, sweet, and savory sauce. It's served alongside rice and a fried egg. Salted egg chicken rice is one of Tan's best-selling dishes. Erin Liam Tan Jun Hong, a public servant, learned about the restaurant on Instagram and now visits it regularly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the real draw is the nostalgia it invokes in him. "I grew up visiting old-school zi char stores that served simple, affordable home-cooked-style dishes that you see here," he told BI. "It brings good food and good memories together." The challenges of being a boss "Running my own business made me realize that sometimes you just got to stop being so obsessed over certain things," Tan said. She's learned to live not under but alongside anxiety, she added. "Business is like this. Every day, you're putting out different fires," she said, whether that is not having enough manpower or having a freezer break down during service. When BI visited the store on a Friday afternoon, a water pipe had burst. Tan simply sighed. This is what she means, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being a boss is worlds apart from being an employee, she added. "It's really about grit and perseverance. Even if I'm sick and don't want to wake up and come to work, I still have to come down because I represent my team," said Tan, whose team has grown from two to five. Sometimes, Tan worries about whether her lifestyle is sustainable. She works 12 hours, six days a week, and on her days off, she returns to the kitchen to do prep work. Her struggles are consistent with other Singaporeans trying to make their mark in the challenging F&B industry. Cherry Tan, 29, left her job as a flight attendant to open a hawker stall with her husband. Her parents were uncomfortable with her career change. "Even until today, they asked me why I had to give up a comfortable job," she told BI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She estimates that she took a 50% pay cut when she stopped working for Singapore Airlines and has had to get used to the long hours and challenging working conditions. Similarly, Iszahar Tambunan, 45, left his job as a ship broker to take over his family business. Like Tan, he experienced the unpredictability of running a business. "Business is not always the same every day. It's a different challenge," he said. Despite the unpredictability of being a business owner, Tan's dream of retiring her parents is still her end goal. Her parents have also come to support her. Her mom, Oon Seok Sim, said she's not worried. "At worst, she loses some money. At least she tried. If she never tried, she'll never know," she said. "And anyway, she's doing pretty great now." Tan said New Station Rice Bar sees fewer customers during off-peak hours and when it rains. Erin Liam Tan, whose business recently became profitable, said her favorite part of running a business is seeing results. "Right now, it's about seeing the business grow. You can see customers returning," she said. "That makes me want to wake up every day and still do it." Read the original article on Business Insider SCOTT COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) An overnight fire on Wednesday at Creation Kingdom Zoo in Gate City is under investigation, police report. The Nickelsville Volunteer Fire Department received a call about the zoo at approximately 4 a.m. on Wednesday. The department focused on preventing the fire from spreading further into the facility and nearby woods. We had a quick response, [we] arrived on the scene a few minutes later, discovered that creation Kingdom Zoo, an approximately 40 by 60 [feet] that was right next to the entrance, was fully involved in flames, said Carter Burke, a firefighter with Nickelsville Volunteer Fire Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burke said he was unsure how many animals perished in the fire. Were not certain how many [animals] were lost, he said. We can say there were a few. We dont know how many, it could be a low amount. We dont have an exact number. Courtesy of EMA Director Jeff Brickey According to Scott County Sheriff Jeff Edds, Virginia State Police (VSP) arson investigators have been called to investigate the suspicious fire. VSP confirmed the fire is under investigation. Jonesborough PD: Man crashes into garage while evading police Creation Kingdom Zoo will reportedly be closed for the foreseeable future due to the fire. While we work through this, we ask that you keep our family, staff and animal family in your prayers, Creation Kingdom Zoo said in a post on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The zoo described the overnight fire as devastating. This story is currently developing. Stay tuned on-air and online for updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. GUEST OPINION: Predicting the future isnt easy, but you can anticipate what is likely to happen by looking at how things have evolved over the past year. This year again, Barracuda asked colleagues who work on the security frontlines about the things they witnessed in 2024 and expect to see in 2025. According to their insight, 2025 will be the year when: Threat actors will invest more time and resources in evading or disabling security measures. They will leverage novel, complex, and sophisticated techniques, such as the endpoint detection EDR killer and advanced phishing methods. More attacks will feature multiple approaches. There will be a rise in multichannel, multistage attacks. This will include attacks that infiltrate one platform, such as email, messaging, or collaboration platforms, and then expand laterally to others. More attacks will leverage vulnerabilities in interconnected devices and exploit identity-based vulnerabilities. AI-powered attacks will continue to evolve, making attacks increasingly personalized, faster, and harder to detect. They will use automation to execute large-scale attacks and target vulnerabilities in software and systems across organizations. Organizations will worry most about the unknown undetected security gaps, new attack methods, accidental supply chain threats, or an attack occurring without their knowledge as threat actors increasingly leverage novel tools and techniques to help them breach systems, exfiltrate data, or compromise infrastructure without triggering any immediate alarms. Matt Caffrey, Senior Solutions Architect, ANZ Asia Pacific Predictions What most surprised you in 2024 in terms of cyberthreats/cybersecurity? Mark Lukie, Director of Solution Architects APAC: Cybercriminals' rapid integration of generative AI made social engineering attacks more convincing and phishing campaigns more widespread. We also saw an increase in email attacks using newer techniques such as QR codes. Matt Caffrey, Senior Solutions Architect, ANZ: The continued success of ransomware attacks, despite increased awareness and defenses, was a major surprise in 2024. The topic has been elevated to the mainstream media. Attackers have evolved their tactics, focusing on double extortion by threatening to leak sensitive data, as we saw with larger companies within ANZ. Even with improved defenses, the persistence of this threat shows that organizations are still struggling to balance prevention, detection, and recovery. What is the biggest cybersecurity concern on customers and partners minds as we approach 2025? Mark Lukie, Director of Solution Architects APAC: Many are concerned about fragmented visibility across various threat vectors, making detecting and responding to complex attacks challenging. As threats span email, network, and endpoint layers, customers see XDR (extended detection and response) as essential for unifying security insights and enhancing detection accuracy. With XDR, they aim to achieve centralised, real-time visibility and rapid response across diverse attack surfaces, helping to address evolving threats more effectively. Matt Caffrey, Senior Solutions Architect, ANZ: The biggest concern remains the protection of sensitive data, especially as businesses increasingly rely on cloud-based services. These concerns are centered around ransomware events. Customers are worried about how to effectively manage their security posture across different environments while ensuring compliance with stricter data privacy. Data privacy is the main focus being brought into effect local to ANZ, see here. How do you expect cyberthreats to evolve in 2025? An investigation is underway following reports of a shooting at a juvenile court in San Bernardino Wednesday morning. Sky5 was over the Juvenile Delinquency Court located at 900 E. Gilbert St. as patrol units and officers were positioned in the parking lot around 11:30 a.m. Sky5 was overhead during a shooting investigation at the Juvenile Delinquency Court in San Bernardino on Nov. 27, 2024. (KTLA) Sky5 was overhead during a shooting investigation at the Juvenile Delinquency Court in San Bernardino on Nov. 27, 2024. (KTLA) The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department has yet to confirm any details regarding the shooting or whether anyone was injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Check back for updates on this developing story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Small Business Saturday is an annual event that celebrates small businesses across the country. This year, Small Business Saturday falls on November 30. Story continues below Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Small Business Saturday is the kickoff for the Small Business Administrations Season of Small Business campaign. The theme for this year is Gift Big Shop Local. The campaign aims to promote supporting small businesses and shopping small. Outreach & Marketing Specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Mercedes Chavez, says New Mexico has 166,301 small businesses. To learn more about Small Business Saturday, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A new partnership in the Short North is changing the lives of some of the citys homeless population. The Short North Alliance is teaming up with Southeast Healthcares Rapid Response Emergency Addiction and Crisis Team (REACT) and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to connect these people with critical services. Every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., they open the Anthem Welcome Center to anyone who needs a little help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The program started this summer to offer things like healthcare services, hygiene services, and addiction services to homeless people in the Short North, but now theyve helped more than 250 people and really turned some lives around. They show you love, understanding, they give you a hug if you need one. That means a lot, Don Brown, who has been living in homeless shelters for years, said. Brown and another man experiencing homelessness, Ben Williams, said it wasnt until they met Tamra Speakman that their lives changed. Helps us a lot, Tammy, Williams said. Everybody helps everybody in here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speakman is an engagement specialist and certified recovery supporter who brought Williams and Brown to Anthems Welcome Center on High Street. They can get whatever they would like, Speakman said. Its free, nothing. We dont charge them anything. Speakman said people can come get snacks, hygiene products, a place to shower, healthcare services, see an addiction specialist and even get a haircut. She said she personally went out into the Short North to find people in need of some help. We meet them where they are, so thats the best thing for them is that we meet them where they are and we, you know, we dont follow them around, but we make sure that they know whats going on, Speakman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She always follows through to make sure the people she is helping make the right appointments and show up to those appointments. She said word of mouth is really starting to spread and they are now helping an average of 15 people each week. We know that through repeat engagement, through deep relationship building and through kindness, we can make a difference in peoples lives, Short North Alliance Executive Director Betsy Pandora said. For people like Williams and Brown, the center has made a difference. Speakman and others at the center have helped these men find housing which they moved into last week. Its more than great, Brown said. Southeast and Tammy have shown us the way and were going and housing and its like, Wow, thank you, God. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pandora said there are also ways the community can help support these people. She said on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Anthem Center will collect items like blankets, gently used clothing, toiletries and other items to help support folks facing challenges this winter. The collections are held at the Anthem Center at 1006 North High Street on Tuesday and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anthem will also be participating in the Short North Arts District holiday trail, and if you make a purchase in the Short North throughout the holiday season and donate to Anthem, you will get a sticker on your trail card. Pandora said if you receive three stickers, you can get a free hot beverage from Northstar or Winans, or a free decorative candle from Vella nd Co. Not that you need an incentive to do good, but this is an opportunity for you to make sure that the good that you are doing can make a broader impact, Pandora said. She said the community can also support the Short North Alliance on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3. All gifts made to the Short North Alliance above $100 will be matched by Huntington Bank, and all donations will be entered into a raffle to win a festive prize pack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Canadian officials are hoping to locate and sedate the deer to safely remove the safety jacket Courtesy of Rocky Mountain Goat News A deer spotted in visibility safety gear in McBride, British Columbia A deer spotted in visibility safety gear in McBride, British Columbia A deer wearing high-visibility safety gear was spotted multiple times in a mountain community in Canada. Andrea Arnold, a reporter for the local newspaper The Rocky Mountain Goat, saw the deer in McBride, British Columbia, while driving home on Sunday, Nov. 24. In an article for the news outlet, she recalled seeing the wild animal in a black long-sleeved top with bright yellow, high-visibility straps as it crossed the road and went up a hill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I took the exit onto the frontage road and was able to snap two photos of it before it headed into the woods around the Dominion Creek trail area," she wrote. Related: Odd-Looking Feline Found in Florida Chicken Coop Prompts Call to Wildlife Rescue Arnold then shared the photos on Facebook, prompting concerned citizens from McBride to weigh in. The social media post also connected Arnold to another person, Joe Rich, who had seen the deer and taken a photo. Courtesy of Rocky Mountain Goat News Wild deer in safety jacket Wild deer in safety jacket "I was only about 50 feet from the deer," Rich told Arnold, noting that the attire looked like a "zipper rain jacket type of coat" that was "definitely zipped up." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a recent interview with CBC, Eamon McArthur, a British Columbia Conservation Officer Service officer, said the clothed deer sightings are unique. Related: Sighting of Deer in Collar with 'Pet' Painted on Its Body Prompts Warning from Mo. Officials "I've had deer with Christmas lights in their antlers but never anything like this," he said. McArthur said that the high-visibility jacket is unlikely to harm the deer, and he hopes that if the deer "gets caught on anything, it will rip off." Courtesy of Rocky Mountain Goat News A deer spotted in McBride wearing a high-visibility jacket A deer spotted in McBride wearing a high-visibility jacket Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. He added that people should not approach wild deer or put clothes on them. "I didn't think I'd have to specify that one," he said, adding that deer are typically "pretty quick." In a separate interview with CTV, McArthur encouraged the public to contact the conservation office if they spot the deer. He explained that officials plan to sedate the deer if it is located so that they can safely remove the jacket. JERUSALEM (AP) Signs of apparent celebration in Beirut and no reported violations shortly after Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect. INDEPENDENCE, Mo. The Independence Police Department has canceled an Endangered Silver Advisory for a missing 68-year-old woman after she was located safe. Anne M. Milum was reported missing after she was last seen near westbound Highway 40 at Noland Road in Independence around 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 25. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri Milum has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and other medical conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was in a white and orange 2016 GMC Savannah U-Haul box truck with Arizona license plates last seen on westbound Highway 40 at Noland Road. Her family had not been able to contact her and her cell phone is turned off. It was unknown if she has her necessary medication with her. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. The owner of a bar and cafe in Silver Lake has been arrested after he allegedly fired multiple gunshots into his walls and ceilings. Gareth Kantner, owner of Bar Stella and sister business Cafe Stella, was arrested in the early morning hours of Tuesday after gunshots were heard, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kantner lives in an apartment above the bar, and in that unit, police saw numerous bullet holes in the walls and ceiling of the residence, the Times reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result, Kantner, 57, was arrested for the alleged negligent discharge of a firearm. Jail records show Kantner is being held in the Inmate Reception Center and is due to appear in court on Dec. 18. No bail amount was listed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. INDEPENDENCE, Mo. Almost three weeks later and very little information has been shared about an officer-involved shooting that took place earlier this month in Independence at the Oval Spring Apartment complex. The shooting resulted in the death of a woman and her baby, although police have not shared what exactly killed the two. Thats my sister and niece. And a baby? What? You couldnt have compassion and patience to get the baby out of the way first?, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maria Pike, 34, and her daughter Destinii, died on November 7. Andrew Lester fit for trial following mental health evaluation For the first time, FOX4 is learning more about Maria Pike, from her twin sister. I want accountability. I want responsibility on the cop, and whoever else was responsible for their deaths, Nina Book shared with FOX4. Masha was very talented. She was bright and intelligent. She loved to cook. She was great at it. She was proud of her Russian history. She loved all of her children. It didnt matter if they were close to her or not. She would light up in the room when she was in the room with other peoples kids. She was good with kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nina Book, Marias twin sister, says Maria had three children. Two are surviving their mom. Book wants peace and justice for what happened. Most people who are close to her call her Masha, she shared. Book says she and Maria were born in an orphanage in Russia in 1990. The twin sisters lived there for six years before being adopted and starting new lives in the United States. The last phone call I had with her was a couple days before Nov. 7th, she was really excited to tell me about her baby. She told me that she believed God was giving her another chance to have a child. She was going to do anything and everything she could to not to be separated from her child, Nina Book said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nina says Maria talked about postpartum struggles she faced. She said she was taking medication for it. On the last phone call, she described as, out of nowhere, she would have sadness and anger just hit her like a truck, she shared. She had told me years ago when she had her first son that she went through the same symptoms of postpartum when she gave birth to her son. I knew she was going to have it again. This time she took medication for it. Nina says her husband told her the gut-punching news. Its hard to describe what kind of connection you have with your twin, Book said. Your sister got shot. Her and her baby in Independence, Missouri. Im thinking OK you know OK, so accidents happen, and I thought shes alive. Hes like no she passed away in her apartment with her baby. This is not how I thought she would die. Me and Masha talked about it for years, about our future death. We were hoping we would die close to each other in old age. I never thought a cop would take their lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The funeral for Maria and Destinii was on November 21. As soon as they opened the door, so I could go see her and Destinii in the coffin. Before I even got to the coffin, I saw the tip of my sisters nose. I immediately walked super quick to the coffin. I couldnt hold it back. I yelled her name twice, Book said. Nina Book, who lives out of state, came to Missouri for the services. She also wanted to trace her sisters final steps at the apartment where she died. I even sat down on the very same bed where they both died. Police have yet to say what or who killed the mother and child, but shared that this was a police shooting incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nina wasnt there, but claims she was told what happened. The first shot hit the baby, I mean what?, she said. Masha was in the bedroom the whole time when the cops knocked at the door. He was trying to negotiate with them outside the door and in the living room. The cops found Masha in the bedroom; they pushed Mitchell (Destiniis father) in the bedroom. Mitchell sat down next to Masha and had to witness all of that. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android The Police Involved Investigative Team is handing the investigation into the shooting. Investigators with the Blue Springs Police Department are taking lead on it. The report on it has not been released. The investigation is still ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. GUEST OPINION: Confirmation this week that Australias economy continues to be hampered by poor productivity should focus the minds of company leaders. It should spur them to ask how they can evolve their approach to technology to help arrest this alarming trend. We know very well that technology can play a key role in unleashing productivity growth. According to a McKinsey report from earlier this year, which reflected on strong US productivity between 1995 and 2000: When faced with intensifying international competition, companies that coupled capital and technology investments with capability building and changes in management practices saw their productivity soar, which in turn lifted the entire economy. The question for Australian companies that are looking for ways to improve productivity into 2025 is, what kind of technology investment and strategies should they be focusing on? This is not a straightforward discussion, either. There have never been more choices or options for enterprises to invest in technology. For example, should they look to generative AI, as so many seem to be doing? Should cloud migration strategies dominate their plans? Is ensuring their cyber security is fully up to date before they embark on any other innovation, and if not, is that where they should be focused in 2025? I would argue that we should be taking a wider view. The success of some of the worlds largest and best-known companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, and Amazon stem from the ecosystems, or platforms, that they have built. These platforms have simplified customer experiences and enabled companies to power new innovations, services, and capabilities to their customers. It is the reason they have been disruptors in their respective industries. A platform is made of building blocks that deliver more value as a whole than the sum of the parts. It enables the delivery of services and the upscaling of capabilities. It connects users and eases interactions and transactions and spurs value creation. By streamlining operations, optimising processes, eliminating silos, and improving communication, platforms bring greater agility in developing and delivering new innovations while reducing risks. Platforms also enable self-service a convenience that consumers cherish, for everything from hiring a ride to booking a vacation. Companies that exemplify the power of platforms Apple is one of the best examples of a platform in the consumer tech world. They have their own chips, app store, operating systems, and electronic products. And while these products work fine independently, they work even better together as a well-orchestrated symphony that allows users to synchronise their data and preferences across devices. Software updates are pushed to the users as the platform evolves. In the B2B space, Cisco offers the Cisco Networking Cloud platform that unifies disjointed solutions and helps IT and security teams deal with the complexity of multiple clouds, myriad third-party apps, IoT, and security threats. NVIDIA, meanwhile, have gone beyond Graphics Processing Units and built an AI platform, AI training services, and AI models all held together by AI Platform software. This has eased the entry point for their customers into AI. Applying the platform approach to enterprise data management Data is one, if not the most valuable asset an organisation can have, and the manner in which it is used often determines business outcomes and customer experiences. Data must be available and delivered when it is needed, and with the required level of performance. This calls not for point storage solutions but for efficient, reliable, and scalable solutions focused on data workflows. It calls, in other words, for a platform approach to enterprise data storage. We dont have platform companies in Australia of the scale and power of the tech giants I refer to above I look forward to the day when we might. But Australian organisations, from healthcare, to retail, banks to government organisations, are still able to benefit significantly from taking a platform consumption or architectural approach. But critically, they will maximise the benefits if they consider a holistic, enterprise-wide approach to the adoption of platform economics to their data. An enterprise data management platform should address all the needs pertaining to data acquisition, storage, analysis, governance, and security. It must be able to support large numbers and diverse types of workloads, users, cloud-native deployments, and enterprise applications. Data should be fully integrated, constantly updated, and heavily protected, available only to those authorised to access it. Empowering productivity To maximise productivity and competitiveness, everything that can be automated should be automated. An enterprise data platform helps distill actionable insights from data to power innovation, improve efficiency, accelerate growth, and enhance customer experience. A platform approach can greatly help enterprises manage their data across environments. The platform could be unified by a common operating system that runs across all hardware and is managed by a single pane-of-glass management software. This will enable the company to deliver software updates automatically and carry out hardware upgrades non-disruptively, without any downtime to the business. The organisation should be able to deploy data and apps at any location at the edge, in the data centre, or in the public cloud. The apps could be modern, traditional, or both. The platform could be used either as-a-service or traditionally, with payment made on either an operational or importantly, in these days of high capital cost and historically low Australian productivity, a capital expenditure basis. Such an arrangement would give the customer the freedom to deploy data services in any conceivable combination all within a single ecosystem. Good prospects, looking ahead Medium-term projections by research firms for the growth of the enterprise data management market vary widely, but they all point to robust growth. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global enterprise data management market was valued at $92.18 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from $101.04 billion in 2024 to $224.87 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 10.5%. The era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is upon us, and enterprise data platforms will have to deliver the performance and the capabilities required for complex AI workloads. There will be a growing need for storage automation solutions and GenAI co-pilots for storage as organisations strive to deliver ROI. Companies that keep pace with the times and adopt the latest technologies have a very good chance of becoming market disruptors. And we know the world loves a good disruptor and Australia, with its history of early adoption of technology, is well-positioned to play a leading role. Six suspected members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, have been arrested in north London as part of a significant counter-terrorism investigation, Scotland Yard has said. Eight addresses, including the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, north London, were raided by police on Wednesday morning and four men and two women aged between 23 and 62 were detained under section 41(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000. The PKK is a Kurdish militant organisation that largely operates in the mountainous regions of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government in 2001. These are very serious allegations A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said there was not believed to be any imminent threat to the public linked to the arrests. Acting Commander Helen Flanagan, from the Mets Counter Terrorism Command said: This activity has come about following a significant investigation and operation into activity we believe is linked to the terrorist group PKK. These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group. I hope that these arrests show that we will not tolerate any sort of terrorist activity and that we will take action where we believe there is harm being caused to communities here in the UK or elsewhere. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Searches are continuing at eight addresses in London and police said the community centre could be closed for a fortnight while officers continue to investigate. Ms Flanagan added: This investigation and activity is about protecting all of our communities, but particularly those in our Turkish and Kurdish communities. I would urge anyone who thinks they may have been affected or targeted by those linked to the PKK to get in touch. We are also very mindful that closing the community centre may cause inconvenience to some people. Officers will be working as quickly as they can, but these are very serious allegations so it is important that we take care in identifying and gathering as much evidence as we can. More follows Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sketch artist Jane Rosenberg has encapsulated Rudy Giulianis apparent mental state as he faces financial ruin with a few simple words: Hes losing it. Anchor Kaitlan Collins described what took place in a New York courtroom on Tuesday as the former personal attorney to President-elect Donald Trump throwing a tantrum. Oftentimes, it's the transcripts that tell the story, but tonight, it's really these court sketches, she told CNN. Rudy Giuliani had an outburst during court proceedings saying that he cant pay his bills (REUTERS) Giuliani exploded when a federal judge refused to delay the former New York mayors upcoming trial after the 80-year-old was accused by attorneys for a pair of defamed election workers of dragging his feet on complying with an order to turn over millions of dollars of his assets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The implication that I have not been diligent about it is totally incorrect, Giuliani said. Everything I have is tied up. I don't have a car, I don't have a credit card, I don't have cash. I cant get my bank account that truly would be mine because they have put stop orders on for example, my social security account, which they have no right to do. ... They put stop orders on my business account. I cant pay my bills, he added. The judge said the next time Giuliani spoke out of turn, the court would have to take action. Giuliani defamed two Georgia election workers with his lies about the 2020 election (REUTERS) His decorum has certainly changed from when I sketched him 44 years ago as a prosecutor, Rosenberg told Collins. He's losing it. He was wild. I feel bad for anyone who represents him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rosenberg went on to say that Giuliani blurts out orders at his lawyers who are at the podium, and ... he's interrupting all the time. He's yelling [at] his attorneys. ... and his attorney [is] turning around like he doesn't know how to handle it, she added. He's in the middle of speaking to a judge at the podium, and behind him [Giuliani] is shouting. He's shouting orders. Giuliani ranted about the Bidens outside the courthouse (REUTERS) On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Liman declined to delay a trial in the case following Giulainis repeated delays, missed deadlines, and his failure to show anything close to due diligence in regard to the evidence requirements and the title of a Mercedes Benz that he was ordered to hand over to the two women whom he defamed with his lies about the 2020 election. Liman said Giuliani wouldnt be allowed to speak again, telling Giulianis attorney Joseph Cammarata that Hes either represented by counsel, or hes permitted to proceed pro se he cant have hybrid representation. There should be no higher priority for your client than complying with the courts orders, period, Liman added. Cammarata replaced two attorneys who quit on Tuesday morning. For a North Carolina family still living in a tent, Thanksgiving dinner may not be their biggest need. But for a small contingent from Schuylkill County calling themselves Skook Road Trip Relief, serving meals to hurricane survivors making do since September was the right thing to do. People are still struggling down there, said Andy Wollyung, a Pottsville city council member who went on the original trip down south in October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some are still living in tents, he said. Continuing the generosity of the Skook Road Trip Relief effort started when September flooding ravaged wide swaths of North Carolina, four Schuylkill Countians drove down to the River Arts District, near hard-hit Asheville, North Carolina. The latest trip is one of several that Skook Road Trip Relief volunteers have taken to provide hot meals, heaters, campers and other much needed supplies since the hurricane. Brandon Kopinetz, owner of the Washington Hotel in Minersville who went on the original relief trip said living conditions are improving but they still have a long way to go. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wollyung, Kopinetz and two others left Friday for North Carolina and returned home Monday. Turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn were served to those at a food bank and a church in the River Arts District A hot turkey dinner was well received, Wollyung said. The food, which was donated, was then served also to the West Yancey Fire Department, the Buncombe County 911 Center and the Burnsville Chainsaw Cadaver Base Camp. Schuylkill County foods such as pierogies and kielbasa were served to those in the River Arts District. Wollyung said about 100 people who were originally from Pennsylvania were very appreciative of the traditional food from the county. They appreciated us lifting their spirits a little bit, Kopinetz said. A Vienna court has dismissed a long-standing request from representatives of the Russian Federation to remove the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDSC) from its premises in the heart of the Austrian capital. Source: UDSC CEO Dmytro Moskalenko Details: "We've upheld our right to use the building and did not cede the property, to which we are entitled, to Russia. The decision is truly historic because Russia has never been denied. This is a loud slap in the face to the Putin regime," he wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1975, the USSR Embassy in Austria acquired a building and a plot of land in the centre of Vienna. The property was purchased with funds from the Danube Shipping Company, which utilised the premises for its operations. A few years later, another building was constructed next to the old one, which housed the shipping company's headquarters in Austria. After Ukraine declared its independence, the property remained under the control of the Danube Shipping Company despite the USSR being formally listed as the owner. Today, the site and buildings, located in Vienna's most expensive district, are valued at tens of millions of euros. The Russians changed the owner of the building from the USSR to the Russian Federation in 2008. They argued that "the former republics allegedly renounced the external obligations of the USSR, and therefore, Russia is the only heir to the Soviet empire". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even before the full-scale war, representatives of the UDSC had lost several court cases. However, in 2022, a new team from the Ukrainian state-owned company entered the legal battle for the property. Following the court's decision, the property remains under UDSC's control. "This is the first case where a European court has recognised Ukraine as a co-owner of foreign property, and thousands of such assets are around. The ruling marks a significant first step towards securing other real estate assets abroad, as Ukraine continues its battle for international recognition of ownership," Moskalenko said. Background: The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company has rejected a proposal from a Russian travel company to transfer its passenger fleet to them on a time charter. Support UP or become our patron! A number of Donald Trumps picks for positions in his administration have been targeted with violent threats over the past day, a transition team spokesperson said in a statement. The group, which includes both the president-elects Cabinet nominees and administrative appointees, were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. These attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, press aide Karoline Leavitt said in the statement. The threats, however, were not credible, NBC News reported based on three unnamed senior law enforcement officials. They said that no devices had been found and that the threats may have been conveyed on social media, and that the threats were not directed at Trump, JD Vance, or any others protected by the Secret Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trumps pick for ambassador to the United Nations, was driving home from Washington, D.C., for Thanksgiving with her husband and three-year-old son when they were notified of a bomb threat at their residence, according to a statement released by Stefaniks office. Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trumps pick for ambassador to the United Nations, learned of the threat as she headed home for Thanksgiving. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism, it read . We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7. We want to share our best wishes to the Upstate NY community for a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, once Trumps nominee for attorney general, was also among those targetedeven though he had previously withdrawn his name from contention amid a number of sexual misconduct allegations. Police in Floridas Okaloosa County said in a statement that a bomb threat had been made against the home of a relative of Gaetzs, although they emphasized that Gaetz is NOT a resident of the address that was targeted. After performing a sweep, the police did not find any devices. One-time attorney general pick Matt Gaetz, who has withdrawn his name from consideration, was among those targeted. Trumps pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, said on X that a bomb threat was also made against his home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops, he said. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure. The FBI said in a statement that it is aware of the threats and is working with law enforcement partners to address them. President Trump and the Transition are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future, Leavitt said. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. Slovakia's Ukraine-skeptic Prime Minister Robert Fico accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow next May, Fico announced on Nov. 27. Fico is known for inflammatory statements on Ukraine and the war that often echo Moscow's talking points. He has repeatedly criticized military aid for Ukraine and called for restoring relations with Russia after the war. "The Red Army and the nations of the former Soviet Union played an irreplaceable role in defeating fascism and the victory in World War II," Fico said on Facebook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Slovak government values the legacy of the struggle against fascism, the historical truth about World War II, and the role played by the Red Army... That is why I was happy to accept the official invitation by Russian Presiden Vladimir Putin to attend these important celebrations, which I will." Fico's planned visit comes as another jab at the Western efforts to internationally isolate Putin over Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. Slovakia is a member state of both NATO and the EU. The Kremlin uses the annual victory celebrations for propaganda purposes and to showcase its military might, while Russian propaganda leans heavily on the Soviet victory in World War II. Putin has repeatedly hurled false accusations of fascist and Nazi tendencies against the Ukrainian government after the EuroMaidan Revolution, presenting the full-scale invasion as an effort to "de-Nazify" the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Echoing the Kremlin's propaganda talking points, Fico said in 2023 that the war in Ukraine began in 2014 because of "Ukrainian fascists" killing "ethnic Russian civilians." He also said this year in September that some of Ukraine's units have links to fascism and Nazism, leading to a rebuke from Kyiv. Last month, Fico appeared in an online interview with sanctioned Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva, claiming that the West grows tired of supporting Ukraine. Read also: Slovak PM interviewed by top Russian propagandist Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday he would attend World War Two commemorations in Moscow in May as he accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fico, whose government has sought to improve relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, has spoken before about wanting to attend events in Moscow next year. On Wednesday he said he had accepted an official invitation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It is natural that as prime minister of the Republic of Slovakia I have an eminent interest in participating in the official celebrations of the victory over fascism, which will take place on May 9, 2025, in Moscow," Fico said in a post on Facebook. "I was therefore pleased to accept the official invitation of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin to participate in these important celebrations, which I will do." Separately, the Slovak government office said on Wednesday Fico had spoken by telephone with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and that most of the call had focused on the war in Ukraine, which shares a border with Slovakia. After taking office more than a year ago, Fico's leftist-nationalist government immediately halted military supplies to Kyiv - while allowing commercial sales to continue - and it has argued that weapons deliveries are prolonging the war there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fico's stance, which echoes that of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in neighbouring Hungary, contrasts with the official position of the European Union, which has mostly looked to isolate Moscow. The Slovak leader drew criticism from Slovakia's opposition last month when he appeared in an interview on Russia's state-run Rossiya-1 television, in which he criticised the EU's approach to the Ukraine war. (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Gareth Jones) Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is set to become the first Slovak representative to visit Russia on an official trip since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine. Next year, he will attend Moscow's official celebrations marking the end of World War II in Europe, marked by Russians on 9 May. Source: European Pravda, citing Aktuality, a Slovak news website Details: Fico confirmed on social media on 27 November that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin officially invited him and he "gladly accepted" the invitation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fico will be the first Slovak official to visit the Kremlin on an official trip since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Western leaders have largely avoided Moscow, although Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Putin in Moscow in July. Fico highlighted the role of the Red Army and the Soviet Union in defeating fascism and achieving victory in World War II. He stated that Slovak citizens "revere and respect all anniversaries and events connected to the liberation of our territory by the Red Army in 1944-1945". The prime minister also affirmed his government's commitment to preserving the legacy of the fight against fascism and the "historical truth" about World War II and the Red Army's role. Quote from Fico: "For this reason, in 2025, the Slovak government will organise several events culminating in May celebrations of victory over fascism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In line with this, it is only natural that, as the prime minister of the Slovak Republic, I am deeply interested in participating in the official 9 May 2025 celebrations of victory over fascism in Moscow." Background: In a previous interview with Russian propagandist Olga Skabeeva, Fico expressed his eagerness to attend Moscows 9 May celebrations. Earlier, the Slovak prime minister stated that he wished to restore normal relations with Russia after the full-scale war in Ukraine ends. In early September, during a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Sered, Fico controversially claimed that "Nazi troops" were fighting in Ukraine and accused the international community of ignoring this. Support UP or become our patron! (Bloomberg) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he will go to Moscow next year to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The staunch critic of sanctions on Moscow has repeatedly said he wants to normalize relations with Russia once the war in Ukraine ends. In a statement published on Wednesday, Fico said he had with pleasure accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The premier was slammed by his opponents last month for an interview to Russian state television during which he criticized fellow EU governments for escalating the war by supplying weapons to Kyiv and for lacking peace initiatives. Fico halted military aid to Ukraine after he returned to power last year. Still, the nation, which is also a member of NATO, continues to export ammunition to Kyiv on a commercial basis. So far, he is the only European Union leader who has said he will he attend the Moscow parade, although Aleksandar Vucic, president of EU-aspirant Serbia, said he also plans to travel to the Russian capital in May. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unless something happens, I will gladly attend the event, Vucic told reporters last week. --With assistance from Misha Savic. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has accepted an invitation to visit Moscow to participate in celebrations marking the end of World War II on May 9, Fico's office announced in Bratislava on Wednesday. The trip will be the first by an official representative of the country, which borders Ukraine, since the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. Slovakia, a NATO and European Union member, has thus far backed all EU aid to Ukraine and all EU sanctions on Russia, by contrast with its southern neighbour, Hungary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Fico, seen as a left-wing populist, has been publicly critical of EU and NATO policy towards Ukraine, calling on the EU repeatedly to broker a peace deal instead of using arms supplies "to extend the killing and destruction in Ukraine." Fico's office also announced that he had spoken to US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss how to end the war. Following the conversation, Fico posted on Facebook: "I have expressed my conviction that great expectations with respect to the military conflict in Ukraine are linked to his person, not only in Slovakia, but in the whole of Europe." Slovakia was initially one of the strongest backers of Ukraine following the Russian invasion, but Fico halted arms supplies taken directly from Slovakian army stocks on returning to government in October last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Slovakian arms industry is nevertheless continuing to supply Ukraine with military goods on a commercial basis. Fico's planned trip to Moscow follows that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in July at the start of Hungary's EU presidency. Orban's visit drew strong criticism from other EU members. Australian telecoms infrastructure provider Vocus has partnered with Google to build Australia Connect, a 42,500 km high-capacity submarine network linking to Australias north, east and west coasts. Other Australian companies partnering with Google on the Australia Connect project include data centre operator NextDC and cable systems design firm Subco, founded by serial entrepreneur Bevan Slattery. Australia Connect will extend beyond the previously announced Pacific Connect system that links Australia and the US West Coast with a multi-terabit ring network through and between Fiji and French Polynesia, landing in Sydney and Melbourne. Vocus says it will be in a position to supply an initial 20-30Tbps of capacity per fibre pair on the announced systems, depending on the length of the segment. Australia Connect complements Pacific Connect with four additional network links connecting Melbourne to Perth, Perth to Christmas Island, Christmas Island to Singapore, Christmas Island to Darwin. "Vocus is thrilled to have the opportunity to deepen our strategic network partnership with Google, and to play a part in establishing critical digital infrastructure for our region, said Jarrod Nink, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Vocus. "Australia Connect will bolster our nation's strategic position as a vital gateway between Asia and the United States by connecting key nodes located in Australia's East, West, and North to global digital markets. The combination of the new Australia Connect subsea cables with Vocus' existing terrestrial route between Darwin and Brisbane, will create a low latency, secure, and stable network architecture. "It will also establish Australias largest and most diverse domestic inter-capital network, with unparalleled reach and protection across terrestrial and subsea paths. By partnering with Google, we are ensuring that Vocus customers have access to high capacity, trusted and protected digital infrastructure linking Australia to the Asia Pacific and to the USA. The new subsea paths, combined with Vocus existing land-based infrastructure, will provide unprecedented levels of diversity, capacity and reliability for Google, our customers and partners." Brian Quigley, VP, Global Network Infrastructure, Google Cloud said Australia Connect advances Googles mission to make the worlds information universally accessible and useful. "Were excited to collaborate with Vocus to build out the reach, reliability, and resiliency of internet access in Australia and across the Indo-Pacific region, said Quigley. According to Vocus, Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane will be key beneficiaries of the investment and are emerging as key nodes on the global internet using the subsea and terrestrial infrastructure established by Vocus. CANTON, N.Y. (WWTI) St. Lawrence University helps to rescue injured birds of all kinds. Larry the Eagle is certainly one to remember. The eagle, named Larry by Debra Mousaw, St. Lawrence Universitys director of human resources, had a broken pelvis, according to St. Lawrence University likely caused by a car. Mousaw picked him up at the VCA North Country Animal Hospital in Watertown and transferred him down to Janet Swanson Wildlife Hospital in Ithaca for specialized care. A bald eagle was shot in the beak. A care team in Missouri is hopeful it can be saved Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was incredible, Mousaw said. To be so close to a bald eagle and help him get the care he needed-it was a dream come true. Larry the Eagle is one of many birds that Susan Willson, associate professor of biology at St. Lawrence and a leading expert in avian ecology, and the St. Lawrence community have coordinated to rescue. Willson has become the go-to person in the North Country for organizing rescues of injured birds. Her work involves coordinating with local veterinarians and wildlife rehabbers to transport birds to places with the resources and expertise to treat them. WATCH: Bald eagle shows off its butterfly stroke while fishing on Oregon Coast Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Living in a rural area like the North Country, there arent many people working with birds, so Ive sort of become the point person, Willson said. When looking for someone to transfer the eagle Willson said she immediately turned to SLUBAY, the Universitys faculty and staff listserv. SLUBAY is invaluable for things like this, said Willson. I can ask, Whos going to Ithaca? and I always get responses. SLU people genuinely care and step up when its needed. SLU assisted in the following bird rescues: Chemistry Professor Samantha Glazier transported three injured raptors to Ithaca, including a bald eagle and a red-tailed hawk; Vice President of Student Affairs Jon Duraj delivered an injured great horned owl to a local rehabber; and A member of St. Lawrences Riding Team drove an American woodcock to the same wildlife hospital where Larry was taken for treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Willson said these efforts highlight the threats birds face. Cats kill around 4 billion birds a year, windows another 2 billion, and cars are a huge danger as well, she explained. Watch: Unwavering bald eagle mom protects eggs in West Virginia thunderstorm In addition to her rescue work, Willson has published two research papers with student collaborators examining the effectiveness of the Birdsbesafe cat collar in protecting songbirds from cats. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. It is shortly after 4am in central London and a fleet of white transit vans is pulling into parking bays. Porters bent double against the driving rain are rattling supermarket trolleys to and fro across the cobbles, white overalls stained with blood from their cargo of beef shin and neck of lamb, pork belly and wild venison. Welcome to Smithfield Market. This place is part of British history, reflects Steve Carter, 71. We regularly get tour groups coming here from abroad who want to experience the banter and the character of the place. But the authorities in the City just want us to pack up and move us out of sight, so they can fill the space with little cafes and gift shops and make it look like everywhere else. Carter has worked on the market for two and a half decades, first on the shop floor and now in sales; he wears a shirt and tie, but as he likes to keep his hand in, his overalls are streaked red. Carter is one of many who believe the stallholders have been unfairly pushed out of the market - Jamie Lorriman for The Telegraph He gestures towards the marbled lamb carcasses hanging from hooks in the chiller. Tonight at 11pm the cutters will arrive, to butcher all the animals suspended behind every shop unit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The thing is, this place will be empty by 9am and so quiet youd hardly know we had been here all night, but the final decision has been made and theres nothing we can do. For some years now the meat market, which supplies restaurants, catering companies and butchers has been earmarked for closure. The plan was for Smithfield and Billingsgate, which sells fish, to be relocated to a purpose built site in Dagenham, east London. But The City Corporation the governing body of the City of London that owns and operates both sites has confirmed the closure will go ahead but that no alternative provision will be provided, because of the spiralling cost of construction. Instead, tenants are to be offered compensation and support in finding new premises. Rumours are rife about the real cause of the closure and range from selling the citys soul to gentrification and the rampant rise of vegetarianism. Chris Hayward, the corporations policy chairman, in a letter to members of the corporation, wrote: People are eating less meat and fish. An increasing amount of trade is handled directly online and we understand that a majority of traders will continue with their businesses. The strength of the markets has always been in the traders, not the buildings. Smithfield meat market, which dates from the 10th century, has been in continuous operation since medieval times. - James Manning/PA Bidders clutch cash in their hands to try and get the attention of auctioneers - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe Meat trader Simon Fords family have been at Smithfield since 1890. He rejects out of hand the idea that business has been affected by reduced meat consumption. This has nothing to do with vegetarianism and everything to do with logistics and common sense, he says. The number and size of the lorries coming here is too much for the local roads. The congestion charge and Ulez have made it very expensive and where once all the surrounding businesses would have been connected to the market, now theres a nightclub and housing. Yes its a bit of a shame but times are changing, and we just need to change with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smithfield meat market, which dates from the 10th century, has been in continuous operation since medieval times. To begin with it was literally a field where farmers brought their livestock. An 1810 depiction of the market, before the current covered building was constructed - Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1174, William Fitzstephen described it as a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be sold pigs with deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk. The area was used for medieval tournaments which include jousting. And in 1305 Scottish rebel William Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered. In 1381 Wat Tyler, leader of the failed Peasants Revolt, was also killed by officers loyal to King Richard II at Smithfield. Five hundred years later, Charles Dickens sought to capture the busy chaos in Oliver Twist: It was market morning. The ground was covered, nearly ankle-deep, with filth and mire the bleating of sheep, the grunting and squeaking of pigs the shouts, oaths and quarrelling on all sides rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene. Construction of the present Grade II listed covered market, designed by Horace Jones, who was responsible for Tower Bridge, began in 1866. The resulting brightly painted ironwork instantly lent it iconic status, but despite the merry colour scheme of violet, red and green, it has always been dedicated to commerce. Surplus cuts of meat are sold at rock bottom prices at this years Christmas Eve auction - Hannah McKay/REUTERS A butcher throws a cut of meat to a customer at the 2024 Christmas Eve auction - Henry Nicholls/AFP In its 1950s heyday Smithfield processed 400,000 tonnes of meat each year four times as much as now supplying London and the south-east. Although it is still the largest wholesale meat market in the UK, in recent years it has lost much of its character as health and safety diktats took hold, carcasses were removed from display and charmless identikit units were imposed on all the traders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of its uniqueness however is that it is built on a public right of way, so, if they can cope with the early operating hours, anyone can walk in and buy meat from the chill cabinets and the stalls. And those in the know, are guaranteed a bargain. I come here every week for topside of beef, pork ribs and and kegs of lamb because I know I will get great quality and save money, says Alastair Bramley, 55, owner of The White Horse in Heartingfordbury and The Bull in Watton at Stone, both in Hertfordshire. Today I spent 1,200 which represents a saving of 40 per cent compared to the butcher I used previously. That means even with the riding cost of meat I can maintain my profit margin without passing on the cost to my customers. But theres more to it than the bottom line. Bramley admits he enjoys the atmosphere and the sense of pride and passion among those who work at the market. I know I will get great quality and save money: pub owner Alastair Bramley always buys his produce at Smithfield - Jamie Lorriman for the Telegraph I think the market has probably been earmarked for regeneration which would be a big shame, he says. The camaraderie and legacy would be impossible to emulate somewhere else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here on the shop floor, just before dawn, the pace is quickening. Boxes of meat are being dispatched to the vans outside. Salesmen (although I do spot two women) are leafing through yellow dockets and vigorously tapping on oversized calculators. Crisp 20 notes are being counted, each stack enclosed with a rubber band. It has a businesslike feel, but those who work here claim it is a shadow of its former self. Despite protests that changed eating habits have not (yet) affected business, its hard to discount the eventual impact. According to figures published by Statista earlier this year, vegetarians make up just seven per cent of the UK population. But the young are turning their backs on meat; amongst Generation Z respondents, 26 per cent stated that they did not intend to eat meat in 2024. And another 26 per cent stated that they were already meat-free. It seems inevitable that the hollowing-out of Smithfield would only escalate were it to stay open. The closure of Smithfield will bring to an end over 800 years of trading meat at the site - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its sentimental to imagine the market could continue, is the verdict of Trevor Hussey, managing director of Burden Group and, with 95 staff at Smithfield, one of the biggest players at the site. Its day has come and gone and quite simply its no longer fit for purpose. You cant look backwards. As it is, the new Museum of London will be opening just adjacent to the market in 2026. Smithfields traders and customers will doubtless hope its extraordinary longevity and legacy will not just be recorded but celebrated. History however, is famously written by the victors; it remains to be seen how the vegetarians of tomorrow will portray the meat-eaters of today. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. As clouds of dense smoke enveloped Lahore in the winter of 2018, Dr Azhar Mukhtar decided it was time to leave. The city was increasingly struggling with toxic pollution, so the paediatrician moved his young family to the capital Islamabad, seeking better air for his childrens lungs. Six years on, the smog that has long choked Lahore is worse than ever. Locals describe being able to taste the fumes in the air, even while indoors, the schools have shut and plummeting visibility has closed motorways. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, though, the haze is on the move. It used to be a phenomenon of central Punjab, but this time the smog has conquered the north as well, says Dr Mukhtar, who works in the OPD department at the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, the bustling city bordering Islamabad. The smog is chasing us. For weeks, swathes of Pakistan and parts of northern India have been blanketed by smoke. Swathes of Pakistan and parts of northern India have been blanketed by smoke for weeks - ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images In Lahore, where more than 13 million people live, the air quality index or AQI a measure of the concentration of harmful pollutants in the air has soared well past the 1,000 mark on numerous occasions. A score higher than 100 is considered unhealthy, while anything above 300 is hazardous. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The air quality has been similarly dangerous in Delhi, the Indian capital, and the Pakistani city of Multan this week recorded a staggering AQI of 2,553 almost 190 times higher than the World Health Organizations safe limit. The smog is clearly visible from space as a grey shroud cloaking the valleys and plains of Punjab. On the ground, it has created a health emergency for tens of millions of people and the effects are being felt across the country. In the past few days, the number of patients has increased drastically, says Dr Shahana Ghazil, a senior resident in the emergencies department at Holy Family Hospital, where they set up a smog bay for the first time this month. Some 230 miles away in Lahore, officials said last week that 1.9 million people had been to hospital because of respiratory issues, leaving health facilities overcrowded with patients. Dr Shahana Ghazil, a senior resident in the emergencies department at Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi - Sarah Newey My worry is not just that this is causing acute asthma attacks in previously healthy people, or giving everyone a cough when people are exposed to these triggers for a long time, they can develop chronic conditions, says Dr Ghazil, who has herself developed a debilitating cough she blames on smog. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Dr Ghazil is most concerned about the impact the air is having on Pakistans children, including her own. I do worry about him, Dr Ghazil says, referring to her 18-month-old son. How can you think about having a healthy life when you live in a place surrounded by pollution? According to Unicef, 12 per cent of deaths in children under the age of five can already be attributed to air pollution in Punjab province alone, 11 million children this age are currently affected by hazardous air. Outside the concrete and red brick hospital, Muhammad Akbar, a 65-year-old fruit seller, fears for his grandchildrens future and not only their health. Muhammad Akbar, 65, works just outside the hospital in Rawalpindi - Sarah Newey The [pollution] has been increasing every year. I blame the government for this, he says. But I am most worried about our children, who are not going to school it will affect their education and development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So we will go behind, rather than forward I feel hopeless about it, Mr Akbar says. Almost half of all school pupils, or about 26 million children, were affected when Pakistans schools were closed this month, a devastating blow to education after the disruption caused by the pandemic and then the floods in 2022. Prolonged exposure to high levels of pollution can lead to lifelong consequences for children, says Shaheen Chughtai, Regional Advocacy and Campaigns Director for Asia at Save the Children. The younger you are, the more youre affected, he says. With infants and younger children in particular, their lungs are still developing, their immune systems are still developing, their brains are still developing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The effects of pollution on brain development can determine how well theyll do at school, the kind of jobs that adolescents will then get, whether theyll go to university or not, and therefore their earning potential, he says. In winter, cooler temperatures and calmer winds combine with vehicle emissions, industrial fumes and crop stubble burning to create a perfect storm of pollution - ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The threat is particularly inescapable for low income families, he adds. If youve got more wealth, then you can live in a cleaner, safer, healthier environment. But even the richest and most powerful people are not safe from the far-reaching impact of pollution. Earlier this month, for example, Maryam Nawaz, the Chief Minister of Punjab and the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, flew to Europe to get treatment for a severe throat infection. Pakistans air pollution woes have been blamed in part on the traditional coal and wood-fired brick kilns that pepper the areas around Pakistani cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its estimated that there are as many as 20,000 kilns across the country, collectively producing more than 82 million bricks each year to feed the countrys construction industry. Many of the kilns are unregulated and human rights abuses are rife. The workers at some of them are persecuted Christians living in bonded slavery who work long shifts to meet aggressive production quotas. Brick kilns close to Islamabad airport - Sarah Newey Just south of Islamabad, hundreds of chimneys vent pillars of smoke into the air around the clock. We do know [pollution] is a problem, so we have tried to limit the black smoke, says Naeem Khan, who owns a brick kiln around 15km from the citys main airport. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A combination of smoke blowers and a zig-zag brick baking layout has turned the smoke emitted from black to white in line with updated government standards. Theres now a full ban on brick kilns that ignore this, but I havent seen any closed yet and not everyone follows the regulations, he says. The brick kilns are only one part of the picture, and the haze that descends on eastern Pakistan and northern India each year between October and January is not a new phenomenon. During the winter months, cooler temperatures and calmer winds combine with vehicle emissions, industrial fumes and crop stubble burning to create a perfect storm of pollution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The widespread use of coal for electricity generation is also a major factor. As it races to improve access to electricity, the government has allowed coal power to expand dramatically two more coal-fired power plants opened in the southern Sindh province last year and there are five more planned. Unfortunately every year it is getting worse, not better that is our main concern, says Dr Javed Akram, president of the Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine, who is based in Lahore. We know that it is a man-made disaster and we have to do something about it. But unfortunately we are failing because we have a weak political system here. Pakistan, which has been mired in a political crisis since 2022 when Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote, badly needs consistent legislation and stability to help tackle the pollution problem, he says. The government needs to make unpopular decisions, like moving all the factories emitting toxic fumes to outside of the cities, getting rid of the vehicles and reducing emissions, and also to tackle the stubble burning, he says. Its more important than anything else. We know exactly what to do, but we have to implement it. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Scotlands First Minister has been forced to admit that men cannot become pregnant. John Swinney said he did not believe that it was possible for males to bear children, at the same time that lawyers for the Scottish Government presented their case to the Supreme Court that includes references to pregnant men. In a landmark case, For Women Scotland, the campaign group, is seeking to overturn rulings in the Scottish courts that state gender recognition certificates (GRCs) change the legal sex of those who hold them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawyers acting for SNP ministers claim this creates the concept of the pregnant man someone who was born as a female but then acquires a GRC stating they are male and becomes pregnant. Fantasy of legal fiction For Women Scotland has urged Britains highest court to find that sex is an immutable biological state and that the idea that this could be altered by a certification scheme was a fantasy of legal fiction. After delivering a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Mr Swinney was asked by The Telegraph whether he personally believed it was possible for a man to become pregnant. The First Minister hesitated briefly before replying: No, I dont. Asked why his Governments lawyers were therefore arguing it was possible, at a huge cost to the public purse, in the Supreme Court, he said: I think theres many complex arguments that have been put forward in the Supreme Court judgment. I dont think they come down to the simplicity of the question youve put to me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said: John Swinney initially appears to agree with the obvious truth that men cannot get pregnant. But when asked why expensive Scottish Government lawyers are arguing that they can, he suddenly starts to obfuscate by claiming that its all very complicated. Well, John, its not complicated. It is a matter of common sense, and biology, that only women can become pregnant. Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said the SNP were still in the grip of harmful and irrational gender self-ID zealotry - Jacob King/PA Wire To squander taxpayers money on this madness shows that Swinneys SNP are still in the grip of harmful and irrational gender self-ID zealotry. Joanna Cherry KC, the lawyer and former SNP MP, said she was pleased that Mr Swinney recognises this biological reality that men could not become pregnant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added: But Im presently sitting in the UK Supreme Court watching his Governments lawyers argue the opposite. Scottish ministers are attempting to convince a panel of the countrys top judges that the 2004 Gender Recognition Act was clear that GRCs change a persons legal sex for all purposes. Joanna Cherry, the lawyer and former SNP MP, is a vocal critic of the SNPs plans to allow Scots to change their legal sex by signing a declaration - Jane Barlow/PA Wire For Women Scotland claims this was overridden by the 2010 Equality Act, which treated women and transgender people as two protected, but distinct groups. To support its case, For Women Scotland has said that biological females with male GRCs would therefore lose legal protections, such as rights to maternity leave, if they were no longer legally women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scottish Government lawyers said that references to a woman who is pregnant in the Equality Act 2010 are capable of applying to a pregnant man who had been born female. In a 40-page legal submission to the Supreme Court, they also said that it was unlawful for women-only clubs and associations to exclude biological males with gender recognition certificates. This would mean that a biological male with a GRC, who was attracted to women, would become a lesbian in the eyes of the law and therefore could not be lawfully excluded from lesbian-only groups with more than 25 members. The outcome of the latest case could have big implications across the UK, because it has implications for whether trans women can access womens refuges, prisons, changing rooms and other single-sex spaces. Protection of the previous sex On Tuesday, Ruth Crawford KC, representing Scottish ministers, said: The Gender Recognition Act affects a change in sex and gender interchangeably and this affects a change in legal status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She went on to add: The presumption is unqualified a person who becomes the sex of the acquired gender is entitled to the protections of that sex even if it disadvantages them as a sex or it means losing the protection of the previous sex. Later in the afternoon, Ms Crawford said her client suggested dealing with what she described as the issue of the pregnant man as its often short-handedly [referred to]. Suggesting her first most straightforward potential solution, Ms Crawford said: Any difficulties arising from the exclusion of a person with an acquired male gender who nonetheless thereafter becomes pregnant are to be resolved by Parliament rather than the courts. that issue is very clearly a matter of deep political water. Pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding Setting out the second approach, she said: For this provision to be applied to those who are pregnant is a matter of fact, regardless of the terms of any GRC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That being on the basis as it was put by the Inner House, a woman is not the essential element at which section 17 and 18 are aimed. Rather, its the fact of pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. However a judge on the panel suggested that the latter suggestion would not be possible when women and pregnancy is a protected status for women the two are intricately linked. Responding, Aidan ONeill KC, who is representing For Women Scotland, also suggested pregnant men, who were born biologically female, would not have to abide by the same UK laws on abortion as pregnant women. He said: Pre-1994 enactments as the Abortion Act when it uses the term women and pregnancy will only apply to women who are pregnant and it will not apply to pregnant men. Fundamental rights Mr ONeill added: If youre a pregnant man, you have an unlimited time to consider whether to continue with the pregnancy. If youre a pregnant woman, you have to stick by the terms of the Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The barrister, who received a standing ovation from supporters as he left the courtroom, concluded by stating that the rights of trans women with GRCs shouldnt trump the fundamental rights of women who make up the majority. He said: Womens fundamental fights cannot be overridden by general or ambiguous words. The courts therefore must presume that even the most general words were intended to be subject to the basic rights of the individual woman as a woman and one would hope that womens rights are human rights and does so by upholding this appeal. The Supreme Court case is the culmination of a five-year legal battle between the Scottish Government and For Women Scotland, which brought its case to the Supreme Court with the help of a 70,000 donation from JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author. JK Rowling has donated 70,000 to challenge a ruling that men can become women - TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images For Women Scotland won an earlier case, after the SNP set up a scheme to increase the proportion of women on public boards, and said that anyone who self-identified as a woman would count towards gender equality targets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ministers then changed the scheme, but said biological males holding a GRC would still count as women for the purposes of the law. For Women Scotland challenged this, saying only biological women should count. It has lost twice in the Scottish courts, allowing the group to bring its case to the Supreme Court for a definitive ruling. 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 recent report recommends U.S. Special Operations Command take various actions to reduce high-risk training injuries and deaths, which account for the bulk of non-combat accidents. Released this month, the Government Accountability Office report found that from 2012 to 2022, an estimated 80% of the 3,600 reported on-duty, non-combat accidents among special operations forces came from high-risk training. Forty percent of those incidents were from either parachute or combat dive training. Officials determined that approximately 86% of those incidents were caused by human error. Only about 3% were the result of equipment failure, while another 3% were impacted by environmental factors like extreme heat or cold. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Green Beret's free fall death spotlights concerns, sparks working group Four factors were highlighted as sole or combined contributors that cause human error, including failure to adhere to training standards, standard operating procedures, or other policies and guidance, overconfidence, complacency or indiscipline, leadership supervision and poor or improper decision making. The number of training incidents fluctuated annually, ranging from as low as 120 in one year to as high as 402 during another. On average there were about 259 reported training incidents each year of the study period. Broken down by category, high-risk training accidents between 2012 and 2022 included 972 incidents that involved parachutes, 188 involving weapons or explosives, 99 that occurred during dive operations and 83 involving tactical vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There were 48 reported fatalities across the studied period. One-third of those fatalities happened during parachute training, with more than 60% of the fatalities occurring between fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2015. SOCOM paused parachute training in 2015 as a result, making a series of changes to training policy and operations. Army and Navy special operations personnel performed an average of more than 100,000 parachute jumps each year between 2012 and 2022. Over the course of the studied period, personnel assigned to Army and Navy units were involved in 685 and 237 reported parachute training accidents, respectively. During an average year highlighted in the report, Army special operations fired off 48 million ammunition rounds and explosives. Around eight weapons and explosives training incidents were reported each year during that period. Marine special operators fired off 7 million rounds and explosives each year, reporting approximately two related incidents annually. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Army and Navy special operators drove an average of 1 million and 250,000 tactical miles, respectively, over the decade measured. Together, the two forces averaged about three total tactical vehicle training accidents each year. Cpl. Kaleb Kinker, right, fights through interference by an instructor simulating rough seas during a portion of the United States Marine Corps Combatant Divers Course (Sgt. Isaac Ibarra/Marine Corps) Navy special operators averaged 40,000 dives per year, meanwhile, with seven reported dive training incidents annually. Air Force special operations divers hit the water 3,600 times each year and reported less than one dive training incident per year. In looking into incidents, the report authors dinged SOCOM in several areas. Special Operations Command designated seven high-risk training areas in 2022 airborne operations, combat dive, joint terminal attack controller, mountain operations, sniper, special operations urban combat and vertical lift operations but has not yet determined whether these areas account for the greatest risk of training accidents, the authors noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The command also established a training and assessment program to oversee SOF training in 2022, but it has not yet implemented all components of the assessments. The command has not conducted an analysis of negative safety trends in high-risk training, the report added. The GAO report offered recommendations to improve special operations training safety. Among those, the report suggests: The SOCOM commander should analyze negative safety trends when designating high-risk training areas in future training directive updates. The assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict should reevaluate the training assessment program to determine resources SOF service commands need to achieve program goals. The defense secretary should ensure that services corresponding special operations forces commanders establish milestones for their units to complete updates to high-risk training policies, including SOCOMs oversight requirements. The Pentagon agreed with all GAO recommendations. Read the full report here. George Robinson has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 1997 killing of 17-year-old James Hutson Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, TN Mary Hutson; James Hutson Mary Hutson; James Hutson Nearly three decades after a teenage boy was found murdered and his mother sexually assaulted inside a Tennessee home, authorities have arrested a suspect. George Robinson has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 1997 killing of 17-year-old James Hutson after his DNA was allegedly connected to the crime scene, the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office said in a press release on Nov. 22. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sept. 6, 1997, the teenage boy was found stabbed to death and his mother, Mary Hutson, sexually assaulted in their Kingsport, Tenn., home, authorities said. DNA evidence was collected at the scene and submitted for testing. However, no match was found and the case eventually went cold. WJHL reports Mary passed away about a year later. In 2023, investigators reopened the case and began reviewing evidence with help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. That May, the DNA evidence from 1997 was sent to Othram Labs, a genetic genealogy company based in Texas, and Robinson was identified as a potential suspect, per the release. Authorities said they recently obtained a DNA sample from Robinson and compared it to the DNA evidence taken from the crime scene in 1997. Forensic scientists then alleged that Robinsons DNA was a confirmed match to the DNA evidence. Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, TN George Robinson George Robinson 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. On Nov. 20, a grand jury indicted Robinson on the murder charges. According to WJHL-TV, First Judicial District Attorney General Barry Staubus said Robinson has not been charged in connection with Marys sexual assault due to the statute of limitations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When authorities tried to arrest Robinson that morning, they said he barricaded himself inside his Kingsport, Tenn., apartment. The county SWAT team arrived and tried to negotiate with Robinson, but he refused to cooperate, authorities alleged. After several hours, authorities were able to enter the apartment, where Robinson shot himself, per the release. Authorities said he was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but did not share details regarding his condition. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. BERLIN (AP) The eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit was released from custody on Wednesday after his arrest last week on rape allegations, his lawyer said. Marius Borg Hiby, 27, is the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship. He has no royal title or official duties. Borg Hiby was arrested last week in Oslo on a preliminary charge of having had sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or for other reasons unable to resist the act, police said. In Norway, a preliminary charge comes before a formal charge and allows authorities to detain suspects during an investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the time, the authorities did not say when the alleged rape occurred. Norwegian media reported that Borg Hiby denied the accusation. Prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said on Wednesday that police had reviewed the evidence seized in connection with Borg Hiby's arrest and had conducted witness interviews. Oslo police said in a statement that the decision was taken not to seek the further detention of Borg Hiby. As of now, we can no longer see that there is a risk of evidence being tampered with, it said. The statement added that a police investigation has been launched into a further matter relating to sexual offenses, without giving details of that case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement yvind Bratlien, Hibys defense attorney, said his client's release was not surprising. "He shouldnt have been imprisoned at all, Bratlien told broadcaster NRK. He later confirmed to Norwegian news agency NTB that his client had been released. The royal palace had no comment regarding the allegations against Borg Hiby, NTB said. Borg Hiby lives with the royal couple and their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Norways future queen made headlines in 2001 when she married Haakon because she was a single mother whose previous companion had been convicted on drug charges. Marius Borg Hiby, the son of Norwegian princess Mette-Marit, has been released after spending a week in custody on suspicion of committing sex offences. Police announced on Wednesday morning that they would not be seeking further pre-trial detention for the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit. At present, there is no longer any recognisable danger that evidence could be removed, they said. They also announced that they are investigating a further possible sex offence, without giving any further details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hiby's defence lawyer, yvind Bratlien, told broadcaster NRK that his client would be released during the course of the day, and asserted that it had been wrong to put Hiby in pre-trial detention at all. Hiby had been remanded in custody for a week on Wednesday last week. Prior to that, new allegations against the 27-year-old had emerged regarding two alleged sex offences they are the most serious accusations against him to date and could potentially result in several years in prison. Hiby has denied these allegations. Since the summer, several accusations have been made against him, including assaulting ex-partners and causing property damage, some of which he has admitted to. Marius Borg Hiby is the oldest son of Mette-Marit and the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon. Although he belongs to the royal family, he does not bear the title of prince and is not an official member of the Norwegian royal family. CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) South Carolina shrimpers are celebrating the U.S. International Trade Commissions recent decision to crack down on frozen shrimp imports from four countries. The ITC voted in favor of issuing countervailing duties on frozen, warm-water shrimp imports from Ecuador, India, and Vietnam after the U.S. Department of Commerce determined those governments were illegally subsidizing the industry. They also voted to impose anti-dumping orders on imports from Indonesia. Dumping occurs when foreign nations and exporters dump shrimp on the market at an unsustainable rate, thereby artificially deflating the price. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These practices have materially injured the U.S. shrimping industry, the commission found. Were grateful because its an acknowledgment of what we feel and we experience in the industry and we see on a daily basis, said Bryan Jones, a first-generation shrimper who lives in McClellanville. Jones serves as vice president of the South Carolina Shrimpers Association and was among a group of commercial fishermen who testified before the ITC in Washington, D.C. in October. [These issues] really came to the forefront around 2010 with the proliferation, or rapid increase, of foreign shrimp ponds, explained Jones. They were able to scale up and be able to produce shrimp at a rate that quickly took over market share because they would produce it cheaper and quickly and have a little bit more consistency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since then, local fishermen have been sounding the alarm on dumping because it not only harms them financially, but also exacerbates other struggles within the industry like rising fuel and labor costs, demographic shifts in the industry, and the loss of working waterfronts. If not for the imported shrimp crisis, one: wed be able to pay more, pay our crew more so we wouldnt have the crew issue, Jones said. Two: youd have more young people wanting to invest in the business and buy into shrimp boats because they would see a profitable futureand then three: commercial docks and properties would probably have much more property value to sell it to a real estate developer like you saw Indpendent Seafood in Georgetown do, rather than keep it open as a seafood dock if theyre competing against imported shrimp. Potato cartel conspired to spike frozen potato prices: Lawsuits The quality of shrimp coming from overseas is an issue, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones noted that while the U.S. has regulatory measures in place, they are not adequately funded which often results in shrimp being sold to consumers without proper inspection first. According to a 2015 Consumer Reports bulletin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests only about 1% of foreign shrimp shipments for potential contaminants. Of that 1%, one-third of it is rejected for things like nitrofuran antibiotics or filth filth just means its dirty, potentially that its kind of decomposed, or did not make it over in a safe manner, Jone said. He further explained that rejected shipments are not confiscated or destroyed, meaning boats can take them to a new port of entry where they could pass through uninspected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, eliminating foreign shrimp from the U.S. market is not the goal nor would it likely be feasible given that domestic shrimpers account for only about 5.5% of the global market share. All shrimpers really want is a level playing field, Jones said. I wouldnt say we cant replace imported shrimp, but thats not our goal, he continued. Our goal is just to be able to go out, compete in a fair marketplace, and provide for our families. And while the ITCs recent action will ease competition for domestic shrimpers by making it more expensive for foreign countries to export their products into the country, Jones knows more can be done to achieve parity across the industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A bill filed in October by Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) would be a step in that direction. Foreign dumping of shrimp filled with contaminants that dont meet US safety standards is undercutting honest, hardworking, American fisherman, Mace said on Oct. 18 as she stood in front of the shrimp boats on Shem Creek and introduced the Protect American Fisheries Act. The bill proposes to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to include economic causes as a reason for declaring a fishery resource disaster. The declaration, made by a governor, is the first step in receiving federal relief administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The types of relief that were talking about in this bill would mean direct assistance to fisherman and seafood businesses, conservation funds would be unlocked to help restore the fishery, fishery-related infrastructure, primarily to focus on direct assistance to fisherman, Mace continued. Jones also advocates for the Save Our Shrimpers Act, a bill filed by Republican Congressman Troy Nehls of Texas that would prohibit federal funds from being made available to international financial institutions for the purposes of financing foreign shrimp farms. Jones acknowledged that these legislative actions coupled with public awareness could make a big difference for local shrimpers. At the end of the day, thats whats going to save our industry is a well-informed consumer that makes intentional decisions, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) Feeling stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner and want to burn off those extra calories? People in South Carolina can do just that by visiting a state park for free on Friday. South Carolina will waive admission fees for all 47 state parks the day after Thanksgiving to encourage people to spend time outdoors. South Carolina shrimpers applaud decision to impose duties on shrimp imported from four countries Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Visitors will also be able to tour three historic homes at no cost on Nov. 29: Rose Hill Plantation in Union County, Redcliffe Plantation in Aiken County, and Hampton Plantation in Charleston County. Tour reservations can be made online. The parks department invites people to share photos of their visit on social media using the hashtags #OptOutsideSC and #SCStateParks. You can use this interactive map to find a state park near you. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) The South Dakota Supreme Court upheld a 2022 jury ruling that found a man guilty of first-degree manslaughter for a 2018 shooting in a Keystone apartment. 51-year-old charged in Saturday stabbing The South Dakota Supreme Court found the court adequately informed the jury of the states burden of proof, it did not abuse discretion in refusing to give a mistake of fact instruction, it did not abuse discretion in denying admission of deputy states attorneys statement and the evidence is sufficient to sustain the conviction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Based on our review of the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain Pfeiffers conviction of first-degree manslaughter, Justice Patricia Devaney wrote in the opinion and was supported by the other four justices. You can read the full ruling online. Maxton Pfeiffer was found guilty of shooting his friend, Ty Scott, while hanging out in an apartment in June 2018. Pfeiffer appealed the circuit court erred by failing to instruct the jury the state had the burden of proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt and erred by refusing to give a mistake of fact instruction. Pfeiffer believed a .45 caliber pistol was unloaded when he made a sweeping motion with the gun and it fired. In court, Pheiffer argued the states evidence established he acted negligently, not recklessly. The state claimed that because Pfeiffer recalled touching the trigger of the gun, that is enough for the jury to make a conclusion that he had the required general criminal intent to be convicted of this offense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The jury deliberated for 14 hours over two days and returned a guilty verdict. Pfeiffer was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 23 years suspended and credit for time already served. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg South Korea plans to bolster its fiscal support for domestic chipmakers next year, shoring up an industry that may face unfavorable policies from the incoming Trump administration and more intense challenges from Chinese rivals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Financial support made up of loans, insurances and guarantees from state-affiliated organizations is set to amount to 14.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion) next year in an elevation of continued policy stimulus, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Separately, the government plans to cover a significant share of the 1.8 trillion won needed to bury power cables underground in chipmaking clusters south of Seoul, it said in a statement. South Korea had already kicked off a 26 trillion won aid package in July, part of which will be reflected in next years support amount. Separately, the government will seek to increase the tax credit rate for semiconductor-related firms by 10 percentage points and build a national artificial intelligence computing center worth 4 trillion won by 2030, it said Wednesday. South Korea is stepping up its support for the crown jewel of its economy at a time when President-elect Donald Trump vows to bolster US manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. While the nation has continued to funnel fiscal support into chipmakers, Trumps election has added urgency to safeguarding the growth of the industry. In its statement the ministry said there is potential for economic uncertainties to grow after the new US administration is inaugurated, even though US-South Korean ties in defense and shipbuilding could still benefit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Koreas biggest company, Samsung Electronics Co., in particular is building a semiconductor factory in Texas with subsidies promised under the Biden administrations Chips Act. Trumps camp repeatedly criticized that funding program during the election campaign. China may also ratchet up its pursuit of South Korea in supply chains, raising the need for Seoul to help shore up the competitiveness of its tech industries, the Finance Ministry said. A rising wave of protectionist polices may also dent South Koreas trade-reliant economy, it said. Technology exports account for roughly a third of South Koreas shipments abroad. The economy is expected to be on course to grow at least 2% this year compared with 2023, particularly on the back of strong demand for semiconductors, including memory chips used in artificial intelligence development. Forecasts among economists for next year are turning less optimistic after the export rally has softened in recent months. Officials also worry Trump could get tougher on US trading partners after he assumes office in January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Yoolim Lee and Shinhye Kang. (Updates with plans for tax incentives and AI computing center in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The projected fertility rate of South Korea is set to rise in 2024, marking the first increase in nearly a decade in a country grappling with an ageing society and low birth rates. Recently, marriage rates have increased for five consecutive months and the number of births has risen for two consecutive months, Dr Joo Hyung-hwan, vice-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, said during a keynote speech at the Global Symposium on Low Fertility and Ageing. The event, held on 26 November in Seoul, was co-organised by Statistics Korea and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), reported the Korea Herald. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These signs suggest the declining fertility rate may finally be reversing. If this trend continues, this years total fertility rate is projected to be 0.74, which would mark a rebound, he said. South Koreas total fertility rate the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime has been steadily declining since 2015. It fell below one child per woman for the first time in 2018, hitting 0.98, and dropped further to a historic low of 0.72 in 2023. This figure is among the lowest globally and significantly below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman, the threshold required to sustain a population without relying on immigration. Experts warn that without sustained progress, South Koreas population could shrink by half by 2100, exacerbating existing social and economic challenges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier, the National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) also predicted a recovery in South Koreas fertility rate in its report published on 11 October this year, holding it at 0.74 up from the year before. Driven by the recent recovery in the number of births, the total fertility rate is projected to rise by 0.2 children per woman this year, and continue to rise modestly through 2028, said the NABO in the report. However, despite the increase in birth rate, the total population is expected to decline as the number of deaths will exceed the number of deaths, according to the office, reported the Korea Times. The South Korean government has characterised the demographic crisis as a national emergency and has implemented various measures to address it, ranging from financial incentives for families to broader policies aimed at improving work-life balance and childcare support. SEOUL, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- South Korea's birth rate showed its largest monthly gain in nearly 14 years, its statistics agency said Wednesday, offering a rare positive sign amid longstanding demographic concerns over a shrinking and rapidly aging population. Some 20,590 babies were born in September, according to data from Statistics Korea, up 1,884 newborns -- or 10.1% -- from the same period last year. The one-year increase was the largest since January 2011. September marked the third straight month in which more than 20,000 babies were born, with 20,601 in July and 20,098 in August. Total births in the third quarter were up 8% from the same period last year, the agency said, marking the largest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2012. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials have pointed to a jump in marriages after the COVID-19 pandemic as the key driver in the recent birth rate boost. The country may see its first annual rise in overall fertility rate since 2015, according to a projection by South Korea's Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy. "Recently, the number of marriages has increased for five consecutive months and the number of births has increased for two consecutive months," Joo Hyung-hwan, vice chairman of the committee, said in a speech at the Symposium on Aging and Low Birthrate in Seoul on Tuesday. "If this trend continues, the total fertility rate is expected to rebound to around 0.74 this year," Joo said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Korea finished 2023 at a record-low rate of 0.72 -- meaning that for every 100 women, just 72 babies are expected to be born over their lifetimes. That mark was by far the lowest in the world, less than half the average rate of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the level needed to keep a population from declining. A number of factors, including high housing and education costs and gender inequality in the workplace, have made young people in South Korea reluctant to start families. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has called the low birth rate a "national emergency" and announced plans in May to establish a new ministry to address it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The government has tried various incentives to help entice families to have children, including a cash allowance for newborns that was raised to roughly $750 per month at the start of the year. South Korea's presidential committee on population policy unveiled additional steps last month to enhance work-life balance, including increased parental leave and tax incentives for small businesses to offer family-friendly work cultures. Despite the uptick in births, however, the specter of a demographic crisis continues to loom. Statistics Korea has projected that the country's population will decline from nearly 52 million in 2024 to 36 million in 2072. At the same time, the proportion of the elderly population in South Korea will rise from less than 20% in 2024 to nearly half in 2072. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas president on Wednesday met a visiting Ukraine delegation and called for the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to the threat posed by North Koreas recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russias war against Ukraine. The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the almost three-year war, with Ukraine and the U.S. saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons targeting them. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine. During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the Norths troop dispatch, Yoons office said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Yoons national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said. It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States. The South Korean statement didnt say whether the two sides discussed Seouls possible weapons supply to Ukraine. Many observers say Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Trump has promised to end the war swiftly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say its unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch. North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. The U.S., South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia. [Source] A Seoul court convicted a 26-year-old South Korean man of violating the Military Service Act by intentionally gaining weight to avoid mandatory military service. Despite initially qualifying for combat duty with a Grade 2 (second-highest grade) assessment in 2017, the defendant doubled his food intake and drank excessive water to reach 102.3 kilograms (225 pounds) with a BMI of 35.8 by his 2023 physical. The resulting Grade 4 assessment meant disqualification from combat roles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The man, whose name was not released, received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and will now complete his military duty. His friend, who provided the weight-gain plan, received a six-month suspended sentence for aiding and abetting. In South Korea, where military service is mandatory for able-bodied men, 37% of draft-evasion tactic cases in 2017 involved deliberate weight manipulation. Trending on NextShark: 500 North Korean soldiers reported killed in Ukraine war Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Seoul on Nov. 27 to discuss the deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported. Several media outlets reported that the Ukrainian delegation is visiting Seoul to seek arms supplies, something the East Asian country has been reluctant to provide. More recently, Yoon said that the South Korean government is not ruling out changing its stance and providing defense support in light of North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the meeting, the two sides "agreed to continue sharing information on North Korea's troop deployment to Russia and on weapons and technology transfers between Russia and North Korea, while working together with allied nations," the South Korean Presidential Office said, according to Yonhap. Ukrainian officials also reportedly met with National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to discuss intelligence on North Korean troops. Pyongyang is believed to have dispatched over 10,000 troops to aid Russia's war, with the first clashes with Ukrainian forces reported in Kursk Oblast. North Korea has also become Moscow's leading supplier of artillery shells and ballistic missiles. Neither the Ukrainian delegation nor South Korean officials commented on whether Umerov arrived in Seoul to seek military supplies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts told the Kyiv Independent that a rapid supply of arms to Ukraine is unlikely due to South Korea's legal contains on providing weapons to a combat zone. A recent poll also showed that while the majority of South Koreans see the growing Russian-North Korean ties as a threat, 82% oppose sending arms to Ukraine. According to the experts, South Korea could provide the most significant support to Ukraine through ammunition supplies. The country fields not only 155 mm artillery but also stores 3.4 million 105 mm rounds compatible with some of Ukraine's guns. A South Korean official recently said that direct supplies of 155 mm ammunition are not on the table, with Yoon commenting that Seoul is currently looking at the possibility of providing "defensive weapons," without providing details. Read also: South Korea supplying weapons to Ukraine directly unlikely given legal hurdles, experts say Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Hyunsu Yim SEOUL (Reuters) -South Koreans remain widely opposed to directly supplying arms to Ukraine, recent polls show, despite renewed international requests from Kyiv and allied capitals after North Korean troops were reported to be helping Russia. Ukraine has asked Seoul for a range of weapons and Seoul has said it could consider such aid, depending on future steps by Russia and North Korea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov met South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, Yoon's office said, amid media reports that the visit aimed to seek arms support. "No to the South Korean government planning arms supply to Ukraine," read a banner held by a small group of protesters gathered outside Yoon's office in the capital. Both sides agreed to keep up sharing of information on North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia as well as the exchange of technology and weapons between the two, Yoon's office said in a statement. The delegation also met Seoul's national security advisor Shin Won-sik and defence minister Kim Yong-hyun and discussed cooperation between Seoul and Kyiv. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine planned to send Seoul a detailed request for arms support including artillery and an air defence system, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an October interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS. A Western diplomat told Reuters that discussions behind the scenes focused on air defence systems designed to shoot down aircraft and missiles, but this month's U.S. presidential election win by Donald Trump cast uncertainty over the talks. Yoon, already battling with record low approval ratings over domestic scandals, faces wide opposition from the South Korean public to the idea of arming Ukraine, surveys have shown. Most South Koreans viewed growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow as a threat, a Gallup Korea poll showed in October, but 82% opposed sending military aid, including arms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "To the South Korean government, there will be fewer benefits for continuing to support (military aid) when there is little domestic support and the relationship with the next U.S government could deteriorate," said Yang Uk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Yoon's low approval ratings, along with little public backing for supply of weapons, are burdens sapping his mandate on foreign policy, he added. The public, largely not sensitive to the seriousness of the war in Ukraine, is likely to focus on the downside in the event of the South's direct involvement, Yang said. Unlike neighbouring Japan, which has also avoided directly arming Kyiv, South Korea is one of the world's largest weapons exporters and has inked large, lucrative defence deals with Ukraine's neighbours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Korea has provided demining vehicles, body armour, and other non-lethal aid for Ukraine and has not ruled out supply of weapons to Kyiv, especially after Seoul and Washington reported the dispatch of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia. At home, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has criticised the government for not ruling out provision of weapons aid and urged it to seek parliamentary approval for such decisions. The DP has a majority in parliament after a landslide victory in an April election, but experts say the president can bypass the body to supply lethal weapons to another country. In an interview with Russia's TASS news agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said ties between Seoul and Moscow would be "completely destroyed" if South Korea supplied arms to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia should first ask itself what it provides to North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang's dispatch of troops and how it is threatening the security of South Korea, a senior South Korean foreign ministry official told a background briefing on Wednesday, when asked about the comments. Seoul's response depends on the actions of Russia and North Korea, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Josh Smith and Clarence Fernandez) A Southern California man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after authorities said his luggage was filled with clothing that was caked in methamphetamine. On Nov. 6, Raj Matharu, 31, of Northridge, attempted to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia. He checked in two pieces of luggage at an LAX ticket counter, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. As security officers X-rayed his luggage, they noticed irregularities and pulled the suitcases for a secondary inspection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inside, authorities found more than a dozen white or light-colored clothing items, including a cow pajama onesie, that were dried stiff and covered in a white residue. After law enforcement tested the residue, the results confirmed the substance was methamphetamine, officials said. The total weight of the clothing with the meth soaked into them was around 71.5 pounds. Authorities were able to extract over one kilogram of meth residue from the clothes. A cow pajama onesie was found soaked in methamphetamine inside the suspects luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. (U.S. Attorneys Office) The suspects stiffened clothing caked in methamphetamine was found inside the his luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. (U.S. Attorneys Office) Southern California woman accused of operating brothels disguised as skin care spas Officers intercepted Matharu on the jet bridge to his flight and he was taken into custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit as alleged in the facts of this case, said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world. Law enforcement is committed to fighting drug trafficking, knowing that every seizure saves lives. Matharu is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 2 in U.S. District Court in downtown L.A. He was released on $10,000 bond. If convicted, he could face anywhere between 10 years to life in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. SpaceX and other companies plan to fill the skies with tens of thousands of internet satellites. Satellite mega-constellations could harm the atmosphere, say scientists calling for more research. Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite constellation is the biggest, wields power in the new Trump administration. SpaceX's Starlink and other mega-constellations of satellites could damage the atmosphere in ways we don't yet understand, scientists say. The number of satellites in Earth's orbit has skyrocketed from about 1,000 in 2010 to more than 10,000 today. According to a government report, an additional 58,000 satellites could launch by 2030, largely from SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, and the Chinese government all to connect the entire planet to the internet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Research suggests the ozone layer that protects us from powerful solar radiation could be at stake. About 100 scientists signed a letter in October asking the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates satellite launches in the US, to pause mega-constellations. "We should look before we leap," the letter reads, adding, "The environmental harms of launching and burning up so many satellites aren't clear." Elon Musk who sits at the helm of the world's dominant satellite constellation, Starlink has publicly criticized some regulations affecting his companies and has positioned himself to push against regulation with the new Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starlink accounts for more than half of the 10,560 active satellites as of November 15, according to tracking by the Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell. SpaceX has filed for permission to fly 30,000 more satellites. Elon Musk beside US President-Elect Donald J. Trump. Brandon Bell/Getty Images SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Satellites burning up in the atmosphere Studies have found that rocket launches, such as those that put satellites into space, emit pollutants like carbon dioxide and black carbon, which could trigger processes that deplete Earth's protective ozone layer. That's just the launch. Most satellites eventually fall out of orbit because of malfunction or because they're reaching the end of their lives. This "reentry" prevents dead satellites from becoming dangerous, uncontrollable space junk, but it also causes them to burn up as they plow through the atmosphere, releasing metals like aluminum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Due to the sheer number of satellites expected to fly, die, and re-enter in coming years, future mega-constellations could inject 21 times more aluminum oxides into the upper atmosphere than 2022 rates, according to a paper published in the Geophysical Research Letters in June. Aluminum oxides can linger for decades and cause "significant ozone depletion," the researchers wrote. There may also be impacts scientists have not yet discovered "unknown unknowns," Nilton Renno, an atmospheric scientist who co-signed the letter, told BI. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 56 Starlink internet satellites launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images An accurate prediction of all possible impacts "should be the basis for any relevant policy," Joseph Wang, a coauthor of the aluminum-oxides paper and a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California, told BI in an email. At the moment, no such prediction exists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For now, satellites are small potatoes compared to pollution from other industries. It's unclear how quickly their impact will balloon. Another study found that about 10% of aerosol particles in the stratosphere contain metals from satellites and other spacecraft, and that amount could increase to about 50% in the next few decades. There's no environmental review for mega-constellations The 100-scientist letter asks the FCC to pause new satellite launches, conduct environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and end a rule that excludes satellites from those review requirements. The letter says the exclusion "offends common sense," given the number of satellites in play. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a 2022 report, the US Government Accountability Office also recommended that the FCC reassess the exclusion. Indeed, an FCC spokesperson told BI that the agency plans to review its NEPA rules, which would include the satellite exclusion. That's because the Council on Environmental Quality updated government-wide regulations for implementing NEPA in May. If the FCC finds that large satellite constellations significantly affect the human environment (such as Earth's atmosphere), it may have to start requiring environmental reviews. Michelle Hanlon, the executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, agrees that more studies are needed but doesn't think that stopping satellite launches should be the solution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We can shut down the American space industry and there's still going to be launches," she told BI. Musk's anti-regulation campaign The incoming Trump administration may not be the most environmental-review-friendly, given Musk's anticipated role in it. "There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," Musk wrote on X after Trump announced a plan for the billionaire CEO to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and SpaceX have already clashed with regulators over environmental reviews. In September the company published a strongly worded statement about the Federal Aviation Administration's review requirements for operations in Texas, where its next-generation Starship rocket is based. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, in October, SpaceX sued the California Coastal Commission, an environmental regulator, after it blocked the company's request for additional launches. SpaceX alleged the commission had made the decision based on political bias. Without an environmental review, it's unclear what the impact of SpaceX's Starlink plans will be. Read the original article on Business Insider MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced 2.3 billion euros ($2.42 billion) in additional aid to reconstruct areas of the Valencia region hit by the deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history. The government has so far pledged a total of 16.6 billion euros in aid, and Sanchez told parliament it will keep helping as long as needed. More than 220 people died and five are still listed as missing after torrential rains on Oct. 29 triggered floods that swept through the suburbs south of the regional capital Valencia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sanchez defended the way his government handled the extreme weather event, which it said was caused by climate change. The central government has also blamed the regional administration, led by Carlos Mazon of the main opposition People's Party, for a tardy response in alerting citizens and telling them to stay at home after warnings issued by the state weather service and hydrography experts. Regions are in charge of disaster management in Spain, but the chain of events has given rise to a blame game between the minority leftist government and the conservative opposition. "Climate change kills. There is something much more dangerous than the climate emergency and it is the negationist governments that, by action or omission, deny the devastating effects of climate change," Sanchez told lawmakers in a critique of Mazon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe. ($1 = 0.9500 euros) (Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Javier West; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson) Draconian rules that demand Spanish hotels gather data on tourists family relationships, bank cards and addresses, and pass the details to security forces, will come into force on Monday. Hotels in Spain currently ask guests for their ID card or passport details. But in what are thought to be the strictest rules in the EU, the new government decree demands that businesses collect up to 31 pieces of data from tourists, including contact details, family relationships, bank card information and home addresses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of the information then has to be uploaded onto a platform for sharing with security forces in a requirement likened to Big Brother by Cehat, the countrys leading hotelier association. The law will oblige to tour operators, holiday rental platforms and car rental companies to gather the expanded personal data. Spains interior ministry said the new obligations were necessary to help the police track criminals operating in Spain. Cehat has now launched a legal challenge against the rules. The association said it will cause considerable delays for tourists trying to check in to hotels, especially at busy times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ramon Estalella, the secretary general of Cehat, told The Telegraph: Its like Big Brother its nuts and will cause chaos. Spain is already the only country in the EU where hotels must send guests ID info to the police, while in other countries they just have to keep that data for a period. Cehat has said it is committed to working with the government in the interests of security but warned that the obligations force companies to ask for personal information that is incompatible with the European Unions GDPR data protection legislation. Failure to comply with this European regulation can lead to significant penalties, which are even higher than the proposed fine of 30,000 euros (25,000) for not complying with the interior ministrys decree in time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Estalella said the decree includes totally unrealistic expectations on companies, such as asking a car hire company to know the registration of the car a customer will be driving. Violation of privacy rights Not only could it violate fundamental privacy rights, but it also threatens to complicate and hinder the experience of millions of visitors who choose Spain as a destination, said Cehat, noting that the tourism sector directly contributes 12 per cent to Spains GDP. The introduction of the decree has been delayed several times over the past three years, but tourism associations say they have only had one meeting with the Spanish government to discuss their objections. Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spains interior minister, said in October that the new rules balanced all considerations, including both the right to privacy as well as the need to protect the security of society as a whole. 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. PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) On Saturday, November 30th, local businesses nationwide are encouraging citizens to stop by and shop small during Small Business Saturday. Right here in Panama City over 70 small and local businesses are teaming up and taking part in the 3rd annual Small Business Saturday Market. The free market will be hosted at Northstar Church from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. There you will have the chance to purchase a variety of products ranging from home decor, mens and womens apparel, jewelry, and other local items. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ring in the holiday season right in Panama City Beach Events like this weekends market help keep small businesses going, which in turn keeps communities thriving. Its great to be part of a community where everybodys all in on small businesses, The Drip Coffee Co. Co-owner Hannah Gutcher said. Where we all see the value of people owning things and people supporting their families and investing in our own community. So were thankful that these sponsors care so much about these businesses, but also that our community cares so much to show up and support these businesses. All attendees will have the chance to enjoy a variety of local food trucks throughout the market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kids can also take advantage of a safe and fun indoor play area. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) The special prosecutor in the Alec Baldwin involuntary manslaughter case now wants the Court of Appeals to get involved. Attorney Kari Morrissey filed an appeal in response to the lower courts ruling to drop the involuntary manslaughter against the Hollywood star for his role in the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico film set in 2021. PNM warns of potential scams during the holidays Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baldwin was on trial earlier this year, but District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case over evidence that was not properly logged. Sommer also denied a motion from Morrissey to reconsider that decision. The movie Rust that Baldwin starred in and co-produced recently had its world premiere at a film festival in Poland. Hannah Gutierrez, the armorer on set during the deadly shooting, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. A person holds a sign that reads Mass Deportation Now on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Leon Neal, Getty Images.) WASHINGTON, D.C. On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said hed declare a national emergency and use the military to deport millions of noncitizens. That has a lot of people including many who are authorized to be here wondering how much longer theyll be able to stay. But amid the worries, activists and leaders of the immigrant community can only guess what legal, political and economic limits Trump will face when he takes office in a few months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and Trump has made it sound as if he plans to deport a huge number of them and maybe people who were brought here at a young age and are protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, those such as many Haitians in Springfield who have temporary protected status, and those from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela who have been allowed to come to the United States under a parole program. Worry over what the incoming Trump administration might do to any of these groups was palpable here on Nov. 13 at a conference sponsored by the National Immigration Forum, which advocates for immigrants among the business community, law enforcement and faith leaders. As she accepted an award from the group, Officer Mitchell Soto Rodriguez of the Blue Island, Ill., Police Department broke down. A DACA recipient from Mexico, she told the audience that she might lose her protections and be forced out of the country. Reyna Montoya is also a DACA recipient and she founded an organization in Phoenix that supports immigrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of our young people right now are terrified, she said, explaining that even before Trump has taken office damage has been done. As soon as we heard the outcome of the election I started texting, calling, checking in with our students, Montoya said. A lot of them started telling me they were afraid. A lot of them shared that they go to a school that is a school of faith a private institution. They said all the students that look a little brown started getting targeted. Their classmates said, Are you ready to get deported? Are you ready for your family to get deported? In a faith institution. This is the reality were waking up to. I dont have to imagine family separation. My father was detained for nine months in 2012. But as with his first term in office, Trumps big promises on immigration are likely to run into practical problems that stop them somewhere short of fulfillment, several people said. Thats the big question, said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, whose El Paso-based district runs along the Mexican border. We really dont know what to anticipate in terms of scope and efficiency and scale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite what Trump might have said on the campaign trail, he and Biden deported about the same number of undocumented immigrants during their terms and both deported far fewer than Barack Obama did during his first term, which started in 2009. A lot of Americans dont know that deportations are going on in America and happening all the time and I dont think they know in what number, Escobar said. Anything above and beyond that will take more resources. Whether Congress gives Donald Trump all the resources he needs for manpower, money for the actual flights, and everything else it will entail, thats possible. Congress may appropriate a lot more money for this. At the same time, under Republican control in the House, Congress is trying to make deep cuts to domestic programs. So theyre going to have to figure out a balance. Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said Trump, like his predecessors, will likely prioritize deporting immigrants who commit crimes and the permanently undocumented people who are in the country and have made no application to be lawful permanent residents, or green card holders. But I doubt hell be able to get through his full agenda, Murray said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One reason she cited was the $150 billion price tag that is predicted to accompany Trumps mass-deportation promises. Others are economic and political. Across the United States the business community is having a hard time finding workers. Its leaders are likely to resist if Trump goes too far in making the labor pool even smaller, Murray said. Businesses will start to get up in arms when they start to lose so many workers in a moment when the labor market is struggling so much, she said. They dont have legally authorized workers now, and (the business community) will really start to push back. And while one might not know it from the Trump campaign and the results of the election, theres a lot of sympathy among the public for certain groups of immigrants, Murray said. Which isnt to say that many in those groups arent living in fear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Haitian community is anxious about what the incoming president will do, like ending (temporary protected status) for Haitian people and mass deportation, said Rose-Thamar Joseph, operations director of the Haitian Community Opportunity Center in Springfield. Shes been trying to reassure members of her community since Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance this summer spread the racist lie that Haitians in the community were stealing neighbors pets and eating them. We know the USA is a country of laws, but I dont know what is going to happen, Joseph said. We are trying to educate the community to try to lower their stress, but thats all we can do. Murray said the National Immigration Forums polling shows that those with temporary protected status, DACA recipients and Afghan Allies who fled to the United States enjoy overwhelming public support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When we get to those populations, theres a lot of affinity for them, she said. Its not those people when we talk about immigrants, is what the polling is showing us. When we get to that category is when we start to pull on the psyche of the American voter. Theyll say Whoa, whoa, whoa. I may have held up a mass-deportation sign, but I didnt realize you were going to be sending this (emergency medical technician) who I know is important to my community Thats when youre going to see a real gut-check with Americans. I think thats when Americans will literally begin to protest. Trump already is facing pushback from members of his own party over another part of his deportation plans using the military to round up and deport the undocumented. On Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called the proposal illegal. And Escobar, whose district includes the huge Army post Fort Bliss, said using troops for immigration enforcement muddles their mission. What I am very concerned about is that Trump is likely to use the military, or want to use the military for this, she said. That should be shocking to veterans and members of the military community and all Americans because it degrades our military (readiness), it takes the focus off their mission, and theyre not trained to engage this way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Montoya, the DACA recipient and Arizona immigration activist, was asked if she could find hope amid all the uncertainty. The hope is on you, and the question is simple, she said. What are you willing to do to protect immigrants? SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SPRINGFIELD, GA. (WSAV) Springfield plans to celebrate Small Business Saturday by holding Shop Local on Laurel on Saturday. Small Business Saturday is a national day to help boost small businesses after Black Friday. The City of Springfield will host their day of support on Laurel Street Nov. 30 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Organizers said that participating local businesses will have specials, discounts and giveaways. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are excited to bring the community together to celebrate the spirit of small business and support the heart of Springfield, organizer Nikki Hickman said. Hickman also said that there will be a showing of Red One at the Mars Theatre at 7 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 WSAV-TV. Nov. 26A Springfield man pleaded guilty last week to inducing panic for threatening a family member and bringing an AK-47 to her workplace, threatening violence against Pratt Industries. Michael Robinson, 41, pleaded guilty to the charge before his jury trial. According to court records, he told his family member, who works at Pratt Industries, that he would bring an AK-47 there, shoot up the place and "come bang on the ... door and beat her ..." Robinson reportedly called his relative on Aug. 26 in front of her managers, stating he would "come to the business and shoot her." A manager told police that Robinson parked in the parking lot of the business in a black Cadillac, causing Pratt to lock down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About an hour later, police arrived on scene and found Robinson, according to court records. Robinson's relative told the manager that the gun was still in Robinson's trunk, and that he told her he would "bond out of jail and return to the business." Another Pratt Industries employee told police he removed the firearm from Robinson's car, placing it in his own, according to court records. Police collected an "AK47 style pistol," two loaded AK-style magazines and two loaded AR-15 style magazines. A manager told police there were 75 employees present during the incident and a loss of $15,000 in wages. Robinson was indicted on charges of terrorism, making terroristic threats and inducing panic second, third and fourth-degree felony charges. He pleaded guilty to the inducing panic charge, for which he faces up to 18 months in prison. Robinson is being held without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Tuesday marks the official start of holiday travel. According to AAA and the TSA, the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be the busiest travel days. If youre driving this week, AAA says youre going to be joined by 1.5 million Missourians. Typically, every year around this time, traffic, it increases quite a bit around town, said Springfield traffic signal engineer Jason Saliba. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AAA estimates nearly 80 million people are expected to travel by car for Thanksgiving this year, which is a new record. A lot of the construction that youve seen in the past month has been finished up right now or is on hold, Saliba said. So in those major shopping areas, we dont expect construction to cause a lot of delays. Saliba says drivers need to be aware near high-traffic shopping areas. Theres a lot of rear-ends from people just running into the back of congestion earlier than they expect, Saliba said. While you can expect traffic to be congested in the city limits, its a bit different in the skies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Compared to the summer, its really just a drop in the bucket, said Kent Boyd, the Springfield-Branson National Airport spokesperson. Boyd says summer months are actually the busier months for airlines. The difference during the holidays is that you get all these people whove never flown before or people who fly very infrequently, so they tend to clog things up, Boyd said. Theyll get to the checkpoint like the one behind me, and they dont know the drill. Just at the Springfield airport alone, 20,000 more people traveled in July last year than in November. Boyd also has a tip for people traveling through airport security with holiday presents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dont wrap your presents if youre trying to get them to the checkpoint because theres a good chance TSA will unwrap them to find out whats inside, Boyd said. Wrap a present in a towel or a bathrobe or something and then wrap it in paper later. Springfield traffic engineers say they havent had to change the schedule of the lights but plan on doing that soon if congestion gets bad enough. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) The Springfield Police Department made 13 arrests after executing a search warrant at a home on Carew Terrace on Tuesday. Enfield Police search for man with active arrest warrants Members of the Springfield Police Firearms Investigation Unit (FIU) have been investigating a home on the 0-100 block of Carew Terrace for the illegal distribution of narcotics over the past several weeks, according to the Springfield Police Department. The residents and the activities that have been surrounding the home have become a problem in the neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives identified certain suspects throughout the investigation, so a search warrant was applied and granted for the home. On Tuesday at around 4:20 p.m., detectives conducting surveillance observed two individuals, who were identified as 31-year-old Tylor Bombardier of Springfield and 33-year-old Ashley King of Springfield, walk to and then leave the Carew Terrace home. These suspects were then observed going into a wooded area behind Shaine Circle, both having warrants out for their arrest. Bombardier and King were placed under arrest. Four bags of heroin were found on Bombardier and a capsule of crack cocaine was found on King. An hour later, a car was seen pulling up to the home and a woman got out of the passenger seat. After a few minutes, she got back into the car. The driver drove off before parking on the 300 block of Stafford Street where detectives conducted a traffic stop. The driver was identified as 67-year-old David Alexander of Blandford, and the passenger was identified as 50-year-old Margaret Davis of Blandford. Crack cocaine was recovered from both Alexander and Davis, and they were placed under arrest. At 6:15 p.m., the search warrant was executed on the home, and 29-year-old Luis Padro of Springfield, 34-year-old Ashley Griffin of Springfield, 43-year-old Scott Henley of Springfield, 43-year-old Melissa Goodreau of Springfield, 43-year-old John Friberg Jr. of Feeding Hills, 26-year-old Haylee Champagne of Hialeah, Florida were detained in the home as the results of the search warrant were pending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A firearm, ammunition, approximately 42 grams of powdered and crack cocaine, 23 grams of heroin, and more than $1100 in cash were found in the home. All of the detained individuals were placed under arrest. At 8:20 p.m., three suspects were observed walking to the home before noticing police were there. The three suspects were located on the 1300 block of Carew Street and were detained. One of the suspects, 44-year-old Monte Haynes-Carthon of Springfield was placed under arrest after cocaine was discovered in his jacket pocket. The two others, 28-year-old Chelsea Lucia of Springfield and 36-year-old Jonathan Cunningham of Agawam, were also arrested. Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department Springfield Police Department The suspects were charged with the following: 29-year-old Luis Padro of Springfield is charged with: Heroin/Fentanyl Trafficking 18-36 Grams Cocaine Trafficking 36-100 Grams Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony Possession of a Firearm without a License Possession of Ammunition without a License Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law 34-year-old Ashley Griffin of Springfield is charged with: Heroin/Fentanyl Trafficking 18-36 Grams Cocaine Trafficking 36-100 Grams Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony Possession of a Firearm without a License Possession of Ammunition without a License Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law 43-year-old Scott Henley of Springfield is charged with: Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class A Drug Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Drug Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law 43-year-old Melissa Goodreau of Springfield is charged with: Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class A Drug Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Drug Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law 43-year-old John Friberg Jr. of Feeding Hills is charged with: Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class A Drug Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Drug Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law 26-year-old Haylee Champagne of Hialeah, Florida is charged with: Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class A Drug Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Drug Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law Default Warrant Holyoke District Court Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Crash Larceny of a Motor Vehicle Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle 67-year-old David Alexander of Blandford is charged with: Possession of a Class B Drug 50-year-old Margaret Davis of Blandford is charged with: Possession of a Class B Drug 31-year-old Tylor Bombardier of Springfield is charged with: Possession of a Class A Drug Arrest Warrant Westborough District Court Larceny of a Motor Vehicle Use of a Motor Vehicle without Authority 33-year-old Ashley King of Springfield is charged with: Possession of a Class B Drug Default Warrant Quincy District Court Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle Failure to Wear a Seat Belt Default Warrant Dudley District Court Possession of a Class A Drug 44-year-old Monte Haynes-Carthon of Springfield is charged with: Heroin/Fentanyl Trafficking 18-36 Grams Cocaine Trafficking 36-100 Grams Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony Possession of a Firearm without a License Possession of Ammunition without a License Conspiracy to Violate Drug Law Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class B Drug 28-year-old Chelsea Lucia of Springfield is charged with: Arrest Warrant Chicopee District Court Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle 36-year-old Jonathan Cunningham of Agawam is charged with: Possession of a Class A Drug Arrest Warrant Chicopee District Court Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License Arrest Warrant Chicopee District Court Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The principal of St. Helens High School, Katy Wagner, has been charged with two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and four counts of first-degree criminal misconduct amidst sex abuse allegations against teachers at the school, Columbia County Court records show. Wagner was put on administrative leave on Nov. 15 after news broke that a current teacher, Eric Stearns, and a former teacher, Mark Collins, were arrested for alleged sexual abuse. On Nov. 21, officials announced that Wagner was under investigation for allegedly failing to report safety concerns amidst sex abuse allegations against teachers at the school, authorities said. St. Helens School Board selects interim superintendent amid teacher sex abuse allegations Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stearns and Collins were named in the criminal mistreatment charges that Wagner faces, alleging that she unlawfully and knowingly withheld necessary and adequate physical care from the students of St. Helens High School, from Nov. 2018 to Nov. 2024. The two criminal mistreatment charges are Class C felonies, according to court records. While the four misconduct charges dont name any teachers, the indictment says that Wagner did unlawfully and knowingly fail to perform duty imposed on her by law or inherent in the nature of her office, to wit: mandatory child abuse reporting, and the defendant was aware of and consciously disregarded the fact that the violation created risk of the commission of (a) sex crime against (a) vulnerable person. The four misconduct charges are considered misdemeanors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parents gathered at the St. Helens Village Inn Restaurant and Lounge Tuesday night after weeks of community organizing and protests in the wake of these sex abuse allegations. KOIN 6 broke the news to some of the parents about the charges against Wagner. Some called it welcome news while others said the fight isnt over. Its a relief that something is finally happening. Relief, said parent Stephanie Kroll, with tears in her eyes. Its a step. So much more needs to be done, though. A total of seven staff members with the St. Helens School District are under investigation by the Oregon Department of Human Services and St. Helens police in an ongoing sex abuse scandal involving students. Superintendent Scot Stockwell is also under investigation for neglecting to report child safety concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of kids are voiceless, and I think a lot of parents are feeling voiceless too. That nothing is done, nothing is documented. And we just need help, we need our kids to be safe, Kroll said. Officials 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. Authorities also said Friday that a St. Helens Middle School teacher was under investigation for offensive physical contact. Jeremiah Harrington, one of the many parents standing firm in support of St. Helens School District students, has been known as the angry dad during protests in recent weeks. Somebody needs to be a voice for these kids, and Im going to make sure that that happens, he said. This is going to be a long fight. Theres going to be a lot of things that need to happen, and change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement St. Helens police first began its two-month investigation into the schools sex abuse allegations in September. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. MEMPHIS, Tenn. St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital filed plans Tuesday to build a 16-story tower on its campus at Danny Thomas Boulevard and A.W. Willis Avenue. ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude, says the proposed 865,000-square-foot, 280-foot-tall building will house a state-of-the art advanced research tower with modern utility infrastructure and improved site access with new landscaping. ALSAC told planners the building is part of its $12.9 billion strategic plan, which already has created and filled more than 2,000 jobs and contracted for hundreds more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This expansion is necessary to allow St. Jude to continue its work to advance care and treatment for catastrophically ill children, and to further our mission to provide treatment, housing and other support to patients and families who never receive a bill from St. Jude, an ALSAC representative wrote in the application. Why a 3-mile trip to the grocery on a MATA bus took this woman 6 hours Three existing buildings on the site would be demolished for the proposed new tower. They said the hospital has partnered with key stakeholders in the surrounding neighborhood on the project. The project is under review by the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. TULSA, Okla. A federal judge has sentenced a St. Louis man convicted of possessing 15 pounds of cocaine in Oklahoma with the intent to distribute it. On Tuesday, Terrall Lamar Johnson, 33, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars on a federal charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was also ordered to complete five years of supervised release. According to federal court documents, in July 2023, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers pulled over Johnson on U.S. Highway 69 near Big Cabin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police review new evidence in I-55 fatal shooting After Johnson allowed troopers to search his vehicle, troopers found six individually wrapped bundles with suspected drugs. The investigation further revealed that the six bundles weighed 15.3 pounds and tested positive for cocaine. Johnson will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Several medical studies suggest as little as 1.2 grams of cocaine could lead to a lethal overdose. The reported 15.3-pound mark equates to nearly 7,000 grams of cocaine. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. A Maryland utility watchdog is alleging that a regional transmission operators pricing model will impose billions of dollars in unjust costs on power users to pay for resources to meet anticipated power demand. The current pricing model rules dont count many pre-existing resources that can fulfill those needs as power supply, unfairly costing more money for consumers to pay for power thats already there, Marylands Office of Peoples Counsel alleges. The Office of Peoples Counsel (OPC), a state agency representing Maryland residential utility customers, claims that if PJM Interconnections pricing model rules dont change, future costs for power users across the companys region could go up by billions of dollars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PJM, a regional transmission operator, coordinates the movement of electricity in 13 states, including all of Maryland, and in Washington, D.C., through its regional grid. PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields wrote on Monday that the company has been warning for some time that policy pressure on generators to retire before their replacement is in place could result in a supply crunch, and the demand for electricity is rapidly growing. The market is now reflecting what weve been warning of for some time, that reserve margins are dwindling, which will have upward pressure on pricing, Shields wrote. PJMs capacity market, also called the Reliability Pricing Model, is a tool that ensures long-term grid reliability by securing the appropriate amount of power supply resources needed to meet predicted energy demand in the future, according to the companys website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The capacity market secures power years before its needed through a competitive auction, paying generators in advance to commit to providing their power to the grid when needed. These auctions are held ahead of delivery years, which span from June to May of the following year. For example, the 2025/2026 delivery year will start in June 2025 and end in May 2026. From the 2024/2025 delivery year to the 2025/2026 delivery year, the amount of power supply offered in PJMs capacity market dropped by more than 13,200 megawatts, according to a report from PJM on the auction for the 2025/2026 delivery year. Additionally, the projected power demand for the 2025/2026 delivery year increased by more than 3,200 megawatts from the previous delivery year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PJM has selected projects such as the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a transmission line that would cut across three counties, to address future anticipated power needs in its region. The company has predicted a significant increase in power demand on its grid due to new data centers to be sited in Maryland and Virginia. They are estimated to require up to 7,500 megawatts. PJM has also said that the deactivation of thousands of megawatts of power generation sources contributes to a hike in power needs in its region. Power already in place The OPCs complaint filed on Nov. 18 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) claims PJMs market rules raise prices to secure electricity for the future, ignoring the fact that there are existing power sources that are already on the grid that could fix those power needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OPC alleges there are thousands of megawatts of additional capacity resources that can meet anticipated future power demands in PJMs region and will be operating when that demand comes. However, these resources arent recognized as part of the auction due to PJMs market rules, according to the complaint. This consequently makes it seem like there is less power to meet future demands during auctions, driving up costs to secure power supplies, the OPC argues. Some resources exempt from these auctions include wind, solar and energy storage, as well as demand response resources, according to a news release from the OPC about its complaint. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Demand response resources reduce power load on PJMs grid during peak periods of electricity demand when PJM asks them to. Additionally, there are potential new power resources that were proposed when auction prices were lower and couldve prevented supply shortages if they were added to PJMs grid but they are stuck in a traffic jam waiting for PJM to process their applications, the complaint said. This delay in new power resources joining PJMs grid allows incumbent generators to profit from a strategy of retiring some units on short notice as a means of driving up prices received by their other resources, according to the complaint. PJM acts as if load increases, supply decreases, and slow entry of new resources are facts of nature when, in fact, PJM has or should have tools to manage all three without sending prices to the roof, the complaint said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OPC said that between the auctions for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 delivery years, the total cost to PJM consumers jumped from $2.2 billion to $14.7 billion. In the Baltimore Gas and Electric area of PJMs grid, in the 2024/2025 delivery year, the price was $73 per megawatt-day. A megawatt-day is a unit of measurement that describes the amount of electricity a system delivers in one day. In the 2025/2026 delivery year, the cost jumped to $446.35 per megawatt-day, according to PJMs 2025/2026 delivery year auction report. The OPCs complaint claims that if PJMs capacity market auction rules dont change, the costs for the 2026/2027 delivery year could be even higher at $37 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OPC requests that FERC find that PJMs capacity market design is unjust and unreasonable and implement several changes to that market design, such as: Requiring all existing eligible power resources participate in capacity market auctions, including resources that were previously exempt Requiring a longer notice period for generators going offline Adopting provisions allowing PJM to delay existing generators retirements for as long as those resources are needed for reliability The OPC filed its complaint against PJM alongside other state advocacy offices in Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio and Washington, D.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PJM, governor respond Shields, PJMs spokesperson, said the companys capacity market has been a valuable tool for nearly two decades to incentivize the entry of new generation into the PJM system to replace older, less efficient generation. Shields also wrote that the capacity market has facilitated an energy transition in the region from coal to natural gas, which has resulted in stable prices and lower carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. PJMs recent auction for generation capacity reflected how the demand for electricity in its region is outpacing available power generation sources, as well as recognizes the impact of extreme weather on the power grid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In order to meet our growing demand, we are going to need all of our resources whether thermal or renewable to help keep the system reliable, Shields wrote. ... We have listened to the input provided by various stakeholders, including the state consumer advocates, and have taken measures, including a delay in running the capacity auction [for 2026/2027], to seek additional feedback on implementing some of the requested market changes. FERC spokesperson Mary ODriscoll wrote in an email on Monday that FERC does not comment on complaints or other filings. Carter Elliott IV, a spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore, said on Monday the governors office doesnt have a comment specifically on the OPCs complaint. He sent over a recent statement from Moore related to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a proposal that has drawn intense backlash from residents and local elected officials. Moore said he shares grave concerns about how this project has lacked adequate community involvement and communication, as well as that the projects benefit to Maryland remains unclear. In October, Moore said, he joined several other governors in signing a letter imploring PJM leadership to embrace, without delay, opportunities to work collaboratively on transmission planning. Together, we recognize that energy and economic development goals are not mutually exclusive and that progress depends upon true partnership to achieve growth, Moore said. COURTESY THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER Keaka, is seen with a hook in her mouth, on Nov. 18. 1 /3 COURTESY THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER Keaka, is seen with a hook in her mouth, on Nov. 18. COURTESY DLNR A young monk seal has been hanging around Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. Officials are warning fishers not to feed or interact with the seal so as not to affect its development in the wild. 2 /3 COURTESY DLNR A young monk seal has been hanging around Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. Officials are warning fishers not to feed or interact with the seal so as not to affect its development in the wild. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement COURTESY DLNR 3 /3 COURTESY DLNR COURTESY THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER Keaka, is seen with a hook in her mouth, on Nov. 18. COURTESY DLNR A young monk seal has been hanging around Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. Officials are warning fishers not to feed or interact with the seal so as not to affect its development in the wild. COURTESY DLNR State officials are reminding the public not to feed or interact with endangered Hawaiian monk seals at Honokohau Small Boat Harbor on Hawaii island as a young pup becomes a frequent visitor. Keaka, a five-month-old female pup, has become a regular at the harbor, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, likely drawn by schools of akule fish or bait balls floating near the rocky shoreline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There have been reports of her being fed scraps by nearby fishermen. This, according to officials, is harmful to her development because if she becomes conditioned to seek people for food, that can alter a seals normal foraging behavior. That, in turn, will negatively affect her ability to grow and mature as a wild seal. DLNRs aquatic resources and boating division have teamed up with The Marine Mammal Center to educate boaters and fishers not to feed the young monk seal. Signs have been posted around the harbor. Tyler Jeschke, a DAR monitoring technician, said Keaka likes to interact with people taking pictures of her. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. We have been getting reports that shes being fed, he said, either by coming in and eating the scraps that people are dumping off their boats or by some of the akule fishermen who are throwing her fish. Keaka is expected to stick around into the new year, and for as long as theres plenty of food for her to snag, according to Jeannine Rossa, DARs acting protected species program lead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We hope people will be mindful not to feed her and to slow down and watch for her when entering or exiting the harbor, said Rossa in a news release. If we can get everyone to not feed her and to not toss scraps into the water, we hope she leaves on her own. Officials said scraps should be put into bags and placed into harbor dumpsters instead of being dumped in the water. Additionally, they are asking fishers to reel it in and not cast out when Keaka is around. Already, the precocious seal has been hooked twice this month. Staff from The Marine Mammal Centers Ke Kai Ola extricated a hook from the right side of her mouth, with a monofilament line trailing from it. Not long after, she got hooked a second time after eating a live akule used as bait. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world, protected by both federal and state laws. Only an estimated 1, 600 seals remain in the wild. To report a hooked seal, call NOAAs hotline at 888-256-9840. 2 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our. Having trouble with comments ? . OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) After months of delays, stalemates, and deadline extensions, the State of Oklahoma has finally come to an agreement with Cherokee Nation leaders to extend their car tag compact for 10 more years. The tentative agreement, announced Tuesday, will settle disputes the state had with the tribe over things including the tribes right to run its own tag offices and disperse tag revenue, and the states inability to charge tolls to drivers with tribal tags. Divisive rhetoric: OK Supreme Court rules against Gov. Stitt in tribal compact litigation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current compact was set to expire on December 31. The extended compact will take effect on January 1. Theres been a lot of mudslinging between Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. while the compact has been up for renewal this past year. Much of it had to do with the larger overall issue of tribal sovereignty. Kevin Stitt, really doesnt see a world in which tribes are able to exercise meaningful tribal sovereignty, Hoskin Jr. said in March 2024. I absolutely will not give Eastern Oklahoma over to [be] reservation for all purposes, Stitt said in July 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At times, Stitt refused to negotiate with the tribe on a motor vehicle compact or a tobacco sales compact, insisting that they agree to a compact he had written without making any changes. I will not give an inch, Stitt said in July 2023. Earlier this year, Stitt came to the table and negotiated with tribes on tobacco compacts, eventually coming to an agreement with Cherokee Nation on tobacco sales. Car tag compact with state and Cherokee Nation at a stalemate But the state and tribe still could not agree on a car tag compact. I grow more pessimistic by the day, Hoskin Jr. said in September. Now I think the odds are underwater. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, on Tuesday, Stitt and Cherokee Nation leaders announced they came to a tentative agreement to extend the compact for 10 more years. Under the tentative agreement, Cherokee Nation will be able to keep operating its own tag offices on its reservation for Cherokee citizens to purchase tribal tags. That was something Hoskin feared would go away without a new agreement. Those jobs would be eliminated if we move to a system in which the state was issuing vanity plates for the Cherokee Nation, which is, I believe, where the Governor would like to take us, Hoskin said in September 2024. Under the new agreement, Cherokee citizens living on the reservation must purchase their tags from a Cherokee tag office, and Cherokee citizens living off the reservation will have the option to register at state tag offices, or at tribal ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another key contention point that held up discussions was the inability of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authoritys PlatePay cashless toll scanners to read tribal tags. Hoskin: States tentative agreement on tobacco compact leaves us a bit hopeful Stitt said that led to millions in unpaid tolls from Cherokee drivers. I just called this morning and the Cherokee plate play balance is $5.63 million, Stitt said in May 2024. Thats just over the last, I think I dont know, six, seven, eight months. Hoskin argued, if the PlatePay readers couldnt read tribal tags, that was a problem the state would need to fix. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, with the tentative agreement, plate pay readers will have full access to Cherokee Nations vehicle registration database containing the information needed for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to bill drivers with Cherokee tags. Additionally, Cherokee Nation will pay the state $2 million over the next three years to make up for current unpaid tolls by Cherokee citizens. Its unclear exactly what prompted the agreement to finally come to fruition. News 4 reached out to Stitts office and Hoskins offices on Tuesday. Stitts office never responded. Hoskins office said he would be available for comment once the compact is officially approved by Cherokee Nation leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Supreme Court rules in favor of legislature in Compacting Lawsuit However, both Hoskin and Stitt released statements on Tuesday. Our goal throughout this process has been a compact that continues to benefit Cherokee Nation citizens, Oklahoman communities, and ensures our tribe continues to serve and provide for our citizens. The new compact is a government-to-government agreement that will protect the rights of our citizens and ensure we can continue to provide essential funding for public schools, roads, and law enforcement agencies. I am grateful for the good faith negotiations from our partners in Oklahoma and the support of the Cherokee people for this fundamental exercise of our self-determination and government interests. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. Were all Oklahomans and we all drive on the same roads and bridges. Its important that were all contributing to the things that make us a top ten state. I appreciate the cooperation of Cherokee leadership to reach an agreement, especially as it pertains to the ability to collect tolls on our turnpikes. Governor Kevin Stitt Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. The State Department downgraded its travel advisory for China from level three reconsider travel to a level two exercise increased caution on Wednesday in response to Beijings release of three U.S. citizens in a prisoner swap. That exchange was a factor in the States move to ease its travel warning, said a State Department spokesperson granted anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters on record. Beijing released Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung on Wednesday in a deal hinged to U.S. authorities freeing unidentified Chinese citizens from U.S. custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swidan and Li were considered wrongfully detained by both the U.S. government and the United Nations. Leung who was serving a life sentence for alleged espionage was not considered a victim of unjust imprisonment by either the State Department or the U.N. The State Department advisory downgrade follows years of Chinese government complaints that the reconsider travel warning was unjustified and was impeding a rebound in U.S. business and tourist travel to pre-pandemic levels. The State Department imposed that advisory due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions. The prisoner swap means that currently there are no Americans wrongfully detained in the PRC, the State Department spokesperson said. That led the Biden administration to conclude that it was no longer appropriate to recommend that U.S. citizens reconsider possible travel to China, the spokesperson added. An advocate for foreign prisoners behind bars in China said it was grossly irresponsible for State to signal that travel to China is relatively safe for U.S. citizens. We have close to 300 American prisoners in China who have never had a fair and transparent trial and will never get one, said Peter Humphrey, who has spoken about his arbitrary detention in China and who now works to release foreign citizens behind bars in China. But the easing in the travel warning is a boon to U.S. academics who work closely with Chinese colleges and universities and who have described the previous warning as a deterrent to U.S. scholarly exchanges with China. The downgraded advisory suggests that people to people exchange, and scholarly exchange in particular, can be cordoned off from heightened tensions at the political level, said Neysun Mahboubi, director of the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China relations at the University of Pennsylvania. The Florida Commission on Ethics is choosing to wait for a court ruling on a challenge to a new financial disclosure requirement that led to mass resignations of city and small town officials across the state last year. The commission, in a virtual meeting Tuesday, rejected a proposal to begin discussing a settlement with attorneys for 26 cities and 74 public officials who sued the state in February, arguing the new disclosure standard violates the constitutional right to free speech. A federal judge has blocked the law from being enforced. But before that happened, 125 municipal elected officials had quit rather than submit to the expanded disclosures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some on the ethics panel said in Tuesdays meeting that if the challengers are successful in court, a ruling could undermine Floridas entire financial disclosure system, which stems from the 1976 Sunshine Amendment to the state constitution. A loss could threaten financial disclosure system If the commission loses this case, that seems like a pretty big deal, said Commissioner Laird Lile, a Naples lawyer who suggested that the panel should seek a settlement with the challenging cities and officials. Commissioners had a lengthy discussion on the merits of reaching out to their courtroom opponents in a bid to find a middle ground on disclosure that the Florida Legislature might enact. But that approach was rejected by the panel, 6-2. Lile, though, laid out the stakes if a court sides with the challengers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A final judgement in favor of plaintiffs, that requiring these disclosures is compelled speech, would put at risk the entire financial disclosure scheme, Lile said. And were losing now, right? Weve lost a preliminary injunction. The new disclosure measure, approved by the 2023 Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, requires that local government elected officials complete a Form 6, a "Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests. Small town and city officials walk off the job State and county elected officials have been required to provide such detailed financial disclosures for years in Florida. But city officials, especially many in small towns, complained that it was a costly intrusion to have to detail specific amounts of assets, liabilities and income sources over $1,000. Officials also could provide their most recent federal tax return to satisfy income disclosure requirements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Formerly, these municipal officials needed only to file Form 1 disclosures, which showed the sources of their income and business interests, but not specific amounts. Wholesale resignations greeted new law: Form 6 in Florida: Federal judge blocks financial disclosure law that caused 125 resignations The previous disclosure also did not require officials to reveal their net worth. It required only the disclosure of assets and liabilities of $10,000 or more, rather than $1,000. One of the city officials who resigned last year complained that the new standard was an invasion of privacy and also posed a risk. Complaints about new law abound "It would also require me to have family heirlooms and antiques to be appraised and announced to the world," Orange City council member William O'Connor wrote in his resignation letter. "Making my personal assets public record puts me and my family at immediate risk from scammers and potential robbers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law sparked an exodus of local government officials, briefly crippling some communities. The entire North Palm Beach Village Council resigned, along with the mayor. In Cedar Key and Williston, mayors quit. And Reddick, a town of 500 people in Marion County, lost its entire town council and mayor. U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian in Fort Lauderdale blocked the laws enforcement in June. She has not yet scheduled a hearing in the case that both sides are asking her to decide without a trial. Whatever her ruling, the losing side is expected to appeal, said Bill Stafford, the attorney representing the Ethics Commission in the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In siding with the challengers by issuing her injunction, Damian wrote that a law compelling speech, as with a statute forbidding speech, falls within the purview of the First Amendment. After a thorough and careful consideration of the record, this court concludes that defendants have failed to establish that the state seriously undertook the consideration of less intrusive means to address the identified interests, Damian wrote. C.A. Bridges of the USA TODAY-Network Florida contributed to this report. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: State ethics board worries about future of financial disclosure law HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) A Gentryville man was sentenced after pleading guilty to dealing meth charges. According to the Spencer County Prosecutors Office, Mathis Harmon, 40, was arrested in connection with an investigation led by task force agents with the Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Agency. Officials say the operation uncovered communications of Harmon engaging in potential narcotic transactions which developed into evidence of Harmon delivering about 84 grams of meth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Affidavit shares new details on near-fatal stabbing in Evansville Officials state Harmon entered a plea agreement for a term of 24 years in exchange for admitting to the charges. Harmon was ordered to serve a sentence of ten years at the Indiana Department of Corrections followed by eight years executed on Electronic Home Detention followed by six years under continuing supervision. Elements of the DEA actively engaging in the interdiction of a large source of Methamphetamine within the local Spencer County community deserves our praise, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Tempel said. Executing the prosecution of this case in tandem with these federal counterparts was effective in holding Mr. Harmon to account for distribution of a substantial amount of illicit drugs. Prosecutor Megan Bennet added, The successful collaboration between the Spencer County Prosecutors Office and elements of the Department of Justice DEA division led to the successful prosecution and removal of yet another high level drug dealer from our community. This high level inter-departmental cooperation as shown here is very favorable to our pursuit of cleaner streets and safer citizens throughout our local community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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). MART, Texas (FOX 44) The Mart Independent School District Board has issued a statement following the release of Superintendent Betsy Burnett. District Board officers shared the statement to families, staff, and the community on Tuesday. The Board of Trustees took action to place Burnett on administrative leave at its Monday night meeting. This is pending the Boards proposed termination of her contract. The reasons for the Boards actions have been communicated to Burnett since January 2024. As required by law, she will be provided with notice of the charges in writing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The district says although the Board is not at liberty to discuss personnel matters of any Mart ISD employee, a review of the Boards meeting minutes since January 2024 demonstrates the Boards efforts and work since early this year to improve the joint leadership between the Board and Superintendent. These efforts include multiple Board trainings, written Board goals and expectations, and multiple Executive Session meetings to discuss Superintendent roles and responsibilities, as well as consultation with Board legal counsel. According to the district, joint leadership between the Board and Superintendent is necessary to ensure that the leadership roles for both positions are carried out. The Mart ISD Board is entrusted with acting in the best interest of the District and the Board acted in the best interest of the District based on the information it has considered and discussed with the Superintendent for almost a year. Board officers say they will continue to strive to keep the best interest of district Mart students, faculty, staff, and 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 KWKT - FOX 44. SEARCY, Ark. The consolidation of 911 dispatch centers across the state is quickly approaching a deadline. The Arkansas legislature passed the Public Safety Act of 2019 which mandates the 911 call centers receiving state funds shrink by over 30%. Specifically, the Arkansas 911 Board settled on consolidating the 114 dispatch centers to 79 by Jan. 1, 2025. Hot Springs opting out of 911 merger with Garland County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Populations of 150,000 or less are allowed one dispatch center, those with up to 350,000 are allowed up to two, and larger counties than that can have three. White County just completed its consolidation. White County Emergency Management director Tyler Myze said last April the county added Bald Knob, then Beebe last December. Searcy was added on Nov. 20. Something like this does have to have very precise and strategic moves because its not just a consolidation. Its an operation that cannot cease, Myze said. Myze said to ensure no disruption within the county no positions in the county-wide have been eliminated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Searcy Police Chief Steve Hernandez lost 10 employees to the county. Some with decades of experience left for other work preemptively because early on the consolidation left many unknowns. Its something that we didnt want to get here, we had to, Hernandez said. Bryant 911 and dispatch services to consolidate with Saline County Emergency Communications Center Some of the early growing pains are those dispatchers familiar with the city now having to learn the county, and vice versa, but they know the change is not coming without benefits. C.J. Engel is executive director of the Arkansas 911 Board which is responsible for leading the consolidation. Engel said it has already eliminated over 16,000 911 call transfers statewide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Myze said at times minutes are saved per call because one dispatch center does not have to contact another center to get someone help from the officer, firefighter, or emergency medical service person they need. If that happens statewide, all agencies can agree it will be the right call. It takes time to work out the kinks in an operation like this, however, were confident that this is going to provide a more efficient response by all of our responding agencies, Myze said. Pulaski County, Jacksonville plan to team up on 911 call response Even though most if not all city agencies are losing their own dispatch center, they are responsible for their share of the costs of keeping the 911 center open. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 911 board said they expect some areas may need an extension beyond the January 1 deadline to purchase equipment or build facilities. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. HONOLULU (KHON2) While the holiday season is a time for celebration, its also an opportunity for criminals. As homes fill with packages, parking lots overflow with distracted shoppers and travelers leave homes unattended, the stage is set for a spike in holiday-related crimes. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Honolulu Police Departments latest data shows property crime on Oahu is down compared to last year, but as part of a holiday tradition, theres usually an uptick between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There seems to be more and more crime every year and its spreading eastward. Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina side, said Joey Ching, President of Security Alarm Shop. Salvation Army preps for annual holiday meal delivery from Hawaii to Guam Ching said he bases his information on how many calls he gets to install security systems. Because its not enough anymore to protect inside your home, were trying to move outside and stop porch pirates, thievery, said Ching. This otherworldly hiking tour definitely had us begging for more To protect your home against crime, HPD recommends not displaying gifts where they can be seen from the outside, lock the doors, even while youre home and dont post on social media when youll be out of town. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dont post on Facebook youll be away for two weeks in Vegas. Yay, so come rob my empty house is whats that basically saying, said Ching. With the surge in online shopping, HPD suggests buying only from trusted retailers, dont give out credit card or personal information unless youve initiated the transaction and sign up for delivery tracking. What was celebrated in Hawaii before Thanksgiving came? Schedule your deliveries for when someone can receive the package, or have the package held at the delivery facility and pick it up in person. Holiday crimes arent limited to homes. HPD advises looking for parking thats well-lit, near other cars, and in view of security cameras. Lock your car and dont leave valuables in plain view. At least a simple security camera for your home is what Ching recommends, but if youre not able to invest in a system, Ching suggests working with your neighbors to look out for each other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any little bit helps. Its like the onion, the more layers of security you put on, the safer youre gonna be, said Ching. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele compared President-elect Trumps return to the White House to opening Pandoras box of hell on Tuesday. He cant be an American president. He has to be a Putin president. He has to be an Orban president. And thats not what Americas about. So, we have to decide as a country if this is really what its how it ends, Steele told MSNBCs Nicolle Wallace on Deadline: White House. Yes, I said ends, he continued. Because it doesnt get better, when you open up this Pandoras box of hell and expect peoples to sort of realize an American dream that is slowly being ripped away from them because Donald Trump has decided, Well, we dont like your last name and you shouldnt be here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps election victory and impending return to the White House has rattled Trump critics and Democrats, who also lost their Senate majority earlier month. Many left-leaning leaders are encouraging their supporters to prepare themselves for a second Trump administration. In the wake of Trumps election win, prominent Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) said she was not here to sugarcoat what we all are about to collectively experience on an Instagram livestream. The reality is being set up for us, Steele said in his MSNBC appearance. People need to accept what it is and figure out if [youre going to] bend over and let it happen, or [youre] in some way [going to] stand up and say, You know what? This is not what we want because this is not who we are. The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Stellantis NV plans to close a van factory in Luton, England, in a rebuke of the government mandating more electric vehicle sales. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The owner of Vauxhall announced Tuesday that it intends to shift production of electric vans from the Luton site, which employs around 1,100 people, to its other UK van plant in Ellesmere Port. While Stellantis said its proposing the move in the context of the governments stringent EV mandate, its also restructuring in several other markets as a result of its own financial woes. Stellantis threatened to pull out of the UK entirely earlier this year, warning that the governments EV objectives are too ambitious. The UK introduced rules requiring that 10% of new van sales this year be zero-emission, rising to 70% by the end of the decade. Passenger cars are subject to even higher targets. Automakers face fines of as much as 15,000 per vehicle if they fail to comply, though they can avoid penalties by using a credits-trading system and exceeding requirements in later years. The targets for electric vans already were eased last year after talks with manufacturers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We need an urgent review of the automotive market and the regulation intended to drive it, Mike Hawes, chief executive officer of the industry trade group Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said in a statement late Tuesday. The industry is hurting, profitability and viability are in jeopardy and jobs are on the line. Stellantis said its plans for Luton are subject to consultation with employees and trade unions. It expects to transfer hundreds of jobs to Ellesmere Port and invest an additional 50 million ($63 million) there. The UK union Unite called the companys proposal a complete slap in face for our members in Luton, where it says Vauxhalls have been manufactured for 120 years. We stand ready to support our members in doing whatever we can to ensure that historical vehicle manufacturing is maintained in Luton and we call on the government to do the same, the union said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stellantis isnt alone in shrinking output as EV demand wanes in Europe. In Germany, Volkswagen AG is pushing for unprecedented cuts at its namesake brand, including closing as many as three plants, laying off thousands of workers and cutting wages. Ford Motor Co. is also dialing back EV output in the country and eliminating 4,000 positions across the region. Stellantis makes small electric vans across its Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot, Opel and Fiat brands at Ellesmere Port, following a 100 million investment to turn the factory into an electric-only plant. The manufacturers former UK chief Maria Grazia Davino left last month to join Chinese rival BYD Co. --With assistance from Craig Trudell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with trade groups statement in sixth paragraph, unions reaction in the eighth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. STEUBEN COUNTY, N.Y. (WETM) Steuben County was found to be wrongful in actions it performed against Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard in trying to force him to purchase millions of dollars of liability insurance while also violating the Open Meetings Law, according to information from the New York State Supreme Court. In a case that started back in September of 2023, it was found on Monday, Nov. 25, that Steuben County acted in bad faith to punish Sheriff Allard and that it engaged in multiple questionable practices by voting to strip the Sheriff of defense and indemnification and to make him pay for liability insurance out of pocket. The court also found that the Steuben County Legislatures failure of the Open Meetings Law tainted the legislatures actions with the decisions it made regarding Sheriff Allard. It was learned that the legislature used an executive session to vote on removing the Sheriffs indemnification. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior Post: Steuben County Manager responds to Sheriffs lawsuit against County New York State Supreme Court Justice Jason Cook ruled that the legislatures vote to revoke the indemnification of Sheriff Allard was unlawfully enacted and was deemed invalid. Court documents revealed that Sheriff Allard believed these actions by the county started after Allard refused to listen to an order by the county and halt the continuation of an investigation involving a deputy and a county employee. Allard said during an interview with 18 News in February, The county asked me or tried to order me to not investigate a personnel complaint, he said. I said I cant, I have to by law and did so, Allard said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Allard said that after that moment there was an attack on him from certain members of the county government. The sheriffs office provided numbers that the county has spent in tax-payer funds throughout the legal battle. According to the sheriffs office, the county has spent nearly $200,000 of taxpayer money to initiate and defend the actions against the sheriff from legal fees to communication counsel. The sheriff is thankful for justice to be served and encourages all Steuben County residents to be active in their county government. The full file of the courts decision can be found below: Declaration-and-Order-Allard-v-Steuben-11.26.24Download Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Steve Bannon knows where his bread is buttered. The one-time Donald Trump whisperer is sucking up to his former bosss new co-president Elon Musk, praising the worlds richest man for delivering Trump the White House. Elon and I disagree on some things, but Elon deserves his place at the table, Bannon told Puck magazine. He stroked a $150 million check for the ground game, which is not sexy, at the exact moment we needed it. He came in with the money and the professionals. To be brutally frank, its the reason we won. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk has been refusing to leave the president-elects side ever since he poured an estimated $200 million into pro-Trump Super PACs and ran his field operations in key swing states. As thanks, Trump appointed him co-head, together with Vivek Ramaswamy, of an outside panel called DOGE that will advise the government on spending cuts. This is what I like about Elon Musk. He and Vivek are talking about what weve been preaching on the War Room for years, Bannon gushed, referring to his daily talk show. They are down in the trenches with the hard part of how you actually start to turn the country around. Thats what I appreciate. Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Elon Musk at the White House in 2017, when Bannon was still the president's right-hand man and Musk was best known for founding tech companies. Bannon was arguably the second most powerful man in Washington at the beginning of Trumps first term. He oversaw Trumps surprise victory in 2016 and joined his White House as chief strategist, only to be exiled at the first sign of disagreement between the two explosive personalities. And yet the president-elects longtime cheerleader has continued to hover at the margins, occasionally chatting with Trump and visiting Mar-a-Lago during the transition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are no plans to bring Bannon back to the White House, Puck reported, but the War Room host made it clear he still plans to bully Republican senators on Trumps behalf if they refuse to confirm his Cabinet nominees. Were all about advice and consent. We want to hear your advice, but we need your consent, he said, which critics might argue is really not what the Founding Fathers meant. If you fail to give it, youre signing your political death warrant, he added. OKLAHOMA (KFDX/KJTL) Language can be a powerful way of connecting with one another, our history, and our identity. Thats something that Native American tribes know well as they reconnect with languages that became lost. Language is part of every culture worldwide, but for Native American tribes, words are more than just words. Gordon Yellowman, tribal historian for the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes, explained that the native language of these tribes is alive in their culture and a big part of their identity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cheyenne Arapaho language is very important because its one of the things that is part of our identity as Cheyenne people, Yellowman said, repeating himself in the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages. Its part of our identity, our cultural and ceremonial way of life, and just the way we live. Native American Heritage: Comanche tribe fights for accurate representation in media Unfortunately, the language was lost after the U.S. government created initiatives to run and support over 400 Native American boarding schools across the country from 1819 to 1969. The boarding schools had one purpose to forcefully strip Native Americans of their culture and heritage, including their language, in an effort to civilize indigenous students. And thats where it began, Yellowman said. And they took away our language, these boarding schools. They told us not to speak Cheyenne, they told us not to speak Arapaho, and that hurt us cause thats all we knew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tens of thousands of children endured abuse for speaking the words they had been taught since birth. If they spoke their language, they would put soap in their mouth, Yellowman said. You are not to speak your language; you are to speak English. And thats hurtful, its painful, Yellowman said. Through it all, Yellowman believes the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages kept the tribes culture alive and helped them survive. For us, the Cheyenne, we spoke our language, because thats the beauty of who we are as Native people. It empowers us to be sacred, he said. Now, Native American tribes across the country are just beginning to scratch the surface of restoring and revitalizing what was taken from them. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes have created numerous initiatives to bring their native languages back to life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Technology has become a big tool for teachers as they host classes over Zoom to reach people in their communities and the public. Zoom classes, virtual classes, in Cheyenne language for all of our people, and even the public, those that are interested in learning, Yellowman explained. The virtual class helped us advance, and we now utilize that as a tool to reach the communities; they dont even have to physically come to the tribal office or the Head Start center. The tribes have also leveraged the use of television and media to teach their languages. Cheyenne and Arapaho Production has created several programs, including a childrens show called Frybread Flats, which introduces children to the native languages and teaches them about significant parts of their culture, such as stories, animals, and life lessons. Those students are going home, speaking to their parents in the Cheyenne and Arapaho languages, and that just makes me so happy, Yellowman said. To hear your grandkids say, thank you, to hear your grandkids say sit down, to hear your grandkids say welcome.' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Apache veterans are revered today with the traditions of old While the journey hasnt been easy when it comes to re-teaching and revitalizing their native language, the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes continue working each day to restore their culture and teach the younger generations about their heritage. This language is alive its a living, breathing element, a cultural element of our people. When we speak it, it comes from our body, our heart, our lungs, and thats the beauty of it. Its part of us, he explained. Were still here, and language is going to be our key to the future. If you would like to learn about the Cheyenne or Arapaho languages, you can contact the language department at (405) 422-7569 to enroll in virtual classes hosted through Zoom every week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can also download their language app on your computer, tablet, or mobile device. Just search for Cheyenne Arapaho in the App Store or Google Play Store to download. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. WASHINGTON (AP) With Thanksgiving and the formal launch of the holiday shopping season, Americans will again be consumed with the annual trifecta of turkey, travel and transactions lots of them. While most big U.S. retailers are closed on Thanksgiving Day, many will open early the following day Black Friday, the unofficial start of the holiday gift-buying season and the biggest shopping day of the year. Heres what is open and closed this Thanksgiving, and a travel forecast from the experts at AAA auto club. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Government Buildings Government offices, post offices, courts and schools are closed. Banks and the stock market U.S. stock markets and banks are closed Thursday; however, markets reopen on Friday for a shortened trading day, wrapping up at 1 p.m. Eastern. Package Delivery Standard FedEx and UPS pickup and delivery services will not be available on Thanksgiving, although some critical services will be offered at certain locations. Retailers Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving but most stores will open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday. Target will be closed on Thanksgiving, but most stores will open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macy's will be closed on Thanksgiving, but most stores will have extended hours from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Black Friday. Kohl's will be closed on Thanksgiving, but many stores will be open as early as 5 a.m. on Black Friday. Check your local location for hours. Costco will be closed on Thanksgiving, but will reopen on Black Friday. Check your local store's website for hours. CVS will close early on Thanksgiving. You can call your local store or check store and pharmacy hours on the CVS Pharmacy website. Walgreens will close most of its stores on Thanksgiving. Check your local store for more information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grocery Stores Most national grocery store chains are open on Thanksgiving for those last-minute turkey day needs, although many close early. Check your local store for details. Travel With most schools closed Thursday and Friday, the long Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. AAA projects a record 79.9 million travelers would head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period. For the first time, AAAs forecast included the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers. This years projection of nearly 80 million travelers is an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year and 2 million more than in 2019. Students in Marblehead returned to school Wednesday after the striking teachers and the school committee reached an agreement on a new deal Tuesday, ending the multi-week strike. Students reentered their classrooms Wednesday after coming to tentative terms on the new deal, a release by Marblehead School Committee stated. It is also a scheduled early release day. Both the School Committee and the Association recognize the stress and hardship caused to our students and families during the school closures and we are committed to ensuring that the reopening of our schools will be a positive experience for our students and school community, the Marblehead School Committee said in a statement. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school and to resuming the important work we are committed to doing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marblehead high schoolers navigate Spirit Week, Powderpuff practice amid teachers strike Tuesday was the 11th day of school students had missed since the coastal North Shore town started striking alongside Gloucester and Beverly earlier this month. Gloucester students returned to the classroom this week after the two sides were able to reach terms on Friday. However, Wednesday is expected to be the 13th day of classes students will miss in Beverly. The Beverly School Committee is no longer at the bargaining table and instead is following a state-mandated fact-finding process that could take more than a week to complete. Also starting this week, striking teachers wont get paid. Teachers from across the state rallied at the State House Tuesday morning when union leaders met with Governor Maura Healey to discuss the ongoing strikes in Marblehead and Beverly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Boston Globe is reporting as of Monday afternoon, the Essex superior court has levied $450,000 in fines against the Marblehead Education Association and $560,000 in fines against the Beverly Teachers Association. 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 Minnesota will be represented at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by a high school band student and the Jenni-O float. While no band from Minnesota will be featured in this year's lineup of performers, Rosemount High School marching band senior Noah Carlson will be joining Macys Greatest American Marching Band and will play the mellophone to Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso. "The Macys Parade is a really big deal, one of the biggest, most prominent parades in the country, Taylor Eliason, one of Rosemount High Schools Marching Band Directors, told KTSP. "Its a unique performance opportunity you dont get anywhere else, Flickr Not only will a Minnesota performer cross down 74th Street, but JenniO's "Big Turkey Spectacular" float will also be featured in the parade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marking its fifth year featured in the Macy's Parade, it is a staple for turkey products owned by Hormel Foods in Willmar. On top of the phone, hip-hop artist T-Pain will be performing a medley of his number-one hits. The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade will be broadcast live on NBC starting at 8:30 a.m. or streamed on Peacock. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) In the latest chain of events in the decades-long appeal process for convicted killer Danny Lee Hill, the Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear the States appeal to Hills diminished mental capacity claim. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said in a news release Tuesday that the appeal filed by Ohio Attorney David Yosts Office will be heard by the court discounting Hills intellectual disability claim. Watkins said he is pleased with the Courts decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hill was convicted by a three-judge panel in Trumbull County in the September 1985 kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife. He was sentenced to death in the case but has filed multiple appeals over the year contesting evidence, court proceedings and his mental capacity at the time of the murder, an issue that has come up in several appeals and has been found not to have merit, according to Watkins. In 38 years, 30 appeals have been filed in the case. Execution dates for Hill have been changed over the years. The latest one is set for July 22, 2026, however, executions in Ohio have been put on hold because the Ohio Department of Corrections cannot obtain the pharmaceuticals for lethal injection. Alternative methods of execution have been explored in Ohio, and Watkins has put his support behind nitrogen hypoxia. A change to Ohio law would be needed to allow that form of execution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watkins said he spoke to Fifes mother Miriam Fife informing her of the Courts decision to hear the appeal. As always, she was positive, and she earnestly hopes to see her nearly 40-year journey to see this case end and to have justice for Raymond. God only knows I called Miriam far too many times, Watkins said. Timothy Combs was also convicted in Fifes murder. He died in jail in 2018 at 50 years old. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Conservative groups have for years sought to reduce the governments sway over parents childrearing choices, particularly when it comes to decisions about school and health care. But the Supreme Courts upcoming and potentially explosive transgender care case is dividing conservatives, with many of those same groups backing Tennessees ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments, which critics say injects the state into family medical decisions and overrides parental rights. As a result, some notable conservatives are supporting the Biden administrations challenge of that law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since when does a conservative say, The state knows what is best for my child, said former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, an anti-Trump Republican who opposes Tennessees law. If you decide a state can do this, then it puts all parental decisions at risk of being overruled by the government. The Supreme Court will hear arguments December 4 in the most important transgender rights case the justices have ever tackled, reviewing a Tennessee law enacted last year that bans gender-affirming care for minors and imposes civil penalties for doctors who violate the prohibitions. Gender-affirming surgeries are not at issue because a lower court tossed out a challenge to those procedures. Though the high court declined to consider the parental rights question when it took the case earlier this year, the debate is nevertheless playing out in briefings and may come up during the courts oral arguments. The Biden administration appeal has landed on the courts docket at a moment when transgender rights have become a roiling culture war issue for Republicans, with President-elect Donald Trump denouncing transgender craziness and South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace attempting to ban transgender women from using womens bathrooms at the US Capitol and other federal buildings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tennessee, and many conservatives who support the states position, argues parental rights arent a factor in the case. After all, they say, states have a long history of regulating medicine for people of all ages. Even adults lack a substantive-due-process right to demand access to a particular medication, the state told the Supreme Court. That lack of a right to certain drugs, the state claims, dooms the Biden administrations appeal. Put up or shut up moment? Conservative groups have lined up in federal courts to make nearly identical parental rights arguments in other cases. In one appeal that has been pending at the Supreme Court for months, a group of Wisconsin parents say their school district is violating parental rights by hiding transgender support plans allowing students to change their pronouns and bathroom use without informing parents. Anti-abortion groups, meanwhile, have for years argued that parents must have a say in a minors decision to end a pregnancy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Twenty-six GOP-led states including Tennessee have enacted bans on at least some form of gender-affirming care. But a few Republicans are bucking their party by focusing on the question of whether parents have a right, grounded in the 14th Amendment, to direct the medical care of their children. Its a bit of a reckoning for the Republican Party, said Alex Lundry, who worked on Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign and who signed a brief in the Tennessee case, along with dozens of current and former GOP elected officials and aides, opposing the state law. You certainly have a lot of people on the right calling for more parental rights, particularly in the realm of education. Also signing the brief were Republican state lawmakers in Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri; a former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee; and a former chief of staff to the late Sen. John McCain. Brian Burgess, an appellate lawyer at the firm Goodwin Procter who helped write the brief, said that while transgender care has become ideologically charged, there is a traditional conservative view toward medical decisions being a judgment for families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In another brief supporting the Biden administration, a group of law professors focus on the historic practice of families directing medical care for their children, citing the then-controversial decision some made to inoculate their children against smallpox in 18th century colonial America. That brief, which is intended to appeal to the conservative justices focus on history, is signed by Steven Calabresi, a conservative law professor at Northwestern University. Yale Law professor William Eskridge, who co-authored the brief, described the Tennessee case as a put up or shut up moment for the courts emphasis on history. If you want to be a historical-focused court, Eskridge said, look at the history. Parental rights not absolute Though it took the Biden administrations appeal over Tennessees law, the Supreme Court did not grant a separate appeal from the transgender youth and families affected by the ban. That separate lawsuit specifically asked whether the state law violates the fundamental right of parents to make decisions about the medical care of their children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not clear why the court granted the Biden administration appeal but not the similar case from the families, but one effect of that decision is that parental rights wont squarely be at issue when the justices take the bench on Wednesday. In allowing the Tennessee ban to take effect last year, a divided 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals brushed aside the parental rights arguments. Parents usually do know whats best for their children. But, it added, becoming a parent does not create a right to reject democratically enacted laws. Melissa Moschella, a professor of the practice in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, said that parental rights are not absolute. Even adults, she noted, dont have a right to take whatever medications they choose, because those treatments are regulated by the government. Its not really about the state interfering in a parents decision, Moschella said during a recent event organized by the conservative Federalist Society. Its about the state trying to protect parents and especially their children from a medical establishment that the state I think, with good reason, has judged corrupt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those opposed to the bans point out that many of the same treatments are available for cisgender minors in Tennessee for reasons other than gender dysphoria. Parents have looked me in the eye and have told me that but for this treatment, their child would be dead, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said last year, explaining his veto of a similar ban. These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents. Days later, Ohios Republican-controlled legislature voted to override the veto. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com WASHINGTON Weeks after Donald Trumps victory to regain the White House, he and his allies continue to call his election massive and historic and a landslide which is only true if history includes only those elections that involve Donald Trump. Weve made history, Trump said in his election night speech in Florida, claiming he had been given a mandate by voters. Its a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this. A week later, in a conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Trump said: Amazing what happened, we had tremendous success. The most successful in over 100 years, they say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps staff and allies have kept up the drumbeat of boasts. President Trump won in dominating and historic fashion, spokesperson Steven Cheung told The New York Times. Karoline Leavitt, a campaign spokesperson who will be White House press secretary when Trump retakes office, called the win massive and historic in a social media post last week. Those superlatives, though, are only accurate if the dataset includes just the last three elections. In fact, Trump almost certainly will not exceed 50 percent of the total vote by the time the election is certified next month, meaning a majority of Americans who cast ballots will have voted for someone else. His 1.6-percentage-point margin over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will be the smallest of any popular vote winner since Richard Nixons 0.7 percent win over Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Further, his Electoral College margin will be smaller than both of Democrat Barack Obamas wins and both of Democrat Bill Clintons victories. President-elect Donald Trump watches as SpaceX's mega-rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via AP Indeed, the only true historic achievement Trump can claim is that America had previously elected neither a convicted felon nor someone who had earlier attempted a coup to remain in power, and now has done both in the same person. Leavitt, responding to HuffPosts query asking what made Trumps win this month historic, said that Trump had won the popular vote; had received more votes than any previous Republican candidate; had received more electoral votes than any Republican going back nine elections; had won all seven battleground states, and had received record support among Latino voters. Need I continue, she asked but then did not respond to follow-up questions other than to insult HuffPost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Leavitts list of historic feats is more of a description of his performance compared to recent Republican candidates than any historical standard. For example, that Trump won the popular vote is unremarkable the vast majority of presidents have done this. That he won more raw votes than previous Republican presidents is unsurprising given how much the countrys population has grown in recent decades. Ronald Reagan won 59% of the votes cast in 1984, while Richard Nixon won 61% in 1972, but did so with 54 million and 47 million votes, respectively, compared to Trumps 77 million. And while Trumps share of Latino voters may slightly exceed that won by George W. Bush in his 2004 reelection, it is smaller than that won by every Democratic candidate going back decades. It is unclear what the point of lying about Trumps victory margin is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes the king of hyperbole, said one Republican National Committee member who spoke on condition of anonymity. Who knows what the point may be. One longtime GOP consultant, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested it might be to help get his Cabinet appointments through. To enforce discipline on the GOP Senate to approve his nominees, he said. Trump, of course, has never been shy about exaggerating his accomplishments. After 2016, he took to calling that victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton historic even though he received nearly 3 million fewer votes than she did. In just about every speech, regardless of the occasion, he would recount that election night as the television networks called state after state for Trump. He even began claiming that no Republican had won Wisconsin since Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 until he did which was true only if you disregard Nixon in 1960, 1968 and 1972 and Reagan in 1980 and 1984. After his 2017 inauguration photos showed he attracted less than half the crowd that Obama did in 2008, Trump nevertheless claimed at a speech at CIA headquarters the following day that there had been 2 million people in attendance, and later that day ordered his press secretary to go out to the White House briefing room and repeat those false claims to the media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The consultant said Trumps willingness to lie repeatedly about his achievements, while not effective with everyone, absolutely becomes reality for his followers. When he does these things, he essentially creates his own weather, he said. Most of his supporters know nothing of history. They take what he says at face value and echo that sentiment across every platform. Related... A surf trip took a turn for the worse, recently, as a man took a bullet in what has been purported to be a drive-by gang shooting. The victim nearly lost his life in the incident, with the wound being a mere centimeter away from ripping through his aorta, and the curtain falling on the stage of life for good. Merrill Roberts, 55, of Oceanside, California was the victim involved, and he was on a surf trip to Santa Cruz with his grown son and two others. The posse was eating at a local restaurant after a day of catching waves, and thats when the near-tragedy went down. Per a GoFundMe account, which has been created to help with Roberts medical bills, heres more of the story: On Friday night, November 15th, Merrill, his son, and a friend were eating at a restaurant when they got caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. Merrill was an innocent bystander and got shot. It was supposed to be a great weekend of surfing with Merrill and his son. Unfortunately, his weekend was cut short and now Merrill is currently in the hospital with a bullet 1 cm away from his aorta. The bullet went through his left arm and shattered his humerus, then pierced his lung, and is currently residing 1 cm from his aorta. As a family, we call it one of God's tender mercies; had the bullet not shattered his humerus, it more than likely would have had enough energy to penetrate his aorta. We are also very grateful that his son did not get hit. Related: Sneaker Wave Swallows Toddler on Beach at Pipeline (Video) Following his hospitalization, Roberts underwent surgery to reconstruct his arm with plates and screws. However, doctors decided not to remove the bullet from his abdomen as it was too risky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for Roberts, himself, heres what he had to say after the ordeal (per ABC 10): I feel very blessed that Im here talking to you right now. I literally dodged more than one bullet. Even though I took one bullet, its definitely a miracle. Its a second chance to do things even better. This is definitely going to be a great Thanksgiving. I have a lot of gratitude. Legend. To see more, and make a donation, check out the GoFundMe account here. Related: Watch: Surfers Catapulted into Oblivion in Big-Wave Wipeout SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A suspect with a history of firearm possession was arrested in possession of a loaded ghost gun on Saturday, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Officers with the SFPD Tenderloin Station received notice of the wanted suspect, identified as 36-year-old John Moye. Moye, officers were advised, was near the 200 block of Hyde Street driving a motorcycle. Police cited an SFPD crime bulletin that detailed Moyes evading capture for two outstanding felony warrants out of country, in addition to firearm possession. SFPD officers responded to the 200 block of Hyde Street and saw the motorcycle parked next to a vehicle with two subjects, one of which was later confirmed as Moye, sitting in the driver seat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement San Francisco man who whipped wife, hung French bulldog to be sentenced In approaching the vehicle, officers observed the suspect and items that led them to believe a firearm may have been in the vehicle. Moye was detained along with another man. A loaded ghost gun was found on Moyes person along with unfired cartridges and firearm accessories. The vehicle, officers said, had been reported as stolen. SFPD SFPD Officers developed probable cause to arrest Moye. He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on charges that included: Carrying a loaded firearm on the person or in vehicle while in public place (four counts) A person is guilty of carrying concealed firearm (four counts) Prohibits the possession of ammunition if a convicted felon False impersonation Identity theft Burglary tools Two active felony warrants Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said that although an arrest has been made, the investigation remains open and 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 KRON4. Video: Police respond to officer-involved shooting following chase in Malvern MALVERN, Ark. Arkansas State Police have identified the suspect in a deadly officer-involved shooting following a pursuit that ended in Malvern on Friday afternoon. Authorities identified the suspect in the Nov. 22 shooting as 42-year-old Eddie Williams of Malvern. State police said Williams was wanted in connection with a shooting that had occurred near the Hot Springs County Courthouse earlier in the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arkansas State Police: Suspect killed in shootout following TVI crash in Malvern Troopers said they later found Williams around 2:45 p.m. driving a 2016 GMC Acadia on Moline Street and attempted to pull him over. State police said Williams then fled from troopers, turning down Martin Luther King Boulevard before driving through a Walgreens parking lot and then onto West Page Avenue. Officials said troopers eventually performed a tactical vehicle intervention that resulted in a crash on Page Avenue between Vine Street and Pecan Street. After his vehicle stopped, ASP officials said Williams then fired at authorities before troopers and Malvern police fired back and hit Williams. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said the victim in the initial shooting, which happened at a business at Locust Street and West Page Avenue, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities said the three ASP troopers and two officers with the Malvern Police Department involved in the shooting are on leave while the investigation continues. Little Rock police identify man wanted in Pulaski Street deadly shooting ASP officials said an investigative file will be presented to the prosecuting attorney who will determine if the use of deadly force was consistent with state law. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. When Jennifer Munson founded the Phoenix Remix Animal Rescue five years ago, her goal was to save as many animals as possible. This week, she was faced with a task she never expected finding foster homes for nearly 40 cats before the winter cold sets in. On Monday, Munson and her team of volunteers received a message through the rescues Facebook page. The messengers grandfather passed away unexpectedly and left behind dozens of cats and kittens on his farm west of Lincoln. This is an extraordinarily sad situation, Munson said. It breaks your heart when you hear about somebody unexpectedly losing a family member, especially during the holidays. The family asked for help rehoming the remaining cats on the property. Munson said yes immediately. The rescue, which is run completely by volunteers through donations, has taken on colonies of cats before, but Munson wasnt expecting quite this many. We really wanted to help, it just might be a little bit more than we were prepared to chew, she said. It doesnt take very long for animals to have a hard time when they dont have food and as cold as it is outside. And its just getting colder this week. Bailey Glathar, who has been volunteering at the rescue since 2020, was sent out on Monday to assess the situation. With a plan to just scope out the situation, she didnt bring the usual supplies such as traps to collect the cats. When she arrived at the barn, Glathar said there were some dead kittens and the adult cats were thin, but they looked mostly healthy. The kittens, if theyre not kept well-fed and warm and such in this kind of temperature spiking and dropping, they can develop upper respiratory infections really easily, Glathar said. Glathar grabbed as many kittens as she could, especially those that were in the worst condition. She ended up rescuing seven kittens on Monday and three cats on Tuesday evening. While the cats are living on a farm, Munson said they arent feral. Often, she said these situations come with preconceptions that the cats are unmanageable and misbehave. You can tell this gentleman loved these cats, Munson said. Theyre very affectionate. Theyre open to human affection. They know what it means to be around a person. So he was taking care of these cats. While the cats were generally well cared for while the owner was alive, Munson said this situation shows the importance to spay and neuter barn cats. Munson took home two of the cats to nurse back to health with plans to return to rescue more. Based on the one that I have at my house thats the worst off, he would have absolutely died if he had been left outside last night, Munson said Tuesday afternoon. I thought he was going to die in my arms multiple times last night. Now, Munson and Glathar are turning to the public for help in temporarily providing a warm shelter, food and love. Foster homes are of the utmost importance, but Munson said people need to be able to quarantine them away from their resident pets so they don't transmit upper respiratory infections, which can be cured with antibiotics over time. These guys are not healthy yet. These arent terminally ill cats we dont think, but we havent had any time to provide any vetting services to these guys at all yet, Munson said. The rescue also needs Styrofoam coolers and straw to make temporary shelters for those still at the farm. Its important to use straw because hay soaks up moisture, and can grow mold and cause more sickness. Munson said they also need litter and litter boxes, along with any type of cat food. She expects the cats to stay in their care for at least a month and will need any basic supplies to get them through that period. In addition to foster homes, they are also looking for barn homes with shelter that can take fully vetted, healthy working cats. Those with donations or looking to help foster can reach out to the rescue through their Facebook page or by emailing: ThePhoenixRemixAnimalRescue@gmail.com. Suspected fentanyl smuggler stopped near San Diego County SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Last week, U.S. Border Patrol agents with the San Diego Sector stopped a person suspected of smuggling drugs into local communities, according to a news release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Tuesday. According to CBP, agents assigned to the San Clemente Border Patrol Station stopped a compact sedan on Interstate 5 near Cristianitos Road. Coast Guard intercepts dozens of migrants on boat off San Diego coast Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After an inspection by a Border Patrol K-9 team, agents decided to further investigate the vehicle. During the search, agents found packages hidden in the rear drivers side quarter panel that were suspected to contain narcotics, CBP said in the release. Border Patrol agents seized over 25 pounds of fentanyl last week. (CBP) Border Patrol agents seized over 25 pounds of fentanyl last week. (CBP) Border Patrol agents seized over 25 pounds of fentanyl last week. (CBP) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The packages were tested and confirmed to contain over 25 pounds of fentanyl, officials said. Agents arrested the driver and turned the case over to the Drug Enforcement Agencys Narcotics Task Force. This fiscal year alone, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents and CBP officers working out of the San Diego Field Office seized about 17,400 pounds of cocaine, 98,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 465 pounds of heroin and 6,500 pounds of fentanyl, the release stated. People who are aware of suspicious activity are encouraged to contact 911 or San Diego Sector at 619-498-9900. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. CHICAGO A SWAT situation that was initiated on the citys South Side overnight after shots were fired from an apartment in Roseland has ended with a person in custody, Chicago police say. In an update provided early Wednesday afternoon, police said the SWAT situation ended with a male subject in custody, after it had been ongoing for around 12 hours. The person in custody was taken to a local hospital for observation, police say. It is just senseless: Family members of man killed in I-80 shooting speaking out Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Chicago police, officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 0-100 block of East 103rd Place around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday. A witness told police they observed a male firing gunshots from a second-floor apartment. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Police say the unknown male went back inside the apartment, so responding officers initiated a SWAT incident. There were no injuries reported while the incident was 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 WGN-TV. The string of swatting incidents targeting Donald Trumps appointees is part of an explosion of a phenomenon used to intimidate and threaten public figures. The tactic involves calling in fake reports of crimes to emergency services to prompt a response from a heavily armed Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. The caller usually claims there is an ongoing serious violent crime such as multiple homicides, a hostage situation or a bomb threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They can also use fake caller ID or spoofing software to conceal their identity and make it look as though the call is coming from the victims phone. Such calls can have fatal consequences as police forces have no way of knowing the perceived threat is fake. They also divert vital police resources and can cost the taxpayer up to $100,000 per hoax call. In recent years there has been a spate of swatting incidents targeting both sides of the political aisle. Victims have included Arthur Engoron, the judge who presided over Mr Trumps financial fraud case, special counsel Jack Smith and judge Tanya Chutkan, who was overseeing Mr Trumps DC criminal trial. Judge Arthur Engoron was the target of a swatting incident - Shannon Stapleton/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Another victim was Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official in Georgia who rejected Mr Trumps claims of fraud in the 2020 election, and Maines secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, who became a victim of swatting shortly after she removed Mr Trump from the presidential ballot in her state under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican Congresswoman, have both been swatted on several occasions. On Christmas Day last year, a man in New York called a Georgia suicide hotline and claimed he had just shot his girlfriend at Ms Greenes home and was about to kill himself. Police contacted Ms Greenes local security liaison to inform them about the call, who said officers did not need to respond and the police response was cancelled, according to reports. Javed Ali, associate professor of practice at the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy, who is a former FBI agent, said swatting was used to intimidate or actually try to physically threaten somebody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sometimes it could just be retaliation for some kind of personal grievance, he told The Telegraph. Other times it could be something thats more ideologically based... maybe its when people are in the news, either while theyre in government or potentially leaving government or going into a new administration. He added: Is the goal just to harass and just make the lives of those three people a little more complicated on a given day, or is it something even more sinister where the hope is that based on whatever is alleged to have occurred that would trigger law enforcement response in the first place the goal is to have law enforcement respond to the house or residence or location and actually take some kind of physical action? Heated rhetoric Barbara McQuade, a former lawyer and author of Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, said Mr Trumps appointees were likely targeted because heated rhetoric sparks political violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told The Telegraph: In todays hyper-polarised society, we are led to believe that members of the other side are not just our political opponents, but are our enemies. She said swatting had become such a popular method because people were unimaginative copycats and threat and other kinds of attacks often give the idea to others. Although probably not technically a form of terrorism because it does not involve direct violence, swatting shares characteristics with domestic terrorism by inviting harassment against a target in retaliation for political conduct or to intimidate political rivals, she added. Swatting has been on the FBIs radar since at least 2008, but its popularity has exploded in recent years after several high-profile cases involving gamers and internet personalities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There have been tragic consequences to the hoax calls. In 2017 Andrew Finch, 28, was shot dead in Kansas by a Wichita police officer who was responding to a fake call of a homicide and hostage situation at Finchs home. Andrew Finch was shot dead by police responding to a hoax call Tyler Barriss, of California, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to causing a deadly swatting incident, following Finchs death. Earlier this year Robert Walker-McDaid became the first British person to be convicted of a swatting incident after he put in a fake call to a Maryland terrorism hotline. While under British law, swatting is not a recognised crime, Coventry Police worked with international law enforcement to build the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walker-McDaid was sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice. Video gamer Walker-McDaid, from Coventry, pretended to be his gaming rival Tyran Dobbs and claimed he had plastic explosives and three hostages he planned to execute within 15 minutes. A SWAT team swooped on Mr Dobbss home and shot him in the face and chest with plastic bullets, causing life-changing injuries, which required reconstructive facial surgery, following the raid on Feb 18, 2015. Robert Walker-McDaid called a Maryland terrorism hotline to get a SWAT team sent to a rival gamers house Swatting gained in popularity after celebrities including Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian were targeted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FBI agent Kevin Kolbye said at the time that a group of offenders had carried out the attacks for the bragging rights and ego, versus any monetary gain. Last year, the FBI launched a Virtual Command Center in partnership with local forces to track swatting incidents and gain a national picture. From May 2023 to January 2024 more than 500 incidents were reported, according to CNN. The FBI would not disclose updated figures. Some states have tried to deter would-be swatters by increasing the penalties for making false calls. In 2023, Ohio made it a felony to call in a false emergency that initiated a law enforcement action, while Virginia increased penalties for swatting calls to include up to 12 months in jail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the cost of each false call can vary depending on the response, an incident in Long Beach in 2014 cost $100,000 after more than 60 heavily armed officers and hostage negotiators responded to a fake call that someone had killed his mother and brother in the house, CBS News reported at the time. Ms McQuade suggested the rise in swatting could be tackled by deterring people with aggressive enforcement with significant sentences. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Siouxland Libraries hosts storytime for children and families on a daily basis, but storytime doesnt always begin and end with reading. Its storytime with Mavis the Bravest at the Caille branch of Siouxland Librarieswith a side of string quartet. No Mount Rushmore float in Macys parade We actually love inviting the orchestra in any capacity, the wind quartet, the string quartet to the library to give the kids a bit more involvement with music and books, Siouxland Libraries library associate Brianna Leesch said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Symphony Storytime features a storyteller accompanied Tuesday by the Dakota String Quartet. Having music in between almost brings a special effect, a movie aspect if you will, that can keep the kids attention and spark if I may a little more interest in the story itself, Leesch said. Its been such a joy to see those little faces lit up, and they react to the stories and the music, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra violinist Doosook Kim said. Kim has been playing the violin with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years. She says in an age of computers and iPads, a live performance is something special. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bringing this live classical music, it just helps them to have that imprint in their little minds that music is something very positive and fun, Kim said. Leesch says todays Symphony Storytime received the highest praise from the kids. Most kids dont emote the same way, they do surprise really well but theyre kind of just staring at you. Thats when you know theyre paying attention, thats when you know theyre actually engaged (laugh), a lot of fun, Leesch said. And maybe one day these kids will pick up an instrument. If you missed todays performance, the Dakota Wind Quartet will participate in the next storytime event on Tuesday, December 10th, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Prairie West Library in Sioux Falls. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels in the last opposition enclave in northern Syria launched on Wednesday a wide-scale military operation against the Syrian army and seized territory in the first such advance in years, army and rebel sources said. The rebel offensive overran at least 10 areas under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in northwestern Aleppo province, said a source in the operations room run by a coalition of insurgent groups led by the militant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The land incursion is the first such territorial advance since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and Turkey, which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that led to military action halting in Syria's last major rebel stronghold in the country's northwest. Rebels advanced almost 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo city and a few kilometres away from Nubl and Zahra, two Shi'ite towns where Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has a strong militia presence, an army source said. They attacked Al-Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian militias have outposts. Rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which was building up troops near front lines with rebels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The army pounded areas near rebel-held Idlib city and the cities of Ariha and Sarmada along with other areas in southern Idlib province, according to an army source. Official media did not report the fighting but pro-government websites said the army had pounded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham hideouts and killed dozens. Witnesses said hundreds of families in the last refuge for opponents of Assad fled to safer areas along the Turkish border. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States, has long been targeted by Syrian-government and Russian forces. It competes with Turkey-backed mainstream rebels groups that also control swathes of territory along the border with Turkey in northwest Syria. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Rod Nickel) TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Tampa police arrested a 16-year-old in connection to a shooting involving another minor Tuesday, officials said. According to the Tampa Police Department, officers were called to West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at about 1 p.m. after a boy in his mid-teens was shot in broad daylight. FBI seeking potential victims of alleged fraudster in Tampa Investigators said surveillance video showed the 16-year-old suspect waiting in an alleyway nearby as the victim was walking on North Albany Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspect then walked up to the other teenager and shot him, officers said. According to the department, the suspect tried to fire his gun again but it jammed so the suspect ran away. However, the suspect was quickly identified by an officer who conducts curfew checks. The 16-year-old was arrested at his home on charges of attempted murder in the first degree and aggravated battery. Theres nothing more alarming than a blatant disregard for another persons life, said Chief Lee Bercaw. Violence in our community and amongst juveniles will not be tolerated. Im appreciative of all the hard work our detectives and officers did in less than 24 hours that led to this quick arrest. It is also due in part to the everyday efforts of officers assigned to juvenile checks that work to keep those with extensive criminal histories accountable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. Anyone who had any doubt that Donald Trumps love of tariffs is true should take note of his new promise, for Day 1 of his presidency, to slap products imported from Canada and Mexico with 25% taxes. Trump said the new taxes on those foreign goods, along with a 10% hike in tariffs on products from China, would remain in place until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! What could get more expensive The US imports gas from Canada, and its reliant on Mexico for produce. Prices could rise at the pump and the grocery store, along with many other places, if the US gets involved in a trade war to its north and south. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After an election where many voters thought they were voting for cheaper goods, the future president is essentially promising to raise prices on things like groceries, electronics and automobiles and potentially kick off a trade war with two of the countrys closest trading partners. The tariffs might also violate the very trade agreement Trump negotiated with Mexico and Canada during his first term. Are these new threats a bargaining tactic meant to bring the countries to the table on immigration, or are they real promises? We shall see in time. Meanwhile, its worth looking at why Trump can impose these tariffs without input from Congress. This is not what the Constitution envisioned After all, the Constitution specifically gives Congress, not the president, the power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How does Trump have the power to impose tariffs without any input from Congress? Its pretty much the opposite of whats in the Constitution, and it didnt happen right away. For insight, I talked to Doug Irwin, an economics professor at Dartmouth College and the author of multiple books about tariffs and trade policy, including Trade Policy Disaster: Lessons from the 1930s. Smoot-Hawley tariffs exacerbated the Great Depression In the years after World War I, Congress had embraced isolationism and imposed tariffs on imports into the US as a way to protect US companies and workers from competition. As the Great Depression was beginning, Congress went back to this tool and imposed a law named for then-Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and then-Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon. The additional across-the-board tariffs in the Smoot-Hawley Act kicked off a trade war that exacerbated the Great Depression. After Franklin D. Roosevelt took office along with a Democratic majority, lawmakers corrected in the other direction. In 1934, they passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, which gave the president power to lower import duties for countries with which the US had trade agreements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the 1960s, presidents got power from Congress to impose tariffs for national security reasons, something Trump made use of during his first term when dealing with China, Europe, Canada and Mexico. Irwin said it could take some time for Trumps Commerce Department to conduct that investigation and determine there is a national security threat from Canada and Mexico, but its also possible Trump could try to sidestep such a report. In the 1970s, Congress gave the president new trade promotion authority power to negotiate trade agreements and then have Congress ratify them without amendment. Its something lawmakers have granted at key moments in the years since, including in 2015, when a much more free trade-oriented GOP gave then-President Barack Obama authority to negotiate with a group of countries in the Pacific region. Trump later killed that deal, but he used the fast-track authority to negotiate the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement he may now violate with new tariffs. Trumps tariffs For tariffs, Trump has instead focused on that 1962 law, which requires a report from his administration justifying tariffs as a national security matter but does not require a vote by Congress. Notably, President Joe Biden maintained Trumps first-term tariffs on China and even increased some. Workers stand in front of coils of steel wire at a depot on the outskirts of Shanghai on March 26, 2018. - Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File Congress, basically starting in the 1930s, almost a century ago, has started giving away a lot of its tariff authority, Irwin said. And so now were in a situation where the president is really sort of the main driver on trade policy, and Congress, even though the Constitution gives it most of the authority, is in the back seat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If all of this sounds a little familiar, thats because Trump ultimately lifted tariffs he imposed on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico in 2019, on the way to finalizing that trade agreement. We know what works Trumps aides see the first administrations tactics as a model for Trumps second administration, according to CNNs Priscilla Alvarez, who reports these threats are part of an effort to resurrect an old approach and do it early on. We know what works, a Trump transition official told Alvarez. Alvarez adds there is belief among those in his orbit that the threats worked the first time in getting neighboring countries to comply on migration. Mexicos President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Trumps tariff threat with a warning about reciprocal tariffs and said neither threats nor tariffs will solve the issue of migration or drug consumption. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com "As Medicare Advantage becomes increasingly expensive, the Medicare program continues to face funding challenges." (Getty Images) Medicare Advantage the commercial alternative to traditional Medicare is drawing down federal health care funds, costing taxpayers an extra 22 percent per enrollee to the tune of $83 billion a year. Medicare Advantage, also known as Part C, was supposed to save the government money. The competition among private insurance companies, and with traditional Medicare, to manage patient care was meant to give insurance companies an incentive to find efficiencies. Instead, the programs payment rules overpay insurance companies on the taxpayers dime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are health care policy experts who study Medicare, including how the structure of the Medicare payment system is, in the case of Medicare Advantage, working against taxpayers. Medicare beneficiaries choose an insurance plan when they turn 65. Younger people can also become eligible for Medicare due to chronic conditions or disabilities. Beneficiaries have a variety of options, including the traditional Medicare program administered by the U.S. government, Medigap supplements to that program administered by private companies, and all-in-one Medicare Advantage plans administered by private companies. Commercial Medicare Advantage plans are increasingly popular over half of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in them, and this share continues to grow. People are attracted to these plans for their extra benefits and out-of-pocket spending limits. But due to a loophole in most states, enrolling in or switching to Medicare Advantage is effectively a one-way street. The Senate Finance Committee has also found that some plans have used deceptive, aggressive, and potentially harmful sales and marketing tactics to increase enrollment. Baked into the plan Researchers have found that the overpayment to Medicare Advantage companies, which has grown over time, was, intentionally or not, baked into the Medicare Advantage payment system. Medicare Advantage plans are paid more for enrolling people who seem sicker, because these people typically use more care and so would be more expensive to cover in traditional Medicare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, differences in how peoples illnesses are recorded by Medicare Advantage plans causes enrollees to seem sicker and costlier on paper than they are in real life. This issue, alongside other adjustments to payments, leads to overpayment with taxpayer dollars to insurance companies. Some of this extra money is spent to lower cost sharing, lower prescription drug premiums, and increase supplemental benefits like vision and dental care. Though Medicare Advantage enrollees may like these benefits, funding them this way is expensive. For every extra dollar that taxpayers pay to Medicare Advantage companies, only roughly 50 to 60 cents goes to beneficiaries in the form of lower premiums or extra benefits. As Medicare Advantage becomes increasingly expensive, the Medicare program continues to face funding challenges. In our view, in order for Medicare to survive long term, Medicare Advantage reform is needed. The way the government pays the private insurers who administer Medicare Advantage plans, which may seem like a black box, is key to why the government overpays Medicare Advantage plans relative to traditional Medicare. Paying Medicare Advantage Private plans have been a part of the Medicare system since 1966 and have been paid through several different systems. They garnered only a very small share of enrollment until 2006. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current Medicare Advantage payment system, implemented in 2006 and heavily reformed by the Affordable Care Act in 2010, had two policy goals. It was designed to encourage private plans to offer the same or better coverage than traditional Medicare at equal or lesser cost. And, to make sure beneficiaries would have multiple Medicare Advantage plans to choose from, the system was also designed to be profitable enough for insurers to entice them to offer multiple plans throughout the country. To accomplish this, Medicare established benchmark estimates for each county. This benchmark calculation begins with an estimate of what the government-administered traditional Medicare plan would spend on the average county resident. This value is adjusted based on several factors, including enrollee location and plan quality ratings, to give each plan its own benchmark. Medicare Advantage plans then submit bids, or estimates, of what they expect their plans to spend on the average county enrollee. If a plans spending estimate is above the benchmark, enrollees pay the difference as a Part C premium. Most plans spending estimates are below the benchmark, however, meaning they project that the plans will provide coverage that is equivalent to traditional Medicare at a lower cost than the benchmark. These plans dont charge patients a Part C premium. Instead, they receive a portion of the difference between their spending estimate and the benchmark as a rebate that they are supposed to pass on to their enrollees as extras, like reductions in cost-sharing, lower prescription drug premiums, and supplemental benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, in a process known as risk adjustment, Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage health plans are adjusted based on the health of their enrollees. The plans are paid more for enrollees who seem sicker. The government pays Medicare Advantage plans based on Medicares cost estimates for a given county. The benchmark is an estimate from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of what it would cost to cover an average county enrollee in traditional Medicare, plus adjustments including quartile payments and quality bonuses. The risk-adjusted benchmark also takes into consideration an enrollees health. (Samantha Randall at USC, CC BY-ND) In theory, this payment system should save the Medicare system money because the risk-adjusted benchmark that Medicare estimates for each plan should run, on average, equal to what Medicare would actually spend on a plans enrollees if they had enrolled in traditional Medicare instead. In reality, the risk-adjusted benchmark estimates are far above traditional Medicare costs. This causes Medicare really, taxpayers to spend more for each person who is enrolled in Medicare Advantage than if that person had enrolled in traditional Medicare. Why are payment estimates so high? There are two main culprits: benchmark modifications designed to encourage Medicare Advantage plan availability, and risk adjustments that overestimate how sick Medicare Advantage enrollees are. High risk-adjusted benchmarks lead to overpayments from the government to the private companies that administer Medicare Advantage plans. (Samantha Randall at USC, CC BY-ND) Benchmark modifications Since the current Medicare Advantage payment system started in 2006, policymaker modifications have made Medicares benchmark estimates less tied to what the plan spends on each enrollee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2012, as part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage benchmark estimates received another layer: quartile adjustments. These made the benchmark estimates, and therefore payments to Medicare Advantage companies, higher in areas with low traditional Medicare spending and lower in areas with high traditional Medicare spending. This benchmark adjustment was meant to encourage more equitable access to Medicare Advantage options. In that same year, Medicare Advantage plans started receiving quality bonus payments with plans that have higher star ratings based on quality factors such as enrollee health outcomes and care for chronic conditions receiving higher bonuses. However, research shows that ratings have not necessarily improved quality and may have exacerbated racial inequality. Even before fully taking into account risk adjustment, recent estimates peg the benchmarks, on average, as 8 percent higher than average traditional Medicare spending. This means that a Medicare Advantage plans spending estimate could be below the benchmark and the plan would still get paid more for its enrollees than it would have cost the government to cover those same enrollees in traditional Medicare. Overestimating enrollee sickness The second major source of overpayment is health risk adjustment, which tends to overestimate how sick Medicare Advantage enrollees are. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each year, Medicare studies traditional Medicare diagnoses, such as diabetes, depression, and arthritis, to understand which have higher treatment costs. Medicare uses this information to adjust its payments for Medicare Advantage plans. Payments are lowered for plans with lower predicted costs based on diagnoses and raised for plans with higher predicted costs. This process is known as risk adjustment. But there is a critical bias baked into risk adjustment. Medicare Advantage companies know that theyre paid more if their enrollees seem more sick, so they diligently make sure each enrollee has as many diagnoses recorded as possible. This can include legal activities like reviewing enrollee charts to ensure that diagnoses are recorded accurately. It can also occasionally entail outright fraud, where charts are upcoded to include diagnoses that patients dont actually have. In traditional Medicare, most providers the exception being Accountable Care Organizations are not paid more for recording diagnoses. This difference means that the same beneficiary is likely to have fewer recorded diagnoses if they are enrolled in traditional Medicare rather than a private insurers Medicare Advantage plan. Policy experts refer to this phenomenon as a difference in coding intensity between Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare. The same person is likely to be documented with more illnesses if they enroll in Medicare Advantage rather than traditional Medicare and cost taxpayers more money. (Samantha Randall at USC, CC BY-ND) In addition, Medicare Advantage plans often try to recruit beneficiaries whose health care costs will be lower than their diagnoses would predict, such as someone with a very mild form of arthritis. This is known as favorable selection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The differences in coding and favorable selection make beneficiaries look sicker when they enroll in Medicare Advantage instead of traditional Medicare. This makes cost estimates higher than they should be. Research shows that this mismatch and resulting overpayment is likely only going to get worse as Medicare Advantage grows. Where the money goes Some of the excess payments to Medicare Advantage are returned to enrollees through extra benefits, funded by rebates. Extra benefits include cost-sharing reductions for medical care and prescription drugs, lower Part B and D premiums, and extra supplemental benefits like hearing aids and dental care that traditional Medicare doesnt cover. Medicare Advantage enrollees may enjoy these benefits, which could be considered a reward for enrolling in Medicare Advantage, which, unlike traditional Medicare, has prior authorization requirements and limited provider networks. However, according to some policy experts, the current means of funding these extra benefits is unnecessarily expensive and inequitable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also makes it difficult for traditional Medicare to compete with Medicare Advantage. Traditional Medicare, which tends to cost the Medicare program less per enrollee, is only allowed to provide the standard Medicare benefits package. If its enrollees want dental coverage or hearing aids, they have to purchase these separately, alongside a Part D plan for prescription drugs and a Medigap plan to lower their deductibles and co-payments. The system sets up Medicare Advantage plans to not only be overpaid but also be increasingly popular, all on the taxpayers dime. Plans heavily advertise to prospective enrollees who, once enrolled in Medicare Advantage, will likely have difficulty switching into traditional Medicare, even if they decide the extra benefits are not worth the prior authorization hassles and the limited provider networks. In contrast, traditional Medicare typically does not engage in as much direct advertising. The federal government only accounts for 7 percent of Medicare-related ads. At the same time, some people who need more health care and are having trouble getting it through their Medicare Advantage plan and are able to switch back to traditional Medicare are doing so, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal. This leaves taxpayers to pick up care for these patients just as their needs rise. Where do we go from here? Many researchers have proposed ways to reduce excess government spending on Medicare Advantage, including expanding risk adjustment audits, reducing or eliminating quality bonus payments, or using more data to improve benchmark estimates of enrollee costs. Others have proposed even more fundamental reforms to the Medicare Advantage payment system, including changing the basis of plan payments so that Medicare Advantage plans will compete more with each other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reducing payments to plans may have to be traded off with reductions in plan benefits, though projections suggest the reductions would be modest. There is a long-running debate over what type of coverage should be required under both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Recently, policy experts have advocated for introducing an out-of-pocket maximum to traditional Medicare. There have also been multiple unsuccessful efforts to make dental, vision, and hearing services part of the standard Medicare benefits package. Although all older people require regular dental care and many of them require hearing aids, providing these benefits to everyone enrolled in traditional Medicare would not be cheap. One approach to providing these important benefits without significantly raising costs is to make these benefits means-tested. This would allow people with lower incomes to purchase them at a lower price than higher-income people. However, means-testing in Medicare can be controversial. There is also debate over how much Medicare Advantage plans should be allowed to vary. The average Medicare beneficiary has over 40 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from, making it overwhelming to compare plans. For instance, right now, the average person eligible for Medicare would have to sift through the fine print of dozens of different plans to compare important factors, such as out-of-pocket maximums for medical care, coverage for dental cleanings, cost-sharing for inpatient stays, and provider networks. Although millions of people are in suboptimal plans, 70 percent of people dont even compare plans, let alone switch plans, during the annual enrollment period at the end of the year, likely because the process of comparing plans and switching is difficult, especially for older Americans. MedPAC, a congressional advising committee, suggests that limiting variation in certain important benefits, like out-of-pocket maximums and dental, vision and hearing benefits, could help the plan selection process work better, while still allowing for flexibility in other benefits. The challenge is figuring out how to standardize without unduly reducing consumers options. The Medicare Advantage program enrolls over half of Medicare beneficiaries. However, the $83-billion-per-year overpayment of plans, which amounts to more than 8 percent of Medicares total budget, is unsustainable. We believe the Medicare Advantage payment system needs a broad reform that aligns insurers incentives with the needs of Medicare beneficiaries and American taxpayers. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Nov. 26ETHAN, S.D. There are a lot of things going well at Ethan Elementary School. The school in Ethan, which boasts a population of around 350 in the southeast corner of Davison County, has an excellent attendance rate and student proficiency scores across the board that would be the envy of most any school in South Dakota. Those factors are all a reason the school was recently named a National ESEA Distinguished School. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Given the fact that there are at most only two per state, this one is pretty special," said Tim Hawkins, superintendent and elementary principal for the Ethan School District. Ethan Elementary School and Timber Lake Elementary School are the only two South Dakota schools to receive the recognition in 2024. The recognition is bestowed by the National Association of Elementary and Secondary Education Act State Program Administrators, which recognizes schools that have a poverty rate of 35% or more, and demonstrate exceptional overall performance in academics, close the achievement gap between student groups or demonstrate excellence in serving special populations. It is the first time the school has received the award, Hawkins said, but not its only recent recognition for excellence. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2022 for its student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates, among other factors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The school was honored to receive that award, but the recent ESEA award is even more prestigious, with less than 100 bestowed on schools around the nation in 2024. "Like we told the kids when we found out about it, there were, I believe, 382 schools that received the National Blue Ribbon School award. But we are one of only 99 to receive this, so yeah, that's pretty special," Hawkins said. Ethan Elementary School is being recognized for its performance in Category 1 of the award, which covers schools exhibiting exceptional student performance and academic growth. Part of that excellence is the school's high attendance rate. Ethan Elementary School holds a 97% attendance rate. That's well over the state average of 87% and means the elementary school's roughly 160 students, out of an overall K-12 enrollment of about 300, are almost always in class and ready to learn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hawkins, who said that percentage could have been even higher if not for a couple of students who dealt with extended illnesses last year, gives credit to district parents for putting a high value on attendance and education in general. "You have to be present if you're going to learn. It's really difficult if you're not in the building to hear all the things that are being talked about, and seeing the different things being presented," Hawkins said. "It really comes down to the parents. They've got to be willing to get their kids to school, and we're really proud of our parents down here in our school district, because they do value education and they do make sure they get their kids to school." The attendance rate for both Ethan Elementary School and Timber Lake Elementary School, which logged a 99% attendance rate, were cited as examples by South Dakota Department of Education officials as to why they outperform their peers in fighting absenteeism. Joe Graves, secretary of education for South Dakota, praised both schools for their performance in the category. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Both Ethan Elementary and Timber Lake Elementary are examples of academic excellence, and can be deservedly called Distinguished Schools," Graves said in a statement. "One of the keys to their success comes in the form of strong attendance. These students are consistently in school." Good attendance means students rarely fall behind in their studies, and Ethan Elementary's academic performance during the 2023-24 school year reflects a student population that is up on their studies and doing well on tests. Students at Ethan Elementary School posted proficiency scores of 69% in English Language Arts, 78% in math and 79% in science. That's well above the state average for South Dakota students, who logged average proficiency scores of 51% in English Language Arts, 44% in math and 43% in science. If the bulk of the credit for getting students to class on a regular basis goes to the district parents, the credit for effectively getting lessons across to students in the classroom goes to the teachers, Hawkins said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It definitely comes down to your teaching staff first. The staff that we have here they take pride. They have expectations, and they take pride in trying to reach those expectations," Hawkins said. "And they do a phenomenal job getting that across to our kids. To not settle, to do their absolute best. Our teachers are phenomenal at getting that point across to them." The student body and faculty were on hand for a special presentation on the honor Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the school gymnasium. There, officials with the South Dakota Department of Education offered remarks and congratulations to the school on its success. Shannon Malone, director for the division of learning and instruction at the South Dakota Department of Education, told the assembled audience that both students and teachers at the district had reason to be proud of their accomplishments. She added that Ethan Elementary's proficiency test scores were "incredible." Malone told the Mitchell Republic following the presentation that such celebrations were an exciting time for officials with the South Dakota Department of Education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It is exciting. It's evident that this school has a great culture and a great environment when students and staff want to show up day in and day out, but it's also evident every single year their test scores are rising to the top across the state, in both ELA and math. I think they are an example that we can showcase to other schools across the state what hard work and perseverance means," Malone said. "(Ethan Elementary is) just doing a great job." The recognition is a nice affirmation of the hard work the elementary students and staff put in, but the award is a district-wide honor, Hawkins said. There is a close connection between the middle school and high school students and the elementary students, which is itself a reflection of the overall support that comes from the Ethan community itself. It all starts at home with the parents and flows through the town and halls of the schools, he said. Following the presentation Tuesday, Hawkins said students would get a chance to celebrate with some relaxation time, perhaps a few board games and other activities. It's a well-earned break leading into the Thanksgiving holiday, and one for which every Rustler can be proud of. "We're going to give them an opportunity to do what they would like, and it's going to be school-wide. We get everybody involved, even though it was our elementary school (that received the recognition), our junior high and high school kids do so many things with our elementary school," Hawkins said. "So it truly is a school-wide event. A teen has been arrested in connection with a deadly crash in Dorchester in June. According to police, officers responded to the area around 24 Fifield Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. on June 28 for a report that a car had crashed into a building. Upon arrival, officers found the passenger of the vehicle, an adult male with a broken leg. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The driver of the vehicle, an adult male, was found non-viable and was pronounced on scene. The driver was identified as Edwin Diaz-Geraldo, 20, of Brighton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, November 26 police were conducting an investigation in the area of Homer Street. Officers were aware that a 16-year-old Juvenile male was wanted on a warrant out of Dorchester District Court for murder, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Police say that officers observed two individuals enter the rear of a motor vehicle, with one believed to be the suspect in the crash investigation. Officers followed the vehicle and made a traffic stop on Neptune Road. Officers removed the suspect from the vehicle, and placed him into handcuffs. Officers also recovered a firearm with thirteen rounds in it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The incident is under investigation. 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 By Joan Faus and Horaci Garcia FRONTERA, Spain (Reuters) - Gambian teenager Omar Kebbeh has a roof over his head on the Spanish island of El Hierro and enough to eat thanks to a man he calls his Spanish father, after a close brush with becoming homeless as some other young migrants do. The Canary Islands archipelago is struggling to absorb a surge of irregular migrants arriving in crammed, open-topped boats from West Africa seeking better opportunities in Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some 19,700 irregular migrants have arrived so far this year in El Hierro, which has a population of 11,400. Youths under 18 stay at shelters and attend school. But once they reach that age, they have to find other accommodation, and some end up sleeping rough on the streets if the paperwork needed for them to live and work in Spain is delayed. "If I didn't have a family, how would I live? I would be in the street begging," Kebbeh, 18, told Reuters, sitting in his own room, created for him in a house used by local civil protection volunteers in the small town of Frontera. Kebbeh, who made a risky, six-day boat journey from Senegal with 125 others last year, moved to the house in February after unexpectedly losing his previous housing arrangement just as his time at the shelter had come to an end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terrified, he contacted Francis Mendoza, head of civil protection volunteers and founder of a charity helping migrants, who refurbished part of the station house to host Kebbeh. Dealing closely with migrants as a first-aid assistant at the port was a personal turning point for the 49-year-old, who works at a local hardware store. "It has changed my life and perception of things," he said, lamenting that many of his compatriots are too "materialistic". "I saw how they would arrive without anything. It impacted me a lot and I ended up losing 36 kg (79 lb)," said Mendoza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His 20-year-old daughter has befriended Kebbeh, who is learning Spanish and English and wants to become an electric engineer and bring his Gambian family to Spain. His room is basic, with a bed and several hoodie sweaters hanging on a wall, but it's a home. "I am so grateful there are still good people around the world," Kebbeh said. Spain's leftist government last week vowed to streamline the legalisation process for hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants. (Reporting by Joan Faus and Horaci Garcia, additional reporting by David Latona; editing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson) Temu has found itself in hot water again. The New York Post reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pursuing an investigation against the ultra-low-priced goods platform or potential forced labor violations. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The outlet stated that a senior official inside DHS confirmed the investigation. The Post reported that the investigation centers around the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which prevents goods made in whole or in part in Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) from entering the United States because of the presence of forced labor in that region. The legislation, which went into effect during President Joe Bidens term in the Oval Office, has allowed DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ban goods from certain companies from entering the U.S. via the UFLPA Entity List. While the government added 29 additional companies to that list this week, Temu, not its competitor Shein, have made the list. However, if the results of the reported investigation show that Temu has, in fact, been violating the UFLPA, itor its individual sellers and supplierscould soon become part of the UFLPA Entity List. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Temu spokesperson said the company takes a stance against forced labor on its platform. At Temu, we strictly prohibit the use of forced labor. We comply with the laws and regulations of every market we operate in and expect the same from our business partners and sellers. We reserve the right to end relationships with those who do not meet these requirements, the spokesperson said. Regardless of whether that happens, U.S. officials, consumers and advocacy groups alike have accused Temu of a variety of nefarious acts, from violating the UFLPA to violating users data privacy rights and more. Earlier this year, a group of Republican lawmakers called upon the FBI and the SEC to disclose more details about what the agencies know about Temu, its business model and how it handles consumers data. In the letter the politicians wrote, they wrote, We have concerns that the [Chinese Communist Party] has undertaken yet another attempt to exploit the democracy, free market principles and the personal and economic data of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before that letter was sent, the attorneys general of 21 states sent a letter to Chen Lei, CEO of PDD Holdings, Temus parent company, demanding answers about consumer data, forced labor and the companys reported connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That inquiry came not long after the attorney general of Arkansas filed a privacy-centric lawsuit against the company. In June 2023, the U.S. House Committee on the CCP reported that it was all but guaranteed that Temu was hawking goods made with forced labor to U.S. consumers because it does next to nothing to mitigate forced labor practices from entering its supply chain. The report found that, primarily, Temu relies on consumers or other concerned parties filing reports to flag a potential issue with Temus policies, though the company told the committee that it also does not expressly prohibit its sellers from listing goods that were made, in some part, in the XUAR. While Temu and competitor Shein have caught the attention of a slew of regulators in the legislative branch, theyve also made waves among those in the executive branch. President Biden has taken notice of the low-cost e-commerce apps effect on U.S. consumers, as well as the economy and legacy brands, and, partly at the behest of Congress, has begun to consider lowering the threshold for de minimis. Should the Biden-Harris administration move the needle on the de minimis exception, which is a core tenet of how Temu and Shein remain successful in the U.S., the low-cost e-commerce players are likely to be a major reason for the action. Per the House Committee on CCP, neither Shein nor Temu paid any import fees in 2022, while legacy retailers like Gap paid about $700,000 in import fees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a former official, Biden is expected to take action on the issuewhich has become a bipartisan onebefore the end of the year, though experts have questions over how difficult it could be for CBP and DHS to properly enforce a revised de minimis provision given the high threshold of packages that come in without added scrutiny every month. DHS did not return Sourcing Journals requests for comment or confirmation of the investigation. In September, after Tennessee University Interim President Dr. Ronald Johnson announced a financial belt-tightening at the school, one that would include a spending freeze and mass layoffs, I wrote about his efforts. In that column, I also addressed TSUs significant, intentional underfunding by the state of Tennessee. My headline: TSU must clean up its finances, but dont forget Tennessee owes it $2.1 billion. Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, I wrote about the impact of this underfunding on its storied Tigerbelles, the track and field team featuring Wilma Rudolph and other greats that captured global acclaim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the programs peak, the women were forced to train on a dilapidated, dangerous track, its conditioned exacerbated by the universitys need to constantly move funds from one bucket to another, more pressing one. Before that, when Gov. Bill Lee vacated TSUs board and appointed a new one, I used the Black Tennessee Voices newsletter to question the loyalties of the newest appointees. Would they align with Lee and the states Republican supermajority, one that has consistently rebuffed questions about Tennessees debt? Or would they stand ten toes down for TSU, pledging to collect every dollar owed, even if it meant pursuing litigation? Critics of my column on Glenda Glover deflect from the main issue Somehow, though and despite this trove of past work my recent column suggesting that former president, Dr. Glenda Glover, should forgive the remaining funds due from an ongoing contract with TSU was met with a chorus of: TSU President Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover speaks during their graduation ceremony held at the Gentry Center Saturday December 9, 2017. What about the $2.1 billion? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And: Its the states fault TSU is even in this situation. And, from Dr. Christopher Jacksons recent guest column: You have a problem because Dr. Glover is a brilliant black woman with several advanced degrees. To be clear, Ive dedicated much of the space in this column to the interests of Black women, those with and without degrees. And Ive done that to the dismay of readers whove repeatedly questioned why I always make everything about race. Opinion: Tennessee State University is in trouble, but just wait until Trump returns But while I tend to concern myself with the needs of the marginalized and ostracized, of the least of these in society, I have no such allegiance to the powerful Black, white, or other. Tennessee leaders speak like they want to dismantle TSU The notion that two things can be true at once should be an easy one to grasp, but it appears as though Jackson and others are struggling with this concept. Board member Terica Smith listens to a presentation during the TSU Board of Trustees meeting at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. So, again: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state of Tennessee has historically failed to uphold its fiduciary responsibilities to Tennessee State University by refusing to pay the school $2.1 billion, as estimated by the federal government. This failure is ongoing and far-reaching, dating back generations. And at the same time, Glover, and her administration, executed a series of poor decisions that crippled the university financially, as stated by Johnson. Did Glover inherit an already swirling mess, exacerbated by the states underfunding? Sure. Did her actions make things objectively worse? Absolutely. There are theories that the state is playing a long game to assume control of TSU and ultimately dismantle it, piece by piece. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement News story: Tennessee State University paid $511K to former President Glenda Glover since she retired If youve been following along, this seems highly plausible. Most recently, during the State Building Commission meeting, House Speaker Cameron Sexton urged Dr. Johnson to consider the sale of TSUs Avon Williams campus, located downtown. It sits on prime Nashville real estate, what Sexton likened to a beachfront property whose proceeds could be used to make repairs to a crumbling primary home. He also said he knew of several developers (friends?) whod be willing to pay $50 million for the campus (and make a sizeable return on their investment while simultaneously stripping away TSUs rich history, of course). So I agree that accusations that the state is working overtime to discredit Glover and TSU are fair. However, Im unsure how the alleged ulterior motives of Lee et al. shield Glover from any culpability. If anything, understanding the history of TSU and its dealings with the state shouldve motivated Glover to work overtime crossing every t and dotting every i. Why would she give Lee, Sexton, and comptroller Jason Mumpower any ammunition for their witch hunt? Why, if folks were attempting to paint her as incompetent, did she hand them the brush and palette? Glover is right about where the buck stops In his guest opinion column, Jackson made the argument that Glovers buyout which includes $850,000 via a transition agreement and an additional $215,000 per year for four years to serve as an advisory president emeritus, bringing total compensation to $1.7 million is comparable to what past presidents at other schools have made. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Specifically, he mentioned the $1.33 million buyout received by Beverly Davenport, the former chancellor of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Yet much of the case for TSUs $2.1 billion repayment rests on the fact that, while the state has repeatedly shorted TSU, UTK has received all its matching funds, if not more. Put differently: In the Black-and -white world of Tennessees two land-grant universities, They not like us. Its not surprising that Jacksons essay failed to address the lack of checks and balances under Glovers administration, as outlined by Johnson and his staff. He, instead, referenced TSUs increased endowment to make a case for the schools financial stability. But Glover took a different position in her interview with News Channel 5, stating that the school survives on tuition and fee payments from students a revenue stream that is undoubtedly shrunken given TSUs cratering enrollments. Andrea Williams Its okay to want more, to strive for more, to demand more. Right now, though, TSU ain't got it like that. And it seems as if the only way to get it, at least in the immediate future, is for the school and its affiliates emeritus included to control the controllables, take accountability, and make necessary change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even Glover agrees that the buck stops at John A. Merritt Boulevard: The key to our survival is not the state. Weve survived in spite of how theyve mistreated TSU. Andrea Williams is an opinion columnist for The Tennessean and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative. She has an extensive background covering country music, sports, race and society. Email her at adwilliams@tennessean.com or follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @AndreaWillWrite. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee owes TSU money, but leaders' criticism isn't wrong | Opinion The ideal Thanksgiving road trip destination may be closer than you think. A Florida-based auto company, Gunther Motor Company, polled 3,000 people to determine the most sought-after Thanksgiving destinations for a 2024 road trip. They ranked 125 cities across the United States where passers-by can embrace the open road and enjoy the fall scenery. Out of 125 cities, Ducktown, Tennessee, ranked as the No. 2 Thanksgiving road trip destination in a Gunther Motor Company poll. Two other Tennessee were ranked in the survey: Gatlinburg claimed the No. 13 spot and Townsend was No. 91. No. 2: Ducktown, Tennessee Ducktown is a small town located in southeast Tennessee, about 70 miles east of Chattanooga. The city is tucked away in the rolling hills of Tennessee, surrounded by nature and babbling creeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There's plenty to do in Ducktown, including paying a visit to the Ducktown Basin Museum, rafting on the Ocoee River and more. "This scenic route is perfect for pulling over and enjoying the rushing river and forested scenery," said the Gunther Motor Company survey findings. "Ducktowns location near the Ocoee Whitewater Center offers even more adventure, with trails, picnic spots, and rafting opportunities for families wanting an active holiday." Despite 45 degrees weather with 25 mph winds, a crowd watches one of the kayak competitors running the course during the UPS Whitewater World Cup I Olympic qualifier at the Ocoee Whitewater Center on the Ocoee River April 20, 1996. No. 13: Gatlinburg, Tennessee Gatlinburg is a staple of Tennessee tourism for its proximity to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the stunning mountain views. It ranked as No. 13 as a top Thanksgiving destination, between Ocala, Florida and Harbor Springs, Michigan. Gatlinburg is consistently ranked as a top vacation spot and is packed full of tourist destinations ranging from Dollywood to hiking trails and everything in between. No. 91: Townsend, Tennessee Townsend is a small town located less than 20 miles away from Pigeon Forge. It was ranked at No. 91, between Lambertville, New Jersey, and Valdez, Alaska. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similarly to Gatlinburg, much of the tourism in Townsend comes from the Smoky Mountains and surrounding nature. It's known as the Peaceful side of the Smokies and can be considered a destination for people who love to shop, hike and camp. Fall foliage next to the Little River at Townsend Wye in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. What are the top 5 Thanksgiving road trip destinations? Hana, Maui, Hawaii Ducktown, Tennessee Helen, Georgia Estes Park, Colorado Summerhaven, Arizona Athens Banner-Herald reporter Vanessa Countryman contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why these Tennessee towns were ranked as top Thanksgiving destinations SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is actively investigating after agents discovered a bald eagle with an injury from gunfire. TWRA agents Nathan Karch and Jason Shapton responded to a report involving an injured young bald eagle in Sumner County on Thursday, Nov. 14. A man in the area reportedly saw the eagle and called authorities. It remains unclear how long the injured eagle was in the area. Virginia pilot, dog killed in New York plane crash; 2 other dogs found alive Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A brief chase ensued after Karch and Shapton arrived, but the officers were ultimately able to catch the eagle. The animal has since been transported to Waldens Puddle, a rehabilitation center located just outside of Nashville. An officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency holds an injured bald eagle. (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) Upon examining the bald eagle which is believed to be at least three years old the officers confirmed that the eagle had been shot. The injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, and the bird is expected to survive. The animal wont, however, be able to return to the wild, the TWRA said. After a rehabilitation period, the agency plans to move the eagle to a sanctuary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lets work together to safeguard these majestic birds, the TWRA said. I found your dog: TN family targeted by scammer after pet goes missing The bald eagle, a national symbol of the United States, is protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Those found guilty of killing or intentionally injuring a bald eagle can be punished with prison time or hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, in some cases. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 latest annual list of Tennessee's highest- and lowest-performing public schools and districts was released Friday by the Tennessee Department of Education. Schools can receive one of four designations, the highest of which is "reward" status. A total of 377 schools across 97 districts earned reward status in the 2023-24 school year. That's down slightly from the previous year, which saw 400 reward schools across 98 districts. Districts can receive one of five designations, with the highest being "exemplary." The state named 10 exemplary districts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The department considered the following categories to determine each designation: Preparing students to be proficient Accelerating student learning Encouraging students to attend school regularly Preparing students for postsecondary success Supporting English learners as they build language skills Principal Kelee Akers greets students at Rosebank Elementary in Nashville on Nov. 2, 2023. The school ranked among Tennessee's top-performing schools in the 2023-24 school year. Tennessee Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds said the list of reward schools and exemplary districts is a testament to their dedication to fostering learning and growth. "This annual recognition is the result of our teachers, along with school and district leaders, who are committed to student success every day, and I commend each of you for your valiant efforts in supporting achievement for our Tennessee students," Reynolds said in a news release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's a look at the state's top- and lowest-performing schools and districts in the 2023-24 school year. See last year's list: Tennessee names top-performing schools for 2022-23 Tennessee reward schools in 2023-24 Schools earn "reward" status if they have high levels of performance, met specific goals to improve performance or both. Use the searchable table below to see if your school made the list. Tennessee's lowest-performing schools in 2023-24 Schools that fall into the bottom 5% of student performance or have a graduation rate below 67% are designated by the federal government as in need of "comprehensive support and improvement." Tennessee also refers to those a "priority" schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Use the searchable table below to see if your school made the list. Tennessee exemplary districts 2023-24 Districts earn "exemplary" status if they have an overall district performance score of 3.1 or higher on a 4-point scale. Here are the 10 districts that made the latest list: Alcoa City Schools Arlington Community Schools Bells City Schools Clinton City Schools Collierville Schools Dayton City Schools Jackson County Schools Lebanon Special School District Milan Special School District Van Buren County Schools Tennessee districts in need of improvement 2023-24 Districts receive "in need of improvement" status if their overall score falls into the bottom 5% of all districts. Here are the 10 districts that made the latest list: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Decatur County Schools Hancock County Schools Hardeman County Schools Humboldt City Schools Johnson County Schools Lawrence County Schools Lewis County Schools Perry County Schools Sequatchie County Schools Tennessee Schools for the Deaf See the full list for yourself For the complete list of 2023-24 district and school statuses in Tennessee, visit tn.gov/education/districts/lea-operations/accountability and select "2024 District Accountability" or "2024 School Accountability" from the left-hand column. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee top- and lowest-performing schools, districts in 2023-24 BYD has reported booming sales this year. Leonhard Simon/Getty Images China's brutal EV battle shows no signs of letting up. BYD is asking suppliers to cut prices and Tesla is rolling out more discounts. The price war is putting some smaller Chinese players under financial pressure. BYD and Tesla have been playing a game of how-low-can-you-go on EV prices in China for the past year, and they don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The rivals are asking suppliers to cut prices and rolling out discounts as they prepare for another round in an ongoing EV battle. After Bloomberg reported on a leaked email that appeared to be asking an unnamed supplier to cut prices by 10% from January, a BYD executive said it was asking suppliers about price reductions. Advertisement Advertisement "Annual price negotiations with suppliers are a common practice in the automotive industry," wrote BYD public relations and branding general manager Li Yunfei in a post on Chinese social media site Weibo. "Based on large-scale purchases, we set price reduction targets for suppliers. This is not a mandatory requirement and we can negotiate and move forward." The move is the latest sign that China's price war, which has seen the price of new vehicles plummet as local and foreign automakers vie for a bigger slice of the country's EV and hybrid markets, is set to enter a new phase. Tesla Model 3 cars on the production line in Shanghai. REUTERS/Aly Song Tesla, which is battling BYD for the crown of the world's largest EV producer, cut the price of its bestselling Model Y EV in China by 10,000 yuan ($1,400) on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Elon Musk's automaker kicked off China's EV price war last April, and is attempting to boost sales as it seeks to deliver a record number of cars this year. Tesla's sales in China have suffered recently, with shipments from the company's Shanghai factory falling 23% in October from September. Tesla is coming under pressure from smaller rivals such as Zeekr and Xpeng, which have both launched rivals for the Model 3 and Y this year, as well as its lack of hybrids that have proven increasingly popular in China. BYD reported record monthly deliveries for October and recently announced quarterly earnings that outstripped Tesla for the first time. Advertisement Advertisement Analysts previously told Business Insider BYD was cashing in on its strong hybrids lineup, with hybrid sales rising by 62% year-on-year. The race to the bottom on price, which has seen some Chinese automakers offer EVs for as little as $10,000, has strained the finances of some smaller EV startups. Xpeng, Nio, and Zeekr all reported sizeable net losses in their most recent quarterly earnings despite booming sales, with Nio attributing a decline in revenue from vehicle sales to lower sticker prices. BYD and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) Electric automaker Tesla was fined nearly $7,000 in federal violations at its Texas Gigafactory in Travis County. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines come from two violations related to hazardous exposure to employees. Each fine totals $3,457 after informal settlements on Oct. 31. The first violation related to not assessing employees for chromium exposure in the cybertruck body area of the facility in June. The second violation related to not providing training and information on hazardous chemicals in July. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OSHA inspection began July 5 at the facility on Tesla Road. The case is still open, according to OSHA records. KXAN reached out to Tesla for a statement about these fines. This article will be updated if a response is received. RELATED: OSHA investigating worker death at Teslas Texas Gigafactory This is not the first federal inspection at the Texas Gigafactory. OSHA opened an investigation into a workers death in August. That investigation is required to be completed in six months. Another inspection opened in June 2021 and closed in September 2021. A third OSHA inspection opened in November 2022 and closed in December 2022. Neither inspection led to violations, according to OSHA data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November 2022, a group of workers filed two cases with the U.S. Labor Department about worker pay and training. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Bloomberg) -- Northern Data AG is getting closer to a deal to sell its crypto mining operations as the company looks to capitalize on Novembers Bitcoin rally. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Frankfurt-listed company resolved in October to sell its cryptomining business. Weeks later, digital assets caught fire in the aftermath of the US election of crypto-friendly Donald Trump. Thats left Bitcoin flirting with the $100,000 level and added to the allure of crypto-assets around the world. The company has hired bankers, invited bidders to come forward and is now fielding proposals, according to Elliot Jordan, Northern Datas chief financial officer. Its ongoing is probably the best way to describe it advanced in terms of offers coming in from a number of different parties, Jordan said during a presentation at the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum on Wednesday. Northern Data, which counts stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd. as its main holder, is seeking to free up funds to expand its artificial-intelligence services business. Its a shift many miners are exploring in the wake of an April Bitcoin software update that halved their main source of revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jordan said Northern Data was not putting a valuation on the business, but that reported estimates of $300 million to $500 million dated from before the Bitcoin rally. Obviously its a good time to be selling this position, he told investors. Tim Wunderlich, an analyst at Hauck Aufhaeuser Lampe Privatbank AG, wrote earlier this month that with peers now willing to pay as much as $100 million per exahash operations per second, that could result in divestment proceeds of approximately $800 million in a best-case scenario. In May, the company announced its mining arms partnership with Penguin Infrastructure Holding for 28 megawatts of mining capacity to enable the business to increase its hash rate the amount of total computing power supporting the network. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We mine 7.9 exahash, which is which is just under 1% of the overall haul for Bitcoin mining, according to Jordan. --With assistance from David Pan. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said Tuesday that President-elect Trumps tariffs will definitely get Mexico to the table to solve immigration and fentanyl problems. If it means a 25 percent tariff to potentially fix the border, would you favor that? NewsNations Blake Burman asked Cuellar in a The Hill interview. Well, let me put it this way: Laredos the largest port; we handle 40 percent of all the trade between the U.S. and Mexico. I know this is a way to negotiate, get some leverage. I know that Mexico will come to the table, Cuellar responded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But nobody wants a 25 percent tariff on them, and the Mexicans are threatening to do the same thing, and we dont wanna get into that, he continued. But I think this will definitely get Mexico to the table so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl. On Monday, Trump said he would issue an executive order imposing fresh tariffs at the start of his next term on Chinese, Canadian and Mexican goods. The president-elect said in posts on Truth Social that he would enact 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, while adding an extra 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. The aim of the tariffs, according to Trump, is to press the countries to increase their efforts on border security and combating fentanyl exports to the U.S. Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price! Trump said on Truth Social. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) criticized Trumps tariff threats on Tuesday, saying he believes that the president-elect has failed to really face the practical consequences. I think hes heading toward a real horror show where the consequences cant be squared with the promises he made, Blumenthal added in an appearance on CNN. For example, slashing government spending at the same time as preserving Medicare and Medicaid. The Hill has reached out to the Mexican government for comment. NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) suggested Tuesday that he can find common ground with Tom Homan, President-elect Trumps pick for border czar, regarding enforcement and security on the U.S.-Mexico border. Cuellar, who represents a district along the border, said that while there are a lot of things we can work on, he first wants to see details. We can deport people quickly under Title A, we can do stay in Mexico, we can do so many things on policies that can work right away, he told host Blake Burman in an interview on NewsNations The Hill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, today, I was communicating with Tom, and we talked about getting together sometime when I get back to D.C. in the next week or so, and I think we can find a lot of common ground, he continued. His comments came just hours after Homan visited the border alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to discuss the incoming Trump administrations plans for mass deportations which the president-elect promised repeatedly while on the campaign trail. The Lone Star State has already offered up a 1,400-acre ranch to help with the plan. The former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official has made news in recent weeks for making threats to officials and states who refuse to cooperate with Trumps immigration agenda. In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, Homan signaled federal funds could even be slashed for states that dont comply. Earlier this week, he also suggested jail time may be on the table. Cuellar added Tuesday that while he and Homan do not agree on everything, there are common goals that both sides are looking to meet once Trump returns to the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We might not agree on everything, but certainly we can agree to deport quickly the criminals, the national security folks, the 1.3 million final deportation people that have a final deportation order and are still here, he said. Some of the recent crossers are some of the folks we need to look at. So, theres a lot of things that I think we can do, and certainly Mexico has done a lot, but they can do much, much, much more stopping fentanyl and stopping people from coming in, the lawmaker added. NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 44) After 15 years as the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Colonel Steven C. McCraw has said goodbye to personnel as he left DPS Headquarters in Austin for a final time. Director Steve McCraw has headed the Texas Department of Public Safety with integrity and dedication for the last 15 years, said Governor Greg Abbott. I thank him for his exceptional service to the state and for always upholding the rule of law in our great state. Director McCraw played a pivotal role in keeping Texans safe, and his legacy will live on for generations. Colonel McCraws service as DPS Director set a high standard and exemplifies honor, duty, and leadership, said State Senator Juan Chuy Hinojosa. He has been a skilled administrator, a tireless leader, and a strong advocate for the agency. His ability to manage difficult and complex situations demonstrated his commitment to serving and protecting our state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state of Texas has been fortunate to have Director McCraw as the leader of DPS for the last 15 years, said Public Safety Commission (PSC) Chairman Steven P. Mach. DPS is the premiere law enforcement agency it is today in very large part because of his visionary leadership. His collaboration alongside Governor Abbott and the Texas Legislature has led to incredible improvements in safety, better pay, better equipment, better recruitment and better personneland the state of Texas is safer today because of it. Serving as the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety has been the greatest honor of my life, Director McCraw said. I leave knowing that the future of this department is in the best possible hands. The continued efforts and commitment to excellence by those that work at DPS have made, and will continue to make, a profound difference in the lives of the people of this great state. DPS says it has made notable changes under McCraws leadership, thanks to the support of Governor Greg Abbott, as well as the Texas Legislature and other state leaders. This includes the transition to a regional command structure which united DPS operations throughout the state, increased pay for commissioned officers and obtained state-of-the-art equipment to better serve the public and to protect officers. During his tenure, McCraw and DPS leadership also increased department hiring standards and implemented a mandatory fitness program for all commissioned officers. McCraws focus on recruiting has helped bring in top talent over the years. Under his leadership, 3,144 recruits completed the DPS Training Academy to join the ranks of the Texas Highway Patrol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DPS says McCraw started his law enforcement career in 1977 as a Trooper in the Texas Highway Patrol, and later as a DPS Narcotics Agent. He became a Special Agent with the FBI in 1983 and served in Dallas, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Tucson, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. McCraws promotions included Supervisory Special Agent, Unit Chief of the Colombian/Mexican Organized Crime Unit, Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Tucson, Inspector-In-Charge of the Southeast Bomb Task Force, Inspector Deputy Assistant Director, Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Office and Assistant Director of the Office of Intelligence for which he was tasked to establish after the attacks on 9/11. McCraw was also responsible for establishing the Foreign Terrorism Tracking Task Force under the Office of the Attorney General. McCraw retired from the FBI in 2004 to become the Texas Homeland Security Director in the Office of the Governor, where he served until his appointment as DPS Director in 2009. SEE ALSO: New DPS director announced as Col. McCraws tenure comes to an end Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DPS says ever since McCraw announced his plans to retire back in August, he has received numerous awards and recognition to honor his lifetime of service. Additionally, over the last month, DPS personnel have honored the Directors time at DPS and the impact he has had at the department through a video series entitled Honoring a Lifetime of Service, which takes a look at the significant impact his leadership has had on DPS, and its people, over the last 15 years. Employees paid tribute to Director McCraw earlier this week as he left DPS Headquarters for one of the final times. Personnel from all divisions lined the drive and aircraft flew overhead as he left campus. You can view this video here. Director McCraws retirement announcement to staff along, with photos from his time at the department, are available here. DPS says McCraws official last day as Director is November 30. His successor was selected earlier this month by the Public Safety Commission. Lt. Colonel Freeman F. Martin takes over on December 1, as the departments 14th Director and will be sworn in at an official ceremony at DPS Headquarters on December 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. As citizens and as Texans, we have routinely taken for granted an essential, foundational element of our countrys form of republican government, that the rights of a minority, when not infringing on the rights of others, are protected from the majority. Recent anti-transgender legislation introduced for the 2025 Texas legislative session attacks the healthcare interests of transgender Texans. For example, Senate Bill 115, among other things, seeks to limit local governments control over their own healthcare plan in providing gender-affirming care. This legislation represents governments interference into one of the most private and critical areas of our lives, our personal healthcare. Whether or not you care about transgender healthcare is beside the point. What should worry us all is the intrusion of government into the private needs of our citizens healthcare. Savannah Young, League City How to submit a letter to the editor Send letters of no more than 150 words by using our online form at https://bit.ly/3Crmkcf or send an email to letters@statesman.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We welcome your letters on all topics. Include your name and city of residence; we do not publish anonymous letters. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas government's intrusion into healthcare should worry all | Letters A Texas committee that is meant to review pregnancy-related deaths in the state wont review cases from 2022 and 2023, the Washington Post reported. That means that pregnancy-related deaths since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision wont be reviewed in the state. In Texas, doctors who violate the states strict abortion ban face up to 99 years in prison. According to ProPublica, at least three women have died in Texas due to delays in care related to the states abortion bans. According to the report, Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee members said in September the change was made to be more contemporary. The move has reportedly left some committee members confused and full of concern. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If women are dying because of delays, and we have this huge new policy in Texas that affects their lives, why would we skip over those years? one member of the Texas maternal mortality committee said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution, told The Post. Im worried. According to the report, none of the members interviewed by The Post said they heard the decision was an attempt to cover up potential deaths related to abortion bans. The committee has skipped over previous years as well, the report stated. According to the most recent data on maternal mortality rates in Texas, women who died while pregnant, during labor and delivery, or in the year after giving birth increased in 2020 and 2021. As The Post explained, experts have suspected that the COVID-19 pandemic could have contributed to the rise in deaths, in addition to the abortion ban the state passed in the second half of 2021. According to a separate investigation in JAMA Pediatrics, the number of newborn babies dying in Texas increased by 13% since the state's near-total abortion ban went into effect. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) 12 News has learned of new information regarding Hasbros potential move out of Rhode Island, a decision that seemingly took state and city officials by surprise. As one of Rhode Islands largest publicly traded companies and a major employer, Hasbros potential departure from its Pawtucket headquarters raised concerns. Screenshots of text messages, obtained by The Providence Journal through an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request, showed how officials reacted when the news broke on Sept. 16. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TARGET 12: Hasbro mulls leaving Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Liz Tanners phone was flooded with messages about the situation, including one from Gov. Dan McKees chief of staff, Tony Alfonso, who wrote, Commerce says they did not receive any previous outreach from Hasbro. Were being asked if there were talks with our office about efforts to keep them here. Tanner responded, Just left you a message with the status and I also connected with the Mayor. She then reached out to Laurie White, CEO of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, saying, Hoping you can give me a call ASAP regarding Hasbro. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White provided a contact at Hasbro to reach CEO Chris Cocks. An hour later, McKee sent a group text, which included Tanner and Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien, saying, Send an email to Chris Cocks asking for a time when we can meet. Mayor Grebien has sent an email and received a response from Chris saying he would meet when he returns from travel. McKee followed up, noting, Mayor received a response that Chris is traveling and will meet upon his return. I think it makes sense to coordinate our statement with the Mayor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Grebiens initial outreach to Tanner is redacted under a state law exemption for elected officials, he told 12 News that Pawtucket is committed to keeping Hasbro in Rhode Island. Theres over a thousand jobs, theres buildings in Pawtucket. And then theres the prestige of having this global company here that started here, Grebien said. MORE: Pawtucket mayor strives to keep Hasbro in RI amid potential move In September, 12 News reported that Cocks reassured employees in an internal memo that the company wouldnt be moving for at least another 18 months and to not pack your bags yet. We know a potential new office location is a big deal for you and your families, Cocks wrote in the memo. We will give you plenty of time and transition before any major change if there is even a major change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NEXT: I-195 commission proposes new Hasbro HQ in Providence Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. CONNECTICUT (WTNH) Its one of the busiest travel days of the entire year, and its also the most dangerous for drunk driving. AAA said Wednesday afternoon and evening are the worst times to travel while Thanksgiving Day should be fairly clear. Were coming from Philadelphia and were going to Block Island, Topher Agger of Philadelphia said. For the busiest travel holiday of the year with expected record-breaking numbers, the Aggers strategy is smooth as gravy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Get a head start and we were picking up my mom who is also coming with us. The roads have been very nice and easy today, Agger said. But it doesnt always go according to plan. To break up the trip a little bit because we are in Southern Maryland and we went to Baltimore last night which is about two and a half hours from Southern Maryland, and then we left Baltimore this morning at 4:30, Maryland resident Brian Winsor said. The Thanksgiving traffic rush is on in Connecticut AAA is predicting nearly 80 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles, either by plane, train or car, between Tuesday and Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Connecticut Department of Transportation said Thanksgiving Eve is one of the most dangerous nights of the year for drunk driving. Between 2018 and 2022, over the Thanksgiving holiday there were 79 crashes in Connecticut involving an impaired driver with 72 injuries and 8 deaths. AAA said they will be increasing their roadside assistance crews and police departments will be adding patrols. Thanksgiving Eve often includes a night of drinking for many people as they reconnect to kick off the holiday season, AAA Spokesperson Lauren Fabrizi said. Its critical to celebrate responsibly and designate a sober driver if you plan on drinking. Theres absolutely no excuse to get behind the wheel impaired so please plan ahead because it could save a life. A life that should be spending the holidays with family and friends. Safe roads should be something we are all thankful for this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Time to spend with the family and remember what youre thankful for, Agger said. I dont think that theres anything more important than family, Johnston said. Its what makes the holidays. AAA said the best times to return home are Friday after 1 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday anytime before 1 p.m. Also another thing to be thankful for gas prices are 40 cents lower in Connecticut than this time last year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. This is not the maintenance worker who responded to an unusual post-Thanksgiving emergency outside the Kentucky Capitol Annex. That incident went unphotographed, as far as we know, though not forgotten. (Getty Images) Frankforts small army of state workers, fresh from four days off for Thanksgiving on Dec. 1, 1997, slipped from their cars in normal morning sun and almost as one looked to the sky with twisted, stricken faces. The Capitol Annex parking lot seemed misted with some indelible flesh-rot that despised humankind. It wasnt just a smell but a Presence. It sucked life from you; your soul departed and you knew it would not return. Your eyes glazed toward opaque. You could not breathe but for shallow, burning gasps that presaged death rattle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of all possible causes, you wouldnt at this moment imagine a turkey. Yet. Over there, 30 feet yonder, a maintenance lad in a white haz-mat suit with a stout black bag and a muscular garbage picker crept toward a thing on the Annex lawn. It looked like a yellowed stew of plastic and flesh. It seemed to glow and quiver. Some brave parking-lot sufferer managed to croak out toward the creeping lad, Dear God, son What Why? Some a-hole threw a turkey on the lawn, the lad said, in a voice that echoed death. It was a sentence as final and direct as, They launched the nuclear missiles. When hed kissed his wife goodbye that morning, the young man had no clue what this day would bring. He was about to be a hero. He retrieved the turkey. He lost his sense of smell. Like starin at the Sun and goin blind, he told the Workers Comp Board weeks later, I heard. It was a metaphor nailed down tight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So this is a story Ive been badgered to tell since then. It started when Rep. Jim Callahan of Southgate gave me a Thanksgiving turkey. Jim was House Democratic Caucus chairman. In the happy event he liked you, you could have no finer friend in the stinging spin-drift of the Kentucky legislature. If he didnt, he was one of the few people who could and would get you fired. A man to be trusted and feared. A perfect politician. I had just lately and reluctantly been put in charge of the Legislative Research Commissions Public Information Office, a communications shop whose future was in doubt because of some early Republican restiveness. They didnt find the office deferential enough. It likely wasnt. I made it my strategic purpose in life to become indispensable to Jim, so he (and the House Dems, then lazy with a comfortable majority) would protect me against the new restive Republican hordes. I succeeded with Jim, the caucus obeyed his instructions re: me, and in late 1997 Jim started rewarding me for my many good works with appreciated tokens like holiday meats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The day before this particular Thanksgiving five days before the maintenance lads heroics Jims lanky assistant presented me with my first turkey, laid the sweaty sucker on my desk, bagged in plastic, pristine, frozen and promptly forgotten. Forgotten, that is to say, in my windowless, steam-heated office, 80 degrees at least, with four black holidays awaiting it and a billion turkey-flesh bacteria awakening to yawn, scratch themselves, and eat. Flash forward: 9:27 p.m., Payton Residence, Louisville. Sat. Nov. 29. Quick scene: Aw, MAN! NO! What? I forgot the damn TURKEY! What turkey? The one Jim C. gave me three days ago thats sitting on my desk like a bomb about to explode, if it hasnt already! I have to get it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Indistinct squabbling). Even quicker scene: Youre not driving a hundred miles round-trip to Frankfort in the dead of night to retrieve a turkey thats wrapped in plastic and perfectly fine. No. Note to young husbands: There are many days coming in your marriage when you simply look at your wifes slant eyes and surrender. I surrendered. Fifty miles east, the turkey-flesh bacteria ate and ate. The rest of the weekend was like waiting for biopsy results. Monday morning I drove to work early, dreading what Id find, hoping against hope the turkey hadnt exploded but otherwise wanting to get things cleaned up and tended to as best I could before anyone else arrived. Pretty sure I was first in the parking lot slammed by the Presence, the living thing Id birthed. The Kentucky Capitol and Annex are in the authors hometown of Frankfort along the Kentucky River. (University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, Post Card Collection) But hope withstood its first assault. As a Frankfort native, I was accustomed to its distilleries, specifically the smell of its distilleries burning mash. The signature smell of the Kentucky River valley. In many ways, Frankfort is a smell. Its not necessarily a good smell; many find it rank. But all share in it. Every redneck boy, every doctors son, every lawyers daughter and governors privileged kid walks out on fall mornings into its egalitarian embrace. It is hillbilly Marxism: Share the stink. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So for no more than half a second I thought/hoped this stink might be mash. For the second half-second I thought, Whew, did they throw some rotting sheep cadavers into the mash vats this morning? Then of course I knew: Turkey. Hissing from my office. Into the Annex HVAC system. Leaking out the old buildings windows. Filling the river valley. Soon to make me the laughing stock of Frankfort. Republicans would say this proved my liberalism. I try to be relatively accurate in memoirish accounts like this (facts are critically important until they interfere with a good laugh). So Ill admit the next half hour is a blur that resists disinterment. The grotesque bird was still on my desk, its plastic bag ripped open by the force of its eruption. I recall an echoey dripping sound onto the floor, a yellowish oozing slime, thick like molasses, that seemed alive itself (remember, it teemed with a billion chomping necrobiomes). It looked like some bad special-effects alien from the first season of Star Trek in 1966. I cannot remember how I managed to scoop up the carcass itself, make some quick impossible decision about disposing of it, and rush it down the still-deserted Annex hall to the bronze entry doors, where I flung it mightily onto the front lawn and the Presence began spreading in earnest, as did its legend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At some point the heroic haz-mat kid was called, he gave the remains their final scoop, yet the smell snaked through the Capitol campus (HVAC circulation and filters are eternal, and the river valley itself a thermal trap). Many workers went home for an extra day or two of Thanksgiving celebration. Every sentence at home began You wont believe Me, I suffered the derision I deserved, and have at least once a year for 27 years been hectored into telling Scotts Turkey Story to wildly laughing, knee-slapping audiences. Ive hated it every time, knowing theyre not exactly laughing with me, and sworn for many years Id write it up and just hand the sucker out at every such request. So now Ive done that. Here you are. Dont ask again. But. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coda: There is more to the story, and its good, but it doesnt belong to me. It belongs to a fellow Capitol staffer who worked a mysterious deskless job for people who seemed powerful. His name recalls that of a major world capital. He would borrow your desk without asking if he needed one. Jim Callahan gave him a turkey every year too. This is a grand fellow, as all in politics must be, but a bit absent-minded, as most in politics are. To his credit though, and unlike me, he miraculously got his gifted bird to his car that afternoon. Threw it in the trunk. Promptly forgot it. A week or so later, troubled by some mystery problem with the car couldnt quite put his finger on it, snap, snap! he dropped it off at the repair shop. From memory: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FRANKFORT STATE JOURNAL Police Reports 12/8/97 Police responded at 8:19 a.m. to call from Willie and Joes Auto Service on East Main of a suspected dead body, decomposed in trunk of customers vehicle. Officers opened trunk, discovered turkey. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX DES MOINES, Iowa During the week of Thanksgiving there are plenty of family reunions going on at the Des Moines International Airport. Carla Madsen of Des Moines was on hand to welcome her daughter home. Marissa Hull is a flight engineer for Delta Airlines, and is usually on a plane somewhere on every holiday. She is training on the Airbus 330, which is used on international flights. She managed to get a day off because shes in training, the simulator broke down, and shes going to come home from Atlanta for a couple days, said Madsen. We have both our daughters home, one is in Salt Lake City, one is in Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Melissa Hintz of Bondurant was at the airport to welcome home her daughters from college. So, my daughters Claire and Mariana theyve been in college at BYU, Idaho and theyve been gone for 2 1/2 months. Mariana was in her freshman year, first semester, and reuniting with her boyfriend and her best friend who havent seen her since then, said Hintz. Gov. Reynolds says Lt. Gov pick coming soon, discusses banning phones in schools Were having Thanksgiving for the first time together since 2013, said Debbie Prince, of Adel. We got a daughter here from Colorado and California. Airport officials are expecting big numbers of travelers to come through the Des Moines airport on Wednesday. There also will be around 12,000 travelers coming home on Saturday and Sunday according to flight projections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We just encourage people to arrive early. Give yourself plenty of time, said Arah Hoodjer, of the Des Moines International Airport. The Des Moines airport does pride itself on being a very stress-free and easy airport to get in and out of, but just keep in mind we have a lot of travelers who dont travel as much, especially during the holidays so that can lead to a wait in your ticket line. Latest Iowa News: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. Editors Note: This commentary first appeared in the Los Angeles Times on November 23, 2017. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Guest Opinion. The first Thanksgiving I remember, I was in the second grade. I didnt know my teacher had asked my dad to come talk to the class. When he walked in, I was embarrassed to see him there. He said that white people came and didnt know how to survive on this land, so we helped them out, then celebrated with a meal. It was a story Id heard in school before, but not at home. At home, we heard the story of the Sand Creek Massacre about how our Cheyenne relatives made it through, in November 1864. We were told to fly the American flag. We flew a white one too. And we were gathered around those flags, on our knees begging for mercy, when they came for us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. My dad was born and raised on a reservation in Oklahoma. He didnt speak English, or even see a white person, until he was 5 years old. I grew up in Oakland. My mom is white, and we lived near her side of the family. I hardly ever saw other Native people. Im embarrassed now that I was embarrassed then. I feel shame that I felt shame to see my father there to tell us a story about Thanksgiving. My heritage had felt invisible my whole life. It didnt feel right to be seen, all of a sudden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, we got national media attention at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests when they sicced their dogs on us. The last time we got that kind of attention, Richard Nixon was in office, when we occupied Alcatraz for almost two years. That occupation started the week of Thanksgiving 1969. In North Dakota almost 50 years later, private militia spent the week of Thanksgiving shooting Native protesters with rubber bullets and spraying us with freezing water. Some of us had never seen ourselves onscreen. And then we saw them trying to get rid of us like time never moved, like the Indian wars didnt end, just went cold. At Sand Creek, Col. John Chivington said, Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under Gods heaven to kill Indians. He and his men killed more than 200 elders, women and children in one day. Chivington was never held accountable for his actions. Damn sympathy, crude oil flows freely under Native land in North Dakota today. I grew up celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday the same as everyone else. Im ashamed that I havent thought more critically about the day ashamed at my inherent complicity in celebrating that single meal. There was one meal in 1621. In 1622, the Indian Wars began. Native people were systematically erased through genocidal policy. The Indian Wars ended in 1924. But again, they just went cold because as soon as they ended, the Indian termination era began. Those battles were won by passing legislation that made it harder for us to stay visible, to thrive as a people, to stay alive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This November, most Americans will sit down with their families and eat a Thanksgiving meal. Some still will be recovering from the night before, which is now known as Blackout Wednesday the most profitable night of the year in bars across the country. Others will have their children tell the story about the Indians and the Pilgrims. And plenty of people will feel genuine gratitude. Most wont think about the history of the meal before, during or after digesting their turkey. We can see the eye roll coming before we explain the reason why the holiday is complicated for us. Weve explained before to the same eyes that only want to look away, not have to get political. To those of us who suffer from historys consequences and dont benefit from them, talking about our beliefs, even just telling our stories, is automatically political. We you and I and everyone are still trying to absolve ourselves of history. But we dont want to do it by talking about it. We dont want the taste of it in our mouths. Were devoted to keeping it under our place mats. Blackout Wednesday. Gorge Thursday. Get deals Friday. We hide the lie under the darkness of digestion. One this is: We don't have to buy turkey, we don't have to buy int any of it. Sure, it's a tradition, so is the Confederate flag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what we can all do this Thanksgiving: Anything else. Everyone has the day off. Most people have an unchecked investment in the holiday. They might not say it, but they want to keep the illusion that Americas roots are true. On Tuesday, the president pardoned a turkey. You should know that turkeys who are pardoned by presidents go up to a farm in Virginia where they usually die within a month. Theyre bred for the table. There are zero surviving past-pardoned turkeys. Celebrate the holiday, or dont. Believe in American mercy, or dont. But look where tradition has gotten us so far. Look where we are now. Tommy Orange is tribal citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He teaches at the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. His best-selling novel There There was published earlier in 2018. In February 2024, his second novel, Wandering Stars," was released and was recently named to TIME's 100 Must -Read Books of 2024 list. He was born and raised in Oakland, California, and currently lives in Angels Camp, California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Help us ensure that the celebration of Native Heritage never stops by donating here. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Whether youre hitting the road or skies before Thanksgiving, holiday travel is now all gas and no brakes. AAA reports 9 out of 10 Thanksgiving travelers will be traveling before gobbling down the turkey. That translates to 640,000 Oklahomans hitting the pavement. Its best if you know the work zones across the state. We have about 50 major projects that are going to impact the interstate and state highways and the Turnpikes, said Bryce Boyer with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starting in the metro, if youre headed east on I-40, youll run into the construction at Douglas. If youre Tulsa bound, be aware of lane narrowing along the Turner Turnpike. If youre going south, youll see the project at I-240 and I-35, near Crossroads Mall. Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade: How to watch and stream A little farther south, is the I-35 and Hwy 9 diverging diamond interchange near Goldsby. Then all the way to the Red River, theres the I-35 widening project in Thackerville. Theyre going to have two lanes in each direction open as best they can throughout the holiday weekend, said Bryce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The best navigation tool will be your Drive Oklahoma app, which lays out all of the construction sites. It also gives you access to 400 real-time traffic cameras both in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas, said Boyer. Some travelers would rather use wings than tires. What grocery stores are open for Thanksgiving 2024? The OKC International Airport said around 7,000 people will by flying out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The busiest times at the airport are between 3:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. You definitely want to be here two hours before you board your flight, said Stacey Hamm with the airport. Our security checkpoint opens up at 4 a.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next rush is around lunch time. Airport officials want you to have your ID, documents, and ticket numbers ready. If youre boarding with a furry friend, make sure your airline knows. Each one has different rules. If you have not done that and you show up to the airport with your pet, you may not get through the process as quickly and they may not let you fly, said Hamm. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. With Thanksgiving holiday travel well underway, many have reached their destinations but for everyone else, a storm tracking from the Rockies to the Midwest and Northeast into Thursday will bring rain and snow, likely impacting flights and packed roads. Just shy of 3 million people were expected to be screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday, and a record 71.7 million were expected travel by car over Thanksgiving over 1 million more than last year. The storm, which dropped snow over the Rockies Wednesday morning and slowed by the afternoon, is forecast to race east throughout Wednesday to the Midwest and Northeast through Thanksgiving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It'll bring rain, with the possibility of ice and snow, that will intensify in the evening from St. Louis to Indianapolis and into Pittsburgh. Overnight, the storm will continue to move eastward, bringing cold rain along the I-95 corridor, from Richmond to Boston, in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning. As of Wednesday night, there were nearly 4,000 delays and 45 cancelled flights within, into or out of the U.S., according to FlightAware. American Airlines said it operated nearly 6,400 mainline and regional flights on Tuesday and expected more than 650,000 customers to travel Wednesday across nearly 6,400 flights thats almost 4.5 American flights departing every minute of the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A ground delay at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, was in place Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. ET to 2 a.m. Thursday. There were more than 300 delays in total out of Newark on Wednesday, with some at least 95 minutes long. The FAA said on X Wednesday afternoon that delays were expected in Denver and Salt Lake City due to snow and ice. In those cities, airport officials were deicing planes to get them ready for departure. Denver was leading the pack with 600 flight delays Wednesday. Delays were also common in Boston, Dallas and Las Vegas, where delays were in the triple digits, according to FlightAware. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fog in Tampa was affecting departures Wednesday, with Tampa International Airport reporting 37 outbound delays, according to FlightAware. Delays were also an issue in Seattle and Los Angeles, where low ceilings were expected to cause some impacts on operations, the FAA said earlier Wednesday. For road travelers, I-80, I-64, I-75 were impacted by rain Wednesday, and I-25 and I-70 by snow in the Rockies. Thanksgiving Day will bring a mess of rain for the I-95 corridor from Florida to Maine, and heavy snow for the interior Northeast and New England. Points north of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York and interior New England can expect 1 to 3 inches of wet snow, with localized totals of over 6 inches at highest mountain peaks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From northeast Pennsylvania to New Hampshire, 3 to 6 inches of snow and potentially even more is possible, with windy conditions potentially leading to power outages in the area. The iconic Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade will go on rain or shine, as the Big Apple is forecast to see soaking rain with temperatures in the 40s. Winds are forecast to be less than 10 mph, which will allow balloons to fly. The parades beloved balloons cannot fly if maximum sustained winds hit 23 mph or greater or if gusts exceed 34 mph. East Coast cities including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York, Hartford and Boston can expect a cold rain, with rainfall totals between .50 to 1 inch. Road travel will be slick as far south as Virginia and Maryland, including through the I-95 corridor into Maine. By the overnight hours into Friday morning, travel will settle to mostly normal conditions as the system pushes out of the New England area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, cold winds in New England and a lake effect snow event around the Great Lakes will take hold and will continue through Sunday. Airport hubs to watch Thursday include Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo. People enter LaGuardia Airport in New York City on one of the busiest travel days of the year on Tuesday. On Sunday typically the busiest travel day of Thanksgiving week, as people return home from holiday trips the cold will continue across swaths of the country, as well as lake effect snow around the Great Lakes and Northeast. A total of 3 million people are predicted to pass through TSA on Sunday, nearing the record of 3.01 million that was set the Sunday following the Fourth of July holiday this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chicago and Detroit may see some problems at their airports on Sunday, but the East and West Coast look favorable for road and air travel. All the while, much of the northern Plains and upper Midwest will see bitter cold to close out the week, with temperatures forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees below average starting on Thanksgiving Day. From Thursday to Sunday, Chicago will see highs in the 30s and 20s and lows in the teens, New York will see highs in the 40s and lows dip to around 28F, and D.C. will see highs in the 50s and 40s and lows in the 30s and high 20s. Minneapolis will see lows into the single digits over the weekend. As travelers take to the skies to join loved ones, authorities are warning people who leave their cars in airport parking lots to take caution due to vehicle thefts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over 300 cars were stolen from the nation's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, this year nearly three times as many as last year, Atlanta police said. Suspects can program key fobs to vehicles and that has gotten us here where we are now, Maj. Kelley Collier, the Atlanta Airport precinct commander said. This year, police are adding cameras, motorcycle patrols, and new fencing to curb crime across its 30,000 parking spaces. More than 50 vehicles were also stolen from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport this year, as police said a car theft ring targeting airports across multiple states was responsible. DFW Airport Police arrested the alleged ringleader last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A woman named Katy told NBC News that she and her husband went on a work trip and returned to Columbus International Airport to find their car was gone. In complete disbelief that we had parked attached to an airport and came out and our car was gone. We just assumed it was more safe and secure in that type of an environment, she said. Police later found it abandoned and completely stripped. Im hoping that the airports will beef up their security so that we can travel and come back and have your car there, she added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com CLEVELAND (WJW) If you are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday in Northeast Ohio, youll want to double-check the forecast before hitting the roads. Fox 8 Meteorologist Dontae Jones says the forecast might get a little dicey for traveling around the holiday. But, if you are headed out on Wednesday, roads should stay clear. 6 must-dos in Cleveland during the holidays By Wednesday evening, on the other hand, scattered rain will move into the area from the west and south, but it should generally be light. That rain will turn into a mix and eventually chance to snow overnight Wednesday into early Thursday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Dontaes forecast, there should be some light accumulation, especially in our southern areas, which will see about an inch of snow or less. Roads may just be wet and a little slick heading into Thursday morning, Dontae said. Any precipitation on Thursday morning will move east into Pennsylvania, so if youre headed in that direction in the morning you may run into that. Much of the area will have no travel impacts from Thanksgiving afternoon into next week. More Ohioans expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year than 2023 If youre traveling on I-90 eastbound in the snowbelt then you might have delays as we could see snow measured in feet Friday through Tuesday of next week. If so, you may want to plan an alternate route there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The snowbelt looks to receive multiple rounds of lake-effect snow. Well continue to monitor and adjust the forecast accordingly as we get closer. Click here for the full forecast. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. A 17-year-old girl who scheduled a meet up at a San Bernardino Target in an attempt to sell a cellphone had to be airlifted to a local hospital after she was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot, authorities confirmed to KTLA. The incident unfolded Monday evening with the teen, who has yet to be identified, arranging the potential sale to take place inside the Target in Hesperia, located at 12795 Main Street. It was inside the store where authorities said the potential buyer, reportedly a female, snatched the phone from the teen and ran. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The girl chased the woman out of the store where she was struck by the suspects vehicle. Details are limited and detectives were unable to say if there were additional accomplices who might have been in the suspects vehicle before it struck the girl. A teenage girl was airlifted to the hospital after a woman who stole her phone hit her with her car in Hesperia on Nov. 25, 2024. (vvng.com) A teenage girl was airlifted to the hospital after a woman who stole her phone hit her with her car in Hesperia on Nov. 25, 2024. (vvng.com) A teenage girl was airlifted to the hospital after a woman who stole her phone hit her with her car in Hesperia on Nov. 25, 2024. (vvng.com) A teenage girl was airlifted to the hospital after a woman who stole her phone hit her with her car in Hesperia on Nov. 25, 2024. (vvng.com) A safe-exchange zone sign seen in San Bernardino County. (KTLA) Footage from the scene showed the teen being loaded onto a gurney before being airlifted to a nearby trauma center. Her condition was not immediately known. Frequent customers to the Main Street Target in Hesperia told KTLAs Shelby Nelson that it was concerning to learn of the chaos at the store. Victorville resident Lisa Rey said she tries to avoid coming to the store in the evening hours because of incidents like this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Demarcus Robinson, L.A. Rams wide receiver, arrested on suspicion of DUI Its gotten worse up here, she said. Youve got to be more and more aware, more vigilant. Law enforcement officials across Southern California have been warning consumers to be wary of scams, especially when arranging meet ups or exchanges listed in online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up. Authorities suggest that people only meet potential buyers or sellers in safe exchange zones, like the lobby of your local police station. I either buy my stuff online or do an in-store pick up, Rey added. Im leery of private sales. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives with the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department would not say how many suspects they are searching for, nor did they say if any arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the Sheriffs 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 KTLA. People are warned to be careful of holiday scams. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Ohio Department of Commerces Division of Financial Institutions (DFI) is urging Ohioans to be cautious of fake charities, according to a spokesperson. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Holiday scams come in various forms. This includes unsolicited calls, texts, fake ads, and emails. It is unfortunate that during a season meant for goodwill and generosity, there are those who seek to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals, said DFI Superintendent Kevin Allard. We want to remind everyone to make sure they conduct due diligence before making a financial gift to ensure their contributions support legitimate causes and they dont line the pockets of criminals. DFI has this advice on how to stay safe: Verify First- Ask for the charitys full name, website, and mailing address, then use the Tax-Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool on IRS.gov to verify the legitimacy of a charity. You also can check eligibility for tax-deductible contributions and access information about an organizations tax-exempt status and filings. You may also consider using resources like the BBBs Wise Giving Alliance or Charity Watch. Avoid Pressure- Legitimate charities will accept donations at any time and in any amount. Dont rush into giving. Protect Personal Information- Treat personal information like cash; dont give it freely. Be Cautious of Payment Methods- Avoid making donations via cash, gift cards, wiring money, and services such as Venmo, or cryptocurrency. By making donations via credit cards, Ohioans can stay better protected from financial concerns. Verify Text Donations- Before donating via text, be sure to confirm the charitys number on its website to ensure it is a valid number. Crowdfunding Caution- Exercise caution when donating to individuals on crowdfunding sites. If you do, make sure its someone you know and trust. Visit this website if you encounter a suspicious charity. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] MURCHISON, Texas (KETK) A third grade student at Murchison ISD has died while visiting family members for the Thanksgiving holiday, school officials said. Big Sandy, Hawkins, Gladewater ISD in mourning after students die in fatal crash According to a release, the third grader died early Tuesday morning and at this time, district officials will not be releasing the students name out of respect for the family. Parents of current students will be notified through Remind and the schools counselor, alongside additional staff will be available to offer support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A candlelight vigil will be held at the school playground on Friday where attendees are asked to wear red in honor of the students favorite color. Our desire now is to provide support for the family, students and staff who are grieving by showing grace and the space to process this tragedy, school officials said. More information will be communicated to parents as necessary through the district messaging system. If you have any questions or need additional support, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Thousands of people returned to their homes Wednesday in Lebanon, celebrating the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and the terror group Hezbollah. The fighting displaced more than a million Lebanese citizens and tens of thousands of Israelis during the past 14 months. Compromise is always difficult, but I think the ceasefire was the right decision, said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), during a trip to Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Graham also celebrated the truce, which calls for an initial two-month pause in fighting. He said he has a plan to help ensure a permanent outcome. To pass sanctions in the Congress signed by President Trump, hopefully, that would sanction any country that took action against Israel because were next, Graham said. The news of the ceasefire was bittersweet for the families of hostages who hoped an agreement would also lead to the release of their loved ones. We feel this is a missed opportunity, said Ruby Chen, the father of deceased U.S.-Israeli hostage Itay Chen, whose body is still being held in Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, President Joe Biden is hopeful the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire leads to one for the war in Gaza. Were determined this conflict will not be just another cycle of violence, President Biden said Tuesday at the White House when announcing the agreement. President Biden said the terror group Hamas has so far refused to negotiate in good faith on a ceasefire and hostage release deal. So now, Hamas has a choice to make, President Biden said. The president said in the coming days, the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East will ramp up the pressure on Hamas even more to accept a deal with Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Three Americans are out of a Chinese prison and headed home. On Wednesday, the Biden administration said they secured the release of three American citizens wrongfully detained in China for years. The White House said all three men, including one man facing the death penalty will soon be reunited with their families. Lawmakers whove pushed for their release said the Americans spent years in prisons under bad conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mark Swidan spent more than a decade in prison on drug charges. Kai Li and John Leung were both imprisoned on espionage charges. Pedro Pizano works for the McCain Institute, an organization devoted to freeing U.S. prisoners abroad, and also worked with Kai Lis son. This is hugely significant, Pizano said. This is the most happiest day of their recent lives and we are just incredibly grateful that the American government went to this length, as it should. The Biden administration said President Biden pressed for the release of the American citizens while meeting with Chinese President Xi at a global summit in Peru earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We havent always agreed but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank, Biden said. In exchange, the U.S. is releasing an undisclosed number of Chinese nationals from U.S. custody. The State Department also lowered its travel warning to China from a level three to a level two, advising American travelers to use caution while in China rather than reconsider travel plans. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. On Friday, November 22, 2024, three federally recognized California Tribal NationsTolowa Dee-ni' Nation, Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People, and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheriasigned an inter-tribal treaty of stewardship and responsibility. This historic agreement solidifies their collaboration in managing, protecting, and restoring the Yurok-Tolowa Dee-ni' Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA). The treaty builds on the landmark creation of the IMSA last year, the first marine protected area in the United States established by Tribal governments. Spanning from the Oregon-California border to just south of Trinidad in Humboldt County, the IMSA supports Californias goals for biodiversity and durable conservation by 2030. This marine area is home to species of deep cultural importance to the Tribes, including mussels, seaweed, kelp, clams, abalone, smelts, salmon, candlefish, green sturgeon, shorebirds, and lamprey (eels). 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By signing the treaty, the Tribes commit to jointly safeguarding their ancestral ocean and coastal territories. Their partnership focuses on co-managing critical ecosystems, preserving cultural practices and economies, and addressing the impacts of climate change. The IMSA initiative addresses significant threats to the area, including poor water quality, ocean acidification, species and habitat loss, offshore development, and other climate-related challenges affecting both ecosystems and Tribal communities. Together, we will endeavor to protect and restore the biodiversity, water quality, and natural habitats within the IMSA, ensuring the sustainability of our traditional practices and the resilience of our communities, Tolowa Dee-ni' Chairperson Jeri Lynn Thompson said, "By this treaty, we reaffirm our sovereignty, and the sacred responsibility bestowed upon us at Creation to be stewards of this world. We take our stewardship responsibilities very seriously and are honored to sign this historic Inter-Tribal Treaty with other sovereign Tribal Governments, said Fawn C. Murphy, Chairperson of the Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People. Tribal Nations have always taken care of our ocean and coastal territories. Signing this treaty today demonstrates our leadership and our commitment to governing the IMSA in a way that protects tribal culture and restores ocean health. The signing of the IMSA Treaty marks a milestone in our shared journey to protect and restore our ocean and coastal territories that hold deep meaning and value for our people, said Garth Sundberg, Chairperson of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria. We came together to reaffirm our commitment to safeguarding these waters and lands not only for today but for the generations to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three Tribal nations acknowledge the need to have direct participation in how their waters and lands are managed, as well as the future of their cultural resources and traditions associated with these sacred places as the climate crisis accelerates. The treaty reads, in part: As sovereign Tribal Nations, we have never ceded or given up our rights to steward, manage, access, and rely upon our ancestral ocean and coastal territories. We continue to assert these unceded rights and practice these responsibilities. We, the sovereign nations of Yurok and Tolowa Dee-ni' peoples, envision a future where the Yurok-Tolowa Dee-ni' IMSA thrives in harmony with our cultural lifeways and our Inter-Tribal partnerships foster a legacy of sustainability and continuity that will endure for generations to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The treaty establishes mutual commitments among the three Tribal Nations, including: Respecting and supporting each other's sovereignty and the management of their ocean and coastal territories. Communicating and collaborating , where appropriate, on policies, governance, and management grounded in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, research, and monitoring. Developing and participating in an Inter-Tribal IMSA Advisory Council to enhance communication, facilitate collaborative approaches, and guide decision-making. Additionally, the Tribes recognize that other Tribal Nations also share stewardship over this ocean space and have extended an open invitation for those Nations to join and participate in these efforts at any time in the future. About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. " Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) Three families are demanding their money back for kitchen cabinets that were ordered eight months ago but never delivered. The families paid a 50 percent deposit, but have no cabinets. One order was made in February, and two others in March. The cabinet store business owner blamed the delay on the manufacturer and said his contract states there is No guarantee on a delivery date. But the couples are asking, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait? Cocke County woman collecting campers for displaced families after Helene flooding Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Randi Swan is pleased with her kitchen cabinets, countertops, and island bought in late July and installed just one month later. The cabinets purchased in Knoxville are similar to what she ordered from a company in Dandridge. Theyre Kemper brand but they are the exact same manufacturer as the ones that we had previously ordered, said Randi. Randi went to Heartland Cabinet Factory Outlet in Dandridge and she placed an order for cabinets in March, but never got them. A disclaimer in the contract said there is no guarantee on the delivery date. However, her husband, Jeff Swan, said he was told delivery would likely take two months. He said the total price was a little over $24,000. The Swans paid Heartland owner Michael Bossert nearly $12,000, eight months ago. Two other couples shared similar stories. We ordered cabinets, countertops and a sink in March of this year, said Dandridge resident Sharon Rattan. Kodak resident Ed Murphy said, we ordered them on February 20 from Heartland. We were expecting them to be delivered by May. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murphy, Rattan, and Jeff Swan all put down 50 percent for their cabinets. They waited patiently for months, then lost their patience and canceled their orders. Each contacted Michael Bossert. He said I would get my money before September, maybe before September, before September, or on September 20, said Murphy. McGhee Tyson Airport braces for 6,000+ travelers on day before Thanksgiving In September, he said that it would be 30 days. It would have to go through his accounting department, said Rattan. I expected an answer. They have $10,000, over $10,000, Murphy added. The Swans received an email response from Bossert dated September 19 after Jeff contacted the State Attorney Generals office outlining the long delay for the cabinets. Bossert wrote he believed his accountant would disperse a refund check by October 4. Bossert was not happy to see us, expressing his displeasure with the presence of our camera. We told him about the families who waited eight months for their cabinets, ended up canceling, and now wanted their down payments returned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I said they have refunds coming to them, said Bossert. If you come into my office I will be glad to talk with you where I can review the files. I have no information without pulling files. How to protect yourself from scams during the holidays We showed Bossert the email he sent in September to the state attorney generals office about his arrangement to return the Swans down payment. Bossert explained in that email he did not guarantee the refund by October 4, but said he might be able to get it to the Swans by then. At that point, he insisted we talk in his office without the camera. Behind closed doors, Bossert said some cabinet orders take a year others just a few months. He said, Yes, the families are owed money and theyll get their refunds by the middle of December. Right now, I dont have cabinets, said Rattan. I just want my money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bossert called a few days after our interview and said We are working on getting refunds for the families, and are trying to turn it around as soon as possible. He said his Heartland Cabinet Outlet Stores order hundreds of cabinets every year and there have been few problems with delivery. He ended by saying, we have many happy and satisfied customers who do business with us. The customers we talked with trust their refunds will be sent soon. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. Up in Smoke In Northern California, a group of recent high school graduates have died in a Cybertruck inferno. As San Francisco's KTVU reports, four young people who graduated high school last year in the town of Piedmont had been inside the Tesla vehicle when it slammed into a barrier and caught fire in the middle of the night. Another driver reportedly pulled off the road to help after the Cybertruck crashed, and managed to pull one person out of the fiery wreckage. That lucky grad survived and was taken to a nearby hospital, while the other three none of whom have been identified by name died at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to local police, the Cybertruck fire was so hot and burned so fast that water wasn't able to douse it out. "The heat was just too intense," Piedmont police chief Jeremy Bowers told KTVU. Getting Warmer Though the report didn't speculate as to why the fire burned so hot, the lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles like Cybertrucks caused consternation among firefighters. During another fire involving one of the vehicles in Texas earlier this year which ironically occurred after its driver crashed into a fire hydrant the blaze took more than an hour to extinguish due to the high temperatures at which those mega-combustible batteries burn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Notably, that debacle was the second Texas Cybertruck to catch fire in less than a month and in the first instance, the driver lost their life. While Cybertrucks' crappy paint jobs and clueless owners are easy to dunk on, we're increasingly seeing that these low-poly vehicles can be extremely hazardous. In the case of the Piedmont Cybertruck fire, that danger cost three recent high school graduates their lives. More on Cybertrucks: Thousands of Cybertrucks Recalled for Bricking While Driving OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Police are searching for three men from Texas accused of stealing thousands of dollars in cash from a man while he was praying. Arrest warrants for Gabriel Lara, Nicholas Barrientos and Ruben Barrientos reveal the crimes that took place earlier this month. The theft reportedly started with stealing an Oklahoma license plate off of another car parked outside Santa Fe South High School, then putting that plate on their car. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspects then went to the Bank of America nearby to stake out customers. The victim arrived at the bank and withdrew 25,000 dollars for a vehicle purchase. With the suspects following him, the victim left the bank and drove to the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine. He parked away from other cars and walked up the hill to pray. Neighbor dispute in Okla. Co. leads to gunfire, one person injured The suspects pulled in next to the victim and moments later the victims window is smashed, the cash is stolen and the suspects are gone. Hours later, the men were stopped in Wichita, Kansas, for a traffic violation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court documents say the officer noted the smell of marijuana and conflicting travel stories. Police searched the vehicle and found two stacks of cash, but according to the documents no drugs were found, and no prior drug charges were found so they were released with the driver receiving citations. Police also say there was no known income source to explain the money and that the driver claimed it was from the sale of a vehicle. All three suspects had Texas IDs and addresses, and the registered owner of the car confirmed it was sold to the Lara a few months ago. The warrants also note their records did not show any ties to Oklahoma. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Stillwater dental assistant charged with sexually assaulting numerous patients Documents also reveal all three men have criminal histories out of Waco; Lara was previously charged with evading arrest, Ruben Barrientos was previously charged with theft of property and burglary of vehicles and Nicholas Barrientos was previously charged with driving while intoxicated. Now, the three men are facing several other charges in Oklahoma including larceny, burglary, and pattern of criminal offenses. While police would not comment on this specific case, News 4 spoke with them previously about a similar situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pay attention to your surroundings. Do not count your cash out in the open where people can see it, said MSgt. Gary Knight, with the Oklahoma City Police Department. We also reached out to the shrine and was sent the following statement: The Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine is open to all, and while we take every reasonable precaution for security on our campus, things can still happen. Our staff has been cooperating with the police to share CCTV footage in the hope that the money can be returned. Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine News 4 asked police about this footage, but were told they have no plans to release it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MONSON, Mass. (WWLP) Three men from New York were arrested in Monson on Tuesday for using fake cards to purchase and resell items. Enfield Police seek to identify shoplifting suspect On Tuesday at approximately 2:34 p.m. one of the Monson Police Department Flock Safety license plate cameras alerted officers to a vehicle that was previously involved in suspicious activity around the Walgreens pharmacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When officers arrived, they found the vehicle parked in the Adams IGA plaza on Main Street. A brief investigation revealed that two individuals were purchasing items for resale using compromised gift card/credit card information, and a third person was their lookout. Police arrested 28-year-old Elijah Patrick Eugene of Queens, New York, 27-year-old Benjamin Richards of Ozone Park, New York, and 38-year-old Walter Fabian Mejia Lasinquiza of Corona, New York. All three men were charged with the following: Conspiracy Money laundering Larceny Receiving stolen property Eugene was also charged with being a fugitive from justice after it was discovered that there was an active warrant for his arrest out of New Hampshire for a robbery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police are investigating the incident and believe that the three men were part of a larger retail crime group in the area. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. Not many schools have adopted later start times for schools, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that its better for students. Stock.adobe.com photo by Have A Nice Day. Only 22.5% of Marylands high school students and 49.4% of middle school students surveyed for the 2022-2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey self-reported sleeping eight hours or more on a school night, when they need closer to nine to 10 hours of sleep. A major factor in this chronic sleep deprivation is the well-documented biological shift in adolescent sleep cycles, resulting in falling asleep later and waking up later than adults and younger siblings. As a result, teenagers sleep-wake schedules are misaligned with school district imposed early school bell times (and commutes). Chronic sleep deprivation and misaligned sleep-wake schedules (known as social jet lag) negatively impact student physical and mental health, decision making, safety, attendance and graduation rates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement School systems have understood the connection between school hours and chronic adolescent sleep deprivation for decades yet are not taking action on this health priority. This failure undermines their Blueprint for Marylands Future efforts. School start times require state intervention, as local control is not effective in changing bell-time policies. In 2014, Maryland acknowledged the connection between school hours and student sleep when it was the first state in the nation to pass legislation related to school bell times. The resulting joint report by the departments of Health and Education encouraged school systems to conduct feasibility studies to evaluate starting schools after 8 a.m. Two years later, the General Assembly created a recognition system to acknowledge the efforts of school systems to educate their communities while implementing age-appropriate bell times. Despite landmark legislative encouragement from the General Assembly, school start time changes have been incremental. In fact, both Prince Georges County (2024) and Baltimore City (2022) have moved school start times earlier, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. The Abell Foundations concerns about the earlier school hours for Baltimore Citys students led it to commission a study, published in September, recommending later, developmentally appropriate school start times in Baltimore City. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Abell Foundation was also one of the key sponsors of the 2024 National Conference on Adolescent Sleep and School Start Times: Science and Implementation at Loyola University Maryland in October. The foundations study analyzed school start times as a social determinant of health, which disproportionately harms the citys academically and socially vulnerable students. The reports five recommendations begin with later bell times for Baltimore City Public Schools. In addition, school hours in Baltimore may need to begin later in the morning than other Maryland school systems, as the city must account for the reliance on public transportation and school choice, resulting in long commutes with multiple transfers. Early school start times mean early release times, which present opportunities for unsupervised youth to get into trouble. In 2018, the Department of Juvenile Services testified before the General Assembly on a spike in afternoon teen crime, recommending later school start times as a tool to interrupt the misconduct cycle. The Abell Foundation report endorses that 2018 recommendation by identifying later release times as supportive of misconduct prevention efforts, and encourages the expansion of policies and programs to reduce unsupervised time after school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report further recommends community sleep health education and engagement as important to successful implementation of new bell times. Community sleep health education would engage community members, families, local businesses, and others in the opportunity to understand the benefits of healthier bell times and ways to support healthy student (and adult for that matter) sleep. Education is also vital to understand the communitys questions about a change in school hours (child care, youth employment, etc.) and collectively identify and implement potential solutions to address those concerns. The final recommendation from the Abell report addresses the start time issue beyond Baltimore City by encouraging statewide school start time legislation. As noted in the 2014 joint study, in preserving the status quo whereby school start times are a matter for each local jurisdiction, the state risks letting local resistance trump a strong body of scientific evidence that sleep is critical to health and academic achievement. That is why Del. April Miller (R-Frederick), a former school board member, will refile her legislation establishing guardrails for school hours (no middle school before 8 a.m. and no high school before 8:30 a.m.) for consideration in the 2025 legislative session, similar to legislation passed in California (2018) and Florida (2022). We encourage Marylands state senators and delegates to join as co-sponsors of Millers bill to keep Maryland on track to be the third state in the nation to set a minimum standard of safe, healthy, and age-appropriate school hours to benefit the states youth. (KRON) Despite turmoil and many calls for her resignation, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus has no plans of stepping down. She doubled-down on Tuesday with a letter to her staff. While these past weeks have been tough, I remain committed to fulfilling the responsibilities I swore to uphold, Corpus wrote. Resigning from my position or relinquishing the independence of this office is not the answer. I will not step down. On Wednesday, the sheriffs union, San Mateo County Deputy Sheriffs Association (DSA), released a statement demanding for Corpus to resign. We will no longer work with you. That ship has sailed, the union continued. Quit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The San Mateo County Sheriffs Office is hemorrhaging morale. A scathing 400-page report released by the countys independent investigator accuses Corpus of abusing power, creating a toxic work environment, retaliation, and having a romantic relationship with Assistant Sheriff Victor Aenlle. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus (KRON4 Photo) Over the weekend, a union representing sheriffs sergeants and lieutenants passed a vote of no confidence in Corpus and demanded her immediate resignation. Organization of Sheriff Sergeants union leaders wrote, This decision is not the result of some good old boys club. Rather, it reflects the collective opinion of the frontline leadership of the Sheriffs Office, a diverse group of experienced law enforcement professionals. We have reviewed the report by the Honorable LaDoris Cordell, which outlines the racism, homophobia, and corruption linked to this Sheriff. We are witnessing the destruction of the Sheriffs Office and deterioration of morale due to the corruption and lies. Expert confirms embattled San Mateo County sheriff sent homophobic text Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this November, the County Board of Supervisors demanded the sheriffs resignation after the independent investigator, former judge LaDoris Cordell, released the reports findings. Cordell concluded that Corpus and Aenlle have an intimate relationship that the couple attempted to keep secret. Cordell claims Corpus handed control of the office to Aenlle due to their relationship. Cordell wrote, Lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority are the hallmarks of the Corpus administration. Nothing short of new leadership can save this organization that is in turmoil, and its personnel demoralized. Aenlle allegedly spent thousands on clothing and jewelry for the sheriff, was seen kissing her, and went on a Hawaiian vacation with her. Sheriff Christina Corpus (Image courtesy San Mateo County Sheriffs Office) Since the report was released, Sheriff Corpus promoted Aenlle to Assistant Sheriff, and her office arrested San Mateo County Deputy Sheriffs Association union president Carlos Tapia with accusations of theft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of stepping down and firing her chief of staff Victor Aenlle, the target of the investigation itself, she has defiantly promoted him, the SMCDSA wrote. Former Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan was abruptly fired by the sheriff in September. Supervisors said Monaghans exit may have been an act of retaliation because he participated in the countys independent investigation. Deputy Tapia said Monday, Its time for Sheriff Corpus to go. Corpus has denounced the report, saying, As a woman of color, this disturbs me deeply. These allegations are absolutely not true. The San Mateo County Sheriffs Office is seen. (KRON4 Photo) Corpus & Aenlle scandal timeline, according to the investigation report: September 2021: A civilian employee saw Corpus and Aenlle kiss on a couch in Corpus office at the Millbrae substation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement January 2022: Corpus told a civilian employee that Aenlle handed her $12,000 in cash to buy a pair of diamond earrings at Tiffanys at Stanford Shopping Center. She used the money to buy $11,000 earrings, the report states. Spring 2022: Corpus called a civilian employee and said her then-husband was upset because she was having an affair with Aenlle. The sheriff stayed in a Burlingame hotel instead of going home, the report states. June 2022: Corpus held a rooftop election night watch party in San Mateo for the primary election. At the party, Corpus gave a victory speech thanking her then-husband, who also works in the sheriffs office. Aenlle, who worked as her campaign manager at the time, was angry. During the heated moment, Aenlle broke up with the sheriff, saying, Its over. Were done, the report states. Corpus was crying and following Aenlle, pleading with him, Please dont do this, baby,' the report states. Images of San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus and Victor Aenlle Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Corpus later told a civilian employee, If he (Aenlle) ever leaves me, I dont know how Ill make it. I wont survive, according to the report. September 2022: A former sworn employee was flying on Hawaiian Airlines from San Francisco to Maui. At the airport gate, he saw the sheriff with her children and Aenlle boarding the Maui-bound plane together. Corpus then-husband later told the former employee that his daughter tearfully reported to him that Aenlle was on the plane in her dads seat. The husband was not invited for the vacation, the report states. October 2022: A civilian employee warned Corpus, You cant hire your lover. It will ruin everything that we worked toward. Hell ruin you. Corpus responded, He deserves it; he worked so hard for my campaign, according to the report. January 2023: Shortly after Corpus had been officially sworn in as Sheriff, Aenlle signed a one-year agreement as an independent contractor for the sheriffs office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement June 2023: Corpus worked with the countys HR department to create a job description for a new full-time position for Aenlle, dubbed Sheriffs Executive Director of Administration. July 2023: Aenlle was hired by Corpus as Executive Director of Administration. The report states, His annual salary is approximately $246,979 plus benefits. There was no announcement of this job opening, and no applicants other than Aenlle. Sheriff Christina Corpus talks to reporters in Redwood City on Oct. 26, 2023. (Peninsula Press via Bay City News) August 2024: Aenlle told a civilian employee, The county is investigating me. I believe the County Executive is targeting me so he can remove me and weaken the Sheriffs stance. She didnt get here alone. I helped her get elected. I own the third largest parcel in San Mateo County. Its worth $60 million, the report writes. September 2024: Sheriff Corpus was asked by federal security personnel to pick two people to be photographed with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during Trumps campaign event in Woodside. The sheriff designated a captain and a deputy. The next day, then-Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan received a call from a friend who is an FBI special agent. The FBI agent said Aenlle had made a scene at Trumps event, demanding to be in the photograph with Trump instead of the selected deputy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI agent told Monaghan that Aenlle was one of the most arrogant pricks Ive ever seen, and said that Aenlle was a poor representation of your office, the report states. A photo of Aenlle smiling with Trump was included in the report as evidence. September 2024: Sheriff Corpus referred to the investigation as a witch hunt during a conversation with Monaghan, according to the report. Two days later, Sheriff Corpus called Monaghan into her office and fired him. Corpus told Monaghan that she no longer trusted him because people said that he wasnt loyal, the report states. Sheriff Corpuss letter sent to staff Tuesday: Sheriff Corpus wrote, Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors released the Cordell Report at a press conference without affording me the opportunity to respond to or address its findings in advance. Since then, we have witnessed an unprecedented and deeply polarizing series of eventsat a time when collaboration and unity are more critical than ever. As your elected Sheriff, I am entrusted with leading the Sheriffs Office through both progress and adversity. I do not shy away from challenges, nor do I falter in my commitment to the women and men of this organization and the residents of San Mateo County. While these past weeks have been tough, I remain committed to fulfilling the responsibilities I swore to uphold. The sheriffs letter continued, I recognize the uncertainty this situation has caused among the two groups I serve: the dedicated employees of the Sheriffs Office and the people of our County. Despite the personal toll, my focus remains on the work ahead and the safety of the residents. Together, we set out to reform an institution once marred by past scandals and costly discrimination litigation. Assistant Sheriffs, together with Undersheriff Dan Perea, will lead with a renewed focus on restoring internal and external relationships while driving forward our strategic initiatives. I have every confidence in the new leadership team to oversee our daily operations and foster a culture of accountability and respect. Calls for my resignation not only undermine the will of the voters but also pose a threat to the independence of this Officea cornerstone of our democracy. I remain focused in my commitment to reform, transparency, and collaborationprinciples that should unite us in the pursuit of better governance. Every day, I am guided by a singular question: What can I do to make San Mateo County safer and stronger for all? Resigning from my position or relinquishing the independence of this Office is not the answer. I will not step down, nor will I allow this institution to be politicized or influenced by special interests. San Mateo County Deputy Sheriffs Association releases statement Wednesday It is with an extraordinary sense of urgency and collective disappointment that we, the DSA and OSS Boards, write to demand your immediate resignation as Sheriff. Your actions and the erosion of trust under your leadership have left this countys law enforcement and governance in turmoil. Every level of your command correctional officers, deputies, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains alike have called for your resignation. Their voices are joined by the County Board of Supervisors, who have formally requested your departure. Furthermore, county leaders, state legislators, and officials from multiple municipalities have publicly and unequivocally stated their loss of faith in your ability to lead. You no longer have the confidence of the very people you were elected to serve, and the integrity of our law enforcement institutions hangs in the balance. Your continued refusal to step down is not an act of defiance but a glaring display of contempt for the overwhelming consensus of those who see the damage caused under your administration. This untenable situation not only undermines the critical functions of your office but also deepens the divide between our law enforcement and the community it serves. The time has come to put the public good above personal ambition. Resign now, for the sake of the department, the community, and the integrity of the office you once swore to uphold. We will no longer work with you. That ship has sailed. All you are doing is playing the role of victim within a disaster of your own making. Quit. San Mateo County Deputy Sheriffs Association Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. For the record: 6:47 a.m. Nov. 27, 2024: The headline and article have been corrected to state that funds recovered by the DOJ would go to the state not federal government and that construction workers reached out to the union. In 2019, construction workers raised alarms about a company building luxury apartments in Oakland that appeared to be skirting its financial obligations, both to the state and its employees. That tip would set off a years-long investigation by the California Department of Justice, which accused the Kentucky-based company, US Framing West Inc., of violating state labor laws at that Oakland site, as well as committing tax evasion and wage theft in several other construction projects across the state, including some that had received public funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "While working these projects, we allege, US Framing West failed to pay more than $2.5 million in state payroll taxes," Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said at a Tuesday news conference. "We also allege that, at a public works project in Cathedral City, US Framing West also underpaid its workers by approximately $40,000." Read more: Anaheim hotel fined heavily for not rehiring workers laid off during pandemic Bonta and his team have filed 31 criminal charges, including grand theft, payroll tax evasion, prevailing wage theft and filing false documents, against US Framing West and two of its employees. For some reason, US Framing West seems to think it can [operate] outside the bounds of California labor laws, thinks it can steal from California and from our workers," Bonta said. "I'm here with a simple message: They cannot; no company can. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two employees, Thomas Gregory English and Amelia Frazier Krebs, as well as the company, pleaded not guilty in the case earlier this month, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records. Gary S. Lincenberg, an attorney representing English and the larger company, declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations but said, "We intend to address the AGs concerns in court." "US Framing is a hard-working company with a great reputation," Lincenberg said in a statement. The attorney representing Krebs, Jeffrey Rutherford, said he and his client intend to vigorously fight the charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between 2018 and 2022, US Framing West worked on several construction projects across the state, including in Alameda, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, according to the attorney general's office. In many cases, the company used crews of unlicensed subcontractors, who the state mandates be classified as company employees triggering certain tax requirements, Bonta said. However, the company failed to appropriately file and submit taxes for those subcontractors. Read more: A year after hot labor summer, California Legislature chills on union demands amid budget concerns Additionally, investigators found that US Framing West failed to fulfill requirements to pay a prevailing wage typically a rate similar to that of unionized workers, often well above minimum wage for specialized jobs on a public works project in Cathedral City. Public works projects are defined as those that use more than $1,000 of public funds. Bonta urged any union worker, employee or concerned citizen to report other potential labor law violations to the Justice Department. The workers on that initial Oakland site were not unionized, but reached out to the Nor Cal Carpenters Union for help addressing alleged shortcomings by their employer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is no accident that California boasts the fifth-largest economy in the world," Bonta said. "It's because we've got some of the strongest worker protections in the country. It's because, in California, we stand up for our workers." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A 2023 Tennessee law will be front and center in an upcoming United States Supreme Court battle to protect children in United States v. Skrmetti. The law in question, Senate Bill 1, prohibits minor children from receiving life-altering gender-transition medical procedures. We have seen absolutely heartbreaking stories of medical professionals with political and financial agendas effectively sterilizing children suffering with gender dysphoria through surgeries and pharmaceuticals. It is important we protect these kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Children are not equipped to make life-altering decisions and undergo surgery to permanently alter otherwise healthy body parts. Thats why we passed Senate Bill 1 in 2023 to restrict pharmaceutical and surgical interventions for gender transition until a person turns 18 years old. In a remarkably short period of time, gender dysphoria has gone from a rapidly rising mental health phenomenon to a lifelong medical crisis for many affected youth, according to the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. Irreversible surgeries and hormone therapies, with unproven benefits and many known harms, are being pushed on youth suffering with gender dysphoria and destroying their healthy reproductive systems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many children with gender dysphoria outgrow the condition by adulthood, according to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, most children who undergo medical gender transitions will never be able to have children of their own due to the damage done to their bodies. State of Tennessee should have the right to protect children Given this growing phenomenon, it is incumbent upon the state to stop the harm being done to children. Thats what we did in Tennessee when we overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 1 in the 2023 General Assembly. In the years following, several other states also passed similar laws. Currently, 26 states have laws banning irreversible and harmful transgender medical interventions for minors. Many of these laws have been challenged in court with opponents asserting the law discriminates based on sex under the Equal Protection Clause. The appellate courts are divided in their rulings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, the United States Supreme Court will settle the question of whether or not states have the ability to prohibit transgender procedures and pharmaceuticals for minors. The overwhelming majority of my colleagues in the General Assembly, as well as Tennesseans, firmly believe that states do and should continue to have the authority to protect children from such major life-altering decisions. Profile: Meet the Tennessee family behind the US Supreme Court's major transgender health care case It is no different from states having the ability to put age restrictions on drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, getting tattoos and using tanning beds. With all these restrictions, we acknowledge children are not mature enough to elect to permanently alter their bodies or use substances that impair their mind. Elective surgeries and hormone treatment to change a childs gender identity should be treated in the same way. Supreme Court case will set the standard for the nation In the Supreme Court, the state of Tennessee will argue, correctly, that states have the fundamental authority to act in the best interest of its people and protect children from risky, unproven gender-transition interventions that can cause lifelong damage to their health and well-being. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, it will argue Senate Bill 1 does not discriminate based on sex because it prohibits the medical procedures for both biological males and biological females. Counterpoint: Supreme Court should rule bans on gender-affirming care for trans people unconstitutional I was proud to co-sponsor this bill in the General Assembly, and I firmly believe our law, which passed overwhelmingly in Tennessee, aligns with constitutional principles and merits the US Supreme Courts thoughtful consideration. I greatly appreciate Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and House Majority Leader William Lamberth for being on the forefront of this issue and introducing this important legislation at a critical time. Oral arguments for the case will begin Dec. 4 in Washington D.C. This case has the potential to set the national standard for transgender care for minors. Sen. Ken Yager It is my hope and prayer that the outcome goes in our favor and ensures children suffering with gender dysphoria are protected from unproven medical treatments and instead receive quality mental health treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, is the Republican Caucus Chairman of the Tennessee Senate and represents Senate District 12. Yager is also the co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1, the Tennessee law at the heart of an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court Case United States v. Skrmetti This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's transgender health care law is about protection | Opinion President-elect Donald Trumps proposed heavy tariffs for goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China could have a major impact on items from tomatoes to car parts in Arizona, which shares a significant trading relationship with its neighbor to the south. It's still more than 50 days until Trump is sworn in for a second term, but his economic proposals are already causing commotion across the globe. Trump tied his tariff threat to immigration, posting on social media Monday, Nov. 25 that hed sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States.''This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem, Trump wrote. He also pitched an additional 10% tariff on goods from China. Tariffs that Trump is proposing would affect the countrys international trading partners, but theyd also be felt inside states like Arizona. Much of the produce that fills American grocery stores in the winter months is grown in Mexico and passes through Arizonas southern border. Advertisement Advertisement The largest share of Arizona imports comes from Mexico, totaling $11.8 billion in 2023. Imports from Canada also reached billions of dollars last year, according to data on Arizona-Mexico Economic Indicators compiled by the University of Arizona. Here are consumer and business products for which tariffs could have an outsized impact, both on price and availability. More: Bargaining chip or devastating blow? Arizona border economy debates the 25% tariff Tomatoes: Arizona's top import from Mexico Fresh and chilled tomatoes were Arizonas top import from Mexico last year, worth $895.3 million. A significant portion of tomatoes from Mexico arrive in the U.S. through the Arizona border city of Nogales: the Nogales Port facilitated the import of $662.6 million in tomatoes in 2022. Wiring for cars, ships and planes: A manufacturing staple Arizonas relationship with Mexico makes it possible for auto manufacturers to send parts back and forth across the border during the assembly process. Insulated wiring sets for machinery inside vehicles, ships and aircraft were the second-largest import to Arizona from Mexico in 2023. Those imports, crucial for manufacturing cars and other modes of transportation, were worth $605.3 million last year. Peppers: Brought across the border by the millions Peppers are another grocery item that could be affected by Trump's tariffs next year. Arizona imported $543.8 million in peppers from Mexico in 2023, making them Arizonas second-largest produce import after tomatoes. Grapes: Often enter the country through Nogales Also in the produce aisle, grapes are a major import from Mexico to Arizona. According to the University of Arizona, the state imported $424.7 million in fresh grapes in 2023. Like tomatoes, grapes often pass through the Nogales port of entry into the U.S. Wood products: Canada's top import to Arizona Canada is Arizonas third-largest trading partner, and the top import from that country last year was wood products, the University of Arizona found. The state imported $120.7 million in products including wood chips in 2023. Baked goods from Canada: Often distributed in this state Bread, pastry, cakes and puddings are another major Canadian import in Arizona. The state brought in $61 million worth of Canadian baked goods in 2023. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Proposed Trump tariffs could hit Arizona imports like tomatoes, wiring UPDATED 05.34 a.m. PT: Mishal Husain is heading to Bloomberg. The BBCs top anchor will launch a global interview series for Bloomberg Weekend Edition, the U.S. news outlet has just announced, and she will become editor-at-large. She started her career at Bloomberg before joining the BBC. More from Deadline Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David Merritt, Head of Media Editorial, Bloomberg, said: Mishal is one of the UKs preeminent news broadcasters and journalists and she is recognised globally for her incisive but fair interview style. PREVIOUS: Mishal Husain, one of the BBCs most established news presenters, is stepping down from her Today program role after 11 years and leaving the corporation after 25. Husain will leave the BBC in the new year. She has developed a reputation over the years with the BBCs flagship radio show for her skilled and intelligent interviewing style that holds politicians and others to account, while also hosting general election debates. She joined the BBC in 1998 and was previously a presenter on BBC World News. In 2014 she was the first reporter to enter the school attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan, and in 2017 her engagement interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was seen around the world. She joined Today in 2013 and has won numerous awards since. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said Husain leaves the BBC with an incredible journalistic legacy. After more than a decade on the Today programme she is going with our gratitude and affection and we wish her the best of luck in her new chapter. I very much hope the BBC and Mishal will get the chance to work together again one day. Husain added: My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4. I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Building strong foundations for our youth was the center of a townhall meeting on Tuesday. The Metro Drug Coalition hosted the meeting, joined by a panel of professionals. They discussed how to best support youth through navigating mental health, substance misuse prevention, and building community. How do you reduce risk factors and build resiliency in youth, mental health, and how do you recognize early signs and symptoms that a young person may be struggling with their mental health, and then, what can we do as a community to help build a resilient community? asked Karen Pershing with the MDC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cocke County woman collecting campers for displaced families after Helene flooding During the meeting, processionals from the MDC, Harmony Family Center, Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, and Centro Hispano spoke about how young people need a safe space, or person to turn to when it comes to navigating adolescence. Sometimes it may be the school counselor, it could be an SRO or school research officer. You know, they could come in all shapes and sizes you know, have a another role model that can spend some time with them, said Pershing. While not every child a role model, organizations, like 100 Black Men of Knoxville, are passionate about providing one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three East TN families waiting for refunds months after cancelling cabinet orders Getting a chance to be that example, and then spending time with them that we can and to support them when they are playing sports, said 100 Black Men of Knoxvilles Derrick Furlow Jr. But when we get them together with the mentees and then the mentors all together, I think its an environment where its a safe place to talk about some of those things. With juvenile crime, and substance misuse continuing to occur in our community, he said they hope to be a resource young people can turn to, to have those difficult conversations. If all goes well, then being in school with other mentees keeps them out of trouble, but also knowing that they are part of something bigger keeps them traditionally out of trouble as well, said Furlow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While resources like this one are available, the community is finding more ways to build a strong foundation for youth. See more top stories on WATE.com Just making sure that we create spaces for kids where they feel safe, said Pershing, but also a place for connection for kids. So, connecting with other youth but connecting with caring, loving adults that can help guide them and help build that resilience. And, until they get to the point where theyre able to do that for themselves Pershing also said supporting children in school, being aware of their social surroundings, and helping them build confidence can also be a start to raising resilient youth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. Canadian energy company Enbridge announced its plan to build a new solar project in Texas. This solar farm will be one of the largest in North America and plans to provide power to Toyota and other major companies, Electrek reported. The project, called Sequoia, will be an 815-megawatt solar farm, and it will cost a huge $1.1 billion, Electrek wrote. Enbridge has secured clients Toyota and AT&T through power purchase agreements (PPAs). As Engie explains, PPAs work when a large company like Toyota agrees to purchase energy from a provider for a set amount of time at a set cost. Which of these features would most effectively convince you to buy an EV? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind Toyota intends to significantly reduce its pollution from its manufacturing facilities by 2035, per its website. Off-site solar energy from Enbridge at this soon-to-be-built solar farm appears to be part of the company's aims to offset pollution from other operations through its purchase of clean energy, like solar power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many large companies talk about their commitment to sustainability, actions like Toyota's PPA with Enbridge is an example of actually walking the walk, even though there's always room for growth. For example, many vehicles that the company sells still use gas one of the dirty fuels primarily responsible for the overheating of the planet. However, the automaker has also invested in bringing more electric vehicles to market, which don't release harmful heat-trapping gases when driven. Ultimately, measures to move away from dirty energy including by powering facilities with solar will result in healthier air quality and ecosystems for important species like birds and other pollinators, which support our food supply. And supporting brands and companies that continue to prove their commitment to planet-friendly initiatives can move the needle in a positive direction. According to Electrek, the Sequoia project is expected to start producing power by 2025 and be at full capacity in 2026. Commenters on the Electrek article were mostly optimistic about this up-and-coming solar farm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "One year from decision to electrons. From investment to first returns. Remarkable. That, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons why solar and wind are now so competitive," one reader wrote. 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. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Tampa police are warning the community about a scam that targets people looking to use mobile payment methods in city parking lots. Fake QR code stickers have been spotted on payment stations in Ybor City parking lots. Scammers are trying to get people to scan them, which directs them to a fraudulent website where their personal information could be stolen. VIDEO: Wrong-way driver caught after fleeing Hillsborough deputies Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone who encounters suspicious QR codes or believes they may have scanned a fraudulent one is asked to report it immediately to the Tampa Police Departments non-emergency line at (813) 231-6130. During the holiday season, we see an increase in various scams targeting our community, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. We encourage everyone to stay vigilant and follow a few simple steps to protect themselves from scammers this time of year. The Tampa Police Departments Fraud Unit recommends the following tips to avoid falling victim to QR code or online shopping scams: Be Suspicious: Avoid scanning QR codes in unexpected locations, such as public walls, flyers, or over existing payment stations. Be cautious of fake sellers or websites that are only looking to steal your credit card information. Verify the URL: Always shop from trusted and verified retailers and double-check URLs to ensure youre on the official site. Malicious URLs often mimic legitimate ones but may contain typos or misplaced letters. Use Trusted App Stores: Avoid downloading apps via QR codes. Instead, use your phones app store to ensure a safe download. Avoid Payments via QR Codes: Whenever possible, manually enter the official URL for payment to ensure a secure transaction. Preview URLs: Most smartphones allow users to preview the destination URL before scanning a QR code. Use this feature to verify the site. Keep Software Updated: Regular updates for your smartphone and apps include security enhancements that help protect against scams. Report Scams: Victims of QR code fraud should report incidents to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) The new Trader Joes grocery store coming to the Grand Strand apparently will be built on land off Highway 544 in the SayeBrook development, according to Horry County records. The company confirmed to News13 in October that it was planning a new store but did not say where or provide a timeline for the project. The company has three South Carolina stores, located in Columbia, Greenville and Mount Pleasant, according to its website. SayeBrook is already home to several major retailers, including Target and Marshalls, and numerous other smaller stores and shops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An inspection checklist included in county records obtained by News13 contains multiple references to Trader Joes Shell and Sayebrook Parcel G-1. Other records also refer to Sayebrook Parcel G-1 and list the address as 115 SayeBrook Parkway. In addition, a commercial application for water and sewer service contained in the records lists the address as a grocery store. The countys zoning documents describe the project as a 13,000-square-foot retail structure with 134 parking spaces. The records list the property owner as MEPNJ Limited Partnership and the contractor as Tungsten LLC, both with Myrtle Beach addresses. News13 began asking Horry County officials for information about the project more than a month ago and did not receive the records until Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement * * * 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. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Federal charges have been filed against two former Missouri police officers accused of separate plots to steal nude photos from women's phones during traffic stops. Former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper David McKnight and former Florissant, Missouri police officer Julian Alcala were separately indicted this month on charges of destroying records in a federal investigation and deprivation of rights under color of law. Surely, our founding fathers never envisioned a world in which many people carried around tiny devices loaded with images of themselves in a state of nudity. But the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure adapts to the times. And without a doubt, a police officer surreptitiously searching someone's photos during a traffic stop and then seizing them for himself is quite unreasonable. Alcala Accused of Stealing Nudes From 20 Women Alcala is accused of illegally searching 20 women's phones in search of nudes in a period of just over three months. "Between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024. Alcala took possession of their cell phones under the auspices of confirming their insurance coverage or vehicle registration, searched the phones for nude pictures and then took photos of the pictures with his personal cell phone," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri alleges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The photos he took were later found in his personal iCloud account, prosecutors say. Alcala is also accused of texting himself a video from one woman's phone, then trying to delete a record of this text. On November 13, a grand jury indicted Alcala on one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and 20 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. But if nude images taken from these women were really found in his iCloud, it will be interesting to hear how he justifies this. ("I swear, your honor, nothing turns women on like being told their taillight is out?") Victims Come Forward J.C. Pleban, a lawyer for some of Alcala's alleged victims, talked to KSDK St. Louis. One of the women he's representing is Victim #1 in the federal indictment, which says Alcala sent himself a video from the woman's phone and deleted the text from her phone afterward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the woman could still see the text in her deleted messages, said her lawyer. "I think she just had a feeling that something was off," Pleban told KSDK. "Something wasn't right. This was taking way too long and when she checked her phone, she saw that [a video of her and her boyfriend] had been sent from her number to a number she didn't know at the exact time that she was pulled over," Pleban said. The woman reached out to the FBI after this, Pleban told KSDK. Some of the women whose images Alcala allegedly took pictures of weren't aware anything was up until they were contacted by the FBI. This was the case for a woman going by G.E.S., who is suing Alcala and the city of Florissant in federal court. The suit also accuses him of sharing her pics with others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The right to privacy is embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment and includes an individual's interest in avoiding disclosures of personal matters," states the lawsuit, filed in October. "The right to be free of an unreasonable search of unclothed photos on a cell phone by government actors, for no legitimate government purposeis so egregious that any reasonable officer would have realized that searching Plaintiff's phone for photos of herself unclothed would offend the Constitution," it states. McKnight Accused of Snooping on Nine Women McKnight was also indicted by a grand jury in November. He faces one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and nine counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. "Between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024, McKnight took cell phones from nine different women," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. "McKnight then searched the phones and used his personal cell phone to photograph nude pictures that he found," later deleting these images from his phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors allege that most of the phones were taken from women McKnight stopped for traffic violations and that he took possession of their phones under the guise of verifying their identities or confirming that they had insurance coverage. Over at Techdirt, Tim Cushing points out that these cases aren't the first we've heard of such behavior. "In July 2024, a female police officer was awarded a $1 million settlement after her fellow officers shared sexual content found on her phone during an internal fraud investigation," notes Cushing. "In October 2022, a police officer was indicted for using law enforcement database access to seek female targets to hack to obtain sexually explicit photos and videos. In October 2014, a bunch of California Highway Patrol officers were caught sharing explicit photos harvested from the phones of female arrestees." More Sex & Tech News A Texas lawmaker is trying to classify the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances. The Texas Tribune explores how this has played out in Louisiana, which classified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances earlier this year. Another parent has been falsely accused of sex trafficking by staff at Southwest Airlines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Federal Trade Commission's latest attempt to pin an antitrust case on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will go to trial in April 2025. Tech "talent-poaching has become a crucial front in the battle between China and the West," reports The Wall Street Journal. "As Western governments make it harder for China to access sensitive technologiesa trend expected to continue under the administration of President-elect Donald Trumpmany Chinese companies are trying to get ahead by luring away top engineers in areas such as advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals won't revisit Ghislaine Maxwell's case with a full panel of judges, after a three-judge panel in September affirmed her sex trafficking conviction. Maxwell was convicted of helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse and exploit teen girls and sentenced to 20 years in prison. "Maxwell, 62, plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court," according to Reuters. The post Traffic Cops Who Snooped Sexy Selfies Face Federal Charges appeared first on Reason.com. About the case: Linger, a performance artist and livestreamer, came out as transgender in 2021. However, her parents, adhering to traditional beliefs, could not accept her gender identity. Believing she was mentally unstable, they admitted her to Qinhuangdao City Fifth Hospital in July 2022. Linger was forcibly hospitalized for 97 days, stripped of her phone and diagnosed with anxiety disorder and discordant sexual orientation. Despite not consenting, she was subjected to seven electroshock therapy sessions. The treatments caused Linger to faint repeatedly and she now suffers from heart problems requiring medication. It caused serious damage to my body, she told The Guardian. The hospital tried to correct me to make me conform to societys expectations. Linger filed her lawsuit in August 2024, arguing that the treatments violated her personal rights. While Chinese law allows forced psychiatric treatment only when patients pose a risk to themselves or others, the hospital justified their actions by citing a potential threat to her parents emotional well-being. The court ultimately ruled in Lingers favor. I remember a friends dismay after her dream to join the Marines was squashed because she had asthma. There are many stories of Americans being disqualified to serve because of seemingly negligible conditions. But as the daughter of a Vietnam-era Army captain, I know the strict criteria are crucial for military lethality. This is why the Biden administrations removal of restrictions on the admission of transgender-identifying soldiers to the military, many of whom receive invasive sex change surgeries and hormones at taxpayer expense, was a slap in the face to otherwise able-bodied rejects of the US armed forces. Incoming president and commander-in-chief Donald Trumps reported plan to revisit Bidens rules is consistent with the militarys central mission of deterring and winning wars. It is outrageous enough for millions of Americans that they are forced to subsidise gender ideology. The Pentagon spent $15 million between 2016 and 2021 to treat 1,892 transgender troops, including $11.5 million for psychotherapy and $3.1 million for 243 surgeries, according to Defense Department data provided to Military.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what adds insult to injury is that the government calls bad eyesight or hearing loss a liability but denies that there is any potential problem with enlisting a gender-confused person who may become a permanent patient of the medical industry if they medically transition. This double-standard is discriminatory, as well as illogical. America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive, a 2021 White House press release from President Biden read. The military is no exception. Medical care In practice, a gender-inclusive military is a weaker one. People who require frequent medical care are ineligible to join the military. By this logic, transgender people who have begun medicalisation should also be barred. There is plenty of evidence to justify such an approach. A 2019 scientific study found that trans-identifying men who received hormones as part of their transition had an observable loss of bone density and signs of osteoporosis of the lumbar spine and distal arm. A UK-based male detransitioner in his mid-30s named Ritchie Herron told me that oestrogen injections caused his hips to degenerate to the age of an 80 year-old, as well as causing autoimmune and geriatric issues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A 2022 scientific study, meanwhile, determined that the use of oestrogen for trans-identifying men seems to confer an increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. In those men, brain tumours were the most frequently reported adverse reaction followed by heart issues. These are only the hormone-induced side effects for men, who compose the majority of trans-identifying individuals on active duty. Complications from the reconstruction of the penis into a vagina happen at rates ranging from 20 to 70 per cent, according to multiple studies. Men and women who transition commit themselves to lifelong follow-up appointments because of these intrusive procedures. The frequent medical regimen of hormones and other pharmaceuticals surely makes them less likely to be deployable at sudden notice, a key facet of military readiness and power projection. Besides the physical risks, the elephant in the room is mental illness. While activist groups have tried to destigmatise gender dysphoria as a reality to always be affirmed, other medics contend that it is a delusion to believe you were born in the wrong body. Rather than address the root cause of any psychological distress, activist doctors and therapists have been accused of allowing ideology to take precedence over appropriate medical and psychological treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is not discriminatory to expect that transgender people who want to enlist should be mentally and physically fit to serve. Military service is inherently stressful, particularly in combat situations. Any policy should be based on medical and scientific data, rather than gender dogma. Gender ideology is a distraction from the militarys primary function to protect and defend the homeland from foreign enemies. Trump would be wise to confront it. Caroline Downey is a staff writer at National Review and visiting fellow at the Independent Womens Forum 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 cross-country storm is bringing a blast of arctic air, rain and possible snow Wednesday to parts of northern Central Indiana. Cold, icy weather around the rest of the country could additionally threaten to snarl traffic and pile up delays at several airports through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, one of the busiest travel periods. "Travel disruptions are possible with this system as it moves steadily eastward during the busy Wednesday & Thursday travel rush," the National Weather Service said in a Tuesday afternoon forecast update. Here's what we know about Central Indiana's weather forecast as of Wednesday. Snow and rain could impact Thanksgiving travel in Indiana Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis say rain and a mix of snow accumulation are expected Wednesday night for the upper region of Central Indiana, which could potentially cause slick surfaces on some roads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Single digit wind chills, according to a hazardous weather outlook, could freeze Hoosiers Friday night into the weekend. Rain is expected in Central Indiana this afternoon. Snow may mix with the rain this evening and overnight across northern parts. Most accumulations will be less than one inch, but an isolated higher amount can't be ruled out. Any accumulations will cause slippery surfaces. #INwx pic.twitter.com/Oj3GPz382h NWS Indianapolis (@NWSIndianapolis) November 27, 2024 Andrew White, a meteorologist for NWS in Central Indiana, said the wet and snowy weather is expected further north of the Indianapolis metro area. "We're going to have rain moving in this afternoon, but the heaviest and most widespread rain won't arrive until Wednesday evening," White said. "There could be some potentially heavier bands of snow, but again, we're really expecting that to be more north of Indianapolis with pretty minor impacts here." Live weather radar for Central Indiana Snow could fall at rates as 2-3 inches per hour in some parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes area Across the Midwest and Great Lakes, communities could see multiple feet of snow pile up. In some parts of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and western New York, snow could fall at rates as high as 2 to 3 inches per hour, with the heaviest bands dropping visibility near zero, creating a hazard. Will heavy snow impact Indianapolis, Indiana? White doesn't believe the Indianapolis area will experience heavy snowfall, at least not the multiple feet expected in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meteorologists believe new snow accumulation of less than half of an inch is possible for parts of Central Indiana Wednesday night into Thursday morning. White cautioned those traveling north of Indianapolis this weekend, however, should be mindful of potentially snowier, icier road conditions. "In Indianapolis, specifically, most of this is not going to stick to the ground," White said. "But for people traveling further north, there's going to be some lake effect snow as you get into Michigan." A record number of people are traveling for Thanksgiving Some 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from their homes for Thanksgiving from Tuesday to Monday, according to the American Automobile Association. That represents an increase of 1.7 million over last year and 2 million more than in 2019. Story with Thanksgiving forecast continues after photo gallery. What is the Thanksgiving forecast near me? For those living in Central Indiana, Thanksgiving will be cold and white from potential snowfall. Highs Thursday are expected to be in the low 40s with lows in the mid 20s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White said wind chills Friday morning could be down into the low teens and get much colder into the weekend. Weather forecast for Indianapolis, Indiana, per NWS Forecasters on social media Wednesday said cold air will arrive across Indiana after Thanksgiving. Near zero wind chills are expected by Monday when many Hoosiers will return to work and school. Here's a look at the seven-day weather forecast for Central Indiana: Wednesday: Rain likely, mainly after 4 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 46. South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Wednesday night: Rain before 1 a.m., then rain and snow likely. Low around 33. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thursday, Thanksgiving Day: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 43. North northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Thursday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. West northwest wind around 7 mph. Cold air will arrive early Friday morning. The cold will persist into next week, when many return to work and school. With the near zero wind chills at times during this period, be sure to be thinking about your friends/family that may need to find a warm space. #inwx pic.twitter.com/f5YyJRTXOT NWS Indianapolis (@NWSIndianapolis) November 26, 2024 Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. West wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Friday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 17. West wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Saturday night: A 30 percent chance of snow before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. West wind around 6 mph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 28. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 15. West wind 5 to 7 mph. Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 17. Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. How drivers can prepare for bad winter weather in Indiana Cars drive through snow and on icy roads in the late hours on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2022 in Indianapolis. A winter storm with negative temperatures threatens holiday travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Staying safe on Indiana's roads during a winter storm can depend largely on how well you're prepared. The Indiana Department of Transportation offers these tips: Knowledge : Before leaving home, find out about the driving conditions. Safe drivers know the weather, and their limits. If the weather is bad remember, "ice and snow, take it slow," or just dont go. Clear : Remove any snow on your vehicles windows, lights, brake lights and signals. Make sure you can see and be seen. Inspect : Check your vehicles tires, wiper blades, fluids, lights, belts and hoses. A breakdown is bad on a good day and dangerous on a bad-weather day. Time : Leave plenty of time to reach your destination safely. Its not worth putting yourself and others in a dangerous situation just to be on time. Kit: Keep a basic winter survival kit in your vehicle, including a flashlight, batteries, blanket, snacks, water, gloves, boots, and a first-aid kit. Load your car with winter travel gear, including tire chains, ice scraper/snowbrush, jumper cables and road flares. How to drive on icy roads during Thanksgiving travel The simplest advice for driving on snowy, icy roads is this: don't. Even for seasoned motorists, driving in snow or ice can be dangerous and deadly. According to Kelley Blue Book, a study by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found snow-covered roads, and roads coated with ice, slush or water account for nearly 500,000 vehicle crashes and more than 2,000 road deaths yearly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you have to drive in icy weather, go slow and drive gently. Car And Driver Magazine recommends operating the steering wheel, accelerator and brakes as smoothly as possible. Slamming on the brakes or gas pedal could put you into a dangerous spin. For more winter weather driving tips, visit INDOT online. Staying home on Thanksgiving?: What about second binge watch? How to stream all 'Lord of the Rings' movies for the holidays. USA TODAY network journalists contributed to this article. John Tufts covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana's Thanksgiving travel weather forecast is looking cold, snowy DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A popular Grammy-winning country artist is coming to perform at The Great Darke County Fair in 2025. The Fair announced in a video Friday morning that Travis Tritt will headline a concert at the fair at 8 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2025. Tritt is best known for songs like Its a Great Day to Be Alive, Heres a Quarter, Help Me Hold On and more, according to Apple Music. Tickets for Tritts performance will go on sale here at 8 a.m. on Dec. 2. Our partners at the Greenville Daily Advocate reported the ticket price will range from $35 to $50. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The prosecution of an 86-year-old White man charged in the April 2023 shooting of a Black teenager in Kansas City, Missouri, is set to proceed, a judge said Tuesday. The decision comes after Clay County Circuit Court Judge David Chamberlain ordered a mental health evaluation of the defendant, Andrew Lester, court records show. The results of the evaluation to determine Lesters mental fitness were not made available to the public. Lesters lawyer, Steve Salmon, filed a motion to request a mental health exam in September, citing his clients weight loss, memory issues and confusion, according to CNN affiliate KMBC. CNN has reached out to Salmon for further information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lester was charged with one count of felony assault in the first degree and one count of armed criminal action in the shooting of Ralph Yarl a now-17-year-old who mistakenly went to Lesters home to pick up his younger siblings. Lester has pleaded not guilty. After ringing Lesters doorbell, Yarl was shot in the head and arm. He survived with serious injuries and the possibility of long-term brain issues, according to a civil lawsuit. The shooting, which has garnered national attention, has raised scrutiny of whether racism played a role in what happened. The case is among the many involving young Black people who have been shot or killed after mistakenly going to the wrong places. Lester was detained the night of the shooting but released two hours later. After a public outcry, he was arrested and charged nearly a week later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lester told police he opened fire through a locked glass storm door after answering the doorbell and seeing Yarl pulling on an exterior door handle, according to the probable cause document obtained by CNN. He also told police he didnt exchange words with the teen before he fired, according to the document. Lester said he was scared to death due to the boys size, according to court documents. The teens family said Yarl stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. Yarl said he never pulled on Lesters door, according to the document. He said he rang the doorbell and waited a while before a man eventually opened the door and immediately shot him in the head. While he was still on the ground, Yarl told police, the gunman fired again and shot him in the arm. Lesters trial, which was initially set for October 7, is scheduled to begin on February 18, 2025, according to court documents. CNNs Holly Yan, Andy Rose, Virginia Langmaid, Eric Levenson and Chris Boyette contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Ebenezer Scrooge is returning to the stage in Trinity Repertorys annual production of A Christmas Carol. But this year, the beloved play is heading down the street to the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) as Trinity Rep prepares to undertake major renovations to their historic theater. (Courtesy: Laura Weick) One of the goals is to increase accessibility. That starts with replacing their elevator, which only reaches three of the five floors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You bring grandma to A Christmas Carol and she needs to use an elevator to get the seats, but the elevator only goes to this level, so we cant sell seats in the upper level to families, Artistic Director Curt Columbus told 12 News. Community Focus: Trinity Reps Curt Columbus Executive Director Katie Liberman told 12 News the new elevator will give actors better access to their dressing rooms and allow the company to expand the programs and classes they offer. There are two beautiful studios in the front of the building that cannot be accessed by elevator right now, Liberman explained. In fact, if you asked people to take the stairs, they would never find their way back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The building on Washington Street was built in 1971 as the Emery Majestic Theater, and Trinity Rep moved in two years later. Columbus said that while the building has served them well, the lack of mobility has gotten in the way of serving the community. Trinity Rep has a whole host of programs for people on the autism spectrum, has a whole host of programs for people with disabilities, and these programs have developed over the past 12 years, Columbus said. (Courtesy: Laura Weick) The buildings 600-seat Chace Theater is also getting an upgrade. According to Liberman, the theater will get new seats, a new stage, and a new state-of-the-art lighting grid. It transforms the talent that we can attract, Liberman added. That will be a huge benefit to all Rhode Islanders as they come and get to see plays with the top talent across the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps the biggest change will be a 12,000 square-foot expansion on the Adrian Way side. The directors said it will transform the alleyway into a public plaza, complete with better lighting, an expanded skate park and safe pedestrian access. This kind of transformation will be a symbol of our commitment to cultural spaces, to conversations, to what I consider to be the real democratic impulse where you have art making as a fabric of the community, Columbus said. BACKGROUND: Skateboarders clash with Trinity Repertory over proposed theater expansion (Courtesy: Laura Weick) The entire project is estimated to cost $35 million. The company said theyve made major gains in their fundraising efforts, but they werent ready to announce how much they have raised. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trinity Rep hopes the renovations will turn the building into more than just a theater. We want to make more space for people to hang out, to have conversations, to buy a cup of coffee and sit and be on their computer, Columbus said. A place you come for class or a community event, or a place you come to hang out or take a seat for a little while, Liberman added. We are excited to serve our community in that new way. (Courtesy: Laura Weick) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trinity said construction is expected to start early next year. They hope the project will be complete in time for their fall 2026 season. Tickets for A Christmas Carol at PPAC are still available throughout December. A Christmas Carol: Schedule and tickets Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Donald Trump's adviser Boris Epshteyn was investigated by Donald Trump's legal team after allegations he requested payment from prospective appointees to promote them to the president-elect, according to USA TODAY reports. Epshteyn, a longtime Trump loyalist, denied the claims. Ephsteyn is currently under criminal indictment in Arizona with other Trump allies, accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election using so-called fake electors. Advertisement Advertisement Here's a look at Epshteyn's many connections to the state, dating to 2008, as he faces a new investigation by the incoming Trump administration. Reports: Epshteyn asked for payment to make recommendations to former president The investigation by the Trump team centered on allegations that Epshteyn requested payment for promoting candidates for top-level positions in the new administration, as was first reported by CNN and the Washington Post. One of those alleged requests, dating back to February, involved Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager selected as Trump's pick for secretary of the Treasury last week, according to USA TODAY. Epshteyn reportedly wanted a monthly stipend of $30,000 to recommend Bessent at Trump's Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida. Trump team and Epshteyn respond to allegations "As is standard practice, a board review of the campaign's consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others," wrote Steve Cheung, spokesperson for Trump's transition. Advertisement Advertisement "We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again," added Cheung, who did not provide a timeline when results of the investigation would be made public. In a written statement to The Arizona Republic, Epshteyn denied the charges and recommitted his loyalty to Trump. "I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team. These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again," wrote Epshteyn. Epshteyn has been associated with Trump for nearly 10 years Epshteyn started work for Trump during the president's first term in 2016, serving as the director of communication for the inauguration committee, then held numerous assistant roles in 2017, according to Republic reports. Advertisement Advertisement He later was a strategic adviser to Trump's reelection campaign from June 2020 to January 2021. Epshteyn was indicted in Arizona's 'fake elector' case Epshteyn was indicted in connection with the scheme to keep Trump in the White House by falsely certifying he won the state in 2020. A grand jury indicted the defendants, 11 Arizona Republicans the fake electors and seven top Trump aides, in April. The president-elect's political committee paid $50,000 to an Arizona law firm that represented Epshteyn. Save America PAC gave the Phoenix law firm Tully Bailey LLP two payments $40,000 and $10,000 for legal consulting in May, according to the committees Federal Election Commission filing. The payments first were reported by NBC News. Advertisement Advertisement It was not clear if the payments made to the PAC directly benefited Epshteyn. He pleaded not guilty to charges in June. Other ties to Arizona include John McCain In 2008, Epshteyn started his career in Republican politics as part of Sen. John McCain's last presidential run, where he served as a communication aide. He wrote about the importance of truth in the United States after McCain died in 2018. "John McCains life, and later death are a reminder of a truth that we all should remember: love for ones country and selfless sacrifice for the good of the American people are a universal language," he wrote in an opinion column. Epshteyn's trouble in Scottsdale In 2014, Epshteyn was accused of punching a man in the nose at a Scottsdale club. The fight led to a plea deal in which Epshteyn was not allowed to contact the victim or return to the venue. He had to pay court fees and complete 25 hours of community service. Advertisement Advertisement In 2021, Epshteyn was accused of assaulting two women at another Scottsdale venue. Epshteyn was charged with assault touching, attempted sexual abuse, harassment-repeated acts and disorderly conduct-disruptive behavior or fighting. Epshteyn pleaded guilty in Scottsdale City Court to disorderly conduct and served probation. The other three charges were dismissed. Arizona Republic reporter Stephanie Murray and USA TODAY contributed to this article. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Boris Epshteyn, accused of seeking cash from job seekers, has AZ ties The human printer who has quickly risen the ranks in Donald Trumps campaign has been writing him adoring letters, according to a new report by The New York Times . Though aide Natalie Harp has no official title, she controls all the information the president-elect receives, according to The Times. She travels with a portable printer to give Trump a hard copy of favorable coverage, as he prefers, which earned her the nickname. Now, Harp, 33, is under renewed scrutiny for a series of letters she wrote to Trump in 2023, which were shown to The Times and confirmed by two other sources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You are all that matters to me, Harp wrote in one letter. I dont ever want to let you down, she continued, thanking Trump for being her Guardian and Protector in this Life. In another letter, Harp told Trump she wanted to bring back that synergy they used to have, where wed talk about everything and nothing. I want to bring you joy to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk work, she wrote. Harp first caught Trumps attention during an appearance on Fox News in 2019. She credited the Right to Try law, which Trump signed in 2018, with saving her life by allowing her to use experimental treatments for her bone cancer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was seen in the Tucker Carlson-produced documentary about Trumps campaign writing up his Truth Social posts. For his part, Trump calls Harp sweetie and treats her like a daughter, according to The Times. He has reportedly told his staff that he felt like Harp was the only aide who truly cared about him after his arraignment in Georgia in 2023. After the report published on Monday, Trump took to Truth Social to criticize the journalist, Maggie Haberman, and call the story phony junk. A Texas judge has denied an attempt by the state's top law enforcement official to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from destroying records related to his cases against President-elect Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported. In a complaint filed earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, to order Smith to preserve all records and communications from his cases against Trump, which he fears will never see daylight. Paxton previously sought various records from Smiths investigations under the Freedom of Information Act. In the complaint, he cited photos of a paper shredding truck parked outside the Department of Justice as proof that Smith planned to destroy the records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In order to ensure that he will be able to vindicate his rights under FOIA, Attorney General Ken Paxton seeks an order from this Court that Defendants preserve all of Jack Smiths records or, at a minimum, all records that Paxton has requested in his FOIA request," the complaint reads. Kacsmaryk denied Paxtons request on Monday, calling his reasoning and demand unserious. The same judge has previously sided with Trump's allies on numerous occasions, as when he sided with anti-choice activists in seeking to limit access to abortion drugs, a decision that was reversed by the Supreme Court. Defendants could shred paper for many legitimate reasons, and Plaintiffs have proffered nothing to suggest more nefarious intentions, Kacsmaryk wrote in a four page order. Earlier this week, Smith filed motions to drop all federal charges against Trump related to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the leadup to Jan. 6 as well the mishandling of classified documents. Smith cited a longstanding DOJ policy that sitting presidents cannot be criminally charged, which would apply when Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025. Both of Smiths requests for dismissal were approved, terminating all active federal criminal cases against Trump. Multiple Cabinet nominees for President-elect Donald Trump were reportedly the targets of bomb threats and swatting attempts, according to Trumps transition team. Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday that several of Trumps Cabinet nominees were threatened on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Along with bomb threats, Leavitt said some nominees were swatted, which is the act of calling law enforcement on a persons home over a fake threat. In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted, Leavitt said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though Leavitt did not specify who was targeted, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who has been picked to be Trumps U.N. ambassador, said she was informed of a bomb threat against her residence. This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, a statement from Stefaniks office said. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. U.S. Capitol Police shared a statement with HuffPost about the threat. Anytime a Member of Congress is the victim of a swatting incident, we work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners, the statement said. To protect ongoing investigations and to minimize the risk of copy-cats, we cannot provide more details at this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Howard Lutnick, Trumps pick for commerce secretary, reportedly had his Upper East Side home in Manhattan targeted with a bomb threat. And Lee Zeldin, Trumps pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, had his home targeted as well. Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor and Trumps defense secretary pick, also had his home targeted, The Guardian reported. In a statement, the FBI said it was aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. Related... Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Keith Kellogg was appointed Wednesday as a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. He served during the first Trump administration as chief of staff of the National Security Council. President-elect Donald Trump said on social media Kellogg's appointment will secure "PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH." The 80-year-old Kellogg is a retired Lt. General and served as a national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement European allies are worried that Trump will pressure Ukraine to give up territory occupied by Russia and that the United States will not provide enough military aid and security guarantees to Ukraine in its battle to expel the Russian invaders. Kellogg, in a foreign policy role at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, has been skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine in its war of self-defense against Russia. Kellogg and former national security aide Fred Fleitz revealed a policy plan that would make ongoing U.S. aide to Ukraine conditional on participation in peace talks with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown little interest in real peace talks since he ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukraine sovereign territory and has never publicly offered to withdraw the troops in exchange for any peace deal. With Republicans in control of the Senate next year, Kellogg is not expected to face any significant opposition from the GOP. (NewsNation) Several people who have been nominated for Cabinet positions in President-elect Donald Trumps upcoming administration have reportedly been targeted in violent, unamerican threats to their lives and those of their family members, Trumps transition team said Wednesday. The threats were reportedly made Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a Trump transition team spokesperson said. The attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting. President Trump and the Transition (team) are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future, the spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris campaign is self-congratulatory: DNC committee member In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted, Leavitt said. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the FBI said it is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents involving incoming Trump nominees and appointees and said it is working with local law enforcement as part of its investigation. We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement, the FBI statement said. What appointees have been targeted In a social media post on Wednesday, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, R-New York, wrote that they received word Thursday morning that their New York residence was the target of a bomb threat. Stefanik, Trumps pick for UN Ambassador, wrote that she, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving from Washington to New York when they were informed of the threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said that New York State Police and other law enforcement along with the U.S. Capitol Police, responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7, Stefanik wrote. We want to share our best wishes to the Update NY community for a happy and safe Thanksgiving. We are especially grateful to our law enforcement officers and military families are are on duty over the holidays. The Okaloosa County, Florida Sheriffs Office reported that it received notification of a bomb threat in a mailbox at former Congressman Matt Gaetzs home on Wednesday morning. A family member resides at the home, which is located in Niceville, but said that Gaetz is not a resident. Local deputies said that the mailbox was cleared and no devices were located. Police also said they found nothing in the immediate area around the mailbox. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge tosses suit to block trans athlete from NCAA womens tourney Brooke Rollins, who has been nominated as Trumps agriculture secretary, wrote on social media that she learned that her home and family had been threatened on Wednesday morning. Rollins credited Fort Worth, Texas police for its swift action and said that no one was harmed. Rollins joined the former presidents Economic Advisory Council in 2016 and currently serves as the president and CEO of America First Policy Institute, a think-tank for the former president manned by previous staffers. I want to express my deep gratitude to the law-enforcement professionals who did their utmost, in both speed and expertise, to protect us as they protect our community every single day, Rollins wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A New York City residence belonging to Howard Lutnick, Trumps nominee for commerce secretary, was also reported to be targeted, New York City Police said on Wednesday. Police said they responded to a 911 call just after 8 a.m. ET after someone told police that an email was sent to a third party indicating that terroristic threats were made to residence. Americans approve of Trumps Cabinet picks A recent 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. Leavitt did not say how many Cabinet nominees had been targeted or which of those people nominated for spots in Trumps admininstration reportedly received threats. This is a developing story. Refresh for updates Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. Violent threats were made against several of President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet nominees and administration appointees on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to a transition team press release and statements from federal and local law enforcement. The Trump-Vance transition team issued a press release Wednesday morning claiming that law enforcement quickly reacted to the violent, unAmerican threats, ranging from bomb threats to swatting making misleading calls to law enforcement so they arrive at a particular address. President Trump and the Transition are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us, said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman and the incoming White House press secretary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement saying the agency is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents against members of the incoming presidential administration. While Leavitt did not specify which cabinet picks had been targeted, multiple nominees revealed shortly after the announcement that there had been threats made against them on Tuesday and Wednesday. New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trumps choice for United Nations ambassador, released a statement saying a bomb threat was made to her New York State residence on Wednesday morning, spurring a response from state, county and U.S. Capitol police. Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trumps nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency who is Jewish, issued a statement saying a pipe bomb threat was made against his family on Monday with a pro-Palestinian themed message. Zeldins family was not home at the time, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brooke Rollins, Trumps pick for Agriculture Department secretary, said a threat was made against her home and family on Wednesday morning, requiring a response by her local police department. Prior to the Trump teams announcement, Melanie Zanona, of Punchbowl News, reported that a bomb squad was responding to a pipe bomb threat at the home of former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was Trumps short-lived nominee for attorney general until he withdrew his nomination last week. Several of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks and administration appointees were the targets of "violent" threats Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday. "These attacks ranged from bomb threats to 'swatting,'" Leavitt said. "In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action." MORE: Tracking Trump's picks to serve in his Cabinet, administration PHOTO: Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Trump adviser Jason Miller arrive at the criminal trial of former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trum at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, May 29, 2024. (Doug Mills/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The office of Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to the U.N., New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, said in a post on X that she was one of those targeted. PHOTO: Rep. Elise Stefanik is seated before President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP) "This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism," the statement said, before going on to thank action from law enforcement officers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI said it was taking the threats "seriously." "The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement," the agency said in a statement. PHOTO: Brooke Rollins, AFPI President & CEO, arrives to speak at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit in Washington, July 26, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Brooke Rollins, Trumps pick for agriculture secretary, said she was the target of a threat Wednesday morning. "This morning, we learned that a threat was issued against our home and family. Thanks to the swift efforts by the @fortworthpd, we were unharmed and quickly returned home. I want to express my deep gratitude to the law-enforcement professionals who did their utmost, in both speed and expertise, to protect us as they protect our community every single day," she said in a statement. PHOTO: New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Congressman Lee Zeldin address supporters gathered for his election night event in New York City, Nov. 9, 2022. (Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lee Zeldin, the former congressman Trump has tapped to lead the EPA, said he also was targeted Wednesday. A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,' he said in a statement. "My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure. PHOTO: Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Trump adviser Jason Miller arrive at the criminal trial of former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trum at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, May 29, 2024. (Doug Mills/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, said he was also the target of a bomb threat. This morning, a police officer arrived at our homewhere our seven children were still sleeping," Hegseth said on X. "The officer notified my wife and I that they had received a credible pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family. We are all safe and the threat has been cleared. We want to thank law enforcement for their professionalism and bravery." ABC News' Jack Date contributed to this report. Trump Cabinet picks, appointees targets of bomb threats and swatting, spokesperson says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Several of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet and administration picks said they were targeted by bomb threats and swatting calls Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. "Law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday in a prepared statement. "President Trump and the entire transition team are grateful for their swift action." Swatting refers to someone calling to falsely report an incident to spur a potentially violent police reaction to a specific address or location while targeting an individual or group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leavitt said several of Trump's Cabinet nominees and administrative appointees were "targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them." Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Brooke Rollins, Howard Lutnick and Lee Zeldin said they were targeted and reported the threats to law enforcement. Stefanik is Trump's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations and received a bomb threat to her home in New York. "This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband and their 3-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence," Stefanik's office said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State, local and U.S. Capitol Police responded to the threat. Lutnick is Trump's pick for secretary of Commerce and was targeted with a bomb threat at his home that was phoned to 911, the New York Police Department said. Zeldin and his family were targeted by a pipe bomb threat at their home that included a pro-Palestinian message. Zeldin in a post on X said he and his family were not at home when the threat was made and reported it to law enforcement. He is a former congressman and is Trump's choice for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Rollins, likewise, said her home and family were targeted by a threat and is Trump's nominee for secretary of secretary of Agriculture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI is helping law enforcement investigate "numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees," the FBI said Wednesday in a statement. "We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement," the FBI statement said. President Joe Biden was notified of the bomb threats and swatting calls. Members of President-elect Donald Trumps intended cabinet and administration have become the targets of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents in the past day, according to the FBI. Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them, the Trump administrations incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Wednesday statement. [They] ranged from bomb threats to swatting. In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire transition team are grateful for their swift action. With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us, she continued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI echoed Leavitts comments in a statement of its own on Wednesday morning: The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with out law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. FBI Statement Regarding Threats to Nominees and Appointees https://t.co/PNbmuHjrrl pic.twitter.com/tenOKMeupW FBI (@FBI) November 27, 2024 Trump famously survived at least two assassination attempts already this year while campaigning to become the 47th president. While neither the authorities nor Trumps team identified any of the reported targets, Rep. Elise Stefaniks office issued a statement that her family was among the near victims (she is Trumps pick to be Ambassador to the United Nations). This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, her office wrote. New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. Office of Chairwoman Stefanik released the following statement: This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 27, 2024 We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7. We want to share our best wishes to the Upstate NY community for a happy and safe Thanksgiving, they continued. We are especially grateful to our law enforcement officers and military families who are on duty over the holiday season. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After news of the threats broke, Trump selected retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg as his pick to be Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Pick. The post Trumps Cabinet Picks Targeted by Numerous Bomb Threats and Swatting Incidents, FBI Investigating appeared first on TheWrap. For 126 years, U.S. courts have recognized children born in this country as American citizens. President-elect Donald Trump plans to overturn that understanding by issuing an executive order on his first day in office. That order, Trump claims, will "end automatic citizenship for children of illegal aliens." But the president cannot do that on his own, and any such order is bound to provoke a constitutional argument that Trump cannot win. The 14th Amendment says "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" are "citizens of the United States." But "under the correct interpretation of the law," Trump argues, birthright citizenship does not apply to the children of unauthorized U.S. residents because they are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's interpretation of that phrase contradicts the definition that the U.S. Supreme Court embraced in 1898. That case involved a Chinese cook, Wong Kim Ark, who was born and raised in San Francisco but was denied reentry when he returned to the United States after visiting China on the grounds that he was not a U.S. citizen. Ruling in Wong's favor, the Supreme Court held that people are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States when they are bound to obey its laws. The majority reached that conclusion after considering British common law, colonial legislation, judicial rulings in England and America, and the debate preceding the 1868 ratification of the 14th Amendment. Based on that history, the Court said, "children of diplomatic representatives" and "children of alien enemies in hostile occupation" are not U.S. citizens. It made an additional exception, which no longer applies, for children born to "members of the Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes." Otherwise, the Court said, people born in the United States automatically qualify as U.S. citizens. That principle, the justices emphasized, predated the 14th Amendment, which aimed to ensure that it applied to black people as well Americans of European descent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "To hold that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution excludes from citizenship the children born in the United States of citizens or subjects of other countries," the Court noted, "would be to deny citizenship to thousands of persons of English, Scotch, Irish, German, or other European parentage, who have always been considered and treated as citizens of the United States." To avoid that implication, the German-Scottish president-elect asserts a constitutional distinction between the children of legal immigrants and "the children of illegal aliens." That distinction is ahistorical. "Congress did not generally restrict migration until well after adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment," James Ho, whom Trump appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in 2017 and considered as a potential Supreme Court nominee, noted in a 2006 law journal article. "Nothing in text or history suggests that the drafters [of the 14th Amendment] intended to draw distinctions between different categories of aliens," Ho wrote. "To the contrary, text and history confirm that the Citizenship Clause reaches all persons who are subject to U.S. jurisdiction and laws, regardless of race or alienage." Trump himself assumes that people who cross the border illegally or remain in the United States after their visas have expired are "subject to U.S. jurisdiction and laws." Otherwise, it would make no sense to describe them as "illegal aliens." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1982, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the distinction that Trump perceives. As Ho noted, "all nine justices agreed" that the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection, which applies to "any person within [a state's] jurisdiction," "protects legal and illegal aliens alike." During his first term, Trump also threatened to restrict birthright citizenship by presidential edict. Tellingly, he never issued such an order. "People born in the U.S. are citizens, regardless of the citizenship of their parents," South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman noted in 2018. "An executive order by President Trump cannot erase the original meaning of the Constitution." Copyright 2024 by Creators Syndicate Inc. The post Trump Cannot Restrict Birthright Citizenship by Presidential Edict appeared first on Reason.com. Before he is sworn in as president on January 20, Donald Trump will likely walk through the same tunnel where a mob of hundreds of his supporters, wearing hats bearing his slogan, bore down on police for three hours with their fists, pepper spray, stolen police shields and flag poles with the American flag twisted around them. Some of the worst violence on January 6, filmed on hundreds of devices and livestreamed to millions of people, was captured in that tunnel, where Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone was pulled to the ground by his neck, tased and beaten, while rioters yelled kill him with his own gun. He had a heart attack and fell unconscious. The violence in and around the Capitol that day was fueled by a false, ongoing narrative that the 2020 election was rigged against and stolen from Trump, who is accused of enabling a mob that set out to do what he failed to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On November 25, the Department of Justice special counsel who led two sprawling criminal investigations against the former president filed motions to dismiss them both, effectively throwing in the towel after a years-long attempt to prosecute Trump for 44 crimes, spelled out in hundreds of pages of evidence. Neither case made it to trial. Jack Smiths decision to end two federal criminal cases against Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss and for withholding thousands of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound was inevitable. After months of delays, appeals and Supreme Court decisions that gave Trump exactly what he wanted, the cases were ultimately upended by Trumps victory against Kamala Harris, throwing the courts and the Justice Department into unprecedented territory. Can they prosecute a sitting president? No, according to the agencys counsel. So thats that. Trump appointed his criminal defense attorneys Todd Blanche, right, and Emil Bove, to top roles at the Justice Department (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Despite Trumps public attempts to influence officials to overturn election results, impeachment hearings, congressional investigations, and real-time footage of the attack and Trumps response, followed by hundreds of court filings that thread them all together, Trump has escaped any criminal consequences for his actions surrounding the 2020 election and its aftermath. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, Trumps allies are planning how to execute his campaign of retribution against the prosecutors, judges and elected officials who put him in the crosshairs. No one should be above the law, said former US Capitol Police officer Aquilino Gonell, who testified to the House committee investigating January 6 about the extent of injuries he experienced during the attack. Ending the case against Trump will only embolden him to fulfill his promise to pardon hundreds of January 6 defendants, he said. The Oversight Project the Heritage Foundations venture against weaponization of the federal government is planning model indictments for the prosecutors who spearheaded investigations and indictments into the former president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning, the group wrote in a statement following Smiths motions, quoting Winston Churchill. Jack Smith and his team must be held accountable for their unprecedented lawfare. We are preparing a model indictment. Trump at his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court in April 2023 (Getty Images) Trump could also avoid any potential future investigations by simply pardoning himself, according to Heritage Foundation senior legal fellows and former federal prosecutors Zack Smith and Charles Stimson. Top officials at the Justice Department including Trumps two criminal defense attorneys in his hush money case will be under pressure to decide whether to prosecute the attorneys they faced in courts across the country. Trump nominated his attorney Todd Blanche to serve as deputy attorney general, the second-highest ranking Justice Department official, after he successfully kept Trump away from criminal consequences for his 34-count felony conviction in New York, helped him win immunity in his election interference case, and convinced a judge to toss out the classified documents case altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Career attorneys at the Justice Department are bracing for his arrival, and hoping that he can curb Trumps basest instincts against his political rivals. (Rod Rosenstein, Trumps first deputy attorney general, said Blanche and Bove wont allow partisanship to sway DOJ prosecutions.) I think it will be enormously difficult for Blanche to balance the orders he gets from the president with what he knows is the right thing to do, former Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich told NBC News. If I were he, I would have stayed as far away from the Justice Department as I could. I dont think it will end well for him. Blanche will serve behind Attorney General Pam Bondi, if she is confirmed in the Senate, New York prosecutors may seek to delay a sentence in Trumps hush money trial indefinitely to preserve a conviction after the only criminal case against the former president that went to trial before his 2024 election (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, Bondi told Fox News in 2023. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Trump aide Steve Bannon, recently released from prison, told his War Room podcast listeners this week that Trump is coming after members of the House select committee that investigated January 6. Preserve your documents, because were coming after you. You people are criminals, he said. Judges overseeing the cases against the former president and January 6 defendants cannot hide behind your cloaks, he said. Were coming for you, too. You are corrupt. Earlier this month, House Republicans demanded Smith preserve his records, while Elon Musk now a key adviser in Trumps transition after pumping more than $100 million in his campaign said Jack Smiths abuse of the justice system cannot go unpunished. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a lawsuit filed in Texas, state attorney general Ken Paxton demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland preserve case records, claiming that Smith is out to destroy them. Special counsel Jack Smith has moved to dismiss the two federal criminal cases against Trump, leaving open the possibility that they could be revisited after he leaves office (AFP via Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paxton fears that many releasable records will never see daylight, based on his well-founded belief that the Justice Department will simply destroy the records, his office wrote in court filings. That is how they and/or their predecessors have operated in the recent past, his attorneys wrote. And Jack Smiths team has conducted itself in multiple ways that suggest it cannot be blindly trusted to preserve, and eventually produce, all of its records. The Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing that complaint swatted it down on November 25, calling it unserious, and that Paxton proffered nothing to suggest more nefarious intentions. Trump routinely conflates his mountain of civil and criminal cases with an attack on the American people and rule of law itself. The end of his federal cases legitimizes Republicans lost cause surrounding January 6, and he sees his election victory as a mandate to rewrite history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has long viewed his election as his exoneration, despite the one criminal trial he endured resulting in a unanimous 34-count guilty verdict from a room of his Manhattan neighbors. A sentencing date in that case has been indefinitely postponed, potentially past his presidency, which may end up being the best-case scenario for prosecutors: The conviction will stand, and Trump will remain a convicted felon. Pam Bondi, seen with Trump in 2018 during his first term, has been appointed to serve as his US attorney general (AFP via Getty Images) But the end of Trumps two massive federal cases leaves several glaring, unsettled questions about what, exactly, a president can get away with. A monumental decision from the Supreme Court affirmed that Trump and the office of the presidency are shielded from criminal prosecution for actions tied to official duties. The attorney who argued that case on behalf of the former president? D. John Sauer, who Trump has since nominated for the next solicitor general of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sauer gave credence to an improbable hypothetical question raised by federal appeals court judges who asked whether his definition of immunity would give the president the legal ability to order the assassinations of his rivals. The Supreme Courts ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, notably does not address whether Trump could be immune from prosecution for pressuring his vice president Mike Pence to reject election results, nor did Roberts determine whether any of the conduct that makes up the charges against the former president like spreading election lies and conspiring to recruit fake electors in states he lost would count as official business. Trumps mugshot quickly started appearing on merchandise as he leaned into the claim that the charges against him were politically motivated (REUTERS) Roberts also did not address whether officials working under the presidents direction are also immune from prosecution if they were simply taking orders. Smiths filing to dismiss the case is a tactical surrender that could leave open the door for Smith to publicly release a comprehensive report outlining the case against the former president. It also leaves open the possibility that the cases could be reopened after Trump leaves office in 2029. Smiths motion to dismiss notes that the decision only rests on the Justice Departments long-standing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, which 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. Donald Trump is shirking decades-old norms intended to make the transfer of power smoother, according to The New York Times. After weeks of delays, the president-elects team has finally signed a standard transition agreement with the White House to start briefing staff members. But they are still refusing to sign two other key documents. One is a Justice Department agreement to let the FBI perform security clearances for transition team members. This means that the Biden administration still isnt able to share classified information with anyone from Trumps transition team. The Trump team also wont sign the General Services Administration agreement, which provides secure office space and government email accounts. Top Trump aide Susan Wiles explained the reasoning behind this refusal, stating that Trump wants his team to operate as a self-sufficient organization. This organizational autonomy means a streamlined process that guarantees the Trump Administration is ready on Day 1. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight, Wiles continued. But Biden officials say this refusal will just make information sharing harder, as they will have to find other ways to share important, unclassified information with the incoming administrationmeaning in-person-only briefings and more restrictions on how said information will be shared. The Trump team has not commented on whether it does intend to sign the agreement sometime in the near future. The Iranian regime is closer to being toppled than ever following Donald Trumps election victory, a leading opposition group has said. Irans warmongering in the Middle East through its proxies has also weakened the regime, Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told The Telegraph in a rare interview. Ms Rajavi said that, after years of brutal oppression, Tehran had found itself in a quagmire with its facade of power crumbling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said: The clerical regime is more vulnerable than ever. Last year, amidst potential overthrow threats highlighted by the 2022 uprisings, Ali Khamenei responded with regional warmongering. Now, he finds himself at an impasse, deeply entrenched in the quagmire of a conflict of his own making. For years, Khamenei claimed through lobbyists and appeasers that the theocracy was stable and that concessions were necessary to avoid chaos. This facade has crumbled. Supreme leader Ali Khamenei has turned to stoking regional tensions to distract from the unrest at home - EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Aides of Ms Rajavi told The Telegraph that the exiled opposition group was hoping Mr Trumps recent election victory would mean an end to appeasement and a hardline stance towards the Islamic Republics leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NCRI is now urging Western governments not to lose impetus. Both Israels long-range strikes and the Republicans election win have put Tehrans regime on the defensive. Let us not be naive. The enmity of the regime with the West, Israel and the US, in particular with President Trump that it has exploited for years, now has become detrimental to the regime like the war itself. while we are endeavouring for the regimes overthrow, we want the West to be on our side to finish the job, an NCRI source said So confident is the group of the regimes demise, its leader, Ms Rajavi, has publicised a six-point plan to end the countrys dictatorship and introduce democracy. Granting further opportunities and concessions to the regime would be a critical error, detrimental to the Iranian people as well as to regional and global peace and stability, she told The Telegraph, in a further warning to the West not to relieve pressure on Tehran. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Iranian regime has been under mounting domestic pressure for over two years following the killing of Mahsa Amini by morality police. Protests have been growing in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini - AP Photo/Middle East Images Amini died in police custody in September 2022 after being detained for allegedly breaking Irans strict hijab laws. Her death sparked a series of anti-regime protests, which the NCRI believe forced the regime to use its international proxies in Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis to sow discord across the Middle East. Hamas had been consulting Tehran on its preparations for the Oct 7 massacre, which killed over 1,000 innocent Israelis with hundreds more kidnapped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tensions between Israel and Iran escalated because of the Islamic Republics backing for the militants who have launched attacks on the Jewish state. Tehran has always argued that groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah act independently, but it has praised them as a so-called member of its Axis of Resistance in the region. Its backing for the terror groups has prompted Israel to carry out a series of strikes targeting top commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At least two of the IRGCs commanders were killed in air strikes on Syria, another Iranian ally in the region. The attacks prompted Iran to strike back at Israel, launching two long-range bombardments, which marked Tehrans first- direct strike on the Jewish state in their almost 50 years as arch enemies. @Tasnimnews_Fa/X Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In retaliation, Israel carried out its own strikes which left Iran militarily exposed, taking out the majority of the air defence systems protecting the Islamic Republic, according to Israeli officials. At the same time, there have been a growing number of political prisoners detained and executions carried out in Iran as the regime attempts to keep control at home. Ms Rajavi believes resistance in the Islamic Republic has been steadily growing - UGC/AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Newly formed resistance groups, of which Ms Rajavi believes there are 20,000 operating in the Islamic Republic, form a key pillar of her blueprint for a democratic revolution. Through their relentless efforts to dismantle the barriers of oppression, they embody the force for change and stand as the freedom fighters of Iran, she told an audience at the European Parliament in Brussels earlier this week. After the regime has been overthrown, Ms Rajavi wants to establish a provisional government, with a maximum term of six months, to organise elections. The first democratically elected government would serve for a further two years as it drafts a new constitution for Iran. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In an olive branch to the West, the NCRI wants to scrap the regimes nuclear programmes, and also end the countrys religious rule and the death penalty. With an end to capital punishment, aides to Ms Rajavi say that the current regime will not be subject to the same fate as many of their political opponents. Let us hope that the entire world recognises the Iranian peoples struggle to overthrow this regime and acknowledges the legitimacy of the just battle waged by the Resistance Units, said Ms Rajavi. 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. President-elect Donald Trump announced at least six more administration picks late Tuesday. Trump made a pair of choices for health-related posts, namely the head of the National Institutes of Health and deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. For the former, Trump named Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford who opposed strict lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrumps nomination of me to be the next @NIH director, Bhattacharya posted on X. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the latter, who will also work with vaccine skeptic and raw milk advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump named Jim ONeill, a close associate of billionaire Peter Thiel who served as principal associate deputy secretary in the same department during the second Bush administration. Im extremely honored to be nominated by @realDonaldTrump and excited to support @RobertKennedyJr and the great people of @HHSGov to make America healthy again, ONeill later posted. ONeill was also praised by Kennedy after the announcement: Thank you @realDonaldTrump. With his rich experience in government and industry, Jim ONeill is the perfect partner to help me restore HHS to its incorruptible scientific research and public health priorities, he wrote. Jay Bhattacharya. Trump also selected one of his campaign speechwriters, Vince Haley, as director of the Domestic Policy Council. Haley, who worked in Trumps first administration, has close ties to fellow speechwriter Stephen Miller, who has been brought on board as deputy chief of staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vince Haley is one of the most dedicated and honorable people Ive met throughout this entire Trump journey, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in a congratulatory post on X. There is nobody more qualified or more prepared to defend and advance @realDonaldTrumps America First agenda than Vince. The man has some epic stories, too! Haley later took to X, for his first post on the social media site, to thank Trump and Elon Musk. Very humbled by the trust placed in me by President Trump to lead the Domestic Policy Council, and thrilled to work with the all star Cabinet and White House team he is assembling. First post on X, but wont be the last (thanks Elon!). Another council position, director of the White House National Economic Council, will go to Kevin Hassett, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers during Trumps first term. Trumps choice for U.S. Trade Representative is Jamieson Greer, who was chief of staff for that role in the Trump White House. During that time, Trump signed the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which he now wants to do away with through tariffs. Kevin Hassett. Lastly, Trump selected as Navy leader John Phelan, who has never served in the military but who donated to his campaign. (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump continued staffing his new administration on Tuesday night, announcing names for key roles involving health care, the military and domestic policy coordination. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His transition teams rapid fire of personnel announcements signals how fast he plans to take action after Trumps inauguration less than two months from now. Here are the selections: Vince Haley, Head of Domestic Policy Council Haley, who worked in the White House during Trumps first term, will hold an influential post responsible for coordinating the Trump agenda across major federal agencies. The Domestic Policy Council is comprised of cabinet-level secretaries and other White House officials. The office is likely to weigh in on several ambitious proposals Trump has vowed to undertake in office, including cracking down on immigration, combating crime in cities and changes to the federal governments role in education. Trump plans to execute a massive deportation of undocumented immigrants, dismantle the Education Department, which oversees the distribution of billions in student aid, and has floated conditioning federal funding to local police departments with changes in policing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John Phelan, US Navy Secretary Phelan co-founded MSD Capital more than two decades ago to manage the family fortune of computer maker Michael Dell. Phelan later founded Rugger Management, a private investment firm based in Palm Beach. He will put the business of the US Navy above all else, Trump said of Phelan in his statement announcing the pick. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump named Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor, to lead the NIH, the primary US agency that conducts medical and public health research. During the coronavirus pandemic, Bhattacharya was a critic of mask mandates and public lockdowns and cast doubt of the severity of the virus. Hes called the lockdowns the biggest public health mistake weve ever made. Those views have been rejected by much of the mainstream public health establishment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trumps pick to the lead Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, praised the selection. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, said in a post on X that Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine. Jim ONeill, Deputy Secretary of HHS ONeill, who is expected to work alongside Kennedy at the Department of Health and Human Services, is a Silicon Valley investor and an ally of the billionaire Peter Thiel, who advised Trump during his first administrations transition. He previously served as a senior HHS official during the George W. Bush administration. ONeill, who has ties to the pharmaceutical industry, at one point called for fully reviewing drugs after theyve been on the market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lets prove efficacy after theyve been legalized, he said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general, to serve as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, who is one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an America First national security agenda for the incoming administration, will come into the role as Russias invasion of Ukraine enters its third year in February. Trump, making the announcement on his Truth Social account, said, He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trumps top adviser on defense issues, served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, was chief of staff of the National Security Council and then stepped in as an acting security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned. As special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg will have to navigate an increasingly untenable war between the two nations. The Biden administration has begun urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of those as young as 18. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russias February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more before Biden leaves office in less than two months. The U.S. has recently stepped up weapons shipments and has forgiven billions in loans provided to Kyiv. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent in supporting 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. As a co-chairman of the American First Policy Institutes Center for American Security, Kellogg wrote several of the chapters in the groups policy book. The book, like the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, is designed to lay out a Trump national security agenda and avoid the mistakes of 2016 when he entered the White House largely unprepared. Kellogg in April wrote that bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties. Trump's proposed national security adviser, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, tweeted Wednesday that Keith has dedicated his life to defending our great country and is committed to bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellogg featured in multiple Trump investigations dating to his first term. He was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 2019 call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump prodded his Ukrainian counterpart to pursue investigations into the Bidens. The call, which Kellogg would later say did not raise any concerns on his end, was at the center of the first of two House impeachment cases against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate both times. On Jan. 6, 2021, hours before pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Kellogg, who was then Pences national security adviser, listened in on a heated call in which Trump told his vice president to object or delay the certification in Congress of President Joe Biden s victory. He later told House investigators that he recalled Trump saying to Pence words to the effect of: Youre not tough enough to make the call. ___ Baldor reported from Washington. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report. Donald Trumps pick for US energy secretary attacked Britains net zero drive for making the country poorer. In a report on sustainability released earlier this year, Chris Wright who is being proposed for the job by the Trump transition team said the UKs embrace of green energy had been a costly failure that drove away investment. Mr Wright suggested that the scramble to ditch fossil fuels in favour of wind and solar power had resulted in higher prices, driving away energy-intensive businesses and contributing to Britains national decline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A report by his company, Liberty Energy, released in February, said: The UK, although no longer part of the EU, has continued aggressive climate policies that have driven up energy prices for its citizens and industry. The results are troubling. The once world-leading United Kingdom now has a per capita income lower than even the poorest state in the United States. The comments highlight a gulf between the UK and the US around energy policy and climate change. Mr Trump is expected to embrace fracking and seek to dismantle legislation pushing the US towards net zero. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to embrace fracking and work towards dismantling net zero legislation - Alex Brandon/AP The comments come in Liberty Energys annual environmental, social and governance report, co-authored by Mr Wright and published before his nomination by Mr Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Wright subsequently repeated his criticisms in April. In a speech at a breakfast meeting, he said: The UK is proud that its now the biggest percent reducer of greenhouse gas emissions of any nation on Earth. Theyve reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 40pc. What they dont tell you is the UKs total energy consumption has declined by 28pc. It means over three quarters of their emissions reduction comes from one source: less energy consumption. Mr Wright said the UK had achieved that not by increased efficiency but mainly by shutting down its energy-intensive industries and importing more from factories abroad. He said: Things made at energy intensive manufacturing [plants] powered by natural gas in the Midlands of England, which are now shut down, are now built at a coal powered plant in China or Vietnam or Indonesia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats not a climate policy, right? You get more greenhouse gas emissions, more air pollutants from burning coal than you burn from natural gas. They just moved it out of their country and those blue collar jobs went with them. Mr Wright said the other factor at work in slashing consumption was prices. If you make energy really expensive guess what? People will buy less of it. So the UK has two dominant mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: export energy-intensive industries and impoverish people. Denver-based Liberty Energy, one of the worlds largest and most successful fracking services companies, was founded by Mr Wright. In a biography on its website he describes himself as a tech nerd turned entrepreneur and a dedicated humanitarian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the initial report, called Bettering Human Lives, a foreword by Mr Wright sets out his passionately held views that consumption of energy is inextricably linked to health, wealth and prosperity at all levels from nations right down to individual citizens. He wrote: Human happiness comes through relationships, love and finding a strong purpose in life. Preconditions for these ultimate ends are food, shelter, health, education and longevity. None of these are possible without energy, and the quality of each depends on the degree of access to affordable, reliable and secure energy. He also criticised attempts to cut back on global oil and gas production, warning that, despite good intentions, limiting energy supplies risks condemning developing countries to poverty and pushing advanced ones into reverse. The report cited the UK as an example of this, making a direct link between recent reductions in the nations overall energy consumption and its economic decline. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It noted that primary energy consumption in the United Kingdom peaked in 2005 at 10.6 exajoules and has since declined by 28pc to 7.6 exajoules, adding that electricity consumption has fallen by 22pc over the same period and now stands at levels last seen in the late 1980s. UK politicians have hailed these reductions as a sign of success in cutting CO2 emissions, but the report said the main reason is that energy intensive industries have quit the country to escape high prices. It said: These declines in energy consumption should not be misread as implying significant and effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. They do indeed track with reductions in the UK, but not necessarily with global emissions. Elevating energy prices has two major impacts: It depresses demand from consumers due to cost and it leads to the reshoring of energy-intensive manufacturing to locales with lower energy prices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The report added: Far from being an encouraging sign, UK consumption reductions are an indication of systemic weakness; this is an economy and society that is less and less able to change the world in accordance with its requirements. Mr Wright does not point to any particular political parties. The UKs net zero policies have been formed over the last two decades and implemented by both Labour and Conservative governments. His report added: Just how bad these energy and climate policy decisions are can be gauged by falling energy consumption in many Western countries. In the United Kingdom, energy use has fallen by 30pc to levels not seen since the 1950s, while the rest of Europe has declined to 1990s levels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement British electricity consumption, amazingly, has fallen by about a quarter since 2003 and is now back at levels last seen in the late 1980s. Mr Wright also railed against the cost of net zero policies and the subsidies needed to make low-carbon technologies economically viable. The report said: The UK, a country of 65m people, is shelling out well over $10bn every year. And this is to say nothing of the increased cost of managing and making reliable an electricity system dominated by uncontrollable renewable generation. Ed Milbands personal adviser and his press team at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) were asked for a response to the criticisms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Wrights report also makes similar points about the governments of other European countries such as France and Germany, and the whole EU. In a swipe at European politicians pushing for net zero he added: While the focus on climate change is understandable, the movement fails to address the critical and inevitable trade-offs involved. Politicians, policymakers, pundits, and the press talk endlessly about how solar, wind and batteries can transform our whole energy system and address the climate crisis. The reality is that these politically favored technologies have not, will not and cannot replace most of the energy services and raw materials provided by hydrocarbons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His report pointed out that in 2008 the EU and the US economies were of a similar size but the EU has since fallen rapidly behind. It said: Starting around 2000 the EU pursued a program of rapid decarbonisation based initially on emissions trading, but increasingly reliant on the subsidised deployment of renewable energy. The increased energy costs strongly suppressed energy consumption. Astonishingly, energy consumption in the EU has been falling since 2005 an indication of underlying economic ill health. A government spokesman said: Our priority is a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations and we will work with the sector to protect current and future generations of good jobs, ensuring a prosperous transition. We need to replace our dependency on unstable fossil fuel markets with clean, homegrown power controlled in Britain which is the best way to protect bill payers and boost our energy independence. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen John Phelan, a businessman and investor with no military experience, to become the next secretary of the Navy. Phelan, if confirmed, would be the first person in 15 years to lead the Navy without having served in any branch of the armed forces. He told NBC News on Wednesday that he was greatly honored to be selected by Trump, and confirmed he has not served, but declined to comment further. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement Tuesday night, Trump touted Phelans record of success and said Phelan has excelled in every endeavor, including founding and leading Rugger Management LLC, a private investment firm based in Palm Beach, Florida. He also said the Harvard Business School graduates intelligence and leadership are unmatched. John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision, Trump said. He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else. As the 79th Navy secretary, Phelan would oversee more than 900,000 people and an annual budget of more than $210 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last eight people who have held the title since 2009 had served either in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army or Coast Guard, according to their Naval History and Heritage Command biographies. Twenty out of 26 people to be confirmed as Navy secretary over the last 70 years were veterans, the Military Times reported. Carlos Del Toro, whom Phelan would be replacing, had served in the Navy for more than 20 years and had done several tours of duty at sea, his Navy biography says. On Nov. 12, Trump announced he would nominate Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and former Fox News host, to be the secretary of defense. Hegseth was a captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump nominated retired General Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, choosing a longtime adviser whos supported the president-elects aims to end the war swiftly, including by potentially cutting off military aid to Kyiv. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, a longtime skeptic of continued US assistance to Ukraine, has vowed to settle its conflict with Russia before even taking office. In writings over the last year, Kellogg has proposed a path forward that offers an indication of how Trump might try to fulfill that promise. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration, Trump said in a post to his Truth Social account on Wednesday. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! Kellogg, 80, was Vice President Mike Pences national security advisor and later joined Trumps team during his first term. He has called for compelling Ukraine to enter talks with Russia by threatening to cut off arms supplies. But hes also suggested keeping up support if Ukraine pursues diplomacy so it can negotiate from a position of strength. He also envisions a potential deal that would freeze the current front line and create a demilitarized zone and put off the issue of NATO membership for Ukraine for an extended period, according to a piece he co-wrote for the America First Policy Institute, a group founded by several former Trump administration officials. He cited a Foreign Affairs article that proposed offering the Kremlin some limited sanctions relief. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The war in Ukraine is an avoidable tragedy that resulted from President Bidens incompetence as a world leader and his chaotic foreign policy, Kellogg wrote with Fred Fleitz, who also served in Trumps first administration. President Joe Biden has recently sought to ramp up assistance for Ukraine, including by allowing Kyiv to strike military targets deeper within Russia, approving the sending of anti-personnel land mines and forgiving nearly $5 billion in debt. His administration has also called on Ukraine to lower its draft age, citing concerns that its biggest need now is manpower, not weapons. By potentially putting Ukraine in a better negotiating position, Biden administration officials have argued that their last-minute push dovetails with the Trump camps calls for a faster settlement. Last week, Kellogg praised Bidens decision to allow Ukraine to fire US-made ATACMS missiles inside Russia. Hes actually given President Trump more leverage, Kellogg said of Biden on Fox News. At the same time, he criticized the administration for not allowing the missiles to be used in Russia earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellogg was a behind-the-scenes player in Trumps first presidential transition, eventually landing the unheralded role of executive secretary and chief of staff to the National Security Council. Kellogg was a consistent and loyal presence on the White House national security team, even as he saw a succession of top advisers come and go. Kellogg didnt immediately respond to requests for comment sent to the America First Policy Institute and the Trump transition team. In a post on X, he said: It was the privilege of my life working for President Trump, and I look forward to working tirelessly to secure peace through strength while upholding Americas interests. While at the institute, Kellogg helped write An America First Approach to U.S. National Security, a book of essays that included the chapter on Ukraine. It argued that the US should seek an end to Russias war against Ukraine though bold diplomacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we should not continue to do is to send arms to a stalemate that Ukraine will eventually find difficult to win, he and Fleitz wrote in a piece that criticizes the risk-averse Biden administration for incompetent policies that led entangled America in an endless war. If you put aside the Biden administration bashing, there are outlines of a diplomatic strategy in the report, Samuel Charap, a former advisor to the State Department and a senior political scientist at RAND Corp., said of Kelloggs approach to Ukraine. It is not by any means a plan to kowtow to Russia. Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this month after the election. The Kremlin has denied a report that Trump and Putin spoke by phone days after the election. Kelloggs military experience dates to the Vietnam War, where he won several awards for valor. After retiring as a lieutenant general in 2003, he landed corporate stints at defense contractors Oracle Corp., Cubic Corp. and CACI International Inc. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Gregory White and Iain Marlow. (Updates with Kellogg tweet, in 12th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University physician and economist known for his controversial views during the Covid-19 pandemic, as director of the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya, 56, has advocated for a major shakeup of the agency and accused former NIH leaders Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci of suppressing scientific debate and research during the pandemic. "The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see," Bhattacharya wrote earlier this month on the British news and opinion site UnHerd, in an endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health and human services secretary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Health officials failed the public during the pandemic by supporting lockdowns, school closures and mandates, Bhattacharya wrote, adding, Yet the officials continue to deny their own culpability, avoiding a long look in the mirror. 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, Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. In a post to X, Bhattacharya said he was honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. Bhattacharya said hed work to reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!," echoing one of Kennedy's themes. Kennedy called the Bhattacharya appointment "spectacular" in a post to X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other supporters of Bhattacharyas lockdown critique also praised Trumps pick. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who sparred with top NIH officials, including Fauci, during the pandemic and plans to reexamine the U.S. response to Covid-19 when he becomes chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee next year, congratulated Bhattacharya on X and said he had no doubt he would lead the bipartisan reform the @NIH needs. Chris Meekins, an HHS deputy assistant secretary during Trumps first term, said Bhattacharya was an unconventional choice because he doesnt work in the hard sciences, but that the NIH was badly in need of reforms and it may take someone from the outside to get the agency back on track. Bhattacharya was one of the main authors of the Great Barrington Declaration. The open letter, published in October 2020 and signed by thousands of public health scientists, argued against lockdown measures and in favor of a hands-off approach to the pandemic, relying on letting low-risk people build up herd immunity a suggestion then-NIH Director Francis Collins called dangerous. Bhattacharya is the latest in a series of contrarian health figures Trump has tapped for top health administration roles, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS secretary and celebrity TV physician Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, as administrator of CMS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ashish Jha, the Brown University School of Public Health dean who was President Joe Biden's Covid-19 response coordinator, said on X that he drew a distinction between Kennedy, whom he derided as a "terrible choice," and Bhattacharya, whom he called "smart and experienced." If Bhattacharya is confirmed by the Senate as NIH director, he would oversee the nearly $50 billion agency, which comprises 27 institutes and centers, and is the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. Trumps pick for special envoy to Ukraine wants to force Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia by holding aid hostage. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he has selected retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg to be his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, a position focused on ending the two-year-long war. Kellogg previously served as both national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Council chief of staff during Trumps first term. I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Trump wrote on Truth Social. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last spring, Kellogg proposed forcing an ultimatum on Ukraine: Engage in peace talks in order to keep receiving aid. The plan, which was put forward with the help of Fred Fleitz, his successor as chief of staff at the National Security Council, would also force Russia to the negotiating table by agreeing to hold off on Ukraines admission to NATO. Under the plan, the cease-fire would take place along existing battle lines. Kelloggs views align well with an incoming administration that seems to have little interest in providing aid to Ukrainians, even as Russia is advancing through the country faster than ever. Vice Presidentelect JD Vance is similarly opposed to more assistance. South Dakota Governor and Homeland Security secretary nominee Kristi Noem is opposed to more assistance as well, saying that the war is Europes fight, not ours. By Joseph Ax, Helen Coster and James Oliphant (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's vow to impose tariffs on China and Mexico unless they stem the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the U.S. border could impel deeper cooperation from those governments on drug policing, experts said. But the threat also carries risk, particularly concerning U.S.-Chinese collaboration on fighting fentanyl, which has improved this year after bilateral negotiations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In social media posts on Monday, Trump promised to impose additional 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods - the United States' three largest trading partners - and asserted that not enough was being done to stop drugs and migrants from entering the country. Nearly 75,000 Americans died from synthetic drug overdoses in 2023, most from fentanyl, according to government figures. Overdoses from fentanyl, which is about 50 times more potent than heroin, are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45. Trump intends to pursue a more muscular approach than Biden has, but it's unclear whether his planned shift in strategy will yield results. The Biden administration has spent the last year working with Beijing to address the crisis, with some modest advances. Some experts welcomed Trump's announcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We need bold action," said Paul Martin, the founder and CEO of United Against Fentanyl, a bipartisan nonprofit. "This kind of crisis public health and national security, in my view requires boldness, something more than the status quo." "Whether they work or not remains to be seen, but we must do something," he added. The vast majority of chemical precursors used to manufacture fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, originate in China, and Chinese money launderers are key players in the global drug trade, U.S. authorities say. A Reuters investigation earlier this year found most of the chemicals are shipped to the U.S. disguised as low-cost goods to evade detection. The ingredients are then routed to Mexico by traffickers, where cartels manufacture fentanyl and smuggle it back into the U.S., mostly via American citizens at ports of entry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Synthetic opioid deaths dropped by nearly 19% in the 12 months ending in June, according to government data. The White House has taken credit for the decline, stating that the administration has seized hundreds of millions of doses of fentanyl at the U.S. border, made overdose-reversal medication widely available and renewed law enforcement collaboration with the Chinese to slow production of precursor chemicals. Ray Donovan, former chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said China's steps toward halting the flow of chemicals have been too limited. He added that Mexico dramatically decreased its collaboration with the U.S. under former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, seizing fewer drugs and restricting cooperation with U.S. law enforcement. "One way to immediately impact an illicit economy is to increase the cost of doing business," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the new tariffs, he added, "finally the Trump administration is saying, 'Enough is enough.'" 'AN EPIDEMIC' Not everyone agreed. Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on drug policy at the Brookings Institution, said tariffs would likely backfire by impelling China to pull back on cooperation should a trade war erupt. But the mere threat of tariffs could prove successful as a negotiating tactic, she acknowledged. The possibility of trade penalties may pressure China to take steps such as regulating precursors more strictly and ramping up prosecution of money laundering networks in exchange for avoiding new taxes, an outcome that will require a delicate balance, as neither China nor Trump is willing to be seen as capitulating to the other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I think the prospect of further tariffs is an inducement for more cooperation from both countries," she said of China and Mexico. "Potentially there is quite a bit to work with, as long as the threat doesn't become an actual act." Both countries bristled at Trump's promise of tariffs, with China warning that "no one will win a trade war" and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggesting retaliatory taxes. Reducing the supply of fentanyl is not enough on its own to combat the crisis. Margaret Williams, a physician and addiction specialist in Columbus, Ohio, said there are policies beyond tariffs that are needed, such as increasing access to methadone and buprenorphine, which are very effective in treating opioid addiction but highly regulated, and addressing the root causes of addiction, such as untreated psychiatric disease and socio-economic factors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is really an epidemic, and I think we need a multi-pronged, full-court press approach on how to get people into treatment," she said. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Helen Coster in New York and James Oliphant in Washington; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Bill Berkrot) President-elect Donald Trump's advisors are drawing up plans to strip federal funding from cities that do not comply with the administration's deportation policies, three sources familiar with the conversations told The Washington Post. Many of the president-elect's allies have also discussed the idea publicly, with billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leader of Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency" emerging as a chief advocate. He and Elon Musk have been charged by Trump with slashing federal spending across all departments, and they might accomplish some of that goal by blocking federal money from being dispersed in particular jurisdictions. Not an iota, not a cent of government spending should go to subsidize this. Not to sanctuary cities, not to federal aid to people who are in this country illegally, and were going to see a large number, by the millions, of self-deportations as well," Ramaswamy said earlier this month on ABC's "This Week." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Sanctuary cities" refer to municipalities that do not enforce federal policy on deportations, such as by denying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to jails. Supporters of sanctuary policies argue that deportations wrench families apart and undermine anti-crime measures by deterring people from calling authorities in an emergency, for fear that doing so would lead to their banishment from the country. Furthermore, they say that local police are under no obligation to enforce directives from ICE without a criminal warrant signed by a judge. "Self-deportation," meanwhile, refers to the idea that migrants will leave the country if life for them is made unbearable enough. But Trump is clearly not betting on most of them making what he views as the right decision. Instead, he has promised to use the full power of the federal government to enact mass deportations once he becomes president. Now that he has won, blue-state governors and Democratic mayors are pledging to defy him. It's a similar to what played out after 2016: Just as Trump faced difficulty in slashing funding to his foes then, he is likely to run into the same hurdles this time around. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, told the Post that there will not be any cooperation on deportations and that he would challenge any attempt by the federal government to defund the city. Were not intimidated or in the least bit afraid of threats that wish to undermine our values or any effort to separate working people from one another, Johnson said. Im certainly not going to compromise our local police departments work by adding a component of their work that is not just. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his first term, Trump issued an order for federal agencies to block cities like Chicago from receiving grants, but a judge struck it down. In 2019, however, his Justice Department was permitted by a federal appeals court to give preferential treatment to cooperative cities on providing community policing grants. Trump reportedly wants to try a more extensive blockade again, but Matthew Lawrence, an assistant dean at the Emory University law school and former White House lawyer, told the Post that local governments could argue that spending decisions are the purview of Congress, not the president, if and when they sued the Trump administration over funding or lack thereof. While Democrats might try to throw up roadblocks in Congress, both houses are controlled by the GOP in the coming session, and many Republican lawmakers have expressed support for some form of Trump's deportation agenda. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox Business on Monday that Congress should consider applying deductions to state and local taxes only for residents of states that enforce Trump's deportation laws. Steve Bannon, the far-right operative who helped Trump win in 2016, told the Post that while the president-elect would be "remorseless" in rescinding federal funds, money would not be chief among the worries of Democratic governors and mayors. He maintains that Trump will also seek criminal prosecutions of those who defy him. This sanctuary cities thing will be an early administration showdown, and I believe Trump will come down as hard as you can see, Bannon said. The sanctuary cities movement will be finished under President Trump hes not going to play any games here; this is too important to the country. You cant play too smashmouth with this crowd; you have to do it early, and you have to do it hard. Denver, Chicago and New York City are all potential targets, Bannon added. I think Chicago is going to be made an example of, said one of the Post's sources. Donald Trumps calls with world leaders are worrying foreign policy experts after the president-elect and his team shut out the State Department from taking part. Trump is reported to have spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 7, with The Washington Post reporting that the president-elect urged Putin not to escalate the hostilities in Ukraine and reminded the Russian leader of the U.S. military presence on the European continent. But the Kremlin denied that the call ever occurred. Under more normal circumstances, the State Department would have been able to document and prove that the call had taken place as it usually helps to orchestrate calls with foreign leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As such, the conversations between Trump and foreign leaders have not been held on secure phone lines, there have been no State Department staff present to guide the president-elect on foreign policy matters and there have been no official interpreters to clear up any possible misunderstandings. Former diplomat and Obama White House staffer Brett Bruen told USA Today: Were entering a dangerous territory of telephone games, where Trump is going to have private chats with foreign leaders, and theyre going to tell their teams one thing, and Trump is going to tell our national security team another. Bruen noted that different views of what transpired during a call can prompt an international crisis. Trump has held calls with foreign leaders without the help of the State Department (AP) The government was unable to provide briefings, security clearances, and resources to the Trump team for weeks as it had not signed the legal documents required to officially begin the transition of power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump team revealed on Tuesday that it has signed one of the required documents, meaning that it now has access to government information not accessible to the public, that it can now receive briefings, and send in people to the departments theyre about to take charge of. Trump, who has spoken of what he calls the deep state with derision for years, has often shared his suspicion that the civil service is working to thwart his goals. He has pledged to fire civil service staff and install loyalists during his second term. Some of President Joe Bidens phone calls with foreign leaders in 2020 were conducted without the aid of the State Department as Trump refused to acknowledge his loss, former diplomat Daniel Fried told USA Today. Vladimir Putin is said to have spoken to Donald Trump days after the election (AFP via Getty Images) Soon after his election victory was announced earlier this month, Trump began receiving calls from foreign leaders, such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump said two days after the election that he had spoken to more than 70 foreign leaders. While most calls with foreign leaders mostly include congratulations and pledges of future cooperation, some of the calls taken by the president-elect appear to have delved into policy. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, wrote on X on November 10 that he had spoken to Trump three times after the election. We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect, he wrote. We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under federal law, its a crime for an unauthorized U.S. citizen to negotiate a conflict with another state, putting Trumps comments to Putin under scrutiny. There can only be one foreign policy at a time, Bruen told USA Today. What Trump is doing is saying you need to do X or Y, even though he hasnt been sworn in, even though he doesnt control U.S. foreign policy right now. He added: Most of our adversaries are able to tap into these calls, which in and of itself is concerning because it means that the Russians are spying on the calls hes having with Europe and the Middle East, and the Chinese are accessing the same ones. These are sensitive discussions. They allow countries leaders to understand where there may be potential compromises or vulnerabilities, Bruen argued. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to make the world safe again with his newly selected pick for assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg. I am very pleased to nominate General [sic] Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. Prior to the nomination, there wasnt a special envoy for the Ukraine war, but Trump expressed an interest in creating the role. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration, Trump continued. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Trump wrote, Kellogg previously served as the National Security Advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, and he also took up the role of Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff for the U.S. National Security Council during Trumps first term as president. Following the resignation of former NSA Michael Flynn, Kellogg stepped into the position. Trumps nomination comes with a promise to quickly end the ongoing violence in the Russia-Ukraine war, which was amplified after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 12,162 people have died as of last month. For now, there are no confirmed plans on how Trump and Kellogg will work together to end the war. Per Reuters, Kellogg has discussed freezing the battle lines at their designated stations, in addition to compelling Kyiv and Moscow to come to some form of an agreement. Trump made his announcement following reports of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents against some members of his intended cabinet and administration, according to the FBI, who is investigating. The post Trump Promises His Pick for Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia Will Make America, and the World, Safe Again appeared first on TheWrap. Mark Wilson/Getty Images By now, you know about the endless speculation on whether the incoming Trump administration might close the U.S. Department of Education. It remains just that: speculation. Congress would have to be involved, and even a Senate and House controlled by the same party as President-elect Donald Trump would not necessarily go along with this idea. However, since taking office, Trump has said he would like to use executive action to dismantle or at least diminish the agency. And in a statement about his nomination of Linda McMahon for education secretary, Trump underscored his campaign pledge to disband the department, saying, We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mere specter of shuttering an agency that commands more than $200 billion has led parents, students, teachers, policy experts and politicians to wonder about (and in some cases plan for) the possible effects on their children and communities. Collectively, state and local governments spend far more on education than the federal government does. With federal dollars connected to many rules about how that money can be spent, however, the Education Department does play a significant role in how schools and colleges operate. Deleting the agency would not undo federal law providing money for students in rural places, with disabilities or who come from low-income families, but doling out that money and overseeing it could get messy. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota late last year introduced a bill to unwind the Education Department and spread its work across other federal agencies. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky also introduced legislation to abolish the department. The Hechinger Report tried to answer some of the questions raised by the possible dismantling of the department, consulting experts and advocates on student loans, special education, financial aid, school lunch and beyond. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility, however complicated. A much smaller agency that guided Congress on science, the Office of Technology Assessment, simply had its budget set to zero back in 1995 and just like that, it was gone. The Education Department, created in 1979, reaches far wider and deeper, into essentially every community nationwide. Its impact is felt not so much in what students are learning every day but whether their schools can pay for the special equipment or training that might be essential for some students with disabilities; if they can pay to have an extra teacher to work with struggling readers; whether a student from a low-income household can get federal grant money to pay for college; and whether a college student with a federally backed student loan might ever have it forgiven. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, many education programs, as well as some that touch schools, exist entirely outside of the Education Department. It doesnt oversee the education of students whose parents live on military bases, for example, or students who attend school on Native American reservations. (Those programs are managed within the Defense and Interior departments, respectively.) The Education Department also doesnt run the school lunch or breakfast programs, which are overseen by the Agriculture Department. The nations biggest child care programs for low-income families? Those arent part of the Education Departments job, either; they are managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. We tried to explain all of that here. What questions do you have that we didnt answer? Write to us: editor@hechingerreport.org. We will update this list. Early education What would happen to federal early education programs? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The most well-known and biggest federal early childhood programs, Head Start and the Child Care Development Block Grant, are not a part of the Education Department theyre administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. So they would not be directly affected by an Education Department shutdown. But Education does oversee and pay for some smaller early learning programs and early childhood research. For example, the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five, provides funding for state early learning programs and is overseen jointly with HHS. Other programs, such as Promise Neighborhoods and Full Service Community Schools, also address the early years and family support. The Department of Education also is home to several research centers that focus on young children, many of which conduct long-term studies or research aimed at improving the lives of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Those programs, if they were not cut, would have to move to another agency. K12 Education What happens to Title I and other money that the department doles out? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Closing the Department of Education would not undo it. Title I a program established in 1965 that provides money to schools with large numbers of low-income students is part of federal law. If the Education Department were to be eliminated, the most likely scenario is that Title I money would flow through another federal agency. Major cuts to the program are unlikely. While Trump and others close to him have said they would like to cut federal education funding streams like Title I, any cuts would need to go through Congress where that funding has broad political support among both Republicans and Democrats. That is especially true for Title I: Almost all school districts in the country get a share of that money. So its unlikely Title I would ever see an actual cut, and certainly not a substantial cut, said Nora Gordon, a professor of public policy at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy. She said even members of Congress who are hostile to other federal programs that allocate funds for low-income families would be reluctant to defund Title I. Do I have to worry about special education? There would be bureaucratic upheaval if another agency took on oversight of education of students with disabilities, but the special education law itself, and the money allotted to it, would not change without an act of Congress. The law now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed in 1975, four years before the Education Department was formed. At that time, it was administered by the department of Health, Education and Welfare (now known as the Health and Human Services department). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 7.5 million children are now served under the IDEA. For fiscal 2024, the department oversaw about $14 billion in funding for school-aged children, with smaller pots of money going to infants, toddlers, and other special education-related programs. Through the Education Department, the government sets rules for states, districts and schools about how children should be identified for possible disabilities and how families, parents and schools should work together to create a childs individualized education program, a menu of the supports and services they should receive. Does this mean everyone will get a private school voucher? Regardless of the future of the Department of Education, Trump could, with the support of Congress, take some action to expand school choice nationwide. Republicans in their official party platform made universal school choice, in every state, a top priority. The idea didnt go far under Trumps first education secretary, but political headwinds may make it easier for him to achieve some policy wins this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the first Trump administration, then-Secretary Betsy DeVos pushed to expand school choice, largely through charter schools and private school vouchers. Congress, however, ignored her budget request in 2018 for $400 million to fund their expansion. A year later, DeVos pitched $5 billion in tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute to scholarships for students to attend private schools. Trump resurrected the idea in early 2020, and again as an option for parents frustrated with prolonged school closures during the pandemic. A bill to create the tax credits died in committee. As part of the agenda for his next term, Trump has pledged to allow families with a 529 college savings plan to spend up to $10,000 a year per child on homeschool education. The GOP also wants to expand education savings accounts, or ESAs a polarizing program that allows families to pull their children out of public school and use a portion of state per-pupil funding on private school tuition, homeschool supplies and other educational costs. At least a dozen states since 2020 have created ESA programs, with some offering universal enrollment regardless of a familys income level and with few restrictions on taxpayer money being spent on religious education. Rural opposition has stalled such legislation in states like Texas, and voters in November rejected school choice measures on ballots in three states. But in recent years, the Supreme Court has expanded the religious rights of parents and sectarian schools. Trumps next education secretary is also likely to have an easier time clearing school choice legislation with Republican control of both the House and Senate. What would happen to school lunch, and free and reduced-price school lunches? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nothing. Eliminating the Department of Education would likely have little or no impact on the school lunch program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the Education Department, runs the vast National School Lunch Program, although the data collected by schools about the number of students who qualify for low-cost or no-cost breakfast and lunch powers a lot of the education agencys work. About 30 million kids participate in the program on a given school day including students at public charter schools and some nonprofit private schools. During Trumps first term, as part of a collection of pandemic-related measures, he approved providing school lunches to all students, regardless of their household income. Several states have since kept up that effort since the pandemic option expired, offering free meals to all students no matter their family earnings. And a growing number of schools in other states now offer meals to all students if a large enough number qualify for free lunches. Earlier this year, a Republican budget proposal, called Fiscal Sanity to Save America, said that option should be eliminated. Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, but that document also calls for reining in spending on school meals. Federal school meals increasingly resemble entitlement programs that have strayed far from their original objective and represent an example of the ever-expanding federal footprint in local school operations. What happens to education research and the tracking of students academic achievement? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The work of the Institute of Education Sciences, the research and statistics arm of the Education Department, is mandated by law and would not disappear overnight even if the agency were abolished. IES collects and aggregates data from more than 19,000 school districts around the country to give the public a national picture of our decentralized educational system, from counting the number of students and dollars spent on schools to tracking class sizes and years teachers stay in the job. IES disburses millions of dollars each year to researchers to develop new ideas for improving instruction, and it evaluates programs afterward. One-fourth of IESs $800 million a year budget goes to administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which is an important yardstick for measuring academic achievement among fourth and eighth graders. All three of these functions statistics collection, research and assessment theoretically could be transferred to other agencies, according to former IES director Mark Schneider, whom Trump appointed to a six-year term during the former presidents first term. Education research could shift to the National Science Foundation, which already awards grants for educational research along with the Department of Education. The statistics unit, also known as the National Center for Education Statistics, could be folded into the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is the main statistical agency of the federal government. A new home for the NAEP test is less obvious. Schneider said that talk of eliminating the department may invite more scrutiny into what its research arm does. Advocates could try to capitalize on this scrutiny as an opportunity to lobby for an overhaul of the research division, he said. What about the Office for Civil Rights? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The dismantling of the Department of Education would likely harm the work of its Office for Civil Rights. That office, created by the same law that established the Education Department, investigates complaints against school districts, universities and other education institutions to ensure they are not discriminating against students and others based on race/ethnicity, disability, sex, age or national origin. During the first Trump administration, the offices staffing declined by more than 10 percent because vacancies werent filled and staff werent replaced, according to Blair Wriston, senior government affairs manager with the left-leaning nonprofit EdTrust. That led to a backlog of cases and less rigorous enforcement. In the next Trump term, education and civil rights advocates expect a more drastic scenario. Regardless of whether the Education Department closes, the administration could cut funding for the Office for Civil Rights. At the same time, Wriston said, the agency could also be used to advance priorities of the Trump administration, for example by investigating diversity, equity and inclusion programs within school districts and colleges. Families whove faced discrimination may be less likely to file complaints with the office because they fear they wont be treated fairly, according to Dan Losen, senior director for education at the National Center for Youth Law. The Office for Civil Rights also runs the Civil Rights Data Collection, which collects and makes public data from all of the nations school districts about student enrollment, access to coursework, and factors like discipline and bullying. That exact form of data collection isnt federally mandated, said Wriston, so its possible it could come to a halt. But he said thats a highly unlikely scenario and that in the first Trump term the data continued to be collected. What would happen to charter schools? Whether a charter school can be created or if it should be closed is a local decision that rests with states and school districts, so if the Education Department were shuttered, those schools could continue serving students. However, charter schools, like all public schools, receive some funding through federal programs such as Title I, so any changes to the money that part of federal law directs could affect charters. The Department of Education also oversees one program dedicated to public charter schools, the Charter Schools Program, which provides money to help start and expand charter schools. That program is written into federal law. Higher Education What happens to student loans if the Department of Education is abolished? Student debt wont disappear even if the Education Department does. The federal agency contracts with the loan servicers that manage nearly $2 trillion in student loan debt and oversees the programs that can lead to loans being forgiven, such as for teachers and people who work in public health. The terms and conditions of the loans dont change just because the agency changes, said Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, which offers advice and guidance on student loans to borrowers. If there is no Education Department, its likely that student loan oversight and debt collection would shift to the Treasury Department. I expect that at least initially the servicers wouldnt even change. Aside from that,Republicans in Congress, who will soon control both chambers, have proposed a College Cost Reduction Act, which would increase the amount of federal Pell grants for third- and fourth-year college students pursuing bachelors degrees in fields considered to be in high demand. It would also simplify the student loan repayment process and end certain kinds of loans available to parents, graduate students and low-income learners. It would hold colleges and universities, rather than taxpayers, responsible for loans on which their students have defaulted. The Biden administrations relentless and embattled attempts to forgive some student loan debt are almost certain to come to an abrupt end. Many have been blocked by courts anyway, and Trump and his allies have characterized them as an unfair transfer of wealth from people who didnt go to college to people who did. What about grants and aid for paying for college, and the FAFSA? Even without an Education Department, it is unlikely that the Pell grant which most low-income students use to help pay for college would disappear. Congress controls who is eligible for Pell, so the Trump administration couldnt decide on its own to change or take away the grant. Pell has long had bipartisan support in Congress, and it is very unlikely that a Republican-controlled Congress would get rid of a grant that is relied on by so many constituents. House Republicans have, however, proposed changes to eligibility and the award amount. A version of the College Cost Reduction Act has a chance of passing since Republicans will soon control Congress. The bill would peg the Pell award to the median cost of a college program, instead of basing it on the particular cost of the program or college where a student is enrolled. In practice, this means students enrolled in a program that is more expensive than average, whether due to the price set by the institution or due to a higher cost of living in that area, could see their award reduced. In addition, the determination of financial need would no longer take into account a family farm where the family resides or a family-owned small business that has fewer than 100 employees. McMahon, Trumps nominee for education secretary, also supports changes to Pell. She wrote an opinion piece in September promoting whats known as short-term Pell. Right now, for the most part, Pell can be used only to pay for education programs that last 15 weeks or more (about one semester). McMahon supports a bill, which has some bipartisan support, that would allow federal aid dollars to pay for short-term programs that train students for particular jobs. Critics worry such an expansion could take Pell dollars away from traditional programs. They note many short-term programs (for example, welder and HVAC programs) are already Pell-eligible and that shorter programs, including many run by for-profit companies, often dont have good results. A recent report showed no improvement in employment for students who used short-term Pell. While last years FAFSA rollout was broadly criticized, there seems to be no appetite to further complicate students ability to access federal financial aid. In fact, the College Cost Reduction Act includes a requirement that would simplify and standardize college financial aid offers so that students have an easier time understanding and comparing them. What happens to Title IX regulations about how schools and colleges handle sex-based discrimination? Schools will be required to comply with Title IX regulations regardless of whether the Trump administration dismantles the Department of Education. Jon Fansmith, vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, said the government has a responsibility to enforce the Civil Rights Act (which Title IX is part of) and that would be true even if there were no Education Department. If the agency were to close, Title IX enforcement, and the staff responsible for that work, would likely be moved to the Department of Justice, Fansmith said. There are concerns, however, about whether Title IX enforcement would be prioritized in the same way given the Justice Departments many other responsibilities, he said. In Trumps official reelection agenda, he vowed to reinstate certain protections put in place during his first term for those accused of Title IX violations. Trump had required that campuses hold live hearings for sexual harassment complaints and allow for the cross-examination of students involved. President Joe Biden made live hearings optional, with certain restrictions. Trumps agenda also makes clear a plan to cut federal funding for schools that push what he called radical gender ideology. That likely means that he and his education secretary would work to undo Title IX protections established under Biden to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. What happens to proposed rules about transgender athletes participating in sports? These are unlikely to ever take effect and instead there could be a total ban. The Biden administration proposed a rule that would have prohibited states from categorically banning transgender students from participating in sports, but it has not been finalized, and Fansmith said its widely expected that the Trump administration would simply abandon that effort. Trump said he would ask Congress to pass a bill making clear that the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female and they are assigned at birth. The bill will also make clear that Title IX prohibits men from participating in womens sports. Many states already have passed bills that ban transgender athletes from participating in sports at the K-12 level, but if Congress were to rewrite Title IX to exclude trans athletes from sports, it would also apply to college athletics. Right now, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, allows the national governing body of each sport to determine whether transgender athletes are allowed to participate. If a sports governing body allows transgender athletes to participate, the individual athletes are still required to go through the NCAA eligibility review process, which requires athletes to submit documentation about their hormone levels. Would there be a change in how for-profit colleges operate? The Education Department provides some oversight of colleges, including for-profits, although states play a role as well. If the Department disappeared, it could allow for-profit companies to create colleges with less quality-control oversight, although the same would be true for nonprofits. With or without an Education Department, Trump could still rescind regulations that have tempered the growth of for-profit colleges. For example, one of Trumps most consequential moves in higher education during his first term was rescinding the Obama-era gainful employment rule, and he didnt need the Education Department to do it. That rule set a debt-to-earnings ratio that essentially required career-oriented programs to ensure their graduates could make enough money to repay their loans, or lose federal funding; 99 percent of the institutions that failed to meet that standard were for-profits. The Biden administration was trying to strengthen that rule, but ran into legal challenges. Theres a chance it could come back in some form in Trumps second term, but it would likely be far less onerous on for-profit colleges. Another Obama-era rule that curbed some of the more harmful practices by certain for-profit colleges is known as borrower defense, which allows for loan forgiveness for students who attended colleges that defrauded them. Student debt advocates expect the incoming administration to move slowly on existing and future cases, either by challenging claims or by understaffing the agency responsible for reviewing them. This story about the Education Department was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Check out more Teen Vogue education coverage: Alabamas congressional lawmakers are sounding optimistic about winning back the U.S. Space Command headquarters after a Biden-era tug-of-war with Colorado. With President-elect Trumps return, those Republican lawmakers are eyeing a reset to Huntsville, Ala., the site initially chosen during Trumps first term but spurned when President Biden chose to keep the headquarters at its temporary location in Colorado Springs, Colo. But Colorado lawmakers are also now calling for the incoming Trump administration to avoid what they consider a drastic change that will impact military readiness. Lawmakers from both states pitched their sides in statements to The Hill this week, showing there is a returning battle over the estimated $1 billion annual economic impact of Space Commands headquarters, which brings some 1,400 jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee who led a hearing on Bidens Space Command decision in September 2023, said he was incredibly excited to work with Trump on relocating to Huntsville, which he argued has proven to be the best location. When President Biden tried to reverse that decision, he was putting his far-left politics above national security as he did in so many other circumstances. Now, the American people have resoundingly chosen President Trump and his policies, he said. I am increasingly optimistic that we will see Space Command come home to the Yellowhammer State, said Rogers, who previously said Trump could reverse Bidens decision in his first week of office. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said previous investigations have proven Colorado Springs is the best place for Space Command because its already at work here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Alabama couldnt win this fight on the merits, so theyre trying to get Trump to overrule our national security and cost taxpayers an enormous amount for the sake of a hometown win, he said. We need leaders who fight for our national defense first, not just Huntsvilles economy. The public spat over Space Command, one of 11 combatant command centers under the U.S. military, is now poised to continue through three administrations. Trump, who reestablished Space Command in 2019, chose a temporary headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs. In January 2021, just days before leaving office, he selected Redstone Arsenal base in Huntsville for a permanent spot. Democrats accused Trump of choosing Alabama for partisan reasons, because he enjoys more political support in the Yellowhammer State. And Trump himself said I love Alabama and that he single-handedly chose the state when later asked about his Space Command decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But a 2022 Government Accountability Office report found the Trump process was largely fair and consistent with military recommendations, though it could have used more transparency. A Defense Department inspector general report also found no issues. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.) said Trumps initial decision was based purely on merit and what is best for national security. Huntsville won each phase of an in-depth selection process by a wide margin, Strong said. I am confident that President Trump will continue to do what is best for national security and fulfill his initial decision to bring Space Command to North Alabama. The Hill has contacted members of the Trump transition team for comment on a potential decision for Space Commands home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of Bidens justification for keeping Space Command in Colorado was because it would save time and money, and thus was a national security priority to ensure the headquarters was up and running without delay. Biden, in his statement announcing his decision in summer 2023, said it would take Space Command up to the mid-2030s to be fully operational in Huntsville, while it would take just a month in Colorado. Hickenlooper agreed. U.S. Space Command is at full operational capability and has been for nearly a year. Dedicated service members and civilians are working around the clock at Peterson Space Force Base to keep our country safe in space, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And other Colorado lawmakers, including Republicans, are urging the Trump administration to reconsider any change to the location. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs has been the home of Space Command since 1985, when it was a command center specifically under the Air Force until dissolution in 2002. As the world becomes more dangerous, we cannot afford any lapse in combat readiness, he said. Id urge our newly elected officials to consider these matters as they make crucial decisions in the coming months. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) has also said moving Space Command now would disrupt military readiness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Biden faced accusations of playing politics from Alabama politicians. They argued he chose Colorado for the same reasons as Trump. There were also reports Biden would avoid Huntsville because of restrictive abortion laws in Alabama, but the president ultimately did not cite that factor in his 2023 decision. Trump has the ultimate authority on the matter, though Congress can hold hearings and pull back money for construction. But Colorado is dominated by Democrats, who lost the House, Senate and White House in the 2024 elections. With the Republican Party taking back control of Congress, its unlikely dissatisfied Democrats and Colorado lawmakers can make much of a headache for Trump on Capitol Hill, considering the House and Senate Armed Services committees are likely to back the incoming presidents wishes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, much of the command headquarters has already been built up, posing a challenge for the incoming Trump administration, which, if it decides to reverse, will have to completely uproot the headquarters. In December, U.S. Space Command officials said it was fully operational in Colorado. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2024 restricted new funding for Space Command until the summer of this year, but millions of dollars have already been spent. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told House lawmakers last year that losing civilian workforce and having to reestablish a trained workforce at the new location would have a serious impact on military operational capabilities. GOP lawmakers in Alabama are still pushing for the change. They have long argued Huntsville properly finished in first place in the Air Forces selection process carried out under the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Huntsville is known as Rocket City for its history as a spot for space rocket construction and has a robust aerospace and space workforce in the community. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said Huntsville hast the most advantages and that she expects Space Command to come home to Alabama where it belongs. President Trump will cast aside President Bidens partisan political considerations and restore the Air Forces merit-based decision to select Redstone Arsenal as the permanent basing location for Space Command HQ, she said. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) added he was optimistic about working with President Trump and the Alabama delegation to bring Space Command back to its rightful home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Donald Trump's victory promised an electoral realignment as he made heavy gains among Latinos and peeled off some Black men. His Cabinet, however, ultimately reflects the staying power of white men in Washington. After a flurry of selections last week, the president-elect winds up with just three people of color in secretary roles, matching his first Cabinet. His selection of former Texas state lawmaker andmotivational speaker Scott Turner, who is Black, for Housing and Urban Development and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), who is Hispanic, for Labor did not break form. Trump also had Black and Latino secretaries in those roles during his first term. "Those agencies are not viewed as quite as historic. Its where you historically will put minorities," said Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general who served in George W. Bushs second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has made history by choosing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is likely to be confirmed as the first-ever Hispanic secretary of State. If confirmed, Rubio would replace Gonzales as the highest-ranking Latino in the nations history, as State as a matter of protocol is higher than attorney general in the line of presidential succession. Gonzales said he was pleased to see Trump bring more Hispanics into the "big four" roles State, Treasury, Justice and Defense. I'm of the mind that if you can find those people who can help the president achieve what he campaigned on from different walks of life, different backgrounds, Gonzales added, I think that's a good thing. Trumps lack of emphasis on improving diversity over his first Cabinet is perhaps not surprising from someone who trashed his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, as a "DEI hire" even as he made overt pitches to Black and Hispanic constituencies during the campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One former Trump transition official pointed out that Susie Wiles, his choice for chief of staff, is historic because the role has never before been held by a woman. And Scott Bessent, Trumps selection to head Treasury, would make him the highest-ranking openly gay Cabinet official in history. I think thats where the country is at: we want a Cabinet that is diverse based on many different experiences and backgrounds, be it sexual or racial, economic, or cultural," said Alex Stroman, a former South Carolina GOP state party executive director. "But the American people dont want diversity for the sake of diversity. Trump has also improved on his numbers of women in top roles. He chose five women for his Cabinet: in addition to Chavez-DeRemer, he named Brooke Rollins at Agriculture; Linda McMahon at Education, Kristi Noem for Homeland Security and Pam Bondi at Justice. Trump's first Cabinet had just two women. But even these choices come with a wrinkle. Bondi was Trump's second choice for attorney general, after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration. McMahon was up for Commerce but wound up with the Education job, which Trump had a woman in last time. And Noem, Trumps pick to lead DHS, if confirmed would lead an agency which oversees much of immigration enforcement but that policy is widely considered to be run out of the White House by Trump's close allies Stephen Miller and Tom Homan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outgoing President Joe Biden emphasized diversity in his top jobs with people of color composing more than half of his Cabinet. But that historically diverse Cabinet did not immediately translate into electoral victory for Democrats many voters of color shifted to the political right,even in major cities. What the Democrats were talking about and what mainstream media was talking about was pronouns, gender, transgender identity and an ethnic identity, said Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas). They were worried about pronouns, while Hispanics were concerned about prosperity. Instead, his allies say, Trump's emphasis is on finding people to help him implement his vision. That's the stated vision of the Trump-aligned "Department of Government Efficiency" co-led by Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, and billionaire Elon Musk. They penned an op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal previewing how they are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders to gut $500 billion in funding authorized by Congress. Trump pulled other people of color into important roles in his administration, including Tulsi Gabbard, the former Congress member-turned-MAGA-star, as his choice for Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard, a former Democrat, was the first American Samoan and Hindu elected to Congress. Trump also named Alex Wong, who is Asian American, as his deputy national security adviser. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats criticized the president-elect for his lack of diversity as recently as last week. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton saidTrump put forth troubling nominees, while adding: it appears that the self-proclaimed best president for Black America since Abraham Lincoln has lost interest in us. Some close to the president-elect say he is considering candidates of color for undersecretary positions, which they argue do more in carrying out the presidents agenda than the Cabinet heads. Others suggested there are significant hurdles outside of Trumps control, in particular in recruiting Black Republicans. Theres no bench, said one person granted anonymity to speak to POLITICO about the pool of applicants Trump could nominate to a post. For longtime Republican strategist Deanna Bass Williams, who worked with Ben Carson at HUD during Trumps first administration, her message to Democrats complaining about the make up of the administration is to get over it. Not everything is about race, she said, saying that this group was chosen for its dedication to Trump's mission.This group of Cabinet picks have the guts to actually do it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More important, Republicans say, Trump is veering away from establishment figures or subject-matter experts who presidents from both parties have long relied on to fill their top jobs. And, never wanting to pass up an opportunity to stick it to liberals, he is bringing in some ideological diversity, his allies say. Both Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are former Democrats. They want former Democrats to say: You guys suck so bad, we took some of your team," said Republican strategist Rina Shah. CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated the historic nature of Kristi Noem's nomination to the post of Homeland Security secretary. It also incorrectly represented Alex Stroman's title. He is a former South Carolina GOP state party executive director. President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate retired Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. "Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!," Trump said in a statement announcing his decision. During Trumps first administration, Kellogg served as Chief of Staff and executive secretary to the National Security Council. He previously served in the military for over 35 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kellogg in April co-authored a policy paper, obtained by NBC News, outlining how he'd seek to end the war in Ukraine, including potentially conditioning U.S. military aid to Kyiv on their participation in peace talks with Russia. The paper proposed a ceasefire, with Kellogg and co-author Fred Fleitz writing, "Specifically, it would mean a formal U.S. policy to seek a cease-fire and negotiated settlement of the Ukraine conflict. The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement. Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia." In the paper, the two authors seemed to acknowledge that an end to the war was unlikely while Russian President Vladimir Putin was still leading his country. "Ukraine would not be asked to relinquish the goal of regaining all its territory, but it would agree to use diplomacy, not force, with the understanding that this would require a future diplomatic breakthrough which probably will not occur before Putin leaves office," Kellogg and Fleitz wrote. Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump on Sept. 27 in New York City. The two also explained that it would be hard for Ukraine to accept a peace agreement "that does not give them back all of their territory or, at least for now, hold Russia responsible for the carnage it inflicted on Ukraine." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asking whether he endorses Kellogg's position paper, the president-elect told NBC News, Im the only one who can get the war stopped. It should have never started in the first place." He added that European nations should contribute more aid. Trump during the campaign repeatedly promised to bring an end to the war, but has not offered many specifics for how he would do so. Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September, Trump told reporters, Were going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled and get it worked out." He added, It has to end. At some point, it has to end. Hes gone through hell. His country has gone through hell. At an earlier campaign event in Georgia, Trump complained about U.S. aid to Ukraine, saying, "Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion. I think hes the greatest salesman on Earth. But were stuck in that war unless Im president. Ill get it done. Ill get it negotiated." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and Zelenskyy have a complicated relationship. A July 2019 phone call between the two leaders led to Trump's first impeachment. Trump was accused of withholding aid to Ukraine in an effort to pressure Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. He denied wrongdoing and was later acquitted in the Republican-led Senate. Vice president-elect JD Vance has also spoken out against Ukraine aid, as has Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. I know what Donald Trump was thinking while he was having that meeting. He was thinking, I want to turn this guy over and hold him by his legs and shake all the money out of his pockets and hope it adds up to $208 billion ... Thats what the Democrats gave him, and we need to bring that money home," Kennedy said at a Trump rally in September. During an interview with NBC News Meet the Press, Vance also expressed support for holding peace talks. I think its important if were ever going to end the war in Ukraine, fundamentally, at some level, were going to have to engage in some sort of negotiation between Ukraine, between Russia, between our NATO allies in Europe," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vance had long-criticized the U.S. aid to Ukraine, writing in an op-ed earlier this year, There is frankly no good reason that aid from the U.S. should be needed. Europe is made up of many great nations with productive economies. And he told a podcast in February 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine, "I dont really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January with a razor-thin GOP majority in the House of Representatives that offers Republicans barely any margin of error. Overnight Wednesday, one of two outstanding races in California tipped toward Democrats, giving Adam Gray a roughly 182-vote lead over GOP Rep. John Duarte in the inland 13th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. In California's 45th Congressional District, anchored in Orange and Los Angeles Counties, Democrat Derek Tran has a roughly 600-vote lead over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel. In Iowa, GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is up by 800 votes in Iowas 2nd Congressional District, though a recount is unlikely to change the result in the competitive district. Miller-Meeks first won her seat in 2020 by six votes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If these results hold, the House will start with a 220-215 GOP majority, even thinner than the current Congress' margin. PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol in Washington, November 24, 2024. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images) Republican ranks, however, drop to 219 with former Rep. Matt Gaetz's resignation. It could fall further to 217 depending on the timing of the resignations of Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who are set to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to United Nations and national security adviser, respectively. That would send the chamber to a 217-215 margin -- giving Republicans no room for error, since any tied votes at 216-216 would fail. MORE: What policies could RFK Jr. actually change at HHS? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has pleaded with Trump to avoid taking any more House members for his administration. "It's a great problem to have," Johnson said on Fox News earlier this month. "We have an embarrassment of riches in the House Republican Congress. Lots of talented people who are very attuned to the America First agenda, and they can serve the country well in other capacities." "But I've told President Trump, enough already, give me some relief. I have to maintain this majority. And he understands that, of course, we've been talking about it almost hourly every day," he added. PHOTO: House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a press conference for House Republicans, following their leadership meeting, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Reuters) Already, Republicans have dealt with chaos in the current Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bands of hardline members have grown just large enough to block votes on bills, moves that were once viewed as beyond the pale within the halls of Congress. And, unforgettably, Republican divisions left the House without a speaker for days, both at the beginning when Kevin McCarthy was looking to get the requisite support and again after he gave up the gavel and members were torn for days before coalescing behind Johnson. Heading into the current Congress, Republicans have sought to grease the skids a little bit more to try to avoid such public brawls from happening in the future. PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol in Washington, November 24, 2024. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images) Republicans agreed to raise the number of lawmakers needed to trigger a vote to oust a speaker from one to nine. In return, lawmakers who oppose proposals to allow votes on bills will not face retaliation. MORE: State and local governments could be a roadblock for some of Trump's more radical policies Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But with such a narrow margin, any one Republican could and throw the floor into chaos and block the party-line passage of key bills. One of the largest legislative items up for business is an extension of the 2017 tax cuts that Trump pushed during his first term. They're set to expire next year, and Republicans have hoped to extend them -- but 12 House Republicans voted against the 2017 GOP tax law, which only passed thanks to a larger majority at the time. In 2017, when Republicans passed a rewrite of the tax code during the first Trump administration, 12 House Republicans -- part of a larger majority at the time -- voted against the bill, but did not prevent its passage. Republicans began the 118th Congress in 2023 with 222 seats -- a 10-seat margin over 212 Democrats -- a majority that spent weeks in the winter selecting a House speaker, and a chunk of the fall selecting a replacement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A few illnesses, special election surprises, or absences could also disrupt Republicans' careful balancing act. In 1917, Republicans held the narrowest majority in history with a 215-213 edge over Democrats. But a group of minor party lawmakers worked with the minority to elect a speaker, delivering the chamber to Democrats, according to Pew. Trump set to take office with razor-thin House GOP majority originally appeared on abcnews.go.com After a lengthy delay, President-elect Trump has signed off on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the White House, which will allow officials to meet with counterparts at departments and agencies ahead of the January transition of power. Susie Wiles, who will serve as Trumps chief of staff, said in a statement Tuesday that the transition team had signed the memorandum with President Joe Bidens White House. This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power, Wiles said. The Trump transition said landing teams would quickly integrate directly into federal agencies and departments with access to documents and policy sharing. The members of those landing teams would be disclosed to the Biden administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump transition said it would not use taxpayer funding for costs related to the transition, nor would it use government buildings provided by the Government Services Administration. The transition has not disclosed its donors, however, making it unclear who is funding Trumps preparations to take office in January. Tuesdays announcement said donors would be disclosed to the public and that foreign donations would not be accepted. Wiless statement did not say the transition had signed any similar document with the Justice Department to complete background checks of incoming officials, nor did it give any indication about whether Trumps team would release an ethics agreement about resolving conflicts of interest. Instead, the transition said it has an existing Ethics Plan for those involved, which will meet the requirements for personnel to seamlessly move into the Trump Administration. That plan will be posted to the General Services Administration website, the Trump team said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House officials told The Hill that progress has been made toward an agreement on a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department. If it is necessary to share classified information with a member of the transition, agencies will need to determine that the individual has the proper security clearance, officials said. The transitions signing of the memorandum with the White House comes three weeks after Trumps victory on election night. By comparison, then-candidate Joe Biden and his team signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate a transition of power in early September 2020, before that years election took place. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others have raised concerns about the lack of memorandums signed by the Trump team on both background checks and ethics agreements. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the FBI since his first term, has sidestepped the bureaus role in conducting background checks of his nominees and appointees for security clearances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People familiar with the matter told The Hill that the Biden White House has pressed the Trump team to sign the necessary memoranda of understanding since September, and White House chief of staff Jeff Zients personally stressed the importance of the documents after Election Day. Biden himself emphasized the significance of the memoranda during a Nov. 13 meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, people familiar with the matter said. Zients met with Wiles in his office Nov. 19 and again pushed for the Trump team to sign the memoranda. The fact is that on January 20 at 12 pm, President Trump and his team will be in seat. We have 2 options, Saloni Sharma, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. Option one is no transition, potentially risking the security of the American people and our country, Sharma said. Option two is conduct a smooth transition with safeguards in the White House MOU to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest. Option two is the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Updated at 6:07 p.m. EST Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 has tapped an art collector and GOP megadonor with no military experience to lead the U.S. Navy, he announced on Tuesday. John Phelan is the leader of the private investment firm Rugger management and was a major fundraiser for Trumps campaign. He donated $834,600 to Trumps joint fundraising committee in April, FEC filings show, and also hosted a dinner for the president-elect at his $38 million home in Aspen, Colorado, The Guardian reported. The dinner raised $12 million for Trump's campaign. John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision, Trump wrote in a statement. He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump selected Phelan after a series of interviews in Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, sources told Politico. Phelan previously oversaw the firm that handled investments for Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Inc. Phelan and his wife Amy are avid art collectors and regularly hold collection viewings for celebrity attendees at their Colorado estate, according to Art News. Johns intelligence and leadership are unmatched. John holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is a truly brilliant guy! Trump said in his statement. His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation. Other candidates considered for the position included retired naval aviator Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., and retired Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Tex., who was Trumps chief medical advisor during his first term, Politico reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Phelan will serve under Trumps pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host facing allegations of sexual assault. Trump is also considering businessman Trae Stephens to be the Pentagons No. 2, The Wall Street Journal reported. Throughout his first term in office, Trump was regularly frustrated with the militarys refusal to obey his every demand, which included firing missiles into Mexico to target drug labs and to "just shoot" protestors marching against police brutality. His 2024 nominations suggest an intent to fulfill his promise to fill the government with loyalists and self-styled disruptors who will follow-through with his plans to use the military for mass deportations to go after the enemy from within." The president-elect also said he would fire military generals who are too woke and has vowed to ban transgender people from serving in the military, which would result in at least 15,000 active members being forced to leave, The New Republic reported. Hegseth, who has promised to get rid of diversity initiatives in the military and wrote that America is head towards "some form of civil war," appears to have the right amount of inexperience and loyalty Trump is looking for. Though Phelan's views are lesser-known than Hegseth's, his similar lack of experience has invited questions as to why he's been selected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And of course, Phelan has not served in the Navy. Or any other branch of military service. But he is a big Trump donor, Paul Rieckhoff, a veteran and founder of Iraq War Veterans of America wrote on X. The least qualified and most overtly political cabinet in American history continues to expand. And #OurEnemiesAreCelebrating. "John Phelan, Trumps nominee for Secretary of the Navy, appears to have absolutely zero relevant experience for the job other than having hosted a fundraising dinner for Trump at his $38 million home in Aspen. Hes an art collector who runs a private equity firm," Democratic pollster Matt McDermott wrote on X. President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will nominate an art collecting Republican megadonor who works in finance and has no military experience to run the Navy. It is my great honor to announce John Phelan as our next United States Secretary of the Navy! Trump said, in a statement. John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision. Phelan heads Palm Beach-based private investment firm Rugger Management and formerly managed the investments of billionaire Michal Dell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His sole qualification for the Navy job seems to be that he helped the Trump campaign raise a lot of money. One fundraiser he hosted for Trump at his $38 million Aspen, Colorado, home this summer cost $25,000 to $500,000 per couple. Phelan has not served in the Navy. [Or] any other branch of military service, tweeted Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group. But he is a big Trump donor. The least qualified and most overtly political cabinet in American history continues to expand. And of course, Phelan has not served in the Navy. Of any other branch of military service. But he is a big Trump donor. The least qualified and most overtly political cabinet in American history continues to expand. And #OurEnemiesAreCelebrating. https://t.co/ME7ndWGnXf Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) November 27, 2024 His Record of Success speaks for itself - A true Champion of American Enterprise and Ingenuity! added Trump. Johns intelligence and leadership are unmatched. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politico reported that Trump picked him following interviews at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), a retired naval aviator who deployed in Iraq, and Rep. Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy captain who was Trumps chief medical adviser in his first administration, were also rumored to be in the running. Phelan and his wife Amy, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, were named among the worlds top 200 art collectors by ArtNews earlier this year. Their collection was described by a Christies auction house curator as a celebration of the sexual side of life with a sense of humor in 2008. Among their Picassos, Dubuffets and Chagalls are many works of blonde women who look like Amy, including some that are of her, W Magazine reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From 2006 to 2019, they hosted an annual wine tasting event WineCrush, as part of the Aspen Art Museums summer ArtCrush galaadmission to the museum has been free since 2009, according to its website, thanks to the Phelans' patronage. John and Amy Phelan with Corey Gamble and Kris Jenner during ArtCrush 2015 in Aspen, Colorado. Among those drawn to the event over the years was wine-lover and Keeping Up with the Kardashians matriarch Kris Jenner and her partner, Corey Gamble. Another one of Trumps leading picks to lead the military, Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth, has faced blowback after allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel in 2017 emerged. Hegseth denies the claims and says the encounter was consensual. Meanwhile, longtime Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn is under internal investigation for allegedly offering pay-to-play cash access to the President-elect, including seeking cash payments from would-be cabinet nominees. He denies the allegations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is no indication Phelan interacted with Epshteyn. No one can promise any endorsement or nomination except me, Trump told Just The News earlier this week. I make these decisions on my own, period. President-elect Donald Trump has selected businessman John Phelan as his nominee to lead the Navy, according to a statement released on Tuesday night. It is my great honor to announce John Phelan as our next United States Secretary of the Navy! John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision, Trump wrote. He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else. Trumps pick of Phelan, after choosing Army National Guard Veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department, is a sign that the incoming administration could prioritize disruptors coming into the agency instead of long-tenured bureaucrats. Trump is also eyeing businessman Steve Feinberg and defense investor Trae Stephens as the Pentagons No. 2, The Wall Street Journal reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Phelan, who leads the private investment firm Rugger Management and once handled Michael Dells investments, was a major donor to the Trump campaign and reportedly hosted the president-elect at his Aspen, Colorado, home this summer where Trump went on a profanity-laced tirade about immigration and warned that the election could be the last the United States ever had if Vice President Kamala Harris had won. Trump chose Phelan, who did not serve in the military and does not have a long track record with the Navy, after a round of interviews at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to one person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss internal matters. Rep. Mike Garcia of California, a retired naval aviator defeated in his reelection bid to win his battleground seat, and Rep. Ronny Jackson, a close Trump ally and retired captain who served as Trumps chief medical adviser during his first administration, were also rumored as candidates for the job. Johns intelligence and leadership are unmatched, Trump wrote. His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation. John will deliver real results for our Navy and our Country. Donald Trump has tapped a GOP megadonor with no military experience to head up the U.S. Navy in his latest slew of cabinet picks. On Tuesday night, the president-elect announced John Phelan as his choice to lead the Department of the Navy under defense secretary Pete Hegseth if the latter controversial nominee is confirmed by the Senate. In the announcement, Trump said Phelans record of success will speak for itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A true Champion of American Enterprise and Ingenuity! Trump said. Johns intelligence and leadership are unmatched. John holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is a truly brilliant guy! His incredible knowledge and experience will elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation. Phelan, an art collector, is the co-founder of MSD Capital and the head of private investment firm Rugger Management. He was a major donor to Trumps 2024 presidential campaign and reportedly hosted the president-elect this summer at his $38 million estate in Aspen, Colorado. He donated $834,600 to Trumps joint fundraising committee in April, FEC filings show. Phelan has no military experience. John Phelan, an art collector and head of a private investment firm, is Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Navy (Getty) According to the U.S. Code, the secretary of the Navy shall be appointed from among persons most highly qualified for the position by reason of background and experience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps pick of Phelan to lead the worlds most powerful Navy was instantly criticized due to his lack of defense experience, given that a military background is common for those taking up the post. And of course, Phelan has not served in the Navy. Of any other branch of military service. But he is a big Trump donor, Paul Reickhoff, an Iraq War veteran and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said in a post on X. The least qualified and most overtly political cabinet in American history continues to expand. And #OurEnemiesAreCelebrating. Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Navy has no military experience, his critics said (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The Navy pick came amid of flurry of announcements from the president-elect on Tuesday night unveiling more of his future administration picks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many figures already tapped to join his second term have already raised eyebrows, particularly Fox News host Hegseth who is Trumps choice to head up the Pentagon who also faces criticism that he lacks experience for such a top job. The best thing one could say about Hegseth, according to Veterans for Responsible Leadership founder Dan Barkhuff, is that he is wholly unqualified to lead the [Department of Defense] on merit. Hegseth, 44, is a former Bear Stearns banker who later served tours with the Army National Guard in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and led veterans-focused advocacy organizations. His nomination faces jeopardy not only because of his inexperience. Hegseth is also facing a sexual assault allegation that he raped a woman at a California hotel in 2017, an encounter Hegseth has claimed was consensual. President-elect Trump on Wednesday announced his appointment of Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who served as chief of staff on Trumps National Security Council during his first term, as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. Trump praised Kellogg as being with him right from the beginning and noted his distinguished military and business career. Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! the president-elect said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has promised to bring a swift end to Russias war in Ukraine, leveraging his relationships with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That has raised anxiety among Kyivs supporters that the president-elect will seek a deal that would cede Ukrainian land or jeopardize the countrys future security. Kellogg is seen as highly loyal to Trump, which is likely a reason hes won the appointment. This sends the signal to Russia, Ukraine and European allies that he will directly channel the presidents vision on Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, in his writings, has proposed implementing a ceasefire along the front lines, while recognizing Ukrainian claims to territory occupied by Russia. He called for pressuring Putin to the negotiating table by threatening to remove all restrictions on Ukraines use of long-range missiles, but he also argued for threatening to halt U.S. military assistance to Kyiv to ensure its place at the negotiating table. Kelloggs selection garnered lukewarm early reactions from some focused on maintaining robust U.S. support for Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a gulp not horrible, not amazing, said one security analyst based in Washington, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. He is not the strongest on Ukraine but he doesnt seem ideologically awful and there is room for improvement. His plans on Ukraine have been so-so. But Oleh Shamshur, a former Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., said that, although he is only familiar with Kellogg through the media, he is pessimistic about his appointment. As I understand, he totally accepts the logic of Trumps peace plan as related by Vice-President-elect JD Vance, he said, referring to Vances support for ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia and abandoning plans for Ukraine to join NATO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the end of the day, he and the others will be mostly implementers of their masters will, Shamshur added. So, it is really important to hear from Trump what is his plan. In Kyiv you can hear quite different ideas as to what we can expect with the advent of the Big Guy. I am mostly pessimistic. Hes better than any other rumored option, said one European diplomat. He preached that negotiations should be from the strong foothold and support for Ukraine is necessary. Kellogg has previously expressed skepticism of Russia and support for arming Ukraine. You have to give more arms to them [the Ukrainians] because you cant trust the Russians, Kellogg said in an interview in July with Voice of America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other supporters of Ukraine have cited the need to push back on Russias aggression, and the dangers of setting a precedent that could be used by China to invade Taiwan, in arguing why it is in the U.S.s interest to back Kyiv. Kellogg, for his part, has largely focused on how an America First approach to resolving conflict can be successful without specifying why the U.S. should back Ukraine. Under an America First approach to the Ukraine conflict, once it became a stalemate and a war of attrition, it was in the best interests of Ukraine, America, and the world to seek a ceasefire and negotiate a peace agreement with Russia, he wrote in an April 2024 proposal for ending the war. Kellogg called for a ceasefire and negotiated settlement in which the U.S. would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia would not make further advances. He further called for delaying, significantly, any plans for Ukraine to join NATO. While President Biden has held back on pressing NATO to issue an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance, NATO said during its July summit declaration that Kyiv is on an irreversible path to join the alliance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia, he wrote. To convince Putin to join peace talks, President Biden and other NATO leaders should offer to put off NATO membership for Ukraine for an extended period in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees. Kellogg put forth similar proposals in a December 2023 article for The National Interest. While less satisfying than (what increasingly appears to be an unachievable) total military victory, this outcome would represent a strategic defeat for Russia and a strengthening of American national security and the Western alliance, Kellogg wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Republicans argue that the Ukraine conflict is a European matter of no consequence to the United States. Strategically, as his public comments reinforce, Trump disagrees. He sees ending the war as a major foreign policy issue one that he plans to accomplish on day one. This story was first posted at 1:11 p.m. and last updated at 3:34 p.m. EST Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WASHINGTON (Reuters) Donald Trump has tapped Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who has presented him with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, to serve as a special envoy for the conflict, the president-elect wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. Kellogg, who was the chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during Trumps 2017-2021 term and national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence, will likely play a central role in attempting to resolve the conflict in his new position. Trump Cabinet appointees targeted in violent threats: transition team Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While there is currently no special envoy for the war in Ukraine, Trump had privately expressed interest in creating the position. Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters was first to report that Trump was eyeing Kellogg for the role. Quickly winding down the Ukraine war was one of Trumps central campaign promises, though he has avoided discussing how he would do so. Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration, Trump said on social media. Donald Trumps new administration: Who has he chosen so far? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kelloggs plan for ending the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory, involves freezing the battle lines at their prevailing locations and forcing both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table, Reuters reported in June. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation. The News US President-elect Donald Trump named retired General Keith Kellogg as Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, a position which will have a key role in the incoming administrations effort to end the war in Ukraine. Kellogg was with me right from the beginning! Trump said in a statement. Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN! Kellogg previously served as chief of staff on the National Security Council and as former Vice President Mike Pences national security adviser during Trumps first term in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thank god, one European official told Semafor. Not the worst option at all. Other reported frontrunners for the role, including ex-intelligence chief Ric Grenell, were widely seen as more skeptical of giving any further aid to Ukraine. Kellogg has previously argued that Washington should arm Ukraine on the condition that Kyiv enter peace talks with Russia. Writing in a policy paper alongside another former Trump official, Fred Fleitz, they argued that the US should put Ukrainian NATO membership on hold indefinitely in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable deal with security guarantees. Know More The proposal said that Ukraine should commit to winning back the territory occupied by Russia by diplomatic means rather than force, and that the US should give more aid to Ukraine if Russia declines to negotiate. Ukraines reconstruction could be funded by placing levies on Russian energy sales, the two proposed. It is unclear to what extent Kelloggs plan will form a blueprint for Trumps Ukraine policy, but the president-elect reportedly reacted positively to the strategy when briefed on it. Americans may be shelling out more for gasoline if the incoming Trump administration follows through on threats to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. President-elect Donald Trump this week said he would enact a 25% tariff on all products from both countries, citing concerns about illegal immigration and illicit drugs flowing into the U.S. While prices could climb on a variety of goods shipped to the U.S., the potential impact on motorists and on the transportation sector could be particularly acute, analysts say. "Canada and Mexico are huge U.S. trading partners, so it's a shot across the bow of longtime U.S. allies," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CBS MoneyWatch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "For a lot of the U.S., it could be problematic for what they pay at the pump," De Haan said of the tariffs' impact, in particular to inland regions such as the Great Lakes, Midwest and the Rockies. "The coastal areas have more options they don't rely as much on Canadian crude." !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r Grateful Dead members reflect on Phil Lesh's impact on the band, their lives Former Navy secretary says Trump's Defense Secretary pick will make the military "weaker" Some North Carolina homeowners still can't return home after Helene landslides President-elect Trump has asked New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) to drop her multimillion-dollar civil fraud case against him, citing a need to cure partisan divisions following Trumps election victory. D. John Sauer, an appellate attorney whom Trump tapped for solicitor general, in Tuesdays letter framed dropping the case as necessary for the health of our Republic, invoking former President Washingtons Farewell Address and former President Lincolns Thanksgiving Proclamation during the Civil War. In the aftermath of his historic election victory, President Trump has called for our Nations partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country, Sauer wrote. This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle. A New York judge earlier this year found Trump and his business liable for fraud and having conspired to alter his net worth for tax and insurance benefits. He ordered the defendants to pay $464 million, plus tax, of which Trump primarily bears the brunt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, the president-elect, Trump Organization and top executives, including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, owe more than $496 million with interest, which has continued to accrue while he appeals. The New York attorney generals office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sauers letter previews that if James does not agree to wipe the massive judgment and dismiss all claims, Trumps team may argue that the case unconstitutionally interferes with his duties as president. The attorney went on to note how special counsel Jack Smith dropped both of his criminal prosecutions against Trump following his White House win, and a judge is similarly weighing whether to dismiss the president-elects hush money conviction in New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fraud case is civil, but Sauer said it should fare no different. This case warrants the same treatment, Sauer wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Fox News. Sauer is one of Trumps appellate attorneys and successfully argued his presidential immunity appeal before the Supreme Court. After winning the election, Trump nominated Sauer to serve as the No. 4 Justice Department official, putting him in position to decide which cases the federal government appeals and represent the government before the high court. As counsel for President Trump in this appeal and now as his nominee for Solicitor General of the United States I have had the opportunity to experience this partisan division personally, and I strongly believe that it is necessary for the health of our Republic for the strife and lawfare to end, Sauer wrote to James. You now have the singular opportunity to help cure this division. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James, who sued Trump in 2022 and took him to trial last year, said in a speech after Trumps election that her office is prepared to take on a second Trump administration. She did not mention the civil fraud case but said she intended to continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, retribution. Trump has personally attacked James as incompetent and has suggested she sought to keep him out of the White House. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Press Release November 26, 2024 Sponsorship Speech of Sen. Joel Villanueva Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1223: Resolution Honoring Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for his Untiring Service and Contributions to the Country and the Filipino People Tuesday, 26 November 2024 Mr. President, my dear colleagues: Before anything else, welcome back to your Senate, Manong Johnny. Na-im-bag nga rabii, ken Dios ti ag-ngi-na, A-po. I stand here today humbled by the tremendous contributions of our distinguished guest to the country and to our people. At a tender age of 100, and still serving as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, the immortal Juan Ponce Enrile has been untiring and unwavering in his service to the Filipino people. For almost 60 years, he has offered his mastery of the law and legal system, his political deftness, and his vast knowledge in his capacity as a legislator and a member of cabinet. His long, illustrious career in politics spans eight presidential administrations - a feat that us, mere mortals, can only dream to achieve in this lifetime. He served as Finance Secretary and Acting Chairperson of the Monetary Board, Justice Secretary, Defense Secretary, BatasangPambansa Parliamentarian, Cagayan's District Representative at the House of Representatives, and a Senator. The Former Senate President served in these halls for four terms. He authored important measures such as the Comprehensive Tax Reform Law and he filed the original Anti-Terrorism Bill which became the Human Security Act. Under his leadership, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension Act, the Anti-Torture Act, the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, the Anti-Child Pornography Act, the National Heritage Conservation Act, and the Real Estate Investment Act, among others. It would probably take an entire Senate Session to enumerate his contributions to the nation since former Senate President Enrile first joined government in 1966. His accomplishments as a legislator and his leadership as former Senate President are, in equal parts, admirable and overwhelmingly impressive. Many of our current and former Senate employees will always love and remember Manong Johnny because he was consistent and faithful to his favorite line: "Gusto ko happy ka." This was no mere campaign slogan, but a true manifestation of his commitment as a public servant who puts the welfare and interest of the public above all. The life and legacy of the Son of Cagayan province is the stuff of legend, and we should all consider ourselves extremely blessed to even be included as a footnote in his book. On the occasion of his 100th birthday in February this year, I happened upon an article listing the 100 things that are younger than the immortal Juan Ponce Enrile - these include the television, penicillin, FM radio, canned beer, sliced bread, photocopier, the atomic bomb, Vatican City, Sputnik 1, the United Nations, Mickey Mouse, the Tydings-McDuffie Law, the Philippine Commonwealth - the list goes on. A century's worth of innovation, progress, and knowledge. In closing, allow me to impart one knowledge I have learned from Chapter 22 of his literal book about the best reward in life: "To have been able to serve my country through all these decades of trials and uncertainty and to have enjoyed the sweet and simple joys of a long and productive life is the best reward of all." The Senate of the Republic of the Philippines gives its snappy salute to the Legend that is Juan Ponce Enrile. Thank you, Senate President Enrile. Thank you, Mr. President and may God bless us all. Donald Trumps proposed Cabinet has been targeted with a series of hoax bomb threats with one member suggesting it was the work of pro-Palestinian activists. Pete Hegseth, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin, Brooke Rollins and Howard Lutnick were all targeted. Mr Zeldin, Mr Trumps nominee to lead the Environment Protection Agency, said the threat he received came with a pro-Palestinian themed message. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fox News reported that nearly a dozen figures named in the new Cabinet had been targeted, and that law enforcement had visited several homes in response. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew as Mr Trumps original nomination for attorney general, was also targeted. The so-called swatting incidents were not credible threats, with no devices or physical threats found, police sources told NBC News. They added that the threats did not involve Mr Trump or JD Vance. 07:51 PM GMT Thats all for now Thanks for tuning in to our live blog. This blog is now closed. 07:18 PM GMT Violent Left responsible for bomb threats, says Donald Trump Jr. Donald Trump Jr. has blamed the violent Left for a series of bomb threats against the president-elects top brass. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His comments came after Lee Zeldin, Donald Trumps nominee to lead the Environment Protection Agency, said that the threat against him included a pro-Palestinian themed message. The source of the bomb threats remains unclear. The violent left has been calling in bomb threats and swatting incoming members of the Trump Administration. Enough is enough with this type of deranged crap! Fox News: Trump Cabinet nominees, appointees targeted with 'violent, unAmerican threats'https://t.co/8v4paVrja6 Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 27, 2024 07:14 PM GMT Matt Gaetzs relatives targeted in bomb hoax, sheriffs office says A bomb threat was discovered in the mailbox at the home of one of Matt Gaetzs relatives, the Okaloosa County, Florida, sheriffs office said. We received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetzs supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9am this morning, the Sheriffs office said in a statement. A family member resides at the address but former Congressman Gaetz is NOT a resident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mailbox however was cleared and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results. 06:58 PM GMT Brooke Rollins targeted with bomb threat Brooke Rollins, Donald Trumps pick for agriculture secretary, was also targeted by a hoax bomb threats. She said that her family was unharmed and were quickly able to return home thanks to the efforts of local authorities. This morning, we learned that a threat was issued against our home and family. Thanks to the swift efforts by the @fortworthpd, we were unharmed and quickly returned home. I want to express my deep gratitude to the law-enforcement professionals who did their utmost, in both speed https://t.co/C5RiEcJ7ai Brooke Rollins (@BrookeLRollins) November 27, 2024 06:49 PM GMT Intimidation will not deter us, says Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, has said that intimidation will not deter us, after the president-elects top team were targeted with bomb threats. Last night and this morning, several of president Trumps Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them, Ms Leavitt said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said law enforcement had acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the transition are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future, Ms Leavitt continued. With president Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. 06:41 PM GMT What is swatting? Donald Trumps top team appears to have been targeted by an advanced swatting attack. The phenomenon of swatting calling in a fake threat to prompt a heavy, armed emergency response has exploded in recent years as a tactic to intimidate targets. Recent victims have included Arthur Engoron, the judge who presided over Mr Trumps financial fraud case, special counsel Jack Smith and judge Tanya Chutkan, who was overseeing Mr Trumps DC criminal trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nikki Haley, the former presidential candidate, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have both been swatted on several occasions. Swatting has been on the FBIs radar since at least 2008, but its popularity has grown in recent years after several high-profile cases involving gamers and internet personalities. 06:39 PM GMT FBI investigating bomb threats The FBI is working with local authorities to investigate the bomb threats against Donald Trumps top team. An FBI spokesman said: The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement. 06:38 PM GMT Elise Stefaniks home targeted in bomb hoax Elise Stefanik, whom Mr Trump nominated as his UN ambassador this month, revealed she had been the victim of a bomb threat but was away from home when it happened. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence, her office said in a statement. New York State, County law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism. We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe. 06:35 PM GMT Bomb hoax targets Thanksgiving celebrations The threats against Donald Trumps top team were made a day before Thanksgiving when cabinet members would likely have been at home with their families, rather than in Washington or at Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. 06:33 PM GMT Bomb squad sent to Matt Gaetzs home A bomb squad was reportedly sent to Matt Gaetzs house after the former Florida congressman received a pipe bomb threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was not immediately clear if the threat to Mr Gaetz, a close ally of Mr Trump who withdrew his name from consideration as attorney general last week, was genuine or a hoax, Punchbowl reported. According to the outlet Mr Gaetz was not at home when the authorities responded to the bomb threat, although a member of his family was. A sniffer dog was brought in to check the former congressmans mailbox but failed to establish whether there was a credible bomb threat. The bomb squad was called in shortly after. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. After months of delay, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has signed paperwork to begin the official transition process with the Biden administration. But Trump's team has refused to sign two other agreements: One to provide logistical support, including federal funding, and another to allow the FBI to process security clearances for transition officials. Under federal law, major party nominees are expected to sign both agreements before the election to facilitate a smooth transition of power. Kamala Harris team did so by the deadlines. But Trump had delayed doing so until this week, sparking concerns from White House officials and lawmakers. Trump's transition team said in a statement Tuesday that it has signed a transition agreement with the Biden White House, allowing both parties to begin arrangements for the transfer of federal agencies to the incoming administration. But it has declined to sign an agreement with the General Services Administration, which would provide it with federal funding, office space and cybersecurity support. It also includes an ethics pledge. Trump's team said it would instead adhere to its own ethics plan and raise money for the transition itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As The Washington Post reported, By turning down about $7 million in federal funding for the transition, Trump will be able to raise unlimited private donations for his transition. Trumps incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said the team would not accept contributions from foreign donors and would disclose its donors publicly. Trump's team has also refused to sign an agreement with the Justice Department that would allow the FBI to conduct security clearances for transition officials, thus preventing Biden officials from sharing classified information with many members of Trump's team. The team's circumvention of the typical transition process is in line with Trump's disregard for political norms, and it has raised alarm among some Democrats. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said it "increases concerns about corruption." This announcement fails to answer key questions about national security threats and FBI vetting of nominees, and increases concerns about corruption, Warren said. There appear to be serious gaps between the Trump transitions ethics agreement and the letter of the law. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Donald Trumps transition team reportedly plans to surround Robert F Kennedy Jr with some anti-abortion figures to appease members of the GOP who are unconvinced by the prospective head of the Department of Health and Human Services and his stance on the divisive issue. Concerns have been raised about RFK Jr who previously said he opposed any government limits on abortion at the state or federal level and his confirmation by the Republican majority Senate. Abortion is guaranteed to come up during the hearing. Speaking to Fox News, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, a new member of Senate GOP leadership, said: Itll come up in the hearing 100 percent. Theres no question that this will be an issue. I will raise it if no one else does. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His sentiments have been echoed by other senior GOP figures including former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN that assurances are already being made to anti-abortion leaders that other top healthcare positions in the looming Trump administration will be stacked with anti-abortion advocates. Donald Trump shaked Robert F Kennedy Jrs hand after the latter endorsed the now-president-elect at a rally in August. RFK Jr will be nominated to serve as Trumps HHS secretary, Politico reports. (Getty Images) I made clear to them that this needs to be tended to, one anti-abortion leader, who spoke with the transition team over their concerns, told CNN. We have some serious policy and personnel concerns that have been proprietary to our community for 30 years. The expectation theyve given me is they will have an assistant HHS secretary who more aligns with us. (AFP via Getty Images) Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said there was no question about the need for a pro-life HHS secretary, saying that the organization had concerns about the appointment of RFK Jr. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be re-established, she told CNN. During his independent presidential bid, RFK Jr praised Roe v Wade, saying he was for choice and medical freedom. A statement posted on his website states: Abortion is a tragedy but I dont trust the government to make these decisions for Americans. Im for choice and medical freedom. We need to trust mothers to make the best decisions. We also need to give full support to mothers who want to bring babies to term. RFK Jr has since walked back on the comments after blowback from anti-abortion advocates, including from inside his own campaign at the time. I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). 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 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2024 However, his wavering on the issue prompted figures including Pence who is staunchly anti-abortion to call for GOP senators to reject his nomination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as secretary of Health and Human Services, Pence said in a statement following Trumps selection of Kennedy for the HHS role, adding that the pick was deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans. Graham, who lobbied Trump during his 2024 campaign to support a 15-week national abortion ban with exceptions, recently told The Dispatch: I want to see what [RFK Jr] has to say about abortion. That will matter a lot to me. A Texas National Guardsman observes as Border Patrol agents pat down migrants who have surrendered themselves for processing at Gate 42, some after waiting near the border wall for days, May 10, 2023. (Photo by Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM.) President-elect Donald Trump has reaffirmed that once he takes office he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military on American streets to accomplish his promises to round up and deport millions of undocumented migrants. Many experts concerns about this program have included the facts that immigrants contribute enormous value to the U.S. economy and mass deportation would hurt food production, housing construction and other crucial industries. Other scholars have analyzed how deportation traumatizes families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have an additional concern about a renewed focus on deportation as someone who has studied U.S. domestic militias for more than 15 years: Some militia units may see it as their duty to assist with such efforts. In fact, local police may even deputize certain militias to help them deport immigrants. Anti-government, but supporting national defense Militias are generally wary of the government. Theyve even been known to use violence against politicians and other government representatives, including police. I have found in my research that the militias disdain for the federal government is especially strong because they believe it is too big and corrupt and takes too much of their income through taxation. But militia members negative beliefs about immigration and self-declared mission to protect the country could lead them to join a national mass-deportation effort. My research finds that militia members generally believe the falsehoods that undocumented migrants are a threat to public safety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For some, my research finds, this perception is rooted in xenophobia and racism. Other militia members misunderstand what is required to obtain U.S. citizenship: They believe that anyone who enters the country illegally is, by definition, a criminal and has therefore already proven their intention to not follow the laws and generally be a good American. This is not true, because migrants may seek asylum regardless of their immigration status for up to a year after entering the country. Members with both sets of motives believe that undocumented migrants are taking jobs away from more deserving citizens and are generally receiving unearned benefits from being in the country. Trumps promises to crack down on immigration appeal to militia members of both types. Militia members also believe that one of the few legitimate functions of the federal government as outlined by the Constitution is national defense. In that sense, those who believe migrants are an urgent threat could see the militarys involvement in a mass-deportation operation as consistent with a duty to defend the nation. Most scholars agree that even if it were technically legal, domestic deployment of the military would be an alarming threat to democracy. Active participation Some militia units in border states have been engaged in deportation efforts for a long time. They typically patrol the border, sometimes detain migrants and regularly call the U.S. Border Patrol to report their findings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Border Patrol agents have historically expressed skepticism and concerns about militia involvement with border monitoring due to the unverifiable skills and motives of civilian support. Some state, county and local police also do immigration enforcement, and in recent years they have seemed to become more open to civilian assistance. Some local police agencies, particularly sheriffs, are already asking for civilian assistance managing perceived problems with migrants. Others have hosted anti-immigration events with militias who patrol the border under an effective, if not formal, deputization of their actions. Militias may also be called on directly. In the past, Trump has directly addressed militias. The most cited example is his instruction in a Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate, directing the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by. People had similar interpretations of his comments in advance of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But I have long believed these appeals started much earlier. In 2018 Trump pardoned the men who inspired the Bundy family occupation and standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. I believe that was an early attempt to garner support from people in militia circles. A volatile combination The military has already been getting involved in immigration enforcement in unprecedented ways. In early 2024, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott claimed the U.S. Border Patrol was not protecting his state from an invasion from would-be immigrants. He deployed his states National Guard to an area of the border, blocking the Border Patrol from working in that section. That blockade continues. In a second term, Trump has little incentive to restrain his rhetoric or his actions. The Supreme Court has ruled that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while in office. Even if he does not directly appeal to private citizens to control the border or detain people whom they believe to be undocumented migrants, his official presence and hard-line stance on immigration may be enough to provide legitimacy to vigilante action. In November 2024, two militia members were convicted of a variety of federal offenses, including conspiracy to murder federal agents, for a plot to kill Border Patrol agents whom the men believed were failing to adequately protect the border from crossing migrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not all militia members support mass deportation, especially if it involves unconstitutionally deploying military forces on U.S. soil. Thats clear from my research. The military is the military, and law enforcement is law enforcement, one militia member replied when I asked some of my long-term contacts for their perspectives on Trumps declaration to use the military. They are separate for a reason. This man believes undocumented migrants pose dangers but thinks shifting the militarys role would be even more harmful. Not all militia members are so circumspect. Amy Cooter, Director of Research, Academic Development, and Innovation at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE By David Thomas (Reuters) - Rank-and-file attorneys in the federal government fear major budget cuts when President-elect Donald Trump assumes office and are hunting for private-sector jobs in unusually high numbers, five legal recruiters told Reuters. Each new administration sparks an exodus of political appointees and other senior legal officials, but the recruiters said they are also hearing from far more lower-level, career government lawyers this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It absolutely feels different than the transition to the first Trump administration," said Rachel Nonaka, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney-turned-recruiter in Washington. Another Washington headhunter, Dan Binstock, said government attorneys have approached his firm Garrison at five times the normal post-election rate, and far more of them are career civil servants. "The level of uncertainty is like nothing we've seen," said Binstock, who has been a recruiter for 20 years. More than 44,000 licensed attorneys serve in the federal government, according to March data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. About a third of those lawyers work in the Justice Department, and fewer than 400 of them are non-career political appointees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Education, which Trump has claimed he would try to abolish, employs nearly 600 lawyers. The number of lawyers in all cabinet-level agencies grew by about 2,500 during both the Trump and Biden administrations. This month, Trump created a new unofficial Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy, who argued last week that executive actions to lift regulations could pave the way for mass reductions in the federal workforce. "The Trump Administration will have a place for people serving in government who are committed to defending the rights of the American people, putting America first, and ensuring the best use of working men and women's tax dollars," transition spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement. Trump has accused government lawyers of frustrating his first-term agenda and faced two federal criminal indictments by what he described as a politicized Biden Justice Department. His nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has called for an investigation into how those cases were prosecuted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The prosecutors will be prosecuted. The bad ones. The investigators will be investigated," Bondi told Fox News last year. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in June rejected accusations by House Republicans that he had politicized the criminal justice system and accused them of peddling conspiracy theories that could endanger federal law enforcement officers. GOING PRIVATE Jesse Panuccio, who served as acting associate attorney general during the first Trump administration, said at an event hosted by the conservative Federalist Society this month that civil servants' job is to advance their elected leaders' agenda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If they don't want to carry it out, there are a lot of great jobs out there in the private sector," said Panuccio, who is now a partner at law firm Boies Schiller Flexner. Washington boasts one of the country's top legal markets, with dozens of firms that take advantage of the revolving door between government and corporate law. Senior lawyers leaving the Biden administration may have an easy time finding jobs at companies and big law firms, which are flush with cash this year. But for more junior lawyers with narrow specialties, finding private-sector jobs may not be so easy. Not all government legal jobs easily translate to the private sector, said Jeff Jaeckel, vice chair of law firm Morrison Foerster. He said large law firms like his want attorneys with a "very specific and valuable skill set" to serve clients, such as advising financial institutions facing regulatory scrutiny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In contrast, a government lawyer who reviews nuclear-treaty texts may lack commercial appeal, one recruiter said. Recruiters also warned that civil servants this year may be competing for jobs directly with their own more experienced bosses. "They'll lose," Nonaka said. For those that fail to find new employers, the new administration may bring less change to some jobs than anticipated. "I've been through a lot of different administrations," said Rod Rosenstein, who served as deputy U.S. attorney general under Trump and as Maryland's U.S. attorney under both Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama. "Most of the work of the department goes on unaffected." (Reporting by David Thomas; Additional reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Stephen Coates) Steep price hikes could be on the way if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to impose sweeping new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China. Trump threatened to implement the tariffs on the countrys top three trading partners on his first day back in office, including a 10% tariff on products coming from China. In a pair of posts on Truth Social on Monday, he explained the decision as a way to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. Read more: Trump tees up tariff hikes on top trading partners. What's at stake for California? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, he said . It is time for them to pay a very big price! But its ultimately consumers who could end up absorbing the brunt of those costs. When tariffs are levied against foreign imports, American companies have to pay taxes to the U.S. government on their purchases from other countries; the companies often pass on those extra costs to their customers. California's economy could be especially hard hit because of its heavy reliance on trade with China and Mexico. This is a bully effort to put everybody on notice, said economist Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. One of the reasons he uses tariffs is because its one of the few places that he actually has some leverage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Thornberg noted that its still a giant remains-to-be seen whether and how Trumps proposed tariffs are implemented, consumer goods across the board could be dramatically affected by the changes. Here are a few top categories: Cars and car parts Mexico was the United States top goods trading partner last year, surpassing China. The country is a major manufacturer of passenger vehicles, light vehicles, trucks, auto parts, supplies and electric-vehicle technologies. Eighty-eight percent of vehicles produced in Mexico are exported, with 76% headed for the U.S., according to the International Trade Administration . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Automakers with manufacturing operations in Mexico include General Motors, Ford, Tesla, Audi, BMW, Honda, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. GM shares fell 9% and shares of Ford declined 2.6% on Tuesday. Even before Trumps latest round of tariff threats, auto-related companies shared how they planned to respond if new duties were levied. If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer, Phil Daniele, chief executive of AutoZone, said in the companys most recent earnings call. We'll generally raise prices ahead of what the tariffs will be. Toys Last year, China accounted for 77% of toy imports, about 25 times greater than the total value of toy imports from Mexico, the next largest foreign source of supply, according to the National Retail Federation. U.S. producers, meanwhile, account for less than 1% of the toy market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, the federation released a study that looked at how the tariffs that Trump proposed during his campaign for a second term could play out for consumers. It found that the proposed tariffs a universal 10% to 20% tariff on imports from all foreign countries and an additional 60% to 100% tariff on imports specifically from China would apply to a wide range of toys imported into the U.S., including dolls, games and tricycles. Our analysis found that toy prices would face one of the highest increases, the study concluded. Prices of toys would increase by 36% to 56%. Apparel The National Retail Federation study also analyzed more than 500 items of clothing including tops, bottoms, underwear, swimwear and socks, and found that prices would rise significantly as much as 20.6%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That would force consumers to pare spending on apparel. The higher prices and loss of spending power would hit low-income families especially hard, the group said, because low-income households spend three times as much of their after-tax income on apparel compared with high-income households. U.S. apparel manufacturers would benefit from the tariffs, but at a high cost to families, the study said. Even after accounting for domestic manufacturing gains and new tariff revenue, the result is a net $16 billion to $18 billion loss for the U.S. economy, with the burden carried by U.S. consumers. Produce With Americans already wary of high grocery prices, Trumps proposed tariffs would increase the costs of several imported fruits and vegetables, said Jerry Nickelsburg, faculty director of UCLA Anderson Forecast, an economic forecasting organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vast majority of U.S. produce imports come from Mexico and Canada, including avocados, cucumbers, potatoes and mushrooms. The U.S. spent $88 billion on agricultural imports from the two countries in fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30. Grocery prices will go up because at least some of that tariff will be passed on to consumers, Nickelsburg said. If there are no good substitutes, then producers are going to try and pass the whole thing on. Household appliances and other electronics Big-ticket electronic products such as televisions, laptops, smartphones, dishwashers and washing machines many of which are manufactured in Mexico and China, or made with parts imported from those countries would probably become more expensive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. imported $76 billion worth of computers and other electronics from Mexico in 2023, and more than a quarter of U.S. imports from China consist of electronic equipment. Shoes Imported footwear products already face high U.S. duties, particularly those made in China. On Tuesday, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America expressed concern at the threat of new tariffs, saying such policies would make it more difficult for consumers to afford shoes and other everyday essentials. We hope President-elect Trump rethinks these tariffs as they relate to footwear, as such measures would place an unnecessary burden on American families when budgets are already stretched thin, Matt Priest, the president of the trade association, said in a statement. "We urge the President to consider the profound impact these tariffs will have on working families and the broader economy." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to slap huge new tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico will likely cause gas prices to rise in the United States. That's because Canada is America's largest source of petroleum imports, according to the Department of Energy's data. The U.S. has been importing about 4 million barrels of oil per day from Canada in recent months, thanks to the opening of a new pipeline. Mexico is also a major supplier to the U.S. market, accounting for about 10 percent of all crude oil imports in 2022. If tariffs make those imports 25 percent more expensive (or if the flow of oil across the border slows or ceases in response to the new trade barriers Trump wants to erect), prices are likely to rise through the rest of the supply chain, including at the pump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's threatened tariffs would mean "higher gasoline and energy costs to American consumers while threatening North American energy security," Lisa Baiton, chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, told Bloomberg. "Applying tariffs on over 4 million barrels per day of crude from your leading supplier seems self-destructive," Matt Smith, an analyst for Kpler, a data and analytics firm that tracks global trade, told Reuters. Trump is not planning to create an exemption in those tariffs for oil imports, the news service reports. Higher gas prices don't merely cause pain at the pump, of course. They make it incrementally more expensive to move goods around the U.S. via train, truck, and planewhich will only compound the other price increases that could result from higher tariffs or a continent-wide trade war. Defenders of Trump's tariff plans might point out that the U.S. is a net exporter of gas and oil, and they might point to incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's plan to ramp up oil production even higher. Doesn't that mean the U.S. could use domestic energy supplies to offset whatever imports might be lost (or made more expensive) due to the tariffs? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That reallocation of resources will take time, however. Even if Bessent's plan to increase oil production works outand there are reasons to think it may notit won't be ready to offset tariffs that Trump is threatening to impose on his first day in office. Meanwhile, cutting off exports to feed domestic demand isn't going to happen quickly, either. Oil exporting companies might have contracts they must honor or other reasons to continue operating abroad. At the very least, it's wildly hubristic for any presidential administration to believe it can make private businesses reorganize their global supply chains at the president's whims. And if making all those changes was as simple as flipping a switch, American gas and oil companies would probably greet the tariff threat with a shrug. Instead, they are saying things like "across-the-board trade policies that could inflate the cost of imports, reduce accessible supplies of oil feedstocks and products, or provoke retaliatory tariffs have potential to impact consumers and undercut our advantage as the world's leading maker of liquid fuels." That's what a spokesman for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade group representing oil refineries, told Reuters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We should trust those private companies to better understand this policy than anyone in governmentleast of all Trump, who has never shown much of a grasp of the unintended consequences of his tariff plans. I like to point out that, despite what many voters seem to think, there is no dial on the president's desk to control the unemployment rate or the price of gasoline. Gas prices are determined by a huge number of factors, of which government policy is just one (albeit significant) part. Nevertheless, Trump seems determined to find that dial and crank it up. The post Trump's New Tariffs Could Create Higher Gas Prices appeared first on Reason.com. President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he will impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China in multiple Truth Social posts, echoing past campaign promises to tax such imports. Trump said he will sign an executive order on Jan. 20 his first day in office to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada. He also pledged a 10% tariff on Chinese products above any additional Tariffs. Many economists believe these proposed sweeping tariffs could cause price spikes in the U.S., with an Oct. 17 report from the Tax Policy Center indicating previously proposed tariffs had the potential to hit Midwestern and Southern states the hardest. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proposed 25% tariff on Canada in particular could spell trouble for U.S. gas prices. So, what could this mean for Wisconsin gas prices? Heres what to know: First of all, what is a tariff? Tariffs are taxes that one country imposes on another country for imported goods, according to the Tax Foundation. The most common kind of tariffs, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, are called ad valorem tariffs. These tariffs are charged as fixed percentages of the value of imports. Another type of tariffs, per the CFR, are specific tariffs which are charged as fixed amounts on each imported good. Who pays for tariffs? Importers pay tariffs to their governments, according to the CFR. Despite this, consumers often feel the majority of the financial strain from the taxes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still other studies have pointed to different costs for consumers: with tariffs on their foreign competitors, domestic producers can safely raise their prices, the CFR said. Ultimately, consumers share the burden with importers. Furthermore, according to the Tax Foundation, tariffs directly increase the cost of domestic sales by artificially increasing the price on imports. Americans living in poverty often are most impacted by tariffs, the CRF said, citing a July 31 report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. How do tariffs impact gas prices? Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X the proposed tariffs would have huge impacts on prices in the Great Lakes, Midwest and Rockies in particular, given the reliance on Canadian oil. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can't simply process different oil overnight, De Haan said. It would take investments/years. More US supply wouldn't help. A 25% tariff on Canadian oil would have huge impacts to #gasprices in the Great Lakes, Midwest & Rockies, which are major markets where refiners process Canadian oil. You can't simply process different oil overnight. It would take investments/years. More US supply wouldn't help. pic.twitter.com/IyoGnTK6Uw Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) November 26, 2024 De Haan told the Journal Sentinel oil refineries in the Great Lakes, including Wisconsin, primarily refine Canadian oil. Canadian oil for decades has been reliable and plentiful, he said. "Also, refineries have been able to secure relatively low prices on Canadian oil over the years because of Canada's inability to ship that oil elsewhere." An Oct. 30 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that U.S. imports of crude oil from Canada reached a record high in July, when 4.3 million barrels were being shipped to the U.S. daily. Plus, Wisconsin itself has no crude oil production or reserves, according to the EIA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement De Haan said there is an inability for many refineries in the region "to use different types of oil", since many have been designed specifically for the Canadian oil. If Trump does move ahead with tariffs, it would essentially boost the price of oil that these refineries are paying by 25%, which in this case today, would amount to about $15 a barrel, he said. How much could proposed tariffs raise Wisconsin gas prices? De Haan said oil companies have no ability to digest the sort of cost increase that the tariffs would create, which would ultimately get passed on to consumers. That would mean about a 35 cent a gallon increase during normal times, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During summer months, prices could be even higher, De Haan said, citing more stringent gasoline standards and the work it takes to refine Canadian oil. There could be anywhere from a potential impact of 35 to 75 cents a gallon, De Haan said. At the end of February, Wisconsin and the Midwest begin an incremental switch to a lower-butane summer-blend gasoline a process that generally causes prices to rise. How long could it take for gas prices in Wisconsin to go up? De Haan said impacts would be seen very quick. If this is something that President Trump signed on his first day in office, theoretically, within 48 hours, motorists would likely start seeing a much higher price, because refineries would be paying a much higher price to buy Canadian oil, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Claire Reid contributed to this report. More: Businesses are worried about higher tariffs, like taxes, under Trump presidency More: Beer and tequila from Mexico, whisky from Canada could cost more with Trump's tariffs This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How could Trumps proposed tariffs affect Wisconsin gas prices? (Bloomberg) -- Three suspects accused of murdering an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi in the United Arab Emirates were apprehended in Istanbul over the weekend during a covert operation by Turkish security services. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The suspects, all Uzbek nationals, were extradited to the UAE upon a request from Emirati authorities, Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing security officials it didnt identify. The men had arrived in Turkey after allegedly killing Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who had been living in Abu Dhabi as an emissary for Chabad-Lubavitch, a Jewish organization. Turkeys National Intelligence Organization tracked the suspects and coordinated with police to detain them as they left Istanbul Airport, according to the report. The operation comes despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan being one of the most vocal critics of Israels war in Gaza and a ban on Turkish businesses from exporting to Israel. The UAE confirmed on Nov. 24 that the suspects were in custody following the discovery of Kogans body. In a statement Tuesday, the UAE expressed sincere appreciation to authorities in Turkey for their cooperation in arresting the perpetrators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murder an abhorrent act of anti-Semitic terrorism, while the US National Security Council praised Emirati authorities for their swift action. Initial reports in Israeli media speculated that Iran may have been involved in Kogans death, but Tehran denied any connection. Emirati authorities havent suggested the suspects acted on behalf of any state. We never tolerated and will never tolerate any form of nationalism, Uzbekistans Foreign Minister Baxtiyor Saidov said on Telegram, adding that his government was cooperating with the UAE and Israels investigations. Terrorism and extremism do not have any borders and nationality. --With assistance from Sherif Tarek, Zulfugar Agayev, Patrick Sykes and Firat Kozok. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Adds background in fourth paragraph, Uzbek minister quote in last paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Turkey is in talks with the United States in an effort to receive a sanctions waiver to further continue payments for Russian natural gas imports, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Nov. 25. The United States introduced new sanctions on Nov. 21, targeting dozens of Russian banks, including Gazprombank, securities registrars, and financial officials. Bayraktar said that the country is seeking a sanctions exemption for Gazprombank, which Ankara uses to pay Moscow to secure Turkish energy supplies. Presently, Russia stands as Turkey's primary provider of natural gas, supplying over 40% of its consumption last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These sanctions will affect Turkey. We cannot pay, if we cannot pay we cannot buy the goods. The foreign ministry is in talks," Bayraktar told reporters. The U.S. had previously refrained from targeting Gazprombank to allow European countries to continue paying for Russian gas supplies, as the bank is the primary channel for energy-related payments. Despite the past restraint, the U.S. Treasury Department said that the most recent sanctions "will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade U.S. sanctions and fund and equip its military." The Financial Times noted in its reporting that Russia used Gazprombank to purchase military equipment, pay soldiers, and compensate the families of those killed in the war in Ukraine. "If such an exemption is not granted to Turkey it will directly impact us. At this point Russia is not the target, Turkey is the direct target," Bayraktar added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new U.S. sanctions are intended to close one of Russia's few remaining avenues for international banking, barring Gazprombank from conducting transactions in dollars. Turkey began discussions on the sanctions exemption with the United States when it was notified of the incoming sanctions. Both countries are still discussing a possible waiver. Bayraktar previously told the Financial Times in April the country was in talks with U.S.-based ExxonMobil to secure a long-term liquified natural gas (LNG) deal worth billions of dollars, aiming to reduce reliance on Russian natural gas. On Nov. 26, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters, that Gazprom, Russias state-controlled gas company, is planning for a scenario in which no natural gas will flow to Europe through Ukraine after Dec. 31, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Gazprom plans for end of gas transit via Ukraine after 2024, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- Poland will propose a maritime policing program in the Baltic Sea similar to air-monitoring missions carried out by NATO members, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. Most Read from Bloomberg Tusk called the plan a joint venture of countries located at the Baltic Sea, which have the same sense of threat posed by Russia in comments in Warsaw on Wednesday before traveling to Sweden for a meeting of Baltic and Nordic leaders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Polish prime ministers proposal comes as the undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea was damaged for the second time in about a year. The anchor of a Hong Kong-flagged ship tore up at least two data cables and a gas pipeline in October 2023, prompting NATO to step up patrols in the Baltic Sea. In the most recent incident earlier this month, a high-speed fiber optic cable in the Baltic Sea connecting Finland and Germany was severed by what was likely an external impact and a nearby link between Lithuania and Sweden was also damaged. This time another Chinese ship, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, was in the vicinity of the two cables when they were damaged. Finnish and Swedish police are investigating the damage, which they suspect is deliberate, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for a probe into potential sabotage. We are in contact with China from the Swedish side and that continues, and we have also agreed to join efforts between the affected countries in the investigations, said Swedens Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a joint press conference with his regional peers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finland and Sweden both wrapped up crime scene investigations at the sites, according to separate statements on Wednesday. The law enforcement authorities of Finland, Sweden and Lithuania have established a joint investigation team with the help of Eurojust, the EUs agency for criminal justice cooperation, the Finnish authorities said. At Wednesdays summit, held in the Swedish town of Harpsund, leaders from Poland, Nordic and Baltic States agreed to step up support to Ukraine and invest in making more ammunition available to it. Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to our security in the long term, the leaders said in their joint statement, underscoring their commitment to expanding sanctions against Russia and against those who enable Russias aggression, thus threatening our common security. The European Union is working on a package of sanctions targeting the shadow fleet of tankers Russia uses to get its oil onto global markets. Those profits fuel Vladimir Putins war machine, and the US, the UK and the EU have made cutting them a priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US President-elect Donald Trump has promised a swift resolution of the war in Ukraine, raising concerns that US will scale down its support for Kyiv. That could leave Europe to bear the brunt of providing continued military aid for the war-torn country. There can be no room for thinking that if America were to withdraw its aid for Ukraine, then Europe should do the same, Tusk said. Europe has to stand up on its own feet and there must come an end to the era of fear and uncertainty about Russia. --With assistance from Kati Pohjanpalo and Sanne Wass. (Updates with comments from prime ministers from sixth paragraph) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. As many Twin Cities residents prepare to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, theyll likely avoid snowstorms in the region, but it will be very cold this week, according to meteorologists. There are no major storm systems expected in the Twin Cities this holiday weekend, said Jacob Beitlich, National Weather Service meteorologist. Central Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see a dusting of snow Wednesday as a weak system moves across the region, but snow is not expected in the metro area. And looking ahead, the lake effect snow will get going with the cold air moving in, but thats mainly northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota. So from that regard, really not too much to speak of, Beitlich said. It just looks like kind of a cold, drier pattern, which should be nice for travelers as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Travelers heading to central Midwestern states such as Nebraska or Kansas might see some snow, he noted. But, generally speaking, if you stay within, Id say, a five hour radius of the Twin Cities, youll just have to contend with some cold temperatures, and thatll be about it, Beitlich said. Temperatures likely wont be above freezing this week, he said, with Wednesday highs in the upper 20s and Thursday with highs in the teens to mid-20s. Friday through the weekend is forecast to be the coldest, with highs in the teens for most locations and single digits across northwest Minnesota, according to Beitlich. Traveling outside of Minnesota Those traveling outside of Minnesota should expect airports to be busy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport expects a minimum of 468,000 travelers to have been screened at the airport from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2. Thats a more than 10% increase from the same period last year, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission which manages MSP airport. Nationwide, the Transportation Security Administration is anticipating the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. An estimated 18.3 million people are expected to be screened at airports from Nov. 26 to Monday, a volume increase of around 6% from the same time last year. Travel for the Thanksgiving holiday typically peaks the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day and goes up again that Sunday as travelers return home, said MSP airport spokesperson Jeff Lea. Those returning home on Sunday shouldnt expect any major storm systems anywhere in the country, according to the Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MSP airport will have extra staff available in preparation for the high demand going through Sunday. MSPs Terminal 2 also has a new express lane to aid pickup and drop-off and prevent further congestion. The terminal has seen a passenger increase of 35% in the first nine months of the year compared to last year, according to Lea. Airlines at Terminal 2 include Sun Country, Southwest and JetBlue. Though the Twin Cities isnt expecting storms this holiday week, storms elsewhere can have a ripple effect of flight delays and cancellations, Lea said. We certainly just recommend that travelers stay in touch with their particular airline, however best they can do that, whether thats by phone, online, or whatever way they can stay connected to make sure they get the latest flight status, Lea said. Tips for motorists Drivers also can take certain precautions to stay safe in harsher weather, according to Beitlich. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We always like to say, tell someone where youre going, and when you arrive; make sure you have a charged phone with you. And I think the big thing is, if you dont wear a jacket in the car or have it, just to bring winter clothes with you when youre traveling, in case you get stranded, Beitlich said. Travelers can also visit the National Weather Service website at weather.gov for weather reports or check their local media, Beitlich said. Its looking pretty quiet. I think folks wont have too tough of a time getting from where they need to go. So, yeah, just enjoy the weekend, he said. Two people have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a North Attleboro hotel last month that left a man with a gunshot wound to the head. Members of the North Attleboro Police Department and troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section arrested 27-year-old Erikka Joseph and 27-year-old Joshua Montgomery Tuesday after executing search warrants. Police say a firearm was also found in the residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Man shot at Massachusetts hotel was not the intended target, police say Officers responding to a report of a person shot at the Hampton Inn & Suites at 55 Draper Avenue in North Attleboro around 10 p.m. on October 21 found a 61-year-old man in the lobby suffering from a gunshot wound to the face, according to the Bristol District Attorneys Office. Investigators say multiple shots were fired into the entryway of the hotel. The man was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. An initial investigation has revealed that the 61-year-old male victim was not the intended target, the DAs office noted in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joseph and Montgomery are being held in custody pending a dangerousness hearing next week in Attleboro District Court. The victim is expected to make a full recovery. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW UTICA, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) A stop on Huntington Street late Tuesday night ended with two arrests for gun charges by Utica Police. Investigators with the Utica Police Departments GIVE Unit conducted a stop of four parties on Huntington Street near Spring Street at approximately 9:45 pm on Tuesday, November 26. The stop was relative to recent acts of gun violence in the area. As officers attempted to stop the group, two males later identified as 18-year-old Raymond Emery and 23-year-old Jaheim Bowman, both of Utica fled on foot. Officers initiated a pursuit, taking one into custody on Court Street near Sunset Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A search of the first male found a loaded revolver on his person. Both the weapon and the suspect were taken into custody. The second male was also apprehended a short distance away. K-9 Vigo located a loaded nine-millimeter handgun in the vicinity, and thermal imaging found that the weapon was recently discarded. Both Emery and Bowman were subsequently transported to the Utica Police Department, where they were both charged with: second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a Class C Violent Felony, third-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a Class D Violent Felony, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, a Class E Felony, Obstructing Governmental Administration, a Class A Misdemeanor, as well as a New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law violation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Emerys third-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon charge was for his possession of a high-capacity feeding device. The same charge for Bowman was because he had been previously convicted of the same crime. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Two firefighters were injured battling a house fire Tuesday night in southwest Memphis. Their injuries were non-critical, a Memphis Fire Department spokesperson said. No one was injured in the residential fire on Berea Road, off Third Street. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Nov. 26GRAND FORKS Two Grand Forks residents were killed in a crash in Pennington County Monday morning, Nov. 25, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Driver Tina Annette Klein, 68, and her passenger, Charles Roland Hill, 62, both of Grand Forks, died in the single-vehicle crash. According to MSP, their 2007 Honda Pilot was traveling eastbound on Center Street West in Bray Township, about 15 miles west of Thief River Falls, just before 8 a.m. The Pilot left the roadway, rolled and came to rest in the westbound ditch, an MSP report says. According to the report, both people were wearing seatbelts and no alcohol was involved. Road conditions were reported as snowy and icy. The Pennington County Sheriff's Office, Polk County Sheriff's Office, Sanford Ambulance and St. Hillaire Fire also responded to the call. After the deaths this month of two newborn babies on Skid Row, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors called Tuesday for a ramping up of services for pregnant women living on the streets. The call for action comes nearly three weeks after a woman gave birth Nov. 8 at East 14th and South Alameda streets. The baby died that day after being transported to Los Angeles General Medical Center, according to county records. Six days later, the Los Angeles Police Department was called to another death of a newborn on Skid Row, one and a half miles away from the first. The baby was found dead in an alley after police said he may have been dropped from a fourth-floor window. Officers located a woman who had been brought to a nearby hospital for pelvic bleeding earlier that morning. The woman was detained and released pending an investigation, police officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the two deaths, Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose district includes Skid Row, introduced a motion asking for county officials to craft a plan to improve outreach to homeless pregnant women. It passed unanimously Tuesday. The County must look for ways to improve health service delivery to pregnant people experiencing homelessness to better meet the needs of infants and birthing people, from pregnancy through postpartum care, the motion read. Sarah Wilson, the head of Harvest Home, which provides temporary housing for homeless pregnant women, said the deaths highlight a larger issue within the countys array of homeless services: there are very few places for pregnant women to go. Read more: Pregnant, homeless and living in a tent: Meet Mckenzie Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This has been an issue Ive been trying to raise attention towards for a long time, she said. Most shelters here in Los Angeles do not allow pregnant women to stay in the shelters. They want people to transition to a safer place, but then that place doesn't exist. Harvest Home's two residential programs have enough room for 27 women at a time. This year, Wilson said she has received 700 calls from people needing help. Many of the women, she said, had managed to stay off the streets until a pregnancy shattered any semblance of stability. We have women who have been couch surfing for a decade and wouldn't consider themselves homeless until they realize, Oh, I don't actually have a place to go and be and have my baby. she said. So this time of pregnancy can actually add to the number of unhoused folks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear just how many homeless pregnant women there are in L.A. County at a given time. A 2016 study by the county Department of Public Health found that roughly 3% of 5,600 new mothers reported being homeless at some point during their pregnancy. Studies have shown that homelessness increases the chances of health complications for the mother and the child, including premature birth and newborns requiring intensive care. Moving around from place to place, going to the hospital to get your prenatal care thats just not conducive to having a healthy pregnancy, a healthy baby, said Terry Bright, director of programs for Elizabeth House, which she called the only maternity shelter in the San Gabriel Valley. She said the shelter gets 30 to 40 calls a month from women needing services. It can take six at a time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its heartbreaking to read ... about those babies that passed away. But this is our reality, she said. Theres not enough places for them to go. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. BYRON, Wis. (WFRV) Authorities in Fond du Lac say two people were recently arrested after deputies seized over 150 grams of various drugs while conducting a traffic stop. According to a release from the Fond du Lac County Sheriffs Office, a deputy conducted a traffic stop at 9:56 p.m. on I-41 in the township of Byron for a vehicle with an equipment violation. Fond du Lac man convicted of reckless homicide for role in 2023 fentanyl overdose death Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After stopping the vehicle, officials say the deputy detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle while talking with the driver. Both people in the car, the driver, a 46-year-old man from Oshkosh, and a passenger, a 43-year-old man from Stevens Point, were found to have extensive criminal histories involving the possession and distribution of illegal drugs, bail jumping, crimes involving vehicles, and other various crimes. It was reported that neither man had a drivers license and a records check of both men revealed that the passenger had four separate active child support warrants throughout Wisconsin while the driver had a non-extraditable warrant out of Iowa for possession of dangerous drugs. While arresting the passenger, deputies say he admitted to having marijuana inside the vehicle leading to a more in-depth search. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver was removed from the vehicle and was found to have illegally possessed prescription pills in his shoe, 64 grams of cocaine in the glove box, 22 grams of marijuana and prescription pills near the center console, and a loaded extended 9mm handgun magazine in the backseat. The driver of the vehicle, after being arrested, was found to have an additional 64 grams of cocaine and six and a half grams of ecstasy in his possession. In total, 129 grams of cocaine, 21.4 grams of marijuana, 6.6 grams of ecstasy, U.S. currency, and various illegally possessed prescription pills were seized following the traffic stop. Traffic stop in Wisconsin leads to drug bust, two arrests Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver of the vehicle was arrested and taken to the Fond du Lac County jail on various traffic citations and the following charges: Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Possession with Intent to Distribute Designer Drugs Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place Possession of a Controlled Substances in a Correctional Facility Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance Possession of an Illegally Obtained Prescription The passenger of the vehicle was arrested and also taken to the Fond du Lac County jail on the four arrest warrants and the following charges: Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Possession with Intent to Distribute THC Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place Possession of an Illegally Obtained Prescription Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both men currently remain in custody at the Fond du Lac County Jail with the driver having a $15,000 cash bond and the passenger having a $10,000 cash bond. No other information is available at this time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Two New York men were arrested early Wednesday and accused of stealing cooking oil from three Connecticut businesses. Troopers responded to a business on Providence Turnpike in Brooklyn around 5:20 a.m. on the report of an active larceny involving individuals in a white van with New Jersey license plates allegedly taking cooking oil from local restaurants, according to Connecticut State Police. The individual who reported the incident followed the van to a parking lot and gave dispatchers the location. When troopers arrived they found a van with two men inside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to state police, troopers allege that the men had stolen about 135 gallons of cooling oil from three businesses. The owners were contacted and confirmed the men did not have permission to be on the premises or to take the oil. The suspects were identified as Michael Mejia, 32, and Adriano Munoz-Reyes, 37, both of Bronx, New York, according to state police. They each face charges of sixth-degree larceny, third-degree criminal trespassing and possession of burglary tools. They were both held on $5,000 bonds and were expected to appear Wednesday in Danielson Superior Court. By Trevor Hunnicutt and Mayela Armas WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) -The United States is imposing sanctions on 21 senior Venezuelan officials for their role in suppressing protests after a presidential election in July, including members of President Nicolas Maduro's cabinet, a senior Washington official said on Wednesday. Washington says Maduro falsely claimed victory in the vote and that opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez is the president-elect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "(This) is not merely about holding Nicolas Maduro accountable," a Biden administration official told reporters. "Officials who are acting unlawfully to uphold his regime based on repressive tactics will also find themselves in the crosshairs of these sanctions." Venezuela's government rejected the new sanctions in a statement, describing them as "illegitimate measures." The United States would also be imposing visa restrictions on a number of officials associated with Maduro, the administration official said. Those sanctioned on Wednesday's list include planning minister Ricardo Jose Menendez and communications minister Freddy Alfred Nazaret, as well as top intelligence officials Alexis Jose Rodriguez and Javier Jose Marcano. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also included is Daniella Cabello, an erstwhile pop singer and daughter of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who now runs an economic promotion initiative. Venezuela's opposition, a number of Western countries and some international organizations have decried the election as non-transparent and have called for the full publication of ballots, with some parties openly labeling the process fraudulent. The opposition published ballot box tallies on a public website which it says show Gonzalez handily won the contest. Gonzalez has since fled to Spain. In October, Gonzalez said he would return to Venezuela in January to be sworn in as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A senior administration official said the U.S. government has not received a request for assistance in Gonzalez's transportation, did not participate in his departure from Venezuela, and were not asked to do so. They said they would consider a request from him if they receive one. Venezuela's government has rejected a United Nations human rights report criticizing repression of political opponents and children following the elections. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Mayela Armas in Caracas; additional writing by Oliver Griffin; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot) The United Kingdom may become the next country to legalize assisted suicide. The legislation is sponsored by Kim Leadbeater, a British politician who is part of the Labour Party. The bill is expected to be read a second time in the House of Commons on Friday. The 38-page bill would legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live. They have to be residents in England or Wales for a year and it would require approval from two doctors and the court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bill has stirred up controversy in the country and around the world. Two members of Parliament, one a member of the Labour Party, Diane Abbott, and one a member of the Conservative Party, Sir Edward Leigh, dont agree on much politically, but they wrote a joint op-ed for The Guardian expressing concerns about the process the bill has gone through saying it was rushed and the potential aftermath. Evidence from elsewhere suggests those most at risk when assisted suicide is legalised are vulnerable minorities, said Abbott and Leigh. Unlike elites who can afford social and end-of-life care, the pair of lawmakers said vulnerable minorities are most likely to resign themselves to an assisted death against their will because they are unable to access the support they require. Gordon Brown, former prime minister and Labour Party leader, voiced his opposition to the bill in an op-ed for The Guardian, too. He said the nation should focus on better care for people at their ends of their lives, instead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leadbeater defended her bill in an opinion piece for The Economist. She said the current situation involves people going overseas to die alone (in a country where there is assisted suicide) or choosing to die by suicide because they do not feel like they have other choices. My job has been to propose an alternative that addresses these injustices, offers the strongest possible protections and safeguards for a person seeking assistance to shorten their death, and is workable for the medical profession and the judiciary in particular, said Leadbeater. She said she believes the bill shortens death rather than shortening life. Members of the House of Commons, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, Defence Secretary John Healey, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, former prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Oliver Dowden, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, former chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Mother of the House Diane Abbot, Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh, Stuart Andrew, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and former home secretary James Cleverly, listen to the King's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in chamber of the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster, London, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. | Aaron Chown The Catholic Medical Association said it rejects this language. About the language saying the bill doesnt shorten life, but shortens death, the medical group said in a statement, This changes fundamentally how we think about people in the later stages of life who are very much alive and have a right to the care they need to live in dignity. The organization said it believes its wrong for doctors to help someone die by suicide and expressed concern over the conscience objection in the bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Catholic Medical Association said the way the conscience objection is worded is very weak and will make it so doctors are required by law to cooperate in assisted suicide by referring patients to a doctor who will participate in it if they conscientiously object to doing so. Concerns around assisted suicide are wide ranging, but one in particular has become louder the concern that when a country legalizes assisted suicide for the terminally ill, the country will eventually expand its legislation to include more people. When it comes to euthanasia, the slippery slope is not hypothetical it is a documented reality, Robert Clarke, deputy director of conservative advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom International, wrote for The National Review. He said in places where assisted suicide or euthanasia is legal, there are two trends: an increase in the number of people who use it each year and ever-present pressure to expand the law. These patterns are not anomalies, said Clarke, pointing toward Canada removing the requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable in 2021, and the Netherlands considering a proposal to expand. They are the logical outcomes of a system that sees some lives as expendable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Canada in particular has come under scrutiny for its assisted suicide program. The program, called MAID: medical assistance in dying, was first legalized in 2016. In 2016, 1,018 people died via medically assisted death, according to Statista. By 2020, it was 7,611 people. Data shows 13,241 people died by assisted suicide in 2022. The great majority of people dying this way were elderly and near death, but those who seek assisted suicide tend to get it, The Atlantic reported. In 2021, only 4% of those who filed written applications were deemed ineligible. The New Atlantis reported on the case of Rosina Kamis. She had fibromyalgia, chronic leukemia and other ailments. Please keep all this secret while I am still alive because ... the suffering I experience is mental suffering, not physical, wrote Kamis in a message intended for her powers of attorney. I think if more people cared about me, I might be able to handle the suffering caused by my physical illnesses alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kamis was approved to die by assisted suicide and she died by lethal injection on Sept. 26. In another case, that of Alan Nichols, The Associated Press reported Nichols had depression and nonthreatening medical issues. He applied for assisted suicide and listed hearing loss as his underlying condition. He died by assisted suicide. Its cases like these that especially concern opponents of assisted suicide and that they fear could come to the United Kingdom if it begins on the path of legal assisted suicide. If the United Kingdom does legalize assisted dying, Philip Nitschke said he would be keen to bring his assisted suicide pod over to the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nitschke, the creator of the controversial Sarco death pod, told The Telegraph, his team is printing a new Sarco pod now. The first one was confiscated in Switzerland after an American woman used it. The Swiss police launched a criminal investigation into the matter. I can see no reason why it couldnt be used in the U.K. when the law comes in, he said. Peter Dazeley/Getty Images A week before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case that could affect the legality of gender-affirming medical care, the U.K. Supreme Court began hearing its own case on trans legal rights this week, in a challenge to current gender-recognition law. Arguments before the Courts 12 judges began on November 26, as the BBC reported, centering on the Scottish governments interpretation of laws that govern citizens legal sex and gender. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 (GRA) allows trans people in the U.K. to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which changes the sex on their birth certificate, while the 2010 Equality Act guaranteed discrimination protections based on categories including sex, sexual orientation, and gender reassignment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, members of the Scottish Parliament passed a bill that aimed to get more women on public school boards, including trans women. That bill was successfully challenged in court by the anti-trans advocacy group For Women Scotland, after which Scottish legislators revised its language but added official guidance that a trans woman with a GRC should be regarded as a woman for all purposes. For Women Scotland challenged that guidance, but their case was thrown out in December 2022, when Judge Lady Haldane ruled that the legal definition of sex was not limited to biological or birth sex. A higher court then rejected FWS appeal in November 2023, but judges in Edinburgh still approved a further appeal by FWS to the Supreme Court back in February. Complicating these proceedings is the U.K. government itself, which intervened to block Scottish GRA reforms in 2023. Under the direction of then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the U.K. leveled a Section 35 order at the Scottish Parliament, effectively vetoing the proposed reforms unilaterally for the first time since those powers were established in 1998. Then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed concerns at the time that the U.K. would increasingly use its veto to curb Scottish independence. Earlier this year, two prominent British trans lawyers Stephen Whittle, former president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and former judge Dr. Victoria McCloud asked to be allowed to intervene in FWS appeal. The court blocked Whittle and McCloud from filing their arguments in October, but allowed intervening arguments from the U.K.s Equality and Human Rights Commission. EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner wrote in a statement last week that Parliament always intended those who have acquired a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to be treated as their certified sex, but also criticized significant inconsistencies in current U.K. law that she said have created a wholly unsatisfactory situation. In an October statement through the Good Law Project, McCloud said the EHRC cannot speak equitably for trans people in the U.K., but expressed optimism about the Supreme Courts decision. I have every confidence the law plainly stated will prevail. All else is politics, McCloud wrote. I urge trans people to remain calm and stay safe. Originally Appeared on them. Nov. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced sanctions against 21 people aligned with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Blinken said Maduro falsely claimed victory in the July election and is using violence to violate democratic principles. "Four months after the Venezuelan people elected Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as president on July 28, Maduro and his representatives continue to falsely claim victory and violate democratic principles," Blinken said in a statement. "Furthermore, Maduro's security apparatus has engaged in widespread abuses, including killings, repression, and mass detention of protestors." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Treasury is sanctioning 21 people. Among them are cabinet-level officials and members of Venezuelan security forces. The State Department, Blinken said, "continues to take steps to impose new visa restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 9931 on Maduro-aligned individuals." Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) celebrates after partial results were announced by the electoral council, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 29 2024. According to the first report from the National Electoral Council (CNE), Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive term in the elections held on 28 July, in which he obtained 51.2% of the votes (5,150,092 votes), while the standard-bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, obtained 4,445,978 votes, which represents 44.2% of the votes. File Photo by Ronald Pena R./EPA-EFE Blinken accused Maduro and the sanctioned individuals aligned with him of undermining a competitive and inclusive electoral process in Venezuela or being responsible for acts of repression. "We will continue to work with our international partners to defend democratic freedoms in Venezuela and ensure Maduro and his representatives are held accountable for their actions," Blinken's statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maduro congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory, but he once called Trump a "racist cowboy." The U.S. government considers Maduro to be an authoritarian leader. Blinken and Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino began a diplomatic offensive in September against what they called the "authoritarian" threat allegedly posed by Maduro. Mondino said then, "There are winds, authoritarian winds, blowing in our continent, and let's hope it does not become a hurricane. The things that are going on in Venezuela can become a most serious problem." Blinken maintains there is "overwhelming evidence" Maduro actually decisively lost the July presidential election and then violently cracked down on protesters that led to millions of refugees leaving Venezuela. URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) The University of Illinois has confirmed its first case of whooping cough in at least four years, and its not just one. The McKinley Health Center has confirmed ten cases so far, but Executive Director Awais Vaid said thats probably a small portion among people who are undiagnosed. Many of the people initially dont realize they have something called whooping cough, and by the time they realize they have it, theyve already spread it to other people, Vaid said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The growing number of cases on campus mirrors whats happening across the state and country. A destination for everyone; Urbana wellness center nears completion The Illinois Department of Health said, as of Tuesday, there have been 1,841 cases across the state this year. Thats the highest number of instances since 2016. The CDC reported that, as of this month, there are six times as many reported cases than the same time last year. If you are not staying home while you are sick, you can infect dozens of other people around you, whether its in the lab or the classroom or a sporting event, Vaid said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The university is required by state law to ensure students are immunized against whooping cough, but the rise in cases shows how the effects of the vaccine can wear off. You get this vaccine as a kid, and then you get a booster when youre 10 or 11 years old, Vaid said. What we have seen over the years is that it starts to wane in about five to seven years. CU Public Health District offers food safety tips ahead of holiday season Vaid said all of the positive cases on campus came from people who were vaccinated. He said decreased immunity can be an issue on a campus setting where thousands of people in close proximity can increase the spread of infectious diseases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the semester there are 50,000 [or] 60,000 students, faculty, staff, families [on campus], Vaid said. Theres a lot of people on campus. Symptoms of whooping cough can start off as a mild cough, low grade fever and body aches. Those can turn into violent coughing fits that can lead to vomiting. Vaid said hes seen an increase in multiple upper respiratory illnesses, not just whooping cough, across campus in the last few weeks. He encourages students to make an appointment at the health center if they start feeling sick. If left untreated, whooping cough can turn into more serious illnesses such as pneumonia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. MANOA, Hawaii (KHON2) Students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are participating in an important mission to help feed families around the state. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The initiative is part of the Food Recovery Network, a campaign launched in 2016 that aims to feed families and prevent thousands of pounds of food from entering Hawaiis landfills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Student volunteers banded together with Sodexo, UH Student Housing Services and Student Life and Development to bring the initiative to life and help Hawaii residents battle food insecurity. Hawaii Foodbank, AIA Honolulu CANstruct solution to food insecurity Graduate student Haley Nakamura leads volunteer efforts. She gathers and weighs excess food from Gateway Cafe and Campus Center Food Court before handing it off to the Institute for Human Services. On Friday, Nov. 22, Nakamura was joined by student volunteer Stacey Keruwa to weigh and deliver 195 pounds of recovered food to IHS. Stacy Keruwa and Haley Nakamura loading car with food donations. (Courtesy: University of Hawaii) Beef brisket being served at the Gateway Cafe. (Courtesy: University of Hawaii) UH Manoa student Haley Nakamura and East-West Center Fellow Stacy Keruwa collect food. (Courtesy: University of Hawaii) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to UH, the recovered food included beef brisket, clam chowder and fresh green salad. IHS guests enjoyed the salad the same night, while the rest of the items were saved for the next day. I think its really important not just for the recovery of food and prevention of food waste, but also giving back to the community that I grew up in, I think is something thats really cool as well. Were really glad that the Food Recovery Network volunteers come to pick up and help fight food insecurity in our community. Gwen Nakamura, University of Hawaii graduate student Sodexo marketing specialist Marcie Moribe said the Food Recovery Network prevented more than 15,000 pounds of food from entering landfills. Nakamura and UH officials are calling on more students to help collect, weigh and drive the food to IHS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be a really great way to get in touch with the community and give back a little bit and help us to move towards a healthier future and increase access to food, Nakamura added. Check out more news from around Hawaii Students who are interested in participating should email Marcie.Moribe@sodexo.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 KHON2. Russias Foreign Ministry barred 30 U.K. nationals, including lawmakers, journalists, and ministers like Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, from entering its territory in a decision published on Nov. 26. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Ed Miliband, the climate secretary, were also on the list. The decision came shortly after the U.K. decided to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territories with Western-supplied Storm Shadow missiles and after London imposed its largest package of sanctions against Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the statement, the Foreign Ministry named "Russophobic policies," "dissemination of disinformation about our country," and "military support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces" as indicative of "Londons attitude towards further systemic confrontation with respect to Russia." At the G20 summit in Brazil on Nov. 20, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government was "doubling down" on its support for Ukraine but avoided disclosing specifics. Ukraine had previously used Storm Shadows against Russian forces in the Black Sea, though the U.K. government has not confirmed the total number supplied since the war began. The sanctions come as the latest turn in a diplomatic spat that began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. 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. The Ukrainian-made Oncilla-Shturm armored personnel carrier has been approved for military use, the Defense Ministry said on Nov. 27. "The domestic Oncilla-Shturm armored vehicle demonstrates Ukraine's progress in creating equipment that meets the modern needs of the battlefield," Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov said. The vehicle can carry three crew members and six riflemen. The Oncilla-Shturm armor protects soldiers from small arms fire, debris and explosive ordnance, according to the ministry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Its reliability and functionality allow our military to perform combat missions in highly complex conditions, ensuring the protection of personnel and the effectiveness of operations," Klimenkov said. Armed with a remote-controlled combat module with a large-caliber machine gun, the vehicle can cover travel more than 700 kilometers (434 miles). The Oncilla-Shturm can be produced in several modifications, the ministry said. Kyiv began actively developing its defense production after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, which includes long-range missiles and drones. Ukraine's budget for 2025 envisages Hr 55 billion ($1.3 billion) for weapons production, Strategic Industries Minister Herman Smetanin said on Nov. 12. Read also: Ukraine introduces new armored personnel carrier, Khorunzhyi Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian drones attacked Crimea overnight into Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, during another night of UAV exchanges between the two warring nations. "Air defense systems on duty destroyed and intercepted 25 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea," the ministry wrote on Telegram, using Moscow's name for the peninsula annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The Kremlin-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, wrote on Telegram that air defenses were activated to repulse the combined air attack on the city, which is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the nucleus of Moscow's power projection over the occupied peninsula. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Razvozhaev said several drones were shot down over the Black Sea in the areas of Orlovka and Kacha, as well as over Victory Park in the outskirts of the city. Two missiles were also downed over the Black Sea, the governor said. PHOTO: This file photo shows people watching a rehearsal for Russia's Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on July 26, 2019. (Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters) Rescue services reported falling fragments near the Kachinsky highway, Razvozhaev added. In total, Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed at least 54 drones over Russian-controlled regions on Tuesday night. Ukraine's air force reported 89 Russian drones launched into the country on Tuesday night, of which 36 were shot down and another 48 lost during flight. Five UAVs flew into Belarus, the air force said on Telegram. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It added that drone debris damaged buildings in the Kyiv region, though reported no casualties. MORE: Russia sets new drone attack record in overnight Ukraine barrage Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning praised the country's anti-drone defense teams, which he said are active every night. Tuesday's night drone attack was significantly smaller than the record-breaking 188-drone barrage launched into Ukraine on Monday night. Zelenskyy said that attack caused "damage to our critical infrastructure" and urged foreign partners to do more to curtail Moscow's use of foreign components in its drones and missiles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday evening, Zelenskyy said in a statement posted to X that continued attacks into Ukraine show the necessity for Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia -- a sensitive political issue that has caused tensions with Ukraine's Western partners and prompted nuclear threats from Moscow. PHOTO: In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Nov. 26, 2024, Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire in a residential area following a missile attack in Sumy. (Handout/UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP ) Referring to a deadly rocket artillery attack in the eastern city of Sumy, the president said the "only effective way to protect ourselves from this is to eliminate Russian weapons and Russian launchers directly on Russian territory." "That is why the ability to strike Russian territory is so important to us," Zelenskyy added. "This is the only factor that can limit Russian terror and Russia's capacity to wage war in general," he said. "I am grateful to all the partners who understand this and convey it to other partners." Ukraine drones attack Crimea, Moscow says, as Zelenskyy urges strikes inside Russia originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Ukraine is recalling a batch of 120mm mortar shells that soldiers said are defective. Ukrainian media reported that around 100,000 locally made rounds were affected. It's a notable hiccup in Ukraine's aspirations to rapidly scale up its ammo-producing industry. Ukraine's defense ministry issued a recall of 120mm artillery shells this week, citing defects in a recently delivered batch of rounds. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said it was investigating incidents of "abnormal activation" of the shells from the last three weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials didn't say exactly how many rounds were affected, but Ukrainian media reported that 100,000 shells would be recalled. The defective 120mm rounds light artillery shells that Ukraine typically uses in mortars were first reported in early November by Censor.Net, a local media outlet run by journalist Yuriy Butusov. The outlet posted a video appearing to show a Ukrainian soldier complaining that the shells often failed to detonate and would sometimes fly only a short distance from their mortars. Only about one in 10 rounds would fire and explode effectively, the soldier estimated. Local broadcaster TSN also reported on Monday that soldiers said rounds would get stuck in their mortar barrels, and that their units were often receiving shells with wet powder charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also called bounce or cheese charges, these are explosives meant to propel the mortar round out of its tube. Butusov, who runs Censor.Net, published a separate video on his personal YouTube channel on Monday, saying that a commander told his outlet that several Ukrainian brigades were ordered to remove 100,000 shells from the front lines. TSN and Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov reported the same figure, with Nikolov writing that they were worth about six months of use. Local reports also said that the rounds were domestically made by Ukroboronprom, a key ammunition manufacturer owned by the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The firm said in February 2023 that it partnered with an undisclosed NATO country to produce 120mm shells, but it's unclear if the defective rounds came from this joint venture. Ukroboronprom and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider. In its Tuesday statement, the defense ministry said it was looking into the causes of the defects, including "low-quality powder charges or violations of the storage conditions of ammunition." Officials also said they would replace the defective rounds with imported ammunition, but did not elaborate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fedir Venislavskyi, a Ukrainian parliamentary member on a defense committee, told public broadcaster Suspilne that the rounds may have been affected by recent colder and more humid weather. "In dry weather, these mines did not produce any failures," he told the outlet. An unnamed defense ministry official also told Suspilne that the ammunition issues were limited to a single batch out of several already delivered by the manufacturer. Kyiv has placed heavy emphasis on producing its own artillery rounds after its forces were starved of shells for months during a US Congress lock-up of American aid earlier this year. Globally, Ukraine's allies have also struggled to quickly scale up production of artillery shells. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On November 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said domestic factories had produced 2.5 million artillery shells and mortar rounds in 2024 alone. Quantity has been especially critical for Ukraine, which is facing a grinding Russian advance in the east that's relied on mass manpower, gear, and ammunition to chip away at the front lines. Meanwhile, the ammo recall has sparked questions domestically about quality control and Ukraine's procurement process, with local outlets calling the incident a "scandal" of "low-quality goods." Last year, Ukraine was hit by two major procurement scandals when its defense officials were accused of overpaying for food and low-grade winter jackets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The defense ministry said a criminal investigation was launched for the 120mm case, but added that it wouldn't disclose further details due to sensitive military information. Read the original article on Business Insider Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with Poland on Nov. 26 that there were "no obstacles" for Poland to conduct exhumation work on the victims of the Volyn massacre of World War II, amid previous tension over the matter with Warsaw. "Each family has the right to honor the memory of their ancestors with dignity," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement. "We are working on practical mechanisms to resolve matters related to searches and exhumations." The joint release issued by both countries foreign ministries, which comes as Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha makes his first trip to Poland since being appointed to the post, does not explicitly mention the Volyn massacre but instead refers to "historical" misunderstandings between the two countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Volyn massacres took place in 1943 during World War II on the territory of Nazi-occupied Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Thousands of Ukrainians were also killed in retaliation. The Volyn massacres are a contentious topic between Ukraine and Poland and have often led to soured diplomatic relations. During a Sept. 13 meeting between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sikorski demanded Ukraine finally allow the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn massacre and warned against expecting a quick EU accession, sparking frustration from Zelensky, according to the Kyiv Independent's sources familiar with the matter. Ukraine's president reportedly accused Warsaw of politicizing historical events, falling short on promised military aid, and not fully backing Ukraine's path to EU membership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also said in July that Ukraine will not join the EU without resolving the historical issue of the mass killings of Poles in Volyn. The Defense Minister's comments saw a mixed reaction from other officials in Warsaw with Polish President Andrzej Duda saying that threats to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union are in line with Kremlin policy. The joint release, which sought to ease tensions over the issue, indicated that both foreign ministries would oversee a joint Ukrainian-Polish working group to carry out the exhumation of the victims. In a statement following the joint release, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the agreement is "key to the full reconciliation between our nations, so necessary at this dramatic moment in our shared history." In early October, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance's announced that it plans to search for the remains of victims of the Volyn massacre, which the Polish Foreign Ministry called a "step in the right direction." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite historical grievances, Poland has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, providing billions of dollars in military, economic, and humanitarian aid and hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees. Read also: Poland-Ukraine relations deteriorate as historical grievances resurface, threatening to stall Kyivs EU accession Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said that Ukraine would like to take over the building of the Russian Consulate General in Poznan and has already sent a request to Poland. Source: European Pravda with reference to Ukrinform Details: Sybiha said that Ukraine is interested in using the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Poznan, which is being vacated due to the Polish governments decision to close it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote from Sybiha: "I am grateful to my Polish counterpart for this offer. We have sent an official note with this request to the Polish side and are awaiting the details." Details: Sybiha added that a lot of Ukrainian citizens are in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, so the Ukrainian government is considering Poznan as a possible site for expanding its consular presence in Poland. Background: On 17 November, it was reported that Russian officials will depart the Poznan consulate in the next few days, and the Polish government will agree to Kyivs proposal to open a Ukrainian consulate in the same location. Earlier, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of one of Russias three consulates in Poland in Poznan in response to Russian acts of sabotage. Commenting on this decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would respond to this step. The majority of Poles feel that Poland should expel the Russian ambassador, according to a United Surveys poll. Support UP or become our patron! Key developments on Nov. 27: The Economist estimates 60,000-100,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in full-scale war Russia claims Ukraine's drones, missiles attacked Crimea, explosion reported near airfield Ukrainian soldiers repel attempted Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia sector, National Guard commander says Trump nominates retired General Keith Kellogg for Ukraine peace envoy Between 60,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the full-scale war, and 400,000 more are too injured to fight on, according to estimates by The Economist published on Nov. 26. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kyiv has largely avoided revealing the full extent of its military casualties, with President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledging only in February that 31,000 Ukrainian fighters have been killed. Basing its calculations on leaked or published intelligence reports, defense officials, researchers, and open-source intelligence, The Economist wrote that Russia and Ukraine lost a greater share of their population than the U.S. during the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Almost one in 20 Ukrainian fighting-age men have been killed or injured because of the war, The Economist wrote. In September, the Wall Street Journal provided similar estimates, positing that Ukraine had lost 80,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded. The outlet estimated Russia's losses at up to 200,000 killed and 400,000 injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exact figures for both sides are nearly impossible to establish as Kyiv and Moscow are secretive about their casualties. The last figure provided by Russian authorities was 5,937 killed soldiers as of September 2022. In turn, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces put Russian overall losses at over 735,000 as of Nov. 27. The losses Russia suffered in the full-scale war are believed to be greater than during all the wars since 1945 combined. According to The Economist, civilian casualties are even more difficult to establish but likely reach many tens of thousands. The U.N. mission in Ukraine verified that 11,743 civilians were killed as of the summer, but the number is likely higher due to Russia barring access for monitors to occupied territories, namely to areas that likely saw the heaviest civilian casualties like Mariupol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: As Russian losses in Ukraine pass 700,000, Putin runs low on non-mobilization options Russia claims Ukraine's drones, missiles attacked Crimea, explosion reported near airfield Ukrainian drones and missiles attacked the seaside city of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Nov. 27, the city's Russian-installed proxy head, Mikhail Razvozhayev, claimed. Russian air defenses shot down two missiles and five drones, Razvozhayev said, claiming that the Ukrainian projectiles were downed over the water. Drone debris also reportedly fell near the Kacha highway. The pro-Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported explosions and active air defense in Sevastopol, as well as near the Belbek military airfield and elsewhere on the occupied peninsula. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The channel also shared a photo of the Nakhimov Naval Academy with smoke coming from behind it. The authenticity of the footage or the cause of the smoke could not be immediately verified. The Mash Telegram channel alleged that around 40 drones, Neptune missiles, and unidentified cruise missiles were flying toward the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula. All projectiles were shot down, the channel wrote. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Read also: Ukraines drones have a reputation for low cost. Buntar Aerospace wants to make them boutique Ukrainian soldiers repel attempted Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia sector, National Guard commander says Ukrainian soldiers repelled an attempted Russian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia sector, General Oleksandr Pivnenko, the commander of Ukraine's National Guard, said on Nov.27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Ukraine's Spartan Brigade aerial reconnaissance spotted Russian troops planning to attack the National Guard positions with an infantry group in advance, Pivnenko said, sharing footage showing the attack. He did not specify the scale of the attack or the number of Russian troops involved in the offensive. According to the commander, Russia is mostly trying to conduct assaults and reconnaissance attacks in the Zaporizhzhia sector with infantry groups consisting of 3 to 10 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The enemy rarely uses equipment," Pivnenko said. "But our soldiers destroy enemy personnel and firepower quickly and accurately." The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports. Read also: Once liberated Kupiansk braces for worst as Russian troops approach, and future Western support looks uncertain Trump nominates retired General Keith Kellogg for Ukraine peace envoy U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated former national security advisor to the vice president, retired General Keith Kellogg, as a special Ukrainian peace envoy to lead negotiations on an end to Russia's full-scale war, Trump announced on Nov. 27. "Together, we will secure peace through strength and make America ang the world safe again," Trump said on his social media network Truth Social. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In June, Reuters reported that Kellogg and another Trump's top advisor, Frederick H. Fleitz, proposed him a plan that would cease military aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to hold peace negotiations with Russia. The two also reportedly proposed to freeze the front lines in their current position and take Ukraine's NATO accession off the table. Keith Kellogg, 80, previously served as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the U.S. National Security Council in the first Trump administration. He also was a top advisor to then U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. Last week, Reuters reported that Trump was considering his former intelligence director, diplomat Richard Grenell, as a special Ukrainian peace envoy. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia has targeted Ukraine with 89 Shahed UAVs and drones of an unidentified type on the night of 26-27 November. Ukrainian defence forces have successfully downed 36 drones, while 48 disappeared from radar due to electronic warfare interference and five flew towards Russia, Belarus and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Source: Ukraine's Air Force Details: Russia launched 89 Shahed UAVs and drones of an unidentified type from the Russian cities of Orel, Bryansk, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk starting at 19:30 on 26 November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of 09:00, Ukrainian air defence had downed 36 Russians drones within Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Mykolaiv oblasts. A total of 48 drones disappeared from radar due to likely interference from Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, while five drones exited Ukrainian-controlled airspace toward Belarus, Russia and the temporarily occupied territories. Russian drone wreckage caused damage to houses and high-rise buildings as well as civilian property in Kyiv Oblast. Early reports indicate that there have been no casualties. Aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems and mobile fire groups from the Ukrainian Air Force and the rest of the defence forces were deployed in repelling the aerial attack on 27 November. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraines Defence Minister Rustem Umierov met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during his visit to the country. Source: Sky News, citing a statement from the South Korean President's Office; Reuters Details: Umierov is reportedly visiting South Korea to request military aid. Interest in the possibility of South Korea providing lethal assistance to Ukraine has resurfaced following reports that North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russian soldiers in the war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuters notes that, according to polls, South Koreans oppose direct arms shipments to Ukraine, despite renewed international requests from Kyiv and allied capitals after reports of North Korean forces aiding Russia. Ukraine has requested various weapons from Seoul, and the South Korean government has stated it may consider such assistance, depending on future actions by Russia and North Korea. Background: Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Donald Trumps potential victory in the US presidential election is prompting South Korea to reconsider the possibility of directly sending weapons to Ukraine, although no decision has been made yet. In early November, Trump held a phone conversation with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, during which they discussed, among other issues, the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia to assist in the war against Ukraine. Additionally, it is known that South Korean authorities are considering sending an observer group to Ukraine in response to the transfer of North Korean soldiers to Russia. Support UP or become our patron! The Ukrainian President's Office has found common ground with Richard Grenell, whom US President-elect Donald Trump sees as his special envoy on the Russo-Ukrainian war. The Office also began to consider the possibility of replacing Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Source: Ukrainska Pravda article The war for Trump and the war against Trump. How Zelenskyy is preparing for a new reality (English translation coming soon) Details: Following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent visit to the United States, tensions have surfaced between the Ukrainian embassy and House Speaker Mike Johnsons office after his criticism of Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova. Zelenskyy has so far disregarded Johnsons demand to dismiss Markarova. However, following Donald Trumps election victory, the President's Office reportedly began discussing the possibility of her removal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A significant factor in this development has been the "recommendations" to Ukraine's president from Andrew Mac, a lawyer and former partner at the Kyiv-based firm Magisters. Mac, who presents himself in Washington as a key communicator from Zelenskyy, has been registered as an unpaid lobbyist for the Ukrainian president since 2019. Despite his relatively modest achievements in this role, Mac maintains close contacts within Mike Johnson's office. It is, therefore, unsurprising that he is the one urging Kyiv to replace the ambassador. Should the decision be made, Zelenskyy is reportedly considering several candidates for the ambassadorial post. The leading contenders are Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office, and Andrii Melnyk, currently serving as Ukraine's Ambassador to Brazil. In addition, Ukrainska Pravda has learned that, despite all the challenges, the President's Office has succeeded in establishing communication with Richard Grenell, the former US Ambassador to Germany and former acting Director of National Intelligence. Grenell is expected to be appointed by Donald Trump as a special representative of the US president on the Russo-Ukrainian war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contact with Grenell was established following a meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy earlier this autumn, which the former intelligence chief also attended. Andrii Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian President's Office, is now working to build further ties with Grenell. Quote from a Ukrainska Pravda source in Ukraine's political elite: "If we talk to the Americans, the conclusion is that we're starting from scratch. The main task now is to stay out of anything and avoid applying too much pressure, as there are many people around Trump who are, lets say, not friendly towards us. For now, we need to get through the winter and wait for the inauguration then we can have meaningful discussions." Support UP or become our patron! Ukrainian soldiers repelled an attempted Russian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia sector, General Oleksandr Pivnenko, the commander of Ukraine's National Guard, said on Nov.27. 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. Ukraine's Spartan Brigade aerial reconnaissance spotted Russian troops planning to attack the National Guard positions with an infantry group in advance, Pivnenko said, sharing footage showing the attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He did not specify the scale of the attack or the number of Russian troops involved in the offensive. According to the commander, Russia is mostly trying to conduct assaults and reconnaissance attacks in the Zaporizhzhia sector with infantry groups consisting of 3 to 10 people. "The enemy rarely uses equipment," Pivnenko said. "But our soldiers destroy enemy personnel and firepower quickly and accurately." The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov.25 that Ukraine "sees the existing threats" in the Zaporizhzhia sector. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia is 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. Read also: Once liberated Kupiansk braces for worst as Russian troops approach, and future Western support looks uncertain Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Soldiers of Ukraines Special Operations Forces released a video talking to captured Russian marines. Source: Special Operations Forces on social media Details: The Ukrainian military said that during their special operation on the Kursk front, the "enemy suffered significant losses in manpower". In addition, "several dozen servicemen of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Russian Federation" were captured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "This is how the enemy marines should "celebrate" their professional holiday". Details: On 27 November, Russians celebrate the day of naval infantry. Support UP or become our patron! JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) New research from the University of Mississippi (UM) indicated that some sugar may benefit you when taking certain medications. Instead of a literal spoonful of sugar or a glass of sweet tea, the researchers tried using glycopolymers. These polymers are made with natural sugars such as glucose. Researchers found that glycopolymers help reduce adverse reactions from the bodys immune response to cancer treatment. Thomas Werfel, associate professor of biomedical engineering, explained that the sugars are used to counteract a problem with cancer drugs: their toxicity. Usually, less than 1% of the drug impacts the actual cancer; over 99% goes everywhere else in the body. That toxic medication leaking into other parts of the body can cause other types of cancer and other harmful side effects. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They have a very narrow therapeutic window, meaning that the dose at which they work is very close to the dose at which they become toxic, Werfel said. Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people dont lose weight Nanoparticles particles smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair are an effective option for cancer treatment and can deliver drugs directly to tumors. However, the bodys immune system often attacks it. According to Kenneth Hulugalla, a third-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering, polyethylene glycol (PEG) helps to prevent this from happening. However, PEGs effectiveness ends once the body recognizes it. Kenneth Hulugalla, a third-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering from Sri Lanka, works in the lab as part of a University of Mississippi research team studying better ways to deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services Thomas Werfel (right), associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Mississippi, has published an article in ACS Nano that suggests cancer drug delivery can be improved by coating nanoparticles that contain the medication in a sugar-like substance called glycopolymer. This coating prevents immune response and improves drug delivery. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services Thomas Werfel (right), associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Mississippi, has published an article in ACS Nano that suggests cancer drug delivery can be improved by coating nanoparticles that contain the medication in a sugar-like substance called glycopolymer. This coating prevents immune response and improves drug delivery. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services Kenneth Hulugalla, a third-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering from Sri Lanka, examines breast cancer samples in the Interdisciplinary NanoBioSciences Lab run by Thomas Werfel, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Mississippi. Hulugalla and Werfel recently published research that shows cancer drug delivery can be improved by using a sugar-like coating on nanoparticles. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services According to researchers, glycopolymers do not have that problem. Their findings highlight that the nanoparticles coated with those sugars provoke significantly fewer unwanted immune responses and dramatically increase drug delivery to the cancer. Werfel and Hulugalla published their findings in ACS Nano in October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Werfel and Hulugalla tested glycopolymer-coated nanoparticle treatments in mice with breast cancer and found that more nanoparticles reached the tumors in the glycopolymer treatment compared to a PEG-based particle. The next phase of their study will include loading those nanoparticles with medication and ensuring that the product is still effective against cancer. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrived in South Korea on Nov. 27, with the aim of requesting military aid from Seoul, several media outlets reported. The delegation is expected to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol as early as Wednesday, according to the Korean Times, citing several sources close to the matter. Yoon has previously said that the country does not rule out providing arms to Ukraine in the light of deepening cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Russian-North Korean relations entered a new level when Pyongyang dispatched around 11,000 troops to join Russia's war against Ukraine. A vast majority of the deployed North Korean troops are currently receiving training alongside Russian forces, preparing to attempt to regain control of Russia's Kursk Oblast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the planned meeting, the delegation has reportedly met with South Korean National Security Adviser and former Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, according to the South Korean media outlet Dong-a Ilbo. South Korea's government has not yet confirmed the arrival of the Ukrainian delegation. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine would provide South Korea with a detailed request for military support in an October interview with KBS. South Korea has thus far resisted supplying lethal arms to Ukraine and instead opted to provide financial, and humanitarian support alongside non-lethal aid, citing legislative restrictions. Some media reports from last year claimed that the country secretly supplied artillery shells to Ukraine via the U.S., though the South Korean government denied the reports. Living in constant tension with its North Korean neighbors, South Korea boasts a powerful military and strong defense industry, making the country a major arms exporter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts told the Kyiv Independent that South Korea could provide the most significant support to Ukraine through ammunition supplies. The country fields not only 155 mm artillery but also stores 3.4 million 105 mm rounds compatible with some of Ukraine's guns. Read also: Once liberated Kupiansk braces for worst as Russian troops approach, and future Western support looks uncertain Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Theres a little bit of relief in sight for students who attend the University of North Carolina at Asheville. In-state students will get free tuition for the spring semester, the school announced. Its because of a one-time grant from the North Carolina General Assembly that will cover the full cost of in-state tuition. Its a savings of a little over $2,000. The university hopes this grant will provide financial relief to about half of the universitys student body. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think thats actually an incredible idea. There are a lot of people who lost quite a lot, said Nic Maser, a junior at UNC Asheville. ALSO READ >> Charlotte woman charged with using stolen identities to get student loans for family members Everybody needs help paying for college -- its very expensive, especially these days, said Cooper Pine, a senior. On top of tuition, there are grants for up to $2,500 for students struggling financially after Hurricane Helene. Students will also get a $900 housing credit and a dining credit if they have a meal plan. (VIDEO: Students teach Bollywood moves to seniors) WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) Three men were arrested during a multi-agency operation aimed at disrupting human trafficking and the purchase of commercial sex in Utah. According to the Utah Attorney Generals Office Tuesday press release, detectives worked undercover to target individuals who purchased commercial sex or engaged in human trafficking. Three adult males were arrested earlier this month and face charges of sexual solicitation, patronizing a prostitute and distribution of a controlled substance. The mens identities and the location of their arrests were not publicly released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As part of the operation, undercover agents also met with two women who worked as commercial sex workers. Authorities said they were both offered victim services, and each expressed interest in receiving assistance. They said the women were provided with support and released on the scene. The AGs Office said this operation was aimed at disrupting illegal activities and supporting victims as well as improving responses to human trafficking across the state. In order to achieve the second part of the initiative, the AGs SECURE Strike Force hosted a day-long training for detectives, prosecutors and victim advocates. The training focused on best practices for investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases, as well as how to effectively support and assist victims, the press release stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The training was also geared toward strengthening relationships between the different agencies across the state. During the operation, the strike force partnered with the Washington County Drug Task Force and several city, county and federal agencies. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. The Pentagon is actively watching for drones over U.S. Air Force locations in the United Kingdom, following a series of unexplained sightings over the past two weeks. The sightings, which took place over three U.S. air bases last week between Nov. 20 and 22 and again on Monday night, have prompted the deployment of roughly 60 British troops, including counterdrone specialists, to help defend the locations, according to Sky News. While installation leaders have determined the drones so far have not impacted the bases, personnel or military assets held there, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday that officials take the sightings very seriously. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They are being actively monitored, he said of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Its something that were going to take seriously. Were continuing to look into it, but as of right now, [it] has not had any significant mission impact. He added that the U.S. military continues to work with U.K. authorities and mission partners to ensure the safety of personnel, facilities and equipment, but he did not go into specifics as to the number of British troops deployed to help out. U.S. troops in Europe last week reported a swarm of unidentified drones flying over the Air Force bases Feltwell in Norfolk and Mildenhall and Lakenheath in Suffolk, the latter being the only home for Americas F-35/F-15 fighter wing in Europe. In a Monday statement, the U.S. military said the number of drones fluctuated and ranged in size and configuration. The incidents come amid growing questions over unidentified aerial phenomenon sightings or unidentified swarms of drones near military installations, including drones that flew near Virginias Langley Air Force Base in December 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In that series of events, which was not publicly revealed until last month, a fleet of unidentified aircraft flew over Langley Air Force Base as well as over the area that includes the Navys SEAL Team Six home base and Naval Station Norfolk, the worlds largest naval port, over 17 days. None of the drones were shot down, even as they flew in restricted airspace, as federal law prohibits U.S. forces from shooting down such aircraft near military bases in the country unless they pose an imminent threat. In another sighting in October 2023, five drones flew over a government site used for nuclear weapons experiments for three days outside Las Vegas. It is not publicly known who operated them. And U.S. officials confirmed in October that unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., north of Los Angeles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked whether the UAVs spotted over the U.S. airfields in the U.K. are linked to last years drone sightings, Ryder said he did not want to speculate and draw unnecessary connections. Questioned why no drones were shot down, he said the U.S. military has a variety of means at our disposal to protect our personnel and our facilities and always maintain the right to defend ourselves if we deem something to be a threat. But he added that officials do not want to risk inadvertently creating second-, third-order effects in other words, potentially harming the civilian communities in which we operate in and around. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. DENVER (KDVR) A class action lawsuit was recently filed by local union workers against the Kroger Company and Albertsons, the owners of King Soopers and Safeway respectively. The lawsuit is in response to certain unlawful no-poach agreements the grocery stores allegedly entered into during a 2022 strike against King Soopers and City Market by the union United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 in Denver. A spokesperson for the Kroger Company released a statement about the lawsuit and denied that there were any no-poach agreements between the two companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The spokesperson also said that data shows only between 1 and 2.5% of Kroger associates come from or move to Albertsons stores. The allegations According to the union, around 8,000 workers walked out at nearly 80 King Soopers stores during the 2022 strike. A 2024 lawsuit filed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser alleged that during this strike, King Soopers owner Kroger entered into an agreement with Albertsons, who owns Safeway, to not hire any King Soopers workers. What would happen to Colorados Safeway stores if they are sold? Safeway also allegedly agreed to not solicit any of King Soopers pharmacy customers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agreement was reportedly talked about in an email between company executives ahead of the strike. The class action lawsuit seeks lost wages and other economic gains for workers that could have been secured if the agreements did not exist. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. United Airlines suggested Wednesday that an air traffic controller shortage is to blame for significant delays at its Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) hub, as people in the U.S. began their holiday travel. The airline, in an email to The Hill, said the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) understaffing is causing significant disruption for our travelers at Newark. It added that beginning earlier this month through Monday, more than 343,000 United travelers have been disrupted by delays, cancellations, long taxi times and longer flight times related to air traffic control delays for Newark. The FAA needs more air traffic controllers. The FAA shortage has been especially acute at its [Terminal Radar Approach Control] center for Newark airspace, forcing it to reduce traffic flows to our Newark hub so that FAA can manage air traffic safely, United wrote in an emailed statement. The companys response came as delays have upended a commonly busy travel week for Americans, with many flying out to see their friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday. The airline refers to Newark as their New York-area hub. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FAA told The Hill in a statement that most delays nationwide are caused by weather or airline operations. Hiring more air traffic controllers is a top priority, the agency said. Specifically in the Newark airspace, the FAA is addressing a decades-long issue of staffing and has been transparent with airlines and travelers about our plan. In a post Tuesday on social platform X, Newark Airport said that because of FAA issues, travelers may experience flight delays at EWR. Check your flight status and allow extra time at the airport, the airport added in the post. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg highlighted the need for more air traffic controllers in an April interview, pointing to overworking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We need more, and were hiring more, Buttigieg, whose office oversees the FAA, said at the time on MSNBCs Morning Joe. If you look at just a chart over the last 30 years or so, the number of air traffic controllers has gone down and down and down, until recently where we finally got that number going up, he added. At a press conference the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Rick Cotton said that the air traffic control shortage is a is frankly, simply a problem. This is the most congested airspace in the country and probably in the world. It is an enormous challenge to manage the volume of airplanes going in and out. So, the FAA air traffic control system has its biggest challenge here. That has been compounded by the fact there is a shortage of air traffic controllers nationally, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Updated at 5:05 p.m. EST Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. (Photo by Leo Patrizi/Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.) Calls for unity and a return to bipartisan collaboration dominate political discussions today. Critics of cancel culture and the so-called radical left argue that our divisions are tearing us apart and that we need to find common ground. They frame this as a moral imperative: compromise is essential to move the country forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But these appeals gloss over an uncomfortable truth our disagreements are not abstract. They are not just about tax policies or infrastructure spending. They are about peoples lives. What does unity mean when one side seeks to strip away the fundamental rights of others? How can we work together when policies are being proposed and implemented to erase entire communities? The growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, the rollback of abortion rights, and attacks on racial equity in education and public policy are not intellectual exercises they are direct assaults on peoples dignity, health, and survival. These policies arent theoretical; they are already leaving people without health care, forcing families into poverty, and driving marginalized communities into fear and despair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Oklahoma, the legislative landscape has been particularly hostile toward transgender individuals. In 2024 alone, the state introduced 60 anti-trans bills, targeting various aspects of transgender lives, including health care, education, and civil rights. These measures are not mere policy preferences; they are existential threats to the well-being of transgender Oklahomans. Similarly, the fight over abortion access is framed by opponents as a debate over morality, but for many women, its a matter of life and death. Oklahomas stringent abortion laws have helped lead to a maternal mortality rate of 31.9 per 100,000 live births, significantly higher than the national average of 26.3 per 100,000. This statistic makes plain the life-threatening consequences of restricting reproductive healthcare. To invoke unity without addressing these injustices is to ask the oppressed to compromise with their oppressors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its asking people to debate their right to exist. This is not a new phenomenon. In the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail about the white moderate who preferred order to justice and urged patience while systemic racism continued to devastate Black communities. Today, that same mindset persists in calls to tone down demands for equity and rights in favor of a more palatable, less disruptive approach to change. Unity cannot come at the expense of health care, bodily autonomy, and the lives of those most vulnerable. What we disagree on today is not trivial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are debating whether queer people deserve to live free from harassment and violence, whether women should control their own bodies, and whether systemic racism should be meaningfully addressed or denied altogether. These are not issues where compromise is possible. Demanding that marginalized communities soften their demands in the name of unity only reinforces the systems of oppression that divide us in the first place. Civility is often touted as the path to unity, but civility without accountability for injustice is merely silence. When the stakes are human lives, meaningful change must take precedence over polite disagreement. Additionally, unity is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Until we center justice until we create a society where everyones rights are respected and protected calls for unity will remain hollow. They will be little more than an effort to maintain the status quo while claiming the moral high ground. To those who romanticize the ideals of a more moderate liberal movement, I say this: Remember that true progress requires confrontation. It requires speaking out against injustice, even when it makes others uncomfortable. Unity must not be used as a shield for oppression. To truly move forward as a society, we must collectively demand justice, stand with the vulnerable, and ensure that progress is built on equity, not compromise with injustice. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE At UnityPoint Health, we understand and deeply empathize with the frustration that some of our nurses are feeling. Their dedication to patient care does not go unnoticed. We acknowledge that recent challenges have left some of them feeling unsupported, and we take full responsibility for that. Our goal is always to create an environment where every nurse feels heard, valued, and empowered. We are committed to making meaningful changes to address their concerns and improve the experience for all of our nurses. While we have made significant strides around investment in nursing wages, we are committed to being more transparent and proactive in the future with how we communicate compensation-related changes. We are also committed to creating a sustainable, supportive environment for our nurses with our annual engagement survey results showing a significant increase in every single employee engagement category. When adequate staffing has been a challenge, weve worked to innovate in care delivery to ensure safe staffing levels and adapt to the needs of our caregivers. For example, we implemented our virtual nurse programone of the first of its kind in the nationand received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Like many health systems facing constraints, we have been working on reducing our reliance on contract labor because we believe that our own team membersthose who are part of our community and share our valuesare best positioned to provide the consistent, compassionate care our patients deserve. We are doubling down on efforts to grow and support our nursing workforce as well as invest in professional development through the advancement of our journey towards Magnet designation across the health system, a program that puts nursing shared governance and decision-making at the center of nursing practice. Earlier this year, we also stood up our first system-wide nurse advisory council to share in decision-making about the things most important to our team members. We are committed to working directly with our nurses to address their concerns, to learn from their feedback, and to make the changes necessary to create a better workplace. At the same time, we are immensely grateful for the many nurses who feel supported and fulfilled in their work here. Together, we will continue to build an organization that fosters a culture of respect, collaboration, and excellence in patient careone where every nurse can feel proud of the work they do, and one that provides an exceptional experience for the patients, team members, and communities we serve. Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We dive into navigating stipend structures for final-year medical residents with insights from Jon Appino, the CEO of Contract Diagnostics. He shares expert advice on what to consider when evaluating stipend offers, understanding repayment clauses, negotiating terms, and safeguarding your future salary. Learn how to approach early job commitments, manage non-compete clauses, and leverage negotiation tactics to secure the best outcome as you prepare for your fellowship or attending role. Jon Appino has been the driving force behind Contract Diagnostics since 2011, where he leads a dedicated team on a mission to empower physicians with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to negotiate robust employment contracts and secure the best compensation packages. He discusses the KevinMD article, Navigating stipend offers: a residents question. Our presenting sponsor is DAX Copilot by Microsoft. Do you spend more time on administrative tasks like clinical documentation than you do with patients? Youre not alone. Clinicians report spending up to two hours on administrative tasks for each hour of patient care. Microsoft is committed to helping clinicians restore the balance with DAX Copilot, an AI-powered, voice-enabled solution that automates clinical documentation and workflows. 70 percent of physicians who use DAX Copilot say it improves their work-life balance while reducing feelings of burnout and fatigue. Patients love it too! 93 percent of patients say their physician is more personable and conversational, and 75 percent of physicians say it improves patient experiences. Help restore your work-life balance with DAX Copilot, your AI assistant for automated clinical documentation and workflows. VISIT SPONSOR https://aka.ms/kevinmd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended GET CME FOR THIS EPISODE https://www.kevinmd.com/cme Im partnering with Learner+ to offer clinicians access to an AI-powered reflective portfolio that rewards CME/CE credits from meaningful reflections. Find out more: https://www.kevinmd.com/learnerplus Transcript Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today, we welcome back Jon Appino. Hes the CEO of Contract Diagnostics. Todays KevinMD article is titled Navigating Stipend Offers: A Residents Question. Jon, welcome back to the show. Jon Appino: Thank you for having me, sir. Always, always, always fun to be. Kevin Pho: All right, so Jons been on multiple times, of course, talking about all things contract-related for clinicians. Whats this latest one about navigating stipend offers? Jon Appino: Yeah, we had a question that came through one of our national discussions, our national educational events that we did, and we thought other people might benefit from it. We wrote and published something on it. It was about stipend plans. I think the verbiage can be taken in different ways by different people, but stipend in this situation referred to a physician asking: Should I sign a contract early to receive a stipend? This is mid-to-late 2024, Q3, and the physician was looking at signing a contract for 2026. So, they were considering signing 18 to 20 months in advance. They were thinking, Is this in my best interest? Theres a stipend theyre offering me. How should I look at the stipend? How should I navigate this process? They were just looking for some general advice. Kevin Pho: So, just to be clear, to sign that contract committing them to a job 18 months in the future, that job would give them a stipend in order to commit that early? Is that what Im hearing? Jon Appino: Yeah. So, having a stipend plan is a benefit to many people. The organization might have a retiring physician, and theyve had plenty of notice, so they want to replace that physician. Maybe they just know theyre going to be busy and want to have appropriate staffing in place 24, even 30 months down the road. Some specialties are hard to recruit, or theyve got predictions and projections on volume increases. Employers like to lock in physicians early to know what their staffing models will look like. I think weve all seen the physician supply and demand curves for the next 30 years, and they dont look good for a lot of employers. So, theyre thinking, How can we fill our roles quickly and protect our time? Physicians might know where they want to gofor example, Chicago, the Midwest, or Southern California. They might think, Why wait? I like this employer, and theyre offering me a stipend plan. Ill go ahead and sign. It could be a win-win for many, but it can also go poorly in some cases. Kevin Pho: In cases like this particular question, was it a physician in their last year of residency or fellowship? Jon Appino: Yeah, it was an orthopedic surgeon doing additional training years and considering signing early. They were being offered $4,000 per month for the next 12, 14, or 18 months during training. I dont know current salaries for residents and fellows, but I know $4,000 can make a big difference. It was a benefit to this physician and their family, as they had two or three kids, plus rent or a mortgage. That $4,000 extra per month was going to be a big help. They figured, If Im going to take the job anyway, I might as well take a little extra money during training. Kevin Pho: So, in terms of that stipend plan, it was $4,000 a month for 14 months as long as, of course, they followed through and took the job? Jon Appino: Yeah. They provide the income to the physician, essentially as an advance. Many still offer signing bonuses, loan repayment, relocation assistance, and a healthy salary. The stipend is an additional benefit for signing early. If the physician doesnt show up, they owe that money back, with interest most often. Thats where the crux lies. It could be wonderful for a physician and their family, but if they dont show up or get a better offer, they might regret it. Believe it or not, Kevin, weve had physicians call us three, four, or six months after signing a contract saying, Ive got a better offer. How do I get out of the one I already signed? Jon Appino: Its one of those things where theres a lot of risk involved in these agreements. For example, you might sign a contract that offers a $4,000 stipend per month for 12 to 18 months. Then, when you start, you might also get a $50,000 signing bonus, relocation reimbursement, and a $400,000 salary with an RVU rate of $61. The contract locks in all these figures. Now, if the median salary for the specialty is $400,000 at the time, that might seem reasonable. But during your final months of training, you might start getting offers of $430,000, $440,000, or $450,000 with RVU rates of $66 or $72. It can be painful to show up at your job making $400,000 with a $61 RVU rate, knowing that the place down the street pays much more. Plus, you could be locked into restrictive covenants or non-compete agreements. If you leave after your stipend is paid off, you might also owe tail insurance. There are many factors to consider in these stipend agreements that extend far into the future. Physicians need to think carefully before deciding that $4,000 a month is worth it. Kevin Pho: So, what specific questions should physicians ask themselves to evaluate a stipend plan? How did you advise this particular physician? Jon Appino: First, we always tell physicians that if they know the group is where they want to work, then a stipend plan could be a great opportunity. We also advise understanding how the taxes work. Will they receive the full $4,000, or will it be taxed? Second, they need to understand what happens if something unexpected occurslike they cant start the job on time, or they leave after one or two years instead of staying for the agreed-upon term. Its critical to review the repayment provisions in case of a death, disability, or other unforeseen circumstances. Most agreements will require repayment if you choose not to show up, but sometimes life intervenes in ways beyond your control. Additionally, we recommend asking how the salary is structured. Will it be adjusted for market changes? For instance, if the group hires at the 50th percentile, what happens if market rates increase between now and your start date? We encourage physicians to ensure their contracts specify adjustments only upward, not downward. Finally, we emphasize the importance of robust conversations with employers. Ask how compensation is determined, how it evolves over time, and what happens if market dynamics shift. Employers might claim they rarely lower salaries, but its vital to have protections written into the contract. These discussions ensure the physician fully understands the risks and benefits of their decision. Kevin Pho: In terms of jobs that typically offer stipends, are we talking about hospital-based systems, academic medical centers, specialists, or primary care? Jon Appino: Great question. We mostly see stipends offered by hospital-employed positions. Rarely do we see them in academics or private practices unless the private practice has a recruitment agreement with a hospital. Hospital systems with long-term planning needs are the primary players here. For example, specialties like cardiothoracic surgery and urology often see stipend offers because they are in high demand. Urology is currently the oldest practicing specialty, with a significant wave of retirements expected in the next few years. A urologist coming out of training now could likely sign a contract with favorable terms and significant negotiating power. Primary care is always in demand as well, though stipend offers are less common in highly sought-after metropolitan areas. These agreements are more typical in rural or mid-sized cities where recruiting can be more challenging. However, the specifics vary depending on geographic and market factors. Kevin Pho: What happens if a physician wants to get out of a stipend plan? What scenarios should they prepare for? Jon Appino: If a physician decides not to show up for their position, they usually owe back the stipend plus interest. For example, if they received $4,000 per month, theyd repay the total amount received, possibly with additional tax implications. Most contracts require repayment within 30 to 60 days, though some might allow for a payment plan. We also recommend considering creative solutions. For instance, if the physician receives a better offer, their new employer might agree to pay off the stipend amount as part of their contract. This could even provide tax benefits, depending on how its structured. Consulting with a tax accountant in these situations is crucial. Unpredictable scenarios, like a hospital closing or the job location becoming undesirable, are harder to address. These situations emphasize the importance of thoroughly reviewing contract language before signing. Signing a contract for a start date far in the future introduces more uncertainty than one with a start date just a few months away. Kevin Pho: What range of stipend amounts have you seen offered? You mentioned $4,000 in this casewhats typical? Jon Appino: Weve seen stipends range from $1,000 to $5,000 per month, depending on the timing and the job specifics. For example, a physician signing 12 or 18 months before starting might receive a higher monthly amount than someone signing six months in advance. Sometimes, a stipend plan functions as an advance on a signing bonus or salary. For example, if the employer offers a $50,000 signing bonus, the physician might request to receive it in monthly installments instead of as a lump sum. Kevin Pho: If a physician is negotiating a job that starts in the future, should they consider introducing the idea of a stipend? Jon Appino: Absolutely. Many employers understand the role of stipends and are open to discussing them. We encourage physicians to bring up all types of pre-starting incentives, such as stipends, signing bonuses, and loan repayment, during negotiations. These discussions help ensure the compensation package aligns with the physicians needs. Kevin Pho: Were talking to Jon Appino, CEO of Contract Diagnostics. Todays KevinMD article is titled Navigating Stipend Offers: A Residents Question. Jon, as always, lets end with some take-home messages for the KevinMD audience. Jon Appino: First, practice interviewing. Physicians dont interview often, so getting practice helps them become more confident and informed. Second, seek multiple offers. Competing offers not only improve negotiating power but also provide insight into market trends. When you get a letter of intent, dont sign it immediately. Many physicians mistakenly think letters of intent are non-binding, but they often set compensation expectations. Instead, negotiate terms at that stage and have your contract reviewed by an expert to avoid unpleasant surprises later. Finally, remember that contract negotiation doesnt have to be stressful. At Contract Diagnostics, we strive to make the process fun and rewarding for physicians. Were here to help ensure youre set up for success. Kevin Pho: Jon, as always, thank you so much for sharing your perspective and insights. Thanks again for coming back on the show. Jon Appino: Thanks for having me. Nov. 26An unprepared out-of-state hiker and his dog were rescued after a brief altercation on Mount Washington on Tuesday morning, New Hampshire Fish and Game officials said. Tristan James Murrin, 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, arrived at the summit and forced his way into a state parks Sno-Cat vehicle during inclement weather and refused to get out, officials said. After the summit staff de-escalated the situation, the hiker was driven down to the base of the mountain, where conservation officers met up with him. James Murrin was on a cross-country hiking trip and decided to hike Mount Washington despite calling the day and being advised not to make the trek during the bad weather, officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James Murrin started his hike up Tuckerman Ravine Trail at 5 a.m. and made it to the summit around 11 a.m. He was found to be woefully unprepared for the summit conditions and had a large dog with him that had to be factored into the rescue situation, officials said. Although he initially spoke to investigating conservation officers, James Murrin refused to cooperate and chose to walk back to his vehicle at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center from the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road. State park officials recommended billing James Murrin for the cost of his rescue. Amid the partial, temporary closure of an Oklahoma City United Parcel Service facility, more than 300 employees will be laid off early next year, according to the Oklahoma Department of Labor. Due to "changing business realities" in the company's network, all 304 employees working at 901 S Portland Ave. will be affected by layoffs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) issued by UPS. A WARN notice is given to workers 60 calendar days in advance of plant closures or mass layoffs affecting 50 or more employees or 33% of staff required for employers with 100 or more employees under federal law. "As a part of our Network of the Future initiative, were modernizing our Oklahoma City UPS facility," said UPS spokesperson Brian Hughes. "This temporary, partial closure wont impact customer service, and we have plans in place to continue servicing the Oklahoma City community." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oklahoma layoffs include 286 HUB workers, 15 pre-loaders, 1 package clerk and 2 revenue recovery employees and will affect both union and nonunion employees. The Georgia-based employer issued the notice Nov. 18 to employees after informing staff three days prior. Layoffs will take place Jan. 15. David Crow, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, said his agency is continuing to work with the Atlanta-based company as its issues change. "We are working closely with UPS headquarters to determine the next steps to take," Crow said. More: ONEOK announces billion-dollar acquisition plans. What will this mean for investors? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Garsen Hansen, UPS human resources business partner director, who sent the WARN notice, could not be reached for comment. UPS opened a new branch in Oklahoma City at 8825 N Interstate 35 about a year ago, which was meant to complement its Shawnee, Stillwater and Portland Avenue locations. However, in April, the company announced plans to shut down around 200 U.S. facilities. Though, it did not announce any closures in Oklahoma at the time. The mass layoffs and nationwide closures come at a time when UPS faces legal issues. The United Parcel Service will pay up to a $45 million penalty for improperly valuing a business unit, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Oklahoma ranks highest among states in electric vehicle registration growth The SEC said UPS misrepresented "its earnings because it failed to follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in valuing one of its worst performing businesses." It is unclear if this is related to the layoffs and possible facility closing in Oklahoma. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: UPS plans massive layoff and partial Oklahoma City facility closure URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) People in Urbana are one step closer to getting a new grocery store. Last week WCIA reported that a community member was leading the effort to fill a food desert there. Last night, City Council voted to help make it happen. The City agreed to pledge up to $800,000 towards the project if the woman behind the idea, Angela Bradley, gets her application accepted from the Illinois Grocery Initiative New Stores in Food Deserts Grant. Darleen Bailey has lived on the North side of Urbana for nearly 30 years. She doesnt drive so she relies on the bus or a friend to get where she needs to go, including the grocery store. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is something that I have been looking forward to for a very long time, Bailey said. Getting to the closest grocery store is a 20-minute bus ride. Walking would take 45 minutes. Thats not convenient for us, especially if youre just needing one item, Bailey said. Angela Bradley is on a mission to change that. Not only to build a store closer to people, but also one that has healthy options. A destination for everyone; Urbana wellness center nears completion If you can imagine being in an area where theres no resources for you to get any fresh food or anything like that, the closest fresh food is Vineyard Food Pantry just down the street, Bradley said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bradley said this has been a problem on the North side of Urbana for 40 years. She had a consultant do some research and found 37% of the food eaten in the Citys Third Ward are snack items. Thats what people are getting because thats what they have access to. So, what this grant aims to do, what the City of Urbana aims to do and what I aim to do is eliminate that food desert and to have fresh food available for families, Bradley said. On Monday, City Council agreed to pitch in $800,000. Now, Bradley said the next steps are finishing the paperwork and applying for the grant by Dec 2. The plan is to put a grocery store on Lincoln Avenue near Bradley Avenue. This makes it easy for people to get what they need. And you dont have to ride two busses to get to a grocery store if you want to get food for your family, Bradley said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And, Bailey said its a relief that the ball is rolling and access to fresh food is in the near future. That means a lot to me and I am very excited about it, Bailey said. Bradley said if all goes to plan, the business will be called Heart Strong Grocery Store. The fire station on Lincoln Avenue would be demolished to make room for it. Bradley said the project is estimated to cost more than $4 million. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. By Simon Lewis, Trevor Hunnicutt and Colleen Howe WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -China and the U.S. have each released three citizens both governments said were wrongfully detained in the other country, concluding years of diplomacy as leaders of both nations work to repair strained ties. The White House said on Wednesday that China released U.S. citizens Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, and the U.S. changed its travel advisory for China lowering its risk warning, a move long sought by Beijing that U.S. officials have tied to China's detention of American nationals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Security Council said in a statement the three men's release meant all Americans it deemed wrongfully detained in China had now been released. "Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years," it said. Politico, which first reported the release, said a number of Chinese citizens detained in the United States would also be released. China's embassy in Washington declined to comment. Beijing says such cases are handled according to law. When asked at a Thursday press briefing, China's foreign ministry said three Chinese citizens who were wrongfully detained by the U.S. government have returned to their motherland safely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I want to stress that China firmly opposes U.S. oppression and persecution of Chinese citizens for political purposes," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. Mao said a Chinese fugitive had also been repatriated from the U.S., showing that "no place can be a permanent safe haven for criminals." She added that the Chinese government would continue to pursue fugitives. China did not reveal the identities of those released and repatriated. RETURNING HOME Kai Li's son, Harrison Li, said in a statement that his father was expected to land at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas late on Wednesday, and thanked Biden administration officials for working on the release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They delivered just in time for the holidays," he said, referring to Thanksgiving on Thursday. Li had been detained in China since 2016 on espionage charges he denied. Texas-based businessman Mark Swidan was imprisoned for 12 years in China on drug-related charges and in 2019 was given a death sentence with reprieve, despite a lack of evidence. John Leung was sentenced to life in 2023 and accused of being an American spy. Senior U.S. officials had raised the issue of the detainees in talks with Chinese counterparts over the years, but families feared their cases were overshadowed by other considerations in the complex and fraught U.S.-China relationship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A U.S. official said President Joe Biden had pressed for the return of the three when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping this month at a regional summit in Peru. Biden and Xi have worked to lower tensions in recent months by holding phone calls and meetings aimed at identifying areas they can work on together while still managing national security risks. In September, China freed U.S. pastor David Lin, who had been in jail since 2006 and was also considered wrongfully detained. U.S. officials declined to confirm reports at the time that a Chinese national was released in exchange for Lin. Biden's successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has signaled a more hawkish approach, including proposing vast new tariffs on goods from China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TRAVEL ADVISORY Biden, whose four-year term ends on Jan. 20, has secured the release of more than 70 Americans detained overseas, in some cases swapping them for prisoners in the United States. In 2022, China was one of six countries the State Department slapped with a "D" warning to its travel advisory to indicate the risk of U.S. citizens being detained and used as bargaining chips. U.S. officials said they told Chinese officials that the detention of American citizens had to be addressed before the travel advisory would be changed. On Wednesday, that warning was removed and the U.S. advice to travelers to mainland China was changed from Level 3, "reconsider travel," to Level 2, "exercise increased caution," although the advisory still warned that U.S. citizens in China "may be subjected to interrogations and detention without fair and transparent treatment under the law." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mao called the move "conducive". "We always oppose creating chilling effects and we hope the U.S. will provide more facilitation for the culture and people-to-people exchange between the two countries," she said. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Simon Lewis, and Colleen Howe in Beijing; additional reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Susan Heavey, David Ljunggren, Simon Lewis and Liz Lee; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Timothy Heritage, Jonathan Oatis, Rod Nickel and Kim Coghill) The Biden administration has brokered the release of three Americans by trading them for unidentified Chinese citizens in U.S. custody, according to a senior administration official familiar with the deal. The release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung is the result of years of intensive talks between White House and State Department officials and their Chinese counterparts, said the senior administration official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations before theyre announced. It follows the freeing of U.S. citizen David Lin in September in a similar exchange deal for an unidentified Chinese citizen behind bars in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Freedom for Swidan, Li and Leung marks a late-administration diplomatic victory for President Joe Biden and negotiators in the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. It also removes a persistent irritant in U.S.-China relations that has been a magnet for criticism on Capitol Hill for years. Last month, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) urged the administration to ensure that Li and Swidans release remains a diplomatic priority for the administration in a letter to Biden . Over the past four years the administration under the State Departments Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, has brought home more than 70 Americans from countries including Russia, Venezuela and Iran. The three men are expected to arrive back in the U.S. in a few hours, the senior administration official said. Upon arrival they are likely to be transferred to the Brooke Army Medical Center outside of San Antonio, Texas, which has facilities to psychologically evaluate former hostages and prepare them for reintegration into U.S. society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The release is the result of years of work, the official said. President Biden brought this up when he met with President Xi in Peru two weeks ago and Jake Sullivan brought this up when he was in Beijing [in September] and Secretary Blinken also pushed for this really hard in September at UNGA with [Chinese Foreign Minister] Wang Yi, the official added. Senior administration officials have described the framework for the prisoner swap that freed Lin as a model for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to bring Swidan, Li and Leung home, Beijing may be hoping that their release will pave the way for the State Department to downgrade its current travel warning for China that advises Americans to reconsider travel to the country. China sees the advisory as an obstacle to restoring U.S. business and tourist travel to pre-pandemic levels. The State Department imposed that advisory due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions. And it will raise hopes that Beijing may be willing to negotiate the freedom of other U.S. citizens who are either behind bars in China or barred from leaving the country. Smith and Merkley urged the State Department in September to classify as wrongfully detained any U.S. citizen detained in China who did not receive a fair and transparent trial, with a genuine defense, in front of an independent judge. Thats likely a long list. The nonprofit prisoner release advocacy organization Dui Hua Foundation estimates that there are at least 200 unjustly imprisoned Americans in China and at least 30 who are subject to unlawful exit bans . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinese police arrested Swidan, a native of Texas, in November 2012 for allegedly manufacturing and trafficking narcotics despite what the San Francisco-based prisoner release nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation has described as an absence of substantive evidence. A court in Guangdong province after a 5-year trialsentenced Swidan to death with a two-year reprieve in January 2020. The court upheld that sentence last year. The U.N. declared Swidan a victim of arbitrary detention in 2020. Administration officials notified Swidans mother, Katherine Swidan, of her sons release in the early morning hours Wednesday. I'm just elated and excited I can't even believe it, Swidans mother told POLITICO. Shanghai police detained Kai Li of New York state in September 2016 and a court sentenced him to a 10-year prison term in July 2018 for allegedly spying for the FBI. The U.N. declared Li a victim of arbitrary detention in 2021 and described his imprisonment as political and not criminal [and] at least in part attributable to his status as a foreign national of Chinese heritage. Efforts to contact Lis son, Harrison Li, were unsuccessful A Chinese court handed down a life sentence to Leung on espionage charges in 2023, alleging he had worked for U.S. intelligence agencies since 1989, per CNN reporting . His release comes as a surprise given that neither the State Department nor the U.N. had considered him to be wrongfully detained by Chinese authorities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden administration has used prisoner swaps over the past two years to secure the release of multiple U.S. citizens arbitrarily detained in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and basketball star Brittney Griner. But that strategy has drawn criticism from some lawmakers who welcome the return of the detainees but argue making trades motivates autocratic governments to take more U.S. citizens hostage in the future. At the time of the high-profile multination prisoner swap with Russia in August, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage-taking by his regime. The latest prisoner swap suggests that Beijing and Washington now have a model for possible future releases of U.S. citizens behind bars in China. There are a lot of things that China could do to improve U.S.-China relations, but most of them theyre unwilling to do, said John Kamm, founder of the Dui Hua Foundation. But China has many [American] prisoners who are unjustly detained [and] its a relatively easy thing to release some of them. CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated Mark Swidan's name. US President-elect Donald Trump is considering the candidacy of retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for the Russo-Ukrainian war. Source: Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter, as reported by European Pravda Details: Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump was considering Kellogg for this position. Keith Kellogg. Photo: Reuters At the same time, one source noted that Richard Grenell, former acting Director of National Intelligence, remains the leading contender for the post, with Donald Trump reportedly considering him for the role, according to Reuters, citing four sources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A retired lieutenant general and veteran of the Vietnam War, Kellogg joined Trump's team as a national security adviser in Vice President Mike Pence's office in 2017-2021. Kellogg has positioned himself as one of Trump's staunch loyalists. He defended Trump's 2019 call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, privately urged Vice President Pence to reject the 2020 presidential election results, and, when Pence publicly distanced himself from Trump, condemned his actions. Kellogg currently works at the pro-Trump think tank America First Policy Institute, where he has put forward several proposals outlining what national security policy might look like under a future Trump administration. Kellogg also contributed to the drafting of yet another "peace plan" for Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: Earlier, on 16 November, The New York Times, citing sources, said that Boris Epstein, who has no experience in politics but has relatives in both Russia and Ukraine, expressed willingness to become Trump's adviser on the Russo-Ukrainian war. Support UP or become our patron! The Biden administration is sanctioning nearly two dozen Venezuelan security and Cabinet officials aligned with President Nicolas Maduro, building on a series of sanctions it has imposed along with other countries following July elections the U.S. deems illegitimate. The sanctions target 21 individuals, including 15 leaders of the Bolivarian National Guard, Bolivarian National Police, the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, Bolivarian militia and the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence. Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro waves a national flag during a rally in support of his government in Caracas on Jan. 23, 2024. (Gabriela Oraa, AFP via Getty Images) The State Department is also issuing visa restrictions on Maduro-aligned officials who undermined the electoral process in Venezuela and are responsible for acts of repression, a senior administration official told reporters in a call Wednesday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The steps that we are taking today build on multiple actions that we have taken already to hold the current and former Venezuelan officials accountable for undermining democracy in Venezuela and to hold them accountable for violating human rights, the official said. The Biden administration last week officially recognized Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 elections and president-elect of Venezuela. Gonzalez fled Venezuela in September after the Maduro regime issued a warrant for his arrest. He is currently in Spain but has said he will return to Venezuela to take office on Jan. 10. The Biden administration has condemned the Maduro regime for carrying out a campaign of suppression, arbitrarily arresting democratic opposition supporters en masse, violently suppressing protests and denying individuals the right to assemble peacefully. The sanctions issued Wednesday build on other actions, including sanctions against 180 Venezuelan officials and 100 Venezuelan entities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the foreign ministers of G7 countries issued support for Gonzalez as the legitimate winner. We will continue to support efforts by regional partners to facilitate a Venezuelan-led democratic and peaceful transition that will ensure respect for the will of the voters, the statement read. We are deeply troubled by the continued violations and abuses of human rights, including arbitrary detentions and severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, targeting in particular political opponents, civil society, and independent media. All unjustly detained political prisoners must be 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 The Hill. A U.S. delegation of government, brand and civil society representatives met with Bangladeshs leadership in Dhaka over the weekend to affirm what they said was their shared commitment to independent, democratic trade unions for Bangladeshi workers and the businesses that employ them. Led by State Department special representative Kelly M. Fay Rodriguez and Department of Labor deputy undersecretary Thea Lee, the group included officials from the Agency for International Development better known as USAID, labor experts from UNI Global Union and the Worker Rights Consortium, and executives from the American Apparel Footwear Association and member brands Gap Inc., Calvin Klein owner PVH Corp. and The North Face parent VF Corp., which collectively buy roughly $1.8 billion of clothing every year from the South Asian nation. Bangladesh is the third largest supplier of garments to the United States. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Delegates met with interim government leader Muhammad Yunus and members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association at what a statement described as a unique moment for democracy and governance for the country, which is navigating a future without disgraced former prime minister Sheikh Hasinas iron-fisted rule for the first time in 15 years. Its during this fragile period that resolving longstanding challenges to the exercise of labor rights will be critical to ensuring national economic prosperity, the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh said Tuesday. Worker empowerment is essential to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, respect for human rights, democratic resilience and gender equity and inclusion. The United States said it recognizes that the well-being of workers in the global economy is a shared responsibility for governments, businesses, regulators and labor unions, which must work together to ensure good, safe working conditions where fundamental rights such as freedom of association and collective bargaining are respected. Miran Ali, an advisory member of the support committee that will buttress the BGMEAs work until a new board is elected, said that the trade groups administrator had productive discussions with the U.S. representatives over human rights and tradetwo issues that have become especially fraught in the wake of production delays that originally stemmed from the pro-democracy uprising but were then exacerbated by torrential weather and seemingly unquellable worker unrest over unpaid wages and other demands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Early this week, the Bangladesh government announced the formation of a six-member committee that will review the labor and business environment at Beximco Industrial Park, the heart of one of the countrys biggest textile operations and a hotbed of turmoil over outstanding arrears, which the Ministry of Labour and Employment said it will be helping cover with help of its finance counterpart. Beximco, which did not respond to a request for comment, is one of Bangladeshs largest private employers, serving brands such as PVH Corp., Target and Zara owner Inditex through an expansive phalanx of washing, spinning, knitting, weaving, printing, dyeing and cut-and-sew services. Its also facing a liquidity crunchas well as potential receivershipfollowing the arrest of one of its co-founders on charges of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering and murder. The buyers likewise did not respond to emails asking if they would be continuing their relationship with Beximco. Despite fears that the lingering climate of uncertainty would quail buyers, the challenges that sourcing from Bangladesh presents dont appear to be insurmountable, at least from the United States point of view. The United States is committed to working with Bangladesh to ensure that industry practices support stable employment, quality working conditions and living wages that allow Bangladeshi workers and their families to thrive, the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh said. The United States values our partnership with Bangladesh, spanning more than 50 years. We are grateful for the opportunity to support the people of Bangladesh at this historic moment, and for the chance to join here together in Dhaka. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, the worlds second-largest exporter of clothing after China will have a steep road ahead, Mohiuddin Rubel, an additional managing director at Denim Expert and, until recently, one of the BGMEAs directors, previously told Sourcing Journal. A reliable power supply remains a perennial issue, as does Bangladeshs increasingly vulnerable banking system, which is struggling to keep balances afloat. Spiking manufacturing costs have also made the relentless downward pressure on already razor-thin margins more difficult to manage in the absence of more responsible purchasing practices. Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said that the trade group looks forward to a continued strong, competitive, socially responsible and sustainable industry in Bangladesh and will continue to work with the country to ensure worker welfare and promote the ideals of equitable democracy and for all stakeholders to take part in open dialogue and inclusivity. He added that the delegation was part of ongoing cross-stakeholder efforts to strengthen and grow the partnership between the U.S. and Bangladesh, growing its reputation back as a trusted trader. U.S. forces on Tuesday struck Iranian-aligned militia groups in Syria in retaliation for the fighters attacking American bases. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on the social platform X that it struck a weapons storage facility and that a battle damage assessment was underway to determine the impact of the strike. We will not tolerate attacks on our personnel and coalition partners, said CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla in a statement. We are committed to taking all necessary actions to ensure their protection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CENTCOM said it does not currently assess that any civilian casualties resulted from the strike. Iranian-backed groups have attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria dozens of times since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 as Tehran seeks to support its Palestinian militant ally in Gaza and take advantage of the chaos. And the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen are also continuing to fire at merchant ships and battle the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea. After the death of three American troops at a base in Jordan from an attack by an Iranian-backed group over the winter, the U.S. carried out deadly strikes on militia groups that largely eased up attacks in Syria and Iraq this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But those attacks have resumed in the past few months, and the U.S. also carried out strikes earlier this month against Iranian groups in Syria. The U.S. has some 900 troops in Syria and around 2,500 in Iraq. American troops are in the countries to fight against the threat from Islamic terrorist group ISIS. The Tuesday strike comes on the same day that Israel reached a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon to stop the fighting against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The United States announced new individual sanctions Wednesday on more than 20 officials aligned with Venezuelas authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, to put pressure on Maduro to accept the results of Venezuelas July presidential election, senior administration officials said in a briefing with reporters. Thursday marks exactly four months from the July election, and senior officials believe the new sanctions will put pressure on Venezuelan officials to break ranks from the Maduro government and facilitate a democratic transition in that country. The new round of sanctions target military officials in the Bolivarian National Guard, Bolivarian National Police and other branches of the security apparatus, the US officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the officials sanctioned Wednesday are Maduros newly-installed chief of staff, Anibal Coronado, Communication Minister Freddy Nanez, and the director of intelligence services Alexis Rodriguez. Widespread oil sanctions and general licenses granting certain companies, such as US oil major Chevron, to do business in Venezuela remain in place but are constantly being reviewed, one of the officials said. Maduros government said in a statement that it rejected the sanctions, calling them coercive and targeted toward patriots who have dedicated themselves to safeguard the peace, stability, economic recovery and (Venezuelas) national unity. Caracas also described the measure as a desperate act by a decadent and erratic government, which seeks to hide its resounding electoral failure and the serious social crisis in which it leaves the country, in reference to the Biden administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement of the sanctions comes just one week after the United States has formally recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the countrys president-elect following the disputed July 28 presidential election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on X. The Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28 and made Edmundo Gonzalez the president-elect. Democracy demands respect for the will of the voters, the top US diplomat posted while participating in the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. Asked if there has been any communication with President-elect Donald Trumps national security team about Venezuela, one of the officials sidestepped. Were undertaking these actions with respect to Venezuela as part of the Biden administrations engagement in advancing democracy in Venezuela and also holding the Venezuelan regime and regime actors accountable for practices that include political repression, subverting the democratic will of the people, one official said. We obviously are aware that there will be a change in administration on January 20th, and at that juncture a new administration can take up this issue with Venezuela. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most of cabinet members in Venezuela have been subjects of sanctions from the US Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control since the precipitation of the Venezuelan crisis in 2017. Maduro himself has been sanctioned since July 31, 2017; three years later, the Department of Justice formally charged Maduro for crimes related to drug trafficking and terrorism. To this day, US prosecutors offer a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the Venezuelan strongman. CNNs Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (Bloomberg) -- The US sanctioned 21 officials it said supported Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros effort to defy results of an election that the countrys opposition and Washington say he lost. Most Read from Bloomberg Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The current and former Venezuelan officials including cabinet ministers and their relatives, as well as from the upper tiers of the countrys national guard and counter-intelligence services supported Maduros crackdown on protests after the vote, the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control said Wednesday. They have supported and carried out Maduros orders to repress civil society in his efforts to fraudulently declare himself the winner of Venezuelas July 28 presidential election, the department said in a statement. The officials include Communication Minister Freddy Nanez and William Castillo, who has served as vice-minister of Anti-Blockade Policies. The US also targeted two relatives of Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello: his daughter Daniella Cabello, who serves as president of the Venezuelan Export Promotion Agency, and his cousin Alexis Rodriguez, the director of the countrys intelligence police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Separately, the State Department aims to impose new visa restrictions on individuals undermining democracy, engaging in significant corruption, or violating the human rights of the Venezuelan people, which it said now totals nearly 2,000. In one of its most significant shows of support, the US earlier this month began referring to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled to Spain in September, as Venezuelas president-elect. Maduros current term ends Jan. 10, and it will fall on the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump to decide how much further it wants to push Maduro. Trump campaigned on a promise to deport large numbers of immigrants from Latin America, particularly Venezuela, and flying them back would require coordinating with his government. In September, the US sanctioned 16 members of the countrys Supreme Court, Electoral Council and other entities for obstructing free and fair elections in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 2,400 Venezuelans were arrested and 28 killed in the protests across the across the country after Maduro claimed victory in the July vote. Earlier this month the government released 225 detainees, including minors, a move that was seen as a potential olive branch. Venezuela also arrested several foreigners, including at least seven US citizens, claiming they conspired against the Maduro government. (Updates with further details from fourth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The administration of US President Joe Biden is urging Ukraine to amend its conscription law to enable the drafting of men as young as 18 and to expedite the expansion of its armed forces personnel. Source: Associated Press (AP), citing a Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity, as reported by European Pravda. Details: According to AP, a Biden administration official claimed that the Democratic administration, which is soon to leave the White House, is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age from 25 to 18 to expand the pool of men eligible for conscription. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the official, "the pure math" of Ukraine's current situation is that it needs more troops to fight the war. AP also reported that, according to European officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing concerns from other Western allies who believe Ukraine's challenge lies in personnel shortages rather than a lack of weapons. On 19 November, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that Ukraine had received a significant supply of various American weapons but continued to face challenges on the battlefield, attributing the difficulties to issues with mobilisation. Support UP or become our patron! The Biden administration is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age from 25 to 18 in an effort to increase troop numbers, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 27, citing an unnamed senior Biden administration official. The recommendation is part of a broader push to address Ukraine's armed forces personnel shortage as the war with Russia nears its third year. The pure math of Ukraines situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight, the official said to AP, adding that Ukraine is not currently mobilizing enough soldiers to replace battlefield losses or match Russias growing military. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proposal has faced resistance from Kyiv, with Ukrainian officials expressing concerns about the lack of equipment for additional troops and potential economic harm from drafting younger workers. European officials, speaking anonymously, have suggested that Western allies believe Ukraine's primary issue is a shortage of troops rather than weapons, raising concerns about its ability to sustain operations in Russias Kursk border region. The situation has been further complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops supporting Moscow's efforts to reclaim territory lost to a Ukrainian incursion earlier this year. In April, Ukraine passed laws lowering the draft age from 27 to 25, which added 50,000 troops but fell short of the country's needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the new law on mobilization came into force in Ukraine on May 18, military-aged men were given 60 days to update their personal data so that the state could locate them. The deadline for updating data expired on July 17, 2024. From May 18 to July 16, 4,690,496 military-aged men updated their data by the July 17 deadline, according to the Defense Ministry. Read also: Parliament passes bill allowing first-time deserters to return to military service Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. An election worker hands out I Voted stickers at the Main Library in Salt Lake City on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Deadlines to canvass and certify Utahs election results have come and gone, yet one race is still in limbo. Its an unprecedented situation in the state leaving that election unresolved until at least mid-December. Tom Stone, a Wasatch County school board candidate, filed his campaign disclosures due Oct. 29 two days late, on Oct. 31. County officials didnt inform him of any consequence. Then the Nov. 5 election came and went, and Stone as far as he knew won his race with 41.67% of the vote to his opponent, Bradley Ehlert, who got 38.61% of the vote, according to the countys unofficial election results. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then on Nov. 14, nine days after the election, Wasatch County Clerk/Auditor Joey Granger informed Stone that he had been disqualified from the race. Granger wrote in a letter that Stone failed to file the required (general election) financial disclosure within the required deadline, and that the county would no longer count any votes for this candidate. Now, Stone is suing Wasatch County, alleging Granger was supposed to immediately notify Stone he had failed to file his report, and that if he failed to file the report within 24 hours after the deadline he would be disqualified, according to his lawsuit. She also had the discretion to impose a fine of $100 on Mr. Stone, the lawsuit says. However, Ms. Granger did none of those things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stones attorney who also serves in the Utah Legislature Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, also wrote in the lawsuit that no one, including Mr. Stone, was notified prior to the general election that he had been disqualified. Additionally, voters didnt know until nine days after the election, and the county continued counting Stones votes until his disqualification notice on Nov. 14. The lawsuit also says that on Oct. 2 and Oct. 29, county officials sent reminders to each local candidate except Mr. Stone to ensure that they were aware of the disclosure deadlines. No explanation has been provided to Mr. Stone as to why he was singled out from the other candidates and treated different by Wasatch County, Weiler wrote. Fourth District Court Judge Jennifer Mabey heard arguments for the case in a hearing on Nov. 19. At the end of that hearing, she granted a temporary restraining order blocking the county from certifying that races results later that day, allowing more time to hash out the issue in court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wasatch County finalized all of its other elections later that afternoon, but left Stone and Ehlerts race off the countywide canvass. The ruling came after the Nov. 19 hearing hit a turning point in Stones favor, KPCW reported, when deputy county attorney Shelby Thurgood (who originally argued Granger didnt know that Stones financial disclosure report was overdue) spoke up late in the hearing to correct herself. I misspoke earlier, Thurgood said, according to KPCW. I had stated that it was my understanding that she [Granger] didnt know it was late, but the correction is she did know that it was late, but not to address it with the disqualification. The judge said she had initially questioned Stones claim that by waiting until after Election Day and after most votes had been counted that the county had waived its right to disqualify Stone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, Thurgoods correction shifted her thinking, KPCW reported. Mabey said if Granger knew about the missed deadline but failed to act, Stone has a reasonable chance of success in his case. Stones race will remain undecided until at least mid-December. A three-hour evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for 1 p.m. on Dec. 18 before 4th District Court Judge Shawn Howell, who is now taking the case. Mabey heard the Nov. 19 emergency hearing because of a tight deadline (counties across the state were meeting that day to certify their results), but she voluntarily recused herself from future proceedings because she knows one of Stones relatives, according to KPCW. Ultimately, everyone involved should have the highest level of confidence that the final outcome in this case is based solely on the evidence and any applicable statutory and case law, and not upon any connection that the Court has with one party or another, however distant that may be, Mabey wrote in an order of recusal, encouraging the case to be reassigned to a judge who lives outside of Wasatch County. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Weiler told Utah News Dispatch on Tuesday that he believes Stone has a good chance of winning his case based on the judges comments during that Nov. 19 hearing. He pointed to a legal doctrine called laches, which asserts that if a claimant waits too long to assert a right then he or she loses that right. In election cases, the delays are magnified, Weiler said. For instance, the statute of limitations on a lot of things in Utah is four years. But you cant wait four years in an election controversy. In a written response, Wasatch County attorneys denied Stones allegations. They argued that the district court didnt have jurisdiction over this matter and that Stones case had failed to cite any state law that allows him a cause of action. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Utah law does contain a mechanism for contesting election results, Wasatch County attorneys wrote, arguing that Stone and his attorney should have filed a petition as outlined under a section of Utah code that allows Utahns to contest election results after the election has been canvassed. Theyre not wrong about that, Weiler said, but what theyre overlooking is that their clerk did something that has never been done in Utah before, and other county clerks are appalled and dismayed. Theyre like, I cant believe they did that. But if you read the statute, we cant contest the election until after its canvassed. This election hasnt been canvassed. Weiler said this is an unprecedented situation in Utah, calling Grangers actions an abuse of authority. You dont let the voters vote on somebody and then see the outcome, and then say, OK, well now Im going to disqualify them, Weiler said. Imagine if that happened to (President-elect Donald) Trump in a swing state. Wed have riots in the streets. You dont do that. You dont undermine the will of the people that way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wasatch County voters wont know who will fill that school board seat until after the Dec. 18 evidentiary hearing. That leaves roughly two weeks before state and local candidates will begin being sworn in for 2025. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This article was originally published in VT Digger. A new initiative from the University of Vermont hopes to address the shortage of mental health professionals available to support the states youth. Known as the Catamount Counseling Collaborative for Rural Schools, the program plans to train and place 52 school counselors, social workers and mental health clinicians in rural schools throughout Vermont for the next five years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Recent surveys from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found rising levels of depression and anxiety among Vermont middle and high school students. Education is at a Crossroads: Help Us Illuminate the Path Forward. Donate to The 74 Despite this, Vermont lacks an adequate number of mental health professionals. In 2023, the states Workforce Development Board estimated a need for 230 more providers to meet growing demand. The new Catamount Counseling Collaborative for Rural Schools aims to address the gap. Through the program funded by a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education University of Vermont graduate students are expected to contribute at least 25,000 clinical hours annually to support rural communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vermont mental health needs are pervasive and complex and theyre currently underserved and this is a way to reach them, said Anna Elliott, associate professor of counseling. Elliott, the principal investigator for the grant, has experience running a similar initiative in Montana, where she spent five years developing a program to support rural communities with mental health professionals. A key part of the program, Elliot said, is to encourage graduates to continue working in rural schools or mental health facilities after completing their training. She said she tailored the program to Vermonts unique needs. This included analyzing various statistics from community needs assessments on issues such as suicide rates, substance use disorder and the stigma associated with seeking mental health services, ensuring the program aligns closely with the landscape of Vermonts mental health needs. One of our primary goals in setting up the training program was attending to students reports that they often didnt feel prepared to go and work in a rural environment, she said. Having an intensive and intentional training program that sets them up to really understand what theyre walking into and how to be prepared and how to ask for support incentivized students to stay, so were hoping to replicate that here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The program offers a stipend to those who remain in their assigned schools for at least one year, helping to ease potential barriers like securing a full-time job or finding affordable housing. In Montana, Elliott said she noticed some graduate students couldnt stay in rural schools due to limited funding for permanent positions. Other challenges, including housing and job security, also made it difficult for them to remain in these high-need areas. Im taking the model that I did in Montana and integrating that in with the community schools model to not just say, heres a couple graduate students that will be here for a year but lets actually take a systemic look at whats happening in the school what are the needs, resources, barriers and strength, Elliott said. To address these challenges, the program focuses on recruiting graduate students who already come from rural areas. By offering low-residency options, the program allows these students to complete much of their coursework remotely. This means they can stay at home rather than moving to campus, making it easier for them to balance their studies with their existing commitments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This grant provides significant opportunity to bring students into the helping professions who might not otherwise have access to this kind of specialized training, said Danielle Jatlow, a co-principal investigator and social worker who coordinates UVMs bachelors of social work program, in a press release from the university. UVM faculty, including program co-leaders Robin Hausheer and Lance Smith, both associate professors of counseling, are starting outreach to rural schools. They hope to place graduate students in schools as early as this semester, according to the release. There are people and kids that are getting served this year that might not have been otherwise, Elliott said in the release. So that feels like everything. This story was originally published on VT Digger. PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares released a statement condemning recent arrest warrants issued on Nov. 21 by an international court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court, or ICC, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, according to their statement. How the ICC plans to enforce or enact these warrants remains murky, as Israel has contested that the agency has any jurisdiction over them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The State of Israel issued two requests on Sept. 26, 2024. The first one challenging the ICCs jurisdiction, while the second submission requested that the ICC provide a new notification of the initiation of an investigation to its authorities. Both were denied. The ICC decided that it wasnt necessary for Israel to accept their jurisdiction because the ICC stated they could act on the basis of territorial jurisdiction of Palestine. A comment that was sure to spike concerns among Israeli leadership. The timing of the requests were also determined to be an issue. The court determined that states couldnt challenge their jurisdiction until after arrest warrants were issued. Now that official warrants have been put out, Israel could technically re-challenge the jurisdiction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the ICCs claim that they have the ability to act in defense of a non-globally recognized state and issue warrants in a state that rejects their jurisdiction has left at least one Virginia lawmaker concerned. Miyares put out a statement attacking the ICCs decision. This latest move by the ICC is an affront to justice and to Israels sovereignty. It is politically motivated, anti-Semitic, and a dangerous attempt to undermine a nation that is under direct attack by terrorist organizations, said Miyares. Although, Palestine has not been formally recognized as a state by the U.S., most of the member states in the United Nations have recognized Palestine as the region extending to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second request was denied under the premise that Israel was notified of the initial investigation back in 2021 and never requested a deferral. Since this was a continuation of the first investigation, the court ruled they didnt need to notify the state again. Americans stand firmly behind Israels right to exist and defend itself. Netanyahu and Gallant are doing what any responsible leader would do: Protecting their people from terrorists who want nothing more than to eradicate them. Neutrality in the face of evil is despicable; deliberately choosing terrorism over civilization is absolute barbarism, Miyares 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 WAVY.com. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Valley View Schools held an open house Tuesday to highlight their brand new K-12 school building. Staff moved into the new building last week, after staff and students said goodbye to the old buildings before Thanksgiving break. Brookville residents will vote on recall of mayor, vice mayor School and local leaders are eager to share the new facilities with the public. Valley Views high school principal says the new building will help enhance learning and provide more resources to staff and students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you had a chance to look at our old facilities, hats off to our staff, said Principal Patrick McKee. They did everything they could with what we had but it was definitely time for an upgrade. Students will resume their school year in the new school on Dec. 2 after Thanksgiving break. The new building was made possible through a levy. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. VAN BUREN COUNTY, Ark. The Bee Branch community is voicing their concerns after being without water over the weekend and into Monday. The lack of water is an issue that the Bee Branch Water Association and Clinton Water and Sewer are trying to solve, with financial assistance from the state. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces $204 million in funding for Arkansas water projects in 28 counties A year and a half ago Bee Branch Water Association, a private entity, began consolidating with Clinton Water and Sewer, a public entity, allowing Bee Branch to qualify for grants and funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They qualified and actually got $4 million, and they got 75% of that in grant forgiveness, Clinton Water and Sewer manager Will Hinchey said. The funds are part of a water infrastructure initiative by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Hinchey said while those funds have not been received yet, they are doing everything they can right now to begin and maintain repairs to the older water system in Bee Branch. Officials said the funds will help with projects such as a meter system, tank painting updates, repairs or replacement of old lines that are high risk for leaks and combustion, as well as opening back up a tank that was closed five years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So that is one reason Bee Branch is out as often as they are because they took a 300,000-gallon tank out of service, running off of a 100,000-gallon tank, Hinchey said. Hinchey also said the weather has not helped the issue. We went from a drought to a flood watch, and when we went to that the ground moved, all those pipes moved and everything, weve been fighting breaks, its not just Bee Branch, its all over Arkansas, Hinchey said. Arkansas awarded $60 million in America Rescue Plan funding for water infrastructure projects Residents are frustrated by the number of messages they get through the automated texting system of low pressure, no water, leaks, and new problems. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It really impacts your day-to-day living, I mean everyone needs water, its essential, Bessie Cockrell said. Its frustrating to me because you get the water on and then it goes back off, Ive had to cancel multiple appointments because I cant keep my detail shop open and detail cars with no water, Keith Parish said. The residents understand that it is an old water system and express that they are grateful for what the workers have done, but they say that there simply needs to be more to prevent this ongoing issue. Local Stephanie Cooper said they have been without water around four times within the past three months. They are now under a boil alert following the most recent outage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement USDA rural infrastructure program pumps nearly $15 million into water treatment in two west Arkansas cities To get text alerts on water issues in Bee Branch you can fill out the form on their website to stay up to date. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. VANDALIA, Ohio (WDTN) New Point Church in Vandalia plans to give away a semi-truck load of food ahead of Thanksgiving. As part of Thanksgiving celebrations at New Point Church, the congregation will host a food giveaway on Wednesday, Nov. 27 beginning at 9 a.m. Church leaders say there will be an entire semi-truck full of food to give to those in need ahead of the holiday. In addition to the food distribution, the church will open its doors to the community for a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. The event will begin at 11 a.m. with a church service, followed by a dinner featuring Thanksgiving favorites like turkey, mashed potatoes, ham, stuffing and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New Point Church is located at 626 W. National Road in Vandalia. Click here to 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 WDTN.com. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday praised Pope Francis for his work on LGBTQI issues after meeting the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church and other senior officials at the Vatican. "The Secretary commended the Pope's commitment to advancing the basic rights and dignity of LGBTQI persons," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. Francis famously said "who am I to judge?" about gay people at the start of his papacy in 2013, and last year allowed priests to bless members of same-sex couples, triggering a substantial conservative backlash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, he has faced intense criticism this year over the alleged use of a homophobic slur, for which his office issued a rare apology. In June, a student asked the pope to stop using offensive language towards the LGBTQI community. Blinken saw Francis before the pope held his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square, and later met the Vatican's second-in-command, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher. Blinken commented on the pope's stance on LGBTQI issues during the meeting with Parolin and Gallagher, Miller said. He also discussed with them the situation in the Middle East, including the ceasefire in Lebanon, Russia's war on Ukraine and its effects on civilians, and jointly condemned political repression in Nicaragua and Venezuela, the spokesperson added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Vatican said Blinken met the pope, without elaborating. Blinken visited the Vatican after taking part in a two-day meeting of G7 foreign ministers in central Italy, which ended on Tuesday with renewed messages of support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russian aggression. (Reporting by Alvise Armellini; editing by Jonathan Oatis) VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) The Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) board discussed moving Gov. Glenn Youngkins cell phone-free policy to the 2025-2026 school year. VBCPS board members discuss cellphone-free classroom policy Tuesday night, Superintendent Dr. Don Robertson presented the proposal to move the date of the policy. Currently, the policy is expected to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youngkin issued the Executive Order in early July, which mandates that the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) develops guidelines for phone-free environments. Recently, Youngkin has also discussed raising the age limit for children under the age of 18 to use social media platforms. Members of the VBCPS board have discussed how to best implement the policy at length, holding several policy sessions where residents could voice their concerns. VBCPS holds 1st of 3 no-phone policy sessions at Kempsville High School The districts current proposal is to have no cellphone usage from bell-to-bell, including lunch and in-between classes. Some parents are concerned about this proposal, saying they want to be able to reach their children in emergencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Educators, parents weigh in on Virginias proposed cell-phone free classrooms VBCPS board members are expected to vote on the policy during their next meeting on Dec. 13. Continue to check WAVY.com for updates. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Editor's note: For the holiday season, the Kyiv Independent has created a unique collection dedicated to Vertep. Shop now on our e-store. On New Years Eve in 1972, a group of Ukrainians set out to carol a seemingly innocent holiday tradition. But for the KGB, the Soviet Unions security services, this was no ordinary celebration. As the carolers moved from house to house, their movements were tracked. The artists and human rights activists that went caroling that night were part of a group known collectively as the Shistdesiatnyky, or Sixtiers in English, for the decade they produced their most celebrated work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group championed Ukrainian culture and called for social justice in an era defined by Soviet repression. Many of them, including the poet Vasyl Stus, were arrested. A Christmas Vertep in Lviv, Ukraine, in 1972. (Photo from the criminal file of Stefania Shabatura/ Electronic Archive of the Ukrainian Liberation Movement) The KGB wasnt following the group that night for just any caroling it was Vertep, a centuries-old Christmas tradition that has historically been as political as it is aesthetic, embodying centuries of Ukrainian folk culture. The tradition dates back to the 16th-17th centuries and is still practiced across Ukraine today around the Christmas and New Years holidays. Originally staged as a traveling puppet theater, it is now performed by carolers who dress up in elaborate costumes and sing songs blending religious and folk themes. The colorful casts can include up to 40 characters, ranging from religious figures, shepherds, and peasants to animals. What are the origins of Vertep? The precise origins of Vertep remain somewhat of a mystery, even for scholars of Ukrainian folk traditions. Some suggest it arrived in Ukraine from western Europe, though people have differing views on exactly where it began. In western Europe, puppet theaters with religious themes like miracle plays depicting saints lives had captivated audiences since the Middle Ages. Vertep of the Mezhyhiria Puppet Theatre, 1923. (Wikimedia / Mystetskyi Arsenal) Before the second half of the 18th century, when the earliest known text for a Vertep performance was written, this tradition existed as an oral art form. Students of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Ukraine's oldest university founded in 1615 most likely played a pivotal role in its rise to prominence during the 18th century. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By adapting and enriching Vertep with elements of Ukrainian cultural life, the students transformed it into a dynamic expression of local identity and cultural tradition. All of this unfolded within the Ukrainian Baroque, a vibrant era in Ukraines history spanning the late 16th to 18th centuries. Shaped by the influence of the Cossacks a semi-nomadic warrior society and early champions of Ukrainian independence this period wove together ideas of resilience and a flourishing of artistic and intellectual life, leaving a lasting imprint on the nations cultural and political identity. How is Vertep performed? The Vertep theater was traditionally envisioned as a two-tiered wooden structure designed to separate the sacred from the secular. The upper level was for the staging of religious performances, while the lower level was reserved for secular works, ranging from somber tragedies to lively comedic satires. These performances were enhanced by carols or instrumental music, adding a rich auditory dimension to the storytelling. Over the centuries, Vertep evolved but remains a cherished embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Modern celebrations can feature caroling groups adorned in traditional Ukrainian folk costumes or dressed as characters from folklore. These groups often incorporate brief theatrical skits into their caroling, paying homage to Verteps historical roots. A striking centerpiece of the spectacle is the elaborately crafted star (zvizda), symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Magi to the nativity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vertep performances boast a diverse cast of characters. Notably, the first documented performance, recorded in Poltava Oblast in the late 18th century, included 35 characters. In his 1929 scholarly study Ukrainian Vertep, Yevhen Markovskyi delves into a number of historical versions of the tradition, including the Baturyn Vertep, one of the earliest known renditions. Baturyn, located in modern-day Chernihiv Oblast, was a thriving cultural hub and the capital of the Cossack Hetmanate during the tenure of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Vertep participants during Christmas events in Shevchenkivskyi Grove in Lviv, Ukraine, on Jan. 7, 2023. (Stanislav Ivanov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) The Baturyn Vertep brought together a rich array of characters, including Christ in the manger, the Virgin Mary and Joseph, shepherds, and angels, as well as King Herod, the archangel Michael, and also Death. The narrative's religious focus centered on the nativity scene, while its secular elements introduced a cast that included a Cossack hero, a young couple, a Romani fortune teller, an elderly Jewish man and woman, soldiers, and a beggar. The Cossack hero in Vertep serves as a powerful symbol of Ukrainian cultural resilience. Pious and courageous yet undeniably charismatic, his performance often brims with humor, adding a dynamic layer to the narrative. At his essence, however, the Cossack embodies the triumph of good over evil, standing as a timeless representation of strength, righteousness, and Ukrainians enduring spirit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The use of satire in Vertep provided a powerful means to confront and publicly critique social injustices. Corrupt noblemen demanding the tribute of the peasantry are not only ridiculed but also often outwitted, effectively subverting the oppressive structures of the social hierarchy. The exaggerated selfishness of these privileged figures served as a comedic tool, but it also highlights their moral shortcomings. In contrast, characters such as the Cossack offer a model for how individuals should rise above the temptations of vice with regard to themselves and their communities. Stay warm with Ukrainian traditions this winter. Shop our seasonal merch collection. Star Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement shop now Exemplifying Ukrainian resilience Given its progressive nature, the Soviet regime actively sought to wipe out Vertep, along with other Ukrainian Christmas traditions, such as Malanka, from public life. Religious practices were viewed as a direct challenge to the state's Communist ideology, threatening the party's control over the cultural and ideological fabric of society. In an effort to promote a more secular state, the Soviets strategically elevated holidays like New Years Eve, deliberately sidelining Christmas to reshape Ukraines cultural identity and suppress its religious roots. It could be argued that once these traditions were labeled as disruptive, they embraced that very designation, as many Ukrainians, resolute in their commitment to preserving their cultural heritage, resisted such efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite Soviet attempts to suppress them, many Ukrainians succeeded in safeguarding their Christmas traditions. However, the authorities also exploited this resistance as a pretext to target individuals, intensifying their crackdown on cultural expression, such as when the caroling Sixtiers were arrested. A huge crowd during the Christmas Stars Parade in Lviv, Ukraine on Jan. 8, 2018. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Participants perform Christmas Carols during the Christmas Stars Festival outside the Taras Shevchenko monument on the Orthodox second day of Christmas, in Lviv, Ukraine, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Artur Widak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Those who have endeavored to document the Vertep tradition over the centuries have uncovered not only how Ukrainians have preserved this cultural legacy but also how they have enriched it with their own distinct interpretations. Each version of Vertep adds a new layer to the Ukrainian storytelling tradition, further enriching the tapestry of Ukrainian culture and deepening the collective identity of its people. As a writer, 19th-century author Ivan Franko was deeply captivated by the history of Vertep, appreciating not only its rich folk heritage but also its incisive satire, which elegantly critiqued social injustices with both wit and boldness. He understood that trying to capture the diversity of Vertep was vital to preserving the experiences of Ukrainians from all walks of life, especially those who had endured the brutal realities of Russian aggression throughout the centuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have no doubt that every newly unearthed text, rescued from oblivion, will contribute at least a small line to the history of our Vertep, Franko wrote in Toward a History of Ukrainian Vertep in 1906. For this reason, they will be recorded, even if only as fragments of our history preserved in folk memory. Note from the Kyiv Independent: At the Kyiv Independent, this tradition inspired us to create our winter collection this year. Weve taken this cherished custom the vibrant Vertep puppet theater and reimagined them in a series of unique designs. The collection, an intricate tapestry of symbols, brings to life the spirit of Vertep, blending faith and folklore in celebration of Ukrainian Christmas. Stay warm with Ukrainian traditions this winter. Shop our seasonal merch collection. Star shop now Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Vice President Kamala Harris addressed her supporters Tuesday (Nov. 26) in a PSA meant to offer encouragement following the election of Donald Trump to office. While some were able to focus on the message, others couldnt help but make assumptions regarding Harris state of mind. I just have to remind you: Dont you ever let anybody take your power from you, Vice President Harris stated in the clip posted to the Democratic Partys X (formerly known as Twitter) account. You have the same power that you did before November 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire, so dont ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you. Many noted Harris body language and speech within the clip, with some assuming she was under the influence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Why would the Democrats put this video out of a clearly drunk Kamala?? They want her career over, wrote one observer, with another adding, She sounds and looks extremely drunk. The idea of Harris addressing her political party while inebriated, however, is also a concept many cant wrap their head around. As a bartender and normal f**king human being in the world I can tell you that Kamala Harris does not sound like a drunk in that f**king video. She sounds relaxed. Like someone after ONE GLASS OF WINE, offered one X user. A second supporter wrote, She is NOT a drunk! Yall got Donald Trump in there so yall crew should leave her alone at this point. Yall want confusion, dysfunction, negativity, and toxicity in America so why should yall care about Vice-President Kamala Harris? WASHINGTON, DC JULY 22: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Joe Biden abandoned his campaign for a second term after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats to withdraw and just months ahead of the November election, throwing his support behind Harris. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) The message is Harris first public address since giving her concession speech following the election. The HBCU alum returned to her alma mater, Howard University, for the announcement. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear mw when I saythe light of Americas promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting, she told her supporters. Harris later added, In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or to a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, she added to applause. And loyalty to our conscious and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. More from VIBE.com Sign up for Vibe's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg Vietnam plans to buy more aircraft, liquefied natural gas and other products from the US as government officials brace for a new era of tariffs from the incoming Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vietnam advocates promoting trade in a harmonious and sustainable manner with the US, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet told a Hanoi business summit as he announced plans to purchase more big ticket US items including security equipment or AI chips. President-elect Donald Trumps threat of a universal tariff is one of the biggest uncertainties facing Vietnams economy. President Luong Cuong warned of the dangers of a world with higher tariffs earlier this month, telling APEC leaders in Peru that trade wars lead only to recession, conflict and poverty. While Vietnam waits to see what measures it might face, Trump delivered his first specific threats on Monday, saying he would impose additional 10% tariffs on goods from China and 25% tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada. Vietnam is among the worlds most trade-dependent nations, with exports accounting for about 85% of its economy. Vietnam had a surplus of around $100 billion with the US last year, making it a prime target for Trumps policies to rebalance trade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proposed tariffs are a very real possibility and government and business in Vietnam and around the world should prepare themselves, said John Goyer, the US Chamber of Commerces executive director for Southeast Asia. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who also spoke at the US-Vietnam Business Summit, said his country needs to remain close to the US, its biggest export market. Chinh reiterated Vietnams call for the US to classify Vietnam as a market economy. The Biden administration in August rejected Vietnams request to change its status, a setback for the countrys efforts to boost exports to the US. Vietnams good relationship with the US should be translated into specific actions, he said. We need to remove all remaining obstacles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The nation has emerged as an electronics manufacturing powerhouse after getting a boost from the U.S.-China trade war during Trumps first administration. Apple Inc. suppliers and other global brands have raced to set up factories in the Southeast Asian country in recent years, following Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. Key export sectors are already weighing alternatives. Vietnams garment industry said its looking to diversify its export markets, products, and clients as it waits to see what happens with tariffs. Ultimately, its hard to see how new US tariffs applied broadly and implemented without careful consideration of specific trade distortions, how that would not undermine the global trading system, Goyer said. --With assistance from Nguyen Kieu Giang. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Camillas view They move best at night, in a swarm. Twenty, maybe 25 small boats side-by-side. Up to 100 boats at a time: Waterworld without Kevin Costner. Simple speedboats, around six meters long, each with a powerful engine, traversing the fabled Strait of Hormuz with precious cargo. Back and forth from Iran to Musandam, Oman, loading and unloading. If youve ever wondered how ordinary Iranians get around US primary sanctions, this is it. This is smuggling, 2024 style. Some captains disgorge their goods to other boats out at sea under cover of darkness boats that then head into UAE waters. But most plow on to dock at the busy harbor in Khasab, Musandam. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where the Arabian peninsula spikes out up into a sharp point, separating the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman, only 21 nautical miles south of Iran, lies Musandam. On a clear day, you can see the Iranian coast across the shipping lanes where a quarter of the worlds oil consumption passes through. It looks nothing like the rest of Arabia. Craggy cliffs drop perpendicular to the sea, as if the fjords of Norway or Greenland were transplanted to a desert landscape. Barren rock meets blue sea, blue sky. Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock Almost all of the spike is in the United Arab Emirates, except for this very tip. In a quirk of history, this is not an Emirate. Musandam is an exclave of Oman, the Sultanate way down south beyond the UAE. Back in 1971, the Brits invaded Musandam and took it from the local tribe, handing it instead to the Omani sultan who theyd just backed in a coup. It might be mile upon mile of just barren rock, but it is incredibly strategically important barren rock. Khasab, the only real town in Musandam, is a sleepy fishing village living in quite the different century from the glitz and futurism of Dubai, just 130 miles down the road. By day, goats patrol the sun drenched streets of the harbor looking for trash to eat. Ancient dhows line up, hoping to take out the few day-trippers seeking the solitude of the coast. But by night, a hive of activity develops as wave after wave of speedboat dock. Whats going on, we ask. Fishing boats, is the answer, as we see a crane lift a car up and onto a small boat barely bigger than the car. Cargo safely loaded, it speeds off into the darkness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three years ago you barely saw these boats certainly not without the cover of darkness. Now, theyre legion. While they may move best at night, the boat captains both men and women visibly ply their trade in the mornings and evenings now too. From Iran comes fish and livestock: sheep and goats, ready to go to market in the UAE and Oman. Plus, cheap petrol and diesel fuel. Exotic animals bought for private zoos across the Gulf are easily trafficked this way too, its said. Rumors are rife that this is how opium and hashish finds their way out. Everything else heads north. Boxes of white goods piled high: TVs, fridges, satellite dishes. Toiletries, medicines, alcohol, and cosmetics. We spoke with a man with an American accent, origin undetermined. He was selling power tools. For each consignment he took delivery of two boatloads of diesel fuel, offloaded from the smugglers speedboat onto another while still at sea. Camilla Wright The smuggling trade dwindled during the late Obama-era as sanctions began to be lifted but it came back, big time, Khasab residents say. Bigger than ever thanks to the regional conflict in which Iran is enmeshed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By morning most of the Iranian entrepreneurs have headed home, hoping to evade the coastguards of the Islamic Republic that patrol their coastline night and day. Despite sometimes losing their goods or paying to get them through, nothing deflects this smuggling swarm. Theyll be back in Khasab again as night falls. Notable The controversies around Donald Trump's Cabinet picks have spilled outside of the Capitol building and into the daily lives of the nominees. Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that several of Trump's executive appointees were targeted with bomb threats and "swatting" incidents, in which people call in a fake emergency that would require a heavily armed police response. Last night and this morning, several of President Trumps Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them, Leavitt shared on Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and one-time Rep. Lee Zeldin were both targeted with bomb threats. Trump's picks for ambassador to the United Nations and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, respectively, both shared that they were unharmed on social media. "A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe," Zeldin wrote on X. "We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure." Dropping out of consideration for the attorney general position didn't save former congressman Matt Gaetz from grief in the wave of threats. He shared Zeldin's statement with the note "same" on X. Bomb threats have never been far from the headlines this election season. Springfield, Ohio was plagued by bomb threats after the Trump campaign repeatedly smeared the Haitian community there and used the town as a poster child for the perceived woes of immigration. Bomb threats disrupted voting on Election Day in Georgia as well, with authorities in the state pinning the blame on Russian assets. Trump himself faced notable threats on his life on the campaign trail, including a near-miss of an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and another apparent attempt in Florida. (iStock / Getty Images Plus) At least six incarcerated people have burned themselves at western Virginias Red Onion State Prison, the Virginia Department of Corrections confirmed Wednesday. Lawmakers in Virginias Legislative Black Caucus say a dozen prisoners have harmed themselves since mid-September and want an investigation into inmates claims of poor living conditions and treatment in the high-security prison. Earlier this year prisoners there held hunger strikes to protest conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People who have been incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison describe being regularly subjected to racial and physical abuse from correctional officers, medical neglect including the withholding of medicine, excessive stays in solitary confinement with one report of 600 consecutive days, inedible food having been covered in maggots and officers spit, and violent dog attacks, according to the release from the Black Caucus. These repeated and tragic self-immolation attempts, and accompanying hunger strikes, reflect the psychological and physical toll that gruesome prison conditions can have on incarcerated individuals. A Wednesday statement from DOC director Chadwick Dotson confirmed that six people had burned themselves by using improvised devices that were created by tampering with electrical outlets. He added that all six were treated for their injuries and returned to Red Onion where they have been referred to the mental health staff for treatment. Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, said that the governor was aware of the situation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dotson also had pointed words for groups making allegations against Red Onion. The recent round of stories about Red Onion are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to try to score cheap political points by advocacy groups who pursue prison abolition and policies that would make Virginians less safe, he said. Alison Chaffin, who has a loved one in Red Onion, said that she was frustrated by Dotsons response. (VBLC) asked him to investigate, and then this is his response, she said. He says Its not self-immolating. But they burned themselves I thought that was the definition. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Virginias Black Caucus stressed their commitment to legislation, pointing to a bill to regulate the number of days an incarcerated person can spend in solitary confinement. The bill passed the legislature this year before being vetoed by Youngkin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reality that these individuals felt there was no other avenue to have their claims taken seriously, investigated, and remedied is a grave indictment of the Commonwealth of Virginia and reminds us of the urgent need for comprehensive prison reform, the VBLC statement said. Rather than labeling it solitary confinement, Virginia has what it calls restorative housing. This is defined as special purpose bed assignments operated under maximum security regulations and procedures and utilized for the personal protection or custodial management of an incarcerated person. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) An additional town hall-style meeting has been added to the Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) redistricting effort that aims to help balance school population with a new elementary school, the district said in a news release. Community invited to Las Cruces Public Schools redistricting town hall meetings LCPS launched its redistricting plan in August, and three public input meetings were scheduled to gather feedback on the plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesday, Nov. 26, the district announced another virtual meeting opportunity to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Parents and staff are invited to join the virtual meeting by clicking here. LCPS said the proposed changes coincide with the opening of the new Columbia Elementary School and are designed to balance school populations and overcrowding in the districts East Mesa schools. Redistricting could also help bolster enrollment at Mayfield High School. Any change to attendance zones requires the approval of the LCPS Board of Education, the district said. Last week, LCPS launched a public survey to gather community input on the plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The survey, available in English and Spanish, is available using this link through Dec. 10. LCPS said an extra meeting was added to ensure stakeholders had another opportunity to learn about the options before completing the survey. The district hosted the first town hall meeting at Organ Mountain High School on Nov. 14 and a second at Mayfield High School on Nov. 20. LCPS Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz will host a third meeting in Spanish at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 in the boardroom at the Dr. Karen M. Trujillo Administration Complex, 505 S. Main Street in Las Cruces. LCPS said the redistricting plan has been spearheaded by Sherley OBrien, the districts chief of Student Services and Community Relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In August, OBrien organized a group of community volunteers to serve on the Redistricting Advisory Committee. The group represents students, parents, and teachers from all four LCPS feeder patterns and also includes school board members and district administrators, the district said. Updates to the community have been communicated by the district using the Redistricting Advisory Committees website on the districts homepage. LCPS said any permanent school zone changes could be voted on by the LCPS Board of Education at their regular meeting on Dec. 17. OBrien said feedback from the Redistricting Advisory Committee, input gathered at the town hall meetings and survey data will be presented to the board at that time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The process of redistricting is outlined in Policy JCAA, which gives the Board of Education authority to alter geographic attendance zones based on the opening of new schools or shifts in population, the district said. The following are important dates and timelines for the redistricting plan: Nov. 21 Dec. 10: Stakeholder survey will be open. Dec. 4: Virtual Town Hall meeting, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5: Town Hall meeting for Spanish-speaking families at the Dr. Karen M. Trujillo Administration Complex, 5:30 p.m. Dec. 17: LCPS Board of Education meeting, including a final presentation and a potential vote on adopting new school attendance zones. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. It is eight days since the UK government voted in overwhelming numbers to join the coalition to bomb Syria. British bombs, we are told, will serve to constrain the influence of Isis by limiting the space within which it can operate, and degrading its presence in Raqqa the groups self-proclaimed capital that many Western leaders see, rather simplistically, as the radiator of the groups noxious ideology. To say that airstrikes alone are the panacea to transnational terrorism is symptomatic of perfunctory and emotionally driven foreign policy. This is especially the case given that our friends and allies in the region include those that actively pursue policies counter to our own. Two of those states in particular are Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Both are presented as moderates, yet are anything but. If the UK government was serious about degrading Isiss capabilities, it would not have called for the Tornados to fire up the engines but would begin by revising relations with the shady statesman of these two countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since Turkey voted to join the anti-Isis campaign in Syria in late August, one couldnt be blamed for thinking Turkish PM Erdogan has confused Isis for the Kurds. On the same day it announced it would join the fight, Turkish forces began an airstrike campaign overwhelmingly against Kurdish targets. Opportunistically using the chaos in Syria to advance its anti-Kurdish agenda, Erdogans AKP party has launched attacks on Kurdish targets in Syria, Iraq and on its own soil. Kurdish groups have been extraordinarily effective on the battlefield against Isis, and have actively coordinated with Washington in myriad ways. Washington has a relationship with the Kurds of Iraq which goes back to the early 1990s, when both were in cahoots to oust Saddam Hussein. In our search for moderate friends on the Syrian battlefield, the secular Kurds are certainly to the left of Jabhat An-Nusra and most other groups in Syria. However, the pressure they are under from unrelenting Turkish assaults is a hindrance to their effectiveness against Isis. There is also evidence to support the claim that Turkey has tacitly supported Isis. Many scoff at the accusation that a NATO ally would support fascistic head-chopping Jihadis. Yet, Erdogan has countless times expressed his preference for Sunni domination in Syria, and has done little to tighten restrictions despite a torrent of criticism over claims that Isis is using his borders to transport fighters. One Isis commander brazenly told the Washington Post that most of the fighters who joined us in the beginning of the war came via Turkey, and so did our equipment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement News outlets such as the Daily Mail and Sky News have reported that many foreign (including British) militants joined Isis in Syria and Iraq after traveling unfettered through Turkey and its porous borders - or the gateway to Jihad, as Isis calls it. There is also no better example of the Wests self-defeatism in the war on terror than its apparent loyalty to those who are feudal absolutists in Saudi Arabia. In a 2007 television appearance, US Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levay said: If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country [for terrorism] it would be Saudi Arabia. A leaked Clinton memo said that Saudi donors constituted the most significant source of financing to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide. The Saudi regime is complicit in the rise of Sunni extremism too. Since the expansion of the Soviet Union, fundamentalist teachings of Islam - Wahhabism - have been exported to poorer Muslim countries worldwide. More $100bn is thought to have been spent, and for those who dont know, Wahabbism preaches an ideology of hate toward the unbeliever, and declares that Shia, Jews, and Christians are apostates, and non-believers heretics. It all sounds suspiciously familiar. Saudi Arabia even turned the other cheek to the presence of deadly Al-Qaida cells in its territory, until a blowback became imminent and government crackdowns occurred between 2004 and 2006. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the role of some Saudis in fuelling terrorism is recognised, Saudi Arabia is also the UKs largest arms export market: it bought 1.7bn worth of hardware in 2014. It is time for the West to ask itself some tough questions about the potential consequences of its failure to adequately address the divisive actions and intentions these so-called allies. Without that, we cant expect airstrikes to achieve very much. German carmaker Volkswagen is withdrawing from its controversial involvement in a factory in China's Xinjiang province, which has attracted criticism over alleged human-rights abuses of the Uighur minority. Volkswagen sold the plant in the city of Urumqi, which was jointly operated with the Chinese state-owned company SAIC Motor Corporation as a partner, the Volkswagen Group announced on Wednesday. The buyer is the Chinese state-owned company SMVIC, which is active in the used car business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement VW investigated the allegations of abuse, but the company cited economic reasons for the sale of the plant. The future of the plant had been negotiated for months. VW has not built cars in Xinjiang since 2019. At its peak between 2015 and 2019, the plant employed around 650 people, according to VW. In recent years, the plant has handled technical adjustments and tests on vehicles. The plant opened in 2013, and the initial contract between VW and SAIC was due to run until 2029. According to VW, SAIC held the controlling stake at the site, where vehicles were once assembled for sales in western China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the project failed in the weaker than expected market. At the same time, the German carmaker announced that it had extended a cooperation agreement with SAIC on Tuesday for a further 10 years. The deal will now run until 2040. However, Volkswagen said there is no connection between the withdrawal from the Xinjiang plant, which was sealed a few days ago, and the contract extension. Abuse allegations Serious allegations of human rights violations due to forced labour at the plant have been made in recent years. Many Uighurs - a Muslim minority in China - live in Xinjiang. According to human rights activists, hundreds of thousands of Uighurs have experienced years of oppression, have been forced to work or have been sent to re-education camps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China has cited a series of attacks by extremists to justify the crackdown on Muslim minorities, but denies allegations of rights abuses. Following the allegations in the summer of 2023, VW commissioned a company to investigate the working conditions at the plant and look into the allegations. In December, the auditors announced that they had found no evidence or proof of forced labour among the employees. Critics complained that the anonymity of the employees questioned in the investigation had not been adequately protected. New VW models for Chinese market VW plans to launch a new product offensive in China from 2026 and bring 18 new models from the company's Volkswagen and Audi brands onto the market in partnership with SAIC by the end of the decade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fifteen of the vehicle models will be exclusive to the Chinese market. By 2030, the VW Group aims to sell 4 million cars a year and achieve a market share of 15% in China. According to VW, last year's share was 14.5%. Parternship since the 80s Volkswagen founded a joint venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) back in the 1980s, which laid the foundation for VW's lucrative expansion in the Chinese market. This was later followed by the establishment of another joint venture with China First Automobile Works (FAW). In 2017, VW also founded a joint venture with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC) focused on the development and production of electric vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volkswagen has also entered into a strategic partnership with the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng. For many years, Chinese authorities required foreign car manufacturers in China to produce their vehicles exclusively through joint ventures with local partners. A number of foreign carmakers agreed, as the deals made it possible to gain access to the huge Chinese market. But the arrangement also led to technology transfers to Chinese firms. In recent years, Beijing began to relax the regulations until the restrictions were finally lifted completely in 2022. Volkswagen has nevertheless held on to its Chinese partners. The VW Group now operates a total of 38 factories in the People's Republic, not including the Urumqi plant. VW facing crisis There have been unconfirmed reports that VW may further cut its production capacity in China, perhaps exiting a plant in Nanjing in eastern China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The German carmaker is currently facing a crisis, and has been threatening to close factories in Germany and lay off tens of thousands of workers amid concerns about costs and intense competition. The situation for Volkswagen in China, which the carmaker once relied on for outsized profits, has also clearly deteriorated as upstart Chinese rivals have gained market share with sleek new all-electric models. According to industry observers, Volkswagen was too slow to launch electric drivetrains in China and has been plagued by high costs with low capacity utilization. VW followed suit with electric cars built specifically for the Chinese market, but Chinese brands such as BYD and Li Auto have so far been able to beat the competition in a fierce price war. VW expects 2025 to again be a difficult year in the market, but has expressed the hope that the situation will begin improving in 2026. The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the new European Commission in a majority vote. The team of 26 commissioners is to start work on December 1 under the leadership of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was re-elected in July. European Union lawmakers in the French city of Strasbourg confirmed the new commission with 370 votes in favour, 282 votes against and 36 abstentions. Conservative and centrist parliamentarians largely supported von der Leyen's team, while far-right and leftist groups voted mainly against. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new commission still needs to be approved by the member states, but the step is considered a formality. The powerful executive is the only EU institution that can propose new laws, which are then debated by the European Parliament and EU member states. However, the incoming commissioners are likely to face major economic and geopolitical challenges over the course of their five-year term. Von der Leyen's new team is to focus on economic and security issues as the bloc struggles to remain economically competitive with China and the United States, while rearming in the face of Russian revanchism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of the vote, von der Leyen pledged to make improving the bloc's competitiveness one of the first priorities of her second mandate in a speech to EU lawmakers. "Our freedom and sovereignty depend more than ever on our economic strength," she said. "Our security depends on our ability to compete, to innovate, and to produce. Our social model depends on a growing economy while facing demographic change," she said. There will be a "joint plan for decarbonization and competitiveness," von der Leyen said, aiming to balance the EU's climate commitments against business concerns around bureaucracy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The commission president also urged higher defence expenditure in the coming years. "Russia is spending up to 9% of its GDP [gross domestic product] on defence. Europe is spending on average 1.9%. There is something wrong in this equation," she said, ahead of the vote. "Our defence spending must increase," von der Leyen added. "War is raging on Europes borders ... We have no time to waste, and we must be as ambitious as the threats are serious." Wednesday's confirmation vote came almost six months after the European elections in June and followed weeks of political wrangling between member states and political factions in the European Parliament. A view of the plenary chamber while Members of the EU Parliament cast their votes for the election of the EU Commission President. The European Parliament is expected on Wednesday to confirm the members of the new European Commission - the EU's executive arm - for a five-year mandate likely to be marked by major economic and geopolitical challenges. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa CHEMUNG COUNTY, N.Y. (WETM) The Chemung County Legislature is preparing to vote on the County Executives 2025 Budget Proposal on December 2nd. The proposed budget includes a property tax increase of 2.5% and pay raises of 3% for elected and appointed officials. The pay bump would come after a 3% increase in 2024. The county held a public hearing on the budget proposal on Monday night. 18 News learned only two people showed up. 18 News was not able to hear the public remarks because the livestream in the main chamber was not working again. Property tax rate increases coming as part of proposed 2025 Chemung County Budget Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Legislators then moved into a different room for committee meetings where a camera is working. Two lawmakers spoke up against the 3% pay raise: District 1 Legislator Lawana Morse, who represents the towns of Catlin and Veteran, and District 12 Legislator William McCarthy, who represents the city of Elmira and Southport. I know its very well-known my feelings about us being able to designate our own salaries, Morse said during a meeting of the personnel committee. I will not hold up this resolution up in committee because I do feel it is something that the whole legislature should have a say in, Morse added. But I will just say, given the fact that Im projecting that next year will ask for the 3% and the year after, if we had stayed at the 2023 salary level, when we look at over the projection of this full term, where we will be at the end of 2026, it is costing the taxpayers approximately $60,000 more. So, while every year is just a little bit in everybodys paycheck, its adding up. That $60,000 would potentially be earmarked for another project. If approved, salaries for county legislators, which are part-time positions, would go up to $18,663. The minority and majority leaders would make $21,609. The Chairman of the Legislature would make $44,789. The Chemung County Executive would make $168,805. The County Sheriff would make $139,365. The County Commissioner of Human Services would make $128,750. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pay increases would come as the county asks property owners to pay 2.5% property tax increase in 2025. These budgets arent easy, and next years isnt going to be any easier unless we see huge sales tax, County Executive Chris Moss said during a budget presentation on Nov. 12th. Executive Moss says sales tax collections have slowed considerably. Moss says the county needs to cover the ever-increasing cost of unfunded mandates, to pay inflated operating costs, and to pay increasing annual wages and benefits to our valued workforce. The 2025 Budget proposal calls for using money from the countys general fund to close an $8 million budget gap. One of the things we have to look at as we move forward, we dont want to continue to have to use 8 million, Moss said. So, weve got to find a way to generate revenue or cut expenses. So, its tough spending like this year after year, its going to catch up to us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moss says the county expects to finish 2024 with a deficit, consuming a significant portion of the $8.7 million appropriated in 2024 to balance the budget. Mr. Moss also addressed the proposed salary increases. We always get feedback on this. The budget contains a 3% increase for elected officials, Moss said. But if you look at the first slide, you can see, since Ive been County Executive over the last 7 years, the budgets Ive had control over, these are the raises that have gone in, thats the averages, whether some years were zeros, some years were fours, there was a negative, as you can see here, a negative for the Treasurer because she didnt just roll into the former Treasurers salary. If you look at the legislature at 2.43 thats not above what youre seeing around the rest of the state. Legislator Morse said she would be voting no on the salary increases at a meeting of the full legislature on Dec. 2nd. Legislator McCarthy agreed with her. I dont know what to say. She took everything I had right out of my mouth. Yeah, she did. The exact same quotes. Pretty much, McCarthy said at the committee meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chemung County Legislators split over approving own pay raises 18 News learned some legislators are planning to call for a separate vote to eliminate the salary increases from the budget proposal. A similar effort to remove 3% pay raises in 2024 failed by just one vote. The Budget Committee will meet to vote on the budget and recommend any changes on December 2nd at 7 p.m. The full legislature will vote on the budget proposal after that meeting. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, in 2020 became the first woman sworn in as state House speaker in Washington. (House Democrats) House Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary will lead their respective caucuses in the Washington state House of Representatives in the 2025 legislative session. Democrats reelected Jinkins, a Tacoma representative, who will mark her sixth session as speaker once she is formally confirmed by the House on Jan. 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shell lead a caucus that gained a member in the November election, giving it a 59-seat majority in the 98-person House. The pickup came in the 26th Legislative District where Democrat Adison Richards beat Republican Jesse Young. Richards will succeed Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R- Gig Harbor, who did not seek reelection. Jinkins, in an email, said that as speaker she will work to ensure voices in every corner of Washington are heard in the legislative process. She also made note of the electoral outcome. Democrats have a larger majority in the House, and direction from the people of this state on issues like child care, education, and the environment, she said. The people have put their trust in us to continue to fight for a stronger, brighter future for Washington families. I dont intend to let them down. Republicans, meanwhile, voted to keep Stokesbary of Auburn as House minority leader. This will be his second session at the helm after he was elected to the post in April 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Republicans will continue to fight for solutions to address our states catalog of crises, he said in a statement. From affordability, to public safety, to homelessness our goal is to fix Washington. House Democrats are sticking with the team that led the caucus last session. Democrats reelected Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon of West Seattle as majority leader, Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self of Mukilteo as caucus leader and Rep. Monica Stonier of Vancouver as floor leader. Rep. Chris Stearns of Auburn was chosen to be speaker pro tem. The post, like the speaker, is subject to confirmation by the full House on the first day of session. Rep. Tina Orwall of Des Moines served in the position last session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Across the partisan aisle, Stokesbary will be working with a new leadership team. Rep. Chris Corry of Yakima was chosen deputy leader, taking the reins from Rep. Mike Steele of Chelan. Rep. Peter Abbarno of Centralia will be caucus chair succeeding Rep. Paul Harris of Vancouver, who was elected to the state Senate this month. Rep. April Connors of Kennewick will be the new floor leader in place of Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber of Republic, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress. I look forward to what our caucus can accomplish in this upcoming legislative session for the people of Washington, Corry said in a statement. In the weeks ahead, we will be rolling out our policy proposals to address the challenges facing all Washingtonians. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Democrat Adrian Cortes (Courtesy Adrian Cortes campaign) Democrat Adrian Cortes narrowly defeated Republican Brad Benton on Tuesday in a closely-watched election for an open seat in the Washington state Senate. But with only a 172-vote margin in results certified by Clark County, a machine recount will be required to confirm the outcome. Im extraordinarily confident that we have secured a victory in this race, Cortes said Tuesday. He said Benton phoned last week to concede and offer congratulations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tuesday marked the deadline for auditors in Washingtons 39 counties to certify their respective vote tallies. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs will certify the results of the statewide election Dec. 4, formalizing wins for a new state Supreme Court justice, four new statewide executives including governor, and several new members in each chamber of the state Legislature. This will also bring finality to passage of one statewide initiative and defeat of three others. The fierce duel between Benton and Cortes proved to be the closest race for a legislative or statewide office this year. It will be the only one for which Hobbs will order ballots to be retallied. Cortes edged Benton by a margin of 50.1% to 49.9%, finishing with 42,053 votes to Bentons 41,881. The winner will succeed retiring Republican Sen. Ann Rivers in the 18th Legislative District. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State law requires a machine recount when the difference between candidates is less than 2,000 votes and also less than half of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates. A hand recount is mandated when the difference between the top two candidates is less than 150 votes and also less than one-quarter of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates. A Republican-held district for more than two decades, Democratic Party leaders entered the year optimistic they could flip the Senate seat in the 18th with Cortes, a Battle Ground City Council member, as their candidate. Im just grateful to be elected by voters to go up to Olympia to protect their interests, Cortes said. Meanwhile, Democrats also expanded their majority in the House with Adison Richards defeat of Republican Jesse Young, a former state lawmaker, in the 26th Legislative District. Richards will succeed Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-Gig Harbor, who did not seek re-election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barring any changes, Democrats will outnumber Republicans 59-39 in the House and 30-19 in the Senate when the 2025 legislative session begins Jan. 13. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US A new era Sal Mungia will soon fill an open Washington state Supreme Court seat after results showed him beating Dave Larson by more than 20,000 votes in what turned out to be the closest statewide contest. Mungia will replace Justice Susan Owens who will retire at the end of the year. Washington State Supreme Court justices serve six-year terms and face mandatory retirement at age 75. The gap between the two candidates grew since Election Day, but in Tuesdays final vote tallies, Mungia remained less than 1% ahead of Larson. Given the wide vote gap, the race was still out of recount range. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mungia is a trial and appellate court lawyer who had the endorsement of eight of the nine current justices, Gov. Jay Inslee and other Democratic elected officials across the state. Larson had the backing of the state Republican Party. Larson made a last-ditch push to get voters to fix problems with challenged ballots in the hopes that he could catch up to Mungia. On Monday, Larson posted on X that the close results showed that people in Washington are pushing against partisanship in the judiciary. I will not give up my efforts to support the trial courts and the communities they serve, and I certainly will not give up trying to get partisan politics out of the judiciary, he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX "Wokeness" killers claimed Walmart as their latest victim. Walmart agreed to roll back its key diversity, equity and inclusion programs, focused on racial equity and reporting progress on LGBTQ+ rights. The nation's largest private employer caved to political pressure from Middle Tennessee conservative activist and former congressional candidate Robby Starbuck who has hunted and shamed big targets via social media campaigns including Tractor Supply and Harley-Davidson. By all measures, he has been highly successful at scaring executives into abandoning principles they once claimed essential to a productive, profitable and healthy environment for stakeholders, customers and employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fear is at the heart of these decisions. Boycotts could lead to lower profits which could lead to layoffs which could lead to closing their doors and losing out to competitors. We are not alone in the cosmos. Why isn't UFO hearing tearing up Google trends? It did not have to be this way though. These companies could have been more transparent about why they adopted these programs in the first place. They could have chosen to adapt them to reflect data-informed changes in consumer habits and social attitudes. Instead, these decisions create the impression that they will sway the way the political winds go rather than sticking to their moral compass. MASSIVE news: Walmart is ending their woke policies. I can now exclusively tell you whats changing and how it happened. Last week I told execs at @Walmart that I was doing a story on wokeness there. Instead we had productive conversations to find solutions. Below are the pic.twitter.com/BD02xJQ0X2 Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) November 25, 2024 Promises of equity after George Floyd\'s murder were short-lived As a leader of The Tennessean's DEI task force and a longtime recruiter for our parent company Gannett, I have seen the value of working to reflect the whole community in our coverage and in our newsrooms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These efforts build bridges, connect citizens and lead to greater understanding among community members. Employees feel seen and heard in the workplace through equity policies and employee resources groups. Community members feel represented in coverage. It is ongoing work that requires careful attention and nurturing to be sustainable. Unfortunately, the U.S. has a history of discriminatory laws that kept certain people from being able to participate fully and equally in society because of their race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, social class and other factors. In our 248-year-old history as a nation, it's only been 60 years since the Civil Rights Act passed, and yet our nation is still fight about who gets access to housing, bathrooms and educational opportunities. The murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day 2020 sparked a national awakening, black boxes on social media to signify solidarity and protests for racial equity and justice, but it was short-lived. Then, the pendulum swung hard and the pushback began. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pushback manifested itself in school library book bans, prohibitions on health care for trans youth, and the end of affirmative action in college admissions thanks to a Supreme Court ruling. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti used the court's decision as the rationale for telling corporate executives that race-based employment practices were unconstitutional. Never mind that the ruling narrowly focused on higher education not corporate America. Companies have reopened the door to discrimination This latest pendulum swing indicates that Americans will never be ready for a reckoning that addresses the mistakes of the past from slavery to segregation. However, short of that, companies like Walmart should be intentional about creating experiences that are respectful to all they serve. This is not a political consideration; this is about creating a pro-human healthy environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pity is rather than being a check on overzealous polices, the anti-woke movement has given license to discriminate. Indexes on LGBTQ+ inclusion and racial equity programs were meant to show a public commitment to being better employers. Will employees now be afraid to report harassment, insults or abuse? Will they fear losing opportunities because someone is uncomfortable with their particular background? America is taking a big step back. This doesn't have to happen. We should learn from what works and doesn't, and adapt correctly while moving forward. David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee, where this column first appeared. 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 find him on X at @davidplazas. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Rolling back Walmart DEI policies will hurt company | Opinion Press Release November 27, 2024 Dela Rosa lauds Senate's restoration of P50B for 2025 AFP Modernization budget The Senate's restoration of the P50 billion original proposed funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program is essentially fighting for the country's sovereignty. Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa made this remark as he lauded the Senate for standing firm that there is a need for the AFP to continue its modernization program. "I would like first to express my utmost gratitude to our Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Senator Grace Poe for not only restoring the National Expenditure Program level of the Revised AFP Modernization Program at 50 billion but also in effect fighting for the freedom and sovereignty of our country," Dela Rosa said. "I am certain that this additional funding for our armed forces will not only bring them new and technologically advanced military equipment but perhaps most importantly, boost their morale and confidence. You made them feel that they are not alone in defending our motherland," the Mindanaoan lawmaker added. The Senate has approved House Bill No. 10800 or the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on third and final reading on Tuesday. It was Dela Rosa who first disclosed the House of Representatives' move to reduce the P50 billion for AFP Modernization Program as proposed in the National Expenditures Program (NEP) to P40 billion in the lower house's version of the GAB. He earlier slammed the House's move to slash the budget for AFP modernization by P10 billion, noting that the budget reduction to the modernization program is contrary to the pronouncements of politicians who appeared to be supportive of the AFP whenever they were being harmed while protecting the country's territories, particularly the West Philippine Sea. Dela Rosa, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, said it will affect the morale of the soldiers. "Hindi natin bini-blame ang gobyerno natin, hirap tayo sa pera. Pero kung maramdaman ko being a soldier, being a sailor na iba pala iyong priority ng gobyerno natin, pina-priority pa iyong pamimigay ng AKAP... tapos binawasan pa ng Lower House ng P10 billion, iba rin ang magiging reaksiyon, as far as morale is concerned," he emphasized. Dela Rosa is among the senators who will participate in the bicameral conference committee meeting on the 2025 GAB. Lawmakers from both houses of Congress will meet in the bicameral conference to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House's version of the budget bill. 12:00 noon The U.S. Marshals Service West Oklahoma says, Ryan Jacob Archer is now in custody. No further information has been released. ORIGINAL STORY OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) The U.S. Marshals Service West Oklahoma is alerting the public of a Oklahoma man is wanted for homicide. Authorities announced on Wednesday, Ryan Jacob Archer is wanted out of Oklahoma County for 2nd Degree Homicide. He is considered armed and dangerous, according to the US Marshals. Ryan Jacob Archer wanted by the US Marshals, Image courtesy U.S. Marshals Service West Oklahoma If you have any knowledge of Ryan Archers whereabouts, you are encouraged to contact the U.S. Marshals Tip line at 1-800-336-0102. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former sports association president accused of embezzling $199K A reward is being offered. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. With its previously highly secretive Phoenix Ghost family of kamikaze drones now having emerged fully into the light, AEVEX Aerospace has been more openly discussing their capabilities. One especially interesting detail has now emerged: the different Phoenix Ghost types can be configured to launch attacks straight down while passing overhead, akin to an air-bursting artillery shell, rather than having to careen into their targets and detonate. The top-down attack capability was a particular highlight of a Phoenix Ghost promotional video AEVEX released earlier this month, seen below. The footage was captured during Northern Strike 24-2, a joint-service exercise the Michigan National Guard led this past summer that included a variety of air, ground, and maritime components, including JSX-2 microjets masquerading as cruise missiles and drones. AEVEX had offered its first official details about the Phoenix Ghost family, originally developed as part of an effort under the Air Forces Big Safari special projects office and then rushed to Ukraine in the wake of Russias invasion in 2022, last month. Information about the drones, or even what they looked like, had been extremely closely guarded before then. AEVEX brought three types of Phoenix Ghost drones the Dagger, Dominator, and Disruptor to Northern Strike 24-2. There is evidence of all three of these types being in service in Ukraine. At least one other member of the family, the Atlas, is known to exist, but it is unclear if Ukrainian forces have received them in addition to the other types. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Dagger is actually one of our earliest designs, a member of AEVEX says in the video. So, 55 pounds with a little bit of a smaller warhead and really going about 100-150 kilometers [range-wise]. a small unit can operate it and make a difference on the battle space in specific tactical scenarios. The remains of a Dagger kamikaze drone, one member of the Phoenix Ghost family, launched by Ukrainian forces. via X The Dominators are really our heavy truck system thats out there, that same individual continues. [It has] 100 pounds worth of payload [and] flies over five hours. [It] really can take a lot of whatever you want to carry a long way or loiter over a particular area for a long time. When it comes to Dominator, a picture, seen below and said to have been taken in Russia proper, emerged earlier this year showing what looks to be one of the drones. However, questions have been raised about whether this might be a locally-produced derivative of some kind given that the U.S. government had imposed, at least publicly, significant restrictions on Ukrainian forces using American-made munitions to attack targets inside Russian territory at that time. Certain exceptions and caveats were known to exist at the time. Drones can stray far from planned flight paths for various reasons, as well. American authorities have more recently loosened the restrictions in question. The wreckage of a one-way attack drone which looks to be the Dominator, or a derivative of it used to attack Russia earlier this year. via X The Disruptor is really a simple design with a lot of capability, he adds. So, its a simple design in terms of manufacturing. Its also a simple design in terms of operations. So, very easy to put together out in the field, but still with now youre talking about 50 pounds payload to be able to carry that again, five to six hours [in terms of endurance]. So, still packs quite a punch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Footage of a AEVEX Disruptor loitering munition, which is part of the Phoenix Ghost program, from a Russian Telegram channel.https://t.co/COXthnBY4f pic.twitter.com/ycVltOqeO4 Rob Lee (@RALee85) November 26, 2024 In terms of punch, the AEVEX video shows all three designs conducting top-down attacks using blast fragmentation warheads that shower their targets in deadly shrapnel. Pictures, seen in the social media post below, that recently emerged of the remains of Disruptor launched by Ukrainian forces show the warhead section in that drone featured a pre-scored sleeve designed to break into fragments after detonation. Top-down air-bursting attacks offer significant benefits over a point-detonating design, especially when it comes to engaging personnel or unarmored targets in trenches or otherwise behind cover. They can be very effective against various targets out in the open, including aircraft and air defense systems, and soft-skinned vehicles, and offer more of an area effect, in general. It was not obvious initially, but the earlier AEVEX promotional video seen below contains additional views of the Phoenix Ghost familys top-down attack profile. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether other warhead types, such as ones with greater anti-armor capability, are available for the Phoenix Ghost family or might be in development is unknown, but would also fit well with the top-down mode of attack. The tops of tanks and other armored vehicles are typically where they are most vulnerable. The growing specter of top-down attacks, including by drones and specially designed anti-tank guided missiles, is already having impacts on the design of new defensive capabilities for armored vehicles. Earlier this year, Israeli defense contractor Rafael unveiled a new version of its combat-proven Trophy active protection system (APS) with features to help defeat threats from above. We havent really gotten into anti-tank or anti-armor, just because its not been a requirement for us, Elizabeth Trammell, senior director of business development at AEVEX, did tell TWZ at AUSA back in October. A lot of our aircraft, we had the base capability and then our customers came in and said, This is what we want. It is still not clear exactly how Phoenix Ghost drones know where and when to detonate their warheads, if they can engage moving targets, or if they can execute attacks in other modes. AEVEX loitering munitions automatically detect, identify, locate, report (DILR) and deliver lethal and non-lethal effects against threats across multiple scenarios and domains with unprecedented accuracy and speed and are able to navigate, make decisions, and complete missions without direct intervention, according to the companys website. As already noted, Daggers and Disruptors have clearly been employed in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and Dominators look to be in use, too. With the details that have emerged so far, experts and observers now know what to look for and have also gone back and identified imagery of many previously unknown drones as members of the Phoenix Ghost family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 1. Mystery solved, sort of. Early in 2024 a number of strange drones crashed in russia: a typical wreckage is shown here. I spent a lot of time trying to determine who made these but recently the manufacturer publicity announced this drone . Regardless, here is what I found. pic.twitter.com/a1BkM6DbUM DanielR (@DanielR33187703) November 26, 2024 13. At this point the story would normally end except for one detail. The crashed drones propellers had the word Front handwritten on them. This exact same writing appeared on propellers of a different drone. This meant they were almost certainly made by the same company. pic.twitter.com/NU5Tvsyo7U DanielR (@DanielR33187703) November 26, 2024 16. This drone is the Dagger also by Aevex. These drones have been in Ukraine since at least January, 2023 and significant advances in their designs have been observed. The flight control board has seen several iterations so the information shown here is likely out-of-date. pic.twitter.com/NCP2abSlSJ DanielR (@DanielR33187703) November 26, 2024 AEVEX has also said it is actively pursuing new Phoenix Ghost sales opportunities, which could well come along with further developments for the entire family, beyond the conflict in Ukraine. Regardless, now that the kamikaze drones have come out of the shadows, more insights into their capabilities, including their modes of attack, seem likely to continue emerging. Contact the author: joe@twz.com Public health officials announced Tuesday that raw milk contaminated with the bird flu virus may have been sold at stores in Los Angeles County. On Sunday, officials said they had confirmed that a batch of milk bottled on Nov. 9 by the Fresno-based Raw Farm's Raw Milk showed evidence of bird flu contamination. Subsequent samples collected by the raw milk farm's owner, Mark McAfee, as well as the California Department of Food and Agriculture, have all been negative for the virus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement from Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, officials warned residents to avoid consuming Raw Farm milk with a lot code of 20241109 and best by date of 11/27/2024. Read more: Bird flu virus detected in California raw milk McAfee said products included "cream top" whole milk sold in half- and quarter-gallon sizes. Retailers that may have sold the product include: Back Door Bakery, 8349 Foothill Blvd., Sunland, 91040 Eataly, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, 90067 Erewhon Market, 475 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, 91101 Erewhon Market, 26767 Agoura Rd., Calabasas, 91302 Erewhon Market, 4121 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, 90029 Erewhon Market, 7660 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, 90036 Lazy Acres, 1841 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles, 90027 Vitamin City LB, 6247 E. Spring St., Long Beach, 90808 Vitamin City, 642 W. Arrow Hwy., San Dimas, 91773 The Whole Wheatery, 44264 10th St. W, Lancaster, 93534 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There has been no known or reported illness associated with the contamination. In an interview, McAfee said the milk would no longer be on shelves at stores. We take back anything that doesnt sell after seven days," he said. Read more: Despite warnings from bird flu experts, it's business as usual in California dairy country Twenty-nine people in California have been infected with H5N1 bird flu this year. All but one of those cases involved dairy workers. Last week, state health officials said that a child in Alameda County had been infected they have been unable to determine the source. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most recent cases of H5N1 have been mild with people exhibiting conjunctivitis or mild respiratory symptoms. However, historically, the disease has been associated with severe symptoms and death. In British Columbia, a teenager is in critical condition with the disease. It is still unclear where the teen picked it up, although public health officials say genetic sequences shows it's closely related to a virus found in wild geese in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Nov. 26A Lebanon man has been sentenced to life in prison following a murder conviction in the June 2023 killing of his former Franklin girlfriend, according to the Warren County Prosecutor's Office. Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Donald E. Oda II imposed that sentence for Elijah Malik Thomas, 28, after finding him guilty of killing Katelyn Puckett, 23, in her home, Prosecutor David P. Fornshell said in a news release Tuesday. On Nov. 5 after a two-day bench trial, Oda II found Thomas guilty of aggravated murder with firearm specifications, two counts of murder and related charges in the death of Puckett. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oda also found Thomas guilty of felonious assault and improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation. His first opportunity for parole will be in 40 to 42 years, Fornshell said. On June 17, 2023, Thomas approached Puckett as she returned to her apartment and fired nine shots at close range in front of eyewitnesses, according to the prosecutor's office. Six of the shots struck Puckett, officials said. Franklin police officers said they were dispatched about 12:40 a.m. June 18 to Boulder Drive at the Emerald Edge Apartments off East Second Street (Ohio 73), where they found Puckett shot multiple times. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A neighbor's doorbell camera recorded audio of the shooting, Fornshell said. Family members told police Thomas had made "multiple violent threats" in the days and weeks before the shooting, according to the prosecutor's office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement GPS data showed Thomas "had been lying in wait" for Puckett for more than 30 minutes when she came home, officials said. Witnesses said Thomas appeared and confronted a group that included Puckett at the front door, according to the police report. The witnesses said they thought Thomas was there to confront a man in the group "because he was with Katelyn," the police report states. The man with Puckett ran out the back door "while Katelyn was standing at the front door with Elijah," according to the police report. "During a heated argument Elijah pointed a gun at Katelyn and shot her multiple times." Police said Thomas fled on foot. He was arrested around 9:35 a.m. that day after a traffic stop in Franklin and was taken into custody without incident, according to police. ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) A Washington County man has been arrested and faces several drug-related charges after he reportedly offered drugs to a neighbor. LDS Church reaches agreement with Texas town over proposed temple Joe R. Ramirez, 43, faces the following charges: Two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, second-degree and third-degree felonies Three counts of possession of a controlled substance of possession of a controlled substance, class A misdemeanors One count of driving under the influence with a passenger under 16, a class A misdemeanor One count of unlawfully possessing identification documents of another person/people, a class A misdemeanor One count of use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor Two counts of possession of a controlled substance marijuana or spice, class B misdemeanors One count of unauthorized possession value less than $500, a class C misdemeanor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to police, they received a call around 5 p.m. for a person suspected of drug use and potential affiliation with a drug cartel in the 300 block of Tabernacle Street. Police say a third party gave a statement saying that they were concerned for their tenant. The woman that the third party spoke about provided a police statement that summarized she became friends with the suspect because of their childrens similar ages. On Nov. 22, Ramirez invited the woman to his residence and offered her drugs. She told police that Ramirez specifically inquired if she had tried cocaine. The woman recounted Ramirez retrieving a bag with a white powdery substance who then broke it and snorted the substance. Others expressed concerns about Ramirezs erratic behavior, including a teacher at the elementary school in which Ramirezs child attends. Officers went to the elementary school and followed him back to his apartment complex where they made contact with him. Police observed erratic behavior, with fidgety hands, consistent with stimulant influence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After conducting field sobriety tests, they arrested Ramirez and booked him into Washington County Jail on the aforementioned charges. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Data breaches in Washington have reached an all-time high, according to a report released Tuesday by the Washington Attorney Generals Office. The office started tracking data breaches nearly a decade ago, and so far in 2024, just over 11.4 million data breach notices have been sent to Washingtonians, surpassing the states population for the first time. The 11.4 million notices sent in 2024 also exceeds the previous all-time high in 2021 by five million notices, according to the report, which tracks data breach notifications from July 24, 2023, to July 23, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, the number of data breaches impacting at least 500 Washingtonians increased to 279 in 2024, which is the second-highest recorded since 2016 and more than the 178 reported in 2023. Oregon McDonalds employee arrested for alleged theft of $22,000 The more people know about data breaches, the more they can protect themselves, Washington Attorney General and Governor-Elect Bob Ferguson said. This report offers recommendations for responding to a growing problem and continues to be a resource for Washingtonians looking for ways to protect their personal information. According to the report, in the last year, cyberattacks especially ransomware attacks remained the most common type of breach, making up 78% of all reported breaches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The increase in Washingtonians affected by data breaches in the last year is from two mega breaches at Comcast and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the Attorney Generals Office said noting this was the first time more than one mega breach, which affects more than one million Washingtonians, was reported in a single year. To minimize risks from data breaches, the report offers several recommendations for lawmakers including, reducing the deadline to provide notice of a data breach to three days, requiring data breach notifications to be sent in languages other than English, and expanding the definition of personal information to include someones name in combination with a redacted Social Security number and an individuals tax identification numbers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) After a Greater Johnstown High School student was shot and killed Sunday night, the Cambria County District Attorney and Coroner held a news conference. On Nov. 24, Johnstown police were called to a home on the 100 block of Sheridan Street for a reported shooting. There, they found 17-year-old Syrina Raneri with a gunshot wound to her chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said they believe the gun used was stolen, however, they havent been able to locate the weapon at this time. According to the criminal complaint, another juvenile at the scene had taken the gun and shell casings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Within an hour, 17-year-old Kaden Woodring was taken into custody by Johnstown police. According to the criminal complaint, Woodring had pulled a hunting rifle out when Raneri came to his house and went to the basement to pick up another juvenile. Woodring allegedly commented to her he was just playin' before pulling the trigger. It was added that while there are theories of what happened, its said this very well could have been accidental. This whole situation was completely preventable, Neugebauer said. New details: You know Im just playin Johnstown teen said before shooting student Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees ruled the death a homicide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Woodring was charged as an adult and placed in Cambria County Prison, where his bail has been denied. Neugebauer said hes been sight and sound separated from adults in the jail since he was 17. If youre anywhere and someone introduces a gun in any way shape or form, get out of there. You dont belong there anymore. Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer Stay up to date with the latest news in the palm of your hand. Click here to download the WTAJ app for Apple and Android devices. You can watch the news conference in full 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 WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. CLEVEDON, England (KMID/KPEJ) An English cat was rescued by firefighters on Saturday after getting its head stuck in a drainpipe in the seaside town of Clevedon. Images released from the Clevedon Firefighters showed John, a female cat, stuck in a garage drainpipe, and a firefighter holding the cat in his arms as the multi-step rescue proceeded. Firefighters said the crew used ladders and small tools to cut John out. WATCH: Missing couple found hugging lambs for warmth Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The easiest and least distressing option was to cut a section of the pipe out with John in situ, the firefighters said. The cat was later transported to a local veterinarian, who said the animal was given oxygen therapy and sedation whilst the pipe was removed by the fire brigade. Johns owner said the cat was completely fine after the rescue and the visit to the vet, according to the BBC. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. BENTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) A man died in a crash Monday that prompted a water emergency for residents in Benton County. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrols preliminary report, the crash involved four vehicles just after 5 p.m. Monday on Highway 70 in Camden. Troopers stated 39-year-old Evan Christopher Jones, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was killed in the crash while driving a Chevy Colorado pickup truck. A 58-year-old man driving a Buick LaCrosse was also injured. However, the driver of a Honda Accord was not injured and neither was the child riding as a passenger, officials said. Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts THPs report stated charges are pending for the driver of the semi truck that was carrying anhydrous ammonia when it was involved in the crash. The 61-year-old man driving the tanker was not injured, according to troopers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The wreck damaged a water main that supplies Camden with water. The City of Camden Water Department issued an emergency water conservation order Monday night. Schools were closed and a boil water advisory was issued. A representative for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) said a hazmat mitigation crew was coming from Illinois to remove the tanker. Early Wednesday morning, the superintendent for the City of Camden Water Department said the hazmat tanker was recovered and removed from the accident scene, and the hazards have been mitigated by hazmat technicians. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com The Morris Chapel Fire Department shared an update just before 2 a.m. saying the ammonia had been successful transferred to new tanker without incident. The water department superintendent said there was no chemical spill from the tanker, and there was not any contamination to the water system during this event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CWD utility crews have completed repairs to the damaged water main on Hwy 70 East in under 5 hours, City of Camden Water Department Superintendent John Beasley stated on social media shortly after 7:45 a.m. Wednesday. We can now begin pumping water to the treatment plant and treated water into the distribution system and slowly begin to pressurize the water system. It will take several hours for water tank volumes to reach levels to provide adequate water pressure. Utility crews will monitor tank levels throughout the day. Some areas may need to be flushed to remove air in the water mains and water samples will be collected and analyzed for bacteriological contamination. We will ensure water quality prior to lifting the boil advisory. He added that there is still a boil water advisory in effect until further notice. Officials will once again distribute bottled water Wednesday at the old Walmart building at 190 Highway 641 North. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) Public employees in West Virginia will begin their Thanksgiving holiday early, Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday. Justice said in a press release that in addition to Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) and the Friday after Thanksgiving which is celebrated as Lincolns Day (Nov. 29) being full-day state holidays, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) will also be half-day holiday in 2024. Theyve more than earned it, Gov. Justice said in the press release, and I hope they use this time to enjoy the holiday with their families and make the most of their Thanksgiving celebrations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement West Virginia State Parks now has its own merch line: How to buy Throughout his governorship, Justice has regularly extended official state holidays. In 2024, he has already done so for July 5 and Juneteeth, which is celebrated on June 19 and is a federal holiday but not recognized officially in West Virginia. He also extended the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays last year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. (COLORADO SPRINGS) Nine years have passed since three people were killed and several others were injured at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. On Nov. 27, 2015, Iraq war veteran KeArre Stewart, mother Jennifer Markovksy, and UCCS police officer Garrett Swasey were killed in the shooting, which happened at the Planned Parenthood on Centennial Boulevard. Garrett Swasey, KeArre Stewart, and Jennifer Markovsky Stewart lost his life supporting a friend at the Planned Parenthood, and according to witnesses, he was shot outside of the clinic and ran inside to warn and protect others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Markovsky, who was originally from Hawaii, left behind a husband and two kids. Her family said she was at the clinic supporting a friend. Swasey, who had worked for UCCS for six years, was one of the first officers to respond to the shooting. He was a husband, father of two kids, and a co-pastor at Hope Chapel. Nine other people, including four law enforcement officers, were injured in the shooting. Robert Dear, the suspect in the Planned Parenthood shooting appeared in court on Nov. 14, however, a new status hearing was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. Dear has been awaiting trial since 2016 after being found incompetent to stand trial and having been committed to hospitalization until he is determined to understand the charges against him or assist in his defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. Harvey Weinstein is suing New York City and its Department of Correction, alleging negligence and failure to provide adequate care. Weinstein is being held at Rikers Island while he awaits a new trial on sexual assault charges. PHOTO: Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on July 19, 2024 in New York City. (Kena Betancur-Pool/Getty Images, FILE) Weinstein has been diagnosed with bone cancer, according to his associates. MORE: Timeline: Harvey Weinstein's path to his NYC sex crimes conviction and reversal His lawsuit seeks monetary damages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement, his attorney, Imran H. Ansari, claimed the prison was failing to provide Weinstein with adequate medical care. "When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IV's, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear -- hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions and susceptibility to illness," Ansari said. "I questioned whether I was in a prison facility that is supposed to be managed in accordance with our constitution, or a gulag where the prisoners are treated like animals." MORE: Harvey Weinstein back in the hospital, plans to sue over care Ansari accused the prison of "medical negligence" and claimed "it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The disregard to Mr. Weinstein's medical needs is an example as to why Rikers Island has been under the intense scrutiny by officials and the public, and is the subject of federal oversight," Ansari said. "But, we don't live in a country where a prisoner such as Mr. Weinstein must endure such harsh and draconian treatment, and disregard to his medical needs, without recourse under the law." Weinstein sues NYC Department of Corrections for 'medical negligence' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) Veterans and active military members arriving in West Michigan Wednesday received a warm welcome. Members of the Patriot Guard Riders and the Blue Star Mothers gathered at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport to greet military members with flags and words of thanks. The project, known as Operation Handshake, has been going on for years. New trees spruce up Wyoming veterans memorial wall Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were here to welcome all and any veterans who may be coming in, or active military, Phil Pakiela, senior ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, told News 8. Unfortunately, in the past, some of us never received a welcome home. We dont want that to happen. We want our veterans to know we recognize their service, their family service, the sacrifices they put out. Operation Handshake at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport on Nov. 27, 2024. Pakiela said reactions varied, but veterans and service members were usually surprised. Theres times when well see people with tears in their eyes, he said. Its something that we need to do so people understand that we do appreciate what theyve done for us. How a Caledonia alum created an interactive memorial wall honoring veterans Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of the public are invited to join Operation Handshake, which continues at Ford Airport until 5 p.m. Wednesday. Well do it again on Dec. 23 for Christmas, Pakiela 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 WOODTV.com. Nov. 26BIDDEFORD Almost immediately after firing several rounds at his family from outside his parents' home, 19-year-old Andrew Huber Young headed for the Wells police station. He was handcuffed in the lobby and taken to the booking area, where he waited three hours for a pair of Maine State Police detectives to interview him. They spoke for more than an hour on the evening of May 21, 2022, after Huber Young agreed to waive his constitutional rights to remain silent and consult a lawyer. His statements led to several charges against him, including assault, attempted murder, and the knowing or intentional murder of a minor child. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The interview also helped police understand why Huber Young shot at his family: According to a police affidavit, Huber Young told the detectives he was mad at his brother for stealing a T-shirt and threatening to destroy his hamster cage. But in that interview, police never told Huber Young that his 2-year-old niece Octavia had died, or that his father and brother were wounded. Huber Young, now 21, has pleaded not guilty to all five felony counts against him. He is slated for jury trial in June 2025. He and his attorney David Bobrow were in York County Superior Court on Tuesday, trying to convince Superior Court Justice Richard Mulhern to throw out the entire interview, which they argued was involuntary and therefore unconstitutional. Mulhern said his decision likely won't be ready for a couple of weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bobrow said police "affirmatively withheld" crucial information from his client. If Huber Young knew that his niece was dead, Bobrow said, his client might not have agreed to waive his rights and speak with police. Huber Young did not understand the seriousness of his situation, Bobrow argued. The young man asked police several times whether his family was safe, Bobrow said, and whether he was going to be able to go home. Bobrow said legal decisions in New Jersey and Montana, as well as federal law, advise police against interviewing defendants who aren't aware of the charges against them. "The connotation of responding to questions about what happened completely changes if somebody thinks they're going home on bail, versus if someone has been told, 'By the way, your niece is dead and you're likely being charged with murder,' " Bobrow said. However, prosecutors pointed out, Huber Young had not yet been charged when he spoke with police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leonard Bolton, one of the detectives who interviewed Huber Young, testified Tuesday that he didn't know what the charges would be (although he said he suspected that, in the very least, Huber Young could face charges for reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon). Bolton and retired detective Corey Pike, who also interviewed Huber Young, said Tuesday they were never dishonest with the defendant. Both officers said they were within their rights in May 2022 to avoid answering Huber Young's questions about the status of his family. Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin warned that a ruling in Huber Young's favor could create an "entirely new standard" that would jeopardize criminal cases that rely on confessions. "We don't want defendants tailoring their stories to the evidence," Robbin said in court. "We want them to give their version of the facts that's what Mr. Huber Young gave." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robbin also questioned whether Huber Young should have been surprised that his niece died. "He knew that he had taken a firearm and shot it at members of his family," she said. "If he didn't think that death was a likely result of that, I don't think detectives had to explain that to him." Yet they did, Robbin added at one point in the interview, Huber Young told the detectives that he aimed at his brother's chest before shooting, but that he never intended to kill him. Robbin said that the detectives had pointed out "when you aim a gun at someone ... they might die." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bobrow suggested Tuesday his client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when he agreed to speak with detectives. Bobrow said his client displayed a "range" of emotions, crying at some points in his interview and occasionally hitting his head against the table. Eric Drogin, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist that Bobrow called Tuesday, said he has evaluated Huber Young twice and reviewed a video of his police interview. Drogin did not diagnose Huber Young with PTSD but said it's possible that he was displaying symptoms when he spoke with the detectives. Drogin said he considered the shooting a possible traumatic event. But for most of the interview, the detectives said Huber Young was cogent and rational. Robbin said that Huber Young only spent "less than a minute crying" because he couldn't call his girlfriend. She said that most of the time, his head was only against the table so he could take a drag from his vape pen. Copy the Story Link CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) After his win on election night, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice is bound for Capitol Hill, but the timelines of when he leaves for Washington and when Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey takes over makes things a bit more complicated. Senator-elect Jim Justice will be sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025. This day officially marks the start of a new U.S. Congress and Justices term as a U.S. Senator. However, Patrick Morrisey is not set to be sworn in as Governor until Jan. 13, leaving the seat empty for 10 days. In a video posted to social media by West Virginia Delegate Kayla Young, she explains how since West Virginia doesnt have a Lieutenant Governor, the governorship will fall to Senate President Craig Blair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement West Virginians to watch for in the 2024 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade However, theres another snag before Morrisey takes over. In this past election, Blair lost the Senate primary, meaning that hes set to be replaced as Senate President when the new West Virginia Legislature gets sworn into office on Jan. 8. After that, the 32 Republicans who make up the majority will decide who gets to be Senate President and Governor until Jan. 13 when Morrisey is sworn into office. Gov. Justice is aware of this process and addressed it during an administrative briefing on Nov. 15. During this briefing, he implied that the process of having four governors is not as cut and dry as it seems on paper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were working on this transition on how were gonna do that, and everything. The cleanest way is for me to stay in office until the 13th and then pass the torch to Patrick, you know, as the proper way to do it. But with the dates, and everything, you know all that may not work out that way, but were still working on it. So thats not set in stone yet at all, Gov. Justice said. 12 News has reached out to Patrick Morriseys office for comment on this situation but did not receive one as of Wednesday afternoon. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. The West Virginia Department of Health Facilities is seeking a single vendor to manage all of its contact laborer services. (Leann Ray | West Virginia Watch) The Department of Health Facilities, reliant on contract nurses to staff state-run hospitals, is now seeking a single vendor to manage all of its contact laborer services. The changes follow a recent legislative audit that said the financial implications of relying on contract labor at a significantly higher rate of pay was not sustainable for the state. Contract positions pay more than the states own full-time nursing jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since 2015, the state has spent $284 million on contract positions in state-run facilities, including long-term and psychiatric care. The millions of dollars spent on contract nursing were paid out to 33 vendors over the last nine years; 28 of those were out-of-state vendors. Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said on Tuesday that he didnt believe the decision was connected to the audit but questioned the timing of the Department of Health Facilities soliciting a new vendor as Gov. Jim Justices administration winds down. Im not sure this is the right approach because ultimately, it wont save the state money, he said. The timing of this is odd. A month and a half before [Patrick] Morrisey takes office. Let Governor-elect Morrisey make this decision. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay On Nov. 18, the DHF began soliciting bids for a vendor that would contract with the staffing agencies and provide support and guidance as a contract staffing agent [broker] for seven facilities across the state. The bid window closes Dec. 5. The announcement comes as the state is strongly considering selling several of the facilities to private companies due to long-term cost. A spokesperson for DHF didnt respond to multiple questions for this story, including how much the contract could cost the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said he supported the change to one vendor. I think the data would bear out consolidating into a single vendor with a solid track record of doing this and doing it well is the exact right way to care for West Virginians, he said. Lawmakers and educators have attempted to bolster the states nursing programs, but shortages persist. The number of medical staff determines how many patients can be served; as of August 2023, only two of the hospitals William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital in Weston and Mitchell Bateman in Huntington were operating at licensed bed capacity, according to the audit. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha The remaining five facilities were operating 309 beds short of the total licensed bed capacity, the audit said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, said the new effort from DHF showed that the department would rather contract with a vendor to outsource most of the jobs permanently. We knew there wasnt one solution to this problem facing most of the country, but this doesnt seem like the best outcome for West Virginia workers or patients, she said. Contract nurses key in filling vacant positions Theres a national shortage of nurses, and the audit said most nurses were leaving West Virginia due to low wages. Del. Amy Summers, a registered nurse, said that some nurses prefer contract work as they can earn the wage they feel they deserve. The contract is usually limited to 12 weeks so if the work environment is poor they can leave. If they like it they can sign on to another contract, said Summers, R-Taylor. They may also want to not work during the summer when their children are out of school and this gives them schedule flexibility. Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She agreed with DHFs decision to streamline its process for hiring contract nurses in hopes of filling positions. Choosing a company to assist with this is much faster than the old way of doing things through the Office of Personnel, she said, which had contributed to the hundreds of days it previously took to fill positions. The recent audit, conducted by the Legislatures Post Audit Division, said that up until 2023, the hiring process for full-time nurses was on average 688 days. DHF said the process has improved. As the state considers selling its four long-term care facilities, Disability Rights West Virginia Legal Director Mike Folio said he questioned whether the change would right size the government or merely bloat DHFs growing bureaucracy. DRWV advocates for patients in state-run facilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If DHF wants to get out of the health care business why not enter a management contract and let a provider manage and operate the facilities? Folio questioned. State W-2 health care workers have the same duty to patients as contract health care workers. Hiring a contractor to establish a parallel personnel management system exclusively for contract workers will likely create confusion and turf wars between DHFs entrenched bureaucrats and the vendor, he continued. The seven facilities are authorized for 845.90 full-time employees (FTEs); as of fiscal year 2023, only 289 FTEs were filled with facility employees, while contracted labor accounted for roughly 543 FTEs. Over the last two years, contract nurses have been linked to crimes and patient mistreatment in state-run facilities. After West Virginia Watch reported that multiple contract employees at Sharpe were arrested and charged with crimes in 2023, state health leaders said theyd change the contract employee vetting process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this year, three contract nurses were fired from Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta for their involvement in a gruesome death of an elderly patient in a boiling whirlpool. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) Several western Massachusetts State Police Troopers were among eleven law enforcement officers recognized at the 41st Annual Trooper George L. Hanna Memorial Awards for Bravery. The ceremony was held on Tuesday at the State House in Boston. The award was created in honor of Trooper George Hanna, who was killed in the line of duty in 1983 while conducting a routine motor vehicle stop in Auburn. Trooper Hanna was fatally shot by a suspect, leaving his wife and three children without a husband and father. Tips to make sure you get to your Thanksgiving destinations safely Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This years awardees are members of law enforcement from the Acushnet, Berlin, Oxford, Lakeville, and Boston Police Departments, as well as the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Port Authority, whose actions demonstrated extraordinary valor in the face of extreme danger. Trooper Ryan Costello received the Medal of Valor for his attempt to save a 2-year old child after a car accident in Clarksburg in April 2023. Trooper William Munch also received the Medal of Valor when he responded to a domestic stabbing incident that occurred in September 2023 in Hancock. Troopers Thomas Cusack and Gregory Santos each received Medals of Honor for their actions in February 2023 when they returned fire against a suspect who had threatened people at the MGM Springfield casino. Massachusetts most prestigious law enforcement award honors the remarkable courage and dedication demonstrated by our law enforcement officers statewide, who selflessly put their lives on the line to protect our communities, said Governor Healey. Todays recipients reflect the enduring legacy of Trooper George Hanna, whose life and service continue to inspire us all. Their stories remind us of the immense bravery required in this profession and the sacrifices officers and their families make to keep our communities safe. Hanna Award recipients exemplify the exceptional dedication, training, and bravery that define the very best of law enforcement, said Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. As we honor these heroes, we also extend heartfelt gratitude to their families, whose love and support makes their service possible. We acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by the families of first responders and the emotional burden of awaiting their loved ones safe return after each shift. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every day, law enforcement officers across Massachusetts confront life-threatening situations with remarkable courage and selflessness, said Public Safety and Security Secretary Reidy. Todays honorees embody the heroic legacy of Trooper George Hanna, serving as a powerful reminder of the risks and dangers law enforcement officers face each day and with every call. The complete list of 2024 Hanna Award recipients and incident summaries can be found on the Executive Office of Public Safety and Securitys webpage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. Nov. 27The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce plans to study the potential for a convention center and hotel in the county. "As we look at regrowing Westmoreland County, this is just one of many items where we're looking to spur new economic growth," said chamber President and CEO Dan DeBone. "We're predominantly looking along the Route 30 corridor, and we believe that between our rural areas, the (Arnold Palmer Regional) airport and access to the Laurel Highlands, we think we have a lot that can attract organizations here," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement County planning and development Director Jason Rigone said the potential project lines up nicely with the county's comprehensive plan, generated in collaboration with local business, community and elected leaders. "While the county isn't directly involved with the study, part of the comprehensive plan we finalized in 2018 identifies this type of development as a priority for the county," Rigone said. "It's something the county definitely supports in terms of policy." Said DeBone: "We're expanding our vision to support our residents and business, while showcasing our region as a destination for organizations and events." And although it might be across the Allegheny County line, the nearby Monroeville Convention Center was recently purchased by its home municipality and will remain in operation instead of being converted into a Hobby Lobby store as was first announced earlier this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're not concerned about it," DeBone said. "When the convention center initially announced it was closing, we learned a lot about the initial investment in something like that, and the number of vendors who relied on the convention center. But I feel like Westmoreland has a lot to offer." Rigone agreed, noting the Monroeville Convention Center was going strong when Westmoreland officials were developing its comprehensive plan. "I think the chamber should be applauded for looking into the possibility of something like this, and taking the next step based on the results," he said. A news conference about the study is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday at the chamber's main office, 241 Tollgate Hill Road in Greensburg. Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com. Food bank partners throughout New Mexico are making sure community members have access to food over the winter holidays. New Mexicans, including more than 1 in 5 children, experience food insecurity at higher rates than many Americans, according to national statistics from Feeding America. As the winter holidays near and New Mexicans settle into the last couple of months of the year, food price increases have made holiday feasts out of reach for many. Food banks throughout the state offer free food on a regular basis, including around national holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Feeding America is a network of food banks, food pantries and other local meal programs operating throughout the U.S. According to their Map the Meal Gap research, the national rate for food insecurity was 13.5% in 2022, the most recent year. New Mexico reported a slightly higher rate of 15.2%. Sonya Warwick, director of communications and events for Roadrunner Food Bank, said about 22 pre-Thanksgiving meals were distributed by the food bank throughout the state ahead of the Nov. 28 holiday. El Caldito Soup Kitchen, a partner of Roadrunner Food Bank, is one local organization in Las Cruces that will be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day this year, offering a traditional feast to those in need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other Thanksgiving meal events include: Joy Junction at the Albuquerque Convention Center 401 2nd St. NW, Albuquerque Wednesday, Nov. 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Albuquerque Indian Center 105 Texas St. SE, Albuquerque Wednesday, Nov. 27 from noon to 2 p.m. HopeWorks 1201 3rd St. NW, Albuquerque Thursday, Nov. 28 from 10 a.m to noon La Mesa Presbyterian Church 7401 Copper Ave. NE, Albuquerque Thursday, Nov. 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. People looking for food assistance can find locations online at one of the five food banks operating in the state. Warwick recommended calling to verify details before visiting locations. ECHO Food Bank San Juan County https://echoinc.org/echo-food-bank/ The Community Pantry Cibola and McKinley counties https://thecommunitypantry.org/ The Food Depot Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Taos and Union counties https://thefooddepot.org/ The Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Quay and Roosevelt counties https://www.fbenm.org/ Roadrunner Food Bank Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance and Valencia counties https://www.rrfb.org/ SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX By 2028, Metro will install two Bus Rapid Transit lines, with more and faster buses traveling in dedicated bus lanes. But first, it needs to determine where to locate stations on the Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue routes. To that end, the transit agency will host four public meetings early next month, asking riders to react to proposed locations. Community input will be pivotal in providing the best service for riders, Sharyn LaCombe, senior director of planning and design for the Bus Rapid Transit project, said in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Community members will also help Metro identify where infrastructure needs improvement along the routes, LaCombe said. Metro will ask riders to react to proposed locations of stations on its two Bus Rapid Transit lines in upcoming meetings. Service to arrive in 2027, 2028 As part of its overall Reinventing Metro plan made possible by a 2020 tax levy Metro selected Reading and Hamilton for Bus Rapid Transit projects. Theyll be designed over the 2026-26 winter, with construction beginning in 2026. Reading Road, route 43, will debut in the fall of 2027. Metro will spend $167 million to turn the 9.2-mile corridor into rapid transit line, with 70% coming from the federal government. Hamilton Avenue, the 11.8-mile route 17, will follow in the summer of 2028. Metro will spend $172 million on that project, with 80% from federal funds. Metro earlier identified routes on Glenway Avenue and Montgomery Road as potential rapid-transit lines, but has not yet made any decisions about expanding the project, spokesperson Brandy Jones said. Advertisement Advertisement More: Metro's money: How a tax hike saved Cincinnati's bus business Under Bus Rapid Transit, the routes will: Offer more frequent service, with buses arriving every 10 to 15 minutes. Run in bus-only lanes, allowing buses to avoid congestion and preventing cars from being slowed by buses. Benefit from smart traffic signals, such as extended green lights that reduce stopping time; prepaid fares, reducing boarding times; and multiple doors, reducing entrance and exit times. Provide real-time arrival information online, on monitors, in stations and via an app. Additionally, the Bus Rapid Transit buses will be able to move more quickly by locating stations a half mile to mile apart, instead of the standard quarter- to one-third-mile distance. The Hamilton route will get 10 stations and the Reading Road line will get six. Ten more will sit along the combined corridor, covering about 3 miles between Uptown and Downtown. Advertisement Advertisement Each new station will feature a suspended roof concept design, endorsed by a vote of the public in October. The design allows for entering and exiting buses without steps, stairs or ramps. Sixty-foot buses, designed for greater capacity, will run on the routes. Stations on Bus Rapid Transit lines will feature a suspended roof design, based on public input. Cincinnati will join 40+ other cities More than 40 U.S. cities have added something similar to Bus Rapid Transit, including Columbus, Cleveland and Indianapolis, Metro said. The agency said the systems support economic growth by encouraging development around stations and stops. They also help the environment as less congestion reduces fuel emissions and noise. Metro has not yet determined fares for the new lines or what to call them. Jones said the agency will announce a name for the two rapid lines early next year. Meetings set for Bond Hill, Downtown, College Hill The open house meetings for the public run Dec. 2-4: Advertisement Advertisement Bond Hill Community Center, 1501 Elizabeth Place, will host a meeting Dec. 2, 4:30-7:30 p.m. The Downtown location of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, 800 Vine St., will host sessions Dec. 3 on its first floor, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. The College Hill Recreation Center, 5545 Belmont Ave., session is Dec. 4, 4:30-7:30 p.m. Participants are asked to register in advance. Visit the Metro Bus Rapid Transit page to learn more. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where is Metro adding faster service? An 86-year-old white man accused of shooting a Black teenager who mistakenly rang the wrong home's doorbell in Kansas City is set to face a jury trial. A Missouri judge ruled Tuesday that Andrew Lester is fit for trial for the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, then 16. In an affidavit in September, Lester's attorney Steve Salmon requested a mental health examination following what he described as a "marked reduction in Defendant's mental acuity." Salmon said Lester couldn't assist in his own defense in the criminal case. Lester faces two felony counts of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The judge's ruling Tuesday allowed the case to continue after a mental examination had been filed in court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement to the local television station FOX4, Yarls family said they were grateful that the trial against Andrew Lester is moving forward. This case represents more than just accountability its a step toward justice for the trauma Ralph and our family have endured simply because he rang the doorbell at the wrong home, the statement said. We remain committed to seeking fairness and ensuring that no other family has to face such pain due to the color of their skin. Lesters attorney didnt respond to phone or email requests from USA TODAY. Andrew Lester is charged in the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl. Yarl mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. Lester is accused of shooting Yarl in the head and arm. What happened to Ralph Yarl? On April 13, 2023, Yarl, a high school junior, went to pick up his younger twin brothers from their friend's house. He mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yarl told police he pressed the doorbell and waited outside the front door. The person inside took a long time to respond but opened the door holding a firearm. Yarl said he didnt pull on the door, and it was his first time coming to the home. No words were exchanged between the two. Lester shot through the glass door, hitting Yarl in the forehead and right arm, according to police records. Yarl said he was immediately shot in the head, fell to the ground, and was shot again, in the arm, while on the ground. He soon got up and ran to nearby homes pleading for help. Officers found Yarl in the street near Lesters home just before 10 p.m. Yarl had serious injuries but was in stable condition. Police found Lester at his home, where the front storm glass door was shattered and blood on the front porch, driveway and street. Police found a revolver in his living room with two shell casings in the cylinder with live rounds remaining in the chamber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lester told police he had just laid down in bed when he heard the doorbell ring. He picked up his gun before responding to answer the door. He told police he saw a Black male, approximately 6 feet tall, pulling on the exterior door, which was locked. He said he thought someone was attempting to break into the home and shot twice within a few seconds. Lester said he called 911. He saw Yarls car in the driveway but saw no one else. He hadnt seen Yarl before. He told police he was scared to death because of Yarls size and his own age, then 84. The police statement said, Lester was visibly upset and repeatedly expressed concern for the victim. Police booked Lester for charges of aggravated assault. But after consulting with local prosecutors, police released Lester just a few hours later, the detectives statement said. Ralph Yarl's family described him as an accomplished musician who could play multiple instruments. No hate crime charges The shooting renewed debate over self-defense laws in the U.S., especially as Lester's attorney has appeared to indicate he would argue Lester acted in self-defense, citing Missouri's "stand your ground" law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement High-profile civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, retained by Yarls family, had criticized the police handling of the case. Lester was arrested again, after surrendering, on April 18, and released on a $200,000 bond. There was an outcry to charge the case as a hate crime, but prosecutors never filed such charges. Yarls family had also filed a lawsuit against Lester and his homeowner's association over the shooting, though court records show the family voluntarily dismissed the case in October. Yarl, now 18, suffered and sustained permanent injuries, the familys lawsuit had said. He also experienced disability and loss of normal activities and also had to spend large amounts of money for medical attention and suffered other losses and damages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Through a GoFundMe, his family raised over $3.4 million to help with his medical bills and therapy, including for a traumatic brain injury. The GoFundMe, created by a woman identified as his aunt, said his goal was to study chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. His family described him as an accomplished musician who could play multiple instruments. On Memorial Day in 2023, a month after being shot in the head and arm, Yarl walked at a brain injury awareness event in Kansas City. N'Dea Yancey-Bragg and Thao Nguyen contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White man to stand trial in shooting of Ralph Yarl who rang wrong door LOS ANGELES (AP) A white supremacist prison gang leader is accused in the attempted homicide of two officers at the California State Prison in Sacramento, authorities said Tuesday. Ronald D. Yandell, a leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, allegedly attacked two officers last Friday morning as they were transferring him back to his cell after an appointment at the prison's health building. Prison officials say he drew an improvised weapon against the officers. He dropped the weapon after an officer used pepper spray and was restrained and removed without further incident, officials said. No staff was injured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yandell is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. He arrived at the prison in 2004. The case will be referred to the county district attorney's office for possible felony prosecution, officials said. Yandells lawyer did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Aryan Brotherhood is a violent white supremacist gang formed within California state prisons in the late 1960s that has since spread in the federal prison system. Authorities have spent decades trying to bring down the organization. In 2019, following a multiyear investigation, Yandell was charged in the killing of several inmates that officials say included a member of a rival gang as well as Aryan Brotherhood associates who did not follow the rules. Federal officials said he was part of the gangs three-member leadership commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A jury in April found him guilty of several counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, as well as several counts related to the distribution of heroin and methamphetamine. Officials said Yandell and his cellmate oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation and used smuggled-in cellphones to directed murders and drug trafficking in Sacramento and other California cities, while also controlling the membership of the Aryan Brotherhood. One of the rival gang members killed at the direction of Yandell was Hugo Pinell, a purported leader of the Black Guerilla Family gang and infamous member of the San Quentin 6, with which he helped to slit the throats of San Quentin prison guards during a failed 1971 escape attempt. Pinell, who long denied any gang connection, was killed days after being moved out of isolation. Despite a flurry of activity in the case against George Billy Wagner III in recent days, big questions remain with his trial in the 2016 Pike County massacre case just more than six weeks away. Still to be determined: Where Wagner will be tried, with visiting Judge Jonathan Heins ruling this week to move the case out of Pike County. The judge is in search of an "available courthouse with adequate facilities and staffing," his ruling said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether the coming sentencing of Billy Wagners younger son will remove his obligation to testify against his father. Hein on Monday set sentencing for Edward Jake Wagner for Dec. 17. The younger Wagner agreed to testify against other family members when he pleaded guilty in the Pike County case in 2021, with the prosecution agreeing to remove death as a possible penalty after he followed through. What additional twists in the case might emerge when Billy Wagner returns to Pike County Dec. 16 for another pretrial hearing. George "Billy" Wagner III will be tried outside of Pike County, the judge in his case ruled this week. Wagner's lawyers are Mark Collins, left, and Thomas Hayes. One question answered Wednesday, however: Whether Wagner would be subject to the death penalty if convicted in the Pike County case. Hein officially dismissed the possibility of a death sentence with a filing in the case, after saying he would do so during a hearing last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The defendant has been under indictment for an intolerable duration," he wrote. "The victims similarly have suffered intolerable delay; they are entitled to have this matter proceed to resolution without even more delay." George "Billy" Wagner III is escorted into the Pike County Common Please Courtroom for a preliminary hearing in Waverly, Ohio, on March 15, 2023. On Monday, the special prosecutor in the case filed a strongly word memo opposing Heins stand on the death penalty question. The court is overreaching and knowingly tipping the scale unfairly in favor of a defendant who is accused of the capital murders of eight people, Angela Canepas memo said. Hein on Wednesday also indicated Wagner's trial would not be delayed beyond Jan. 6, the date it was scheduled to start in Pike County. With one of Ohios largest and most gruesome homicides back in the headlines, heres a reminder about the facts in the case and whos who. The Rhodens were shot to death at four different southern Ohio homes April 21-22, 2016, according to prosecutors. Children's toys sat on the porch at the second crime scene, home to Frankie Rhoden and Hannah Hazel Gilley. The crimes Seven members of Pike Countys Rhoden family and one future member were shot to death in four different homes April 21-22, 2016. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rhodens and Wagners were connected through Sophia Wagner, then 2 , whose father is Jake Wagner and whose mother was victim Hanna Rhoden. The Wagners wanted custody of the child, believing she was being molested while in the care of the Rhodens. Given the number of figures and proceedings in the case, it has frequently been back in the news. This timeline lays out the major events. The Rhodens The victims were Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his former wife, Dana Manley Rhoden; their children, Frankie, Hanna and Chris Jr.; Chris Rhodens brother, Kenneth Rhoden; Chris Rhodens cousin, Gary Rhoden; and Frankie Rhodens future wife, Hannah Hazel Gilley. The Wagners Billy Wagner, his sons and his wife were all charged with the killings. Billy Wagners mother and mother-in-law faced lesser charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like Jake Wagner, Angela Wagner admitted her role in helping plan and cover up the homicides. Billy Wagners older son, George, stood trial in fall 2022 and was convicted on eight counts of aggravated murder and 14 related charges. Billy Wagner is facing the same charges as son George. Geneva Rhoden, mother to 2016 victims Chris Rhoden Sr. and Kenneth Rhoden, enters the courtroom to hear testimony during the trial of George Wagner IV in Pike County Common Pleas Court in Waverly, Ohio, in October of 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The courtroom Jonathan Hein is the third judge on the case. Canepa remains special prosecutor, the role she filled in George Wagner IVs trial. New to her team is Ron OBrien, former prosecutor in Franklin County. Mark Collins, Billy Wagners lead attorney, is joined by Thomas Hayes, both on the case from its start. Members of the Rhoden family including the mother of Chris and Kenneth Rhoden and some of their siblings regularly attended George Wagner IV's trial. Jonathan Hein, a retired judge from Darke County Common Pleas Court, took over the Pike County massacre cases in spring 2024. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who's who in Pike County shootings case Starr County, Texas, voted predominantly Republican this month -- for the first time in 100 years. Home to some 75,000 residents across about 1,200 square miles, it has a relatively small footprint, in a state where everything is glorified for its bigness. But it's been making an outsized impression in national politics. Even after its historic flip from blue to red, a century in the making, it's continued to garner headlines. PHOTO: Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham stands in front of a new section of the state-funded border wall at a site offered to the incoming Trump administration for detention centers, near Rio Grande City, Texas, Nov. 26, 2024. (Gabriel V. Cardenas/Reuters) Last week, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered up 1,402 acres of Starr County to facilitate President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a letter to Trump dated Nov. 19, Buckingham said she's offering the land, located along the border of Mexico, "to be used to construct deportation facilities." She has also proposed alternative uses for it, including as a site for detention centers. "Now it's essentially farmland, so it's flat, it's easy to build on. We can very easily put a detention center on there -- a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country," Buckingham said in a recent interview with Fox News. The land, which Buckingham declared property of the state in 2023, adds to another parcel previously owned by the Texas General Land Office, bringing the southern border acreage that it controls in Starr County up to 4,000. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Texas land commissioner offers 1,402 acres to Trump for 'deportation facilities' ABC News' Mireya Villarreal visited Starr County to ask residents what issues and values most influenced them to vote for Republican candidates this year, instead of upholding their century-long blue streak. "The economy is just driving, I think, everybody crazy," said Becky Garza, the owner of Texas Cafe in Rio Grande City, the largest city in Starr County. She explained that she used to complain about buying a box of eggs for $10, and now they're $20. "If things don't get better, I might have to either cut staff, cut hours, or I'm going to start with cutting hours and then from there work it, maybe cut down, maybe cut the menu, you know, to keep the place open, you know, because I don't want to lose my my customers," Garza said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And she doesn't think she's the only one who's making those kinds of hard decisions, she told ABC News. PHOTO: A U.S. Border Patrol agent discussing the lay of the land along the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas, as part of the federal call-up to the U.S.-Mexico border. (Sgt. Mark Otte/Texas Military Department via AP) Jaime Escobar, the mayor of neighboring Roma, another city of Starr County, agrees. He suggested that residents are more influenced by the local economy than what's being said in Washington, D.C. "We no longer want to be considered just a poor community because we're rich culturally," he told ABC News. "We're proud of our Mexican-American heritage, but we don't -- no longer want to be dependent just on the government." But with D.C. being invited into their backyard, it's bound to bring the topic of migration and deportation to the forefront -- even for those who may not have prioritized the issue during the election cycle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked about how people might respond to a detention facility in nearby Starr County, Escobar said, "People don't want families to be torn apart. That's the last thing we want." "But at the same time," he added, "we hope that Trump and his administration do the right thing and focus on the criminal element first, and then see how in the meantime, we'll see how the policies can be implemented in a better way." PHOTO: The Texas border lands (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images) Buckingham, on the other hand, believes that "folks who live down on the border feel really abandoned by those open border policies." She told ABC News, "They feel like it's directly harming their communities, both their safety and their prosperity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the same interview this week with ABC News, Buckingham also said that she would "absolutely" offer up even more of Texas, the way that she did Starr County. "I have 13 million acres. If any of them can be of help in this process, we're happy to have that discussion," Buckingham said. PHOTO: In an aerial view, the site of ongoing state-sponsored border wall construction where Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham held a news conference, Nov. 26, 2024, in La Casita-Garciasville, Texas. (Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has said he would carry out his mass deportation plans -- a top campaign promise -- by declaring a national emergency and using "military assets" to deport migrants currently living in the U.S. without legal permission. He backed up his commitment with the choice of several immigration hard-liners to join his administration, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for secretary of homeland security and former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan as "border czar." Both picks require Senate confirmation. But with an estimated 11 million people presumed to be living in the U.S. without legal immigration status, the promises have raised questions of both feasibility and cost. MORE: 'Shock and awe': What Trump 'border czar' Tom Homan has said he plans to do starting on Day 1 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Removing them could cost billions of dollars per year, according to estimates from the American Immigration Council. And while Republican-friendly areas of Texas might feel compelled to support the effort, other southern border states, like Arizona and California, have already expressed their disinterest. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live last week that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation. "We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities," she said. Why did a blue Texas border county vote red for the first time in 100 years? originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A new Netflix docuseries explores the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. Some surviving members of JonBenet's family participated, but her brother Burke didn't. Burke Ramsey has had a difficult relationship with the media and was previously cleared as a suspect. Burke Ramsey was 9 years old when his family was thrust into the spotlight after his younger sister, JonBenet Ramsey, was found dead in their Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996. The shocking and brutal nature of the killing (the 6-year-old was found with a strangulation device called a garrote embedded in her neck; an autopsy later revealed that her skull had been fractured) incited a media frenzy. The strange details of the still-unsolved murder like the ransom note left behind that claimed JonBenet had been kidnapped and demanded $118,000 for her return, when her body had been in the home all along have led true-crime fans to spend the ensuing decades poring over the case and forming their own theories about what really happened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many came to believe that someone in the Ramsey family was responsible for JonBenet's death; they weren't formally cleared as suspects until 2008. A new Netflix docuseries, "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?" explores how the initial investigation was faulty and accuses the original Boulder investigators, along with the media, of unfairly pointing suspicion toward the family. "I can't think of another family that's been so brutalized so unfairly by the media," director Joe Berlinger told Business Insider in an interview ahead of the docuseries' premiere. Burke Ramsey became (and remains) a particular target of suspicion among JonBenet theorists, but he didn't participate in the new Netflix docuseries. Here's what we know about Burke's life since his sister's murder and where he is today. Theories that Burke Ramsey killed his sister JonBenet led to legal action Patsy, JonBenet, Burke, and John Ramsey in a family photo. Courtesy of Netflix Burke, along with his parents, moved back to Atlanta, where the family had lived before Boulder, in the aftermath of JonBenet's death. While Patsy and John Ramsey continued to do interviews in an attempt to combat the suspicion against them and encouraged authorities to keep investigating the case, Burke, then still a child, kept out of the spotlight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2008, the Boulder District Attorney's Office officially cleared the Ramsey family (including Burke and Patsy, who'd died two years earlier) of JonBenet's murder after confirming with new testing that male DNA found on the child's underwear didn't match anyone in the family. Then-DA Mary Lacy also apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the possibility that her office had contributed to "public perception that you might have been involved in this crime." The decision to clear the Ramsey family publicly has been controversial, and in the event of new DNA testing, as the Ramsey family and the Netflix docuseries are pushing for, all previously cleared suspects should be reconsidered. According to the Daily Camera, a Boulder newspaper, Burke had been interviewed by investigators at least three times and reportedly appeared before the grand jury that investigated the case in 1999. At the time, the Boulder District Attorney's office said Burke had never been under suspicion. (As the Netflix doc recounts, court documents unsealed in 2013 later revealed that the grand jury had voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on two counts each of child abuse resulting in JonBenet's death, though then-DA Alex Hunter chose not to move forward with the indictment because he said the evidence wasn't sufficient to prosecute them.) In September 2016, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the crime, CBS aired the docuseries "The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey." In it, a group that included former FBI agents, a forensic scientist, and a forensic pathologist reevaluated the evidence and theorized that Burke had killed JonBenet, likely accidentally, by striking her over the head after she took a piece of pineapple from his bowl and that their parents had written the ransom note to cover up how JonBenet died. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Burke's attorneys filed defamation lawsuits against the network, producers, and the series' hosts for $750 million later that year; he'd separately filed another lawsuit against one of the individual investigators from the special in October. Both parties confirmed in January 2019 that the CBS lawsuit had been settled for an undisclosed amount. Burke, then 29, also gave his first and only public interview to date to Phil McGraw on the "Dr. Phil" show in 2016, days before the CBS special aired. He acknowledged knowing that his family had been suspected of killing JonBenet and once again denied that any of them were involved. He offered his own theory on the murder: that his sister had been killed by an intruder, likely someone who attended JonBenet's beauty pageants. When asked why he'd finally chosen to speak out, Burke said he wanted to honor his sister's memory. "I don't want anyone to forget," he told McGraw. Where is Burke Ramsey now? Burke Ramsey at his mother Patsy's funeral in 2006. Ric Feld/AP Since the 2016 "Dr. Phil" interview, Burke, now 37, has resumed living a private life. Public records show he currently appears to live in Michigan, where the Ramseys moved after leaving Atlanta. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John Ramsey told People in a 2012 interview that Burke was working as a software engineer. Speaking to ET after his interview with Burke, McGraw said Burke had graduated from Purdue University in 2010 and was working in the computer industry. At that time, Burke had a girlfriend, according to McGraw, though it's unclear whether he's currently in a relationship, married, or has kids. "He's a very private individual, but he has a great career and has a good relationship with his father," McGraw told ET in 2016. During the portion of the docuseries that recounts theories that Burke killed JonBenet, an on-screen text card explains that Burke declined to participate, "citing his treatments by the media and online websleuths." Berlinger, the director of the new Netflix docuseries on the case, told TODAY that Burke is "doing fine." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said that the docuseries team tried to reach Burke through John Ramsey and John Andrew Ramsey, who is John's son and Burke's half-brother. But according to Berlinger, Burke said he didn't want to speak to them and they didn't want to pressure him. Both John and John Andrew participated extensively in the docuseries. In one interview in it, John Andrew called allegations that his brother had killed their sister "absolutely absurd." When speaking to BI, Berlinger named Burke as the one person whose perspective he'd have loved to have. "I think he also has been so brutalized," he said. "The theories against him are so incredulous." Read the original article on Business Insider TikTok influencer Marlena Velez, known for her fashion and home decor videos, was recently arrested, shocking many fans. Naturally, they are wondering the reason behind her arrest. Did she commit a crime? Were any laws violated by her? Here is what we know on TikTok influencer Marlena Velezs arrest. Reason why TikTok Influencer Marlena Velez got arrested Marlena Velez was arrested on Wednesday, November 21, 2024 after she was allegedly caught shoplifting. This was connected to a past retail theft at Target, located at the 1890 NE Pine Island Road in Cape Coral, according to a statement from The Cape Coral Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the statement, Loss Prevention at Target revealed that on October 30, 2024, a woman walked into the store and picked several items that had been on sale. Later, at the checkout counter, the woman did not scan the items barcodes. She instead scanned false barcodes to get cheaper prices for the items. The statement mentioned that sixteen items of miscellaneous household goods and clothes had been stolen. Following verification with Targets security cameras, the authorities concluded that items worth $500.32 were stolen from the store. After obtaining the womans photo, Cape Coral Police Department posted it on their Facebook and Instagram handles to help identify her. In the picture, the female appeared to be somewhere between 20-35 years of age. She had long black hair, wore a tan shirt, tan pants and glasses. Later, an anonymous caller reached out to Cape Coral Police and identified the woman as Marlena Velez. The caller also provided them with Velezs official Instagram account. Cape Coral Police Department then checked Velezs TikTok account, which included a now-deleted October 30 video of her documenting herself getting ready to go to Target. In the video, she was seen wearing the same attire and glasses as the woman in the picture the police earlier shared on social media. Additionally, she could also be seen buying items like a Stanley mug and mini cosmetics bag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Velez was later isolated by Cape Coral Police Department and arrested on the following charges: 1 count in violation of F.S.S. 812.014(3a) Petit theft more than $100 and less than $750. Velez has a notable criminal history. In 2019, she was arrested for stealing her friend Amanda Santanas car and crashing it into a ditch. Santana confirmed this in an interview with NBC2-Fort Myers, Florida. Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon. The post Heres Why TikTok Influencer Marlena Velez Was Arrested appeared first on Mandatory. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Canada. In making his statement on Truth Social, Trump criticized Canada over immigration policy and drugs. Roughly 77% of Canada's exports go directly to the US, per the Toronto Region Board of Trade. President-elect Donald Trump has made waves this week with his vow to impose new tariffs on imported goods from Canada, China, and Mexico, which also happen to be the United States' top trading partners. Trump's hard-line stance against China a country that conservatives consider to be a threat to the US's economic and national security interests is not a surprise. Neither are his threats regarding Mexico, whose border with the US has created contentious and high-profile immigration concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But where does Canada, the US's northern neighbor, fit into the equation alongside China and Mexico? In short, Trump says he has the same concerns over immigration, fentanyl, and crime from the Canadian border as he does Mexico's. While it's possible the tariff threats are part of Trump's negotiation strategy, there has been a sharp increase in apprehensions at the US-Canada border over the past year. From October 2023 through September 2024, US Border Patrol made 23,721 arrests at the US-Canada border, compared with the 10,021 arrests that were made in the preceding 12-month period, according to Customs and Border Patrol data. The New York Times and NPR reported that Indian nationals in Canada on temporary visas made up a large portion of the surge of illegal border crossings into the US. Few things animate Trump more than immigration, one of his defining issues and one that he's zeroed in on since his first presidential run in 2016. The president-elect's firm stance on border security has earned him enduring loyalty from the party's base. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, immediately addressed the concerns within his country, telling reporters on Tuesday that he had a "good" conversation with Trump following the president-elect's pledge to target his country. "We talked about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth," Trudeau said. "We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together." Trump on Monday criticized both Canada and Mexico over the issue on his Truth Social platform. "On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If enacted, the ramifications of such tariffs could be enormous, as about 77% of Canada's exports go directly to the US, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade. And some trade experts have warned that if Trump actually imposes the tariffs, he'd be violating the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was brokered during his first term in office to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement the 1990s-era free-trade pact Trump had long railed against. Jake Colvin, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, said Trump's proposed tariffs would trigger a "clear violation of the USMCA," according to Roll Call. "While we're all familiar with the President-elect's fondness for tariffs as a negotiating tool, it's particularly troubling that he's threatening to aim them at America's closest allies and trading partners on the very first day of his administration," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister of Canada, and Dominic LeBlanc, the country's public-safety minister, responded to Trump's remarks in a joint statement on Monday, touting the mutually beneficial alliance between the two countries. "Canada and the United States have one of the strongest and closest relationships particularly when it comes to trade and border security," the top officials wrote on X. "Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border." "In addition, the CBSA [Canada Border Services Agency] is continually strengthening its ability to detect opioids through enhanced inspections at ports of entry, detector dogs, and emerging technologies, preventing opioids from entering and leaving Canada," they added. The officials then pledged to work with Trump's second-term administration in tackling the issues he raised. A representative of Trump didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider Nov. 26The wife of a former Laurens man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his murder. Orlando, Florida television station WESH 2 reported Tuesday that Laurie Shaver, 42, was sentenced in Lake County Court. She was convicted in September of second-degree murder in a weeklong trial more than six years after her husband's body was found under a concrete slab at the property the couple had once shared. The victim Michael Shaver, 36, had been missing since 2015 from his home in Clermont, Florida. He attended Laurens Central School and moved to Florida with his family, according to previous accounts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In June of 2018, the Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed that remains found on Shaver property were of Michael Shaver, according to Daily Star archives. Authorities had conducted tests on the remains, which were found in March of that year, buried underneath a concrete slab on the property in Clermont. According to WESH 2 reporting, the discovery came about a month after a friend told deputies he had not heard from Michael Shaver since 2015. Officials said they believed Laurie was responsible for Michael's death and assumed his identity over text and Facebook after he was gone. While Laurie Shaver was found guilty of second-degree murder at her trial, she was found not guilty of accessory after the fact to a life felony. During the trial, WESH 2 reported, the woman's defense attorney maintained that Michael was an abusive husband and claimed Laurie was not the one who killed him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, the defense said two other people were responsible for the man's death including the couple's daughter. On one of the last days in court, the 15-year-old girl took the stand, testifying that she shot Michael while he was beating Laurie. The teen also said a family friend shot Michael after she did, but that witness took the stand to say they never met the man. Physical evidence indicates that Michael was shot exactly one time, according to the story. The state questioned the 15-year-old daughter, who they said never shared that version of the story despite speaking to officials multiple times. A news release posted on the website of the Office of The State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida gave some of the same details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We hope the defendant's life sentence brings some measure of closure and peace to the victim's loved ones," said Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit state attorney. According to the release, Laurie Shaver was arrested in 2020 by the Lake County Sheriff's Office after an investigation into Michael's 2015 disappearance. When authorities conducted a welfare check, Laurie was evasive about his whereabouts and officials observed a newly poured concrete slab in the backyard. Further investigation revealed suspicious social media activity on Michael's accounts, which continued for nearly two years after his disappearance, despite no financial transactions since late 2015, the release stated. The LCSO obtained a search warrant for the Shaver residence, where they found human remains under the concrete slab. The medical examiner confirmed the remains were Michael's and determined he died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. In 2006, Andrew Schlafly a US lawyer and Right-wing fundamentalist Christian launched Conservapedia. The online platform was a direct riposte to what he believed was a liberal bias on Wikipedia, which was then just five years old. Run under the same crowd-sourced editorial rules as its rival, the website has faced its own fair share of criticism with regard to prejudice, from critical articles on feminism and homosexuality to full-blown conspiracy theories that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. And with only 54,000 articles so far, it is still no match for Wikipedias 64 million across 339 languages. Conservapedia, its fair to say, now merits a mere footnote within the timeline of the worlds biggest and most-read online encyclopaedia. Yet, in the 18 years since, concerns have continued to dog Wikipedia over whether its articles do indeed tend to favour the Left. Its an important question, too. While Conservapedias reach is ultimately limited, Wikipedias certainly isnt attracting two billion unique device visits per month. Now, a study has lent considerable weight to the long-held argument that Wikipedia does indeed have a favourite. Academic researcher David Rozado has used the latest AI to analyse the sentiment behind political statements in Wikipedia articles on public figures, from US senators and Supreme Court justices to every British MP and political leaders across the Western world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On average, he revealed, the English-language edition has a tendency to associate those ideologically Right-wing more negatively, with emotions such as anger and disgust, than those on the Left, which were more commonly associated with joy. The findings have not come as a surprise to a number of conservative critics here in Britain. My own Wikipedia entry looks like its been written by [Left-wing commentator] Owen Jones, says Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union. I used to check it from time to time and painstakingly remove all the inaccuracies that had been introduced since the last time Id looked, but Ive now given up. The evidence that Wikipedia has a Left-wing bias is compelling, and its something [co-founder] Jimmy Wales needs to rectify if he wants Wikipedia to retain its current audience. Its a question of trust and, at the moment, conservatives just dont trust Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedias co-founder, has insisted the website is not woke - David Rose Former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg admits hes not surprised by the results, adding: I have always thought of Wikipedia as if it were the BBC: often useful but not impartial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton, says: Theres an inherent liberal bias in all of these sites. Whether its old-fashioned stuff like Wikipedia or newer sites like ChatGPT, it all has a huge bias and thats why its an absolute joy that Elon Musks bought X to give it a bit of balance. Rozado himself an associate professor at Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand admits he hadnt previously noticed any bias on the site, having generally only used it for quick fact checking, but his interest was sparked after hearing frequent complaints from others that it had. A specialist in AI, he downloaded a vast database of all Wikipedias English Language articles and then used a large language model (LLM) to search through paragraphs that mentioned a set of more than 1,600 political terms. The findings did not reflect every political figure, Rozado points out. For example, he says, the average sentiment for Right-wing US president Ronald Reagan was fairly positive, whereas for Left-leaning German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who has faced criticism over his relationship with Russia, it was relatively negative. The latter was most likely a reflection of his controversial relationship with Russia. I have always thought of Wikipedia as if it were the BBC: often useful but not impartial, says former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg - Shutterstock Another surprising finding was that there was no significant political bias for British MPs. In his paper, Rozado suggests this may be in part due to the higher level of polarisation in the US compared to the UK. This certainly makes sense given the list of 650 MPs contains politicians from more than a dozen different parties, not just from the more traditional Left-wing Labour and Right-wing Tories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ultimately though, his findings showed there was evidence of political bias embedded in Wikipedia articles. The researcher is keen to stress his admiration for Wikipedia, for its immense contribution to the goal of open knowledge. But he was disappointed, he says, that the study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting Wikipedia is falling short of one of its founding principles that every article must be written from a neutral point of view (NPOV). The report itself has not been without its own accusations of bias, however. A piece published in the Signpost, Wikipedias community-edited weekly online newspaper, notes that Rozados study has neither been peer reviewed nor featured in an academic publication. Instead, it was published on the conservative Right-wing think tank The Manhattan Institute which Tilman Bayer, the reports author and an editor since 2003, suggests didnt find the results too objectionable. Yet Rozado is by no means the first to cast doubt on Wikipedias neutrality. In 2018, for example, a Harvard study found that Wikipedia articles were more biased towards Democratic views than Republicans on topics within US politics than they were in Encyclopedia Britannica. Much has been made of the websites perceived support of Biden, both in playing down his son Hunters controversies and heavy editing across the website to downplay whether the US was indeed going in a recession under his watch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The idea has been fuelled too by Wikipedias own co-founder, Larry Sanger, who has accused the site of being taken over by Left-leaning volunteers. Sanger coined Wikipedias name and provided initial drafts for many of its early guidelines, including, most pertinently, the NPOV. He left the company a year after its launch, however, and has been an increasingly vocal critic. Last year, he told The Telegraph: Wikipedia has, just like academia, tended to drive away people on the Right, because conservatives tend to self-select out of communities that are deeply hostile to them. Critics also point out another reason for its Left-wing bias is that sources such as the Daily Mail are not considered reliable, and so cannot shape articles. In Wikis traffic-light system of sources, it is coded red for generally unreliable; The Telegraph is coded green for generally reliable. What most unreliable sources have in common is that they express Right-wing opinion, Sanger says. That means that all of the articles on news-related topics are going to end up expressing just one point of view. Wales, Wikipedias other co-founder who is chief executive of its parent company, the Wikimedia Foundation, has insisted the website is not woke and its not true to suggest it has become a standard bearer for Left-wing causes. Instead, the 58-year-old, who lives in London with his third wife, Kate Garvey, Tony Blairs former diary secretary, believes the answer to complete neutrality is more volunteer editors. The more opposing voices in the room, the theory goes, the more likely it will lead to a balance. But with 530 new articles a day and two edits made every second, the army of unpaid volunteers will need to be sizeable. While Wikipedia has 48 million accounts, only 122,000 have made at least one edit over the past month. The number who make more than 100 edits a month the dedicated core has remained at 5,000 to 7,000 users for more than 15 years. And among these, even fewer have attained the privilege of being able to amend protected articles, which comes after clocking up 500 edits. It means Wikipedias vast power appears to remain concentrated in the hands of relatively few gatekeepers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rozado says his research does not dig into the reasons why there is political bias. But it does look into what the future may hold. One significant danger, says Rozado, an expert in machine learning, is that Wikipedias significance has grown beyond its direct human readership due to the fact its content is now routinely employed in the training of LLMs such as ChatGPT. The debate over Wikipedias liberal bias and influence is perhaps only just beginning. Wikipedia has been approached for comment. 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. Nov. 26POLK COUNTY, Minn. A Winger, Minnesota, woman pleaded guilty Tuesday, Nov. 26, to first-degree assault causing great bodily harm for stabbing a man outside of a McIntosh bar. Jayden Marie Ray, 20, maintains not guilty pleas for her other felony charges of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Ray changed her plea after the state filed a proposed plea agreement that would dismiss her remaining charges and sentence her to the presumptive guideline sentence of 86 months assuming she has a criminal history score of zero. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Polk County sheriff's deputies were dispatched just after midnight Jan. 14 to a McIntosh, Minnesota, bar and grill, where they found a man lying on the ground, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. He had a visible laceration and blood on his body, clothes and the snow around him. He was taken to the hospital. Witnesses said the man assaulted more than one bar patron earlier that night, and was locked outside afterwards, where he allegedly got into another altercation. Ray said her mother was assaulted by the man, so she pushed him off, the statement said. Her mother, though, said Ray had the knife. There was blood on Ray's clothing, the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Witnesses said they heard Ray talking about killing the man, and one said they saw the stabbing occur. Law enforcement spoke with the man while he was in the hospital, and he told them a woman came out of the bar and stabbed him. He sustained at least stab and slice wounds, according to the statement. After Ray was arrested, she allegedly told law enforcement she didn't stab the man, but eventually changed her statement, saying she stabbed him in the neck with a small pocket knife. She then stabbed him an additional three or four times, then ran and threw the knife, according to the statement. She said she didn't remember stabbing him any more than that. Sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 28. A pre-sentence investigation will be completed prior to that date. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Garmin A pair of siblings suffering from hypothermia was rescued from a New Hampshire hiking trail on Saturday just one day after another hiker died on a nearby mountain. According to a news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game, Xander Dalke, 20 of Hanover and his sister Aylen Dalke, 18 of South Hadley had set off on a planned two-day hike around Owl's Head at 7 a.m. that day. At some point, the duo says they fell into Lincoln Brook and got soaked. They changed into dry clothing, but then fell into the brook again, leaving them with no dry clothes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Knowing that temperatures would be dropping at night, they decided to set up camp and try to get warm, however, the early stages of hypothermia set in. At 7 p.m. the pair activated a Garmin InReach device reporting that they were approximately 8.5 miles up the trail and required assistance. "At 2:30 a.m., two Conservation Officers reached the hikers who had taken shelter in a tent and were inside sleeping bags. Dry clothing was provided to the two hikers and by 3:30 a.m., they were able to start making their way back to the trailhead," writes the NHFAG. Only the night before, 44-year-old Chris Huyler of Littleton was found dead after what appears to have been a substantial fall in icy conditions while hiking nearby in the Coppermine Brook Valley. "Winter conditions have arrived in the mountains, and hikers are encouraged to be prepared," warn officials, who note that in both cases, the hikers concerned were carrying the right equipment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This story is a reminder that even the most prepared and experienced hikers can fall foul to winter conditions. To reduce your risk, NHFAG reminds you to always carry the following: Learn more in our articles on winter hiking safety and the hiking essentials. William Dale Archerd drank highballs, married frequently and despised 9-to-5 employment. He was Arkansas-born, slender, with pale blue eyes and wavy silver hair. He inspired romantic devotion in women and trust in criminal confederates. For decades, his wives and acquaintances were fatally stricken with sudden, convulsion-inducing illness that coroners did not grasp as murder. His motive was greed, though he never made much. He was a frail 55 when police finally arrested him at his Alhambra home in 1967. Well, it took you long enough! he quipped. A prosecutor called him the greatest cold-blooded killer since Bluebeard, and a judge called him the most evil defendant hed ever seen. There rarely seemed to be a dent in Archerds cool. Even on death row, he retained his aura of blithe unconcern. Archerd was a natural salesman, at various times hawking vitamins, hearing aids and folding doors. The merchandise he sold best was himself. From 1930 to 1965, he married seven women, sometimes not bothering to divorce the previous one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He learned his special method of murder which allowed him to get away with it for so long as a young hospital attendant. At Camarillo State Hospital, he worked off and on at the insulin shock ward from 1939 to 1941. It was a 20-bed dorm for the treatment of schizophrenia in the desperate era before antipsychotic drugs. As part of the therapy, now discredited, injections of insulin would plunge a patient into deep coma as the brain was starved of sugar. A pencil was rubbed along the ball of the patients foot. If the toes fanned out in a so-called Babinski response, he was reverting back to first man, an ape from which we are supposed to have sprung, as one of Archerds former co-workers would testify. This meant death was close. Glucose brought patients awake, sometimes with brain damage misinterpreted as psychological improvement. Because insulin is a natural hormone and injections are quickly absorbed, an overdose was nearly impossible to pinpoint as a cause of death. For at least six victims across 19 years, police believed, it was Archerds choice of poison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His first suspected murder was in 1947. His friend William Jones Jr., a 34-year-old ex-fireman, was charged with the statutory rape of a babysitter. It promised to ruin the familys good name. Archerd jumped in to help. The Joneses gave him a few thousand dollars to buy off the babysitters family. Archerd handed over $300 and kept the rest. He told Jones how to fake a head injury and avoid court an insulin injection would mimic the symptoms. Jones convulsed hideously while Archerd stood quietly at his bedside. Encephalitis, the coroner said. Police believed William Dale Archerd killed three of his wives, two men, and his 15-year-old nephew. From left, top, are William Edward Jones Jr., Zella Winders Archerd and Juanita Plum Archerd. Below are Frank Stewart, Burney Kirk Archerd and Mary Brinker Post Archerd. (Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times) Nine years later, he summoned police to the Covina home where he was living with his fourth wife, 48-year-old Zella Winders. He told a ludicrous story: Two robbers had broken into the house and injected her with a mysterious substance. Police noted two puncture marks on her buttocks. He refused to let her go to the hospital, and soon after, she was dead, with two extra puncture marks. Broncho-pneumonia, the coroner said. Two years later, he married his fifth wife, 46-year-old Juanita Plum, in Las Vegas. She was dead within days amid unexplained sweating and convulsions. When her will was read and Archerd learned his take was $1, he dug his fingers into her daughters shoulders so hard it nearly buckled her knees. Accidental barbiturate overdose, the coroner said. In 1960, he persuaded a 54-year-old acquaintance, Frank Stewart, to participate in an insurance scam. Insulin would counterfeit the symptoms of a head injury. Cerebral hemorrhage, the autopsy said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The following year, he pressured his 15-year-old nephew, Burney Kirk Archerd, into a similar scheme. They would pretend the boy had been hit by a truck, and an insulin injection would mimic the effects. Bronchopneumonia and cerebral hemorrhage, the coroner said. By this point, Los Angeles County sheriffs detectives were convinced Archerd was a serial killer and knew how he was doing it. To Harold Whitey White, a sheriffs lieutenant who recounted nearly a decade on the investigation in his memoir Whiteys Career Case: The Insulin Murders, Archerd was that rotten bastard, that slimy bastard and that crafty son-of-a-bitch. Its a hell of a helpless feeling to know that a psychopath like William Dale Archerd can kill so many people, to know how he kills and why, but not to be able to come up with a criminal cause of death in order to prove murder, White wrote. Archerd killed his seventh wife, 60-year-old Mary Brinker Post, in November 1966. A novelist, she had written the bestselling Annie Jordan, about a plucky heroine in boom town Seattle modeled on her pioneer family. She suffered hideous convulsions and died at Pomona Valley Hospital. Hypoglycemic shock due to undetermined, the autopsy said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Sheriffs Department put White on the investigation full time. His team set out to prove a circumstantial case that the killings were united by a common scheme and plan. I decided Archerds crime spree had gone on long enough. I was going to nail him if it took the rest of my career to do it, White wrote. He enlisted doctors including leading insulin researchers to reexamine the medical files in the six known deaths. All the deaths, the doctors concluded, were attributable to insulin overdose. Brain slides of some victims showed massive damage that could only have been caused by insulin-induced glucose starvation. William Dale Archerd, right, entering court with a bailiff in December 1967. (Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times) When White showed up at Archerd's house to arrest him, he found the killer painfully thin, frail and miserable looking. Nevertheless, White had to resist the urge to punch the evil son-of-a-bitch right in the mouth. Archerd went on trial for the three L.A. County deaths wives No. 4 and No. 7 and his nephew while prosecutors used the other three to establish his decades-long pattern. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The star witness was Archerds third wife, a former nurse named Dorothea Sheehan, who was infuriated when he annulled their marriage to wed another woman the next day. She was one pissed-off ex-wife, White wrote, and she wanted blood! On the stand, she recalled musing with Archerd about how murder-by-insulin would make an excellent plot for a mystery story. How he had asked her to buy him a vial of insulin and to inject Jones for the insurance scam. How he said that because Jones raped more than one babysitter, it was just as well he had died. And how, when she read about Zella Winders death in the newspaper, she confronted him. I said smartly, It wouldnt have been insulin, would it? And he sort of kicked me in the ankle and looked around as if he thought my house might have been bugged. William Dale Archerd being led out of the courtroom after his arraignment in July 1967. (Larry Sharkey / Los Angeles Times) As she recounts in her book Assassins Serial Killers Corrupt Cops, Mary Neiswender got to know him while covering his trial for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He told her stories designed to elicit pity that he dug ditches as a boy and needed 43 operations for malformed limbs. She decided he was a pathological liar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His guards would tell me later: Yknow, he expected to beat this and was counting on you for his next wife, she wrote. I wasnt flattered. During the two-month trial, Archerd was unfailingly relaxed, friendly and respectful to his attorneys. Unlike most defendants in his position, he did not second-guess any of his lawyers decisions. I cant recall a single time he evinced any stress, Ira Reiner, an attorney who represented Archerd, recently told The Times. Not a thing bothered him. He chose to have his case heard by a judge, rather than a jury, thinking he was less likely to get the death penalty. Judge Adolph Alexander found him guilty making him the first convicted insulin murderer in the United States and sent him to death row. He figured he had the perfect scheme, said Reiner, 88, who later became the L.A. County district attorney. Had there been one case charged and only one, theres certainly a reasonable possibility that a judge or jury would have acquitted. The problem was one after another. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Archerds death warrant was signed, Reiner won a last-minute stay. He went to San Quentin to deliver the order in person, rather than risk sending a fax that got there too late. He remembers Archerds nonchalance on learning the good news. Its hard to describe how utterly relaxed he was, Reiner said. Archerd was indignant, however, that prison officials had offered him a last meal of steak or lobster, but not both. He said, Theyre gonna kill me, and they want to argue with me about whether I can have steak and lobster. He said, It isnt fair, it isnt right. Like he was arguing with a waiter. Archerd's death sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison, and he died of natural causes at age 65 in 1977. He was a charming sociopath, Reiner said. You cant kill that many people and be so relaxed and charming unless theres a little piece missing there. William Dale Archerd, left, confers with his attorneys Philip Erbsen, center, and Ira Reiner in court in February 1968. (Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. DORCHESTER, Mass. (WWLP) A man from Woburn is the winner of a $1 million prize in the Massachusetts State Lotterys $4,000,000 Money Bags instant ticket game. Tips to prevent Thanksgiving cooking fires William Juarez of Woburn chose the cash option and received a one-time payment of $650,000, before taxes. Juarez plans on taking a vacation to Florida with his winnings. Massachusetts Lottery The winning ticket was purchased at ABC Mini Market on Granite Street in Worcester, which will receive a $10,000 bonus for the sale of the ticket. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. "She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know," authorities said of the woman soon reuniting with her brother Getty Stock photo of woman reading newspaper Stock photo of woman reading newspaper A man who went missing from a small California town in 1999 was found 25 years later after his sister saw his photo in a news article. The Lassen County Sheriff's Department said via a Facebook news release on Monday, Nov. 25, that a woman contacted them about a person who had been reported missing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told the sheriff's department that someone sent her a USA Today article that included a photo of a patient at the St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles County. The April 2024 article was about the hospital asking for information on the patient, who they were unable to identify after he had been found in South Los Angeles. The woman "believed" the man was "her missing brother," the sheriff's office said in its statement. Related: Oregon Womans Truck Found After She Vanished with 2 Dogs: 'She's Just the Most Kindest, Most Loving Person' The woman said her brother was first reported missing from Doyle, Calif., in 1999. "The man had not been heard from since," the sheriff's office stated, later noting that both the woman and her brother's identity have not been publicized to protect their privacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputy Derek Kennemore reached out to the hospital and was told the man was transferred to a local hospital in July. "The man was non verbal and had never been identified," authorities noted. Related: What Happened to Hannah Kobayashi? What We Know About the Hawaii Woman Who Went Missing After Not Getting on a Connecting Flight Kennemore then contacted the second hospital, which confirmed a man who matched the missing person's description was a patient there. The deputy reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department's Missing Persons Unit, and a detective took the patient's fingerprints, positively identifying him as the same man who went missing 25 years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later, Kennemore informed the woman that the patient was indeed her brother, and "the family will be reunited soon," the sheriff's department shared. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The sister "was super excited" to reunite with her brother, Capt. Mike Carney told ABC News on Tuesday, Nov. 26. "She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know." The reunion would "make their Thanksgiving that much better," Carney added, calling the story a "perfect example" of why families should stay hopeful in missing person cases. A woman headed to Central Florida to visit family never made it. A fisherman found her body in a river in North Carolina. Investigators want to know what happened to 33-year-old Iltride Dade. Read: Central Florida woman charged with DUI manslaughter after killing 4-year-old daughter She was from Haiti and her fingerprints were collected when she came into the U.S. Police say her boyfriend, Jacques Hans-Jerome, picked her up. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watch: Body of missing 7-year-old boy with autism found in Volusia County pond, deputies say Her family said there was a history of domestic violence. So far Jerome has not been charged with murder. Watch: Clermont woman convicted of killing, burying her husband has been sentenced for life He is currently in a North Carolina jail. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. A woman escaped from her sinking pickup truck Tuesday following a motor vehicle collision. New Hampshire State Police say 30-year-old Danielle Melanson of Merrimack was driving her white 2014 GMC Sierra pickup truck in the area of Circumferential Highway in Nashua around 3 p.m. when her vehicle was involved in a crash with another car. Melansons truck then struck a guardrail on the left side of Circumferential Highway, continuing over the guardrail and rolling down the embankment into the Merrimack River, according to investigators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was able to free herself from the truck while the vehicle was partially submerged. She was transported to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center with injuries that arent considered to be life-threatening. Several lanes on the westbound side of the Sagamore Bridge were closed while heavy machinery removed the truck from the river. The cause of the crash remains under investigation and its unclear if any charges will be filed. 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 A California man who was reported missing 25 years ago is set to be reunited with his sister after a USA TODAY article published in May alerted the woman to her sibling's whereabouts, authorities announced. The report, which sought to identify an unknown patient at a Los Angeles County hospital, was sent to the woman by a friend of hers, the Lassen County Sheriffs Office in Northern California confirmed on Facebook. The patient was discovered in South Los Angeles on April 15 and taken to the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, USA TODAY previously reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials at the hospital asked for the public's assistance in identifying the man, who is non-verbal and could not communicate his name. For the next six months, the hospital's social services department was unable to reach any family members for the patient. That all changed on Friday, when his sister told the Lassen County Sheriffs Office that she believed the unidentified patient was her long lost brother. The St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California are hoping to identity a patient they found in South Los Angeles on April 15, 2024. The sheriff's office has not revealed the name of the man or his family members, citing privacy for the family. Information regarding his health status have also been withheld due to patient confidentiality laws. USA TODAY has reached out to the Lassen County Sheriffs Office and the St. Francis Medical Center for additional information. Brother reported missing in 1999 The man was reported missing from Doyle, California in 1999 and not heard from since, his sister told the sheriffs office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheriffs Deputy Derek Kennemore contacted the hospital, where staff told him the patient had been transferred to different hospital. The second hospital confirmed that the man was in their care and matched the description of the missing person, according to the sheriffs office. His identity was later confirmed through a fingerprint test conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the Lassen County Sheriffs Office. "The family will be reunited soon," the office wrote. "The Lassen County Sheriffs Office would like to commend Deputy Kennemore on his tenacity with this case. We would also like to thank the Los Angles Police Department for their assistance in identifying the missing man and closing out this 25 year old case." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man missing since 1999 to reunite with sister after USA TODAY report SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Rapid City woman has been sentenced to federal prison for providing a drug that led to an overdose. 51-year-old charged in Saturday stabbing Attorney General Marty Jackley says 33-year-old Charity Taylor was sentenced to 23 years in prison after earlier pleading guilty to three felony drug counts. Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of Enhanced Distribution Resulting in Death, Distribution of a Controlled Substance to a Minor and Conspiracy to Bring Fentanyl into South Dakota. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The charges involved a sale of fentanyl pills that resulted in the death of a 43-year-old man in October of 2023. This defendant was a major fentanyl dealer in the Rapid City area, Jackley said. In the last two to three years, her team had brought an estimated 10,000 fentanyl pills into South Dakota. This investigation and sentence are the result of good work by law enforcement and prosecutors. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. An investigation is underway after a woman was fatally struck by a bus in Long Beach on Tuesday night. According to a media release from the Long Beach Police Department, officers were dispatched to Shoreline Drive and 7th Street around 6:55 p.m. on reports of a traffic collision. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers found that Long Beach Fire Department personnel had already arrived and were providing aid to the victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite their lifesaving efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identity will not be released pending notification of next of kin. Famous L.A. diner could be replaced by a fast food joint The preliminary investigation revealed a Long Beach Transit bus was traveling northbound on Shoreline Drive south of 7th Street when it collided with the pedestrian who was in the roadway, outside of a crosswalk, LBPD stated. The bus driver immediately reported the collision, and Long Beach Transit is assisting with the investigation. Speed, distracted driving and impairment do not appear to be factors in the crash, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone who may have witnessed the collision is asked to contact LBPD Collision Investigation Detail Detective David Daugherty by calling 562-570-7355. To submit an anonymous tip, call L.A. Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A homeless woman who allegedly terrorized mothers and their young children in San Franciscos parks for years has been charged with child endangerment, prosecutors announced. Kim Andrews, 37, of San Francisco, will be arraigned at the Hall of Justice on Tuesday afternoon. The charges stem from a disturbing incident in Golden Gate Park that happened around 5 p.m. on July 19, 2024. A mother and her 18-month-old toddler were walking along a path when they were approached by Andrews. According to investigators, Andrews was wielding a lighter and shaking an aerosol can of Lysol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said Andrews made death threats toward the toddler as she screamed Oh, a baby! Youre going to die! Youre going to die! The toddlers horrified mother grabbed her child and ran while Andrews chased after them, the district attorneys office said. Andrews was taken into custody on Monday for the July park incident. Mothers and nannies in San Francisco have reported Andrews menacing behavior for years. She was arrested dozens of times, court records show. One nanny told the San Francisco Chronicle that, in 2020, Andrews screamed at her, saying, I am going to take your child, I am going to kill you. Andrews is reportedly a repeat offender who cycles between jail and living on the streets. Police officials told the Chronicle that Andrews refuses housing and mental health services from the city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Serial Bay Area shoplifter arrested 90 times Prosecutors said they are now seeking to have Andrews held in jail without bail. On Tuesday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, My office will do everything in our power to ensure that children are safe. We will fight in the courtroom for justice for this family who were out enjoying a summer walk in the park. Child endangerment and making threats to anyone, especially to children and vulnerable victims, will not be condoned. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. As a former cruise employee and frequent cruiser, I always organize my cabin on cruises. When packing for a cruise, I put a swimsuit in my carry-on bag and bring my own French press. I pay attention to safety procedures and listen to the captain's announcements. I spent three years working on cruise ships. Now, I frequently enjoy sailing around the world as a passenger. Here are the 10 things I always do while cruising to have the best trip possible. Knowing my ports is key Before I even get on board, I make sure I understand my cruise's itinerary and the actual location of our ports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After all, I've seen itineraries that list cities such as Paris, Berlin, and Rome none of which are on the coast. If an itinerary says Rome, you may actually be docking in the coastal city of Civitavecchia, which is an hour away by train. Knowing this could change your plans for the whole day. I use port guides and a map to discern where my ship will be docked. My carry-on always has a swimsuit I always pack a bathing suit in my carry-on to prepare for embarkation day. Depending on what time I get on the ship, my cabin and luggage may not be available for several hours. By bringing a swimsuit, I can go in the pool or hot tub and sunbathe on the lido deck. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There's nothing like watching our port fade away from the comfort of a pool or hot tub on the lido deck. I always pay attention to safety procedures It's important to listen to safety briefings on board. Kerrick/Getty Images During the mandatory safety exercise on each sailing, I familiarize myself with the route from my room to my muster station. It's best to be prepared for an emergency since disaster can strike at any time I've even experienced ship-wide power failures at sea. You'll never find me removing gratuity from my bill I do my part to reward the hardworking crew by paying the daily gratuity charges, sometimes called crew appreciation. Some passengers remove this charge from their bill, but I'd never dream of doing that. The crew works long hours every day on contracts that can last for several months on end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, I provide extra tips to my cabin steward and any other helpful dining or beverage staff. Money isn't the only way to show appreciation. I highlight excellent service by using the post-cruise survey to praise specific people and departments. When appropriate, I also reward great service by completing the onboard comment cards at the front desk. These simple actions can help those employees earn raises or even promotions. I wash my hands very often Cruises are close-contact environments, and I wash my hands often throughout every trip. After all, I've seen passengers at the buffet stick their hands in their mouths and then grab the salad tongs. Because of this, I also use a paper towel or napkin to touch the serving utensils at the buffet. Frequent walks on the promenade deck are often a highlight of my trip You can see some wonderful views from a cruise ship. Nellmac/Getty Images Even as a crew member, I'd enjoy walking on a ship's outside decks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's a good way to combine exercise with fresh sea air. The views are often outstanding, and I've been able to watch whales, birds, sunsets, and passing vessels. It's also a good spot to go for the few times I feel seasick, as the crisp outdoor air often eases my queasiness. Always listen to the captain's announcements On many cruises, you'll hear an announcement from your captain at least once a day. Some guests just increase the volume of their conversations to drown out the announcements, but I always tune in. This is often when important information is communicated, such as itinerary changes and weather forecasts. It's helpful to know if we're headed into a storm with large swells or if we'll be late to our next port. I bring my own coffee I've sailed with seven cruise lines, and I've rarely found a cup of coffee on board that meets my standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, I bring my own French-press coffee maker and ground coffee. After a few minutes of steeping, I can have exactly what I brew at home. If I'm trying to pack light, I just bring my favorite instant coffee. My room stays organized throughout the trip I use a dry-erase board to stay organized during my trip. Tammy Barr I unpack as soon as my luggage is delivered to my room, which helps me quickly adjust to my new environment. I like to bring a magnetic dry-erase board that I use to map out my ports and write down exercise routines. It also provides a means to communicate with my cabin steward as we sail sometimes, I've even returned to a surprise work of art. Packing magnetic hooks has also come in handy when there aren't enough places to hang items in my room. Lastly, I always lean into themed parties and events Many cruise ships have themed events or nights, and I love looking them up in advance so I can prepare my outfits. I try to pack clothing to suit any occasion on board since there's nothing like dressing up on vacation. Read the original article on Business Insider A former employee of a woman whos accused of stealing from metro area residents says she feels guilty after taking part in what she calls a scam, even alerting the court about it. Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi first reported Angela Hasan on Monday. Choi started investigating her after getting calls from people who were getting evicted after joining a program called Hasan 2nd Chance. Shanna Douglas said she started working as Hasans executive assistant in June. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I feel bad because I was telling these people that it wasnt a scam, Douglas said. But within months, she knew something wasnt right with the Hasan 2nd Chance program when checks started bouncing and people started complaining. MORE STORIES FROM 2 INVESTIGATES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats when Douglas told Choi that she quit and alerted the courts. I left in August because my conscience and my integrity was like, I cant, Douglas said. Hasan is currently facing 16 theft by deception charges in Clayton County. Arrest warrants say she stole more than $38,000 from families looking for eviction help. Choi met Cansas Williams, a mother of five in Jonesboro, as she was getting evicted in September after Hasans program. Another woman named Danielle said she too would lose her home after joining Hasan 2nd Chance. Its really sad, Danielle said. Douglas said Hasan took money from at least 75 people, including herself. She said Hasan only paid her once for months of work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You had to be a different type of evil to do something like that. Thats just despicable. Thats honestly despicable, Douglas said. Choi tried to get an interview with Hasan whos in the Clayton County Jail. The county said she has yet to be assigned a public defender. Hasan has a court date for Dec. 2. As drastic cuts loom at US automotive giant Ford's plant in Cologne, labour leaders worry that the future of the carmaker's German operations may now be in danger. Ford recently announced plans to axe 2,900 jobs in Cologne over the next three years. That amounts to about a quarter of the roughly 12,000 workers currently employed by Ford in the western Germany city. At a meeting of Ford Germany workers on Wednesday, works council leader Benjamin Gruschka described the announcement as a "brutal downsizing plan" that is "unacceptable" to workers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The IG Metall trade union's spokesman at Ford, David Ludtke, warned that the cuts could spell doom for the plant. "If this plan is put into practice, it will mean the dismantling of our site and for us it will also mean dying in installments," Ludtke said. At times, the audience at the works meeting was dead silent. Some employees were crying. Labour leaders said around 8,000 workers attended the mass meeting. Ford management has not publicly detailed the plans, but Ludtke told journalists on Wednesday that the carmaker's plans are "no longer a typical downsizing" but involve eliminating entire divisions with hundreds of employees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Ludtke, Ford management told the trade union that "they only want to concentrate on their core business, and that is developing and building cars." Everything else - "production services, components, vehicle parts, maintenance, repairs and servicing" - are all in danger of being cut altogether, he said. Informed sources told dpa that Ford plans to cut areas such as plant security and the factory canteen, outsourcing those functions to an external service provider instead. Cuts will also be applied to administration and development. Electric car production, on the other hand is not expected to be directly affected. Ford produces two electric models in Cologne. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 2,500 people work in the electric vehicle production, although the company has imposed reduced hours due to weak sales. Gruschka accused the management of making serious mistakes and that the employees would now have to "bleed" under the cuts. "We need a vision for this site," said the labour leader. "We are calling for a concept for the future, we have to think differently about the car - electric cars are built differently than some other combustion engines used to be, they are a moving computer with four wheels." John Monteiro lost his job, his apartment and his reputation after his 2019 arrest in a decades old cold case that may not even have been a murder at all. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current) Big preceded John Monteiros first name on the work shirt he wore when sheriffs led him in handcuffs into Providence District Court on July 18, 2019. Online comments would soon offer other names for the man Pawtucket police had charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 10-year-old girl four decades ago. Names like scumbag monster and this sick f**k and paedo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police claimed they had DNA evidence linking Monteiro to a small stain they said was blood on the inside crotch of the pants Christine Cole was wearing on the bitter cold night she went missing. Christine left her familys Pawtucket apartment on an errand at around 5:15 p.m. on Jan. 6, 1988, and never returned. Fifty-four days later, her body was found washed up on Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick. Monteiros arrest the first by a cold case unit established within the Pawtucket Police Department led by Detective Susan Cormier made national news. Christines face appeared as the Queen of Hearts in a deck of playing cards devoted to Rhode Island cold cases Cormier created in December 2018. Fifty-two cards in a deck presented an ideal framework for WPRI-TV 12 to feature a case every week for a year in a series of compelling, stylized stories that were nominated for a regional Emmy; the Cole case was the first case to be profiled. But six months after Monteiros arrest, the murder charge was dismissed. The Office of Attorney General acknowledged there was no conclusive evidence to prove Monteiro killed Christine or had even crossed paths with her. By then, he had lost his warehouse job, his apartment, and his reputation. He moved in with his sister, Rita Correia, who told Rhode Island Current he struggled with depression and anxiety. Correia said in a deposition that her brother seldom left the house and stopped taking care of his personal hygiene and socializing with family and friends. On Jan. 26, 2021, Monteiro filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island against Cormier along with Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves and other members of the department and the former Rhode Island Department of Health forensic scientist who conducted laboratory testing on evidence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, Dec. 2. But early Tuesday afternoon, two days before Thanksgiving, Monteiro agreed to settle for $1 million, one of his attorneys, Bill Devine said. I wanted to go to trial because I want people to see what they did to me, how they destroyed my life, said Monteiro, 64, a Cape Verdean immigrant who speaks Creole, in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon with his sister Rita Correia interpreting. Money is not everything in my life. I want to clear my name, and I want people to know that Im an innocent man, hardworking father of four, and family man. Monteiro said he let go of the desire for an apology from Pawtucket police and is thankful he can put the case behind him and focus on rebuilding his life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a good settlement, said Mark Loevy-Reyes, one of Monteiros attorneys. The clients happy with it. Its a significant amount of money, the kind of amount of money (that) although they wont admit wrongdoing, I think suggests that they know that they did something wrong. The case remains an open homicide case, said Grace Voll, a spokeswoman for the city of Pawtucket. Voll confirmed that the citys insurer, the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust, had reached a tentative agreement with Monteiro to settle the case. Until the settlement paperwork has been finalized and signed, the City reserves further comment, Voll said. Pawtucket Police Detective Susan Cormier is shown at her office at Pawtucket City Hall in December 2019. (Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current) A deeply flawed investigation A DNA match may sound like an open and shut case. But volumes of court records portray a cold case investigation flawed from the start. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In August 2018, Cormier learned that a detective lieutenant had submitted evidence from the Cole case to the state health lab for forensic testing in 2008. The detective had been promoted to captain and assigned to the patrol division by the time DNA test results came back in 2010 and never received notification of the results. He retired in 2012. Cormier met with the states forensic science supervisor to review the results, which revealed a small, red-brown stain on the inside crotch of the mauve-colored pants Christine was wearing the night she disappeared. Lab notes on the stain no files made public ever offer measurements of its size showed a positive presumptive test for blood but a second test was negative. The discovery of the stain was unusual, because the FBI had already analyzed the pants in April 1988, looking for any foreign hair or debris. At that time, there was no mention of a stain. In 1998, another FBI lab report found no presence of semen and blood on the pants. The medical examiner who examined Christines body declared the cause of death was drowning. The manner of death was undetermined, but the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death led police to treat the case as a homicide. The autopsy noted the body had bruises on both upper arms and left thigh, but no signs of trauma or bone injury or sexual assault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police knew that Christine had a history of wandering, including an incident three years earlier when her mother reported her missing, prompting a neighborhood search that lasted a few hours before Christine was found on a street corner. On the winter night Christine disappeared, a girl matching her description was seen leaving a supermarket a half-mile away from her West Avenue home with another girl after the two were caught shoplifting between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Five days later, on Jan. 11, 1988, a bloodhound from the Connecticut State Police appeared to pick up Christines scent around the supermarket, then lost it. The Blackstone River was about a half-mile from the supermarket. The sample of the stain was tested for autosomal DNA, which is contained in the 22 pairs of chromosomes not involved in determining a persons sex and inherited from a persons mother and father. Autosomal DNA is unique to each individual except identical siblings. The test produced results for the amelogenin gene that occurs on both the X- and male-specific Y-chromosome. The state health department sent the sample to an outside laboratory to conduct Y chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (Y-STR) DNA analysis, a test that would ensure that none of Christines DNA was mixed with the results. The Y chromosome is inherited by a son from his father, and all males in any paternal line have nearly identical Y chromosomes. The outside lab obtained results for only six of 17 specific locations, called alleles, on the Y chromosome. Money is not everything in my life. I want to clear my name, and I want people to know that Im an innocent man, hardworking father of four, and family man. John Monteiro, who was arrested by Pawtucket police in July 2019 on a murder charge that was dropped six months later Cormier requested more testing by the state health department laboratory, which used a kit that analyzed 23 locations on the Y chromosome. It identified results for 12 alleles for a partial DNA profile. Results were checked against an internal health department database. The closest match was a man briefly held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in 2014 who was born in 1993. He wasnt even alive when Christine died, but his genetic profile pointed to a close male relative: his father, Monteiro. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Detectives rummaged through discarded trash from the curb outside Monteiros Central Falls apartment building but failed to find anything that produced a DNA sample or fingerprints. They followed Monteiro to work several times and watched him park in a rear lot between two large delivery trucks where his vehicle could not be seen from the street, even as all the other employees parked in the open in a front parking lot. Cormier observed Monteiros habit of parking his vehicle behind the building next door to where he lived. It appears that Monteiro lives his life in a very covert manner, Cormier wrote in a police narrative and again in an affidavit she later submitted to court. The affidavit noted that Monteiro had moved many times over the years and incorrectly said Monteiro confirmed he lived over a corner market where Christine bought milk the night she disappeared. On July 17, 2019, after Cormier obtained a search warrant, Pawtucket police picked up Monteiro and brought him into the police station. Cormiers court affidavit described him as cooperative when he opened his mouth to allow another detective to swab his inner cheeks with a cotton swab to obtain samples to submit for DNA analysis. At 8:21 a.m., Cormier texted then-Rhode Island Department of Health forensic scientist Tamara Wong that Monteiros DNA samples were on their way. Cormier read Monteiro his Miranda rights in English. He asked for an interpreter, but Cormier and a colleague made no arrangements to have a Creole-speaking officer the department had at least one join them. During his interview, Monteiro denied ever knowing or seeing Christine or being involved in her disappearance and death. The detectives wanted information on his family: He named his parents and his seven siblings from oldest to youngest, including four sisters and two half-brothers with whom he shared the same mother but not father. Monteiro spent several hours at the police station before detectives finally brought him home. One even called Monteiros employer to say that he was involved in a minor fender-bender and was fine but would be late to work. Meanwhile, the state health department lab wasted no time in processing Monteiros DNA sample. Results were ready within several hours for a test that typically takes two to four weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At 5:53 p.m., Wong sent Cormier the text she had been waiting for all day: Its a match. Finalizing the report now. Omg!!! Cormier shot back. Wong replied with four emojis: a blushing and anxious green and blue face; a green vomiting face; a grimacing face; and a big toothy smiley face. Nice detective work Sue!!! Congrats! I love you!! Cormier replied. Wong texted back a smirking face. Ill email the report as soon as its finished and official. An hour later, the report, which references Monteiros legal first name Joao, was sent: The previously reported partial Y-STR DNA profiles obtained from the stain on the victims purple pants (Item #1.8) is consistent with the known reference profile from Joao Monteiro (Item #23). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wong developed statistics to determine at a 95% confidence level how common that partial genetic profile would be in the general population. The answer: one in every 1,909 males. The population of Pawtucket in the 1990 census was 72,644, approximately half males. Theoretically, 19 males in the city that year could have had the same partial genetic profile as Monteiro. The potential number could be lowered to 13 if male residents under age 18 were excluded. The results were hardly the kind of statistically damning evidence usually associated with forensic DNA analysis, in which the probability of two unrelated individuals sharing the exact same genetic variations could be one in several hundred quadrillions. Eight minutes after receiving the report, Cormier and Wong exchanged a series of text messages. So, there is no 1 in 10 billion match type of statsJust 95 % confident? Cormier asked Wong. Unfortunately not with Y-STRs, because they are shared with family members, the stats are always low, Wong replied. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Monteiro has this fear that living his normal life can come to a crashing end any day now, that the police can come grab him, lock him up and say were going to keep you for the rest of your life. Mark Loevy-Reyes, attorney for John Monteiro They spoke on the phone too Cormier used her personal cell phone so the calls were not recorded as they would have been had she used an official police line but perhaps Cormier remained focused on the word match. She also appeared to have misinterpreted the meaning of confidence level, which is a way to assess the certainty that the answer calculated is not due to chance. Wong, a trained scientist with a masters degree, could have explained the concept to Cormier, who earned her GED after dropping out of high school and had completed college courses at Roger Williams University but had yet to earn her bachelors degree. An hour before she received Wongs report, Cormier had texted we got a MATCH! to the district court magistrate judge who signed the arrest warrant for Monteiro. Cormier drove to his home in Narragansett with it later that night. She brought along a pack of cold case cards with her to give him. Cormier apparently never mentioned to the magistrate judge that the match involved Y-STR DNA, and its unclear if he reviewed Wongs report. Cormiers use of the term match ignored the fact that Y-STR testing could not be used to identify a particular individual but only to exclude him. There had been no additional testing done for DNA on the pants or efforts to obtain DNA samples from Christines three younger brothers or her mothers boyfriend now deceased but whose brother is living so there was no way to rule out that the DNA on the pants came from a male living in or frequenting Christines home. (It is possible for DNA from family members to innocently transfer to clothing during laundering.) Monteiros arrest was announced the next day on July 18, at a noon press conference at Pawtucket City Hall. This one had a particular meaning to me because she is a child, I am a mother, Cormier, the mother of three teenage sons, told reporters then. Cormier stood at a podium next to Goncalves, the police chief. Behind them on an easel stood the large poster depicting all 52 cards in the Rhode Island cold case deck. No one from the attorney generals office attended the press conference. John Monteiro, right, pictured with his sister Rita Correia, with whom he now lives, said he has let go of the hope of receiving an apology from Pawtucket police. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current) Chilling effect Loevy-Reyes said he had 82 pages of questions ready to ask Cormier if the case went to trial. Mr. Monteiro has this fear that living his normal life can come to a crashing end any day now, that the police can come grab him, lock him up and say were going to keep you for the rest of your life, Loevy Reyes said. Thats a hard thing to live with. Cormier retired in July 2022 from her $71,177 a year detective job. She could not be reached for comment for this story. In a December 2019 interview, Cormier said she believed arrests could soon happen in three or four other cases. But none have been made. Before the day Monteiro was arrested, no prosecutor from the attorney generals office had been working with Cormier on the Cole investigation, according to testimony by Assistant Attorney General Timothy Healy in a deposition on Dec. 22, 2021. With respect to a case where theres been years kind of in the making I think it would be advisable for somebody to reach out to us prior to that and to get a prosecutor involved in the case, Healey said then. Last year, the attorney generals office launched a new cold case unit, staffed by prosecutors and investigators. Attorney General Peter Neronha told a legislative committee in May that the unit effectively solved two cases and would make an announcement within six weeks. Timothy Rondeau, a spokesman for the attorney generals office said Wednesday morning that an announcement involving one case is now likely in the first quarter of the new year. Wong could not be reached for comment. She left her employment with the state health department in January 2023, said its spokesperson, Joseph Wendelken. Loevy-Reyes said a settlement was reached with Wong last week. A release and dismissal stipulation detailing how the city of Pawtucket and the state health department would share responsibility for paying the $1 million settlement has been drafted and executed, but had not yet been filed with the federal court as of Wednesday. The Rhode Island Department of Health deferred to the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General for comment on the settlement. Rondeau declined to comment as well. Monteiro will spend Thanksgiving with family at his sisters house in Massachusetts, where he now lives. He said he may take a trip to return to Cape Verde next year. He has not been back to his homeland since he came to America at the age of 22 in 1982. Before I die, I have a promise to go to my country because I havent been there for 42 years, he said through his sister interpreting. Im going to go to (the) cemetery and pray because Ive been praying a lot. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Your heart is racing, your arms are tingling and your breathing is shallow. Youre having an anxiety attack. And youre in a public place, to boot. A crowded restaurant, say, or at the office. Not a space where you can comfortably lie on the ground and do some deep breathing exercises to calm yourself. What if there were a pill that would instead induce that kind of calm breathing for you? That scenario might be possible after a new scientific breakthrough. Read more: The 27 best yoga studios in L.A. for stretching, sweating and spiritual awakenings Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Neuroscientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have identified a brain pathway that instantly deflates anxiety. The new study, which published earlier this week in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, lays out how the aforementioned brain circuit regulates voluntary breathing meaning conscious breathing as opposed to automatic breathing that happens without your having to think about it allowing us to slow our breath and calm our mind. The discovery opens up the potential for the creation of new drugs that would mimic the relaxed state common during breath work, meditation or yoga. Sung Han, senior author of the study, says he'd like to one day see a "yoga pill," as he calls it, on the market to ease anxiety. It would likely be useful for the more than 40 million adults in the U.S, who, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suffer from an anxiety disorder. Han says the new discovery is a real scientific breakthrough. Read more: A trick to reduce stress? Spend 20 seconds a day doing this easy practice Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a scientist, finding something never known before is always exciting, he told the Los Angeles Times. This top-down breathing circuit has been a longstanding question in the neuroscience field. Its exciting to find the neural mechanism to explain how the slowing down of breathing can control negative emotions, like anxiety and fear. Weve long known that we can control our breathing patterns to alter our state of mind when we get stressed, we might take a deep, slow breath to feel calmer. But scientists didn't understand how that worked which parts of the brain were actually slowing our breath and why that activity makes us calmer. Now they know that there is a group of cells in the cortex, the higher part of the brain responsible for more conscious, complex thought, that send messages to the brain stem, which in turn sends information to the lungs. Thats the aforementioned circuit. The discovery validates soothing behavioral practices such as yoga, mindfulness and even box breathing the latter a technique that involves repeatedly breathing in, then holding your breath, for four-second counts in order to relieve stress because it grounds these behavioral practices in science. Read more: 18 relaxing things to do in L.A. when you just can't with the world Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the practical applications is what makes the Salk discovery so important, Han says. It can, potentially, create a whole new class of drugs that can more specifically target anxiety disorder, he says. These would differ from common anti-anxiety medications by more specifically targeting areas of the brain. Common anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax and Lexapro target multiple areas of the brain that control multiple brain processes and behaviors. Its why these drugs dont work for everyone in the same way and may create unwanted side effects. More precisely targeting an individual brain circuit makes a medication more effective and reduces potential side effects. And, in extreme cases, such a pill might be more efficient for targeting anxiety than doing breathing exercises. If youre in panic, breathing techniques alone may not be sufficient to suppress anxiety, Han says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hans team is now trying to find the opposite circuit a fast breathing circuit that increases anxiety. Read more: 8 self-care experiences under $100 for your stressed-out L.A. friends To target the slow breathing circuit, we need to understand the opposite circuit, so we can avoid targeting it," Han says. "To relieve the anxiety. While Han hopes his findings will lead to a yoga pill, thats likely a long ways off. The research, and ensuing clinical trials, could take as much as 10 years, he says. And nothing is for certain. I cannot say that this discovery is directly connected to the discovery of the new medication, Han says. But I can say its a stepping stone. We now know the pathway. Thats exciting. That is the first step. Sign up for The Wild newsletter to get weekly insider tips on the best of our beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. NEW YORK (AP) A judge on Wednesday found New York City in contempt for failing to staunch violence and brutality at its jails, a scathing ruling that puts the troubled Rikers Island jail complex on the verge of a federal takeover. In a written decision, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said the city had placed incarcerated people in unconstitutional danger by failing to comply with 18 separate provisions of court orders pertaining to security, staffing, supervision, use of force and the safety of young detainees. The long-squalid conditions have worsened significantly in the nine years since the city settled abuse and violence claims, she wrote, exacerbated by jail leadership's unwillingness or inability to implement ordered reforms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result, Swain ordered the city and lawyers suing on behalf of detainees to confer with a court-appointed monitor on a proposed framework for a federal receivership an extraordinary intervention that would cede city control of one of the nations largest, most notorious jail systems. Mayor Eric Adams, who has vehemently opposed a federal takeover, said on Wednesday that the city had made significant progress towards addressing the decades-long neglect and issues on Rikers Island. We are proud of our work, but recognize there is more to be done and look forward to working with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails, his statement continued. But in her ruling, Swain found the administration's efforts were insufficient to turn the tide within a reasonable period. The city appears to have acted in bad faith at times in its failure to comply with court-ordered reforms, repeatedly withholding essential information from the monitor, she wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Court is inclined to impose a receivership: namely, a remedy that will make the management of the use of force and safety aspects of the Rikers Island jails ultimately answerable directly to the Court, Swain wrote, ordering the sides to provide her by Jan. 14 a plan for an efficient, effective receivership. Under a federal receivership, control of some or all city jail functions would shift to a court-appointed receiver, streamlining decision making on things like staffing, contracts and policies while working to improve safety and compliance with ordered reforms. It would not involve a takeover by the Justice Department, nor would the citys jails become part of the federal Bureau of Prisons. Swain's 65-page ruling stemmed from litigation that started more than a decade ago with allegations by a public defender organization, the Legal Aid Society, and others that the citys Department of Correction had engaged in a pattern of excessive and unnecessary force. The Legal Aid Society and law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP hailed the historic decision and said it will finally create a pathway for reform that can protect those who have been failed" by jail leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The courts recognition that the current structure has failed, and that receivership free from political and other external influences is the path forward, can ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of incarceration status, are treated with the respect and dignity guaranteed to them under the law, they said. In a separate statement, Benny Boscio, the president of the union representing correction officers, claimed the ruling was based on an erroneous narrative," adding that jail staff had been defunded, short staffed, scapegoated and handcuffed by city lawmakers and the federal monitor. For now, barring further action from Swain, the city remains in control of its jails. The jail complex, which is housed on a hard-to-reach island in the East River, has long suffered from rampant disorder and neglect. But rates of violence, use of force, self-harm, and deaths in custody in city jails have gotten demonstrably worse since the city and parties agreed in October 2015 to a settlement, consent decree and the appointment of a federal monitor, Swain said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Worse still, the unsafe and dangerous conditions in the jails, which are characterized by unprecedented rates of use of force and violence, have become normalized despite the fact that they are clearly abnormal and unacceptable, the judge wrote. Nineteen people died in custody at Rikers Island in 2022. Nine more died in 2023, and five died in the first eight months of this year. At the same time, rates of stabbings and slashings, fights, assaults on staff remain extraordinarily high, Swain said. There has been no substantial reduction in the risk of harm currently facing those who live and work in the Rikers Island jails, the judge wrote. Under a plan approved by the city council in 2019, New York City is legally required to shutter Rikers Island and replace it with four smaller and more modern jails by 2027. But as the jail population has grown in recent years, Adams, a Democrat, has voiced resistance to the closure, urging lawmakers to come up with a Plan B. Earlier this year, the citys budget director acknowledged that officials would likely not meet the mandated deadline. YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) York College is expanding its campus food pantry program to help students in need battle food insecurity. According to York College, the announcement comes as a response to a $40,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Educations Hunger-Free Campus Program. The program continues to build a coalition of colleges and universities focused on addressing hunger and other basic needs for their students; creating opportunities for connection among student hunger advocates; providing resources and strategies for campuses; and supporting opportunities to apply for grants related to addressing food insecurity, Lynette Kuhn, Chief of the Pennsylvania Division of Higher Education, Access, and Equity, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement York College says they are using this donation to significantly upgrade the pantry by adding two new refrigerator units and sealed containers for grains. Additionally, the expansion will allow the college to offer students discounted meals and educate students on and promote SNAP benefits. York College will also partner with local organic farming businesses to hold a local farmers market with fresh produce on campus in the spring of 2025. It is our goal to create an inclusive and healthy environment for our students across campus, of all backgrounds, Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion Director Alex Hernandez-Siegel said. This grant will help us offer healthy, fresh, local, and even organic food options to our students at no charge through our food pantry services. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. The New York Times editorial board is urging the Senate to confirm as many judges as possible prior to President-elect Trumps second term. Its so important that President Biden and Senate Democrats confirm as many judges as possible to the federal bench in the weeks before Republicans assume control of the Senate, the board wrote Tuesday, adding that each position left open will likely be filled with extreme judges by Trump. Many of his appointees went on to limit the ability to vote, upend fundamental reproductive rights and reduce oversight and checks on the power of the executive branch, the board wrote about Trumps first term choices for judgeships. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, the Senate unveiled a deal to finish work on seven of Bidens nine judicial nominees who were previously stalled. According to an aide for Senate Democratic leadership, the upper chamber is going to finish confirming each judge that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) brought to the floor last week after the Thanksgiving recess. Republicans consented to accelerate the consideration of district court judicial nominees and Democrats agreed to not hold votes for four of the presidents appellate court nominees. Earlier in the week, Trump pushed for the Senate to halt the confirmations of judges before he enters the White House. Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door, adding that Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day! the president-elect wrote on Truth Social. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The editorial board wrote that Trump supporters have repeatedly made it clear they expect [Trump] to choose judges who agree with his expansive definition of executive power and that a new slate of his appointees in the lower courts is likely to find new ways to build on the Supreme Courts grant of immunity and allow [Trumps] dictates to become a new American reality. Given the rights relentless focus on pushing the judiciary in its direction, it is even possible that Mr. Trump will pressure Congress to create more judgeships that he could quickly fill or use recess appointments to simply bypass the confirmation process for unqualified judges, the board added. The Hill has reached out to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnells (Ky.) office, incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thunes (S.D.) office, the Trump transition team, the White House and Schumers office for comment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The longest criminal trial in the state of Georgias history wont be over before Thanksgiving. Jurors are currently in the deliberation phase of the RICO trial against alleged criminal street gang Young Slime Life and two of its members: Shannon Stillwell and Deamonte Kendrick, also known as rapper Yak Gotti. On Wednesday, Channel 2s Michael Seiden was there as jurors continued deliberating. Around 3 p.m., jurors decided to head home for Thanksgiving and would continue deliberating on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday night, prosecutors and defense attorneys wrapped up their closing arguments. Jurors began deliberating on Tuesday afternoon. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The first witnesses in the case were called nearly a year ago, making it the longest criminal trial in the states history. Initially, the indictment included 28 defendants, including superstar Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, with conspiring to violate Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Since then, nine people took plea deals before the trial began, including rapper Gunna. Other defendants had their cases severed and their cases are still pending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williams, the most prominent defendant, pleaded guilty as part of a non-negotiated plea in the YSL RICO case. Now, only Stillwell and Kendrick remain standing trial. RELATED STORIES: Prosecutors claim that YSL members have committed violent crimes across Atlanta. They accused Stillwell and Kendrick of killing Donovan Thomas Jr., also known as Big Nut, in drive-by shooting because he was in a rival gang. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors have argued that tattoos, social media postings and other evidence supports their claims that YSL is a gang. The defense said thats not true and argued that Kendrick and Stillwell are part of a record label and not a gang. Being signed to a record label, even a rap record label, is not a crime in the U.S., attorney Doug Weinstein said. Get the latest updates from the courtroom on Monday on WSBTV.com and on Channel 2 Action News throughout the day. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have discussed Ukraine's specific needs for air defence systems in the wake of Russia's recent strike with a new ballistic missile. Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram, as reported by European Pravda Details: The Ukrainian leader recalled that a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council had taken place earlier because of Russia's use of a new ballistic missile. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thus, on Wednesday, 27 November, Rutte and Zelenskyy discussed response measures, specifically the critical need to strengthen Ukraine's air defence capabilities. "I've outlined the specific air defence systems that are needed and can work. Our partners have these air defence systems," Zelenskyy stressed. The president also emphasised that the decisions of the NATO summit in Washington on air defence and other supplies for Ukrainian forces had not yet been fully implemented. "We expect this [the delivery of all promised supplies], and it significantly affects the motivation and morale of our people," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Ukrainian president noted that the recent authorisation for Kyiv to launch long-range strikes on military targets in Russia had helped, though pressure on Russia should be maintained and increased at various levels. "We've discussed contacts with our partners with the US and others and our coordinated work with them to implement what we've already agreed upon and to ensure the necessary additional military and political reinforcement. In particular, for the sake of inviting Ukraine to NATO," Zelenskyy concluded. Background: The meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council was convened last week in connection with Russia's first use of an experimental ballistic missile, which the Russians dubbed Oreshnik. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier that Kyiv hoped for "concrete, meaningful results" after the NATO-Ukraine Council. Following the Oreshnik strike, Kyiv asked its partners to help strengthen its air defences to counter such ballistic missiles. Support UP or become our patron! The Ukrainian government and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed that he will sign the law on the state budget on Thursday 28 November. Source: Zelenskyy in his evening address on 27 November Quote: "Today I held a meeting with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Finance of Ukraine [Serhii] Marchenko, and representatives of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament ed.). We discussed the key parameters of the next year's state budget, our financial readiness for this December and for the coming year. And we agreed that tomorrow I will sign the law on next years state budget as soon as the law is delivered from the Verkhovna Rada." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: The President stressed that the most important part of the budget is that "Ukraine's all financial needs for the near future and for the coming year are guaranteed." Support UP or become our patron! President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign the 2025 state budget law and amendments to the Tax Code in the coming days, with the laws set to take effect on 1 December. Source: Ukraines Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal Quote: "The government has approached the President of Ukraine to expedite the signing of these laws. They are among the key requirements of our creditors and are critical for funding all expenditure items related to our nations defence this year and the next one." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Prime Minister added that once it is signed, the government will have additional resources to procure weapons and ammunition and pay salaries to security and defence personnel. Background: The Tax Committee recently supported reversing retrospective tax increases for individual entrepreneurs in 2024. Support UP or become our patron! HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) A Zimbabwean court freed an opposition leader and 34 activists Wednesday after sentencing them to suspended prison terms for participating in what authorities termed an unlawful gathering. Magistrate Collet Ncube sentenced Jameson Timba, interim leader of a faction of the splintered Citizens Coalition for Change party, to a suspended two-year prison term after he and the activists had been held for more than five months in custody. The activists received lesser prison terms, also wholly suspended. The magistrate convicted Timba and the activists last week. He acquitted 30 others who had been detained alongside Timba. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police arrested them at Timbas residence in the capital, Harare, and charged them with disorderly conduct and participating in a gathering with the intent to promote violence, breaches of peace or bigotry. The court acquitted them of the disorderly conduct charges in September. Their lawyers said they were at the house for a barbecue to commemorate the Day of the African Child, a calendar event of the African Union. Amnesty International described the detention as part of a disturbing pattern of repression by Zimbabwean authorities under President Emmerson Mnangagwa and called for an investigation into allegations that some of the activists were tortured while in police detention. Mnangagwa's ruling ZANU-PF party has long been accused of using the police and courts to quash opposition, including under the autocratic former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled for 37 years before Mnangagwa replaced him in a coup in 2017. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Chris Wedel/Android Central What you need to know The Digital Markets Act in the European Union has forced Google to change or remove some trip-planning features in Google Search. Price comparison sites are asking for more, and Google is proposing new changes to its DMA compliance for trip planning in Search. As part of the changes, Google will test removing advanced hotel-booking features entirely in Germany, Belgium and Estonia for a limited time. Google is a useful resource for trip planning, with features aimed to help users compare prices and book directly with airlines, hotels, and more. However, that might be changing for users in the European Union. Google has made significant changes to its offerings in the region to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Price comparison sites still aren't happy, and are advocating for Google Search to go back to basics, at least as it relates to travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the past, the company explains that it boosted listings for comparison sites in certain categories, including flights and hotels, for free. It also removed features from its travel maps and stopped showing flight information. The company says that these moves were made to comply with the DMA, and benefitted travel aggregators and comparison sites. Meanwhile, it argued that the changes negatively affected small businesses. To meet the asks of price comparison sites and travel aggregators, Google is proposing the following changes, as outlined in a blog post: Expanded and equally formatted units that allow users to choose between results that take them to comparison sites and results that take them directly to supplier websites when they are searching for products, restaurants, flights or hotels. Other new formats that allow comparison sites and suppliers to show more information about what is on their websites, like prices and pictures. New ad units for comparison sites. That still may not be enough, as Google claims some sites are requesting "a complete ban on anything thats more sophisticated than a simple blue link to a website." If enacted, that would mark a drastic shift for Google Search's travel offerings in the EU. To find out what that would look like, it's removing these advanced features entirely in a few countries. It's similar to a test from earlier this month, where Google removed content from news publishers in the EU to test its impact on Search. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Users in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia stopped seeing free hotel features in Google Search on Nov. 25, and will be without them for the duration of this "short, temporary test." The test takes away the map, hotel results curated below the map, hotel property info, and other Google Search information. Some features will be available if a user searches for a hotel directly, rather than a vague query like "hotels in Germany." It's unclear what long-term changes the EU may require Google to make in order to remain compliant with the DMA. However, if price comparison sites have their way, Google may have to go back to the basics and that may not be such a good thing for the average user. European investigators believe a Chinese-owned commercial ship deliberately dragged its anchor to sabotage the two undersea telecommunications cables cut in the Baltic Sea earlier this month. However, Western law enforcement and intelligence officials told The Wall Street Journal that they dont believe the Chinese government was involved. Instead, the probe is focused on whether Russian intelligence persuaded the vessels captain to carry out the operation. For the past week, NATO warships from Denmark, Germany and Sweden have surrounded the 225-meter-long Yi Peng 3. The ships Chinese owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is reportedly cooperating with investigators. The shipper allowed the commercial vessel to be stopped in international waters. The WSJ says Swedish and German authorities are negotiating with the owner to access the ship and its crew. International maritime laws prevent NATO from forcing the vessel to sail into one of their ports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement European investigators believe the Yi Peng 3 dragged its anchor for over 100 miles along the Baltic seabed from November 17 to 18. They reportedly viewed satellite and other data showing that the vessel moved significantly slower than usual while weighed down by the anchor. It severed two data cables: one connecting Lithuania and Sweden and another between Finland and Germany. After cutting the second cable, the ship reportedly zig-zagged, raised anchor, and continued. Officials said the ships transponder was shut down during the incident. Investigators told theWSJ that their review of the anchor and hull showed damage consistent with dragging and cutting the cable. Its extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way, a senior European investigator told the WSJ. An analytics company specializing in international shipping told the paper that the likelihood of accidental anchor dragging appears minimal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Yi Peng 3 sailed solely in Chinese waters from December 2019 to early March 2024. At that point, it suddenly began carrying Russian coal and other goods and began stopping in Russian ports. When the Danish Navy stopped it, it was carrying Russian fertilizer. In September, the US issued a warning about a heightened risk of Russian interference with undersea data cables. The roll-out across Africa of Elon Musks Starlink internet service could help speed the adoption of telehealth services on the continent. The tech tycoons satellite internet offering has been launched in 15 African nations since the start of 2023, bringing reliable high-speed internet to previously unconnected remote areas. Its arrival has also led some local providers to respond with a price war, cutting costs for users to compete with the satellite arm of Mr Musks SpaceX venture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starlink could now help boost online telehealth services which give patients consultations and treatment remotely online, Reuters reported. Zimbabwe earlier this year became one of the latest countries to give Starlink a green light. Tawanda Njerere, co-founder and chief operations officer of the ZimSmart Villages initiative, said he was now using Starlink to connect patients to its BatsiHealth online health platform. He told Reuters: Starlink provides the fast, low-latency connectivity that virtual consultations need for real-time telepresence on BatsiHealth. Our doctors can conduct video consultations with near in-person clarity, seeing fine visual details essential for accurate diagnoses. Difference between a life saved and lost Zimbabwes health sector was held up as a model for other African nations in the 1980s as the country built a renowned network of primary health clinics, taking care into rural areas, and general hospitals in towns and cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the health sector has been in crisis for the best part of two decades after the countrys economy collapsed when Robert Mugabe seized white-owned farms, prompting sanctions and international isolation. Starlinks roll out has had some difficulties since it launched in Nigeria early last year, with complaints about speed and regulatory challenges as it tries to break into markets. The service is still at the higher price end of offerings, but it is becoming a popular service in its own right and its arrival has prompted others to cut their prices. Starlink delivers high-speed internet through a constellation of thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites that SpaceX started deploying in 2019 at a height of about 300 miles above the planet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The service has more than 2.6m customers globally and is aiming to expand in underserved markets like Africa. Starlinks website says its connections are sold out in many major African cities, including Nairobi, Abuja, Accra, Lusaka and Harare. Willard Shoko, a Starlink researcher and consultant, predicted that Starlinks presence in Zimbabwe could revolutionise its health sector though more ground stations were needed to boost services. He said: When you connect hospitals and clinics to high-speed internet, it means that doctors from anywhere in the world can collaborate. This can be the difference between a life being saved and a life being lost. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Questen Inghram is a Murrow News Fellow at the Yakima Herald-Republic whose beat focuses on government in Central Washington communities. Email qinghram@yakimaherald.com or call 509-577-7674. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, email news@yakimaherald.com. A road connecting Sopron in Hungary to Burgenland via Klingenbach and Siegendorf has been blocked with a concrete barrier to curb traffic from Hungarian commuters. This follows the closure of the Agfalva-Schattendorf crossing nearly two years ago, as the town of Klingenbach sought relief from increasing congestion. The immediate impact has been severe, with worsening morning traffic jams at Soprons border crossing, Telex reports. Thousands of commuters continue seeking alternative routes, heightening concerns that other Austrian border communities may follow suit. Austria has maintained "temporary" border controls with Hungary since 2015, prompting legal challenges. However, a legal complaint against Austrias border practices was recently dismissed, with the court ruling the measures not entirely unlawful. Click here to know more about Xmas Markets in Vienna MTI Stock Photo - for illustrative purposes only 2024 Understanding China Conference to Be Held in Guangzhou, December 2-4 - 2024-11-27 23:23 The press conference for the 2024 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou) was held in Beijing on November 27. The conference, themed "Carry Through the Reform to the EndChinese Modernization and New Opportunities for World Development," will convene global political leaders, scholars, industry pioneers, and representatives of international organizations at the Guangzhou Yuexiu International Conference Center. Discussions will delve into the significant role of Chinese modernization in advancing global modernization processes and its global implications. The conference also aims to highlight the distinct features, practical pathways, and dynamic aspects of Chinese modernization, injecting Chinese wisdom and vitality into a world grappling with turbulence and transformation. Spanning three days, the event will feature opening and keynote sessions, plenary speeches and guest dialogues, six parallel seminars, fourteen thematic forums, two closed-door discussions and a series of auxiliary activities. Key Features and Significance Xu Weixin, President of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy (CIIDS) and former Vice President of the Central Party School highlighted three major aspects of this year's conference agenda: 1.Promoting the Global Significance of Chinese Modernization: Explaining the implications of Chinas ongoing reforms and modernization efforts for the global landscape. 2.Showcasing the Characteristics and Achievements of Chinese Modernization: Demonstrating how comprehensive reform invigorates global development. 3.Fostering Civilizational Exchanges: Highlighting the excellence of Chinese traditional culture and the advantages and prospects of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a model of Chinese modernization. Xu remarked, "Amid a turbulent global landscape, China remains steadfast as a stabilizing force. This conference actively addresses global challenges and proposes actionable solutions. Through the lens of civilizational exchange, we hope to showcase China's wisdom and responsibility in promoting harmony and mutual understanding, enabling the world to better understand China, the Communist Party of China, and the essence of Chinese modernization." Participants and Growing Global Influence To date, 100 representatives from the international community and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, have confirmed attendance. This includes nine former heads of state or government, 16 ministerial-level officials, and two foreign envoys to China. Over 200 Chinese guests are also set to participate and share their ideas in the forums, with the total attendance expected to reach approximately 600. The significant increase in foreign attendees reflects the growing global influence of the Understanding China Conference. It also underscores the international community's strong interest in using this platform to engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, and build consensus. Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder Sales In India: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) announced that the Urban Cruiser Hyryder has surpassed the milestone of 1 lakh unit sales in India. Launched in July 2022, the Urban Cruiser Hyryder clocked the 1 lakh mark in 28 months. In comparison, its sibling - Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara had crossed 2 lakh sales figures in July 2024, although it was launched almost two months later than the Hyryder, in September 20022. Priced between Rs 11.14 lakh and Rs 19.99 both ex-showroom), the Hyryder comes with three powertrain options: -- A 1.5-litre mild-hybrid setup delivering 103 PS/137 Nm with both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations (AWD only with the MT) and a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission options. -- A 1.5-litre strong-hybrid system producing 116 PS (combined) with an e-CVT and a front-wheel-drive system. -- A 1.5-litre petrol-CNG engine producing 88 PS and 121.5 Nm, available with a 5-speed MT only. The SUV offers class-leading mileage of up to 27.97 km/l in the Self Charging Hybrid variants, 21.12 km/l in the NeoDrive (MT) variants, and 26.6 km/kg in CNG variants. Commenting on the milestone, Sabari Manohar Vice President, Sales-Service-Used Car Business, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, The positive response to the Urban Cruiser Hyryder reflects our commitment to delivering innovative mobility solutions tailored to the evolving preferences of Indian customers." "This milestone is not just a number; it signifies the beginning of a new era in SUV technology that prioritizes sustainability, performance, and customer satisfaction. The Urban Cruiser Hyryder continues to uphold Toyotas legacy of driving change through innovation and environmental consciousness, and we are deeply grateful for the trust our customers have placed in us. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our customers who have been instrumental in achieving this milestone, he added. Recently, Toyota Kirloskar Motor also celebrated the milestone of 1,00,000 units sold for the Innova HyCross. New Delhi: Former Attorney General and Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday criticised the indictment by a US court alleging bribery charges against the Adani Group, describing it as "completely silent" and lacking specifics. His comments followed a recent filing by Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) with the stock exchanges confirming that Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet Jaain had been cleared of bribery charges by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Addressing a press conference, Rohatgi clarified that his views were personal and based on his legal expertise. "I want to tell you that these are my personal legal views. I'm not a spokesman for the Adani Group. I am a lawyer, and I have been appearing for the Adani Group in several cases. So, I have gone through this indictment by the US court, which is about 54 pages long," he stated. Rohatgi detailed the charges listed in the indictment, explaining that there were five counts. He emphasised the importance of Count 1 and Count 5 while pointing out that neither Gautam Adani nor Sagar Adani was named in these counts. "Count number 1, contained in paragraphs 124 onwards, is against certain other persons minus the two Adanis. It includes some of their officers and one foreign person. That is the conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), somewhat similar to the Prevention of Corruption Act in India. In that count, the Adanis are not named, though their officers are," he said. "There are two or three other counts relating to securities and bonds. In these, the Adanis and others are named. In the last count, which is very important, relating to obstruction of justice, the Adanis are not named, their officers are not named, but certain other people, including a foreign party, are mentioned. It is unclear whether they are connected to the Adanis," he further elaborated. Questioning the lack of specifics in the indictment, Rohatgi said, "When you look at a charge sheet, you have to be specific to say that so-and-so has done such-and-such act." "This charge sheet alleges that these people, including the Adanis, have bribed Indian officials in Indian entities relating to the supply and purchase of power. But I do not find a single name or detail in the charge sheet as to who has been bribed, in what manner, or which department the official belongs to. This charge sheet is completely silent," he said. Expressing scepticism about how such allegations could be addressed, Rohatgi added, "I don't know how one can respond to these kinds of charge sheets. I am sure the Adanis will seek legal opinions, including from American lawyers." Speaking to IANS separately, he reiterated, "There are two counts in the indictment where the Adanis are not mentioned, while there are three where they have been mentioned. However, the details of who was bribed, how, why, and where are lacking in the vague charge sheet." The AGEL, in its filing, has cited the news reporting by various media houses on the bribery and corruption charges against Adani Officials as 'Incorrect'. "Media articles which state that certain of our directors namely Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement filed by Adani Green Energy Ltd. "Mr Gautam Adani, Mr Sagar Adani and Mr Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added. In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant. The DoJ Indictment, which has five counts, does not have any mention of and has excluded Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani or Vneet Jaain in Count One: 'Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; neither does it have mention of these three names in Count Five: "Conspiracy to obstruct justice." Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) became an integral part of Indian politics and democracy in 1998. Its use was further expanded in 1999 to 45 Parliamentary Constituencies and later, in February 2000, to 45 Assembly Constituencies of the Haryana Assembly elections. While the NDA had won the 1999 Lok Sabha polls through ballots, the Indian National Lok Dal emerged victorious in the Haryana assembly polls held a year later. Fast forward to the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the EVMs (more than one million) were used in all 543 Parliamentary Constituencies in the country. The Congress-led UPA stormed to power and retained the reign in its hands five years later in 2009. The Congress ruled the country for 10 years between 2004 and 2014 winning the polls held through EVMs and it has no complaint. When the BJP under Narendra Modi won the 2014 Parliamentary elections with a huge mandate, the Congress party's elegy against EVM began without hesitation. The party failed to register that it was UPA in power and not the NDA. Since 2014, the Congress/UPA has won several state elections including Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana despite the BJP being in power at the Centre. In the tapestry of the recently concluded four assembly elections - Haryana, J&K, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the political landscape painted a balanced portrait. The NDA emerged victorious in two realms, while the INDIA bloc (formerly the UPA) claimed triumph in the other two, crafting a tale of evenly split fortunes on the electoral canvas. In the Lok Sabha polls 2024, the Congress emerged as the second largest party, taming the BJP's chariot. However, they continue to blame the EVMs for their political mandates. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected a PIL seeking a return to ballot papers in place of the EVMs. The top court noted that the machines are blamed only when one loses an election. "When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered. Now, this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered," said Justice Vikram Nath presiding over a two-judge bench while dismissing the PIL. The ballot papers stand as a stark reminder of a time when democracy bowed under the ruthless whims of lawless forces. Looting and arson were once so widespread that they even found their way into cinematic portrayals. Rather than constantly lamenting the use of EVMs, Congress and its allies should focus on addressing real issues and reconnecting with voters to win their trust and support. The same goes for the BJP as well. The Election Commission must adopt a more proactive approach to addressing complaints about EVMs raised by political parties. For instance, when a candidate alleged that an EVM's battery showed a 99% charge even after polling had concluded, the ECI should have promptly provided explanations or evidence to clarify how post-poll machines can remain nearly fully charged. Similarly, all other allegations should be investigated without delay. As stewards of the worlds most vibrant democracy, both the ECI and political parties share a responsibility to collaborate in building a robust, transparent electoral system founded on trust and accountability. Maharashtra CM Post Race LIVE: Discussions On Govt Formation With BJP Top Brass Tomorrow, Says Ajit Pawar Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar: Former Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar says, "All three of us (Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar) are coming to Delhi tomorrow. Further discussions will be held there. Discussions on the formation of the Government with a CM and two Deputy CMs will be held." Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar: Former Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar says, "All three of us (Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar) are coming to Delhi tomorrow. Further discussions will be held there. Discussions on the formation of the Government with a pic.twitter.com/5l9LzMWlWl November 27, 2024 Maharashtra CM Post Race LIVE: There Was No Difference Of Opinion In Mahayuti, Says Fadnavis "In our Mahayuti, there was never a difference of opinions towards one another. We have always made decisions by sitting together and we have said before elections that we will take the decision (regarding CM's post) collectively after the elections. A few people have doubts which Eknath Shinde ji has clarified today. Soon we will meet our leaders and will take the decision." says BJP leader and former Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Maharashtra caretaker CM Eknath Shinde's statement - "Whatever decision is made by the senior leaders of the BJP regarding the CM post, their candidate will be fully supported by Shiv Sena" #WATCH | Nagpur | "In our Mahayuti, there was never a difference of opinions towards one another. We have always made decisions by sitting together and we have said before elections that we will take the decision (regarding CM's post) collectively after the elections. A few pic.twitter.com/HH7DNo3l77 ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 Maharashtra CM Post Race LIVE: Shiv Sena MPs Meet Amit Shah Amid the suspense over the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) MPs met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament on Wednesday. This comes a day after Shinde resigned as the Chief Minister, paving the way for the appointment of a new government amid haggling by his Shiv Sena faction for continuity and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressing for its candidate for the top post. Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: Shiv Sena Chief Speaks On Mahayuti's Landslide Victory "The landslide victory that Mahayuti has got, I thank everyone for that, our 'ladli bahinas', ladle brothers, ladle farmers... The opportunity to work for 2.5 years as CM, the dream of Balasaheb Thackeray to make a Shiv Sainik the CM... that dream was fulfilled by PM Modi and Amit Shah. They stood behind me like a rock, I am proud of that," says Maharashtra caretaker CM Eknath Shinde Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: Shiv Sena Chief Responds To Reports That He Was Asked Not To Continue As CM I am not disappointed, we fight, we dont cry: Eknath Shinde responds to reports that he was asked not to continue as Maharashtra CM. Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: Worked As CM For Welfare Of People, Says Shinde I worked as CM not to become popular but for welfare of people of Maharashtra: Eknath Shinde in Thane. Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: What Did Shinde Tell PM Modi, Shah? I called PM Modi, Amit Shah and told them to decide (on next CM), and assured them that I will abide by that decision: Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: No Speed Breaker From Our Side, Says Shiv Sena Chief Shiv Sena will fully support BJPs decision to name the next Maharashtra CM, there is no speed breaker from our side: Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde Press Conference LIVE: As the suspense over the face of Maharashtra Chief Minister continues, caretaker CM Eknath Shinde addressed a press conference a press conference in Thane on Wednesday. While addressing reporters, Shinde said that he did not come as a CM but as a common man and he is just a common man. He further stated that he does not need any protocol. The Maharashtra Caretaker CM said that he spoke to Prime Minister Modi and assured him that he will he will not create hurdles in formation of government in the state. This comes a day after Shinde resigned as the Chief Minister, paving the way for the appointment of a new government amid haggling by his Shiv Sena faction for continuity and the BJP pressing for its candidate for the top post. The uncertainty surrounding the selection of Shinde's successor remains, as coalition leaders have yet to reach a consensus on the candidate. Accompanied by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Shinde met Governor C P Radhakrishnan earlier in the day to officially submit his resignation. On Wednesday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat said that the next Maharashtra Chief Minister should be from Shiv Sena. Speaking to ANI, Shirsat said, "We want the CM to be from Shiv Sena. We fought the election under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde, and I believe that the top leaders will also bless him. You will be able to see the new government in Maharashtra maximum by December 2. The swearing-in ceremony will be organized on a grand scale, and I think it will be likely held at the Wankhede stadium." Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske said that there is no confusion on the CM and the decision would take some time. The ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a thumping victory in the recent assembly elections, where it secured a commanding 230 out of 288 seats. The BJP on its own walked away with 132 seats followed by Shiv Sena Shinde faction with 57 and Ajit Pawar led NCP with 41 seats. To enhance the security of confidential official information of Government departments Jammu and Kashmir Government issued a Directive to Curb the Use of Third-Party Communication Platforms for Sensitive Communications. In a significant move to enhance information security, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has issued a directive prohibiting its officers and officials from using third-party platforms such as WhatsApp and Gmail for sharing sensitive and confidential communications. This decision comes in response to a growing trend among government employees to utilize these platforms, which the government deems pose serious risks to the integrity and security of official information. A circular released by the General Administration Department (GAD) asked government employees not to use third-party communication methods to communicate secret documents. The order reads 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. Using third-party communication tools can lead to several potential issues including unauthorized 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." Consequently, the use of such tools could result in severe security breaches that jeopardize the integrity of governmental operations. To emphasize the importance of exercising discretion and adhering to established protocols for handling official communications, particularly those of a sensitive, secret, or confidential nature. The following guidelines are issued for the officers/officials of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir: 1) Classified information falls under the following four categories namely, top secret, secret, confidential and restricted. 2) The use of a 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. 3) In the context of the e-Office system, the Departments must deploy proper firewalls and white-list of IP addresses. The e-Office server should be accessed through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for enhanced security. Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma said his government has decided to remove non-performing employees from service. During a meeting to review the initiatives of the Education department held in Aizawl, Lalduhoma on Tuesday said that committees are being formed in departments to review the services of employees under the state government. He said that initiatives were taken to ensure a qualified and efficient workforce. "We feel that it is better we relieve all unqualified employees, who are no longer worth to be employed, to exit from their services as per norms. We are committed to having efficient employees, who maintain good quality of services," the chief minister told the meeting. Lalduhoma said that his government is taking steps to ensure that all projects are executed properly and effectively. "Projects are being closely monitored by the state project monitoring committee, which has inspected about 40 ongoing projects so far. We will be stringent in implementing and monitoring projects in the state," he said. The chief minister also said that the government is taking measures to streamline the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which was earlier availed and used by departments on their own. He said that the government has decided to centralise CSR from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and all departments will seek CSR with the knowledge of a CSR cell. Lalduhoma further said that his government is desirous of avoiding Central funding, which has a high percentage of state matching share. All departments must submit their proposal for projects to the Centre through the state planning department to avoid overlapping project proposals, he said. Maharashtra CM News: The Mahayuti alliance secured a majority in the recent assembly elections held on November 20. The Election Commission of India (ECI) declared the results for all 288 constituencies on November 28, raising questions about the Chief Minister's post. Amid intense negotiations within the alliance for the Chief Minister post Between BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena candidate Eknath Shinde, the Bharatiya Janata Party indicated that there is no question of replicating the Bihar formula for the chief ministership in the state. BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla told The Indian Express that the saffron party is not going to follow the Bihar model in Maharashtra. He explained that, unlike in Bihar, where the party committed to making Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister ahead of the elections and honoured that commitment, no such arrangement will be made in Maharashtra. He said, In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership. Above all, the party never gave any commitment of continuing with Eknath Shinde as CM after the elections. On the contrary, the top leadership maintained throughout the elections that a decision on the CM would be based on the electoral outcome. Earlier, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena demanded that the Bihar pattern in Maharashtra. The party leader said, We feel that the Bihar pattern should be implemented in the state for the Maharashtra chief ministerial position and Eknath Shinde should become the CM again. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde resigned from the top position in a constitutional obligation but the race for CM post continued in the state. Maharashtra CM Suspense: As the suspense over the face of the next Maharashtra Chief Minister continues, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar cleared the air over the formula for the top post. The only difference, however, will be that the CM face is most likely to be from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Speaking to reporters, former Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar said, "All three of us (Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar) are coming to Delhi tomorrow. Further discussions will be held there. Discussions on the formation of the Government with a CM and two Deputy CMs will be held." Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar: Former Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar says, "All three of us (Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar) are coming to Delhi tomorrow. Further discussions will be held there. Discussions on the formation of the Government with a pic.twitter.com/5l9LzMWlWl ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 The arrangement, which is likely to become a reality in the state, is similar to the deal three partners of the ruling alliance Mahayuti had ahead of the polls, except the saffron party has the upper hand now following a landslide victory last week. The BJP handed a crushing defeat to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the opposition alliance of the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions of the Sena and NCP, winning 132 (of 288) Assembly seats on its own and 235 with its allies. While the new CM has not yet been finalized, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who held the post between 2014 and 2019, and for a few days again in November, following the 2019 Assembly election, after Ajit Pawar's first attempted rebellion, is the top contender. On Wednesday, Maharashtra CM Shinde broke his silence and said he has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will abide by whatever decision the BJP takes on naming his successor. Shindes announcement followed vociferous demands by his Shiv Sena party leaders that he continue as CM as the ruling Mahayuti alliance scored a landslide victory under his leadership. Addressing a press conference in Thane, Shinde (60) said he will fully support the saffron partys leadership decision to name the next CM and wont be a hurdle in the process. I called PM Modi and Amit Shah yesterday and told them to decide (on who will be the CM post) and assured them that I will abide by whatever decision they take, Shinde said. Our Shiv Sena will fully support the BJPs decision to name the next Maharashtra CM. There is no speed breaker from our side, Shinde said, showing no trace on his face of having to swallow the bitter pill. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar told reporters that the new CM is likely to be sworn in either on November 30 or December 1. There will be two deputy chief ministers in the new government, he added. Shinde rubbished reports that he was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the ruling Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership. "Nobody is annoyed. We have worked as Mahayuti," he said. (With PTI Inputs) On the allegations against Adani Group, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday called for the arrest of Gautam Adani and accused the Modi government of shielding him despite serious charges. In his recent statement outside parliament, Gandhi said, "You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges." "You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges. The point is that he has to be arrested as we have said. Hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman (Gautam Adani) has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores, he should be in jail and the Govt is protecting him..." Gandhi said. #WATCH | On the allegations against Adani Group, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says "You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges. The point is that he has to be arrested as we have said. Hundreds of people are being pic.twitter.com/rBhMs66mUh ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2024 Early on Wednesday, the Adani Group entity said that the embattled billionaire Gautam Adani and his aides have not been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In a stock exchange filing, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) stated that the US Department of Justice's (US DOJ) indictment filed in a New York court last week does not reference Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of the ports-to-energy conglomerate, nor his nephew Sagar or Vneet Jaain in any charges related to conspiracy to violate the FCPA. Last week, the Adani Group denied all allegations as baseless and stated that it would pursue legal action to defend itself. (With PTI Inputs) Parliament Winter Session: The members of the opposition stormed out of the meeting of the joint parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The opposition alleged that its proceedings had become a mockery. They, however, returned to attend the meeting after an hour amid indications that the committee chairperson would seek an extension in its term. The tenure of the panel might see an extension till the first week of the budget session, news agency PTI reported, citing sources. They further stated that a final decision would have to be taken by the Lok Sabha. According to media reports, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday sought more time for the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf amendment bill, days after opposition MPs made the same demand. The MP from Jharkhand's Godda constituency moved a resolution during a meeting of the parliamentary panel on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, A Raja of the DMK, Sanjay Singh of AAP, and Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC protested the conduct of committee chairperson Jagdambika Pal, alleging that he was keen to wrap up its proceedings by the November 29 deadline without completing due process. Gogoi said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had indicated the committee might be given an extension, but it appeared that some "big minister" was directing the action of Pal. TMC MP Banerjee said, "It is a mockery." YSR Congress MP V Vijaysai Reddy said all parties not allied with the BJP wanted an extension, but Pal called for finishing its work so that the report could be tabled in the Lok Sabha on November 29. New Delhi: Akhil Akkineni, the younger son of actor Nagarjuna, is officially engaged to Zainab Ravdjee, adding to the joyous celebrations in the Akkineni family. On Tuesday, Akhil took to social media to share the exciting news with his fans and followers. The actor posted a series of pictures with Zainab and wrote, "Found my forever. Happy to announce that Zainab Ravdjee and I are happily engaged." Take A Look At The Post Proud father Nagarjuna also shared his excitement on social media. He took to his X (formerly Twitter) account, expressing his happiness over the engagement. We are thrilled to announce the engagement of our son, @AkhilAkkineni8, to our daughter-in-law-to-be Zainab Ravdjee! We couldnt be happier to welcome Zainab into our family. Please join us in congratulating the young couple and wishing them a lifetime filled with love, joy, and your countless blessings, Nagarjuna wrote, adding to the warmth surrounding the couples big announcement. We are thrilled to announce the engagement of our son, @AkhilAkkineni8, to our daughter in law to be Zainab Ravdjee! We couldn't be happier to welcome Zainab into our family. Please join us to congratulate the young couple and wish them a lifetime filled with love, joy, and pic.twitter.com/5KM7BU00bz Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) November 26, 2024 This announcement comes just days before Akhil's older brother, Naga Chaitanya, is set to marry actress Sobhita Dhulipala. Reacting to the news of his brothers engagement, Naga Chaitanya expressed his happiness, told Zoom, I am so happy for Akhil. His fiancee Zainab is a lovely girl and I am so happy they have decided to spend their lives together. He later added, But, their wedding will happen in 2025." Akhil was previously engaged to fashion designer Shriya Bhupal, but their engagement, which was planned for 2017, was called off for undisclosed reasons. Akhil Akkineni, a popular actor in Telugu cinema, is known for his roles in films like Sisindri, Aatadukundam Raa, Mr. Majnu, and Agent. Based in India, he has steadily built a strong career in the South Indian film industry. New Delhi: Sreeleela sets the screen ablaze with her sensational moves in the much-awaited 'Kissik song' from highly anticipated Pushpa 2: The Rule. The song, which has been one of the most anticipated tracks of the year, has finally dropped and fans couldnt have asked for more. Sreeleela left audiences mesmerized with her incredible energy and captivating presence. Her performance has not only caught the attention of fans but also solidified her place as one of the most desirable stars in the industry today. Dancing Queen Sreeleela and Allu Arjuns electrifying song set the stage on fire, leaving the audience spellbound with their energy and charisma. According to the sources, "She learned the steps for the song on the set and shot it the same day. Her dedication and effortless moves have truly mesmerized everyone! This demonstrates not only her natural talent but also her commitment to delivering the best performance possible, even under tight time constraints. Sreeleelas rise to stardom has been phenomenal. She first captured hearts with the hit number Kurchi Madathapetti from Guntur Kaaram alongside Mahesh Babu, earning praise for her energy and screen presence. Since then, her career has soared, with each project highlighting her versatility. With the release of electrifying song 'Kissik' from Pushpa 2: The Rule, Sreeleela proves that her dedication, hard work, and undeniable talent are paving the way for a bright future in the industry. Pushpa 2: The Rule stars Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, alongside Jagapathi Babu, Dhananjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil and Anasuya Bharadwaj. Slated to release in theatres on December 5th, 2024 Pushpa 2: The Rule is directed by Ace director Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers in association with Sukumar Writings. Music of the film is on T-Series. Mumbai: Actor Sunny Deol took to social media to wish his son Karan Deol on his birthday. On Wednesday, the doting father posted a heartfelt video showing the father-sons candid moments. The video captured several heartwarming and joyful moments shared by the Deol family during vacations and other cherished occasions. The clip opens with Sunny Deol relaxing on a rooftop, surrounded by breathtaking snowy mountains and clouds. The actor playfully says, Hi, were father and son here, sitting on the rooftop trying to catch these clouds. The clip transitions into a series of heartwarming snapshots, showcasing the special bond between Sunny and his son, Karan. Some moments also include his younger son, Rajveer Deol, and Dharmendra. In one of the clips, the 'Hero' actor is seen motivating his son with heartfelt words, saying, "This is what it is. Nothing to worry about. Just do it. Okay, love you," before planting a tender kiss on Karans head. The post concludes with a video of Karan successfully completing the task in the mountains, cheered on by Sunny, who enthusiastically exclaims, "That was good Wow, Rocky! Sharing this endearing video, Sunny wrote in the caption, Happy Birthday My Rocky! You are my pride and my heart. Karan Deol stepped into acting in 2019 with his debut film Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, co-starring Sahher Bambba, and directed by his father, Sunny Deol. Reports suggest that Karans next project will be "Apne 2", featuring a powerhouse cast that includes his father Sunny Deol, grandfather Dharmendra, and uncle Bobby Deol. On the other hand, Sunny is currently busy shooting for Rajkumar Santoshis movie "Lahore 1947" alongside Preity Zinta. He also has an upcoming war drama Border 2 in the pipeline. Xi meets Lee Hsien Loong, calling for boosting China-Singapore cooperation Xinhua) 07:58, November 27, 2024 Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong here on Tuesday, calling for further synergizing development strategies and boosting bilateral cooperation. Commending the remarkable achievements Singapore made during Lee's tenure as prime minister, Xi spoke highly of Lee's long-time support for China-Singapore cooperation. The two sides established an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership last year, setting a strategic course for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said. Noting that next year will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, Xi called on the two countries to strengthen high-level exchanges, further synergize development strategies, and deepen cooperation in various fields, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to regional peace and prosperity. As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu Province, Xi said the industrial park represents a vivid example of bilateral cooperation and bears witness to Singapore's deep involvement in China's reform and opening up. "China will always focus on running its own affairs well, and has confidence in maintaining sound economic momentum in the long run and achieving high-quality development," said Xi. China welcomes Singapore to continue being a forerunner in cooperation with China, advance major cooperation projects, seize the opportunities brought by digital and green development, and write a new chapter in bilateral cooperation in the new era, said Xi. Xi said that amid risks and challenges, not a single country can be immune, while upholding solidarity, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness is the right path to tread. China is ready to work with Singapore to practice genuine multilateralism, follow the trend of economic globalization, uphold international fairness and justice, reject bloc confrontation and division, and build an Asian community with a shared future, Xi added. Recalling his China visit last year, Lee said the bilateral relations have since been further strengthened, and the meeting of the bilateral cooperation mechanism has been successfully held. He said Singapore has full confidence in China's future, adding that the country will continue deepening cooperation with China and take an active part in Chinese modernization. Lee went on to say that under the current complex international situation, all countries should have a long-term vision and stay committed to multilateralism to jointly address risks and challenges and better benefit the people. The two sides also exchanged views on major issues of common concern, such as China-U.S. relations and the regional situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senior Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Koko commends rice stakeholders for uniting to strengthen PH rice industry Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today commended over 200 rice stakeholders from across the country who gathered for the 2024 National Rice Industry Stakeholders Conference. The conference, organized by the Department of Agriculture-National Rice Program (DA-NRP) and the DA-Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), took place from November 25-27, 2024. Pimentel stressed that while the conference is a significant step forward, it is just one of the many actions necessary to improve rice production and availability in the country. "This is just one of the many steps we need to take to strengthen rice production and ensure availability for every Filipino," Pimentel said. "Collaboration and innovation are essential in building a resilient rice industry that supports both our farmers and consumers." Pimentel also echoed the call for responsible rice consumption dubbed as "Riceponsibility" to minimize food wastage. "Bawal ang extra rice kung hindi mauubos. Ang bawat butil ng kanin na nasasayang ay pinaghihirapan ng ating mga magsasaka. Let's do our share to minimize food waste," Pimentel said. Pimentel emphasized the importance of collaboration and innovation in strengthening the rice industry. "The rice industry is vital to our nation's food security and economic well-being. I applaud the Department of Agriculture and all the stakeholders for coming together to discuss solutions and chart a path towards a more prosperous and resilient rice sector," Pimentel said. "The conference provides a valuable platform for sharing knowledge, exploring new technologies, and forging partnerships that will benefit Filipino farmers and consumers alike," he added. Embrace the power of yoga and take a step towards a healthier lifestyle with our exclusive collection of yoga mats, now at discounted prices during the Myntra Black Friday Sale. Whether you're perfecting your poses, meditating, or simply stretching, a quality mat can make all the difference. The much-awaited Myntra Black Friday Sale is here, running from November 27 to December 1, offering 4080% off on premium brands. Grab discounts on top-quality fashion, accessories, and beauty products from renowned names in the industry. Avail Flat 300 off with code MYNTRA300 or enjoy 500 off using WED30PERCENTOFF, and make the most of the free shipping offer. Shop 100% original products, backed by Myntras easy returns and secure payment options. 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In a post on X, the Taiwanese MND said, "17 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 10 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 Tuesday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) detected five People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, seven PLAN vessels and one official ship. Four of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In a post on X, the MND stated, "5 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 southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." 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. Last week, 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. President Joe Biden has announced that Israel and Hezbollah, the militant group based in Lebanon, have agreed to a US-brokered peace deal aimed at establishing a "permanent cessation" of hostilities between the two parties. In his address to the nation on Tuesday, shortly after Israel's Security Cabinet approved the agreement, President Biden announced that as part of the ceasefire Israel will begin a gradual withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon over the next 60 days. Reportedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the agreement to the Security Cabinet which is intended to end the months-long fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The conflict which was sparked by the Gaza crisis has resulted in thousands of deaths and displacements. The US President said he spoke with Netanyahu and Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati. "I'm pleased to announce that their governments have accepted the United States' proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. I want to thank President Macron of France for his partnership in reaching this moment," he said, PTI reported. "I've directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon to forge a ceasefire to bring the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close," Biden said. "Under the deal reached today, effective at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," he added. Biden stated that any remnants of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be permitted to jeopardize Israel's security again. "Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese Army and the State Security Forces will deploy and take control of their own territory once again. Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt," he further added. (With PTI Inputs) On 26 November the regional attorney general (AG)s office in Chiles southernmost Magallanes region announced that it had opened an investigation into Presidentfor the improper dissemination of intimate images. End of preview - This article contains approximately 401 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Many English learners can improve their pronunciation by listening carefully to native English speakers and trying to match the up-and-down movement of their sentences. That is the opinion of Marla Yoshida, an English as a Foreign Language teacher at the University of California, Irvine. Yoshida wants English learners to look for details that are important to native speakers. These details are not only sounds, she notes. Native speakers also communicate by using pauses, and by saying some words more forcefully than others. As a result, native speakers might not understand an English learner even if the learner pronounces sounds correctly. The problem with 'listening and repeating' Yoshida says that English learners often study pronunciation by listening and repeating something from a recording. Yoshida says that English learners need to do more than listen and repeat in order to improve their pronunciation: I've gradually gotten really interested in pronunciation because it's something that students have trouble with, but they don't always get a lot of really good instruction in it. They just have someone say 'Listen to this recording and repeat and now, aren't you better?' No! You're not necessarily better. It takes more than that. The problem with listen and repeat, says Yoshida, is that when people repeat, they are often not trying to sound like the other person. You think that when students are repeating after the teacher, or whatever, they're trying to sound exactly like that person, but they're not. The sounds that you hear go into your brain and your brain interprets them or filters them through the sound system of your own language, and what your brain ends up understanding is not everything it's not what the speaker intended You have to try to get past that filter and hear all of the details that are important to someone else. So you have to try to duplicate what the person is saying." What details should you try to copy when you listen to an English speaker? Among others, the important details include pauses or breaths, which words to emphasize -- or give special attention to, and intonation the up and down movement of your voice as you speak. English speakers, in particular, use a broad range of up and down movements in their voices. These movements can be difficult for English learners to recognize and understand. Native English speakers might have difficulty understanding English learners when learners use a narrow range of their voice. In other words, native speakers have fewer vocal restrictions when they are speaking. English learners also may use intonation patterns that are different from those in Standard English. Studying how native speakers use intonation will help English learners better understand what native speakers do with their voices. Practical tips: If English learners want to start improving their pronunciation, Yoshida suggests that they do an activity called shadowing. Shadowing means finding a short audio or video clip that you like that's maybe 30 seconds long, one minute long, at most two minutes long, and listen to it. Listen to it a couple of times to get the meaning, and to hear where the speaker pauses, and what they emphasize and what the intonation sounds like because those are really important things too not just the sounds. Pronunciation is much more than saying each sound correctly because you can say each sound correctly and still sound really hard to understand So, find a short clip, listen to it, mark things that you notice, then listen a few more times just to sort of let those sounds become a part of your brain, and then start imitating. And imitate trying to sound exactly like that person. What does shadowing look like? Here is a short example of what a shadowing activity could look like. The example comes from Martha Kolln's book Rhetorical Grammar*: "One of the most important aspects of your expertise with sentences is your sense of rhythm." Listen to the sentence several times. Then try to mark the intonation of the voice. Listen for emphasized words. In the sentence, you can hear that some syllables are emphasized, while others are not. Overall, the voice falls after important syllables, notably at the end of the sentence. English sentences often emphasize words at the end of a sentence the place where you usually find new information. The next time you are reading and listening to a story, try to mark the patterns of intonation that you hear. Remember, all our stories have audio, so you can print the story and do a shadowing exercise while listening to the story. Give shadowing a try, and let us know how it works for you! I'm John Russell. John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. George Grow and Kelly Jean Kelly were the editors. Tim Murphey, a teacher in Japan, has a video of students doing shadowing and summarizing. You can watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/Bri4tpCbjR4?list=PL274902FC5BDAAA30 *Kolln, Martha. Rhetorical Grammar, 3rd Edition. Allyn and Bacon,1999. pg. 24 We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and post on our Facebook page. __________________________________________ Words in This Story pronunciation n. the way in which a word or name is pronounced pronounce v. to make the sound of a word or letter with your voice interprets v. explains the meaning of something filters v. passes something through a filter to remove something unwanted duplicate v. to make an exact copy of something emphasize v. to give special attention to something : to place emphasis on something intonation n. the rise and fall in the sound of your voice when you speak range n. all the notes that a particular person can sing or that a particular musical instrument can make syllable n. any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced On November 22, Ukrainian designer Andre Tan presented a new collection Fenix, inspired by the bird of the same name and the indomitable nature of Ukrainian women. The collection is inspired by the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth and immortality. ADVERTISIMENT The phoenix is known to rise from the ashes as a new version of itself, young and strong, and has long been an image of hope for many generations, firmly rooted in mythology and folklore around the world, the fashion designer's press service told OBOZ.UA. "The phoenix is an inspiring example of how you can find strength in difficult times and adversity, get up and keep moving. I consider a Ukrainian woman, every Ukrainian - all of us - to be a real phoenix today. We get up every day and are reborn in a new day, moving on to victory, because there is no turning back," explained Andre Tan. ADVERTISIMENT The main feature of Fenix is the use of a large amount of fringe. The collection includes a large number of designer dresses and solutions for everyday items. A special element of the collection is a tuxedo dress with fringe "wings" instead of standard sleeves. The fringe on the sleeves of dresses, tops and jackets is a pleasant (to the touch and to the eye) detail that creates the effect of movement, freedom and lightness, and adds a refined dynamics to things. In addition to a large number of dresses, there are also long, floor-length maxi skirts that will emphasize beauty regardless of body shape, because they are cut obliquely, at an angle - and thus perfectly fit any figure. ADVERTISIMENT The new collection also has two dominant characteristics. Firstly, it is a traditional functional convenience for Andre Tan, which helps a woman to be a "phoenix" every day and not to worry about her appearance. Because today's Ukrainian woman, due to military circumstances, is forced to perform many tasks and make many more decisions that she could have shared with her husband before, and she does not always have extra time for herself. At the same time, women at any age remain women: they crave attention, they want to feel beautiful, loved and desired. ADVERTISIMENT The second key characteristic of the Fenix collection, which also takes into account these women's needs. The sexiness of designer dresses with fringed sleeves helps to live life in the rhythm of dance and not lose inspiration even in unfavorable circumstances. "Sometimes, to make the right decision or properly appreciate what is happening around you, you need to get off the ground a little bit. To fly up like a bird. "Fenix is my New Year's resolution for all Ukrainians. To become a phoenix bird, to take off from the ground and make a wish. Everyone has the same wish, so it will definitely come true," the artist summarizes. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Authorities on Indonesias tourist island of Bali arrested a Filipino fugitive accused of helping scam over $67 million out of clients in the Philippines, officials said yesterday. Hector Aldwin Pantollana, 35, widely known in the Philippines as a casino junket operator, was arrested on Nov. 9 when an automatic gate at immigration in I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport in Bali identified him as a wanted person using biometric data, said Saffar M. Godam, the acting Director General of immigration at Indonesias Immigration and Correctional Ministry. He said Pantollana first arrived in Bali on Oct. 10, and on Oct. 31 Interpol released a so-called Red Notice for him, a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to detain or arrest a suspect wanted by a specific country. Indonesian authorities brought the suspect to Indonesias capital, Jakarta, for further investigation and will deport Pantollana to the Philippines on Wednesday, Godam said. Indonesias National Central Bureau Interpol chief Untung Widyatmoko said Pantollana was named as a suspect by the Philippines national police after he allegedly collected more than 4 billion Philippine pesos ($67.7 million) from thousands of people for fake investments. Widyatmoko lauded cooperation between immigration and the national police for capturing foreign criminals who have tried to hide in Indonesia. This collaboration aims to make the ASEAN region an area free from transnational crime and criminal hiding, Widyatmoko said. Indonesia, an archipelago nation on the crossroads between Asia and the South Pacific, is attractive to local, regional and global organized crime because of its geographical location and its multi-cultural society. Last month, Indonesias immigration officers in Bali arrested a Chinese suspect sought by Beijing for helping to run investment scams that brought in over $14 billion from clients in China. Indonesian authorities in September arrested Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of a town in the Philippine accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates. She has since been deported to the Philippines. In June, Chaowalit Thongduang, one of Thailands most wanted fugitives, was escorted back to Thailand on a Thai air force plane after being arrested in Bali following months on the run over allegations he was involved in several killings and drug trafficking. MDT/AP Chef Tams Seasons at Wynn Palace has earned a prestigious place in the Tatler Best 100 in Asia, according to a recent press release from the gaming operator. The inaugural ceremony was held in Bangkok on Nov. 24 to celebrate excellence in the hospitality industry and honor the best hotels, restaurants, and bars of the year. Chef Tams Seasons led by Chef Tam Kwok Fung opened just last year and was honored to be included as one of the best 100 restaurants in Asia, according to the same release. Chef Tam is committed to the legacy and authenticity of Cantonese cuisine, reimagining traditional dishes at Chef Tams Seasons with contemporary concepts and techniques. The Cantonese restaurant, known for its changing menus based on the 24 solar terms, has already achieved international acclaim in its debut year, receiving a Michelin star as well as a place in Asias 50 Best Restaurants. Press Release November 27, 2024 ZUBIRI PUSHES FOR NEDA REORGANIZATION INTO A REGULAR DEPT Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri is pushing for the reorganization of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) into the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPD), emphasizing that the move is essential for aligning the country's economic plans with both national and local government policies. "For decades, the NEDA has been at the helm of our economic planning, doing its level best to avert us from economic headwinds and to keep us on course with the tailwinds," Zubiri said during his sponsorship of Senate Bill No. 2878, or the Economy, Planning and Development Act. "But economic growth cannot be the work of one agency alone. We need a whole-of-government follow-through on our economic plans," the former Senate President added. The proposed DEPD aims to elevate NEDA's current role by granting it the full authority and standing of an executive department. Zubiri, current chair of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, explained that this transformation will empower the DEPD to push for the implementation of economic policies across government agencies and engage with foreign stakeholders more effectively. "As the Department of Economy, Planning and Development, they will be in a better position to push for the implementation of their economic plans and policies - and they will be able to engage with other government agencies and offices, as well as foreign political actors, with the full standing and command of an executive department," Zubiri said. He emphasized the importance of strengthening regional development as part of the DEPD's expanded mandate. "Development has to sprout from the ground up. It's not wise, effective nor sustainable to draw up a big-picture plan without first considering what is happening on the ground," he stressed. "The establishment of the DEPD and its Regional Offices will be vital in this regard." Zubiri also addressed concerns about the financial implications of the reorganization, assuring the public and stakeholders that the proposal involves minimal additional costs. "This measure is not creating a new agency. It simply reorganizes the NEDA and institutionalizes its expanded powers and functions," he clarified. "The reorganization is only expected to require a minimal addition of 170 new positions, amounting to P116 million," he further explained. The DEPD's expanded presence at the regional level will enable it to evaluate project proposals, land use plans and other development initiatives, ensuring these align with the country's overarching economic strategies. Zubiri underscored that this approach ensures inclusive growth across the Philippines. "We have to anchor our economic plans with the reality of our regions and our people. By grounding our strategies in what is happening locally, we can create a more effective and inclusive economic growth plan," the senator from Bukidnon stressed. Zubiri also positioned the DEPD as a critical institution for maintaining the country's competitiveness in Southeast Asia, which is fast becoming a hub for global investments. "This is an opportune time for Southeast Asia, but we still have to fight for our seat at the table," he said. "This is why we need the DEPD to lead the way for our economic growth." Highlighting the long-term benefits of the reorganization, Zubiri noted that the DEPD would institutionalize economic planning and ensure continuity across administrations. "This reorganization puts us on a stronger footing, enabling the Philippines to be a dynamic force in Southeast Asia," he said. The China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries Film Festival, is showcasing nearly 30 films in Chinese and Portuguese from Nov. 22 to Dec. 13. The festival is integrated into the 6th Encounter in Macao Arts and Cultural Festival between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries. The festival kicked off Nov. 22 with the screening of the Chinese film Escape from the 21st Century, which has garnered acclaim at international festivals. Themed Creating an Interesting Contrast, the festival features five sections, including Dual Screening Delight, Premiere of Chinese and Lusophone Films, Chinese-Portuguese Short Films, and Outdoor ScreeningNew Visual Forces in Macao. Throughout the festival, various outreach activities will be held, such as the Kidz Fun: Parent-child Experience Session, the Portuguese Tile Painting Workshop, and a talk with renowned Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes. A special film ticket promotion, CinemathequePassion X Galaxy Cinemas, will also be launched. The festival is open to all, offering an immersive experience in the meeting of Chinese and Lusophone cultures through the power of cinema. VC Lawmakers from the First Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly are not satisfied with some aspects of the bill proposing amendments to the road traffic law in Macau. In a media briefing after the last committee meeting, the president of the committee, Ella Lei, said that the members have expressed several concerns, which were subsequently submitted as questions to the government. Among the points of contention is the proposed MOP300 fine for pedestrians using mobile phones and other similar devices while crossing the streets and roads of Macau. Lei questioned the practical implementation of this rule and noted that it was unclear under what conditions it would be enforced. She also noted that it was illogical to only apply the penalty to electronic devices and not to others. Lei pointed out that a pedestrian might be crossing the street while reading a book, causing potentially the same danger as someone on their phone, but the former action would not constitute an infraction under the new provisions. For this reason, she believes the government needs to provide clarification on the matter. Another aspect that is controversial is the absence of a mandatory requirement for passengers seated in the back seats of vehicles to wear seatbelts. The lawmaker noted that the omission of such a rule is outdated, given that neighboring regions have long had laws mandating seatbelt use in all car seats. She also mentioned that, at the time of the public consultation held by the government before the presentation of this bill, the mandatory use of seatbelts in all car seats was part of the proposal. There was no justification provided for the governments decision to remove it from the bill. Among the many questions that the committee drafted to present to the government is a request for clarification on the mandatory use of helmets by cyclists as well as the rules surrounding the transportation of bicycles on pedestrian areas and sidewalks. A former dancer for Shen Yun Performing Arts sued the nonprofit dance company yesterday [Macau time], saying it has subjected some children who perform for it to harsh conditions, including long hours for little pay. The lawsuit brought by Chang Chun-Ko in White Plains federal court sought unspecified damages on behalf of Chang and other alleged victims of Shen Yun, which is based in Dragon Springs in Cuddebackville, New York, along with other entities named as defendants. It said the group has adopted some of the most abusive practices of the Chinese Communist Party, including subjecting children to public humiliation as discipline. The lawsuit said Shen Yun has made hundreds of millions of dollars by exploiting young dancers it recruits from abroad, forcing them to work grueling hours and scaring them into thinking theyd face harm if they quit. Shen Yun did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its website said 85% of its performers were adults. It called touring with Shen Yun a chance of a lifetime for aspiring young artists, enabling them to receive $50,000 worth of scholarships to attend schools registered with the New York State Department of Education or accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. According to the website, Shen Yun, along with Fei Tian Academy of the Arts and Fei Tian College which were also named as defendants were founded by followers of the Falun Gong faith. The lawsuit said Chang joined the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts on a full scholarship after her father died when she was 11 because she believed she could help her family by dancing for Shen Yun. It said she began performing with Shen Yen in December 2009 and received no pay for the first year despite working up to 18 hours a day preparing for shows, including seven at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. After the first year, she was paid $500 a month until she graduated from Fei Tian College in 2019, when her salary was raised to $1,000 a month, according to the lawsuit. She trained from May through November before touring from December to May as a dancer at over 100 shows in the United States and internationally, all while being disallowed from seeing her mother except during a two-week holiday once a year, it said. The lawsuit said she contracted measles when she was 14 but was not permitted to see a doctor. Instead, the lawsuit said, she was told to meditate to feel better and was required to work while she recovered. Chang was terminated from Shen Yun in 2020 when she was 24 years old and was returned to Taiwan, where she was diagnosed with clinical depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit. MDT/AP The president of the Market Vendors Mutual Aid Association, O Cheng Wong, has called for urgent government support as street vendors grapple with unprecedented challenges. Wong acknowledged the Municipal Affairs Bureaus efforts to improve market facilities but warned that shifting population dynamics and changing consumption patterns threaten vendor livelihoods, speaking to Macao Daily. Wong noted that while recent renovations have enhanced the cleanliness and appeal of markets and hawker areas, many vendors are facing a significant decline in customer traffic. Without a stable customer base, new facilities will struggle to thrive, he stated. He urged the government to consider the operational realities of vendors when implementing policies aimed at revitalizing the fresh food retail market. The association also expressed concern about the increasing number of vacant stalls in markets. Wong called for swift action from authorities to auction these spaces to new vendors, which could help reverse the cycle of decline. A diverse and vibrant market is essential for its success, he added. Otherwise, there will be no business in the new facilities, the flow of people will decrease day by day, and only a few will return to their stalls. His comments came after the government announced that the Coloane Village Municipal Market is set to close on December 16 due to a drastic decrease in vendor participation and local patronage. The Municipal Affairs Bureau confirmed that only two vendors remain, both of whom have opted not to renew their licenses. This closure is part of a broader revitalization effort, with plans underway to explore potential new uses for the space, including commercial or event facilities. Wong remains hopeful that more supportive measures will be introduced to ensure the survival of street vendors and maintain the citys rich market culture. Nadia Shaw The Judiciary Police (PJ) has announced the arrest of two cases in connection with an illegal currency exchange scheme. In the first case, on Nov. 21, PJ received a report about a suspected fraud case that occurred in a hotel in Cotai. During the investigation, authorities discovered that the suspect was conducting illegal money exchange activities in Macau. The case involved two witnesses, a male and a female, both middle-aged mainland residents, who were approached by the suspects in a casino in Cotai and offered assistance in exchanging currency. Later that day, the witnesses needed to convert their Hong Kong dollar cash winnings into RMB and transfer it back to their bank accounts in the mainland. The suspect met the two witnesses outside a hotel in Cotai, where another unknown man was present. The parties agreed to exchange HKD70,000 in cash for RMB67,900. After the first witness successfully received the RMB transfer, the second witness handed over the cash to the unknown man, who then left the scene. However, the first witness later discovered that his bank account was temporarily restricted due to the large transfer, and he believed the transaction was involved in a crime. The witnesses then stopped the suspect from leaving the scene and reported the incident to the authorities. During the investigation, the suspects refused to cooperate, and the police found strong indications that they had collaborated with an unknown individual to run an illegal currency exchange operation. PJ detained the suspects Nov. 23 and transferred them to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation. Authorities are also actively searching for the whereabouts of the unidentified man involved in the transaction. In a separate case, PJ detained three suspects in connection with a large-scale fraud and illegal currency exchange scheme involving a victim who lost HKD100,000 on Nov. 25. The victim had contacted a mainland resident through WeChat to exchange his gambling winnings, but later received a notification that the account had been frozen by mainland police due to receipt of fraudulent funds. The police investigation revealed that in addition to the first suspect, two other suspects were involved. The three suspects were uncooperative during questioning, but police found evidence linking them to illegal exchange activities in Macau. The police also seized HKD48,000 in cash suspected to be involved in the case. All three suspects have been detained, and the case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation. Victoria Chan A major political storm set off by a bitter feud between the Philippine president and the vice president is testing an Asian democracy that has long been troubled by rowdy politics, poor law enforcement and bareface impunity. Just over two years ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte won in landslide electoral victories on a campaign battle cry of national unity. But their fragile alliance rapidly floundered over major differences, including their leanings toward either the United States or China, and Marcos rejection of the bloody crackdown on illegal drugs launched by his predecessor and Dutertes father, Rodrigo Duterte. The hostilities came to a head over the weekend when Sara Duterte told reporters she had arranged for Marcos, his wife and his cousin and speaker of the House of Representatives, to be assassinated if she were fatally attacked herself. Marcos went on TV and declared he was ready to fight back. Here are the key figures in the unfolding political crisis: SARA DUTERTE Like her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, the 46-year-old lawyer is a populist politician known for profanity-laced outbursts and temper that often clashed with official decorum. She made the political elites wary but endeared herself to ordinary people in a nation where name recall, political patronage and star-studded campaigns matter more than policy and governance platforms. As a provincial city mayor, Duterte successfully ran as Marcos running mate in the 2022 race. But soon rifts appeared, including Dutertes opposition to congressional inquiries led by Marcos allies into the thousands of deaths in the crackdown on drugs during Rodrigo Dutertes presidency 2016-2022. Also being investigated is her alleged misuse of funds while she served as education secretary. When Dutertes chief of staff was temporarily detained by legislators after refusing to cooperate with the inquiry, Duterte made the threats in an online news conference against Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She also accused Marcos family of responsibility for the 1983 assassination of an opposition leader, which sparked a 1986 pro-democracy uprising that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, the current presidents father. FERDINAND MARCOS JR. Marcos resounding electoral victory in 2022 was regarded as one of the most stunning reversal of fortunes for his family, which had fled the Philippines following the 1986 army-backed people power revolt and returned years later. He inherited a battered economy, divisive politics and calls for him help prosecute his predecessor for the drug killings, which are being investigated by the International Criminal Court. Rodrigo Duterte has accused Marcos of being a weak leader and a drug addict, accusations the president denied. The new course Marcos chartered for the Philippines broke away with Duterte, who built close ties with China and Russia and antagonized the U.S. Marcos broadened defense ties with Washington and began going public with Chinas aggressive actions to claim territory in the disputed South China Sea. In a sign of growing enmity, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos disclosed her ill-feelings toward Sara Duterte in a radio interview in April. Duterte resigned two months later as Marcos education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body. She said last month that her relationship with Marcos had gone so toxic she has imagined cutting his head. Addressing the country on Monday, Marcos said he would fight the vice presidents criminal plot and uphold the rule of law. The truth should not be summarily executed, Marcos said in Tagalog, using a term associated with Rodrigo Dutertes drug killings. RODRIGO DUTERTE One of Asias most unorthodox contemporary leaders until his six-year term ended in 2022, Duterte, 79 and in frail health, has retained a sizable following and remains one of the presidents harshest critics. In his decades-long political career, he carved a name for his profanity-laced outbursts and disdain for human rights and the West while nurturing close ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He has accused Marcos, his wife and the House speaker of financial anomalies and once warned Marcos could be ousted like his father if they attempt constitutional reforms to allegedly prolong their grip on power. In a news conference on Monday, Duterte asked the military how long it would continue to support a president whos a drug addict. There is a fractured governance It is only the military who can correct it, Duterte said, but clarified that he was not calling for a coup. MARTIN ROMUALDEZ Widely speculated to be harboring plans to run for the presidency in 2028, House Speaker Martin Romualdez has been accused by Sara Duterte of trying to destroy her reputation to eliminate a future contender. The 61-year-old member of a wealthy clan in the central Philippines, he has played a crucial role as head of the lower chamber, which is dominated by Marcos allies. He will be key to handling a possible impeachment complaint against the vice president for the alleged misuse of funds. Addressing the House on Monday, Romualdez stressed that Sara Duterte should be held accountable for the death threats against him, the president and his wife. The gravity of such a confession demands accountability. It demands answers. It demands that we, as the representatives of the Filipino people, take a stand to protect our democracy from any and all forms of threats, Romualdez said. JIM GOMEZ, MANILA, MDT/AP A powerful rebel group has seized a key trading town in northeastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government, according to witnesses. The apparent loss of Kanpaiti to the Kachin Independence Army leaves Myanmars military in control of only one town with a border crossing, Muse, and deprives it of potential profits from the mines that provide China with rare earth minerals critical for electric motors and wind turbines, as well as high-tech weapons and a broad range of electronics. Neither Col. Naw Bu, the KIAs spokesperson, nor Thet Swe, spokesperson for the military, responded to multiple requests for comment, but several local media outlets reported that Kanpaiti fell last week. The ongoing civil war and military restrictions make travel for journalists nearly impossible, but the reports were confirmed by witnesses by telephone. Video clips circulating on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed what was said to be a KIA member raising the groups flag at the tunnel through the mountain to China. Other clips showed a vast quantity of weapons allegedly captured by the KIA. The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmars ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. The once-mighty armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have suffered a series of unprecedented defeats over the past year, especially in areas to the east near the Chinese border and in the western state of Rakhine, after an alliance of three powerful militias launched a coordinated offensive on Oct. 27, 2023. Since then, other militias organized along ethnic lines have joined in, including the KIA in the northern state of Kachin. In Kachins so-called Special Region 1, where Kanpaiti is located, the KIA since late September has been increasing assaults on a rival ethnic militia, the New Democratic Army-Kachin, which is allied with the government military and had provided border guard forces. The NDA-K also controlled the web of small, unlicensed operations where heavy rare earth elements are mined, then sold directly to Chinas big state-owned mining conglomerates or through intermediaries. There are more than 300 unregulated mines in the area, producing most of the $1.4 billion in rare earths for sale to China last year at a terrible cost to the environment and local communities, according to a report issued by London-based environmental group Global Witness in May. Its not clear how much of the profits flowed to the military government, and how much directly to the NDA-K, however, and while the loss of any revenue stream would be bad for the military, the fall of Kanpaiti is not necessarily a game changer for the overall conflict, said Morgan Michaels, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies who runs its Myanmar Conflict Map project. This is another series of embarrassing losses for the regime, but may not significantly affect the regimes ability to wage war, he said. China had already shut most of the border to dissuade the KIAs offensives, and the regime is thought to primarily generate revenue through other means than rare earths. DAVID RISING, BANGKOK, MDT/AP Sands China Ltd. recently donated MOP300,000 to support two annual Caritas Macau events: the 55th Charity Bazaar and the 2024 Charity Run, where they presented checks of MOP200,000 and MOP100,000 respectively, marking the 21st year in a row of supporting Caritas Macaus operational expenses and its efforts to develop and implement social services in the community. Wilfred Wong, the executive vice chairman of Sands China Ltd, said the funds raised from the events will help expand Caritas Macaus Agenrich Senior Service to support local home-based elderly care so that seniors can enjoy a fulfilling life. In addition, the company is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Sands Cares Ambassador program this year, whose membership now surpasses 3,300 volunteers from across all Sands China properties and comprises all levels of team members. Many Sands Cares Ambassadors also attended and participated in the events. The Court of First Instance (TJB) found just one defendant guilty in the fraud case linked to the Macau Chinese Bank (MCB) in a ruling issued yesterday. This case involved 15 defendants who were accused of various offenses, including participation in a criminal organization. Of the 15 defendants, 14 were acquitted, with the court determining that there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecutions claims. Five of the acquitted defendants were in preventive custody waiting for the trial. The court ordered their immediate release, according to media reports. These individuals were all MCB staff members, and were found not to have committed any wrongdoing while verifying documents provided by borrowers. The court also concluded that they had no personal interest in or benefit from the fraudulent activities. Among those acquitted was Yau Wai Chu, former president of MCB, who was found not guilty of operating the loan-based fraud scheme that shook the credibility and accounts of the bank. The case centered around a series of illicitly approved loans under false pretenses, resulting in a loss of over MOP450 million for the bank. The only defendant to be convicted by the TJB was businessman Liu Wai Gui, who was sentenced to a total of 18 years of imprisonment after being found guilty of 16 counts of fraud and document forgery. Liu was judged in absentia, and now faces a warrant for his arrest following the sentence. In delivering the TJB ruling, Judge Lou Ieng Ha stated, there was no proof that indicated that Yau and Liu had formed and were leading the alleged criminal organization formed for the purpose of defrauding the bank. Judge Lou also noted that all the evidence reviewed pointed to the fact that the relationship between the two was merely institutional, as client and service provider. The public prosecution will likely appeal this sentence to the Court of Second Instance. * Govt launches reproduction subsidy * Fresh markets | Market vendors association calls for government support * Courts | Only one defendant found guilty in the Macau Chinese Bank case * Lawmakers at the First Standing Committee are not satisfied with some aspects of the bill proposing amendments to the Road Traffic Law in Macau * Airport expands cargo operations with new terminal in Hengqin * HK top court rules in favor of equal inheritance and housing benefits for same-sex couples DOWNLOAD PDF Wednesday, November 27, 2024 edition no. 4614 King Mohammed VI has deplored the tragic situation in Palestinian territories, which requires a decisive action for achieving an immediate, comprehensive, and Sustainable ceasefire, and has pleaded for a return to the negotiating table between Palestinians and Israelis, as the only way to put a final end to the conflict and achieve security and stability in the Middle East region. This came in a message the King addressed to the Chairman of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Cheikh Niang, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, celebrated on November 26 this year. The Monarch condemned as serious and unprecedented the developments in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and expressed Moroccos deep concern over the tragic conditions resulting from the continued Israeli invasion, which has so far claimed the lives of tens of thousands of innocent, defenseless civilians. Millions of Palestinians have been deprived of their basic rights to housing, food, health, clean water, education and security; they have been forcibly displaced or made to migrate due to massive, wide-ranging destruction of infrastructure in the region, the King deplored. The Monarch, who expressed regrets regarding the continuing Israeli military invasion of the Gaza Strip, called on the entire world to take urgent, immediate action to stop the war, compel Israel to lift the siege imposed on the Strip, and allow the return of displaced people as a prelude to starting the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war. Likewise, given the impasse in the Middle East peace process and the difficult conditions currently prevailing in the region, the King called once again on the international community, especially the influential countries which can have an impact on the conflict, to undertake fresh, intensive and effective diplomatic efforts with a view to bringing back the parties concerned to the negotiating table. In light of the difficult and unacceptable circumstances prevailing in the Palestinian territories from a human, legal and moral standpoint, and consistent with its usual policy in various regional and international forums, Morocco reiterates the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and for putting an end to the repeated attacks on the defenseless inhabitants of the West Bank and al-Qods, the King wrote part of his proposals to end the Palestinians ordeal. The Kingdom, which also reiterates the need to make sure that civilians are protected, that they are not targeted and that there is no further bloodshed in the entire Palestinian territories, insists on the need to open all crossings immediately, permanently and unconditionally, without any restrictions, so as to ensure the unhindered flow, in sufficient quantities, of humanitarian and relief aid as well as medical supplies to meet the basic needs of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and the other Palestinian territories, he added. Morocco reaffirms the need to preserve, strengthen and support the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); to reject any displacement of Palestinian citizens and ensure full compliance with international law and international humanitarian law; and to start serious, meaningful negotiations to revive the peace process, in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international legitimacy. The King reiterated that Morocco supports all constructive initiatives aimed at finding practical solutions to achieve a permanent and effective ceasefire, and address the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. By using its influence as well as its special relationship with the parties concerned and with the influential international powers, Morocco will keep up its unstinting, customary efforts to bring about conditions conducive to a return to the negotiating table. That is the only way to put a final end to the conflict and achieve security and stability in the Middle East region, the Monarch said in his message. The aim is to achieve a just, comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue and build a common future for upcoming Palestinian and Israeli generations, within the framework of the two-state solution, the King wrote in this message. The meeting convened by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi with the presidential candidates on Tuesday, November 26, aimed at addressing the ongoing post-election crisis, ended after only a few minutes and achieved no resolution. The absence of Venancio Mondlane, the leading opposition figure and organizer of post-election protests, further undermined the sessions objectives. Since the general elections on October 9, Mozambique has been gripped by widespread unrest. Protests against alleged electoral fraud have been met with heavy repression, leaving around 60 people dead, according to civil society reports. Political tensions remain high as three of the four presidential candidates oppose the election results, which declared Daniel Chapo, the ruling Frelimo partys candidate, as the winner. The candidates from the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) and Renamo, the main opposition parties, demanded that the election results be annulled as a prerequisite for dialogue. They also insisted on the presence of all candidates at the meeting. However, independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, who is in exile, refused to attend unless his conditions were met. His demands included an end to legal proceedings against him, compensation for victims of police repression, and the option to participate via videoconference. At 4:30 PM, shortly after the meeting concluded, Mondlane addressed his followers in a live Facebook broadcast. He confirmed his absence, explaining, *I have not received any official response to my terms.* He revealed that he had submitted a proposed agenda to the presidency, which included topics suggested by more than 40,000 Mozambicans via email over the past week. These topics ranged from electoral fraud and police violence to broader issues like housing, terrorism, and poverty. *The Mozambican people want to know what they will eat and where they will sleep,* Mondlane emphasized, accusing President Nyusi of lacking genuine intent for meaningful dialogue. Mondlane also announced new protest measures for the coming days. Beginning Wednesday at 8:00 AM, he urged Mozambicans to place posters supporting electoral protests on their vehicles and leave them on the streets as a form of peaceful demonstration. This ongoing political impasse underscores the deep divisions in Mozambique and the challenges of finding a resolution to the contentious election. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, which agreed to a fragile ceasefire in early August, have taken a significant step forward in the peace process for eastern DRC by approving a key operational framework. Angola, the African Union-appointed mediator in the conflict, announced the development earlier this week. Since late 2021, eastern DRC has been gripped by violence following the resurgence of the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebellion, which has captured extensive territories at the expense of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and pro-government militias. The M23, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda and its military, continues to launch localized offensives despite the August ceasefire that largely stabilized front lines. On Monday November 25, the Foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda reviewed and endorsed the Concept of Operations (CONOPS), a critical document outlining the framework for the potential withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese soil. The Angolan Ministry of Foreign Affairs described this agreement as a key instrument in advancing the harmonized peace plan aimed at resolving tensions between the two neighbors. The CONOPS, commonly used in military planning, is designed to establish timelines and resource allocation for operations. While specifics of the agreed terms have not been disclosed, the document is expected to shape the implementation of measures to de-escalate the conflict. An earlier draft of the harmonized plan, dated August, stipulated the neutralization of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as a prerequisite for the withdrawal of Rwandan forces. The FDLR, an armed group formed by Hutu leaders implicated in Rwandas 1994 Tutsi genocide, remains active in the region and is aligned with Congolese forces against the M23. Despite ongoing ceasefire violations, dialogue between the DRC and Rwanda has persisted under Angolan mediation. Earlier in November, the two countries agreed to establish a monitoring committee to oversee breaches of the truce. This committee, led by Angola and including representatives from the DRC and Rwanda, is tasked with ensuring compliance and fostering trust between the parties. The approval of the CONOPS is seen as a positive, albeit cautious, step in addressing the complexities of the eastern DRC conflict, where multiple armed groups and regional dynamics contribute to persistent instability. However, significant challenges remain in translating agreements into concrete actions on the ground. Recent evaluations reveal unexpected complications in Kenyas efforts to streamline continental travel access. Despite ambitious announcements promoting unrestricted African mobility, implementation challenges have significantly affected the countrys continental accessibility rankings, resulting in a dramatic seventeen-position decline among African nations. The newly implemented Electronic Travel Authorization system, while designed to modernize entry procedures, has introduced additional complexities for travelers. This digital framework requires most visitors to obtain pre-travel approval, potentially taking several days for processing. The system mandates comprehensive documentation, including accommodation confirmations and flight details, alongside a thirty-dollar processing fee. Tourism industry veterans express concern regarding the systems practical implications. Notable sector representatives highlight disconnects between policy objectives and operational realities, suggesting the new requirements potentially create more substantial barriers than previous arrangements. The authorization process particularly affects spontaneous travelers who previously enjoyed visa-free access. Security considerations significantly influenced the systems development, reflecting ongoing regional stability concerns. Government officials emphasize the necessity of traveler verification protocols, citing persistent regional security challenges, particularly regarding cross-border militant activities. However, tourism statistics indicate broader international visitor growth despite these enhanced entry requirements. Continental travel experts note this situation reflects wider challenges in African integration efforts. Leading financial institutions identify travel restrictions as significant barriers to regional development goals. Meanwhile, several nations maintain completely open borders, demonstrating alternative approaches to continental mobility. Recent assessments indicate marginal declines in overall African travel accessibility, highlighting persistent challenges in achieving seamless continental movement. The policy implementation illustrates complex balancing requirements between security priorities, tourism promotion, and regional integration objectives. Industry stakeholders advocate for system refinements to better align with original visa-free aspirations while maintaining necessary security protocols. General Abdelfattah el-Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudans Sovereign Council, made an official visit to Eritrea on Tuesday, November 26, amid ongoing conflict in Sudan. According to a statement from the Sudanese Sovereign Council, the visit aimed to consolidate bilateral and historical relations between the two nations. El-Burhan was accompanied by key officials, including the head of intelligence and the Minister of Culture and Information. Eritrea has been a crucial ally to Sudans regular army in its fight against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Eritreas territory reportedly serves as a training ground for forces allied with Sudans army, and its government has consistently condemned RSF activities since the war began. Eritrea also hosts thousands of Sudanese refugees fleeing the violence. During talks with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, General el-Burhan expressed his appreciation for Eritreas support, emphasizing the importance of their partnership in countering the RSF and its regional allies. For Eritrea, which shares a 600-kilometer border with Sudan, the strengthened alliance reassures its own border security amid the conflict. The timing of the visit is particularly notable. It follows the Sudanese armys recent recapture of Sinja, the capital of Sinnar State, which borders Eritrea. This victory is seen as a strategic milestone, paving the way for the army to regain control of key regions in eastern and central Sudan. Such advancements could enable the army to tighten its grip on RSF strongholds, particularly in Al-Jazirah State. In parallel with these developments, General el-Burhan reiterated his firm position against negotiating with the RSF until they surrender their arms. Speaking on Monday, he vowed to defeat the paramilitary group, declaring, The criminal Dagalo family will be crushed. His remarks underscored a hardened stance, dismissing any prospects of immediate dialogue with the RSF. This visit, coupled with recent military progress, highlights the deepening alliance between Sudan and Eritrea while signaling el-Burhans resolve to continue the fight against the RSF. For Asmara, maintaining strong ties with Khartoum is vital for regional stability and border security in an increasingly volatile environment. A delegation from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), led by General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of the FAR and Commander of the Southern Zone, was welcomed on Monday aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, anchored in the Mediterranean off the city of Al Hoceima, by Rear Admiral Sean R. Bailey, Commander of the 8th Carrier Strike Group, and Captain Dave Snowden, Commander of the USS Truman, the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces said in a statement. During the visit of the warship, conducted at the instructions of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan flag was raised aboard the aircraft carrier. During the tour of the carrier, the Moroccan delegation was briefed on the missions of the Carrier Strike Group and its operational capabilities. The visit provided an opportunity for Moroccan and American officials to commend the momentum of bilateral military cooperation and discuss issues of common interest, particularly regional security, enhancing the ability of both armed forces to act jointly against diverse and evolving threats, and expanding joint exercises in the air and naval domains, the statement said. The $4.5 billion USS Harry S. Truman warship is a floating city of 5200 crewmembers. It is 24 stories high, 333 m long and 78 m wide. Named after the 33rd president of the United States, S. Truman (CVN 75) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It can accommodate around 90 aircraft and has a flight deck 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) in size, using four elevators (360 m2 each) to move planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay. She is equipped with three 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun) and two Sea Sparrow SAM launchers. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Digital technology can better assist nurses to manage end of life care in residential aged care facilities but ensuring its impact requires better tools, training, and ongoing support, a new study has found. The results call for nurses to be included when digital innovations are in development, so they can actively shape their implementation and ensure high-quality, compassionate care for residents in their final stages of life. "In Australia and around the world, we have seen a significant increase in digital technologies in the health care sector," says study lead author Dr. Priyanka Vandersman, a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University's Research Center for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD). "In aged care, these digital approaches can include helping with care planning and assisting with managing medication, but we need to ensure that nurses are equipped with the digital skills needed to use these tools effectively, while continuing to provide high quality, person-centered care." For an article published in the journal BMC Nursing, Dr. Vandersman and co-author Professor Jennifer Tieman, interviewed nursing staff in 15 residential aged care facilities across three Australian states. The research found nurses are already engaging with a variety of digital tools, such as medication management portals and telehealth platforms, with the technology valued for improving efficiency and accessibility in care delivery. However, many nurses reported that the systems they use are fragmented, requiring them to navigate multiple platforms for different tasks, increasing administrative burdens and detracting from time spent on hands-on care. "Nurses working in aged care need to share their expertise and knowledge about care needs and processes to ensure that the systems being designed are fit for purpose," says Professor Tieman, Director of RePaDD. Challenges such as unreliable infrastructure, insufficient training, and time-consuming processes, highlighted a need for greater support in using technology effectively and ongoing education to ensure they can confidently integrate digital tools into their practice. "With more than a third of Australian deaths occurring in residential aged care facilities, it is critical we understand how technology can assist in end-of-life care," says Dr. Vandersman. Professor Tieman added that "With the digital reform agenda and the implementation of the new aged care standards, technology has a very important role to play, offering structured and accessible care solutions. "However, its success depends on thoughtful implementation that supports, rather than replaces, the human connection central to compassionate caregiving." Nurses envision innovative tools, including dashboards for tracking care processes, automated medication management systems, and telehealth enhancements, as critical to improving palliative care outcomes. These advancements could streamline workflows, reduce errors, and enable nurses to focus more on interpersonal care. "Nurses, those on the ground, working directly with residents and their families should be actively involved in shaping the future of digital innovations in aged care," says Dr. Vandersman. "By developing intuitive digital solutions and providing nurses with the right support and education, we can ensure technology complements compassionate caregiving, enhancing residents' choice, dignity and quality of life in their final stages." More information: Priyanka Vandersman et al, 'Technology in end-of-life care is very important': the view of nurses regarding technology and end-of-life care, BMC Nursing (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12912-024-02475-x This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: An algorithm can identify individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) with about 88% accuracy using electronic medical record (EMR) data, according to a study presented at The Liver Meeting, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, held from Nov. 15 to 19 in San Diego. Ariana Stuart, M.D., from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues described the development of an EMR-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for MASLD identification. The researchers reported that an iterative natural language processing pattern-recognition AI algorithm achieved about 88% accuracy versus manual MASLD diagnosis. Among 957 individuals identified by the algorithm as meeting criteria for MASLD, 56% were female, 2% American Indian/Native Alaskan, 6% Black/African American, 16% Asian, 68% White, and 12.2% Hispanic/Latino(a). More than one-fourth of patients (25.6%) had gastrointestinal or hepatology referral, but only 140 had an MASLD-associated diagnostic code. More than seven in 10 individuals (697) were identified as meeting criteria for MASLD diagnosis but did not already carry an MASLD diagnosis. "People should not interpret our findings as a lack of primary care training or management," Stuart said in a statement. "Instead, our study shows how AI can complement physician workflow to address the limitations of traditional clinical practice." 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A decade ago, researchers introduced a new model for studying Alzheimer's disease. Known as "Alzheimer's in a dish," the model uses cultures of mature brain cells suspended in a gel to recapitulate what takes place in the human brain over 10 to 13 years in just six weeks. But does the model truly produce the same changes that take place in patients? In a new study, researchers from Mass General Brigham, in collaboration with colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), created an algorithm to assess, in an unbiased manner, how well models of Alzheimer's disease mimic the function and gene expression patterns seen in patients' brains. Their results, published in Neuron, identify crucial shared pathways, confirming that the Alzheimer's in a dish model can be used to assess new drugs accurately and rapidly as well as point the way to drug discovery. "Our goal is to find the best model with the most similar activity to what we see in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease," said co-senior author Doo Yeon Kim, Ph.D., of the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). "We developed this 3D cell culture model for Alzheimer's 10 years ago. Now we have the data that show that this model can accelerate drug discovery." The new study was made possible through a collaboration between researchers with expertise in neurology and data-driven systems, with a shared goal of finding better treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD). For decades, the field of AD research has faced challenges due to some of the limitations of mouse models of the disease, which do not develop amyloid plaques or other hallmarks of AD seen in humans. Different models have been developed by Kim and colleagues but, until now, it had not been possible to determine the extent to which these models accurately reflect the molecular and functional changes seen in the brain. "We faced a fundamental challenge: understanding which models truly reflect the complexity of Alzheimer's in the human brain," said co-senior author Winston Hide, Ph.D., of the Department of Pathology at BIDMC. "By shifting focus from individual genes to the broader biological pathways they shape, we've created a system that transforms how we discover and test drugs." To address this need, the research team, led by Pourya Naderi Yeganeah, Ph.D., and Sang Su Kwak, Ph.D., co-lead authors, developed a novel integrative pathway activity analysis (IPAA) platform. The platform can determine which models most closely recapitulate the functional changes seen in AD and identify the most relevant pathways for drug discovery. In their paper, the researchers identified 83 dysregulated pathways shared across brain samples from deceased patients with Alzheimer's disease and 3D cellular models. The researchers looked at one pathwayp38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)as a proof of concept, testing drugs that target this pathway. Interestingly, they discovered that a clinical p38 MAPK inhibitor, which has not yet been tested in AD patients, is highly effective at reducing AD pathology in a dish, highlighting its potential for future clinical trials. Even more compelling, their findings extend beyond a single pathwaythe platform's capacity to identify promising drug targets, combined with the speed and scalability of the Alzheimer's in a dish model, enables simultaneous testing of multiple drugs to identify potential therapies. Already, the researchers have tested hundreds of approved drugs and natural products using the Alzheimer's in a dish model, setting the stage for clinical trials. "Now we have a system that not only allows us to test new drugs quickly, but also an algorithmic platform that can predict which drugs will work best." said co-senior author Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D., Director of the McCance Center for Brain Health and Genetics and Aging Research Unit at MGH. "Together, these advancements bring us closer to finding better drugs and getting them to patients." More information: Yeganeah, PN et al. Integrative Pathway Analysis across Humans and 3D Cellular Models Identifies the p38 MAPK-MK2 Axis as a Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer's Disease, Neuron (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.10.029. www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(24)00800-6 Journal information: Neuron This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Opioid use disorder (OUD), which contributes to the ongoing overdose crisis claiming over 21 lives across Canada a day, is even more severe within correctional settings. In North America, OUD is a critical public health concern among incarcerated populations, with individuals being up to 129 times more likely to die from an overdose within the first two weeks of release from custody than the general population. To better understand treatment best practices for this high-risk, and often overlooked population, researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have conducted the first comprehensive review of available studies evaluating the use of extended-release buprenorphine (XR-BUP) weekly and monthly injections as a treatment for OUD within correctional facilities. This extensive literature review reveals insights that could reshape addiction treatment practices in these settings and beyond. The review, published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, analyzed ten international studies published since 2018 that examined the usage of XR-BUP in correctional populations, looking at participant treatment preferences, drug use, retention rates, safety, costs, and barriers. The aim was to understand whether XR-BUP's extended dosing schedule could improve treatment access and recovery outcomes. The review showed XR-BUP to be highly effective and safe, with retention rates as high as 92%, re-incarceration rates as low as 8%, and 55% of patients achieving opioid-negative urine tests compared to 38% using other treatments. "[XR-BUP] offers a powerful new approach to address the high relapse and overdose risks faced by those transitioning out of correctional facilities," says Dr. Leslie Buckley, Chief of Addictions at CAMH. "With this treatment, we can potentially reduce the logistical and social burdens associated with daily dosing and help patients sustain recovery as they reintegrate into their communities." This study builds on previous research exploring traditional daily treatments like methadone and buprenorphine for currently and recently incarcerated populations. While effective, these treatments require daily clinic visits, creating barriers for individuals lacking community ties or stability after release. In contrast, XR-BUP is an injectable medication that provides a steady dose over the course of a week or a month, depending on the formulation, eliminating the need for daily dosing. Although XR-BUP still requires clinic visits for administration, the frequency varies based on the dosing schedule, offering participants longer and more flexible intervals between appointments. Participants in this recent review appreciated this flexibility and the reduced opioid withdrawal and cravings over a longer period of time. They also found the private administration of XR-BUP to be more dignified, reducing the stigma associated with treatment. One of the most significant findings of the study was that individuals who received an XR-BUP injection experienced an 80% reduction in the risk of overdose mortality within the first month after their release. "The opioid crisis poses a serious health risk for incarcerated populations," says Cayley Russell, Research Manager with the Ontario Node of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM), housed at CAMH, and the study's first author. "Our findings show that XR-BUP is safe and feasible, with no reports of diversion, overdoses, or deaths. This highlights the life-saving potential of administering XR-BUP treatment at the time of discharge to reduce the risk of overdose post-release and throughout the period of incarceration." Beyond the significant health benefits, XR-BUP also shows potential for addressing the administrative challenges faced by correctional facilities and health care providers. While initially more expensive, XR-BUP proves cost-effective over time. Monthly injections reduce the need for daily supervision by staff, and the decreased risk of overdose minimizes the need for interventions, hospitalizations, and related health care expenses. Additionally, higher retention rates lead to fewer re-incarcerations and mitigate broader societal impacts of untreated OUD. Despite its clear advantages, the implementation of XR-BUP is not without challenges. The review highlights barriers to XR-BUP treatment, including hesitancy about a newer medication, fear of needles, and mild to moderate side effects such as injection site discomfort, constipation, fatigue, and nausea. Addressing these concerns through patient education can empower informed decisions about treatment options. "By contributing to and leading research on treatment options like XR-BUP, CAMH is advancing evidence-based practices that align with our strategic goals to lift societal health, get upstream of health challenges, and address mental health and addiction needs more effectively," says Dr. Shannon Lange, Scientist at CAMH and co-author of the review. More information: Cayley Russell et al, Feasibility and effectiveness of extended-release buprenorphine (XR-BUP) among correctional populations: a systematic review, The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (2024). DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2024.2360984 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: Chronic diseases such as diabetes are on the rise and are costly and challenging to treat. Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young and colleagues have discovered a common denominator driving these diverse diseases, which may prove to be a promising therapeutic target: proteolethargy, or reduced protein mobility, in the presence of oxidative stress. Credit: Jennifer Cook-Chrysos/Whitehead Institute Chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and inflammatory disorders have a huge impact on humanity. They are a leading cause of disease burden and deaths around the globe, are physically and economically taxing, and the number of people with such diseases is growing. Treating chronic disease has proven difficult because there is not one simple cause, like a single gene mutation, that a treatment could target. At least, that's how it has appeared to scientists. However, research from Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young and colleagues, published in the journal Cell on November 27, reveals that many chronic diseases have a common denominator that could be driving their dysfunction: reduced protein mobility. What this means is that around half of all proteins active in cells slow their movement when cells are in a chronic disease state, reducing the proteins' functions. The researchers' findings suggest that protein mobility may be a linchpin for decreased cellular function in chronic disease, making it a promising therapeutic target. In this paper, Young and colleagues in his lab, including postdoc Alessandra Dall'Agnese, graduate students Shannon Moreno and Ming Zheng, and research scientist Tong Ihn Lee, describe their discovery of this common mobility defect, which they call proteolethargy; explain what causes the defect and how it leads to dysfunction in cells; and propose a new therapeutic hypothesis for treating chronic diseases. "I'm excited about what this work could mean for patients," says Dall'Agnese. "My hope is that this will lead to a new class of drugs that restore protein mobility, which could help people with many different diseases that all have this mechanism as a common denominator." "This work was a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that brought together biologists, physicists, chemists, computer scientists and physician-scientists," Lee says. "Combining that expertise is a strength of the Young lab. Studying the problem from different viewpoints really helped us think about how this mechanism might work and how it could change our understanding of the pathology of chronic disease." Commuter delays cause work stoppages in the cell How do proteins moving more slowly through a cell lead to widespread and significant cellular dysfunction? Dall'Agnese explains that every cell is like a tiny city, with proteins as the workers who keep everything running. Proteins have to commute in dense traffic in the cell, traveling from where they are created to where they work. The faster their commute, the more work they get done. Now, imagine a city that starts experiencing traffic jams along all the roads. Stores don't open on time, groceries are stuck in transit, meetings are postponed. Essentially, all operations in the city are slowed. The slow down of operations in cells experiencing reduced protein mobility follows a similar progression. Normally, most proteins zip around the cell bumping into other molecules until they locate the molecule they work with or act on. The slower a protein moves, the fewer other molecules it will reach, and so the less likely it will be able to do its job. Young and colleagues found that such protein slow-downs lead to measurable reductions in the functional output of the proteins. When many proteins fail to get their jobs done in time, cells begin to experience a variety of problemsas they are known to do in chronic diseases. Discovering the protein mobility problem Young and colleagues first suspected that cells affected in chronic disease might have a protein mobility problem after observing changes in the behavior of the insulin receptor, a signaling protein that reacts to the presence of insulin and causes cells to take in sugar from blood. In people with diabetes, cells become less responsive to insulina state called insulin resistancecausing too much sugar to remain in the blood. In research published on insulin receptors in Nature Communications in 2022, Young and colleagues reported that insulin receptor mobility might be relevant to diabetes. Knowing that many cellular functions are altered in diabetes, the researchers considered the possibility that altered protein mobility might somehow affect many proteins in cells. To test this hypothesis, they studied proteins involved in a broad range of cellular functions, including MED1, a protein involved in gene expression; HP1, a protein involved in gene silencing; FIB1, a protein involved in production of ribosomes; and SRSF2, a protein involved in splicing of messenger RNA. They used single-molecule tracking and other methods to measure how each of those proteins moves in healthy cells and in cells in disease states. All but one of the proteins showed reduced mobility (about 2035%) in the disease cells. "I'm excited that we were able to transfer physics-based insight and methodology, which are commonly used to understand the single-molecule processes like gene transcription in normal cells, to a disease context and show that they can be used to uncover unexpected mechanisms of disease," Zheng says. "This work shows how the random walk of proteins in cells is linked to disease pathology." Moreno concurs, adding, "In school, we're taught to consider changes in protein structure or DNA sequences when looking for causes of disease, but we've demonstrated that those are not the only contributing factors. If you only consider a static picture of a protein or a cell, you miss out on discovering these changes that only appear when molecules are in motion." Can't commute across the cell, I'm all tied up right now Next, the researchers needed to determine what was causing the proteins to slow down. They suspected that the defect had to do with an increase in cells of the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), molecules that are highly prone to interfering with other molecules and their chemical reactions. Many types of chronic-disease-associated triggers, such as higher sugar or fat levels, certain toxins, and inflammatory signals, lead to an increase in ROS, also known as an increase in oxidative stress. The researchers measured the mobility of the proteins again, in cells that had high levels of ROS and were not otherwise in a disease state, and saw comparable mobility defects, suggesting that oxidative stress was to blame for the protein mobility defect. The final part of the puzzle was why some, but not all, proteins slow down in the presence of ROS. SRSF2 was the only one of the proteins that was unaffected in the experiments, and it had one clear difference from the others: its surface did not contain any cysteines, an amino acid building block of many proteins. Cysteines are especially susceptible to interference from ROS because it will cause them to bond to other cysteines. When this bonding occurs between two protein molecules, it slows them down because the two proteins cannot move through the cell as quickly as either protein alone. About half of the proteins in our cells contain surface cysteines, so this single protein mobility defect can impact many different cellular pathways. This makes sense when one considers the diversity of dysfunctions that appear in cells of people with chronic diseases: dysfunctions in cell signaling, metabolic processes, gene expression and gene silencing, and more. All of these processes rely on the efficient functioning of proteinsincluding the diverse proteins studied by the researchers. Young and colleagues performed several experiments to confirm that decreased protein mobility does in fact decrease a protein's function. For example, they found that when an insulin receptor experiences decreased mobility, it acts less efficiently on IRS1, a molecule to which it usually adds a phosphate group. From understanding a mechanism to treating a disease Discovering that decreased protein mobility in the presence of oxidative stress could be driving many of the symptoms of chronic disease provides opportunities to develop therapies to rescue protein mobility. In the course of their experiments, the researchers treated cells with an antioxidant drugsomething that reduces ROScalled N-acetyl cysteine and saw that this partially restored protein mobility. The researchers are pursuing a variety of follow-ups to this work, including the search for drugs that safely and efficiently reduce ROS and restore protein mobility. They developed an assay that can be used to screen drugs to see if they restore protein mobility by comparing each drug's effect on a simple biomarker with surface cysteines to one without. They are also looking into other diseases that may involve protein mobility, and are exploring the role of reduced protein mobility in aging. "The complex biology of chronic diseases has made it challenging to come up with effective therapeutic hypotheses," says Young, who is also a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The discovery that diverse disease-associated stimuli all induce a common feature, proteolethargy, and that this feature could contribute to much of the dysregulation that we see in chronic disease, is something that I hope will be a real game changer for developing drugs that work across the spectrum of chronic diseases." This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain William Lopez remembers clearly the day in June 2017 when he says he was asked to call the spouse of a college friend who had just died and ask for her eyes. The spouse hadn't responded to calls from other employees at the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, he said. As Lopez recalled, his supervisor thought a friend's personal number would have more success. Lopez refused. "I went for a walk," he said. Even without Lopez's help, the eye bank that procures corneas from deceased donors in Wyoming and Colorado eventually collected his friend's corneas, Lopez said. Lopez, who had entered the field to help people, became increasingly disillusioned during his three years working with the eye bank, despite rising from a technician to the distribution manager, and ultimately quit. Checking the "donor" box on a driver's license application, people may picture their heart, kidneys, or other organs saving another person's life should the worst happen. They are less likely to consider that tissuescorneas, tendons, bone marrow, skin, boneare also covered by that checked box. In fact, donated tissues are collected much more frequently than organs, and corneas are the most commonly transplanted body part in the U.S., with nearly 51,000 transplants last year, according to the Eye Bank Association of America. Organ and tissue donations are guided by different rules, with less transparency and what critics identify as more self-policing in the tissue donation industry. In Wyoming and Colorado, where the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank estimates it collects eye tissue from about 2,500 deceased donors a year, that has contributed to a tense work environment resulting in damaged or wasted tissues due to accidents, four former eye bank employees say. "I think there's an urgent need for stricter oversight of the donation process in general, particularly for eye and tissue banks," said Janell Lewis, who worked at the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank for 12 years, managing public relations and overseeing fundraising before she quit in February 2023. John Lohmeier, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, declined to be interviewed for this article. In a prepared statement, he said he couldn't comment on personnel matters or specific incidents raised by the former employees. But generally, he wrote, "there are internal procedures that have been in place and continue to be followed to investigate and/or report any incident that would impact health and safety concerns." Lewis, Lopez, and two other former eye bank employees recalled one or more of the following problems during their time at Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank: Removal of eye tissue from the wrong body Damage or destruction of corneas due to improper removal Removal of corneas from a donor with a high-risk family history that could endanger a transplant recipient Lack of transparency about whether errors were being reported to federal agencies Pressuring and bullying of technicians High turnover and brief training of low-paid and inexperienced technicians The windshield of the eye The cornea is considered the windshield of the eye. It is a clear dome that protects the eye from contaminants, maintains fluid balance, and filters light. Recipients of cornea donations typically need transplants because of trauma, infection, or other conditions that cause blindness or blurred or cloudy vision. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank is one of about 60 eye banks operating in the U.S., which leads the world in corneal transplants. New technicians often arrive at the eye bank untrained, sometimes with only a high school diploma, to perform the grim job of removing corneas from recently deceased corpses for about the same wages many fast-food workers earn. But what eye bank technicians may lack in education and training, they generally make up for with a strong belief in the mission, according to the former employees. They said they joined the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank because they wanted to help restore people's sight. The nonprofit employs about 70 people across Colorado and Wyoming, according to a tax filing submitted in 2023. Those records also show a net income of less than $1 million and more than $16 million in assets. Lohmeier was paid about $142,000. Organs vs. tissue Organ donations fall under the purview of the Health Resources and Services Administration, and public data details performance and financial transaction records of organ procurement groups. Tissue donation is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as national industry groups, and tissue bank transactions, performance, and outcomes are not available to the public. There's no reason tissues and organs should be treated differently, said Robert Dickson, medical director for the Washtenaw County Tuberculosis Clinic in Michigan. A patient in his county died from a bone graft contaminated with tuberculosis just a couple of years after a contaminated bone graft killed eight other patients. He compared the tissue regulatory environment to the Wild West and called it a major public health concern. "It's fundamentally no different from an organ transplant. You're taking tissue from one deceased patient and putting it into a living recipient. But it is not regulated and not tested as rigorously," he said. Marc Pearce, president and CEO of the American Association of Tissue Banks, said such cases are very rare. "We don't believe that we've proven ourselves to be not capable of regulating ourselves," he said. FDA officials disagree that the tissue industry is largely self-regulated, pointing to federal rules that require certain organizations to register with the agency and provide a list of human cells or tissues they recover, store, or distribute. The rules set donor eligibility requirements, and the agency inspects tissue establishments, including eye banks, said spokesperson Carly Pflaum. "The FDA has implemented a tiered risk-based approach for the regulation of human cell, tissue and cellular and tissue-based products," Pflaum wrote. KFF Health News and WyoFile months ago requested reports of adverse events associated with the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, but the FDA has yet to provide them. FDA dashboards show the eye bank has not issued a recall since 2017, and inspections since at least 2009 have not resulted in any official action. The tissue industry is largely self-monitored and the performance of eye banks is tracked internally, whereas the federal government publishes annual performance reports for organ procurement groups. Health care providers are not required to report to the FDA adverse events resulting from tissue transplants. Organ transplant providers are required to report safety events in recipients within 72 hours to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which operates under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That includes an organ going unused because it was delivered to the wrong location. They have 24 hours if, for example, the recipient gets an infection or disease that may have been from the new organ. Other countries have public registries detailing the outcomes of corneal transplants, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. A similar registry in the U.S. could help monitor outcomes for patients and identify adverse events from transplant procedures, eye doctors and researchers wrote in the journal Ophthalmology Science. Tissue bank industry groups are responsible for much of the oversight of their dues-paying members. Transplanting surgeons may report adverse reactions to the tissue bank, which generally then conducts a review and submits a report to the FDA and the Eye Bank Association of America or the American Association of Tissue Banks. Nearly all eye banks in the U.S. are members of the Eye Bank Association of America, which inspects member banks at least every three years as part of its accreditation process, but such inspection reports aren't publicly available. Safety is paramount, association president Kevin Corcoran said, and the association's medical standards require eye banks to request patient outcome information from transplanting surgeons a few months after surgery. "We want to make sure we don't have an eye bank that is slipping in their performance or failing to recover tissue," he said. He declined to comment on any individual eye bank's performance or release quality or transplantation data, complaints filed, or investigations undertaken. No investigations have resulted in corrective action, he said, in the 13 years he has been at the association. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank is an accredited member of the association. Balancing mission and stress Several of the former employees were hesitant to speak about the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank because they didn't want to sully the reputation of an industry they believe is essential for improving people's lives and honoring the wishes of the dead. But they described a high-pressure environment that they said led to many of their colleagues leaving and errors that reduced the number of successful retrievals. Mackenzie Urban started recovering corneas as a technician for the eye bank in 2019 after finishing her bachelor's degree. She saw it as a temporary job as she applied for medical school. But within a year of recovering her first cornea, she said, enough employees had left that she became the senior recovery technician and was training others. She used limes for the training, guiding her students on how to use a scalpel to remove the peel without nicking the fruit beneath. Success meant lifting the peel off the lime without any juice spilling out. "If you're stressed, you're going to shake," Urban said. Outside factors can compound the challenges of performing the delicate procedure. Maybe the coroner had drawn fluid from beneath the cornea, making collection much trickier, she said. After a person has been dead for about 24 hours, the eyes tend to deflate to the point of uselessness, adding time pressure to collecting donations, Urban said. Sometimes, Urban said, another technician would be working on a body simultaneously, so that the entire body was moving around while she was trying to do the delicate procedure. Interactions with grieving families could be intense, too. Sometimes, families would hug her, thankful that something good would come of their loss. Other times, they were hostile. Urban appreciates the work the eye bank performs and doesn't regret her time there. She said she respected that "they had a real commitment to serving the community and keeping prices low." (It's illegal to sell human body parts for transplant, but companies get reimbursed varying amounts for the expenses of harvesting, preparing, and shipping tissues.) But the workplace culture made it untenable for her, she said. For example, Urban said, she was reprimanded and told that she needed to "buck up or get out" because she declined to harvest corneas from a person who died from an unknown cause. The body was purple from the neck down, covered in oozing blisters and with opaque flecks in the eyes, Urban said. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank has international contracts and ships corneas to Japan and the U.K., among other destinations. It became the exclusive eye tissue provider for Ireland when that country stopped collecting corneas over fears of transmitting mad cow disease. That means anyone who has received a cornea transplant in Ireland in the past two decades likely now sees thanks to a person who died in Colorado or Wyoming, according to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Lohmeier, the eye bank CEO, said local needs are prioritized for donations, while international shipments help fulfill the eye bank's mission and "ensure that all viable corneas are transplanted, giving the gift of restored sight." The U.S. is one of the few nations with a cornea surplus. FDA inspection reports confirmed that the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank procures more tissue than its geographic area can use. The demand for international orders contributed to the high-pressure environment, Lopez said. Employee turnover and the stress of the job resulted in the collection of corneas of poor quality, Lewis said. Local hospitals inquired about why so many corneas weren't being transplanted, she added. The leading reason was recovery errors that damaged the tissue, Lewis said. Lohmeier disagreed that there was a significant decline in corneas being placed. "We do not believe this description accurately reflects the state of corneal recovery and transplants," he said. Internal records showed that about half of recovered corneas in November 2022 had moderate to heavy stress. The Eye Bank Association of America does not have comparable national data. The closest figure it tracks is the proportion, among tissues that were prepared but not transplanted, that were unable to be transplanted because of damage during processing; in 2022, it was a quarter. Ashi Moore, who used to lead the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank's quality assurance department, said she once filed a report to the FDA after a donor's eye tissues were removed despite a family history indicating a high risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The disease, which should have been disqualified for donation purposes, is a fatal brain disorder that can be transmitted through infected tissue. The issue was caught before the corneas could be placed in someone else's eyes, but it should never have gotten to the point that the corneas were removed from the body, Moore said. At least once, a technician retrieved corneas from the wrong body, according to Moore and other former employees (The FDA was unable to provide records to confirm that report by publication). Moore said she should have been told about the case of mistaken identity immediately but said she wasn't made aware of it until after the eye bank's leaders handled the situation themselves. She said she couldn't find evidence that the eye bank had reported the error to the FDA. It was one of the major reasons she decided to leave the organization, though she had derived a strong sense of purpose from working at the eye bank, she said. When Lewis resigned, officials at the nonprofit eye bank offered her $5,000 to sign a severance agreement with a nondisparagement provision. She declined. Lewis said she would like to see states hold tissue recovery agencies to the same standards as other organizations that handle corpses, such as hospitals, coroners, and funeral homes. And if they fail to meet those standards, they need to be held accountable to build public trust, she said. Lewis' and Lopez's negative experiences with the eye bank had another consequence. Each decided they no longer wanted to be an organ or tissue donor. "After witnessing and experiencing so many issues, I no longer feel comfortable with the potential of my family having to go through that when the time comes," Lewis said. 2024 KFF Health 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: Training being given to Nepalese health care providers. Credit: HERA Culturally appropriate women-centered interventions can help health care systems respond to domestic violence, research has found. HERA (Health care Responding to Violence and Abuse) has been co-developing and evaluating a domestic violence and abuse health care intervention in low- and middle-income countries for the past five years. This National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Research Group will report their findings, and publish a PolicyBristol report, at a conference in London today (27 November). The Group was co-led by the University of Bristol and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Specific country studies were led by the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), Kathmandu University (Nepal), An-Najah National University (occupied Palestinian territories), and University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). A number of articles based on the research have been published in scientific journals (see More Information below). Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) against women is a significant concern in each of these countries, with a prevalence of 23% in Brazil, 27% in Nepal, 29% in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), and 24% in Sri Lanka. Following implementation of the HERA program, rates of identification of DVA in participating health services increased by 78% in Brazil, 100% in Nepal and 69% in Sri Lanka. There was a 24% decrease in identification of women experiencing DVA in the oPt, partly due to escalating violence in the Israeli occupation. Health care worker confidence and motivation to address domestic violence improved, with health care workers reporting increases in their readiness to identify, inquire about and respond to domestic violence by documenting cases, making referrals, and offering ongoing support. In Nepal, there was a slight decrease in health care worker confidence to offer ongoing support due to the health care clinics becoming COVID isolation wards. Context matters HERA aimed to strengthen each country's health system response to DVA by focusing on women-centered care, context-specific adaptations, and health care leadership to drive change. It was informed by World Health Organization clinical guidance. The study took place in health services serving socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, focusing on sexual and reproductive health care. This included primary health care facilities in Brazil, Nepal, and the oPt, as well as in district general hospitals in Sri Lanka. Key elements of the intervention were: training, which focused on: enhancing understanding of women's experiences, building skills for empathy, asking questions in a non-judgmental manner, and providing first-line support improving recording practices establishing care pathways for affected women within and beyond the health system The adaptation and implementation of HERA in the four countries was shaped by their distinct socio-cultural, political and economic contexts. This included issues such as: drug cartel activities in Brazil and social violence relating to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank2; gender norms and variations in laws regarding violence against women; and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Impact Training has been vital to address domestic violence in the four countries. In Brazil, the south region hopes to expand HERA training to all services in that region, including health services other than primary health care (mental health and emergency services, especially). The Palestinian Ministry of Health will invite health care providers who participated in the "Train the Trainer" program to train their colleagues in future gender-based violence training sessions. The training material developed and used for the HERA intervention in Sri Lankato increase awareness and response to DVA among health care professionals (HCPs) has been discussed with the Family Health Bureau (FHB) of the Ministry of Health. It is hoped the material will be used in their HCP training program in 2025. The HERA team in Nepal was instrumental in advocating for a Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) to train health care providers along with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Currently, the governmental training manual on health care response to GBV is being revised to incorporate GTA. The HERA team will train providers/medical students/nursing students/physiotherapy students from different departments and institutions to use the GTA approach. Recommendations The report makes a number of policy and practice recommendations, which include: Strengthen health system linkages with local leaders, women's organizations and non-governmental organization (NGO)-led services Incorporate a robust women-centered perspective in training programs, grounded in an understanding of gender inequality Develop targeted interventions for managers to drive organizational change Expand referral options for women at various stages of readiness to seek help Maintain a simple, unified record system for documenting DVA Establish targets and performance indicators for DVA responses in health care systems Gene Feder, Professor of Primary Care in the Center for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol and co-Director of HERA, said, "Violence against women is a severe violation of human rights rooted in gender and economic inequalities, affecting nearly one in three women globally. "The rates are even higher in some low- and middle-income countries. Health systems play a crucial role in addressing the immediate health needs of women and supporting their pathways to safety and recovery. In HERA we found that health systems in diverse countries in the global South could be strengthened to identify and respond to the needs of women experiencing domestic violence." Loraine Bacchus, Professor of Global Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and co-Director of HERA, explained, "HERA has shown that culturally appropriate, women-centered programs can strengthen health care system responses to domestic violence. By collaborating with local health services and addressing the specific challenges faced by their local communities, it is possible to improve health care worker confidence and build trust with the women they support. This work highlights the value of country-specific strategies to improve how doctors and other health care workers respond to violence against women." Professor Ana Flavia d'Oliveira, Principal Investigator, University of Sao Paulo, said," Our greatest achievement and the true success of the HERA intervention lie in increasing the identification of domestic violence cases without resorting to mechanical questions or obtaining irrelevant answers. This increase signifies a more attentive and perceptive approach toward women, with a deeper understanding of gender, race, and class inequalities. It also fosters the belief in shared decision-making. "Primary care's role in supporting these cases is crucial, serving as an entry point to the rights protection network, despite its limitations. HERA has developed an approach to posing questions, providing support, and making referrals that avoids judgment and re-victimization. Instead of viewing patients as helpless, it recognizes women as empowered individuals capable of making decisions and accepting their consequences." Amira Shaheen, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, An Najah National University said, "We are deeply committed to advancing health care responses to abuse and violence. This initiative not only seeks to strengthen the capacity of our health care systems but also to provide a lifeline for those affected. Our work reflects the resilience of communities and the critical role of health care in safeguarding human dignity and well-being." Dr. Poonam Rishal, Principal Investigator, Kathmandu University, said, "HERA Nepal has been a collaborative journey to contribute to meaningful work aligning with our passion for fostering change for women who experience violence and abuse. It has been a learning of best practices and challenging existing research that can support policy implementation and amplify voices of women, enriching professional and personal development. Camaraderie, transparency and non-hierarchical leadership were pivotal to its success." Professor Thilini Rajapakse, Principal Investigator, University of Peradeniya, said, "Our main aim is to improve the health care response to domestic violence, and to increase awareness about this key issue. We also strongly advocate for improving support and service provision for people experiencing domestic violence, and exploring socio-culturally appropriate ways to do so. HERA has been an important part of our program." More information: Health system interventions can improve domestic violence support but context matters. www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar rts-pdfs/2024/Policy%20Bristol_Policy%20Briefing%20163_HERA_2024.pdf Natalia V. Lewis et al, Ethical challenges in global research on health system responses to violence against women: a qualitative study of policy and professional perspectives, BMC Medical Ethics (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12910-024-01034-y Nagham Joudeh et al, Evaluation of a domestic violence training and support intervention in Palestinian primary care clinics: a mixed method study, In Review (2023). DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3457315/v1 Loraine J Bacchus et al, Interventions that prevent or respond to intimate partner violence against women and violence against children: a systematic review, The Lancet Public Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00048-3 Manuela Colombini et al, Comparing health systems readiness for integrating domestic violence services in Brazil, occupied Palestinian Territories, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Health Policy and Planning (2024). DOI: 10.1093/heapol/czae032 Journal information: The Lancet Public Health 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: Thanksgiving travel is a must for millions of Americans, but those plans will be complicated for some because they're traveling with a loved one who has Alzheimer's disease or dementia. "A family trip to visit a loved one, friend, or favorite destination can be a great way to spend Thanksgiving, including for those affected by Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related illnesses," Jennifer Reeder, director of educational and social services for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, said in a news release. "Whether traveling near or far, there are preparations and adaptations family caregivers can make to help their loved one feel more comfortable and relaxed throughout the trip," she added. Some tips to help holiday travel stay focused on family and joy include: Before embarking, family and friends should make sure that their loved one can travel at all, Reeder said. As dementia progresses, travel may become too difficult. It's worth consulting with their doctor to make sure travel is recommended, based on how long the trip will be and the stage of the person's illness. If the person can travel, make plans that take their abilities into account. Plan travel to minimize their anxiety and stressfor example, they might travel better at specific times of the day, or travel better by plane or by car. During travel, companions should take steps to make sure the person's routine is preserved as much as possible. For example, build their normal meal times into the itinerary, as even small changes can be overwhelming and stressful to someone with dementia. Bring items that can help keep the person relaxed and at ease, including snacks, water, activities and comfort items like a blanket, a soft pillow, a favorite sweater or a change of clothing. Don't forget important documents and a list of their current medications. If traveling by air or train, check in advance about security screening procedures and let the person know what to expect, to reduce potential anxiety. The Transportation Security Administration offers assistance to people with dementia, so contact them at least 72 hours prior to a flight to learn more. If traveling by car, build in regular break times for food, bathroom visits and rest. Copyright 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Patients addicted to opioids are arriving at ERs with deep wounds that expose their bones. Some have lost multiple limbs. And many ultimately are leaving hospitals against medical advice, with severe, untreated skin lesions, insisting they can't bear the withdrawal from tranqthe drug that caused their wounds in the first place. Those were among the stories shared by doctors from Philadelphia's major health systems as they compared notes for the first time on the medical consequences of tranqthe street term for xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that has exploded across the city's illicit opioid supply. At a weekend symposium hosted at Thomas Jefferson University by Rothman Orthopedics and the Foundation for Opioid Research and Education, physicians outlined the patient cases they'd seen and the limited research on how xylazine affects the body. "This has really changed the dynamic of the opioid crisis," said Asif Ilyas, an orthopedic surgeon at Rothman who helped organize the event. "And Philadelphia is the front line." For the last several years, doctors in Philadelphia have been increasingly treating wounds caused by xylazine. Never approved for human use, it is now present in nearly all of the illicit opioids sold in the city. Health officials believe it was initially added to fentanyl to provide a longer-lasting high. Xylazine also appears to cause severe skin lesions. At Saturday's symposium, doctors said that it's believed the drug is toxic to skin cells and may also constrict blood vessels, slowing the circulation of oxygen in the body and making wounds slower to heal. Doctors who spoke stressed the importance of collaboration to help patients requiring care that goes beyond simply treating a serious wound. "Wounds are a symptom of the disease; not the disease itself," said Jason Wink, a plastic surgeon at Penn Medicine. Doctors working with tranq wounds must also address their patients' addiction. "It is a disease like any other disease," Rachel Haroz, head of Cooper University Hospital's toxicology and addiction medicine division, told her colleagues from other specialties. Of particular concern are patients with wounds who leave against medical advice before their treatment is complete. Sometimes, that's because doctors haven't adequately treated their withdrawal symptoms. Avoiding wound treatment can have serious consequences. Katherine Woozley, the head of Cooper's orthopedic hand and nerve surgery division, spoke about a man who had arrived at Cooper with a wound that covered much of his forearm, and a host of other medical issues, including endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves often seen among people who inject their drugs. The man ultimately left the hospital against medical advice, only to come back a year later with his arm missing below his shoulder, and a section of bone exposed. He told doctors the arm had fallen off on its own about six months before. Woozley didn't say why that man had originally left the hospital, but stressed that surgeons treating tranq wounds must work closely with addiction specialists and other social support services to give patients a better shot at healing. At Temple University Hospital, doctors are seeing success with synthetic skin coverings that can protect a wound for up to a year, allowing it to heal even if a patient isn't ready to quit using drugs. Lisa Rae, Temple's chief of burn surgery, said her goal is to decrease patients' risk of amputation. She spoke of a patient with a wound that had exposed the joints in their wrist, who kept leaving the hospital and was continuing to inject drugs. Doctors covered the wound with synthetic skin and, earlier this year, the person entered recovery. At a recent follow-up, the wound was almost healed, Rae said. "Don't give up on wound care," Rae said. "People are trying. This gives them time to find their way out." Other surgeons spoke about navigating treatment for patients with wounds so severe they can no longer use their limb. Wink, the Penn plastic surgeon, recalled a woman who had not used drugs for three months, but still dealt with a serious wound on her forearm. She told doctors she wanted to save the limb, but ultimately felt relief when it had to be amputated. "Amputation can remove the burden of wounds from a patient," Wink said, urging careful consultations with patients, their families and other doctors before proceeding with a life-changing surgery. Doctors at Saturday's symposium said they're beginning to develop comprehensive recommendations for classifying and treating tranq wounds. Earlier this year, Philadelphia health officials also released guidelines on wound treatment. And addiction medicine experts stressed that hospitals must also emphasize follow-up care for patients who use xylazine, ensuring that patients have adequate medication, wound-care supplies, and connections to social services when they leave the hospital. Ilyas said he was pleased that the first-of-its-kind symposium had brought together so many doctors with different perspectives and areas of expertise. "This is not a problem managed by just surgery," he said. In the early days of the crisis, he said, "we weren't managing the problem in front of us, which is fundamentally addiction. And this type of wound crosses multiple surgical specialtiesorthopedic, burn, plastic, general. Most of us have never trained on these injuries, so it's important to exchange notes." 2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The latest World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis Report released in November 2024 painted a sobering picture; approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2023, the highest number since the organization began global TB monitoring in 1995. TB is the leading cause of death among those with HIV/AIDS worldwide. According to the WHO, in 2023, 161,000 people died of HIV-associated TB. This World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the American Thoracic Society and our Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) partners call on governments, health advocates, and non-government organizations to strengthen their response to AIDS and TB. This collaborative effort is necessary to help realize the World Health Organization's goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. "Multidrug-resistant TB remains a public health crisis," said ATS President Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF. "According to the WHO, while an estimated 400,000 people developed multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB), only 44% were diagnosed and treated in 2023. The ATS will continue to advocate for global and domestic funding for TB research, including new TB vaccines." ATS began in 1905 as the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. Today, the ATS and other FIRS members, representing the world's leading respiratory societies, are working to improve lung health globally. In the developing world, TB is often the first sign a person has HIV. Yet, about half of the people living with HIV and tuberculosis are unaware of their co-infection and, therefore, not receiving appropriate care that could prevent not only serious illness but death, according to WHO. Shortly after AIDS emerged, it fueled a global resurgence of TB that continues in many low- and middle-income countries. The WHO African Region has the highest burden of HIV-associated TB. People living with HIV are 16 times more likely to fall ill with TB compared to people without HIV. HIV increases the risk of other infectious respiratory diseases, including Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia, both of which can be life threatening. Education, prevention strategies, and new medicines, particularly antiretroviral therapies, have reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths by 69% since the peak in 2004. FIRS believes a global response to HIV/AIDS can be strengthened by: Increasing awareness of the continuing global threat of HIV-related disease and its link to TB and other respiratory diseases. Improving the health outcomes of people living with HIV through patient care and research into better prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatment strategies for both HIV and TB, including rapid diagnosis and treatment for multidrug-resistant TB that is harder to cure. Reducing the incidence and severity of HIV-related disease by strengthening mother-to-child transmission prevention programs and increasing the early use of antiretroviral therapy. Improving HIV education in at-risk communities to reduce the incidence of new HIV infections. Reducing HIV-related health disparities and inequities. More information: WHO Global Tuberculosis Report: iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/ 789240101531-eng.pdf This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new study has identified a causal relationship between depression and dysmenorrhea using Mendelian randomization to analyze both European and East Asian populations. Sleeplessness was identified as a potential mediator. Credit: Liu et al, DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae589 Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression and often experience more severe physical symptoms. This gender difference is particularly evident during reproductive years and dramatically impacts the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. However, although links between mental health and reproductive health have been found, the associations have remained underexplored. In a study published in Briefings in Bioinformatics, researchers from China and the UK have found that depression can increase the chances of a person experiencing menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea). Shuhe Liu, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool-University (XJTLU), China, says, "We used a specialized technique called Mendelian randomization to analyze genetic variation and identify specific genes that may mediate the effect of depression on menstrual pain. "Our findings provide preliminary evidence that depression may be a cause, rather than a consequence, of dysmenorrhea as we did not find evidence that period pain increased the risk of depression." The team analyzed approximately 600,000 cases from European populations and 8,000 from East Asian populations and saw a strong link in both datasets. They also investigated the possibility that sleeplessness, often experienced by those suffering from depression, was a significant mediator between depression and dysmenorrhea. "We found that increased sleep disturbances could exacerbate menstrual pain. Addressing sleep issues may therefore be crucial in managing both conditions. However, more research is required to understand the intricate links between these factors," says Liu. Holistic approach This study further highlights the need for a holistic approach when treating mental health and reproductive issues. Liu says, "Mental disorders are often not considered when treating conditions such as period pain. Our findings emphasize the importance of mental health screening for people who suffer from severe menstrual pain. We hope this can lead to more personalized treatment options, and improved health care, and reduce the stigma surrounding the conditions. "Our results provide evidence of a link between our neurological systems and the rest of the body. By exploring and understanding these relationships better, we can make a real difference to the millions of people experiencing period pain and mental health issues." Liu is supervised by Professor John Moraros and Dr. Zhen Wei from XJTLU, China and Dr. Dan Carr from the University of Liverpool, UK. More information: Shuhe Liu, Zhen Wei, Daniel F. Carr, John Moraros, Deciphering the genetic interplay between depression and dysmenorrhea: a Mendelian randomization study, Briefings in Bioinformatics, doi.org/10.1093/bib/bbae589 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Is your Thanksgiving turkey safe to eat? As poultry farms and dairies across California continue to battle bird flu outbreaks, residents may be worried about food safety this holiday season. Highly pathogenic avian influenza surfaced in the United States in January 2022. The virus has been detected in wild birds and domestic poultry, according to the Fresno Bee's previous reporting. As of Nov. 18, a total of 294 dairies in California were under quarantine due to the avian flu, state agriculture officials confirmed. More than 4 million turkeys and chickens have been killed at poultry ranches across the state in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading. Meanwhile, the bird flu virus was detected in a batch of raw milk from Raw Farm in Fresno County, the California Department of Public Health reported. The Fresno Bee talked to Maria Soledad, a food safety inspection service spokeswoman at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to learn more about the virus and how it affects food safety. What is bird flu? According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, highly pathogenic avian influenzaalso known as bird flu or H5N1is a highly contagious and often deadly disease primarily found in poultry. It is "caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5) and A (H7) viruses," the agency said on its website. HPAI can spread from wild birds to domestic poultry and other animals. The virus can also infect humans in rare cases. "It is important to note that 'highly pathogenic' refers to severe impact in birds, not necessarily in humans," the agency said. How is avian flu spread to humans? Unlike seasonal influenza viruses, which are typically contracted through human-to-human transmission, avian influenza viruses are spread by infected birds through saliva, mucus and feces, according to the CDC. The virus can also be present in the respiratory secretions, organs, blood, or body fluids of other infected animalsincluding milk. Human infections occur when the virus enters the eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled through airborne droplets, aerosol particles or dust. It can also be transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the face. "Illness in humans from avian influenza virus infections have ranged in severity from no symptoms or mild illness to severe disease that resulted in death," the CDC said. Can I get bird flu from eating Thanksgiving turkey? "Consumers can safely enjoy turkey this holiday season," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote in an email to The Bee, noting that food safety inspectors examine turkeys for disease "before and after slaughter." That includes your Thanksgiving bird. "The turkeys from farms with confirmed avian influenza don't even get sent to slaughter," Soledad said. "They are destroyed on premises." During an avian flu outbreak, "The chance of infected poultry or eggs entering the food chain is low," the FDA said on its website in April, "because of the rapid onset of symptoms in poultry as well as the safeguards in place, which include testing of flocks and federal inspection programs." "When food is properly prepared and stored, the risk of consumers becoming infected with HPAI is reduced even further," the FDA said. What's the safest way to prepare turkey? UC Davis professor Linda J. Harris, who focuses on microbial food safety, says you should prepare your Thanksgiving turkey using four essential steps: clean, cook, chill and separate. Clean: Wash your hands, wash utensils and surfaces after each use. Wash fruits and vegetables. Cook: Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature is high enough to kill germs that can make you sick. Chill: Refrigerate perishable foods within two hours. Separate: Use separate cutting boards and plates for produce, meat, poultry, seafood and eggs. You can watch the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Holiday Food Safety video for tips on how to prepare a turkey the safe way, or check out the turkey recipe developed by the Partnership for Food Safety Education, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce food-borne illness risks. According to the USDA, any traces of highly pathogenic avian influenza in your turkey are inactivated when food reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. The USDA recommends following this rule anytime you're preparing raw poultry, including chicken. On its Thanksgiving food safety website, the USDA has videos and information including calculators that help you determine the appropriate amount of time to thaw and cook your turkey. "Simply select your turkey's weight, along with your preferred thawing and cooking methods, and you'll immediately receive guidance on how to safely prepare your turkey this Thanksgiving," USDA congressional public affairs specialist Maria Machuca wrote in an email to The Bee. Can I get bird flu by drinking or cooking with milk? "There is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted to humans through properly prepared food," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on its website. Pasteurized milk and other dairy products are safe to consume and cook with, according to Hebah Ghanem, infectious disease specialist at University of California San Francisco, Fresno. "The most important thing that it has to be pasteurized, because the virus is killed with heat," Ghanem told The Bee. "Pasteurization of milk was adopted decades ago as a basic public health measure to kill dangerous bacteria and largely eliminate the risk of getting sick," the FDA said on its website. Will eating eggs make me sick? All egg products are pasteurized as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "This means that they have been rapidly heated and held at a minimum required temperature for a specified time to destroy bacteria," the agency said. However, eggs that are still in their shells aren't required to be pasteurized, leading to potential health risks if eaten raw or uncooked. What are avian flu symptoms? According to the CDC, avian flu symptoms in humans may include: Fever or feeling feverish or chills Eye redness or irritation Cough Sore throat Runny or stuff nose Muscle or body aches Headaches Tiredness How dangerous is HPAI for humans? California dairy workers infected with avian flu have experienced mild flu-like symptoms, The Bee previously reported. "All the cases that we have here in California are very mild," Ghanem told the Fresno Bee in October. "They haven't needed hospitalization." What's the best way to avoid the virus? To prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, people should avoid exposure to dead animals, Ghanem said in October. That includes wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds and cows. People should also avoid exposure to animal feces as well as fluids. Here are other tips from Ghanem: Wash your hands Avoid contaminated surfaces and any other material that has been touched or is close to the infected animal Don't drink raw milk. Eat pasteurized cheese. Monitor yourself for symptoms Get the flu vaccine 2024 The Sacramento Bee. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Non-nutritive sweeteners are often perceived as healthier than sugar, but new findings have confirmed new ways they may interact with sugar handling in the body. Researchers from the University of Adelaide have examined the impact that sweeteners, like Splenda, have on the ability to control blood glucose levels. Previous research has linked the habitual and high intake of sweeteners to increased occurrence of type 2 diabetes. The team published the results of a two-week preclinical study in the journal Nutrients . "In this proof-of-concept study, we wanted to discover how non-nutritive sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda) and acesulfame-K might alter sugar handling," said Associate Professor Richard Young, Senior Research Fellow, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide. "Specifically, whether these sweeteners interact with sweet sensing pathways in the gut that govern the rate of sugar uptake directly, or indirectly through effects on gut bacteria. "Using antibiotics, we cleared the gut bacteria of half of the mice, and then, over two weeks, gave sucralose and acesulfame-K in drinking water." The mice that received the sweeteners absorbed sugar at a faster rate from their gut compared to those who didn't, regardless of whether they were given antibiotics, showing that these sweeteners directly affected sugar uptake in the intestine. Their administration over two weeks, however, did not change overall blood sugar responses. "These findings go a long way to answering some of the fundamental questions we have around the effects of non-nutritive sweeteners and show that despite the misconception that they are metabolically inert, their habitual high intake can alter distinct mechanisms of sugar handling," said Dr. Braden Rose, Early Career Postdoctoral Researcher, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide. The research team, which included members of the University's Center for Research Excellence in Translating Nutritional Science to Good Health and Nutrition, will now move to clinical testing. The researchers were also members of the Lifelong Health theme at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. More information: Braden D. Rose et al, Host or the Hosted? Effects of Non-Nutritive Sweeteners on Intestinal and Microbial Mechanisms of Glycemic Control, Nutrients (2024). DOI: 10.3390/nu16213628 Journal information: Nutrients This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research reveals a dramatic improvement in diagnosing and curing people living with hepatitis C in rural communities using both telemedicine and support from peers with lived experience in drug use. The study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, outlines the results of a randomized controlled trial led by Oregon Health & Science University in seven rural counties in Oregon. The study enlisted people with lived experience in substance use to meet individuals who use drugs, test them for hepatitis C, and then offer them treatment through telehealth or referral to a physical clinic. The results were striking. Researchers found that 85% of people successfully enrolled in treatment through a tablet or smartphone compared with only 12% of those who were referred to in-person care at a clinic. Further, the majority of the people who were offered care through telemedicine66%cleared the virus within six months after the study began. Each approach relied on engaging people through peers with experience in illicit drug use. "Rural people who use drugs may be more likely to trust their peers, even when they don't trust health care providers," said lead author Andrew Seaman, M.D., an associate professor of medicine (general internal medicine and geriatrics) in the OHSU School of Medicine. "This study shows the importance of empowering trusted peers to support the health of people who use drugs, and the crucial role telemedicine can play to expand hepatitis C treatment to rural communities." Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne virus in the United States, with an estimated 2.4 million people affected. Corralling the spread of hepatitis C has become much more viable in recent years, with the availability of antiviral therapies that are more than 95% effective in eliminating the virus with few side effects. Yet getting people tested and treated remains a major hurdle in curbing the ongoing spread of the disease and its impact on public health. "We have life-saving medications to treat hepatitis C," Seaman said. "This study shows that finding unique ways to improve access to treatmentbeyond traditional health care settingsis crucial for supporting people who use drugs." Improving treatment connections The study randomized 203 individuals in rural areas who use drugs contacted by peers with lived experience in drug use from July 2020 to December 2022. All participants were referred to care, either through a peer-assisted referral to local treatment resources in their community or through a peer-assisted telemedicine connection to health care professionals via tablet or smartphone. Those who received care through telehealth were almost seven times more likely to be treated for hepatitis C and four times more likely to achieve viral clearance after six months, the study found. The research team believes this is the first randomized study to validate telehealth in rural populations living with hepatitis C and the first to evaluate peer-assisted telemedicine. In contrast to other viral epidemics like HIV, hepatitis C prevalence is higher in rural areas and is especially prevalent among people who inject drugs. Telehealth use generally has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic, but this study is the first to document its potential to be scaled nationwide in addressing hepatitis C, especially as the Biden administration is focused on a five-year initiative to eliminate the disease in the United States. "This is one of those rare situations where spending money will actually save money," said Seaman, who also serves as medical director of Hepatitis and HIV Services for Central City Concern, a Portland-area nonprofit that provides housing, health care and addiction treatment services. "Hepatitis C causes liver cancer, loss of productivity, diabetes and all kinds of complications that cost lives and money. And it's transmissible, so every time a patient is cured, we also prevent multiple transmissions to other people." Seaman also heads substance use disorder programs with Better Life Partners, which provides low-barrier treatment within a harm reduction framework across New England. Peers make an impact In Oregon, to conduct this research, investigators leveraged an existing initiative known as Oregon HIV/Hepatitis and Opioid Prevention and Engagement, or Oregon HOPE, a collaboration among OHSU, the Oregon Health Authority, Comagine Health and community-based organizations. The initiative relies on peers in recovery from addiction to engage their neighbors in substance use prevention and treatment services. The program collaborates with community organizations in Lane, Douglas, Josephine, Curry, Coos, Jackson and Umatilla counties. "This study teaches us that local peers in rural communities can deliver care directly to people who often slip through the cracks of our health care system," said co-author Todd Korthuis, M.D., M.P.H., head of addiction medicine at OHSU, professor of medicine (general internal medicine and geriatrics) in the OHSU School of Medicine, and principal investigator of Oregon HOPE. "It's a deeply gratifying new way of doing business." More information: Andrew Seaman et al, Peer-assisted telemedicine for hepatitis C in people who use drugs: A randomized controlled trial, Clinical Infectious Diseases (2024). DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciae520 Journal information: Clinical Infectious Diseases Wendy Red Star got tricked into learning shed won a MacArthur Fellowship. I got an email from the MacArthur Foundation asking for a confidential meeting because they had an artist in mind they wanted to give the MacArthur to, the Billings-born, Portland-based visual artist remembered. They wanted me to speak about the artist. She though it was a strange request but agreed and took the phone call the next day, where the foundation revealed their ruse: she was the artist they were awarding the grant to. This is the biggest thing you can get as a visual artist in the States, Red Star said. Its a big deal. Red Star said she was double shocked both at the award, which is one of the most prestigious prizes in America and carries an $800,000 payday dolled out over five years and the playfully duplicitous nature in which it was given out. You dont really expect the upper crust of American academia to pull pranks. But then again the MacArthur Fellowship is given to mavericks and creatives who are blazing a new path. Past winners there have been about 1,000 of them since they started the program in 1981 include writers like Colson Whitehead, David Foster Wallace and Ta-Nehisi Coates; filmmakers like Errol Morris and Joshua Oppenheimer and once, in the skeptic extraordinaire James Randi, a magician. Theres a reason these things are colloquially known as genius grants. Maybe the only rule here is to expect the unexpected. And Red Star is certainly that. She is a singular presence in American contemporary art, capable of making pieces that are at once aesthetically stunning and intensely provoking. A Wendy Red Star and shes working in painting, printing, sculpting, you name it might make you cry but itll definitely make you think. The magic isn't always what you're looking at, it's how you'll look at everything else differently afterwards. She is an extraordinary artist, said Janine Pease, the longtime educator and advocate who was the founding president of the Little Bighorn College in Crow Agency. Theres no one like her. Pease and Red Star have been intertwined for a long time. Theyre both Crow. Their families know each other, and Pease was a big figure when Red Star was growing up on the Crow Reservation. Ive always known about her, Red Star reflected. Now the two have one more thing in common. Pease was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1994. Only five Montanans paleontologist Jack Horner, activist and banker Elouise P. Cobell, anthropologist Erik Mueggler, Pease and Red Star have won. Three of those five are Indigenous women, and two of them are Crow. It brings notoriety and honor to our Native people, said Pease. Theyre tremendously innovative and I feel honored to be among those five. The feeling is mutual. Looking back on it, Red Star is sure the first time she heard about the MacArthur Foundation was when Pease was awarded the grant. Im so excited to be in company with her, Red Star said. For what shes done for the community, its such a huge honor to be joining her. MacArthur funds come with a no strings attached policy. Pease was raising her family when she was awarded, and some of the money went to pay off some pesky bills. But she also used it to be able to travel to meetings and become, in her words, a much better professional in my studies and research. Its a wonderful opportunity, Pease said, because life is expensive and if you dont have a lot of income there are things that are beyond your reach. The MacArthur allowed her to close that gap, to become a more high profile version of the person she was working to become. Red Star is also a working mother, although shes looking at being an empty nester when her daughter Beatrice attends Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, next year. Other than tuition, shes being practical about her newfound funds, earmarking some for a studio expansion and others for investments. Not that the future isnt looking packed for Red Star. The big thing shes working on is a 2026 solo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Shes decided to focus on Chief Plenty Coups and his many visits to the Capitol. He traveled there over 10 times and theres so much correspondence and different images you can find across the Smithsonian, she said. Its been fascinating to learn more about him. I think I took him for granted. Red Star is a meticulous researcher, and Plenty Coups has taken her all over of course to his homestead in Pryor (now a state park) but to Wyoming and to Little Bighorn College in Hardin. This new work sounds very similar to the last exhibition Red Star had in Billings. That installation, called Peelatchiwaaxpaash/Medicine Crow (Raven) and the 1880 Crow Peace Delegation, was on display at the Montana State University Billings Northcutt Steele Gallery in 2016. It was about another Crow leader, Medicine Crow, and his trip to the nations capitol in 1880. Red Star has long been examining these intersections, places where cultures and eras meet. Pease presented a lecture during the MSUB shows run. The connections arent just deep, theyre everywhere. Shes so worthy of it, Pease enthused. Shes a rare mind. Lake County officials on Monday renewed their plea that state agencies resolve the institutional logjams that are hobbling the local justice system. District Court Judges Molly Owen and John Mercer hosted the meeting where local prosecutors and defense attorneys gave state lawmakers and a state attorney a gutting perspective of the criminal justice system's overlapping crises caused by backlogs at state institutions. Montana State Hospital, the "safety net" facility for people who are involuntarily committed due to severe mental health needs, recently told Owen they would no longer be accepting patients on an immediate basis. For criminal defendants who need evaluations in order to be prosecuted, the wait times are so long that Owen said she has been compelled to dismiss their cases. "This was a criminal case with a victim," she told the group of a recent case she dismissed. "It's not something I wanted to dismiss and people will disagree with what I did, but (the defendant) is sitting in a jail, she's mentally ill and we released her to fend for herself, basically." Jail populations are another weave in the criminal justice quagmire. County jails are overcrowded because the state's prison system is overloaded. Corrections officials continue to send male inmates to a private prison facility out of state, and still hundreds of people who have been convicted wait in county facilities for a state prison bed to open up. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell described not pursuing suspects who are wanted on warrants simply because of overcrowding. As of Monday, the Lake County jail held 16 state-custody inmates in their 42-bed facility. "If it's someone who's violent, we'll try to make room," Bell said. "But then we push over our limit that we're supposed to be at." "When you let people just wander around for four years with warrants, they generally get worse," County Attorney James Lapotka said. The Montana Department of Corrections does pay counties a per diem to hold state-custody inmates in local jails, but it doesn't cover the cost. Lake County gets roughly $89 per inmate per day from the state. But the cost of housing inmates is actually $137 per day. However, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, which oversees the Montana State Hospital where people are involuntarily committed, does not reimburse county jails for holding those patients before they can be seen at the psychiatric facility, Lapotka noted. Chad Parker, chief legal counsel for DPHHS, appeared by video to represent the department at Monday's meeting. "The problems you have annunciated are very familiar with us," he said. "I don't know if people believe this when we say this or not, but our hearts are breaking over this, too." Parker and a handful of legislators raised the near-term initiatives approved in the last year from the state's new behavioral health commission, staffed by stakeholders, lawmakers and agency heads converging in attempts to find gaps and use the initiatives to fund short-term solutions. The mental health evaluations for criminal cases, for example, can now be done in community settings with grant funding from the state. But that money was approved almost a year ago, and the conversation in Monday's meeting was largely a replay from one of the commission's hearings in 2023. But, as it was described at the outset of the behavioral health commission's work, it will take a great deal of time to fix a long-broken system, officials said Monday. Part of the commission's $300 million budget includes planning out new psychiatric care facilities, although details of that proposal have yet to take shape. The 2025 Legislature, which has so far handled the matter in bipartisan fashion, will be tasked with keeping this project on that long-term pace. Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, has steered the commission thus far but did not seek reelection this year. A handful of holdover lawmakers in attendance Monday reiterated their grasp on the issues and renewed their commitment to the work ahead. Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, has been in the Legislature for 10 years and said he's likely to retire after the end of his four-year term to which he was just elected. "I've never spent a lot of time in DPHHS or DOC issues, I'm going to change that," he told local officials near the conclusion of Monday's meeting. "Living here, and looking all around the state, it's really become a huge issue. I will dedicate my next four sessions to helping out. I promise to make that commitment." Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is enhancing connectivity across its parks, reserves, and stations with a groundbreaking investment in satellite internet. Using savings from the 2023/2024 fiscal year, KWS aims to improve operational efficiency and enhance visitor experiences, even in remote areas, while supporting its commitment to sustainable conservation through technological innovation. In partnership with Karibu Connect Limited, a local Starlink Satellite provider, and the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology, KWS has launched the installation and maintenance of satellite internet at 70 facilities. This project provides seamless internet and Wi-Fi access to both visitors and staff, ensuring reliable communication and an improved experience. Many parks, including Aberdare, Sibiloi, and Mt. Kenya, faced challenges with mobile communication and lacked fiber optic infrastructure, which affected services like the eCitizen ticketing system. The new satellite connectivity resolves these issues, ensuring consistent internet access for all. KWS Director General Dr. Erustus Kanga confirmed that the service would provide free Wi-Fi at major visitor touch points, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience at all facilities. To date, 40 facilities, including Tsavo, Aberdare, Isiolo, and Ndere Island, have been upgraded with the satellite internet system. This initiative has significantly boosted operational efficiency, reduced customer complaints, and positioned KWS as a leader in conservation and technological advancements. This strategic move not only enhances tourism and increases revenue but also strengthens Kenyas conservation efforts, providing visitors with seamless access to the wonders of the wild while embracing modern technology. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has officially launched the rehabilitation of Nairobis road infrastructure by issuing tenders for major road repairs. This initiative aligns with President William Rutos commitment to enhancing Nairobis road network, following discussions with national government agencies and the Nairobi City County Government. Among the roads listed in KURAs tender notice for rehabilitation is the Savannah-Stage 17 Bridge Road, a project the President promised during a church service in Soweto. Other roads in the tender include Jogoo Road and Landhies Road, which will also undergo significant repairs to improve traffic flow and road safety. The tender documents are now available on the Public Procurement Information Portal and KURAs official website for interested contractors. Governor Johnson Sakaja confirmed the extensive roadwork ahead and reiterated his administrations commitment to improving Nairobis infrastructure across various sectors. He announced that the road rehabilitation would begin in December and will be carried out in three phases. Sakaja also highlighted ongoing projects in the Central Business District (CBD) and other areas of Nairobi. Mfangano Lane in the lower CBD is already complete, and we are progressing with crucial projects like the Haile Selassie Service Road, Utalii Lane, and Moi Avenue Service Road, Sakaja stated. This marks the beginning of a comprehensive plan to improve roads both in the CBD and across our estates. Nairobis County Executive for Mobility and Works, Ibrahim Auma, assured the public of continuous progress. In Nyayo Highrise Ward, we are upgrading access roads, and we are also constructing the Roysambu Primary School Access Road and Lenana B Road in Ngando Ward, Auma said. Sakaja also announced stricter enforcement in areas like Kilimani and Kileleshwa, where developers must rehabilitate adjacent roads before receiving occupancy certificates. Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has called on Kenyans living abroad to stop criticizing President William Ruto and his flagship projects. She defended Rutos efforts and urged citizens to show patience as the Kenya Kwanza administration works to fulfill its manifesto. Speaking during a parliamentary session on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Passaris stressed that no other president in Kenyas history has taken office under such challenging circumstances. I want to tell Kenyans who are out there, especially the ones who are abroad and probably have never even voted, and dont even send any taxes to Kenya. We have many Kenyans who live abroad and they make so much noise and keep branding the president a liar, Passaris said. She praised Ruto for his focus and resilience despite facing numerous obstacles beyond his control. There is no one who can make a promise and be able to deliver it when things that are beyond his control come into play. We have to understand that the president has only been in office since 2022. From 2022, I have to commend and celebrate him for being a very hardworking and focused president, Passaris added. Passaris noted that Rutos dedication has even attracted the interest of former Opposition Leader Raila Odinga, who agreed to collaborate in a broad-based government. The president has launched housing projects across the country, and the housing committee has also commissioned markets. While some may not need housing, millions of Kenyans in informal settlements do. I am proud that he fought for the housing tax because we needed a tax dedicated to this cause, she stated. She also defended the Kenya Kwanza administrations universal healthcare initiative, led by the Social Health Authority, as a critical step toward ensuring all Kenyans can access medical services. Passaris criticized high-income earners for paying minimal contributions to the now-defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) while expecting universal healthcare to succeed. A member of Parliament or a businessman earning a million shillings cannot justify paying Ksh500 for NHIF and expecting universal healthcare to work. Universal healthcare means anyone in this country should be able to walk into a hospital, receive treatment, access medicine, and find doctors and nurses available, she said. Passaris further reiterated her support for increased taxes, arguing that they are essential to achieving critical national goals. Three police officers were injured in an acid attack on Monday while pursuing a theft suspect in Nairobis Ngara area. Officers Moses Lelei, Tom Mbuku, and Joyce Otieno were investigating a suspect believed to be transporting stolen drugs from Nairobis Central Business District (CBD) to Ngara Medical Centre, according to a police report. The suspect locked themselves inside a facility to prevent the officers from entering. In response, the officers attempted to break down the door, demanding the suspect surrender. Shortly after, a suspect emerged from the facility and doused the officers with a substance believed to be acid, causing severe burn injuries to their faces and limbs. A backup team quickly arrived at the scene and transported the injured officers to Nairobi West Hospital for treatment. Four individuals inside the facilityMwaura Karumba (60), Beatrice Kamba (36), Faith Mboga (22), and Rose Gitau (46)were arrested. Authorities also recovered five liters of suspected sulfuric acid and various drugs, which were kept as evidence as investigations continue. The Echoes of Liangzhu concert was held as part of the second Liangzhu Forum on Monday night at Tiaoxi Grand Theater in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Guests from around the world gathered at the theater to see a grand national orchestra play enchanting music amidst interwoven lights and shadows. Antonio Pompa-Baldi, head of the piano department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, said: "I thought this was an extraordinary concert. I'm not an expert in Chinese traditional music. I recognize the different instruments, but I thought the blend between Western and Chinese instruments was perfect, going totally appropriately with the subject of this forum, which is exchange between different cultures and different civilizations. The music was exquisite and it was performed absolutely masterfully, so I enjoyed it immensely." The concert was organized by the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, featuring nearly a hundred faculty and student performers. Centered on the Liangzhu Civilization, the concert presents 10 pieces of ethnic music representing Chinese cultural heritage, Jiangnan aesthetic characteristics and diverse performance styles. Zhejiang boasts stunning landscapes, idyllic water towns and tranquil lakes, where music merges with nature. By honoring the principles of civilization, the concert created harmonious melodies. It forged a shared symphony of coexistence and resonance through rituals and music. Renowned Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke recently sat down with China.org.cn to discuss his latest film, "Caught by the Tides," which he spent 22 years making. Director Jia Zhangke. [Photo provided to China.org.cn] The journey began in 2001 when Jia, then 31, started exploring digital cameras. Before that, he had made two films on traditional film: "Xiao Wu" on 16 mm and "Platform" on 35 mm. Experimenting with a digital video (DV) camera, Jia found its texture strikingly different from cine film. Although DV cameras were still developing, they revolutionized filmmaking by enabling filmmakers to capture images without large teams or extensive lighting setups. "I realized the kind of filmmaking I loved could now be achieved like Dziga Vertov's 'Man with a Movie Camera,' with impressionistic, improvisational and poetic captures shaped into a visual work through editing," he said. As such, the project acquired the working title "Man with a DV Camera." Jia was also deeply moved by the exciting social environment at the turn of the millennium. China was undergoing significant modernization, including joining the WTO, winning the bid to host the 2008 Olympics, and benefitting from the development of new technologies like the internet and cellphones. "As society was full of energy, everyone wanted to change themselves, embarking on adventures. I wanted to capture this zeitgeist in a traveling filmmaking style," he explained. After nearly three years of filming, Jia paused to focus on other projects. Work on the film continued intermittently over the next two decades, until COVID-19 hit in 2020. Jia's frenetic pace of life was suddenly interrupted, and traveling became less convenient, meanwhile, new technologies were emerging quickly and kept developing. "I felt that we were truly on the verge of a new civilization, a new era, a new stage for human society, and I believed that it was time to finish the film," he told China.org.cn. He reviewed the material he had accumulated over the previous two decades, some of which he had never watched, while also reusing some footage from his other films "Unknown Pleasures" (2002), "Still Life" (2006) and "Ash Is Purest White" (2018). "The thing that interested me most was not in making it nostalgic," he said. "It was about revisiting the past to reflect on what we went through and how we got to where we are today. So, the entire editing process approached past footage and images with a perspective from today." A still from "Caught by the Tides." [Photo courtesy of Xstream Pictures] The film blends fiction and non-fiction in an impressionistic, non-linear way with fragmented footage he shot of contemporary China over the past two decades. It follows Qiao Qiao, a working-class woman from Datong, who embarks on a romance with Guo Bin. He promises to return for her once he becomes rich after he leaves to work in another province. Later, Qiao sets out to find him. She travels through areas displaced by the Three Gorges Dam and later to Guangdong province to tell him she is breaking up with him. Eventually, they reunite in Datong during COVID-19. Qiao is played by Zhao Tao, Jia's wife, who has starred in most of his films. Initially, she was not meant to play the lead in "Caught by the Tides," but she emerged as a natural fit for the role. The film portrays her transformation from a woman stuck in love to one who becomes awakened and independent. For years, Jia has been particularly drawn to smaller cities in China, feeling emotionally connected to them. He is fascinated by the stories of ordinary women, often silent or overlooked, whose emotional struggles and difficult environment make for inherently dramatic narratives. "Zhao Tao is perfect for such roles," Jia said. The story of "Caught by the Tides" took shape during the COVID-19 years, and was written by Jia and screenwriter Wan Jiahuan. With additional shooting and new filming technologies, the film was no longer shot just on digital camera, prompting Jia to change the title. "Our country's transformation has been drastic," Jia explained. "It's like tides crashing in, each altering many people's lives and experiences. We've always lived in such a state of change." A poster for "Caught by the Tides." The film was released nationwide on Nov. 22, 2024. [Photo courtesy of Xstream Pictures] Jia said he wants to continue making movies in the adventurous traveling filmmaking style, which fascinates him, but added that the process doesn't necessarily need to span 10 or 20 years. After producing the final cut of "Caught by the Tides," he feels it is a film facing the future. "Looking back at the past 20 years, with many tides, highs and lows, I feel that the vitality and enthusiasm of the early 21st century, the energy of the new generation, and their drive have indeed diminished. Global economic issues and new economic models have all contributed to the erosion of this vitality. I believe we should carry forward what we've brought from the past, but I absolutely think we should move forward to continue changing life and society," he said. "There's no point looking back; you can't go back, and there's no need to go back." The Adani Group has refuted the alleged bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Group's founder and Chairman Gautam Adani his nephew Sagar Adani and MD CEO Adani Green Energy Vineet Jaain in a filing with the stock exchanges. In its filing, AGEL has cited the news reporting on the alleged bribery and corruption charges against Adani Officials as 'Incorrect'. "Media articles which state that certain of our directors namely Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet aain have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd. "Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added. In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant. The filing states that, the DoJ Indictment, which has five counts, does not have any mention of and has excluded Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani or Vneet Jaain in Count One: ''Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; neither does it have mention of these three names in Count Five: "Conspiracy to obstruct justice" The Count One of the indictment, which refers to the corruption and bribery charges, only involves Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal of Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec - a Canadian institutional investor and Azure's largest shareholder). The statement says that, Adani officials are only charged for Count 2:" Alleged securities fraud conspiracy", Count 3:" Alleged wire fraud conspiracy", and Count "Alleged securities fraud." The DoJ Indictment, offers no evidence that bribes were paid by Adani executives to Indian government officials, the indictment and the complaint solely rest on claims that bribes were promised or discussed. The Adani Group is one of India's largest infrastructure players with sizeable operations in the global energy and logistics space. Over the past few years, the Indian conglomerate has been expanding its operations in international markets and directly competes with several US and Chinese entities in Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Australia, etc. Since the intimation of the US DoJ Indictment, the group has suffered a loss of near USD 55 Bn in its market capitalization across its 11 listed companies. (ANI) Industry leaders have hailed the Union Cabinet's approval of the PAN 2.0 Project, adding that the decision is a landmark step in the country's journey towards a unified and efficient data infrastructure. The Union Cabinet has approved the PAN 2.0 Project to streamline and modernise the process of issuing and managing PAN and TAN, making it more user-friendly and efficient. The initiative aims to consolidate multiple databases, enhance the functionality of the existing PAN system, and address long-standing demands for a single interface for identification and verification. Underscoring the importance of PAN 2.0 in simplifying the data infrastrastructure, former MD - Standard Chartered Bank, Sanjeev Mehta said, "This is a very critical initiative from a government perspective to actually consolidate all the databases and data which was being issued in older days. There are two different authorities issuing PAN. With this single interface and single integration, the consolidation would allow single source of truth and single identity for the consumers." Mehta highlighted the new features, such as QR codes and enhanced designs, which will allow users to upgrade while retaining their existing PAN numbers. "Your name would be migrated. You would be migrated onto the new system by default," he added. He also noted how the new system would benefit fintech companies and banks by reducing costs and risks associated with multiple system integrations. Shaji K V, NABARD Chairman urged fintech companies to use the unified PAN system to address challenges faced by marginalized communities. "The fintech world should look at challenges faced by the marginalized sections and the needy sections and find out solutions for them. Rather than they look at their challenges, they should look at opportunities on those challenges which the rural sector or the marginalized sector is facing," he stated. Going further, the NABARD Chairman highlighted the growing rural investments and how financing could be better channeled toward productive assets like tractors and combine harvesters. "We are looking at more investments in productive assets," he said. "The next level of improvement should come in the productivity in agriculture and for productivity we need a lot of innovative interventions. For that we need agritech companies, rural tech companies to come and play," he stated. Dr. Vimal Joshi, Corporate Lawyer and Supreme Court Advocate also hailed the decision, adding that PAN 2.0 is a significant step in advancing India's digital infrastructure and curbing fraud. "There will be a lot of relief in these things. The fraud in banking will be completely stopped. A common man's money will remain with a common man. Your money cannot be used by anyone else. Fake identity cannot be created," he stated. (ANI) India's pharmaceutical industry is poised for transformative growth, driven by innovations, increasing exports, and a strong focus on affordability and efficacy, stated industry leaders at CPHI and PMEC India, a three-day expo currently underway at India Expo Centre Delhi NCR. Speaking at the event, Dr Veeramani, Chairman, Pharmexcil stated that the pharmaceutical industry stands as a global leader, exporting to over 200 countries and providing comprehensive solutions across APIs, finished dosages, clinical research, and pharmacovigilance. He said, "With platforms like CPHI showcasing India's capabilities, the sector is poised for transformative growth from its current USD 55 billion to a projected USD 130 billion by 2030 and USD 450 billion by 2047. Innovations in biologics, speciality generics, and the impact of policies like the U.S. Biosecure Act underline the industry's potential to redefine healthcare solutions worldwide." Underscoring the importance of the industry, Harish K. Jain, President, Federation of Pharma Entrepreneurs (FOPE) said that India's pharmaceutical industry plays a vital role in global exports, with USD 30 billion of that in exports. "By 2030, we expect our exports to grow significantly, with 70 percent directed to Europe and the US. Our industry's impact is enormous--Indian pharmaceuticals contribute USD 8 billion annually to the US healthcare system, saving patients over USD 1.5 trillion. With growing capabilities in AI, machine learning, and biologics, India is poised to become the world's leading pharmaceutical hub, targeting a USD 1 trillion industry by 2047," he added. AVPS Chakravarthy, Global Ambassador, World Packaging Organisation (WPO) noted that the pharmaceutical industry in India is demonstrating its innovative potential through advancements like Carticel therapy for cancer treatment and Nafithromycin, a groundbreaking macrolide antibiotic tackling drug-resistant pathogens. "These innovations highlight India's dual strengths in affordability and efficacy, reaffirming its role as the 'pharmacy of the world.' Events like CPHI & PMEC India provide vital platforms for collaboration, showcasing progress in AI-driven drug inspection, sustainable packaging, and startup-driven innovations, propelling the industry towards a future of higher value creation and global leadership in both volume and value," he added underscoring the potential of the industry in the country's growth. (ANI) A new Chinese crime series, "See Her Again," launched on Tencent Video and Netflix on Nov. 20, marking the first crime drama from the Chinese mainland to debut simultaneously on both platforms. A still from "See Her Again." [Photo courtesy of Tencent Video] Directed by Wong Kwok-keung and starring William Chan, Cya Liu and Stephen Fung, the 18-episode series follows a Hong Kong police officer who time-travels from the 1990s to 2018 while investigating murders, teaming up with his partner Liu to revisit the cases. The series weaves together themes of justice, family bonds and Hong Kong's evolving urban culture, examining human nature across 25 years while showcasing modern investigative techniques. During the Beijing premiere on Nov. 18, Wong highlighted the story's emotional complexity, emphasizing themes of love, redemption and revenge. "The emotions behind the story are deep and rich," he said. "It teaches us how to protect the ones we love. While 'See Her Again' appears to be a detective story, at its core, it's about love, with characters who possess clear emotions and depth." The series explores the nuances between good and evil, which Wong describes as a "gray area of human nature." He notes that many people navigate challenging environments and relationships, concealing their true feelings in pursuit of personal interests. Wong wants viewers to contemplate moral judgment through the characters' choices. The production team made significant investments to capture Hong Kong's atmosphere while maintaining high production quality. They followed international standards, emphasizing detailed set design, distinctive cinematography and a unique music design. The show gained international recognition before its release as the sole Asian entry to compete for the Buyers' Coup de Cur award at MIPTV's MIPDrama Screenings in Cannes in April, marking a significant milestone for Chinese-language programming in global markets. A premiere event for "See Her Again" is held in Beijing, Nov. 18, 2024. [Photo courtesy of Tencent Video] "See Her Again" spans two pivotal periods 1993 and 2018. Wong revealed that the series drew inspiration from his personal experiences and Hong Kong's distinctive character. "Few projects allow me to showcase Hong Kong across different eras, but 'See Her Again' presents that opportunity," Wong explained. "As a crime drama, it aims to present a 'new Hong Kong style' based on traditional Hong Kong elements, adding emotional depth and social commentary to the fast-paced genre. This allows viewers to experience the tension and thrill of classic Hong Kong dramas while also connecting emotionally with the characters' fates." Hong Kong dramas are known for their unique landscapes, dialogue, and music, and the team worked hard to capture this essence. Key elements like classic Beyond songs, particularly "Lover," were used to add to the cultural atmosphere. The set design reflects everyday life in Hong Kong, highlighting the city's historical landmarks and iconic scenes. To differentiate the time periods, designers employed distinct color schemes for the police station sets and era-appropriate costumes. Actor William Chan, who has lived on the Chinese mainland for nearly a decade, reflected on the experience. "This series transported me back to the era of the many Hong Kong dramas I used to watch. In the show, my character flashes back from 2018 to 1993, and every time we shoot scenes from 1993, I really cherish those moments." He also spoke about working with veteran Hong Kong actors whom he had long admired on TVB, a major Hong Kong television network, many of whom have disappeared from the public eye. "I was amazed at their work ethic and how seriously they approached their craft," he added. A poster for "See Her Again." [Image courtesy of Tencent Video] The series is also available on multiple overseas over-the-top (OTT) platforms in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as well as Tencent Video's own international platform, WeTV. It will also gradually be broadcast on TV networks and platforms globally including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand, expanding its global reach. Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 27: 6D Technologies is honored to announce its receiving of the 'Best of IT Service Excellent Gold Partner of the Year' at the prestigious Smartfren Awards 2024. This recognition highlights 6D Technologies' relentless commitment to delivering innovative and impactful IT solutions that drive success for Smartfren and its customers. 6D Technologies' partnership with Smartfren spans multiple years of collaboration, innovation, and shared growth. By consistently delivering customized solutions and exceptional service, 6D Technologies and Smartfren have become trusted partners in their journey of digital transformation. "We are incredibly proud to be recognized as the 'Best of IT Service Excellent Gold Partner of the Year'. This award reflects our commitment to fostering strong partnerships and providing groundbreaking solutions that empower our clients to lead in a digital-first world. Thank you, Smartfren, for this esteemed recognition. Together, we continue to set benchmarks for innovation and excellence!" said Abhilash Sadanandan, Co-Founder and CEO of 6D Technologies. About Smartfren Awards The Smartfren Awards celebrate outstanding achievements and partnerships that propel the company's mission of innovation and excellence. This annual event acknowledges the critical contributions of partners who share a vision for driving progress and enriching customer experiences. About 6D Technologies 6D Technologies is a global leader in digital transformation solutions, offering cutting-edge technologies in areas like digital BSS, AI, IoT, Digital Financial Solutions, and more. With a customer-first approach and a proven track record, 6D Technologies empowers enterprises to navigate the complexities of today's digital landscape and achieve sustainable growth. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567633/6D_Technologies_Smartfren.jpgLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2267508/4565806/6D_Technologies_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 27: In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the need for skilled professionals in Artificial Intelligence (AI)and Machine Learning (ML) is critical. However, there is a growing disconnect between academic learning and industry demands, especially for B.E / B.Tech graduates. Innovit Technologies, the brand name of Innovit Learning Pro Aggressive Technologies LLP, co-founded by Anuj Tiwari and Harish Pawar, is addressing this issue by offering specialized training programs that bridge the gap between theoretical education and industry-relevant skills. More Than 70% of B.Tech Graduates Are Unemployed A startling statistic highlights a major concern in India's education system: more than 70% of Engineering graduates are unable to secure meaningful employment in their respective fields. Despite having a degree, many graduates struggle to meet the practical requirements set by tech companies, particularly in fields like AI and ML, which are among the most in-demand skills today. This widespread unemployment can be attributed to a fundamental problem -- academic curricula in engineering colleges across India have not evolved in sync with the rapidly changing demands of the industry. Graduates often possess strong theoretical knowledge but lack the hands-on experience and specialized skills that are critical in emerging fields. Innovit Technologies is working to solve this problem by providing industry-specific, skill-oriented training that prepares students for real-world challenges, ensuring they graduate with relevant, job-ready expertise. NASSCOM Report and the Skills Gap The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has been actively pushing for reform in India's education system, especially in fields like AI and ML. NASSCOM recommends a shift towards practical training, project-based learning, and industry-relevant curricula to prepare students for jobs that require not just theoretical knowledge but also real-world application of concepts. Innovit Technologies aligns perfectly with this vision by offering AI/ML-focused courses that prioritize hands-on experience, equipping students with the skills they need to thrive in the competitive tech landscape. Why B.Tech Graduates Cannot Rely on Academic Education The skill gap among B.Tech graduates is more than just a result of inadequate curriculum. It's rooted in the inherent differences between academic learning and the specific skills required by the tech industry. Traditional B.Tech/B.E programs often focus heavily on theory, leaving little room for practical, application-based learning. While students may excel in understanding complex algorithms or theoretical concepts, they often struggle when faced with real-world problems that require critical thinking, coding proficiency, and adaptability. AI/ML, in particular, requires specialized knowledge in data science, algorithm development, neural networks and Generative AI with Problem Solving ability which can be applied in real world scenarios--skills that are often not covered in the standard engineering curriculum. As a result, graduates find themselves unprepared to meet the demands of the job market, leading to frustration and a mismatch between the skills taught in classrooms and the skills sought by employers. Government Policies Under IT and Skill Development The Indian government has acknowledged the need to address this skills gap through various policies such as Digital India and Skill India. These initiatives are designed to improve the technical skills of the workforce and provide students with the necessary tools to thrive in a digital-first economy. However, while these policies focus on basic digital skills and coding education, they fall short when it comes to preparing students for specialized fields like AI/ML. The government has also partnered with private educational institutions to launch short-term courses and skill development programs aimed at enhancing technical proficiency. Still, there remains a critical need for more advanced, focused, and industry-aligned training that can bridge the gap between basic knowledge and the cutting-edge skills demanded by the rapidly evolving tech sector. And This Is Where Innovit Technologies Comes In: Solving the Problems Innovit Technologies is stepping in to address the pressing issue of the skills gap for B.Tech students. The company's AI/ML training programs are specifically designed to fill the void left by traditional educational programs, offering students a chance to gain industry-relevant skills in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Innovit Technologies' approach is different from conventional learning methods, as it focuses on project-based learning that directly mimics real-world challenges faced by professionals in the AI/ML field. This hands-on approach equips students with practical knowledge and experience, giving them the confidence and expertise they need to excel in interviews and in the workplace. Anuj Tiwari, co-founder of Innovit Technologies, explains, "Our goal is to bridge the gap between academic education and industry expectations. We want to empower Engineering students with cutting-edge skills in AI/ML, making them job-ready and confident in facing industry challenges." A Progressive and Aggressive Learning Framework Innovit Technologies' learning framework is designed to take students from basic to advanced levels through a two-phase process: Phase 1: Progressive Learning In this phase, students build a solid foundation in AI/ML. The focus is on understanding the fundamentals of algorithms, coding principles, and problem-solving strategies. Students learn not just the theory but also the practical application of these concepts. The aim is to equip them with the foundational knowledge required to succeed in more advanced topics. Phase 2: Aggressive Learning This phase intensifies the focus on real-world applications. Students are trained to work on advanced projects, mock interviews, and problem-solving techniques that simulate industry scenarios. This ensures that they are not only well-versed in technical knowledge but also capable of applying their skills in dynamic, real-time job settings. This phase lasts until the students are placed in a reputed company. Bridging Theory and Practice Innovit Technologies' hallmark is its emphasis on project-based learning. By incorporating projects that simulate the kind of tasks students will face in the industry, Innovit ensures that students gain practical experience. This hands-on approach helps learners understand how to tackle real-world challenges, develop practical solutions, and build strong portfolios that will impress employers. "The project-based approach helped me gain real-world experience," says Konisetti Venkata Subbalakshmi, a recent graduate who enrolled in Innovit Technologies' program and now works as an Associate Engineer in the Data Science Team at Cigniti, a Coforge company. "I entered interviews with confidence, knowing I had solved actual industry problems during my training which helped me land the job" Personalized Learning for Individual Success Innovit Technologies recognizes that every student is different, and therefore offers personalized mentoring to cater to the unique needs of each learner. This ensures that students receive individualized guidance, allowing them to learn at their own pace and master AI/ML concepts effectively. "I was initially apprehensive about diving into AI due to my non-coding background," says Sanjeev Dutt, who transitioned into a Machine Learning Engineer role at Agnext Technologies. "The mentorship at Innovit gave me the confidence to overcome my fears and build a strong foundation in AI/ML." A Vision for the Future For Anuj Tiwari and Harish Pawar, Innovit Technologies is not just about education--it's about creating a future-ready workforce. By offering specialized programs tailored to Engineering students, Innovit ensures that India's next generation of tech professionals will be equipped to drive innovation and excellence in AI and ML. "We want to empower students with the skills and confidence to be leaders in the AI/ML space," says Harish Pawar, co-founder of Innovit Technologies. As the demand for AI/ML professionals continues to rise, Innovit Technologies is ensuring that the next generation of Engineering graduates are prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow, lead innovation, and transform industries. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 27: JSW One Platforms, the B2B e-commerce arm of the JSW Group, has launched JSW One Concrete, a ready-mix concrete solution tailored to address the growing needs of the construction sector. This addition strengthens JSW One's private brand portfolio and underscores its focus on addressing challenges such as quality, consistency, and delivery efficiency in construction materials. Initially launched in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, JSW One Concrete aims to expand into the top 20 ready-mix concrete-supplying cities by FY 2027, which collectively account for ~50% of India's total RMC market share. Designed for contractors, builders, developers, architects, structural engineers, and project management consultants, the product ensures a targeted rollout with plans for phased scaling across the country. Gaurav Sachdeva, CEO, JSW One Platforms, said, "The demand for concrete in India is rising quickly, fuelled by the country's growing construction industry, urban expansion, ongoing infrastructure projects, and government-led initiatives. With our increased scale in the Indian B2B industry and our expertise in delivering quality, reliability, and on-time delivery, JSW One Concrete complements our existing offerings and supports our vision of building a comprehensive, value-driven platform for industrial and construction materials." JSW One Concrete is built on the promise of quality and on-time in-full (OTIF) service delivery, ensuring contractors and builders can meet tight deadlines without compromising standards. By leveraging JSW Group's in-house capabilities, including cement, GGBS, and chemical admixtures, the product ensures reliability and consistency, addressing trust issues that often impact the industry. About JSW One Platforms: JSW One Platforms Limited is a B2B e-commerce platform. The $24 billion JSW Group is uniquely positioned in India's internet ecosystem as JSW One delivers value to diverse customer segments. This dynamic entity operates across key areas, including JSW One MSME, a B2B e-commerce marketplace catering to MSMEs in the manufacturing and construction ecosystem; JSW One Finance, which provides innovative solutions for MSME capital requirements; private brands such as JSW One TMT and JSW One Concrete, which deliver high-quality products; and JSW One Homes, a turnkey home construction solution offering end-to-end project management. For further information, please contact: JSW One Platforms Brand Communication Umang Mishra Mobile: +91 98202 27101 Email: umang.mishra@jsw.in Amrita R Verma Mobile: +91 98336 70419 Email: amrita.verma@jsw.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire New Delhi [India], November 27: It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Her Holiness Sushri Dr. Vishakha Tripathi, the President of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat (JKP), on November 24, 2024, at the age of 75. Her life was a shining example of devotion, humility, and tireless service to humanity, guided by the teachings of her father and Guru, Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj. A Legacy of Leadership As President of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat (JKP), Dr. Vishakha Tripathi oversaw the organization's wide-ranging spiritual, educational, and philanthropic initiatives, leaving an indelible mark on countless lives. Her leadership reflected a rare combination of vision, humility, and hands-on engagement. In the early 2000s, Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj entrusted her with leading JKP. After His divine departure in 2013, she rose to the occasion, ensuring the seamless continuation and expansion of His mission. Dedicated to Humanity Dr. Vishakha Tripathi's contributions to health, education, and social welfare were monumental: * Healthcare: She led the establishment and operation of three 100% free hospitals in Mangarh, Vrindavan, and Barsana, providing treatment for over 5.5 million patients. Every aspect of patient care, from consultations to surgeries, medications, and hospital stays, was offered free of charge, reflecting her commitment to serving the underprivileged with dignity. * Education: Through JKP Education, she transformed the lives of over 60,000 girls in rural Uttar Pradesh. Under her leadership, schools provided free education from nursery to postgraduate levels, along with books, uniforms, school bags, bicycles, and access to modern facilities like laboratories and libraries. Many students belonged to minority communities, demonstrating her inclusive approach to empowerment. * Social Welfare: She organized large-scale distributions of essential items, including blankets, sweaters, wheelchairs, and utensils, benefitting widows, sadhus, children, patients, and those in need. Dr. Vishakha Tripathi's commitment to serving humanity required not only tireless effort but also extensive fundraising. She inspired donors worldwide to support JKP's initiatives, which today serve 500,000 patients, thousands of female students, and thousands of underprivileged individuals annually. Recognitions and Honors Her selfless work earned widespread recognition, including: 1. Ashayein Award (2012)2. Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award (2012, 2013)3. Nari Today Award (2013)4. Mother Teresa Excellence Award (2013)5. Nelson Mandela Peace Award (2014)6. Zee Achievers Award (2014)7. All India Dalit Muslim Morcha Award8. iNext Achievers Award (2015)9. Zee Sangam Samman Award (2015)10. UP Mahotsav Award (2015)11. Top 50 Indian Icon Award (2016)12. Swasth Hindustan Award (2017)13. Visionary of Uttar Pradesh Award (2017)14. Zee TV UP-Uttarakhand Channel Award (2017)15. Felicitation by the Vice-President of Nepal (2018)16. World Icon Award (2018, Thailand) A Humble and Compassionate Soul Despite her many achievements, Dr. Vishakha Tripathi remained grounded in humility. Born in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, she grew up staying with devotees while pursuing her education, performing household tasks such as cooking and cleaning. This upbringing connected her deeply to people from all walks of life. An accomplished artist, her spiritually inspiring paintings adorn JKP ashrams. She was also a talented photographer, capturing timeless moments of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj. Spiritual Guidance Dr. Vishakha Tripathi was a revered spiritual leader, guiding devotees through sadhana camps, her books, and personal counsel. Her acclaimed 4-volume book series, Spirituality in Daily Living, and her articles for The Speaking Tree in The Times of India continue to inspire spiritual seekers. She was instrumental in creating Bhakti Mandir, Prem Mandir and Kirti Mandir and tirelessly worked on the Guru Dham Mandir, honoring the legacy of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj. An Unyielding Commitment When Shri Maharaj Ji was once asked the meaning of "Vishakha," He explained that it is a special branch of Divine Love. This truth was clearly reflected in her life and work. The titles she received were secondary to her unwavering commitment to selfless service to God and Guru. Everything she did, until her final breath, was dedicated to this singular purpose. Her day would begin at 1 a.m., with every moment of her precious human life devoted to meaningful service. Even in her later years, she prepared for a journey to Singapore and the United States to further her Guru's mission. The trip was for a meeting regarding the construction of a Museum honouring Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, the pride of India and the world. At 75 years old--long past the conventional age of retirement--she remained an unwavering force of inspiration to devotees, women, and humanity at large. While accepting the prestigious World Icon Award, Her Holiness said: "I dedicate this award to our Guru, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, who donated generously and taught us to serve the needy. He often reminded us of the scriptures, which state, 'One is entitled to use only the wealth required to fulfill basic needs. The rest should be used to uplift society.' Through these works, we continually strive to serve our Guru and will continue to do so in the future." Continuing Her Legacy Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat is resolutely committed to continuing the legacy of Her Holiness Sushri Dr. Vishakha Tripathi and fulfilling her vision of spiritual and social upliftment Her Sisters, Her Holiness Sushri Dr Shyama Tripathi Ji and Her Holiness Sushri Dr Krishna Tripathi Ji will continue their tireless service as the Presidents of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat. We honor Her Holiness's immense contributions and celebrate her enduring legacy of love, service, and devotion. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567684/JKP_Dr_Vishakha_Tripathi.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Nashik (Maharashtra) [India], November 27: PDRL, a leader in drone technology solutions, is thrilled to announce its partnership with Digital Quantum, a global technology consulting firm specializing in digital transformation. This strategic collaboration is set to enhance the capabilities of PDRL's AeroMegh GeoAI platform, delivering next-generation digital solutions to a wider audience in the rapidly expanding drone industry. PDRL and Digital Quantum Unite to Drive Innovation and Expand the AeroMegh GeoAI Ecosystem. About Indian GIS Industry 2024 The Indian Geographic Information System (GIS) industry in 2024 is experiencing substantial growth, fuelled by advancements in digital transformation and the increased adoption of drone and satellite technologies across sectors like agriculture, urban planning, infrastructure, and disaster management. Government initiatives, including the Digital India program, Smart Cities Mission, and the Geospatial Data Policy, have strengthened the GIS ecosystem, encouraging both innovation and cross-sector adoption of GIS-driven solutions. As cloud-based, AI-driven, and real-time GIS solutions become more prominent, the industry is evolving to support accurate, on-demand data and dynamic decision-making. Partnerships, such as that of PDRL and Digital Quantum, are pivotal in driving this growth by bringing advanced technology and streamlined data capabilities to the forefront. About AeroMegh, A GeoAI Platform AeroMegh combines pioneering AI and GIS technologies to enhance drone operations, geospatial intelligence, and data analytics. Its capabilities include comprehensive GIS features for data processing, importing, and workflow integration through APIs, allowing users to efficiently manage geospatial data and generate actionable insights. The platform's AI-powered features deliver advanced image and video analytics, automating processes such as object detection and annotation to streamline aerial data analysis. AeroMegh also supports LiDAR integration and photogrammetry for high-precision mapping and 3D modeling, enabling applications in agriculture, construction, and urban planning. Collaboration features, including role-based access and real-time interaction, ensure seamless teamwork and data sharing, making it ideal for industries seeking unified solutions for drone missions and geospatial intelligence. Driving Digital Transformation with AeroMegh GeoAI Digital Quantum, renowned for its expertise in technology integration and digital transformation, enables organizations to adopt innovative, experience-led solutions for enhanced operational efficiency and growth. Through this partnership, AeroMegh GeoAI, a comprehensive platform for drone operations, data processing, and analytics will leverage Digital Quantum's customer-centric design and advanced digital solutions. Together, they aim to streamline drone operations and data analytics across diverse industries such as agriculture, infrastructure, mining and more. Digital Quantum's unique approach combines design thinking with advanced technologies to deliver scalable, customer-centered solutions that will empower AeroMegh GeoAI to meet the evolving needs of India's booming GIS industry. By utilizing Digital Quantum's capabilities, AeroMegh GeoAI is set to expand its reach, enabling organizations to fully harness the potential of drone technology for accurate, data-driven decision-making. Meeting the Needs of India's Evolving GIS Landscape In an era where GIS technology is reshaping industries, this partnership will enable AeroMegh GeoAI to evolve continuously, aligning with the dynamic demands of the GIS and drone technology sectors in India. With PDRL and Digital Quantum working together, the AeroMegh GeoAI ecosystem is poised to provide accessible, impactful digital transformation for businesses across sectors. Anil Chandaliya, CEO, PDRL: "Our partnership with Digital Quantum comes at a pivotal moment in India's GIS industry, where digital transformation and drone technology are rapidly converging. Together, we aim to drive innovation in AeroMegh GeoAI, empowering industries with groundbreaking capabilities." Amitabh Shukla, CEO, Digital Quantum: "We are excited to partner with PDRL and support AeroMegh GeoAI in advancing India's GIS landscape. Our expertise in digital innovation and customer-focused solutions aligns perfectly with PDRL's vision, and we look forward to redefining the drone technology landscape together." By joining forces, PDRL and Digital Quantum are poised to reshape the GIS and drone technology landscape, positioning AeroMegh GeoAI at the forefront of digital transformation and empowering industries across India to embrace a future of data-driven innovation and precision. About PDRL: Established in 2018, PDRL has swiftly risen as a dominant force in the Drone Technology, commanding a market share exceeding 50%. With three patents secured and three more in the pipeline, PDRL is committed to pioneering advancements that Create More Time to Live. Central to PDRL's mission is the development of cutting-edge drone technologies that streamline operations, boost efficiencies, and create more time to live. At the heart of PDRL's innovation is AeroMegh, a revolutionary drone SaaS solution integrating flight management, data capture, processing, and analytics. AeroMegh consists of: AeroGCS: Ensures seamless flight operations, AeroMegh GeoAI platform: Delivers precise photogrammetry solutions and provides advanced GeoAI data analytics. Together, these products empower users with actionable insights, simplifying drone operations and enhancing overall efficiency. PDRL remains steadfast in its commitment to sustainability and responsible innovation. By leveraging eco-friendly drone solutions, PDRL aims to mitigate carbon footprints and promote environmentally conscious practices across various sectors. Through continuous research and development, strategic partnerships, and unwavering customer focus, PDRL envisions leadership in the market and also a future defined by efficiency, sustainability, and enduring societal impact. Contact Details: marketing@pdrl.in | +91-7770013322 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567466/PDRL_Partners_with_Digital_Quantum.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Hanoi [Vietnam], November 27: Research from IDP Education reveals a shift in student preferences, with traditional destinations like Canada, the US, and Australia losing appeal due to strict visa policies, high costs, and limited family support. As a result, students are considering new options that offer affordability, career prospects, and family-friendly policies. Amid this shifting landscape, Vietnam is emerging as an ideal choice for international students, particularly in Asia. The country provides accessible non-stop flights to all major Asian cities, affordable living costs (USD 4,000-8,000 annually, ranking in the top 40 globally), and low student visa fees (USD 75-300). With its favourable framework for transnational education (TNE), Vietnam offers nearly 30 high-quality international universities, including La Trobe, Fulbright, British University Vietnam (BUV), and RMIT, creating a safe, dynamic and culturally familiar environment close to home for Asian students seeking world-class education. Investment-wise British Education in Asia As the only foreign-invested university in Vietnam accredited by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for meeting international education standards, BUV is an exceptional choice for students from Southeast Asia, India, China, Korea, etc., seeking a globally recognised British degree at regional rates. Located in the award-winning eco-friendly township Ecopark adjacent to the capital city of Hanoi, BUV's 6.5-hectare campus combines sustainability with state-of-the-art facilities, with a projected total investment of USD 165 million. Dubbed as the "Home of the Lionhearted," BUV is Vietnam's first university to earn a 5-star QS rating, a distinction it has held since 2022. As of June 2024, it remains the sole 5-star institution among nine QS-rated universities in the country. BUV combines British academic rigour with a supportive environment fostering personal growth. All programs are English-taught and accredited by the UK's Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), ensuring alignment with the same high standards as leading British universities. Faculty members hold advanced degrees from globally respected institutions, bringing real-world expertise into the classroom. BUV offers a diverse range of 21 undergraduate and 2 postgraduate programmes. Students earn degrees directly awarded by five top-tier UK institutions - University of London with academic direction from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Stirling, Bournemouth University, Arts University Bournemouth, and University of Staffordshire - spanning Business, Computing and Innovative Technologies, Communications and Creative Industries, Hospitality and Tourism. Beyond academics, students benefit from exchange opportunities with nearly 50 universities worldwide and a robust Personal and Social Growth (PSG) program designed to develop essential soft skills. Additionally, BUV's network of over 400 business partners connects students to valuable career opportunities in Vietnam and beyond. Strategic Investment with Quality Assurance BUV offers British education at a fraction of the cost of studying in traditional Asia's established education hubs. For example, with annual tuition starting at USD 11,700, it is a more accessible option compared to Southeast Asian neighbouring countries' top universities, where fees for international students range from USD 52,000 to USD 61,000 annually. To further broaden access, BUV offers up to 100% scholarships for outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate international students holding foreign passports. Scholarship applications for the autumn 2025 intake close on June 30, 2025. "BUV's mission is to cultivate students with resilient hearts and brilliant minds, equipped to thrive in an ever-changing world. We are committed to providing high-quality British education to outstanding students across the region, enabling lifelong learning, personal growth, and academic excellence. We look forward to welcoming a new generation of international students ready to lead with lionhearted characters and resilience," said Professor Raymond Gordon, Vice-Chancellor and President of BUV. For more information, visit https://www.buv.edu.vn/scholarships/global-pathfinders-scholarship/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567550/H4.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2567549/British_University_Vietnam_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) NewsVoir New Delhi [India], November 27: The India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) is hosting its inaugural India Women's Leadership Conference (IWLC) 2024, a transformative event that celebrates women's leadership and offers real-world, actionable pathways towards a more inclusive and equitable future. The IWLC 2024, a platform to recognize, empower, and catalyze progress in the social sector, is attended by participants from across the country and brings together thought leaders, policymakers, and changemakers to discuss and implement solutions for gender equity. This landmark gathering promises a diverse range of activities, including masterclasses, fireside chats, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. The discussions are curated to spotlight themes of the struggles and roadblocks that have impacted the path to leadership for women, and how the foundation of a 'sisterhood' has paved the way for women leaders, across different sectors. Other emergent theme include demystifying Feminist Leadership with a focus on intersectionality across diverse sectors, as well as the sensitivities and nuances that are necessary while telling women's stories. "The India Women's Leadership Conference 2024 is a testament to our commitment to empowering women and driving positive social change. We believe that by recognizing and celebrating women's leadership, we can inspire the next generation of leaders to pursue their aspirations with confidence and determination. This conference is a platform to connect, collaborate, and create a more inclusive and equitable future," says Anu Prasad, Founder and CEO, ILSS. A Celebration of Women Leaders The event is attended by trailblazers from across industries share their stories and exchange a wide range of learnings. Across multiple sessions, attendees will hear from pioneers such as Deepthi Bopaiah, CEO, GoSports Foundation; Meenu Vadera, Founder, Sakha Consulting Wing; Payal Chawla, Founder, JusContractus; Yamini Atmavilas, Director, Dasra; Devanshi Vaid Co-founder & Director, IDR, and Anuradha Das Mathur, Founding Dean, The Vedica Scholars. While the opening address was given by Archana Ramachandran, COO, ILSS, while the closing address will be given by Swathi Kantamani of Natco Pharma Foundation. In the opening plenary, titled "Women in Leadership: Lessons in Leadership for Self and Others," veteran journalist and political commentator, Neerja Chowdhary, has taken the audience on a journey through her career and how she has seen silent and assertive leadership shape India's destiny. "Women make fascinating leaders. They are courageous and strong and know how to take everyone around them together towards success. And I have seen this all across the board - from 90-year-old grand mothers in Hyderabad, to Indira Gandhi, our first woman Prime Minister. Women that I have come across have unanimously always wanted to ensure that the next generation of women should be able to stand on their own feet. Just see Mrs Gandhi, she was such a fascinating leader - she had the power of conviction and never backed down in the face of adversity." "The world is waiting for women to step up and take charge. Leadership is not a noun - it is a verb, and everyone can exercise and action it. The time is time to take ownership of it. We have to question norms as we know it, see how to better the society in our own way, big or small, and ensure that there is equality at home - every step counts. This event is crucial then, to help us all realise that and take it forward," says Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India. The event also sees The Pitch Fest, hosted by the ILSS Centre of Excellence for Fundraising. It provides an opportunity for nonprofits working on SDG 5: achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, to present their innovative project ideas to an esteemed jury, comprising Swathi Kantamani, Ziaa Lalkaka of HT Parekh Foundation and Pamela Srivastava of Shiv Nadar Foundation. The winners will receive cash prizes, learning grants, and complimentary passes to the India Fundraising Conference (IFRC) 2025. To register for the event or to learn more about the ILSS Emergent Women's Leadership Program, visit indialeadersforsocialsector.com India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) is a learning and leadership development organization focussed on building leadership capacity for India's social sector. Through eight key leadership programs across areas of Women's Leadership, Fundraising, People Practices, Board Governance, Digital Transformation and Leadership, ILSS equips emergent leaders with the knowledge, skills and mindset necessary to make meaningful contributions for driving social impact. The India Women's Leadership Conference 2024 is a transformative event to celebrate feminine leadership, catalyse systemic change, and facilitate the path toward a more equitable and inclusive future. By fostering dialogue, raising awareness, and generating actionable insights, the event seeks to mobilise individuals, organisations, and communities to create a society where every woman can reach her full potential and contribute meaningfully to social progress. (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) Trade in "liquid gold" Agarwood, among the most commercially prized plant species globally, is now becoming a lucrative venture in Assam, the land famed for its tea plantations, after the ruling BJP government lifted legal hurdles. In 2020, the BJP government in the State legalised the trade of oudh or agarwood and its derivatives, aiming to provide a new avenue for revenue. Perfumes and other derivatives of agarwood are highly sought after in domestic markets as well as in the Arab countries and beyond. The Assam government believes that this sector has vast potential to generate employment and revenues if harnessed properly. Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota addressing an event in Guwahati recently noted that, if developed systematically, agarwood can be the "next tea and crude oil" for the north eastern State. The plant species Aquilaria malaccensis, locally known as 'Agar' or 'Xashi' has been in use for over 2000 years and is valued for its best-quality aroma. It is also used for medicinal and religious purposes has a high demand within Assam and the rest of India. Agarwood chips, semi-solid gel, and agarwood oil are some of the popular derivatives of the plant, which typically sell at premium prices. In the international market Agarwood chips has values as high as Rs 2, 50,000 per kg as estimated by the agarwood promotion policy 2020 of Assam, According to estimates, the global agarwood chip market is estimated to grow to USD 16.5 billion (Rs 1.35 lakh crore) by 2034. Prior to 2020, felling and trading agarwood of the endangered tree species was illegal, and law enforcement agencies used to monitor the movements of agarwood, only to be seized. The Agarwood Promotion Policy 2020 now ensures plantation, harvesting, processing, transit, and trade seamlessly, without any fear of law enforcement agencies. At the ongoing India International Trade Fair 2024 in the national capital's Pragati Maidan, a stall showcasing oudh products from Assam was thronged by visitors. Jehirul Islam, Chairman of the All Assam Agarwood Planters and Traders' Association, which has over 300 agarwood planters told ANI, "For the first time, the government has ensured that agar tree felling doesn't need permission. Also, agar as a tree has been brought out of the ambit of forest produce through the 2020 policy" Considered as among the brains behind making the agarwood business legal, Islam was key in guiding and advising the state government to legalise agarwood business through a policy change. "The government's support is immense this time," he said. The entrepreneur from Assam who returned to Assam in 2008 from West Asia soon started research and development on agarwood in his home state. He subsequently patented 'System for Producing Agarwood Oil and Method in India'. His 'MJI Perfumes,' said to be the first 'Made in Assam' perfume brand was the centre of attractions at the ongoing 43rd Trade Fair. "Earlier, the youth were afraid to get involved in the agar business. Today, many youngesters are getting into it since the trade has been legalised by the government of Assam. More youth must get themselves involved in the agar business to become self-reliant," said Jehirul Islam. Just like youth in Assam took to planting tea back in the day, they are now increasingly taking up agarwood plantations. "I know the real worth of agar in the international market. So, I urge everyone to plant an agar tree if they have land. If 4,320 trees are planted on a hectare of land, they will easily earn about Rs 4.32 crore after 15-16 years. Agar of Assam has a lot of value in the international market," noted Jehirul Islam. Under the Assam government policy announced in 2020 and that came into effect in 2021, with an initial validity of five years, the Assam government is providing incentives for nursery creation, distributing saplings, monetary incentives for cultivation and processing, incentives for research, and training and marketing. Now, the Assam government intends to take agar plantations to the masses, and in that endeavour, it is encouraging growers to plant such trees on their farms and backyards. The Assam government has vigorously implemented the Assam Agarwood Promotion Policy 2020. Under the policy, a state-of-the-art international trade centre for agar business is coming up in Golaghat district, which, according to Jehirul Islam, will become operational next year. This upcoming trade centre aims to provide growers direct access to a global market, securing better prices and expanding their businesses without relying heavily on intermediaries. "We had been demanding the setting up of a trade centre of international standard for agar business. It augurs well that the government has accepted our demand and laid the foundation stone of the trade centre at Golaghat in 2020. Assam will be able to transact business to the tune of a whopping Rs 50,000 crore annually when this international trade centre comes up," Jehirul Islam said. With its first licensed manufacturing-cum-retail store in Guwahati launched earlier this year, Jehirul Islam is planning to set up outlets in various metros across India. Jehirul Islam said export orders have also started to pour in, and it is expected to pick up in the days to come. "Our goal is not only to create exceptional fragrances but also to promote the cultural and natural heritage of Assam and India as a whole," Islam asserted. Golaghat, Jorhat, Sibsagar, and Hojai districts account for over 90 per cent of agar trees in Assam, as per a study conducted by the state government and Green Initiatives Certification and Inspection Agency Pvt. Ltd. October to April is preferred for harvesting agarwood to get maximum extraction of agar oil. From May until August, harvesting should not be preferred, as it is the time for flowering and fruiting of agar. (ANI) India PR Distribution Chicago [US], November 27: A Multi-Centre Study for Hands-only CPR Training Assessment Towards Building a "Nation of Lifesavers "in India - Presented at the annual scientific meeting of American Heart Association (AHA) in Chicago, November 16-18, 2024 Failure to rescue a subject sustaining 'Sudden Cardiac Arrest' is a significant public health issue: A vast majority of these events occur outside the hospital setting, and are known as "Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA)". Brain Death sets in within 4-6 minutes without blood circulation; restoring blood flow during the precious first few minutes before an ambulance arrives is a matter of life or death...Time is Brain! With an estimated survival of less than 10%, OHCA remains one of India's leading causes of death*. Raising community awareness and training lay public in rescuing a person sustaining OHCA is known as Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (Bystander CPR). Since it is sufficient to perform CPR using hands only, without mouth-to-mouth breaths, on a teen or adult who suddenly collapses. This is also known as Hands -Only CPR (HOCPR). A recent study (meta- analysis & systematic review- Critical Care, 2020;24:61) showed that the outcomes of OHCA have improved over the last 40 years; but the benefit is largely to those receiving bystander CPR. The bystander CPR rate in India is under 10%, far below the target of 62% set by AHA. The need gap is large and the opportunities for closing this gap are many in a large heterogeneous population of India to save lives. A Collaborative between AHA and Several AIIMS is conceived to improve outcomes of OHCA Under the leadership of Dr. T.S. Ravikumar, a collaborative of 5 AIIMS (Mangalagiri, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Deoghar, and Bathinda) and AHA was launched in 2022 to serve as a platform to build A Nation of Lifesavers, India. One component of this unique initiative of 'distributed leadership' across a diverse topographic, linguistic, cultural & socioeconomic landscape is to train the trainers, followed by community outreach to increase awareness of OHCA & train communities to make them HOCPR ready. The data presented at AHA Scientific Meeting on November 18th in Chicago related to the results of pre- and post- training survey of 113,828 trainees across 5 AIIMS, and the prior work done under Dr. Ravikumar's directorship at SVIMS Tirupati to serve as a pilot study for validation. This is one of the largest training assessment projects done to date, to demonstrate the effectiveness in HOCPR training to quantify awareness, knowledge and skills development. One of the novel findings of this study is that, there are wide variations (heterogeneity) in both the pre-training as well as post-training characteristics of the trainees across the 5 regions of India. The findings are extremely valuable to show that: one size does not fit all; and that the strategies to optimise bystander CPR should be tailored to suit the local/ regional needs. In addition, the collaborative proposes to establish long term OHCA registries in the regions served by respective AIIMS, for surveillance and monitoring. By expanding the number of lifesavers in each of the regions and enlisting more AIIMS to serve as nodal centres for diverse populations, this collaborative will serve to save hundreds, if not thousands of lives across India. AHA supports this initiative by providing training mannequins and helping support coordinators at each site. The authors for this seminal study are: Dr. T.S. Ravikumar, Dr. Rakesh Kakkar, Dr.Rajeev Aravindakshan ,Dr. Dhrubajyoti Debnath, Dr .Manuj Sarkar Dr .Priyamadhaba Behera, Dr.Jayshri Ghate, Divay Trikha ,Dr.Aloka Samantaray, Dr. K.Madhavi, and Prof. KVS Sarma . The findings were presented at AHA Scientific Meeting by Dr. T.S. Ravikumar, Convener and Honorary Chairman of AHA's Nation of Lifesavers India program. Divay Trikha, AHA Consultant, Nation of Lifesavers India https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019483223001402 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by India PR Distribution. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) New Delhi [India], November 27: Macho Sporto, India's trendsetting men's innerwear brand, in partnership with Bigg Boss, is back with the fifth week of its one-of-a-kind 'Toing Man of The Week' contest, spotlighting the newest heartthrob in the house. Macho Sporto, a mid-premium brand from JG Hosiery, is an associate partner in Bigg Boss 18. The brand is creating a buzz amongst the young audience online with its 'Toing Man of the Week' contest, where the most stylish and charismatic men with unique flair steal the spotlight each week. Macho Sporto is inspiring the youth to embrace "Toing", a lingo that captures the charm and confidence that stands out and leaves an unforgettable impression. In its fifth week, the Toing Man title has been awarded to Digvijay Singh Rathee who has captivated fans with his unbeatable swag and, naturally, his striking Toing appeal! The contest raises the stakes weekly, as fans who enthusiastically vote stand a chance to visit the Bigg Boss house. Excited fans continue to vote for their favourite nominee week after week. The final 'Toing Man of the Week' contest is approaching the ultimate round in this journey. By now, "Toing" is becoming a playful catchphrase in conversations around men and their charisma. It's time to update your lingo with the latest buzzword "Toing" and join the cool gang! Are you 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) Xi meets Samoan PM, says China prioritizes empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change Xinhua) 08:01, November 27, 2024 Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in Beijing on Tuesday, saying China is willing to make empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change a priority in its cooperation with these countries. China will work with Pacific Island countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, uphold fairness, justice and the common interests of the Global South, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi told Mata'afa. Noting that Samoa was among the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China nearly five decades ago, Xi said the two countries have maintained traditional friendship, mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. He said China supports Samoa in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, and exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China will continue to provide assistance to Samoa in its economic and social development, and tap the potential of economy, trade, investment, agriculture and fisheries to achieve common development, Xi said. Xi stressed that China does not attach political strings to its assistance to the Pacific Island countries, and China's policy toward Pacific Island countries is open and inclusive, without targeting any third party or engaging in geopolitical competition or spheres of influence. Mata'afa said Samoa hopes to learn from China's experience in achieving modernization, especially in poverty reduction and green development. Thanking China for its long-time valuable assistance to Samoa, Mata'afa said Samoa firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi. Samoa regards China as an important strategic partner and looks forward to taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year to further advance bilateral relations, Mata'afa said. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) You are here: Business A staff member works at a nanotechnology company at the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 12, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] A total of 26 investment cooperation projects between China and Singapore were signed on Monday in one of China's leading industrial parks in the city of Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. The projects, spanning sectors like biopharmaceuticals, collaborative innovation and digital economy, were reached during the China-Singapore Investment Forum held in Suzhou Industrial Park, which was the first intergovernmental cooperation project between China and Singapore. The projects include the China-Singapore Sustainable Estate Joint Innovation Workshop and the establishment of new overseas headquarters and operation centers by Chinese enterprises in Singapore. Founded in 1994 and home to over 400 Singaporean enterprises, Suzhou Industrial Park has witnessed the development of closer cooperation between the two sides. China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), in a recent notice, stressed support for Suzhou Industrial Park in its efforts to promote reform, open up key areas and improve its ability to garner global resources. MOC said China will support the industrial park in expanding digital economy cooperation with Singapore, including pilot projects concerning cross-border data flows and business and trade facilitation measures, and in working with Singaporean institutions to jointly build a China-Singapore medical center. VMPL Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 27: Gamitronics backed PartyNite, India's homegrown Metaverse is proud to announce a multi-pronged association with world renowned perfume brand Rasasi. In a bid to expand its digital footprint exponentially, the perfume giant has acquired a prime piece of virtual real estate within the PartyNite Metaverse, aptly naming it as RasasiWorld where fragrance and storytelling unite to offer an unparalleled immersive experience. RasasiWorld is set to redefine the way one interacts with fragrances and connects with brands. RasasiWorld stands as an acre of land bought as a digital collectable within the PartyNite ecosystem which has a Rasasi store front and a few forests from where the best quality agarwood is sourced which is a parallel to the forests across 4 countries India, Srilanka, Cambodia and Indonesia IRL. Adding a layer of interactivity, within RasasiWorld, a Gen-AI fuelled perfumer Talha will be teaching a step -by- step method to make perfumes which will be a great way to run campaigns for the user to learn the process and create their own scents which might selectively be launched in the real world as well. The feature not only creates opportunities for users to get immersed in RasasiWorld but opens up a sense of ownership in the users and converts them into brand loyalists. The activation also integrates Generative- AI features as well, using which users can access a plethora of information about perfumes, Rasasi store locations, in-depth understanding for connoisseurs and customised instant solutions for all users. Omeir Kalsekar, Business Head of Rasasi Perfumes, said, "Oud has always symbolized spirituality, indulgence, and healing. Through the Agarwood Metaverse, we are creating a virtual realm where the legacy of oud transcends physical barriers, engaging audiences with a fusion of heritage and future technology." He added,"Bringing Agarwood into the metaverse is an exciting step forward, where tradition meets innovation," said Apoorva Srivastava, Head of Marketing and Retail Operations at Rasasi Perfumes. "With this initiative, we are not only redefining how people experience luxury but also celebrating a cultural icon in a way that resonates with a digital-native audience." Launched at the prestigious location of TODA (Theatre of Digital Arts) in Dubai, in the presence of the Royalties of UAE, over a 360-degree virtual reality screen and virtual reality headsets RasasiWorld opens its gates to users amidst much fanfare and a quick immersive experience of what is in store for them through a seven-minute content extraction from PartyNite. The virtual land parcel will be held by the perfume giant in perpetuity giving them a long-term window to engage with users and nurture a captive audience into loyalists. Speaking about Rasasi's landmark entry on metaverse, Rajat Ojha, Founder, PartyNite said, "We are thrilled to be the platform of choice for Rasasi. This collaboration is not just an innovative marketing move but a landmark one that opens up a plethora of use cases for metaverse- brand collaborations. A legacy brand invests in story telling and embarks on creating loyalists which is always a long-term play instead of quick to forget thirty seconders which are snacky in nature. It is extremely forward thinking of Rasai to not just immerse its audiences in story telling but also nurture them with multipronged immersive experiences to turn them into a captive audience who eventually become loyalists. Users get to learn about the legacy of the brand and their craftsmanship, understand the category better, immerse themselves in experiences like visiting the forests, sourcing agarwood and finally visiting the workshop to make a perfume which may even be launched in the real world. By the time you are done, you are not just well acquainted with the brand you become an expert yourself under Rasasi's aegis so by default you become a Rasasi loyalist" Ojha speaks about brand engagement on Metaverse globally, he states, "Imagine a brand which is purely dependent on olfactory senses has taken its marketing -mind a few notches higher to cultivate its audiences. It's clearly a brand play directed at GenZ and Gen Alpha to hog their share of screen time, catch them where they live and give them what they enjoy which is interactive and immersive- not just a mere video where then they will zone out. Stories build a brand and stories that convert a user to a loyalist and that's what we are trying to achieve with Rasasi World. Adding a layer of Generative AI which paces up everything to the gamification of the experience which puts people right into the heart of the brand story, creating a community and bringing like minded people together, this association also showcases PartyNite's technical prowess and how we can push the limits". He further added, "The next generation will live in 3D if not living there already, and we need to prepare for it now. The metaverse is the present, and Rasasi's foray in Metaverse with Rasasi World is an exemplary move in embracing the evolution of consumer engagement. By creating a digital territory that combines storytelling, interactivity, and fragrance exploration, Rasasi is not merely keeping pace with this evolution; it is setting an example for how brands can build lasting connections with their audiences." Rasasi World will not only provide virtual assets for purchase but also extend the opportunity to acquire physical items, bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds. This collaboration underscores the broader trend of brands venturing into the metaverse. For Rasasi, it signifies a pivotal moment as they recognize that while fragrance is a sensory experience, the metaverse offers innovative ways to engage consumers, tell captivating stories, and build brand loyalty visually. Inside Rasasi World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgWPmopk2Fc About Gamitronics https://gamitronics.com/ Immersive Gamitronics Pvt. Lid. is a pioneering theme park, VR/AR and robotics/AI company based in Hyderabad. Founded by Rajat Ojha, the studio is set on developing high quality titles both for hardcore gamers and casual players. Gamitronics brings in new age thinking and end to end design processes in greenfield theme park projects or existing theme parks. Gamitronics has recently created their own metaverse platform- PartyNite- India kaa apnaa Metaverse (India's very own Metaverse). An exciting digital parallel universe (powered by blockchain) to hangout with your friends as customisable avatars & have fun exploring new worlds, meeting new people, joining parties, attending events, playing games, claiming - minting - selling playable NFTs, dancing, listening to music, having a drink or as simple as just talking. (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) PNN Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 27: JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) is pleased to announce the commencement of applications for its Master of Science (M.Sc.) programmes in Animation and Data Science for the academic year 2025. These two-year postgraduate programmes aim to provide students with the expertise required to excel in their respective fields. M.Sc. Animation The M.Sc. Animation programme is designed to help students master the art of bringing characters to life through visualisation, sketching, and storytelling. The course emphasises creativity, industry-relevant techniques, and hands-on experience through workshops and real-world projects. Highlights: -Explore narrative and non-narrative storytelling - Gain practical exposure through industry-simulated assignments - Workshops and seminars from industry professionals Eligibility: Graduates with a minimum aggregate of 50% from a recognized university. Selection is based on an entrance test and a personal interview. M.Sc. Data Science and Analytics The M.Sc. Data Science programme focuses on the principles of data analysis, manipulation, and secure data transfer, preparing students for high-demand roles in the data-driven world. Highlights: -In-depth study of data analysis and business intelligence - Practical projects and industry exposure - Specialisation in data security measures Application Process and Campus Information Both the M.Sc. Animation and M.Sc. Data Science programmes are hosted at the state-of-the-art facilities at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) campuses: * M.Sc. Animation: JAIN Knowledge Campus, Jayanagar 9th Block, Bengaluru * M.Sc. Data Science: School of Sciences, JC Road, Bengaluru How to Apply JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) is inviting applications for both programmes for the 2025 batch. Interested candidates can apply online using the respective links below: * Apply for M.Sc. Animation 2025: Apply Here * Apply for M.Sc. Data Science 2025: Apply Here JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) remains committed to delivering high-quality education, providing students with practical experience and industry exposure, and shaping future leaders in the fields of data science and animation. For more information on the application and admission process, please contact: Admissions Office JAIN Knowledge Campus#44/4, District Fund RoadJayanagar 9th Block, Bengaluru - 560069 Email: enquiry.pg@jainuniversity.ac.in (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) OP Jindal University Sonipat (Haryana) [India], November 27: "The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is philosophically and politically optimistic and unique. It makes us authors, owners and receivers of this book of books. We, the People of India...it is written in English but the translation in non-English languages actually tells us who we are: Vayam Bharatasya Jana. This makes us feel the power of India's collective spirit. It was said, the Constitution of India has been made by the honest for the innocent and by the idealistic for the aspirational. With the gift of the Constitution came four others: the national flag, the national anthem, the national motto - Satyamev Jayate -- and the emblem. Truth alone triumphs as a national motto is flawless as it does not look at any personal right or wrong or individuals.," said Professor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former High Commissioner & Ambassador, and Former Governor of West Bengal at the Constitution Day Lecture which marked the milestone of India's 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution on 26th Nov, 1949. "Guru Rabindranath Tagore wrote the National Anthem, which is the part of a much longer poem, in 1913 with no conception of the national anthem at that time, or India's independence (34 years later!)." Mr. Gandhi then went on to recite the special content from Gurudev's poem and translated it from Bengali for the transfixed audience as he explained that the anthem had to be triumphant in spirit. It was a masterclass in the historical antecedents of some of the most respected and cherished symbols of India as a Republic. "The Constitution of India is a great treasure which has enriched us Indians. It is to be noted that the Constitution imagined things far in the future," he said. Prof. Gandhi then pointed out to the decimation of our natural resources - glaciers, rivers and forests - and said that it is mentioned in the Directive Principles of the Constitution that the State will protect its forests. "The Constitution has to take a stand on the dramatic collapse of our natural resources," he said. Prof Gandhi then lauded the presence of several family members whose forefathers were part of the first Constituent Assembly and said that it uplifted the august gathering and the day of the Adoption of the Constitution in 1949. Welcoming Prof. Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the seminal Constitution Day Lecture, the Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar said, "It is my honour to welcome India's foremost public intellectual for the Constitution Day Lecture. As we mark the 15th anniversary of our university, we recognised that it coincided with India's 75th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Constitution and embarked on a journey to build India's first Constitution Museum. It is to be noted that there is a deep aspiration to take the idea of the Constitution Museum across India and a need for ordinary Indians to be connected to it and to democratise the access to the Constitution. The museum is a destination for understanding the Constitution, with various sections dedicated to each part of the document and its significance. Every Constituent Assembly member has been featured in the museum alongside spirited debates and deliberations that refined and created a robust manuscript ahead of its time. Through many formats-textual, audio-visual, experiential it ignites visitors' interest in the Constitution, its evolution and its various sections." The art featured in the museum is a major attraction and includes examples that were part of the handcrafted document of the original Constitution itself. The Academy houses an archive of expert interviews that delves into various aspects of the Constitution, particularly the evolution of fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens of India. A Children's Corner, with its interactive installations, quizzing stations, graphic pamphlets and novels shall introduce these complex concepts in a fun, experiential and accessible manner. The Constitution Academy is not merely an endeavour to document Constitutional heritage but one that also contributes to it. On this 75th Constitution Day, it honours the legacy of those who crafted this remarkable document and ensures that it remains a vibrant guide for future generations. Professor R. Sudarshan Dean, Jindal School of Government & Public Policy welcomed Prof. Gopalkrishna Gandhi and said, "It is our privilege to welcome Prof. Gandhi who connects us to our history and India's independence. The founders of the Republic of India established how to deal with politics in a civil and gracious manner. The Constituent Assembly itself is a great example of great courtesy which is extend to members with differing views. Prof. Gandhi is a prolific writer and a scholar and many universities have endowed him with honorary degrees." Professor (Dr.) Mohan Kumar Dean, Strategic & International Initiatives O.P. Jindal Global University gave the vote of thanks and the concluding remarks were given by Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, the Registrar of JGU. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by OP Jindal University. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) SMPL New Delhi [India], November 27: Reid & Taylor, a name synonymous with a rich legacy in premium suiting fabric, proudly celebrates three successful years since its foray into high-value cotton shirting fabric. This milestone marks the brand's rise as a powerhouse in the luxury textile market, delivering premium-quality shirting fabrics. In 2022, Reid & Taylor made a bold move into the shirting segment by acquiring a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at the Jhagadia Industrial Estate near Baroda. With a robust production capacity of 1.5 million meters per month--scalable to an impressive 2 million meters without major capital investment--this facility is equipped with the finest machinery from Europe, enabling the creation of premium quality shirting fabrics that rival global standards. In just three years, Reid & Taylor has carved a distinctive niche in the high-value shirting market, competing with major brands. Despite the fierce competition, the brand has captivated consumers with its exceptional quality and luxurious finish. The fabrics, featuring thread counts from 50s to 2/200, exude a rich lustre and shine that match the finesse of international luxury brands. With a focus on ultra-fine thread counts of 2/200 and 300, the brand continues to deliver exclusivity and unmatched quality. The three-year journey of the shirting business has been an immensely satisfying experience, according to Ajay Agarwal, Group CEO, who attributes its success to the exemplary dedication and coordination of the shirting team. As Reid & Taylor expands its product offerings, it aims to become the market leader in premium shirting fabrics. With the addition of premium shirting fabrics, Reid & Taylor has redefined the wardrobe solutions for the premium menswear segment. The shirting business alone has achieved a remarkable gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs750 crores, underscoring the brand's meteoric growth and widespread acceptance. Today, its high-quality shirting fabrics are trusted and most sought by renowned brands across the globe, solidifying its reputation as a leader in the premium fabric industry. What sets Reid & Taylor apart is its dedication to innovation. The brand's introduction of wrinkle-free and scented shirting fabrics--boasting fragrances that last through 20 washes--has elevated the consumer experience. Its commitment to staying ahead of trends is further exemplified by the launch of sustainable cotton-blended fabrics designed to adapt to global climate changes, seamlessly blending style with responsibility. With high demand from two-tier and three-tier cities, Reid & Taylor is actively pursuing opportunities to penetrate deeper into the Indian market through organic and inorganic acquisitions aimed at expanding its fabric production to meet the growing demands of consumers. Reid & Taylor's journey in the shirting market is a testament to its relentless pursuit of excellence. From redefining luxury with cutting-edge designs to meeting the evolving taste of its consumers, the brand has proven that its legacy is as timeless as the fabrics it creates! (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) New Delhi [India], November 27: Renowned entrepreneur, author, dancer, and philanthropist, Indrani Mukerjea, has been honored with the prestigious Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship and the Karamveer Chakra Award for 2024-2025. Instituted by iCONGO in partnership with United Nations (UN), this recognition celebrates her remarkable contributions to the fields of arts, culture, and social empowerment. In her heartfelt acceptance speech, Mukerjea shared her transformative journey through dance, emphasizing how it became a gateway to personal discovery and social impact. "Dance taught me vulnerability, resilience, and the courage to shed layers of self-doubt," she expressed, recounting her path to self-realization. She highlighted how the art form empowered her to channel her energy into causes close to her heart, such as women's empowerment and community upliftment. Indrani's recent production and performance, Sun Kissed Phoenix, was more than just an artistic endeavor--it symbolized resilience and the indomitable human spirit. She conveyed, "No matter how many times life grounds us, we all possess the strength to rise again." What's Next for Indrani Mukerjea? Looking ahead, Indrani is set to launch her much-anticipated dance promo show, Sun Kissed Phoenix, a celebration of art's transformative power. The show promises to inspire audiences with its message of resilience and self-discovery. Follow Indrani Mukerjea for more updates - www.instagram.com/indranimukerjea Watch promo of Sun Kissed Phoenix - www.instagram.com/reel/DBK6_BkBVns/?igsh=MThjbmVnMXoyM3Z0Mg== (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) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday called for increased collaboration with French businesses in five key sectors such as agriculture and food processing, renewable energy, aerospace and defence, automobiles and electric vehicles and digital technology. Speaking here at the annual conference of French Foreign Trade Commissioners of the Asia-Pacific region, which included French CEOs and business leaders, Goyal said trade between the two countries is at suboptimal levels given the opportunities at hand. "(Bilateral trade) is quite sub-optimal, given the strength of our two economies, something which we should collectively aspire to grow much bigger, much better, much faster," Goyal told the gathering. "We are both trusted partners to each other and that will strengthen our continued engagement in investments with Indian industry going to France and French manufacturing coming to India, our services working with each other to greater impact, the global capability centres that are coming in good measure to set up shop in India and leverage from the attractiveness of Indian talent," he added. Bilateral trade between India and France in the financial year 2023-24 reached USD 15 billion with Indian exports at about USD 7 billion and imports at about USD 8 billion. Stating that France is India's 11th largest foreign direct investor, Goyal said there is a lot potential in the future. India and France are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic ties and 25 years of strategic partnership this year. Pressing particularly on the defence and aerospace sector, Goyal said India is a huge market and French companies should look for greater possibilities. "The number of planes that India has on order is close to about 1,500. We have options that could take them to about 2,000. And I can see for the next three decades, the Indian aviation market will be the world's largest demand aggregator for aeroplanes and I would suspect that it would be in the best interests also of French companies to look at Indian manufacturing possibilities, to look at expanding their own sales in India for both aircraft, the spare parts for aircraft, the MROs...," he said. India has expanded its airports from 74 in 2014 to about 125 now, almost doubling them and the plan is to add another 75 more airports by 2029, the minister said. India is the world's fastest-growing major economy and is on way to becoming the third largest. (ANI) Aimed at strengthening ties between India and the United Arab Emirates, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), in support with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, hosted the 'India-UAE: Shaping Sustainable Futures: Innovation and Investment in Real Estate' conference in Abu Dhabi. The conference brought together participants, including government delegates from India, industry leaders, and from the UAE. As per the organiser, the conference saw discussions on innovative solutions and investment strategies for sustainable urban development. Mohamed Ebrahim Al Mansoori, Director General of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme; Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure UAE, and Minister's Advisor for Engineering Affairs, underscored the UAE's commitment to sustainability and urban innovation. The UAE has reduced its non-oil GDP by 8 per cent, achieving a homeownership rate of 91 per cent by the end of 2023, the organiser quoted him as saying. "These are the results of financial sustainability and progressive policies. By sharing our experiences, we aim to create eco-resilient cities that inspire the world. India's rapid urbanization presents immense opportunities for collaboration, and together, we can build a future defined by sustainable innovation," he said. Kuldip Narayan, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Housing for All), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, spoke on the ambitious scale of India's housing mission. He outlined how India in the past years facilitated the construction of millions of affordable houses. "Our next target is to construct 10 million homes in just five years, doubling the speed of delivery. However, the scale of urbanization in India demands even greater efforts. Greenfield city development and innovative urban planning are crucial if we are to align our infrastructure with the country's economic growth, which is projected to grow at 7-8 per cent annually over the next 20 years," Narayan was quoted as saying. He also noted the importance of a robust regulatory framework in driving progress. "Real estate contributes not just to economic growth but also to societal development. The single-window interface for approvals must be streamlined to facilitate ease of doing business. We must embrace best practices from countries like the UAE to create urban environments that are sustainable, inclusive, and future-ready." G Hari Babu, President of NAREDCO, emphasized the significance of the India-UAE relationship, describing it as the foundation for the event. "India and the United Arab Emirates are the best friends in the world today. With representatives from India attending this conference, we are taking important lessons in sustainable urban development back home. India's housing journey has progressed from providing basic homes to affordable, sustainable, and now luxury housing for all. Cities like Hyderabad are seeing apartments worth 20-25 crores, reflecting the remarkable growth of our real estate sector." Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman of NAREDCO, also emphasized the significant contributions of the real estate industry to India's economy. Currently responsible for an estimated 7 per cent of the GDP, the sector is projected by Niti Aayog to expand to 15 per cent as India approaches a USD 5 trillion economy. (ANI) Reports of pay disparity between Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who portray Elphaba and Glinda respectively in the upcoming movie, have been dismissed by Universal Pictures. A spokesperson for the film production and distribution company clarified that these claims are "false," according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder. The women received equal pay for their work on Wicked," the spokesperson said in a statement. Sources familiar with the production confirmed that both actresses were compensated equally for their roles in the movie musical directed by Jon M. Chu. Rumours about Erivo and Grande's salaries surfaced on TikTok and Reddit earlier this week, with social media users alleging Grande earned $15 million for the film while Erivo was paid $1 million. These unverified claims were picked up by multiple news outlets, amplifying the controversy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Wicked, adapted from Gregory Maguire's best-selling novel, tells the untold story of the witches of Oz. Erivo stars as Elphaba, while Grande plays Glinda. Winnie Holzman, the original stage production's book writer, collaborated with Dana Fox on the screenplay for Chu's film. Stephen Schwartz, the Oscar-winning composer and lyricist of the original musical, has adapted the score for the cinematic version. The cast also features Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, and Bowen Yang. During promotional interviews, the Wicked co-stars have spoken warmly about their off-screen friendship, even expressing a desire to return to the Broadway stage together in the future, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI) According to the officials, the accused was arrested on Tuesday evening and has been identified as Gopal Kansare alias Gulab, a resident of Sri Purnal Layout, Dabha. He was detained for impersonating a Major in the Indian Army on various social media platforms. As per the reports, Kansare who had been posing as a Major in the Indian Army, used Army uniforms and military insignia to gain credibility and attend social and cultural events in Nagpur regularly. His activities came under scrutiny following tip-offs about his suspicious behaviour. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at Wadi Police Station under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 318 (4), Section 319 (2), and Section 205, for further legal proceedings. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the Central and State Governments have launched massive combing operations in Jiribam and its surrounding areas to apprehend those responsible for the recent incidents adding that this operation will continue until the culprits are booked. While addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Singh discussed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) legislature forum's decision to send a proposal to the Central Government for implementation that includes removing the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from six new police stations, transferring the investigation of the recent killings in Jiribam to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and conducting mass combing operations against terrorists. "On November 18, the NDA legislature forum in Manipur took a decision and sent it to the Government of India for implementation. There are 3-4 points, including the removal of AFSPA from the 6 new Police stations (PS areas) and the case relating to Jiribam's heinous killing cases that will be handed over to the NIA, and mass combing operations against those terrorists will be continued. So, these are the few points which we adopted in the meeting and we sent to the Central Government," the Chief Minister said. Singh said that the Central Government has accepted two or three points as the NIA has taken up all three cases of Jiribum incidents and they had also started mass combing operations to arrest the culprits. "As per request, the NIA has informed us and has sent out a press release that the NIA has taken up all 3 cases, of Jiribam incidents. The Central Government, along with the State government, has also started mass combing operations to arrest the culprit in Jiribam and adjoining areas and we will continue till the culprits are booked. The Centre has already accepted 2-3 points and the Action Taken Report is already in my hand," he said. The Chief Minister also addressed the media regarding a missing person from Loitang Khunou saying that the police have filed a zero FIR, and a search operation is underway. "Today, a very unfortunate accident occurred, but not yet confirmed - one person from Loitang Khunou is missing. As per the report available to me, he went inside the Army campus for work, he was doing some financial work there for some officials. But, up to 2 pm, he was in connection with his family. But after 2.30 pm, the connection with him was lost. His phone turned off. Then the information came to the police and the police have already filed a zero FIR. Searching and investigation is on. We will continue it," he said. N Biren Singh further urged the people of Manipur to remain calm and avoid violence, emphasising that the issues right now are complex and cannot be resolved based on emotions. "Government and people together, let us urge the Centre to lift the AFSPA. But in the meantime, let us leave any kind of violence. We should not do any kind of violence...I appeal to the people of the state to stay calm because these are very complex issues. We cannot face it based on emotions," he said. Earlier, several Manipur MLAs passed a resolution listing their demands including asking the central government to review the imposition of the AFSPA in the state. The resolution also said that a mass operation must be initiated within seven days against the Kuki militants allegedly responsible for the killing of six people including women and children in Jiribam. It also demanded the transfer of three key cases to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that are linked to the death of one woman who was burnt, the killing of six innocent civilians, and the killing of a woman farmer. The MLAs in their resolution decided to declare Kuki militants responsible for the killings of six innocent people including women and children to be declared an "unlawful organisation" within seven days. This escalation comes after six people were found dead. In response to the incident, the Manipur government had initially suspended internet services in seven districts. (ANI) You are here: Business This aerial photo taken on June 10, 2023 shows the night view of the urban areas in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. [Photo/Xinhua] Enterprises from south China's Guangdong Province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed 126 projects worth over 100 billion yuan (about 14 billion U.S. dollars) during a business promotion activity held on Monday. The projects cover various fields including trade and investment, financial cooperation, modern logistics, innovative technology, green development, low-altitude economy, as well as culture, tourism and sports, according to authorities in Guangdong. As China's manufacturing hub, Guangdong boasts over 76,000 high-tech enterprises. The province produces about 70 percent of the world's consumer drones, 40 percent of the world's smartphones, one-quarter of China's new energy vehicles, and one-fifth of the country's integrated circuits. Guangdong looks forward to joining hands with Hong Kong to create an international consumer hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and sharing the capabilities of its large-scale market, according to the provincial government. The business promotion activity was held in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong and co-hosted by Guangdong provincial government and the Hong Kong SAR government. A passenger travelling from Saudi Arabia's Riyadh to New Delhi was intercepted on Wednesday by customs officials based on intelligence input at the national capital's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, officials said on Thursday. According to Customs officials, the airport security noticed suspicious images during the X-ray of the baggage. The further examination of the baggage led to the recovery of a silver-coloured gold bar, weighing 117.00 grams, which was concealed in a cream box, officials added. "On the basis of intelligence, one pax (passenger), travelling from Riyadh to Delhi by flight dated 26.11.2024 was intercepted by Customs at IGI Airport at the exit of the green channel and during x-ray of baggage, some suspicious images were noticed. Further examination of baggage resulted in the recovery of one silver colour bar believed to be gold totally weighing 117.00 grams concealed inside a cream box," Delhi Customs (Airport & General) posted on X. Earlier, two weeks ago, the customs officers at IGI Airport in New Delhi booked a case against one Indian passenger who arrived at Terminal-3 on November 9 in connection with the smuggling of a narcotic substance suspected to be 'Heroin'. The accused was travelling from Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur, Delhi Customs (Airport & General) said. 7.321 kg of suspected white heroin worth Rs 29.28 crore approximately has been seized and the Indian passenger has been booked. He was intercepted after he had crossed the green channel and was approaching towards the exit gate of the international arrival hall, said officials. During the search, a white-coloured narcotics substance packed in seven green-coloured polythene packets was recovered from the trolley bag of the pax, said officials. The said passenger had violated various provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985. Accordingly, the pax was placed under arrest under Section 43(b) of the NDPS Act, 1985, on Sunday at 8 pm, said officials. (ANI) Security personnel have been deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after violence and ruckus ensued over an ASI survey. Security has been deployed near the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid area, the police said. The stones-pelting incident that escalated into violence over the survey team on November 24 claimed the lives of 4 and injured many, including officials and locals. The internet shutdown will continue in the region while all other restrictions have been lifted as the situation has returned to normalcy, Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar said. So far, 27 people, including 25 men and 2 women, have been arrested, and 7 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, the police said. Speaking to ANI about the current situation post-incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar said, "After the Sunday incident that took place in Sambhal district, the police had called for a precautionary internet shutdown, which continues. All other things have been restored to normalcy." "The police have processed all the CCTV footage of the people involved in the incident. More than 100 people have been identified. They will soon be apprehended by the police. In the last 24 hours, 27 people have been arrested, out of which 25 are men and 2 are women. Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq has been issued a notice under Section 168 of the BNS on November 23," he added. Fresh visuals from the area show security personnel deployed in the area. The security team near the mosque is deployed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers, and metal detectors to maintain security for local regulations. Earlier on Tuesday, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that 27 people have been arrested in the Sambhal violence and seven FIRs have been registered following the ruckus and stone-pelting incident over an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Mughal-era mosque of the district. Singh urged the people across all sections of society to refrain from making baseless statements. Earlier, Singh confirmed on Monday that those accused in the Sambhal incident include a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and the son of a local MLA, adding further that he assured that the situation at the site of violence is now peaceful and an investigation is underway. In a joint press conference earlier, 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. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had, however, denied the allegations of instigating violence in Sambhal over the mosque survey. He has denied the allegations and accused the Uttar Pradesh police administration of 'conspiracy' while claiming that the case registered against him was false, as he was not in the state when the violence erupted. 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) The Valsad Police arrested an alleged serial killer for the rape and murder of a girl committed on November 14. The accused, identified as Rahul Singh Jat (29), a resident from Rohtak and a handicapped person, had committed the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Motiwada, as per police officials. A forensic postmortem of the victim's body confirmed rape and murder as the causes of the death. Taking advantage of his illness, the accused used to travel openly in trains. Upon receiving information about the incident, the Valsad Police immediately filed an FIR. A team of four Deputy Superintendent Police (DYSP) and 10 Police Inspectors (PI) was formed and all nearby railway stations were checked with the help of railway security personnel. Within 11 days, the police with the help of CCTV footage, backtracking and forward tracking had tracked a record to the accused and had been arrested by the Jodhpur Police for committing thefts and other crimes. However, he had been released from there on November 15 and had committed a total of five murders after his release. The accused was later found travelling in a train to Vapi, from where he was arrested by the police, said Valsad Superintendent (SP) Karanraj Vaghela. "The police had arrested the accused on 24 November for committing the murder of the 19-year-old girl on November 14. Upon receiving the information, the police had filed an FIR and had immediately formed a team of four DYSP and 10 PIS to check the nearby railway stations with the help of the railway security personnel. Upon checking the CCTV footages, we had found a person with a similar face and with the help of backtracking and forward tracking, he was found earlier arrested in the Jodhpur jail. However, when he was arrested by the officials, he was found travelling on a train to Vapi," said Valsad Superintendent (SP) Karanraj Vaghela while speaking to ANI. Upon further investigation, the accused had revealed that he had committed a total of five murders in West Bengal, Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat, as per officials. "When we arrested the accused and interrogated him, he revealed that he had committed a total of five murders after being released from the Jodhpur jail. The latest murder was committed in the Pune-Kanyakumari express. The victim in this case is still unknown and the police is carrying on investigation," the SP added. The accused has been taken on remand for a total of 10 days, the police further added. "We had presented the accused in court and have taken on remand for a total of 10 days. A committee of two Deputy Superintendents of Police and 5 PIs has been formed to carry out further investigation on the case," the SP said. Further investigation is underway. (ANI) Congress demanded discussion on the Adani indictment in the Parliament as both houses will meet for the third day of the winter session on Wednesday. Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Manish Tewari moved adjournment notices in this regard before the commencement of the session today. In a notice addressed to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha today, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance." "The recent US indictment of Gautam Adani, involving over $265 million in bribes for solar power deals and securities fraud, casts a dark shadow over the Adani Group. The silence of the Modi government on this matter raises concerns about India's integrity and global standing. PM Modi must answer questions regarding his friendship with Adani," said the notice. Adding further, the letter read, "The Andhra Pradesh government is reportedly considering scrapping its solar power deal with SECI, alleging that Adani paid 21,750 crore in bribes to the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. I demand an immediate discussion and a CBI inquiry into these allegations." Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala also issued a notice on the same subject and said, "I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to move the following motion for the suspension of business listed for November 27, 2024. That this House suspend all scheduled business to discuss the serious revelations in a US court indictment alleging that the Adani Group engaged in bribery of state officials to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders." "These allegations point to systemic corruption in public procurement processes and highlight grave regulatory lapses in ensuring fair competition. The indictment also raises critical concerns about the corrosion of institutional integrity, misuse of public sector entities, and the lack of transparency in dealings by regulatory bodies like SEBI under its chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch," read the notice. "This matter necessitates the immediate consultation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the implications of these allegations for governance, public accountability, and the credibility of India's democratic institutions," it added. Surjewala has also given a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of the indictment of Gautam Adani. Congress MP Manish Tewari also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha and demanded discussion on 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." However, earlier in the day, the Adani Group refuted the alleged bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the Group's founder and Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and MD CEO Adani Green Energy Vineet Jaain in a filing with the stock exchanges. In its filing, AGEL has cited the news reporting on the alleged bribery and corruption charges against Adani officials as 'incorrect'. "Media articles state that certain of our directors, namely Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd."Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added. In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant. The filing states that the DoJ Indictment, which has five counts, does not have any mention of and has excluded Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani or Vneet Jaain in Count One: ''Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; nor does it have mention of these three names in Count Five: "Conspiracy to obstruct Justice." Count One of the indictment, which refers to the corruption and bribery charges, only involves Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal of Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec), a Canadian institutional investor and Azure's largest shareholder. The statement says that Adani officials are only charged for Count 2: "alleged securities fraud conspiracy," Count 3: "alleged wire fraud conspiracy," and Count "alleged securities fraud." The DoJ Indictment offers no evidence that bribes were paid by Adani executives to Indian government officials; the indictment and the complaint solely rest on claims that bribes were promised or discussed. The Adani Group is one of India's largest infrastructure players with sizeable operations in the global energy and logistics space. Over the past few years, the Indian conglomerate has been expanding its operations in international markets and directly competes with several US and Chinese entities in Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Australia, etc. Since the intimation of the US DoJ Indictment, the group has suffered a loss of nearly USD 55 billion in its market capitalization across its 11 listed companies. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister of Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, among other ministers of northeastern states, is scheduled to attend the event today. International Tourism Mart is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, designed to highlight the tourism potential of the North Eastern region for both domestic and international audiences. This event serves as a vital platform, bringing together tourism businesses and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States--Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim--to foster collaboration and interactions among buyers, sellers, media, government agencies, and other stakeholders. The 12th edition of ITM to take place in a region renowned for its diverse topography, rich flora and fauna, vibrant ethnic communities, ancient traditions, festivals, and abundant arts and crafts. Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO site and home to the majestic one-horned rhino, adds to the allure of this event. (ANI) Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday lashed out at the opposition and said that the party should introspect the situation instead of blaming the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). "31 MPS of the Maha Vikas Aghadi were elected during the Lok Sabha elections five months ago in Maharashtra; why didn't they raise questions on EVMs at that time? Now their candidate has won Nanded Lok Sabha by-elections, were there no problem with the EVMs there? They are just creating a mess and instead of blaming the EVMs, they should introspect on why they lost. They will lose the elections in the future also if they keep doing this. There is no delay in the government formation. Every worker wants his leader to become the CM. It's being formed for the people. Soon a good government will be formed...," Bawankule said while speaking to ANI. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut spoke on the same issue and said that the EVMs were a fraud in the country and that if there were no EVMS, the BJP would not even have won 25 seats. "We have been raising this question for the last 10 years. When Congress was in power, the BJP had raised questions on EVMs. EVMs are a fraud in this country and if there are no EVMs, BJP will not get even 25 seats in the whole country. We do not accept the way the results of Maharashtra and Haryana have come. Conduct the elections on ballot papers and whatever the results, we will accept it..." Raut said. Meanwhile, on November 26, the Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking the reintroduction of the physical paper ballot voting system in elections in India. These remarks come on the heels of the Maha Vikas's defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly election, where the Mahayuti alliance swept to power in a landslide victory with the BJP emerging as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. While the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) managed to secure only 46 seats, with the Congress getting just 16. (ANI) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday condemned the recent detention of the religious leader and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote, Chinmoy Krishna Das, in Bangladesh, urging the interim Bangladeshi government under Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus to stop the atrocities on Hindus. Taking to social media platform X, Kalyan said that they are deeply disturbed by the way Hindus were being targeted in Bangladesh, noting that the Indian Army had shed their blood for Bangladesh's formation. He further pleaded with the United Nations and the Indian government to intervene in this matter. "Let's all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKON Bangladesh Priest 'Chinmoy Krishna Das' by Bangladesh police. We urge and plead Bangladesh Govt under Sri Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus. Indian army blood has been spilled , our resources had been spent, and our Army Jawans lives had lost for Bangladesh formation. We are deeply disturbed the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted. We plead UN, UN in India, to intervene," the Andhra Deputy Chief Minister said. This came following the arrest of religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari at Dhaka airport on Monday, as reported by the Daily Star. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. His lawyers filed a bail petition, but it was rejected, and he was ordered to be sent to jail. A case has been filed against Chinmoy Krishna Das on charges of sedition, accusing him of raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. However, the complainant has since expressed unwillingness to pursue the case, a minority leader stated. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday, in response to the arrest, urged the Bangladeshi government to ensure the safety and security of Hindus. "We have noted with deep concern the arrest and denial of bail to Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is also the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote," the statement said. "This incident follows the multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There are several documented cases of arson and looting of minorities' homes and business establishments, as well as theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples," the statement added. Notably, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry in an official statement said that the government was firm to uphold 'religious harmony' in the country, irrespective of religious affiliation. "Bangladesh's government is firm to uphold religious harmony in Bangladesh, irrespective of religious affiliation, and uphold the rule of law for every Bangladeshi, without distinction, under the laws of the land," the statement read. Bangladesh's foreign ministry stated that the arrest of spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das is being "misconstrued." The foreign ministry also expressed concern over "unfounded statements" that are misrepresenting facts and "stand contrary to the spirit of friendship" between India and Bangladesh. (ANI) In a development to the Sambhal violence, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh on Wednesday confirmed the involvement of three minors in the incident that broke out over the Mughal-era mosque survey on November 24. The official said that three minors were involved in the Sambhal violence case but added that the numbers could change as investigations progress. "The number of minors involved in the case was 3 until yesterday. But this number can change," Singh said, emphasising the ongoing nature of the investigation. He added that the minor accused are currently being counselled as part of efforts to rehabilitate them through education and skill development programs." In addition, the authorities recovered a knife, which Singh described as potentially very dangerous if used in a crowd. "We have recovered a knife. It can be very dangerous if used in a crowd," he noted. The Commissioner assured that the investigation would continue and efforts would be made to identify all those involved in the conspiracy. "We will identify the anti-social elements in society and will expose all those who were involved in this conspiracy," Singh said. Meanwhile, security personnel have been deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after violence and ruckus ensued over an ASI survey. The stones-pelting incident that escalated into violence over the survey team on November 24 claimed the lives of 4 and injured many, including officials and locals. The internet shutdown will continue in the region while all other restrictions have been lifted as the situation has returned to normalcy, Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar said. So far, 27 people, including 25 men and 2 women, have been arrested, and 7 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, the police said. Speaking to ANI about the current situation post-incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar said, "After the Sunday incident that took place in Sambhal district, the police had called for a precautionary internet shutdown, which continues. All other things have been restored to normalcy." "The police have processed all the CCTV footage of the people involved in the incident. More than 100 people have been identified. They will soon be apprehended by the police. In the last 24 hours, 27 people have been arrested, out of which 25 are men and 2 are women. Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq has been issued a notice under Section 168 of the BNS on November 23," he added. Fresh visuals from the area show security personnel deployed in the area. The security team near the mosque is deployed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers, and metal detectors to maintain security for local regulations. Earlier on Tuesday, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that 27 people have been arrested in the Sambhal violence and seven FIRs have been registered following the ruckus and stone-pelting incident over an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Mughal-era mosque of the district. Singh urged the people across all sections of society to refrain from making baseless statements. In a joint press conference earlier, 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. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had, however, denied the allegations of instigating violence in Sambhal over the mosque survey. He has accused the Uttar Pradesh police administration of 'conspiracy' while claiming that the case registered against him was false, as he was not in the state when the violence erupted. 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) Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Wednesday attacked the ruling administration in Uttar Pradesh over the recent ruckus and violence in Sambhal, claiming that the police in the state was 'communalised' and was acting like a 'BJP wing.' Speaking to ANI on the violence in UP's Sambhal, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "The Congress party is clear that police have been communalised. The way UP police are acting, like a BJP wing, is unacceptable. 5 innocent people have been murdered by the police. The administration is not allowing any delegation to visit the spot." Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav also reacted to the incident and said, "Innocent people were killed. Such things do not happen in a democratic system. The government has not taken any action against such officials. Our delegation will go there tomorrow and we will raise this issue. If the government does not listen to us, then we have no option but to go to court. I have again given a notice in Parliament today to raise this issue." Meanwhile, in a development to the Sambhal violence, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh on Wednesday confirmed the involvement of three minors in the incident that broke out over the Mughal-era mosque survey on November 24. The official said that three minors were involved in the Sambhal violence case but added that the numbers could change as investigations progress. "The number of minors involved in the case was 3 until yesterday. But this number can change," Singh said, emphasising the ongoing nature of the investigation. He added that the minor accused are currently being counselled as part of efforts to rehabilitate them through education and skill development programs." In addition, the authorities recovered a knife, which Singh described as potentially very dangerous if used in a crowd. "We have recovered a knife. It can be very dangerous if used in a crowd," he noted. The Commissioner assured that the investigation would continue and efforts would be made to identify all those involved in the conspiracy. "We will identify the anti-social elements in society and will expose all those who were involved in this conspiracy," Singh said. Security personnel were deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after violence and ruckus ensued over an ASI survey. The stones-pelting incident that escalated into violence over the survey team on November 24 claimed the lives of 4 and injured many, including officials and locals. The internet shutdown will continue in the region while all other restrictions have been lifted as the situation has returned to normalcy, Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar said. So far, 27 people, including 25 men and 2 women, have been arrested, and 7 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, the police said. Speaking to ANI about the current situation post-incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishan Kumar said, "After the Sunday incident that took place in Sambhal district, the police had called for a precautionary internet shutdown, which continues. All other things have been restored to normalcy." "The police have processed all the CCTV footage of the people involved in the incident. More than 100 people have been identified. They will soon be apprehended by the police. In the last 24 hours, 27 people have been arrested, out of which 25 are men and 2 are women. Sambhal MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq has been issued a notice under Section 168 of the BNS on November 23," he added. Fresh visuals from the area show security personnel deployed in the area. The security team near the mosque is deployed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers, and metal detectors to maintain security for local regulations. Earlier on Tuesday, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that 27 people have been arrested in the Sambhal violence and seven FIRs have been registered following the ruckus and stone-pelting incident over an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Mughal-era mosque of the district. Singh urged the people across all sections of society to refrain from making baseless statements. Earlier, Singh confirmed on Monday that those accused in the Sambhal incident include a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and the son of a local MLA, adding further that he assured that the situation at the site of violence is now peaceful and an investigation is underway. In a joint press conference earlier, 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. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had, however, denied the allegations of instigating violence in Sambhal over the mosque survey. He has denied the allegations and accused the Uttar Pradesh police administration of 'conspiracy' while claiming that the case registered against him was false, as he was not in the state when the violence erupted. 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) On the second day of the winter session of Parliament, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday was adjourned till 12:00 in the afternoon over the demand of the opposition to discuss the Adani indictment issue. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 11:30 AM. Both the lower and upper Houses are set to meet soon after the break. This comes amid a ruckus after the opposition MPs in the morning moved the notice for an adjournment motion in both the Houses to raise issues related to Manipur, the Adani indictment and the ongoing violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. Earlier, Congress demanded discussion on the Adani indictment in the Parliament, as both houses will meet for the third day of the winter session on Wednesday. Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Manish Tewari moved for an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha before the commencement of the session today. In a notice addressed to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha today, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance." "The recent US indictment of Gautam Adani, involving over $265 million in bribes for solar power deals and securities fraud, casts a dark shadow over the Adani Group. The silence of the Modi government on this matter raises concerns about India's integrity and global standing. PM Modi must answer questions regarding his friendship with Adani," the notice read. Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala also issued a notice on the same subject and said, "I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to move the following motion for the suspension of business listed for November 27, 2024. That this House suspend all scheduled business to discuss the serious revelations in a US court indictment alleging that the Adani Group engaged in bribery of state officials to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders." Congress MP Manish Tewari also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha and demanded discussion on 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." Congress MP Hibi Eden moved an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday demanding a discussion on the 'deteriorating condition' in Manipur. In his notice, Hibi Eden urged the government to "take accountability and implement immediate measures to restore peace and justice." The first session of the winter Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses getting adjourned fairly early due to disruptions. The winter session will go on till December 20. (ANI) Chinese companies are accelerating their push for global expansion, driven by national strategies, capital flows and the restructuring of global supply chains, according to a new report. The report, released by Deloitte China on Tuesday, showed that in the 2024 fiscal year ending on May 31, the firm assisted more than 2,000 Chinese companies in expanding their businesses across 96 countries. After years of development, Chinese companies expanding overseas are shifting from merely seeking new markets to integrating global supply chains and building international brands, the report added. Despite the rapid acceleration, the road to globalization is not without obstacles. According to Deloitte, the instability of international markets, increasing compliance requirements, and fierce competition in foreign markets present significant risks for Chinese firms. Additionally, adapting to local cultures and navigating different regulatory environments also pose challenges to companies venturing abroad. Alan Wang, Deloitte China Northern Region managing partner, highlighted that the pace of Chinese companies' internationalization has significantly increased over the last few years. "The past two to three years have witnessed a sharp rise in Chinese businesses expanding overseas. We've seen that flights to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Mexico are packed with Chinese entrepreneurs and investors looking to tap into new opportunities," Wang said. He noted one of the key drivers for Chinese firms' international push is the search for new growth opportunities outside of China's domestic market. "In many industries, domestic competition has become fierce. Companies are increasingly looking abroad for new avenues of growth," Wang added, stressing the importance of the "out or out" strategy essentially, firms must go global or risk being left behind. "Since the beginning of 2023, nearly all Chinese companies around us regarded going global as a very important strategic decision," said Collin Jin, deputy president of CPA Australia's East and Central China Committee. "Due to China's massive production capacity, the domestic market may face competition in many niche sectors. Thus, a rising number of Chinese companies choose to leverage their strong production and service capabilities to explore broader markets. "From the perspective of future development opportunities, Chinese companies particularly need to focus on overseas markets, especially key destinations like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, the Middle East, and Central and South America," he added. In fact, Chinese companies are also finding that international expansion is fraught with challenges, including compliance concerns and brand building. Wang noted that ESG considerations are becoming increasingly crucial for Chinese firms operating abroad. "In many countries, the focus is shifting from purely profit-driven goals to considering the impact of business on the environment and society. Chinese firms need to integrate these concerns into their strategies if they are to succeed internationally," he noted. Given the continued growth trend, Wang expects the momentum behind Chinese companies' global expansion will continue for the foreseeable future. The focus, however, will shift from merely entering new markets to refining business operations and organizational structures for better efficiency and sustainability. Companies will need to build stronger global supply chains and focus on long-term resilience rather than short-term market entry, he added. According to the report, Deloitte's ongoing efforts to support Chinese companies in their global endeavors include tailored solutions that address everything from business model design to digital transformation, and organizational restructuring. With its extensive global network and expertise, Deloitte said it is positioning itself as a key partner for Chinese companies aiming to thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive international landscape. Amid chaos over the arrest of the former priest ISKCON Bangladesh Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari on sedition charges, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday morning expressed solidarity with the Hindu monk, labelling his arrest as "unjust." He appealed to the central government to intervene in the matter. "The entire nation stands in solidarity with Saint Chinmoy Krishna Das ji, who was unjustly arrested in Bangladesh. I appeal to the central government to intervene in this matter as soon as possible to free Chinmoy Das," former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal posted on X. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Biplab Kumar Deb also condemned the incident of Chinmoy Das' arrest, criticising Bangladesh for being "undemocratic." He urged that joint international action be taken against the "anti-humanitarian" situation in Bangladesh. "The ongoing attacks on Sanatani minorities, various religious institutions and Sanatani Gurus in Bangladesh are entirely undemocratic & an affront to basic human rights principles. I strongly condemn such incidents, completely based on narrow and vested interests, where Sanatani sentiments and human rights are violated. I urge urgent and joint international action to stem this undemocratic and anti-humanitarian situation," BJP leader Biplab Kumar Deb posted on X. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan also expressed concerns over the arrest of the ISKCON priest and urged the Bangladesh government under Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities against Hindus. "Let's all unite together in condemning the detention of ISKON Bangladesh Priest 'Chinmoy Krishna Das' by Bangladesh police. We urge and plead Bangladesh government under Sri Mohammed Yunus to stop atrocities on Hindus. Indian army blood has been spilled, our resources had been spent, our Army Jawans lives had lost for Bangladesh formation. We are deeply disturbed by the way our Hindu brothers and sisters are being targeted. We plead with the United Nations to intervene," Kalyan posted on X. Chinmoy Krishna Das, arrested on Monday, was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. His lawyers filed a bail petition, but it was rejected, and he was ordered to be sent to jail. A case has been filed against Chinmoy Krishna Das on charges of sedition, accusing him of raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. However, the complainant has since expressed unwillingness to pursue the case, a minority leader stated. Moreover, a lawyer was allegedly killed on Tuesday after clashes in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong over the arrest of ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das by the authorities, lawyers said. "Saiful Islam Alif, a lawyer, was killed in Chittagong," Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, President of the Chittagong Bar Association, told ANI over the phone. The motive of the killing, however, is not clear."Saiful Islam Arif was brutally hacked to death," said Ashraf Hossain Razzak, General Secretary of the Chittagong Bar Association. "The Chittagong Bar Association has decided to suspend the court activities on Wednesday in protest of their member killing," Razzak added. (ANI) Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav said on Wednesday that the violence and ruckus in Sambhal that claimed the lives of four and left many injured right after the election results raises a 'big question' on the 'neeyat and neeti' (policy and intentions) of the government and the BJP. Speaking to ANI here on Wednesday, Dimple Yadav said, "The administration did the work of booth-capturing and today, when we are celebrating Constitution Day, we want our country to be run by the Constitution. The way the Sambhal incident happened immediately after the election results were announced, I think it raises a big question over the policy and intentions of the government and the BJP." Congress MP Imran Masood also responded to the incident in Sambhal and said that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is already aware of the situation in UP and will visit the district along with other party leaders post-violence. "Priyanka Gandhi is already aware of the situation in UP. I have briefed her. We have planned to go there (Sambhal) and we will go. No one can equal the Gandhi family in understanding our pain," said Imran Masood. Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Wednesday also attacked the ruling administration in Uttar Pradesh over the recent ruckus and violence in Sambhal, claiming that the police in the state was 'communalised' and was acting like a 'BJP wing.' Speaking to ANI on the violence in UP's Sambhal, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "The Congress party is clear that police have been communalised. The way UP police are acting, like a BJP wing, is unacceptable. 5 innocent people have been murdered by the police. The administration is not allowing any delegation to visit the spot." Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav also reacted to the incident and said, "Innocent people were killed. Such things do not happen in a democratic system. The government has not taken any action against such officials. Our delegation will go there tomorrow and we will raise this issue. If the government does not listen to us, then we have no option but to go to court. I have again given a notice in Parliament today to raise this issue." BJP MP Ravi Kishan spoke to ANI over SP holding the local administration responsible for the Sambhal stone-pelting incident and said, "How is the administration responsible? The survey was being done as per the court orders. Suddenly, so many people with arms gathered there. There are visuals of this available. Local leaders of Sambhal incited the people there. The same used to happen in Kashmir." Meanwhile, in a development to the Sambhal violence, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh on Wednesday confirmed the involvement of three minors in the incident that broke out over the Mughal-era mosque survey on November 24. The official said that three minors were involved in the Sambhal violence case but added that the numbers could change as investigations progress. "The number of minors involved in the case was 3 until yesterday. But this number can change," Singh said, emphasising the ongoing nature of the investigation. He added that the minor accused are currently being counselled as part of efforts to rehabilitate them through education and skill development programs. "In addition, the authorities recovered a knife, which Singh described as potentially very dangerous if used in a crowd. "We have recovered a knife. It can be very dangerous if used in a crowd," he noted. The Commissioner assured that the investigation would continue and efforts would be made to identify all those involved in the conspiracy. "We will identify the anti-social elements in society and will expose all those who were involved in this conspiracy," Singh said. Security personnel were deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after violence and ruckus ensued over an ASI survey. The stones-pelting incident that escalated into violence over the survey team on November 24 claimed the lives of 4 and injured many, including officials and locals. The internet shutdown will continue in the region while all other restrictions have been lifted as the situation has returned to normalcy, Sambhal SP Krishan Kumar said. So far, 27 people, including 25 men and 2 women, have been arrested, and 7 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, the police said. The security team near the mosque is deployed with two-way radios for communication, security batons, flashlights, firearms, vehicle barriers, and metal detectors to maintain security for local regulations. Earlier, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed on Monday that those accused in the Sambhal incident include a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP and the son of a local MLA, adding further that he assured that the situation at the site of violence is now peaceful and an investigation is underway. In a joint press conference earlier, 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. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had, however, denied the allegations of instigating violence in Sambhal over the mosque survey. He has denied the allegations and accused the Uttar Pradesh police administration of 'conspiracy' while claiming that the case registered against him was false, as he was not in the state when the violence erupted. 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) Amid huge ruckus over the opposition's demand to raise Adani's indictment issue, Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was adjourned early again on the second day of the winter session of Parliament. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha will meet after 12:00 in the afternoon. Earlier, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 11:30 AM. This comes after the opposition MPs in the morning moved the notices for an adjournment motion in both the lower and upper houses to raise issues related to Manipur, the Adani indictment and the ongoing violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. In Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala has given a suspension of business notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of the indictment of Gautam Adani. "I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to move the following motion for the suspension of business listed for November 27, 2024. That this House suspend all scheduled business to discuss the serious revelations in a US court indictment alleging that the Adani Group engaged in bribery of state officials to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders," the notice read. Earlier, Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari also moved for an adjournment motion to discuss the Adani matter in Lok Sabha before the commencement of the session today. Meanwhile, Congress MP Hibi Eden moved an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday demanding a discussion on the 'deteriorating condition' in Manipur. In his notice, Hibi Eden urged the government to "take accountability and implement immediate measures to restore peace and justice." Meanwhile, LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi continued his demand for the arrest of Gautam Adani claiming that there was violation of the law. "You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges. The point is that he has to be arrested as we have said. Hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman (Gautam Adani) has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores, he should be in jail and the Govt is protecting him," he alleged. The first session of the winter Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses getting adjourned fairly early due to disruptions. The winter session will go on till December 20. (ANI) Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday called for stricter laws to curb the "vulgar content" in social media, stating that there was a difference in the culture of India and the countries these social media platforms have come from. While replying to the question made by BJP MP Arun Govil during the question hour in the Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said that the Standing Committee of Parliament should take up the issue and make strict laws on the same. "There is a lot of difference between the culture of our country and the countries from where these social media platforms have come. So this kind of debate has been raised in a lot of other countries. So I would like the Standing Committee of the Parliament to take up this issue and strict laws are made regarding the same," he said. Vaishnaw noted that the issue is due to the end of the "editorial check" made on the content, which has played a role in the "uncontrolled expression" of the vulgar content while providing freedom of the press at the same time. "This topic is indeed very important. Today, the way editorial content used to be, the editorial check used to be done, whether something is right or wrong, a complete decision was taken about it, has ended. Today social media is a very big medium of freedom of the press on one hand, but at the same time, on the other hand, due to the end of that editorial check, it is an uncontrolled expression in which many types of vulgar content are also played. The existing law definitely needs to be strengthened further, and I would request a consensus should be formed on this," he said. Meanwhile,the Lok Sabha on Wednesday was adjourned for the day amid a huge ruckus over the opposition's demand to discuss various issues, including the Adani indictment. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for the day. Earlier, the lower house was adjourned till 12:00 in the afternoon on the second day of the winter session of Parliament. After Union Minister Jitendra Singh's motion was passed, sitting in the chair, BJP MP Dilip Saikia announced that the lower house has been adjourned for the day till November 28 at 11:00 AM. This comes after the opposition MPs gave notices to move an adjournment motion in both the lower and upper houses to discuss issues related to Manipur, the Adani indictment and the ongoing violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. (ANI) Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of "hiding something" in connection with the Adani indictment matter. He said that it was the responsibility of the Indian government to get involved in the investigation since the United States of America (USA) has levelled serious allegations. "PM Modi's silence on the Adani issue makes it extremely clear that the Modi government is hiding something. If an investigating agency in America puts such a serious allegation on a company, it becomes the responsibility of the Indian government to get involved in the investigation, but the complete silence that we are seeing today is not silence, it is sound, and this sound is being heard by the people of the country," Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi told ANI. Congress MP Gogoi also raised the issue of the Adani indictment, saying that a number of countries, including France, Bangladesh, Kenya and the US, are reviewing their contracts with the Adani group. India's reputation has taken a hit domestically and internationally, he added. "Ever since the indictment of Gautam Adani last week, a number of countries like France, Bangladesh, Kenya and the US are reviewing or cancelling their contracts with the group. Moody's has downgraded six of the group's companies from 'stable' to 'negative'. The government of Telangana has declined 100 crores from the Adani Foundation. India's reputation continues to take a hit domestically and internationally. There continues to (be) no acknowledgement and action from the Government of India and its law enforcement agencies. Why is this government keen to protect one business over the interests of the entire country?" Gogoi wrote on X. Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani on Wednesday said that the Congress and other opposition parties are using the issue of the indictment against the Adani Group in the US "to divert attention from their electoral defeats" and said they must provide credible evidence before demanding a parliamentary probe. "The Congress is reading too much into this indictment and they are doing it for purely political purposes," Jethmalani said. Meanwhile, Gaurav Gogoi fiurther said that Western countries don't trust Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) because they believe they can be hampered, accusing the Election Commission of not taking questions being raised by the opposition. "This year saw elections in various countries across the Western world, including America and the United Kingdom (UK). There is technological advancement and its use in Western countries. Despite this, they don't trust EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) because they believe they can be hampered. However, we see here that the Election Commission (EC) doesn't have the time to take questions that we are raising on EVMs. Itna ekpakshta kyun (why this one side-ism)? This is why people are questioning whether EVM is unbiased. We have to take this question to the public," said Gogoi. (ANI) The floor leaders of the INDIA alliance convened a meeting in the chamber of Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss the issues to be raised during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was also present in this meeting along with other party leaders. According to the Congress party, the alliance discussed the issues to be raised in the Parliament session in the meeting. Speaking to ANI over the meeting today, Congress MP K Suresh said, "A strategy meeting was held between the INDIA alliance parties in the presence of Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge. Every session day we have a meeting with all the INDIA alliance partners and discuss the agenda and what stand has to be taken in the day's business for both houses." The Congress party demanded a discussion on the Adani indictment in the Parliament on the third day of the winter session on Wednesday. Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Manish Tewari moved adjournment notices in this regard before the commencement of the session. Surjewala also gave a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of the indictment of Gautam Adani. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day amid a huge ruckus over the opposition's demand to discuss various issues, including the Adani indictment. The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for the day. Earlier, the lower house was adjourned till 12:00 in the afternoon on the second day of the winter session of Parliament. After Union Minister Jitendra Singh's motion was passed, sitting in the chair, BJP MP Dilip Saikia announced that the lower house had been adjourned for the day till November 28 at 11:00 AM. This comes after the opposition MPs gave notices to move an adjournment motion in both the lower and upper houses to discuss issues related to Manipur, the Adani indictment and the ongoing violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. Earlier, Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari moved for an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha before the commencement of the session today. In a notice addressed to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha today, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance." Congress MP Manish Tewari also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha and demanded discussion on 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." Congress MP Hibi Eden moved an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday demanding a discussion on the 'deteriorating condition' in Manipur. In his notice, Hibi Eden urged the government to "take accountability and implement immediate measures to restore peace and justice." In Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala also issued a notice on the same subject and said, "I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to move the following motion for the suspension of business listed for November 27, 2024. That this House suspends all scheduled business to discuss the serious revelations in a US court indictment alleging that the Adani Group engaged in bribery of state officials to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders." The first session of the winter Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses getting adjourned fairly early due to disruptions. The winter session will go on till December 20. (ANI) Leo passed away on Tuesday, November 26, after battling an esophageal ailment. Leo, a Labrador Retriever, was born on July 20, 2016, and joined the Pune police service in September 2016 as a trainee member of the canine squad. In a Press Statement, Pune Police stated that " Leo's illustrious eight-year career was marked by his instrumental role in several major drug busts and multi-agency drills. In December 2019, Leo played a crucial role in seizing large quantities of Mephedrone and marijuana from a Nigerian national further. In August 2022, Leo was instrumental in a case at Loni Kalbhor police station, where 70 kilograms of marijuana were seized Leo regularly participated in multi-agency training exercises, including those with the Indian Army. Leo was part of regular checks and sweeps conducted at the Yerawada Central Prison, railway stations, and bus stands. Leo's handlers and senior officers of the crime branch Pune police paid their respects to the deceased canine, accompanied by a full police guard of honor. His last rites were performed with honour at the PMC's electric crematorium for pets and animals. (ANI) Jalandhar Police on Wednesday apprehended two associates of the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang after a hot chase and a shootout in Jalandhar. https://x.com/PunjabPoliceInd/status/1861638197211734229 According to officials, the police opened fire on the Bishnoi's associates in retaliation after the suspects fired at them during the chase. The individuals who have been arrested are facing several charges, which include serious offences such as extortion and murder. They are also implicated in violations of the Arms Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. During the operation, law enforcement officials recovered three firearms along with a significant number of cartridges, underscoring the severity of the situation and the potential threat posed by these individuals. Earlier, on Tuesday, four people belonging to the Bishnoi gang were arrested by Jaipur police after information was received about them following the social media handles affiliated with notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara. Jaipur police said that the four people were following social media accounts affiliated with gangsters Bishnoi and Godara, and were contacted through social media. They also got multiple illegal weapons from Madhya Pradesh and were going to carry out the orders at the behest of someone allegedly affiliated with the gang. The police acted on the information from Jaipur's Commissionerate Special Team (CST). "We got an input from CST, that a social media activity of a man is suspicious. Upon investigation, it was revealed that he used to follow the handles of Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara gangs. He got in touch with them (four arrested) and on their instructions, he brought some weapons from MP. They were going to carry out some incident at his behest," said Jaipur Assistant Commissioner of Police Anoop Singh. According to ACP Singh, the people were doing some courier work for the gang and were arrested before they could get orders for doing further illegal activities. (ANI) Two deputy superintendents of police, along with 15 inspectors, have been transferred to different posts in Chandigarh, as per an order from the Chandigarh Superintendents of Police on Tuesday. This came following a reported explosion outside the De'Orra Alehouse and Kitchen restaurant at Sector 26 in Chandigarh on Tuesday. According to the notice, DSP Udaypal Singh and DSP Sunhwinder Pal will be temporarily working as Sub-Divisional Police Officer in Central Chandigarh and DSP Security High Court, respectively. They will be assuming their position from November 30, 2024, while the inspectors will be taking up the role with immediate effect. This change in the police personnel came after a reported explosion outside the De'Orra Alehouse and Kitchen restaurant at Sector 26 in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The Chandigarh police lodged an FIR and started their investigation on the matter. According to the Chandigarh Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dilbag Singh Dhaliwal, the police received the call at around 3:25 am today. He stated that during the call the caller mentioned that there was some "personal problem" at the place. Upon reaching the spot, the investigating officer saw broken glasses at the scene, Dhaliwal added. "We got information in the control room that there was some personal problem here. Our investigating officer saw glasses were broken here. At the present moment, we cannot say anything," the DSP said."The forensic team has arrived. They haven't provided any information yet. We got the call at around 3:25 AM. We have just lodged the FIR. It's a premature state. We can't say anything now. We have just started an investigation," he added. No casualties or injuries were reported as the restaurant that was closed during the time of the incident. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said that the government in Maharashtra would be formed after taking everyone into confidence. Speaking to ANI, he said, "There is an alliance of three parties. Therefore, a decision will be taken only after taking everyone into confidence. There is no delay because it has been only 4 days since the results were announced. Whatever Ramdas Athawale has said is his personal opinion. A stable government will be formed." Earlier on November 26, Union Minister Ramdas Athawle had said that Devendra Fadnavis should lead the Mahayuti government, as "people of Maharashtra want him" to be the next Chief Minister, and Eknath Shinde can be the Deputy CM or join the Modi government. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde resigned as Maharashtra Chief Minister and was appointed as the caretaker CM until the formation of the new government. However, the Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on who will lead the Maharashtra government. Republican Party of India (Athawale) president also said that Shinde is a bit "unhappy" after he came to know that the BJP high command has "finalised" Devendra Fadnavis as the next CM. Deadlock is there...when Eknath Shinde came to know that the BJP high command has finalised Devendra Fadnavis as the CM (of Maharashtra), he is a bit unhaapy, which I can understand. But, BJP has got 132 seats and hence I think there have to make a way ...Devendra Fadnavis should be made the CM. Shinde can be made Union Minister," Athawale said. He also suggested that Eknath Shinde can be made the Deputy Chief Minister or Union Minister in the BJP-led Centre. "Eknath Shinde can assume the charge of deputy CM. If he is not willing to be the deputy CM, he can be made Union Minister in PM Modi's cabinet... The people of Maharashtra want Devendra Fadnavis to be the CM...," Athawale told ANI. He said the BJP high command should take the decision soon after talking with all three leaders, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Ajit Pawar. The BJP emerged as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23. (ANI) This photo taken on Nov. 26, 2024 shows copies of a report titled "Toward a More Beautiful China and Cleaner World: Understanding Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization," released at the ongoing Global Panda Partners 2024 conference, in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] A report released on Tuesday expounds on China's ecological progress and contributions to global sustainability. Titled "Toward a More Beautiful China and Cleaner World: Understanding Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization," the report stems from a collaboration between a national high-level think tank affiliated with Xinhua, China's state news agency, and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. The report, released during the ongoing Global Panda Partners 2024 conference in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, consists of four sections. It outlines the historical context and key elements of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, reviews China's initiatives to advance eco-environmental conservation, defines the institutional frameworks supporting efforts to build a Beautiful China, and summarizes Chinese wisdom regarding the creation of a clean and beautiful world. According to the report, China has consistently advanced the green and low-carbon transformation of its economy and society, made significant strides in the fight against pollution, achieved remarkable progress in ecological protection and restoration, and cultivated a societal shift toward a simpler, more sustainable, and environmentally friendly way of life. As highlighted in the report, green development has become a prominent feature of Chinese modernization. From 2012 to 2023, China supported its average annual economic growth at more than 6 percent with an annual energy consumption growth rate of 3 percent. Its energy consumption intensity dropped by 26.4 percent accumulatively during the same period, making China one of the countries in the world with the fastest decline in energy consumption intensity. China has risen to significant environmental challenges and made substantial progress in advancing institutional reforms within the ecological civilization framework, the report says. The country currently boasts a comprehensive legal framework for ecological and environmental protection, encompassing over 30 national laws, more than 100 administrative regulations, and over 1,000 local statutes. Additionally, the country has maintained a firm and unwavering stance against environmental violations. Facts emphasized in the report showcase that China's eco-environment conservation endeavors bear profound significance that extends beyond its borders. The country is committed to peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 -- goals that will represent the largest reduction in carbon intensity globally and the fastest transition from carbon peaking to neutrality in history, the report notes. China is taking the lead in the global transition toward clean energy, according to the report. The country ranks first globally in installed capacities for hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass energy, as well as new energy vehicle ownership. China was the first country to achieve zero net growth in land degradation. Its efforts have significantly reduced desertified and sandified areas, contributing to a quarter of the world's newly added green spaces since 2000. The report highlights that, as a major country, China has moved decisively from being a participant to a leader in global environmental governance. According to the report, as of November 2024, China has signed 54 climate-related South-South cooperation agreements with 42 developing countries, hosted over 300 capacity-building workshops, and offered more than 10,000 training opportunities to over 120 developing nations. China has launched the Belt and Road South-South Cooperation Initiative on Climate Change, established the Belt and Road Energy Partnership, and formed the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition with over 170 partners in more than 40 countries, the report notes. At Tuesday's event, former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed appreciation for China's commitment to advancing ecological civilization. "In order to be a credible partner in international cooperation, you have to start to work at home," Bokova told Xinhua. Noting that China has made significant decisions and actions both domestically and internationally, Bokova expressed the hope that these efforts will continue to contribute to the global environmental agenda. As the only media-based think tank in China's array of national high-end think tanks, the national high-level think tank of Xinhua, with policy research as its main focus, has in recent years carried out forward-looking, strategic and preparatory research concerning major domestic and global issues -- producing many influential research outcomes in the process. Themed "Harmonious Coexistence Between Man and Nature," Global Panda Partners 2024 serves as a platform for dialogue and exchange, aiming to foster consensus and collaborative efforts in building a global ecological civilization. The Ministry of Defence informed on Wednesday that it will conduct a two-day 11th National Maritime Search and Rescue exercise and workshop for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in Kerala's Kochi. The workshop will be undertaken from November 28 to 29 and the event will be inaugurated by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. ICG Director General S Paramesh, also the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority, will also remain present during the event. The theme of the event will be 'Enhancing Search and Rescue capabilities through regional collaboration,' which informs about the ICG's commitment to provide assistance during "large-scale contingencies" in the Indian Search and Rescue region. "The first day of the event will feature various programmes, including table-top exercise, workshop & seminars involving participation of senior officials from government agencies, Ministries & Armed Forces, various stakeholders and foreign delegates. On the second day, the sea exercise involving two large scale contingencies will be carried out off the Kochi coast with participation of ships & aircraft of ICG, Navy, Indian Air Force, Passenger Vessel & Tug from Cochin Port Authority and boats from the Customs," the press note released by Ministry of Defence read. According to the note, the first contingency would reproduce a distress situation onboard a passenger vessel consisting of 500 passengers. The second situation would show the ditching of civil aircraft with 200 passengers. This will be demonstrated using "new-age technology." "The response matrix in the sea exercise will involve various methods to evacuate distressed passengers, wherein the advent of new-age technology using satellite-aided distress beacons, drones to deploy a life buoy, air droppable life rafts, operation of remote controlled life buoy will be demonstrated. The exercise is designed not only to evaluate efficiency of operations and coordination with national stakeholders, but also to aptly focus on cooperative engagements with the littorals and friendly countries," the note read. The ICG has been moving towards a stable and effective Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) construct. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) member states for coordinating SAR in the Indian Ocean Region, where ICG is the implementing agency, the note further read. "ICG has been nominated as a nodal agency for SAR activities in the Indo-Pacific Region. ICG's increased focus on the maritime safety aspect will go a long way in strengthening India's global responsibility in sync with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)," it said. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Ashish Mishra to file the reply to the allegation relating to witnesses being threatened in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. A bench of justices, Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, asked Mishra's counsel to file the counter affidavit clarifying the allegation and listed the matter after four weeks. Meanwhile, senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mishra, denied the allegation. He further said that whenever matters are listed, something like this comes up. Earlier the Supreme Court modified interim bail conditions of Ashish Mishra and permitted him to either stay in Delhi or Lucknow and also issued directions to expedite the trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The top court had also made the interim order absolute. On January 25, 2023, the top court granted interim bail for eight weeks to Ashish Mishra and imposed various conditions. Later it was extended from time to time. The top court had directed Ashish Mishra to inform the concerned court about his location. The Supreme Court had also clarified that any attempt by Ashish Mishra or his family to influence witnesses and try to delay the trial may lead to cancellation of his bail. The court has also directed Mishra to mark his attendance in the concerned police station of his location. Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court, which denied bail to him in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. On July 26, 2022, the Allahabad High Court denied bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The bail was rejected by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. The said order is challenged by Ashish Mishra in the Supreme Court, filed through advocate on record T. Mahipal. Mishra is facing a case of murder for the incident that took place on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Mishra allegedly ran over the farmers who were protesting against the Centre's three farm laws. He was arrested on October 9 and granted bail in February 2022. Mishra again moved to the High Court as the court's earlier order was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 and had ordered fresh consideration of his bail plea. The top court earlier had set aside the Allahabad High Court order dated February 10, 2022, and remitted the matter back to the High Court. The top court had said that the order of the Allahabad High Court cannot be sustained and had to be set aside, and the bail bonds of the respondent/accused are cancelled. The Court had directed Ashish Mishra to surrender within a week. Family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which granted bail to Ashish Mishra. That time, the top court cancelled the bail plea of Mishra. Earlier, the Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by retired Punjab and Haryana high court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. (ANI) Amid chaos over Congress MLA Gaviyappa's suggestion to drop a few guarantee schemes, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said that Gaviyappa expressed his personal opinion, which has been addressed by the party. He said that they can't go back on the guarantees promised by the Karnataka government. The senior Congress leader promised that the state government would provide those guarantees to the people. "Any legislator asking for additional funds for his constituency is not wrong. So, MLA Gaviyappa is not wrong in asking for funds. But, he expressed his personal opinion regarding the guarantees. That (issue) has been taken by the party and government. We have promised the people of the state that we will give those guarantees. So we are implementing those guarantees and we cannot go back." Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary, Naseer Ahmed, said that the Congress party was going to look into the statement made by MLA Gaviyappa on guarantee schemes. He assured that it was a commitment from the government to fulfil the five guarantees that were promised. "As far as Congress MLA Gaviyappa's statement is concerned, it is his opinion. The party is going to look into his statement. As five guarantees are concerned, it is a commitment from the government, and sufficient funds have been allocated in the budget. So, there is no question of withdrawing the guarantees. It will be implemented with full force," Congress MLA Naseer Ahmed told ANI. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also emphasised that the party would issue a show cause notice to Congress MLA HR Gaviyappa for his recent statement on guarantees. Speaking to reporters at Ambedkar Bhavan, Shivakumar said, "I don't believe that he has stated this. In case he has, we will issue a show cause notice seeking an explanation. We have given a word to the people of the state on the guarantees and we will stand by it at any cost. No MLA of the Congress party should question the guarantee schemes; we will initiate action if anyone does so." This comes after Congress MLA from Vijayanagar, HR Gaviyappa, said that the poll guarantee schemes were straining the government's finances. "Due to Guarantee schemes, it is becoming tough to give houses; we are also requesting CM to at least let go of two schemes like the Shakti scheme and give houses, let's see what CM decides; we'll stand with CM Whatever the decision, CM is also trying to mobilise the funds; we'll also stand with CM," he said. As this happened, former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai hit out at the Karnataka government, accusing it of not providing funds for development. "It is not only Gaviyappa; this is the feeling of all the 224 MLAs; more so, the ruling party MLAs because they are unable to fulfil the promises in their constituency regarding development. Not even a single paisa has been given for development. There is no money for daily wagers, no money for contractors, no money for anganwadis, no money for ambulance drivers. Guarantees without any financial support will lead to the bankruptcy of the state," Bommai said. (ANI) Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat on Wednesday said that the next Maharashtra Chief Minister should be from Shiv Sena. Speaking to ANI, Shirsat said, "We want the CM to be from Shiv Sena. We fought the election under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and I believe that the top leaders will also bless him..You will be able to see the new government in Maharashtra maximum by December 2. The swearing-in ceremony will be organised on a grand scale and I think it will be likely held at the Wankhede stadium." Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske said that there is no confusion on the CM and the decision would take some time. "There is no confusion. The leaders of Mahayuti will take a decision on the CM. No state announces the name of the CM in two days. It takes time. We are a small party so we have demanded that just like you (BJP) gave it (CM'S post to JDU) in Bihar, give it to us as well... It is on the leaders to decide. Mhaske said while speaking to ANI. Earlier today, BJP leader Ashok Chavan had said that the government in Maharashtra would be formed after taking everyone into confidence. Speaking to ANI, he said, "There is an alliance of three parties. Therefore, a decision will be taken only after taking everyone into confidence. There is no delay because it has been only 4 days since the results were announced. Whatever Ramdas Athawale has said is his personal opinion. A stable government will be formed." Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde resigned as Maharashtra Chief Minister and was appointed as the caretaker CM until the formation of the new government. However, the Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on who will lead the Maharashtra government. The BJP emerged as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23. (ANI) Gahlot submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. In his resignation letter, he stated, "As you may be aware, I resigned as a Minister in the Delhi government (GNCTD) on November 17. On the same day, I also resigned from the primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party. The main reason was the fact that AAP had begun to deviate from its moral and ethical values, thereby making it difficult for me to continue." "I hereby tender my resignation from the Legislative Assembly of Delhi," he added. Kailash Gahlot resigned as Delhi Transport Minister and left AAP on November 17, joining the BJP the following day. On November 23, he was appointed as a member of the Delhi Assembly Election Coordination Committee by Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva, with approval from the party's senior leadership. Gahlot also met Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda on Friday to discuss preparations for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, expected early next year. After joining the BJP, Gahlot explained his decision to leave AAP, citing a gradual dilution of the party's values and principles. Speaking to ANI, he said, "It doesn't happen overnight; it takes time to understand certain things. I've said repeatedly that we are connected to some values and principles. When I saw a dilution of those values, I mustered the courage to quit. There are several others like me who haven't found the courage yet. I think they will continue." Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its first list of 11 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections. The list includes candidates for constituencies such as Chhatarpur, Kirari, Vishwas Nagar, Rohtash Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Badarpur, Seelampur, Seemapuri, Ghonda, Karawal Nagar, and Matiala. In the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, AAP secured a resounding victory, winning 62 out of 70 seats, while the BJP won eight. (ANI) As the uncertainty over the Maharashtra Chief Minister post continues, the caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Wednesday that whatever decision Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes, he will abide by that. He added that whoever is elected as the Chief Minister by Mahayuti, Shiv Sainiks will lend their support to that person. "I have told the Prime Minister that if there is any problem in forming the government in Maharashtra because of me, then do not bring any doubt in your mind and whatever decision you take, that decision is acceptable to me," Eknath Shinde said in a press conference in Mumbai. Shinde is expected to leave for Delhi later on Wednesday and a meeting of all Yuti allies with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah is also on the cards. "You (PM Modi) are the head of our family. The way people of BJP accept your decision, we will also accept your decision in the same way. I made a phone call to PM Modi and HM Amit Shah yesterday and told them that there will be no problem in forming the government because of me," Eknath Shinde added. The Sena leader, said that he never considered himself a Chief Minister but as a common man whose job was to work for the citizens of the state. "I have always worked as a worker. I never considered myself a Chief Minister. CM means Common Man, I worked by considering this... We should work for people. I have seen the pain of citizens, how they ran their households," he said. "Whoever is elected as the CM by Mahayuti, Shiv Sainiks will support him," he added. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis headed to the national capital, New Delhi. He is expected to meet the BJP top brass in an effort to resolve the impasse over the decision of who will be Chieg Minister of the state. On being asked about the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis said that the answer would be given soon and a decision was being taken on the same. "The answer to this will be given soon. All senior members of the three parties of Mahayuti are taking a decision on this together.," Fadnavis said while speaking to the media. Speaking on the decision for the posts of the other ministers, Fadnavis said that the decisions for the Chief Minister would be taken first after which the rest of the decisions would be taken.23. The election results for Maharashtra were announced on November 23 but the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is yet to decide on the Chief Minister. The BJP emerged as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November. (ANI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday orally informed the Patiala House court that it is writing a letter to the Delhi High Court requesting it to designate the power of MP/MLA court to the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court to empower it to hear the matter in which Engineer Shiekh Abdul Rashid, now an MP, is one of the accused. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for agency, submitted that it will take ten days to receive a response from the High Court. He requested to list the matter after that. Principal District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav after hearing the submissions listed the matter for hearing on December 6. During hearing Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra and advocate Gautam Khazanchi appeared for NIA. They submitted that the powers of NIA are designated under the provisions of the NIA Act to hear the matters registered under UAPA investigated by the NIA. It was also submitted that the MP/MLA courts were created after a judgement in a Public Interest Litigation. The NIA also filed a response to the pending issue stating that the case should not be transferred to the MP/MLA court as it would delay the trial. Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi counsel for MP Engineer Rashid prayed the court to issue a formal notice on the interim bail. The court kept it also pending for the next date. On the last date, the court had sought a response from the NIA. Engineer Rashid had moved a plea seeking interim bail to attend the ongoing session of Parliament. The NIA Court has recently referred the matter to District judge to consider the transfer of the case to special MP/MLA court. On the last date, 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. Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi had submitted thag bail plea of Engineer is pending for 2-3 months. The 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 the transfer of 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 the District Judge of Patiala House Court that the case be sent to a special designated judge for MPs/MLAs. The court, while making recommendations for transfer, also sent all pending applications, including the regular bail plea of Rashid Engineer to District Judge. Engineer Rashid, an Independent 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 channelled 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) After meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid a tussle over the Chief Minister's post in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav said on Wednesday that they would accept the decision made by the leaders of the Mahayuti alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah. Speaking to ANI, Jadhav said he met Shah to express gratitude for his contribution during the Maharashtra elections. "Eknath Shinde had instructed me to meet the Home Minister, thank him, and express gratitude for the time he devoted to the Mahayuti during the Maharashtra elections. Wherever he held rallies, all Mahayuti candidates won by significant margins. So, Shiv Sena MPs and I, in my capacity as the MoS, met him and conveyed our thanks," he said. He clarified that there were no discussions regarding the formation of the government. "Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar are capable leaders. Everyone naturally feels that a leader from their own party should hold the top post, and we also had similar expectations. However, the decision will be taken by the leaders of Mahayuti, the Prime Minister, and the Home Minister, and it will be accepted by all within Mahayuti," Jadhav added. Another party MP, Naresh Mhaske, stated that Eknath Shinde had already announced that the decision taken by Prime Minister Modi would be acceptable to them. "I greeted him, and there was no discussion about the Maharashtra Chief Minister's post. Maharashtra's caretaker CM and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde has already clarified in a press conference that whatever decision PM Modi makes regarding the CM post will be acceptable to us," Mhaske said. Earlier today, caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reiterated that he would abide by any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that whoever is elected as the Chief Minister by Mahayuti will have the full support of Shiv Sainiks. "I have informed the Prime Minister that if my presence creates any hurdle in forming the government in Maharashtra, then he should not hesitate, and I will fully accept any decision he makes," Eknath Shinde said at a press conference in Mumbai. Shinde is expected to leave for Delhi later on Wednesday, and a meeting involving all Mahayuti allies with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah is reportedly planned. "You (PM Modi) are the head of our family. Just as BJP members respect and accept your decisions, we will do the same. I called PM Modi and HM Amit Shah yesterday to assure them that I would not be an obstacle in forming the government," Shinde added. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis headed to New Delhi. He is expected to meet the BJP leadership to resolve the ongoing impasse over the selection of the state's Chief Minister. (ANI) Opposition MPs on Wednesday walked out of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting, citing concerns that the committee had left many state boards unheard and had announced its intention to table the draft report on November 29 in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition leaders have demanded an extension of the JPC's tenure. Speaking to the media after leaving the meeting, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "The mandate is that the report should be given on the 29th (of November). How can we give it? There is a procedure that must be followed, which has not been done. Most importantly, this committee hasn't visited Bihar or West Bengal. There are many stakeholders we want to be heard. Why is this committee not allowing all the stakeholders to participate?" Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh stated that submitting the report before hearing all stakeholders was inappropriate. "Until the report is finalised, all stakeholders are heard, and the JPC tour is completed, submitting a draft report is wrong. The Speaker had assured us that he would extend the JPC's timeline... Yet, side-lining all these issues, you claim the draft report is ready for submission. The Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh governments have not been heard," Singh said. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee criticised the committee for not taking the process seriously. "The fundamental issue is this: only those associated with or close to the BJP were brought in, and days have been wasted. States with the largest Waqf properties, including Delhi, were not called. Seven people have died in Sambhal over Waqf property issues, yet they are not taking these matters seriously," he said. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the process was biased. "We raised two important questions: the assurances given by the Speaker (Lok Sabha) are not being fulfilled by the (JPC) chairman. There seems to be no balance between the government and the Speaker. I believe some senior Union minister is directing the chairman (of the JPC). Secondly, the process is incomplete. The chairman claims the report is ready, but we do not wish to be part of a biased procedure," Gogoi said. YSRCP MP and JPC member Vijay Sai Reddy pointed out that the JPC would not be able to complete its proceedings by November 29. "Before the agenda item was taken up for consideration, a significant number of members, particularly non-BJP members, requested the chairman (JPC) to extend the stipulated timeline. By the 29th (of November), the JPC will not be in a position to complete the proceedings. Many state Waqf boards and stakeholders have not been given the opportunity to present their views," Reddy said. Earlier, Opposition MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to demand an extension for the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. On November 21, JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal said their report was ready, and they would hold clause-by-clause discussions on it. Pal added that the Speaker had referred the bill to the JPC, and the committee would act according to the Speaker's decision. "Our report is ready, and we will hold clause-by-clause discussions on it. The Opposition is also seeking an extension of the JPC's tenure... Any member or Opposition MP is free to meet the Speaker. The Speaker has referred this bill to us, and we will follow his decision," he said. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to introduce sweeping reforms, including digitisation, stricter audits, greater transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Brajesh Pathak on Wednesday announced the removal of the principal of Jhansi Medical College and the suspension of three other individuals in connection with the November 15 fire incident that claimed the lives of 10 newborn babies. Health Minister Pathak also stated that the Chief Medical Superintendent of the college has been charge-sheeted. "Based on the investigation report of the four-member committee constituted on the instructions of the Deputy Chief Minister, the principal of the college has been removed. The Chief Medical Superintendent has been charge-sheeted, and three others have been suspended," said Brajesh Pathak. The incident occurred at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, where 54 newborns were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the time. The fire, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in an oxygen concentrator, spread rapidly in the highly oxygenated environment of the NICU, resulting in the deaths of 10 newborns. Following the tragedy, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava wrote to all Chief Secretaries of states and union territories, urging them to review and strengthen measures for fire prevention, preparedness, and mitigation in all health facilities. In a letter dated November 19, the Union Health Secretary stated, "This is in continuation of this Ministry's previous communications via DO letters dated March 23, May 29, June 6, and July 30 (copies enclosed), wherein State Health Departments were requested to review and enhance capacities for fire accident prevention, preparedness, and mitigation in health facilities. Additionally, a detailed checklist on 'Prevention and Maintenance of Fire Safety' was shared with all States and Union Territories (copy enclosed)." The letter further called on all states and union territories to immediately update their fire prevention plans for healthcare facilities and train healthcare staff in fire safety protocols, evacuation procedures, and the use of fire-fighting equipment. (ANI) Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po visits a local family in Zayu County of Nyingchi City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Aug. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po on Tuesday completed a tour of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region lasting five months, during which he performed regular duties, Buddhist rituals and social activities. Panchen Rinpoche flew to the regional capital Lhasa from northwest China's Qinghai Province on June 25. From June 27 to Sept. 9, Panchen Rinpoche performed his duties as the president of the Xizang branch of the Buddhist Association of China, and carried out Buddhist rituals and social activities in the cities of Lhasa, Nagqu and Nyingchi. From Sept. 11 to Nov. 25, Panchen Rinpoche carried out a series of Buddhist rituals and social activities in the city of Xigaze, and presided over a meeting of the council of the Xizang branch of the Buddhist Association of China. During his five-month tour in Xizang, Panchen Rinpoche has performed head-touching rituals for nearly 70,000 monks and believers. Panchen Rinpoche is a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body. He is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China. Singh accused Bangladesh's interim government of acting under the influence of radical elements. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "The Bangladesh government is working under the pressure of radicals. These radicals are vandalising temples. I thank the government of India for taking this matter very seriously. The United Nations should also take cognisance of the situation." Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on Monday and presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday, where his bail plea was rejected, and he was remanded to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. Despite a bail petition filed by his lawyers, it was denied, and he was sent to jail. The priest faces charges of sedition for allegedly raising a flag on a stand bearing Bangladesh's national flag. However, according to a minority leader, the complainant has reportedly expressed reluctance to pursue the case. The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the country's largest minority organisation, has expressed concern over the arrest and called for the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "We strongly condemn the arrest of Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, from the Dhaka airport area on Monday afternoon," said Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of BHBCUC. Speaking to ANI, Nath added, "This arrest will tarnish Bangladesh's international reputation regarding freedom of expression and human rights." In a related incident, a lawyer was allegedly killed during clashes in Chittagong linked to the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "Saiful Islam Alif, a lawyer, was killed in Chittagong," confirmed Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, President of the Chittagong Bar Association, in a phone conversation with ANI. The motive for the killing remains unclear. "Saiful Islam Alif was brutally hacked to death," said Ashraf Hossain Razzak, General Secretary of the Chittagong Bar Association. In response to the killing, the Chittagong Bar Association announced the suspension of court activities on Wednesday in protest. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and MLAs from Telangana and said that the party's presence in the state is growing rapidly. In a post on X, PM Modi targeted the Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and said that the people are fed up with these two parties. "Had a very good meeting with legislators and MPs from Telangana BJP. Our Party's presence in the state is growing rapidly. The people of Telangana are already fed up with Congress and have absolutely horrid memories of BRS misrule. They are looking towards the BJP with great hope," the Prime Minister said. "BJP will continue to raise a strong voice against the anti-people policies of Congress and BRS. Our Karyakartas will keep elaborating on our development agenda," he added. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Karimnagar, Bandi Sanjay posted on X about the meeting and said that Telangana stands with PM Modi's mission for a greater India. "Had the incredible privilege to meet PM Narendra Modi ji today along with our MPs, MLAs, and MLCs from Telangana. Meeting with the boss is nothing short of extraordinary! His transformative vision, unmatched leadership, and deep commitment to the nation's progress always inspires and motivates us. Telangana stands with his mission for a greater India!" he said. Earlier, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao stated that it has become clear after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are not capable of forming a government on their own. He further added that the people of Maharashtra have rejected Congress' false propaganda, leading to the party's loss of credibility. "The people of Maharashtra and Jharkhand have given a very clear verdict. One thing is certain after the 2024 general election: neither the Congress nor the BJP can form a government on their own," KTR said. (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London on Wednesday, wherein he offered prayers and interacted with the seer community. Praising the Hindu Sanatana culture, the Chief Minister said that it spreads across the world and its beauty allows the devotees to worship 33 crore deities. Speaking to ANI, CM Mohan Yadav said, "It is the speciality of our religion that there are different branches of our Hindu Sanatana culture. Our culture spreads across the world through every branch...It is the beauty of Sanatana Dharma that we have worshipped our 33 crore deities in their every form and followed the path shown by them." "The common theme is to live and allow others to live and to follow the path of non-violence. Swami Narayan Sampradaya has brought glory to our country, I prayed to God and sought blessings after visiting Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London," he added. He also praised the beauty of the architectural structures. "There are wood crafts and artefacts. The biggest thing in all these crafts is that they inculcate good virtues in human beings. There are many types of challenges. Sanatan teaches us to follow the path of humanity," he further said. CM Yadav is on a six-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany, aiming to attract investments by engaging with industrialists, business leaders, and government representatives in both nations. Earlier on Tuesday, Mohan Yadav was invited by the Indian High Commission in the UK to a commemorative ceremony marking the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The event was a poignant remembrance of one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in Indian history. During the ceremony, the Chief Minister delivered a deeply reflective address that captured the collective pain and memory of the devastating terror attack. His speech acknowledged the profound impact of the event, recognising two distinct groups of witnesses: those who experienced the horror firsthand during the actual attacks, and the millions of citizens who watched the traumatic events unfold through television broadcasts. CM Yadav's remarks were characterised by a tone of solemnity and hope, particularly when he expressed his heartfelt condolences for those who lost their lives during the terrible incident. His words aimed to honour the memory of the victims and underscore the resilience of those affected by the tragedy, the press statement observed. (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited Warwick University in London, on Wednesday, wherein he interacted with Professor Robin Clark, Dean of Warwick Manufacturing Group. He also interacted with the Indian students at Warwick University. Earlier in the day, CM Mohan Yadav visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London, wherein he offered prayers and interacted with the seer community. Praising the Hindu Sanatana culture, the Chief Minister said that it spreads across the world and its beauty allows the devotees to worship 33 crore deities. Speaking to ANI, CM Mohan Yadav said, "It is the speciality of our religion that there are different branches of our Hindu Sanatana culture. Our culture spreads across the world through every branch...It is the beauty of Sanatana Dharma that we have worshipped our 33 crore deities in their every form and followed the path shown by them." "The common theme is to live and allow others to live and to follow the path of non-violence. Swami Narayan Sampradaya has brought glory to our country, I prayed to God and sought blessings after visiting Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London," he added. He also praised the beauty of the architectural structures. "There are wood crafts and artefacts. The biggest thing in all these crafts is that they inculcate good virtues in human beings. There are many types of challenges. Sanatan teaches us to follow the path of humanity," he further said. CM Yadav is on a six-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany, aiming to attract investments by engaging with industrialists, business leaders, and government representatives in both nations. On November 26, Mohan Yadav was invited by the Indian High Commission in the UK to a commemorative ceremony marking the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The event was a poignant remembrance of one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in Indian history. During the ceremony, the Chief Minister delivered a deeply reflective address that captured the collective pain and memory of the devastating terror attack. His speech acknowledged the profound impact of the event, recognising two distinct groups of witnesses: those who experienced the horror firsthand during the actual attacks, and the millions of citizens who watched the traumatic events unfold through television broadcasts. (ANI) The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 137 battalion conducted a free medical camp on Wednesday at Government School Roun in District Udhampur under the Civic Action Programme (CAP). This was the third medical camp under the CAP in the district during which medicines like antacids, Vitamin E tablets, multivitamins, Vitamin B complex tablets, cough syrups, and sanitary pads were distributed free of cost. Presiding over the camp, Commandant of CRPF 137 battalion Manoj Kumar Sikon said, "Considering the winter season, free medicines and cough syrup are being provided to young children.... This is the third programme we have done under the CAP. We offered test reports, ECG reports and free medicines to the local public in today's medical camp... "Medicines like antacids, Vitamin E tablets, multivitamins, Vitamin B complex tablets, cough syrups, and sanitary pads are being distributed free of cost. We are raising awareness about CRPF to the children by involving them in this programme. Health-related awareness is also being spread to the locals so they can take care of their health," Manoj Kumar Sikon added further. Also present at the event, Medical Officer of CRPF 137 battalion Dr Manish said, "Fog days are coming soon during which respiratory patients suffer a lot. For this purpose, we are nebulizing them and we are providing respiratory pumps as well. School children often suffer from worms in the stomach, for which we are giving syrups to the needful patients under the CAP." On November 21 a similar medical was organised by the 137 Battalion of CRPF in Udhampur. Earlier, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted a mock drill on emergency and rescue operations in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) "Currently, railway infrastructure projects worth Rs12,350 crore are underway in Kerala, with the highest-ever budget allocation of Rs3,011 crore for FY 2024-25. However, most railway projects in Kerala are stalled due to the unavailability of requisite land," Vaishnaw stated in his letter to the Chief Minister. He noted that while the Railways had initiated efforts to acquire land for most of the sanctioned projects, the process had not been successful. The Union Minister pointed out that the Kerala government had acquired only 64 hectares of land out of the 470 hectares required for various railway projects, despite the Centre releasing Rs2,100 crore to facilitate the process. "Despite the payment of over Rs2,100 crore to the Government of Kerala for the required 470 hectares, only 64 hectares have been acquired. The support of the Kerala government is crucial in this matter," Vaishnaw emphasised. "In light of this, I request you to issue suitable instructions to the concerned officers to expedite the land acquisition process so that these projects can proceed," he added. According to the letter, key projects requiring land acquisition include the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari doubling, Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling, Kumbalam-Turavur doubling, and the Angamali-Sabarimala new line. For the Angamali-Sabarimala new railway line, a total of 416 hectares is needed, but the Kerala government has so far acquired only 24 hectares, despite the Centre earmarking Rs282 crore specifically for this purpose. Similarly, for the Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari doubling project, the Centre allocated Rs1,312 crore, and 33 hectares out of the required 40 hectares have been acquired. (ANI) The restructuring of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) has entered its final stage, with a series of meetings held at the Pradesh Congress Office. The discussions, led by AICC Secretary and Co-Incharges Vidit Choudhary and Chetan Chauhan, focused on gathering feedback from senior leaders, legislators, grassroots workers, and affiliated organisations. AICC Secretary Chetan Chauhan highlighted that a comprehensive feedback exercise was conducted over three days. "We gathered inputs from all levels--senior leaders, MLAs, former MLAs, and dedicated workers. Observers have now been appointed at the Lok Sabha and district levels to oversee the process," Chauhan said. He added that these observers would play a crucial role in forming district, block, and state executive committees, ensuring a thorough organisational revamp. Discussions also addressed coordination between the government and the organisation. While acknowledging the government's achievements, Chauhan noted areas requiring improvement. Vidit Choudhary, another AICC Secretary and Co-Incharge, elaborated on the importance of accommodating workers who had significantly contributed to the Congress's success. "Some individuals will find opportunities in government roles, while others will serve within the organisation. Our focus is on recognising and empowering those who have strengthened the Women Congress, Youth Congress, and other wings," Choudhary explained. Responding to former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur's criticisms, Choudhary remarked, "Jairam Thakur's sole focus is on criticism. Despite this, the Congress organisation is advancing with strength and unity." HPCC President Pratibha Singh emphasised the importance of the restructuring efforts in revitalising the party. According to Singh, the new executive committee will be formed based on reports submitted by district-level observers. "Those who have dedicated their time and effort to the Congress will be given positions. While capable individuals from the previous executive committee will be retained, new members will also be entrusted with responsibilities. Strengthening the organisation remains our top priority," Singh asserted. Addressing Thakur's remarks, Singh dismissed claims of discord between the government and the organisation. "There is no such issue. After discussions with the Chief Minister, we will work to enhance coordination between the government and the party," she added. Cabinet Minister Vikramaditya Singh responded strongly to Jairam Thakur's comments about "liberating Congress from Holly Lodge." Singh declared, "Holly Lodge is blessed by Goddess Bhimakali and Lord Ram. No one has the power to dislodge it. Such statements are unnecessary and unbecoming of a leader." He reiterated the Congress organisation's progress and strength. "The organisation is the bridge between the people and the government. It ensures public issues are effectively presented to the administration. Despite attempts to destabilise us, the government continues to advance with resilience," Singh said. He also highlighted the Supreme Court's decision on GPS tracking of legislators, which safeguards accountability in governance. "Under the Chief Minister's leadership, we will fulfil our promises on time, demonstrating the Congress's commitment to unity and progress," he concluded. (ANI) Alok Kumar, the international president of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a senior advocate, stated on Wednesday that religious fundamentalism and jihad are emerging as challenges that the entire world must combat not only at the level of law and order but also at the level of ideology and mindset. He emphasised that without addressing the issues of religious extremism and jihad, peace would remain elusive--not only in Bangladesh but globally. Kumar's comments were in response to the arrest of ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari by Dhaka police in Bangladesh. Speaking to reporters, Kumar said, "Religious radicalism and jihad are becoming such a challenge that the entire world must fight and win this war not just at the law and order level but also at the level of ideology and mentality. Without this, there will be no peace in Bangladesh or the world." Earlier today, Union Minister Giriraj Singh also condemned the arrest and the denial of bail to ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. He urged the United Nations to intervene in the matter. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "The Bangladesh government is working under the pressure of radicals. These radicals are vandalising temples. I thank the government of India for taking this matter very seriously. The United Nations should also take cognisance of the situation." Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on Monday and presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday, where his bail plea was rejected, and he was remanded to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. Despite a bail petition filed by his lawyers, it was denied, and he was sent to jail. The priest faces sedition charges for allegedly raising a flag on a stand bearing Bangladesh's national flag. However, a minority leader has reportedly indicated that the complainant is reluctant to pursue the case. The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the country's largest minority organisation, has expressed concern over the arrest and demanded the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "We strongly condemn the arrest of Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, from the Dhaka airport area on Monday afternoon," said Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of the BHBCUC. Speaking to ANI, Nath added, "This arrest will tarnish Bangladesh's international reputation regarding freedom of expression and human rights." (ANI) Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand CM-designate Hemant Soren, Congress state in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir stated on Wednesday that only the Chief Minister will take the oath on Thursday, while the ministers will be sworn in after the cabinet is finalised. Speaking to the media at Birsa Munda Airport, Mir said, "I want to congratulate the people of Jharkhand for their decision in favour of our alliance. The government formation process begins tomorrow. For now, it has been decided that only Hemant Soren will take the oath tomorrow. Following that, the vote of confidence, which is customary, will take place, and then he will expand his cabinet." He added, "Most probably, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi will attend the ceremony tomorrow." JMM leader Mahua Maji described the swearing-in ceremony of Hemant Soren as a "historic day" for Jharkhand. "Winning with such a thumping majority--Hemant Soren's Mahagathbandhan secured 56 seats (out of a total of 81). The BJP often boasts of a '56-inch chest', but we have won 56 seats. You will witness how development unfolds in Jharkhand. Hemant Soren aspires to make Jharkhand the number one state in the country. Despite being rich in mineral resources, Jharkhand was pushed to the status of the most backward state under BJP rule. Hemant Soren is determined to remove this blot, and we are confident he will achieve this. Today, Hemant Soren stands as the most prominent tribal leader," she said. Maji also noted the BJP's electoral setbacks, comparing its defeat in Jharkhand to its struggles in Ayodhya. "We extend our best wishes to the INDIA alliance government and Hemant Soren. We are confident that Jharkhand will become the number one state during this tenure. Prominent leaders from across the country are coming to Jharkhand for the swearing-in ceremony. I have been informed that Sonia Gandhi is arriving, and Mamata Banerjee is also expected. The Prime Minister has been invited as well, and we await his arrival," the JMM leader added. Former Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur also confirmed that while the Chief Minister will be sworn in tomorrow, the ministers will take the oath after the cabinet is constituted. Hemant Soren will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on November 28, following the JMM-led alliance's majority victory in the Assembly elections. This marks the first time in Jharkhand's history that an incumbent government, having completed five years in office, has returned to power. (ANI) Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan will take oath as Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Notably, Priyanka Gandhi will become the third member of the Gandhi family to enter Parliament. Congress' Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in a by-election with 5,86,788 votes. The seat fell vacant following the death of the sitting Congress MP, Vasantrao Balwantrao Chavan, necessitating the bypoll. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra secured the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 4,10,931 votes, defeating Sathyan Mokeri of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Wayanad, a Congress stronghold, witnessed a triangular contest among Priyanka Gandhi, BJP's Navya Haridas, and CPI's Sathyan Mokeri. Priyanka Gandhi contested the Wayanad seat as a candidate of the United Democratic Front (UDF). The seat was vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, who previously represented Wayanad but shifted to Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after being elected to the Lok Sabha from there during this year's general elections. On Wednesday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi expressed her happiness after receiving her certificate of election, describing it as a symbol of love, trust, and commitment to shared values. "My colleagues from Wayanad brought my certificate of election today. For me, it is not just a document; it is a symbol of your love, trust, and the values we are committed to. Thank you, Wayanad, for choosing me to take forward this journey to build a better future for yourselves," Priyanka said on X. On November 23, after her victory in Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi expressed her gratitude to the voters for their support. "I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and that the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!," she said on X. Meanwhile, Hemant Soren will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on November 28, following the JMM-led alliance's majority win in the Assembly elections. This marks the first time in Jharkhand's history that an incumbent government, having completed five years in office, has returned to power. (ANI) Highlighting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's development model, the pavilion garnered significant global attention, attracting over 3 lakh visitors. The event facilitated extensive B2B and B2C interactions, resulting in orders worth crores and bolstering the state's reputation as an emerging economic powerhouse. On the closing day of IITF 2024, Rakesh Sachan, the state's Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, emphasised Uttar Pradesh's rapid transformation. "Today, Uttar Pradesh is not only recognised for its rich cultural heritage but also as a growing industrial hub playing a pivotal role in the country's economic development," he said. The minister also praised platforms like IITF for providing artisans and entrepreneurs with global exposure. He noted that such events enable them to display their craftsmanship and innovation, marking a significant step towards the state's holistic development. The Uttar Pradesh Pavilion featured over 120 stalls representing various districts and sectors of the state, with notable contributions from Bhadohi, Moradabad, Kannauj, and Varanasi. ODOP (One District, One Product) items, handicrafts, and innovative products were prominently displayed, highlighting the state's growing prominence in domestic and global markets. Bhadohi's carpets, Moradabad's brass craftsmanship, Kannauj's perfumes, and Varanasi's silk sarees were major attractions, drawing significant interest from visitors. The pavilion also celebrated the contributions of women entrepreneurs, with over 20 stalls exclusively managed by women. These entrepreneurs showcased a diverse range of products, including chikankari embroidery, Banarasi silk, handmade jewellery, and organic goods. Their displays beautifully blended tradition with innovation, reflecting the dynamic spirit of Uttar Pradesh's evolving industries. During the closing ceremony, the state government also presented awards for excellence in the UP Pavilion. Kanpur-based F.K. International won the first prize with a cash reward of Rs 25,000, while Noida's Mode Retail Sales and Marketing received Rs 20,000 as the second prize. Azamgarh's Weaver Handloom Development Centre was awarded Rs 15,000 as the third prize. (ANI) Senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain on Wednesday, alleged that he has been receiving threats since the Sambhal violence because of the "misinformation" spread against him. Jain slammed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, SP MP from Sambhal, Zia Ur Rahman Barq, SP media cell and the secretary of the Gyanvyapi Mosque committee, accusing them of spreading 'misinformation' that he was responsible for inciting the violence. The advocate clarified that he didn't raise any slogans at the site and was escorted by police after the survey ended. "Akhilesh Yadav, Owaisi, Samajwadi Party's MP of Sambhal, media cell of SP, secretary of Gyanvyapi Mosque committee--all these people have spread misinformation that I went there with a mob raising the slogan of Jai Shree Ram and that caused the riots there. It's a false allegation... I went there with the administration and all the concerned officials and people," Jain told ANI. "When the survey ended, the police escorted me from the so-called disputed area, in the way where the Hindu population lives; there was stone-pelting going on, and after seeing me, people raised the slogan of Jai Shree Ram. I didn't raise the slogan. The threats that I am getting--these five people are responsible for it," he added. The stone-pelting incident occurred on November 24 during the ASI's examination of the Mughal-era mosque, resulting in the deaths of four individuals and injuries to several others, including officials and locals. Earlier in the day, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh stated that the situation in Sambhal is now normal following a recent incident involving violence and stone-pelting. Singh added that the administration is in continuous touch with people, efforts are underway to restore trust and law enforcement is deployed in the incident area as a precaution. In another development related to the Sambhal violence, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed on Wednesday the involvement of three minors in the incident, which arose over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque. Security personnel were deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after the violence and unrest over the ASI survey.So far, 27 individuals, including 25 men and 2 women, have been arrested, and 7 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, according to police. The 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 conducted earlier on November 19, with local police and members of the mosque's management committee present to monitor the process. (ANI) Amid Congress party's demand of holding elections using ballot papers, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel demanded that the slip that comes after the casting of vote should be given to the voters. Claiming that "serious questions" are being raised on EVMs, he termed the election results in Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra 'unacceptable'. "Serious questions are being raised on EVMs. We demand that the slip that comes out of the EVM after a voter casts the vote should be given to the voter itself. Neither the Election Commission of India nor the Supreme Court of India should have any problem with it...The election results of Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra are not acceptable," Baghel told reporters on Wednesday. This comes in the wake of the Congress party's crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly election, where the Mahayuti alliance swept to power in a landslide victory with the BJP emerging as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. While the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) managed to secure only 46 seats, with the Congress getting just 16. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the replacement of EVMs with ballot papers, alleging that votes from "SC, ST, OBC, and poor communities are being wasted." "Votes of people from SC, ST, OBC, poor communities are being wasted. Set aside EVMs. We do not want EVMs; we want voting on ballot paper...Let them keep the machine at their home, at the home of PM Modi or Amit Shah...Then we would know where you (BJP-NDA) stand," Mallikarjun Kharge said while speaking at the Constitution Day program at Talkatora Stadium here. Following this, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sambit Patra lashed out at the Congress party for questioning EVMs and said that the party has been sidelined by the people. "Yesterday (November 26) was Constitution Day, and on the occasion of Constitution Day, Mallikarjun Kharge said we have to remove EVMs and bring back ballot papers. Mallikarjun Kharge ji, whether you remove EVMs or not, the public has sidelined the Congress. Congress has been sidelined in the elections of almost every state. In Maharashtra, it has been completely wiped out. On one hand, the Mahayuti has won a huge victory in Maharashtra, while on the other hand, the Congress has been wiped out," said the BJP MP. "I was very surprised that a senior leader like Mallikarjun Kharge ji said yesterday that the votes of SC-ST-OBC and poor people are getting wasted due to EVM. Does Mallikarjun Kharge ji and the people of the Congress party think that the SC-ST-OBC community is so illiterate that they do not know how to vote in EVM? Such thinking of Congress is an insult to the SC-ST-OBC community..." he added further. (ANI) The Rouse Avenue court on Wednesday granted regular bail to accused Kausar Imam Siddiqui. He is one of the accused in the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case, linked with the sale and purchase of property worth Rs 36 crores in Okhla. In this case, the court has already declined cognisance of the supplementary charge sheet filed against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan. The court granted bail to Siddiqui in view of his period of custody and parity with other accused who got bail from the High Court. Kausar was in custody since November 2023. Special CBI Judge Jitendra Singh granted bail to Kausar Imam Siddiqui. "Considering the period of custody and the remote possibility of the trial being completed in the near future and keeping in mind the mandate of the Supreme Court and High Court, it is directed that the applicant/accused namely Kausar Imam Siddiqui, be released on regular bail on furnishing of personal bond in the tune of Rs. one lakh with one surety of the like amount," the Special Judge ordered on November 27. While granting bail to Siddiqui, the court observed, "Further, there is not even the remotest possibility for the trial to be concluded in the near future as the cognisance of the offence under Section 3 punishable under Section 4 of PMLA has been declined qua the main accused Amanat Ullah Khan for lack of sanction. Substantial time will be required by ED to obtain sanction which shall further contribute to the delay of trial." "The benefit of bail on the ground of parity is to be granted to the accused, as admittedly he is neither the owner nor the purchaser of the property allegedly involved in money laundering and therefore, the role attributed to the accused is not significant to deny the benefit of parity," the order stated As per ED, the allegations against Kausar Imam Siddiqui are that he acted as a 'middleman' on behalf of accused Amanatullah Khan for the purchase of the property located at Tikona plot, Jamia Nagar, Okhla, Delhi, which was purchased by accused Zeeshan Haider and accused Daud Nasir. It is alleged that in the said transactions, allegedly part of the consideration amount was paid from the proceeds of crime generated by Amanatullah Khan. Advocate Hemant Shah, counsel for the accused, submitted that the accused is seeking bail mainly on two grounds: long incarceration, delay in trial and parity with the accused, Jawed Imam Siddiqui. It was further submitted that the present accused has been in custody since November 24, 2023. It is further submitted that by delivering the judgement, the High Court was cognisant of the fact that the earlier bail applications of other accused persons have been dismissed. The ground of long incarceration for granting bail has been developed by the Supreme Court in the case reported as Manish Sisodia vs Directorate of Enforcement, counsel argued. ED's special public prosecutor (SPP), Manish Jain, opposed the bail and submitted that the role of the present accused is more significant than the role played by other accused persons, as the present accused had acted as a middleman on behalf of the main accused and therefore, he cannot seek parity. (ANI) After Opposition MPs walked out of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on Wednesday, Chairman Jagdambika Pal stated that members who wish to be heard should not have boycotted the meeting. Speaking to ANI, Pal highlighted that he had addressed all members' opinions and concerns. "In the last three months, we held 29 meetings, and more than 147 delegations participated. We have given opportunities to all organisations as per the JPC's mandate. If the Opposition MPs feel more people need to be heard, boycotting the meeting is not the right approach. I have listened to all members, including Sanjay Singh, Kalyan Banerjee, and Asaduddin Owaisi," he said. Pal further noted that he would propose a resolution in the House on Thursday to extend the tenure of the committee. "I will move a resolution in the House tomorrow for the extension of the JPC's tenure," he added. Earlier, Opposition MPs walked out of the JPC meeting, raising concerns that several state boards remained unheard and criticising the decision to table the draft report in the Lok Sabha on November 29. They have demanded an extension of the committee's timeline. Addressing the media after the walkout, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "The mandate is to present the report on November 29. How can we do that without following proper procedures? This committee hasn't visited Bihar or West Bengal, and many stakeholders have not been given a chance to voice their views. Why isn't the committee allowing all stakeholders to participate?" Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh echoed these concerns, calling it inappropriate to submit the report without hearing all stakeholders. "Finalising the report without hearing all stakeholders and completing the JPC's tour is wrong. The Speaker had assured us that the JPC's timeline would be extended. Despite this, the draft report is being rushed. Governments in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh have not been heard," Singh said. On November 21, JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal stated that the report was ready and that clause-by-clause discussions would be held. He further emphasised that the committee's actions were guided by the Speaker's directives after the bill was referred to the JPC. (ANI) A group of 68 retired judges, bureaucrats and a sitting MP on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter of rising violence and discrimination against Hindus in Bangladesh and the arrest of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. In a post on X, Former DGP Jammu and Kashmir Shesh Paul Vaid said "Hon'ble PM @narendramodi, we, a group of 68 retired Judge of High Court, IAS, IPS, IRS, IIS, IFS and state officers, along with a sitting Member of Parliament, have signed and submitted an urgent appeal regarding the atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, including the unjust arrest of ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das on fabricated sedition charges. We seek your intervention on this critical issue." In a letter dated November 27, the group urged the Modi-led Central government to take immediate measures to protect Hindus in Bangladesh and to advocate for the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other religious leaders who have been unjustly arrested. "The immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other religious leaders who have been unjustly arrested is essential. All charges against them should be dropped, and their rights to peacefully protest and voice their concerns should be upheld," read the letter. The group has also urged the PM Modi-led Central government to take the arrest of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari to international platforms such as the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, and other relevant international forums. "We call for the application of targeted international sanctions against Bangladesh, particularly against those individuals and entities complicit in religious persecution and human rights violations. These sanctions should be aimed at pressuring the Bangladeshi government to end its complicity in these atrocities and to protect the rights of religious minorities," the letter read. Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on Monday and presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday, where his bail plea was rejected, and he was remanded to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. Despite a bail petition filed by his lawyers, it was denied, and he was sent to jail. The priest faces sedition charges for allegedly raising a flag on a stand bearing Bangladesh's national flag. However, a minority leader has reportedly indicated that the complainant is reluctant to pursue the case. The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the country's largest minority organisation, has expressed concern over the arrest and demanded the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "We strongly condemn the arrest of Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, from the Dhaka airport area on Monday afternoon," said Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of the BHBCUC. Speaking to ANI, Nath added, "This arrest will tarnish Bangladesh's international reputation regarding freedom of expression and human rights." (ANI) The operation was part of ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking in the region. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a post on X, stated, "In an anti-narcotics operation carried out by Sribhumi Police, two vehicles coming from a neighbouring state were intercepted in the Patel Nagar area, leading to the recovery of 76,000 Yaba tablets. Three individuals were apprehended during the operation." Earlier, the Assam Rifles, in a joint operation with the Customs Department, successfully seized 1,000 grams of Crystal Methamphetamine, commonly known as ICE, valued at approximately Rs 16 crore in the international market. The operation took place in Badharghat, Tripura, on Sunday, according to a press release. Acting on a tip-off, the Assam Rifles swiftly launched the operation, resulting in the seizure of the contraband and its subsequent handover to the Customs Department. (ANI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday expressed concern over the arrest of ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari and violence against minority Hindus in Bangladesh and urged the Central Government to intervene and raise the issue of ensuring the safety of minorities before the Bangladesh Government. In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The news of the arrest of the priest of ISKCON Temple in Bangladesh and the continuing violence against minority Hindus are extremely worrying." https://x.com/priyankagandhi/status/1861715233162612955 "I appeal to the Central Government to intervene in this matter and strongly raise the issue of ensuring the safety of minorities before the Bangladesh Government," she added in the post. Earlier today, Union Minister Giriraj Singh also condemned the arrest and the denial of bail to ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. He urged the United Nations to intervene in the matter. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "The Bangladesh government is working under the pressure of radicals. These radicals are vandalising temples. I thank the government of India for taking this matter very seriously. The United Nations should also take cognisance of the situation." Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on Monday and presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday, where his bail plea was rejected, and he was remanded to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. Despite a bail petition filed by his lawyers, it was denied, and he was sent to jail. The priest faces sedition charges for allegedly raising a flag on a stand bearing Bangladesh's national flag. However, a minority leader has reportedly indicated that the complainant is reluctant to pursue the case. The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the country's largest minority organisation, has expressed concern over the arrest and demanded the immediate release of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "We strongly condemn the arrest of Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, from the Dhaka airport area on Monday afternoon," said Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of the BHBCUC. Speaking to ANI, Nath added, "This arrest will tarnish Bangladesh's international reputation regarding freedom of expression and human rights." (ANI) The governor also presented the delegation with copies of the Bhagavad Gita. Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai expressed his happiness on meeting the delegation. "Today a special delegation from the Vatican visited the Raj Bhavan...I am very happy that the Pope sent two blessed presentations to me. One is Francis Assisi, who represents the attempt for world peace. Another is St. Mary. The holy father who sent me the presentations is an acceptance of our country''s stand for peace," Pillai told ANI. The Goa Governor also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for working for the motive of ''Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'' and said that he is an "embodiment of dharma." "Our honourable Prime Minister is honestly working on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Sarva Dharma Samabhava. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands for world peace...Our PM is an embodiment of ''dharma,''" he said. Governor Pillai recalled Indian philosopher and monk Swami Vivekananda''s Chicago speech and said that Dharma is the basis of India, further adding that the country will give more effort in keeping world peace. "Dharma is the basis of Bharat, and Swami Vivekananda declared it in Chicago. India will contribute more to world peace," the Goa Governor said. Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, also expressed joy over the meeting and said that this reception will create a spirit of friendship and communal harmony amongst the people in the state. "I am extremely happy that our Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai has hosted this reception in honour of the Vatican delegation...I am sure this reception will foster the spirit of friendship and communal harmony among all the citizens of Goa," he said. (ANI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of Finance for the approval. The Chief Minister stated that this financial assistance is crucial for strengthening the state's infrastructure, accelerating development projects, and ensuring the overall progress of Uttarakhand, as per the statement from the CMO. He further highlighted that with the continued support of the Central Government, Uttarakhand is achieving new milestones in development. Earlier, Dhami had extended his heartfelt thanks to PM Modi and Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah for approving Rs 139 crore for Uttarakhand under the disaster head. The approval was granted by a high-level committee chaired by Amit Shah, which sanctioned Rs 1,115.67 crore for disaster mitigation and capacity-building projects across various states, including Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Dhami emphasised that the funding would play a vital role in strengthening Uttarakhand's disaster risk reduction systems, ultimately helping to minimise the loss of lives and property in future disasters. In addition to the Rs 139 crore allocated to Uttarakhand, the high-level committee also approved a project worth Rs 115.67 crore for the training and capacity building of civil defence forces across all states and Union Territories. (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, allegedly accusing him of making Delhi the "gangster and extortion capital" of India. Speaking to the media in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal criticised the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital, stating that in the past one to two years, there has been a significant increase in gang violence, extortion calls to businessmen and frequent shootings. He further compared the current situation to the underworld dominance in Mumbai in the 1990s. "In the last one to two years, the law and order in Delhi has been deteriorated. We have heard that in the decade of 1990s, the underworld dominated in Mumbai - there used to be open shootouts there... We didn't think that Delhi would face a similar situation. Gangsters have captured Delhi, businessmen are getting ransom calls and firing is common. I have come here (Nangloi) to meet Roshan Lal on whom shots were fired a few days back when he came to open his shop," he said. AAP national convener further accused the BJP of preventing him from meeting the victim, saying, "BJP has sent thousands of its people to stop me. I wasn't allowed to meet him... Who is responsible for all this? (Union HM) Amit Shah has this responsibility of Delhi's law & order and under him, Delhi has become a gangster and extortion capital." "Why is the BJP not allowing me to meet him? What are they trying to hide? I want the law and order in Delhi to improve so that the common man, businessmen and women are safe. The people of Delhi gave me responsibility for education, health and electricity, which I have sorted. The people of Delhi gave the responsibility of law to the centre, which has deteriorated. People are frightened to come out of their homes. People are getting calls for extortion. There is more than one such incident," Arvind Kejriwal added. Responding to the allegations, Special CP (Law and Order) Madhup Tewari stated that the shooting incident in Nangloi, which occurred two months ago, was resolved quickly with the arrest of two individuals and the recovery of weapons. "We have received the information that this incident (Nangloi firing) - which is a two-month-old incident is again being highlighted. We want to clarify that Delhi police took quick action in that and have arrested two accused within a day and have also recovered the weapons. I don't know why it is being highlighted again, even when we took very effective action," he said Earlier, the Delhi Police's Special Cell on September 30 had arrested two sharpshooters from the Jitender-Gogi gang a day after shots were fired at a sweets shop in Nangloi in a reported extortion bid, said police. The police recovered a semi-automatic pistol with five live cartridges, a country-made pistol with four live cartridges, and a motorcycle used in the crime. According to the police, the two accused are Hari Om alias Lalla, 27, a resident of Rohini Sector 20, and Jatin, 21, from VPO Mundka. In a bid to extort money, the assailants fired gunshots at the counter and employee of a sweets shop in Nangloi and threw extortion slips featuring coloured photographs of deceased gangsters Jitender alias Gogi and Kuldeep Fajja on one side and names of jailed gangsters Deepak alias Boxer, Ankesh Lakra, and Vishal on another side, said police. Police used CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and manual inputs to identify the duo. Further acting on a tip-off, police arrested the duo from Rohini. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma condemned the recent stone pelting incident in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, emphasising that those responsible will not be spared. He condemned actions such as inciting riots, targeting police vehicles, and stone pelting, asserting that such acts would not be tolerated in the state. "Deliberately inciting a riot, targeting the police vehicles, open firing, pelting stones--these kinds of things won't be accepted in Uttar Pradesh. People who are behind these incidents will not be spared...The situation in Sambhal is very peaceful...Politicians should also refrain from giving provocative statements," said Dinesh Sharma. Meanwhile, senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain alleged that he has been receiving threats since the Sambhal violence due to the "misinformation" spread about his involvement in the incident. Jain slammed Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, SP MP from Sambhal, Zia Ur Rahman Barq, SP media cell, and the secretary of the Gyanvyapi Mosque committee, accusing them of spreading 'misinformation' that he was responsible for inciting the violence. The advocate clarified that he didn't raise any slogans at the site and was escorted by police after the survey concluded. "Akhilesh Yadav, Owaisi, Samajwadi Party's MP of Sambhal, media cell of SP, secretary of Gyanvyapi Mosque committee--all these people have spread misinformation that I went there with a mob raising the slogan of Jai Shree Ram and that caused the riots there. It's a false allegation... I went there with the administration and all the concerned officials and people," Jain told ANI. In another development related to the Sambhal violence, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed on Wednesday the involvement of three minors in the incident, which arose over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque. Security personnel were deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after the violence and unrest over the ASI survey. So far, 27 individuals, including 25 men and two women, have been arrested, and seven FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence, according to police. (ANI) ISKCON Bangladesh has issued a statement denouncing the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and called upon the government authorities to promote peaceful coexistence. ISKCON Bangladesh also issued a list of demands to the government for subsequent violence and attacks against Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. ISKCON Bangladesh made note of the above points and more matters in a statement issued, regarding the current situation in Bangladesh and the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. "We express our serious concern and strongly denounce the recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson for the "Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot". We also condemn the subsequent violence and attacks against Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. We urge the government authorities, to promote peaceful coexistence for the Sanatani community", the statement said. "As a representative of the "Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot" and a Bangladeshi citizen, Chinmoy Krishna Das has been a vocal advocate for the protection of minority groups in the nation. It is essential to uphold his right to free speech and to support his efforts to encourage others to defend this right. Ensuring justice and fair treatment for him is crucial", the statement observed. It also said, "Chinmoy Krishna Das and the Sanatani community deserve justice as citizens of this country, and we stress that any form of discrimination against them must not be tolerated". ISKCON Bangladesh listed three demands to "the Government and Relevant Authorities". These include identifying and holding accountable those responsible for the attacks on the Sanatani community, protecting the civil rights of Chinmoy Krishna Das and other Sanatanis and implementing immediate and effective measures to maintain peace and harmony among all communities in the country. "As a leading Sanatani organisation within the Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh is dedicated to safeguarding the religious freedoms and rights of minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others", the statement read. "We have consistently urged the interim government and other leaders to ensure constitutional protections for minorities and to facilitate their full and unrestricted participation in society. We call on the government and administration to take prompt and effective actions in consultation with leaders of the Sanatani community to address these concerns", it added. "Bangladesh is our birthplace and ancestral home. We take pride in being citizens of this nation, where many of our Acharyas and saints were born. As citizens, we are committed to peacefully collaborating with both the current and future governments of Bangladesh. We ask the government and authorities to ensure justice for all and to allow every citizen to practice their religion freely, following their beliefs and conscience", ISCKON Bangladesh noted as per their statement. It also said, "ISKCON Bangladesh remains devoted to peaceful coexistence and the promotion of human values. We hope that the government and relevant authorities will recognize the situation and take peaceful actions to restore harmony and guide the nation toward communal unity". The statement concluded by giving a call for people to "practice religious tolerance and avoid any provocative actions". Chinmoy Krishna Das, arrested on Monday, was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody. According to the Dhaka Tribune, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari appeared before Judge Kazi Shariful Islam of the Chittagong Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate's Court at 11 am on Tuesday. His lawyers filed a bail petition, but it was rejected, and he was ordered to be sent to jail. A case has been filed against Chinmoy Krishna Das on charges of sedition, accusing him of raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. However, the complainant has since expressed unwillingness to pursue the case, a minority leader stated. The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the largest minority group in Bangladesh, expressed concerns on Tuesday over the arrest and called on the interim government to release Chinmoy Krishna Das immediately. "We strongly condemn the arrest of Prabhu Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, from the Dhaka airport area on Monday afternoon," said Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of BHBCUC. Speaking to ANI, Nath added, "As a result of this arrest, Bangladesh's international image of freedom of expression and human rights will be tarnished globally." (ANI) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. In a post on X, the UK Prime Minister shared the announcement of the deal. https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1861523583597515047 In his statement, Starmer noted that the ceasefire was "long overdue" and "will provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of Lebanon and Northern Israel, who have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating conflict and bloodshed". Starmer in his statement gave a call for the deal to turn into a "lasting political solution in Lebanon, based on Security Council Resolution 1701, that will allow civilians to return permanently to their homes and for communities on both sides of the border to rebuild". He said that the UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. In his statement, he also brought attention towards Gaza and said, "We must see immediate progress towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the removal of restrictions on desperately needed humanitarian aid". The statement by Keir Starmer came moments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden in separate speeches announced that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire deal on Tuesday (local time), after months of skirmishes and thousands of casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, also stressed that the "length" of this ceasefire will depend on "what happens in Lebanon." "With the United States' full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action. If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack", Netanyahu noted. 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. (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav was invited by the High Commission of India in the UK to a commemorative ceremony marking the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The Chief Minister was formally invited by the High Commission of India to a commemorative ceremony held at India House. The event was a poignant remembrance of one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in Indian history, the press statement noted. During the ceremony, the Chief Minister delivered a deeply reflective address that captured the collective pain and memory of the devastating terror attack. His speech acknowledged the profound impact of the event, recognising two distinct groups of witnesses: those who experienced the horror firsthand during the actual attacks, and the millions of citizens who watched the traumatic events unfold through television broadcasts. CM Yadav's remarks were characterised by a tone of solemnity and hope, particularly when he expressed his heartfelt condolences for those who lost their lives during the terrible incident. His words aimed to honour the memory of the victims and underscore the resilience of those affected by the tragedy, the press statement observed. Following his address, CM Yadav toured an exhibition specifically curated at India House to commemorate the event. This exhibition featured photographs that provided a visual narrative and context to the attack, according to the press statement. The visit concluded with a comprehensive tour of the India House, allowing the Chief Minister to engage more deeply with the memorials and to reflect on the significance of the day. The event represented a moment of collective remembrance, reflection, and tribute to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, emphasizing the importance of never forgetting such significant historical moments. CM Yadav also spoke to ANI. "26/11 is the most unfortunate incident in the history of our country, especially from the point of view of national security for the people and the government". He expressed condolences for people who were killed during the heinous attacks. (ANI) Various companies participated in the discussions. These include Indorama Group, SRAM & MRAM Group, CyanConnode, Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited, CliniSupplies, Aurora Energy Research, Elsevier, WeDeliver, Caparo, WaveSight, The Montcalm Luxury Hotels, Phyla Earth, Ampergia Ltd, Aiyana Consulting, Pangaea Data Limited, INVERGY, BEM Group Limited, Daks First, Ransat Group, COGO ECOTEC Solutions, Empati.ai, Money For Business Limited, DAM Healthcare Limited and Helion. The active participation by the companies served to foster economic growth and explore new avenues for collaboration. After the interactive session, it was noted that the delegation engaged in sector-specific roundtable discussions focusing on key areas such as Electric Vehicles (EV), Auto & Renewable Energy, Education, and Food Processing. These roundtables provided a platform for in-depth discussions with industry experts, exploring advancements and investment prospects. Senior government officials from the relevant departments also joined virtually. In addition to these meetings, members of the Indian Diaspora in the UK have praised CM Yadav's visit. Rajesh Agarwal, former Deputy Mayor of London, spoke to ANI earlier on CM Yadav's visit. He said, "It's a great delight to have Chief Minister Mohan visiting here in London. I would love to see more investment happening from London and from the UK into Madhya Pradesh and as such this trip is of immense importance because Madhya Pradesh is growing so rapidly and is full of opportunities". Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav is currently on a seven-day visit along with a senior delegation of state officers to promote investment opportunities offered by Madhya Pradesh. His visit has resulted in productive deliberations with various stakeholders. The visit underscores the Madhya Pradesh government's commitment to advancing industrial development and fostering meaningful collaborations beyond investments. (ANI) 10 of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's northern and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In a post on X, the Taiwanese MND said, "17 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 10 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1861575672382267403 In recent times, Chinese incursion has increased in Taiwan. In response, Taiwan has stepped up security on its maritime borders. On Tuesday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) detected five People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, seven PLAN vessels and one official ship. Four of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In a post on X, the MND stated, "5 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 southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." 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. https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1860536319677726848 Last week, 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) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently shared his views on a range of global issues in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, highlighting India-Italy ties, China and EU and other developments in the world. On being questioned about whether pressure from China is pulling other countries in the region close to each other, the EAM said, "My life doesn't revolve around another country. My life revolves around my interests. My interests are to see a stable region, a more cooperative and prosperous one. We are looking for partners with whom we work. I think, in international relations, countries need to work with each other and get along with each other. They don't do it because some other country has a viewpoint. They do it because it's in their interest". Commenting upon the India-Italy relations, EAM Jaishankar said that he views them "Very positively". He shared that the two countries had announced a Joint Strategic Action Plan by India and Italy during the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Jaishankar said that the two nations had a "good discussion of our shared regional interests and cooperating from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean". "We count on Italy's support in our growing engagement with the European Union. All these facets reinforce each other", EAM remarked. Moving towards strengthening the India-EU trade ties in the background of the possibility of the US turning more protectionist vis-a-vis the rest of the world, EAM agreed and noted, "There is a strong case even otherwise. We are among the major economic centres of the world today. The EU is India's largest trade partner and a key investor. 6000 European companies are present in the Indian economy. But all these numbers could be much larger. Not having a mutually beneficial arrangement harms both of us. The challenge is to settle on the terms. Because the EU brings up many non-trade issues in the negotiations, it is more complicated than a normal FTA. But we have been negotiating for some years now. I can see a growing strategic understanding of why we need to bring it to a close". Sharing his impression of the Trump 2.0 administration, Jaishankar said, "We had a good relationship with President Trump in his first term. When we look at his new team, many of them are familiar faces for India. The nominated Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is a very senior senator", the External Affairs Minister remarked. Jaishankar is in Italy to attend the G7 Foreign Minister's Meeting. During the meeting, he held several high-level interactions with counterparts from the US, Ukraine, Japan and many other countries. (ANI) The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of Taiwan issued a warning to the public yesterday regarding China's escalating censorship of publications, following Beijing's recent seizure of Taiwanese textbooks for allegedly violating the "one China" principle, Taipei Times reported. The Chinese General Administration of Customs posted on Sina Weibo that its Fuzhou branch had confiscated three books imported from Taiwan, claiming they contained "problematic maps" that depicted Taiwan as a separate country and did not acknowledge Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, Taipei Times reported. According to the agency, these books "violated the 'one China' principle and posed a serious threat to national unification, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," as per Taipei Times A video released by the agency showed that the confiscated materials were Taiwanese history and geography textbooks intended for junior high school students. In response, the SEF highlighted that Beijing is increasingly using cultural and educational exchanges across the Taiwan Strait as a means to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty. The foundation stressed that Taiwanese citizens should be aware that China is not a democracy and that its system is fundamentally different from Taiwan's free society, as per Taipei Times. The SEF also cautioned individuals working, traveling, or doing business in China to exercise caution. The report also noted that Chinese customs authorities have intensified their censorship of printed materials related to China's territorial claims, Taipei Times reported. SEF reported that customs officers in Nanning, China, recently confiscated maps that did not identify certain islands in the South China Sea as Chinese territories and destroyed textbooks belonging to Hong Kong students traveling in China. Furthermore, Taiwanese and Hong Kong textbooks have been increasingly seized or destroyed by Chinese customs officials. The SEF also pointed out that Taiwan operates schools in Shanghai, Guangdong, and Jiangsu, which rely on textbooks imported from Taiwan. These schools have been affected by China's censorship policies, with remedial lessons organized during summer and winter vacations due to difficulties in teaching certain subjects. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao criticized Beijing's actions, calling the book seizures an overreaction. He argued that Taiwanese schools in China had been sending textbooks by mail without issues until now, suggesting that the recent seizures may be due to significant content changes or a hidden agenda, Taipei Times said. When asked whether the textbook seizures were part of China's "united front" efforts, Lai downplayed the issue, stating that Taiwanese schools in China must comply with Chinese laws and that there was no need to focus on the matter. (ANI) Baloch Activist Mahrang Baloch on Wednesday alleged that the Turbat Police filed an unlawful First Information Report (FIR) against several Baloch Yakjehti Committee representatives after the committee organised a peaceful seminar in the Turbat city of Balochistan. Mahrang Baloch condemned the heinous act of police and stated, "On November 24, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) organized a peaceful seminar in Turbat City on the ongoing Baloch genocide. Despite the nonviolent nature of the event, yesterday, under the directives of law enforcement agencies, the Turbat Police filed an unlawful FIR against senior advocates of Turbat, Amma Naseema, a 70-year-old Baloch woman, Family of Balach Moula Bux, Sibgatullah, other BYC representatives, and myself." The police have filed an FIR against Amma Naseema, a 70-year-old Baloch woman, the Family of Balach Moula Bux, Sibgatullah, and other BYC representatives, The Balochistan Post said. In a post on X, Mahrang Baloch stated, "This act is a stark reflection of Pakistan's increasing shift towards authoritarianism, where even peaceful seminars and gatherings are met with suppression. The state appears intent on ruling Balochistan through power and violence, attempting to silence all democratic and peaceful political voices." Mahrang also highlighted that they would raise their voices against the enforced disappearances and support their people's rights. She lamented, "Such oppressive tactics will not deter us. We will not remain silent under any circumstances. We will continue to raise our voices for our rights and against the systematic genocide of the Baloch people." While the registration of the FIR has been confirmed, local authorities have yet to comment on the accusations or provide an explanation for why seminar participants are being targeted, as per The Balochistan Post. However, human rights organizations have consistently expressed concern over the limitations on political activities and freedom of expression in Balochistan. They have also highlighted the alleged abuse of legal processes to intimidate and pressure activists, as per The Balochistan Post. (ANI) Karachi has experienced internet outages over the past three days, disrupting daily activities and resulting in financial losses for those reliant on online services. Citizens have reported problems with both WiFi and mobile data services, as well as difficulties accessing social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. They are struggling to send pictures, voice notes, large files, or upload videos as reported by Dawn. The disruptions are connected to the ongoing protests by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters en route to the capital, Islamabad, where roadblocks and barricades have aggravated the situation. According to the report, despite being a major metropolitan city, Karachi still lacks an efficient public transportation system, causing a significant number of citizens to depend on online cab services. This disruption has led to significant frustration, especially among students and professionals who are the most impacted. "I commute daily from Saadi Town to I.I. Chundrigar Road using Bykea. It has been the most comfortable and affordable app for me so far. However, the internet disruptions have made it almost impossible to find a rider in the morning and even in the evening," Dawn reported citing a private employee Aqdas Jaffar statement. "This has been a complete nuisance. What have ordinary citizens done to deserve this? In times of political turmoil, it's always the common person who bears the brunt," he remarked. Neha, a 23-year-old student at Baqai Medical University, expresses a similar problem. "I can't afford to miss my classes, but commuting has become such a nightmare lately that it's hard to even describe. I used to book a rickshaw at my preferred rates every morning through inDrive, but with the current internet issues, I now have to pay double or sometimes even triple the price. I'm worried that things will only keep getting worse," she explained. The situation is not much better on the other side. Riders encounter similar, if not worse, challenges due to their heavy dependence on the income they earn through these apps. "I haven't been able to get more than five rides since yesterday. Whenever I accept a ride, either the map malfunctions or the app crashes. It's incredibly frustrating, and I honestly don't know when this will end," said Khuda Baksh, a Yango driver. The disruptions have been a major setback for small business owners. "As a small business owner, almost everything depends on the availability of the internet and social media," Maham Tariq, owner of Mayhem Bakes, shared. "From clients to vendors to contacting riders, the entire chain is disrupted due to these internet outages. This impacts my business, which is highly dependent on the Internet," she added. Syed Talal Rizvi, the owner of a brand called Attitude Apparel, faces a similar problem. "The logistics of my business have been entirely disrupted. I can't communicate with my customers effectively, and my website has been severely impacted due to malfunctioning ads. We've also lost over 100,000 on Meta ads because they didn't produce any results because of this issue," he told Dawn. Content creation is a rapidly growing field in Pakistan, but it is facing significant challenges due to ongoing internet disruptions. Zia Tabarak from Street Food PK expresses frustration over being unable to upload content on time, noting that it performs poorly on social media during such disruptions. "There is so much uncertainty right now. My entire work relies on internet access, and on days like these, it's incredibly frustrating as it throws off the entire content schedule. The vlogger community also loses brand deals because of these frequent interruptions. This is unacceptable and damaging to the economy," Zia shared. Zarrar Khuhro, an experienced journalist, offers his analysis of the situation and shares his perspective on how it is likely to develop moving forward. "We may call this the 'new normal,' but the truth is, there's nothing normal about this situation," he remarked. "The authorities must realize that economies can't thrive in an environment of uncertainty. Business projections rely on constants, yet we're left with nothing but variables, and people have no idea what will happen the next day. This only fuels the growing frustration people have with the authorities," he added. (ANI) The family of Chakar Khan Bugti, carried out a huge protest, against the 'forced disappearance' of the Baloch citizen, alleging the involvement of local authorities behind it, The Balochistan Post reported. The protestors have said that on November 5, Chakar was summoned to the Hub City police station by SHO Saud Durrani under the pretence of an investigation. The family stated that Chakar spent the entire day at the police station, where his motorcycle and two mobile phones were seized. The motorcycle remains in police custody, as per The Balochistan Post. Chakar was released around 7 PM, but as he was leaving the station with his cousins, two vehicles--a silver Surf without license plates and a white car--allegedly started following them. According to the report, the family claimed that when the group approached a car showroom, some unidentified armed men blocked their way, forcibly took Chakar off the motorcycle, and drove him away. The family also alleged that these vehicles had been parked outside the police station before the incident, suggesting possible coordination with the authorities. In response to his disappearance, Chakar's family blocked the RCD Highway at Bhawani in Hub Chowki, disrupting traffic between Quetta and Karachi. During the protest, DSP Imam Baloch and SHO Saud Durrani assured the family that Chakar's location would be revealed within 24 hours. Believing this assurance, the family ended the protest and reopened the road. However, despite the passing of 11 days, there is still no information about Chakar's whereabouts or fate. The family has accused SHO Saud Durrani of unlawfully detaining Chakar and failing to ensure his safety. They have called for an explanation regarding his two-day detention at the station and raised concerns about the suspicious vehicles parked outside the police station. "We demand that the authorities clarify who has taken Chakar and why," the family stated. "If he is guilty of any crime, present him in court. Do not subject our entire family to this suffering." (ANI) India and Japan convened the inaugural round of their Dialogue on Economic Security, including Strategic Trade and Technology, in Tokyo on Wednesday The meeting was co-chaired by India's Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, and Japan's Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Masataka Okano, with participation from various stakeholder ministries, departments, and agencies from both nations, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in an official press release. This dialogue was first announced during the India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial meeting in New Delhi on August 20, 2024. The discussions centred on exchanging perspectives on respective economic security policies, with a particular emphasis on strengthening industrial and technological resilience. Both sides underscored the importance of closer collaboration to safeguard economic interests, enhance critical infrastructure, and build resilient supply chains in identified sectors, the release stated. To facilitate this, New Delhi and Tokyo agreed on promoting policy measures to encourage business and academic partnerships between India and Japan. The dialogue also explored avenues for talent exchange and upskilling in shared areas of interest, underlining the role of human resource development in driving sustainable cooperation, the press release stated. Highlighting the dialogue's strategic relevance, both sides committed to achieving tangible outcomes through comprehensive collaboration in focus areas. They described the initiative as a "significant and timely step" in reinforcing the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan. The India-Japan partnership is recognised as a cornerstone for advancing economic, technological, and strategic ties, reflecting the shared values and goals of both nations, according to the MEA. The longstanding historical and cultural ties between the two nations add depth to this partnership. Dating back centuries, the connection includes the influence of Hindu traditions on Japan's Shichifukujin, or seven lucky gods, and the contributions of Indian monk Bodhisena in the consecration of Japan's iconic Todaiji Temple statue in 752 AD. In modern times, figures like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, JRD Tata have further strengthened bonds. Today, the Indian diaspora in Japan continues to foster bilateral ties, with over 40,000 Indians residing in the country. This vibrant community, concentrated in areas like Tokyo's Nishikasai, contributes to the dynamic and evolving India-Japan relationship. The Japan-India Association, set up in 1903, is the oldest international friendship body in Japan, as per the MEA. (ANI) India and the European Union convened the 5th Strategic Partnership Review Meeting on November 22, 2024, in Brussels, and discussed an array of topics from defence, migration and green energy to deepen cooperation. The EU delegation was led by Simon Mordue, Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues at the European External Action Service (EEAS), while the Indian side was headed by Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Tanmaya Lal, the joint statement read. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the India-EU Strategic Partnership, the meeting was held against the backdrop of deepening engagement between India and the EU and its member states. The discussions, which also included the 10th EU-India Foreign Policy and Security Consultations and the 10th EU-India Energy Panel, assessed bilateral cooperation across various domains. The meetings focused on implementing the commitments outlined in the 2020 'India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025' and identified priorities for future engagement. Both sides welcomed President Ursula von der Leyen's 2024-2029 Political Guidelines, which propose developing a new EU-India strategic agenda. Key topics included economic security, green transition, defence, migration, mobility, and technological collaboration under the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Both sides discussed ongoing negotiations for agreements on free trade, investment protection, and geographical indications, emphasising their significance for the partnership, according to the release. The importance of resilient supply chains and opportunities for people-to-people exchanges in education and research were also highlighted. They reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral cooperation, particularly in the G20, disaster risk management, and counter-terrorism. "Both sides unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border attacks," the joint statement noted. The partnership's global implications were underscored, with both parties emphasising the need for a rules-based international order that respects sovereignty and promotes peaceful resolution of disputes. India welcomed the EU's increasing role in the Indo-Pacific, and both reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open, inclusive, and prosperous region. India and the EU underlined the importance of the India-EU Strategic Partnership in addressing global challenges, and also reiterated their shared commitment to promoting a "free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific." India welcomed the European Union's increasing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. "Both sides emphasized that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, and peaceful resolution of disputes. They underscored the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law and consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. They expressed their deep concern at the situation in the Middle East/West Asia and underlined the need for early restoration of peace and stability," the statement added. India and the EU share a historic partnership, formalised in 2004 and marked by extensive cooperation in trade, climate action, and strategic affairs. The EU remains one of India's largest trading partners, with agreements like the TTC bolstering technological and economic ties. The upcoming India-EU Summit in 2025 offers an opportunity to advance these relations further, ensuring alignment with their shared vision of addressing global challenges, the statement added. (ANI) Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance General Secretary, Mrityunjay Kumar Roy on Wednesday, strongly condemned the petition demanding ban on International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Bangladesh and stressed that the Hindu organisation is 'peaceful' in nature and works for the welfare of poor. This comes after a petition was filed by a lawyer demanding a ban on ISKCON in the country, calling it a "radical organisation" engaging in activities designed to provoke communal unrest, as reported by the local media. Speaking to ANI, Mrityunjay Kumar Roy said, "We strongly oppose this statement of those who are saying that Iskcon should be banned. What did Iskcon do? Iskcon is the international consciousness of Sri Krishna...it is a peaceful organisation which talks about Shri Krishna and works for the welfare of the poor." This comes amid the row over the arrest of former priest of ISKCON Bangladesh, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, over sedition charges, which led to protests and unrest in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar also condemned the arrest of priest Chinmoy Krishna Das and the rise in attacks against minorities. Highlighting the recent attacks on Hindu temples and the atrocities faced by Hindus in Bangladesh since the political turnover, Majumdar said, "Chinmoy Prabhu's arrest and the attack on minorities in Bangladesh is concerning. We demand that he be released immediately because he was protesting peacefully. Since the political turnover in Bangladesh, Hindu temples are being destroyed and Hindus are being subjected to atrocities. Raising a voice against this cannot be called sedition." While condemning the detention of ISKCON leader, Union Minister Giriraj Singh also condemned the arrest, and also slammed Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over their 'silence' on the issue. "People are speaking of going to Sambhal today. But Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav are ignoring Bangladesh where Hindus are being subjected to a lot of violence. I suggest that Hindus should protest against this atrocity in Bangladesh," he said. The petition in Bangladesh has alleged that ISKCON has been promoting religious events with the intent of inciting sectarian violence, imposing its beliefs on traditional Hindu communities, and forcibly recruiting members from lower Hindu castes. It has accused ISKCON of taking over Sanatan temples, evicting members of the Sanatan community, and carrying out communal attacks on mosques. It has also accused ISKCON of "destabilizing" the country and "collaborating with Indian media" to promote communal discord, Dhaka Tribune reported. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody. Das has been accused of sedition for allegedly raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. The arrest has sparked widespread outrage, with many calling for his immediate release. Notably, ISKCON Bangladesh issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and called upon the government authorities to promote peaceful coexistence. ISKCON Bangladesh also issued a list of demands to the government for subsequent violence and attacks against Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. "We express our serious concern and strongly denounce the recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson for the "Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot". We also condemn the subsequent violence and attacks against Sanatanis in various regions of Bangladesh. We urge the government authorities, to promote peaceful coexistence for the Sanatani community", the statement said. "As a representative of the "Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jot" and a Bangladeshi citizen, Chinmoy Krishna Das has been a vocal advocate for the protection of minority groups in the nation. It is essential to uphold his right to free speech and to support his efforts to encourage others to defend this right. Ensuring justice and fair treatment for him is crucial", the statement added. (ANI) Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a prominent leader of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), has called for a long march in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to protest the government's failure to deliver on promises regarding subsidies and development in the region. Mir condemned the 'hypocrisy' of the Pakistan government, accusing it of prioritising military spending over the welfare of PoJK residents, which has led to rising economic hardships. He emphasised that while the government claims to be facing financial constraints for cutting subsidies on essential goods such as electricity and food, it continues to allocate substantial resources to military expenditures. "They say they have nothing left in their government treasury, yet on the other side, they are heavily investing in arms and military equipment. This is the double standard of the administration," Mir stated, highlighting the worsening economic conditions in PoJK as a result of the government's fiscal decisions. The government's failure to follow through on key promises for PoJK's development has also been a major point of criticism. Mir and the JAAC have long been vocal about the lack of action on vital issues affecting the people of PoJK. He pointed out that promises for providing subsidies and improving the region's socio-political agenda, which includes key demands for free education, healthcare, and the establishment of an airport, have gone unmet. "Our charter of demands is still pending. We have never deviated from it," Mir said, underlining that their stance remains consistent with the original demands, which have yet to be addressed. In response to the ongoing inaction by the government, Mir announced plans for a long march to push for the fulfilment of these demands. The march, which will focus on securing basic services and infrastructure, will specifically call for free education, free healthcare, and the establishment of an airport in the region. Mir revealed that the march will take place after November 23, with the exact date to be announced soon. The long march is expected to attract significant attention as it highlights the growing frustration among PoJK's residents over the government's failure to improve their living conditions and deliver on its promises of development. The march aims to bring greater awareness to the pressing needs of the region and put pressure on the government to fulfil its obligations. Mir's statement emphasised that the region's residents, who have been bearing the brunt of these unmet promises for years, deserve better access to essential services and infrastructure that can support their economic and social well-being. (ANI) Paank, the human rights department of the Baloch National Movement, has expressed grave concern over the extrajudicial killing of a 16-year-old boy, Israr Baloch, by Pakistani security forces in Turbat, Balochistan. The organisation has called for an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, The Balochistan Post reported. Israr was allegedly shot in Dannuk, Turbat, and initially taken to a local hospital in critical condition. While his condition appeared to stabilise, Pakistani forces allegedly took him into custody during treatment. Later that night, his family received a call informing them that a body had been left at the hospital for collection. Although the authorities identified the body as Israr's, no official cause of death was provided. In a post on X, Paank stated, "We strongly condemn the extrajudicial killing of 16-year-old Israr Baloch in Dannuk, Turbat, and call for an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into his death. The case exemplifies grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and the use of excessive and lethal force by Pakistani authorities." https://x.com/paank_bnm/status/1861384315147366419 Paank has also alleged that authorities pressured them to sign a statement labelling Israr a terrorist in exchange for his remains, a demand they firmly resisted, reported The Balochistan Post. The group emphasised that such actions violate Pakistan's commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which the country has ratified. "These actions contravene Pakistan's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which Pakistan has ratified," Paank stated as per the report by The Balochistan Post. Standing in solidarity with Israr's family, Paank has reiterated its demand for a thorough and unbiased investigation into the incident, free from coercion or threats. (ANI) The International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced Wednesday that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, over his alleged role in the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority, The Washington Post reported. The military campaign forced approximately 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh amid widespread reports of massacres, rape, and arson. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that Min Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and parts of Bangladesh," Khan said in a statement. Notably, the ICC's jurisdiction is limited in this case because Myanmar is not a party to the court. However, Bangladesh is, and the ICC has determined it can prosecute crimes that occurred at least partially across the border. This development is part of a broader effort to seek justice for the Rohingya crisis, which is also under review at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention, as reported by The Washington Post. Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in a 2021 coup, faces several accusations of crimes against humanity for the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests and armed conflict since the coup. Under his leadership, thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed, and military campaigns have targeted ethnic minorities and political dissenters with airstrikes and massacres, reported The Washington Post. Richard Horsey, a Myanmar expert with the International Crisis Group, called the ICC's move 'significant' but doubted its immediate impact. "He's not particularly susceptible to international pressure," Horsey said. "Symbolically, it's very important, but in practice, it's unlikely to make a difference." However, Horsey added that the warrant could influence potential negotiations to end the crisis, especially if the military faces near-total defeat. Myanmar's military has shown no signs of retreat, responding to battlefield losses with intensified violence. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have emphasised the importance of accountability. "Min Aung Hlaing has been at the centre of multiple human rights catastrophes in Myanmar," said Joe Freeman, Amnesty's Myanmar researcher. "No senior leader has ever been held accountable for the Rohingya crisis. It should come as no surprise that in the absence of accountability, more violations will occur." Meanwhile, Khan has hinted that this arrest warrant will not be the last. "More will follow," he stated, signalling the ICC's intent to pursue justice against high-level Myanmar officials for crimes against humanity, The Washington Post reported. Taw Nee, spokesperson for the Karen National Union, commended the ICC's action as a "first step" but stressed that justice must extend beyond Min Aung Hlaing. "All military leaders who have been involved in crimes against humanity and war crimes anywhere in the country need to face justice," he said, adding that the goal should not merely be a regime change but systemic reform. "We don't want regime change; we want system change. The whole institution needs to be accountable." (ANI) An event organised by the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) raised an alarm in the House of Commons in London, calling for urgent international action to address the growing threat of terrorism and the alarming human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). During the event, Kashmiri representatives highlighted the significant dangers posed by Islamist terrorist groups and repressive policies in the region. They urged the global community to intervene and support efforts aimed at restoring peace and democracy in PoJK and also highlighted that these groups are exploiting political instability and regional grievances to fuel violence and extremism. The Kashmiri representatives further raised concerns about recent developments in PoJK that threaten to erode fundamental freedoms. New laws introduced by local authorities have severely restricted freedom of speech, assembly, and association, drawing widespread condemnation from human rights organizations. These actions have been described as direct violations of international human rights standards and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a direct appeal to British parliamentarians, policymakers, and government officials, the Kashmiri representative's statement called for stronger international leadership and a commitment to human rights. "Your leadership and commitment to justice can make a difference," the statement read. "We urge you to advocate for accountability and support a resolution that respects the dignity and rights of the people of PoJK." The statement also urged Pakistan to implement the United Nations' recommendations from 2018 and 2019, as well as to heed the European Parliament's Resolution from 2007, which emphasizes the protection of fundamental freedoms and the promotion of peaceful, democratic governance in the region. Concerns were also raised about the exclusion of pro-Kashmir political parties, particularly the UKPNP, from participating in elections in PoJK. The statement condemned coercive measures forcing political parties and individuals to pledge allegiance to Pakistan, undermining the integrity of the electoral process and curbing fundamental freedoms. The global community was urged to pressure Pakistan to repeal all laws obstructing the registration and participation of peaceful, democratic parties. A transparent and inclusive electoral process, free from coercion, is seen as essential to restoring political pluralism and democratic integrity in the region. The statement further condemned the use of PoJK as a battleground for proxy wars, which has caused immense suffering for the local population. Both Pakistan and India were urged to cease their proxy political interference in the region, as it exacerbates tensions and undermines the peace process. The statement stressed the need for the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure in PoJK, demanding that all banned extremist groups cease their operations. The international community was urged to push for stronger measures to eliminate these terrorist networks, emphasizing the fundamental responsibility of states to protect life, liberty, and property. Concluding the statement, the conference called for immediate global action to address the root causes of the conflict in PoJK. It emphasized that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered for far too long and that it is time for the world to stand with them in their quest for peace, dignity, and freedom. "As a global community, we must act now to support the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for justice," the statement concluded. "This is a call to action that cannot be ignored." As international leaders, human rights groups, and political organisations rally around this call for justice, the fate of the Kashmiri people may depend on the world's ability to take decisive action to end terrorism, political oppression, and human rights abuses in the region. (ANI) Amid escalating concerns over the condition of minorities in Bangladesh, a new petition has demanded a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the country. The legal notice accuses the group of being a "radical organisation" that engages in activities threatening national security and provoke communal unrest, the Dhaka Tribune reported. This comes amid the row over the arrest of former priest of ISKCON Bangladesh, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, over sedition charges, which led to protests and unrest in Bangladesh. The petition, submitted by Supreme Court lawyer Al Mamun Russell on behalf of 10 other legal professionals, demands the prosecution of individuals responsible for the alleged murder of government legal officer Advocate Saiful Islam. The notice was addressed to Bangladesh's Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Inspector General of Police on Wednesday. According to the Dhaka Tribune report, the notice accuses ISKCON of operating in Bangladesh as a "radical organisation," allegedly inciting sectarian violence and promoting religious intolerance. The peition also blames ISKCON over the alleged murder of a lawyer during protests after Chinmoy Krishna Das' arrest, caling it to the organisation's "blatant disregard for law and order." It alleges that the group has been forcibly recruiting members to impose its beliefs on traditional Hindu communities. It has also accused ISKCON of allegedly taking over Sanatan temples, evicting members of the Sanatan community, and even engaging in attacks on mosques The legal notice also cites several violent incidents, attributing it to ISKCON supporters. It also mentions allegations of firearms being discovered in an ISKCON temple in Sylhet in 2016 and attacks on police vehicles during ISKCON processions in Gopalganj. The petition claims that ISKCON's actions have "destabilised" the country and caused harm to Bangladesh's social and political fabric, Dhaka Tribune reported. Meanwhile, reacting to this legal notice, Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance General Secretary Mrityunjay Kumar Roy strongly defended ISKCON, describing it as a peaceful organisation. Roy criticised the petitioners, stating, "We strongly oppose this statement of those who are saying that ISKCON should be banned. What did ISKCON do? ISKCON is the international consciousness of Sri Krishna...it is a peaceful organisation which talks about Shri Krishna and works for the welfare of the poor." His comments were made in light of the growing tension surrounding the arrest of former ISKCON Bangladesh priest Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari on sedition charges. The arrest sparked protests and unrest in the country, further fueling the debate over the organisation's role in Bangladesh. Roy emphasised that ISKCON's focus has always been on spiritual and social welfare, contrasting with the allegations of radicalism. His comments reflect the strong opposition to the notion that ISKCON poses a threat to Bangladesh's social harmony, suggesting that the organisation's teachings of peace and welfare remain its guiding principles despite the ongoing controversy. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. He was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody. Das The arrest has sparked widespread outrage, with many calling for his immediate release. Notably, ISKCON Bangladesh issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das and calling upon the government authorities to promote peaceful coexistence. (ANI) Nepal's Foreign Minister, Arzu Rana Deuba, is set to embark on an official visit to China from tomorrow, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday. The Ministry said that Rana will be holding a meeting with Chinese counterpart during her three-day visits along with the preparatory talks about Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's expected visit on the first week of December. "Foreign Minister is scheduled to hold a bilateral talk with Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of China on 29 November 2024. The two leaders will have comprehensive discussions on matters of mutual interest between the two countries including the preparation of the upcoming official visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to China," the release stated. Nepal PM Oli is expected to visit China from December 2, which he had announced during a public gathering in the capital Kathmandu last week. It comes at a heel when debate about signing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) pact needs to be signed or not. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML government, led by Prime Minister Oli himself, have not been able to build trust over the issue. Nepali Congress, the largest party in the federal parliament and the ruling coalition member on Wednesday also advised Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to proceed cautiously with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), arguing that the projects should not increase Nepal's debt burden. The party conveyed this message during a high-level meeting held at party president Sher Bahadur Deuba's residence in Budhanilkantha on Wednesday. Top Nepali Congress leaders, including Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, and party spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat, were in attendance. Mahat, who served as Foreign Minister when Nepal signed the BRI Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2017, clarified the Nepali Congress's stance to reporters after the meeting. "We have no reservations about implementing BRI projects," he said. "But taking on unsustainable debt is not acceptable. The projects must align with the country's financial capacity and long-term interests." Nepal has identified nine projects under the BRI, including tunnel construction, road development, and a railway connection to the northern border with China. Mahat said that the Nepali Congress is in favour of seeking assistance from China, including grants and technical support, but warned against dependency on loans that could strain the national economy. Highlighting Nepal's delicate geopolitical position, Mahat stressed the need for balanced foreign policy. "China is Nepal's neighbour, and we must maintain excellent and friendly relations with them. However, agreements should prioritize Nepal's national interests, ensuring long-term benefits for the country," he said. The BRI initiative, introduced by China in 2014, is an ambitious global infrastructure project aiming to enhance connectivity. Nepal became part of the initiative after signing the MoU on May 12, 2017. However, concerns about the financial implications of such large-scale projects have been a point of debate among policymakers. President Deuba and other senior Congress leaders reiterated the importance of Nepal maintaining strong ties with both China and India, focusing on agreements that bolster national interests regardless of changes in political leadership. The Nepali Congress's recommendations now rest with Prime Minister Oli, who holds the authority to make the final decision on moving forward with the BRI projects. As Nepal navigates its involvement in this ambitious initiative, balancing opportunities with economic prudence will remain a key challenge. (ANI) Pakistan's security forces removed a huge number of Imran Khan supporters from Islamabad following a sweeping crackdown overnight, following which the city locked down for four days opened on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. The crackdown happened after Khan's protesters gathered in the city to demand the former Prime Minister's release from prison. The protesters had marched to Islamabad from other parts of the country. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed on Wednesday that the authorities have reopened roads linking the capital with the rest of the country, as per Al Jazeera. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur alleged that hundreds of protesters were shot and thousands arrested in the crackdown. According to Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, eight people lost their lives in the crackdown, although the government has disputed this claim. Police had earlier said "no lethal arms" were used in Tuesday night's operation and nearly 1,000 protesters had been arrested. On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing the shipping containers that had been used by authorities to block roads leading into the capital to halt the protesters' march. Notably, thousands of protesters supporting former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces in Islamabad on Tuesday. The protests were organised by Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which planned to stage a sit-in to press for the release of Khan. Notably, Imran Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023, facing over 150 cases. He claims the charges are "politically motivated," designed to prevent his return to politics. Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, spearheaded the convoy that on Tuesday broke through security lines leading to the edge of the Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies, as reported by Al Jazeera. Over 10,000 protesters confronted about 20,000 security personnel in deadly clashes that saw several people killed, including four paramilitary soldiers. Late on Tuesday, the army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in the Red Zone where protesters had gathered. PTI announced a "temporary suspension" of the protests, broadcaster Geo News reported on Wednesday. (ANI) The efforts to 'peacefully' redirect the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest march from Islamabad's D-Chowk were thwarted by the assertive role of former first lady Bushra Bibi, Dawn reported, citing sources. The Pakistan government has accused Bushra Bibi of derailing talks for an alternative protest venue and inciting violence among PTI supporters. According to Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, aide to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, efforts to mediate began late Monday night, with a proposal for PTI to halt the march at Sangjani, a location on the capital's outskirts. "Khan sahib was extremely agitated and annoyed at the treatment being meted out to him in his prison cell, but after a lot of discussions that also covered the Islamabad High Court ruling, he reluctantly agreed to stop the march at the city limits," Saif said. Imran Khan reportedly agreed to the plan on the condition that it would lead to "solid negotiations with the government" for his release and the withdrawal of cases against him and senior PTI leaders, including Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed. Behind-the-scenes efforts to broker a compromise included attempts to establish a telephone call between the jailed PTI chairman and Gandapur. Although the message to divert to Sangjani was conveyed, technical issues prevented direct communication. "By the time efforts were made to re-establish contact with Ali Amin and others, the rally had already entered Islamabad. It was too late by then," Saif explained. "Bushra Bibi was aggressive. She was defiant," Dawn quoted a source, adding that she demanded direct communication with Khan through a video call, which was unfeasible due to technical constraints. Her presence reportedly energized PTI workers, diminishing Gandapur's authority. "Bushra is now calling the shots and CM Gandapur is playing second fiddle," the insider claimed. The situation escalated when a vehicle from the protest struck Rangers personnel, heightening tensions near D-Chowk. Addressing the volatile standoff, a source described the scene as "an eye-ball-to-eye-ball situation at D-Chowk." Gandapur, they said, was "stuck between a rock and a hard place," navigating pressures from both the party and the charged protesters. In a speech on Tuesday evening, Bushra Bibi urged demonstrators to move towards D-Chowk, encouraging them to bring Gandapur along. This move exacerbated the federal government's concerns. In response, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused an unnamed "secret leader" of undermining the agreement to hold the demonstration at Sangjani. "There is a secret leadership controlling things in the background; the entire frontline leadership is powerless in front of them," Naqvi said, hinting at Bushra Bibi's involvement. Information Minister Atta Tarar went further, blaming her for the violence. "She was sending children and labourers to the front lines," Tarar alleged as quoted by Dawn. Adding to the confusion, a post on Imran Khan's official X (formerly Twitter) account appeared to contradict Barrister Saif's claims, endorsing Bushra Bibi's stance. "My message for my team is to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met!" the post read. It thanked overseas Pakistanis for their support and urged those not yet participating to join the protest, while emphasizing the need for peace and unity. "All Pakistanis participating in the protest must remain peaceful, stay united, and stand firm until our demands are met." As the protest continues, PTI leaders alleged they are grappling with the aftermath of the failed negotiations and planning their next move. "We made a lot of efforts to find a peaceful way to resolve the issue. Both sides have toughened their positions. It has now entered into a critical and very sensitive phase. One wrong move and we will have a very serious situation at hand," Saif cautioned. (ANI) China is likely to launch military exercises near Taiwan in response to Taiwanese President William Lai's upcoming Pacific trip and rumoured US transit stops, according to assessments from Taiwanese and regional security officials. The drills could take place during or shortly after Lai's trip, which ends on December 6, and are expected to underscore Beijing's objections to what it sees as provocations, Taipei Times reported. Lai is scheduled to visit three of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the Pacific starting Saturday, with potential stopovers in Hawaii and Guam. While his office has not confirmed these US transits, sources familiar with the trip suggest details will be disclosed shortly before his departure. Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, criticized Lai's planned stops, calling them "essentially provocative acts that violate the 'one China' principle." China has previously staged two major rounds of military exercises near Taiwan this year, labelled "Joint Sword-2024A" and "Joint Sword-2024B." Analysts believe Beijing could rebrand ongoing manoeuvres as "Joint Sword-2024C," repackaging routine military activity into a broader display of force. A Taiwanese security official noted, "Beijing could expand the size of its regular 'joint combat readiness patrol,'" and may target the end of Lai's trip for a "targeted exercise," reported Taipei Times. The drills could also align with Beijing's broader objective of asserting dominance in the region, particularly during the transition to the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump. "Beijing wants to show the incoming US administration that the first island chain is 'China's sphere of influence,'" the official said. They added, "Beijing hopes to draw a red line and establish its power" in response to perceived challenges from the US and its allies. Although weather conditions in the Taiwan Strait during winter may limit the scale of these exercises compared to previous rounds, the drills remain a calculated effort to test Washington's response. "The military drills were meant for the US and its allies," the report stated citing a source. Another official noted that more favourable weather could lead to an earlier or delayed display of force surrounding Lai's visit, Taipei Times reported. With an estimated 20 to 30 Chinese naval vessels engaged in manoeuvres in the South China Sea this week, experts believe Beijing is prepared to intensify its military activities near Taiwan, turning Lai's visit into a pretext for further asserting its regional ambitions. (ANI) The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the escalating "human rights violations" against religious minorities in Bangladesh, marked most recently by the arrest of former ISCKON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. In a statement addressed to United States President Joe Bide, FIIDS highlighted the precarious situation of religious minorities in Bangladesh. The body also emphasised that Bangladesh has had a "long and tragic history of violence" against religious minorities, especially Hindus. "We write to express our grave concern over the escalating human rights violations against religious minorities in Bangladesh, marked most recently by the arrest of Hindu spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. His arrest, under questionable charges of sedition, has triggered protests from the Hindu minority and raised fears of further marginalization and repression," FIIDS statement read. "Bangladesh has a long and tragic history of violence against religious minorities, especially Hindus. During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, millions of Hindus were systematically targeted in what has been described as one of the worst genocides of the 20th century," the statement added. It stated, citing reports, that over 3 million have been killed and millions have been displaced, with the Hindu population declining significantly due to mass killings, forced conversions, and expulsions. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. He was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody. The arrest has sparked widespread outrage, with many calling for his immediate release. "The minority population, mainly Hindus, which constituted nearly 20 per cent of East Pakistan's population in 1947, now accounts for less than 8 per cent in Bangladesh, a stark reminder of ongoing persecution," the FIIDs statement read. "In recent years, religious minorities have continued to face violence and discrimination. The latest wave of unrest during the student-led protests that contributed to the regime change earlier this year resulted in widespread attacks on Hindu temples, and other minority religious institutions. More than 200 documented incidents of violence against Hindus, including arson, mob attacks, and desecration of places of worship, have occurred since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government in August 2023," it added. Further, FIIDS described ISKCON a 'symbol of peace and religious harmony', renowned for its humanitarian efforts worldwide, adding that ISKCON has consistently provided disaster relief and food security, even in the face of hostility. Stating that, as "close ally of Bangladesh" and a "global champion of human rights", the United States has a vital role to play in addressing this urgent situation, the group requested Biden administration to engage with Bangladesh's interim government and advocate for accountability. In another development, a petition was filed by a lawyer on Wednesday demanding a ban on ISKCON in the country, calling it a "radical organisation" engaging in activities designed to provoke communal unrest, the Dhaka Tribune reported. (ANI) During his visit, Al Shehhi explored several pavilions, including those of Abu Dhabi Media Network, Sharjah, Dubai Media City, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah. He was impressed by the innovative use of artificial intelligence in television production and news editing, as well as the diverse range of media services and initiatives offered. Al Shehhi also visited the pavilions of the Arab Radio Network, the International Media Investments (IMI) and TRENDS Research and Advisory. He commended their efforts and commitment to delivering high-quality content and acknowledged the importance of training and development in nurturing local media talent. The Secretary-General emphasised the UAE's strong commitment to fostering a vibrant media ecosystem. He noted that the Global Media Congress provides a significant platform for industry professionals to network, share insights, and explore future trends. By promoting innovation, collaboration, and the highest standards of journalism, the UAE aims to solidify its position as a global leader in the media sector, he said. (ANI/WAM) Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, spoke to ANI about the intricacies of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Ambassador Azar highlighted how 14 months after the unprovoked aggression of Hezbollah on Israel's border with Lebanon, Israel has taken action to completely neutralise the Hezbollah threat and take it out of the equation. "Israel has taken out the entire Hezbollah leadership. We have uprooted all the military infrastructure that was prepared to launch an attack against Israel from the Lebanese side of the border with Israel", he told ANI. The Ambassador informed that "Israel has taken out multiple factories of missiles, and drones, and we've killed thousands of Hezbollah terrorists" and noted that finally, Hezbollah has decided to agree to a ceasefire. "That means that it's no longer part of the multi-front attack against Israel. That is very important. And it is a sign that Israel has managed to get a victory over Hezbollah", Ambassador Azar said. Discussing the terms of the ceasefire, he said, "First, we have to implement Resolution 1701 and there's going to be an international mechanism that is going to monitor the infiltrations of Hezbollah if it infiltrates south of the Litani River and approaches Israel. Israel will maintain the right to strike itself if Hezbollah breaches the conditions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701". On being asked about the duration of the ceasefire, the Ambassador said that initially it was for 60 days and hoped that it would last for more. He noted, "This is a period in which we can test the intentions of Lebanon. Lebanon has committed to deploy the Lebanese army in the south, and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) will be deployed in the south. And they are supposed to do their job to prevent Hezbollah from entering south Lebanon. If they fail to do that, that will put the cease-fire in danger. And Israel, as I told you, keeps the right to defend itself, by itself against the Hezbollah threat". Speaking about Iran, Ambassador Azar said, "We know that Iran initiated this unprovoked attack by Hezbollah and Iran tried to attack Israel on multiple fronts while staying immune". He said that Iran is no longer immune and is "completely exposed" because Israel "took out their missile defence capabilities, missile and drone factories, and even struck an element of the nuclear programme". Ambassador Azar noted that this is thus the reason why they have agreed to a ceasefire. "They will have to calculate again in the future whether they want to attack Israel again either directly or indirectly", he observed. Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in a prolonged conflict that began in October 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 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had this September carried out air strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and sent troops into southern Lebanon. This was in response to Hezbollah's rocket strikes into Israel to show solidarity with the Hamas group that had carried out the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Amid the background of this volatile situation, a ceasefire was negotiated by the US and France between Israel and Lebanon. "The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon. This announcement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line", the Joint Statement issued by US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron read. (ANI) Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar spoke to ANI about Hamas, how Israel is neutralising the terrorists and the way Hamas is exploiting the aid meant for Palestinians. The conflict in Gaza reignited after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1200 people, including citizens of more than 30 countries, and also took 250 people as hostages. Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas, vowing to eliminate the entire terror group. Ambassador Reuven Azar said that Israel has given "very severe blows" to Hamas. "We have neutralised all the battalions of Hamas and we have neutralised the missile threat against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Now we have to bring back the rest of our hostages. We will continue putting pressure in order to reach a situation that we get our hostages back on the one hand and in parallel, we prevent the rearming and regrouping of Hamas terrorist organisation", the Ambassador told ANI. He noted that there the Israeli presence inside the Gaza Strip is operating on two fronts, namely eliminating Hamas and at the same time ensuring that innocent Palestinians are getting the humanitarian aid. "We are putting military pressure on sporadic attempts of Hamas to rearm and regroup and we are doing a huge effort on the humanitarian side in order to facilitate aid for the Palestinian needy population". The Ambassador made a significant observation and said, "One of the challenges we have is that Hamas is taking over that humanitarian assistance, and instead of supplying it free of charge to the population, it is charging money for that because they want to continue controlling the Gaza Strip". He thus said that the Israeli government will have to make decisions what to do in order to neutralise that because Israel wants the "Palestinian population to get the food they deserve from the international community. And we want a future that has hope for the Palestinians in Gaza". He noted the role of US in brokering the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and thanked the US for its generous aid to Israel. "This aid is going to help us to get prepared for any scenario in the future, especially in the Iranian context", Ambassador Azar said. 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. Amid the background of this volatile situation, a ceasefire was negotiated by the US and France between Israel and Lebanon. "The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon. This announcement will create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents in both countries to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line", the Joint Statement issued by US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron read. (ANI) When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: ESO/K. Ohnaka et al. For the first time, astronomers have taken a high-quality, zoomed-in photo of a star outside our galaxy and it's right on the brink of exploding in a violent supernova. The new close-up image, captured by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile, shows the red supergiant WOH G64, commonly known as the "behemoth star." It resides around 160,000 light-years from Earth, in the Large Magellanic Cloud a satellite dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WOH G64 is around 1,500 times wider than the sun , making it one of the largest known stars in the universe . It is around 5 million years old, meaning it is near the end of its theoretical life span, which is much shorter than that of most stars because it burns through its fuel much faster. The new photo, which was released Nov. 21 as part of a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics , shows signs that it may soon meet an explosive end. "We discovered an egg-shaped cocoon closely surrounding the star," study lead author Keiichi Ohnaka , an astrophysicist at the Andres Bello National University in Chile, said in a statement . "We are excited because this may be related to the drastic ejection of material from the dying star before a supernova explosion." "This star is one of the most extreme [giant stars] of its kind, and any drastic change may bring it closer to an explosive end," added study co-author Jacco van Loon , an astronomer at Keele University in the U.K. who has been observing WOH G64 since the 1990s. Related: Could a supernova ever destroy Earth? A photo of telescopes with a starry sky in the background and the new photo superimposed on top Until now, astronomers have captured only around two dozen equally detailed and magnified images of stars, and all of them have been located within the Milky Way. Resolving images of stars outside our galaxy has proved challenging because they are so far away. However, the VLTI could peer even farther into space using its GRAVITY instrument, which "combines light from different telescopes [that make up the VLTI] to allow astronomers to pick up minute details in faint objects," according to ESO . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new image also revealed that WOH G64 has dimmed significantly over the past 10 years. This is likely because of its egg-shaped cocoon, which is made from gas and dust shed from the star's outer layers during the past few thousand years, the researchers wrote. The cocoon of stellar material was already known to scientists. However, the team was surprised by its shape, which is much more elongated than initial predictions suggested it would be. An artist's impression of the behemoth star The researchers proposed two possible reasons for the unusual shape: It could be due to how the material was shed off the star or because there is a smaller, previously unidentified star orbiting WOH G64 and stretching out its cocoon, Live Science's sister site Space.com reported . However, there is no other evidence for a partner star at this time. RELATED STORIES Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Supernova that lit up Earth's skies 843 years ago has a flowering 'zombie star' at its heart and it's still exploding Extremely rare 'failed supernova' may have erased a star from the night sky without a trace Supercharged 'cocoon of energy' may power the brightest supernovas in the universe If it doesn't explode first, the supergiant star will likely continue to dim over the next few years as more material is shed into its cocoon. As a result, it is unlikely that astronomers will capture such a clear image of the star again. PAWTUCKET This Thanksgiving, in many homes across Rhode Island, families busied themselves preparing a traditional turkey meal. Some turned to recipes kept in the family for generations, while others did a last-minute online search and picked the first one to show up. Menghong Phly did neither. In fact, Phly and his wife, Rachana Bun, had never heard of Thanksgiving before arriving in Rhode Island from Cambodia two months ago with their two children. But they are celebrating the holiday in their own way. For a meal, Phly turned to his training as a chef and his Cambodian roots: Instead of a traditional turkey recipe and stuffing, he opted for a roasted poultry dish with chili and satay, a seasoning mix that contains curry, coriander, turmeric, nutmeg, star anise and garlic, among other spices. Usually used on chicken, the seasoning mix gives the meat a robust golden color and flavor perhaps not a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but an appetizing one, nevertheless. Menghong Phly and Rachana Bun sit on the sofa between their children, Chhorchhing Phly, 4, left, and Chhorkorng Phly, 7, at their apartment in Pawtucket. Refugees from Cambodia, the Phly family is celebrating the American holiday for the first time. From Cambodia to Rhode Island A week before Thanksgiving, Phly sat on a worn beige couch in his new apartment in Pawtucket and pondered what it is like living in Rhode Island. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He answered, in Khmer, with an apprehensive side glance to his 4-year-old daughter, Chhorchhing, who was performing risky pirouettes from the couch to the floor. It feels like living in the fridge, he jested through a translator. Across the room, a white space heater, cranked on high, blew hot air in seeming agreement with him. Rachana Bun ties up the hair of her daughter, Chhorchhing Phly, in the kitchen of their Pawtucket apartment. The family was resettled in Rhode Island two months ago with help from the Refugee Dream Center. Phly did not trade balmy Cambodia, with its lush mountains and jungles and striking ancient ruins, for Rhode Island simply for a change of scenery. He is a refugee, who, after fleeing to Thailand, was recently resettled in Rhode Island through the help of the Refugee Dream Center, a nonprofit in Providence. Earlier this year the center also helped resettle his brother in the state. (So far this year, the Refugee Dream Center has resettled 38 refugees and asylum seekers in Rhode Island.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Things in Cambodia were complicated and dangerous for Phly and his family. (Even after fleeing to Thailand they faced the threat of smugglers who kidnap fugitives and haul them back to Cambodia.) He and 12 other members of the opposition party in Cambodia were detained in March of last year and charged with forging documents to register a new party. On paper, Cambodia is a democracy with free elections, but critics of the ruling party, the Cambodian Peoples Party, argue there is no freedom of speech or assembly for those who oppose its rule. Reports have emerged of opposition party members being assaulted and some even being imprisoned for insulting the countrys monarchy on social media. Phly says the ruling party barred him and other activists from forming a new party to challenge it in last years elections. Phly, a photographer, got involved in politics after witnessing injustice through the lens of his camera. He joined the opposition party, but quickly found doing so came with consequences. He estimates that the government has imprisoned about 200 people from the party. We need peace, Phly said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He remains committed to advocating for democratic values back in Cambodia, but going home, for the moment, is not an option: The government has blacklisted him and issued an arrest warrant against him. Grateful for freedom Phly is now trying to build a life for himself and his family in Rhode Island. His first priority was to learn English. Every week, he and his family go to classes at the Refugee Dream Center, and they also receive tutoring from Brown University students. His wife, Rachana, is training at a nail salon in Pawtucket, and his son Chhorkorng who, like any 7-year-old, loves playing Minecraft has started at an elementary school. Chhorkorng Phly smiles at his dad, Menghong Phly, while playing in their living room. For the couple, what matters is that their children grow up in a society where they have access to a good education and health care. Above all, they want them to enjoy freedom of speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though new to the Thanksgiving celebration, Phly already sees how gratitude can help heal divides in fractured societies. If we had this ceremony in the world, we can give love to each other, Phly said. [And] if you love me, we can get peace in our society, he added. His hope is to one day take Thanksgiving back with him to Cambodia and celebrate it with his countrymen. But for now, it is an opportunity to be grateful for newfound freedom for him and his family. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cambodian refugee family in RI is grateful for freedom on Thanksgiving This photo shows an Aito M9 at the 22nd Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 15, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Despite some Western politicians clamoring to suppress the development of China's electric vehicles (EVs) and stigmatize them as being part of the country's "industrial overcapacity," China's EV industry continues to maintain a good momentum of growth. According to figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), China's 10 millionth EV this year rolled off the production line on the morning of Nov. 14, making the country the first in the world to reach the milestone. China is not only a major producer of EVs, but also a major consumer and exporter. According to the CAAM, about 80-90 percent of the EVs produced in China are used to meet domestic demand, with the rest exported to international markets. China exported some 679,000, 1.2 million and 818,000 EVs in 2022, 2023 and January-August 2024,respectively. An annual output exceeding 10 million EVs is not merely a number, but speaks volumes about China's green and low-carbon revolution. The rapid development of the EV industry demonstrates the Chinese government's strong determination to promote green and low-carbon development and make positive contributions to global carbon neutrality. In order to protect the environment and address climate change, China has stepped up its green development efforts and set the clear goals of carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Energy conservation and emission reduction have been promoted as important ways to achieve green and low-carbon transition, including by developing EVs and reducing the production, sale and use of petroleum-fueled vehicles. In 2009, China launched a three-year EV pilot project, involving 10 cities each year and 1,000 vehicles in each city, to accelerate EV development. A decade later, in 2019 alone, China made and sold more than 1 million EVs. By 2022, the annual production and sales of EVs had exceeded 5 million units. Just two years later, China's annual EV output has now entered the era of 10 million. The output of more than 10 million units shows that China's diversified policy support for the EV industry in recent years has been successful. From the perspective of national energy security, these policies have reduced the country's dependence on oil imports, which conforms to the global trend of energy conservation and emission reduction, and represents major progress in green transport and sustainable development. The increase in the number of EVs means a reduction in fuel consumption, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, greatly alleviate energy pressure and promote environmental protection. It is estimated that, based on driving 10,000 km per year, each EV reduces carbon emissions by an average of around 1.66 tons per year. In 2023, EVs in China reduced carbon emissions by about 50 million tons, making a huge contribution to the global response to climate change. As more EVs are consumed, this contribution will increase. While hastening the pursuit of emission reduction targets, the growth of the EV industry has also added strong impetus to China's economic development. The increase in EV production is promoting the development of the upstream and downstream industrial chains, involving fields such as battery manufacturing, charging facility construction and intelligent vehicle technology. This industrial upgrading injects new vitality into national economic growth, increases employment and boosts further technological progress. Moreover, the rise of Chinese EV brands, such as BYD, Zeekr and Chery, has made the market more vigorous and demonstrated the competitiveness of China's EV market. At present, China's EV production and sales volumes account for more than 60 percent of the world's totals, ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years. These achievements are the result of the breakthroughs China's EV manufacturing industry has made in both technology and marketing. According to the International Energy Agency, to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, annual global sales of EVs must surpass 45 million units by 2030. Obviously, today's EV production capacity is not yet capable of meeting this demand. From this perspective, assertions regarding China's overcapacity in EV production are unfounded. China needs to further promote high-level opening up, intensify cooperation in EV production and supply chains, supply more new-energy products to the world and continue contributing to global green and low-carbon development. A powerful Republican-led committee in Congress is investigating claims a Left-wing campaign group co-operated with the Biden administration to kill X. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House judiciary committee, has demanded the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), hand over all documents detailing contacts it had with the White House. The move by Mr Jordan earlier this month raised the stakes, with leaders of the group which now operates on both sides of the Atlantic risking jail for contempt of Congress if they refuse to comply. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group has links to Britains ruling Labour Party, having been launched by Morgan McSweeney, who was appointed the Prime Ministers chief of staff earlier this month. Its chief executive is Imran Ahmed, the former Labour strategist. Celebrities support group The group has also attracted support from Hollywood A-listers, such as the actor Mark Ruffalo, who urged fans to donate to the non-profit, which campaigns for improvements to online safety and previously led criticism of multiple social media sites including Facebook, X and TikTok. Elon Musks social media channel X, formerly Twitter, is at the centre of a battle between conservatives and left-of-centre media organisations on both sides of the Atlantic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since taking over the site, Mr Musk a key ally of Donald Trump has made sweeping changes, allowing for a less-regulated platform and inviting back the now president-elect, who was previously removed over his tweets regarding the actions of some of his supporters on Jan 6. Mr Musk, the worlds richest man, is being brought into Mr Trumps incoming administration to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Elon Musk with Donald Trump at the launch of the sixth SpaceX test flight in Texas on Nov 19 - Brandon Bell/via REUTERS It is unclear whether CCDH complied with the Nov 21 deadline set by Mr Jordan. In a letter to chief executive Mr Ahmed, Mr Jordan said his committee was examining to what extent the White House had coerced or colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor lawful speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The letter referenced recent allegations as per a report from the Disinformation Chronicle newsletter, which claimed to have uncovered a strategy document from the CCDH which included a plan to Kill Musks Twitter. In response, Mr Musk accused the CCDH of violating rules against foreign interference in elections. Mr Musk wrote on the social media network: We are going after CCDH and their donors. In July last year, the billionaire sued the CCDH, alleging that it had cost the social media giant millions of dollars in advertising revenue following its report accusing X of being responsible for disinformation and hate speech. However, its case was thrown out by California judge Charles Breyer. Musk clashes with British MPs Mr Musk also clashed with MPs at Westminster who summoned him to give evidence to the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee over Xs alleged role in spreading disinformation during the summer riots in the UK. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He bluntly refused, warning the MPs that they will be summoned to the United States of America to explain their censorship and threats to American citizens. The latest tactic came as no surprise to Christopher Galdieri, professor of politics at Sain Anselm College in New Hampshire Essentially, were seeing Trump and his allies in and out of government planning to use the powers of the state to punish those who have criticised him and intimidate those who might do so in the future, he told The Telegraph. The Telegraph has approached Mr McSweeney, the White House and CCDH for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the time, Mr Ahmed said he would not comment directly on the allegations. He told The Guardian: We have used internally the concept of Kill Musks Twitter as shorthand for taking on the business model that Musk brought to Twitter when he turned it into X, which says that social media companies should be able to spread hate without accountability, responsibility or transparency. Everything that weve done since then shows thats precisely our strategy. He added: One of the challenges of dealing with conspiracy theorists is that the battlefield is asymmetric. I operate in the world of facts, demonstrable truth. He operates in the realm of fantasy, the latest conspiracy theories. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Police have arrested a man previously convicted of murder and rape who they say killed a woman in Washington state earlier this year. Katie McQueen, a 37-year-old from Mariposa, California, was killed in the city of Lake Stevens on August 20. Police found her body with no clothes on and footprints nearby. Now, Snohomish County police have placed 56-year-old Mark Christopher Downey in custody after a DNA sample linked him to her murder. Downey is a registered sex offender previously convicted of murder and rape of a child, local outlet King 5 reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab matched a DNA sample found on McQueens body to Downey on November 5, the Everett Herald reports, prompting police to search for him. Downey was living in a group home for sex offenders earlier this year, the Herald reports. But, during a probation check in mid-September, a house manager told police Downey left weeks prior on his way to either Arizona or Mexico. Thats when police discovered he was arrested in Mexico on August 25 less than a week after McQueens death for violating his probation. At that point, he was transferred to police custody in Arizona, according to the Herald. From there, he was brought to the Snohomish County Jail on November 20. Police say Downey initially claimed during a that he never met McQueen. But over the course of a five-hour interview with police, Downey repeatedly changed his story, the Herald reports, citing court documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of Downeys stories included a version in which he only met McQueen once to drive her to the gas station, according to the Herald. He also claimed he watched someone else kill McQueen before later saying he killed McQueen in self-defense after she attacked him. Eventually, Downey admitted to fatally stabbing the 37-year-old after she agreed to have sex with him but laughed when he couldnt become aroused, the Herald reports. Probably cause for second degree murder was found and Downeys bail is set at $5 million, Snohomish County records indicate. The Snohomish County Prosecutors Office has until December 13 to press charges, according to King 5. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. A flight operations group has warned that the conflict in the Middle East is presenting serious challenges for pilots navigating the airspace around Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Iran Passenger aviation has never been safer but there simply is no risk-zero route available, says Ops Group, an international organisation for pilots and other aviation staff. The group has published a blog called Dodging Danger: The Three Routes Through the Middle East. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The writer, Chris Shieff, says: It no longer seems to be a simple question of is this route safe? but instead, of ones own appetite for known risks. The article analyses the three routes that are currently being used by major airlines: south via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, central via Turkey and eastern Iraq, or north over the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan. All of them avoid territory rated by Ops Group as Do Not Fly. But each has drawbacks. South This track avoids the potential for a sudden escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran and offers safer diversion options. But Ops Group warns of potential risks associated with Houthi rebels in western Yemen firing missiles aimed at Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This essentially creates three risks to overflying aircraft a direct hit by a missile (extremely unlikely), debris fields from inflight break ups or successful interceptions, and misidentification, the blog warns. Another risk is posed by the sheer popularity of the southern route, leading to air-traffic control overload. Ops Group says one flight crew reported that they had been unable to talk to controllers during an entire portion between the north coast of Egypt to the Red Sea. Central The overriding question from this route is: Is it safe to overfly Iraq? In our opinion, yes but with some disclaimers, says Ops Group. Extensive GPS interference (including spoofing) can be expected in northern Iraq and on at least one occasion has led an aircraft to almost inadvertently enter Iranian airspace without a clearance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement GPS interference is also a problem in Turkish airspace, especially anywhere near the border with Iran or Iraq. North This is the favoured route between Europe and Asia, crossing northern Turkey or the southern Black Sea, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan. Planes bound for east Asia destinations such as Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo typically continue over the Stans along routes that are not regarded as hazardous. But aircraft destined for south Asia, particularly India, often fly over Afghanistan. The nations airspace has been uncontrolled since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Flights traverse Afghanistan many times a day without problems. The main concern of Ops Group is the risk of having to land in the country in the event of engine failure, fuel shortage or depressurisation. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it can be hard to take a step back and think about how you can help your community. But Caitlin Grimaldi Flick, the Rhode Island Blood Centers Marketing and Communications Manager, tells 12 News that the need for blood is constant, even during the busiest time of year. How do I sign up to donate blood? Grimaldi Flick says the first step is booking an appointment at the Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC) website or just walking in! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If youre out shopping, running around, and you see our mobile bus or you see a blood drive happening, we do take walk-ins, Grimaldi Flick said. You just have to come in and fill out some paperwork. Its very easy. Make an appointment to donate blood here What happens next? The RIBC conducts a mini health exam on all potential donors, which includes blood pressure and temperature checks. Grimaldi Flick explained that this is how they ensure donors are healthy enough to donate. The blood donation process doesnt take long, she said. After you donate blood, you just hang out and refresh for about 15 minutes. Eat some cookies, drink some juice, and youre on your way, knowing that you saved three lives. How much blood is needed? The RIBC requires an average of 250 donations a day to maintain a stable local blood supply, Grimaldi Flick told 12 News. Of course, those numbers increase when Rhode Island is called upon to help other areas where there is a massive need for blood, such as after a devastating hurricane. How often can I donate? Healthy donors can donate blood every 56 days once a season, Grimaldi Flick said. Platelets, on the other hand, can be donated every two weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Platelets are a kind of very special blood product. We call it liquid gold, Grimaldi Flick explained. Those are most often used to help cancer patients, like the children at Hasbro Childrens Hospital thats why we encourage everyone to at least consider donating platelets. Who else donates blood? Grimaldi Flick said the blood center has seen a decrease in youth donors. We couldnt get into schools for a couple of years, so we werent able to touch that younger generation and educate them on the importance, she told 12 News. So weve seen about a 50% decline in youth donations since the pandemic, and during the holiday break we actually see about a 20% decline just in Thanksgiving week alone. Why should I donate? Everyone who donates blood between now and Sunday, Dec. 1, will receive a free long-sleeved T-shirt that says I yam a lifesaver with a little photo of a yam, Grimaldi Flick said. The blood center also has other incentives planned for the rest of the year to entice hesitant would-be donors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its really important that you just come out, she stressed. Make the time. Take it as a break, take it as me time, and save up to three lives in less than an hour. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now This Week in Good News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. BOSTON A former owner of a trucking company will spend two months in prison on charges related to a New Hampshire crash that killed seven people in New Hampshire, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Victims of the crash included a retired Plymouth police sergeant and a longtime Whitman VFW member. Dunyadar Gasanov, who also goes by Damien Gasanov, 39, owned the the now-defunct Westfield Transport, Inc. The June 2019 crash involved one of the companys vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gasanov pleaded guilty on Aug. 13 to three counts of making false statements to federal investigators. He was indicted in February 2021 along with co-defendant Dartanayan Gasanov. The false statements involved manipulating driving logs and other measures to avoid federal regulations. He was sentenced in Boston federal court on Thursday, Nov. 21, by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroiann to two months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, during which he is prohibited from driving commercially. The government recommended a sentence of one year in prison. His sentence could have been far more severe, as each count carries a maximum term of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine. Westford Transport, Inc. employee Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was driving a company truck when he caused the crash in Randolph, New Hampshire, on June 21, 2019. Dunyadar Gasanov told investigators he had met Zhukovskyy for the first time on the day of the accident, although he had actually known him for years and knew the employee had a operating under the influence of alcohol charge on his record. Zhukovskyy was criminally charged but was found not guilty on all counts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Driver in crash that killed 7 motorcyclists in New Hampshire tries to get license back Dartanayan Gasanov has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. The seven victims of the crash were members of the Jarhead Motorcycle Club. Among those who died were former Plymouth police Sgt. Michael Ferazzi, 62, and Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville. Edward Corr was a longtime member of the Whitman VFW post. This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Westfield Transport owner sentenced in federal court When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Update: On November 26, 2024, WhatsApp is still blocked in Pakistan as anti-government protests continue for the second day. At least six people have died in the capital following clashes with security forces Sky News reported. Pakistan restricted yet another social media platform over the weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WhatsApp is the new target of government censorship after X, Facebook, Instagram, and, most recently, Bluesky were blocked across the country. "The measure comes as authorities tighten security ahead of protests planned by opposition party PTI calling for the release of former PM Imran Khan," noted the internet watchdog NetBlocks, which first reported the outage on Saturday, November 23, 2024. Censorship levels in Pakistan have increased significantly in 2024. Today's most popular social media platforms first went dark in January, a month away from general elections, as Khan's party, PTI, launched its online election fundraising telethon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities enforced a temporary internet shutdown on February 8, election day. X was then restricted on the night of February 17, as a wave of protests contesting election results spread across the country. To this day, Pakistanis still cannot access the ex-Twitter app without one of the best VPNs, together with Meta's Facebook and Instagram and, since November 21, Bluesky. Data suggests censorship tactics have become more technically sophisticated, with these advanced techniques likely to also target circumventing tools like VPNs. Overall, experts believe that this increase in censorship is the main cause of the decline of the country's internet. Can a VPN help? A virtual private network (VPN) is the software that bypasses social media blocks. In addition to encrypting all your internet connections, a VPN spoofs your real IP address location, in fact, granting you access to otherwise geo-blocked content. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is exactly why VPN usage has soared throughout the year, with Proton VPN most recently recording an increase in sign-ups of over 730% on Monday, November 25. Yet, people could lose access to their VPN apps at the end of the month. November 30 is the deadline to register their services with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to avoid disruptions. While the PTA urges businesses and freelance workers not to miss the registration deadline, the debate is still ongoing on whether or not commercial VPNs should also be blocked. Do you know? Silhouette of muslim woman in head scarf with Pakistan flag at blue sunset sky On November 15, Pakistan's religious chief said that using a VPN is against Islamic law and called for a ban then blamed a typo error in the statement a few days later, The News reported. Yet, the Ministry of Interior also called to block all "illegal" VPNs on the same day, claiming that terrorists use these tools "to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even VPN providers are still in the dark about the fate of their users. "It's still unclear how it will be implemented in practice if implemented at all," Gytis Malinauskas, Head of Legal at VPN provider Surfshark, told TechRadar. "However, it seems that the government aims to block access to certain websites/services by blocking VPN access to people who are not registered as VPN users in Pakistan," he added. At the beginning of the month, residents already experienced issues accessing their VPN tools for about 24 hours. What appeared to be the beginning of the crackdown on "unregistered" VPNs was later deemed a "brief technical glitch" by authorities. Surfshark was among the services temporarily throttled. If you're looking for a way to keep accessing WhatsApp and other blocked platforms, I suggest checking out our best free VPN page to get all the most secure freebies out there without paying for them all. This will allow you to hop from one service to another in case of throttling. Tools like the Tor Browser could also help. A middle school and a Nelson County sheriffs deputy worked together to save another student that fell unconscious and stopped breathing due to a medical emergency. Nelson County School Resource Officer Keith Brown and 11-year-old Adrian Leol, a sixth-grader at Nelson Middle School, are credited with saving a student on a bus ride home on Oct. 24. Leol said he noticed something was wrong when he heard a girl struggling to breathe and crying in front of him on the bus. Then I tapped her shoulder, and asked, are you OK? in Spanish, Leol said. Leol said the student motioned to him that she couldnt breathe. Then I got out of my seat and told the bus driver to check on her. I told him to check on her, and then thats when we pulled over, Leol said. Brown, who had just left the high school, saw the bus parked in an uncommon place and pulled over to see what was wrong. I thought it was unusual so I pulled over to investigate. The bus driver said a student was having a medical emergency, that she was having an asthma attack, so immediately, I called for paramedics through our dispatch to come out and assess her, Brown said. Brown said when he got onto the bus, the student was just struggling to breathe. He [the bus driver] definitely knew something was wrong. At that point in time, she was just kind of struggling to breathe, but she was still sitting upright. He was kind of waiting on paramedics who he had also called, Brown said. Brown and the bus driver then escorted the student to Browns patrol car to get away from the noisy bus and to cool her down with air conditioning. Soon after they had gotten her to the patrol vehicle and got the AC on her, is when she fainted, Brown said. The bus driver was kind of talking to her, beside the school bus when she just stopped breathing and kind of fell out in my arms. At that time, I had to get her out beside my vehicle and assess CPR and begin chest compressions early after beginning that, she started breathing on her own again, Brown said. Brown said he got to 13 compressions when she regained consciousness. Her breathing was still irregular. She had her inhaler, and I checked it. It still had, I think it was 75 puffs on the dial. So I took that and placed it in her mouth and kind of crushed it, trying to squeeze out everything I could. When I noticed a large spray come out, I could feel it on my hands, because I made a tunnel over her mouth. I think thats what helped keep her awake until they [paramedics] got there, Brown said. Brown said that when he originally pulled over he thought the bus had just broken down, he wasnt expecting there to be an emergency. I panicked for a second, but then I just went back to my training that I got here at the office, and everything just kind of clicked, Brown said. Once they were able to get her into the ambulance, Brown said he went to the girls home to make sure her parents knew all the details of the situation. Brown said Leol helped a lot with the language barrier because the student only understood limited English. When I got back on the bus, through Adrian, I was able to gather information from him that he had obtained throughout the school year, like her name, where she lives, stuff like that, Brown said. Amanda Hester, Nelson County Schools superintendent, said that she thought Leol and Brown worked well together during the incident. I think they both kind of let their instincts kick in, Hester said. Mark Embrey, Nelson County sheriff, said he was proud of Brown. ... he relied on his medical training and was able to save the life, Embrey said. Hester pointed out that both Brown and Leol received a One Nelson Award for their involvement. I think Adrian had four or five nominations, and people would come up to us about nominating SRO Brown for this award. So for us, it was a no brainer, but we just wouldnt be able to point out the great things that our community does to support itself, because it takes all of us, and I think that thats special, and people doing things and being willing to go out of their way to help each other. I think one of the ways that Brown did that is on his way home, he stopped off at something that looked out of the ordinary, and was willing to be a part of the assistance. But with Adrian, Adrians bilingual, and we have a growing Hispanic population in Nelson County and in our schools, and his skill and ability to be able to apply that to that circumstance, Hester said. Leols mom, Letty Hernandez, said that she got an alert while Leol was still on the bus that a student was having a medical emergency. Hernandez said she thinks parents should teach their children to be aware of what is happening in front of them for situations like this. First thing, as a parent, its like, Who is it? Whats going on? Could it be my son? Like, its just a lot of emotions, and youre at work, youre stuck, and youre trying to get out of there. It was emotional, it was hard, because you dont know whats going on when youre in Charlottesville and your kids are in Nelson. Then finally, when youre on your way home, getting that text message from him, Hey, Im OK, Mom, yeah, its not me. Im OK. Something scary happened. Him telling me the story about what happened, you cry as a parent, I cried because I was thankful that he did what he did, because the outcome could have not been the best outcome if somebody would have not been aware and reacted right, Hernandez said. Hernandez also said she was proud of Leol for using his knowledge of Spanish to help another student. In my line of business, I see so many languages, so much struggle with being able to communicate. And I think its going to be important for a lot of people to get on board with, you know, lets learn something just to not necessarily make it 100% easier for someone, but at least so that way we can be more empathetic, Hernandez said. Leol said the situation has confirmed for him that he wants to be in law enforcement one day. He wanted to be an officer before this but the incident made him want to go into this career even more. I want to chase people down and drive fast, Leol said. China opposes U.S. blacklisting Chinese companies over alleged forced labor in Xinjiang Xinhua) 08:02, November 27, 2024 BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China said Tuesday that it strongly condemns and firmly opposes the recent U.S. move to blacklist 29 Chinese companies under the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," and has lodged solemn representations with the United States. The U.S. move, which has no factual basis, is an act of bullying under the guise of human rights protection and "a typical act of economic coercion," a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said, adding that China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. The spokesperson said that China firmly opposes forced labor, and there is no such thing as so-called forced labor in Xinjiang. The U.S. side, without any concrete evidence, has imposed sanctions based on its own domestic law and solely on Chinese companies' purchase of materials or recruitment of employees from Xinjiang, which severely infringes upon the basic human rights of the people in Xinjiang, undermines the legitimate rights and interests of related companies, and disrupts the stability and security of the global supply chain, according to the spokesperson. "We urge the U.S. side to immediately stop political manipulation, smearing and attacking, and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies," said the spokesperson. The so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," which took effect in June 2022, prohibits the entry of Xinjiang goods into the U.S. market in the name of combating "forced labor." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in Beijing on Tuesday, saying China is willing to make empowering Pacific Island countries to tackle climate change a priority in its cooperation with these countries. China will work with Pacific Island countries to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, uphold fairness, justice and the common interests of the Global South, and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi told Mata'afa. Noting that Samoa was among the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China nearly five decades ago, Xi said the two countries have maintained traditional friendship, mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. He said China supports Samoa in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, and exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China will continue to provide assistance to Samoa in its economic and social development, and tap the potential of economy, trade, investment, agriculture and fisheries to achieve common development, Xi said. Xi stressed that China does not attach political strings to its assistance to the Pacific Island countries, and China's policy toward Pacific Island countries is open and inclusive, without targeting any third party or engaging in geopolitical competition or spheres of influence. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 26, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Mata'afa said Samoa hopes to learn from China's experience in achieving modernization, especially in poverty reduction and green development. Thanking China for its long-time valuable assistance to Samoa, Mata'afa said Samoa firmly adheres to the one-China principle and supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi. Samoa regards China as an important strategic partner and looks forward to taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year to further advance bilateral relations, Mata'afa said. TOKYO, Nov 27 (News On Japan) - The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has launched an on-site investigation into Amazon Japan, alleging that the company forced sellers to lower prices. The investigation will also examine potential involvement by Amazon's U.S. headquarters. The probe targets the Japanese subsidiary of the U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon, under suspicion of violating antitrust laws. Amazon operates a "marketplace" platform where third-party sellers list their products. According to sources, Amazon is suspected of pressuring sellers to set prices lower than those on competing platforms as a condition for prominent display on its website. Additionally, the company is alleged to have compelled sellers to use its fulfillment services. The JFTC suspects that Amazon abused its dominant market position and intends to further investigate the details, including whether the U.S. headquarters played a role in the practices. Source: TBS Nov 27 (News On Japan) - In todays competitive business environment, time is the one resource you cant afford to waste. For CEOs and business owners, gaining control over how time is spent across teams and projects can unlock untapped productivity and efficiency. For employees, having a clear understanding of their work patterns fosters focus and accountability. TimeCamp offers an all-in-one solution with automatic time tracking, employee monitoring, and productivity tools to revolutionize the way organizations work. Learn how TimeCamp can help you optimize time, empower your team, and achieve more with less effort. Why Automatic Time Tracking is a Must for CEOs and Business Owners In todays competitive business environment, time is one of the most valuable resources. For CEOs and business owners, managing time effectively is critical to maintaining efficiency and profitability. TimeCamp - an app for monitoring time offers a seamless and intelligent solution for automatic time tracking, revolutionizing the way businesses understand and utilize their most essential resource. Automatic time tracking eliminates the need for manual input, ensuring accuracy and saving valuable hours for both employees and managers. TimeCamp runs in the background, capturing time data without interrupting workflows. This real-time monitoring allows business leaders to gain a clear picture of how time is spent across teams, projects, and tasks. With these insights, CEOs can identify inefficiencies, reallocate resources, and implement strategies that enhance productivity and drive success. Beyond operational benefits, TimeCamps tracking capabilities enable strategic foresight. By analyzing historical data, businesses can identify trends, forecast future needs, and develop proactive solutions. Whether managing a small startup or leading a large enterprise, TimeCamp equips leaders with the tools to make informed decisions and maintain a competitive edge. How Employee Monitoring Can Boost Workplace Productivity Employee monitoring, when approached transparently and ethically, is a powerful tool for driving productivity and accountability. TimeCamps employee monitoring features offer businesses detailed insights into work habits, application usage, and task completion rates. This data empowers managers to identify areas of improvement and support their teams effectively. 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This enables managers to identify potential challenges early and make proactive adjustments. With TimeCamp, project management becomes more efficient, data-driven, and results-oriented. Preventing Burnout Through Better Workload Management Burnout is a growing concern in workplaces worldwide, as employees face increasing demands and expectations. TimeCamp addresses this issue by offering detailed insights into workload distribution and time allocation. By identifying employees who may be overburdened, managers can adjust workloads to ensure balance and well-being. For employees, TimeCamp provides the tools to take control of their schedules. By understanding how their time is spent, they can set realistic goals, prioritize their tasks, and establish a healthy work-life balance. This approach enhances productivity while fostering long-term satisfaction and engagement. Recognizing and celebrating achievements is another way TimeCamp supports employee morale. By tracking milestones and highlighting successes, businesses can create a culture of appreciation and motivation. This focus on positivity helps prevent burnout and keeps teams energized and focused. Supporting Remote and Hybrid Teams with TimeCamp The rise of remote and hybrid work has brought new challenges for maintaining productivity and accountability. TimeCamp is uniquely equipped to address these challenges, offering tools that keep remote teams aligned, connected, and efficient. Its automatic time tracking eliminates the need for constant check-ins, enabling employees to focus on their tasks while providing managers with the insights they need. Remote employees benefit from the autonomy and structure that TimeCamp offers. By tracking time seamlessly in the background, the platform allows individuals to stay on track without feeling micromanaged. 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Whether youre a CEO striving to streamline operations or an employee looking to optimize your workday, TimeCamp delivers the tools and insights to help you succeed. Start using TimeCamp today and experience the transformative power of smart time management. AICHI, Nov 27 (News On Japan) - Toxic pufferfish were sold without removing poisonous parts in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, prompting authorities to issue a warning and request product returns. According to Aichi Prefecture officials, the store involved is Takeasa Store, located in Tarumizu Town, Tokoname City. Approximately 40 saba fugu (pufferfish) were sold on November 11 and 25, with about 10 of them still unaccounted for. The store reportedly sold the pufferfish without the necessary permits required under the Food Sanitation Act. Aichi Prefecture has issued a strict warning, urging customers not to consume the fish under any circumstances, as it could lead to fatal consequences. Customers are advised to return the product immediately. Source: ANN By Henry Umoru Wednesdays Senate plenary was disrupted by anger and a shouting match over the controversial Tax Reform Bill, which unexpectedly came up for debate despite not being listed as an item for the days business. The session, presided over by Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, APC, Kano North, turned heated after the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central, invoked Order 12(1) of the Senate Standing Rules. He proposed inviting experts, including the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Tanimu Yakubu, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, to address the Chamber on the Tax Reform Bill. After the Senate had considered and passed two bills for second reading and referred them to relevant committees, Senator Bamidele raised the motion to bring the tax experts into the Chamber. The motion was seconded by Senator Barau, who directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to allow the visitors in. However, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South, strongly opposed the move, citing Senate Rules that forbid visitors from addressing the Chamber on matters not included in the Order Paper. Ndume argued that the Tax Reform Bill was too significant to be treated without following proper legislative procedure, stating: This is a very important matter. We must follow known procedures. If this issue is to be addressed today, there must be a supplementary Order Paper to reflect it. Nigerians are watching, and this issue cannot be rushed. He added: Mr. President, you can have your way, but I will have my say. Tax Reform is sensitive, and our people are deeply affected by this matter. We must represent the interest of Nigerians as we swore to do. Deputy Senate President Barau responded, defending the decision to allow the experts into the Chamber. He dismissed Ndumes objections, stating: The Chamber has no time for rhetorics. We are here for facts. This comment further inflamed the situation, leading to a rowdy session as Ndume accused Barau of dismissing his concerns due to his position. Is it because you are sitting there that you are saying a Senator is speaking rhetorics? You can rule me out of order, but I will speak for Nigerians, Ndume retorted. Eventually, Ndume was ruled out of order, and the visitors were permitted to address the Chamber on the proposed Tax Reform Bill. The Tax Reform Bill, introduced by President Bola Tinubu, seeks to overhaul Nigerias tax framework. While it is deemed a priority for national economic stability, it has faced resistance from various stakeholders, including state governors and the National Economic Council, over its implications. The session underscores the contentious nature of the Bill and highlights divisions within the Senate over how to handle its deliberation. By Donatus Anichukwueze The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has relocated its headquarters to its new facility, which is being developed in phases in Jahi area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The facility, which is the first phase of the national headquarters project expected to be completed with the 2025 budgetary provisions, was officially unveiled during an interdenominational service within the complex on Wednesday. Speaking during the brief ceremony, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) said the development represents a phase in the transformation and recalibration of NDLEA into a modern and result-oriented anti-narcotic Agency, a process that began in January 2021. Im glad we have finally moved in to occupy this facility after initial budgetary constraints. Even though this is the first phase of the new headquarters project, we are hopeful that we will be able to complete the process with next year budget, Marwa was quoted as saying in a statement signed by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi. This is not 100% completed but it is sufficiently functional for us to move in because I was determined to move in before the end of 2024 because with the expansion of the Agency the headquarters also expanded, and in our old location we could not accommodate everyone. I have had to post out scores of officers due to lack of space for them to work. It was for this reason that the management took a unanimous decision that since it is not 100% ready and we need it, we should make it a low-key inauguration ceremony. This will enable us to relocate some of our directorates still operating outside Abuja into one facility to consolidate our operations for efficiency, effectiveness and seamless coordination, Marwa stated. While stating that the old head office in Gimbiya, Garki area of the FCT will continue to serve as the headquarters annex, the NDLEA boss expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for his continued support and encouragement to the Agency to be in a position to achieve its mandate of curbing substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country. The support we are getting from our international partners and local stakeholders especially President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, the Judiciary and the citizenry, is not just to appreciate our efforts but to encourage us to do more and I believe this new work environment will motivate you to surpass past feats, Marwa told a crowd of excited management staff, officers and men of the Agency at the ceremony. He commended his predecessor for starting the process of getting a befitting headquarters for the Agency. In his welcome remark, Secretary to the Agency, Shadrach Haruna, commended Marwa for providing inspiring leadership that has in three years transformed NDLEA into the same class with its counterparts across the world in terms of professionalism, capability and capacity. The commissioning of our headquarters today is part of the incremental but well-laid agenda for the repositioning of the Agency by the chairman. We have witnessed some monumental achievements since 2021, including increasing the staff strength of the Agency from 5,000 to 15,000. Promotion of officers, opening up of vacancies, payment of accumulated allowances to staff and widows of our fallen officers, the recent amendment of the Agencys enabling law by the National Assembly, and many more. Christian and Islamic prayers were offered for President Tinubu and Nigeria while a commemorative plaque was unveiled to mark the event. World leaders have welcomed a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which came into force on Wednesday morning. The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will protect Israel from the threat of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and create the conditions for a lasting calm, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the truce coming into force. The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon, the leaders said in a joint statement. Here are key reactions from around the world; Biden welcomed the deal as good news and also said the United States would lead a fresh effort to secure a truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Macron said the Lebanon ceasefire should open the path for an ending to the war in Gaza. Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US President Biden for his involvement in securing the ceasefire agreement. He told Biden in a call that he appreciated the US leaders understanding that Israel will maintain its freedom of action in enforcing it, according to Netanyahus office. Lebanon Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the ceasefire was a fundamental step towards restoring stability in the region. Thanking France and the United States for their involvement, Mikati also reiterated his governments commitment to strengthen the armys presence in the south. Iran Iran, a backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas, welcomed the end of Israels aggression in Lebanon after the ceasefire came into force. Welcoming the news of the end of Israels aggression against Lebanon, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, stressing Irans firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance. Germany German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed the deal, hailing it as a ray of hope for the entire region. People on both sides of the border want to live in genuine and lasting security, Baerbock said in a statement, calling the deal a success for diplomacy. United Kingdom British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised a long overdue ceasefire that would provide some measure of relief to the civilian populations of both Israel and Lebanon. Calling for the truce to be turned into a lasting political solution in Lebanon, Starmer vowed to be at the forefront of efforts to break the ongoing cycle of violence in pursuit of a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East. China China has also welcomed the truce. We support all efforts conducive to easing tensions and achieving peace and welcome the agreement reached by relevant parties on a ceasefire, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. European Union EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the very encouraging news of the ceasefire, saying it would increase Lebanons internal security and stability. The announcement was welcomed news first and foremost for the Lebanese and Israeli people affected by the fighting, Von der Leyen said on X. Lebanon will have an opportunity to increase internal security and stability thanks to Hezbollahs reduced influence, she said. United Nations A top UN official welcomed the ceasefire agreement but warned that considerable work lies ahead to implement the deal. Nothing less than the full and unwavering commitment of both parties is required, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said in a statement. Egypt Egypt has welcomed the ceasefire as a step that could contribute to starting a de-escalation phase in the region. Its Foreign Ministry said that this agreement should be a prelude to stopping the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Cyprus Cyprus also joined the chorus of countries in favour of the ceasefire, adding it will support Lebanons army. The mediating role of the US and [France] to this end has been invaluable. Cyprus will continue to support Lebanon in fostering its state institutions, including the Lebanese Armed Forces, said the countrys president, Nikos Christodoulides. Flash China hosted a seminar at the United Nations (UN) in Vienna on Tuesday to promote the use of nuclear technologies for global development, especially development in the Global South. The seminar, themed "Atoms for a Better Home and Global South," was jointly hosted by China's permanent mission to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, the China Atomic Energy Authority and the China National Nuclear Corporation. The event was held on the sidelines of the ongoing ministerial conference on nuclear science and technology of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Li Song, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, told the seminar that since China proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) three years ago, more than 100 countries and over 20 international organizations have actively supported and participated in the initiative, and over 80 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI. China has actively promoted international development cooperation in the field of the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology at Vienna's multilateral platforms, Li noted. Li added that he believes the joint efforts of China and other international organizations can help bring more development success stories to the Global South. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the seminar that the China-proposed GDI is of great significance in guiding the international community to seek common development and improve the well-being of people around the world. Noting China's indispensable support for the IAEA, Grossi said he expects that China, as a leader in nuclear science and technology, will continue to actively participate in global development cooperation and make greater contributions to building a safer and better world. Nearly 300 participants, including representatives from international organizations in Vienna, senior government officials and experts, attended the seminar. South Africas Constitutional Court faces increasing pressure to address impropriety allegations against President Cyril Ramaphosa. Opposition parties demand reinstatement of impeachment proceedings regarding substantial foreign currency discovered at his private ranch, an incident that reignited debates about governmental transparency and accountability. The Economic Freedom Fighters and African Transformation Movement seek judicial intervention to override a parliamentary decision from late 2022 that blocked impeachment hearings. Despite multiple investigative bodies clearing Ramaphosa of wrongdoing, opposition leaders insist on deeper scrutiny into unexplained aspects of the case. The controversy centers on approximately five hundred eighty thousand dollars found concealed within furniture at the presidential ranch. While Ramaphosa maintains the funds originated from legitimate livestock sales, questions persist regarding both storage methods and delayed disclosure. The 2020 theft remained unreported until its emergence two years later, prompting widespread speculation about potential financial improprieties. Political dynamics have evolved considerably since the scandal emerged. Recent electoral shifts saw the African National Congress lose its parliamentary dominance, though coalition arrangements enabled Ramaphosa to secure another term. While theoretical possibilities for impeachment exist, current political alignments suggest limited practical likelihood of success. As the judiciary contemplates this significant case, broader implications for democratic accountability hang in balance. Legal representatives continue pressing for detailed explanations regarding financial arrangements, while constitutional experts note potential precedent-setting ramifications for executive oversight. The anticipated ruling could reshape parliamentary authority parameters, regardless of specific outcomes in this complex political confrontation. Observers await judicial determinations that could influence South African governance standards for years ahead. Meanwhile, public attention remains fixed on proceedings that challenge established boundaries between executive privilege and legislative oversight responsibilities. Chad intensifies military operations across the Lake Chad Basin as regional cooperation falters in the fight against insurgency. Defense forces report significant victories against militant groups, claiming the elimination of approximately one hundred fighters following a devastating October attack that claimed forty soldiers. Provincial authorities assert complete clearance of militant presence from Chadian territory, highlighting the neutralization of key insurgent leader Kanaye Djougoun during recent confrontations. Military officials emphasize that remaining militant operations now concentrate in neighboring Niger and Nigeria, utilizing the Lake Chad Basin primarily for logistical support. This strategic shift presents new challenges for regional security coordination, as cross-border insurgent activities continue to destabilize the area since their emergence in northeastern Nigeria fifteen years ago. Chadian Government representatives express mounting frustration over perceived isolation in counterterrorism efforts. Communications Minister Boukar Michel publicly questions the apparent lack of international support, particularly regarding humanitarian assistance for displaced populations. The minister emphasizes the disproportionate burden Chad bears in casualties and military deployments during security operations. This growing dissatisfaction has led to unprecedented threats of withdrawal from the Multinational Joint Task Force, established in 2015 through partnership with Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. The potential dissolution of this cooperative security framework raises serious concerns about regional stability and counterterrorism effectiveness. Local authorities maintain vigilance against potential insurgent resurgence while advocating for increased international engagement. Security analysts note that sustained success against militant groups requires enhanced regional coordination and substantial humanitarian support for affected populations. The situation highlights broader challenges in maintaining effective multinational security cooperation across the Sahel region. Libya is seeking to address the pressing issues related to Libyan nationals detained in foreign prisons, with focus on their status and welfare. To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted in Tripoli, on Tuesday, a meeting that was attended by officials from the Ministry of Justice. The meeting reviewed detailed databases of cases involving Libyan prisoners and the corresponding judicial rulings. This review facilitated a comprehensive understanding of the legal and procedural challenges faced by Libyan citizens overseas. Additionally, the discussions examined existing bilateral and multilateral judicial agreements, identifying opportunities to strengthen cooperation with foreign governments to expedite legal processes and ensure fair treatment of Libyan detainees. One of the key topics was the reactivation of prisoner exchange mechanisms, a crucial step toward repatriating Libyan nationals and upholding their rights. Officials explored actionable strategies to negotiate prisoner swaps under the framework of international law and mutual agreements, emphasizing the importance of diplomatic and judicial collaboration. The meeting highlighted the need to enhance the organization and representation of Libyan expatriates. Proposals were made to establish unions and associations for expatriates, ensuring these entities operate within the bounds of existing Libyan laws. Such initiatives aim to foster stronger community networks among Libyans abroad, providing them with a unified voice and better access to resources. This meeting aligns with broader efforts to launch a comprehensive national project aimed at supporting Libyan expatriates worldwide. The project, which is set to be unveiled in the near future, seeks to address the multifaceted needs of Libyan citizens living overseas. Its objectives include safeguarding the rights of prisoners, improving consular services, and fostering stronger ties between Libyan expatriates and their home country. Through such initiatives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice underscore their commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of Libyan citizens abroad while strengthening the nations global diplomatic and judicial presence. Morocco and Japan are poised to foster their investment ties under an agreement signed this Wednesday in Tokyo. The deal sets the stage for deeper economic relations between the two countries, opens fresh opportunities for collaboration, and facilitates the exchange of expertise and best practices. The agreement was signed by Moroccan Minister in charge of Investment, Karim Zidane, who is conducting a roadshow in Japan, and Japanese Minister of Economy, Yoji Muto. The roadshow, jointly organized by the Ministry and The Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE), aims to strengthen bilateral economic relations and highlight Moroccos advantages as a prime destination for foreign direct investment, particularly in emerging sectors. The Moroccan delegation held a series of meetings with key economic stakeholders in Japan, including Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), one of the countrys leading business groups, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Meetings were also organized with Japanese companies operating in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, agribusiness, and renewable energy. On Thursday, the Moroccan delegation will continue its roadshow in Seoul, where it will showcase Moroccos strengths as an investment destination during a Morocco Now conference. High-level meetings with Korean government officials and sectoral federations are planned to strengthen economic and institutional relations between the two countries. Investment opportunities in Morocco will be explored with Korean companies in key sectors such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, as well as rail and shipbuilding industries. Hungary has joined its voice to the supporters of Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara as it expressed its support for the Kingdoms efforts to resolve the Sahara issue and backing to the Autonomy Plan, presented in 2007, as the most credible basis to resolve this dispute. This position was expressed by Hungary in the Joint Statement signed at a meeting, held on Wednesday in Rabat, between visiting Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, and his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita. According to the Joint Statement, the two officials reaffirmed their support to the UN-led political process and to the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to find a solution to the Sahara issue, in line with the Security Council resolutions. Morocco and Hungary emphasized their positive and constructive roles in maintaining stability, security and peace in their respective regions and reiterated their commitment to these principles, as well as to peaceful resolution of conflicts and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of States. Hungarys new, strengthened position reinforces the recently created momentum, which the latest UN Security Council resolution welcomes and urges to build on. Hungary also hailed the Royal Initiative to promote Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean, launched by King Mohammed VI in November 2023. In this connection, Morocco and Hungary underlined the importance of security and prosperity in the Sahel, and welcomed each others initiatives to improve stability, the economic situation and strengthen connectivity in the region, mainly the Royal Initiative to promote Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean Hungary also welcomed Moroccos role as a hub of stability and a relay for growth and development in Africa. Both ministers also discussed the importance of exploring ways to establish tripartite partnerships between Morocco, Hungary and their partners in Africa, to implement joint projects for the economic and sustainable development of African countries, and provide joint responses to the challenges facing these countries, particularly in terms of security, stability, migration and socio-economic development, the statement added. Regarding Moroccos relations with the European Union, the Hungarian official, whose country chairs the Council of the European Union until December 31, reaffirmed Hungarys steadfast position in favor of strengthening the strategic partnership between the Kingdom and the European bloc. The Hungarian minister reiterated his countrys constant position in favor of strengthening the strategic partnership between Morocco and the EU, and reaffirmed its commitment to working to serve its interests, by strengthening ties and extending cooperation with Morocco to new fields. For its part, Morocco welcomed the success of the Hungarian Chairmanship of the Council of the European Union and the adoption of the Budapest Declaration on the new European agreement on competitiveness, the joint statement said. A delegation from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), led by General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of the FAR and Commander of the Southern Zone, visited on Monday the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, anchored in the Mediterranean off the city of Al Hoceima. Upon arrival on board, the delegation was welcomed by Rear Admiral Sean R. Bailey, Commander of the 8th Carrier Strike Group, and Captain Dave Snowden, Commander of the USS Truman, the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces said in a statement. During the visit, conducted at the instructions of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan flag was raised aboard the aircraft carrier. During the tour of the carrier, the Moroccan delegation was briefed on the missions of the Carrier Strike Group and its operational capabilities. The visit also provided an opportunity for Moroccan and American officials to commend the momentum of bilateral military cooperation and discuss issues of common interest, particularly regional security, enhancing the ability of both armed forces to act jointly against diverse and evolving threats, and expanding joint exercises in the air and naval domains, the statement said. The $4.5 billion USS Harry S. Truman warship is a floating city of 5200 crewmembers. It is 24 stories high, 333 m long and 78 m wide. Named after the 33rd president of the United States, S. Truman (CVN 75) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It can accommodate around 90 aircraft and has a flight deck 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) in size, using four elevators (360 m2 each) to move planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay. She is equipped with three 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun) and two Sea Sparrow SAM launchers. Flash Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 25, 2024. [Str/Xinhua] Israel's security cabinet approved on Tuesday night a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, was expected to take effect on Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) in Israel and Lebanon. The security cabinet approved the ceasefire by a majority of ten votes to one, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir casting the sole dissenting vote. "Israel appreciates the United States' contribution to the process and reserves its right to act against any threat to its security," the statement said. In a recorded video speech earlier in the day, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed the ceasefire decision to three reasons -- focus shifted to threats from Iran, the need for a refresh of forces and replenishment of weapons, as well as the isolation of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the campaign. Our pressure on it will increase, and this will assist in achieving the goal of freeing our hostages," Netanyahu said. The prime minister also reiterated his determination to "do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons." Shortly after the approval, Biden gave a speech at the White House, saying he had spoken to Netanyahu and Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He said that Israel would gradually withdraw its forces over a period of 60 days. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army and state security forces will take control of their territory bordering Israel, while ensuring that Hezbollah will not regroup there. "Civilians on both sides will soon be able to safely return to their communities," he said. In a statement released by the Lebanese Council of Ministers, Mikati welcomed the ceasefire decision, saying it is a "fundamental step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon and returning the displaced to their homes and cities." He added it also "helps establish regional stability." Mikati reiterated the government's commitment to implementing UN Resolution 1701, strengthening the army's presence in the south, and cooperating with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. "I also demand the Israeli enemy fully commit to the ceasefire decision, withdraw from all areas and sites it occupies, and fully abide by UN Resolution 1701," he said. Meanwhile, airstrikes continued both ways between Israel and Hezbollah hours ahead of the ceasefire taking effect. At least 41 people were killed and several others injured on Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency reported. Israel also pummelled central Beirut on Tuesday, targeting several neighborhoods and causing widespread panic among residents, following the first-ever Israeli evacuation orders issued for the area, according to local sources and Israeli officials. In Israel, air defense sirens sounded Tuesday evening in several northern and central areas. The Israel Defense Forces said the sirens were activated following the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon, which were successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force. No casualties were reported. Madagascar has become the 42nd African nation to have an embassy in Rabat, bringing to 116 the number of embassies in the Moroccan capital. Johary Hoela Rajobson has already presented copies of his credentials to Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita last week as Madagascars ambassador to the Kingdom. The inauguration ceremony of the Malagasy embassy, attended by Malagasy Foreign Minister Rafaravavitafika Rasata and her Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita, comes as the two countries celebrate 30 years of diplomatic ties and historic and privileged partnership. Madagascars Foreign Minister Rafaravavitafika Rasata said at the inauguration ceremony the diplomatic representation will help strengthen ties between the two countries as Madagascar looks forward to benefit from Moroccos know-how at all levels. For his part, Bourita who described the opening of the embassy as an important milestone, said this new diplomatic representation will give new impetus to historic and privileged ties between Morocco and Madagascar and will contribute to giving significant momentum to exchanges between the two countries. Observers expect Madagascar to be the next state to open a consulate in Moroccos Sahara. Prior to opening an embassy in Rabat, Madagascar has backed Moroccos sovereignty over its southern provinces, the Sahara. So far, 29 countries have consulates in Moroccos Sahara, giving their support for Moroccos territorial integrity a tangible level. On the sidelines of the embassy inauguration, the two Foreign Ministers examined prospects for promoting bilateral relations and pledged to reinforce political dialogue, enhance diversified sectoral cooperation in various areas of common interest, and work together towards a win-win partnership. The two officials agreed to hold the 2nd session of the Joint Cooperation Commission at a date to be mutually agreed upon through diplomatic channels. This initiative should open new perspectives for a strengthened partnership between the two nations. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Is Donald Trump about to make all of Rudy Giulianis legal troubles go away? Thats the impression you might get from the former presidential lawyer, who has been living life like he just has to make it to Trumps second inauguration on January 20, 2025. In October, Giuliani was ordered to turn over almost everything he owns from his Upper East Side apartment to his 1980 Mercedes in order to pay $148 million in damages for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. But since then, Giuliani has engaged in wild courtroom behavior and missed multiple deadlines to surrender his assets. Giuliani even asked to delay the trial over whether he must turn over his Florida home and his World Series rings so he can attend Trumps inauguration festivities (the judge refused, saying the court doesnt revolve around Giulianis social calendar). Last week two judges found Giuliani in contempt of court. On January 6, Manhattan federal judge Lewis Liman found Giuliani in contempt for failing to turn over assets. Liman said he will rule on appropriate sanctions at a later date. He was also held in contempt by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in D.C. on January 10 for continuing to defame Freeman and Moss. Trump posted the message SAVE RUDY!!! to Truth Social on January 12. But can Trump save Giuliani himself? Heres what we know. . No. The defamation case brought by Freeman and Moss is a civil suit. The president can grant pardons only for federal criminal offenses. . No, the president cant save Giuliani from jail or fines incurred from flouting court orders in the civil case. Generally criminal contempt is within the power of the president, but civil contempt is not, Margaret Love, a lawyer who served as the Justice Department pardon attorney in the 1990s, told Business Insider. . Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution states: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. As the government-run site Constitution Annotated explains, the pardon power does not apply in federal civil suits or in any state cases: Despite the breadth of the Presidents authority under the Pardon Clause, the Constitutions text provides for at least two limits on the power: first, clemency may only be granted for Offenses against the United States, meaning that state criminal offenses and federal or state civil claims are not covered. Second, the Presidents clemency authority cannot be used in Cases of impeachment. . No. There are so many pending lawsuits involving Giuliani that it has become hard to keep track (at one point, there were nearly a dozen). But the former New York mayor has been criminally indicted in only two states, Georgia and Arizona. In both cases, Giuliani was charged along with other Trump allies for his allegedly unlawful efforts to steal the 2020 election and has pleaded not guilty. With Donald Trump returning to the White House, both of those cases may be delayed indefinitely (though Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes said she has no intention of dropping her states case). But even if they do proceed, Trumps pardon power is irrelevant since it doesnt cover state criminal offenses. . Maybe? The Constitution clearly states that the presidential pardon power applies only to federal criminal offenses. Giuliani has yet to be indicted on any federal criminal charges. A pardon may not be the motivation for Giulianis alleged delay tactics, though; perhaps he just thinks hell get more favorable treatment in court with his pal Trump back in the White House. New York University law professor Stephen Gillers told Newsweek that Trump could potentially direct the Justice Department to file an amicus brief in state or federal civil court supporting Giulianis defense. But he thinks thats unlikely. Its also possible Giulianis chaotic behavior has nothing to do with Trump. He recently admitted to the judge in his sexual-assault case that hes confused about whether hes even representing himself. There may not be much method in Giulianis legal madness. This post has been updated. Photo: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters Donald Trumps campaign promise to launch a mass-deportation program complete with detention camps, large-scale raids, and use of the military is one of the most urgent issues facing the crowd of politicians fighting for control of the city in next years elections. The president-elect will be constrained by a wide range of political, logistical, economic, and legal barriers, but experts I spoke to say he can easily do vast damage to immigrant families and communities along the way. Our next mayor, whether its Eric Adams or one of his many challengers, is morally and politically obligated to resist and repair the wreckage. Whats needed now, not later is clear language from all the candidates for mayor, including Adams, that they are prepared to engage the Trump administration and define the limits of where and how New York will talk about immigrants rights. That means all the candidates must get up to speed on the dizzying range of immigrant rights, laws, and policies at play here, including the right to seek asylum. The mayor has been sending mixed messages on how the city will respond to Trumps plans. On the day after the election, he affirmed that New York is a sanctuary city but sidestepped reporters questions about whether he would actively resist federal deportation efforts. At that same press conference, his immigration affairs commissioner, Manuel Castro, went further, telling reporters in Spanish that city agencies will not be following the instructions of the federal government in cases of mass deportations. A week later, Adams sounded conciliatory, suggesting he could assist the Trump administration: I believe we can be very helpful in how we address this issue in a very real way, he told reporters. The mayors shifting rhetoric, always carefully avoiding criticism of Trump, may be related to his legal situation; he remains under federal indictment and may be cozying up to Trump in hopes of getting a dismissal of U.S. v. Eric Adams or even a presidential pardon. Beyond managing White House politics, Adams and his rivals must also decide whether to fight for passage of the New York for All Act, a proposed state law that would limit the ability of ICE to search non-public spaces without a court warrant and flatly prohibit state and local law enforcement from carrying out federal immigration policy. Its tempting to assume that theres a lot of bluster and bull behind Trumps threats, like his vow, a day after winning the election, to spare no expense in chasing down immigrants who have committed violent crimes. Its not a question of a price tag. Really, we have no choice, he told NBC News. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now theyre going to go back to those countries because theyre not staying here. There is no price tag. The next Congress, which must approve major spending by Trump, is controlled by Republicans including some fiscal conservatives who arent likely to go along with no price tag on a deportation campaign that could cost $88 billion a year for more than a decade in direct removal expenses, with additional losses in tax revenue tied to a massive contraction of economic activity. We might find that Trumps deportation saber-rattling is similar to the talk during his first term of building a border wall and having Mexico pay for it. (In the end, Trump added a paltry 52 miles of new border barriers, for which American taxpayers footed the bill.) But even if Trump doesnt deport millions of people, a national hunt for immigrants could be devastating to New York. The truth is that the immigration laws are very harsh. And the only thing that keeps immigration from hitting on families who may have committed no crimes, who were working or paying taxes, is the humane discretion of presidents, whether Democratic or Republican, Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, told me. If he starts sending ICE officers into all these neighborhoods looking to round up people, we may have challenges if theres profiling, if theres Fourth Amendment violations. But its not per se illegal to be harsh with enforcement measures. Immigration attorney Luis Gomez Alfaro, who has handled hundreds of cases, says many New Yorkers are already on edge. Some clients are very afraid that their day-to-day life will be disturbed, that they will no longer be safe to go to work, take their children to school. Thats actually the biggest fear, a disruption of everyday life, he told me. I am preparing for a scenario that doubles or triples the number of detentions. That is a capability that would take a lot of effort, a lot of resources to develop. Currently, there are around 45,000 beds for ICE. Thats where they would detain people, assuming they can triple that to around 150,000 or 200,000. Trump has vowed to use the military its unclear whether he means the Army or the National Guard to round people up, claiming he has the power to do so under the Alien Enemies Act, a statute from the 18th century. Columbia Law School professor Elora Mukherjee disagrees. The 1798 Act is a law that applies only in wartime. That is clear from the language of the statute that was passed by Congress. It has only been invoked by presidents during times of declared war, Mukherjee told me. There is no basis for extending application of that act to the drug cartels that President Trump has talked about. And the U.S. Supreme Court has ratified use of that law only three times, and only in times of war. What about Trumps vow to pressure local law-enforcement agencies to help round up immigrants. Could he force the NYPD to help find and deport undocumented New Yorkers? Absolutely not, said Mukherjee. Localities and states cannot be forced to carry out federal immigration priorities. There is a principle of constitutionalism thats called anti-commandeering. The federal government cannot commandeer localities, municipalities, states to carry out federal immigration priorities or other priorities. Gelernt agreed. Here in New York City, I dont think well see any law enforcement being deputized. I think New York will push back and so will a lot of places, he said. But in other places, I think they will enter into agreements with the federal government to deputize their local police officers to start looking for immigrants. And I think were going to see tons of profiling if that happens. Our citys not-so-small army of civil-rights lawyers are prepared to battle against federal overreach, in fights that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. But Alfaro, the street lawyer, warns that real peoples lives would be turned upside down in the process. If an immigrant is held in detention during this fight, as opposed to being released on bond or on their own recognizance, many of them will not put up the same fight. Many of them may not be willing to stay two or three or four years in detention, he told me. They would rather be deported. So they will agree to go to an administrative removal order. Thats actually one of the biggest worries. Alfaro predicts that Trumps efforts will be the worst of both worlds: disruptive to countless families without actually fixing Americas broken border system. I foresee more immigrants than ever at the end of the Donald Trump administration in the United States, but also a greater number of orders of removal issued, he told me. I believe this will be a paper tiger, just one made of millions of deportation orders that will have a negative impact in the long-term aspirations of immigrant families and mixed families. Thats what New Yorks next mayor has to avoid. Nobody wants a city where hundreds of thousands of our neighbors fear their lives could be turned upside down at any moment. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya speaks during a roundtable discussion with members of the House Freedom Caucus on the COVID-19 pandemic at the Heritage Foundation in 2022. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump has been rolling out some predictably unorthodox people to lead the nations health agencies, nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to oversee the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. On Tuesday, Trump continued the trend when he tapped Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford Universityeducated physician and economist, to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. Together, Jay and RFK, Jr. will restore 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, Trump wrote on TruthSocial Tuesday. Bhattacharya is best known for his controversial views on the COVID-19 pandemic: He was a strong advocate against lockdowns who argued for herd immunity as a public-health strategy, to the dismay of many of his peers. Heres what we know about Trumps choice to lead the NIH. Bhattacharya has deep ties to Stanford University Currently, Bhattacharya works as a professor of health policy at Stanford University. He also leads the schools Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. According to his university biography, his recent research has been focused on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic. He has co-authored a working paper on whether employers could save money by divesting from employment-based health insurance as well as a journal article looking at the impact of social isolation on spending in aging populations. Stanford is also Bhattacharyas alma mater; he earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees there, as well as a medical degree and a Ph.D. in economics. Bhattacharyas resume also includes stints at the RAND Corporation, where he worked as an economist, as well as research positions at the Hoover Institution and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He advocated against COVID lockdowns and for herd immunity Bhattacharya was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter from infectious-disease and public-health physicians published in October 2020 that advocated against lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The declaration argued that widespread lockdowns were producing devastating effects on both short- and long-term health that they predicted would ultimately lead to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. The authors were in favor of prioritizing the protection of specific vulnerable groups while allowing the larger population to develop herd immunity through community spread: As immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all including the vulnerable falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd immunity i.e. the point at which the rate of new infections is stable and that this can be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a vaccine. Our goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity. The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection. The letter sparked widespread condemnation from other medical professionals. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said that advocating for natural herd immunity was scientifically and ethically problematic. Allowing a dangerous virus that we dont fully understand to run free is simply unethical. Its not an option, he said, per The Guardian. Bhattacharya previously downplayed the potential COVID death toll In March 2020, shortly after COVID arrived in America, Bhattacharya co-wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed with a Stanford colleague, Eran Bendavid, arguing that the projected fatality rates for the virus were overblown. The two professors wrote that the true fatality rate was based on the number of infected people who die rather than the confirmed cases that result in death. In the piece, they floated a smaller potential figure, writing, A 20,000- or 40,000-death epidemic is a far less severe problem than one that kills two million. At the time, the nations top medical experts were warning that COVID-19 could kill anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 Americans despite the ongoing mitigation efforts. As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it, Dr. Anthony Fauci, then the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, per the New York Times. The virus would go on to claim more than 1.2 million lives in the United States, a figure that is still growing. He testified in defense of Floridas mask-mandate ban Florida governor Ron DeSantis was staunchly against mask mandates in his state and issued an executive order in 2021 banning the requirements in the states schools. The governors order was subjected to multiple legal challenges from parents in several school districts, forcing the issue to be litigated in the courts. The Miami Herald reported that Bhattacharya served as the states medical expert in these proceedings, arguing that there was no evidence that districts with mask mandates had better results with reducing the spread of the virus compared to districts without the requirement. The Delta variant, as I said, from the data on the U.K., is less deadly, but perhaps more transmissible. Theres no evidence, theres no randomized evidence, no high-quality evidence, that masks stop the disease spread, he said, per the outlet. 19 items in this article 9 items on sale! Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers, Joe McKendry Strategist Brain is a series where staffers share the stores theyve stopped into, stuff theyve spotted, and extra tidbits from stories theyve worked on. Youll hear from a different writer every week. Next month marks the first anniversary of my graduation from college and entry into the real world. Over the last year, Ive been slowly transforming my first apartment from an assortment of bits and bobs into a space that feels cozy and intentional. That means I spend a lot of my weekends wandering around Manhattan in search of new items to add to my home. Ive started visiting the treasure trove that is Fishs Eddy at least once a week, and I think Im finally happy with my kitchen so now Im moving onto general decor. Like any Gen-Zer, Ive made many a Pinterest board for inspiration and am currently on the hunt for an expansive yet simple rug for the common space. My criteria is as follows: a blue or cream rug thats less than $400, not too busy, and soft enough for me to sit on but sturdy enough for my boyfriend to work out on without much shifting. So far, Im into these, but Im open to any and all suggestions. Heres everything else Ive seen recently I work from home most of the time, so home-improvement ideas often pop into my head throughout the day. Ive been writing down these ideas as they come to me, and floating shelves are a recent addition to the list. Im still determining the vibe Im going for hence the Pinterest board but I think these walnut-y options would look nice together. Heres my home-improvement wish list. Photo: Bella Druckman Before installing hanging bookshelves, I wanted to frame the prints I had previously taped on my walls. I landed on this bunch, which my boyfriend and I managed to hang before hosting Friendsgiving over the weekend just in time for all the compliments. From left: The new frames housing my French prints. Photo: Bella Druckman A very festive Friendsgiving spread. Photo: Bella Druckman From top: The new frames housing my French prints. Photo: Bella Druckman A very festive Friendsgiving spread. Photo: Bella Druckman Jepeak Pack of 2 Corduroy Decorative Throw Pillow $19 $19 Photo: Bella Druckman As much as I love Pottery Barns throw-pillow selection, I can only use it as inspiration for finding throw-pillow covers on Amazon that are in my budget. After spending more hours than I can count sorting through Amazons throw-pillow selection, I landed on this pairing for my four throw pillows. While the corduroy covers are soft enough to lay on, the linen ones have some simple stripes on both sides, which is not something that I can say about most Amazon pillow covers. $19 at Amazon Buy $19 at Amazon Buy Dusen Dusen House Stripe Bath Mats $48 $48 Photo: Bella Druckman At the height of testing mats for our Best in Class bath-mat guide, I was swapping out bath mats before every shower. Now to the delight of my partner Ive moved onto long-term testing with the occasional addition of new mats. Ive been on a stripe kick recently, so my current favorite is this Dusen Dusen mat thats pleasantly playful in my otherwise drab and windowless bathroom. $48 at Dusen Dusen Buy Hawkins New York Fig Ornament $12 $12 Its the first time my boyfriend and I will be trimming a Christmas tree together, so Ive been on the lookout for some cute personal ornaments to add to our nearly nonexistent collection. I came across this one while searching for sparkly gifts and think Ill add it to my collection because it reminds me of my grandmothers fig tree. $12 at Hawkins New York Buy Taylor Swift Folklore Album Sipped Away Ornament $20 $20 Photo: Bella Druckman When I published my Swiftie gift guide, the pop star hadnt released her ornament collection yet, but I jumped on it as soon as she released it a couple weeks ago. I can now proudly say that Im the owner of a Taylor Swift ornament. Its subtly Swift and inspired by my favorite album, Folklore. $20 at Taylor Swift Buy West Elm Jewel-Toned Glass Ball Ornaments (Set of 25) $40 $40 Specialty ornaments are wonderful, but the prices add up quickly. Im looking for a uniform and non-kitschy set of ornaments preferably balls to act as the base for our tree. So far, these are my favorite because they have some nice color and texture variation while still looking like they belong together. $40 at West Elm Buy West Elm Fair Isle Knit Stocking - Snowmen From $35 From $35 A recent Strategist staff meeting had me thinking about how I dont have a stocking for my apartment. After a long search for a stocking that was both knit and not too skinny at the toe, my boyfriend and I landed on a couple from this collection the snowmen and the trees. I love a stocking with a name, so we got them monogrammed. From $35 at West Elm Buy Fishs Eddy x SA Tzotchke Dish $15 $15 A collaboration for the books from two of my favorite brands. I already have lots of little plates for afternoon snacks, but Im having a hard time resisting this one. $15 at Susan Alexandra Buy Vermont Creamery Bijou Aged Goat Cheese $15 $15 And finally, my current afternoon snack of choice is this aged goat cheese thats best paired with crackers from Trader Joes. Its a bit of a splurge, but Im lactose intolerant, so goat cheese is my savior, and the aged smell reminds me of the cheese my French mom always has in the fridge. $15 at Murrays Cheese Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. 58 items in this article 23 items on sale! Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photo: Retailer Kids are famously fickle: One moment theyre obsessed with Paw Patrol, the next theyre on to Taylor Swift. Jeannette Corey, director of the Bank Street Family Center, says that childrens development from birth to age 5 is especially vast, so during this time period, their interests will naturally change very quickly sometimes even over just weeks or months. All that rapid development can make it tricky to figure out which toys will keep them engaged for as long as possible and not just in terms of an afternoon, but over a span of months or even years. And while we cant predict the future, there are a lot of toys out there that can grow with kids through multiple ages and stages. Many will even appeal to siblings and cousins of different ages who are part of the play group too. Toys that do this best are ones that lend themselves to play that is as hands-on and open-ended as possible and that provide lots of opportunities for creativity, curiosity, problem-solving, and cooperation in different ways as the childrens play skills develop, Corey explains. To find them, I plucked a few tried-and-true classics from the Strategist archives and asked Corey as well as parents, educators, and other toy experts for their recommendations all of which youll find sorted by price below. And for even more gift-buying inspiration, check out our guides to the expensive toys that are actually worth it, as well as our big ol hub of holiday gift guides for everyone else on your list. Update on December 13, 2024: Updated prices and checked stock for all products. $25 and under Small figurines allow kids to explore the world through their own imaginations, says Corey. They are also easy for kids to return to through the years to explore different themes of play as their language and world knowledge gets more sophisticated. Schleichs animal figurines in particular are a go-to for librarian and content creator Hayley DeRoches 7- and 10-year-old kids (on top of being a Strategist staff favorite). They consistently play with them, and thats better than one can say for a lot of toys, DeRoche says. She appreciates that the figurines arent attached to a specific franchise or character; theyre open-ended, so her kids can make up their own stories with them. Made of sturdy plastic with realistic paint jobs, they come in a wide range of themes, from fantasy creatures to barnyard animals. Vilmenay also recommends gifting classic board games from your own childhood as another way to uphold family traditions and create opportunities for connection. Whether theyre feeling delight in watching the Rube Goldbergstyle Mouse Trap at work or the devastation of getting sent back home in a game of Sorry!, kids will form lasting memories from playing group games. We can give a child any toy, but the memory that goes with it is really what we want you to invest in, Vilmenay says. Games are also something kids often return to for years, whether on family game night or during sleepovers and hangouts with friends. Bigjigs Rail My First Train Set $25 Train sets promote interactive play and spark creativity, Vilmenay says. A simple wooden one, like this one from Bigjigs, will hold up over time and has enough pieces for kids to get started and can be expanded later, another good gift idea down the road. Bigjigs has lots of extra components available, including tunnels, lighthouses, town buildings, and extra tracks. Building train tracks, and the surrounding infrastructure, can also be a great way to kickstart civic-minded thinking, Vilmenay says. It gets kids thinking about what it means to build a community and what a community needs to function. $25 at Target Buy $34 at Maisonette Buy Jumping Rope - Forest - Vanilla From $17 From $17 Once theyre coordinated enough to learn, starting around age 5 or so, a jump rope is something kids can play with for years. DeRoche recommends these jump ropes over ones made with plastic beads or designed for use in the gym, because theyre long-lasting, easy for kids to work with, and hold the arc shape well key for one person to be able to turn the rope while another jumps. If you actually want your child to play with it and have it be a skill that they can work on, then I would suggest spending a couple more dollars and getting one thats actual rope, she says. From $17 at Etsy Buy Toysmith Beamo $13 $13 Another outdoor toy DeRoche says her elementary-school-aged kids love is this Frisbee-like throwing disc. Traditional Frisbees made from hard plastic can be tricky for young kids and hey, lets face it, plenty of adults to throw well, but DeRoche says this giant, softer version is easy for even little kids to manage. Because the skill barrier to entry is lower (and the injury risk is lower in case of a disc-to-face collision), her whole family enjoys playing with it together. $13 at Amazon Buy $13 at Amazon Buy Hape Fresh Fruit Wooden Kitchen Play Food Set $14 This wooden set of fruit is a great pretend food toy, especially because most kids will be already familiar with the bananas, apples, and oranges it contains. It comes with a kid-size wooden knife, which can be used to cut the Velcro pieces of fruit apart. Vilmenay says kids being able to play pretend with food prep and model what they see the adults around them do helps them gain a sense of confidence and independence. They may even gain an appreciation for the work that goes into making food. And because food can be used in all kinds of play and pretend scenarios, its something kids can get many years of use out of. Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio has two daughters, ages 6 and 9, whove been using this set in all sorts of ways since the older one was about 2. $14 at Amazon Buy $14 at Amazon Buy $50 and under LEGO DUPLO Classic Deluxe Brick Box $40 $50 now 20% off $40 LEGOs Duplo blocks are a good starting point for kids under 5, and many will be interested when theyre as young as one. Because the blocks are larger than regular LEGOs, they fit easily in kids hands and dont require as much finesse to build with; they also, crucially, are not a choking hazard. The result is a safer, more satisfying, and less frustrating building experience for younger kids, says Corey. Special-education teacher and blogger Sally Macaluso keeps this set of Duplo blocks in her preschool classroom, where they are a student-favorite year after year. She also has a set at home, where her 4.5-year-old and 1-year-old child both regularly play them. Macaluso likes that theyre open-ended they can be used in multiple ways, dont come with set instructions, and provide limitless potential, she says. Trolio adds that even though her daughters now spend more time building complicated Lego sets, she still hasnt fully put the Duplos away. Between my own kids and my three nieces, we have five kids in the extended family who range from ages 2 to 9, and they can all find something to do with the Duplos when everyone is together, she says. $40 at Amazon Buy $40 at Amazon Buy LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box $22 $35 now 37% off $22 For kids who are are ready to graduate to smaller pieces, the experts I spoke to recommended starting with a classic open-ended set and not rushing into the more elaborate LEGO kits because they offer so much freedom and can appeal to beginners and more seasoned LEGO architects alike. This set comes with 500 pieces and instructions on how to build seven different models with moving parts. Or they can forego the instructions and build whatever they want. The pieces can also be mixed and matched with parts from other LEGO sets for years to come. $22 at Amazon Buy $35 at Lego Buy If there was a clear winner in terms of sheer number of recommendations it would be Magna-Tiles, as just about everyone I spoke to for this story recommended them. Theyre extremely popular: Toy consultant and Strategist contributor Youngna Park included the magnetic building tiles in her roundup of the best open-ended toys, and toy writer Liza Corsillo predicts theyll go down in history as one of the best toys of this era. Trolio has even declared them the single most important toy her household has ever known. Like LEGOs, Magna-Tiles can be endlessly remixed and reused. Also like LEGOs, there are packs of standard shapes, as well as themed kits where kids can build a castles, a space shuttle, or a construction site. Where they differ from LEGOs is that the flat, geometric shapes are easier connect to each other and pull apart, so even very young kids can start building. My 3- and 6-year-olds are fighting each other every night over who can build a better tower and who is allowed to knock it over, says Clarissa Hong, Vox vice-president of revenue accounting. After starting out with very simple structures around age 2, Trolios 6- and 9-year-olds still regularly cover the familys living-room floor with elaborate, multi-room buildings and worlds that they sometimes use in combination with other toys like Barbies or action figures. But when it is time to put them away, many of the parents I spoke to also appreciate how the magnets make clean-up very streamlined, since the pieces all stick and stack together. And they dont hurt when you step on them, DeRoche adds. For blocks with an heirloom quality, Vilmenay suggests the Uncle Goose brand. Theyre handmade and painted in Michigan in a variety of delightful and educational designs. The wood is untreated, the paints are nontoxic, and the blocks are too large to be a choking hazard, making them safe for play for toddlers. Theyre also extremely durable Vilmenay says she has seen them in the museum being played with in our galleries day in and day out, sanitized day in and day out, and they hold up well. Because Uncle Goose makes such a wide range of designs including science blocks featuring the phases of the moon, planets, elements from the periodic table, and dinosaurs, and themed block play sets featuring sea life, barn animals, and forest animals they also work well for older kids. Vilmenay particularly recommends the language blocks as a toy that will help kids develop their dexterity and fine motor skills while expanding their vocabulary. She also loves the brands inclusivity Uncle Goose sells braille and American Sign Language blocks, and the rest of the language collection covers 24 spoken languages, including Arabic, Cherokee, Hindi, and Hebrew. Melissa & Doug Standard Unit Blocks $85 now 31% off $59 Park also recommends these classic preschool building blocks because they are simple, versatile, and basically indestructible. Theres enough variety in the shapes to make these interesting to build with, while still very much being a blank slate for kids imagination. Their relative affordability in terms of price per block means theyre also a good way to add a lot of pieces to your homes block bin, and they can easily be combined with more design-y blocks like the Uncle Goose ones above. $59 at Amazon Buy $75 at Walmart Buy The Original Lincoln Logs $50 Rachel Coler-Mulholland, professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota Morris and a licensed professional counselor, says Lincoln Logs are one of the best building toys that grow with kids. The log-shaped pieces have notches, allowing kids to stack them up to build log cabins or whatever else their heart desires and the building mechanism is easy enough for kids as young as 3. Mulholland recommends buying a higher quantity of pieces since you can build more that way. This set comes with over 100 pieces, which can be conveniently stored in the canister they come in. Like LEGOs and other building toys on this list, Lincoln Logs are something many adults will also enjoy playing with Mulholland says even her university students told her that Lincoln Logs are still fire. $50 at Amazon Buy $50 at Amazon Buy Moluk Bilibo $30 It may not look like much, but this hard plastic shell can be climbed on, sat in, spun, worn as a hat, used as a shield all sorts of adventures for little imaginations, says Coler-Mulholland. Its designed for kids ages 2 and older, but Mulholland says shes seen kids as old as 10 enjoy playing with it. $30 at Amazon Buy Kodak EKTAR H35 Half Frame Film Camera (Bundle with 24exp Film) $60 $60 DeRoche bought this Kodak film camera when her daughter was 8 years old; shes now 10, and theyve gotten great use out of it. Its a traditional film camera but takes two images per frame, which helps lower the cost of film per photo. DeRoche likes that its easy to use, durable, and allows her daughter to take great photos while also teaching some patience during the wait time to get the film developed. I dont think introducing something with a little delayed gratification is a negative, DeRoche says. So much of what kids consume is instantaneous for them. $60 at Amazon Buy $60 at Amazon Buy $100 and under Excellerations Engineering with Ramps - 20 Pieces $81 Coler-Mulholland says this engineering set with ramps is similar to a marble run but a bit more accessible for preschool-age kids. Its larger than the Zig & Go set above with less focus on small pieces. But because of the multiple ways kids can build and experiment with it, its something they can enjoy well past the younger years. She says its also highly collaborative, so its a great toy for siblings and friends to play with together. $81 at Amazon Buy $81 at Amazon Buy Piks Medium Building Set $60 $60 We fell in love with Piks watching a video of kids laughing their heads off and have given it to all the kids in our lives since, says Kasey Coyle, director of operations at Kidding Around toy store in New York. This topsy-turvy building set includes 33 silicone cones and 11 wooden boards to balance on them, which presents a slightly different building challenge than classic blocks or Magna-Tiles. The set includes challenge cards, which have builds that kids can try to re-create, or they can invent their own balancing builds. Coyle says its great toy for kids to play with together as they can either cooperatively build or challenge each other. That challenge aspect gives it additional longevity as kids get older while toddlers may enjoy simply experimenting with building, elementary-age kids and up can create games to compete with their friends or siblings. $60 at Barnes & Noble Buy $60 at Kidding Around Buy Pediatric occupational therapist, author, and blogger Keri Wilmot recommended GraviTrax as another building toy that, like LEGOs, kids can play with either by following instructions or using their imaginations to create whatever they want. With GraviTrax, those creations are interactive marble runs with features like catapults, elevators, bridges, and zip lines. This set is designed for ages 8 and up, but should have some staying power even as they get older since the design isnt babyish. For kids ages 3 to 7, there is also a line of GraviTraxs Junior sets that are a bit simpler to use. Clixo Super Rainbow Pack $90 $90 The flat, flexible Clixo pieces snap together with magnets and can be used to build all kinds of 2-D or 3-D creations. Lay the pieces flat against each other to create a two-dimensional scene, or bend, twist, and shape them into three-dimensional objects. Hickey recommends Clixo because theyre unique compared to other building toys (Park also recommends them in her building-toy guide). That makes for a different building experience that kids can enjoy from the toddler years all the way through upper elementary school. The simple, open-ended rainbow starter packs are great for toddlers, but Corsillo recommends larger kits and the more advanced themed kits for kids around 8, who are ready to take on the origami-like challenges of building more complex designs. $90 at Amazon Buy $90 at Clixo Buy Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Art Easel $97 now 18% off $80 Not only does an easel give kids a dedicated place to create, but standing up to work on their art pieces can also help kids develop core strength and large motor skills. This one from Melissa & Doug is our top pick for kids art easels and would make a great long-lasting gift because you can adjust the height, it folds up easily for storage, and it has a dry-erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other with a dowel between to hold a roll of drawing paper. $80 at Amazon Buy $80 at Amazon Buy Wooden Space Saber $75 $75 Play-fighting my neighborhood friends with plastic Star Wars lightsabers was a big part of my childhood, and I had never even seen the movies. Thats because even for the non-fans, there is something irresistible about dueling with the franchises signature weapon. While there are plenty of toy lightsabers out there, they are generally made of plastic, and often dont hold up to heavy-duty play. DeRoche says her 7- and 10-year-old kids both love these wooden swords that are much more durable while still being lightweight enough to play with. Though because of the strength required to lift them not to mention the maturity to play at least somewhat safely DeRoche says these are best suited to kids over 6. $75 at Etsy Buy Manhattan Toy Company Wild Ones Bean Bag Toss $56 now 36% off $36 Hickey recommends this artfully designed cornhole game as a fun and interactive way for kids to play together with each other or with grownups, while learning cooperation and turn-taking. While cornhole is traditionally played outside, this set is small enough to be used indoors too (and stored easily). Its small size is well-suited to toddlers, but the simplicity of the game makes it one the whole family can play. $36 at Amazon Buy $36 at Amazon Buy DeRoche says these play silks are workhorses in disguise. These colorful swaths of fabric can be used for everything from playing dress-up to building forts to playing peekaboo, depending on whos using them maybe one day theyre a little kids superhero cape, and another theyre the backdrop for a bigger kids theatrical performance. Sarahs Silks are the go-to brand, recommended by DeRoche, Vilmenay, Corsillo, and dozens of other parents and educators weve spoken to over the years. Their durability helps make them worth the splurge; DeRoche says she has seen her kids use them every which way and theyve never torn. Yotos screen-free audio players were frequently mentioned to me by parents as investments that have lasted their children for years. The players can connect to Wi-Fi and stream audio through the Yoto app, or they can be used without Wi-Fi by inserting a music or story card into a slot on the side of the player, so that kids can listen to audiobooks and music. Occupational therapist Kelsie Olds says the Yoto a great way to keep young kids from having free access to the internet, while allowing them to listen to music on their own, in a way they have control over. Kathryn VanArendonk, a Vulture critic who wrote an ode to the Yoto Player back in 2022, says the Yoto Player has a longer life span than the also-popular Toniebox, which uses plastic figurines to select audio instead of cards. VanArendonk prefers the Yoto Player because its easier to travel with, has better functionality for skipping songs, and because the cards contain longer audio tracks than the Tonieboxs 90-minute limit beneficial for older kids with longer attention spans. Play kitchens were also frequently mentioned. Like the cuttable play food above, play kitchens let kids make sense of the real world through dramatic play. This one from Hape is our favorite play kitchen because of its durable wooden build and simple design. Wee Talkers founders Carly Tulloch and Katie Sterbenz both also recommended it to me, saying its one of the most played with items in both of their homes by kids ages 9 months to 4 years old. Over $100 Fat Brain Toys Air Toobz $167 $167 This air-powered building toy, which is also one of our favorite STEM toys, lets kids create their own arrangements of transparent tubing for foam balls to fly through. They can also adjust the airflow to see how different levels of air pressure affect how the balls move, and experiment with making them hover or shoot out of an open tube. Corey says this can be a great family activity, or something kids can do alone, but either way its easy to play with for hours. Because its recommended for kids 3 and up, its another great option for siblings of multiple ages to play with together. $167 at Becker Buy Multiple parents sang the praises of the Nugget play couch and its newer sibling, the Chunk ottoman, as toys that their kids of multiple ages have used for years. The modular, fabric-covered foam pieces can be used for lounging and relaxing, sure, but theyre much more frequently deployed to build forts, obstacle courses, tunnels, and whatever else kids can imagine. They also make great cushions for wrestling, gymnastics, and generally jumping around without destroying the cushions of your actual couch. Marble Roller Racetrack Wooden Toy $140 $140 Yes, its another marble-run toy, but DeRoche says this handcrafted one is the best toy she has ever purchased; her 7- and 10-year-old kids are still playing with it six years after she originally bought it. You dont have to engineer the marble-run aspect, DeRoche says. It just is there. And I know sometimes in STEM-focused child-rearing thats seen as a negative, but I also think sometimes you just want to see the marbles go. $140 at Amazon Buy $140 at Amazon Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. I feel like one of the most important takeaways from this story is, like, if the cops bungled THIS case, of the absolute "perfect victim" -- a photogenic little white girl from a wealthy, Christian nuclear family -- and bungled it THIS badly, just imagine how hard it is for everyone else to get answers and/or justice. And yet we just want to keep giving them money. The crime scene was so contaminated from the start, idt we'll ever really know the truth. The podcast The Prosecutors actually did a very good job of convincing me of the intruder theory, but then I had to unsubscribe bc it turns out they're secret Tr*mpers. So uh lol idk Edited at 2024-11-27 02:52 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Youre missing the fact that this case was likely never solved BECAUSE the family were rich and white. That likely the parents did it but because they had an insane amount of money to hire lawyers and PR professionals and had connections with the Boulder police that they were never properly interviewed by police thoroughly and then went on a PR tour to promote the theres a child murderer out on the streets narrative. If it wasnt a rich white well connected family fingers wouldve been pointed at the parents asap which meant the crime scene would not have been contaminated in the first place. Reply Parent Thread Link And another thing to note is that a grand jury actually did vote to indict the Ramseys for her murder! It was the prosecutors office who unilaterally declined to indict. The Ramseys were incredibly wealthy (like private jet wealthy) and well connected in Boulder, lets put two and two together here. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I haven't read this article yet but I did watch the docuseries I agree with the author, it lacked nuance. The Paradise Lost documentaries are excellent so I expected more from the filmmaker. Like why did they focus so much on the John Mark Karr theory even though that was debunked? Weird choice. I also thought they kind of hand-waved away the ransom note, which is the most odd aspect of this tragedy imo. Who would write a three page ransom note asking for a very specific amount of money only to murder the little girl and leave her in the house? I don't have a theory about who killed her but that is why I struggle to believe it was an intruder. Also the broken window John Ramsey didn't realize they hadn't repaired the broken window in the basement? In Colorado? In December? Reply Thread Link i was shocked when after that prolonged lead-up the suspect wound up being karr. i am old enough to remember that entire debacle, but i never knew about the lengthy phone calls or other details. it was a real wtf moment, and to place it so late in the series was a confusing choice imo. Reply Parent Thread Link i thought it was so gross they played that long tape of John Mark Karr describing how he killed Jon Benet, which is clearly a fantasy of his that he gets off on. It's very obviously not true and I'm sure he's getting a kick out of it being included, wherever he is. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, that was really fucked up to include. I'm sure any pedophile watching enjoyed such a vivid description Reply Parent Thread Link Didnt I read somewhere that the dad was involved in making the documentary? It would explain downplaying the ransom note and focusing on an outsider as the murderer Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like this isnt the first time Ive seen complaints that Netflix documentaries were sloppy. I dont really trust the Netflix brand at this point tbh Reply Thread Link the craziest part to me is how that mock trial on the geraldo show was allowed to air on tv...geraldo rivera was a menace to society Reply Thread Link That was just gross. And that lady talking about what jonbenet was doing with the saxophone, only to see the actual vid of her being completely innocent with it, was truly bizarre and disgusting. Shame on that lady. Edited at 2024-11-27 11:08 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link That bothered me so much. Reply Parent Thread Link i wish they'd leave this little girl alone :( Reply Thread Link Thank you! I find it sick how the public has always treated this like a game of Clue. It's all about proving their theory right and no one cares about the innocent little girl who brutally lost her life. Like she was only 6. SIX. A first grader. She had Beauty and the Beast sheets on her bed. She wanted a pink bike for Christmas. She was still learning how to read. She was a CHILD. Yet her murder turned into this cottage industry of entertainment for so many people for decades. Reply Parent Thread Link I finished this now and can fully say I think it was shit. The main reason this doc presents that the parents weren't involved is the foreign DNA evidence but they then go on to say they think the DNA is so trace/degraded that it can't properly be trusted to rule out the other people they've accused. The last ep focusing on the pedophiles who clearly became obsessed with Jon Benet once she was in the news as alternatives was ridiculous. I expect John Ramsey/the family wanted this made after the one that came out a few years ago pointing the finger at the brother. Reply Thread Link yeah, i wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt before watching and reading comments in yesterday's post, but it was clearly designed to inspire sympathy toward the father/family in general. i think the focus on some of the criminals in the final episode was more ridiculous than others, but other than that i agree with your take. Reply Parent Thread Link John Ramsey's re-engagement with the media in these last few years, including this, just makes me so suspicious. Trying to reframe the case as two wealthy, white, and well lawyered people (well John hired the best for himself, Patsy got good but not top of the line) as some systemic injustice issue should be more critically analyzed and is rightfully critiqued here. The investigation was handled horribly and the crime scene irrevocably tainted but injustice tends to involve innocent people spending years in prison or jail, not someone hiring expensive PR and lawyers while living free and enjoying the privileges of wealth. Reply Thread Link at the end of the documentary, a small, optimistic part of me thought that maybe he's been more engaged because he wants to put pressure on re-testing of dna samples. but after reading this article and other coverage, i honestly don't know what to believe lol. Reply Parent Thread Link he's always been involved with the media. he participated in documentaries in 2016, 2019, 2022, etc. he's done interviews every year. he goes to crimecon. it was an injustice tho. by the parents narrowing in one the parents from day one and refusing to consider other possibilities, a little girl's murder is still unsolved 30 years later and her parents had to deal with being suspects while they were grieving. Reply Parent Thread Link He's in his 80s now. He's trying to spin it as much as he can. Reply Parent Thread Link Please let this poor girl rest. I sometimes think about this case and how if she were alive today shed be in her 30s, but shes a little girl forever. Reply Thread Link This is why I have absolutely no interest in watching anything about this poor girl. I was a kid when it happened and now Im close to 40 - nothing has changed since then. This was a massive fuckup from the cops and thats why well never know what happened. Let that child rest. Reply Thread Link I mean, Netflix has single-handedly ruined the genre of documentary. Every Netflix doc lacks nuance, they are all copy + paste of each other. Reply Thread Link i heard for the days pre-2018 when an HBO original documentary actually meant something. the last good Netflix contribution to the genre was the Dirty Money docuseries that THEY REFUSE TO BRING BACK WHERE ARE YOU ALEX GIBNEY???? Reply Parent Thread Link Enough. Leave that poor baby alone. Reply Thread Link I don't know what happened. I hope one day we'll know. But, it won't be from salacious docuseries and guesswork. I also hate the theories about it being the brother, Burke, based on really nothing. What bothers me most is how for many people on that theory the entire theory is that this (then) 9 year old child was evil, sexually abused, and then killed his sister. With people saying things like "look at his eyes, there's a darkness" and analyzing his mannerisms, both when he was a child, and with the Dr. Phil interview. They can't accept that maybe his sister being murdered hours after they opened Christmas presents fucked the guy up. Throw in that he's LIKELY (in spite of his dad's denials) on the spectrum. Also, I know she's a horrible, degenerate, but we need to quit deadnaming Alexis Reich. Nothing is gained from it or using the pronouns. Ripping somebody's preferred pronouns away from them "because they suck" proves nothing than the fact that you're willing to do that. Absolutely no different than calling somebody a slur for the same reasons. Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. Reply Thread Link wow, i had no idea about alexis reich because the documentary deadnames her. ia with you 100%. Reply Parent Thread Link It's fucking insane to me Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Its still crazy to me people believe an elementary-aged kid would be able to continuously lie about not being a murderer. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The amount of rich and white privilege in this case should be studied. You guys would not for one second think it was an intruder if this family was not white or rich but the same set of circumstances and events played out. Reply Thread Link I'm so sick of true crime. I used to watch a lot of it, on yt as well, watched Bailey. Now it's so disgusting to me, can't watch it. Just leave the victims alone and let killer rot away Reply Thread Link DOL Awards Wisconsin $4.3 Million to Support Workers Affected by Opioid Crisis The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $4.3 million to Wisconsin to fund job training and disaster relief efforts for those affected by the opioid crisis. The U.S. Department of Labor has granted $4.3 million to Wisconsins Department of Workforce Development to assist communities impacted by the ongoing opioid crisis. According to a recent release, the National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant program aims to create disaster-relief positions and provide training for roles addressing addiction treatment, mental health services and pain management. Opioid overdoses now reportedly account for more Wisconsin deaths than car crashes. The Employment and Training Administration is committed to ensuring Wisconsin workers affected by the opioid crisis have access to grant funding and assistance that will help their communities address the unique impacts of this complex public health crisis, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Jose Javier Rodriguez said in a statement. This Dislocated Worker Grant provides critical support to Wisconsin by providing jobs to affected workers and training to assist professions in the areas of addiction treatment, mental health and pain management. The funding also supports programs to help individuals reintegrate into the workforce or transition into fields that combat opioid addictions effects. Wisconsin qualified for this federal assistance following the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' declaration of the opioid crisis as a public health emergency in 2017. DOL Settles with Mississippi Manufacturer Following Worker Fatality Jindal Tubular USA has settled with the Department of Labor over a fatal workplace incident, agreeing to pay penalties and implement significant safety reforms. The U.S. Department of Labor finalized a settlement with Mississippi-based Jindal Tubular USA LLC, requiring the steel pipe manufacturer to address safety lapses linked to the January 2024 death of a 25-year-old worker and critical injuries sustained by a 20-year-old colleague. Following an OSHA investigation, the company has agreed to withdraw its challenge to citations and pay $442,815 in penalties. Inspectors found that Jindal Tubular failed to secure stacked pipes properly, leading to a 2,000-pound collapse. This incident marks one of several safety violations identified at the companys Bay Saint Louis facility. OSHA cited Jindal Tubular for 29 violations, including three repeat violations such as failing to guard machinery and neglecting to inspect electrical insulating gloves. Additional issues included unguarded fall hazards, combustible dust accumulation and improperly marked exit doors. Since 2019, Jindal Tubular has accrued 46 violations. Jindal Tubulars repeated failure to provide employees with a safe workplace has been truly disturbing, OSHA Area Office Director Courtney Bohannon in Jackson, Mississippi, said in a statement. We hope this settlement signals a new willingness to make employee safety the centerpiece of its operations. Under the agreement, Jindal Tubular must hire a third-party safety consultant within 30 days to create and implement a comprehensive safety plan, conduct monthly audits and upgrade electrical systems in high-risk areas. The company will also provide stacking yard employees with safety training, employ a certified safety professional for every shift and report injuries to OSHA quarterly for three years. Two weeks ago, U.S. oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) announced it had reached 500M barrels of oil produced from Guyana's offshore Stabroek block, just five years after it kicked off production at the location. According to Exxon, the first three projects--Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2 and Payara--are already pumping more than 650K bbl/day. The Exxon-led consortium which includes Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) and China's Cnooc (OTCPK:CEOHF) have set a target to reach production of at least 1.3M bbl/day of oil by year-end 2027, a feat it hopes to achieve when six approved offshore projects come online. And now one of the worlds biggest oil consumers is eyeing the light and sweet crude produced by the tiny South American country. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday during a visit to Guyana that his government views Guyana as key to Indias energy security. Modi told a special sitting of Parliament that he views Guyana as an important energy source and that he will encourage large Indian businesses to invest in the country. Guyana did not immediately grant Modis wish, with Indias External Affairs Minister Jaideep Mazumdar saying talks will continue and that such a deal would ensure greater predictability. Guyanese Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat told reporters that Guyana is willing to supply India with a large amount of crude, if Exxon Mobil, the main operator in Guyanas offshore oil production, agrees to such an arrangement. We know Exxon has to do some amount of changes to their lifting schedule and logistics because their preference is for the very large vessels that can accommodate two million barrels mainly because of distance and cost, Bharrat said. According to Bharrat, Guyana prefers that Indian companies bid for oil blocks and negotiations can proceed once a bid is submitted. Enhancing Energy Security With India recently becoming the biggest buyer of discounted Russian oil ahead of China, it appears counterintuitive that it would be so eager to buy crude from a country located nearly three times farther away than its much larger neighbor. Russian crude exports to India in July reached a record 2.07 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with 1.76 million bpd to China. However, energy security has become a critical issue for India due to its surging energy demand and limited domestic resources. Related: What Will Trumps Approach Be To Saudi Arabia And OPEC+? Previously, we reported that Indias energy security has been severely compromised by the ongoing Middle East conflict. Whereas a lot of focus lately has been on Indias surging imports of Russian oil, the country actually buys the lions share of its oil from the Middle East. In August, the Middle East accounted for 44.6% of Indias crude imports, up from 40.3% in July. Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are the main Middle Eastern suppliers of oil to India. In contrast, the share of Russian crude fell to 36% after five straight months of increases. Meanwhile, India imports nearly half of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar. Back in February, India's Petronet LNG (PLL) and QatarEnergy inked a long-term LNG Sale & Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the supply of around 7.5 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) of LNG to India over the next 20 years. The deal involves LNG imports of $78 billion by the PLL during the contract period. Indias geostrategic positioning and access to two of the worlds most critical maritime chokepoints--the Malacca and Hormuz Straits--make it a critical player in the global oil trade. Hormuz is the world's most important oil transit choke point. Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes that are critical to global energy security. Even temporary disruptions that occur along these critical routes can lead to substantial increases in shipping costs, increasing world energy prices. Located between Oman and Iran, Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait of Hormuz is the only maritime link to the rest of the world for Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, with their economies highly dependent on imports for basic necessities. Over 85% of Indias oil is imported via the Strait of Hormuz while key trade routes pass through the Malacca Strait. Together, these straits see over 60% of the worlds oil flow and a third of global trade, underscoring their strategic importance for not only Indias but the worlds energy security and economic continuity. 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. 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. Its possible that these developments mark the beginning of de-escalation of tensions in the region. However, U.S. officials have warned that negotiations are not complete after previous hopes for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire were dashed. Further, the fact that Israel has dramatically ramped up its campaign of air strikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon just hours after news of a potential deal came out does not inspire a lot of confidence. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com A cease-fire deal has ended over a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and political party. The U.S.-brokered agreement is a major victory for Israel, which has achieved its key war aims, experts say. Israel has eroded Hezbollah as a military power as well as a political and economic force in Lebanon. Israel has also succeeded in decoupling Hezbollah's rocket and missile attacks on Israel from the Gaza war. The Iran-backed group began its attacks soon after Israel's air and ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave in October 2023. The truce will also end the presence of Hezbollah -- a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, although the EU has only blacklisted its armed wing -- in southern Lebanon, its stronghold. Israel, too, must withdraw its ground forces from Lebanon. "Israel got the deal it wanted," said Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy. "Some are arguing in Israel that it would have been better to continue the war and aim for Hezbollah's full defeat, but the deal Israel achieved is as good as it could have hoped for," he added. Don't Underestimate Hezbollah Israel's devastating aerial bombardment of Lebanon decimated Hezbollah's leadership and military arsenal. But experts say it is too early to write off the group, which has representatives in parliament and retains support among the Shi'ite Muslim community in Lebanon. "Hezbollah is now a shadow of its former self, but it remains dangerous -- both to Israel and its many opponents in Lebanon," said Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Related: Indias PM Modi Says Guyana Crude Is Key For Indias Energy Security Still, the war has shattered the armed group's narrative that it is Lebanon's protector against Israel, experts say. Hezbollah vowed to continue attacking Israel until it ended its war in Gaza. But the group was forced to drop that demand. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed over 3,600 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and displaced over 1 million people. Large areas of southern Lebanon and parts of the capital, Beirut, lie in ruins. "Not only was it not able to defend Lebanon, but it dragged it into a conflict for reasons outside of Lebanese interests, and now effectively gave up on this very narrative -- as it decoupled from Gaza," said Horowitz. "The group will face a legitimacy crisis, and will have to re-invent itself, and it will have to do so with a far less intelligent and politically shrewd leadership at its helm," he added. Hezbollah has not publicly commented on the cease-fire deal. But Hassan Fadlallah, a Lebanese lawmaker and member of Hezbollah, insists that the group will stay armed. "A lot of political groups in Lebanon will oppose this," Assaad Bechara, a political analyst based in Lebanon, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda. "Hezbollah will not be present in Lebanon's southern borders and will not face Israel, so their weapons will be aimed [at Lebanon]. Lebanon's transition phase will be very difficult and precarious." The Iran Angle Hezbollah has long been the crown jewel within Iran's loose network of regional allies and proxies known as the "axis of resistance." It also served as Iran's first and most formidable line of defense against Israel. Iran will try to use the respite afforded by the cease-fire to help Hezbollah "rehabilitate and reestablish its rank and file," said Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Azizi added that Iran and its allies view the cease-fire agreement as a "temporary respite until the next phase of confrontation with Israel." Under the terms of the cease-fire deal, thousands of Lebanese soldiers will be stationed in southern Lebanon along with a UN peacekeeping force. The United States will provide military support to the Lebanese Army and will ensure the implementation of the deal along with France. The presence of the West will likely be a major source of concern for Iran, which has long exerted its influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah, experts say. Tehran will see this as an attempt to bolster Hezbollah's domestic political rivals and "erode the potential for Hezbollah to remain active in Lebanese politics," Azizi said. By RF/ERL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Australia is on track to deliver its 2030 emissions reduction target, the federal government said ahead of a report on the countrys path to curbing its carbon footprint. Chris Bowen, Australias Minister for Climate Change and Energy, is expected to reveal in his annual climate statement to Parliament on Thursday that Australia is set to cut emissions by 42.6% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels under current policy settings. Thats in line with the Labor governments target of a 43% emissions reduction, and a much larger cut compared to the 32% reduction expected two years ago. Australias current climate plan targets net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as an 82% renewable electricity target. The country is also betting big on low-carbon hydrogen to decarbonize industries. As part of the Paris Agreement, now Australia, like all other countries, will have to update their 2035 targets, the so-called Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), by the end of February 2025. Despite the government claiming success in emissions reductions through 2030, environmentalists want more. The Australian Conservation Foundation, which advocates for a net zero target for 2035, said the 2030 target to cut emissions remains too weak. The governments 43% target is consistent with more than 2C of global warming, meaning longer heatwaves, more intense bushfires and worse flooding for Australians, said the Australian Conservation Foundations National Climate Policy Adviser Annika Reynolds. While its renewable energy policies are cutting emissions, the government has facilitated further warming by approving 27 new or extended coal and gas projects since assuming office. Australia will continue to back exploration and increased production of natural gas as the fuel will play a key role in the countrys transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 and help provide a reliable source of energy to Australias allies, the Australian government said in its Future Gas Strategy earlier this year. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The EUs General Court on Wednesday dismissed a case brought by Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2, the company behind the gas pipeline that was never put into operation, challenging the EUs unbundling rules on gas transmission pipelines. These rules include extending the rules of the EUs internal gas market to apply to natural gas pipelines to and from third countries, which would have included Nord Stream 2. The main elements of the gas market rules in the EU include ownership unbundling, giving access to third parties, non-discriminatory tariffs, and transparency requirements. Nord Stream 2 challenged in 2019 these rules before the General Court of the European Union, which dismissed that action as inadmissible by an order in May 2020. Nord Stream 2 AG then brought an appeal before the Court of Justice against the order of the General Court. The Court of Justice referred the case to the General Court for re-examination. Now the General Court dismisses the action from Nord Stream 2, in a largely symbolic defeat for the pipeline. Nord Stream 2 AG could foresee that the EU institutions and a number of Member States, which had long since adopted positions to that effect, would use their power in order to extend the internal market rules to cover gas pipelines from third countries, such as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the General Court said in todays decision. Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The defunct natural gas pipeline has grabbed some headlines in recent days after the Wall Street Journal reported last week that U.S. businessman Stephen P. Lynch, who has lived in Russia for two decades and has done business there, has sought a U.S. license to try to buy Nord Stream 2. It is unlikely that the Nord Stream 2 shareholder, Russian gas giant Gazprom, would agree to hand over ownership of the pipeline to a U.S. investor, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, commenting on the Journals report. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Gazprom is assuming in its internal planning for 2025 that it would not be sending natural gas to Europe via Ukraine as of January 1, a source with knowledge of the Russian gas giants plans told Reuters. Gazproms management has yet to approve the plan for next year, but its base-case scenario is that there would be no flows via Ukraine to Europe, according to Reuterss anonymous source. The gas transit deal for Russian flows to Europe via Ukraine expires on December 31, 2024. Ukraine has said multiple times that it would not pursue talks about renewing the agreement with Russia. Moscow, for its part, has said that it was open to talks about a possible extension of the deal. Last month, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to continue delivering natural gas via Ukraine. Moscow is also ready to continue delivering gas to Europe using alternative routes, Putin said. Russias exports to Europe and Turkey, excluding ex-Soviet countries, are expected to fall by one fifth next year, to just below 39 billion cubic meters (bcm), due to the end of the Ukrainian transit deal, according to the Reuters source. That would be down from more than 49 bcm of Russian exports to Europe and Turkey expected for 2024. The European gas market is already bracing itself for the end of the gas transit deal for Russian flows via Ukraine. Earlier this month, Slovakias state energy company, SPP, signed a short-term pilot contract with SOCAR to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan as it prepares for a possible halt to Russian supplies via Ukraine. Europes natural gas market is in a precarious balance as winter begins and external factors will likely lead to a tight market at the end of 2024 and early 2025, according to Torgrim Reitan, chief financial officer at Norwegian energy major Equinor. The natural gas market and prices in Europe will be shaped in the coming months by the end of the Russia-Ukraine gas transit deal and demand for LNG in Asia, Reitan told Bloomberg TV in an interview last week. Equinor is the biggest producer of gas offshore Norway, which is now the single biggest supplier of natural gas to Europe, holding around 30% of the total European market. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The ongoing OPEC+ oil production cuts and the improved compliance with quotas from some producers are supporting Brent Crude, offering a modest upside to oil prices in the near term, according to Goldman Sachs. The U.S. investment bank expects the OPEC+ cuts to be rolled over again and the easing of the output curbs could begin gradually in April 2025, after the first quarter of next year ends. Saudi Arabia is more likely to extend oil production cuts because of the recent price drop and we now think that oil production cuts will last until April 2025 instead of January, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a recent note carried by Reuters. Any ramp-up in OPEC+ production will be gradual and data-driven, the investment bank said. Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia which have pledged numerous times to start complying with their quotas collectively saw their combined production drop by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month, according to Goldman Sachs. Last week, Goldman Sachs said that Brent Crude oil prices are set to average $76 per barrel next year, down from an expected average of $80 a barrel in 2024, amid an expected surplus on the market. The bank expects 400,000 bpd of surplus on the market in 2025. This surplus is expected to grow to 900,000 bpd in 2026. Therefore, the Wall Street bank sees Brent Crude prices averaging $71 per barrel in 2026. Earlier this week, top officials from the three biggest producers in the OPEC+ alliance Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iraq met to discuss the state of the global oil market, days before the group is set to meet on December 1 to decide how to proceed with the production cuts. 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. The most recent signal of a possible delay came from non-OPEC producer, Azerbaijan. OPEC will likely remain committed to production curbs for yet another month, the energy minister of Azerbaijan told Reuters this week. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The military regime in Mali has arrested four senior employees of a Canadian mining company as it continues to detain workers to pressure companies in the West African mining sector to pay millions in additional taxes. Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) has revealed that four employees of its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali have been detained pending trial, as a dispute over its local mining operations escalates. The giant gold miner says it will continue to engage with Mali's government to find an amicable settlement and ensure sustainable operations in the West African country. Previously, the Malian government claimed that Barrick had failed to honor its commitments made under an agreement for equitable distribution of mineral resources. CEO Mark Bristow has revealed that attempts to find a mutually acceptable resolution so far have been unsuccessful. Political instability remains a major challenge for foreign energy and mining companies operating in Africa. The oil and gas multinational divestment from the Niger Delta that kicked off over a decade has now hit fever pitch, with hordes of oil and gas majors exiting the Nigerian market. Last year, Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) finalized the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC) to local firm, Chappal Energy. The sale brings to a close the companys three-decade-long partnership with Africa's largest oil producer, during which Equinor pumped more than a billion barrels of crude from the Agbami Field. Prior to that, Chinese company Addax sold its four oil blocks to Nigerian state oil company, NNPC. In the same year, U.S. oil and gas supermajor Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) announced plans to sell its equity interest in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, which holds more than 90 shallow-water and onshore platforms as well as 300 producing wells, to Seplat Energy Plc. for approximately USD1.3 billion. Former President and Oil Minister Muhammadu Buhari initially approved the deal before reversing his decision. Two decades ago, Angola championed the so-called Angola model wherein it received oil-backed loans from China to finance the building of roads, hydroelectric dams, railways, and the like. It didnt last very long, though. The model worked just fine in the early years, with Angola borrowing a whopping $45 billion from China, and repaying some of it in oil. However, the Central African country struggled to attract investors to further develop its oilfields and boost infrastructure. And while initially there was a significant amount of excitement on the part of the oil majors for the countrys massive deposits, (think: BP, Exxon, Chevron), the deterrents remain, including unfriendly tax regimes, corruption and, in some cases, lack of security for assets. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Crude oil prices remained stable today as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, suggesting the end of violence in the oil region could be in sight. Separately, expectations that OPEC+ will extend its production cuts on Sunday helped keep the benchmarks steady. Brent crude was trading at $72.88 per barrel at the time of writing, with West Texas Intermediate at $68.80 per barrel, both slightly up from opening in Asia, after booking a dip on Tuesday, following the announcement of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. However, Israeli strikes on Lebanon shortly after that announcement raised some doubts about the longevity of the deal. Market participants are assessing whether the ceasefire will be observed, Hiroyuki Kikukawa, head of Nissan Securities NS Trading, told Reuters. We expect WTI to trade within the range of $65-$70 a barrel, factoring in weather conditions during the Northern Hemisphere's winter, a potential increase in shale oil and gas production under the incoming Donald Trump administration in the U.S., and demand trends in China, the analyst added. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, said another extension of OPEC+s production cuts at the Sunday meeting of the group would provide support for oil prices over the short term. Any ramp-up in OPEC+ production will be gradual and data-driven, the bank said, as quoted by Reuters, echoing OPEC+s own repeated reminders that it would only roll back the cuts if market conditionsthat is, pricesare right. Commodity trading majors Vitol, Trafigura, and Gunvor also do not expect more oil coming from OPEC+ after the Sunday meeting, per Reuters. This is keeping prices largely unchanged although it does not seem to be having any marked positive effect on them. What could have a positive effect on prices is the EIAs inventory report, out later today. The American Petroleum Institute yesterday reported a crude oil inventory drop of almost 6 million barrels for the week to November 22. This was the largest inventory draw since August and if confirmed by the EIA, it would provide a boost for prices. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com A court adviser has proposed that the court-ordered auction of assets of Venezuelas PDV Holding, the parent company of refiner Citgo, should be restarted after the current winning bid has failed to gather enough support from the creditors of the Venezuelan group. The sale process of shares to pay creditors and claimants against Venezuelas oil asset appropriation and debts owed by Citgo was launched by the Delaware court in October 2023. Overall, creditors and claimants have sought to recoup at courts in Delaware a total of $24 billion in claims and arbitration awards against Venezuela. Citgo is the seventh-largest refiner in the United States with a total capacity topping 800,000 barrels per day (bpd). It has plants in Texas, Louisiana, and Illinois, along with pipelines and a gasoline distribution network that supplies 4,200 outlets in the United States. After the end of the bidding process to sell PDV Holding, the Special Master appointed by the Delaware court to oversee the sale, Robert Pincus, at the end of September selected Amber Energy to acquire Citgo. Amber Energy, which is backed by a group of strategic U.S. energy investors, including Elliott Investment Management, earlier this month made a new $5.3-billion offer for Citgos parent company, $2 billion lower than the initial bid of $7.3 billion. The revised offer followed complaints from many creditors of Citgo, who have been unhappy with the structure of the initially proposed transaction which envisages a trust structure for payments. The new bid has offered creditors would be paid directly after the acquisition is finalized. With the creditors opposing the deal, Pincus now proposes to re-open Citgos financial and operational data to bidders and formally restart the court-ordered sale on December 18, according to court filings cited by Reuters. The new plan from the special master envisages accepting bids for Citgos parent company for three months beginning on December 18. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Astronomers are closer than ever to working out how the biggest galaxies in the cosmos grew so quickly before dying. The formation of galaxies in the universe should follow a fairly simple path. It starts with small galaxies, which then grow bigger and bigger until they become the giant galaxies we see in the modern universe, like our Milky Way. Easy, right? But that is not strictly true for a particular class of elliptical galaxieshuge spherical collections of stars without a clear structure. With the help of EU funding, researchers have set out to discover the origin of these galaxies and unlock more mysteries of the universe. To do that, they have traveled back in time, using powerful telescopes that can follow light to remote corners of the universe. This has allowed scientists to look at galaxies as they appeared in the past, even billions of years ago. "Galaxies are the flag posts of the universe. They are the origins of everything," said Sune Toft, a cosmologist at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark. "Understanding the detailed formation scenarios is the only way to understand the beginning of the universe and where we come from." Toft led the EU-funded ConTExt project from 2015 to 2021. The goal was to observe some of the oldest elliptical galaxies possible, stretching back into the first 2 billion years of the 13.8-billion-year history of the universe. Time travel to remote dark corners: no answers yet Although researchers have gained some insight into elliptical galaxies, they remain a mystery. "These have been known for many years, but it's kind of a conundrum how they form because they are uniformly old and dead in the local universe," Toft said. The thinking behind his research was this: as we look further back in time, by observing galaxies that are billions of light years away, at some point we should start to see the progenitors of these galaxies and be able to explain how they were able to grow so massive. "But the further away we looked, they kept looking old and dead. They have virtually no star formation," said Toft, referring to the process at the core of galaxies' evolution. That meant the galaxies must have grown very quickly in the early universe. Still, it remains unknown exactly how and when. And there is another riddle: if the galaxies grew quickly, why did they stop growing? And what did that mean for our understanding of hierarchical galaxy structure in the universe, which comprises stars, planetary systems, star clusters and galaxies? "The small galaxies are supposed to form first. So why are these massive galaxies the first ones to form?" Toft said. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Star formation His hypothesis was that these galaxies might have undergone intense star formation early on in their history, becoming what are known as starburst galaxies. Starburst galaxies have extremely dense amounts of dust and gas and can form stars thousands of times the mass of our sun every year. Our Milky Way, by comparison, forms one new solar mass per year on average. Using a telescope in Chile called the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, both of which orbited the Earth at the time, Toft set to work. He found that, in the first 1 to 2 billion years after the Big Bang, "there were enough of these star-forming galaxies to turn into the dead galaxies." These galaxies were dense and compact and looked similar to the cores of elliptical galaxies we see today. Toft worked on the premise that these progenitor elliptical galaxies formed quickly in the universe before something shut off their star formation. Then, over the next 10 billion or so years, they gradually accumulated more stars by gobbling up smaller galaxies, adding their stars to the galaxy's outer regions. Thus, the elliptical galaxies remained old and dead, but could still grow to immense sizes. The early growth of the ellipticals was likely caused by galaxy mergers that ignited star formation. "You have two major galaxies going head-on into each other, and the gas gets compressed into the center of this collision," said Toft. "This is what you need to have very high star formation rates." But what was still not clear was how these galaxies switched off. How did they stop forming stars so quickly and eventually become the dead galaxies we see today? Quenching Sirio Belli, an astronomer at the University of Bologna in Italy, is investigating this problem with his Red Cardinal project, an EU-funded initiative running from 2023 to 2028. It is using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which orbits the sun, to probe these early galaxies like never before. The emerging idea is that black holes found at the centers of these galaxies are responsible for their evolution. Almost all galaxies today, including our own, contain a supermassive black hole at their center, a huge object millions to billions of times the mass of our sun. These black holes drive the formation and evolution of a galaxy, churning and expelling gas and dust throughout a galaxy's history. Belli has found that these black holes might also be responsible for stopping star formation in early galaxies, in a process referred to as quenching. In April 2024, his team used JWST to report the discovery of a massive galaxy undergoing quenching about 2.6 billion years after the Big Bang. "It's a lucky coincidence because we observed this galaxy exactly when quenching was happening," he said. The galaxy appeared to have been growing until recently. "It just stopped forming stars," said Belli. "At the same time, we found this giant wind coming out of the galaxy. We think this is due to the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy." The idea is that the black hole became extremely active, which "pushed the gas away from the galaxy," said Belli. "So you don't have any gas to form new stars. It's like a car that runs out of fuel." What is unclear is exactly why the black hole became active. One possibility is that once the black hole eats enough material and gains enough mass, it suddenly starts releasing a lot of energy, causing quenching. "We think that once a galaxy reaches a certain mass, 100 billion solar masses, they are then eventually all quenched," said Belli. "We don't see any massive galaxy in today's universe that is still forming stars." An extremely large telescope to probe further More answers might come from new telescopes like the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is being built in Chile and due to begin its observations in 2028. "With the ELT, we can look in detail inside these galaxies" in the early universe, said Belli, something JWST is not able to do. That will tell researchers the overall star formation rate, but also "where the stars are being formed," he said. "If the ELT works as promised, it should be pretty cool." Determining the mechanism of the quenching process will be crucial in unraveling the enigma of why galaxies die, an issue that continues to perplex scientists. "It shouldn't be possible because when a galaxy is in the early universe, it's filled with gas," said Toft. "How do you go from forming thousands of solar masses per year to nothing? If we want to prove black holes are responsible, we have to find galaxies right in the process of shutting down." With that understanding, we will learn how the cosmos as we see it today came to be. 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: Aleksey from Pexels Who hasn't heard someone ask, "How much for cash?" While it may seem harmless, research reveals such demands contribute to a growing culture of informality in business. This "gray" economy, where economic activities occur without taxation, remains a significant global issue. Estimates suggest that up to one-fifth of economic activity worldwide occurs in the shadows. While the allure of lower prices may initially benefit consumers, the long-term costs can be substantial, affecting businesses, government revenue and consumer protections. Our new research within UK service sector businesses in the East Midlands indicates that these quick transactions also have many unseen costs. Cash-in-hand payments can be convenient for consumers and businesses. From a customer's perspective, paying cash often reduces the cost of services. For businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating on thin margins, cash transactions provide funds without the delays of invoicing. Our research highlighted how consumers can inadvertently pressure businesses into the informal economy by pushing for discounts for cash payments that bypass tax and regulations. In doing so, rules are often sidestepped, as one business owner confirmed: "You do feel pressure from customers, which drives all prices down The only way I can keep cutting costs would be to either use cheaper materials, not pay everything (income tax and VAT), or employ people off the record." In some cases, consumers directly request things such as VAT exemptions. As one business owner noted, consumers often ask to "lose the VAT." Another business owner said that if an invoice shows VAT listed separately, many customers immediately want it to be taken off. The research showed that consumers often view VAT as a "business tax" that doesn't concern them. Another business owner noted that when customers ask to "lose the VAT" they are effectively asking business owners to commit VAT fraud. Market conditions intensify the impact of these demands. When faced with stiff competition from businesses that bypass all regulations, one business owner felt they must cut prices or risk losing consumers to fully informal competitors. "When there's no other work, you have to take it It's a survival choice rather than greed." Persistent requests for cash discounts can create a perceived social acceptance that avoiding tax and other regulations is normal. Yet over time, this erodes the legitimacy of businesses that play by the formal rules. Business owners also noted that as cash-in-hand transactions became more common, their reputation with suppliers and financial institutions were more challenging to maintain. Businesses that rely on cash payments can have difficulty securing funding or investment, as they don't have a verifiable financial history. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Off the books The push towards informality can have lasting consequences for SMEs, which often lack the resources and profit margins to absorb frequent price cuts. One small business owner said that some businesses go "entirely off the books" in order to survive. He added that if too many customers want cash deals, businesses end up feeling like they have to do it. This is not the only concern though. Consumers also lose legal protections by choosing cash-only deals, leaving them vulnerable to poor outcomes with no official channel for complaints or compensation. This lack of recourse affects customer satisfaction and tarnishes trust in local businesses over time, affecting the reputation of those who operate legitimately. In practical terms, informal cash deals don't yield true profit for business owners. Instead, they simply allow owners to compete temporarily with more "serial off-the-books traders" who have no intention of ever complying with formal rules. The UK budget in October also added to the financial strain on SMEs by raising employer national insurance contributions and introducing a rise in the national minimum wage. Although wage rises will be beneficial to workers, the move will stretch SME budgets further, limiting the potential for growth investments due to increased operational costs. Cash discounts contribute to a culture of informality that pressures businesses, reduces overall tax revenue for the government and erodes trust in the wider economic system. Addressing cash-in-hand payments requires a balanced approach that respects the needs of small businesses while encouraging a more transparent economy. Public awareness campaigns could play a significant role in helping consumers understand how cash-in-hand, informal transactions encourage tax evasion. Highlighting the importance of fair pricing and how taxes fund public services can create more mindful consumer practices. Policymakers also have a role to play by simplifying tax regulations and offering incentives for businesses to remain or move into the formal economy. Tax deductions or credits for businesses with transparent financial practices could encourage greater compliance. Simplifying VAT requirements or offering tiered compliance for smaller businesses could also help reduce the administrative burden and incentivize legitimate practices. While awareness and incentives are essential, enforcement must also be part of the solution. Increased tax authority resources, alongside improved detection methods, can help identify businesses engaging in off-the-books work. The next time you hear the question, "How much for cash?" it's worth reflecting on the broader impact of this choice. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Plastic fishing floats and other debris wash up along the shore of the Miaodao archipelago in eastern China's Shandong province. As storm clouds gathered on a forgotten beach in China's Miaodao islands, artist Fu Junsheng picked his way through piles of plastic waste washed up along the shoreline, looking for inspiration. China is the world's largest plastic producer, and the islandsa niche tourist destinationsit in the cross-stream of several highly developed eastern peninsulas. Every squall brings fresh waves of floating debris onto the archipelago's white sand beachesand eight years ago Fu decided to make that waste both his artistic message and medium. "Our generation has witnessed rapid societal development. In the process, we've sometimes neglected nature, and at times, even ignored it altogether," the 36-year-old said as he showed AFP around his studio, full of pieces created from plastic washed ashore. One of the most striking installations features nearly 900 flip-flops, displayed in front of his seascape oil paintings. "(Marine debris) carries our daily life, the life of each of us," he said. The oldest item Fu has collected is an instant noodle packet from 1993. Despite over 30 years of exposure to the elements, it remains intact, showing hardly any signs of decomposition. "(Objects like this) don't disappear but instead break down into tiny particles, which can end up being ingested by marine life and, eventually, by us," said Fu. "This process is invisible to the naked eye." Plastic slippers collected from the shore and piled up at artist Fu Junsheng's studio on the Miaodao archipelago. 'Global problem' The Miaodao islands sit opposite the Korean peninsula, where this week negotiators from around the world are attempting to hammer out an international treaty to curb plastic pollution. Fu has found lighters and coffee bottles from South Korea on his beachcombing trips. "Marine ecological protection requires people from different countries and regions to work together," he said. "It's not a localized issueit's a broader, global problem." At university in nearby Qingdao, Fu became interested in the environmental consequences of China's rapid urbanization from the late 1980s onwards. These days China's factories make the most plastic worldwide75 million tonnes in 2023, according to official statistics. While it is not considered the world's largest plastic polluter, its 1.4 billion citizens still created 63 million tonnes of waste plastic in 2022, according to state media citing a national body. Artist Fu Junsheng picking up plastic waste along the shore of the Miaodao archipelago. Most of that was recycled, put into landfills or incineratedabout 30 percent eachwhile seven percent was directly abandoned. Fu argued that while completely eliminating plastic use is unrealistic, it is essential to use it in a "more controllable and precise way". Worldwide, over 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tonnes leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use. "People often approach these problems from an individual perspective. But environmental issues are collective challenges for humanity," he said. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Everyday household items Over the years, Fu has collected countless objectsmostly everyday household items such as children's toys, balloons, toothbrushes and bottles. His aim, he said, is to make the public recognize how intimately marine pollution is tied to their daily lives. Lighters collected from the shore displayed at artist Fu Junsheng's studio on the Miaodao archipelago. In one piece posted online, he constructed a rainbow from different colored plastic bits; in another, a deflated sex doll is surrounded by tens of multicolored rubber gloves. One display includes a shelf of worn cosmetics and toiletry containers. "These products are meant to make us feel cleaner and more beautiful," Fu said. "But they often end up in the ocean, polluting the water, damaging marine ecosystems and ultimately making our world less beautiful." 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Jamuna River in Bangladesh swells more and more during the summer monsoon, flooding the delta and eroding the riverbanks, sometimes hundreds of metres inland. Credit: Sish Dinar / ETH Zurich People are already being forced to flee the consequences of climate change to an alarming extent in the Global South, says Jan Freihardt. He believes, however, that Europe's fear of mass climate migration is exaggerated, since international migration has other root causes. Here he shares his viewpoint. Climate change displacement In my research, I deal with climate-induced migration. This is when the consequences of climate change displace people. The topic is increasingly becoming the focus of media and political attention. But I'm not happy about the way this conversation goes. I do think it is extremely important that we face the reality of climate-affected communities in faraway countries. However, an objective discussion of the topic is hardly possible in the current discourse. What is clear, however, is that climate change is already jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. Impacts such as droughts, rising sea levels or extreme weather events will make many of them leave their homes one day and start afresh elsewhere. An outlook that is causing political controversy in the Global North: The specter of excessive climate migration is regularly circulating in the media. There are fears in many places that there will be a massive rush of "climate refugees" to the North. So the central question is: Where do people go when they flee climate change? A real-world laboratory for climate migration For the past five years, we have been looking for answers to this question in a research project in Bangladesh, which is particularly hard hit by climate change. Whether it is due to rising sea levels and the salinization of groundwater or cyclones and increasingly heavy monsoon rainsin Bangladesh, as if under a burning glass, we can already see what Europe can expect in the years to come: the environment is changing rapidly and is threatening our livelihoods. This can be impressively observed on the Jamuna River. While the water meanders majestically through the landscape in the dry season, something monstrous happens in the rainy season: the river swells dramatically and tears at the sandy soils of its steeply sloping banks. Farmland and settlement areas break off piece by piece, houses and entire villages disappear in the floods. Since 2021, we have been accompanying 1,700 families, all of whom were still living on the banks of the Jamuna River at the time. During our most recent visit in spring 2024, we observed that the river had eroded more than 500 meters inland in some places, destroying thousands of homes. Together with local students, I did some detective work for my doctoral thesis to track down all the participants who had to leave their homes. What I learned in the process touched me deeply on a human leveland often surprised me scientifically. As tragic as the annual erosion of the riverbanks is, it also provides an opportunity to learn something about the adaptation strategies of those affected: what do people do when they lose all their possessions in one fell swoop? Credit: Sish Dinar / ETH Zurich Nothing like leaving We had expected people to turn their backs on this land-devouring force as quickly as possiblebut the opposite is the case: those affected remain surprisingly loyal to the river. Even those who have already lost their homes several times usually want to stay in their village at all costs. For many, moving is only a last resort. There are many reasons for this. Some still have a piece of land nearby that they cultivate. Others are held back by social ties such as family and friends. What impressed me the most was people's optimism and willingness to help. Even if the ground is eroding under their feet, they help to dismantle their neighbor's house, which is even closer to the abyss, and rebuild it a few meters inland. Our results confirm what other studies have already suggested: Of all the people who have had to leave their village due to erosion, most have only shifted a few kilometers away. Some have moved to the capital Dhaka. But only very few have left Bangladesh. Their main motivation was not climate changebut the hope of finding a better job abroad. We have documented our research on climate-induced migration in Bangladesh in a video. Last week, I presented the video together with our findings at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Azerbaijan. My message to the delegations: climate migration is not a distant future scenario, but already a bitter reality for millions of people today. However, they hardly ever flee across national borders to other countries. A team of ETH researchers led by Jan Freihardt and a local team in Bangladesh investigated how people react when they lose their livelihoods to a raging river. Credit: Anna Campert & Jan Freihardt / ETH Zurich Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. A clarifying look at climate migration In my view, the current discourse about climate migration is misguided: it is factually wrong, politically dangerous and morally reprehensible. The much-touted "climate migration wave" is based on thin foundations. Corresponding media reports are usually based on dubious studies that simply assume all potentially climate-affected people in a region to become international climate migrants, but they neglect internal migration and "stay and adapt" approaches. Such exaggerated forecasts are being misused by populist forces in Europe and the U.S. to fuel fears of mass migration and create an anti-immigrant atmosphere. Finally, the Global North fails to recognize its responsibility when it points to climate change as the main cause of migration to Europe and the U.S. People have always migrated to find better living conditions elsewhereand not just since the onset of climate change. However, climate change exacerbates existing economic inequalities, which are the real driver behind international migration patterns. Anyone who is seriously concerned about increasing migration to Europe should therefore focus on reducing these inequalities. This would also best serve the people on the ground. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain State oil and gas regulators are investigating reports that environmental consultants falsified results of tests on soil, groundwater and contamination at about 350 locations in Weld County between 2021 and this summer. The information was submitted on behalf of some of Colorado's largest oil and gas producers and was intended to determine whether work to clean up spills or close oil and gas sites met the state's cleanup standards. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, said Tuesday that based on its preliminary investigation, the agency is confident that there's no new risk to public health beyond the original conditions that prompted the work. "ECMC has also put in place additional safeguards to prevent falsified data from being submitted in the future, including requiring additional documentation and examining metadata," the agency said in a statement. The ECMC began looking into the lab results during the summer when operators notified the state of the potential falsification of information. Regulators opened an investigation into the scope of the situation and potential risks. Officials said they determined by early October that the problem involved potentially hundreds of instances of the submission of false data. Because of voluntary disclosures by operators, ECMC said it became aware that individuals at two Denver-area environmental consulting firms allegedly altered laboratory data that they submitted to the state on behalf of their clients. Eagle Environmental Consulting submitted data on behalf of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Civitas Resources Inc., according to the ECMC. Tasman Geosciences submitted information on behalf of Occidental Petroleum, the state said. Reached by phone, Eagle Environmental declined to comment. Messages were left with Tasman Geosciences. "Following the disclosure of the falsified data, we took immediate action to investigate the allegations. We hold operators responsible for their contractors' work, and I appreciate their self-reporting and cooperation to date," ECMC Director Julie Murphy said in a statement. The state's investigation could include enforcement action and fines. The agency is cooperating with law enforcement regarding possible criminal and civil penalties. Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, expressed disappointment by the actions "of a few consultants to oil and gas operators who have undermined the industry's ability to meet their regulatory obligations." "I have complete confidence in the leadership and staff at the Energy and Carbon Management Commission to investigate this falsification and take appropriate enforcement action as well as work with appropriate law enforcement," Gibbs said in a statement. 2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Many people long involved in global climate negotiations see the annual United Nations COP climate talks as fundamentally flawed. That includes me. On Sunday, the 29th round of talks finished in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was likely my 25th COP. I have attended these talks in many different roles, but largely as a climate negotiator for the Australian government. These days I attend in my academic capacity. COP29 did not achieve a breakthrough. It led to a modest increase in climate finance for developing nations and agreement on carbon market rules. But many issues were kicked down the road. COP talks are slow. And the once-a-year meetings are seen as "win or lose" moments, which complicates the dynamics. Oil states and lobbyists work to avoid mention of quitting fossil fuels. Host nations need a win, leading to "commitments" which may not lead to substantive change. Ahead of this year's talks, major climate figures called once more for reform to the COP process. But however flawed, COP meetings are the only way to get the world's nations in the same room to hash out what to do about climate change. In recent years, global leaders have been distracted by COVID, the Ukraine-Russia war and now the Middle East. But climate change is only worsening. It won't be long before real world events pull our attention back to the single largest threat we face. Why do these talks matter? Since 1995, the COP talks have acted as the main driver of global action on climate change. These talks will continue to matter until the transition to clean energy is complete and the burning of fossil fuels is no longer routine. Climate change has a one-word solution: investment. Every day, companies and governments invest money. They either invest it in status quo technologies which make carbon pollution worse, or they invest in cleaner alternatives. What the COP talks do is help change the direction of investment. You can see this working very clearly in how much is now being invested in green energy, electricity grid upgrades and energy efficiencydouble that for new fossil fuels. (Unfortunately, if you include fossil fuel subsidies, the picture is very different.) Last year, nations finally included text about the need to transition away from fossil fuels. It was hard-won. But this year, diplomats from Saudi Arabia and petrostate allies were able to block any mention of this. The text on fossil fuels was not binding. But it was influential in boardrooms where decisions on investment are made. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Process over progress? The way the COP talks are set up are not ideal. A new country is chosen every year to take on the presidency role and host the summit. The talks run for a fortnight and the agenda is vast. This year, the hosts, Azerbaijan, struggled to keep control of the agenda. As a result, issues such as the Global Stocktakewhich included the calls to quit fossil fuelswere kicked down the road to COP30 in Brazil in a year's time. Because these talks are just once a year, everything crowds into them. It is very messy. Every June, climate negotiators meet for an inter-sessional meeting before the next COP talks in Bonn, Germany, where the UN Secretariat on Climate Change has its headquarters. At these meetings, we often see efforts to walk back announcements made at the formal COP talks. Sometimes these are successful. Every delegate sent to COP talks has two reasons for going. The first is because their government is to some extent committed to solving the great problem of climate change. Five or six nations might not be, but that leaves over 190 who are. The second reason is to protect their national interests. You can, of course, do both. But this brings up a hidden issue. Many people who attend become, in my view, focused on the process, not the outcome. Twice a year, they travel to the COP itself and the Bonn intersessional, where they will meet friends and colleagues. It has become routine. The process has become, for some, the point. Five ideas for change COP talks are flawed but necessary. Could we improve them? Here are five ideas: 1. Break up the negotiating process Meetings of COP subsidiary bodies in cities where most nations have established diplomatic missions. These bodies could meet more regularly, creating pressure and momentum for more speed and outcomes. 2. Change COP presidency arrangements At times, the nation hosting the talks tries to control outcomes as much possible. But this is an all but impossible task. A better option might be to rely on the negotiators from each nation who do most of the workand make them accountable for achieving outcomes. 3. Make regional meetings more important COP is big. Hundreds of countries, thousands of delegates, and many from civil society and business. It's very difficult when everyone tries to talk to everyone. Much better progress would come if the thrust of COP talks was devolved to smaller, more regular regional meetings. 4. Gather more ambitious countries There have been several gatherings of nations wanting to do more, faster on climate change, such as the High Ambition Coalition. These gatherings can help stimulate action among like-minded leaders. But they need sustained leadership to be effective. 5. Direct action by the largest emitters In 2015, the Paris Agreement set a joint goal of keeping climate change below 2C. It was the high water mark for COP talks. Before this agreement was signed, top emitters China and the United States found common ground on climate in direct talks, despite intensifying geopolitical jostling. This helped Paris succeed. In 2025 under President Donald Trump, the US will walk off the climate action stage again. But China is now feeling more confident in shouldering a climate leadership role. What about preventing oil states from hosting these talks, as prominent climate movers and shakers have called for? You can't easily shut out countries who have signed treaties and agreements. The solution here is to organize better. Oil-state pressure doesn't have to win. While oil rich Azerbaijan's presidency of COP29 drew skepticism, there was no sign that its leaders wanted the process to fail. Needed: renewed political will Ten years ago, it felt like the world was largely united on climate. But while the Paris Agreement has helped avert the worst emissions scenarios, it has not yet led to a single year of declining emissions. Climate change has, by any measurement, slipped down the global list of urgent issues. That will change as more calamitous impacts arrive. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In 1177BC, Amurapi, the last king of Ugarit in modern-day Syria, wrote in cuneiform on baked clay to the Hittite emperor Suppiluliuma II: "My father behold, the enemy's ships have come; my cities were burned, and they did evil things in my country." Soon, both the Hittite and Ugaritic kingdoms were lost to history. More than 2,000 years later, in AD822, an artisan was carving Altar L, a monument of succession as Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat passed the rulership of the Maya kingdom of Copan in modern Honduras to Ukit Took. At some point, he dropped his chisel and left his work of political art unfinished. Within the next eight years, the institutions of government in Copan had dissolved. And by the 10th century, the last few squatters had abandoned the ghost city, with its palaces and temples swallowed by the forest. Jumping forward to 1521, Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, sent a desperate emissary to the Tarascan empire to the west, an archenemy of the Aztecs. They went to raise reinforcements to battle the army of the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, which had laid siege to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. The first emissaries were sacrificed and sent to the afterlife. The second diplomatic mission came bearing gifts for the new Tarascan emperor, Tangaxuan II, such as crossbows and swords captured from the conquistadors. The weapons piqued the emperor's curiosity, so he sent a delegation to Tenochtitlan to see if the untrustworthy Aztecs were telling the truth. But the Tarascans never arrived. They were met by refugees who told them to turn back as there was nothing but the smell of death in the Aztec city. Both Cuauhtemoc, Tangaxuan II, and their empires met horrific deaths at the hands of Cortes. Like the bronze age people of the Middle East, the great empires of Mesoamerica, and thousands of other peoples whose lives and nations now lay buried in the earth, we too are failing to react to the warning signs that could make the difference to whether humanity survives. As the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit consortium based in the US, announces: "Climate change is one of the most devastating problems that humanity has ever facedand the clock is running out." In September 2024, a report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization stated: "The science is cleargreenhouse gas emissions are rising, global temperatures are shattering records and extreme weather is wreaking havoc with our lives and our economies The decisions we make today could mean the difference between a future of breakdown or a breakthrough to a better world for people and the planet." This report came nine months after a World Economic Forum model indicated that the world is on track for 14.5 million deaths and US$12.5 trillion (roughly 10 trillion) in economic losses due to the climate crisis by 2050. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. In fact, since at least the 1970s when my father was working with Jia-Yin Wang at San Jose State University on instruments used for monitoring the environment, we should have been heeding the warnings that it was time to begin to adjust our behavior. In the 1980s and 1990s, hard data from ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica painted a clear stratigraphic history of climate change. And in 2000, geologist Richard Alley of Penn State University published a revolutionary study entitled The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. I incorporated his work in my classes on cultural ecology at Penn State. Yet, at the same time, most politicians worldwide were in denial. They were often also in the pockets of corporate interests who were more concerned that corrective action might hurt their quarterly profits and therefore continued to block the significant action required to save our planet. Meanwhile, political candidates like Al Gore failed to gain traction even though they clearly demonstrated an understanding of the science and paid deference to the experts. We're not immune to extinction No people in the civilizations I have studied during my career as an archaeologist expected to become a forgotten footnote of history. Their societies were thriving and people were enjoying life. And then they weren't. Something happened that eradicated their cultures, buried their temples, and brought down their walls. Now, their mortal remains are the vestigial remnants of once-great nations. The institutions of their government, and the increasing threatsbe they climatic, military, economic or politicalgave warnings that the paths of their nations were not sustainable. Yet, they failed to react in a timely manner. Archaeology teaches us that we are not immune to extinction. We have evolved to anticipate and respond to changes and threats in our environment, and the evolution of science best represents this survival skill. Yet, our political, ideological and economic systems adapt to different forces focused on individual success and profit. This is often in complete contradiction to the ardent remonstrations of the scientific community. We will not escape the consequences of global warming. Millions of people will die, and areas of Earth will become uninhabitable. But we may still be able to save our planet and billions of lives in the process. If you are fortunate enough to be a citizen of a powerful and free country with the ability to choose your leaders, choose wisely. Just as ancient elites like Amarapi, Suppiluliuma II, Ukit Took, Cuauhtemoc, and Tangaxuan II learned, even those who think themselves protected by gods or wealth rarely escape the consequences of their failures to act, or their indifference to the suffering of the rest of humanity. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Evolution of global CO emissions. Credit: Global Carbon Project, CC BY-SA "Natural resources are a gift from God. Every natural resource, whether it's oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, they are all natural resources. Countries should not be blamed for having them, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them. The people need them." Ilham Aliyev's speech at COP29. These were the words of Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, at the opening of the recent United Nations COP29 convention on climate change in Baku. It may seem inappropriate to sing the praises of fossil fuels at an international gathering that aims to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, this goal is completely unachievable without drastic cuts to fossil fuel use, but Aliyev's speech does have a positive, if indirect, impactit points a spotlight at the elephant in the room, one that has remained virtually invisible throughout the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) long history. COP agreements have never made commitments to limit fossil fuel extraction, even though this would be the most directand the only certainway to rein in the leading cause of climate change. Reducing demand but not supply: A pointless endeavor Fossil fuels are key to climate change, but they are largely absent from COP agreements. The biggest achievement came in 2023, at COP28 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), when an unspecified proposal was made to "transition away from fossil fuels." This was not ratified at COP29, mainly due to pressure from Saudi Arabia. In economic terms, the focus of climate agreements has always been on demand. It is expected that actions by countries (such as promoting renewable energy and public transport) or penalizing the use of fossil fuels (such as putting a price on carbon emissions) will indirectly lead to less fossil fuels being put on the market. While these measures can be effective, they often end up lacking, or even non-existent, because they depend completely on the policies and reactions of the nations and companies who own, supply, and profit from these resources. Commitments to supply-side agreements are not on the COP agenda, even though most of the fossil fuel reserves that are considered exploitableand therefore economically valuablecannot be burned if we are to even come close to the UNFCCC climate goals. They must be left in the ground. However, global CO emissions are not falling. On the contrary, the use of coal, petroleum and natural gas have hit record highs in 2024. How can we restrict fossil fuel extraction? Limits have been put forward in the past. In 2014, for instance, economists Paul Collier and Anthony J. Venables proposed a sequenced plan for phasing out coal, which would involve progressive non-growth and closure of mines, with countries staggered in a fair order. "Fairness" would be determined by ability to pay, per capita emissions and historical responsibility. We can also take inspiration from nuclear weapons treaties, as Professor of International Relations Peter Newell and political economist Andrew Simms have done. They advocate for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty along the lines of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Many states and cities around the world have already signed up to the initiative. There have also been local initiatives, such as the commitment to stop extracting oil in an area of the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador due to its exceptional biodiversity and the existence of populations in voluntary isolation. This will also benefit the global climate by reducing emissions. The proposal was initially taken up in 2007 by the then president Rafael Correa on the condition that the international community would financially compensate part of the sacrificed monetary income. However, scarce contributions to the compensation fund led Correa to renounce the initiative and allow oil exploitation. Environmentalists, affected communities and academics demanded a referendum and, after years of litigation, the right to consultation was recognized by the courts. In August 2023, a large majority (almost 60 %) voted in favor of keeping the oil reserves "in the ground indefinitely." Money does not always prevail, even in poor countries, though the Ecuadorian government has postponed its mandate to dismantle drilling sites, meaning many are still operational today. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. A blessing for some, a curse for others The above case and many otherssuch as the Niger Delta (Nigeria), where Shell has been extracting oil since 1958remind us that "God's gift" of natural resources can also be a curse. A gift for someusually multinational companies or small numbers of wealthy peoplecan be a curse not only for the planet, but also for the local population who suffer the devastating environmental and social consequences of extracting these resources, and who face violent repression when they protest. It was in places like Nigeria and Ecuador that the activist slogan "leave fossil fuels in the ground" was coined. Even if their motivation is primarily or solely to protect their territory, social movements opposing coal mining or hydrocarbon extraction undeniably contributefrom the supply sideto curbing climate change. Together with social movements, academic and political work is key to defining the areas where preventing the exploitation of fossil fuels is a priority, and to establishing economic compensation. Marti Orta-Martinez, from the University of Barcelona, is doing just this. He is leading a project to geographically define the fossil fuel deposits that should not be burned, which was presented at a seminar as part of COP29. It may sound utopian to seek supply-side international agreements, but the truth is that it is impossible to reduce global emissions and move towards decarbonization without a rapid decrease in the extraction of fossil fuels. COPs should heed this evidence. Given the magnitude of the climate challenge, it is not a question of deciding between demand or supply-side policies, but of using both, promoting them in each country, and reaching robust agreements at an international level. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new report from the government-appointed Older People's Housing Taskforce has shed light on the critical shortage of suitable housing options for senior citizens. Chaired by Professor Julienne Meyer CBE, Professor Emerita of Nursing: Care for Older People at City St George's, University of London, and involving Professor Les Mayhew, Professor of Statistics at Bayes Business School, the Taskforce and accompanying report are calling for urgent action to meet the needs of the aging population, and they have set out a number of core recommendations. This includes the establishment of an "Office for an Aging Population" to help address the crisis in older people's housing and assist the government in developing a long-term strategy to address the rapidly changing needs of our society. The report, "Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes well-being and community for an aging population", provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by older people in accessing housing that supports their independence, well-being and community engagement. With the number of people aged 65-79 predicted to increase by nearly 20% by 2040 to 11.6m and those aged 80 by 42% to 5.3m, the findings highlight the pressing need to rethink housing strategies and priorities. Key findings Our older population is growing and becoming more diverse. Over 65's are 18.6% of our population (up 2% points in ten years), with 8% born outside UK. By 2040, 26% will be over 65 making the UK a "super-aged" society. Limited supply of older people's housing. We need an estimated 30-50,000 new later living homes each year to meet this growthbut only build around 7,000 per year Living in under-occupied housing. Nearly 9 in 10 people aged 65-79 live in under-occupied housing, with more than half living in homes with two or more excess bedrooms. The current "offer" is unaffordable for most senior citizens. New research by the Taskforce shows current private leasehold older people's housing options are unaffordable for the majority of English households aged over 75 Lagging globally. Around 0.6% live in Housing with Care in the UKa tenth of the proportion in more mature markets such as U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Benefits of later living homes. With the vast majority of over 65s currently living in mainstream housing risk missing out on the proven individual health benefits of older people's housingwith significant implications for NHS budgets due to avoidable hospital admissions and delayed discharges. Living in age-inappropriate housing. Only 12% of senior citizens had level access to the entrance of their building; less than half had a bathroom on the entry level of their home. Not planning for the future. Older people are unaware of the options available to them and admit to 'burying their heads' as to their future housing needs. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. The report emphasizes the importance of increasing the volume, quality and choice of age-friendly, dementia-inclusive, faith and culture-sensitive later homes and neighborhoods for later living. Professor Meyer CBE, Professor Emerita of Nursing: Care for Older People, City St George's University of London and Chair of the Older People's Taskforce (20232024), said, "I am delighted the new government has decided to publish this report, as I believe it could help solve the general housing crisis in England today. Having championed older people issues for nearly forty years, my worry is that we will all continue to bury our heads in the sand and marginalize the aging population. "We need to be brave and give it our urgent attention. This is why we are calling for the establishment of the 'Office for an Aging Population' to not only address the crisis in older people's housing, but also, to encourage government to develop a long-term strategy to address the rapidly changing needs of our society. "The report is a call to action for all stakeholders to create solutions that address these urgent needs. We all need to 'think housing,' 'address aging,' 'promote well-being' and 'create inclusive communities.'" Professor Mayhew added, "The Taskforce has outlined nine key recommendations and one overarching recommendation to change the dial on older people's housing. However, they are a coherent package and should be implemented as a package. The government should adopt all ten recommendations and show strong leadership from the front and a real commitment to change. "There are doubts about the government's ability to deliver the 300,000 new homes a year it has promised but it should prioritize and incentivize older people's housing. Policymakers at a local and national level also need to ensure that those homes are in age-friendly neighborhoods with good public transport routes, street furniture and access to services such as GPs." Core recommendations Standardize definitions of Older People's Housing/Later Living Homes (OPH/LLH) Incentivize a wide range of OPH/LLH options Ensure more housing is designed for later life Create age-friendly, dementia-inclusive, faith and culture sensitive communities and neighborhoods Expand OPH/LLH at scale and ensure it is affordable to live in, and viable to finance, build and operate Strengthen planning policies Establish a national information platform and local hubs Build consumer confidence Enhance innovation, research and professional development Overarching recommendationCreate collective leadership to drive change More information: Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes well-being and community for an aging population. www.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/p EPORT-PUBLISHED-.pdf 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: Ahou Daryaei was attacked by the morality police for wearing clothes deemed "inappropriate," and took her clothes off. Her political gesture went viral. Credit: X Amnesty Authoritarian regimes rely on patriarchal structures to consolidate their power. In Iran, this partnership serves to control women's bodies. Through both strict dress lawssuch as the compulsory veiling lawand punitive sanctions, women are shaped into "body objects," showcases of propaganda that reinforce the regime's moral and political authority. Iranian women have always engaged in acts of resistance to this appropriation of their bodies. In Iran today, their struggle has evolved into using acts of disobedience to reclaim their oppressed bodies as tools of emancipation. Their bodies become political statements that symbolize their relentless quest for freedom and dignity, even at the cost of their lives. I'm an Iranian-Canadian sociologist and doctoral candidate in feminist and gender studies at the University of Ottawa. My research focuses on how Iranian women have resisted discriminatory laws since the 1979 revolution. As a feminist activist and researcher, I am particularly interested in women's movements in Iran. These movements, which are fighting gender apartheid in the name of emancipation and equality, have become sources of inspiration to feminism on the whole. Body autonomy performance Ahou Daryaei, a French-language student at Tehran's Azad University, has become a recent symbol of this struggle. Attacked by the morality police for wearing clothing deemed to be "inappropriate," she responded with a radical act: she removed her clotheswhich were apparently tornand stood up, vulnerable, yet powerful. In an instant, her body became a message, a challenge to the oppressive authority of the regime. This image, shared on social networks, inspired a wave of national and international solidarity, demonstrating the immediate and universal impact of these performances of bodily disobedience. The young woman was sent to a psychiatric institute. A few days later, Arezou Khavari, an Afghan teenager from an underprivileged district of Tehran, ended her life by throwing herself from the roof of her school after being harassed for wearing jeans under her school uniform. In this desperate act, we see the ultimate act of resistance: wearing jeans and no hijab, Khavari rejected a system that was trying to erase her identity. This young girl was triply marginalized as a female refugee and resident of a working-class neighborhood in a society that shows particular contempt toward Afghan women. Sadly, she is one of the many teenage girls who, in less than a year, have been driven to suicide after suffering harassment and aggression from their family or their school because of their resistance to strict rules about their appearance and dress codes. Mahsa Jina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died on Sept. 16, 2022, after being arrested and violently assaulted by the vice police in Tehran for wearing a headscarf deemed to be "inappropriate." Her death triggered the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, a massive and unprecedented wave of protests in Iran against the regime and its discriminatory laws, notably on compulsory veiling. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. From body object to body subject These acts of resistance are part of a continuum in which each gesture of bodily disobedience by women and girls pushes the struggle one step further. In 2017, Vida Movahed held her veil up on a stick, a simple but radical performance that marked a turning point in Iranian women's public resistance. Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old teenager, defied the prohibitions by burning her hijab and chanting "Woman, Life, Freedom," before being brutally raped and murdered by regime forces. These acts of revolt, though suppressed with extreme violence, have gone beyond Iran's borders. In Egypt, Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, published a nude photo of herself in 2011, posing with provocative confidence. Her message was directed not only to the authoritarian regime, but also to the patriarchy that sought to reduce her body to a question of shame and modesty. Women's bodies, which have long been the instrument of patriarchal and ideological control of women, are now becoming weapons of emancipation. Each gesture, through its symbolic power, rewrites the patriarchal norms and gives the struggle a universal scope, challenging authority and redefining the autonomy of women's bodies. Psychiatric asylums for women who resist The case of Ahou Daryaei, accused by the regime of suffering from mental instability and sent to a psychiatric hospital after protesting against the compulsory wearing of the hijab, illustrates the systematic pathologization of female dissent. This tactic recently gained institutional momentum with the announcement of the creation of specialized clinics to "psychologically treat" unveiled women, an attempt to transform their resistance into a "mental disorder" requiring pseudo-scientific treatment. This practice is reminiscent of medieval witchhunts, where transgressive women were accused of demonic pacts in order to justify their persecution, as analyzed by philosopher Silvia Federici in "Caliban and the Witch." These contemporary disciplinary institutions seek to discipline bodies and minds in order to maintain an authoritarian patriarchal order. In "Madness and Civilization," French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault shows how madness was historically constructed to marginalize deviant individuals, particularly women whose behavior challenged established norms. In Iran, this process can be seen in the recent psychiatric treatment of three famous actresses who refused to wear the hijab. The authorities have declared them "mentally unstable." These measures disqualify their political acts and reflect a biopolitical mechanism where, under the guise of "care" and "treatment," the regime imposes absolute control over women's bodies, turning collective resistance into a pathology. From body objects to subjects of emancipation These bodily performancesburning a hijab, dancing in public, stripping naked or even dying in defiance of the rulesembody the performativity described by philosopher Judith Butler. Through their gestures, these women redefine norms and reappropriate their bodies, once "objects" of patriarchy, to turn them into "subjects" of emancipation. This transition to self-subjectification represents a fundamental empowerment: their bodies no longer submit to the "norms" imposed by the regime, but become a space of freedom and resistance. These resistances, though rooted in a specific context, reflect what French feminist and writer Martine Storti calls "the emancipatory potential of universal feminism," where struggles for freedom transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. For Storti, the universal does not impose a single model of liberation, but feeds on the diversity of experiences and struggles, recognizing their ability to transcend cultural and political boundaries. The slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" is much more than a unifying call. It's a promise of transformation, an affirmation that freedom and justice are not privileges, but fundamental requirements. Each woman, through her courage, writes a page of history where the quest for bodily autonomy becomes a collective act, and a universal desire to live freely in the face of oppressive systems. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Several top law firms are turning to specialists to beef up their artificial intelligence compliance practices in a way they wouldn't with more established areas of law. They're hiring data scientists and technologists as they test clients' systems for bias, ensure compliance with emerging regulations and rethink their own legal offerings, which may themselves be enhanced through the use of AI. The emerging field, which has consumed popular imagination for AI's often lifelike behavior, also gives rise to potential legal snags. "The legal and the technological issues are inextricably intertwined, and we believe that over five years ago, when we launched the practice, that to truly be an AI practice, you needed legal and computational understanding," said Danny Tobey, partner and global co-chair of AI and data analytics practice at DLA Piper. Unlike other areas of law such as environmental regulations or automotive safety, where legal experts routinely handle intricate details, AI poses unique challenges that require technologists' expertise, Tobey said. "AI is unique because we're not just talking about an incredibly complex and novel technology that is developing every day, but at the same time we are rewiring the infrastructure of how we practice law," Tobey said in an interview. "A true AI practice combines both legal and computational skill sets." DLA Piper is among many multinational firms employing this strategy. Faegre Drinker has a subsidiary called Tritura that employs data scientists to advise clients on using AI, machine learning, and other technologies driven by algorithms, according to its website. DLA Piper, which employs 23 data scientists, confirmed it hired 10 data scientists away from Faegre Drinker last year. Faegre Drinker did not respond to emails seeking comment. Others employ technologists as they incorporate AI into their own practices. A&O Shearman announced last year that it had launched an AI tool called Harvey built using the OpenAI's ChatGPT platform that could "automate and enhance various aspects of legal work, such as contract analysis, due diligence, litigation and regulatory compliance." Clifford Chance said in February that it had deployed an in-house AI tool called Clifford Chance Assist that was developed on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI platform. The tool would be used to automate routine tasks and improve productivity, the firm said. "Teams of legal technologists in the U.S. and globally are thinking through what automation and AI solutions may be helpful for us as legal professionals," Inna Jackson, technology and innovation attorney for Americas at Clifford Chance, said in an interview. Red teaming and governance To help clients figure out whether their AI models perform within the bounds of regulations and laws, DLA Piper routinely employs so-called red teaminga practice in which officials simulate attacks on physical or digital systems to see how they would perform. "We're working with a major retailer on testing various facial recognition solutions to make sure not only are they living up to their technical promise, but are they legally compliant and in line with the latest pronouncements from federal agencies and AI related legislation," Tobey said. He noted that companies are rapidly incorporating AI in human resources as well, "from hiring to promotion to termination." "It is an incredibly regulated and fraught area that raises the risk of algorithmic bias and discrimination," he said. Clients large and small are looking for the proper controls, Jackson said. Large clients "are interested in figuring out what is the right governance model to use in deploying AI, in building AI, in partnering for AI," Jackson said in an interview. While smaller clients are likely building governance practices from the ground up, she said. "And by governance I mean processes, controls, thinking through laws and regulations that may apply, best practices that may apply," Jackson said. "So everybody's thinking through the best ways to approach AI." DLA Piper and Clifford Chance were among 280 chosen to participate in the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium, which is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. The goal is to develop "science-based and empirically backed guidelines and standards for AI measurement and policy, laying the foundation for AI safety across the world," according to the AI Safety Institute. Although Congress has yet to pass any broad legislation covering AI use, the European Union's AI Act, which took effect in August, would be applicable to multinational corporations that deploy AI systems, if such systems are used to make decisions that affect EU citizens, Clifford Chance said in an advisory to clients. The EU law, which prohibits discrimination and bias, "will have a significant impact on employers and HR professionals who use, or plan to use, AI systems in their operations, recruitment, performance evaluation, talent management and workforce monitoring," Clifford Chance said. "Clients with a global presence in particular want to know how to think about EU AI Act applicability to their operations, not just in the EU, but maybe broadly outside of the EU as well," Jackson said. Clients are seeking advice on creating one set of practices that would be acceptable across jurisdictions "because a segmented approach per market obviously wouldn't be practical," Jackson said. Companies also are trying to figure out what AI guardrails will be enacted in the United States, said Tony Samp, head of AI policy at DLA Piper. "With each company that our data analysts, red-teamers, and attorneys work with, there is a parallel need for them to understand the AI regulatory landscape in Washington D.C. and the direction of congressional interest," Samp said in an email. Samp was previously senior adviser to Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., one of the four lawmakers tapped by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to draw up a report on AI innovation and regulation. Samp said the law firm recently hired former Sen. Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, a Republican who chaired the Intelligence Committee, to advise clients on the direction that U.S. legislation on AI could take. 2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. 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: Graphical abstract. Credit: Surfaces and Interfaces (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.surfin.2024.105190 Pesticides can be made more effective and environmentally friendly by improving how they stick to plant surfaces, thanks to new research led by Dr. Mustafa Akbulut, professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. Akbulut and his research group have developed an innovative pesticide delivery system called nanopesticides. These tiny technologies, developed through a collaboration between Texas A&M University's engineering and agricultural colleges, Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallo, professor of Horticultural Science and Dr. Younjin Min, professor of Chemical Environ Engineering at University of California, Riverside, could change how we use pesticides. "The U.S. is a world leader in agricultural production, feeding not just our nation but much of the world. Yet we are using pesticides in a way that is simply not sustainablewith a substantial fraction not reaching its intended target," said Akbulut. "Our research shows that by optimizing the surface chemistry of pesticide carriers, we can make these essential crop protection tools more efficient." The team studied different types of nanopesticide carriers, testing their "stickiness" to pepper leaves, a representative model for many important crops. They discovered that the carrier's surface chemistry plays an important role in how well the nanopesticide adheres to the plant. Nanopesticides encapsulate the active pesticide ingredients within microscopic carriers. Think of it like delivering a targeted package directly to the pest, minimizing collateral damage. This research focused on understanding how these nanopesticides interact with plant surfaces, a crucial step in maximizing their effectiveness. Pesticides are essential for protecting crops from pests and diseases, and without them, we would lose a huge portion of our harvestsup to 7080% of fruits, 4050% of vegetables, and 2030% of cereals. However, current pesticide application methods are incredibly inefficient. More than 8090% of sprayed pesticides miss their target entirely, ending up in the environment where they can cause harm. This waste is not only bad for the planet, but it is also economically unsustainable. This compound, which Akbulut and Yashwanth Arcot, Ph.D candidate discuss in their paper published in Surfaces and Interfaces Journal, is a mixture of ethyl lauroyl arginate (ELA), a food preservative compound, and neem seed extract. Arcot's interest in the research focuses on nanopesticide chemistry to ensure a higher targeting ability and the strong correlation between the nanopesticide carrier and its adsorption behavior. Akbulut believes that by using nanopesticide, he can increase the efficacy by better targeting the plant surface. Akbulut and his team aim to achieve this by taking various pesticides and modifying their interfacial properties using carriers that are best suited to interact with the plant surface characteristics. Overall, the goal of the research is to find a way for more efficient and environmentally friendly pesticide formulations that are sustainable for agricultural practices and global food security. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "This study addresses a critical challenge in sustainable agriculture by optimizing nanopesticide systems to enhance efficacy, reduce environmental pollution, and minimize impacts on non-target organisms and human health," Arcot said. Neem seed is a naturally occurring pesticide that comes from the seeds of the neem tree and is used to control pests and diseases on crops. The extract from a neem seed tree grows mostly in India but is organic pesticide management. "Organic pesticides use this formulation, and we also use this molecule in the center. Although the carriers are different, the active ingredient inhibits or inactivates the pest." According to the paper, among various types of pesticides, nanopesticides have shown to be an advanced crop protection strategy that relies on agricultural technology, nanotechnology, and materials chemistry. Akbulut said that this discovery has profound implications for the future of agriculture. By tailoring the surface chemistry of nanopesticides, scientists can optimize their effectiveness, ensuring that more of the pesticide reaches the target pest and less ends up polluting the environment. "For farmers or industry who are using the pesticides, they will clearly understand the value of this research," Akbulut said. "Pesticides, in general, are considered bad for the environment; using neem seed extract ensures crop survival from pests and is non-toxic for consumption." More information: Yashwanth Arcot et al, Influence of nanopesticide surface chemistry on adsorption to plant cuticle and wax layer: The role of zeta potential and wetting, Surfaces and Interfaces (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.surfin.2024.105190 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: Illinois researchers developed a nanorobotic hand made of DNA that can grab viruses for detection or inhibition. In this artist's rendering, three "NanoGripper" hands wrap around a COVID-19 virus. Credit: Xing Wang, University of Illinois A tiny, four-fingered "hand" folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. Dubbed the NanoGripper, the nanorobotic hand also could be programmed to interact with other viruses or to recognize cell surface markers for targeted drug delivery, such as for cancer treatment. Led by Xing Wang, a professor of bioengineering and of chemistry at the U. of I., the researchers describe their advance in the journal Science Robotics. Inspired by the gripping power of the human hand and bird claws, the researchers designed the NanoGripper with four bendable fingers and a palm, all in one nanostructure folded from a single piece of DNA. Each finger has three joints, like a human finger, and the angle and degree of bending are determined by the design on the DNA scaffold. "We wanted to make a soft material, nanoscale robot with grabbing functions that have never been seen before, to interact with cells, viruses and other molecules for biomedical applications," Wang said. "We are using DNA for its structural properties. It is strong, flexible and programmable. Yet even in the DNA origami field, this is novel in terms of the design principle. We fold one long strand of DNA back and forth to make all of the elements, both the static and moving pieces, in one step." The fingers contain regions called DNA aptamers that are specially programmed to bind to molecular targetsthe spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19, for this first applicationand trigger the fingers to bend to wrap around the target. On the opposite side, where the wrist would be, the NanoGripper can attach to a surface or other larger complex for biomedical applications such as sensing or drug delivery. Inspired by the human hand or bird claws, the NanoGripper has four fingers and a palm, all folded from one piece of DNA. Credit: Xing Wang, University of Illinois To create a sensor to detect the COVID-19 virus, Wang's team partnered with a group led by Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Brian Cunningham, who specializes in biosensing. They coupled the NanoGripper with a photonic crystal sensor platform to create a rapid, 30-minute COVID-19 test matching the sensitivity of the gold-standard qPCR molecular tests used by hospitals, which are more accurate than at-home tests but take much longer. "Our test is very fast and simple since we detect the intact virus directly," Cunningham said. "When the virus is held in the NanoGripper's hand, a fluorescent molecule is triggered to release light when illuminated by an LED or laser. When a large number of fluorescent molecules are concentrated upon a single virus, it becomes bright enough in our detection system to count each virus individually." In addition to diagnostics, the NanoGripper could have applications in preventive medicine by blocking viruses from entering and infecting cells, Wang said. The researchers found that when NanoGrippers were added to cell cultures that were then exposed to COVID-19, multiple grippers would wrap around the outside of the viruses. This blocked the viral spike proteins from interacting with receptors on the cells' surfaces, preventing infection. "It would be very difficult to apply it after a person is infected, but there's a way we could use it as a preventive therapeutic," Wang said. "We could make an anti-viral nasal spray compound. The nose is the hot spot for respiratory viruses, like COVID or influenza. A nasal spray with the NanoGripper could prevent inhaled viruses from interacting with the cells in the nose." The NanoGripper could easily be engineered to target other viruses, such as influenza, HIV or hepatitis B, Wang said. In addition, Wang envisions using the NaoGripper for targeted drug delivery. For example, the fingers could be programmed to identify specific cancer markers, and grippers could carry cancer-fighting treatments directly to the target cells. "This approach has bigger potential than the few examples we demonstrated in this work," Wang said. "There are some adjustments we would have to make with the 3D structure, the stability and the targeting aptamers or nanobodies, but we've developed several techniques to do this in the lab. "Of course, it would require a lot of testing, but the potential applications for cancer treatment and the sensitivity achieved for diagnostic applications showcase the power of soft nanorobotics." More information: Lifeng Zhou et al, Bioinspired designer DNA NanoGripper for virus sensing and potential inhibition, Science Robotics (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adi2084. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2084 Journal information: Science Robotics This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Talks at the UN's plastics conference in Busan are so far 'going around in circles', the WWF's Eirik Lindebjerg told AFP. Negotiations on a first global treaty to curb plastic pollution are moving "very, very slowly", diplomats and observers told AFP on Wednesday, threatening the chances of reaching an agreement. Delegates from nearly 200 countries are meeting in South Korea's Busan with the goal of reaching a deal by December 1, after two years of talks. But the first full day of work in four "contact groups" tasked with refining language for the treaty ended up with discussions "going around in circles," said Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy manager at WWF. "Contact group discussions are moving too slow," he told AFP. That view was echoed by several diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe closed-door negotiations. "It's very, very slow, with the usual countries constantly slowing down the process," said one delegate from a Latin American delegation. Submissions to the contact groups made clear that Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russiasuppliers of raw materials used to make plasticswere among the countries seeking significant amendments, including deleting a portion of the treaty aimed at limiting new production. In a submission, Saudi Arabia warned supply restrictions "extend beyond" the treaty's focus on plastic pollution and risked creating "economic disruptions." Others involved in the talks warned of growing frustration. "There is a difference between protecting one's interests and willfully impeding progress in the talks," a delegate from a small island state said. A European diplomat meanwhile warned that the tenor of discussions so far suggested it would be "very, very tough at the end" of the talks. "I think that we will come to a very difficult situation in two days' time at the latest," added another delegate. Still there were some bright spots, said Lindebjerg, including on proposals to potentially limit "problematic" products and chemicals. "This can take us far in eradicating harmful and unnecessary plastic items that have been poisoning humanity and nature," he said. "Now, the progressive majority of countries represented here... must act in unison and not compromise," he added. While UN agreements are generally reached by consensus, he warned that a binding treaty "supported by the majority of governments will be far more effective than a weak and voluntary-based treaty supported by all governments." That view was echoed by a second European diplomat. "The key to success is to create an agreement that has the support of the vast majority," he told AFP. That "will force the small group (of opposing countries) to try to destroy it or to be a noisy and unsatisfied minority for a treaty that they will eventually sign." 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Education should promote deep inquiry and individual autonomy, but often, it has been used as a vehicle for indoctrination. That's what Agustina S. Paglayan, a UC San Diego assistant professor of political science in the School of Social Sciences and the School of Global Policy and Strategy, argues in her new book, "Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education." Paglayan uses evidence from both the past and the present to argue that schools around the world are failing to cultivate critical thinking skills in studentsand that these institutions are actually designed to promote conformity. The book has already been praised by 2024 Nobel Laureate James Robinson as "path-breaking and iconoclastic," and Paglayan's perspective promises to open new debates in politics and education. UC San Diego Today talked with Paglayan to learn more about the research and the implications of her findings. What led you to question the conventional narrative that universal primary education was driven by democratic ideals? While I was advising education policymakers in different countries, I dug into the history of their education systems, and I noticed an intriguing pattern: Primary education was created well before the arrival of democracy, sometimes under oligarchic or absolutist regimes. That made me doubt the conventional wisdom that democracy was the main driver behind the expansion of primary education. I was curious to know if the pattern I'd noticed in a few countries held globally, so I analyzed data on the rise of primary education worldwide and discovered that the majority of children in most countries gained access to primary schooling long before democracy took root. This is true not only for countries like China or Russia, but also for most Western countries. This led me to ask: Why were non-democratic regimes so interested in mass schooling, and what legacies and implications do these non-democratic origins hold for modern education systems? These questions ultimately became the heart of "Raised to Obey." In the book, you argue that elites introduced mass education as a way to control and discipline lower-class children. How was this done, and why was it seen as necessary? Mass education was really crafted as a clever system to instill obedience to the state and its laws. Schools used rewards and punishments to enforce rules, moral education dominated the curriculum and even basic reading and writing exercises taught compliance, like when students were asked to spell words like "duty" and "order." School routinesfollowing schedules, marching in lines, asking permissionall reinforced discipline. The entire system, from teacher training to school inspections, aimed to create citizens who wouldn't question authority or disrupt the status quo. Governments saw schools as essential to maintaining internal security, viewing primary education less as a means to reduce poverty or promote industrialization than as a way to prevent social disorder. The timing of when primary education expanded is revealing: It often followed episodes of mass violence or rebellion. Prussia created its public primary education system after peasant revolts, Massachusetts passed its first education law after Shays' Rebellion in the late 1780s, and Colombia accelerated education access after La Violencia, which lasted from 1948 to 1958. In each case, internal threats heightened elites' anxieties about mass violence and the breakdown of social order, intensifying their fear of the masses and driving them to support mass education to transform "unruly" and "savage" children into compliant, law-abiding citizens. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. How can your findings about the history of education inform current political debates over textbook bans and curriculum changes? The anti-critical race theory curriculum reforms and textbook bans of the last four years and Donald Trump's recent announcement that he'll promote "patriotic education" and prohibit "radicalized" ideas from entering the classroomwhile these may sound unprecedentedare no anomaly. They fit the cross-national pattern I uncover in the book. For the last 200 years, politicians in Western societies have become especially interested in teaching children that the status quo is okay following episodes of mass uprising against existing institutions. This is precisely what has happened in the U.S. The Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020 made Republican politicians especially anxious about institutional reform. Then-President Trump responded by setting up the 1776 Commission to strengthen patriotic education and to prevent children's exposure to the concept of institutionalized racism. Republican state legislators and governors followed suit with curriculum reforms in red states, and the president-elect has made it clear he intends to extend these efforts to blue states too. A key lesson from my book is that curriculum reforms tend to stick around for a very long time, outlasting the government that adopted them. It's important for people to be aware of this fact. If you care about the content of education, now is the time to become involved in shaping the curriculum. How do you respond to those who might argue that, despite its origins, mass education has been a positive force for societal progress and equality in many places? I wouldn't be where I am today if not for teachers who equipped me with the capabilities to live an autonomous and prosperous life. Education should do this for everyone, but schools worldwide are failing to deliver on that promise. Most education systems are still more focused on instilling a specific set of values than on cultivating the critical thinking skills essential for individual autonomy. Roughly a third of children remain unable to read a simple sentence even after four years of schooling. This deficit of skills disproportionately affects low-income students. It exists in both developing and developed countries, and the problem has been recognized by numerous international organizations. In the U.S., for example, children from high-income families enter kindergarten with much stronger literacy skills than low-income children, and K-12 schools fail to close that gap. I argue that these problems are rooted in the very origins of modern education systems, which were not designed to promote skills or equity. What do you hope policymakers, educators, and readers in general will take away from 'Raised to Obey' in terms of how we approach the future of education? For public schools to live up to their promise, education systems need to be deeply transformed. The systems we have today were inherited from a time when promoting compliance was the goal, a time when critical thinking was considered dangerous. In the 21st century, critical thinking skills are essential to safeguard liberal democracy, to get a good job and to remain internationally competitive. The task ahead is not about fine-tuning the specific subjects taught. The challenge is to reimagine K-12 public schools as spaces that genuinely foster critical inquiry and creative, independent thought. As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into education, do you have any words of hope or caution about the advent of these technologies? The rise of AI has made the need to promote critical thinking skills urgent. Because of how most schools operate, students often develop a tendency to memorize and repeat what their teacher says. In doing so, they give away their power to think for themselves. AI tools are no different in this respect; the main difference is that we give our power to think for ourselves to an algorithm instead of a person. Having strong critical thinking skills can help guard against this, which is why such skills have never been more important. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A team of physics educators from Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Germany is focusing on a new approach to teaching quantum physics in schools. Traditional classroom teaching has tended to focus on presenting the history of the origins of quantum physics, which often poses problems for learners. Using the quantum measurement process as an example, the researchers have now published their first empirical findings on learning quantum physicsbased on two-state systemsin Physical Review Physics Education Research. The researchers, including physics education specialist Professor Philipp Bitzenbauer from Leipzig University, concentrate on what are known as qubits. These are two-state systems, the simplest and at the same time most important quantum systems that can be used to describe many situations. Controlling and manipulating these qubits plays a central role in modern quantum technologies. According to Bitzenbauer, until now there have been no empirical studies of the effectiveness of these approaches using two-state systems in developing conceptual understanding in learners. There is also a lack of scientific research on the specific advantages and disadvantages for learning different teaching approaches based on two-state systems. "Using the example of the quantum measurement process, one of the central problems of quantum physics, we show how to develop a survey method that can then be used in the field as part of intervention studies. Overall, teaching concepts that focus on two-state systems do indeed appear to be more conducive to learning than the traditional approach," says the Leipzig-based physics education specialist, who is the first author of the paper. Much-discussed approach for the classroom Making two-state systems the starting point for understanding quantum physics has been the subject of much discussion in recent years. According to Bitzenbauer, this approach opens the door to modern quantum technologies, be it quantum cryptography or quantum computing. One of the aims of quantum cryptography is to make communication secure against eavesdropping. Quantum computers can be used to solve problems that even supercomputers can only solve after a very long time or not at all, such as breaking down large integers into prime factors. "My team and I are working to make the ground-breaking potential of quantum technologies accessible to schoolchildren," says Bitzenbauer. The American Physical Society (APS) has invited him to present the results of the project at the APS Global Physics Summit in Los Angeles in March 2025. Bitzenbauer points out that 2025 will be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology: the scientific community can look back on 100 years of quantum mechanics making world history. And it continues to do so today, albeit at a more advanced level. Scientists are talking about a second quantum revolution that will shape the new century in the same way that the first quantum revolution shaped the 20th century. "Today, the focus is on the transition from many-body systems to the control and manipulation of single electrons, single photons or, more generally, single degrees of freedom in a quantum system. The simplest and most important quantum system has only two degrees of freedomthe two-state system. And this is the starting point for teaching quantum physics in schools," says the researcher. More information: Philipp Bitzenbauer et al, Design and evaluation of a questionnaire to assess learners' understanding of quantum measurement in different two-state contexts: The context matters, Physical Review Physics Education Research (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.020136 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The sounds produced by male reindeer probably tell potential mates a lot about the caller: their age, size and weight. These are all important considerations for a female during the rut, according to a new Concordia-led study. While this is true of different mammals, reindeer vocalization has been understudied compared to other species. Writing in the journal Bioacoustics, the authors report that acoustic features from the vocalizations made during the rutting season likely convey reliable information about male reindeers' attractiveness or quality to potential mates. These vocalizations are intended for both females and males, they note. The grunts of a rutting male indicate both their potential attractiveness to a mate and their maturity and strength to male rivals. "In this context, we wanted to see if the receiver could differentiate males just by their call," says Robert Weladji, a professor in the Department of Biology and the paper's corresponding author. "The aim was to investigate the vocalizations and see what acoustic features are there and assess whether those features are associated with males' qualities such as age and weight." Credit: Concordia University What's the frequency, Rudolph? The researchers recorded vocalizations from a semi-domesticated reindeer herd in northern Finland during the rutting season in early autumn 2019. They took recordings from 10 different males of reproductive age, between 2.5 and 5.5 years, with 75 high-quality grunts selected for analysis. They then analyzed the grunts using specialized software. They looked at two parameters: the fundamental frequency and the formant frequencies. The fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency produced by the vocal cords in the larynx. It determines the pitch of the sound. Formant frequencies are resonant frequencies produced by the shape and size of an animal's vocal tract as sound travels through it. These formants help convey information about an individual animal's identity, physical attributes or emotional state. While the fundamental frequency does not consistently provide reliable information on an animal's attributes, formant frequencies appear to be cues to age and body size. Lower frequencies and lower formant spacing are associated with older and larger animals. The researchers found that reindeer have a particularly difficult style of vocalization to analyze. They were not able to extract the fundamental frequency either digitally or manually. However, they did have better success with formant frequencies. Reindeer vocal anatomy also complicated matters. The researchers note that reindeer possess an air sac in their vocal tract, but its purpose remains largely unknown. "We were hoping that our study would help us understand the role of the air sac or help us hypothesize how it influences vocalization, but we were unable to achieve this," says lead author Laura Puch, MSc 22. "However, we can speculate on its role based on results of studies from other species." Weladji hopes to eventually use their findings further by studying the female response to the signals in male vocalizations through a process called playback experiment. "If acoustic parameters of male vocalizations are conveying specific information, can we manipulate that?" he asks. "Can we mimic them using artificial intelligence or other tools to see if a female responds? If they do, then we can be certain that the acoustic features that we've identified are the tools males are using to tell females that they are the most fit or most attractive." ystein Holand of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Jouko Kumpula of the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (Luke) contributed to this study. More information: Laura Puch et al, The content of reindeer male vocalisations: acoustic cues to age and size, Bioacoustics (2024). DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2024.2366924 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: Recorder positions in eastern and central Fram Strait. Credit: PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314369 The long-term analysis of blue whale and fin whale vocalizations in the eastern Fram Strait offers valuable insights into seasonal and annual patterns regarding these species' occurrence in the region. For example, blue whales can primarily be heard in the summer and autumn, whereas the acoustic data on fin whales indicates that their occurrence is much longer and more variable. The unprecedented long-term dataset also confirms the sporadic occurrence of blue whalesthe largest fauna on the planetduring the winter months. The team of researchers, led by the Alfred Wegner Institute, has just published these findings in the journal PLOS ONE. The eastern Fram Strait is hard-hit by the impacts of climate change, which also affect the species living there. For example, rising water temperatures are leading to a significant decline in sea ice and to shifts in the food web. For baleen whale species, which undertake seasonal migrations, the eastern part of Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland is an important region, as an ocean current transports comparatively warm water to the Arctic there, which in turn sparks high biological productivity. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), has operated the ocean-monitoring system FRAM (Frontiers in Arctic Marine Monitoring), designed to assess long-term changes, in the region since 2014. Among others, FRAM gathers long-term observations with the aid of moored hydrophones (underwater microphones) that record local sounds, such as whale vocalizations. This data provides the basis for analyzing species occurrence, particularly with regard to the potential effects of climate change. Some of the devices were installed before the FRAM observatory was created; in addition, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory maintains two datasets. "Progressing changes in the habitat, such as the loss of sea ice, will likely have substantial impacts on the occurrence of marine mammals," reports Marlene Meister, a doctoral candidate at the Alfred Wegener Institute and first author of the study. Accordingly, the experts predict that blue whales and fin whales, which chiefly migrate to Fram Strait to feed in summer and autumn, will expand both the duration and spatial extent of their time there, or might even stay there year-round. Accordingly, in the current publication, they investigate seasonal patterns in the acoustic occurrence of blue and fin whales in the period 2012 to 2021. "Fin whales' migratory behavior is known to be relatively flexible, and the animals could be heard throughout the year. However, we were surprised to find that in three of the ten years, there were blue whale vocalizations on individual days in January and February," says Marlene Meisterwhich is unusual in her view, since the general assumption is that the animals are in waters farther south at that time of year. "Their sporadic acoustic occurrence in winter indicates that individual specimens extend their seasonal stay in Fram Strait or return there from waters farther south at this time of year. The migratory behavior of blue whales in the North Atlantic is considered to be highly stable, which is why I only expected to hear them in summer and autumn," the AWI biologist adds. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. However, since there are no long-term acoustic recordings from the eastern Fram Strait predating 2012, it cannot be said with certainty whether the (acoustic) occurrence of blue whales there in winter constitutes a new, climate-change-related phenomenon. Generally speaking, the research team was able to confirm that ocean temperatures and zooplankton abundance have a significant influence on the acoustic occurrence of blue whales. The team has made an important contribution to investigating species occurrence, and to documenting potential climate-change-related shifts. Moreover, the publication underscores Fram Strait's relevance as a valuable habitat for baleen whales (most likely as feeding grounds) and contributes to a better understanding of various species' migratory behavior. The method appliedpassive acoustic monitoring (PAM)is particularly important for monitoring the (acoustic) occurrence of species year-round and also under adverse conditions; accordingly, the AWI will continue to apply PAM as part of FRAM's long-term observations. After all, especially in winter, sea-ice cover and darkness make visual observations virtually impossible. A better understanding of species occurrence, habitat use, and migratory behavior can pave the way for more targeted protective measures, which are now particularly important: The declining sea ice is making the Arctic Ocean increasingly accessible for human activities. Rising ship traffic in the Arctic, e.g., in the Northwest and Northeast Passage, is producing increased anthropogenic stress for marine mammals. Underwater noise, especially from ships' motors and seismic surveying, is already hampering communication between baleen whales. Other potential hazards include more collisions between ships, habitat destruction, and oil spills. As such, in the age of climate change, effective measures for reducing anthropogenic stress are more important than ever. More information: Marlene Meister et al, A multi-year analysis of acoustic occurrence and habitat use of blue and fin whales in eastern and central Fram Strait, PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314369 Journal information: PLoS ONE This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Ecological Management & Restoration (2024). DOI: 10.1111/emr.12615 Researchers are calling for a transformational shift in the funding of coral reef restoration efforts across the southeast Asia region. Coral reef restoration, the active process of aiding the recovery and rehabilitation of damaged or degraded reefs, has emerged as a strategy to help these critical ecosystems in the face of climate change pressures. A study tour in Australia earlier this year involving policymakers, research funders, practitioners and scientists from Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, as well Australia, led to a paper published in Ecological Management & Restoration that reveals there's huge potential for coral restoration in those nations but how it's funded needs to evolve. JCU graduate and deputy director at UNSW's Center for Marine Science and Innovation, and lead author of the paper, Dr. Chris Cvitanovic, said the paper's intent was to capture the collective knowledge and expertise of participants in the study tour, and outline a roadmap for how to improve coral reef restoration practices in the countries where Australia funds research through its aid budget. "The discussions, as captured in the paper, pointed to the fact that funding in this space needs to evolve. The delegates from our partner countries in South-East Asia concluded that we can't just fund 'more of the same research,'" he said. "We really need to focus more on the human dimensions of reef restoration, things like how we govern restoration projects for success and how we empower local communities to have ownership over them and sustain them for the long-term. "This can only be achieved via the meaningful inclusion of the social sciences at the fore of restoration investments, alongside natural research, not as an afterthought." The study tour included workshops and presentations held at JCU in Townsville and Cairns as well as visits to Great Barrier Reef sites. Head of JCU's Center for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture Associate Professor Amy Diedrich was a co-author on the paper and she said bringing together the Australian and Southeast Asian perspectives is very useful. "It highlights the importance of understanding socio-economic, cultural, and governance considerations in Southeast Asia compared to Australia," she said. "What we do in Australian reef restoration practices might be very similar from a technical perspective, but there's other contextual considerations in Southeast Asia. "One of the big things is community participation and engagement, because obviously the context there is very different. You've got people who are very much reliant on fisheries for survival, not necessarily just at a commercial level, but at a subsistence level as well. "There are also livelihood opportunities that may emerge from restoration efforts, such as tourism. "So, the implications of managing marine areas for coral reef restoration is very different to what it would be say, in Australia, for people's livelihoods." More information: Christopher Cvitanovic et al, Roadmap for improving coral reef restoration practices in Southeast Asia, Ecological Management & Restoration (2024). DOI: 10.1111/emr.12615 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 COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical vulnerabilities within the craft beer industry, but many had been brewing beneath the surface. Ivey prof Andreas Schotter studied what it takes to make it as an artisanal business. Credit: Elevate/Pexels The craft beer industry, once the darling of consumers and entrepreneurs alike, has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. Closed taprooms, canceled festivals, and changing consumer habits have led many to declare the end of its golden era. But is the craft beer party truly overand with it, the artisanal movement as a whole? A new study from Ivey Business School professor Andreas Schotter, published in the Journal of Business Venturing, suggests otherwise. The rise of craft beer For years, craft beer was the toast of the town, with a meteoric rise that rewrote the rules of the brewing industry. By 2019, it claimed an impressive 10.1% of beer consumption in Canada and 13.6% in the U.S., becoming a cultural phenomenon. The industry prided itself on tradition and individuality, a collective of small-scale brewers who stood as the scrappy David to Big Beer's Goliath. With their hands-on craftsmanship, endless creativity and uniquely collaborative spirit, craft brewers built an identity rooted in authenticity and community. Just as craft beer reached its zenith, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Sales plunged. Small breweriesthe soul of the craft movementwere hit hardest. The once-vibrant spirit of collaboration unraveled as businesses fought to stay afloat. Driven to understand how disruptions shape craft ventures, Schotter and his U.S. colleagues conducted interviews with brewery stakeholders and analyzed industry data. What they discovered was unexpected: the craft sector isn't going stale. Instead, it's evolving, undergoing a profound transformation that could redefine the very meaning of "craft." The great craft shakeup Like industries across the globe, COVID-19 exposed critical vulnerabilities within the craft beer sector. Schotter said three that had long been brewing beneath the surface: David becomes Goliath: In the craft world, smallness was the hallmark of authenticity, with purists casting doubt on brands who had invested in larger operations. Yet, it was these small, independent companies that proved most vulnerable in crisis, while the bigger players' growth became a vital lifeline. "It leads us to the question: in today's craft landscape, does size erode authenticity? Or might it just be the key to survival?" asked Schotter. The comfort in the known: The industry's passion for noveltya defining traitsuddenly gave way to a craving for consistency and familiarity throughout the pandemic. In uncertain times, consumers sought comfort in trusted brands and classic styles, challenging the industry's reliance on constant innovation. The collaboration myth: In crisis, the "rising tide lifts all boats" mentality that defined craft's early days has been put to the test. As resources became scarce, many businesses turned inward, focusing on self-preservationraising uncomfortable questions about the limits of collaboration in a maturing industry. "These trends point to an industryand a broader movementthat's growing up," Schotter said. "The idealism of craft's early days is giving way to a more nuanced, resilient approach to artisanal business." To support craft enterprises in building resilience and adapting to this evolving landscape, Schotter outlined key recommendations: Embrace scale smartly: Growth doesn't have to mean selling out. Craft businesses need to find ways to scale that preserves their ethos while building resilience against future shocks. Redefine innovation: Innovation isn't just about the product, it's about the business model. Craft industries need to innovate in how they reach customers and deliver experiences, not just in what they produce. Reimagine collaboration: The spirit of collaboration isn't dead, but it needs reimagining. Strategic partnerships that go beyond feel-good gestures to create real value will define the next phase of craft industries. Reclaim real: As craft businesses grow, they need to find new ways to maintain the connection with consumers that made them special in the first place. This might mean leveraging technology to create personalized experiences or doubling down on local engagement even as distribution expands. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Craft businesses need creativity As global markets regain stability, Schotter's team is noticing the stirrings of a craft revival, but it's far from business as usual. The pandemic's aftershocks, coupled with shifting consumer preferences, have flung the doors wide open to a new wave of players. With competition intensifying and the old playbook tossed aside, Schotter said the path ahead will be daunting for entrepreneurs in this space. He called on craft businesses to embrace creativity, striking a balance between artisanal passion and business savvy, authenticity and adaptability. "Be it in beer, furniture design or artisanal chocolates, for entrepreneurs the message is clear: the craft party isn't over, it's just moving to a bigger, more interesting venue," Schotter said. "The question is, are you ready to adapt and join the celebration?" More information: Daniel S. Andrews et al, Trouble brewing: Craft ventures during market disruption, Journal of Business Venturing (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106433 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 furry primates and the tortoises will be sent to special centres once they return to Madagascar. Thailand is sending almost 1,000 highly endangered lemurs and tortoises back to their home in Madagascar, in what both countries called their biggest ever operation against wildlife trafficking. Thai police found and confiscated 1,117 of the live and dead animals in the southern province of Chumphon in Maythe kingdom's largest ever seizure, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly-prized endangered creatures on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam and Taiwan. The repatriation of the 963 animalsring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, spider tortoises and radiated tortoisesis a "significant step" in anti-trafficking operations, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chalermchai Sri-on said Wednesday. "For the first time, wildlife is being repatriated prior to the conclusion of legal proceedings," he added. Lemurs, which starred as loveable supporting characters in the Dreamworks "Madagascar" movies, are found only on the Indian Ocean island, and experts say they are threatened by trafficking into the pet trade. The furry primates and the tortoises will be sent to special centers once they return to Madagascar, said its environment minister Max Andonirina Fontaine who was in Thailand to oversee the repatriation. Lemurs, which starred as loveable supporting characters in the Dreamworks "Madagascar" movies, are found only on the Indian Ocean island. 'Make a success story' Six people were arrested and charged with endangered animal trafficking in May, and could face up to 15 years in prison and be fined 1.5 million baht ($43,000), according to local Thai media. The four species, which are endemic to Madagascar, are listed as near-extinct or threatened by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). "When two countries really collaborate together we can really make a success story," Fontaine told journalists on Wednesday. Thailand is Southeast Asia's biggest legal importer and exporter of CITES-listed wildlife from Madagascar, according to a report from TRAFFIC, a wildlife NGO. But according to the 2023 report, illegal trafficking persists and "the true extent is likely to be greater than those reflected by seizure records alone," it says. In 2010, Thai customs authorities seized more than 200 live endangered tortoises being smuggled into the country from Madagascar. Six people were arrested and charged with endangered animal trafficking in May. Fontaine told AFP it is "difficult" to know the true number of animals smuggled out of Madagascar, but that the increase in seizures reflects improved anti-trafficking efforts. In 2010, Thai customs authorities seized more than 200 live endangered tortoises being smuggled into the country from Madagascar. In June this year Thai customs officials arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle a red panda and 86 other animals out of the kingdom. 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: UGA researchers tag wild turkeys for tracking. Credit: University of Georgia The turkey may be the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner table now, but harvesting the iconic holiday bird could become harder in the holidays to come. If hunters continue to follow their current strategies and prey continue their same routine, turkeys may become tougher to harvest in the future, according to new research from the University of Georgia published in Royal Society Open Science. "Hunters should be willing to adapt because the turkeys are also adapting as well. If we continue to harvest individuals that are close to risky areas associated with hunters, turkeys will adjust their behavior and could become harder to detect and harder to harvest," said Nickolas Gulotta, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Gulotta studied risk-taking and exploratory behavior from 109 wild male turkeys across Georgia Wildlife management areas and how they acted in response to both hunters and predators. He and other researchers found that a turkey's choice of movement and the level of risk associated were directly impacted by hunters and natural predators. Bold birds don't always benefit Most of the tracked male turkeys showed frequently daring behavior. They traveled close to areas where hunters parked their cars, popular trails and roads, as well as wide open areas. That's great news for huntersbut not so great for the turkeys. "If turkeys are closer to these open areas, it's going to be easier for both a hunter and a predator to detect them. Across both study sites in general, turkeys that took more risks were more likely to be harvested," Gulotta said. That bodes well for the initial waves of hunters. But when future turkeys see how that turned out for their predecessors, they are unlikely to make those same choices. That means hunters may have to get more creative to find the birds and be more patient. "Turkeys are obviously adapting and learning that if you're closer to risky areas, then there's potential to be harvested. That's why some of them are adopting less risky behaviors that essentially make them less detectable," said Gulotta. "If hunters harvest birds that are riskier and more detectable, it could become more difficult to harvest turkeys because we could be left with a bunch of individuals that are harder to detect." Predator vs. poultry presents another challenge for turkeys The turkeys that avoided those areas beneficial for hunters often remained static or in high cover areas to survive. A big giveaway for hunters is when turkeys gobble. So, when the birds don't move around or yap in open spaces, that makes things more challenging for the humans. Turkeys don't keep calendars, though, so when the hunters vacate and those relaxed routines remain, predators can move in. "There are certain traits associated with outlasting the hunting season, like hiding in areas with good cover and reducing the distance traveled within a day. But in turn, if turkeys stay in the same area and don't travel a lot, then they're going to be more likely to be detected by a predator," said Gulotta. "It's kind of a catch-22 where if they can survive that hunting season, they're most likely going to be fine. But at the same time, too, if they don't travel that fast and are predictable, then they have the potential to be killed by a predator." Future fowl and humans can learn from each other Individual behaviors of turkeys can, of course, vary, and overall survival techniques are something that can be inherited. This study shows a need for tailored hunting strategies based on local conditions. If an area is patterned with the habitual actions of hunters, then turkeys could become harder to harvest over time. Gulotta said that could also have a long-term impact on hunting license sales and overall hunter satisfaction. "The turkeys closer to areas that hunters use are the ones that are harvested," Gulotta said. "So, if we continue to harvest them like that across the Southeast, then there's the potential that we could shift the behavioral strategies of wild turkeys, making them more difficult to harvest." More information: Nick A. Gulotta et al, The role of human hunters and natural predators in shaping the selection of behavioural types in male wild turkeys, Royal Society Open Science (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240788 Journal information: Royal Society Open Science 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: Precursor cells in the embryonic neural tube are organized in a specific striped pattern which depends on the signals they receive (left). Lehr and colleagues recreated this pattern in a cell culture dish by exposing stem cells to the same signals (right). Credit: Stefanie Lehr/ISTA When a vertebrate embryo develops, a group of cells self-organizes into the neural tube, eventually becoming the brain and the spinal cord. This involves specific signals, but how these signals are interpreted by developing cells remains unclear. A team of researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now has more insightsthanks to miniature 2D organs and rubbery silicone molds. Imagine a deep forest. Every blade of grass, flower, bush or tree has a different shape and role. Yet they all thrive on a gradient of sunlight that filters through the canopy. The tissues of vertebrate animals, including humans, develop in a similar fashion. The difference: instead of light, the driving factors are signaling molecules called "morphogens." An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now found new insights into these morphogens in the developing neural tubethe brain-and-spinal-cord-to be. Using lab-produced organoidsminiature tissues that mimic the embryonic spinal cordthe scientists were able to observe and study the morphogen signaling dynamics during spinal cord development. The corresponding protocol and results are published in STAR Protocols and Developmental Cell respectively. Cells self-organize into bigger structures Morphogens are produced at specific locations in growing organs and spread through tissues, forming gradients of concentration. Depending on the morphogen concentration, cells take on different roles and form self-organized patterns of cell types that underlie the structure of mature organs. Such is the case when stem cells (precursor cells) transform into the neural tube in a developing embryo. Here, morphogens such as "BMPs" (Bone morphogenetic proteins) and so called "Wnts" are the driving signals to form new patterns. "How these morphogens form signaling gradients in growing tissues is poorly understood," explains Anna Kicheva. "Finding out more about themand how morphogen production is regulatedis a key aspect of understanding how the entire tissue develops." Stefanie Lehr, a Ph.D. student in Kicheva's group, took on this question. "It is difficult to study the neural tube development process in the embryo itself because one needs to manipulate the tissue at specific times in specific locations," explains Lehr. David Bruckner (front) and Edouard Hannezo (back). Credit: ISTA Sharing expertise "At first, we generated precursors of spinal cord cells and treated them with BMP," Lehr continues. "To our surprise, after adding BMP, the cells turned into all the different cell types of the dorsal spinal cord and beautifully organized themselves into an ordered pattern. This pattern also changed over time in a specific way, much like in the real tissue." But how come? What is the mechanism behind that? "Once we saw this, we wanted to establish a quantitative way to study this phenomenon," she adds. To do so, two things were needed: an in vitro (outside the living organism; in a Petri dish) approach that makes the experimental observation easier and reproducible, and the theoretical expertise to analyze such a complex system. The latter was provided by ISTA colleagues Edouard Hannezo and David Bruckner, who both study self-organization and development from a theoretical standpoint. For the in vitro approach, Lehr and colleagues collaborated with Jack Merrin, a staff scientist at ISTA's Nanofabrication Facility (NFF). Miniature 2D organs in a flexible cage The scientists opted to produce organoids. Organoids are simplified versions of organs produced in a Petri dish that have the same key features as their counterparts in the organism. To reproducibly grow stem cells into organoids with a similar cell type organization to the actual neural tube, geometric constraints were necessary. "Conventional micro-patterning in the Petri dish was not an option for us, as the cell types we are generating are motile and are rapidly multiplying," Lehr says. Together with Jack Merrin, the scientists developed a stencil system. They utilized photolithographya system that employs light to create a pattern on a substrateto fabricate a mold. This mold was then used to produce the stencils, rubbery silicon sheets with small holes. Once placed on a Petri dish, precursor cells are cultured within the holes, forming organoids. The stencils are then removed to allow colony growth, cell movement, and neural tube development, closely mimicking the natural conditions in the embryo. "This method gives us an exciting opportunity to study tissue growth and pattern formation in a quantitative manner using organoids," Kicheva adds enthusiastically. llustrations of critical steps of the protocol. (A) Mold production. The photomask is taped onto the glass plate (outlined with red box) and placed in the mask aligner (step 2). The wafer is spin coated with SU-8 (steps 68) and loaded onto the mask aligner (step 15) and exposed after baking (not shown). After that, the pattern is developed (steps 2127). The mold is silanized (steps 3234). (B) Stencil production. The mold is spin coated with PDMS (steps 4243) and degassed (step 45). A needle attached to an air gun is used to expose posts (step 46). After baking (not shown), stencils are peeled off the molds using tweezers (step 48). Credit: STAR Protocols (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103187 Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Appearing and disappearing Using the stencil approach, the scientists continued to closely investigate BMP's role in self-organization. The scientists saw that there is a BMP morphogen signaling gradient in the organoid from the onset. Interestingly, this gradient emerges quickly, then fades away, only to reappear again. Similar dynamics are likely to occur in the embryo as well. Hannezo and Bruckner formulated a mathematical model to help unravel the underlying mechanism. The theoretical analysis, combined with experimental validation, showed that this behavior is driven by interlinked negative and positive feedback loops operating on different time scales. Initially, cells, particularly at the periphery, are highly sensitive to BMP and a signaling gradient is established. This early gradient, on the one hand, induces inhibitors that rapidly shut it down (negative feedback). On the other hand, the early gradient also activates Lmx1aa crucial protein in the development of the neural tube. Lmx1a then slowly activates BMP and causes the BMP gradient to reappear (positive feedback). This late gradient of BMP signaling then continues to drive the further specialization of cell types. This mechanism not only allows the pathway to be reused over time but also helps to time subsequent developmental events. Development is temporarily organized Previously, it was considered that the concentration of morphogens determines a cell's fate during development. This study now adds a growing body of evidence that the temporal changes, rather than the absolute concentrations, are critical for understanding how cell fates are organized in tissues. Put simply, it is not about the amount of a trigger, but rather how it evolves over time. "We found that a simple trigger (here: BMP) induces a complex response in which a gradient is self-generated in the tissue and undergoes complex temporal dynamicsthis is essentially the type of response that underlies the capacity of embryos and organoids to self-organize," Kicheva says. Understanding how cells organize themselves into functional organs is a fundamental question in developmental and stem cell biology. Furthermore, it is medically relevant and crucial for advancing regenerative medicine and tissue engineeringtwo fields of applied science focusing on replacing damaged or diseased tissue with functional tissue. More information: Stefanie Lehr et al, Protocol for fabricating elastomeric stencils for patterned stem cell differentiation, STAR Protocols (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103187 Stefanie Lehr et al, Self-organized pattern formation in the developing mouse neural tube by a temporal relay of BMP signaling, Developmental Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.024 Journal information: Developmental Cell 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: RGB NIRCam image of Westerlund 1. Credit: arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2411.13051 An international team of astronomers has employed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a supermassive Galactic open cluster known as Westerlund 1. Results of the observational campaign, presented in a paper published Nov. 20 on the arXiv preprint server, yield important insights about the structure and properties of this cluster. Open clusters (OCs), formed from the same giant molecular cloud, are groups of stars loosely gravitationally bound to each other. So far, more than 1,000 of them have been discovered in the Milky Way, and scientists are still looking for more, hoping to find a variety of these stellar groupings. Expanding the list of known galactic open clusters and studying them in detail could be crucial for improving our understanding of the formation and evolution of our galaxy. It is assumed that most star formation takes place in massive clusters of stars, known as superstar clusters (SSCs). They are very massive young OCs usually containing a very large number of young, massive stars. The total mass of a typical SSC exceeds 10,000 solar masses. Located some 13,800 light years away, Westerlund 1 is a supermassive SSC with an estimated total mass of 50,000-100,000 solar masses and a radius of about 3.26 light years. Therefore, Westerlund 1 is believed to be the most massive known stellar cluster in the Milky Way, and its age is estimated to be 510 million years. A group of astronomers led by Mario Giuseppe Guarcello of Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Italy, decided to take a closer look at Westerlund 1. For this purpose, they used JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). "We present JWST/NIRCam and JWST/MIRI observations of the supermassive star cluster Westerlund 1. These observations are specifically designed to unveil the cluster members down to the brown dwarf mass regime, and to allow us to select and study the protoplanetary disks in the cluster and to study the mutual feedback between the cluster members and the surrounding environment," the researchers explained. The observations revealed a diffuse nebulosity surrounding the core of Westerlund 1. The vast majority of this nebular emission appears to be composed of droplet-like features pointing toward the groups of massive stars in the cluster. Further investigation of this nebulosity found that it contains an elongated trunk with a projected size of about 3.3 light years, pointing toward the center of Westerlund 1. Moreover, it turned out that the nebular emission also includes a small group of cloud fragments wrapping around the group of massive stars. By analyzing the acquired images, the astronomers also detected extended shells surrounding some M-type supergiants in Westerlund 1. In the case of three supergiants, these shells have an elongated structure in the opposite direction with respect to the cluster center, while in another three, mostly narrow outflows are seen in specific directions. More information: M. G. Guarcello et al, EWOCS-III: JWST observations of the supermassive star cluster Westerlund 1, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2411.13051 Journal information: arXiv 2024 Science X Network